I love my shares. They can be costly, but they are worth every penny. We participate in five shares, four of which are weekly. Each Thursday, we pick up a large bag of fruit and vegetables from a variety of local farms, a dozen or so eggs from a local hatchery, and milk, yogurt, and cheese from a dairy nearby. Every other month, we get a box of meats from a number of different butchers and slaughterhouses in the area, specializing in minimally processed and good for you local meats.
July and August keep me busy. The bags are stuffed with produce, and the selection of greens can sometimes feel overwhelming. To keep on top of my game, and ensure that nothing goes to waste, I head to the library every other week to check out new recipe books, searching for creative and time-saving recipes for these ingredients. I also try to keep up to date on blogs and recipe sites that update their posts with what's in season in our region of the country.
The basil almost stumped me. Last week, I picked up what quite possibly could be called the largest bunch of basil picked on one stem in the history of mankind. It was enormous. Immediately, my brain said, "get out of food processor, woman, and make some pesto!" Pesto freezes well in small portions, and it can be added to soups, pastas, and other recipes all year long.
Except pesto uses nuts. NUTS!
Could I make the pesto without the nuts? Could I simply disregard the nuts, not have to replace them with anything, and have a tasty pesto?
YES.
You need:
1 large bunch of basil, washed well and leaves torn from the stems
1/3 c. Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. olive oil
2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
1/2 lemon, squeezed of its juice
Add everything to your food processor, pulse until smooth, and enjoy. If your large bunch of basil is like mine was, triple this recipe. I froze mine into 1/4 c. portions.
Thursday, July 17, 2014
The Best Baked Beans Ever
I cannot take any credit for this recipe, other than I made it and it was amazing. AMAZING. I actually made these baked beans twice - once for a hall full of hungry firefighters, and once for family and friends. Both gave me a thumbs up.
Here are my suggestions to make these the most amazing:
* Use a plain canned pork and beans/vegetarian beans selection. Don't get too fancy with "grillin' beans" or flavored beans. There's no guarantee how those flavors will mesh with the additional ingredients.
*If you can get cottage bacon, which is what I had to use the first time because it was in my bi-monthly meat share, get it. Use it. Love it. Make it your new best friend.
* If you don't have time, use Sweet Baby Ray's original or Trader Joe's Carolina Gold BBQ sauce. I use the Carolina Gold. Amazing. (Have I used that word yet?)
* If you do have time, make your own. The Pioneer Woman also has an easy recipe for that:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/homemade-bbq-sauce-recipe.html
We are a baked bean lovin' family. A loves them the way she loves her American Girl dolls and fudgesicles. If you have to go to a pot luck this summer, offer to make these. People will love you forever. For reals.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/08/the-best-baked-beans-ever/
Here are my suggestions to make these the most amazing:
* Use a plain canned pork and beans/vegetarian beans selection. Don't get too fancy with "grillin' beans" or flavored beans. There's no guarantee how those flavors will mesh with the additional ingredients.
*If you can get cottage bacon, which is what I had to use the first time because it was in my bi-monthly meat share, get it. Use it. Love it. Make it your new best friend.
* If you don't have time, use Sweet Baby Ray's original or Trader Joe's Carolina Gold BBQ sauce. I use the Carolina Gold. Amazing. (Have I used that word yet?)
* If you do have time, make your own. The Pioneer Woman also has an easy recipe for that:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/homemade-bbq-sauce-recipe.html
We are a baked bean lovin' family. A loves them the way she loves her American Girl dolls and fudgesicles. If you have to go to a pot luck this summer, offer to make these. People will love you forever. For reals.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/08/the-best-baked-beans-ever/
Mini Vanilla Scones
We are a family of habits. We love routines. They keep us organized and functioning happily. However, our favorite routines are those little things we do together as special treats during family time. One we look most forward to is Sunday morning. Throughout the summer, we treat ourselves to a late breakfast/brunch after Mass, trying out new restaurants each week, especially those with patios on perfect summer mornings. Throughout the winter months, however, when we hate to even step out the door into the wild snow, we usually treat that same time as a brief and sweet morning snack moment. We'll hit the drive-thru Starbucks right near our church, treating the kids to hot chocolates and petite vanilla scones.
Now do the math. We attend Mass 52 weeks a year. We have two kids. Each scone is just shy of a dollar each. And winter lasts, well, it feels like 10.5 months around here. That's a pretty big scone piggy bank.
Enter Pioneer Woman. Her scone dilemma is more geographic in nature, but she decided to tackle them herself to see if she could replicate them. And I tried them. AMAZING.
The truth is, they are more amazing than the ones from Starbucks. They are lighter and flakier and tastier than any I have tried before. And because I only made two very slight adjustments to the recipe, I can't take any original credit for it. Rather than post it here, I'm simply including the link to give her full credit.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/04/petite-vanilla-bean-scones/
That said, my adjustments were these:
1. I didn't use two vanilla beans in the scone nor one vanilla bean in the icing. I used one bean in total. I split it down the middle and then used one and a half "caviar bits" in the scone and the last bit into the icing. I did this because I'm being cheap. Vanilla beans are expensive. I do not have my own show on the Food Network to offset my vanilla bean habit, so I scraped the heck out of that one bean, adding 1/4 tsp. of vanilla extract into the scone mixture and then into the icing mixture as well to bring out the vanilla flavor in a much more economical fashion.
2. Here's something else I don't have in common with the Pioneer Woman. I'm a very small human being. I make jockeys feel tall. I must eat and enjoy in moderation, because those extra calories have no where to go. So I didn't coat both sides of the scone in icing but just lightly dunked the one side. And be VERY careful while dipping the scones so that you don't end up with loads of chunks of scone in your icing that your husband will eat right out of the bowl like a sugared-up madman.
Or so they tell me. :-)
Now do the math. We attend Mass 52 weeks a year. We have two kids. Each scone is just shy of a dollar each. And winter lasts, well, it feels like 10.5 months around here. That's a pretty big scone piggy bank.
Enter Pioneer Woman. Her scone dilemma is more geographic in nature, but she decided to tackle them herself to see if she could replicate them. And I tried them. AMAZING.
The truth is, they are more amazing than the ones from Starbucks. They are lighter and flakier and tastier than any I have tried before. And because I only made two very slight adjustments to the recipe, I can't take any original credit for it. Rather than post it here, I'm simply including the link to give her full credit.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/04/petite-vanilla-bean-scones/
That said, my adjustments were these:
1. I didn't use two vanilla beans in the scone nor one vanilla bean in the icing. I used one bean in total. I split it down the middle and then used one and a half "caviar bits" in the scone and the last bit into the icing. I did this because I'm being cheap. Vanilla beans are expensive. I do not have my own show on the Food Network to offset my vanilla bean habit, so I scraped the heck out of that one bean, adding 1/4 tsp. of vanilla extract into the scone mixture and then into the icing mixture as well to bring out the vanilla flavor in a much more economical fashion.
2. Here's something else I don't have in common with the Pioneer Woman. I'm a very small human being. I make jockeys feel tall. I must eat and enjoy in moderation, because those extra calories have no where to go. So I didn't coat both sides of the scone in icing but just lightly dunked the one side. And be VERY careful while dipping the scones so that you don't end up with loads of chunks of scone in your icing that your husband will eat right out of the bowl like a sugared-up madman.
Or so they tell me. :-)
Sunday, July 13, 2014
Easy Chicken Souvlaki Salad
Summer heat came with a vengeance this year. We needed to find some easy summer meals that we could grill and prepare easily and enjoy outside with little kitchen fuss (we don't have air conditioning!) This recipe, adapted from a Barefoot Contessa recipe I found online, was a hit. We did grill the chicken outside, but it could easily be sauteed indoors as well.
You need:
for the marinade
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. olive oil
for the chicken
1 lb. chicken breasts, sliced into thin tenders
1 gallon plastic storage bag
for the salad
1 head lettuce (I used local red leaf lettuce from our vegetable share), washed and torn
1 cucumber, peeled and cubed
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 # feta cheese, cut into chunks
1 c. marinated, pitted Greek olives
Combine all marinade ingredients above and shake well (a Mason jar works very well here!) Pour 1/3 of the marinade over the chicken in the storage bag. Shake well to coat. Marinate for a couple of hours. Set the remaining marinade aside.
When it's time to eat, grill the chicken until cooked and moist. In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients. Dress with remaining marinade (reserved, and NOT from the chicken bag!!) Top with the chicken tenders.
You need:
for the marinade
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 tsp. dried oregano
1/2 tsp. Dijon mustard
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 c. olive oil
for the chicken
1 lb. chicken breasts, sliced into thin tenders
1 gallon plastic storage bag
for the salad
1 head lettuce (I used local red leaf lettuce from our vegetable share), washed and torn
1 cucumber, peeled and cubed
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced
1/2 # feta cheese, cut into chunks
1 c. marinated, pitted Greek olives
Combine all marinade ingredients above and shake well (a Mason jar works very well here!) Pour 1/3 of the marinade over the chicken in the storage bag. Shake well to coat. Marinate for a couple of hours. Set the remaining marinade aside.
When it's time to eat, grill the chicken until cooked and moist. In a large bowl, combine all salad ingredients. Dress with remaining marinade (reserved, and NOT from the chicken bag!!) Top with the chicken tenders.
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Granola
I was excited to try this new recipe for two reasons - first, it fit in beautifully with our resolution to make our favorite foods from scratch this year. But it also helped me on the granola bar front. My kids are wild about granola, granola bars, granola cereal, etc. The problem is, it is virtually impossible to find a store-bought granola that is truly nut-free and not $10.00/oz.
This recipe, altered from a new kids cookbook A has been working through, was perfect. It's very easy to make, and it's easy to substitute flavors, fruits, and even add nuts (almonds work best) if you are so inclined!
You need: (my nut-free version)
2 tbsp. softened butter, plus extra for greasing
1 c. shredded coconut
1 c. dried fruits, chopped (I use cherries and blueberries)
2 c. chopped dark chocolate (or dark chocolate chips)
2 c. oats (NOT quick cook)
1 c. shelled sunflower seeds, raw
1 c. wheat germ
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
In a large bowl, combine the coconut, fruit, and chocolate. Set aside. On a rimmed baking sheet, combine the oats, sunflower seeds, and wheat germ (and nuts, if using). Bake the oat mixture in a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes until fragrant and toasted, about 5-10 minutes. Cool and then add to the fruit mixture. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for five minutes, until it comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and pour over the fruit and oat mixture.
If you wish to make bars:
Grease your bar pan. Spread the mixture in the pan and flatten to a consistent depth. Let cool for 10 minutes. Invert, cut, and enjoy.
If you wish to make granola chunks/bites:
Grease a bar pan. Crumble and drop the mixture onto the pan. Let cool for 30 minutes. Store in an airtight container.
This recipe, altered from a new kids cookbook A has been working through, was perfect. It's very easy to make, and it's easy to substitute flavors, fruits, and even add nuts (almonds work best) if you are so inclined!
You need: (my nut-free version)
2 tbsp. softened butter, plus extra for greasing
1 c. shredded coconut
1 c. dried fruits, chopped (I use cherries and blueberries)
2 c. chopped dark chocolate (or dark chocolate chips)
2 c. oats (NOT quick cook)
1 c. shelled sunflower seeds, raw
1 c. wheat germ
1 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. cinnamon
In a large bowl, combine the coconut, fruit, and chocolate. Set aside. On a rimmed baking sheet, combine the oats, sunflower seeds, and wheat germ (and nuts, if using). Bake the oat mixture in a 350 degree oven for 5-10 minutes until fragrant and toasted, about 5-10 minutes. Cool and then add to the fruit mixture. In a saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the remaining ingredients and cook for five minutes, until it comes to a boil. Remove from the heat and pour over the fruit and oat mixture.
If you wish to make bars:
Grease your bar pan. Spread the mixture in the pan and flatten to a consistent depth. Let cool for 10 minutes. Invert, cut, and enjoy.
If you wish to make granola chunks/bites:
Grease a bar pan. Crumble and drop the mixture onto the pan. Let cool for 30 minutes. Store in an airtight container.
Saturday, May 10, 2014
Strawberry and Peach Ice Cream
May is flying by, which means our fruit and vegetable shares will start up again soon. I've got a few things left over from last year's harvest that I want to use up before we get back to filling up the deep freeze. At the same time, my little C had a wicked cold last week, so he didn't drink nearly as much milk as he usually does. When I went to pick up our dairy share on Thursday, I realized that I had 3/4 of a gallon of whole milk still in there, and I was about to add another gallon. When you pay almost $10 a gallon for the most amazing milk on the planet, you don't throw it out. However, it's low, low, low level pasteurized, so it doesn't last as long as grocery store milk.
Enter fruit ice creams and freezer ready mac and cheese.
I grabbed a few pints of heavy cream at the market and decided to give them a try. The recipe below is for the strawberry. To make the peach ice cream, substitute (exactly) the peaches for the strawberries.
You need:
1 pint strawberries, stemmed and sliced (or 1 pint frozen strawberries, thawed)
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1 cup super fine sugar
1 c. whole milk
2 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
In a small bowl, mix the strawberries with 1/2 c. of sugar and the lemon juice. Allow to macerate for about 2 hrs. If you are using frozen, 30 min will do because they are already pretty darn juicy when they are thawed. When the time is up, strain the berries, reserving the juices. Mash or puree half of the berries.
In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer to combine the milk and remaining sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream, reserved juice, vanilla, and mashed berries. Add to your ice cream maker for 20-25 minutes. Five minutes before the time is up, add the remaining sliced berried. Put in an air tight container and freeze.
Enter fruit ice creams and freezer ready mac and cheese.
I grabbed a few pints of heavy cream at the market and decided to give them a try. The recipe below is for the strawberry. To make the peach ice cream, substitute (exactly) the peaches for the strawberries.
You need:
1 pint strawberries, stemmed and sliced (or 1 pint frozen strawberries, thawed)
3 tbsp. lemon juice
1 cup super fine sugar
1 c. whole milk
2 c. heavy cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
In a small bowl, mix the strawberries with 1/2 c. of sugar and the lemon juice. Allow to macerate for about 2 hrs. If you are using frozen, 30 min will do because they are already pretty darn juicy when they are thawed. When the time is up, strain the berries, reserving the juices. Mash or puree half of the berries.
In a medium bowl, use a hand mixer to combine the milk and remaining sugar until the sugar is dissolved. Stir in the heavy cream, reserved juice, vanilla, and mashed berries. Add to your ice cream maker for 20-25 minutes. Five minutes before the time is up, add the remaining sliced berried. Put in an air tight container and freeze.
OOPS! About those resolutions....
I was chatting with a friend of mine, who follows this blog, about how I felt I was doing regarding my 2014 kitchen resolutions. She replied, "What resolutions? You mean last year's for food waste?"
Oops! About those resolutions...I forgot to post them! Does it still count if you blog about them in MAY? I mean, let's be real here. Anyone can make New Year's Resolutions. It takes a creative mind (she tells herself) to make Mother's Day Resolutions.
We aren't much of a prepacked, prepared meals kind of family. Mostly, it's because I have food sensitivities to preservatives. However, I have always taken shortcuts with cakes, brownies, ice cream, and other things that tend to be lower in preservatives. This year, A and I decided to see if we could tackle a new frontier. By December, could we try, even if just once, to make every type of food we eat from scratch?
Here are our rules:
1. Ice cream: One of my favorite kitchen items is my ice cream machine. I've had it for over ten years, and it is going strong. I always make ice cream during the summer, but we've taken store-bought ice cream off of the menu for 2014. Unless it comes from the local ice cream shop (where they make their own from scratch as well), we won't buy it. So far, we've made some amazing batches of vanilla, mint-chocolate chip, and chocolate. Today, we're making strawberry and peach.
2. Cakes and Brownies: We haven't gotten there yet. I will convince you that the reason we haven't is because I am so drop-dead tired most days that when I have to make brownies for A's school or cupcakes for a party, I just want to add eggs, oil, and water and call it a DAY. Of course, if I could get off my rear end more often and even take a nice long walk, maybe I'd be less tired. But that would be another blog entirely. Needless to say, we haven't gotten there. This summer, I promise we'll try at least one of each before the end of August. I promise.
3. Pasta: The year I got married, my great-aunt and my grandmother chipped in and bought me a pasta maker for Christmas. They passed away in 2003. I'm celebrating my fifteenth wedding anniversary this August. Ask me how many times I've used it. NEVER. This year, it is happening. I don't know when. Anyone want to make pasta with me?
4. Soups: This has been the winner. Once a month I cook a whole chicken, use up all the meat in various dishes, and make amazing stock that lasts for all of my recipes. I still haven't made a beef stock. I'm getting there. Everything else has come from scratch. This is easy. And the sodium levels are 884,399 percent lower than the stuff in the cans and cartons.
Our last rule is more of a request. I think there are about five people out there who follow this blog. But we want a challenge. Can you think of anything else we should try from scratch? If we've already done it, we'll post it. If we haven't we'll try it out.
Happy Mid-Year!
Oops! About those resolutions...I forgot to post them! Does it still count if you blog about them in MAY? I mean, let's be real here. Anyone can make New Year's Resolutions. It takes a creative mind (she tells herself) to make Mother's Day Resolutions.
We aren't much of a prepacked, prepared meals kind of family. Mostly, it's because I have food sensitivities to preservatives. However, I have always taken shortcuts with cakes, brownies, ice cream, and other things that tend to be lower in preservatives. This year, A and I decided to see if we could tackle a new frontier. By December, could we try, even if just once, to make every type of food we eat from scratch?
Here are our rules:
1. Ice cream: One of my favorite kitchen items is my ice cream machine. I've had it for over ten years, and it is going strong. I always make ice cream during the summer, but we've taken store-bought ice cream off of the menu for 2014. Unless it comes from the local ice cream shop (where they make their own from scratch as well), we won't buy it. So far, we've made some amazing batches of vanilla, mint-chocolate chip, and chocolate. Today, we're making strawberry and peach.
2. Cakes and Brownies: We haven't gotten there yet. I will convince you that the reason we haven't is because I am so drop-dead tired most days that when I have to make brownies for A's school or cupcakes for a party, I just want to add eggs, oil, and water and call it a DAY. Of course, if I could get off my rear end more often and even take a nice long walk, maybe I'd be less tired. But that would be another blog entirely. Needless to say, we haven't gotten there. This summer, I promise we'll try at least one of each before the end of August. I promise.
3. Pasta: The year I got married, my great-aunt and my grandmother chipped in and bought me a pasta maker for Christmas. They passed away in 2003. I'm celebrating my fifteenth wedding anniversary this August. Ask me how many times I've used it. NEVER. This year, it is happening. I don't know when. Anyone want to make pasta with me?
4. Soups: This has been the winner. Once a month I cook a whole chicken, use up all the meat in various dishes, and make amazing stock that lasts for all of my recipes. I still haven't made a beef stock. I'm getting there. Everything else has come from scratch. This is easy. And the sodium levels are 884,399 percent lower than the stuff in the cans and cartons.
Our last rule is more of a request. I think there are about five people out there who follow this blog. But we want a challenge. Can you think of anything else we should try from scratch? If we've already done it, we'll post it. If we haven't we'll try it out.
Happy Mid-Year!
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