Tag: om nom nom

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Recipe Friday

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Can it please be fall already? Officially, that first day of autumn was September 22nd of this year.  We are in the midst of the fall season and yet, the thermometer is steadily hanging out around the mid to upper 80s. 

This just won’t do! I don’t have any lightweight clothes in fall colors! I gleefully packed up my shorts, tank tops, short sleeve shirts and flirty dresses.  I have chunky sweaters and fall colored cords and thick heeled leather boots to wear while I go pick pumpkins and apples and drink #SCM.

I tried to bend the weather to my will, foolishly thinking that if I’m dressed for fall, fall will come.  However the fine sheen of sweat that covered me from head to foot handily dispensed with whatever cute fashion forward look I had going. 

This time last year, I was in a boot, but it was hardly the boot I wanted to be wearing. I physically couldn’t tackle the fall list of fun things to do, so you know I’ve been looking forward to this fall and being all about it.  I want to sit outside and feel a chill on my cheeks. I want to eat pumpkin flavored everything and hide the fact that the top button on my pants is open with a big sweater and a cozy vest. I want to get that tingle that comes when you inhale the sharp scent of the season and it invades your nose so thoroughly that all you can do is sigh with contentment. 

C’mon, fall!  Fall already!

Here’s to cooler temps! Happy Friday, y’all!

Meatloaf and Mashed Potato Cupcakes 
recipe found here.

Ingredients

Meatloaf
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onion
½ cup finely chopped carrot
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup ketchup, divided
1½ pounds ground beef, extra lean (raw)
1 cup bread crumbs
2 tablespoons prepared mustard
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 large eggs
Cooking spray    
Mashed Potatoes
4 cups cubed peeled Yukon gold potato (about 2 pounds)
¼ cup 2% reduced-fat milk
¼ cup low-fat sour cream
3 tablespoons butter
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Garnish
3 tablespoons chopped chives
4 pieces of bacon cooked and them chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°. Heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chopped onion, chopped carrot, dried oregano, and minced garlic; sauté 2 minutes. Cool. Combine onion mixture, 1/2 cup ketchup, and the remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a large bowl. Spoon the meat mixture into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Top each with 2 teaspoons ketchup. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until a thermometer registers 160°. Let stand for 5 minutes. While the meatloaf is cooking, make the mashed potatoes. Place potato in a saucepan; cover with water. Bring to a boil; cover, reduce heat, and simmer 10 minutes or until tender. Drain. Put potatoes into a ricer for best results. Return potato to pan. Add milk and remaining ingredients; stir with a spoon to desired consistency.  If they are not creamy enough for you, add up to 1/4 cup more milk – although they need to be stiff enough to pipe on top. Put the potatoes into a pastry bag with a wide star tip and pipe the mashed potatoes on top of the meatloaf.  Sprinkle with bacon crumbles and chopped chives.
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IN: recipes ON: October 4, 2013 TAGS: , , , , , , BY: Hilary
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Just Writing

Yesterday, I was lamenting the fact that I don’t have time to write.  There’s always something to be done, somewhere to be, just a variety of minutiae that must be attended to.

There’s always another book in the Outland Series that I need to keep reading. Good Lord, this woman wrote like  twelve 1600+ page books!  And I Can’t.Stop.Reading.Them.

I need to, though. I mean, I’m not going to get any of my own words on the page if I’m busy gobbling up whatever it is Diana Gabaldon is putting down.  The books, the chores, the phone calls and emails to return — certainly, I could just toss it all over my shoulder and say, “Too bad! I’m going to take 30 minutes (or whatever) and just write.”

Yeah. I can’t seem to deprogram myself to do that.

I put V down for a nap and spread out my reams of papers, notebooks, and calendars.

Then I got on Pinterest.
And Tumblr.

In my defense (truly!), I was looking for a recipe for dinner tonight.  I made some White Bean and Sausage Soup with Collards, but I know the big girls aren’t going to eat that.  I needed a plan B, so I took to ol’ reliable — Pinterest.  The next thing I know, I’m clicking on outfits that I like, crafts I’ll never make and shoes I can’t afford. Then I stuck up on my tumblr so I can look at them again later.  Gah! They got me again!

Then I got hungry. So, I had to get something to eat. Who’s got two thumbs and can’t work on an empty stomach? This gal!

Lunch break, which was promptly consumed leaving me totally unsatisfied.  I pretty much the eat same thing for lunch every day.  Mixed field greens with tomatoes, onions, and grilled chicken.  If I’m feeling exceedingly peckish — which I usualy am — I have some crackers or pita chips on the side.  And, seeing as it is fall (yay!),  means my love affair with pumpkin is in full swing, I have traded in my Garlic Expressions salad dressing for this!

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Seeing as how I had to break up with the Pumpkin Spice K cups (so sad, so sad) and as how I can’t be all up in Starbucks for my #PSL fix. . .

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I went with some salad dressing.  Hey, it helps the greens go down in a most delightful way.  Plus,  and I’m almost embarassed to admit this, my first #PSL of the season was not that great.  I know, I know! I was pretty choked up about it, too.  Last Saturday was the 14th, right? On the radio, the DJ said, seeing as how the 13th is unlucky, the 14th should be lucky.  Taking it one step further, he challenged his listeners to treat themselves to something and thereby make it their lucky day. Well, who am I to argue with the DJ? The girls and I were already on our way to the mall.  We had a great time shopping. They amused themselves while I tried on shoes:

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They brought their own allowance and I let them run amok in the Sweet Shoppe candy store.  So, despite my purchases, turns out it was quite a lucky day for me), I had one more thing that I felt would make the whole day just complete. A #PSL.

We waited in this ridiculously long line, but the girls were troupers.  I wheeled the stroller through the throngs of people and out the door.  The mall is an outdoor mall and the weather was crisp as the sun shined overhead and throughout.  We passed a large fountain in one of the accoutred areas and I fished out some change for the girls to toss into wishes.  I should have wished for a better tasting coffee, but at the time, who knew?

In any event, because I’m dramatic like that, I waited until we were all back and buckled in the car before I pulled out the green coffee stopper and took my first sip.  That one was good.  The next one was, too.  But subsequent sips after that? Eh, not so much.  When we got home, I made the mistake of popping the lid off the cup to peer inside. Blerg! I won’t even tell you what it looked like so that you can continue to enjoy your #PSLs.  Suffice it to say, me and #PSL are taking a break.  Or as they say on FaceBook, “It’s Complicated.”  And no. . .#SCM has nothing to do with it.  Well, not entirely.

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In any event, it looks like I’ve written a little bit.  V, my sweet biscuit, never did fall asleep.  She’s been talking to herself and banging (what I hope is ) her hands against the crib.  Guess I’m being summoned, and for that, I’m pretty sure I can put all that minutiae I was talking about to the back burner.

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IN: recipes ON: September 17, 2013 TAGS: , , , , , , , , , BY: Hilary
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Milestones

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This upcoming week-end has been on my mind for a while.
Saturday will mark the one year anniversary of the great ankle debacle.
Sunday I’m turning 35.
I’m not really sure how I feel about either of these things.

It’s mixed emotions to be sure.  As far as the ankle goes, I’m going to bypass the negative and start with gratitude.  Grateful that I have had such a great recovery. Grateful that my team of docs, when faced with a bizarre injury such as my own, rose to the challenge to make sure that my mobility returned, but also that the lingering scar would be as minimal as possible.  Grateful for all of the help and support that was offered and that I had the common sense to accept.

My family and friends circled the wagons and enabled me to rest up while secure in the knowledge that everything else had been taken care of.  There were days when it was a one-man pity party going on over here, and there were days when it wasn’t so bad.  When faced with the option of an additional surgery to ameliorate some aching and release an ensnared tendon, I was kind of reluctant.  Surgery meant being off my feet, literally. Two weeks of the boot, crutches, not working out, relying on others.  That last one was the biggest impediment to my making a rush decision.  In the end, the chance for increased mobility outweighed anything else.  Sure, my career as a foot and leg model may be over — it never really got off the ground — but I’m walking.  I doubt I’ll ever take that for granted again.

As for the upcoming birthday, it’s significant for a few reasons. First of all, seeing as how my whole ankle thing happened the day before my birthday last year, I really need this one to be less traumatic.  Secondly, while 35 isn’t 40, it’s still kind of big deal.

My mom was 35 when she had me. Her mom was 35 she had her.  At 35, I’ve know the Hubs half of my life.  35, for me at least, feels like I’m firmly and irrevocably an adult.  My youth is pretty much behind me (that ain’t all that’s behind me). I know that I don’t look 35 — what’s that supposed to look like anyway? I don’t feel 35 — what’s that supposed to feel like? I’ll spare you the introspection of what I should have accomplished in my life thus far and the self congratulations of what I have already successfully achieved.  There are equal notches on both sides of that tally sheet. 

For the past six years, I’ve shared my birthday with Co; she was scheduled to be delivered on the 10th, but I went into labor (and denial) on the 7th around noon, holding out hope it was merely indigestion.  Come 1am, we were en route to the hospital and shortly thereafter, Co made her debut.  From that point on, September 8th has been “Co’s birthday”.

Suffice it to say that this year, I kind of don’t want to share. I mean, yeah, yeah, Happy Birthday, kiddo, but — and I’m going to be honest — I’m feeling a little selfish and would like to be fêted on my own.  Yes, I’d like for it to be all about me.  I know, that sounds like I’m turning 5 not 35, but nyah, nyah, nyah!

My dad asked me today what I’d like for my birthday and I about dropped the phone, I was so giddy with delight.  I can’t really recall when I was last asked that question.  In fact, I really had nothing to suggest by way of a gift.  Thankfully, Dad gave me some time to think about it before solidly retracting the offer.  I need to come up with something, pronto.  I hear the tick-tock of the gift clock running down and given the speed with which time is passing, I’ll be turning 36 before I get my hands on something to unwrap. 

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IN: recipes ON: September 4, 2013 TAGS: , , , , , , , , BY: Hilary
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Recipe Friday

Is it Friday already? Is it Friday already? What a difference intonation makes, right? In the summer, the days roll together like puppies playing in the grass.  I find myself checking the calendar as if there is some kind of special delineation between summer week-days and summer week-ends.  When there isn’t any activity planned, there’s no delineation whatsoever. 

Like I said before, we have finished shuttling to and fro between camps and activities this summer.  We are taking each day as it comes, making plans as it suits us.  Today, we hit the Y, the playground, came home for lunch and are just lounging about.  Ideally, I’d be in the hammock in the backyard, dozing as the girls played on the swing set, but seeing as we have neither a) hammock or b) swing set, I’m sitting here at the dining room table while the girls slog through their tutoring.  Yes, I’m the mom that makes her children do math over the summer.  That’s why my kids will be the boss and the others kids will be desk jockeys.  I kid. . .or do I?

The promise of some screen time (laptop, DS, TV, whatever) dangles in front of them, the fattened worm before their gulping guppy mouths.  I’m buying myself 30 minutes of solitude to catnap, read a bit, put more things in my Zappos shopping cart or any combination thereof.  I’ve tried to entice the girls with Popsicles and the sprinkler, but if it’s not a regulation sized, chlorine filled pool with accompanying snack bar, they want no parts of it.  Sure, we hit up the pool pretty regularly at the beginning of the summer and they’ve been fortunate enough to have had my brother take them just about every day during our visit to his house.  The downside is, now that we’re home and with really nothing to do but go to the pool,  I can’t do it.  I’m about a month post-tenolysis surgery and despite my speedy recovery, the doc gave me a no go on chlorine for the foreseeable future. 

This sucks for several reasons. 
1. Swimming laps twice a week was really becoming my jam and not being able to do it is frustrating.
2. The girls really want to be at the pool and swim. I want them to become better swimmer and being landlocked isn’t helping their skill-set.
3. While I could take them to the pool, who the devil wants sit and watch while roasting rotisserie style on the deck, unable to cool off?

4. Hiring a sitter to take them to the pool or to stay at home with V while I take them to the pool is both expensive and still, not a lot of fun (see #3).
5. While the beach is an option, it, too, has it’s fair share of con, not limited to, but include sand in the cracks and crevices of the baby’s legs and in my healing incision.  Not going to the Vineyard this year hasn’t been lost on the girls, either.  They’re quick to point it out whenever someone else mentions their plans for going to the beach.  I’m actually surprised as how much I’m missing the beach myself, long drive, ferry crossing and all. 

So, we’re here in the house, with me extolling the virtues of the sprinkler and them shooting it down at every turn.  They’ll consider the pop-jets at the mall, but only if they can have dinner out.   The negotiations that I endure just to make it from lunch time to dinner time alone are staggering.  We continue our back and forth, I dig up some water balloons. They’re promptly filled and thrown in the time it takes me to clean up the mess from filling them up in the first place. 

So, back to my bag of tricks.  Out come the crayons, paper, scissors, stamps and ink.  They cut and paste, color and doodle. They move onto the library bag and I find them with their limbs artfully draped over the back of the sofa and the arm of the chair.  The baby is sitting in the laundry basket surrounded by stuffed animals, her mouth furiously worrying her pacifier as she squishes a stuffed dog to her chest.  All of a sudden, everything is calm and simple.  Everything is quiet save for the turning of pages and the soft sucking on a plug. 

Is it Friday already? Is it Friday already? I hadn’t even noticed. 

Seeing as we aren’t beach bound this year, I thought I’d leave you with a very summery, beachy recipe.  Happy Friday, y’all!

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Firehouse Crab Boil
recipe found here

 
Note: We used a 60-quart aluminum pot with a strainer insert and did this over a propane burner outdoors. You could probably get away with a pot slightly smaller, such as a 45- or 50-quart pot, as we had about six inches of headspace left in ours. This is definitely doable indoors, but you may need to do it in two large pots on the stove and it will probably take quite a while for the pots to boil.
 
Ingredients

3 to 4 cups crawfish, shrimp and crab boil seasoning (recommended: Zatarain’s powdered form, NOT liquid or bag versions)
3 lemons, halved
2 or 3 large onions, halved
5 heads garlic, cut in 1/2 crosswise
2 dozen live blue crabs
6 pounds new potatoes
4 ears fresh corn, shucked, silk removed and cut in 1/2
3 artichokes, stem end trimmed cut into halves or quarters
2 pounds smoked sausage
1 package hotdogs
1 pound mushrooms

Directions

One day before you plan to boil the crabs: If you have a heatproof, submersible vessel that will hold 1 or 2 gallons of water that may be frozen, fill these with water and freeze until frozen solid.

In a very large (40 to 60-quart) pot combine the crab boil, lemons, onions, garlic, and 6 gallons of water and heat over high heat, stirring, until the powdered seasoning has dissolved. Add the crabs, potatoes, corn, artichokes, smoked sausage and hotdogs. (Everything should be submerged in liquid – if not, add a bit more water to cover.) Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Cook at a rolling boil for 6 minutes. Turn off the heat and add the mushrooms. Cover the pot and let sit for 15 to 20 minutes.

Add the frozen vessels to the hot crab boil and stir occasionally very gently to facilitate even cooling. This will prevent the crabs from overcooking and will also force them to absorb the seasoning from the crab boil. Let the crabs sit in the water for at least 1 hour before serving. You can let the crabs sit until completely cool, if desired, or you can serve the crabs warm.

Using tongs or strainers, carefully remove the crabs from the pot along with the onions, garlic, potatoes, corn, artichokes, sausage, hotdogs, and mushrooms and spread out on large platters or on newspaper lined tables for folks to enjoy.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/firehouse-crab-boil-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

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IN: recipes ON: July 26, 2013 TAGS: , , , , , , BY: Hilary
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Recipe Friday: Snack Attack

I do my best to make healthful food choices, but at the end of the day (literally) I cannot help but stuff my face with sweet treats once the girls are in bed and the sun goes down.  I know that I don’t bring the stuff in the house, then it won’t get consumed.  The thing is, I have a wicked sweet tooth, and he likes to come out at night.

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It usurps my brain power when I’m doing the grocery shopping.  In my head, I see myself buying more fruit and veggies to snack on.  I see a plate with hummus and a few pita chips, maybe small bowl of raw cashews and almonds.  When I’m under the sale banners and fluorescent lights,  however, the sweet tooth takes over.

I’m not buying Tasty Cakes, Ding Dongs, and Little Debbie snack packs, but there are a few ice cream treats, gourmet dark chocolate squares, and the occasional piece of Ukrop’s cake in between the packages of free range chicken breasts and organic baby lettuces.

I’m on My Fitness Pal, a web and smartphone app that helps you track what you’re putting in your bod, your physical activity and so forth as you get in shape.  Several friend of mine are on it as well, and it’s a great way to see what you’re eating, how much, and how many calories are exchanged on a daily basis.  Right now, I’m working on maintenance, so my calorie alotment has been higher than usual.  Since I’ve not been working out, though, it dropped back down a bit.  Regardless, a typical food journal entry for me looks like this:

Breakfast
3/4 C Special K
3/4 Milk
Coffee with 1 packet of Truvia and 2 tbs. of Coffee Mate

Lunch
Big salad (at least 3 cups of lettuce, shredded carrots, grape tomato, sliced red onion, sliced english cucumber)
3 oz. pan seared seasoned chicken breast
1 oz. of chips, crackers or tortillas (I need something crunchy)

Snacks
AM: Navel orange
PM: Second cup of coffee and 2 graham crackers

Dinner
Usually same as lunch, while the Hubs and the girls get pasta, chicken with rice/potato/starch, or some other kind of #omnomnom dinner I’ve found on Pinterest.

Then comes the post-bedtime routine cool-down.  The sun has set, the house is quiet, the washing machine is chugging in time with the purr of the dryer.  The counters have been wiped down, the floor has been swept and I’m flipping through the channels in search of something that has nothing to do with Housewives, Baby Mamas, Pregnant teenagers or Honey Boo-Boo.  My sweet tooth and my tummy text each other and the next thing I know, I’m standing in front of the pantry looking, looking, looking for the Holy Grail of snacks to quell the borborygmi reaching a full crescendo in my tummy.

My sweet tooth is nocturnal.  That’s not to say I’d turn down a cupcake or a piece of chocolate during the day, but I”m more likely to pass on it when the sun is out than when the moon is high.  Besides, the idea of salty snacks before bedtime doesn’t really go with the idea of “Sweet Dreams”.   Here’s a dish of potato chips, dear! Salty Dreams! 

Anyway, most nights, I end up with two squares of Lindt’s Dark Chocolate with Sea Salt and a glass of wine.  Some nights, I add two of those yummy hazelnut pirouline cookies instead of the chocolate. Some nights I add the cookies in addition to the chocolate.  I’m wild.  Some nights, I got back after I’ve already eaten two squares and two cookies and get two more squares and two more cookies.  I tell you, that sweet tooth just has been in it’s grasp.

 It’s just so sweet!
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How can I resist? 
Sure, I could leave you with a healthful recipe that involves fruit or something, but let’s be real.  I could do that and still be in the pantry looking for the chocolate come 8pm tonight.  So instead, here’s a recipe for a  frozen treat that is calorie friendly, provided you just eat the serving size.  Baby steps, little grasshoppers.  Baby steps. 

recipe found here
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Ingredients:

1 (8 ounce) container fat-free cool whip
1/3 cup reduced-fat creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup fat free chocolate syrup

Directions:
1. Mix cool whip and peanut butter together until well blended and smooth.
2. Drop into a 12 cup muffin tin lined with foil liners.
3. Drizzle chocolate sauce on top of each cup with 1 teaspoons of chocolate sauce.
4. Best served cold, so chill in freezer for 30 minutes.

Happy Friday, y’all!
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IN: recipes ON: July 14, 2013 TAGS: , , , , , , BY: Hilary
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Recipe Friday: Paula Deen Edition

I know I’m a day late on getting this post up, but I’ve been laughing my buns off at the way the Twitter-verse has been skewering Queen of Southern Cuisine, Paula Deen. 

For those of you who don’t know, earlier in the week, news media outlets broke the story that Paula Deen, lover of butter and all things fried, had admitted in court to using the N-word, and planning a “slavery themed” wedding.  Not surprisingly, Deen found herself in hot water with her fans and non-fans.

Twitter and Facebook nearly shut down as social media was flooded with racially charged jokes and a hashtag (#paulasbestdishes) aimed at Deen.  While racism is never funny, I couldn’t help but get the giggles over some of the creative ways Deen has been raked over the coals. Here’s an amuse bouche of tweets: Massa-roni and Cheese;  Klan Chowder; Reparations Rice; Separate But Equal Fruit Salad; Cotton Pickin’ Peach Tea; Colored Greens; We Shall Overcome Crumb Cake.

I don’t watch the Food Network. I don’t have any Paula Deen cookbooks.  I can’t withdraw my support from her because she never had it in the first place.  While she’s probably scrambling to save her crumbling empire, issuing repeated apologies and such, I keep thinking, “She sure can’t unscramble this egg.” 

So, with all this sugary, butter, Southern-fried goodness in mind,  here’s today’s recipe.   I have yet to make this – I’m a Yankee, afterall, but it is going to get added to the roster of comfort foods, for sure. Happy week-end, y’all!

Buttermilk Spoonbread

Buttermilk Spoon Bread courtesy of Baking Bites
1 1/2 cups milk (low fat is fine)
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup yellow cornmeal
2 tbsp butter
1 tsp salt
4 large eggs, separated and at room temperature
1 tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 375F. Grease and flour an 8-inch square casserole dish.
Combine milk, buttermilk and cornmeal in a medium saucepan and bring almost to a boil, stirring regularly.
Once it has reached a simmer, turn heat down and cook for another minute or two, until mixture is thickened.
Stir in butter and salt, then transfer to a bowl to cool down to near room temperature. once it has cooled, whisk in egg yolks.
In a medium bowl, beat egg whites to soft peaks, gradually beating in sugar. Fold into cornmeal base, working in two or three additions. Pour into prepared pan.
Bake for about 25 minutes, until spoon bread is set, but still slightly jiggly, and the top is golden brown.
Serve warm.
serves 6.

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IN: recipes ON: June 22, 2013 TAGS: , , , , , BY: Hilary
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Recipe Friday: Mother’s Day Edition

To all the mothers, grandmothers, godmothers, aunts, like-a-mothers and company, have a very happy Mother’s Day.

My kids are sticklers for giving gifts on the designated day that gifts are supposed to be given. So, I have no pictures of their Mother’s Day artwork as they are guarding it fervently until Sunday morning.  Instead, I leave you with this note from a little girl named Emma, whose card has been dubbed “The Best Mother’s Day Card Of All Time” by the Huffington Post. 

It is pretty awesome.

best mothers day card of all time
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She loves her mom more than chocolate, and even more than mustaches! If this mom ever doubted her parenting skills, she can totally rest easy!  And the use of that colorful language, hey, young Emma did preface it with an apology. Let her mother worry about where she learned it after Mother’s Day has passed.

To my own mom, if it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t know of Andreas Vollenweider,  would have never conducted a French Fry taste test between McDonald’s, Burger King and Wendy’s (McD’s was the clear winner), or would have known how to give the stanky eye-brow.  You’re gifts keep on giving and they have served me well. 

Here’s to you, Mom.  Thank you and I love you never seem like enough, but I’ll keep saying it.  I’d planned to post a recipe that you often served during my chilhood, but Lung Yan’s Chinese Restaurant doesn’t have an online menu.

Just kidding. . .they really do. 

XOXO! Happy Mother’s Day, y’all.

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IN: recipes ON: May 12, 2013 TAGS: , , , , , , , , BY: Hilary
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