So the last several days have been temper tantrum abound, following an almost completely sleepless night. Needless to say I'm exhausted, slightly short tempered, as is my entire household. When I ask my daughter what's wrong she replies "NOTHING!" I'm realizing that must be my answer when my husband asks me what's wrong. It's really weird to see yourself coming out of your child's mouth.
Because of the short tempers, cooking as been a little less experimental and more comfort and easy. Therefore the next couple of homemade items below may seem less than fantastic to you, but pretty freaking awesome to me.
Pasta with turkey, onions and scallions in a cream sauce. We had a half a pound of ground turkey in the freezer that I had been meaning to make burgers out of, but frankly I was sick of the idea of eating a burger, but I wanted to 'clean out the freezer' before we went grocery shopping again. Therefore I needed to cook what I had. Which consisted of the turkey, two scallions, a tomato and of course, garlic and onions. So really I just browned the meat, added some salt, pepper and cumin (because I like it). As I was doing this I cooked a pound of the little kids pasta ibambini (again, it was what was in the cabinet). I then added the onions and garlic to saute with the browned meat. I then chopped up the scallion and tomato, added it to the pan. Then finished with a cup of half and half and a half a cup of the water the pasta was cooked in. I tasted to check the seasoning and then added the pasta to the pan and stirred together to incorporate. It was DELICIOUS. We have been eating it for about 3 days now. Still no complaints. I consider that a pretty good dish. On my do again list.
Zipper Bananas. My mom has this story about my sister being a 'spirited' child. Actually she has a lot of stories about this. Since my child is also a 'spirited' child (I prefer spicy or sassy) these stories are told often when the family gets together, much to the disdain of my sister. But really what the stories are about is 1) you, as a mom WILL survive this and 2) look how amazing the spirited child is, despite what doctors, teachers, etc. have said, they are actually the sensitive, directed child, who, in all practicalities, will probably be the most successful (sorry Alex). Anyway. The story that relates to the recipe I created while thinking of this story is this: when my sister was about 2, she asked my mom for a banana, but since she didn't really talk, my mom thought she indicated she wanted a banana. So my mom peeled it for her, and gave it to her. My sister FLIPPED. My mom was frustrated. It terms out my sister wanted to PEEL the banana herself. My mom sewed the banana back up, so my sister could peel it. It always makes me smile, and I've now myself had several similar instances. Although not with something as easy as a banana, which Z won't eat. So, in an effort to get her to want to eat a banana, I peeled one side of a banana, but left the peel on, and made a slice where I peeled it. I then inserted marshmellows and chocolate chips in a pattern that looked like a zipper. I then put the peel over it and put in the stove in a bit of tinfoil at 250F for about 5 minutes. I then let Z 'unzip it' and there was this lovely gooey chocolately banana mess. She LOVED it. (I did too) Voila! Zipper Banana.
English Muffin BLT. So yesterday because I was running off to see a movie with some other moms (I know, I know, I turning into one of those moms, but don't knock it when you need some 'without child' time.) I had some bacon in the fridge, some english muffins and had the requirement of dinner being done in less than 20 minutes. So I put the bacon on parchment paper (easier clean up) on a baking sheet at 425 F for 15 minutes, and cut up tomatoes. I then toasted the english muffins and added mayo which I had added wasabi and lemon juice to, to give it a kick. I then just made standard sandwiches with mayo mixture, tomato, two slices of bacon and arugula, then a bit more mayo. That's it. I served with grapes. Bit hit. Easy, and not just a BLT.
Tuesday, July 10, 2012
Monday, July 9, 2012
Sanity Eating
I'm going to post the items that I made during the first 6 days of July as part of the 'make the terrible two's away' project I'm trying to work through. So far it seems to be going well (although my posting is a little lack luster). I'm convincing myeslf that I will take pictures of tonight's creation, so hopefully I remember before we dig in and make a complete mess of it!
Corn Pie. This is a dish that one of my best friend, Natalie Pilato's mom makes. She obviously makes it better than I, and Natalie and I have made this countless times trying to come up with the recipe to make it just like her mom. I made it pretty near perfect the other day, and it is easy, healthy, vegetarian and very VERY kid friendly. It's on par with a quiche. If you know how to make that, then you're more than halfway there. I like garlic in pretty much anything, so if you don't, omit it, add something else, I've always found the point of my cooking and sharing is to adapt the recipe or idea to be something that YOU love and will make and eat over and over again and SHARE with family and friends, because really, that is what makes eating so much fun. So I'll give a quick rundown of the ingredients as I actually have this written down like a recipe (crazy, I know).
The list:
3 large or medium eggs (your preference and depending on how big your pie dish is)
1 store bought pie crust (unless you're feeling adventerous, then make your own)
1 small onion chopped or minced
1.5 tbls of flour
1 tbl sugar
1 clove garlic
1 tea. salt
1 cup half and half or heavy cream (depending on how you like your custard-try it with half and half first if you're unsure)
2-4 tbls melted butter
1/2 bag of frozen corn (probably about 1.5-2 cups worth)
Knob of leftover cheese
Heat your oven to 375 F. Beat eggs. Add onion, flour, sugar and salt together, covering all onions. Add half and half and butter. Mince garlic and add. Cover the bottom of the pie crust with the corn and then cover with liquid mixture. We always have some cheese in the fridge that should be eaten...stat. I add the small knob (probably 1/4 cup) to the pie and incorporate into the liquid. Bake for 50 minutes and then let stand to cool. Serve when warm not hot. I like this pie cold or warm, you decide!
Potato Cheddar Pizza
This is one of my mom's go to's. It easy SO tasty and never lasts more than 5 minutes on the table. It's a really easy dish to make ahead of time and bring to a friend's house for a dinner app, or to serve as dinner itself with a salad.
Take store bought dough. Work it out to make it into the shape YOU like your pizza to be. Use flour when you are stretching out your dough, it'll help from getting dough stuck to your hands and will keep it's shape better. Preheat over to 350 F. Put onto baking sheet that has been rubbed down with olive oil or sprayed with Pam. (Don't over spray, it's just gross). Add a little olive oil all over the pizza and bake for 10 minutes. In the meantime slice up some potatos (like 5 medium) and one small onion. Saute until potatos are soft. This can also be done ahead in the oven if you are so inclined (I always forget to prep). Take dough out of oven and spread with potato onion mixture. Bake for another 10 minutes. Take out and add one clove of garlic thinly sliced and some fresh rosemary if you have it on hand. Add Cheese. I prefer a cheddar mix for this one, and it's what I normally have on hand has my daughter eats it like candy, but really use whatever you like and have on hand. Mozzerella works, Montery Jack, the cheese does affect the taste of the overall pizza, so think about what you would want on a baked potato, and use that. Cook pizza for about 5 minutes and then transfer pizza from baking sheet directly to the oven rack. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Let cool and serve. Again, this one is also good cold AND fantastic with the addition of some Frank's Red Hot Sauce or Chilula.
Goat Cheese Stuffed Grilled Tomatoes. We were going to a BBQ, I wanted to bring something really tasty, sort of unique, that would feed the veggies in attendance or work as a tasty side and bring out the taste of a burger. So I bought some of the cheap tomatoes that are medium sized. Cut the top off on an angle forming a cone inside the tomato. I then took two packages of plain goats cheese and added a handful of chives, a handful of oregano and some salt and pepper. Stir to incorporate then fill the tomatoes. (Adding a teaspoon of olive oil helps). Chill for about 10 minutes to set. When you're ready to grill take out of the fridge and grill 5-7 minutes. Serve!
Buffalo Chicken Pizza. I wanted to bring an app to the aforementioned BBQ, I love making pizza and I heard that the husband host LOVES buffalo chicken. So after looking in my kitchen for something easy to make that could be made out of things I already had, I decided upon this. I really made it up as I went along, but everyone seemed to love it so...here it is...
Store bought dough. Use flour to shape dough however you like your pizza. Cook chick until just cooked through in the oven. I used 3 chicken fillets and reserved the rest of the package for a future dinner. Rub olive oil on dough. Place pizza dough on cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 350 F oven for 10 minutes. Marinate chicken and onions in Franks Red Hot Sauce. Take pizza out and smear blue cheese dressing on the dough as you would using a red sauce. Add chicken, onions, marinated hot sauce and one clove of minced garlic. Cook for an additional 10 minutes. Add about a cup of cheddar cheese and cook for 5 minutes. Slide pizza off cookie sheet directly onto oven rack. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Serve. This was HOT, and amazing. Alter according to your heat preference.
Ramen Peas and Chicken. I needed to make a quick cheap meal in a pinch. I always have a massive amount of ramen noodles on hand because frankly the noodles are easy to cook, my daughter loves them, and if you don't use the seasoning packet, you can control the taste AND sodium level (bonus!) So I cooked two packages of Ramen, used frozen peas (it was what we had on hand), fresh peppers, garlic to taste. I cooked noodles according to the package and set aside. I then stir fried the vegetables and when they were cooked I scrambled an egg in the middle of the pan. I added the cooked noodles and added soy sauce, a pinch of cumin, chinese 5 spice and ginger. The soy adds all the salt you need. I cooked until the taste was to my preference and then served while still piping hot. For my husband and I added a splash of Siracha sauce to amp the heat level.
3 Quinoa, sausage, onions and scallions. I decided last minute that when I picked my husband up from work I would bring dinner and we would watch a Cape Cod League baseball game just over the bridge. It was friday, I thought it would be relatively relaxing, and there is a large green space. So I looked in the cabinet, saw I had a quinoa mix and started to go. I had defrosted some sausage earlier so I cooked that in the oven for about 20 minutes on 350 F while I sauteed and cooked the quinoa mixture. I then cut up 3 scallions, a half a small onion, a clove of garlic, a tomato and tossed in a handful of raisins (for that sweet and savory thing. My husband really loves it). I then added everything together with some oregano and covered in a travel dish. I then packed some microwave popcorn, grapes seltzer and rice cakes and ran out the door. Dinner made in 20 minutes flat, and it was fantastic. Husband and kid both want the same meal again. Plus the 3 types of quinoa with all the different color veggies made the dish beautiful.
Corn Pie. This is a dish that one of my best friend, Natalie Pilato's mom makes. She obviously makes it better than I, and Natalie and I have made this countless times trying to come up with the recipe to make it just like her mom. I made it pretty near perfect the other day, and it is easy, healthy, vegetarian and very VERY kid friendly. It's on par with a quiche. If you know how to make that, then you're more than halfway there. I like garlic in pretty much anything, so if you don't, omit it, add something else, I've always found the point of my cooking and sharing is to adapt the recipe or idea to be something that YOU love and will make and eat over and over again and SHARE with family and friends, because really, that is what makes eating so much fun. So I'll give a quick rundown of the ingredients as I actually have this written down like a recipe (crazy, I know).
The list:
3 large or medium eggs (your preference and depending on how big your pie dish is)
1 store bought pie crust (unless you're feeling adventerous, then make your own)
1 small onion chopped or minced
1.5 tbls of flour
1 tbl sugar
1 clove garlic
1 tea. salt
1 cup half and half or heavy cream (depending on how you like your custard-try it with half and half first if you're unsure)
2-4 tbls melted butter
1/2 bag of frozen corn (probably about 1.5-2 cups worth)
Knob of leftover cheese
Heat your oven to 375 F. Beat eggs. Add onion, flour, sugar and salt together, covering all onions. Add half and half and butter. Mince garlic and add. Cover the bottom of the pie crust with the corn and then cover with liquid mixture. We always have some cheese in the fridge that should be eaten...stat. I add the small knob (probably 1/4 cup) to the pie and incorporate into the liquid. Bake for 50 minutes and then let stand to cool. Serve when warm not hot. I like this pie cold or warm, you decide!
Potato Cheddar Pizza
This is one of my mom's go to's. It easy SO tasty and never lasts more than 5 minutes on the table. It's a really easy dish to make ahead of time and bring to a friend's house for a dinner app, or to serve as dinner itself with a salad.
Take store bought dough. Work it out to make it into the shape YOU like your pizza to be. Use flour when you are stretching out your dough, it'll help from getting dough stuck to your hands and will keep it's shape better. Preheat over to 350 F. Put onto baking sheet that has been rubbed down with olive oil or sprayed with Pam. (Don't over spray, it's just gross). Add a little olive oil all over the pizza and bake for 10 minutes. In the meantime slice up some potatos (like 5 medium) and one small onion. Saute until potatos are soft. This can also be done ahead in the oven if you are so inclined (I always forget to prep). Take dough out of oven and spread with potato onion mixture. Bake for another 10 minutes. Take out and add one clove of garlic thinly sliced and some fresh rosemary if you have it on hand. Add Cheese. I prefer a cheddar mix for this one, and it's what I normally have on hand has my daughter eats it like candy, but really use whatever you like and have on hand. Mozzerella works, Montery Jack, the cheese does affect the taste of the overall pizza, so think about what you would want on a baked potato, and use that. Cook pizza for about 5 minutes and then transfer pizza from baking sheet directly to the oven rack. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Let cool and serve. Again, this one is also good cold AND fantastic with the addition of some Frank's Red Hot Sauce or Chilula.
Goat Cheese Stuffed Grilled Tomatoes. We were going to a BBQ, I wanted to bring something really tasty, sort of unique, that would feed the veggies in attendance or work as a tasty side and bring out the taste of a burger. So I bought some of the cheap tomatoes that are medium sized. Cut the top off on an angle forming a cone inside the tomato. I then took two packages of plain goats cheese and added a handful of chives, a handful of oregano and some salt and pepper. Stir to incorporate then fill the tomatoes. (Adding a teaspoon of olive oil helps). Chill for about 10 minutes to set. When you're ready to grill take out of the fridge and grill 5-7 minutes. Serve!
Buffalo Chicken Pizza. I wanted to bring an app to the aforementioned BBQ, I love making pizza and I heard that the husband host LOVES buffalo chicken. So after looking in my kitchen for something easy to make that could be made out of things I already had, I decided upon this. I really made it up as I went along, but everyone seemed to love it so...here it is...
Store bought dough. Use flour to shape dough however you like your pizza. Cook chick until just cooked through in the oven. I used 3 chicken fillets and reserved the rest of the package for a future dinner. Rub olive oil on dough. Place pizza dough on cookie sheet and bake in a preheated 350 F oven for 10 minutes. Marinate chicken and onions in Franks Red Hot Sauce. Take pizza out and smear blue cheese dressing on the dough as you would using a red sauce. Add chicken, onions, marinated hot sauce and one clove of minced garlic. Cook for an additional 10 minutes. Add about a cup of cheddar cheese and cook for 5 minutes. Slide pizza off cookie sheet directly onto oven rack. Cook for an additional 5 minutes. Serve. This was HOT, and amazing. Alter according to your heat preference.
Ramen Peas and Chicken. I needed to make a quick cheap meal in a pinch. I always have a massive amount of ramen noodles on hand because frankly the noodles are easy to cook, my daughter loves them, and if you don't use the seasoning packet, you can control the taste AND sodium level (bonus!) So I cooked two packages of Ramen, used frozen peas (it was what we had on hand), fresh peppers, garlic to taste. I cooked noodles according to the package and set aside. I then stir fried the vegetables and when they were cooked I scrambled an egg in the middle of the pan. I added the cooked noodles and added soy sauce, a pinch of cumin, chinese 5 spice and ginger. The soy adds all the salt you need. I cooked until the taste was to my preference and then served while still piping hot. For my husband and I added a splash of Siracha sauce to amp the heat level.
3 Quinoa, sausage, onions and scallions. I decided last minute that when I picked my husband up from work I would bring dinner and we would watch a Cape Cod League baseball game just over the bridge. It was friday, I thought it would be relatively relaxing, and there is a large green space. So I looked in the cabinet, saw I had a quinoa mix and started to go. I had defrosted some sausage earlier so I cooked that in the oven for about 20 minutes on 350 F while I sauteed and cooked the quinoa mixture. I then cut up 3 scallions, a half a small onion, a clove of garlic, a tomato and tossed in a handful of raisins (for that sweet and savory thing. My husband really loves it). I then added everything together with some oregano and covered in a travel dish. I then packed some microwave popcorn, grapes seltzer and rice cakes and ran out the door. Dinner made in 20 minutes flat, and it was fantastic. Husband and kid both want the same meal again. Plus the 3 types of quinoa with all the different color veggies made the dish beautiful.
Turning Terrible Two
My daughter recently turned 2, and with it came the screaming, fake crying, no-ing and all that comes with it (or comes with it starting at 18 months!). So in order to keep my sanity, and to give me something to look forward to as I am trying to make sure I'm not raising a vampire (did I mention she bites?) I started making something everyday. My plan was to share it daily on this blog, but I'm obviously awful at posting on a regular basis, so I'm going to put 6 of the 'item's I have made since her 2nd birthday, and add until hopefully I 'break even' and can start adding them daily as I do them (with pictures, since I'm bad at that too, but all in good time...right?)
So since Z turned 2, or starting on her actual birthday I made:
Two tiered cake. I have a picture, so I'll re-edit the blog when it's not almost midnight so you all can see what it looked like. She asked for a pink and speckled cake (she can talk really well, I didn't think I ever used the word 'speckled' but apparently I must, or Yo Gabba Gabba does. Anyway. I baked two cakes, both Duncan Hines (I think-I know, I'm awful not making my cakes from scratch....who has the time really. I TOLD you I have a 2 year old right?) One was Strawberry and the other Funfetti. I let them both cool and then I topped the funfetti (or the bottom layer) with chocolate icing and then covered with M&M's. I then put the Strawberry cake on top and chilled it. The next morning I covered in vanilla icing and then used M&M's to make a 2. It was a HIT! We had a couple of friends over to celebrate, and while I don't think the kids actually ate any of the cake, the parents did, and Z liked blowing out the candles and SEEING that there was pink and speckled cake, so mission accomplished.
Lemon water. The next day was HOT. I was thirsty, Z was thirsty and she was refusing regular water. We ran out of seltzer and frankly, it was too hot to go to the store as Will had the car. SO. I cut up some lemons (novel, I know) put them in a pitcher (washed of course) and added water. Brillant right? I know I know, just send the genius award to me now. She loved it, there was no added sugar (although that obviously never stops me, see above) and it was extra refreshing. It has now become a staple in our fridge. Your welcome.
Herby Eggs. My sister came to visit and stayed for an extra bonus morning. So I made eggs. And since I am trying to have a green thumb (since to this point I have basically managed to kill anything that isn't violets) and growing a couple of window boxes full of herbs, I decided to cook with the herbs from there. So we gathered a bit of just about every type of savory herb out there. And threw them into the eggs. I don't know about you, but I'm a big, big fan of eggs. My family eats them a lot. I grew up eating them a lot. I like them. And therefore am a little particular about how they're made. For instance. if scrambled, I require that a splash of milk or half and half is added. They need to be seasoned well and NOT over salted. They should be slightly runny but not gross. So they were cooked just so, and then, I added herbs. Delicious. What herbs do you ask? Well, oregano, basil, chives and thyme. I think there may have been a little tarragon thrown in there as well. I'm not sure.
Ham, Garlic Broccoli Quiche. Whenever our fridge is getting a little empty, or we have a ton of leftovers to use, I usually turn to a quiche. (I told you, we love eggs). It's relatively quick, very easy to make in a pinch, doesn't require a whole lot of ingredients and is nicely flexible. Oh, and it's pretty easy to not mess up. Since Z is on a ham kick, and since I had for some reason decided to buy stock in deli ham that week, I needed to use some of said ham in a different way, so we weren't all sick of it. I turned to my handy dandy store bought pie crust (I buy Stop & Shop brand. If I'm feeling extra fancy, I'll add some herbs and/or spices to the crust to give it something extra. But I didn't this time :-) I beat 4 medium sized eggs, spices and about a cup of half and half together. I grated about a cup and a half of whatever cheese I had in the fridge (cheddar mix and parm.). I lined the pie crust with 4 slices of deli ham. I then added the odds and ends of frozen broccoli I had on hand (I keep several bags of frozen veg in the freezer for when I'm making a quick meal for Z.) and crushed some garlic over top. I added the egg/milk mixture then the cheese. I made sure the egg and cheese mixture were a bit mixed. I then baked for 50 minutes in 350 F degree oven. I let sit. This quiche was fantastic, the garlic gave it a beautiful bite and it made all of us feel a little bit better about eating ham for the 3rd day in a row. And what's great about quiche it that it's fantastic hot or cold. So Will took it to work the next day and Z and I had it for lunch as well.
Lemony Pasta Salad. Because we were having a big party for Z on a saturday, I wanted to make sure I had enough food for everyone without breaking the bank. One of the salads I made (Ahead of time, of course) was a lemony pasta salad. I had a lot of lemons, pasta salad is an easy go-to to feed lots of people. Most pasta salads either have a creamy base or use mustard, so I decided to improvise. It was amazing. I'll make it again. (and we ate it for about a week afterwards with no complaints, so I consider that an epic win). Cook pasta how you like it. Add a bit of olive oil and stir around so pasta doesn't stick together. Grate two lemons. Then use juice of said lemons. Add half a container of cherry tomatoes, a whole green pepper chopped in manageable pieces and a red onion (also chopped into fork-sized pieces). Season with salt and pepper. I added a container of feta because I love it and the cheese allowed me to under salt (which I am notorious for doing) as it added a lot of salt on it's own. I added basil to taste. (Fresh, from my 'garden'. I feel like Martha Stewart!).
Lentil Salad. This is a salad from my childhood. I'm sure it's gone through many iterations, but I always try to conjure this taste memory I have from a party from when I must have been 4 or 5. My parents loved throwing and going to parties, and like us, always fed lots of people good food on a budget. Lentils are fantastic for doing that and really soak up flavor and dress up really nice as the other veggies give a nice color pop. I cook two bags of brown lentils with about 2 cups of water per one cup of lentils. I bring lentils and water to a boil, stir and then simmer until lentils still hold together but are chewy not crunchy. Drain add olive oil and baslamic vinegar. I always free hand this, it probably ends up being about a half a cup of olive oil and the same for the vinegar, but you can add to taste and if you make this the night before it really soaks up the flavor so that you can play around with it to get it just right. I then added a jar of marinated artichokes (because they are my sisters favorite AND add salt to the dish), half a container of cherry tomatoes, a whole green pepper diced. A can of sliced black olives, a whole large red onion diced and two cloves of garlic, minced. Stir and let sit. The day of serving add fresh herbs, I used thyme, but have used just about anything in previous 'makings'. This is a GREAT vegetarian (vegan?) dish.
Well that takes us up to July, so I'll post the rest hopefully tomorrow. I promise to start taking pictures so that you can see how delicious these are and maybe want to make them for yourself.
So since Z turned 2, or starting on her actual birthday I made:
Two tiered cake. I have a picture, so I'll re-edit the blog when it's not almost midnight so you all can see what it looked like. She asked for a pink and speckled cake (she can talk really well, I didn't think I ever used the word 'speckled' but apparently I must, or Yo Gabba Gabba does. Anyway. I baked two cakes, both Duncan Hines (I think-I know, I'm awful not making my cakes from scratch....who has the time really. I TOLD you I have a 2 year old right?) One was Strawberry and the other Funfetti. I let them both cool and then I topped the funfetti (or the bottom layer) with chocolate icing and then covered with M&M's. I then put the Strawberry cake on top and chilled it. The next morning I covered in vanilla icing and then used M&M's to make a 2. It was a HIT! We had a couple of friends over to celebrate, and while I don't think the kids actually ate any of the cake, the parents did, and Z liked blowing out the candles and SEEING that there was pink and speckled cake, so mission accomplished.
Lemon water. The next day was HOT. I was thirsty, Z was thirsty and she was refusing regular water. We ran out of seltzer and frankly, it was too hot to go to the store as Will had the car. SO. I cut up some lemons (novel, I know) put them in a pitcher (washed of course) and added water. Brillant right? I know I know, just send the genius award to me now. She loved it, there was no added sugar (although that obviously never stops me, see above) and it was extra refreshing. It has now become a staple in our fridge. Your welcome.
Herby Eggs. My sister came to visit and stayed for an extra bonus morning. So I made eggs. And since I am trying to have a green thumb (since to this point I have basically managed to kill anything that isn't violets) and growing a couple of window boxes full of herbs, I decided to cook with the herbs from there. So we gathered a bit of just about every type of savory herb out there. And threw them into the eggs. I don't know about you, but I'm a big, big fan of eggs. My family eats them a lot. I grew up eating them a lot. I like them. And therefore am a little particular about how they're made. For instance. if scrambled, I require that a splash of milk or half and half is added. They need to be seasoned well and NOT over salted. They should be slightly runny but not gross. So they were cooked just so, and then, I added herbs. Delicious. What herbs do you ask? Well, oregano, basil, chives and thyme. I think there may have been a little tarragon thrown in there as well. I'm not sure.
Ham, Garlic Broccoli Quiche. Whenever our fridge is getting a little empty, or we have a ton of leftovers to use, I usually turn to a quiche. (I told you, we love eggs). It's relatively quick, very easy to make in a pinch, doesn't require a whole lot of ingredients and is nicely flexible. Oh, and it's pretty easy to not mess up. Since Z is on a ham kick, and since I had for some reason decided to buy stock in deli ham that week, I needed to use some of said ham in a different way, so we weren't all sick of it. I turned to my handy dandy store bought pie crust (I buy Stop & Shop brand. If I'm feeling extra fancy, I'll add some herbs and/or spices to the crust to give it something extra. But I didn't this time :-) I beat 4 medium sized eggs, spices and about a cup of half and half together. I grated about a cup and a half of whatever cheese I had in the fridge (cheddar mix and parm.). I lined the pie crust with 4 slices of deli ham. I then added the odds and ends of frozen broccoli I had on hand (I keep several bags of frozen veg in the freezer for when I'm making a quick meal for Z.) and crushed some garlic over top. I added the egg/milk mixture then the cheese. I made sure the egg and cheese mixture were a bit mixed. I then baked for 50 minutes in 350 F degree oven. I let sit. This quiche was fantastic, the garlic gave it a beautiful bite and it made all of us feel a little bit better about eating ham for the 3rd day in a row. And what's great about quiche it that it's fantastic hot or cold. So Will took it to work the next day and Z and I had it for lunch as well.
Lemony Pasta Salad. Because we were having a big party for Z on a saturday, I wanted to make sure I had enough food for everyone without breaking the bank. One of the salads I made (Ahead of time, of course) was a lemony pasta salad. I had a lot of lemons, pasta salad is an easy go-to to feed lots of people. Most pasta salads either have a creamy base or use mustard, so I decided to improvise. It was amazing. I'll make it again. (and we ate it for about a week afterwards with no complaints, so I consider that an epic win). Cook pasta how you like it. Add a bit of olive oil and stir around so pasta doesn't stick together. Grate two lemons. Then use juice of said lemons. Add half a container of cherry tomatoes, a whole green pepper chopped in manageable pieces and a red onion (also chopped into fork-sized pieces). Season with salt and pepper. I added a container of feta because I love it and the cheese allowed me to under salt (which I am notorious for doing) as it added a lot of salt on it's own. I added basil to taste. (Fresh, from my 'garden'. I feel like Martha Stewart!).
Lentil Salad. This is a salad from my childhood. I'm sure it's gone through many iterations, but I always try to conjure this taste memory I have from a party from when I must have been 4 or 5. My parents loved throwing and going to parties, and like us, always fed lots of people good food on a budget. Lentils are fantastic for doing that and really soak up flavor and dress up really nice as the other veggies give a nice color pop. I cook two bags of brown lentils with about 2 cups of water per one cup of lentils. I bring lentils and water to a boil, stir and then simmer until lentils still hold together but are chewy not crunchy. Drain add olive oil and baslamic vinegar. I always free hand this, it probably ends up being about a half a cup of olive oil and the same for the vinegar, but you can add to taste and if you make this the night before it really soaks up the flavor so that you can play around with it to get it just right. I then added a jar of marinated artichokes (because they are my sisters favorite AND add salt to the dish), half a container of cherry tomatoes, a whole green pepper diced. A can of sliced black olives, a whole large red onion diced and two cloves of garlic, minced. Stir and let sit. The day of serving add fresh herbs, I used thyme, but have used just about anything in previous 'makings'. This is a GREAT vegetarian (vegan?) dish.
Well that takes us up to July, so I'll post the rest hopefully tomorrow. I promise to start taking pictures so that you can see how delicious these are and maybe want to make them for yourself.
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