Stuffed Cabbage Rolls

Another year gone by and winter has hit us up here in CT.  This recipe is one made almost out of the fact that I had a bunch of veggies I didn't know what to do with and wanted to do something new.  We have been part of the CSA at Stone Garden Farms in Shelton for almost 3 years now.  This was the first year we did the winter share.  So far I have been pretty happy with it.  The one thing I like about these share is the bounty of veggies and also the NEW veggies we get to try that I probably wouldn't otherwise try.  At the end of last seasons share we got a head (the size of my head) of Savoy Cabbage

 

This fellow is interesting.  Its like green cabbage but more flexible in terms of what you can do...which I wasn't aware of.  The only ways I have ever really had cabbage was in slaw (warm or cold) and with Corned Beef.  So I looked some recipes up.  I also wanted it "kid" friendly.  This mostly meaning were these ingredients on the okay list for little ones, and if there was a not okay item I didn't use it.  So the original recipe called to bake these rolls.  Today I am testing the crockpot method, pretty much so I don't have to flounder around dinner time.  Also I am thinking in terms of Gluten free meals as I am trying to get back on that...with about 95% success.  

So here is the recipe slightly modified from an Ina Garten recipe and using 95% ingredients from Stone Garden Farms (all but the spices and the rice)

1-1.5 pounds of ground beef

1 medium sized head of savoy cabbage

1/2 cup of uncooked rice

1 jar of marinara sauce (may need a little more)

1 bag (can) of chopped tomoatoes

salt

pepper

garlic powder

1. cut out the core of the cabbage with a paring knife and take any outer leaves off that don't look great, I chopped these up and saved them.

2. Bring a pot of water large enough to submerge the head of cabbage to a boil

3. put cabbage in the boiling water for a moment or two until the leaves start to easily pull away and take them off carefully.  Set them aside and let them cool.

4. In a bowl mix the beef, rice, spices, and chopped cabbage.  Also in this bowl add about a 1/2 cup of sauce, just to make it a little sticky but not liquidy.

5. Once the cabbage is cool to the touch cut the hard bottom stem off by cutting a little triangle.

6. In the bottom of the crock pot I put in enough sauce to cover the bottom of the pot I also added the tomatoes. 

7. Now take a little bit of mixture in the middle of each leaf and wrap like a little burrito.  Experiment since some leaves of smaller then others. 

8. Put a layer of stuffed cabbages over the sauce and then cover with sauce. Continue in that form, sauce, cabbage, sauce.

9. cook in the crock pot for about 8 hours.

      If baking use a heat proof pot like a dutch oven.  cook at 350 for about an hour.  

10.  Enjoy!

Another year to remember a great man

So I don't believe I have ever really shared the story but I have been thinking about this more and more with all the news of death.  When it happened 15 years ago there was never a headline, never a news story, never really an investigation.  It happened and we grieved and went on with our lives.  Since social media has started to blow up and news travels basically the moment it happens there have been so many reports of car accidents, homicides, and suicides.  15 years ago there weren't.  You may get a story of a car accident here and there but they did not dominate headlines.  Well this is my news story.  I have told it a few times in front of a few groups, but it also tied in to our ideas of death and what happens after.  Well I am not going to talk about that.  I am going to talk about a great man who left us, who I wish I knew better and of course who I wish was with us today.  Honestly I don't know what he would think of this world we live in.

15 years ago I was sitting at home and the community was recovering from the ice storm of 98.  This is what was dominating the headlines.  People were without power for days and weeks and local towns were devastated and could not leave their houses because of downed trees and power lines.  I remember January 12, 1998 was actually one of those magical days where the sun was shining and reflecting off the snow and ice.  The roads were starting to clear up enough where you could actually drive on them.  My dad had taken off to work that morning and I was still in my PJs (since I was 17 and it was a Saturday.)  Then a funny thing happened my uncle came over with what appeared to be a police officer of some sort.  I got my mom and she came in the room and I left and started to hear them chat.  Suddenly the loudest wail I have ever heard came out of my mom and there is was. My uncle had come to give us the unfortunate news that my father had been found in his truck in his favorite location over looking Lake Auburn.  Apparently he had taken his own life and some one found him slumped over and called the police.  A gunshot to the head.  Too me it is still a mystery, no note was found, no signs were given to us as a family, it just happened.  Time stopped for a few little while, but what turned out to be days.  The next few weeks were a blur to me and I am sure my sisters and brother (who had just been stationed in Germany, but came home.)  We had to get everything set up for the funeral, we had to make sure he had clothes that he liked, but at the same time we had to grieve, which I wasn't ready to do.  I was only 17. How was this happening to me?  Dad was suppose to be there to help me move into college like he did everyone else.  Dad was suppose to take me skiing on my 18th birthday like he had every other year.  He was suppose to be there to see me graduate high school, and to see my sisters graduate college, but no he was gone.


It took me a while to grapple with the thoughts of him never being there again physically.  I would say years to deal with it.  I am sure it's normal.  I am sure people still are grappling with certain peoples death these are loved ones.  Yes my father had his flaws, he was a 5 time recovering alcoholic, he had serious depression issues and he also smoked 2 packs of cigarettes a day, but he had nothing but love in his heart for his family. In fact family came first always.  When he would start a new job he would think of family first.  He tried his hardest to attend concerts and football games but I realized mental problems got in the way.  I came to terms with it.

As I get older I realize he is always with me.  He is there watching over me, helping me along the way, giving me strength when I need it and giving me hope for the future.  He is my constant reminder to let people be themselves and teach but also let them stumble a little so they can see their faults because you can't learn to walk and run without falling a couple times.  He taught me how to paint a room, how to build a table and also how to tie a fly.  He taught me to respect a gun and how to shoot a gun.  He taught me that guns are for hunting and not for killing others.  He taught me to respect nature and give myself time in nature to bring some inner peace to myself.  He was a great man and forever will live on in my heart and my memories.  I may have only known him for almost 18 years, but we made the most out of those years.

I Love you dad.

As I watch all the news coverage of death in the world I wonder, why was this never even mentioned in the paper?  It happened in a very public place on a VERY busy four lane road.  Was the world to busy worrying about getting power back and making sure things were getting back to normal?  Why do we televise these horrible accidents anyway?  I try not to watch the news anymore almost for that reason, there never seems to be HAPPY news, it is all about tragedy, death, destruction, or someone being horrible to someone else because they think that other person is wrong and lives a wrong lifestyle.  Maybe if we spread a little more sunshine in this world we would be a happier world.  Maybe it is time to start looking at the bright side of life.  Can we please start celebrating life instead of mourning death?  Also could the religious zealots start thinking about the positives in there bible and the religious works?
When I went to church I was always taught, I still believe the teachings, but not the religious piece, to love your neighbor and that we were all created equal to love and care for each other not to hate each other because of how we live our lives.  I was raised in a loving caring environment and was not taught to hate I was taught to love, if someone doesn't like you find out why.  What did you do to them to make them not like you.  NEVER HATE.  These are lessons I want to pass onto my children. These are things I want to teach.  Everyone is different and special and made in their own special ways, but everyone deserves equal treatment.

Another year gone, another list of accomplishments...

So I have done this for the past few years where I thought of things that I have done in the past year and list them. Mostly to make myself feel good but I don't know I kind of like it so I am continuing the new tradition. It was a banner year, some thing I am more proud of others and I wish I did more, but it was a good year I am trying to go in order of happening.

1. Was on a team for work that was fairly high tech.
2. Went on a well deserved week long vacation in Key West.
3. Went to Ft. Zachary Taylor state park about 70 miles off of Key West.
4. Met a great couple of guys (Josh and Robbie) who are now really great friends!
5. Turned 32...urg.
6. Visited Kentucky and Tennessee for the first time.
7. And spent 5 min in Indiana...to pee...in a cornfield...to say I did.
8. We got matched with a baby!
9. We had to spend two weeks in a hotel in PA...with a 1 month old.
10. I took a few week paternity leave to take care of James.
11. I took my new friends to NYC for the first time.
12. We sleep trained our son at four months.
13. We started the kid on solid foods...
14. We finalized the adoption.
15. We had the last Christmas Eve in Maine in a while...


Alright I'll stop there since I have father brain and can't remember lots of stuff that happened.

Political time of year...have we all gone crazy?

"I feel like I'm taking crazy pills!!"

I can't think of an election year when I feel more and more compelled to say that.  I am not one to really talk politics with people just because they think that as a gay man I should be voting one way.  Well it ain't true.  I look at issues, I look at candidates and I look at the playing field.  This year there is a candidate who actually makes sense his policies are right out there in line with the "we the people" and "ALL men are created equal."  He speaks on issues that would affect a wide variety of people not just the upper class, the lower class, the middle class, the class-less.  He has a plan that I believe in and I believe it would actually bring REAL change to this country.  He speaks with facts and figures and not just rhetoric.  His policy would affect EVERYONE, and this is what needs to be done, affect EVERYONE not just some.  This candidate believe you should be able to marry WHO EVER you want.  He believes that marijuana should be declared legal and taxed and regulated like cigarettes and alcohol.  He would also pardon those "criminals" who have been detained for possession of this that same thing.  There is only one problem with this candidate.  He isn't part of the "two party" system.  He isn't mainsteam, although he was the governor of a state and not only turned the budget around but made a surplus, which has now been squandered.  His name is Gary Johnson and he makes sense.  He isn't pandering to corporations, he isn't a friend of Wall Street.  I've never met the guy but I read a heck of a lot about him and have heard some of his speeches he has given on the internet.  He just wants people to have the personal freedom they deserve and it makes sense.  It's about time someone stood up to these quacks in DC including the current president and said HELLO??? Who are you working for??? YOURSELF, CORPORATIONS OR AMERICA?  It's also time to stop mentioning the bible in every speech given.  This nation was founded on the principles of free speech, free religion, free press.  There should be NO mention of god anywhere because NOT EVERYONE BELIEVES IN a god, the god or multiple gods.  We are a civil society and I feel like the congress and senate have been acting more like a Kindergarten class gone out of control.  Get with the program people and get along, you make us look bad when you can't get simple things done.

Vote Gary Johnson...it won't take votes away from anyone since the people don't elect the president anyway, but it may send a message that we are sick of just a choice of two and the two are the same piles of crap.

Spaghetti Squash "Lasagna"

A meatless meal WHAT?!?!

Spaghetti Squash Lasagna...maybe

So I just want to say that I love meat and if you have read my blog and my brush with Veganism and being a Vegetarian you know how unsuccessful it was and how it just blew chunks.  So this is the first time in a LONG time that I have made a meat-less meal.  It all began with a spaghetti squash which I got in our CSA share.  I was not happy because every other time I have tried to make or eat this bland gross squash I have been disappointed and disappointed is putting it lightly.  I had tried everything from baking it with butter and salt and pepper. Roasting it with EVOO, microwaving it, putting maple syrup on it.  So I looked up some recipes and put a few things together from them and came up with this.  I only use a few ingredients so it pretty easy too!  As always you can substitute as you need! I was thinking about adding some sausage or pepperoni the next time I make it.

Ingredients:

1 Spaghetti Squash 

1 Jar of sauce or 4 cups of homemade marinara sauce

2 cups of sliced portobello mushrooms

8 oz of fresh mozzarella (sliced)

1TBSP of dried oregano

 salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

9x11 rectangular pan (whatever size you have) 

Directions:
1. Roast the Spaghetti Squash (Oven at 400, cut in half lengthwise pour about 2 TBSP of EVOO on the squash between the two halves, Salt and pepper to taste Roast for about an hour or until the edges are browned.
2. Scoop out the Spaghetti from the inside of the squash into a bowl, that is exactly what it looks like, noodles, so this is going to act as noodles.

3. Brown the mushrooms in a little butter
4. Start layering the lasagna

     Start with a little sauce on the bottom of the pan
     next add a layer of squash
     add a layer of sauce
     tear up the slices of mozzarella and put on the sauce
     sprinkle oregano on top of the cheese

5. Repeat and end with cheese or sauce (your choosing)

                                     

6. Bake covered for 30 min
7. Uncover and bake for 5-10 min depending on tenderness of squash.

Enjoy!

Life changes in 10 years...and a moment.

So it has been a while since I have posted. Well a lot has happened in these last few months! It seems like a lifetime since I have eaten a good primal meal and it seems like a long time since I have done exercise. I am trying I am trying but it is hard when your life changes suddenly. It seems like one day you are taking a vacation and living it up with your good friends in Kentucky and the next min poof! You are holding a one month old baby. That is what happened to us! We have been planning adoption and waiting for the last few years and we were at the point of waiting and then we got the phone call! This post isn't about that though I have a blog devoted to the adoption here. This post is about how life changes and what to do when you don't have 9 months or even 1 month to prep for a baby. We are a gay couple, seriously, gay gay gay. You know what though we live our lives everyday we cook our meals, stimulate the economy, we bought a house, two cars, etc. We take exotic vacations to places like Owensboro, KY and eat the local cuisine (burgoo stew...and KY BBQ.). We hang with the locals and pay our taxes. The biggest difference between my relationship and one of what the government considers "real" are all the extra hoops I need to jump through. The thousand or so tax break that I don't get because my husband is a man and not a woman. The countless background checks we need to get to make sure we will be good parents and then someone tells me how many children I can have. Sounds good right? Not so much. Sometimes I feel normal, sometimes I feel second-class. I am a gay father now and when I walk around the mall with stroller I get some looks, but usually the old woman saying how cute my baby is. They look at him and wonder where is the mom, and why is this darker skinned child with this pasty white dude: assumption: mom is working, shopping, and darker skinned. One of those is correct, but I digress. About 20 years ago I imagined myself as a father at some point having a kid or three and giving them the things I had and giving them things I didn't have. I was 12 I imagined what life would be like and it involved a kid. About 15 years ago I was imagining the same thing except this time I was trying to imagine myself not in Maine, or at least living in a bigger city using public transport and shopping with my spouse and kids, going to events and what not. I had come to terms with the fact I was gay so I wasn't going to be able to get married and I would either have to convince a girl friend to have a baby for me or I would have had to adopt. Either way I wanted a kid. When I came out to myself it was hard and when I came out to my family it wasn't so hard. A few people in my life had paved the way so I knew it wouldn't be terrible, but how was I going to have a kid? As the years went on it became harder to see my future, I heard lots of negative talk about being gay and hated it. I never came out at my jobs because it didn't know how people would react. I would usually gauge the environment and then slowly drop hints and then come out. About 10 or so years ago I was participating in AmeriCorps, doing my civic duty and as part of the program our way cool program director decided to bring in a guy to do an excersise with us about our future. At this point I was screwed...I had been in the hospital a few times, transferred colleges a few times and was having a hard time in life. How was I to know what I wanted in 10 years? It was a tough excersise but I worked through it. The excersise was called Personal Catalyst or PCat. We basically had to list a few things we wanted to accomplish and then think about a time line within the next 10 years we wanted to accomplish them. Looking at the list we then had to rank from easiest to hardest. We also had to write a personal statement for our 10 year selves. Well I am glad to say with the exception of part of the last one, I have accomplished everything on my list!my personal statement went something like this (paraphrasing but I had it in my hands a year ago) I'm living in my 3 bedroom 2 bath house in a smallish city. I am legally married to my spouse and we have 2 dogs, a cat and 2.5 children. Our house has a white picked fence and walk in closets. I have an advanced degree and am working on the next step of my education. I am a teacher and have been for a few years. In our back yard we have a garden and I have learned how to pickle and preserve my own veggies. Looking at this statement I always thought it was the American dream, own a house, live in the suburbs, have some kids and some pets...walk in closets...you know the things we had as kids. How was I to know I would get everything I wanted...well almost everything. I mean I was 21, 22 years old! Well I made a plan and had 10 years to complete it. I took baby steps toward my end goal and saw them take shape. My smallest goal was to buy a farmers almanac to learn more about planting and the seasons. Since then I have planted three gardens and they have all thrived, they were small gardens but thrived none the less. Another goal was to learn to can my own veggies, check! The ultimate goal was to have the house and the kids. Which I am glad to say two years ago I bought a house and this year I adopted a child! I guess the whole point was even with all the hurdles and obstacles that I encountered in life I achieved the goals I wanted to and I am a better person for it. I received my advanced degree and hopefully in the next few years will be working toward my next phase of schooling and get a more advanced degree. I am legally married in CT, and we are working on getting that DOMA defeated so that Jeremy and I can take advantage of the thousands of tax breaks and what not that hetero married couples enjoy. Let's hope this happens in the next few years!

Chicken Adobo and Almond crackers

It's been a while since my last post to my love bacon.  As I have said on many occasions bacon has become one of my favorite foods.  I can use it for almost any meal and I can also use the remnants left in the pan.  This post is about that other meat that I eat so much of: Chicken.  The story is the same old same old, man get chicken, man cuts up chicken, man cooks chicken with veggies, man and man eat chicken.  This time though I had a breakthrough in the chicken department: a shiny new favor and recipe: Chicken Adobo.  It came in the knick of time because I was ready to not eat Bacon wrapped Chicken again so low and behold the higher power heard me and in the mail came the next issue of Cook's Illustrated, complete with Chicken Adobo recipe and also the background of how the perfect braise made the perfect meat and all the stuff they tried. So I haven't read the article just yet.  Jeremy did and told me to make it, so I did.  It is very Primal friendly.  The sauce is made of coconut milk and I subbed soy sauce for Tamari.  I don't have all the pictures from the process mostly because lately all the sauces I have been making seem to be the color of something that would come out of a 2 month old baby, not so appetizing to look at but VERY good to eat. so here is the recipe courtesy of Cook's Illustrated:
Chicken Adobo:
8 chicken thighs (bone in-skin on) trimmed
1/2 cup of Tamari
1 can coconut milk
3/4 cup of apple cider vinegar
8 garlic cloves peeled
4 bay leaves
2 teaspoons of pepper
1 scallion sliced thin

1. toss the chicken with the Tamari in a bowl and let it soak for 30 min to 1 hour in the fridge
2.Remove the chicken from the Tamari allowing excess to drip into the bowl, transfer chicken skin side down to a HOT 12 inch skillet.
3. Cook chicken for 7-10 min, while chicken is cooking whisk together the Tamari, coconut milk, vinegar, garlic, and spices.

4. Transfer chicken to a plate and discard fat from the pan.  Return the chicken to the pan skin side down.  Add the Tamari mixture to the pan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to medium low and simmer, uncovered for 20 min.  Flip chicken over and cook skin side up until the temp reaches 175.    Transfer chicken to a platter and top with a foil tent.
5. Remove the bay leaves from the sauce and skim any fat off the surface of the sauce.  return skillet to medium high heat and cook the sauce until thickened.  Pour sauce over chicken sprinkle with Scallions.

This is the finished product.  As you can see I added something else to the plate.  It's white but it isn't rice or mashed potatoes.  It's Cauliflower!  Steamed Riced Cauliflower!

1/2 head of cauliflower
1/2 cup of water
2 TBSP of butter
spices

Steam the cauliflower in whatever kind of steamer you may have. I use this one from the pampered chef, i've used one forever and when I finally got my own place I decided I needed to have my own so I bought one, then I decided I needed a bigger one so I got the bigger one.  It's great for fresh steamed and for frozen veggies.  Anyways, steam the crap outta that cauliflower (I did something like 7 min) so it kind of falls apart with a fork.

I then blend it in the food processor until it resembles rice and add the butter and whatever spices you want. It does the trick!



ALMOND CRACKERS!!!

Alright I admit I loves crackers, chips, pretzels, popcorn, and everything crunchy!!!  They are so hard to resist and yet over the past few months I have fought back the urges to eat all crackers in site.  I have occasionally have had a plain lays potato chip, and maybe one or two tortilla chips at a Mexican restaurant, but I think I would have gone crazy without the one little nibble.  Nothing happened but still.  I wanted a yummy little occasional snack that I could also make into an appetizer for a party or bring to a friends house or have at one of my parties. So I was reading Mark's Daily Apple and happened upon the recipe and idea for the occasional Almond Cracker.  I followed some of the recipe, made an oops but will try them again.

Here is what I did:
Preheat oven to 350

8 oz of raw almonds
2 TBSP sunflower seeds
1 TBSP of herbs (I used some fresh Rosemary and Oregano from the Garden)
2 TBSP of olive oil
1 egg
a little parm cheese

1. Mix the almonds and sunflower seeds and herbs in the food processor until it resembles flour.
2. Add the egg and parm cheese
3. Drizzle in the Olive Oil

I ended up just patting this mixture into a cookie sheet scored the dough into squares and baking them for about 15 min.

The other suggestion is to use to sheet of parchment paper, or make the dough into a roll and freeze for 10 min and cut and bake.  My way worked fine.  I may try the other ways when I get some of that Parchment paper.

I ended up breaking them up and putting them on a wire rack to cool.

I am thinking these would be good with a little Ikea Salmon paste!

Enjoy!