We got our first basket of CSA vegetables in almost a month today! December’s schedule was already planned differently, and then last week the ground was too frozen for digging anything out. I’m excited to have them again, though I am really not sure (yet again) what I’m going to do with the gigantic, beautiful head of cabbage.
When I saw a few days ago that Kimi at The Nourishing Gourmet is hosting a sugar-free challenge, I was excited but a little hesitant to join because I wasn’t sure what everyone else around here would think about it. After convincing my husband that it’ll be no big deal since it’s *only* seven days, I signed us up. We’re challenging ourselves to remove all sweeteners, both refined and natural, from our diet (though not fresh or dried fruit) for January 17-23 (this is the “moderate” level on Kimi’s site). I’m interested to see if we notice a difference in how we feel, especially me since I tend to notice sugar’s influence on my energy level and digestive health most in our family. If you decide to join, too, let me know in the comments! I’d love to know how it turns out for you.
I promised an update about the crock pot brown rice pudding – I did actually end up making it, and it was not bad, though I added an extra 2 cups of milk and some sugar to the recipe and it was still super stiff – definitely not creamy like the “pudding” I had imagined. I had the brilliant idea of mixing in a little coconut milk (we had some left over in the fridge) in our serving bowls and it went from decent to excellent. I think I will make it again, but next time I’m going to try adding 1/2 cup of dried coconut in with the rice, increasing the milk by at least 2 cups, using whole instead of 1% milk and adding an additional 2-3 cups of coconut milk. And then, if it’s good, I’ll post the recipe here.
Last but not least, we made chili tonight using the beef liver in our freezer (instead of ground beef, since we didn’t have any). It tasted fine, though I definitely prefer the ground beef. However, my stomach is pretty unhappy tonight (though there are quite a few options for reasons) and the thought of eating it again isn’t so great at the moment. Everyone else thought it was good, though, and I think my three-year-old and baby might have liked it most.
(For reference, B is for breakfast, L is for lunch and D is for dinner. Links are to the recipes we’ll be using.)
Wednesday
B: fried eggs, toast
L: PB&J, fruit, cheese sticks, remaining rice pudding leftovers
D: leftover chili and cornbread (eggs with spinach for me)
Thursday
B: cereal, milk
L: leftover chili
D: simple pan-fried chicken breasts, rutabaga and potato gratin, braised leeks
Friday
B: steel-cut oats with cranberries and almonds
L: sandwiches and fruit
D: leftover chicken, gratin and leeks
Saturday
B/L: brunch with friends, bringing TBD
D: baked potatoes with sautéed broccoli, cheese, sour cream and turkey bacon, or possibly with leftover chili
Sunday
B: leftover steel-cut oats
L: leftover baked potatoes with fixings
D: clean out the fridge, or omelets if there’s nothing to clean out!
Monday (sugar-free challenge)
B: eggs with cheese
L: peanut butter and banana sandwiches on homemade bread, cheese sticks
D: simple pan-fried chicken breasts, pepper and cheese spaghetti squash, simple spinach salad with balsamic vinaigrette
Tuesday (sugar-free challenge)
B: peanut butter toast on homemade bread, milk
L: grilled cheese sandwiches on homemade bread, simple spinach salad with balsamic vinaigrette
D: beef stew
Smitten Kitchen has a recipe for Red Split Lentils with Cabbage (Masoor dal aur band gobi), although it will only use SOME of your cabbage. It is on our menu to try this week.
Somehow I’ve managed to read this recipe/post before but it didn’t strike me that it would be a fabulous way to use both the large quantity of cabbage and red lentils that we have in our fridge/pantry. I’m thinking it should go on our menu next week, especially since it has no sugar.
Cabbage is excellent in soup, sauteed in butter (Ina Garten has a fantastic recipe), added to stir fry, tucked into kraut burgers, and made into coleslaw!
I can’t recommend enough to you that you should try the sauteed in butter option…very simple and delicious; butter, salt, pepper, about 20 minutes on medium to medium high heat. DELICIOUS. Also, once you cook it, you can divide it into smaller portions and freeze it, and then throw it into soups later on!
If it’s a red cabbage, I have a recipe somewhere for cooked red cabbage with apples that I will dig out for you, if you like.
I’m a HUGE cabbage fan, and am happy to share recipes for this much underrated vegetable!
Good luck on the sugar free challenge…but I have to ask: Doesn’t peanut butter have sugar in it? Even the natural stuff?
I will definitely try the cabbage sauteed in butter! Thanks for the tips! The one we just got is not a red cabbage, but we have gotten those before, too. About the peanut butter – I think it depends on what brand you get, so you have to read the labels. Ours only has two ingredients – peanuts and salt – so there’s no sugar in it.