{Product Review} Bob's Redmill Trio

Note:  The items in this review were provided to me by Bob's Red Mill for the purpose of this review. However, the opinions expressed here were in no way influenced by Bob's Red Mill. This review represents my honest opinion about the products.

Man! I l-o-v-e trying new fun ingredients! So, you can imagine my excitement when Bob's Red Mill offered two of their new ancient grains and coconut flour for testing. My last post was a recipe with Bob's Red Mill Farro (Greek Farro Salad), and I've actually made it a couple more times. It's a great to-go lunch option! The texture is perfectly chewy and soft and wonderful! It's a new-ingredient must-try.

I played around with the other grain, sorghum, for a few weeks. There are so many uses! You can grind it up as a gluten free flour option (or buy it already ground), put it in a hot pan with some oil for the CUTEST little popcorn snack, or use it as a rice-like ingredient. I added a cup to my taco soup last night, and it was so yummy! It does take a quite a bit longer to cook than rice, so I might soak it overnight next time.





I haven't done much (read: anything) with coconut flour before, so there was a considerable amount of googling that transpired before I settled on a first-time recipe. I ended up making gluten/grain-free blueberry-orange muffins for dessert tonight. I was so surprised at the yummy texture of the muffins. They weren't mealy or gritty or squishy like other grain-free pastries I've had before. I didn't get the recipe perfect, so I'll try it again tomorrow and get it posted for y'all super soon!

And, are you ready for the best part? Bob's Red Mill is giving one awesomely lucky reader a trio of the farro, sorghum, and coconut flour - YUM! Enter to win here: 

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Greek Farro Salad

Note:  The items in this review were provided to me by Bob's Red Mill for the purpose of this review.  However, the opinions expressed here were in no way influenced by Bob's Red Mill.  This review represents my honest opinion about the products.

Bob's Red Mill graciously sent me a three pack of fun (and new!) products to try out. I'll get the recipe posts together this week and end the week with a giveaway!

First up is Bob's Red Mill Organic Farro.

When I opened up the pack of goodies from BRM, I was super excited to get to try new ingredients that I wouldn't normally have bought. Farro. Hmm. It looks like wheat berries (and Husband even said something to that effect once it was cooked), and is apparently the original ancestor to modern wheat. Since it's an heirloom variety, it's (sort of) wheat the way God intended it to be eaten. 

There is a Farroto (a play on risotto) recipe on the bag that looks amazing, but it involves soaking and quite a bit of attention. I had neither the time nor the patience for something that involved (I was hungry!), so I decided on a warm greek salad.

Ingredients

2 cups farro
¼ to ½ cup chopped olives
¼ to ½ cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes
6 to 8 ounces feta cheese
a few handfuls of greens (spinach or baby kale are yummy!)
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
¼ cup unrefined olive oil
salt to taste

Directions

1.  Rinse the farro and add it to a pot with about 6 cups of water. Bring to a boil.

2.  Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 30 minutes.

3.  Drain the farro and return it to the warm pan.

4.  Add remaining ingredients and stir over low heat until the greens are wilted.

Serve warm or chill and serve cold. 

The Farro is soft and chewy and absolutely delicious! Husband said he could eat the dish once a week and Little Bear finished all of his at dinner and ate it cold for lunch the next day. 

"Hamburger Helper" Beef Stroganoff

I love taking everyday nasties (fake, processed foods), and making quick, easy substitutions. Today I ventured into the world of Hamburger Helper. I actually grew up on the stuff. We had Hamburger Helper or Tuna Helper about once or twice per week. As a kid, I hated ground beef, so I always dreaded HH nights...

Ground beef and I have made our peace, but now I have a whole list of other reasons to hate the stuff. In all reality, you might as well get fast food or a frozen meal (Stouffer's frozen lasagna is truly a better choice here). Look at the ingredients in this "American classic":

Their "wholesome family meal" advertising is total crap!

I timed my healthy version meal start-to-finish at 45 minutes, but that included measuring, tasting, remeasuring and retasting AND photographing it all.  I'm willing to bet that, in a time crunch, I could go from raw beef and whole onions to the table in under 30 minutes.

Ingredients

• 1/2 medium onion (about 1 cup, chopped)
• 2 tablespoons unrefined olive oil
• 1 1/2 tablespoons fresh garlic, minced (2 cubes)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 pound ground beef
• 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) flour
• 2 cup beef stock
• 1 1/2 cup whole milk
• 10 ounces frozen mixed vegetables
• 1 1/2 teaspoons worchestershire sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley (optional)
• 1 1/2 cups sour cream
• 12 ounces whole wheat egg noodles

Directions

Finely dice the onion. This is where I am so grateful for not-so-fancy kitchen gadgets!

Heat the oil over medium heat until it is ripple-y when you swirl the pan.

Add the onions, garlic, and salt. Saute until the mix is slightly golden. {this is by far the biggest time suck of the whole recipe!}

While the onions are sauteeing, bring a big pot of salted water to boil and cook the noodles according to the package directions. When they are done, drain them and return them to your cooking pot.

My Kroger just started carrying these whole wheat
egg noodles, and they are REALLY yummy!

When the onions are ready, add the beef and cook until all the pink is gone.

Kroger also has grass-fed beef now! Woo hoo!

Add the flour and mix well. The beef will get sticky and clumpy.

While whisking, add the broth and then the milk.

Stir in the vegetables (fresh greens would wilt in nicely, too!). Add the worchestershire sauce and parsley.

Cook until the sauce thickens. If it thickens too much, add some more broth or milk to thin it out. If it it way too watery, add some cornstarch or arrowroot powder (mix with a bit of cold water first!) to thicken it up.

Add the sauce mixture and the sour cream to the noodle pot and stir well.

Done!

Little Bear and I love mushrooms, so I sauteed some with butter, salt, and a bit of red wine to top our dishes with. Husband despises mushrooms, or I would have just mixed the sauteed shrooms in with the whole pot...

Single-Serve Garlic Cubes

I'm a huge garlic fan. It goes in just about everything I cook, but I hate peeling/chopping/grating it. Plus, I'm always game for a new time-saver!

Here's how I keep my garlic fresh (in the freezer) and on-hand for instant garlicification:

I buy the big tubs of pre-peeled garlic from Costco. I've seen the same type of garlic sold in most grocery stores, too.  {note:  stay away from anything with more ingredients than just 'garlic,' because they probably have unnatural preservatives and a strange taste}

Fill your food processor, mini chopper, or blender with garlic cloves, and cover the cloves with unrefined olive oil. Add a little bit of salt. Turn your pulverizer of choice on and run until the mixture is smooth-ish and evenly blended.

Spoon the mix into a clean ice tray. If you can't easily spoon it, add a little more oil and blend again. {I didn't measure the oil-to-garlic ratio, so just keep adding oil until you get a texture that you're happy with}  Tap the trays on the counter to settle the mixture and remove any big bubbles.

Put the filled trays in the freezer for several hours, or until the garlic is totally frozen.

Put about an inch of hot water in a pyrex-type pan (tap water hot, not boiling hot). Set your ice tray in the hot water for about 30 seconds. Turn the tray over and twist *gently.* The cubes should fall out. If they don't, put the tray back in the water for another 15/30 seconds and try again. {I twisted the tray straight out of the freezer and it completely shattered all over the kitchen, so don't do that}

Because I didn't want the cubes refreezing in a big stuck-together ball, I laid them out on a plate and put them back in the freezer to completely reharden before I stuck them in a zipper freezer bag.

 

When you need to add garlic to any dish, just drop a cube or two into the pan, and voila!

No-Cream-of-Crap-Soup Green Bean Casserole

One of the biggest evils of the Thanksgiving meal is inevitably some sort of cream-of-something soup (known as cream-of-crap soup around my house).  Here's a really quick and really delicious recipe to do away with the cream-of-crap in green bean casserole.  

If you have another recipe that calls for a cream-of soup, just go through the recipe until you add the green beans, and you'll have a great replacement (if it's cream of celery, use celery instead of mushrooms; if it's cream of chicken, add some bouillon instead of mushrooms; if it's cheddar cheese soup, add about a cup or two of shredded cheese at the end and omit the mushrooms; etc....)

I don't have the pictures ready to upload yet, but I want to get this posted before Thanksgiving... pictures are soon to follow, though!

Here's the casserole before we bake it - I made it ahead of time
and haven't baked it yet, so there's no final picture yet!

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil (unrefined)
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/2 cups mushrooms, finely diced
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground sage
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed and minced
• 2 pounds green beans (if frozen, thawed)

Directions

Heat olive oil in a medium sauce pot over medium heat.  Add the onions and sauté until soft and golden brown.  

Add the butter.  Once the butter is melted, add the mushrooms and sauté for about 5 minutes.  

Stir the flour into the onion-mushroom mixture and stir over medium heat for about a minute.  

Whisk in the milk and stock.  

Add the salt, sage, pepper and garlic.  Whisk and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until the sauce is thickened.

Mix the green beans into the sauce and pour into a baking dish (or aluminum pan to save dishes!)

Bake at 350 degrees until the sides are bubbly and the top is slightly browned.  

Greens, greens, greens!

My garden has (finally) produced enough goodies to get a decent harvest.  One of my big producers right now is my Swiss Chard.  I've used it for everything from salads to sandwich greens to pasta add-ins to just plain ol' greens.  This recipe/preparation really does make for a super yummy side dish. 

My 2-year-old was *literally* dancing in the kitchen chanting, "more bites, more bites, more bites" after he tried them.  I had a darling video to post along with the recipe until I realized that dude was in his undies (as is par for the course these days) - not sure that publicly posting my toddler in his undies is the best parenting move... So, I guess you'll just have to take my word for it!

Jalapeño Spinach Artichoke Dip

Costco has amazing jalapeño spinach artichoke dip.... with an amazingly icky ingredient list.  *Le sigh*  What's that old adage: "Give her a dip, eat junk for a day.  Give her a dip recipe, eat yummy dip for life?"  Yeah, something like that.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons unrefined olive oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 medium jalapeño, chopped
• 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
• 1 tablespoon dried parsley
• 1 tablespoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 8 ounces chopped spinach (fresh or frozen will work!)
• 2 cups chopped artichoke hearts
• 8 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup organic mayo
• 1 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese

Directions

1.  If you're working with fresh greens, wash and chop them (I used rainbow chard from my garden, so I had extra color).  If you're working with frozen greens, thaw and dry them.

2.  Heat the oil over medium heat.  Add onions and jalapeños and sauté until slightly soft.  Add the herbs and spices and sauté a few more minutes.

3.  Add the greens and artichokes (I also added mushrooms, but I think they made the color a little grey, so I'll be leaving them out next time).  Sauté until the greens are all wilty and the artichokes are softened.

4.  Combine the mayo, cream cheese, sour cream, and parmesan in a bowl and mix well.

5.  While the sautéed mixture is still warm, add to the cream mixture.  Stir until everything is well combined and the cream cheese lumps are all mixed in.

6.  If you're serving it warm, put the dip in a serving dish and bake until the edges are bubbly.  If you're serving it cold, let it chill in the fridge for several hours or (preferably) overnight.

The coloring is a little grey because of the mushrooms.

Scalloped Potatoes

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As soon as I got my Xtrema skillet, I was inspired to recipe-ize a new stove-to-oven recipe.  I whipped up one of my very favorites:  Scalloped Potatoes!  I'm thinking that this one will make it onto my permanent Thanksgiving recipe list :)

Ingredients

• 5 slices of uncured (nitrite/nitrate free) bacon, chopped
• 2 cups chopped onions
• 2 pounds potatoes (organic really matters here!)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons unrefined olive oil
• 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or white flour)
• 1 cup white wine (anything that's not sweet)
• 2 cups whole milk
• 1 cup grated cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon white pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard

Directions

Slice the potatoes very thinly on a mandoline slicer.  Set aside.  I used a combination of Yukon Golds and Russets and thought the Russets ended up with a much nicer taste and texture!

Cook the bacon over medium heat in a large skillet (LOVE my Xtrema for this!) until slightly crispy.  Remove the pieces of bacon and save for later.

Add the onions and sautee over medium heat in the bacon fat until soft and slightly browned.  Add the onions to the bacon pieces.

Add the butter and olive oil to the remaining bacon fat.  Whisk in the flour and cook (while still whisking) for about 30 seconds.

Whisk in the wine and then the milk.  Add the salt, white pepper, and ground mustard.  Cook for a few minutes, until slightly thickened.  The mixture may look a little curdled, but it'll come back together - don't worry!

Lower the heat to medium-low, and add the grated cheese slowly.  Stir in the reserved bacon and onions.

Add the potatoes into the sauce, being careful to separate each slice as it's added.

Poke the potatoes down into the sauce to make sure that they're all covered.

Put your pan directly in the oven (make sure you're using an oven save pan).  Bake at 375 for about 20 or 30 minutes, until sides are bubbly and the top is browned.

Let the pan cool for about 10 minutes before digging in!

Roasted Green Beans

This recipe would work with any fresh veggies - we are all huge fans of roasted veggies around here!
 Ingredients

•  1 pound green beans
• 3 tablespoons unrefined olive oil
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic

 Directions
 Snap the stem end off of the green beans.

 Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl.

 Toss to evenly coat the beans.

Spread the oiled beans evenly on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

 

Bake at 425 for 13 minutes.
 

Serve hot & enjoy!