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This Crazy Life

What’s going on, you ask?

  • We are headed camping this weekend. We reserved last minute so all we could get was the “group” site which holds up to 75 people (and 15 vehicles). Three families are going so it’s not toooo ridiculous. I’m calling it The Jamboree. I can’t wait. But of course this makes lots of work … to get ready for camping … again. The kids are beyond thrilled and not just because I got them new buckets and bug catchers.
  • My darling over-achieving husband added to our workload yesterday by getting MORE bedding plants at the nursery. He was there to get tomatoes and came home with a bunch more flowers to add to the beds. I was a bit peeved because remember how I hate gardening? Still do.
  • We braised a pork shoulder in Dr. Pepper last night … oh. my. word. We were supposed to take it camping with us but we underestimated how much it would cook down. Unfortunately we were left with about a cup of insanely tasty pulled pork and that will feed … maybe the kids? Maybe me? Not all of us though. Plan B. Costco also has pulled pork.
  • Speaking of cooking, you have probably noticed that the Cookbook Challenge has fallen by the way side. I had fun with it at first but then it got to be a chore, so I chucked it. I have enough chores. I’ll share a recipe when I really really love it. The end.
  • We found a piece of land we’re very interested in. There are about 15 hurdles (big ones) we have to jump through  and very few of them come with guarantees, but we’re very seriously looking into it.
  • I have been pretty slacky on the whole being healthy thing, but I had a serious talk with myself and decided I would correct this. It is actually going pretty well and I’m pleased with myself. Of course this is only Day 3.
  • Relatedly, I am really enjoying running right now. I’ve been chilling more about mileage and just focusing on having good enjoyable runs. Matt and I did a great session at Table Mountain on Saturday. I want to get out to more trails. I love the scenery and the peace.
  • Tabby is doing a photoshoot with some friends on Friday for an outdoors gear company. They will apparently be some sort of team and may appear on a box. The important part (to Tabby) is that they get cash for their efforts. The kid is big on saving money and this thrills her to the core.
  • Ben has a nasty abrasion on his face. He tripped and fell face first this weekend while running … on the side walk. He has been wearing a bandaid over it all week. It looks pretty cute and quite rakish on him. They do feel fast though!
  • I am behind on so many things and trying to get my act together. Work is pure madness right now. I have two very big projects I’m tackling right now and things are falling through the cracks at home as my work hours go longer and it follows me home.
  • I am very much looking forward to a few minutes of peace tonight when I get my hair cut.
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Balsamic Marinated Flank Steak

I’ve been pretty sluggish about May’s cookbook, which is Bobby Flay’s Boy Gets Grill. It has some tasty looking recipes in it, but it also leans more towards harder to find and more expensive ingredients, which I’m not against, of course, but it is harder to fit into my weekly cooking scheme. Flank steak, though, is always a good affordable treat and this recipe did NOT disappoint. The only hard part about it is that you will have to plan ahead since it takes 4-8 hours to marinate. It’s worth it though!

Balsamic Marinated Flank Steak with Spring Green Salad

adapted from Bobby Flay’s Boy Gets Grill

  • 1/2 C balsamic vinegar  + 2 T
  • 3/4 C olive oil + 3 T
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 2 T rosemary leaves, chopped
  • 1 1/2  to 1 3/4 lb beef flank steak
  • Salt and pepper
  • 6 C spring greens
  • 1/2 lb cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 1/4 red onion very thinly sliced
  • parmesan cheese to top

Whisk together the half cup vinegar, the 3/4 C oil, the garlic and rosemary in a large dish. Add the steak and turn to coat. Cover and let marinate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours and up to 8 hours, turning every 2 hours or whenever you happen to think about it.

Heat your grill to high. While it’s heating, prepare the salad. Whisk together the remaining 2 T vinegar and 3 T olive oil (I usually use much more balsamic than oil though – I like it better that way) and season with salt and pepper. Add the spring greens, tomatoes and onions and toss to coat. Top with shaved parmesan (vegetable peeler works great for shaving parmesan).

Remove the steak from the marinade and season with salt and pepper. Grill until lightly charred and kinda crusty, 4 to 5 minutes. Do not close the lid on your grill unless it is cold and/or windy. Turn steak over, reduce the heat to medium or move to a cooler part of the grill, and grill until medium-rare, 3 to 4 minutes more. If cooking a bigger steak, grill for an extra 1 to 2 minutes per side – take care  not to overcook!! Remove the steak to a cutting board and let rest for five minutes. Cut into half-inch thick slices against the grain of the meat. Serve meat alongside the salad.

 

The whole family loved this recipe, particularly our resident carnivore, Tabby. The salad was a nice light accompaniment.

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Chicken Stirfry Lettuce Wraps

Well April is almost done and so is my fourth cookbook, Great Food Fast. I have nothing but praise for this cookbook. I loved the full-color photos of EVERY recipe. I love the organization (by season!) and I loved the food. I actually tried EIGHT recipes from this (yay, made it!) book.

and for the finale … Chicken Stirfry Lettuce Wraps. Continue reading “Chicken Stirfry Lettuce Wraps”

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Title Unknown

Last week just about kicked my butt. Work. Kids. Work. Outside-of-work commitments. I could barely drag myself to bed within a few hours of bedtime, let alone write anything coherent.

Thursday night we had the parent info night for Kindergarten (!!) for Tabby. I’m still reeling from the fact that my baby’s headed to Kinder. But I was hugely impressed by our local elementary and I can say with confidence that whichever teacher she gets (2 of the 3 teach all-day Kinder) we’re very lucky. They are both great and exude enthusiasm for Kindergarten. Their classrooms are full of happy and fun and I can totally picture her there.

Friday we had checkups for the kids. Things went just fine except for the four shots Tabby had to get. It didn’t go well. There was much screaming and I had to help the nurse hold her down. I was super glad they sent in the large male nurse. We needed the extra muscles. Her legs hurt through yesterday. There was much whining. I felt terrible for her. Thank goodness for Tylenol.

Saturday we went to the Yves St Laurent exhibit at the Denver Art Museum. Well Tabby and I went. Matt bravely took Ben to see Chipwrecked and reports that it will soon be an approved method for torture. I’m not much into fashion, per se, but I really enjoyed the YSL exhibit and so did Tabby. She was GLUED to the audio program throughout and had such opinions and observations on the whole deal. The exhibit is only in Paris, Madrid and DENVER. There’s a whole story behind how it wound up in Denver (basically, we asked and agreed to do whatever they wanted). It was a great day and I loved hanging with my little (big) girl.

I am still plugging away at this month’s cookbook. We made Indian Spiced Chicken Burgers and Pan Fried Shrimp with Green Curry Cashew Sauce, except it was Green Curry Peanut Sauce because I can’t have cashews unless I want to spend the night at the ER in anaphylactic shock. The chicken burgers were great in theory and smelled good, but ultimately kinda tasteless. The kids ate them however because they had yogurt all over them. So at least that worked.

The shrimp sauce was really good and Ben had an awesome time making it, but the whole thing just didn’t come together. I blame it on the shrimp. We have a real hard time for some reason getting good fresh shrimp here. I don’t remember having issues years back, but maybe I didn’t know any better? Not sure. At any rate, it just didn’t work out.

But tonight we made the awesome Jerk Chicken and I think our bad streak of recipes is over.

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Chicken Caesar Salad

I debated even posting this recipe because we strayed so far from the original in Great Food Fast that it was really more of an inspiration than a recipe we followed. The original recipe called for making your own caesar dressing. I’m all for that, but we ended up making these for lunch and somehow homemade caesar is less appealing after hanging out in the breakroom fridge for a while, so I grabbed some stuff we had in the fridge and used that instead. I also try not to keep mayo (an ingredient in the dressing) in the house. It’s an ethical thing seeing as I hate mayo. But in the end, this is a really tasty and darn quick meal and I wanted to share it because it’s something that I love but never think about making. Maybe now you’ll think to make it too.

Chicken Caesar Salad

  • 4 oz Italian or French bread cut into 3/4 inch cubes (about 4 cups)
  • 3 T olive oil
  • coarse salt and ground pepper
  • 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
  • 18 – 20 oz romaine hearts
  • caesar dressing (either from a bottle or scratch – I’ll add that below)

Heat oven to 375. Place bread on a rimmed cookie sheet and drizzle with 2 T olive oil and season with S&P. Toss to coat. Bake, tossing now and then until golden, 12 to 15 minutes. Meanwhile, heat remaining tablespoon of oil over high heat in a skillet. Throw in your chicken and season with S&P as desired. Cook until a bit browned on the sides, stirring now and again with a spatula, about 3-4 minutes in all. Set aside.

Prep the romaine by slicing crosswise in 1-inch ribbons. Wash and dry (spin cycle). Toss with croutons, chicken and dressing. Enjoy!

If you want to make the dressing from scratch, Great Food Fast does it this way: put 1/4 C fresh lemon juice, 1/4 C reduced fat mayo, 1/4 C grated parm, 2 anchovy fillets and 1 small garlic clove in your blender and blend until smooth. Honestly, it sounds great, even with that evil mayo and I would love to try it next time.

This was also a great way to use up the extra bread left over from making the kids Berry French Toast this weekend. I already had the oven on from making the sugar cookies (they were the base of the fruit pizzas) and so I finished up the french toast and tossed in the croutons then stored them in an airtight container until we needed them. Just remembering to do little things like that makes putting together dinner (or lunch for the next day) so much easier!

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Meat ‘n’ Potatoes

Well things got kinda crazy last week with the hospital thing and all. But the week wound down nicely into another busy weekend. On Thursday our resident grill master’s new grill was delivered. And it was pretty. And he was happy. Since we had a bbq planned for Saturday, we thought we best test it out. And how better to do that than cook a couple of recipes from Great Food Fast. So we did.

Flank Steak with Lime Marinade

 

  • 1/3 C fresh lime juice (about 4 limes)
  • 2 T soy sauce
  • 2 scallions thinly sliced
  • 2 T minced peeled ginger
  • 1/2 t red pepper flakes
  • 1.5 lbs flank steak
  • vegetable oil for grates
  • coarse salt and pepper

In a resealable plastic bag, combine the lime juice, soy sauce, scallions, ginger and red pepper. Add the steak and seal the bag. Marinate in the refrigerator, turning occasionally for 30 minutes.

Heat the grill to high. Lightly oil the grates. Remove the steak fro the marinade, letting excess drip off. Season with S&P. Place on the grill and cover. Cook turning once until the meat has reached desired doneness, 6-8 minutes for medium rare. Let the steak rest for 10 minutes before slicing thin.

 

Grilled Sweet Potatoes with Scallions

  • 3 sweet potatoes, peeled and cut lengthwise into 1/2 inch thick slices
  • 3 T olive oil
  • 1 t dried thyme
  • 1/4 t cayenne pepper
  • coarse salt and ground pepper
  • 2 T butter (optional)
  • 2 scallions thinly sliced

Heat grill to medium. Toss the sweet potatoes in a large bowl with the olive oil, thyme, and cayenne pepper. Season with S&P.

Grill the potatoes, turning frequently until tender when pierced with the tip of a paring knife, 20-30 minutes.

Return the grilled potatoes to the bowl and add the butter. Break potatoes into large pieces with the side of a spoon. Toss in the scallions and serve.

These two meat and potatoes dishes were incredibly easy, very very tasty, quite healthy and a huge hit with everyone. We added a bit of fruit and dinner was served.

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Lemon Pudding Cakes

I think my give-a-darn must have been broken last night when I was trying to make dinner. My parents brought the kids back to our house and I made the easiest meal ever, spaghetti, for  dinner and Matt whipped up this dessert, Lemon Pudding Cakes (from Great Food Fast, in case you’re in the dark). Spaghetti, being ridiculously easy to make, turned out great. And these turned out great as well, thanks to Matt being at the helm and not myself. I was unfortunately in charge of photographing them and that err … didn’t go so well.

But rest assured, despite the crappy photo over there, these are amazingly tasty and worth your time to make. They are also light and fresh and not a bit heavy. I believe they come in around 150 calories apiece too, so no guilt!

Lemon Pudding Cakes

ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
  • 1/3 C all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 t baking powder
  • 1/4 t fine salt
  • 3 large eggs, separated
  • 3/4 C granulated sugar
  • 1 t finely grated lemon zest
  • 1/3 C lemon juice (from 2 lemons)
  • 1 1/4 C whole milk
  • Confectioners’ sugar, for serving

Heat the oven to 350. Put kettle on to heat. Butter eight 6-ounce ramekins or custard cups. Set in a shallow baking pan.

In a medium bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together egg yolks with 1/2 cup granulated sugar until pale and smooth. Whisk in butter, lemon zest and juice, milk, and flour mixture.

In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat egg whites with 1/4 cup granulated sugar until stiff peaks form, 5 minutes; fold into batter. With a ladle, divide batter among ramekins, keeping sides clean if you can! Pour enough hot water (from the kettle) into baking pan to come halfway up sides of ramekins. Bake until cakes are puffed and slightly golden on top, 20-25 minutes. Dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve immediately.

 

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Pasta with Salmon, Peas and Mint

I frequently get a surprised reaction when I reveal that my kids like fish, but they do, like a LOT. We are met with squeals of delight when we mention fish is on the menu. I like this kind of weird! So I knew it was a pretty done deal when I selected this recipe from Great Food Fast to try out. Salmon is instantly popular and add pasta to it? Slam dunk. That’s the right basketball metaphor isn’t it? I’m more sure of football: TOUCH DOWN!

As an added bonus, we got to use the fresh mint from our garden and I am always a fan of that. Matt is constantly threatening to eradicate my precious mint before it takes over the neighborhood, but I say he’s a spoil sport. But I figure I better use it while I can and it grows so fast I can harvest virtually all the mint I want and still have tons left over.

Pasta with Salmon, Peas and Mint
adapted from Great Food Fast

Ingredients

  • 1 pound short pasta (rotini, farfalle, cavatappi, elbow macaroni?)
  • 1.5 lbs salmon (skin removed)
  • juice and zest of 2 lemons
  • 10 oz frozen peas, defrosted
  • 2 T unsalted butter
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh mint plus more for serving

Cook pasta according to al dente. Reserve 1 C pasta water and return to pot. Meanwhile, season salmon with S&P and place in a large skillet. Add a 1/4 cup of water and the lemon juice and zest. Bring to a boil over medium high heat and steam for 10 minutes. Add peas and steam until they are tender, 2-3 more minutes.

Combine salmon, peas and cooking water with the pasta. Add butter, mint and season with S&P to taste. Stir gently breaking the salmon into large flakes. Add reserved pasta water for desired consistency. Serve topped with a little extra mint if you like.

 

This was a great recipe and just as tasty leftover as it was the evening we first made it. The kids devoured it and asked for seconds. I would like next time to add just a little cheese, perhaps Parmesan or Romano or maybe feta? just to see how it would be.

Pasta with Salmon, Peas and Mint

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Asparagus Tart and Cookbook Indecision

So after I decided that the original cookbook I’d selected for this month wouldn’t work, I decided to move on to Jaime’s Dinners, which I’d originally slated for next month. I started going through it and while I found some recipes that I want to try, the vast majority are heavier, BRITISH foods (err … duh) more suited for chilly winter months.

So I ended up giving up on it  and I’ve switched (AGAIN) to Great Food Fast, which is a compendium of recipes from my all-time-favorite food magazine, Everyday Food. I’ve already tackled two recipes from the book since making the decision and I am really glad I chose it. They are tasty, healthy, fast and easy. The book is divided up by seasons which I love because that’s how I cook and everything I selected from this week was from the Spring section.

Asparagus Gruyere Tart

Ingredients

  • 1 sheet puff pastry
  • flour for rolling surface
  • 1 lb of fresh asparagus
  • 5.5 oz grueyere cheese, grated
  • olive oil
  • salt and pepper

Heat oven to 400. Roll puff pastry into 10×16″ rectangle. Fold in 1/2 inch on each side and pierce surface with a fork. Transfer to baking sheet and bake 15 minutes or until lightly brown. Top crust with grueyere. Trim asparagus to width of crust and place on top in neat rows, alternating which side the tops point to. Brush lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake 10-15 minutes more until asparagus is tender. Cut into segments and serve immediately to general applause.

Since we are all asparagus fans, this was an immediate hit in our house. We have another sheet of puff pastry (two to a box) and some more asparagus and Tabby has already requested we make it again. Similar to the chalupas, this is a good jumping-off point for lots of other flavor combinations on top of puff pastry. I can see there being lots of possibilities here!

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Bye Bye March

Holy cow guys. March is OVER. That means my kid is officially a full month closer to being SIX and my little guy is just a few weeks away from being 3. And the sun is setting on another cookbook. I really enjoyed Moosewood’s Simple Suppers. I completed seven recipes and reported on five: Banana Cupcakes, Fish Po’ Boys, Shrimp Curry, Spinach Cheese Burritos and the Polenta Peppers. And there are more I’d still like to try. 6/7 recipes were AWESOME. I still need to post about the Butterscotch cookies I made (oooooh, aaah). Unfortunately, the last recipe I tried was the dud of the bunch (so no recipe forthcoming). It sounded so promising, too!

This is the Pine Nut Crusted fish … a simple breading of pine nuts, lemon zest and bread crumbs. It smelled so great but was a pretty lifeless dish. Needed a lot of salt to taste good and even then, it was just kind of meh … not the sum of its tasty parts for sure!!

I was looking forward to trying the Thai Street Food Cookbook my step-mom-in-law got me for Christmas. But I hit a snag this weekend. When I was trying to sort out what to make … all the recipes require things like cilantro with roots, tamarind, lemon grass, whole fish, etc. As much as I would love to try these recipes, incorporating them into my weekly cooking is out of the question – we already go to two stores for groceries and we can’t add in a weekly trip to the Asian foods market (we have about three good ones in our city and the closest is over 30 min away from my white-bread (bred?) suburb. I thought briefly about substituting one of the other two Asian cookbooks in my possession, but they presented the same problem. I am thinking they probably don’t have a place in my library, what with the recipes available on the internet.

So I decided to push this cookbook to the back burner and I’ve moved up Jaime Oliver’s cookbook, Jaime’s Dinners that I had been planning on for May. I think I will rotate my camping cookbook into May instead (or maybe switch up the grilling cookbook since it looks like grilling season will be here sooner rather than later!). A few things I’m thinking about making:

  1. Banana and Blueberry French Toast
  2. Smoked Salmon Sandwich
  3. Chicken Legs with Sweet Tomatoes
  4. Tasty Fish Bake
  5. Scented English Creams

I’m sure I’ll make up the rest as I go along.