Monday, December 31, 2012

New Years Resolutions

I am always frequently thinking about eating healthier and often one of my New Years Resolutions involves just that.  The best kept set of resolutions happened while I was deployed one winter.  My goal was to "strive for 5" servings of fruits and vegetables each day.  I kept it simple and started off slowly.

Frost-kissed spinach and Band Fundraiser Oranges with red onion and goat cheese.  Yum!


In January, I resolved to eat 1 serving of fruit a day.*
In February, I resolved to eat 1 serving of veggies a day and continue with January's fruit resolution.
In March, I added in a second serving of fruit to the existing list.
In April I added a second serving of vegetables.
In May, I added a 3rd serving of either fruit or veggie.  I had reached my goal of 5 a day.

*I don't mean I only ate 1 serving of fruit each day.  I ate other things.  And even other fruits and vegetables.  But if it was 5 pm and I'd been snarfing down bread and cheese all day, I know I had to get  a piece of fruit in me before bedtime.

Of course, soon after I redeployed and returned to what passed for regular life, my goals kinda slacked off a bit. (Who am I kidding? That month I moved from Europe to Asia with a stop in the US to remarry my spouse. I had other things besides fruit and veg on the plate.)  But to still be doing in May what I'd resolved to do in January was a good achievement in my book.

A typical late fall/early winter box from our CSA, Patchwork Gardens.


Some tips I learned during that time, and since:

• 1/4 cup raisins is a serving of fruit.  Raisins keep well in the pantry or your locker.
• 1/4 cup salsa is a serving of veggies and you can eat it with eggs in the morning or tortilla chips in the afternoon.
• If all else fails, keep small cans of V8 in the pantry.  Next to the raisins.
• 1 cup of lettuce is a serving--don't skimp on your sandwich.
• The more vegetables you eat before 2 pm, the more you can slack off with dinner.
• Pay attention to labels. 100% juice = 100% juice.  100% Vitamin C does not equal 100% juice.
• Hummus (love me some Costco!) is great with 1/2 cup serving of sliced carrots or radishes or cucumbers or zucchini or mushrooms or celery.
• My Vitamix is my friend.  Together we've been making beautiful smoothies for over a decade.
• If you set out pre-chopped veggies, pre-peeled or pre-sliced fruit, your family will eat it.  If they don't eat it all, you can freeze it and toss it in your smoothie.
• Joining a CSA farm share means that you keep getting fresh local produce in your kitchen all growing season long.  You need to do something to it, sure, but thats what this blog is all about!


What are your New Years Resolutions, or do you resolve things any old day of the year??
Green Eggs No Ham--a vegetarian Eggs Benedict for Dr Seuss' birthday.

Friday, December 28, 2012

Ham and Banana Pizza (No really, try this!)

Salty (even leftover!) ham is a nice match for sweet banana slices in this unusual pizza. Updated photos, same great recipe.


I am sure someone would think that this pizza falls into the category of Strange But Good.  Ham and banana seems like an unusual pairing to everyone that hears it.

Why is that?  Do the pineapple people have such a good PR machine that no one considers bananas for pizza?  You'd think as tropical fruits they'd all stick together.


I first had this combination on a pizza in Germany.  And I loved it.  I tried it initially because, hey, we were all trying the weird things on the menu.  Come to think of it, I first had corn on a pizza while in Germany.  That combination stuck with me, though, and whenever I have the happy coincidence of ham slices, just-about-to-be-over-ripe bananas, and red sauce I make a pizza.  The family tolerates it, but I love it just like I did the first time I tried it.  It's fast to throw together and tastes delicious.

Note:  if there's any of this pizza left over, pick off the bananas before refrigerating.  You do not want to see them on your pizza the next day.  Trust me.

Wednesday, December 26, 2012

Slow Cooker Salmon Swiss Chard Artichoke Dip

Salmon combined with swiss chard in a hot artichoke dip, served from a slow cooker? I'm in.

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2012/12/slow-cooker-salmon-swiss-chard.html
Updated photo, same great recipe!


http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2012/12/slow-cooker-salmon-swiss-chard.html
It's steamy--I could hardly wait to eat a bite!
I still remember the first time I had hot artichoke dip.  It was amazing.  It became a regular on my roster of hot party dips because the key ingredients either could hang out in my pantry or were fridge staples.  Then I moved to Hawaii and my friend Sara served my beloved dip--but with salmon.  It was eye-opening@  Sara had been inspired by a crab version, and a smoked salmon version, but made it her own with a salmon filet and liquid smoke.

I've kept liquid smoke in the pantry ever since.

I never empty the bottle, however.  I keep moving and giving away the open bottle first.  Then I get to discover where the liquid smoke is shelved in a new grocery store and carry on.

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2012/12/slow-cooker-salmon-swiss-chard.html

Thus was the status of my hot party dip roster (everyone has one of those, right?) until I read Farmgirl Fare's Hot Swiss Chard Artichoke Dip.  Her seamless blending of my most prolific garden green with my favorite dip inspired me to add it to my recipe.

If you have a massive salmon filet, use part of it in this dip and part with oranges on pasta.  I did.  When it's warmer, I have other plans for my salmon filets, so stay tuned.

I've made this with both marinated artichoke hearts and canned (non-marinated) artichoke hearts.  I think it works well both ways.  If I have canned choke hearts I add mayo, and if I have choke hearts in oil I use less mayo.

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2012/12/slow-cooker-salmon-swiss-chard.html

Sunday, December 23, 2012

Swedish Meatballs--A Holiday Tradition

A family recipe for Swedish meatballs. Lightly spiced with allspice and cream, these beef and pork meatballs bake in the oven for a taste of the holidays any time of year.


A family recipe for Swedish meatballs. Lightly spiced with allspice and cream, these beef and pork meatballs bake in the oven for a taste of the holidays any time of year.


 Follow me | Pinterest | Instagram | Facebook



A family recipe for Swedish meatballs. Lightly spiced with allspice and cream, these beef and pork meatballs bake in the oven for a taste of the holidays any time of year.


Like many Americans, I seem to 'get my heritage on' over the holidays. I eat special foods that I don't normally eat the rest of the year, I make recipes handed down from my foremothers, and I decorate in ways that remind me of my heritage.  Being of Norwegian-Swedish-Scottish heritage, with ties of the heart to Denmark and Finland, my food traditions involve mostly potatoes, butter, meat, fish, and dried fruits. (A departure from the usual Farm Fresh Feast fare).


A family recipe for Swedish meatballs. Lightly spiced with allspice and cream, these beef and pork meatballs bake in the oven for a taste of the holidays any time of year.



Growing up, our family Christmas Eve celebration was different than everyone else I knew.  We'd invite a bunch of folks to a smorgasbord supper, followed by a table top Bobby Hull hockey tournament, then a buffet of sweets--assorted cookies, fruit soup, and lefse--and finally we'd attend the candlelight service.


A family recipe for Swedish meatballs. Lightly spiced with allspice and cream, these beef and pork meatballs bake in the oven for a taste of the holidays any time of year.


Besides in the comforts of her own kitchen, my mom managed to create this meal in the unlikeliest of settings.  She's done a smorgasbord in an un-winterized beach house, my apartment in Germany, and even broke my first mixer while visiting me in Illinois (they got me a new one which I still have and use!).  I have absorbed many lessons from my mom's shoulder over the years, several of which I impart via this blog.

A family recipe for Swedish meatballs. Lightly spiced with allspice and cream, these beef and pork meatballs bake in the oven for a taste of the holidays any time of year.

For today's recipe I've brought in some guest workers--my folks.  I had the privilege of their company recently.  I knew I wanted to do something that I could blog about, but (as usual) I wasn't really sure what.  Mom brought Red River Cereal and we made Red River Rolls (my favorite bun to eat turkey leftovers with!).  I thought about making lefse (a Norwegian potato-based flat bread) but when I hit the grocery store and saw ground pork marked down I knew what to make:  Swedish meatballs.

A family recipe for Swedish meatballs. Lightly spiced with allspice and cream, these beef and pork meatballs bake in the oven for a taste of the holidays any time of year.

Conveniently, mom came prepared for anything.  She brought an antique (can we call it that? It's from 1969) cookbook that she helped put together with Oty Rogers' recipe for Swedish meatballs.  Mrs. Rogers was my preschool teacher at the Y.

Friday, December 21, 2012

My Deployment Pizza (Pizza Night!)

NOTE:  I don't usually feel qualified to offer wine pairings, but I will say that deployment goes well with Old Vine Zinfandel in a Bota box.



Having your partner-in-life absent for long stretches of time is un-fun.  If he is where somebody's shooting at him, it just sucks.  Everything is on you.  The one you turn to when life gets rough is not only not there, but very probably dealing with his own stuff too.  More than likely, your partner is also not readily reachable to help you cope.

So what do you do?

For me, a few things keep me semi-sane, though I freely admit I live in a particular state of crazy during deployments or long stretches apart, despite my best efforts to stay sane.  I exercise, spend time with friends, try to eat semi-healthy foods, and have read-in nights/mornings with the kids.  These are all things I do for me.  Doing for me helps me do for the others in my life (you know, put your oxygen mask on first and all).

This pizza is just that--for me.  I developed it during one of my spouse's deployments and, to be honest, I kinda miss fixing it after he's been home for a long stretch.  Since I recently celebrated my birthday, I've made my Deployment Pizza and written it up for you.  It starts with a spinach crust, made in my old bread machine, followed by Trader Joe's Artichoke Antipasto (Costco's Artichoke Asiago jar also works, or some similar jarred mixture of artichokes and Other Things), anchovies, and Trader Joe's Quattro Formaggio over top.

I am sure you don't like anchovies.  So don't put them on your pizza.  This one is mine.  And other than sharing this recipe on my blog, I'm keeping it for myself!  Though if you ask nicely and don't mock the fish, I'd give ya a slice.

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Alfredo-Pesto Holiday Ravioli Carbo Loading-Quick Take

This was before some ravioli exploded, so it's the prettiest shot.

I don't know about you, but life doesn't slow down during the winter holiday season.  Far from it!  So I'm always looking for quick meals to put on the table utilizing the produce I've put up earlier in the season.
A fun way to get in your carbo-loading for your all night gift wrapping or card-addressing or cookie-baking marathons (or the Jingle Bell Run or an actual marathon if you're into that sort of thing) is this fun shaped and filled pasta.  I get it at Costco but have seen it in other stores.  I fixed my loved ones red heart-shaped cheese ravioli for Valentines day, and when I saw this green, red, and white star- and bell-shaped I knew it would be a big hit.
When I hit the grocery store I cruise the perimeter looking for marked down stuff:  mushrooms and bananas in the produce section, milk in the organic section, day old bread in the bread section, fancy cheese in the fancy cheese section, and if I'm wanting it, I cruise past the prepared foods section looking for Alfredo sauce.  More often than not, I'll find a container marked down.  Then I know I'll be fixing up a quick pasta dish like this, or using it on a pizza like this, or for tonight's meal.  If I don't find any, I'll check back later in the week--the kids drink milk like calves--so I just rearrange the meal plan. Snort.  Like there's a plan.
But when I saw the holiday shaped ravioli I thought it would look nice with a green sauce. (And a red sauce too, but I had some beets to use and couldn't figure out how to make a red sauce from beets that didn't become a fuschia sauce--anyone?)
One of the reasons I put up stuff when I've got it is for nights like this--I can come home and toss together a fast meal with some wholesome ingredients in a flash.

Monday, December 17, 2012

A Bag of Cranberries aka Cranberry Apple Pecan Chocolate Chip Bread

(Subtitle:  Baking a Batch of Cranberry-Apple-Pecan-Chocolate-Chip Bread) ((Sub-Subtitle:  Recipe After a Rant))

When I buy a dozen eggs from my farm share, I neither expect to use them all up in a single recipe nor get cranky when I have some left over.  Same with a package of bread.  Or cheese sticks.  Or mushrooms.  Or carrots.  Or pepperoni.  You get the idea.

But a bag of cranberries?  Something that is such a seasonal item, and comes in 1 size only?

I'm just not jiggy with recipes that call for part of a bag of cranberries.  Yes, I know I can freeze cranberries.  In fact, I've got a few bags in my fruit & veg freezer right now.  Fifty cents a bag at Aldi--couldn't pass it up.  They are sitting on top of the bags of blueberries put up during Aldi's 49 cent pint sale in the summer. But this blog is not about Aldi deals, it's about using what you've got.  All of it.

Cranberry Apple Pecan Chocolate Chip Bread | Farm Fresh Feasts

Updated with a photo of a finished loaf!  [I'm still ranting about the inequality of it all, however.]

Because I was in such a hurry to get the finished 'good' loaf to the function, I never took a photo.
Just like recipes that call for 1 cup (8 ounces) of canned pumpkin (sold in 15 ounce cans), it irritates me to have dribs and drabs left over.  Sure there are plenty of things to do with dribs and drabs, but it's not the point. (Notable exception:  I'm happy to open up a can of tomato paste to use in a recipe that only needs 1 Tablespoon.  I happily freeze the remaining contents in 1 Tablespoon mounds on parchment squares, transfer them to a zip top freezer bag, and next time I need a small amount I am set.)

When I open up a bag of cranberries, I want to use the whole thing all at once.  When I make my Apple/Apricot/Beet/Cranberry sauce, I do.  You probably do when you make your own version of cranberry sauce, right?  So why does the bread recipe on the bag of Ocean Spray cranberries, the bag that contains 2+ cups of whole cranberries, call for a mere 1 1/2 cups?

Cranberry Apple Pecan Chocolate Chip Bread | Farm Fresh Feasts

Today, I needed to make a loaf of quick bread for a school function.  I wanted something that would appeal to kids while using up a whole bag of cranberries in the process.  I looked in the crisper and saw some lonely apples, looked in the freezer and saw an open bag of pecan parts, grabbed the chips and got to work.  Come join me!

Friday, December 14, 2012

Broccoli Floret, Bacon, Mushroom and Red Onion Pizza (Pizza Night!)




I decided to test my spouse's theory that everything goes better with bacon.  We had a bag full of broccoli from the farm share, and I used the stems for another recipe, saving the florets for tonight's pizza.

Then the grocery store had mushrooms and fresh mozzarella on sale, so I couldn't resist.  Love those mark down stickers. Add a couple of slices of bacon from the freezer stash, a bit of red onion, and we're good to go.

It did occur to me to throw on some raisins, but I resisted the impulse.  Another time.

I'm saving my all-purpose flour for cookies, so this dough is made from King Arthur White Whole Wheat.  It works great, even if my circle is decidedly square-ish.  I really cheesed it up (that sounds so not right) by sandwiching the toppings between a base of fresh mozzarella and a lid of shredded fontina.

No one complained ;)

Monday, December 10, 2012

Tangerine Waffles (Fruit Fundraiser #1)




When you open up the fridge and see this, it's time to find recipes that put your Fruit Fundraiser produce to work for you.  I got an early start with the 'I've got a case of oranges what do I do?' phase when my young son's wheelchair basketball team did a fundraiser so they could buy equipment. (A basic pair of court shoes costs $50, a basketball chair costs $2K!).  Over the years I've gathered a few recipes for using citrus fruit and, now that I've got Band Fundraiser fruit filling up the fridge I am compelled to share them.

Let's start with breakfast, shall we?



This recipe takes its start from this waffle recipe, and its finish from this waffle recipe. The bright tangerine flavor really comes through but is not overpowering.  If you have a blender that crushes ice, don't knock yourself out seeding the tangerines, just pick out any obvious ones and the rest will get ground up.  I particularly liked this with pear butter, but the kids preferred maple syrup.  I think it'd be great with mini chocolate chips tossed into the batter too!

Friday, December 7, 2012

Potato, Smoked Salmon, Red Onion, Caper, Cream Cheese and Roasted Garlic aka My Favorite Bagel As A Pizza (Pizza Night!)

When the orthodontist told me that both kids needed braces, I didn't make the connection that I would be missing out on my bagel fix.  I mean, would you?
With 75% of the household unable to chew through a proper bagel, I had to get creative.  Sure, I flew home to get a decent everything bagel with lox, capers, and red onion see my entire family of origin when we were in the same time zone for a couple of days.  But that's not a realistic long term solution for the craving.



If the everything bagel as a delivery device is temporarily out of reach, I turned to pizza.  I thought the pizza would need something of substance to <gently> chew through, and my farm share had adorable potatoes (Ok, eye of the beholder, I'll give you that), so I consulted this recipe to get the pre-boil/pre-bake technique.  The side effect of this technique is that you can finish the pizza (second baking) without parchment.  Less chance of burning your arm while shaking the pizza off the parchment paper onto the stone.
My son and I, the lox/caper/red onion/cream cheese fans in the family, loved this pizza.  I think it would be even better if I used a tablespoon of the everything bagel seasoning mix I've seen (onion, garlic, sesame seed, poppy seed, etc) while making the dough.  But I tend not to have poppy seeds in the house (one glaring exception!) so I didn't have any.

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Yakisoba--Farm Fresh Feast Style (Quick Take)

Recipe for vegetables and meat tossed with noodles and sauce for a kid friendly Japanese dish.


Recipe for vegetables and meat tossed with noodles and sauce for a kid friendly Japanese dish.


 Follow me | Pinterest | Instagram | Facebook


If you wander through an outdoor festival in Japan, you can see women fixing a delicious stir fried noodle dish, yakisoba, on giant flat griddles.  Because of these unwitting cooking demonstrations, yakisoba is one of the Japanese dishes I'm comfortable making.



Recipe for vegetables and meat tossed with noodles and sauce for a kid friendly Japanese dish.




I stock up on yakisoba noodle packs when I am near an Asian market.  In Hawaii I could get them fresh, but here in Ohio I get them in the frozen section of the Asian market down the street from hockey in Cincinnati.  Don't ask. I don't usually arrange my children's sports around my food shopping, it just works out that way. :)

http://www.farmfreshfeasts.com/2012/12/yakisoba-farm-fresh-feast-style-quick.html
I originally had celery in here, but decided there was enough crunch with the Bok Choy and Daikon.




I'm pretty sure my kids developed a taste for it in utero, because they have loved it from the chicken nugget age.  When I get the right mix of veggies in the farm share (some sort of cabbage, carrots, celery or pepper, and onion) it is their lunch of choice.  Yes, my kids come home from school for lunch.  At least my son is easily persuaded to join us if yakisoba is on the menu.  Oh!  Because it's Japanese, give equal emphasis to each syllable:  yah-kee-so-bah.  Easy!


Recipe for vegetables and meat tossed with noodles and sauce for a kid friendly Japanese dish.



For more recipes using bok choy, please see my Bok Choy Recipes Collection. For more recipes using carrots, please see my Carrot Recipes collection. For more recipes using radishes, please see my Radish Recipes Collection. These collections are part of the Visual Recipe Index by Ingredient, a resource for folks like me starting at the contents of a big box of fresh farm share vegetables and wondering how we're going to get the family to eat them. For more recipe ideas, follow me on Pinterest. For a peek at scenes of life, follow me on Instagram. For articles that caught my eye and epic failures because I have my share, follow me on Facebook. Want to know How to Use This Blog?

Monday, December 3, 2012

Apple Cider Forgot-The-Sugar Muffins


It's apple season!  I love having apples on hand because they store in my crisper longer than, say, berries.  I can toss them in smoothies, side dishes, or just slice them up with peanut butter for a snack.
I used to be very 'meh' about apples, thinking they mostly tasted the same, until I got my first CSA farm share apples from the Shenandoah valley.  Whoa!  What a taste revelation!  The best variety was Larry (I am not making this up) and I'd pay good money to bite into a Larry apple again.  One of the things I miss the most about that first farm share.

These muffins I kind of threw together for an after school snack while I was gathering ingredients for dinner and doing laundry and plotting out the afternoon drive schedule and a bunch of other things.

So I forgot the sugar.

I didn't even notice until I bit into one, and thought 'hey, this isn't really sweet' but when my daughter grabbed the wild violet jelly and I grabbed the apple butter to slather on top, I didn't miss it at all. I mean, with a shake of cinnamon sugar on top, and apple cider for the liquid, they are sweet enough. If you are a person watching your sugar intake-try these!  If you're not, try them with jam or apple butter.