Tag Archives: food

An indoor garden that’s fun for kids

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I attempt every year to have a vegetable garden, and every year I think I will be more successful.  Unfortunately I find that I am not dedicated to it enough to reap heaps of produce but do get the occasional vegetable.  ( I call myself the accidental gardener— if I harvest anything it’s by accident.) Herbs I can do; but I always start too late or don’t prune enough, or don’t weed enough, or whatever… I don’t have a glut of peppers, zucchini, tomatoes, carrots, chard, kale, lettuce, etc.  At least we get our CSA bin and I have so many heirloom tomatoes now that I will have to learn to can this year.

I guess I try to garden each year knowing that it won’t yield much (until I put more time and effort in) but I think it’s a good way to show the kids that not all foods are so easy to procure.  We live in an age and place that we don’t have to worry about growing enough food, we can just buy it.  But things aren’t as easy for everyone, everywhere in the world. 

 

Watching them grow!

Within just 10 days a beautiful bunch of oyster mushrooms!

Anyway, this year I tried something new and was so pleased with the outcome.  I bought an indoor mushroom garden kit.  It was so easy and it was fun for the kids to do. They just need to mist it every day. (Mister is included, but I used another one we had too). 

Yesterday I harvested mushrooms and made an omelet with them.  Omelet also had tomatoes, potatoes, thyme, parsley, leeks— all local, organic from the CSA, and goat cheese.  The eggs are locally produced too!

 

My youngest was so happy to have one of his favorite foods but he wouldn’t let me put them all in; he had to have a few forkfuls of sautéed mushrooms sans egg.

And, now we just turn the box to the back and start again!  You can buy them here.

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No battles tonight

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We’ve been getting some beautiful vegetables from our CSA and other local farms. We had the local corn my youngest help shuck with cocozelle zucchini from our CSA, broccoli, brown rice and chicken.  I made two types of chicken, a curry yogurt marinade (trying for something like Tandoori) and some with a crunchy coating.  I mixed plain yogurt and Patak’s Hot curry paste in which I marinated some drumsticks and breast pieces.  I then roasted the chicken along with some pieces coated in panko with herbs de Provence, olive oil, salt & pepper for my youngest two, especially my middle son who’s very sensitive to spice.

The boys all liked what they were given, except that my eldest said he didn’t like zucchini (which he ate all of anyway).  I remember being his age and my brother and I staying at a friend’s house while my parents were away.  The mom made zucchini that was cut really thin and overcooked.  The seeds were huge too.  I did not want to eat it, nor did my brother, but we were not allowed to leave the table until we did.  I stuck it out for a while, but eventually gave in and ate the cold, soggy zucchini (probably holding my nose while I did!).  My brother was at that table for hours.  I think she gave up on him eventually so she could go to bed.   I avoid situations like that.  I wasn’t going to make my son eat more than a taste, but he just ate what was on his plate, after speaking his opinion. 

 I do cook my zucchini differently from that family friend.  I par boil the entire courgette until it’s almost soft, then shock, then slice lengthwise then across on a bias and finish in my usual butter, salt  and pepper.  I think the chunkier pieces that aren’t overcooked are more pleasant in the mouth than limp, thin slices.  If they were raw, maybe the opposite would apply.  Also using a type of zucchini with small seeds probably helps.  But the main thing is that my kids aren’t going to have to sit at a table for hours turning dinner into a battle of wills.  If they don’t like it, I’ll try again next time.  I would rather they test their mettle on something more worthwhile.

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This is the video I made at my friend’s house showing how to cook Swiss Chard.  Some of our kids were running around and making comments.  Her daughter was so cute in some of hers!  It was like a screen test, but I haven’t made another how-to video yet.

I didn’t finish cooking it as it was hours before my friend and her family was actually eating.  As I mention, I’d finish it off with butter, salt & pepper. 

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
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I Don’t Want It!  I Hate It! 

That was the mantra from my sons when they saw dinner. I told them to just sit down at the table. They still said they wouldn’t eat it. I didn’t try to persuade them. I didn’t say they had to eat it; just to sit down with us.

Then they both started trying to pick out the rice and eat that. Soon they were eating up the shrimp and vegetables too— basically eating the whole bowl full that they were given.  Here toward the end of dinner, the 2 boys explain how they reacted to their dinner. (Youngest son was not feeling well & asleep.)

Shrimp, arugula, kale, chard, garlic, garlic scapes, tomatoes, onions, cilantro, Singapore Spice (citrus curry) over rice.

Sometimes it just takes being firm. Not giving in. Sometimes the kids actually will enjoy the food they’re given if they’d just give it a try.

(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
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Spinach Bread just like from Frances’s Bakery

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I grew up in a town which had a fabulous family-owned bakery, Frances’s Bakery.  We loved their breads, cakes, pies, cookies, brownies but most of all their spinach bread.  The bread was stuffed with tons of tasty, garlicy and cheesey spinach and was my way of finally eating spinach as a kid.  I’d start with the ends which had a higher bread to spinach ratio than the rest of the loaf.  And as I got older I’d forgo the ends for the most spinach middle pieces.  We’d often pick up two loaves at a time, one with meat (salami and ham)and one without.  When I had kids of my own we’d stop off there and pick up a spinach bread and bring it over to my mother’s house.  The same family owned it and would still hand out rainbow cookies to my kids— until a few years ago they sold it.  After that the quantity and quality went down and the new owners stopped getting our business.

So, with so much spinach from my CSA last week I decided to try my hand at making my own spinach bread.  I searched for recipes online but didn’t really find anything that I was looking for, so I thought I’d just wing it. 

For the amount of spinach to use, you want good amount in bread & once it cooks it decreases in volume.  So start off with a generous amount.

 

Spinach Bread

2 cups flour (½ cup whole wheat, 3 ½ cups all purpose)

½ tsp salt

¼ yeast

1 cup water

4-6 cups fresh spinach

2 cloves garlic, minced

handful shredded mozzarella

handful shredded parmesan

salt & pepper

olive oil

Mix flour, salt, yeast and water together until gooey.  Either knead on well floured surface and let rise for 2 hours or leave covered in oiled bowl overnight to rise.  Stretch out dough so it’s about 1/3 inch thick rectangle.  Let rest on parchment paper.  Preheat oven to 400ºF.

Steam the cleaned and de-stemmed spinach until wilted.  Drain well.  Sauté garlic with 1 tsp olive oil until cooked but not brown.  Add spinach back to garlic & oil.  Mix well and then squeeze out excess liquid. Chop spinach so it’s easy to bite. 

Brush olive oil on dough and spread spinach, mozzarella & parmesan all over except edges.  Season with salt & pepper to taste.  Optional fresh or dried basil, oregano or tiny bit of nutmeg.   Using parchment paper, grab side & pull, should help roll dough/spinach into loaf.  Cut away excess parchment.

Place on cookie sheet and bake for 30-35 minutes.  Let cool slightly and cut into pieces to serve.

It worked and the boys loved it too!  I brought it to friend’s house and they too loved it.  I decided to make again this week (had even more spinach!) with all white flour and brought it over to another friend’s home.  It was a huge hit.  The boys ran to grab a piece before it was all gone!

Can be served hot, warm or cold!

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