Along with that salad and homemade croutons...

... sprinkle some flaxmeal on top. It may sound strange, but flaxmeal gives anything a light, nutty taste AND it's SO HEALTHY. One bag of flaxmeal goes a long way. You should find some breading ideas for the flaxmeal in this blog right here.

Something light: Homemade Croutons for Soup or Salad

I found some fancy, pretty expensive multigrain uncut bread in my bread box yesterday. I bought it before the rush of the holiday season, with full intention of making garlic bread, but instead I completely forgot about it. It was hard, but I didn't want to waste it. You know what they say: when life gives you old bread, make croutons! Here's a very simple way to turn old (or not so old) bread into a yummy topping for your soup or salad.

HOMEMADE CROUTONS
bread (preferably a good French bread or sourdough or multigrain)
olive oil spray
Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning
grated Parmesan cheese
dried oregano (optional)
cayenne pepper (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Season cookie sheet with olive oil spray and a few shakes of the Italian seasoning. Spread bread cubes into a single layer on cookie sheet. Spray cubes with olive oil spray. Shake some Italian seasoning, cheese, oregano and cayenne pepper onto bread cubes. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until lightly toasted.

These go very well with tomato soup or on top of a salad.

The croutons pic is from SimpleComfortFood. This picture looks very similar to my own croutons. The Italian seasoning is full of bits of garlic, sundried tomato, peppers, herbs and spices -- the croutons are full of flavor and flecks of color, naturally.

Rustic (Easy!) Potato Gratin

Need an easy and DELICIOUS side dish for the holidays? I've got one for you. This is one of the dishes that I'm taking to Christmas dinner that I first learned about from the Rachael Ray cooking show several years ago. I tweaked it by lowering the fat, using my Italian Garlic Seasoning in place of salt, and simplifying some steps. You don't need to slice the potatoes into thin slices, you just halve small potatoes until their roughly the same size and you'll see what else. It's very easy to make and it's sooooooooo yummy!


RUSTIC POTATO GRATIN

a couple Tbsp olive oil
3-4 pounds mixed baby potatoes, such as baby red, purples, and fingerlings
1 cup heavy cream
1 cup half & half (plus some to cover)
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
2 sprigs each fresh thyme, sage, and rosemary
2-4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tsp plus a few shakes Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning
black pepper
1/2 cup grated Italian Cheeses


Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Drizzle the olive oil in the bottom of a large baking dish. Halve the potatoes and toss them into the baking dish and season with a few shakes of the Italian Seasoning and some pepper.

In a medium saucepan, combine the cream, half & half, butter, herbs, garlic and 2 tsp. Italian Garlic Seasoning. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then cook over low heat for about 20-30 minutes, stirring often. This will infuse the half & half and cream with flavor. Note: This last italicized part was added on 12/27/09. I found that simmering the mixture for a while really helps to add more flavor.

Using a slotted spoon, pull out the herbs, then pour the hot cream mixture over the potatoes. Sprinkle the cheese evenly over the top. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, until the potatoes are cooked through and top begins to brown. Cover and keep warm until ready to serve.

Artichoke Dip and Baked Tortilla Chips a Hit at Missouri Mercantile

I just love Missouri Mercantile. Here's a store that contains only Missouri-made products in the middle of a mall (The Mills). It's like stepping back into the general store in the 70s show, The Waltons. There are so many cute and yummy items in there. The owner, Bill, and his staff are always friendly and helpful, too.

We demo-ed a family recipe Artichoke Dip. This EASY recipe that is always a hit at family functions and parties is a cinch to make. This recipe is already doubled -- I at least double it and it's always gone quickly! This can be baked and kept warm in a small crock pot for parties. Here it is:

ARTICHOKE DIP

1 1/4 cups grated Parmesan cheese
3/4 cup shredded Italian cheese (the Italian blend in a bag)
3/4 tsp Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning
2 cups light mayonnaise
2 cans quartered artichoke hearts, drained

Optional (any or all of the following): a few pinches of cayenne pepper, a couple tablespoons pimentos, a small can of rinsed and sliced black olives

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Combine the above in a bowl. Mix well. Spread mixture into a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish. Bake until bubbly and toasted on top, for about 30 minutes. Serve warm with crackers.

Another party idea: Spread a thin layer of mixture onto focaccia bread or Baboli pizza crust; bake, cut and serve in bite-size pieces.

The recipe for the baked Tortilla Chips can be found here.

Coming Soon... Sat. December 5, 2009

Our seasonings will soon be available at an RFT winning Grocery Market, Local Harvest. We're so excited! We will be demo-ing our seasonings with some tasty recipes Saturday, December 5 from 11am - 2pm. We will have free gift wrap, in recycled fiber tissue, kraft box and raffia. Hope to see you there!

http://www.localharvestgrocery.com/

Tomato Soup with Homemade Italian Croutons

Easy, warm, yummy fall dinner: Campbell's Tomato Soup (with 1/2 can water, 1/2 can milk), topped with homemade Italian croutons.

Yes, in a perfect world I'd like to be able to come home on a weekday night, whip up some homemade tomato soup (I have an awesome recipe for that from my Mom), make some homemade bread (did a lot of this BEFORE having my child!), and turn that homemade bread into croutons (did a lot of this too, sans child). However, in the meantime, here's a quick, inexpensive meal that's pretty wholesome:

Serves 3 - 4

2 cans soup (we love tomato in our house)

If making tomato soup from concentrate, use 1/2 can water and 1/2 can milk or plain soy milk; cook soup according to instructions -- I find it best to have a little whisk handy to keep soup from clumping or sticking to the pan (I think my little stainless steel whisk is from Pampered Chef -- one of my favorite tools)

1 can of breadsticks (like Pillsbury) OR a few slices of bread (sourdough is the best for this); spread either one on cookie sheet and preheat oven 375 degrees

Melt a couple tablespoons butter in a pan or in a small dish in the microwave, add 1 teaspoon Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning to the melted butter, stir, then brush butter mixture onto the breadsticks or bread slices. Top bread with some Parmesan cheese, if you'd like, and then bake until toasted (follow label instructions for breadsticks)

When bread is done, cut into crouton size pieces, top the soup when ready to serve.

Photo from www.peppercornpress.com/blog

Beautful Day for FALL FEST AT THE BARN

Today's weather for Sunday, October 18th:

Mostly sunny and warmer. Highs near 60. Winds: S 5-10

It's going to be a beautiful day (finally!) for a visit out to the Barn at Lucerne in Ballwin, MO for the Fall Fest at the Barn. We will be one of 34 outdoor vendors and 13 indoor artists booths. There will also be seven antique tractor collectors, three great bands, fantastic food and drink, and rides and games for kids. All to raise funds for Operation Food Search! A canned food item can be exchanged for a game/ride.

Not only will Garlic Earth share free food samples of Italian Artichoke Dip (only 5 ingredients -- so easy!) and their Southwest and Asian Chicken, but we are also introducing handmade photo cards made from recycled paper, and we are now a retailer for the very cool-I-can't-live-without-mine ChicoBag, made from 100% recycled fabric.

The Barn at Lucerne is located at 930 Kehrs Mill Road in Ballwin, MO. The hours for the festival are NOON - 7 PM.

Hope to see you there!

Oktoberfest Meal -- Pork Chops with Apples, Raisins & Cinnamon

First of all, a huge thank you to those of you who made it out to the Best of Missouri Market at the Botanical Garden last weekend. I woke up this morning around 7:30 and thought "at this point last week, I was already awake for 3 hours and had been serving food for 30 minutes -- whew!" It was quite a task, but Mindy and I had a BLAST meeting and serving you all. We had to have met and served over 3,000 people... I did the math and we went through that many toothpicks! Fun, fun, fun.

Another HUGE thanks to the Girlies who helped us prepare for this event. This certainly includes Tracy and Kathy for helping out at the booth so that we could take breaks. Thank you SO MUCH!

So, what is on the menu at the Schantz household this week? For one, I bought pork chops, organic Granny Smith apples, organic raisins, organic cinnamon, organic raw sugar and organic sesame seeds. These ingredients, along with a one of the Garlic Earth seasonings (Asian Garlic Seasoning is my favorite with this one -- strange, but the sweetness goes well with this) creates a hearty, healthy dish. Here's the recipe:

Pork Chops with Apples
Serves 4-6
4 - 6 Pork Chops
Garlic Earth Seasoning (Asian or Italian -- 1 tsp./pound of pork)
a few tablespoons vegetable or olive oil
2 Granny Smith apples, sliced
1/2 cup (or a few handfuls) of raisins
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. sugar
sesame seeds (optional, but nice touch plus adds calcium!)

Shake seasoning onto pork chops, top and bottom, and let marinate at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add the pork, let brown for about 5 minutes on each side -- it's good to get those "bits" on the pan. Remove pork, place onto plate and keep warm in microwave or under foil. With those bits in the skillet, add the apples, raisins, cinnamon, sugar and sesame seeds. Saute well, but gently, for about 5 minutes. Move mixture to side of skillet, add the pork back to the pan, cover with the apple mixture, cover skillet with lid or foil. Let simmer on low until pork is done (about 10-15 minutes over medium low heat). Serve.

Picture from dinkswithkids blog

Mark Your Calendars for the Best of Missouri Market!

Garlic Earth will have a booth at the Best Of Missouri Market at the Botanical Garden next weekend, Saturday and Sunday 10/3 - 10/4/09. We will be sharing free samples of the following recipes made with our seasonings:

Southwest Fajita Chicken with organic onions and locally-grown bell peppers

Asian Garlic Chicken (always a huge hit)

And for Vegetarians and non-vegetarians...

Organic Portabella Mushrooms and Eggplant in our sweet Italian Balsamic Marinade

Baked Wonton Chips made with our seasonings

Corn Cob Coins, marinated in organic olive oil and the Southwest Garlic Seasoning, then grilled 'til toasted and caramelized

We are about to introduce our new very low sodium Asian Garlic Seasoning. It'll actually contain omega 3, more vitamins and minerals and much less salt. We will sample some of that preliminary batch that I've been sharing at home -- the family loves it!

We sure hope to see you at the market next weekend. We will be one of nearly 150 vendors -- you can get a lot of holiday and birthday shopping done in one day! Please look for us -- follow the scent of the seasonings. We'll be cooking all day, both days and will have plenty of recipe ideas to share, as well. Any questions, just let us know at GarlicEarth@yahoo.com.

New Testimonial re: Baked Asian Chicken with Panko Crust

"I would love to know how you made the chicken...it was the bomb!!! - Cynthia, St. Charles"

Here's an easy recipe with the Asian Garlic Seasoning... Marinate cut up chicken with the "Secret" Asian Marinade (see below) in a ziplock bag for a few hours. Reserve the marinade for baking. Gently roll each piece of chicken in breading. Here's the breading:

For 2 1/2 - 3 lb chicken, combine:
* about 1 1/2 cups panko bread crumbs
* 1 tsp. Garlic Earth Asian Garlic Seasoning
* optional: a couple tablespoons each of flaxmeal and almond meal (the almond meal is really expensive, but the flaxmeal isn't so much and it's SO HEALTHY!)

Carefully place the chicken in a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish, pour the marinade AROUND the chicken (NOT ON TOP of chicken so that the top gets crisp), spray each piece of chicken with olive oil spray (helps to make it crispy) and bake at 375 degrees for about 45 min, until done.

My son loves it when I do the same thing with chicken tenders or catfish nuggets.

Asian Marinade (for 3 lb meat)
3 tsp. Garlic Earth Asian Garlic Seasoning
1/2 cup rice vinegar
1/2 cup reduced-sodium teriyaki sauce
1 tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce

Kindergartner Ate Seaweed for Breakfast -- SCORE!

That's right. I'm experimenting with a lower sodium and much healthier Asian seasoning blend. My son loves fried or microwaved-in-a-ramekin eggs with a little Asian Garlic Seasoning. I did an experiment and it worked! He didn't eat most of it since I didn't cook it long enough -- he doesn't like soft eggs. I thought it was delicious. We're onto something here.

By the way, the benefits of the secret ingredient are... there are so many!

It's Pepper Time at Pin Oak Farms in New Haven, MO

Here they are! If I could throw a rock far enough, just across the Missouri River from Marthasville to New Haven, I could reach the farm where our bell peppers are grown. How cool is that? Here are the bell peppers -- green, red, orange and some with a hint of yellow -- that will be a part of the next several batches of Garlic Earth Seasoning.

As always, we start off with LOTS of fresh organic garlic, fresh organic yellow onion, fresh local bell peppers, and several other fresh vegetables. That's what makes our seasonings different -- the freshness. Oh, and the fact that they're "microbrewed" in small batches, and the unique combination of about a dozen different natural ingredients in each flavor.

Gotta get more peppers while they're ripe!

Lemon Broccoli & Shrimp with Asian Seasoning

Imagine biting into a crisp, stir-fried broccoli floret, some succulent shrimp, both with a little tang from the lemon and sweetness from the ginger & Asian sauces in the Asian Garlic Seasoning -- delicious! Here's a new EASY recipe:

Lemon Broccoli & Shrimp
2 tsp. canola oil
1 lb fresh shrimp (shelled and deveined)
1 lb broccoli florets
the juice of 1 lemon
1 tsp. + a few shakes Asian Garlic Seasoning

Heat the canola oil over medium heat. Saute broccoli florets with a few shakes of the seasoning for about 8 - 10 minutes, stirring often. Add the the shrimp, lemon juice, and 1 tsp. seasoning. Stir, cover and steam for about 5 minutes. Toss one more time before serving.

Back to School

Chef Gordon Ramsay AND planet approved: the 2-tier tiffin. I first saw this lunchbox on a Kitchen Nightmares episode and I found it at the Nubius Organics website. They have tons of earth-friendly lunch gear! I don't know if a kindergartner would find the tiffin very cool, but I sure do.

With the school year quickly approaching, I will try to include some lunchbox-friendly recipes and ideas, so please stay tuned! Many of you experienced parents may already know this, but here are a few tips to get us started:

* Freeze yogurt tubes and use them to keep lunch cool (thanks, Mandy!)
* Freeze juice boxes and use them to keep lunch cool
* My son's new favorite, Ham and Cheese Kabobs: stick rolled lunchmeat and cheese cubes on a small skewer (I'm not sure if the school will allow skewers so I'm going to experiment with straws as the skewer)

My New Favorite Local Band

This goes under my favorite local things: Pik'n Lik'n. I first saw them on accident in Washington, MO at Marquart's Landing. I met a friend for a garlic seasoning deal and there were Ed, Barb and Andy. The first song I heard them play was Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd. Imagine Pink Floyd with a mandolin. It was beautiful. Next thing you know, they're playing bluegrass -- a song Ed wrote, I believe. Barb has an Amy Ray quality in her voice; the next time I see Barb she promised some Indigo Girls for me. Hope you can catch them soon! In the meantime, this link will take you to their webpage with streaming songs... turn it up: Pik'n Lik'n

Psycho Balls

What do you get when you combine ground beef with Psycho Chicken and blend in a little Sopranos reruns?

Psycho Balls, of course! You won't believe what else I added (if you know me, you'd believe it).

Inspired by those end of summer reruns, a fellow O'Fallon Farmer's Market vendor and market customer, I created "Psycho Balls". Last Saturday, the jellies and pies vendor yelled across the tents about her idea to make burgers by putting the Southwest Seasoning in ground beef first. Meanwhile, while enjoying a couple days in the Ozarks near the Current River, I received an email from my Garlic Earth T-Shirt winner about his "Psycho Chicken". I'm afraid John is having separation anxiety from his Italian Seasoning :). He sprinkled Italian on one side of a piece of chicken and the Southwest on the other side. I thank both of them for being the inspiration behind this recipe!

Psycho Balls
Makes 4 large meatballs

3 Tbsp. olive oil
1/4 cup mixture of bread crumbs, panko bread crumbs, almond meal, flax seed meal
1/4 cup milk
1 tsp. Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning
1 tsp. Garlic Earth Italian Southwest Seasoning
1.5 pounds mixture of ground beef, ground turkey (veal or pork can be added, too)
few dashes of black pepper
1 egg
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 pound spaghetti noodles (I used half organic white with half whole wheat pasta)

Heat the oil in a nonstick pan over med-low heat. In a medium bowl, combine the bread crumb mixture with the milk and seasoning. Mix well with a spoon. Add the rest of the ingredients and combine well with your hands. Let the mixture marinate in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Cut the meat mixture in half. Make 2 meatballs out of each half to create 4 meatballs. Place the meatballs in the hot oil, and brown all around. Gently squeeze the meatballs with tongs on occasion to help them keep a round shape.

Pour the sauce over the meatballs, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes while the pasta is cooking.

I cut each meatball in half and placed it on top of spaghetti on the center of the plate. You can then top with Parmesan cheese and serve.

Congratulations to the 3 winners!

Garlic Earth held its first raffle at the O'Fallon Farmer's and Artist's Market last Saturday. My son drew 3 names from the jar and here's who won:

Jeannie won a bottle of Garlic Earth Seasoning (she chose Southwest)

Michelle & Tom aka "seaweed people" :) won a Garlic Earth baseball cap

John won a Grillin' With Garlic Earth T-Shirt

We'll contact the winners asap. Thanks to all who visited us and for playing along. It was fun and we will try to do that more often.

Our next demo will be Saturday, August 15th at the State Fair in Sedalia, MO. We'll share food samples all day at the AgriMissouri Store, and will be on stage from 12-1pm in the Agricultural Building demonstrating 3 recipes. This link will take you to all the happenings at the Fair that day: State Fair 8/15

Pretty in Pink

I made one of my favorite pasta dishes today for my mother who just returned home from the hospital. I'm trying to help her get her appetite and strength back by cooking her yummy, nutritious foods. With my garlic seasonings in tow, I prepared "Mashed Cauliflower with Roasted Garlic"* topped with fresh parmesan cheese yesterday and then today I made her a roasted butternut squash and kale pasta dish. I did something different this time: I added a couple chopped beets and it turned everything a pale pink -- beautiful and nutritious! I used to not like beets, but I found that they are very good roasted with some olive oil and my garlic seasoning. So, for the record, when I write my cookbook, here's the title of this new recipe... this one's for you, mom!

Pretty in Pink
1 2-3 pound butternut squash, washed (not peeled), seeded, chopped into 1-inch cubes
2 med-large yellow onions, coarsely chopped
1 large or 2 medium beets, chopped
1 bunch kale, remove stems then chop the leaves**
1/2 to 1 package turkey bacon, chopped into 1/2-inch pieces (or real bacon if you want)
3-5 cloves garlic, leave skins on to roast (remember the number of cloves)
a few tablespoons olive oil
a few teaspoons Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning
1 - 1 1/2 lb "sturdy" pasta, such as corkscrew or rigatoni
a few teaspoons olive oil
a few shakes Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning
8 oz feta cheese (reduced-fat works well)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a large roasting dish or casserole dish, combine all ingredients except the last four. Stir well to coat veggies and bacon with the oil and seasoning. Roast in the oven for at least 1 hour, until beets and squash are tender with a fork, stirring about every 20 minutes.

About 20 minutes into roasting, start a pot of boiling water for the pasta. Cook the pasta until al dente -- cook for 1 - 2 minutes less than what's called for.

Drain, but do not rinse, pasta when done. Put pasta back into pot, drizzle a few teaspoons of olive oil and a few shakes of seasoning onto pasta, then gently stir.

When the roasting is complete, pull out all of the garlic cloves to let cool a little -- when able to touch, squeeze out the roasted garlic pulp into veggie mixture and stir.

Toss the veggies, bacon and pasta together. Top with feta cheese and serve. OMG -- you'll taste why this is one of my favorite pasta dishes!

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
*I followed a basic mashed potato recipe, but steamed 2 chopped cauliflower heads instead of potatoes. I heated 1 cup milk with 2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning, combined with some Smart Balance, then whipped into cauliflower. Top with cheese, serve.
**The easiest way to destem kale is to fold the leaf in half at the stem, then trim off the stem with a knife. Here's a picture that I borrowed from another blog of a stem that has been removed from a kale leaf:

Intermission: Jack's Sunflower

Take time to enjoy the flowers. Here's my son's sunflower given to him by his Grandma. It's actually smaller than it appears, but we're anxious to see how big it gets.

Back to the kitchen... time to zest the limes for my next batch of Southwest Seasoning!

Best Bean Salsa EVER

In case you are unfamiliar with a poblano pepper, here's a picture of one next to a chef knife (picture from eHow webpage). I call it a "mild jalapeno on steroids". You can see it's similar in shape to a jalapeno pepper, but much larger and fatter. This is one of the Bean Salsa ingredients and it's also in the Southwest Garlic Seasoning, but roasted.


I heard about this recipe on the NPR doctor call-in show, Zorba Paster on Your Health. It’s a very healthy, quick and beautiful recipe – best “black bean salsa” I’ve ever tasted. I made it twice in one week! I changed it a little bit, being my mother's daughter, unable to actually stick to a recipe (I'm thankful for that!) and here’s what I came up with. I added the lime, poblano pepper instead of jalapeno, sauted the onion and pepper, and added the Southwest Seasoning. We truthfully tried it without the Southwest Seasoning and it was so much better with. Enjoy!

Ingredients
1+ tsp. olive oil
1 cup chopped onion (Vidalia, red or yellow)
1 poblano or bell pepper, chopped (if using poblano, then no jalapeno or chilies)
1 jalapeno, chopped OR 1 Tbsp. green chilies
1 cup celery, chopped
1 15 oz can Pinto beans (drained and rinsed)
1 15 oz can Black beans (drained and rinsed)
1 12 - 15 oz can Shoepeg corn (or corn nibblets) (drained)
1 small jar pimentos, drained
the juice from 1 lime

Dressing
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 tsp. Garlic Earth Southwest Garlic Seasoning
1/4 cup olive oil

Saute the onion and bell pepper in a small pan over medium-low heat in a teaspoon or so of olive oil. While that’s cooking, drain and rinse the beans. Throw the corn and pimentos on top of the rinsed beans and let it all drain. In a medium bowl, combine the beans, celery, corn, onions, peppers, chilies, pimentos and lime juice. In the same pan, over low heat, simmer the vinegar, sugar and Southwest Garlic Seasoning for a few minutes to melt the sugar.

Add the dressing to the beans and veggies, toss gently with the olive oil and serve with Southwest Wonton Chips or scoops. This also goes very well with baked tortilla scoops, as well. You'll see what I mean by "beautiful" -- it's so colorful with the red, pink, green, black and yellow, ... it's healthy and it tastes SO good.

Southwest Garlic Seasoning was the Hit Today!

First of all, welcome new Garlic Earth customers! We had such a fun time meeting so many nice people at the O'Fallon Farmers and Artists Market earlier today. The Southwest Garlic Seasoning was the most popular today. We can't wait to demo our Asian Marinade recipe that we make with the Asian Garlic Seasoning. We hope to have our grill going next time so that we can share the Asian stir fry and balsamic marinade, the latter which is made with the Italian Garlic Seasoning (the recipe for the balsamic marinade is in a previous post below).

I will post the recipe for a Bean Salsa that I made last week. It's very easy, nutritious, and so good. I first heard the recipe on an NPR health show, then I tweaked it a little bit. It has corn, black beans, pinto beans, celery, peppers, onion, the juice of a fresh lime, the Southwest Garlic Seasoning and a sweet cider vinaigrette. It goes very well with the Southwest Wonton Chips or even baked tortilla chips, like tortilla scoops. In the meantime, there's a recipe for Guacamole in a previous post below. That was a big hit at a friend's birthday party a few weeks ago -- also goes very well with the Southwest Wonton Chips.

Please check back often for more recipe ideas and to see when where we'll be demonstrating next. We will try to get back to the O'Fallon Farmers and Artists Market within the next few weeks. We're looking at the first Saturday in August, but we'll try to squeeze in one more Saturday before then. We'll let you know as soon as we know and as usual, feel free to email me with any questions or comments: GarlicEarth@yahoo.com

Sat. 7/11: Italian Biscuits & Southwest Wonton Chips at O'Fallon Market

Hope you can stop by and see us at the O'Fallon Farmers' and Artists' Market this Saturday, 7/11 from 7 am - 11 am. We'll have our seasonings at Market Special prices and goodies to share, like the Italian Biscuits (picture below in previous blog entry) and our baked Southwest Wonton Chips.

The market is held at the River City Rascals Ballpark on T. R. Hughes Blvd. in O'Fallon, MO. Go north from Hwy. 70 on T.R. Hughes. We're in the parking lot by the white awnings at the ballpark.

Hope to see you there!

Almond and Flaxseed Meal in Eggplant Parm?

Absolutely. I tried it and it works well! A long time ago, I learned to bake the breaded eggplant slices instead of frying them in oil (that was a fatty mess!). You can also use slightly beaten egg white instead of a whole egg for breading. This time I actually used Eggbeaters. I have recently started replacing flour and breadcrumbs with almond meal and/or flaxseed meal. They are very nutritious with very low in carbohydrates. I used 1 tablespoon, or 3 teaspoons, of Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning in the breadcrumb mixture and a few shakes in the veggie/meat saute. You can find Almond Meal and Flaxseed Meal at your local large supermarket OR online for a bit cheaper.

When I served this dish to my neighbor (who has also been my guinea pig for my new recipes -- thank you, Shanna!) and my adorable niece, they really liked it.

My niece asked that I cut the eggplant sort of thin so that the dish didn't come out mushy -- I did this and she was right! There was more crispiness than mush. Yum!

So, the next time you make Eggplant Parmesan, try breading the slices with the following before baking them in your favorite sauce and cheese. My recipe also has a little wine -- Cabernet Sauvignon to be exact -- in the sauce, too! I could go on and on about my recipe, but I'll try to limit myself to the breading part for now.

For a 9 x 13" casserole dish, cut 1 - 2 eggplants into 18 slices (for 6 stacks of 3 slices -- layered with cheese, sauteed veggies, meat, etc.). The first step is to bread and bake the eggplant slices. Bread the 1/2-inch slices this way...

You will need:

1. To preheat oven to 375 degrees F;
1. About 1 cup of egg mixture (slightly beaten egg white, egg OR Eggbeaters).
2. 1/2 cup Italian Style Breadcrumbs, 1/2 cup Almond Meal, 1/8 cup Flaxseed Meal, 3 teaspoons Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning -- stir well;
3. 2 cookie sheets greased or sprayed with olive oil;
4. Dip eggplant slices into egg mixture, then into the breading mixture;
5. Place slices as you bread them onto greased cookie sheet. Bake for 15 minutes, flip slices, bake another 15 minutes.

The slices will be ready to layer into casserole dish. If you have any other questions about this recipe or any of my other ones, feel free to email me at GarlicEarth@yahoo.com.

Sappington Farmers' Market Thurs. 6/18 from 11 - 2

Garlic Earth will be sharing samples of their Fajita Chicken and Vegetables made with their Southwest Garlic Seasoning at Sapppington Farmers' Market from 11am - 2pm Thursday, 6/18. As usual, there will be samples available of their Wonton Chips, too!

Thursday is always $10 off day (with purchase of $50 or more) when you use their coupon. If you can't print the coupon, it's in their weekly ad that can be found at the entrance of the store.

Just follow the smell of that grilled chicken and Southwest seasoning...

Roasted Garlic Guacamole

3 - 4 avocados
the juice of 1 - 2 limes
1 serrano chili, finely chopped, keep some of the seeds for heat
1 teasp. Garlic Earth Southwest Garlic Seasoning + more to taste
2 - 4 roasted garlic cloves (1 head of garlic, top chopped to expose some cloves, drizzle w/olive oil, wrap in foil or parchment, roast at 400 degrees for 45 - 60 min.)
1/4 teasp. cayenne pepper
8 oz sour cream (light works)
2 tomatoes, chopped

Combine everything except for the sour cream and tomatoes (which will be folded in gently at the end), mash together with a fork, mashing the avocados to get most of the chunks. Add the sour cream and tomatoes, then lightly shake more Southwest Seasoning as needed -- gently stir and taste.

This goes great with Southwest Wonton Chips!

Italian Biscuits with Butter

Another easy recipe -- it's becoming a family favorite! I heat a couple tablespoons of butter, healthy margarine or olive oil with a few shakes of the Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning, then brush each biscuit (top and bottom) with the mixture and bake.

Click on the picture to see every bit of herbs and vegetables clinging to the biscuit from the Italian Garlic Seasoning!

Grilled Asian Chicken Legs

Can you see the specks of Garlic Earth Asian Garlic Seasoning on that chicken? My son looked at it and asked what the specks were.

I told him those specks are bits of garlic, pepper, onion and ginger.

Last night, I drizzled some olive oil and the Asian seasoning on a tray of chicken legs. I let it marinate for about an hour. I then grilled it right on the stovetop (I just love this grill pan -- it's a griddle on one side and a grill top on the other).

After searing the chicken over med-low heat, turning about every 6 minutes, I finished them off in the oven in a casserole dish until they were done.

Another easy recipe -- that kids should love, too!

To Buy Organic or Not?

On my latest walk with the ipod, I was able to enjoy The Splendid Table's podcast from May 16, 2009. I believe this may have been a repeat, but it was a great show so I listened to it again, anyway. In the St. Louis area via radio or via the Internet, anyone can enjoy this radio show at 3:00 p.m. every Saturday on 90.7 FM KWMU.

A spokesperson from EWG, or Environmental Working Group, shared a list of the fruits and vegetables that should be bought organic, and which conventionally-grown fruits and vegetables are okay if organic isn't available. To summarize, here are just a few from that list:

Top Fruits and Veggies to Buy Organic (laden with pesticides otherwise):
Peaches, apples, celery, sweet bell peppers, lettuce, grapes, carrots, spinach, potatoes


Can Buy Conventional, non-organic (contain least amount of pesticides)
Onion, avacado, pineapple, asparagus, sweet peas (frozen), cabbage, eggplant, broccoli, sweet potato

For the complete list, you can visit EWG website. There are magnets and wallet cards available, too (for a small donation).

I was surprised to hear about apples containing a lot of pesticides; fortunately, the organic apples at my local market aren't that much more expensive than conventional apples.

Roasted Chicken and Veggies ... SO EASY and good!

Photo of our dinner tonight, fresh off the stove top, headed for the oven for the final bake. Click on the photos for a close up -- see how juicy that chicken is?




I found some marinated chicken legs (my son's favorite chicken) in the freezer that were seasoned with Asian Garlic Seasoning a few weeks ago then sealed in Press-N-Seal. I use my usual ratio for the wet rub: shake about 1 teaspoon of Garlic Earth Seasoning of choice for every 1 - 1 1/2 lb. of meat, along with a few drizzles of olive oil.

Once thawed, I cooked the chicken on the stove in a little olive oil for about 15 minutes, rotating the chicken legs about every 5 minutes, to brown. While that was cooking, I sliced up some organic carrots, celery and broccoli, threw them in the pan, topped them with a couple more tablespoons of olive oil and a few more shakes of seasoning. I tossed the veggies a little bit, then put this iron skillet in a preheated oven (375 degrees F) and baked it all for about another 40 minutes until done. So easy!

When I put the plate full of chicken, veggies and side of ravioli in front of my son, he exclaimed, "I almost drooled! Yum!"

Does it get any better than that?

Like Crab Rangoon? You'll love this Crab Rangoon Dip!

2 pkgs. light cream cheese, softened
6 oz Sweet and Sour Sauce (Kraft works well)
1 tsp. Garlic Earth Asian Garlic Seasoning
a few Tbsp. milk plus a little more as needed
2 cans crabmeat, drained (or 1 - 8 oz pkg. imitation crabmeat, chopped)
4 green onion tops, chopped (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (see end Suggestion for make-ahead tip). In a medium bowl, use a mixer (hand mixer works well) to combine cream cheese, Sweet and Sour Sauce, Asian Seasoning, and a few tbsp. milk. The milk helps to make mixture smooth -- only add a little more if needed. Fold crab meat and onion into mixture with a spoon or spatula. Transfer dip into a deep round or oval pyrex/casserole dish. Cover with foil, bake for about 20 min., then remove foil and bake another 15 min. until bubbly. Serve warm. BEST served with the Homemade Wonton Chips.

Suggestion: Can be made ahead and refrigerated until ready to bake.

Easy and elegant party suggestion: You can fill at least 4 packages of small phyllo cups (found in frozen section of many grocery stores) with this recipe. Fill ahead, freeze or refrigerate overnight then bake for about 10-15 min. at 350-375 degrees F until warm and bubbly. Serve immediately. They’ll go like hotcakes!

EASY Italian Chicken Recipe

"Everyone loves my chicken recipe!" a recent Garlic Earth Italian Seasoning convert exclaimed. I asked her what she does to it and here's her easy recipe:

Patsy's Stovetop Italian Chicken

Chicken breasts (boneless will cook faster)
A few shakes of Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning*
Olive oil or olive oil spray
1/2 a can of stock (chicken or vegetable and low sodium will do)
1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce
Cheese (Provel, Parmesan, Havarti, ...)

Rinse chicken, put on plate or tray and drizzle or spray some olive oil on top of chicken. Lightly shake some Italian Seasoning onto chicken. Let marinate for at least 30 minutes in refrigerator while you assemble rest of ingredients.

Place chicken in a frying pan. Pour in stock. Add pasta sauce and a few more shakes of the Italian Seasoning into sauce. Let simmer over med-low heat, covered, for about 20-25 min. Make sure chicken is white throughout or temp of chicken reaches 170 degrees. Top with cheese, let melt and serve.

*Remember general rule of thumb for seasoning with Garlic Earth seasonings: 1 teaspoon for every 1 - 1 1/2 lb of meat/veggies.

Spring Rain + Morels + Italian Seasoning = YUM!

We discovered a secret patch of morels right after a nice spring rain. A simple flour breading with a little Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning is all we did and YUMMY! Thinking back, I didn't even LIKE mushrooms until about 7th grade when an old family friend from Orchard Farm fried some up. Man! That was like nothing I have ever tasted.

Preparing the Morels
Cut off bottom of stem, split morels in half lengthwise, and rinse. There will be dirt, sand and possibly little bugs. It's necessary to soak the mushrooms, too. Put morels in a bowl of salty water for at least one hour in the refrigerator (we placed a small plate on top of mushrooms to keep them from floating).

Sauteeing the Morels
Rinse them off and pat dry. Cover each one in flour and saute in a pan of melted butter or olive oil and a few shakes Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning.

Serve immediately.

Southwest Seasoning on Pasta?!

Oh, yeah.

Rosie, a caterer and one of my business/cooking mentors, fed me some of her pasta while I was making my seasoning at her kitchen. What a treat. I always enjoy taking a break to enjoy her famous potato salad, pasta salad, roast beef, ... This pasta was delicious. I had to ask for the recipe. She replied, "It's your seasoning on there!"

I have been making and eating my Southwest Seasoning for years and never thought to put it on pasta. Imagine eating pasta with a zing of lime in the end! To simplify things, Rosie uses a vegetable peeler to "cut" the carrot into the pan. Great idea. You get little curls of carrot -- kids might like that, too. Here's her recipe:

Rosie's Pasta with Southwest Seasoning
Serves 2
2 servings of cooked pasta (Rosie prefers spaghetti noodles al dente "kind of chewy")
little bits of veggies (broccoli, celery, carrot, zucchini ...)
leftover cooked chicken or turkey, chopped or shredded
a couple tablespoons of melted butter or olive oil
2 teaspoons Garlic Earth Southwest Garlic Seasoning
a few shakes of Parmesan cheese

In a saucepan, steam the veggies in a little olive oil for a couple minutes, covered. Add the chicken to reheat, toss in the pasta, add the 2 Tbsp. olive oil or butter and Southwest Seasoning, toss. Put in bowl, top with cheese and serve.

Our First Podcast!

A very warm thanks to the folks at AgriMissouri for giving us the opportunity to publish our first podcast (I'm sure Sarah had a LARGE part to do with it -- thank you, Sarah!) Here's the link:

AgriMissouri Podcast

P.S. Earlier this week, I marinated a bunch of chicken, such as bone-in chicken breasts and chicken legs, in the Balsamic Marinade made with our Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning. My son, Jack, exclaimed, "Man! This chicken is GOOD!"

It makes me happy to make him happy. I'll get that exact recipe up soon so you can make someone happy, too.

Roasted Potato Salad with Feta

During the summer I usually make Grilled Potato Salad with Blue Cheese or Feta. I decided to try this recipe indoors by roasting the potatoes in the oven instead of grilling them. It was just about as tasty!

Tip on cleaning veggies: An environmentally-friendly and cheap way to clean your fruits and veggies is to fill a clean bowl or sink with diluted vinegar (about 1/2 cup to a 1/3 of sink of water). Brush or agitate veggies/fruit as needed and rinse.

Roasted Potato Salad with Feta

3 lb new potatoes, cleaned and halved
3 Tbsp. olive oil + some for roasting dish
2 tsp. Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning
1 medium - large red onion, halved then sliced
1/2 lb bacon (turkey bacon works well), chopped
1/2 cup white wine vinegar (can combine with red wine vinegar)
2-3 ounces of Feta cheese crumbles (reduced fat works; Blue Cheese works, too)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Toss potatoes in the olive oil and garlic seasoning and let marinate for 20-3o min. Place potatoes in a single layer in greased casserole dish or cookie sheet (grease dish with a little more olive oil or spray). Roast until tender, about 35-45 minutes. While the potatoes are in the oven, slice the onion and chop the bacon. Saute the bacon and onion over med-low heat in a skillet for about 10-15 minutes, stirring often. When the bacon is done, add the vinegar and let simmer for about 10 more minutes.

By this time, the potatoes should be done. In a large bowl, toss the potatoes with the bacon and onion. Stir gently. Top with Feta or Blue Cheese crumbles just before serving.

Eric's Tortilla Pizza

My friend, and now Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning addict, told me he won't buy that "other" Italian Seasoning at the store anymore (Hello, my name is Eric and I'm a Garlic Earth addict"). Here's his recipe:

Eric's Tortilla Pizza
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

1 tortilla
some pizza sauce
a few shakes of Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning
some Mozzarella cheese

Spread pizza sauce and seasoning over tortilla. Top with cheese. Fold over and bake for about 10 minutes.* Caution: Filling will be very hot! You may want to eat it with a fork.

*You may want to spray or brush olive oil onto bottom of tortilla before filling.

*Proprietary

I just read the label off of a jar of seasonings this weekend. There was an asterisk after the words "herbs and spices*", then the bottom of the label read: "*proprietary". This got me thinking: maybe I could make many of my ingredients proprietary, as well. However, I'm all about transparency -- that's part of the philosophy behind this blog. I want people to know exactly what they're putting into their mouths. The process of how I make the seasonings is proprietary, but I'd have to tell you what's in them.

After visiting a friend's food sampling party Friday night, and enjoying our annual family Missouri winery run this weekend, the ideas are swirling around in my head, knocking against my skull. I will have to keep them to myself right now, but I'm about ready to bust! Trust me. You will hopefully reap the benefits of these proprietary ideas soon.

Special thanks to my new acquaintance: I really enjoyed bouncing those cooking ideas off of you. It was an absolute pleasure meeting you this weekend. I feel so fortunate to have a husband who has a cousin who married a guy who has a sister who has the job that you do... hey, that sort of sounds like "The house that Jack built"!


FINAL NOTES
Central Hotel in New Haven, MO -- wonderful, historic B&B and very close to the wineries
Robller Winery -- I just loved the Vidal Blanc
Bommarito Winery -- You must try Nick's Hill, named after the owner; his daughter is a wonderful educator of wines. And thank you for the tour, Mr. Nick!

I will keep my mouth shut about another winery. I'll just give you this warning: Beware of women's restrooms with side-by-side toilets with no partition. Hey, when you're desperate, it works. But why not just a little wall??!!

Balsamic Marinade with Italian Seasoning -- huge hit!

Garlic Earth had a record THREE food demonstrations this past weekend. We want to thank our generous hosts and the courteous customers at Zuzu's Petals in Washington, Nutrition Stop in St. Peters and Purely Provence in Chesterfield/Augusta.

Our next demo will be this Thursday, March 26th at Sappington Farmers' Market from 11:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m. We'll share our Roasted Vegetable with Pork "Fried" Rice, Portabella Mushrooms and Eggplant in Balsamic Marinade and Wonton Chips.

The customers at Purely Provence seemed to really enjoy the Portabella Mushrooms and Eggplant in Balsamic Marinade. I took some of the leftovers right over to my dad and stepmom's house and we tossed it with pasta. They loved it! In fact, my friend who visited me at the Purely Provence demo requested I cook her the same thing the next day -- I'll use any excuse to visit beautiful University City! I served her family the mushrooms and eggplant with risotto. OMG. Here's the recipe:

Portabella Mushrooms and Eggplant in Balsamic Marinade
1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 cup olive oil
1 1/2 tsp. Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning
2 cloves garlic, chopped or minced
1 large eggplant and 2 large portabella mushrooms, chopped into 1-inch cubes
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped (into sixths -- halved, then cut into thirds)
2 - 3 Havarti cheese slices (or some mild, creamy cheese that melts well)

Combine vinegar, oil, seasoning and garlic into a large bowl or pot. Stir well. Add the eggplant, mushrooms and onions. Stir gently, but well. Let marinate at least 30 minutes, stirring often to cover vegetables.

Cook the mushrooms and eggplant over med-low heat for 20-30 minutes, stirring often. Take note of the smell at first -- a bit vinegary. You'll know it's done when it all starts to smell sweet. There should be just a little "bite" to it, but not much. Just before serving, top dish with cheese slices. Let melt. Serve.

This can be served as is or with pasta or with risotto. For the risotto, I use Arborio rice (a must!) and followed a standard risotto recipe that's on the rice container. For 3 adults, with leftovers, I used 1 1/2 cups Arborio rice. It's standard to add warm broth to the rice during the cooking process -- to cut down on the salt, I used part broth (actually 2 veggie boullion cubes with water) and part water with the Garlic Earth Italian Seasoning (about 1 cup water to 1/4 tsp. seasoning). I added 1/4 - 1/2 cup white wine and a few handfuls of shredded Parmesan cheese towards the end of the cooking time.

What To Do With Outter Lettuce/Cabbage Leaves

I just read this tip in one of my hand-me-down magazines. It may have been in Bon Appetite or Food & Wine. I did this while reheating our corned beef and cabbage leftovers in the microwave:

Tip: Use the big outter leaf/ves of your lettuce or cabbage head to cover food in the microwave. It saves paper (sometimes I use a paper towel) and it's probably much more safe than using a plastic cover of some sort. I liked using the cabbage leaf since it's so durable. I was able to wash it off like I wash my veggies and fruit (with diluted white vinegar), kept it in the 'frige and could reuse once or twice.

How cool and green is that?

Great Day St. Louis cooking segment

My very nice former landlord captured this picture from last week's cooking segment on Great Day St. Louis (thanks, Mary!). The link below should get you to the segment:

http://www.kmov.com/greatday/food/recipes/?nvid=340282

Favorite Local Things

This product is easy on the environment and it's made right here in St. Louis, MO by Better Life cleaning products. I use it on my counters, in my sink, and it even gets stains out of clothing, upholstery and carpet! It rocks.

Italian Seasoning: 20% less salt

I was able to reduce the salt content today on the Garlic Earth Italian Garlic Seasoning by drying the fresh vegetables a little bit more prior to grinding the ingredients. According to my calculations, the Italian seasoning now contains only about 50% salt -- that's sea salt, which is naturally lower in sodium. This batch has the most beautiful, earthy color and has the best aroma ever.
The ingredients didn't change, their ratios didn't change, there are just more vegetables, herbs and spices than ever before. Most of the ingredients are organic, including all of the herbs and spices, toasted pine nuts, onions and sun dried tomatoes.

Songs that went into this batch: Howie Day "She Says", Blue Merle "Lucky to Know You", Keith Urban "Sweet Thing".*

*Love that ipod.