Whole30 Potluck

On January 1, I accepted a new Whole30 challenge along with a group of ladies in our neighborhood committed to "Eating Good in the Hood." It's tough, I tell ya. But, so worth it. Essentially, it's a strict version of the Paleo diet: no grains, no dairy, no legumes, no alcohol, no sugar . . . for 30 days. While I have been quite satisfied typically having eggs for breakfast, salads for lunch, and some kind of meat and roasted veggies for dinner, admittedly boredom has set in.

So, last night, I was happy to host a Whole30 potluck for our small group. Just what I needed! We had such a variety of fantastic dishes.

Eating Good in the Hood:  Jocelyn, Jennifer, Anna, Martha, Dana, and Sadira

I made bison & butternut cocoa chili from the Practical Paleo cookbook by Diane Sanfilippo. I was hesitant because, honestly, who wants chocolate in their chili? I almost talked myself out of making it, but I'm glad I just went ahead and trusted the recipe. It was surprisingly really good! On a cold, wintery night, it's so nice to have a chili option without legumes. I substituted beef for the bison and actually used closer to 2 lbs of meat instead of 1 lb for a heartier, thicker chili.

Bison & Butternut Cocoa Chili

Dana made Asian meatballs from Nom Nom Paleo. I would have never thought to use sweet potatoes instead of a bread filler. Delicious! In fact, I'm looking forward to adding a few of the leftovers to compliant spaghetti sauce. Mmmmm.

Asian Meatballs

We were lucky that Sadira shared not one, but two of her Asian-inspired dishes.  Chicken tinola was a delicious soup made with chicken, bok choy, green papaya, onions, celery, garlic, ginger, and salt. The link above is a similar recipe from the internet that will serve as a starting point because Sadira is bad about cooking without a recipe. I'm jealous as I only wish I could cook like that!

Chicken Tinola

Sadira also made japchae. It was probably the biggest hit of the night. Pasta has always been one of my favorite dishes, so I've been using spaghetti squash or zoodles as a healthy substitute. However, I didn't even know this product existed. You make it just like spaghetti noodles, but it is made from sweet potato starch noodles. This will definitely become a pantry staple for me from now on. (Thanks, Sadira, for gifting me with my first bag!) As before, I've provided a link to a recipe for japchae online since Sadira doesn't use one. She used chicken instead of beef, though. I'm pretty sure there were no leftovers!

Japchae

Jocelyn made detoxifying chicken vegetable soup. I don't know how I overlooked taking a close-up of her with this amazing soup. (Sorry, Jocelyn!) It's the soup in the upper right hand corner in the photo below. With this soup, I learned so much about the healing properties of turmeric. Who knew? Don't let the healthy-sounding name stop you from trying this. Whole30 or not, this is a soup that I will be making from now on. So satisfying!

Detoxifying Chicken Vegetable Soup (see top right)

Anna made a side dish, combining beef, sweet potatoes, squash, onions, salsa, and taco seasoning. Anna, like Sadira, is also guilty of not using a recipe. :) I need to be more daring with combinations like this because it is very, very good!

Martha brought a Paleo salad made with organic mixed greens, spinach, roasted almonds, dried cranberries, and avocado. It was tossed with a wonderful dressing made from olive oil, sweet onion, balsamic vinegar, dry mustard powder, sea salt, an pepper. Such a beautiful presentation!

Paleo Salad

Since desserts are off-limits for Whole30, I served mixed fruit to round out the meal.

I also provided samples of RxBars, my go-to protein bar that is quite tasty. They're great for ballgames or movies when everyone else heads to the concession stand. The sweetness comes from dates. I even love their tagline: No Added Sugar, No GMO, No Dairy, No Soy, No Gluten, No B.S. :)

I'm so grateful for this night of fellowship. Great food. Great conversation. I learned so much! My last ten days of Whole 30 will be a piece of cake . . . the healthy kind, that is!

Second Annual Westhaven Cookie Exchange

Today marked our neighborhood's Second Annual Cookie Exchange. It was so nice seeing familiar faces from last year's swap, and what a wonderful way to meet new neighbors, too! As before, each participant shared why she brought the particular cookie of choice. The stories brought smiles, giggles, and even some tears.

Each person was asked to bring 6 dozen cookies of one kind. Given that there were 18 participants, everyone was able to gather 4 cookies of each kind. Each of us left with a beautiful display of 18 different varieties.

I brought molasses crinkle cookies since Dad had a part in making the molasses I used. It was a great way to "pay it forward."

Molasses Crinkle Cookies

Here are the other wonderful varieties (in no particular order).

Ginger Zingers

5 Ingredient Sugar Cookie

Pumpkin Cookies with Browned Butter Frosting

Coconut Macaroons

Red Velvet Cookies (aka Procrastination Cookies) 

Fudge

Amish Sugar Cookies

Sour Cream Drop Cookies

Classic Spritz Cookies

Chocolate Chip Peanut Butter Sensations

Holiday Vanilla Pudding Cake Cookies 

Pecan Sandies/Wedding Cookies

Peppermint Chocolate Chip Cookies

Red Velvet Cookies

Christmas Cookie Bars

Flourless Peanut Butter Cookies 

Sugar Cookies 

Brigadeiro

Thanks again to Sadira Ebert for agreeing to spearhead this event and to the other committee members for helping organize it. One improvement from last year was the addition of champagne, warm cider, and other drinks. In fact, we'll be changing the name next year to "Cookies and Cocktails." I'm predicting an increase in participation. Wouldn't you agree?

Molasses Crinkle Cookies

It's this time of year again to plan for the annual cookie swap. My go-to cookie has always been the red velvet cookies, but this year I wanted to try something different: molasses crinkle cookies.

Dad gifted me with a quart of molasses over a year ago. This one isn't typical, though. He actually had a hand in making it! At a friend's farm, he enjoyed learning how to extract juice from sugar cane stalks and then boiling it to the point that water dissipates and the syrup remains. What a unique experience! Mom even commissioned the artist Aurora Bull, who also happens to be the owner of this farm, to capture this experience as a gift for Dad.

So more than a year passes, and I realize that I'm hoarding this jar of molasses. Crazy. It was meant to be enjoyed! That's when I thought I would "pay it forward" and use it for this year's cookie swap. When I was telling Keely about my plan, she immediately grabbed a little recipe card from her kitchen counter and said, "You should make these. Dad loves them!" It turns out that she had them after dinner one night at Josephine, a wonderful restaurant in downtown Nashville. Evidently, Josephine serves "Grandma Hartman's Molasses Cookies" to its patrons and even hands out recipe cards if interested. Sounds like my kind of restaurant!

My initial plan was to use Aurora's recipe. It turns out that they're very similar. The main differences are that Josephine's recipe uses regular sugar instead of brown sugar as well as butter instead of shortening. I chose to use the ingredient list from Josephine knowing this will make for one happy husband. :)

The perfect cookie with a cup of coffee!

Molasses Crinkle Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar. Add molasses and egg, beat lightly. Mix in dry ingredients. Chill dough for 1 hour. Shape dough into 1 inch balls. Roll in sugar and place on cookie sheet, 2" apart. Flatten each with the bottom of a glass. Sprinkle raw sugar on top (optional). Bake at 350 degrees for 6 minutes. Makes approximately 2-1/2 dozen cookies.

Roll 1" dough balls in sugar and place on cookie sheet.

Flatten each dough ball with the bottom of a glass.

Thanksgiving Breakfast

Although we no longer have little ones in our household, I still get a kick out of seeing the cute turkey veggie tray that Keely made a few years ago as well as the one I made last year. This year? Keely hinted for me to make these turkey-looking cinnamon rolls. Seriously? How could I resist?

I can't wait to see the look on Steve's and Keely's eyes when they see what I have in store for them for breakfast. Yes, it's the little things. I may have just started a new tradition!

Happy Thanksgiving! :)

A Progressive Halloween

I've always liked the idea of participating in a progressive dinner: a great way to entertain with a limited amount of work. We did just that for Halloween with our sweet friends and neighbors, the Hesters, Jonardis, and Crawfords. What a wonderful way to spend the evening!

After handing out candy for a couple of hours, we walked a few doors down to the Hesters to start. The night began in Harry Potter style as their son Noah first welcomed us. Bob and Cynthia started us off with drinks and appetizers. Both the guacamole and jalapeno poppers were delicious!

Noah was all decked out as Harry Potter.

Bob and Cynthia started us off with drinks and appetizers. (Loved his hat!)

Next came the main course, just one door down at the Jonardi's house. Rick and Hilda served chili with Mexican cornbread. I would have never thought of preparing meatless chili, but it was so good! I didn't miss the meat at all, and we definitely needed to save a few calories for dessert! ;)

Hilda and Rick served the main course.

The night ended at our house with dessert. I made coconut bon bons as well as an orange velvet cake with cream cheese icing. This is my favorite cake to make for UT games. Now, it's my favorite cake to make for Halloween! Since both events happened last night, it was the perfect choice.

Steve patiently waits to dig into the desserts.

What a great night! We all agreed this is something we want to do again. And to top it off . . . UT actually won one!

The best neighbors!

Steve, KK, Hilda, and Rick

The whole gang having dessert.

Cheering on the Vols. Well, at least one of them was!

Sweet Potato Pie

Although I've been enjoying my book club for over a year now, I hosted one of our meetings for the first time this week. This month, we discussed Mary Ann Shaffer's The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society. Such a weird title. But, I have learned to trust absolutely any book my friend Missy recommends. I read it many years ago, and remembered loving it. I loved re-reading it as well.

To prepare for our discussion, I knew I wanted to plan a menu that would tie in somehow. (For example, I made coconut bon bons when we discussed Lorna Landvik's Angry Housewives Eating Bon Bons.) The obvious choice was to make a potato peel pie. One site stated, "I warn you, it tastes like paste. The more authentic it is, the nastier." No thank you. Instead, I opted to make a potato pie. Sweet potato pie, that is. Mmmmm. It was my first time making one, and something I will definitely make again!

Sweet Potato Pie

Ingredients:

• 2 cups mashed sweet potatoes 
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 stick butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup milk
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust
• 3 egg whites
• 1/4 cup sugar

Directions:
For the filling, combine first 8 ingredients. Mix thoroughly. Add milk and continue to mix. Pour the filling into the pie crust and bake at 350° for 45 minutes. Cool to room temperature before covering with meringue.

Meringue: Beat egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add sugar, beating until stiff and glossy. Spread over pie filling and bake for 10 minutes, or until meringue is browned.
Cool and serve.

Adapted from: Paula Deen