Juicing

In unpacking Beau’s many, many boxes (a process that is still going on since we moved in February) I found a brand new Breville Ikon Juicer.  Since it’s still in the box, and has been for at least three years, we can assume that Beau won’t be using it.  I suggested selling it.  But Beau didn’t want to because we’d be losing at least half the value of the rather expensive juicer.  Why did he buy it in the first place (my guess is remnants of a previous girlfriend).

Solution?  I am going to start juicing.  Actually, I’ve been hearing about the benefits of juicing and am quite interested in trying it and work it into my meals/snacks.  Here is what I bought for my first juicing attempt ( I have some carrots, kale, spinach, and lemon in the fridge) so I should have everything I need for a couple of different recipes.

I’ve been hearing about the benefits of parsley (Breath freshener, detoxification, improves body order, improves energy, nerve stimulant), so I made sure to have parsley in the recipes I found.

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Tart Provencal

Here is my attempt at Tart Provencal.

Instead of pie crust I used puff pastry because I remembered the tarts I had in France being flaky.  The eggplant I got was way too big in proportion to the zuchini and tomatos so it looks mismatched.  I also had extra tomatos left over, which I'm going to make sundried tomatoes using the toaster oven.

 

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Slow Cooker French Onion Soup

This slow cooker recipe for French Onion soup I got from the Betty Crocker site.  After reading some of the comments I took the advise and browned the onions in butter on low over night first.  It's pretty good.  Next time I'm going to try one of the other suggestions to substitute some of the beef broth with a 1/2 cup of red wine and skip the sugar because it was a little sweet.

Here is the recipe as I used it.
Ingredients

3

large onions, sliced (3 cups)

3

tablespoons butter

3

tablespoons all-purpose flour

1

tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

1

teaspoon sugar

1/4

teaspoon pepper

4

cans beef broth

Mix onion and butter and cook on low for 3 hours until onion starts to brown.  Then mix the rest of the ingredients into the slow cooker and cook on low for 7 - 9 hours.

Broil mozarrella cheese on pices of french bread and serve on top of the broth.

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Crockpot Time

I've been really bad with preparing meals.  I don't how this happened but I've stopped trying to cook.  When I 'cook' at home, it's usually a bowl of soup or a salad.  To get myself of the rut, I'm getting some recipes for my favorite dishes a la crock pot.

Here is the list of recipes I would like to try.  You will notice a lot of these came from the 'A Year of Slow Cooking blog.  It kind of inspired me.  I'll keep you posted on how these turn out.
Slow Cooker French Onion Soup
Old fashion Chicken Noodle Soup
Slow Cooker Lasagne
Slow Cooker Beef Bourguignon
Slow Cooker Potato Leek Soup
Crockpot Ox Tail Stew
Slow Cooker Asian Short Ribs
Slow Cooker Borscht

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