Kitchen Comforts

Great Site

Kim, at Starry Sky Ranch, reminded me of a great website.  I'm a fan of Whole Foods Market and this site contains a plethora of information and ideas.  There are lots of recipes and a search feature and save feature so that you can personalize.  There are kitchen tips on everything from a pantry makeover to using sugar substitutes.  Gotta love a site with a page on maple syrup!  So poke around and get back to me with anything that's a "don't miss."

Crockpot Carnival

There is a Crockpot Carnival happening you just don't want to miss.  I often wonder how mothers of many could function without a crockpot.

HT Maureen at Trinity Prep School. Don't miss her Potatoes O'Brien.

Favorite Family Granola

Granola is great fun to make; the variations are endless and there's much scooping and dumping.  It bakes slowly and fills the air with a heavenly aroma.  Then, the soft grains magically cool to crisp, crunchy yumminess.  This is a much healthier and much less expensive alternative to packaged breakfast cereal, a great take-along snack, and a vital component to an elegant tea time yogurt parfait (just layer in a pretty glass with fresh fruit and yogurt). Play with the recipe several times to come up with your family's ultimate favorite granola.

Favorite Family Granola

6 cups rolled oats
1 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup chopped almonds or pecans
3/4 cup coconut or canola oil
1/2 cup real or maple syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (packed) brown sugar
½ cup flax seeds
1/2 cup sesame seeds
Up to 1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 325ºF. Spray a 13 X 18-inch baking tray or a big roasting pan with nonstick spray.

1. Place the oats, sunflower seeds, and almonds or pecans, flax seeds, sesame seeds, and coconut in a large bowl.
2. Combine the oil, syrup, cinnamon, and vanilla extract, and pour this in. Mix thoroughly. This is truly a great recipe for thorough toddler participate: scoop, dump, mix with clean hands!
3. Stir in the salt, and mix throughly with your hands.
4. Bake for 40 or 50 minutes, stirring every ten minutes.
5. Crumble in sugar as soon as it comes out of the oven. Dump onto a tray to cool. Add any post-baking variations before it cools. The granola will get crunchy as it cools!
6. If there's any left (there never is in my house), store it in a tightly closed jar in the freezer.

Variations to add before baking. This list really could be endless.:

1 cup barley flakes
1 cup oat bran

1 cup raw wheat germ

1 cup millet

Up to 1 cup other kinds of nuts, chopped

(You might have to adjust the wet ingredients depending on the quantity of dry. Just play with this.

Variations to add after baking:

1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup roasted soy nuts

Dried fruit
Toasted wheat germ

Is Organic Worth the Cost?

A recent conversation at 4Real about food budgets, coupled with what we can do to help keep the world green, has me pondering whether or not buying organic food is good stewardship all the way around.  After all, I have a whole bunch of big boys to feed.  This is not an inexpensive proposition. This report from Consumer Reports indicates that some items, like dairy, berries, grapes, apples and potatoes are worth the extra expense.  It might not be so necessary for bananas.  I think I prefer to know that my meat would pass a steroid test, too.  For a cook committed to cooking and eating and feeding her family thoughtfully, the issue of junk in our food (and not just our junk food) is one we must take time to consider.

The Shopping List

The key to menu planning and execution is the well-stocked kitchen.  Here's a basic shopping list, adapted from Mollie Katzen.  I've added some meat products and a few personal necessities.

Healthy Kitchen Basic Inventory (all organic if possible)

Whole grains:
Arborio rice

Rolled oats
Steel-cut oats
Oat bran
Brown rice (long or short grain)
Quinoa
Whole grain or high-quality pastas (brown rice Tinkyada pasta in our house)

polenta (comes prepared in tubes)

assorted tea

Dried and/or Canned Beans:
Dried – lentils (red, brown, and/or French)
Split peas
Black beans
Chick peas
Pinto beans
Kidney beans
White beans
Soy beans

Nuts and Seeds:
Pine Nuts

Peanuts
Walnuts
Pecans
Almonds
Cashews
Pistachios (no dye, please)
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds
(Nut or seed butters made from any of the above)

Dried fruit of all kinds

Oils:
Extra virgin Olive oil
Coconut oil (I like Nutiva brand)

Vinegars (cider, wine, sherry, rice, raspberry, balsamic)

Lemons and limes

Jars and cans of high-quality tomato products – plus a few esoteric, fancy imported items

Several boxes of Imagine Brand – or Trader Joe’s – vegetable and chicken  broth

coconut milk

popcorn--the regular pop-it-yourself kind

Dried herbs - variety (not too old – buy them frequently!)

Fresh herbs stored in water, like bouquets (or planted in flower pots)

In the larder (Note: Keep onions and potatoes separate! When stored together, they cause mutual rot.)
Onions
Garlic (not the kind in the jar)
Sweet Potatoes
Potatoes

In the refrigerator (organic as often as possible):
Milk
A few really good cheeses--Pecorino Romano is a standard here
Plain whole milk yogurt
Cottage cheese
butter
Hormone-free eggs
Tofu
Fresh, in-season fruit and vegetables (as many as will fit!)
Olives
Pickles, and marinated vegetables (preferably unsweetened)

In the freezer:
Various cuts of chicken and beef

Homemade beef and chicken stock in small containers (recipe soon)

Corn
Peas
Chopped spinach
Artichoke hearts
Unsweetened berries

Unsweetened pineapple and mango (for smoothies)

Homemade Granola (recipe soon)

Birthday Dinner

Christian (14) and Gracie (2) share a birthday and since Gracie hangs out at our house while her mom is in school, it was only natural to throw a family party for them.  We had steak salad, fruit salad, baked beans, tomato and mozzarella salad, rolls and custard cake. 

Steak salad:

Marinate a flank steak in Italian dressing overnight (or use a combination of Italian dressing and teriyaki). Grill it in the morning and boil the marinade.  Cut the steak into bite-sized pieces and continue to marinate in the fridge.  Boil some quartered red potatoes and marinate those in a vinaigrette dressing as well. When you are ready to assemble the salad, put the steak in the bottom of the bowl and the potatoes on top of the steak.  Cover with spring mix.  Add a layer of grated cheese. Sprinkle chopped red peppers on top.  Defrost frozen peas under running water and ring the perimeter of the bowl with peas.  This looks so pretty and the marinated meat and potatoes are more than enough dressing for the whole salad.  My kids are not picky eaters and they love this, but I've noticed that other kids do too.  Since it can all be done ahead and assembled quickly, it makes great summertime party fare. Note to my dear friend whose husband will eat neither beef nor cheese:  substitute chicken but do the same marinating before and after.  Substitute shredded carrots for the grated cheese but consider a thin layer of ranch dressing right beneath the carrots just to give it some body.

Let's be sure we all understand...

I reread the comments from the apron post and felt compelled to post another real picture.  Yes, my pantry does pretty much always look that way.  I like it like that and I have found I can control it.  But the pantry is in the mudroom and the mudroom is completely beyond my control, it seems. In the picture below, the pantry door is closed.  You can see it on the left; the shoe rack hangs on it. And now, you can also see the rest of the story...perfect pantry, imperfect mudroom.  It's all a work in progress.