DInner Menu 04/23-04/27

People need to bounce ideas off each other for dinner ideas to avoid ruts. SO here is the next week for my family. we are going to the farmers market and a local health food store for our shopping. SO I like to make a menu to know what i need to buy. Plus I no longer have the luxury of daily shopping now that I am a working mom again.

Monday- Pan seared fish (whatever is wild) with roasted potatoes that have thyme, lemon, and whole garlic cloves, and a salad( fresh greens, maybe some pea shoots, and what ever looks good at the farmers)
Tuesday- Chicken teriyaki with roasted cauliflower mash and roasted beet salad with apples, bacon, and smoked blue cheese
Wednesday- Asparagus, bacon and mushroom quiche with salad
Thursday-pot roast with carrots, turnips, onion, and celery maybe with some brown rice
Friday-Tacos, (from the leftover roast) with cabbage, onions and cheese and  black beans

hope this helps with your menus =D

My go-to's....SPRING EDITION (part 1)

Every mom has her go-to recipes. Mine change for the seasons somewhat, but sometimes I just alter a recipe for whats in season. Like pasta or tacos, stuffed cabbage and soups/stews. Good basics that can be altered for what you have in season, and in your cupboard.  Right now it is spring, and the best part of spring, (besides flowers, and sun) ASPARAGUS! So right now we are eating it about five times a week, because in about a month it is gone.  (and with asparagus when it is out of season, not only does it not taste as good, it costs exponentially more)  So consider a few options for spring... Quiche, and/or frittatas (very similar, but if you don't feel like making a crust, a frittata is a great alternative.)  Asparagus, mushrooms, and some Swiss cheese (bacon wouldn't hurt) quiche...YUM!  Wild mushrooms are also starting to come around so we are enjoying our  roasted asparagus and wild mushroom salads.  And how about our leafy greens. Its kale, chard, spinach time people!

Simple dressing (good for kale salad, or asparagus and wild mushroom salad, or anything...)

• juice of one lemon (two if not a juicy lemon or you really love lemon.... like me)
• 1/4c Bragg's Amino
• 1/2c olive oil
• 1/4t salt (to taste)
• 1/2t pepper
• splash of tarragon vinegar (optional)

shake shake shake!

Roasted Beet Salad

• 4 smallish/medium beets peeled, cut into large bite size pieces and roasted* at 400 degrees for ~35-40 min until tender (serves two and a half-babies are a half in my book)
• 1 apple peeled, cored and cut into small bite size pieces
• 2-4 slices of good bacon cooked and chopped up
• a good amount of smoked blue cheese ( I say a good amount because if you really like blue then go for it, if you are only a moderate fan, then maybe a little less is better. ALWAYS TASTE YOUR FOOD!)
• drizzle of Olive oil
• drizzle of balsamic (we happen to have access to a balsamic truffle creme and holy cow it is great-nice work if you can get it)

toss and serve warm
*Of course whenever roasting a veg I cover it with olive oil and salt and pepper.

Stolen Kale Salad

• fresh kale ( you can gauge how much, because honestly I love this so much I eat a whole bunch of kale to myself) washed and dried
• handful of sunflower seeds (roasted)
• handful of pumpkin seeds (roasted)
• handful of sunflower sprouts
• red onion (I recommend pickling your onions for extra POP....that's a different post)
• small amount of feta crumbled (optional)
• simple dressing*

clearly this is a very sophisticated, precise salad, so you must follow the recipe exactly! And I named this Stolen kale salad because I full on stole this recipe from a local health food market. I'm not gonna lie. But shit, its really good and not enough people eat kale!


Asparagus and Mushroom Salad

• 1 bunch asparagus
• a variety local wild mushrooms- two big handfuls or one handful and a Portabello
• 3 small beets peeled and roasted
• simple dressing -to taste

roast the mushrooms and asparagus separate from the beets because they take much less time you can start the beets first. (4oo degrees for 40 min) Then, once they are done do the other veg at the same temp,but only for 20 min. Of course whenever roasting a veg I cover it with olive oil and salt and pepper. I would go really light on the S&P for this one because you will be adding the dressing. This might be one of the few salads that I would not add bacon or cheese to... hmmmm weird....

SO this is only part one of an idunnohowmany part series. I will post my quiche recipe including my great grandmothers pie crust, but don't tell my dad....stay tuned!

Moving on up

Change is a good thing, and I am excited for what is coming up in my life. I am going back to work. I have gotten a great job at the hospital and am very excited to embrace this new change in my life. My daughter is going to go to a nanny who I am very pleased with. But... I am pretty scared about leaving her. We're both gonna cry, but it's gonna be good in the end. Santa Cruz is an expensive place to live, so this boost of income will really help my family out. And now we will be able to afford to do the things for our kids that we have wanted. BOOYA!

LATKES!

Hey, so I know it has been a while, but here we go. This morning I made potato and zucchini latkes with coconut hot coco, oh and bacon! As you all know I really do advocate eating locally and seasonally. But.. you also know that I love zucchini. So though it is not in season (cause its not August) I couldn't help myself.  Same with the potatoes.  I am trying to upload some photos cause I hear that's what all the kids are doing these days.... I am technologically impaired so we shall see how this goes. Latkes are similar to the croquettes, but the veg is shredded and raw.  So this recipe is definitely kid tested and hubby approved.

LATKES

• 1 large potato
• 2 zucchini
• 2 eggs
• 3 spring onions
• 1/4c cream
• 1c flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1tsp pepper

Ok, so shred one large potato and two zucchini, squeeze the excess liquid out of it, you can leave a little, but I prefer to have it rinsed and drained so I can control the amount of liquid.  Combine all the ingredients.   You can have it be more "battery" or more "potato-y" depending on preference.  (see pic)  IE-add more flour and don't rinse and drain the potatoes. Or rinse and drain the potatoes and add just enough flour to combine. Get a pan nice and hot with your oil of choice ( no butter, it burns) and put approx 1/4 of the batter to pan and cook for about 3min on each side til golden brown. (see pic). So I am not gonna tell you all how to make bacon, but I will FYI the coco.

Coconut Coco

• one can coconut milk
• one can regular milk (or whatever you like) I used the can to measure
• 3T coco powder
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 1tsp vanilla extract
• 3T unrefined cane sugar (or whatever you like)

heat the milk til it starts to bubble on the edges, then remove from heat, and whisk in the remaining ingredients and enjoy!

tricky tricky sneaky

My sister (in-law) is always happy when I tell her what I fed my nephew because she says she has a hard time getting him to eat veggies. (she also cant get my brother to eat veggies, but that's another story) So one of my secretes is to sneak them into what ever I can. I will go crazy and put shredded zucchini in just about everything. (see previous post about pancakes) So the other day I made them dinner and packed it full of veg! Shepards pie people, the forgotten casserole. Here's the deal, if you mix a bunch of veg into a delicious meaty, gravy-y mound of goodness then cover it with a mash of potato-y awesomeness, they will come. And eat, and ask for more! This a one of those meals that you can just run with. What is in your fridge? USE IT!

~SHEPERDS PIE~
-1lb of ground meat (ok, so you can use beef, turkey, buffalo, chicken, you can even combine a few of these. If the meat is very lean, add some olive oil to the pan before you add the meat.)
- ~1/2C flour (in essence you are making a rue with the meat drippings in the pan, so when you add the stock, you have gravy)
- 1-2C stock use whatever stock matches with your meat ie- ground chicken, chicken stock
-veggies (ya, vague, I know but here's where you get creative, use what you have, what you like, what is on-hand and/or cheap)
-potatoes
- ~2T butter
- ~1/2-3/4C milk, or cream, or half&half
- Salt & pepper to taste 

So, here's how I roll. I brown the meat with maybe some onion, and mushrooms. when its cooked thru, I add the flour to start the rue. Make sure to cook it for a few min to cook out the flour taste. I see no reason why you could not use a GF flour for this. Now add the stock. A lil at a time til you achieve the amount of gravy and thickness desired. It should be soppy, but not runny. At this point you add the veggies. I almost always add peas and carrots, classic shepards pie. I also add broccoli, shredded zucchini of course. Whatever you add I recommend it be cut to be bite size for looks, and cooking time. Uniformity is best. I let this mixture cook for about 15-20 min to allow the flavors to meld, but the baking will do that too. For the mash on top, of course potatoes, but also cauliflower, parsnips, and turnips are all great additions. So boil the root veg, til soft, then add the milk or cream, the butter and S&P to taste. Just like making mash potatoes. Now put the mash ontop of the meat mixture and bake at 400degrees for approx. 20-25 min. I have been Known to even sprinkle with a small amount of cheese, then turn the oven to broil for a few til it's slightly golden on top. Let it rest for a few after you pull it out, and then dish it up! Ps toddlers Love this dish!

what is that?

Is it a rash? Is she teething? I don't really know... She has what appears to be a lil rash around her mouth, just a few red bumps, she IS teething, and drooling a lot... Oh well. So I am not sure if it is "normal'" but Kiele IS a picky eater who enjoys Asparagus, and Brussel Sprouts, but wont eat anything consistently. Oh well.   And I am pretty sure if she wasn't still breast feeding, or taking a bath every night, she would be getting no liquids in her at all. She spits EVERYTHING out, and she has taught her cousin to do the same. Car rides are fun with them. They may be cracking each other up, but then they end up soaked, and Shivering in the grocery store. The last thing I need is one more reason for some pretentious, Trustafarian*  to give me stink eye in Whole Foods. "she's not dieing, she's just dramatic!" ANywho.. went to the park today with both the babies (mine and my nephew whom I nanny for) and had a lovely conversation with a mom who apparently has been teaching her child "evacuation language" since birth. I have been having "personal responsibility" conversations with my daughter since birth, but I don't actually expect her to peepee in the potty by the time she is 18mo. Some parents are really either delusional, or have WAY too much time on there hands. I can say this with confidence because I am fairly certain I am the only one reading this. PROVE ME WRONG!
*Trustafarian-a young idealistic person who looks down on others for not being environmentally friendly or aware enough, whilst receiving a trust fund from their parents so they can afford to only buy organic, and support the whales, and wear bamboo and hemp clothes exclusively. Usually white with dreadlocks.

wow you did that!

So who doesn't love their slow cooker? If you have kids, or if you are a human being in 2012 you need a slow cooker. Seriously it makes dinner possible some nights.  Between it,and my bread maker with a delay start function, I can come home to dinner, instead of cooking for two hours at the end of a 11 hour day. SAVED! So ya we do Pot Roast, and Chili of course, but have you ever done short ribs? OMG! SOOOOOoooo good! Ike asked me to start them, and told me what he does, then... muhahahahahaha... I modified....His involve soy sauce, and Worcestershire, and onions, and they are super awesome, but mine... oh ya!

~Beef Short Ribs~

 -short ribs ( I made 5 large ribs for three  people and a baby-what she likes beef)
-3/4C soy sauce
-2T Worcestershire
-3-4T Orange juice or Pineapple juice (throw some of the fruit in to if ya feel like it-but only if it is the canned pineapple, fresh has Bromelain in it which is an enzyme that breaks down protein, not good in a MEAT dish.)
-1 1/2C Tea ( I used Oolong, Black would be good too, or maybe Jasmine...PLAY)
-1T black pepper
-1 1/2T ground ginger (if you use fresh, cool! but it will be MUCH spicier so if your into that then go for it, and it not, then cut it back to between 1-1/2T)
-1 large leek sliced
-1 LARGE onion sliced thin
alright so you know how this works, put it all in the slow cooker and turn it on. Now here's the deal, if you want it done in 4 -5 hours then set your cooker to high, and -just walk away-  OR if you want to make it in the morning and come home 8hrs later to a meal, set it to low.  I served it with brown rice, roasted turnips, and roasted acorn squash SUPER YUM! (btw for the acorn squash, I highly recommend a little olive oil, S&P and a bay leaf-then let it roast)

WE ALL HAVE OUR DAYS

OK, so I enjoys being a healthy eater, and teaching my kids to enjoy all the bounty of the earth, yada yada yada... But there are those days when I just want SUGAR! SO for those days I have discovered BANOFFEE PIE! Oh dear God, its is what I imagine Crack to be. It is utterly addictive, like eat three slices and not even notice, addictive. I have tried to think of ways to make it "healthy" but its not really possible. So just enjoy, and try not to make it too often.

~BANOFFEE PIE~
-1 can sweetened condensed milk (SCM)
-2large bananas
-heavy whipping cream bout half of the pint should make enough, but if you make to much... then oh well
-~3Tsp  melted butter*
- ~2+C ginger snaps (this is the only place for some wiggle room as far as "health" is concerned. You could make your own vegan ginger snaps, and then pulse them in the food processor with coconut butter, OR... you could just say *uck it and eat the pie)

Boil the Sweetened condensed milk for ~3hours in the can. It will become a beautiful rich milk toffee. make a crust by pulsing the cookies in a food processor until they are crumbs, add butter, or Earth Balance, or Coconut buttery spread that is melted. Press this into a 9" pie pan. bake at 350 degrees for 12min. Whip the cream to stiff peaks. Now for assembly... open the can of SCM which is now a nice rich brown color, and stir it a lil. spoon it onto the cookie crust evenly. add two sliced bananas onto, and finally cover with the whip cream.  Try not to eat the whole pie! ( I have enclosed a link to a really great healthy version from the great people at Paleo cupboard, if the guilt is too much for you. )

Like a bunny

I am currently learning to perfect the art of the quick step. I am working on being able to shower in the time it takes my 10 mo old to walk from the living room, into my bedroom, and find me in the shower. (and its a small house so its ~ 2min) Can I make a meal before she totally melts down? I am getting better, but I have had quite a few fails. The secrete to my success has been ROASTING! Which basically means I throw a bunch of veg in the oven covered in olive oil, and salt& pepper, and call it good. While the veg cooks, I can play with Kiki, and 40 min later she is pretty happy, and is less apt to notice if I leave her to finish cooking. Its brilliant! We eat seasonally, so right now we are loving our root veggies. I like to roast Turnips, Parsnips, and onions, or leeks, and combine them with some potatoes I have boiled. I mash up the whole lot, then make them into VEGGIE CROQUETTES!

~VEGGIE CROQUETTES~ 
-2-3 carrots
-3-4 small parsnips, or 2-3 large ones
-3-4 Turnips
-1 small onion or a leek
-4 good size potatoes
-3-4 good size garlic cloves
-bout 3/4C flour (garbanzo flour is good, or whole wheat flour, or even unbleached all purpose)
-1 egg
-salt and pepper to taste
* I have been known to add cauliflower, instead of carrots, depending on what I have on hand.

Roast all the veg (put the veg on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and salt and pepper, make sure its all covered) except the potatoes in the oven at 400 degrees for ~40 min.  until tender.   At the same time boil the potatoes in a pot of water until tender. Drain potatoes, add the rest of the veg, and mash! (pay close attention to the garlic, make sure it incorporates, as good as roasted garlic is, you don't want a bite of just that.) Once mashed (I leave it a lil lumpy I like to taste the different veggies) add the flour, egg, and season to taste. They mixture should not be runny, so if it is, add a lil more flour. Take a large spoonful and form a patty, and place in pan with some coconut oil (or grapeseed) at med-high heat. Brown for ~ 2min on each side. I serve them with a Greek yogurt and dill sauce. (1C +or- plain Greek yogurt, tsp dill, dash of salt, 1 clove finely diced garlic, and half a diced cucumber or a half a shredded zucchini-you know how I like to sneak zucchini into everything.)
These are great as appetizers, or a side dish with a salad, and a protein.
* this is also a great way to use up extra veg after use make pot roast. Same idea, and the veg is already done, no extra roasting involved.

tricks of the trade

OK so this morning I made zucchini pancakes. I was going for the zucchini bread idea, and it worked! I happen to have a pretty picky eater on my hands. She is ten months old, and has decided that she only really likes yogurt, and string cheese. Oh sure on occasion she will go for the black beans and brown rice with avo I make her, or want whatever I am eating. (Which really does keep ya honest with your own food choices.) For the most part though, she not really into eating. This recipe tasted delicious to me but once again, the dogs got more of it than she did. But then I just walked away, and she quietly ate the rest of her food. So for me I will call this one a SUCCESS. You know what the funniest part of it all is? My LEAST favorite veg as a child was zucchini, now I put it into everything, and LOVE it!

~ZUCCHINI PANCAKES~

-pancake batter (OK so I know this is vague, but here's the deal. When I have time I make mine from scratch, but when I don't (ie- most mornings) I use the Krustez just add water mix. Ya its cheep and easy. When I make my own I go for the organic flour, or even the gf flour, eggs, baking soda, salt, and raw milk, oh and a pinch of raw sugar (my grandma says that how you keep a husband-the pinch of sugar) Bottom line is, use what you have or know, the batter is basic.

-shredded zucchini (one whole zucchini) I made a small batch just enough for she and I and used half a zucchini

- 1-2tsp nutmeg

- 2-3tsp cinnamon

-1-2tsp vanilla

mix it up, and enjoy!

 I added a lil earth balance "butter" on top, but NO syrup. kids eat too much sugar, not a good way to start the day =D