Wishful Slacker

What to eat when Daddy is away...

Jim left this morning for a few days in Boston for work, and a couple days ago I realized with a bit of panic that we were TOTALLY out of food, and in holding down the fort for a few days this needed to be quickly rectified. I had to go into work yesterday and because of that did not work today, though Ellie was still in daycare. And so I got to go to Target. Alone. Who knew that such joyous bliss could be achieved in an act as simple as shopping without a child in tow?

And then the rotten kid had the nerve to steal one of my potato smileys. How is that for gratitude, I ask?

Maple Sausage and Waffle Breakfast Casserole

Happy July 4th! 

We have cooked up this breakfast casserole twice and it is really good.  Think of all the things you like about breakfast food- eggs, cheese, sausage, waffles, and syrup.  This casserole contains all of these goodies combined.  We have reheated leftovers in the toaster oven and they were just as good as the first go-around.

A lovely thing about a breakfast casserole like this one is the ability to prep it the night before.  It can be assembled in a few simple steps and then refrigerated for an hour or overnight.  The next morning as you stumble out of bed and remember with panic that you invited someone over for breakfast, all you do is let the dish sit on the counter for 20 minutes at room temperature and then stick it in the oven.  An hour later you have a fantastic hot and hearty breakfast!  To round out the meal, serve this alongside some fruit and orange juice (And some champagne- you deserve it!).


I nibbled a bit off of this piece before taking this photo.  Sorry!

Maple Sausage and Waffle Breakfast Casserole
Adapted from The Best of America's Test Kitchen, 2007

Ingredients
6-8 frozen waffles (Eggo Homestyle waffles are best)
12 oz maple breakfast sausage, crumbled
Unsalted butter (for the dish)
6 oz cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1 1/2 cups)
6 large eggs
1 1/4 cups whole or lowfat milk (we used 2%)
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper

1. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 375 degrees.  Arrange the waffles in a single layer on a baking sheet and bake until crisp, about 10 minutes per side.

2. Brown the sausage in a nonstick skillet over medium heat, breaking it apart with a spoon, 8 to 10 minutes.  Drain on a plate lined with paper towels.

3. Butter an 8-inch-square baking dish and add half the waffles in a single layer (I used two whole waffles plus one cut in half for better coverage).  Add half of the sausage and 1/2 cup of the cheese.  Repeat the layering of the waffles, sausage, and 1/2 cup cheese.  Whisk the eggs, milk, maple syrup, salt, and pepper together in a medium bowl until combined.  Pour the egg mixture evenly over the casserole.  Cover the dish with plastic wrap and place weights on top (*** see below).  Refrigerate the casserole for at least 1 hour or overnight. 

4. Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees.  Let the casserole stand at room temperature for 20 minutes.  Uncover the casserole and sprinkle the remaining 1/2 cup of cheese over the top.  Bake the casserole until the edges and center are puffed, 45 to 50 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes before serving.

***America's Test Kitchen has a great suggestion for refrigerating this casserole.  The risk of doing any type of egg and bread casserole is that some of the bread may not end up fully submerged by the egg mixture and therefore might cook up dry and inconsistent in texture with the rest of the dish.  To avoid this, cover the casserole dish with a layer of plastic wrap.  Set another baking dish on top of the plastic-covered one (we happen to have a second 8X8 Pyrex dish that nestles right inside our Le Crueset dish).  On top of that, place four food cans, and place the entire set up in the fridge.  The cans will weigh down the top dish and push down on the casserole, allowing the entire dish to become absorbed by the egg.  It's a handy trick!

This casserole can be doubled and placed into a 13 by 9-inch baking dish.  Add 30-40 minutes to the cooking time if you choose to double it.  We might do this next time and see how well the leftovers freeze. 

Five Years, Pizza, and Logistics

Thursday marked our 5th year anniversary of moving to the great city of Chicago!  It is hard to believe that it was 5 years ago since our line of cars and a Uhaul ventured across I-94 to set up shop here.  In honor of this milestone, Jim is stopping at Pequods on his way home from the barbershop to bring us the one object that symbolizes most to us how much we enjoy living here.  We are also hoping to go to Leo's Coney Island on Southport at some point as our way of paying homage to our Detroit-area roots.  We love the new Leo's and it really is practically down the street from us.  It is about time Chicago has a Coney Island!  The last time we went into this Leo's restaurant I was pregnant and became nauseous halfway through the meal.  I apologetically made Jim construct an accordion block using menus so I couldn't look at his coney dogs.  That poor guy had to put up with so much of my crap last year!!!

We wanted to go on our important Chicago anniversary dinner on Thursday, but, we have a baby now and it becomes almost a game when we try to venture out to a restaurant:
Has the baby taken a good nap this afternoon? 
No.  Little stinker wouldn't nap.
Will we sit outside or in? 
Oh, is there the option to sit outside?  Is it in the sun?  We'll need her sunscreen.  And a hat.  Will her stroller fit in that area?
I don't know. 
Well, we don't need to bring the stroller.  We could always put her in the Ergo carrier for our walk there- don't you think?  Or should we just bring the stroller and lock it somewhere?  Should we bring your bike lock?  And then what will we do with her once we get there?  Is she old enough for a restaurant high chair now?
She could probably handle it.
Oh, but wait.  We have a high chair cover.  We should probably bring that.  I saw on the news the other day that restaurant high chairs can be dirtier than public toilets.  We've never used it before.  Let's take it out of its box.  Do you know how it fits onto the high chair? 
Nope.

Let's just say we didn't make it to Leo's, especially since our window of opportunity lay between Jim's return from work at 6 and the baby's bedtime routine at 7.  Each time we bring up when we might be able to go, we cycle through the same list of questions!

How come this conversation is never featured on Johnson & Johnson's "Having a baby changes everything" commercials?????  We now have a whole new appreciation for take out.  :-)

Thank you, Chicago, for the past 5 years!

Some good recipes

I've been holding onto some good (and healthy!) recipes recently and am finally getting to share them.  Or at least I will try to share them now- little E is asleep so this all rests upon how long she decides to snooze!

I stumbled upon a website called Vegetarian Nation a couple months ago during a google search for stuffed bell peppers.  We buy our red bell peppers from Costco but of course we then end up with 6 bell peppers that we don't want to waste!  What I like about these two recipes from Vegetarian Nation is that they are more or less "measure-less," meaning that you can basically eyeball everything and only add the ingredients you want.  AND, for both this recipe and the next one, we managed to make enough of the filling that we were able to freeze the leftovers and have more for later (which worked really well for both). 

So, the first is quinoa stuffed bell peppers.  We've made them with both red and green bell peppers.  In addition to freezing the filling and making the meal a second time (next time we are inundated with bell peppers), the filling on its own is also delicious. 

I cropped my hand out of the picture below but for some reason it keeps uploading with my hand still in the shot.  Why does this keep happening?  Does this computer/iphoto/typepad have some type of grudge against me?!  I'm sorry folks, you'll have to deal with my hand.  Ugh!  
Next we made these yummy spinach and black bean enchiladas.  We used Frontera Grill green enchilada sauce which we found at Whole Foods.  I happened to make enough filling that we were able to stretch this dish into three meals!  And, making it using leftover filling that has been frozen and thawed is amazingly easy for a good weeknight meal.  Stop on your way home and pick up some wheat tortillas, enchilada sauce, and sour cream and Mexican-blend shredded cheese if you don't have any at home, and then put it all together at home and pop the dish in the oven.  E-A-S-Y.  And you have leftovers for lunch the next day too!  We made it extra pretty the first time by adding some cilantro and tomatoes on top, but that part can be easily omitted if you wish to keep things simple!

Lastly, last week we made the easiest soup that I have ever made.  It was the simplest thing in the world, and was yummy.  And, for other mamas out there, I set aside a little of the soup, pureed it in the food processor, and then threw it in the freezer.  I'm thinking in a month or so once we have introduced more foods to the baby, this will be a great meal for her. 

And yes, tomorrow is supposed to be ninety degrees here, so we're not really thinking of soup, but with how the weather has been recently it will probably end up back in the 40s next week so this soup will be perfect then :-)

Simple Turkey Soup (from Rival Crock Pot Slow Cooker recipe book)
2 lbs ground turkey, cooked and drained
1 can (28 oz) whole tomatoes, undrained
2 cans (14 oz each) beef broth (we used a 32 oz carton and threw it all in)
1 bag (16 oz) frozen mixed soup vegetables (we got a combo bag with green beans, corn, and carrots)
1/2 cup uncooked barley
1 tsp salt
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp ground coriander
black pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker and add water to cover if needed.  Cook on high 3 to 4 hours or until barley and vegetables are tender.

COULD THAT BE ANY EASIER?  You can always add more veggies or extra diced tomatoes, etc to this if you've got a bigger crowd.

Enjoy!

If you are bored, you can always count the number of times I used the word "EASY" in this post! 
And look at that, I have made a blog post, and the baby has just woken up! 

Basil Veggies and Bulgar Wheat Pilaf

I am posting this almost more for myself than anyone else.  Now by making a blog entry I will always be able to answer that question, "Now how did I make that dish using bulgar again???" 

My friend Christina passed on to me a Basil Veggies with Couscous recipe a few years ago which we cook up all the time.  After a weekend of eating lots of meat (hamburgers on pretzel rolls- YUM!-, Art Smith's fried chicken) we were due for a good veggie meal.  We bought a cute little basil plant a few weeks ago from Jewel-Osco which has been flourishing nicely by our bedroom window, and it was time to bring in the harvest.  We didn't have any couscous, but we have quite a lot of bulgar.  I found a bulgar pilaf recipe from Cooks.com that I changed a little bit, and here it is!  The beauty of it is that you can augment it based on what you like best.  I'm not a huge fan of zucchini (well, I like zucchini, just not a lot of it), so this time around I only used 1 instead of 2.  The dish was really good, and quite different than the version with couscous.  The bulgar adds a nuttiness and I liked the texture.  Oh! And the best part was that a month or so ago we had some celery and onion that we weren't going to use, so I chopped them up, poured them into labelled Ziploc bags (about 1/2 cup per bag), and threw them into the freezer.  So for the bulgar I just added the onion and celery straight from the freezer.

Basil Veggies and Bulgar Wheat Pilaf

2T minced fresh basil
2T balsamic vinegar
1T olive oil
1/4 t salt
2 crushed garlic cloves
1-2 medium zucchini cut into one inch slices
1 medium yellow bell pepper cut into one inch pieces
1 red bell pepper cut into one inch pieces
1 medium red onion cut into 8 wedges
1 8oz package mushrooms

For the Bulgar:
2 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion
1 cup bulgar wheat
2 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 tsp dried dill
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 425. Combine first 5 ingredients in a large bowl. Add zucchini, peppers, onion and mushroom. toss well to coat. Arrange in single layer in shallow pan. Cover and bake at 425 for 35 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally.

While veggies are cooking, melt butter in large skillet (~medium heat).  Add celery and onion and stir until tender.  Add bulgar and cook until golden (I stirred for a couple minutes).  Add seasonings and chicken broth.  Cover and bring to a boil.  Simmer for ~15 minutes. 

We then spooned the bulgar into low-bowls and topped with the veggies.  Yummm!

I ate it so quickly I didn't even snap a picture.  The chopped up veggies looked gorgeous before I spread them on the baking sheet to cook. 

Very easy slow cooker recipe

We have gotten into the tradition in past years of making a Mexican dish for Cinco de Mayo.  One year we made a very complex tortilla soup from scratch (including the broth) that was unbelievable.  All day at work I looked forward to eating it so it fell into that category of "we made it special even though we're just eating on our laps at home" that I love. 

This year Cinco de Mayo fell on a Thursday and, with baby juggling, we needed something quick and simple.  As luck would have it, I came across a recipe that really could not have been easier.  It calls for lean pork stew meat, but we are guessing that many cuts of meat would work well with this combination.  It also has you brown the pork before adding it to the slow cooker, but Jim read in one of his cookbooks that sometimes meat tastes even better if you don't brown it ahead of time.  So, you could even try skipping that step if you'd like :-) 

Here is is- Easy Peasy Pork Stew in Chile Verde
Adapted from The Gourmet Slow Cooker by Lynn Alley

Add ~3 tbsp vegetable oil to a saute pan over medium-high heat.  Add about 2 pounds lean pork stew meat (cut into cubes) and cook until browned on all sides.  Transfer meat to slow cooker.  Add 1 (32 ounce) can green chile sauce (we got 3-8 ounce packets of Frontera Grill's green enchilada sauce) and 1 (16 ounce) jar chunky green chile salsa and mix together.  Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.  Serve with chopped cilantro if desired.  We served this over white rice.

The meal is completely void of vegetables, which you could change, of course.  But it was incredibly simple and the dish had a nice smoky zip.  We would definitely make it again and might try a pulled pork or something like that.  Enjoy!

Cookin', cookin', cookin'

Jim was overcome by a very powerful cooking muse on Sunday, and each time I turned around there was some new item coming out of our kitchen!  French toast....stuffed pork chops cooked in tomato sauce....and baklava.  Try walking past a tray of baklava without grabbing a piece each and every time..... :-D

Mmmmm cupcake

Jim headed out Wednesday afternoon after the blizzard to dig out some Zipcars from nearby parking lots (I was like, "Man, hon, I wish I could help, but you know, I need to take care of the baby and all...").  He came back a few hours later holding a Starbucks coffee cup and a 4 pack of red velvet cupcakes.  "Starbucks is selling their cupcakes in 4 packs now!" he exclaimed, setting the cakes down on the counter.  I was going to remind him that there were actually two of us (well, 3 really, but the third hasn't started on solids yet), and not four, but I was momentarily hushed by the beauty of this arrival.  Red velvet cupcakes.  I love red velvet cupcakes.

I wasn't so sure how I would like Starbucks red velvet cupcakes.  But holy goodness, they are really fantastic.  I have never been a huge fan of cake frosting (honest!), but the frosting on these cupcakes is unbelievably good.  It's not too rich and not too bland, not too firm yet not too creamy.  The actual red velvet cake is also terrific, really moist and delicious.

Remember how there were FOUR cupcakes?  Well, this is what a good wife I am.  Jim brought the four cupcakes home on Wednesday, at which time we each had one.  This left two cupcakes, and Jim left early the next morning for Boston.  Thursday night I had one more cupcake, and then ALL day Friday I eyed that one remaining cupcake but DID NOT TOUCH IT.  "EAT THIS NOW BECAUSE I'VE BEEN STARING AT IT ALL DAY!" I urgently pushed the remaining cupcake toward him as soon as he walked through the door.  Then he let me have a little bit of frosting off the top.  Because he loves me that much.

And whoa- I just found the link on the Starbucks site for the cupcakes!  These babies are fattening!  Damn I wish I hadn't seen that...

Meal planning

Recently I sat down and did full-scale meal planning for the upcoming week.  It was quite ambitious given that the baby teeters between happy and fussy every night starting at 6, but it ended up working out just fine.  Jim and I have arranged for ourselves a good after-work groove.  He comes home, gets changed, and then happily receives the baby while I retreat into the kitchen to cook.  And I'll tell you what, I have LOVED having this time to myself.  LOVED it.  It's almost as though I'm getting out of the house!  It's just me, the stove top and some cathartic veggie chopping done with my own TWO hands.  It's my new definition of freedom. 

I have been getting Real Simple magazine for several years, and decided this year not to renew my subscription.  My favorite part of the magazine has always been the food section and we've made some great meals (many of which I've posted here in the past- check out the "Featured Recipes" tab above).  The rest of the magazine I have enjoyed- the organizing and fashion sections, or reviews on facial cleansers.  But with baby has come a decreased interest in this season's hot nail polish colors, and I realize that I probably won't get to that "Easiest 10 minute pedicure YOU can do at home!" for some time.  Hence I've said goodbye to my monthly Real Simple's, and instead opted for what I think is a good compromise.  Real Simple has come out with a $5 food app called "No Time To Cook" for the iPhone, iPad, and Android, and I decided to give it a whirl.  This led me to my successful week of meal planning, so I give it two thumbs up.

The app has a great layout that allows you to search through the types of meals you want (poultry, vegetarian, etc) and the amount of time you have to spend on cooking (20, 30, or 40 minutes).  What I really found handy is that you can add recipes to a favorites list and a grocery list.  The grocery list is divided by section in the grocery store.  I found the meals I wanted for the week, added them to the grocery list, and then went onto Peapod.com to buy the ingredients.  A nice feature of the list is the ability to check off the items you already have, so each time I added an item to my virtual grocery cart at Peapod I checked it off the list. 

Some reviewers of the app have complained about the pop-up ads.  Each time you open the app, a full page advertisement for Hillshire Farm sausage comes up, but there is an easy way to "X" out of it at the top of the screen.  I agree that there shouldn't be those types of ads for a paid app, but I haven't found it to be super annoying. 

One of our meals was this fantastic minestrone soup.  It was incredibly yummy, and I'm usually not a fan of soups that are alllll vegetables.  I gobbled this up!

And of course, this is what happens when Daddy comes home to hold the baby :-)

A year of FOOD

The work on our apartment continues, though my husband has ordered me to the couch this weekend and forbidden me from lifting, vacuuming, tidying, or working on the baby's room.  He did acquiesce slightly today and allowed me the task of laundry, which I was happy to do as he drove all over the city to shop at all the places that annoy me. 

As part of our "let's make this place look AWESOME!" campaign, my husband has started getting large prints made at Costco of some of the sights from our summer trip to England and Paris.  The big risk we're taking here is getting the prints without a good plan for where to buy our frames.  THIS IS DANGEROUS.  This could result in a pile of beautiful glossy prints that will collect dust and dings and baby spit up over the next few months if we don't get on this asap.  Jim went around looking for frames today, checking out Kohls and JoAnn Fabrics and Target and Cost Plus and came up with nothing.  So....we shall hope that the magical frame-fairy pays Roscoe Avenue a visit sometime soon.

One of the ideas my husband had is for us to blow up some of our food pictures to hang in our kitchen, and he suggested that I go through my food photo archives to find some contenders today as I occupied the couch.  I learned some things through this searching.  While I enjoy taking pictures of a lot of different foods, I realized that I REALLY enjoy taking pictures of pastries.  And, coincidentally, guess which foods have given me the least amount of grief this pregnancy? Yes- pastries.  Actually, looking back there were a few weeks in the first trimester when I continuously ate and then quickly "lost" Jim's delicious banana bread.  But aside from that phase, sugary pastries have treated me well.

I must say, with a pat on the back, that I haven't overly abused this fact.  In the past week I craved a scone every morning but never bought myself one.  Okay, not that I haven't overindulged- there is a reason I am 40 pounds heavier and it doesn't all involve the full term fetus I am carrying!  A Halloween sugar cookie sits on our kitchen counter, waiting for me  as I type.  Mmmmmm...

And as an aside from pregnancy-related food affinities, there is a reason I love taking pictures of food.  It's not just about the FOOD itself, but rather the memories of where you were and what you were doing at the time you got to enjoy that item.  It's the whole experience.  The first two pictures I have posted below are from a fantastic coffee shop in the Beacon Hill neighborhood of Boston, where we settled for morning coffee during a quick weekend escape last fall.  I remember the gorgeous weather and the church book sale going on across the street, as we day-dreamed about which red brick house we would one day occupy.  

Anyways, here is my year of food :-)









Do you think, next time I blog, that we'll have a baby?  Hmmmmmm.....
Happy Halloween everyone!