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(Easy) Raspberry Gelee and Ground Beef and Roasted Poblano Roll Ups

Zola Gorgon on

My Spring Vacation

I have been reflecting on my vacation. I have also been reflecting on the process of going on vacation. I didn’t report out on my vacation right away because I wasn’t sure what I wanted to write. I thought I’d just let it stew for a while.

I decided that what I learned on vacation was that I learned a lot.

Think about it. There are all kinds of vacations and we all have our favorites.

Some folks like to go on wild adventures. They seek the thrill. My husband and I went on a river trip once that included Class IV rapids. He came way too close to drowning early on in the trip and I didn’t have so much fun myself. I would never do that kind of vacation again. Now I hate anything that involves mosquitoes, camping or even long treks in the woods. I used to love to snow ski. Now that I’ve had back surgery, my surgeon pretty much put a stop to that.

Some people like to go to a beach and lie in the sun and read novels. Not me. I used to do that, about 35 years ago. My husband talked me into no longer laying in the sun right after we married. I’m glad he did. My skin was not cut out for it. Too often I got burned and spent the evening miserable. My skin is currently in good shape and I’m happy about that. Because I don’t lie in the sun anymore, my body isn’t used to it either, so it’s no fun. I’d rather read a novel curled up in front of the fireplace or sitting in the shade. I did get one novel read on this vacation but it’s no longer the center of my activity on a vacation. I have to get up and move more.

Even when I have been on a cruise, I have come to the realization that the best part for me was taking the shore excursions. If the excursion involves seeing an old ruins or a famous building I’m all over it. I love to follow a well-versed tour guide while they fill me with new information about what I am looking at. I have decided that what I like to do best on vacation is learn.

That doesn’t mean I’m about to go to space camp or go into a lab for a week and learn some new thing that involves petri dishes. What I have always known is I like going places I have never been, and learning about those places and the people who live there, or have lived there. I like to find out what life was like for them in older or even ancient times. I like to learn how they lived, how they ate, what activities they were involved in, what the politics were like at the time, what technology was available to them; stuff like that.

I realized that when I took these trips, I didn’t always have to go far. Maybe I traveled just 30 miles during a weekend to learn about life in the old mining days in southern Wisconsin. Sure it was a thrill to go to Iceland and learn what it’s like to live in a place that is in the dark much of the day, or conversely light much of the day, and basically sits on a field of volcanic activity. Last year I went on a short weekend trip to Saugatuck, Michigan. We toured a ship there called the SS Kewatin. That ship was about one-third the size of the Titanic. It sailed around the Great Lakes during the same era. The shopping in Saugatuck might have been my favorite, or I could have laid on the beaches there, read novels and swam in Lake Michigan, but my favorite parts of that trip were when we toured that moored ship museum, and when we took a sand dunes tour and learned about how to dunes were formed; what logging did to effect the dunes, how deep the dunes are and how the environmentalists are working to preserve them today.

While on this most recent vacation I toured Monticello, Thomas Jefferson’s home outside of Charlottesville, VA, and I also toured The Biltmore in Asheville, NC. The Biltmore is a massive estate owned by the Vanderbilt family. I learned a ton at both places. I learned so much that even sharing the highlights is going to require another column. So watch for that coming soon.

Today I’m giving you two recipes. I have been working more on ZReduction recipes for Plan Z, the diet. Diet food that doesn’t taste like diet food. Some folks want comfort food while they are on a diet so I am giving it to them. The first one is a dessert. The Raspberry Gelee. The name sounds fancy but this dessert can be eaten on a Tuesday night or at a dinner party. Goes well at either occasion. If you were a kid at the time that Jello came out with a product called Jello 1-2-3 and you got to try it, you’ll revert right back to childhood when you taste this. They used to call the levels ‘foam, sauce and jelly-jammy’. This dessert has them all. It’s not processed food though like Jello. This is all natural. You make it in your own kitchen in about five minutes. Bingo.

The other dish is a perfect lunch or dinner when you don’t want to be fancy. You just want to eat comfort food with extra flavor. Try them both. They both go great together to round out a meal too. Sort of a retro-combo.

Raspberry Gelee (VERY easy)

Serves 5. Can easily be doubled

For those of you old enough to remember the Jello product that formed 3 layers (foam, sauce and jelly-jammie) you’ll know exactly what this tastes like except this one is made with natural ingredients and actually includes REAL raspberries! I had a flashback to childhood as I ate this.

This is also elegant enough to serve at a dinner party. Serving it in a pretty clear serving dish will show off the layers but any dish will do. It can also be made with strawberries or blackberries.

1 envelope of unflavored gelatin
3/4 cup of water
2 packets of Truvia
1 tsp of vanilla
2.5 pints of raspberries

Put the gelatin into the water. Heat 1min 30sec on your microwave or until it’s almost boiling. Stir the gelatin until it dissolves.

In a small blender, add one pint of the raspberries along with the gelatin mixture and the Truvia as well as the vanilla. Blend 'til smooth. The smooth mixture will look pink.

Take out your dishes. Put a small handful of raspberries into each dish. Reserve a few for garnish. Pour the pink mixture over. Divide evenly amongst the dishes. Put in the refrigerator for at least an hour to firm up. If you are going to leave them in the refrigerator longer, then cover the tops with plastic wrap.

 

To serve, just add an extra raspberry on top for a fun look. Or cluster three to make it look really fancy.

These will keep in the refrigerator for a few days without getting rubbery if you just keep them covered and sealed.

Z3. When you get to ZReboot you can add whipped cream on top or even Truwhip.

Ground Beef and Roasted Poblano Roll Ups

These roll ups are NOT spicy so don’t let the mention of poblano peppers scare you. It’s really a sort of Spanish-Mexican comfort food. You can, of course, make them spicy if you want to. They do not taste like tacos either. They don’t have cumin or chili powder in them; just your favorite meat rub so they don’t have the kick. When you roast poblano peppers they become more smoky than spicy.

These are intended to be “messy fun”. Roll them in the lettuce and eat them like a taco and you’ll have juices rolling down your chin. Or eat them with a fork. Your choice.

Keep your lettuce separate from the meat mixture if you are doing Zola To GO!. That way you can heat the meat and have the cold lettuce. I’m sure they would taste pretty good cold too!

This make a BIG batch. Nine to ten servings.

Each person will get two or three rolls depending on how much you roll into your lettuce leaves. The lettuce is “free” and does not count toward your veggie portion so you can make them small and eat more of them.

3 poblano peppers, seeded and cut into 2-inch strips. Just cut them crosswise.
3 lb of ground sirloin (93 percent or higher)
1 onion, chopped (about a heaping cup)
28 oz of crushed tomatoes (no sugar)
1 Tbl of your favorite meat rub (I used a mild Cajun but you can use any one you like)
2 heads of Boston lettuce or if you prefer, romaine
Optional garnish

If you want more of a taco feel you can top them with pico de gallo (fresh salsa). You can find it in the deli section. Make sure you get one with no sugar in the ingredients list. You want it fresh if you can get it, but a salsa in the jar (with no sugar) can work too. Just keep your portion to a tablespoon per roll.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Begin by putting the pepper strips on a lightly greased cookie sheet. (use olive oil spray). Roast at 400 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes until the edges of the peppers begin to brown and they will shrivel up. If you have a convection oven setting you can use that and speed up the process a bit.

Meanwhile, take out your large (or two medium) sauté pans and lightly spray with olive oil. Put in the meat and begin to cook it on medium high to brown it. Half way through the cooking process add the onion so it can cook too.

When the meat is fully browned you can add the tomatoes and your meat rub. Cook down on medium to medium-high (bubbling) until half of the liquid is gone. Should be about 15 minutes.

Add the peppers when they come out of the oven and stir.

Pull the lettuce leaves off and put an individual serving of meat inside. Roll up and eat. The amount you put in depends on how many you want to eat. Each person gets up to six ounces of meat so the whole batch will serve nine.

You can still have your veggies on side. I did cold veggies to compliment the warm rolls.

Enjoy!
Cheers,
Zola


 

 

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