UNion Rings

Thank you, Rachael Ray.

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Panko Breadcrumbs
2-3 Cloves Garlic, minced
Salt
3 Large Onions, peeled and halved crosswise
1/2 Cup Chicken Stock
3/4 Cup Filtered Water
2 Tbsp Butter

Directions

1.  Mix panko, garlic, and salt.

2.  Place onions flat side down in a skillet.  Add broth and water.  Partially cover and cook over medium-high heat for 20 minutes.

3.  Flip, add some butter on top, top onions with panko mixture and then dot with butter again.  Set skillet on lowest level in the oven and broil until golden.

Roasted Spaghetti Squash with Red Sauce

We try to avoid gluten around here whenever we can, and this makes a delicious alternative to pasta when you're craving spaghetti.  I like to serve it with rich, meaty spaghetti sauce.  I was shocked the first time I made this that everyone in the family not only ate it, but went back for seconds!

Ingredients

1 Spaghetti Squash, halved and cleaned out
Olive Oil
Minced Garlic (I like the crushed garlic in a jar at Trader Joe's)
Salt
Pepper

Directions

1.  Brush the olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper all over the flesh of the squash. 

2.  Set your two squash halves in a pan with the flesh side up and roast in a 400 degree oven for about an hour or until the flesh is tender.

3.  When it's done roasting, use a fork to pull out the strands of "spaghetti." 

Serve with spaghetti sauce.

Crock Pot Refried Beans

These are delicious and so easy! Fajita night just isn't complete without them...

I found this recipe at 100 Days of Real Food and tweaked it just a little bit.

Ingredients

2 Cups Dry Pinto Beans, rinsed
1 Onion, peeled and coarsely chopped
1/2 Jalapeno, seeded and diced
1 Tsp Minced Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Cumin
2 Cups Chicken Stock
4 Cups Filtered Water

Directions

1. Soak beans overnight.

2. In the morning, rinse the beans and add them to your crock pot with all of the ingredients.

3. Cook on high for eight hours.

4. Depending on how much liquid remains, you may need to drain the beans. I've found that you want a little liquid to remain so you can get the right consistency. Mash the beans with a potato masher.

Serve with shredded cheddar on top.

Mom Tips

* These make great leftovers to dip tortilla chips in for lunch the next day.

* Try this with black beans, or try half and half. Black beans are full of nutrition!

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

One word: Delicious.

Ingredients

8 Red Potatoes, with skin, quartered
3-4 Cloves Garlic, peeled
2 Tbsp REAL Butter
1/2 Cup Heavy Cream, room temperature
1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1/2 Tsp salt

Directions

1. Put potatoes AND garlic in pot and cover with water. Bring to a boil and immediately turn down to simmer. Cook until tender. Drain and return to pot.

2. Add butter, cream, cheese, and salt to the potatoes and garlic and mash to your preferred texture.

Mom Tip:

* You can make these as garlicky as you want. I like to cut the cloves in half before I put them in the pot.

Fried Rice

This is a cheap and easy recipe to throw together with ingredients you probably have on hand. It's a great accompaniment to Soy-Ginger Wings. We also like teriyaki flavored broccoli with it.

Ingredients

Leftover Long Grain White Rice (if it's a day old and refrigerated, it will work better)
Oil, for frying
Veggies, anything you have on hand (The picture above includes mushrooms, baby corn, two carrots sliced really thin, and red bell pepper)
Garlic, a few cloves sliced up
Soy Sauce
Sesame Oil

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a wok. Add the veggies and stir fry them for a couple of minutes. Throw in the rice and stir fry until it looks good to you! Throw in some soy sauce and toss a few times. Throw in some sesame oil and you're done!

Mom Tip

You can throw anything you want in fried rice! Try adding a beaten egg or two, or some leftover meat for protein.

Chicken Parmesan

It's taken awhile, but I finally fine-tuned this recipe to our utter satisfaction! We no longer need to go to a restaurant in order to be satisfied by Chicken Parmesan!

Ingredients

1/3 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided
1/4 Cup Panko Bread Crumbs
1 Tbsp Parsley
1/2 Tsp Basil
1/4 Tsp Salt
1 Egg, Beaten
2 Chicken Breasts, cut in half
2 Tbsp Coconut Oil
1 Jar Pasta Sauce
2 Tsp Balsamic Vinegar
1/2 Cup Shredded Mozzarella

Directions

1. Heat the pasta sauce and balsamic vinegar on low heat on the stove.

2. Hammer the chicken breasts flat (that's the fun part:). Pat them very, very dry.

3. Heat an iron skillet to medium-high. In the meantime, preheat the broiler in the oven.

4. Combine 2 Tbsp Parmesan, breadcrumbs, parsley, basil, and salt in a shallow dish. Place the beaten egg in a second shallow dish. Dip each piece of chicken in the egg, then press into the breadcrumb mixture.

5. Melt the coconut oil in the skillet. Place the chicken in the oil and cook for three minutes on each side until done.

6. Pour the pasta sauce in the skillet over the chicken. Sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan and the mozzarella. Place skillet in the oven and broil until the cheese melts and browns. Remember to watch it closely!

Serve over spaghetti noodles and spoon on extra sauce.

Strawberry Ice Cream

We make very good use of our ice cream maker around here, and this is our favorite recipe. There are a few "musts" to consider in order to ensure that your strawberry ice cream turns out especially delicious. First, the better your strawberries taste, the better your strawberry ice cream will taste.. duh, right? Second, use very high quality vanilla. If you use cheap vanilla, you'll taste it, and it doesn't taste good. I like to use alcohol-free vanilla in ice cream.

Ingredients

2/3 Pint Fresh, Ripe Strawberries (cut into little pieces)
3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/3 Cup Sucanat (regular sugar will work fine, too)
1 Cup Whole Milk
2/3 Cup Sugar
2 Cups Heavy Cream
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions

1. Combine the cut up strawberries with the lemon juice and sucanat. Stir gently and let sit for two hours or overnight.

2. When the strawberries are ready, whisk the milk and sugar together for two minutes to disolve the sugar. Add the cream, the juices from the strawberries, and the vanilla and combine.

3. Pour the ingredients into the freezer bowl and let mix for 25 minutes. When the time is up, add the strawberries in and mix for an additional 5 minutes. Put the ice cream in a 1.75 quart lidded Pyrex dish and transfer to the freezer immediately.

Mom Tip

Don't take the freezer bowl out of the freezer until the moment you're ready to pour the ingredients into it. The more frozen it is, the better.

Cheddar & Fontina Fondue

A few months ago I found a great deal on a brand new fondue pot on Craigslist and this meal has quickly become a staple at our house. Friday nights are great fondue nights and we look forward to them all week when they're on the menu. Fondue is also great for serving when you have another family over for dinner (and later you can fill it with chocolate!). Every family needs a fondue pot that gets regular use!

We've tried a few different recipes but this one is by far our favorite. The inspiration came from Jen's blog. The most important thing with fondue is using good quality cheeses. If you already have a bottle open, you can substitute half of the stock for a good quality dry, white wine like Chardonnay.

Ingredients

2 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Flour
1 Clove Garlic
1 Bay Leaf
1/8 Tsp Pepper
1/4 Tsp Marjoram
1 Cup Chicken Stock
3 Cups of Shredded Cheese (we use 1 1/2 cups of cheddar and 1 1/2 cups of fontina)

Our Favorite Dippers

Apples
Carrots
Broccoli
Cauliflower
Sourdough Bread
Chicken Apple Sausage

Directions

1. Prepare all of your dippers first: lightly steam the veggies, cut up the apples and bread into cubes, brown the sausages... you won't have time to do it after the fondue is ready.

2. To prepare the fondue, melt the butter in a saucepan. Add garlic and spices and cook for a minute. Add the flour and whisk constantly for one minute. Add chicken stock and whisk until thickened. Add the cheese and stir until smooth. Remove the bay leaf.

3. Transfer to your fondue pot and enjoy!

Mom Tip

Try rubbing a clove of garlic all over the inside of the fondue pot before you add the cheese mixture.

If your fondue gets gloopy, add some lemon juice to the mixture to smooth it.

Best Chicken Tacos Ever

Tonight I made the tastiest chicken tacos I've ever had... I thought I should write down how I did it so I don't forget! I'm pretty sure the ingredient that made these particular tacos so delicious was the homemade chicken stock from the batch I made a few weeks ago. It was the thickest, most gelatinous chicken stock I've ever made... yum! We could taste it in the chicken, it was so flavorful!

I can't recommend store bought chicken stock because the quality is sub-par to homemade. Also, they all contain MSG (even the ones at Whole Foods!). MSG masquerades as all kinds of other ingredients, so you have to be careful. (A quick google search of "MSG ingredients list" will help you out.) Personally, MSG gives me headaches!

Anyway, here's how it went down...

Ingredients

1 Whole Chicken
1 Jalapeno Pepper
1/2 Red Onion, chopped
Coconut Oil
1 Cup Homemade Chicken Stock
Seasoning (a mixture of cumin, oregano, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, onion powder, & garlic powder)

Directions

1. Boil a whole chicken for an hour and a half and let it cool on the counter for an hour or two. Take the meat off the bones and gently shredded it with your fingers.

2. Saute a chopped jalapeno pepper and half a chopped red onion in an iron skillet using coconut oil. Then add the chicken, some seasoning, and the homemade chicken stock. Heat it up until the water evaporates off.

Enjoy with black beans, mexican rice, "homemade" tortillas (a la Trader Joe's;) and all the trimmings!

Stuffed Bell Peppers

I did it again! I soaked my grains! This time it was rice. Yay for me! It takes a little planning ahead but it's really easy. If you plan your meals it will become second nature and it only takes a few minutes of your time.

This recipe is a family favorite, and I saw these beautiful organic peppers in the store this week and I just couldn't resist. Delish!

Ingredients

6 Bell Peppers

1 Cup Brown Basmati Rice, soaked and cooked

1 Lb Grass-Fed Ground Beef

1/2 Onion, diced

2 Garlic Cloves, finely chopped

1 Box Pomi Chopped Tomatoes (or just chop up a few tomatoes if they're in season)

8 oz Sharp Cheddar Cheese, grated

1/2 tsp Fresh Ground Black Pepper

1 tsp Salt

To Prepare Soaked Rice...

Place 1 cup of rice and 2 cups of warm, filtered water plus 2 tablespoons of yogurt, kefir, or buttermilk in a pot and leave in a warm place for at least 7 hours. Bring to a boil, skim, reduce heat, stir in 1/2 teaspoon of salt and 1-2 tablespoons butter and cover tightly. Cook over low heat for 45 minutes.

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400

2. Cut the bell peppers in half, top to bottom. Remove seeds and ribs.

3. Brown the beef, onions and garlic in a cast iron skillet. Turn off the heat and add in the tomatoes, rice, and spices, mixing them up well.

4. Arrange the peppers in a baking dish skin side down. Divide the beef mixture among the pepper halves. Cover the dish with foil and bake for 40 minutes.

5. Remove the foil and sprinkle the cheese on the top (remember to leave a few cheese-free for Miss I-Don't-Eat-Food-With-Melted-Cheese-On-Top, aka Sister Bear). Return dish to the oven, uncovered, for about five minutes.

Mom Tip

*You can of course make this recipe without soaking the rice ahead of time - just cook it according to package directions. I soaked the rice overnight and cooked it when I woke up in the morning and just saved it in the fridge until I was ready to use it.

Soaked Pancakes

When I first started reading about soaking grains over a year ago I was intimidated and overwhelmed. It took me awhile, but today I made my first recipe using soaked grains and it was a SUCCESS and SO easy! In the words of Sister Bear after taking her first bite of these: "I'm just warnin' ya! These are Yuh - Uh - Uh - Uh - MEEEE!"

*If you're interested in reading about the benefits of soaking grains, just google "soaking grains." There's no shortage of information!

Ingredients

2 Cups Whole Wheat Pastry Flour
2 Cups Yogurt (you could also use buttermilk or kefir)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Baking Soda
2 Tbsp Butter, melted

Directions

1. Mix the flour with the yogurt and place it in a warm place for 12-24 hours. (I set the bowl inside the oven.)

2. When you're ready to make the pancakes, stir in the rest of the ingredients. Add water to obtain desired thickness. I suggest adding only a little bit at a time because it doesn't take a great deal of water to make your pancakes thin.

3. Cook on a hot, oiled griddle or cast iron skillet. I use coconut oil.

Mom Tip We love thinly sliced strawberries in our pancake batter!

Soy-Ginger Wings

This is a cheap meal. Whenever I see wings on sale at Whole Foods I stock up. I can get two pounds for under five bucks. Not too shabby!

I adapted this recipe from one I found in Parents magazine. I switched the grapeseed oil out in favor of coconut, which has tremendous health benefits. The recipe originally called for 3 pounds of wings, but 2 is enough for our family right now (someday I'm sure we'll need more!). I also added the sesame seeds.

Serve with some teriyaki flavored asparagus, some rice, and some tropical fruit like mango or grilled pineapple... YUM!

Ingredients

2 lbs Chicken Wings, room temperature

2 Tbsp Coconut Oil

Salt and Pepper

Sesame Seeds

For the soy-ginger glaze, combine:

1/4 Cup Soy Sauce

2 Tbsp Sesame Oil

2 Tbsp Rice-Wine Vinegar

2 Tbsp Fresh Ginger, grated

Directions

1. Heat the oven to 450. Put the chicken wings in a large roasting pan, drizzle with the coconut oil and sprinkle liberally with salt and pepper. Toss to coat and spread wings in a single layer, meaty side down.

2. Put the pan in the oven and immediately turn oven down to 375. Roast, undisturbed, until the bottom of the pan is coated with fat and the wings are beginning to brown, about 15 minutes (or until they're not sticking to the pan).

3. Take the pan out of the oven and toss the wings with the soy-ginger glaze. Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Arrange the wings with the meaty side up and return the pan to the oven until they are nicely browned, about 10 more minutes.

4. Raise the oven temperature to 450 and continue to cook until wings are crisp all over, about ten more minutes. Transfer the wings to a serving dish and pour the pan drippings over the top.

Mom Tip

If your coconut oil is solid, just stick it somewhere warm for a few seconds until it's liquid.

Pumpkin Chiffon Pie

This is great grandma Lois's recipe, and it's dad's absolute favorite pumpkin pie in the world! (Mine, too - but the way he goes on about it you'd think it was his grandma's recipe.) We love it with a homemade graham cracker crust, which is super easy to make.

It doesn't require an oven (except for the pie crust), just a stovetop and a double boiler.

Ingredients

3 Eggs, separated into yolks and whites
1 Cup Sugar
1 1/4 Cup Pureed Pumpkin
1/2 Cup Milk
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/2 Tsp Ginger
1/2 Tsp Nutmeg
1 Tbsp Unflavored Gelatin
1/4 Cup Water
1 Graham Cracker Pie Shell

Directions

1. Heat water in the bottom of a double boiler until boiling. In a mixer, beat egg yolk plus 1/2 cup sugar til thick. Add pumpkin, milk, salt and spices and mix together. Transfer this mixture to the top of a double boiler and cook until thick.

2. Soften gelatin in the 1/4 cup of cold water for five minutes. Stir into hot mixture.

3. In the mixer, beat egg whites until stiff, then add 1/2 cup sugar. Add to double boiler and mix.

4. Pour into pie shell and chill for at least three hours. Serve with whipped cream.

Sweet Potato & Fresh Orange Casserole

Believe it or not, I found this delicious recipe last year on Live with Regis and Kelly. It must have been fate that the one random time I ever watched that show I got something out of it! Gotta give all the credit to Joy Philbin, as it's her recipe, and it's delicious! I only wish that someone in my family liked sweet potatoes besides me... I'm putting it here anyway, because someday my kids are going to have to make it for me.

Ingredients

4 Large Sweet Potatoes
2 Oranges
1 Stick of Butter
1 Cup Light Brown Sugar
1/2 Cup Pecans, chopped
1 Tbsp Cornstarch
1 Cup Orange Juice
3 Tbsp Maple Syrup
1/8 Tsp Cloves

Directions

1. Cover potatoes in water and boil until tender, approximately 25-30 minutes. Remove the potatoes and peel while still warm. Cut into 1/4" slices and set aside. Peel, then slice the oranges into 1/4" slices. Mix gently with potatoes.

2. Grease a 9x13 casserole dish and add potato/orange mixture.

3. Meanwhile, melt butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add brown sugar and pecans. Simmer 3 minutes. Pour sugar/pecan mixture over the top of the potato/orange mixture.

4. In a saucepan, mix the OJ, cornstarch, maple syrup, and cloves. Cook and stir until thick. Pour over potatoes and bake at 375 for 15 minutes.

Cardamom Bread

This bread has been a staple at my family's holiday dinners for as long as I can remember. Dad loves it, and would eat an entire loaf in two days if I made him one.

The original recipe is double this one. Great-grandma always made two loaves at Thanksgiving and put one in the freezer to keep until Christmas. I divided the recipe in half so it would fit in my bread machine. I'm lazy like that.

It's very important that this braided loaf be served warm and not sliced. It must be passed around the table and your piece must be torn from the loaf. It's essential for proper absorption of butter into the nooks and crannies. I repeat, do not let anyone slice this bread!

Ingredients

1 1/8 tsp Active Dry Yeast or Bread Machine Yeast
1/8 Cup Water, warm
1 1/4 Cup Milk, scalded and cooled
3/8 Cup Butter
1/2 Egg
1/4 Tsp Salt
1/2 C Sugar
3/4 Tsp Cardamom
4 Cups Flour (white is usually used, but I've used wheat with great success)

Bread Machine Directions

1. Put all ingredients into the bread machine in order listed, except add the yeast last! Put it on top! Run the machine through on the dough setting.

2. When the dough is finished rising (and you can let it rise as long as you want, but at least 1 1/2 hours), remove it from the chamber. Punch down, divide into three equal pieces and braid it. Let it rise for at least another 40 minutes.

3. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Directions for making without a bread machine:

1. In large bowl blend yeast and water. Let stand for 5 minutes.

2. Stir in all ingredients except flour until blended.

3. Stir in most of the flour, about 3 1/2 cups, until dough is stiff. Turn onto floured board and knead in remaining flour until smooth and elastic.

4. Place in greased bowl, cover, and let rise for at least 1 1/2-2 hours until double.

5. Punch down, divide into three equal pieces and braid it. Let rise for at least another 4o minutes.

6. Bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.

Serve warm and do not slice!

Melting Moments

THE premiere holiday cookie... Great grandma's very best!

Cookie Ingredients

1 Cup Butter

1/3 Cup Powdered Sugar

3/4 Cup Cornstarch

1 Cup Flour

Cookie Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together, form small balls on cookie sheet; chill overnight.

2. Bake at 350 for 10 to 15 minutes.

*A small cookie scoop is 2 teaspoons and is the perfect size for these cookies. Little hands can stay busy by rolling them after they are measured.

Icing Ingredients

1 Small (4 Ounce) Package of Cream Cheese

1 Cup Powdered Sugar

1 Tsp total Vanilla & Food Coloring

Icing Directions

1. Mix ingredients. Drop onto cooked cookies.

Mom Tips

* I always sift the powdered sugar into the cookie and the frosting recipes.

* The "classic" version of this recipe features green icing using conventional food coloring, however artificial food dyes are off limits here. We use India Tree Natural Decorating Colors. They are $18.99 for three colors at Whole Foods, but we have no other choice if we want color! It's hard to get vibrant colors using natural food dyes, so we opted for a light pink.

Loose Meat Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches

These are good any time of year for a quick, filling meal.

Ingredients

4 Chicken Breasts, cooked and shredded
1 1/2 Cups Ketchup
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
1 Tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Tsp Crushed Red Pepper Flakes
1/4 Onion, chopped
2 Cloves Garlic, minced
8 Buns

Directions

1. Mix all the ingredients together in the crock pot. Set on low for 8-10 hours.

2. Serve on buns.

Tuesday Tacos

These tacos are famous - or maybe I should say infamous - in dad's family. When dad was a kid, Grammy made these every Tuesday night before bowling league. When Grammy and Gramps were stationed in Germany in the sixties, they lived near another soldier and his wife, who was from Mexico. According to Grammy, this Mexican woman taught her how to make tacos this way, which is ridiculously hilarious to me because these tacos are so NOT authentic Mexican food. But they are delicious!

Sometimes for a treat - or when we have a house full of people to feed - this is how we make tacos. But ooooooonly sometimes!

Ingredients for Tacos

Oil
1/2 Onion, chopped
1 Clove Garlic
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 Pound Ground Beef, grass-fed
1 Cup Tomato Sauce
12 Corn Tortillas

Fillings

Pinto or Black Beans
Mexican Rice
Shredded Cheese
Sour Cream
Avocado
Lettuce
Tomatoes
Olives
Salsa

Parmesan Cheese (or as Dad called it until he was 25, "taco cheese.")

Directions

1. Cook the onion and garlic in a skillet with oil, then add the beef, salt, and pepper and brown until cooked through. Add the tomato sauce and simmer on low until you're ready to eat.

2. In a small skillet, heat some oil over medium-high heat. Add each tortilla one at a time and cook for only 2-3 seconds on each side.

3. Add toppings, enjoy!

Steak On A Stick

This recipe is one of the few that daddy makes for us. He makes steak-on-a-stick twice a year, since that's all the flank steak we can afford! If you follow the recipe below, divide the marinade in half and freeze one portion of it for the next time to make it. Otherwise, double the amount of meat.

One 20 ounce flank steak only gives a family of four a small portion of meat apiece. Add plenty of delicious sides and savor the meat you do have. Eat it slowly and enjoy! You'll save money and appreciate the steak even more!



Ingredients



10 Ounces Soy Sauce (we use low sodium sauce from Trader Joe's)

3/4 Cup Sugar

1/4 Cup Oil

3-4 Cloves Garlic, chopped

1 Inch Piece Ginger Root, diced

1 20 Ounce Flank Steak, cut into strips across the grain



Directions



1. Combine all the marinade ingredients. Put beef strips on skewers and marinate them overnight.



2. Barbecue on medium heat, turning once, until cooked through.

Mom Tips

*The lower the temperature and longer the cooking time, the more tender the meat. The last time we had this it melted in our mouths!


*This recipe can also be made using chicken, but I'm partial to red meat.

Chili

This recipe is so simple, but the family devours it every time I make it. In fact, there are fights over who gets the leftovers for lunch the next day. I prepare it in the morning and let it simmer in the crockpot all day so it's nice and thick by the time we eat it.

Ingredients

Oil
1 Medium Red Onion, chopped
1 Lb Ground Beef (or turkey)
2+ Cloves Garlic
Chili Powder, to taste
Salt
1/4 Tsp Paprika
1/8 Tsp Pepper
1 Carton Pomi Chopped Tomatoes or 4-5 tomatoes, chopped
3 cups chicken stock
1/4 C Cornmeal
1/4 C Flaxseed Meal
1/2 C Dry Kidney Beans, soaked overnight in filtered water and 1 Tbsp whey
1/2 C Dry Cannellini Beans, soaked overnight in filtered water and 1 Tbsp whey

Directions

1. Saute the onions and garlic in oil, then add the turkey and spices and brown it until cooked through.

2. Combine the turkey mixture with the rest of the ingredients in the crock pot and cook all day.

3. Serve with cheese or sour cream on top.

*Serve with cornbread, or cous cous, or over baked potatoes.

Mom Tips

* Dad doesn't like beans so I often make extra beans, puree them, and sneak it into the pot. You can also puree almost any kind of vegetable and sneak it in there if you want to. Carrots and red peppers work well.

* If it's summer and you have fresh tomatoes, you can substitute chopped tomatoes for Pomi, but who wants chili in summer? I don't buy canned tomatoes because of the BPA in the cans. Pomi tomatoes come in a carton and are imported from Italy. Although they're not organic, they're grown using sustainable practices. Whole Foods has the best price on them around here - surprise, surprise!

* I like to make my spice mixture ahead of time. I just quadruple the recipe and keep it on hand labeled "chili.". Then I add a heaping tablespoon to the pot.