Adventures of a healthy-ish pseudo-foodie

Made in advance of the enchiladas It is the time of year to look for ways to use up tomatoes! I have canned plenty of puree and tomato sauce, I have made chili and tomato-based farro and sweet and sour, and I have a year's supply of salsa in the freezer. And so, enchilada sauce. I worked from  this recipe  from Dinner Then Dessert because it's easy. And because I was cooking 8 things at once, I simplified it further and skipped the roux, so mine is super watery. I'll add flour next time, but this one tastes good and the texture is passable. The Recipe: 2 tb vegetable oil 2 tb flour 3 tb chili powder 8 oz tomato sauce 1 c vegetable broth 2 tsp cumin 1 tb garlic, minced 1/2 tsp onion powder 1/4 tsp salt Heat oil in a saucepan. Add flour and chili powder and stir until the color turns a bit brown. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk. Cook for 8-10 minutes until thickened.

Enough flavor for about 50 meals. My friend, Thu, invented this sauce and served it to me at lunch one day. I demanded her recipe and made it for company two days later, and received rave reviews. I could eat this on anything. I have had it on tofu (yum) and grilled vegetables (yum) and in my mind it would be perfect with shrimp or other seafood. Thu suggests adding tomatoes if serving it with seafood. I will try that. She told me the recipe without quantities, so I did my best to quantify it below. Hers was still better, so there is room to perfect the recipe below, but it's a delicious starting point. The Recipe: 1 medium shallot, minced 1-2 garlic cloves, minced 3 tb sugar 1/4 c fish sauce 1 small splash soy sauce Saute shallot and garlic until golden brown Add sugar and stir until melted Add fish sauce and soy sauce and stir Simmer to slightly thicken the sauce.  The Verdict: Overall grade: A Overall reason: Unusual and delicious

Still hot. The last time I made blackberry "jam," I just boiled blackberries with a little bit of sugar and lemon and called it good. It was not jam. It was sauce. It was good, but I wanted jam. This time, I found  this recipe , which promised actual jam without the need for pectin or much sugar. Sounds like my error the first time was just not cooking it for long enough.  This is easy, delicious, and only takes a little bit more time (but not much more effort) than my previous attempt. My only change was that I added a splash of extra lemon juice to each jar to increase the acid content even more before water-bath canning them. Probably not necessary, but I did it. The Recipe: (from Practical Self Reliance) 5 cups blackberries 1-2 cups sugar, depending on sweetness of berries and how quickly you want it to gel 2 tb lemon juice, plus a splash in each jar Combine ingredients in a heavy pan. Cook on medium-low, stirring periodically, until it gels. Al

I could not figure out how to take this photo without my reflection in it. Previously, my pickled beets have all happened very unscientifically and they have turned out great. This time, though, I wanted to actually can them (water bath), so I carefully followed  this very official-looking recipe  to make sure I had the correct acid content and instructions. It worked, and I now have three jars on the shelf waiting for winter! Rather than copying the recipe into this page, I will just leave this link here: http://www.atcoblueflamekitchen.com/Recipes/Recipe-Box/PICKLED-BEETS