A day of bread and vegetables

I'm back to using the supermarket for vegetables, and am happy to be cooking up some broccoli! Oh how I have missed you.

I like to do a quick stir fry more often than not. This one, I added fajita spices to. Initially, I was going to add shrimp, too, but I decided that I wasn't in the mood to defrost and peel a pile of shrimp.

So veggie fajitas it was--with a spread of goat cheese and some salsa and lettuce.

I also made another loaf of bread for sandwiches. I'm still using the same recipe, this one:

1 1/4 cups water
2 1/2 cups white bread flour
3/4 cup wheat bread flour
2 tablespoons dry milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons honey
1/3 cup sunflower seeds
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

*egg wash and sesame seeds before baking. 375 for 30 minutes or so.

It just consistently turns out a nice, nutty loaf, perfect for toast or for sandwiches.



Its supposed to get cooler this weekend--I fear my habit of fridays at the pool is coming to an end. Until next year, Summer, I'll be missing you!

$2 taco night

Love it! BTW, I'm finally getting a new phone, so expect the photos to improve exponentially. (its about time!)

More sweet bread -- Banana Chocolate Chip

All right--although Blogger seems insistent on keeping this picture sideways (grrrr!!) Here are the bananas that I grabbed at the Corporate 5K last week. Nice and speckled, I would say...

Ingredients -- again, I switch out a large portion of the oil with buttermilk.

Chocolate chips!!!!

All done, ready to join the squash bread in the freezer.

I like to have a couple of easy treats frozen at the ready for easy breakfasts / brunches. What do you like to freeze?

Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Squash Bread and some bagels

More from the last CSA box--I wanted to make zucchini bread, but only had summer squash. After consulting google, I decided to go ahead with it. I grated two.

Mixed with the typical zucchini bread ingredients, subbing 3/4 c. of buttermilk for the oil. (If you haven't tried this, I highly suggest it. Very good tradeoff) Added mini chips.

Bake at 350 for an hour, though next time I should either split this into two loaf pans or perhaps cook at 325 for longer. Its cooked through, but pretty moist in the middle.

Chocolatey yum.

For the bagels, I made this dough:

1 1/4 cups water
2 1/2 cups white bread flour
3/4 cup wheat bread flour
2 tablespoons dry milk
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons honey
2 1/2 teaspoons active dry yeast

Then boiled it for a minute on each side

I brushed with egg white and sprinkled sesame seeds on it. Bake at 350 for 25 or so minutes. Delicious!

An autumn dish, Butternut Squash Chili

Well, its that time of year. Always bittersweet for me, autumn is officially beginning. I picked up my last share of vegetables from the CSA today, and went to work with a decidedly fall dish, Butternut Squash Chili. The recipe is based on this one from Bon Appetit.

I subbed a few ingredients--canned beans instead of dry (original recipe called for an entire POUND of dry beans....I think that would make enough chili to eat until next spring!) I also used a mix of kidney and black as opposed to all black. Ro*tel instead of diced tomatoes, and base chili powder spices instead of prepared chili powder.

From the CSA, I had a ton of these mini butternut squashes. So cute! Such a pain to peel ;) If you get a pile of these, make sure the music on the radio is good because you'll be working on them for the next hour or so...

Peppers, also from the CSA. I chose to crush the garlic instead of mincing it, because I hate eating a big chunk of garlic unexpectedly. This way I can just fish it out.

Mix beans, rinsed.

Okay--this was my mistake. I should have stuck to just 1-2 of these....not 5. Or should have left whole and fished out in the end, not diced. These puppies made my chili molten hot! There will be no clogged sinus issues in the house of Tavolini, I assure you :)

Add bulgur wheat and simmer for 30 minutes.

I really like the addition of bulgur to this! I think I have found a new "chewy" grain to add to my stews and chilis this fall. Sour cream was a necessity, to counter the extremely spicy chiles. All in all, this is a pretty good recipe. I really like the sweetness that the squash adds.


I'll miss you, summer!

All over Atlanta! Football, Food, House and Bicycle photos

Its been a good week! The opening football game for my college was last week--this is the view of the marching band from right outside the library. Nice, eh?


It was Gustavo's birthday, so we went for one of our epic walks. We also went to the new skatepark that opened up in Old Fourth Ward. Neat mural--its a reference to a popular (now defunct) place, 40 Yard, that Gustavo and his buddies skated at while growing up.

Murals on the Beltline...

We had some beers with our friends at the earl. Cigars, too. Classy!




On the way home, we picked some rosemary and made some dough for rosemary bread.

It was great for breakfast the next day with goat cheese and butter.

Gustavo has been plugging away at the house. In order to get the new plumbing in, we needed to tear up all the floors so we can access the crawl space. Tight fit!



Sponsored by the Atlanta Bicycle Coalition, I participated in the Heels on Wheels ride on Saturday. This is a great ride through downtown and midtown--and with DragonCon going on, there was a lot to see!!

Photos below are borrowed from Cameron Adams' flickr set--if you click on the photo, they will take you to his photography. Additionally, Mr. Adams maintains a blog called Atlanta Bicycle Chic. Check it out!



All the ladies!



Hope you had a fantastic Labor Day weekend as well.