food – Page 11 – Pure Sugar

they can’t all be winners

Posted on July 21, 2011 by Carol — 3 Comments ↓

Am I the only one who gets absurdly disappointed when a recipe doesn’t come out as well as I thought it would? Because it’s happened twice recently.

First, there was the great pickled chard disappointment. I recently wrote about trying a recipe for quick pickled swiss chard stems. I thought it sounded delicious: spicy, sour… yummy, right? And the pickles looked pretty, too:

I followed the recipe without noticing the lack of any salt. What was I thinking? Where was my brain? I let the jar sit in the fridge for a few days and then excitedly opened them at lunch.

Sour? Yes.

Spicy? Yes.

Otherwise flavorless? Yes. Unfortunately, they really didn’t taste like much other than vinegar and crushed red pepper. Not awful, but not worth eating to be honest. I think this has the potential to be a good recipe, but it definitely needs the addition of salt. (That also explains the cloudy brine )

Next up: the ho-hum breakfast cake. I was browsing Pinterest yesterday and saw a recipe for lemon-blueberry-yogurt cake. I had a few ingredients in the fridge that I needed to use up, coincidentally: lemons, blueberries, and some vanilla Greek yogurt. I thought for sure this was a sign that I just had to try the quick bread. I altered the recipe first by substituting coconut oil for canola oil, and I cut the sugar down to 3/4 cup instead of the full cup the original recipe called for. I couldn’t wait to wake up so I could eat it for breakfast!

Sorry for the crummy photos, but my camera was in the basement so I just used Instagram, and there was not a lot of light in my kitchen at 6:30 a.m.:

I should mention that I also reduced the amount of powdered sugar in the glaze from 3/4 cup to 1/2 cup and still had more than enough. No one in my family could agree on this cake. While I think I could cut the sugar down even further to 1/2 a cup, I liked the bread. Drew didn’t. At all. He hated the texture (it is very dense), and thought it was way too sweet (eek – imagine if I made the recipe exactly as written). Noah thought “it tasted weird.” Jake thought it was “pretty good.” But Jake isn’t too picky, either. Laura wouldn’t eat it, but she doesn’t like blueberries, so I didn’t expect her to. (Instead, she ate her scrambled egg and the proceeded to devour half of my portion.)

Drew flat out said I shouldn’t bother making this again. So I cut up the rest of the bread, packaged it, and froze it. I’ll enjoy it as a treat when I am craving something sweet. Have you made anything recently that didn’t come out well?

menu plan monday, of salads and slow cookers

Posted on July 17, 2011 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

I’m trying to do as little shopping as possible this week, plus it’s going to be sweltering. So I’ve decided to use my oven as little as possible (especially since our A/C is out of commission and our plumber is on vacation). Luckily, we have all that lettuce from last week’s CSA! So my game plan is to either chop it and toss it in a bowl, grill it, or throw it in the Crock Pot.

The last time I made gyros I actually thought ahead and made a second loaf, which I stuck in the freezer to make things super easy. I’m currently roasting a chicken in order to have the meat for lunches, and the bones to make stock so I can also make soup to go along with it.

Unfortunately, last week I never did get to try the copycat recipe for Ruby Tuesday’s Sonora Chicken pasta — I don’t even remember what the reason was. Nevertheless, last week I somehow managed to really overdo it on the carbs, culminating in a total indulgence at Red Lobster last night (their absolutely delicious shrimp and scallops alfredo — oh, all that spaghetti!) Anyway, that recipe will have to wait for another week. I really have to scale back on the grains this week and get back on track. Once I start eating that stuff, I find myself craving all kinds of breads and sweets, and I really can’t have that.

Here’s what this week is looking like:

Sunday: Burritos
Monday: Gyro salads, avgolemono
Tuesday: Slow-cooker French dip sandwiches, cole slaw
Wednesday: Grilled filet mignon with blue cheese butter, smashed cauliflower, green bean, onion, and feta salad
Thursday: White chicken chili (slow cooker), salad
Friday: Leftovers
Saturday: Take-out

For more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday feature.

csa 2011: third share

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Anyone feel like salad? Well, we have no choice because this week we got four (four!) heads of lettuce! Good thing I love salad! I took two romaine, one green leaf, and one red leaf. This share was HUGE, but somehow we’ll plow through it. We also got a bunch of swiss chard, green beans (alternate choice was broccoli), sweet onions, zucchini, yellow squash, cabbage, scallions (which I’d already cut up before I remembered to take a photo), dill, basil, parsley, cilantro, and of course PYO flowers.

Today I made a batch of yellow lentils, so I threw some of the chard in at the end. I’m not a big fan of swiss chard, so this was a great way to use it because it was barely noticeable.

I also came across a recipe for pickled swiss chard stems, so I made a batch of that as well.

I’d like to make some dilly beans, but it wasn’t going to happen today. Since I already had a bunch of cilantro I’d purchased at the store, I used the farm share cilantro and attempted to make mint chutney since I made the dal and tandoori chicken for dinner. It didn’t turn out well. At all. It was chunky and I couldn’t get it smooth and the flavors were just all wrong. Well, they can’t all be winners, I guess.

On the other hand, the salted caramel bars I made were BIG winners. Seriously, I think I need some weight loss pills just looking at that rich dessert!

The boys and Drew loved them. I did, too. But really… a little goes a long way. I tweaked a recipe I found so once I iron out the details of what I changed, I’ll post it.

I wish I could say it was fun having a cooking day like this, because normally it would be, but L. is at the stage where she likes to make every single thing difficult, so what should have taken me no time at all took forever. Sigh… At least I got it all done and the results were (mostly) tasty.

menu plan monday, summer camp edition

Posted on July 11, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Both boys have different summer camps this week. Jake is at all-day Cub Scout camp, and Noah is at half-day camp at our church. There is a lot of picking up and dropping off (and naturally both locations are in opposite directions), plus Tuesday evening I have to pick up our CSA share, so this week has to be easy.

As usual, this is subject to change, and often does, due to the veggies we get in our farm share and what we actually feel like eating 🙂

Sunday: Grilled chicken Caesar salad
Monday: Surf & turf (grilled steak and shrimp), macaroni and cheese with broccoli
Tuesday: Tandoori chicken, rice, vegetable curry
Wednesday: Sausage & peppers, cole slaw
Thursday: No cooking (picnic at Cub Scout camp for the boys, and I might treat myself to Thai take-out)
Friday: Pizza & wings, salad
Saturday: Copycat Ruby Tuesday’s Sonora chicken pasta, salad

For more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday feature.

cooking thursday: recipe for pickled beets

Posted on July 7, 2011 by Carol — 3 Comments ↓

There was a bunch of beets in last week’s CSA share. I have a well-documents distaste for beets. They’re pretty, but they taste like dirt. (At least to me, they do.) I’ve prepared them different ways, hoping something would be palatable, but so far nothing was doing it for me. So I turned to my last resort: pickling. Anything tastes good as a pickle. Right?

I had no idea there were so many different recipes for pickled beets. If I’d been printing them out, I’d need to buy extra laserjet toner cartridges because there really are that many. I ended up tweaking a very simple recipe that my dad said sounded like the one my grandmother used to make.

Much to my surprise, I actually enjoyed the final product! I let the pickled beets sit in the fridge for several days before I opened them, and I thought they were quite yummy. I added two garlic scapes, but I’m not sure they added much flavor. I also stuck an egg in there because I wanted to fill the jar. The pickled egg had a great flavor, too.

Quick & Easy Pickled Beets

1 bunch of beets (approx. 5-6 med. beets)
3/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup water
1 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon mixed pickling spice

Trim the beets and roast (skin on) in foil at 400 degrees for about 1 hour. While the beets are roasting, bring the sugar, water, vinegar and pickling spice to a boil. Cook for 2 minutes. When the beets are ready to come out of the oven, carefully take the skins off by gently rubbing the beets with a paper towel. The skins will come right off. Slice the beets and put them in a clean jar. Pour the pickling liquid over the cooked, sliced beets. Cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate at least overnight or for several days.

You can certainly boil the beets instead of roasting them if you prefer. Be sure to visit Sandra at Diary of a Stay at Home Mom to check out other delicious recipes!

csa 2011: third share

Posted on June 30, 2011 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Tuesday was CSA day, so after I picked up the boys from camp we headed over to the farm to pick up our bi-weekly share.

I might have squealed a little when I saw that PYO flowers had started! Granted, this week it was just five stems, but it was enough to fill my little pitcher that sets on our kitchen island.

The vegetables were beautiful: two heads of lettuce (I picked one head of romaine and one head of red leaf), 1/3 lb. of spinach (the last until fall), a small head of broccoli, a head of cabbage, a bunch of scallions, a handful of basil, two garlic scapes, one zucchini (or you could have chosen one yellow squash), and a bunch of beets.

Being that neither Drew nor myself are huge beet fans, I am going to pickle this bunch and see how it goes. Otherwise, the veggies are pretty straightforward and easy to use up!

father’s day weekend

Posted on June 22, 2011 by Carol — 1 Comment ↓

Playing catch-up here, so bear with me! I hope you all spoiled your dads on Father’s Day weekend. I hung out with Big Z on Friday and Saturday and had a great visit with my family. Drew had been camping with Jake and came home on Sunday morning. I’d been joking that he was going to get zumba dancing lessons as his gift, so he was relieved when the kids gave him his real gift. I’d ordered this copper guitar pick for him and he loved it! I also arranged to have our piano tuned. It is long, long, long overdue. He will finally enjoy playing the piano again 🙂

His mom and aunt came up for lunch and I whipped everything together pretty quick (since I myself got home at 9 a.m. from Massachusetts). I made a beef tenderloin, black bean salad (with the addition of spinach), scalloped potatoes, and creamy fruit salad (a recipe Lisanne gave me years ago — it is one of our favorites!)

For dessert, Drew’s mom brought a cheesecake. It was super yummy! (In fact, there is still a little left in the fridge and I intend to have a piece tonight!)

I tried to give my guy a nice, relaxing day, even though he still had to put away all that camping gear! Did you do anything special?

csa 2011: second share

Posted on June 21, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Well this post is obviously a week late! Last Tuesday’s farm share was filled with beautiful veggies, as usual. There was lettuce, spinach, arugula, Chinese cabbage, scallions, garlic scapes, and a choice of radishes, salad turnips, or beets. I chose radishes not only because I love them, but because there were some purple ones! (If radishes were an illegal substance, I’d be looking for the top drug rehab treatment centers, LOL!)

I can’t wait for the summer squash to start rolling in. Hopefully next week! And flowers… oh, I’m really looking forward to fresh zinnias and cosmos!

menu plan monday

Posted on June 13, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

Maybe this week I’ll actually post something besides my meal plan, but at least it’s a start! I’ve been reading Good Calories, Bad Calories by Gary Taubes and I highly recommend it, especially if you’re interested in nutrition, government, and politics. It is certainly having an effect on the choices I make for our meals. I’ve heard that Taubes’ recent book Why We Get Fat and What to Do About It is excellent too, and not as hard to get through as GCBC.

Anyway… I’m pretty lax about the end of the week, since it’s just me, Noah, and Laura. Drew and Jake will be on a Cub Scout camp-out, so I intend to treat N. a little bit 🙂 Our CSA pick up is on Tuesday, so I’m curious what will be in our second share. I’m ready to start pickling some vegetables, and I’m going to start with turnips if they’re available.

Today I’m not feeling great, so I’m indulging in some comfort food. Hopefully I’ll feel better tomorrow!

Sunday: Tacos
Monday: Grilled chicken paninis with fresh mozzarella and roasted red peppers, broccoli-cheese soup (crock pot)
Tuesday: Gyros in the crock pot (without the pita), avgolemono
Wednesday: Copycat PF Chang’s lettuce wraps
Thursday: Leftovers
Friday: playing it by ear
Saturday: playing it by ear

For more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday feature.

menu plan monday, busy week edition

Posted on June 6, 2011 by Carol — No Comments ↓

I don’t know about you, but around here the days are just packed with activities lately. We have doctor’s appointments, dentist’s appointments, school activities up the wazoo, and I also can’t forget to make my ultrasound appointment to check on my thyroid nodule (hard to believe it’s been a year already). So as school winds down and summer begins, my plan is to just go with easy meals that don’t take much time or brain power.

Speaking of my thyroid, my results came back from the Celiac panel, and they were within the normal range. Nevertheless, I am still going to try cutting back on carbs and gluten. The more I read, the less I want to consume them. Plus, I just feel generally better when I am not bloated after eating bread or pasta. And, of course, there’s my family history of diabetes. The less sugar in my system, the better. With all of the wonderful produce available during the summer, I think it’s good time to work on this. I’m not cutting them out entirely, but I’m going to be a lot more mindful of the carbs I eat. I currently have “Good Calories, Bad Calories” by Gary Taubes sitting on the end table, and as soon as I finish “Catching Fire,” I am diving into it!

Anyway… on to my meal plan.

Sunday: Take-out
Monday: Beef & vegetable stiry-fry
Tuesday: Turkey & bean chili (slow cooker), green salad
Wednesday: Chicken curry, basamati rice, cucumber & onion salad
Thursday: Spinach & swiss quiche, green salad
Friday: Cub Scout picnic – no cooking
Saturday: Winging it — leftovers or something on the grill

For more menu ideas, visit Organizing Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday feature.