If you have time, this is a great Thanksgiving dessert

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I made this last week for our cooking club. 

I remembered after making it why I don’t make it every year for Thanksgiving.  It is amazing and quite impressive, but it takes time and quite a bit of work.  If you have time, it’s worth it!  Last year I made it because I wasn’t hosting Thanksgiving dinner so there wasn’t as much to do.

I’m hosting this year’s Thanksgiving, so I am just making a simple pumpkin pie… and a turkey with stuffing, potatoes, sweet potatoes, roasted butternut squash puree, roasted parsnips, green beans, cranberry sauce, and probably Brussels sprouts.  So far I’ve made the croutons for the stuffing, cranberry sauce, roasted butternut squash and tonight’s dinner of pork fried rice.

I’m also hoping my sourdough starter worked and can bake some sourdough bread.  My husband is bringing home gravy with him from work— luckily he is just going in for a couple of hours in the morning.

Just in case you missed it— the recipe for the Triple Layer Pumpkin Pie is here.  Oh yes, and this year I made the crust of graham crackers and ginger snaps.

Happy Thanksgiving.  Hope you spend it with loved ones!

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Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

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This time of year pumpkins and winter squash are in season and there are so many wonderful ways to use them.  I made a few great dishes lately: butternut squash soups, ravioli, triple layer pumpkin pie, roasted squash.

One quick treat I make is pumpkin muffins with the Trader Joe’s Pumpkin Bread mix.  They’re quick and easy to make and all the kids love them.  I had an event to go to so I got an idea to jazz them up a bit by making a frosting and turning them into cupcakes.  I adapted a recipe I found for cream cheese frosting.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Frosting

1 brick cream cheese (cold)

1 stick unsalted butter (room temp)

¾ cup confectioners’ sugar

2 Tbsp pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla

¼ tsp cinnamon

⅛ tsp ground ginger

In food processor blend the cream cheese and butter.  Add the confectioners’ sugar and blend until smooth.  Add rest ingredients until well mixed.  Frost cupcakes/muffins when well cooled.

They were delicious!  Great easy treat and most kids liked them. 

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Trick or Treating a week late–slow cooker meal time!

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The past couple of weeks have been so crazy with the freak snowstorm that knocked out power to 100% of our town, kids home from school for a week, Halloween postponed twice in town (yes, they actually postponed town wide Trick or Treating first to the Saturday following then Monday, a week after the actual holiday), school celebrations postponed several times then canceled, and now just trying to get back into a routine after it all.   I have been unsuccessful in getting most of my work done.  One reason is because I couldn’t get online for a week.  But I’m back and must get it done!!

On the day we went to the week-delayed Trick or Treat Street at our elementary school I had made a Moroccan Chicken with Prunes in the slow cooker.  It was the first time I’d used the recipe and will definitely make it again.  I was curious to see how the boys would react to it, but they’ve all had prunes/dried plums before and actually used to eat them because I called them “plum fruit snacks”.  The two youngest weren’t interested in eating the fruit in the dish but amazingly didn’t complain about any of it. So happy to give them something different that doesn’t have whines accompanying it.  AND my eldest actually loved it so much he raided his brothers’ dishes when they’d had enough.  He sought out prunes and all. 

Moroccan Chicken with Prunes adapted from recipe by Lora Brody
1 ½  pounds chicken pieces (I used breasts but next time think I’ll just use thighs)
2 tsp olive oil
½ cup prunes
1 large onion diced
1 tsp cumin seed
¾ cup chicken broth
2 cloves garlic — minced
2 inch piece of fresh ginger — peeled & grated
½ tsp turmeric
½ tsp cinnamon
salt & pepper to taste

I sautéed the onion and then garlic until they were done (not browned).  Added the ginger and cumin seeds for a minute then other spices, for another minute, stirring often.  I then added the chicken broth and brought it to a quick boil then tossed it all into the crock pot.  I added the chicken breasts and prunes.  Set it for 4 ½ hours on low.  I checked seasoning before serving over brown rice.  Original recipe calls for couscous but we’d had so much pasta surrounding that meal that I went with the rice.   Adding cilantro or mint would definitely add a great dimension to the meal.  Next time I may also add chickpeas and a vegetable. 

Two days after that was the official Trick or Treating and I made lasagna for that! Once they were done we went out to gather all the candy and junk associated with Halloween.  It was fun and I’m glad they actually got to do it.  I remember it being my favorite holiday when I was little.

Now back to reality and November.  Halloween will be finally over after today (10 days later) and the zombie holiday (it would not die) can make way for my favorite holiday as an adult: Thanksgiving!

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Ahhh… power! I mean lights, heat, water & finally internet!

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I did something stupid on Saturday— went out to the store with my youngest son when it started snowing because we were low on many food items and I didn’t want to get caught in without them.  Unfortunately I had heard that the freak snowstorm wasn’t meant to hit us until that night, but hadn’t checked for a weather update myself before venturing out.  Then I let my son get his own mini shopping cart and take too long going round the store. When we got to the car there must have been over 2 inches (~5 cms) of snow on it on top of the first couple of inches, and it was much colder (10 degrees colder).  Well, getting home was tricky.  Actually it was treacherous and I couldn’t complete the journey.  I’d passed several cars that had gotten stuck but I believed I could keep going, until I couldn’t… except sideways.  So after being stuck myself and having some nice couple help me get on the road going the right way again, a tree fell down 50 feet in front of my car.  I grew up driving in snow; this was unlike anything I’d experienced. 

After a truck pulled the tree so people could drive on one lane around it, I realized I was not going to make it home.  There were too many twists, turns and hills without a snow plow in sight.  So I pulled into my closest friends’ driveway to wait it out. I thought I was going home later that day (it was early afternoon) but it just got worse out there. Trees were crashing everywhere.  My other two boys were miles away over another friends’ house and my husband was at work (30 minutes drive on a good day).  I thought I was just waiting out the worst and waiting for the plows but I was stuck for the day… and night.  It was such an awful experience being separated from my sons.  I knew they were in good hands, but the power went out and trees were coming down everywhere.  My 9 year old and 7 year old ended up at my neighbor across the street from us.  They also took in our puppy.  It took my husband 3 1/2 hours to get home.  He ended up abandoning his car just a couple of miles from home and walked for over 30 minutes with the sound of trees cracking and crashing. 

I waited out the storm by making myself busy.  We had power until 8 pm so I made my friends some butternut squash soup which was so delicious!  She’d roasted cut up squash with brown sugar (not much) and I pureed it with chicken stock, cumin, cinnamon, paprika then heated it up until it came to a boil.  Added milk (no cream there) and adjusted seasoning (salt and pepper).  It was so good!  My youngest wouldn’t eat it nor would hers but her eldest son loved it. 

I also ended up making my whole chicken that I’d intended to use for chicken stew with dumplings into a roast chicken with root vegetables.  Thyme, olive oil, salt and pepper all over chicken in a roasting pan with sliced onions.  Filled the cavity with carrots and onion.  Cut up carrots, parsnips and potatoes and added to pan after 40 minutes.  Unfortunately minutes into adding vegetables the power went out (one week on it is still off!!!) so we finished it in her grill.  I didn’t manage to cook the veggies properly as the grill was only direct heat and they burnt, but it was still delicious and a nice way to get me to forget my predicament. 

In the morning my friend’s husband drove me and my 4 year old home among downed trees, power lines and over 15 inches of snow!  I was reunited with my husband and then my other two boys.  Even though we had no electricity, running water or heat, it was so good to be home!

We went to my friend’s house in another town for 3 days while we waited for the power to come back on. Halloween was actually postponed a week!  But we managed to have a little celebration anyway— we all dressed up and manned a door (front, back, side & garage) and kids went round the house several times trick or treating while we handed out the candies.

We are lucky— there are a majority in town still without power 7 days on. One person had a chimney fire, another friend’s basement keeps flooding, plus it could always be worse. Last night internet, cable and phone were finally restored.  So nice to be able to get back to 21st century living.  School will hopefully resume next week (yes a whole week off now and their first week delayed because of Hurricane Irene).  For now, my home is open to friends and I’ll be cooking! AND Next time, snow will keep me home with my boys; no venturing out until I know roads are safe.

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Homework blues. Salmon Cakes.

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The past few weeks have been so busy that I’ve been feeling a bit overwhelmed.  Most of it is my own damn fault for saying yes too often.  But one area that’s stressing me out is the homework my 9 year old is expected to complete each night.  The first few weeks of school not much was given but lately it’s like a plague, especially the writing.  Writing: something I love to do but my son hates.  He has so much going on in his head it’s hard for him to organize his thoughts and translate them to the page. I have to sit with him and try to pull ideas out of his head or brainstorm with him then get him to agree on which idea to put on paper. Now if my son were the type to just sit down and complete his work independently it wouldn’t be as stressful, but he’s not.  If I leave the room, he gets distracted and will most likely do something else.  Because he has Aspergers my son has an aide to help keep him on track at school but at home it’s usually just me with my other sons and now a chew-happy puppy. 

Obviously my blogging has suffered for lack of time (or poor time management).  I have been able to cook the boys good food, but writing about it— no time.  

One meal that I cooked up quickly when I had limited time between one son’s tennis and a town-wide gathering campfire sing-along was with salmon cakes.  They reminded me of when I hitch-hiked down the West Coast of Australia, years ago.  One kind lady put me up for the night when I couldn’t get a ride out of town and she made me salmon cakes for dinner.  I didn’t have her recipe but just winged it. 

Salmon Cakes

1 can Alaska Salmon (fresh salmon is preferable, but I used what I had.)

3 pieces bread

1 egg

⅓-½ red bell pepper, chopped

1 scallion, sliced

¼ tsp celery salt

½ tsp dried dill

salt and pepper to taste

Grind the bread in food processor until it is crumbed.  Mix all ingredients in a bowl and then form cakes.  Heat neutral oil (grapeseed, sunflower) in fry pan.  Add salmon cakes (don’t crowd) and cook several minutes each side until cooked through. 


I thought they were good, my youngest two were not impressed because I put red bell pepper in them.  I also served mine with a Sriracha mayonnaise. I will make these again but without the pepper for the boys. 

Hopefully we’ll get the homework issues sorted out and I will miraculously get better at managing my time.

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At a loss for inspiration… then it hit me!

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Last night I walked into the kitchen and stared at the chicken breasts I’d taken out of the fridge. I knew I was making chicken for dinner, but I hadn’t planned in what way/which recipe and now I found myself at a loss of what to do with them.  I just stared at them.  Hmm. What to do with them?  I’d made curry the night before.  I’ve done Moroccan, Asian, Italian and Barbecue within the past week.  Just couldn’t think of something I’d like to make (quickly since we’d had tennis lessons, homework and other stuff) that the kids would eat.  I was trying to avoid any major meltdowns with food choices.  I looked in the pantry but nothing jumped out at me, but when I opened the fridge for the umpteenth time I had several lemons staring at me. 

Of course!  It made me remember how much my sons liked the Chicken Française I’ve made.  But no way was I interested in starting that process at 6pm.  I should have had dinner finished by now.  So instead I made a sort of Chicken Piccata. My eldest two love capers so I knew it was going to be a mostly whine-free dinner and since I’d just poured myself a glass of white wine I knew I had plenty for the chicken.

I cut up butternut squash into thin slices and started roasting them (really thin so it wouldn’t take long).  I then cut up some broccoli and cauliflower added to pan of water to steam.  I threw the 3 minute frozen organic brown rice into the microwave.  And then started cutting the breast meat into 2 inch pieces.  I didn’t use flour, just lightly browned the chicken, removed from heat and added white wine, lemon juice, chicken stock, capers, salt and pepper.   I reduced the liquid until it was thicker, added the chicken back to it and soon was ready to serve.  It took less than 20 minutes (yes, even with the butternut squash). 

Not only was it delicious it was stress-free and whine-free (well, I did have to serve it sans capers to my youngest).  Sometimes it just takes one thing to give you the inspiration you need to create a healthful, quick and yummy meal that all the kids will like.  They didn’t eat all their butternut squash, but I finished it off for them.

Have you found yourself at a loss at what to make?

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Ugghh… it’s not always easy- even in my house.

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So, many people think that my kids always eat well— without a fuss.  But you know if you read my blog that that is not always the case.  A few nights this week have been especially difficult with my middle son.  Each time I put dinner on the table he whined and cried that he didn’t want to eat what we’ve made.  And when I say he whines and cries… he whines and whines and whines then cries.  It’s not always easy to ignore (especially when I’m PMSing) but I don’t give in and eventually he comes around. 

Except several nights ago I did let him eat something besides the dinner I made.  It was a delicious chicken fried rice— brown rice, chicken, kale, beet greens, Chinese cabbage, red cabbage, mushrooms, broccoli, carrots, egg, red bell pepper, garlic, ginger, leeks, soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil, ground pepper.  He cried and cried.  He said he liked many of the ingredients, just not all together.  I compromised once he was calm and could talk rationally. I said if he ate another 20 forkfulls (basically more than half) then he could get something else.  I wanted to make sure he ate the most nutritionally important food before the yogurt and pasta.  By compromising I’ve potentially set myself up for more whining in our future.

The next night my husband made bucatini spaghetti with a delicious sausage tomato sauce and a salad.  We both couldn’t believe he whined about that one!  He wanted the pasta plain with butter and no salad.  But we remained firm.  He ate it.  All of it.  Even his salad. 

Plus it was fun to eat!

I feel that I chose my battles again.  I know my middle son doesn’t really like those one dish meals where everything is combined.  I felt the compromise wasn’t really giving in (fooling myself?) because he still ate the majority of the meal.  It is so much easier to always give them what they want.  Unfortunately, easy isn’t always best for them.  But it does get easier.  He will keep trying new things and getting a taste for them and I will figure ways to satisfy us both.

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I already asked a question tonight, but since reading more into your blog I have tons more! Just one for now though.(Absolutely loving it all by the way) I got married 4 years ago, eloped so no gifts lol, and we’ve been building our house and kitchen from scratch. I love to cook but find myself lacking so many things. What kitchen utensils/appliances do you think are the most essential to preparing good healthy meals?

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A good chef’s knife, paring knife and a serrated knife. 

A couple of different sized sauce pans, skillets (8”, 10” fry pans), high temp oven-safe Dutch oven (I have Calphlon one— Le Cruset is not in my budget), a grill of some sort (we have Weber gas started charcoal grill), iron skillet is great but not necessary.  Cookie sheet and cooling rack.

Mixing bowls— glass, stainless or bamboo composite.

Measuring cups and spoons.

Colander/Strainers.

Silicone spatulas— one hard for flipping, one softer for scraping. Wooden spoons (one that’s got a straight edge is good for stir-frying); slotted spoon; tongs; peeler; masher (with small holes works best); ladle; microplane grater (zester), larger grater; pastry brush (good real bristle paintbrush).

Food processor, blender, mixer.  Don’t need most expensive ones.  Some hand-held mixers have stands and different attachments.  I love my hand-held 3-in-1 tool. Has immersion blender, mini chopper and whisk.  Great for making soups/sauces, chopping onions, whipping cream.

Salt and pepper mills. Mortar and pestle.

Check out tag sales, ebay, Target, Amazon etc.  I got my KitchenAid Standing Mixer at a tag sale for $65!

Of course, there are more gadgets and appliances out there, but I think this is the core you’ll really need.

Good luck!!

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I would love to make the kinds of food for my daughter (and myself) that you make for your kids, but it’s so expensive. I have to pick and choose what produce to buy to make my budget and that’s even shopping tax-free on base. I can’t even begin to think about organic usually. Do you really think it’s realistic for the average parent to feed their family this way? If you don’t mind my asking, how much do you spend on food every month?

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Yes, I do think it is realistic… I am not wealthy but have made feeding my family a priority.  So, my ratio of what we earn versus what we spend on food might be higher than some. But that’s not to say it’s always expensive either.

There are ways to save.

I joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) Shared Harvest a few years back.  Each week we get a bin full of fresh organic locally produced vegetables, herbs, and fruits. If I were to buy these in the store I’d spend much more over the same time period. 

There are certain produce items I insist on organic and others not so much. Check out the dirty dozen here.  Then when it comes to dairy I make sure it’s had no hormones first if there is no organic.  Fish and seafood I choose for less contamination from heavy metals and chemicals. 

Then if you stay away from many prepared foods and processed foods it’s amazing how much you can save.  You can make sure there are certain nutrient rich foods (broccoli, beans, nuts, oatmeal) in your diet that aren’t so expensive (nuts in small quantities), some less expensive bought frozen (organic berries, organic spinach, fish) and some less expensive bought from certain stores (Trader Joe’s, Target). 

In a fabulous article recently, Mark Bittman discusses how it’s actually cheaper to eat well.  Take a look at that and you’ll see some examples and ideas.

Good luck!

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