Real Food

As I planned, I'm totally doing a real food diet. This is for me personally (the girls still eat some white breads and often a treat or two... I'd like to get them off these things... but I'm stretching them plenty right now!).

I've stopped buying most things processed. If I can't pronounce it... it's probably not coming home with me.  I still have some things in the pantry being used up (spaghetti sauce and my beloved pineapple salsa from Trader Joes).  Stopped eating processed sugar (only find honey, molasses, and maple syrup in small amounts).  I can't find a bread that meets my requirements and doesn't cause a 20+ minute drive to get a fresh loaf so we're bread free.  I'm also trying to lighten the grain load.

I can't go organic on my budget in either meat or veggies.  That's okay.  But I have picked two areas to spend quite a bit of the budget on: whole NON-homogenized milk (it is low temperature pasteurized... I'm just not a weaning baby and raw milk should be mixed just yet) and farm fresh eggs (we eat 5 dozen a week... and it's one of the only meals the girls always eat so it's totally worth splurging there for me!).

My friend Karen is doing a little 30 day challenge and invited me to write over on her blog (when I find the time).  So recipes and thoughts on the real food challenge can be found over here!

However, I did have a 2.5 day spurt where after 3 weeks of eating almost all whole food as I cleaned out the cabinets, I ate out a lot when my family visited.  I felt so gross for days afterward. Then, after 3 more weeks we went to a sub joint last weekend: Derek and I felt terrible afterward.  Gas and bloating. (TMI?  Sorry.)  So I don't think I"ll be splurging on that sort of thing again.  Ick.

Real food really does make me feel better!

Mama Loves: Granola

My friend Julia does a great series on things she has found helpful in her mothering journey.  I'm joining up today with a quick post on my new favorite breakfast (the girls like it too)!

All winter long we alternate breakfast between oatmeal and eggs.

I'm still on an egg-free diet and, while I have found a million ways to vary up the oatmeal, it's summer now: not every morning is suitable for hot oatmeal.

Enter granola.  It still uses all the basic materials (that I buy in bulk or make at home): oats, honey, and yogurt (a girl has to have some protein to chase twins all day!).  But I can serve it cool... and even snack on it mid-day.

I've tried a lot of granola recipes, but I'm finding that granola is one of those things where it's okay to exercise my creative genes.  I just sort of go with it.  :)

Here's my loose recipe, a couple variations, and a few granola making tips.

Ingredients

• about 4 cups oats (the toddlers measure... it's never exact!)
• about 1 cup shredded coconut (sweetened or not)
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour or wheat germ
• 1/2 stick butter (I'm sure coconut oil would be amazing too!)
• 1/2-1 cup honey (enough to make it pretty moist)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 250 F
2. Thoroughly mix oats, coconut, and wheat flour/germ.
3. Dump in butter and add enough honey to make it pretty moist but not super sticky
4. Toss in an oiled glass or ceramic baking dish.  I use a 9x13 or two extra large loaf pans.  Do not use a metal dish: you will burn it!
5. Put into oven and stir outsides/bottom toward the top/middle of your dish about every 30 minutes.  
6. When it turns a tad golden brown, it's done!

Tips

• If you like nuts in your granola, add them in slices or bits before baking.
• If you like dried fruit in your granola (or chocolate chips), add after baking.
• Feel free to add in some spices of your choice: cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and cardamon would all be good.
• Feel free to use some extracts.  I've used vanilla and almond before.  Both were pretty yummy :)

Variations

• Chocolate granola: Add enough cocoa powder (the darker the better!) to turn the oat mixture a chocolate color before baking.
• Banana granola: Mash a banana and add with the honey. 

I think I'm going to try pumpkin next... wish me luck!

Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)

Last January we decided to participate in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) for half of a growing season.  A CSA is a group of people who buy a "share" in a local farm.  We pay the farmer upfront and he grows his crops.  In return, we get a weekly share of the produce (or eggs and meat).  I've loved the concept since I first heard about it.  I love knowing I'm supporting a local farmer and that my food is fresh and hasn't traveled half the country (or internationally) to arrive on my dinner plate.  I love the fact that when the girls are older we can go visit our farm and see our food growing. 

However, I was totally unprepared for the cooking inspiration that comes with having all my vegetables picked out for me! Planning meals around my full bag of veggies was so much fun last week.  I can't wait to see what Derek brings home tonight :)

Here's what was in my bag from Greenbrier Farms:

• 1 homemade ball of pizza dough
• 3 eggplant (one huge, 2 skinny)
• 6 Zephyr summer Squash
• 1 pint assorted heirloom cherry tomatoes
• 5 giant heirloom tomatoes
• 6 potatoes
• 2 green bell peppers
• about 2 pints of okra

 And here's what we ate for dinner (I'm no food photographer... and I missed an entire meal):

Night 1: 

Roasted Potatoes and Okra with Baked Chicken

Lunch Day 2: 

A Salad for Mommy and handfuls of tomatoes for the girls
(who complained when the tomatoes were all gone!)

Night 2:

Appetizer Night!

From the Top: Eggplant Dip with Crostini, Tomatoes and Fresh Mozarella,
Spinach Dip Bread Bowls (with the Pizza Crust), Bacon

Eggplant Dip- Soo Good!

My Dad always makes tomatoes this way with homemade dressing every Labor Day :)

Night 3:

Squash and Potato Cheesy Casserole with Chicken Nuggets (for the girls only)

(Ahem. Missing picture)

Night 4: 

Eggplant Parmesan

Awesome Fork Technique: This stuff disappeared!
I'm hoping for more eggplant in this week's share.

Night 5: 

Assorted Leftovers

(no picture needed)

Night 6:

Salmon and Rice with Cheesy Spinach Stuffed Squash

Night 7:

Chicken, Bacon, Cheddar, Bell Pepper, and Ranch Wraps with Green Beans

(not made yet... maybe I'll sneak a picture in later this evening)

(All of the recipes that I used or modified for this week can be found on my CSA Pinterest Board. I'll add whatever else I cook up with notes as the summer progresses.)

EotMGB Recipe: Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole

It's the end of the Month... and I'm getting creative in the kitchen again. This month we have tons of meat still in the freezer... but not much else so I made a man (and toddler) pleasing creation.

Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole

I'm no food photographer... but you get the picture :-p

Ingredients

• Cooked hamburger (or in my case... leftover meatballs)
• 1 box cooked pasta
• 14 oz can diced tomatoes
• whatever frozen veggie you have on hand (all we had was okra... yummy)
• 3-4oz grated cheddar
• 2-3 pieces chopped cooked bacon
• 3 Tbs Butter
• 1/4 C flour
• 1.5-2 C milk
• 2-3 Tablespoons Dijon mustard

Instructions

1. Melt butter in medium sauce pan with the some of the bacon.
2. Wisk in flour.  Cook 2-3 minutes.
3. Slowly add the about half of your milk.  
4. Add the Dijon and 2/3 of your cheese. 
5. Keep stirring.  Things should be getting pretty thick.. but if it's too thick add more milk.  
6. Dump remaining ingredients in a 9x13 baking dish.  Pour sauce over.  Sprinkle with remaining cheese.
7. Bake at 350 until casserole is hot and bubbly and cheese is melted.
8. Enjoy!

End of the Month Grocery Blues Cooking

I don't know about you, but in my house dinners get unpredictable spontaneously creative at the end of the month. The grocery budget is short, two little piglets have eaten far more than I have planned for them to eat, and I'm digging around my cabinets for something that looks like it could blend itself into a semblance of a meal.  And I thought, why not celebrate the unexpected meals (that are sometimes startlingly good)? We'll call tonight's meal:

Baked Chicken Fingers with Pass the Pasta Peas ;)

Pasta Dressing

• 1/4 C Olive Oil
• 2-3 Tbs Balsamic Vinegar
• 1 Tbs Brown Sugar
• 3 cloves garlic minced
• a big shake of the following
• onion powder
• Italian seasoning
• oregano
• sesame seeds (trust me)
• salt
• a grinding of fresh pepper

Mix ahead of time so flavors can meld.

Baked Chicken Fingers

• Chicken cut into fingers
• Bread Crumbs
• 4 eggs
• water
• a greased baking sheet

Preheat the oven to 350. Beat eggs with water.  Dip chicken in egg mixture and then in breadcrumbs.  Repeat once and then place on the baking sheet.  Bake for 12-17 minutes depending on the thickness of your chicken pieces.

Pass the Pasta Peas

• 1 package angel hair (or whatever you got!) pasta
• 1/2 bag of frozen peas
• The dressing you made above
• grated Parmesan cheese

Cook pasta according to package direction with the peas tossed in the pot.  Drain in a colander.  In the same pasta pot, pour your dressing, cook over med-low heat for 2-3 minutes to take some of the sharpness out of the raw garlic.  Dump pasta and peas back in the pan and stir until the dressing is soaking the noodles.  Dump tons of yummy cheese on the pasta while stirring.  

Serve hot and enjoy!  The girls just ate this up :)

Birthday Cake

My Birthday Cake: Lemon Cake with Raspberry Filling and Stabilized Whip Cream Frosting.

The cover image cake from King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking, except that I used whipped cream instead of Lemon Buttercream to frost it.  If you like to bake and you like whole grains, I can't recommend this book highly enough.  No one would guess this cake is 2/3 whole grains ;)

Milk Allergy/Sensitive Recipe: Sausage Minestrone

I'm loving soups right now: warm, comforting, and easy.


Sausage Minestrone

Ingredients:

• Onion, chopped
  
• Sausage (I used breakfast sausage because it was on sale, but Italian would be super yummy too)
• 28 oz Can of diced tomatoes
• box of low sodium chicken broth
• Can of beans (optional, I used kidney)
• 1/3-1/2 cup Alphabet Pasta (or any small pasta)
  
• Swiss Chard or Spinach, cut up or torn into small chunks.
  
• Garlic power, basil, rosemary, thyme, and pepper to taste.
  

Directions:

1. Cook Sausage and Onion in a bit of oil until Sausage is cooked through.
2. Add tomatoes, broth, beans and pasta.
3. Bring to a boil and cook until pasta is tender.
4. Turn off burner and add Swiss Chard or Spinach.

I doubled this and froze some for a lazy day.  So easy and so good.

Milk Allergic/Sensitive Recipes: Ham and Bean Soup

For me, the hardest part of going milk free was adjusting my thinking to what I could eat rather than lamenting what I'm missing. However, once I did some research on all the dairy replacement products out there, googled some dairy-free recipes, and thought about how I could adapt what I normally cook, going milk-free wasn't so bad. In fact, I'm really enjoying trying some new dishes! But I won't lie: I'm tempted to feed the girls frozen milk for two or three days so I can binge on Mac and Cheese, Pizza, Tacos, and Ice Cream...

So for those of you with the same Milk-Free Restrictions  the girls have put on me, I've decided to start a dairy-free recipes series.  As I've already mentioned, most of my cooking is a fun creative experiment. I toss things in the pan and see what happens.  But since I have two little ones to care for, most of these recipes will be very simple and quick.  However, sometimes I do cook-a-thons on Saturdays or Sundays while Derek cares for the girls, so some recipes take longer. I'll try to remember to mark more weekend-oriented recipes.

Ham and Bean Soup 
Hands on Time: 10-20 minutes chopping veggies. Less if you roughly chop them in the food processor.
Total Time: 30-40 minutes

 
Ingredients

• Onion
• Celery
• Red Potatoes
• (Any other veggies dying to get out of your fridge)
• 2 packages of cubed ham (or a ham and turkey mix)
• 2 Cans of Great Northern beans
  
• 2 containers of reduced Sodium Chicken Broth

 Directions

1. Finely chop onion and celery and cook in a little oil until translucent.
2. Add finely chopped potatoes and ham cubes.  Cook while rinsing your beans.
3. Add beans and broth.  Bring to a boil.
4. Turn down to a simmer and simmer until potatoes are tender (15-20 minutes)
5. Serve with homemade Jiffy Corn Muffins (dairy-free mix!) if desired.
   

5 Dozen Muffins

Last Sunday I made 5 dozen muffins.
1 dozen peanut butter
1 dozen chocolate chip
1 dozen chocolate cherry
2 dozen pumpkin

"What for?" you may ask. Well, feeding babies at night makes you hungry. So we stockpiled these in the freezer and pull them out when needed to enjoy instant satisfaction.

The Muffin count a week later:
4 Peanut Butter
4 Chocolate Chip
4 Chocolate Cherry
7 Pumpkin

I may need to make some more today or we won't make it through this week ;)

Halloween Ice Cream

I have a confession... I ate all of this before I could take a picture of it. So with that recommendation, here is the recipe.

Halloween Ice Cream

• 1/2 Cup milk
• 1/4 Cup honey
• 1 Cup cooked pumpkin (or canned)
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 Cup heavy cream, whipped

1. Cook milk and honey over gentle heat until blended.
2. Combine pumpkin and spices.
3. Stire milk mixture with pumpkin mixture and chill.
4. Fold in 1 cup heavy cream, whipped.
5. Freeze til solid (or use ice cream maker according to manufactures directions)

I'd highly recommend eating this all freshly made as it get pretty hard in a very cold freezer.

Enjoy!

A Pretty Table

Last night I was struck by the pastel beauty of the dinner table. So I took a picture :D

We had carrots, green peppers, and tomatoes dipped in ranch, and pizza rolls dipped in pizza sauce.

Derek brought home bananas for dessert which morphed into this.... yummy.

Did I mention that these babies have turned me into a total ice cream fanatic? Usually poor Derek has to beg me to buy ice cream and grovel to get me to make it. We've made it every week for a month now...

I scream... You scream...

We all scream for ice cream!

Did you know that for a multiple pregnancy 1 cup of ice cream is considered a valid serving of dairy?
When you need 8 servings of dairy a day and you're pregnant in the summer this is FANTASTIC news. Did I mention I've never really cared for ice cream prior to the twins?

It's the beginning of stone fruit season. And the first stone fruit to become available at the grocery stores is my favorite: Cherries! We buy two or three bags to pit and freeze when they are 2.99 a pound. Cherry pie on demand... mmm. So in honor of these two momentous occasions I had a creative celebration.

Cherry Amaretto Ice Cream!

• 1 cup milk
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1-2 cups pitted cherries
• 1 pint whipping cream
• 1 teaspoon real almond extract
• 3 drops red food coloring (if desired)
  
• 1 drop blue food coloring (if desired)
• some sliced almonds might be nice too!

1. Run the sugar milk and pitted cherries through the blender to combine (nuts if you added them too!).
2. Add almond extract and whipping cream, and food coloring (if using). Put through the blender on stir setting for no more than a few seconds.
3. Freeze according to your ice cream maker's instructions.
4. Enjoy in your favorite teacups (so it lasts longer than a day!)

Recipe adapted from Pleasant View Schoolhouse's basic vanilla recipe.

P.S. My husband started a hysterical blog today for your kicks and giggles. Hope you enjoy.

Creative Genes: Part 2

My sister visited last week and we had so much fun playing cards, altering a dress, painting rooms, and getting high off of paint (we sure had a serious case of the giggles!). She decided to make us dinner on Wednesday and this is what she made:


We froze the leftovers to eat when we came back from our trip because this macaroni and cheese was so good! I went shopping with her so I sort of know what went in and what order it was cooked in, but since her Mac and Cheese uses our Creative Genes, it may not turn out perfectly for me (or you) again!

Ingredients to Have on Hand

• box of pasta (she used the swirly kind)
• yellow cheddar (shredded or cut in thin slices)
• sharp white cheddar (shredded or cut in thin slices)
• 2 can Campbell's cheddar cheese soup
• Worcestershire sauce
• Dijon type mustard
• McCormick GrillMates Montreal Chicken Seasoning (this is our family's signature spice)
• 4 eggs

Unscientific Instructions

1. Put on the pot for the pasta. Preheat the oven to 350
2. Warm 2 cans soup in a saucepan. Add 2/3 of your shredded/sliced cheese. Stir to melt cheese.
3. Cook pasta now that your water is boiling.
   
4. Continue to melt the cheese. Add Worcestershire sauce, dijion mustard, and Montreal Chicken Seasoning to taste.
5. Remove now melted sauce from the burner. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring vigorously as you add them.
6. Put the pasta in a casserole dish. Pour cheese sauce over. Place the remaining 1/3 of your cheese on top of the casserole.
7. Bake for 45 minutes to thicken. Turn on the broiler at the end to melt the cheeses a little better if you would like.
8. Enjoy while wearing a cute apron.

Creative Genes

My sister and I mostly inherited our creative genes from our Dad. We have priceless memories of paper mache Humpty Dumpty, a huge hand built greenhouse, a hand engineered waterslide into our pool, carrots and bell peppers turned into palm trees at my wedding, duct-taped Giant Waffle Block Cars, and sweetly doodled Heart Birds.

Dad was also the one who taught us how to cook. Mom cooked most of our meals as kids: she's a master at following a recipe, or back of the box instructions and we always teased her about her "Homemade" mashed potatoes and gravy. Her cooking is precise, scientific and done out of necessity. But Dad can walk into the kitchen and suddenly he's transformed into a magician. A little smoke, some spices here, an onion chopped there, and sometimes a pretty good grease fire later, and something magical would emerge to be set on our plates. My sister and I were enthralled; luckily Dad involved us in his magic as soon as we were old enough to demand happy or sad faces on our pancakes.

But cooking like Dad taught us has one huge disadvantage: when we totally rock a dish, the odds are not one of the three of us know how to replicate it again. We may be able to remember the ingredients and even the order of cooking, but the dish will never live up to the original. We're not scientific. We don't measure.... we don't even write down what was used!

For instance, shortly after Easter I glazed a half ham with a delicious honey mustard combination. It was wonderful! Derek practically licked the plate. I'm cooking another ham tomorrow and for the life of me cannot remember what all I put in that glaze! I know it had honey, yellow mustard (Dad would be ashamed that I didn't have any dijion mustard in the house) and cloves in it. I'm sure the glaze won't be the same this time; I'm sure I'm forgeting something...

However, the other night I was engrossed in creating a pot of homemade stroganoff. I took careful mental notes to share with you the process of creative cooking. I love stroganoff and the occasion of having hamburger to use up gave me an excuse to make it. I made the hamburger into meatballs separately, but if you'd like to make this you could also use any cut of beef you like. I usually use beef stew or chuck and let it cook separately before adding it to the onions.

Creative Beef Stroganoff
Ingredients to have on hand:

• Thmye
• Garlic Powder
• Black Pepper
• Large Onion
• Stick of Butter (yes REAL butter nothing else will do!)
• Mushrooms (mixed exotic are really yummy... but any will do)
• Flour (I used wheat b/c that's what I had. White works too)
  
• Box of beef broth
• White wine (optional)
• Sour Cream (yogurt works too)
• Corn Strarch or Arrowroot starch (for thickening emergencies)
• Meatballs, beef stew meat, or chuck steak meat cooked seperately
  
• Cooked rice or noodles
• Frozen peas if desired.
  

Highly Unscientific Directions

1. In a medium stock pot, melt half a stick of butter over medium heat.
2. Add thinly sliced onion, thyme, garlic, and pepper (I used at least a teaspoon of each except for the pepper).
3. Carmelize the onion. To do this cook it on no higher than medium heat in the butter. Onions will be transluecent and oh so sweet when you are finished. Carmelizing can take awhile, like 10-20 minutes. So walk the dog, or put away the dishes to keep yourself from stopping such a yummy process.
4. Once the onion is carmelized, add the sliced mushrooms. Let them cook until they start exuding their yummy juices.
5. If the mushrooms sucked up all the butter (they are prone to do so) add some more butter to the pan and melt it.
6. Slowly add flour to the butter-veggie mixture until everything is coated well but still looks sort of wet. (I imagine this is about a 1/4 cup of flour). Let flour cook (still on no higher than medium heat!) for 2-3 minutes.
7. Slowly add a 1/2 cup of white wine (if using) while stirring frequently. The mixture should still look puffy and floury. Cook off the alcohol for 2-3 minutes. (if you're using stew or chuck meat add it to the sauce now fully cooked).
8. Start pouring beef broth out of the container while stirring frequently. The mixture will be very thick and first and thin out some as you go. Stop pouring somewhere before it gets too liquidy.
9. Bring to a slow boil and it should thicken nicely.
10. If (like me) you add too much broth and it does not thicken after boiling a little while, mix together some cold broth or water with a bunch of corn or arrowroot starch and slowly pour and stir this into your sauce. It should thicken for sure then!
    
11. Turn off the head, add about a cup of sour cream. Serve with meatballs and noodles or rice. Adding frozen peas to the sauce with the sour cream is also yummy.
12. Remember to feel free to add as much thyme (or rosemary), garlic, and pepper to the sauce as you'd like during cooking it!

Hope you enjoy!

Enjoying the Spring

Yesterday, we enjoyed supper on the porch. We had Rubens, Italian 3 Bean Soup with Parmesan, and Fruit Salad with the lime dressing from Anna's blog. I loved the lime and honey dressing since I have absolutely NO desire for anything sweet! That tiny touch of tartness was delicious.

And oh, yeah, that's me barefoot and pregnant in the glorious sunshine. Really, it's not so bad.

Breakfast or Dessert?

I made my favorite chocolate cherry whole wheat scones tonight. Delicious! I also made some whipped cream flavored with a little powdered sugar and almond extract. I love scones because they are both breakfast and dessert :D

Pregnancy has made my blog a cooking blog for the time being! Don't worry, I'm still sewing, walking, and napping in addition to just eating ;)

Craving

I'm typing with one hand to tell you that avocado mixed with popcorn IS as yummy as I thought! But it's twice as messy too....

P.S. Did you know that there IS such thing as avocado ice cream? Isn't it wonderful that you know that now?

A Perfect Dinner

Derek and I made Beef and Portobello Turnovers for dinner. I never make this dish without my sweet kitchen assistant. He pours in the filling and closes up the pastry while I roll out the dough. If he didn't help my dough would end up too warm and melty. Anyhow, it's a great weekend cooking together project that was totally set off by those steamed sugar snap peas. Yummy.

Cheesy Egg Thingy

My dad makes the original cheesy egg thingy in a pan started on the stove and finished in the broiler. It usually contains only egg and cheese (sometimes meat) and a side of toppings, but I'm too lazy to do all the sides separate. This version was super simple and Derek loved it. Here's what's in it:
Carmelized Onions
Sausage links cut up
Apple cut up
7 eggs whisked with a squirt of milk and mustard.
Cheddar cheese on top (added halfway through the baking)
Baked at 400 til the middle is set.

(PS I did make a cake. It was yummy and I made Derek take the rest to work to give away. Thanks Kaykers for the cake flour tip. Mmmmm)

Worn Out!

Last weeks excitement has totally worn me out! The visit from the nephews, Shepherding group, SCORE!, dance rehearsals and performances, scurrying to finish all the costumes, the list goes one... Whew! All I want to do is nap! I'm feeling pretty good today and managed to clear and reload the dishwasher (trust me: that is an accomplishment!) and am totally thinking about making a cake. Something about cake just sounds yummy right now. I wonder if I have the ingredients to make one? I may have to foray upstairs and get started... that is if the dishwasher will kindly release my mixer bowl...