Knead Nurture Know

White Chicken Chili - sort of

2009-11-11T07:05:00.000-08:00

My go to white chicken chili recipe is off the back of the white bean can. Shredded chicken, canned green chilies, white beans.... 10 minutes later you have white chicken chili. Yesterday I strayed in order to make it fit into what we are eating. And I remembered to soak a bag of white beans overnight.
I threw a quart of organic chicken stock (the only ones on the market I can find without added oils, gluten or yeast - have you ever read the label on the back of the stock can), two cups of soaked white beans, one finely chopped onion, two tsp cumin, two boneless chicken breast, and celery ribs no one eats (the ones with the leaves on them) into the crock pot and let it go all day long. After pulling out the chicken and shredding it it made a nice soup, not too thick since I left out the flour for thickening. The big guy actually ate three bowls of it. With a nice green salad with cucumbers we had a hearty meal.
My crock pot is getting lots of use lately cooking up a pot of beans. The last few Saturdays I've cooked up a bag of garbanzo beans to use in hummus (much less sodium and pretty economical.) I've frozen them in two cup portions to use in recipes.

Another elimination diet triumph

2009-11-09T06:06:00.000-08:00

Chicken browned and then baked with sauteed onions and balsamic vinegar served over brown rice
Green beans tossed with chopped almonds ( Rosemary Roasted Almonds Recipe - MyRecipes.com)
Steamed carrots with honey and olive oil
Dessert: pears sauteed with honey and olive oil (they would have been divine served with vanilla ice cream and a little bourbon!)

What is left in the garden?

2009-11-09T06:05:00.000-08:00

Swiss chard

More Swiss Chard

Jalapeno and Bell Peppers

Skeletons of sunflowers

A few stray zinnias

She's always hunting for something, mostly the rotten flesh of lemon cucumbers which we just couldn't bring ourselves to deal with this year.

CSA Box #? – But it’s the last one

2009-11-07T07:39:00.001-08:00

Our last CSA box arrived over a week ago. It's always sort of a bitter sweet moment. In the spring we can't wait for the veggie box to arrive, the idea of fresh salads, spring vegetables, squash and cucumbers, lunch of sliced tomatoes and cottage cheese….sings to us like a siren's song. We want it; our mouths drool at the idea. My creative cooking juices flow. And then 16 box of so later, I'm done. I'm sick of having to cook what is given to me, sick of all the okra and mustard greens that I've stashed in the freezer since I just can't bring myself to eat them again, sick of not being able to just go to the grocery store and buy what I want, sick of planning my meals around what I've been given. But I'll miss it too. The nutrition and challenge will not be there anymore. I won't always have fresh greens for a salad in the refrigerator, or a tomato to munch on. The winter looms, the garden catalogs will come after that first real cold snap and I'll be thinking about what to plant again, how many tomatoes, what varieties and should we try cantaloupe? With the cold weather it also means the chickens don't lay as much – so our farm fresh egg source is more sporadic.

So what was in the last box?

Kale (Kale, White Bean, and Sweet Potato Soup made with organic chicken stock and I left out the pasta – Jeff got rice pasta that is outrageously expensive and I had whole wheat penne)
Mustard greens (still in the fridge)
Bok Choy (sautéed up and served with sesame chicken fingers)0
Romaine (salad with walnuts and walnut oil dressing – served with leftover lamb and sweet potatoes)
Red and Green bell peppers (chopped up and frozen into three gallon bags – along with the ones from our garden – they don't fit into either eating plan)
Long sweet peppers (still in the fridge, except for 5 of them that were used to make a ghoulish hand in the vegetable bowl for Halloween)
Beets (still in the fridge)
Tomatoes (sitting on the counter – I'm dreaming of a warm chunky sauce and poached eggs for lunch on Monday!)
Scallions (I threw them into something, I can't remember!)
Sweet potatoes (some were roasted for dinner with a roasted leg of lamb, some were in the soup)

Elimination Diet Adventures

2009-11-07T07:23:00.000-08:00

Jeff's elimination diet has been a cooking challenge. Truthfully it is just a challenge to cook a meal and not just take one of the ones I've frozen out of the freezer. Friday night is date night, we feed the Big Guy early, got the Bug to take a nap and I cooked.
I was inspired by Smitten Kitchen's moroccan-spiced spaghetti squash, if I substituted oil for the butter, left out the cayenne and used just a bit of powdered garlic (I can't eat the garlic right now or Bug will have gas) it fit into the diet. I microwaved the large squash (I'd bought it at the grocery the day before because I love spaghetti e squash with pesto and parmesan). I poached a salmon fillet (how easy is it to put it in the large pan with cold water, bring to a boil, take it off the heat and let it sit for 10 minutes!). I sliced up a cucumber and tossed it will dill, salt, and vinegar.

Functioning with Food

2009-10-29T08:49:00.002-07:00

Our attitudes here are changing about food. As a new mom (again) I'm reminded that sometimes my diet makes the little one gassy. My husband is going through a modified elimination diet in hopes of figuring out his headaches, sinus issues and to be in control of his health. The big guy is 5 and has his own food issues (though I know how lucky I am that they are so minor.) So food is becoming fuel. After taking care of a baby and then our kindergartner, I'm not always excited or able to put a meal on the table, any meal. I've frozen lots of easy meals and friends have filled our freezer with yummy wonderful things, but they don't always fit into at one current eating plan.

All this makes for some interesting grocery shopping. Last week I had to buy rice milk for my husband and soy milk for the big guy. When it came time for me, I just decided I wasn't buying organic milk, I'd just drink the soy milk. When I came home I realized I'd bought two half gallons of unflavored and unsweetened soy milk, and not the Very Vanilla that is the big guy's favorite.

I'm avoiding:

Onions, garlic, broccoli, too many tomatoes, peppers…….

He's avoiding:

Dairy, gluten, yeast, beef, pork, apples, grapes, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant….

The big guy says he only eats….

Chicken noodle soup, chicken tortilla soup, chicken pot pie, chicken enchiladas……and he can only eat so much dairy a day before it messes up his tummy

What's a girl to do? Well this week the husband is traveling out west for work, so the big guy and I are eating things frozen. We ate a wonderful soup made for us by a friend; chicken tortilla soup and the big guy didn't balk at the peppers or cilantro (and the Bug had some gas medicine before nursing.) So we even slept that night. Chicken pot pie came out of the freezer and was topped by an easy crust whipped up in my new food processor.

We're trying to focus on what we can eat, but right now just getting something on the table can be a struggle. We have had several great meals of grilled chicken, rice, sweet potatoes, greens, steamed carrots, salmon.

It sure is nice that the big guy can make his own snacks. Sensing a theme? Bugs are big business right now.

Check out those little hands. This is one of the ways the big guy helps in the kitchen. He has his own plastic knife. Mom preps the celery and he gets out the raisins and then adds the peanut butter. That day he ate 4 logs.

That's an Oreo spider, ants on a log and the almonds are standing in for beetles! I'm not sure what happened to the rest of the ants he got out, but I'm hoping he ate them and didn't put them back in the box!

Tried this and than

2009-10-08T14:19:00.000-07:00

This week I tried this recipe.... Rosemary Roasted Almonds Recipe - MyRecipes.com and we loved it. Made a great snack to get the husband and I through a late dinner. Sometimes the big guy eats at 5:30 and we eat after he's in bed. The other night I warmed a pan of frozen enchiladas in the oven and made these nuts. It was a great way to use up the rosemary, which is busting out of the pot. Next time I might double the rosemary and use a finer salt though.

I'm quickly becoming a huge fan of no-knead or low-knead breads. King Arthur Flour posted quite a few recipes of this variety. Last week I tried the challah (The no-knead beat goes on: easy challah | King Arthur Flour - Bakers’ Banter ) and it was wonderful.

So much so there is another batch rising/resting in the refrigerator. The recipe made three loaves, and I baked them all at the same time, freezing one. I made two traditional twists and then baked one in a loaf pan for a short slicing loaf (sandwiches). I also baked a a whole wheat loaf this week. (No-Knead 100% Whole Wheat Bread: King Arthur Flour )

Tonight we'll have omlets (al la Julia Child), green salad and toast. Maybe some other vegetable.

Now off to the garden, maybe, to pull usable produce out.

Back in the Saddle

2009-09-28T07:42:00.000-07:00

Not completely, as Nana is still here and Uncle Chuck is on his way, but I'm starting to find my groove again. I have no idea what all has been in the CSA box over the last few weeks (or even what box number we are on!) I do know that last week there were 3 bunches of mustard greens and we've been getting lots of okra. Neither of these things are my favorite. Nana has been freezing he okra for us (in a preemptive strike so she doesn't have to eat it either!) and I blanched those greens and froze them for casserole late this winter. We've reached the time of year when I'll be happy to see my weekly delivery end and just buy what I want or eat from the freezer. Come spring I will feel differently and be itching for the seasonal produce again.

The freezer is still stocked with easy meals but we've started menu planning....

Monday - Green salad with baked chicken
Tuesday - roasted turkey breast, stuffing, green beans
Wednesday - leftovers
Thursday - turkey and vegetable soup, bread, salad
Friday - Out to our favorite restaurant to say goodbye to Nana and Uncle Chuck
Saturday - Pizza night - pizza (one pepperoni,cheese and olives and the other whatever strikes my fancy), brownies
Sunday - vegetable frittata, fruit, toast

We baked

2009-09-26T18:47:00.000-07:00

The little guy (big guy? big brother? BB? sweet pea?.....) and I baked the other day. It took us two days to produce Equinox Cookies. No pictures, no posts, but we did bake. And then I ate... I seem just as hungry nursing this baby (lima bean?) as I did when I was pregnant with him. I've baked one batch of french bread too. We're slowly getting back on our feet, but exceedingly grateful to Nana who has been taking very good care of us.

It's a Boy.....

2009-09-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

Saturday August 29th at 10:27 we were blessed with another little boy to love for eternity. He wasn't so little at 9 lbs 2 oz and 21 inches long.

As for food - my mother and friends have been tending and feeding us, the garden is slowing down and we are going to just try to enjoy the short time we have with one so little. Now off to capture a moment of sleep.

We interupt this blog.... (Box #14)

2009-08-27T13:31:00.000-07:00

This blog will be temporarily interrupted due to the impending arrival of our new little one.........

It's been a week of celebrations; 4 cakes and 2 birthdays and a new birthday by the end of the week. I've taken pictures of the cakes, but honestly the camera is downstairs and I'm upstairs and maybe at some point the camera and computer will be in the same place and I'll download the pictures.

The first cake was a frozen yogurt cake from TCBY for the little guy's 5th birthday . He ordered it himself, giving his phone number, cake preference, yogurt preference, what he wanted it to say and in what color and how he wanted it decorated.
The second cake was vanilla cupcakes with homemade frosting decorated like apples for the first day of school/his actual birthday. They had gummy worms on them and pretzel stems.
Then the 3rd cake was his 'real' birthday cake; strawberry from a mix with homemade vanilla frosting and sprinkles. He also asked for Chicken Tortilla Soup for dinner.
That 4th cake was for my birthday - chocolate with French Silk Frosting out of the old Betty Crocker Cookbook - made by my Mom.

My Mom has come to help with things around the house, take care of the little guy (get him to school and back and feed him and give him all the love he could probably handle.) She's graciously made a batch of bread and butter pickles today and then helped cut up all the squash, peppers, eggplant, zucchini, and tomatoes we could stuff in my 8 quart stock pot to made ratatouille to put in the freezer (3 gallon bags.) Then she gets to contend with this weeks batch from the CSA:

tomatoes (10) - to add to the ones Mom brought and what our plants are producing
cherry tomatoes - ditto above
romaine lettuce
huge bag of okra - yuck!
eggplants - threw all 4 in the ratatouille
red peppers (6) - to be roasted first thing in the morning and then frozen
green onions
1 butternut squash
2 cucumbers - and loads more from our plants
green cabbage (we now have three small ones in the fridge)
green beans
sweet green peppers
1 lonely beet
basil

How exactly these things will get used and eaten in the near future, I have no idea. I'll be a bit preoccupied!

Pink

2009-08-25T07:56:00.000-07:00

Coleslaw with cabbage, 2 beets and 4 small carrots, vinegar, salt, pepper and mayo. Just what was in the refrigerator.....

Box # Lucky 13

2009-08-24T09:33:00.001-07:00

Can I even remember on Monday what I unpacked on Thursday night? There were not any big surprises in our veggie box this week. And our plans to use them are pretty much the same. I'm spending my time on side dishes and keeping the protein pretty easy. I made the basis for a panzanella salad (cucumbers, green onion, cherry tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar) but never had bread to toss in. I 've made a cabbage, beet and carrot (these come from our garden) slaw with mayo and vinegar. Last night for dinner we had shrimp with red peppers and tomatoes, lemony orzo with green beans and sautéed zucchini (and as always sliced cumbers). The meal was inspired by Baked Shrimp with Tomatoes and Feta that I caught during my 'nap' time on PBS. I have way too many cucumbers and need to make some more pickles. My menu planning for the week is vague. The little guy wants chicken tortilla soup for his birthday, I want steak and then on Saturday we have a baby. The birthdays and activities for the week sort of take precedence. We'll use the produce to the best of our ability and try not to let too much go to waste (which means sometime this week I will make a huge batch of ratatouille to put in the freezer.) All those red peppers need to have something done to them too – maybe roasted and then frozen for use in red pepper soups and pestos later this year.

1 bunch green onions
2 small oriental eggplant and 1 purple globe eggplant (ratatouille or grilled outside with cheese)
2 small head cabbage (slaw and stir fry)
4 large tomatoes (not quite ripe)
A lot red bell peppers (a few of these were thrown in with roasted red pepper and tomato shrimp)
2 yellow squash (squash casserole and added to our over abundance of squash and zucchini)
3 ears corn (we ate these right away)
Small bag of okra (umm – the compost bin)
Small bag of green beans (these were in a green bean and orzo side dish)
1 bunch Swiss Chard (that sesame salad again?)
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Basil (more pesto, salads…..)
Long red peppers (roasted and frozen, grilled with the eggplant)

Baby Day

2009-08-19T09:39:00.000-07:00

The little guy decided "Baby Day" on the calander needed a few stickers. He wrote Baby himself and drew the new family picture too.

Tuesday Night and Salad Days....

2009-08-19T09:00:00.000-07:00

It wasn't too bad outside yesterday morning and the little guy needed to run around and have some fun. Having a Mommy who is required to nap twice a day can be boring for an active boy and he has mentioned he sure would like it if I could push him on the swings longer or play a game that required me to get up and down. I've never been 'this' pregnant before, as the little guy was born at 37 weeks, so the fatigue has really set in as well as the desire to have everything in order (these two things seem at opposition to each other!)

A half and hour in the garden yielded more produce and wiped me out. Here is what I came in with and how I dealt with dinner. What was it I had planned? Grilled meat and vegetables. I decided not to turn on the stove....

25 cucumbers (destined for pickles on Friday Date night?)

a bucket of cherry tomatoes

two red jalapenos, a few carrots (we don't pull that many at a time)

Some pole beans

6 rond de nice zucchini, 1 green zucchini and 6 yellow squash

1 large heirloom tomato

All that produce sat on the counter for a few hours before I could even decide how to tackle it. The larger cucumbers and a few that were in the refrigerator were cut into chunks and put in quart jars with a brine (left over from pickling last week). They were just put in the refrigerator for easy pickles. I took a picture of two jars, but ended up with three.

For dinner last night I pulled a piece of roasted pork from the freezer and made three salads; corn and black bean, curried cucumber and dressed tomatoes. I had plenty of produce from the CSA too, so I used both.

Corn and black beans: 4 ears of corn off the cob, 2 cans rinsed and drained black beans, 1 large scallion, 1 red bell pepper, a handful of parsley, zest and juice of one lime, 1 tsp of cumin and a little olive oil

All the tomatoes from the CSA and garden (large ones) drizzled with Greek olive oil, French sea salt and ground pepper.

Curried cucumber salad, which I now do not need a recipe to make. I used three very large cucumbers and one medium sized scallion.

The plan for dinner tonight is supposed to be a stir fry or curry (like curried eggplant and winter squash with chickpeas) but I have a feeling it will be dinner with the leftover salads, creamy coleslaw, carrot and beets dressed with lemon, cold green beans and cherry tomatoes with olive oil and garlic and grilled eggplant and red peppers antipasto salad. I also want to try this recipe with the Swiss Chard; Chilled Sesame Spinach. I want to try panzanella this year - I've never tried it before but the idea of a chunky salad with tomatoes, cucumbers and croutons that soak up all the juices seems to appeal to me (maybe I'll get a on a wild tear and make it for dinner on Saturday and we'll head to Jazz on the Lawn to see our favorite group the Clarksville Jazz Quintet or maybe we'll put some jazz in the CD player and eat outside on the deck)

I'll have a fridge full of healthy salads that can be grabbed and added to some protein for an easy lunch of dinner and I'll have used up most of the produce in the refrigerator right now (just in time to go pick more and pick up our CSA box on Thursday!)

Sunday Night

2009-08-18T08:23:00.000-07:00

Dinner actually went almost as planned, if not a bit late. I made quiche (2 actually) with leftover cooked Swiss Chard and summer squash, with grated cheddar and Swiss. The corn, beets and other veggies didn't get done. The little guy ate a cheese omelet and a bit of corn custard.

Monday the Braxton Hick's took over and the husband picked up Pad Thai on the way home. Maybe I'll plan better and get stuff done at lunch time.

CSA Box #12

2009-08-15T14:29:00.001-07:00

Box number 12, which means the season, is about half over…….

1 bunch green onions
2 small oriental eggplant, 1 rather funny looking purple globe eggplant
1 small head cabbage
4 large tomatoes (not quite ripe)
A few red bell peppers
A few green bell peppers
2 yellow squash
4 ears corn
Small bag of okra
2 beets
1 bunch Swiss Chard
Cucumbers
Lettuce
Egyptian spinach
Basil
Long red peppers (that might be pretty hot)
1 small butternut squash

I'm definitely feeling the need for a large stir fry sometime this week, and what is in that will depend on what is left in the refrigerator come Wednesday night. We are also getting quite a few cucumbers and squashes from our garden right now. And the cherry tomatoes and green beans are producing a bit too. This means I make a lot of side salads. Last week it was blanched green beans, halved cherry tomatoes, garlic, salt, pepper and olive oil. I usually always have raw squash salad – thinly sliced squash and onions tossed with vinaigrette. Sliced cucumbers and sliced tomatoes are a summer table staple. Most all the summer vegetables go quite nicely with an easy vinaigrette (which is often oil, vinegar, salt and pepper and chopped herbs drizzled on top) – roasted or grilled eggplant and peppers; cabbage as a slaw; summer squashes and onions; corn off the cob with peppers and onions; cucumbers; roasted beets cold with dressing….

Saturday – pizza with red peppers and eggplant and a green salad with cucumbers, make up raw squash salad

Sunday – Breakfast for dinner – Swiss chard quiche with cheese, sliced cucumbers and tomatoes, corn on the cob, cook and marinate the beets for side dishes

Monday – Shrimp tacos with cabbage slaw, black bean salad with corn, peppers, onions and tomatoes, sliced cucumbers

Tuesday- grilled meat (chicken or pork chops), grilled eggplant and squash, pasta with pesto

Wednesday – stir fry of all our leftover veggies served over brown rice (butternut squash, peppers, okra…..)

Thursday – something in the crock pot? The little guy has kindergarten testing and then we have to go pick up box #13, so something easy, could be leftovers

Friday – Grilled salmon, salads

I'm beginning to think I might need to chop and freeze some of the green and red peppers up to freeze (though I didn't make it all the way through last year's stash!) I'm also wondering if I might make up a batch of roasted red pepper soup or roasted red pepper pesto to stash away in the freezer. At least I have some idea of what to do with it all and hopefully won't become overwhelmed.

Summer’s Abundance – Roasted Ratatouille

2009-08-14T15:59:00.001-07:00

Along with a huge batch of tomato sauce (from store bought canned tomato puree!) I roasted up a triple batch of roasted ratatouille, and intend to freeze quite a bit. We did eat it that first night scattered on top of whole wheat pasta with the tomato sauce. The sauce is going in the freezer for more of those easy after baby meals. I also baked a batch of baguettes (The Almost-No-Knead Baguette ) after I realized it had been almost two months since I'd baked bread. If I have to turn on the oven in the summer I try to only do it once a week.

I never tend to follow this recipe exactly, and it always comes out just a bit different but we eat this mix of vegetables all the time in the summer. I often double or triple depending on what I have on hand and sometimes the extra makes it into the freezer.

Roasted Ratatouille (based on http://www.yankeemagazine.com/recipes/searc/onerecipe.php?number=6967)

Yield: 4 servings (about 2 cups)

1 small eggplant, unpeeled, cut into 1⁄2-inch cubes
Kosher or sea salt, to taste
1 zucchini, cut into 1⁄2-inch pieces
1 yellow squash, cut into ½ inch pieces
1 cup cherry or grape tomatoes, cut into halves, or seeded large tomato to equal 1 cup
1 small onion, coarsely chopped (or what you have on hand - green onions, red onion, vidalia)
1 small red bell pepper and 1 green bell pepper, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon chopped fresh herbs (any combination of basil, oregano, parsley, rosemary, sage, and thyme - though I often skip this step)
3 to 4 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Heat the oven to 450°. Lightly oil a 15x10x1-inch baking pan (or two pans)
Place the eggplant in a colander and sprinkle generously with salt. Let it stand as you prepare the remaining vegetables, about 15 minutes, then rinse well and pat dry. (I admit, I skip this step too) Place vegetables in the pan, keeping like vegetables together in sections. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic, and herbs; drizzle with olive oil.
Bake 10 minutes, and then give the vegetables a thorough but gentle stir. Bake 5 to 10 additional minutes, or until vegetables are tender and just begin to caramelize (some will brown a bit); cool slightly. Drizzle with lemon juice, season to taste with additional salt and pepper, and sprinkle with chopped parsley. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Use as a vegetable side dish, pizza topping, pasta topping, stirred into scrambled eggs, as a topping for bruschetta, tucked into a bun with melted cheese or freeze for later use.
The vegetables can be chopped smaller, add the kernels of two ears of corn and used as a relish/salsa for chips.

Out of the Mouths

2009-08-11T14:18:00.001-07:00

The little guy has had a few humdingers lately; I thought I'll never remember to write them all down, so here they are…..

"Mommy, I'm nervous about the first day of school."

"Well, it's like my first day too, so I'm a little nervous."

"You're an adult, you went to kindergarten already. How many days did you have in kindergarten?"

"180"

"It's your 181st day of kindergarten then – you shouldn't be scared."

At the library today, two 2 year old boys were trying to play together…..

"You have to find a compromise. A compromise is when you both play together and you both are happy."

A mom looked at me impressed, I told her he may be able to articulate the meaning, but executing a compromise may be a little trickier.

Getting on the school bus his observation was just normal, but for me it made me realize quite how big the step was.....

"I can't get on the bus, the first step is too big...."

The Great Freezer Escapades

2009-08-10T14:53:00.000-07:00

It's taking it's time, but I am slowly stocking up the freezer with good and easy things to eat. The impending arrival of a new little one means that some meals will just have to be easy so we decided to stock up on easy things in the freezer. We've been shopping sales and last week I bought three whole chickens and three large packages of ground beef. Along with a few enormous zucchini from our garden and some of the produce from our CSA . I garnered a lot of inspiration from Feed The Freezer: Freezer Cooking Guide | Organized Home to come up with things that would freeze and ideas on how to freeze things. I learned I could make my own frozen pizza (maybe on Saturday when I'm making other pizzas) that could be baked in the oven. I labeled everything well with baking instructions. I knew to take out what I was freezing before I put dinner on the table so I knew I'd have enough to freeze! And I learned about bundling the entire meal together (say some BBQ pork in a quart bag, some coleslaw in a quart bag, and 4 burger buns, all put together in a gallon bag - just grab and go.) I'd actually been introduced to bundling when we were home for my Dad's funeral, someone brought two meals from Dream Dinners, one frozen casserole and one that was a stir fry with the chicken, rice and sauce frozen in individual bags and then in one large bag together. I'll probably still work on making double sized meals and freezing them as long as I feel like cooking. Though I do need to do a bit of organizing between our freezer and our deep freezer. A good inventory would be very helpful to those helping us out.

That ground beef:

2 frozen ratatouille and ground beef casseroles topped with mozzarella (and dinner the night I cooked it)
10 formed and seasoned burger patties
3 quart bags of frozen ground crumbles

Those chickens were roasted, the meat taken off the bone and then I made stock:

2 frozen enchilada casseroles (and one for dinner and lunch)
4 frozen chicken pot pies and one bag of about 2 cups of extra filling. These will need to be topped with biscuts or pie crust before baked
2 quarts of frozen chicken stock (the rest I used to make the pot pies)
Dinner one night for my husband and I
Two lunches of chicken salad for the little guy and I (made with grapes, walnuts, onions, and chicken)

Those enormous squash:

6 batches of frozen soup base (squash, onion, spices and stock cooked till soft and pureed). When we're ready for cream of zucchini soup we just add 1 cup of half and half or other milk product.

CSA veggies:

3 bags of freezer slaw (essentially grated cabbage, vinegar, sugar, celery seed and mustard powder.) This should complement some left over BBQ pork that is waiting in the freezer too.

I still have a large batch of marinara sauce to make (but keep forgetting to buy celery and carrots at the grocery store.) The sauce will be used for pizzas, spaghetti, and frozen ravioli.

Then today the little guy and I made cake to celebrate his stuffed animal's birthday. We baked Betty Crocker's Yellow Cake (from scratch - the one from the cookbook) in two 9 by 13 pans. We lined the pans with parchment paper to make removing the cakes easy. Instead of vanilla we used a bit of almond extract. Then we froze some ice cream (I'd made the sweet cream custard base last week and never got around to freezing it). Again for the ice cream we used almond extract. We sliced up the rest of the strawberries in the refrigerator and layered them on top of one cake layer. Then we added the ice cream, more berries and the last cake layer. It's all in the freezer getting cold. I figure this will get wrapped up in smaller portions and be kept in the freezer for awhile. We do not need to eat an entire 9 by 13 ice cream cake in a week! It was nice to bake with him again, I've lost a desire for cooking with help in an effort to get it done as quickly as possible. He had fun slicing berries and putting them on the cake, but all was forgotten when it was time to lick the ice cream beater!

I think I'm also nesting, or at least working on getting ready for the new one and the school season. The little guy starts kindergarten (well he started on Friday). I went through his closet today and took out all the clothes he's outgrown, reorganized his drawers and got an idea of what he might need with fall and winter coming up. It is nice and neated up. I can't say the same for the guest/babies room yet, but we're getting there. There are boxes in there to go through that may just get moved back into the office before my Mom comes down. Clothes are washed, changing table set up, diapers bought, and baby gear washed and ready. Maybe this way Thumper will wait to arrive and come on time when Nana gets here and Ethan has a solid week of school behind him. We'll just have to keep taking it day by day......

CSA Box #11

2009-08-08T08:56:00.000-07:00

Here is roughly what was in our box this week, and my plans for it

sweet corn - 6 ears - eat it steamed
tomatoes - 4 - let ripen on counter, eat for lunch with cottage cheese or in salad or sliced as a side dish
cucumbers - eat cut up as a side, or in the curry salad that is currently my pregnancy craving
yellow squash - roasted ratatouille (Eggplant, Zucchini, Squash, Peppers and Tomatoes)
eggplant - 2 ichiban or Korean and one round globe one - roasted ratatouille
green peppers - roasted ratatouille
red peppers - salads and roasted ratatouille
salad greens - side salads
Swiss chard - sauteed with garlic and onions and eaten as a side dish and then in quiche for dinner on Sunday night, with extra quiche to be frozen
cabbage - creamy coleslaw
basil - big batch of pesto for pasta salad, pizzas and freezer, and salad dressing
butternut squash - steamed and mashed

We've been eating cucumbers as they have been coming in from the garden. Grandma actually picked 12 on Sunday afternoon. I haven't had the energy to make pickles, but have the feeling I'm going to have to talk my husband through pickle making soon, so we don't lose too much of our harvest. The little guy (soon to be 'big guy') loves cucumbers, they are one of his favorite vegetables. They are crispy, sweet and can cause gas (which as an almost 4 year old boy is completely hilarious). We eat them sliced as a snack (with ranch dressing of course), sliced as the base for a little hummus garnished with cherry tomatoes, split down the middle and hollowed out as a boat to accompany tuna or black bean salad (the tuna salad even get olive heads to look like a canoe), and sliced in to quick pickles. Right now I crave this salad, I don't know if it the spices, the creamy dressing (which is so different from the vinaigrette's I usually make) or the crispy cucumbers, but we've been eating this all the time....

Curried Cucumber Salad
4 to 5 medium cucumbers, sliced
1 medium onion, sliced
1/2 cup sour cream (you can use lower fat versions)
1/4 cup mayonnaise (again use what you have)
1 to 2 tsp curry powder
1 tsp of garlic powder
1 tbs vinegar

Mix it all together and let sit for 1/2 an hour. It keeps one or two days in the refrigerator.

CSA Box #10

2009-08-01T07:31:00.000-07:00

I'm right in the middle of a great freezer stocking. Preparing frozen meals for when the baby arrives. I've stocked ratatouille and ground beef casserole (2), chicken enchiladas (2) and zucchini soup base (5). I still have some ground beef to form into patties and some to cook up and freeze crumbles, and some to make porcupine meatballs later this week, a large batch of marinara sauce (I used the 'almost' last jars of yellow tomato sauce for the enchilada sauce - this way the yellow color is disguised), and chicken pot pie and leftover stock to do yet. I'm hoping to get the ground beef and the pot pies done this morning. Of course, I'm sitting here writing about cooking instead of actually doing it!

CSA Box #10

basil - make pesto, we used it on our pizza last week and it was very yummy - pesto just get's thrown on everything; in pizza, pasta, potatoes, on top of grilled meat, in a BLT
tomatoes (8) - sandwiches, salads, pizza
green peppers - salads, and porcupine meatballs later this week
corn - we ate that the night it came in, steamed
cucumbers - we eat these for lunch and dinner, but with what our garden is producing we will probably be making pickles some time this coming week
red sweet peppers - salads, salsa
green leaf lettuce - a side salad
okra - ah - maybe I'll roast it or it will just go bad in the fridge
yellow zucchini and squash - grated salad
green onions - tossed in everything
butternut squash - roasted or grilled side dish
Swiss chard - two swiss chard quiches, one for dinner and one for the freezer
cabbage - shrimp tacos with cabbage slaw on Monday and then maybe some freezer coleslaw

Happy 36th

2009-07-30T12:12:00.000-07:00

We celebrated my husband's birthday a day late, but that way we could have a lazy Friday night dinner complete with grilled porterhouse steaks (bought locally) with risotto and summer squashes. Well I went to make the risotto and realized I only had enough arborio rice to make 1/2 a cup and he went to put the steaks on the grill and realized we were out of propane - so we punted. Jack Daniels to the rescue!!!!!
I solved the risotto recipe with new potato, pea and pesto salad. We also had fresh sweet corn and stir-fried summer squash. But what to do with those steaks........
Porterhouse Steaks with Lynchburg Pan Sauce - a recipe I'd held onto for more than 7 years.

I heated up the cast iron skillet. Put salt and pepper on those steaks and seared them for about 6 minutes per side. I set them aside to rest and added 2 tbs of butter, 1 tbs of Worcestershire sauce and 1/4 cup of Jack Daniels and let it boil for about 2 minutes. I cut the steaks and drizzled the deliciously, buttery, smokey, whiskey sauce all over. We were very pleased with how we improvised for dinner than night. And it was local to boot! Besides the butter, Worcestershire, pine nuts and olive oil all of the ingredients came locally or withing a pretty short distance - even the Jack Daniels. Those other ingredients; corn, potatoes, squash, pesto, garlic... all from our garden or the CSA and even the steak from a local producer and the new Downtown Market.

We finished it off with cheesecake made by the little guy and myself. Couldn't ask for a better birthday - I don't think.

Real Seafood

2009-07-30T12:09:00.000-07:00

We dined out while we were in Massachusetts. A real seafood dinner at Legal Sea Food.
I had a Florentine stuffed fish with really good mashed potatoes. The husband ate the special that night, I think it was sword fish with a fruit and jicama salsa. The little guy had cheese ravioli and about 1/4 cup of drawn butter poured over it. At least the ravioli were fish shaped. He now believes that this is the way ravioli should be eaten at all times and not with the nice tomato sauce that mommy makes to sneak in vegetables! I told him that was an obscene amount of butter and a very special treat - but he has yet to believe me. He wants ravioli with melty butter and he wants it now!

CSA Box #9

2009-07-24T07:40:00.000-07:00

Box #7 and #8 were picked up by a friend while we were gone. Also during that time we bought a new camera, so when I figure out how to download more pictures I'll post them. Writing this all down and going through the list helps me to figure out how I'm going to use these veggies.

Box #9

1 small watermelon - eat chilled (what more could you ask for?)
bag of lettuces - dinner and lunch salads
4 green peppers - stuffed peppers or in salads or to use as the crust for mini quiches
green onions - with the yellow squash for a raw salad
butternut squash - roasted or grilled
2 Japanese eggplant - stir-fried with the okra?
5 tomatoes, almost ripe - I ate one for breakfast, the rest will be side salads, grilled with steaks for dinner or on salads
4 ears corn - dinner tonight to celebrate my husband's birthday
handful of okra - stir fried
large bunch of basil - pesto potato salad and stir-fry
large bunch of cilantro - chimichuri or shrimp tacos with cabbage slaw or guacamole or eggs with fresh salsa
4 cucumbers - the little guy ate one last night, this is his favorite summer vegetable besides early spring peas - he has now discovered ranch dressing and must have that to accompany his cucumber slices.
1 yellow squash - raw salad for dinner tonight with those steaks
1 medium green cabbage - shrimp tacos (we had these last week and loved them), or coleslaw, or stir-fried with the eggplant and okra

My meals for the week are slowly coming together. I still have some potatoes on hand and the garden is producing cucumbers and summer squash.
Dinner tonight is to celebrate #36 for my husband; steaks, potato salad and risotto, corn on the cob and salad. Then cheesecake for dinner - which I must go make now!