Blanched vegetables

For those of you who don't know yet, my man eats a lot of vegetables.  And he makes it his goal to drastically increase my vegetable intake - since before him it was pretty much nonexistent.  

This is a BIG bag of broccoli!

Tall Dark and Nerdy now continues his veggie-quest even when he's out of town.  He gets a massive amount of fresh vegetables, more than anyone could possibly eat in a week - in my eyes, at least - shortly before leaving for a work trip.  Then, what he hasn't eaten yet comes home with me.  

When he left last week for South by Southwest there was a MASSIVE (48 ounce) bag of broccoli and a quite large bag of brussel sprouts that came home with me.  On top of that, I had actually bought myself a (much more reasonably sized) bag of broccoli for a recipe I had planned.  I made crock pot broccoli cheese soup and crock pot broccoli beef, and ate broccoli with ranch every afternoon for several days when I wanted a snack, and I still couldn't seem to make it through all that broccoli!

In came Mom to the rescue!  During a phone call I complained to her about the sheer amount of broccoli I was trying to consume and she reminded me of what we always did at home with massive amounts of broccoli:  blanching.  Now, I have blanched broccoli and brussel sprouts in my freezer, ready for whenever I can stand to eat them again!

Ingredients:

• broccoli (or brussel sprouts)
• water
• quart-size freezer bags

Easiest ingredient list ever, right?

So happy TDN opened my eyes to how
delicious these little guys are!

Directions:

Bring water to rapid boil in large pot.  Add broccoli.  Return to boil for 3-4 minutes, stirring a few times.

Remove from heat and strain.

Dump cooked broccoli into COLD water to stop the cooking.

Bag it up and freeze it!

The only thing I did differently for the brussel sprouts was salting the water at the beginning.  Super simple!

My favorite thing about blanching green veggies like these is the beautiful color everything ends up from being boiled and then stopped right at the perfect time.

Crock pot broccoli beef

I have a weakness for good Chinese food, especially General Tso's Chicken and Beef & Broccoli, but I know it's really not good for me.  Living just down the street from my favorite hole-in-the-wall Chinese place is dangerous and I crave their food kind of a lot, but am always holding myself back.  I decided to try making my own when I came across a recipe for beef and broccoli in the crock pot.  It doesn't taste quite like it does at Queen House, but it's pretty good, and definitely less unhealthy!


The first time around it reminded me a little bit of one of TDN's staple pot-roast-over-rice meals, but I added a couple extra drops of sesame oil and it was great!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound boneless beef chuck roast, sliced into thin strips
• 1 cup beef broth
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/3 cup brown sugar
• 1 Tablespoon sesame oil
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
• fresh broccoli florets
• hot cooked rice

Directions:

Place beef in crock pot.

In a small bowl, combine broth, soy sauce, brown sugar, oil, and garlic.  Pour over beef.

Cook on low 6-8 hours.

In a cup, stir cornstarch and 2 Tablespoons of sauce from the crock pot until smooth.  Add to crock pot.  Stir well to combine.

Add broccoli.  Stir again.

Cover and cook an additional 30 minutes to 1 hour on high (the sauce has to boil for it to thicken).

Serve over rice.

Adapted from My Fridge Food

Blondies

TDN's brother - and two of his friends - came to town for a visit last month and I was excited to meet him for the first time.  We were going to spend some time in San Francisco, and then the guys were heading to Tahoe for a ski week.  Since my surgery was happening that week, of course, I couldn't spend the week riding with them.  I could, however, fulfill the duty of the mom in me  and send them off with some treats.  I made a batch of my lemon drop cookies and decided they needed a little variety - and a little chocolate! - so I also made these delicious blondies.  Of course, I had to explain what blondies are to everyone who asked - cakey, non-brownie bars with a little chocolatey goodness.  Tall Dark and Nerdy might have been skeptical at first, but he was won over in just one bite, and with just four ingredients, it's one I don't mind making for him regularly :)

Ingredients:

• 1 package yellow cake mix
• 2 eggs
• 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter, melted
• 1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine cake mix, eggs, and melted butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on low speed.  Scrape down the sides as needed, and mix until ingredients are moistened.  Add the chocolate chips and blend on low another 30 seconds, just to incorporate.

Scrape thick batter into an ungreased 13"x9" baking pan.  Press the batter out evenly over the bottom of the pan with fingers or a fork so it reaches all the sides.  Place the pan in the oven on the center rack.

Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with a few crumbs.  Remove from oven and cool for 30 minutes before cutting into squares and serving.

Adapted from Cake Mix Doctor

Chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting

I was overwhelmed by a need to bake something last week, but I was also pretty exhausted and was, surprisingly, not in the mood for a bundt cake.  I decided I couldn't go wrong with chocolate and peanut butter.

I love to bake, and it tends to happen randomly, and some of the people close to me wish they knew when to expect freshly-baked treats.  I think Tall Dark and Nerdy has started to develop this ability as a kind of sixth sense.  As soon as I pulled the cake out of the oven he called asking if I wanted to hang out and watch a movie when he got home from work in an hour.  Such a convenient sense for him to have.  I was able to make the frosting, frost the cake, put half of it in a container, pick up a movie, and head over to his house to surprise him, and he was pretty pleased.

This is not my prettiest or richest cake, but it's a really great cake for a normal day when you need a little chocolate and some peanut butter (which is nearly every day for me).  The frosting is delicious, and goes great with a cold glass of milk.

Ingredients:

• 1 package devil's food cake mix
• 2 Tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/3 cups milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 3 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Mmmm look at all that peanut butter!

For frosting:

• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 8 Tablespoons (1 stick) butter, at room temperature
• 2 cups powdered sugar
• 3 to 4 Tablespoons milk
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Lightly mist a 13"x9" baking pan with vegetable oil spray and set aside.

Combine cake mix, cocoa powder, milk, oil, eggs, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer.  Blend on low speed for 1 minute, stopping to scrape down the sides as needed.  Increase the speed to medium and beat for another 2 minutes until the batter looks thick and combined. 

Pour the batter into the prepared pan, smoothing it out with a spatula.  Place the pan in the oven.

Bake 40-45 minutes until cake springs back when lightly pressed with your finger and just starts to pull away from the sides of the pan.  Remove from the oven and cool for 30 minutes before frosting.

Peanut butter frosting.
Can't go wrong here!

While cake is cooling, prepare frosting as follows:

Blend peanut butter and butter in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on low speed until fluffy, about 30 seconds.  Stop mixer and add the powdered sugar, 3 Tablespoons milk, and the vanilla.  Blend on low speed until the sugar is well combined, about 1 minute.  Increase the speed to medium and beat another minute until the frosting lightens and is fluffy.  Blend in up to 1 Tablespoon more milk if the frosting seems too stiff.

Have cake, will travel!
And will have a happy man!

Spread on the top of the cake and out to the edges with a rubber spatula.  Slice and serve!

Adapted from Cake Mix Doctor

Panakuchen

I grew up eating German pancake - a.k.a. panakuchen - and Swedish pancakes much more often than regular (American?) pancakes.  Baby sister and I still get treated to Grams's panakuchen often when we go home.

After spending some time on the phone with my Grams one afternoon, I decided to make her panakuchen for dinner.  She was so excited that I would be making her recipe that she made me promise to invite Tall Dark and Nerdy over for our German version of breakfast-for-dinner.

I don't make it as well as she does, but it was pretty delicious!  TDN and my roomie enjoyed it and had seconds!


Ingredients:

• 4 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 Tablespoons butter
• thinly sliced apple
• cinnamon
• sugar

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Put butter in pan, place in oven until butter is melted.  Swirl around to spread butter out.

While butter is melting, beat eggs really well with an electric mixer.  Add milk, flour, and salt.

Pour into pan.  Top with thin apple slices, cinnamon, and sugar.

Bake at 425 for 6 minutes, then 15 minutes at 350 degrees.

Grams's repeated tip - WORK FAST!  Once everything is mixed together, get it in the pan and in the oven.

Also, it will start to fall as soon as you take it out of the oven, so be ready to put it on the table as soon as it comes out.

Instead of the cinnamon, sugar, and apples, you can also wait until it's cooked to top it with applesauce or apple pie filling (Baby Sister's favorite).



**UPDATE***
While I was back in South Dakota last week visiting family, Grams made me panakuchen for lunch one day.  Hers turned out absolutely perfect, and now I think I need to up my game and keep trying this until I get it just right!
It was all poofed up in the middle - not just on the edges like mine.  And the cinnamony-sugary goodness on top made a delightful crispy little shell. Yum. There's a reason why I still request Grams to make this every time I visit!

Family Narratives

I just came across this wonderful story in the New York Times.  It discusses the impact that knowing your family narrative can have on a young person's confidence, resilience, and happiness.

As a psychologist, I enjoy reading about their "Do you know?" test where children are asked things like where their grandparents grew up and how their parents met, and thinking about the data they collected and the way they did it.

As a teacher, I like hearing about ways to foster a community and a larger sense of self in ways like the Naval academy's "history-building exercises."

As a fifth-generation South Dakota farmer, I grew up hearing the narrative for my paternal grandfather's family, and will still tell it to anyone who asks and/or will listen.  I grew up at the original farmstead from when my great-great-grandparents came to America from Germany in 1878.  I've always found it really cool to be a part of that history, and now it seems it may have had something to do with me becoming the happy person I am!


This Christmas, Tall Dark and Nerdy gave me the most wonderfully thoughtful gift.  He tracked down the book about South Dakota farm and ranch families that has what I think is one of the 3 best photos ever taken of my grandfather.  My dad has a copy of this book on his coffee table, my grandma has one in her living room, and I love having one to complete my home.

Growing up, I was lucky enough to not go to daycare every day.  Instead, I spent time at the farm with my grandparents.  My grandfather was my best friend as a child.  In the eight years since he's been gone, I've never stopped missing him, and I never will.  But I know his stories better than most thanks to the countless hours I spent on the fender of his tractor or the cab of his pickup.  And those stories mean everything.

It's vacation time!

House cleaned.  Bills paid.  Bags packed.  Guess it's time for this girl to go on vacation!

TDN just got back from SXSW yesterday, and I'm leaving in the morning for two weeks...we plan these things out well!

I am heading back to the Midwest for some time with family, friends, and an adorable new baby!  I will also be with my family for Easter for the first time in 5 years, and I can't wait!

Jas's raspberry coulis

My dear friend Jas makes a delicious version of what we call coulis to go with many of her desserts.  I think I've had it with her flourless chocolate cake and almond pound cake, and it's wonderful with everything.  And such a simple recipe, too!

We made it together recently to go on our mini cheesecakes in our picnic dinner at the Evening of Masquerade event we went to.


Ingredients:

• water
• sugar
• bag of frozen raspberries
• vanilla

Directions:

Coat the bottom of a small pot with water.  Add about a Tablespoon sugar and the bag of frozen raspberries.  

After a few minutes, add a splash of vanilla. Stir.

Stir occasionally and continue boiling down the mixture until it's the texture you want.

My newest leading man

I woke up to this picture in a message the
morning this little man entered the world!

One of my besties has been there for me through so so much.  We've known each other since we were kids.  Throughout middle school and high school, I think we might have spent more time not friends than as close friends, but somehow, through me moving across the country, we became closer than I ever could have imagined.  We even got a job together the summer after our freshman year of college working at a greasy-spoon drive-in restaurant.  If complaining about your boss and work doesn't bring two people together, I don't know what does!

Monkey baby!

This wonderful lady is one of the strongest, most amazing people I know.  She's about to graduate from nursing school, is a phenomenal barrel racer, and loves so much.  Her fiance is a great man - I should know, I dated him first :) - and they are made for each other.  They just welcomed a little man into the world, and I can't be happier for my friend and the love of her life, and I really can't wait for my trip back to the Midwest next week so I can meet my newest leading man, baby Rig!

Wonderful neighbors

Flowers, gummy bears, chick
flicks, and gossip rags. Perfect.

I am lucky enough to have three wonderful women that live just upstairs from me and are the best neighbors a girl could ask for!

After having knee surgery a month ago, they came by with a care package for me that made my week.

They brought me things I didn't realize I needed, but the goodies and just visiting with them for a few minutes really picked up my spirits when I was feeling pretty down (not to mention in a LOT of pain).

Thanks, girls!  You're the best!

Orange julius

I'm not a huge smoothie person since I don't think a DRINK named for being "smooth" should have chunks.  I also am still trying to learn how to enjoy strawberries and bananas, which are in nearly every smoothie ever made anywhere.  I do, however, love a good orange julius, even though I know they're pure sugar.  Until I find a way to make a breakfast drink that tastes this good and isn't full of sugar, I'll stick with only having this occasionally and enjoy every drop.

My college roommate left me with her Magic Bullet - not sure if it was on purpose or if she misses it - but I am in heaven.  This is its most common recipe.

Ingredients:
3 ounces frozen orange juice concentrate
1 cup milk
1/8 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
4 ice cubes

Directions:
Combine all ingredients, except ice cubes, in blender.
Blend 1-2 minutes, adding ice cubes one at a time, until smooth. 

Adapted from Food.com 

Buffalo chicken lettuce cups

Along with my other Chinese food loves (that I talked about here), chicken lettuce cups are my favorite appetizer at Chinese and Thai restaurants by far.  They're just so delicious.  And I was very intrigued by the idea of a lettuce leaf as a dish/wrap/whatever it is.  Coming across a recipe that used a crock pot (my favorite kitchen gadget of late) AND involved that silly lettuce cup concept sounded like something fun to try!

My only concern was that I wouldn't like the buffalo nature of the "buffalo chicken lettuce cups."  I really enjoy spicy food and like the flavors that it brings, but often find buffalo-flavored things to be unnecessarily spicy without much flavor.  To my delight, this chicken was exactly what I wanted, with some spice and yet not too buffalo-y.

The one thing about this that made me sad was that I have no idea how the restaurants have such perfect lettuce leaves to use as lettuce cups.  Mom suggested that I need a left-handed head of lettuce, but I tried that, too, with no luck.  I'm just resigned to believing that my lettuce will never be the right shape, but these were so delicious I quickly got over it.

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 3 celery stalks
• 1/2 onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 can (16 oz) chicken broth
• 1/2 cup buffalo sauce (or hot cayenne pepper sauce)
• large lettuce leaves
• ranch dressing
• 2 carrots

Directions:

Tiny carrot and celery matchsticks

In a crock pot, combine chicken, onions, one celery stalk (I diced it first, but you can put it in whole), garlic, and broth.  If chicken isn't covered, add water to cover the chicken.  Cover and cook on high 4 hours.

Remove chicken from crock pot.  Reserve 1/2 cup broth and discard the rest.

Shred the chicken with two forks.  Return to crock pot with the 1/2 cup reserved broth and the buffalo sauce.  Cook on high 30 minutes.

To prepare lettuce cups:  Cut other 2 celery stalks and carrots into 2-inch matchsticks.  Place buffalo chicken in each leaf, top with dressing, carrots, and celery.  Wrap up, prepare to get messy hands, and enjoy!

Adapted from Skinny Taste

Crock pot broccoli cheese soup

I am loving my crock pot right now and having fun experimenting with new recipes.  Tonight was my first attempt at a soup, and it was delicious.  Granted, the texture was a little funny (I should have stirred it one more time in the middle), but I got over that quickly once I tasted it!  This was the most filling soup I think I have ever eaten, and I can't wait for the leftovers!

My one regret was that I didn't use a crock pot liner when I thought about it.  The clean-up wasn't too dreadful after letting the gooey-cheesiness soak for awhile.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup green pepper, chopped
• 1/2 cup onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 Tablespoons butter
• 1 (10 oz) can cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups milk
• 1 lb Velveeta cheese, cubed
• 3 cups fresh chopped broccoli

Directions:

Saute onion and green pepper in butter.

Combine all ingredients in crock pot and cook on low 3-4 hours, stirring once or twice.

**You can also use frozen broccoli (10 oz bag, chopped), and then I would reduce the milk to 1 1/2 cups.

Adapted from Food.com

Parmesan roasted potatoes

I made these tasty, salty, cheesy roasted potatoes to go with my Parmesan crusted chicken last week, and they were the perfect complement.  I also happen to have A LOT of potatoes in my pantry that I keep forgetting about, so this was a great way to use a few up!
The only problem I had with this recipe was that they use the broiler while I was using my oven to bake the chicken.  I had these ready to go in as soon as the chicken came out, and it worked out perfectly so that the chicken was no longer thermo-nuclear hot when I tried to eat it after cooking the potatoes.

Ingredients:

• 2 Russet potatoes
• butter
• Lawry's seasoning salt
• grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Wash potatoes and pierce all over with a fork.  Cook in microwave until soft all the way through - around 8 minutes total (cooking both together) - flipping halfway through.

Cut the potatoes in half, then make slices down to the skin to make small squares.

Season with butter, cheese, and Lawry's, then place on baking sheet under the broiler for 10-15 minutes until golden brown.

Adapted from Iowa Girl Eats

Parmesan crusted chicken

This chicken turned out moist and delicious.  And having only 4 ingredients - all of which are staples in my kitchen - makes this an easy weeknight meal that I'll keep in mind when I'm back at work!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/3 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 4 teaspoons Italian seasoned bread crumbs

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix sour cream and cheese in small bowl.

Line baking dish with parchment paper (I didn't do this the first time and the clean-up wasn't terrible but definitely was more work than I like to have).  Lay chicken breasts in dish and spread sour cream mixture evenly on top of them.

Sprinkle bread crumbs on top.

Bake for 20-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and juices run clear (my chicken breasts were very thick, so they took about 35 minutes).  Tops will be browned, but you can turn the broiler on for a minute or two to finish them off if you want them a little more browned.

I served these with Parmesan roasted potatoes and steamed green beans for a wonderful meal.

Adapted from The Enchanted Cook

Feeling Crafty

I don't think of myself as artistic - at all - but I really enjoy arts and crafts.  With my job, I get to do lots of art.  Sadly, most of it is at a 3-year-old level. I have started to really enjoy making felts for stories and songs, and that's about all the crafting I can carve out time for anymore.  My arts and crafts drawer is bursting with the beginnings of felts for Stone Soup, Brown Bear, Brown Bear, and others, and I can't wait to finish them!