snow and baking and halloween

it snowed here the saturday before halloween.  which was kind of unexpected, although my phone said it would snow, i didn't believe it since it has done me wrong before and it just seemed way too early to snow.  we just returned from southern california and 70-80 degree weather the day before, so it just didn't seem like it would really snow.  but snow it did, as you can see.  we went on a little winter... uh... autumn walk on sunday morning.

snow means winter and baking, right?  so i just had to use the last of our garden zucchini for zucchini bread using my friend mary's recipe (which is my all time favorite!).  i added some frozen  blueberries and it was delicious!  we may have been listening to christmas music while we made them...

we went to a halloween art class and made haunted castles.  the castle is make from a tissue box, toilet paper and paper towel roll and shaved ice cone all painted gray.  both kids loved decorating their castles and they looked super cute as halloween decorations at  home.

this year we were princess leia and yoda.  this was the first year i did not make their costumes, which was sad and a relief.  with the multiple funerals all across the country it just wasn't in the cards this year, but next year we will hopefully go back to homemade.  but it may depend on what they want to be...

happy autumn!

eggplants and tomatoes

made this recipe a few times this season with the eggplants and tomatoes from our garden.  the sauce freezes well and because it is a puree i throw in anything else that is also ripe (bell peppers, zucchini).  it uses a whole lot of tomatoes so it is perfect when a ton of tomatoes are ripe all at the same time.  we still have a few eggplants and tomatoes to be picked, so i'm sure this will be on the menu again.  maybe i'll try canning the sauce.  hmmmm... eggplant and tomatoes in winter could be soooo welcome.

rustic tomato tart

we grew more tomatoes than we know what to do with around here so i have been searching pinterest for tomato recipes that not only look good, but will be apetizing to everyone.  i stumbled upon this tomato tart.

it was super simple.  a great recipe to make with kids (as you can see i had an extra pair of little hands helping me).  all i had was whole wheat flour for the dough, and it was delicious!  i wasn't sure about adding the mustard, because i usually don't like whole grain mustard but it gave it a complicated flavor without tasting mustard-y at all.

maeve ate seconds and calvin had thirds!  i will definitely be making this again. luckily our garden fared very well during irene so we will have lots more tomatoes to come!

afternoon snack

i made these lemon bars. i used to make them in college all the time and then recently we had some lemons that needed to be used and the recipe just popped back into my conscience brain from wherever it was hiding. such a delicious summertime treat. and it is a cooking light recipe so how bad of an indulgence can they be? :)

by the way, as i was linking to the recipe i noticed that mine look like they have a lot more powered sugar than the recipe shows.  hmmm...

salads!

we have been eating salad every day and night around here. it is simply too hot to eat anything else. we mostly eat green salads but to mix it up a bit i have found a few great different salads that we are now making weekly around here.

the above photo is a raw asparagus salad. i found it via angrychicken.  i used  a whole onion but i pre-soaked it for about 15 minutes so the flavor wasn't too strong.  i also halved the amount of olive oil and vinegar after i made it the first time because it was super liquidy.  the kids love this one.  i am not a strong flavored cheese person, so i was hesitant to use pecorino but it was amazing!

we have also made this pasta salad (we have tons of cucumbers from the garden at the moment and i ran across this recipe that includes cucumber.  super refreshing!),  and the raw broccoli salad from wellgroundedlife's membership site.

*note all of these salads taste better when eaten outside, preferably at the shore :)

where's the veggies?

our garden is ripe with dark leafy greens and i am always looking for more ways to serve them.  my kids will eat leafy greens raw (which is so nice), but we produce more then they care to eat plain.  we make green smoothies every morning, an idea i got from my college roommate lisa.  ours consist of a handful of berries, half a banana, two tablespoons of plain greek yogurt, ~2 cups of greens (spinach, swiss chard, kale, whatever you have.  my kids like to mix greens), enough almond milk so that it is the right consistency, and a splash of orange juice.   

delicious!

i love raw greens, but i am not a fan of cooked greens.  i am not sure if i don't like them or if i just don't know how to cook them so that they taste good.  i am trying to work on this so when i was making tacos the other night, i decided to chop up some greens fairly small and add it to the ground turkey just after i browned it.  

ground turkey meat after i added the seasoning and cooked down the greens.

voila!  no one (especially not me) knew we were eating cooked greens.  win win!  in fact i actually think the meat tasted better.  yay for greens!

dough balls!

we usually make pizza on friday night.  it is a meal everyone loves and i like it because i don't really have to plan for that night, which is nice at the end of the week.  i do spice it up by making different kinds of pizza, which is usually a result of whatever we have in the fridge that needs to be eaten.

last week i decided to do something a little different and make pizza dough balls with the kids.  i used a ball of trader joe's dough and ripped it into 9 equal pieces.  i flattened each piece out and let the kids put the toppings in the middle (chopped bell pepper, graded zucchini, salami, grated mozzarella cheese).  once the toppings where in, i wrapped the dough around them and placed the dough ball seam side down on a baking sheet.  i brushed the top of each one with melted butter mixed with chopped garlic.  then i baked them at 425 for 15ish minutes.

after they were done, we dipped the balls into marinara sauce (which was a huge hit!  my kids love to dip!) as we ate them.  (sorry i forgot to snap a pic of the cooked balls as we were eating them and then my husband came home and ate all the leftovers very quickly).  i got this idea from somewhere out there in the internets, but i can't seem to find it to link to, sorry.

ps. if you lived in the dorms with me freshman year, then you might remember calling random people (before cell phones and caller id) and asking them to answer "pizza survey" questions about dough balls.  i was so excited to finally make them! (with the toppings on the inside :) 

scary spaghetti

we made scary spaghetti the other night.  this is a wonderful recipe for letting kids do the cooking.  calvin cut up the hot dogs while maeve stuck the noodles into the hot dog pieces.  they we cooked it.

it was awesome!

and also kind of weird...  but they ate it and loved it.  my kids did not want any sauce (or gravy as they call it out here) on it,  but i think that would yummy.  fun to make and fun to eat which is perfect for my little ones right now.  

2011!

happy 2011!  i have several posts that are half written but never got finished so i will be posting some fun holiday stuff into january.  it was an awesome holiday season this year, filled with togetherness, family, cookies, snow (a blizzard!) and gifts (given and received).

i wish everyone a safe and healthy 2011!

blueberries!

:: cal finding the perfect berries ::

:: cleaning our berries ::

:: making blueberry jam ::

:: eating loads of berries! ::

we went blueberry picking with some friends last weekend, and we have been relishing our bounty all week.  we made blueberry jam, which turned out way better than two years ago (which turned out very thick...).  i decided to use the strawberry jam recipe from this book because the strawberry jam i made last month was the best. jam. ever.  it calls for three cups of berries per one cup sugar but we did six cups berries per one cup sugar, which is what i did with the strawberries too, and it was perfectly sweet.  

i also made blueberry sauce (which trader joe's carried and was a family favorite for pancakes and waffles, but they discontinued it :( and all i could find at other markets was blueberry flavored syrup... yuck!).  i found this recipe and it came out pretty good too, not exactly the same as the tj's one, but it will do!

i love picking our own berries!  i love that we get to enjoy our berries all year long and remember the sunny, summer days of berry picking!

we be jammin'

we went strawberry picking last weekend.  it was a perfect not-too-hot day.  the berries were plentiful and we picked about 15 pounds!  we have eaten a lot of strawberries in the past week...  i also made a few yummies: strawberry syrup, strawberry jam from apples for jam, and lots of strawberry shortcake!  maeve smells like strawberries now all the time, starting right when she wakes up in the morning and to when i am rocking her to sleep just after a bath.  

welcome summer!

buy organic?

i usually try to buy organic fruits and vegetables.  i do this for a few reasons... one: i do not want lots of pesticides on/in the food my family and i eat.  two: i want to support organic farming practices and three: i think organic fruits and veggies taste better.  but we are on a super tight budget around here these days and sometimes organically grown food is SO much more expensive.  

one night while sam and i were going over our monthly food receipts (i know... we are such party animals), we started discussing whether or not some foods we buy really needed to be organic.  if we bought the conventional grapes, we would save a lot of money.  so i did some research.  i always keep a little list i typed out of the dirty dozen in my wallet, to make sure i always buy those foods organic, but my internet research led me to the clean 15.  have you heard of this list?  this is a list of 15 foods that don't have to be organic because they don't have much or any pesticides on them (after being peeled and/or washed).  i even found a handy wallet list (and iphone app for the technology saavy) so i don't have to type one up myself, it is ready to go! 

i know that buying and eating organic is the best choice, but when our budget doesn't allow for the premium price tag of some organic foods, it is nice to know which ones are okay to buy conventional.

winter solstice

ours was filled with marshmallow making. we packaged them up with some hot cocoa and delivered a little solstice gift to neighbors and friends. we were lucky enough to have our first snowfall a few days ago, so a snowy walk ensued. then we snuggled up and read this, a favorite series around here.

happy winter!

relaxed

sam surprised my sister and i with a day at the spa today. massages and facials. it was my first facial ever... and well, let's just say it will not be my last. i feel so very thankful that even though our lives are brimming with to-do's (especially now during the holidays...), i have a husband that remembers his wife likes to be pampered, just a bit. i am so very blessed.

today's reflection: best new food

crock pot meals have to be my favorite new food. a student that i had when i taught second grade gave me one as a thanksgiving present one year and i never used it much, but recently it has made a resurgence. it all started with this delicious and so easy recipe that i found: crock pot salsa chicken. sam has also been into cooking indian food and he is getting really, really good. so that is sort of a new favorite too.

ps. in the picture maeve has on a hand knit sweater and hat my friend lynn gave her. i love the color and the sparkly buttons. thanks lynn! i dream of being such a skilled knitter one day...

28::19

we made this delicious and easy focaccia.  see the birthday crown?  calvin wants to wear it everyday since his birthday, which is so adorable... but he also wants cake and presents daily.  who wouldn't?

mojito salmon

have you tried the mojito salmon from trader joe's? i am not a salmon lover, but i have been trying to incorporate salmon into my diet (and my family's diet) over the past year or so. my attempts at making it in a variety of ways have been, well... less than stellar. not matter how i make it, it still tastes so... salmon-y.  well while shopping at trader joe's i spied 'mojito salmon' in the frozen section. i like mojitos... so i decided to give it a try.

it was delicious! and so frickin' easy. i highly recommend it. everyone ate it and calvin did not even ask for ketchup!

the party and the day after

our halloween party was a success. the little ones had fun and played well together. all of the moms and dads got along as well. i did not want to go overboard on decorating because a) we don't have a lot of money for decorations and b) the decorations you can buy at party stores are often a bit cheezy and get thrown away so quickly. so i went for the less is more approach and ordered these little paper trees from here. i punched holes in each one and hung them on some baker's twine. i also got 10 helium balloons with extra long strings on them so that the little ones could reach them easily. i just threw them in the livingroom and i was done. oh and i also put up the birthday bunting i make for calvin's first birthday. i liked how it turned out... festive without being overdone.

it was a potluck. everyone brought delicious food. i tried to make the chedder cheese cobwebs out of this months food magazine. see photo above. they looked great until i cooked them. then they turned into chedder cheese blobs. they actually tasted okay and they were gone by the end of the night. we also made the acorn squash quesodillas and the kale and swiss chard gratin. they were perfect.

saturday morning sam and calvin spent a long time palying the guitar. it is amazing to me that right when calvin picked up the guitar he started strumming and singing. no particular song, but definitely sing-songy words came out. then today at breakfast he started singing 'a bushel and a peck'. i melted right there. then when he got to the end, he pointed at me when he sang "about you, about you". i choked back tears as my little one kept singing.

kale and swiss chard

my friend lisa is always touting kale and swiss chard as being the best-for-you foods ever. i like them raw in salad... but that is about it. cooked...well... they taste like dirt to me.

then one day i was chatting with crissy and she was making a kale and swiss chard recipe that she claimed was delicious. i asked for the recipe and she promptly sent it (on retro cabbage patch stationary no less...).

then sam and i were at the farmer's market over the weekend and there sitting on a wooden table of one of the vendors were kale and swiss chard. so decided to give crissy's recipe a shot.

it was frickin' delicious. so good i have already made it twice more. calvin loves it too. here is the recipe (which is a tweaked version of a recipe from yoga journal):

Kale and Swiss Chard Gratin

1 large yellow onion

2 tbsp butter plus 2 tsp

1 head kale

1 head swiss chard

1 tsp salt

1 tsp freshly ground pepper

1 tbsp unbleached all-purpose flour

1 cup milk ( i used soy)

4 tbsp freshly grated parmesan cheese

3 tbsp breadcrumbs

1. cut the onion in half lengthwise; then slice it into the thinnest slices possible

2. in a large, heavy bottomed skillet with a cover, melt 2 tbsp butter over medium high heat. when it foams add the onions, reduce the heat to low, and cover the pan, letting the onions sweat, stirring them occasionally until they are nearly dissolving.

3. cut the kale and swiss chard into very thin slices and add them to the onions. fitting all of it into the pan will seem impossible, but it will wilt considerably. put the cover on and cook until the cabbage has wilted, about 10-15 min. remove the cover and continue to cook, stirring until the kale and chard are soft, another 10-15 min.

4. preheat oven to 400 degrees

5. spray baking sheet with olive oil spray and set aside

6. sprinkle the salt, pepper and flour over the greens, and stir. increase the heat to high, stirring still and then add the milk, a little at a time, continuing to stir, creating a sauce for the vegetables.

7. when it has thickened, in about 5 minutes, spread the mixture evenly into the prepared baking dish. mix the cheese and breadcrumbs together and scatter over the surface. dot with the remaining butter, and bake until the top is crusty and golden and the edges are bubbling, about 20 minutes. serve hot from the baking dish.

*it keeps in the fridge and seems to keep getting better.

enjoy!

making::food

i have not been doing much sewing lately... but i have been busy in my sewing sketch book with holiday gift ideas (i know it seems too early to be talking about it, but i always seem to be crunched for time the last few days before christmas, staying up until the wee hours on the sewing machine, so i am hoping to get an early start this year to avoid the stress).

we have been doing a lot of cooking. this months food magazine is a good one and we have already made a few recipes. over the weekend we made broccoli and corn chowder (delicious!). it was easy, very tasty and everyone ate it. we made lots and froze some. i love finding it in the freezer in a months time and with a simple re-heat, voila! dinner's ready.

we also made acorn squash quesadillas from smittenkitchen. (the camera battery died just after i snapped the above shot so i don't have any other pics...follow the link for her great step-by-step photos) they were sweet and yet spicy. we had never used acorn squash in anything but soup before and these turned out super good. so tasty in fact that i think we are going to make them for the halloween party that we are having. i am going to try making them ahead of time and then just re-heat them in the oven. i tried it in the toaster oven and it worked. hopefully the oven will provide the same results and allow me to increase the quantity. (fingers crossed)