Reboot...

It's been nearly two years since I've blogged...far too long. So many things have changed in the past two years: many food adventures with Aiden, I purchased a new (to me) home that came with a significantly larger kitchen (WAHOO!) and two persimmon trees, and our family grew by one little guy, Ryan, who arrived last December. So I'm now outnumbered 2 to 1 male to female in my household, unless you count the dog...which I definitely do.

Of course I haven't stopped trying new recipes, and the new kitchen has made so much difference. My old kitchen was small, cave-like, and claustrophobic. I had little to no counter space, the refrigerator eventually had to relocate to the garage, the dishwasher didn't actually wash a thing, and the washing machine was in the kitchen next to the dishwasher. Again, that did not help with the counter space issue.

Now with my new kitchen, I'm trying new things, grilling regularly, cooking regularly, and enjoying being in the kitchen once again. It's therapeutic again. Aiden joins me, and Ryan has plenty of space to sit in his highchair and watch me do my thing. Or to laugh at my awful dance moves...whichever he desires in the moment.

Since I've often had a love/hate relationship with food, and also tend to be very much of an emotional eater, I've been trying hard to adopt much more of a low-carb diet. Again with Ryan, just like with my first pregnancy, diabetes had a firm grasp on me, and I was never far from my blood glucose meter, my insulin, or a sugar source due to a few (very scary) low blood sugar episodes. So my kitchen now boasts much more protein, vegetables, and fewer carbs in pretty much any variety.

So I'm getting back into things. Creating, yet another, new normal...whatever the heck that is. This normal includes now two little guys watching me cook & learning all about food, a much more functional kitchen (that does NOT cause claustrophobia!), and so many more chances for us to make memories around our table...and in the kitchen. Because, after all, life starts in the kitchen!

Routine

I'm a stickler for routines, and I always have been. I like them, I thrive with them...and, I'm anal-retentive. And a prepper. By far not a "doomsday prepper," especially since all of the apocalypse stuff just gives me the heebie-jeebies, but back to topic.

I like routines - morning routines, bedtime routines, routines with my son, and routines with regards to my food. Fridays are meal planning days. I have a meal planning pad that I use, which includes dinners for each night (Sunday through Saturday), then a general area for breakfasts, lunches, and snacks. Dinners are what I prep - everything else tends to fall into place after those dinners are planned.

I like to keep my dinners fairly simple on most evenings - as seen above, it's a protein (chicken), carbohydrate (garnet yam), and a BUNCH of vegetables (broccoli, obviously). But again, this was PLANNED.


My lunches tend to reflect, if not copy, my dinners. Seen to the left are two lunches, which were two of about 4-5 I prepared that evening. They all included fried cauliflower rice (riced cauliflower and quinoa cooked JUST like fried rice - amazing flavor, lower carbohydrate than its rice equivalent), plus protein, and vegetables. Thanks to these take-and-go containers, I am able to make as many as 15 meals at once, and the compartments are fantastic! Plus with so many containers, I can have a few in the fridge, and a few in the dishwasher. Oh, and sometimes, one or two left in the refrigerator at work.

Likewise, one of my other favorites is bok choy with garnet yams and chicken, again, in the compartment containers (microwave, freezer & dishwasher safe). But, since I've been so conscious of planning meals, my food budget has decreased, and I've felt so much better - likely due to less processed crap in my body. That's not to say I don't enjoy ice cream on occasion. Or cheese. Or french fries.

So, back to meal planning for the week. Fridays are my typical planning day. That's when I sit down with my grocery list, the grocery store's ad for the week, and my meal planning pad. Then Saturdays can be spent going to the store, and both Saturday and Sunday can be used for preparing foods for the week: marinating meats, cutting vegetables for use later in the week, and just generally putting everything away.

I'm also blessed that my son loves to eat just about ANYTHING, especially vegetables. So what I cook, he eats. Though, at times I have to cook & pack extra vegetables since I know he will take about half of them! (Side note: Perhaps he needs to be the Jolly Green Giant for Halloween....)

So for tomorrow, my breakfast is ready to go, my coffee cup is ready beneath the Keurig, my lunch is packed and in the fridge, and tomorrow's dinner is marinading in the fridge, ready to pop into the slow cooker tomorrow morning before work. No last minute stress tomorrow of what to make for dinner, and the leftovers will be Tuesday's lunch. The cycle, er, routine continues!

Getting My "Fix" with Quinoa Cauliflower and Parmesan Crusted Tilapia

About a week ago, I started a new meal & fitness plan - the 21 Day Fix. The premise is it takes 21 days to start a new habit and/or break an old one. So in the past week, my eating has changed a lot with more vegetables, more protein, lower carbohydrate (good for me as a diabetic), and fruit, and my exercise plan has gone from sporadic to daily - at least 30 minutes per day.

The first week, I mainly stuck with raw, whole veggies and fruits, without much muss or fuss. It was just easier for me - plus I'm one of those oddballs who actually enjoys raw vegetables. A lot. Lots of carrots, cucumbers, celery, bell peppers, broccoli, etc. I find it easy to have a quart-sized Ziplog bag filled with prepped veggies at work, so then I can mindlessly snack without sabotaging my food intake. I mean, it's not like I'm going to gain 50 lbs eating cucumbers and celery sticks.

One thing I've always struggled with is that I like to eat VOLUME. I want my plate and my belly full. I know some foods are nutrition dense, but are also just...small. None of those dinky little portions for me, thanks.

Tonight I knew I still had to eat some more protein and some carbohydrate as well (twist my arm on that one!). I cooked up some quinoa with a splash of soy sauce for last night's dinner, had riced cauliflower in the freezer (thank you, Trader Giotto's!), and tonight picked up some tilapia at the store. That was my starting point...

For the Quinoa Cauliflower:

• 1/2 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 cup riced cauliflower
• 1 onion, cut into a large dice
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/2 oz. grated Parmesan

I sauteed the onion in a bit of butter until they browned, then added in the quinoa and cauliflower to heat (they were both already cooked). Once it was all hot, I tossed in the green onions and Parmesan, stirred it up, and served it onto my plate.

For the Tilapia:

• Olive oil to thinly coat the pan
• 1/2 oz. grated Parmesan
• 1 tilapia filet

I heated the oil on med/high, sprinkled half the Parmesan on the fish, and laid the fish cheese-side down onto the pan, sprinkled the rest of the cheese onto the other side of the fish, and covered the filet with a lid for about 2 minutes. Then, I flipped the fish to cook the other side. Once done, I laid it onto the Quinoa Cauliflower. 

And here is the final result...

Prepping for Success

I've battled the scale for years. We don't have the best relationship. Though, in the past few years, especially since Aiden was born, I've have accepted and realized that my self-worth is not tied to the number on the scale. That said, I would like to be a healthy, happy mom for my son, who is becoming more and more active with each given day.

With that said, I've been following a few online coaches who emphasize meal planning and prep, 30 minutes of exercise daily without going to a gym (a must for a single momma like me, so then I can exercise after the little guy's bedtime), and tracking how many veggies, fruits, proteins, carbs, healthy fats, etc.

So far, I'm only on Day 2 of 21 - and I can repeat the 21 days as much as I'd like. The premise is that it takes 21 days to make a habit..so I'm 2 days in, 19 to go. This might be just the challenge I've been looking for to get myself back into the kitchen, and back into meal planning.

Last night, I knew I HAD to cook the ground turkey in my fridge, so I opted to make some turkey burgers - ground turkey, scallions, diced red onion, teriyaki marinade, salt & pepper, and a little ranch seasoning. I then pulled out the portion cup for protein, and used ONLY that amount to make each burger. So as of last night, I had nine portioned turkey burgers.

The red cup in the bowl is my portion cup for proteins - and there's 4 burgers ready to hit the grill!

Four burgers are on the grill, and four more ready to go. Thank goodness for my Cuisinart grill!

The cabbages were used to make pickled cabbage - something I used to have all the time at my favorite Japanese restaurant growing up. It's just thinly sliced cabbage, sprinkled with salt, and then weighed down. The salt draws out the water from the cabbage, and leaves this "pickled" salad. Two cups of that salad accompanied my dinner last night.

Now, onto tonight. This evening, I stopped by the grocery store on the way home. Even in the past two days, I've noticed a drastic increase in the volume of vegetables, fruit and protein that I've been consuming. So it was time to stock up on a bunch of veggies, more fruits (in addition to half a watermelon in my refrigerator already), and some other goodies to stock my fridge. A girl can only live on carrot sticks and pickled cabbage for so long without something mixing it up!

So tonight, while Aiden played in the backyard at his water table & in the dirt (aka, mud), I started prepping a BUNCH of stuff. That watermelon was soon cut up into a one-gallon bag, now ready to go. I pulled a value pack of chicken from the freezer two days ago, and it's finally defrosted, so it was time to skin those legs and get them sitting in some marinade. That, too, took up another gallon bag. Then the 4 lbs. of strawberries, that I measured out into two serving containers (1 serving = 1 cup). Finally, I prepped veggies for tomorrow's lunch - 1 cup of sliced carrots, and 1 cup of sliced cucumber.

Food prepped and ready to go - with the exception of the chicken, that is still in its marinading phase.

So there is my evening - nicely laid out in containers and bags. And the best thing - it's all real food. I've actually felt like I've had to eat SO much more food lately, but it's just because I'm eating the right foods, finally. I'm curious to see how I do after the first week, the second week, and then...day 21. I did my workout today (and I'm feeling it, too!), and look forward to tomorrow's.

I can do this. I'm taking control of my life, my eating, and my health, and it feels damn good.

Piece Meal

Probably one of the hardest questions I must ask myself daily is what the heck to make for dinner. Some weeks I'm great at meal planning, and I make sure my shopping trip is just what I need, and so on and so forth. Lately...not so much. It's more me making sure I'm stocked up on Aiden's favorites - apples (ah-poh!), bananas (nah-nah), grapes (he doesn't have a word for these yet), eggs, and the like. Plus the items I eat regularly.

I would love to say I make every meal he eats from scratch...but then I'd be lying through my teeth. Yes, he has eaten chicken nuggets, corn dog bites, and cheeseburgers. I know...Gasp! Say it isn't so! I try hard to make them special meals, but it does happen.

Some nights, I totally wing it. A few weeks ago, that's exactly what I did. The day prior, I luckily stopped by Sam's Club and picked up a rotisserie chicken for $5. Those are AMAZING. Plus, I got a whole cooked chicken without heating up my house. Aiden and I can make at 3-4 meals if not more from one chicken. This one had already been part of a dinner for the two of us the night before, and my lunch earlier that day.

Then...what to make WITH the chicken? Luckily, Aiden loves vegetables, so that was easily covered, but he needed something else. I headed to my "pantry," which is now a shelf on a metal rack in my garage, just beside my dryer. There they were - potatoes. Some were Yukon gold, some Idaho...so I gathered a few, washed them up and popped them in to microwave to cook them, and THEN I could brown them in a pan.

I'm most certainly blessed that Aiden likes to know what I'm doing in the kitchen. He likes to see, likes to be picked up, and is curious about every step. Though that means I'm often cooking dinner with one arm while he's in the other. But, he's learning. I see him doing similar steps in his play kitchen, and he's started telling me what play foods are in the bag that he carries around the house, and often hides in my bed. If I'm not holding him while I cook, it's more likely than not that he's underfoot. And so is the dog. 

My "helpers" while I cook. Aiden wants up. Ruby just wants me to spill.

So in the pan is a bit of olive oil, and garlic salt. Nothing fancy - I'm just making home fries. I cooked them until they browned, and then first pulled a few out for the little guy so they could cool, and then served myself. The little guy's plate was much more festive when I added his favorite "sauce" as well - ketchup. Gotta have ketchup with home fries, right?

He ate his peas while I finished up making dinner, which is my sneaky way to get him into his seat so I can finish cooking without a 28 lb. boy in my arms, or underfoot. Plus, he loves peas. Straight from the freezer. No joke. 

Luckily, I think he liked it.

Making "Cents" of a Budget

My house isn't in perfect condition. Aiden and I were busy playing today with cars, his kitchen, and reading LOTS of books. And this weekend we went on a few excursions, as well. Some that I often prefer not to do with Aiden, but I decided to be brave this weekend: we went grocery shopping. AND...we went to Costco on a Saturday. 

I've typically placed a limit on how much I'd like to spend each month on groceries, but it used to be much different a year ago. I didn't worry as much about the cost of meat, and I had plenty of pantry space to store a stockpile of sorts with canned goods, dry goods, and a fridge large enough to store a decent grocery trip. 

Since I've moved, I've been very aware about how much I'm spending on everything - groceries included. My goal each month is to stay around $200, which has been fairly attainable...with some work and planning. I could have taken a trip to the Farmer's Market this weekend, but instead, I opted not to since I didn't know what I really needed to buy. So why go if I didn't have a plan? So I finally came up with a plan for the week, and headed to the store. 

My entire receipt from my trip to the store - $43.28

This trip was a bit for stocking up - pasta, guppies (generic goldfish) for Aiden, and the ever-important...toilet paper, which took up 25% of my grocery bill. Nothing fancy on the list. Popcorn for Aiden & me, since we like to have an after-dinner snack of popcorn, and a bag was only $3.39 and that will make about 8 batches of popcorn. Cheese is my splurge at $4.99, which is the sale price for the generic brand. 

My little guy hogging OUR popcorn

That shopping trip, with the exception of probably purchasing some more milk later in the week, will get me through until next weekend, without a doubt. Though my meals are quite simple, they're good, healthy, delicious, and...economical.

I often try to cook for at least two meals - dinner and the next day's lunch. Tonight, I noticed a leftover chicken thigh that needed to be cooked, plus I have fresh zucchini & mushrooms, and I cooked up some garnet yams last weekend, so they're ready to go. 

Tomorrow's lunch, and tonight's dinner
 (the chicken was still cooking)

So I started up a skillet with the mushrooms (and of course, a bit of butter), and then added 3 zucchini, cut lengthwise, then into semi-circles. While that cooked, I fired up another smaller pan for the chicken, and peeled two chunks of cooked yam. At the same time, I pulled out a container for tomorrow's lunch, peeled yams for that container, and left room for the zucchini/mushroom mixture. I estimate I spent about $1.80 on the zucchini for both meals (so, maybe $0.90 each), half the container of mushrooms (about $1), and the yams were passed onto me before my mom left for Italy (so...free!). So except for the chicken, and my yam...my lunch and dinner were around $1.90 each. 

So now, it's time to wrap up the last of the meal planning for the week, which includes planning for lunches. It just makes...cents.

From Scratch

I've loved having adventures in my kitchen for years. There are so many things to explore, and it's fun to see just how much can be done from scratch. Through the years, I've created cinnamon rolls, peanut butter balls, asiago & onion bagels, pot-stickers, breakfast burritos with beans, bacon, eggs and cheese, pulled pork, roasted chicken and vegetables, grilled pork tenderloin, cookies of all sorts, citrus stuffed turkey, my grandmother's enchiladas, stuffed shells, lasagnas, corned beef and cabbage, soups and chili, stuffed cabbage, mocha cupcakes with Bailey's icing...and now I'm drooling on my keyboard. And that's just the short list of what I can think of right now off the top of my head.

When I'm in a good mood, I love to cook. I don't necessarily want to eat it all, but I want to cook it. Thankfully, I can bring some of the items into work. Now, it's a bit harder to get into the swing of cooking. Half of the time, it's just me at the dinner table, so it has been a little bit of a challenge for myself to make real food, rather than another turkey sandwich on wheat, not that I don't do that on occasion.

The other half of the time I have Aiden, and though I try hard to just make something I would eat, and have him eat it too, I've resorted to shortcuts on occasion. Any mom who tells you they never had, is likely lying through their teeth. I'm already proud to say that I never fed him jarred baby food - I made my own, and had control of the ingredients. Plus, meats should not be any shade of gray.

In the past few weeks, I've been making a sincere effort to meal plan both for when it's just me, and when Aiden's with me. When Aiden's here, he often wants to see everything I'm doing, so I make sure to lift him up, he reminds me the stove is "hot," and I show him what I'm doing as best I can. His interest in what I'm cooking spurred me to get him a play kitchen for his birthday. Together we go through the play foods, and I let him know what they are.

Momma's kitchen helper in his very own kitchen

So tonight, I decided to make something...from scratch. It wasn't fancy. It wasn't gourmet. But it was good, satisfying, and I got myself back in the kitchen. Tonight it was just dinner for me, so I was able to eat after the sun went down rather than before. It was simple, and it was delicious: teriyaki marinaded chicken with sauteed snow peas & onion. Again, not anything fancy. No high tech gadgets used, no huge prep time (other than marinading the chicken, but that was passive prep).

So it wasn't anything fancy, but it was GOOD. It's small steps getting me back into my kitchen. Some of my kitchen is still packed in boxes somewhere in my garage, but I'll get to them soon. In the meantime, I'll just have to "settle" with dinners like these!

Adjusting to the New "Normal"

In the past 7 months, everything has changed. I moved, sold our house, moved back with my parents in their home for 6 months, and one month ago moved into my own house. Though, when I say house, I went from a really lovely house that I could see myself living in for the duration, to a 2 bedroom duplex, where I expect to see out the term of my lease.

When I bought the house back in 2010, I loved it for its kitchen. Extended counters, gas stove, dual ovens, large dual side sink, amazing dishwasher (an important tool when you like to cook), and cabinets galore. We bought a kitchen with a house attached. It was, for lack of a better word, my dream house. LOTS of common space, great space in the kitchen, open, and functional. I had 5 years of time in that kitchen. I had 5 years of kitchen experiments, of Thanksgiving dinners, persimmon cookies, Irish feasts, family nights, and of course, "oops" moments while I cooked.

When I moved into my parents' house, it was home, but not really HOME. My kitchen remained in storage. It was perfect for what I needed at that time - a safe, stable home during a time of great transition. That kitchen was the one where I learned to cook, where I would help my mom make dinner as a child. It became the kitchen where either my dad and I, or my mom and I would make dinner, often with Aiden wanting to see what we were doing, or with him directly underfoot.

Now, both of those homes have sold. Aiden and I are now in our own little space - it's not fancy, but it's functional. It took me a while to even want to cook in here, perhaps because it doesn't feel like it's mine. Gone are the big counters, the gas stove, and the copious cabinets. It's in its own separate room - quite different from any other kitchen I've had, even in apartments. They at least opened into the living room. Well, and my washing machine didn't reside in them, either.

But, I'll make it work. My storage space has moved into the garage, as has my pantry. I'm learning how to cook on an electric stove once again, and how to not make a huge mess in such a small space. Meal planning has become a requirement, since I don't have the space to have stockpiles of stuff. I have just enough space for just enough.

Soon, I hope, I'll be ready to venture out into culinary adventures once again. Soon. Once I finish unpacking the rest of my kitchen which is boxed up safely somewhere in my garage. I think.

That's basically everything...stove/oven, counters, sink, dishwasher, and...washing machine.

The dining area, which includes seating for 3.5, and a built-in ironing board!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Apparently I let time slip by a bit too long - two weeks since my last post? Whoops! My apologies!

Now back to topic...Chicken Lettuce Wraps. It's what we had for dinner! I've been trying very hard to stick to a pretty strict diet, since I live with Type 2 diabetes. Random foods set off my blood sugar, and some foods don't seem to have as much of an effect, but one thing is for sure - if I mix carbs with protein, I don't "spike." So I've been making an effort to keep my fruits to earlier in the day, have my carbs at lunch, and have fewer carbs at dinner, with lots of good, lean protein and lots of veggies!

In perusing Pinterest (one of my late-night recipe searching addictions), I found a recipe for PF Chang's Chicken Lettuce Wraps. Sounds good, right? They were!

All my ingredients in place!

Here's the recipe, including the items I added:

• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 lb. ground chicken (I diced 3 chicken breasts)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced (I used 6 cloves)
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
• 1 Tbsp. rice wine vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. freshly grated ginger
• 1 tsp. Sriracha, or more, to taste
• 1 (8 oz.) can whole water chestnuts, drained & diced
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• Kosher salt & freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 head butter lettuce

Everything is cooked together at pretty much the same time, though the recipe says to cook the chicken first...alone. I tried it that way, and I think had it been cooked with all the sauces, onions, etc., then there would have been a better flavor within the chicken. Perhaps even let all the ingredients hang out together for an hour or so before cooking. Then the chicken would really take on all those other wonderful flavors. 

Once the chicken is all cooked, it's then served in the butter lettuce leaves. No breads, no rice, just lettuce. I think a little bit of rice would have been delicious with this, too...I thought about making some, but I was hungry!

The finished product!

I also have to add - my husband asked, mid-meal, if I took pictures of my food for the blog. Of course I did! I have a few ideas stacked up, so I'll have to get caught up! Some lemon blueberry bread sounds like a wonderful treat for the office next week...and a great subject for another blog!

Banana Nut Bran Muffins...A Childhood Favorite

When I was a child, I remember the phases of the banana: too green to eat, yellow but not quite ripe, perfectly ripe, and black. The only negative phase was the first, and one of the best, the last. Black bananas represented time to make banana nut bran muffins. I realize they're "bran muffins," but they're so moist and delicious, it doesn't matter.

I'm trying to swap out some ingredients in recipes for a bit healthier options, so one of the key ingredients that I swapped out was the flour. Instead, I pulled out my food processor and some old fashioned oats. A few seconds later, I had ground oats.

Oat "flour"

So here's the recipe I've followed since as long as I can remember:

• 2 cups bran (found in the bulk section of grocery stores)
• 1 cup milk
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 overripe bananas
• 1/2 cup nuts (chopped)
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 cup flour (or ground oats)
• 1/2 cup sugar (or all-natural applesauce)
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/4 cup molasses (measure the oil first, then measure the molasses)

Add in the first 6 ingredients, and pulse in the food processor to moisten the bran and the milk. Then add the rest of the ingredients, inlcluding raisins if desired (I always desire raisins in mine!). Divide into sprayed muffin cups (up to 3/4 full), and bake at 400* for 20 minutes, then check for doneness. Cool for 5 minutes, remove from the muffin tin, and then put into a plastic bag while still slightly warm. Typically makes 12 muffins.

Banana bran muffins baking away!

These are moist, dense muffins, and are sweet, but not overly sweet. The sugars from the banana really make these wonderful, and they're not so "bran" that they're dry or obviously "healthy." For me, it's just a perfect mid-morning snack at work. Just enough, not too much, and full of all sorts of goodness! 

Hope you enjoy these!

Slow Cooker Korean Beef Tacos

While wandering Pinterest one evening (I'm an electronic recipe hoarder), I saw a recipe for Korean beef tacos, cooked in the slow cooker. SO good...

Yesterday, I prepped the "sauce" that the beef would be cooking in: onions, garlic, jalapeno, soy sauce, brown sugar, fresh ginger, and rice wine vinegar...oh, and the beef. Can't forget that. Then in the last 30 minutes of cooking, coleslaw mix was added to the beef. Coleslaw mix is so underrated, but it's quite a versatile item! And easy to make without having to buy the store-bought mix. C'mon - it's just thin sliced cabbage and grated carrots. Easily done.

All the ingredients in the pot! Now to let it sit for 8-10 hours on low...

The sauce for the beef prepped the day before, ready to go with directions and all!

Mondays are my longest days at work (typically, but this week I'm covering for a coworker while she's on vacation, so I have a LOT of long days this week), so throwing something into the crockpot that was healthy, fresh, and ready to go when I got home from was was absolutely ideal. The prep took me maybe 20-30 minutes yesterday, and then less than 5 minutes this morning. Then this evening, it shred so easily, and that was it. Tortillas, some fresh cilantro, and that's it. Dinner. 

My only recommendation for future Korean tacos would be to make a vinegar-based pickled salad with the cabbage, carrots, onion and fresh cilantro. It did need a little crunch, but overall, so delicious. I'll definitely do this one again!

The finished (delicious!) product!

Through the Generations

I have a strange item that I love to hang onto after family members have passed: their recipes and cookbooks. Not just what the recipes are, but the actual recipe itself, in their own hand. It's a weird connection between the generations before me, and those that will follow. My son will be able to read out and use recipes written in his great-grandmother's hand, or his great-great-grandmother's hand. It's an odd thing to keep, but I'm somehow drawn to them.

My grandmother Dorothy's old cookbooks 

with hand-written recipes in the front cover 

My grandmother Anna's recipe box. The front ones are hand-written,

but the back ones came in the Betty Crocker box set.

I'm quite proud that my great-grandmother, Elsie Ryan, had her recipes published in a cookbook. It may have been the church cookbook, but still...she's been published! 

A well-loved, much-used cookbook 

Great Grandma Elsie's brownie recipe - hands down the best!

My great-grandmother was known for her persimmon bread, my great aunt for her persimmon cookies, my grandmother for her pies, my mother for...well, you're getting the point. Cooking, recipes, and having a focus on quality food for our families has been part of our lives for generations. My great-grandmother would chop walnuts for persimmon bread with a hand-crank nut chopper, and would bake hundreds of loaves of bread (each batch called for 1 cup of nuts...that's a lot of chopping). Even now, it feels wrong to make persimmon bread or cookies without using a hand-crank chopper for the walnuts. I was lucky enough to find the same style chopper in a thrift store in Eureka, CA for $1.50. Well worth the memories, and doing things "right."

Plus, how fun is it to flip through old cookbooks and see what was considered mainstream meals at that time? It might be even more fun to give some a try. 

Pan Seared Brussels Sprouts - A Pinterest Experiment

In addition to being a foodie, I'm most definitely a recipe hoarder, and there's no better way to amass a random variety of recipes than...Pinterest. I'll speak more on my collection of cookbooks and family recipes in another post, but tonight, the recipe is from the interwebs.

My cousin saw me "pin" a recipe for Pan Seared Brussels Sprouts, and suggested that it be used for a coming blog. So here we are - I even happened to have all the ingredients at home, including those mini-cabbage like vegetables.

Here's what I needed for tonight's adventure, and the swaps/additions I did:

1 lb. brussels sprouts, stem removed & cut in half
2/3 cup fresh cranberries (I used dried cherries)
1/3 cup gorgonzola cheese (I swapped for blue cheese)
1/3 cup pecans
1 cup barley, cooked per the instructions on the package
1 Tbsp. maple syrup
1 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
Olive oil
Salt & pepper

I started the barley first, since the package said it took 45 minutes to cook, then prepped my sprouts, and gathered everything else. About halfway through cooking the barley, I added the oil to the pan, and then threw in the sprouts and the cherries (I thought I had cranberries, at least dried ones...I was wrong). I let that cook for about 8-10 minutes on medium, seasoned with salt & pepper, then tossed in the pecans. Next time, I'll likely toast the pecans first - then they have a little extra crunch, and the flavors are just that much more amazing. At that point, I also added some bacon...not part of the original recipe, but looking at the other ingredients, it sounded like it would fit (and it did!).

Cooking away - before the additions of the maple syrup, vinegar, barley & blue cheese.

Once the sprouts, cherries, bacon and pecans were cooked, the maple syrup and balsamic go into the pan. At that point, it's darn near done. Luckily, by then the barley was done, so I tossed that into the sprouts. To top it off, a sprinkling of blue cheese.

All done, just without the blue cheese

I have to say, SO AWESOME. I'm glad I added the bacon - it adds a little extra punch. And next time I think the barley needs to be seasoned a bit more. I ended up having just this for dinner, and I bet if it needed to be altered to accommodate a gluten-free diet, quinoa would be a wonderful substitute.

I'd recommend this recipe...it was good, filling, and easy. SO easy. Bon Appetit!

The final product!

Clean Comfort

I guess for lack of a better term, I'm a foodie...bordering on food addict. There are some foods I simply cannot have in the house, since I'll eat it ALL before I stop. A pint of Ben & Jerry's? A serving is when my spoon reaches the bottom of the carton.

One of my absolute favorite comfort foods: spaghetti. One of my absolute favorite breakfasts: COLD leftover spaghetti. Yes, I have weird food cravings. Go ahead and judge. I don't really care for cereal at all either. And on the rare occasion I do eat it, I eat it dry. No milk, nothing, just the cereal...the non-sugared cereal. But back on track.

Earlier this past weekend I made a batch of turkey meatballs (they were gluten-free, too for the gluten sensitive out there). So of course, on tonights menu was spaghetti and meatballs. The only part NOT made from scratch was the whole wheat linguine.

So on the stove I had fresh Farmer's Market zucchini sauteeing in a tiny bit of EVOO and pepper, my homemade tomato sauce and homemade turkey meatballs, and the pasta all simmering away.

My tomato sauce is actually from last year, from tomatoes that I grew in my own garden. Though many recipes say to peel them, I didn't bother. I didn't bother seeding them either. I simply cut off the stem portion, cut them into chunks, and tossed them into a big pot along with lots of chopped garlic, diced onion, oregano, and lots of fresh basil. So simple. And everything was fresh. I made another batch of sauce recently with the following:

• 7-8 large tomatoes, cored, then cut into chunks
• 1 large yellow onion, diced
• 1/2 bunch of fresh basil, removed from stems and chopped
• 6-8 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 large zucchini, grated 

I let it all cook down for a few hours, and then let it cool. At that point, I used an immersion blender to get everything the same texture. The zucchini was thrown in there as an added veggie bonus. My husband won't typically eat zucchini, but he likely won't notice that it's in there since I stuck an immersion blender into the pot and pulverised it! Plus, zucchini really has no taste, and it's so low in calories, that it's just an added bonus. 

Another strange thing: in the past week, I have walked away from my dinner plate with food still on my plate after only one serving. My plate STILL had food on it. More than once. It's a weird feeling.

So tonight, it felt even better knowing I made clean comfort food, and then stopped eating when I was full. It's a weird feeling, but I think I like it!

"He who fails to plan is planning to fail"

Winston Churchill said it darn right when he said, "He who fails to plan is planning to fail." I had my first "oops" this week when I left the house for a meeting this morning, and realized halfway there that I would be gone for a few hours, and hadn't brought a snack. BIG no-no. Only after I got home did I realize that I had a small bag of roasted almonds with me the entire time. I had planned ahead a while ago, and simply forgot today.

With that now behind me, I made sure to start my meal planning for the week. That includes making hte list of dinners for the week, moving proteins out of the freezer and making sure they're defrosted and prepped, cooking a few of the proteins and so on. I tend to focus on my protein first, since that seems to be the hardest part for me to figure out each night. And since I have a plan ahead of time, it makes life SO much easier.

In addition, on nights that I work later, I plan for simpler meals. I work part-time for my church, and then part-time as the Administrative Director for a nonprofit children's residential summer music camp (Sierra Mountain Music Camp, iSMMC.com), plus I have a 16 month old son. That's enough to keep ANYONE busy. Mondays and Wednesdays are my longer days, so for this week, Monday is spaghetti & meatballs. WHAT?? Yes, that's what I said. Whole wheat pasta with homemade, no sugar added spaghetti sauce and scratch-made turkey meatballs, seen below.

My recipe for turkey meatballs is pretty simple - ground turkey breast, one egg, herbs (I used "Butt Rub"), one grated zucchini (sneaking veggies in there!), garlic, onion, salt and pepper. I then used a cookie scoop to create equal portions, rolled them out, browned them in a little EVOO, and finished them in the oven at 350* for 15 minutes. Simple. 30 meatballs done, ready for Monday's dinner, and for later this week.

I have to share last night's dinner as well - grilled whole wheat veggie pizza. SO GOOD. I cheated a bit, and used a pre-made dough, but it made it easier on me. The dough I purchased is from Winco, and is only $1.49, plus it's whole wheat. I rolled out the dough with a little corn meal, then heated up the grill. On it went for about 3-4 minutes on one side, then I inverted it, brought it inside, brushed it with EVOO, and added thinly sliced zucchini, cherry tomatoes, thinly sliced purple onion, crumbled feta, and a bit of leftover grilled chicken (optional). The crust was thin, crispy, and everything was so good. In the future, I'd put down aluminum foil perhaps after the toppings are on, so then the toppings can "cook" while crust doesn't burn. Other than that, so yummy, so fresh.

So it's back to the meal planning for the week - so far we're good through Wednesday, so there will be more to come! Tomorrow night is spinach salad with boiled eggs, red onion, and cucumber. Simple dinner for Sunday night, plus that gives me more time to prep for the week. I've noticed on the nights I have more time, it helps to prep for more than one meal that night, so then the pressure is taken off of the busier nights.

And the best part, I am NOT planning to fail. I'm planning to succeed.

Why "Life Starts in the Kitchen"?

One of the hardest steps in starting this blog: What in the world do I name it??

Every single family event that I can remember, celebration, gathering, whatnot...more often than not focuses itself in the kitchen, and on the food. I can remember, and cherish the memories, of going to my Grandma's house on Christmas Eve, and the life that surrounded her kitchen, her dining room tables (yes, PLURAL), and the traditions that surrounded it. There were always snack stuffs around the BIG dining table (the one that sat 16), and then in the kitchen you could find my aunts, uncles, cousins, grandparents, friends...nearly everyone who wasn't watching football.

Grandma's kitchen, Christmas Eve

Once dinner was ready, Grandpa would carve the turkey with the electric knife, turning that turkey into ground turkey, and then the buffet line would begin. It was typically a potluck style, since my mom is one of six kids, and in my generation, there are 17 of us, 8 of whom are married now, and now, there are 9 in the next generation, my son included. So, it's a BIG family, and I wouldn't have it any other way. I love it.

We'd all sit down in our appropriate seats, and often, there was a kids' table, or two, plus an extended dining table. There was one year that about 33 people came for Christmas Eve dinner, and the tables made a reversed "L." It was one for the recordbooks.

After dinner, a team of dish-takers and dish-washers would begin their duties, some carrying, some washing, some drying. In addition, the next round of food would be making its way to the limelight. Someone would start brewing the coffee, the pies would come out, and when I was a child, someone was in charge of taking pie orders: apple, berry, or mince. And my Grandma's pies were AMAZING. One thing I do take pride in is in making my own homemade pie crust from SCRATCH. My mother taught me, her mother taught her.

This past October, my Grandma passed away at the age of 89, so we had our first Thanksgiving and Christmas without her. When it came time to do dishes, I broke down into tears. I was with my husband's family, and it was just me doing dishes. No dish-takers, no dish-washers, no pie-order-taking children. I missed the life in the kitchen, even though it was a different kitchen.

I've always been drawn towards the recipes of family members, especially those written in their own hand. It's like there's a part of me with them, in the kitchen. I have the exact same nut grinder as my Great Grandmother, and use it each time I make persimmon nut bread or persimmon cookies, even though it's more labor intensive. I have my Nana's cookie recipes in her own hand. It's like having them nearby, linked by something that really hasn't changed that much - cooking in the kitchen.

With that, I strongly believe Life Starts in the Kitchen. Every family event, family gathering, every day - the kitchen brings life together, and creates such wonderful memories. Oh, and some darn awesome food, too.

The Routine of Making Preparation a Routine

Each night, right after dinner, I've made a dedicated effort to create a new routine: prepping my breakfast and lunch for the next day, and planning out the following night's dinner. Last night, I even sat down with my trusty little "What to EAT" note pad, and planned out meals for the rest of the week.

Somehow, I felt calmer knowing exactly what was coming, and exactly what I'd need in my kitchen to get through the rest of the week. Many nights, there has been a battle of "What do YOU want for dinner?" "I dunno, what do YOU want?" So now there's no question. Just action. Tonights dinner cooked in the same amount of time that it took me to empty the dishwasher, and even managed to clean up the kitchen...a little. In my defense, we were out of town for 9 days, and just got back Sunday. Add in the cold I'm battling, and you get a wreck of a house. 

Luckily, on Monday after I did a massive grocery shopping trip, where I barely went down a single aisle, and instead ended up walking mostly the perimeter of the store, I came home and prepped a bunch of food, including tonight's dinner: grilled teriyaki chicken (it has been marinading since Monday), steamed wild rice blend from the Korean market nearby (LOVE that store!), and steamed broccoli. So good...so SIMPLE. I didn't use the sweet teriyaki sauce my husband loves, but watered down a saltier version, added TONS of fresh chopped garlic, and then let it sit for two days, flipping the bag around about 2-3 times per day to ensure that every bit of chicken soaked in the flavor.

Even after making dinner (and of course, eating it), I made sure to take some time to continue with my nightly routine. So tomorrow's breakfast is ready, my coffee is set to be brewed, and my lunch and snacks are prepared, packaged, and ready to go. I'm making preparation a routine. Tomorrow's dinner is even figured out, as seen on the "What to EAT" notepad. Have I mentioned I love that thing? It makes meal planning a BREEZE! There's even space for breakfast, lunch, and snacks. 

Feel free to post questions, or if there are any topics you'd like me to cover. I'm open to suggestion! I'm also now posting onto my Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/lifestartsinthekitchen). Wow...looks like I'm really doing this! Ready, set...GO!

Conquering the Cold

This past weekend, we wrapped up our 20th season of Sierra Mountain Music Camp (www.iSMMC.com - yes, I'm plugging camp for our 21st season already!). And true to form, I wore myself out, worked long hours (probably too long), and now, am feeling the effects: sore throat, congestion...yep, a cold. That dreaded "I brought this upon myself cold."

So despite starting to feel sick, I made a conscious effort when I made my dinner tonight. I figured chicken noodle soup might not be the best option right now, especially since I would love to have more noodles than anything else. At that point I realized - hot and sour soup. I first tried it about 6 months ago, and LOVED it, and have since made it a few times at home. Simple ingredients, I can add protein and veggies, and it's quick. I found a recipe online at AllRecipes.com, and quickly started altering it. I tripled the mushrooms, doubled the egg, added three big handfulls of spinach, bamboo shoots, green onions, and tossed in about 1/3 cup of leftover carnitas. It's perfect. Though, not exactly "hot" in the spicy sense, but it'll cut the bill for comfort in a bowl. Plus it's not processed, fake, or junk. It's delicious, and took maybe 20 minutes to make.

Yesterday, I made Greek chicken pasta salad, and had that for lunch...so...freaking...GOOD. It had overnight to sit in the red wine vinegarette, the onion and garlic were fragrant, but not overpowering, the tomatoes added a little acidic bite, the chicken was lemony/garlicky...just good. I think had I brought more with me, my coworkers may have grabbed a fork and dug in.

I made a concerted effort this morning to pack my meals, my snacks, and my beverages. In the end, I stayed ON TRACK ALL DAY. Protein shake in the morning, pecans for a morning snack, Greek chicken salad for lunch, turkey and string cheese with a handful of oven-roasted almonds for afternoon snack, followed by the delicious hot and sour soup. The bag I brought to work was nearly overflowing with food, mostly snacks: veggies, hummus, string cheese, turkey, roasted pecans and almonds, mixed berries, and iced tea. I think I took up nearly an entire shelf...but that's ok!

So on the list for tomorrow? Leftover hot and sour soup for lunch, there's plenty of snacks available at work. For dinner, I'm thinking the chicken I started marinading yesterday with some brown rice and steamed broccoli. 

Oh, and kicking this darned cold!!

Time for a Kickstart

You name it, and chances are that I've tried it. I've been fighting this same battle for as long as I can remember. In high school, I'd have only an orange, carrots, and a Diet Dr. Pepper for lunch, and for a few years I was vegan. In college, it was SlimFast. Since then, it has been Weight Watchers, South Beach, gluten-free, high protein, low carb, diabetic, and...and...and.

A few months ago, I was urged to sign up for Moms in Training with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. With them, and their trainers, I successfuly completed my first 5k, and have done 2 others, and have signed up for a few more. Despite moving more, watching what I eat...no change on the scale. For lack of a better word: FRUSTRATING. 

One of the trainers from MNT (Moms in Training) urged me to start a 24 day challenge which is definitely...a kickstart. I signed up, and I start Thursday (I have to wait for some items to arrive). So starting then, it'll be shakes in the morning, and supplements. Plus my own snacks and food for the rest of the day. 

Since we've been gone for the past week, I had to go to the grocery store today, but luckily had my new handy-dandy grocery list. Never before have I left the grocery store with such a full cart and going down so few aisles. Translation: I shopped the perimeter of the store. Lots of produce, lean meats, bulk items like lentils, almonds, pecans, and even some bran to make banana bran muffins (I'm going to tweak my recipe).

After unloading the car, I started my list of what to make for the week. As my trainer says, meal planning is KEY. So far today, I accomplished the following:

1. Oven roasted almonds (350*, 15 minutes)
2. Toasted pecans with smoked paprika (stovetop)
3. Greek chicken pasta salad: whole wheat penne, chicken (marinaded in EVOO, lemon juice, rosemary, thyme, oregano and garlic), olives, feta, cherry tomatoes, cucumber, and red bell pepper tossed with a red wine vinegarette (EVOO, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, garlic, oregano). (See the first picture)
4. Crockpot carnitas:trimmed pork shoulder, taco seasoning, water; 6 hours on high, then shredded; served with sauteed red bell pepper and onion, cilantro, and a little bit of shredded cheese and light sour cream (see the second picture)
5. Prepped chicken for later this week - it's marinading in a low-sodium teriyaki sauce with TONS of garlic
6. Cooked down mixed berries with lemon rind and enough cornstarch to thicken, and put them into single serving cups

Something needs to change, and I like to eat. Strike that...love to eat. And luckily, I really enjoy cooking. Not so much the dishes, but it's worth it.

So follow me on my journey. I'll share food ideas, meal planning, and my journey. And since I have a cute little kid, he'll probably sneak in here somehow, too!

Now to track my dinner (I use MyFitnessPal), and get my food and snacks laid out for tomorrow! No excuses, no "cheat" days. Today is the first day of a BIG journey. Let's take the first step together.