wowza, it's been a while

I don't believe that I have tried any NEW veggies, but I have consistently been eating the new ones I have tried since starting this blog.
I LOVE LOVE LOVE brussell sprouts, unfortunately, not everyone in the house enjoys them like I do :(

Oh, I DID try fried okra the other day and it sucked.

Maybe there is another way to cook it, but it was VERY mushy,  and I don't like mushy. blah.

I am going to try the endive recipe my cousin left for me.
so I'll get the stuff for it tomorrow.

I have, however, been trying new recipes :)  this has been fun :) 
I'll start sharing those here as well.......after all, it is about what I meet, right? RIGHT :)

and as stated before, it is MY blog and I can write what I choose :)
Okee dokee arichokees....bahahahaha, veggie humor.
laterz

Nothing new, but

I just want everyone to know that I really have enjoyed this blog and trying the new veggies.

This week I have no plans to try any new veggies, HOWEVER, I have RETRIED some of the ones I have blogged about.
and my favorite by far are the brussel sprouts.

Tonight I roasted them with onions, garlic and mushrooms, s&p to flavor and evoo.
I served it up with some wild/brown rice and that was my dinner for the evening.

so yummy. simple and very satisfying.

I do think the beets are next as well as endive.
:) see you next blog :)

red peppers

So I cooked a pork tenderloin (1st time for that) with red peppers. UGH, I do not like peppers.

Let me rephrase that.....I do not like GREEN PEPPERS. ugh, those are nasty.  So everytime I see a red pepper or a yellow/orange pepper, I just imagine that it will taste just like a green pepper.
I CAN, however, eat red peppers if they are in like a beef and brocolli dish or mixed in with something, but not green peppers, the taste is disgusting......IN MY OPINION.

So this recipe called for red peppers, and I OPENED my taste buds and said, okay lets do this.
I sliced them thinner than most would have, I think, and put them in the pan with the onions that were caramelizing. Then when the dish was done I ate them and guess what?

You guessed it, I LIKED THEM!!!  hahahahaha.
I swear it amazes me EVERY time that I try a new veggie, how delish they all have been. Well I think there is ONE that I didn't care 100% for, but the others have so far been very tastey.
I enjoyed them so much that I ATE them again the next day......by accident though.
I ordered a salad and requested the roasted peppers NOT be included. well, no so much......they put them on and I thought, "Oh for PETE's sake, just eat them already" (still do not know who Pete is, btw, if you do, PLEASE tell me.....thanx)
I LOVE THEM ROASTED, omg. I am begining to think that ALL veggies taste good roasted.

Okay, off to cook tonights dinner. Nothing new, I don't think. Let's see......cubed steak w/ mushrooms and gravy, broc/cauli/carrot medley, and sliced/roasted sweet potatoes with onions.  :)  yup all stuff I've had before. 
I think my next will be the endive. I really want to try the beets, I have yet to do that one. My doc has put me on a low glycemic index diet though, and beets are on the list of DO NOTS :(  but we'll see. the diet is specific to say, live 90% ON the diet and 10% off otherwise you will feel deprived, so......I might make beets part of my 10%.
good day everyone :)

snap peas

okay, so I bought these in a bag, I thought they were going to be a steam in bag, but it wasn't. I had to bring some water to a boil and put them in it and boil for a bout 2 minutes.

I wish I would have cooked them a bit longer, and the "seam" of the pod, oh not good. There was just no eating that, it was like all stringy, ugh.

other than the stringy seam, the rest was good. I seasoned them with some adobo, although I wish I had tried them without seasoning first :(
Oh well, what's done is done.
so I know for next time to cook them a tad longer, and somehow get that string off of them.

Fried Eggplant

So, I tried my friends fried eggplant recipe and I have a few things to say about it.

OMG,
OMG,
OMG!!!!! 
where the heck have I been (impressed right??? I said HECK, HAHA) I can not believe that I have not ever had these.

they were fried then I put freshly grated parm on them and topped them with a sauce. (I cheated, it's from a jar) ssshhhh, don't tell anyone.
HOWEVER,
I'm thinking there has to be a way to cook them so that they crisp fast on the outside without having to fry them.
I think when I have them again I will try broiling them or somethingf. maybe use olive oil for that since olive oil doesn't do high heat too well, it will probably start to crisp quick, that's my thought anyway.
I suppose I could ask the CHEF of the family.....after all that is what cullinary school is for, yes???  YES :)

So what are your thoughts on this????  ANY???

Oh, I made a salad as well that had diced tomatoes, diced onions, diced grapes, some almond slivers, some parm and a very light drizzle of light zesty italian dressing.
AND
I made a bruschetta topped with diced tomatoes, onions and grated parm, yummio!!!! OISHI DESU!!!!
I am looking forward to the next try.
I think it will be leeks, because I have misplaced my beets recipe, and I am awaiting its return.
TTFN

share them with us, please.

3 in my head

Okay, so here's the dealio. I have a few days off coming up, and 3 new veggies I'd like to give a whirl.
I was GOING to do leeks first, but my cousin gave me a scrumpcious looking recipe for beets.
so beets will be first, probably tomorrow.

then the leeks......possibly in a soup......again a recipe from cousin.  But I'm not a big time soupy kinda gal, so I'll do a bit more searching on that veggie.

Then I am going to do eggplants. A friend gave me a recipe for eggplants.

I'm looking forward to trying them all.
Keep the suggestions coming.
you should post your recipes here in the comment section......you can do that as ANONYMOUS (sp?) if you want.
but this way everyone can see the recipe and try it themselves if they choose to.

ooooo, i also got a new way to cook up some green beans. I was told canned, but I'm going to do it with fresh........WHY you ask???..........because I have never had FRESH green beans. I typically eat them out of the can.

okay, I'll keep you posted :)

okay, been a while

So let's see, I am on the hunt for a new veggie again.......
I've been asked by my  public...haha.....what's the next veggie? You haven't blogged in a bit.

I think I am going to try LEEKS.

I've seen them over there amongst the greens of the produce section......you know the section that gets rained on every once in a while.  how inconvinient when your hand is going through the pick. and are there paper towels over there to dry you off, of course not!!!!
I digress........so leeks it is........oh wait............have you been to the store that just before the rain starts on the veggies you hear the thunder and the lights flicker?  haha, THAT is so cute, and frankly very helpful. It gives you a heads up that you are about to get rained on, so hurry up and grab your veggie.
okay, LEEKS.
Now to see what to do with them. Any suggestions are welcome :)

.........and TONIGHT

I went to Longhorn's Steakhouse for dinner with a friend, Christy, and I was "GOOD".......you do realize that GOOD is all relative, right?????  haha

ANYWAY, I was GOOD, and ordered the seasonal veggies as my side....

in this mix was zucchini, squash, carrots, broc, and SNAP!!!!!

I have NEVER had snap peas.  I HATE HATE HATE peas, ugh!!!!  gross.

omg, omg, omg, these were yummy!!!  I don't know what my parents fed me as a child, but it certainly wasn't what I have been eating lately.  I love all the veggies I have been trying, INCLUDING the ones I THOUGHT I hated!!!! 
what's up with that????  seriously??? what is up with that???
I am so grateful to me for starting this blog/new year resolution, because otherwise, I would be so NON veggie friendly :-(

parsnips continued....

So the parsnips were yummy. I roasted them with other veggies.....carrots, shallots, garlic, sweet potatoes.....drizzled with evoo and s&p to taste. yummy. It was very very delish.

the texture was a tad shocking, I expected a carrot kind of texture, but it was rather a gummier kind of texture to it, which JUST fascinated me.  They tasted okay, nothing extraoridnary, but not bad. Kind of like a......hmm.....I guess like a parsnip. LOL. I honestly can't say it tastes like anything else, but thinking about it, neither does anything else I suppose.

so, yay me for trying parsnips......

and TONIGHT.........................

PARSNIPS

okay, so today I am going to meet parsnips.

I have been told that I can make them like mashed potatoes, but I find myself asking, "why make mashed potatoes out of parsnips, or cauliflower? why not use potatoes?"

so I have decided to roast them, along with sweet potatoes, carrots, shallots, and garlic. drizzled with olive oil and s&p.

they are in the oven, and we'll see how I like them. they LOOK just like carrots, except they are white. they have a different smell to them, I can't pin point it, but it's not a carrot smell.

I'll let you know how I like them :)

who knew???

I can not believe that all these years have gone by without QUINOA!!!!!

The texture is amazing, AND curious at the same time.
It's kind of like cous-cous in that it seems to pick up the flavor of what it's melded with.

I put sauted mushrooms in mine, Landon doesn't do mushrooms, so he just had the black beans and the tomatoes.
Darn, I should've put the shallots in.......omg, I bet that would have been DELISH!!!!!

hmmm, I still have plenty left,  A LITTLE GOES A LONG WAY!!!!!,  I think I'll cook up some more mushrooms and shallots for lunch tomorrow!!!!
GEINIUS, I swear!!!  lol.

so, who says

that this blog has to be about VEGETABLES new to me????  can't this be about ANY food that's new to me??

OF COURSE~~~  why????  because it's MY blog.......bahahahaha

So on the menu tonight,
drumroll please......

bahd(rolling r here)rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

QUINOA!!!!    oooooooo, aaaaaaaaaa
pronounced.....keenwa

so it's on the stove soaking up the water as we speak. I am dressing it with lime zest, lime juice, sugar, s&p, diced tomatoes, black beans, shallots, and for me mushrooms!!!  :-)
served with a deep seared alaskan salmon.
I can't wait. It sounds sooooo yummy.......I hope it is low in points too. We'll see. I'll check those while the quinoa is cooking.
I'll be back.....................

What's next

Hmmmm, I don't know which veggie to try next. Who knew veggies could be so difficult?  I certainly had no idea.
lol, I thought the hardest part would be the eating of strange veggies, turns out the hardest part is FINDING them.
So let me go down my list and see what's out there to try.

I know I would like to try the "Mashed Cauliflower" that everyone raves about. I already love cauliflower, but have never tried them mashed.
I'd like to try parsnips, turnips, those rutabagas, beets, eggplant (I think I'll try those in an eggplant parmesian recipe from a friend).
**sigh**

this is tough.......I guess if I was a veggie kind of person it wouldn't be so difficult to choose, but honestly.......when you don't really LIKE veggies, then ALL veggies look a bit daunting, not to mention a tad unappealing :( 
I have enjoyed the veggies I have tried to date, so I don't know what the big deal is.
so I'm just going to pick....................
que dramatic music **dah dah dah**
MY NEXT VEGETABLE TO TRY WILL BE........................

PARSNIPS!!!!!!!!!!!!

so now off to find all kinds of different ways to prep parsnips.......see you soon.

oooo ooooo, btw, the stuffed mushrooms, NO BRAINER................DELISH. Tasted JUST LIKE MUSHROOMS....go figure :)

hmmmm

just REreading some posts, and I am thinking a threesome may be in order!!!!!!!
Me, roasted garlic and roasted shallots!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just sayin'!!!!!!!!!!!!

2 in 1 accidentally

so this morning I have decided to cook the bellas!!!!  I got a recipe that is only 2 points and has items that I already love, so........SAFE :)

But before I do that, I decided to try a roasted grape tomato recipe that I saw on the tele the other morning. It calls for a batch of grape tomatoes and a few garlic  cloves in a baking dish drizzled with evoo and s&p to flavor. just bake/roast for 20 minutes, toss then another 20 minutes.

toss with whole grain angel hair pasta and add fresh leaves of basil. doesn't that sound DELISH!!!!?????

omg, omg, omg, when that came out of the oven, I was going to scoop out the garlic......because frankly as much as I LOVE garlic, I don't like biting into a chunk of garlic. OH, BUT NOT THIS GARLIC!!!!
I squeezed out the innards, and it was instant LOVE. I have fallen in love with roasted garlic.......and it was all because of stuffed portobellos. Who would have thunk I tell ya?????  honestly??? WHO???

so after the initial love at first bite with the garlic, I proceeded to prepare for the mushrooms. I browned some turkey sausage in a pan......crumpled, not linked or pattied. 
In a seperate bowl I mixed some ff cream cheese and ff cheddar, some diced up seeded and juiced tomatoes along with onions and a couple of dashes of hot sauce.
I cleaned the mushrooms, I still have BIG TIME QUESTIONS ABOUT THAT PROCESS.
I proceeded to stuff the mushroom sliced some tomato and mushrooms to top the mushroom with.
It is now in the oven cooking. I am excited to try these, but they will have to wait till dinner this evening. **sigh** the aniticipation is exhausting, I must say!!!!  :( 
I'll be back to inform everyone whether or not this is a win or no win.  Either way, the roasted garlic, CHAMPION!!!!!!

Well, the Bellas

are still in the fridge.  I have yet to make them, but I do believe that tomorrow or Saturday will be the day. (today is Thursday)

I have searched for some recipes and have found a few that I like, so I will dwindle down to one and then cook 'em on up!!!
I am very excited about meeting these veggies in a different way.....

Just touching base so that no one thinks that I have died due to some weird vegetable tainting or something.

See ya!!

Portobello Mushrooms :)

So my next introduction will be Portobello Mushrooms, the BIG ones.
I eat Baby Bellas almost every single day, but I have yet to try the BIG ones. You know......
the ones people grill, or use as Portobello Mushroom Burgers.
I am not quite sure how I will prepare them, I am searching. But they will be cooked tonight.
Landon wants left over HOMEMADE Chowder that I made, so I will eat the Bellas. (he HATES mushrooms)

I am absolutely sure that I will LOVE them, so I look foreward to seeing how I prep them. I'm excited :) 

EASY PLEASEY ......lol.....

suRprise :)

so, as a side note, and a plus to the brussel sprout experience, I have fallen in LOVE LOVE LOVE with SHALLOTS **singy voice**

I tore into them. I already love onions, these are sweet, and with a touch of vinegar and some roasted garlic almond slices, heAVen!!!!
Yummo.
I think I see a very tight relationship happening in the future between myself and my new found love, the shallot!!! 

SCORE!!!

okay, that was okay

so the brussel sprouts were OKAY. Nothing like the sparks I felt with the squashes. But I can see that this can be an improved dish if I try it in some different way.
I don't think it was soft enough, it was too hard for me. The marriage of the almonds and these brussel  sprouts were awesome together!!!!!
The sweetness of the sugar, OMG, yummo. I can see maybe using syrup instead of sugar. but that's me. I'll see what different thing I can do with it to make it MORE appetizing for me.
On the other hand, LANDON HATED IT!!!  lol.
Oh well, too bad he can't cook.......he must suffer :-)

du du du duh!!!!!!!! BRUSSEL SPROUTS

So the day has come.....everyone says THIS is the vegetable of all vegetables. The vegetable that LOVES to be HATED, I guess it's like LIVER or something........gross.

So I bought a pound of brussel sprouts and I have taken MANY suggestions on preparation.........and decided to listen to NO ONE!!!! bwahahahahaha........it all just sounded like I wouldn't like it.

I went in search of a prep that sounded tastey to me, and it is in the oven bathing with some shallots as we speak.

omg, spaghetti squash!!!

Hi spaghetti squash, my name is Jennifer and I LOVE how versatile you are :-D    Omg, how awesome is this veggie?
So the journey begins.....
 First, it didn't look "ripe"  I'm not exactly sure what a ripe squash looks like, but when I cut into it I expected something different, I'm not sure what exactly....just different.
ANYWAY........
People have suggested that I cut it in half, scoop out the seeds, season it with EVOO and S&P, then place on a baking sheet cut side down and bake it at 350ish for about 1/2 an hour........
so I did.........
Now comes the decission part....how do I serve it???  Some have suggested to use it as a side veggie to go with my entree. Some have suggested to serve it like I would spaghetti; sauce and all. Someone else suggested to serve it with sauted mushrooms, onions, tomatoes, and cheese. UGH, I hate decissions, and this is a biggie, because if I serve it in such a manner that it tastes like crap then I won't want to eat it again.
So the final decission was to do a mix of two.
Ready???
First, if you have never had spaghetti squash I must say that when it is cooked and you are scooping the "meat" of the squash out of it's casing, it looks JUST LIKE SPAGHETTI NOODLES :)  I wonder what it was called BEFORE spaghetti noodles were "created"???? hmmmm????
Okay, so I scooped out the meat and placed it in 2 seperate bowls. Ideally, 1 for this way and 1 for that way.
THIS way.......was to add sauted onions and mushrooms to the bowl and pour a vodka sauce over the mix as if I were serving up spaghetti.
THAT way.....was to add sauted onions, mushrooms and italian sausage to the mix and top with parm.
considering how I do not like traditional spaghetti, I gave THIS way to Landon, and I chose THAT way for myself.
AND I LOVE THAT WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
THIS way was okay, but THAT way is way better.
So now I am 2 for 2!!!  booya!!

Spaghetti Squash

So tonight I am making spaghetti squash. I have had many people tell me to their suggestions for spaghetti squash, and the winner is to serve with baby bellas and vodka sauce. 
I do have one or two questions, however. 1st, if your main course is a veggie, do you serve a veggie on the side??? I'm thinking probably not.
But an even more important question is this.......if your veggie is acting like spaghetti, then do you serve with bread or something????  It just seems to me if I were going to eat spaghetti then I would have a salad and bread on the side.........oh well lookie there, lol, I just answered my own question. How about I do spaghetti squash and have bread and salad on the side....hahahaha.....GENIUS!!!!
Well I will cook that up and come back and tell you what I thought, how does that sound??? lol

oh, what to try this week???

So, I have decided that it is just too difficult to try the veggies in abc order..........unless there is a Whole Foods out there, it's just not happening. (soon, soon)

so today I believe I will go to Publix and look at their produce dept and see if it's better than Target......we KNOW it's better than Walmart, at least I'm guessing it is...haha.

I saw something the other day called Parsnips. I'm not sure what that is or what I'm going to do with it, but I will go back and buy some of them......

any ideas????   haha.
I'll get back with you on the outcome after the tasteing :)

shared recipe

**THIS WAS SHARED FROM A WEIGHT WATCHERS THREAD I STARTED, SOMEONE POSTED IT FOR ME SO I BORROWED IT TO SHARE HERE**

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Roasted Asparagus and Thyme Soup 2 lbs asparagus, trimmed of all rough ends 1 Tbsp olive oil, (DIVIDED) 3/4 tsp salt 3 garlic cloves, minced or pressed 1 yellow onion, chopped 1 leek (white and some green parts) chopped 1 1/2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped 1 small celery stalk, chopped 4 cups veggie broth 1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves black pepper (freshly ground) and more salt to taste I use the toaster/convection oven for roasting the asparagus tips. If you DON'T have a convection/toaster oven start with this step. If you do, skip to step 2. 1. For regular oven users: preheat oven to 450. Cut off asparagus tips from stalks, break remaining stalks into 1" pieces. Coat the tips in 1 1/2 tsp olive oil, sprinkle with salt and place on baking sheet. Roast for 15 - 20 min's. 2. Heat the rest of the olive oil (1 1/2 tsp) in stock pot over med heat. Add garlic and let cook approx 1 min (don't let it burn). 3. Add onions, leek, carrots and celery. Cook stirring occasionally until soft (approx 7 minutes). (If you haven't started baking your asparagus tips in the oven yet because you plan on using the toaster oven, this is when I cut off the tips and break into 1" pieces). If using toaster oven to bake tips, I usually flip/stir them after about 8 min's. Keep and eye on them as they won't need to cook as long in the toaster oven. They should be crispy, but not burned. 4. Add asparagus STALKS, broth, thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil over hight heat. 5. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer until stalks are tender (20 - 25 min's). Stirring occasionally. 6. Let cool slightly, puree soup (I use vitamix) but you can use an immersion blender too. 7. Add additional salt to taste, baked asparagus tips, and enjoy!!!!!! YUMMMMMMMMMM.

Starting in the A's~~~ Butternut Squash????

     So my intent was to start in the A's and work my way throught the Z's, I just didn't know what day I would start. So while chilling one morning in front of the tv, Rachael Ray was cooking up this awesome looking meal that included pumpkin and sausage and apple. OMG it looked so heavenly, if heaven were a meal......actually sometimes heaven can be, but that's another topic. haha
     She said you could sub butternut squash for the pumpkin. Well I've heard of butternut squash, my bff makes it, she cooks ALL KINDS of veggies.  So I copied the grocery list and off to the store I went in search of my first veggie of the resolution along with the other ingredients I would need.
     I found the butternut squash, and OMG, do you have any idea how HUGE those things are??? They look like they could feed an army!!  HUGE! I'm thinking I better like this thing, because if not there will be TONS of leftovers, after all, you can't throw out food if it's not "bad". I don't care how terrible it tastes, it's going in the fridge if there is anything left over and not until it has crap growing on it will I throw it out.
anyway, I digress.....haha I love saying that......
     So I take the thing home with me, and reread Rachaels cooking instructions. I must first PEEL the huge vegetable. Hmmmmmm, that could be dangerous, so I look and think "what is the best way to do this?" cut it in half and set it on the flat so that it stands on its own and just cut the skin off.....actually it wasn't THAT difficult. It wasn't EASY either, but nonetheless it got done.
     Then I cut it in large cube like thingys, put it in a roaster with 2 wedged apples and 2 wedged red onions, a few seasonings and in the oven at 425 for 30-40 minutes. when that thing came out of the oven it smelled so freaking good, and OMG, it tasted AWESOME!!!!!!  I LOVE butternut squash.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, WHO WOULD HAVE THUNK IT?????  Me!!!!  I love butternut squash.
I am so excited that my first veggie was a HIT with my taste buds :-D 
     Okay, now back to the A's.....lol.

Veggies

Well, it is no secret that I do not like vegetables, can't stand them actually. I eat a handful of veggies, MAYBE......brocolli, cauliflower, corn, some lettuces, asparagus and artichokes. Oh, I CAN eat red and yellow peppers, but would prefer not to.
So I have decided that it's time to grow up and eat my veggies, and what better time than New Years, am I right here????? yeah, I think so.
So it'll work like this for me. I will introduce my pallet (is that spelled right???) to a new vegetable a week. I will try it, if I don't like it, THEN, I will try to prepare it in some different way until I do like it. Mind you, there will be a point where I realize that no matter HOW it's prepared I just won't like it, so.....DONE, gone into the garbage bowl it will go. But please know that I will give it a good try.
So, shall we???  I am ready to embark on this veggie journey, how about you??? 
I wonder if I can find a list of common veggies??? oh I'm sure I can, considering my google story....which I WON'T share here, but let me tell you it is one funny ass story!!!!  lol, still cracks me up.

PS
This is a blog about whatever the hell I want it to be about, it is NOT a school paper or anything, so chill and don't worry about the punctuation, OKAY?????!!!!!  :)  thanx