Recipes and cooking tips for foodie families.
A couple years ago, after making corned beef and cabbage for St. Patrick’s Day, I had some left over. This led to a great discovery – corned beef hash. With an egg on top. We like it so much that now I just make the corned beef and turn it right into hash. This week we got potatoes, cabbage, and onions in our CSA delivery so all we needed at the store was the beef brisket. Continue reading
Featured Recipe: Herby Asparagus and Leek Gnocchi with Scallops
Yippeee! yahooo! It’s SPRING!
Why am I so excited, you may ask? Well, you probably don’t ask–who doesn’t like spring?
I am so excited because… Continue reading
Featured Recipe: Ragu Bolognese
Featured Wine: Chianti
I went out for a mommies night out with Linda from KidFriendlyDC* and some other cool moms from DC.
Let’s pause. I. Went. Out. Can you say, wooo hooooooo?
Outburst over. Continue reading
Featured Recipe: Shrimp & Pea Risotto
Hey, East Coasters. Been enjoying the mild winter? You’re welcome.
Oh, did I just take credit for the 50 degree sunny days in February? You tell me: Continue reading
Featured Recipes: Grilled Gruyere with Salami and Cornichon Relish, Roasted Tomato Soup
First, a tale. Then, winter BLT that is actually salami and gruyere. Continue reading
Featured Recipe: Turkey Meatballs Florentine
Wednesday night is spaghetti night in our house. Well, not actually IN our house…our favorite pub down the street has a spaghetti special on Wednesday nights and after a day of brain drain we typically blow off whatever healthy dinner we had planned and head on down to the pub. N doesn’t mind.
But, it’s the new year and all, so we’re trying to be healthy… Continue reading
New Year’s Resolution #2: Work out more. I’m going to need a little inspiration for that one. Who do I turn to? Pandora of course. Station: Meat Loaf. Really, you say? I don’t really even like Meat Loaf. Yes, trust me. Just do it. You don’t have to like Meat Loaf. You just have to like music that rocks and is awesome. That’s the beauty of Pandora.
You’ve got Meat Loaf of course, already excellent workout music–Bat Out of Hell anyone? Then you throw in some Queen (I Want it All), Bon Jovi (Livin on a Prayer), and Journey (Any Way You Want It) just to rattle off the first few songs on the station.
Right, so anyway, this post is actually about meatloaf the food. 
Like Meat Loaf the artist, do not underestimate it’s potential for awesomeness. Make a classic recipe for your family, it’s comfort food that can last a whole week. Make a cumin-scented lamb meatloaf over couscous and you’ve got an exotic twist on an old favorite. Or make Red Wine Glazed Meatloaf over Parsnip Puree for company and you’ll knock their socks off.
Oh, and it’s only 8 Weight Watchers points, if you care about that sort of thing (see New Year’s Resolution #1).
Plus, make a Parsnip Puree for baby. Feed while playing Meat Loaf Pandora station. Katie has been in this world for 5 months; it’s time she learned to rock. And eat parsnips.
Thanksgiving is on Thursday. I bring this up because, if you’re like me, you may not be aware. It snuck up on me. I thought I had an extra week in there somewhere. Recalibrating…
Ok, this week’s menu is all planned around the fact that you are going to eat a big meal on Thursday. If you’re cooking Thanksgiving dinner and don’t have all of your recipes picked out, or if you’re bringing a side dish and need some inspiration, I’m including a Thanksgiving dinner menu. Either way, the last thing you’re going to want is overwraught, heavy meals all week.
So, on the menu: a slow cooker vegetarian meal with a side of cornbread, leftovers to be used for Thanksgiving stuffing. A make-ahead salad, where you could potentially make other Thanksgiving sides at the same time–mashed potatoes or green bean casserole. And of course, the main event, the bird.
Menu #1
If you’re making cornbread stuffing for Thanksgiving dinner, be sure to make plenty of cornbread to go along with this soup. You’ll want to give it a couple of days to get good and stale before making your stuffing.
Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup
Cornbread (make from recipe on box)
Garden Salad
Menu #2
You can get a jump on your Thanksgiving cooking by cooking a bunch of potatoes and pre-make your mashed potatoes. Then on Thanksgiving warm over a double boiler, or bake in a casserole for a new twist on mashed potatoes. You can also steam extra green beans here for the classic green bean casserole
Menu #3
Brined Roasted Turkey
Gravy
Cornbread Stuffing with Cranberries and Pecans
Mashed Potatoes
Collard Greens
Steamed Green Beans
Shopping List
10-12 pound turkey
1 ham hock or ham bone
bacon
garlic
onion–3
celery
potatoes–3 pounds
collard greens–2 pounds
green bell pepper
Boston lettuce
tomato
green beans
solid white tuna in water
1 lb dried black beans
14oz can diced tomatoes
chicken or vegetable stock–2 quarts
Goya Sazon seasoning
kosher salt
whole peppercorns
bay leaves
dried thyme or fresh thyme
chopped pecans
dried cranberries
cornmeal or cornbread mix
brown sugar
capers
assorted olives
dijon mustard
cider vinegar
white wine vinegar
olive oil
butter
egg
whole milk
I have two kids, a full-time job, and I blog. And sometimes I actually like to have fun with Dan and the kids. So I’m not opposed to paying for convenience. When the markup is reasonable. One of the things that really gets my goat though is when spending 5 minutes making something yourself could save you 500%.
So, I’m going to make some use out of my MBA. I’m starting an occasional series called Home Economics that’s about selectively doing some things yourself that you might typically pay for. Pay A LOT for.
First up, hummus. Ok, it’s only $5 at the grocery. But it’s such a great snack, I found myself getting a container or two every week (each container is 5 ounces). So that’s nearly $500/year just on hummus. Think about what you could buy for $500, and that’s what I could spend on hummus. Insane, right?
Economics of making your own hummus
See hummus recipe
15 oz tahini = $6; recipe calls for 3 oz: tahini is $1.16
1 can garbonzo beans: $1
lemon: $0.50
I assume you use so little of the other stuff that it’s just a few extra pennies.
My recipe makes 15 ounces of hummus for less than $3. I was paying $5 for 5 ounces of hummus. That’s a 500% markup for something that takes 2 minutes in a food processor.
If you don’t already have a food processor, here’s a good reason to get one. 3 months of making your own hummus and it pays for itself. Let’s pause for a moment and digest that. If you make your own hummus you could buy yourself a Kitchen Aid food processor in 3 months. It’s like the best layaway plan ever.
So, now I make my own hummus and take my annual $400 in hummus savings and buy something nice for myself. Like diapers.
Has this ever happened to you? You found an interesting new recipe to try and bought some ingredients that you hadn’t used before. The recipe called for a small amount and now you don’t know what to do with the rest it. Welcome to my world. I used to have a fridge and pantry full of 1-use ingredients, until I went on a mission to use them all up.
Tahini was an ingredient that I originally bought to make hummus. Then it languished in my fridge for awhile until I’d make hummus again. And again. First let me say that hummus is super easy to make at home, and very economical if you’ve already got tahini sitting in your fridge. But there is so much more you can do with it!
A quick primer if you’re not familiar with tahini. According to wikipedia, tahini is a paste of ground sesame seeds, typically used in North African, Greek, and West Asian cooking. East Asian cooking uses sesame paste as well, but of unhulled sesame seeds.
So, here are 3 recipes to use up that tahini you’ve got in your fridge, or to give you a reason to go out and try this versatile ingredient.
Hummus–a great snack for mom, dad, and the kids
Grilled Chicken Flatbread with Tahini Dressing–quick and easy grilled chicken dinner with a Mediterranean twist
Sesame Noodles–an Asian spin on tahini for a kid-friendly potluck or picnic meal
Do you already use tahini often? What are your favorite recipes?
auntieangela
gourmetmommy