Ugly Produce

This is just a small portion of my ugly produce bounty from today's trip to the market.

I read an article a few months back that talked about why tomatoes don't taste like tomatoes should.  The author of the article explained that the folks who produce tomatoes for grocery stores and club stores genetically alter the fruit in order to create tomatoes that are more uniform in color, shape, and size and to create a fruit that doesn't spoil as fast.  Wow!  Modern science has come a long way because we now have food that looks pretty and will last forever, but tastes like plastic.  Mmmmmm!  I don't know about you, but I really don't want to eat, nor feed my family, food that has been genetically altered in order to look pretty.  Seriously? It's Frankenproduce!

That being said, I have tried to buy all my produce from local growers and primarily at Farmers Markets.  The difference is absolutely amazing!  The only drawback is that it can get a little expensive and most Farmers Markets are only open on the weekends, which is fine, but we are family that does the bulk of our shopping mid week.

I recently found a small produce market that carries mostly local growers, is open all week, and has the best prices ever!!!!!  Not to mention they have ugly produce.  The tomatoes are lumpy and bumpy and discolored, but taste like tomatoes should.  The apples actually vary in size and are dull because they don't have a coating of wax.  I could go on and on, but I think you understand.  I am thrilled to say that I have found a place to buy ugly produce where I don't have to take out a second mortgage to do so.  Yay!

Follow Up to The Pantry

Well, I made the soup with the substitutions that I wrote about and the results are in.  My 19 month old daughter couldn't get it in her mouth fast enough and my husband said it was very good and had excellent flavor.  So, there you have it.  This improvisational cook was able to create a successful meal with the paltry offerings of her pantry and spice cabinet.  To see what that soup was and what the substitutions were you will have to go back and read the previous post.

The Pantry

Recently, my family moved.  As anyone who has moved knows, you work on dwindling down the things that you are taking with you, so as to lighten the moving load.  This means going through what you own and determining what is needed and what can be taken to Goodwill.  This also means eating as much of the food you have in your current home without having to make purchases that will end up just having to get packed and unpacked especially heavy, bulky cans.  This is purging is really quite beneficial, but it also has its drawbacks, especially as it comes to the pantry.

As any home chef knows, the key to improvisational cooking is having a well stocked pantry and spice cabinet.  Being an improvisational cook means that you are improvising with what you have on hand and if you don't have much on hand then you better hope that you have A LOT of creativity and even then that doesn't mean success.  Being an improvisational cook does not mean you can run out to the store for last minute ingredients.

I definitely consider myself to be an improvisational cook.  I personally think cooking is more fun that way.  However, right now I have a bit of a challenge.  My pantry is not back to its previous, before the move, state and I'm trying to come up with something for dinner.  I'm attempting a Vegetable Beef Barley soup without the beef, the broth and without the canned tomatoes and sauce.  I've got chicken, cream of chicken soup, and Ro-Tel to substitute for the missing ingredients.

I know that this can end up a major disaster, but I also know this could end up being one my family's favorites.  Here goes. Wish me luck.   I'll let you know what they thought.

My pantry actually has a little more than this in it.

This isn't my actual pantry.  I just wish that my was a full as this one.

Creativity in the Kitchen

It's been crazy in my home for the past few weeks.  We are in the process of moving which can just be a big pain to begin with, but then throw into the mix a toddler and a puppy.  I'm sure you can imagine.  Since we are moving in less than a week now, most of my kitchen is packed up, including all my spices.  I don't even have salt or pepper which means that I am limited in what I can make.  I don't like to eat processed foods and I really try to limit how much we eat, so because of all this I have come to realize that winning the battle of creating delicious meals for the whole family simply comes down to a little creativity.

Let's just say that I was able to make something yummy for dinner tonight that did not come out of a box and I was able to do it with the following ingredients.

Ground Turkey
Brown Rice
Teriyaki Sauce
Romaine Lettuce Leaves

So, what did I make.....my version of the Asian Lettuce Wrap.  I took four simple ingredients that I already had on hand and with a little creativity came up with something the whole family can enjoy!

Stuffed Peppers Gone Wrong

So, I like to play with my food and experiment in the kitchen, but not all my efforts meet with success.  I'm not too proud to admit that there have been quite a few times that I thought to myself, "Why did I do that?" after finally eating the finished product.  In fact, this just happened the other night.

My family loves stuffed peppers and I normally make them with ground turkey and rice.  It's a pretty standard recipe that many are familiar with, but I decided to try something new in it.  Instead of using rice, I thought that quinoa would be a good substitute.  I love quinoa and I use it in so many things, so I thought I couldn't go wrong.  Well, let me tell you, stick with the rice.

The peppers with quinoa weren't horrible, they had a good flavor, but the texture wasn't right and without the rice they were not substantial enough for a meal.  Both my husband and I left the table still hungry when normally we would be full.

So, now I know to keep the rice in the stuffed peppers and use the quinoa more in side dishes.  Lesson learned.

Turkey was cooked with tomato paste.

Quinoa was cooked.

Cooked quinoa was added to meat with additional seasoning.

Peppers were washed.

Then cut and prepared for stuffing mixture.

Stuffed peppers were placed in crock pot with 2 cups of water.

Peppers cooked for several hours.

Ground Turkey, Quinoa, and Broccoli Goodness

I was kind of in a pinch.  I needed to make dinner and pretty much only had ground turkey in the freezer.  I needed to make something that my husband, myself, and my 15 month old daughter would all eat.  Since I know that my husband likes to have well balanced meals that consist of a lean protein, carbohydrate and a vegetable I had to figure out what carb and veggie I would pair with the ground turkey. I was also feeling a bit lazy and wanted to make something pretty easy.  We had fresh broccoli in the frig, which my daughter LOVES, and we had brown rice, quinoa, and pasta in the pantry.  I am a huge fan of ground meat and rice, but didn't feel like rice because I was feeling lazy and didn't want to deal with the rice maker.  Pasta seemed an odd pairing since I wasn't planning on making even a light sauce, so quinoa it was.  From this was birthed my ground turkey, quinoa and broccoli goodness that has since become a family favorite.  You should see how much of this my daughter can and does eat!

It's very simple to make.

You'll need ground turkey, quinoa, fresh broccoli and the seasonings of your choice.

First, you need to start your water boiling for your quinoa and then you'll just follow the directions on the package to cook it.  You'll also want to start cooking your broccoli.  I have used both steamed broccoli and roasted broccoil in this dish.  I personally prefer the steamed broccoli, but my husband says like likes the roasted broccoli better.  It's just a matter of preference.

While the quinoa is getting started, you'll want to brown your ground turkey.  This is where it gets fun because you can get as creative as you like with the seasonings.  I always do some black pepper, but from there you can do just about anything.  I have used chili powder and garlic together.  I have used garlic and parsley.  I have also simply used a package of onion soup mix.  Taco seasoning is great too. You'll want to season to your liking.  We like bold flavors, so I'm a little heavy handed in adding the spices.

Once the turkey is cooked thoroughly and the quinoa and broccoli are cooked all you have to do is combine all the ingredients.  To make it easier and to have less clean up, I cook the turkey in a large dutch oven and then when I combine all the cooked ingredients I do the combining in the same dutch oven.

Voila!  You have a healthy dinner that consists of a lean protein, carbohydrate and vegetable that the whole family can enjoy!

This is so easy and so yummy that it has pretty much become a weekly staple in our home.  I hope your family enjoys it too.

Buy the Book not By the Book

A few of my cookbooks

I love books, love books, loves books!  I have bookshelves full of all sorts of books and I read  them too because I love to read. Before my daughter was born she had an entire four shelf bookshelf filled with books.  I even have multiple shelves of cookbooks and, yes, I read those too.  Read cookbooks, you say?  Yes, I actually read them and funny thing is, I very rarely actually use a recipe from one of those cookbooks.  Let me explain.

My first cookbook

The first cookbook I ever bought was The Santa Fe School of Cooking Cookbook.  I was fresh out of college and working at my first real job.  One of my friend's that I worked with was given that cookbook by her boss and after thumbing through it I decided that I had to have it too, especially since it had a recipe for Salsa Fresca which I loved.  From that cookbook I learned how to pair Southwestern flavors and it was that cookbook that began my love affair with cookbooks. 

My second cookbook

The next cookbook I purchased was actually a vegetarian cookbook even though I am and have always been a meat lover.  Irony, I know.  I was actually intrigued by the artistic aspects of the cookbook and learned that the food I prepare is an artistic expression of who I am.


On my shelf are countless church/school potluck fundraiser cookbooks which all have variations of the same recipes.  These are the comfort food bibles, the cookbooks where I learned the power of a casserole to build community, make friends, and comfort the hurting.


I have quite a few Weight Watcher cookbooks which have been tremendous with helping me lose weight.  With loving food as much as I do I had to make sure that what I was making was healthy and would help me lose weight and then maintain that weight loss.  These cookbooks taught me great substitutions for the higher calorie and higher fat foods that I used to love oh so much.  I also really began to learn how to use all those spice jars in my pantry, as well as, fresh herbs to give my food flavor without extra calories.  Invaluable lessons!

My latest and most favorite

My most recent cookbook purchases have been from the folks at America's Test Kitchen and their sisters, Cook's Country and Cook's Illustrated.   All I can say is, "Wow!"  These folks know their way around a kitchen and they know what works and doesn't work in recipes.  I have probably learned the most from them.  They actually have little articles about the ingredients and the equipment they use in every cookbook they publish.  Every suggestion of theirs that I have tried has been right on the money.  


By reading the countless cookbooks I have on my bookshelves I have become a better cook even though I don't usually cook by the book.  Those cookbooks are really, more or less, reference books and I am sure thankful that I have such a nice reference library in my kitchen.

 

Successes and Edible Mistakes

I can remember from a very early age that I loved to play with my food!  When I was really little I used to make cakes out of mud that was until my mother bought me my first Easy Bake Oven.  Then I got to make real cakes.  When I was a bit older my primary chore in the house was preparing dinner.  My mom was a single mom and worked, so it really helped her out, not to mention it was fun for me.  I mastered a mean quiche at the time!

I found that as I got older I would try to create meals based on what I had a taste for and what ingredients we had handy at home.  I would experiment.  Sometimes my creations were a success and sometimes, let's just say they were edible.

Not much has changed since that time.  I still create meals based on what I have a taste for and I still base my creations on what is handy in my pantry.  Fortunately, as I have matured I have learned a few things about what pairs well and what to avoid, so there seem to be more successes rather than edible mistakes.

Some of what I have learned I have learned through trial and error.  Some of what I have learned I learned from watching countless cooking programs on PBS.  And still some of what I have learned I have learned from cookbooks and conversations with people who I consider to be excellent cooks.

I do not claim to be an expert.  I have absolutely no formal training.  Simply put, I enjoy food.  And now, I enjoy making food for my husband, 16 month old daughter, as well as myself.

Let the experiments begin!