roasted tomatoes

Thirteen tomato plants in my garden, and only the two cherry tomato plants produced anything worth eating as is. The Roma and Patio tomatoes were just... blah.

But I finally came up with a way to use them.

I chopped up enough to cover a cookie tray, drizzled them with olive oil, sprinkled with salt and pepper, and roasted them for 45 minutes at 400 degrees.

I popped a head of garlic in the oven as well.

I put some whole wheat spaghetti on to cook while I picked some basil from the garden and chopped that up too.

Drained the spaghetti, then tossed it with the roasted tomatoes and garlic, basil, and a little crumbled feta cheese.

Served it up with a glass of chilled Pinot Gris.

Delicious!

favourite new healthy recipe

easy and quick, I'm addicted to bran muffins

1 cup wheat bran
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup raisins
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup molasses
2 tablespoons oil
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup walnuts chopped (if you like walnuts)

• Preheat oven to 400ºF.
  
• Stir together the bran, flour, soda and baking powder. Stir in raisins and set aside.
  
• Blend milk, molasses, oil and egg. Add to dry ingredients and mix just until moistened.
  
• Spoon into 12 greased muffin tins.
  
• Bake for 15 minutes or until muffins pull away from sides of cups.
  

Now sit back and enjoy your 12 delicious muffins!

thursday night dinner

• small handful of walnuts, almonds, and raisins (carefully counted out 2 raisins per nut)
  
• 2 Bernard Callebaut chocolates, left over from Christmas
  
• another handful of walnuts, almonds, and raisins (again, 2 raisins per nut)
  
• a piece of toast with my home-made raspberry jam
  
• a couple of breadsticks, slightly stale, from the gift basket our realtor delivered about 11 months after we moved into the house (which was in August 2007)
  
• a grapefruit
  
• a handful of walnuts and raisins (not so carefully counted)
  
• a scoop each of Island Farms chocolate and vanilla no-sugar ice cream, which I normally don't eat but have in the freezer in case my type-1 diabetic Dad comes for dinner
  
• 3 more Bernard Callebaut chocolates
  

neapolitan ice cream

chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. mmmmmm - why decide?

pita pizza

My new favourite easy dinner, even easier to prepare since Hilda gave me one of those PNE slicer/dicers for my birthday.

Start by roasting some garlic. Slice the top off a head of garlic, drizzle some olive oil on top and wrap it in tinfoil, then bake it for 20 minutes or so at about 350. Actually, you may as well roast another head, 'cause if you're lazy like me, you'll want to make another pizza tomorrow.

If you've got a baking stone, put that in the oven to heat up. I picked one up at Superstore for $12 (what a deal!) to replace the Pampered Chef one my mom got me, which I dropped and broke (oops sorry mom, best not to buy me expensive anything breakable).

Now... Pour a glass of wine, then when you're ready - or the garlic's ready, whichever - get out a whole wheat pita shell, one of the big ones (I keep a bunch in the freezer).

Cover it with slices of zucchini, red onion, and yellow pepper (pretty colours!).

Chop up some fresh spinach and sprinkle that around.

Cut some tiny tomatoes in half and put those on top too.

Load it up with the roasted garlic (if it's cooled down you can just squeeze out the little cloves).

Pile on LOTS of chopped kalamata olives (more, more, more!) - pits removed, of course.

And last but most important - crumble on some feta cheese (the really good sharp kind).

Put it all on the stone (if you have one). Drizzle with olive oil, and bake on a stone at 450 for 10 or 15 minutes.

Slice it up and dig in. At this point, the pita shell may be a bit brittle but what the hell. Mmmmmmm! Yummy healthy vegetarian thin crust pizza!

rockets

Rockets are the best Halloween candy ever.

Apart from BB Bats that is. But you can't get those anymore.

macaroni and cheese

I found the best way to make it. Even the generic stuff tastes good this way.

• Strain the macaroni into a collandar and leave it aside (after it's cooked, of course).
  
  
• Put the pot back on the stove, turn up the heat a little, whisk the cheese into the milk and butter, marvelling at how quickly the white powder turns violent orange.
  
  
• Let it bubble a bit, then mix in the macaroni.
  
  
• Drizzle on some organic ketchup (why organic? 'cause it was on sale), grab a big spoon, and and take the whole pot to the couch.
  
  
• Enjoy the perfectly done macaroni and cheese while watching the Fifth Estate.
  
  
• Tell yourself you'll go for that run tomorrow night.