My Tzatziki Sauce

I love Greek food!  Monday, we had gyro from our favorite local Greek restaurant.  It inspired me to make a variation of my husband's Greek-style burgers (recipe soon) and a creamy, cool tzatziki sauce.  I forgot to take a picture of both, but I hope you give this a try.  Tzatziki is a cucumber yogurt sauce with many uses.  It is great on top of burgers, chicken, salad, and anything else that could use a great sauce.  While mine isn't necessarily "classic," it is yummy.  Its also really easy!

Tzatziki Sauce

• Plain, whole fat yogurt (or Greek style yogurt if you want to save the straining step)
• 1 cucumber
• 1 tablespoon fresh dill (or slightly less dried dill)
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp salt (or more to taste)
• 1 tsp pepper

1. Shred the cucumber.  Put in a colander of some sort (with small enough holes that the cucumber won't fall through) on top of a bowl and place a paper towel on top.  Place something heavy on top to help squeeze excess water from the cucumber.  Let sit for about 20 minutes.
2. Place yogurt in a towel or paper towel fine mesh sieve.  Let sit over a bowl or sink for about 20 minutes with the cucumber to get rid of excess whey.  You are essentially making a Greek yogurt with this step.
3. Once the draining of excess liquid is done, mix together all of your ingredients: yogurt, cucumber, dill, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
4. Let sit for a half hour in the fridge before serving.  This step lets the flavors meld.

Zucchini Boats

I'm getting excited about all of the veggies that are coming into season right now!  Everything is so colorful and tastes so much better than it did a few months ago.

It is during this time of the year that I love zucchini and summer squash, but I get bored with the same old steaming or grilling, so I searched Pinterest for some squash inspiration.  I found a beautiful picture of zucchini boats that were roasted in the oven with little grape tomatoes, perfect!  Bonus, these tasted wonderful and even got approval from the kids of a coworker!

I forgot to take a picture, so you'll have to make a mental picture :)

Zucchini Boats
adapted from: Proud Italian Cook

• 4 medium, straight zucchinis
• 16 grape tomatoes, sliced in half
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/8 tsp garlic powder
• a pinch of pepper
• a pinch of salt
• 8 thin slices of mozzarella
• 4 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese (the real stuff is better!)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a cookie sheet with tinfoil.
2. Slice the zucchinis lengthwise and scoop the seeds out of the middle.  Line them up on the cookie sheet.
3. Place the grape tomatoes in the zucchini boats, 4 to a zucchini.  
4. Drizzle zucchini with olive oil and sprinkle on the garlic powder, pepper, and salt.
5. Bake for about twenty minutes, or until zucchini is starting to get soft.
6. Remove the zucchini from the oven.  Turn the temperature up to 400 degrees.  
7. Put the mozzarella on the zucchini and sprinkle the Parmesan on top.  
8. Return to the oven and bake for another 10-15 minutes, or until cheese starts to brown.  Watch it closely to make sure it doesn't burn!  Enjoy! 

Caprese salad for a crowd

Happy late father's day!  The past two father's days have been a little rough in my family.  Little might be an understatement...Last year, my husband's father passed away and this year we lost my grandfather a week before father's day.  But I spent a wonderful day with my father and all of my uncles and ate lots of yummy food!

I kept trying to figure out what I should make for our gathering.  I wanted to make something really quick and something that I could eat with a burger in case there were limited food options (which there weren't!!).  I was thinking caprese bites, but making each tiny salad on a toothpick was going to take awhile.  Then I remembered a wonderful thing that we had started making at the in-law's a few summers ago.

This salad is super quick and is a real crowd pleaser!  The ingredient list is really short, which is an extra bonus!

Caprese Salad for a Crowd

• 2 pints grape tomatoes, sliced in half
• Almost a cup of basil leaves (not a packed cup, just a big handful size)
• 16oz mozzarella (full fat tastes better!)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2-4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• a pinch of pepper

1. Cut the mozzarella into small squares or rectangles like above.  If you can find tiny little balls of mozzarella, those would be really cute and you could cut them in half to match the tomatoes!
2. Chiffonade the basil.  This is really simple, but sounds fancy.  Stack some basil leaves and roll into a little cigar shape.  Slice down the leaves to create little strips of basil.
3. Put all of the ingredients into a large bowl and toss gently.  Sprinkle on the olive oil and vinegar and add the pepper.  Toss gently and serve
4. If you are going to eat this later, I would recommend adding the vinegar right before serving, otherwise everything turns a little brown and isn't as pretty.  Enjoy!

Garlic and Pumpkin Mashed Sweet Potatoes

How do you like the new blog title?  Since I can't bake with real flour anymore, the old title seemed ill-fitting.  Max came up with the nickname "wife-a-saurus" a while ago, though I'm not sure if it was meant as a term of endearment...Since people in the paleo world often say that they eat like a dinosaur, I thought this would make a cute new title.

So, with the new title comes a new recipe with a paleo spin.  I roasted an entire turkey last week which was left over from Thanksgiving and was taking up far too much room in my freezer.  I needed a side for my turkey, but didn't want a traditional mashed potato.  I have made these before and they made a perfect pair for my turkey.

This recipe does use dairy, but could easily be made with coconut milk for those with a dairy intolerance.

Garlic and Pumpkin Mashed Sweet Potatoes
adapted from: Oh She Glows

• 4 large sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
• 1 14oz can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie spiced!)
• 1 10oz package of frozen, chopped spinach (thawed and drained of excess liquid)
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 3 tablespoons salted butter
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• Salt and pepper

1. Put the diced sweet potatoes in a large pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and simmer until potatoes break apart easily with a fork, just like a regular potato.  Drain water from potatoes and return to pot.
2. Add garlic to potatoes right away.  I find the potatoes are hot enough to get rid of the raw garlic flavor.
3. Mash the potatoes a bit and then add the pumpkin, spinach, cream, and butter.  Mash and stir until the potatoes are fairly smooth.  I enjoy some chunks in the mashed sweet potatoes, but that is up to you.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Enjoy!

Quinoa Salad

I start my new job next week as night time coordinator at the Writing Center and I am very excited.  That doesn't really have anything to do with the recipe for today, but I thought I'd share :)

Today's recipe, quinoa salad, is something I kind of made up.  I was inspired by a recipe for quinoa stuffed peppers.  I made this to bring to a friend's house the other day and she asked for the recipe, so I thought I would share it with everyone here too!  Max loves this, so its not a girly meal; he finished everything that was left over from Brittani and Chris's house, I didn't get to have any!

Quinoa Salad

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water (or chicken broth)
• 1-2 avocados, diced into cubes (depending on taste or availability) 
• 6-10 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 can black beans
• 1 can corn
• 1 can Rotel (I used the kind with cilantro and lime juice)
• lime juice (however much tastes good to you, it also helps stop the avocado from browning)
• cilantro (optional)
• salt and pepper

1. To cook the quinoa: bring 2 cups of water (or broth) to a boil.  Add the quinoa.  Turn heat to medium and simmer for 12-15 minutes, or until all the water is absorbed.  Fluff with a fork.  Let it cool for a while before you add all of the other ingredients.
2. Add all of the ingredients to the quinoa.  Salt and pepper to taste.  Chill and enjoy!  

I usually eat this for lunch.  Quinoa is very filling and is considered a complete protein.  If you haven't had it before, you really should try it.  It looks a little like couscous, except bigger.  It has more flavor than couscous or rice.  I usually make it with Better than Bouillon because it adds a bit more flavor.

First Post

Hi everyone! I created this blog to share pictures of my food creations with family and friends. I've found myself baking a lot lately (and that may be an understatement) and keep getting requests for recipes. This is an easier way to share these things than facebook, that's for sure!! I bake about three times a week and I plan on taking pictures and sharing these experiences with all of you!

I have a small back-log of photos that I've taken since Christmas with my new camera (thanks Max :)) and I'll post those and some recipes as soon as I figure out the picture thing. For today, I'll just tell you what I made. I decided I would try hummus today with the tahini I bought at the co-op in norther NH. I got it after our trip to the mecca of baking, King Arthur Flour (more about that later). I also made some pita bread. I made some yesterday and Max liked it so much that I made another batch today (I think today's turned out better). So, here are the recipes. Hope you give them a try and enjoy!

It doesn't look appetizing, but trust me, its good!!

Hummus
1 15-19 oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1/2 cups water
2 tbs olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
juice of 1 lemon (or 2 if its not a juicy one)
1/2-1 tsp of salt
1-2 tsp of cumin
2 tbs tahini

• Put garlic in a food processor (or blender) and pulse until the garlic is chopped
• Put all other ingredients, except water, into the food processor. Blend until everything looks combined, it'll probably look a little dry.
• Slowly add water while blending until the mixture has a smooth, but slightly gritty, look.
• You have now made hummus, enjoy!

Pita Bread
from Making Fresh Bread
3 cups bread flour
1-1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp superfine sugar
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 tbsp olive oil
1 scant cup lukewarm water

• Sift the flour and salt together into a bowl and whisk in the sugar and yeast. Make a well in the center and pour in the oil and water. Stir well with a wooden spoon (or your hands) until the dough begins to come together. Knead a little with your hands until it leaves the sides of the bowl. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead for 10 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Or, use the dough hook attachment of your mixer and knead for slightly less time.

• Brush (or spray) the bowl you used before with oil. Shape the dough into a ball and put it in the bowl, covering with a damp dish towel or paper towel. Let rise in a warm place for an hour when the dough has doubled in size.

• After an hour, punch down the dough (you can do this is the bowl). Divide into 6-8 pieces using a bowl scraper or butter knife. Shape each piece into a ball, put onto a cookie sheet, cover with the damp towel, and let rise for 10 minutes.

• Slightly flatten each dough ball and roll out on a lightly floured surface into an oval that is approx. 6 inches long and 1/4 inch thick. Place on a lightly flour towel (or again, a paper towel) and cover with another towel. Let all the pieces rise for another 30 minutes.

• While those are rising, preheat your oven to 450 degrees. Make sure you do this 20-30 minutes ahead so that your oven gets really hot. Put 2 cookie sheets in the oven so that they get hot too. Put pita dough onto the cookie sheets with space in between. It says bake for five minutes, but mine needed 4-5 minutes longer each time. Cook until they are lightly browned and they should puff up. Cool for about 10 minutes on a wire rack and then put them in a towel again so they stay soft. Store in a big zip-top bag for a few days.

Note: this recipe uses a lot of dish towels and since I didn't feel like doing that much laundry I just resorted to paper towels. They worked fine and you can use them to clean the flour off your counters when you are done baking.

If you don't feel like making the hummus, put on some butter and jelly or make a sandwich!

So, let me know what you think so far and leave me a comment to let me know you've visited.