The Nosh Mosh

I'm dreaming of the magical food I will make with this.

We were grocery shopping when I noticed a woman staring at us and our cart for an extended period as Ryan scrutinized the label of some highly questionable cereal. Her giant eyes and prolonged gaze began to instill fear in me while Ryan slow-mo’d (it seemed that way in the moment) the cereal back to the shelf. “Gah!” she said “you guys eat healthy!” Relieved, I sort of halfway smiled. “We try” Ryan said as he happily trotted away. Obviously, he did not see her face in the 60 seconds leading up to that moment. I thought I was about to get stabbed. Was this anecdote important? No, but I like to share. I always feel like I could be eating healthier, but it turns out I’m doing pretty well. Before sending everything to the fridge or pantry, I decided to put our groceries out on the table for examination.  I have to say that I am pleasantly surprised and I’m proud of myself and my husband. I thought this would be a good thing for other people to try. Lay everything out and take a hard look at your choices. Hopefully you’ll be happy with what you see.

He knows when you're awake.

I was really into Christmas this year. I made a photo ornament, paper snowflakes, a real wreath from fallen branches and pine cones, and my first ginger bread cookies. I usually don’t mess around with much baking because my husband has the sweet tooth and talent for that. I used someone else’s recipe, so it’s not for posting. The dough was kind of crazy, so I’ll be creating my own one day. Yeah, one day. I got a little creative with them and made them insanely cute. I realize Christmas is over, but I still wanted to show you. You can get fancy next Christmas, right? You could also skip the ribbon and change the cutter shape for another holiday. Cookies are fun to eat all year.

Stuff I Used
Wilton copper plated cookie cutter
Hot Tamales candy
rolling pin
kitchen scissors
a bell or several of them
ribbon

Flatten the Hot Tamales with a rolling pin. Then use your kitchen scissors to cut out small hearts.Press them into each raw gingerbread person. I just used a frosting tip because I don’t have a circular cookie cutter to make the holes. It worked wonderfully. I would say the hole should be about the size of a penny. It will get smaller as the dough expands. Now bake as usual. Fully cool before any further crafting.

Leaving several inches at both ends, pull the ribbon through a cookie hole and tie a knot. Leave some space and tie another cookie facing the same direction. Leave equal space and add the bell. Now you can add the next two cookies. Continue until your garland is as long as you like.

If you’re giving this to someone, leave extra ribbon on each side and let it dangle outside of your container. You can tie a bow over the top.

They're best friends.

Don't you want to eat these?

The Dipping Sauce

1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup raw cashew pieces
1/4 cup water, adjusted for desired consistency
1 tsp brown sugar
2 tsps apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, optional
1 1/2 Tbsps soy sauce
1 tsp chili garlic sauce

Place all of the ingredients in a food processor and process away. All peanut butter is different, so add the soy sauce and brown sugar slowly in order to taste what level of salty and sweet goes nicely with what you’ve got at home.

The Filling

1 lb cabbage, shredded
1 1/2 cups grated carrot*
1 bunch green onions, thinly sliced
2-3 tsps sesame oil
1 small red pepper, thinly sliced
fresh basil leaves
A pack of spring roll wrappers

*Go wild with the carrots if you want. I keep it tame because my husband is somewhat allergic.

1. Remove the outer leaves from your cabbage. Cut the cabbage in half across the stem and then remove the core. Give it a good rinse to remove any dirt. Place each half on a cutting board with the cut side down. Use a sharp knife to cut the cabbage into thin slices. You now have shredded cabbage. You can make a few cuts in your pile to make the pieces smaller.

2. Toss the cabbage, carrots, green onions, and sesame oil in a large bowl.

3. Dip a spring roll wrapper into warm water for a few seconds. Place the wrapper on a plate. Put a 1/4 cup or more of your cabbage mixture near the bottom center of the wrap. Add a slice or two of red pepper and one or two basil leaves. You will get a really pretty roll if you place the basil face down near the top center of the wrap.

4. Fold the left and right sides of the wrap over the filling. Fold the bottom of the wrap up and over the filling and roll into a cylinder.

Repeat steps three and four until you’re finished. Now it’s time to munch.

*Tip   Make your rolls as close to meal time as possible. The wraps don’t hold up too well over long periods.

You need this in your life.

This is approximately one million times better than the canned stuff. Give it a try and you will never be the same.

Ingredients

1 cup water
1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon organic sugar
12 oz  cranberries, rinsed and drained
1 blood orange

1. Put the water and sugar in a saucepan. Stir to dissolve the sugar.

2. Put the cranberries in the pan and gently boil. Stir with a  long spoon. Be careful because the cranberries are going to snap open. You don’t want to get juiced. Well, maybe you do, but I don’t advise this. Once the water turns red you can remove the pan from heat. The mixture will thicken on its own as it cools.

3. Take sections of the blood orange and remove all of the skin so the pulp is naked. Cut each section in half crosswise and gently stir the pieces into your sauce while it’s still warm. Store your beautiful sauce in the fridge once it cools down to room temperature.

You might want to put it on a biscuit and watch this video. http://youtu.be/GchgAvD1fxA

 *Tip  Don’t have a conniption if you can’t find blood oranges. It’s quite delicious with or without.