One mouth at a time

Macaroni and Cheese

2010-11-05T16:25:00.000-07:00

I love Macaroni and Cheese. I ate it too many nights when I lived by myself. I added frozen peas and corn often so I wouldn't feel too guilty about eating a box for dinner. However, I was not a fan of Mac and Cheese when I was growing up. I have never liked the Kraft version. I much prefer Annie's White Macaroni and Cheese as do my kids. But it can get expensive when the boxes near $3. So I tried my hand at creating my own. And of course I threw in some secret ingredients: vegetables. My kids don't know the difference.

In the following recipe I use Butternut squash(it makes the cheese sauce orange). You can use cauliflower, sweet potatoes, or yams in the same manner. Just make sure to roast or steam them first.

Butternut Squash Macaroni and Cheese
1 cup roasted and mashed, organic butternut squash
1 cup milk
1 1/2 cup shredded Gouda cheese (not smoked)
3 tbsp. flour
1/4 cup chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste

1/2 lb. alphabet shapes or small shell pasta, cooked according to packaged directions.

In a medium saucepan on medium-low heat, warm the milk until it begins to bubble. Add in the cheese and whisk until melted. Add in the flour and whisk until blended. Add in butternut squash and chicken broth. Add salt and pepper to taste. Whisk frequently to blend until pasta has finished cooking. Pour sauce over pasta and serve immediately.

Note: If there is extra sauce it can be frozen.

Makes four servings.

Homemade Pizza

2010-10-12T19:46:00.000-07:00

We don't go out for pizza, we rarely order in. We are casein allergic and lactose intolerant and we avoided pizza until now. (Plus, my kids actually hated it.)

We make our own crust and sauce. It has quickly become our weekly fare, often requested by my two year old.

My oldest daughter helps prepare the dough and once it rises she gets to help roll it out and add toppings. She has even resorted to asking Daddy to replace her sandwich with a slice of cold pizza. She loves to tell her friends and her teacher that she made her own pizza.

Herbed Dough

5 cups all-purpose flour, add more if needed
2 envelopes rapid rise yeast
1-1/2 teaspoons salt
2 cups very warm water (120 degrees F to 130 degrees F)
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 - 1 teaspoon each fresh, chopped sage, rosemary, and/or oregano (optional)
1 teaspoon minced garlic (optional)

Cornmeal for baking.

Add the first 7 ingredients in order and mix with wooden spoon or clean hands. Once mixed and smooth, coat inside of large bowl with olive oil. Roll dough in bowl so all sides are covered in olive oil. Place bowl in warm area, not in refrigerator, and cover with a towel. Let dough rise until it has doubled in size, about 1 hour. Once doubled, punch the dough and separate it into two pieces.

Flour the work surface and roll out one of the pieces of dough. Use additional flour as needed so that dough is not sticky. To prevent the dough from sticking to the pizza stone or baking sheet, roll a bit of cornmeal into the dough. Put the cornmeal side down.

Drizzle a little olive oil on the rolled out dough before adding sauce to prevent the dough from absorbing the sauce. Add toppings and bake for 20 minutes at 450 degrees F.

Freeze any unused dough.

Makes 2 large pizzas.

Pizza Sauce

2 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste
1-1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F)
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 teaspoon honey 1-1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
salt to taste

Pizza Sauce can be frozen and easily defrosted for future use.

Serves 8

Beans, Beans

2010-10-12T17:37:00.000-07:00

I used to buy canned beans. They're easy and quick. Then I learned that regardless of their organic status, cans can actually contain BPA. With a rise in environmental related diseases, I vowed to reduce our canned consumption.

I began buying dried beans. I don't have the patience for the overnight method often because I don't think of meals until the day of. It takes a little over three hours for the beans to soak and cook using the quick method.

Black Beans, Cuban Style

Rinse and sort one bag of black beans.
Put beans in a large pot and cover with 6 cups distilled water.
Bring to boil and boil for two minutes.
After the two minutes, turn off the heat and cover for 1 hour.
Rinse beans and return to pot.
Cover with 6 cups water.
Add 2-3 tablespoons of cumin and 1 tablespoon of mild chili powder.
Add salt and pepper to taste.
Simmer with the lid tilted for 1.5 hours.

My kids prefer mashed beans so I add a cup of beans with liquid to the blender and puree.

The beans also freeze well if you can't finish them all.

Bon Appetit!

Bad blogger

2010-10-08T09:45:00.000-07:00

I've been a bad blogger. Life got the best of me . . .

We've been eating typical summer farmer's market fare and have eaten our weight in sweet peas this summer. We have tried to grow sweet peas for two years, but it is too hot in our yard and then we have the problem of fast growing mildew. So I'll leave it to the organic farmers.

Our local farmer's market has closed for the year and so we're back to Pinnacle Organics (http://www.pinnacleorganic.com/) on Saturday mornings. My oldest daughter gets very excited about farm Saturdays and I get really excited about the fall produce choices. There are boxes filled with different squash: delicata, acorn, butternut, spaghetti, etc. I still don't know all of them and I haven't even cooked with all of them. Delicata is my new favorite, however.

I love oven roasted delicata squash mixed with red potatoes, a head of garlic, and a yellow onion. Delicata is a bit sweet and a great pairing with the savory garlic and onion. It is a bit softer than a potato, but not mushy.

This week the weather turned and we had our first rain so I made two pots of soup. I asked my oldest daughter to help me make soup in the hope that she'd eat it. She is only 5 so she helped wash the vegetables, stir, and put the ingredients in the pot.

Our creation was the traditional Potato Leek--no cream included.

Potato Leek Soup
4 cups potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
2 cups leeks (white parts only) sliced into rings about 1/4 inch thick
1 cup yellow onion, sliced
2 tbsp. butter
6 cups vegetable or chicken broth
salt and white pepper to taste

In a large pot, melt butter over medium-low heat. Add leeks and onions. Stir to mix in butter, cover, and let steam for 10 minutes, until softened. Add potatoes and broth. Cover and bring to a boil. Once boil is reached, turn to medium-low to simmer for 20 minutes. Use a potato masher or a hand blender to achieve desired consistency.

While she did try her creation, my daughter couldn't get past the consistency. So then I created a very simple Chicken and Alphabet Soup, which was very well received by my two littlest critics. If you are like me you may reach for the typical can of soup now and then, but I often feel guilty about the sodium and whatever else they might be ingesting.

Chicken and Alphabet Soup

1 cooked chicken breast, shredded into a child's bite size
2 carrots, peeled and diced
2 stalks of celery, diced
1 cup alphabet pasta
4 - 6 cups organic, chicken broth or 4-6 tbsp. of bullion

In a saucepan, add carrots, celery, and chicken broth. Bring to a boil. Add in pasta and cook according to packaged directions. A few minutes before pasta is cooked, add the chicken to the pot. Season to taste.

© Erin Gonzalez 2010

Tasty Success

2010-01-18T16:57:00.000-08:00

So I washed, oiled, salted and peppered my kale and put it in the oven. I figured I didn't have too much to lose except a nice bunch of kale. It took 30 minutes for each batch as they need their room to dry. The seemed very thin, but on the first taste they were delicious. It took me and my husband about two or three chips to figure out the familiar taste. It was Lays Potato Chips. Yes, Lays. It wasn't bitter at all but had a nice healthy and salty balance.

My oldest daughter wouldn't put one to her lips, but my youngest ate a whole bunch. She loved it. I actually think she ate too many because she didn't want dinner. But what a yummy and healthy treat.

This weekend I did make my own pizza crust. I was a bit worried because I had to proof it in the oven--it was too cold in my house to leave it on the counter. It rose a bit, but not what I expected. I still separated it into fourths and rolled out four individual-sized pizzas. I have to say that my two kids have never liked pizza so this was a complete gamble. I put them in the oven and waited because I don't have a time frame for cooking the pizzas. It took about 10 minutes total. The crust was thin and crisp, much thinner than the Boboli crust we typically have. And the girls absolutely loved them. The crust wasn't heavy at all. A successful and happy dinner is a peaceful thing.

Kale

2010-01-14T09:19:00.000-08:00

I'm in my third decade and have just discovered kale. My parents have never even tasted kale until I made braised kale for Christmas dinner. It's addictive.

Kale has a slightly salty flavor on its own, so there is no need to add salt the majority of the time. Kale, however, is grown like lettuce and, if grown in a non-organic manner, will assume most of the pesticides. It is rated very high on the pesticide scale, so it is best to buy organic if possible.

Bon Appetit has a terrific article in their October 2009 issue about kale. The author, like me, has fallen deeply in love with kale. She suggested Kale Chips, which I have yet to try. After another trip to the organic farm this weekend, I'm going to attempt the Kale Chips. Hopefully my girls will give them a try since they love chips in general.

Here is the link to the Kale Chips recipe: http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2009/02/tuscan_kale_chips

Inventing

2010-01-03T20:36:00.000-08:00

We're fortunate to live in the "salad bowl" of California. Every Saturday morning we head out to a local organic farm (Pinnacle Organics), rain and mud, to a very cold packing shed and stock up for the week. Unfortunately most grocery store organics can end up costing so much that many with good intentions often bypass them. We spend an average of $20 each week for our fruits and vegetables. Of course this means that we eat what is in season, which can be boring after a while.

Today I was faced with a five pound butternut squash. I've exhausted making it into soup, risotto, and roasting it. So today I used it as a substitute for pumpkin pie filling. The true taste test came when my kids took their first bite. They thought it was super sweet and loved it. Success!

Welcome!

2009-12-30T09:18:00.000-08:00

I'm not a chef, nor a nutritionist, but a mother of two young girls, ages 1 and 4. My oldest is anti-vegetable and won't eat most fruit. My youngest loves anything, but is allergic to casein (milk protein) and strawberries, among others. On top of these common dilemmas, my oldest has Congenital Hypothyroidism and acid reflux, which comes with its own set of challenges. I want nothing more that to cook healthy meals for my family. I don't make special meals for my children--they eat what we eat.

I did try the popular hide-the-vegetable book like many other desperate mothers, but I was very disappointed and was left wondering if the recipes had actually been tested in the kitchen. (Only one seemed to hold up for me. And one can only make so many beet pancakes.) So I took matters into my own pan and started with simple things, like breads, spaghetti sauces, hamburgers, and homemade mac-n-cheese. And I got great reviews from my ultra picky eater. She actually passed up out-of-the-box organic mac-n-cheese for my homemade kind that was full of butternut squash.

Veggie Hamburgers
20% lean ground beef, 1 lb.
1 medium carrot, peeled and finely grated
1 tsp minced (dried) onion
2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tbsp. McCormick Montreal Steak Seasoning (decrease if too spicy)

Mix ingredients to form four to five patties. Spray nonstick pan with canola oil. Heat on medium to medium-high until burgers are cooked through, about 20 minutes.

© 2009 Erin Gonzalez