What We Ate

 For Leland: quesadilla (new favorite), hummus, avocado

For Momma: Grilled cheese with red pepper and avocado & Roasted cauliflower and broccoli soup

Breakfast for dinner! (this needs to be more common in my opinion)
For Leland: sauteed kale, banana, avocado, mango bake
For Momma: Baked eggs, mango bake, Bacon! (yes it deserves a capital B)

For Leland: grilled cheese (which he didn't care for), avocado, banana
For Momma: Grilled cheese with avocado, carrots, grapefruit

Weekly Menu

This week we are going to be munching on:
Mushroom Tetrazzini, we adapted this recipe for mushrooms only!
Pad See Ew, may favorite Thai dish. And as Jeff said 'Why are people so into Chinese food when there is Thai food?' I don't know, I just don't know. We use just regular old broccoli and tofu.
For dinner tonight we had some Jambalaya with buttermilk biscuits. Shrimp was also added, and this dish was very spicy, maybe a tad bit too spicy. Yogurt is going to get bought, in order to fix this problem.
And we also have a Quesadilla Casserole to eat. We added some blanched chard to this, we need some greens every now and then.
We also made salsa, which I am not for sure if it turned out good or not. I am using the 'let it sit' method and will try it again tomorrow.
And I pureed a ton of peaches. Some of these will be for Leo once he starts solids. Some of it will be for my oatmeal in the morning. And some is going to get turned into Peach Sorbet tomorrow night.

While this was happening, we also bought Leo some supplies for when he starts to eat solids, like spoons, to-go tupperware, and sippy cups.
I decided we should start getting him use to the idea of a spoon. I think he enjoys it only because he enjoys anything he can chew on.

Rigatoni with Sausage, Peas and Fresh Ricotta

Jeff claims this is one of the best pasta dishes we have ever made.
I think it is up there. But I have become a huge fennel fan, meaning I love sausage.

Serves 6

2 large cans whole San Marzano tomatoes
4 tablespoons olive oil
1 bay leaf (pref fresh)
1 cup diced fresh fennel (reserve the fronds for garnish)
4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
1/2 tablespoon red pepper flakes, or to taste
1 pound sweet or hot (or both) Italian sausage with fennel seeds
1/2 cup defrosted petit pois (small peas)
1 pound rigatoni (large ridges)
1 pint fresh ricotta
1/4 pound ricotta salata

Run the tomatoes through a food mill and discard the peels and seeds. (You can puree them in a blender or food processor if you don't have a mill.)

Heat the olive oil gently in a large heavy saucepan over medium low heat. Add the bay leaf, fennel, garlic and red pepper flakes (for a milder sauce, you can add these at the end). Season with salt and pepper and saute until the fennel is soft and ever so slightly brown at the edges.

Add the tomatoes, stir, and lower the heat to low. Cook gently, stirring every so often, for 2 hours. Ask a question about this step.

If you have a grill or grill pan, grill the sausages whole, then slice into 1/2-inch rounds. Alternatively, you can rub them with a bit of olive oil and roast in the oven on a sheet tray at 400 for 10 to 12 minutes, and then slice into rounds.

When the sauce is reduced, cook the pasta according to the package directions (but probably you should add the pasta to rapidly boiling, highly salted water; then once it comes back up to a boil, cook for 8 to 10 minutes). Retain 1 cup of pasta water and drain the pasta.

Pour two-thirds of the sauce into a large saute pan, add the sausage and heat through over medium heat.

Add the warm pasta to the sauce, plus about 1/2 cup of pasta water (more if you think you need it). Saute, turning with tongs and shaking the pan until the sauce has been absorbed into the pasta. Add the peas at the last minute.

Serve with a HEAPING dollop of cold ricotta cheese and shavings of ricotta salata. Garnish with fennel fronds.

Spinach and Potato Hash

Sometimes it is nice to have breakfast for dinner, and this dinner is delicious, filling and not full of sugar like most breakfast items. 

I really liked this meal because I am loving anything with sausage or fennel seeds.  That flavor is just amazing. 

Mushroom and Chard Pie

This recipe is taken from SimplyRecipes.  It originally calls for 1 pound of mushrooms but I used a little less than this so that chard could be added in.  When sauteing the mushrooms just add in a chopped bunch of chard a little later.   This pie turned out really good, and we did do the homemade pie dough recipe too.  It could be served at a brunch but it really is not too heavy on the egg flavor and is great as dinner.  

Weekends

This was the first weekend, true weekend, Jeff and I had in a very long time that we didn't have anywhere to be.  It was really nice.  And productive.  And I got to take a nap both days!  We are trying to make the most out of our last few baby-free weekends. 
On Saturday we grocery shopped and did a few other errands.  Then that night we made cream cheese wontons, egg drop soup and pad see ew.  It was all really good, but I didn't take any pictures. 
Then on Sunday we were productive and planted some seeds in the garden, hopefully something will come of that, but I am not being very positive about it right now.  Jeff also made this really awesome cinnamon sugar bread.

 

And for dinner on Sunday I made fried chicken, green beans, baked sweet potatoes and Jeff made some buttermilk biscuits.

And here is what the kitties did most of the weekend, lay in the baby's room. 

Thai Green Curry

I have been craving this dish lately, so we finally or Jeff finally got around to actually making it.  I have been wanting lots of things with coconut for some reason.  And I feel like after making this dish, even though this recipe was really good, it could use another can of coconut milk.  
This recipe comes from Love and Olive Oil

Ingredients
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3/4 cup sliced shallots (about 5 large)
1-2 tablespoons Thai green curry paste
1 14-ounce can unsweetened coconut milk
2 teaspoons fish sauce (such as nam pla or nuoc nam)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 container firm tofu, drained well and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 lb. green beans, trimmed and cut into 1″ pieces ( had snap peas instead)
5-6 dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated and quartered
1 large red bell pepper, cut into strips
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil plus sprigs for garnish
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice plus wedges for garnish
Directions
Pre-cook the green beans until bright green and still very crispy.
Heat oil in large saucepan over medium heat. Add shallots and curry paste; stir until shallots soften, about 2 minutes. Add coconut milk, fish sauce, and brown sugar; bring to boil. Add tofu, green beans, mushrooms, and bell pepper; stir until heated through. Stir in chopped basil and lime juice. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Divide curry among bowls or serve over jasmine rice. Garnish with basil sprigs and lime wedges.

Baked Oatmeal

I have been getting in a rut for breakfast.  I find something I like and I stick with it, maybe for a little too long.  For a while it was yogurt and granola, then it switched to toast and eggs.  I have now moved onto baked oatmeal with some eggs.  And this baked oatmeal is so good, I think it is better than regular oatmeal.  This is also good because you can make the whole batch and then reheat as much as you need each morning with a little milk  or yogurt and it is jut as good as when you first made it.

Baked Potato Soup

So first off, this soup is probably the best soup I have ever made.  It is so delicious.  I think a lot of it has to do with replacing two cups of milk with homemade turkey broth.  We also made some Irish Soda Bread and broccoli along with the soup.  But you should definitely try the recipe sometime.  It takes a little time but it is not too hard. 

serves 8
Ingredients:
4 baking potatoes (2 1/2 pounds)
2 Tbs butter
2/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 4 cups 2% reduced-fat milk whole milk
2 cups turkey broth
4 ounces shredded cheddar cheese, plus extra for garnish
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided( we just added all into the soup)
10 slices center cut bacon, cooked and crumbled ( we just added this into the soup and not on top)

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°.
Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash. Discard skins.
Lightly spoon flour into a dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Melt butter in a large dutch oven. Add flour, whisking to combine with the butter. Gradually add milk and broth, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, cheese, salt, pepper, and paprika, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.
Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Add additional salt and pepper if desired. Sprinkle each serving with cheese, onions, and bacon.

Chile Rellenos

I have been wanting to make chile rellenos for quite sometime, then pregnancy happened and not much sounded good.  But this past week they sounded okay and I knew the time period for poblanos was getting short, so it was now or never.  So we made chile rellenos and our own green chile sauce with some roasted green chiles our friends gave us.  The rellenos were really good, the chile was a little too spicy for me but it was still really good.  We also made some amazing cornbread that didn't make it into the picture because we ate it so quickly, but when topped with honey it was even better.  So if you are in the mood for a little southwest cuisine, you should try these recipes. 

The recipe for the rellenos was taken from CookEatShare. We cut this recipe into a third of the original because we only had 4 peppers.

• 12 Poblano chile pepperschile peppers, seeded and membranes removed.
• 3/4 lbs Cheddar cheese
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp canola oil

1. De-seed and membrane the peppers and quickly char on high heat on the grill (turn multiple times while charring). Set aside.
2. In a medium bowl, mix milk, egg, 1 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and oil.
3. Slice your cheese into strips (1/2 inch thick) and sprinkle with cumin. Place 1-2 strips of cheese inside each pepper.
4. Heat (on medium) a heavy bottom fry pan and pour enough oil to cover about 1" of the pan. While heating, dust the peppers with remaining flour (1/2 cup), and dip into milk / egg mix.
5. When hot, fry your peppers 3-4 at a time for about 4-5 minutes on each side. Should turn a nice brown. Serve hot! Top with green chile. 

The green chile recipe was taking from ThatsMyHome.

1 tablespoon unsalted butter or lard
2/3 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth (we used vegetable broth)
1 cup (or more) chopped green chiles  1 large clove garlic, finely minced
Salt (optional)
Dash ground cumin

Melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Saute the onion until soft. Stir in the flour and the broth until mixture is smooth. Add chiles, garlic, cumin and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes, adding salt if desired.

Yield: 2 cups. 

Veggie Burgers

Finally a food post!  So a week ago or so I found this recipe on how to make garbanzo bean veggie burgers so I made them and they are so good.  And they actually hold up and stick together.  I have made veggie burgers before and they just never stick together or don't taste well or are not filling, but they do all of this.
I took this recipe from Love and Olive Oil. 

Ultimate Veggie Burger

Makes a lot… halve the recipe for 4 good sized servings.
Recipe from 101 Cookbooks.
Ingredients
2 1/2 cups sprouted garbanzo beans (chickpeas) OR canned garbanzos, drained and rinsed ( I just used beans I cooked myself)

4 large eggs
1/2 teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro I despise cilantro right now, so I used arugula instead this time since I had it on hand, you could also use parsley too.
1 onion, chopped
Grated zest of one large lemon ( if you don't have this, don't worry)
1 cup micro sprouts, chopped (try broccoli, onion, or alfalfa sprouts) I have never had this on hand so I didn't add it and they still taste great
1 cup toasted (whole-grain) bread crumbs
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil (or clarified butter)

I also added some garlic powder, cayenne pepper, hot sauce and italian seasoning.  I also had a green pepper so I diced it up and added it to the mix.

Directions
If you are using sprouted garbanzos, steam them until just tender, about 10 minutes.
Most of you will be using canned beans, so jump right in and combine the garbanzos, eggs, and salt in a food processor. Puree until the mixture is the consistency of a very thick, slightly chunky hummus. Pour into a mixing bowl and stir in the cilantro, onion, zest, and sprouts.
Add the breadcrumbs, stir, and let sit for a couple of minutes so the crumbs can absorb some of the moisture. The mixture should be moist enough to easily form and hold a patty shape. Add more bread crumbs a bit at a time to firm up the dough if need be. Conversely, a bit of water or more egg can be used to moisten the batter. Form mixture into 12 patties.
Heat the oil in a heavy skillet over medium low, add 4 patties, cover, and cook for 7 to 10 minutes, until the bottoms begin to brown. Turn up the heat if there is no browning after 10 minutes. Flip the patties and cook the second side for 7 minutes, or until golden. Remove from the skillet and cool on a wire rack while you cook the remaining patties. Serve on buns topped with avocado, tomato, onion, and more sprouts, if desired. Alternatively, you can make extra-thick patties (1 1/2 inches), and slice them in half after cooking. Put the filling inside the patty, and you have a self-bunning-burger.

So if you are ever in the mood for a homemade veggie burger try these, they are amazing.

Baked French Toast

As promised I am posting the recipe to the baked french toast I made recently. 

This recipe was taken from the wonderful SmittenKitchen. 

Polenta and CSA

Today we got another share from our CSA and it included, lettuce, hot peppers, bell peppers, beets with tops, spring onions, basil, tomatoes, summer squash, turnips, kohlrabi, carrots and radishes. 

So for dinner tonight I decided on my starch (polenta) and went to work.  I ended up making a goat cheese polenta with sauteed veggies. 

I cooked the polenta (corn grits) as directed and then once it was cooked, stirred in some local garlic goat cheese.  It made the polenta very creamy and super tasty. 

For the veggies, I chopped up the summer squash, hot peppers, bell peppers, spring onions, garlic and tomatoes.  Added some salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings to taste and it was complete.  It was a very quick and simple meal but was filling and delicious.  And the great thing about it is you could use whatever vegetables/cheese you have on hand. 

I still need to do something with all this cabbage we have.  Any ideas?

CSA and Pesto

I have been behind on updating our CSA share every week and what we do with the vegetables we receive.  Really we have been receiving a lot of veggies and sometimes we don't know what to do with it all.  Like lettuce, how many salads can one person eat?  Or cabbage, we have two heads of cabbage in the fridge right now.  I need to make some sauerkraut before it gets old. 

We have also been receiving tons of peas, dill, cilantro, carrots, lettuce, spinach, garlic scapes, basil, green onions, turnips, fennel, peppers, squash, and it goes on and on.  I broke down and gave away a lot of dill and cilantro.  I can only do so much with dill and cilantro is repulsive to me anymore. 

With a lot of our veggies we have been making stir frys. 

This one had rice noodles, garlic scapes, green onions, peas and bok choy, along with our normal seasonings. 

The other night Jeff was nice enough to make a wonderful dinner, the best in a while.  He made pesto with all of our basil we have received, plus some pine nuts and jalapenos.  He also sauteed some peppers and zucchini to add to the pesto and pasta.  He also made a wonderful balsamic reduction and made bruschetta with it.  It was amazing.

Sorry I don't have recipes for these, we just kind of made these dishes from our heads and knowing the basics of these dishes. 

Fry Day

Since we have inherited a very large turkey fryer from my dad, we decided to put it to use and fry everything.  Seriously, and it was awesome.

We fried : jalapeno peppers stuffed with cream cheese, mozzarella cheese, zucchini, pickles, potatoes, sweet potatoes, kabocha squash, beets, mushrooms, green tomatoes, olives, corn fritters, macaroni and cheese, shrimp, chicken , bacon wrapped figs, bacon wrapped chicken, a meatball man, apricot fritters, pineapple, red banana, and oreos.

We also had many batters invovled and lots of beer.  There was also homemade ketchup, ranch and icing to dip items in.   It was a lot of fun, the food, company and beer were all great.  But the best was the fried oreos, if you ever have a chance to eat one, do it!  Seriously they were amazing, we dipped ours in cake batter.

The whole day was entirely unhealthy but it was worth it.  I won't be eating fried food for a while that is for sure.

Egg sandwich

Lately if I have time I have been making myself an egg sandwich for breakfast.  And they are so good and simple. 

All you have to do is toast some bread, fry an egg or two to your liking, melt some cheese and add some hot sauce.  Mmmmm.  And it is pretty healthy especially if you use whole wheat bread. 

CSA

So this year we have a CSA (Community Sustained Agriculture) share.  This is when we pay a local farm a certain amount of money and then we get a share of their produce.  Our particular farm is a bio-dynamic farm.  We are doing a summer and winter share plus a fruit share.  Our shares started last week and with that share we received, snow peas, dill, cilantro, sauerkraut, turnip greens, lettuce, green garlic, amaranth greens, and borage greens.  With all the greens we made a massive salad with some local goat cheese and a homemade honey vinaigrette . 

And it was one of the best salads I have ever had!

With the sauerkraut we made some reubens, one with portabella mushrooms and one with tempeh. 

With the cilantro we made taco salad, and with the dill we made tzatziki. 

So far we have been very happy with the share and cannot wait to see what we get in the coming weeks.

Recently we also enjoyed some yellow watermelon, a nice heirloom that is not seen often.

Falafel and Tzatziki

 I love falafel.  I have tried it from many different places and this is the best I have ever had.  A close second is Garbanzo.  But anyway this is was so good because it was so fresh and the insides were so green, which is how it should be.  So hopefully you will get motivated and try this recipe yourself sometime.  We happen to have a fry daddy so we used this to fry them in instead of a pan.  We then stuffed a pita with lettuce, cucumber, falafel and tzatziki.  I would have liked to have some hummus and tomatoes but I refuse to by tomatoes from Mexico.  And the hummus, well it did not turn out, it was the worst batch made in the Stilley house thus far, so it went in the trash.  

 Heath always thinks he should be able to try our food, even though he doesn't care unless there is  cheese or meat involved.

 

 

Source: allrecipes.com

• 1 (15 ounce) can chickpeas (garbanzo beans), drained
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup fresh parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 egg
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 dash pepper
• 1 pinch cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup dry bread crumbs
• oil for frying
• 1 (6 ounce) container plain yogurt
• 1/2 cucumber - peeled, seeded, and finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon dried dill weed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon mayonnaise

1. In a large bowl mash chickpeas until thick and pasty; don't use a blender, as the consistency will be too thin. In a blender, process onion, parsley and garlic until smooth. Stir into mashed chickpeas. 
2. In a small bowl combine egg, cumin, coriander, salt, pepper, cayenne, lemon juice and baking powder. Stir into chickpea mixture along with olive oil. Slowly add bread crumbs until mixture is not sticky but will hold together; add more or less bread crumbs, as needed. Form 8 balls and then flatten into patties ( this really makes a lot more than this).
3. Heat 1 inch of oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Fry patties in hot oil until brown on both sides.
4. In a small bowl combine yogurt, cucumber, dill, salt, pepper and mayonnaise. Chill for at least 30 minutes ( we froze it).

Asparagus and Mushroom Risotto

Another asparagus recipe while it is still in season.  We are now able to get asparagus from Colorado!  I always love when produce starts being local again.  Very ready for farmers markets to open around here and our CSA share to start. 

Asparagus Risotto Recipe

Source: Simply Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 pound asparagus
• 1 package mushrooms -we used Maitake mushrooms
• 3 Tbsp plus 1 teaspoon butter
• 1/2 cup chopped shallots
• 1 cup arborio rice short grain brown rice
• 1/2 cup dry white wine
• About 3 1/2 5 cups chicken stock (or vegetable stock for vegetarian option) we used more since we used brown rice
• 1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper

Method

1 Prepare the asparagus by breaking off discarding the tough ends (about the last inch of the spear). Cut into 1 to 1 1/2-inch pieces (tips longer, base shorter). If your asparagus are especially large, cut into even smaller (bite-size) pieces. Bring a saucepan with a quart of water to a boil. Blanch the asparagus pieces for 2 minutes. At the end of two minutes, use a slotted spoon to remove the asparagus pieces to an ice water bath to shock the asparagus into a vibrant green color and to stop the cooking. Drain from the ice water bath and set aside. 

2 In a 3 or 4 quart saucepan, heat 3 Tbsp butter on medium heat. Add the shallots and cook for a few minutes until translucent. Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes more, stirring until nicely coated.

3 While the shallots are cooking, bring the stock to a simmer in a saucepan.  Add in mushrooms and saute for a few minutes. 

4 Add the wine. Slowly stir, allowing the rice to absorb the wine. Once the wine is almost completely absorbed, add 1/2 cup of stock to the rice. Continue to stir until the liquid is almost completely absorbed, adding more stock in 1/2 cup increments. Stir often to prevent the rice from sticking to the bottom of the pan. Continue cooking and stirring rice, adding a little bit of broth at a time, cooking and stirring until it is absorbed, until the rice is tender, but still firm to the bite, about 15 to 20 minutes 45 minutes, it took longer since we used brown rice. Remove from heat.
Note the stock amount given is approximate. You may need a little more or less. If you end up needing more stock and you find yourself without, just use water or the cooking water from the asparagus.

5 Gently stir in the Parmesan cheese, the remaining 1 teaspoon butter, and the asparagus. Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve immediately.

Serves 4.

Walnut Pesto

Okay that is not what the recipe is really called, but that is basically what you are making.

I took this recipe from The Complete Pasta Cookbook.

Spaghetti with Walnut Sauce   Serves 4

Ingredients:
1 cup walnut pieces or halves
3 Tbls plain bread crumbs
3 Tbls olive oil
3 Tbls chopped fresh parsley
2 garlic cloves
1/4 cup butter at room temperature
2 Tbls heavy cream
14 oz. whole wheat spaghetti
salt and pepper to taste
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Drop the walnuts into a small pan of boiling water, and cook for 1-2 minutes.  Drain, then skin if needed.  Dry on a towel.  Coarsely chop and set aside about a quarter.  
2. Place the remaining nuts, the bread crumbs, oil, parsley and garlic into a food processor.  Process to a paste.
3. Cook the pasta in plenty of boiling salted water, according the the package, until al dente. ( Tip: if following package time reduce this by a couple of minutes, otherwise it will most likely be overcooked.)  Drain, the toss with butter.  Once butter is fully melted add walnut sauce, then cream.  Add salt, pepper and cheese to taste.  Sprinkle with the reserved nuts and add more Parmesan cheese if desired.

Enjoy.