Thinking about Recipes

It's that time of year when we think about recipes. And I wonder, when my kids come home from college, what food would they want me to make for them? Do I have certain dishes that I make, well no not really. 

When you ask them what they want for dinner, they say Chicken Noodle soup, homemade pizza or mac and cheese (blue box, ugh). But, I want them to remember and ask for certain things. However, just recently, I realized that I don't have recipes.

I have a formula. We tend to eat a protien, two veggies and a starch. Yup. When they leave for college they are going to ask me to make them a FORMULA when they come home?

No. They are not.



So, this week I embarked on my adventure of recipes. First I tried this lovely little diddy from Rachel Khoo, she cooks on a BBC show called Little Paris Kitchen. SO. CUTE. Her and her apartment-- both, very cute. And her food, is so fresh, fast and Mama-Friendly. But different in an, "ooooo, I tried something new" sort-of-way.

So, this weekend, I gathered the ingredients to make Boeuf Bourguignon. While at the meat counter, I had to ask what Beef Shin was. That's ok. It's just stew meat or soup bone meat left on the bone. And I had to get a bottle of wine. The rest was lurking in my kitchen.

Here's the video of her making this beautiful meal. I didn't make the dumplings, but I will soon. I served this over a bed of rice.

And after last nights meal, we all agreed, that this would be a new family favorite. The meat was so tender, the mushrooms were perfect (I threw them in after I pulled the pot from the oven while I set the table... no mushy mushrooms here)!

With a set table, candles simple salad, a bowl of cut apples and some ice glasses of water (Sips of wine for the adults), this easy meal thrown together over lunchtime became a dinner that we'll remember. And perhaps, if I keep making it every so often, something they'll ask for in the future.

Let Dinner Make Itself: Easy Baked Gumbo

The last few weeks I've been thinking about how I cook. And I've been finding ways to make dinner time easier, less stressful and no problem at all. HA! At least with the food.

Last night's supper was particularly easy and tasty. Both kids had two servings!

Since growing up we called this Auntie Sherry gumbo. And for good reason, my Aunt Sherry made it for our large brood whenever we would come to visit. This gumbo is warm and filling, inexpensive, super tasty and not hard at all to make. You find what you have in your kitchen and throw it in the pot.

My mom makes her's on the stove top, my sister in the crock pot, I do ours in our dutch oven on low heat in the oven for half a day. It's versatile and forgiving! We've traded the ham for ground pork sausage, ground beef, polish sausage sliced into rounds or with bacon.

You can trade the brown rice for white rice or for flavored rice (one Spanish and one something veggie or chicken based).

This is how I made mine at lunchtime and when we walked in the door, it was ready to eat at 4:30! We let it sit on the back of the stove for a bit before dinner, our cast iron dutch oven stays hot for a long time!

Aunt Sherry Gumbo
2 cloves of grated garlic
1 small onion diced
2 carrots diced
1 stalk celery diced
1 small green pepper diced
2 small cans (or one large can) of tomato sauce
1 quart of chicken stock
1 pint of water
1 3/4 cup of soaked/sprouted brown rice (you can also use uncooked)
1/2 cup of diced ham
2 whole, frozen boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 slices of bacon
1 bay leaf
salt (generously)
pepper and garlic powder to taste
finely chopped chives to taste

Dice uncooked bacon. In a dutch oven over the stove top, brown bacon until fat is translucent. Remove from heat. Add all remaining ingredients, in no particular order. Stir. Bake with the lid on at 250 degrees for 4-5 hours. Start checking for the rice to be done and the chicken to be done at 3 hours. When chicken is cooked through and rice is tender, take chicken breasts out, dice in to bite size pieces. Return them to the pot. And serve.

Serves 4-5

Eating and sharing

We ate so well this weekend. And I'm still full thinking about it. I love sharing meals, it just fills up my soul. Good food + sharing = heaven.

Lasagna TWICE! First when our friends came over dinner at our 'Italian restaurant' which was just our white paper wrapped kitchen table with candles in the middle. The kids were thrilled about coloring.

Eric made Eclairs... so delicious. Trubey kept stealing them out of the fridge. Aren't they beautiful??

Sunday lunch with more friends-- Lasagna round #2!

Later in the afternoon we took a drive to pick up some paint to finish up a project and while we drove home we all brainstormed dinner ideas. We listed off the ingredients we had in the house and thought how to use them best. Isabel loves soup right now-- and so with the drawer of veggies, left over chicken and some cheese we thought up, broccoli soup with chicken.

Little do they know that now we have an emersion blender.... so much more went into broccoli soup than broccoli!

Broccoli Soup with Chicken
1 small onion (or half a medium onion)
2 carrots chopped fine
2 medium potatoes chopped fine
1 clove of garlic
1 cup of loosely packed spinach
3-4 cups of chicken stock
1 cup of low fat cottage cheese
1 cup whole milk
1 medium head of broccoli and stem roughly chopped
1 tsp of honey
1 piece of bacon
2 tablespoons of butter
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
1 cooked chicken breast shredded (warm)

In a medium stockpot add butter and keep on medium heat until melted then add onions, garlic cook until translucent and soft. Add the bacon, stirring until bacon is cooked. Add potatoes, carrots and broccoli then add about a table spoon of olive oil if needed. Lightly salt vegetables. Let cook for 5-7 minutes. Then add spinach (lightly salt again) and stir until wilted. Add chicken stock and let boil until potatoes are tender. Add the cottage cheese and milk. Salt and pepper to taste. Use an emersion blender or blend in a regular blender in small batches until soup is smooth. (If using a regular blender: return to pot). Add shredded chicken.
Stir in the whole milk and honey. Salt and pepper more if needed.

Serve with shredded sharp cheddar cheese on top and crusty bread! Serves about 4 people.

DinnerTime, Again? Bounty of Zucchini

Hello friends! I’m Alicia from Rae Rae Sisters. I currently reside in Sheldon, a small town in Northwest Iowa and have the pleasure of working with Mary on a daily basis. When I am not at work, I can often be found at local auctions, garage sales and second hand stores looking for my next project.

Staying busy is no problem for me and my husband, (and we don’t even have children yet!) so easy and quick meals with few ingredients tend to be our pace.

It just so happened that we found ourselves with an abundance of zucchini this year. We haven’t started our own garden yet, but the generosity of our friends supplied us many fresh fruits and vegetables, especially zucchini. After multiple loaves of zucchini bread, zucchini cake and zucchini muffins…we were burnt out on the idea of more bread.

Enter Melinda…an old friend who came to the rescue with this super-delicious, super easy zucchini casserole recipe!
(You can even make up a couple casseroles and freeze them for use on one of those busy nights.)

Chicken Zucchini Casserole

1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup shredded carrots
5 tbsp melted butter, divided
8oz carton sour cream (Can substitute 8oz plain yogurt)
1 can cream of chicken soup (Can substitute low sodium cream of chicken soup)
1.5 chicken breasts, cooked and cut up
2 medium (or one large) zucchini, cubed
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup seasoned whole croutons
1-1/2 cup seasoned crushed croutons

Saute onion and carrots in 2 tbsp melted butter.
Boil cubed zucchini in salted water until slightly tender.

In a large bowl, mix together sour cream, cream of chicken soup, chicken breast.
Add sautéed mixture and drained zucchini and stir well.
Add 1/2 cup seasoned whole croutons and stir all together.

Spread in greased (with butter) 9x9 inch casserole dish.

Top with:
1-1/2 cup crushed croutons (spread over top of casserole and drizzle 3 tbsp melted butter over croutons).

Bake at 350 for approximately 40 minutes

Enjoy!

Image from sxc.hu

30 Days of Happiness: Nesting

Nesting, originally uploaded by TheYellowDoorPaperie.

(Day 6) The end of August ushered in an unseasonably cold wind. Which left me wanting to make soup, and the empty bread box told me baking bread was a necessity.

We had an odd afternoon, but it left Isabel, Lucy and I home to finish up dinner. And as the soup simmered away in the crockpot and the bread started baking in the oven. We settled down in the kitchen to watch old episodes of Adventures in Wonderland (a show from the Disney channel in the late 80’s). I picked up my knitting and she colored away. It was just a few minutes, but with all the busyness to get the garden put by, I appreciate these few minutes of rest.

Here is a super easy soup for a winter day. I start it at lunchtime (noonish) and it’s done when we get home (five-ish).

Split Pea Soup
9 cups of water
1 16 oz package of dry split peas (rinsed and picked through)
1/2 cup of pintos, navy beans or white beans (rinsed and picked through)
1/2 cup carrots (about 2 mediums size)
1/4 cup chunked ham
1 small onion (diced finely)
2 medium potatoes (peeled and diced)
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp dry parsely
1 clove garlic finely chopped
Pepper to taste

Combine all in slow cooker. Cook on low for 5+ hours. Do not stir until ready to serve— the peas and beans will break apart and will make a gloppy soup.
Makes about 6 servings

Sticky Salmon from Thimbleina

Hi I'm Elaine from Thimbleina, I am a stay at home mummy to a 5 year old girl and a 3 year old boy who are both very energetic. As family life is a bit full on most of the time, especially as I try to fit in as much creativeness and mindfulness that we can into our lives.

It is therefore very important for the whole family to eat well and as healthy as possible without completely giving up some of the nice things and at the same time getting the kids to participate in the preparation of the food and the growing of food so that they learn what they can from me so that they are equipped to cope on their own later in life when they fly away and go on their own adventures.

Before I became a mummy I was an Accountant and my job entailed going out at 7.00am (sometimes earlier) and not getting back some evening until after 7pm and also involved flying a couple of times a month, so a rather hectic life.

I didn't eat well at all, mostly ready meals, takeaways and restaurant food and not a lot of fresh fruit and veg, my husband was the same.

When my little girl came along I read up on how important it was to feed her the right foods to help her body grow as it should. As a new mum I wanted to do everything right.

My cousin who has a daughter who was 18months older gave me a book she had been given by a friend when it was time to wean her daughter Baby and Toddler Meal Planner by Annabel Karmel. This gave all the information that although I kind of knew, it kind of brought it home as to how important it was for not only her but her daddy and I to eat well to be able to cope with the amount of energy that we would need to take care of her. This book really was the start of my taking more of an interest in cooking, although I had cooked before for friends - fancy special meals from cookbooks which didn't really cater for the everyday meals that need to be cooked in a hurry before the house is screamed down as the littlest member is extremely hungry and can't wait a second longer.

So I pureed like mad and gradually introduced foods and she ate everything with gusto and to my surprise loved all those vegetables that I didn't before think most kids ate. So although the title of this book suggests it is only for small children I still use recipes from it as everyone in the house loves them and we have now graduated onto the After school meal planner which is also by Annabel Karmel.

So in honour of the special place these books have got me to where I now cook all our meals from scratch and bake bread in a bread machine and make biscuits and cakes, I have given a recipe for Sticky Salmon which is a great recipe to get kids eating fish (my kids always eat the fish first in this dish and if full up leave the noodles or rice). If in a hurry I serve with egg noodles which only take four mins. in boiling water. If I have more time I do the Easy Chinese fried rice which goes with it. The sticky salmon was originally in the 'After school meal planner' but I have adjusted it for how we like it.

Sticky Salmon
skinned salmon fillets cut into cubes (I normally use around 250g for two adults and two kids, but you will need to adjust depending on how much you would normally serve)
1 1/2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tbsp dark brown sugar (I normally use muscavado)

Mix sauce up then pour over the salmon which you have put in an oven proof dish with a lid.
Then bake in an oven on medium heat - now how long will depend on how well done you want the salmon, so keep checking on it to check it doesn't dry out, but normally it cooks quite fast, normally by the time I have boiled the water for the noodles and cooked them it is done if the oven was preheated to the right temperature (by the way I am not the most accurate of cooks)

Easy Chinese fried rice (amended from the original recipe)
(serves 4 depending really on how much you would normally serve)
200 g basmati rice
65 g carrots, finely chopped
75 g frozen peas
1 tsp veg oil
1 egg lightly beaten
65 g onion finely chopped
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 spring onion finely sliced
Cook the rice in pan of boiling water as you would normally.
Heat veg oil in frying pan or wok, sauté the carrots and onion, add rice and then pour over egg and move around until egg cooked and mixed in add peas and spring onion and soy sauce cook until peas cooked then serve with salmon on top

Other recipe books which I have found very useful are:
Hugh Fearnley- Whittingstall's - River Cottage family cookbook (good for getting children cooking as lots they can participate in - making butter, marshmallows, minestrone soup, also good on giving basics to adults and kids)
Nigella Lawson's - Nigella Express
Jeanette Orrey's - Dinner lady and second helpings

Summertime Eating

Hi. My name is Aimee Folse from afolse.blogspot.com and I currently live in Orange City, Iowa with my boyfriend and my one year old St. Bernard.

I work in the restaurant business currently, but was blessed to meet Mary and develop a friendship with her when I was looking after her wonderful children, Isabel and Truman. I have a lot of hobbies and they seem to be growing since I have moved to Orange City (there is a lot of free time here), but cooking is one of my favorite.

Mary and I share the love of food and cooking as well as the love for many other creative outlets. She has been an inspiration to me and others with her dedication to her children and her crafts, whatever they may be this week (she has so many).

So when Mary approached me about doing a recipe for her blog, I could not resist, because she is the one who influenced me to do my very own blog, Far From New Orleans, but Still Havin' Fun Dahlin' , so I was honored to contribute to hers and also the perfect recipe came to mind.

When Mary's son Truman turned one year old we gathered at her house for a grill out and this corn salad was the recipe that I brought. It is pretty fitting that I chose this recipe for that reason and of course the Iowa corn relation, but also because almost all of the vegetables or herbs used in these recipes I have growing in my garden. This not only makes this recipe easy, but very inexpensive.

My dinner recipe also involves three separate recipes that can be used to make this one dish, or on their own to make other dishes for the week. I like that a lot- one night of work for three nights of meals, now you can get your evening relaxation in.

This is a great dinner to do with friends or family over the summer. I hope you enjoy as much as we do.

Grilled Flank Steak with a Cilantro Pesto and a Grilled Corn Salad with Tomatoes and Feta Cheese

Ingredients:

Steak:
One flank or Skirt Steak
Gallon Ziploc Bag
1/2cup Soy Sauce or Tamari
4tbs Orange Juice
4tbs Worcestershire Sauce
Two Cloves Garlic - Minced
salt
pepper

Cilantro Pesto:
6 cloves garlic
1 bunch parsley
1 bunch cilantro
handful of Almonds (or Walnuts)
Olive Oil
2 lemons
salt
pepper


Grilled Corn Salad with Tomatoes and Feta Cheese
4 ears of corn (husks removed)
2 tbs of unsalted butter
4 tbs of olive oil
3 garlic cloves minced
1 tsp of fresh thyme
1 bunch of green onions
salt
pepper
2-3 cups of halved cherry or grape tomatoes
8 oz of feta cheese- cubed into 1/2" cubes
juice of 1 lime
juice of 1 lemon
1 tbs (or as needed for sweetness) of agave nectar or honey
bunch of fresh basil chopped
2 tbs of fresh parsley chopped

Direction:
First put the Flank Steak into the gallon ziploc bag with all of the rest of the ingredients. Let this marinate for at least one hour, but can rest in there up to eight hours.
Meanwhile, you can make the pesto ahead of time or make it fresh that day. Combine all of the ingredients from the garlic through the almonds in a blender and blend. Remove the top and begin to pour in olive oil until the mixture creates a paste, continuing to pulse or blend. Once the mixture has the right texture, taste it, and add salt and pepper to your liking. The pesto is then done. There will be more than enough to use for this meal, so I usually recommend using the leftovers for pasta or for a sandwich spread. If you don't want to use the rest of the pesto right away freezing it is a great option. It can stay tasting fresh in your freezer for a few months.
Get a large bowl and place the chopped up green onions, halved cherry tomatoes, and cubed feta cheese in it. Meanwhile, once the flank steak has marinated to your liking heat up the grill. Once the grill is hot lay your corn on it, brushing it with butter, salt, and pepper, as it cooks. Allow each side to get some brown coloring on it. This should not take too long. In a separate bowl from the rest of the salad ingredients, hold the corn by the tip and cut the browned kernels off of it, allowing them to fall into the bowl. While the corn is hot, mix with it the chopped garlic and the thyme. Let this mixture cool for a bit. While the corn mixture is cooling place your flank steak on the grill. Grill the steak to your desired temperature of doneness and then let it rest for at least ten minutes. After the meat has rested, slice it into quarter inch slices.
Once that is finished and the corn mixture has cooled, you can add it to the other bowl with the tomato salad mixture. Pour in the lime juice, lemon juice, and agave nectar over the corn and tomato salad. Fold all of the salad ingredients together gently, trying not to break up the feta cheese. Lastly add the basil and parsley and gently fold in right before serving.

(with the left over steak and salad- I get some tortillas and guacamole and make fancy burritos for the next nights dinner)

To serve: Place a few slices of the flank steak on a plate with a dollop of the pesto on top and finish it with a side of the corn and tomato salad. I would suggest a nice fruity sangria or a pinot noir with this if you are having a dinner party, but if it is just a weekly meal even making a refreshing homemade lime-aid would make this supper seem really special.

If you want a dessert to finish this out- place some peaches on the grill. Truly a peach has never tasted so sweet until you have had it grilled, top it with some ice cream or crumbled cookies and you are set.

Thanks I hope you enjoyed this recipe from me and my family...

Chicken Stir-fry with Soba Noodles

Here is the first installment, DinnerTime, Again?

It seems lately I’ve been pulling teeth to get my children to eat. They all of a sudden don’t like things they’ve always adored. Boo.

Instead of getting too discouraged, I’ve been experimenting making things I know they love and sneaking some good stuff into it.

This first recipe was based on chicken teriyaki. They love Asian noodle dishes so we bought some Soba noodles, made from buckwheat (pasta with dietary fiber, it can’t be true!). If you’re thinking about the crunchy and heavy whole wheat noodles from the grocery store, you’re thinking is sooo wrong. These are a great texture, and they have a slight nutty flavor but very mild. It is complemented in the dish, so it isn’t a stand out flavor.

I’ve gotten asked every night since by Isabel if we’re having this again.

Chicken Stir fry with Soba Noodles

1 package of soba noodles, made per the instructions on the box
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut up
1/2 cup of toasted sesame marinade (I usually make my own but I had some in my fridge).
1 small red bell pepper chopped pretty fine
1 small yellow pepper chopped pretty fine
2 carrots cut into thin rounds
1/2 small onion chopped very fine
2 garlic cloves chopped very fine
2 tbsp oil
2 tbsp soy sauce (or more)

Marinate chicken for up to 4 hours toasted sesame marinade. I do mine for about 30 minutes. Make the soba noodles while everything else cooks. Draining, add soy sauce to keep from sticking.

In a large fry pan, heat oil. Then add peppers, onion, garlic, and carrots. Cook on medium-high heat until carrots are almost tender. Then add chicken and all the marinade to the fry pan, until chicken is cooked thoroughly. Pour chicken mixture onto the soba noodles and toss until coated. If you need a little more “sauce” you can add a little more of the marinade sauce (from the bottle... never use the raw chicken marinade as a sauce if it’s not cooked. You are smart enough to know this... but just a reminder).
Serves 4.

Izzo mistook the peppers for carrots. YES!

If you try this reipe, I’d love to hear how it goes.

:::::::::
Again if you have a recipe to add to DinnerTime, Again? Check out the button on the left for instructions.
*You can buy Soba noodles online at amazon grocery

DinnerTime, Again. How to join in!

Want to join DinnerTime, Again?

These are some things we’re looking for:
A photo of the dish if possible, if not send one of you (and your kids and dog..... You’re garden....) cooking or whatnot. If not possible, no worries.

A story or an intro of why you love cooking. Or how it’s changed now that you (have kids, moved to a different region, since whatever.....)

The recipe— with clear easy to follow directions. I would like these to be ORIGINAL or based on this recipe (give a link and the original author) but I did this totally different because....

A two or three sentence bio about yourself.

Email to theyellowdoorpaperie[at]gmail[dot]com

Let’s EAT!

Summer Uniform: Swimsuit and Boots

When you see tomorrow's post you'll see why I decided to remember this...


Please check out two opportunities for you to participate in here! Dinnertime, Again! and My GreenSpace! I'd love to hear from you!

Ahoy, Maties!
We've graduated from fairy princesses straight to Pirates. Our beloved Captain, Grandma P bought us a pirate ship.

Truman Loves his new backyard playset he recieved for his birthday... Isabel loves it even more. When the box came she said, "Look Mom! Grandma P got us a PARK!"

Well, the PARK slide now slides into the baby pool which transformed it from a regular plaything to a vessel in the open ocean. And with a little lingo coaxing from the super fun, Aimee, Isabel now exclaims, "Arrg... I'm pirate Biz-a-bel!"


********


Isabel discovered how to work the sprayer on the hose, claiming to help Daddy water. I believe what she likes more is to water Daddy!



Here she is on our nature parade. We were going on a nature walk and on the way out the door she grabbed two metal pot lids for cymbals and marched all the way to Grandma Bonnies house.

Do you notice how often she wears those boots?

Two opportunities!

We were able to spend so much time outside and that has really cleared my mind— perhaps blown out the cobwebs that come with winter and living in the indoors. I’m wondering if other people feel that way too. I think green spaces and sunshine make me a better person. This weekend was filled with green spaces, weeding and planting. Perhaps a metaphor for my brain. To clear out the old and plant the new.

With that in mind, I’ve decided to make two new sections that you can participate in!



My GreenSpace— A collection of your photos and descriptions of your favorite place to go and unwind outside. You can submit photos and a paragraph about why you love this little spot of green (oceans, deserts and snow are accepted too) to theyellowdoorpaperie[at]gmail[dot]com. Don’t forget to include a link to you’re blog or company website (if you have one... If you don’t that’s ok too). I’ll add those weekly as I receive them.



Dinnertime, Again?— You can submit you’re favorite recipes with photos, and a story of the night you made it, why you like it and such. If you took a recipe from the internet, provide that link too. I’m thinking about dinner ideas, but I’ll take all kinds of recipes. If you want to share an experience about you’re meal planning, I’d love to hear about it! If you have a food blog, you can provide links to you’re favorite recipes on that site, I’ll list some of those too! Again, reach me at theyellowdoorpaperie[at]gmail[dot]com.

I hope you have a beautiful day and that you take some time to get outside in this great wide world!