roasted cauliflower with a kick

Winter's 5pm sunsets means you get to see photos of my lunch leftovers instead of my beautifully plated dinners. But the purpose of this post was not to showcase my food photography prowess. The purpose of this post is to share with you this delicious roasted cauliflower recipe we tried the other night.

The recipe is called Roasted Cauliflower, Chickpeas, and Olives, and it's from Cooking Light. But the title doesn't do it justice. Yes, it has roasted cauliflower, chickpeas (or garbanzo beans, as I prefer to call them), and olives, but also pepper flakes and garlic all roasted together happily. I added onion to mine before roasting, and then topped each serving with toasted bread crumbs from homemade bread. We ate it as a main dish, as it contained everything we look for in a main dish (protein, veggie, and a little carb), but it would also make a decadent side. 

I left the pepper flakes off the kids' portions, and they had zero complaints. I get such an ego boost when they like a new recipe! We unanimously agreed to add this to the regular rotation. Yum, yum.

So back to the chickpeas. . . or the garbanzos. What do you call them? I wonder if it's a regional thing? (For the record, I've lived in the NW United States for almost my entire life.)

avocado tree to-be

We have been soaking these avocado pits for months. We almost gave up! After two months they started growing roots. And two months after that, we finally have sprouts. It's so fun for my kids to see the leaves after they've been waiting so long. 

poached eggs

Poached eggs are funny, aren't they? People love them or hate them. Some people are intimidated to attempt them, others think they're easy peasy. Why are there so many ways to cook eggs, anyway? I can think of maybe three ways to cook broccoli. Three ways to cook chicken. But eggs? I count seven just off the top of my head, and I'm probably forgetting some.

Eggs are awesome.

I took my first crack at poaching eggs (pun completely intended) Smitten Kitchen-style. There may be other methods that work fine, even better, but this one worked perfectly for me the first time, so I'm sticking to it. A little vinegar in the simmering water, get your swirl on, crack the egg in, take it out in a few minutes. So much easier than I thought it would be!

And what could be better for breakfast (or lunch or dinner) than two poached eggs on top of leftover sweet potato? Two poached eggs over kale, perhaps. But the sweet potato was pretty awesome.

owl cupcakes

My baby brother and his wife are having a baby! I guess I should stop calling him my baby brother. My SIL's baby shower had an owl/floral/woodland theme, and I was asked to make cupcakes. These are what I came up with. I love how they turned out!

The shower was a gluten-free affair, and I used Betty Crocker gluten-free mixes for the cupcakes. GF cooking from scratch is an obstacle I have not yet conquered. To make things a little more interesting, I made three different frostings. We had

• chocolate cake with cinnamon frosting,
• yellow cake with lemon frosting, and
• chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting

I made marshmallow fondant owls for half the cupcakes, accenting them differently for the different cupcake flavors. One type had a pearl (sprinkle) flower, one type had (edible) glittery wings, and the last had glittery bellies. The pupils are mini chocolate chips.

The perfectionist in me sees all the flaws, but the cupcakes really were a big hit at the shower. The mama-to-be liked them, so that's a success in my book!

mystery squash

I'm a lazy composter. I just throw my garden/fruit/veggie scraps in a pile outside and let it sit. A year later, it turns into compost, but many seeds survive the process. As a result, I get kale and tomatoes and squash growing out of my compost pile, and mystery squash growing in my garden. I thought these two were going to be zucchini when they started growing because they were dark green. But they were growing short and stubby instead of long and slender. As fall approached, they started turning orange, so I thought maybe they were pumpkins. But they didn't get round and dark orange like pumpkins.

Last week I plucked them off their vines and cut them open. They looked like squash inside. Imagine that! They both had the little round cells that I'm used to seeing in spaghetti squash, so I cooked them accordingly. They didn't shred quite as easily as spaghetti squash after cooking, though. I'm guessing they were some mutant, cross-pollinated version. They tasted fine, and we're all still alive, so I call it a win.

I used the small one for Squash with Curried Apples and Turkey (pictured below), and the large one for gnocchi. Hooray for free volunteer vegetables!

tomatoes

Gorgeous, flavorful tomatoes from Columbia Gorge Garlic.

Good tomatoes are my favorite part of summer.

zucchini noodles

If you planted zucchini this year, I'm guessing right about now you're thinking, “What am I going to do with all this zucchini??” I haven't planted zucchini the last two years because I don't actually like zucchini unless it's baked into bread or zucchini cake. But after Monday night's dinner, I'm starting to change my mind.

My sister-in-law gave me two zucchinis last weekend, as well as two cups of grated zucchini for the freezer. (How perfect is that? Love her!) Inspired by this Kitchn post, I pulled out my mandoline and julienned the whole zucchinis into “noodles”. They're not noodles, Mom, my 9-yr old said with that almost-teenager look in her eyes, they're zucchini.

But she liked them anyway. I put them in a bowl, added some thinly sliced sweet onions and chopped cilantro, then tossed it all with some leftover peanut dressing. I topped it with cooked, diced chicken breast and sprinkled on some pepper flakes for the adults.

It was so good! It didn't taste like zucchini at all. I promise you, this is the only way I have ever liked zucchini that wasn't zucchini bread or cake. 

Oh, and it was fast. Since the chicken was already cooked, I had a healthy dinner on the table in less than 20 minutes.

I'll have to find room in the garden for zucchini next spring.

i am a camping genius

I don't know how many camping trips I've been on with a cooler full of water by the second day. Bags of ice are not my favorite way to keep the cooler cool! As soon as they melt (which is soon, because the ice is so small), the water leaks all over the cooler and everything gets wet. I got smarter the second time and made sure everything was packaged in waterproof containers, but I was still a wet mess every time I needed to get something out.

On our last trip, I finally figured it out. Freeze gallon jugs of water a few days before you leave. Put the frozen jugs in the cooler with all the food. As the blocks of ice melt, you get cold water to drink, and no water in the cooler. 

Our ice (two 1 gallon jugs) kept our food cold for four full days, and filled our water bottles nicely when we were out and about. I will never pack a cooler with a bag of ice again.

Now I just need to get some of those plastic egg containers so I don't end up with broken eggs after cramming the cooler full of food and ice jugs.

favorite easy camping meal

We love roasting hot dogs when we go camping, and we usually bring traditional buns. But as I was searching for camping meal ideas before our trip, I came across this: Curly Dogs. They couldn't be easier. 

• Grab a hunk of your favorite roll/bread dough (I used thawed Rhodes rolls for simplicity)
• Roll it into a snake
• Secure one end to your favorite hot dog with a toothpick
• Wrap around in a spiral
• Secure other end with another toothpick
• Insert your favorite roasting stick
• Cook over a campfire

You can also bake them in the oven, if you don't have access to a campfire. 

The kids thought they were really fun and helped every step of the way. They gobbled them up, even though I forgot the ketchup. They're not fans of refrigerated pre-made dough, but they liked the Rhodes. Someday I'll make these at home with homemade dough.

 What's your favorite camping meal?

healthier banana oatmeal scotchies

We had half a bag of butterscotch chips that needed to be used. I'm not a big fan of butterscotch chips. They're too sweet for me in most uses. It's funny, that's the exact reason the kids love them!

One of the few recipes I do like with butterscotch chips is Oatmeal Scotchies. And while using the recipe on the back of the yellow bag makes a tasty cookie, it's also full of butter and sugar. I had some bananas that needed to be used, so I played around with the recipe and came up with a healthier version.

Yes, you can taste the banana. But the banana flavor is complemented very well by the butterscotch. 

They still have a little butter. For me, butter is a necessity in cookies. But I cut the quantity in half. 

Adding the banana allowed me to decrease the sugar significantly and—bonus!—take out the eggs. So if anyone you love has an egg allergy, make them these cookies. Even if you don't have an egg allergy, make these cookies. They're yummy.

I made half a batch for our family of four in the morning, and they were gone by bedtime.

*          *          *          *

Healthier Banana Oatmeal Scotchies

Printable Version

Loosely based on Nestle's recipe

Makes about 3 dozen cookies.

1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, softened

2 large (or 3 small) ripe bananas (a few brown spots or more)

½ cup brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla

½ cup whole wheat flour

¾ cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp baking soda

½ tsp salt

½ tsp cinnamon

3 cups rolled oats

11oz package of butterscotch chips

• Preheat oven to 375°.
• Prepare baking sheets by lining with silicone mat, parchment paper, or by greasing.
• Combine butter, bananas, brown sugar, and vanilla in a large mixing bowl. Mash everything together until color and texture is uniform.
• In a small bowl, combine flours, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Add to mashed mixture and stir until just combined.
• Stir in oats and butterscotch chips.
• Drop rounded tablespoons (or desired size) onto prepared baking sheets, leaving 2 inches of space between. Flatten the drops of cookie dough with a clean hand, glass, or spatula, as the cookies won’t spread much during baking.
• Bake 8-10 minutes. I prefer mine very golden brown around the edges—crunchy outside with a soft middle.
  
  

friday

I decided Friday was a Take Pictures All Day kind of day. 

Watering the yard and breakfast first thing, then we got ready to take the girl to robotics class. 

After we dropped her off, the boy and I picked two buckets of blueberries and headed to the park for a picnic. 

A quick stop at the grocery store for some last minute supplies, 

then we boxed up an overseas care package while waiting for Sweetpea to get out of class. 

Chill time.

Eat blueberries time.

Little photoshoot with a crazy pepper from the garden and some blueberries.

Girl time.

Dirty Jobs time.

Dinner time.

And the reprise of the after dinner summertime walks.

I missed those! 

My favorite time of day:

Bedtime!

green olive lasagna. . . and oh, hi.

Hi y'all. I'm sure I've lost most of you with my infrequent posting. It has been a busy spring, and the first time ever I've looked forward to summer break since having children. We're on Day 2 of summer break and I'm thoroughly enjoying it. I have cut all my quilt pieces and I'm hoping to get sewing soon. . . but we'll see. I also have a Blurb book to finish and children that need more attention now that they're out of school.

I am severely neglecting my camera, though, and I miss it. I'm contemplating committing to a picture every day in July. I think I can do it. I need to do it, for myself.

I made lasagna last week for Hubs. It's his favorite, and I forgot to make it when it was Let's Make One More Lasagna Before It Gets Hot weather. I swear I make lasagna twice a year—once when the weather turns cool and once before it gets too hot. 

For this one, I added chopped green olives to the meat sauce. I also use cottage cheese instead of ricotta, thanks to my mother-in-law. Do you have any non-traditional lasagna additions I should try? You know, in October, when it's cool enough to turn my oven on again.

kale salad

I tried a new kale recipe today.

I found it yesterday, and figured I'd have to get kale at the store because the kale I planted (from the seeds I harvested months ago) is still in its infancy. But as I was working in the garden this morning, I realized that lots of those baby kale plants needed to be thinned. And all those extra little plants made the perfect amount of salad for dinner.

 I cut the leaves off with my kitchen shears and composted the muddy roots.

The garden is coming along nicely. 

The herbs are in flower, little green strawberries are forming, and the chard is still going strong from last year.

Today I planted basil,

some tomatoes,

and weeded the hell out of my beet rows.

I also weeded the kale plot.

Peek a boo, baby kale!

I'm trying a row cover this year to keep the cabbage moths away.

I found the recipe on Catherine Newman's blog, Ben & Birdy. Catherine's my favorite because she's an improvisational cook like me. You could just wing it—kale, olive oil, vinegar, garlic, Parmesan, and bread crumbs—but go check out the actual kale salad recipe. I bet you'll like Catherine's writing as much as I do.

Definitely try this salad. It is seriously so good. And don't leave out the Parmesan or bread crumbs. They take the salad from plain old dressed kale to a salad my kids will eat without complaining.