A few weeks back my sister and I decided to do the Daniel Fast, a 21-day vegan-with-restrictions fast. If you’re wondering why I’m talking about the fast I did, you’re not alone. Several other people mentioned too that usually when we’re fasting we don’t talk much about it. But if your on a very restricted diet for 21 days, the only way you won’t talk about it is if you don’t have any guests at mealtime, never eat anyone else’s home or never meet anyone at a restraurant.

In a nut shell, only plant-based foods are allowed. Any processed foods that contain only plant-based foods are allowed, but may not contain any chemicals/preservatives. Salt is allowed and many seasonings and of course all herbs, dried or fresh will add a lot of flavor to the food.

We did cheat several meals. Two birthday meals and 2 family meals. There are times when it is okay.

One of our favorite meals is rice and black beans, covered with a colorful veggie salad. On the fast you’re supposed to eat brown rice instead of white but said to say, neither of us like brown rice much. In these pictures I have white rice.

Cook white rice until done. Drain a can of black beans. Throw half the beans into a bowl with canned whole kernel corn, diced green peppers, purple onion & tomato. Chop some cilantro real fine and add it to the veggies. Add some rice vinegar and a little olive oil. Salt and pepper to taste.

Rice Vinegar:

Fill a bowl with rice. Top with some heated up black beans. Top that with the veggie mixture and add a little salsa (not a sweetened kind like some homemade recipes are – if I don’t used my homemade restaurant salsa, I use a bought salsa casera) on top. And then top that with some avocado, cut into little chunks. Yum. Some grilled or sauteed chicken would be really good with this if you didn’t want to go vegetarian with this.

Last night I took one of my homemade tortillas, fried it on both sides in a little olive oil until it was a little crispy. I used that as the base for the above ingredients. Sort of a veggie tostado. Delicious!!! The only problem was I put too much on top and half of it fell off as I was eating, causing veggies to go flying with each bite I took.

This fast is fairly radical and it’s best to do it if you really want to. If you go into it half-hearted you probably won’t last 21 days. There are just so many things you can’t have. The second day was the worst for me. I had such cravings for what, I wasn’t sure. I just wanted to EAT something. After that I was fine. By the last few days, we were getting anxious to be finished and those weren’t as fun either.

I think I missed milk products more than meat or sugar. I really like cheeses of various kinds, milk, sour cream, cream cheese … but it didn’t hurt me to do without. In fact, the scale was quite happy about it!

I’ll probably post a few more recipes late, including a veggie burger.

Here’s to healthier eating (some of the time – I don’t suppose that Ben & Jerry’s Cheesecake Brownie ice cream I just had would be considered healthy)!

This is the easiest way I know of to make delicious pulled pork barbecue. I used to have access to a charcoal smoker and then I would smoke them for a few hours and then finish them in a crockpot. For these I found a recipe that I adapted that would be delicious smoked but is delicious even without the hassle of smoking.

I know you’ve seen bottles of butt rub and yes, some guy must’ve come up with that name! I start with 1 (or 10 in one case) bone-in Boston butt. Now where did they get those names? Not sure. When we were in Boston in the fall, I don’t recall seeing any porkers around. And then why the butt? It’s a shoulder portion.

This rub is easy to make and really adds a lot of flavor! The key ingredient that you shouldn’t substitute is the smoked paprika. Unless you have hickory smoked salt and regular paprika and combine those to replace it. We grew up eating tomato sandwiches with a little McNess hickory smoked salt sprinkled on them. That’s still my favorite way of eating tomatoes.

The rub ingredients are:

1 T. kosher salt
2 tsp. fresh cracked black pepper or coarsely ground black pepper
2 tsp. onion powder
1 T. smoked paprika

Rub this into the roast. Let set for at least 10 minutes. If you’re going to grill the roast then drizzle a little oil over it and rub in. If you’re going to pan fry it, then put a bit of oil into a frying pan. You need to seer each side of the roast to seal in the juices. I tried the grilled one time and didn’t think it really made much difference in the taste so unless you’re doing more than 2 it’s easier just to seer it in a pan for 3-4 minutes on all sides.

In your crockpot or roasting pan, pour 2 cups beef broth, 1 cup barbecue sauce and 1 large garlic clove (minced). The roast will be slow baked at 300 for 6-7 hours so either the oven, a crockpot or electric roaster work well. Two roasts will pretty much fill up a roaster. Resist the urge to lift the lid once it’s cooking. After about 3 hours, flip the roast. When the meat is pulling away from bone it’s finished. It should fall apart when you try to lift it out. If you don’t cook it long enough, it’s hard to shred it and the fat hangs onto the meat.

If it’s falling apart, put it into a pan and let it cool for a few minutes. Then take two forks and work at shredding it. This makes it fairly easy to weed out the fat. I just really do not biting down into fat! Yick!

Let the juice that the roast was cooking in cool and then pour at least 3 cups into a bowl. Let the fat come to the top so you can skim it off. Or if you have one of those cool measuring cups made for pouring off the bottom of the cup. Or if you have a baster you could suck the juice off the bottom of the pan. Either way you do it, pour the juice over shredded meat and serve. Or it can be heated and served later. Plus I think it’s better later because it sits in the rich juice for a while. I made 10 roasts a month or so ago for friends of ours take to their family reunion. Then last week I made it for a supper for our company. One 8-9 lb. roast will serve 14. It goes great with baked beans, mac & cheese, coleslaw & cornbread.

If you prefer beef over pork, use a boneless chuck roast and use the same rub and bake for 4-5 hours.

I like to make my own sauces too. Here are two of the three recipes that I used. The third one is top secret. So secret I don’t even know it. So I come up with a new one each time. 🙂 It’s a fairly traditional sweet & spicy dark sauce.

Different regions of the US make their sauces different. I decided to try making a Carolina-style which is mustard based. I still am not a big fan but so far others have really liked it. I’m just not a huge mustard fan.

The others:

Carolina-Style BBQ Sauce

½ c. yellow mustard
½ c. spicy brown mustard
1/3 c. light brown sugar
3/4 c. cider vinegar
¼ c. water
2 T. chili powder
1 tsp. black powder
1 tsp. white pepper
¼ tsp. cayenne pepper
½ tsp. soy sauce
2 T. butter
1 T. liquid smoke

Mix all ingredients except soy sauce, butter and smoke. Simmer 30 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients and simmer for 10 more minutes. Makes about 2 ¼ cups.

　

　

Honey BBQ Sauce

1 c. honey
¼ c. molasses
1 c. tomato sauce
½ tsp. paprika
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1 T. seasoned salt
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp. black pepper
¼ tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. oregano
1 clove garlic, minced
2 T. Worcestershire sauce
2 T. prepared mustard
3/4 c. brown sugar

Simmer all ingredients for about 30 minutes. Makes nearly 3 cups.

I have quite a bit of this sauce in fridge right now so I want to try baking wings or drumettes in it.

 

Happy Cooking!

Okay, so this recipe may end up sounding complicated because I made it 2 different ways from 3 different recipes. Originally I did a web search to try to find a recipe similar to Cheesecake Factory’s cheesecake/cake combos. I think I had a slice of their Reeses Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake Cheesecake when I was there last. Oooh la and la!

I found a recipe similar to what I wanted on another blog. I have lost the blog address so I can’t share that with you. I took the cheesecake layers and made my own combination.

I showed you pictures of the Strawberry version I made but I only have that one shot. So I’ll give you the turtle version first.

 

Cheesecake Layer
4 – 8 oz. cream cheese
1 c. sugar
4 eggs

Preheat oven to 350*. Beat cream cheese and sugar together in mixer until softened. Beat in the eggs just until well blended. Pour into 2 waxed paper lined and greased 9-inch springform pan. Bake at 35-40 minutes or until middle is set and not jiggly. Remove and let cool completely. Refrigerate overnight or for at least 2-3 hours.

 

Chocolate Cake
2 c. sugar
1 3/4 c. flour
3/4 c. cocoa
1 ½ tsp. baking powder
1 ½ tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 c. milk½ c. oil
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. boiling water

Combine dry ingredients. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla. Beat for 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water; the batter is very thin. Pour into 3 greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. Bake at 350* until toothpick comes out clean. (25-ish minutes. Original recipe was for a bundt cake so I’m not sure of time.) Let set for about 10 minutes before removing from pan and placing onto waxed paper until ready to assemble the cake.

 

Chocolate Buttercream Icing
1/2 c. shortening
1/2 c. butter
1 tsp. vanilla
4 c. powdered sugar, sifted
2 tbsp. milk
3/4 c. cocoa

Start by placing a chocolate cake layer on bottom of cake plate. If your layers have domed at all, slice them off to be as even as possible. Add a layer of Chocolate Icing. Remove waxed paper from bottom of cheesecake and place on top of icing.

Now this is where it gets sticky (har har) – I didn’t have a recipe for a caramel sauce that would be thick enough to work. I first tried melting Brach’s caramel bits and didn’t keep my eye on them and before I knew it, they were smoking in the microwave!

Started over and melted more, and then added a little butter and some caramel ice cream topping. Well, it was good but it was way too soft. As long as the cake stayed chilled, it was fine. It even helped that the cheesecake had a bit of a lip. But, when the cake got room temperature, it started oozing just a bit.

So if you come up with a better caramel layer, feel free to let me know. 🙂

Repeat layers until it looks somewhat like this.

Finish off by covering everything with chocolate icing. Pour caramel topping over top of cake and then top with chopped pecans. Keep chilled until ready to serve. This cake is fairly tall and rich so it will easily serve 20. And it has a bazillion calories.

For a shortcut use a cake mix. Personally I don’t care for cake mixes with a few exceptions of recipes that build on them or take them out a different direction (turtle bars, dump cake, earthquake cake, etc.). To me they’re just not as good as a made-from-scratch cake.

Or to make it really rich, replace the cake with brownie layers instead! Or make 2 cake layers and 2 brownie layers. All kinds of options.

Now for the La Vita Dolce Strawberry Cake version:

I used the Muffins That Taste Like Donuts recipe, which is kind of a lightly spiced flavor. I’ll share another dessert version using that recipe some other time.

1 3/4 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 c. oil
3/4 c. white sugar
1 eggs
3/4 c. milk

In a bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt, numbeg and cinnamon. In another bowl combine oil, sugar, egg and milk. Add liquid to dry ingredients and stir only to combine. Pour into 2 greased and floured 9-inch cake pans. Bake at 350* for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean. Let cool for a little bit before removing from pans.

Cream Cheese Strawberry Icing
8 oz cream cheese, softened
1 tsp. vanilla
½ c. butter, softened
1 lb. powdered sugar
¼ cup chopped strawberries or strawberry freezer jam

Whip cream cheese and butter until nice and creamy. Add vanilla and powdered sugar until smooth. Add strawberries and whip until blended.

Assemble this just like the photo shows. If you want a good amount of icing, you may have to make a recipe and a half. When I served this, I added a scoop of ice cream and topped with sliced, fresh strawberries.

I sold tickets for an Italian supper spring of 2010 and it was January of 2011 until we managed to find a date that would suit all four couples who bought tickets. I went back and forth trying to decide what to make. I earlier thought I would make Penne Rustica, an entree by Macaroni Grill but in the end decided to go with something different.

 

I had visions of doing an outdoor meal like Christy did a few years back but when it ended up being scheduled for January, I gave up that idea.

 

Here is the menu.

 My sister made the fresh herb dipping oil which is better than any other dipping oil that I’ve ever had!! She uses fresh rosemary and basil and garlic and I’m not sure what all else. She smashes it to get every bit of flavoring out of it.

I made fresh bread using a recipe from our friend Beat(rice).

 
Come to think of it, the Chicken Marsala recipe was from her too. She is the kitchen supervisor at Faith Builders and let me tell you, there’s some mighty fine cooking done there!

The recipe I’m going to share with you today is Laurie’s Stuffed Manicotti. And if I have shared that before, please forgive me. I just happen to love it! And I happen to be hungry. Bad combination.

I don’t know who Laurie is. I got this recipe out of a magazine quite a number of years ago and for some reason I feel compelled to keep that name attached. Whoever Laurie is, she came up with some delicious manicotti!

1 lb. mild bulk pork sausage
2 (15 oz.) cans Hunt’s Italian tomato sauce
1 (6 oz.) can Hunt’s tomato paste
1/4 c. water
1/2 TBSP. packed light brown sugar
1 (15 oz.) container ricotta cheese
3 c. shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 egg
1 tsp. parsley flakes
12 manicotti noodles, cooked, rinsed, drained
Grated Parmesan cheese

In large saucepan, brown sausage, drain. Remove half of sausage, set aside. Stir tomato sauce, paste, water and brown sugar into sausage, simmer 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, in bowl, combine remaining sausage, ricotta, 2 cups Mozzarella, egg and parsley.

In 9x13x2 inch baking dish, pour 1/3 of sauce mixture. Stuff manicotti noodles with ricotta mixture and place on top of sauce. Pour remaining sauce over stuffed noodles. Top with remaining Mozzarella, sprinkle with Parmesan. Bake uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

 

 

Make sure you don’t cook the noodles too long or they will tear apart.

 

The best way to fill them is to put the filling in a bag, cut the corner of the bag and squeeze it into the noodles.

 

We have already made this ahead of time and frozen it to take to a girls beach party. I think we’ve done that several times, actually. All you have to do is bake it!

 

Spinach would be good in there too! And mushrooms on top! I’ll leave you to drool now.

I don’t have any photos of the completed meal. By that time I was desparately flying around the kitchen, trying to stay a bite ahead of my hungry guests.

Oh, and for dessert I had a hard time deciding what would Italian enough to make. I’ve never made tiramisu and didn’t feel like tackling it in case it didn’t turn out. So, I decided to make this and it got an Italian name, courtesy of Lois.

La Vita Dolce Strawberry Cake
(The Sweet Life)

 

It has cheesecake and spice cake layers, separated by cream cheese strawberry icing.

You want the recipe?

Well, you’ll have to wait. I have to find it first, or at least reconstruct it. And then I’ll give a you a turtle/chocolate version too. Make life hard for you by making you choose between the two.