Tag Archive for 'recipes'

Page 2 of 2

Time Together

Published on February 8, 2009 in family, food and recipes. 2 Comments Tags: , , , .

We’ve been pretty busy around here.  School, work, school, work, then finally the weekend!  Since I’ve started my full time job, we spend less time together as a family.  I love having my new job, I love the work, the people, it’s great.  Then there’s the mom-tug, and I can’t help but wonder what this means for my family.  My mind races back and forth, rests for a while on how good this is for all of us, all the while hoping Iz is happy with the arrangement too.

Movie Star

I’m pretty sure she is.  We’ve had a week or two of trantrums as soon as I would walk in the door, but they’ve seem to have subsided.  She’s pretty independent and fully confident.  She knows that I’m here for her and love her.  Makes me realize that starting her at preschool when she was 2 was the right thing (even though I lost sleep / was nauseous  over us being apart, and wondering HOW IS SHE GOING TO MAKE IT WITHOUT ME – but maybe it was how am I going to make it without her?).  She can totally handle herself in so many different situations, and she’s confident to know what to do when I’m not around.  It’s all good.

Twirly Skirt

So, now what to do.  It’s quality, not quantity, right?  You might have noticed, but we have a thing for food around here.  Food that we make. Nice slow food.  Food that we grow.  Healthy, complete food.  So we’ve been spending time cooking and we are having SO MUCH FUN!

Since I can’t start dinner at 3:45, and have maybe, 30mins to really make something before we fall on the floor when we get home, we’re making quite a bit on the weekends for the week.

Saturday morning, we made German Pancakes.

German Pancake

They are so easy to make, fun to watch and take less time to cook than our trad pancakes.  Izzy LOVED watching them puff up in the oven.  Iz has been a fantastic kitchen helper for as long as I can remember.  Now that she’s 4, I’m just blown away by her cooking ability.  She’s an excellent pourer, stirrer, cutter, and a super taster (except when there’s raw egg…).

The pancake was a hit, super yummy, and Iz and I even whipped up some whip cream, sliced up the strawberries and piled them on the pancake.

Dutch Babies

Here’s the recipe.  Enjoy!

  • 1/4 cup butter
  • 1 cup all-purpose whole wheat flour
  • 1 cup milk
  • 6 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Vanilla Extract – all to taste.  If you like sweet, you can add 1/4 -1/2 cup sugar.  We don’t want sweet, so the nutmeg, cinnamon and vanilla was perfect for us.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Melt butter in a medium/large baking dish.  Keep an eye on it, you don’t want it to burn.

In a medium bowl, mix flour, milk, eggs and salt. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish.

Bake on center rack in the preheated oven for 30 to 40 minutes, until golden brown. These can puff up pretty high, so definitely cook these in the center and remove the rack above it.  And, if your dish is shallow, put it on a cookie sheet so it doesn’t fall to the floor of your oven.

To make the whipped cream, chill a medium mixing bowl in the fridge for 20 mins.  I use Heavy Whipping Cream, pour  a pint in the chilled bowl, using your hand mixer, mix at the highest setting until you like the consitency.  We don’t add sugar, but if you want it sweeter, add a bit of powdered sugar to your liking.

* I think this would be really yummy if you added crushed apples or mashed bananas too it.  You could even add a mashed butternut squash, YUM!  The possibilities are endless.


Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes

Published on February 2, 2009 in food and recipes. 4 Comments Tags: , , , .

I remember going to vegan restaurants and having flourless chocolate cake, the first time, not sure what I was going to get, I mean how good could cake be without flour.  REAL GOOD!  Yep, amazing.  If you’ve never had it before, make sure you try a taste somewhere, it’s a bite of amazing deliciousness.

I thought these would be a good idea for Iz’s birthday party, with some attendees not able to tolerate wheat.  And of course as usual, I like to experiment on unsuspecting guests, so I was a little nervous.  So, the day before Iz and I made a batch.  Izzy poured in all the ingredients, stirred together the melting chocolate and butter and kept asking when she could eat them.

The Most Amazing Cupcakes...EVER

I decided on a mini muffin pan.  The cakes would be rich, and while we could all certainly CHOW DOWN on these scrumptious bites, we didn’t need to, a taste is all we really needed. (But I’ll be making another batch any day now…).

Iz and The Magic Cupcakes

These are a happy treat.  No fat or calories because I made them in the mini muffin tin, super easy to make, and puts a smile on everyones face.  Along with a bit of chocolate.  Enjoy!

This is a great recipe.  Most of the recipes for Flourless Chocolate Cake calls for coffee.  No good for little kids, unless you are crazy.

Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes from Bakers Bites.

  • 14 tbsp butter (2 sticks minus 2 tbsp)
  • 7 oz bittersweet/dark chocolate (65 or 70%), chopped
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 4 eggs, room temperature
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 tbsp cocoa powder

Preheat oven to 350F.

Lightly grease a cupcake pan or set 12 foil molds on a baking sheet.

In the microwave, working in 30-second increments, melt together the butter and chocolate in a large bowl, stirring after each time increment.

When melted, stir in the sugar and let the mixture cool for a few minutes before whisking in the eggs one at a time.

Once all the eggs have been incorporated, whisk in the cocoa powder and vanilla extract.

Pour batter evenly into prepared pan(s) and bake for 10 minutes.

Turn off oven and let cakes sit inside for an additional 10 minutes. Remove pan to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.

Use a spatula to gently turn out the cakes before serving.

Store any leftovers in an airtight container.

Makes 12.

** My notes:

  • I melted the chocolate and butter on the stove.
  • I filled each cupcake only 1/2 way.  If they overflow too much, the tops break off.  Which is ok, because someone has to eat the messed up ones, right?
  • I doubled the recipe, and made 12 regular sized muffins and 48 mini muffins.  We liked the outside cooked a bit longer, the sugar carmelizes and makes the outside a bit crunchy/chewy.  I’m still getting used to our oven, so I burned a few that were way back in the oven, and they were still delicous!
  • I started the day before, with a test batch.  These totally leak through paper cupcake holders, if you want to use something, use foil.  I cooked the mini ones without a holder (too much waste).
  • The batter held up great in the fridge overnight.  I took it out 2 hours before making them for the party.  I made them during the party so they’d be hot, it was easy, and I still got to talk to everyone.
  • Laminate this recipe and share it with all your friends, it’s AWESOME!!!!

Wild Mushroom Risotto

Published on December 28, 2008 in recipes. 4 Comments Tags: .

Do you Facebook? (I can only suppose that soon Facebook will be a verb, just like Google).  I updated my status the other night with” Zanne is making Wild Mushroom Risotto with Roasted Zucchini”, and I thought I’d share the recipe.  (I did not take pictures, it went too fast, although there are leftovers in the fridge…)

I love making risotto.  It’s an incredible dish, very winter, so major comfort food in my book.  I love the flavor from the slow cooked ingredients, and I especially love it the next day.

Here are a few notes:

  • I make mine with sushi rice, because it’s usually what I have in the house, and it’s more affordable, especially at the Asian markets.
  • Always use a stock.  It’s where a lot of the flavor is going to come from.
  • Try making it the day before, the flavor is so much better the next day (making this an amazing leftover dish).

My recipe:

  • 8 cups of stock
  • olive oil
  • 1 red onion
  • 1/2 cup white wine
  • 2 cups of sushi rice or arborio rice
  • 1-2 cups of wild mushrooms (I use a dried mix), coarsely chopped
  • salt and pepper

Heat up broth and keep it hot.

Finely chop the red onion.

Heat up olive oil in a deep saute pan.

Sauté onions with medium heat until they are clear.

Pour in white wine.  Cook for 1-2 minutes.

Pour in rice, use a WOODEN SPOON (it won’t hurt the rice).  Stir in and mix with oil, onion, wine mixture, and cook for 1-2 minutes to make sure rice is fully coated and hot.

Ladle in 1/2 cup of stock, stir (with a WOODEN SPOON), until stock is fully absorbed, then ladle in another 1/2 cup.  After 2 more stock ladles, add dried mushrooms.  Ladle in the rest of the stock.  It should take approx 45 minutes.

Add salt and pepper to taste (I never do, I think the stock usually has enough salt in it, unless you make your own).

Serve it hot.

I usually serve my risotto with a roasted veggie and salad.  This time I chopped up 3 medium zucchinis, a medium red onion, tossed with olive oil, and roasted them at 450ºF for about 40 minutes.

There are so many wonderful risotto recipes, they are really fun to experiment with.  Enjoy!

Oh, The Things You Can Do With Butternut Squash

Published on October 11, 2008 in food and recipes. 1 Comment Tags: , , , , .

Ok, get your mind out of the gutter! Puhleaze…. I’m talking about cooking here, nothing else… seriously…

It is squash season, and I don’t think I’ve ever met a squash I haven’t fallen head-over-heals in love with. I’ve got a bunch in the kitchen, some acorn, some delicata, a spaghetti squash and a few butternut. I love them all for different reasons.

We are trying a bit of gluten-free and dairy-free at our house these days, I really wanted to make a gluten-free zucchini bread, but the zucchini didn’t look so good at the grocery store, and I couldn’t make it to the farmers market, so I decided to use the butternut squash. I like that it’s sweet, and I thought the kids would just love it.

Butternut Squash Bread

And they did, the above picture is of the last bite.  It went so fast and is so delicious I can’t even begin to tell you how good that makes me feel!  I don’t consider my self and “expert” baker/cook.  It’s something I love to do, but I feel that I just don’t know enough about the science of cooking to really, fully experiment successfully.  HA!  I did it.  I totally came up with the recipe, and it worked!

You should make it too.  If you don’t want to do gluten-free, you could totally use wheat flour, it would be yummy!

Butternut Squash Bread (Gluten-Free)

  • 1-1/2 cups Butternut Squash shredded (I cut my squash in half, put face down in a casserole dish, fill with about a 1/4″ of water and put in the oven at 450ºF for about 20 minutes.  This softens it so you can peel it then run it through the shredder easily)
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 1-1/2 cup gluten-free baking mix*
  • 1-1/2 tsp xantham gum*
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  • Zest from 1 lemon

In one bowl, combine squash, vegetable oil, sugar and egg, mix until blended.

In another bowl sift together, flour, xantham gum, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and lemon zest.  Mix well.

Pour flour mixture into squash mixture, and stir together until well mixed and moist.

Pour mixture into greased loaf pan.

Cook at 325ºF for about 45-50 minutes until golden brown and fork comes out clean. (Make sure you check your time based on your pan.  This is not my forté, so stay close to the oven if you are not sure, burnt squash bread would be such a bummer! – in fact if anyone has a guide for cooking times based on pan sizes, i.e. – how to cook muffins instead of a loaf, please share!)

* You could totally use whole wheat flour for this as well, just eliminate the xantham gum.

I think what makes this bread is the lemon.  I’ll be making it with other veggies, but the lemon will always remain.

I had a bunch of shredded butternut squash left over, I made Elana’s Butternut Squash Latkes.

Butternut Squash Latkes

OH MY GOODNESS!  These were so delicious!  Another fabulous gluten-free recipe where you could sub in so many different veggies and get incredible results.  These absolutely melted in our mouths, went so quickly I couldn’t even get a shot on the plate!  We were eating them as they came off the stove.  This dish is so perfect for fall (any season actually), and we could eat them for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  The mix of onion and squash was ideal, and we liked the cispier ones with burnt edges.  We ate them with apple sauce.  I’m thinking that this is the dish I’ll be making for the holiday family gatherings coming up, 1 little squash makes a lot of food.

Cooking Wish List

Published on September 30, 2008 in favorites, food and recipes. 3 Comments Tags: , , , .

So I haven’t had the time to sew.  I did buy some embroidery tools, but my ideas are still brewing about where to dive in (and I’m still filling my sketchbook).  But I have been cooking.  Experimenting.  Reading tons of food blogs.

I bought a fabulous bunch of kale from the farmers market and made kale crisps from The Cleaner Plate Club.  It was absolutely wonderful, what we didn’t eat that afternoon, I put into a gluten free quiche.  It was not my most successful quiche. I made a rice flour crust and cooked the heck out of it.  Plus I added sugar and probably shouldn’t have for a quiche.  So more experimenting.  If anyone has a fabulous gluten free pastry shell recipe, please send it my way.

I have been bookmarking food recipes like mad.  Here are a few that I am dying to make:

Warm and Nutty Cinnamon Quinoa from 101 Cookbooks (Her cookbooks are on my wishlist in case anybody is interested in that sort of thing.)

Bourbon Peach Handpies from SmittenKitchen.  I made something similar with the kids, using some apples and they were great, but this recipe sounds YUMMY!  PS – this is totally fun to make with kids.  They make the cutest pies!  I didn’t take pics, I was too involved with the little hands and pie fixins, but they are a HUGE hit and a great way to involve kiddies in the kitchen.

Crispy Roasted Chickpeas from Kalyn’s Kitchen.  I don’t see these lasting too long at our house.

Grandma’s Grain Recipe from 101 Cookbooks.  When I introduced food to Iz I started with the Cereal recipe from Super Baby Food, and it was such a great cereal, I might try it again as well, but the book is in a box in storage!!!.  This recipe is perfect, just the way I like to cook, a handful of this, a handful of that.  It looks so yummy.

Herbed Summer Squash and Tomato Torte from SmittenKitchen.  I made something like this a few weeks ago, and I wasn’t as careful as I should have been preparing everything, so it didn’t turn out how I thought it would, but it was still delish.  I want to try again after another visit to the farmers market.

Summer Vegetable Pancakes with Basil Chive Cream from Eggs on Sunday.  I love veggie pancakes.  Comfort food, and perfect after a trip to, you know, the farmers market.

Quinoa and MushroomStuffed Zucchini from The Kitchn.  I love to try new things, and I have not yet toasted quinoa, I think Iz would love to eat this.

Enchilada Lasagne from Happy Herbivore.  I’ve been looking at a bunch of recipes for this and like this because of the no cheese factor (although I love cheese, I really want to cut back on the dairy at our house).  I love the ideas of layering food for cooking, especially when we have leftovers for lunch!

Cheddar Corn Spoon Bread from Cafe Johnsonia.  I love corn bread and this looks so warm and yummy.

What are you making?  If you have a fave dish or recipe, I’d love to try it!

Quiche Makes Me Happy

Published on September 10, 2008 in blogs I read, Creating, food and recipes. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

Spinach Quiche

There is something wonderfully satisfying about quiches for me.  I find it hard to believe that before a year ago (or so) I had never made a quiche before.  Daunting task I suppose, until I tried it.  They are so freakin’ easy and quick and pretty much always delicious.  This one was fresh garlic, Walla Walla Sweet Onions, fresh spinach, cheddar cheese, eggs and some half and half.  I was a little worried that it wouldn’t work so well after pouring in the egg/half and half mixture and it disappeared.  But I wasn’t about to add another egg.  Oh, and I coat my pastry shells (yes, this one was from the store…I know I know), with egg white.  I bake them at 350F for about 40 minutes, but always check after 25mins and decide how much longer it needs to stay in the oven.

I am not a fan of leftovers, they are almost always hard for me to eat (except the foods that get better the next day…pizza, lasagne, quiche….), so sometimes, I toss my leftovers into a quiche and you’ll never know that they were leftovers.  I’ve done it with salsa and beans YUM!  lasagne filling, Indian food, almost anything.  And they are always a treat!

Chick Pea Salad

I think you might remember that I’m a big fan of Mark Bittman and his NYT blog Bitten.  Well he posted this lovely recipe for Chickpea Salad with Ginger.  It made my mouth water!  I learned something new: toasting cumin seeds to bring out the flavor. WOWZA that’s all I have to say.  After toasting the cumin seeds, I crushed them with a rolling pin as I am sans spice grinder.  I didn’t have any ginger and I can see how it would totally add to the dish, but it was absolutely yummy without it.  And the best part.  For those of you counting – 0 points on Weight Watchers.  I think it has just a bit too much flavor for Iz, the cumin is perhaps a bit to “sweet” for her.  But I can’t get enough of it.  The recipe makes a big batch, so we’ve been eating it for 3 days so far and I’m not tired of eating it.

I think the one thing that I’ve really learned over the past 6 months is to enjoy food. Enjoy finding it, whether it be growing it myself, picking it up at the local farm, the farmer’s market or even the produce section.  Taking the time to make things from scratch as much as possible.  Sometimes it’s just not possible (although I’m learning everyday…so it could be possible).  I take my time preparing and cooking the way needed, then once it’s on the plate, really, really enjoying each and every bite.  The other big thing I’ve learned is that if it doesn’t taste good, don’t eat it.  I’m off to make lunches…

Cleaning The Plate

Published on May 31, 2008 in food, My Road To Fitness and recipes. 2 Comments Tags: , , , , .

I have something to tell you. I’m on the road to fitness. To better health. To losing weight and exercising so I can feel better and fit into some of my fabulous clothes. To run and play with Iz and not get out of breath. I’ve lost 18 lbs so far (that’s 18 sticks of butter! – ew).

I’ve been learning a lot about food and working on changing what I eat and how I eat it. So, I’ve been cooking a lot of new foods. Wtih summer here, I’ll probably be posting more about food and garden than sewing (although – you can bet I’ll still be sewing).

I’ve started making these super yummy Polenta Pizzas. Here’s a recent favorite:

Zucchini Tomato Feta Polenta Pizza

Zucchini Feta Tomato Polenta Pizza
1 cup coarse corn meal
3 cups stock (chicken or veggie)
1 cup red onion finely chopped
4-5 cloves of garlic finely chopped (more or less depending on your taste)
1 medium zucchini sliced
1 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes sliced
1 cup feta cheese (I used non-fat)
2 tsp canola or olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
pinch or two of Italian Seasoning
1. Heat 1 tsp oil in pan, add 1/2 garlic and onions, saute until onions and garlic are soft, add pinch of Italian Seasoning, saute for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
2. Make the polenta. I use my rice cooker which works well every time. Pour garlic/onion saute into rice cooker. Add the corn meal and stock. Turn on rice cooker. (If you aren’t using a rice cooker, I pour 1 cup of cold stock onto the corn meal and stir with a fork to eliminate all the lumps. Meanwhile I’;m bringing the other 2 cups of stock to a boil, then adding the polenta/stock/garlic-onion saute mix and whisking lightly (to make sure no lumps), bring it back to a boil, then remove from heat, leaving it covered.
3. While the polenta is cooking, heat up the rest of the onion-garlic saute and add the zucchini. Brown the zucchini slightly, season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
4 Once the polenta is done pour it into a 9 inch pie plate smoothing it around and making the sides higher. If you don’t add the onion-garlic saute to the polenta, you will need to lightly grease the pie plate. Pre-heat the oven to 350º.
5. Pour the zucchini mixture over the center of the pie, keeping the edges clear. Cover with cherry tomatoes and sprinkle with feta cheese.
6. Put in the oven for about 20 minutes.

I think this tastes best after a few hours of letting the flavors mix together. It’s wonderful hot or cold, and even better the next day. It’s perfect for potlucks! Enjoy!

Cozy Soup

Published on March 31, 2008 in food. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

It’s snowing here, again. March was In Like a Lion and Out Like a Lion. So, I’ve been making lots of soup and other yummy cozy food. (Cozy is a word Iz has been using a lot too.)

Split Pea Soup

I really do love soups, and I have a hard time cooking them so they are flavorful and full. But I think I did ok this time. This is a vegan pea soup with pita bread toast.

Here’s my recipe, without many measurements, because I usually use what I have.

  • 1 bag of green split peas, soaked over night, then boiled for 1 hour before making the soup
  • 1-2 onions, chopped
  • 5-10 cloves of garlic (depending on your taste), chopped
  • handful of carrots, chopped
  • a few stalks of celery, chopped
  • about a cup of barley
  • 2-4 tablespoons of curry powder
  • 2-4 teaspoons of cumin
  • 6 cups of veggie broth (more or less depending on how thick or runny you like your soup)
  • a few tablespoons of olive oil

Warm up the olive oil in a sauté pan (or the bottom of your soup pot so you don’t have to do more dishes), sauté onions until clear, then add garlic. Sauté for a few minutes add curry and cumin. Wait one minute, then add carrots and celery. Sauté until they are tender. I throw the barley in for just a minute and mix it all together. Then add the broth and the peas. Boil for 45 minutes to 1 hour, checking the peas for tenderness. At the end, I blend with my little hand held blender, not all the way, I like it a little chunky, not a full pureé.

Serve with Pita Toast:

  • Left-over Pita in the Fridge
  • olive oil or butter(yum!)
  • Italian seasoning
  • rosemary
  • roasted minced garlic
  • parmesan cheese
  • or anything yummy in your pantry

Pre-heat oven to 350°F. Cut pita into strips or triangles. Lay single layers flat on a cookie sheet or jelly roll pan (I throw them on and mix them together, they are not perfectly placed on the pan). Drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle on spices and throw in the oven (careful not to spill pita). Let them cook for about 10 minutes, but keep a close eye, they turn quickly. We like them crunchy, right before they burn.

*A note about the soup: It was SO MUCH BETTER THE NEXT DAY! Much more flavor than immediately after coming out of the pot. The next time I make this, it will be at least a day ahead (if I can get my act together!).

Remind me to tell you about the black bean soup I made the next night – YUM! and served with Making Dinner for Aunt Melissa Drop Biscuits. They were delish!