Once upon a time there was... Guacamole

Guacamole happens. This time, guacamole happened because we had this fancy new avocado bowl, and because we still had a ton of leftover cilantro after the Potato and Cilantro soup. So, here's what you need to make our favorite (but ever-changing) guacamole.

makes 2 c. of guacamole
Ingredients
2 RIPE avocados (should be a good amount of give when you press on the skin, otherwise it will not blend well)
2 tbsp lemon juice
2 cloves of garlic
1/3 cup cilantro
1 green onion
1/4 cup red onion
11 grape tomatoes
1 jalapeno pepper
salt, pepper to taste
Tortilla chips!


Instructions
1. Prepare ingredients. We will use a small food processor below, so there isn't too much to do here. We lightly chopped the garlic, onions, and cilantro, then put them in the food processor.

We also seeded and lightly chopped the jalepeno. When cutting jalepenos and other hot peppers, be careful! They can burn your paws/hoofs/fingers, especially the seeds. Hide behind your pigs as necessary. Get rid of the seeds unless you want a serious guacamole kick.

Cornelius says: Hot peppers should be handled by brave pigs only.

2. Coarsely chop the onions, garlic, cilantro, jalepeno, and 6 grape tomatoes in a small food processor. We dropped the tomatoes whole to get a little of their juice, which keeps the guac mild.

Like magic!

3. Now, prepare the avocados. Open the avocados and scoop out the good stuff into a bowl (see the bottom of this post for our method of peeling them.) Quickly add the lemon juice so the guac stays green. Then, MASH and SMASH and BEAT the avocado, perhaps using a mortar and pestle, until it starts to break up and get a little creamy.

4. Dump in the contents of the food processor and beat to combine until creamy, or just how you like it. At this point, we chop up the remaining 5 grape tomatoes and add those pieces - this is mainly to make it look prettier. Add the salt and pepper to taste.

5. Enjoy with tortilla chips!

Avocado Technique

To open your avocados,

1. Slice all the way around the avocado (you can't cut through because of the core).

2. Twist and pull the two halves apart. If your avocado is ripe, this should not take too much effort. Have your pigs assist if necessary.

3. One side will have the avocado pit stuck in it. To easily remove it, carefully jam the knife into the pit. Then, just twist and lift! Like magic!

The nutritional information calculates the 2 c of guacamole as 6 servings. So adjust if you want to eat more or less.

Moo!

Once upon a time there was... Garlic Chicken Mozzarella

We found this recipe on a can of Contadina diced tomatoes.  If you've never checked out their site (or the sides of their tomato cans), you should because they seem to always have yummy food ideas.  Our only issue with them is that they always need more seasonings than they say - so, season away! Seriously, don't be modest with your seasonings, there is a lot of chicken and tomatoes.

This meal is great for a weeknight (easy and fast), healthy, and also reheats well for lunch.  This is not a new recipe for us, but since we are doing the whole "eat healthier thing", its a good one.  You can serve this with pasta and garlic bread (for maximum deliciousness), whole wheat pasta (a slightly healthier option), or some veggies (for maximum healthiness).

ingredients

1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes (with seasonings of your choice)

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil

4 4-oz chicken breasts

4 slices mozzarella cheese

seasonings (garlic powder, oregano, salt, pepper) to taste

instructions

1. Cook chicken in oil, flipping once, until browned.

Cornelius' tip: drawing pictures with oil is fun!

2. pour diced tomatoes, sauce, and seasonings over the chicken.  bring to a boil.

3. Reduce heat and simmer 15 minutes or until chicken will no longer kill you or make you very sick or even a little sick.

4.  Place 1 cheese slice over each chicken .  Cover and cook just a minute until cheese is melty.

Delicious!

 And now introducing our newst feature, nutritional information!  We can do this courtesy of SparkRecipes.com, which has a recipe calculator we've used for years.  Keep in mind that your exact info will vary based on the brands you choose and of course how well you measure. Info does not include a side dish.

Well that was yummy! And it was also one of our fasting postings ever - we just had that for dinner tonight!

pig, out.

Changes Coming to the Castle Farm Cookbook!

Now that the holidays are over, we're excited to start spending more time cooking and trying new meals.  Cal and I may have ate a few too many cookies (and chocolate and cake), so we need to trim a few tenths of an ounce. 

It's time to start making some healthier foods, but don't worry loyal readers! We'll never lose our love of cooking with cheese and alcohol or baking cupcakes.  So, stay tuned in the coming weeks for healthy recipes featuring nutritonal info (ooo!) and difficulty ratings (ahhh!). Until then,

pig, out