When life gives you tomatoes, stuff them!

Through the generosity of Mother Nature and her minions, I had way too many tomatoes this week, which admittedly, is not actually a problem. I love tomatoes with a firey passion unmatched by any other vegetable, and everyone in my life knows this, which is how I ended up with a bowl full of them.

I love tomatoes. I love cheese. I love bread crumbs. So, there you have it.

I’d forgotten where I first saw the recipe, so I used my google-fu and found this one. I’m not a regular reader there, and dislike the ads on the source site. But the layout was easy to navigate, the recipe more or less matched what I had available, and I really appreciated how easy these were to make.

The only problem was the guilt I felt gutting my beautiful tomatoes. It was Linus on Halloween all over again…

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Stuffed Tomatoes

Ingredient Modifications:

4 medium tomatoes to 3 medium tomatoes and one large tomato.

My bread crumbs are Italian style.

Butter to faux light butter.

Fresh basil to about an inch of dried basil I was trying to use up.

Monterey Jack to I had mozzarella already shredded, what would you do?

1/2 teaspoon of salt to I don’t like that much salt, so three grinds should be plenty.

Added about 1/2 cup of nutritional yeast, some Italian seasoning, some Romano, & 1 teaspoon minced garlic to the filling. I think 1/2 teaspoon of garlic next time will be enough. I like garlic & don’t mind garlic breath, but this was a bit much.

I did not use the pulp and didn’t miss it.

No pretty garnish because I didn’t have it and yes, this bothers me.

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Preparation Modifications:

I sprayed the inside and outside with olive oil because I really like olive oil and was also a little worried these might burn.

10 minutes to 20 minutes because mine were still cold after 10 minutes.

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Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday: Summer Salad

Wordless Wednesday: Gifted Garlic Knots

One way to this woman’s heart is to bring garlic knots from hours away, just because they’re my favorite.

Crock Pot Mac & Cheese

I can’t even tell you the last time I had mac & cheese. I tried making it in the fall, but the result tasted like some sort of Italianesque appetizer hybrid. There was cheese, there were noodles, there was also a combination of seasonings that combined together form “Italian”, kind of like Voltron or the Power Rangers form… you know what, nevermind.

…I got a slow cooker. Finally. I’ve never cooked with a slow cooker before, but have been looking forward to it for ages. I decided to make mac & cheese because I only had ingredients for mac & cheese. I chose the recipe that best matched what I had around, but I still ended up modifying it.

It’s really hard to make mac & cheese without milk or soy, so you can imagine how pleased I was to have finally figured something out! Here’s the base: Carla Hall’s Slow Cooker Mac & Cheese – the chew – ABC, and below are the modifications I made. I’ve never seen this show. My mac does not look or taste like Carla Hall’s. The most obvious visual difference is that mine is creamy (out of the crock) and hers, you can slice. Mine is also bland by design. (Though, she is a famous chef and I’m not, so maybe you’ll like hers better). It was super easy & responded well to my mods, so I was happy!

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Tool Modifications:

Measuring cup to 80s Garfield mug from fast food place.

(I literally did 2 cups & so forth. Why? Why not?)

No measuring spoons. Instead, a soup spoon, which I used to mash the cream cheese & for the mayo. Most things were just eyeballed.

Wisk to large knife because it was there. I have a wisk. I did not use the wisk.

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Ingredient Modifications:

Pepperjack to Muenster & Cheddar

Half & Half to Rice Dream Original

Paprika to Nutritional Yeast

Cayenne Pepper to a dash of red pepper flakes

Added one circle around the bowl of nutritional yeast (after the above mod)

Added a little less than one soup spoon of soy-free vegan mayo

Added more rice dream & shredded cheese by instinct, trying to get it to look like it would produce mac & cheese. (Sorry this isn’t more helpful, but hopefully we all know what mac & cheese ought to look like.)

I didn’t mix it up the way she suggests. Instead, I mixed it all in the bowl, then poured it into the crock pot. Her way sounds better.

Sprinkled with black pepper to serve

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Cooking Tips:

* Start the pasta prep first while you do everything else.

*I set the crock pot to LOW for 4 hours, but the center could have easily gone longer. The center was creamy, but the edges crusted over. After 4 hours, I ate some & stored the rest.

* My crock is 3 quarts. Hall doesn’t really address the size of the crock in her version.

* This became more solid after refrigeration. For this reason, I liked the leftovers better!

Enjoy!

Wordless Wednesday: Crock Pot, Knife, and Brushes!

Thursday Thoughts: Productive Slackerdom

Eventually, I will run out of things to clean. But, until then…

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Things I have done instead of walking:

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1. Emptied a bookshelf, moved the bookshelf, emptied it again, and moved it again.

2. Moved a different bookshelf with books in it across a room. Don’t do this. It is stupid and painful and you will get bruised.

3. Vacuumed countless dust bunnies.

4. Cleaned the bathroom. All day. With a sponge. On my knees.

5. Cleaned the fridge.

6. Moved more furniture around.

7. Reorganized the closet.

8. Rode a stationary bike.

9. Lifted dumbbells.

10. Leg lifts & sit ups.

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Spicy Scrambled Eggs and Stuff

It turns out I can eat scrambled eggs. Who knew?

After trying the egg white sandwich, I felt brave enough to make my own scrambled eggs, but my version uses more cheese. Though I’ve technically been lacto-ovo for years, mostly, the eggs have just been in baked or processed goods and the dairy was just cheese & processed goods. I used to like scrambled eggs, but after years of going without, the concept presented a challenge. I tried them again because I was told to, but as it turns out, I still like them. With cheese.

I was told to incorporate eggs for protein. I used to be better at this sort of thing. Between allergies and life, I decided not to care about it for a while. But, you can only do that for so long before your body gives you a heads-up. Now, I’m trying to care about protein again, but it’s challenging. I’d prefer to stick to vegetable sources as much as possible, but until I have a clearer understanding of my options, I’m starting off with the recommendations I was given, which fall within the lacto-ovo diet. I can’t say I haven’t thought about stopping before I even begin. Change can be difficult, especially in the midst of more change. Can’t I just sit in the corner and eat my pasta? Please?

It turns out my favorite foods are a little carb-tastic. Not like I didn’t know this… but, you know how it is. I will always love Italian food. I just need to find other dishes to love, too.

Then, there’s the whole weight/exercise issue, which sent me into the fetal position for a few days while I sorted myself out. I have trouble wrapping my head around walking for fitness. I just do. It’s a mental block- one that’s easily removed, but in the midst of change, I am really looking for something familiar to cling to. So, in place of walking, I’ve been vigorously cleaning. This makes every muscle sore, so I can only assume it is a good beginning. Plus, you can admire the results immediately. The day before, I rode a stationary bike for 3 songs, and I am looking forward to the 4th, which is a favorite. This is a big step, considering how long it’s been. I want to start lifting my little handweights again, but thought I’d save that for another day.

I also started using a food tracker that produces reports. The reports have helped me visualize exactly what I’m getting from my choices. I’ve only been at it seriously for two days, so I don’t have much to say about this yet.

So… progress. Nothing earth-shattering, but a few satisfying baby steps towards a larger goal.

Here’s the scrambled egg recipe. It was pretty basic, but very tasty!

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Spicy Scrambled Eggs:

Ingredients: 

3 Eggs

Diced Green Bell Pepper: About a cup

Shredded Monterey Jack with Jalepeno pepper flakes: About a cup

Olive Oil Spray

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Directions:

1. Spray the fry pan.

2. Crack open eggs & place in pan.

3. Add in other ingredients. Wisk.

4. Fry them & stir until they’re done.

5. Serve. (This made about 2 servings).

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*Caliente!*  Enjoy!