Smores (a little late)

I realized today (with a bit of a heavy heart) that it is Fall. Every year I have to be dragged (kicking and screaming) into Fall. I cling to the last bits of Summer any way I can. However, when it looks like this:

(the view near Sundance, Utah)

I have to admit that Fall is here. There is no denying it. The leaves are changing, General Conference is around the corner, and I feel like baking pumpkin bread & making soups.

I really meant to share this Summertime tip with you earlier. I’m hoping it’s not too late. Maybe you can still manage one more campfire before it gets too cold? It’s a quick tip – not life changing by any means. Here it is:

This is how we do smores:

First, roast your marshmallow.

Next, sandwich it between two of these cookies. Eat.

We love these when making smores with kids. These cookies are the perfect size for one marshmallow (and the perfect size for little hands) and the chocolate melts right on to the warm mallow. Yum!

Menu No. 112

 

Monday – hamburgers, carrot sticks, peaches

Tuesday – spaghetti with a chunky pomodoro sauce, green beans, bruschetta

Wednesday – mozzarella/tomato/basil pesto panini

Thursday – vegetarian chili & skillet cornbread

Friday – eat out

Saturday – yo-yo dinner

Sunday – beef stew, rolls

 

 

Out of the Habit

I admit it. I am totally out of the habit of blogging. Somewhere in June I got tired of photographing everything before I ate it. I stopped taking detailed notes about how much of this and that I tossed into the pot. For a weekly menu I just scribbled down a list of things I thought would be delicious, without concern for what day each meal would fall on. I did keep cooking. And I did take a few photos. A few.

Last year we had just a few bean plants in our garden. This year we had 16. I discovered that it was just about the perfect amount for our family. It was wonderful – we were able to have fresh green beans for dinner every three to four days. Here is our favorite way to prepare them:

green beans

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

3-4 Tbsp onion, minced

1/2 tsp fresh rosemary, chopped

olive oil

kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper

Pick beans, and trim the ends off. Cut beans to be similar lengths.

Bring a medium pot of water to a boil. Add beans, boil 5 minutes uncovered. Check for doneness. Cover pot with a lid and boil another 3-5 minutes until done. I’ve found bean “doneness” to be a personal preference. I like softer beans, but if you like your beans with a little crunch, then don’t boil them as long. The size of the beans will determine cooking time as well.

Drain beans and set aside (this will help them dry a little as well. You really don’t want to toss wet beans into hot oil. Trust me.)

Mince garlic and onion, and chop rosemary.

Heat about 1 Tbsp olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat.

Add beans, garlic and onion. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently (don’t let the garlic & onions burn.) Sprinkle with rosemary, salt and pepper (to taste). Toss to coat. Remove from pan and serve.

Little Cups of Chocolate Goodness

I have a few rules that I try to live by.

Rule #1: Create a weekly menu when I’m hungry. (It doesn’t go so well if I try to make a menu when I’m stuffed.)

Rule #2: Grocery shop when I’m NOT hungry. (If I shop when I’m hungry I end up buying things like funions. Weird.)

Rule #3: Don’t watch any type of cooking show on an empty stomach. (Otherwise I end up trying out EVERY recipe from the show in the next few days.)

Rule #4: If a food is good when full-sized, then it’s probably even better when tiny-sized.

Don’t believe me on rule #4? Well how about those tiny m&ms? The regular ones are good. The tiny ones are perfectly delicious. Do you need another example? How about your very own small chocolate cake? Ok, ok…. I know you think it might be better to have your own HUGE chocolate cake, but hear me out.

First of all, these little cakes are baked in a buttered & sugared ramekin. Don’t even think about skipping the sugaring step. That granulated sugar creates a lovely crust on the outside of the cake. Now if you had to share this cake with someone else, you wouldn’t get that sugary crust all to yourself.

Secondly, because these are small they can be baked just long enough to be done yet remain gooey inside. That’s hard to do with a full-sized cake.

And finally, this recipe is a small one. It only makes four ramekins. Why is that good you ask? Because sometimes all you need is one serving of cake. Sometimes.

Warm Chocolate Pudding Cakes (from Everyday Food on PBS)

Some notes on this recipe:

• These cakes really are best fresh from the oven. The recipe calls for bittersweet chocolate but all I had was some semi-sweet so that’s what I used. It was delicious and that’s what I would use again. I’m not sure my kids would appreciate the bittersweet chocolate.
• Don’t overbake these beauties. The recipe says to “bake until center of a cake is soft but not wet when pressed.” When your timer is running out, keep your eye on the cakes and as soon as the center is not “wet when pressed” pull them from the oven.
• I skipped the caramel sauce. I’m sure it’s great, but we enjoyed our cakes with just a small scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Menu No. 111

Monday – grilled pizzas, green salad

Tuesday - grilled chicken, roasted carrots/potatoes/corn

Wednesday – Lemon Fusilli, bruschetta

Thursday – gyros with tzatziki sauce

Friday – eat out

Saturday – Panzanella & Sweet Corn Puree

Sunday – Swiss Steak (slow cooker), fruit salad

Sweet Corn Puree

Gardening

I’m here. I’ve just been busy. Some of my time has been taken up with trying to make some changes to my computer. For the past month I feel as if my computer has been non-functioning more than it’s been functioning. All better now though.

I’ve also been caring for and eating from our garden. Honestly, the actual gardening doesn’t take that much time – maybe 15 minutes each day to water and pick. Guess how many weeds I’ve pulled this year…. 7. I’m not exaggerating. Last year it was 2. I’m a huge fan of square foot gardening. In a small space we’ve been able to plant more than enough herbs and vegetables for our family.

Here’s what we’ve been enjoying this year:

corn (planted 18)

cucumbers (1 vine)

jalapenos (1)

onions (20)

peas (12)

tomatoes (early girl & grape)

banana peppers (1)

basil (2 plants. Can’t you just smell it? yum!)

green beans (16 plants, two varieties)

carrots (4 varieties, 128 carrots total)

cilantro (crop #2 – hopefully we’ll be able to enjoy it before the first frost)

green peppers (2)

We also have chives, oregano, thyme, leeks and parsley.

I love love love the foods of summer.

These Balsamic Grilled Vegetables are amazing and really easy. Grill them up while your salmon (or burgers, hot dogs, etc) is on the grill and you’re good to go. We have these at least once a week, sometimes as terriyaki grilled vegetables and occasionally as plain ol’ salt/pepper/olive oil grilled vegetables.

Strawberry-Spinach Couscous Salad

I really enjoy my daily newspaper reading.

Growing up we always subscribed to the daily paper and I enjoyed flipping through it as I ate breakfast. Ok let’s be honest – I only looked at the ads and comics. When I went to college a daily paper subscription was a splurge so it didn’t happen. Later, when I could afford the splurge I realized that everything was online anyway and it was easier to just read it there so again – no newspaper subscription. Recently however I noted that I was spending less and less time online and even less time watching tv so I was WAY out of touch with what was going on in the world. A few months ago I decided to try getting the daily paper and now I’m really enjoying it. It usually takes me all day to read it through, but I feel like I’m more aware of events in my community, state and nation. Oh, and of course the ads and comics.

I don’t normally look to the paper as a source for recipes and cooking ideas. In fact, I admit I’m a bit skeptical of newspaper recipes (why is that I wonder?) But back in June I spotted this recipe in the newspaper and realized that #1: it sounded deliciously refreshing and #2: I had all of the necessary ingredients. We ate it for dinner that night, as a side to our grilled chicken.

Here’s what I liked about it: I love that it has spinach in it. I’m always looking for ways to incorporate some of the spinach from my garden into our meals. The inclusion of almonds was fantastic. I love the crunchy almonds with the soft sweet strawberries. The orange vinaigrette was a citrusy delight. Over all this salad is great, however I felt there was something wrong with the ratio of couscous to spinach. I think I was expecting more spinach and less couscous, so the end result of this salad kind of threw me off. Next time I think I’ll cut the amount of couscous in half and double the spinach. Some fresh squeezed lemon juice added to the couscous while it cooks might be nice as well.

I found the recipe online for you and it even has a print-page option. (It’s on the Denver Post site but don’t worry, it’s the same exact recipe.) Enjoy!

Strawberry-Spinach Couscous Salad with Orange Vinaigrette