Food is Food

I was recently on a "booze cruise" with a bunch of moms (and excuse me while I cry for not being there this very second).  We sailed along on a water ferry, drinking wine, eating appetizers and talking about how our kids and husbands drive us crazy!  Juuuuuust kiddddddding.  Anyways.  Someone made these Spinach Balls and they were FANTASTIC.  I asked her if I could share the recipe and she said yes, so here it is!  Funny story though, I made them over the weekend and forgot one giant ingredient: the 3/4 cup of butter.  I realized this after my first bite and wondered why they didn't taste as addictive as they had on the boat.  Butter... butter makes everything better.  However, they were still pretty good without the butter so if you're in the mood to make them SUPER healthy, you can go ahead and omit it.  (But I wouldn't recommend it cause I don't recommend those kind of things.) 

(Makes approx. 45)

2 packages 10oz. frozen chopped spinach, thawed

3/4 cup butter, melted

1 small yellow onion, diced

4 eggs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 cups seasoned bread crumbs

1/4 tsp pepper

Pinch of salt (I was generous here)

Combine all ingredients, roll into small bowls, place on a baking sheet (I greased mine) and bake for about 20 minutes at 350 degrees, until the edges are golden.  Enjoy!

The next morning I sautéed the leftovers in BUTTER and added a fried egg.  Yum.

I was away last weekend in Wisconsin, indulging in amazing food and drink with even more amazing friends.  After eating whatever I pleased for 3 days straight, I felt the need to make something light and comforting last night.  A "Meatless Monday" meal, if you will.  (Wait.  Was yesterday Monday?  I don't even know these things anymore.)  I was perusing the squash, gourd and pumpkin display at Trader Joe's, and I got the idea to make a bowl with spaghetti squash as the base (instead of rice or noodles).  It was delicious, and I will make it again and again...

I halved the squash, scooped out the seeds and roasted it on a baking sheet for 45 minutes in a 350 degree oven.  Then, I scraped out the "noodles" with a fork, drizzled them with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper.  I topped my bowl with sautéed brussel sprouts (chopped) and shiitake mushrooms (always weirds me out that word has two 'i's'), boiled sweet corn, avocado and sriracha.   

By the way, this also would have been perfect with a soft-boiled egg on top, but for whatever reason I've lost my ability to properly execute that culinary technique.  And that is a fancy way of me saying, WTF... why can't I soft boil an egg anymore??!??  I keep trying, and trying, but it won't peel, and it's like EXTREMELY raw inside.  What am I doing wrong, people, what, what??  

Are you there, God?  It's me, Margaret.    

Friendly friends!  I am back from vacation.  I am officially home, being an official, productive mom.  I am putting my kids to bed before 8pm (after lots and LOTS of nighttime reading), we are eating only the healthiest of foods, and I've stopped drinking wine!  Except for all of this is a lie.

Ok not all of it.  I AM home.  Vacation IS over.  I am ATTEMPTING to be productive.

I even cooked up a Today Original pasta dish this morning, and if you missed it you can check out the segment and view the recipe here.  Baby steps to waking up early.

But GUESS WHAT?!  I am going to post a recipe every, single, day this week.  So take THAT you lazy, indulgent, carefree, delicious summer.  Take that.  

Photos by Samantha Okazaki

You know those "first kid, second kid" commercials?  I think that perhaps I write them in my sleep and submit them to the diaper companies.  There is nothing more true than how much your parenting mentality changes from one kid to the next.  Our first kid had only age appropriate toys that I sterilized once every few weeks in a bucket of soapy water.  Our third kid plays with (and sucks on) my car keys.  It's just the way it goes!  Similarly, I made ALL of Jack's baby food.  All of it.  Down to pureed ground lamb, turkey and chicken that I called "meat paste" - oh man, did it look revolting.  Second and third baby?  Well, I definitely made a few things... but those baby food pouches are just SO convenient (enter major mom guilt!).  

However, I always say to new moms: it is SO simple to make homemade baby food.  Chop, steam, blend... it's truly that easy.  You can even make large batches of food at once and freeze individual portions.  Products like the Baby Brezza make the process foolproof.  At the touch of a button, you can steam and blend your food at desired intervals, or you can steam only, blend only, etc.  The other day, I made a smoothie for London with strawberries, mango, banana and yogurt, and with the leftovers I made frozen push-pops for the big kids.  6 thumbs up from them!  I do math!  

(Makes 4 small glasses, or 4 frozen push-pops)

1/2 cup fresh or frozen strawberries, roughly chopped

1/2 cup fresh or frozen mango, roughly chopped

1/2 banana, sliced

1/2 cup whole milk yogurt

Place first 3 ingredients into the Baby Brezza.  Choose the 'Steam and Blend Only' feature for 15 minutes.  Once the fruit has been blended, add the yogurt, and choose the 'Blend Only' feature until your desired consistency is reached.  Pour into glasses and place in fridge to cool.  I poured some into push-pop molds and froze for the big kids. 

Found my "Cool Cones" at Michael's, but can also be purchased here.

We eat a lot of burgers in our house, especially in the summer.  Turkey burgers (here & here), chicken burgers (here & here & here), veggie burgers (here & here), fish burgers (here) or your classic and DELICIOUS beef burger.  And while I see nothing wrong with topping these burgers with cheese, bacon or onions and mushrooms (sautéed in butter, obviously), I thought I'd change it up a bit and search for healthier and more unique alternatives.

Instead of lettuce, try chopped bok choy sautéed in garlic.  Instead of pickles, try lightly sautéed yellow squash or zucchini.  It's almost impossible for me to eat a burger without tomatoes and avocado, so I had to include those.  But other ideas: roasted red peppers, pickled carrots or crispy kale.  And instead of basic ketchup and mustard, I tried out two different greek yogurt toppings: one with a dash of sriracha and the other with lime juice and lime zest.  Also, the vessel?  One half of a toasted English muffin instead of a bun.  Not exactly easy to eat, but delicious nonetheless.   

Doesn't that look pretty?  All assembled and ready to eat, yes?!  Well SECONDS after this photo was shot, this happened...

The glamorous life of a food blogger... always in a rush to photograph your food and then EAT it.  Oh, and don't worry, I put it all back on my plate and did just that.  Judge away!

Do you have a purpose when you go to the Farmer's Market?  I usually wander around aimlessly, wanting everything but afraid to commit.  It would probably benefit me to treat it like any food shopping experience, with some sort of recipe or meal plan in mind.  But sadly, I'm not that organized of a person.  Especially when it comes to food.  The old, Dutch, fat man that lives inside of my appetite usually takes over, and I want to buy everything... but I always chicken out and leave with next to nothing.  It's very frustrating!  I need help from you people that instragram your Farmer's Market purchases every Sunday, because I know you're better at it than me.

Last week, I left with radishes and golden beets.  That's it!  No one in my house even likes them, besides me!  (Oh, and I also bought a log of mozzarella cheese because... fat man.)  I was determined to not let my purchases sit there mockingly, until they shriveled up with mold.  So I prepared them both in the easiest ways possible, roasting one and quickly sautéing the other.  And guess what?  My family loved them!  (My family = Carson, my kids eat nothing.)  See below for my techniques...   

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Wash beets and trim the leafy stems (reserving if you wish, they're edible).  Place beets on a baking sheet lined with foil.  Sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Place another piece of foil on top of beets.  Roast in oven for 45 minutes to an hour.  Once cooled slightly, peel the skin off of the beets.  Slice, sprinkle with more olive oil, salt and pepper and serve!

Wash radishes and thinly slice them.  In a sauce pan, heat a tablespoon of unsalted butter and a tablespoon of olive oil.  Saute over medium heat for 15-20 minutes, until they caramelize (sometimes I add sliced shallots as well).  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

If you're unfamiliar with my "TODAY tonight" series, it's when Carson won't stop talking about something he ate at work, so I make it at home to shut him up.  However, this time around, I didn't even have to wait to hear him rave.  I was watching Aarti Sequeira on the show and I instantly wanted everything she cooked.  She made cauliflower three ways, and I could practically taste the vibrant, Indian flavors through my TV screen.  

It was the "cauliflower steak" with a lime yogurt sauce that made me run to the store for the vegetable.  I cook cauliflower a lot, but something as simple as cutting it differently and marinating it with different spices completely transformed it for me.  I am obsessed.  Even my son loved it!  I will make this again, and again, and again.  Recipe here.

And speaking of Today Food and vegetables, I will be there tomorrow trying to get Carson to eat a particular one he doesn't like... wish me luck!

We served it with a version of this salad because we just can't get enough.

People, it's hot.  Like, real hot.  Like, I thought I'd sit outside for a minute with my computer and let my just-showered-hair (after 3, fine 4 days) dry in the summer breeze until I realized my boobs were already sweating HOT.  When it's this hot, I feel the need to eat really light, probably because my body feels bloated and heavy and I also want nothing to do with the kitchen.  This is, eat lots of vegetables (and sip white wine for lunch?) type of weather.  But I always forget how easy it is to throw a salad together for lunch.  For some reason it doesn't SEEM easy, but with leftovers involved and some minor weekend prep, a week-day salad can be effortless.  See the one I just made below...

Serves 3

1 bag frozen quinoa with vegetables* (or 2 cups cooked quinoa)

3 cups baby kale

1 cup shredded roasted chicken

1 avocado, diced

3 Tbsp pine nuts, toasted

1/3 cup crumbled greek ricotta** (or goat cheese, or feta)

Balsamic glaze

Olive oil

Salt and pepper

Prepare quinoa as instructed on bag (I did this Sunday night and kept it in tupperware).  Assemble rest of ingredients and toss.  Drizzle with balsamic glaze and olive oil, and season to taste with salt and pepper. 

*Found this in the organic section of the freezer.

**Sometimes I get in a feta/goat cheese rut, so I tried this Greek ricotta the other day and I'm OBSESSED!  So creamy.

Sometimes, when I think I have absolutely NOTHING in the house to cook for dinner, I remember that I have tomatoes and I have pasta, therefore I have a meal.  By slowly cooking cherry tomatoes until they blister and pop, you create a delicious sauce, and it couldn't be easier.  I just heat up one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat, add the tomatoes, season them with salt and pepper, and cook them for however long I want.  Sometimes as little as 10 minutes, sometimes for as long as 30.  Sometimes I add minced garlic or shallots.  Sometimes fresh basil at the end (and a dash of cream?!).  But I always add them to cooked pasta, and I always top it with lots of Parmesan cheese.     

I hope you're all getting ready to enjoy your holiday weekends!  I wrote another article for the Today Show Parenting Team about summer... and how I'm TRYING to keep it simple and fun (and messy... I keep chanting "let kids be messy, let kids be messy" - it helps with the OCD).  

You can read it (and vote!) here.

There's nothing more frustrating than the dinnertime rut... that familiar tug and pull between making the same old thing, trying something new (but what??) and calling the delivery guy.  This is the main reason I've been dying to try Blue Apron, they take the guessing game out of your nightly routine!  If you don't know about Blue Apron, it's a pretty fabulous service that sends out weekly recipes with pre-portioned, fresh ingredients in one convenient box.  The meals are simple, yet unique, so you'll most likely try something you hadn't thought of making!  You still get to do the cooking, but they make your prep very easy, and the recipes are extremely easy to follow with step-by-step photos as you go along.  Carson and I tried out the 2-person meal plan for one week, and the other night I made the Miso Roasted Chicken with Spring Peas and Jasmine Rice.

As a fan of miso, I LOVED this.  The chicken was roasted perfectly in the oven, and the spring peas brightened everything up.  I had never worked with pea shoots before, so that was fun to try, and the chopped nuts sprinkled on top gave the meal a wonderful texture.  Some comments on the site say the dish is too salty, but I didn't really think so (I should mention, however, that I LOVE salt).  I give this dish a two thumbs up, and I give Blue Apron three thumbs up!  (I have three thumbs, it's amazing the things you learn about me on this site.)    

I've never been a huge football fan, or I guess I should say, I just don't understand the sport.  I've had a countless number of guys (and a girl) try to explain the rules to me and they go in one ear and out the other.  I'm the fairest of fair weather fans, flip flopping all over the place between my home state team (Vikings), my college state team (Green Bay), my current state's team (Jets) or my man's team (Raider's).  However, I love hearing and seeing it on the TV, because it goes very well with a cozy fire, a dark beer and a bowl of chili.  Like this chili!  This ridiculously tasty and HEALTHY chili.  

Joy Bauer, the Nutrition and Health Expert for the Today Show, is quickly becoming my favorite source for quick, easy and healthy dinners (she was also the genius behind these).  I am a HUGE fan of anything buffalo, which usually translates into mucho calories.  However, Joy was able to take the flavor of everyone's favorite buffalo wings and transform it into a savory bowl of chili.  It's ground chicken, veggies (I added some onions along with the carrots and celery) with a broth of vegetable juice, mixed together with spices and your favorite hot sauce and topped with a creamy whipped mixture of greek yogurt and blue cheese.  SO GOOD!  You can make the whole thing in 30 minutes, however I chose to throw everything in the crock pot and let it simmer for 4 hours on high.         

Make this!  Perfect for that big football game next week.  Recipe here.

*We also added Terra Stix for a crunchy topping.

Luckily for me, Carson often comes home with the best recipes (as seen in this series).  It's easy to get in a rut when you have a food blog, so I always welcome new ideas, especially if they have to do with peanut butter, banana and chocolate.  OBVIOUSLY.  Now you know I'm not overly concerned with nutritional facts, especially when it comes to desserts, but these little guys are only 155 calories each.  I was Math Student of the Month once in Middle School so I know that means you can eat like 17 of them all at once.  No really!  Dark chocolate with a whipped peanut butter banana center, gah.  I've kept mine in the freezer, because they're delicious that way.  

You can find the recipe here or here.

*Tip: when putting the first layer of chocolate down, use a spoon to push it up on the sides, which will help your "cup" shape take form.