Family Bites

Happy Hour

Without intending to, Rob and I have a summer thing when it comes to watching TV; we pick a show we've never watched before, and devour however many seasons exist by consuming several episodes at a time, while lounging around lazily once the kids settle for the night.

In the summer of 2010 we made it through five complete seasons of Friday Night Lights. Texas wasn't even on my radar then, and high school football was far away from my idea of fun, but now I want to know more about both. To this day, I think it's probably the best show I've ever watched, and I'd be lying if I didn't admit to feeling verklempt when the fifth season ended. Oh, and when I grow up I totally want to be Tami Taylor.

Last summer it was all about How I Met Your Mother. I have no idea how we chose that show, but it was so darn good we plowed through a whopping six seasons in two months, staying up far too late in order to watch "just one more episode" when it was well past our bedtime.

This year, we're finally embracing Mad Men. A few years back, we watched the first three episodes of the first season three times each (say that five times over!), and just couldn't get into the show. It seemed so uninteresting and slow, and I couldn't see the appeal. When we recently decided to cancel our cable, we connected Netflix, where the first four seasons of the show are free for the watching. I refused to see those same three episodes yet again, so we started with the fourth one, and in less than three weeks we're now smack in the middle of the third season. 

Which brings me around to happy hour. With no evening activities on our calendar for the next two months we're taking a cue from the 1960s, and sharing finger foods and drinks Chez Scott semi-regularly around 5:30pm. The food is nothing fancy as you can see. Last night we shared sangria and cold beer paired with tiny toasts and pistachios. But next week I'm going to up the ante, and chanel my inner Betty Draper, by setting out cold chicken salad on Ritz crackers. Oooh, this is going to be fun. 

The Hunger Games (Otherwise Known as Feeding Tweens)

(They've always like food! Ben and Jackson, 2004)

When I first started blogging, one of the things I immediately noticed was that there seemed to be very few "mom bloggers" with kids the same age as mine. Everyone I was reading had stories about life with a three year old, while I was writing about school-aged kids in grades two and four.  

A few years later, I still feel as though there is little focus on life with older kids, and it seems that most food-related articles are geared towards feeding toddlers and/or young picky eaters. But what about the teens and tweens of the world? 

I would love to write an entire column devoted to feeding this age group, but for today I'm sharing the little bit of knowledge I've acquired over at Simple Bites. My friend, Aimee, is taking a well-deserved maternity leave, and I'm holding court over there talking about the challenge (and joy!) of feeding our older kids.  

From the post:

"On average my kids eat 6-8 times a day.  There’s breakfast, a morning snack, lunch, an afternoon snack, a second afternoon snack, dinner, and yet another snack before bed. When Ben, my oldest, has a hockey outing (which is five days a week right now) I can be certain there will be another serving of food interjected at some point in the day.

Why are my kids eating so much? Between the ages of 6 and 12, kids can double their body weight and grow up to two feet in height.  Both of my boys are in this stage right now, and between them we’ve seen 13 inches of vertical growth since spring of last year."

Head on over to Simple Bites to read the full article!

Apple Cranberry Loaf

The nicest thing happened this week.

Someone wrote me a letter.  It was from a man. Who lives in Turkey. He wrote to say he had made a recipe that I created.  He found it online, and decided to give it a try. He made it for friends who were coming for tea.  He suggested adding grated nutmeg and powdered ginger because that's what he did and he liked it.  He called the recipe lovely. And he thanked me. And that, my friends, is what this whole thing is about.

Not the thanks.  That doesn't matter much at all.  It's about the making-people-happy-with-food thing. Coming together with like minded folks over a recipe. If Nigel lived closer, I'd be tempted to invite him for dinner.  

Apple Dried Cranberry Loaf

• 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 cup olive or canola oil
• 1/4 cup yogurt (plain or vanilla)
• 1 cup diced apples
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

Whisk together the egg and egg white and set aside.  

Add the remaining ingredients to one large mixing bowl.  Add the beaten eggs and combine all of the ingredients well.  Be careful not to over mix. 

Pour the batter into a greased loaf pan and bake for 50 minutes or until the top is golden brown and a knife inserted into the centre of the loaf comes out clean.

 

 

 

It's A Secret

        

A few weeks ago Jenny wrote about secret ingredients in cooking.  As I read through her post, I immediately thought about the little things I use in my cooking that might surprise those who are eating my meal.  Don’t be confused, though. I'm not talking about hiding foods here.  Secret ingredients aren't the ones we don't want our kids to know about. This isn't about the puréed soup that might have onions in it, or the muffins made with mashed squash.  This is about the wonder ingredient you use to make your particular dish taste just that much better.

Here’s mine: when I make a Bolognese for pasta, I always, always simmer a cinnamon stick or two in the pot for a least an hour or so.  No one ever guesses what I've used, but they almost always ask.  It's the most requested meal by kid's friends, and whenever they come over to eat I'm usually told that the house smells like apple pie.

Now it's your turn.  What's the one thing you do to your meals that you keep under wraps?

 

Soup of the Week: Cabbage, White Bean and Bacon

I'm sure by now it comes as no surprise that my cooking style lends itself to rustic homey foods.  In fact, if I'm completely honest, a lot of what I make is inspired by what I imagine I would be eating if my family was dining in the French countryside each night.  Some people like to choose their meals by what's in season (and I'm fan of that too), and others base meals on a meat versus veggie equation, but when I cook I wonder if what I'm serving would be found on the chalkboard menu of a European farmhouse.  Ridiculous, I know.

Soup is one of the foods that I know for a fact I would cook up if my family lived in rural France.  In fact, when I did live there the family I worked for ate soup every single weeknight.  Each and every one.  It was always a puree of vegetables served alongside a wooden platter stuffed with crusty bread, pungent cheese, deli meats and small glass vessels of yogurt.  There was no deviating from this menu and it was only on the weekends that heartier dinner fare was consumed.  

Imagine how easy meal planning would be if you served the same foods for dinner each night?  The soup changed based on what was in season at the market, naturally, and the mid-day meal was one of meat and vegetables, so the evening supper was something simple.  I often tell Rob (all the time, actually!) that we should try to eat like the French family I lived with, for one week.  We would make breakfast, lunch and dinner exactly as I remember them to be, and see how we did.  Wouldn't that make for a fun series of blog posts?

 

Cabbage, White Bean and Bacon Soup

• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon butter
• 2 shallots, peeled and minced
• 4 cups cabbage, shredded
• 2 cups mini red potatoes, washed and diced
• 4 carrots, peeled and diced
• 2 cups white beans (canned or dried but cooked)
• 1/2 lb. bacon, diced
• 6 cups water
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tablespoons dried sage
• Salt and pepper, to taste

1. Place the butter and the oil in a large pot or dutch oven set over medium heat, and melt the butter.

2. Add the shallots and cook for 3-5 minutes, or until they are soft and translucent.

3. Add the cabbage, potatoes and carrots to the pot and stir to coat the vegetables lightly with oil.  Cook for five minutes.

4. Add the beans, bacon, water, bay leaves and sage to the pot.  Bring the soup to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for one hour.

5. Season with salt and pepper, if desired, and ladle into bowls.

Egg Salad with Zucchini

I've been staring down a packed fridge this week, wondering how we are possibly going to eat all the food that lies within before we leave for our camping trip on Sunday.  I've managed to purchase more produce that we can possibly eat because the summer harvest looks so inviting, not to mention my memories of what romaine in February tastes like.  I'm stocking up and trying to eat it now, to remind myself that lettuce isn't really limp and murky-coloured all year round. 

Garden greens aside, it's really the zucchini that has me scratching my head though, as I ponder the possibilities for using up my supply over the next three days.  I've done the requisite loaves (with chocolate chips!), muffins (with quinoa!) and biscuits (with cheddar!).  I've sauteed, grated and sliced and added it to many of my cooked meals, and until yesterday morning I was convinced that I had given my zucchini more personalities than it could handle - until I decided to make use of it raw.

Which is how the very best egg salad sandwich was born.

Hard boiled eggs, a touch of creamy mayo and grainy mustard, fresh herbs, a grind of salt and fresh ground pepper, combined with raw zucchini, has yielded what can only be dubbed as the best sandwich ever.  It seems impossible to believe, but give it a try and I think you'll see that I'm right.  

What's even better is that the kids like it.  They really do.  They may think the "green stuff" is chopped herbs, and who am I to correct them.  While I'm not in the habit of filling their foods with hidden items - at least not that often - I'm not opposed to letting them believe it's parsley that's tucked in with the eggs if that's truly what they think they're seeing.

Speaking of which, I have a bunch of that lying around too if you have any ideas.

 

Egg Salad and Zucchini Sandwiches

• 5 eggs, hard boiled
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons grainy Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoons fresh dill, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 1 cup grated zucchini

Peel the eggs, place them on a cutting board and give them a rough chop with a knife.

Place the eggs in a bowl and add the mayo, mustard, dill, salt and a few grinds of fresh pepper.  Mix well.

Add the zucchini and fold into the egg mixture until everything is combined well.

Serve in a small bowl with crackers or spread onto bread and make a sandwich.

 

 

 

Six Meals To Save Your Sanity This Summer

                      

You see lots of posts and articles floating around the interwebs these days about light summer cooking and how to beat the heat with the mercury is on the rise.  But what about meals that save your sanity?  You know, the ones you need when you've run out of energy, the kids are making you a bit buggy and you want something that will make everyone happy, including you?

1. Ice Cream Sundaes for Dinner.  

I don't think anyone ever died from malnourishment for eating only a bowl of ice cream for dinner.  Set out an assortment of toppings and let the kids go to town with a make your own meal they'll be certain to devour.

2. Let The Kids Cook.  Whatever They Want.

This might be hard for you, but let them make their own dinner.  Don't necessarily let them make yours or you might you end of up with a bowl of plain yogurt and a glass of warm tap water ( I speak from experience), but let everyone make their own dinner.  And when they come to the table with a peanut butter and aged cheddar sandwich, no veggies and half a can of root beer unearthed from the depths of the basement, just smile and say "That's looks interesting".  It won't kill them.

3. Popcorn is a Grain.

Popcorn and apple slices make an excellent dinner.  It's quick and easy and can be eaten indoors and out. Depending on the age of your kids, they might be able to make this on their own which is even better.

4. Cobblers and Crisps

'Tis the season to eat biscuit-topped fruit, so why not try it for dinner? It can be warmed, eaten cold and possibly topped with whipped cream.  No one will complain and you'll feel good knowing there was something nutritional in their meal.

5. Lettuce-Free Salads

Salads don't wow my kids, but grated carrot, chopped cucumber, celery slices, hunks of cheese, croutons and hard boiled eggs do.  Toss them all together in a bowl and call it lettuce-free salad night.  Again, no one will care.

6. Make-Your-Own-Anything-Bar

This is my kid's favourite dinner ever.  Make your own tacos, pizzas, baked potato, etc.  They love it all.  Like artists at work, place random ingredients on the counter, provide them with their canvasses and let them at. You will be amazed by what they create and what they think makes a good food combination.

 

Skillet Cornbread with Strawberries and Mint

See these strawberries?  They're not from Ontario. They are from California, where I imagine it must be a nice place to be these days with an abundance of local produce spilling off the stands at any of the local farmer's market.  

But here in Ontario our "these-would-be-nice-days-if-it-was-November" rainy skies combined with the "when-did-we- move-to-Texas" heat have ensured that we haven't seen local berries yet.  In fact, the stores just started stocking Ontario asparagus last week, which makes me feel like I did when I lived in Europe, and I had to wait six months for the hottest movie to make it's away across the pond so I could finally see it.

I'm not going to let the same thing happen with my berries.  So I'm buying them in all their shipped-from-faraway-places glory and loving every bite.  I do realize that in your eyes this might make me akin to a pirating DVD downloader, but what I can say? If they aren't making them here then I can't buy them, and I can only eat apples for so many months.

My imported berries have made their way into salads, pitas stuffed with beef (um, thanks, Ben), morning smoothies and now they've found their way into a seasonal favourite: skillet cornbread.  In a moment of craziness I grabbed some mint from my nearby garden and added it in prior to baking.  Seems now like it wasn't such a bad idea after all, and I take comfort in knowing that something in the dish was locally grown.  I think. 

Skillet Cornbread with Strawberries and Mint

I love traditional cornbread in all it's white floury and sugar laden goodness, but this recipe is a little different.  The all-purpose flour is replace with whole wheat and the sugar is swapped out for a little honey instead.  Feel free to replace the mint with basil, or any other fresh herb of your liking, and definitely consider adding a large dollop of slightly sweetened whipped cream to the top of your slice.

• 1 cup medium grain cornmeal
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons mint, chopped (about 12 leaves)
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup unsalted butter
• 1 cup diced strawberries

Preheat oven to 400°F.  Heat a 10″ cast-iron skillet in the oven for 10 minutes.

Whisk the cornmeal, flour, baking powder, salt and mint in a large bowl to blend.  

In a separate bowl combine the milk, honey and egg.

Remove the skillet from the oven and add the butter.  Swirl around the pan until melted.  Pour all the butter into the egg mixture.  

Add the egg mixture to the cornmeal mixture.  Add the strawberries.  Do not over mix - the batter will be wet and runny.

Pour the batter into the skillet.  Bake until the edges are browned and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.  Cool in skillet for 10 minutes.  Serve directly from the pan.

 

 

 

 

Which Pasta Are You?

It's often assumed that because I'm raising boys - tween boys - we eat a lot of pasta.  It's a known fact that boys do eat a lot, and the presumption is that this includes pasta.  The truth for us is that we actually only it eat twice a month.  Some months less, and other months more, but on average once every two weeks.  

It's not that we don't like it, because we really, really  do, it's just that we also like soup, rice, quinoa, lentils, potatoes and bread, and one can only have so much starch in their life if you know what I mean.

And when the shock of how little pasta we eat wears off, I shock people again when they find out that we don't just keep one kind of pasta in the cupboard.  Nope, we often have four different varieties in the cupboard: regular pasta, whole grain pasta, spelt pasta and brown rice pasta, and I use them all. 

Let's start with regular pasta.  I know that white-flour based products are the plastic water bottles of the food world, but there are just some dishes that require it.  If I'm making a decadent lobster mac and cheese, or proper carbonara I usually go with a regular pasta.  Please don't hate me.  I just think it truly tastes better and when there's copious amounts of cream, butter or cheese in the dish I'm not sure that the type of pasta used really matters all that much. 

Whole grain pasta is probably one of the most used pastas in our house.  We use it when I'm in need of a quick meal, or a comforting one, and I would say it's our "regular" pasta.  We like to eat it with veggies or in lazy lasagna.

A new discovery to me last year was brown rice pasta and can I tell you - I love it.  Cooking it requires a little more care, for if it overcooks it's a little gummy, but it's gluten-free and delicious and works well as an everyday pasta as well.

Spelt pasta isn't eaten all that often in our house but I do keep it on hand for those days that I'm feeling ultra healthy.  I'm told that it's higher in protein than whole grain pasta making it a nice pasta replacement when eating a vegetarian meal.

 

The Cobb Salad Dinner

There is a scene in the movie Julie and Julia where Julie Powell meets some girlfriends for lunch.  They all order a cob salad, but each girl orders hers a specific way, making the salad more suited to her individual tastes.  There's the "cobb salad, no egg" and the "cobb salad, no bacon."  And let's not forget the cobb salad, no blue cheese" or the "cobb salad, no beets".  When I first watched the movie all I could think of was that the salad scene was so reminiscent of my, our, family dinners.

I'm a firm believer in making one meal for everyone, but I also think it's okay for each plate to be altered to suit the eater's palate.  In our house one likes cheese and one doesn't, and one wants it spicy and the other not so much.  Here's a glimpse of how one meal has four different faces at our dinner table.  

This is Rob's plate.  He likes everything, and I mean everything (the only exception is lima beans) and he likes it spicy.  It doesn't matter how well I season something, he douses everything in the hottest chili sauce he can find.  He likes stinky, old cheese and lots of it, too.  His white bean and tuna bruschetta has a little extra cheddar on top and is extra melty.

Here's my plate.  I have a more, ahem, discerning palate I think.  I like my bread toasted, but not my tuna, so my toppings are added after the broil.  I'm also not a fan of cheese and tuna together, so I just have the tiniest amount on top of the bread for a touch of flavour.

Here's Ben's meal.  For those of you with younger, pickier eaters I'm here to tell you that sometime around age ten it seems as though the palate matures and the fussiness gives way to acceptance of almost anything that hits the plate.  Except for avocado and cheese, unless it's melted of course.  But not on top of tuna.  He has some apple in lieu of the avocado and there's no cheese on his bruschetta, although the tuna was toasted along with the bread.

And finally we have Jackson's plate.  I don't know what it is about kids and marble cheese, but mine would buy stocks in the stuff if he could.  It's his very favourite and of course what was requested for his tuna, which he only likes when served on baguette with melted marble cheddar.  He's also not keen on the avocado (unless it's mashed) or the almonds, so he has an extra helping of apples on his plate to bulk up his meal a bit.

I know what you're probably thinking.  Is this woman mad?  I'm not, but I would be if I had to try to convince Ben to eat cheese on his food and if Jackson had hot sauce and old cheddar on his. So, while I do cook one meal for everyone it doesn't look the same for each of us. And as far as I'm concerned, that's okay.

 

White Bean and Tuna Bruschetta

• 2 cans good quality tuna, drained
• 1 can navy beans, rinsed and drained
• 2 celery stalks, trimmed and diced
• 1/2 red onion, peeled and grated
• 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice
• zest of one lemon
• 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1 large baguette
• 1/2 cup grated cheese (old cheddar or marble)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  

Combine all of the ingredients, except for the bread and cheese, in a medium mixing bowl and stir well to combine.  Top the bread with the tuna mixture and spread the cheese evenly over the top.  Bake until the bread is golden brown and the cheese has melted.