No More Nuggets

Creamy Tomato Soup

2011-01-27T21:02:00.000-06:00

The creamless creamy tomato soup recipe from Cook's Illustrated (obtained from their recipe app) is wonderful. This soup is on a totally different level than canned tomato soup. It has a creamy texture and a light, fresh taste. The short ingredient list and ease with which it is made are added bonuses.

Ingredients
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped medium (about 1 cup)
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
pinch hot red pepper flakes
1 bay leaf
2 (28oz) cans whole tomatoes packed in juice
1 Tab brown sugar
3 large slices good quality sandwich bread, crusts removed, torn into 1" pieces
2 cups low sodium chicken broth

Heat 2 Tab oil in Dutch oven over medium high heat until simmering. Add onion, garlic, red pepper flakes, and bay leaf. Cook, stirring frequently, until onion is translucent, about 4 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and their juice. Mash with a potato masher until no pieces bigger than 2" remain. Stir in sugar and bread. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until bread is completely saturated and starts to break down, about 5 minutes. Remove and discard bay leaf.
Transfer half of soup to a blender and add 1 Tab oil. Blend until smooth. Transfer to a large bowl and repeat with remaining soup and oil. (Or, use an immersion blender in the Dutch oven and blend it all up at once.) Return soup to Dutch oven. Stir in chicken broth. Return soup to a boil. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Homemade Oreo Cookies

2011-01-19T21:07:00.000-06:00

The kids and I are spending the week at my parents' house while we have some work done on our house. Today, my sister-in-law, Jenny, came over and made some amazing cookies. These were soft yet crisp chocolate wafers with creamy filling. As with most things homemade, these were much better than Oreos from the store. And, they were easy to make.

makes 25-30 sandwich cookies

Ingredients
For the chocolate wafers:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened Dutch process cocoa (I used Hershey’s Special Dark Cocoa)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 to 1 1/2 cups sugar [see recipe note]
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons (1 1/4 sticks) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1 large egg

For the filling:
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) room-temperature, unsalted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 cups sifted confectioners’ sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla extract (I used clear vanilla extract)
Optional- Gel dye

Method
1. Set two racks in the middle of the oven. Preheat to 375°F.

2. In a food processor, or bowl of an electric mixer, thoroughly mix the flour, cocoa, baking soda and powder, salt, and sugar. While pulsing, or on low speed, add the butter, and then the egg. Continue processing or mixing until dough comes together in a mass.

3. Take rounded teaspoons of batter and place on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet approximately two inches apart. With moistened hands, slightly flatten the dough. Bake for 9 minutes, rotating once for even baking. Set baking sheets on a rack to cool.

4. To make the cream, place butter and shortening in a mixing bowl, and at low speed, gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla. Turn the mixer on high and beat for 2 to 3 minutes until filling is light and fluffy. (Optional: Blend in a tiny bit of gel dye until you reach the desired color.)

6. To assemble the cookies, in a pastry bag with a 1/2 inch, round tip, pipe teaspoon-size blobs of cream into the center of one cookie. Place another cookie, equal in size to the first, on top of the cream. Lightly press, to work the filling evenly to the outsides of the cookie. Continue this process until all the cookies have been sandwiched with cream. Dunk generously in a large glass of milk.

Pho Tofu Soup

2011-01-05T20:32:00.000-06:00

We love going out for Vietnamese pho noodle soup. Even Jacob gobbles up the long noodles and slurps the flavorful broth. The soup is uncomplicated but full of complex flavors.

I decided to try making some at home. Mine was just as delicious as the restaurant's. I could never recreate the full flavored broth on my own, so I based mine on a recipe I found online at www.elliemay.com. Start with the broth and add whatever meat, vegetables, sauce, and toppings you like.

Ingredients
1 yellow onion, quartered
8 cloves garlic, halved
1" piece of ginger, quartered
2 pods star anise
4 cloves
6 cups low sodium chicken broth
2 cups water
dash of cinnamon
3 Tab soy sauce
1lb noodles (use whatever you prefer)
3 cups cubed, fried tofu
3 cups diced mushrooms
1 cup sliced green onions
1/2 cup cilantro leaves
1 lemon, cut into wedges
sauces (satay, sriracha, chili garlic, etc)

In a large pot, heat onion, garlic, ginger, star anise, and cloves over medium high heat, stirring occasionally, until onion is charred and tender, about 7 minutes.
Stir in broth, water, cinnamon, and soy sauce. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to medium low and simmer, stirring occasionally, about 25 minutes. Drain broth and discard solids. (For more flavor, let broth cool to room temp with solids and refigerate overnight. Drain and continue with recipe.)
Return broth to boil in large pot. Stir in noodles and cook according to package directions. Stir in mushrooms and tofu and heat through. Serve soup with green onions, cilantro, lemon, and sauces.

Fudge Pops in the Zoku

2010-12-30T08:00:00.001-06:00

I received a Zoku ice pop maker for Christmas. So far, I have only used it one time, but I already love it! It freezes pops in about 7 minutes and they are very easy to remove from the molds. I know cold winter weather does not inspire many to eat ice pops, but my family loves frozen treats year round!

I made a Gourmet magazine recipe I found for frozen fudge pops. They tasted just like fudge pops should taste- creamy and chocolatey. These can be made in any pop mold, but the total time increases from about 20 minutes to 24 hours.

Here is how I made them:

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup sugar
2 Tab dark corn syrup
6 Tab unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

In a small sauce pan, heat milk, sugar, corn syrup, and cocoa powder over medium heat. Stir until sugar and cocoa powder have dissolved. Cool to room temperature and pour into pop molds and freeze until firm.
If using traditional molds: Freeze 30 minutes. Insert sticks and freeze until firm, about 24 hours.

Honey Mustard Chicken Kabobs

2010-12-29T13:14:00.000-06:00

Jacob loves eating things on a stick, so kabobs are a great way to get him to eat his meat and vegetables. Last night, I made kabobs in the broiler. The chicken, onion, mushroom, and bell pepper went great with rice and honey mustard. We decided this would go well with just about any sauce. I plan to make it again and experiment.

Here is how I made it last night:

Ingredients
1/4 cup honey mustard, plus more for serving (not dressing, just "honey mustard")
3 Tab lemon juice
3 Tab olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 1/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/2" chunks
1 lb button mushrooms
1 large yellow onion, cut into eight large chunks and broken apart
2 yellow bell peppers, seeded and cut into 1/2" pieces
cooked brown rice

If using bamboo skewers, soak in water 20-30 minutes to prevent burning.
Preheat broiler. Prepare two large baking sheets by covering them with foil and spraying with non-stick spray.
In a small bowl, whisk together honey mustard, lemon juice, olive oil, salt, and pepper.
Thread chicken, mushrooms, onion, and peppers onto skewers. Brush with honey mustard mixture. Place under broiler and broil until chicken is cooked and veggies are tender, about 10 minutes.
Serve with rice and honey mustard on the side.

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

2010-12-20T20:45:00.000-06:00

Tonight, we all enjoyed some surprisingly good stuffed peppers. Roasting the peppers made them tender and sweet. They were stuffed with a cheesy veggie and rice mixture.

The recipe calls for cooking the peppers in a slow cooker for about 4 hours, but, according to a review on the Taste of Home website, they may also be cooked in a 425 degree oven for about half an hour. (When trying a recipe, always read the reviews- they are usually very helpful and informative.)

Here is how I made the recipe:

Ingredients
6 large sweet peppers (red, yellow, and orange)
2 cups cooked brown rice
3 roma tomatoes, chopped
1 cup frozen corn, thawed
1 small yellow onion, diced
1/3 cup canned red beans, rinsed and drained
1/3 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
3/4 cup cubed Monterey Jack cheese
1/4 tsp basil
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 cup tomato sauce, seasoned with pepper, basil, and oregano
1/2 cup water
2 Tab grated Parmesan cheese

Cut tops off peppers and remove seeds; set aside. In a large bowl, combine rice, tomatoes, corn, onion, beans, Monterey Jack cheese, basil, garlic, salt, and pepper. Spoon into peppers.
Combine tomato sauce and water. Pour half into slow cooker. Add the stuffed pepper. Top with remaining sauce. Sprinkle with 2 Tab Parmesan.
Cover and cook on high about 3 hours, or until peppers are tender.

Curried Chicken and Brown Rice Casserole

2010-12-09T12:44:00.000-06:00

I refused to go to the grocery store for a third time in three days, so I turned to the ingredients search on allrecipes.com. I entered in "chicken", "brown rice", and "tomatoes" and found a recipe for curried chicken and brown rice casserole. It tasted really good. I liked the spicy curry flavor on the chicken and brown rice, and I loved that it cooks all together in the oven. Easy! I was a bit skeptical of the raisins, but they blended beautifully with the spice.

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients
1/2 of the tomatoes from a 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes and all the juice
3/4 cup brown rice, cooked
1/2 cup raisins
1 Tab lemon juice
3 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
3/4 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, stir together all ingredients. Transfer to a casserole dish. Cover and bake for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally, until chicken is cooked.

Chicken and Sausage Creole

2010-12-06T12:14:00.000-06:00

We had some friends over for supper and we had this recipe from Southern Living's new cookbook, 1,001 Ways to Cook Southern. It was an easy and unique one-pot main dish that I plan to make again. We served this with hot sauce.

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients
2 large boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 yellow onion
a handful of celery
salt and pepper

Bring a large pot of water (at least 6 cups) with onion, celery, and a dash of salt to a boil. Add chicken and boil until cooked through, about 15 minutes. Remove from chicken and let rest until cool enough to handle; cut into small pieces. Drain and reserve cooking liquid.

1 1/2 cups uncooked long grain brown rice
1/2 lb smoked turkey sausage, diced
1 yellow onion, diced
1 cup diced celery
1 yellow bell pepper, chopped and seeded
2 garlic cloves
1 14 1/2 oz can diced tomatoes
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp chili powder
2 bay leaves
dash of red pepper flakes

Combine rice and 3 1/2 cups cooking liquid from chicken in a rice cooker and cook.
Meanwhile, saute sausage, onion, celery, pepper, and garlic in a large dutch oven over medium high heat about 5 minutes, or until vegetables are tender. Add chicken, tomatoes, salt, chili powder, bay leaves, red pepper flakes, and 1 1/2 cups cooking liquid from chicken. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove bay leaves and serve over rice.

Thick and Soft Pizza Crust

2010-12-02T14:09:00.000-06:00

A few nights ago, I made the pizza crust that my mom loves to make. It is thick and cooks up soft. Grease your pan with a bit of olive oil for a crispy outer layer. We topped ours with roasted bell pepper, spinach, olives, and Parmesan.

Ingredients
1/2 cup warm water
1 Tab yeast
1 1/2 Tab sugar
3 cups all purpose flour
1 Tab salt
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
1 Tab olive oil
1 cup warm water

In a small bowl, combine yeast, 1/2 cup warm water, and sugar. Let rise about 10 minutes, or until foamy.
In a large bowl, combine flour, salt, Parmesan, and olive oil. Add yeast mixture and enough warm water to make a stiff dough. Stir well to combine and stir some more to "knead."
Cover with a clean dish cloth and let rise about 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spread dough on a greased sheet and add toppings. Bake about 15 minutes, or until crust is golden and cheese is melted.

Sweet Potato Chili

2010-11-30T08:57:00.000-06:00

This chili was even better than I remembered- the spicy/smoky flavors pair perfectly with the sweet taste of sweet potato, red bell pepper, and orange. The ingredients are very healthy and make a very filling meal.

Here is how I made it:

Ingredients
3 small sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
1 yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 15oz can white kidney beans, rinsed and drained
1 red bell pepper, cored, seeded and diced
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 Tab chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup water
1/2 cup orange juice

Place sweet potato chunks in crock pot and dump remaining ingredients on top. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
If you are like Art and want the sweet potato to mash in with everything else when stirred, cook it longer.
We put Chipotle Tabasco sauce on ours and it was perfect.

Roast Chicken Breast with Potatoes, Green Beans and Mustard Pan Sauce

2010-11-17T19:47:00.000-06:00

I wanted to try Bon Appetit's "holiday feast that comes together in just two hours." The pictures looked awesome. And, I loved the idea of cooking an entire meal with one recipe.

But, I couldn't find boneless turkey breast. So, I substituted boneless, skinless chicken breasts and adjusted the cooking time a bit.

The chicken came out moist and flavorful. The potatoes and green beans were perfect sides. The leeks didn't seem to add any flavor to the dish, so next time I'll save a few minutes (and a few bucks!) and leave them out. I spent a little extra and bought the baby potatoes, but next time I'll just get new potatoes and quarter them. The mustard pan sauce was a great way to up the flavor- I really enjoyed the combination of tarragon and honey mustard.

Here is how I made the dish:

Ingredients
Nonstick vegetable oil spray
4 Tab honey mustard, divided
5 Tab chopped fresh tarragon, divided
2 1/2 Tab olive oil, divided
2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast
2lb baby potatoes
2 cups thinly sliced leeks (white and pale green parts only; about 2 large)
2 8oz packages trimmed French green beans
1 cup low salt chicken broth

Position 1 rack in top third and 1 rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 425 degrees.
Coat 2 heavy large rimmed baking sheets with nonstick spray. Whisk 2 Tab mustard, 2 Tab tarragon, and 1 Tab olive oil in a small bowl. Spread on chicken breasts in a pie plate to coat and refrigerate 30 minutes.
Toss potatoes, leeks, 1 Tab tarragon, and 1 Tab oil in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread on baking sheet and place potatoes in top third of oven. Roast until tender, about 45 minutes.
Put chicken on baking sheet and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in bottom third of oven and roast for 10 minutes.
Toss beans with 1 Tab tarragon and 1/2 Tab oil; sprinkle with salt and pepper. Spread beans around chicken; pour broth over beans. Return chicken and beans to oven and continue roasting until chicken is cooked through, about 15 more minutes.
Remove chicken and beans to a platter. Whisk 2 Tab mustard into chicken juices in baking sheet. Season with salt and pepper. Spoon some sauce over chicken and sprinkle with 1 Tab tarragon. Serve with remaining sauce on side.

Slow Cooker Squash Casserole and Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Chile Cream

2010-11-16T13:21:00.000-06:00

I have experimented with a few Thanksgiving-ish recipes this week. Last night's squash casserole and roasted sweet potatoes were both very good. I would happily serve (and eat) these on Thanksgiving or anytime. And, both recipes were quick and easy to prepare.

This month's issue of Southern Living included a recipe for squash casserole that is cooked in a slow cooker. It is full of tasty squash, zucchini, and cheese. I spent about 30 minutes putting everything together.

I was briefly disappointed when I saw that the final 30 minutes of cooking with the lid removed had produced a dark brown crust on the bottom of my casserole. But, this turned out to be really tasty- it was like a cheese crust to the light, souffle-like casserole.

Ingredients
2 lb yellow squash, sliced
2 lb zucchini, sliced
1 large sweet onion, finely chopped
2 cups shredded sharp cheddar
2 cups soft, fresh breadcrumbs
1 (8oz) container sour cream (I used reduced fat)
2 large eggs, beaten
1 1/2 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
3/4 cups shredded Parmesan cheese

Cook first three ingredients in boiling water to cover in a large pot for 10-12 minutes or just until tender. Drain well in a colander, pressing squash with a spoon.
Stir together squash mixture, Cheddar, and next 5 ingredients. Spoon into a lightly greased slow cooker. Sprinkle Parmesan cheese over the top.
Cover and cook on low 2 1/2 to 3 hours or until center is set and edges are golden brown. Uncover and cook 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes.

I am always excited to try sweet potato recipes. This month's issue of Bon Appetit included a recipe for sweet potato wedges with smoked chile cream. This recipe is a unique and healthy way to serve sweet potatoes without masking their flavor with sugar and marshmallows (not that this is always a bad way to serve them). And, you get to eat the nutrient-rich skin. I'm addicted.

Ingredients
1/3 cup sour cream
3 Tab finely chopped green onion tops
2 tsp chipotle hot pepper sauce
2 tsp fresh lime juice
3 lb sweet potatoes, scrubbed, cut lengthwise into 3/4" wide wedges with skin
3 Tab olive oil
1 1/2 tsp cumin

Whisk sour cream, 1 Tab green onion tops, chipotle hot sauce, and the lime juice in a small bowl. Cover and chill. (This can be made 1 day ahead.)
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine sweet potatoes with oil and cumin in a large bowl. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Arrange potatoes, cut sides down, on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast until tender and browned in spots, about 20 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Place potato wedges on a large platter and drizzle with chile cream. Sprinkle with remaining 2 Tab green onion tops. (My chile cream was too thick to drizzle, so I just served it on the side.)

Tabouli

2010-11-12T13:55:00.000-06:00

I tried a new recipe for tabouli. The tons of fresh herbs made it very appealing, but also very expensive since I don't grow my own. This recipe has more herbs and less olive oil than the recipe I had previously made. Both were good.

I found the tabouli recipe on the Epicurious app. I served it with flat bread and hummus. Here is the version I made:

Ingredients
1 cup bulgur wheat
2 Tab olive oil
2 garlic clove, minced
3/4 cup diced red onion
2 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
1/3 cup chopped fresh mint
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
3 Tab finely chopped fresh dill
3 Tab finely chopped fresh cilantro
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

Bring water to a boil. Stir together bulgur and 1 Tab olive oil in a heatproof bowl. Add boiling water to cover. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let stand 15 minutes. Drain, pressing out water and let cool to room temperature.
Transfer bulgur to a large bowl and toss with remaining 1 Tab olive oil and the rest of the ingredients. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours. Serve cold.

Double Chip Peanut Butter Blondies

2010-11-10T20:13:00.000-06:00

I first made these as Valentine gifts for friends in 2004. I had so much faith in the delicious looking recipe that I gave them out without first trying them. So, the feedback I received was unexpected: people were blown away by these peanut butter chocolate treats. I have been making them ever since.

And, now, you can, too! These are like very soft bar cookies. They are very easy to make in about 15 minutes.

I found the recipe in a small cookbook published by the Southern Living cooking school in 2001.

Ingredients
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 large eggs
2 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 12oz package semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup peanut butter chips

Beat butter at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add sugars, beating until smooth. Add peanut butter and vanilla, beating until blended. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating after each addition.
Combine flour and next 3 ingredients. Gradually add to butter mixture, beating on low speed until blended. Fold in chocolate chips and peanut butter chips.
Press dough into a greased and floured 13x9" pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for 35 to 40 minutes. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars and serve. Makes 2 dozen.

Pumpkin Waffles

2010-11-09T21:12:00.000-06:00

We had pumpkin waffles for supper.

I followed a recipe on www.epicurious.com that produced waffles with a custard-like taste. The ratio of eggs, milk, pumpkin, and butter to flour is unusually high. The thing I did not like was the way the waffles turned immediately limp and soggy when removed from the waffle iron. Still, these were a unique and mostly enjoyable take on waffles.

A couple of weeks ago, I made a different pumpkin waffle recipe from Spark Recipes. I was drawn to the convenience of making the batter the night before, and to the use of soy milk and wheat flour. The texture and density of these reminded me of muffins in the shape of waffles.

Fish Cakes

2010-11-07T13:01:00.000-06:00

I turned our tilapia left-overs into fish cakes. This was a good way to make the previous night's dinner into something new and exciting.

Ingredients
cooked tilapia, flaked
garlic parsley couscous
pickled onions, diced
egg, beaten
1 Tab oil
salt
lemon juice

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Heat oil in a nonstick skillet over medium high heat. Form fish mixture into small patties (1" diameter) and drop into hot oil. Cook until golden brown, about 1 minute and flip. Repeat with remaining fish mixture. Sprinkle with salt and lemon juice.

Lemon Tilapia with Garlic Couscous

2010-11-06T12:16:00.000-05:00

My mom came up to visit us for a few days. We had a great time with her. For our supper last night, we had tilapia, couscous, and steamed broccoli. I found the tilapia recipe in Everyday with Rachel Ray. This was a flavorful and easy way to prepare frozen tilapia fillets. The pan fried tilapia is served on a bed of yummy couscous and topped with pickled red onions. The onions were Jacob's favorite part of the meal.

Here is how I made it:

      Ingredients
      1/2 of a red onion, thinly sliced
      Juice of 1/2 lemon, plus 1/2 lemon cut lengthwise into 4 wedges
      1/4 cup flour
      salt and pepper
      3 Tab extra virgin olive oil
      3 garlic cloves, minced
      2 cups chicken broth
     10oz plain couscous
     1/4 bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
     2 eggs
     4 5oz tilapia fillets

     In a small bowl, combine onion and the lemon juice and season with salt and pepper.
     In a medium sauce pan, heat 1 Tab olive oil over medium heat. Add garlic and stir for 1 minute.
     Add chicken broth and season with salt. Cover and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in
     couscous and parsley. Cover and let stand at least 5 minutes while you cook the fish.
     In a shallow bowl, beat the eggs with 1 Tab water. In another shallow bowl, stir together flour and a
     generous sprinkle of salt and pepper.
     In a large nonstick skillet, heat 1 Tab olive oil over medium high. Working in two batches, dip the
     fish in the egg and let excess drip off. Dip in flour and turn to coat. Cook in pan, turning once,
     until golden, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a platter and repeat with remaining fish.
     Divide the couscous among four plates. Arrange fish on top and sprinkle with pickled onions.
     Serve with the lemon wedges.

Rotini with Cheese and Broccoli

2010-11-04T12:31:00.000-05:00

I tried Rachel Ray's recipe for cheesy mac and trees. I liked the idea of using whole wheat rotini pasta and broccoli in macaroni and cheese. Jacob loved this dish! Art and I found it kind of bland- I just seasoned mine with salt and pepper and Art used hot sauce.

Beef, Shiitake, and Snow Pea Stir-Fry

2010-11-02T12:55:00.000-05:00

The stir-fry I made for supper last night was a success: easy prep (<30minutes), powerful flavors, and enough leftovers for lunch today. I found the recipe in Bon Appetit and served it with brown rice.

Out of necessity, I made a few minor changes to the recipe:

Ingredients:
1lb top sirloin steak, cut into 2" long, 1/4" thick slices
1 Tab olive oil
1 Tab minced peeled fresh ginger
1oz dried shiitake mushrooms, reconstituted according to package directions
8oz snow peas
1 cup cilantro leaves, divided
1 bunch green onions, sliced, divided
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 tsp chili-garlic sauce
1/4 tsp Chinese five-spice powder

Season beef with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high. Add ginger and mushrooms and stir 3 minutes. Add beef and stir until it browns but is still pink in the center, about 1 minute. Add snow peas, half of cilantro and half of green onions; stir-fry 1 minute. Stir in hoisin, chili-garlic sauce, and Chinese five-spice powder. Saute until peas are crisp tender, 1 to 2 minutes. Season to taste. Sprinkle with remaining cilantro and green onions.

Butternut Squash Soup

2010-10-28T15:15:00.000-05:00

I tried a recipe Mark Bittman published in Parents magazine for butternut squash soup. Thanks to the short ingredient list and my sharp knife, it was easy to make. The curry flavor was really strong- next time I'll start with 1 teaspoon curry powder instead of the 1 Tablespoon recommended in the recipe. Otherwise, the soup had a sweet flavor and a thick, creamy texture. I served it with a loaf of oatmeal bread.

Here is the version of Bittman's soup that I made:

Ingredients
2 Tablespoons butter
1 small onion, chopped
1 1/2 lb butternut squash, peeled and cut into 1" chunks
salt
pepper
2 cups chicken broth
4 cups water
1/2 cup whole milk
1 Tab curry powder (try 1 tsp and taste to see if you want to add more)

In a large pot over medium high heat. Add onion and squash, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and cook until veggies begin to soften- about 8 minutes.
Add water and chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until squash is tender- about 15 minutes.
Puree the soup in a blender until smooth. Return to pot and add milk and curry powder. Season to taste.

Skillet White Beans, Tomatoes, Spinach and Fettucini

2010-10-27T13:21:00.000-05:00

Last night I made an easy pasta recipe from www.sparkrecipes.com. The dish is reminiscent of minestrone with the tomatoes, basil, and white beans. It tastes great and comes together quickly.
Here is the version I made:

Ingredients
2 tsp olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cans diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano
1 can great northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 package fresh baby spinach
dash red pepper flakes
dash basil
dash oregano
ground black pepper to taste
12 oz box whole wheat fettucini
6 Tab grated Parmesan

Cook pasta according to package directions and drain. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium high. Saute garlic 1 minute. Stir in tomatoes and beans and bring to a boil.
Top with spinach and cover with lid. Reduce to a simmer and cook 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in spices. Stir sauce into pasta and sprinkle with cheese.

BBQ Chicken Pizza

2010-10-25T13:20:00.000-05:00

I used some of the leftover chicken from Friday on a pizza. When I have barbecue pizza at restaurants, I always feel like the pizza needs a little something other than just chicken and cheese. So I added a few things I had to the pizza. The sweetness of the caramelized onions and the pineapple went great with the barbecue flavor. I added the carrots to get a little extra veggie boost- the flavor just blended right in to everything else.

Ingredients
1 pizza crust (try an oatmeal crust- it went great with these toppings!)
1 tsp olive oil
1 small yellow onion, diced
1/2 cup crushed tomatoes from a can
1/2 cup barbecue sauce
2 cups cooked chicken, shredded
1/2 cup shredded carrot
8 oz can crushed pineapple, drained
2 cups shredded mozzarella
1/2 cup shredded cheddar

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until caramelized, about 20-30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, combine tomatoes and barbecue sauce in a small sauce pan. Heat over low until warmed through.
Spread sauce and toppings over pizza and cook about 10 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.

BBQ Chicken, Roasted Broccoli, and Nectarine Cobbler

2010-10-22T20:33:00.000-05:00

My neighbor told me her doctor just scheduled the delivery of her third child for Sunday morning. So, I did what I always do when I want to help but am not sure how- I delivered a dessert.

As soon as I heard the news this afternoon, I began my search for a dessert that could be made quickly with on-hand ingredients. This led me to the nectarine cobbler recipe on Epicurious.com. (I just happened to have a 4lb bag of nectarines.) I baked the cobbler in two small dishes- one for the neighbors and one for us. The nectarine filling was not as juicy as I would have liked, but the sweet biscuit topping was delicious. I will probably make this again if I happen to have a bag of nectarines lying around.
For our supper, I cooked a whole chicken with a jar of barbecue sauce in the crockpot. It couldn't have been easier to make- I just placed the chicken in the pot, poured the sauce over it, then cooked it on low (I used the 8 hour setting on my crockpot). Too bad it turned out a bit dry. I think cooking it on the 10 hour setting for about 8 hours would have produced juicier meat. But, I plan to use the left over chicken in something yummy for supper tomorrow- possibly soup or salad.

I also roasted broccoli florets tossed with olive oil, salt, and pepper in a 400 degree oven for about 20 minutes. The broccoli turned out great!

Nutrition Ed

2010-10-21T21:20:00.000-05:00

So, what is "eating healthy," exactly? We know we want to look good and we want our kids to be healthy. But, knowing how to provide a family with healthy food is tough- actually doing so is even tougher. Fad diets tell us eating bread will make us fat and popular media tells us food that is not organic and local will lead to the unspeakable. Others categorize feeding your kid a meal consisting of chicken nuggets, fries, and apple juice from concentrate as child abuse.

Basic knowledge about topics such as daily caloric intake, portion sizes, and ingredients is essential to feeling good about ourselves and how we feed our families. But, how do we educate ourselves? More importantly, how do we use that knowledge in a real way by incorporating it into our daily decisions without making ourselves crazy?

I'm sure many have a vague idea of what a balanced diet looks like. A few might even have a clear idea. We can take a step toward better health by investing a little time educating ourselves about foods and portion sizes and our bodies' needs. I have put together a small list of a few resources I have found helpful. Please, leave comments on any other good resources! This list is by no means comprehensive.

Books to Buy or Check-Out from the Library:
Refined to Real Food - full of information on nutrition with practical, specific ways to integrate wholesome food into your family's diet

Eat This, Not That - thought-provoking info on restaurant food

Websites to Surf:
FDA's How to Understand and Use a Nutrition Label
The World's Healthiest Foods
YMCA's Healthy Family Home

Portion sizes are an important part of a healthy diet. Practice pouring a favorite cereal into a 3/4 cup measuring cup (or, whatever the suggested serving size) then, into the cereal bowl. Pull 15 chips out of the bag and put them on the plate. Doing this just one time for foods that you eat consistently makes learning to discern and serve the appropriate portion quick and easy.

How to Not Go Crazy:
Know that not every meal and snack is going to be ideal. Try to keep healthy food on hand to enable healthy snack options. Plan out meals for the week and go grocery shopping in advance to avoid 5:00 tired and hungry "let's just go to the greasy Mexican place around the block for supper."
Unless you are under strict instructions from a doctor, don't beat yourself up about food. As long as you try to eat a reasonably well rounded diet, you should be okay. Throw in some exercise and you are doing even better.

Carden "unhealthy" eating secrets: we take a walk to Baskin-Robbins every other Thursday, Jacob eats about 5 Popsicle brand "Mighty Mini" popsicles a day (to compensate, I limit his juice to 4oz or less every day).

Best Banana Bread

2010-10-19T13:16:00.000-05:00

I cannot remember ever making banana bread that was this good. This was so moist it was like banana bread pudding. The white chocolate baking chips melted into the bread to make little sweet spots.

Ingredients
1/2 cup honey
1 cup light butter
2 eggs, lightly beaten
3 very ripe bananas, mashed with a fork
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tab baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup white chocolate baking chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium bowl, stir together flour, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
Using a stand mixer, cream together butter and honey. Mix in eggs. Stir in bananas and yogurt. Stir in flour mixture to combine. Stir in white chocolate baking chips. Put in greased loaf pan and bake 50 minutes. Cool in pan 10 minutes. Remove onto wire rack to cool. (If you are unable to wait until the loaf is cool, just know it will be a bit harder to cut into neat slices- not that this matters when you are devouring it alone in the kitchen...)

Hoppin' John Stew and Okra Cornmeal Fritters

2010-10-10T20:45:00.001-05:00

I took Jacob and Taylor Grace to the Memphis farmers' market Saturday. Jacob loved it! He enjoyed seeing all the people and grooving to the tunes of the band. He admired the flowers at one stand so much the lady finally gave him one. Taylor Grace seemed to enjoy riding around in the stroller and having people comment on her cuteness. I loved all the fresh produce, bread, and meat.

As soon as we got our goods back home, we enjoyed a thick slice of sourdough bread with some muscadine jelly. Mmmm. Later, I used half of my okra to make okra fritters. This recipe looked tasty: it had bacon, okra, cornmeal, and buttermilk. But, it turned out bland and unremarkable- a waste of perfectly good okra and bacon. I will have to come up with a different way to use the rest of the okra.

I also made hoppin' john stew. I saw the recipe in the "$10 Spot"section of Everyday with Rachel Ray. I was initially skeptical because of the lack of bacon or ham hock. But, I never missed it. The soup was filling, healthy, and made a lot. It was even better for lunch today since the flavors had more time to develop. If you like hoppin' john, you will like hoppin' john stew.

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 cup long-grain rice (I used brown)
One 32-ounce container (4 cups) vegetable broth
1 bunch collard greens, stems discarded and leaves coarsely chopped
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Two 15.5-ounce cans black-eyed peas, rinsed
3 tablespoons cider vinegar
Salt and pepper

Directions:

In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the rice and cook, stirring often, until lightly toasted, about 5 minutes. Stir in the vegetable broth, collard greens and thyme. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low, cover and cook for 15 minutes.
In a small bowl, coarsely mash 1 cup black-eyed peas. Add them to the pot along with the remaining black-eyed peas and 3 cups water and simmer until the rice is tender, about 10 minutes. Stir in the vinegar and season with salt and pepper.

Delta Sky Club in Miami

2010-10-07T15:31:00.000-05:00

Guest Post by Art Carden

I'm presenting a paper at a conference in Italy this weekend, and I agreed to guest post about my culinary adventures. After a stop at the McDonald's at the airport in Miami, I decided (on the recommendation of my friend Bob Lawson) to spend the $50 for a one-day pass to the Delta Sky Club. Since I had about a five-hour layover, I figured it would be worth it.

It has been. In addition to coffee, tea, and other beverages, I've been able to snack on fancy olives and enjoy their business center, which has nice little cubbies for people who need to get some work done. It's been pretty cool. Time to Skype with the family before (maybe) a nap and a trip to find my gate.

Fancy olives at Delta Sky Club in Miami.

Curry and Naan

2010-10-06T21:23:00.000-05:00

Tonight I made Indian-style curry and naan. I loved the intense flavor and spice of the vegetable curry paired with creamy yogurt and naan. However, Jacob wouldn't touch the curry and Art didn't say anything about the food, which usually means he doesn't like it. But, don't let that stop you from trying this spicy and healthy recipe from Cook's Illustrated. It is the most flavorful way to eat cauliflower, chickpeas, potatoes, and peas I have ever experienced.

All those veggies require some serious chopping. Conveniently, my new Pampered Chef knives arrived today. These knives are amazing! The only other time I can remember being this excited about kitchen tools was when I got my Kitchen Aid stand mixer. Using sturdy, sharp knives makes a huge difference when prepping food.

Tomorrow, Art leaves for a conference in Italy. Since he will be in one of the world's most famous culinary countries, he has offered to contribute a few guest posts to the blog. I'm pretty excited to hear about his experiences.

Practical Note: Curry will stain! The spot is still on my shirt after the first wash. I'll see if it comes out in the second...

Steak Tacos

2010-10-05T13:17:00.000-05:00

I apologize to any readers waiting in anxious anticipation to find out what we had for supper last Thursday night. We had enchiladas and they were great. I made the similar enchiladas to the version I have made before only without the chicken and using store bought chipotle enchilada sauce. We also had an extremely time-consuming yard sale over the weekend, so I did not get a chance to blog about cooking.

Since things have settled down, I can share last night's tasty meal with you. We had steak tacos based on a Cook's Illustrated recipe. Flank steak is rubbed with a spicy marinade before being seared in an hot skillet. These were so much better than standard ground beef or chicken tacos. And, they were just as easy to make.

I made this spicy yogurt sauce to serve with the tacos (and with the enchiladas we had Thursday):
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 Tab torn cilantro leaves
generous dash of cayenne pepper
generous dash of cumin

Stir together all ingredients.

Delivery

2010-09-30T14:12:00.000-05:00

Last night, I cashed in one of our Living Social vouchers and got delivery from Camy's, a local pizza place. I had never tried this place, but was willing to try it since they deliver and I could get a deal through Living Social.
I would advise any Memphis reader against Camy's. The pizza was only okay. Getting Papa John's would be better and cheaper. (Memphis really needs a decent pizza joint!)

I would advise every reader to check out LivingSocial.com and Groupon.com. These sites offer daily deals like 50 percent off at local places.

Tonight, I'm cooking- watch for tomorrow's post to find out all about our delicious supper.

Mahogany Broiled Chicken

2010-09-28T14:54:00.000-05:00

We were able to have friends over for supper the other night. I made mahogany broiled chicken and sweet potatoes. They seemed to like it. Jacob enjoyed eating his chicken barbarian-style straight off the skewers. My friend made an awesome peach pie for dessert that I finished for lunch today. (Thanks, Donita!)

I am always excited to see a new way to fix boneless, skinless chicken breasts. It is an economical cut of meat that is versatile and easy to prepare. Yet, it can easily become dry and bland. This recipe produces chicken that is neither dry nor bland. It has such a unique flavor and is not complicated.

Fettuccine with Tomato and Ricotta Sauce

2010-09-25T07:46:00.000-05:00

For supper last night, I cooked some whole wheat fettuccine (we get boxes of these through Amazon subscribe and save) and tossed it with a jar of tomato sauce and 1 cup of part-skim ricotta cheese. Jacob devoured this meal that took less than 10 minutes to make. Magical.

Moroccan Lentil Soup- Only no Lentils and not really Moroccan

2010-09-22T20:37:00.000-05:00

Even though the outside temperature in Memphis was almost 100 degrees, I was wanting some soup. I had a recipe for Moroccan Lentil soup stored in my favorites on the Allrecipes.com app that I wanted to try. The recipe called for some of my favorite spices: cardamom, cayenne pepper, cumin, and fresh ginger. This had to be good.
Only, Kroger did not have lentils- a seemingly necessary ingredient for lentil soup. I picked up a bag of split peas instead. This seemed like a reasonable substitute.
As many allrecipe.com reviewers noted, the spices called for are more Indian than Moroccan. So, I made some naan to complete the protein of the bean and legume rich soup that smelled delicious as it finished cooking in the crockpot. (A reviewer on the website said he made the soup in the crockpot, so I did the same.)
The flavor of the soup turned out to be flat- which was odd given the rich spice content. It tasted like it needed a ham hock or some other kind of rich, fatty something. Despite this, it was still pretty good and obviously healthy.

Pasta with Peanut Sauce, Broccoli, and Chicken

2010-09-21T10:44:00.000-05:00

I hate buying a condiment or sauce only to use a few tablespoons for a recipe and let the rest of the bottle sit in my refrigerator until it goes bad. I determined not to let the bottle of peanut sauce I purchased for Thai Tofu Crunch meet this fate. So, I came up with a unique and tasty pasta dish that also incorporated some leftover grilled chicken from supper last night. It came together in less than 15 minutes. I will probably make it again even when I am not just trying to use up leftovers.

Ingredients
12 oz whole wheat fettuccine
3 Tab spicy peanut sauce
2 green onions, finely chopped
1/2 cup frozen broccoli, cooked
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked chicken breast

Cook pasta according to package directions; drain and return to pot. Add remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

Diablo Wrap Attempt, Grilled Plantains, And Banana Cupcakes

2010-09-19T21:07:00.000-05:00

This afternoon, I had to cancel our plans to have friends over for dinner because Jacob woke up sick from his nap. But, since I already had all the food, we went ahead and made the full menu for just the three of us: Diablo wraps, grilled plantains, and banana cupcakes with Nutella/peanut butter frosting.

Recently, Art mentioned his desire to recreate the Diablo wrap, a favorite dish of his served at Cafe Eclectic. I knew it involved a wrap, chicken, cream cheese, and a spicy sauce. I thought the Jamaican Style Grilled Chicken recipe I tried about a month ago would be a pretty good base for our attempt at the Diablo. The distinctly flavored grilled chicken and the unique sauce seemed to be great candidates. And, the grilled plantains would make an excellent side.

But, my version didn't turn out like the original Diablo wrap. I used boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the recipe, so the chicken was a bit drier than I would have liked. And, since I used all the marinade on the chicken, I didn't have any extra sauce left for the wraps. So, it was a lot less packed with flavor than the original.

I do hope to make the Jamaican Style chicken again, just not with boneless, skinless chicken breasts. It is an awesome recipe. I might even use it in another attempt at the Diablo wrap. Until then, Art will just have to go to Cafe Eclectic.

The banana cupcakes were excellent. Basically, they were little banana bread loaves shaped like cupcakes with frosting- a delicious frosting that transformed the bread shaped cupcakes into treats worth of dessert status. Yumo!

Cupcakes:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 very ripe large bananas, peeled
1/2 cup sour cream
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk

Frosting:

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
1 8-ounce package cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup smooth peanut butter (do not use old-fashioned or freshly ground) (I used 1/4 cup peanut butter and 1/4 cup Nutella.)
Chopped lightly salted roasted peanuts (optional)

For cupcakes:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 350°F. Line 12 standard (1/3-cup) muffin cups with paper liners. Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in medium bowl to blend. Mash bananas with fork in another medium bowl until smooth. Mix sour cream and vanilla into bananas.

Using electric mixer, beat sugar and butter in large bowl until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add egg and egg yolk and beat until well blended. Add flour mixture in 3 additions alternately with banana-sour cream mixture in 2 additions, beginning and ending with flour mixture and beating just until blended after each addition. Divide batter among prepared muffin cups (generous 1/4 cup for each).

Bake cupcakes until tester inserted into center of each comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Transfer cupcakes to rack and let cool completely.

For frosting:
Sift powdered sugar into large bowl. Add cream cheese, butter, and peanut butter. Using electric mixer, beat mixture until smooth. Spread frosting over top of cupcakes, dividing equally. Sprinkle lightly with chopped peanuts, if desired. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.

Mushroom and Spinach Calzones

2010-09-18T21:06:00.001-05:00

We had some fellow Bama fans over today to watch the Tide pound Duke. After the game, we ate calzones.
Usually, my calzones involve everyone getting a hunk of dough and filling it with whatever they want. But, I came across a tasty looking recipe on the Epicurious app for a Three Cheese Mushroom and Spinach Calzone, so, I gave it a try.

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil plus additional for brushing

1 8-ounce package sliced crimini (baby bella) mushrooms

3/4 teaspoon fennel seeds

2 garlic cloves, pressed

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

4 cups (packed) baby spinach

All purpose flour (for sprinkling)

1 pound fresh pizza dough (or one 13.8-ounce tube refrigerated) (I made my own. See recipe below.)

5 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese, divided

1 1/2 cups grated Fontina cheese, divided (Since Kroger didn't have this, I used mozzarella.)

1/4 cup whole-milk ricotta cheese

1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

Preheat oven to 425°F. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and fennel seeds; sauté until mushrooms are brown, stirring often, about 5 minutes. Add garlic and oregano; stir 1 minute. Add spinach; stir just until wilted, about 1 minute. Transfer to medium bowl. Season with salt and pepper.

Line rimless baking sheet with parchment. Sprinkle paper with flour. Roll out dough on lined baking sheet to 15 x 10-inch rectangle. Sprinkle 3 tablespoons Parmesan crosswise over half of crust, leaving 1-inch plain border. Top with 3/4 cup Fontina, then mushroom mixture, distributing evenly. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons Parmesan and 3/4 cup Fontina over mushrooms. Spoon dollops of ricotta cheese over; sprinkle with crushed red pepper. Fold plain half of dough up over filling. Crimp edges tightly to seal. Brush with oil.

Bake calzone until puffed and brown, about 18 minutes. Brush with oil and serve.

Calzone Dough Recipe

Ingredients

2 pkg yeast

1 cup very warm water

1/4 tsp sugar

Combine these ingredients in a small bowl. Let rest until foamy, about 10 minutes.

2 cups bread flour

4 Tab sugar

2 Tab olive oil

1 tsp salt

3/4 cup water

Combine ingredients with yeast mixture in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Stir for a few minutes. (Or, just combine in a bowl and stir. Then, knead the dough for a few minutes.)

Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover. Let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size. Proceed with recipe.

The mushroom and spinach filling was very flavorful and would combine well with most other calzone fillings. I liked the creaminess of the ricotta cheese in the calzone, but Art didn't care for it. Apparently, he doesn't like ricotta. After seven years of marriage, I thought I knew everything about him...

Back and Better Than Ever

2010-09-18T07:29:00.000-05:00

Since my last post four months ago, my family has had some major changes:

- We now have a daughter- Taylor Grace. She was born on June 16 and is so precious. She eats a lot, so I know she will enjoy my cooking one day. For now, I spend a lot of time feeding her and less time preparing labor-intensive meals.

- Jacob has become s a very selective eater. I do not describe him as picky, because he will eat just about anything. He just has to select when and where he will eat. Food on his tray often goes untouched during supper and is put in the fridge to be pulled out when he wants it at 9:30am the next day.

- Our home office has been converted in to a room for Taylor Grace. So, our computer is now in the kitchen. This invasion of my favorite room in the house is surprisingly convenient- reason number one being I no longer have to tip-toe across the incredibly creaky hallway during nap-time to write a blog post. (Being able to play videos from www.sesamestreet.org while cooking is also amazing.) I hope this improvement encourages more posts.

- Art and I have recently obtained smart phones. This virtually unlimited connection with the world has revolutionized our lives. Among many other things, I have been using recipe apps to easily find new and exciting dishes. This translates into more new and exciting recipes on this blog.

Today's recipe for Thai Tofu Crunch is from the Whole Foods Market app. This is a unique, easy recipe that is good for a hot summer day. I doubled the recipe and used a whole container of firm tofu. I marinated the sliced tofu in 1/4 cup water and 1/4 cup soy sauce for 2 hours. Then, I broiled it for about 7 minutes and let it cool.

Ingredients

1 (3-ounce) package uncooked all-natural ramen noodles
4 to 6 tablespoons prepared peanut sauce
1 (6-ounce) package cooked tofu, cut into small cubes
1/2 small cucumber, peeled, halved lengthwise and thinly sliced
1/2 medium carrot, thinly sliced
1/2 cup frozen small broccoli florets, thawed

Method

Crumble the ramen noodles into a medium bowl; save ramen seasoning packet for another use. Add peanut sauce and stir to coat well. Add tofu, cucumbers, carrots and broccoli and toss together gently. Cover and refrigerate for a few hours before serving, or transfer to plastic containers and pack in lunches. The noodles will soften somewhat as they soak up the sauce. Keep cold until ready to serve.

I used a chili peanut sauce which made the dish pretty spicy. The first night we had it, we made it into a salad and ate it over lettuce. The second night, we ate it over cooked noodles. Both ways were good.

Chicken with Couscous, Tomatoes, and Hummus

2010-05-20T12:52:00.000-05:00

I made this semi-Greek recipe that I found in Southern Living for supper last night. Hummus and pita are the only Greek elements. The recipe was really easy to make and the taste/texture combination of chicken, couscous salad, and hummus was excellent.

The flavor of the chicken was really tasty. I was skeptical of the lack of a marinade- boneless, skinless chicken breast pieces are simply brushed with olive oil and sprinkled with salt and pepper before they are cooked in a skillet. The couscous is tossed with tomatoes, red onions, and a simple vinaigrette to make a really good side.

The couscous salad includes 2 Tab of chopped red onion. For this, I bought a container of chopped red onion at the store. I had never bought pre-chopped onion and I loved the convenience of it. If you hate to chop onions (you know who you are- Stacey), then I would highly recommend this. It was a few cents more expensive than just buying a whole onion. But, the convenience was worth the expense.

The results: Art and I loved the meal. Jacob ate some chicken last night and some couscous for lunch today. I don't know if he loved it, but he ate it.

Spaghetti and Blackberry and Blueberry Pie

2010-05-17T20:38:00.000-05:00

As I was cooking the spaghetti with meat sauce for supper tonight, Jacob stood beside me and systematically ate dry spaghetti noodle after noodle. There is no telling how many of those noodles he chomped through. Weird.

I also made a pie with blackberries and blueberries. Blackberries were on sale at the store, so I grabbed a few containers. The sweet blueberries were a great compliment to the tart blackberries. It was a good pie made even better by a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream.

Ingredients
1 pie crust (top and bottom)
2 1/2 cups blackberries
2 cups blueberries (I used frozen)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 Tab butter, cut into pieces

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Place bottom crust in pie plate.
Combine sugar, flour, and cinnamon. Stir in berries to coat. Pour into crust. Dot with butter.
Top with top crust.
Bake for 35-40 minutes, making sure the crust doesn't burn. Let cool.

Chicken In Curry Sauce- No Chips!

2010-05-14T13:43:00.000-05:00

Last night, I made chicken in curry. Art had never had it and he liked it. Jacob ate a few bites and begged for chips. We refused. Then, he refused to eat anymore after that. A picky toddler is a joy to cook for. (I do feel very rewarded when he actually likes something I make.)

I haven't posted any pictures recently, so here is a picture of Jacob with the Praying Mantis at the Children's Museum of Memphis- his home away from home.

Mahogany Broiled Chicken with Smoky Lime Sweet Potatoes and Cilantro Chimichurri

2010-05-05T20:02:00.000-05:00

A couple of years ago, my aunt gave me a copy of this recipe she found in The Birmingham News. I just got around to making it for supper last night. Apparently, this was the $100,000 winning recipe in some chicken contest.

The combination of familiar and unexpected flavors was fantastic. The chicken was tender and flavorful, the sweet potatoes were pleasantly spicy, and the chimichurri sauce was phenomenal. Most importantly, the meal was easy to make.

Ingredients
1 1/2 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast halves, cut into 1" cubes
1 cup chopped cilantro leaves
6 Tab olive oil
1 large clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/4 tsp pepper, divided
5 Tab dark brown sugar
3 Tab Dijon mustard
2 Tab hoisin sauce (this is with the Asian food in the grocery store)
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 tsp lime juice, divided
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2" pieces
2 Tab unsalted butter
1 tsp chopped canned chipotle pepper
1 tsp adobo sauce from chipotle peppers
1/2 tsp lime zes
3/4 tsp cumin

Chimichurri Sauce:
In a small bowl, mix together chopped cilantro, olive oil, 1/4 tsp salt, 1/8 tsp pepper, and garlic.
(My absent-minded pregnancy brain accidentally added the chipotle and adobo sauce to the chimichurri. It turned out really good.)

Mahogany Sauce:
In medium bowl, mix together brown sugar, mustard, hoisin sauce, and vinegar. Reserve 2/3 of this mixture. To remainder, add 1/2 cup lime juice and stir in chicken. Refrigerate.

Sweet Potatoes:
In heavy saucepan, place potatoes and cover with boiling water. Cook, covered, over medium high for about 15 minutes or until tender. Reserve 1/4 cup cooking liquid, then drain potatoes in colander. Return potatoes to reserved cooking water, add butter, chipotle pepper, adobo sauce, remaining 1 1/2 tsp lime juice, cumin, lime zest, remaining 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/8 tsp peper.
Mash potatoes.

Chicken:
Thread chicken on bamboo skewers that have been soaked in water. Broil about 6" from heat, basting with remaining mahogany sauce until done, about 8 minutes.

To serve, divide potatoes among four plates; top each with two skewers of chicken and drizzle with chimichurri sauce.

Broccoli, Please!

2010-05-03T08:53:00.000-05:00

Last night I picked up a pizza from Whole Foods for supper. We all sat at the table to eat and Jacob kept asking for broccoli ("baak-eee!"). Normally, Jacob asks for chips for supper ("bis!"), so we are in the habit of saying "No" to these requests. When he kept asking for broccoli, I had determined that he would eat what was on the table. Finally, Jacob got so upset, we gave up on supper and let him down from his chair.

Art and I discussed the situation. What kind of horrible parent forces their kid to eat pizza when all he really wants is broccoli? I went and made him some broccoli. He ate a huge bowl of it.

Repurposed Meat Loaf

2010-04-29T14:00:00.000-05:00

Since no one really enjoyed the meat loaf I made a few nights ago, I wasn't too excited about serving the left overs for supper last night. That is, until I came up with an idea that would transform the meat loaf into something we could all enjoy- spaghetti. The meat loaf was basically just a big meatball, so why not make it into spaghetti? I wasn't fully convinced that I could magically transform the meat loaf into something we liked, but it was the best idea I had.

We didn't have any spaghetti, so I used the whole wheat shells we had in the pantry. I added two cans of tomato sauce to the rest of the meat loaf sauce to make the sauce for my pasta. After simmering that for 20 minutes, I stirred in the crumbled up meat loaf and heated it through.

This made a flavorful, slightly spicy sauce for pasta that we all enjoyed eating. (Jacob has been such a picky eater recently, so I was really glad he ate the pasta.) Supper was saved!

Meat Loaf

2010-04-27T20:39:00.000-05:00

I saw this meat loaf recipe in Treebeard's cookbook and thought it might be really great. But, it was just meat loaf. As meat loaf goes, I guess it was pretty good. It was moist and spicy. And, the sauce was good. Jacob wouldn't touch any of the meal. Art made no comments, so I can only assume it wasn't his favorite.

Ingredients
Meat Loaf:
1 1/2 lb lean ground beef
1/3 cup bread crumbs
2 eggs, beaten
2 Tab chopped fresh parsley
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped yellow bell pepper
1/4 cup chopped celery
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 9x5" loaf pan with non-stick spray.
In a large bowl, combine all ingredients. Pat into prepared pan.
Bake for 1 1/2 hours.

Sauce:
2 Tab minced garlic
4 tsp olive oil
1 18 oz can peeled tomatoes
4 1/2 tsp oregano
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt

In small skillet, saute garlic in oil for 1 minute. In food processor, combine garlic, oil, peeled tomatoes, and spices. Pulse until tomatoes are in small pieces. Transfer to 2 quart saucepan and simmer 20 minutes. Pour sauce over meat loaf to serve.

Mexican Casserole

2010-04-26T14:06:00.000-05:00

I made a version of a casserole recipe I found on Cooking Light's website. It was basically nachos baked in a casserole dish. I really liked it. I think Jacob was too full from snacking on the chips to fully appreciate it. I plan for us to have it again tonight- I'm not sure how the chips will be left over.

I read the reviews and made a few changes to the recipe. I am pretty sure my changes negated most of the "light" traditionally associated with recipes from Cooking Light magazine. But, I did still use the meatless crumbles. They were much better than I expected. I really couldn't tell any difference between those and real ground beef.

Here is the version I made.

Ingredients

4 Tab canola oil, divided
1 chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeño pepper, minced
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (12-ounce) package meatless fat-free crumbles (such as Lightlife Smart Ground)
48 tortilla chips
Cooking spray
1 (15-ounce) can refried beans
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 cans diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese
2 tablespoons fat-free sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 375°.
2. Heat 2 tablespoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add onion to pan; cook 4 minutes or until tender. Add garlic and jalapeño; cook 1 minute. Stir in chili powder, cumin, black pepper, and crumbles; cook 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Arrange half of tortilla chips in an 11 x 7–inch baking dish coated with cooking spray; top evenly with crumbles mixture.
3. Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in skillet over medium heat. Add beans, cook 2 minutes or until heated, stirring constantly. Stir in lime juice.
4. Layer beans and tomatoes over crumbles mixture in dish. Top with remaining tortilla chips, pressing to slightly crush. Sprinkle evenly with cheese. Bake at 375° for 13 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Cut casserole into 6 equal pieces; top each serving with 1 teaspoon sour cream.

Chicken in Curry

2010-04-25T13:02:00.000-05:00

My mom was in town over the weekend and we had a great time hanging out with her. Jacob loves his Nana.

For supper Friday night I made chicken breast in curry from Treebeard's cookbook. I was really surprised by the simplicity of the dish- from the ingredients to the prep. It turned out great. I think this is my new favorite recipe from the Treebeard's cookbook.

I served the chicken with broccoli and fried rice.

Ingredients
4 chicken breast halves
1 Tab curry powder
2 tsp soy sauce
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup dijon mustard

Place chicken skin side down in a shallow baking dish. Combine remaining ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over chicken, turn to coat, turn again. Cover dish tightly and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to bake, turn chicken skin side up and cover dish with foil. Bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour. Remove cover and bake an additional 15 minutes, basting chicken with drippings periodically.

Salmon Patties and Broccoli

2010-04-22T20:20:00.000-05:00

I made pan-roasted broccoli and salmon patties with cheese sauce for our supper. The meal tasted great but made the kitchen smell awful- fish and broccoli are both pretty stinky foods.

I based the recipe for salmon patties on one in Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. The patties are easily made with basic pantry staples and taste awesome. I think my favorite part is the cheese sauce. The first time I made them, I was wary of cheese on salmon. But, the combination is really good. The cheese sauce also went really well on the broccoli.

The recipe only makes three patties, so double or triple it if you are cooking for more than two people.

Ingredients
1 egg white, beaten
2 Tab milk
1/2 tsp dried dill
1 73/4 oz can flaked boneless skinless salmon, drained
1/4 cup crushed wheat crackers (I used wheat thins)
1 Tab canola oil
1 Tab butter
2 tsp milk
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese

In a medium bowl combine the egg white, milk, dill, and 1/8 tsp pepper. Add salmon and crackers. Mix well. Form mixture into 3 patties. In a large skillet, cook patties in hot oil over medium-low heat about 6 minutes, or until golden brown, turning once. Transfer to a serving platter and keep warm.
For cheese sauce: in a small pan, melt butter. Stir in flour and a dash of pepper. Add milk all at once. Cook and stir over medium heat until thickened and bubbly. Cook and stir 1 more minute. Remove from heat and stir in cheese until melted. Serve with patties.

Lasagna

2010-04-21T19:47:00.000-05:00

Tonight, we ate left over lasagna from last night's supper. We always love lasagna. Well, Jacob loved it last night- not so much tonight.

Our microwave has been broken for a week. (By some strange coincidence, it stopped working the day Jacob pulled it off the counter...) So, I have been heating leftovers on the stove or in the oven. If any of you have a recommendation for a good one, please let me know.

Moroccan Chicken, Couscous, Green Beans, and Strawberry Shortcake

2010-04-18T19:33:00.000-05:00

Tonight, we were planning to have some friends over for dinner. But, since we didn't want to share Jacob's cold with our friends' kid, we had to cancel. Even though they couldn't join us, we still had a good supper. I made our old favorites Moroccan chicken and roasted green beans.

I also made apricot and pistachio couscous. This couscous is very flavorful and is even better with a bit of the chicken pan drippings spooned over the top. I usually omit the olives called for in the recipe because Art has always hated them. However, he recently discovered that he no longer hates them, so I will have to add the olives next time I make this.

For dessert, I made strawberry shortcakes from Treebeard's cookbook. Instead of making the filling called for in the recipe, I just sliced some strawberries and tossed them with 1 Tab of sugar. Because of this-I think- the shortcake was a little dry. I think that could have been improved by the juicy filling. I'll know next time... Otherwise, the dessert was great. The whipped cream has a small amount of sour cream whipped in that goes really well with the strawberries.

Ingredients

SHORTCAKE:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tab baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 Tab packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter
4 tsp sugar, divided
3/4 cup milk

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
With knife blade attachment on food processor, process flour, baking powder, salt, brown sugar, butter and 2 tsp sugar until mixture resembles a coarse meal. Pour mixture into medium bowl. Add milk and mix just until it forms a smooth dough.
Scoop dough onto greased cookie sheet in 6 equal mounds. Dust top of shortcakes with 2 tsp sugar.
Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on wire rack.

FILLING:
1 quart strawberries, sliced
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla

In a medium bowl, mash one half of berries. Mix with sugar and vanilla. Refrigerate 1 hour.

WHIPPED CREAM:
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sour cream

Beat the cream with the sugars and vanilla just until it holds soft peaks. Add sour cream and beat mixture until stiff peaks form.

To Assemble: Cut tops off shortcakes and set aside. Spoon filling onto bottom of each shortcake. Cover with whipped cream and sliced strawberries. Replace tops.

Cheese Quesadillas, Mashed Pinto Beans, and Guacamole

2010-04-17T09:36:00.000-05:00

I am still making simple meals because I am still tired and lazy. On a recent walk around the neighborhood with Jacob (an activity we do several times every day), I seriously considered sitting down on the sidewalk. My fear of what the neighbors would think was the only reason I kept going.

Last night, I made some hand mashed pinto beans, guacamole, and cheese quesadillas. Quesadillas are about the easiest thing I know to make. Art and I enjoyed the meal. Jacob wouldn't touch any of it. All he wanted was Cheerios. After surveying the offerings on the table, he went and retrieved them from the cabinet.

Shells and Cheese

2010-04-14T08:59:00.000-05:00

Jacob and I both ate like toddlers for supper last night. We had shells and cheese and sauteed peas. It was great!

I made the shells and cheese based on a recipe in Whole Foods for the Whole Family. The cheese sauce was the perfect combination of cheesy and creamy. Jacob and I ate almost all of it.

Ingredients
1 Tab butter
1 1/2 tsp corn starch
1 cup milk
2 cups shredded cheese (I used 1/2 cup monterey jack and 1 1/2 cup extra sharp cheddar)
1 Tab sour cream
1 egg
1 1/2 cups whole wheat small shells, cooked and drained

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Melt butter, in a small saucepan over medium low heat. Stir in corn starch until smooth. Off heat, stir in milk until smooth. Return to heat and simmer for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly. Remove from heat. Stir in cheese until smooth. Stir in sour cream and egg. Stir in pasta.
Butter a small, oven proof dish. Spread shells and cheese into dish and cover with foil. Bake 20 minutes.

Falafel

2010-04-11T20:59:00.000-05:00

Tonight, Jacob willingly ate something other than Goldfish for the first time since Friday. I'm not sure if the falafel was that good or if he finally had to give in to his hunger.

I found a recipe for baked falafel in Parents magazine. This falafel was baked in the oven instead of fried. On pita with the yogurt sauce, the falafel was pretty good. Alone, it seemed dry and somewhat bland. Mashing the beans with the other ingredients seemed like it could have been done more easily and effectively in a food processor.

Ingredients
1 15oz can garbanzo beans
1/4 cup shredded carrots
3 Tab sesame tahini
1/2 tsp ground cumin
2 Tab flour
1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
1 Tab olive oil or cooking spray
1/3 cup plain yogurt
2 Tab lemon juice

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Rinse and drain garbanzo beans. Mash together with carrot, flour, 1 Tab water, 2 Tab tahini, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper.
Grease a cookie sheet. Shape mixture into 16 patties the size of a half dollar. Place on cookie sheet. Brush with olive oil. Bake for 10 minutes or until crispy, turning once.
In a small bowl, mix together yogurt, 1 Tab tahini, and lemon juice.
Serve falafel on pita with yogurt sauce and fresh veggies.

Chicken Enchiladas Verdes

2010-04-10T14:29:00.000-05:00

Last night we had chicken enchiladas with a home-made green salsa. This is a healthy recipe- the enchiladas aren't swimming in cheese (although, I did use twice the amount of cheese called for in the recipe) and the salsa isn't loaded with sodium.

A blender made the salsa prep quick. The flavor was intense but not overly spicy. Thinned sour cream drizzled on top of the enchiladas paired perfectly with the salsa.

Art and I really liked these. Jacob wouldn't even try a bite. Maybe he will like the left overs tonight.

Red Beans and Rice

2010-04-08T13:32:00.000-05:00

Yesterday morning, I made red beans in a crock pot for last night's supper. It made a ton of beans and was tasty. The dish took about 15 minutes to put together in the crock pot. (I love crock pot suppers!) Because I knew supper would be ready when we were, Jacob and I were able to play outside for a bit longer than usual last night. I cooked some rice in the rice cooker just before we were ready to eat.

Since I didn't have any on hand, I made my own Creole seasoning. This made about 1/4 cup of seasoning, so I have some left over for the next time I make red beans and rice.

Ingredients
1 1/4 tsp paprika
1 Tab salt
1 Tab garlic powder
1/2 Tab black pepper
1 Tab cayenne pepper
1 Tab oregano
1 Tab thyme
1/2 tsp celery seeds

Stir together all ingredients.

Pea and Mint Soup and Pizza

2010-04-07T13:24:00.000-05:00

Supper last night was very veggie intensive with pea soup and veggie pizza.

I made a pea soup recipe from bon Appetit. The soup was really simple to make and had a short ingredient list. The mint made it very refreshing. Art thought it would be good cold. We have left overs, so I guess we can find out.

I also made oatmeal crust pizza. I topped it with sauce, shredded zucchini, roasted yellow pepper, and cheese.

Naan Recipe

2010-04-06T13:20:00.000-05:00

We have been eating leftovers from our Indian food. I have mentioned making naan in several previous posts, but I have never given my recipe. I based my recipe off of one I found online and have loved it. The dough is easily made from simple ingredients and the naan is easy to roll out and cook.

Ingredients
1 pkg yeast
1 cup warm water
1/4 cup sugar, divided
4 1/2 cups bread flour
1 egg, beaten
3 Tab milk
2 tsp salt

Dissolve yeast in warm water with 1 Tab of sugar for about 8 minutes, or until foamy. Stir in remaining ingredients. Knead for 6-8 minutes. (Or, use the dough hook of a stand mixer.) If dough seems very dry, add warm water by Tablespoonfuls until desired consistency is reached.
Turn dough out into an oiled bowl. Cover with a damp cloth and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 hour.
Punch down dough. Pinch off into golf ball size pieces and place on a baking sheet. Cover and let rise 30 minutes.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out each piece of dough into thin disk. Heat a skillet over medium high heat. Place dough disk on skillet and cook until it starts to form bubbles. Flip and cook until browned on both sides.

Indian Feast

2010-04-04T21:41:00.000-05:00

We had some friends over for supper who happen to be vegetarians. So, a traditional Easter menu was out of the question. I decided to make Indian food. We had paneer curry, dahl, basmati rice, and naan.

I found a recipe for paneer curry in the April issue of bon Appetit. I had paneer for the first time a few years ago at an Indian neighbor's party. (Paneer is a fresh cow's milk cheese that has a firm, creamy texture that pairs perfectly with a spicy sauce.) It was amazing and I have wanted to make something with it ever since.

Yesterday, I learned that the most convenient paneer vendor for me is an Indian restaurant near my house. They only sold paneer in 4lb blocks, so I have plenty in the freezer to use later. I am excited because I loved this recipe! The taste was great and it was fairly easy to make.

I made a bunny shaped cake for dessert.

Mediterranean Feast

2010-04-02T20:43:00.001-05:00

The last few days have left me feeling tired and lazy- I think this pregnancy is starting to catch up with me. While I do love to cook, I have a hard time finding energy at the end of the day to do anything other than sit with my feet propped up. But my desire to eat propels me to cook, and my toddler propels me to feed him, play, bathe him, and not sit down for more than 2 seconds.

Supper tonight was a perfect meal for a lazy cook- it was virtually effortless and very delicious. We had hummus, tabouli, pita, feta cheese, olives, and spinach. The hummus was made earlier this week. This afternoon, I quickly made the tabouli and put it in the refrigerator to let the flavors intensify. When we were ready to eat supper, I just took everything from the refrigerator and put it on the table.

We combined the ingredients (hummus, tabouli, feta, olives, and spinach) on pita bread to make sandwiches. The individual ingredients were each delicious, but the flavors combined were amazing. We all really liked this meal. I liked not spending a ton of time in the kitchen.

Marinated Chicken Tenders and The Grove Grill

2010-04-01T13:20:00.000-05:00

Art and I went out with some of his co-workers last night to The Grove Grill. Almost all of us got the shrimp and grits. They were so rich and yummy.

Jacob got to stay at home and play with the baby sitter. Before we went out, I fixed him some oven-baked chicken and sauteed peas for his supper. He seemed to enjoy both. I marinated some boneless, skinless chicken tenders in olive oil and balsamic vinegar salad dressing with a minced garlic clove for about 1 hour. Then, I baked the tenders in the marinade at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes.

I'm glad Jacob liked the supper because we are going out again tonight and he gets to stay home and eat leftovers.

Pan-Roasted Broccoli

2010-03-31T12:25:00.000-05:00

Last night we had cheese ravioli with tomato sauce and pan-roasted broccoli. I cooked some frozen ravioli from Sam's. According to Jacob, the highlight of the meal was the broccoli.

An article on cooking vegetables in Cook's Illustrated inspired me to try cooking some standard veggies in new ways. The article recommended sauteing peas in butter instead of boiling them. Jacob loved this method- although, he never complained about boiled peas.

To cook broccoli, the article also advocated using the stalks in addition to the florets, and roasting the broccoli in a pan to bring out "broccoli's sweet rather than sulfurous flavors." We all really enjoyed the broccoli. Jacob did not care for the stalks, but they were my favorite part. The stalks were browned and tender and the florets were browned and flavorful. The method is easy, but a sharp knife is handy for trimming the tough outer layer off the stalks.

Ingredients
2 Tab oil
1 3/4 lb broccoli
3 Tab water
salt, to taste

Trim florets off stalk as closely as possible to their heads. Square off each stalk with a chef's knife to remove the outer 1/8'' of the stalk. Cut on a diagonal into 1/4" thick slices.
Heat oil in skillet over medium-high heat. Add stalks and saute for 2 minutes, covered without stirring. Add florets and cook until they start to brown (1-2 min), then add water. Cover and cook for 2 minutes. Remove lid and cook until water evaporates and broccoli is tender, another 2 minutes.

Hummus

2010-03-30T06:45:00.000-05:00

Sunday, I took my first trip to our local Mediterranian Grocery. The store had a lot of items that I love- olives, sesame tahini, pita. It also had many items with which I am not familiar but I want to try.

I made a hummus recipe that I found years ago in Martha Stewart's Living. It is easy to make and very good. Sesame tahini is called for in this recipe, but it is not something most people keep in their pantry. I would encourage you to buy some. (It is sometimes with the peanut butter at the store.) You will want to make this hummus a lot, so you will use the tahini. I use the hummus as a dip for raw veggies and bread.

Angus Beef Hot Dogs and Baked Beans

2010-03-28T20:15:00.000-05:00

Today we returned home from our week at the beach. We played on the beach, took walks, went to the playground, and, as on every trip we take, we ate a ton. I will miss the beach and the fresh seafood, but I am glad to be home.

On this trip, we felt like we came a lot closer to perfecting our car trip strategy. Quick stops about every two hours to stretch really helped us all burn some energy. As Art wrote in his pirate post, two of our three meals on the road were eaten at the McDonald's in Troy. Jacob got to play while we ate. Then, Jacob ate in the car when we got back on the road. We also stopped at Peach Park in Clanton. Jacob ran around the park while Art and I enjoyed peach pie and peach ice cream.

Our final stop of the trip was at Walmart and Newk's in Tupelo, MS. Art and I agreed we would rather not eat another meal at McDonald's. So, we stopped at Walmart and let Jacob run around. Then, we went to Newk's and all sat down for lunch.

While at Walmart, we picked up some angus beef hot dogs, baked beans, and s'mores stuff for supper. I "dressed up" the baked beans a bit while Art roasted our hot dogs over the fire pit. Art further flavored his beans with chili sauce- he said it was a "win."

Pirate Post: Fear and Loathing in Panama City

2010-03-25T11:16:00.000-05:00

Pirate post by Art Carden

We've spent the last few days in Panama City, where we eat well (here's a discussion of Panama City Beach from our friend Lance at Local Traveler). We borrow a trailer from some family friends, and Shannon has been coming here for as long as she can remember. I've been working on a few projects while Shannon and Jacob enjoy local amenities. In the last few days, we've had the following meals:

Thursday Night (En Route to Birmingham):  Chick-Fil-A in Tupelo, MS. This is the Happiest Place on Earth, apparently. Jacob seemed to think so as they had someone in a cow costume going around the restaurant taking pictures with the kids. In a few years, I'm going to see if Chick-Fil-A will sponsor Jacob's birthday parties.

Sunday Lunch: McDonald's in Troy, Alabama.  It's McDonald's, so you know what to expect. They had a nice indoor playground that was separated by glass from the rest of the dining room. Jacob had a blast, we got to enjoy a (relatively) quiet lunch, and we all left happy. It was the perfect road trip lunch stop given that Chick-Fil-A is closed on Sundays.

Sunday Night: Montego Bay. Decent, but nothing special. We were going to go to Captain Anderson's or Angelo's, but they were closed. The spaghetti from the kids' menu that we got for Jacob was enormous, and he's still working on it. I fed him some for lunch yesterday while Shannon was out and made a mental note to myself not to feed spaghetti to Jacob again unless I have a pressure washer and a Shop Vac handy.

Monday Night: Angelo's. Angelo's is a regular stop on Shannon's family PCB trips, and we've made it part of our rotation in the times we've been here. Their ribs are great, the onion rings are fantastic, and their sauce is very distinctive. In a fit of creative destruction inspired in part by having seen most of "Man vs. Food" the night before, I made an ersatz sandwich out of the buttered toast they serve with the meal, french fries, rib meat, sauce, and a small dollop of the ranch dressing that came with our onion rings. I like to think Joseph Schumpeter and Gordon Ramsay would be proud.

Tuesday Night: Shrimp City.  Another regular feature of Shannon's family PCB trips is take-out steamed shrimp from Shrimp City. We got the really big shrimp. They were great, as always. Steamed shrimp and Hawaiian rolls make a very nice po'boy.

Wednesday Night: Captain Anderson's.  The advertising and promo material say it's regularly listed as one of the best restaurants in Florida. We've been a couple of times, and last night did not disappoint: the food was amazing on all margins. Shannon got Amberjack. I got the seafood platter. Jacob got mac & cheese. We got crab stuffed mushrooms as an appetizer, and they were also fantastic. It's a great place for a Very Nice Dinner in an atmosphere that isn't stuffy.

Tonight: Dunno. It's Family Night at a local Chick-Fil-A, though, so we might go there.

Coffee, Wifi, and a Place to Work Every Day: McDonalds.  The coffee is pretty good, the company is interesting, the service is great, the wifi connection is pretty good, and they don't seem to mind basically renting out a table for most of the morning.

Corned Beef, New Potatoes, and Carrots

2010-03-18T08:08:00.000-05:00

For our St Patrick's day supper, I cooked a corned beef in the crock pot. Corned beef and veggies has always been one of my favorite meals. I was glad I was able to share this with Jacob for the first time. He devoured a large amount of the meat and the carrots before pushing the rest of his food onto the floor.

Ingredients
corned beef with seasoning pack (this is sold in a bag of brine in the beef section)
2 yellow onions, quartered
8 new potatoes, halved
2 cups (or so) baby carrots

Place the corned beef, fat side up, and onions in a crock pot. Sprinkle with contents of seasoning pack and cover beef with water. Cook on medium low for about 6 hours. Add new potatoes and carrots. Turn crock pot up to medium high and cook about 1 hour more, or until vegetables are tender.
Using a slotted spoon, move vegetables to a serving bowl. Carefully move beef to a serving platter. Trim off layer of fat. Cut into thin slices across the grain. Serve warm with vegetables and mustard.

Calzones and Peanut Butter Cake

2010-03-17T13:48:00.000-05:00

Last night we had some friends over to eat supper and watch Lost. We had a delicious dip made by Sarah (I need to get the recipe!), calzones, and peanut butter cake with chocolate frosting.

I find the fact that I have never shared my mom's calzone recipe on this blog very surprising. We love these calzones and make them a lot. I really like to make the dough when we are having company. Everyone can make their own calzones. I just give everyone a floured sheet of foil and some dough and set out fillings (cheeses, pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, spinach, etc).

Ingredients
2 pkg yeast
1 cup very warm water
1/4 tsp sugar

Combine these ingredients in a small bowl. Let rest until foamy, about 10 minutes.

4 1/2 cups bread flour
4 Tab sugar
2 Tab olive oil
1 tsp salt
3/4 cup water

Combine ingredients with yeast mixture in a stand mixer fitted with the dough hook. Stir for a few minutes. (Or, just combine in a bowl and stir. Then, knead the dough for a few minutes.)
Place dough in an oiled bowl and cover. Let rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Divide dough into four pieces. Roll out each piece on a floured surface and top with desired toppings. Close dough over toppings and seal. Place on a baking sheet. (You can brush the tops with a little olive oil to make them crisp and brown while baking.) Bake 15 minutes. Serve warm with tomato sauce for dipping.

Art loves the combination of chocolate and peanut butter, so he loves this cake. This turned out really yummy. But, it was a little more crumbly than I would like- maybe my oven was too hot?

Peanut Butter Cake

Ingredients
2 cups cake flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/3 cups sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 Tab vanilla
1 cup milk
Chocolate Frosting and Peanut Butter Filling (see following recipe)
Chocolate Glaze (see following recipe)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour two 9" cake pans.
Stir together 2 cups flour, baking powder, and salt.
Beat butter until creamy. Gradually beat in sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat in peanut butter and vanilla. Beat in flour mixture and milk, alternatively in three additions, beginning and ending with the flour. Scrape into prepared pans. (Batter will be thick.)
Bake for 35-30 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Cool cakes in pans for 15 minutes. Invert cakes onto wire rack and remove from pans to cool completely.
Place one cake layer on serving plate. Spread top with Peanut Butter filling. Place second cake layer on top. Frost top and sides with Chocolate Frosting. Pour chocolate glaze over top.

Chocolate Frosting and Peanut Butter Filing

Ingredients
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temp
1 1/4 cups confectioners' sugar
2 Tab milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup Chocolate Glaze

Prepare butter base for filling and frosting:
Beat butter until smooth. Gradually beat in confectioners' sugar. Add milk and vanilla; beat at high speed until very light and fluffy.
Prepare Peanut Butter Filling:
Place 1/2 cup butter mixture in a small bowl. Stir in peanut butter.
Prepare Chocolate Frosting:
Beat 1/2 cup cooled Chocolate Glaze into remaining butter mixture.

Chocolate Glaze

Ingredients
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup water
2 Tab butter
1 tsp vanilla

Melt all ingredients in a double boiler over hot, not boiling water. Stir until smooth. Cool completely.

Baked Chicken with Pesto and Mayo

2010-03-16T14:54:00.000-05:00

I took a reader's advice and combined pesto and mayonnaise to create a simple chicken dish. It was delicious and really easy to prepare. The sauce was flavorful and kept the chicken moist.
Art could not tell the pesto was combined with mayo. It tasted more like a cream sauce. Jacob didn't care what it was, he just ate a ton of it.

Ingredients
8 frozen boneless, skinless chicken tenders
1/4 cup basil pesto
1/4 cup mayo

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Combine all ingredients in a gallon size freezer bag. Squish it around to mix the sauce and coat the chicken.
Place in a greased 9" pie plate. Bake until chicken is done, about 25 minutes.

Indian Dhal with Naan

2010-03-15T13:22:00.000-05:00

Last night, I made dhal and naan. Dhal is a traditionally bland dish, but this had plenty of flavor for us. This dish was not spicy in comparison with some dishes at Indian restaurants. Jacob especially loved it.

This was easy to make and did not have many ingredients. I served it with home-made naan, but I think toasted pita or brown rice would also be good.

I based my recipe for dhal on one in The Essential Vegetarian Cookbook.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups lentils
2 Tab butter
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp fresh grated ginger
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp garam masala (this is a spice mixture you can buy in the spice section)
2 1/2 cups water

Rinse and sort lentils. Heat butter in a medium pan. Fry the onion for about 6 minutes, or until soft. Add the garlic, ginger, and spices. Cook, stirring for another minute.
Add the lentils and water, bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer, stirring occasionally, for 20 minutes or until all the water has been absorbed. (Test to see if the lentils are done. If not, add a small amount more water and simmer a few more minutes.)
Serve warm or at room temperature.

Baked Potatoes

2010-03-14T14:45:00.000-05:00

I baked a few Russet potatoes for our supper the other night. I set up a little potato bar by putting some toppings out on the table. We had butter, sour cream, chopped green onions, turkey bacon crumbles, salsa, shredded cheddar, sauteed mushrooms, and steamed broccoli.

This was such a satisfying and easy dinner. The topping possibilities are endless.

In the past, I have had mixed luck with baking potatoes. These came out of the oven with soft insides and crisp skin. Here is what I did:
1. Wash and dry potatoes
2. Pierce each potato with a fork about four times on each side
3. Rub a small amount of canola oil on the outside of each potato and sprinkle with salt.
4. Bake directly on the rack of an oven heated to 350 degrees for 1 hour (Place a cookie sheet under potatoes to catch any drips)
5. Potatoes are done when they give slightly in the middle to a soft squeeze with an oven mit
6. Remove potatoes and let rest about 5 minutes

Turkey Chili

2010-03-11T13:30:00.000-06:00

The weather this week has been beautiful- sunny with highs in the 70s. We have spent hours each day playing and eating outside.

With all this sunshine and warmth, I'm not sure why I decided to make chili for supper last night. But I did and it was great. I served it with grilled cheese.

Ingredients
1/2 lb ground turkey
1 yellow onion, diced
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, divided
salt and pepper
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
1 can chili beans (I buy Private Selection Organic Hot Chili Beans- no weird meat parts or chemicals)
1 can petite diced tomatoes
1 can crushed tomatoes
3/4 cup frozen corn

Brown turkey in a skillet with onion, 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, and a dash of salt and pepper. Drain and add to crock pot. Stir in remaining ingredients except for cayenne pepper and salt and pepper. Heat in crock pot on low for a few hours until bubbling. Stir in remaining 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper and salt and pepper to taste.

Chicken Salad

2010-03-10T14:05:00.000-06:00

I was determined to make good use of the rest of the rotisserie chicken we had for supper on Monday. Last night, I chopped the remaining meat and tossed it into a chicken salad. I used my mom's recipe. This has always been my favorite chicken salad. It combines chicken with sweet pineapple, crunchy celery, and toasted almonds.

Since the bird was so scrawny, we had a little less than two cups of chicken left. So, I halved the recipe. I also left out the almonds so I could safely feed the salad to Jacob. I made the salad in the morning (Jacob has been sleeping in this week, so I now have time for things like this!) to let the flavors combine.

This turned out to be a great way to use the rest of the dry chicken. It transformed the meat into something flavorful and enjoyable.

Ingredients
4 cups chopped, cooked chicken
1 small can crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup mayo
1 tsp salt
1/3 cup slivered almonds, toasted in a skillet with a small amount of butter

Combine all ingredients and refrigerate overnight.

Experiment in Quick Meals: Rotisserie Chicken, Frozen Veggies, and Spinach and Mushroom Won Ton Bites

2010-03-09T14:28:00.000-06:00

This week, in stark contrast to my laborious (but awesome) stacked crepe supper documented in my previous post, I have decided to try some quick and simple meals. With a toddler to care for and play with, time is a scarce commodity. With another baby on the way, time will be priceless. So, I would like to start finding some reliable recipes that come together quickly, include healthy ingredients, and taste good.

I kicked off the experiment last night. Our main course was a rotisserie chicken. I was so pleased that I paid only $2.99 plus tax (after a $1 off coupon) for a whole chicken that just needed to be reheated in the oven for 25 minutes. This was especially gratifying since I recently made a roasted chicken at home that cost nearly $9 and took over 1 hour to roast.

But, once I saw the incredibly scrawny bird (maybe 2 pounds compared with the 7 pound bird I roasted a few weeks ago) and tasted the dry meat, I knew the extra time and money were well spent.

Along with the pitiful chicken, we had a blend of potatoes, peas, and red bell peppers. These vegetables came conveniently packaged and frozen in a Green Giant bag. According to the directions, I was to empty the bag into a 2 quart sauce pan, add included "sauce pellets" to taste, and cook over medium heat about 20 minutes. I wasn't sure what "sauce pellets" consisted of, but they sure sounded gross. I plopped a few of the green pellets in the pan with the veggies and cooked them.

These seasoned vegetables were less than good. The few sauce pellets I added really overpowered the vegetables. I think steaming broccoli or roasting green beans is a lot tastier and just as easy as warming this bag of frozen vegetables. And, I don't have to deal with any mysterious "sauce pellets."
Part of my goal in making quick and tasty meals is to utilize food I have on-hand. As I mentioned in my last post, I had a decent amount of crepe fillings left over. Dawn left a comment suggesting I make little won ton appetizers.

These were by far the highlight of our meal. The spinach and cheese and mushroom fillings paired perfectly with the crisp won ton wraps. They were so easy to put together and looked impressive. I would proudly serve these to guests. We look forward to future leftover fillings that can be turned into won ton appetizers.

Ingredients
24 won ton wrappers
Leftover filling (I used spinach filling and cheese and mushroom filling)
mini muffin tin
cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly spray a mini muffin tin with cooking spray. Place 1 won ton wrap in each muffin cup. Fill each won ton with about 1/2 tsp of spinach filling and 1/2 tsp of cheese and mushroom filling. Close won ton wrap over filling. Spray lightly with cooking spray. Bake until filling is warm and won tons are crisp, about 10 minutes.

Crepes Stacked with Cheese, Spinach, and Mushrooms

2010-03-05T07:00:00.001-06:00

Tonight, I attempted to make crepes for the first time. I have always enjoyed eating crepes at restaurants (and on cruises). Their delicate demeanor and French name intimidated me, so I never tried to make them at home. But Memphis has a noticeable lack of good crepe restaurants (Crepe Maker is not a good crepe restaurant). After reading various sources about how easy they are to make, I decided to give crepes a try. If everybody in France can make a crepe, surely I could.

The crepe recipe I used was from Martha Stewart's Living. I was surprised at how easy they were to make. They were no more difficult than pancakes. With great success, I used a lightly buttered iron skillet and a plastic spatula. When I attempted to make a crepe in a non-stick skillet, the crepe batter formed little individual puddles instead of sticking together into one crepe. Maybe the surface was too slick.

I used Gaiteau de Crepes a la Florentine from Mastering the Art of French Cooking by Julia Child, Louisette Bertholle, and Simone Beck for the filling and finished product. This dish was amazing! The taste and texture were unbelievable. But, the dish was very time consuming (I spent about 2 hours making this dish- an eternity to a toddler) and cholesterol/fat laden.

It can be made in stages and assembled in advance. Just put it in the oven 30 minutes before you plan to eat.

The filling consisted of several parts: bechamel cheese sauce, spinach filling, and cheese and mushroom filling. I had a not insignificant amount leftover of each of these components. I put them in the refrigerator in case I think of another use for them.

We also had a few leftover crepes. Art used these to make some crepe ice cream desserts that were wonderful. I want to start making crepes more often.

Bechamel Cheese Sauce
5 Tab flour
4 Tab butter
2 3/4 cups boiling milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
Big pinch of nutmeg
1/4 cup whipping cream
1 cup grated Swiss cheese

Cook the flour and butter over medium low heat for two minutes, whisking to combine. Off heat, beat in the milk and seasonings. Boil, stirring 1 minute. Reduce to a simmer and stir in cream by tablespoons. Sauce should be thick enough to coat the spoon. Remove from heat and stir in cheese. Pour a small amount of milk over the sauce to prevent a skin from forming.

Spinach Filling
1 Tab minced green onions
2 Tab butter
1 1/2 cups blanched, chopped spinach (Boil about 1 1/2 lb of fresh spinach in salted water for 2 minutes. Immediately drain and rinse with cold water. Squeeze out as much excess water as you can.)
1/4 tsp salt

Cook the onion in butter for a moment in a saucepan. Add spinach and salt, stir over medium high heat for 2-3 minutes to evaporate moisture. Stir in 1/2 to 2/3 cup of bechamel sauce. Cover and simmer for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Cheese and Mushroom Filling
8 oz reduced fat cream cheese, at room temperature
salt and pepper
1 egg
1/4 lb minced mushrooms
1 Tab minced green onion
1 Tab butter
1/2 Tab oil

Mash the cheese in a mixing bowl with salt and pepper. Beat in 1/2 to 2/3 cup bechamel sauce and the egg.
Saute the mushrooms and onion in butter and oil for 5-6 minutes in a skillet. Stir them into the cream cheese mixture.

Forming the Stack of Crepes and Baking (You will need another 3 Tab of grated Swiss for the top.)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a pie plate and center a crepe on the bottom. Spread it with a layer of the cheese and mushroom filling. Press a crepe on top and spread with a layer of the spinach filling. Repeat until the dish is full and finish with a crepe. Pour the remaining cheese sauce over the top and sides of the stack. Sprinkle with 3 Tab cheese.
Bake in oven until heated through and slightly brown on top, about 25-30 minutes. To serve, cut into pie shaped wedges.

TED Talk by Jamie Oliver

2010-03-04T14:29:00.000-06:00

A friend sent me a link to a really interesting TED talk about food. Jamie Oliver has come to the United States to educate us about good nutrition. I am aware that a large percentage of Americans are overweight. I am also aware that most of us have limited knowledge about healthy eating, or have very distorted ideas about the subject. Yet, I still found several points in his lecture surprising. He shares enlightening interviews/encounters he has with Americans about food. If you have an extra 20 minutes, I would recommend watching this talk. (I recently learned that Mr. Oliver has a tv show that premiers March 26 on ABC.)

I have no exciting personal food news to share. We had leftover pasta for supper last night. I am, however, very excited about tonight's French inspired supper. Check back for tomorrow's post.

"Pappardelle" with Bean Bolognese Sauce

2010-03-03T13:32:00.002-06:00

Years ago, a recipe in Bon Appetit for pappardelle with bean bolognese sauce caught my eye. The meatless bolognese sauce was very intriguing. But, mainly, I was drawn to the picture of the thick pappardelle noodles. I had never before seen such generously wide pasta served like spaghetti. I noted the recipe and resolved to make it soon.

At that point I learned the reason I was not familiar with pappardelle was the mundane grocers I traditionally frequent do not carry it. So, I filed away the recipe and forgot about it.

This week, I found the recipe and decided to make the dish with or without pappardelle. I had half a box of lasagne noodles in the pantry. Wouldn't those work? I cooked and sliced each noodle into three long strips. An Italian (or, any self-respecting pasta lover) would be horrified, I'm sure. But, this seemed like a pretty good substitute.

I also substituted chicken stock for the white wine and vegetable broth.

This dish contains no meat, but the combination of thick noodles, beans, and butternut squash make it a satisfying meal. The small amount of tomato paste and whipping cream in the sauce contribute to its robust flavor. I loved the filling sauce paired with the wide noodles. Jacob and Art seemed to like it, too.

Turkey Parmesan Burgers

2010-03-02T13:07:00.000-06:00

I found a recipe in Bon Appetit for chicken Parmesan burgers that I wanted to try. I made a few modifications to the recipe. Because my grocery store did not have ground chicken (and, I didn't feel like making my own), I used ground turkey. Also, I substituted multi-grain sandwich thins for the French bread. I love this bread, so I loved it with the burgers. Art liked it because the burger to bread ratio was perfect. The last small change I made was omitting the radicchio. I hate that stuff.
These burgers were really tasty and easy to make. We all enjoyed eating these for supper last night.

Eggplant and Goat Cheese Sandwiches

2010-02-28T19:39:00.000-06:00

Jenny, my sister-in-law, recommended a sandwich recipe she saw in Cooking Light. I made a variation of this tonight for our supper.

I made a couple of minor changes with the recipe. I did not have or use any arugula (or the oil and black pepper in which it is tossed in the recipe). Instead of ciabatta, I used a multi-grain baguette. This meant that, instead of two big sandwiches, we had almost two dozen mini-sandwiches. I made the first batch with toasted bread. Then, I realized the bread was really crisp and hard for Jacob to eat. I made a second batch with out toasting the bread. These turned out perfect. Because of the small size, the bread slices held up well even when not pre-toasted.

All three of us enjoyed having these little sandwiches for supper. However, the potent flavor combination of pesto, goat cheese, and roasted pepper was a little too powerful. (This is saying a lot coming from three big fans of spicy/gross mixtures.) Next time, to tone down the intensity, I plan to use a little less goat cheese.

(I think making these sandwiches on a baguette worked really well and would be great for a party appetizer.)

Couscous Chicken Salad

2010-02-26T21:28:00.000-06:00

Tonight I used the roast chicken from two nights ago in yet another new and exciting dish. I found this recipe in Salads: Food Writers Favorites. This is not so much a chicken salad as it is a couscous salad with some chicken in it. The texture of this salad is very appealing- the tender chicken, the crisp apple and celery, and the couscous are a great combination.

The vinaigrette has a great flavor, but the fresh garlic is very potent. If you are not a garlic lover, you could substitute a pinch of garlic powder or omit garlic altogether. (I love garlic, so I thought it was great.)

Jacob was too hungry to wait for me to make the salad. He munched on each individual ingredient as I prepared it. He even ate part of a green onion. When I tried to feed him the finished product, he spit out the bite of salad and ate nothing else for supper. Maybe the vinaigrette was too garlicy for his liking. Or, maybe he was just full from all the celery, chicken, apple, and green onion he had just consumed.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups chicken broth
1 cup uncooked couscous
1 Tab margarine
3/4 cup olive oil
3 Tab fresh lemon juice
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp Dijon-style mustard
1 clove garlic, minced
black pepper, to taste
1 cup cooked, diced chicken
4 large green onions
1 large crisp apple, cored and diced
1 rib celery, diced
Lettuce leaves

In a saucepan, bring chicken broth to a boil. Add couscous and margarine. Return to a boil; cover and remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool.
In a small bowl, combine oil, lemon juice, salt, coriander, mustard, garlic, and pepper. Mix well.
In a large bowl, combine couscous, chicken, green onions, apple, and celery. Add olive oil mixture; toss to coat all ingredients.
Serve on a bed of lettuce.

Chicken, Pesto, and Cheese Pasta

2010-02-25T20:15:00.000-06:00

Tonight I used part of the roast chicken I cooked last night in a new way. I made an easy, quick pasta dish that we enjoyed having for supper. This made enough for Jacob and I plus lunch leftovers for tomorrow. (If Art had been here, it would have been a perfect amount for the three of us. Art is out of town. We sure miss having supper with him!)

Ingredients
1/4 13 oz box of whole wheat spaghetti
1 cup diced cooked chicken
1 cup torn fresh spinach
1 Tab basil pesto
3 Tab grated Parmesan
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella

Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and return to pot. Stir in chicken, spinach, and pesto. Heat covered over medium heat until spinach wilts and chicken is heated through- about 8 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in cheese.

Roasted Whole Chicken and Broccoli and Cheese

2010-02-24T19:36:00.000-06:00

Enough pizza already! I never thought I would feel that way. However, after eating pizza seven times since Saturday, I decided we needed a non-pizza meal. I think Jacob agreed because he went stuffed himself with the chicken and broccoli we had for supper tonight.

I steamed some broccoli in the steam insert of my pot for about 4 minutes. I sprinkle the broccoli with salt and a small amount of shredded Cheddar cheese.

Roasting a whole chicken at home is really easy and makes for great leftovers. And, buying a chicken whole is cheaper than buying it cut into pieces. I based my recipe on the roasted chicken in James Beard's Theory and Practice of Good Cooking. The chicken was moist and tender.

Ingredients
butter
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 lemon
seasoned salt

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Remove neck/gizzards/liver from chicken cavity (doing this is not as bad as it sounds). Pat chicken dry with paper towels and place on a roasting rack in a roasting pan. Soften 4 Tab of butter. Stir in salt and pepper. Place butter mixture inside cavity. Rub chicken with lemon. Turn chicken on its side and brush with melted butter. Sprinkle with seasoned salt.
Bake 20 minutes, or until side of chicken is golden brown. Carefully turn chicken on the its other side and repeat, baking 20 more minutes. Turn chicken so the back is up and repeat, baking 20 more minutes. Turn chicken so the breast is up and repeat, baking 20 more minutes, or until chicken registers 165 degrees on a thermometer.
Remove from oven and let rest 10 minutes. Carve and serve.

Deep Dish Pizza

2010-02-24T14:03:00.000-06:00

In keeping with our pizza theme, we had pizza for supper last night. I made a whole wheat "Chicago style" crust. Like any deep dish pizza, the dough was thick and chewy. But, a small amount of olive oil brushed on the dough before adding toppings and baking added a bit of crunch. This was a heavy crust, but not greasy. And, it was easy to make and bake. I adapted mine from a recipe in Whole Foods for the Whole Family.

Ingredients
1 Tab yeast
1 cup warm water
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 Tab olive oil
3 cups whole wheat flour
olive oil for brushing dough

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Sprinkle yeast over water and sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer (or, other large bowl). Add salt and oil. Stir in 2 cups flour and combine. Gradually add remaining flour. Knead in stand mixer with dough hook (or, by hand) until dough is smooth.
Spread into a lightly greased 9x13" pan. Let rise 15 minutes.
Brush dough with olive oil. Add toppings. Bake 20-25 minutes.

Oatmeal Pizza Crust

2010-02-22T19:56:00.000-06:00

Tonight was pizza, again. I mixed things up a bit by making a different crust. This is a pizza crust unlike any I have had before. I picked up the recipe from somewhere while I was in college. It is slightly crispy. The dough requires no kneading and very little rising time. This is a great crust to make if you don't like to knead dough, or you don't have a stand mixer that will knead it for you. It is also convenient if you decide to make pizza for supper at the last minute.

Ingredients
3/4 cup warm water
1 pkg yeast
1/2 tsp sugar
1 Tab olive oil
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup rolled oats (not instant)
1 Tab grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Combine water, yeast and sugar in a bowl and let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients. Stir to combine for 1 minute. Cover and let rise 15-20 minutes. Spread dough on a pizza stone. Cover and let rise 15 minutes.
Bake 12-15 minutes, or until golden. Remove from oven. Spread crust with toppings. Bake additional 10 minutes, or until cheese is bubbly.

Jacob update: Jacob is feeling much better today. I have started expanding his food options. But, I didn't want to press my luck by giving him pizza. So, I made him a little pizza with just mozzarella cheese on the crust. He loved it.

Leftovers

2010-02-21T20:34:00.000-06:00

For lunch and supper today we ate leftover pizza. It was great reheated in a 350 degree oven on a stone for about 15 minutes.

I loved having pizza for three out of my last four meals. However, I think I will get tired of it before we run out of pizza ingredients. I need to get creative...

Jacob is still eating only carbohydrates. Today he ate banana pancakes, Cheerios, crackers, the red top off of a Bomb Pop, and a few Bran Flakes. I don't think his little tummy will be ready to eat pizza any time soon.

Pizza, Pizza, Pizza

2010-02-20T20:15:00.000-06:00

My sister-in-law, Jenny, is in town and we were planning to have a Pampered Chef party tonight. However, last night at Sakura, Jacob made clear that he was not over his stomach bug. So, to keep from giving everyone and their kids the same thing, we had to cancel the party. Our steely resolve and the fact that we had already bought enough supplies to make pizza for twenty people combined to help us enjoy a fantastic dinner anyway.

This was good pizza. Art, Jenny, and I had fun making it together. I made a double recipe of the crust. We set all the toppings out on the dining room table and made our own pizzas. The toppings were amazing: sausage, turkey pepperoni, roasted red/yellow/orange bell peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, goat cheese, feta, Parmesan, spinach, mozzarella, basil, oregano, grape tomatoes, and Greek olives. I'm glad we liked it so much because we have a lot of leftovers.

Poor Jacob is still on a strict diet of only bland carbohydrates. So, I spread out a pizza crust for him and baked it with no toppings. He seemed to really enjoy his plain pizza.

I do wish we had been able to have friends over to share this wonderful meal. They would have seen some awesome Pampered Chef cooking tools in action, and gotten to meet my really fun sister-in-law. The pizza stone is indispensable for making perfectly cooked pizzas. The metal spatula is the perfect sturdy tool for scraping topping laden crispy crust off the stone.

If you're interested in seeing what would have been on display, my Pampered Chef party will be open until Tuesday. You can check out Jenny's website here and enter "Shannon Carden" as the host or you can call Jenny at 205-585-2464. Apparently, the stoneware (which I love and use all the time) is carrying a 20% discount right now. Even if you don't live in Memphis, you can order. It will be shipped to you.

Salmon, Sweet Potato, and Tabouli

2010-02-18T20:51:00.000-06:00

I apologize for my lack of posts this week and last week. I have no excuse for last week. This week, Jacob and I had a stomach bug. The very thought of food made me toss my cookies. But, we are both feeling much better today. In fact, my improvement has been so dramatic that I was able to go to the store and buy olives and raw fish.

Tonight for supper I made baked salmon. I also baked some sweet potatoes in the oven. We ate those with cinnamon, brown sugar and butter. (Traditionally, I have been a fan of real butter for its flavor and performance in recipes. Recently, I have felt a need to cut cholesterol and have switched to Smart Balance 50/50 butter blend. I really like it, so far.)

For the much anticipated salad, I made tabouli. I based mine on a recipe in Whole Foods for the Whole Family. It was really good and simple to make. We decided it will be even better tomorrow when all the flavors have had a chance to intensify. You can add other fresh vegetables like mushrooms or peppers and fresh herbs like mint. Art sprinkled his with feta.

Ingredients
1 cup bulgur wheat, soaked for 1 hour in 1 cup of water, drained
1 medium cucumber, peeled and diced
1-2 cups diced grape tomatoes (or, any tomatoes)
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp dried dill weed (or, 1 Tab fresh)
pepper to taste

Whisk lemon juice, olive oil, salt, dill, and pepper together in a small bowl.
In a medium bowl, combine bulgur wheat, cucumber, and tomatoes. Stir in dressing and toss to coat. Chill until ready to serve.

My mom- who is in town!- ruled the meal a success. We all thought the flavors of each dish complemented one another quite well. Jacob promptly spit out the tabouli, but he enjoyed a few bites of salmon before he was ready to get out of his chair and play.

Leftover Chili, Grilled Cheese, and Cute Picture

2010-02-15T20:35:00.000-06:00

Jacob and I had fun on our first full day back together after my trip. This morning, we went to Sam's Club and Walmart. Jacob pushed the buggy around both stores. I don't know how I ever shopped without him. We arrived home exhausted, but with some great groceries.

I did very little cooking today. We mostly ate leftovers and sandwiches. I balanced the heavy- and, delicious- chili and grilled cheese with a healthy amount of baby carrots.

Jacob decided he just wanted carrots for supper. He was still chewing his last carrot when he got in the bathtub. By the end of the bath, the carrot was chewed and swallowed and Jacob was ready to brush his teeth (and climb on my craft supplies).

Central BBQ and Detox

2010-02-14T20:39:00.000-06:00

Tonight, I returned from a great weekend with friends in Austin. We had such a good time together, as always.

Art and Jacob picked me up with smiles and roses. I am so glad to be home!

On the flight home, I was thinking about all the food I had consumed in the last 48 hours. We ate a lot over the weekend and I need to plan some light meals for the week. Art's pirate posts made me think Jacob and Art would also benefit from some light meals this week- maybe even some sort of detox would be beneficial. Good thing we have all that leftover chili in the refrigerator.

With this in mind, I decided we should go to Central Barbecue for supper. We got turkey bbq nachos and turkey bbq salad. This was the perfect end to a weekend of heavy eating. (And, a perfect Valentine's supper with my two favorite boys.)

In Austin, we ate lunch at the flagship Whole Foods Market. The salads they offered were very inspiring. Based on this inspiration, I plan to incorporate some salads into our rotation this week- and blog about them. Stay tuned...

Pirate Post #2: Chili

2010-02-14T13:50:00.000-06:00

Pirate Post by Art Carden

Jacob and I are nearing the end of our Guys' Weekend as Shannon's flight from Houston arrives a little before 6:00 this evening. He's napping now, and we're meeting his friend Avalyn at the Children's Museum at 3:30 (if he's awake by then). We had some friends over for lunch after church today, and we had chili with tortilla chips and shredded extra-sharp cheddar. There's no real "recipe" for chili, but this is basically what I've been doing with it for about the last nine years.

Meats: One pound of ground turkey, 1 lb of smoked sausage (Bryan's Cajun-Style this time).

Beans: One can of store-brand chili beans, one can each of organic black beans, pinto beans, great northern beans, and kidney beans. The store brand organic beans were on sale at Kroger for $0.89/can yesterday.

Peppers: one red bell pepper, one orange bell pepper, one green bell pepper.

Onions: I forgot to get onions.

Tomatoes: one can of Hunt's diced tomatoes (because that's what was in the cabinet when you decided to add more tomatoes), two cans of Kroger diced tomatoes with green chiles (store brand Ro-Tel, in other words).

Other: one can of Kroger golden corn.

Seasonings: lots of black pepper, some garlic, a dash of cayenne pepper, one packet each of store brand chili seasoning and store brand taco seasoning (thanks to Jeremy Jackson for the taco seasoning suggestion sometime in 2002, I think).

Beer: Busch, about 12 fl. oz.

Prep (Saturday Evening): combine beans, tomatoes, corn, and seasoning in a crock pot. Cook sausage in a medium-sized skillet. Add sausage to beans/tomatoes/corn/seasoning. Brown turkey in sausage drippings, sprinkle with black pepper, garlic, and cayenne pepper. Add to beans/tomatoes/corn/seasoning/sausage. Put entire mixture in fridge overnight. As you're drifting off to sleep, realize that you forgot to add bell peppers and onions. Make a mental note to do it first thing in the morning.

Prep (Sunday Morning): Plug in crock pot full of chili, add beer, set for four hours' cook time, and stir well. Alternate between chopping bell peppers with your Pampered Chef Food Chopper and feeding Strawberry Crunch cereal to Jacob. Plug your sister's Pampered Chef business. Look for onions in the fridge and pantry; finding none, do a quick cost benefit analysis and decide that while the onions are good, they don't add enough to justify another trip to the store. Clean up, dress Jacob, swing by the gas station, and arrive at church just in time for the service that you thought started at 9:30 but that actually started at 9:00.

Serving: Head home with friends after church, wipe up whatever bubbled out of the crock pot and onto the counter (or be thankful when one of your guests does it for you), and serve the chili with tortilla chips, shredded Kroger extra-sharp cheddar cheese, a selection of name-brand soft drinks, and enjoy.

Pirate Post: Tasty Buffet, Chili Tomorrow

2010-02-13T17:31:00.001-06:00

Pirate Post by Art Carden

Shannon is in Austin living it up with some friends from college, so Jacob and I are having a Guys' Weekend. I've taken over No More Nuggets until she returns. It's been pretty successful so far: Jacob slept kind of late this morning, we had fun at swim lessons (after the crying stopped), we went out for lunch and then to the grocery store, he took a long nap this afternoon, and right now he's running around the house after dancing to Sixpence None the Richer. Yesterday, Shannon left us a crock pot full of chicken tortilla soup, which I'm going to reheat for dinner here in a few minutes.

When Shannon travels, I usually indulge my inner teenager/college student and eat one meal I shouldn't. For lunch, we went to Tasty Buffet, a Chinese buffet a few blocks from our house that offers the standard Chinese buffet fare, some American staples like pizza, french fries, and chicken tenders, a limited sushi selection that can be pretty good at times, and Mongolian barbecue. It isn't somewhere I would take Shannon on a date, but Jacob and I enjoyed it. Jacob liked the noodles from the Mongolian barbecue, the chicken tenders, and the french fries. He wasn't so enthusiastic about anything else.

We're hosting a few friends for lunch after church tomorrow, and I'm making chili. I learned something about how situations aren't always as they appear today while shopping. I started putting beer in chili in about 2001 or so, when Michael Thomas and I started getting together to watch Alabama football games in St. Louis. Today, I was standing in the checkout line at Kroger with all of our groceries in the bottom of Jacob's stroller--numerous cans of beans, cajun smoked sausage, ground turkey, bell peppers, seasonings, a bag of tortilla chips, a couple of two liters, and a 24 ounce can of cold Busch beer. Observers who noticed might have thought "he won't be winning 'father of the year' anytime soon." Or they might not have cared. In any event, appearances can be deceiving. I also learned that the demand for low-end beer in our part of Memphis is very, very price elastic. Miller High Life, which was priced at $1.29 in 24 ounce cans, was sold out. The other brands, which were priced at $1.39, were available in ample quantities.

I'll post the "recipe," if you could call it that, tomorrow. Shannon gets home tomorrow, too, and it goes without saying that we will be very happy to see her.

Chicken Dijon, Polenta, and Roasted Cauliflower

2010-02-08T20:23:00.000-06:00

I made a chicken recipe I found in Southern Living. The ease of preparation and Dijon mustard appealed to me. And, the article promised that kids would love the creamy sauce.

Jacob must not be one of the kids to which they were referring. He would not even eat it when he was distracted by a cup of water and a book. Art and I liked it, but didn't love it. The sauce was not as flavorful or creamy as I had hoped. I doubt I will make it again anytime soon- there are so many other recipes out there to try and so little time.

I also made polenta. This is a very easy side that we have just recently started enjoying. The liquid base is very versatile- try chicken broth, heavy cream, or even water. Try stirring in a variety of herbs and cheeses.

Ingredients
3 cups skim milk
1 cup water
1 cup polenta
dash of salt
1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Stir milk, water, polenta, and salt together in a medium pot. Bring to a boil over medium high heat, stirring often. Reduce heat to medium- low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until liquid is absorbed and polenta is thick (30-40 minutes). Stir in cheese and serve warm.

Finally, I roasted some cauliflower in the oven. I tossed cauliflower with olive oil, salt and pepper, and roasted it at 350 degrees for about 25 minutes. We really liked cauliflower like this.

Brownies

2010-02-07T21:12:00.000-06:00

I made brownies to take to our friends' house for lunch. But, I somehow forgot to grab them on our way out. (Convenient, I know.)

These brownies are from a recipe in Cook's Illustrated. This magazine is dedicated to testing everything kitchen or cooking related. In this article, they tested several brownie recipes before coming up with this one that is not too cakey or to fudgy. (They also tested boxed brownie recipes and crowned Ghirardelli Double Chocolate Premium Brownie Mix the winner.)

They stress the importance of not over-baking the brownies. Toward the end of the cooking time, test them often. Make sure a few moist crumbs are attached to a toothpick when stuck in the center of the brownies. If the toothpick comes out clean, they will be too dry.

We did eat a few tonight, but the rest will be delivered to our friends tomorrow. I hope they enjoy them as much as we have.

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups cake flour
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 tsp baking powder
6 oz unsweetened chocolate (buy the best quality you can find)
12 Tab butter
2 1/4 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 Tab vanilla extract

Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat to 325 degrees. Line a 13x9" baking dish with aluminum foil. Spray with cooking spray.
Whisk to combine flour, salt, and baking powder in a medium bowl.
Melt chocolate and butter in a large heatproof bowl set over saucepan of almost simmering water, stirring occasionally, until smooth. When chocolate mixture is completely smooth, remove bowl from saucepan and gradually whisk in sugar. Add eggs one at a time, whisking after each addition until thoroughly combined. Whisk in vanilla. Add flour mixture in three additions, folding with a rubber spatula until batter is completely smooth and homogenous.
Transfer batter to prepared pan; using spatula, spread batter into corners and smooth surface. Bake until toothpick insterted into center of brownies comes out with a few moist crumbs attached, 30 to 35 minutes. Cool on wire rack to room temperature, about 2 hours, then remove brownies from pan by lifting foil. Cut into 2" squares and serve.

Plum Oatmeal Bread

2010-02-05T14:35:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I made a nutritious, yummy snack bread. It is easy and quick to make. I love the juicy bits of plum. The recipe is from The Family Circle Cookbook: New Tastes for New Times.

Ingredients
2 tsp white vinegar
milk
2 cups all purpose flour (I substituted some whole wheat flour)
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup quick cooking oats (not instant)
1 cup chopped, pitted plums (I cut up two plums because I like a lot fo plum in my bread.)
1 egg
2 Tab vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a loaf pan
Pour vinegar into 1 cup glass measuring cup. Add milk to measure 1 cup. Let stand 10 minutes to sour.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl. Stir in oats and plums.
Beat egg in a bowl. Add milk and oil. Pour all at once into dry ingredients. Stir just until evenly moistened. Turn into pan.
Bake for 45 minutes. Remove bread from pan to wire rack to cool. Store overnight for easier slicing.

Fried Rice

2010-02-04T13:47:00.000-06:00

Art is giving some lectures in Iowa. With Jacob's pre-supper entertainment out of town, we are eating very simple meals. Last night I made brown fried rice with tofu and vegetables.
This came together very quickly and was approved by Jacob and I. I cooked brown rice in the rice cooker in the afternoon so that it was ready to fry for supper. This made enough for Jacob and I to have leftovers for supper tonight. If Art were home to help eat, I would have doubled the recipe.

Ingredients
1 cup brown rice, cooked
1 Tab canola oil
1/4 cup diced onion
1/2 cup diced carrot
5 oz firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/4" cubes
1 egg, whisked
1 cup frozen green peas, cooked and drained
1 Tab rice wine vinegar
2 Tab low sodium soy sauce
squirt of Sriracha or other chili sauce
1 Tab finely chopped ginger

In a large skillet or wok, heat oil over medium high heat. Add onion, carrot, and tofu. Cook until onion and carrot are soft and tofu is browned, stirring occasionally. Remove from skillet to bowl.
With skillet still over medium high, scramble egg, breaking it into small pieces.
Return tofu and veggies to skillet with egg. Stir in peas and remaining ingredients. Stir until combined and heated through.

Lil' Round Chickens, Macaroni and Cheese, Green Beans

2010-02-02T14:04:00.000-06:00

We had two kid (and adult) favorites for supper last night: chicken nuggets and mac n cheese. And, we had our usual roasted green beans. (I really need to start making other vegetable sides.) These were not frozen or from a box. They were made from scratch at home. Compared to the typical frozen/boxed varieties, I was able to eliminate some preservatives and add some whole grains.

My mom made lil' round chickens for us when my sister and I were growing up. This has always been one of my favorite ways to eat chicken. They are really easy to make. Mom always used Bisquick in the batter. I made my own "baking mix" based on a recipe in Whole Foods for the Whole Family. This mix can be used to make pancakes, biscuits, etc. like any store-bought baking mix. Only this has whole wheat flour and no partially hydrogenated oil.

Baking Mix Ingredients
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 heaping Tab baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup canola oil

Combine dry ingredients. Cut in oil using a pastry blender or your fingers to make fine crumbs.
Store, covered, in the refrigerator.

Lil' Round Chickens Ingredients
1 1/2 cup baking mix
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 cup milk, or more as needed
4-6 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed of fat and cut into small pieces
canola oil for frying (1/2 cup or so)

Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Mixture should be slightly thicker than pancake batter.
Pour enough oil into large skillet to about 1/4" deep (oil should come halfway up the side of a lil' round chicken). Heat over medium heat.
Working in batches, dip chicken pieces in batter to coat. Let excess batter drip back into bowl. Carefully drop chicken in hot oil. Cook until golden brown and flip. Cook until golden brown all over and remove to a plate lined with paper towels.
Serve warm with sauce- we like dijon mustard, Sriracha, and "honey mustard" made by combining honey and mustard.

I got the macaroni and cheese recipe from Food and Wine Books Pasta. It was good, but not great. I was hoping for a bit more cheese flavor. Jacob loved it. In the future, I might experiment with adding different cheeses.

I cooked and combined everything into a baking dish while Jacob was napping and put it in the refrigerator. Before supper, I made the bread-crumb topping and put the dish in the oven to bake.

Macaroni and Cheese Ingredients
5 Tab butter, divided
3 Tab flour
2 cups milk
3/4 lb sharp cheddar, grated
1 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard
pinch cayenne
1 tsp salt
3/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 lb elbow macaroni (I used whole wheat)
1 cup fresh bread crumbs

In a medium saucepan, melt 3 Tab butter over medium heat. Add the flour and cook, whisking for 1 minute. Whisk in the milk. Bring to a boil, whisking. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from the heat. Add the cheese, mustard, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Whisk until cheese melts.
Cook macaroni according to package directions and drain.
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Butter a 1 1/2 quart baking dish. Combine the macaroni and cheese. Transfer to dish.
Melt 2 Tab butter and combine with bread crumbs. Sprinkle over the macaroni.
Bake until the top in brown and the sauce bubbles, about 30 minutes.

Hand Mashed Pinto Beans with Cheese

2010-01-31T15:46:00.001-06:00

I first want to thank Art for guest writing on the blog. The "pizza" was great! Having someone fix a meal for me was even greater! I have a wonderful husband!

Supper last night was a hodge-podge of my favorite Mexican food on multi-grain tortillas. We had guacamole (avocados, lemon juice, onion, garlic, and salt), sour cream, salsa, and home-made refried beans.

I have mentioned my craving for refried beans in a previous post (one of the few pregnancy cravings I have experienced repeatedly). Since they still sound so good, I decided to make my favorite version. These home-made mashed beans from Bon Appetit are magnitudes better than the canned stuff. They don't even taste like the same thing. The amazing flavor and texture are well worth the extra effort. Though not quite as easy as opening a can, they are pretty simple to make. I soak and drain the beans before proceeding with the recipe. I use canola oil and Monterrey Jack cheese- though, I'm sure queso fresco or even cheddar would be great in this dish.

Jacob has never liked canned refried beans, so I wasn't sure how he would like these. I set aside a small bowl of un-mashed beans for him to eat. He ate these and a tortilla with mashed beans, guacamole, salsa, and sour cream. I think he is learning to love a spicy, gross mixture, just like his daddy.

Chez Schumpeter's Creative Destruction in the Kitchen: Thin Crust Pesto Mini-Pizzas

2010-01-30T13:26:00.000-06:00

Guest post by Art Carden

I am very, very fortunate that I get to enjoy the meals Shannon writes about here. Periodically, I will try my own hand in the kitchen (like here and here). I did that before lunch today by making a couple of thin crust mini pesto pizzas using some of the stuff we have lying around.

A bit of back story is in order first. Shannon makes absolutely amazing pizzas--I mean pizzas that will reaffirm your belief in the goodness and benevolence of almighty God. To accompany dinner on Thursday, she also made a bunch of homemade naan, which we finished earlier today. She also makes tortilla chips by cutting up tortillas and baking them.

I was thinking last night that the naan would make a great base or crust for a mini-pizza, like you might do with an English muffin (when combined with scrambled eggs and a bit of cheddar cheese, the naan also makes a great ersatz breakfast burrito, as I discovered this morning). After polishing off the naan at lunch, I got an idea based on how Shannon does pizza, naan, and chips as well as memories of Saint Louis-style thin-crust pizza from our years in the Gateway City. Those were inspired by wistful yearnings for the beef noodle soup at St. Lous Bubble Tea and Wong's Wok (which has apparently relocated)--yearnings which were in turn inspired by the fact that it's freezing and snowy in Memphis.

But I digress. I decided to make thin crust pesto mini-pizzas using wheat tortillas.

It was pretty simple: I laid a couple of tortillas on our fancy-pantsy Pampered Chef cooking stone (the large one) smeared them with some of the pesto left over from Sunday and some tomato paste, sprinkled them with cheese, and put them in the oven. The cheese was a combination of the Parmesan cheese Shannon gets at Sam's Club (which is amazing) and "Great Value" Monterey Jack (which was the only almost-flavorless white cheese we had in the house; I would've used mozzarella had it been available).

The resulting mini-pizzas were quite good. For a crispier crust I would've baked the tortillas before applying the pesto/cheese/etc. I also made the mistake of opening a can of tomatoes before I knew I would be using them. I didn't, so they're now in a container in the fridge. I judge the experiment a success, and like any pizza, these could be topped with anything. Anything, that is, except chorizo, because as Brad DeLong reminds us, that would be crazy.

Field Trip and Honeyed Tofu on Soba

2010-01-28T20:37:00.000-06:00

This afternoon, Jacob and I took an exciting food field trip to the International Grocery on Cleveland. This is a mainly Asian food grocery store that also offers a good amount of Latino foods.   I had never taken Jacob to this store, and buying ingredients for tonight's supper was a great excuse to go. (I am still striving to shop for groceries once a week, but I could not find udon or tofu at Walmart to use in tofu on udon noodles.)

The International Grocery has aisle after aisle of foods I have never tried- from exotic produce to frozen desserts to parts of pork I wasn't aware were edible. I love looking at everything and imagining what it could be used to create.

Jacob loved looking at the live fish in the seafood section. This place is a regular aquarium compared to most grocery stores' meager tank full of lobsters. Here, crabs and crawfish are crawling around in huge boxes. Tilapia and catfish swim around waiting to be grabbed for supper. The store's huge tank full of black eels will probably be involved in my next nightmare.   Eughgh!

But, all of these exciting distractions did not make us forget our reason for the trip. We needed tofu and udon noodles. Compared to Kroger, the tofu selection was huge and cheap. I found what I wanted and moved on to noodles.

An entire aisle is devoted to noodles! Maybe there were too many noodles- in the midst of all of those strangely marked bags, I could not find udon. I settled for a bag of soba noodles and went to check-out.

Our dinner turned out tasty. The soba (buckwheat flour noodles) were a fine substitute for the udon (wheat flour noodles). The sauce of honey, soy sauce, rice-wine vinegar, spicy mustard, and orange juice went really well with the tofu, mushrooms, and soba. I did not enjoy the texture of the cucumber. When tossed with the hot noodles, the cucumber became kind of slimy and mushy. But, it was easy to pick out and I picked it all out before refigerating the leftovers.

Zucchini and Spinach Lasagna

2010-01-27T19:12:00.000-06:00

Yesterday, I made a lasagna. Lasagna is a dish of which we hardly ever tire- we ate it for supper last night, lunch today, and supper tonight. I used lean ground beef and maybe half of a 15oz container of part skim ricotta (the recipe calls for an entire container). I also used thin slices of fresh mozzarella, peeled zucchini slices, and cooked frozen spinach.
This is such a versitile dish- use beef, sausage, tofu or no meat and throw in lots of vegetables.

Steak, Balsmic Mushrooms, Spinach Rice, and Green Beans

2010-01-26T13:26:00.000-06:00

Last night, my plan was to make Brazilian-style beef stroganoff. Brazilian beef stroganoff is a little different from American: in addition to cream, the sauce has tomatoes, and the beef is filet mignon or some other "high end" cut. (Filet mignon is to Brazilians what cube steak is to Americans.) At the last minute, I could not bring myself to dice a perfectly good steak into pieces and then drench it in sauce. Maybe if I lived in Brazil and had cheap steak-a-plenty, then I could use precious cuts of beef in such a manner without reservation.

Instead, I made broiled steaks. I sprinkled both sides with salt and pepper, placed them in a cast iron skillet, and broiled the steaks in the oven. This is a really easy way to cook great steaks.

I broiled Art's for about 6 minutes for medium-rare and Jacob and mine for about 9 minutes for medium-well (they were about 1 inch thick). As soon as I took each steak out of the oven, I put a very small pat of butter on top. The butter melts into a delicious sauce for the steak.

The mushrooms I would have used in the stroganoff were transformed into balsmic mushrooms. These came together so easily and were perfect with the steaks.

We also had leftover spinach rice that I made a few nights ago. I made this loosely based on a recipe in The Essential Vegatarian Cookbook published by Whitecap Books.

Ingedients
1 cup long grain brown rice
2 cups chicken broth
salt and pepper
2 Tab olive oil
1 large onion, diced
10oz frozen, chopped spinach, thawed

Combine rice, chicken broth, salt and pepper in a rice cooker or saucepan. Cook according to package directions.
Heat oil in a small pan. Add onion and stir over medium heat for 5 minutes. Stir in spinach, reduce heat and cook, covered, until hot for 5-10 minutes. Add spinach mixture to rice.

Before cooking the steaks, I roasted green beans in the oven with olive oil, salt, and pepper.

We all enjoyed this meal, but Jacob especially seemed to enjoy it. He ate a ton of steak and spinach rice. I think his full belly helped him sleep well last night- he slept until 7:00am! (This is amazing since he normally wakes up by 5:30.) Maybe we should have steak every night...

Pesto Pasta

2010-01-24T20:25:00.000-06:00

Tonight, I made a super easy supper. I cooked and drained some whole wheat rotini pasta. I stirred in several tablespoonfuls of sun-dried tomato pesto and chopped fresh mozzarella. The cheese melted to a pleasing stringiness and each spiral shaped pasta held the perfect amount of pesto.
This was one of the easiest suppers I have prepared in a long time- maybe ever. The amount of time from filling a pot with water to siting down to eat was, at most, fifteen minutes. And, everybody enjoyed the meal.

Rotini with Piquant Tomato and Chicken Sauce, Peach Pie and Ice Cream

2010-01-20T19:30:00.001-06:00

The pasta I made for dinner tonight is from the Food and Wine Books Pasta book. It is a boldly flavored sauce that pairs well with chicken. The sauce gets its boldness from red wine and anchovies- two ingredients with which I do not often cook. Anchovies add a salty, but not fishy, flavor.

The recipe calls for cavatappi (corkscrew) pasta, but I used rotini. While chopping the cooked chicken, I decided it was too much chicken for the amount of sauce. So, I did not add all of it back to the sauce. I put the excess chicken in the freezer for another use- like a recipe that calls for cooked chicken.
We all enjoyed the pasta.

Ingredients
1/4 cup olive oil
3/4 tsp dried rosemary
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 anchovy fillets, chopped
1/2 tsp dried red-pepper flakes
1 3lb chicken, cut into 8 pieces (I used chicken breasts only)
3 1/2 cups canned tomatoes, diced
1/2 cup red wine
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
1 Tab red wine vinegar
1 1/2 tsp salt
3/4 lb rotini
Grated Parmesan cheese

In a large frying pan, heat the oil over moderate heat. Add the rosemary, galic, anchovies, and red-peper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add the chicken and turn to coat.
Add the tomatoes, wine, chicken broth, vinegar, and salt. Simmer the chicken, stirring occasionally, until the meat is very tender, about 45 minutes. Remove the chicken. Continue simmering the sauce until thickened, about 30 minutes longer.
When the chicken is cool enough to handle, pull the meat from the skin and bones and cut it into bite-size pieces. Return the chicken to the sauce.
Cook the rotini according to the package directions for al dente. Drain and return to the hot pot. Add the sauce and toss. Serve with Parmesan cheese.

I also made a peach pie. I served it with vanilla bean ice cream. Apparently, Jacob enjoyed too much pasta and left no room for pie. I was shocked. He has never turned down anything involving ice cream. Yet, tonight he was perfectly content playing while we enjoyed our (delicious!) pie. I was planning to take a picture of him devouring the pie. Instead, this is what I got:

I made my own recipe using less sugar than usual and a bag of frozen peach slices. This tasted like summer.

Ingredients
4 cups peach slices (I used frozen peaches, thawed at room temperature for about 1 hour.)
2 Tab flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract (almond is also really good, if you have any on hand)
dash of cinnamon

Pie crust (top and bottom)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Sprinkle peaches with flour and toss to coat. Stir in remaining ingredients until well combined.
Spread peaches in pie crust and top with crust. Pierce air vents in top crust.
Bake pie 45-50 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.