carrots

You might call this a replay, but it didn't matter because it went over so well. I made kabobs alternating in new particular order carrot slices, sweet potato slices, Redi-Burger chunks, sweet pepper slices, and chunks of onion. It is recommended to pre-cook the carrots and sweet potatoes. Grilled would have been much more fun, but I was running out of time. Instead, I brushed the kabobs with oil and broiled them. Hence the crisped skewers.

For the Warm Tomato Vinaigrette, I used up the last of the fancy balsamic vinegar on the last go around. This time I used white balsamic instead. Also, this time I chose to use the onion chives out of our herb garden instead of Vidalia onion.

Paul grumbled a bit that I didn't have the other balasmic vinegar, but he couldn't deny that the sauce was again a great success. I still recommend it.

Not too long ago a wise reader told me that I should post more, even showing what we eat for lunch. Well, here it is. This is what I just packed for Paul's lunch tomorrow. Clockwise from left we have: two fresh apricots, sweet potato chocolate chip muffin, Suzie's crackers, cucumber sticks under carrot sticks, hommus, celery sticks with peanut butter, and sweet peppers. I asked Paul if that would be enough for him. He said it would be a good appetizer. Lucky for him, I know he has a nice stash of honey roasted peanuts and dried pear slices that I delivered to his desk just today. He won't go hungry before dinner time.

To make a really long story short, we misread our ticket and arrived only 40 minutes before our plane departed for Denver. Naturally, our bags didn't make it and we had to wait for the next plane from Orlando to deliver our clothes for the week and. . .more diapers. Paul did some research and found a vegetarian restaurant in downtown Denver where we could spend our time. Although the GPS took us an odd way through a not-so-nice area of town, we eventually got to Uptown and had no trouble parking near this amazing restaurant.

WaterCourse Foods is designed much like Dandelion CommuniTea Cafe with its re-purposed surroundings and more hippie wait staff who worked very hard to clean up tables quickly. We liked our waiter, Eric, who was very nice and knowledgeable--except for the fact that he told Paul the chili sauce was not hot.

Cost Per Person $13.25

We were nearing the end of our supplied pantry week, and I was getting a little lazy to head to the grocery store. Here I pause to go off on a tangent. How many of you who have become stay-at-home-moms or who only work part time have no desire to get out of the house? It seems I'm at a point in my life as a new mom that I'd give anything to have my groceries delivered just because I have no interest in leaving the house. I'm not completely worn out these days because Nora is sleeping through the night. But I get absolutely worn out by the time I'm done hitting the stores, which is why I wait until I have to make a number of stops before I venture out of the house. . .which is why I'm worn out at the end of the shopping day. Do you see the same cycle I do? Mind you, I totally enjoy those occasional trips to the gym and the play dates with other moms. I just have no desire to do chores outside the home. I am in a position where I appreciate such choices. After all, the less I'm out, the less I spend. So there's a positive side, but it all leads back to why I was relying on frozen vegetables to make dinner one day. That's all that was left!

My garden has not turned out as well as I had planned. But, I don't beat myself up. I'm new to this. It just kinda feels like a waste of money. I'm happy to hear advice if anyone wants to assist in my cluelessness.

First the positives: The basil is growing like crazy. The parsley is happy. I'm going to replace my depleted tea supply with mint very soon. I'm also imagining a mint chocolate chip shake or smoothie. And tonight we harvested our first tomato. (Not really. I noticed it was missing and made Paul dig in the midst of the basil for it cause I'm afraid to touch anything I can't see in my garden right now. It had ripened and fallen off, but it could stand another day or two on the counter.)

The bad things: Two weeks ago, I walked out to check on my budding green thumb and discovered my large carrot planter picked clean. I mean clean! Even the weed that I left hoping I'd get lucky, and it would magically turn into something edible was gone. The container was dry as the desert. I was heartbroken and even dreamed a couple nights later that I had giant, 5-inch in diameter carrots coming out of my planter at harvest time.

Last night before the Full Plate Diet lecture, we went to Dandelion CommuniTea Cafe. After we talked it up so much, Garrett had our favorite, The Giddyup. Graycen had the enourmous hommus, cucunber, tomato sandwich. It's definitely big enough to feed an adult, too.

I was playing around with the concept of how much Paul loves roasted red pepper on Sunday. Being so near a cleaned-out kitchen food-wise, I came up with this little dish that would make for a nice appetizer or a "sampler platter" with other items for a light lunch.

Following About.com, I roasted the red pepper and meanwhile spread out Triscuits on a jelly roll pan. (I only had the original kind, but I think the low salt ones would work better. Come to think of it, a little toaster oven would work better, too, if you were just making enough for two.) I sprinkled onion and garlic powder over the Triscuits. When the peppers were done, I removed them and turned off the oven. Then, I placed the tray of Triscuits on the bottom rack to warm. (Don't forget to wrap the peppers in aluminum foil.) I topped the Triscuits with slices of mild Jarlsberg Cheese and then a piece of the finished chopped bell pepper.

Judging by Paul's reaction, I can't say it was a big hit. He thought the Triscuits had too much going on, and honestly, he is happiest with the straight bell pepper on a good bread. But, given the right opportunity, I think this could make a very nice, simple, and quick to make appetizer.

Super simple and amazingly yummy, naturally this recipe is from Moosewood Simple Suppers. The gravy is flour, garlic, and vegetable broth. The broth is a great way to add lots of flavor when you don't have a large selection of seasonings in your cabinet. The vegetables can be served different ways, but it worked so well over some already cooked quinoa that didn't have an assignment yet. I love how it resembles a nice Asian stir-fry, but has the surprising differences of alternative vegetables (No broccoli or snow peas, although I know they would taste just as good here.) and a broth instead of soy sauce.

If you have a few extra leftover asparagus stems, it doesn't take much to add great flavor and color to this dish. I recommend buying the thinnest stems you can find. It's a time-saver to not have to halve them lengthwise. The hardest and longest part of the process for me was opening up the shelled edamame because I didn't have unshelled frozen edamame. Not exceptionally difficult, just time consuming.

Cost to Make Veggie Saute

• $0.50 Quinoa (Costco)
• $0.07 Carrots (Aldi)
• $0.90 Edamame (Costco)
• $0.57 Onion (Publix)
• $0.29 Asparagus (Publix)
• $0.02 Garlic (Maitland Farmer's Market)$0.82 Broth (Essential Health Market
• $2.35 Total for two

Cost Per Person $1.18

I stepped outside my back door on Friday and to my surprise, I see positive changes in my little plants in our container garden. I was so excited, I called my parents immediately. I'm so glad to know that growing our own items really isn't as hard as I expected. In fact, it's quite a lot of fun. And what a blessing to watch the plants grow and change. I've included just a few pictures so as not to bore you.

So there was a bit of communication error and excitement last night when this meal was served that led to a photo only of the risotto and not of the salad. However, the salad is highly recommended, if you can be encouraged without a matching photo, make it while the strawberries are ripe. I'll be making it again myself and will be sure to include a photo next time.

The risotto recipe came from the March 2010 Bon Appetit and was really good. Because my father doesn't like eggs, I didn't use the dish as a "nest." Also, I didn't have the mushrooms and asparagus; and as I'm still in the "cleaning out" process, used what we had on hand. I chose green beans and corn to add to the carrots and onions. If I had it to again, I would not add the corn. It was quite sweet in comparison to the rest of the ingredients.

Remember just yesterday I mentioned that I would start sharing when I got to use the production from our container garden? Well, I got to garnish the risotto with our parsley. I was so proud!

Recipe for Strawberry Pecan Salad

Serves 4

• 1 head Living Lettuce
• 1/2 pound strawberries, halved
• 1 1/2 cups whole pecans
• 3/4 Tablespoon Agave Nectar
• 1/2 cup Asiago cheese, shredded
• 1/2 mini cucumber, sliced

Put agave nectar in small skillet and add pecans. Stir to coat. Toast nuts on medium heat, remove from heat and let cool. In large bowl add lettuce and arrange cucumbers and strawberries on top. Sprinkle with cooled pecans including any left over syrup. Top with cheese.

Use salad dressing link above, white balsamic vinegar, or skip the dressing completely!

What are your big plans for strawberry usage this spring?

At the risk of sounding like I'm trying to convince myself, I repeat: I did not want to post my child all over my blog. However, it was evident today when it took me much longer to deal with the container garden than it should have that Nora will continue to be involved in every chore I do. And therefore will sneak into pictures here and there. I will just try to make sure they actually have a correlation to the story.

I won't bore you with the details about diaper changing and moving the carrier with me to every container so I could rock it with my foot. Instead, I will tell you how much fun I had planning my container garden, shopping, and even actually working in my garden. (By the way, thanks to Graycen Nudd for helping me plant the flower seeds this morning before she returned home with her parents.) If you have known me at all, you will likely believe I am an exceptionally girly-girl. This is true mostly. Just subtract my love for baseball, basketball, and especially hockey. Now, you can add "playing in the dirt" to the list of things I enjoy doing, especially in our fabulous spring weather. Don't get me wrong, I scrubbed my hands well and immediately applied lotion to them when I was done, but there is something so gratifying about working in the soil and seeing changes for the better and then excitedly awaiting the produce.

Peacefood Cafe was recommended to us by Leigh at Marvelous Kiddo. She certainly has good taste! We loved our experience at the restaurant. It was amazing that there was always a line for a table during our entire lunch. Maybe that doesn't mean much in crowded New York City. Still, I've always maintained the belief that people being willing to wait for a table is a good thing. The staff was very friendly, and I think the serving time for our meals was acceptable.

The restaurant has a nice selection of fancy teas, etc., but we were there for the food. Of course, a pregnant woman is always there for the food! And even more of course, everything on the menu sounded amazing. It was very hard to come to a decision. I finally settled on a sandwich with lots of fresh vegetables--including my favorite, sprouts! It came with some marinated vegetable sticks on the side. That just might have actually been my most favorite part on the plate. I was pretty sure it was jicama, but the server said it was yuca. Shrug. It really doesn't matter. It was yummy just the same.

Cost Per Person $12.00

Three of the magazines I subscribe to: Parenting The Early Years, Parents, and Bon Appetit, had falafel recipes in their March 2010 issues. (Sorry, only Bon Appetit seems to have their recipe on line.) Is this some special month or just falafel screams "SPRING!"? Either way, the stories brought back great memories of our research of "The Best Falafel in the World" when we were a couple weeks away from a trip to Paris last year. The difference being, we are in Sunny Florida and no where near the Stravinsky Fountain. I knew I just had to give one of the recipes a shot.

After a little comparison, I chose the Parents recipe, and was quite happy with it. Just for kicks, I may try the others. . .or I may track down someone who has a secret ingredient that will make it out of this world.

One day just a week before my early maternity leave started, the girls in one of my offices and I were talking about the new best selling diet book The Full Plate Diet. I happened to mention that carrots were listed as one of the top 5 vegetables with the highest fiber content. One of the girls said she hated carrots and asked how she could squeeze more carrots into her diet. I thought such questions warranted a blog post of their own. Now, I'm no nutritionist, but I'm a pretty picky carrot eater myself. So, I've learned to be creative in getting them into my mouth because I know they're good for me.

Our first night eating local started off pleasantly in at a great little restaurant on Orange Ave. in downtown Orlando. Virgin Olive Market used to be on Clay, and I think the change in location surely must have increased its exposure. There was a nice, steady stream of customers during our entire dining experience. Virgin Olive makes the grade in a couple of areas. First, it is a fast, very friendly, and significantly cheaper restaurant than the two restaurants it's sandwiched in between. Next, it holds down the spot as a source for good coffee and breakfast in the immediate vicinity. Also, it offers healthy (generally), light, budget friendly meals on top of some unusual foodie items for sale to take home.

Cost Per Person $6.00

I have a confession to make. I'm not as much of an adventurer when it comes to food as most people think. In fact, I'm really boring and conservative. So much so that I thought about adding to my New Year's Resolutions that I would try a new food every month or so, but was too chicken to do it. Well, maybe I should have added that resolution because already in one week I've tried two new foods! First were the cheese curds that I used in a recipe on Sunday. Then came the lentil stew pictured above. I based it on the gluten-free recipe from Lisa Hardinge, but couldn't follow it explicitly because I lacked potatoes, etc. As proud as I am of these successfully delicious creations, I cannot take all the credit. After all, I didn't go out and buy the items myself. The cheese curds were a gift from my aunt and uncle. The lentils were acquired when Paul's parents were here. I guess that means I still have a long way to go in the "adventurous" department.

Lentil and Rice Stew

• 2 cups cooked rice, I used a mixture of brown and red
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 1 stalk celery, sliced
• 1 cup lentils, uncooked
• 1 cup onions, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons McKay's Chicken-style (vegetarian) Seasoning
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 cups water

In soup pot, warm olive oil and add onions. If the onions are frozen, they cook faster, so add the celery and carrots pretty quickly after the onions are coated in oil and warmed. Add the water mixed with the McKay's, then the lentils. Bring all to a boil, turn down to medium and simmer about 30 minutes. That's what it took for me, and they were still a little crunchy. Add the rice and warm through. Add less rice or more water for stew.

The sides are not gluten-free. Worthington Skallops are from a can and pan-fried in just a touch of oil to keep them from sticking. The biscuit recipe came from Smitten Kitten and tasted so good dipped in the broth.

Well, we're back from a lovely Thanksgiving trip to Star, Mississippi, and I'm happy to say we've brought a bit chillier weather with us. So, I cracked open my Moosewood Restaurant Soups and Stews cooking "deck of cards" this morning and laid out some recipes to investigate this week. We also have some leftover sweet potatoes, mashed sweet potatoes, and mashed white potatoes. So aside from a quick trip to Publix to take advantage of the sale that started on Friday, my time in the grocery store will be pretty limited. I hope a quick tasty supper will allow us time to plan a few things as well as do some last-minute computer shopping thanks to CyberMonday.

Menu Items for Week of November 30

• Jamaican Tomato Soup with Popovers (under Side Dish tab)
• Cream of Spinach Soup with Carrot Orange Salad (under Side Dish tab)
• Risi e Bisi with Arugula and Warm Mozzarella Salad (under Side Dish tab)
• Sweet Potatoes au gratin, Veggie Turkey and Gravy, Veggies
• Leftovers or sandwiches

And lots of seasonal fruit for dessert!

This is another one of my mother's popular recipes. She makes her own ranch dressing. Because it doesn't have a strange aftertaste that sometimes comes with buttermilk ranch, isn't as salty, and can be made dairy-free, it's quite popular. In fact, I know people who don't like ranch dressing at all who each this dressing. It also works great as a dip. The dip in the photograph was slightly thicker because I didn't add milk due to known food allergies of the guest of honor.

The only caution is that this recipe is significantly about taste. Taste it. Taste it often. Be very careful to follow the recipe. When I made this two months ago, I wasn't so careful because I thought I remembered the recipe well and have never ruined it. . .til now. It came out way too salty. Generally, there are ways to fix almost any mistake with this dip. If it is too salty, add a little more mayo and additional seasonings. Too much lemon? Salt helps that out. That's why I say: TASTE IT!

This dip has so many uses. You can use it to dress potato salad with some green onions and veggie bacon bits. I love to make cole slaw out of it. It even tops a Mexican salad well. The last thing Mom created from the base was her 1,000 Island dressing. The notes for that are at the bottom of the recipe.

Recipe for Ranch Dressing a la Claire

• 1 C mayonnaise
• 1 t onion powder
• ½ t garlic powder
• ¼ t celery seed powder
• dash red pepper
• 1 t lemon juice
• ½ t sugar (optional)[I don't ever add this.]
• 1 t sweet basil, dried
• 2 t parsley, dried
• 1 t chives, dried or fresh
• ¼ t salt or to taste
• ¼ C milk or ½ C milk (optional or soy, if preferred)

Mix mayonnaise, lemon juice, and dry ingredients. Add ¼ cup milk for dip or ½ cup milk for salad dressing.

For 1,000 Island Dressing: Add ¼ cup dill pickles, finely chopped and 1 tablespoon ketchup.

Although you can get a wheat pasta for cheaper sometimes, I purchased a box for $1 when it was on sale and thought it was a good idea to try it since we do like pasta a lot. Our first use was with a basic spaghetti sauce. I like to always make a basic spaghetti sauce when I am tasting a new pasta product. Our spaghetti sauce doesn't change much since I fell in love with Muir Glen brand of tomatoes. This allows me to focus on just the pasta and not on evaluating the entire dish. The second night, I used the leftover pasta and leftover fresh veggies from the shower I hosted to make a pasta primavera.

Our final decision is that whole wheat pasta tastes very robust (although the pictures look just like regular pasta). It doesn't work well for a delicate pasta sauce, but is more appropriate with hearty veggies. Still, it wasn't a favorite. We are content eating enriched semolina flour pasta instead.

Just before school started, Paul's college had a nice dinner for staff and spouses. We really appreciated the fun, and I enjoyed meeting some of Paul's coworkers and even talking to people I've known longer than Paul has known them.

The purpose of this post is actually to point out a discussion we had at the dinner table with six other people. I had only met one of them previously. One of the ladies asked if our vegetarian plate was good. Everyone else was eating chicken or steak, maybe? Anyway, our plate was more the topic of conversation because the lady asked what was in our vegetarian strudel. We honestly could not answer. I was pretty sure there were mushrooms somewhere, onions, and yellow and red bell peppers, but they were all more mashed, which made them less recognizable. Still, there was another base item, and we just couldn't figure out what it was. The lady nodded as if she understood and said "Yes, I used to be a vegetarian, but I found I preferred to be able to know what I was eating."

Wow! How true. I started thinking How often have I been somewhere and had no idea what was on my plate? Let this be a lesson to people who cook for vegetarians and who own restaurants. At any time, people want to be able to figure out what they are being served.

Now that I am working a couple days a week in our Orlando office, I consider the extra commute worthwhile considering I am nearer freshfields farm, Super Target, Einstein Bros. Bagels, and even a Publix when necessary. I am happy to report that I hope to take on the European concept of fresh food and be able to stop at the freshfields farm next to my office more than once a week to pick up the freshest and ripest produce. An even bigger incentive is that many times the prices are better than the Maitland Farmer's Market, the produce generally looks better, and the stand doesn't have flies everywhere distracting me.

Last week we were still recovering from our fabulous trip to Seattle, including Mort the Cat happily resting in the middle of the laundry pile. I put little thought into meals for the week and was also lacking energy to go grocery shopping. So, we pretty much ate what was in the cabinets and freezer as the fridge was empty. At least I've learned we won't starve!

This week will be very busy. Monday will be dinner with an old friend (whom I hope will also be available Tuesday night.) Wednesday through Saturday night, we will be staying at my parents' house with my grandmother while my folks are at my dad's high school class reunion in New Harmony, Indiana. I have a few items I'd love to cook remembering that the meals have to be soft for my grandmother to chew.

When Publix had a 50% off sale on Bird's Eye products, I picked up as many items as looked good. The bag of white and green beans with baby carrots looked different, and I took picked one up. I very rarely make the recipes on the back of a package, but I had some bean sprouts that needed to be used up and the recipe on the back for a been salad with the Bird's Eye bag and some bean sprouts sounded good and easy. The recipe called for the beans to be cooked, diced onions to be added in, and for the mix to be topped with a honey mustard salad dressing, which I had to make from scratch because I never by such a variety. Perhaps the dressing was the sour note, perhaps it was the quality of the vegetables. Either way, it was a bad move. And the leftovers the next day were even worse. (See, I don't like to waste food, and I don't believe in sending Paul leftovers that weren't good int he first place. I brought the leftovers myself and through half of them out.) Needless to say, I won't be reading recipes on the back of bags any more, and the other half of the bag of beans is still in the freezer.

The New York Times today had a fascinating story about freezing food to save money, waste less food, and make cooking speedier.

Paul and his mom have taught me to freeze things like nuts, cornmeal (great for keeping bugs out depending on where you live), and uncooked popcorn to maintain freshness. However, I started brainstorming with the ideas presented. I love the idea of finding ways to freeze our herbs. We used to share with my folks, but now their herb garden is in better condition than ours! Also, remember those black eyed peas on my menu to eat up, but we got distracted? Why can't I cook them up, freeze them individually on top of rice and send them to Paul for lunches until they are all gone? Then I wouldn't have to eat them at all!

What does this article inspire you to do? Do you have additional wisdom for freezing to pass on? Please share.

I had some leftover cream from the biscuits I made some time ago (yes, it was still good, and yes, I made this dish two months ago, but the photo got pushed back by all of the pics from France.) Anyway, I do have a weakness for fettucini and took the opportunity to make it since cream is fattening, and I don't often have it in my fridge (although that changes for about a month or two). I searched for a recipe and finally settled on Emeril's Fettucini Alfredo recipe from foodnetwork.tv. It looked good, but it didn't taste so good. It was runny. It's hard to appreciate the flavor of a sauce when it runs right off the pasta. I guess I've learned to appreciate thick pasta sauces. Emeril is a good chef; I'm sure it's possible I just made it wrong. I have done that before! But, in the future, I'm going to cook the sauce without the extra butter. I don't think it's necessary.

I'm off on Monday and plan to use my time wisely. I hope to do much research and will not be surprised if my menu changes, but at least if I'm short on time, I will have options.

Proposed Menu

In no particular order:

• Roasted Sweet Potatoes with creamed broccoli or greenbeans.
• Pizza. Looking for new topping ideas.
• New Asian patties from Morningstar Farms with chow mein.
• Tortellini and Asparagus from last month's Gourmet Magazine.
• Veggie Wraps with carrots, lettuce, asparagus, and basil.

Publix was having a great sale on Birds Eye vegetables the week after we returned home from Paris. The products were 50% off, which is the equivalent of buy one, get one free. I often take advantage of these sales to try and review a new product.

For my birthday, Paul bought me a "deck" of soup and stew cards from the Moosewood Restaurant collection. It was such a clever idea, and luckily, it was cold enough to take advantage of them before we left for Paris when my kitchen was nearly empty of food.

Pot pie is another recipe that falls under the Mom and Me group. Every time my mom asks me what I want for my birthday dinner, you can bet she already knows and has secretly stashed away the ingredients for this incredible one-dish meal. It is time consuming and requires lots of vegetables and seasonings; so, it is a rare treat. I am always grateful when I can get it. The pie crust recipe is definitely not original. My mom has seen it in a number of cookbooks and collected it from a friend of hers about the time I was born. Not sweet at all, the crust is fabulous for savory recipes, but can easily be adapted to sweet recipes. I have even used it as a crust for apple pie that was amazing. By all means, pot pie falls under fantastic winter comfort food. And my mom's is the best! (This I know for a fact because we have tried the miniature store-bought vegetarian pies. You likely won't see a review of those on ELAR. Believe me the love put into this dish is well worth it.)

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