Mama Mama Quite Contrary

The bounty of summer is upon us and Vivi and I have been two little worker bees in the kitchen. Last week we picked up a few pounds of kirby cukes at our local farm which we promptly turned into pickles. My husband and Vivi are real pickle connoisseurs and they both gave them two enthusiastic thumbs up.  The babies were also impressed.  If you want to give it a go yourself, here is the easy recipe from Real Simple. Saturday took us to the Farmer's Market where I picked up about thirty pounds of perfectly ripe tomatoes for $10.  It was a bargain that I couldn't pass up even though I had no idea how I was going to fit all those tomatoes in the stroller. (Luckily, my husband showed up just in time to carry them the mile home.) Vivi and I blanched and peeled the tomatoes resulting in six quart jars.  Here is just one: Before I became.... hmmm... how should I put this.... encumbered by these rascals: I would have properly canned those tomatoes, just like ...

I hate mayonaise.  Truly.  I find it absolutely disgusting.  Mix mayonaise with a decent food like tuna fish and I just about lose my marbles.  Why, oh why, does it have to be so?  Can't there be a better way to have your tuna sandwich? Well, it turns out there is.  Several years ago, I discovered a tuna salad at Whole Foods which was mayonaise-free.  It had olive oil and lemon and all sort of glorious other ingredients.  It was delicious on everything but I particularly liked to eat it on French rye with a slice of Swiss cheese.  (Very international, I know.)  I started making my own and it became the perfect light summer meal.  Here's the rough recipe: Mayo-Free Tuna 1 pkg. of solid white tuna juice from one lemon olive oil 1/4 cup minced onion 1/2 a green apple handful of dried, sweetened cranberries salt and pepper Mix together. (All ingredients can be altered to suit your taste.) A couple of days ago I ...

When it's hot, I hate to cook.  Actually, despite all the talk of food on this blog, I am not too crazy about cooking in general.  If I had to make a meal a few times a week, I probably would enjoy the challenge but getting three nutritious, unprocessed meals on the table every day of the week becomes a huge grind.  And then there's the clean-up...  sometimes I just want to throw in the dishtowel and let the kids feed off the floor. While I don't have any great insight into getting things cleaned up efficiently, I came up with a meal last night that was a HUGE hit with my girls.  Before you get too excited, it is just a variation on quesadillas but it is an improved variation, I think.  What I have done in the past is put some cheese and beans in a tortilla, heated it up, and served it with some guacamole on top.  Vivi would eat a couple bites and then announce that she did not, in fact, like quesadillas. And then I realized... it's all about pr...

My Crock-Pot and I are in the midst of a grand love affair.  I put a little work in during the Turtles' naptimes and it rewards me with delicious meals and minimal clean-up.  I've baked cakes and made super easy tapioca in it.  It has provided me with many bowls of soup throughout the winter and works wonderfully at cooking beans or making stock.  Much like my stroller , I will forever sing the praises of the slow cooker. What I will not sing the praises of, however, is Make It Fast, Cook It Slow:  The Big Book of Everyday Slow Cooking by Stephanie O'Dea.  Despite numerous recommendations and a few recipe attempts, I have been thoroughly unimpressed with this cookbook.  To be fair, we don't eat meat so perhaps the meat recipes are better but the Tamale pie I tried was mediocre at best.  The Quinoa Casserole was my first ever Crock-Pot disaster.  I found myself cooing to my machine, "Don't worry slow cooker.  It's not you....

Because I have three small children, I try to serve meals that have a lot of color and are appealing to both kids and adults. I admit that I am lucky because Vivi is a great eater and the babies are also pretty enthusiastic about food so I haven't had to travel the limited culinary road of noodles and butter. Our general house rule is that you don't have to like it but you do have to try it. Oh, and if you have room in your belly for dessert, then you certainly can finish what is on your plate. That being said, here is a sample menu for a week at our house. In the winter, I tend to make more soups and one pot comfort meals. In the summer, I make a lot of salads and sandwiches. There are examples of both in this menu. Sunday: Fish, Mashed Potatoes, Green Beans (We have fish about twice a month and I usually broil it with some olive oil, lemon, and herbs. I make a huge amount of mashed potatoes so I'll have lots of leftovers, and then saute green beans with almond s...

Now that we are coming out of our viral fog, I decided to redeem my grumpy self and make pumpkin pancakes for my family this morning. Here is the recipe: PUMPKIN PANCAKES 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 cup whole wheat flour (use another cup of white if you don't have WW) 1 T. baking powder 1/2 t. salt 1 T. pumpkin pie spice 1 and 3/4 cup milk 3 eggs, slightly beaten 3/4 cup pumpkin puree 1/4 cup oil 1. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. In a second bowl, combine wet ingredients. Stir milk mixture into flour mixture until slightly lumpy. 2. Heat a lightly greased griddle over medium heat. For each pancake, pour about 1/4 cup batter onto the griddle. Cook until tops are bubbly and edges are dry. If you have a particularly strong case of parental guilt, you can throw some chocolate chips in when the top begins to bubble. Then flip. Makes about 16 pancakes.

I've been remiss in not posting any recipes lately. With the election, my pregnancy, and Vivi's various adventures, I really have not been paying much attention to my culinary endeavors. It's not that we haven't been having good meals lately. In fact, now that my nausea has completely abated and my energy is back, I've generally had it together in the kitchen. I've been whipping up mushroom risotto, Tuscan bean soup, vegetarian pot pie, and large quantities of homemade macaroni and cheese. (I've also been eating large quantities of all of the aforementioned dishes.) Still, there are nights when all I want is an easy, hearty meal. That's where my recipe for Lazy Person's Vegetarian Chili comes in. It'll cook on the stove in half an hour or you can let it sit in the crock pot for most of the day. You can also substitute fresh ingredients for any of the canned/frozen items. Here are both variations below: Lazy Person's Vegetarian Chili ...

My husband came home from the farmer's market last weekend with a truckload of beets. When I asked him why he had bought so many beets, he calmly replied, "It was buy one ton, get one ton free and I thought that was a good deal." And I thought I was the bargain shopper in the family... After giving up on most Central Asian delicacies (mutton, anyone?), I grew to love beets. There's nothing like living in the former Soviet Union to precipitate a fondness for beets but what was I going to do with all of these? Even I didn't know if I could stomach that many. I started off by making a gallon of Vinograd which is a Russian salad consisting of beets, potatoes, white beans, onions, dill, and pickles. I know. Right now you are thinking that I would need to pay you a million rubles to give this salad a try but trust me, fair reader, it's actually quite good. I thought I'd shot my wad on the salad though so I turned to the Internet for some beet inspiration. That...

It's another summer Saturday and I've already broken my promise of posting a recipe every weekend. I think I am going to institute an exception for weekends when we are away. Hey, that's the beauty of being a grown-up with her own blog-- I get to make the rules up as I go. (Hmmm.... that's also kind of how I parent.) Anyway, here are two of our favorites. Hope you enjoy them! EXTRA MINTY TABBOULI 1 cup dry bulghar wheat 1 1/2 cup boiling water 1 1/2 t. salt 1/4 cup lemon juice 4-5 cloves of garlic, crushed 1/4 cup olive oil 1 1/2 packed cup fresh mint leaves 1/8 cup chopped fresh parsley (1 t. if dried) 2 medium tomatoes, diced 1 cuke, skin removed and diced Combine bulghar, boiling water, and salt in a bowl. Cover and let stand for 20 minutes, or until bulghar is chewable. Add lemon juice, garlic, olive oil, mint, and parsley to bulghar and mix thoroughly. Let rest in refrigerator for at least two hours. (You can skip this step if you are rushed for time but the flavor...

Since many of you seem to like seeing recipes on this blog, I'll try and post one every weekend. It gets me out of the "obsessed with my kid" mode that is the basis for this blog. The concession, however, is that all the recipes I will include will be for things Vivi loves. Now, hopefully, you and your family will too! This recipe is for Watermelon Salsa which I first had while visiting my husband's friends in Vermont. I don't know if it was the salsa itself or eating it on their little farm on one of those beautiful Vermont summer evenings that made it so perfect! It still tastes good here in L'il Rhody though. WATERMELON SALSA 3 cups chopped seedless watermelon 1/3 cup chopped red onion 2 medium garlic cloves, crushed small handful of chopped fresh cilantro 1/2 teaspoon salt juice from one lime Put chopped watermelon into a colander and allow juice to drain for 20-30 minutes. Afterwards, combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well and serve. (I think ...

Vivi loves snacks. I mean she REALLY loves snacks, especially if they belong to other people. When we arrived at a birthday party for Vivi's friend Will last week, she was a bit timid about going inside. When Will's mom Karen said, "Vivi, we have snacks!" we were up those porch steps faster than you can say "cupcake." The thing is that Vivi will eat, eat, and eat. A bowl of salad, she'll try it. Oh, you happen to have a corndog , can she have a bite? Moussaka? Bring it on. It is not uncommon for her to have a banana, some Goldfish crackers, toast with peanut butter, and a strawberry smoothie in one sitting. When she grabs her purse and heads to the door, she tells me that she is going to "Ho Foods. Gonna buy rice and beans." Now don't get me wrong, I am so relieved that she has a healthy appetite and is an active, happy child. Sometimes, however, I feel like the parent who never quite has it together. I don't know how many times we...