Yeah, so I took a week off from writing my blog for a number of reasons, not the least of which is how freaking busy we have been lately. It feels like we go from appointment to appointment for the kids with very few "just for fun" activities in between. I mean, we started this summer off weird - a kid in the hospital for two and a half days definitely qualifies as weird - then we have had all other kinds of stuff, which has led to me blinking and finding that we are smack dab in the middle of July! Ah, well...c'est la vie (or however that is spelled in French). "That's life", is all I am trying to say.
Our life today includes numerous play dates during the day and then a tae kwon do class for my younger daughter, happening right at dinner time. This happens on Tuesdays and on Thursdays and is not my favorite schedule, but it has forced me to break out the crock pot for multiple dinners this summer. What I am finding with the crock pot, is that the dinners are either very, very good or very, very bad. There are not many recipes which fall in between those two designations and I am hoping that my concoction today will fall squarely into the good category. I made meatballs and sauce, which are currently (hopefully) simmering away, to be ready to serve when we all get home for dinner later this evening.
For the meatballs, I used about a pound of ground sirloin and about a pound of pork loin chops (sliced thinly), which I ground (or chopped up) in my food processor. I added about four heels of whole wheat bread (ground into bread crumbs), a few leftover vegetables, pureed, from one of my very, very bad slow cooker experiments last week (damn you again, Pinterest!), plus about a half of a cup of grated Parmesan cheese. I started off by making the meatballs and browning them, but then I got lazy and dumped most of them into the sauce (a mixture of pre-made marinara and seasoned, crushed tomatoes) completely raw. I cranked it to "high" and plan to let it cook for a little over 6 hours. I sure hope it cooks through....
The very, very bad slow cooker (referenced above) was a chicken and vegetable recipe that I found on Pinterest and followed (to the letter!) and it was not cooked through when it was supposed to be. In order to serve dinner before 10 pm that night, I had to pour everything into a skillet and saute the food that was supposed to be cooked by the damn crock pot. Dishes....dishes...dishes, everywhere! I twitch a little when I think about it - if there is one thing I hate, it is using dishes unnecessarily. (I am going to have to blame that little quirk of my cooking personality on my cooking school days.)
Anyway, we will see how this one turns out...primarily because I will have no one to blame but myself if it is terrible. ("Terrible" is likely to equal "still raw and harboring potential pathogens at the dinner time hour".) Fingers crossed that all I (or my husband) have to do to get dinner on the table tonight after TKD is cook some pasta....or, I guess, in the Terrible case scenario, call for pizza.
Tuesday, July 16, 2013
Thursday, July 4, 2013
Happy 4th of July!
Happy Independence Day, everyone! I hope you all have something fun planned and something delicious to eat, as I declare today to be independent of calories! (Uh, not for real, but see what I did there?) Anyway, we are celebrating our holiday with close family friends and a cookout, likely to be comprised of hamburgers, hot dogs and...chips and salsa. Yes. Chips and salsa - that quintessential American snack food. What's that you say? Salsa isn't technically from America? True, but it is delicious and I have been making it from scratch since I was a teenager. Our Fourth of July table (hell, any holiday or festive table, really) just isn't the same without some homemade salsa.
Now, I am not going to claim that my salsa is the best salsa anywhere, but it is tasty and, like my pancake recipe, it was originally inspired by someone else's version. I have experimented and experimented with my recipe for years (probably something like 16 or 17 years....geez, am I THAT old?) and I have my own recipe down to an *almost* science. I can make this stuff in my sleep. (That isn't an exaggeration - I could make this stuff in my sleep, but it would be dangerous for a number of reasons. Obviously.) I actually make two different versions - a red salsa that has evolved into a mix of true salsa roja and a pico de gallo (I will explain that in a minute) and a green salsa that varies from a traditional roasted salsa verde to a fresh tomatillo-avocado salsa (today's version).
The original version of the salsa roja (red or tomato based salsa) dates back to a slumber party I went to as a teenager. My friend's dad (I think) made a delicious salsa that began with roasted beefsteak tomatoes, white onions, fresh jalapenos and distilled white vinegar. This was all pureed together to make a tangy, spicy, pungent sauce that I devoured, then politely demanded the recipe. This was back in the days, waaaayyyy before culinary school, when I was best known for my infamous ability to burn everything, particularly beef that I was supposed to be browning, on the stove top. (My poor mother, seriously. The woman was working and trying to raise three teenagers on her own and I couldn't even be bothered to start dinner cooking so she could finish it when she got home. Sorry, Mom.) Anyway, I am not sure what my mom thought when I announced that I was going to "make" salsa ('cause in those days, our "salsa" came out of a yellow jar from a company that rhymes with "space" and it sure wasn't called salsa. "Get a rope!") To her credit, she let me "create" and, that folks, was just the beginning. Salsa became my signature party food and, as the years went on, I tried more and more variations on that theme. I am super persnickety about salsa (both mine and others')so much so that, if we try a new Mexican food restaurant and I don't like the *free* salsa, we just won't ever go back.
At one point, my favorite restaurant was a local chain that was kind of upscale Tex-Mex which, when most joints plunked a tiny bowl of red salsa on the table as pre-appetizer, would serve both red AND green salsa with unlimited chips. Awesome. I took note and sought to re-create salsas that looked and tasted like theirs. Their red sauce had diced, fresh tomatoes and sliced green onions mixed into the salsa, so I appropriated that idea for mine. Their green sauce was the deep olive green of roasted tomatillos, with diced white onion and more sliced green onions, so I appropriated that idea as well (though the green version I made today was quite different). My salsa became like most of my cooking - a hodge-podge of an original food inspiration and other ideas and techniques that I collected along the way.
Today's red began with a chunky puree of cored and seeded roma tomatoes, stemmed and seeded jalapenos and serranos, the juice of a couple of limes and a bunch of cilantro. I diced two cored and seeded tomatoes, sliced a bunch of green onions and added salt and pepper to taste, then mixed the puree with the "pico de gallo". Recheck for seasoning and: viola! Today's green began with fresh tomatillos, green onions, stemmed and seeded jalapenos and serranos, the juice of a couple of limes, and a bunch of cilantro, pureed until mostly smooth. I then added three avocados, seasoned with salt and pepper and pureed until it was as smooth as my blender could make it. Recheck for seasoning and: viola! Happy, happy 4th of July! Be safe, eat well and try not to set a piece of our great nation ablaze!
Now, I am not going to claim that my salsa is the best salsa anywhere, but it is tasty and, like my pancake recipe, it was originally inspired by someone else's version. I have experimented and experimented with my recipe for years (probably something like 16 or 17 years....geez, am I THAT old?) and I have my own recipe down to an *almost* science. I can make this stuff in my sleep. (That isn't an exaggeration - I could make this stuff in my sleep, but it would be dangerous for a number of reasons. Obviously.) I actually make two different versions - a red salsa that has evolved into a mix of true salsa roja and a pico de gallo (I will explain that in a minute) and a green salsa that varies from a traditional roasted salsa verde to a fresh tomatillo-avocado salsa (today's version).
The original version of the salsa roja (red or tomato based salsa) dates back to a slumber party I went to as a teenager. My friend's dad (I think) made a delicious salsa that began with roasted beefsteak tomatoes, white onions, fresh jalapenos and distilled white vinegar. This was all pureed together to make a tangy, spicy, pungent sauce that I devoured, then politely demanded the recipe. This was back in the days, waaaayyyy before culinary school, when I was best known for my infamous ability to burn everything, particularly beef that I was supposed to be browning, on the stove top. (My poor mother, seriously. The woman was working and trying to raise three teenagers on her own and I couldn't even be bothered to start dinner cooking so she could finish it when she got home. Sorry, Mom.) Anyway, I am not sure what my mom thought when I announced that I was going to "make" salsa ('cause in those days, our "salsa" came out of a yellow jar from a company that rhymes with "space" and it sure wasn't called salsa. "Get a rope!") To her credit, she let me "create" and, that folks, was just the beginning. Salsa became my signature party food and, as the years went on, I tried more and more variations on that theme. I am super persnickety about salsa (both mine and others')so much so that, if we try a new Mexican food restaurant and I don't like the *free* salsa, we just won't ever go back.
At one point, my favorite restaurant was a local chain that was kind of upscale Tex-Mex which, when most joints plunked a tiny bowl of red salsa on the table as pre-appetizer, would serve both red AND green salsa with unlimited chips. Awesome. I took note and sought to re-create salsas that looked and tasted like theirs. Their red sauce had diced, fresh tomatoes and sliced green onions mixed into the salsa, so I appropriated that idea for mine. Their green sauce was the deep olive green of roasted tomatillos, with diced white onion and more sliced green onions, so I appropriated that idea as well (though the green version I made today was quite different). My salsa became like most of my cooking - a hodge-podge of an original food inspiration and other ideas and techniques that I collected along the way.
Today's red began with a chunky puree of cored and seeded roma tomatoes, stemmed and seeded jalapenos and serranos, the juice of a couple of limes and a bunch of cilantro. I diced two cored and seeded tomatoes, sliced a bunch of green onions and added salt and pepper to taste, then mixed the puree with the "pico de gallo". Recheck for seasoning and: viola! Today's green began with fresh tomatillos, green onions, stemmed and seeded jalapenos and serranos, the juice of a couple of limes, and a bunch of cilantro, pureed until mostly smooth. I then added three avocados, seasoned with salt and pepper and pureed until it was as smooth as my blender could make it. Recheck for seasoning and: viola! Happy, happy 4th of July! Be safe, eat well and try not to set a piece of our great nation ablaze!
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
Fridge Pasta
Sounds super yummy, right? I know it doesn't, but I entitled this post as such because I once saw an episode of Jacques Pepin's cooking show where he made something he called "Fridge Soup". The soup was basically a vehicle to use up leftovers and odds and ends in the fridge - an "everything but the kitchen sink" kind of recipe, if you will. Last night was my night to clean out the fridge (because today was grocery shopping day). I had a package of bacon, about a pint of *about to start rotting* tiny Roma tomatoes that we bought at a farmer's market on Saturday, an onion and a 3/4 full package of organic spinach, plus a package of whole wheat spaghetti (that was supposed to be used in the spaghetti and meatballs that got bumped to another night).
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I rendered the entire package of bacon in my large dutch oven and, when the bacon was getting pretty crispy, I poured off all but about a tablespoon of the rendered fat and added the onion, which I thinly sliced. I let all of that kind of confit together while the pasta cooked and, once that was done, I turned off the heat and added the tomatoes (which I quartered) and the spinach. I seasoned with salt and pepper and added about a tablespoon of red wine vinegar (just to brighten up the flavors). I tossed in the pasta, mixed it all together and viola! Dinner was served....to a less than enthusiastic audience. No one (under the age of 9) liked the spinach and even I had to admit that the bacon was a little overpowering...not to mention soggy. Ew. Now I know why you should always remove bacon once it has rendered and then add it back in later. Duh. It will stay crispy that way. Oh well, this recipe did what I needed it to do - it used up all of my odds and ends in the fridge and it fed my family. Done. Not to be repeated in this exact manner, but done.
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I rendered the entire package of bacon in my large dutch oven and, when the bacon was getting pretty crispy, I poured off all but about a tablespoon of the rendered fat and added the onion, which I thinly sliced. I let all of that kind of confit together while the pasta cooked and, once that was done, I turned off the heat and added the tomatoes (which I quartered) and the spinach. I seasoned with salt and pepper and added about a tablespoon of red wine vinegar (just to brighten up the flavors). I tossed in the pasta, mixed it all together and viola! Dinner was served....to a less than enthusiastic audience. No one (under the age of 9) liked the spinach and even I had to admit that the bacon was a little overpowering...not to mention soggy. Ew. Now I know why you should always remove bacon once it has rendered and then add it back in later. Duh. It will stay crispy that way. Oh well, this recipe did what I needed it to do - it used up all of my odds and ends in the fridge and it fed my family. Done. Not to be repeated in this exact manner, but done.
Tuesday, June 25, 2013
Fast Salmon and Pasta
What happens when you have too much to do in a given day, but want to make something fresh, fast and easy for your family for dinner? How about incorporating a little Omega-3 action into your diet with a serving of wild-caught Atlantic salmon? Add some pasta and some veggies and this is almost a one pot meal! This is one of my very favorite recipes because it has very few ingredients, can be thrown together in minutes and, now that my son can eat fish, is one of the only salmon recipes that everyone in the family will eat.
For our family, I take about a pound of salmon with the pin bones removed (in our case it is wild-caught Atlantic salmon that I froze when I brought it home from the grocery store and is currently defrosting in the fridge; not ideal to freeze it, but what are you going to do?) and poach it in a skillet. (Place the salmon, skin side down, in the skillet and add enough water to come about 1/2 way up the side of the fish. Season with salt and pepper to taste and turn the heat on to medium or medium high. Once bubbles start forming along the edges, turn the heat down so it stays at a very light simmer, cover and let the salmon cook until it is mostly opaque and flakes easily.) While the salmon is cooking, bring a pot of salted water to a full boil and cook a pound of farfalle (bow-tie) pasta. (I am using a whole wheat pasta this evening.) When the pasta just reaches al dente status, toss in a bag of frozen peas and let them come up to temp (you will know they are done when they turn a bright green and start floating to the top of the water). Drain the pasta and peas, returning them to the same pot (only if you dislike washing extra dishes like me; if you like to scrub things in the sink, then by all means, put the pasta and peas into another serving dish). Add about a tablespoon of olive oil, a teaspoon of grated lemon zest (you could add the juice of the lemon as well if you would like), and season with freshly ground black pepper. Once the salmon is done, flake it into large chunks (leave the skin behind) and toss into the pasta and pea mixture, stirring carefully to combine (but not break the salmon up too much). Finally, add the herb of your choice, thinly sliced into a chiffonade (fancy, Frenchy term for "ribbons"). I usually use mint because it complements the peas and the fish and provides a really bright counterpoint for the sour citrus of the lemon.
The great thing about this recipe is that you can add anything you like to it. Prefer asparagus to peas? No problem - add it instead! Don't like mint? Add some basil or parsley! You'd like some spice with your fish? Well, slice up a jalepeno or toss in some crushed red pepper! Maybe you like extra protein with an Asian flair? Heck, add some shelled edamame and season with soy, teriyaki or hoisin sauce! Don't like salmon? Oh. Hmmmm....well, that's just your loss, friend, but add another kind of fish instead - tilapia and trout are actually great alternatives.
I love these kind of recipes: easy and easy to make your own. That is what I love about cooking - getting to make your food suit your tastes. Make it fun, people! Cook something awesome tonight!
For our family, I take about a pound of salmon with the pin bones removed (in our case it is wild-caught Atlantic salmon that I froze when I brought it home from the grocery store and is currently defrosting in the fridge; not ideal to freeze it, but what are you going to do?) and poach it in a skillet. (Place the salmon, skin side down, in the skillet and add enough water to come about 1/2 way up the side of the fish. Season with salt and pepper to taste and turn the heat on to medium or medium high. Once bubbles start forming along the edges, turn the heat down so it stays at a very light simmer, cover and let the salmon cook until it is mostly opaque and flakes easily.) While the salmon is cooking, bring a pot of salted water to a full boil and cook a pound of farfalle (bow-tie) pasta. (I am using a whole wheat pasta this evening.) When the pasta just reaches al dente status, toss in a bag of frozen peas and let them come up to temp (you will know they are done when they turn a bright green and start floating to the top of the water). Drain the pasta and peas, returning them to the same pot (only if you dislike washing extra dishes like me; if you like to scrub things in the sink, then by all means, put the pasta and peas into another serving dish). Add about a tablespoon of olive oil, a teaspoon of grated lemon zest (you could add the juice of the lemon as well if you would like), and season with freshly ground black pepper. Once the salmon is done, flake it into large chunks (leave the skin behind) and toss into the pasta and pea mixture, stirring carefully to combine (but not break the salmon up too much). Finally, add the herb of your choice, thinly sliced into a chiffonade (fancy, Frenchy term for "ribbons"). I usually use mint because it complements the peas and the fish and provides a really bright counterpoint for the sour citrus of the lemon.
The great thing about this recipe is that you can add anything you like to it. Prefer asparagus to peas? No problem - add it instead! Don't like mint? Add some basil or parsley! You'd like some spice with your fish? Well, slice up a jalepeno or toss in some crushed red pepper! Maybe you like extra protein with an Asian flair? Heck, add some shelled edamame and season with soy, teriyaki or hoisin sauce! Don't like salmon? Oh. Hmmmm....well, that's just your loss, friend, but add another kind of fish instead - tilapia and trout are actually great alternatives.
I love these kind of recipes: easy and easy to make your own. That is what I love about cooking - getting to make your food suit your tastes. Make it fun, people! Cook something awesome tonight!
Sunday, June 23, 2013
Poor Lady's Pho
I have recently become a member of a fabulous bulk retailer (who shall remain nameless) and took all three of my kids shopping there a couple of weeks ago. We actually had a pretty good time, tooling around the store, trying samples and finding all of those "extras" that weren't on my original list. One of the samples we stopped for was pre-made, frozen meatballs which were sold in either Pineapple-Teriyaki or Mango-Jalapeno flavor. We opted for the pineapple version, since my kids aren't that big on spice, and stuck them in the freezer when we got home. I wasn't really sure what I was going to do with them until inspiration (in the form of cleaning out the fridge) struck.
I had about 3/4 of a box of chicken stock in the fridge, along with a bunch of cilantro, a jalapeno and a few onions (from our garden!) that needed to be used up. I asked my husband to grab a box of Thai rice noodles (wide, flat noodles, not unlike linguine) from the store and, when he got home, I set the frozen meatballs to simmer in the chicken stock (plus a cup or two of water). After they came up to temp, I added soy sauce, hoisin sauce and the remnants of a bottle of vegan Worcestershire sauce to the stock, stirred it around and let it continue to bubble away. I boiled the noodles as per the package directions and, when they were tender, I rinsed them in cold water and drained them thoroughly. I washed the cilantro, sliced the jalapeno and onion and grabbed some Thai basil from our garden. I added a couple of wedges of lemon (I didn't have any limes) and we were good to go. Everyone got a serving of noodles and meatballs (some with more broth than others) and could top it as they saw fit. The kids mostly went plain Jane (one of them adding a teeny squeeze of lemon), but my husband and I loaded up on herbs, peppers and onions. It was super tasty and everyone ate (almost) all of their dinner.....but. But, the next day, both my husband and I were feeling distinctly queasy. Could it have been the meatballs? Possibly. The kids felt fine and, in fact, finished off the meatballs the next day for lunch. As for me, I love any and all kinds of pho (even my fake, multi-ethnic version), but I could not stomach the thought of eating any more of that meal. I don't think I will be buying those meatballs again.....
I had about 3/4 of a box of chicken stock in the fridge, along with a bunch of cilantro, a jalapeno and a few onions (from our garden!) that needed to be used up. I asked my husband to grab a box of Thai rice noodles (wide, flat noodles, not unlike linguine) from the store and, when he got home, I set the frozen meatballs to simmer in the chicken stock (plus a cup or two of water). After they came up to temp, I added soy sauce, hoisin sauce and the remnants of a bottle of vegan Worcestershire sauce to the stock, stirred it around and let it continue to bubble away. I boiled the noodles as per the package directions and, when they were tender, I rinsed them in cold water and drained them thoroughly. I washed the cilantro, sliced the jalapeno and onion and grabbed some Thai basil from our garden. I added a couple of wedges of lemon (I didn't have any limes) and we were good to go. Everyone got a serving of noodles and meatballs (some with more broth than others) and could top it as they saw fit. The kids mostly went plain Jane (one of them adding a teeny squeeze of lemon), but my husband and I loaded up on herbs, peppers and onions. It was super tasty and everyone ate (almost) all of their dinner.....but. But, the next day, both my husband and I were feeling distinctly queasy. Could it have been the meatballs? Possibly. The kids felt fine and, in fact, finished off the meatballs the next day for lunch. As for me, I love any and all kinds of pho (even my fake, multi-ethnic version), but I could not stomach the thought of eating any more of that meal. I don't think I will be buying those meatballs again.....
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Chinese Chicken Salad
Man, I seem to be doing a lot of blogging on the fly these days. I should probably figure out a better way to do my mobile blogging than by typing my post into an email and then copy/pasting it on to the web. Ah, well...today, I'm typing my email post while hanging in my son's speech therapist's office. Loads of fun things going on for us today and this is just the beginning. Yay?
Last night we had one of my favorite summertime meals - Chinese Chicken Salad with Chow Mien Noodles. It starts with a head of Napa cabbage, shredded, plus matchstick cut carrots and red bell pepper, sliced green onions and minced cilantro. Add shredded, poached chicken breast and a delicious dressing, made of oil, rice wine vinegar, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and grated fresh ginger. Toss all of that good stuff together and serve, topped with crunchy, canned (I know - it sounds weird, but look for them in your grocery store's Asian food section) Chow Mien noodles. It is tasty, fresh, and super healthy. It also makes a ton, so we always have leftovers (great for lunch the next day...or two) even with feeding all five of us. You can change the recipe up to suit your own tastes - make the dressing spicier, sweeter, add different veggies...endless possibilities. Of course, we have so many freaking doctors appointments (the last one being across town at 4 pm....HELLO, traffic!), I will probably completely cancel out the health aspects of last night's meal with the craptastic-ness of whatever I can find for us on the way home late this afternoon. Good times! Oh, well...lunch is gonna be ggggoooooodddd!
Sunday, June 16, 2013
Goodbye, Winter Garden! You Were Delicious!
Yesterday, my husband and our daughters ripped out the winter garden that we had at our community garden plot. The community garden happens to be at my local YMCA, so, while they did that, I was inside, having a nice little workout, which has left me very sore this morning. Thank you, Body Pump! It was funny because, as I was working my tail off (literally), I could see the three of them, out the window, working their tails off gardening. After my class was finished and I had reclaimed my toddler from the nursery, we all went out to see the results of all of their hard work. They had an enormous pile of onions of all shapes, sizes and varieties, as well as a couple dozen good sized carrots. Sadly, most of our other plants either succumbed to the Texas heat (starting to become of the "hotter than hell" variety) or the bane of my gardening existence: bugs that I call "squash bores". (I call them that because....that....is their name.) Anyway, my once gorgeous artichoke plant was the latest, and perhaps most tragic, victim and had to be cut back to a mere shadow of its former self. I hope that it will survive, but we shall have to see. In any case, they planted some new munchables for the bugs - melons and cucumbers, specifically. We loaded up the onions and carrots, took them home to clean and.....
A freaking hour later, I was finally finished cleaning the dirt off of all of my lovely veggies. I really didn't know what I wanted to do with them (and the five new potatoes that they also dug up), so I made sure they weren't going to make a mess in my fridge or take up too much room and I let our dinner menu percolate in my head for a bit. What I eventually came up with was this: a caramelized onion and new potato tart with white cheddar cheese, served with honey glazed carrots. I sliced all of the onions into 1/8 inch slices and cooked them for about 20 minutes in olive oil on medium to medium high heat until they were completely soft and a lovely browned color. I set them aside to cool, while I cooked the carrots, also sliced into 1/8 inch pieces. I added them, another tablespoon of olive oil, salt, pepper and about 2 teaspoons of honey to a skillet with about 1/2 a cup of water. I let them simmer, covered, in the water mixture until they were soft, then uncovered the pan and let the honey and oil caramelize and glaze the carrots.
I found another yeast-less pizza crust recipe (2 cups flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon of salt, 2/3 cup water and 1/4 cup olive oil), so I whipped that out, pressed it into a rectangular shape, topped it with paper thin slices of potato (salted and peppered those), the caramelized onions and finished it off with about four ounces of shredded white cheddar cheese. I baked the tart in a 425 degree oven for about 20 minutes, until the cheese was melted and lightly browned in spots, and the potatoes were cooked through.
I wasn't expecting a thoroughly warm reception from the kids for this dinner (mainly because of the preponderance of onions, caramelized and hidden by cheese or no), but the girls ate it up! They even came back for seconds! Our son, on the other hand, usually a vegetarian by nature, refused to eat a single bite of the tart. He ate a couple of carrots and steadfastly refused to eat anything else. (This could have had more to do with the fact that, because dinner was running really late, we gave him his full cup of milk as an amuse bouche.)
Based on my general success, I left the dinner table last night feeling like a bit of a culinary bad-ass. I mean, I literally took a pile of root vegetables that were dug up (from the ground!) in the morning and turned them into a tasty, satisfying vegetarian meal to feed our family of five for dinner that night. I used ingredients that were in my pantry and fridge to round out the meal and (almost) everyone ate it! See? Culinary bad-ass.
A freaking hour later, I was finally finished cleaning the dirt off of all of my lovely veggies. I really didn't know what I wanted to do with them (and the five new potatoes that they also dug up), so I made sure they weren't going to make a mess in my fridge or take up too much room and I let our dinner menu percolate in my head for a bit. What I eventually came up with was this: a caramelized onion and new potato tart with white cheddar cheese, served with honey glazed carrots. I sliced all of the onions into 1/8 inch slices and cooked them for about 20 minutes in olive oil on medium to medium high heat until they were completely soft and a lovely browned color. I set them aside to cool, while I cooked the carrots, also sliced into 1/8 inch pieces. I added them, another tablespoon of olive oil, salt, pepper and about 2 teaspoons of honey to a skillet with about 1/2 a cup of water. I let them simmer, covered, in the water mixture until they were soft, then uncovered the pan and let the honey and oil caramelize and glaze the carrots.
I wasn't expecting a thoroughly warm reception from the kids for this dinner (mainly because of the preponderance of onions, caramelized and hidden by cheese or no), but the girls ate it up! They even came back for seconds! Our son, on the other hand, usually a vegetarian by nature, refused to eat a single bite of the tart. He ate a couple of carrots and steadfastly refused to eat anything else. (This could have had more to do with the fact that, because dinner was running really late, we gave him his full cup of milk as an amuse bouche.)
Based on my general success, I left the dinner table last night feeling like a bit of a culinary bad-ass. I mean, I literally took a pile of root vegetables that were dug up (from the ground!) in the morning and turned them into a tasty, satisfying vegetarian meal to feed our family of five for dinner that night. I used ingredients that were in my pantry and fridge to round out the meal and (almost) everyone ate it! See? Culinary bad-ass.
Friday, June 14, 2013
TGIF. For Reals.
So, this week has just gone to shit - personally and food-wise. Everyone is ok and we have all been fed all week long, but SO so many things happened this week that I am just totally off my cooking game. Thankfully, I had some of my mother's magical chicken spaghetti in the freezer, so I just dumped the whole cylinder-shaped block of sauce into my pan to defrost. Soon, my kitchen will be filled with the gorgeous aroma of my mother 's home cooking, my fridge will be stocked with booze (cause, damn. I need a freaking drink. Don't judge - I bloody earned it.), and this week will be in my rear view. Thank God it is Friday hasn't sounded so true in a very long time.
Monday, June 10, 2013
Fun with Hospital Eating
This one is going to be super, extra fast because I am typing this on my phone from a "couch/bed" in my daughter's hospital room. Food-wise, I've been scrounging it for the past two days. Yesterday, after our very first ER visit (what a milestone, right?), I realized I had not eaten in over 8 hours. That's A LOT for me. (I work out a lot, so I usually end up eating every 3 to 4 hours). I was literally about to fall over from a super fun combination of hypoglycemia and stress, when my sister presented me with the Best Sandwich Ever. EVER. It was so good - turkey and mustard with all the fixings, plus jalapeño kettle chips. Yum. My husband brought me a burrito for dinner that was probably the size of my head. Again: awesomely tasty.
Today's been slightly less yummy and as weird of an eating schedule: I grabbed a latte and pumpkin bread from the hospital cafe mid-morning, then, mid-afternoon, I had a Clif Bar, beef jerky and a Coke Zero. Yeah, that's right...be jealous. Be very jealous - not of the food, but of my apparently cast iron stomach.
So, by the time I made it back across town to our house for a shower and some time with my littlest munchkin, I was craving anything real and especially anything green. I made myself, my son and my mom (who was keeping my son this afternoon) BBQ chicken sandwiches with a salad of romaine hearts and cherry tomatoes. Good gracious, it tasted good and fresh. I'm kind of living for tomorrow, when I hope we get to go home for good, mainly because my breakfast is already in my purse, awaiting consumption: a Clif Bar sans beef jerky. Breakfast of Champions!
Wednesday, June 5, 2013
Last Day of School!
Wow! Here we are, on the morning of the last day of school! I said it on my Facebook page and I will say it again here: this is always a bittersweet time of year for me. Even as much as I am looking forward to more time with my kids (which is saying something after a VERY difficult night last night - that is a different story altogether) and all the fun things that summer brings with it, I still look at the end of the school year as just that: an ending. For us, it is the end of an era - one of my daughters will move on to a different elementary school next year, which will necessitate quite a number of changes in our daily routine, my little one will start preschool, not to mention the more obvious fact that they are all getting older and so am I....aaaaannnndddd I just veered into a Fleetwood Mac/Dixie Chicks (depending on your age) song.
So, before I get too weepy, let me just say that the last day of school, for us at least, brings lots and lots of food treats. The girls will each have classroom parties, which my son and I will attend, and which will be packed with snacks and drinks. Then, as a way to distract my girls, who tend to be as maudlin as me on the last day of school, I promised that if they went easy on the junk at school, I would take them out to get burgers for lunch. Finally, as is our "tradition", they were allowed to choose our dinner for the last day of school, which will be: shrimp (since my son can eat it now. Yay!) with spicy ketchup (homemade cocktail sauce), cheese fondue (homemade because I decided I was too cheap to buy the ridiculously priced pre-made variety, imported from Switzerland) and chips and salsa (store bought). I think....I think I just gave myself a stomach-ache reading our meals planned for the day. Ah, well. I have plenty of anti-acids in the medicine cabinet, and we will get back to a semi-normal eating routine tomorrow. Tomorrow: FIRST DAY OF SUMMER VACATION!
So, before I get too weepy, let me just say that the last day of school, for us at least, brings lots and lots of food treats. The girls will each have classroom parties, which my son and I will attend, and which will be packed with snacks and drinks. Then, as a way to distract my girls, who tend to be as maudlin as me on the last day of school, I promised that if they went easy on the junk at school, I would take them out to get burgers for lunch. Finally, as is our "tradition", they were allowed to choose our dinner for the last day of school, which will be: shrimp (since my son can eat it now. Yay!) with spicy ketchup (homemade cocktail sauce), cheese fondue (homemade because I decided I was too cheap to buy the ridiculously priced pre-made variety, imported from Switzerland) and chips and salsa (store bought). I think....I think I just gave myself a stomach-ache reading our meals planned for the day. Ah, well. I have plenty of anti-acids in the medicine cabinet, and we will get back to a semi-normal eating routine tomorrow. Tomorrow: FIRST DAY OF SUMMER VACATION!
Sunday, June 2, 2013
Thinking....
I have been doing a lot of reading lately, which has lead to a lot of thinking...dangerous, I know. Some of my reading has included various blog posts and articles about, essentially, the idea of "checking out". Maybe checking out is the wrong turn of phrase. Maybe it would be more accurate to describe it as gradually lowering standards of participation over the course of a certain time period; for instance, over the course of a school year. This idea of having a metaphorical finish line to cross and slowly divesting yourself of responsibilities associated with the race you are running got me thinking about a lot of things, but, particularly regarding the ideas that I put out into the ether via this blog. My writing style could be construed as having a negative (I like to call it sarcastic) bent and it occurred to me that, anyone who reads this and who does not know me personally may be left with an unsavory (food pun alert!) impression of me.
I don't honestly remember the details of everything that I have ever written, but as a whole, this blog has been about feeding my family in the most nutritious, cost-effective way possible while attempting to expand their food tolerances and preferences. Some of my posts have covered the nights where I stumble, specifically lowering my own food-related standards because life has just completely gotten in my way that day. I think though, that what I want my readers to take away from this post, is that I know I have extremely high standards especially when it comes to food, but I do find myself making compromises, on very specific things, from time to time. I am human, after all, and I do these things to maintain my sanity, primarily as a mother, but also as a professionally trained chef. However, like most things in life and particularly in regards to parenting, I look at the idea of feeding my family as a marathon rather than a sprint. The race that I run, in the long term, will be one of healthy cooking at home because that is what my biggest priority is as far as feeding my family goes. Even though I stumble (and I tend to often), I enjoy my very brief respite and, in my case, I get back into the kitchen to cook something delicious and nourishing for my family.
Though I am a professionally trained chef, I also have the immense privilege and responsibility of being the primary caregiver for my three children, and I feel that, based on my own education and the knowledge I have acquired, I do not have the right to check out, long-term, of something as fundamental as feeding my family on a daily basis. I know so many people who struggle with this specific part of everyday life; cooking does not come naturally to everyone. I find no fault with the struggle nor with alternative choices (eating out or other faster/easier solutions) that another person may make for their families. I certainly find no fault with the short term breaks we allot ourselves from the frenetic pace of our routine, daily lives. That being said though, as a parent, I also feel that I do not have the right to check out, long-term, of many, many other priorities that I have set for my family's lives: their literacy, their education, raising them to be productive and contributing members of society...the list goes on. I know we all have our moments of weakness and I know that I certainly do, in cooking and in life, but I dislike the idea of congratulating myself for allowing, as I said before, a divestment of the various responsibilities associated with my life commitments. All of that being said, different people have different priorities and, as I am finding more and more frequently, those priorities do not overlap with mine, which is totally fine. I've just been thinking is all....again, dangerous, I know.
I don't honestly remember the details of everything that I have ever written, but as a whole, this blog has been about feeding my family in the most nutritious, cost-effective way possible while attempting to expand their food tolerances and preferences. Some of my posts have covered the nights where I stumble, specifically lowering my own food-related standards because life has just completely gotten in my way that day. I think though, that what I want my readers to take away from this post, is that I know I have extremely high standards especially when it comes to food, but I do find myself making compromises, on very specific things, from time to time. I am human, after all, and I do these things to maintain my sanity, primarily as a mother, but also as a professionally trained chef. However, like most things in life and particularly in regards to parenting, I look at the idea of feeding my family as a marathon rather than a sprint. The race that I run, in the long term, will be one of healthy cooking at home because that is what my biggest priority is as far as feeding my family goes. Even though I stumble (and I tend to often), I enjoy my very brief respite and, in my case, I get back into the kitchen to cook something delicious and nourishing for my family.
Though I am a professionally trained chef, I also have the immense privilege and responsibility of being the primary caregiver for my three children, and I feel that, based on my own education and the knowledge I have acquired, I do not have the right to check out, long-term, of something as fundamental as feeding my family on a daily basis. I know so many people who struggle with this specific part of everyday life; cooking does not come naturally to everyone. I find no fault with the struggle nor with alternative choices (eating out or other faster/easier solutions) that another person may make for their families. I certainly find no fault with the short term breaks we allot ourselves from the frenetic pace of our routine, daily lives. That being said though, as a parent, I also feel that I do not have the right to check out, long-term, of many, many other priorities that I have set for my family's lives: their literacy, their education, raising them to be productive and contributing members of society...the list goes on. I know we all have our moments of weakness and I know that I certainly do, in cooking and in life, but I dislike the idea of congratulating myself for allowing, as I said before, a divestment of the various responsibilities associated with my life commitments. All of that being said, different people have different priorities and, as I am finding more and more frequently, those priorities do not overlap with mine, which is totally fine. I've just been thinking is all....again, dangerous, I know.
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
To Eat Out or In...That is *Tonight's* Question
As you may have guessed, I cook a lot. Like all the damn time. Like breakfast, lunch and dinner for five people. The only day that I don't cook dinner is usually Sunday, when we have dinner at my mom's house with her and my sister. Every other night though, whether I am inspired or dragging my feet, you will find me in the kitchen, whipping something edible up for my family to consume as their nighttime meal. Some nights, however, I am too tired (or too busy, or too frustrated or too... anything) to cook dinner and we end up going out to a local restaurant or grabbing low-brow burgers to fill our bellies. Some nights (or in this case, days), I call my husband at work and he casually says, "if you want to go out tonight, we could. You know...instead of cooking." I am sorely tempted and then spend the next several hours having this conversation in my head:
Me #1 (also known as the Stingy Chef, a character who despises the waste of food and who intrinsically believes that no one can make food as healthy or as cheaply as she can): *sigh* "We don't need to go out. You are going to the grocery store tomorrow and can make do until then. There are at least two different meal options in the fridge at this very moment."
Me #2 (also known as the Lazy, Harried Mom of Three, a character who procrastinates using food up and who enjoys having anyone else cook for her, not to mention bring her alcoholic drinks): "Awww.....come ON!! You know you don't want to cook tonight!! You have a blog post to write, a cake to make tomorrow, the three little people to deal with all afternoon. Who cares if the tomatoes sit another day?! *sing-song voice* There might be margaritas...."
Me #1: "Quit whining!! There won't be enough room in the fridge if we don't finish off the tomatoes and the milk and the bread and the lunchmeat. Do I really have to go on?! I will get you a treat at the store tomorrow instead!"
Me #2: "Nah. I'm still going to think about going out tonight. I mean, it makes sense, right? We have an errand to run and there might not be time to do it if we DON'T eat out."
I could go on, but now you just think I am crazy. Regardless of my mental status, it is a struggle for me to decide how to best spend our money and really how to utilize the food I have already purchased. Yes, it is nice to eat out and yes, we do that every once in a while, but there are lots of difficulties in doing so on a regular basis. I have to say that I am leaning towards the Stingy Chef on this one - it would be nice, but there is food in the fridge that needs to be eaten and both meal options should appeal to all five of us. We will see though - right now it is nap time, the big kids are at school and I am happily typing away at a soon to be finished blog post. When 4 pm rolls around and I have three screaming banshees running loose and wreaking havoc in my house....well, that margarita might just look too damn good to pass up.
Me #1 (also known as the Stingy Chef, a character who despises the waste of food and who intrinsically believes that no one can make food as healthy or as cheaply as she can): *sigh* "We don't need to go out. You are going to the grocery store tomorrow and can make do until then. There are at least two different meal options in the fridge at this very moment."
Me #2 (also known as the Lazy, Harried Mom of Three, a character who procrastinates using food up and who enjoys having anyone else cook for her, not to mention bring her alcoholic drinks): "Awww.....come ON!! You know you don't want to cook tonight!! You have a blog post to write, a cake to make tomorrow, the three little people to deal with all afternoon. Who cares if the tomatoes sit another day?! *sing-song voice* There might be margaritas...."
Me #1: "Quit whining!! There won't be enough room in the fridge if we don't finish off the tomatoes and the milk and the bread and the lunchmeat. Do I really have to go on?! I will get you a treat at the store tomorrow instead!"
Me #2: "Nah. I'm still going to think about going out tonight. I mean, it makes sense, right? We have an errand to run and there might not be time to do it if we DON'T eat out."
I could go on, but now you just think I am crazy. Regardless of my mental status, it is a struggle for me to decide how to best spend our money and really how to utilize the food I have already purchased. Yes, it is nice to eat out and yes, we do that every once in a while, but there are lots of difficulties in doing so on a regular basis. I have to say that I am leaning towards the Stingy Chef on this one - it would be nice, but there is food in the fridge that needs to be eaten and both meal options should appeal to all five of us. We will see though - right now it is nap time, the big kids are at school and I am happily typing away at a soon to be finished blog post. When 4 pm rolls around and I have three screaming banshees running loose and wreaking havoc in my house....well, that margarita might just look too damn good to pass up.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Happy Memorial Day!
Happy Memorial Day to everyone! Today, we remember our fallen veterans, who made the ultimate sacrifice and their families that were left behind. I thank each and every one of you, and as the granddaughter of two veterans (now deceased) of WWII, and the niece of multiple veterans of Vietnam, I respect and honor you all today and everyday.
On a much more superficial note, today we also "officially" kick off the summer season. My kids still have a week and a half of school to finish, so we are not calling it summer just yet, but it is hot, which, here in Texas (and on my light and fun food blog), means grilling season is in full force. Fortunately for me, my husband procured a new propane tank for my grill yesterday, not to mention some lovely organic and biodegradable cleaners for said grill. I decided, at 8:30 last night to try them out; let's just say that, for only owning that grill for a year (maybe not even that), it was NASTY. Lots of char, lots of grease - it was another fireball waiting to happen. So, maybe it wasn't the worst thing in the world that my propane ran out mid-dinner preparation the other night. That sucker needed to be scoured. So, did that - it's all nice and clean and pretty now. The plan was to dirty it up again a little with hot dogs for this evening (what kid doesn't love hot dogs, even the nitrate and nitrite free turkey dogs that I insist on buying), but my two year old accidentally kicked me full on in the eye (with shoes on, no less) earlier today, so my throbbing face and I feel that the grill may just be too much freaking trouble for this evening. Hot dogs taste almost as good cooked in a skillet on the stove, and my family of five will enjoy a fun Memorial Day dinner regardless. The grill can definitely be dirtied another day.
On a much more superficial note, today we also "officially" kick off the summer season. My kids still have a week and a half of school to finish, so we are not calling it summer just yet, but it is hot, which, here in Texas (and on my light and fun food blog), means grilling season is in full force. Fortunately for me, my husband procured a new propane tank for my grill yesterday, not to mention some lovely organic and biodegradable cleaners for said grill. I decided, at 8:30 last night to try them out; let's just say that, for only owning that grill for a year (maybe not even that), it was NASTY. Lots of char, lots of grease - it was another fireball waiting to happen. So, maybe it wasn't the worst thing in the world that my propane ran out mid-dinner preparation the other night. That sucker needed to be scoured. So, did that - it's all nice and clean and pretty now. The plan was to dirty it up again a little with hot dogs for this evening (what kid doesn't love hot dogs, even the nitrate and nitrite free turkey dogs that I insist on buying), but my two year old accidentally kicked me full on in the eye (with shoes on, no less) earlier today, so my throbbing face and I feel that the grill may just be too much freaking trouble for this evening. Hot dogs taste almost as good cooked in a skillet on the stove, and my family of five will enjoy a fun Memorial Day dinner regardless. The grill can definitely be dirtied another day.
Wednesday, May 22, 2013
You Know That Thing When You are Grilling...
And you have all of your food - veggies and hamburger patties - lined up nice and pretty on your wonderful, propane-powered grill and you go inside and when you come back five minutes later, you wonder why the grill is cold all of a sudden and your food is no longer cooking, but just sitting there having one big cross-contamination par-tay? Yeah, that super sucks and I discovered why I miss my natural gas grill the other night (despite the fact that I accidentally set that one on fire, and which considering the gas connected directly to the house, it could have been BAD. Real bad). My propane ran out, in the middle of cooking dinner for my in-laws, and all I could hear in my head was Hank Hill's voice wondering why I hadn't checked my "propane and propane accessories" before I started cooking. (I didn't really watch that show much - just enough to get that line good and freaking stuck in my head, especially when it comes to my grill.) It wasn't that big of a deal, really, but I did have to haul everything off of the stone cold grill and back inside for a mish-mash of stove top and electric grill cooking. Good times. Now I get to go to the hardware store and refill my propane tank. Extra good times.
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Food Budgeting
"Budget" is the equivalent of a four letter word in our house. Food budgets, in particular...you just go wash your mouth out with soap! No, really. I typically don't function on a food budget, but only because my husband and I (we will celebrate our 13th anniversary tomorrow, as a matter of fact) decided a long time ago that we would never, ever fight about spending money on food. (Don't worry. There is plenty of other stuff that we each spend money on that we disagree about. If you know me personally, you know that my husband is a "collector" of "things" that "don't belong in either this hemisphere or in my house".)
Despite my lack of a true "food budget", I do typically go to the store with savings in mind. I clip coupons and I try to pay attention to those "daily deals" that the grocery store offers (buy this and get something else I would already have bought for free). I am also planning to, today as a matter of fact, join a "buying club" that will hopefully allow me to purchase certain items (paper products, organic meats, etc.) in bulk, perhaps saving us a little more money. I have just been feeling lately that we are spending massive amounts of money on food and I know I am not the only one. Food prices are going up and as my children grow, so do their appetites. My oldest daughter eats constantly (or so it would seem) and my son is literally going to eat us out of house and home by the time he is a teenager. (Also, he eats fruits and vegetables like a fiend - not that I am complaining, mind you. The girls will at least eat a fair amount of meat, but having a pseudo-vegetarian for a toddler is freaking expensive.)
I decided that the "buying club" place would be a good choice for us, in that I have also gotten pickier about the types of foods that I am willing to buy at the grocery store. I have been buying organic meats (when I can find them at my local store) and the selection there definitely leaves something to be desired. I decided that, in any given month, I am going to shoot for 50% of our meals being anchored by a meat dish of some kind and 50% of our meals will be vegetarian (or primarily vegetarian because I can think of a number of recipes right now that are vegetable based, but call for a small amount of pork products of one kind or another....bacon, pancetta, salt pork, etc.). Planning for approximately 15 meals per month, I feel like I can go to the "buying club" store and purchase a 1/3 red meat, 1/3 chicken breasts and 1/3 chicken thighs with some fish (because my son can eat that now, yay!) thrown in. (We are doing a shrimp food challenge the day after Memorial Day, so my fingers are crossed that we might be able to eat shrimp again after that.) We will see if that kind of plan saves us any money, but at the very least, I should be able to find a wider selection of organic meats at this new store.
So, we remain omnivores and I am unsure how this change will affect my "budget", but regardless, I am going to have to split my grocery shopping loyalties from now on.
Despite my lack of a true "food budget", I do typically go to the store with savings in mind. I clip coupons and I try to pay attention to those "daily deals" that the grocery store offers (buy this and get something else I would already have bought for free). I am also planning to, today as a matter of fact, join a "buying club" that will hopefully allow me to purchase certain items (paper products, organic meats, etc.) in bulk, perhaps saving us a little more money. I have just been feeling lately that we are spending massive amounts of money on food and I know I am not the only one. Food prices are going up and as my children grow, so do their appetites. My oldest daughter eats constantly (or so it would seem) and my son is literally going to eat us out of house and home by the time he is a teenager. (Also, he eats fruits and vegetables like a fiend - not that I am complaining, mind you. The girls will at least eat a fair amount of meat, but having a pseudo-vegetarian for a toddler is freaking expensive.)
I decided that the "buying club" place would be a good choice for us, in that I have also gotten pickier about the types of foods that I am willing to buy at the grocery store. I have been buying organic meats (when I can find them at my local store) and the selection there definitely leaves something to be desired. I decided that, in any given month, I am going to shoot for 50% of our meals being anchored by a meat dish of some kind and 50% of our meals will be vegetarian (or primarily vegetarian because I can think of a number of recipes right now that are vegetable based, but call for a small amount of pork products of one kind or another....bacon, pancetta, salt pork, etc.). Planning for approximately 15 meals per month, I feel like I can go to the "buying club" store and purchase a 1/3 red meat, 1/3 chicken breasts and 1/3 chicken thighs with some fish (because my son can eat that now, yay!) thrown in. (We are doing a shrimp food challenge the day after Memorial Day, so my fingers are crossed that we might be able to eat shrimp again after that.) We will see if that kind of plan saves us any money, but at the very least, I should be able to find a wider selection of organic meats at this new store.
So, we remain omnivores and I am unsure how this change will affect my "budget", but regardless, I am going to have to split my grocery shopping loyalties from now on.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
A New Vegetable!
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a post about a wonderful three-ingredient pasta recipe that I have and utilize very frequently (often to the dismay of my older kids): Three Ingredient Dinner? Yes, please! Last night, I played with a variation on that recipe, using organic frozen peas and a new find at my local grocery store, frozen Broccoli Romesco! I really wish I had taken a picture of either the package or the final product after I was done cooking the meal, but I super suck at remembering to do that, so I will just apologize to my sister (who I know reads my blog and who is constantly telling me that I need to have more pictures and less words and who I apparently don't listen to very often) right now. Anyway, this Broccoli Romesco stuff is a cross between regular old broccoli and regular old cauliflower and it is the weirdest, prettiest vegetable I think I have ever seen. You know what broccoli looks like, right? Tiny, deep emerald green (if you haven't cooked the bejesus out of it) trees? OK. Now picture a chartreuse Christmas tree. Got it? No? Well, that is pretty much the only way I can describe this stuff - light, yellowish green and conical shaped. The flavor was somewhere between that of broccoli and cauliflower (stop saying, "duh"!) - it was lightly nutty and very, very slightly sweet, but completely lacking that kind of sulfurous stank that broccoli can have. My kids seemed to enjoy it (sort of), but it did get eaten (pretty much). They all at least tried it and I have to say, I think it really perked up the dish for me. I also really liked it because it came in a "steams in the bag in the microwave" package, which made it super simple for me to whip together the dinner in less than 30 minutes. I promise that next time I buy the Broccoli Romesco, I will not only post a picture of the packaging, but also of the resulting dish.
Author's Note: In addition to remembering to take a picture, I also will need to brush up on my Mendelian genetics because my oldest daughter wanted an explanation of how the cross between the broccoli and cauliflower came to pass. That was fun and you would never know that I had actually studied that stuff in college (I was Pre-Med) the way I was stumbling over terms like "recessive" and "dominant" and "traits". I am pretty sure she thinks I just made it all up.
Second Author's Note: The sad part about this story is that I was actually growing purple Broccoli Romesco in my garden and was very excited about it as I had never actually tasted it. Then, the bunny descended (Gardening Successes and Failures) upon my tender little plants and I am sorry to report that the Broccoli Romesco never had a chance. Apparently, rabbits know a good thing when they see it as well.
Author's Note: In addition to remembering to take a picture, I also will need to brush up on my Mendelian genetics because my oldest daughter wanted an explanation of how the cross between the broccoli and cauliflower came to pass. That was fun and you would never know that I had actually studied that stuff in college (I was Pre-Med) the way I was stumbling over terms like "recessive" and "dominant" and "traits". I am pretty sure she thinks I just made it all up.
Second Author's Note: The sad part about this story is that I was actually growing purple Broccoli Romesco in my garden and was very excited about it as I had never actually tasted it. Then, the bunny descended (Gardening Successes and Failures) upon my tender little plants and I am sorry to report that the Broccoli Romesco never had a chance. Apparently, rabbits know a good thing when they see it as well.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Happy Mother's Day, Mom!
I just want to start this off by saying first, that my mom is an amazing woman and a fantastic cook and second, that she ordered me (really and truly) to NOT get her anything for Mother's Day. If that is what she wants, fine, but she didn't order me to NOT write a blog post dedicated to her and to the food legacy that she built for me. So, Mom: this is for you. Happy Mother's Day, because I love you!
A couple of years ago, I wrote a post about the impact my mother's pancakes made on me as a child and as an adult (Fall Way Back). I was thinking about that post and about how food memories are made when I decided to write this one. I started thinking about it because we all often have some special person in our lives that cooks something in particular that seems impossible to replicate for one reason or another. For me, it is not my mom's pancakes (I feel that I have actually mastered that one - I can make some variant of pancakes almost in my sleep now), though, as the other post explains, those particular breakfasts made an indelible impression upon me, even as a small child. It is not even my grandmother's brownie recipe, which my mom and my aunt have each altered in their own ways and good-naturedly discuss as to which is the "original" recipe and, more specifically, which makes the better brownie. (I have made my own variations on that one, as well, so I think I've got it down). No, the one thing that my mother makes that I have tried and tried and tried and tried to cook on my own, but fail miserably every single time: chicken spaghetti, my past, present and future favorite food, its permanency in my life evidenced by my own Mother's Day card this morning, made by my oldest daughter, in which she correctly identified that as my favorite dinner.
Chicken spaghetti, in my mom's excellent hands, is a very odd combination of chicken (of course), onions, cream of mushroom soup, V-8 juice, Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder, often with a green bell pepper or a package of fresh mushrooms thrown in for good measure, and, traditionally, served over plain spaghetti noodles. I know the recipe by heart and though I consider myself quite adept at actually following a written recipe, I have never NEVER been able to fix this meal that in any way compares to my mom's version. Honestly, I have completely stopped trying, even though my oldest daughter also adores the meal. Is it the little changes that I tried to make over the years - subbing out a lower fat version of the soup or possibly adding extra, fresh garlic? Maybe it was the introduction of whole wheat pasta into my repertoire? Hell if I know. What I do know is that, when I make it, it doesn't taste right. My mom has made successful changes in the recipe, though. When my son was diagnosed with food allergies, she dutifully switched to a vegan Worcestershire sauce (the original version contains anchovies) as well as to a different brand of pasta (100% whole wheat and not processed with eggs). Even with those changes, hers still tastes vastly better than anything I have ever made.
My mom and I have often discussed my inability to adequately cook chicken spaghetti. To a certain extent, she thinks it is all in my head - my perception that I suck at chicken spaghetti has become my reality. She does, however, admit that she too has a recipe of my grandmother's that she won't attempt: fried pork chops. I am not sure that this particular recipe was ever written down, but, as I was thinking about writing this post this morning, I convinced myself that pork chops were not a common menu item in my house when I was growing up. I actually remember my grandmother cooking pork chops during a summer we spent with them in their old house in Las Vegas, but, for the life of me, I cannot come up with a time that my mom tried to recreate that particular meal. (She does cook pork by the way - roasts and other cuts - just not chops.) She has a pork chop block, just like I have a chicken spaghetti block.
My mother may think that my chicken spaghetti ineptitude may be mostly mental, but, God love her, she triples every batch of chicken spaghetti she makes now - enough to feed her, my sister and my entire family, plus enough sauce for me to take home, freeze and use to feed my family for another night. (Chicken spaghetti is almost better when frozen, defrosted and reheated another day. It is the weirdest recipe. For reals.) Oddly enough, I am also conscripted, every single time, to taste the sauce before it is deemed worthy to dress the pasta and serve. Sometimes, more often than not, it is perfectly seasoned, but very occasionally, I suggest adding more Worcestershire sauce or garlic powder. She will adjust the seasoning, I will taste and together we will make sure the chicken spaghetti is right.
Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you for so many reasons, all beyond your unique ability to cook chicken spaghetti! You have made me the person I am today and I can only hope that I am creating the same kind of food legacy for my kids as you have created for me. I wonder what their "chicken spaghetti block" will be....
A couple of years ago, I wrote a post about the impact my mother's pancakes made on me as a child and as an adult (Fall Way Back). I was thinking about that post and about how food memories are made when I decided to write this one. I started thinking about it because we all often have some special person in our lives that cooks something in particular that seems impossible to replicate for one reason or another. For me, it is not my mom's pancakes (I feel that I have actually mastered that one - I can make some variant of pancakes almost in my sleep now), though, as the other post explains, those particular breakfasts made an indelible impression upon me, even as a small child. It is not even my grandmother's brownie recipe, which my mom and my aunt have each altered in their own ways and good-naturedly discuss as to which is the "original" recipe and, more specifically, which makes the better brownie. (I have made my own variations on that one, as well, so I think I've got it down). No, the one thing that my mother makes that I have tried and tried and tried and tried to cook on my own, but fail miserably every single time: chicken spaghetti, my past, present and future favorite food, its permanency in my life evidenced by my own Mother's Day card this morning, made by my oldest daughter, in which she correctly identified that as my favorite dinner.
Chicken spaghetti, in my mom's excellent hands, is a very odd combination of chicken (of course), onions, cream of mushroom soup, V-8 juice, Worcestershire sauce and garlic powder, often with a green bell pepper or a package of fresh mushrooms thrown in for good measure, and, traditionally, served over plain spaghetti noodles. I know the recipe by heart and though I consider myself quite adept at actually following a written recipe, I have never NEVER been able to fix this meal that in any way compares to my mom's version. Honestly, I have completely stopped trying, even though my oldest daughter also adores the meal. Is it the little changes that I tried to make over the years - subbing out a lower fat version of the soup or possibly adding extra, fresh garlic? Maybe it was the introduction of whole wheat pasta into my repertoire? Hell if I know. What I do know is that, when I make it, it doesn't taste right. My mom has made successful changes in the recipe, though. When my son was diagnosed with food allergies, she dutifully switched to a vegan Worcestershire sauce (the original version contains anchovies) as well as to a different brand of pasta (100% whole wheat and not processed with eggs). Even with those changes, hers still tastes vastly better than anything I have ever made.
My mom and I have often discussed my inability to adequately cook chicken spaghetti. To a certain extent, she thinks it is all in my head - my perception that I suck at chicken spaghetti has become my reality. She does, however, admit that she too has a recipe of my grandmother's that she won't attempt: fried pork chops. I am not sure that this particular recipe was ever written down, but, as I was thinking about writing this post this morning, I convinced myself that pork chops were not a common menu item in my house when I was growing up. I actually remember my grandmother cooking pork chops during a summer we spent with them in their old house in Las Vegas, but, for the life of me, I cannot come up with a time that my mom tried to recreate that particular meal. (She does cook pork by the way - roasts and other cuts - just not chops.) She has a pork chop block, just like I have a chicken spaghetti block.
My mother may think that my chicken spaghetti ineptitude may be mostly mental, but, God love her, she triples every batch of chicken spaghetti she makes now - enough to feed her, my sister and my entire family, plus enough sauce for me to take home, freeze and use to feed my family for another night. (Chicken spaghetti is almost better when frozen, defrosted and reheated another day. It is the weirdest recipe. For reals.) Oddly enough, I am also conscripted, every single time, to taste the sauce before it is deemed worthy to dress the pasta and serve. Sometimes, more often than not, it is perfectly seasoned, but very occasionally, I suggest adding more Worcestershire sauce or garlic powder. She will adjust the seasoning, I will taste and together we will make sure the chicken spaghetti is right.
Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you for so many reasons, all beyond your unique ability to cook chicken spaghetti! You have made me the person I am today and I can only hope that I am creating the same kind of food legacy for my kids as you have created for me. I wonder what their "chicken spaghetti block" will be....
Saturday, May 11, 2013
Cuban Black Beans and Rice
One of my favorite things to cook when I have few ideas, little inspiration and the need to clean a bunch of stuff out of the fridge is beans and rice. I tend to dislike Cajun food, so I don't typically go for the red beans and rice variety, but I LOVE Cuban food, so I switch it up and reach for black beans, cilantro and tomatoes instead. I use a pilaf (or even a bit of a risotto) method for cooking the rice - saute onions, garlic and peppers in oil, add rice in on top, saute until chalky and then add liquid to cook the rice grains. After the rice is almost completely tender, I add drained and rinsed cans of no salt added black beans and whatever else I need to toss in to clear out the crisper drawer. The other night, I used up a semi-manky poblano chile, onion and tomatoes in our Cuban-style black beans and rice. (You can make it Southwestern-style black beans and rice by adding in frozen corn kernels or heck, you could make it Thai-style black beans and rice by subbing out jasmine or basmati rice for the brown rice I usually use, adding soy sauce or fish sauce....really, the possibilities are endless.) So, I also made tostones (fried plantain slices) to go with the beans and rice, which is very Cuban indeed. My kids, oddly enough, didn't love the plantains (How many bananas do we freaking eat every week?!), but my husband and I find them tasty and a good way to round out a very vegetarian meal.
Anyway, recipe on this is to follow when I have more time and look for a special post tomorrow for Mother's Day. Until then....
Tuesday, May 7, 2013
Gardening Successes and Failures
One of the million things I do these days is keep a garden plot in the community garden at our YMCA. In theory, it is a fantastic idea - you get a 16 foot by 16 foot plot of land with free watering provided by the Y and you can plant pretty much anything your little heart desires (within the bounds of the law, people; i.e. no pot growing operation). We have been planting ours for almost a year now and have seen success and failure in equal measure. The days here in Texas are slowly growing warmer (then colder, then warmer, then colder) and as we get further into Spring, I know that it is past time for me to rip out all my cold weather vegetables (most of which were decimated by a bunny attack earlier this year) and plant spring and summer selections. Honestly, I am not sure if I have the energy for it at this point. We have had a REALLY long softball season with our oldest daughter and that, coupled with, like I said, the other million things that I do, I haven't even started thinking about what I want to put into the ground. You would think that, feeling the gardening fatigue and seeing almost $80 worth of produce go into a small varmint's (I apparently don't have Yosemite Sam Spell Check on here, so I am not sure if that is spelled right) digestive tract, that I would just give up the gardening plot. I would, but for.....
This. This is one of the main reasons that I am resisting giving up the garden plot. It is a freaking artichoke, y'all. And I freaking grew it! As a matter of fact, we freaking ate the one you are looking at last night! And it was pretty freaking good! As you can see in the picture, I have a few more coming in and I am pretty excited! I cleaned this artichoke (sadly almost a week after we took it off of the plant - I know, what's the point of growing your own food if you are not going to eat it right away? I'm lazy, that's what.) by taking off the bottom couple of rows of leaves, and clipping the spiny tips off of the leaves that I left. I cut the stem end off (usually also edible, as part of the heart structure, but this was way past its expiration date) to create a flat bottom and put it in a little pan, with a little bit of water, slapped a lid on it and set it on medium heat to steam. Of course, as per usual, when cooking artichokes, I let it go a bit too long and the water dried out, so the bottom burned, but I almost like them better that way. Yeah, that's it.
Anyway, I don't know if you have ever seen an artichoke plant in person. I actually had not until my husband (boyfriend at the time) and I took a road trip up to DC (geez....16 years ago. *sigh*), by way of Jefferson's Monticello in Virginia. Apparently, Thomas Jefferson, like myself, had a fondness for this particularly tasty thistle and had rows upon rows of giant artichoke plants on his plantation. (If you have never been to this area and to Virginia in particular - it is spectacular. One of the best places we have ever been.) The point is that artichoke plants are HUGE and I am unlikely to plant one in our backyard garden. It seems a shame to give up a planting space that is actually producing my very favorite vegetable, so...I probably won't. I will probably keep going with it because, truly, the successes in the garden are so much fun and tend to cancel out the more appalling failures (bunny attacks). I remember how excited I was last year when I grew my one and only zucchini (before the squash bugs descended and decimated those plants). I never expected to see artichokes on my plant (they are not actually supposed to be very suited for Texas weather), but I was beyond thrilled to see them there. I was also beyond thrilled to eat my success last night and will be pleased to do so again very soon. I guess I also need to get busy deciding what is going in our plot soon. The artichoke needs some company and I'm gonna need some more home grown veggies to enjoy.
This. This is one of the main reasons that I am resisting giving up the garden plot. It is a freaking artichoke, y'all. And I freaking grew it! As a matter of fact, we freaking ate the one you are looking at last night! And it was pretty freaking good! As you can see in the picture, I have a few more coming in and I am pretty excited! I cleaned this artichoke (sadly almost a week after we took it off of the plant - I know, what's the point of growing your own food if you are not going to eat it right away? I'm lazy, that's what.) by taking off the bottom couple of rows of leaves, and clipping the spiny tips off of the leaves that I left. I cut the stem end off (usually also edible, as part of the heart structure, but this was way past its expiration date) to create a flat bottom and put it in a little pan, with a little bit of water, slapped a lid on it and set it on medium heat to steam. Of course, as per usual, when cooking artichokes, I let it go a bit too long and the water dried out, so the bottom burned, but I almost like them better that way. Yeah, that's it.
Anyway, I don't know if you have ever seen an artichoke plant in person. I actually had not until my husband (boyfriend at the time) and I took a road trip up to DC (geez....16 years ago. *sigh*), by way of Jefferson's Monticello in Virginia. Apparently, Thomas Jefferson, like myself, had a fondness for this particularly tasty thistle and had rows upon rows of giant artichoke plants on his plantation. (If you have never been to this area and to Virginia in particular - it is spectacular. One of the best places we have ever been.) The point is that artichoke plants are HUGE and I am unlikely to plant one in our backyard garden. It seems a shame to give up a planting space that is actually producing my very favorite vegetable, so...I probably won't. I will probably keep going with it because, truly, the successes in the garden are so much fun and tend to cancel out the more appalling failures (bunny attacks). I remember how excited I was last year when I grew my one and only zucchini (before the squash bugs descended and decimated those plants). I never expected to see artichokes on my plant (they are not actually supposed to be very suited for Texas weather), but I was beyond thrilled to see them there. I was also beyond thrilled to eat my success last night and will be pleased to do so again very soon. I guess I also need to get busy deciding what is going in our plot soon. The artichoke needs some company and I'm gonna need some more home grown veggies to enjoy.
Friday, May 3, 2013
Skillet Chicken Tamale Pie
Yes, you read that right - Skillet Chicken Tamale Pie was FINALLY on the menu for dinner this week. (I mean, it has been on the menu for, like, weeks now, but I FINALLY made it this week!) This all started when a friend of mine shared some of her family's Easter tamales with us and my oldest claimed that tamales are her favorite food. (My youngest daughter then regaled us with the claim that she does NOT like tamales, but that is neither here nor there...for this post at least. Obviously, we have to have some kind of intervention for her, because - WHO doesn't like tamales?!) Anyway, the tamales were amazing - clearly homemade with a meat filling that practically fell apart and masa that was perfectly seasoned and moist. We enjoyed them. Thoroughly. Of course, that brought up the question, again from my oldest: "Mommy, why don't you ever make tamales?" I tried explaining to her the time consuming factor of making tamales, among other issues, then, when my excuses continued to fall upon deaf nine-year-old-tamale-craving ears, I took a look at one of my favorite cookbooks, "America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook". Lo and behold, there was an "easy" recipe for Skillet Chicken Tamale Pie. She seemed excited about this new recipe and a twist on traditional tamales, so I thought we would give it a try.
Now, I put the word easy in quotations for a reason: ATK recipes are typically not what I would classify as "easy", especially for a weeknight, family meal. They typically involve ALOT of extra steps (and thus ALOT of extra dishes), so I tend to distill their recipes down into a more manageable and efficient procedure. This recipe was no different - the intention is obviously to make this a one pot/skillet meal, but, if you are like me and forgot (AGAIN) to defrost the meat the night before, it becomes necessary to accomplish this in a different series of steps.
The original recipe says to heat a skillet in a 400 degree oven until it is smoking hot and then to sear the chicken thighs in the skillet, thus quickly rendering their fat. You then use part of the rendered fat to saute the vegetables, returning the meat to the sauce at the end to finish cooking in more of a braise method. Like I said, I was defrosting my chicken thighs in a sinkful of water at 5 pm that day and I needed dinner on the table no later than 6:15 pm, so I changed things up a bit. While said chicken was defrosting, I chopped all the veggies (onions from my garden, and the manky old poblano chiles - hey! They did not have mold on them! Don't judge. - plus garlic and cilantro to add towards the end of the cooking process.) I sauteed them in a scant tablespoon of olive oil until they started to soften, then added a bag of frozen, organic corn. (Another substitution - the original recipe calls for fresh corn or for defrosted and patted dry frozen corn. Duh - I didn't have time to pat the freaking corn dry.) I then sprinkled about a tablespoon of flour over the top, cooked it for about 30 seconds and, once I had some nice color on the corn, I added the garlic, cooked until fragrant, then added the cilantro, a can of chopped green chiles, a can of white hominy (drained and rinsed) and about a cup and a half of chicken stock. I brought all of that to a low simmer, thickened the sauce, then added about a cup of medium cheddar cheese, off the heat. I poured all of that into a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish and stuck it in my microwave to keep warm until I was ready for it. I wiped out the skillet, added a tiny bit of olive oil and sauteed the chicken thighs, which were, by this time, partially defrosted. I rendered the fat of the skin and browned it on all sides before sticking it in the microwave (after removing my casserole dish) to finish cooking it (really to nuke the crap out of it - I don't mess around with undercooked chicken by any means). While that was cooking, I made the "masa" topping - 3/4 cup each of flour and cornmeal, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 3/4 cup buttermilk, 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of butter, melted and cooled. I shredded the nuclear chicken, mixed it in with the corn/pepper mixture in the casserole dish, dolloped the masa topping, spread it out and baked that sucker in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, until bubbly and nicely golden brown.
The result: pretty tasty! I definitely made it more complicated than the original recipe was supposed to be, but it worked. It was very slightly spicy and the heat was more than tempered by the sweet corn bread topping. The chicken was chewier than it should have been - especially considering that it was mostly supposed to be braised - but what are you going to do? I had the leftovers for lunch the next day and I have to say - the flavors continued to develop and meld. I think it might have been better the next day than it was the first time around. I don't know if I will make the recipe again, especially since my tamale lover was not completely blown away by it, but it was a decent Wednesday night meal. Everybody ate it, so, as you well know - that's a winner in my book!
Now, I put the word easy in quotations for a reason: ATK recipes are typically not what I would classify as "easy", especially for a weeknight, family meal. They typically involve ALOT of extra steps (and thus ALOT of extra dishes), so I tend to distill their recipes down into a more manageable and efficient procedure. This recipe was no different - the intention is obviously to make this a one pot/skillet meal, but, if you are like me and forgot (AGAIN) to defrost the meat the night before, it becomes necessary to accomplish this in a different series of steps.
The original recipe says to heat a skillet in a 400 degree oven until it is smoking hot and then to sear the chicken thighs in the skillet, thus quickly rendering their fat. You then use part of the rendered fat to saute the vegetables, returning the meat to the sauce at the end to finish cooking in more of a braise method. Like I said, I was defrosting my chicken thighs in a sinkful of water at 5 pm that day and I needed dinner on the table no later than 6:15 pm, so I changed things up a bit. While said chicken was defrosting, I chopped all the veggies (onions from my garden, and the manky old poblano chiles - hey! They did not have mold on them! Don't judge. - plus garlic and cilantro to add towards the end of the cooking process.) I sauteed them in a scant tablespoon of olive oil until they started to soften, then added a bag of frozen, organic corn. (Another substitution - the original recipe calls for fresh corn or for defrosted and patted dry frozen corn. Duh - I didn't have time to pat the freaking corn dry.) I then sprinkled about a tablespoon of flour over the top, cooked it for about 30 seconds and, once I had some nice color on the corn, I added the garlic, cooked until fragrant, then added the cilantro, a can of chopped green chiles, a can of white hominy (drained and rinsed) and about a cup and a half of chicken stock. I brought all of that to a low simmer, thickened the sauce, then added about a cup of medium cheddar cheese, off the heat. I poured all of that into a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish and stuck it in my microwave to keep warm until I was ready for it. I wiped out the skillet, added a tiny bit of olive oil and sauteed the chicken thighs, which were, by this time, partially defrosted. I rendered the fat of the skin and browned it on all sides before sticking it in the microwave (after removing my casserole dish) to finish cooking it (really to nuke the crap out of it - I don't mess around with undercooked chicken by any means). While that was cooking, I made the "masa" topping - 3/4 cup each of flour and cornmeal, 3 tablespoons of sugar, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 3/4 cup buttermilk, 1 egg and 1 tablespoon of butter, melted and cooled. I shredded the nuclear chicken, mixed it in with the corn/pepper mixture in the casserole dish, dolloped the masa topping, spread it out and baked that sucker in the oven at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes, until bubbly and nicely golden brown.
The result: pretty tasty! I definitely made it more complicated than the original recipe was supposed to be, but it worked. It was very slightly spicy and the heat was more than tempered by the sweet corn bread topping. The chicken was chewier than it should have been - especially considering that it was mostly supposed to be braised - but what are you going to do? I had the leftovers for lunch the next day and I have to say - the flavors continued to develop and meld. I think it might have been better the next day than it was the first time around. I don't know if I will make the recipe again, especially since my tamale lover was not completely blown away by it, but it was a decent Wednesday night meal. Everybody ate it, so, as you well know - that's a winner in my book!
Monday, April 29, 2013
Stomach Bugs Make Everything Bad
Well, that title should elicit a big ol' "DUH" from anyone reading this. (Or, as my nine year old has started saying, "Duhr!") Stomach bugs do make everything bad. I came down with something yesterday and it knocked me flat on my ass. All told, I think I ate a little cereal, a little applesauce, a banana and then a little of my mom's home cooked chicken pot pie and a salad (because by dinnertime, I was actually sitting upright and keeping food down). Today has been better, but I definitely don't feel "normal" and I definitely don't feel like cooking, much less eating. Thus, I am not sure what is on the menu for tonight. I am thinking it will be something REAL easy, like Baked Ziti (that I will try to sneak some spinach into). I STILL have the Tamale Pie on my menu for this week and I STILL didn't use those freaking poblanos, so it may just be a little blander for the lack of [rotted] peppers included in it. We will see. I know that my stomach won't take anything really spicy right now, so it looks like Baked Ziti or, hell, grilled cheese sandwiches if I really don't feel well at 5 pm. Neither sounds remotely tasty to me right now, but I am pretty sure my kids will eat it without complaint. Winner.
Wednesday, April 24, 2013
Dinner Tonight
Dinner tonight is likely to be a very low-key affair. Remember a couple of weeks ago, I said I was going to try a new recipe (http://makingeverydaygourmet.blogspot.com/2013/04/is-it-spring-yet.html)? Skillet Chicken Tamale Pie? Yeah, that didn't happen and God bless my ever ambitious little chef's heart, I have had some of the ingredients sitting in my fridge since then. (I really hope poblano chiles don't rot super fast. Oh, geez. I just looked back at the date I wrote that post. Dang, that really WAS a couple of weeks ago.) Ok, so the goal is to get that meal fixed and obviously to use up some way overdue chiles. Will that goal be met? Ummm....I think it is a good bet either way at this point. I am super busy right now: I have a wedding for 250 people that I am making a cake for (right on schedule with that) on Saturday and I am in the throes of coordinating Teacher Appreciation Week for my older kids' elementary school next week. [Side note: this whole experience is either going to make me lose my faith in humanity - specifically the parental humanity that populates our school - or bolster it in unexpected ways. It is as much of a crap shoot as what I will be able to get on the table for dinner tonight.] So, we will see if those poblanos will continue to languish in my crisper drawer for another....ewww. No. If I don't cook those things tonight, I think they are probably destined for the compost bin. Even I have my limits as to how far I will go to avoid wasting food.
Sunday, April 21, 2013
Three Ingredient Dinner? Yes, please!
A THREE ingredient dinner you ask? Is that even possible? Oh, yes, my friends. Yes, it is indeed. http://makingeverydaygourmet.blogspot.com/p/favorite-recipes.html
Here are the raw ingredients that I started with:
Now, my husband is going to be a bit of a stickler on this point, so, to be fair, I must disclose that the freshly snipped chives are a fourth ingredient, and the olive oil used for roasting the asparagus is technically a fifth ingredient, but come on. That's just being picky because, start to finish, this takes less than 30 minutes to throw together. It is also delicious, in my opinion, but I love asparagus and goat cheese. My older two children do not, so they choked it down with the promise (read: bribe) of dessert, but my son enjoyed his asparagus ("sticks") and pasta. I enjoyed it, too.
Here are the raw ingredients that I started with:
| The raw beginnings of a fast and fresh dinner. |
Whole wheat pasta (not processed with eggs), two bunches of raw asparagus and a four ounce package of plain goat cheese. Start by cleaning the asparagus - remove the rubber bands, wash and snap the woody ends off of the stalks. Place them on a rimmed cookie sheet, toss with a little bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and roast at about 425 degrees for about 20 minutes.
While the asparagus is roasting, cook the pasta in salted (like the ocean) boiling water. Once the pasta is cooked, take about a cup of the water out and reserve. Drain the pasta and crumble in the goat cheese, adding the reserved pasta water if needed to loosen the sauce. Cut the roasted asparagus into inch to inch and a half lengths and toss with the pasta and goat cheese. If desired, garnish with fresh snipped chives and viola! Dinner is served:
| A delicious, fresh spring dinner made from a mere three ingredients!
|
Tuesday, April 16, 2013
Kids and Dieting
I am not sure how long this post is going to be, because 1) I am running out of time to write today, 2) I have about a billion other things I need to be doing...all at the same time, 3) my head feels like it is going to explode and 4) I am in such a negative mood right now, I am not sure I can handle this subject with as much grace and aplomb as I think it requires. So, this may be part 2 of 3 or that third part may just come down the road sometime later. We'll see.
So, I think I left off with my ever-evolving personal views on dieting and my struggle to overcome my obsession with those freaking 20 pounds that I was trying to lose all those years ago. My last known dieting success, as I mentioned in the previous post Food is Awesome. Dieting is Not., was on the Best Life Diet by Bob Greene. At the height of my obsession and rigidity with that diet, my daughters were four and two, respectively. I thought that whatever I was doing, it wasn't affecting them. You know, because having a mother who is chronically depressed because she can't have a margarita or chips and salsa doesn't affect them at all. Duh. I guess I thought that because I never (and I mean NEVER) called myself names (fat, overweight, etc.) I was not making an indelible, negative impression upon their little female psyches. I was wrong in so many ways.
When my oldest daughter was in first grade (7 years old), I got pregnant with my son and was hugely so when she started telling my husband and me that she wanted to go on a diet because she was fat. She said she didn't like that her "tummy stuck out" and was "round, instead of flat". I was horrified, not just because this little girl was so perfect in my own eyes, but because she is (without a hint of mother's pride) a beautiful and, frankly, beautifully made little girl. She is tall, athletic and thin and has been since the chubbiness of toddler hood began to give way to her father's natural runner's genetics (thank God for that, because she sure didn't get it from me!). We explained to her over and over and over again that she was just as God wants her; her size was completely proportional; she had no need to diet; etc, etc. We ended up taking her to the pediatrician, in the hopes that her doctor could talk some sense into her. We found out, during the course of that conversation, that she thought I was fat - even though she could remember what I looked like before the pregnancy and even though she was fully aware that her baby brother was growing inside of my belly. It was a wake-up call. I knew that, even if I was going to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, I had to do so in a positive way, without labeling it as true "dieting". I also thought it was an isolated incident, but when my younger daughter, now also 7 years old, came home a couple of months ago claiming that she needed to be on a diet, well....I just about had a stroke. Anyone who has seen that child knows that there is not an ounce of spare flesh on her entire body. She is pure muscle and is amazing to watch perform physically (she can rock climb and practices martial arts). She is also a child who I used to say lives on air [rather than actual food]. (She is not necessarily a particularly picky eater at this point, but she is stubborn as the rocks she climbs. If she doesn't want to eat something, she will just flat out refuse to do so. Threats, bribes, etc have NEVER worked for her. She also has a really sensitive gag reflex. When I have forced her to eat something she hates - i.e. spinach - I usually end up cleaning up her self-induced vomit. Not worth it, I tell you.)
So, both of my girls have already started having self-esteem and body image issues. This is with me setting the "good" example of exercising every day and eating well. This is with me refusing to denigrate myself by using words to describe my waist size, my butt size, the number on the scale, etc, whether privately or in front of them. This is with me doing everything that I thought was right. Maybe we just can't win this battle - our society is so beyond obsessed with outward appearances that it may just not be possible to raise children, female children especially, without doing battle with a nebulous idea of what you "should" or "should not" look like. I think it sucks, but then again, I think a lot of things suck right now. My thoughts and prayers are with the city of Boston, with the runners in yesterday's marathon and especially with those that lost so much during the horrific attack. My heart breaks for the parents of the little boy, so close to my own daughters' ages, who came to see his dad set a good example for his own children, and lost his life for being in the wrong place at exactly the wrong time. God bless you all and may you find the peace and healing that you so deserve.
So, I think I left off with my ever-evolving personal views on dieting and my struggle to overcome my obsession with those freaking 20 pounds that I was trying to lose all those years ago. My last known dieting success, as I mentioned in the previous post Food is Awesome. Dieting is Not., was on the Best Life Diet by Bob Greene. At the height of my obsession and rigidity with that diet, my daughters were four and two, respectively. I thought that whatever I was doing, it wasn't affecting them. You know, because having a mother who is chronically depressed because she can't have a margarita or chips and salsa doesn't affect them at all. Duh. I guess I thought that because I never (and I mean NEVER) called myself names (fat, overweight, etc.) I was not making an indelible, negative impression upon their little female psyches. I was wrong in so many ways.
When my oldest daughter was in first grade (7 years old), I got pregnant with my son and was hugely so when she started telling my husband and me that she wanted to go on a diet because she was fat. She said she didn't like that her "tummy stuck out" and was "round, instead of flat". I was horrified, not just because this little girl was so perfect in my own eyes, but because she is (without a hint of mother's pride) a beautiful and, frankly, beautifully made little girl. She is tall, athletic and thin and has been since the chubbiness of toddler hood began to give way to her father's natural runner's genetics (thank God for that, because she sure didn't get it from me!). We explained to her over and over and over again that she was just as God wants her; her size was completely proportional; she had no need to diet; etc, etc. We ended up taking her to the pediatrician, in the hopes that her doctor could talk some sense into her. We found out, during the course of that conversation, that she thought I was fat - even though she could remember what I looked like before the pregnancy and even though she was fully aware that her baby brother was growing inside of my belly. It was a wake-up call. I knew that, even if I was going to get back to my pre-pregnancy weight, I had to do so in a positive way, without labeling it as true "dieting". I also thought it was an isolated incident, but when my younger daughter, now also 7 years old, came home a couple of months ago claiming that she needed to be on a diet, well....I just about had a stroke. Anyone who has seen that child knows that there is not an ounce of spare flesh on her entire body. She is pure muscle and is amazing to watch perform physically (she can rock climb and practices martial arts). She is also a child who I used to say lives on air [rather than actual food]. (She is not necessarily a particularly picky eater at this point, but she is stubborn as the rocks she climbs. If she doesn't want to eat something, she will just flat out refuse to do so. Threats, bribes, etc have NEVER worked for her. She also has a really sensitive gag reflex. When I have forced her to eat something she hates - i.e. spinach - I usually end up cleaning up her self-induced vomit. Not worth it, I tell you.)
So, both of my girls have already started having self-esteem and body image issues. This is with me setting the "good" example of exercising every day and eating well. This is with me refusing to denigrate myself by using words to describe my waist size, my butt size, the number on the scale, etc, whether privately or in front of them. This is with me doing everything that I thought was right. Maybe we just can't win this battle - our society is so beyond obsessed with outward appearances that it may just not be possible to raise children, female children especially, without doing battle with a nebulous idea of what you "should" or "should not" look like. I think it sucks, but then again, I think a lot of things suck right now. My thoughts and prayers are with the city of Boston, with the runners in yesterday's marathon and especially with those that lost so much during the horrific attack. My heart breaks for the parents of the little boy, so close to my own daughters' ages, who came to see his dad set a good example for his own children, and lost his life for being in the wrong place at exactly the wrong time. God bless you all and may you find the peace and healing that you so deserve.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
Food is Awesome. Dieting is Not.
I have been thinking about something for a long time and trying to figure out how to write about it. I haven't decided yet, but this may be the first of a couple of posts about it simply because there is no shortage of things to say. This is hard because it is about a touchy subject - one which I have battled my entire life and one which I have seen my daughters begin to question at a very young age. I am, of course, speaking of the bane of most women's existence: their weight and the ever-present corollary, dieting. Dieting has everything to do with food, of course (which is why you are reading about this on my FOOD blog).
A couple of years ago, I was going through a box of my childhood things that my mother lovingly told me to, "get out of her house or it was going in the trash". Pack-rat that I am and always have been, I wanted to look through the things that I deemed worthy at one time of saving for all eternity. I came across a number of filled spiral notebooks, but one in particular caught my eye. The shabby, partially used notebook contained a food diary that I started keeping when I was twelve or thirteen. The entries were dated (so I technically could tell you exactly how old I was, but I am not writing this at home and I am feeling a little lazy, so you will just have to take my word for it) and I had written a goal at the front: "to lose 20 pounds". Man, that 20 pounds has dogged me FOREVER, more than half my lif, in fact, and here - well, here was written proof of it. I looked at my girlish handwriting and thought, "Jesus. Have I been on a diet or between diets or thinking about a diet for almost my entire life?!" The answer was an unequivocal, somewhat depressing and highly startling, "yes",
By the time I answered that simple question for myself, I had had two beautiful baby girls and had decided a short time prior that I needed to start investing in myself and in my health (i.e. to lose 20 pounds). I was actually on a diet at the time of the notebook discovery - one that I got results with and still stand behind as being a healthy and well-rounded alternative to fad dieting, "The Best Life Diet" by Bob Greene, who was and maybe still is Oprah's personal trainer. I drank the crap out of that kool-aid; my mother will likely accuse me of being obsessed with it almost to the point of developing an eating disorder. I watched my food intake in an extreme way, to be sure, and I worked out daily, but was constantly frustrated that I did not see any results on the scale. I went to a dietitian, I talked to every friend who would listen, I cried and complained and still, the scale did not budge. That mythical 20 pounds clung to me like a whiny toddler and it seemed, that though I was doing everything right, I would never achieve the goal that I set for myself almost half a lifetime ago.
So, I found that notebook and I thought about the kind of life I had made for myself. I was making what I thought were positive changes in my life, like incorporating exercise and choosing better food for my body, but I turned those changes into an obsession of epic proportions. My 20 pounds lamentation became the focus of not only conversations with my friends, most often occurring at the gym, but also of entire relationships seemingly built upon mutual commiseration about the inability to lose weight. I realized that by obsessing about those 20 pounds, sticking rigidly to my diet and meticulously fulfilling the exercise regimen I had created for myself, I was eliminating the joys in my life. I was snappish with my kids (more so than usual) and I sank into a depression fueled, in part, by my inability to enjoy anything (especially while anyone else was consuming a food/drink that I really wanted) that I eventually sought professional help to pull myself out of.
That notebook made me realize that, regardless of what the scale says, I want to enjoy my life and I want to have a healthy enjoyment of my food. I won't say that I don't think about losing weight now, because I do (especially since I need to lose a couple of pounds to fit into some clothes that haven't fit properly since I had my son two years ago). I won't say that calorie counts or fat grams don't occasionally come into consideration and I won't say that my exercise regimen is not intense for a specific purpose. I will say that I eat what I want to eat and I do so without the guilt that frequently accompanied any kind of indulgence in the past. I also exercise for stress relief and because I actually enjoy it. I try to look at food as being the fuel my body needs to accomplish everything that I have to do in any given day. Which is a lot. I know that. (I had a conversation last night that made me realize that I kind of sound like a crazy person when I talk about everything that I do.) So, it's not a perfect relationship with food and it is certainly an ever-evolving one, but I am trying to set a good example for my daughters (and eventually for my son as well). Sometimes that works better than others, but I don't want them to experience the same epiphany that I had: realizing that so much time and energy was spent on something that sucked a lot of the fun out of my life. Food is awesome. Dieting is not.
Author's (that's me!) Note: After writing all of this, I realize that this will at least be a part one of two, to come later this week. My next post is going to be about battling all of these issues in my own life and mind, trying to set a good example for my kids and having it kind of blow up in my face. Some conversations with my friends and with my children recently brought the issue to mind, so, if you like, look for my thoughts on that in the next couple of days.
A couple of years ago, I was going through a box of my childhood things that my mother lovingly told me to, "get out of her house or it was going in the trash". Pack-rat that I am and always have been, I wanted to look through the things that I deemed worthy at one time of saving for all eternity. I came across a number of filled spiral notebooks, but one in particular caught my eye. The shabby, partially used notebook contained a food diary that I started keeping when I was twelve or thirteen. The entries were dated (so I technically could tell you exactly how old I was, but I am not writing this at home and I am feeling a little lazy, so you will just have to take my word for it) and I had written a goal at the front: "to lose 20 pounds". Man, that 20 pounds has dogged me FOREVER, more than half my lif, in fact, and here - well, here was written proof of it. I looked at my girlish handwriting and thought, "Jesus. Have I been on a diet or between diets or thinking about a diet for almost my entire life?!" The answer was an unequivocal, somewhat depressing and highly startling, "yes",
By the time I answered that simple question for myself, I had had two beautiful baby girls and had decided a short time prior that I needed to start investing in myself and in my health (i.e. to lose 20 pounds). I was actually on a diet at the time of the notebook discovery - one that I got results with and still stand behind as being a healthy and well-rounded alternative to fad dieting, "The Best Life Diet" by Bob Greene, who was and maybe still is Oprah's personal trainer. I drank the crap out of that kool-aid; my mother will likely accuse me of being obsessed with it almost to the point of developing an eating disorder. I watched my food intake in an extreme way, to be sure, and I worked out daily, but was constantly frustrated that I did not see any results on the scale. I went to a dietitian, I talked to every friend who would listen, I cried and complained and still, the scale did not budge. That mythical 20 pounds clung to me like a whiny toddler and it seemed, that though I was doing everything right, I would never achieve the goal that I set for myself almost half a lifetime ago.
So, I found that notebook and I thought about the kind of life I had made for myself. I was making what I thought were positive changes in my life, like incorporating exercise and choosing better food for my body, but I turned those changes into an obsession of epic proportions. My 20 pounds lamentation became the focus of not only conversations with my friends, most often occurring at the gym, but also of entire relationships seemingly built upon mutual commiseration about the inability to lose weight. I realized that by obsessing about those 20 pounds, sticking rigidly to my diet and meticulously fulfilling the exercise regimen I had created for myself, I was eliminating the joys in my life. I was snappish with my kids (more so than usual) and I sank into a depression fueled, in part, by my inability to enjoy anything (especially while anyone else was consuming a food/drink that I really wanted) that I eventually sought professional help to pull myself out of.
That notebook made me realize that, regardless of what the scale says, I want to enjoy my life and I want to have a healthy enjoyment of my food. I won't say that I don't think about losing weight now, because I do (especially since I need to lose a couple of pounds to fit into some clothes that haven't fit properly since I had my son two years ago). I won't say that calorie counts or fat grams don't occasionally come into consideration and I won't say that my exercise regimen is not intense for a specific purpose. I will say that I eat what I want to eat and I do so without the guilt that frequently accompanied any kind of indulgence in the past. I also exercise for stress relief and because I actually enjoy it. I try to look at food as being the fuel my body needs to accomplish everything that I have to do in any given day. Which is a lot. I know that. (I had a conversation last night that made me realize that I kind of sound like a crazy person when I talk about everything that I do.) So, it's not a perfect relationship with food and it is certainly an ever-evolving one, but I am trying to set a good example for my daughters (and eventually for my son as well). Sometimes that works better than others, but I don't want them to experience the same epiphany that I had: realizing that so much time and energy was spent on something that sucked a lot of the fun out of my life. Food is awesome. Dieting is not.
Author's (that's me!) Note: After writing all of this, I realize that this will at least be a part one of two, to come later this week. My next post is going to be about battling all of these issues in my own life and mind, trying to set a good example for my kids and having it kind of blow up in my face. Some conversations with my friends and with my children recently brought the issue to mind, so, if you like, look for my thoughts on that in the next couple of days.
Wednesday, April 10, 2013
Is it Spring yet?
In case you didn't know, I live in Texas where the weather is....unpredictable to say the least. Yesterday, it was in the mid to upper 80's, sunny (and muggy, because I have to complain a little). Today, it is rainy and freaking freezing [Mr. Bigglesworth!]. Seriously, it is in the 40's and is just spitting rain. I knew it was going to get cold, but I guess I didn't realize how nasty it would be. What does all of this have to do with food, you may wonder? Well, I tend to plan my menus with not only seasonal produce in mind, but I generally take the weather into account as well. For instance, I planned hamburgers for tonight - partially because my oldest child has a softball game...maybe?...and partially because I thought it was going to be hot. When it is hot, I grill like a fiend because I don't want my kitchen to feel like the place where real fiends dwell. (That's Hell, of course, and Texas frequently feels like the Seventh Circle thereof in the height of summer.) Now that it is gross and cold outside, hamburgers doesn't really feel like the meal of choice for the evening. This feels like a beef stew or a chili night, but, unfortunately, I didn't buy any of the ingredients for either of those hearty, soul-warming meals. I did buy the ingredients for something called "Skillet Tamale Pie", so I might go there for tonight. Of course, as per usual, I didn't take out the chicken to thaw, so my defrosting ineptitude may mess me up....for like the billionth time. Hopefully, it will be warmer tomorrow and hamburgers will sound more appetizing. Hopefully, I will get something warm on the table this evening. If I do and it is good, hopefully, you can look forward to a new recipe in the next day or so. We shall see....
Tuesday, April 9, 2013
How do I Love Thee, Soup?
Let me count the ways...nope. Not gonna do that. I thought I might throw some free verse in there, but I'm too tired and this has to be done in a matter of minutes (rather than the hours it could potentially take me to write a poem about my soup, which would probably be a complete waste of time, right?). I think I have discovered what my true addiction is: soup. For a while now, a particular kind of soup: Annie Chun's Thai Tom Yum soup, which I have found is like crack in a recyclable, compostable bowl. You know...having never tried crack or anything. My point is this though - it. is. good. It is pretty spicy (not of the burn your face off variety) and has the savory-salty-sweet balance that is so characteristic of *real* Thai dishes. It has noodles (who doesn't love noodle soup?!), chunks of deep fried tofu (better than it sounds, really), slices of shitake mushrooms and Thai chiles, and dices of bok choy, all floating around in a rust colored, salty, spicy broth. Of course, this is all freeze dried when you put it in the bowl, but, man! Once you rehydrate it with some hot water, cook it off in the microwave and let it sit for a couple of minutes....yum, indeed.
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| The final product: Thai Tom Yum soup...in just 2 minutes! |
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Grocery Store Nirvana
I am not sure I have mentioned this before, but I hate grocery shopping. (I probably have since it is such a pervasive and all encompassing hatred, truly only surpassed by my hatred for another of my necessary evils: the local crafts store where I must frequently buy physical supplies for my cake business. *shudder*) One would think that, based on the amount of time I spend thinking about (that makes me sound like I have a problem), planning, writing about and actually cooking food, I would also enjoy buying it. I don't. I think I would rather do most other things than shop for our meals.
So, today started off a little earlier than I would have liked thanks to my toddler sweetly crooning, "Moooommmmyyyy!" from his crib and I knew that I had my weekly grocery shopping chore ahead of me this morning. I planned to hit the gym for a yoga class, with the primary goal of getting a good, restorative workout in before I tackled the supermarket on a busy Saturday. My excellent yoga instructor started the class off by encouraging us to leave the stress of our outside lives, quieting the chatter inside our heads. (I love that about yoga - that whole "silencing the mind" part is so appealing to me, even if I only do it for an hour a week.) She went on to instruct us not to worry about our grocery list or what we thought we should be doing with our time...aaaannnnddd I remembered that I still DID have to worry about my grocery list. Blerg! I finished the class, enjoying the little bit of me-time that I still had left and, with a much more relaxed mind and body, headed off to the grocery store to do battle with my list and my fellow Saturday shopping warriors.
Rather than sighing heavily upon entering the store, I found myself looking forward to my shopping...just a little bit. (If you watch "How I Met Your Mother", at one point there was a character that said that sentence repeatedly in some kind of Eastern European accent - "jist a leetle beet". That's how I just heard that sentence in my head. I digress.) As I got my list out and realized that I was shopping by myself, rather than rushing through my list while tussling with an unruly toddler, I kind of slowed down and thought, with a tiny smile, "well, at least there's that." I found lots of organic produce on sale - always a great thing - and found organic meats were suddenly, magically, available at my store when they had not been previously. Yes! I went down the "Healthy Living" aisle and was grabbing some snacks for my older kids when the staff member stocking the section asked me, "have you tried this other product? I think I have some free samples in the back if you would like to." Free food that my kids will like? Uh, yes please! She came back with four samples, plus some coupons for the other stuff I was buying. Wow - seriously, I was starting to feel pretty good about this shopping trip. I continued to make my way through the store (oddly stopping to answer a question from someone in the baking aisle who said I looked like I did a lot of baking...which I do, but still...odd) and continued to find deals and steals (in the case of a new, talking - for real! - epi-pen for my son. A lovely little coupon allowed me to pay a pittance for the new device. Yes!) the whole way. Add to that the fact that the store seemed somehow quieter than usual (probably because I wasn't struggling with my son the whole time and listening to his repeated whines to get out of the cart) and I left that store feeling almost as light as I had when I left yoga.
I don't know what it was that caused everything to fall into place for my shopping trip today. Maybe it was a brighter attitude for having practiced yoga first thing this morning. Maybe it was the positive intentions I set for myself at the end of the yoga class. Maybe it was just a lightening of my spirit after chatting with friends at the gym. Whatever it was, the universe paid out for me this morning by making one of my most detested chores seem pleasant and I humbly appreciate it. I am sure my family does as well - they do like to eat.
So, today started off a little earlier than I would have liked thanks to my toddler sweetly crooning, "Moooommmmyyyy!" from his crib and I knew that I had my weekly grocery shopping chore ahead of me this morning. I planned to hit the gym for a yoga class, with the primary goal of getting a good, restorative workout in before I tackled the supermarket on a busy Saturday. My excellent yoga instructor started the class off by encouraging us to leave the stress of our outside lives, quieting the chatter inside our heads. (I love that about yoga - that whole "silencing the mind" part is so appealing to me, even if I only do it for an hour a week.) She went on to instruct us not to worry about our grocery list or what we thought we should be doing with our time...aaaannnnddd I remembered that I still DID have to worry about my grocery list. Blerg! I finished the class, enjoying the little bit of me-time that I still had left and, with a much more relaxed mind and body, headed off to the grocery store to do battle with my list and my fellow Saturday shopping warriors.
Rather than sighing heavily upon entering the store, I found myself looking forward to my shopping...just a little bit. (If you watch "How I Met Your Mother", at one point there was a character that said that sentence repeatedly in some kind of Eastern European accent - "jist a leetle beet". That's how I just heard that sentence in my head. I digress.) As I got my list out and realized that I was shopping by myself, rather than rushing through my list while tussling with an unruly toddler, I kind of slowed down and thought, with a tiny smile, "well, at least there's that." I found lots of organic produce on sale - always a great thing - and found organic meats were suddenly, magically, available at my store when they had not been previously. Yes! I went down the "Healthy Living" aisle and was grabbing some snacks for my older kids when the staff member stocking the section asked me, "have you tried this other product? I think I have some free samples in the back if you would like to." Free food that my kids will like? Uh, yes please! She came back with four samples, plus some coupons for the other stuff I was buying. Wow - seriously, I was starting to feel pretty good about this shopping trip. I continued to make my way through the store (oddly stopping to answer a question from someone in the baking aisle who said I looked like I did a lot of baking...which I do, but still...odd) and continued to find deals and steals (in the case of a new, talking - for real! - epi-pen for my son. A lovely little coupon allowed me to pay a pittance for the new device. Yes!) the whole way. Add to that the fact that the store seemed somehow quieter than usual (probably because I wasn't struggling with my son the whole time and listening to his repeated whines to get out of the cart) and I left that store feeling almost as light as I had when I left yoga.
I don't know what it was that caused everything to fall into place for my shopping trip today. Maybe it was a brighter attitude for having practiced yoga first thing this morning. Maybe it was the positive intentions I set for myself at the end of the yoga class. Maybe it was just a lightening of my spirit after chatting with friends at the gym. Whatever it was, the universe paid out for me this morning by making one of my most detested chores seem pleasant and I humbly appreciate it. I am sure my family does as well - they do like to eat.
Thursday, April 4, 2013
Judge-y Lithography
Well, if that title doesn't draw you in....on a food blog....I don't know what will! Several months ago (perhaps almost a year even), my sister passed along four fun little prints that she bought online to hang in her kitchen. My sister is blessed with the interior design gene (I, sadly, am not) and decided, once she had the prints in hand, that they did not "go" with the other colors gracing her cooking space. They did, however, "go" with mine, so she offered to them to me. I framed them and hung them in a fairly prominent space in my kitchen; I see them every time I walk into that room and I find something new to love every time I look at them. Each of the prints is different, but all are done in the style of the 1940's Victory Garden propaganda, extolling all Americans to "do their duty" and grow their own food. The fun thing about these prints is that they are very vintage looking, but they tell you to, "Eat Local Greens", "Plant an Urban Farm Garden" and "Grow Food on an Organic Farm". Out of the four, my favorite is a picture of a spoon and fork, standing behind a still life of vegetables (tomato, cucumber, onion, etc.) and a mason jar of what I can only assume are some kind of peas or beans. Above this little tableau are the words, "Eat Real Food".
"Eat Real Food". That is such a simple statement, but has become such an expansive movement recently in our culture. There is so much that this one little sentence applies to: GMO's, the whole Monsanto fiasco, the potential for artificial sweetener in milk...it seems like this "real food", or rather, lack thereof, issue is in my face all of the time and honestly, I do get kind of tired of it. There are times that I just want to say, "@#$% it! I've had enough!" I had one of those moments the other night as I was trying to muster the energy to cook dinner for our family. The menu that night was scheduled to be: "chicken thighs, marinated in a mojo of freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice, olive oil and garlic, grilled to perfection, served alongside fresh, crisp-grilled asparagus and a salad of Campari tomato slices, topped with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper". I had, however, forgotten to take the chicken out to thaw in the refrigerator the night before, so while it was [sort of] thawing in a sink full of cold water, I sat down....and promptly fell asleep.
Fortunately, my husband had come home early that afternoon, so my little cat-nap didn't impact my whole "caring for my children" thing, but snoozing did delay our dinner a bit. I woke up groggy and grouchy and I seriously considered giving the thawing chicken a "@#$% it" by scrapping my original menu plans. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do for our evening meal, but right at that moment, cooking seemed like a huge hassle that I was willing to trade for sending my husband out to bring back burgers and boiling the barely thawed meat off for another day. Blearily, I cast my eyes about my kitchen, trying to make up my mind. My attention was caught by my new pictures on the wall and I read the words again, "Eat Real Food". I thought, "Geez. Even that damn print is judging me!" No. Really and truly, I thought, "yes. Yes, we will." I shook off my fatigue and made do with what I had: half frozen chicken thighs that took a heck of a lot longer to cook on the grill than they would have, had I defrosted them properly, and which lacked the lemony freshness that a proper marinade would have given them, but my menu came off well and it was good. And real. And real good. Everyone ate it - my oldest had seconds and thirds of the chicken, my youngest had seconds and thirds of the "[s]ticks" (asparagus) and "mmmargh" (tomatoes) and my middle child ate just what was put on her plate and no more.
So my new, judge-y lithograph saved our dinner the other night. I am glad I have it hanging on the wall to remind me what is important to me. Yes, I get frustrated with our food culture and yes, I get frustrated with simply having to cook ALL the time, but I also realize that feeding my family well is one of my top priorities. I actually like seeing them enjoy a good meal and I really like knowing that I cooked it. Real food - sometimes it doesn't have to be all that hard; it just takes a little bit of an effort.
"Eat Real Food". That is such a simple statement, but has become such an expansive movement recently in our culture. There is so much that this one little sentence applies to: GMO's, the whole Monsanto fiasco, the potential for artificial sweetener in milk...it seems like this "real food", or rather, lack thereof, issue is in my face all of the time and honestly, I do get kind of tired of it. There are times that I just want to say, "@#$% it! I've had enough!" I had one of those moments the other night as I was trying to muster the energy to cook dinner for our family. The menu that night was scheduled to be: "chicken thighs, marinated in a mojo of freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice, olive oil and garlic, grilled to perfection, served alongside fresh, crisp-grilled asparagus and a salad of Campari tomato slices, topped with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper". I had, however, forgotten to take the chicken out to thaw in the refrigerator the night before, so while it was [sort of] thawing in a sink full of cold water, I sat down....and promptly fell asleep.
Fortunately, my husband had come home early that afternoon, so my little cat-nap didn't impact my whole "caring for my children" thing, but snoozing did delay our dinner a bit. I woke up groggy and grouchy and I seriously considered giving the thawing chicken a "@#$% it" by scrapping my original menu plans. I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do for our evening meal, but right at that moment, cooking seemed like a huge hassle that I was willing to trade for sending my husband out to bring back burgers and boiling the barely thawed meat off for another day. Blearily, I cast my eyes about my kitchen, trying to make up my mind. My attention was caught by my new pictures on the wall and I read the words again, "Eat Real Food". I thought, "Geez. Even that damn print is judging me!" No. Really and truly, I thought, "yes. Yes, we will." I shook off my fatigue and made do with what I had: half frozen chicken thighs that took a heck of a lot longer to cook on the grill than they would have, had I defrosted them properly, and which lacked the lemony freshness that a proper marinade would have given them, but my menu came off well and it was good. And real. And real good. Everyone ate it - my oldest had seconds and thirds of the chicken, my youngest had seconds and thirds of the "[s]ticks" (asparagus) and "mmmargh" (tomatoes) and my middle child ate just what was put on her plate and no more.
So my new, judge-y lithograph saved our dinner the other night. I am glad I have it hanging on the wall to remind me what is important to me. Yes, I get frustrated with our food culture and yes, I get frustrated with simply having to cook ALL the time, but I also realize that feeding my family well is one of my top priorities. I actually like seeing them enjoy a good meal and I really like knowing that I cooked it. Real food - sometimes it doesn't have to be all that hard; it just takes a little bit of an effort.
Friday, March 15, 2013
Thai Chicken and Rice Soup!
That's right! Thai Chicken and Rice Soup! Can you tell I am really excited about this post?! Can you tell I was really excited about this meal?! The correct answers are yes and yes and I will try to curb my exclamatory sentences from here on out. Also - FYI and my bad, because I don't have a photo for this one, but please, let my words paint a gorgeous rendition of a richly flavored, deeply delicious and fantastically fragrant soup that I quite literally threw together the other night for dinner.
Let me give y'all some background here: first of all, this past week was Spring Break, so my older kids were out of school and my husband took the second half of the week off. Second of all, although I haven't done it in a while, I do occasionally participate in a food co-op called Bountiful Baskets; since I did not have any cakes booked for the week and I knew I would have extra hands to help with my youngest, I decided to buy a basket (you get 1/2 fruits and 1/2 veggies, you have the option to buy other "packs" of veggies and can also buy bread) and get a "Thai-veggie pack". You know, just because I had all of that extra time this week to prep a bunch of fresh veg. Anyway, when you do this, you pick the baskets, etc. up on Saturday morning (at the crack of dawn no less) and, ideally, do any additional grocery shopping that is required for the week after you see what you get (since it is a co-op, they buy what they can in bulk and so you get different stuff every time). I however, due to an abundance of over scheduling last Saturday, grocery shopped the day before and purchased several generic cuts of meat (chicken tenders, flat iron steak, chicken sausage) to use with whatever veggies I happened to get. I had it in mind to use part of the Thai-veggie pack to make a Chinese chicken salad, but here's the thing: I was SUPER lazy this week - mostly of the take-meat-out-of-the-freezer-to-thaw-in-the-refrigerator-so-I-can-cook-it-the-next-day variety of laziness. I pulled a lot of sink/water bath defrosting, which requires thin cuts of meat - i.e. full chicken breasts take forever - to make meals this week. Anyway, long story short: the Chinese chicken salad (with shredded chicken breasts) didn't happen, but what did was even better!
I decided, kind of mid-day on Wednesday, that I wanted to make a Thai-inspired soup (http://makingeverydaygourmet.blogspot.com/p/favorite-recipes.html) for dinner that night. That Thai-veggie pack had everything I needed to do it - onions, carrots, celery, lemongrass, chiles, ginger, limes, even a coconut! I had the chicken tenders and a bunch of leftover cooked rice from an earlier meal of fried rice (a catastrophe in and of itself, but that is another story). I lacked a couple of rather important items, however: olive oil (which I typically use to saute) and chicken stock (always a component of my soups). My husband arrived home early that day and having made his weekly pilgrimage to his favorite liquor and fine foods store (yes, he DOES have a favorite), where he had procured not only a variety of adult beverages, but had also pillaged the half price food aisle, finding something called "rice oil". I had never heard of this, but apparently it can be used for cooking and in a wide variety of homeopathic medicinal applications. Best of all, it was, as far as the Internet could tell me, a hypoallergenic oil with a high smoke point. Score! As for the chicken stock, I seriously considered making a special trip to the grocery store, but then I remembered: duh! You are a trained chef, you moron! Make the flavor happen without the chicken stock! (My inner voice is pretty bitchy sometimes.) So, I did! (And crap, here come the exclamation points again.)
So, I started with your basic mirepoix: onions, carrots and celery, which I seasoned with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and sauteed in my newly acquired and vetted rice oil. I got some really nice caramelization on that trio before I added 5 or 6 minced garlic cloves. I let those cook until they were fragrant (about 30 seconds) and then I added something like 3 quarts of plain old tap water. Then, this is where things got interesting: I cleaned a stalk of lemongrass (peel the outside couple of layers off and wash), whacked it with the back of my chef's knife to bruise it (releasing the essential oils), cut it into four 2-3 inch lengths and chucked those into my pot. I took a hunk of ginger root, washed it and cut into 5 large chunks, tossing those in, peel and all. I added two dried chiles (likely de Arbol chiles, though the BB people probably wanted me to think they were Thai Bird Chiles instead. Tricky, very tricky.), two dried bay leaves and a large bunch of basil (stems and all). I let that mixture bubble while I prepped the (partially) defrosted chicken tenders. Now before I tossed raw chicken into my lovely little Thai court bouillon, I tasted it for seasoning and added the following: a fair amount of kosher salt (I rarely measure salt, since I season as I cook), 6 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce, and 3 (?) tablespoons of vegan Worcestershire sauce (vegan because the baby hasn't done his fish challenge yet and regular Worcestershire sauce is made with anchovies; this is of course in place of the more self explanatory fish sauce that is typical in Thai cooking. WS will totally work in pinch, though the flavor is a little different.). I tasted it again for seasoning, pronounced it lovely and pitched the raw chicken in to simmer. After the soup came back to a boil, I added my leftover rice (a weirdly gelatinous combo of brown and arborio rice); whereas that type rice did not make for a good, dry fried rice, it worked amazingly well for the soup, adding just the right amount of starch to the broth, giving it a touch of unctuousness and viscosity. I fished out the bay leaves, chiles, lemongrass stalks, ginger and whole leaf basil, resigning them all to the depths of our compost pail. To finish this great experiment, I added a large bunch of minced cilantro, several tablespoons of finely sliced basil, a bunch of sliced green onions and the juice of two limes. I soaked a few of the dried chiles in hot water so that I could slice them for my husband and I to sprinkle on top of our soup rather than adding the additional spice to the main pot. (My kids don't care for heat in their food.)
I was seriously excited about this soup for a couple of reasons: I LOVE Thai food being the most pertinent. The second, still very important reason: I LOVE using lots of leftovers and things in my fridge to make a lovely and tasty new dish. This soup combined both of those passions, but I was still a little wary from my French Onion experience - a dish whose scent and flavor profile did not match up at all. This soup....well, this soup met and exceeded all of my expectations! It was savory, it was spicy, it was a little tart, it was distinctly Thai and damn....it was GGGGOOOOOOOOOOODDDDD. As I said on Facebook afterwards, I don't always make Thai food *because it is usually a labor intensive meal that I don't often have time for*, but when I do, it is SO worth it! Bonus: my oldest kids ate theirs without complaint (without seconds, I should also add, but still) and the baby scarfed down two full bowls! I will take that as a win and will remember that Thai is a popular flavor profile in our house.
Let me give y'all some background here: first of all, this past week was Spring Break, so my older kids were out of school and my husband took the second half of the week off. Second of all, although I haven't done it in a while, I do occasionally participate in a food co-op called Bountiful Baskets; since I did not have any cakes booked for the week and I knew I would have extra hands to help with my youngest, I decided to buy a basket (you get 1/2 fruits and 1/2 veggies, you have the option to buy other "packs" of veggies and can also buy bread) and get a "Thai-veggie pack". You know, just because I had all of that extra time this week to prep a bunch of fresh veg. Anyway, when you do this, you pick the baskets, etc. up on Saturday morning (at the crack of dawn no less) and, ideally, do any additional grocery shopping that is required for the week after you see what you get (since it is a co-op, they buy what they can in bulk and so you get different stuff every time). I however, due to an abundance of over scheduling last Saturday, grocery shopped the day before and purchased several generic cuts of meat (chicken tenders, flat iron steak, chicken sausage) to use with whatever veggies I happened to get. I had it in mind to use part of the Thai-veggie pack to make a Chinese chicken salad, but here's the thing: I was SUPER lazy this week - mostly of the take-meat-out-of-the-freezer-to-thaw-in-the-refrigerator-so-I-can-cook-it-the-next-day variety of laziness. I pulled a lot of sink/water bath defrosting, which requires thin cuts of meat - i.e. full chicken breasts take forever - to make meals this week. Anyway, long story short: the Chinese chicken salad (with shredded chicken breasts) didn't happen, but what did was even better!
I decided, kind of mid-day on Wednesday, that I wanted to make a Thai-inspired soup (http://makingeverydaygourmet.blogspot.com/p/favorite-recipes.html) for dinner that night. That Thai-veggie pack had everything I needed to do it - onions, carrots, celery, lemongrass, chiles, ginger, limes, even a coconut! I had the chicken tenders and a bunch of leftover cooked rice from an earlier meal of fried rice (a catastrophe in and of itself, but that is another story). I lacked a couple of rather important items, however: olive oil (which I typically use to saute) and chicken stock (always a component of my soups). My husband arrived home early that day and having made his weekly pilgrimage to his favorite liquor and fine foods store (yes, he DOES have a favorite), where he had procured not only a variety of adult beverages, but had also pillaged the half price food aisle, finding something called "rice oil". I had never heard of this, but apparently it can be used for cooking and in a wide variety of homeopathic medicinal applications. Best of all, it was, as far as the Internet could tell me, a hypoallergenic oil with a high smoke point. Score! As for the chicken stock, I seriously considered making a special trip to the grocery store, but then I remembered: duh! You are a trained chef, you moron! Make the flavor happen without the chicken stock! (My inner voice is pretty bitchy sometimes.) So, I did! (And crap, here come the exclamation points again.)
So, I started with your basic mirepoix: onions, carrots and celery, which I seasoned with kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper and sauteed in my newly acquired and vetted rice oil. I got some really nice caramelization on that trio before I added 5 or 6 minced garlic cloves. I let those cook until they were fragrant (about 30 seconds) and then I added something like 3 quarts of plain old tap water. Then, this is where things got interesting: I cleaned a stalk of lemongrass (peel the outside couple of layers off and wash), whacked it with the back of my chef's knife to bruise it (releasing the essential oils), cut it into four 2-3 inch lengths and chucked those into my pot. I took a hunk of ginger root, washed it and cut into 5 large chunks, tossing those in, peel and all. I added two dried chiles (likely de Arbol chiles, though the BB people probably wanted me to think they were Thai Bird Chiles instead. Tricky, very tricky.), two dried bay leaves and a large bunch of basil (stems and all). I let that mixture bubble while I prepped the (partially) defrosted chicken tenders. Now before I tossed raw chicken into my lovely little Thai court bouillon, I tasted it for seasoning and added the following: a fair amount of kosher salt (I rarely measure salt, since I season as I cook), 6 tablespoons of low sodium soy sauce, and 3 (?) tablespoons of vegan Worcestershire sauce (vegan because the baby hasn't done his fish challenge yet and regular Worcestershire sauce is made with anchovies; this is of course in place of the more self explanatory fish sauce that is typical in Thai cooking. WS will totally work in pinch, though the flavor is a little different.). I tasted it again for seasoning, pronounced it lovely and pitched the raw chicken in to simmer. After the soup came back to a boil, I added my leftover rice (a weirdly gelatinous combo of brown and arborio rice); whereas that type rice did not make for a good, dry fried rice, it worked amazingly well for the soup, adding just the right amount of starch to the broth, giving it a touch of unctuousness and viscosity. I fished out the bay leaves, chiles, lemongrass stalks, ginger and whole leaf basil, resigning them all to the depths of our compost pail. To finish this great experiment, I added a large bunch of minced cilantro, several tablespoons of finely sliced basil, a bunch of sliced green onions and the juice of two limes. I soaked a few of the dried chiles in hot water so that I could slice them for my husband and I to sprinkle on top of our soup rather than adding the additional spice to the main pot. (My kids don't care for heat in their food.)
I was seriously excited about this soup for a couple of reasons: I LOVE Thai food being the most pertinent. The second, still very important reason: I LOVE using lots of leftovers and things in my fridge to make a lovely and tasty new dish. This soup combined both of those passions, but I was still a little wary from my French Onion experience - a dish whose scent and flavor profile did not match up at all. This soup....well, this soup met and exceeded all of my expectations! It was savory, it was spicy, it was a little tart, it was distinctly Thai and damn....it was GGGGOOOOOOOOOOODDDDD. As I said on Facebook afterwards, I don't always make Thai food *because it is usually a labor intensive meal that I don't often have time for*, but when I do, it is SO worth it! Bonus: my oldest kids ate theirs without complaint (without seconds, I should also add, but still) and the baby scarfed down two full bowls! I will take that as a win and will remember that Thai is a popular flavor profile in our house.
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