Sweet Potato Apple Pie

Omg, yum! Not the most healthy, but yum!

Ingredients:

-2 cups of sliced apples

-1 pie crust

-1 very large sweet potato (the kind that make you blush a little when you hold it!), mashed

-1 1/4 c cream

-2 eggs

-2/3 c brown sugar

1 t cinnamon (I like cinnamon, so I just dumped a few teaspoons in)

1/4 t salt

1/4 t nutmeg (again, probably dumped in closer to 1 T, because nutmeg is nummy)

Directions:

-Preheat to 375

-Line the pie crust in the plate, lay the apple slices along the bottom.

-Mix the other ingredients together (it's best to do this right after the potato has been mashed), stir until smooth.

-Pour sweet potato mix over apples

-Cover the edges with tinfoil

-Bake for 45-60 minutes, until a knife poked into the center comes out clean.

I also added about a tablespoon of powdered corn starch between the crust and apples to keep it from getting soggy.

Nutrition info (including the corn starch):

Calories: 405 (eek!)

Fat: 19.5 g

Cholesterol: 107mg

Sodium: 274mg

Potassium: 307mg

Total carbs: 51g

Fiber: 3g

Sugar: 26.5g

Protein: 3.5g

Vitamin A: 269.5% (!!!)

Vitamin C: 20%

Calcium: 5.5%

Iron: 8.5%

Momo the Cat

This is Momo. Her full name is Minerva, but her former name is Munchkin. She's about a year to a year and a half old. Her former family thinks she is part Oriental because of her looks and personality.

She is really friendly, and kind of a ninja. She seems to magically disappear, then reappear to cuddle, the vanishes again. If she's in a shadow, the only part I can see is her white chin. Her eyes are a beautiful green color. She also enjoys licking my earlobes, especially when I'm sleeping. Or maybe she knows I don't like it and she's training me to get up and feed her.

I'm really happy I have her.

The farm

I love the farm. It's a wonderful place full of memories and stories. We talked, and walked. Found ginseng and jack in the pulpit in the woods. Canoed while Mom swam across the lake and paddle boated. Mom mowed and I read. We scraped and primed the house. Looked at pictures from my cousins motion sensor camera and played scrabble in the grass.

Sunburned, tired, and probably going to burst out in poison ivy blisters any day now, I had a wonderful time.

Reasons I like my jobs

The dress code at Wells Fargo is a lot more lax than most other places I've worked. I can wear open-toed shoes, and skirts above the knee as long as they are appropriate, any color shirt. As long as I look nice, it's okay. No jeans or unprofessional sandals, but that's doable. Ragstock has by far the most easy-going dress code: clothing. As long as I am wearing clothes, I am following policy. I can wear shorts, jeans, t-shirts with logos on them, sandals, tank tops, etc. It's pretty cool.

Ragstock has a good employee discount. I get 50% off used clothing and 25% off new clothing. Wells Fargo team members get services and products for no or lower fees. Bill Pay, for example, normally costs money, but I get it free. It's really handy to have (because the companies that take out twice the amount and then put it back it, causing you to overdraft, now just get a check instead). Plus, insurance, a 401(k) and other benefits are nice to have.

The people at Wells Fargo are all really nice and fun. I enjoy coming to work to spend time with them. I don't know the Ragstock people as well yet, but they're all kind of hipster/indie kind of folk. They seem cool. I'm kind of square compared to all of them, but then again, I am kind of square.

The Great MN Get Together

Strawberry scone and a bite of grilled cheese, a frappe from the farmers union, falafel on a stick, a bite of deep fried apple pie, vegetarian platter of middle eastern food (hummus, tabbouleh, falafel, pita chips, samosas and something in grape leaves), and chocolate covered fruit. That is my kind of fair food.

No corn dogs, cheese curds, deep fried bacon, dippin' dots or cookies were consumed.

Apparently the Girl Scouts were not at the fair yet, and I am seriously regretting the lack of Sweet Martha's.... I am such a granola.

Recipe: Quinoa Fruit Salad

Yum yum! Another recipe score!

Ingredients:

1 c rinsed, uncooked quinoa (or ~2.5-3 c cooked)

1 c vanilla yogurt

1/4 c honey

1 T fresh mint, chopped

1 pineapple, cut into bite-size pieces

1 pint strawberries, cut into bite-size pieces

4 peaches, cut into bite-size pieces

1) Cook the quinoa

2) While it's cooking, mix together yogurt, honey and mint for the dressing.

3) Mix the quinoa into the yogurt. Add in fruits and toss.

4) Chill, then serve.

Simple, fast delicious! I made up this recipe because I imagined it would taste good. I looked for other recipes like it, but I couldn't find any. Now I just need a name for it. Quinoa reminds me of fish eggs, but that's a disgusting name for a fruit salad. Any suggestions?

Tofu Pineapple Fried Rice

It's been a while since I posted a recipe, but this one turned out so goshdarn well I had to share it. It's my first successful fried rice, so I'm pretty happy.

Ingredients:

~1 cup pineapple chunks, preferably fresh, but you could use canned for convenience. I just ask that you reserve the juice to make a smoothie or something.

~3 T cooking oil

~3-4 c leftover rice. If making new rice, be sure to put it in the fridge for an hour or so first.

~1 package of firm tofu, cubed into 1-inch pieces

~1/4 c chopped onion (the original recipe called for 3 spring onions, but I used what onion I had)

~3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

~1 chili, finely chopped

~1 T cilantro, finely chopped

~1 egg

~1/4 c vegetable/chicken stock

~1/2 c frozen peas (can add more for healthier fried rice. I used about a cup)

~1/2 c raisins (or craisins in my case, because I didn't have raisins in the house)

~1/2 c cashews (I finally used some of those cashews, mom!)

Sauce:

~3 T soy sauce

~2 t curry powder

~1 T lime juice

~1/2 t sugar

Directions:

~Fry the tofu in 1 T oil at some point. I multi-tasked and made the tofu while making the fried rice.

~Mix the sauce together.

1) Mix 1 T oil in with the rice, making sure it's all coated and the clumps of rice are separated.

2) Stir-fry the Onion, garlic and chili in 1 T oil for about a minute in a large frying pan/wok.

3) Push everything to the side, and scramble the egg in the empty space. Mix with the rest after it's cooked.

4) Add the peas, and add the veggie stock bit by bit as needed-may not need it all. Just when it starts to dry out, add some more.

5) Stir in the rest of the ingredients, and drizzle the sauce over everything. Do not add any more stock after this. Stir-fry everything together for 5-10 minutes, until it's reached a consistency you think you will enjoy. :)

6) Put the tofu in with it, and serve/eat!

I should have taken a picture.... Then it'd be like a real blog. Maybe I should make a video of myself cooking.

I do have nutrition facts for you, though. That's above and beyond! I'm doing B-level work, here, folks! (FYI, not the healthiest, but better than most restaurants, probably.) Disclaimer: This is with the ingredients I used. The ingredients you use will make a difference.

Calories: 400

Fat: 16g

Cholesterol: 43mg

Sodium: 756mg (could replace with low-sodium soy sauce)

Potassium: 170 mg

Carbs: 50g

Dietary Fiber: 6g

Sugar: 9g

Protein: 16.5g

Vitamin A: 10.5%

Vitamin C: 21.2%

Calcium: 8%

Iron: 15%