fuzz food

Santa's Going to Love Me

2011-12-17T13:18:00.001-07:00

Hey y'all! It's been a while. This has been an extremely busy Fall/holiday season for us! But. I do have my holiday baking list ready. I will be baking next Thursday and Friday. ALL of these delectables. What treats do you make for Christmas? I would love to know what some of your traditions are...

Sweet Roasted Almonds from this here blog, Fuzz Food

Also from this here blog, a family tradition/recipe, Caramel Pecan Logs

Chocolate-Orange Fudge

Low-Fat Gingerbread Men

Lavender Hot Chocolate

Homemade Kettle Corn

Nanaimo Bars (with no nuts)

American-Style Panettone

Libby's Pumpkin Roll

mpm: week of October 31st

2011-11-02T10:52:00.000-06:00

for more menu ideas or to submit your own go here

MONDAY

1-2-3 Soup in bread bowls

TUESDAY

oven baked Fish n Chips (I made sweet potato fries)

WEDNESDAY

20 minute Teriyaki Chicken and Rice

THURSDAY

sweet potato pancakes

FRIDAY

pizza night :: these again

SATURDAY

Tomato Basil Soup

SUNDAY

Autumn Sausage Casserole

mpm: week of October 10th

2011-10-10T23:00:00.000-06:00

For more menu ideas or to submit one of your own, go here!

MONDAY

Fajitas

TUESDAY

Spinach and Mozzarella Ravioli (Costco)

WEDNESDAY

Rachel Ray's Cocunut Curry Chicken :: brown rice

THURSDAY

Crock pot baked potatoes (build your own: broccoli, chili, cheese, sour cream, etc.)

FRIDAY

Pizza Night. I'm thinking these. They are beautiful!

SATURDAY

Veggie Burgers

SUNDAY

Chicken Enchiladas

back with bentos

2011-10-03T14:29:00.001-06:00

I did good at taking bento photos last week! Yes, it's a miracle. This bento has a 1/2 gala apple, pumpkin shaped pb and honey sandwich on whole wheat, a hard boiled egg, baby carrots, and an energy ball.

bento in the laptop lunchbox. Handprint shaped sandwich with pb and j, checkerboard 1/2 apple, carrot sticks, cheese crackers, and homemade apple molasses cookies.

Caesar salad wrap in a tortilla (caesar salad with chicken, shredded carrots, and cheese), purple grapes, and white cheddar pirate's booty.

lemon poppyseed muffin, hard boiled egg, some of my bottled peaches, and carrots sticks

Zucchini pasta, strawberries, cashews, asiago bagel chunk, and carrot sticks

tiny Hello Kitty snack bento lid

Inside Hello Kitty Box: purple grapes and raw almonds.

Our daughter has to take a snack in addition to lunch each day. I usually give her a yogurt, or a fruit, or some kind of made up trail mix. I need ideas for snacks.

peaches!

2011-09-10T10:03:00.000-06:00

Look what I did! I've never canned anything before in my life even though I come from a long line of canners. I always refused when my mom, aunts, and grandma would encourage me to come help them. Now I wish I had let the women relatives in my life teach me other things like making bread and sewing. I just had no desire and probably thought it was demeaning to women to do those things. I was a modern girl! I think if I had to do it alone, I wouldn't enjoy it so much, but doing it with a friend on a whim was actually quite fun. This is her picture. I don't think she'll mind that I "borrowed" it. There were some suspenseful moments like, opening a peach and seeing live earwigs swarming about! Ack! I didn't know earwigs had a thing for peaches.

The process can be long, but it was easy to do. First we rinsed our peaches and separated them into 2 piles. One for canning, and the other for making Peach Pepper Jelly. Then we sliced them and put them in jars. We used quart jars with a wide mouth on top. Then when the peaches were filled to about an inch to the top, we poured fresh apple cider over each jar until it reached the top of the peaches. The apple juice we used was from a local fruit stand. It has a scary warning on it that says it is unpasteurized and if you are a young child, or an elderly person, or someone with a weakened immune system to use at your own risk. Yikes. But we've been drinking it for years and figure it's one of those liability things. Ha ha. Famous last words. After putting lids on each jar, we had a handy dandy canning pot that we put the jars in and boiled for about 35 minutes. As they cool, the lids make a cool popping sound when they are being sealed. They seal as the cool down.

Now that I know I can do it, I want to can everything!

Here are some yummy looking peach recipes:

Vanilla-Roasted Peaches with Raspberries (peaches and raspberries are amazing together)

Grandma's Peach Cake

I've been wanting to make this Peaches-and-Cream Ice Cream Cake for years!

Peach Cobbler Muffins

My simple Peaches n Cream recipe.

Peachy Cream Cheese Jalapeno Spread

Fresh Peach Ice Cream

And there ain't nothin' like a Georgia Peach Pie

mpm: week of September 5th

2011-09-06T09:36:00.000-06:00

for more menus or to submit your own go here

MONDAY

white bean and pesto soup :: toast :: cantaloupe for dessert

TUESDAY

egg burritos (just scrambled eggs in a tortilla) :: grapefruit

WEDNESDAY

Zucchini Pasta :: rotisserie chicken :: grapes

THURSDAY
Cool Taco Salad (Eating for Life recipe, double to feed whole family)

FRIDAY
pizza night. make your own on homemade pizza dough

SATURDAY
brinner (breakfast for dinner) :: Sweet and Savory Crepes

SUNDAY
Chicken and Dumplings

DESSERTS
Peach Cobbler Muffins
White Chocolate Bread Pudding

summer lunches & a bento

2011-08-31T22:25:00.001-06:00

A simple, yet organized bento. Carrots, a peanut butter and honey sandwich cut into squares on Dave's Killer Bread (I used natural peanut butter, and local raw honey incase you wanted to know), cantoloupe, and a pumpkin chocolate chip cookie, cut into 1/4's. She always takes a water bottle with her. She ate school lunch twice this week per her request. Her school serves pretty healthy lunches, so she will probably choose 2-3 days per week to eat there.

During the summer, bentos made an appearance every now and then. But, almost everyday, I served lunch for the 3 kiddos the same way whether we were indoors or outdoors. Wanna see? It's kind of like a giant bento. I went to the dollar store and got this platter with a domed lid. Then I just put in whatever we had on hand. This first one the kids told me they wanted everything to be orange. I did my best. They LOVED eating their meals this way. So I still do it for lunchtime and dinner when I don't have any plans.

carrots, veggie straws, clementine orange segments, cheese cubes, and not orange cucumbers

carrots, raisins, pretzels, bean burritos cut in 1/3's, bananas, animal crackers, and olives in the middle.

blueberries, carrots, cheese cubes, quesadillas, chips, cucumbers, and grape tomatoes.

carrots, cucumbers, bean burritos, strawberries, cheddar crackers, and olives

cheese cubes, hard boiled eggs, roasted sweet almonds, carrots, laughing cow cheese wedges, raisins, rosemary crackers, olives

goldfish, cinnamon muffins, cheese cubes, carrots, grape tomatoes, and hard boiled eggs

pb&j sandwiches, kiwi fruit, pistachios, chicken apple sausage, chips, and cucumbers

mangoes, graham crackers, cucumbers, carrots, raisins, ham and cheese sandwiches, and grape tomatoes

cucumbers, raspberries, cheese sandwiches, tortilla chips, carrots, gingersnap cookies, salsa

Kind of a lot of pictures, but you can see the variety and possibilities of what you can put in these. Whatever they didn't finish at lunch, I would leave it out and offer it as snacks when they told me they were "dying" of hunger. Usually everything got eaten up. They did get sick of carrots and cucumbers. We always have those on hand though.

Street Tacos. Or, I'm Homesick.

2011-08-30T23:12:00.003-06:00

I have a weakness for street tacos. I always have. It's one of the things I miss most about my home state of California. I'm sure you can get them just about anywhere these days, but I have fond memories of my dad taking us to work with him and at lunchtime, he knew where his favorite taco stands were. We're talking, taco stands that sold brain tacos, tongue, and whatever else. My dad is an adventurous eater. He eats anything and everything. I don't even want to go into the foods I have tried that I wouldn't now because I know better. But I trusted him. And it makes for some good stories now. Anyway, back to the tacos. I developed a fondness for a basic street taco and I crave often the flavors. It hit me that I could make my own So Cal style street tacos. So I did. And the results are delicious and surprisingly easy to do!

First, I wanted chicken. You want to make Pollo Asado. This usually consists of oil, vinegar, lime juice, garlic, orange juice, salt, spices such as Achiote paste, etc. You can find a good recipe online. I am lazy and lucky because we have a local indoor farmer's market that sells Pollo Asado al carbon by the pound for pretty cheap so that's where I got this. It is delicious. All I had to do was cook it and chop it into bite size pieces.

Here is my chopped white onions and chopped cilantro.

You can leave the tacos as is with just the juicy, flavorful meat and the onions and cilantro, or you can add a dollop or two of guacamole. Some people like to put pico de gallo and queso fresco, but then it turns into something else entirely and not a street taco.

To make guacamole in a jiffy, just mash the avocados and add salsa to taste and voila. There you go.

Everything you need right here to compile your tacos.

Mmmmm! These were delicious. Usually I use white corn tortillas, but I was curious about yellow. I would recommend sticking with white. You may also want to use 2 tortillas to make your taco as they fall apart easily. Make sure the tortillas are warm when serving. I'm discovering that putting guacamole on everything is maybe a west coast thing? People always seem weirded out when I offer them guacamole as a topping, and HF's family back east never had it until they visited us here. What do you think? Do you put guacamole as a side with all your mexican food? Also, these can be as healthy or unhealthy as you want depending on the ingredients in your asado and toppings you add. I consider these pretty healthy for a family meal. And HF was thrilled to be eating meat. We average maybe once a week eating meat these days.

back to school special

2011-08-23T21:22:00.000-06:00

First bento of 3rd grade: I tried to make it resemble a butterfly. Can you see it?! The two pink silicone cups contain an egg and pistachios. The "body" is a stack of baby carrots, and the head/antennae are green grapes. The little bear thingies are a chinese cookie called, "Golden Bear" for a treat. Simple, yet, some of her faves for her first day.

Daisy holding her Schultüte, or school cone. We started this tradition when Daisy started kindergarten. I found instructions online how to make your own, and we love making them and she looks forward to getting one. The idea is to put some treats and/or school supplies inside. This is what I put in this year. She already had her school supplies. You'll have to turn your head to the side because no matter what I tried, I couldn't get the photo to upload any other way. Grr!

A jumprope, a Pinkadoodle activity book, multiplication flashcards, Mamba (chewy candy) and I thought the giant eraser was funny. It says, "For BIG Mistakes".

This is Day 2 bento: salad with croutons, little container of dressing, 3 gingersnap cookies (Which she said she gave away), an applesauce cup, and a heart shaped peanut butter and honey sandwich. The bread is Dave's Killer Bread. The sports bottle is water.

Instructions for making your own school cone. I just used posterboard and glued tissue paper to the top with a glue stick and tied it together with a ribbon.

mpm: week of August 22nd

2011-08-22T10:45:00.000-06:00

for more menus this week or to submit your own, go here

MONDAY

Burritos! :: we made 7-layer dip yesterday and the leftovers will be the filling for our burritos.

TUESDAY

whole wheat pancakes :: fresh fruit

WEDNESDAY

Black Bean Burgers :: sweet potato fries

THURSDAY

Cool Italian Pasta :: garlic bread

FRIDAY

homemade veggie pizzas on pita bread :: fresh picked peaches

SATURDAY

leftovers

SUNDAY

Lemon Rosemary Salmon :: brown rice :: asparagus

DESSERTS

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Yummy Summer Drinks - Whole Juices

2011-08-16T06:00:00.001-06:00

Sorry again about the photos. I don't have to tell you - beautiful sunny 90 degree day turned cloudy and windy just as I went to take photos. It is time to build that light box...

It has been so much fun making all the drink recipes and sharing them with you. I hope you found some that you can use and love! For our last post together, I am going to share 4 recipes - three I've made and an interesting new one that I have not made. I dare you to try it and let us know what you thought!

All of these recipes have been formulated for blending in a BlendTec Blender or other similar blender. If you don't have one, be cautious. Chop your fruit and veggies smaller and use a little more liquid, add ice last and any other strategy you have for preventing the burn out of your blender's motor.

The Jolly Green Giant (adapted from a BlendTec recipe)

2 -3 cups washed green grapes

1/2 cup fresh cucumber, with or without peel (I peel it)

1/2 cup fresh zucchini, with or without peel (I don't peel it)

1/2 cup frozen sweet peas

1 stalk celery, cut in 3" pieces

1 cup spinach leaves, washed

Place ingredients in blender in order listed. Secure lid and blend. On the BlendTec, use the "whole juice" button. I like to freeze the extra in ice cube trays and use the ice cubes in fruit smoothies. The kids will never know they're getting a serving of veggies.

Optional add ons:

1/2 cup broccoli

1/4 of a medium avocado, peeled

1 oz. wheat grass or other sprouts (equivalent to 2 lbs. green veggies)

1/2 cup tofu

sweetener, to taste

Strawberry-Melon Cooler

1/2 cantaloupe, sliced

1/2 cup pineapple, with juice, chilled

1/2 banana

1/8 inch slice of lemon, with peel

5-6 strawberries

1 Tbsp. honey (optional)

3/4 cup ice cubes

Place ingredients in blender in order listed. Secure lid and blend. On the BlendTec, use the "whole juice" button.

Citrus Carrot Cocktail (a favorite we found on the Vitamix site)

1 cup pineapple with juice

1/2 cup carrots, chopped

1/8 inch slice lemon, with peel

1 cup ice cubes

Place ingredients in blender in order listed. Secure lid and blend. On the BlendTec, use the "whole juice" button. I have to run the pulse button a couple of times on this one at the end just to be sure all the lemon peel and carrot is blended well. This is another one that I freeze in ice cube trays to add to other smoothie recipes.

Last of all - here's one for you to try. I have the ingredients, but didn't get around to it today.

Key Lime-Kiwi Smoothie

Kiwi is the star of this smoothie and Vitamin C and fiber are the antioxidant headliners. Fiber is essential for heart health and weight control and there is a long list of health bonuses for Vitamin C, the immune-boosting, bone-protecting, anti-aging, disease preventing super power.

2 medium kiwi, peeled
1 large ripe pear
1 tablespoon key lime juice or 1/4" slice of lime with peel
2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
1/4 cup water
1 cup ice

Place ingredients in blender in order listed. Secure lid and blend. On the BlendTec, use the "whole juice" button.

You may also enjoy:

Introducing the series

mpm: week of August 15th

2011-08-15T15:34:00.000-06:00

for more menus or to submit one of your own, see here!

MONDAY

Lemon Rosemary Salmon :: wild rice :: asparagus :: fresh peaches for dessert

TUESDAY

Blueberry Cinnamon French Toast

WEDNESDAY

Beef Tacos :: raspberry mint smoothies for dessert

THURSDAY

Chicken Green Chile Enchiladas

FRIDAY

pizza night :: takeout vegetarian

SATURDAY

leftovers

SUNDAY

Lasagna :: garlic bread :: salad

Milkshakes!

2011-08-09T06:00:00.005-06:00

Nothing says summer to me like a milkshake - and the drive up diner where we used to get them. Since I don't have the diner, I'll have to make do with the milkshakes. Here are a few of our favorites - both dairy and non-dairy!

Old-fashioned Chocolate Milkshake

2 cups chocolate or vanilla ice cream

1 cup whole milk

1/4 cup chocolate syrup

Put all the ingredients in the blender. Blend until smooth. I like to add some frozen cherries to this for a chocolate cherry milkshake. Yum! Serves 2-3

Fresh Strawberry Milkshake

1 cup milk

3 cups vanilla ice cream (or strawberry)

1 cup fresh strawberries, cleaned

Put all the ingredients in the blender and blend until smooth. Garnish with sliced strawberries. For a strawberry-banana milkshake, add a banana! Serves 3-4

Refreshing Lime Milkshake

1/4 cup milk

1 scoop lime sherbert

1 scoop vanilla ice cream

Ice cubes (a handful)

In a blender, combine all ingredients. Blend until smooth.

All of the above can be made with Rice Dream or Coconut Bliss or your favorite dairy free frozen dessert, using rice milk, almond milk or coconut milk as a substitute for the milk.

photo credit

Tropical Milkshake (Dairy-free)

3 cups vanilla island Coconut Bliss

1 cup almond milk

1/2 cup canned unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup fresh pineapple

2 ripe bananas, peeled

1 medium papaya, peeled, seeded, chopped

12 strawberries, hulled

Directions

Blend Coco Bliss, almond milk, coconut milk and fruit in a blender until smooth. I have played with this recipe so it fits in my blender - be sure the ingredients aren't too much for yours.

Join us next week for whole juices - and the end of this series.

You may also enjoy:

Introducing the series

Yummy Summer Drinks Series - Smoothies

2011-08-02T06:00:00.001-06:00

photo credit

Smoothies are a big favorite at our house. My oldest son is a competitive swimmer and he doesn't love breakfast. He often swims early in the morning. Just about the only way to get nutrition in him that early in the day is a smoothie. I'm going to share some of our favorites with you, along with tips on how to make them delicious.

In our recipes, you will find dairy, almond and rice milks, Greek yogurt, raw nuts, veggies and fruit. You will not find soy products. Soy is not my friend, so I don't use it. If you like to use soy, I trust you will know just how to substitute it for milk or yogurt, etc.

Tips for making great smoothies:

1. Use fresh ingredients - just like with anything, fresh makes for better taste and better health.

2. Use yogurt - I like Greek yogurt for its creaminess.

3. Add the ice last (unless you have an awesome BlendTec blender).

4. Freeze your own fruits and veggies. You can puree and freeze in ice cube trays, or just freeze them whole - especially ripe bananas.

5. Add powders and fresh fruits last. Fresh berries add a great flavor boost to a smoothie and adding them last keeps that flavor at its best

6. Make coconut water ice cubes instead of tap water ice cubes. This will add nutrients including potassium, magnesium and other electrolytes.

photo credit

Mango Coconut Smoothie

1 cup cubed mango (about 1 medium mango)

1/2 cup cream of coconut (not coconut milk)

1/2 cup pineapple chunks, including some of the juice or syrup

Juice of one lime

Crushed Ice

Combine chopped mango, cream of coconut, pineapple chunks and juice, and lime juice in blender. While blender is running, add crushed ice until desired consistency is reached.

Pour drink into glasses and garnish with additional mango, pineapple, maraschino cherries or coconut as desired.

Strawberry Power Smoothie

8 oz. Almond or Rice or coconut milk

5-6 medium strawberries

1 medium banana

handful of spinach (optional)

1 scoop protein powder

6-8 ice cubes

Combine almond or rice milk, banana, spinach, protein powder and ice cubes in blender. Blend until smooth, then add strawberries and blend well. Makes 2 servings.

photo credit

Raspberry Peach Smoothie

2 cups (raw) cashews, soaked 4-8 hours (overnight), discard soaking water
2 cups water
1 cup raspberries (frozen)
1 cup peaches (frozen)
2 Tbsp agave nectar or honey
1Tbsp vanilla
4 ice cubes

Place cashews and water in blender (BlendTec) and process on high speed until creamy, about 1 minute. Add raspberries, peaches, agave and vanilla and blend until rich and smooth, blend in ice cubes. Serves 2

photo credit

Breakfast Blueberry Smoothie

1/2 cup rolled oats or muesli
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 cup liquid (I use almond milk)

Directions:

Mix the rolled oats or muesli into the yogurt and let sit in the fridge over night. Puree everything in a food processor. Again, I use my BlendTec for this smoothie and it purees the oats so that you hardly know they are there. I can't vouch for the texture of this smoothie in a regular blender.

Best Chocolate Smoothie Ever

8 oz. Dark Chocolate Almond Milk

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1 medium banana

1/2 cup frozen blueberries

6 fresh strawberries

6 ice cubes

Combine almond milk, banana, blueberries and ice cubes in blender. Blend well. Add strawberries and blend in. You can add spinach, protein powder or anything else that sounds good to you.

You may also enjoy:

Introducing the series

Yummy Summer Drinks Series - Mocktails Part 2

2011-07-28T06:00:00.000-06:00

Happy Thursday everyone! I hope you enjoyed Mocktails Part 1. I would love to hear if you tried any of the drinks and how you liked them, or what you did to change them to your tastes. Today is the last of the mocktails. Starting next week I will be talking about smoothies and shakes (healthy!).

Cosmo-not

1 cup crushed ice

3 fluid oz. peach nectar

2 fluid oz. cranberry juice cocktail

1/2 oz. grenadine syrup (I used my homemade raspberry simple syrup)

1 fluid oz. lemon flavored soda

lime wedge or curl

Fill a shaker or lidded container with ice. Pour in peach nectar, cranberry juice and syrup. Strain into a glass and top with lemon soda (personally, this drink is too sweet for me and I like to top with sparkling water or leave out the syrup). Garnish with lime. Serves 1.

Raspberry-Lime Rickey

1 lime, quartered

8 oz. sparkling water

1.5 oz. raspberry simple syrup

Fill a glass with ice. Squeeze each of the lime wedges into the glass and drop in. Fill glass nearly to the top with sparkling water and top with raspberry syrup. Delicious and not too sweet. Serves 1.

Mock Champagne

4 cups sparkling water, chilled

4 cups ginger ale, chilled

3 cups white grape juice, unsweetened

Mix together and serve. Serves 10

Citrus Cooler

2 cups orange-pineapple juice

1 cup limeade

4 cups ginger ale, chilled

Orange or lemon slices for garnish

Combine juice, limeade and ginger ale in a large pitcher. Stir. Garnish with lemon or orange slices. Serves 6.

Exotic Fruit Drinks

1 cup each of assorted fruit juices, kept separate

Sparkling water

Ice cube trays in various shapes

Pour juice into ice cube trays and freeze. For the photo above, I used pomegranate juice. When completely frozen, place in a glass - all the same flavor ice cubes, or mixing different flavors. Pour sparkling water over all.

You may also enjoy:

Introducing the series

Yummy Summer Drinks Series - Mocktails Part 1

2011-07-26T06:00:00.004-06:00

Some of you may feel that it's skirting the edge a bit to be making "mocktails" with a 12 year old. Maybe so. We really had a good time though. My floor is also really, really sticky. Why? I was making mocktails with a 12 year old. It doesn't help at all that he's grown about 3 inches and gained 22 lbs since December. "Hey Mom, I'll bring that drink over to the table. Oops. I spilled a little. Oops, I spilled some more." Was heard more than once. But hey, I've got a mop and I know how to use it.

That's enough chit-chat though, right? On to the recipes.

Margaritas

I went with frozen here because it's hot outside, and we like them.

Spicy Grapefruit Margarita (adapted from bon apetit)

1 habanero chile, halved with seeds removed (if you haven't worked with hot chiles, use caution)
Kosher salt
6 cups fresh pink grapefruit juice (I used light grapefruit juice)
ice cubes

Steep habanero chile in grapefruit juice 1-2 hours, depending on how spicy you want it. Remove chile and pour grapefruit juice into blender filled with ice cubes, pouring juice to level of ice cubes. In my blender, that's ice to about the 4 cup mark. I made this margarita in two 3-cup batches.
Serve in frosted glasses, garnish as desired.

Lime Margarita

Kosher salt or salt/sugar mixture to rim the glasses

1/2 lime, cut in wedges, or desired garnish

6 oz can frozen limeade concentrate

1/4 cup orange juice

4 cups ice cubes

Frost glasses, if desired. In blender, blend the limeade, orange juice and ice cubes until well blended and ice cubes are crushed. Pour into glasses, garnish as desired.

Strawberry Margarita

6 oz can frozen limeade concentrate

1 1/2 cups sliced strawberries

2 Tbsp. strawberry simple syrup

3 cups water

3/4 cup orange juice

4 cups ice cubes

1 liter lemon-lime soda pop, chilled

Combine limeade, strawberries, simple syrup, water and ice cubes in blender. Blend until ice is completely crushed. Freeze in a 2 quart container to use later. To serve immediately, pour 2/3 cup slush into each glass and top off with 1/3 cup soda. Stir, garnish and serve.

You may also enjoy:

Introducing the series

Simple Syrup

Lemony Deliciousness

Presentation

Yummy Summer Drinks Series - Presentation

2011-07-21T06:00:00.000-06:00

Today, I'm going to talk a little bit about decorating those yummy summer drinks.

Presentation is everything, right? It's the reason someone will choose to pick up that drink and give it a try. I'm betting that a study would show (probably has shown) that most people enjoy their food more if it looks pretty.

There are so many ways to garnish a drink. I'm going to share a few that we thought up. If you are so inclined, please leave a comment and share any garnishing ideas you may have.

Frosting the glass. This is always pretty, and it's easy. I use a mixture of 1/3 cup sugar and 1 Tbsp. of kosher salt. I like a little salt kick with my drink. Take the glass you're going to use and get the rim wet. You can dip it in water, or, like me, rub a lemon wedge around the edge of the glass. Then, dip it in the sugar/salt mixture.

Fruit on a toothpick or skewer - pick a fruit that complements your drink in both flavor and color.

Citrus twists or curls are pretty- especially when they don't uncurl and fall in the drink before you take the photo...

Flavored or fruited ice cubes - I use juice. Pictured are stars made of pomegranate juice and stirring sticks made of grapefruit juice. I got the trays at IKEA several years ago.

Fruit, mint leaves or citrus peel frozen into ice cubes - very pretty

Lemon or lime wedges

Mint leaves or edible flowers

I hope you found something fun to try! Join us on Tuesday for mocktails!

Summer drinks - earlier posts

Introducing the series

Simple Syrup

Lemony Deliciousness

Yummy Summer Drinks Series - Lemony Deliciousness

2011-07-19T06:00:00.000-06:00

Homemade Lemonade

Simple Syrup

10-12 lemons - juiced. Should yield about 2 1/2 cups lemon juice

Make your simple syrup and cool. Add lemon juice through strainer. Taste it. If you like it this sweet, cool and chug away. If it's too sweet for you (like it is for me), then add water to taste.

Minty Lemonade Slush

you will notice that this recipe is very similar to the one you will find on Fuzz Food.
That's because it's where I got it...it's kind of like a slushy mint julep.

Lemonade

Ice

Fresh Mint Leaves

Fill your blender about 3/4 full with ice

Add lemonade to ice level.

Add 3 fresh mint leaves.

Blend it until ice cubes are completely crushed.

Garnish with mint leaves, serve, and enjoy! Perfect for a sunny day.

Pomegranate Lemonade

Lemonade

32 oz. pure pomegranate juice.

Chill and serve. Delicious.

Again, you can add water to dilute to taste.

Coming Thursday: Presentation (serving, garnishes, frosting glasses)

If you get a chance to try these - comment and let me know what you think!

Summer drinks - earlier posts

Introducing the series

Simple Syrup

Yummy Summer Drinks Series - Simple Syrup

2011-07-14T06:00:00.000-06:00

photo credit

Simple syrup is the most useful thing. It is mostly used in beverages, but can also be used to keep a cake moist and delicious. Why use it? Well, sugar and water don't mix well in cold drinks. To get a really smooth clear drink, the water and sugar need to be heated so that the sugar completely dissolves. It's really convenient as well, if you're making a large number of drinks. It cuts way down on mixing time.

Simple syrup is really, really easy to make. It is exactly 1 part water to 1 part sugar. Here's the basic recipe I use:

2 1/2 cups water

2 1/2 cups sugar

Bring water and sugar to a boil over medium high heat. Stir to dissolve sugar. Boil 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool to room temperature. Use in your favorite drink mix, or refrigerate until needed. Depending on the drinks you are making, you can soak things (vanilla bean, lemon or lime slices, cinnamon) in the syrup as it cools. Once the syrup is at room temperature, remove the items you were soaking before refrigerating your simple syrup.

Next Tuesday, I will be posting a series of lemonade recipes. The lemonade is made with this simple syrup. Make sure and stop by!

Introducing the Yummy Summer Drinks Series!

2011-07-12T06:00:00.021-06:00

Please welcome a new, regular contributor to Fuzz Food! Jenn from my lavender ave: blogger and owner of Lavender Avenue on Etsy. She's also the executive chef in her house, and like me, she likes to keep it interesting.

I am really excited to be here - guest posting at Fuzz Food. Mrs. Fuzz always has great recipes. Love, love, love the MPM's too, don't you?

Let me tell you where I got the idea for this series. My husband and I just celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary. I know. Wow, right? I looked it up. It's the porcelain anniversary. Huh. It turns out that in my world, the 18th anniversary is the BlendTec Anniversary. Who knew? It's a nice change from the years (5, 10, 14) that were "baby" anniversaries. That said, I am expecting somewhat bigger things for year 20. Just saying. And not a baby.

I really like this machine. We have made tortilla soup, ice cream (with spinach in it) and many, many smoothies. It really does blend just like they say it does.

I thought it would be really fun to make a bunch of different summery drinks, mostly using the BlendTec, but sometimes not, and share them with you here. Some of them will be sweet (lemonade), some will be thick (smoothies) and some will be whole juice (think V-fusion). So join us here every Tuesday and Thursday for the next 4 weeks or so for some Yummy (non-alcoholic) Summer Drinks!

Coming Thursday: Simple Syrup

mpm: week of July 11th

2011-07-11T17:04:00.008-06:00

for more menu inspiration or to submit your own go here

MONDAY

Southwestern Grilled Chicken with Lime Butter :: Cuban beans and rice

TUESDAY

Blueberry Cinnamon French Toast (minus the compote) :: fresh berries :: turkey sausage

WEDNESDAY

Black Bean Sliders w/ Spicy Mango Sauce and Guacamole :: sweet potato fries :: mint lemonade

THURSDAY

Veggie & Cheese Bagel sandwiches :: fresh fruit :: chips

FRIDAY

Amy's Organic Pizza (clearance sale at store-I bought a bunch) :: green salad w/ grape tomatoes

SATURDAY

leftovers day

SUNDAY

Broccoli & Bowties :: fresh fruit :: garlic bread

Sweet Roasted Almonds

2011-06-28T20:54:00.002-06:00

One of our family's all-time favorite snacks. Even the baby loves these. We usually just make them at Christmastime, but now we make them whenever anyone has the hankering for one. They are sooooo easy to make and I love that there are only three ingredients. Well four, if you count the almonds. We give them as gifts at Christmas and Thanksgiving and people always comment how much they taste like the almonds you get at the mall during the holiday season. Well I can tell you this for sure. They are not the same. The ones you buy at kiosks at the mall or at other stores are loaded with corn syrup and other ingredients. Although these are coated in raw sugar, you won't find the ingredients so complicated or so unhealthy. Enough talking. Here is the recipe.

2 cups raw almonds
1/4 cup honey
2 Tablespoons butter (use coconut oil for a vegan treat)
1 cup organic or raw sugar

Spread almonds evenly on rimmed cookie sheet. Place in 350° oven and roast about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until well roasted.

Meanwhile, on medium heat, heat honey and oil to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add almonds; simmer and stir for two minutes, until almonds are evenly coated.

Using a slotted spoon, transfer almonds to a lightly greased baking sheet, or sheet of wax paper and spread in a single layer. Cool slightly. Toss almonds with sugar until coated.

This recipe can be easily doubled or tripled, etc. Great as a compliment to fruit, cheese, and other dishes. Or on their own as we prefer them!

National eclair Day

2011-06-22T14:09:00.000-06:00

image credit

June 22nd is National Eclair Day! I like special days like that. Here's an old post I did of Chocolate Eclair Cake that I make every now and then for the kids. It's a good summertime dessert and super easy to make.

Will you be having an eclair today?

Cherry-Almond Smoothie

2011-06-01T10:43:00.002-06:00

I am not sure where I came up with this recipe. I found it written in my own handwriting in my recipe binder. So either it's a recipe I found and altered to my own liking, or it's from somewhere else. If you recognize it, please let me know the source!

Cherry-Almond Smoothie

1 cup frozen cherries

1/2 banana

1 cup almond milk

1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt (we use Greek)

1 Tbsp. sliced almonds

ice (1/2 cup-1 cup pellets)

Blend all ingredients until smooth. Serve immediately. Serves 4.

dinner is served: Macho Nachos

2011-05-24T09:44:00.001-06:00

Nachos. This is one of our go-to meals when I have zero desire to think of what to make for dinner. I usually have these ingredients on hand.

Basic Ingredients:
Tortilla chips (we used Costco's organic)
Shredded cheese (Mexican blend, cheddar, Monterey Jack, etc.)
Beans (we used S&W chipotle pinto beans for flavor, we also like just black beans)

Optional Toppings:
2 Chopped fresh tomatoes (we used organic)
2 Avocados (a must have for me)
2 finely chopped green onions
a small bunch of cilantro, or to taste
1 cup chopped meat (we used grilled chicken in the ones pictured above, but I prefer mine meatless)
Sour Cream
lime wedges

Preheat oven to 350°. Spread tortilla chips evenly on foil-covered and rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle desired amount of cheese evenly over chips, about 1-2 cups. If using meat, we put the warmed meat on and then the cheese and then bake. Bake for 5-6 minutes or until cheese is melted. While cheese is melting, heat beans in microwave or on stove top. Spread evenly over nachos. Top with desired toppings. Serve with a dollop of sour cream and a lime wedge. Squeeze lime wedge evenly over all and enjoy!

If you don't mind the extra calories, try queso in place of the shredded cheese. Then you don't need to heat anything up in the oven, just make sure your queso, beans, and meat are warm or hot when topping your chips. Delicious. And I love that I can just plop down one pan on the table and everyone can go to town.

mpm: week of May 16th

2011-05-16T12:19:00.000-06:00

to see more menu plans or to join in on the fun, go here

MONDAY

fly-off-the-plate pancakes :: cherry smoothies (recipe to come)

TUESDAY

Ina Garten's Broccoli and Bow Ties

WEDNESDAY

Spanish Beef Stew :: rolls

THURSDAY

Cheesy Stuffed Shells :: garden salad

FRIDAY

pizza night :: pita bread recipe :: toppings-asparagus, red onions, mushrooms, etc.

SATURDAY

Cool Italian Pasta :: garlic bread :: watermelon

SUNDAY

Slow-Cooker Orange-BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches :: garden salad

MPM: week of May 2nd

2011-05-02T09:58:00.003-06:00

for more menu ideas or to submit your own this week, go here

MONDAY

Broccoli and Bow Ties :: fresh fruit

TUESDAY

1-2-3 Soup in bread bowls

WEDNESDAY

Spaghetti Carbonara with Spinach :: Bruschetta (recipes for both to come)

THURSDAY

Curried Chicken legs with carrots, rice, and lime

FRIDAY

Pizza night :: Papa Murphy's Take-Out

SATURDAY

leftovers day

SUNDAY

Happy Mother's Day!

Spinach and Pasta Salad with Grilled Chicken

Flower Pot Desserts from Pioneer Woman

Mint-Lemonade Slush

2011-05-01T21:08:00.000-06:00

I cannot even begin to describe how much I love this time of year. I feel like a bear coming out of hibernation. I've stored up enough hearty winter foods to survive the winter and now I'm ready to be outside and enjoy the light seasonal food of Sping and Summer. One of my favorite things are refreshing drinks, other than water. I love lemonade and this recipe is so tasty and the mint gives it that refreshing quality.

What you will need:

Blender

Water

Ice

Fresh Mint Leaves

Powdered lemonade mix or lemonade (such as Simply Lemonade)

Fill your blender about 3/4 full with ice (We like to buy a big bag of ice pellets from our grocery store or from Sonic for making drinks).
Add water to about the same or a little less than the level as the ice. If you are using lemonade instead of the powder, omit the water and powder and fill to ice level.
Add 3-5 scoops of the powdered lemonade (or depending on brand, fill lid to the 2 quart line with powder).
Add 4-6 fresh mint leaves.
Blend it until ice cubes are completely blended.
Garnish with mint leaves, serve, and enjoy! Perfect for a sunny day.

**NOTES** This is all done by taste, so adjust according to taste.

police bento and bentos 93-96

2011-04-26T09:22:00.001-06:00

Even though it is a Japanese police car, I still have to have one or two of these, don't you think? Love this little bento box. Saw it at Wendolonia. You can buy it here.

Speaking of bentos, I've got a few I haven't posted. I'm still being lazy and stressed!

Easter Bento: Peanut Butter and honey bunny sandwich on Dave's Killer Bread, mandarin orange, baby carrots, Annie's Bunny Grahams (some inside the egg also).

This is inside the Laptop Lunchbox. Potato and rosemary pizza cut into pieces, Liberte yogurt, strawberry slices, pistachios, and a brownie for dessert. Utensils and a water bottle fit perfectly on the side.

World's UGLIEST St. Patrick's Day bento: Yogurt cup with rainbow of fruit surrounding it (strawberries, pineapple, kiwi and a couple of rolos at the end for the pot of gold. Half sandwich on the other side with a super UGLY cheese clover on top. haha! Oh well. Sometimes they are just ugly.

A Spring bento for daddy: Ham and cheese sandwich on Dave's Killer Bread, carrot sticks, pistachios, kiwi slices, and a small handful of chocolate kisses.

MPM: week of April 25th

2011-04-25T09:25:00.001-06:00

for more menu ideas or to submit your own go here

MONDAY
pizza night (take-out)

TUESDAY
Parmesan-Crusted Chicken in Cream Sauce :: cantaloupe

WEDNESDAY
grilled cheese and tomato soup from Smitten Kitchen

THURSDAY
My Brother's Tacos from Pioneer Woman :: minted lemonade (recipe to come)

FRIDAY
Cool Italian Pasta :: garlic bread :: watermelon

SATURDAY
leftovers day

SUNDAY
Breakfast for dinner: fly off the plate pancakes :: sausage :: fruit

Chicken Masala

2011-04-19T23:36:00.000-06:00

Hello Food Blogging World. Not up to much, just BUYING A HOUSE. I've been sick the last few days because of the worry and stress of buying a house. I never thought I would see the day and now here I am- a grownup. Our real estate agent made sure there was a garbage bin next to me as we were signing papers because I got really nauseated. It's a funny thing. I don't stress at all about my husband being a police officer, but make me buy a house and face other grownup responsibilities and I need to be given a tranquilizer. It'll be alright. I hope. I'm pretty sure.

Anyway, I knew that on Saturday I was in desperate need of relaxation and comfort food. I don't know how many people would say that Chicken Masala, basmati rice, and naan would bring them comfort, but as I prepped all the food, watched my bread rise, smelled the flavorful rice steaming and smelled the evolving aroma of the simmering spices, all my worries drifted away, and I was smiling. It truly comforted me. That, my friends, is comfort food! What does it for you? I think a number of foods do that for me, but I usually have to go home to my parent's to feel the comfort and nostalgia I long for. I can't always recreate it myself.

This recipe is from a swap. I traded this Indian curry recipe for the one I'm about to share. HF works with another cop that is from England. He loves cooking and especially loves his Indian food. As you are probably aware, England has a huge Indian culture and influence. He gave us his beloved authentic recipe, for our Americanized crockpot recipe, which is still quite tasty. I know you weren't expecting all this yappin', so now I am going to share it with you! Lucky Skunks...

simmering

side by side basmati rice and masala

dipping some homeade naan

homemade naan recipe to come!

CHICKEN MASALA 

24 ounces fresh boneless chicken thighs, fat trimmed off

4 Tbsp. olive oil

1/2 tsp. cumin seeds

1 onion, thinly chopped

1 fresh green chile, seeded and finely sliced

1 fresh green pepper, seeded and finely sliced

2 garlic cloves, crushed

1 tsp. ginger powder

2 Tbsp. curry powder

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. ground coriander

1 tsp. chili powder

2 (14 oz.) cans of chopped tomatoes

2 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

1 half pint carton of fresh whipping cream

Heat the oil in a large heavy pan (I use enameled cast iron), and fry the cumin seeds for two minutes until they begin to sputter. Cut the chicken into cubes and cook until white. Add onion, green chili, garlic, ginger and green pepper; fry until the onion color is clear, about 6 minutes. Stir in the curry, cumin, coriander and chili powder and cook for another 6 minutes.
Stir in the tomatoes, cilantro, and simmer for as long as possible (a minimum of 5 minutes, but the longer, say an hour improves the flavor). Save a little cilantro for garnish.
Just before serving, pour in about half the cream, add more if necessary to change the color from the red of the tomatoes to a creamy pale orange.
Serve on a bed of good quality rice that has been washed several times before being cooked. (Costco premium basmati rice is very good indeed).
Cheers!

**my notes** The process goes much smoother if you prep everything before you begin cooking. Also, if you are wanting a spicy curry, it is not a hot curry powder you want, but the spicy green chile. If you are using a jalapeno, leave some of the seeds in your curry and that will add some heat. Otherwise, you are going to want a serrano or two, or other chile pepper that packs more heat.

Avocado and Black Bean Salsa

2011-03-15T22:09:00.000-06:00

This is HF's new favorite salsa. We are addicted. I've concluded that this salsa tastes good on everything from chips to salads. I got this recipe from a good friend, Kate, who is the queen of amazing salsas. She doesn't have a food blog so it is up to me to share this with the rest of the world. I hope you like it. It makes a lot and is great for all ocassions and gatherings.

Combine the following ingredients in order:

2 cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 large can diced tomatoes, drained
1 can white shoepeg corn, drained
1/2 red onion finely chopped
1 bunch fresh cilantro finely chopped
Juice from 2-3 limes
4-5 ripe avocados diced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 package Good Seasons Italian Dressing, made according to the package directions
1/2 cup sugar

Kate suggests you serve it with Lime flavor tortilla chips. She also said that the ingredients must be added in the order listed or it won't turn out. I don't see why it wouldn't, but it's true she says.

3.14....

2011-03-14T16:25:00.000-06:00

Happy National Pi Day!

Did you eat some pie today to celebrate Pi? We aren't mathematicians here in the Fuzz household, but any excuse to eat some pie? We will do so. Today we enjoyed a yummy no bake cherry cheesecake "pie". What did you have? Or what would you have if you were to have some pie?

Read more about Pi day here. I've been checking my favorite food blogs to see what pies food enthusiasts are making. Here's a bit that the Huffington Post did with some pictures of some popular pies.

mpm: week of March 14th

2011-03-14T09:57:00.001-06:00

for more menu ideas or to submit your own, visit orgjunkie!

MONDAY
Taco Salad (leftovers from yesterday)
Quick and Easy Method: crushed tortilla chips on bottom of plate or bowl. Top with seasoned beef or chicken, black beans, tomatoes, avocado, cheese, salsa, sour cream, green onions, etc. Voila!

TUESDAY
John's Chicken Masala (recipe to come)

WEDNESDAY
Cold Italian Pasta :: crusty garlic bread
THURSDAY
Kale and White Bean Soup

FRIDAY
Pizza Night :: veggie pizza (from take out)

SATURDAY
leftovers day

SUNDAY
spaghetti with creamy tomato sauce
Beignets

spring is just around the corner (bentos 91 & 92)

2011-03-12T12:30:00.000-07:00

bento for HF: (top left then clockwise)-1 whole kiwi fruit, sliced, chicken sausage with artichoke and smoked mozzarella, english cucumber wheels, and chickadees (like cheese goldfish). Underneath the chickadees are 2 Oreo cookies.

This is an example of another bento in a hurry. I may not be pleased with it aesthetically, but it shows that you can make bentos out of anything lying around pretty much.

Hard boiled egg, frozen blueberries, carrot and cucumber cut into flowers, and 3 Oreos for dessert.

bento #90

2011-03-03T11:38:00.000-07:00

I have been such a lazy cook lately! But here is a bento that I am pretty proud of. Daisy was pretty proud to take it to school too.

Left side: yellow tulip cup with pistachios, a hard boiled egg, a silicone cup of kiwi slices, and a little bitty lemon cake bite.

Right side: a couple of pieces of sweet and sour chicken with a giraffe pick, a bed of fried rice with carrot flower on top. The green stem is from a peeled english cucumber. I just used one of the peelings and cut it in strips to create the stem.

bento #89

2011-02-27T10:36:00.001-07:00

Bento school lunch in a hurry? No problem. I grabbed two silicone cups. Put a handful of grape tomatoes in one, a stack of cucumber coins in the other. Then I put a handful of Boulder Canyon Rice & Adzuki Bean chips in one corner, and a whole wheat snickerdoodle cookie cut in half in the other corner. I always give our daughter a sports bottle of water to take with her school lunches.

Oven French Toast with Orange Apple Syrup

2011-02-24T16:21:00.001-07:00

Can you tell that I love breakfast foods?! This recipe is from Florida's Natural seen here at their website. We liked it very much. For our version pictured above, we used almond milk in place of the milk, and we happened to have fresh Florida oranges (a birthday gift sent from Hale Groves from my Mother-in-law) that we squeezed in place of the bottled juice.

Oven French Toast with Orange Apple Syrup (from Florida's Natural)
Ingredients for French Toast:
•2 eggs
•1/2 cup Florida's Natural® Brand Premium orange juice
•1/4 cup milk
•1 tsp. vanilla
•1/4 tsp. cinnamon
•1/4 tsp. nutmeg
•8 French bread slices, cut 1-inch thick
•1/4 cup melted butter

Ingredients for Orange Apple Syrup:
•3/4 cup Florida's Natural® Brand Premium orange juice
•1/4 cup brown sugar
•1 medium apple, cored and thinly sliced
•1/2 tsp. cinnamon
•1/4 tsp. ginger
•1 orange, peeled and cut into sections

Instructions:
In a medium bowl whisk together all French toast ingredients except French bread and butter. Dip both sides of French bread in mixture and place in buttered 13 x 9-inch baking dish; pour remaining mixture over bread. Refrigerate overnight or bake. Before baking, drizzle melted butter over French bread. Bake at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Meanwhile, in large skillet combine 3/4 cup orange juice and brown sugar; cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally until mixture is bubbly. Add apples, 1/2 tsp. cinnamon and ginger. Continue cooking until apples are tender; add orange sections.
Serve over French toast.

pucker up!

2011-02-21T13:00:00.000-07:00

Ha Ha sucker! He doesn't have any idea that he's drinking like a ton of spinach in his smoothie right now. It's those little wins, you know? I love that in addition to his awesome smoothie mustache he also has a smoothie unibrow. And yes, if you must know, there is also has a bit of a spaghetti beard underneath it all! I just love a messy food face. Is there a food that you eat that makes you look like this afterwards? I'm going to say chocolate. It doesn't matter how careful I am when eating it, it ends up all over me!

bentos 86, 87 & 88

2011-02-17T09:15:00.001-07:00

bento for HF: grapes, regular pringles, string cheese cut into chunks, carrot coins, bridge mix, and a lara bar (peanut butter cookie)

grapes, lara bar, pringles, cheese, carrots, and 2 gingerbread men

grapes, cheese, strawberry yogurt, star-shaped carrot coins, a turkey and cheese star-shaped sandwich, and a dark chocolate heart.

mpm: week of February 14th

2011-02-16T09:05:00.000-07:00

for more menu ideas or to submit your own go here

This is totally late for this week, but I haven't been posting my menus for a while so it's better late than never, right? On Sunday, I made this sweet pork in the crockpot with lime cilantro rice and black beans. I repurposed the meat to use up for 2 or 3 days. I added 1 cup more of salsa and for the black beans I omitted the oil.

MONDAY

Loaded Nachos (I added a little bit of chopped leftover sweet pork). These were delicious!

TUESDAY

Homemade Taquitos with leftover sweet pork. Super easy! {Microwave 10 tortillas inbetween 2 paper towels for 45 seconds so they are pliable. Spread 1/4 cup of desired meat in center of tortilla. Add a sprinkle of cheese and roll up tight. Place seam side down on cookie sheet. Brush taquitos with oil and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes, or until lightly browned. Serve with salsa and guacamole.}

WEDNESDAY

potato soup in bread bowls (recipe to come)

THURSDAY

breakfast for dinner: biscuits n' gravy

FRIDAY

pizza night: veggie pizza!

SATURDAY

leftovers for dinner

SUNDAY

meatball subs :: fruit

valentine bentos

2011-02-14T19:14:00.000-07:00

Daisy's school bento: (bottom) heart-shaped sandwich with strawberry preserves (it fit perfectly on the little tray under the lid), strawberry fruit leather hearts. (top) carrot coins in flower shape, silicone heart with pistachios, silicone heart with jumbo olives and a little panda pick, a quarter of a fuji apple with checkered pattern cut out. I put a little baran (bento grass) to separate the apple from the strawberry pocky sticks that you can't really see in the picture. I put a bundle of 8 with a little ribbon for her dessert.

At home bento for the boys: they are identical. heart shaped turkey and cheese sandwich, pecan sandie on top, cluster of grapes, heart shaped strawberries, and olives on picks.

Bento for daddy: heart shaped turkey and cheese sandwich, pecan sandies, olives, pistachios, strawberries and grapes. Simple, yet it did the job for a Valentine's lunch.

fun snacks for kids: apple smiles

2011-02-09T00:35:00.000-07:00

Remember these? My mom made these for me occasionally when I was a little girl, but they had peanut butter spread on the apples instead of honey, like I used in the ones pictured above. We have a kid with a peanut allergy here, so I have to get creative sometimes.

These are super easy to make and pretty much self explanatory.

You will need:

mini marshmallows
apples (with red skins preferably)
peanut butter (we used local raw honey-it was delicious!)

Cut and quarter an apple.
Cut each quarter into slices of desired thickness (depending on how big you want the lips)
Spread peanut butter or honey on one side of the apple wedge. Place your marshmallow teeth on top of the peanut butter.
Spread peanut butter on an "upper lip" slice and place on top of the row of marshmallows.
Enjoy!

I've been a bad blogger, but I did a guest post a couple of weeks ago over at my lavender ave. It's all about menu planning! Check it out and have a look around. She does a lot of fun things over there.

GOOP

2011-01-18T11:51:00.000-07:00

No it's not Gwyneth Paltrow's website, but a homemade concoction for the kids to play with. We've been talking about alien stuff and watching alien movies (kid ones) all week so we made some gross stuff. Goop is cool because it is pliable, cool to the touch, but it is not wet, it's like play dough, but after you've squished it into shape, it flattens again back to its original form. It is NOT edible. The other thing I made after giving into the kids' begging, was green jello. I put a cup of green grapes in it to give it some extra funk and when I pulled it out to serve, the kids pretended to be excited about it, but really they were horrified. It was hilarious. The kids would not eat that jello for anything. When I jabbed it with a spoon and it jiggled, they ran screaming. I guess I haven't exposed them to jello much. Or maybe it was the grapes making their imaginations run wild.

GOOP
You will need two bowls.

Bowl 1:
1 1/2 cups warm water
2 cups white glue
food coloring

Mix together and set aside.

Bowl 2:
2 cups Borax
1 1/3 cups warm water

Pour the glue mixture into the Borax mixture. Mix with your hands and try to get rid of all the clumps. Store in airtight container or plastic bag. If the mixture starts to get clumpy and dry you just squish it around until pliable again. Eventually it dries out and gets flaky and that's when you know it's time to throw it out.

It does remind me however, of one of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies, Better Off Dead:

"It's Got Raisins In It ... You Like Raisins" from pudge on Vimeo.

mpm: week of January 17th

2011-01-17T14:42:00.000-07:00

to see more menus or to submit your own go here

MONDAY

B: cold cereal :: milk

L: parfaits :: toast

D: Southwestern Grilled Chicken with Lime Butter (this is a family fave we've been making for years) :: couscous :: asparagus

snacks & desserts: apple slices and celery sticks with almond butter :: marshmallow popcorn

TUESDAY

B: almond & cranberry oatmeal :: almond milk

L: yogurt with strawberries and blackberries mixed in :: cornbread muffins

D: Cool Taco Salad (Eating For Life Recipe)

snacks & desserts: carrots (Bugs Bunny style) :: popcorn :: homemade baked donuts

WEDNESDAY

B: cold cereal :: milk

L: pb & j sandwiches :: apple slices

D: Vietnamese Lettuce Rolls (recipe to come) :: chow mein

snacks & desserts: popcorn :: smoothies

THURSDAY

B: steel-cut oats with apples & pecans

L: crackers & cheese :: celery sticks w/ almond butter :: berries

D: BBQ Chicken salad (recipe still to come)

snacks & desserts: toast with jam :: pani popo

FRIDAY

B: grapefruit :: avocado on toast

L: pb & j sandwiches :: apples :: almond milk

D: pizza night :: salad with tomatoes

snacks & desserts: popcorn :: banana ice cream (frozen bananas-recipe to come)

SATURDAY

B: oatmeal (maple & brown sugar)

L: leftovers

D: weekly leftovers

snacks & desserts: no bake no bakes (recipe to come) Carrot-Orange Ice Cream (recipe to come)

SUNDAY

B: cream of wheat :: orange juice
L: twin sun toast :: strawberries
D: breakfast for dinner (brinner) :: Sour Cream Pancakes :: sausage

snacks & desserts: vegies & ranch dip :: creme brulee

lemon cake balls

2011-01-15T10:14:00.002-07:00

There is an amazing sweet shop where I live. The owner makes these amazing little cake bites, much like Bakerella's Cake Balls, but they are very small, and amazingly perfectly balanced in moistness, texture, taste, smoothness, and richness. However, they are expensive. So I tried to make my own.

We try to make sweets just once a week, and I was craving something lemony and cakey, so I thought I would make these. I used Bakerella's Red Velvet cake balls recipe as a guide.

Lemon Cake Balls
1 box lemon cake (cooked as directed on box for 9x13 cake)
1 can cream cheese frosting (I made lemon cream cheese frosting minus the food coloring)
1 package white chocolate bark

1. After cake is cooked and cooled completely, crumble into large bowl or into a gallon ziploc bag.

2. Mix thoroughly with frosting. (If you use the ziploc bag you can just squish the mixture without getting your hands messy)
3. Roll mixture into small balls and lay on cookie sheet.
4. Chill for several hours. (You can speed this up by putting in the freezer.)
5. Melt chocolate in microwave per directions on package.
6. Roll balls in chocolate and lay on wax paper until firm.

I found it difficult to coat the cake balls. It got very clumpy for me and thick. When it hardened, it was very hard, unlike my bakery's smooth and soft coating. Also, I don't like the taste very much of the almond bark. So if I do this again I would want a different sort of coating for the outside. I'll have to figure that out. It also seemed like the lemon cake needed additional flavor. I was thinking maybe a drop or two of coconut extract? All in all, it was a fun thing to make and fun for the fam to eat. I could only eat a couple before I had my fill. They are incredibly sweet and rich.

I still make bentos . . .

2011-01-14T18:28:00.001-07:00

It's been forever since I posted anything about bento! Yes I still make them, but I have not been good about photographing them. And when I do photograph them, I don't post them. So there you have it. I've been incredible lazy in the blogging department for, a while.

This is a very simple bento, but one of my favorites, aesthetically. I found the world's tiniest apples that fit perfectly inside a bento box. For the main part of the meal, I made wagon wheel shaped pasta with peas and parmesan cheese. For a special little treat, I filled a little cup full of Hello Panda cookies from the local Asian market.

eating salad: strawberry spinach salad

2011-01-13T17:40:00.000-07:00

This is from a family cookbook. My lovely sister-in-law makes it often and has perfected the dressing that accompanies this salad. This is great on its own or as an addition to any meal.

Strawberry Spinach Salad

1 bag spinach

1 cup sliced strawberries

2 kiwi or 1-2 cans mandarin oranges (I never use the oranges)

Dressing

1/2 cup sugar (you can use another sweetener such as honey)

2 Tbsp. sesame seeds (optional-i never use this either)

1 Tbsp. poppy seeds

1 1/2 tsp. minced onion

1/4 tsp. paprika

1/4 tsp. Worchestershire sauce

1/2 cup oil

1/4 cup cider vinegar

Mix and serve over salad. Serve immediately.

mpm: week of January 10th

2011-01-11T11:24:00.002-07:00

for more menu ideas or to submit your own go to orgjunkie.com

Our menu is an interesting one this week. We are making lots of Star Wars Cookbook recipes much to the obsessed 4 year old's begging. We are also trying out a few recipes from another children's cookbook, Around the World Cookbook. These experiements are on days Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. We eat a lot of the same things for breakfast and lunch each day, but I included all the meals and snacks for each day this time.

MONDAY

b: bran cereal :: milk :: orange juice
l:   crackers :: cheese :: apples :: carrot sticks
d: sweet and sour chicken :: brown rice :: broccoli

snacks & desserts: popcorn :: yogurt

TUESDAY
b: toast with jam :: orange juice or almond milk
l:   pb & j sandwiches :: popeye smoothies
d: pizza (amazing deal on local gourmet pizzas) :: cucumber coins :: baby carrots :: ranch dressing dip

snacks & desserts: raisins :: mini marshmallows :: Anzac Biscuits

WEDNESDAY
b: steel-cut oats with apples and pecans :: almond milk or orange juice
l:   leftover pizza :: celery sticks :: ice water
d: BBQ chicken salad (recipe to come)

snacks & desserts: frozen blueberries :: La Panzanella crackers :: laughing cow cheese

THURSDAY
b: steel-cut oats with apples and pecans :: almond milk or orange juice
l:   Twin Sun Toast :: Skywalker Smoothies
d:  Boba-Fett-uccine

snacks & desserts: popcorn :: The Force Fruit Fun -drizzled honey in place of sugar

FRIDAY
b: cream of wheat with milk and honey
l:   strawberry salad (recipe to come) :: toast :: ice water
d:  C-3PO Pancakes :: sausage :: orange juice

snacks & desserts: raw vegies and dip :: Mos Eisley Morsels -It's like banana bread without sugar.

SATURDAY
b: hot cracked wheat cereal :: grapefruit
l:   leftovers day
d: leftovers day

snacks & desserts: leftovers or whatever we can scrounge up in the cupboards/pantry

SUNDAY
b: Awful Waffles (recipe to come) :: fresh fruit :: almond milk
l:   Vietnamese Lettuce Rolls :: vegetable fried rice
d: Tandoori Chicken :: Cauliflower and Pea Curry (I don't think anyone will like it, but we are going to try it!) :: naan

snacks & desserts: raisins :: marshmallows :: popcorn :: creme brulee for the grownups after bedtime!

eating salad: apple walnut salad

2011-01-06T21:51:00.006-07:00

Okay. The truth. I hate salad! I love eating healthy, but the only way I can choke down a salad if it's full of tasty things and an excellent dressing. By the time you add all that, it's usually no longer healthy. I am forcing myself to eat salad everyday this week and make it healthy and tasty. Here's my first attempt.

Apple Walnut Salad on Spring Greens with Sweet Poppy Seed Dressing

Spring mix lettuce

2 Fuji apples, chopped (leave skins on)

1/2 cup walnuts, chopped*

1/2 cup craisins

1 small cucumber, chopped

These are just my estimates, but really you can add more or less ingredients to taste. I usually purchase my lettuces at Costco. This is the Organic Spring Mix or something like that. Any poppy seed dressing or other fruity viniagrette will do. See the recipe for the dressing I used below.

1. Prepare dressing and set aside or refrigerate while making salad.

2. Rinse and spin or pat dry the desired amount of lettuce. Place prepared lettuce in salad bowl.

3. Add prepared apples, walnuts, craisins, and cucumbers. Toss.

4. Serve in individual bowls and drizzle with dressing.

Sweet Poppy Seed Dressing

1/3 cup red wine vinegar (or cider vinegar)

3/4 cup sugar (you can also use honey to taste)
1 teaspoon ground mustard
3/4 cup teaspoon salt
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

Blend the first five ingredients in blender until smooth. Then add oil and pulse. Stir in poppy seeds by hand.

This salad was very refreshing to me and I ate a lot of it. Let me know if you have a good dressing for salad that you like to use.

*I like to toast the walnuts also. To do this, set your oven at 350 degrees. Spread the chopped nuts evenly on a cookie sheet and bake for 5-6 minutes, stirring once or twice.

Another delicious dressing with this salad:
Cranberry Vinaigrette (from my aunt)
1/4 cup fresh cranberries
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp. sugar
1 Tbsp. chopped red onion
2 Tbsp. honey
3/4 cup vegetable oil

Blend cranberries in blender until smooth. Add vinegar, sugar, onion, and honey; process until blended. With blender running, gradually add oil. Makes 1 1/4 cups.

mpm: week of December 13th

2010-12-13T07:47:00.008-07:00

for more menu ideas or to submit your own menu see orgjunkie.com

MONDAY pesto-chicken italiano :: crusty bread

TUESDAY Oven French Toast with Orange Apple Syrup :: sausage

WEDNESDAY Quick Shrimp Po' Boys :: oranges

THURSDAY Apple, Ham, and Cheddar Melt :: steamed vegetables

FRIDAY Pizza Night- take out from a cheap, local mom and pop pizza place :: raw vegies and dip

SATURDAY leftovers day

SUNDAY Chicken Tikka Masala (recipe to come) :: brown rice and/or naan :: fresh mango slices for dessert

thanksgiving feast

2010-11-30T05:39:00.000-07:00

This year (and last) I threw in the towel and we ordered our Thanksgiving feast from Mimi's Cafe.

I am tempted to do this every year because it is so easy. All you do is heat it up. My kitchen and dishes were spared, and it was completely stress free. That's what I needed. Oh, and it cost less than if I had gone out and bought everything myself. This meal served 6-8 people.

This is what it came with: a turkey, mashed potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, steamed vegetables with herbed butter, stuffing, gravy, cranberry sauce, a pumpkin pies, whipped cream, and 2 loaves of their carrot raisin bread. If we were getting together with more people, or more family members, we would probably do everything from scratch and everyone would bring a dish, but this is what we have done the last 2 years when it is just us plus a couple of brothers or friends.

A bonus picture from Thanksgiving morning. My soon to be 8 year old daughter loves helping me in the kitchen. A future foodie in the making? I think so! I love how she sticks her tongue out of the gaps where her teeth are missing. . .

peaches n cream

2010-10-13T10:25:00.001-06:00

I really am going to miss all the fresh picked fruit that comes with visits to the farmer's market or a friend's backyard. Especially our local peaches. My goodness these are good. My favorite way to eat them is sliced thin with a little bit of milk. Otherwise known as Peaches n Cream.

Thinly slice one peeled peach into a bowl. (You could leave the skins on if you want.)

Pour in desired amount of milk, almond milk, or rice milk. Perfect as is. You don't need to add sugar.

Serve and enjoy! How easy is that?! I let mine sit for a bit so that the milk gets peach-flavored.

talk about comforting

2010-10-12T14:13:00.000-06:00

I love the brisk chill of Fall. But after spending long amounts outside, I'm ready to come inside and have something warm and comforting in my tummy.

The last time we visited my Grandmother, she asked us if we wanted something to eat. She began rattling off the various things she had in her fridge. I had no preference as I wasn't very hungry, but then she said, ". . . leftover Cabbage casserole . . . " and I said, "wait, you mean that stuff made with the cabbage, hamburger, and soy sauce?! I haven't had that since I was a teenager!" My mom made it quite often growing up.

This past week or two, .I've been craving the comforts of home. I pulled out our family cookbook and just like I thought, grandma's cabbage casserole was in there. As I was putting it together and sticking it in the oven, I was filled with so much nostalgia. The smells of a familiar dish, actually brought comfort and happiness to my soul.

This might not be the best thing you've ever had, but for me it tastes every bit of delicious as any of my other beloved favorites. I'm not sure how my grandmother came up with this recipe, but I think what makes it unique from other cabbage casseroles are is its minimal ingredients and the fact that there is no tomato sauce or cheese of any kind. Blech! The combination of ingredients used in this recipe give it an Asian flavor in my opinion.

What are some of your favorite comforting dishes that fill you with nostalgia?

Grandma's Cabbage Casserole

1 lb. hamburger (I used organic grass fed beef)

1 yellow onion, chopped

3 cups chopped cabbage

1-2 carrots, grated

6 cups cooked rice

Sauce:

4 Tbsp. butter

6 Tbsp. brown sugar

4 Tbsp. soy sauce

Saute meat and onion together until cooked. Drain. Mix together with rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. Add sauce and combine until coated evenly. Pout into 9x13 casseole dish and bake at 350 for 1 hour. I cover mine for the first 30 minutes and cook uncovered the last 30 minutes.

yogurt parfaits

2010-10-11T09:30:00.000-06:00

We love the yogurt and fruit parfaits. They are easy to make and healthy too. That is, if you use plain lowfat yogurt and not the amazing full fat coconut Liberté that I used last time. . . that made it a dessert.

Yogurt Parfaits

1.5 cups plain yogurt

2 Tbsp. pure maple syrup

2 tsp. fresh lemon juice

1 cup fresh fruit (any variety-the one above just has strawberries)

1 cup granola of choice (we used one with almonds)

Place yogurt in a bowl. Add maple syrup and lemon juice and mix until thoroughly combined. Layer alternately in a parfait glass (or any clear glass you would like to use) the granola, yogurt, and fruit. You can do the layers a number of ways; thin layers, or thick like mine above. You can also use other types of cereal in place of the granola or in a combination. Garnish with a sprig of mint if desired and serve! We love how the maple syrup and lemon juice give the plain yogurt a sweet and flavorful taste.

mpm: week of October 4th

2010-10-04T18:26:00.000-06:00

to see other mpms or to add your own go to orgjunkie.com

MONDAY

B:   fruit and yogurt parfaits (recipe to come)
L:   choco-nana shakes :: toast with honey
D:   hootenanny pancakes :: popeye smoothies

TUESDAY
B:   oatmeal :: orange juice
L:   snack platter: crackers :: cheese :: apples :: almond milk
D:   nachos (recipe to come)

WEDNESDAY
B:   steel-cut oats with apples and pecans
L:   chips and guacamole :: small salad with garden veggies
D:   Pesto-chicken Italiano

THURSDAY
B:   oatmeal :: orange juice
L:   pb&j sandwiches :: kiwi fruit :: almond milk
D:   grilled chicken :: spring mix salad with poppy seed dressing

FRIDAY
B:   fruit and yogurt parfaits
L:   nachos
D:   pizza night :: Pioneer Woman's Tomato-Basil Pizza

SATURDAY
B:   muffins :: orange juice
L:   Pioneer Woman's veggie and cheese bagel
D:   eat out

SUNDAY
B:   cold ceral and milk
L:   trail mix :: apple slices :: turkey slices
D:   fajitas :: homeade refried beans (recipe to come) :: mexican rice

mpm: week of September 13th

2010-09-13T12:00:00.004-06:00

to see more menus or contribute your own, go here

MONDAY

b: cold cereal :: orange juice

l: pasta with garlic and parmesan :: peas :: apples

d: pesto-chicken italiano

snacks & treats: popcorn :: watermelon slushies

TUESDAY

b: steel-cut oats with apples & pecans

l: pb & honey sandwiches :: carrot sticks with ranch

d: BBQ chicken salad

snacks & treats: apples and cheese

WEDNESDAY

b: cold cereal & almond milk

l: apples :: carrots :: cheese :: pretzels

d: eat out

snacks & treats: watermelon slushies :: popcorn

THURSDAY

b: cold cereal :: almond milk

l: spring mix salad with garden vegies :: bananas

d: cool taco salad

snacks & treats: crackers :: laughing cow cheese

FRIDAY

b: cold cereal :: almond milk

l: avocado on toast :: mixed fruit

d: pizza night :: raw vegies :: ranch dip

snacks & treats: apples :: peanut butter

SATURDAY

b: cold cereal :: almond milk

l: tamales from the farmer's market :: salsa :: apple slices

d: leftovers

snacks & treats: Oatmeal Squares cereal :: bananas

SUNDAY

b: cold cereal :: milk

l: pb & apricot jam sandwiches :: vegie chips :: orange juice

d: fajitas

snacks & treats: cheesecake :: yogurt :: granola

arancini: italian rice balls

2010-09-08T01:19:00.000-06:00

Annabel Karmel writes some of my very most favorite children's cookbooks. I have made so many yummy recipes from her books and she inspires me to use my own creativity and ideas for recipes and ways of feeding my family.

These rice balls are from her book, Cook It Together. The reason they are so great? The whole family likes these, they can be put in bentos, and for some reason, making these somehow makes me feel as though I am one with the Italian side of the family. They would be so proud.

I usually double or triple this recipe.

1 tsp. olive oil

1 Tbsp. diced onion

1/3 cup risotto rice

1 cup chicken or vegetable stock

3 Tbsp. grated parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

5 1/2 oz. mozarella, cut into 5 x 3/4 inch cubes

2 Tbsp. breadcrumbs

1 egg, beaten with a pinch of salt

oil, for frying

1. Heat the oil. Cook the onion. Add rice and stock. Simmer for 25 minutes until cooked, stirring often. Add 2 Tbsp. Parmesan, salt and pepper.

2. Cool then refrigerate the rice for 3 hours or until firm. Then break it up, divide it into 5 portions, and squash into balls.

3. Make a hole in each ball and push in a piece of cheese. Squish the rice around the cheese.

4. Mix the breadcrumbs with the remaining Parmesan. Dip the rice balls into the egg.

5. Roll the rice balls in the breadcrumb mixture.

6. When the balls are completely coated, fry them in oil for 5 minutes or until golden.

Serve with your favorite tomato sauce. Or eat them like us! Plain.

baked brie with pepper jelly

2010-09-04T01:19:00.001-06:00

First, get your wheel of brie. This one is from Costco and it's prety big. Just over 19 oz.

Plop it into an oven safe dish.

We love pepper jelly. Not just any ole pepper jelly however. Our favorite is an Oregon company called Rose City Pepperheads. We have been known to order a few from time to time. Our favorite is Apricot With Attitude. We have however found a couple of good substitutes at our local farmer's market since.

What you do next: Bake your brie in an oven safe dish without anything on it. Do not remove the rind. You will bake it at 500 degrees for about 7 minutes, or until Brie is soft.

When you remove it from the oven, you will pour your favorite jam or jelly over the top of your Brie. Another yummy way is cranberry sauce. I have a recipe for another version that I will share at a later time.

Yum. The inside will be nice and melty. It is best served pretty much immediately. This wheel serves a lot of people. So if you want to have it for a smaller crowd or just 2 of you, get a small Brie wheel. This is great served with apples, pears, fancy crackers, etc. You can also make your own pepper jelly. This recipe is delicious!

back to school bentos! (#s 81-87)

2010-08-27T09:33:00.001-06:00

For the life of me I could not get this picture to upload in the right direction so turn your heads to the left. This is in the laptop lunchbox. It is seven-layer dip, tortilla chips, cantaloupe chunks, and some cinnamon goldfish.

In the sassy baby mealtime box: whole wheat bread with local honey, baby carrots, cinnamon goldfish, and cantaloupe. This bento was for the 4 year old at home.

In the sassy box again: grapes, chocolate goldfish, deli turkey rolls, vegie straws. (I get a box at Costco that are in snack size bags). This bento was also for the 4 year old.

In the dino dips container: green grapes, cinnammon goldfish, cheddar cheese chunks, turkey, and edamame.

These two twin ones turned out so pretty I think: They are both identical just different color boxes: frozen blueberries, cherry tomatoes from our garden, chicken sausage with apple and gouda cheese, vegie chips.

Ditto.

cantaloupe, yogurt, cherry tomatoes from the garden, and 2 small slices of thin crust cheese pizza.

mpm: week of August 23rd

2010-08-24T12:01:00.003-06:00

to see more menus and share your own, see here!

MONDAY
seven layer dip :: tortilla chips :: watermelon

TUESDAY
hawaiian meatloaf (found at orgjunkie's menu this week) :: rice :: tomatoes

WEDNESDAY
zucchini pizza bites :: salad with garden cherry tomatoes

THURSDAY
hootenanny pancake :: chicken sausage with apple and gouda cheese :: berries

FRIDAY
pizza night :: take-out

SATURDAY
leftovers day

SUNDAY
chicken fajitas

mpm: week of August 16th

2010-08-16T23:53:00.000-06:00

see more menus and/or add your own at orgjunkie.com

MONDAY

tamales (in steamer) :: watermelon

TUESDAY

homemade waffles (recipe to come) :: fruit compote

WEDNESDAY

spinach and pasta salad with grilled chicken :: honeydew melon ::

THURSDAY

potluck picnic at a park

FRIDAY

pizza night on whole wheat pizza dough

SATURDAY

leftovers day

SUNDAY

sauteed mushroom cream soup

bentos 79 & 80

2010-08-12T15:12:00.000-06:00

organic fuji apple slices, 2 wedges of light laughing cow swiss cheese, 2 Rosemary La Panzanella crackers, and leftover Mike & Ikes from our movie date.

This is an ugly face sandwich. It's pb and grape jelly with cheese face shapes, pretzels, apple slices, and carrot sticks with a little container of caramel underneath for the apples

our little garden

2010-08-10T23:33:00.000-06:00

This is our second year doing a little community garden. Community as in two other families. One of the families has a big space at their home that wasn't in use for anything so we all pitched in and built this garden. I took these after spending a good couple of hours weeding.

Above: strawberry patch (with lots of weeds in it still) and tomatoes next to that. We are growing heirloom and cherry. As you can see we've already picked everything.

On the other side of the tomatoes are red and green bell peppers and jalapenos. In the plot next to it, there is currently nothing but weeds. Earlier it had romaine lettuce, broccoli, and peas. Against the gate are various herbs and some swiss chard.

This is our biggest box running along the fence next to where the herbs and swiss chard were in the previous picture. We have zucchini, yellow summer squash, cucumbers (where the wooden lattice is), green beans (where the tall green poles are), and at the very end cantaloupe and baby watermelons.

This is our first take home bounty. I did pick the cantaloupe too soon. I was a little eager. Gardening is a great workout! My body has been sore for days from all that weeding and picking. . .

mpm: week of August 9th

2010-08-09T22:04:00.001-06:00

add your menu or see more at orgjunkie

MONDAY

Apricot Chicken :: broccoli :: rice

TUESDAY
spinach and pesto lasagna :: crusty garlic bread

WEDNESDAY
brinner: Fly off the Plate Pancakes :: sausage :: fruit

THURSDAY
tamales (except not in the crockpot this time) :: cold vegies and melon from our garden

FRIDAY
pizza night :: Papa Murphy's

SATURDAY
leftovers day

SUNDAY
slow cooked pork roast :: salad with garden vegetables :: mashed potatoes

picture of the day: Baby's first In-N-Out Burger

2010-08-06T10:59:00.000-06:00

His face isn't screaming excitement, but he really loved it. He ate almost all of it in one sitting. That's my boy!

Jam Thumbprint Cookies, or "I Love Butter" Cookies

2010-08-05T12:06:00.000-06:00

I remember eating these a few times as a little girl. I know there are recipes for these cookies in vintage cookbooks, because whenever I look through my mom's old cookbooks, or in a used bookstore, I always stop on these recipes and want to make them. I finally did it. I don't remember where the recipe I have came from. It might be Martha Stewart. I like that there are minimal ingredients. This is also a fun recipe for kids to help with because they love making the dents in the middle of the cookies and filling them up with hot jam. I use raw organic sugar. As far as I can tell, there isn't a difference in taste, but I swear you can still see the grain of the sugar and taste the crunch in the finished product. But maybe that's just me.

JAM THUMBPRINT COOKIES

3 sticks unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

1 large egg

3 1/4 cups unbleached flour

3/4 cup jam (any type) we used strawberry

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, beat butter and sugar until smooth. Add egg, and beat until completely combined. With mixer on low, add flour, and mix just until incorporated.

Shape dough into 1-inch balls (about 2 Tablespoons each). Place on baking sheets, at least 3 inches apart.

Moisten thumb with water, and gently press the center of each ball, making an indentation about 1/2 inch wide and 1/4 inch deep. In microwave or on stove, heat jam until liquefied; spoon about 1/2 teaspoon into each indentation. Bake until cookies are golden brown around edges, 18-20 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack, and let cool completely. If storing, place in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 2 days.

mpm: week of August 2nd

2010-08-02T23:59:00.000-06:00

see more menus here

MONDAY
7-Layer Bean dip :: tortilla chips :: watermelon

TUESDAY
Kung Pao Chicken :: rice

WEDNESDAY
Caprese Salad :: bread and pesto for dipping

THURSDAY
Chipotle Grilled Chicken with Avocado Sandwiches :: local sweet corn

FRIDAY
Lemon-Thyme Zucchini on Flatbread (from the Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook p. 315)

SATURDAY
leftovers

SUNDAY
grilled apple and cheese sandwiches :: salad with garden veggies

bentos 77 & 78

2010-07-29T16:00:00.002-06:00

These photos turned when I uploaded them. Oh well. These bentos are definitely similar as you can see.

Bento 77 on top: cucumber coins, a plain mini chocoloate cupcake, mozzarella cheese chunks, 1/2 of a banana, and rice and bean chips.

Bento 78: cucumber slices, monterey jack cheese chunks, a mini pb and chocolate cupcake for dessert, 1/2 of a banana, rice and bean chips, and a almond granola bar.

In other food news this week: I have been baking batch after batch after batch of chocolate cupcakes and peanut butter frosting. I'm trying to come up with the perfect recipe. So far I've found the perfect cake. It's a dark chocolate fudge. The pb frosting I am not happy with yet. Last night's version came out more like a fondant. It was basically a peanut butter cup in cupcake form. So far the peanut butter frosting recipe I posted is the best so far. My reason for so much baking is I want to own my own bakery someday and I need "perfect" recipes, you know? HF takes them to work so other officers and dispatchers can taste test them. They aren't much help. Each batch gets a "these are the best cupcakes ever!" result. I enjoy making their tastebuds happy however.

Also, I've been spring cleaning my kitchen. Reorganizing cupboards, getting rid of things I no longer use, organizing recipe binders, and menu planning.

We are beginning to harvest our garden and do lots of weeding. I will take pics soon so you can see our humble garden.

And lastly, my almost 2 year old son has been wreaking havoc around the house. I found dark brown food handprints going down the stairs to the basement one day, and the next it was Tapatio handprints, including nice thick smears on the carpet steps. In an effort to exert his independence, he refuses to be uncivilized any longer and demands a fork or a spoon when he eats. I would say he gets about 10% of the food in his mouth. He has also excelled in climbing. His newest discovery is the bathroom cabinet above the toilet. He can climb up there and explore inside the cabinets. He discovered that he does not like the taste of deodorant, but he does enjoy exchanging toys for toiletries. This morning I found a zhu zhu pet inside in exchange for q-tips. While this is the stuff memories are made of, my days are filled with very messy cleanups and laundry as you can imagine. But he does get an A for effort.

agua de pepino or cucumber cooler

2010-07-20T22:21:00.001-06:00

You might have noticed that I like to make drinks. This is something that HF loves drinking during the hot summer months. I grew up in Southern California and was able to eat/drink lots of amazing Mexican food and as I raise my own family, I am finding that a lot of this food has made its way into our traditions and habits. I love it. Reminds me of good times and good friends. HF lived in Tucson, Texas, and New Mexico for a time and developed a taste for Mexican food as well. Our four year old son, Luke, loves this drink as well as you can see above.

If you look online, you will see that this drink can be made a number of ways. Some people put lime or lemon juice in theirs, some leave it out. This is simple to make and really does feel refreshing in the summer.

Agua de Pepino

3 cucumbers, peeled and chopped (I happened to use English cucumbers)

3 qts. cold water

1/4 cup sugar, or more to taste

1/2 cup fresh squeezed lime juice

Puree the cucumbers with 1/2 cup of water using immersion blender or food processor. Strain, using cheesecloth or a sieve to reserve just the cucumber "juice" and discard the pulp. Pour into large pitcher. Add lime juice and sugar. Adjust lime juice and sugar to desired preference. Chill and serve over ice.

menu plan: week of July 19th

2010-07-19T13:00:00.000-06:00

for menu plans and submitting your own, go to orgjunkie

MONDAY leftover tamales (these were a hit!) :: Rice and Bean chips :: agua de pepino

TUESDAY spanish tortilla :: sausage :: fruit

WEDNESDAY curried chicken legs with carrots, rice, and lime

THURSDAY White-Cheddar Corn Chowder :: watermelon

FRIDAY Pesto Pizza :: salad with cherry tomatoes from our garden

SATURDAY chicken teriyaki burger with grilled pineapple (also from last week- yum!)

SUNDAY Steamed Kalbi (Korean recipe from a friend-recipe to come)

bentos 74, 75, and 76

2010-07-14T08:59:00.001-06:00

All of these bentos were for HF to take to work this week. Taquitos cut in half to fit, little container of salsa, a grapefruit, segmented, and put in a heart-shaped silicone baking cup, and a coconut cream pie slice for dessert.

Chicken salad sandwich on a French hamburger bun, 2 nectarines, cherries, carrots, and a cup of sweet and salty nut mixture. It has yogurt covered raisins, cashews, peanuts, and pretzel pieces.

Tuna on whole wheat (it's a local made bread. just 5 ingredients- stoneground wheat, honey, yeast, salt, and water), cantaloupe, cucumber slices. What's not pictures is that I included a chocolate peanut butter cupcake, a yogurt cup, and a string cheese. I don't remember what this container was called. Maybe snapware? But it stacks on top of each other and snaps on the sides so they stay in place. The lid on top also snaps in place on the side. It's a very handy dandy size for grownups.

I've been bad. . .

2010-07-13T11:23:00.002-06:00

There is a well known gourmet bakery in our city that has amazing cupcakes. I get them whenever I have an excuse. Well, my absolute favorite is the Chocolate Peanut Butter Cup cupcakes. The combo is to die for. I am not a frosting person, but somehow this lady has managed to create a delightful peanut butter frosting that in large amounts does not make you sick. It perfectly compliments the chocolate cake. Instead of me going in to the shop, I wondered if I could make my own that would taste just as good. The verdict? Just as good, maybe even better. I wasn't very hopeful that this would happen, and so when it did, I looked at the remaining cupcakes and knew that I had to act fast. I sorted them onto plates and delieverd them to friends and neighbors because I knew that I could eat the whole lot easily in one day. I really only had ~~six~~ one, okay?

The only thing I will do differently next time, if there is a next time, is change the cake recipe. I have yet to find the perfect chocolate cake recipe. There's always something not quite right. This one was still good, but I will just say to use your favorite chocolate cake recipe. When I figure out a good one I will post it. If you have one, I would love to know what it is!

Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cupcakes

make your favorite chocolate cupcakes, using cupcake liners. Let cool. While cooling make the fluffy peanut butter frosting:

1/2 cup butter, at room temperature

1 cup smooth peanut butter (we used Adams all natural)

2 cups powdered sugar

3 Tbsp. milk or heavy cream

tiny splash of vanilla (1/4 tsp.)

Beat butter and peanut butter until smooth. Add powdered sugar and mix until combined. Add milk 1 Tbsp. at a time and then vanilla. Beat for 2-3 minutes, occasionally scraping the sides of bowl. Spread a generous amount on cooled cupcakes. Top with chopped Peanut Butter Cups. I didn't have a frosting bag to make the frosting look pretty and professional piled on top, so I just plopped it on there and spread it a little with a knife.

If you love peanut butter and chooclate, then these will make your eyes roll to the back of your head in ecstasy. Or maybe that's just me. This was also a very easy recipe for the kids to help with.

mpm: week of July 12th

2010-07-12T22:19:00.001-06:00

for more menu ideas go to MPM at orgjunkie

MONDAY Beef with Broccoli :: rice :: cantaloupe

TUESDAY brinner: whole wheat pancakes :: sausage :: eggs :: orange juice

WEDNESDAY chicken teriyaki burgers with grilled pineapple :: sweet potato fries

THURSDAY attending a potluck BBQ

FRIDAY pita pizzas :: salad people (I got this book from the library and they have great ideas for making people out of fruits and veggies for the kids to eat)

SATURDAY leftovers day

SUNDAY crockpot tamales

bento 73

2010-07-01T12:57:00.001-06:00

pirate's booty snack, Lorna Doone shortbread cookies, watermelon wedges, and Apple and Gouda Chicken sausage. This is in the Laptop Lunch box.

bento 72

2010-06-24T12:39:00.000-06:00

This is a traditional bento box. It stacks and there's a separate lid that goes over the bean soup portion. This is white bean and pesto soup with strawberries and a roll.

I actually made this one for HF to take to work. He eats smaller meals now, but more often. So this was dinner for him, but he also needed 2 additional meals for a regular shift. So I also included veggie chips, more fruit, raw vegetables and a sandwich.

bentos 69, 70, and 71

2010-06-22T13:00:00.000-06:00

chocolate muffin, blueberry muffin, peanuts in the shell, apple with checkered cutouts, cheese flowers next to apple.

strawberry slices, apple slices, turkey rolled up and sliced in thirds, veggie chips.

chocolate muffin, apple, carrot sticks, cheese cut in flower shape, and goldfish crackers.

lime cream slush

2010-06-21T12:50:00.000-06:00

So I was totally sucked in by Sonic's 1/2 price drinks during happy hour. There are only two things that I really love there. The Cranberry Limeade and the Lime Cream Slush. But, since I am married to "Dave Ramsey", I had to nix the happy hour escpades. Well, whaddya know. I figured out how to make me a home made lime cream slush and cranberry limeade. It definitely goes in the dessert category for me, but it tastes so good during these hot summer days, that I want it all the time.

The quantities aren't exact, but for one serving, I did the following:

1 cup vanilla frozen yogurt (I think this would work with any kind of vanilla ice cream or ice cream substitiute)
1/2 cup limeade (I used simply limeade)
1/2 cup ice pellets

Blend together until slushy, adding more ice or limeade to taste. I thought it was an exact copy of Sonic's Lime Cream Slush.

great aunt eddie's coconut bread

2010-06-15T09:48:00.001-06:00

Another weight gainer. This bread is incredible. It is soft, moist, and just the right balance of flavor. The special thing about this recipe however, is that it's from my great aunt Eddie. She is also the person behind another favorite recipe of mine. I guess it's safe to say that Aunt Eddie knows her sweet breads. If you love coconut, you will adore this bread. I modified the recipe a little bit. I replaced the buttermilk with almond milk (and 1 Tablespoon of fresh lemon juice) and next time I might try coconut milk in place of the buttermilk, although that might make it too coconutty. Oh, and don't bother trying to find pure coconut extract. It doesn't really exist. This bread makes 2 large loaves. I made these in 4 miniature loaf pans. That was pushing it. I would do 5 next time.

Aunt Eddie's Coconut Bread

4 eggs

2 cups sugar (I used organic

1 cup oil

2 tsp. coconut extract

3 cups flour (I used white whole wheat)

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. baking powder

2 1/2 tsp. salt (I used a little less than 2 tsp.)

1 cup buttermilk (I used 1 cup almond milk with 1 Tbsp. lemon juice)

1 cup flaked coconut (I used shredded)

1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour two large bread pans (9 1/4 x 5 1/4). In a large mixing bowl, beat together the eggs, sugar, oil, and extract. Sift together the flour, soda, baking powder and salt. Add to creamed mixture. Beat in alternately the buttermilk, coconut, and walnuts. Bake for 1 hour. When almost finished baking, make the glaze:

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

2 Tbsp. butter

1 tsp. coconut extract

In a small saucepan, bring the sugar, water, and butter to a boil. Remove from heat and add the coconut extract. Mix and pour over warm bread. Let stand for one hour before removing from pans.

mpm: week of June 14th

2010-06-14T15:32:00.003-06:00

Link your menu plan to mpm at org junkie!

MONDAY
Taco Soup

TUESDAY
breakfast for dinner :: biscuits and egg gravy :: fresh fruit :: sausage

WEDNESDAY
Black Bean Burgers :: Spring Salad

THURSDAY
orange sesame ribs

FRIDAY
White Bean and Pesto Soup

SATURDAY
MIL here :: pizza night (homemade tonight) :: salad

SUNDAY
Father's Day :: meatball subs (one of HF's favorites)

possible desserts this week:
Aunt Eddie's Coconut Bread (recipe to come)
pecan shortbread cookies

pani popo

2010-06-13T22:04:00.001-06:00

Do you need to gain 10 pounds in 1 day? Then look no further! Have I got the solution for you. It's called Pani Popo. It's Polynesian coconut bread. Or dessert, as we like to call it.

This week we have been enjoying lots of recipes with coconut. I think I associate summertime with coconut. But this bread recipe was perfect for today. It was rainy and cold, and these were perfect right out of the oven. There are a number of ways to make these, but I usually opt for the easiest and quickest method possible. It is only 3 ingredients.

favorite sweet bread dough from scratch, or Frozen Rhodes rolls

1 can of unsweetened coocnut milk (found in the Asian aisle of any grocery store)

1/2 cup sugar (we use raw organic sugar. think of me saying that in an ultra snooty tone of voice)

Place 15-18 frozen rhodes rolls in a 9x13 casserole dish. Thaw accoding to package instructions. I always do the speed method. While dough is rising, you will mix together in a small bowl the can of coconut milk, and 1/2 cup of sugar. When the dough has doubled in size, you will pour the coconut milk mixture over the rolls and place in the oven at 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Spoon creamy coconut mixture from the bottom of pan over the top of the rolls when serving. Best served warm.

bentos 65, 66, and 67

2010-06-11T14:07:00.000-06:00

3 taquitos cut in half, cheese cubes, mini carrots, cup of grapefruit segments

bran muffin, margherita pizza, grapefruit segments, mini carrots, little cup of peanuts

I couldn't get this picture to turn the right way. Anyway it's a tomato chopped with a teaspoon of ranch drizzled over the top, a sheepherder bun, mini carrots, and some cheese cubes.

making your own carrot juice blends

2010-06-10T15:15:00.000-06:00

I actually don't have my own juicer, but borrow one from my neighbor because she hardly ever uses it. I juiced about 10 pounds of carrots and ended up with two of these large mason jars. Once you've juiced your carrots and any other fruit you may want to use for blending, this is how you start. This is for 1-2 servings.
Start with 1 Cup Carrot juice

½ C Pineapple juice
½ C Apple juice

Add different juices and play around until you find one you like the best and adjust to desired level of sweetness. Other juice options are:
½ Cup orange juice, pear, strawberry juice, grape juice, grapefruit juice, mango, peach, berries, the combos are limitless.

If you are not a fan of the carrot juice flavor, pineapple juice covers the flavor. If you want to add more veggies to your carrot juice, the most popular additions are 1-2 celery stalks, 1/2 of a fresh beet root, and/or 4 inches of seedless cucumber. Some people add fresh grated ginger, but I don't like that..

bentos #63 and #64

2010-06-08T13:20:00.000-06:00

cantaloupe, veggie straws, cucumber wheels, and a jam sandwich with cheddar cheese flower on top

bran muffin with cheddar flower on top, peanuts, veggie straws, and cantaloupe

These were made in the sassy baby mealtime on the go feeding set. I saw them at Burlington Coat Factory for about $5 a piece so I bought 3 of them. They really are handy dandy for bento making. Works for all three kids. But probably too small for HF.

mpm: week of June 7th

2010-06-07T09:53:00.006-06:00

for more menu ideas, visit orgjunkie every monday.

MONDAY

B: steel-cut oats with apples and pecans

L: spinach salad

D: fly off the plate pancakes :: chicken apple sausage :: almond milk

TUESDAY

B: same as Monday :: steel-cut oats with apples and pecans

L: quesadillas :: cucumbers :: grapes :: chocolate milk

D: Pesto-Chicken Italiano

WEDNESDAY

B: blueberry-banana muffins (Jillian Michaels)

L: chicken caesar wraps

D: Black Bean Burgers

THURSDAY

B: grapefruit :: avocado on toast

L: pioneer woman's veggie bagel sandwiches

D: HF's 32nd birthday (he's in Alabama though) :: eat out with kids

FRIDAY

B: grapefruit :: avocado on toast

L: smoothies :: trail mix

D: pizza night :: vegie delight from Papa Murphy's

SATURDAY

B: cold cereal

L: pb and j's :: veggie chips :: orange smiles

D: leftovers day

SUNDAY

B: these scrumptious Bran Flax muffins via handcuffed heart

L: toast and jam :: veggie chips :: orange smiles :: banana slices

D: fillet mignon (thanks to Costco) :: watermelon :: baked potatoes

orange poppy seed bread

2010-06-06T12:27:00.002-06:00

I made this orange poppy seed bread this weekend and it was to die for! Making the orange "magic" dust is totally worth it. The only thing I might do differently next time is cut the almond extract down to 1/2 teaspoon in both the batter and the glaze, instead of the 1 teaspoon for each that it calls for. But I'm not an almond extract fan. So it would be more powerful to me than to others perhaps. This is my favorite bread right now. I think about eating it all the time. Obsess much? Recipe from here. And of course, her bread is more beautiful than mine. I don't know how to get it not to crack down the middle and sink. But it all goes to the same place. My stomach.

fajitas

2010-06-05T10:37:00.002-06:00

My mom made fajitas at least once a week growing up. I thought it was disgusting! Onions and peppers? I would rather die than eat onions and peppers. Well I don't know how it happened, but the things that I hated eating growing up, are the very things I crave and eat often now. They have become my comfort foods. Fajitas are one of these. Except I never make them the same way. I'm always searching and tweaking to come up with the perfect flavor. Right now, I'm pretty happy with what we've come up with. This is from McCormick’s Garlic Lime Fajitas Recipe Inspirations package. I'm kind of an herb and spice snob and don't like certain things dried like onions and garlic and cilantro. I've included my notes in blue.

Garlic Lime Chicken Fajitas

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Marinate: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Makes 8 servings

INGREDIENTS:
1/4 cup each lime and orange juices (I've used lemon juice in place of the lime and it was still good)
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon dried minced garlic (I used 3-4 fresh cloves, pressed)
1 teaspoon dried minced onions (I used 1 Tablespoon fresh white onion, minced)
3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon dried oregano leaves
1/2 teaspoon dried cilantro leaves (I used 1-2 Tablespoons fresh cilantro, minced)
1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
(a couple shakes of chipotle chili pepper)
1 1/2 lbs. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
1 medium green or red bell pepper, cut into thin strips (I use red, yellow, and green, or a bunch of the mini sweet peppers)
1 medium onion, thinly sliced (I always use a big yellow Texas Sweet onion. I really think sweet onions make all the difference, but that's just me)
8 flour tortillas (8-inch) (these are really good on corn tortillas as well)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Mix juices, oil, all of the spices and salt in small bowl. Reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade. Place chicken in large resealable plastic bag or glass dish. Add remaining marinade; turn to coat well. Refrigerate 30 minutes or longer for extra flavor.

2. Cook and stir chicken in large heated skillet on medium-high heat 3 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove from skillet. Add bell pepper, onion and reserved marinade; cook and stir 5 minutes or until tender. Return chicken to skillet. Cook 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through. (I always have to cook my chicken much longer than the directions say to make sure they are done)

3. Spoon chicken mixture into warmed tortillas. Serve with assorted toppings, if desired. (We serve it with sour cream, avocados, salsa, and lime wedges)