Stopping the Spiral of Perpetual Unhappiness

Why do we do this to ourselves- especially women? We always thinks we’re too fat, too ugly, not toned enough, blah blah blah. We live our lives in a state of perpetual unhappiness in how we think of ourselves.  Why do we do this?  There are all kinds of reasons I’m sure- pressure from society to look a certain way is a biggie.  Some of us were perhaps thinner in our past, and think in order to be happy that we need to look that way again. Pressure and judgment from family members to be thin-  I have a friend whose mother basically looks down on her because she is heavier than her sister.  What a terrible thing to have to grow up with!  It’s no wonder with pressures like this that we have feelings like we’re never good enough or thin enough - that we always need to be on a diet or worse yet anorexic or bulimic!  Yet, in spite of all these pressures, it comes down to a choice that each one of us makes – do we like ourselves or not. Do we give into the pressure of society, families, our own thoughts or not?

Well I’m here to say that I’m trying to fight this negative self image and this spiral of perpetual unhappiness.  I am who I am- jiggly parts and all, and I’m going to be happy with that!  Now for all my friends out there- at work, on facebook- wherever you are – I wanted to say, and have wanted to say for a long time, that I think you are all so beautiful! I don’t look at ANY of you and think “you could stand to loose a few” or “gosh she’s ugly”.  I know we as women can sometimes think that’s what people think when they look at us, but I just wanted you to know that I’m not one of them, and I’m sure I’m not alone in my sentiments.  You ARE beautiful- you just have to believe it yourself!

Holy Guacamole!

Holy Guacamole!  I found a recipe on Weight Watchers for an Asparagus Guacamole. Basically you are using Asparagus instead of Avocado in this recipe. I was extremely skeptical. The reviews though were all really positive with a lot of “wow, I was skeptical, but it turned out great”.  As a lover of guacamole I thought I’d give it a try.  My thinking was, the worst that could happen is I waste a bundle of asparagus and a little bit of time.

Asparagus Guacamole

1 ½ lb aparagus trimmed

1 Tbsp mayo (light)

1 Tbsp fresh lime juice

¼  cup chopped cilantro

3 scallions, thinly sliced

½ medium jalapeno, minced

1 clove garlic, minced

1/8 tsp worchestershire sauce

1/8 tsp hot sauce (Franks)

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp pepper

Directions:

1. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add asparagus and cook until tender- about 10 minutes.  Allow to cool for a few minutes.
2. Blend tender asparagus in a food processor until smooth. Remove to a bowl and add remaining ingredients, stir and serve.

Family Verdict:

I’m the only guacamole eater in my house so it’s just my review today. 

Me: Holy cow! I CANNOT believe how good this is! So amazingly good I literally licked the bowl! You cannot taste the asparagus at all, all the other flavors come through giving it that guacamole taste. I bet it would be great with a chucky salsa mixed in or  just some fresh tomato too.  Seriously contemplating hiding away and eating the entire bowl.

Conclusion: If you like guacamole and are interested in trying something significantly lower in calories, I REQUIRE you to try this. Immediately. Go buy your asparagus right now!  Stop reading and go to the store.

Minor Disaster- Chicken Salad

Yeah it's chickens with guns. It's doesn't have to make sense it's 1am!

This poor chicken was doomed to disaster. It started when I came home for a minute to check on the crockpot chicken. This recipe basically takes a whole chicken sets it on foil balls and just a little dash of this and that and it’s done in several hours in the crockpot. There is no added water to this recipe. I’ve done it several times and it works great.

However, this particular occasion finds me coming home to discover that the lid to the crockpot is askew. Basically meaning all my precious chicken liquids have likely evaporated during the 5-6 hours it’s already been in there.

That night, I get home and try the chicken. It’s dry- like ridiculously dry. It’s all weird and kind of shreds in your mouth- kind of like eating chicken flavored sand. Needless to say, it’s take out night for the Strauss family.

So what can I do with a very dry chicken?  Toss that puppy in the food processor, add some mayo and make chicken salad of course! Do you know what dry crockpot chicken makes? Dry chicken salad! As a minor disclaimer (you know, for my reputation with my 5 fans!) I have to say that I made a pretty kick butt chicken salad a couple weeks ago so I’m not completely inept in the chicken salad department. Every day except for today of course.

This cat food looks BETTER than mine!

Mistake one (besides the already mentioned mistake(s) above):  I got a tad too happy with the food processor.  It looked good after whirring up the chicken. I couldn’t remember if I added mayo to the processor or manually stirred it in.  It’s after midnight so that’s no time for thinking. So, in the mayo goes into the processor, and whirr it up some more!  This resulted in something that looked remarkably close to whitish cat food.

Mistake two: I probably should have tasted the chicken and mayo at this point, but I don’t. In goes a perfectly lovely diced apple and some seasonings. I get smart and manually mix it this time!  Now my cat food looks like cat food with diced apples stirred in.  Just in case you haven’t figured it out this doesn’t look at all appetizing. I won’t even horrify you with pictures. I figure though, that if it tastes ok I can hide it under some bread or lettuce or something.

Nothing sadder than a sad apple

I taste it at last, it tastes- not like cat food as you may be thinking, but more along the lines of sand mixed with mayonnaise.  Whole batch goes right into the trash.  What am I most sad about? I lost a perfectly lovely apple.  

Ashes

“Remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.”

These words were spoken to me tonight as the heads of myself, my family and my church congregation were marked with ashes for Ash Wednesday. I haven’t done this in 20 years.  My first thoughts go to death of course, my own mortality. I look down at my daughter and her ashes and realize someday she will die too.  That is life, but knowing that doesn’t keep me from being terrified of it. 

My thoughts then wander to: how many fellow Christians through the ages have been marked in this way- with ashes, with the same words spoken over them?  I would guess that for probably hundreds of years maybe over a thousand years men and women have been marked in this same way.  Ashes. My mind wanders again to the Old Testament where the mournful and repentant would cover themselves in ashes.

My fear and sorrow turns into awe and beauty, as I find myself united with my brothers and sisters in Christ and believers in God throughout the world, the centuries, and through the ages. I stand in awe of the enduring love, respect, and fear of God that has withstood the test of time. I stand in awe that I have been chosen to be a link in the chain that spans across time. That I, that we, are connected in a great and mysterious way to a great, powerful, and loving God-our King of Kings.

A New Beginning with Vegetable Soup

I started Weight Watchers again the February 14^th  week. I’m like a terrible yo-yo. I’ve gained and the lost the same 20 lbs so many times it’s ridiculous, but here I am again.  Since I last joined the program they’ve changed the system to this new Points Plus program. I’m pretty sure I get in trouble for talking about details, but one of the perks to this new program is that almost all vegetables and fruits are 0 points! That was a big promo for the new plan so I’m pretty sure I’m not getting sued here. So now I have an even greater incentive to keep trying new veggies and old veggies in NEW ways!

This week as part of the kick off to their new program they provided me with a very popular Fresh Vegetable Soup recipe.  I headed off to the grocery store and ended up with so many fresh fruits and veggies I had/am having serious space issues in my refrigerator.  I took their Fresh Vegetable Soup suggestion and made it my own.

Fresh Vegetable and Matzo Soup

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, diced

3 carrots, diced

1 red bell pepper, diced

2 celery stalks diced

2 small zucchini, diced

2 cups green cabbage, shredded/sliced thin

2 cups kale

2 cups cauliflower, small florets

2 cups broccoli, small florets

1 tsp dried thyme

8-10 cups chicken stock  (or my usual 1 box of chicken stock + 1 box of water-refill chicken stock + add bullion cube +extra water if needed)

Salt and pepper to taste

Additional:

1 packet from the box of Manischewitz® Matzo Ball Mix

Needed for mix: 2 eggs, and 2 tbsp vegetable oil

Instructions:

After chopping all the veggies, put them in a large soup pot with the chicken stock, and start the water to get it to boil.

Mix up the package of Matzo Ball Mix according to the package (mix with fork, stick in fridge for 15 minutes)

After the 15 minute the soup should be boiling if not, then wait until it is.  Wet hands, and make tiny balls with the matzo mix. The box mix said that each packet should make between 9-12 balls, well I made mine so tiny I got like 17-18 balls in my soup.  Drop the matzo balls into the soup.  Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

Family verdict

Me: I  thought should mention that I did my box of chicken stock, add water and bullion, however I forgot to actually add the bullion.  The flavor of stock actually still came through, but the soup needed a little more salt than it would needed otherwise.  The flavor was really good on the whole soup despite my little mix up.  Matzo balls really helped it be more filling. Oh! The Matzo balls- remember how tiny I said to make them- they blowup to the size of store bought meatballs.  Matzo is awesome it gets so huge! I need protein with my meals so I grilled up a chili lime chicken burger and dipped in mustard for my protein.  Very balanced and filling.

Toby: He actually liked it too.  He noticed the lack of salt thing actually, but still said it was good. 

Natalie was with Grandma and Grandpa that night so she didn’t try it.

Conclusion:

Bravo weight watchers (and Erica!) for your fabulously healthy soup.  I would make this again.  I may try adding chicken chunks to the soup in the future, but having the protein on the side worked fine too.  If you have not tried Matzo balls yet, I require you to make a soup using Matzo balls in the near future. They are just too much fun. 

Short and Sweet

Wow just a tad behind, sorry friends and family. This recipe/experiment is from the February 7th week. Digging into the recesses of my brain I remember we tried a new sweet potato recipe from my cousin-in-law (is that even a term?) Brenda Kendall.  It’s a crock pot side dish which was interesting. Our recipe this week was:

Coconut-Pecan Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup flaked coconut
1/3 cup sugar
4 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup reduced-fat butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon coconut extract
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions
Place sweet potatoes in a 5-qt. slow cooker coated with cooking spray. Combine the pecans, coconut, sugar, brown sugar, butter, cinnamon and salt; sprinkle over potatoes.
Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until potatoes are tender. Stir in extracts. Yield: 12 servings.

Family Verdict: 

Me: The flavor was good, but it was very sweet. It was more a dessert than a side dish for dinner. I served it along side of rosemary herb pork chops to help balance the sweetness a bit.

Toby: Not such a big fan of anything sweet at dinner. I think he had some but not a lot.

Natalie: Sorry, it’s been a couple weeks and I’m stretching to remember. I want to say she ate a bite or two. I don’t think she devoured it, else I would have remembered that.

Conclusion:

Would not make as a side dish with dinner again, but perhaps mashed up and stuffed in a pie shell?

I was hoping to have tried the sweet potato biscuits recipe I also got from Brenda, but I ran out of time and sweet potatoes- oh well saving for another day.

What I DID and DID NOT do

This past week was not a very good week for the Strauss house. My plans for my vegetable- sweet potato, did not go quite so well. In fact, nothing I had planned actually went at all.  But alas, fear not my loyal followers, my vegetables endeavors did not go completely to the way side! So, here it what I DID and DID NOT do this past week: I DID-make a recipe using sweet potatoes, and a recipe using kale this past week. I DID NOT get pictures of any of these things, and, as I said, I did not use any of the actual recipes I had planned for.

Recipe #1

Roasted Balsamic Vegetables

½ small butternut squash, peeled and cubed

1 bell pepper  (I had ½ green, ½ red)

1 sweet potato, peeled and cubed

3 Yukon Gold potatoes, cubed

½ red onion, chunked and separated

1 cup whole white mushrooms

1 tsp dried thyme leaves

1 tsp dried rosemary

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat Oven to 475
2. In a large bowl combine vegetables.
3. In a small bowl stir together thyme, rosemary, olive oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Toss with vegetables until they are coated. Spread evenly on a large roasting pan
4. Roast for 35-40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes or until vegetables are cooked through and browned.

Family Verdict:

Me:  Pouring the balsamic vinegar for the recipe, I fell in love with it again. The smell brings me right to summer and caprese salad. The veggies had a nice glaze and good flavor. The butternut squash was disappointing I’d cut that next go around, and stick to my butter, salt, and pepper for those babies.

Toby: No mushrooms for Toby, but other than that he approved of the side dish.

Natalie: Not too crazy about the glaze. May consider roasting some without the balsamic for her next time. She’s not a real big potato person now, but I think she would have eaten some sweet potato and mushrooms had it not had the glaze on it.

Conclusion: Will make again with minor adjustments- no butternut squash, possibly a smaller roasted version for Natalie without the glaze.

Recipe #2:

It’s Thursday- almost the end of the week, home late after Karate and I just need something quick and mindless for dinner. Result: made to order eggs, bacon, and toast. My boring family had scrambled, and over easy eggs. I’m an omelet girl myself. Inspired by a recipe I got from Michelle Kendall. I created this omelet.

Vegetable Omelet

3 eggs, beaten

2 tsp olive oil

3-4 sliced mushrooms

2 tbsp red onion

3 tbsp chopped kale

2 tbsp chopped tomato

2-3 slices cooked bacon, chopped

salt and pepper to taste

1 slice cheese

*note: vegetable amounts are guesses, I don’t actual measure that stuff, which is why I usually have more vegetables than eggs in my pan.

1. Heat small frying pan with oil on med-high heat. Saute mushrooms, onion, and kale until onion is translucent.
2. Add eggs, tomato, and bacon to the pan. Salt and Pepper to Taste.
3. After first side is solid, flip omelet. Put cheese on top. Cook another 1-2 minutes then remove from pan, and fold in half on a plate.

Family Verdict:

    Just me this go around as my family is boring with eggs. I loved it though. You can add pretty much whatever veggies and stuff you want to omelets that why I love them. The tricky part is planning ahead to make sure your veggies are cooked through, or not overcooked. I imagine using broccoli or asparagus you would need to blanch first or something so it was half cooked, or at least sauté until soft, and then on the opposite methinks tomatoes wouldn’t do so well hanging out with the onions so long.

   Typically for omelets I do some form of bell peppers and onion, but I purposely left out the peppers this go around for a new flavor. The kale blended in fine I thought. Just like adding spinach to an omelet.  Bacon added the little extra it needed for perfection.

Conclusion:

Definitely have again.

As a side note for the week I did make the fajita vegetables with the kale the other night to go with carne asada. It was good as usual. Here’s hoping next week goes a little smoother menu-wise- and life-wise!  Until next time, Happy Cooking. As always, let me know if you try anything- curious to know your thoughts and ideas.

Seeing Green

This week’s experiments were with three different types of greens. Not lettuces, but the stuff in the grocery store that’s not displayed with the lettuces, but still looks like it’s part of some mean looking salad.  These different greens look all kinds of crazy: prickly-pointy looking, super ruffley, delicate and fragile, potentially a weed from my backyard, or questionably edible. If you haven’t really looked at this stuff closely you should go check it out.  Smith’s grocery store on Horizon Ridge and Eastern is amazing for hard to find produce. I found all my greens there (and a bunch of stuff I would have gotten hit in the head with if asked to name it).  On to the experiments and the results!

Experiment 1:  Kale

Category: super ruffley and questionably edible. I actually have worked with Kale in the past. When I was trying to find good edible non-milk sources of calcium, Kale was on the list.  I wilted it in with Peppers and Onions for Fajitas. It wasn’t actually bad, just a bit chewy.  I haven’t made it in awhile, but I’d make it again- maybe try to find a way to make it less chewy.

This week’s experiment was Kale Chips. I had read about Kale chips on the CNN article I read about trying to eat more veggies- the one that kind of started the whole thing. Then this past week Eileen pointed it out in a magazine as something that sounded interesting. So I thought I’d give it a try. It was quick and easy to make so why not.

Kale Chips

Tear Kale leaves into pieces, toss with olive oil, salt and pepper. Spread on a Baking Sheet. Bake at 300 degrees until crisp- about 20-30 minutes.

These were my instructions no amounts or anything. So I tear the leaves, pour a little olive oil on- which actually seemed like too much. Somewhere I get it in my head that it said Kosher salt. So I poured a little on the kale- once again it looks like too much. Tossed it around, put it on a baking sheet and dosed in pepper.  I bake for 20 minutes.  

Family Verdict

Natalie is not even going to count this week. If it looks anything like lettuce/salad she won’t even give it a fair shot. So assume Natalie says “I don’t like it.” with a squished up face and her tongue out with a piece of green something on it. On this recipe I think Toby really summed it up with his insightful and eloquent reply: “This tastes like salted paper.” For once, my dear, I must agree. The kosher salt made it so salty it was gross. It had a flavor a little more than paper, but it was still just not right.

Conclusion:  Kale isn’t bad. I don’t want to give it a bad rap, but this recipe is bad or I made it wrong. Kale is used in soups frequently in small quantities and it’s good, and like I said I’d do the fajitas again.

Experiment #2  Broccoli Rabe a.k.a Rapini

coarsely chopped rapini

Category: Potentially a weed from my back yard. Shout out to my home-girl Brenda Blackie Kendall who supplied me with the recipe for this green!  Looking for inspiration, I messaged my two cousins on Toby’s side for their best veggie recipes. These girls and their family’s eat almost totally (if not totally) vegetarian so I figured they are well versed on what is good.  I’m hoping to try some more of their stuff as time goes on. 

 Broccoli Rabe and Garlic Pasta

-slightly modified by me

12 ounces uncooked linguine or fettuccini

1 lb Broccoli Rabe

5 garlic cloves, minced (divided 3 and 2)

2 tbsp olive oil

¼ tsp salt

¼ tsp pepper

¼ tsp red pepper flakes

1 cup chicken broth divided

¼ shredded Parmesan cheese

1 lb raw shrimp- shelled, tail off

1. Cook linguine or fettuccini according to package directions. Meanwhile trim ½ from broccoli rabe stems; discard any coarse or damaged leaves. Rinse broccoli rabe in cold water and cut into 2 inch pieces.

2. In a large skillet sauté 3 cloves garlic in 1 tbsp oil for 1 minute. Add the Broccoli Rabe, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes and ½ cup broth (only half of the broth). Bring to a boil

3. Reduce heat; cover and cook for 3-5 minutes or until broccoli rabe is tender.Remove broccoli rabe mixture from the pan to a plate or bowl. 

4. Add 1 tbsp oil back to the pan and heat. Add 2 cloves garlic and shelled shrimp to the hot pan. Cook until shrimp are pink- just a few minutes.

5. Return Broccoli Rabe mixture to the pan. Drain cooked linguine and add to the shrimp and broccoli rabe mixture. Add remaining broth to the pan. Stir to combine. Top with Parmesan Cheese.

 

Family Verdict:

Me: Really good. The broccoli rabe I thought tasted very similar to broccoli. Maybe I was just expecting that because of the name, but it was good.  If you didn’t guess my recipe tweek was to add to the shrimp (I also removed the parsley because as I said in a previous blog entry I just don’t buy parsley).  I have to admit I got hungry really quick after dinner that night. I actually don’t know if I had a pound of shrimp, but whatever I had it was no where near enough. Next time I’ll add more shrimp and possibly Sea Scallops to the recipe.  Today with leftovers I actually added fresh steamed broccoli as well, and I thought that really helped add to the bulk and the flavor. So I may try mixing my “broccoli’s next time.  Oh, and the recipe called for 12 ounces of pasta which isn’t a whole box, but it’s most of a box which I find annoying so next time I may up a couple of the other ingredients so the pasta isn’t dry and use the whole box.

Toby: “A delicious and healthy meal”  Score! I think Toby will like it even more with a little more shrimp and the broccoli. 

Natalie: She loved the noodles, cheese, and the shrimp. It’s a no go on the salad-looking greens. Though, I bet I’d have better luck with her eating actual broccoli on this.

Conclusion: A keeper with the adjustment of more shrimp/scallops and the addition of broccoli. 

Experiment #3  Escarole

Category: delicate and fragile. This green I actually thought was the most beautiful of the 3 greens I purchased this week. It reminded me very much of butter lettuce in its look. I was pretty excited to work with it.  This recipe also came from Eileen who found these pair of recipes from Chef Sal Scognamillo of New York’s Patsy’s restaurant.

Recipes:  Penne Bolognese and Escarole Monacina. Like Fancy Nancy, I just feel so fancy when I say these recipe names.  The Escarole Monocina was of course the green recipe, but I’ll share both with you. I’m dying to comment on the ingredients and me making these, but I’ll save it for after I type out these recipes.

Penne Bolognese

5 medium white mushrooms, cleaned and sliced

¼ cup olive oil (I used maybe 2-3 tbsp instead)

1 small yellow onion, finely chopped

3 garlic cloves, minced

½ pound finely ground lean beef

1 16 ounce can plum tomatoes, with juice (I used a can of whole tomatoes with juice)

2 bay leaves

¼ cup Cabernet Sauvignon

¼ cup beef broth

Pinch of oregano

2 tbsp unsalted butter

1 tbsp flat leaf parsley (didn’t use-surprise surprise)

salt and pepper to taste

4 tbsp Parmigiano-Reggiano

1 lb penne cooked al dente

Bring a Large Pot of Water to a boil, add the mushrooms, and blanch of 2 minutes. Drain, chop finely (I whirred mine up in the food processor), and set aside.

Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high flame and sauté the onions for 3-4 minutes, or until lightly browned. Add the blanched mushrooms, garlic, and ground beef and continue to cook and stir to 7-8 minutes.

Coarsely chop the tomatoes and add with their juice, then bay leaves, wine, broth , and oregano. Bring to a boil, reduced heat to low, and simmer uncovered for 15 minutes.

Remove bay leaves. Add butter and parsley and season with salt and pepper. Sprinkle and stir in the Parmigiano-Reggiano. Serve over the cooked pasta. 

Escarole monacina

1 bunch of escarole (washed and rinsed)

4 cloves of garlic

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil (I once again used about half)

12 Gaeta olives (used black olives)

2 tbsp nonpareil capers

2 anchovy fillets, cut very fine

2 tbsp pignoli nuts (pine nuts)

2 tbsp raisins

salt and pepper to taste.

Roughly cut and then boil the escarole for about 5 minutes. Drain the water and let cool. Cut escarole down a little more.

Saute olive oil and 4 cloves of garlic, sliced, until the garlic is brown. Add the capers, escarole, olives, anchovy fillets, nuts, raisins, salt and pepper. Saute for 1-2 minutes. Add half a cup of water and cook for another 3-4 minutes until the water is almost dissolved.

Top with seasoned bread crumbs, and place under the broiler for about 2 minutes until lightly browned.

Oh my goodness where do I start on this adventure? Ok the Penne Bolognese I was afraid to even try because the recipe called for red wine. Every recipe I’ve tried with red wine has pretty much been a disaster.  I decided to still give it a try because it called for so little of it.  The 16 ounces of plum tomatoes. Come on, the cans come in 14.5 ounce or 28 ounce- why can’t my recipes pick one of THOSE sizes?? Sigh. Purchased 28 ounce can used a little more than half.  Penne calls for 1 pound. My Penne comes in 14 ounces or something. Turns out 1 14 ounce box was MORE than enough. 

Cool thing about this recipe- the mushrooms when they are either finely diced or whirred in the food processor, turn out to look identical to the ground beef once it’s all mixed together. I think it adds to the beefiness without adding a lot of calories.  Although with the called for ¼ cup of olive oil and 2 tbsp of butter I think have more pressing worries on calories than the beef.

Cooking the Bolognese: 1^st step calls for me to “blanch” the mushrooms. I suppose I could have looked it up, but I assumed that meant boil for 2 minutes then remove. Turned out ok so I guess I did that right. Everything else went along without a hitch. Fishing out the bay leaves was a bit of a challenge, but it all worked out in the end.

Escarole monacina: wow, umm lets start with the ingredients since basically every ingredient has a comment! Beautiful escarole, 4 cloves of garlic – I  used about an entire head of garlic between this recipe and the last. It’s all well and good though because I love garlic. I love going to bed at night and still smelling garlic on my hands.  Gaeta olives- ok for real? Eileen had to look it up she said it was a type of black olive or at least it looked black.  Go to aisle at the grocery store with olives- only the regular types: black, green, kalamata, capers. This Smith’s actually has a salad bar like area with like a million different olives. Do you think there was anything listed Gaeta? The olive lady behind the counter didn’t know what they were. I came home with a can of black olives. 

Nonpariel capers.  I had capers in my fridge I didn’t know if they were “nonpareil”, but seriously didn’t care they were getting used. Turns out they were. Lucky me. Anchovy filets.  Once again almost didn’t try the recipe because of this, but Eileen assured me that they don’t taste like fish they just add saltiness to the dish and are a nice background flavor.   Pignoli nut- ok, so I know you’re a famous NYC chef, but if you are giving a recipe to the public just call it a pine nut for goodness sake.

Unhappy Wet Cat or Boiled Escarole? You Decide.

So I’m getting ready to start cooking this recipe and the first thing it asks me to do is BOIL the escarole. Boil my lovely delicate leaves. Are you sure? Don’t you mean “steam” perhaps? Well whatever, it says boil. Plop they go into the boiling water.  5 minutes later I pull it out and my poor escarole looks like an unhappy wet cat.

My anchovy filets to be cut “very fine” was more of an anchovy paste when I was done.

Two funny things happened at the end- or didn’t happen as it were. I didn’t realize until just now when I was typing out the recipe that it asked me to add water to the pan and cook it down just before the end. Oops.

So, I’m at the end of sauteing and I think I’m ready to go and I see it says to top with seasoned bread crumbs (which aren’t part of the ingredients list I have to say in my defense) and broil.  Meh. Tired, don’t wanna do it.  Plop it goes into a bowl and onto the table.  Good times.

Conclusion:

Me: Penne Bolognese – my first attempt at cooking with red wine that didn’t taste like garbage! That made me a little bit (a lot) happy.  It was pretty darn tasty.  I think it called for way too many noodles for the amount of meat sauce it made. I’ll double the recipe next time, but keep the pasta the same- besides, buying a HALF a pound of meat is also annoying.   Escarole monacina- was absolutely horrible. It tasted like fish and raisins.

Toby: Liked the Bolognese as well. He does NOT like mushrooms- more as a concept than as a flavor, so he was a bit mad at me that I chopped them up so small he couldn’t pick them out. I didn’t want to screw up the recipe so I followed it exactly. Next time, for him, I’ll leave the mushrooms in bigger pieces so he can remove them.  Escarole: Yick. He said he tasted the olive oil as a predominant flavor, but didn’t like it in general.

Natalie: Ate her noodles separate which she of course loved. Didn’t care for the meat mixture. Didn’t even put her through the misery of trying the Escarole recipe.

Conclusion: Bolognese we’d make again. The Escarole went straight to the trash- along with my leftover anchovy fillets. Good riddance!

At the request of my darling husband, I will be cutting back to ONE new veggie recipe a week. I guess I was getting a bit out of hand. I can’t blame him though, poor guy hasn’t really like much of what I’ve been experimenting with. I know I said this last week, but I’m going to go with something more normal this upcoming week. Hope you had a good read and a good laugh. I know I did recalling my catastrophes this week!

Week 2 Parsnips- Oy Vey!

For my second week I thought I’d tackle the vegetable that started it all - my “Name It or Get Hit With It” Vegetable: the Parsnip. Following the somewhat unclear signs at my grocery store, I eventually found the parsnips.  I decided this week to buy enough to make two different recipes using the Parsnip.

 

I had always heard of parsnips being used in soups, and had leftover turkey and thought I’d play it safe with my first recipe. My original though was for a Turkey Noodle Soup, but as I was looking around for ideas for my second parsnip recipe I came across a Chicken Matzo ball soup recipe. I asked Toby “Do you like Matzo balls?” He says “Uh, yeah, where have you been?” or something to that effect. I never made Matzo before- who knew? Well I know his mom knew, but besides that.  So my Turkey Noodle Soup was changed to Turkey Matzo Ball Soup.

I’m ready to make my soup, so I start with my parsnip. I’m looking it and have an “Ah-ha” moment.  It’s like a white carrot. I peel one and smell it. Yeah, it smells like a carrot. Interesting. Then I think- am I supposed to be peeling this? I figure, well you don’t have to peel carrots, so I peeled the one, and didn’t peel the other two parsnips. However, I discover later that the skin on a parsnip is thicker than a carrot- more like a potato skin. While it wasn’t bad to eat, I’d recommend peeling it if you try the recipe or work with parsnips in general.

A bit of advice: you may want to cut down this recipe a little bit.  I ended up with so many sautéed vegetables and so much chopped turkey in my pot that I had to switch the whole soup to my mega pot before I got to my liquids. My mega pot- it’s like a medieval artifact. Later that night, while I was washing this mega pot I imagined I was a servant in a medieval castle washing up after dinner. My pot had just been used to cook enough potatoes to feed the entire castle.  Anyway, back to soup!

Turkey Matzo Ball Soup

4 cups chopped cooked turkey

3 Parsnips, peeled and sliced

4-5 carrots peeled and sliced

3 celery stalks- sliced

1 small onion- chopped

1 zucchini (had it around and needed to be used- don’t need to have one though)- peeled and chopped

1 box Matzo Ball Mix (Manischewiz brand is good)- I used both packages you need eggs and vegetable oil to make the mix.

1  Tbsp Butter

1 Tbsp Olive Oil

2 boxes (32oz) chicken stock -  I had made my own turkey stock and probably had a little more than half a gallon so that’s about the same amount

1 Chicken Bullion Cube

8 Cups of Water

1. Make Matzo Ball Mix according to the box. It asks you to have it sit in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes so we want to make sure this is ready.
2. Heat a large (castle-feeding size) pot on medium-high add butter and olive oil (make sure you use a large pot that has a cover as you will need it when you get to step 4). When the butter is melted add the vegetables (except zucchini). Sauté for about 10 minutes, then add zucchini, sauté another 5 minutes.
3. Add turkey to the vegetables, then pour in the stock, add water, and bullion cube. Increase heat to bring the soup to a boil.
4. Pull out matzo ball batter, wet hands, create little balls- meatball size or smaller and drop into the boiling soup.  Matzo balls puff up rather large so don’t make your balls too big.  Once the Matzo balls are all in the soup, cover, reduce heat to medium and simmer for 20 minutes.
5. After 20 minutes, remove cover, add salt and pepper to taste, and the soup is ready to serve!

Family Verdict:

Me: Soup was great. Loved the Matzo balls. The Parsnips cooked up to taste kind of like a carrot, but a little bit stronger carrot flavor.

Toby: Proclaimed the Parsnips to taste like soap, and he “choked them down.” I seriously need to stop asking his opinion when I really don’t want it.

Natalie: Ate her “white carrots” the same as the other veggies in the soup and she said they were good.

Conclusion: Where do I turn in my current husband for one who doesn’t hate every vegetable known to man?  Just kidding… he hates the ones not known to man too.

Parsnip Recipe #2  Honey Glazed Parsnips Ok, just kidding, it started out as honey glazed parsnips and turned into this:

Honey Glazed Carrots, Parsnips, and Pears with Feta

2 Parsnips, peeled and chunked

3-4 Carrots, peeled and chunked

2 Bosc Pears, chunked (we call them Golden Pears- but they are kind of brownish)

½ cup honey

½ warm water

2 Tbsp Brown sugar

1 Tbsp Butter

Feta Cheese, crumbled

Honey

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Steam the parsnips and carrots (NOT PEARS) for about 10-15 minutes to partially cook.
3. Combine honey, water, brown sugar and butter in a bowl. Warm in the microwave about 1 minute, stir.
4. Put vegetables/fruit in a large bowl. Pour honey mixture over the veggies and stir to coat.  Sprinkle a little salt and pepper for good measure.
5. Pour vegetables/sauce into a 9x12 glass baking dish. Cook in oven for 30 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes.
6. Serve topped with feta and drizzled with honey

Notes: For goodness sake, please use real feta. The fat free feta I bought tasted like NOTHING. Feta with ZERO taste – it was terrible.  This recipe could have been so much better if I had the feta taste in there too. Maybe it was the brand- who knows, but ick boring.

Family Verdict:

Me: A sweet vegetable side dish with dinner is, at the start, actually a pretty hard thing to pair and not have dinner taste weird, so the poor recipe had a bad start to begin.  I made rib eye steak and baked potatoes. The steak wasn’t so bad with sweeter side, but the baked potatoes got mixed a little with the honey mixture and it wasn’t so good.  My feta cheese as is mentioned in the above note was terrible and tasted nothing like feta and, in fact, tasted more like “squishy white nothing balls”.  The savior to this dish was the drizzled honey at the end, and the pears of all things. I came up with the pear thing this afternoon when I was having a pear for a snack.  However, of the whole dish I have to admit that the parsnip was my least favorite of the dish. They had that strong flavor again. The recipe needs more tweeks, maybe no parsnips, add something savory to the mix as well- rosemary or just more black pepper?   So back to my verdict in regards to the Parsnip- I’d stick to soup.

Toby: “Still tastes like parsnip”

Natalie: No complaints, she ate the carrots, pears, and a little of the parsnip. I think she was on the same page as me- it wasn’t her favorite.

Conclusion:  Needs some experimentation, but it wasn’t a complete waste. It has potential to be a good veggie/fruit combination side dish, but I’d nix the parsnip personally and just stick to the carrots and pears. Still both fruits and veggies so it counts!

So that concludes Week #2 for the Veggie Experiment. Next week I think I’m going to try something a little closer to “normal” and safe.  I have a couple things in mind, so stay tuned.

3 for 1 Veggie Week

This vegetable story starts with fish tacos. You see, part of a wonderful fish taco is the cabbage in which you fill said taco.  At the grocery store they were selling half a head of cabbage. Who sells a half a head of cabbage? – I didn’t ask questions I just snagged it.  After having fish tacos for dinner and lunch the next day I still had basically an entire half of a cabbage left.  So I thought- what a great way to start my vegetable experiment- with a vegetable I never cook that I already have laying around the house.  

So my mind started brain storming- wilted cabbage, bacon, maybe a splash of some type of vinegar….  I jumped on my favorite recipe site: Allrecipes.com and found just what I was looking for! I modified it just a little.

Fried Cabbage

(modified from Original Recipe: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Fried-Cabbage-II/Detail.aspx)

6 slices turkey bacon

½ tbsp olive oil

½ head green cabbage- sliced into ribbons

½ onion- chopped

1 tsp white sugar

1 tbsp cider vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

1. Put olive oil in a large skillet, heat on medium/high
2. Cook turkey bacon-  after cooked remove from pan- let cool then chop
3. Add sliced cabbage and chopped onion to the hot pan- cook until the cabbage gets soft.
4. Add chopped bacon, sugar, cider vinegar, salt and pepper to the wilted cabbage.  Stir to mix and it’s ready to serve.

Family verdict:

Me: The bacon flavor, and the sweetness of the sugar really came through- the vinegar was just a mild undertone. I thought the cabbage was more of just a base for these other flavors- not a strong cabbage taste at all.

Toby: Cabbage- although being a smelly vegetable- was one Toby didn’t like to begin with. Being a good sport, he tried it for me. He said the bacon did come through really well, but he could still taste the cabbage.

Natalie: It resembled lettuce so she was already resistant. She put the smallest string of cabbage you’ve ever seen, on her tongue, then spit it out.

Conclusion:

I thought the recipe turned out really well and I’d eat it again. However since the rest of my family disagrees I might not be making it terribly often.  Maybe I’ll try it again when Natalie isn’t so against lettuce. 

The cabbage was the main vegetable I had in mind for the article, however that same night that I made the cabbage I also cooked up a butternut squash.  This is not a new vegetable for our family, but it’s such a wonderful, and dare I say decadent, vegetable I thought I’d share my pictures and how simple it is to make.

Butternut Squash

1 Butternut Squash

1-2 tbsp butter (depending how big the squash is)

salt & pepper

1. Cut squash in half longwise, scoop out and throw away seeds.
2. Put squash cut side down in a microwave safe dish large enough to fit both halves as well as fit in your microwave.
3. Put about 1 inch of water in the dish with the squash, Cover with plastic wrap and put in microwave
4. Microwave on high about 15 minutes (may take longer if you have a large squash)
5. Carefully remove from the microwave- the water is basically boiling, and the steam escaping from the plastic is very hot.
6. Remove the plastic wrap and flip over the squash pieces. Pierce with a fork- it should poke through with no resistance.  If the squash is still hard, re-cover and microwave another 2-3 minutes and check doneness again.
7. When the squash is soft, drain off most/all the water as best you can- it just makes it easier to work with.  Scoop out the orange of the squash into a bowl leaving the hard shell behind.
8. Mash with a fork or potato masher. Add butter, salt and pepper to taste. Mix and Serve.

 

Family Verdict

Me: Just decadent. Smooth, creamy butter nut squash is just awesome!

Toby:  “You made a believer out of me.”  He didn’t ever really have butternut squash, and now he’ll eat a healthy portion whenever I make it.

Natalie:  It was one of the vegetables I made for her when she was a baby. She still likes it to this day!

Conclusion: One of the regular vegetable rotations in the family- especially in the fall/winter months.

One last vegetable recipe for the article is also not new to our family, but I figured since it was only the second or third time I’d made it, that it still counted.  I made this the night before the cabbage and squash, and thought I’d practice taking some food pictures. 

Breaded and Baked Zucchini

 

2 medium zucchini

1 egg

2 tbsp milk

1 clove smashed garlic

½ cup Italian bread crumbs

2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

1 tbsp chopped parsley (I don’t ever have parsley so I skipped this)

¼ tsp black pepper

1. Combine egg, milk and garlic in a shallow dish or bowl. Set aside for about 15 minutes, while you complete steps 2, 3 & 4. You want the garlic flavor to infuse into the egg and milk mixture
2. Preheat oven to 450. Spray baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray. You may need two baking sheets.
3. Slice zucchini into “chips”.  No need to peel.  (about ¼” slices)
4. Combine breadcrumbs, cheese, parsley (if using) and pepper in another shallow dish or plate.
5. Dip zucchini slices into egg mixture, then into crumbs and place on a baking sheet that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.
6. Bake for 10 minutes, then turn over and bake for 5 minutes more until brown and crispy.

 

Family Verdict:

Me: So good! A great alternative to frying.  I made them without the cheese before (because I’m lactose intolerant), but they are better with the cheese. I think if you take out the cheese you should to add salt to the bread mixture.

Toby: He thinks they are great. Last time he tried dipping them in BBQ sauce. I didn’t care for it that way, but he seemed to like it.

Natalie: Not a favorite for her. I think she has a hard time with the skin still being on it.

Conclusion:  A recipe I’ve made already a couple times for the family and will continue to do so. I’ll keep presenting to Natalie and maybe eventually she’ll grow to like it, or get over the skin thing.  Toby and I like it and as long as 2 out of 3 of us like it. I’ll usually make it again.

So, that wraps up week one of my vegetable cooking.  Now, what to do for next week….. I have a couple ideas up my sleeve, now I just need to make it to the grocery store.  Stay tuned.  Oh, and if you try any of the recipes we try please post and tell me what you think or ideas for improvements!

Name It or Get Hit With It- a new challenge!

I remember my husband telling me about a game he and his brother would play as children called “Name It or Get Hit With It.”  Their family- a collector of antiques and oddities- would often have strange looking items around the house. The game would go like this: one of the boys would pick up a random item then exclaim to the other: “Name it or get hit with it”.  I’m sure you can guess where the game goes from here. 

Fast forward 20 years. I’m reading an article on CNN the other day about vegetables, there is a picture of a white root vegetable as the Main photo for the article. My first thought is: Name It or Get Hit With It!  Then, I start to wonder if I took a group of people down the fruits and vegetable section of a grocery store and played this game- how many of us would come out unscathed?  I know I would leave with a welt or two.

So if we don’t know what it is, chances are pretty high that we aren’t eating them. It’s no wonder that the average person eats only about 3 servings of fruits and vegetables a day! Those are the only 3 we know!

I’m sure we’ve all heard the health benefits of eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables (lowed risks of heart disease, stroke, cancer, lower blood pressure, etc). They ARE our wonder drug. So what’s the problem? Why don’t we eat enough fruits and vegetables?

Problem one: The safety zone. We have certain fruits and veggies we know, are comfortable with- prepared a certain way.

Problem two: “Vegetables taste yucky”  Since childhood we have been battling anything green not covered in sugar or cheese. It is certainly true that you may not love every vegetable out there. However, did you know it takes about 15 tries of something to determine if you like or dislike something? My Parent’s magazine is always touting this to help us with getting our own children to eat their fruits and veggies. The 15 tries rule doesn’t just apply to children though- it applies to adults as well. Also keep in mind that your taste buds change over time.  Something you tried (probably once) in your younger years you may turn out to actually like now.

Problem three: “What do I do with this?”  Maybe you’re the kind of person who is willing to try, but just doesn’t know how to prepare a new fruit or vegetable. Or perhaps you are willing to try, but are afraid of making a bad tasting recipe. 

How does our family fit into the problem equation? I will admit that our family has our safety zone for fruits and vegetables- certain things you can almost always find in the fruit bin (apples), veggie bin (carrots), or the freezer (broccoli, green beans, peas). I’ve been trying to slowly expand our family’s horizons.  My lovely daughter has been such a trooper trying new fruits like kiwi, mangos, and papaya and even new vegetables like zucchini, asparagus and squash. Even in spite of these changes I’m trying to instill, I’d be the first to admit that I’m coming up short in the fruits and vegetables department.  

Toby is the “vegetables are yucky” person in the family. In his defense, he doesn’t hate all vegetables. He actually really likes the ones that smell really bad like brussel sprouts and broccoli.  He’s also a trooper though and will try just about any new thing I put in front of him.  I even got the thumbs up on a zucchini cake gone awry- re hashed into a zucchini mash.  Hubby has his limits though- certain things he just won’t even try.  I still make those things, but I don’t have an unrealistic expectation that he will be trying them.

I’m the “What do I do with this?” person because I’m the chef in the house.  I love the internet, but do I ever take the time to look up how to use a parsnip? No. On the good side of things,  I’m not afraid of making a bad recipe. I’ve done it enough times now.  I will admit that I do get frustrated when I have to throw food away.

So we know what the problem is and at least where my family fits into the problem area. What is our solution? How can I get more fruits and vegetables in my body?  My answer is: I’m going to learn about new vegetables and fruits and “what to do with them”, I’m going to try new recipes for vegetables/fruits that I know but aren’t part of a regular routine. 

My goal is to try at least 1 new recipe a week for a fruit or vegetable – emphasis on vegetable – for at least two months.  We’ll see where it goes from there.  I’ll blog the recipe and the results so you can follow with me.  Let’s get cooking!