Eating Dinner With My Family

I got my Front Porch Pickings basket today, and the ingredients make me think of broccoli cheese soup.  This week's basket is particularly exciting as we can now customize our baskets with extra of a particular produce or remove something we don't use.  This week's basket included: broccoli, carrots and onions;  all three of these are in this broccoli cheese soup.  I loved this soup.  Yes the half and half makes it a bit decadent, but milk breaks down if it boils and this soup tried to often:).  I think this soup would also be super tasty as a sauce on a baked potato.  The only alterations I made to the recipe were that I used beef stock instead of chicken.  (I had like 3 beef cartons in the pantry thanks to bogo sales and obviously I don't use beef as much as the chicken)  I also didn't move the soup to a blender; instead I used an immersion blender.  It was tasty and fairly easy.  It requires making a roux and a lot of stirring in the beginning, but I would say t

Well as we had other plans for dinner tonight, I decided to make my lunch the post.  I am the only one in the house that appreciates tuna and olives so I wouldn't make this for dinner for everyone.  It does, however, make a great lunch for me:).  It is a tuna salad as much as it is a tapenade, but that doesn't make it bad.  I liked it a lot and it was ready in like 7 minutes.  (crostini took a little longer)  It would be a nice appetizer addition to a cocktail party. Tuna Tapenade 1/2 c  canned pitted black olives 1/2 c  jarred pitted green olives 4 T  capers 1    lemon,zested and juiced 1    garlic clove,minced 1 T  olive oil 1    (5 to 6-ounce) can tuna,in oil Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper Crostini,recipe follows Blend all the ingredients, except the tuna, in a food processor until smooth but still chunky. Transfer to a medium serving bowl. Drain the tuna but do not rinse. Flake the tuna with a fork. Add to the olive mixture, blending gently wit

Well the good news is I liked this as much, if not better, than the fish picatta.  The bad news is grilling fish is a total pain!  The thinnest part of the fillet fell through the grate when I flipped it; the big pieces fell apart.  I almost used the veggie/fish basket, but there was no mention of it in the recipe.  I figured Bobby Flay wouldn't lead me astray.  Oh Bobby!  You have never disappoint in recipes, and in all fairness this one didn't either, but the mess in the bottom of my grill!  You could have warned me; taught me a better way, something:(.  Its ok, I forgive you. Some of our all time favorite recipes come from you so I won't hold a grudge.  My husband, however, when he starts cleaning the grill may;).  The orzo was awesome.  The boy devoured his portion and some of dads. Grilled Tilapia With Lemon Butter, Capers And Orzo  1    lemon,finely zested  2    lemons,juiced  1/2 c  dry white wine  1    shallot,thinly sliced  Splash heavy cream  1    unsal

 I have no idea where I got this recipe.  I'm pretty sure it came in one of my recipe of the day emails, but when I googled the recipe, none were quite like this one.  I thought the idea of whipping the whites and then nestling a yolk in them was intriguing and my whole family is a huge fan of a runny yolk! I honestly don't see how anyone can't be but I'm sure there are some out there.  The dish is pretty good and we all liked it, but it could have been a great dish with some changes.  The most important change would be a sauce.  We suggested, hollandaise, cheese, and even just a compound butter would have helped.  I also would have cooked it less than 15 minutes; the yolks were almost completely set.  The only thing that was a bit odd, and that can't be changed unless you change the whole dish, was the texture of some of the whites.  My son hated it at first, but the inside part wasn't so bad and he declared he liked it better once he got used to it.  It was e

For meatless Monday, I decided to do a mushroom version of the usually pork bahn mi.  I had made this once before for a friend who doesn't eat meat.  I like the mushroom as much as the pork one.  This one did have a small problem, the bread.  It was too crunchy on the outside and to soft on the inside.  I had taken a short cut with the bread; rather than buying it the day of, as I usually do, I bought frozen baguettes at my weekly shopping trip.  Mistake! They were still delicious, but the bread did take away a bit from the finished dish.  We took pity on the boy, and gave him a small potion.  He hates mushrooms:) Mushroom Bahn Mi 6 oz Portabella Mushrooms, Thickly Sliced 1    Baguette,Or Two Small 4 oz Daikon Radish,Julienned 2 lg Carrot,Julienned (about 4 Ounces) About 1/2 c  Mayonnaise Cilantro 1.5 T  Soy Sauce 1.5 T  Mirin Wine Jalapenos,Or Hot Sauce 2 T  Butter 1/4 c  White Vinegar 1/4 c  Sugar 1/2 c  Water Bring the water, vinegar and sugar to a boil.  Let co

I had some things I wanted to say so, if you just want the tasty recipe and my thoughts on it, skip down to the last paragraph:). I started this blog over a year ago for several reasons. These reasons, in no particular order, were to: share recipes with friends, push myself out of my comfort zone recipes, keep myself on track with a year of different dinners, and to promote eating meals together.  That last reason, while extremely important to my family and myself, seemed to be missing from the blog posts.  I found a page on facebook called the Shared Meal Revolution , and I was glad to be reminded of this vital part of the meal: the companions.  Until the last few years, our family meals were not a priority.  My husband works odd hours sometimes and not available for dinner. (I'd say 50% of the time.)  Even when he was home, we often "ate like Americans" (which was what we called it) in front of the TV.  One day, I saw a documentary filmed in England about obesity.  A y

I have an absolute addiction to the Blue Diamond Wasabi and Soy almonds!  I could eat them until my eyes water, and then eat some more.  They are not the cheapest snack, especially when you eat them like I do.  I need to limit myself to the one ounce portion size recommended for heart health;).  So, when I saw that blue diamond had a recipe for wasabi almonds, I couldn't wait to try them out.  (my previous attempts to recreate them have never lived up to the original!)  The first thing I saw was that I had been seriously under portioning the wasabi powder.  This recipe called for 2 whole tablespoons!  I liked the fact it called for an egg white; I individually freeze egg whites whenever I need just a yolk.  I am always looking to thin out the bulging pantry and fridge/freezer.  When I reached the stir part in the baking, I noticed that the almonds were stuck in a giant chunk.  So when I "gently stirred" I actually beat the almonds apart with a wooden spoon:).  The end res

There was tons of of the London Broil left over from last night, so we decided to make a French dip like sandwich.  It was fast and easy and it used up all of the meat, so no waste!  (yay)  Since it was made up on the spot, I guess a proper recipe isn't happening but you should be able to repeat it if you follow my rambling:).  We thinly sliced the steak (really, really thin)  and an onion.  Heat a pat of butter in a pan and caramelize the onions, with a dash of salt,  over medium heat for about 10 minutes.  When the onions are done, throw in the steak and cook until heated through.  Add in some shredded cheddar and stir until melted.  Serve on toasted buns with au jus or rich broth.  I am ashamed to admit I had, what was most likely a 10 year old packet, of instant au jus.  I used it.  (I am hanging my head in shame, but rejoicing that I got something out of the pantry)  In place of that, I would reduce some beef broth to strengthen the flavor.  Dinner, done:).

I picked this recipe for some gorgeous sweet potatoes I got from my Front Porch Pickings basket.  I also picked this recipe because I adore rutabaga.  It first started when, as a college student, I did some backpacking through Europe.  It was the end of a long trip, and we had arrived in London.  Upon our arrival, we found that for lodging we could choose between a dorm at the college or for just a bit more per person, we could stay in a nice hotel.  We opted for the latter.  In the restaurant at the hotel I had some roasted veggies as my side.  I loved this one, but had no idea what it was.  The waiter told me it was suede.  And until just a few years ago, I had no idea that suede was also called rutabaga. Obviously I loved this recipe.  The boy ate it all but didn't rave, but my husband liked it a lot.  If you have a mandolin, this recipe is a snap.  It requires an hour and a half of cooking time, but it is inactive cooking time.  It also looked beautiful!  I loved the yellow

I love eggplant.  Eggplant Parmesan is a bit laborious and can easily be greasy since it is fried.  This Alton Brown recipe is a great alternative to it.  I have made this several times and the most important thing is to make sure the eggplant is evenly and thinly sliced.  If it isn't, I have had bits that seemed a bit under done.  While  I have followed the instructions precisely in the past, I had to make some adjustments just for the sake of not shopping.  I had the cute baby eggplants from my Front Porch Picking basket, and I needed to use them soon.  I wanted to make this dish, but I didn't have the tomatoes.  I worked around this by using a bit of high quality jarred tomato sauce.  My resulting dish was a bit soupier than it had been in the past, but I enjoyed it none the less. Eggplant Pasta 2    medium-large eggplants Kosher salt,for purging 4 T  olive oil 1 t  garlic,minced 1/2 t  chile flakes 4    small tomatoes,seeded and chopped 1/2 c  cream 4 T  basil ch

I have a pasta sauce cookbook I got from my MIL.  It has lots of really great recipes.  It is called Sauces for Pasta .  It is a small, simple, cookbook that only has sauce recipes.  Many of our favorite pasta sauces have come from here. Tonight, I wanted to try another one, and the anchovy sauce has intrigued me from the beginning.  I think anchovy paste makes some dishes amazing, but the little bone filled fillets have filled me with something close to terror:).  This recipe only called for two, which, almost, seemed like too little, but in the end it wasn't.  My major issue with the book, and the sauce, is that there is no guidance on the amount of pasta you should serve the sauce with.  I have always made the assumption that it was either 3/4-1 pound of pasta.  I used 3/4 of a pound, but it seemed like much too little sauce.  I added another tablespoon of butter at the end just to make sure every noodle was coated.  I also felt it needed a bit of salt.  The two fillets were ver

For meatless Monday, I decided to try to eggs baked in tomato sauce.  I have been wanting to try a roasted tomato sauce anyways, and I do like baked eggs.  The tomato sauce was very easy, and super tasty.  I think it would be a great pasta sauce too.  If you make the sauce ahead  of time, it would be a tasty breakfast.  While it takes 15 minutes to bake, you can be getting ready while it cooks.  I loved this dish!  I accidentally over cooked the eggs.  I have this new microwave that beeps once when the timer goes off and them waits like a minute before it beeps again.  Needless to say, I didn't hear the first (maybe first couple) beep.  Even with the mostly cooked yolks, I loved it.  We had it with some toast, but I think I would like crusty bread better.  You need the bread to sop up that sauce! Eggs Baked In Roasted Tomato Sauce 1 1/2 lb plum tomatoes,halved lengthwise 2    garlic cloves,smashed 2 T  extra-virgin olive oil Salt and freshly ground pepper 1 t  chopped oregan

I have been wanting to make Arroz con Pollo for a while.  It takes me back to my childhood in Miami.  I had a couple of recipes for it.  When it comes to a popular, iconic, dish, I like to try several recipes to see what I like and what works.  This one is from Food & Wine.  I was sure it would be tasty, as F & W rarely disappoints, but it in no way resembles the dish of my childhood.  The rice isn't yellow. (I was tempted to add food coloring;)  It also didn't have peas!   I think arroz con pollo needs peas.  However, I choose this recipe tonight since I had most of the ingredients.  The recipe from 3 guys from Miami had more that I needed to buy, but I think it will be a better version.  This recipe wasn't particularly hard to make, so that was nice.  As to the taste, I thought it was all right.  My husband liked it more and more as he ate it.  I don't like meat on a bone, so I might be letting my issues get in the way of enjoying the taste.  Not that I dislik

Thank you so much to Laurie at Laurie's Cravings for the 'Lovely' award!  It is always an honor to receive an award, but even more so from someone with a blog you respect and admire!  You should check out her blog.  It is full of delicious recipes and great information. The rules for the award are:      1. Have a link back to who nominated you. (that would be Laurie ;)      2. Write 11 random facts about yourself.      3. Nominate 11 other bloggers. 11 Random Facts About Me:      1.  I love plants, but if I put them inside, I kill them (outside they live:)      2.  I love sci fi/ fanstasy.  (Yes I am a nerd and proud of it:)      3.  I love video games too. ( I refer you to the previous nerd statement:)      4.  I have been attacked by animals in 4 cities, 3 countries and 2 continents. (ducks in Miami,            pelicans in Layton (Long Key), pigeons in Venice, Italy and squirrels in Madrid, Spain.           I was attempting to feed them each t

I got this recipe from Mexican Made Easy .  I love kale , but have only a limited number of recipes for it.  I got some beautiful kale in my Front Porch Pickings basket, (oh and zucchini too) and a search of my to try file found this recipe.  I thought 4 leaves of kale seemed like too little, and my leaves weren't all huge, so I did add a bit more, however, that made for a bit extra of the filling when all the dough was filled.  The ratio seemed pretty spot on.  Making the tamales took a couple of tries to get them to work well.  I would recommend that you put your tablespoons (I used 3) about 2/3 of the way up from the pointy end, spread them with a spatula first the width of the husk and then down the length.  My first two needed some rearranging since they weren't wide enough to wrap around the filling.  I had a little kale leftover, so I cooked it in a little olive oil and vegetable broth until it was nice and soft and used it as a kind of a "garnish" for the tam

The last two days we have been camping at Wekiva Springs KOA .  So while we were camping in a tent, we had a site with water and electricity and were conveniently located near the bathrooms and tiki bar. I know some of you (including some members of my family) will not consider that really camping.  For me, that's about as rugged as I get.  I will sleep in a tent, in the summer, if I have a fan.  I will camp, if there is a  proper lavatory somewhere nearby.  If I have those things and coffee in the morning and decent food to eat, I can handle it:).  It is even fun!  Well this trip had all that.  For the meal I was in charge of, I made 3 variations on the 'Grilled Loaf' to throw on the fire.  The main difference I made for the camping version, is in it's construction.  After I hollowed out the bread, I lined the entire 'bowl' with cheese, sides included. That way, I hoped to prevent any sogginess in the bread because I was making these before we left.   I then f

I gave my son a list of possible dinner options for tonight, and he chose (of course) the one burger on the list.  I was ok with the idea, but I was sure my husband would be a little annoyed. (he has had to try too many burgers, too recently)  I know burgers are inherently good, and this one was no exception.  We all totally dug it.  I was really pleased that, as far as burgers go, it was a bit, and only a bit, lighter.  Why?  It had turkey instead of beef, no mayo (ok in the coleslaw there was mayo) and no cheese.  I did use ground turkey instead of ground turkey breast; it was cheaper and my boys like dark meat better.  The only really "bad" ingredient was the bacon. The biggest problem was it was a Dagwood like sandwich.  It was huge and unwieldy to eat.  I think less meat next time; I even used slightly less meat than called for. The ketchup  was nice.  It had just enough heat but not overwhelmingly so.  And, the coleslaw gave it a nice crunch.  I am finding too many burg

I am continuing to battle the bulge of the pantry and refrigerator!  Too much stuff bought: on sale, on whim, or because of temporary insanity.  Because of that, I was looking for a sauce to put on some of the seafood in the freezer.  A quick perusal of my 'to try' file on the computer turned up this Aioli recipe. I have always been a bit intimidated by the whole mayonnaise type sauce and have never tried one before.  This blog convinced me to try it at some point, hence it being in my 'to try' file.  It was not as hard as I feared.  It was a bowl of yummy garlicky goodness.  A little goes a long way too, so while uber fattening, you can get away with just a tad.  I highly recommend this recipe.  It was a nice addition to our shrimp (or any seafood as far as I can tell), I think we will have sandwiches for lunch tomorrow using this instead of mayo, and I am milling around in my mind how to use it in a salad dressing.  Aioli garlic, sliced coarse salt such as kosher

Well it is Meatless Monday.  I decided to try a recipe from Food.com .  The person who added this recipe is the same one who added the chicken balti that we LOVE. If you want to see all about her and her recipes click here .  I wanted to make Welsh Rarebit because I loved it when I ate it in England.  It was really good.  My husband didn't say it, but I could tell he thought it seemed a bit plain and not at all the kind of food he is used to getting from me, but he ate 3 of the 6 slices;) so he must have liked it.  The whole process was pretty quick.  One of the biggest chunks of my time was grating the cheese, but I hear that you can buy it already grated;).  (I doubled the recipe but tripled the slices and there was plenty of sauce) Welsh Rarebit 1    ounce butter 1/2    ounce flour,white flour or  1/2 ounce whole wheat flour 1/4 pt milk,whole milk or 1/4 pint skim milk 4    ounces cheddar cheese (low fat is acceptable) 1    egg yolk 4 T  beer salt cayenne pepper,to t

Day one: Set up Tonight, we celebrated a huge accomplishment of a dear friend.  He got his PhD!  The amount of work alone makes it an amazing accomplishment, but he did it while working and making time for family!  Unbelievable!  Well since we were celebrating all day with them, I didn't cook, but I wanted to take this opportunity to talk about a product I got for my birthday and that I am pretty impressed with: my AeroGarden .  I got it as a birthday present from my MIL.  I have been wanting it for salad greens.  I can't believe how much lettuce we waste.  It is inevitably the fancier greens.  I can only find them already packaged and washed, and never as heads, bunches, whatever from they come in.  I thought that this would be an excellent way to harvest only what was needed.  It was easy to put together.  They sprouted with in a week and are grew fast.  However the thing that impressed me the most was their customer service.  One of my pods didn't sprout.  I figured

Wow!  I had an amazing dinner!  It really took me back to my childhood in Miami too.  I haven't had proper Cuban food, (except those croquettas) in a very long time.  They made enough food to feed an army, instead of the 7 guests they had;).  Everyone nearly exploded.  No recipes here just food porn:)  Thank you again my dear friends; it was wonderful!  However, expect some hate mail from my waistline;) Bocaditos and Pastilitos Mojitos Tostones with Garlic Sauce Pernil (a Pork Dish) MMM now it's shredded With Black Beans = Happiness On a Plate AND Rum Cake!

I was not feeling like cooking tonight.  I usually do but I was in a bit of a funk.  I have said it before and I will say it again, I have the best husband ever.  He took over dinner and cooked everything.  The fish recipe is from $10 Dinners on the food network.  I have only tried a few of her recipes, but they have ranged from good to great.  This one was adored by my son.  I liked it too, but I have to say it was a tad too lemony for me.  I would have added a bit more butter at the end or a bit less lemon.  Not that I am complaining. If you ate it with the Bulgar, it cut it's tartness.  It was really good but if I were tyring to nit pick it for fixes, that would be it.  To  go with it, my husband made Bulgar cooked in mushroom broth with some sauteed onion and celery and a lovely salad.  We ate every bit of dinner.  Usually there is a portion of leftovers, not tonight.  I don't know what sides she put with the fish on her show, but with the Bulgar and salad, the meal was ea

I have found so many recipes that I want to try, and a good percentage of them have come from my fellow food bloggers.  This recipe comes from one of  my favorite food blogs called We Are Not Foodies .  Not only do they have a lot of good looking recipes, but I like the writing style of the group.  I "made" this over a month ago. but tried it tonight for the first time.  I will say I was afraid of ruining a perfectly good bottle of vodka in my first attempt at a liqueur, so I guesstimated a smaller batch.  I was happily surprised with the taste and that I didn't mess it up.  The end result was really good and unique.  I think I want to order the book they talked about and perfect my liqueur making knowledge and skills.  Not only so I can reap the benefits, but it would make awesome Christmas presents! If you didn't see my previous post from a blogger, you may not know why I only listed the ingredients and not an actual recipe.  1) These aren't the big sites that y

I was in Publix the other day and they were sampling Boar's Head's new products.  They had this chicken salad that I tasted and loved.  I decided to make it for two reasons: first, it was super fast and easy and secondly I wanted to see if I liked it as much at home as I did when I was breaking the cardinal rule of grocery shopping, shopping famished.  I asked the lady what was in it.  Other than the 1/2 pound of meat, I got no real proportions, but this is pretty close.  The salad requires no seasoning, as the meat and cheese are really seasoned.  It would make a great lunch, but we had it for dinner just because it was a busy night with lots of stuff to do and no real time.  The boys had sandwiches, but I would like to have it be the "dressing" on a salad or filled in lettuce cups next time.(I had mine on black pepper triscuts.)    It is a stellar meal? No.  Is it tasty and fast and worth it? Yes.  The biggest issue I have, is that the gouda makes for a slightly mor

Ok attempt two at grilling pizza!  It was so much more successful this time.  We went to the opposite end of the spectrum as far as toppings.  These were minimal in the extreme, and this recipe didn't call for the flipping of the dough.  There were still some issues.  There were parts that were "extra" charred.  When that started to happen, we turned down the heat and closed the lid to make sure that the top part of the dough cooked and the cheese melted. I enjoyed the pizza, and my husband liked it much better than last nights.  I absolutely hate burnt anything, but the blackened spots were pretty good.  (they were spread out)  Only advice I can give is be extra attentive to how much salt you put on, its easy to over do it, and be mindful of how well you spread out the red pepper flakes.  I thought, that with a nice salad, this was a really great meal.   Grilled White Pizza  1    (8-ounce) ball prepared pizza dough (bought fresh from pizzeria or frozen from market)

It's Monday and we are trying to do Meatless Mondays.  While we have had at least one day a week in the past that has meatless dinners, we are making an effort to have the entire day be meatless. (for the kids when possible)  I decided I wanted to do something I have always wanted to try, grilling pizza.  My husband scoffed at the idea of grilling pizza. (He scoffed at the idea of grilled romaine too, but he loved it)  My husband was not as enamored with this pizza as he was with the grilled romaine.  I can attribute this to two reasons.  1) He has an aversion to the texture of raw tomatoes, and these were lightly cooked.  2) He did the actual grilling.  Its Florida and it's summer; it is hot sweaty work, which is why I happily took him up on his offer to do the grilling.  I prepped everything he needed and gave it to him as needed:)  There were some logistical issues with the grilling that really needed some familiarity with the process to prevent frustration.  I can see how a