BAD COMBO

Warning: Whatever you do, don't mix broccoli and grapefruit in a smoothie. GROSS.

We've been trying to make green smoothies a lot. Jim's been taking full creative license with this venture, and blending just about everything he can think of (but not quite everything that cath can think of - she's hoping to blend a few of my dad's clothes, but I don't think they'd taste very good.)

Anyway. We were running low on fruit and on greens, and didn't have a lot of variety on hand. We put in a couple of grapefruits, and all of our greens were gone, but we had broccoli and Jim, in typical fashion, thought, "why not?" Well now we know why not. Because it's disgusting.

Consider yourself warned.

as a side note, here's something I don't understand: Romney, who turns his nose up at most other delicious tasting smoothies mysteriously chose to drink his! completely! and Laine drank hers too, although she had the same response as I did, which was a shiver/gag response with each sip. How does that make sense?

The Mormon Diet Cookbook

I hope no one minds that I changed the blog design. I figured no one else would since Marie made the blog. This one is kind of plant-y, per the new diet. Speaking of, my friends mom has been doing this diet for about five years because she's been fighting her husbands prostate cancer, and she has other health problems that she has solved with it as well. She recommended this cookbook:


The Mormon Diet Cookbook. It isn't all totally vegan but has easy places to substitute. I hear the recipes are really good.
By the way, I also posted that picture from my shower, of lots of the Curtis women. I wish you could see it better! AND, for the record, anyone who really wants to eat what Marie's cooking can come to dinner at my house, since that is where most of her meals end up. :)

What a lovely idea, Marie- thank you for inviting me to see what you eat. It is very beautiful.
Your Thai dish looks truly inspiring. Which is also code for intimidating. I mean color pictures, fish paste (?!!) a tablecloth and all. But seriously, kudos to you for taking this thing seriously. I would rather be invited to dinner than look at your leftovers, but at least we get to talk to each other, right?

Please forgive me if my recipe tones this thing down a notch (for people who accidentally eat 7-9 peanut butter blossoms on the weekends) by contributing the ASPARAGUS SOUP I made up last night- As near as I can remember, not having photographed it.

In a few cups of vegetable stock simmer 1/2 -one onion, one potato, three ribs celery and finely chopped celery leaves, 1 to 2 c baby bella mushsrooms, half -1 diced red pepper and many asparagus. I don't know how much, about half or more of the big bunch you get at Costco - all finely chopped if you don't have a Vita-stinking mixer- no bitterness there. Add salt, pepper and whatever spices you prefer. I add garlic and secret herbs I crush under the heel of my name brand boots. Just Kidding! My boots are from Costco.
When the veggies are tender, pour them into a blender and beat them to a pulp. Gently. I have to do this in about three batches. Add stock to make your desired consistency. I leave mine thick. It is rather delicious with peanut butter blossoms. Only three at a time. I have also added spinach and carrots, but prefer the original grouping I have named. To health! Love, nanny

Coconut Curry Tofu Noodle

I know, the title is kind of a mouthful, but it was really yummy! I actually downloaded the original recipe from here. It was printed in the New York Times on Jan. 7, 2009. Delicious. BUT, I substituted tofu for chicken (I used silken tofu, but next time I'll use something just a bit more firm) and I used rice milk instead of half and half. Also, I only had Indian curry powder, so instead I used about two teaspoons of Thai red curry paste, which gave it a really yummy Thai flavor. I also used matchstick carrots along with the bean sprouts as a garnish to give it a little more substance.

If you don't like Thai food, don't make this. Also, if you haven't made much Asian food, there are probably a lot of ingredients you won't have on hand (like fish sauce or chili paste, for example), and I did have to buy a few extra things, but it was worth it! Jim and I really liked it, our kids wouldn't touch it. They had top ramen instead. Coconut Curry Chicken Noodle Soup (Curry Mee)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 small onion, minced

1 tablespoon minced ginger

1 tablespoon minced lemon grass or pale green cilantro roots

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 teaspoon dark red chili paste, such as sambal, more for serving

3/4 pound boneless, skinless chicken thigh or breast meat, thinly sliced and cut into bite-size pieces

3 tablespoons curry powder, preferably Malaysian, Thai or Vietnamese

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 can (14 ounces) unsweetened coconut milk

1/2 cup half-and-half

4 cups chicken stock

1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

2 tablespoons fish sauce

1 tablespoon sugar, more to taste

About 12 kaffir lime leaves or curry leaves, fresh or frozen (optional)

8 ounces dried thin rice noodles (bun or vermicelli), or other Asian noodles such as udon or lai fun

Salt to taste

1 cup bean sprouts

3 tablespoons chopped cilantro

2 scallions, cut into thin rings

2 shallots, thinly sliced and deep fried in vegetable oil until brown (optional)

Quartered limes for serving.

1. Heat oil in a medium pot over medium heat. Add onion, ginger and lemon grass and cook, stirring, until softened, about 10 minutes. Do not brown; reduce heat if necessary. Add garlic and chili paste and stir until fragrant. Raise heat, add chicken and stir-fry one minute. Add curry powder and paprika and stir to coat. Then add coconut milk, half-and-half, chicken stock, turmeric, fish sauce, sugar and lime or curry leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer until chicken is cooked through, about 7 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, cook rice noodles in boiling water according to package directions (about 4 minutes). Rinse and drain.

3. Taste broth and adjust seasonings with salt and sugar. Divide noodles into large soup bowls. Bring broth to a boil, then ladle over noodles. Top with bean sprouts, cilantro, scallions and fried shallots, if using. Pass limes and sambal at the table.

Yield: 4 main-course servings.

Note: To make this rich soup more substantial, boiled potatoes are sometimes added to the simmering broth and cooked until very soft.

Szechuan Noodles

this recipe comes from The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook which is one of my favorites. I don't have a picture of this dish, and I'm sorry about that, because nine times out of ten I decide whether or not I'll make something based on the picture! But if you can, just believe me that it's delicious! Basically, it's just pasta and veggies with a yummy peanut-buttery sauce (the sauce has most of the ingredients - don't be afraid.)

6 garlic cloves, chopped
1/4 cup fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup tahini (sesame paste)
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
1/2 cup good soy sauce
1/4 cup dry sherry
1/4 cup sherry vinegar (I didn't have any of this so I used rice vinegar instead and it tasted fine)
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon hot chili oil
2 tablespoons dark sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
1 pound spaghetti (I used whole wheat spaghetti - you can't tell the difference with this yummy sauce all over it!)
1 red bell pepper, julienned
1 yellow bell pepper, julienned
4 scallions , sliced diagonally - white and green parts

Place the garlic and ginger in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Add the vegetable oil, tahini, peanut butter, soy sauce, sherry, sherry vinegar, honey, chili oil, sesame oil, black pepper, and cayenne pepper. Puree the sauce. Cook the spaghetti. Drain the pasta. While still warm, toss with three-quarters of the sauce. Add the red and yellow bell peppers and scallions; toss well. Serve warm or at room temperature. The remaining sauce may be added, as needed, to moisten the pasta.


The cookbook also says that the sauce can be made a week ahead and then added to the hot pasta just before serving, which I did. I also added carrot slices and broccoli (and boiled them just for a minute along with the pasta to gently cook them a bit first) and it was all delicious! I only made as much pasta as we were going to eat at once, so I didn't toss in all of the veggies or all of the sauce, so I still have more in the fridge that I can add to make more fresh next time, instead of having reheated leftovers. SO delicious!

this is just the beginning...

HELLO CURTIS COUSINS!

I'm starting a blog for all of us to use (I hope) and share our ideas and recipes and tips for implementing the things we learned from Aunt Robyn last week. I admit, this is a little selfish on my part. I know some of you are better at this and have been working at it longer than I have, and I want to know what you know!

This past week as I've been thinking over Aunt Robyn's wonderful presentation, I realized that if I couldn't come up with enough recipes and good things to eat, I couldn't sustain this less-meat, less-dairy approach to eating. So the math is pretty simple. If I find a couple of good recipes, and a few of you are willing to share a couple of good recipes, then I've already multiplied my chances of success. We have such a great resource right here among ourselves in the fabulous Curtis family, and I think we can benefit from pulling together, as our family motto suggests: In Unity There Is Strength - strength not only in terms of love and support, but strength from increased physical and spiritual health through shared knowledge and healthier lifestyles.

My thought for this blog is that we could all be authors and post great recipes/ideas/tips/successes/struggles as we come across them. It would be great for every one of us to be an administrator on this site - I don't want this blog to be mine. I'd love for it to be ours - the Curtis Cousins!

Here's how this works: to participate, you'll need a google account. So many of us already have blogs and google accounts, which makes this part even easier. If you don't have one, you can create one pretty easily (and attach it to your current email, even if you're on yahoo or msn or hotmail or whatever. YOU DO NOT NEED A GMAIL ADDRESS.) I can help you do this if this is confusing.

Next step: email me if you'd like to be an author (please please PLEASE), and I'll add you, then you just have to accept the invitation to be an author.

Next step: Post! Share the best recipe you've tried so far. Tell us what has been the hardest part of this for you. Let us in on your tips and discoveries.

I love my Curtis family and I'm hopeful that this will be a useful tool for each of us. And anyway, I am always looking for more ways to spend time with you - even if it's online! This is a total experiment, and if someone has a better idea of how this might work, let's make it happen! also, since all of us are equal owners here, feel free to change the look of the blog, come up with a better title, add any features (rockin tunes, pictures, links) and anything else you can think of. PLEASE. we all know that style is not one of my stronger points.

Love to you all! Hope to see you here soon!