Happy Wednesday! As always, thanks to Jenn at Peas and Crayons for hosting WIAW!
I also have to thank Jenn for her recipe for Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Zucchini Brownie Bread (or in my case, muffins)! They have been an absolute hit with everyone who has tried them so far! They are moist, delicious, and oh yeah…they’re CHOCOLATE! 🙂
I didn’t take pictures of everything I ate today, but I did eat two things that I’ll talk about… One is this:
This is the empty package after I had already started cooking. It’s Mushroom and Herbs Farro from Wholesome Kitchen. I found it at Whole Foods one day, and thought it would be an interesting alternative to rice. Farro is a grain – kind of a cross between brown rice and wheat berries. The New York Times had an article a while back that called it “The Little Grain That Could.” The directions couldn’t have been simpler – sauté the farro grains in a little olive oil, add stock or water, and simmer for 25 minutes until the liquid is absorbed. I added a little garlic, onion, and some shiitakes to the sautéing part, but the rest I did exactly as directed. It took about twice as long as it was supposed to, and I actually had to bring it to a boil for a while toward the end to get it to absorb the water. It tasted really good – has kind of a kick (there is cayenne pepper in there somewhere). Here’s the finished product with a piece of grilled chicken…
Okay…before you say anything, I know. I should have made a veggie, but by the time this was actually done cooking it was almost 9:30 and I was starving. No veggies tonight. I’ll make up for it tomorrow – promise!!
The other thing I made today was apple crisp. I had a bag of apples that were getting a little soft, so I decided to put them to good use. After all, other than pumpkin, the best fall flavor is apple! I am all about that cinnamony-apply goodness…especially when it’s warm. Plus, there’s no crust to worry about! Although I hate to admit it, I have never been able to get pie crust right. This is my way of getting around it! I still use a recipe from one of my mom’s old cookbooks. Super simple – sliced apples, butter, brown sugar, oats, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. That’s it. Nothing fancy. There was only one problem…I had no butter in the house! What to do…what to do???
I started thinking about how coconut oil might make a good substitute. I’ve been trying it in many different things lately, and I keep reading such good things about it (like here). Of course, I take all of these things with a grain of salt… How many times have we been told on Monday that something is a miracle food, and by Friday it’s the devil!!
Anyway, I used coconut oil to substitute for the butter, and it worked out great! I used a 1:1 substitution, and my hubby couldn’t tell the difference! Here is what it looked like before it went in the oven…
It didn’t look too much different afterward – except now there is quite a bit of it missing… 🙂
Hope everyone had a great Wednesday! Now for today’s questions…
Have you ever had an experience with a product where the package directions were really far off?
Are you an apple person or a pumpkin person?
Have you found the secret to a good pie crust?
What’s your favorite substitute to use for butter?
Losing It Little By Little 