I see a trend emerging - check out a cookbook from the library and find 3 recipes in it (since I do 3 recipes a week instead of one). The library book is "The Everything Sprouted Grains Book" by Brandi Evans.

TRIPLE COCONUT QUINOA

1 T. coconut oil

1 c. sprouted quinoa

1/2 c. light coconut milk

1/2 c. water

1 t. salt (I'll use 1/2 t.)

1/4 c. shredded unsweetened coconut

Melt oil in medium pan. Stir in the sprouted quinoa and let cook 2-3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Pour the coconut milk, water and salt into quinoa and bring to a simmer. Let cook 5-10 minutes until liquid has been absorbed. Fluff with fork and gently fold in coconut. Serve warm.

Calories- 159, fat- 12g, protein-3g, sodium- 587mg, fiber-2 g, carbs 11g, sugars- <1g. Makes 4 servings. [Grainlady note: I think I'll top it with some chopped pecans, and it if needs a sweetener, I'll use some coconut flavored stevia.

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QUINOA, NUT, & FRUIT SNACK BARS

Mix together in a small bowl and set aside:

1 c. dried fruit mix

1/4 c. fresh orange juice

1 t. vanilla

2 eggs

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Mix in a large bowl:

2 c. oats

1 c. sprouted quinoa

1/2 c. chopped pecans

1/2 c. brown sugar (I'll use coconut palm sugar)

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 t. salt

-----------------------------------------

Pour 1/4 c. coconut oil, melted over the oat mixture and toss to combine. Stir in fruit mixture. Press into greased 9x13" pan/dish. Bake 15-20 minutes - or until it has golden edges. Serves: 18

161 Calories, 7g fat, 4g protein, 72mg sodium, 3g fiber, 22g carbohydrates, 4g sugar

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PUMPKIN SEED CRUNCH CEREAL

1/2 T. pumpkin pie spice (I used apple pie spice)

1/4 t. salt

1/2 c. pumpkin seeds (I used sprouted pumpkin seeds)

1 c. sprouted buckwheat groats

1/4 c. slivered almonds

1/2 c. sunflower seeds, soaked

1-2 T. maple syrup

1 T. lemon juice

2 c. almond milk (for serving - or any other type of milk)

In a bowl, mix together the spices with the pumpkin seeds, buckwheat sprouts, almonds, sunflower seeds, maple syrup and lemon juice. Spread mixture onto dehydrator trays and dehydrate at 115°F for 24-hours until crunchy. Serve in cereal bowls with almond milk and slices of fruit. Makes 4 servings [I'll use it for 8-servings].

per serving: 548 calories, 46g fat, 13g protein, 174mg sodium, 6g fiber, 31g carbohydrates, 9g sugar

I'm determined to make pizza dough today. Yesterday afternoon late it was actually cooler outside than inside! Finally! I love warm weather but it was overkill this year. And since the highs are still in the mid to high 70's, it's comfortable but still allowing for pizza. :) But that's not a new recipe. If i have an easy afternoon with no crises, I'm going to try to make my cake. I was also going to make chicken balls, but am short of chicken, so I might try something new. Maybe a recipe. Maybe not. :) Or maybe I'll turn it into Italian sausage and put it on the pizza!

Okay. I made the dough. I made up the sausage, but it's supposed to meld overnight and be cooked tomorrow. I guess it's called "bulk" sausage, because it's not going in casings. That would be a wasted step, since I'd be taking it right back out again. :) I do have a sausage stuffer attachment for my mixer, however, so I could do that if I get into it. :)

Does the sausage count? I've never made sausage before, even out of the casing. I put three recipes together in a file, printed and looked at them, while I didn't follow them. :) It's something new! But does it count as a new recipe if I didn't follow a recipe?

Inspired by Lars, I think next week I'll try a pasta recipe I've had for awhile. If it's good, I'll try for ravioli the following week. Down the road, I want to make whole wheat, but I want to get into pasta shape first. :)

Everything counts. I would say if there is a recipe or a cooking technique you have never made or haven't made in a really long time then this is what this thread is about.

plllog I used to make pizza dough all the time. Your post made me think I need to start doing that again.

This one's a keeper! First time I've made mashed potatoes in ages. A few tweaks: Cortland vs. Granny Smith, only used half a tenderloin, sliced instead of cubed. Used 10 ounces of mushrooms, sliced instead of quartered. Reduced the cider and broth to 2/3 cup each. Reduced amount of fresh thyme. Didn't add the cornstarch & water. There was no need. I didn't reintroduce the pork until the sauce was thickened. I think it would have been overcooked otherwise. Didn't bother with the garnish.

Source: Pork & Mushroom Stew Served Over Apple Potato Mash

Pork & Mushroom Stew Served Over Apple-Potato Mash
Adapted from Cuisine at Home

1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
1-1/2 pound pork tenderloin, trimmed, cut into 2″ pieces, dried with paper towels, seasoned with salt and black pepper
8 ounce cremini mushrooms, quartered
1/2 cup sliced leeks or shallots
1/2 cup diced carrot (1 carrot)
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup dry sherry or white wine
3/4 cup apple cider or juice
3/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 Tablespoon minced fresh thyme
1 Tablespoon cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tablespoon water (optional)
Salt and black pepper to taste
Diced Granny Smith apple
Fresh thyme sprigs

Heat oil and butter in a saute pan or Dutch oven over medium-high
heat. Add pork and saute until brown on both sides, about 2 minutes per
side. Remove pork to a plate; set aside.

Sweat mushrooms, leeks and carrot in same pan over medium heat until softened, 3-4 minutes. Stir in flour and cook 1 minute.

Deglaze the pan with sherry, scraping up any bits on bottom of pan,
and reduce until evaporated. Stir in cider and broth; bring to a boil.
Reduce heat to medium-low. Add pork with residual juices and 1
Tablespoon thyme. Simmer stew until thickened, 5 minutes. After 5
minutes I still wanted a tad more thickness so I slowly added 1
Tablespoon of cornstarch dissolved in 1 Tablespoon water to the stew.
Season with salt and pepper.

Serve stew over Apple-Potato Mash (recipe below). Garnish each serving with diced apple and a sprig of thyme.

Apple-Potato Mash

2 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and cubed
1/2 cup half and half
4 Tablespoons unsalted butter
Salt and white pepper to taste

Boil potatoes and apple in a pot of salted water until tender, about
15 minutes; drain. Return potatoes to pot over medium heat to dry, 1
minute. Remove pot from heat; add half and half and butter. Mash mixture
with a potato masher, then season with salt and white pepper.

CindyMac that's such a different recipe. I've never seen anything like that. Congrats on finding a keeper.

I cooked off my chicken sausage today. Had a headache all day so just did it in blobs in a skillet with a drop of oil. I thought I'd overwhelmed it with flavor, but, in fact, it was barely there. There was enough seasoning, but I put in fennel seed, coriander seed, star anise, hot pepper, black pepper, garlic, onion, and lots of herbs. Oh, well. You learn. :) I only did this because of man-shopping. It was supposed to be a pound of ground dark and a pound of white, or whichever they have if they don't have both. So home comes one pound of dark, rather than two. Not worth making a half batch of balls. So I made my first pizza since Spring with sliced mushrooms and torn up chicken sausage blobs. Since the sausage was so meh, I used "pizza seasoning" (which I use on sandwiches) and crushed red pepper and it totally tasted like it was the sausage. :) When in doubt, cheat. :)

So what's in my e-mail? Anova's anouncment of Kenji Lopez-Alt sausage experiments for sous vide.

I'm really getting off track this week as my social calendar is packed full. I did make the green bean recipe. It was really simple, green and wax beans, sliced almonds sauteed in butter, chives. I didn't even eat any as I was out. My family said it was good. Really simple but something I never take the time to do. I tend to take frozen veg out of the freezer and just heat in the micro and add a little butter. That day I did it in the afternoon knowing I would be out that night. So that one is a keeper. Went to make the chicken casserole and some of my ingredients were used by other cooks in the house. Need to restock. The salmon is still in the freezer, waiting. Happy Halloween!!!

Happy Halloween, Debra!

The beans count.

I made my velvet cake today, with the Betty Crocker boiled icing that Party_Music suggested. I've yet to see just how red it is. :) Going with what I had on hand, I used red cocoa, rather than raw. I also subbed half dark brown sugar and half white for the light brown sugar because I was worried about the color. The brown sugar is for texture, so I'll see if that messes it up. I don't think it will. This is by weight anyway, which makes it easier. I can say that the crystals were melted by the time I'd followed the instructions to overcream it. :) I followed the instructions to use half unbleached flour and half cake. King Arthur unbleached AP makes tough cakes (eta: by itself). I have a feeling Gold Medal (bleached) AP would have been fine (eta: by itself), but whatever. It also called for sieving twice to get rid of lumps. I put it through my big sifter instead, and didn't bother with the twice because the sifter sifted out the kosher salt. Obviously his sieve isn't very fine. And I didn't have any lumps left. Oh, and I used the butter paper on the pans instead of spray. Otherwise, I followed closely.

The batter was almost mousse-like. I've never made a soda rising layer cake before. The layers aren't very tall. It calls for three 9". They're supposed to be flat, and they were, and I didn't think I could cut them any flatter, so I just iced as is. At 30 minutes they weren't done. A few more minutes and they were starting to be over. :( The crumbs taste really good, though.

I'd forgotten how sticky the icing is. I waited until I was sure no trick or treaters would be interrupting when I had the syrup boiling, and by the end I just slapped the icing on the cake. It's not particularly pretty, but I couldn't be bothered with piping, and color isn't called for. Still, the point was an old fashioned cake, anyway, and it has that old fashioned look. I'll take a picture after I cut it tomorrow. We'll see how uneven the filling is. :) That's my big dread. Without piping it it's hard to control. The crumbs taste really good!

Can't wait to see that cake!

I mentioned doing Pommes Anna -- here's the recipe I followed

http://dirtythekitchen.com/pommes-anna-potato-pie/

Many others out there, but I wanted one with some thyme and a hint of garlic. I had to use dry thyme, my thyme was victim of the drought.

Some other recipes use some stovetop precooking and may turn out more nicely browned on the bottom. This one did not for me -- I may have to try that and/or switch to the small cast iron skillet rather than copper (I flipped it). Made it for brunch with some scrambled eggs with goat cheese and some chicken sausage.

Lime Curd Tart is on deck....

Here it is. I think I have a comb slicer somewhere, or, more likely, did. The knife just drew the crumbs down, which isn't as pretty. It's interesting. The cocoa and flour sifted together were very pink. The batter was a slightly purple side of the color of hot chocolate. The finished cake is very chocolate cake looking. But you can see just how red it really is in the wedge. (I cut a double sized wedge to make it easier to show.)

The texture is moist and soft, fairly closed but on the right side of gummy. I can't imagine that one minute over had a huge effect on the texture. It's very standard, old style chocolate cake. I've made cake with shortening, Gold Medal AP and granulated sugar that had a more velvety texture. I like the buttermilk, though. It helps foil the sweet. I'm not a big fan of sweet cakes. This cake does need the icing just because it would be too much by itself. It tastes more chocolaty than most red velvet, but that's probably the excellent cocoa powder. And the large amount of it called for.

Conclusion: It's a good recipe. Using the listed light brown sugar and raw cocoa powder might make a difference, but I don't think it would be a big one except for the color. I could tweak it my way too. It's not exciting as is, but it's a keeper.

Gooster, I just ate, and those potatoes are making me hungry all over again!

@pillog, yum. I'll trade you a slice of pommes anna for a sliver of that cake!

Heck, you could have more than a sliver! It's not one of those nouvel cakes that are so rich that after one bite you need a nap! There's plenty left after the company. :)

This isn't a recipe, and I'm sure many others have done it, but it was new to me: After all the doings, I was going to make meatballs marinara. I didn't make the chicken balls, so it was, er, up to the plate. :) But I seriously didn't feel like making meatballs. And I had a pound and a half of ground bison that really needed using. So I looked at what else was screaming for attention: The yolks from the icing plus one egg whose yolk had cracked. Some leftover raw sliced mushrooms that were doomed. The low fat cheddar that I had grated before my back went bad for a week, cancelling the plans it was part of. But I was also thinking cheeseburgers. I didn't want to make cheeseburgers. That's more work than meatballs! So I made cheeseburger meatloaf! It was actually very good in a dive bar kind of way.

I did put some thought into the moisture content. Little egg white, mushrooms weep, etc., so I used sprouted whole grain bread (commercial) rather than matzah to be a bit moister, dehydrated onions instead of fresh to be dryer, dried parsley to be somewhat wet-neutral, and mixed half the cheese into the loaf. Also, S&P and cracked red pepper. I considered what makes a great cheeseburger, but decided that pickles were too weird (also too hard to figure the moisture, but weird was the first consideration). When I was forming the loaf, however, it felt all wrong. Way too firm. I don't usually add water to my meatloaf, though many do. Then I realized I hadn't used any condiments, which had been part of the calculation. I added ketchup and mustard, which made touching it feel slimy, but got the right consistency, then after I formed the loaf (and washed my hands for the umpteenth time), I coated the top with ketchup and mustard. I know people who do ketchup like that on their regular meatloaf. Seven minutes before it was supposed to be done, I put another quarter of the cheese on top, and tried leaving it in longer than time, but it didn't brown (low fat?) so I just pulled it out before the edges started to burn.

It's really very tasty and cheeseburgery. All the salt in the cheese dripped to the bottom with the rendered fat, however, making the body a bit bland. One diner poured a spoon of the juice onto the slice to fix it. :)

Conclusion: Not something special enough to buy ingredients for specifically, but a success in general and worth repeating under the right circumstances.

The cake looks wonderful. Great use of things you had on hand with the cheeseburger meatloaf.

I did make the lime curt tart. Here's the recipe from Ina Garten.

The curd is great. The extra lime zest and pulverizing it with the sugar gives it some zip.

Thanks, Debra.

Great tip about the pulverizing, Gooster.

Throwing out a recipe! Yep this one is NOT a keeper. I mentioned a Chicken and cheese quesadilla pie. Rotisserie chicken, cheese, eggs, etc. on a tortilla crust in a pie plate. I left out the jalapenos as DH does not like hot spicy food. The dish was bland and while the jalapenos would have added something to it, I really didn't think this one deserved to be kept. In the recycling bin!

I'm going to look at recipes now and start week 4 tomorrow.