Chili Rellenos

Recipe

Tutorage

One of the guys from the farmers market gave me a bunch of Anaheim Peppers on Sunday. My plan was to make taco salad tonight out of the lettuce, cilantro, and organic beef from the farm and then tomatoes from my own garden. I thought the Rellenos would make a wonderful addition to my local, but completely delicious meal with my chickens egg and cheeses from Oregon.

My process:

Broiling.

Charred pepper ready to peel.

While I was peeling the peppers, I whipped the egg whites.

Peeled peppers.

Egg yolks, whipped.

Sliced and deseeded peppers.

Stuffing with cheese.

And a token bad pic of me, but I look happy. So I will leave it in the line.

I used a toothpick to keep the peppers together after stuffing.

Floured and ready to be battered.

Mixed fluffy egg whites and beaten egg yolks.

Dipped in the batter and placed in a 1/4 inch of olive oil (I know that olive oil isn't really authentic, but it was in lieu of lard or canola oil).

Results:

Oh, and it was really really good.

The big food budget debate

Once again, our budget was overrun by the food budget. We spend WAY too much on food. It is insane considering that we get half our food for free and I make enough that we really honestly shouldn't EVER be eating on Don's paycheck at all. But yet, we did. YIKES!

So in comes the budgeting, and the recipe filing, and the planning with ways to save in that area.

I have gotten some really wonderful ideas from these two ladies.

Delicious Wisdom

This is a whole foods website that does about 4 recipes a week. Each and every one is whole foods. Many are dairy free and vegan as well. She does a great job posting the shopping list for the following week at the start so you don't have to wonder whether or not you have enough Agave Nectar to make all four recipes this week. Many recipes are "out there", but I find myself very compelled to try them out. It is a wonderful format and I can't wait to search through her recipes and find new favorites, which I am sure to with beauties like Walnut Banana Muffins.

Life Ventures

This lady is very special in my life. Not only is she constant inspiration for me in many ways, but she also happens to be my best friend. :) She and our other dear friend Heather came up with this amazing binder idea for food recipes. I think it is brilliant! I haven't yet tried to figure out how to do this on a local diet, but it is worth a try as it would make meal planning SO much easier!

I also just got the book "In Defense of Food" by Micheal Pollan (the author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma") from the library and I can't wait to dig in and get back into food on the intellectual level as well. The first line makes a great start for a good conversation:

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Yep.