Potato and Egg Cake

I'm a bit of a procrastinator this year in regards to Thanksgiving. I have absolutely no idea where we are going or what I am cooking if I do indeed host. A large part of the procrastination has to do with the weather. West Virginia weather in November is really unpredictable. Some years it's in the 60's and other years it's snowing. Plus my in-laws live in the mountains so their weather is even more unpredictable than ours. So all in all I have no idea what we are doing for Thanksgiving this year, yet. I'm hoping that by next week I will be able to figure out if I'm hosting or not. Then the debate about what to fix starts, with my kids insisting on Cornish game hens, my in-laws preferring turkey and we not wanting either. Honestly I prefer the sides and dessert, I have never been a big fan of turkey.

I have been trying to reduce the amount of snacks that my kids eat. If given the option they will only eat snacks and never eat an actual dinner all week. So to combat this habit I have been reducing their snacks and making dinners that they are likely to at least try. The following is a recipe for Potato and Egg Cake, which is kid friendly and makes delicious leftovers.

Adapted from the Food Network Magazine.

Potato and Egg Cake

Ingredients

• 2 pounds Yukon gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temp
• 4 tablespoons breadcrumbs
• 1 cup grated parmesan
• 4 large eggs, beaten
• 4 ounces sliced provolone cheese
• 1/2 cup thinly sliced jarred roasted red peppers, drained and patted dried
• 3 tablespoons chopped flat leaf parsley

Cooking Directions

1. Preheat oven to 475 degrees.
2. Add a rimmed baking sheet to the oven to preheat.
3. Fill saucepan with enough water to cover potatoes.
4. Add potatoes to boiling water over high heat.
5. Let cook until potatoes are soft, 15-20 minutes.
6. Butter an 8 inch cake pan.
7. Sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of the breadcrumbs.
8. Add 4 tablespoons of the butter and the parmesan to the potatoes, mash.
9. Season with salt and pepper.
10. Add in the beaten eggs, slowly and mash.
11. Spread half to the mixture to the buttered cake pan.
12. Top with provolone, peppers, and parsley.
13. Make sure to keep an inch border all around the edge.
14. Top with the rest of the potato mixture, and smooth top.
15. Add the remaining 2 tablespoons of bread crumbs.
16. Grate the remaining 1 tablespoon butter over top.
17. Place the cake pan on the heated baking sheet and baked for 15-20 minutes, or until nicely browned on top.
18. Loosen the edges of the cake with a knife.
19. Unmold and let the cake rest for 5 minutes before slicing.

Tips:

• The version from the picture is made with gluten free panko. Gluten free panko is a great substitute for regular bread crumbs and I use it a lot in recipes. 
• The gluten free version takes a little longer to brown, approximately 5 minutes. 
• If you aren't a fan of provolone this would also work with Havarti or swiss. 

Winter Vegetable Dal

Winter Vegetable Dal

I want my kids to fail. That's right I don't want my kids to succeed at everything they try. Why? Failure is one of the most important lessons we should be imparting to our kids. Let me provide a little background to my reasoning. My son came home from school last week and informed me that everyone got a ribbon for participating in a school event. Great, so everyone wins for doing nothing. I know that sounds a little harsh, but good old fashioned competitiveness is not a bad thing. I failed a lot growing-up. I tried basketball, softball, gymnastics and I was horrible at all of them. Then I discovered swimming and I was great at it. The pleasure I got from succeeding was that much better since I knew what it was like to be horrible at something. In college I had a professor inform me that I didn't understand anything about the concept of 'national identity' and that I should avoid a degree in English. I ended up getting my BA in English Literature and wrote my master's thesis on national identity and geography. However, if I hadn't done horribly in that class I might have had a very different life. We remember the times we fail, we need those failures to become the adults we are. It seems that we are now teaching our children that failure should be avoided in order to save our children the pain. Yes failure hurts, but the success that eventually comes is that much sweeter for having the fought our way back. So yes I want my children to fail, I will comfort them from the pain and cheer them on when they find a way to succeed. It's a part of growing-up.

My family rarely eats out, less than once a month. However, we all love various ethnic foods so I try to re-create as many dishes at home as I can. Last week I tried a new Winter Vegetable Dal recipe from the January/February 2014 issue of Eating Well magazine.

Winter Vegetable Dal

 

This recipe has 18 ingredients. It takes 1 hour of total time, 35 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make a number of changes to the original recipe. First, I used a bay leaf instead of curry leaves. Curry leaves are very hard to find in my area and I didn't want to have to go searching for them. I thought that I had cumin seeds in my cupboard, but wasn't able to find them when I made the recipe so I substituted ground cumin instead. I cut my potatoes small, but I still found that my dal took longer than the recipe suggest for the vegetables to fully cook, approximately 10 additional minutes.

Winter Vegetable Dal

My husband and I enjoyed this recipe. It was mild enough that my kids loved it while still being flavorful enough for adults. If you like your dishes spicier you can add a small amount of crushed red pepper. The leftovers of this dish re-heated well and it tasted great over brown rice.

For the recipe go to Winter Vegetable Dal.

Cabbage, White Bean, and Potato Soup

Cabbage, White Bean, and Potato Soup

Somehow my two kids just ate six bananas. I don't even understand how it's possible for two boys to eat six bananas in ten minutes. When I went to the grocery store today I bought myself a bunch of fruit for smoothies. Apparently that was not a great idea. I bought two big banana bunches and my kids have already eaten an entire bunch. Now I get to go back to the store tomorrow to buy more. They also ate the entire can of smoked almonds I bought myself for snacks. My husband and I joke that we need to get our own cupboard and put a lock on it, I'm beginning to think it's not such a bad idea. I dread the thought of having two teenage boys, I think I throw in the towel already.

With it being the middle of winter I have been making a lot of soups and stews. I love having a hot meal when the weather is cold outside. Last week I tried a new recipe for Cabbage, White Bean, and Potato Soup from the January 2014 issue of Southern Living magazine.

This recipe has 9 ingredients. It takes 30 minutes of total time, all of which is active and makes 10 cups. I did make a few changes to the original recipe. First, I used small red potatoes cut into fourths instead of fingerling potatoes. Fingerling potatoes were overpriced at my local grocery store and would have cost 2 1/2 times as much as the red potatoes I bought. For the chicken broth, I used homemade. I have discussed many times about the benefits of homemade stock, it's cheaper, tastes better, and you can control the amount of sodium. I chose not to add Parmesan cheese as a topping for my serving, but my husband and two boys did.

If you are serving this soup for dinner it needs a sandwich served with it in order to be filling. Alone it doesn't have enough protein or fat to be filling for most adults. It would be great with grilled cheese or a grilled (or not) turkey sandwich. The flavors are great and with a sandwich it would be a quick evening meal.

For the recipe go to Cabbage, White Bean, and Potato Soup.

Oven Roasted Potatoes with Homemade Greek Seasoning

Oven Roasted Potatoes with Homemade Greek Seasoning 

When it comes down to it I am very cheap (money wise). There are a few basics that I am brand loyal to, but when I can make something from scratch I do. I make my own household cleaners (better for the environment and work so well!), I sew, I can fruits, veggies etc. and I make as many food items from scratch as I can. Part of my frugal ways came from my mother. She never was a fan of convenience items, partly because we never had a lot of money and mostly because she knew she could do a better job from scratch. If I saw a great dress at the mall, my mother would come home, make a pattern, buy the fabric and I would have the exact same dress in just a couple of weeks. My friends were always very jealous that my mother could pretty much sew anything from sight. She also was great with finding bargain fabric to store away knowing she might use it at a latter date. For just a couple of dollars I could have a full outfit. Now my mother was a far better seamstress than I am, but I have inherited the need to make as many things as possible. One of my favorite ways to save money and add great flavor to dishes is to make my own spice mixes. There are so many pre-made mixes that can be easily made at home: Greek Seasoning, American Chili Powder, Chili Seasoning, Garam Masala. Not only is the flavor better when made from scratch, but it saves a lot of money in long run.

Lake Vesuvius 

One of my favorite dishes with homemade Greek seasoning is oven roasted fingerling potatoes. It tastes great and my kids love it. My recipe is as follows:

Greek Seasoning:

• 2 teaspoons dried oregano (I dry oregano from my garden-very easy)
• 1/2 tsp dried basil
• 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
• 1 tsp dried mint
• 1 tsp dried thyme (not ground)
• 1/2 tsp dried minced onion
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder (or minced garlic, but I use whichever I have on hand)

Add all the ingredients together, toss to make sure combined. Store in an air tight jar. 

Roasted Fingerling Potatoes:

This is really easy. 

• 1 pound fingerling potatoes, cut in half or fourths
• 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
• salt 
• 1-2 tablespoon homemade Greek seasoning

Toss all the ingredients together on a roasting pan. Cook in a pre-heated 400 degree oven until browned (20-30 minutes depending on the size of the potatoes and your oven). Toss the potatoes half way through, do not over toss the potatoes or they will not get that great brown, roasted flavor and look. 

That's it. My kids love this recipe and it's really easy to make. Plus the Greek seasoning is great on chicken, pork or lamb. I use it to make chicken pitas a lot and it's delicious. 

Lake Vesuvius Ohio

Indian Chickpea and Vegetable Stew From All You Magazine

Indian Chickpea and Vegetable Stew

My husband and I rarely agree on what to watch. We haven't been to a movie in the theater for 8 years. Partly because we are both too cheap and mostly due to the fact that we hate most movies and can't agree on the few that either of us would see. Last month my husband set up separate Netflix user accounts so that what I watch wasn't in his recently viewed section. I was fine with that since he watches nothing but horrible television shows and movies by people that I never thought where funny when they were on Saturday Night Live. He also watches non-funny 80's and 90's comedies that I avoided like the plague when they were originally in theaters. My husband complains that I watch nothing except Sci-Fi and 80's/90's cult classics. He would be mostly right, I to this day claim "Heathers" as my all time favorite movie. So for the most part we watch separate movies and television. However, every year we pick a few new shows that both of us can agree upon. Normally they aren't something that we love, but that we agree we love each other enough to sit through. This normally lasts for a season or two before both of us give up on the show and we have to move on to another show that we both deem semi-adequate. Regardless of our faults we seem made for each other since we continue to try to find common movie/TV ground. It's the constant commitment to finding common ground that reminds me that our marriage is important to both of us. In 10 years we have only found a few shows/movies that we both love, but we have enjoyed the journey of trying to find something together. Tonight's dinner recipe is another example of compromise. My husband loves the Indian restaurant in our city, I pretty much hate it. To compromise I make a lot of Indian dishes at home. Some recipes I pick are traditional (to appease my husband and I) and some are more Americanized (for my kids). Tonight I tried a new recipe for Indian Chickpea and Vegetable Stew from the September issue of All You magazine.

Harris Riverfront Park Huntington, WV

This recipe has 17 ingredients. It takes an hour and ten minutes of total time, 45 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I made a  few changes to the original recipe. My family loves the taste of ginger so I used 2 tablespoons of minced ginger instead of 1. I was out of turmeric so I left it out and added a small amount of crushed red pepper for flavor. I found that the dish needed a lot more salt than stated in the original recipe, I ended up adding an additional 1 1/2 teaspoons. Finally, I added a cup of coconut milk. I found that it helped with the flavor and made for a more 'stew' like consistency.

Downtown Huntington, WV from Harris Riverfront Park

My two boys were in love with this recipe. The spices were mild enough to be kid friendly while having enough flavor for adults. This is definitely a more 'Americanized' Indian recipe, which is nice for kids or adults that aren't fans of the strong flavors many traditional Indian dishes can have. If you want to increase the heat you can always add 1/2 to 1 teaspoon of crushed red pepper. This will add a little bit of heat without overpowering the flavors of the dish.

For the recipe go to Indian Chickpea and Vegetable Stew.

Indian Chickpea and Vegetable Stew

Recipe Type: Main

Summary:

A kid friendly recipe for Indian Chickpea and Vegetable Stew from the September issue of All You magazine. Only $1.63 per serving.

Preparation Time: 0h, 25m

Cooking Time: 0h, 45m

Total Time: 1h, 10m

Yield: Serves 6

Slow Cooker Beef Stew and Easy Homemade Cornbread Recipe

The winter weather seems to be back in my area. It has been spitting snow all day, which just makes me want to curl up with a good book and a cup of tea. I love winter weather for about a month, then I get increasing sick of it. I am one of those people that loves when the seasons change and then quickly get tired of the new season. Now there are some seasons that I like more than others, winter being pretty far down the list. One of the things that saves winter for me is the food. I am a huge fan of soups and stews and fall and winter are the perfect time of the year to prepare them. Approximately once a week (at least) during the winter I pull out my slow cooker and try a new stew recipe. I find stew in the winter comforting and makes the cold weather more bearable. Last week I tried a new recipe for Slow Cooker Beef Stew and Homemade Cornbread from the February 2013 issue of All You magazine.

The beef stew recipe has 17 ingredients and the cornbread has 8 ingredients. The cornbread takes a total of 25 minutes, 10 minutes of which is active and makes 9 servings. The beef stew recipe takes a total of 8 1/2 hours, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 6 servings. I did make a few changes to the recipes. For the beef stew instead of all-purpose flour I used brown rice flour. I made my own beef broth from scratch. If you have never made beef broth before it is very easy. Roast 2 onions, 2 carrots and 1 pound of beef bones in the oven at 425 for 40 minutes. When they are done roasting add them to a large stock pot, add 12 peppercorns, 2 bay leaves, 2 sprigs of parsley and cover with water. Bring to boil and then turn down to a low simmer for 4-6 hours. The longer you cook the stock the stronger the flavor. I chose not to top my stew with cilantro since my kids have decided that they currently won't eat it. For the cornbread I only made a few changes. First I used low-fat buttermilk instead of full fat. I try to limit my dairy fats and low-fat buttermilk is a great way to do it. Since I was not eating the cornbread I did not make it gluten-free, but instead made the recipe as written.

This beef stew has a little bit of a kick from the chilies and chipotle pepper. I topped my boys servings with a little bit of sour cream to cut down on the spiciness, My husband and I didn't find that the dish was that spicy, but my boys noticed immediately. I like that the beef turned out very tender and the parsnips gave the beef a delicious sweet root vegetable undertone.

For the recipes go to Beef Stew and Homemade Cornbread.

Slow-Cooked Green Chile Stew

As you know if you've read my blog for a while, we are a pork family. I have been successful with changing a lot of food habits in my family. I have started using honey and sorghum instead of granulated sugar, olive oil instead of butter and brown rice flour instead of wheat flour. As for proteins I like a varied diet. I think eating anything in large amounts isn't great, but I also don't think that eating pork and beef aren't bad for you either. According to my doctor I have some of the best cholesterol levels he has seen and I eat red meat 2-3 times a week. However, I also prepare a large amount of turkey, fish and chicken. Pork is a meat that my husband loves. In any form be it bacon, tenderloin or roast he devours it. So do my two boys. Cooking as many things from scratch as I can is important to me and one of my favorite meals to make is stew. A great stew can make even a poor cut of meat delicious and can feed my family for multiple meals. This week I tried a new recipe for Green Chile Stew from the January/February 2013 issue of the Food Network Magazine.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes 2 hours and 55 minutes of total time, 25 minutes of which is active and makes 8 servings. I did make a number of changes to this recipe. First I made my own chicken broth which I do not salt. Instead I salt the dish once it's done to reduce the total amount of sodium in my dishes. Second I cubed my pork instead of dicing it. I was unable to find a 3 pound roast, so I bought two smaller roasts and cut them into small cubes. I find dicing meat to be a nuisance and I prefer my meat to have larger pieces in soups and stews. Finally, I changed the overall cooking time. The recipe only cooks the pork for slightly over an hour. To me that isn't long enough to produce a great flavor. Instead I added 8 cups of chicken broth to the pork and allowed it to cook for an hour, then added the hominy and let it cook for another hour. Then I added the potatoes and let it cook for a final 40 minutes. The end result was flavorful and perfect. Since I eat gluten free I served the stew with corn tortillas instead of flour.

If I had made this just for adults I would have made it spicier by leaving in the seeds on the peppers. Since I was cooking for my kids I seeded the peppers. My husband's only complaint was that it wasn't spicy enough, but that is normal since I have to keep my kids tastes in mind when I cook for our entire family. Make sure to add salt at the end, especially if you are using low sodium stock or make your own. I would suggest using additional chicken stock instead of the water suggested in the second part of the recipe. The water would make the soup less flavorful.

For the recipe go to Green Chile Stew.

Slow Cooker Pot Roast

The weather in my area is all over the place. It has been cold, warm, foggy, rainy, but not in any way snowy and winter-like. This weekend the temperature is supposed to hit 70, in January! Normally this is the time of the year when I am bundled up in blankets drinking hot drinks and making soups. This year I am still making lots of soups and crock-pot recipes, but the weather feels more like spring than winter. Regardless of the weather I love my slow cooker. As my boys get older and my time feels more and more crunched my slow cooker has saved me many times. I never understood before having kids how hard it can be to get dinner on the table with two boys running around causing chaos. Now I know better and try to make at least one meal a week that is quick and easy. This week I tried a new recipe for Slow Cooker Pot Roast from the January 2013 issue of Family Circle magazine.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 8 and a half hours of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I would have normally used a chuck roast for this recipe, but in my effort to use things out of my freezer I used the beef cut that my mother-in-law had bought me this fall. The recipe uses 12 ounces of small potatoes, but I chose to use the full pound bag that I bought at the grocery store. Additionally, I chose to leave the potatoes whole instead of cutting them in half. Since I eat gluten free I used cornstarch for the pan sauce and gluten free Worcestershire. Even if you can eat wheat flour I prefer cornstarch since it does a better job at thickening. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Since I didn't use the best cut of beef in this recipe the sauce really made the recipe. The pan sauce was delicious and made up for any shortcomings with the beef being slightly tough. I did wish that there were more vegetables. There was only enough for exactly 4 servings, which was barely enough for my family. If I was to make this again I would double the amount of vegetables and buy a larger roast.

This recipe is not currently available on-line. It can be found in the January 2013 issue of Family Circle. Here is another Slow Cooker Pot Roast recipe from Family Circle.

Thai Chicken Curry

I hope everyone is having a great New Year's Eve. In my twenties I loved going to friend's parties and ringing in the New Year. Now that I have two kids and am in my mid-thirties (we aren't talking about what age I am turning this year :) I prefer to stay at home and enjoy the beginning of the New Year with my family. 2012 had a lot of ups and downs for my family. My health for the first 6 months was all over the place with pneumonia, low potassium levels and a high heart rate. Luckily everything seems to be better now, but I am definitely ready for 2013 to be rung in. I will be surprised if my two kids make it much past 10 pm, but they might surprise me and stay up until midnight. I think I will make it to midnight and not much farther. When I was in college I could stay up all night and still be at work the next morning at 7 am, now I need my beauty sleep. My cooking this week has been easy. I haven't been motivated to spend a lot of time in the kitchen since my oldest is home for winter break until Thursday. This weekend I tried a new recipe for Thai Chicken Curry from the January issue of Bon Appetit magazine.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes a total of 45 minutes, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I did have to make a few modifications based on ingredient availability. First I have never seen yellow curry paste at any of my local grocery stores so I substituted green curry instead. Additionally, instead of regular Yukon gold potatoes I used baby Yukon potatoes. I prefer the baby Yukon potatoes when cooking since they are smaller and cook much quicker than their larger counterparts. I had no problems finding any of the other ingredients and made no further ingredient modifications. The recipe states to cook the curry on a simmer for a total of 20 minutes. I let my curry cook for closer to 30 minutes to ensure that it had thickened adequately. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I wasn't sure what my kids would think of this curry. They can be hit or miss with ethnic foods. Sometimes they love them and other times they won't even try a bite before they decide that they don't like the dish. However, I am happy to report that they loved this recipe. My oldest was especially fond of the chicken. The chicken turned out very tender and the potatoes were a nice addition. I chose not to serve the dish with fresh herbs since my kids were eating it, but it would be delicious either way.

For the recipe go to Thai Chicken Curry.

Chicken Brunswick Stew

Cold season has hit my house hard this week. Of course, like always I have gotten sicker than everyone else. It probably has a lot to do with the fact that the bus stop for my oldest son is over a block away and I have to wait 10 minutes in the freezing cold every morning and afternoon. If you are wondering why I wait 10 minutes, I tried leaving later a few times and of course the bus was early. So I have a 10 minute span of when the bus 'might' come. Last winter as some of you probably know I was lucky (not) enough to come down with pneumonia and ended up in the hospital. Apparently being very small with a not so fabulous immune system isn't so great as you get older. And by older I mean 30. Ever since I turned 30 it seems my health has taken a nose dive. Low potassium, low iron, gluten intolerance, migraines you name it. So this week I am suffering through a nasty cold with a hyper four-year-old at home and making lots of stew, soup and chili. There is something so comforting about warm foods when you feel not at your best. This week I tried a new recipe for Chicken Brunswick Stew from the January 2013 issue of Family Circle, which looked like perfect comfort food.

This recipe has 11 ingredients. It takes 6 hours on high in the Crock-pot, 10 minutes of prep and makes 6 servings. I actually had a hard time finding canned butter beans in my area. I had to go to multiple stores to find the beans since they seem to be scarce in my city. As I always do I used a crock-pot liner instead of spraying cooking spray in the slow cooker bowl. I find the liners to be much easier to use and make a lot less dishes to wash. Make sure to add additional salt before serving. Since the recipe utilizes potatoes it needs a decent amount of salt to have flavor. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My husband was very impressed with this recipe. It turned out very tender and the chicken literally fell off the bone before being shredded. I really don't serve okra often, since it can become slimy when cooked. However, the okra in this recipe was cooked perfectly and delicious.  Brunswick stew is one of my husband's favorite dishes and this recipe was definitely a hit.

For the recipe go to Chicken Brunswick Stew.

Slow-Cooker Caribbean Beef Stew

The weather in my area has been unseasonably warm. It was almost 70 degrees on Tuesday and it has been making my kids a little bit wild. With the warm days it feels more like spring than almost Christmas. Even though the weather has been all over the place, I refuse to let it change my food plans. This is the time of the year when I make pumpkin cookies, eggnog baked good and most importantly stews. I love stews. They are delicious and comforting. I make them at least twice a month and they are a fall stable in my house. Since I now am eating gluten free I have had to find new stew recipes that work well with gluten free flours. This week I tried a new recipe for Slow-Cooker Caribbean Beef Stew from the December issue of the Food Network Magazine, which looked full of classic Caribbean flavor from the allspice and white pepper and perfect for a busy weeknight.

This reicpe 13 ingredients. It takes a total time of 7 hours and 15 minutes, 15 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local grocery store. Since I don't use wheat flour I substituted the all-purpose flour for gluten free all-purpose flour. Crock-pots can be very hard to clean so I always use slow-cooker liners to reduce the mess. I let my stew cook on high for 7 hours. When I only put my potatoes in the crock-pot on low for 7 hours they never seem soft enough to me, so I normally cook my stews on high. Finally, I decided to top the servings with scallions for taste and presentation. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

Make sure to adequately salt this stew once it is done in the crock-pot. The recipe requires more salt than the recipe states. My husband and I really liked this stew. The flavor was great and the spiciness from the green chiles was delicious. My two boys thought it was a little too spicy for their tastes, but I added sour cream to their servings and then they ate it happily.

For the recipe go to Slow-Cooker Caribbean Beef Stew.

Beef Stew with Potatoes and Parsnips

I absolutely love soup and stews. There is something incredibly comforting about making and eating a big batch of homemade soup. The last couple of months my two boys and I have seemed to be passing the same cold back and forth between the three of us. As soon as one of us gets better the next one gets sick. Since we have all been feeling under the weather I have been making a large number of soups. Plus cold weather and soup seem to go hand in hand, so it works all around. My whole family seems well this week just as the weather has gotten much colder so it's time again for a new round of soup and stew recipes. I love being able to eat the leftovers from a batch of soup I make on the weekend. It is a quick and hearty lunch option. Last month I made a new recipe for Beef Stew with Potatoes and Parsnips from Everyday Food magazine, which looked hearty and perfect for the colder weather ahead.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes a total time of 1 1/2 hours, 25 minutes of which is active, and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients at my local store. I did make a few modifications in order to make the recipe gluten free. Instead of using all-purpose flour I substituted gluten free cornstarch. I do this frequently with recipes and it works very well. I made this dish in my dutch oven. If you don't already own and use a dutch oven, I highly recommend it for your holiday wish list. My dutch oven is one of my favorite kitchen tools. The recipe suggests letting the stew cook for an hour in the oven. I actually let my stew cook for slightly longer in order for the stew to fully thicken. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I was really impressed with this recipe. It came out tender and delicious with little effort. I liked that this stew only takes an hour and a half instead of the 2-3 hours required by a lot of other beef stew recipes. Adding the vinegar at the end of the cooking takes this soup from good to delicious. I was skeptical when I added the vinegar, but after tasting it it made all the difference to the final taste. I will definitely make this stew again.

For the recipe go to Beef Stew with Potatoes and Parsnips.

Slow Cooker Corn Chowder with Shrimp

My family enjoyed the last of our Thanksgiving leftovers tonight. Right now I am eating the remainder of the sweet potato pie with a big helping of whipped cream. I survived all the chaos of the Thanksgiving cooking and was able to get a few great deals shopping this weekend. Now the craziness of December starts with my youngest son's birthday next weekend. I can't believe that my youngest is turning four! Since the holidays always mean crazy schedules and a press for time, I love using my slow-cooker to make dinner just a little bit easier. Eventually I will also learn to use the pressure cooker that I have in my pantry. So far I have used it to can veggies and soups, but I seem to never use it as an actual pressure cooker. Maybe that will be my New Year's resolution this year. Then again I am horrible at keeping resolutions, so maybe not. Either way I fall back on my crock-pot extensively during the holidays. Last week before the massive cooking endeavor of Thanksgiving I tried a new recipe for Slow Cooker Corn Chowder with Shrimp from All You magazine, which looked perfect for the full house of company I had for the week.

This recipe has 12 ingredients. It takes a total time of 6 hours and 15 minutes, 15 minutes of which is active and makes six servings. I always have to go to multiple stores in my area when making seafood recipes. For whatever reason my local superstore insists on only carrying farm raised fish and shrimp. Having grown-up in the Northwest I shudder at the idea of eating farm raised seafood. I had too many friends that worked in the fisheries dept. and instilled in my head never to eat anything farm raised. So in order to find wild caught U.S. shrimp I have to drive to the grocery store in the suburbs. I had no problem finding any of the ingredients. I made my own chicken stock and as I always do I bought Italian flat leaf parsley. I am not a fan of curly parsley, the texture isn't something that either my husband or I enjoy. Make sure to fully salt this dish. I had to add a decent amount of salt after this recipe was done since the potatoes had soaked up any of the salt added to the soup in the slow-cooker. Finally I did add the heavy cream, without this step it is more of a soup than a chowder. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I served this recipe while my in-laws were at my house and everyone enjoyed it. My oldest son thought the shrimp was the best part, but he always eats more shrimp than anyone else in the house. Make sure that your potatoes are diced small or they won't fully cook in the slow-cooker. My potatoes were a little larger than I would prefer so I would change it if I made this recipe again. For an extra flavor I would suggest adding crushed red pepper. It really would make this dish better since the spices weren't noticeable the way that the recipe is written.

For the recipe go to Slow Cooker Corn Chowder with Shrimp.

Keralan Vegetable Stew

Cold season seems to have hit my house. Last week I finally recovered from the cold that I had picked-up from my oldest son when my throat started hurting. This week everyone in my house has been sick. I love how once my oldest son started school I have gotten every single cold that has gone around school. The one good thing about when my whole house has a cold is that I can make spicy foods. I love anything spicy. Growing-up my mom invented an peanut noodle dish with chili oil that I loved. The only problem was that my dad hated spicy foods and every time my mom made the dish it seemed to get spicier and spicier. I loved it, my dad hated it. My kids are hit or miss with spicy foods. The older they seem to get the more opinionated and picky they become. So when everyone ends up ill I make dinners spicy. Recently, I made a new recipe for Keralan Vegetable Stew from the September issue of Food and Wine magazine, which looked full of flavor and delicious.

This recipe has 14 ingredients. It takes a total time of one hour, 20 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. I have never seen fresh curry leaves in my area, so I chose to use bay leaves instead. I ended up having to go to two separate stores to find frozen pearl onions, which is normal for my area. Instead of serving the dish over white rice I used brown rice. I prefer brown rice and rarely eat white rice. I ended up letting the stew simmer for almost an hour instead of the 30 minutes suggested by the recipe. I kept the heat very low and let the flavors meld. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I must have gotten some very spicy Serrano chiles because this recipe had a lot of kick. It was way too spicy for my kids as written, but once I added Greek yogurt it was much better. I would suggest seeding the chiles or using a milder chile if you are looking for milder flavor. I will say that if you have a cold this dish will definitely work on your sinuses. Additionally, the flavors were very delicious and the vegetables came out perfect. Since my family really loves curry this dish was perfect for us.

For the recipe go to Keralan Vegetable Stew.

Lamb, Potato and Leek Stew

This is my favorite time of the year. The weather gets cooler, the leaves start to turn beautiful colors and stews and chili start filling my kitchen with delicious smells. I love stew. There is something so comforting and warming about a great stew. It can transform a bad day into something bearable. I use my crockpot extensively during the cooler months, but there are some stews which just taste and smell better when done on the stove. There are few things better than the smell of stew on the stove. It's very warm and inviting. My favorite meat to make stew with is lamb. When cooked correctly, lamb is a great meat in a variety of recipes. Recently I tried a new recipe for Lamb, Potato and Leek Stew from Everyday Food, which looked easy and perfect for the cooler weather to come.

This recipe has 7 ingredients. It takes a total of 1 1/2 hours, 15 minutes of which is prep and makes 4 servings. I had no problems finding any of the ingredients and made no ingredient modifications. I chose not to top the stew with parsley. The parsley at my local store was mediocre, and my kids pretty much hate it, so I chose to leave it out. Make sure to adequately salt the stew. Without adequate salting the stew will lack flavor and be bland. After salting the flavor was perfect. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

I love stew made with lamb and this recipe was great comfort food. The lamb was tender without being over cooked. If your looking for a stew with a variety of spices, this isn't the recipe your looking for. The flavor of the stew comes from the lamb, which is delicious if cooked correctly, After salting this stew was perfect comfort food and even my two boys enjoyed it.

For the recipe go to Lamb, Potato and Leek Stew.

Lentil Soup with Peas and Ham

My husband and two boys have an obsession with meat. I have talked many times about the endless amounts of bacon and bacon flavored products that they seem to be able to consume. Luckily, I have slowly begun to have them realize that there are other foods in the universe which can be healthy and delicious. Beans and lentils have been a pleasant surprise. I thought that when I started adding more beans and lentils into our diets that I would be meet with a lot of resistance and complaining. Instead I was pleased when my oldest son explained to me that he loved beans and ever since gets excited when he learns that beans will be included with dinner. My husband was a little more resistant, but after his stomach accustomed to the increase in legumes, he now likes them to the point that he prefers my lentil burgers to many meat equivalents. Of course he still adds bacon to his veggie burgers, but he's a work in progress. Soup is a major way that I have learned to add more legumes into my family's diet. Both of my sons absolutely love soup and lentil soup is one of my favorite soup varieties. Therefore, I was excited when the May issue of the Food Network Magazine had a recipe for Lentil Soup with Peas and Ham, which looked delicious and full of protein.

This recipe has 13 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time, 30 minutes of which is active and makes 4 servings. Luckily I already had red lentils from a previous recipe. For whatever reason the only store in my area that feels the need to have any type of lentils other than brown is the Lebanese market near my house. That market is great and I have found many hard to find items, plus it's always great to support neighborhood stores! For the onion I used a vidalia sweet onion. I love vidalia onions and I was excited to see that the first shipment was available at my local grocery store. They are great to cook with when they are in season. I was very pleased to find that all the cooking times in this recipe were very accurate. Oftentimes I find that recipes can be off by a very large margin, but I followed this recipe as written and had no problems.

My family really enjoyed this soup. The only thing that I would change would be the peas. I have never actually seen fresh peas in my area, so I had to use frozen. I'm not a big fan of frozen peas, especially in cooking and this soup would be great without them. With the peas the soup almost felt off, so I would suggest omitting them completely. The dill taste is delicious and creates a nice fresh taste to the soup. The best part is that the recipe has 28 grams of protein and only 7 grams of fat per serving. A great way to provide a low-fat flavorful soup recipe to your diet.

For the recipe go to Lentil Soup with Peas and Ham.

Ramps, Bacon, and Fried Potatoes

Early in the month of March means one thing in our house, ramps! With family that live in the mountain counties we are able to get ramps early in the season (when I think they taste the best) and by the end of the month I have normally used them in a variety of recipes. Before I met my husband I had no idea what ramps looked like, much less tasted or used them in recipes. That all changed when I married someone who grow up in the heart of West Virginia ramp country. The first year his mother brought down young ramps to clean I had no idea what to do with the bag of very muddy and ugly looking roots and shoots of what looked like a odd looking green onion.

I quickly learned that each ramp has to be cleaned and cut to be prepared to cook with. To do this I cut off the root and take off the dirt and outside husk of each of the ramps. Before each ramp is cleaned they look like this:

Not very appetizing, but after being cleaned and washed up they look like this:

So your probably asking yourself great, now what do I do with them? The answer is so much! Ramps are a great way to add flavor to a variety of recipes from biscuits to stews, pizza, you name it they work! While a lot of people prefer the later ramps which have a leafier green top, I am partial to the early shoots, I feel that the flavor is better and I prefer them when baking or cooking. So what do I do with the pounds of ramps I receive each year? I love substituting them for green onions in savory biscuits, with eggs, stews, soups and most importantly with fried bacon and potatoes. So here is my recipe for Ramps, Bacon, and Fried Potatoes.

After cleaning and trimming up your ramps, fry enough thick cut bacon (I love the maple cured variety) for the number of servings you are making. I normally make an entire package, if you've read my blog before you know that my family absolutely loves bacon and my husband would use bacon in absolutely everything if I let him.

Next I add the ramps and cook until they are softened and slightly caramelized. If you have an abundance of bacon grease pour off the excess before frying the ramps.

When the ramps are finished cooking, add the potatoes and fry until they are browned and crisp. Since the potatoes takes a lot longer than the ramps or bacon, I will often start them first and add chopped ramps in with the bacon grease while they are frying to ensure that the bacon and ramps don't get cold while the potatoes are frying.

Once everything is done, I plate the bacon, ramps and potatoes and enjoy! If you want an even stronger ramp flavor you can add minced ramps to the potatoes while they are frying. My two boys love their potatoes this way and they taste great! The most important thing to remember when using ramps is that the flavor is much stronger than leeks or green onions so a small amount goes a long way. Additionally, similar to garlic your pours will sweat out the ramps the next day after eating them, so warn everyone around you that's its ramp season. Or better yet make sure that they eat as many as you do!

Food Network Corned Beef and Cabbage

As anyone that has read this blog for a while knows I love my crockpot. Every couple of weeks I pull out my crockpot and have at least one meal a week I don't have to worry about during dinner prep. I love my crockpot so much that I utilize it even during holidays. This year my oldest was very excited about Saint Patrick's Day. For weeks before the date he wanted to discuss what food I was preparing. To make things easier I decided to prepare the corned beef and cabbage in my crockpot. I had tried this method previous years with great success. I finally settled on a recipe from the Food Network for Corned Beef and Cabbage, which looked simple and flavorful.

This recipe has 8 ingredients. It takes 15 minutes of prep and 9 hours on low in the crockpot and makes 4 servings. All the ingredients were easy to find at my local grocery store. As suggested by the reviews I chose to not use the celery. The celery seemed out of place in a corned beef recipe so I omitted it. For the ale/stout I used Guinness, it seemed the natural fit. I cooked the corned beef for 9 1/2 hours in the crockpot and the cabbage about 45 minutes. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My oldest son loved this recipe and ate multiple servings. Other people on the Food Network site have complained about the vegetables lacking flavor, but I thought they tasted like a combination of the Guinness and the corned beef spices. I liked that the cabbage in this recipe was cooked, but not mushy like many  corned beef and cabbage recipes are. The leftovers made for great reuben sandwiches the next day. Overall, a great and easy way to make corned beef and cabbage.

For the recipe go to Corned Beef and Cabbage.

Parents Magazine Pork and Potatoes

If you've read my blog for any given amount of time you know that my family loves pork. My husband and two boys could only eat bacon for a week straight and be perfectly content. Growing up my mother rarely prepared pork, we were more of a beef and chicken type of family. My father never cared much for pork since my mother really only prepared pork chops, so it wasn't until I moved out on my own that I started trying new ways to prepare pork. After getting married to my bacon loving husband I learned quickly that there was much more to pork than the pork chops I had grown accustomed to growing up. One of my favorite cuts of pork is tenderloin, it's delicious. It's a very versatile cut and can be used in numerous ways. Recently the January issue of Parents Magazine had a recipe for Pork and Potatoes, which cost less than ten dollars for four servings and looked very child friendly.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes approximately 50 minutes to prep and cook and makes 4 servings. All the ingredients are very basic and I either had in my pantry or I was able to easily find at my local grocery store. To secure the pork tenderloin I used kitchen twine, since I find it much easier to work with than toothpicks. I did make a few changes to the mashed potatoes. Instead of using chicken stock I used butter and buttermilk. I prefer the taste of the buttermilk and will sacrifice the calories for the better flavor. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

My two boys loved this pork. I liked how easy the dish was to prepare and that it had few ingredients. My husband felt that it needed more flavor. The applesauce and raisins didn't produce a very strong taste to the pork. I think that the adding HP Fruity Sauce or a chutney would add to the overall flavor of the pork. Overall, a very kid friendly recipe that is very easy on the family budget and perfect for a busy weeknight meal.

For the recipe go to Pork and Potatoes (registration required).

Eating Well Warm-Potato Salad with Bacon-Mustard Dressing

Potatoes are one of my favorite foods. Growing up every Sunday my dad would get up early and start fried potatoes. Those fried potatoes to this day are one of the most delicious dishes I have ever had. I have tried to duplicate them in my own house and they never seem to be as good as the ones my dad made. My dad and husband have told me that I'm too impatient with the potatoes and flip them too often and too soon. They are probably right, they are both way more patient than me. Instead of obsessing over perfecting fried potatoes I have fallen in love with trying new types of potato salad. Not the store bought overly mayonnaise based varieties, but real homemade potato salad. Eating Well Magazine recently had a recipe for Warm Potato Salad with Bacon Mustard Dressing, which looked easy and low in fat and calories.

This recipe has 10 ingredients. It takes 40 minutes of total time and makes 10 servings. All the ingredients are basic and I had no problems finding any of them at my local grocery store. The fingerling potatoes cooked quicker than the recipe suggests so make sure to turn them frequently in order to prevent burning. I let my potato salad cool slightly before serving, my husband wasn't a fan of the salad being hot when served. I followed the remainder of the recipe as written.

The dressing on this potato salad is delicious. It is the perfect combination of sweet and savory and makes a great compliment to the potatoes and apples. The best part of this salad is that it only contains 129 calories and 4 grams of fat per serving. Even my two boys enjoyed this salad, including my currently very food picky three-year-old. There are more than enough servings to take to a party or potluck or for multiple family meals.

For the recipe go to Warm Potato Salad with Bacon-Mustard Dressing.