"I love how you feed your family"

There will be no recipe in this blog.  This morning I am moved by the words of a seven year old; my neighbor.  I have a lot going on in my small life. Sure I stay home with my 3 year old and how hard can it be to watch one child, right?  I also watch the neighbor girl before and after school, teach piano lessons two days a week, and keep busy with about five church organizations. 

Two years ago I did not like staying home. In fact, I hated it. I felt like I wasn't contributing to my family because I wasn't bringing in any money.  Today I love it!  What changed you ask?  It's hard to pinpoint, but I think growing in my faith has something to do with it, along with getting out there and meeting with other mothers.  Think about it, at almost any job you have coworkers to talk to, to share your joys with, to commiserate with. As a stay at home mom you don't get that at all. 

As I served the kids pancakes this morning Emma said, "Emily, I love how you feed your family."  I was taken aback. It was such a nice comment. I said thank you and went about serving up pancakes and orange juice.  Then it occurred to me; this was a true God Sighting.

God Sightings are those little moments in life when you stop and actually see Him working in your life.  It's hard to see them, but they do happen.  Perhaps you feel more comfortable with the term 'sign' rather than God Sighting. 

The comment from Emma this morning was my moment.  My moment to realized that what I'm doing at home does matter. It matters a lot.  Not only am I feeding my family with food.  I am feeding them with knowledge, silliness, new discoveries.  I feed them with my presence; my love.

So maybe there is a recipe in this blog.  A recipe for love.

Barley Mushroom Soup

Here it is!  Another Meatless Mon...er...Tuesday meal.  I'm very interested in using more grains in my cooking.  I spotted this recipe in my new cookbook, How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman.  It was a pretty basic recipe so I added some ingredients to make it my own! 

What you will need: Olive oil, 8 oz fresh mushrooms, 2 carrots (peeled and sliced), 1 stalk of celery (sliced), 3 radishes (sliced), 1/4 cup chopped onion, 3/4 cup pearled barley, 1 1/2 tsp sage leaves, 2 bag leaves, salt and pepper.

Bubbling away on the stove.

Heat your olive oil and dump in the carrots, celery, and radishes. Once they start to cook down add the mushrooms and onions.  Cook for about 10 minutes until browned. Add the barley and cook for 5 minutes more. Add 6 cups of water; bring to a boil. Reduce to a nice simmer and add the bay and sage leaves.  Add a little salt and pepper.  Let simmer for about 30 minutes until the barley gets tender.  Taste; add salt and pepper if needed.  Serve with fresh dutch oven bread and wine!

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Dutch Oven BreadThis is the best bread in the world and it's so easy to make.  I can't believe I waited this long to make it.  In fact, I think I'll mix up another batch tonight and bake it tomorrow morning.

What you will need: 1/4 tsp dry yeast, 1 5/8 cup warm water, 3 cups flour, 1 3/4 salt

Dissolve the yeast in water in a large bowl. Add the flour and salt, stirring until blended. The dough will be sticky. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit 8-18 hours at room temperature. 
Lightly sprinkle the counter top with flour and place dough on it. Sprinkle more flour on the dough and fold it over onto itself 2 or 3 times (do not knead).  Cover loosely with plastic wrap and let sit for 15 minutes.  Using a little flour, shape it into a ball. Generously dust a smooth dishtowel with cornmeal.  Place the dough, seam down, on the towel and dust the top with more cornmeal.  Cover with another towel and let rise for 2-3 hours.
20 minutes before the dough is ready, heat the oven to 450 degrees.  Put a heavy 6-8qt Dutch oven with the lid in the oven as it heats.  When the dough is ready, remove the pot and life the lid.  Lift the dough by the towel and turn it carefully into the pot-it should tumble into the pot.  Cover with the lid and bake for 30 minutes.  After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake for 12-15 minutes more.  Once it's done, take out of the pot and cool for one hour.

Grandma Potatoes

The following recipe is from my grandma so we've always called it Grandma Potatoes.  I've seen similar recipes called patio potatoes or party potatoes. Whatever you call them, they are good!

What you will need: 1 bag of frozen hash brown potatoes, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 cup milk, 1 cup sour cream, salt and pepper, shredded cheddar.

Note:  My grandma boils 12 medium potatoes with peelings on.  Lets them cool and then peels and grates them.  A little more time consuming, but fresh is best. Her recipe also calls for cream of chicken soup, but I prefer mushroom.

A couple hours before making this, set the potatoes out so they thaw. Mix the soup, milk, and sour cream in a bowl.  Use a whisk to blend them together.  Place half the potatoes in the bottom of a casserole.  Salt and pepper them.  Pour half the mixture on top and add a light layer of cheese.  Repeat the layer once more, topping it off with a little extra cheese.  Bake at 375 for 45 minutes.

Turkey Meatloaf

This is another great make ahead meal.  In fact I made it around 2:00 and put it in the fridge so I could pull it out right after piano lessons.  Another thing I love about this recipe is that it makes a huge meatloaf!  Before baking, I usually split it in two and freeze one for a meal at a later date. 

What you will need: 1 red bell pepper, 1 carrot, 1 onion, 1 garlic clove, olive oil, 2 lbs ground turkey, 1/2 cup bread crumbs, 2 eggs, 1 1/2 tsp salt, 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 tbsp ketchup, 8 strips bacon



Veggie mixture in the food processor

 If not making ahead of time, preheat the oven to 375.  Place the red pepper, carrot, onion, garlic all coarsely chopped into the food processor and pulse until the mixture is finely chopped.  I also threw in a few extra mushrooms that were in the fridge and some radishes just because I had them on hand.  A great thing about this meatloaf is you can 'hide' vegetables in it!

Heat your olive oil in a skillet and add the veggies. Saute until tender.  Meanwhile in a large bowl add everything else, except the bacon.  Once the veggies are done, put them in the bowl too.  Mix this all together really well.  The best way, I find, to do this is to use a potato masher.  If you have plastic gloves on hand, slip them on and use your hands.

Place the meat mixture on a 9x13 baking dish and use your hands or a spatula to shape it into a loaf.  Cover the loaf with the bacon strips. Bake uncovered for an hour.  You may want to drain off excess fat during the baking time and afterward as well.

For sides tonight I think I'll do mashed potatoes and spinach.  I had never had spinach before I met my husband. I led a sheltered life when it came to food.  Now I always have it in the house. I buy it fresh and stick it in everything.  Tonight I will put it in a pan and add some chicken broth (may 1/4 cup) salt and pepper.  Throw the whole bag of spinach in and cover.  Cook until wilted. That's it!  And it is delicious.

This one's for Ted

There is a story behind this no name dish so bear with me.  I was at the YMCA and forgot my Ipod so I was watching Food Network. I know, kind of weird to watch Food Network while working out.  Anyway, I didn't have any sound b/c there was no way I was going to use a pair of loaner headphone *gross*  Rachael Ray was making something with shrimp and bacon and while I'm not a huge RR fan, you can't go wrong with shrimp and bacon.  I tried to find the recipe online, but failed.  I did, however, find a similar recipe on Rachael's website so I used part of it and made the rest up.

My father-in-law happened to be by and was looking at my notes for this dish.  As he was leaving he said he wouldn't mind stopping by later if that was what I was making for dinner. So this one's for Ted!  Maybe I'll call it Ted's Shrimp.

What you will need: 2lb shrimp (I bought frozen, but if you want fresh go ahead and splurge), juice of one lemon, 1/4 cup parsley, 2 tsp paprika, 2 tbsp olive oil, 4 cloves garlic (minced), 1/2 lb bacon, 1 package mushrooms (sliced), 1/4 red onion (chopped), box of couscous or dirty rice

Marinate the shrimp (defrosted) in the lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, parsley and paprika.  Meanwhile cut the bacon into pieces and saute until cooked. If you have a lot of grease, drain some off so you are left with a few tablespoons.  Add the onion and mushrooms and cook until they are tender.

At this point you can start cooking your couscous.  If you're doing a dirty rice mix, check the package.  The Zatarain's brand that I make usually takes 30 minutes.

Next, dump the marinaded shrimp in the pan.  I dumped all the juices in with it and it made a nice little sauce. If you're using frozen shrimp, it usually comes precooked so you don't have to cook this long at all.  Just until the shrimp are a nice pink/orange color.  I served this on top of the couscous and with steamed pea pods.

Have you tried lentils?

As most of you know, I'm trying to introduce Meatless Mondays into my home.  My husband is on board with this and although I have always been very hesitant to give up meat completely and become vegetarian, I have to say that it's not that bad.  We have cut down the amount of beef we eat; we probably have beef once every two weeks.  I'm trying to stick with poultry, fish, shellfish, and pork.

Tonight's meatless meal comes from Ina Garten, also knows as The Barefoot Contessa.  I love most of her recipes because they are down to earth.  Stewed Lentils and Tomatoes does call for chicken broth/stock.  So if you want to make this a vegetarian meal, just substitute vegetable broth.

What you will need: olive oil, yellow onion, 3-4 carrots, 3 garlic cloves, 1 28oz can whole plum tomatoes, 1 cup lentils, 2 cups chicken broth, 1tsp curry powder, 3 tsp ground thyme, kosher salt, pepper

Chop the onion and carrots.  Heat the olive oil in a 3-4 quart pan.  Add the onions and carrots and cook for about 6-8 minutes.  Meanwhile, fit your food processor with a steel blade and place the tomatoes in the bowl.  Pulse until coarsely chopped. Alternatively, if you don't have a food processor, buy diced tomatoes. Rinse the lentils and pick over to make sure there are no stones. 

Once the onions are tender, add the garlic and cook for one minute. Add the tomatoes, lentils, broth, and seasonings.  I did about 2 tsp of salt and pepper to taste.  Stir together and heat to a boil.  Then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 40 minutes.  Check occasionally to be sure the liquid is simmering.  Remove from heat and let sit, covered for about ten minutes. 

Ina's recipe says to add a tablespoon of red wine vinegar before serving.  I did not do this. I don't care for red wine vinegar at all, but give it a try.

I served with biscuits and a chopped salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, and ripped spinach leaves.

Make Ahead Meals

One great thing about nap time is that I have time to spend in the kitchen either experimenting or making the evening meal for my family.  I started teaching piano lessons after school so nap time is precious time to me.  Today I spent my time preparing a vegetarian lasagna for tonight's meal.  Meatless Monday didn't work out for me this week either so tonight was Meatless Wednesday.

Vegetarian Lasagna

What you will need: 1 box oven ready lasagna noodles, 1 recipe sauce (below) or jarred spaghetti sauce, 1 3/4 cup cottage cheese, 1 egg, basil, 1 1/4 cup Parmesan, mozzarella cheese, 1 zucchini, mushrooms, spinach

I want to start by saying use whatever veggies you have on hand; whatever sounds good to you.  Mix the cottage cheese, egg (slightly beaten), basil (to taste), and Parmesan. Today I used Ragu sauce because they were 10/$10 and you had to buy 10 to get that price.  I just happen to have plenty on hand (heehee).  Spread some sauce on the bottom of a 9x13 pan.  Lay lasagna noodles on top.  Spread the cheese mixture over the top of the noodles.  Then layer on sliced of zucchini, mushrooms, and spinach.  I left half of the pan without the veggies because I knew the kids wouldn't be thrilled with them.  Cover with sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella. Repeat layers, covering the last layer with mozzarella.  Bake covered at 375 for 15 minutes.  Remove the cover or tinfoil and bake for 25 minutes more.

I made this around 1:30 and stuck it in the fridge until I was ready to bake it. You can also use a freezer safe container and freeze, although I'm not sure you would want to do this with the veggies; it might get watery.  You can make this minus the vegetables or add ground beef or turkey.

Cakes 101

Connor is 3!

It's hard to believe, but my baby just turned three.  Whenever I make a birthday cake the general response is, "That's an amazing cake!" or "You're really talented."  My response is, "Not really."  It is pretty easy to make a form cake using Wilton products.  Here are the steps I take in making Wilton cakes.

I have never bought a form cake pan. I check them out from the library.  You may think this is gross, but just wash it really well before using. 

A few tips before I start. 1) Set aside a time frame to decorate the cake. Time where you won't get interrupted by children is good. 2) Make sure the butter for the frosting is at room temperature. 3) If you're going to commit to doing cakes, invest in Wilton decorating tips and disposable Wilton frosting bags.  4) Greasing the pan is key!  Use Crisco and then flour with Wondra Flour (it's ultra fine and gets in all the cracks).

So I start by washing the pan in hot soapy water.  Then I grease the pan with Crisco. I do this by using a paper towel.  Get some Crisco on the paper towel and coat the pan.  Take care to get it in the creases of the pan. You will want to see every nook and cranny when decorating.  Then pour some Wondra Flour and tap the sides of the pan to cover the entire pan.  If you see a big space that isn't covered with flour, touch it up with Crisco and sprinkle with flour. 

Next, mix the cake according to directions and bake.  Cook on the rack for 10 minutes and then turn onto a cake board.  I buy Wilton cake boards at Walmart or Hobby Lobby.  Let cool completely.

There are many choices when it comes to frosting. You can buy tubs of white Wilton frosting in stores.  You can also buy colored tubes of Wilton frosting or Wilton food coloring.  Personally, I like to make my own butter cream frosting.  There is a recipe for the Wilton butter cream on the pan instructions, but it uses Crisco and I don't like the consistency.  For the Lightening McQueen cake I bought the tubes of Wilton frosting in red because it's hard to mix real red frosting (it usually turns out dark pink) and I couldn't find the red Wilton icing color.  I used my own butter cream for the rest of the colors.  Recipe as follows:

Butter Cream Frosting
What you will need:  2 sticks unsalted sweet cream butter, 6 cups powdered sugar, vanilla to taste, milk



Excellent way to scoop out sugar
without spilling.



Once again, make sure you're butter is at room temperature. Set it out the night before or first thing in the morning.  Place butter in mixer and beat for a couple seconds. Add one cup of powdered sugar and turn mixer on low.  Keep adding sugar.  Once the mixture gets dry add a little milk, a tablespoon at a time.  Add as little or vanilla as you want.  Once you've added all the sugar (I use 5-6 cups) and you've got a good consistency, beat the frosting for about five minutes.

Whipped butter cream

The 'naked' cake

The cake is cool, the frosting is ready.  Time to decorate.  This is the fun part, don't get stressed out.  I'm going to walk you through this with lots of pictures.  First rule, there is a guide that comes with your Wilton pan.  It shows you what to frost and in what order. Follow the steps and you'll be fine.  My fist step with this cake was to frost the sides, headlights, smile and windows.  I like to do a 'crumb coat' of white on the sides and then use a star tip to finish them later.  From the picture at the left you can see I wasn't too great at staying in the lines, but that doesn't matter because you're going to outline everything in black and then fill in with the remainder with a star tip.  At the right, I've filled in the back windows, the inside of the tires and the exhaust pipe.  The red frosting came from a Wilton tube and I dyed the blue by using regular food coloring.  Next, I outlined all the parts of the car with black. The black frosting I dyed with Wilton Icing Colors.  You can buy these at Walmart or any craft store that carries Wilton supplies.  Get your bag and tip ready for the frosting.  I buy the disposable bags and the box explains how to put the tip on. The next picture shows how you get the frosting in the bag.  Hold the tip and fold the bag over your hand.  Use your other hand to make the opening bigger so you can scoop frosting inside. Then push the frosting down towards the tip. Twist the top of the bag (the part that contains no frosting) tight so frosting can't find it's way up and out of the bag.

This picture shows how I outlined the entire cake and the separate sections which I will then fill with the appropriate color using the star tip.  Fill in the rest of the cake with the recommended start tip.  I use a bigger start tip to do the sides of the cake.  The finished product is seen in the picture at the beginning of this post with the birthday boy.  Let me know if you have any questions. I'm always happy to offer advice or help.

Outlined the entire cake

I dont' know why this photo
won't rotate, but here is the cake with
 most parts filled in



Finished product



Chicken and Biscuits

My youngest son, Connor is having a birthday this weekend.  I'm sure you can't wait to see a picture of his cake which is baking as we speak.  For now you'll have to settle for Chicken and Biscuits which just happens to be the perfect meal on a gloomy day like we're having in central Iowa today.

What you will need: One bone-in chicken breast, 7 Tbsp butter, 1 can of mushrooms or 8 oz fresh, thinly sliced, 1 onion (chopped), 2 Tbsp flour, 1 cup chicken broth, 1 cup milk, 1 tsp lemon juice, 3 garlic cloves, 2 cups Bisquick, 1/2 shredded cheese.

Bake your chicken breast at 350 for about an hour and half.  De bone the chicken.  I like to bake the breast a couple hours ahead of time, throw it in the fridge and just peel the meat off with my fingers.  Spread the chicken in the bottom of the dish.

In a large skillet, melt 3 tbsp of butter and add mushrooms, onion, and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally until heated through.  Lower the heat and sprinkle in the flour to make a paste.  Stir in the chicken broth, bring it to a simmer and cook until thickened.  Stir in 1/3 cup milk and simmer for 1 more minute.  Remove the skillet form the head and add the lemon juice.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Pour the gravy over the chicken.  Stir together the Bisquick and remaining milk.  Add the cheese.  Drop tablespoons of the biscuit mix on top of the casserole.  Melt 4 tbsp of butter with the garlic.  Brush or drizzle half over the biscuits.  Bake for 25 minutes until the biscuits are golden. Brush them once more with the garlic butter.  Enjoy!

*Serve with a side of fresh green beans, asparagus, or salad loaded with fresh veggies.
*Go ahead and make biscuits from scratch if you'd like, but tonight I went with the Bisquick. 
*Once I started cooking I realized I didn't have any mushrooms.  I did have a can or quartered artichokes on hand so I used them instead and it was very good.  Next time I'll use mushrooms and artichokes!

Meatless Monday on Tuesday?

Have you heard about Meatless Mondays?  meatlessmonday.com  In an attempt to eat healthier, my husband and I decided to declare Monday as 'meatless'.  But this week, Monday didn't work out for us, so we made it happen on Tuesday.  I tried a recipe I have had my eye on for awhile and it was delicious!

What you will need: 4 bell peppers (any color will do), 1/2 cup long grain rice, 1 onion, 2 scallions, 2 garlic cloves, 1 jalepeno, 1 cup frozen corn, 1 can black beans, 1 can diced tomatoes, cumin, shredded cheese, tortilla chips.

Stuffed Peppers

Before baking

Bring 4 quarts of water to boil. Toss in some kosher salt.  Start by cutting the top off the peppers and remove the stem, seeds and ribs.  Once the water is boiling, place the peppers in the water for about 3 minutes.  Drain the water out and place on a paper towel. Add the rice to the pot (water still boiling) and cook for about 12 minutes.  In the meantime, heat a saute pan with olive oil.  Add the onion (diced) and cook until tender.  Add the scallions, garlic, and jalepeno (all minced) to the pan.  Cook for about 2 minutes.  Then add the corn.  Drain and rinse the black beans and add to the pan.  Also drain the tomatoes and add.  Cook the mixture until it is heated through.  Once the rice is done, drain and rinse.  Add to the mixture on the stove and sprinkle with cumin. Toss in about 1 cup of shredded cheese and stir well until cheese is melted.
Turn oven on to 350 degrees.  Place the peppers in an 8x8 pan and fill each pepper with the mixture.  Top with extra cheese and crushed tortilla chips.  Bake for 30 minutes.

Enjoy with a bottle of lime flavored beer!

You can also cook this mixture in a tomatoe or wrap it up in soft shell tortillas.  Omit the jalapeno, scallions, or garlic if needed.  I scraped the seeds out of my jalapeno so it wasn't very hot.  Add red pepper flakes, chili powder, or coriander for extra flavor. 

News in my life

I just had a birthday.  I'm not ashamed to tell my age is 33.  I think the 30s will be the best years of my life.  I may have mentioned before that I've been married for 10 years.  I recently discovered that all those fabulous wedding gifts we got are starting to show their age.  Especially my pots and pans.  So, I bought myself new cookware.  I did quite a bit of research after first buying an $85 special at Target (non-stick).  A friend pointed out that non-stick may be harmful so the research began.  I did find that non-stick may cause cancer and that it isn't as good at copper, stainless, or hard anodized.  As far as I can tell hard anodized still has a non-stick coating so I stayed away from that.  I can not afford copper so I went with stainless steel and finally bought a Cuisinart Chef's Classic Stainless Steel set on Amazon.

With my set I got an 8qt stock pot, 3 qt saute pan, 8 inch and 10 inch skillet, 1/5 qt and 3 qt sauce pan.  I would still like to get a 12 inch skillet and have my eye on a few sales next week. 

I am happy with this set so far.  I actually used it for the first time today (four days after it came).  I know they'll never be as shiny as they are in this picture, but that just means they are well loved!

Oh, another note, these have a lifetime guarantee where as the Calphalon non-stick I got for my wedding had a 10 year guarantee.

Another thing I received for my birthday was the cooks How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman.  My mother-in-law discovered him and I read the forward of his book.  As I was reading I noticed we have similar views when it comes to cooking.  1) Homemade doesn't mean it takes a lot of time and effort 2) Take time to plan your meals 3) Shop with your eyes (buy what looks fresh) 4) Take time to enjoy the act of cooking (chopping, cuttings, sauteing, etc.)