One Pot Meals

Have been in a dinner rut recently, so was on the search for something new to try. Stumbled upon this recipe for One Pot Orecchiette Pasta and have made it twice now. Pretty easy and quite tasty. My new favorite ingredient is tomato paste in a tube :)

Just dump everything in the pot, stir, bring to a boil, then cook over med-high for 12-15 min. Stir in some parmesan, and serve with arugula. Some of the recipe reviewers suggest using chicken broth in place of the water, so might try that next time for a little added flavor.

Unfruity Smoothie

Stumbled upon this 'frosty light' recipe on Pinterest - a chocolaty treat, and a nice break from the traditional fruit smoothie. May be hard to guess the ingredients - almond milk (I substituted vanilla soy milk), cocoa powder, chia seeds, and a frozen banana. Lots of other good smoothie recipes on her site too.

In the Kitchen

Tried 2 new recipes plus one old favorite this weekend. Cole was my sous chef for the baking activities; he did all right :)

First up was the old favorite, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, based on this EF recipe with substitutions to make dairy and egg-free. They were a tad on the crispy side (maybe because of the substitutions?), so need to make a note to decrease the baking time.

Next was the first attempt to recreate Pita Jungle's hummus :) I used this recipe, adding cilantro to half of the batch (yum!). It was very tasty, and pretty straight-forward. Although I think I'll aim for a little thinner consistency next time.

And finally, tried a new vegan banana bread recipe - it smells delicious, but we won't have our first taste until breakfast tomorrow.

Healthy Pasta

We make this pasta primavera dish, from Giada's Everyday Italian cookbook, pretty often. I love flavor of the roasted veggies, and we add in plenty of fresh grated parmesan. Only drawback is the chopping.... takes me about 30 min!

All the veggies, chopped up and ready to go. This time, used red onion, zucchini, yellow squash, carrots and mushrooms.

The final product, with plenty of the leftovers, since still can't get the kids to eat vegetables that look like vegetables..... Also, it always amazes me how much the veggies shrink during roasting!

Baking with Sun Butter

Since peanut butter has been banned from our house because of Lauren's peanut allergy, we keep an alternative on hand - sunflower seed butter.  It has the texture and smell of peanut butter, and has similar (but different) nutty taste.  Ironically, Lauren won't eat it - but Cole loves it; his favorite is sun butter and jelly sandwiches :)  I've been wanting to try using it in place of peanut butter for baking.


Yesterday, Lauren and I tried out this recipe for sun butter cookies, and I was pleasantly surprised with the results. I halved the recipe, and used Earth's Balance in place of the butter, and my egg substitute of 1T flaxseed meal + 3 T water (so Cole could enjoy them too).


They taste very similar to good old-fashioned peanut butter cookies.  I will definitely be making them again.  Even Lauren liked them; I'll convert her to a sun butter-lover yet...


Peanut-butter puffs, is another recipe that I've tried using sun butter as a substitute.  Saw it in an issue of Parenting magazine, and found a copy here.  We made these for a school potluck.


We all found it hard to eat just one.

Thanksgiving Weekend

Pie heaven, courtesy of Mom.  The kids' favorite was the apple pie, the adults' favorite was the icebox pumpkin-mousse pie, recipe from the Nov issue of Everyday Food.


Next, up with the Christmas decorations and tree.  Santa brought this Frosty train last year, and the kids were so excited to set it up.  They can literally stare at it for hours.


And Cole decided to line the tracks with snowflake ornaments...

Sugar in the Morning

On Sundays, we usually have one 'special' breakfast item - smoothies, pancakes, etc. A few weeks ago, I was a bit tired of pancakes, so I made Lauren an offer I was sure she wouldn't refuse - waffles, chocolate waffles. Unfortunately, Cole did not partake (although he seemed perfectly content with his frozen waffle).


This week I searched for a dairy/egg-free version so Cole could enjoy too, and found this recipe for Chocolate Banana Vegan Waffles - which uses a banana, olive oil, dairy-free milk, whole wheat flour, and a little maple syrup and brown sugar.  I made a few modifications (used vanilla soy milk, doubled the cocoa powder, and reduced the amount of olive oil slightly), and it turned out quite well.  Next time I'll probably double the recipe (so there are plenty of seconds!).

Drink Up

I've been wanting to make sangria ever since seeing the spread in a recent issue of Everyday Food. Used this raspberry-mango sangria recipe, but with a few substitutions - used sliced oranges and strawberries for the fruit, and triple-sec in place of the raspberry liquor. It was the perfect accompaniment to our Labor Day meal of grilled burgers, corn, and potato salad. The kids even got their own alcohol-free version.

Ziti and Summer Veggies

Tried this Cooking Light recipe for Baked Ziti and Summer Veggies last week. I love recipes prepared with lots of fresh veggies, and you could sub in your other favorites too (might add some mushrooms next time). I also used whole wheat pasta.


The final product - all cheesy and bubbly. I pulled out some of the pasta mixture prior to adding the egg/cheese, and baked it with some panko crumbs on top for Cole. Of course he only ate the pasta, not the veggies. Still working on that.....

Cookies with a Twist

Made these last weekend, using my favorite oatmeal cookie recipe, but with a few substitutions. In place of butter used earth balance, in place of the egg used 1 T flax seed meal + 3 T water (to make them Cole-friendly), and in place of raisins made half a batch with chocolate chips (Ghiradelli semi-sweet, which are dairy-free) and the other half with butterscotch chips. So yummy.

Test Kitchen

Tested out a vegan cake recipe, in preparation for Cole's upcoming birthday.  This chocolate cake recipe was highly rated, and did not disappoint.  No eggs, milk, or butter - yet very moist and tasty.  The recipe calls for baking in a 9x5 loaf pan, but I made a dozen cupcakes (with a little leftover batter), baking for about 18 min.  Lauren helped me make them, and we used our newly purchased batter tube - so easy and mess-free!  (Although Lauren informed me that it was a little hard for her to squeeze because she didn't have a lot of muscles in her legs....)



The final product.  I added some vegan vanilla frosting (using Earth Balance spread and a little soy milk).  While it was good, I prefer a whipped frosting over buttercream.  Might try a chocolate frosting next time; or maybe go for a pre-made frosting and just let Cole enjoy his without :)

Meatballs

Tried a new recipe for meatballs from Everyday Food. The recipe is not on the website, but I found it here. It is from a feature on sriracha chili sauce, but since we're not big fans of spicy, I just omitted it. I also omitted the egg whites (due to Cole's allergy), and added some extra bread crumbs instead. I thought the dish was really tasty - liked the combo of ground turkey and pork, and the addition of spinach. Kids weren't all that jazzed, but they're a tough crowd.... And besides forming the meatballs, it was a pretty quick dish - you just broil meatballs in the oven (rotating the pan once), then finish them off in the sauce on the stove.

Cookie Exchange

Lauren requested chocolate cookies for her school cookie exchange this evening. I used my favorite chocolate cookie recipe, and substituted M&Ms for the chocolate chunks, for a little holiday flair. Looking forward to hearing the kids' Christmas carols - they've been practicing a lot. The best is Lauren's interpretation of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' - including the 'two turtle ducks' that 'my tulip came to me'.

Chocolatey Goodness

I found this recipe for Double Chocolate Cookies earlier this year, while searching for a chocolate cookie recipe to use for ice cream sandwiches. They are delicious - crispy on the outside, chewy in the middle, and not overly sweet. The only modification I made was to subsitute dark for milk chocolate (just what I had on hand) and to reduce the bake time to about 12 min (found they were a little too crispy at 15 min). The only drawback is they tend to dry out after 3 days or so (even when sealed in an airtight container), so you'll either need to eat them all up or share with a friend :)

Berries for a Buck

Twice this summer I saw berries go on sale at the grocery store for only $0.99. This deal always seems too good to pass up - so I usually buy more than one pint. Oddly though, I usually don't end up eating too many just plain; I instead look for a recipe to bake. For the blueberries, muffins are always a good bet. Raspberries however, are a little trickier. I consulted my Everyday Food index and found this recipe for Raspberry Buckle - basically a yellow cake with berries baked into it. It was good, but didn't turn out anything like the picture, as all the raspberries sank. Nevertheless, who can beat berries for a buck.

Plum Cake

Tried a new recipe this weekend for a plum cake, from September's issue of Everyday Food. The recipe was pretty simple (the plums are sprinkled on top of the batter, and includes lemon zest too), and it turned out very tasty, and pretty! It wasn't too sweet, making it the perfect accompaniment to our Sun morning cup of coffee (Stew's idea). I couldn't find the recipe online, so I scanned it in here. I ended up cutting the cake into 12 slices (instead of the suggested 8-10) and froze half for a future treat.

Veg Out

Since there were still plenty of veggies from our 'bountiful basket' last weekend, I made some vegetarian chili. I've made this Cooking Light recipe before - and it's pretty versatile. I normally cut back on the chili powder (1 tsp vs. 1 Tbl), omit the jalapeno, and this time I swapped carrots for the bell peppers, and pinto for the kidney beans. I ordered another bountiful basket for this week - good timing too, our fruit/veg stash has run out. However this time I will be splitting it with someone :)

Going Bananas

We had some bananas that were going bad, so what else to do but bake up some banana bread. My mom shared this recipe with me a while ago - it is from a Disney cookbook, and makes the most delicious rich and buttery banana bread. The recipe actually makes 2 loaves, but I usually halve it, and omit the walnuts too.

Pork Aplenty

Sandra Lee showed a cooking demonstration for Slow-Cooked Orange Margarita Tacos on the Today Show this week, to promote her new Money Saving Meals show. I'd never slow-cooked a pork roast, but have always wanted to (I love bbq pork sandwiches), so decided to give it a try. It called for a 10-lb bone-in pork shoulder picnic cut - and boy, was it large; barely fit in the crock pot. I substituted apricot preserves for the orange marmalade, but otherwise stuck to the recipe (finally, a use for the margarita mix that's been sitting in our fridge for quite some time). I cooked it with the skin on/fat intact, but next time I would probably remove the skin/fat, as 'pulling' the pork off post cooking kinda grossed me out... However, the meat was so tender and tasty! The first night we had pork soft tacos with avocado, and a corn/black bean salad. The second night we had bbq pork sandwiches - just top with some bbq sauce and serve up on a roll (Lauren enjoyed her own 1/8 of a sandwich too!) I froze the remainder of the pork, and will probably make some green salsa enchiladas at a later date. I'd definitely make this tasty (and economical!) recipe again, but will pick a smaller cut of meat and hold the skin/fat.

Breakfast & A Bouquet

Lauren made this adorable paper flower bouquet at daycare for Mother's Day. Her teacher comes up with very creative art projects. Also, for Mother's Day, Stew prepared a wonderful brunch - eggs, bacon, and orange french toast casserole. The recipe is from Cooking Light. The carmel topping is so delicious (it tastes like a fresh-baked cinnamon roll!), and it is a great make-ahead dish - just prepare the night before then pop in the oven for 35 minutes.