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Say NO to Straws

Imagine it’s a busy hot sunny Summer day all day and at the moment, a nice, cold lemonade sounds completely satisfying.  You then proceed to grab a reusable cup, dump some ice into the cup, pour the lemonade into the cup, grab a straw, and sit down, relax, and enjoy.  Now, there is nothing wrong with enjoying a nice beverage, however there was one step in the process you could leave out: Step 4 – Grab a straw.

Straws are made up of plastic that almost 100% of the time will never be recycled.  By not using straws at home, you will be doing a number of things to help the environment including, reducing the amount of pollution made during the production of straws as well as reducing the amount of non-recyclable waste you dump into the landfill.

Check out more at a great little blog on Environmental Issues- 

http://blog.ctnews.com/ego/page/6/

Espresso Kahlua Brownies- Gluten and Lactose Free and AWESOME!

A chewy brownie with an intense coffee flavor.

1/2 cup unsalted butter, cut into pieces
2 cups unsweetened chocolate, chopped (or use chips, Ghirardelli makes a great dark chocolate chip)
2 large eggs
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons instant espresso powder
2 tablespoons Kahlua or other coffee-flavored liqueur
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
25 espresso coffee beans

Preheat oven to 350°F. and butter and flour a 9-inch square baking pan, knocking out excess flour.

In a small heavy saucepan melt butter and chocolate over low heat, stirring, until smooth. Cool chocolate mixture to lukewarm.

In a large bowl with an electric mixer beat together eggs, sugar, vanilla, espresso powder, and Kahlua until mixture is thickened and pale. Beat in chocolate mixture. Into a bowl sift together flour, baking powder, and salt and beat into batter just until blended well.

Spread batter evenly in pan and arrange coffee beans in 5 rows of 5 beans each. Bake brownies in middle of oven 30 to 35 minutes, or until a tester comes out with crumbs adhering to it. Cool brownies completely in pan on a rack before cutting into 25 squares. Brownies keep, layered between sheets of wax paper in an airtight container at cool room temperature, 5 days.

Basic Brownies

Makes 9 brownies

1/2 cup unsalted butter
2 cups dark chocolate
1/3 cup rice flour
1/3 cup tapioca flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional)

1. Adjust oven rack to center position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter and chocolate together in a medium saucepan set over simmering water or in a bowl in a microwave on medium power; set aside to cool.

2. Measure flour, baking powder, and salt into a small bowl and whisk briefly to combine; set aside.

3. Whisk sugar into cooled chocolate mixture. Whisk in eggs and vanilla, then fold in flour mixture (and nuts) until just combined.

4. Pour batter into greased 8-inch square pan pan, 2 inches deep; bake at 350 degrees until toothpick inserted halfway between center and edge of pan comes out with a few fudgy crumbs, about 20 minutes. If batter coats toothpick, return pan to oven and bake 2 to 4 minutes more. Cool brownies completely in pan set on a wire rack. Cut into squares and serve. (Pan can be wrapped in plastic, then foil, for up to 2 days — to preserve moistness, cut and remove brownies only as needed.)

Variations-  I use dried cherries soaked in Garn Marnier in the brownies sometimes.

The Main Reason to LOWER Your Carb Intake

From Healthline.com

For those of you who haven’t given up soft drinks, who eat a vegetarian grain based diet, who have a sweet tooth, who feed their children and babies fruit juices on a regular basis…look at these statistics.

Crab Tabouli with Quinoa

I demonstrated this dish in cooking class one night and my students took one look at the recipe and said they would never make it; too many ingredients!. But after tasting it they agreed that this dish was REALLY worth the effort!!

Serves 4

1 cup quinoa
3 cup boiling water
1 tart apple2 Roma tomatoes-  diced small
1 medium cucumber-  diced small
3 whole scallions-  sliced thin on diagonal
1 yellow tomato- small diced
2 Tablespoons chopped spearmint
2 Tablespoons chopped basil
1/3 cup sliced black olives
1/2 cup fresh mayonnaise
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
1 pound lump crabmeat
salt and pepper

1)  Toast quinoa on stovetop, in heavy skillet, shaking pan, until lightly browned. transfer to a bowl, pour in boiling water, cover tightly and let sit for about and hour. Or you can simmer on low until liquid is completely absorbed.  Drain and cool.

2)  Combine all ingredients except crab. fold in crab and season to taste. Cover and refrigerate for 2-4 hours.

5 Smokin’ Hot Salmon Dishes

From Bon Appetit

She’s a pretty good looking fish to start with, salmon. But when you gussy her up with flecks of green herbs or branches of pearl-sized cherry tomatoes, she becomes a showstopper. Here are five recipes that fall under that category, from a simple poached version lying on a lush bed of greens to a grilled salmon steak with a blueberry pan sauce that’s easy both on time and on the eyes.

Slow-Roasted Salmon with Cherry Tomatoes and Couscous

Poached Salmon with Avocado Sauce

Salmon Steaks with Spicy Tomato Sauce

Pan-Seared Salmon with Pumpkin Seed-Cilantro Pesto

Grilled Salmon with Quick Blueberry Pan Sauce