10 Years Ago This Month

Ten years ago this month, I moved from Los Angeles to Washington, D.C.,  to attend graduate school.  It was like moving to a foreign country where they happened to speak English and use the same money.  A decade later, I thought I had assimilated to the East Coast.  After all, I have a graduate degree, talk fast, and rarely wear flip-flops anymore.  Earlier this week my husband mentioned someone named Cal.  All I could hear in my head was the jingle “Go See Cal” of car salesman Cal Worthington.  

10 Minute Dinner: Chilaquiles

In 1999, my mom and I went on vacation to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico.  We stayed at a wonderful B&B and one morning we were served chilaquiles for breakfast, which I had never had or even heard of.  They are basically breakfast nachos and so very delicious!  I do have an authentic recipe that includes chopping, dicing, and de-seeding. When I need dinner on the table quickly, it won't do. So I came up with this fast and tasty version.

10 Minute Dinner: Chilaquiles

When I do my meal planning, I plan anywhere from 10-30 dinners in advance.  I always make sure to have the ingredients for chilaquiles on hand since that is my backup meal.  If my dinner is a disaster or the power went out and the slow cooker meal is no good, I can have this on the table in 10 minutes.

10 Minute Dinner: Chilaquiles Ingredients:
1/2 can enchilada sauce
1/2 can petite diced tomatoes
Salsa
Mexican blend cheese
Sour cream
Guacamole
Eggs or Egg Beaters
Tortilla chips
Black beans (optional)
Spices for black beans: garlic powder, onion flakes, and cumin

Combine a half can of enchilada sauce with a half can of petite diced tomatoes in a deep pan and heat on medium high.  Freeze the other halves together and a bag and you will have chilaquile sauce for next time.  At the same time, put some salsa in another pan and get it nice and hot.

If you'd like to use black beans (I usually do, just was out this time), heat them up on the stove with garlic powder, onion flakes, and cumin.

When the sauce is nice and hot, put the tortilla chips in it briefly.  Then use tongs to pull the hot chips out of the pan and put on a plate.  Cook the eggs or Egg Beaters in the pan with the hot salsa.  I usually scramble the eggs since that's the fastest method, but over easy is great too.

Place the eggs on top of the sauced chips, add black beans, sprinkle with cheese, and add dollops of sour cream and guacamole.  Voila!  Dinner is ready.

A Hundred Summers

I borrowed A Hundred Summers by Beatriz Williams from the library.  It was the first book I read from this author and the writing was really beautiful.  New York socialite Lily Dane returns to her summer home in New England and her former college friend arrives with her new husband, Lily's former love.

A Hundred Summers

Like The Best of Us, the book ends with a hurricane.  Will that be the new literary device, as the ____ Wife was in the past?

By the midpoint I had a few ideas of what could happen but the graceful storytelling made me unable to put the book down. Read it while traveling and you won't mind all the waiting.

Healthy Cookies for Babyface

I am still very fond of these Healthy Cookies.  I make them at least twice a week.  They are very satisfying.

Dinnertime is when Babyface is at his pickiest when it comes to eating.  So I made a batch for Babyface and they are officially his favorite non-fruit food.  He very quickly learned the word cookie.

Healthy Cookies for Babyface Ingredients:
1 med/large banana, brown is fine
1/2c old fashioned oats
1 T natural peanut butter

Healthy Cookies for Babyface

Smush the banana.  The easiest way is to put it, peeled, on a cutting board and smush with a fork.  Combine banana, oats, and peanut butter in a bowl.  Drop by scant tablespoons onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment. (Of course I love parchment.  Nothing sticks to it and you don't have to wash the pan!) The smaller they are, the more edges they have to get crispy and tasty.

Bake for 20 minutes or so at 350*.  Eat the day they are made or the following day.  

The Best of Us

Sarah Pekkanen's fluffy summertime book The Best of Us is the story of old college friends celebrating the 35th birthday (of the most successful) with a week at a private villa in Jamaica. The hurricane that looms dangerously is nothing compared to the secrets and drama that unfold.  We're talking marital crises, family intrigue, and friendships put to the test. The Best of Us would be great to read by the pool, umbrella drink optional.

I'd like to imagine that a nerdy pal I befriended in college would whisk My Heart's Desire and I away to a private villa in the Caribbean.

Today I am grateful for rising and shining and feeling good in the am, Craigslist, healthy apps, Spring Mill bread, prayer, meeting other moms, home remedies, sunscreen, patience, and having summer fun to look forward to!

Not becoming my mother & other things she taught me

I came across Ruth Reichl's .Not becoming my mother & other things she taught me in the audiobook section of the library. I laughed at the title and checked it out.  This very short book explored her relationship with her mother and her mother's relationship with her mother.  Through correspondence and lists, Reichl learns more about her mother as a person beyond being her parent.  She does not pull any punches when she discusses her family dynamics and expectations, work, relationships, motherhood, mental illness, and the roles of women in society.

I thought it was okay. Several women who wanted to know what I was reading, upon hearing the title of the book, said they wanted to read it too.  It's so very short (the hardcover is a mere 128 pages) it won't take long to read.  If you check it out of the library. let me know what you think.

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole 

I assembled this dinner in a hurry and it turned out pretty good.  This could also be called I-forgot-to-crock-the-chicken-casserole.  It's the classic chicken and rice casserole with broccoli and plenty of rice for My Heart's Desire. It's very, very easy.

Chicken Broccoli Rice Casserole Ingredients:
6 chicken thighs (of course you could use breasts or a combination)
1 can cream of chicken or mushroom soup
1 1/2 cups long grain rice
2 cups water
3 cups frozen chopped broccoli
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 t paprika, divided
1/4 t black pepper
1/2 t garlic salt

Spray a glass baking dish with Pam.  Combine the soup, rice, water, broccoli, onion, half the paprika, and pepper in the pan.  Give it a good stir.  Season the chicken with the other half of the paprika, garlic salt, and a little more pepper. Place the chicken on top.

Bake at 375* for an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes or until the chicken has reached 165*.  My oven is not awesome so it may take less time in yours.  Let it stand for 10 minutes or so.  This made dinner for us for two nights and a lunch or two.

Today I am grateful for summer storms that clean the air, grapefruit water, being okay with not knowing how things are going to work out, having a car that goes, a great community college class, getting up early, swimming laps, seeing the positives, library app, comedy radio,
and slow cooking.

Orphan Train

Christina Baker Kline's Orphan Train shares the story of Niamh, a young Irish immigrant girl who loses her entire family at the age of nine, and is taken on an orphan train from New York City to the Midwest during the Depression.  This story is juxtaposed with the present day story of Molly, a seventeen year old near orphan in foster care.

Orphan Train delves into familial love, romantic love, loss, family, and brings these two women together.  This historical novel was very interesting and beautifully written.

3 Ingredient Slow Cooker Applesauce

When apples were on sale for $.88/lb, I decided to make slow cooker applesauce for Babyface.  How hard could it be? Not at all. It was a breeze.  It will be a long while before I pay for applesauce again. 

3 Ingredient Slow Cooker Applesauce
8 medium sized apples (I used Red Delicious)

2/3 cup water

1 t pumpkin pie spice

I cored the apples and cut them up into chunks.  I left the skins on since all the good stuff is in there.  I tossed them in the crock with the water and pumpkin pie spice and mixed it up with a wooden spoon.

Then I cooked it on low for 7 hours or so.  When I first took the lid off, it smelled like autumn. It seemed like it was too watery but as it blended, it became the right consistency. 

Then when it cooled, I blended it.  Please note: if you put something hot in the blender, it will expand very quickly as it blends.  And make a terrific mess.  Um, I heard.  I blended it in two cup increments.  It made about about 5 cups.

I stored some of it and froze the rest in freezer bags.  The trick with freezing anything in a bag is to freeze it laying flat first.  That way you have nice, easy to store bags that fit vertically rather than an assortment of bags with lumps. 

The applesauce was a big hit with Babyface.  I gave it to him with some homemade chicken livers for a very messy meal. 

Smoky Slow Cooker Tomato Soup

I was in the mood for tomato soup with grilled cheese for dinner on a recent dreary, rainy day.  I was surprised that it turned out to be pretty good.  Next time I would add maybe half a cup less of water/broth so that it would be thicker. If I were feeling ambitious, I might add a cornstarch slurry or similar to thicken it.

Smoky Slow Cooker Tomato Soup Ingredients:
1 t butter
1 heaping T minced garlic
3/4 c diced onion
28 oz can diced tomatoes
14 oz can diced tomatoes
1 1/2 cups water or broth
1 1/2 cups 1% milk
1/2 cup pureed carrots
3 bay leaves
1 t sea salt
1 t thyme
1/8-1/4+ t liquid smoke

Smoky Slow Cooker Tomato Soup

Saute the onions and garlic in butter.  Add to slow cooker with remaining ingredients except milk.  Cook on low for 6 hours.

Then add milk.  If you'd like it to taste richer, use half and half.  Stir then blend with a hand blender or in a regular blender.  If you use a regular blender, blend in small batches (maybe 2 cups each) as the hot liquid expands and can cause a terrific mess.  I've heard.  I like my soup pretty chunky so I only blended about half.

I had this for dinner two nights in a row.

Sweet Bread in the Slow Cooker

Today I tried my hand at baking sweet bread in my slow cooker.  I've seen various methods and suggestions and decided to try it the easiest way first. Simple is best.

First, I made the batter.  Since I wasn't sure how it was going to turn out, I used a mix.  Also because Babyface and I finished the last of the bananas this morning when we had Healthy Cookies with peanut butter for breakfast. 

I generously sprayed the bread pan with cooking spray.  I used this metal tin since my glass bread pan didn't fit in the slow cooker (the handles made it too long).  Then I poured the batter into the bread pan.

I put the bread pan into the slow cooker.  No foil balls, no covering the top, no water, no nothing.  I propped the lid open a little with the help of a chopstick.

The bread baked on high for 3 hours.  My house smelled really good.  With the lid not on tightly, it did produce some heat in the kitchen.  Probably less than a quarter of what my oven produces.  Next time, I will do this on the porch since I don't care if it gets hot out there.

The knife test came out clean.  I took the bread pan out of the slow cooker and let it cool. I used the Ove Glove in the picture above (yes, I saw it on TV and it's great) after almost grabbing the pan with my bare hand. The bread looks a bit light in the photos but it turned out a nice, golden color.

After it cooled, I sliced it up and took it to a social gathering. It received rave reviews. 

Today I am grateful for pleasant summer days, new running shoes (another pair just like these),  inexpensive magazine subscriptions, decaf iced tea, slow cooker cookbooks, working out, New Orleans jazz, seeing the pride on Babyface's face when he learns something, Rx, my 13-year-old car, finding quiet, books, free fun, friends near and far, meeting new people, being on time, and the first blooms on my hydrangea.

Bargain Day: Mini Muffin Tins

Can you tell that I've been on a muffin kick lately?  I've been keeping an eye out for a mini-muffin tin.  Unwilling to pay even close to retail, I searched my favorite thrift store and several garage sales for a few months with no luck.

Until I stumbled upon a Memorial Day sale at the Habitat for Humanity Restore and found a pair of mini-muffin tins marked at $1.50 each.  As part of their holiday sale, they were 50% off at $.75 each.  So I bought the pair for $1.59.  It would have been a bargain at twice the price.

When I got them home, I scrubbed them and then let them sit overnight in a sink full of water with a dryer sheet (an easy way to get grime off pots and pans).  In the morning, I ran them through the dishwasher and voila!, they were clean!

In addition to Pumpkin Oatmeal Muffins and Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal Protein Muffins, I also make mean Banana Nut Muffins.  Since I have a bunch of rapidly browning bananas, I'll make some soon and share the recipe.