If you can't stand the heat, then get out of the kitchen!

One of the few challenges I actually KNEW I was going to be facing in this house was the fact that only the bedrooms are air conditioned. The living areas are dependent on ocean breezes and ceiling fans to keep it cool. So obviously cooking dinner is bit of a challenge because I want to prepare food without heating up the house unduly. Today I tried two new experiments in meal preparation and I feel like I was *mostly* successful. I tried making meatloaf in the pressure cooker and I tried making "oven roasted" rosemary potatoes in the microwave.

For the meatloaf recipe I read a lot of "pressure cooker meatloaf" recipes and sort of distilled their wisdom down into my own take on it. I made a meat loaf recipe, adding to 1 pound of ground beef 1/2 C of slow cook oatmeal moistened with several tablespoons of milk (keeps things moist), I added salt and pepper to taste, 1/2 of a large onion finely diced, about 1/2 TB of dried Italian seasonings, 2 eggs lightly beaten, and some worcestershire sauce. I mixed this all up and placed it into a plastic container somewhat smaller in circumference than my pressure cooker and then I placed it all into the freezer uncovered for 15 minutes. Meanwhile I helped my 3rd grader with her math homework and prepped the potatoes by scrubbing them clean and cutting them into approximately 1" cubes. When the timer went off I popped the now firmed up meatloaf into my pressure cooker and set it on the "browning" level and crisped the bottom of the meatloaf. While it was browning I brushed the top of the meat loaf with a mixture of ketchup and worcestershire sauce. I added a 1/2 C or so of water to the bottom of the cooker, topped it with the lid and set it to high pressure for 15 minutes. Well, after a few minutes it clicked off and I realized I had not added enough water. I let the pan come back down to pressure naturally (the meat will keep cooking during this stage) and then I added another 1/2 C of water mixed with worcestershire sauce for seasoning, popped the lid back on and cooked it for another 6 minutes.

While waiting for the meatloaf to cook I made preparations for the microwave oven potatoes. I have to admit I don't really cook much in my microwave, I use it to reheat things of course or make water for tea or melt butter or defrost meat, but actual cooking? Not so much. I was intrigued by the idea of using it to as it does not heat up the kitchen and it actually uses a lot less energy than cooking on a stove or in an oven. I smashed a clove of garlic and placed it into a glass bowl that was about 8 inches across. I added a few teaspoons of Smart Balance spread (maybe a tablespoon) because that is what I had on hand, you can use butter or olive oil I am sure. Then I added some salt and microwaved it for about 45 seconds, next I tossed in and mixed up the chopped potatoes (about 3-4 medium sized potatoes) and crushed some dried rosemary and tossed that in as well. Then I covered the potatoes with a microwave safe splatter guard and let them cook on high for 15 minutes. Now microwave times and powers will vary, so keep a CLOSE eye on your food when you try this, but it was totally worth the little extra worry, the potatoes come out great. You could smell the rosemary and they spuds had very good texture, a few of them even got a little brown around the edges! I quickly used the microwave to steam some cut up broccoli (official vegetable of the Dinner 365 Family) and we were ready to eat. (The kids also had a side of applesauce, "Because Mom if you have a dinner plate with 4 sections all 4 sections need some food in them!")

Anyhow, I made dinner; I stayed cool and comfortable and everything was ready very quickly, so a total WIN for us tonight.

Tasty Tuesday: roasted chicken, steamed broccoli, baby carrots

To roast a chicken: Rinse bird, remove innards if necessary, pat dry. Salt and pepper chicken all over including inside cavity. If you like rub some butter under the skin and over the breast meat. I usually insert a lemon, whole and pierced all over with a fork into the cavity before baking the chicken at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes or until the thigh when pierced runs clear juices, the drumstick moves freely in the socket, or internal temperature reaches 165 degrees. That is my simplest version of roast chicken. You can dress this as up or down as much as you like, by using compound butter, adding fresh or dried rosemary to the salt and pepper or by adding a carrot and onion to the cavity of the chicken. You can cook the chicken on a rotisserie, on a roasting pan with a rack in the oven, or by placing the chicken into a pan on top of thick slices of onion.

I made quick work of the broccoli by chopping it from the stalks, rinsing it and placing the florets into a glass dish in the microwave with some butter and a few table spoons of water. I microwaved it for about 5 minutes, still bright green and crispy but definitely cooked. Add salt and pepper and you're done. Our other side dish was raw baby cut carrots with a side of Ranch dressing dipping sauce.

Dinner -- done.

Tuesday: The Quick and the Fed

Last night's dinner revolved around a store bought rotisserie chicken, heat and eat mashed potatoes and fresh corn on the cob. When you're home all day with two sick, lethargic kids making a big production out of dinner just won't cut it. In fact immediately after finishing her dinner (with 2 helpings of everything) the baby fell asleep on the floor of the living room and had to be transported fully clothed to her bed. The older child only lasted through a quick shower and into PJ's before she was also out like a light.

I love a rotisserie chicken! There are so many things you can do with the leftovers. Here's a list of my favorites.

*Chicken Salad (mix leftover meat with mayo, chopped celery, salt, white pepper, finely minced onion and a dash of dill.)
*Chicken Tacos (mix leftovers with seasoned black beans for a yummy taco filling.)
*Chicken and Rice Casserole (chicken meat, mixed with cooked rice, chopped spinach, cheese and mushroom soup, then bake.)
*Chicken Quesadillas (toasted tortillas filled with cheese and chicken)
*Chicken Soup (pull all the meat from the bones and use the carcass to make your soup base. Save the meat for the finished soup.)
*Chicken and Rice (make your favorite rice and load it with vegetables, carrots, tomato, onion what have you, in the last few minutes of rice cooking add your chicken meat, stir and serve as a hearty one dish meal.)
*Chicken Alfredo (add chicken to Alfredo sauce and pour over hot pasta, serve with a side of steamed veggies)
*Chicken Stir-Fry (Stir-fry all veggies, add chicken and mix, serve over cooked brown rice.)
*Chicken Fajitas (cook and season all veggies, onions, peppers, mushrooms, carrots strips, add chicken and serve in flour tortillas.)

If you are making a roast or rotisserie chicken at home here are some great flavoring ideas.

*Insert in the cavity of the chicken a quartered lemon and some rosemary sprigs.
*Rub chicken all over, especially under the skin and over the breast, with compound butter.
*Brush chicken liberally with mojo marinade before baking.
*Place chicken in roasting pan, resting on top of thick slices of onion, it will also flavor your pan drippings for an excellent gravy or reduction sauce.
*Brine chicken overnight before roasting in a large bowl or bucket filled with water, salt, sugar and bay leaves. Your chicken will be amazingly moist and flavorful.
*Cook and baste chicken in orange juice, the sugar in the juice will caramelize and make a gorgeous sort of glaze.

Thursday's Dinner: Chili in the Pressure Cooker and Cornbread

My daughter's softball practice/game take up the entirety of our evenings from 5-7, which means I give the kids a good snack before practice, they get a nice snack after the game and then they are ravening little wolves by the time we get home for dinner. I know I need to have food pretty much ready to go when they get back.

I almost made crockpot chili which is a really good busy night recipe, but due to unforseen circumstances with my toddler (total meltdown and nap refusal) I wasn't able to get dinner started until my older daughter got home at 4. Hence breaking out the old pressure cooker.

My particular pressure cooker is a Cuisinart brand, self contained pressure cooker. It does not go on the stove top but is an all in one gadget capable of cooking at high and low pressure, sauteeing, and has a "keep warm setting" that was going to be my salvation.

Pressure Cooker Chili:

1 lb lean ground beef

1/2 C (or more) of chopped onions

1 1/2 chopped bell peppers (any color)

1 C of frozen corn niblets

2 cans of black beans (or equivalent fresh beans)

1 small can of tomato sauce (and equivalent amount of water)

3 TB of chili powder

1 tsp of ground cumin

I coated the bottom of the pressure cooker in 1 Tb of olive oil and turned it on to sautee. I added my chopped onions and peppers and let them get fragrant, then I added my beef and got some quick color on it and broke it up with a wooden spoon, I added the spices and let them all cook for a minute or two. Then I added my tomato sauce, I had frozen some sauce last month so I added it in with an equal amount of water and put the lid on the pressure cooker and turned it all on for 5 minutes under high pressure. When I removed the lid I stirred in the beans and corn and put the lid back on under the "keep warm" setting and left.

When we got home the girls were filthy from the red clay infield so I sent them to the shower while I made a quick pan of corn bread. Some tips for making corn bread (whether from a mix or from scratch) is that you should preheat your oven and pan together. Put some fat in the pan (lard, olive oil, vegetable oil, bacon grease anything but butter really) and place it in the oven as it preheats. When you put your corn bread batter into the pan, having it preheated gives you that nice evenly browned bottom that is the hallmark of good corn bread. When the bread comes out of the oven, take a stick of butter and run it over the surface of the corn bread, then cut and serve! Awesomely delicious!

I'm baaaaaack!

I needed to spend some more time with BFF. It was great to spend a lot of time with her, even if our kids were acting like crazed wildebeests most of the time. When someone suffers a great and sudden loss there isn't much you can do except be there and I was honored and pleased to be there for my friend and her family. Shout-out to my other BFF KC who spent the whole week with our mutual BFF in between my two weekend visits.

Menu for the Week:

Meatless Monday -- Asparagus and white bean puree soup
Tuesday-- Meatloaf cupcakes, pressure cooker garlic mashed potatoes, steamed broccoli
Wacky Wednesday -- White bean and asparagus lasagna
Thursday -- Baked chicken breasts in a orange demi-glaze, pineapple brown rice, sauteed bell peppers and onion
Fish Friday -- Got to put in an order with my fish guy (plus an interview with the Fish Guy coming soon!)

Got home late on Monday night and the Hubby had made an AMAZING white bean and asparagus soup that he found on the blog Lisa's Kitchen. It was super tasty and just the thing you wanted after a 5 hour car trip, light but hearty, filling but not heavy. My husband actually kind of hates asparagus but has recently come around on accepting them when they are mixed in with other things. It was great to see him buy and prepare the asparagus on his own. Moms of fussy eaters take note, sometimes they DO come around, even if it is 37 years later. You laid the ground work, their spouses will thank you.

Tonight's dinner was supposed to be a super fast meal due to softball practice, but softball practice was cancelled. But here is a really fast way to make meatloaf nonetheless. Mix up 1 pound of ground meat (your choice of turkey, beef, chicken, pork or any combo you like) with half a cup of oatmeal, chopped fresh tomato, chopped half of bell pepper (any color), chopped half an onion, 1 grated zucchini, 1 egg, 2 tsp of House Blend, and enough of any ketchup, BBQ sauce, A-1 sauce, worcestershire sauce you like (your choice) to get ingredients nice and flavorful. Mix well in a mixing bowl and then take individual 1/4 C scoops of the meat mixture and place them in a lightly greased muffin tin. This makes 1 dozen mini-meatloaves. REALLY pack the mixture into the measuring cup, leaving no air pockets, so that meat stays together when serving. Cook at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until cooked through.

Meanwhile, chop and steam broccoli in the microwave by placing florets in a glass bowl, adding 1 TB of butter, 2 TB of water, and some salt to the florets and steaming until softened but still bright green. I usually cook them for about 3-5 minutes depending on amount of broccoli.

I made the garlic mashed potatoes in my Cuisinart brand pressure cooker by slicing Yukon Gold potatoes into slices, plus peeling 6 cloves of garlic, adding 2 C of chicken broth (I had an open container of broth that needed using up) and 1 TB of salt and 1 tsp of white vinegar (to keep color bright). I cooked the potatoes and garlic on high pressure for 7 minutes and then immediately released the pressure. I drained the potatoes and added them to a pan on the stove with milk, half and half and butter and mashed them. I added salt, pepper and Italian spices to taste.

This is a really fast meal, if you have defrosted meat you can make everything in the time it takes the meatloaves to bake, so a true 30 minute meal! Everything tasted great too and the kids even had seconds on their broccoli.

Whoopsie Wednesday

Went to get the ground beef out of the oven today to make meatloaf cupcakes and lo and behold. No ground beef. Hmm.

I had some frozen meatballs, which I cooked in the microwave (according to package directions) meanwhile I sauteed onion, garlic and sliced mushrooms in a pan with some olive oil. I added the meatballs to the pan with the veggies, a can of tomato sauce, and a good sprinkle of oregano and some House Blend (tm Paula Deen). While this was all simmering I baked some frozen bread rolls and made a tossed salad. I served the meatballs on the rolls with a sprinkle of mozzarella and a big side of salad.

I will be out of town for the next two days as there has been a family emergency. I will post back when I can.

New format!

I am only going to do in-depth posts on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I will have much shorter posts on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday.

Okay here is my menu for the week:

Meatless Monday: Black Bean nachos, made with refried black beans, shredded cheese, shredded romaine lettuce, and mild salsa fresco.

Tuesday: French farmhouse style baked chicken breasts, sauteed green beans, brown rice, glazed carrot coins.

Wild, weird or wacky Wednesday: Individual meatloaf "cupcakes", steamed broccoli and cauliflower, macaroni and cheese.

Thursday: chicken and sausage couscous with vegetables

Fish Friday: Probably yellow tail snapper (gotta call my fish guy), steamed snow pea pods and Asian peanut-sauce broccoli slaw.

Saturday: Homemade Pizza and salad

Sunday: Roast beast with potatoes, onions and carrots

Tonight's dinner was GREAT. I made some black beans a few weeks ago and had extra, so I froze them. Today I popped them out of the plastic container and reheated/defrosted them in a pan on the stove-top with a little olive oil. When I cook my beans they are very lightly seasoned so I can use them in a variety of dishes or ways. To these beans I added some cumin and adobo seasoning and when they were nice and bubbly I mashed them with a potato masher; making essentially refried black beans. I put some corn chips on a cookie sheet and spread the black beans over the top and then added a couple generous handfuls of grated cheese. I baked them in the oven at 425 degrees for maybe 5 minutes (long enough for the cheese to melt and everything else to crisp. I cut the nachos into small wedges with a large kitchen knife and put them on plates. I topped each serving with some lettuce, some defrosted corn kernels and some salsa fresca. A good serving of vegetables, lots of nice lean protein, and some whole grain chips made this a tasty and pretty nutritionally sound meal. If your family likes you could also add some cubed avocado or guacamole to the proceedings and get a pretty nice essential fatty acid serving as well.

Mondays are still a hard night for us because of our older daughter's dance class, so this would be a great quick meal for any busy evening. You can even "re-fry" canned black beans. Simply get some sort of fat sizzling in a pan, add your beans and a little of the water they came in, stir, season and mash. These are much better for you than canned refried beans which are very high in fat and sodium and they go together almost as quickly.

Back Up Plans

So today I was supposed to make red beans and polenta, but we had a VERY long day and we were all starving, so we moved our Wednesday Breakfast For Dinner idea to tonight. We made some awesome homemade pancakes, from a recipe at Deep South Dish, a website I am coming to LOVE! The only change I have ever made to her pancake recipe (which is nearly as easy and foolproof as Bisquick pancakes) it to use curdled milk (milk with some white vinegar or lemon added to it) instead of buttermilk. I never have any buttermilk on hand so I just curdle some and it adds the necessary acidity and tang to the dish.

I am making the red beans tonight since we have already eaten and now I can just let them simmer until bedtime. If I can summon up the energy I might go get the polenta started as well and then just make fried polenta tomorrow with the cooled squares.

We rounded out our breakfast for dinner with milk and juice to drink and fresh fruit; we had our choices of strawberries, pears, apples or green grapes.

Today we went to the American History Museum, but we got a late start and then we needed to meet a friend at noon, so all we managed to see was Julia Child's kitchen, the dresses of the First Ladies and a children's exhibit about the nature of the inventing process called Spark Lab. We spent the rest of our time after lunch at the National Museum of Natural History. There we saw the famous dinosaur exhibit and their latest exhibit called Ocean Portal! It was very interesting and they had a neat part of the exhibit that blended art and science, called the Hyperbolic Crochet where using the traditional crochet form, hyperbolic geometry and some unconventional materials (crocheting plastic bags anyone?) they create a gorgeous model of an ocean reef. Today must have been our lucky day too, because the docent at the coral reef exhibit informed us that the Butterfly Pavilion was free today, you just had to get your free time stamped tickets to get inside. We saw dozens of varieties of strange and beautiful butterflies in the lovely display, all flying around and sampling the fruit and the flowers. I think the girl's favorite part of the day though was going to the Discovery Center. Definitely another full day of activity. Looking forward to going BACK to the American History museum tomorrow to see all the other exhibits we missed today.

Don't be a Mexican't, be a Mexi-CAN! (I am Mexican BTW)

I am not a food snob. I think I proved that yesterday by cooking with Coca-Cola. I will try anything at least once and more if I like it. Sure, I was forcibly held down in a teppanyaki place by my two best friends (Hi Kayla and Kat!) and forced to try sushi while I literally cried. But I was only 18 and when I tasted it I could only think, "Hey! Delicious!" but I've come a long way since then. I've learned to appreciate many different flavors and textures. Heck, I'll even eat raw tomatoes now thanks to working one summer in a Lebanese restaurant (Hi Milad and Rosie!) and I wouldn't touch them when I was a kid.

But today I was forced to confront my one area of food superiority complex... today I was forced to make genuine Mexican food and stuff it in a Pillsbury crescent roll. My husband had found this recipe online and wanted me to make it.

Let that sink in, will you? I lovingly prepared homemade taco meat only to have it desecrated by being wrapped in the whitest of all white breads. Somewhere off in the distance, I heard insane high pitched giggling as if from an unbaked demon being repeatedly poked in the belly. Surely all of my Mexican ancestors were looking down on me in horror and confusion!

I have cooked with crescent rolls before, in fact they are excellent wrapped around some good chocolate and a dash of cinnamon and then baked; makes a fast and impressive dessert or even breakfast pastry. Or my favorite hearty appetizer "Beggar's Purses" where you take the triangles of dough and press them together into a rectangle and then stuff them with a Mini-Babybel cheese a dab of grainy mustard and a few chopped walnuts. Pull the dough together to close and bake according to package directions. Fabulous! See? Not a snob. But this recipe called for me to take ground beef and mix it with taco seasoning. Blasphemy! I made my own taco meat recipe, simply sautee together a small onion, 1 pound of ground beef, 1/4 of a green pepper (chopped) and season it all with ground cumin, adobo seasoning and a bit of chili powder. I drained it well and added it to the croissants. The croissant dough itself had to be made to stretch to fit all of the meat. I had read the recipe wrong and only gotten 1 can of dough, it required 2. You basically take two triangles and lay them together with long points facing away from each other, then you pinch the seam well so the two parts don't fall apart. Add the taco meat and the cheese to the center, close and bake. Well, the other thing was the recipe called for me to add everything you would put on a taco... including lettuce. Yeah, no dice. I just added meat and cheese and served the lettuce, salsa, and sour cream on the side. Not all of the meat fit, but that could also be served on the side or even on top. The taco-croissants or croissantos as we took to calling them were done in 15 minutes.

My husband and kids devoured them and I have to admit they were very tasty, but I don't think I will be giving up tamales any time soon! :)

Weird Wednesday: "Coke" au Vin and Chocolate Coke Cake

So, I had an excellent suggestion (thanks Carina!) to make Wednesday's theme "Weird" Wednesday. I started googling for "weird" foods and I saw several lists that contained okra, collard greens and fried green tomatoes. Um, how are those weird foods? I was literally raised on all of that. On the same list I saw kimchee, a traditional Korean dish made with the exotic vegetable CABBAGE. I've had kimchee, it was tasty. I came to the conclusion that somebody's "weird" food was somebody else's home-cooking; classing those things as "weird" seems disrespectful.

My next idea was to simply showcase unusual uses and treatments of familiar foods. In that vein I present to you, "Coke au Vin"! (I know, coq means rooster and all but since Coca Cola is sometimes called the house wine of the south I thought it was still pretty funny!)

I simply sauteed some seasoned (salt and paprika) chicken tenderloins in a few ounces of coca-cola. The sugar caramelized and turned the chicken tenderloins a nice brown color and kept everything very moist. For side dishes I steamed some frozen corn and tossed together some broccoli slaw. My go-to coleslaw sauce is super simple, a tablespoon of honey in a bowl whisked with a bit of apple cider vinegar and then add salt, pepper and mayonnaise until you reach the desired consistency. (It takes me about 3/4 C of mayo but I like my coleslaw on the dry side.)

I also made a Chocolate Coke Cake, something that used to be my specialty when I first started baking in grade school. I even won the baking contest at church when I was in 5th grade. The recipe is everywhere on the internet, but basically you add 1 C of coca- cola, 1/2 C buttermilk, 2 eggs, and a tsp of almond extract to a box of chocolate cake mix and mix it up. I top the batter with a few handfuls of chocolate chips. They sink down and melt into the cake as you bake it in a greased 13 x 9 inch pan for 40 minutes at 350 degrees. Then you make chocolate cola frosting. 1 stick of butter, 4 TB of unsweetened cocoa powder, melted together over medium heat, then add in 1/3 C of coca cola, when it JUST starts to bubble mix it with 4 C of sifted powdered sugar. Whip it all together and spread/pour it over warm cake and then let both cool for 20-30 minutes on a rack. YUM!

If you have any good ideas for me for Weird Wednesdays please leave me a comment! Thanks!

Sunday fun day!

Today we had church, then we were off to the Pig Races and then we took the kids to lunch and then basketball. I am invited to go to an Oscar viewing party at a friend's tonight, but before I go I am going to make homemade pizza.

There are a lot of homemade pizza dough recipes out there, I particularly like the ones from the A Year in Bread blog but today I just picked up a big blob of ready to go dough from the bakery department of my local grocery store. Even if you don't see pizza dough out in the cooler case at the bakery, go ahead and ask for it, they may have some in the freezer just waiting for you.

If you let the pre-made dough rest for an hour on the counter it is very easy to work with, just stretch it out in your hands on all sides and then roll it out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface. No complicated flipping or twirling necessary. I make a lot of pizza so I have a "pizza stone" (actually a ceramic tile from the hardware store) and a short handled pizza peel that I sprinkle liberally with corn meal to keep the dough from sticking. Some of the corn meal bakes right into the bottom of the pizza dough making it taste just like a real restaurant crust. YUM! So tonight's pizza will be topped with the leftover spaghetti sauce from last night, some turkey sausage and some sauteed mushrooms.

I am making some more homemade hummus for the Oscar party, some homemade vanilla pudding in chocolate cups and topped with whipped cream and strawberries, and a baked artichoke dip. I will be bringing some baked parmesan crackers and some pita chips and carrot sticks. You know this is going to be fun and all but if I don't get a 20 minute cat nap I will sleep right through the Best Picture award! Good night, hope your weekend was fun!

Computer Issues

My computer was in the shop all day, then it needed to be charged, have a new OS installed and then backed up, so I am only getting to blog now! Also I cleaned, all alone in the house for 5 hours today so I am happy (clean house!) but wiped out!

I made spaghetti and meatballs tonight, but these were special "end of the week" spaghetti and meatballs. The sauce was a can of tomato sauce, 1 can of chopped tomatoes and all of the vegetables leftover from the week. So, some spinach, some carrots, some celery, some garlic, some onion, all sauteed together in olive oil and spiced up with some oregano. BTW despite the popularity of EVOO I never cook with extra virgin olive oil, I cook with plain olive oil. Extra virgin is so delicate I merely use it to top things like hummus, to dress a salad, or to make a bread dipping sauce with herbs and salt. Good EVOO will come in a dark bottle to protect it from the light and must be stored well away from the heat of the stove lest it go bad and taste "off". You only buy the good stuff in small quantities because it is prone to rancidity and it should be a bright spring green color, not gold or yellow. It is also more expensive than standard olive oil. My favorite dressing in the world is REAL balsamic vinegar mixed with a bit of really good extra virgin olive oil.

Step Outside Your Comfort Zone

My husband has been home sick from work, tonight he was scheduled to be the assistant coach for our daughter's basketball team. I have to tell you my first thought was "Cancel it, we're all skipping practice!" but then I thought better of it. We made a commitment as a family to get our kid to practice and to help coach the team. It was time for me to step out of my comfort zone. I decided to fill in as assistant coach.

A little background; I was a nerd in school. An uncoordinated, clutzy, asthmatic mess. I took a sort of perverse pride in always being the last picked for any team. I went to high school football games to hang out with my friends in the brass section and never watched a single play. Unathletic might be too mild a word for it, perhaps "sports-phobic" might come closer to the mark. However in junior high school I did notice I had a weird sort of gift. On PE days where we had blessed opportunities for "free play" I could join a game of "horse" the only basketball game I liked. One simply had to make baskets and avoid spelling out "H-O-R-S-E" by missing shots. I was brilliant at this. Unlike a real basketball game there was no running, there was no one playing defense on the basket to distract me, there was no confusing a person for being on your team and embarrassingly passing to the opposition. You dribbled in place and took your shot. I was sinking them from all over the key, dribble dribble dribble, shoot, swish. The PE coach noticed me doing this and watched me for a few moments and said, just as I was taking my shot, "You should come out for the girl's JV team." Flustered, my hands slipped, air-ball. The other girl playing with me gleefully hooted "H!" and rebounded the ball. The coach sort of looked pityingly at me and said, "Well, maybe not." So ended my basketball career, I stuck to twirling the jump rope for endless lines of double-dutchers after that.

So tonight I went out in my sneakers and my high performance work out shirt and I coached my little heart out. I know basically nothing about basketball, and I haven;t even held a ball in maybe 15 years. It was very strange. We had the kids running a drill where one would shoot a basket, the other kid would rebound, and the rebound kid would pass to the next kid and that id would take a shot. These kids are only ages 6-8 so as you can imagine there were many, many missed shots, and bad passes that caused the balls to go careering out of bound and towards people on other courts. It was very strange to chase the ball down and bounce pass to the next kid, or to stretch out my hand almost effortlessly and stop the ball from going out of bounds in the first place. I felt all those little incidental muscles getting used and my hand-eye coordination (which had always been pretty good) coming back. It was sort of... fun. And while I may not know much about the game, I do know about kids. We have one little showboat on the team, he is amazingly talented for such a little guy, but he knows he's good. He tries to take his own rebounds and ball-hog and take two shots when you are to take one. I shut him down. I made him pass politely. I made him apologize for calling other players names. Because even to a sports-phobic like me I do know it doesn't really matter how many points you score it is how you play the game.

Dinner tonight? Spaghetti with sausage and vegetable red sauce. Green pepper, onion, celery, garlic, mushrooms and a slug of red wine and we were good to go. Have a good night and sweet hoop dreams!

Dinner Decisions: Cheese tortellini in an Improvised Sauce

Yeah, it was sort of unofficially Italian week here at Chez Lost. Spaghetti, pizza, and now tortelloni. This past weekend I went to Costco, or as my kids call it, the Snack Store. We loaded up on necessities as well as a few splurges. For me getting a huge bag of asparagus, bright green stalks of asparagus, counts as a splurge. Normally I am very good about getting everything unpacked and parceled out and planned for, but I due to illness I really dropped the ball this week. I have been very good about using up the lettuce and spinach, since they are the most prone to spoilage, but I only managed to use the asparagus once (and there is plenty more where that came from) and the brussels sprouts remain untouched.

Tonight I used up one package of fresh cheese tortelloni and still have one package left over, I used up just under a pound of ground beef and managed to pack up the rest of it into one pound chunks. I have plans in place for the brussels sprouts for dinner tomorrow and over the weekend and the last of the spinach and lovely fresh mushrooms are going into some fabulous omelets tomorrow.

One of the reasons it was so hard for me to get everything squared away is that my freezer is really tiny. I have a small side by side refrigerator and just ran out of space. Fortunately, a good friend of mine has a spare freezer in her garage and let me bring over the extra package of tortelloni, some bread, and 6 pounds of ground beef over to her house to freeze.

My sauce tonight consisted of onions, mushrooms, chopped spinach, garlic and ground beef with a can of plain tomato sauce. I added Italian Spices to it and let it simmer while I cooked the packaged pasta for 6 minutes. I drained the pasta and added them into the pan with the sauce. Everyone loved it of course and since I chopped the spinach up really finely the kids got a whopping good amount of fiber and Vitamin A plus some iron and calcium. My kids are hit or miss about spinach, sometimes they love it and other times it's like I offered them a plate of raw worms. But anyhow they ate it up without complaint. Other veggies I "hide" in a red sauce include grated zucchini, carrots, summer squash, pureed pumpkin or sweet potato, leeks, or broccoli. Not all at the same time mind you! Just what I have on hand that needs using up quickly. I wouldn't say I'm a "sneaky chef" but I do know that a robust sauce can make a whole bunch of veggies more palatable to kids.

Pizza Night

So, I have a clogged salivary duct! I guess that means my food has been insufficiently mouth-watering lately. It is making me feel pretty cruddy so I am taking it easy on myself and having a "Make Your Own Pizza" night. I will use the leftover red sauce from last night's spaghetti dinner and some thin round sandwich breads (whole grain!) for the crusts. The kids can spoon on their own sauce and top it with pieces of mozzarella string cheese.

I used to have a pizza stone but after a few years it snapped into two jagged pieces when I accidentally spilled some water on it while it was very hot (I was making a creme brulee.) Anyhow when I went to replace it I saw that they cost like $20 and up so I decided to use an unfinished, unglazed 12 x 12 ceramic tile in my oven instead. It cost about $2 and is much larger than a standard pizza stone. I used it for all of my baking now, gives great crust to pizza and bread and keeps the oven temperature consistent.

Hope you all have good health and good dinners tonight!

Meatless Monday Mexican Menu

I am making black beans and yellow rice, a staple around here, the baby would literally eat nothing else if given the choice. I made a side of sauteed yellow squash and zucchini, something I jokingly call "Mexican Ratatouille" and I made fresh pico de gallo. I love pico de gallo! It is a chunky salsa made from tomatoes, onions, jalapeño pepper, and lime juice. You can zhush it up with some diced garlic if you like, or add some green peppers or cilantro to it too, but I like it very, very plain. The colors remind me of the Mexican flag, red, white, and green!

My sauteed squash dish is very versatile and it is a go-to side dish in my home. Simply slice or chop up some yellow (or summer or crook-neck) squash with or without some zucchini. Sautee it with some sliced thin onions, and some sliced tomatoes (or canned tomatoes) and season them all over with adobo until they are getting some brown spots and everything is quite soft. It pairs well with beans and rice or chicken.

I am also making a side salad, since I planned on making QUITE a bit of salad over the weekend and forgot to make it completely. We had so many vegetables for the cheese dip and on the veggie kebabs that I sort of just bungled it. On the plus side I was introduced to the most delicious variation on tzatziki dip with pistachios in it and a really awesome garlic dip that literally had me moaning in ecstasy over it while I dipped strips of bell pepper! I have to get the recipe from my friend Cami.

I was going to make some fresh tortillas, but we have some homemade biscuits leftover from Sunday, so I am going to use those instead. Hope you all have a good Meatless Monday too!

Pressure Cooker to the Rescue!

So, I sort of didn't have a plan for dinner. It was a super busy day and I knew dinner needed cooking (not a surprise at this point), but still suddenly I looked up and it was time to go get my kid from school. And then times moves at supersonic speed until my husband gets home; plus we had 6-7 basketball practice. So you know, your basic mad dash of chaos, insanity and carpooling.

I decided my pressure cooker might be able to save my butt in this instance so I used my google-fu to look for a recipe that contained "chicken rice vegetables and pressure cooker". The first page was virtually useless and then I saw this little gem! and I knew it would be a good choice.

Here's the thing, the recipe called for 1 can of cream of mushroom, and one can of cream of cheddar soup. I had no cream of anything on hand, so I thawed the chicken cutlets, seasoned them and threw them in the pressure cooker to brown covered with chopped carrots, celery, onion and garlic. Then I measured in 1 C of brown rice and stirred it all together. I made a quick white sauce to compensate for my lack of soups. White sauce is when you take butter, melt it, add flour and whisk, and then add milk and whisk some more until it is thick and lovely. I also add salt and pepper (or in this case more House Blend® Paula Deen). Then I made a mistake, I had the stove burner on too high and my flour was not whisking in, it was just making these maddening little lumps there in the milk. Mocking me. I whisked harder and faster, and still they were not cooperating. So I threw down the whisk and got out my "stick" or immersion blender and beat the hell out of that smug flour. POOF, white sauce! I added that to the pot as well as 1 1/4 C of water for the rice. At the last minute I thought, "Oh, I have some cheese!" and I added the very last dregs of my giant bag of shredded 4 cheese blend. I gave it all some more salt and pepper, a hopeful stir, then I put on the lid and set it on high for 25 minutes. Then I was out the door for basketball practice.

When I came home I gingerly opened the lid to see what had happened in my absence. I stood over it cackling, "It's alive, It's ALIVE! BEHOLD MY CREATION!" for a few moments and then microwaved a bag of frozen broccoli to serve on the side.

The main dish was really good, it was a bit like a chicken and rice casserole but studded with veggies. The carrots made it sort of cheerful and the brown rice gave it some nice texture and flavor. The kids snorked it down, the hubby approved, all in all a good experiment. But yeah, as much as I am a "fly by the seat of my pants" girl, no amount of experimentation is a good substitute for an actual meal plan.

Kayla's ABC pasta

I got this recipe/technique from my BFF Kayla and now I am going to share it with you.

Take an onion and chop it into itty bitty pieces, then start browning it in a pan with olive oil. (Doesn't that smell good?) When it is translucent throw in some chopped fine garlic and a bit of sea salt. Then throw in 1 pound of whatever ground meat product you are using (beef, pork, chicken, turkey) Add in some fresh chopped tomatoes (canned if you don't have fresh) and let that all simmer. While it is simmering chop whatever other vegetables you have on hand. I use a "Vidalia Onion" chopper, like you've seen on the infomercial, basically a gadget that presses the veggies through a metal grid to get uniform pieces. I use the finest (smallest) grid I have to get more itty bitty pieces. Chop 1 great big carrot, 1 small zucchini, 1 big stalk of celery, half a big green pepper and when you add in the onion, tomatoes and garlic it is well over 3 C of vegetables! Take the meat mixture and pour off the excess fat. Then add the vegetable mixture to the meat and stir it up with some oregano and some House Blend and then pop a lid over it and turn the temperature down to low. Since the meat is browned at this point you can let the veggies just steam in there. This only takes 10-15 minutes on low. Then you stir together the meat and veggies with one small can of tomato sauce, let it heat up, taste and adjust the seasoning if need be. While the tomato sauce is heating up, boil some water and cook the ABC pasta (only half a box!). I know it looks small and like a tiny amount of pasta but it makes a surprising amount. The last step is to simply add some pasta to the bowls, top with sauce and then mix it together. Because the pasta, the veggies, the little pieces of ground meat are all of uniform size and cunningly covered in red sauce and maybe some cheese, this goes down a treat for veggie phobic kids. My children would eat this all day every day if we had it.

You can serve this as a one dish meal since it has protein, carbs and tons of vegetables. I think if I were to make a vegetarian version of this I'd sub in some cooked lentils for the ground beef and make a vegetarian red sauce, but what say you my full-time vegetarian friends?

Hoop Dreams

So I am going to do something a little bit ridiculous tonight. I am going to make a themed dinner. Today will be my daughter's very first basketball game, so I am going to make her "Slam Dunk Spaghetti and Meatballs"; where the meatballs will represent the basketball and I will make a little "basket" out of the spaghetti noodles. I am going to add some chopped fine carrot to the meatballs (or maybe even carrot puree?) to give it a slight orange color, maybe a backboard made out of garlic toast; and a side of "Free Throw" (tossed) Salad. Is this silly? Yes. Over the top? Sort of. Will she love it? YES, I THINK SHE WILL! So I am ON like Donkey Kong for this one. I will post pictures when I am done.

One question though? What should I make for dessert???

Kid-friendly Dinner

I am making the kids macaroni and cheese, steamed carrots and broccoli, applesauce with cinnamon and fresh bread for dinner tonight. It is sort of a "thank you in advance for being good for the baby-sitter" dinner, since I am getting to GO OUT for a drink with my HUSBAND tonight! This (in case you missed the DRAMA CAPS) is a big deal. My husband and I are in possession of your standard two year old and frankly she has been too high maintenance until recently to entrust to a teenager. But now that she has been successfully potty-trained for 6 months and has recently been a bit more reasonable we have decided to chance it. So here's the story, we're going to go out for drinks at a restaurant and piano bar that is within walking distance of our house, the babysitter will have my hubby's cell number, the 8 year old will have my cell phone, the baby-sitter's mom lives one street over from us. I think we will probably only be out for an hour or two at the most, including walking time. Perfect window for a first time trial for baby-sitting, right? Right.

So, a note about macaroni. Once upon a time my fomer boss told me the secret to all fabulous macaroni was to replace half the milk with sour cream. Like whatever recipe you use, just use half milk and half sour cream. Well, I had his macaroni and cheese and I have to say it is delicious! But seriously, I can't make mac and cheese like that all the time, not with a straight face anyhow. However the idea stuck with me and since then when I have been making macaroni I have been thankful for having that little nugget tucked away. For instance there have been times when I have been low on milk and been able to pull the half sour cream/half milk trick as an extender. I was once completely out of milk and I subbed in some half and half, that totally worked too. I even used half heavy cream and half water and THAT worked. So if you are anything like me and the thought of jumping in the car to retrieve ONE ITEM (drama caps!) makes you feel like kicking inanimate objects, maybe you can file these away as emergency substitutions.

The bread that I made today is from the aforementioned "A Year in Bread" blog. They have a wonderful bread there called "Farmhouse White" and they have full instructions and pictures and can basically walk you right through making this wonderful treat. There is also a Farmhouse Whole Wheat bread recipe, but I usually make the basic Farmhouse White, but I use soft winter whole wheat to make it. When you see bread called "white wheat" that is usually what it is. The best thing about this bread recipe is that it makes 3 loaves at time. One to devour immediately with butter, one to cool and store, and one to give to a friend! At least until you get to the wondrous stage where making bread is "no big deal", you do it all the time, and then you get to cool and store 2 loaves, but I still like to give one away. Another thing I like is that it is a very basic recipe that lends itself easily to all sorts of wonderful experimentation. Add some honey instead of sugar or even add molasses, use milk or water or a mixture of milk and water if you want, add in some oat flour or a few wheat berries, it is very versatile and makes great sandwich bread.