On granola and spring.

Winter is groaning on and on and on.  I am certainly envious of the pictures of spring break and spring I see on Facebook and Instagram.  I want spring.  I want tulips and the start of grass and pretty purple crocuses easing their way out of the ground, and in lieu of all of that in my own back yard, I'd take a vacation someplace warm and tropical.

My yard is still covered with feet and feet of snow, and probably will be for some time...long past the start of spring in a few weeks, maybe even right up until the first day of summer.  And so I'm breathing deeply this week, reminding myself that there is beauty in the snow sparkling in the sunshine.  There is something primitive about the icicles hanging sharply from the roof.  We can still snuggle up in the afternoon, under a blanket and with some hot cocoa and be content to hibernate a little bit longer.  Summer brings busyness and gardening and the lake and vacations.  Right now, we can move a little bit slower, simmer soup a little bit longer, enjoy the days with nothing to do...no running, no errands, no appointments...and instead we can read books and play games and build train tracks that use every ounce of our imagination and ingenuity.  We can spend an afternoon covered in flour, making cookies and singing and stopping for the occasional dance party.

I pulled out my granola recipe last week; actually, I pulled out two granola recipes and kind of married them into one beautiful, easy granola.  I feel sort of hippie when I make granola, and last week was no exception. Finn helped me mix it together using the bits and pieces that I found in our drawers and I had a little Minnesota honey left, so it smelled like spring as it was baking.  I kept it on the counter to cool and crisp up and I couldn't stop snacking on it.  It's delicious on yogurt and even more amazing in these cookies.  I've made these cookies before just the way the recipe reads, but this time I omitted the apricots and blueberries (because I didn't have any) and used the dried cherries and pomegranates that I also used in the granola instead.  I also added a half cup of chocolate chips (because I did have those!) and I used the granola we'd just made.  Finn helped me roll the cookies into balls, but next time I will flatten them a little bit.  These are seriously so good.  I might have given them the blessing to be breakfast cookies - because granola and dried fruit is totally breakfast food, right?

Spring is coming. The windows will open and the fresh air - cool, but not cold - will clean out the stale smell of winter.  Our days will be full of gardening and walking and just being outside.  Until then I've been motivated to dive into closets and cupboards and drawers; cleaning and organizing and purging.  We can't be outside right now, not really when the temperatures still plummet below zero, but when the ground thaws and the green peeks and the tulips reach up out of the dark, we will be there waiting and watching and sighing with relief.

Cherry Granola

• 2 3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 cup dried pomegranates
• 1/2 cup dried dates, chopped
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Mix the oats, nuts and fruit in a large bowl.  On the stove top, bring the butter, honey and oil just to a boil; pour over the oat mixture and stir to coat completely.

Spread evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and place in oven for 15 minutes.  Stir and bake another 5-10 minutes longer, just until brown.  Remove from oven and cool completely on wire rack stirring occasionally and breaking up larger chunks.  Store in sealed container for up to 2 weeks. 

*Use whatever dried fruit you have/like: raisins, craisins, apricots, dried blueberries.  Same with the nuts: you can substitute walnuts or almonds, I've even done a mixture of nuts if I have some random quantities to use up.

Winter is groaning on and on and on.  I am certainly envious of the pictures of spring break and spring I see on Facebook and Instagram.  I want spring.  I want tulips and the start of grass and pretty purple crocuses easing their way out of the ground, and in lieu of all of that in my own back yard, I'd take a vacation someplace warm and tropical.

My yard is still covered with feet and feet of snow, and probably will be for some time...long past the start of spring in a few weeks, maybe even right up until the first day of summer.  And so I'm breathing deeply this week, reminding myself that there is beauty in the snow sparkling in the sunshine.  There is something primitive about the icicles hanging sharply from the roof.  We can still snuggle up in the afternoon, under a blanket and with some hot cocoa and be content to hibernate a little bit longer.  Summer brings busyness and gardening and the lake and vacations.  Right now, we can move a little bit slower, simmer soup a little bit longer, enjoy the days with nothing to do...no running, no errands, no appointments...and instead we can read books and play games and build train tracks that use every ounce of our imagination and ingenuity.  We can spend an afternoon covered in flour, making cookies and singing and stopping for the occasional dance party.

I pulled out my granola recipe last week; actually, I pulled out two granola recipes and kind of married them into one beautiful, easy granola.  I feel sort of hippie when I make granola, and last week was no exception. Finn helped me mix it together using the bits and pieces that I found in our drawers and I had a little Minnesota honey left, so it smelled like spring as it was baking.  I kept it on the counter to cool and crisp up and I couldn't stop snacking on it.  It's delicious on yogurt and even more amazing in these cookies.  I've made these cookies before just the way the recipe reads, but this time I omitted the apricots and blueberries (because I didn't have any) and used the dried cherries and pomegranates that I also used in the granola instead.  I also added a half cup of chocolate chips (because I did have those!) and I used the granola we'd just made.  Finn helped me roll the cookies into balls, but next time I will flatten them a little bit.  These are seriously so good.  I might have given them the blessing to be breakfast cookies - because granola and dried fruit is totally breakfast food, right?

Spring is coming. The windows will open and the fresh air - cool, but not cold - will clean out the stale smell of winter.  Our days will be full of gardening and walking and just being outside.  Until then I've been motivated to dive into closets and cupboards and drawers; cleaning and organizing and purging.  We can't be outside right now, not really when the temperatures still plummet below zero, but when the ground thaws and the green peeks and the tulips reach up out of the dark, we will be there waiting and watching and sighing with relief.

Cherry Granola

• 2 3/4 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup dried cherries
• 1/2 cup dried pomegranates
• 1/2 cup dried dates, chopped
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Mix the oats, nuts and fruit in a large bowl.  On the stove top, bring the butter, honey and oil just to a boil; pour over the oat mixture and stir to coat completely.

Spread evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and place in oven for 15 minutes.  Stir and bake another 5-10 minutes longer, just until brown.  Remove from oven and cool completely on wire rack stirring occasionally and breaking up larger chunks.  Store in sealed container for up to 2 weeks. 

*Use whatever dried fruit you have/like: raisins, craisins, apricots, dried blueberries.  Same with the nuts: you can substitute walnuts or almonds, I've even done a mixture of nuts if I have some random quantities to use up.

Cold & snow & turkey & elves

We hosted Thanksgiving again this year - the 2nd year in a row - and we continued with the Turducken theme of last year.  Another theme that was repeated?  Snow.  And lots of it.  We picked people up from and dropped them off at the airport in snow.  About 20+ inches of snow in a two-day period.  And our snow blower is broken (who has a broken snow blower in Minnesota in December?!).  So, yes - shoveling the old-fashioned way was necessary!

It's common knowledge that I revoke my own license when the snow starts falling in earnest and this year is no different.  I can toodle around town a little bit once the roads have been cleared, but I get major-highway and hill anxiety if I have to do more than run to the grocery store.  So what possessed us to live in an are that gets a million zillion snowflakes a year?  Well, it is beautiful (from the warm confines of my home!).  And I love the summers here - not too hot, not too cool.  I'm like Goldilocks of the north land - it's mostly just right.

Anyway, as I dig through my pictures of the past week with my family I will share.  It was...epic.  So much food, 19 people for Thanksgiving dinner, a round of illness (not in any way related to the dinner), more hooch than you can shake a stick (or a beer can) at, pies that didn't get eaten and now sit in my freezer, Jac's first steps, birthday cake, maple ice cream, loads and loads and loads of laundry.  I am equal parts happy and exhausted and still picking myself up from the week.

Our elf, Reginald VanWinkle, made his appearance this week.  In spite of my planning and calendar, he was a few days late.  Not that it mattered too much, Finn doesn't even know the days of the week yet.  It's a more laid back year for RVW this year.  Last year he had a lot to do, which you can check out here and here.  This year he's more into hiding and snowball fights and reading.

I had big plans for preparing my kids for Christmas this year, but every good intention got over-taken by planning for Thanksgiving and now my energy level is spent.  We do have an Advent wreath this year, and we light a candle and read a little prayer at dinner time each night.  I did not do 24 Days of Christmas Books this year, in spite of the treasure trove of new books I found that I bought at the end of the season last year.  Instead I have them spread all over the coffee table in the living room so we can read them and look at the pictures whenever we want.  And Finn does so, often!  We've been taking advantage of the Christmas movies on Netflix and hot cocoa with marshmallows.

Today Finn and I are going to make some sugar cookies for our religion kids tomorrow.  Abby's fighting a cold and stuffy nose, so she get's to stay far away from any food preparation/dishes because I do not want those germs spreading.  We've been listening the The Best Christmas song list ever (remember when mixed tapes/CDs were so cool to make?!).

I'm hopeful that some Santa cookies will put me in the Christmas spirit (and not the napping spirit!) because I still need to figure out some Christmas cards this afternoon and I found a paper mache ornament project that I think Finn would have fun with.  Honestly, though...the Christmas movies and couch are definitely calling my name...it is the weekend, after all!

We hosted Thanksgiving again this year - the 2nd year in a row - and we continued with the Turducken theme of last year.  Another theme that was repeated?  Snow.  And lots of it.  We picked people up from and dropped them off at the airport in snow.  About 20+ inches of snow in a two-day period.  And our snow blower is broken (who has a broken snow blower in Minnesota in December?!).  So, yes - shoveling the old-fashioned way was necessary!

It's common knowledge that I revoke my own license when the snow starts falling in earnest and this year is no different.  I can toodle around town a little bit once the roads have been cleared, but I get major-highway and hill anxiety if I have to do more than run to the grocery store.  So what possessed us to live in an are that gets a million zillion snowflakes a year?  Well, it is beautiful (from the warm confines of my home!).  And I love the summers here - not too hot, not too cool.  I'm like Goldilocks of the north land - it's mostly just right.

Anyway, as I dig through my pictures of the past week with my family I will share.  It was...epic.  So much food, 19 people for Thanksgiving dinner, a round of illness (not in any way related to the dinner), more hooch than you can shake a stick (or a beer can) at, pies that didn't get eaten and now sit in my freezer, Jac's first steps, birthday cake, maple ice cream, loads and loads and loads of laundry.  I am equal parts happy and exhausted and still picking myself up from the week.

Our elf, Reginald VanWinkle, made his appearance this week.  In spite of my planning and calendar, he was a few days late.  Not that it mattered too much, Finn doesn't even know the days of the week yet.  It's a more laid back year for RVW this year.  Last year he had a lot to do, which you can check out here and here.  This year he's more into hiding and snowball fights and reading.

I had big plans for preparing my kids for Christmas this year, but every good intention got over-taken by planning for Thanksgiving and now my energy level is spent.  We do have an Advent wreath this year, and we light a candle and read a little prayer at dinner time each night.  I did not do 24 Days of Christmas Books this year, in spite of the treasure trove of new books I found that I bought at the end of the season last year.  Instead I have them spread all over the coffee table in the living room so we can read them and look at the pictures whenever we want.  And Finn does so, often!  We've been taking advantage of the Christmas movies on Netflix and hot cocoa with marshmallows.

Today Finn and I are going to make some sugar cookies for our religion kids tomorrow.  Abby's fighting a cold and stuffy nose, so she get's to stay far away from any food preparation/dishes because I do not want those germs spreading.  We've been listening the The Best Christmas song list ever (remember when mixed tapes/CDs were so cool to make?!).

I'm hopeful that some Santa cookies will put me in the Christmas spirit (and not the napping spirit!) because I still need to figure out some Christmas cards this afternoon and I found a paper mache ornament project that I think Finn would have fun with.  Honestly, though...the Christmas movies and couch are definitely calling my name...it is the weekend, after all!

Catching a mouse.

Yesterday Uriah's restaurant had a guest-chef event, which I couldn't attend because...you know, kids, and since my husband was working, no date.  Anyway, it turns out they needed some cheese for the dessert course of the meal, so it fell to me and my copious amounts of stay-at-home-mom free time to drive into Duluth to pick up some fancy Minnesota cheeses. 

I made Finn a pb&j, plugged the address into my phone and we were off on a rainy adventure.  We drove through a really, really, really nice neighborhood and up to a really, really, really nice grocery store (I texted Uriah - later, because I do not text and drive, mom - that he needs to make more money because I found our next neighborhood.  He did not find that amusing.).  I immediately felt out of place with my no-make-up/windblown hair and my son and his semi-wet pants from playing at the park earlier, his rain boots, and his sticky jelly fingers and cheeks.  But we pressed on...to the cheese mecca of Duluth.

Now, I like cheese. but I was overwhelmed; top that with the fact that this is for a meal being served by a James Beard Award Nominated chef (it's like the Oscars for Chef's.  It's a big deal.) and I had an anxiety attack right in the middle of the artisan cheese section.  My heart started beating really fast, my palms got sweaty, and Finn decided to use my distraction to his advantage and take off his sweatshirt, swing it around his head and sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider to all of the shoppers hovering over the fresh sushi case right behind us.  The cheese guy looked at me kind of crazy when I told him I needed 8 pounds of Minnesota cheese.  They didn't have a lot of Minnesota cheese options; Wisconsin, however, makes a crap-ton of cheese (I guess that's why they're called Cheese Heads?  Who knew...).  I probably called Uriah 3 or 4 times in my panicked state, trying to choose correctly.  He had a lot on his plate (which is why I was sent on this stupid errand in the first place) and really didn't care what I picked, but he tried to be helpful and keep the exasperation out of his voice when he said: "Just pick some, whatever you choose will be fine!"  Then the cheese guy showed me a cheddar cheese that was $80/pound and I knew I had to get away from him.  I made my frantic selections of Minnesota and Wisconsin cheeses, attempted to add the ounces and pounds up in my head (math is not my strongest subject) and prayed there would be enough.

I corralled my vocal son, who at this point had moved on to a rousing rendition of the Move It, Move It song from Madagascar (including some sweet dance moves) and we headed to pick up the last of the items on our list, which read (I kid you not): fancy tomato paste and Minnesota honey.

We finally made it to the check-out after avoiding a near-catastrophic melt-down in the soup aisle because there was a can of Cars soup with Mater on it that Finn felt he really needed to have.  We did not buy it.  I slung my basket on the counter, ready to be done with this chore from hell.

I was explaining to the check-out boy the reason for all the cheese when the sweet old man bagging my groceries told me that I should tell people I was trying to catch a mouse.  He then asked me - straight faced - to come back and tell him which cheese the mouse preferred.

$200 worth of cheese to catch a mouse.  I laughed all the way to the car.

From this morning.  I had all of my laundry sorted and ready to go when Finn decided to claim the clothes for himself.  He told me he was making islands for his boat.  

Yesterday Uriah's restaurant had a guest-chef event, which I couldn't attend because...you know, kids, and since my husband was working, no date.  Anyway, it turns out they needed some cheese for the dessert course of the meal, so it fell to me and my copious amounts of stay-at-home-mom free time to drive into Duluth to pick up some fancy Minnesota cheeses. 

I made Finn a pb&j, plugged the address into my phone and we were off on a rainy adventure.  We drove through a really, really, really nice neighborhood and up to a really, really, really nice grocery store (I texted Uriah - later, because I do not text and drive, mom - that he needs to make more money because I found our next neighborhood.  He did not find that amusing.).  I immediately felt out of place with my no-make-up/windblown hair and my son and his semi-wet pants from playing at the park earlier, his rain boots, and his sticky jelly fingers and cheeks.  But we pressed on...to the cheese mecca of Duluth.

Now, I like cheese. but I was overwhelmed; top that with the fact that this is for a meal being served by a James Beard Award Nominated chef (it's like the Oscars for Chef's.  It's a big deal.) and I had an anxiety attack right in the middle of the artisan cheese section.  My heart started beating really fast, my palms got sweaty, and Finn decided to use my distraction to his advantage and take off his sweatshirt, swing it around his head and sing The Itsy Bitsy Spider to all of the shoppers hovering over the fresh sushi case right behind us.  The cheese guy looked at me kind of crazy when I told him I needed 8 pounds of Minnesota cheese.  They didn't have a lot of Minnesota cheese options; Wisconsin, however, makes a crap-ton of cheese (I guess that's why they're called Cheese Heads?  Who knew...).  I probably called Uriah 3 or 4 times in my panicked state, trying to choose correctly.  He had a lot on his plate (which is why I was sent on this stupid errand in the first place) and really didn't care what I picked, but he tried to be helpful and keep the exasperation out of his voice when he said: "Just pick some, whatever you choose will be fine!"  Then the cheese guy showed me a cheddar cheese that was $80/pound and I knew I had to get away from him.  I made my frantic selections of Minnesota and Wisconsin cheeses, attempted to add the ounces and pounds up in my head (math is not my strongest subject) and prayed there would be enough.

I corralled my vocal son, who at this point had moved on to a rousing rendition of the Move It, Move It song from Madagascar (including some sweet dance moves) and we headed to pick up the last of the items on our list, which read (I kid you not): fancy tomato paste and Minnesota honey.

We finally made it to the check-out after avoiding a near-catastrophic melt-down in the soup aisle because there was a can of Cars soup with Mater on it that Finn felt he really needed to have.  We did not buy it.  I slung my basket on the counter, ready to be done with this chore from hell.

I was explaining to the check-out boy the reason for all the cheese when the sweet old man bagging my groceries told me that I should tell people I was trying to catch a mouse.  He then asked me - straight faced - to come back and tell him which cheese the mouse preferred.

$200 worth of cheese to catch a mouse.  I laughed all the way to the car.

From this morning.  I had all of my laundry sorted and ready to go when Finn decided to claim the clothes for himself.  He told me he was making islands for his boat.  

Fish Tacos with Grilled Corn & Avocado Salsa - and also, some nostalgia.

When we got back from Kansas City last weekend, our cupboards were bare - as in, I put Old Mother Hubbard to shame.  I had obviously done a great job of cleaning everything out of the refrigerator before we left, and Uriah obviously did a great job of eating frozen pizzas for a week.  So immediately after unloading every single thing from my over-stuffed car, I sat down to figure out what we would be eating this week.

I knew Uriah would be grilling at least once or twice (because again - frozen pizza. For a week.), so I wanted to take full advantage of the hot coals. I planned for Fiesta Grilled Chicken Salads with Creamy Jalapeno Dressing (I'll blog this little darling later this week - it also utilizes the Grilled Corn and Avocado Salsa), Grilled Veggie Sandwiches, and Fish Tacos with Grilled Corn and Avocado Salsa.

Corn on the cob - or "corn on the bob," as Finn calls it - was on sale this week and I stocked up.  It's pretty easy to grill, just peel back the corn husk layers so you can remove all of the silky inside corn hair (what is that stuff called?  I'm sure there's a technical term for it...).  Then just put the layers of corn husk back around the cob and stick it on your grill (on indirect heat, a term I learned from my husband - it means not right over the coals.  I feel smart when I talk in grill-lingo.), turn occasionally, until you get some nice charred parts to the kernels.  I have heard that some people put butter or a little bit of olive oil on the corn before peeling the layers back up, but I don't.  I think it grills just fine and I really didn't want to add an extra fat to my meal.  You also wouldn't necessarily have to use grilled corn for the salsa, I've done it with frozen corn, that I've thawed, too.  I have never used canned corn.  I do not cook with canned vegetables.

So, anyway...this is seriously the easiest dinner ever.  In the time it took the oven to preheat and my tilapia fillets to bake, I made the corn salsa (using previously grilled corn).  I served it with a big bowl of chopped up summer fruit (honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon, grapes, pineapple) and it was perfect and light.  Everything was done within a half an hour.

• Grilled Corn Salsa Recipe (I did not have a jalapeno in the house, so I omitted that this time, but it does give the salsa a little extra kick)
• 4 tilapia fillets - about 4 oz. each
• Olive oil
• Chili powder
• Chipolte powder
• Salt & Pepper
• 8 Fajita-sized flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Place tilapia fillets on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Drizzle lightly with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and lightly with the chili powder and chipolte powder.  If you want a spicier fish, use more chipolte, but keep in mind, a little goes a long way - I only seasoned one side of the fish.  Bake in oven for 6-10 minutes, or until fish turns white.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile make the Grilled Corn and Avocado Salsa using this recipe.  

To put together your tacos, warm the tortillas in the microwave at 20 second intervals until warm but not hot.  Place 2 warmed tortilla on a plate, roughly chop or break apart one tilapia fillet and place half on each of the tortillas.  Put 2 tablespoons of the corn salsa on top of the fish and roll.  Repeat with remaining tacos and fish.

A look back:  Little piggies at almost a year old | June 2011

When we got back from Kansas City last weekend, our cupboards were bare - as in, I put Old Mother Hubbard to shame.  I had obviously done a great job of cleaning everything out of the refrigerator before we left, and Uriah obviously did a great job of eating frozen pizzas for a week.  So immediately after unloading every single thing from my over-stuffed car, I sat down to figure out what we would be eating this week.

I knew Uriah would be grilling at least once or twice (because again - frozen pizza. For a week.), so I wanted to take full advantage of the hot coals. I planned for Fiesta Grilled Chicken Salads with Creamy Jalapeno Dressing (I'll blog this little darling later this week - it also utilizes the Grilled Corn and Avocado Salsa), Grilled Veggie Sandwiches, and Fish Tacos with Grilled Corn and Avocado Salsa.

Corn on the cob - or "corn on the bob," as Finn calls it - was on sale this week and I stocked up.  It's pretty easy to grill, just peel back the corn husk layers so you can remove all of the silky inside corn hair (what is that stuff called?  I'm sure there's a technical term for it...).  Then just put the layers of corn husk back around the cob and stick it on your grill (on indirect heat, a term I learned from my husband - it means not right over the coals.  I feel smart when I talk in grill-lingo.), turn occasionally, until you get some nice charred parts to the kernels.  I have heard that some people put butter or a little bit of olive oil on the corn before peeling the layers back up, but I don't.  I think it grills just fine and I really didn't want to add an extra fat to my meal.  You also wouldn't necessarily have to use grilled corn for the salsa, I've done it with frozen corn, that I've thawed, too.  I have never used canned corn.  I do not cook with canned vegetables.

So, anyway...this is seriously the easiest dinner ever.  In the time it took the oven to preheat and my tilapia fillets to bake, I made the corn salsa (using previously grilled corn).  I served it with a big bowl of chopped up summer fruit (honeydew, cantaloupe, watermelon, grapes, pineapple) and it was perfect and light.  Everything was done within a half an hour.

• Grilled Corn Salsa Recipe (I did not have a jalapeno in the house, so I omitted that this time, but it does give the salsa a little extra kick)
• 4 tilapia fillets - about 4 oz. each
• Olive oil
• Chili powder
• Chipolte powder
• Salt & Pepper
• 8 Fajita-sized flour tortillas

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  

Place tilapia fillets on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Drizzle lightly with olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper, and lightly with the chili powder and chipolte powder.  If you want a spicier fish, use more chipolte, but keep in mind, a little goes a long way - I only seasoned one side of the fish.  Bake in oven for 6-10 minutes, or until fish turns white.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for about 5 minutes. 

Meanwhile make the Grilled Corn and Avocado Salsa using this recipe.  

To put together your tacos, warm the tortillas in the microwave at 20 second intervals until warm but not hot.  Place 2 warmed tortilla on a plate, roughly chop or break apart one tilapia fillet and place half on each of the tortillas.  Put 2 tablespoons of the corn salsa on top of the fish and roll.  Repeat with remaining tacos and fish.

A look back:  Little piggies at almost a year old | June 2011

Chocolate Chip Hash Bars

My husband feeds my love of cookbooks and a few weeks ago he came home with a new one that he snagged for a few dollars at an antique store - 1963 Favorite Recipes of Friends from St. Elizabeth's Church, Duluth, MN.  I read the recipe titles out loud and the ingredient lists to Uriah one night and we were laughing so hard.  I am going to have to try some of these recipes because they are too weird to be terrible!  For example: Party Lunch, submitted by Mrs. Wm. Ritchie includes hot milk, tuna, hard boiled eggs and pimentos, among other savory ingredients.  Sounds like a party to me...maybe.  Or Roadside Potatoes, submitted by Mrs. Robert Bubalo, includes, obviously potatoes, but also green pepper, onion, Amercian Cheese and covered in hot milk "so the potatoes don't turn black."  The hot milk is a curiosity to me; it shows up in a lot of recipes.

Anyway, one of the recipes we came across was for Chocolate Chip Hash Bars, which, since the cookbooks was from 1963, we had our doubts about the original origin, but the ingredient list was all legal, so I proceeded to make them for Father's Day.  Those church ladies sure do know their bars!  These were amazing and if you have to bring something to your Fourth of July picnic next week, might I suggest these?    The original recipe calls for 2 cups of chocolate chips, but my husband is a fan of butterscotch chips, so I did one cup chocolate and 1 cup butterscotch.  Ever the loving wife, I am!

Happy almost weekend!  Do you have big plans or are you saving up for the weekend after the 4th?  I think it's so strange when holidays fall in the middle of the week, so instead of partying either the weekend before or the weekend after, we are utilizing the whole week by heading to the dirty, dirty South to stay with my sister.  Right now we are busy packing and cleaning in preparation.  Everything I try to fold and organize, Finn tells me he needs to "sort" (read: throw all over the room.  Very annoying.  I currently have him "packing" his books and toys).

I am packing this cookbook because I'm sure I will be making these bars at some point next week!

Crust:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup flour

To make the crust, mix and make a crumb mixture.  Press into a 9x13" baking pan, reserving 3/4 cup for topping.  Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Filling:

• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1-1/2 cup coconut
• 2 cups chocolate chips (or 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup butterscotch chips

Beat the eggs and vanilla.  Add brown sugar, baking powder, flour and beat until mixed and smooth.  Stir in the coconut and the chocolate chips.  Spread mixture evenly over the bottom crust layer.  Sprinkle the rest of the crumb mixture on the top and return to the oven.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Cool and cut into bars.  Dust with powder sugar.

Thanks for submitting this one, Mrs. Harold R. Evens!

Favorite Recipes of Friends | 1963 | St Elizabeth's Church, Duluth MN 

My husband feeds my love of cookbooks and a few weeks ago he came home with a new one that he snagged for a few dollars at an antique store - 1963 Favorite Recipes of Friends from St. Elizabeth's Church, Duluth, MN.  I read the recipe titles out loud and the ingredient lists to Uriah one night and we were laughing so hard.  I am going to have to try some of these recipes because they are too weird to be terrible!  For example: Party Lunch, submitted by Mrs. Wm. Ritchie includes hot milk, tuna, hard boiled eggs and pimentos, among other savory ingredients.  Sounds like a party to me...maybe.  Or Roadside Potatoes, submitted by Mrs. Robert Bubalo, includes, obviously potatoes, but also green pepper, onion, Amercian Cheese and covered in hot milk "so the potatoes don't turn black."  The hot milk is a curiosity to me; it shows up in a lot of recipes.

Anyway, one of the recipes we came across was for Chocolate Chip Hash Bars, which, since the cookbooks was from 1963, we had our doubts about the original origin, but the ingredient list was all legal, so I proceeded to make them for Father's Day.  Those church ladies sure do know their bars!  These were amazing and if you have to bring something to your Fourth of July picnic next week, might I suggest these?    The original recipe calls for 2 cups of chocolate chips, but my husband is a fan of butterscotch chips, so I did one cup chocolate and 1 cup butterscotch.  Ever the loving wife, I am!

Happy almost weekend!  Do you have big plans or are you saving up for the weekend after the 4th?  I think it's so strange when holidays fall in the middle of the week, so instead of partying either the weekend before or the weekend after, we are utilizing the whole week by heading to the dirty, dirty South to stay with my sister.  Right now we are busy packing and cleaning in preparation.  Everything I try to fold and organize, Finn tells me he needs to "sort" (read: throw all over the room.  Very annoying.  I currently have him "packing" his books and toys).

I am packing this cookbook because I'm sure I will be making these bars at some point next week!

Crust:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 cup flour

To make the crust, mix and make a crumb mixture.  Press into a 9x13" baking pan, reserving 3/4 cup for topping.  Bake in a preheated 325 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Filling:

• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1-1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1-1/2 cup coconut
• 2 cups chocolate chips (or 1 cup chocolate chips and 1 cup butterscotch chips

Beat the eggs and vanilla.  Add brown sugar, baking powder, flour and beat until mixed and smooth.  Stir in the coconut and the chocolate chips.  Spread mixture evenly over the bottom crust layer.  Sprinkle the rest of the crumb mixture on the top and return to the oven.  Bake for 30 minutes.  Cool and cut into bars.  Dust with powder sugar.

Thanks for submitting this one, Mrs. Harold R. Evens!

Favorite Recipes of Friends | 1963 | St Elizabeth's Church, Duluth MN 

A meal doesn't always have to have meat. {Butternut Bisque}

Do not give up on soup (side eye to Sarah, who claims to not like soup, but whom I saw eat two bowls of this at our sister Emily's baby shower.  And I left the remaining soup at her house!).

What I like the most about soup is that stretches to become a couple of meals in this house.  I always make a big pot of it and then I eat on it for my lunches for the rest of the week.  They heat up quickly and for the most part help me stay well within my points allotment for the day.  In addition to one meal of soup a week (usually Sunday or Monday as per my new menu-planning), I'm also trying to get in one meatless meal a week.  I think it's good for us to venture into some different - even fish-less  - meals.  I hesitate to use vegetarian  because we all know how my husband reacts to a meal that includes no meat (not well...not well at all.).  This soup kills two birds with one stone - it is meatless and a soup.

And my husband ate it happily and requested that I make it again.  I think that's all the endorsement something that has no pig, cow, or bird in it needs.

Also - do you do a meatless night at your house?  What are some of your favorite recipes?


Butternut Bisque
(Serves 12)
Nutrition Facts per serving: 117 calories | 5.4 g fat | 2.6 g protein | 17.1 carbs | 2.8 g fiber | 3 WWP

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• scant ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• coarse salt
• 1 large butternut squash (about 4 lbs), peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 cups chicken broth*
• 1 cup half-and-half**
• Sour cream for garnish

In a large stock pot, heat butter over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, thyme, cinnamon, and cayenne to taste.  Season with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 5 to 7 minutes.

Add squash and broth.  Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and cook until quash is tender, about 20 minutes.

Working in batches, puree in a blender until smooth (or use an immersion blender or if you don't want to pull out any gadgets, mash it with a potato masher in your soup pot).  Return to pot, stir in half-and-half and heat through until warm (do not boil).  Season with salt.  To serve, divide among bowls and top each with 1 tablespoon sour cream; garnish with additional cayenne if desired.

Adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food Light Cookbook, 2011

*Original recipe called for 1 can chicken stock and 3 cups water.  I usually have chicken stock on hand in my freezer, so I just used 4 cups of stock.
**Use fat free half-and-half for even healthier results.

Do not give up on soup (side eye to Sarah, who claims to not like soup, but whom I saw eat two bowls of this at our sister Emily's baby shower.  And I left the remaining soup at her house!).

What I like the most about soup is that stretches to become a couple of meals in this house.  I always make a big pot of it and then I eat on it for my lunches for the rest of the week.  They heat up quickly and for the most part help me stay well within my points allotment for the day.  In addition to one meal of soup a week (usually Sunday or Monday as per my new menu-planning), I'm also trying to get in one meatless meal a week.  I think it's good for us to venture into some different - even fish-less  - meals.  I hesitate to use vegetarian  because we all know how my husband reacts to a meal that includes no meat (not well...not well at all.).  This soup kills two birds with one stone - it is meatless and a soup.

And my husband ate it happily and requested that I make it again.  I think that's all the endorsement something that has no pig, cow, or bird in it needs.

Also - do you do a meatless night at your house?  What are some of your favorite recipes?


Butternut Bisque
(Serves 12)
Nutrition Facts per serving: 117 calories | 5.4 g fat | 2.6 g protein | 17.1 carbs | 2.8 g fiber | 3 WWP

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• ½ teaspoon dried thyme
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• scant ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• coarse salt
• 1 large butternut squash (about 4 lbs), peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes
• 4 cups chicken broth*
• 1 cup half-and-half**
• Sour cream for garnish

In a large stock pot, heat butter over medium heat.  Add onion, garlic, thyme, cinnamon, and cayenne to taste.  Season with salt and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion is softened, 5 to 7 minutes.

Add squash and broth.  Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer, and cook until quash is tender, about 20 minutes.

Working in batches, puree in a blender until smooth (or use an immersion blender or if you don't want to pull out any gadgets, mash it with a potato masher in your soup pot).  Return to pot, stir in half-and-half and heat through until warm (do not boil).  Season with salt.  To serve, divide among bowls and top each with 1 tablespoon sour cream; garnish with additional cayenne if desired.

Adapted from Martha Stewart Everyday Food Light Cookbook, 2011

*Original recipe called for 1 can chicken stock and 3 cups water.  I usually have chicken stock on hand in my freezer, so I just used 4 cups of stock.
**Use fat free half-and-half for even healthier results.

Sweet Tomato Soup

Okay.  So this is totally a very involved tomato soup.  (Read: you're going to need a full morning to get this done).  But, I promise, the rewards are so much bigger than the time you will put into this soup.

Let me tell you a story about little Heather: she hated all things tomato.  Every single tomato piece that I could see was picked out of everything that I ate.  I could eat pureed tomatoes (ketchup, spaghetti sauce) but if there were chunks of tomato, I had to pick them out.  I wouldn't eat them in BLT's and don't get me started on tomato soup.  I was always the last one sitting at the table on tomato soup night, crying and trying to choke down the soup so that I could be excused from the table.  It was not a pretty sight and chock full of all of the drama I could muster.  I'm sure my mom wondered where this picky, annoying child came from.

And then, suddenly, my tastes started to change.  Well, really only the tomato soup thing changed (I picked tomatoes out of things I ate until I got pregnant and then I suddenly loved tomatoes.  Go figure.).  When I was in college I tried my mom's tomato soup again and I fell in love with it.  It doesn't really taste like tomatoes, more like a somewhat sweet pink-colored vegetable soup.  I still don't buy tomato soup in a can; if I want tomato soup I either pull some of this goodness out of my freezer, or I get to work making it because, for me, there is no alternative to homemade tomato soup.

This recipe makes 4 tomato soup bases.  Freeze them in 2 cup increments (I use old cottage cheese containers or ziplock freezer bags), then when you're ready, pull the base out and slow thaw it over low heat until the base is melted, add 2 cups of milk and a bit of thickener and you have easily the most delicious tomato soup ever slurped.  The taste changes when I make the base in the winter, because the tomatoes aren't as sweet, but throughout the summer when you have an abundance of tomatoes in your garden (or your mom's garden, which is where mine came from this fall) or at the farmer's market, take a morning to stock your freezer up for a rainy, or in my case, a snowy day.

Tomato Soup Base

(makes about 4 bases; 2 cups each)

Nutrition facts (Each base, made with 2 cups of 2% milk, is about 4 servings), Per serving: 170 calories | 5.9 g. fat | 22.8 carbs | 6.4 g. protein | 3.1 g. fiber | about 5 WWP

• 6 lbs ripe tomatoes
• 1 ½ lbs assorted multi-colored peppers
• ½ bunch celery, chopped (about 6 stalks)
• 3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped*
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• ¼ cup butter, melted
• ¼ cup flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1/8 cup salt 

Seed the tomatoes and the peppers.  Tear them into large chunks and add to a stock pot along with the celery, carrots, onion, and garlic. Simmer all the vegetables until soft and a liquid forms.  Once the vegetables are all soft, blend them until they are smooth.  You can use a blender, food processor, or an immersion blender.

Once the vegetables are blended together, strain to separate the juice.  You can do this one of two ways:

1. The easiest way is to just bypass the blending step above and use a juicer instead.  It will blend your veggies and extract the juice, which is what you want, all in one simple step.  
2. I do not have a juicer, so I do it the somewhat more time-consuming way – I get some cheese cloth from the fabric store (really cheap; I have a lot on hand), cut 2 nice big squares and layer them together, then I ladle about 2 cups of the vegetables into the cheese cloth.  Working over a fine mesh sieve, I squeeze out all of the juice and discard the leftover vegetable pulp.  Repeat this process until all the juice is out of all of the pulp. The vegetables will be hot, so let them cool to room temperature before you start straining or you will burn your hands as you squeeze out the juice.

After you have all of the juice squeezed out, you should have about 8 cups or so of really pretty red liquid.  At this point, wash your stock pot and put that liquid back into it and bring it up to a very low simmer.  Blend together the melted butter, flour, sugar and salt.  Add it to the strained tomatoes and whisk to blend.

Allow mixture to cool to room temperature.  Ladle 2 cups of vegetable liquid into freezer bags (you should get about 4 bags or 2 cups each) and lay them flat to freeze completely.

When you’re ready to make the soup, simply pull one of your frozen bases out of the freezer and melt it down in a saucepan slowly over very low heat.  Once the base is completely liquid, add 2 cups of milk and cook until heated.  Do not boil.  If you’d like a little bit thicker soup, which I do, bring the soup to a low simmer after you've added the milk, and then add another mixture of the melted butter, flour, and sugar to the simmering soup.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

*You can use yellow, red or half of each – I use whatever I happen to have on hand.  

Okay.  So this is totally a very involved tomato soup.  (Read: you're going to need a full morning to get this done).  But, I promise, the rewards are so much bigger than the time you will put into this soup.

Let me tell you a story about little Heather: she hated all things tomato.  Every single tomato piece that I could see was picked out of everything that I ate.  I could eat pureed tomatoes (ketchup, spaghetti sauce) but if there were chunks of tomato, I had to pick them out.  I wouldn't eat them in BLT's and don't get me started on tomato soup.  I was always the last one sitting at the table on tomato soup night, crying and trying to choke down the soup so that I could be excused from the table.  It was not a pretty sight and chock full of all of the drama I could muster.  I'm sure my mom wondered where this picky, annoying child came from.

And then, suddenly, my tastes started to change.  Well, really only the tomato soup thing changed (I picked tomatoes out of things I ate until I got pregnant and then I suddenly loved tomatoes.  Go figure.).  When I was in college I tried my mom's tomato soup again and I fell in love with it.  It doesn't really taste like tomatoes, more like a somewhat sweet pink-colored vegetable soup.  I still don't buy tomato soup in a can; if I want tomato soup I either pull some of this goodness out of my freezer, or I get to work making it because, for me, there is no alternative to homemade tomato soup.

This recipe makes 4 tomato soup bases.  Freeze them in 2 cup increments (I use old cottage cheese containers or ziplock freezer bags), then when you're ready, pull the base out and slow thaw it over low heat until the base is melted, add 2 cups of milk and a bit of thickener and you have easily the most delicious tomato soup ever slurped.  The taste changes when I make the base in the winter, because the tomatoes aren't as sweet, but throughout the summer when you have an abundance of tomatoes in your garden (or your mom's garden, which is where mine came from this fall) or at the farmer's market, take a morning to stock your freezer up for a rainy, or in my case, a snowy day.

Tomato Soup Base

(makes about 4 bases; 2 cups each)

Nutrition facts (Each base, made with 2 cups of 2% milk, is about 4 servings), Per serving: 170 calories | 5.9 g. fat | 22.8 carbs | 6.4 g. protein | 3.1 g. fiber | about 5 WWP

• 6 lbs ripe tomatoes
• 1 ½ lbs assorted multi-colored peppers
• ½ bunch celery, chopped (about 6 stalks)
• 3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped*
• 3-4 cloves of garlic
• ¼ cup butter, melted
• ¼ cup flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1/8 cup salt 

Seed the tomatoes and the peppers.  Tear them into large chunks and add to a stock pot along with the celery, carrots, onion, and garlic. Simmer all the vegetables until soft and a liquid forms.  Once the vegetables are all soft, blend them until they are smooth.  You can use a blender, food processor, or an immersion blender.

Once the vegetables are blended together, strain to separate the juice.  You can do this one of two ways:

1. The easiest way is to just bypass the blending step above and use a juicer instead.  It will blend your veggies and extract the juice, which is what you want, all in one simple step.  
2. I do not have a juicer, so I do it the somewhat more time-consuming way – I get some cheese cloth from the fabric store (really cheap; I have a lot on hand), cut 2 nice big squares and layer them together, then I ladle about 2 cups of the vegetables into the cheese cloth.  Working over a fine mesh sieve, I squeeze out all of the juice and discard the leftover vegetable pulp.  Repeat this process until all the juice is out of all of the pulp. The vegetables will be hot, so let them cool to room temperature before you start straining or you will burn your hands as you squeeze out the juice.

After you have all of the juice squeezed out, you should have about 8 cups or so of really pretty red liquid.  At this point, wash your stock pot and put that liquid back into it and bring it up to a very low simmer.  Blend together the melted butter, flour, sugar and salt.  Add it to the strained tomatoes and whisk to blend.

Allow mixture to cool to room temperature.  Ladle 2 cups of vegetable liquid into freezer bags (you should get about 4 bags or 2 cups each) and lay them flat to freeze completely.

When you’re ready to make the soup, simply pull one of your frozen bases out of the freezer and melt it down in a saucepan slowly over very low heat.  Once the base is completely liquid, add 2 cups of milk and cook until heated.  Do not boil.  If you’d like a little bit thicker soup, which I do, bring the soup to a low simmer after you've added the milk, and then add another mixture of the melted butter, flour, and sugar to the simmering soup.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

*You can use yellow, red or half of each – I use whatever I happen to have on hand.  

The healing power of chicken noodle soup.

Here I am...two days in a row!  Amazing.

Today Finn and I both slept in until 9 am.  We needed it.  Yesterday evening tried everyone's patience as a result of no afternoon nap combined with some sort of mutant head cold running rampant through our house (so far only Finn and I have had it; fingers crossed Uriah and Abby stay healthy.).  I feel as though his bad behavior on those evenings is partially my fault; by not ensuring that he gets his nap, I know I'm just setting him up for failure later on when the exhaustion sets in.

And boy does he fail in spectacular fashion when he is tired!

By the time bath/bed/stories came around my nerves were frazzled so Uriah stepped in and took care of the entire routine - with the patience that can sometimes only come when you've been away from the tired/cranky/sickly baby all day long.  And this morning, when he got up for work, I don't think Finn or I even moved.  Usually when Uriah gets up in the morning, if Finn is in bed with us (12 days out of 11 - I know, I know...trust me, we're working on this co-sleeping debacle.) he's just awake and ready to start his day, trying to peel my eyelids up and listing all of the things he'd like for breakfast.  This morning he stretched his baby body over the open space in the bed and continued to snore.  Thank God.

When we finally got out of bed, I felt rested and as though I finally had some energy to accomplish some of my to-do list today.  In an effort to rid our house of the yucky germs, I stripped beds and washed sheets and blankets.  I sorted all of the laundry from the weekend (how in the heck do we get so much?  We were only gone for 3 days and I even did laundry before we left!).  The biggest accomplishment of the day, though, was the big big pot of chicken and noodles that I put on the stove for dinner tonight.  I wish this blog had a smell ap; my house smells like it is about to be healed in the most amazing way.

This week I'm going to share a few of my favorite soup recipes because, well, it's winter and everyone is cold and sick (what do you mean it's just my house?).  I wrote about making home made stock here and then freezing it to use later, but today I simmered fresh chicken stock with the bones of a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.   Yesterday was a super exhausting/sick day, and all I could muster was some already cooked chicken and cottage cheese for lunch for Finn and me; the rest of that chicken inspired tonight's dinner, though!  I took the meat off of the bones, added a couple of garlic cloves, a couple stalks of celery and an onion (no carrots to be had in my house today, but you could add that if you had it) covered the whole thing with water and left it to simmer on low.  I strained the bones and vegetables from the broth and then added all the goodies from the list below.  The great thing about chicken noodle soup is that you can tailor it so easily to what your family will eat.  I've started adding kale to my soups, and sometimes fresh spinach.  If I have a squash or a zucchini on hand, I'll add that and if I want a little bit of extra texture, I might add a potato.  Today I'm going for the basics - just chicken, veggies and noodles - and I'm going to make some biscuits and a side salad to go along with it.

Let the healing begin!

{ Simmering stock }

Chicken Noodle Soup

6 cups home made chicken stock
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, corn, beans - or if you have them fresh, use that)
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 cup egg noodles, uncooked
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped

Bring the stock to a low simmer.  Add the vegetables and simmer until cooked through and softened.  Bring soup to a boil and add the noodles.  Cook until noodles are desired texture (7-9 minutes).  Turn soup down to a low simmer and add the chicken.  Simmer just until chicken is warmed through.


Other soups to try: Karen's Crock Pot Soup | Ham & Pot Liquor Soup or Vegetable Barley Soup (add some kale to the vegetable barely - makes a healthy world of difference!)

Here I am...two days in a row!  Amazing.

Today Finn and I both slept in until 9 am.  We needed it.  Yesterday evening tried everyone's patience as a result of no afternoon nap combined with some sort of mutant head cold running rampant through our house (so far only Finn and I have had it; fingers crossed Uriah and Abby stay healthy.).  I feel as though his bad behavior on those evenings is partially my fault; by not ensuring that he gets his nap, I know I'm just setting him up for failure later on when the exhaustion sets in.

And boy does he fail in spectacular fashion when he is tired!

By the time bath/bed/stories came around my nerves were frazzled so Uriah stepped in and took care of the entire routine - with the patience that can sometimes only come when you've been away from the tired/cranky/sickly baby all day long.  And this morning, when he got up for work, I don't think Finn or I even moved.  Usually when Uriah gets up in the morning, if Finn is in bed with us (12 days out of 11 - I know, I know...trust me, we're working on this co-sleeping debacle.) he's just awake and ready to start his day, trying to peel my eyelids up and listing all of the things he'd like for breakfast.  This morning he stretched his baby body over the open space in the bed and continued to snore.  Thank God.

When we finally got out of bed, I felt rested and as though I finally had some energy to accomplish some of my to-do list today.  In an effort to rid our house of the yucky germs, I stripped beds and washed sheets and blankets.  I sorted all of the laundry from the weekend (how in the heck do we get so much?  We were only gone for 3 days and I even did laundry before we left!).  The biggest accomplishment of the day, though, was the big big pot of chicken and noodles that I put on the stove for dinner tonight.  I wish this blog had a smell ap; my house smells like it is about to be healed in the most amazing way.

This week I'm going to share a few of my favorite soup recipes because, well, it's winter and everyone is cold and sick (what do you mean it's just my house?).  I wrote about making home made stock here and then freezing it to use later, but today I simmered fresh chicken stock with the bones of a rotisserie chicken from the grocery store.   Yesterday was a super exhausting/sick day, and all I could muster was some already cooked chicken and cottage cheese for lunch for Finn and me; the rest of that chicken inspired tonight's dinner, though!  I took the meat off of the bones, added a couple of garlic cloves, a couple stalks of celery and an onion (no carrots to be had in my house today, but you could add that if you had it) covered the whole thing with water and left it to simmer on low.  I strained the bones and vegetables from the broth and then added all the goodies from the list below.  The great thing about chicken noodle soup is that you can tailor it so easily to what your family will eat.  I've started adding kale to my soups, and sometimes fresh spinach.  If I have a squash or a zucchini on hand, I'll add that and if I want a little bit of extra texture, I might add a potato.  Today I'm going for the basics - just chicken, veggies and noodles - and I'm going to make some biscuits and a side salad to go along with it.

Let the healing begin!

{ Simmering stock }

Chicken Noodle Soup

6 cups home made chicken stock
2 cups frozen mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, corn, beans - or if you have them fresh, use that)
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 small onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup chopped mushrooms
1 cup egg noodles, uncooked
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped

Bring the stock to a low simmer.  Add the vegetables and simmer until cooked through and softened.  Bring soup to a boil and add the noodles.  Cook until noodles are desired texture (7-9 minutes).  Turn soup down to a low simmer and add the chicken.  Simmer just until chicken is warmed through.


Other soups to try: Karen's Crock Pot Soup | Ham & Pot Liquor Soup or Vegetable Barley Soup (add some kale to the vegetable barely - makes a healthy world of difference!)

A Very Turducken Thanksgiving

The small humans and I enjoyed a very quite, uneventful, travel-less Thanksgiving Day. Uriah was out the door long before Abby made a morning appearance, but Finn and I were awake shortly after he left (such is the case when you have a creaky old house.).  We had breakfast and plotted and planned our day.  The sun peeked out early and the weather was somewhat warm, so after watching a bit of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on tv, Finn headed outside to play.  What I love most about this house is that he can play in the back yard and I can be in the kitchen and because of all of the windows, I can track his moves.  I also had the door open for awhile to let some of the fresh fall air in.

I had already spent most of the week preparing for Friday's festivities, and since I plan everything with lists and time tables, I was pretty well prepared on Thursday for what was to come on Friday. Uriah had de-boned the birds Wednesday night, I had casseroles prepared, bread dough proofing for dinner rolls, sweet potato sticky buns ready to go in the oven Friday morning so really, the only thing I had left to do Thursday was to make a pumpkin pie - I chose to veer away from the norm and made an Amaretto Pumpkin Pie with Almond Praline. I'm somewhat of a pie crust failure, although I've studied diligently at the knee of my mother; she is the queen of a light, flaky crust. Mine tend to be over-rolled and a bit gummy, so I took my time with it. I walked away a few times to play outside with Finn and it took me most of the morning to finish it off and bake it.

I surprised the small humans with build your own pizzas and the movie Brave Thursday night. And as we settled in to enjoy our dinner picnic-style in the living room with our movie, the first flakes began to fall.  It didn't take long for the back yard to be covered and the words to Winter Wonderland began to filter through my head. Unfortunately, my parents drive took them about an hour extra due to the crap roads, but they made it. Finn and I had just gone outside on a snowy adventure when they pulled into the driveway (read: Finn was dying to go outside into the snow and I could see that the sidewalk needed some serious shoveling done, hence the "adventure.").

Our family and friends arrived on Friday afternoon for the feast.  There was lots of snacking, lots of puppy dog kisses, a few baby melt-downs, and some family pictures taken in the snow.  There was a long drawn-out game of Monopoly between the tween crowd, Abby fell down the stairs - and remained unharmed, and Ginny the dog tried her hardest to make friends with Finn (he was having none of her adorableness and chose instead to be held.  By me.  A lot.).  Two 6-foot long tables surrounded by 14 chairs held the masses of food and people for dinner.  We all said what we were thankful for, which takes a minute when you have 9 adults, 3 tweens, and 2 toddlers.  I was - and still am - thankful for every person who happens to find themselves around my table at any time of the year, for plenty of food to eat, and for safe travels.

We pretty much ate everything; there was not much for leftovers, which is a good thing for my refrigerator (and my waist), but not so much when I really wanted a snack of mashed potatoes and gravy on Friday night (there were no potatoes leftover to snack on.  Or gravy.  I probably would have eaten the gravy with a spoon and no potatoes.).  For as much work as I though the turducken would be, it seemed to be no more time-consuming than doing a traditional turkey (which we've done in a brine before, and also takes preparing a few days in advance.).  I wanted to take more pictures but I don't even know what I was doing  - setting the table, probably, or holding Finn - and I turned around and it was in the oven, roasted and done.  It was pretty tasty and I would not be opposed to doing it again.

We did have leftovers of the turducken beast and let me assure you, it does make some mighty tasty turkey/duck/chicken/stuffing turnovers a few days later.  And my pastry crust was flaky.  And Uriah even made gravy for them.  I might still be dreaming of Turducken Turnovers.

I think I want to have Thanksgiving at my house every year for the next forever.  Whether our families will oblige remains to be seen.  But I love Thanksgiving and so I will cook for whomever wants to come to my house and eat at my table.

And also, I really (selfishly) loved not having to travel, because this is what a few hours difference will make:

Thursday at 11:49 am (L) | Thursday at 8:40 pm (R)

The small humans and I enjoyed a very quite, uneventful, travel-less Thanksgiving Day. Uriah was out the door long before Abby made a morning appearance, but Finn and I were awake shortly after he left (such is the case when you have a creaky old house.).  We had breakfast and plotted and planned our day.  The sun peeked out early and the weather was somewhat warm, so after watching a bit of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on tv, Finn headed outside to play.  What I love most about this house is that he can play in the back yard and I can be in the kitchen and because of all of the windows, I can track his moves.  I also had the door open for awhile to let some of the fresh fall air in.

I had already spent most of the week preparing for Friday's festivities, and since I plan everything with lists and time tables, I was pretty well prepared on Thursday for what was to come on Friday. Uriah had de-boned the birds Wednesday night, I had casseroles prepared, bread dough proofing for dinner rolls, sweet potato sticky buns ready to go in the oven Friday morning so really, the only thing I had left to do Thursday was to make a pumpkin pie - I chose to veer away from the norm and made an Amaretto Pumpkin Pie with Almond Praline. I'm somewhat of a pie crust failure, although I've studied diligently at the knee of my mother; she is the queen of a light, flaky crust. Mine tend to be over-rolled and a bit gummy, so I took my time with it. I walked away a few times to play outside with Finn and it took me most of the morning to finish it off and bake it.

I surprised the small humans with build your own pizzas and the movie Brave Thursday night. And as we settled in to enjoy our dinner picnic-style in the living room with our movie, the first flakes began to fall.  It didn't take long for the back yard to be covered and the words to Winter Wonderland began to filter through my head. Unfortunately, my parents drive took them about an hour extra due to the crap roads, but they made it. Finn and I had just gone outside on a snowy adventure when they pulled into the driveway (read: Finn was dying to go outside into the snow and I could see that the sidewalk needed some serious shoveling done, hence the "adventure.").

Our family and friends arrived on Friday afternoon for the feast.  There was lots of snacking, lots of puppy dog kisses, a few baby melt-downs, and some family pictures taken in the snow.  There was a long drawn-out game of Monopoly between the tween crowd, Abby fell down the stairs - and remained unharmed, and Ginny the dog tried her hardest to make friends with Finn (he was having none of her adorableness and chose instead to be held.  By me.  A lot.).  Two 6-foot long tables surrounded by 14 chairs held the masses of food and people for dinner.  We all said what we were thankful for, which takes a minute when you have 9 adults, 3 tweens, and 2 toddlers.  I was - and still am - thankful for every person who happens to find themselves around my table at any time of the year, for plenty of food to eat, and for safe travels.

We pretty much ate everything; there was not much for leftovers, which is a good thing for my refrigerator (and my waist), but not so much when I really wanted a snack of mashed potatoes and gravy on Friday night (there were no potatoes leftover to snack on.  Or gravy.  I probably would have eaten the gravy with a spoon and no potatoes.).  For as much work as I though the turducken would be, it seemed to be no more time-consuming than doing a traditional turkey (which we've done in a brine before, and also takes preparing a few days in advance.).  I wanted to take more pictures but I don't even know what I was doing  - setting the table, probably, or holding Finn - and I turned around and it was in the oven, roasted and done.  It was pretty tasty and I would not be opposed to doing it again.

We did have leftovers of the turducken beast and let me assure you, it does make some mighty tasty turkey/duck/chicken/stuffing turnovers a few days later.  And my pastry crust was flaky.  And Uriah even made gravy for them.  I might still be dreaming of Turducken Turnovers.

I think I want to have Thanksgiving at my house every year for the next forever.  Whether our families will oblige remains to be seen.  But I love Thanksgiving and so I will cook for whomever wants to come to my house and eat at my table.

And also, I really (selfishly) loved not having to travel, because this is what a few hours difference will make:

Thursday at 11:49 am (L) | Thursday at 8:40 pm (R)

Thankfuls

We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year.  A small gathering of Minnesota family on Friday since Uriah has to feed the masses on Thursday.  The small humans and I have big plans to watch movies and eat pizza on Thursday and I am actually looking forward to the quietness of Thursday as we gear up for Friday.  We tend to be a little over-zealous when it comes to entertaining, so Uriah is making a Turducken, which is a duck inside of a chicken inside of a turkey, layered with venison stuffing and roasted.  Each bird needs to be boned and the idea is that when you slice it, you'll have a layer of  of each bird.  I am not sure how one goes about boning a chicken, duck, and turkey; add to that the fact that Uriah threw out his back yesterday and is hobbling around like I did two summers ago, it's going to be an interesting weekend.  But we do nothing if we don't do it big.  If I have my wits about me, and my camera, I will blog about it next week - the turducken, not the hobbling; although I will probably have stories about that, too!

Anyway...things I am thankful for this year: another year with Uriah (and Finn and Abby, too), family - and soon a new member niece or nephew to make family gatherings a little bigger, a new beginning, having an over-all healthy family, Minnesota and Lake Superior and hikes and walks and runs, positive steps toward potty training and a little boy who's not such a baby anymore, the men and women who have served our country and those who continue to do so, nap time, books and hot coffee and cozy slippers, being home.

I had the lofty attainable goal of loosing 8 pounds by Thanksgiving and I didn't quite make it (I blame the martinis and daylight savings time and my own unambitious ways), but I did lose a little bit of weight, so I will mark that as a success. I've been almost a year on WW, and in that time I've managed to maintain a 25 pound weight loss (give or take a couple of pounds in either direction)  I am very thankful for that.  I've recently found that counting calories has its place, too.  It's a balance and I'm trying to remember that some days are easier that others and sometimes I just need to make it easier for myself.

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!  May you eat until you are content, enjoy family and friends, and save room for pie (or, with the demise of Hostess, perhaps a non-traditional Twinkie Cake?!  I might just have to add it to my already gigantic weekend menu...).

We are hosting Thanksgiving at our house this year.  A small gathering of Minnesota family on Friday since Uriah has to feed the masses on Thursday.  The small humans and I have big plans to watch movies and eat pizza on Thursday and I am actually looking forward to the quietness of Thursday as we gear up for Friday.  We tend to be a little over-zealous when it comes to entertaining, so Uriah is making a Turducken, which is a duck inside of a chicken inside of a turkey, layered with venison stuffing and roasted.  Each bird needs to be boned and the idea is that when you slice it, you'll have a layer of  of each bird.  I am not sure how one goes about boning a chicken, duck, and turkey; add to that the fact that Uriah threw out his back yesterday and is hobbling around like I did two summers ago, it's going to be an interesting weekend.  But we do nothing if we don't do it big.  If I have my wits about me, and my camera, I will blog about it next week - the turducken, not the hobbling; although I will probably have stories about that, too!

Anyway...things I am thankful for this year: another year with Uriah (and Finn and Abby, too), family - and soon a new member niece or nephew to make family gatherings a little bigger, a new beginning, having an over-all healthy family, Minnesota and Lake Superior and hikes and walks and runs, positive steps toward potty training and a little boy who's not such a baby anymore, the men and women who have served our country and those who continue to do so, nap time, books and hot coffee and cozy slippers, being home.

I had the lofty attainable goal of loosing 8 pounds by Thanksgiving and I didn't quite make it (I blame the martinis and daylight savings time and my own unambitious ways), but I did lose a little bit of weight, so I will mark that as a success. I've been almost a year on WW, and in that time I've managed to maintain a 25 pound weight loss (give or take a couple of pounds in either direction)  I am very thankful for that.  I've recently found that counting calories has its place, too.  It's a balance and I'm trying to remember that some days are easier that others and sometimes I just need to make it easier for myself.

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!  May you eat until you are content, enjoy family and friends, and save room for pie (or, with the demise of Hostess, perhaps a non-traditional Twinkie Cake?!  I might just have to add it to my already gigantic weekend menu...).

Dining al fresco.

We haven't been eating outside as much this summer as I would like.  Usually we have at least one meal a week outside during the warm months, but not so much this year.  My menu planning hasn't been the greatest lately, I've felt a bit like I'm scrambling to toss something together these past few weeks, or Uriah has something on the table and before I can suggest we eat outside, the dishes are done and the kids are getting ready for bed.  I vow to do better for the rest of July and August.  

The few times that we have taken a detour from our normal dining room table and transplanted ourselves outside, it has been glorious. The conversation seems to flow in a different pattern (if you can call Abby's constant chatter and Finn pointing out every bird and airplane conversation.  These days, I do.).  We linger a little bit longer over a glass of wine and the kids seem more apt to chase each other around the yard and practice somersaults and cartwheels until their knees are grass-stained and their sides hurt from laughing.

I'm still looking for lighter summer options in an attempt to lighten my own frame (I'll probably have a weight update later this week.).  We've tried a few options that won't see a repeat on our menus, but the Spaghetti alla Puttanesca is already in the queue to be had again.  I know what you're thinking - spaghetti?  In the summer?  To that I say: Yes!  Absolutely!  The sauce isn't a heavy traditional tomato sauce.  The spaghetti noodles were whole wheat and we paired it with a big, fat salad (and a big, fat glass of wine for the adults!).  Don't be put off by the anchovies.  I promise, you only need a small amount of them to add some salt to the sauce and you wouldn't even know that they're there unless you made the meal.  They don't add any sort of fishy taste at all.  And the capers, too, add another layer to this sauce, but it doesn't use a lot, so again, you probably wouldn't even know they were in there.  Abby usually doesn't like capers but she ate this spaghetti and didn't bat a pretty little eyelash.  Finn, of course, is being groomed to eat what's for dinner and he asked for more when he finished his plate the first time.  I love healthy eaters!

A light summer meal that's kid friendly?  Check and check.

We need to eat outside more often!  

• ¼  cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 28.2-oz can whole, peeled tomatoes, undrained
• 4-5 fresh large basil leaves, roughly chopped
• ½ - ¾  cup Kalamata olives, halved and pitted*
• 3 anchovy fillets, chopped**
• 1 ½  tablespoons drained capers
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½  teaspoon crushed red pepper
• ½  pound spaghetti
• Grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in large pot over medium heat.  Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add the fresh basil and the tomatoes, squeezing the large tomatoes until they break up into smaller pieces (you can rough chop them before you add them, but I sort of like the feeling of squishing those tomatoes!).  Add olives, anchovies, capers, oregano, and crushed red pepper.  Simmer sauce over medium heat until thickened, about 8 minutes, breaking up tomatoes with a spoon as necessary.  Season with salt and pepper.

While your sauce is simmering, cook pasta until it is tender, but still a little bit firm to bite.  Drain pasta; add to pot with pasta sauce and toss to coat.  Serve with cheese.

Makes 4 servings.
Adapted from Bon Appetite Magazine, January 2008
*I found Kalamata olives at the grocery store that were already pitted.  I added extra.  I love olives.
**Double trust me on this, the salty-ness of the anchovies is so good and, unless you are a food-hound, undetectable in the sauce.

We haven't been eating outside as much this summer as I would like.  Usually we have at least one meal a week outside during the warm months, but not so much this year.  My menu planning hasn't been the greatest lately, I've felt a bit like I'm scrambling to toss something together these past few weeks, or Uriah has something on the table and before I can suggest we eat outside, the dishes are done and the kids are getting ready for bed.  I vow to do better for the rest of July and August.  

The few times that we have taken a detour from our normal dining room table and transplanted ourselves outside, it has been glorious. The conversation seems to flow in a different pattern (if you can call Abby's constant chatter and Finn pointing out every bird and airplane conversation.  These days, I do.).  We linger a little bit longer over a glass of wine and the kids seem more apt to chase each other around the yard and practice somersaults and cartwheels until their knees are grass-stained and their sides hurt from laughing.

I'm still looking for lighter summer options in an attempt to lighten my own frame (I'll probably have a weight update later this week.).  We've tried a few options that won't see a repeat on our menus, but the Spaghetti alla Puttanesca is already in the queue to be had again.  I know what you're thinking - spaghetti?  In the summer?  To that I say: Yes!  Absolutely!  The sauce isn't a heavy traditional tomato sauce.  The spaghetti noodles were whole wheat and we paired it with a big, fat salad (and a big, fat glass of wine for the adults!).  Don't be put off by the anchovies.  I promise, you only need a small amount of them to add some salt to the sauce and you wouldn't even know that they're there unless you made the meal.  They don't add any sort of fishy taste at all.  And the capers, too, add another layer to this sauce, but it doesn't use a lot, so again, you probably wouldn't even know they were in there.  Abby usually doesn't like capers but she ate this spaghetti and didn't bat a pretty little eyelash.  Finn, of course, is being groomed to eat what's for dinner and he asked for more when he finished his plate the first time.  I love healthy eaters!

A light summer meal that's kid friendly?  Check and check.

We need to eat outside more often!  

• ¼  cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 28.2-oz can whole, peeled tomatoes, undrained
• 4-5 fresh large basil leaves, roughly chopped
• ½ - ¾  cup Kalamata olives, halved and pitted*
• 3 anchovy fillets, chopped**
• 1 ½  tablespoons drained capers
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• ½  teaspoon crushed red pepper
• ½  pound spaghetti
• Grated Parmesan cheese

Heat oil in large pot over medium heat.  Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add the fresh basil and the tomatoes, squeezing the large tomatoes until they break up into smaller pieces (you can rough chop them before you add them, but I sort of like the feeling of squishing those tomatoes!).  Add olives, anchovies, capers, oregano, and crushed red pepper.  Simmer sauce over medium heat until thickened, about 8 minutes, breaking up tomatoes with a spoon as necessary.  Season with salt and pepper.

While your sauce is simmering, cook pasta until it is tender, but still a little bit firm to bite.  Drain pasta; add to pot with pasta sauce and toss to coat.  Serve with cheese.

Makes 4 servings.
Adapted from Bon Appetite Magazine, January 2008
*I found Kalamata olives at the grocery store that were already pitted.  I added extra.  I love olives.
**Double trust me on this, the salty-ness of the anchovies is so good and, unless you are a food-hound, undetectable in the sauce.

Broken Computers & Rhubarb Dream Bars

This day totally got away from me!  Finn and I were up early this morning and we have been doing laundry and mowing the lawn and watering plants and cleaning ever since.  My intention was to get this posted earlier this afternoon when Finn took his nap (he was so tired from a morning of busyness that he practically put himself down for a nap!) but unfortunately, my laptop is not long for this world, so I spent most of his nap time and beyond getting our desktop computer dusted off and running.  It was a nightmare...the power cord had somehow gone missing during our move last summer and I pretty much opened every single box that hadn't been opened in our basement looking for it.  I called around trying to find someone who'd stock the power cord.  No luck in this small town.  I tried to find it on Amazon.  My initial search turned up nothing.  Finally, I flopped down in a frustrated pout and decided to look one more time in the box that holds all of our miscellaneous electronic stuff - you know, the spot that it was supposed to be to begin with, and what do you know?  It was there the whole time!  Today was a lesson in patience, learning to slow down and take my time and above all else, quit looking for things with my man eyes! 

So on to what I was really going to post about today: rhubarb.  Do you like rhubarb?  Have you ever had it?  I think that it's kind of an acquired taste.  Raw rhubarb is sort of like bitter celery.  It grows in lovely red stalks with big green leaves at the top.  When we were growing up, we would dip raw rhubarb in sugar and eat is as an afternoon snack.  Honestly, I didn't really like eating the rhubarb, I mostly just licked the sugar off and then pitched the rhubarb stalk in trash.

Cooked rhubarb, however, takes on a sweetness all its own, and it has such a soft texture.  My mom would make rhubarb sauce and we'd have it for breakfast.  Personally, I want to make some rhubarb sauce and pour it over vanilla ice cream, equally as good, but less healthy.  Coming from Minnesota, I have multiple recipes in my box for rhubarb sauce, rhubarb pie, rhubarb cake, and rhubarb bars.

Try the rhubarb bars are lovely and my favorite.  Equal parts tangy and sweet; soft and crispy.  I've seen rhubarb available for purchase at our grocery store here in Iowa, but you might have to hit up a farmer's market or a sweet neighbor to get some of your own (I got mine from my mama!) but they are totally worth the effort of tracking some down.  I did eat these bars for breakfast with coffee and also for an afternoon snack with iced tea (and they are sort of WW friendly if you cut them into 36 small squares - then they make the perfect points-friendly snack!  However, you have to stop yourself after eating just one, and therein lies the problem!).


Enjoy your Thursday evening, friends!

2-1/2  cups flour, divided
3/4 cups powder sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups rhubarb, diced

For the crust, mix 2 cups of flour and the powder sugar; cut in the butter until crumbly.  Press into a 10x15" pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

While the crust is baking, make the filling.  Blend the eggs, white sugar, remaining 1/2 cup of flour and salt together until smooth.  Fold in the rhubarb.  When the crust has baked for 15 minutes, remove it from the oven and spread the rhubarb mixture over the hot crust.  Bake for another 40-45 minutes.  Allow to cool.

*One thing to keep in mind: these bars will be the crispest the day you make them.  The remaining liquid in the rhubarb will slowly leach out and soften the bars the longer they sit.  This is not incentive to eat them all the day you make them, however.  They are good just a little bit soft, too

This day totally got away from me!  Finn and I were up early this morning and we have been doing laundry and mowing the lawn and watering plants and cleaning ever since.  My intention was to get this posted earlier this afternoon when Finn took his nap (he was so tired from a morning of busyness that he practically put himself down for a nap!) but unfortunately, my laptop is not long for this world, so I spent most of his nap time and beyond getting our desktop computer dusted off and running.  It was a nightmare...the power cord had somehow gone missing during our move last summer and I pretty much opened every single box that hadn't been opened in our basement looking for it.  I called around trying to find someone who'd stock the power cord.  No luck in this small town.  I tried to find it on Amazon.  My initial search turned up nothing.  Finally, I flopped down in a frustrated pout and decided to look one more time in the box that holds all of our miscellaneous electronic stuff - you know, the spot that it was supposed to be to begin with, and what do you know?  It was there the whole time!  Today was a lesson in patience, learning to slow down and take my time and above all else, quit looking for things with my man eyes! 

So on to what I was really going to post about today: rhubarb.  Do you like rhubarb?  Have you ever had it?  I think that it's kind of an acquired taste.  Raw rhubarb is sort of like bitter celery.  It grows in lovely red stalks with big green leaves at the top.  When we were growing up, we would dip raw rhubarb in sugar and eat is as an afternoon snack.  Honestly, I didn't really like eating the rhubarb, I mostly just licked the sugar off and then pitched the rhubarb stalk in trash.

Cooked rhubarb, however, takes on a sweetness all its own, and it has such a soft texture.  My mom would make rhubarb sauce and we'd have it for breakfast.  Personally, I want to make some rhubarb sauce and pour it over vanilla ice cream, equally as good, but less healthy.  Coming from Minnesota, I have multiple recipes in my box for rhubarb sauce, rhubarb pie, rhubarb cake, and rhubarb bars.

Try the rhubarb bars are lovely and my favorite.  Equal parts tangy and sweet; soft and crispy.  I've seen rhubarb available for purchase at our grocery store here in Iowa, but you might have to hit up a farmer's market or a sweet neighbor to get some of your own (I got mine from my mama!) but they are totally worth the effort of tracking some down.  I did eat these bars for breakfast with coffee and also for an afternoon snack with iced tea (and they are sort of WW friendly if you cut them into 36 small squares - then they make the perfect points-friendly snack!  However, you have to stop yourself after eating just one, and therein lies the problem!).


Enjoy your Thursday evening, friends!

2-1/2  cups flour, divided
3/4 cups powder sugar
1 cup butter
4 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 cups rhubarb, diced

For the crust, mix 2 cups of flour and the powder sugar; cut in the butter until crumbly.  Press into a 10x15" pan.  Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

While the crust is baking, make the filling.  Blend the eggs, white sugar, remaining 1/2 cup of flour and salt together until smooth.  Fold in the rhubarb.  When the crust has baked for 15 minutes, remove it from the oven and spread the rhubarb mixture over the hot crust.  Bake for another 40-45 minutes.  Allow to cool.

*One thing to keep in mind: these bars will be the crispest the day you make them.  The remaining liquid in the rhubarb will slowly leach out and soften the bars the longer they sit.  This is not incentive to eat them all the day you make them, however.  They are good just a little bit soft, too

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day...

...Or so my mother used to tell me every morning of my growing up years.  Being a person who would rather not face the morning, I would usually mumble something under my breath about the stupid sun and need more sleepy, slide into my seat at the table and eat whatever it was she put before me.  Cereal, oatmeal, toast with peanut butter, English muffins.  If I didn't have to make it or give it a second thought, I was good to go.

These days, I make Abby a breakfast menu each week because honestly, I don't like to get up (I put my coffee on delay brew before I go to bed so that it's ready for me before I even get up in the morning!).  And also, she's in 7th grade.  She can make an egg without burning our house down.  I make sure to double or triple the recipe for pancakes and waffles so that I can have them in the freezer for easy toasting in the morning.  I make extra french toast and yummy little breakfast biscuits that are full of cheese and sausage.  She can make hot cereal or oatmeal and we leave the cold cereal as a special weekend treat (because more often that not, it's a somewhat sugary cereal and I'd rather she eat something before school that will stick with her.).

As for me, breakfast is a little bit more of a struggle.  Being on a pretty tight food budget, I really do have to plan out my breakfast in the same way that I plan out my lunches and dinners.  In my previous life, breakfast consisted of a mocha from Starbucks and a blueberry muffin.  Then I got wise to the carb-induced free-fall my morning would take after that gigantic muffin and started making my own, significantly smaller muffins, at home; I thought I was being thrifty.  But as easy as yanking a muffin out of the freezer is and warming it up in the microwave to have with my coffee is quick, I know that it's probably not going to last me until lunchtime. I've started supplementing my breakfast with fruit and yogurt.  I sacrifice a little bit more of my budget (both food-wise and monetarily) with Noosa yogurt, it is the best yogurt I have ever had: raspberry, mango, strawberry-rhubarb...flavors that almost make it worth getting up in the morning.  I said almost.

I used to think that eggs took so much time in the morning and oh, the cholesterol!  Be still my ever burgeoning arteries!  The fact is, eggs are brain food and they will stick with me all morning long.  I've taken to having an egg (fried in little bit of olive oil, not butter.) on dry whole wheat toast, a little bit of fat free cottage cheese and a piece of fruit.  It takes less than 5 minutes to put together in the morning and it keeps me full all the way until lunch...and even a little bit beyond!

My super favorite these days, though, is oatmeal.  I love oatmeal with fresh strawberries.  I love oatmeal with apples and cinnamon.  I love oatmeal with craisins.  I love oatmeal.  And Finn loves oatmeal, too, so we usually share one serving.  I sweeten it with a little bit of honey and I always make my oatmeal with milk instead of water - it makes for a little bit thicker oatmeal plus I get to count it as a serving of milk.  Since I don't drink milk by the glass (a hold-over from my low-carb days.), I need to sneak my calcium in however I can.

I'm sure you're wondering why I don't just follow Abby's breakfast plan.  Truthfully, I probably could, but right now I don't want to sacrifice that many points on breakfast; I'd rather save them for dinner or for a mid-afternoon snack.  Having pancakes or waffles in the morning isn't the best use of my current food budget.  Someday, when I'm at a comfortable weight, I will be able to slip in a morning of rainbow pancakes with my kids or Uriah's biscuits and sausage gravy.  In the meantime, I'm content with something that I know is going to hold me over until lunch.

What about you?  What are your go-to breakfasts?  How do you keep your tummy from grumbling before noon?

...Or so my mother used to tell me every morning of my growing up years.  Being a person who would rather not face the morning, I would usually mumble something under my breath about the stupid sun and need more sleepy, slide into my seat at the table and eat whatever it was she put before me.  Cereal, oatmeal, toast with peanut butter, English muffins.  If I didn't have to make it or give it a second thought, I was good to go.

These days, I make Abby a breakfast menu each week because honestly, I don't like to get up (I put my coffee on delay brew before I go to bed so that it's ready for me before I even get up in the morning!).  And also, she's in 7th grade.  She can make an egg without burning our house down.  I make sure to double or triple the recipe for pancakes and waffles so that I can have them in the freezer for easy toasting in the morning.  I make extra french toast and yummy little breakfast biscuits that are full of cheese and sausage.  She can make hot cereal or oatmeal and we leave the cold cereal as a special weekend treat (because more often that not, it's a somewhat sugary cereal and I'd rather she eat something before school that will stick with her.).

As for me, breakfast is a little bit more of a struggle.  Being on a pretty tight food budget, I really do have to plan out my breakfast in the same way that I plan out my lunches and dinners.  In my previous life, breakfast consisted of a mocha from Starbucks and a blueberry muffin.  Then I got wise to the carb-induced free-fall my morning would take after that gigantic muffin and started making my own, significantly smaller muffins, at home; I thought I was being thrifty.  But as easy as yanking a muffin out of the freezer is and warming it up in the microwave to have with my coffee is quick, I know that it's probably not going to last me until lunchtime. I've started supplementing my breakfast with fruit and yogurt.  I sacrifice a little bit more of my budget (both food-wise and monetarily) with Noosa yogurt, it is the best yogurt I have ever had: raspberry, mango, strawberry-rhubarb...flavors that almost make it worth getting up in the morning.  I said almost.

I used to think that eggs took so much time in the morning and oh, the cholesterol!  Be still my ever burgeoning arteries!  The fact is, eggs are brain food and they will stick with me all morning long.  I've taken to having an egg (fried in little bit of olive oil, not butter.) on dry whole wheat toast, a little bit of fat free cottage cheese and a piece of fruit.  It takes less than 5 minutes to put together in the morning and it keeps me full all the way until lunch...and even a little bit beyond!

My super favorite these days, though, is oatmeal.  I love oatmeal with fresh strawberries.  I love oatmeal with apples and cinnamon.  I love oatmeal with craisins.  I love oatmeal.  And Finn loves oatmeal, too, so we usually share one serving.  I sweeten it with a little bit of honey and I always make my oatmeal with milk instead of water - it makes for a little bit thicker oatmeal plus I get to count it as a serving of milk.  Since I don't drink milk by the glass (a hold-over from my low-carb days.), I need to sneak my calcium in however I can.

I'm sure you're wondering why I don't just follow Abby's breakfast plan.  Truthfully, I probably could, but right now I don't want to sacrifice that many points on breakfast; I'd rather save them for dinner or for a mid-afternoon snack.  Having pancakes or waffles in the morning isn't the best use of my current food budget.  Someday, when I'm at a comfortable weight, I will be able to slip in a morning of rainbow pancakes with my kids or Uriah's biscuits and sausage gravy.  In the meantime, I'm content with something that I know is going to hold me over until lunch.

What about you?  What are your go-to breakfasts?  How do you keep your tummy from grumbling before noon?

The Kitchen

We are food people.  It's at the heart of everything  we do.  I like it when Uriah makes dinner for me, I feel special and a bit decadent sitting back and watching the show as it unfolds before me in our kitchen.  I remember the first meal he ever made for me; I remember holding hands as we walked through the grocery store - a bit self-conscious because I was never part of one of those couples that held hands in public and yet, it seemed to come so easily to Uriah, squeezing my fingers as he thought out loud all of the things that he could make for me and then systematically vetoing his own ideas.  And then, as if he had a moment of inspiration, he  decided what it was he was going to make and suddenly we were racing through the aisles as he grabbed what he needed, me tagging behind and breathlessly telling him the items I already had at home as he pulled things off of shelves and from inside freezers.  That first meal, the flutter of activity in my kitchen and my heart - a man cooking just for me - is one of my favorite memories.  It was the beginning.  

All of our important conversations seem to take place in the kitchen.  Debating whether or not we could fit four people in our already-too-small apartment, our subsequent decision to move out of the apartment in Kansas City - bittersweet because it was our first home together - before Finn was born.  Conversations that took place in the smallest kitchen ever, me leaning against the Pates Baroni print and pushing it off center with my shoulder, Uriah leaning against against the stove, his feet nearly touching the cabinets across from him; no more than a foot between us as we stared at each other, both giddy and nervous that in the span of 4 months we'd gotten married, gotten pregnant and were suddenly about to move.  The decision not to move to Duluth took place in the kitchen over a period of dark winter evenings with our somber images mirrored back at us in the blackness of the window over the kitchen sink.  Back and forth went the conversation; back and forth went my resolve; back and forth went my nerves.  In the end, it wasn't right the right fit or the right time and we ended the conversation in the same place it began: the kitchen.  And yes, even the decision to move to Iowa took place in the kitchen - debating the merits, the final phone call, accepting the offer - all took place with Finn rolling around on the floor between us, Uriah back and forth between the conversation inside and the grill outside and me back and forth between being completely calm with the idea that I would be, basically, a single parent packing up our house for the following six weeks and then completely freaking out because...I was going to be a single parent for six weeks while packing up our house.  Somewhere there is a picture that my sister took of me on our last day in Kansas City, standing in our empty kitchen, in the house where I brought my son home from the hospital, cupboard doors open and the smell of Pinesol so heavy in the air, I feel it must have seeped into the picture and curled the edges.

My escape has always been the kitchen.  I can loose myself in a recipe, in the exact science of baking and the leeway I'm allowed with cooking.  I can stand at the counter for hours, reading recipes and making our weekly menus come alive with papers torn from magazines and post-it notes tuck inside cookbooks documenting changes that I've made or ingredients that I've added.  I feel good and right with the world when I'm feeding my family - three times a day, I have the opportunity to fill their bellies and feed their souls.  

This week, I want to share with you some of my kitchen, some of the recipes that we've grown to love here and a few of the new ones that are going to become old favorites.  So, I invite you to check back throughout the week for some new ideas to add to your kitchen; some new love to share with your families.

We are food people.  It's at the heart of everything  we do.  I like it when Uriah makes dinner for me, I feel special and a bit decadent sitting back and watching the show as it unfolds before me in our kitchen.  I remember the first meal he ever made for me; I remember holding hands as we walked through the grocery store - a bit self-conscious because I was never part of one of those couples that held hands in public and yet, it seemed to come so easily to Uriah, squeezing my fingers as he thought out loud all of the things that he could make for me and then systematically vetoing his own ideas.  And then, as if he had a moment of inspiration, he  decided what it was he was going to make and suddenly we were racing through the aisles as he grabbed what he needed, me tagging behind and breathlessly telling him the items I already had at home as he pulled things off of shelves and from inside freezers.  That first meal, the flutter of activity in my kitchen and my heart - a man cooking just for me - is one of my favorite memories.  It was the beginning.  

All of our important conversations seem to take place in the kitchen.  Debating whether or not we could fit four people in our already-too-small apartment, our subsequent decision to move out of the apartment in Kansas City - bittersweet because it was our first home together - before Finn was born.  Conversations that took place in the smallest kitchen ever, me leaning against the Pates Baroni print and pushing it off center with my shoulder, Uriah leaning against against the stove, his feet nearly touching the cabinets across from him; no more than a foot between us as we stared at each other, both giddy and nervous that in the span of 4 months we'd gotten married, gotten pregnant and were suddenly about to move.  The decision not to move to Duluth took place in the kitchen over a period of dark winter evenings with our somber images mirrored back at us in the blackness of the window over the kitchen sink.  Back and forth went the conversation; back and forth went my resolve; back and forth went my nerves.  In the end, it wasn't right the right fit or the right time and we ended the conversation in the same place it began: the kitchen.  And yes, even the decision to move to Iowa took place in the kitchen - debating the merits, the final phone call, accepting the offer - all took place with Finn rolling around on the floor between us, Uriah back and forth between the conversation inside and the grill outside and me back and forth between being completely calm with the idea that I would be, basically, a single parent packing up our house for the following six weeks and then completely freaking out because...I was going to be a single parent for six weeks while packing up our house.  Somewhere there is a picture that my sister took of me on our last day in Kansas City, standing in our empty kitchen, in the house where I brought my son home from the hospital, cupboard doors open and the smell of Pinesol so heavy in the air, I feel it must have seeped into the picture and curled the edges.

My escape has always been the kitchen.  I can loose myself in a recipe, in the exact science of baking and the leeway I'm allowed with cooking.  I can stand at the counter for hours, reading recipes and making our weekly menus come alive with papers torn from magazines and post-it notes tuck inside cookbooks documenting changes that I've made or ingredients that I've added.  I feel good and right with the world when I'm feeding my family - three times a day, I have the opportunity to fill their bellies and feed their souls.  

This week, I want to share with you some of my kitchen, some of the recipes that we've grown to love here and a few of the new ones that are going to become old favorites.  So, I invite you to check back throughout the week for some new ideas to add to your kitchen; some new love to share with your families.

Spicy Thai Noodles

If I miss one thing about Kansas City, it would be the easily accessible good food - and good food options - that a big city has to offer.  Uriah and I went out to dinner a couple of nights ago, and while we both had good meals - he had duck and I had lamb, and they were both amazing - we found ourselves listing the places to eat in Kansas City that we missed.  We also talked about the places that we didn't get a chance to try when we lived there.  And, subsequently, we found ourselves making a list of the places we'd like to go back to when we visit.  At the top of the list for me will be Thai Place in Westport.  I have had such a craving for their King & Anne chicken - and it's a recipe that I'm not even sure where to begin to try to replicate.

In the meantime, I'm going to make Spicy Thai noodles.  Authentic Thai food?  Probably not.  But they taste delicious and until I can get back to Kansas City and my beloved Thai Place, this will have to do.

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger*
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon garlic chili paste
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 pound angel hair pasta
• 12 green onions, thinly sliced
• ½ cup peanuts
• ¼ cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

Heat oil in small skillet over medium heat.  Add ginger and garlic; sauté 1 minute.  Transfer to large bowl.  Add next 6 ingredients; whisk to blend.  Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, stirring occasionally.  Drain and rinse under cold water until cool.  Drain thoroughly and transfer to bowl with sauce.  Add sliced green onions and toss to coat noodles.  Let stand at room temperature until noodles have absorbed dressing, tossing occasionally, about 1 hour.  Stir in peanuts and basil; toss again.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve at room temperature.

* Sometimes I add a little more.  I love fresh ginger.

**Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit, July 2007.

If I miss one thing about Kansas City, it would be the easily accessible good food - and good food options - that a big city has to offer.  Uriah and I went out to dinner a couple of nights ago, and while we both had good meals - he had duck and I had lamb, and they were both amazing - we found ourselves listing the places to eat in Kansas City that we missed.  We also talked about the places that we didn't get a chance to try when we lived there.  And, subsequently, we found ourselves making a list of the places we'd like to go back to when we visit.  At the top of the list for me will be Thai Place in Westport.  I have had such a craving for their King & Anne chicken - and it's a recipe that I'm not even sure where to begin to try to replicate.

In the meantime, I'm going to make Spicy Thai noodles.  Authentic Thai food?  Probably not.  But they taste delicious and until I can get back to Kansas City and my beloved Thai Place, this will have to do.

• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 2 tablespoons minced peeled fresh ginger*
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 3 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 ½ tablespoons sugar
• 1 tablespoon garlic chili paste
• 1 ½ teaspoons salt
• 1 pound angel hair pasta
• 12 green onions, thinly sliced
• ½ cup peanuts
• ¼ cup thinly sliced fresh basil leaves

Heat oil in small skillet over medium heat.  Add ginger and garlic; sauté 1 minute.  Transfer to large bowl.  Add next 6 ingredients; whisk to blend.  Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling salted water until just tender, stirring occasionally.  Drain and rinse under cold water until cool.  Drain thoroughly and transfer to bowl with sauce.  Add sliced green onions and toss to coat noodles.  Let stand at room temperature until noodles have absorbed dressing, tossing occasionally, about 1 hour.  Stir in peanuts and basil; toss again.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.  Serve at room temperature.

* Sometimes I add a little more.  I love fresh ginger.

**Recipe adapted from Bon Appetit, July 2007.

On my mind this evening...

{fresh tomato & mozzarella tart | 4.03.11}

I've been going through my old magazines...Bon Appetit, mostly, but some Better Homes and Gardens, Food Network Magazine and Taste of Home, as well.  I don't want to move a stack of magazines again, so I'm pulling out the recipes that strike my fancy and the kitchen ideas that I want to incorporate in my own home and the paint colors that I love. 

Today I've been thinking about all of the recipes that I want to try...when I get to my new house and get settled.  Recipes that I hope will help me to get to know my new kitchen, my new farmer's market and my new town.

• Naan and Indian Tandoori Chicken  (grilled bread...I can't wait to try that!  And the chicken is marinated in a spicy yogurt sauce before it's grilled, too.)
• Moist Lemon Cake (with lemon butter cream frosting - it sounds like spring and I plan to have it with tea for breakfast.)
• Seven-Layer Gratin (with zucchini, squash, artichokes and two different cheeses.)
• Roasted Halibut with Green Olive Sauce (I love halibut, but I always grill it or pan sear it.  I've never tried roasting it)
• Fresh Strawberry Bars (peanutbutter, strawberry jam and fresh strawberries...sounds like a grown up pb&j...too bad Uriah doesn't like peanutbutter.  More for me, I guess!)
• Gingered Beef & Broccoli Salad Bowl (stir-fry salad instead of noodles or rice...look at me finding some healthy alternatives!)
• North Carolina-style Pulled Pork Sandwiches (Uriah has a recipe for homemade bread that makes the most fantastic little sandwich rolls.  I think they will be perfect for this pork.)
• Sweet Potato Sticky Buns  (okay, not really a healthy alternative, but I'm intrigued by the sweet potato aspect of this recipe)
• Ginger Thai Sweet Potato Bisque (summer soups are hard to find; this might be a lighter, cooler alternative for a rainy day)
• Spicy Hoisin Salmon  (I think I am going to grill this and serve it with a side of grilled asparagus)
• Fresh Pea Soup (I wish I knew someone getting married or having a baby; I want to throw a shower and I think this would be a lovely starter)
• Spring Green Riosotto  (full of spring vegetables like peas and asaparagus and leeks)

I'm a little sad because I have to pack up my kitchen.  I'm only leaving out the few things that I know we'll need for the next two weeks, which means I will be feeding my kids lots of scrambled eggs and grilled cheese.  Maybe if I fill them full of boring dinners like cereal and peanutbutter and jelly, they'll both be more open to the pea soup I'm going to make for them next month. 

{fresh tomato & mozzarella tart | 4.03.11}

I've been going through my old magazines...Bon Appetit, mostly, but some Better Homes and Gardens, Food Network Magazine and Taste of Home, as well.  I don't want to move a stack of magazines again, so I'm pulling out the recipes that strike my fancy and the kitchen ideas that I want to incorporate in my own home and the paint colors that I love. 

Today I've been thinking about all of the recipes that I want to try...when I get to my new house and get settled.  Recipes that I hope will help me to get to know my new kitchen, my new farmer's market and my new town.

• Naan and Indian Tandoori Chicken  (grilled bread...I can't wait to try that!  And the chicken is marinated in a spicy yogurt sauce before it's grilled, too.)
• Moist Lemon Cake (with lemon butter cream frosting - it sounds like spring and I plan to have it with tea for breakfast.)
• Seven-Layer Gratin (with zucchini, squash, artichokes and two different cheeses.)
• Roasted Halibut with Green Olive Sauce (I love halibut, but I always grill it or pan sear it.  I've never tried roasting it)
• Fresh Strawberry Bars (peanutbutter, strawberry jam and fresh strawberries...sounds like a grown up pb&j...too bad Uriah doesn't like peanutbutter.  More for me, I guess!)
• Gingered Beef & Broccoli Salad Bowl (stir-fry salad instead of noodles or rice...look at me finding some healthy alternatives!)
• North Carolina-style Pulled Pork Sandwiches (Uriah has a recipe for homemade bread that makes the most fantastic little sandwich rolls.  I think they will be perfect for this pork.)
• Sweet Potato Sticky Buns  (okay, not really a healthy alternative, but I'm intrigued by the sweet potato aspect of this recipe)
• Ginger Thai Sweet Potato Bisque (summer soups are hard to find; this might be a lighter, cooler alternative for a rainy day)
• Spicy Hoisin Salmon  (I think I am going to grill this and serve it with a side of grilled asparagus)
• Fresh Pea Soup (I wish I knew someone getting married or having a baby; I want to throw a shower and I think this would be a lovely starter)
• Spring Green Riosotto  (full of spring vegetables like peas and asaparagus and leeks)

I'm a little sad because I have to pack up my kitchen.  I'm only leaving out the few things that I know we'll need for the next two weeks, which means I will be feeding my kids lots of scrambled eggs and grilled cheese.  Maybe if I fill them full of boring dinners like cereal and peanutbutter and jelly, they'll both be more open to the pea soup I'm going to make for them next month.