Roasted Garlic Three Ways

Roasted garlic may be one of my favorite smells of all. Sure, it may not make me a fan of vampires or co-workers, but roasting garlic makes the flavor sweeter and is a yummy addition to a meal.

When I worked at a newspaper in Kansas City, the writers and I would enjoy roasted garlic as an appetizer at a local Italian restaurant. We loved to squeeze the golden garlic onto bread, or even just eat the cloves as-is.

How to Roast Garlic

If you have not roasted garlic, you are in for a treat. The hardest part is the wait!

Simply cut off the pointed end of the garlic and set into a pan, cut side up. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with cracked pepper. Bake at 425 for about 40 minutes. When cooked, the cloves will squeeze out of their papers like a gooey, amazing mess.

I prefer to roast an 8x8 pan of garlic at once (I know...) so any leftover garlic is covered in olive oil and stored in the refrigerator. I should note we use it quickly, as you do run the slight risk of developing botulism if it sits too long. As a whole, if you finish it in a matter of days, you should be ok.

If you haven't tried roasted garlic on Italian bread, do it. Tonight. If you're interested in some other ways to prepare it, read on. 

Roasted Garlic Butter

This may be the easiest thing to do. Take some softened butter (please use the real thing). Mix in roasted garlic to taste. Enjoy.

Roasted Garlic Rolls

These rolls, made and hand-shaped by my nine-year-old, were incredible as buns for turkey burgers and turned into garlic cheese bread!


Ingredients

2 packages Rapid-rise Yeast

2 cups Warm Water

¼ cup Sugar

½ cup Oil

1 Tablespoon Salt 

2 teaspoons Garlic Powder

5-½ cups Flour

2 heads Roasted Garlic, Peeled

2 Tablespoons Butter, Melted

2 pinches Kosher Salt

Instructions
Mix water and yeast, stir until yeast dissolves. Add sugar, oil, salt and garlic powder. Stir in flour and let rise once. Knead the dough and fold garlic cloves into it.

Spray a pan with cooking spray, and shape dough into equal-sized balls and place them on the pan, leaving equal space between them. Let rise again (cover with a moist towel if you’d like, to prevent the dough from drying out). Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

After rising, brush rolls with melted butter. Sprinkle on a little kosher salt and brush with additional butter. Sprinkle more garlic powder on top and bake for 15-20 minutes until the tops are golden brown.

Roasted Garlic & Green Beans

Ingredients

1 pound green beans
Leftover roasted garlic in olive oil
Salt and pepper

Instructions
This recipe is a deceptively simple one, but absolutely amazing. Drain the oil into a skillet and warm over medium heat. Sautee the green beans. When the green beans are close to completely cooked, add the leftover roasted garlic, stirring, until garlic is warmed. Toss with salt and pepper.

Cooking with essential oils: 50 recipes to try

Essential oils are derived from plants - why couldn't - or shouldn't - you use it in cooking?

If you've used it as a dried or fresh herb or spice form, you can likely use an essential oil alternative - which is great in a pinch. I've managed to drizzle some dill essential oil on my salmon as it roasts, drop in lemon essential oils in my drinks and use it to substitute for buttermilk in recipes.

Be warned, though. Essential oils can't be simply substituted for fresh or dried herbs in a 1-to-1 ratio. Here is a great guide for substituting herbs with essential oils:

A good rule of thumb is: 1 tablespoon citrus zest = 8 to 14 drops of essential oil 1 tablespoon dried spice or herb = ½ – 1 drop of essential oil ½ – 1 teaspoon dried spice or herb  =  1 toothpick dip* *Dip a toothpick in the center of the dripper cap and then swirl the toothpick in your recipe or beverage.

For stronger oils such as cilantro, cinnamon bark, lavender, oregano, and thyme make sure to always start with a lesser amount and add to taste. 

If you have a little more time, check out this online cooking class featuring essential oils:

Eat up! Here are some recipes using essential oils to get you started:

Breakfast

Whole-grain blueberry muffins
Granola blueberry crisp
Power bites
Peanut butter protein bars
Lavender blueberry banana bread
"Birdseed" bars
Wild orange and cinnamon pumpkin muffins
Cinnamon almond granola
On Guard pumpkin smoothie

Main dishes

Hawaiian barbecue chicken 

Baked chicken taquitos
Cajun chicken pasta
Almond-crusted orange chicken
Ginger stir-fry
Sun-dried tomato pizza
Grilled halibut with cilantro lime butter
Lemon-orange shrimp kabobs
Roasted marinara sauce
Honey glazed ham
Vegetarian black bean burgers
Basted holiday turkey
Lime chicken and quinoa salad
Healing soup with cilantro and ginger
Roasted marinara sauce

Side dishes

Pasta salad
Garlic & herb canapes
Black  beans and Lime cilantro rice
Roasted garlic mashed potatoes
Lemon broiled asparagus
Winter On Guard Quinoa Salad
Rosemary roasted red potatoes
Herbed pasta salad

Dressings & Dips

Citrus vinaigrette
Apple-walnut vinaigrette
Basil dill veggie dip
Italian bread dip
Wild Orange vinaigrette
Dill vegetable dip
Strawberry-lime fruit dip
Pico de gallo with lime essential oil
Lavender balsalmic vinaigrette

Treats & Sweets

Lemon bark
Honey peanut butter popcorn with Essential Oils
Honey lemon cake with lavender icing
Peppermint patties
Strawberry Coconut Cremes
Chocolate bliss raspberry parfait
Luscious lemon bars
Wild Orange Truffles
Whole wheat gingerbread cutouts
Pumpkin pie
Guilt-free apple pie
Strawberry orange sorbet
Tiramisu

Beverages

Strawberry citrus slush
Holiday wassail
Hot cocoa
Strawberry lemonade
Peppermint iced tea

Looking for a source for essential oils? Please consider using my online store with doTERRA essential oils. Email me at goinggreenmama at gmail if you'd like to know about saving 25% off of retail prices.

Quinoa with Butternut Squash and Pecans Recipe

This quinoa dish is another meal derived from my need to eat cheaply. This recipe for Quinoa with Butternut Squash and Pecans was inspired by a recipe I found on the Whole Foods site.

Quinoa with Butternut Squash and Pecans

1 1/2 cups chicken broth
4 cups butternut squash, peeled and cut into chunks
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup quinoa, rinsed
salt and pepper
1/2 cup pecans, toasted

Heat over to 400. Toss butternut squash with olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake for 30 minutes.
In saucepan, boil chicken broth and add quinoa. Reduce heat to low, and cover and cook until broth is absorbed, about 15 minutes. Let stand.

Toss together cinnamon, quinoa, pecans and squash in a bowl.

Smoothie Saturday: Peach Smoothie

I love grabbing all the peaches I can at the farmers market when they're in season, but sometimes I get a bit too many of these juicy fruits. A quick smoothie can make a sweet start to your day and use some of the less than perfect peaches up.

Peach smoothie
Ingredients
2 peaches
1 scoop protein powder
1 c vanilla almond milk

Instructions

Blend all three ingredients together, then add ice and blend until desired consistency.

Earn Brownie badges at the farmer's market

Taking your Brownie troop (or just your scout for starters) to the farmer's market is a great, practically free way to meet Brownie badge requirements this fall or spring.

Budget-friendly and a great way to connect with your community, not to mention local, farmer's markets are a great resource to look into if you're trying to creatively wrap up some badge requirements.

I never thought about using farmer's markets in that regard, until my daughter decided she wanted to earn the Money Manager Brownie badge was on my daughter's wish list of badges to earn this year. Trouble was, other girls didn't agree, so we decided we'd work on it from home. We were able to complete requirements one and two - shopping for items (practicing making change) and grocery shopping - in our weekly trip to our local farmer's market.

I gave my daughter my weekly budget and let her determine what we'd be buying. Noting the cantaloupe and watermelons as we walked in, I told her to mark the price and she'd have to make sure she'd have it at the end of the shopping trip, as I wasn't about to carry both melons around the booths! We talked as we went about differences in prices and what was better deals, etc. She actually enjoyed taking charge of the shopping list - and to be honest, the money - and I was so happy that the vendors were so patient with her as she made her choices.

Other Brownie badges you can work on at the farmer's market - or after you've completed your shopping:

My Best Self: 

• Activity #2 - Try three new foods that are good for you. 

Senses:

• Activity #3: Try sniffing out three different foods. 
• Activity #4: Do a taste test with salty, sweet, bitter and sour foods.

Snacks:

• Activity #1: What's in that snack - talk with vendors about what's in their jams, salsas, breads or granolas.
• Activity #2: Make a veggie face.
• Activity #3: Create a snack for a group - like fruit kebabs!

If I can give one tip though, plan your trip for the last hour of the farmer's market, as shoppers are often fewer. It's easier to track your girls and the vendors may be able to help your girls more.

What local resources have you tapped into for creatively meeting badge requirements for your troop?

Cinnamon apple smoothie

Cinnamon apple smoothie

1 cup diced apple
1 cup skim milk

1 scoop DoTERRA vanilla Trim Shake or other vanilla protein shake

1/2 cup ice or more if desired.

Blend all.


Calories according to MyFitness Pal: 365 for the entire thing. It tastes amazing and was so filling!



Disclosure: I do receive a percentage of the sales for the DoTERRA vanilla Trim Shake by following this link, however, I wouldn't use it if I didn't like it!

Jenny's Cranberry Sauce

This fresh cranberry sauce recipe was brought to our department pitch-in last year and was a huge hit.

Jenny's Cranberry Sauce

Combine in medium saucepan:

2 bags cranberries

2 cups white sugar (I did use Splenda in my recipe)

3 tablespoons light brown sugar

Grated zest from 1 orange

Juice from 1 orange, about 1/2 cup

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 1/2 cups water

Cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until sugar is dissolved and the berries start to pop. Reduce heat to simmer and continue to cook until the syrup thickens slightly. If it still tastes too tart for you, add a little more brown sugar and cinnamon and cook a little longer on low heat.

Peach "Whipped Cream" Smoothie

A smoothie that tastes liked whipped cream with none of the badness? I'm all for it! I was surprised when my daughter said this smoothie tasted like whipped cream the other morning, but she was right.

Peach "Whipped Cream" Smoothie
2 peaches, pits removed
1 teaspoon maple syrup
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup vanilla almond milk
1 cup ice.

Blend all ingredients but ice, add ice and blend until desired consistency.

Go Green, Get Fit!

Twenty miles in three days. You'd think I was a fitness buff.

But no, I'm truly just a tired mom working a week at scout camp.

I've carried the idea of getting in shape for years now. I haven't had a consistent workout routine since I walked a half-marathon, pregnant with my 4 1/2 year old. First it was new mom exhaustion. Then it was not having money for a fitness class since my husband was out of work for a few years. Then it was time.

But I finally realized have to stop making excuses. My health, my family is far too important for that.

My turning point was sheer exhaustion...as I could barely make it through the work day. I've slowly made changes the last several months, reducing my starchy carb intake (I truly was eating far too much), introducing meaningful exercise (like taking a walk instead of sitting in a chair to discuss something at work), making sure I get enough sleep and getting my blood sugar levels back in check.

Yes, I'd love to love 20 pounds. Thirty or forty would make my doctor happier. But my first goal was simple: Having enough energy to survive Girl Scout camp each day. Halfway through the week, I can tell you I've succeeded. I'm sore, but I've succeeded.

All this hiking has reminded me I have the potential to be stronger, and it's a great kickoff to the Go Green, Get Fit blogging challenge that starts June 18. I'm excited to be part of a diverse group of bloggers, from the experienced athlete to the aspiring exerciser.

Here are my goals for the coming months:

1. Exercise each morning. I am honest enough to realize that although I hate getting up in the morning, it's my best window for real exercise--a mix of aerobics, stretching and strength training. I am committing to 30 minutes each morning. Even more so, I am committing to slipping in exercise even if I hit the snooze too many times or my kids wake up early.

2. Incorporate my kids. We are blessed with walking trails and a pool nearby, not to mention a plethora of balls, lacrosse tools and other outdoor toys. Taking advantage of these things means I'm setting a great example for fitness and telling them, yes, I will play with you!

3. Build my aerobic fitness. I do well with the little things, but I need to push myself more. My dream? To  run a 5k this fall. I know I have a lot of work to get there, but I'm rooting for myself!

4. Eat seasonally. As much as I love gardening and attending farmers markets, when I'm busy eating seasonal produce admittedly falls by the wayside. I want to recommit to that for our family's health.

I know these steps seem minor. But if there's one thing I've learned this week, it's that goals can be achieved, one step at a time. Are you with me?

I’d love to hear about your fitness or health goals for the coming months! And please join us on June 18, when the Go Green Get Fit Challenge begins!

In the meantime, join us on Facebook to get details and updates!

You can also follow the Go Green, Get Fit Challenge on Pinterest, Healthy Home Magazine, and Twitter.

Gifts for the gardener or locavore

Looking for a gift for your local food lover or gardener? Look no further than your bookstore. There are several great ideas for your friends and family who love to enjoy homegrown or home-cooked local foods.

Cookbooks I'd recommend are chef Emeril Lagasse's Farm to Fork and Daniel Orr's FARMFood. Both put a priority on locally grown produce, evident in the variety of ingredients used. These aren't your boring iceberg and romaine lettuce salads here - think watermelon, feta and arugula, or a corn, tomato and lobster combination.

Gardeners will drool over the new book, Heirloom Life Gardener, by Baker's Creek's owners, Jere and Emile Garrett. You know them by the tome they produce each winter, filled with oversized photos with a rainbow of produce. My bright husband pre-ordered this gift, so it arrived just days before my birthday. He's definitely on my nice list. This doesn't disappoint.

A bit more academic in tone but great reads, Seed to Seed by Suzanne Ashworth or Four-Season Harvest by Eliot Coleman are great ways for gardeners who want to complete the cycle of life to better use their gardens throughout the year and save seeds from year to year.

Happy reading!

Originally published at the Green Phone Booth, 2011.
Note: This post contains affiliate links, which helps support this blog.

Homemade chive butter

I'm trying to beat the clock before our first frost or freeze, so this morning the chives are coming down! Chive butter looks to be a great option for baked potatoes, French bread or at Thanksgiving dinner.

Chive butter
1 stick butter, softened
2 tablespoons fresh chopped chives
2 small cloves garlic

Mix well. Refrigerate or freeze.

Second-chance gardening

While my neighbors have sadly ripped up their gardens and mourned a bad growing season, I'm back for more. Today at the Green Phone Booth, I'm sharing what's starting to grow in our fall-season garden.

Homemade basil oil

Basil and other herb-flavored oils have always been on my wish list, always tried in specialty shops but never purchased or attempted. The reason? Storage. While I hate to "waste" flavored oils on "ordinary" meals, the last thing I want to do is to hold on to them until well past their prime. So rather than enjoy them, I've held off.

Until I ran across a comment in an eating-fresh cookbook that said the flavored oils freeze well. My problem solved: My muffin tins easily hold 1/4-cup servings, easy enough to make flavored oils and store in small quantities until I'm ready to use.

So this weekend, I attemped my first flavored oil to good success. My basil oil is currently in my freezer and ready to pull out for the "right" pasta dish.

Basil oil
based off of a recipe from Farm Food

1/2 cup fresh parsley
1 3/4 cups fresh basil
1/2 tsp. pepper
1 cup canola oil
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

Blanch herbs then shock in cold water. Squeeze most of the water out of the herbs and put in a blender. Blend with oils and pepper, about 2-3 minutes, until well-blended. Season to taste. Freeze in 1/4-cup servings or use immediately.

Cleaning out the fridge: Mac and cheese with cauliflower

Whoops. Carrying in two armloads worth of farmers market finds on Saturday, I realized I had no room to put anything - and worse, plenty of things I should have already fixed in the fridge.

That's where a little inspiratio n struck. I tweaked a recipe for Rachel Ray's Mac & Cheddar with Broccoli and came up with an acceptable surprise for lunch. It was not the originally planned sausage and portobello pizza, but the end result was a few less cauliflower and several half-used packages of cheese from the fridge.

Mac and cheese with cauliflower

1 lb. pasta shells
2 1/2 c. cauliflower (about 1/2 head)
1 T. olive oil
2 T. butter
1 small onion, chopped
3 T. wheat flour
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 t. smoke paprika
3 c. skim milk
1 c. chicken stock
3 c. grated cheese (used a mix of sharp cheddar, taco cheese and colby jack)
1 T. dijon mustard

Cook pasta in boiling water, 5 min. Add cauliflower and cook additional 3-4 min. or until cauliflower is just tender. Drain well and return to the pot.

Meanwhile, melt butter with olive oil in pan, at medium heat. Cook onions 3-5 minutes. Raise heat, whisk in flour and spices. Whisk until roux bubbles and cook 1 minute more. Add milk and stock and raise the heat a bit higher until it bubbles. (Be careful to continue stirring, or you may have it scald on the bottom.) Drop heat and simmer 3-5 minutes or until sauce thickens.

Add cheese and stir to melt; add mustard and salt and pepper. Pour over pasta and cauliflower; stir to combine.

Spicy but good!

Fresh tomato soup

This fresh tomato soup recipe is my happy accident. I had full intentions of testing this tomato sauce recipe from an Eating Well cookbook, except I had to change one ingredient...then another. (In retrospect, it hardly resembles the original recipe much anymore!)

My daughter tried the sauce and said "It tastes just like soup. It's making me dance." She was right. Now I'll have great soup for the winter!!

Fresh Tomato Soup
8 c. fresh paste tomatoes, chopped
2-3 T. olive oil (a few splashes around the pan)
2-3 heads garlic, chopped, depending on preference
3 c. chopped onions
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 T. dried oregano
1 T. dried basil
1/4 c. burgundy wine
1 T. balsamic vinegar
pepper to taste

Heat oil over mediu m heat. Add garlic, cook, stirring constantly about 2 minutes. Add onions and salt, stirring, cook 10-15 min. or until golden.

Add spices, burgundy wine and vinegar, simmer 2 minutes. Add tomatoes and turn heat down to keep it simmering; cook 1 hour or until tomatoes are thick and color is a deep red-brown.

Remove from heat; cool; blend with hand blender or in blender until smooth.

At the Green Phone Booth...

Now that I've wrapped up nearly four hours of chopping and sauce-making, thought I'd pass along my market finds at the market report at the Green Phone Booth. No surprise: Ten boxes of tomatoes topped the list...

Spiced Zucchini Bread

Spiced zucchini bread is a recipe based on Emeril's Farm to Fork: Cooking Local, Cooking Fresh cookbook. I swapped out some all-purpose flour with whole-wheat flour, dropped the nuts and upped the spices.

I never thought I would like zucchini bread until my mother brought up a loaf she'd baked last summer. I never did get her recipe like she promised, but this one has quickly become a family favorite.

Spiced Zucchini Bread
3 eggs
3/4 c. vegetable oil
1 1/2 c. sugar
2 c. grated zucchini
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
2 tbsp. cinnamon
3/4 tsp. baking soda
3/4 c. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder

Preheat oven to 325. Grease two bread pans.

Beat eggs until foamy in mixer. Add oil, sugar, zucchini and vanilla. Mix well. Add remaining ingredients and mix until well-blended. Divide the batter evenly between the bread pans. Bake 55-60 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Salmon with snow peas and dill

Snow peas freshly picked from the garden. There are few things better. And that's the reason I snuck home early before getting the kids yesterday to harvest some: The snow peas would have never made it to the plate otherwise!

We wound up feasting on a makeshift dish that took advantage of not only the snow peas, but also some dill that has cropped up unexpectedly in our garden. Simple, one pan, and happy kids with clean plates!

Salmon with snow peas and dill
8 oz. salmon
3 c. snow peas, trimmed
2-3 T. olive oil *
1 T. fresh dill

Chop salmon into 1-inch squares. Heat olive oil in pan over medium heat, cook salmon until mostly cooked through. Add dill and snow peas (additional olive oil if necessary) and cook through.

*We probably used a bit more olive oil than would normally be needed because of the pan we used.

Oatmeal cookie peach cobbler

An oatmeal cookie peach cobbler was mentioned a while back on one of the myriad of travel-food shows my husband likes to watch. And after I was blessed with $18 worth of Carolina peaches from our stop at the Nashville Farmers Market, I had to come up with something to enjoy it!

Since I couldn't find anything similar to an oatmeal cookie peach cobbler in any of our cookbooks (and our PC was down), this was a take on the peach cobbler and oatmeal cookie dough recipes found in a cookbook. Worked out great, and I'm going to argue that there's a weak possibility of it being a healthier version of this summertime treat!

Oatmeal Cookie Peach Cobbler
1/2 c. wheat flour
1 1/2 c. oats (regular)
1 stick butter
1/2 cup packed plus loose (not packed) 1/3 c. brown sugar
5 c. sliced fresh peaches
4 tsp. cornstarch
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 c. water

Preheat oven to 400.

In medium saucepan combine 1/2 cup packed brown sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and water. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Add peaches. Heat through.

In bowl, mix flour, oats, butter and remaining brown sugar until crumbly.

Pour peaches into 8x8 pan. Add oatmeal mixture on top.

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes or until cooked through. Serve warm or cold.

Roasted Asparagus Salad with Strawberries and Pecans

I got this recipe from a vendor who sells pecan oil for cooking at a farmers market in Memphis this weekend.

Yes, we are probably the only people who travel, visit farmers markets and bring home food. But being the foodies we are, I figured it was an interesting treat. (And we needed oil anyway.) The recipe she gave me though might be the bigger treat. Will need to track down some asparagus and berries this week to find out!

Roasted asparagus salad with strawberries and pecans
4-6 slices hickory smoked turkey bacon
1/4 c. plus 1 1/5 tbsp. pecan oil, divided
1 tbsp. orange marmalade
2 tbsp. white balsamic vinegar
30 asparagus spears, tough ends removed
1 tsp. salt
1 lb. strawberries, sliced
6 tbsp. crumbled goat cheese with peppercorns
1 c. chopped pecans
1/2 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. ground white pepper

In a medium skillet, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp. Using a slotted spoon, remove bacon from skillet and drain on paper towels. Drain bacon grease from skillet. Do not wipe skillet out.

Add 1/4 cup pecan oil and marmalade to skillet. Cook over medium heat, stirring with a wooden spoon until marmalade is melted, loosening brown bits from bottom of skilet while stirring. Remove from heat and stir in vinegar. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 425. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Spread asparagus in a single layer on prepared baking sheet. Drizzle asparagus with remaining pecan oil, tossing gently to coat. Sprinkle with salt.

Bake until asparagus is barely tender 5-10 minutes. Divide asparagus among plates. Stir strawberries and pecans into marmalade mixture, tossing to coat. Spoon strawberry mixture evenly over asparagus. Top evenly with bacon, feta cheese and pepper. Serve immediately.

Serves up to 6.