plan to eat

this week: a new revelation! tom suggested that we start a tradition with food during the week. once he started talking i knew what he was referencing. you see, when he was a boy, maybe elementary/middle school aged, he had a close friend who would invite him over for dinner occassionally and friday night was taco night. i know tom loved this for several reasons and he talks about it frequently enough that i feel like i was there for "friday night taco night".

thus we have implemented "mexican mondays". that means i am not limited to just tacos, but any variety of mexican (let's be honest, it's americanized mexican) food. beef tacos, fish tacos, chicken fajitas, veggie chipotle burritos, enchilladas, and don't forget 7 layer bean deep (a household favorite). the possibilities go on and i might even pull out my kitchen bible to find some new, dare i say authentic, recipes.

maasen has already given it two thumbs up and expressed sadness that at the end of may she will miss a mexican monday. i am thrilled to know what i am making (more or less) every monday. this is such a relief that we've decided to implement another staple meal, pizza. i think i am going to try this out on wednesdays, since that's a busy day and one less decision is a blessing.

there is some peace of mind that goes along with a meal schedule. don't get me wrong, even though i have 31 "approved" recipes and i could make a different meal every day of the month, i don't plan things out that well. i like to have the freedom to make what my stomach wants. and if i don't make it to the store then i need to be able to make something out of refried beans, rice milk and apples. knowing that mondays are mexican nights helps me out immensely because when it comes to dinner i'm the one in charge. typically tom doesn't care what i make so i can't turn to him for suggestions, maas and cass will eat anything i put in front of them and if wyatt had his way we'd eat chili for every meal.

so there you have it, my tip of the day (or week, or month). pick a meal you can eat every week and designate a day for it.

i would have a picture for you but we were pretty excited to eat. like micah and those waffles. instead here's what the van-bs think about mexican mondays:

One of my favorite smells? Baked goods in the oven.

I don't have a picture of this recipe, so I'm including a picture of the woman who taught me that if you can do it ahead - do it.

Like dipping your food in chocolate. Why wait?

Okay, so here's the coffee cake recipe that we cut out of The Kansas City Star. Delicious for breakfast, but its true brilliance is that you make it the night before. No mess in the morning; just pop it in the oven and let the good smells roll.

Overnight Coffee Cake

2 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

2/3 cup butter, softened (10 2/3 Tbsp.)

2 eggs

1 cup buttermilk

Topping:

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 cup chopped pecans (more if you actually want to taste them)

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

Sift together flour, baking soda, salt, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside. Stir together topping ingredients and set aside.

Using an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugars. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Alternately, mix in buttermilk and dry ingredients, stopping occasionally to scrape. Pour batter into a greased 9 x 13 pan. Sprinkle topping evenly over the top. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 350. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

ciao italiano

this is not to share a recipe, this is to say that i won't be sharing italian recipes. i made spinach and ricotta manicotti from 'the illustrated kitchen bible' for our congregation tonight and it wasn't a smash hit. i'm not thrilled with italian recipes. there's no zip, no zing. just a lot of work, and no satisfaction. it looks like this:

i turn to susan for the italian recipes. she is married to the stallion after all.

here is a successful recipe instead:

sweet and sour dressing (betty crocker)

1/4 cup canola oil

2 tablespoons sugar

2 tablespoons white or cider vinegar

1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley (or a sprinkle of dried parsley)

1/2 teaspoon salt

dash of dried red pepper flakes

mix together in a container with a lid. refrigerate until ready to use.

this salad is best with red onions, some kind of dried fruit (i use raisins because that's what i always have on hand) and sugared almonds.

to sugar almonds: heat up a non-stick pan on medium heat and then pour sugar in it covering the bottom. sprinkle slivered almonds on top and wait for the sugar to melt onto the almond. remove from pan onto foil or wax paper to cool.

Hot Mess

So I had a craving for waffles on Saturday morning, however, I really was not up for all the fanfare that comes with make waffles (see picture for more details) on Sabbath. I woke on Sunday morning with the same aforementioned craving and decided to make it happen. Making waffles from scratch is pretty straightforward and there are a lot of fun variations you can do to make it special for a day you have time to actually sit down and enjoy breakfast with a cup of coffee.

The Waffle Iron is a great invention that supposedly makes the actually cooking of the waffles simple, easy, and 'clean'. However, this was not my experience. Obviously, in light of my graphic illustrations, I would recommend erroring on the side of under-filling the griddle..... other than that, it is in fact fool-proof to operate.

We (and by that I mean Micah and myself) went all out by topping the waffles with sliced strawberries, a few chocolate chips, and dusted them with powdered sugar. Micah was not interested in the concept of taking pictures of the food BEFORE we ate it.

My personal favorite highlight of the waffles, aside from cleaning up the kitchen afterwards (kidding), was the fact that Micah insisted on being in the picture WITH said waffles. The plate was too heavy for him to hold, so he settled for a spot behind them...

WAFFLES

makes 6 large waffles

2 large eggs

2 cups all purpose or whole wheat flour

1 3/4 cups milk

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 tablespoon brown sugar

4 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoon salt

Optional add-ins: 2 cups mashed ripe bananas (4 medium), 1 cup chopped toasted pecans, 1/2 semi-sweet chocolate chips.

(obviously, you wouldn't want to put all of this in there... I mean you could, but it would get pretty intense.... and I don't know if you can handle that?!)

Directions:

Heat Waffle Iron

Beat eggs in a standing mixer (or large bowl) until fluffy with the wisk attachment. Beat in the remaining ingredients until consistent.

Pour batter into the hot waffle iron (sprayed with non-stick cooking spray) and close lid.

Bake for 5 minutes or until it looks done (is that vague enough?)

We used whole wheat flour. I don't really know that its healthier for you?(feedback welcome) I tend to use whole wheat flour more for the texture than the health benefits. I mean, lets be honest, waffles with chocolate chips and syrup isn't exactly a 'healthy breakfast'...... so the wheat flour isn't going to save you. But I enjoy the 'rustic' texture of the wheat flour in baked goods. Maybe it's becuase I like the idea of something being 'rustic' as it reminds me of Colorado, even though I'm just eating waffles in my kitchen in Kansas.....