her able hands

I got a couple of requests for the Veggie Bread Pudding I mentioned in my last post so I’ll attempt to organize the refrigerator dump that happens whenever I make this. It works with most any vegetable, but I’ll just tell you what I put in it the other night. My base is the Broccoli Bread Pudding recipe in the cookbook Vegetariana by Nava Atlas.

Vegetable Bread Pudding

Preheat oven to 350
Oil or butter 2 quart baking dish

In large skillet:
Melt 2 Tbsp butter
Sautee 1 medium onion chopped

Add:
2 large carrots peeled & sliced
2 stalks celery sliced
2 large parsnips peeled & sliced
1 large turnip peeled & sliced into quarter moons
1-1 1/2 cups chopped broccoli
6-8 mushrooms sliced (also very good with portabello shrooms)
Sautee these until softened over medium heat, stirring often but allowing to brown slightly around edges, about 10-12 minutes.

Add and sautee for another couple of minutes:
1 clove garlic minced
1 tsp dried sweet basil
1 tsp dried dill
1/2 tsp dried thyme
sea salt and cracked pepper to taste

In a large bowl mix:
4 large eggs lightly beaten
4 slices whole grain bread torn into bite-sized pieces
1 cup cottage cheese
1/2 cup grated Sharp Cheddar or Gruyeur cheese
1/4 cup milk

Add hot veggies to the bowl and mix until all ingredients are well distributed.

Pour all into prepared baking dish.

Sprinkle top with wheat germ and then with sesame seeds to form a thin crust (also good with finely chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts).

Bake 35-45 minutes uncovered until top is golden brown.

Let sit out for at least 15 minutes before serving. Excellent with a big green salad and mashed baked winter squash with brown sugar and butter.

Poop. I didn’t take a picture of it. Next time!

Enjoy!

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Lila slept in her own bed every night for the past week, and last night she didn’t shoot straight up in bed like a stepped-on plank screaming MoOOM as if her very life depended on gettiing that word out and getting me into bed with her. I expect to hear it any minute now.

Chris painted her room, a light violet on 3 walls, but the alcove where her bed is tucked into he left the dark blue and painted stars and moons in white. It’s quite pretty and her bed is like a little faerie nook with the gauzy green arbor hung over it.

I made a Vegetable Bread Pudding for supper last night, so golden with our fresh eggs! The girls are giving up 5 a day right now in the warm weather. Served it with a big green salad and we all groaned yummymmmmmthisissoooogoooood while we gobbled. I’ll do some sort of omelette tonight. Trying to lay off meat a bit because Chris is having some issues with The Gout. Such a crazy, old-man sounding illness, that. The Gout. But I made a potato soup with collards and keilbasa on Friday and he hobbled around all weekend on achy feet. So lots less pork and beef.

I got a gold USB cord and my printer works.

The temperature is finally dipping to the freezing mark and snow is on its way. Or so they say. I felt the chill in the air yesterday while out doing the shopping and enjoyed the feeling of having on the wrong coat. Brrr.

The cough is less today. A lot less. Amen.

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The Pestilence (as Lisa B-K dubbed this particular brand of respiratory yuck) is still firmly rooted in my bronchial tubes and sinuses. I seem to have pulled a muscle in my lower abdomen. At least, that’s what I think it is, but I’m wondering because when I cough it feels like something’s ripping. Let’s all pray together that I’m not developing a hernia. Jeebus.

My gift from Chris—a wind machine for my bike so I can ride for miles and miles in my own basement—sits in its new home, bike already hooked up, waiting for me to be able to draw a breath without hacking up a lung. The extra ten pounds on my belly, brought to you by holiday baked goods, isn’t amused either.

It’s a bloody good thing I didn’t make any foolhearty New Years resolutions about getting up early and riding for an hour every day. Or staying up late to work on my novel. Or making more wholesome meals in the crockpot before leaving for work, instead of ordering in pizza when I stumble across the threshold at the end of the day feeling as if I’ve been pulled through a tiny hole.

How are you? Better than this, I hope.

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The day after Christmas dawned wet and warm. Lila and her cousin Violet geared up in their colorful finery for some end-of-year puddle jumping. My sweet sister got this terrific shot.

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