Sourdough Starter

I have serious love for the website Serious Eats, but I don't visit it very often. The main reason is because my husband has requested that I not, because every time I do, I get ambitious, and he sometimes grows weary of my kitchen experiments (and the accompanying messes).

Take the Sourdough Starter-Along that started on my birthday last year. I really wanted to do it, but given that I was 9 months pregnant and it was the holiday season, I decided to wait until later. I stumbled upon it again a couple of weeks ago and decided that right when I was going to start back to work was obviously the perfect time to get a starter going. Of course.

So I started at day one, with my clean jar, kitchen scale, flour, water, and spoon. I measured carefully, stirred it together, covered the jar, and waited. Two days later I started seeing bubbles!

I know it doesn't look like much, but it's pretty exciting (to me at least) that just flour and water and some magical little beasties (bacteria and yeast from the flour, water, and air) can come together, and with minimal effort and just over a week, be strong enough to make a loaf of bread rise!

Here's where I admit to being a horrible food blogger and not taking a picture of the bread I made. It was a nice looking loaf, but it also smelled delicious and came out of the oven while I was in the middle of making dinner, and then by the time that was over we were all starving and so, well, it disappeared before I could take a picture. The result was just slightly sour (I didn't leave my dough rising long enough for it to really develop that sour flavor), but I ended up with a nice, light loaf of bread.

Since you have to feed your starter every day, I had enough again on Sunday night to start some pizza dough for the pizza we'll eat tomorrow. And I had enough this morning to make more dough should I want to, but alas, I was out of time, so I put it in the refrigerator to sleep for a few days, until I have time to bake again.

With all the craziness in my life right now, it probably was not the best time for me to start this, but I have to admit, it's kind of fun to have this little project that doesn't take much active time but that also yields some pretty fun and tasty results.

(Even if you don't make the starter, it's pretty fun to read the Starter Along posts. I used the bread and pizza dough recipes from that series for my first starter experiments, but I can't wait to branch out!)

Monday Meal Planning - 3.14.11

I was planning for this, my first week back to work full-time, to be a crazy week, but it's already proving to be more crazy than I had planned. To say this morning was hectic would be a drastic understatement. I was actually relieved to get to work this morning so I could relax, as weird as that sounds.

Our meal plan has already been revised due to the hectic morning (no time to even throw dinner in the slow cooker), but it should still be a delicious week!

Monday: Brinner

We bought farm fresh eggs on Saturday, plus we have some local, thick cut bacon, and fresh homemade sourdough bread (I can't wait to post about my starter). You can't really have a bad meal with those items at your disposal! Add in some hash browns and fruit salad, and I'm already ready for dinnertime.

Tuesday: Pearl Couscous "Risotto" with Butternut Squash, Salad

I bought a really big butternut squash, apparently, because we have enough left over from last week to make another vegetarian dish this week.

Wednesday: Italian Chicken Sausage and Mushroom Pizza

I have a pizza dough started, using my starter, and I can't wait to see how this crust turns out! We also usually use this recipe for sauce, and definitely will use it this week. Typing out our meal plan is making me HUNGRY!

Thursday: Corned Beef Brisket with Veggies, Irish Soda Bread

I'm curing my own corned beef (using this recipe from Foodmomiac), but adapting it to cook in the crockpot along with the veggies, and adding in a can of Guinness stout to the cooking liquid. I wanted to make this for St. Patty's Day last year, but for some reason I wasn't feeling up to handling raw meat, and the spices sounded horrible to me. A year, and one 3 month old baby later, I now know why!

Friday: Take Out

We're heading to my parents' house for the weekend (Sophie is being baptised at my parents' church), so we'll probably have pizza or Chinese, as is my parents' Friday night tradition.

Saturday: My Dad is making ribs!

Sunday: Brunch

Our big meal on Sunday will be a post-baptism brunch. I'm thinking some sort of egg casserole , cinnamon rolls, and fruit salad. Possibly also a cake, we'll see. Although I love my recipe for cinnamon rolls, I equally love the Pioneer Woman's recipe, and due to transportation issues with my dough I'll probably make her's instead (half the recipe though; we don't need quite as many as the whole recipe makes).

Toddler Lunch Ideas

We're being more organized when it comes to Gabbie's lunches lately (getting two kids ready and out the door in the morning is quite the undertaking!), so I'll start posting these here again.

Monday: Chips and salsa, cheese cubes, mandarin oranges
Tuesday: Waffle, strawberries, yogurt
Wednesday: Pretzels, sliced ham, sliced cheese, mango
Thursday: Quesadilla, peas, strawberries
Friday: Leftover Corned Beef, carrots, yogurt

Monday Meal Planning - 3.7.11 (Okay, so really 3.9.11)

I should probably change the title of these posts to “Weekly Meal Planning,” since Mondays aren’t happening. But, I want to post meal plans all the same. We’ll just pretend today is Monday for this one, right?

It’s my first week back to work, but I’m only working half days, so it’s kind of a mixed bag of quick and complex meals this week.

Monday: Chicken Strips, French Fries, Salad (cut up veggies for the kiddo who won’t eat lettuce)

These chicken strips are FANTASTIC, and super easy. My husband and daughter are huge fans. HUGE. I made the mistake of making them once and now they’re on frequent rotation in our house.

Tuesday: Hot sub sandwiches, chips, fruit salad

For the subs, I took a loaf of Italian bread from the supermarket, cut it in half and hollowed it out, leaving about a ¼ to ½ inch shell (and then the toddler and I ate the entire inside of the loaf of bread – delicious! Also dinner-ruining, but worth it). Then I layered on the deli meat and sliced cheeses of choice; this week that included deli ham, turkey, and salami, as well as muenster and Colby jack slices. I wrapped the whole thing in foil, and baked it at 400 degrees F for about 10 minutes (it could have used another five if I wanted the cheese to be really melty, but 10 minutes was fine). After it came out of the oven, I sliced it into three parts, and topped each sandwich with chopped lettuce, sliced tomatoes, and Italian dressing. Delicious!

Wednesday: Spaghetti with meat sauce, Salad

I had about a ¼ pound each of ground beef and pork, so I sautéed that up with some mushrooms, garlic, salt and pepper, and added in a jar of marinara. Served over buccatini, this was a delicious meal.

Thursday: Slow Cooker Spiced Chicken Stew with Carrots, Orzo

Aside from using chicken breasts instead of thighs (Aaron has a weird thing about thigh meat. I don’t know.) we’re staying pretty true to this one. Looks easy enough and absolutely delicious! Also, it doesn’t use onions, which I still can’t eat because it makes the baby spit up a lot, so that makes it a winner in our book!

Friday: Clean out the freezer vegetable bean soup, bread

I made this once before, and Aaron loved it. Basically, I use a box of stock, a quart sized bag of the tomatoes I processed and froze last summer, a bag of beans (also processed and frozen last summer), and whatever vegetables I have in the fridge or freezer. I also added slices of chicken sausage last time, which I think clinched it with Aaron. I think I’m out this time, though, so he may have to suffer without it.

My sourdough starter should be ready to use to make bread by Friday (another post forthcoming), so we’ll probably have a fresh loaf of bread on the side. Mmmm….

Saturday: Some sort of curry using up a butternut squash, Naan
 I typically make this dish, but Aaron wanted to try something else, so I’m not sure yet what dish I’m making. (This from the man who recently complained that I try too many new recipes, and he can never remember what he’s eaten. Poor guy.)
 Sunday: Leftovers (or possibly the meal from Saturday night if I don’t feel like cooking on Saturday)

It's Quesadilla Time

A couple of weeks ago Aaron and I both went on separate grocery trips on the same day without discussing it, so we both came home with very similar items. Two such items were cheddar cheese and tortillas, so of course I ate quesadillas for lunch every day last week.

Something about me you should know: I will eat anything labeled "quesadilla" or "nachos." Something about cheese and carbs does me in every time (I know I'm not alone in this). I've long had the habit of slapping cheese and some leftovers between tortillas and frying them up, so this is nothing new. I've just never indulged quite so much in one week. However, it was my sixth week postpartum and I promised myself I would eat better and exercise after that point (just ask me how that's going - ha!), so I figured I'd better indulge while I still could get away with it.

The first day I had just a straight up, cheddar and black olives with salsa on the side. Day two had me smushing up an avocado and mixing it with salsa for a quick guacamole, throwing it on top of the cheese, and then topping the whole thing with sour cream when it was done. (Also, as an aside, I miss jalepenos, but the baby has a sensitive stomach, so I've basically had to cut out anything with any spice (or flavor, really, because onions are the number one thing that give her stomach upset).)

The third day, though, I got creative:

(Please forgive the unedited photos - I'm trying to get this done while a certain someone is still asleep.)

This quesadilla was filled with the customary cheese, but then topped with BBQ pulled pork and pickle slices. It was FANTASTIC.

Then on the fourth day, I tried something I've been craving ever since someone brought up the idea:

That would be a mashed potato quesadilla. I switched things up just a little and used American cheese instead of cheddar, and I have to say, I could eat this everyday if it was prudent. Which it's not. Darn it.

On the fifth day I went back to plain cheese, mostly because I was out of leftovers. It was good, but the creative ones were better. 

So tell me, what's your favorite thing to put between two tortillas?

Monday Meal Planning 1.24.10

Since Sophie is a whole month old now (!!!), I figured it's time for me to get back in the swing of things. One big part of starting to feel normal again is planning out our meals, so here we go!

Monday: Cuban Sandwiches, sweet potato fries

We're making the sandwiches on Hawaiian rolls, with this slow-cooked pork, ham, swiss cheese, dill pickle slices, and mustard. I cannot wait to dig in!

Tuesday: Macaroni and Cheese Soup, Salad

I've seen a couple recipes for this lately, so I took at as a sign to add it to our menu. 

Wednesday: Pulled Cuban Pork, Yellow Rice with Peas

I know we'll have leftovers, so I'm going to take advantage of that and have a night that's light on cooking.

Thursday: Mashed Potato Quesadillas, Chips and Guacamole

Something I've been wanting to try for forever now. It is so happening this week.

Friday: Leftovers

Saturday: Korean Beef Short-Ribs, Rice, Edamame

(Gabbie calls Edamame, "Mommy Beans", and it's so cute I can't bear to tell her any different.)

I've been wanting short ribs for a while now, and this recipe sounds DELICIOUS. 

Sunday: Dinner/Late Lunch Out

I have been dying for a good cheeseburger for a while now. I think Sunday looks like a good day to fulfill that craving.

Done Baking

She took just the right ingredients and 9 months in the oven, but the time has finally come! Sophie Eloise was born last Thursday morning and is one of the two best things I've ever made.

There will be understandably little cooking during the next few weeks, but I'll post when I can. I hope you all had a Merry Christmas. I know I did!

Monday Meal Planning 12.6.10

Wow, yeah. So it has been two weeks. I blame pregnancy brain plus a rough week last week. But I'm back, and with a fairly easy meal plan because I'm very nearly 39 weeks pregnant and I don't want to do anything difficult. We also have two nights this week that require quick meals because we have evening activities, and one night that requires some input from all of you - I need an easy and delicious appetizer (or dessert) to take to my company's holiday party.

Here goes:

Monday: Grilled cheese sandwiches (w/tomato & avocado for the grownups) and sweet potato fries
Tuesday: Mediterranean Mostaccioli (this one is super easy for me, because it's a dish that Aaron likes to cook. Score!)
Wednesday: Taco Rice (I made this a couple of weeks ago and it was a BIG hit. In the words of Yo Gabba Gabba - Try it! You'll like it!)
Thursday: Hash Brown Casserole (Nothing like a dish where you don't have to chop anything!)
Friday: Here's where I need your help! Company holiday party: it's anticipated that I bring something delicious, while I want to put in a minimum amount of effort. So - easy appetizer ideas? Easy dessert recipes that wow? If all else fails I might make mini chocolate chip cookie pies. Because they're delicious!

I'm not planning for the weekend. Our weekends are my only time to really relax, and since I'll have a newborn soon I kind of want to be taken out to a restaurant while it's still a relatively easy task. Still, we'll probably make some Christmas cookies (cut-outs and corn flake wreaths), and I'll probably bake something for breakfast (we made these on Saturday and they were DELICIOUS!)

Okay, now onto Toddler Lunch Ideas:
Monday: Soy dog, mandarin oranges, yogurt, crackers
Tuesday: Bean and cheese quesadilla, carrot sticks, peaches
Wednesday: Buttered noodles, edamame, yogurt, blueberries
Thursday: Pancakes (probably whole wheat), apple sauce
Friday: Israeli couscous with peas and ham, apple slices