Back in the Saddle....Slowly!

I'm getting back in the blogging saddle after a 3 week hiatus.

Mom signed the papers yesterday and my dear husband moved the last bit of stuff out and closed the door on the home he grew up in. It's been tiring and emotional, but very satisfying that we managed to get Mom moved out, moved in, and all settled. She is comfortable and content in her new apartment and already making new friends. I think the financial simplicity without the big home to care for has given her a sense of freedom. A new chapter in her life has begun.

For us it's back to life as usual. Never boring, but busy nonetheless. Spring is beginning to appear and we're way behind on our garden tasks. March 17 has always been our day to start the process by planting potatoes, but I'm afraid they're gonna be a little late this year!  The weather has been so rainy and cold and thinking about the garden has been the last thing on our minds lately but our 2011 plan is ready to go. Probably in the next week or two we'll start in so we can have the pleasure of fresh vegetables again this year.  This is what it looked like last year and the harvest was bountiful. 

I think our favorite was the corn. Being able to pick those ears right before dinner was amazing and words can't describe how delicious they were!

We learned so much last year and although we wouldn't be so bold as to consider ourselves "experts," there will probably be a few changes. Nothing will be planted in the same space and we'll probably do something different to support the tomatoes and peas. The biggest challenge will be keeping the chickens out. Thankfully we've got a few rolls of garden fencing to surround the space. Scratching is what they do best, but we'd rather they do that when the garden is empty!

Once the sun comes out, we'll be knee deep in the dirt and I can hardly wait! Fresh air, fresh earth, and a new harvest to look forward to.

It's so good to be back and I hope you'll stay tuned for some great home cooking in the days and weeks to come.

Life Calls

We all have such busy lives and sometimes things happen in our families that require our undivided attention and assistance. 

Beloved home with Dad, Mom & my "young" husband

After two years on the market in a down economy, the home my husband grew up in sold earlier this month. The process is moving quickly and the closing deadline is March 17. This is a classic case of natural accumulation of stuff over a lifetime and now it all needs to be downsized--and quickly. It's totally overwhelming for my 84 year old mother-in-law, Evelyn, and we are trying to prevent her from having a meltdown by helping her sort through it all and complete the list of items the buyer requires before closing. 

Last week we held our breath as we waited to hear whether she was able to get the apartment at the retirement home where she wanted to reside. Thankfully that worked out beautifully.  She ended up with a better apartment than the one she was originally shown!

So all that to say, I haven't given up on my beloved blog. Life has called for our help and we need to be attentive to that--at least for now. Thank you for your prayers and patience!

Chicken Cacciatore with Rice

Thrown into the middle of the meal planning mix this week was this chicken dish. After all, we can only eat soup so often, right?

I remember Grandma fixing it and thought today seemed as good a day as any to resurrect the recipe, particularly given the fact that our own "pet" chickens have created a whirlwind of work for us and maybe this is my way of getting back at them. Sounds awful, but our girls are on my naughty list this week.

Last Thursday when I came home from work our daughter Katie was wandering around our yard looking fairly upset. I rolled down the window and she announced that "the girls were missing out of the yard." If there is one single thing that sets me in a dither, it's that. 

I absolutely adore our girls--probably too much. They jump up on me, sit in my lap, chase me around the yard, fly up on the window sill outside my office to remind me if I've been neglectful,  absolutely love it when I'm out gardening so they can get right in front of me and "help" me weed. I just love 'em.  They are my babies. So when Katie alerted me to the fact that they were MIA, I almost dialed 911. We have our routine when this happens. Walk around the block, check the neighbors' yards, and sound the alarm (aka the chicken call). They were nowhere to be found. Finally I used the lid of the galvanized garbage can in which I store their feed and banged it loudly once or twice. They've been known to tear around the corner running when I do this, so I thought it might work to round them up. Sure enough. Katie hollered to me that they had been scratching around in our next door neighbor's bushes and were hightailing it home.

The next day they did the same thing. And the next day.  So off we went to Home Depot to pick up some plastic chicken fencing and posts.  We figured out where they were escaping (a hole they had dug by our hedgerow) and spent the better part of 2 hours in the freezing cold measuring, cutting, fencing. Now they are contained, we're happy, and that's the end of that. At least for now.

So in honor of our little "Houdinis," here's Chicken Cacciatore in all its glory.

Chicken Cacciatore with Rice

2 tablespoons olive oil
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized chunks or use whole split fryer
Salt and pepper
½ cup flour
½ cup white wine or chicken broth
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups sliced fresh mushrooms
1 large red bell pepper, chopped
3 zucchini sliced diagonally into ¼ inch pieces
1 can (14.5 oz) diced Italian style tomatoes, undrained
¼ cup tomato paste
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning or ½ teaspoon each basil and oregano (if not using Italian style tomatoes)
3 cups hot cooked brown or wild rice

Wash chicken pieces and pat dry. Salt and pepper pieces and dredge in flour to coat. Heat oil in Dutch oven or large skillet over medium-high heat and cook chicken until browned. Do not crowd chicken in the pan. Set chicken aside. Pour in wine or chicken broth and scrape up brown bits. Add in onion, mushrooms, red pepper, and zucchini and cook for 3-5 minutes or until crisp tender, stirring occasionally. Stir in tomatoes, tomato paste, and seasonings. Cook through until heated, stirring occasionally and serve over rice.

Meatball Stew

I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love my crockpot. I would love to get one of those new programmable ones with the multiple temperature settings and all the bells and whistles, but really it's probably not necessary. The food I cook in my old one comes out just as tasty and our home smells just as wonderful!

This is a soup that really makes the house smell great and other than peeling a few potatoes and cutting up some vegetables, it is super easy. Did you know that often the trick to successful crockpotting is the layering? I always put the meat on top and the most dense vegetable (like potatoes) on the bottom. That way the meat doesn't get overcooked and also flavors the vegetables beneath.

Another secret is preparing your meat in advance--making sure it's either seared first (to keep the meat from getting tough or stringy) or precooked for a short time (to lock in the flavor). That's why this meatball stew is so great. I generally prepare my meatballs in advance and freeze them. The trick is to cook them for 7-10 minutes before freezing. That way they're ready to toss into whatever you're preparing. I've shared several of my meatball recipes in past postings so take your pick, but the ones I like the best for this meatball stew are the Swedish Meatballs. Their depth of flavor with the combination of pork and beef is just the ticket.

Meatball Stew

3 Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into cubes

1 cup carrots sliced into ½ inch chunks

1 yellow onion, chopped

3 celery stalks, sliced

15-20 frozen fully cooked meatballs (I prefer Swedish Meatballs)

1 (10.75 oz) can condensed tomato soup

1 (10.5 ounce) can beef gravy

½ cup water

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Prepare the vegetables and layer in the order given in a 5-qt. slow cooker placing the meatballs on top. Combine the liquid ingredients in a separate bowl and pour over meatball mixture. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until the vegetables are tender.

Lentil Soup

We hope all of you had a loving Valentine's week!

We had such a sweet Valentine's Day! The downside was our choice of steaks but the steak sauce from Nigella that we made could have made a pair of Nikes taste delicious! I just love her.

This week has been a real challenge with work and family demands and just plain human fatigue! Plus, I made the mistake of not planning meals so everything was hit or miss. We must have gone to the grocery store a half a dozen times and usually we go once. That's why planning is so important (and even more so if you're busy). Haven't got time to plan? You just can't afford not to! It streamlines your life, keeps you on budget, and meal prep is a joy instead of a thrown-together-at-the-last-minute fiasco!

Another confession concerns my Friday night Polynesian chicken catastophe. I thought I'd try a recipe out of one of Grandma's more obscure cookbooks. The sure sign of recipe success is the amount of wear on the cookbook. If it doesn't have dogeared corners, scribbles, recipe adjustments, and random math calculations in the corners, it wasn't one of Grandma's favorite books. This one was apparently not one of her favorites. First mistake.

Second mistake: Too much ginger.

Third mistake: Grilling with a new cast iron grill pan...inadequately seasoned

Fourth mistake: Cooking a meal when no one was even home! Why?

Those are all the mistakes I can think of at the moment. Suffice it to say I spent the better part of Friday night scrubbing my new cast iron grill pan with a nylon scrub pad. My kitchen window will testify to that. I had to scrub that on Saturday morning. Ewwww!

On Sunday when we did our weekly fridge cleaning, my dear husband cut up the Polynesian debacle and we sampled a few bites. It actually didn't taste bad chilled and I thought it might be great atop an Asian variety salad. The disaster ended up okay after all.

So that's my week. Just like everyone else, mine don't always work out as expected! Such is life!

I will admit that my lesson learned from no planning last week began with a plan this week--hearty soups will be on the menu and I might even try some bread recipes to go along with them--in the bread maker, of course.

So this week is going to be great...I just know it!

Lentil Soup

1 cup dry lentils
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon cooking oil
3 cans beef broth (or 4 cups homemade)
½ can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ teaspoon thyme
¼ teaspoon pepper

sea salt
1 bay leaf
½ cup carrots, chopped
½ cup celery, chopped
1 pound smoked beef sausage, sliced (opt.)

Rinse lentils thoroughly and set aside. In Dutch oven, heat oil and cook onion and garlic until tender. Stir in lentils, broth, ½ can of tomatoes, Worcestershire sauce, cumin, thyme, pepper. Add bay leaf. Bring to boiling then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Add carrot and celery and bring to boiling. Reduce heat and simmer again for 20 minutes. Add water if necessary to reach desired consistency.  Cook until lentils, carrots and celery are tender.  If using meat, stir in last and heat through. Add sea salt to taste. Pull out bay leaf before serving. 6 hearty servings.