Help!

I hit a new low in food last night. I had less than 20 minutes between getting home from work and Bible study. The options were slim and in the time crunch, all I managed to put together was leftover taco meat with some Ranch dressing and cheese on top. No chips to make it nachos, no tortilla to make it a taco and no lettuce to make it a taco salad. A new low.

My weeks and even the weekends are getting full, which I am so thankful for, but it means that cooking is at the bottom of the list. And my old standbys just seem to be failing me. My last batch of tomato basil soup didn't turn out well, so I'm burned out on that. Tacos seemed like a good idea but then I ran out of stuff to put the meat on and it got ugly. I need more ideas for things that are good as leftovers and will be easy to pack for lunch at work (I have a fridge and a microwave there).

I'm anxious for the farmer's market to open back up and keep pinning zucchini recipes. Though I am also afraid that come April I will just be depressed that there is not a co-op box to pick up. I am going to start looking at some options here, but there have been some bad reviews of some of the CSAs so the farmer's market might be my best bet.

Pinterest recipes I've actually tried

And now back to regular programming on the blog...

I've said before Pinterest is almost overwhelming with all these ideas I don't have time to do. But I've been more intentional about using it for recipes that are practical for me. Of course, I've pinned some fun ones, too.

Here's my review of what I've made:


Chicken Broccoli Supreme
This was advertised as a casserole that didn't use "cream of" something soup. But I realized when I made it, there is probably just as much if not more cream in it. I also attempted to cut the recipe down and put it in an 8x8 casserole dish, and I didn't adjust the sauce very well. In the end, I wish I had just made my mom's chicken devan or poppyseed chicken.

Hasselback potatoes
I actually like this one. It was a good alternative to a standard baked potato.


Krispy Kreme muffins
I'm convinced the muffins here are the same as a puffin from the Bread Basket on Signal Mountain. After I made them with the icing, I wished I had made them like a puffin: rolling it in sugar and cinnamon. But they were still great with the icing.

Nutella cupcakes
I only made the cupcakes from this, not the complicated three flavor swirl icing. I iced them with canned cream cheese icing. The cupcakes were good chocolate cupcakes, but they didn't really have a Nutella flavor. So there's another recipe I'd like to try sometime.

Artichoke bread
This might be my favorite. Basically, it's a dip spread on bread and baked. It's really easy and a crowd pleaser (I took it to a Super Bowl party).

That's what I have tried so far, but I bought the ingredients for a pasta dish I'm going to try this week.

It's been a while, but an actual post about cooking

After a crazy, busy week, I spent some time cooking this weekend. I finally have a larger kitchen, and I haven't spent that much time cooking in it. But I realized as I was cooking that the kitchen setup actually makes sense. I was making soup and pulled out my immersion blender and realized there is an outlet right by the stove.

After a kitchen with no drawers and one outlet, which meant rotating appliances, this i a very nice change. What is also nice: Throwing all the dirty dishes in the dishwasher, wiping off the counter and having a clean kitchen.

I've tried a couple of new things, I thought I'd post about because in theory this is supposed to be a cooking blog.

After restaurant week, I was inspired to make zucchini cakes/fritters again. I knew I wasn't going to match the zucchini crab cake I had, but I wanted to get close to the zucchini fritter I had. Of course, then I got the job and moved and started the new job... But this weekend I did make a batch of zucchini fritters. I used this recipe from smitten kitchen. The recipe is pretty simple, but the directions are extensive, so I'm just linking it. I thought they turned out really well and were good left over.

I've been using Pioneer Woman's Perfect Pie Crust, and it has worked great. But then she raved about another recipe, and I figured if she thought it was better than hers I probably should try it. I've been making it with all butter and leave out the salt. I used it in a couple of tomato pies and then a zucchini pie this weekend. I'm trying freezing some of the dough this time to see if it works as well as the other one. Again the directions are pretty extensive, so I'm just linking to it.

Also, I bought some kale at the farmers' market last weekend. I am still a little shocked I chose to buy it, but I was on a mission to spend all $8 in cash that I had and have some variety in what I bought. I went to make kale chips and suddenly couldn't remember if there was something else to them besides olive oil and salt (there isn't). I texted a friend and she reassured me I had it right, but also suggested putting the mix for ranch dressing/dip. I tried that yesterday, and it was really good, definitely added some good flavor.

Some recipes

This year my co-op is including directions for how to store the produce in its weekly emails, and I've been following their instructions, which means I've been using the drawer in my refrigerator. If you count that drawer, I have two drawer in my kitchen, the other is below my oven. But the drawer in the refrigerator is at the bottom and is not see-through. This means I have on occasion forgotten what was in it.

This happened two weeks ago with my swiss chard. A friend posted a picture of rainbow swiss chard on Facebook, and I suddenly realized I had some that I forgot about completely. I hadn't touched it, so I needed to make something with it pretty quickly. I haven't been too excited about sauteed greens this year, and I was hoping for something different. I did some searching and came up with a recipe for Savory Swiss Chard and Cheese Biscuits. I took them to a dinner on Saturday, and they seemed to be well-liked. Here's the recipe:

Savory Swiss Chard and Cheese Biscuits

• 3 cups Swiss Chard Green Leafs, Thinly Sliced
• 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 teaspoon Salt (I forgot, but based on the reviews and my experience, I would halve this.)
• ½ teaspoons Curry Powder
• 1 cup Sour Cream (heaping Cup)
• 3 whole Large Eggs
• 1 cup Grated Cheddar Cheese (heaping)
• ½ cups Bread Crumbs
• ½ teaspoons Baking Powder

In a glass bowl (or any other microwave safe dish), combine Swiss chard, olive oil, salt and curry. Microwave for 2 minutes, until the greens wilt a bit and smell nice. Drain excess liquid.

In a different bowl, combine sour cream, eggs, cheese, bread crumbs and baking powder. Mix well and add the cooked greens. Mix well.

Divide mixture between 9 (preferably silicone) muffin pan cups or individual baking cups (oil well or line with paper cups if you are not using silicone) and bake in a 350F for 35 minutes.

Serve at room temperature or cold from the fridge. These should come out moist and juicy, so don’t overcook them. 

My other experimenting came in the form of chocolate beet cupcakes. I am hesitant to share the recipe I used because I made a lot of substitutions and also cut it to two-thirds when I realized I didn't have enough beets. So I wasn't too happy with the result, and I'm not sure if it's because I changed it or if the beet consistency is still evident when the recipe is followed. But here's the link and now I wish I had tried this one instead.

I also made some old favorites over the weekend. I substituted yellow squash for zucchini in zucchini pie, and then used zucchini to make zucchini bread.

It's different

You may have noticed that I haven't been posting a lot about the co-op since the season started. This time last year almost all of my posts were about my pick-ups and all the cooking I was doing. But this year is different.

Part of it is the newness has worn off, and I feel like I don't have time to cook or blog. But it's also that my shares have also been different this year, and it caught me off guard. I've still enjoyed my shares, but I was expecting a repeat of last year and that's not really what I've been getting.

But I got my box on Wednesday, and I remembered the excitement I had last year. I remembered that summer is when it gets really good. I'm enjoying the best cherries I've ever had, I made stuffed squash for dinner Thursday night, and I've got a pound of fresh green beans sitting in my refrigerator. I haven't gotten to the peaches yet, but they look perfect. I even tried something new when I put kohlrabi on my salad.

There have been weeks when I wished we were getting as much asparagus as last year and that it was always Bibb lettuce, not romaine or field lettuce, in my share. But the surprise element is part of the challenge, and it means I'm trying new things. I ate mushrooms and even liked roasted beets, though my beets ended up in chocolate cupcakes. I'm finding new recipes and also savoring things cooked simply.

I thought since I made all these changes with my eating habits last year, I would get to stay in my comfort zone this time. Not the case, and even though I don't like change, it's good for me to get out of my comfort zone sometimes.

Recipes to come...

It's almost time!

In just over a week, I get to pick up my first share of the season from my co-op. I can't wait!


A few of the things I'm looking forward to:

• Bibb lettuce, with the exception of a salad bar at a place downtown, I've avoided salads because I'm just disappointed with the lettuce. And I think I caught myself drooling when this picture came in my email today:

• Asparagus, I've tried buying some at the store but it is not nearly as good as what I get from the co-op.

• Zucchini, I am dreaming of sauteed zucchini and squash with some pasta.
• Spinach, I regret wasting my spinach at the beginning of the season last year, but now I know the best way to eat it is sauteed in butter and garlic.

There are plenty more things, but those are the things I expect to see in my shares soon. Aside from the actual food, I'll be glad to have some motivation for cooking again and maybe even some inspiration for the blog. 

Now here's the list of stuff I won't miss.

• Deciding what I'm going to eat
• Wandering the grocery store aimlessly
• Paying too much for strawberries and other produce that isn't that great
• Eating casseroles for a week straight
• Resorting to cereal or oatmeal for dinner

In other random news, the caretaker for my house/apartment has planted a garden in my backyard, as in spinach, broccoli, lettuce, etc. So I'm wondering if there will be an extra bounty for me to enjoy. 

Back to reality

Last week was a harsh reality. Some combination of going back to work after several days off and not having the co-op left me starving and crabby by Friday. Dinner was pretty much a failure every night, and even the cereal lover in me was tired of that fall back option.

But here was the issue: I went to the grocery store when I got back in town but was disappointed by the produce and came out with little more than the basics. I realized I hadn't grabbed more than an onion or other random ingredient from the produce section in months. So actually trying to shop in the produce section was a let down after months of bi-weekly co-op pick-ups.

But I knew I needed to spend some time cooking to improve my mood. So I went to a small local grocery store that has really good produce that isn't that expensive. Of course, I had decided I wanted to make broccoli cheese soup and ended up back in the Kroger produce section for broccoli, but it's good to know I have some alternatives until my co-op starts again.

And cooking put me in a much better mood. I made soup, tried a new pizza crust and tomato sauce and made some blueberry muffins. I also put some of my Christmas presents to use. I now know the only way to make soup is with an immersion blender, and I'm not sure how I did it before without one.

I realize it is only Wednesday, but my week is significantly better when I have something for dinner when I get home. It was also good to know that I enjoy cooking for cooking and not just because it's food from the co-op that's going to go bad. Hopefully, I'll get some recipes posted soon.

Looking back and forward

I got behind on blogging and just decided to enjoy my time with family instead of blogging last week, so this post about 2010 is late.

I have to say 2010 has been a really good year for me. Over the last year, I really settled into my current city and found some great friends. I challenged myself to cook more by subscribing to a co-op and discovered I enjoy cooking and blogging about it. I picked up some other hobbies along the way.

Not everything was perfect, and I have struggled with my own sin and certain circumstances. But God has met me where I am and showed me the freedom of the Gospel.

I had some cool experiences and stepped out of my box, even went camping twice. I've gotten to spend some great time with family and celebrated a new addition.

I'm a little sad this year is ending, but coming off a good year means hope that 2011 will be even better. I'm not really one for resolutions, but I have been thinking about some things I've wanted to do and feel a new year is a good time to start them.

Here's my quick list:
Memorize Scripture
Return to the gym
Monitor my spending and save more
Make better use of my time

Happy New Year to all of you and best wishes for 2011!

Christmas Eve

Here's another Christmas tradition I thought I would share.

When my mom was pregnant with the twins (my younger brother and sister), she was put on bedrest for the last three months, which was most of November, December and January. (The twins arrived in February.) And so you can picture it, I turned three that December, and my sister was five and a half.

I remember a few things about this time. I know I got up and dressed myself every morning (in clothes my mom picked out) and made my bed. I took my hairbow and brush to my mom in bed and then waited for my ride to come. It depended on the day, but I always went somewhere: Preschool, a play date, a home day care, etc. My mom's friends stepped up to make sure I made it to every birthday party and event I needed to be at. The same went for my sister who was in kindergarten.

When I got home in the afternoons, I would crawl into my mom's bed to play paper dolls or read books. She also kept cookies with her to bribe me to play with her upstairs. I don't have any negative memories from this time, and I think it made me a pretty independent kid. It also meant that when the twins were born, I was so excited to have my mom back to normal I didn't think to be jealous of the babies.

During this time, my mom's friends and our church also supported us with meals. My dad came home in time to feed us dinner every night, and we did pretty well with all the casseroles and chicken pot pies we received.

But for Christmas Eve, my dad wanted to make a meal for us. My dad is pretty capable in the kitchen, but at the time most of the things he knew to make were appetizers and "party food." So that's what he made. My sister and I helped him, and my mom was able to come to the table to eat dinner with us that night.

And so it became a tradition for us. My siblings and I all have specific things that we make with my dad pitching in. He does the grocery shopping and planning, and we pull off a pretty great meal every year.

I don't remember what we made the first year, but our menu usually consists of: lobster bisque, hallelujah ham rolls, shrimp remoulade, sausage swirls, Tex-Mex dip (my dish even though I don't eat it), spinach dip, baked brie, crab dip and usually a red meat of some kind. Yes, it is a ton of food, but I think we like it left over almost as much as on Christmas Eve.

I agreed to work at Thanksgiving and even Christmas Day sometimes just so I could be there to cook on Christmas Eve and eat this meal with my family because Christmas Eve is definitely "our holiday." We're changing it up this year, adding some people and shifting location, but we will still gather around the table as a family and remember how this all started.

Challenge complete

Well, it's over. I picked up my last co-op share on Saturday. It was a good last pick-up: Sweet potatoes, lettuce, greens, apples, mushrooms and cider. We also got apple butter, which I've been waiting for since the co-op started, and a special surprise of kettle korn. I also picked up my last chicken, which made four uncooked chickens though I cooked one yesterday.

Back in March, on my very first post, I listed three goals: cook more, eat healthier and get over some of my pickiness about food. I would say I accomplished all of those things and even to a greater extent than I expected. I think I was somehow spared the foods I was most afraid of, i.e. turnips, but the fact I eat asparagus, cooked spinach, squash of all varieties and zucchini is a huge change from April.

While I definitely cooked more over the last eight months, what I found surprising was how much I enjoy cooking. A day in the kitchen is something I look forward to and find relaxing, which had never been the case for me. But I love making things from scratch and trying new recipes. That is not at all what I expected, but I'm hoping that's what keeps me motivated for the next four months.

As far as eating healthier, I definitely got more vegetables in my diet and actually rely on mostly vegetable dishes. And I no longer eat frozen pizza or cereal for dinner every night. But I cook with a lot of butter, and I made a fair amount of sweet things with the stuff I got in my shares. I don't think that was bad, but I'm not going to claim I was the healthiest eater either. I'm not one to focus on calories or fat, but eating healthier is still on my list of goals (along with returning to the gym).

When I started this, I wasn't sure if it was going to be a one-time thing or something I did year after year. I think it only took two pick-ups for me to decide that I would continue to participate. But it is going to feel like a long time until the end of April. I do still have three chickens, some squash and potatoes that will last me for a while longer, but it's going to be hard to go back to the produce section at the store. Maybe continuing to blog will keep me motivated to try new recipes, so I have something to post about.

Anyway, I just felt the need to wrap up the co-op season, the other posts this week will be Christmas related.

Hobbies

Apparently as I get older, I am taking on hobbies.

I've never been a hobby person. I always dread that question in any situation -- sorority rush, icebreaker games, a date, on my Facebook profile, etc. My default answer is always reading, but that always leads to the question, "What have you read lately?" And then I either can't remember or don't want to admit to the latest chick lit book I've read.

But 2010 is apparently the year for new hobbies, and I'm glad to finally have an answer to that annoying question. Cooking is the main one for the year, and I would say writing about it is a related hobby. And my newest hobby is sewing.

Due to some inspiration from the fabric book acquisition, I asked for a sewing machine for my birthday from my parents. My mom wanted me to pick it out, but I had no idea what I was even looking for. The last time I sewed was in home ec class in sixth grade (if it makes you feel better, after that year, home ec was replaced with computer class). But my mom, sister and grandmother are all very adept at sewing and knew what they were looking for.

And they picked out a pretty amazing sewing machine. 

I'm not sure I will use all the features, but when it measured my button and created a buttonhole the right size with me just pushing the pedal, I could only stand back in awe.

I feel like I can make anything with it, and it's so easy to Google and find patterns and tutorials, much like finding recipes. Over the last three weeks, I've been making things like crazy. Of course, I can't really show you anything because most of it is gifts. But I did make this bag for me:

And next on my hobby list: Photography. I bought a used DSLR camera from a friend a couple of months ago but it hasn't left my apartment yet, so I need to Google and find some tutorials on that.

Cooking for the family

So as much as I love cooking for just myself, it is more fun to have others around to appreciate my meals.

Before I drove to my parents' house, I picked up my share and was excited about all the winter squash I got. I said before I don't remember being exposed to winter squash, and I soon learned why.

It turns out that my dad does not like sweet potatoes, and pretty much all of the winter squashes taste similar to sweet potatoes. To fully illustrate my dad's dislike of sweet potatoes, my grandmother told me that when he was a kid, he said sweet potatoes and onions would be worse than coal and ashes from Santa Claus.*

But I have continued to cook the things I planned and let my dad fend for himself. My mom seems to enjoy my dishes, and my sister says they are better than other squash dishes she's tried.

So far I've made the butternut squash soup (I tried cooking the squash for less time but it was kind of a pain to peel and chop at that point) and this butternut squash and goat cheese pasta that was excellent. I also experimented with the pumpkin brownies again, using a brownie mix, and they turned out well but not very pretty. I also discovered how easy this pumpkin muffin recipe from Natalie is. My pizza crust was also a hit last night.
 
The good thing about cooking here is the help I have. I've recruited my mom, dad and sister to do various tasks, and I haven't done very many dishes here!

*I did warn my dad that this was going on the blog, and he says he is still ahead of me in terms of food he likes. But I say mincemeat pie doesn't count.

Back in the kitchen

I don't even know what happened last week. It just felt like life took over, and the blog took a backseat. But after a fun trip to a women's conference and some much needed rest, I got to spend most of Sunday in the kitchen. Something I was actually looking forward to.

I tried a couple of new recipes, so I wanted to get them posted.

In my pickup this week, I got some beautiful tomatoes. Lately I've been feeling like my tomatoes have gone to waste, and my sister suggested a tomato pie. My mom sent me her recipe, and it turned out pretty well. Here's the recipe:

Tomato Pesto Tart

• 1 sheet package refrigerated pie crust (I used one of my pie crusts from this recipe that's been in my freezer.)
• 2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
• 5-6 plum/roma tomatoes, sliced (One large tomato thinly sliced works, too.)
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 Tbs. jarred Pesto (I used my homemade pesto.)
• 1/2 tsp. ground pepper
• 1 Tbs. fresh basil, chopped

Fit piecrust into a lightly greased 9 inch tart pan, trim off excess piecrust along edges. Prick bottom of crust with a fork.
Bake at 425 for 8-10 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with 1 cup mozzarella, let stand 15 minutes. Arrange tomato slices over cheese.
Stir together mayo, next 3 ingredients, and remaining 1 cup mozzarella cheese. Spread mixture evenly over tomato slices.
Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven. Sprinkle with chopped fresh basil.

For the first time in a few months, I didn't have anything in my freezer to pull out for breakfast. I finished my last peach scone Sunday morning, so I had to come up with something to eat this week.

My peaches were a little rough this week, and I figured the best way to use them before they were unusable was to put them in something. I found this simple peach muffin recipe in a Google search. It reminds me of my zucchini bread recipe, and it tastes good but the peaches don't have a strong flavor. I got white peaches this week (at least that's what I think they are), so that may have something to do with it. But the muffins taste good to me.

Peach muffins
    •    3 cups all-purpose flour
    •    1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
    •    1 teaspoon baking soda
    •    1 teaspoon salt
    •    1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
    •    3 eggs, lightly beaten
    •    2 cups white sugar
    •    2 cups peeled, pitted, and chopped peaches

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease 16 muffin cups. (Mine made about 2 dozen medium muffins.)
In a large bowl, mix the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. In a separate bowl, mix the oil, eggs, and sugar. Stir the oil mixture into the flour mixture just until moist. Fold in the peaches. Spoon into the prepared muffin cups.
Bake 25 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before turning out onto wire racks to cool completely.

I'm looking forward to a quiet week, and maybe even more time in the kitchen. I've got some green beans and peppers I need to do something with.

But you can cook...

That may be what some (or maybe just a few) of you are thinking. 

Yes, a certain newsroom would tell you that I made the best brownies and cookies ever to enter the newsroom that day. My new co-workers are a little harder to please, but I never take any cake balls home. I’ve won a prize for my garlic cheese grits at a potluck, and my cheeseball is usually quite popular. But there’s a trend here, if you think I can cook, you’ve probably only eaten something I've made involving chocolate or cheese.
 
You see, I’m great at making a side dish for a potluck or a dessert that will be a hit with everyone, but I’m terrible at the day-to-day cooking for myself. If I were to make all of my best recipes, I still wouldn’t come up with an actual meal.
 
I’ve lived alone for four years, which I absolutely love, but instead of getting better at making dinner, I think I’ve actually digressed quite a bit from the anxious new college grad in my own apartment. And these days I’m pretty convinced I can survive on Cheerios and Bagel Bites. 

So you can see where I need some motivation. My hope is that this project will force me to try new things and find a way to enjoy cooking for myself. Recipes and suggestions are welcome.

A new challenge

If my Christmas gifts are any indication, I need some help when it comes to cooking. I was given measuring spoons, measuring cups, dish towels and two cookbooks, one of which is entitled “What is a Cook to do?” that provides the very basics. But I don’t take offense to the gifts; my family gave them to me knowing I was about to take on a challenge in the kitchen.

My life has changed quite a bit in the last eight months. I’ve moved to a beautiful part of the country that is just a short drive away from working farms, orchards and wineries. I have one of those normal jobs where I actually come home for dinner. Let’s just say working from 2 p.m. to midnight does not encourage me to cook, but the 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. gig has changed my eating habits. Rather than eating whatever, whenever, I actually eat lunch and find something for dinner when I get home.
 
So with all of this change I have decided to change my habits completely. I have joined a local co-op where I will pick up fresh produce and chicken twice a month starting in April. The produce is based off what is in season at the local farms, and I get what is there. I have three main goals: to cook more, eat healthier and get over some of my pickiness about food. An added bonus is cutting back on trips to the grocery store.
 
Considering my experience (or lack of) in the kitchen, I’ve decided it is worth documenting, if only for the enjoyment of my mom and sisters. So I’m planning to use this blog for that purpose, and you can all laugh with me as I attempt to cook a whole chicken for the first time and maybe learn something because hopefully I will have some successful recipes to share.