Archive for the ‘Recipes’ Category

So I have come to the great realization that not only is it hard to post over the summer, but with two kids and sunny days it’s hard to get anything accomplished… well except laundry.

Somehow you always find time for laundry…

And eating… I can always eat – especially if they are potato pancakes involved. I can eat a ridiculous amount of these because carbs keep me svelte and sexy.

POTATO PANCAKES

2 eggs
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
6 medium potatoes, peeled and shredded
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup vegetable oil

In a large bowl, beat together eggs, flour, baking powder, salt, and pepper.

Mix in potatoes and onion.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat.

In batches, drop heaping tablespoonfuls of the potato mixture into the skillet.

Cook about 3 minutes on each side, until browned and crisp.

*Note to Self
There is a thick fog out this morning and it feels like a cool fall hug, I love it.

I wanted some fresh buns to add to dinner the other night and I was out of almost everything in my house – including milk (no, boob milk just wouldn’t have worked…)

But trust me, these are simple, awesome and look beautiful if you rub a little egg wash over the buns before you pop them in the oven…

FRENCH ROLLS

1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 tablespoons white sugar
2 tablespoons  oil
1 teaspoon salt
4 cups  flour

In a large bowl, stir together warm water, yeast, and sugar, and let it get foamy about about 10 minutes.

Add the oil, salt, and 2 cups flour and mix.

Stir in the remaining flour, 1/2 cup at a time, until the dough has pulled away from the sides of the bowl.

Turn out onto a lightly floured surface, and knead until smooth and elastic.

Lightly oil a large bowl, place the dough in the bowl, and turn to coat and let it rise 1 hr.

Punch the dough down and separate into about 16 balls.

Place on lightly greased baking sheets at least 2 inches apart, and let rise again 40 mins.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Brush with an egg wash (one egg beat until no longer thick, you can add a titch of water to thin it out).

Bake for 18 to 20 minutes.

*Note to Self
I wonder if I could stuff these with zucchini….

I’m sort of a kid’s book snob.

I take the girls about once to twice a month to the library load up on about 60 books and take them home awaiting adventure. Some are new, some I read as a child, others are magical storied with excellent illustrations… and a lot of them are really bad.

Not only are they poorly written, but my one year that currently has green Sharpie strewn all over her face could have done a better job illustrating it.

Yes, not only am I a book nerd, I am a children’s book critique – seriously, make a rhyme an actually RHYME, “like rhymes’ are still not rhymes if they don’t sound like the word your trying to rhyme with…

Now its a punishment I endure because not only do my children enjoy good books, but when you find a gem it becomes that more special, like renting a movie you never heard of but liked the cover and it turns out to be a great movie…

And yes mom, I know what your thinking, I should just write my own if  I’m not satisfied with what is out there…

One day…

When the kids are not longer screaming when I’m on the phone, smearing lipstick on the walls when I’m in the bathroom, or pulling the keys off my keyboard…

I digress.

About a year back I remember picking up a book by Oliver Jeffers when Olivia was not in her pirate/dinosaur phase but during her penguin stage.

(Side note- I wish library’s would keep children’s books together by similar themes – for example all the FICTION stories relating to dinosaurs would be in one section, all the stories about cats in another and so on.

It would save me at least an hour of searching through each book by the author’s last name, flipping through the pages looking for a dinosaur…

Just saying.

I digress, again.

The penguin stage.

So as the diligent mother I am, I remember painstakingly pulling out hundreds of titles looking for any story about a penguin and I came across Lost and Found. It is a cleaver, and simple story about a penguin who appears one morning, on a boys doorstep and the adventure they ensue to find it’s home.

I swear I only remember it having 20 sentences throughout the entire book, but the images are lovely, and it’s just one of those stories and stuck with me – probably more so than Olivia.

Long story short, they made it in to a lovely little movie… here is the trailer

*Note to Self
Maybe they will make my book in to a animated movie…

Omg, I know.

I couldn’t even make an appearance on Wednesday… and it was Recipe Day.

*Note to Self
August is proving VERY busy…

September I’ll be back at I a promise – at least I’ll have one kid in school and the crazy one… will be trapping in a car seat while mommy sips a latte and steals wifi…

BLUEBERRY ZUCCHINI BREAD

3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3 eggs
1 cup vegetable oil
2 1/4 cups white sugar
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 cups grated zucchini
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 pint blueberries

Grease and flour two 8 x 4 inch pans and preheat oven to 325 F

Sift flour, salt, baking powder, soda, and cinnamon together in a bowl.
Beat eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar together in a large bowl. Add sifted ingredients to the creamed mixture, and beat well.

Stir in zucchini and nuts until well combined

Add nuts and blueberries

Pour batter into prepared pans

Bake for 1 hour to 1 hour and a ½ – once tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Cool in pan on rack for 20 minutes.

Remove bread from pan, and cool.

I know it been a week! The summer is hard what can I say. I think when you get this far into August and the kids are really starting to get stir crazy and your looking for anything to do to keep them occupied, finding a few minutes to blog is very daunting…

As I just typed that, I turned around to take a knife away from Audrey.

Clearly I don’t even have a minute.

This is the only meal that’s been keeping me sane. I know it’s a casserole, but it’s so comforty. (Yes, I decided that was a word)

Plus it looks like dog food when its cooked, but don’t let that stop you – trust me!

It’s sooo good…

SPAGHETTI CASSEROLE

12 ounces spaghetti
1 cup chopped onions
1 chopped red bell pepper
1 pound lean ground beef
1 (28 ounce) can stewed tomatoes
1 cup fresh mushrooms chopped
1 tablespoon dried Italian Seasoning
1 tablespoon beef stock powder
1 teaspoon of salt (to taste)
2 cups shredded mild Cheddar cheese
1 can condensed cream of mushroom soup
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add spaghetti, and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, or until al dente. Drain, and set aside.

In a large skillet over medium-high heat, saute the onions, green peppers and ground beef. Once beef is brown and onions and peppers softened.

Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, Italian seasoning and salt.

Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes. – Feel free to adjust the beef seasonings to your taste – it is not supposed to be “saucy”.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and grease a 9×13 inch casserole dish.

Place half of the cooked spaghetti into the prepared dish. Top with half of the meat mixture. Sprinkle with 1 cup of the mild Cheddar cheese.

Repeat.

In a medium bowl, mix together cream of mushroom soup and water until smooth; pour over casserole. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Bake in oven for 30 to 35 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

*Note to Self
Why is it when you really need to write something down the only pens you have in the house are Crayola markers?

Here’s something a little different for breakfast which I just made for the first time today – thanks to a friend who mentioned it and I made my own slight variation.

Now I don’t recommend it for the kids every morning but it’s a nice treat every once in awhile.

BANANA CHOCOLATE CHIP OATMEAL

2/3 quick oats
1 1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 banana roughly mashed
1-2 tsps Mini dark chocolate chips
A pinch of salt

In a heavy pot mix salt, oats and milk.

Heat to a light boil, stirring and simmer 3-5 minutes

When thick add mashed banana, stir and let rest 5 minutes

Sprinkle with chocolate chips (they get a titch melty – yum)

Serve

*Note to Self
Give the children plain oatmeal and save to chocolate for yourself, I  – I mean YOU – deserve it!

I know, I know, I’ve been on sabbatical.

It’s the summer, and it’s hard to stay on top of things when it’s beautiful outside, and old friend has come into town from very far away for a small amount of time and, well, you start a major house cleaning project that was suppose to take the better part of a weekend and feels like a never ending project…

Oh and did I mention I had two kids and a new one on the way that’s making me fat.

See I AM a busy person!

Oh and yes, I posted my bookclub post, click the link above or here, and yes, it is also Wednesday and I have a lovely new recipe all ready to go…

PERFECT EVERYTIME ROAST CHICKEN

You can adjust the seasoning to suit your taste – the secret is in the cooking process.

1 whole chicken
1tablespoon olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1/4 teaspoon ground sage
Boiling water

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F

Rinse chicken thoroughly inside and out under cold running water and leave in your sink breast side up.

In a kettle boil water and once boiled, pour the boiling water over top of chicken to shrink the skin.

Put chicken into a small baking pan, on top of a rack (if you have one) and rub with olive oil. Mix the salt, pepper, oregano, basil, paprika and sage together and sprinkle over chicken

Roast the chicken in the preheated oven for 20 minutes

Lower the oven to 400 degrees F and continue roasting 40 minutes

Let cool 10 to 15 minutes and serve.

*Note to Self
My lastest cleaning project, also involved a new dresser…apparently when Ikea illustrates instructions they don’t take into consideration a three year old or a styrofoam destroying one year old…



Also, I learned a valuable lesson about measuring… ALWAYS take into consideration baseboards… You can loose almost two inches of space that way. Needless to say, I had to completly change two rooms around because of that little oops.

I think I’m going through a weird pregnant seafood phase.

I had the girlies out for 6lbs of mussels last night, which were wonderful, and I have fresh tiger prawns and salmon still looking at me in the fridge.

Perhaps tonight will be a light…

MAPLE SALMON

1/4 cup maple syrup
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp minced fresh ginger
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 pound salmon

In a small bowl, mix the maple syrup, soy sauce, garlic, ginger, garlic salt, and pepper.

Place salmon in a shallow glass baking dish, and coat with the maple syrup mixture. Cover the dish, and marinate salmon in the refrigerator 30 minutes, turning once.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C).

Place the baking dish in the preheated oven, and bake salmon uncovered 20 minutes, or until easily flaked with a fork.

*Note to Self
I wonder how this will pair with Reese Peanut Butter Cups…?

Last weekend I had the mostly delightful Tea Party, hats were expected (and worn) and it was a smashing success (one tea cup later…)

Of the things I learned putting it all together were most importantly, that with two small children and one on the way, you can’t do everything yourself so it’s good to have a buddy – especially if they are an old friend. Little sandwiches make me smile. Devonshire Cream is also good for breakfast. And, oh my god, what if this baby is a boy child.

All in all it wound up being a beautiful day, the garden was lovely, tea was served, and the food was excellent – especially surprising was the Curried Chicken Sandwich – don’t be put off by all the ingredients , it’s really quite extraordinary!

CURRIED CHICKEN SANDWICHES

2 cups cubed, cooked chicken, pulsed in a food processor
1 small peeled apple, chopped
1/2 cup dried cranberries
2 celery spears minced
1/8 cup chopped pecans
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onions
1/2 to 3/4 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing – enough to bring it together
Juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon curry powder
12 slices crustless bread
Lettuce Leaves

Pulse chicken until it is broken up (but not smooshy)

In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients.

Combine mayonnaise, lime juice and curry powder; add to chicken mixture and stir to coat.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

Spread on slices chicken salad and add a piece of lettuce.

Makes about 6 sandwiches

*Note to Self
I also learned it is totally worth splurging on expensive tea and cookies.

Today I wanted peanut butter.

And when you want peanut butter, there is nothing worse than opening up a jar and looking down into nothing but scraps and old crumbs.

That didn’t matter. It was 7am, and I had already made toast. What’s a girl to do?

I literally took out a rubber scrapper and wiped that puppy clean, for the smallest amount of peanuty goodness.

It was pathetic; I was literally spreading 1/2 tsp over a sad little piece of toast, and the instant joy I felt was incredible.

Thank god I don’t have a drug problem…

Usually I don’t have peanut butter on hand. Lil’ A is allergic to peanuts, among other things, and I make Olivia suffer with her by eating almond butter. I still call it peanut butter… but even she knows the difference.

I’m just trying to keep the dream alive.

I tried almond butter.

I even tried to like it. But let’s be real here, if you spent your entire life just eating Skippy… Almond butter is like switching to Adams… You just don’t do that.

It’s a sacrifice, I just can’t make.

So secretly in the way back part of tallest the cupboard, I keep a lone jar of peanut butter… for me.

Can you blame me? It’s just for the odd breakfast pregnancy craving; nobody needs to know about it…

Sometimes…I just want PEANUT BUTTER.

Oh… did I just mention I was pregnant…?

I think I did.

Surprise!

Ok not really. I was out doing the Fort to Fort last Sunday, and while in line for the bathroom at Wendel’s another woman in front of me looked over and asked me how many weeks I had left to go.

Yeah…Like 37… This is gonna be awesome…

So I guess if I already look super pregnant, there is no point in hiding it and letting everyone assume I was just getting fat for the next 5 weeks.

Speaking of eating…

RIDICULOUS NO FLOUR PEANUT BUTTER COOKIES

1 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 egg
1/2  tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).

Combine ingredients.

Roll out into bite sized ball and place on cookie sheet, and squish with a fork. Sprinkle liberally with more sugar.

Chill in the fridge for 1hr.

Bake for 8 minutes.

Makes 1 dozen (so double it…) lol

*Note to Self
Maybe this time around my ass will stay small…