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Try two bites, every time.

This was my moms rule for every food: two bites every time, whether you like it or not. Now we enforce the same rule with our children (though she doesn’t, but that’s another story). And that is how Eli came to love Moroccan stew. Well, that and garbanzo bean races with Uncle Abe… Maybe the golden raisins had something to do with it? Anyway, the recipe came from my mom, and it’s now a Ypsi-Cook family favorite, so much so that I made 2 HUGE batches in order to store some for the winter. With a little reheated frozen brown rice, I’m looking forward to those no-cook/just a little bit of cleaning nights.

Moroccan Vegetable Stew

Serve with brown rice, millet or cous-cous (not GF). The vegetable suggestions (especially the quantities) are suggestions, really. But do be sure to include something orange (carrot, sweet potato, winter squash cubes), and make the pieces small enough for a comfortable bite.

Ingredients:

  • Oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1 tbsp curry powder (or 1 tsp turmeric, 1/4 tsp ea. ginger, garlic, mustard, coriander seed)
  • 1 15 oz can garbanzo beans (or 2 cups cooked)
  • 1 14 oz can diced or crushed tomatoes (or 2-3 cups chopped fresh tomatoes)
  • 2 lg carrots, sliced fairly thick on the diagonal
  • 1 medium zucchini quartered lengthwise and sliced (I often sub green beans, and in the summer, I use both)
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/2 c. golden raisins
  • salt & pepper to taste

Heat a large skillet on medium high heat. Add oil to enough for a thin film. Add onion and a little salt and sauté until the onions have gained a little color. Add spices and stir for about 30 seconds, until fragrant. Add garbanzo beans, tomatoes and carrots. Heat to boiling, stirring occasionally and cook until carrots are mostly tender, about 5 min. Lid if necessary. Add zucchini (and/or green beans), garlic and raisins and cook for about 5 min until zucchini is tender. Season to taste & serve over grain or potato of choice. Enjoy.

Downy Mildew on our Basil

Tonight we noticed that we had downy mildew on the basil we picked. Looks like I am making 20+ plants of worth of pesto tomorrow. I think I will need to get more ice cube trays at the dollar store.

Peaches and Tomatoes

Summer harvest is in full swing now, though the cool weather over the past week has caused it to slow down. We have been rolling in peaches and tomatoes. We put up a bushel via freezing/canning/drying and are probably going to get another tomorrow.

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Zucchini Glut

We were introduced to this fabulous “tomato glut sauce” last summer. It’s a great recipe to have when the tomatoes are coming with such force that you’re not sure what to do with them. (I just tallied and we’ve picked 85 pounds so far this year. And yes, we need to make more sauce.) But really, what about zucchini?

Everybody knows about having too many zucchinis (though I’m sure the accurate plural is zucchino or something), I mean, Prairie Home Companion recommends you lock your car doors at night so the neighbors don’t generously stick you with their squash. It seems most people fight a mountain of zucchini with a shredder (good plan) and bake it up into bread (another good plan). But that gets a little old, right? My mom also her’s and bags it up to freeze in appropriate quantities to make the bread winter long. To break us out of the zucchini bread rut, I offer 3 “I have too many zucchino” solutions. With so many choices, you can start accepting the insanity of zucchini that people keep trying to sneak into your car. (I’ll have a 4th idea soon… and it will help use up those tomatoes, too!)

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Pizza Party

After hanging out at the Heritage Festival on Friday afternoon we had a pizza party in the living room. The green tomato and caramelized onion pizza was especially good.

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My Mom’s Cookbooks

Amelia likes to take lids of bottles and pour. This is an important thing to remember when you’ve just added a few drops of almond extract to your waffle batter: don’t leave the bottle on the counter and walk away. But did I think of that little piece if logic? No. Needless to say, I walked into the kitchen to see her standing on a chair at the counter with an empty bottle of extract. Into a little bowl I poured off what I could and mixed the rest into the batter, hoping for the best. The waffles turned out fine, if a bit “boozy,” as Tom said. But what to do with that precious little bowl of extract?

I recalled an unusual little cookie, a recipe I had seen many times in my mom’s wonderful collected cookbook. She actually has several of these binders, each labeled with it’s major food category, filled with newspaper clippings, recipes pulled off the back of boxes, and note cards from friends. I admit, the only one I’ve ever actually opened is the one labeled “Cookies, Pies, Cakes and Treats.” Now, the problem with this particular cookie recipe is that I could only recall the image of it, not the recipe itself, along with a very vague memory of this unusual, delightful cookie. An Almond-Sesame Cookie. Not recalling her recipe, and not wanting to call her to give me the recipe over the phone, I scanned the internet. I sat in front of the computer disappointed. None of the recipes offered what I was looking for, either lacking almond or sesame punch. (more…)

On Family Dinner

I just took this poll on how many times a week we eat family dinner together. For us the answer is 7. Unless Tom and I have a date. So, um, like I said. 7. (Ok, so we do go on dates, but usually just once every-other month or so, and then the kids are eating with their grandparents or some of our best friends, so I feel that’s pretty much like family dinner. And we spend our dates talking about our kids antics, so that’s kinda like family dinner, too.) But back to the poll. She talked about Michelle Obama asking people set an attainable goal in cooking family dinner, even if once a week is the most you are willing to aim for. This got me thinking, why is this such a normal part of our life, and so challenging for others? You know what I come up with? Practice.

We’ve had a lot of practice. When we started dating, I lived with my folks (the best student teaching decision I ever made) and Tom lived in a house with friends. We had dinner at his house, or at the home of friends (yes D&B, I’m talking about you). Then he moved home and I move into a place that was mighty close to his work. So, Tom came over to my house and we made dinner just about every night. So for the two years before we were even married, that’s the way it worked. Dinner at his house, dinner at mine, dinner with friends, dinner at our parents’… By the time Eli came around, we had almost three years of practice making and eating family dinner. Sometimes it’s fancy and planned, but more often that not it’s “What sounds good and what do we need to use?” and meals we know how to make without looking at a recipe. But most of all, it’s practice. And it gets easier as time goes on, even as the kids present us with new challenges. But lately we’ve been talking about making a weekly menu so we don’t have the daily, “What’s for dinner?” conversations. Or maybe just a list on the fridge of easy, delicious, quick dinners. What do you think? Do you plan ahead, or fly by the seat of your pants? Any other thoughts on family dinner?

Easy Summer Salad

I’ve been making this for a few years, so I thought I should share it here. To match the simplicity of the recipe, I will be brief. I think there is no better way to consume cabbage than this. If you like the ubiquitous ramen noodle potluck salads, try this: it’s much healthier and, if I do say so myself, more delicious.

Asian Slaw  (This is enough for several small batches of slaw. I love to have this dressing in the fridge for an easy salad all summer long. Cut the recipe in half if you’d like, and it will probably still be plenty for a small head of cabbage or two.)

Measure into a jar with a good lid:

  • 1/2 cup olive oil
  • 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 4 teaspoons roasted sesame oil
  • 1-1 1/2  tablespoons dijon mustard
  • 1 inch of fresh ginger, grated
  • 2-4 cloves garlic, minced or grated, optional

Put it in a jar with a good lid and shake until the mustard is dispersed. Pour a little (you can always add more) over chopped cabbage (I usually use 1/2 a head), sliced carrots, green onions and/or vegetables of your choice.  Toss. Sprinkle with chopped almonds, sunflower and/or sesame seeds if desired. Store leftover dressing in the fridge.

Not too busy for Ginger Peach Pie

We’ve been busy lately. Weddings to attend, gardens to weed, family to see and sprinklers to run in. Yep, we’ve been busy. Not that we haven’t been in the kitchen. We’ve been there plenty, perhaps more than usual but really not choosing to write about it until now. Ya know, busy.

I’ve got 3 recipes up my sleeve, but life is short, so let’s talk dessert first: peach pie. (more…)

Tons of stuff from the garden

This morning we spent a bit of time before it got too hot doing some stuff in the garden. I did some tomato plant wrangleing and it looks like we are going to have tomatoes coming out of our ears soon. We harvested the first couple eggplant. It has been really hot here for the past week or so and our basil started to go to seed. Bridgit headed that off by snipping off the top of the plant and I made the first round of pesto this afternoon. I made an ice cube tray worth and then noticed that I had left a third of the basil in the salad spinner. Bridgit is going to put it into bread for dinner

This combined with the Potatoes, carrots, beets, onions and beans that have started to become ready means we are in for a good harvest this year!

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