Kids Dish

Just after writing about my failures to properly nourish Sam he shocked me by eating pretty well yesterday. He’s still lacking in dairy and didn’t have much interest even in the yogurt “Popsicle� I offered him, (Yes, I just freeze regular yogurt in an ice pop mold to make it seem like a special treat.) but he ate a real lunch that didn’t come out of snack boxes and a real dinner to go with it.

For lunch he had four veggie corn dogs that he dipped in ketchup. They are ridiculously high in sodium, but very high in protein and low in fat since they’re not real hot dogs. Protein is something that Sam’s diet is seriously lacking since he’s not a fan of meat or tofu so I’ll take it where I can get it.

Later as a snack he filled up on pretzels and a few potato chips, but then he requested spinach nuggets and ate 3 of them. They’re also higher in sodium than I’d like, but the first ingredient is spinach, which is a bonus, and they’re a decent source of fiber and protein.

He followed up the spinach nuggets with a few baby carrots and a bowl of frozen blueberries. Then after insisting he didn’t want to eat it he surprised Bob and I by eating half of what was on Bob’s plate. Dinner was Shepherd’s pie. I finely processed carrots, celery, onion and garlic to add to the meat and topped it with corn, peas and mashed potatoes. Sam loved it and could barely wait until it was cool enough to eat. He didn’t like the side dish- balsamic glazed carrots-a dish he usually loves, but I was so excited by the protein intake I didn’t care. Besides, he ate spinach nuggets for a snack after deciding he didn’t want potato chips. Who am I to complain?

What we’ve eaten so far this week.

Monday

breakfast:
Sam- two bowls of cheerios with milk
Me- two slices of whole grain toast with butter

lunch-
Sam- dried cranberries, raisins and apricots. Cheddar Bunnies, half an apple, some pretzels
Me- cupcake, pretzels with hummus, the other half of Sam’s apple, a peach

Snack
Sam- frozen strawberries and blueberries, pretzels

Dinner-
Sam- bacon and chard lifted from the pizza, 6 spinach nuggets,
Me- Butternut squash, bacon, rosemary and chard phyllo pizza

Tuesday
Breakfast
Sam- 1.5 waffles with butter and syrup, pretzels
Me- the other half of Sam’s waffle

Lunch
Sam- dried cranberries and raisins, half an apple, cheddar bunnies
Me- grilled cheese on wheat, potato chips, the other half of the apple

Snack
Sam- pretzels, potato chips, V8 fusion strawberry banana juice

Dinner-
Sam- vegetable fried rice, broccoli
Me- brown rice, chicken with broccoli, spring roll, steamed dumplings

Wednesday
Breakfast
Sam- waffle with butter and syrup, two plums
Me- granola bar, potato chips

Snack-
Sam- potato chips, dried cranberries

Lunch
Sam- cheddar bunnies, apple
Me- Spinach and artichoke strata

Snack
Sam- pretzels

Dinner
Sam- vegetable fried rice, broccoli
Me- brown rice, chicken and broccoli, steamed dumplings

Clearly we are both seriously overloaded with salty snacks, deficient in dairy and protein, full of carbohydrates, lacking in vegetable matter (though Sam sort of made up for it with the spinach nuggets) and a little bit short on fruit (though Sam makes up for the fresh fruit with the dried fruit he’s into.) I hate to play the pregnancy card, but it’s hard to make sure everyone’s eating well when preparing food is currently more of a hassle than a pleasure. I’m not quite sure of how to sneak more dairy products into Sam. He’s been anti-cheese and yogurt for the past few months and he’s been on a chocolate milk strike. Maybe some smoothies?

At least we’re both taking multi-vitamins, the only bread in the house is whole grain, and the potato chips are low sodium. But really, this list is sort of pathetic and embarrassing.

Double posted from Farm to Philly

One of the unfortunate side effects of pregnancy for me is an aversion to most vegetable matter. Ordinarily I cook several vegetable heavy meatless meals a week, but since learning I was pregnant in September we’ve mostly eaten take out pizza, meals involving ground beef, and cheesy pasta dishes. This does not bother my husband at all. My taste for vegetables eventually returned, but my desire to buy and prepare food other than pizza and cookies has been lackluster at best. I used to go out of my way to shop at the farmer’s market in Ardmore every week. Now I’m feeling ambitious if I manage to stop in to the Marketplace at East Falls on our way to the zoo or Smith Playhouse. Our refrigerator has never been so bare. One week we even forgot to get our Meadow Run Farm monthly meat order from the pick up site and sheepishly found it still on the porch the next day. It’s a good thing it’s cold outside.

Yesterday, after eating a cupcake and Utz (local!) pretzels with Bobbi’s (local!) hummus for lunch I figured it was time to cook something that wouldn’t be found on a school cafeteria menu. I knew I had a butternut squash still in the dark cabinet beneath the pantry and decided to use it. I found a recipe for Butternut Squash, Bacon, Rosemary and Phyllo Pizza on Epicurious and scoured the kitchen and freezer in the garage for the rest of the ingredients.

In the freezer I unearthed some bacon from Meadow Run and my rosemary plant is still thriving out back. I didn’t have scallions or red onion, but I had a regular onion that I sautéed in reserved bacon drippings with a clove of garlic from my CSA I found hiding behind the squash. There was half of a package of phyllo dough in the freezer, and to add some greens to the dish (since I had no intention of making anything other than the pizza for dinner) I pulled out some Swiss Chard I’d frozen early in the fall when I couldn’t bring myself to eat it.

I’m pretty good with phyllo so the whole thing took about an hour from start to finish. I wasn’t sure at first, but after my second slice I decided the pizza was delicious. It could have used a bit more rosemary, and the squash puree needed some seasoning other than salt and pepper, but on the whole it was good. Really, I’m a sucker for just about anything made with phyllo dough. (And it was a lot easier to make than the butternut squash and caramelized onion that filled my house with smoke last month.) I would definitely make it again as party appetizer using phyllo cups instead of sheets.

The local ingredients were bacon from Meadow Run Farm, butternut squash, garlic and Swiss chard from Red Earth Farm CSA and rosemary from my backyard.

Kidney beans are a great source of protein and fiber. Named for their kidney shape, they are great in chili. Here’s an easy crock pot recipe you can spice as much or as little as you like. This is also a great recipe for sneaking in vegetables. If you have leftover vegetables you can add them whole, finely chop them, or stick them in the food processor for a few pulses. You can do the same with raw veggies. I often add small pieces of carrots, broccoli and green beans. Sweet potatoes and squash are also good additions.

Crock Pot Chili

Serves 6 to 8.

We were away for the long President’s weekend in New Hampshire with two other couples. My plan was to make some sort of casserole or easily frozen dish to reheat for dinner one night. Bob, however, felt that my suggestions (spanakopita, lasagna) weren’t meaty enough- never mind that my favorite lasagna to make is lasagna Bolognese- so I scrapped the idea and brought nothing but a batch of cranberry muffins, a dozen bagels and cream cheese, fruit and Sam’s favorite snacks.

The two nights we cooked (the third night we had pizza) I ended up making the vegetable dishes and garlic bread to serve along with the pasta and salad. I can’t help but mention that all of the meals prepared over the weekend were most decidedly not meaty, but that’s neither here nor there. We had fettuccine carbonara the first night and baked ziti the second night.

Sam, in typical toddler fashion, preferred to snack on crackers instead of eating dinner. He did eat a ton of bacon on the carbonara night, something he’s never shown interest in before. But in typical Sam fashion he did eat the veggies and lots of them. One night I cooked asparagus, a vegetable we haven’t really eaten since spring. Sam LOVED it.

Asparagus is pretty versatile, but it’s really only in season for a short period of time. The rest of the year it can taste woody and stringy, especially if you’ve been lucky enough to eat it in season. While I learned to prepare it quickly and simply in spring to showcase its flavor, in the winter it benefits from roasting to bring out its sweetness.

Roasted Asparagus

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lay the asparagus on a rimmed baking sheet in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil. Shake the baking sheet back and forth so the asparagus is coated. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Roast for 10 minutes, or until fork tender. You want the asparagus to still have a bit of crunch. Thicker stalks may take a bit longer, thinner stalks will take less time.

Tomorrow is the day that I pick up my monthly meat order from Meadow Run Farm. Meadow Run, a local farm, offers humanely raised, pastured meats, the only kind of meat I feel comfortable buying to prepare at home. I’ll admit that since I’ve been pregnant I’ve been pretty lax about eating meat out and about, but on the whole I prefer to eat meats that come from animals who eat the things they’re meant to eat and are treated as respectfully as animals meant for food can be treated.

The New York Times reports that a California company issued a recall of 143 million pounds of beef, the largest recall in history. Some of the meat recalled was to be used in school lunch programs.The recall was spurred by the Humane Society of the United States who distributed an undercover video on Jan. 30 that showed workers abusing sick cows.

It was prompted by a Department of Agriculture investigation that found that Westland/Hallmark did not always alert federal veterinarians when its cows became unable to walk after passing inspection, as required.

Cows that cannot walk are banned for use in the food supply because they pose an added risk of mad cow disease, or bovine spongiform encephalopathy, a fatal disease that eats away at the brain. There have been three confirmed cases of infected cattle in this country since 2003.

I don’t know if the abuse in this particular case was an isolated incident, or if this type of animal abuse is widespread. I’m just glad I know where the meat I purchase comes from. The idea of my son eating meat that comes from the sick, abused animals in this video is horrifying.

You can find locally raised, pastured meats through Eat Wild.

Two days ago I started my second batch of the no-knead bread.

Based on suggestions that it would rise better in a smaller vessel I baked it in my smaller cast iron dutch oven instead of my enormous, Le Creuset enameled oven. But even baked in my smaller dutch oven it came out sort of flat. It never seemed to rise. After two hours I moved it upstairs to above the wood stove, hoping the heat would give it some incentive, but after a four hour second rise it never even came close.

Last night it spread out. It definitely expanded and took up more space than it did after being shaped, but never puffed up like it should. I started to troubleshoot. Was the yeast active? I mixed a bit with water and sugar and it started to bubble almost immediately? Was it the wrong kind of yeast? According to the original recipe, no, but according to a follow-up article in the NYT, active dry yeast is fine. Did it stay flat because my house is too cold? My house temperature is between 59-60 degrees most of the time, not the recommended 70 degrees, but the follow-up article does suggest that any temperature is fine. I even added more yeast this time in the hopes that it would make a difference.

The only difference between this attempt and the last failed attempt was that the bread, flat as it was, tasted amazing and had a bread like texture instead of being dense and hard like a rock. It’s seriously delicious. It may be flat as a pancake, but at 11 pm, when I finally took it out of the oven after letting it “rise” for an additional 2 hours, we had to stop ourselves from eating the whole thing right then and there.

I don’t know what I’m doing wrong. Based on the videos there’s nothing wrong with my technique. I have no problems making yeast breads ordinarily, but this one just seems to elude me. Give it a shot and let me know how you make out.

Since I started feeling sort of human again I’ve been in the mood for some Thai Red Curry. There’s something comforting about the sweet/hot combination and the Thai spices seem to clear the sinuses right up.

I wanted to make it on Saturday night but found we only had crème of coconut in the cupboard instead of plain coconut milk. This depressed me on more than one front. First of all, I wanted me some curry. Secondly, I was reminded of all of the pina coladas I can’t drink because I’m pregnant. Sadly, I resigned myself to a dinner of matzo ball soup.

Yesterday we picked up a few cans of coconut milk at the market so we were ready to go. But alas, last night we went to my in-laws’ house for a meal I thankfully didn’t have to cook. Instead of curry I ate a large meal of salty foods and gravy. It was comforting in its own way, but it wasn’t the Thai curry I wanted.

Tonight was the night. I had cooked chicken ready to go, green beans that needed to be used, fish sauce and brown sugar aplenty, coconut milk in stock, bottled lime juice, a mango, canned pineapple and fresh Thai basil. I opened the fridge to take out the last necessary ingredient, the red curry paste and sadly found a jar of green curry paste in its place.

I like green curries too, but it just wasn’t what I wanted. There’s no knowing if either of the supermarkets within a mile of my house carry red curry paste for sure so rather than run out and risk further frustration and disappointment I decided to go for it and make the green curry instead. It was good. Not what I was hoping for, but it was good. Tomorrow the leftovers will still be good and I’ll be glad that I made it. But the can of coconut milk remaining in the cupboard is ear marked for red curry. No substitutions.

Red Thai Curry

2 cans coconut milk (unsweetened, not coconut creme!)
2 tablespoons prepared red curry paste
2 tablespoon fish sauce
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 cup of fresh cilantro or basil
juice of 1 lime
1/2 cup unsalted roasted peanuts (optional)

1 cup or more of vegetables of your choice (green beans, snow peas, bell peppers, peas, broccoli, and mushrooms all work well)
Chicken/meat/tofu/fish

Add 1 cup of coconut milk to a large dutch oven and whisk together with the curry paste until most of the liquid evaporates, about 5 minutes. Whisk in the rest of the coconut milk with the fish sauce and brown sugar and cook about 5 minutes more. Add whatever veggies, fruits, and meats you’d like and cook through. Remove the pot from the heat and mix in the lime juice and herbs. Serve over rice and top with peanuts.

Sam and I are both suffering through a virus right now. Our symptoms include runny noses, hurty coughs, and low (but high enough make us feel like crap fevers. The other day, after not eating much of anything for more than 24 hours I decided to suck it up and make some chicken soup.

I used to save every last bit of vegetable I didn’t feel like eating. That half of an onion I’d forgotten in the fridge, the sprouting garlic cloves, the wrinkled carrots long past their prime, the broccoli stalks Bob turns his nose up at, and the tips of green beans all made their way into freezer bags which I’d save to make stock with. Depending on the other contents of the freezer- if I’d been saving chicken parts as well- I’d use the bags to make either veggie stock or chicken stock.

Since I started composting over the summer the contents of my freezer have reduced accordingly. There are far fewer veggies making their way into the freezer, which sadly results in less flavorful stock. To make up the difference, I decided to give the bouquet garni a bit of an Asian twist. I threw in a hunk of ginger, a hot pepper, some whole cloves, allspice and mustard seed.
I used the general recipe I posted a while ago, only instead of a whole chicken I used chicken carcasses, backs, necks and wings I’ve been saving the past few months and threw in a whole chicken breast in the last forty minutes of cooking. I thought about adding rice noodles, but thinking of my sick little boy I threw in some regular noodles that he’s more used to instead. Honestly, I couldn’t taste a thing. But Sam loved it and Bob seemed to enjoy it too.

If you don’t already and you like to reduce, reuse and recycle, give the stock bag a try. You’ll use vegetables and/or chicken parts that would otherwise go to waste, and you’ll always have something on hand to make a big pot of soup with when you just don’t feel like eating anything else.

Since I’m Jewish my knowledge of Christian religious traditions is rather limited. I remember every year I’d see people with dirty foreheads and I never really made the Ash Wednesday connection until I was in high school. I remember smacking myself in the forehead and thinking, “Duh,” when I figured that one out.

Today, the day before Lent begins, is Fastnacht Day, a German tradition that’s also celebrated not too far from me in Pennsylvania Dutch Country. I’d never heard of Fastnacht Day, until a few local bloggers, wrote about the tradition and linked to the wikipedia article.

Jennie wrote:

But most importantly, it’s Fat Tuesday here in Pennsylvania, which means any god-fearing life-long resident with a German heritage is making a batch of oh-so-bad-for-you-but-unnervingly-delicious fried fauschnauts (the counterpart to pancakes and doughnuts in other parts of the world that observe “Shrove� Tuesday). When I was growing up in the rural heart of Pennsylvania, my school actually celebrated Fauschnaut Day by serving homemade fauschnauts at lunch. To this day I am baffled by how a cafeteria renowned for its inedible cuisine was able to churn out these little balls of heaven once a year. My mom also made homemade fauschnauts during much of my childhood, and I adored swiping them straight out of the cinnamon sugar mixture while they were still piping hot. Ah, the memories…

A quick recipe search came up with several different versions of the Fat Tuesday treat but the one I’m going to share comes from Alice Faust, a Pennsylvania native. This recipe was originally printed in Dig It magazine. It’s one of three recipes printed and this one seems like it would be the best dipped in butter and cinnamon sugar.

Alice Faust’s Family Recipe #2: Fashnachts with Yeast

2 cups scalded milk
½ cup lard
1 cup mashed potatoes
2 teaspoons salt
¾ cup sugar
2 well beaten eggs
1 package yeast
7 cups flour, approximately

Scald milk and add mashed potatoes, sugar, salt, and lard. Cool until lukewarm. Add eggs. Add yeast and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead well and place in a greased bowl. Cover with a cloth and let rise about 1 ½ hours. Roll ¼ in thick on a
floured board. Place on a cloth and let rise until doubled in size and fry in hot fat.

Getting back to a few things from last week, the bread recipe was a disaster. It did not rise. Maybe my yeast was dead? Maybe my kitchen was too cold? Perhaps I just screwed up the very simple recipe somehow? I will try again because I’m a glutton for punishment. I’ll let you know if round two is any better.

As for the Arroz Con Pollo, it was great. I ended up throwing in a ham steak from my freezer instead of the chorizo sausage and it worked out really well. Honestly, I don’t particularly care for ham. I don’t mind most pork products, but ham just tastes kind of gross to me. In this recipe I didn’t mind it, and Sam who’s still not much of a meat eater ate it too.

Arroz Con Pollo

*Check the instructions on the rice package for the proportions of liquid to rice. They can range from 1:1 to 2:1. If your rice calls for 2 cups of water for every cup of rice, then for this recipe, use 4 cups of stock for 2 cups of rice.

Remove from heat and let stand, covered, 5 minutes.