School lunches

Have you seen an elementary school lunch menu lately?  Disgusting!  Probably about what it was when we were kids, but ugh.  So, I usually pack Will a lunch, usually leftovers.  We're running low on those tonight, so I just packed him a lunch of pepper and carrot sticks, a sliced apple, and thick slices of homemade bread with natural peanut butter.  Made me think of Mom.  Man, I remember just wishing Mom would "get it" and pack us wonder bread with Skippy peanut butter and a tasty cake so we could be "normal."

(So far my lunches, which usually consist of leftovers,  haven't driven Will to buying the school lunch.  What does he care?  He doesn't eat it anyway.  As soon as the kids raise their hand to say they are done eating they're allowed to go outside for recess.  Given that the only other recess of the day is 15 minutes in the morning, you can imagine that Will doesn't sit still long enough to eat much.)

Just made me think of family and I wanted to say hi.

What's your favorite packed lunch these days?  I always get happy for black beans and rice - they taste great and feel good in my belly all afternoon.

-Maggie

Zucchini Carrot Muffins

HELLO hello hello hello

Is anyone out there?  Phew we've been slacking lately.  But I'm bringing it back!  Fall is coming (so I'm told, we're still hitting 100 here) and it's time for a new bunch of recipes.

I'm now cooking for one and trying to lose a little weight, which makes grocery shopping no fun.  However, I saw this recipe on one of the blogs I check and had to give it a shot.  I made them today, and they're delicious!

INGREDIENTS:
1.5 cups zucchini, finely grated (probably about 2 zucchini)
1 cup carrot, peeled & finely grated (probably about 4 carrots)
1 egg
2 tbsp melted butter, cooled
1 cup flour
1/2 cup Sugar
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup dried cherries (I subbed dried cranberries)

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line or grease your muffin tin.

In a small bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon and mix until well combined.  (I also added some other fall spices, nutmeg, cardamom, etc.).

In a large bowl, combine the grated zucchini, grated carrot, egg, and melted butter.  At first it may seem like you don't have any "liquid" but just mix it a bit and it'll suddenly look like a batter due to the water in the veggies.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix to combine.  Add the chopped pecans and dried cherries (or crans).  Stir.

Divide into the muffin tins and bake for 20-23 minutes.


I made a half recipe and it worked out well.  They are heavy when you pick them up.  Really good.

Happy fall!
Molly

How to eat 2.5 pounds of spinach in a week...

I have become a big fan of greens over the past several years.  Swiss chard was my favorite for a while, then I learned some of the joys of kale, and I have now moved on to arugula as my favorite.  Somewhere along the way spinach became a bit "meh" to me.  It cooks down soooo much, and it doesn't have the flavor of chard or arugula.  But, when I saw a 2.5 pound bag of baby spinach for $2.99 at Costco the other day, I couldn't resist.  I figured if nothing else, I could steam it and freeze it, to pull out at some point when all the other veggies had been used up.  In the end, we, including the kids, ate the entire bag before the week was out.  AND (and this is a huge and) Will asked if we could go get another bag and now goes around singing "Spinach, spinach, oh how I love spinach, spinach." Disclaimer, pretty much all of his love of spinach is confined to one thing I made, but still, I considered that a pretty huge success to come from someone who previously wouldn't touch anything green.  So, how do you eat 2.5 pounds of spinach in a week...?

1) Spinach w/tahini sauce. - w/ grilled steaks and roasted mixed russet and sweet potatoes w/oregano.
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spinach-with-Tahini-1222193
Basically, steam a colander-full of spinach or cook it however you like.  Puree or mix together a clove of garlic, 3 T tahini, 1 1/2-2 T lemon juice, 1/4 t. salt, and 1/4 c water.  Pour the sauce on the spinach and enjoy.  The tahini and lemon juice complement the flavor of the greens a lot.  I think this would also be good with arugula.

2) Spinach rice casserole:
Cook 2 c of rice.  Cook a colander-full or two of spinach, the chop.  Add a cup or two of grated cheddar cheese and 2-3 cloves of minced garlic to the rice.  Mix together three eggs, ~1/3-1/2 c milk, salt, pepper, mustard powder, and some nutmeg, then stir into the rice.  (Best to let the rice cool a bit before adding the eggs, if possible, but if everyone is getting hungry, just add the eggs and stir quickly, and you'll be okay.)  Spread into a buttered casserole.  (I used a 9 X 13 pan to make it shallower and thus help it cook more quickly.)  Bake at 375 for 20-25 min.  It's a one-pot-wonder - Yum!

3) Spinach banana smoothies
This is the one Will liked so much.  You can play around with the proportions to find what you like.
Puree together 1-2 bananas, another colander-full of spinach, two peaches, and ~1/2-3/4 c yogurt.  I think it helps if either the bananas or peaches have been pre-sliced and frozen.  You don't need to add any liquid.  It seems odd at first, but the spinach releases plenty of water to make a nice smoothie.  Tonight we had this again as our vegetable/fruit with our "breakfast for dinner" of sweet potato hash browns and eggs.

4) Spanish spinach and white beans
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Spanish-White-Beans-with-Spinach-356051
This recipe was okay, as written.  I would definitely start things off by frying up some bacon next time.
Fry up some bacon.  Remove the bacon, then cook an onion and some garlic in the grease.  Add 1/2 c sun-dried tomatoes and 1/2 t smoked paprika (I just used regular - maybe part of my problem with my version of this dish).  Stir in 2 19 oz cans of white beans (I have no idea how many I used.  I just threw in all the ones I had cooked and frozen in my freezer, about 1/2 a gallon bag full) and two colanders-full of spinach, along with some water.  Cook until the spinach is wilted. Crumble the bacon and add back.  There should be a decent amount of sauce, and I recommend eating it spooned onto bread.  Healthy and pretty tasty.

5) With sausage and sauerkraut sandwiches.  Did I mention I'm trying to clean out my freezer and fridge in preparation for moving?  Well, I had a lot of sauerkraut in there, so I bought some brats and grilled them up to make sandwiches.  Then I started thinking I needed more vegetable, but the only thing we had was the 2.5 pound bag of spinach.  So I cooked up a bunch.  Aleks and I put it underneath the sauerkraut in our sandwiches, and couldn't tell the difference.  The kids were not so easily fooled, perhaps because they were already so suspicious of the sauerkraut.  I really need to move them some place more German, so they can grow up right!

One final note:  I don't like slimy steamed greens, and almost every time I try to cook them in a pot that's what I end up with (or else they burn due to lack of water).  I've found that microwaving them in an uncovered bowl is my favorite method of cooking them.  Just put in a bowl and microwave for a minute or two.  They cook down, but not completely, and they don't get all wet and slimy.

And that is how we used up a huge bag of spinach in one week.  The only problem was that I didn't have any left over to try Andy's power-of-tower breakfast on the weekend.  I'll get there...

Zucchini-Basil Soup

This is another recipe that came to me via Maggie.  I know we've both told Mom & Dad about it, but I thought it deserved to be posted on the blog.  Please try this, it looks like nothing exciting, but it really is delicious and creamy.

2 pounds zucchini, trimmed and cut crosswise into thirds

3/4 cup chopped onion

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

4 cups water, divided (you can also use veggie or chicken broth)

1/3 cup packed basil leaves

Julienne skin (only) from half of zucchini with slicer; toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt and drain in a sieve until wilted, at least 20 minutes. Coarsely chop remaining zucchini.

Cook onion and garlic in oil in a 3- to 4-quarts heavy saucepan over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add chopped zucchini and 1 teaspoon salt and cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes. Add 3 cups water and simmer, partially covered, until tender, about 15 minutes. Purée soup with basil in 2 batches in a blender (use caution when blending hot liquids).

Bring remaining cup water to a boil in a small saucepan and blanch julienned zucchini 1 minute. Drain in a sieve set over a bowl (use liquid to thin soup if necessary).

Season soup with salt and pepper. Serve in shallow bowls with julienned zucchini mounded on top.

I made this with a roasted vegetable panzanella.  Yum.

Molly

Doing my part

I'm doing my part with the summer challenge this week.  I've tried two new recipes from the blog.  I tried Maggie's fajita rub last night.  You need to make that!  The fajitas were delicious and so simple!  Yum!

I also am currently making black beans from dried beans I bought, again using Maggie's recipe.  The verdict is still out on how they will turn out.  I'm optimistic!

Molly

I'm baaaaa-aaack! A "Mexican" salad!

Hey all,

I had a brief hiatus with cooking because I didn't have an appetite and was feeling too lame to do anything.  After a week in San Diego, I'm back and ready to roll!

This isn't much of a recipe, but boy was this salad delicious.  Tom is in dissertation world and wasn't eating especially well while I was gone.  I thought we could both use a dose of some leafy greens.  Here's what we ended up with.

Spring mix - chopped up a bit.  Most recipes would call for romaine, but we prefer spring mix.
Ear of corn - kernals cut off and sauteed with salt, pepper, and a little bit of butter
Cherry tomatoes - halved
Red bell pepper - chopped
Avocado - chopped
Black beans - rinsed
Feta or cotija cheese - crumbled

Dressing:
1/4 c lime juice
1/4 c olive oil
2T honey
cilantro - some, chopped
garlic - some, crushed
salt & pepper - to taste

Throw that all in a big old bowl and toss.  Note:  I did not toss the dressing with the salad because I didn't want to run the risk of having too much.  We also sauteed some chicken to throw on top, but that wasn't necessary, though it was tasty.

If you have any great salad recipes, throw them out here!  I'm not sure why I don't make salad for dinner more often.  I could use a few ideas.

Molly

Heretic's pie crust

For Patrick's birthday I made strawberry rhubarb pie from a recipe I found online.  To my surprise, the crust recipe used oil and milk instead of shortening and water.  The reviews mostly split into two camps.  Fist, pie crust purists who outright refused to try the crust made with oil, and second, people who had tried the recipe and loved the crust.  Since the oil crust was substantially easier than the shortening crust, I had to give it a try.  Purists, plug your ears...  It worked.  2 1/4 C flour, 1/2 t salt, 1/2 C vegetable oil, 6T milk.  Flour + salt, then oil + milk.  But don't mix the oil and milk together when you measure them together in the liquid measuring cup.  I don't know if that's actually important or not, but since it involves skipping a step instead of adding a step I follow that instruction religiously.  Don't add flour as you roll it out.  Instead, roll between two sheets of wax paper.  I actually found that the bottom layer of wax paper was unnecessary, since the dough doesn't stick to the counter.  I am actually planning to use the wax paper for all my rolling needs in the future, as it is much easier to control the mess compared to flour.  I always have stuff against the back edge of the counter, and getting flour on it drives me nuts. 

Yesterday was Jasper's birthday and I made empanadas for the party.  While making the crust, I poured the liquids into the flour, stirred twice, and just then Samara awakened from her nap and needed my help.  By the time I got back to the crust, the wet parts were too wet and the dry parts were too dry.  Chewey, glutinous strings had formed, and I had to add water and literally knead the crust to make it rollable.  I would have thrown it out except I didn't have enough oil to make a second batch, or enough time to go get more oil.  I soldiered on.  For each section I rolled, I kneaded it first, then rolled with all my might, only to watch it spring back from the edge like bread dough.  My 4" circles became 3" circles within a couple minutes.  Cutting small circles leaves a lot of scraps, so most of the rounds had dough that had been rolled at least twice.  I was about to be charged with pie crust abuse.

I cut my rounds, laid them between waxed paper, wrapped the stack in plastic, put it in the 'fridge and set it aside for 4 hours or so.  When I got them out to fill them, they had shrunk and thickened, and I had to smoosh them thin again between my fingers and work them with my hands to make them pliable enough to fill.  I was expecting them to be terrible, but they came out fine.  It wasn't a fine pastry, but it did the job and didn't detract from the meal.  There is no way a shortening or butter crust could have withstood this treatment.

When I did a better job the first time I made it, the crust was quite good and caused me very little hassle compared to a regular pie crust.  When I made it the second time, this recipe prevented a party disaster.  So I am now officially a pie crust heretic and plan to make my crusts with oil henceforward.