Simple, Delicious Veggies

Last week, my veggie co-op basket consisted of 5 potatoes, 5 carrots, a head of broccoli, a large bundle of chard, a head of green cabbage and 2 large beets. After rummaging through my recipes, I came up with the following plan:

Giada's Vegetables in Yellow Curry will use some of the carrots and some potatoes. (That was delicious by the way. You should definitely try it!)

I will make Chicken Tetrazini with Broccoli (a recipe from Katie Bostrom) for a friend who just had surgery. 

The cabbage will be cooked this time (yes, I learned from my mistakes) with whole grain mustard, sausage, and cannelini beans, a German-inspired dish.

And the chard and beets will become side dishes, served with Marinated Grilled Salmon.

It's not the best picture in the world, but dinner sure was good! We had salmon that Drummer Boy grilled for us, roasted beets, and Chard with Creme Fraiche. So yummy! The beets were white instead of red like I am used to. But they tasted just like any other beet I've ever had and they were great.

Here are the recipes:

Roasted Beets
Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
Leave root and 1 inch stem on beets; scrub with a brush. Place beets on a baking sheet lined with foil. Bake at 425 degrees for 45 minutes or until tender. (My beets were quite large, so they baked for 60 minutes). Allow beets to cool slightly. Trim off beet roots; rub off skins.
Chop beets and sprinkle with kosher salt and freshly ground pepper.

Chard with Creme Fraiche
1 1/2 pounds chard, trimmed
1 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup creme fraiche
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Remove stems and center ribs from chard. Cut stems and ribs into 1/2-inch pieces; set aside. Coarsely chop leaves; set aside.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add stems and ribs; cook 5 minutes. Stir in leaves; cook for 2 minutes or until leaves wilt. Drain well, pressing chard with the back of a spoon to remove as much water as possible.
Return pan to medium heat. Add oil and swirl to coat. Add chard, creme fraiche, salt and pepper. Cook 4 minutes or until chard is tender.

Chard with creme fraiche reminds me of creamed spinach. It's really good and very easy to make. Even Pumpkin and Princess loved it! If you can't find creme fraiche in the store, you can make your own by mixing 2 Tbsp buttermilk with 1 cup heavy whipping cream, then cover with a kitchen cloth and let it sit in a warm, draft-free place for 12-16 hours until thickened, but still a pourable consistency. Stir and refrigerate until ready to use (up to 1 week).

Family Run

At the beginning of 2013, I decided that I would like for our family to try to do a service project together once a month. It didn't have to be a big project each month, just something that would get us working together to serve someone outside our family. So far, we have cooked meals for church members in need, packed lunches for hungry kids with Kids Meals, and helped take down all the Christmas decorations at our church after the holidays. This month, we participated in a fundraising fun run together.

The race was for an organization called Every Village, which exists to glorify God through the transformation of every village in South Sudan. They carry this out through missions, provision of clean water wells, and distributing radios to villages so that the people who cannot read the word of God can listen to it and know the gospel of Jesus Christ.

There was a 5K run and a kids 1K. I signed up for the 5K and I signed Princess and Pumpkin up for the 1K. I was a little concerned about whether or not Pumpkin would be able to run the whole 1K. And I was also concerned about what kind of attitude the girls would have about getting up early on a Saturday morning to run a race. But, once I told them what we were running for, they were both really sweet about it. Especially Pumpkin, who prayed the night before that everyone in Africa would be able to have a radio after we ran the race. It was so sweet!

They both did great with the 1K. Pumpkin didn't run the whole time, but she ran most of it and finished with a smile on her face. Princess ran the whole time and loved it. And when it was time for me to start the 5K, Princess and her friend, who had just ran their little hearts out in the 1K, decided they wanted to run the 5K too! So they ran/walked the whole 5K! I was very proud of them! Here are some pictures of our day:

"And... GO!"

Princess running the Kids 1K

Pumpkin running the Kids 1K

Pumpkin crossing the finish line

Me finishing the 5K

Princess and her friend finishing the 5K

Drummer Boy

When I met him, he played the snare drum in the high school band drum line. The next year he was the drum line captain. He went on to play in the drum line at Tech and then played in the Nashville Pipes and Drums. He owned a drum set for the early part of our married life, but he never had it set up anywhere in our house. It was always in pieces in the garage, and then he finally decided to sell it before we moved to Texas.

Well, that's changed now. About a month ago, he found a used drum set that was "too good of a deal to pass up." So he bought it. And then he bought hi-hat symbols and stand. And then he bought a base drum pedal. And then he bought a drum throne (if you don't know what that it, it's the seat that the drummer sits on). I didn't really have an issue with the expense, since he hasn't really bought anything for himself, other than a few clothes, in the last 5 years. My issue was where we were going to put this drum set in our home. It has ended up in our bedroom. Yep, that's right, the master bedroom. It's the only place in the house that works, for now.

Anyway, the girls love it, and Drummer Boy does too. When he comes home from work, he asks us, "Have you played the drums today?" And usually Pumpkin will say, "oh, I forgot", and she will run in there and knock out a beat. Princess loves to show them off to her friends. And believe it or not, sometimes, when I'm home alone in the middle of the day, I pick up the sticks and try a little beat myself.

Honestly, I love that Drummer Boy is getting back into it. Musical talent is a gift, and it's not to be wasted. I want my girls to grow up around music, whether it's percussion or flute, rock or classical, it doesn't matter to me. One afternoon, we pulled out the tambourine and the moroccos and the little egg shakers and we had a whole family percussion band! I told Drummer Boy, "I think we are entering a new phase in the life of our family, the LOUD phase."

Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Bacon

Served this last night and it got mixed reviews. Actually, Pumpkin is the only one who didn't like it. The rest of us thought it was pretty good. The one change I would make is to serve it with a nice crusty bread instead of croutons on top. The croutons became soggy immediately. I think a nice piece of bread that you could dip in the soup would be delicious!

The link to the recipe is here: Creamy Cauliflower Soup with Bacon

In my cookbook, Giada says you can serve it hot or chilled. We ate it hot, but I have some leftovers that I'll probably eat chilled. I think it will be yummy either way.

I get my next basket of veggies tonight. I'm so excited to see what kinds of yummy vegetables I get this time!

Amazing Lentils and Mashed Turnips! Yum!

Tonight the girls and I tried two new recipes. The first is one that my friend Amy sent me called Amazing Lentils. I'm just going to attach the link here rather than type out the recipe. It was very easy and made a ton! Princess thought it was yummy, and she cleaned her bowl! Pumpkin didn't like it as much, but she did take a few bites before deciding that she didn't want anymore. We have a bunch leftover, so I think I'll be eating a lot of Amazing Lentils over the next few days.

The second dish was a combination of two recipes my sister Leigh directed me to on allrecipes.com. Here is what I ended up with:

Mashed Turnips with Bacon
3 turnips, peeled and cubed
2 Tbsp butter
1 pinch salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
dash of garlic powder
6 slices bacon
shredded cheddar cheese

Boil turnips in salted water on stove until very tender. Drain and mash turnips. Add butter, salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Cook bacon in skillet until crispy. Remove bacon, pat with paper towels, and crumble. Reserve about 2 Tbsp bacon grease in skillet. To the skillet with bacon grease, add mashed turnips and crumbled bacon. Stir in shredded cheddar cheese. Stir and heat to desired temperature before serving.

The Mashed Turnips were yummy!! Of course they were, because bacon makes everything taste better.  The girls each had 2 servings of the turnips. I told Drummer Boy that I would consider this meal a success, a completely unexpected turnout. I fully expected both girls to say, "Ew, yuck! Can I just eat cereal for dinner?" But they both ate a good amount of the dishes I fixed, and never mentioned cereal. It was delightful!

Here are some pictures of the girls helping chop and mash the turnips.

Struck Out with the Cabbage

The Asian Chicken Salad was not a hit with my family. It was actually a source of contention for a few days, so I won't post the recipe or a picture here. I did learn a few things though: 1) if you are going to make something with raw cabbage like a salad or slaw, you have to let the cabbage sit with the dressing on it for a few hours, or else it just tastes like raw cabbage and your family will question your sanity for serving them raw cabbage for dinner. 2) if I get cabbage again in my veggie co-op, I should find a recipe in which the cabbage gets cooked!

Next up is Creamy Cauliflower Soup. I'm looking forward to this one. It has bacon in it, and crunchy croutons on top. I'm going to serve this with grilled cheese sandwiches, just in case...

I AM: Blessed

I bought this great little bracelet at a local market and it got me thinking about all the ways I could finish that sentence. I am _____

Blessed

Strong

Loved

Original

Creative

a Mom

a Wife

a Nurse

a Friend

a Lover

a Caregiver

a Daughter

Forgiven

Redeemed

Learning

Growing

Loving

Teaching

Leading

Following

There are so many ways I could finish that sentence, and I think I might use that as a theme for a series of blog posts over the next couple of months. But as for today, I AM: Alone. 

Drummer Boy and the girls went away for the weekend to camp with 2 other families from our neighborhood. They had a fun time at Jellystone Park. There was a pool, waterslides, putt-putt golf, and Yogi's birthday party, along with all the typical campout stuff like a campfire, smores, songs and skits, etc. They had a blast! And I had the weekend all to myself. I spent most of the time with my mom having a garage sale. It was a beautiful day on Saturday and there were alot of people out. It was a very enjoyable day. Then in the afternoon I took care of some things that have been on my "to do" list for a while, and in the evening I scrapbooked. 

The best part about the weekend was that I had time to think. Just think, contemplate, wonder. It takes a little bit of solitude to clear my mind enough of the busyness so that I can just sit and think. I am so thankful for the weekend. I'm thankful for the solitude. I'm thankful for the time and the peace and the quiet. I'm thankful that my God loves me enough to make it possible for me to have those things. It fills my heart and my spirit and I know that I AM: Blessed.

Toscana Soup

The best part about this soup is that my girls helped me cook it. At first when they both came into the kitchen asking if they could help, I just wanted them to go away! I wanted some peace and quiet while I enjoyed cooking all by myself. But then I decided to take a different approach and try giving them jobs. Princess chopped the potatoes and onions, and Pumpkin tore up all the kale and sauteed the sausage. They both did a great job working together. I only wish I had thought to take pictures of them helping me cook!
Next time.

This is a recipe that my MIL gave to me. It is also good with Italian Sausage, if you want to try it that way. I used the red potatoes, kale, and onions from my veggie co-op in this recipe.

Toscana Soup
1 pkg. smoked sausage (Eckrich, Hillshire Farms, etc.), cut into pieces
2-3 slices bacon, diced
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups cubed potato
4-6 cups chicken broth
2 cups half and half, or whole evaporated milk
1 bunch kale, washed and coarsely chopped or torn into pieces

In large pot, saute sausage for a few minutes. Remove from pot and set aside. Add bacon and cook until crisp. Add onions and cook until softened. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Pour in chicken broth, add potatoes and heat until boiling. Turn down and simmer until potatoes are partially cooked (about 10 minutes). Add milk or half and half and bring back to simmer. Add kale and cover with lid. It will cook down quite a bit. Cook another 5-10 minutes until kale is tender. Add sausage back to soup. Salt and pepper to taste.

Broccoli Salad

The original recipe was from Shannon Truss, out of the West End Community Church Good to Give Cookbook, one of my favorite cookbooks. I've made some substitutions according to my liking, and this is the recipe that I ended up with:

1 head of broccoli, cut into bite size florets
6 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup red grapes, halved
1/2 cup nuts (pecans, walnuts, almonds, or sunflower seeds)
1/2 cup chopped apple
1 cup mayo
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup sugar

Mix mayo, vinegar, and sugar. Toss remaining ingredients together and pour sauce over. Let chill 2-3 hours before serving.

I love this salad as a side dish for any summer picnic, barbecue, or burgers. Tonight I served it with fried chicken tenders.

Veggies Veggies Galore!

I am so excited! About 2 months ago, I decided to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) or vegetable co-op. This time I went with Home Sweet Farm, a farm in the Brenham area, about 60 miles from my house. I am getting a half-share, which means I pick up my veggies every other week. And this week was my first pick-up date. I was so excited and pleased to see what we got:

4 large carrots

1 head of cabbage

4 bulb green onions

3 turnips

1 bunch of collard greens

5 red potatoes

1 head of cauliflower

1 head of broccoli

1 bunch of kale

The girls started eating the carrots as soon as we got home. They were so good and sweet! 

Here's my plan for the veggies: I'm making a tuscan soup that will use the kale and potatoes, and some sausage we have in the freezer. I found a recipe for Creamy Cauliflower Soup in my Giada cookbook that sounds delicious. My sister posted a couple of recipes on Facebook for Turnip Mash that sound pretty yummy, kind of like a loaded baked potato (I mean turnip) all mashed up. The cabbage I am going to use for an Asian Chicken Salad (another recipe from Giada) but I'm going to put a Ginger-Peanut dressing on it. Tonight I'm making a broccoli salad, a recipe I've tweeked over the last few years. And the collard greens I will use in a new recipe that my friend Amy sent me called Amazing Lentils. The carrots we will just eat for snacks and the bulb green onions I'll use in my recipes that call for onions. I'm hoping that I can use everything up before any of it starts to go bad. I think these recipes will pretty much take us through the next two weeks until my next pick-up date. So we should be all set!

I plan to post pictures and details of the recipes as I cook them. Three cheers for organic, local food! Hoorah, hoorah, hoorah!