Food
I’m Starting to Like Zucchini Because I Hide It In All the Foods
It’s true. I’m starting to like zucchini. Not on its own. Goodness no. I haven’t hopped on the crazy train. Yet. I’ve been hiding zucchini in all sorts of meals for the past month or so and no one in my family has noticed. Not even “he who has the refined palate” aka Handy Husband. The trick is to grate the zucchini up so that it blends in well! (I use my cheese grater for this task.) I’ve put grated zucchini in soup and chili, spaghetti, lasagna, pizza sauce and pesto. It blends really nice with the green pesto. Last year I also put zucchini into blueberry muffins. That was more…
Moving to Ireland: Grocery Look Alikes
There are certain things I take for granted about life in the United States. Going to the grocery store is one of them. I have my routine. I know where everything is located. I know what’s a good deal. I can cruise through the grocery store on autopilot grabbing the items we use most frequently. In my experience, the hardest thing about moving to Ireland thus far is the mental effort that every single little thing, like going to the grocery store, takes. Even though I can thankfully read the labels, I can’t cruise through the store on autopilot. How do I know if Tomato Sauce A or Tomato Sauce B tastes…
Irony, Thy Name is Child
I mentioned my kids have really grown up this summer. Further evidence of this happened last week when my son decided to make his own lunch. Apparently the chef was too slow for his liking. His “take matters into his own hands” approach suited this chef just fine. He got out the bread, peanut butter, jam. I stayed in the other room with my eyes averted and my ears plugged. My son is a relatively picky eater. Among other things, he refuses to eat the crusts on bread – any bread. It drives Handy Husband nuts that I indulge him by cutting the crusts off. My logic is less bread is wasted this…
Berry Balsamic Vinaigrette – With Just 3 Ingredients
You saw pictures of my wine fridge kitchen fridge in our temporary Irish home, right? There’s not a lot of room for condiments let alone wine food. It’s like having a dorm room-sized fridge and having to feed a wild pack of hungry beasts a family of four one gajillion meals every day. I should really get over my resistance to eating out. Also, when we get our permanent residence, we have to move all of the stuff we have from here to there. My suitcases were already overweight when I arrived. True story. Now I also have to consider moving the “extra” stuff like food as well. Did I mention…
Dragon Cake
You might think my longest relationship is with my husband. Not so. My longest relationship is with my friend Kari. She moved across the country road from me when we were about 12 years old and pretty much brightened my whole world. She still does that! I’m well aware of the friendship code, so there’s no way I’m going to talk about our actual ages on the Internet. It is safe to say we’ve known each other since big bangs and AquaNet were all the rage. In other words, a really long time. She knows stuff about me that I have long forgotten – sometimes purposefully. And vice versa. One…
Deconstructed Fresh Berry Oatmeal Crisp
What do you get when you combine fresh berries, pie, oatmeal cookies and homemade whipped cream? Heaven. You get Heaven on your tongue. Yes, it is that glorious. My inspiration for this treat was my inability to pick a dessert. Kidding. Not kidding. Actually, way back in the day, around 2 B.K. (before kids), my husband and I would frequently dine at an amazing restaurant in Eden Prairie, Minnesota, called Wildfire Grill. The chef made a berry crisp with sweetened, fresh (not cooked) berries and ice cream. The kicker was that the crisp part of the recipe was tiny oatmeal crisps. Kind of like mini oatmeal cookies. It’s hard to describe,…
Dave’s Killer Bread Sandwich Thins
For the carb conscious, bread makers did a smart thing. They created really thin slices of bread – two heels, really – and marketed them as sandwich thins. Let’s boil this down. By giving you less bread, they can charge more money and you thank them. Marketing 101. My daughter loves these sandwich thins. She’s 8. She doesn’t care about carbs or calories. Frankly, the metabolism of an 8-year-old is wasted on an 8-year-old. What I wouldn’t do for that metabolism. The real reason why she loves the sandwich thins is that compared to the nutrient dense homemade bread I make, this stuff takes like candy. I’m not opposed to her…
Recipes I’d Like to Try
Happy April Fool’s Day! One thing I don’t joke about is food. Here are a few recipes that are on my list to try soon. Very, very soon. Apple Spinach Bacon Salad via Serena Bakes Simply from Scratch This salad looks DIVINE and it looks like a really tasty excuse to eat bacon. All the bacon. Baked Salmon with Parmesan Herb Crust via Add a Pinch I always keep frozen salmon fillets on-hand for an easy weeknight dinner. I’ve had good luck with the individually vacuum-sealed and frozen salmon you can find at any grocery store these days. Usually I drizzle olive oil and cajun season on the salmon, wrap it…
Homemade Thin Mint Ice Cream
I consider myself fairly progressive and that’s why on Sunday I had my trusty circa 1999 boombox with the crooked antenna tuned into NPR’s Weekend Edition. I was ready to get caught up on the news while I ironed some laundry (yes, my life is that glamorous) when I heard the show’s host ask her guest if Girl Scout cookies are oversaturated in the market. Huh? Was there not any real news this weekend? The show went on to talk about what you can do if you are just so tired of eating your regular ol’ Girl Scout cookies straight from the box. I’m all for mixing things up and we’re going to…
Learning Fractions the Banana Bread Way
Last week bananas were piling up on my kitchen counter. It was quickly becoming a DEFCON “EWWW” situation. I needed to bring resolution to the predicament ASAP because I really, really don’t like to waste produce. Enter my favorite banana bread recipe which uses 4 bananas. Not a problem! I had 6 bananas. I was going to leave the other two bananas sitting there all lonely and forlorn on the counter when I realized I didn’t have to waste them. I could make a batch and a half of banana bread because I’m good with fractions. I went to public school, folks. I know what you are thinking. “Annisa, this is starting off as…
