Parmesan-White Bean Dip

Today I am sharing this great bean recipe with you. It comes from a little cookbook by Betty Crocker called "quick and healthy". This is really delicious and makes a nice spread for a piece of toast or on crackers or with vegetables as a dip. Here are the ingredients:

1 TBSP olive oil
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary
1 - 19 oz can cannellini beans, drained and rinsed
1/3 c. chicken broth or white wine
1 TBSP parsley flakes
1 c. shredded parmesan cheese

After you pluck the rosemary stems from your plant (I have a huge rosemary bush by my front door), pull the leaves down off of the stem...the leaves look like this below when you finish...

Next, chop the garlic and rosemary, and saute them in the olive oil on medium -high.

Stir constantly until the garlic is light brown. Don't burn the garlic, it will become bitter. The picture below is about right.
Next, add the beans and chicken broth, and mash them as the mixture cooks.
When it gets to looking like cooked oatmeal, add the parsley. You can add fresh parsley if you have it....I didn't. Use 2 TBSP if using fresh.

After that is stirred in, add the parmesan cheese. A note here, I always look for fresh grated parmesan on sale. It saves me money, and I just put it in the freezer until I need it. It isn't hard to measure it from the frozen state.
Stir in the cheese and heat until melted. Isn't this looking yummy!
OK, I am a black olive fan. I happened to have a small can of chopped olives (why? who knows, I found it in the pantry!) so I added a couple of tablespoons to the dip.
There it is, ready to serve! You can serve this with raw veges, whole wheat crackers, pita or bagel chips. This makes a nice vegetarian spread for wheat toast. This is a dip that you want to serve warm-hot.
Calorie count for this is 125 kcals with 4 gm dietary fiber for 2 rounded Tablespoons.

For food storage purposes, you really can have all of the ingredients on hand, either in the pantry or the freezer. Fresh herbs are best, but you can have dried on hand in the spice cupboard.

Fresh Ground Cinnamon

Today for breakfast I had one of my favorites; cottage cheese and applesauce. I know, you're thinking, yuck, right?! This is one of my favorite summertime breakfasts. It is filling, and tastes great. Where does the cinnamon come in you ask? I grind the cinnamon right on top. YUM! This applesauce pictured I made from dehydrated apple slices (from my food storage) that I reconstituted using 1 part dried apples to 1 part hot water. You let it sit for 5 minutes, then put it in the blender (or in my case, the vitamix). This is the best applesauce! You can add sugar to it or not. I like applesauce to be a little thicker, not runny, so this works well for our family.

Here is the cinnamon I use for topping my cottage cheese/applesauce. It is a grinder that you can buy at the grocery store, right in the spice aisle. I think I got these on buy one get one free sale. This is really good cinnamon. I have given these as gifts to my friends, and they love it too.
Now with the weather beginning to turn autumn like, you may want to use your cinnamon for a warmer breakfast. I recommend cooked oatmeal, topped with applesauce served with a healthy amount of ground cinnamon! You might just think that you are eating apple pie! Let me know if you try it, and how you like it.

Green Smoothies

Have you every heard of green smoothies? If you haven't had one or never heard of one, you are probably wondering why anyone would drink something that is the color of green! Well, get ready for a nutritious, delicious drink for breakfast, lunch or really anytime you are in the mood.

I have a Vitamix blender, which is really great for making smoothies, and lots of other things. No, they aren't paying me to endorse their product. I've had my Vitamix for over 20 years, a gift from the best mother-in-law on the face of the earth, yep, that would be my mother-in-law, Ella. She is 94 years young and is still doing great. Anyway, back to the smoothy. You can get some recipes from http://www.vitamix.com/ . This is a great way to start. Once you know what ingredients you like, then just start experimenting. Today, I started with:

1 c. green grapes (picked up today from the farmer's market...sweet and delicious)
2 c. baby spinach
1 medium ripe banana
1 medium peach, peeled and pit removed (also picked up at the farmer's market)
1/2 c. lemonade (it was already made up and in the refrigerator)
1 c. ice cubes


You just put it all in the vitamix, or blender and put it on high for about 1 minute. I should've taken a picture of my vitamix, but forgot...next time...now it needs cleaning! I have the all stainless steel one. Love it!
Can I just say how totally delicious this is! You do not taste the spinach at all, but do get the wonderful benefit of the phytochemicals, B vitamins, and Beta Carotine! What is not to love about that! My DS#4 emphatically DID NOT want to drink this, but I insisted. He loved it as did DH. The flu/cold is going around, so I am going to start serving these more often. This made about 3 8 oz portions.

Farmer's Market Report

Happy Saturday everyone! Today I was able to go to my local Farmer's Market in Saint George, Utah. I love the setting.....Ancestor Square in downtown SG. Today I only had $14 cash on me and no checks, so I went around to all of the vendors first, then decided what I couldn't live without. Note: you can click on the picture which will enlarge it (if you are getting this in your email from me, first go to the blog, then you can enlarge the picture).

My first purchase was the sunflower sprouts. I think that this is my first purchase of every farmer's market trip. I am such a creature of habit! If you haven't tried sunflower sprouts, then you really need to. I love them in my salads or with scrambled eggs. I had a nice little visit with the vendor, Lea's Micro Market. I told her how lame my sunflower sprouts were, and she filled me in on the secret to successfully growing my own. I'll save that for another post....you better come back if you're really wanting to know!

OK, I love the vendor where I purchased the pomegranate. I also got the grapes from her. I always buy things from her.....like the figs in previous visits. If you want to see my previous farmer's market reports, go to my other blog, http://thedesertfleamarket.blogspot.com/ .

On the way out I saw these wonderful onions, and I needed that for the Carolina Crock pot Chicken recipe I am making for Sunday dinner (which also happens to be my DS#1's birthday celebration dinner).

I tasted some terrific refrigerator pickles from a gal named Julie. For $3 a small bottle, I caved in and parted with the cash. Yea, I know, I could make my own, but not having a garden, I am not tempted this year. Maybe next year I'll get something going with a garden.

I had $2 left, and was at the car, and felt impressed to go back and buy the garlic. I got 3 for $1 and then got 3 peaches for $1 from the same vendor. So, I have no more cash, but I do have some lovely produce. I had to take another picture of the grapes, because they look so gorgeous!

I'm off to make a green smoothie. Maybe I'll take some pictures and share the recipe with you!