Get Free Shipping on a New or Refurbished Vitamix

Friday, March 30, 2012

Simplicity

This week I've done a pretty good job at keeping it simple. We were home for one day so I made lamb chops and asparagus.  We have had some decent meals these past two days in Myrtle Beach and it hasn't taken much effort nor lots of money; I think we spent a total of $150 at the market...not bad for multiple meals for 6 people.

We were quite hungry when we arrived so we bought fried chicken...I made okra, my mom made an attractive salad, and I made a simple vinaigrette.  Shopping for meat at Food Lion proved to be a chore...beef was not an option and the chicken was questionable, particularly since most of the packs had up to 15% added solution (this is usually code for sodium nitrate or phosphate)...I finally settled on a pack of "natural" breasts that were surprisingly small. The tragedy is that "pink slime" in ground beef is not the only concern among the "value added" products in the meat department.

After about an hour in the market we headed to Berry's for shrimp. I had called several purveyors of "fresh" seafood but only one had local shrimp exclusively...I'm just not sure why a seafood shop in South Carolina would carry shrimp from Ecuador.

Of course we had shrimp and grits...the North Carolina white shrimp are good but they don't have anything on the brown shrimp. We were so stuffed we had to go on a 1.81 mile walk after dinner to help digest our food.

This morning I made veggie omelettes (onions, peppers, mushrooms, spinach) and we headed out to the Atlantic Intercoastal Waterway; after our trip to the Little River Inlet we were famished so I made chicken "cacciatore" which we thoroughly enjoyed...the robust flavor came from simmering the sauce the tons of onions and garlic and adding "recipe inspirations."  We had the meat and sauce over "smart taste" thin spaghetti and zucchini and broccoli on the side...needless to say, another walk is in order.

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Pocono apropro

Our mini break menu suited our locale well, until our departure breakfast of spinach, fried egg, and sauteed lump crab meat.  Everything else was quite comforting.  

Sunday night's chuck roast was delicious.  I marinated the roast for a few hours in the fridge with some bbq seasoning, apple cider vinegar, and olive oil...then cooked it for 2 hours at 350.  The meat was tender, aromatic, and flavorful, but the visual highlight was the purple potatoes.  We haven't had a "potato" in ages, when I saw the purple ones at WF, I felt certain we wouldn't be too carb indulgent because any natural purple food had to have significant health benefits.

I boiled the potatoes for 20 minutes or so, fork smashed them, then topped them with garlic sauteed in olive oil, chopped chives, and a twist of lemon juice (this made color more vivid).  They're much drier than white potatoes but they were quite delicious.

On Monday the temperature dropped significantly and we spent the majority of the day outdoors - the fellas golfed and the ladies checked out the Delaware Water Gap and a bit of the Appalachian Trail.  I also learned that PA has a canyon and a few falls that are worth seeing...so that's on my to do list when we visit Ithaca this summer.  

Dinner Monday hit the spot - turkey kielbasa and cabbage...a great one-pot dish!

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Creperie

Taking my Girl Scouts to that crepe making class was clearly a mistake. My family is addicted to crepes. Savory creeps made with boneless chicken thighs for breakfast...yesterday with eggs, today with spinach. Dessert crepes in the middle of the day. For years I've been wanting a crepe pan but was intimidated, unfortunately making a crepe is as easy as making an omelet. I need to put the brakes on. I think once we get back home i'll try them with barley flour and coconut milk instead, and have them as a weekend treat every now and again.

Prior to leaving I took dinner suggestions and we stopped at WF on the way in. I gave the ok for the mac & cheese but said no to the lasagna...I also said no to ice cream and whipped cream because of the crepes.

We did a "bbq" chicken and kale with the mac Friday night, last night it was a Malaysian style shrimp (used some bottled sweet coconut chili dipping sauce from WF) with stir fried vegetables (cabbage, broccoli, garlic, and onions), and rice noodles. I went out on a limb with WF one day sale on farm raised shrimp and was pleasantly surprised.

This was supposed to be a ski weekend but unseasonably warm conditions have transformed this into a relaxing few days with a daily walk incorporated.

Crepes are over, for now...tonight a grass fed chuck roast is what's for dinner.

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

Meal planning

Its becoming clear and evident that i cannot properly function without a weekly menu plan and related shopping trip. I've been calling myself winging it with a mental plan and for the past two weeks I have failed miserably. I even had to resort to buying a rotisserie chicken from Whole Foods and making frozen vegetables at 8pm last Thursday.

Other than the lamb chops I grilled, last week was essentially Asian themed. Egg foo omelettes in the morning and stir fry at night. Saturday I took my Girl Scouts to a sweet and savory crepe making class and over indulged. Sunday and Monday I went with Indian vegetarian options but felt a little guilty because of the chick peas and bread. The family loved it and didnt seem to notice the lack of meat.

I started the day off right with the caveman custard and tonight I'm planning to make the wild caught cod I picked up from wegmans two weeks ago and I will try to make it through the week somehow. I'm certainly looking forward to spring break on Friday.

Friday, March 9, 2012

Carrot cake revival

It's been close to a decade since I've produced a cake for sale.  Today I reluctantly deiced to give it another go.

I planned to start small with a dozen loaves...I went with baby carrots for ease.  It took me awhile to get started because I couldn't remember my recipe.  I looked through my cookbooks for notes, searched online, but couldn't find what I was looking for. I finally said the heck with it and gave it a try.

The results were pretty good, I just need to make a few tweaks, but the good thing is that I actually wrote out a recipe.

Honey mustard chicken

Somehow I managed to get through the week without cooking everyday.  Tuesday I panicked around 2pm thinking that I didn't have dinner prepared.  I threw celery, onions, a frozen cut up whole chicken, seasoning, tomato paste, and a bottle of honey mustard dressing in the crock pot and went about my day.  It wasn't until dinner time that I realized we still had leftover lamb.

We ended up having it Wednesday night with brussel sprouts and Thursday night with yams and eggplant. It had a great aroma and everyone seemed to enjoy it, but for some reason, I didn't have one piece.  

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Roasted lamb and veggies

I felt like I was consistently off-task all day.  Fortunately breakfast was easy because I had made the caveman custard (it was delicious - I increased the bananas at my daughter's request) AND I had the good sense to marinate the lamb (bizaara, garlic, olive oil, lime, s&p) before I left out this morning.  I didn't start dinner until after 5pm but I wasn't too worried because I was cooking lamb tops, a tender cut that requires minimal cooking time, especially on convection.  I started on 425 and dropped it to 325, it was done in just over an hour.  

Up until last week, my son had been complaining that we ate too many sweet potatoes...however I noticed that he gobbled them up in that turkey stew.  Tonight I thought I'd try something different.  

I halved brussel sprouts and cut sweet potatoes into cube...tossed with olive oil and sprinkled with seasoning...threw that in the oven while the lamb cooked and we ended up enjoying the robust caramelized flavor.  Tonight's dinner was truly a treat.  

Friday, March 2, 2012

Turkey thigh stew

The family made tremendous progress with the chores so I thought I would make a basic meal as an incentive to keep up the good work.  Unfortunately the meal turned out so delicious that the kids reverted to their old behavior.  

Around 930, I put onions, celery, stock, frozen turkey thigh, and seasoning in the crock pot and set it on low for 8 hours.  My grandmother insisted that I prepare a vegetable, so at 230 I added sliced yams, cabbage wedges, and more seasoning to the pot.  

When they came home from school, their faces lit up as they were met by the aroma that filled the air...when we sat down for dinner I was disappointed by the rich flavors (I was hoping for something less palatable), every bite was delicious.  They were ecstatic as they ate every drop and even had seconds.  But...

Instead of taking care of the kitchen and tidying up the living room, they went to their bedrooms...now the stakes have increased.