Happy Lunchbox, Wraps!

My husband spends 12+ hours a day in his tractor. He often works along countryside roads where there no place to stop and find lunch. When I'm not on tour, I love making him a lunchbox to take with him. I enjoying thinking up new, cool meals that can be easily packed and eaten while he's on the road.

More people are taking their own lunches to work and school. You have better control over what you're consuming and its sooooooo much cheaper than paying for meals at cafés everyday.

We all know how to make a tasty sandwich or salad, but I thought it was time for a wrap in that box.

Wraps can be made with any meats, fish or all veggies. Roasted or grilled veggie wraps are fantastic! Add beans, seeds, nuts or tofu to boost your protein content to ensure you'll be full and have great energy.

For this wrap I decided to make pulled pork. I bought a small, inexpensive pork roast. Seasoned with Creole spices, cumin, fresh cilantro and stuffed it with garlic. I put it into the slow cooker on low for several hours and let it get tender and fabulous.

When it was cooled it put it into a large bowl, along with the juices from cooking and shredded it using two forks.

For my Cole slaw I followed a basic slaw recipe but I replaced the mayonnaise with Greek yogurt and coconut oil. Choose healthier fats whenever possible. I added grated horseradish for a nice spicy kick.

I placed a bed of fresh baby spinach and then slaw on my tortilla. I use plain large flour tortillas for Fuzzy, I prefer using whole wheat for myself. You can use any variety you'd like.

Sprouts and little squirt of coarse mustard...

Then top it with your shredded pork...

Roll it up and wrap it in wax paper or aluminum foil. Wraps can be fun, versatile and they're easy to pack and eat. When you keep your meal choices interesting you tend to avoid poor habits.

Now, GO EAT!!

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#BeautifulBreakfast, Go Eat!

For the past several months I've been concentrating on breakfast. The reason being, it truly is the most important meal of the day. It jump starts your metabolism and it's where you get your first energy blast. It's pretty well known that fresh, colorful foods carry all the goodies you need and honestly, who doesn't like beautiful food?


I've also been making a great effort to incorporate better grain choices into my diet. I limit my bread intake, I choose brown, red or black rice, bulgar, barley and quinoa. I eat more sweet potatoes and yams instead of white potatoes. I haven't removed grains completely as I have no desire to take good carbohydrates from my diet. I like balance. I also choose smarter oils and fats. I use more yogurt, kesam and skyr instead of sour cream. I've also added more movement to my daily routine. I'm pretty sedentary and that's not working for me anymore!! I'm in the 45-55 age range now. Gotta keep thing working properly. Yoga and trying to add 10,000 steps daily has been my new regimen. Flexible fatty, baby!!!! You don't have to be skinny to be fit.

Make smart choices when you eat. Eat clean, colorful, beautiful, fresh foods and move ya body! It makes your brain and belly hole so much happier. Now, look at these #beautifulbreakfasts and GO EAT!! and move.

Midnight Beauty Grape Jam, Pic Pop!

I made homemade jam for the first time!! Woohoo!!
I used these beautiful Midnight Beauty Grapes and I must say, I am happy with the results. Where's the peanut butter, baby?














Now, GO EAT!

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#TeedyCooks

Slow Cooker Sweet & Savory Pork Roast with 'Gumes & Roots!

My fabulous husband got me a super-duper fantastic slow cooker!! Now, the reason for my excitement is that until last year, no one in Norway even knew what the Hell I was talking about when I asked about slow cookers or crock pots. This is something very new to Norway.

As an American, crock pots have been a part of our lives for decades. They were the "go to" way of cooking for working folk or if you wanted to slowly cook meats, beans, chickens, hens and such. Now that I have one here in Langevåg, life will never be the same. In a good way.

Cheaper cuts of meat or fattier meats will tend to benefit the most from slow cooking. The long low cooking process tenderizes the meat and the more fat content, the juicier the meat.

I had this lovely center cut pork roast just waiting to find a home in my cooker. Last night I seasoned it up:

Pork Roast Prep

1kg center cut pork roast
6 cloves garlic
2 tbsps molasses syrup
salt
crushed red pepper
2 tsps cumin powder
Creole Seasoning, to taste (optional)
1 tbsp dried marjoram
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp balsamic creme
1 tbsp olive oil

1 large yellow onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, large slices
2 large carrots, large slices
1 small leek, sliced, washed

Cut pockets into your roast so that the garlic tucks deeply inside without peeking out. You don't want it burning or slipping out while you're searing it.

Cover it with all of the spices, herbs, molasses syrup, balsamic creme and oil. Let it rest for 1 hour.

After the roast rests for an hour, cover it with the sliced veggies, cover it well and put into the refrigerator over night or for at least 8 hours.

Most people think when you slow cook it's all about throwing everything into a pot, setting it and not having to think about it until it's time to eat. Some slow cooker recipes are like that, this is not one of those. It's going to be some work involved here.

Remove the roast from it's little nest under the veggies. It's going to smell like heaven!

To ensure a lovely, juicy roast I like to sear the meat. I heat a skillet with a touch of oil on high heat. When it's nice and hot, sear the meat on all side for a couple of minutes to get a nice brown crust.

My slow cooker has a stainless steel rack, if your's doesn't, it's okay you can make a little riser for the roast with your veggies. I place half the veggies on and under the rack, the roast on top and then the rest of the veggies on top of the roast.

Set the cooker to medium and set a timer for 5 1/2 hours. Now onto my side dishes!!

You may be wondering what 'Gumes & Roots is all about. 'Gumes is my short word for Legumes or beans and their relatives. Roots are root vegetables of which there are many. The legumes I'm using are white beans and dark red kidney beans. I soaked them over night so they were ready to cook today.

My roots are sweet potato, new potatoes and carrots.

'Gumes & Roots

1/2 cup dried white beans, soaked overnight
1 cup dried dark red beans, soaked overnight
1 small sweet potato, cubed
2 new potatoes, cubed
2 small carrots, cubed
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 stalk celery, diced
2 tsps oregano
2 tsps basil
2 tsps thyme
salt & pepper to taste
1 tsp Spanish paprika powder
1/2 tbsp olive oil

In a saucepan, heat your oil and sautee onions, garlic, bell pepper and celery until your onion are slightly transparent. Add herbs, beans a cover with water, about 2-3 inches over the beans. Add spices and stir. Cover and simmer over medium low heat. I like them to cook for 4-4 1/2 hours, adding more water as needed. In the last 30 minutes of cooking add diced root veggies and cook until those are tender. They will also help to thicken the liquid in the beans. Adjust salt & pepper as needed.

Fuzzy is in charge of sharpening the knife and slicing this pretty roast. After it comes out of the cooker, I let it rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

I serve with steamed brown rice.

Now...

Go, eat!!

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Peto's Creamy Fish Casserole, Friendly Foods!

I'm quite a lucky woman, for so many reasons. One of those being, my husband is an incredible cook! He went to school for cooking here in Norway and worked in the Norwegian Seafood industry for 17 years, so he knows his way around the great fish & seafood this country provides.

We have a tradition in our house where Peto usually makes Sunday dinner. He usually makes a more traditional Norwegian meals since our everyday meals that I make, are our more "exotic" dishes, me being from New Orleans. Peto does like to come up with some creations of his own by putting his twist on a traditional dish. This Sunday he decided to do just that!

He had a beautiful loin of cod fish and planned on making a casserole. He wanted to boost the casserole with a bit of shellfish by also adding some small sea shrimp for their intense concentrated flavor.

And away we go!

500gr Cod filet

1 large leek, sliced and washed

2 medium carrots, peeled and sliced into strips

3dl sour cream

1.5dl cream

200gr small sea shrimp, in liquid

Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

1 teaspoon Knorr Aromat Seasoning

1 teaspoon fish sauce

1 1/2 tablespoons all purpose flour

Chives for garnish (optional)

Cube the fish into big chunks and season well with your spices, salt, pepper & Aromat.

 

In a bowl, add cream, sour cream, flour and fish sauce and whisk well.

Heat your oven to 200C

To the baking dish, add a layer of carrots, leeks some cubes of fish and about a tablespoon of the shrimp. Make these layers until all ingredients are used, except for the remaining shrimp. You want to add most of them to the top at the very end of the cooking process.

The liquid from your shrimp is full of flavor, so you want to whisk about 2 tablespoons into your cream mixture and then pour it over the fish and vegetables. Sprinkle fresh black pepper and chives over the top and then place in the oven for 50 minutes.

Remove from the oven add the last of the shrimp and put back into the oven for 5 more minutes.

Voila!!

Serve while hot with boiled potatoes or steamed rice. The more traditional Norwegian way is with potatoes.

Now...

Go, eat!!

If you enjoy the recipes, please share my blog with your friends. If you have a recipe you'd like to share in Friendly Foods, please send it in. Photos are also appreciated! teedycooks@gmail.com

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Omelette Muffins!

These muffins are AWESOMENESS!!! Okay, that being said, they are delicious and simple. They're great for breakfast, brunch or a snack. If you don't want to make homemade biscuit mix it is perfectly okay to use ready made biscuit mix like Bisquick or Pioneer. If you do use ready made, spike it up by adding 1/2 teaspoon of each, baking soda and baking powder. I also think adding an oil to the mix is necessary for moist, fluffy biscuits. Shortening or vegetable oil is my preference.

Making your own biscuit mix is super easy! Here's the recipe for the mix. I like drop biscuits, I never make rolled out biscuits. Just not my thing. I like it rustic looking!

Homemade Biscuit Mix

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon white sugar

2 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup vegetable oil or shortening

1/2 cup milk

Mix dry ingredients into a bowl first. I use a silicon coated whisk and spatula. Add the wet ingredients and mix well. Set aside and heat the oven to 185C

I use a 6 cup, deep, maxi muffin pan. You can use a basic sized muffin pan but you'll have to use half the amount of biscuit mix in each cup.

Lightly oil the muffin cups or use a nonstick spray. In the maxi muffin cups, place about 1 tablespoon of the biscuit mix into each bottom. I bang the pan a couple of times to get the mix settled but not smashed down into the bottom. It's okay if some of the mix is up the side of the cups. It's all going to bake together.

In a seperate bowl crack 4 large eggs and lightly whisk. Add spices to your taste. I like a bit of Creole seasoning and a bit of hot sauce.

Now, for what goes into your omelette, that's where you can do what you feel. I like chopped red onion, bell pepper, green onion or chives, any kind of meat you like or no meat at all, it's up to you. I use chopped ham or bacon. If you use bacon, cook it first, let it cool and then crumble it. Also any type of cheese you like. I used Gouda. Mix your chopped veggies and meat into whisked eggs.

Spoon the egg mixture, equally over the biscuit mix. Don't fill to the very top of each cup or you'll have a mess! Carefully move the muffin pan to your heated oven and bake for 20 minutes or until the muffins are firm to touch.

Remove and let it rest for 5 minutes. Use a butter knife and go around each muffin to release the edges. Turn over and the muffins should pop right out of the pan.

The wonderful part about these muffins, the biscuit bakes and fluffs throughout the omelette, so you get bites of both in every munch!

These can easily be reheated or eaten cooled.

 Now...

Go, eat!!

If you enjoy the recipes, please share my blog with your friends. If you have a recipe you'd like to share in Friendly Foods, please send it in. Photos are also appreciated! teedycooks@gmail.com

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Gindungo! Well, the Teedy Version...(Photos)

I've made several trips to Angola, Africa to preform with the Norwegian band Gumbo. When we go there, we always have beautiful meals. A condiment that's a staple there is a very spicy chili sauce called Gindungo.
It makes me happy! It's very spicy, so can be used sparingly over cooked meals of any kind, fish, seafood, meats or poultry. It can also be used in marinades. It's thinned out for use with a neutral oil so as not to affect the flavor.

I decided to ask the restaurant manager of the hotel, Epic Sana in Luanda, where I could purchase some to take home. He said I may be able to find some  ready made in a store but it was something that everyone makes at home, including the restaurants. He told me he could write down everything I needed and that it was easy to make. Depending on the kind of chilies you use, it can be mild or set your face on fire hot. The hotel used a mixture of cayenne and scotch bonnet chilies.

I live in a small town and there are no scotch bonnets in our local store so I used red and green cayenne.

I used 12 red and 6 green cayenne chilies. Left in tact with stems and seeds.
2 heads of garlic cut through the middle, skins on
2 small red onions, cut through the middle, skins on
sea salt
vegetable oil
2 teaspoons white vinegar

I line a baking dish with baking paper and place the peppers, garlic and onion, sliced side down. Sprinkle with sea salt and drizzle well with vegetable oil. Roast in the oven at 180C for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and let it cool enough to handle. USE RUBBER GLOVES!! The chili oil will get deep into your skin and will burn your eyes and naughty bits, even if you wash your hands thoroughly!!

Gently pull the stems  off of the chilies leaving the seeds inside of the roasted pods/ The garlic and onion should easily squeeze/slide out of their skins. Drop everything into a food processor and add the oil from the roasting pan. Add 2 teaspoons of white vinegar. Flavored vinegar will change the flavor, so don't use apple cider or balsamic. The vinegar is a preservative so that your sauce keeps well when refrigerated. Pulse well in the processor until it becomes a beautiful paste.

Put your sauce into a sterilized air tight jar and refrigerate. To use as a condiment, put a few teaspoons into a small bowl and add vegetable oil to make it a consistency you can easily drizzle onto food. For use in marinades, use as is. Thanks so much to the guys at Epic Sana Luanda for the guidance with this lovely, spicy sauce!

Now...

Go, eat!!

If you enjoy the recipes, please share my blog with your friends. If you have a recipe you'd like to share in Friendly Foods, please send it in. Photos are also appreciated! teedycooks@gmail.com

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Thanksgiving Leftovers! Turkey, Bacon & Black Eyed Pea Soup (Photos)

When you have that beautiful carcass with beautiful chunks of meat all over, pieces of the bacon that was wrapped around it stuck here and there and the delicious bits stuck to the bottom of the pan, soup is necessary!

I soaked a handful of dried black eyed peas overnight so they'd be ready to roll today.

You can make soup with almost everything. I had half of a small cabbage, a handful of Brussels sprouts, red onion, celery, carrots, peas, and a 1/2 cup of barley.

Put everything into to the pot, add water, don't completely cover because the veggies will make some liquid.

I let it simmer for 1.5 hours, covered. I went through with tongs and picked out the bones. Serve hot with crusty bread. If there's any left, it freezes beautifully for a meal on a chilly day!!

Now...

Go, eat!!

If you enjoy the recipes, please share my blog with your friends. If you have a recipe you'd like to share in Friendly Foods, please send it in. Photos are also appreciated! teedycooks@gmail.com

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