Casually Delicious

"Food, like the people who eat it, can be stimulated by wine and spirits." Julia Child

[hannabrattt]

Homemade Vanilla Almond Milk

Its easier than it sounds and so worth the effort!

Ingredients:

3+1/3 Cups of Filtered Water 

1 Cup Raw Almonds soaked overnight or for up to 2 days

3 Dried Dates pits removed

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Vanilla Extract

Instructions:

Combine all ingredients in a blender and blend well, up to one minute.

Next you’ll pour the mixture into a “nut bag.” I have included a link for the one i use below. If you prefer not to buy a bag, cheese cloth would most likely work. You just need something very fine so you don’t get bits of almond or date in your milk. https://www.amazon.com/Commercial-Quality-Reusable-Strainer-Cheesecloth/dp/B0163J8NH8

Next you have to squeeze your heart out! I mean reeeeeeally squeeze! Leave no drop of almond milk behind! It’s precious stuff. Once you taste it you’ll know what I mean!

After you have squeezed all that you can, pour into a sealed container and let chill. It tastes much yummier cold. 

I like to drink the almond milk all by itself. It is so delicious, but you can use it for cereal, in coffee or really anything you can think of! If you prefer a more plain or unsweetened almond milk, simply omit the vanilla, cinnamon, and dates.

This recipe makes about 4 liquid cups. It will separate naturally after it sits in the fridge, but don’t panic! Just shake it up before you drink it. Refrigerate for up to 5 days, but it’s best within the first 3 days.

I like to save the leftover almond pulp to make almond flour, which I will show you how to do in my next post. It is really easy to make and can be used for an endless array of baked goods!  

[hannabrattt]

Spaghetti Squash Beef Stroganoff:

A bright, fresh and healthy, but equally as delicious, alternative to a traditionally heavy dish!

Ingredients:

1 Large spaghetti Squash

Drizzle of Olive Oil

1 Ib. Organic Grassfed Lean Ground Beef

2 Tablespoons of Unsalted Butter 

1 Ib. Crimini Mushrooms sliced

1/2 of 1 Yellow Onion sliced thinly

3 cloves of Minced Garlic

1/2 Cup Dry White Wine

1&1/2 cups Chicken Stock (beef would be great too I just used chicken because that was all I had)

1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce

3 Tablespoons of All Purpose Flour

1/2 Cup Light Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt

1 Tablespoon of Fresh Thyme lightly chopped

2 tablespoons of Herbed Chévre Goat Cheese

1/2 tablespoon Red Pepper Flaked

Salt and Pepper to taste 

Fresh Basil or Parsley roughly chopped

Instructions:

First things first we need to get that spaghetti squash cooking. Preheat your oven to 400. Make sure you have a stable cutting board and a sharp knife or meat cleaver. Raw squash is very tough. Cut both the top and bottom ends off of the squash. Cut the squash into 2 finger width wide rounds (they don’t need to be perfect by any means). I ended up with 8 rounds, for a large squash. Clean seeds and pulp out of each round and place them on a baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast until the squash easily pulls apart with a fork (about 20 minutes with this method). Once the squash is done cooking allow to cool, pull it apart, and set it aside                                                                 *cooking the squash with this method, as opposed to the more common way of simply cutting them in half lengthwise, produces much more spaghetti noodle type strands rather than a bunch of tiny little stringy pieces. It is also much faster to cook! 

In the meantime, while your squash is roasting away, saute the ground beef in a medium sized pot on medium heat. While the beef is cooking, whisk together the 1&1/2 cups of stock with 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce and 3 tablespoons of flour. Set the broth mixture aside.  

Once the beef is just underdone add the 2 tablespoons of butter and allow it to melt.

Next add the sliced onion, sliced mushroom, and garlic to the ground beef and allow to cook until the onions and mushrooms are soft (about 5-10 minutes). 

At this stage we hope that there is a beautiful coating of brown, yummy, flavorful bits coated to the bottom of the pan. Pour in the 1/2 cup of dry white wine (it should sizzle immediately, if not turn up the heat) and scrape, scrape, scrape to get all of the brown flavor bits off of the pan and into your yummy sauce!  

Now its time for the broth mixture you made earlier. Pour that in with the beef mixture and allow to thicken stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes.

Add sour cream or Greek yogurt and stir to combine. Salt and pepper to taste.

Now traditionally the recipe would have ended with the previous step, but while I was making this it just tasted boring to me. So I consulted my mother and she agreed. I added the the red pepper flakes and fresh thyme hoping to brighten things up. It worked, but it still needed a little something more, so we added about 2 tablespoons of herbed chevre goat chese (this is simply a soft and creamy goats cheese with herbs added for flavoring). That was the right call it tasted perfect!

To finish, simply reheat the spaghetti squash if it is no longer warm and top with the stroganoff sauce and a sprinkle of fresh basil.

ENJOY! 

[hannabrattt]

Mushroom and Spinach Frittata

Frittatas can seem intimidating, but they're super easy. They're essentially a big omelet that you don't have to worry about flipping. They're great from brunch or in this case dinner. 

I started out cremini mushrooms, eggs, fresh rosemary (I just use whatever herbs I have around), green onions, 6 eggs, and about a cup combined sharp cheddar and parmesan cheese. I also used about a tablespoon each of butter and olive oil as well as fresh parsley (not pictured).

Next I sliced the mushrooms and minced the rosemary. I added them to my dutch oven over medium heat with the butter, olive oil, and green onions. The butter and olive oil are essential. They help prevent your frittata from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Once the the mushrooms were softened I added the spinach until it wilted. I ended up adding more spinach than i originally planned. I always seem to forget just how much spinach reduces when it wilts. Now that all the veggies were properly cooked and softened it was time to add the eggs. I used 6 eggs. You can use more or less depending on how many people you're feeding. Frittatas save well in the fridge too believe it or not.

Scramble up your eggs. You can add milk or anything you normally like to add to your scrambled eggs. DON'T FORGET: Turn on the broiler right before you pour your eggs in the pan. Pour the eggs into the pan and adjust the temperature to the lower end of medium high heat. Distribute the spinach and mushrooms around so they don't all settle on the bottom. Allow the bottom of the eggs to set. You will know it's time to move it to the oven when the very edges along the pan look cooked, but most of the egg on top is still giggly. Top it with the cheese and fresh parsley. Place it under the broiler until its cooked through. You want to make sure to use the broil setting so the bottom doesn't become overcooked.

Once the frittata is cooked through let it rest for a few minutes in the pan. I used a rubber spatula to loosen the edges of the frittata from the pan. Turn it out onto a cutting board and cut it however you desire. You can use a smaller pan to make a thicker frittata or just add more eggs. It will just take a little longer to cook. With the fundamental steps you can make any kind of frittata. You can add any kind of frittata you want!