Nutty Food Critic

M My Tex-Mex Meatloaf Ingredients:  1 lb. ground sirloin meat 1 lb. ground sausage 2 slices of toasted white or wheat bread finely crumbled or 1 cup croutons crushed * 1 - 4.5 oz. can diced mild green chilies 1 med. sweet yellow onion chopped 8 oz. shredded or small cubes of medium cheddar cheese or co-jack cheese (reserve 1/2) 1/2 c. medium salsa (or hot if you like it extra spicy) 1 egg slightly beaten 3 cloves of garlic pressed or crushed 2 tsp. chili powder 1 tsp. ground cumin 2 tsp. dried oregano 1/2 cup of fresh chopped cilantro 1 tsp. sea salt Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the ingredients together except 1/2 the cheese set aside. Make sure it is all blended together. Form it in a large loaf pan or any pan that will fit your meatloaf and still gives it room to release the fluids around it without spilling over. You can even use a cast iron skillet and make it round instead of loaf shaped. Cook for 1.5 - 2.0 hours. Check after 1.5 hours to see if done. If not, cook...

Tex-Mex Chicken Burrito Bowl Okay, I like to try different things, so I buy lots of food magazines for ideas! A very recent one this year 2023, Cooking Light magazine, had an assortment of different "power bowls" to make. I decided to try this one with chicken, but you can substitute any type of meat you would like in it, i.e. shredded beef, ground beef, and if you are daring, no meat substitutes! Well, that last one is not for me!  Below is the actual recipe I used. If you don't subscribe to Cooking Light, you are missing some great ideas of recipes for you and/or your family. When I saw this edition, I knew it was a game changer for me. I can take the recipe and modify it for the fussy eaters in my family and make it their own.  First, I made it "almost" like the recipe calls for to see what the results would be from everyone. My conclusion was, I loved it just the way it was, but not so with the others. So below is my suggestion on what to do so you don't...

Garden Strawberries So, I like strawberries, and it is the season for all of us back yard growers to start picking! I downsized my plot of plants, but I still have some to pick periodically as they ripen.  The local farms should be ready for the "you pick deals" from June - mid July now! There are quite a few growers in the PNW to choose from. A local favorite is the  Biringer Farm , you can check out their website for more information.  After, of course, the morning coffee, I will make my breakfast shake. It consists of one cup of unsweetened almond milk, unsweetened coconut milk, or unsweetened oat milk. Normally when watching calories, I will opt for almond or coconut milk. I also like at times to mix all three to make one full cup!  I will add one scoop of whey, my morning vitamin, and one cup of frozen strawberries. Sometimes I will add a frozen banana or frozen blueberries. My favorite is just using strawberries. I blend this for about a minute to make sure eve...

Ready to eat! Experimenting with different flours for my 💓-y Pancake mixture. Today, it was the best I have ever made. I didn't take a picture, but it was picture perfect! I will use my written recipe for tomorrow's pancake and see how close I was to throwing things in! Will update this blog! Ingredients:  2 tbsp. dry oats made into oat flour with my blender  1 tsp. hazelnut flour 1 tsp. coconut flour 1 tsp. almond flour 1 tsp. buckwheat flour  1 tsp. brown rice flour  1/8 tsp. baking powder dash or pinch of salt  1/8 tsp. oil (grapeseed, flaxseed, extra virgin olive oil, avocado oil) 1/2 tsp. or 1 tsp. raw honey (however sweet you would like it) 1/4 tsp. chia seeds 1 tsp. flaxseed meal 4 tbsp. egg whites  2 tbsp. buttermilk (or alternative almond or coconut milk) 1/2 tsp. vanilla or almond extract (I like vanilla in my pancakes) Topped with 1 cup of blueberries and strawberries microwaved for 1 minute 45 seconds. It is optional to add a touch of whip...

Braided Honey Wheat Bread I don't know what I would do without my Kitchen Aid mixer when it comes to making bread! I started out watching people on YouTube making bread and it was so fast and easy with the mixer. The first recipes I started making were French bread. I also tried sourdough but didn't use the mixer because, well, "they" the experts said not to. You really can over knead the sourdough! The best bread recipe I found was on the back package of Bobs Red Mill's wheat flour! Simple ingredients and so easy in the kitchen aid.  Ingredients: 1 cup warm Water 2 1/4 tsp. Active Dry Yeast (one 7 g packet) 1 cup Milk room temperature 1/4 c. Honey (raw honey) 2 Tbsp. Oil (I use extra virgin olive oil) 2 3/4 c. Unbleached all-purpose flour 2 3/4 c. W hole wheat flour 1 Tbsp. Salt  Start out by warming a cup of water in your microwave (or stove) to just the right temperature. You might ask, "what is the right temperature?" My rule of thumb is to get it th...

💓-y  Banana Nut Bread 💓-y Banana Nut Bread is now my favorite to make! Healthier version than I usually bake. I substituted the white sugar with honey, egg whites for the whole egg, and plain Greek yogurt for the butter. The bread is moist, and the texture is firm. I don't even miss the butter because of the yogurt! 3 ripe bananas smashed 1/2 c. plain non-fat Greek yogurt  1/4 c. of raw honey (however sweet you would like it) 1 tsp. of baking soda  dash or a pinch of salt  1 tsp. vanilla extract 2 Tbsps. egg whites to equal one egg 1 c. whole wheat flour  1 c. ground pecans or walnuts  1/4 c. of white flour (more if needed) Oil to coat the pan - I prefer extra virgin olive oil Pull out that loaf pan no bigger than 4x8 and coat it with a small amount of olive oil. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Smash those bananas in a bowl and add 1/2 c. of plain non-fat, or low-fat Greek yogurt while mixing it all. Mix well with the honey, baking soda, salt, vanilla, a...