figuring out 40

sunday supper : roasted veggie pot pies

I posted this pic on Instagram (y'know, b/c it's nice to share), and soon Chris & Emily both commented that they wanted the recipe. The thing is...there really isn't one. I'm sure that I had a recipe at one time, but this is one of those family faves that has just evolved into it's own thing. It's SUPER easy, and can accomodate basically any veggie that you've got. In my pre-veg days, I often added roasted chicken also. Here's the non-recipe...

1. Roast some veggies. I'm a big fan of roasting veggies that I don't really know how to cook...like celeriac. It was in my CSA share last week, and I was a little stumped by it. Solution? Cut it up, toss with olive oil, and roast at 425° for about 20 minutes. Tonight's selection also included carrots, onions, and broccoli. 

2. Bake some Pepperidge Farms Puff Pastry. I use the puff pastry shells if it's just me & the kids. If I'm cooking for more people, I use the sheets...just cut into squares before baking. 

3. Make the sauce/soup/base. Warning: these are really rough measurements that served 2 of us. I just kinda wing it. Melt 3tbls of butter in a saucepan. Whisk in 3tbls of flour. Stir/whisk in veggie broth - I used just under 2 cups. Once that thickens a bit, whisk in about 1/2 cup of milk. (If the sauce isn't as thick as you'd like, you can thicken with cornstarch - simply take a couple of spoonfuls of the sauce out, and mix with a (roughly) equal amount of cornstarch, then stir back in.) I firmly believe that cheese makes everything better, so I toss in some grated sharp cheddar. I don't measure cheese. The more, the cheesier. 

4. Now, you assemble! Stir the roasted veggies into the sauce/soup/base. You might want to add a bit of sea salt and/or a dash of pepper. Arrange the puff pastry on plates, and pour the veg/sauce mixture over. 

5. (optional) Instagram...and (required) enjoy! 

ventage tuesdays : no soup for you!

First, a quick explanation for Cindy and anyone else wondering what "ventage tuesdays" is all about. Angie, Barb, Steph, Em, and I started calling ourselves the Ventage Girls b/c 1) our lengthy daily email threads often involve venting (and sometimes ranting & raving) and 2) to make ourselves seem more sophisticated, we decided to rhyme ventage with fromage (very sophisticated, right? if that doesn't work for you, just note that we all love cheese). We decided to have a weekly shared question/blog topic to help us all stay on track with blogging - and to share how alike & different the five of us are. 

Okay, so today's topic - soup! Timely post b/c I just threw myself a little birthday shindig and declared it a soup night. I made 3 kinds of soup, and served them with several cheeses, sourdough bread, and lots of wine. Yum....

1. Cheesy Vegetable Chowder - I've made this one twice in the past few weeks. Really easy, and so good. I sub vegetable broth, so mine isn't quite as pretty (veggie broth tends to be much darker than chicken broth). 

2. Roasted Cauliflower & Aged White Cheddar - I've made it once with milk, and once with cream - and I prefered the milk version. 

3. Creamy Slow Cooker Spinach & Tortellini Soup - I like the sound of this soup, but I'd have to make some adjustments. What the heck is white sauce mix? White sauce is soooo simple to make - why would you need a mix?? I also think that I'd swap the consdensed milk for cream. Something about condensed milk in soup just grosses me out. 

4. Broccoli Edamame Soup - delish....and high in protein!

5. The BEST Clam Chowder EVER - not a recipe. Just click on the order button, justify the shipping by realizing that it will STILL be cheaper than going out, and then anxiously await for the the Fedex delivery. The first time that I ordered Splash chowder to be delivered across the country, I took a pic and texted it to a friend who went to school in SLO. He texted back "oh...I just got a tear in my eye." It's that good.

Check out the links above to see what the other Ventage Girls are slurping. :) 

eat : kale panzanella salad

This is my "friday night salad." It's the salad that I most often toss together on a Friday night while catching up on Parenthood, Grey's, or Scandal. This salad makes me ridiculously happy. It's possible that you can hear me saying "this is sooo good" to myself every time that I eat it. 

   (love this graphic - turquoise edition extra elements)

Super simple instructions - 

*toss cubes of bread (day old works well) with olive oil & saute until lightly browned

*add cut-up tempeh to the same skillet, and lightly brown (you meat eaters could use bacon)

*tear kale into bite-sized bits (discard the stems) and toss into the skillet - you might want an extra drizzle of olive oil at this point - heat just until kale turns bright green (I don't like to let it wilt)

*toss with avocado, feta, and sea salt

*enjoy (talking to yourself is optional)

**ps. I keep intending to make this with cubed sweet potato or butternut squash...but I get impatient. Someday!

**pps. You should use the word "toss" as much as possible when talking about salad.

when life gives you lemons...

Make mint lemonade. That's not a euphemism. I actually mean...make mint lemonade! My mint plants are really thriving, so I need to start finding stuff to add mint to. My basil, on the other hand, is struggling this year. Not sure what that's about. 

So, the long weekend is over. Many of us trudged back to work today, bemoaning the fact that three day weekends are really a giant tease...a brief glimpse of "look what it would be like if you didn't have a day job! Alarm clock? What alarm clock?" I started my morning off by crossing off the two things that I accomplished on my nine point weekend to-do list. Two. That's it. Now, to be fair (to myself) - the list didn't include normal stuff like grocery shopping, menu planning, and cleaning the living room. Instead of being incredibly productive, I napped. I took Hope for a pedicure. I bought flowers at the farmstand. I took Hope to a yoga class. It's possible that I'm starting to learn to listen when my body & mind say "hey, that's ENOUGH." And so...I rested. 

I also planned this week's menus. Backtracking a bit first...Sunday was, uhm, I have no idea. We must have just fended for ourselves. Monday - peppery brown sugar salmon & Grilled Artichokes. Tuesday - orange pan glazed tempeh, quinoa, & steamed broccoli. Wednesday - black bean & sweet potato tacos with swiss chard pesto. Thursday or Friday (depending on which night I'm home) - green pea risotto with fresh pea shoots (actually taken from this cookbook). Saturday - no idea! Trying a few new salads for lunch this week. Hope and I both get in a bit of a rut with our lunch. So adding in this detox salad and maybe this looksamazing salad. 

I just looked back at my twelve practices and realized that I probably should have worked in a reading practice. I have a few full-on reviews to write. I finished The Firestarter Sessions (which was FABULOUS) and started Broken Open.

Two random questions for you...

1. what is your favorite non-dairy ice cream? 

2. what is the last non-fiction book that you read?

weekly eats 5/6-5/12

Random fact: Having one extra body in the house somehow results in approximately $40 more in groceries.

On the menu this week - 

Sunday (been there, ate that) - baked haddock, mashed red potatoes, green beans

Monday - tofu lettuce wraps

Tuesday - heading to American Flatbread for Hope's birthday. (I'm already planning on ordering the veg special - Wild Ramp Pesto, Amir’s Shiitake Mushrooms, Baby Spinach, Vermont Butter and Cheese Company Chevre)

Wednesday - black bean & brown rice enchiladas

Thursday - fettucine with broccoli & romano 

Friday - sweet potato fritters & salads

Lunches will be a variety of salads + leftovers + hummus & pita chips. 

Note to Kirsten - I had your comment in mind today while I was grocery shopping - bought a bag of black beans & a bag of chickpeas instead of canned!

weekly eats.

As I mentioned on Friday, I've been anxious to get back to actual cooking. It occurred to me today that my Mom probably thinks that I make up all the food that I talk about here - since she saw no evidence of my cooking skills while I visited. (She did, however, witness my coffee-drinking & cupcake-eating skills. I'm a freakin' master.) So today, with an Easter Monday company holiday, a venti 3 honey latte, my Nook Color, and a moleskine journal...I set out to plan meals for the week. I'm going to backtrack in this post b/c I'm a fan of the full week. 

Sunday - Crab Risotto. No recipe - just a wild rice version of risotto that I picked up at the grocery store, a little parmesean, and a pound of crab legs. Side note: I think that buying crab meat is one of those worth the extra expense things - breaking open the crab legs is a pain.

Monday - Peppery Brown Sugar Salmon & Broccolini Salad (pictured above all close up b/c I was using my phone & was pretty excited about eating). Oh my goodness. I loved this meal. The salmon was absolute perfection. The salad? Cue angels singing. MAKE THIS SALAD. Seriously good. I had planned on taking leftovers for lunch tomorrow - but there are no leftovers. That's how good it was. Austin said "Uhm. I pretty much inhaled that dinner." (oh, and a note - I didn't have any day-old bread to make "rustic croutons", so I just cut/tore a few chunks of artisan wheat bread & sauteed a bit in olive oil. I actually think that I liked the softer bread better than I would have liked croutons. The broccolini & almonds already offer up a lot of crunch....so softer bread was a-okay.) 

Tuesday - I don't know how any food is going to live up to that salad. Slacker Sushi Bowls, I wish you luck.

Wednesday - I will be dining in O-hi-o, so it's tortellini on the homefront. 

Thursday - Not entirely sure when my flight comes in, but pretty sure that I'll miss dinner. I'll encourage grilled cheese, in honor of National Grilled Cheese Sandwich Day. (also, note to self - Thurs is the 12th. Hmm. Will be interesting to do 12on12 while traveling.)

Friday - Cauliflower & Apple Soup. 

Saturday - perhaps a crustless kale quiche. 

Lunches will be a combo of kale salads, wheatberry salads, and probably a leftover sushi bowl - and Larabars while traveling. 

weekly eats.

On the menu this week: 

Sunday - Arugula Risotto w/Pan Seared Shrimp (shown above) 

Monday - Burgers (sweet potato for me, beef for everyone else), eggplant fries, sweet potato tater tots 

Tuesday - Panera Stove Top Mac & Cheese, Roasted broccoli & cauliflower (in honor of Fat Tuesday, I'm using purple cauliflower along with the green broccoli)

Wednesday - Burritos with rice, black beans, and cheddar - and maybe some roasted rainbow carrots (that I bought simply b/c they were pretty)

Thursday - Spinach & Leek Frittata, Smashed Potatoes

Friday - Fend 4 Yourself

Saturday - (likely) Garlic Cauliflower Soup, No Knead Bread

lunches - kale & pistachio salad, kale salad w/currants & walnuts, arugula & tempeh quesadillas, apple arugula wrap

got a bit off track last week with my coconut oil consumption - traveling through me off. so I'll get back to it w/green smoothies this week.

beautiful & inspired.

A few months ago, I had the privilege of reading a new cookbook - although I'm not sure that reading does it justice. Savoring, enjoying, blissfully exploring - it's that kind of cookbook. Makes me want to put on a pretty apron, tie my hair back with bakers twine, and whip up fabulous dishes (then style them & photograph them, of course). Before I say more, watch - 

La Tartine Gourmande from Unusually Fine on Vimeo.

the Photography? STUNNING. 

the Stories? Enchanting. This is not a flip-open-and-pick-a-recipe book. It's a sit down with a cup of tea and get lost in the beautifully written & photographed pages sort of book. 

the Recipes? Confession - I drooled over them so much that I never actually got around to making anything. ::gasp!:: Plus, the formating of the digital preview wasn't fantastic - which was a bit distracting. BUT, I can assure you that I will be purchasing and cooking from this cookbook. 

The book doesn't hit stores until February, but you can purchase it online here. You won't be disappointed! 

disclaimer - I was provided an e-copy of this book by the publisher via netGalley.com. I was not compensated for this review, and the opinion expressed is my own. 

foodie friday (better late than never)

Oy! Almost missed posting this today - crazy full week. 

The moral of this post is this - there is no shame in store-bought pound cake when your oven is broken. Sara Lee has got it going on.  I needed to bring a desert to work for a team potluck - since I couldn't bake, i relied on a little help from my friends Sara and Martha (Stewart). 

Martha Stewart's Cranberry Trifle

Fantastically easy recipe, which just one minor flaw - the sugar measurement seems to be a bit misguided. The IL calls for 2 1/4 cups of sugar - but then tells you to use 2 cups in the Cranberry compote, and the "remaining cup" in the cream filling. Uhm, there's only 1/4 remaining. I knew that this was a potential error from reading the recipe reviews, but I didn't want to oversweeten the filling. So...I turned to this little gem of a bottle - 

Eggnog flavoring from King Arthur Flour. Just 1/4 teaspoon added a hint of eggnog flavor to the filling that I think resulted in a really yummy holiday trifle. Positive reviews at work, too!

What did you eat/cook this week? Please share! 

weekly eats.

backing up to Saturday...used leeks & potatoes from my CSA share to make yummy soup (AND, I'm counting leeks towards my 40@40 veggies). 

Sunday - burgers for the boys, eggplant fries for all, and roasted dumpling squash (also a CSA score) for me. 

Monday - football & pizza night! Ordering from Three Brother's Pizza to benefit Austin's football team. 

Tuesday - butternut squash (CSA again!) risotto

Wednesday - homemade mac & cheese / salad on the side

Thursday - lentil tacos

Friday - Gardein mandarin orange chick'n & rice 

the majority of the above meals will be consumed with pumpkin beer...a wee bit obsessed right now