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Weekly Recipes 4

While I visited with Barb and her family I made dinner several nights just to share recipes. Her kitchen is an excellent place to cook and I like that. She, like me, is an ex-vegetarian who now eats good, local meat. It was fun to cook for her family. They like unique dishes just like me.

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Quinoa Tabbouleh with chickpeas-It was delicious; light and refreshing, a perfect summer dish. Simple ingredients all tossed together:

1 cup cooked quinoa
1 can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained and rinsed
½ pound Persian cucumbers or 2 hothouse cucumbers (if using hothouse, seed the cucumbers first), sliced
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1 cup finely chopped green onion, white and green parts
1 cup chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley leaves
1 cup chopped mint leaves
⅓ cup fresh squeezed lemon juice (about 2 large lemons)
⅓ cup extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

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And I made these black bean burritos with sweet potato added in. They were so yummy; I could have eaten 3 or 4 but I kept it to one. It’s all about eating good food in small quantities.

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Once we returned home I made this kid-friendly dish (crock pot enchiladas) on a very busy day so dinner would be ready when the family walked through the door. I was gone-off to hear music at the Gentleman of the Road tour-and it was fantastic! even though it was a little strange to be away from the family, off doing my own thing at our sacred dinner hour. Every once in while you need to surprise them with a twist. I made them dinner so they would still love me while I was gone.

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Another day I made this berry tart which also turned out great. Barb sent me home with a few pie shells so I didn’t have to make the dough, which made it simple.

What did you create this week?

Happy Father's Day.

I miss my Dad. I can say it a billion times in a day and it still doesn’t change the fact that he’s gone. And to all that say he’s not really gone I say I can’t really have a deep conversation with him, ask him advice and get an actual answer, have him pull me into a deep and warm hug.

I miss him everyday; no more or no less than I do on Father’s Day. We spent the day celebrating my husband; church together, dinner out, and a few interesting kid gifts to celebrate his art of parenting with style. We’ve been blessed with a gorgeous day weather-wise so we could spend part of the day outdoors, basking in the sunshine.

My husband had a good long chat with his dad, who is an amazing father and grandfather and I’m grateful we have him in our lives but it’s that small act of making the phone call that I miss today. I love you dad. I wish you were still here.

You would be amazed at how Kaylee has grown into this amazing women off doing her own thing, creating stories of her own. You would be proud of her writing talent. You would love to see Tristan’s big smile and his off-beat, unique look at the world. You would be surprised at the struggle he is going through finding what he wants to do with his life. He would love your authentic questions and talent with drawing people in to your circle. He would have a good friend and trusted advisor in you. Groovy Girl would make you smile while you watched her dance, sing, and general entertain those around her. Her joyful personality would make you proud even as she enters these snippy teen years. It would force you to reminisce about someone else you knew who got a little fiesty in their teen years. You would do it with humor and grace.

Thank you for all the times you made me feel special Dad. The notes, the backgammon games, the shoulder rubs, and the laughter. You made my day many times and I wish you were still here to share our daily lives and since you are not I will make due with my memories.

Happy Father’s Day. Hug them while you have them. So if you’ve made it through the day without calling or talking to your dad-that’s all it takes, one phone call. Go do it.

A trip to the bakery

My friend, Barb and her family, own a bakery in Indiana and for the last 2 years Groovy Girl and I have traveled the 5 1/2 hours east to visit her and work in the bakery. Her uncle owns a strawberry farm and the bakery is attached. It’s hard to figure out which draws more; the bakery or the u-pick farm and garden center.

It’s strawberry season and this past weekend it was strawberry fest on the farm. They were super busy which in turn makes the bakery busy. As we worked in the back making strawberry donuts and buckwheat pancakes with strawberry syrup we could see the line wind several times through the store and out into the parking lot. It was crazy!

It’s a serious working vacation. I get to spend time with my friends and help at the same time. The only time they are not busy is late December, January, and February, right when I’m in school so we make this work. And my back can tell you I worked really hard this week. I made batch after batch of steamy donuts; measuring out and weighing the ingredients, mixing it, pouring it into the donut hopper so it can drop perfectly into the hot grease where it is a perfect circle of dough. It makes its way down the small converyer belt; frying and turning to create a golden orb (with the ever important hole) and then tossed into a bowl of sugar and laid out on a tray to be sold. I made trays, and trays, and trays + +.

I now dream about making donuts. Last year I didn’t make quite as many and we were not here for as long. I’m also a year older and I didn’t sleep well this week; I woke up this morning with a terrible pain in my lower back. Barb and I did about 45 minutes of yoga; deep stretching with modifications for my back and my heart. She’s a trained yoga instructor as well. I don’t know how she does it all! We did kayak which is one of my favorite things to do but it’s been off/on rainy for days and our kayak venture was cut very short.

We did prepare delicious dinners together as well but that is another blog post. If you get a chance to stop in Hobart, IN be sure to stop by Marilyn’s Bakery (her mother started the bakery in 1986). You won’t be disappointed and if it happens to be strawberry season you might just glimpse me in the back pouring and dipping donuts. I need a vacation to help me recover from this intense working…vacation?!

Weekly Recipes 3

In my constant search for new and different foods to lay at our table I made this delicious (say the kids) chicken recipe this week:

Grilled Lemongrass Chicken with Ginger Rice
{weeknight gluten free by Kristine Kidd}
*we are not gluten-free; I only used regular ingredients where it specifies gluten-free

Shallot, 2 T, minced
gluten-free tamari, 2 T.
Sugar, 1 1/2 T.
Asian fish sauce, 1 1/2 T.
Lemongrass stalks, 1 fat or 2 thin, peeled and minced, or 2 tsp lemon zest
vegetable oil, 1 T.
Asian chile sauce, 1/2 tsp
kosher salt, 1/2 tsp
skinless, boneless chicken thighs, 1 1/2 pounds

Ginger Rice
Fresh ginger, 1 1/2 T., minced
kosher salt, 1/8 tsp
uncooked brown basmati or jasmine rice, 1 cup
Gluten-free tamari, 2 tsp
chopped green onions for garnish

1. In a bowl, mix the shallot, 2 T. tamari, sugar, fish sauce, lemongrass, oil, chili sauce, and salt. Cut any excess fat from the chidken. Add the chicken to the bowl and toss to coat. Let the chicken marinate while preparing the rice.
2. To make the ginger rice, in a small saucepan, bring 1 1/2 cups water, the ginger, and salt to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 30 minutes. Turn off the heat and let stand for at least 5 minutes. Fluff with a fork, then mix in the tamari.
3. Meanwhile, prepare the grill for direct-heat cooking over high heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade and add to the grill rack, cover and cook until springy to the touch and cooked through, about 6 minutes per side.
4. Divide the rice among 4 warmed plates. Top with the chicken, sprinkle green onions, and serve right away.

My normal habit of not reading the recipe all the way through was a problem here-I did not know about the GRILL-I cooked the chicken in my huge cast iron skillet, added marinade in, put the lid on and let it cook/steam to done. Also my kids would balk if I cut green onions over the top so avoided that step altogether. My son said the chicken was wonderful, flavorful, and tender. I made this meal just so he would eat something while the rest of us were out of town for 2 days. Over-mothering, yes, but he weighs next to nothing so I do what I have to to get food into him.

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Plus I made this amazing rhubarb recipe. They are tart and just the perfect size!

How was your week of cooking?

Playing Dress-up

My friends V and A and I have been on a quest to hone down our wardrobes and clear away the clutter. They already live in pretty clutter free houses so that one may be mostly for me. Part of the quest has us looking at posts about the 10 item wardrobe and one that A sent us about the art of dressing up.

I work at a school where our teachers dress nicely and our principal wears a dress or a skirt every day! But after watching this video it made me take it to a new level. Of course it is summer so it’s easy when I can stay in my pj’s for the first part of the morning and then linger over what exactly to wear.

Shoes have been a big discussion in this quest as it can be easy to throw on a skirt and a blouse or a flowered sundress but having the RIGHT shoes to match and make it still look dressy is harder. Flip Flops do not count as dressy attire.

The first day I did this I was going to a musical gathering and I tossed on a pair of skinny jeans, a black & white striped 3-quarter length T, and a black cropped blazer. It was chilly out and I quickly added my gray suede boots but it was the perfect fit. In this debate with A and V, I’ve thrown out shoe ideas of sandals cute clogs, Chuck Taylor’s, and even little white sneakers like my mom wore in the 50’s.

Of course there are a plethora of fancy sandal choices as well. And Birks have hit it big as the new “it” shoe wear. It’s time the world paid more attention to just what the hippies were (are) saying, wearing, and doing…

Dress it up a bit more just for yourself. The compliments are just the icing on the cake.

Here’s the video that started us on this journey:

Weekly Recipes 2

This week has been filled with a lot of work and the beginning of my summer. We are working on a Hansen garden project so even though my last day of work was Tuesday I’ve still been at work every day helping to move and replant our raised garden beds. I am so excited for this to be a fully realized project, to have kids snap off vegetables and love them (or at least try them).

It’s also the start of summer break. I always dream that I will find a perfect summer job-make a little extra money working at a book store, restaurant, or bakery but it would need to be short hours and great pay to make it worth my while. I like to get a lot of reading, resting, and cleaning done during break.

Here’s what I made this week to keep us fed:

1. The black bean soup was amazing! We had it twice. Once just as soup and I served it with sour cream, guac, cilantro, and french bread.

The second time we had it with tortillas and rice, drizzling it together to make burritos. I just had it as soup again as I’m opposed to the big fat flour tortilla.

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2. Pork Roast: I am experimenting with meat and I found this at a good price from a good source. I looked at several different recipes and came to the conclusion that I could basically treat it like the pot roast my grandmother made. I used my handy crock pot so it would be ready after I spent the afternoon at the garden. I sautéed onions and garlic, browned the pork on all sides and scooped it into the slow cooker with celery, carrots, a few small yellow potatoes and some vegetable broth. I ate a salad while everyone else seemed to love the roast.

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3. Pork Roast part 2: pulled pork sandwiches for lunch today. I read a Ree Drummond post about pulled pork and went with it. Mine was already cooked so all I needed to do was “pull” it all apart. She advised forks but I gave that up quickly and just used my hands. As a veggie I have to admit it felt fatty. Sesame buns, pickles, sweet potato chips, and a veggie tray made a terrific late summer lunch. It would have made a great picnic except it was freezing outside today. Also Groovy Girl refused to eat them; she says BBQ sauce is disgusting. She, like me, ate the side dishes.

4. Rhubarb sauce: I love rhubarb and visited a friend who has a huge patch in her garden. I brought home a hefty stack of stalks and used at least half to whip up this delicious sauce. It’s now in my refrigerator in glass canning jars. The taste is amazing.

I cleaned my entire kitchen yesterday also and it looks amazing. I reorganized it so I could clear clutter off the counter tops. I love it. This is my plan for the rest of the house. That is my summer job. Unless a book store moves in downtown.

How was your week in the kitchen?

Weekly Recipes

What I cooked this week…

With two kids home again I’m back to that grind of “what can I make that will please everyone…” It’s never easy to please everyone, even when that means only 4 people. I like it when those four/five people eat the food that I prepare with minimal fuss/pickiness. Working full-time to come home and prepare dinner, I want that sit-down affair to be a happy time.

For a year and 1/2 teenage boy was living on his on in Colorado and it was just husband and I with Groovy Girl to attend to and I could cater my meals in her direction. My husband literally will eat most everything set in front of him as long as it’s not peanut butter or shellfish.

We are ecstatically happy that Teenage Boy returned home to go back to school even though he does throw a new twist into my meal plan. If I went way back to early blog posts he is the one who “asked” us to think about eating meat. He played sports and as an active young male he begged, pleaded, and begged some more for me to add meat into our diet.

I don’t mind meat as long as it comes from a healthy and local source, which also makes it expensive. We can’t do meat every night (which is what Teenage Boy would like). He can through a meatless meal if pasta is involved.

The last couple of years I’ve tried to stay away from so much gluten. We’ve ruined wheat and it makes it hard to enjoy bread, pasta, sandwiches, and a nice cold beer. It’s okay; I’ve found many other delicious pleasures like hard cider, but it makes meal planning that much more interesting.

With all our different preferences it makes it difficult to plan the perfect meal. It takes creativity and ingenuity. And sometimes I just have to have a salad and be happy with that. It’s all good.

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1. Calzones: I made these on Monday night when husband was not home and I needed a purely kid-friendly dinner. I mixed two recipes together and Groovy Girl did the calzone part on her own for both. I made a lovely salad for myself and let the kids enjoy the cheesy, steamy calzones. They loved them. I used this pizza dough and filled it with good sausage, marinara, black olives, and cheese. Will make again especially because GG did all the work.

2. Artichoke and spinach pasta: This we enjoyed all together. Love it when we are all at the table as one. We had a salad so I could have just had that but the pasta looked and smelled amazing so I had a small portion. Yum! The family ate it up. Again I combined two recipes from Pinterest: food network and budget savvy diva; I used what I wanted from both recipes making it as natural as possible. I used real spinach, 1 can of artichokes, parmesan shredded, fettuccine noodles, and a little cream cheese to add creaminess. The roux was easy to make and the people at my table had 3-4 helpings. I filled my plate with salad and had a small amount of pasta to try it. (meatless)

3. Bean burritos: I created these one night using quinoa, a can of black beans with sautéed sweet peppers mixed in. The kids ate these with flour tortillas and I had corn, tastier, to me, and a much smaller portion. (meatless)

4. Stir-fry: This cleaned out my vegetable drawer; the last few spears of asparagus, last stalk of broccoli and cauliflower, a few peppers, a jar of Trader Joe’s simmer sauce, a pot of brown rice and we had dinner at the table in record time. I mixed in a little coconut milk for a change of pace and to tame the simmer sauce a bit for Groovy Girl. They didn’t even know they were eating “leftovers”. (meatless)

5. Black bean soup: this is for tomorrow. I cooked down a pound of black beans earlier in the week.

So all-in-all it was a creative week of meals at our house. And the BB soup will be a wonderful way to begin the week because it can be used in a variety of ways. How was your food week?

Girl at war by Sara Novic`

School is winding down and my desk is full. I’m grading, collecting books, and preparing for an-end-of-the-year book fair. My head is spinning maybe because I spent part of my week laying on the sofa reading Girl at War instead of getting stuff done. It was worth it though; this is a great book.

Ana Juric`, a ten-year-old living in Croatia’s capital has had a happy childhood until civil war breaks out and her life is transformed by food rationing, soldiers, and air raid drills. Suddenly life is very different and she feels out of control. The daily peace she felt is replaced with fear and uncertainty except when she is nestled together with her family:

That first time we saw it, my mother and I together, she patted my shoulder because these men were protecting Croatia and the fighting didn’t look too dangerous. She smiled and the soup steamed, and even Rahela wasn’t crying for once, and I allowed myself to slide into the fantasy I recognized as such even while my mind was still spinning it- that there in the flat, with my family, I was safe. (29)

The war circles around the Juric` family but at home there is a greater concern. Ana’s younger sister, Rahela, is sick and needs medical attention. After visiting a female doctor in Zagreb Ana’s family makes the difficult decision to get Rahela transported out of Croatia to America where she will recieve the treatment she needs. As Ana and her parents mournfully drive back to Zagreb they are stopped by a roadblock of Serbian soldiers. It is at this moment that Ana’s life will be forever changed and as it is with tragedy it makes her into the womas we later meet in New York.

Her predictable life studying in NYC has her on edge and she can’t accept all that has happened to her. She is at war with herself, trying to resolve what she experienced. She makes a rash decision to travel back to Croatia to see if friends are still alive and to make peace with how her life has been shaped.

This is a transformitive story. I enjoyed Ana’s voice, her family struggles in New Jersey, and the difficult time she has with feeling comfortable after living, surviving a war where so many died. Girl at war shows how resilent we are while making us fully aware of the damage caused by tragedy and war. It is a story of survival. And we all need to read more of that.

It also brought to light this conflict for me. In my small town we had an influx of Bosnian residents during this conflict. They’ve succeeded in our community in many ways, been accepted and embraced, but it also makes me wonder what lies underneath. Thank you, Ana, for this reminder; realizing the harm we do while fighting wars abroad and on our own streets would be a worthy reason to keep the peace.

On sale: May 12th, 2015 (go buy it now)

Thank you to @DavidEbershoff at Random House for my copy. My time-wasting habit of scrolling around twitter totally worth it when I’m able to scoop up an excellent book. It also in no way altered my review of this book. I loved it all on my own.

Happy Mother's Day!

(Missing one child from far away…)

I hope everyone that is a mother had a wonderful day! Being a mother is truly the hardest job; it comes with a lot of heartache and judgement. My kids are not always happy with me, my ideas, and my suggestions. I want the best for them-always. Even though it is a difficult job I love being a mother and the payback can be amazing.

It’s funny how the day started out as such a humble celebration, it was a way to honor and connect mother’s who sons had fallen in the Civil War and later as a way to promote peace. It’s unfortunate that the holiday became so overly commercialized. I do appreciate the simple things my children do for me. I ‘m happy with a meal together and several hand made cards. Today we went for a walk, out for lunch, and a visit with my own mother. It was a good day. A simple day.

I also made chocolate chip cookie bars for school and folded laundry so it wasn’t like I chilled the whole day. It might be nice to pampered all day. Right now BB is the important event at my house as I write and plan for my day tomorrow.

How ever you spent the day I hope it was relaxing and the focus was more on a shared experience than “stuff”.

Starter curry from Jenny

I love my copy of Dinner; A love story for many reasons. It has fantastic recipes, amusing stories, and I agree with her on many topics. We love dinner at our house. Sitting down together eating and sharing conversation. When my son moved back after living on his own for a year and a half it was the dinners together that he raved about missing. Every night he felt blessed to be back at the table eating good food with family surrounding him.

Even though I love this book I’ve only made a few of the recipes from this book. Chicken cutlets and dark and stormy are two top favs. I pulled the book out the other night and decided I was going to experiment with more of her recipes.

Tonight I made Curried Chicken with apples. Everyone had 2nds and fought over scraps. Groovy Girl sadly didn’t like some of the ingredients but she loved the chicken and the sauce. Apples confused her and those she refused to eat. She suggested a potato instead of the apple.

[yep, already had a bit or two but you can see the cilantro, yogurt, etc}

Here’s the recipe so you can try it yourself.

Starter Curry; Curried Chicken with apples (it is only one apple…really)

2 T canola oil, plus more as needed
1/2 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 large stalk celery, chopped
1 large apple, such as Granny Smith, peeled, cored, and cut into bite-size pieces
1 tsp grated peeled fresh ginger
2 T madras curry powder
3 medium-sized boneless chicken breasts (about 1 1/2 lbs) {Organic or farm-raised by someone you know preferred)
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup light coconut milk
Handful of frozen peas (optional) {I opted out-don’t like frozen peas, or any pea from a pkg}
Few dollops of plain yogurt
Suggested garnishes: chopped cilantro or mint, sliced or chopped almonds

Heat the oil in a deep, large skillet over medium high heat. Add the onion and saute until it begins to soften, about 2 minutes.
Add the garlic, celery, apple, and ginger. Cook for 2-3 minutes and then add the curry powder, stirring to combine.
Push the ingredients to one side of the pan, add a little more oil, and brown the chicken on all sides. If your pan is too stuffed, you can do it in two batches.) Stir all the ingredients together then add the broth and coconut milk. Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer. Add the peas (if using) then cover and cook 10 more minutes, until the chicken is cooked through.

Serve with basmati rice or flatbread and top with a dollop of yogurt and desired garnishes.

Enjoy this delicious recipe and many others in Jenny Rosenstrach’s book and website.