Yes we still eat

I just haven't had a lot of time to post!

Recent new recipes include cinnamon rolls that are to DIE for and hamburger rolls.

But this morning I took a staple of ours, Steel Cut Oats, to a whole new level...by mistake.

I put the oats in the crockpot last night on high, but then got tired and turned them down too early. When the baby was up at 6:30 I came to check the oats and they were still undercooked, cranked them to high and went back upstairs. When the other kids got up, the oats were cooked but still a little loose, so I added in a jar of my home canned apple slices, a bunch of cinnamon, some pumpkin pie spice and brown sugar. We eat our oats with a little milk on top, and I swear this tasted just like apple pie a'la mode! It was so yummy, the kids and hubby gobbled it all up! The best part is the oats are organic (and super cheap), the apples are picked and canned by me and everything that is in the oatmeal with the exception of the milk is ok for Teagan to eat too. Gotta love the oats!

The hubster requested meatball subs for dinner, so I need to make meatballs this morning so they can simmer all day and I will use my hamburger roll recipe to make whole wheat hoagies for the subs. The extra dough will be made into whole wheat cinnamon rolls because we will eat them for Sunday breakfast.

Anniversary Cake

On our real anniversary, the one in January, we got married at the magistrate, went to breakfast at Bob Evans with my sister, brother in law and niece, then registered for my baby shower...yeah, we did things the "unconventional" way :) We then had a big "wedding" in July back home on Long Island with all of our friends and family, but don't worry, no one was tricked, they knew we were married already and Haven was the guest of honor!

We don't celebrate either date a lot, we are just happy each year to be with each other, loved and together. Yesterday was our anniversary and the kids had a snow day, Ryan had work, and I had a huge to do list, so we plan to "celebrate" tomorrow with a nice dinner at home after the kids are in bed with a movie on PPV.

However, I cannot pass up an opportunity to make a cake, and in honor of our 10 years of marriage, I decided to make a chocolate chunk cake with peanut butter buttercream and chocolate chunks.

I cheated today and used a boxed mix...sorry, but the baby wouldn't nap and I needed to make the cake with only one free arm. Sometime soon I will post my yellow cake recipe, it is super yummy.

So I made the cake mix, added in a few handfuls of chocolate chunks and split the batter between two loaf pans. Bake as directed and when the cakes come out, sprinkle with more chocolate chunks, let melt and then spread evenly over the cakes. I then put my cakes in the freezer to cool well.

Then make the butter cream. Soften a quarter cup of butter and half cup of peanut butter. Using a mixer, blend the two until well combined and creamy. Add two and a half cups of powdered sugar (I don't like it too sweet, add more if you do) and blend until smooth adding half and half or milk in small increments until the frosting is smooth, creamy and the consistency you desire. Then add a teaspoon of vanilla and mix one more time.

When the cakes are cool, cover with the frosting and chocolate chunks, or if feeling fancy, melt chocolate and drizzle over. So yummy!

Pork Roast with Apples and Cider

You know those times when you are cooking and making things up as you go and you think...hmmm, I should really remember this just in case we like it? Well, thankfully I remembered to keep track of what I did when I made pork roast with apples and cider.

Here is what I did, and the results were super yummy!

I had a nice boneless pork loin. In my dutch oven I added a few tablespoons of olive oil and then diced a good sized sweet onion and added it to the oil. Cooked until the onion began getting soft then added the pork loin and browned on both sides. Added the spices, salt and pepper, a teaspoon or so of paprika, two good pinches of red pepper flakes and a dash or two of cinnamon. Once combined, add a half a bottle of a good quality hard apple cider, reduce heat and simmer about 20 minutes. Then I added two big handfuls of dried apples (we dry our own so I had a bunch )but if you don't have dried apples, you could add a couple of diced apples, be sure to pick something tart that will hold up well. Cover and put in the oven for an hour to hour and a half on a low hear, around 325. Check about halfway through to see if it is getting dry, add more cider as needed.

Check that the pork is cooked, it should be very tender, but if you had a really big loin, it may take longer. Right before serving, take the pork and try to slice it...mine was so tender it pretty much shredded. The cider and apples and onions cooked into a thick sauce which I combined with the pork and then checked for seasoning...I found we needed a touch more salt. Serve over thin egg noodles...delicious!

OK, new year, new goals

Wow, this blog gets neglected a lot, I think it is because I actually have to think about what I am making and then find a way to write it down here. I will try harder.

I think I am going to using labels, to see if that helps me organize my thoughts a bit better. I am also going to try to talk a little about food choices, what choices we have made and trying to feed a family of six good meals on a budget.

Tonight we are having spiced chicken, and I have already posted how I make that. I also made a pot of tortilla soup since the whole family has been sick and the spicy goodness should help.

I am making spicy potato wedges as a side tonight. I have never made these before so I am not sure how they will turn out, but I am tired of spanish rice or white rice or lime cilantro rice....you get the idea.

This is what i did. I sliced about 7 potatoes into wedges and then sliced those wedges in half to make decent bite sized pieced. I then took a bowl and added a generous amount of kosher salt, a few dashes of cayenne pepper, a few more dashes of paprika, some cumin and black pepper. I then added olive oil to the mixture to make a slurry to coat the potatoes and added a few dashes of hot sauce. I then mixed everything together with the potatoes and left to marinate. I will roast them at a high temp, about 425, turning until cooked through and crispy. You can play with the spices as you like, this is the basic process I use for a few potato recipes including lemon dill and parsley potatoes, but I have never spiced them before. Hopefully they will crisp nicely and not be too spicy for the kids, although my kids are spice lovers. The nice part is, you can always customize the spice as you like, or even go mild and do salt and lime. The oil is needed and most stays in the container when you pull the potatoes out, and be generous with the salt, potatoes need salt.

Best Zucchini Sticks ever

Oh my I love fried zucchini, and so does my 9 year old. Being that I was exhausted and needed a pick me up, I asked the hubby to grab two zucchini at the store on his way home and I got to work. In the past, I would simply bread the zucchini in dry bread crumbs that I had seasoned, but today decided I wanted to try a new approach. I scoured the web and looked at all the recipes and decided to do a battered stick. Here was what i did.

Slice a well washed zucchini into sticks (rounds would work as well). I made a bowl of seasoned flour, with salt, pepper and a little cayenne.

I then made the batter using an egg, some milk or half and half and a half cup of flour. I wanted the batter pretty thick, about the consistency of melted premium ice cream or pancake batter. I then seasoned this as well, with salt, pepper, a iittle "complete seasoning" and some tabasco. The first time, I dredged in the dry flour, then put in the batter, then back in the flour. The result was pretty good and the batter held tight to the zucchini, but there was just not a good coating/zucchini ratio. The next time I dredged in the dry flour then into the batter and then into the oil...this was perfect! The batter spreads a bit and creates a case around the zucchini, but there is so much flavor in the batter that I like the extra crunch I get. I cooked over med-high in veggie oil until really super crisp, added a little salt when they were draining and served with blue cheese dressing....oldest child deemed these the best ever and she has eaten a lot of zucchini sticks in her short life :)

Easy Potato Pancakes

I made potato pancakes, or latkes, last night for dinner alongside a delicious brisket in red wine. My neighbor is expecting and indicated that she was craving potato pancakes so I sent some over for her and then she asked if they were easy to make...and well, they are!

Here is the recipe I use, I tend to eyeball it a lot since potatoes come in all sizes.

I use my food processor to grate the potatoes and carrots on the small grate disk. My food processor has a chute, so I have all the shredded material shoot into a huge bowl filled with ice cold water. The water will keep everything from going brown from oxidation.

Last night I made about 25 medium sized potato pancakes. I used 10 potatoes that were medium sized and three smaller carrots. I peeled the potatoes two at a time and then would grate them...I really dislike when my potato pancakes are gray, so small batches are the best trick. Halfway through the potatoes, I shredded the carrots. You can also add in onion and grate just as you do the potatoes and carrots, but my kids don't like it with the onion. For this sized batch, I would use one medium to large onion.

Once all the carrots and potatoes are grated and are happily sitting in the water, get another smaller bowl out and start heating your frying pan. Once warm, add vegetable oil to the pan, enough to coat the bottom well, but you don't want too much, the pancakes need to crisp and fry, but not deep fry! I preheat my pan and oil on a 7 on my stove dial, and then turn it down to 5 when actually cooking.

In your small bowl, beat one egg well. Take two big handfuls of the potato/carrot mixture, squeezing each really, really, REALLY well before adding to the egg. Once both squeezed handfuls are in the bowl, add three or four tablespoons of flour and salt and pepper, stir well. I then always do a small mini test pancake to check for consistency, seasoning, etc. When ready to cook, I use my "tablespoon" from my silverware set to place two or three blobs in the pan, flattening each a bit when they are placed. Don't overcrowd the pan or they won't crisp and watch the heat. There should be some sizzle when placed but make sure they are frying the whole time, and also watch that the heat is not too high. They take a few minutes per side, you want them to get nice and brown and crispy. I then place finished pancakes in an oven that was set to 350 and then turned down to 275 once pancakes were made.

Keep making in small batches until you are done...then eat and enjoy!

Chicken with Two Tomatoes

Oh I cannot express to anyone how much I love tonight's dinner. It is like home, hearth and super deliciousness all wrapped up into one easy meal. I call it Chicken with Two Tomatoes, but really it is with two KINDS of tomatoes. The nice part about this meal is you can add things to it if you like, and it is yummy over pasta or like we are having it tonight, couscous.

OK, here is what I do

For my family, I need 6 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts that I cut into strips. Saute in some olive oil with four big cloves of chopped garlic on a reasonably high heat so the chicken gets a little browned, but be careful not to burn the garlic...if you are worried, wait until the chicken is almost done before adding the garlic. Add in some sundried tomatoes, I used just about half a small jar, and I sliced mine into strips. Then add basil, oregano, salt and pepper to your taste...fresh is best, but dried will work here too. Once the chicken is cooked through, turn the heat off, and add a handful or two of cherry or grape tomatoes that have been sliced in half. The heat from the pan will help warm the tomatoes, but won't make them super mushy. Once the chicken is cooked and tomatoes in, I then make the couscous (or pasta). When the couscous is done and ready to serve, turn the heat back on the chicken, add a few tablespoons of butter and crumbled feta cheese. The goal is to get the butter all melted and the cheese melty and soft, but not all hot and disappearing. Then serve the chicken and tomatoes over the couscous so that it soaks up all the yummy goodness!

This is also fantastic with fresh baby spinach stirred in when you add the butter and feta, other options are capers or olives, yummy!