cooking

Real Simple Easy Dinners: Week 4

Posted by Nat on Nov 22, 2011 | Comments Off on Real Simple Easy Dinners: Week 4

Finally!  We finished!  If you’re new to this series, start here, then go here, here, and here.

I was horrible about taking pictures this week, AND we skipped a meal.  Just didn’t make it because it didn’t sound good to me (red peppers are not my thing).  BUT, to make up for it, I did make another RS meal from the magazine, and will share about that later- it was a HUGE success and part of a new thing I’ll be trying for our family.

We didn’t make the meals in order, but I’m labeling the way they appear in the magazine in case you’re following along.

Monday :  Pan-Roasted Cod and Fennel with Spinach Couscous

(No picture- sorry!) This one was really, really yummy.  I’m not a white fish person (right, Mom?).  BUT- this was good.  I wasn’t sure about the fennel- I tend to shy away from anything that reminds me of black licorice.  But I was pleasantly surprised.  What I was most pleased with was the couscous- I usually HATE couscous, but Michael bought some Israeli couscous from Trader Joe’s, and it turns out that I don’t hate couscous, I just hate the way it’s usually prepared.  This way, with spinach, was really good, and I’d totally make it again.

Tuesday:  Chipotle Beef and Beer Chili

Let’s get one thing straight:  I’m snooty about my chili.  I did not think I could possibly like a chili that you whip up in an hour.  I was set in my ways- this chili would not be good, and I even told Michael that I was prepared for it to taste like crap.  And guess what?  I was wrong.  It was awesome.  Michael loved it, too.  I didn’t do the chipotles because neither of us “need” them in our chili- we are savory chili people.  And the corn muffins….oh, who doesn’t love a good corn muffin.  I think the next time I make it I will used crushed tomatoes instead of whole peeled tomatoes, but otherwise it will stay as is.  YUM.

Wednesday:  Lime and Soy-Glazed Chicken with Cabbage Slaw

(no picture- again!)  Fail.  This one was not great.  Maybe it’s because we have an old, OLD oven and it just didn’t do well, but it didn’t taste the way I was hoping it would.  It also ruined a baking dish because the glaze scorched itself on, and no amount of elbow grease was going to get it out.  Oh well.  I think of all the recipes in all the weeks, this might be the least favorite for us.  They can’t all be amazing, eh?

Thursday:  Salami & Brussel Sprouts Pizza

This was awesome.  We actually made it for lunch over the weekend, and it was neat to have a fresh pizza for lunch on a chilly day.   I think the key thing I learned from this recipe:  leave your pizza dough out until it’s room temp!  I’ve tried soooo many pizza doughs, and have never liked the way they turn out- but I’ve also never let them come to room temp before, and this pizza dough (Trader Joe’s) was amazing.

Friday:  Skillet-Poached Eggs with Braised Peppers and Onions

Skipped it.  I hate peppers.  I’ve tried, really, I have.  And I still hate them.  Michael even looked at this one in the magazine and said, “Honey, there’s no way you’d want to eat that.”  And so, we’re done!

Coming up after Thanksgiving:  a RS Easy Dinners Roundup, and lots of other fun posts!  I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving with family and friends.  I get to make mashed potatoes and corn muffins- woo hoo!

Real Simple Easy Dinners: Week 2

Posted by Nat on Nov 1, 2011 | 1 comment

If you’re new to this series, click here for the intro and here for Week 1.

Whew!  This week was tougher.  For some reason my body is rebelling against fall and my allergies were full-force all week.  I thought I was fighting a cold, but it was really just my body acclimating to a new season, I think.  We made it through week 2, just not in order.  Allergies combined with an issue with carpet-cleaning led me to postpone Thursday until last night, but we still made every recipe, so I think we’re still pretty rad.  Here’s the scoop!

My big take-away this week:  leave the meat alone.   I always feel like I have to do something to the meat- put a rub on it, marinate it- something.  But I don’t.  It’s enough to just put some good ol’ S&P on it and call it done.

Monday:  Chicken with Wild Rice and Grapes

This one surprised me- it was really, really yummy.  I wasn’t sure about having warm grapes in anything- they are such a “cold food” to me.  But it was really quite nice.  We didn’t get thighs with the skin on, but it was still really tasty.  We had lots of leftovers of this one, and it made for excellent sandwiches at lunch, too.  Definitely making it again.

Tuesday:  Steak with Cognac Sauce and Salad

O.M.G.!!! This is definitely a favorite!  The cognac sauce was so delicious, and I was surprised that the steak was nice given the cut we bought.  I usually don’t like skirt steak, but it was really nice.  This was “one of those evenings” for us as a family- Michael was held up at work, and when it was time to eat I also needed to feed Em, so I had to scarf this down, but it was so yummy it was not a problem.  When Michael ate his he was quite impressed- and it was super easy, too.  Loved it!  The only changes I made:  I detest blue cheese, so I subbed in goat cheese for my salad.  I also made a vinaigrette because the recipe called for just red wine vinegar and oil, and I like a nice, tasty dressing.  Vinegar & oil is too plain for me. 🙂

Wednesday:  Roasted Vegetable and Quinoa Salad with Pistachios

I have never had Quinoa before- I like it!  Wasn’t too sure at first, but the more I ate it, the more I liked it.  It’s very straight-forward for a grain- you cook it just like rice, but it doesn’t take as long as rice.  I would add more different veggies to this one- it was really just carrots and shrooms, but they were yummy.

Thursday:  Shrimp Tacos with Black Beans

This is the one we made on Sunday night.  It was really good, but didn’t come together the way we wanted.  Our avocado wasn’t ripe yet,  and we LOVE avocado. But the shrimp was lovely with the cornmeal breading.  Michael also brought home tortillas from Trader Joe’s that are made with corn and wheat, so they were like the ultimate combo of corn & flour tortillas- they are YUMMY.  This was also dish-intensive- lots of clean up.  But yummy.

Friday:  Pasta with Sausage and Tomatoes

(I totally forgot to take a picture- we were so hungry and….) YUM.  This was so simple, and again RS has you putting your oven to work for you.  You roast the tomatoes and sausage in the oven and all you have to do while they are roasting is cook the pasta.  Then you toss it all together and serve- so easy, and so good.  We used hot sausage and it was too hot for my sensitive tongue, so next time we’ll just use plain sausage, but this recipe is a keeper because it really is easy & delish.  NOM NOM.

Our favorite meal of the week:  Steak with Cognac Sauce and Salad, hands down.  But every meal was really tasty- we’ll make all of them again!

Real Simple Easy Dinners: Week 1

Posted by Nat on Oct 24, 2011 | 3 comments

We did it!  Week one was awesome!  (If you have no idea what I’m talking about, click here!)  Below are individual reviews for each meal.  We definitely had a few favorites and some not-so-favorites, but what was really the nicest thing was having everything planned out.  As I type this our fridge is full of ingredients for Week 2, as well.  So nice to not have to stress/think/worry/wonder about what we’re eating.

My biggest take away is that we can add veggies into our meals by roasting them.  This can be tricky in our house- we have a wandering 2-year-old, plus an old-school, avocado green oven, two tiers, and only the bottom oven works right now.  Neat.  But we ate so many veggies this week, and I liked all of them!  I do recommend, when roasting, lining the pan with foil AND spraying it with Pam or some sort of oil to help make “tossing” them easier- nothing sticks.

Monday:  Salmon with baby bok choy & green beans

YUM!  This was so good.  And I feel like I can cook salmon well now- it was almost too simple.  The recipe only has you use salt and canola oil on the salmon- this made me suspicious, but it was so tasty.  And the veggie mix was something new and easy.  I prepped everything during naps so all I had to do was throw it all together.  We will definitely make this again.  My only question is:  where the heck do you find baby bok choy?  We tried three, count ’em, three stores, and it was nowhere to be found, so we used regular bok choy.

 Tuesday:  Tomato Soup with Roast Beef, Cheddar, and Horseradish Panini

This was delish and easy to do.   The tomato soup was lovely, though I did change one thing.  I added some whipping cream to it to sort of take the bite out of the tomato acidity.  It was lovely.  Next time I will use less onion and garlic, though- maybe ours were just super potent but I tasted garlic and onion the rest of the night.  We also do not like horseradish and don’t see that changing, so I used Greek yogurt and some herbs from Penzeys as the sauce for the panini.  Do you know Penzeys?  You should.  Great spice company.  Check them out! We used “Mural of Flavor.”

Wednesday:   Pork Chops with Roasted Beets and Oranges

I was surprised by this one. I’ve never, ever in my life (that I can recall) eaten a roasted beet.  I’ve tried canned beets and promptly said, “No thank you” when offered more, but roasted beets?  I was open to it (unlike the horseradish).  And surprise, surprise- I liked them!  Our oranges weren’t so yummy, so if I ever make this again I will be sure to use sweet oranges as they didn’t taste great, but that’s not the recipe’s fault.   This recipe did have significant clean up to do, so I would probably just make this for a special dinner.

Thursday:  Chicken with Potatoes, Bacon, and Cabbage

Meh.  This was okay.  We didn’t get whole grain mustard, which the recipe calls for, mainly because we had three other kinds of mustard in the fridge.  I used Dijon and it was way too potent with the apple cider vinegar- Anna held her nose when she came in to help set the table, which was hilarious.  I’m not big on cabbage, either, but we gave it a go.  I did like the chicken- it was tender and yummy, but the side dish was not our fave, even though it did have bacon in it.

Friday:  Tortellini with Butternut Squash, Mushrooms and Fontina

This was awesome, especially at the end of the week.  It was easy to do- almost too easy.   The squash is so good and really made it “taste like fall” (if that’s possible).  I’m very happy that Trader Joe’s has butternut squash all chopped up and ready to use- it made the meal so simple.

Our favorite meal of the week:  Monday’s salmon.  However, we also really liked the paninis on Tuesday, as well as the whole meal on Friday.

All in all, I loved following the recipes this week and can’t wait to see what comes next week.  I did have to stay on top of things in terms of prepping the veggies, etc., which I tended to do just after lunch or just as the kids were waking up from naps.  If I saved everything until just before dinner time then it would have been a late dinner every time.  I think this works for me now as a SAHM- if I were doing it as a working mom I might have to prep things the night before in order to get things done without freaking out.

I also think that this week’s menu was so-so in the “kid friendly” department.  We did have Anna try a few things, but dinner is our toughest meal in general, and most of these meals didn’t work for Anna or Jack.  Maybe if you have a kid who will literally eat anything it would work, but I don’t have too many friends who have kids who will jump into a pile of roasted beets. 🙂  Aside from that, though, this is really a great plan.  Check back next Monday for Week 2!

Organization is the Spice of my Life

Posted by Nat on Sep 19, 2010 | Comments Off on Organization is the Spice of my Life

I’m such a nerd.  I love it when things are organized.  It makes me feel calm and like I might know what I’m doing in at least one venue of my life.

When we first got married, Michael and I bought a super-tiny condo near downtown San Diego.  It was 1,000 square feet + a garage + a tiny storage unit.  No patio, no outdoor area for a grill- nada.  Our kitchen was neat, but not huge, and I wanted to keep our spices out of the cupboards.  I found these containers at the Container Store and in the spices went.  Even though that was our first place, and we are currently on our third, we still use these spice containers.  I love having easy, fast access when I’m cooking, without hunting and pecking for common spices.

Originally I handwrote in permanent marker the names of the spices.  However, at a recent visit to the Container Store I saw that they make nice stickers for them, so I redid them and am again in spice-organization-heaven.  By the way, do you know how to erase permanent marker from plastic? All you have to do is color over it with a dry-erase marker and then rub it off with a paper towel- it all comes off.  I had to do it a few times, but it totally worked.  Love it!

We are going to be remodeling our kitchen in the next year or two, and I plan on still keeping our spices out.  I love the colors, the names, and the access.  We may put them on a backsplash instead of the fridge, but they will be out in the kitchen with us somewhere.

How do you organize your spices?   I love seeing how people cook and what they do in their kitchens.  If you do something with yours, please post a link with your comments- I’d love to see!

A Thank You Party

Posted by Nat on Aug 7, 2010 | 3 comments

Don’t you think throwing a nice party is sort of a craft?  It’s definitely an art form, and it’s hard to do well, I think.  Anyhoo…..

My mother was adamant about a lot of things when we were growing up (I’m the youngest of 3, and yes, I was worried they would forget about me so I acted out just for the recognition).  One thing that I still thank her for today is the fact that she taught us such good manners (as I’m typing this I’m hoping that no one sends me a comment that reads: “Yo, you were totally rude to me and this is what you did….”).  We always said please and thank you.  I’m finding myself doing the same with my kids- maybe it’s in the DNA.  In this case, it’s a good thing.

As a working mom, one of the hardest things to do every week is leave your kids somewhere.  Doesn’t matter where it is, or even if you think it’s actually good for them to go to childcare/preschool/etc.  It’s just hard to leave them.  When we found our kids’ preschool/childcare place, it was a huge relief because we LOVE their “school.”  The classes are small, the teachers are amazing, the two women who run the place are flexible and helpful, and they still consider me the boss of my children.

I told Michael that I wanted to celebrate them this summer by giving the kids’ teachers  a thank you party.  It was so fun to plan something like this.  If you’ve been around since I started this blog you may remember this post about asking their food and drink preferences.  This also sort of built the excitement for them- they were all a-twitter the day or two before the actual party.  I thought I’d share a few of the things we made for them.

Pear Rosemary Martinis

You can find the original recipe for these here at Epicurious.  It had really great reviews, and I actually made these a few years ago for a friend’s bachelorette (ah, those were the days), so I knew they were yummy.  However, I had to alter the recipe a bit to make it work for us.  The original recipe calls for pear brandy.  Pear brandy is a bit expensive, and with everything else we were doing I needed to cut some corners.  So instead, I used some regular run-of-the-mill brandy, regular (nice) vodka, and some Absolut Pear.  My version of the martini is at the bottom of this post.

Caprese Kabobs

These are fairly self-explanatory, so I’ll just post pictures.  I got our little mozzarella balls at Trader Joe’s along with one of those huge basil plants.  I covered them with wet paper towels so the mozzarella cheese wouldn’t dry out before the party, wrapped the platter in saran-wrap, and popped it in the fridge.  Then I drizzled them with a slightly sweet balsamic vinaigrette right before serving.  Yum- and so pretty.  I liked this because it wasn’t too heavy before a nice, hearty Italian dinner.

Tiramisu

I also found this on Epicurious, here.  It was delicious!  This was my first Tiramisu.  My biggest challenge was finding the lady fingers, but once I found those we were good to go.  Warning:  do not be troubled by the filling while you are making it.  I tasted it and was concerned that it didn’t taste good, but something about sitting overnight in the fridge and setting makes it taste oh-so-wonderful the next day.  And it was great because it was one less thing to worry about the day of the party.  I used Sweet Marsala instead of dry.  Tasted fine to everyone!  And I used a trifle dish because it just sounded pretty and many commenters on the site said it made for nice presentation, so I followed suit.

Lastly, a couple of other pictures.  One is of my china.  We pulled it out, and I’m so glad we did because I. Love. My. China.  I remember calling my mother when we registered, worried that I was picking a rather fancy one that was a bit more expensive.  My mother said something like, “Do not pick a cheaper china just to be nice.  Pick the one you want and people will buy it.  You will regret it if you pick one you don’t like just to save people money.  If they don’t want to buy you china, they will buy you something else.  Get the china you want.”  She said this, of course, in the way that all mothers have- the guilt fell away and I got my china.  Thanks, Mom!

Finally, I took this picture towards the end of dinner- we turned out the lights except for some distant lamps, and lit the candles.  It was so relaxing to eat in a dimly lit room- and everyone looked stunning.  🙂  That’s my amazing husband in the background.  I am totally in love with him, by the way.

So, who can you thank?  How would you thank them?  This was so much fun, and I think we’ll do it again next summer, for shizzle.  Nothing can replace confidence in those who care for your children, and thanking these wonderful ladies felt good.  Great.  Awesome.  And I got toasty-buzzed in the process- who can beat that?  Okay fine- I was a bit hungover the next day.

Here’s that Pear Rosemary Martini recipe (my version):

1 cup simple rosemary syrup (see below)

375 ml (1/2 bottle) plain vodka

375 ml (1/2 bottle) Absolut Pear vodka

3 tbsp Brandy

5 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

For the syrup:  boil one cup of water with one cup of sugar, stirring to dissolve.  Once it boils, reduce to a simmer for 2 minutes, adding 4 rosemary sprigs while simmering.   Once it’s cool to the touch, remove the rosemary. Completely cool before adding to the liquor.

Combine all of the liquids in a pitcher and place in the freezer for at least 3 hours.  Before serving stir it up.  If you have time and a mesh strainer, it’s good to strain the pulp out of the lemon juice.  Garnish with a sprig of rosemary.  Caution:  these go down easy and sneak up on you!