Wishful Slacker

Six O'Clock Scramble

I took both today and tomorrow off of work <smile> for some rest and relaxation.  I am going to keep the baby in daycare and have two days without work or diaper changes.  The baby was in a great mood yesterday and it made me hesitate momentarily to think that I was going to carry out with my plan and not spend more time with her during my days off.  BUT- I know that I need this time for myself, and that I will hopefully come out of it a happier and much more relaxed mommy. 

The plan today is to go grocery shopping on my way home from daycare (the one "chore" that I have planned for the long weekend).  After that, the sky's the limit.  I may nap.  I may sit outside with my book and an iced tea.  I may write a bit.  Jim is taking a half day and once he gets home we are going to ride our bikes around and go out to eat. 

I have been wanting to post about a meal planning service that we have been using now for about 2 months, but I have been so frazzled that I haven't been able to get to it!  And I wanted time to really test out the service before deciding if it was a worthwhile recommendation.  I am up and ready to go and the baby is still in bed, so now is as good a time as any! 

The website is called the Six O'Clock Scramble and I purchased a 6 month subscription from a deal website, pretty much on a whim.  As I think I have written before, I do enjoy meal planning and cooking.  The thing is that it takes time, and there are some weeks when trying to figure out what to eat practically puts you over the edge.  Plus there are so many other considerations- cost, healthy food choices, convenience- so it can be a bit tricky when you are also balancing a million other things.  I have used other handy food apps, websites, and cookbooks in the past (I really like the ipad Food app by Real Simple magazine) and really liked them.  But what is particularly nice about the Six O'Clock Scramble is that all of the deciding is done for you.  Each week you are emailed with the upcoming week's worth of meals.  The dishes are varied- some meat entrees, some vegetarian, they are healthy, and they are all relatively easy in preparation and cooking.  In the past 2 months we have made some really yummy dishes. 

There is flexibility as well.  If you don't like the idea of eating trout, which is one of this week's meals, then you can easily search through all the archived recipes on the website and swap a different one in.  In addition, many of the recipes list swapping ideas (tofu for chicken, etc), so you can really customize the plan if you desire.  You can save the meals that you particularly liked in your 'recipe box' so it is easy to find them again in the future. 

I particularly like the "delegate or do ahead" caption in each recipe.  I will sometimes start chopping or doing dinner prep during the baby's afternoon nap if I can.  Or if Jim is free to help me with dinner, it is easy to look at that line and determine the best way he can help out as my sous chef (or vice versa).  Each recipe comes with a really terrific side dish as well.  Here are some of the many we have enjoyed: Persian green salad with chickpeas and mint, curried rice with carmelized onions, white bean and red onion salad, and a French beet salad.  They have all been delicious. 

The Six O'Clock Scramble actually has a couple cookbooks that you can buy at Amazon, and they contain many of the recipes that are on the website.  But I honestly have been loving the catered aspect of getting this list of recipes and groceries that comes along with the website subscription.  It is so automatic- I go shopping, and then we are all set for many great meals throughout the week.  Many of the meals have given us leftovers.  And, the website gives you a total of 5 meals for the week, and you can add and decrease meals from that list.  So by signing up for this service you are not giving up your chance to splurge on macaroni and cheese or that dish you saw being made on Food Network that you want to try.  And it gives you the opportunity to take a break and go out to eat too :-)

Like I said earlier, I subscribed by using a discounted deal from one of the zillion deal websites that email me each day, and I honestly do not remember which site it was on.  However, I have not seen any similar deal for the Six O'Clock Scramble since then.  I got 6 months for $15 and the usual price at the time was $30 for 6 months.  In one of the Scramble's emails recently they mentioned that they are increasing their prices, but I don't think it was a very dramatic increase.  Speaking of pricing, one thing that I did not mention about the service is that the cost for the meals is really not bad at all.  I don't think that I have had to spend over $70 for 5 meals.  Of course, some weeks the grocery bill is heftier because I realize we are out of olive oil or have no more chicken breast in the freezer. 

So- to recap- the meals are healthy, quick, relatively inexpensive, and all the "planning" is done by someone else.  I have been very pleased with the Six O'Clock Scramble!  If you go to the site, I believe that you can sign up for a free sample newsletter with recipes to try.

Baby is up!  Time to get that kid off to daycare and to enjoy my day of freedom!

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! 

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!

Priorities (and Baby Food)

Last Wednesday was a bad day.  Our house was a mess and I felt like I had a million other things to do- we were out of food and had no meals planned, the laundry was piling up, and there were too many dust bunnies to lasso by hand.  I was exhausted after having family in town and working, and truly did not feel like doing anything that required effort (other than taking care of that cute baby who lives here.  She always gets a pass).  Working part time can be a challenge, because I feel as though I am working two full time jobs at once sometimes.  I am never fully on top of things at work OR at home.  And in my mind, it doesn't make any sense for our house to be a complete dump when I am home two and a half days out of the week.  I recognize that this is my expectation of myself, and not my husband's or anyone else's.  But my self-imposed Scroogeness makes me trudge up the slippery and emotionally messy slope of completion, and I need to be honest with myself that I will likely never get there on most days. 

Jim and I had a good long talk after he got home from work that evening and he helped me talk out my frustrations and do some problem solving.  What I am working on right now is prioritizing (and taking time for myself without instantly falling asleep).  Perhaps we need to have cleaners come in and give this place a thorough scrubbing down every-so-often.  Perhaps it's fine to let the kitchen island pile up with junk mail as the week progresses.  I went to working part-time so that our baby would have more time with one of her parents during these precious early years of her life.  I have to remember that this is my number one job, not making sure that the dishes are put away.  The more refreshed and up to par I feel, the better Mom I will be.  And THAT is the scary part- I am now responsible for a little person and I can't let my craziness rub off on her just yet (better to wait until she's in middle school...)! 

In thinking of priorities, one of those household tasks that is very high on the list for both Jim and me is the preparation of good food.  And this takes me into the second part of this post.  Preparing meals gives us structure for the day, keeps us on track with the quality of our food intake, and in the end saves us from spending money on take out or other expensive options.  We love trying out new recipes, particularly healthy ones that we end up liking.  There is nothing as enjoyable as eating together after spending a day apart.  Family mealtime is such a pleasant experience, and now that we have a baby who will very soon be a child sitting with us at the table, we feel it will become even more important.

I have loved breastfeeding my baby more than I ever anticipated prior to her birth.  Breastfeeding was painful for those first three weeks, and then, click, it all magically fell into place.  I feel that Eleanor and I have such a connection during those times, even if it is at 5:15 am like this morning.  To see what a big, healthy girl she is and to think, "Wow, I did that..." makes me feel, well, really good, for lack of a more complex description (remember, I've been up since 5!).  It has taken a lot of effort- I pump every single morning and twice a day at my desk when I'm at work, which I actually enjoy because it allows me to pause and think of the baby.  I am fairly certain that we would have needed to supplement with formula if I worked every day of the week- Eleanor's bottle binging surpasses the yield of my little pump so I pretty much need to prepare all week long for her two and a half days without me.  I know breastfeeding can be a very difficult and frustrating experience for many women who struggle with their supply and other issues, and I am very thankful that for us it has been able to go quite smoothly. 

This leads me to the fact that my little baby is turning SIX months next week, and the thought of having to share her with solid food could have felt like the introduction of a third person into our food marriage.  But instead it is turning into something that is so enjoyable!  My very good friend tipped me off on the book Child of Mine- Feeding with Love and Good Sense by Ellyn Satter.  I've been reading it over the past couple months off and on.  The book helps you through the art and language of feeding your child, with a focus placed on the division of responsibility between you and your child when it comes to providing food.  What has really helped me are the author's thoughts on introducing food to an infant.  She encourages you to follow the baby's cues and to never force food onto your baby or create a battle.  There is a language to be followed too- you lean in with the spoon, and the baby leans in and opens her mouth in acceptance.  In addition, the author recommends waiting for some time before taking this step, again, by following the baby's lead. 

A few weeks ago I made up a small batch of rice cereal, strapped Ellie into her high chair, and tested her out by putting a smidgen on her lip.  The baby licked her lips and shuddered, so I unclipped her from the chair and we went about with our afternoon.  Last week, a couple weeks after our first attempt, I tried again, and this time the baby leaned in and accepted what I offered, but shortly after preferred to gnaw on her bib and stare at the ceiling lights.  Again that feed ended there.  Over the course of the next few days into last weekend we tried a few more times, and each time she leaned in and opened her mouth for more and more spoonfuls.  And now, that kiddo is flapping her arms in excitement as I head over to the high chair carrying the bowl and spoon.  It is really, really fun to watch her start this big new phase in her life.  She is already a fan of taking the spoon and putting it into her mouth HERSELF :-)  And what I really like is how much we make eye contact and communicate with each other while I feed her.  It is nice for Jim too, to now be able to join in on this connection with the baby.  Over the next few weeks we will start to slowly add to the rice cereal offering, and already we have some pureed apples and mangos in the freezer.  I am eager to see her explore all these new foods, my little baby trying her hand at the real world. 




Thankfully the Child of Mine book goes further into feeding toddlers and preschoolers, as I know that time can bring with it its fair share of challenges!  I can happily and selfishly report that our breastfeeding will continue on for several more months as we explore these exciting new tastes, though in the not too far future she will politely accept my offering as a small palate cleanser to whatever lip-smacking meal gets set at the table.  If it is shepherd's pie or a Pequods Pizza, I will hardly be able to blame her.

As you can see with the electrical plug in the background, this last photo also segues into the next big task we have at hand here on Roscoe Street.  BABY PROOFING.  Oh boy....

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 :-)

The Good (and a fantastic recipe!) and the Unhealthy

On Memorial Day my husband surprised me by baking what seemed like 48 dozen chocolate chip cookies.  Pre-pregnancy, I would have brought a bunch of them to work, trying to dispense of them so as to not overindulge.  Pregnancy-Lindsay looks at it a little differently.  Pregnancy-Lindsay thinks, hmm, if I load these up on a dinner plate instead of just grabbing one or two, it will mean less trips I'll have to make back to the kitchen to re-stock....

I am still so dependent on eating to feel better, that I will eat anything I can to get me happily through the evening hours at this point.  There are times I just need to eat and eat and eat to not feel sick.  I was really pleased- last week I reached the 1 week milestone of not throwing up, only to then get sick this past Friday AND Monday night.  My husband and I emailed each other before heading home from work and realized that neither of us have any dinner ideas for tonight.  If that means that I eat a dinner's-worth of chocolate chip cookies while we decide what to REALLY have for dinner, so be it- there's no arguing with these forces of nature. 

Thankfully, there are some tastes in my 18 weeks pregnant world that I am totally going for that ARE healthy.  Like cottage cheese with pineapple...mmmmmm.  To save time and energy, I lugged the whole cottage cheese tub to work and ate some forkfuls every couple hours, right out of that tub.  Another healthy food that my body is all about now is plain yogurt (preferably yummy Greek yogurt) with strawberries, blackberries, blueberries...whatever we've got on hand.  Okay, the picture below was actually something we had for dessert- so not so healthy since the gorgeous looking plump of goodness on top is homemade whipped cream with agave nectar drizzled over top.

I am really pleased that there is some hope that this fetus will now be nourished by something other than simple carbs and fat.  Basically, in those early pivotal weeks of cellular migration and body axis determination, this poor kid had only French fries to pave the way. 

One thing that really irks me about pregnancy guides (Hello What To Expect When You're Expecting- I'm talking to YOU!) is their tactic of making you feel really, REALLY horrible for how much you have messed up your unborn child by your "Survivor"-like eating habits.  I preferred the advice of the physician assistant I met with at my doctors office.  "If you can only eat a Twix bar, then eat a Twix bar.  We'd rather you be getting the calories than nothing at all."  It's about time someone made some sense!

I have not posted a recipe here for quite some time, and I really want to pass this one along.  My husband made this Mediterranean lentil salad last weekend, and we found the recipe in the June edition of Cooking Light magazine.  This dish is the BEST.  Seriously, I gobbled it up.  Want to hear something else beautiful about this dish?  It has got 210 calories, 7 grams of protein, and 5 grams of fiber per serving.  I want to make it again asap.  Thankfully I married someone as equally opposed to olives as I, so we omitted those in our version :-)

MAKE THIS (and enjoy!)!!!

Mediterranean Lentil Salad
Created by Rebecca Katz, Author of The Cancer-Fighting Kitchen

Ingredients:
1 cup dried lentils, rinsed well
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp dried oregano
2 bay leaves
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 tbsp brown rice vinegar (we used regular rice vinegar because that's what we had on hand)
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 red bell pepper, seeded and diced
1 small cucumber, diced
1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives, sliced
3 tbsp chopped mint or parsley (we used parsley)
2 oz feta cheese, crumbled

Make It:
1. Combine the lentils, garlic, oregano, bay leaves, and cinnamon in a saucepan.  Add water until lentils are submerged approximately 2 inches.  Bring mixture to a boil, then cover and let simmer over low heat until tender, about 20 to 25 minutes.
2. Drain lentils and discard bay leaves.
3. Whisk together olive oil, vinegar, lemon juice, cumin, and salt.  Toss the lentils with the vinaigrette, stir in remaining ingredients, and top with feta. 

 

Orzo with Cilantro-Lime Pesto

I made this dish last Thursday night.  Jim wasn't home (he was off go-carting with coworkers), and I immediately felt a bit guilty for excluding him!  At first I thought I'd be doing him a favor, since the recipe came from The Flexitarian Diet cookbook that I like so much.  Jim has typically taken a bit more convincing for these all-vegetarian recipes, which is why I thought I'd err on the side of him NOT being a huge fan of this dish.  At least I made enough so that there was plenty extra and he got to enjoy it for lunch the next day.   

Keep in mind that this recipe is enough for about 1-2 servings, so make sure to double/triple/whatever the dish if you want more than that.  This is a true eyeball-it recipe.  Nothing needs to be exact.  Aside from cooking the pasta, there is no other cooking involved, which is nice too :-)

Orzo with Cilantro-Lime Pesto
From The Flexitarian Diet by Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD, LDN

Ingredients (for 1-2 servings)
1/4 cup (2 oz) uncooked whole-grain orzo (regular is fine too of course)
1 cup fresh cilantro
1 lime, juiced
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 tablespoon pine nuts
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup drained and chopped, jarred (in water) roasted red peppers
1/4 cup canned no-salt-added corn, drained

Cook orzo according to package directions.  With the chopper attachment of hand blender or in food processor, puree cilantro, lime juice, oil, pine nuts, and garlic to make cilantro pesto.  Toss cooked orzo with cilantro pesto and remaining ingredients.

Food Certainty

I am starting another writing class tomorrow, and over the past couple weeks I've gotten back to doing some writing warm ups.  One of the resources I've consulted is Natalie Goldberg's Writing Down the Bones.  In it, she strongly encourages making "writing practice" a part of one's writing regimen.  "Writing practice" involves sitting down with pen and paper and just writing about WHATEVER.  The pen should never stop and there should be little thought to proper form or punctuation.  It should be almost meditative.  And if your mind is full of self-deprecating thoughts, she recommends starting your writing practice by getting it all out.  So I sat down tonight with my notebook and started writing about how no matter how much I would love to become a writer, all my work will come to nothing and I will be burned out forever (again- Natalie says the more we get all this crap out, the more we learn to just ignore it.  So I decided to go all out with Sunday night negativity). 

Then, as my pen flowed across the paper, I started writing about my typical day of work.  Not work as I know it now, but work as I would love it to be.  Without going into much detail, let's just say that it involved coffee, a cozy home office, midday cucumber sandwiches, and sprints to the local coffee shop for a change in scenery.

Sha-right.  As if.  We know life does not just align itself the way we desire (there's that whole issue of money and health insurance and groceries and rent), and even our "dream" situation would come with its own list of pros and cons.  I think this is why I love to cook.  Whoa- change of subject, yes?  But hear me out- food and cooking creates for us a constant.  It is stable and inviting.  You don't cook because you HAVE to.  While we HAVE to work, none of us HAVE to cook- we could just stock up on tator tots and frozen meals if we wanted.  And if a meal causes us a lot of stress because the garlic burns while our backs are turned, well there is always the option to pitch it and call for a pizza.  No matter how sucky my day is, no matter how drained I am, I can always look forward to cooking a good meal.  And I know I just posted a similar sentiment last week, but it's just a thought I've been considering a lot recently.  We cooked some great meals last week, and looking back, I felt happier as the week progressed, even though I had a lot on my plate at work.  It probably also helped that I had last Monday off.  Curses! 

So, speaking of food, here's a great meal we had TWICE this week, three-cheese broccoli lasagna.  This is another Real Simple recipe, and it was great.  The recipe does not make a huge tray of lasagna, though you could of course easily double the size.  I ended up with a large amount of the broccoli-cheese mixture left over from when we had the dish last week.  I used the leftover mixture tonight for an encore lasagna, which we had with my brother- and sister-in-law and nephew.  Just like last week, it tasted good tonight.  As our 4 year nephew exclaimed after he took his first bite, "THIS IS SUPER!"  What greater endorsement do you need than that?

Broccoli and Three-Cheese Lasagna
From Real Simple magazine, December 2009

Serves 4Hands-On Time: 15m

Total Time: 1hr 10m

Ingredients

• 1 15-ounce container ricotta (about 1 3/4 cups)
• 1 pound frozen broccoli florets—thawed, patted dry, and chopped
• 2 1/4 cups grated mozzarella (9 ounces)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan (2 ounces)
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 16-ounce jar marinara sauce (we used a 24 oz jar and 2/3 c cream)
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 8 no-boil lasagna noodles
• 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus more for the foil
• 4 cups mixed greens
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

Directions

1. Heat oven to 400º F. In a large bowl, combine the ricotta, broccoli, 2 cups of the mozzarella, ¼ cup of the Parmesan,½  teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. In a small bowl, combine the marinara sauce and cream.
2. Spoon a thin layer of the sauce into the bottom of an 8-inch square baking dish. Top with 2 noodles, a quarter of the remaining sauce, and a third of the broccoli mixture; repeat twice. Top with the remaining 2 noodles and sauce. Sprinkle with the remaining ¼ cup of mozzarella and ¼ cup of Parmesan.
3. Cover tightly with an oiled piece of foil and bake until the noodles are tender, 35 to 40 minutes. Uncover and bake until the top is golden brown, 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Toss the greens with the olive oil, lemon juice, and ¼ teaspoon each salt and pepper. Serve with the lasagna.

Slow Cooker Cuban Braised Beef and Peppers

We had a slow-cooker Sunday yesterday, choosing this Cuban braised beef and peppers dish that was in December's Real Simple magazine.  This was a really wonderful dish.  Tender, tender beef, nice sweet flavor, and a total cinch to make.  The only time-consuming part was cutting up the red peppers.  Unlike other slow cooker recipes, there is no need to brown the meat beforehand or do other prepping.  I've prepared other slow cooker meals in the past and you feel like you need to get up at 6 am just to get everything all prepped!  We plopped it all in the slow cooker yesterday late morning around 11 then had it cook for about 8 hours.  I started up some brown rice a half hour before we ate, and that was it!  Jim got the leftovers for lunch today and said that they were amazing.  The avocado we received yesterday morning from Peapod arrived hard as a rock so we had to give that a pass, though I wished that I had some type of "insta-ripen" spell so that we could have added it at the end!  I'm not a huge fan of cilantro, but it really works in this meal.

Slow Cooker Cuban Braised Beef and Peppers


Serves 4  
Hands-On Time: 10m
Total Time: 8hr 30m

 

Ingredients

• 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 red bell peppers, sliced 1/2 inch thick
• 1 onion, cut into 8 wedges
• 2 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 1/2 pounds flank steak, cut crosswise into thirds
• 1 cup long-grain white rice
• 1 avocado, sliced
• 1/4 cup fresh cilantro leaves

 

Directions

1. In a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker, combine the tomatoes, bell peppers, onion, oregano, cumin, 1½ teaspoons salt, and ¼ teaspoon pepper. Nestle the steak among the vegetables. Cook, covered, until the meat is tender and pulls apart easily, on high for 4 to 5 hours or on low for 7 to 8 hours.
2. Twenty-five minutes before serving, cook the rice according to the package directions.
3. Using two forks, shred the beef and mix it into the cooking liquid. Serve with the rice and top with the avocado and cilantro.

Meal planning and Basil Veggies

Well hello and happy Sunday! I find myself in the middle of a 3 day weekend, as our office is closed on Monday for MLK Day.  This is probably the one day of the entire year that I have off that many people do not, including my husband.  Not that I won't enjoy it, don't get me wrong.  But I am already anticipating that I'll feel like I'm playing hooky!

As you can tell from previous blog posts, I've been off my game recently with the weather, darkness, work, etc.  We have been in our new place for almost 2 months now, but you would think it's been far less than that based on the appearance of some of our rooms!  We have all this new space but nowhere to put anything, and very little motivation to actually go about trying to solve this dilemma.  The issue is most prevalent in our second bedroom.  I spent several hours in there last Sunday, kicking around boxes and stuffing files into our file cabinet, while muttering to myself, "Just put everything away- organize later!"  I have a grand plan to turn that room into a nice cozy workspace...but we're just stuck for now!  This was one pile that we cleared out yesterday, in preparation for our new dining room table that will be delivered next week.  Yay!

Typically, I do really enjoy meal planning and preparing good meals.  It just makes me feel good.  I rely greatly on looking forward to things, and there is nothing like getting through your work day by knowing that you plan to make a good dinner that evening.  We watched the movie Julie & Julia last night.  It was a cute movie (though I do need to talk to someone else about the ending- did Julia really not like what Julie was doing?).  At one point, Julie comments that no matter how tumultuous your day is, you can always find comfort in the consistency of ingredients coming together to make a dish.  I agree with that whole-heartedly.  It does take some planning, which is what I've neglected recently.  Yesterday morning I woke up, sat down with my cookbooks, and planned some meals.  I then placed a Peapod order, and now we find ourselves with a full kitchen and a week's worth of meals to make!  It feels awesome.  Our fridge is stocked with so much produce- cherries, clementines, blueberries, leeks, parsnips, broccoli, cilantro, mixed greens and arugula, and red peppers.  

This week's meals:
Cuban braised beef and peppers (in the slow cooker as we speak!)
Pasta with lentils and arugula
Spicy black bean cakes
Creamy parsnip soup
Broccoli and 3 cheese lasagna

YUM!!!  I like to rotate cookbooks for simplicity when I meal plan, and this week I have chosen a mixture of recipes from Real Simple magazine and the Martha Stewart Everyday Food cookbook.  I will make sure to post any good outcomes!  As part of my New Years resolution, I am cutting back on my meat consumption, so today's braised beef dinner is the only non-vegetarian meal we're having this week. 

Another new thing I have done is created a "Featured Recipes" tab at the top of my blog.  If you click on that, you will find the different dishes I have posted in the past.  I am hoping this makes these recipes more accessible.

I will leave you now with the dish that we made last night.  I obtained this recipe from my friend Christina over a year ago, and it's a good one.  It is so easy to make, and we've designated it as our "go to" fancy dish for evenings when we're clueless on what to make for dinner.  You just need to stop for basil, veggies, garlic, feta cheese, and couscous on your way home and then you're all set.  

Basil Veggies and Couscous

2T minced fresh basil

2T balsamic vinegar

1T olive oil

1/4 t salt

2 crushed garlic cloves

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

3 cups hot cooked couscous

feta cheese

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. Spoon veggies over couscous. Top with feta cheese and pepper.