Monday, June 30, 2014

Refrigerator Pickles - Seasonal Eating Cucumbers

With the summer season in full swing and the 4th of July just around the corner, it is prime time for outdoor eating and summer foods. To me, that means foods that are quick to make and refreshing to eat. 

My whole family is a family of pickle lovers! My sister even served homemade pickles at her wedding. She and her husband make them in giant batches during the summer and there isn't a time that we all get together that someone isn't sharing pickles. Perhaps we are a little crazy, perhaps the vinegar has pickled our brains. 

I absolutely love fridge pickles, I love how different they are from "canned" pickles or "regular" pickles. I think they are so fresh tasting and we just can't get enough of them.  I was very excited to try this recipe because of the addition of red onion. (It also has green peppers, but they give me heartburn so badly, I didn't include them - Isn't that the great thing about cooking in your own kitchen!)  The technique of icing the brine is new to me too. I am happy to report they turned out amazing and I would make them again with little change in the recipe. I would however probably cut the sugar in half. 




The first thing you are going to want to do is slice your cucumbers and onions and layer them into your containers. You can use quart jars if you have them. I just used two reusable plastic containers, so they could travel to the party safely.  



Be sure you slice the cucumbers in a uniform thickness so that you have a continuous product when you are done. You don't want some slices super thin and soggy and some super thick and crunchy (unless you want them all either one of those ways - just be sure they are all the same size. 

I also layer the onions with the cucumbers. This keeps the cucumbers from sticking together is big stacks and not getting surrounded by the vinegar brine. 


Once your veggies are all sliced and prepped, get your brine going on the stove. I am not a super big fan of how hot vinegar makes my house smell, but I will tolerate it for the final product any day of the week. 


 Once your brine has boiled, remove it from heat and add the ice cubes to cool it down. This was a new step for me and I was really happy with how it worked out.

 
 Then pour your cooled brine over your sliced cucumbers and onions and pop into the fridge to get all delicious and pickle-y.  I am usually unable to wait very long before I am "testing" to see how they turned out. The longer that you are able to let them marinade the more full the flavors will become. And they will last for up to two months in your fridge - but that isn't something you are going to have to worry about.

Here's the recipe!

Ingredients:
4 thinly sliced cucumbers ( I used 6 and left out the bell pepper)
1-large  sliced red onions
1-large  sliced green bell  peppers (or color of your choice)
1-tbsp salt
2-cup white vinegar
1 1/2-cups sugar (for my family I cut the sugar in half but if I was taking it somewhere I would add the the sugar)
1-tsp celery flakes
1-tsp red pepper flakes ( I adjusted this a little and only added a 1/2 a tsp, I was pleased with that.) 

Directions:
Mix cucumbers, onions, peppers and salt; set a side.

Put vinegar, sugar, celery flakes and pepper flakes  in a pot and bring to a boil. Once mixture comes to a boil remove from heat and  add 2 handfuls of ice until melted.

Place all veggies in large mouth canning jars (2 quarts or 1 half gallon jar)

Pour mixture over cucumbers,  store in refrigerator.
Will keep up to 2 months

Makes 2 quart jars- amount will differ based on the size of your veggies.

Friday, June 27, 2014

Create a Stir-fry - Thai Pasta Salad

Last night was one of those nights where I knew I had PLENTY of food in my fridge and pantry, but no idea what to make for dinner. 

Nights like this can be especially tough, "what to make... what to make... "  The Creates curriculum at Food $ense was created exactly for this situation. 

Here is how I started, I just opened up my fridge and started taking stuff out.  I had two cooked chicken breasts, I had a little bit each of snap peas and some celery. I had a red pepper and some cilantro.  Looks like I had protein and veggie covered - now for a grain. In my pantry, I had a small box of whole wheat pasta. I hadn't gotten around to using it yet because it was only a small box and not enough to feed the whole family. I decided to use it. 

Now what to make with this strange assortment of ingredients. Lots of time when you think cilantro and peppers you think Mexican food, I know I do, but I was wanting something a little bit different, so I did some research and found this recipe for Thai Pasta Salad - Perfect!!


I had to alter the recipe quite a bit, but that is what Creates is about! I have good fresh ingredients and I have a plan. I can make this dinner just fine! 


Ingredients:
2 cups broccoli, cut into mini florets ( I didn't have broccoli, so I used snap peas and some celery. I think the peas turned out even better than the broccoli would have)
1 cup sweet peppers, diced
1 cup onions, diced
1/2 – 1 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
4-6 oz whole wheat spaghetti

To make the dressing…
2 tbsp olive oil
2 clove garlic, minced
1 tsp hot chili sauce
2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp fish sauce
2 tbsp hoisin sauce
2 tbsp soy sauce
Salt and pepper

Directions:
Cook pasta according to package instructions. During the last minute, add in the broccoli.

In the meantime, you can cook the vegetables and prepare the dressing.

Heat olive oil in small non-stick skillet, sauté onions until slightly soften. Add in garlic and continue to sauté until fragrant. add in sweet peppers and cook until slightly softened.

Remove from heat, add in remaining ingredients to finish making the sauce. Add salt and pepper to taste.

When the pasta and broccoli is ready, add them to the skillet and stir well. Stir in cilantro leaves.

Served at room temperature or chilled.



Remember that when you are doing a Stir-fry or Skillet dinner to add the things that need the longest to cook to the pan first - like raw meat or onions. Then add the vegetables that take the longest to become tender next and the vegetables that you want to stray crispy at the very end.  That way you won't end up with crunchy raw celery and soft mushy peppers. 


Be sure to add lots of fresh cilantro at the end. I felt that the cilantro made the whole dish come together and the fresh flavor of it is amazing. Happy Eating! 



Wednesday, June 25, 2014

Blueberry & Melon with Lemon Cream


I don't spend much time mentioning this around here, (because it really isn't so "healthy") but we are dessert people! Since the summer began we have consumed more popsicles and ice cream than probably should be legal. I could build the Taj Mahal out of little wooden popsicle sticks with the amount that we have acquired. 

My kids love sweets! - That means they adore fruit. I am lucky that they are open to the idea of eating healthy and taking care of their bodies. I found a recipe yesterday for a blueberry trifle with melon and a yogurt sauce that looked absolutely beautiful - it made my mouth water just looking at the pictures. 

INGREDIENTS
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
5.3 ounces (or thereabouts) lemon greek yogurt
1 large honeydew melon, cubed
1 pint blueberries, washed (or more if you'd like!)


INSTRUCTIONS
Using an electric mixer beat the cream cheese on high until soft and fluffy (about 1-2 minutes). Add lemon greek yogurt and mix until combined well.

Create trifle by layering melon, blueberries, and lemon cream in a large bowl or individual dessert dishes.


I don't have a big beautiful trifle dish, and no lovely clear glass glasses to display this in. So you get to see a picture of the fruit in a bowl. But don't let that deter you. This quick dish is amazing. It takes the longest to cut the melon and even that goes fast. (or you can get someone else to do it for you while you mix the sauce. I think the sauce would be amazing on all kinds of fruit. I would really like to try it with some honeydew and some raspberries (which are my favorite).

Monday, June 23, 2014

Gyros - Cook Once, Eat Twice



One of the greatest lessons that I have learned at Food $ense, is the concept of Cook Once, Eat Twice.  It sounds really simple (and super smart) once you start thinking about it. But sometimes it takes someone else pointing it out to us what a good idea it is for us to choose to make it a part of our lives. 

When I am menu planning, I am always on the look out for ways I can take short-cuts and make things easier on myself while I am trying to feed this pack of wild maniacs during the week. Can I cook a double batch of rice for use later in the week (one of my Most Favorite short-cuts), Can we have hot pasta for dinner and then a cold pasta salad for lunch? Will chopping all the veggies for now make tomorrow run a bit smoother? Cook Once, Eat Twice! It is a really great idea, especially if you aren't a huge fan of leftovers that taste the same as they did yesterday. 

When I decided to make Greek Style Chicken Kebabs, I knew I wanted enough leftover chicken to make these Gyro sandwiches. It wasn't going to be that much more work to marinate and cook the extra chicken (but it would make a HUGE difference the next day), so I planned on defrosting twice as much as I knew I was going to need for the kebabs. ( I didn't even double the marinade which I felt like saved me money too!) 


 The next day for lunch, all that was left to do make chop the cold chicken, make the Tzatziki and assemble the sandwiches. How easy is That!

Tzatziki:
6 oz low fat Greek Yogurt  ( I used the yogurt I had left from the Strawberry Lemon Cake
juice of 1/2 of a medium lemon
1 med cucumber, peeled
3 large cloves garlic, minced
Garlic Salt, to taste
Cracked Black Pepper, to taste

Directions:
Slice cucumber in half, length wise. Using a spoon, scrape out seeds. Finely shred cucumber and place in paper towels and squeeze out extra moisture.

Then combine Greek yogurt, lemon juice, shredded cucumber, garlic, garlic salt, and pepper. Refrigerate in a air tight container for 1 hour before serving.

 Then you are ready to assemble your sandwiches. Two of my kids went bonkers for these. They insisted that, "you need to cook like this more often". - whatever that means.  They chicken went fast and gone in a flash. We had some extra pita pockets that got made into pizzas later in the day and the tzatziki got eaten on top of lettuce leafs and was gone before I even had to put it away. This is one definately going into the "win" column. Both the Greek Kebabs and Gyros are going to be a summer food staple around here.




Friday, June 20, 2014

Greek Style Chicken Kebabs

I have never made kebabs before. Strange, because they are so easy and family (or picky eater) friendly.  If you have lots of kitchen helpers you don't even have to assemble them yourselves. 

I started the chicken marinating right after I cleaned up the lunch dishes and it worked out perfectly. You can marinade the chicken for as little as 30 minutes and as long as overnight. 




Ingredients

2 lbs boneless & skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1" pieces
1 large red onion, cut & separated into 1" pieces
2 large garlic cloves, grated & divided
1 lemon, juice and zest of
2 tbsp basil or oregano, dried
1 + 1/2 tsp salt, divided
1 + 1/2 tsp ground black pepper, divided
2 tbsp olive oil, extra virgin
1 large zucchini, cut into 1/2" thick rounds
3 large bell peppers, cut into 1" pieces
Cooking spray 


Directions

If using wooden skewers, soak in water for at least 30 minutes.
In a large bowl add chicken, olives, onion, 1 garlic clove, lemon juice + zest, basil or oregano, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp black pepper. Toss to combine and coat the chicken evenly. Let marinate at least 30 minutes. The longer meat marinates, the more flavourful it is and less cooking time is required.





Toss zucchini and bell peppers with remaining 1/2 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper. If marinating meat overnight, you can do this step right before grilling.

To make garlic oil, combine olive oil and 1 garlic clove in a small bowl and set aside.

Skewer the meat alternating with olives, red onion and vegetables onto each skewer. I ended up using 5 - 6 pieces of chicken, 2 zucchini slices, 3 - 4 bell pepper slices on each out of 10 long metal skewers. 

Discard remaining marinade. (It may be tempting to save it, but don't! It isn't safe cooking practices)


Preheat the grill on low - medium heat, around 500 degrees F, and spray with cooking spray. Grill skewers with lid closed turning every 2 - 3 minutes for even grilling.

Kebabs are ready when chicken is cooked through, about 8 minutes.

* Remove from the grill and brush each skewer with garlic oil. Serve hot with your favourite whole grain and/or salad.


 Enjoy!!

We tried to cook enough chicken to try a second recipe with the greek style chicken. Stay tuned for our next post that will be Gyros with Kebab Chicken. ( If somebody else doesn't get to the leftovers before I do).



Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Cake

The strawberries are still in season and looking gorgeous and tasting delicious. We aren't even close to being tired of eating them here at our house. So I bought a bunch of them yesterday and decided to make this amazing cake. 

It is a very simple cake. (you could make it in 2 loaf pans and call it a bread if you wanted) It ends up heavy and dense like a pound cake and you'll be able to enjoy a slice for dessert tonight and then another one for breakfast tomorrow. 

Let's get started...

First zest your beautiful lemon. I could put lemon zest in everything. 

Mix up your dry ingredients in a bowl, Flour (both wheat and white, baking soda, salt and your lemon zest. 

Then in a separate bowl, mix up your wet ingredients, butter, sugar (which you cream together) then add your eggs, the vanilla, and lemon juice. 

After your wonderful husband has spend the last 20 minutes dicing strawberries, you are ready to add them to the batter. (you'll need 2 cups)

 Gently fold them into the batter, You don't want to mash them up any more than you have to, just to get them incorporated.

Then pour the whole amazing smelling mess into your prepared pan. I used a bundt pan because I think the denseness of the cake lends itself really well to this type of "old fashioned" cake. 


 Once you have baked it, take it out and let it rest for 5-10 minutes before turning out onto a plate. Then once it has cooled mix up the glaze and "frost" that cake. Honestly, we couldn't wait until it was completely cooled, so we glazed it while it was still warm and cut into it while it was still steamy in the middle.



Strawberry Lemon Yogurt Cake

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
Zest of 1 lemon
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature (if you use unsalted, add another 1/2 teaspoon of salt)
1 1/4 cups sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
3 eggs
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
8 ounces plain Greek yogurt
12 ounces (about 2 cups) fresh strawberries, diced

GLAZE
1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
1-2 tablespoons lemon juice

Directions
Heat oven to 325 degrees. Grease and flour a 10-inch bundt pan and set it aside.
In a bowl, stir together flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the lemon zest and set aside.

With an electric mixer or stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in lemon juice and vanilla extract until incorporated. Alternate beating in the flour mixture and the yogurt – starting and ending with flour – and mixing just until incorporated. Gently fold strawberries into the batter. Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan.

Bake for 70-75 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool 25 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.

Once cooled, whisk together the powdered sugar and lemon juice in a small bowl. Drizzle glaze over top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides.






Monday, June 9, 2014

French Bread Pizza with Homemade Sauce

 Here are our house, just like I am sure is true at your house, pizza is always a hit.  I think we have easy pizza -pleasers because most of ours will eat two kinds of pizza; pepperoni and hawaiian, but sometimes I want some different, something new and special and a little bit wild.


So we decided on Sunday afternoon to have a little bit of lunch fun and make individual pizzas. We decided not to go with dough and instead used french rolls. Any hard crusty roll will do (We thought about using Hoagie Buns, but they didn't have enough packs of them at the store). You can even use the giant loaves of french bread that your local store bakery makes daily and sells hot and fresh. 



I have always used just a jar of spaghetti sauce for the pizza sauce, but it wasn't my favorite thing to do. If I was going to be "really serious" about the homemade pizza I would buy a little jar of pizza sauce (and hate myself for spending so much money on such a little jar!) But yesterday, I decided - for you guys actually - to make my own pizza sauce.  

Well it turned out AH-Mazing!! I will never buy pizza sauce again and this is going to go on our regularly rotating menu. It was that big of a hit. The kids loved it, everybody got what they wanted, and I got to use up lots of leftover little morsels in the fridge and tell the kids they were "fun" pizza toppings. 

EASY PIZZA SAUCE YOUR KIDS WILL MAKE

Ingredients
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce 
1/2 teaspoon dried basil or  oregano
1/4 teaspoon garlic salt 
1/8 teaspoon black pepper 
 pinch of sugar (optional) 
Directions
Mix the tomato sauce, basil, garlic salt, and pepper in a small bowl.



Can you believe that was all there was to the recipe?!  I should have started making my own pizza sauce a long time ago.  We ended using so much sauce for pizza making and then "dipping" I had to make a second batch. Making both took me less than 4 minutes and that counts opening the can too. 


On to the pizza, gather your toppings. We had sausage, pepperoni, salami, canadian bacon, black and green olives, pineapple, and mushrooms. I don't really have any huge green pepper fans, so I didn't bother with one of those, but I bet if I had chopped an onion that would have made it onto most pizzas too. 


Then I had them each make their own pizza on top of a roll.  I tried to let myself go a little and not be crazy-mom-lady yelling at them "not to use to much cheese" or tell them how they had to layer their toppings so they would "stick" to the bread right.  I just let it flow and tried to let them have a good time their very own way.  I even relaxed enough to let my 5 yr old just have pineapple and cheese on his pizza. (no protein! - argh)



They didn't turn out especially beautiful. They boys were much more interested in what they tasted like than how they looked. But it was not only a really great meal, but it made for wonderful family time and I think happy memories were made by all.  That makes it something we are for sure going to be doing again. 

Friday, June 6, 2014

Easy Beef Skillet Dinner

With all the kids home from school and here with us for the summer we are really blasting our way through some groceries. Our food budget has taken a real hit, especially since our family uses services like breakfast at school and reduced price / free lunch. Having 5 teenage boys at home really blows your budget out of the water. 

This is a great recipe, not just for keeping things under budget, but it is quick to make and really delicious. Meals like this are a real bit hit around our house.  Lots of full bellies with smiles on their faces make for a happy mom after dinner time. 

Ingredients
1-1/2 pound ground turkey or beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cans (8 ounces each) tomato sauce
1 cup water
1 package (7 ounces) macaroni
1/2 cup chopped green pepper
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper


Directions
In a large skillet, cook beef and onion until the meat is browned and onion is tender; drain. Stir in the remaining ingredients; bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes or until
macaroni is tender. stirring occasionally. Add additional water if needed. Yield: 4-6 servings.










Wednesday, June 4, 2014

Pea Salad with Spring Vegetables

I have been wanting to make a fresh spring salad centered around peas for a while now.  I just adore peas and I think they go great in almost everything. Surprisingly enough, we have someone in our house who doesn't like peas so much, so we don't eat them as often as I would like. 

For those of you planting gardens your peas will be on this month and you are in for a real treat! We don't have a garden so we are going to be watching for ours at the farmer's market.  In the mean time, I used a bag of frozen peas for this salad. 

The asparagus is still in the last bit of season, so you should be able to get really great spears for not a lot of money. 



Ingredients
half a pound of fresh asparagus spears
1 ½ cups green peas, hulled
1 whole ripe but firm avocado, thinly sliced
1 bunch radishes (I used breakfast radishes)
1 shallot, minced finely
4 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
2 teaspoons honey
3 tablespoons sesame oil
kosher salt to taste
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds



This was the first bunch of radishes that I have purchased in a while. I think they are too spicey and "woody" tasting when you get them out of season. But these were amazing! Just the right amount of crunch of peppery flavor. Radishes are another one of the first crops that you local gardeners will be harvesting. 


Instructions
Slice each asparagus and set aside.
Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Add the asparagus and cook for 1-2 minutes until just tender. Use a slotted spoon or spider and pull the asparagus out and dump into a strainer. Rinse with cold water and drain. Set aside.

Dump the peas in and boil for 1 minute and then drain, rinse and drain again. Set aside.
Thinly slice the radishes and set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the shallots, rice wine vinegar, honey and sesame oil. Season to taste with kosher salt.

Add the asparagus, peas and radishes and toss together. Season again with kosher salt and toss in the sesame seeds.

On the serving platter or shallow bowl, line the edges of the bowl with the thinly sliced avocado. Sprinkle them with kosher salt.

Pour the salad over the avocado slices and garnish with fresh chives or chive blossoms if you have them.
Preparation time: 15 minute(s)

Cooking time: 5 minute(s)

Number of servings (yield): 8

The colors in this salad are especially amazing and it is almost as lovely to look at as it is to eat. 




 Instead of slicing the avocados and lining the serving platter with them, I chopped them up really chunky and stirred them in the very last second before serving.




This is a great recipe for using those first spring veggies that come out of the garden. The flavors blend really well together and it is different and refreshing. It will be sure to become one of your favorites to not only eat but to share with your family and friends.