Avocado and tomato salad

Maybe this isn't a great recipe to post this late in the summer. I know good tomatoes and avocados are harder to find, but file this one away for next summer if you're not willing to use hothouse or out of season produce. I made this for my mom, aunt, and cousins a couple of weeks ago and everyone loved it. I modified a recipe I found in a book whose title rhymes with "Looking for Mummies". I bought that book a few years back but never have used it to its full potential. After finding this salad in it, I think I need to sacrifice a bit of my precious evening sit-like-a-zombie-in-front-of-the-television time and make plans to try a few more recipes.

Avocado and Tomato Salad

2 ripe avocados (not too squishy though!)

4 ripe plum tomatoes

2 hard-boiled eggs (whites only), peeled and quartered

1/2 very small red onion, very thinly sliced and then roughly chopped

1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro

2 large cloves garlic, finely chopped

6 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp red wine vinegar

1/2 tsp ground cumin

salt and pepper to taste

1. Halve and pit the avocados. Peel away the skin and cut each half into 4 lengthwise slices and then across into large cubes.

2. Core the tomatoes and cut them into 1-inch cubes.

3. Toss all ingredients EXCEPT the avocados together and keep chilled until time to serve. Add the avocados at the last minute and very gently stir them in.

Grilled Romaine Salad

It sounds downright bizarre -- grilling lettuce? Putting half a heart of romaine directly on the grill? Really? When my sister-in-law told me about it, I thought she was nuts. I searched online and found bunches of recipes with rave reviews. There are many many different variations on this, and a quick search of "grilled romaine salad" will get you all sorts of ideas on how to dress it up. Here's a basic recipe that makes enough for two people.

GRILLED ROMAINE SALAD

1 heart of romaine lettuce

Extra-virgin olive oil

Sea salt and/or lemon juice

1. Preheat a grill to medium high.

2. Rinse and pat dry the lettuce. Cut it in half lengthwise. Brush the entire surface (the cut side and the uncut side) of the lettuce lightly with the olive oil.

3. Place the lettuce on the grill and turn it over every minute or so for about 4-5 minutes total. The lettuce should be a little charred, but not burnt. Some of the leaves at the end will be a little wilted.

4. Slice across the width of the lettuce and put it on a plate. Sprinkle with just a tiny bit of sea salt (and/or drizzle a little lemon juice over the leaves) and serve warm.

We grilled up some chicken breasts that were only sprinkled with a little bit of seasoned salt and put slices of that on top of the salad along with some shaved parmesan-romano cheese curls. It was EXCELLENT. The salad didn't need any sort of dressing at all. The original recipe we followed had instructions for a citrus vinaigrette to put on top, but I think that would have hidden the yummy smoky flavor. This would also be excellent with grilled steak, shrimp, or pork, I bet. Some recipes called for grilled vegetables to be added as well. Ooh -- I bet grilled corn on the cob would be delicious to cut off and sprinkle on top! I'm all pumped to try this again with all sorts of different variations.

Here is the salad before I devoured it in about 20 seconds flat:

Here is the lovely man who did the vast majority of the cooking of this meal:

Aaaaand here are my knucklehead children who wouldn't even try a bite of the salad. I think Petey ate a bit of the chicken, but I can't be entirely sure. I was too busy exclaiming over our culinary brilliance and stuffing my face to notice what he was doing.

Italian Bow Tie Bake

This is such a freakishly easy recipe that I feel kind of silly even putting it on the blog. It's the first new recipe I have tried in a long time that my husband, Corey, actually liked, so I thought it necessary to celebrate a little. I got this out of a magazine that specializes in super easy cooking, but then I modified it to cater to my own tastes. The original recipe doesn't call for any meat, so it would work well meatless too. I want to try it with Italian sausage next time. The key ingredient here is the Italian salad dressing mix -- it adds that certain je ne sais quoi that most of my dishes are usually missing.

ITALIAN BOW TIE BAKE

8 ounces uncooked bow tie pasta
1 pound ground beef
1 jar (16 ounces) spaghetti sauce
1 envelope Italian salad dressing mix
2 cups (8 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and grease the a shallow 2-quart baking dish.

2. Cook pasta according to package directions; drain.

3. Brown ground beef and drain.

4. In a bowl, combine the spaghetti sauce and salad dressing mix; add pasta and meat, then toss to coat.

5. Transfer the mixture to the baking dish and sprinkle with the mozzarella cheese.

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until heated through. Yield: 4 servings.

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Yeah, it's not such a beautiful dish, but it was super yummy.



And here is my 11-month-old (wearing his "Chicks Dig Me" bib, which I swear I only bought because it's hard to find bibs that don't velcro in the back and the only alternative was "Princess") wolfing it down:



Aaaaaand here is my 2-year-old eating a PBJ sandwich because she refused to eat the Italian Bow Tie Bake and I am still too chicken to just let her starve if she doesn't eat what she is served.

Easy pizza

This isn't as easy as warming up a frozen pizza, but it's not as hard as making the dough from scratch. The lovely Alicia introduced me to the concept of buying pre-made fresh pizza dough in the refrigerated case at the grocery store. Originally, we used it to make pizza on the grill. Because I can't remember exactly how we did it (do you remember, Alicia?) and because we ran out of gas for our grill, I baked mine in the oven last night.

The best thing about buying this dough is that the baking instructions are on the bag. The second best thing is that you can break off a small chunk for your toddler to play with while you make the pizza. The third best thing is that you can put on any topping you want. All I had to do is roll out the dough flat, stick it on a baking sheet, and pile on the toppings. Here is what I put on the pizza:

- spaghetti sauce (because I was out of "pizza sauce")
- shredded mozzarella
- shredded parmesan
- minced broccoli coleslaw (we gotta get Charlie Jo to eat veggies SOMEHOW)
- minced ham (ditto on the proteins)
- quartered artichoke hearts (on one half only, because that would have been a deal-breaker for CJ)

Then, I brushed the edges of the crust with olive oil and shook on a light dusting of seasoned salt and grated parmesan. That turned out great! Corey, Charlie Jo, and Peter all loved the pizza. It was healthier than delivery pizza, but much tastier than frozen. We're definitely doing this again!

Here are my sous chefs:



And here is our creation, pre-baking:



I forgot to take a picture once it was all done because we ate it too fast. I made sure to get it out of the oven when the crust was still light brown. I simply cannot abide overdone crust.

Ham and Cheese Quiche---and freezer meals!

Hi all- It's been FOREVER since I posted. We had a beautiful summer here in the Midwest and I did not spend my time cooking! But alas, fall is here. And soon there will be several feet of snow on the ground. Ugh. So....time to hibernate!!!!

I came across an awesome cookbook at the grocery store the other day that I had to share with you. It's one of the Taste of Home ones, that you see at the check out line, and it's called Fall Freezer Meals. Every recipe in it looks WONDERFUL, and EASY, AND KID FRIENDLY (so far we have tried 2 and love them) and the best part is: the recipes are written so that you have one to eat, and one to freeze. It tells you how to cook it right away, as well as how to freeze the second and cook it later. I love it.

So below is the one we had last night. Another one is in the freezer for another time! I figure if I make 1-2 new recipes a week I'll have a freezer full in no time!

Ham and Cheese Quiche

2 pastry shells
2 cups diced fully cooked ham
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
2 teaspoons dried minced onion
4 eggs
2 cups half and half cream
1/2 teaspoon salt (you can omit this probably with all the ham---we thought it was a bit salty with it)
1/4 teaspoon pepper

1. Line pastry shells with a double thickness of tinfoil, bake at 400 degrees for 5 minutes. Remove foil and bake for another 5 minutes.

2. Divide ham, cheese, and onion between the shells. In a bowl, wisk eggs, cream, salt and pepper. Pour into shells. Cover and freeze for up to 3 months. Or cover edges with foil and bake at 400 degrees for 35-40 minutes or until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5-10 minutes before cutting.

To use frozen quiche: Completely thaw in the refrigerator. Remove 30 minutes before baking, and bake as directed.

Okay, so with 2 cups of half and half, it's not the HEALTHIEST recipe!!!!! But you could probably tweak it and make it healthier? Would milk work instead?

German Potato Soup

I'm sitting here typing this as the fantastic smell of German Potato Soup is wafting down the stairs and making me wish is was dinner time right NOW! I am not posting a picture of it because it's not very attractive (most soups aren't). But believe me, it's AWESOME. If you leave out the bacon and use vegetable broth rather than beef broth, it is Kosher-friendly and vegetarian. The caraway seeds, nutmeg, and sour cream are the key ingredients. Mmmmmm....

Even though this recipe seems idiot-proof, I still managed to mess it up the first time I made it. It wasn't 100% my fault, though! I found the original recipe in "Best-Loved Slow Cooker Recipes", and my first attempt at cooking this soup uncovered a glaring typo in the book-- it called for 2 teaspoons of black pepper. Being the dutiful and very inexperienced non-chef that I am, I followed that recipe to a T, and we ended up with a soup that made my lips and tongue burn for hours afterward. Looking at the typical proportions of pepper to salt in other soup recipes, I figured out that the author most likely meant to type "1/2" rather than "2". The other goof I did was that I didn't know you're supposed to use the white part of the leek-- not the green part. We actually googled leeks and made sure that it wouldn't kill us to eat the green part. Luckily, the pepper problem WAY overshadowed the leek problem, and the soup still tasted good enough for us to want to make it again.

There seems to be a lot of chopping involved when you first read the recipe, but it goes really quickly (it takes maybe 20 minutes). I do all of the chopping while I cook the bacon; even though you don't add the bacon until right before you serve the soup, I like to get all of the cooking done at the same time.

So, here is the recipe that I adapted from the original printed recipe:

1 pound potatoes, diced (I leave the skins on)
4 cups beef broth
1 small onion, chopped
1 leek (the white part!!), trimmed and diced
2 carrots, diced
1 1/2 cups chopped cabbage
1/4 cup chopped parsley (or 2 tsp dried parsley)
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoons black pepper
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
a little less than 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup sour cream
1 pound bacon, cooked until very crispy and diced

Optional ingredient: celery (I think everything is better with celery.)

Combine all ingredients except the sour cream and bacon in crock pot. Cover and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours or High for 4 to 5 hours. Remove and discard bay leaf. Stir in bacon pieces and sour cream. Serve and prepare to LOVE IT. Makes 4 servings (and any leftovers are fabulous for days afterwards).

Whole Dinner Roast Beef

I love when the main dish contains enough food groups that you don't need to add a side.... This crockpot meal is so easy, but it has some of the same problems that the roast beef with tomatoes and garlic has: sometimes there are too many leftovers and unless you want it to taste like I imagine soylent green would, you have to splurge on expensive meat. But this recipe is still really tasty and extremely easy, so in my repertoire it goes! It was adapted from a book called "Fix-It and Forget-It 5 Ingredient Favorites". You can add or subtract vegetables as desired-- the recipe is really flexible!

Ingredients:

3-4 lb roast beef (rib roast is a good choice)
10 3/4 oz can cream of mushroom soup
1 envelope dry onion soup mix
4 cups baby carrots
2 potatoes (cut into quarters)
1 cup sliced celery
1 small onion (cut into quarters)

1) Place veggies in crockpot.

2) Put meat on top of veggies.

3) Dump mushroom soup and dry onion soup mix on meat.

4) Cover and cook for 8 hours on LOW.

*****

When we made this recipe and I took this picture, I didn't add the celery or onions.



I also just realized that you can see the baby monitor in the upper right-hand corner of this picture. Ha! Andrew and I aren't able to eat dinner while Sonia is awake because he gets home from work only 15 minutes before she goes to bed. Maybe once she gets older, we can push back her bedtime so we can eat as a family, but for now, it's kinda easier (and more relaxing!!) to do it this way.

When Fever Strikes - Sick Mama's Mac N Cheese

Hi Ladies,

Sorry I haven't posted a recipe in awhile. We were celebrating Passover all last week, and although we enjoyed a number of delicious traditional foods, including Matzoh Brei, matzoh ball soup, gefilte fish, brisket, and potato kugel, I didn't actually make any of them. (If you're really curious, I'd be happy to put you in touch with my husband or mother-in-law - they have some great recipes!)

Anyway, my culinary skills during Passover are limited to matzoh pizza, matzoh with peanut butter and jelly, matzoh with ricotta cheese and honey, fried eggs, and lots of fruit. Hence, my lack of blogging last week.

Today I have a different kind of recipe for all of you. Not the kind that is going to challenge any of our culinary skills, and not even the kind that any of us can be proud of. But sometimes it's all we can do.

The thing is, I'm sick. I have a persistent cough, and a low-grade fever. I have no energy, no motivation, and even fewer coping skills. Also, I'm pregnant, which means every time I cough I have to change my pants. (If you don't understand why, you don't want to know. Trust me.) Needless to say, the thought of making a real dinner for the Chooch tonight was just more than I could handle.

So, here for your slackardly pleasure is my five step guide for Feverish Mamas With Hungry Toddlers:

1. Drag your tired ass to the grocery store. You may not have the energy, but at least your overly-energetic toddler will be somewhat contained in the grocery cart, and all you have to do is make your way to the freezer aisle.

2. Select a frozen Mac N Cheese dinner. Make yourself feel better about this by a) purposely not buying the meals with Grover or Elmo on them, and b) shelling out the extra cash for the organic brand.

3. Head home, being sure to ignore the copy of Michael Pollan's Food Rules on the coffee table. When was the last time he was ever pregnant with a fever and a toddler anyway? Jerk.

4. Put aforementioned meal in the microwave. At some point before it's done, toss in some frozen veggies and continue microwaving. Acknowledge to yourself that the veggies will be more effective in assuaging your own guilt than increasing the nutritional quality of the meal, as your child is likely to suck the cheese off each pea and green bean before reaching into her mouth, removing said vegetable and politely handing it back to you.

5. Continue to feel bad about the crappy meal, but then realize that you are no frickin' Martha Stewart, and if you were, you'd probably have a damn cook anyway. Enjoy the smile on your baby's face, and realize you are over it.

Mom's One Pot Pasta

This recipe is ridiculously easy and fast And yet I have still managed to screw it up... twice. I'll share my failures with you in hopes that you will be able to avoid my errors.

Ingredients:
1-2 cloves garlic
28 oz can of crushed or diced tomatoes
12 oz pasta (rigatoni or penne works best - we use whole wheat noodles)
1/2 cup cream (I use half and half - it's the lowest in fat and calories)

Optional toppings:
ground beef
fresh spinach

Use a large, deep saucepan.

Saute the garlic in olive oil over medium heat - cook until you can smell the garlic, but don't let it get brown.
(You could also saute some chopped onions at this point if you so desire.)
Add the can of tomatoes and 3 cups of water.
Salt.
Bring to a boil, and add the pasta.
Cover the pasta, and check it again in 12-15 minutes. You want the noodles to have absorbed a lot of the tomato sauce.
Add the cream, stir well.
At this point, you can turn off the heat and add the fresh spinach, stirring well, and let it wilt.

You can also brown some ground beef on the side and add it, but I haven't done this.

This is a super easy and delicious way to cook a big pot of pasta and tomato sauce!

Oh, and as promised, here are the moron mistakes I made:
- Be sure to actually saute the garlic before adding it. I forgot once, and tried to add the raw garlic later. Needless to say, it went poorly.
- Use crushed or diced tomatoes, NOT pureed. The sauce is fairly tasteless with pureed tomatoes.
- The cream is important - it really thickens up the sauce well.

Super Fast Meals for a Super Hungry Baby

My daughter, not unlike me, has the tendency to go from zero to holy-crap-I'm-freaking-out-feed-me-now! in about sixty seconds. Yes, there are nights when I'm actually on top of things and I can get dinner made and on the table before the hunger-induced meltdown happens. And then there are the other nights, like tonight, when I'm exhausted and the baby is exhausted and I feel like I'm always at least five or ten minutes behind...

Those are the nights when I rely on Super Fast Meals. And by Super Fast, I mean less then five minutes from fridge to table. I don't have a huge repertoire, but I have a few, and I thought I would share them here.

First, those foods which need to be cooked ahead of time, but make great leftovers, and can be served either cold or with a minute or less of microwave time:

- Poached salmon with yogurt (There's a good recipe for poaching salmon here - and you can make it without adding all the veggies. Just boil the water, add a little salt, stick the fillet in, and cook it until it looks cooked when you cut it open.) I add a little yogurt instead of fancy-schmancy dill sauce, and voila! (Can be served cold or warmed up.)

- Baked sweet potatoes. Preheat oven to 425. Cover a cookie pan with foil. Scrub the potatoes and poke a few holes in each one. Stick 'em on the pan, put it in oven, and check on them about an hour later. EASY and healthy. I store them in tupperware, and just cut off a chunk at meal time. Choochie will eat it cold or heated up.

- Pasta - I cook up a big box at a time, feed some to the Chooch, and store the rest in tupperware for future meals. When it's time for dinner, I throw in some frozen peas or carrots, heat it up in the microwave, and then add a little olive oil and parmesan. Choochie won't eat the peas these days, but I keep trying.

Now, let's say you don't have anything pre-cooked. Here are some ingredients (fresh, frozen, and canned) that you can keep in the house and mix and match for a fast meal. (And I mean, faster than making Mac N Cheese out of the box,which takes about 20 minutes to cook the noodles. There are nights when I don't have 20 minutes!)

- Veggie burgers (Choochie loves them, and they can be microwaved in about 90 seconds!)
- Avocado - very healthy!
- Canned beans (pinto, black, or green)
- Microwave burritos - there are some healthy options out there that are primarily beans and cheese. We buy these, and the veggies burgers, in big boxes at Costco.
- Fresh or frozen veggies hidden in hummus
- Cottage cheese
- Black bean dip from Trader Joe's
- Frozen turkey balls from Trader Joe's
- Fruit and cheese
- Pita bread in tiny pieces

Anyway, that's what comes to mind. What do you all like for Super Fast Meals?