Catching up

I have been really busy with the single mom thing and the medical school rotations thing, but I have been keeping up with feeding the family. Just not keeping up with blogging about it.

I also just realized that the name of this blog is more than just about my cooking. My life is getting to the point that it's almost healthy now. I'm still working on it. I still have doubts. For example, I know that Picky, and perhaps members of his family, are reading this blog and my other blog. That is probably one of the reasons I haven't been posting that often on either.

I know he read this post because he showed up at Z's birthday party with my kitchen knife, of all things. Leave it to Picky to blemish a party day with some petty nonsense. But, I was happy to see the knife. I have to think in the Almost Healthy mindset. Instead of being worried that his family knows how I feel about their treatment of me, I should be comfortable in the fact that I never treated them badly; I bent over backwards to cook them amazing food and cater to them. It is ridiculous that I feel any sort of angst over admitting out loud that I was treated absolutely atrociously. How does that make me the bad person? If Papa Picky (Picky's father) refuses to ever come to my house again, that means I will never get bullied by him again. I shouldn't feel bad; I should rejoice.

Maybe if I complain on here about his keeping the patio table my former mother in law gave me after saying he was just going to keep it until he got a dining room table will lead to him showing up randomly with my patio table. Here's to hoping for a shred of decency. Or, he can sit outside at his new place at one of the two patio tables with seating for ten and eat take out by himself. I can still be happy that it's not my problem any more.

Anyway, had to get that off my chest. Here is some proof that I have been living, not just ruminating about what Picky's family thinks of me:

S loves talking about Mexican food for some reason, but it seems like whenever I make it, he only eats a little bit. He loves talking about tacos. In fact, he is dressing up like a taco this Halloween. I'm not kidding. Well, I made these shrimp tacos the other night, since Z has trouble chewing the steak in the steak ones I love to make. They were a huge hit.



Here is a favorite breakfast for Z. He asked for it on his birthday. It's nothing fancy, but it reminds me of my childhood. I love it that he loves it. Bananas, peanut butter, and honey:



The weather is getting beautiful. The kids and I love to eat outside, and now that Picky isn't here to object, we get to do it whenever we want. It's wonderful, even if we have to push some cheap folding tables together. I made this cajun catfish with browned butter the other night, and it was scrummy:



I was so proud of myself last Sunday. I posted on Facebook that I deserved a mother of the year award. I made baked French toast for breakfast, folded three loads of laundry, put together my new vacuum / steamer and vacuumed the house, took the kids out for a picnic lunch in a park, and we played ball there and went on a nature walk, made THREE dinners from scratch - one for that night and two for the week, and built a fort with Z. Picky blew it off saying I thought I was mother of the year for just cooking and doing laundry, but I am confident that I did more in one day as a parent than he could pull off in a month. Two months if it was football season, or if a new video game just came out. And, I got the added bonus of not having to do anything but heat up dinner all week, and we had delicious, homemade food.

Here was the most popular meal from the week - chicken and pasta with artichoke, peas and lemon:



And finally, even though I said I wasn't going to talk about Picky any more, I was pretty perturbed that he complained that I wrote about "hating his family" on my food blog. I didn't say I hated them. I said I was upset at how I was treated surrounding food, especially considering the fabulous meals (and endless creme brulee!) I made for them without complaining. Just scroll through the posts on here and check it out. But, since I already vented about it on this post, I might as well finish it off with a laugh. I was in the ER this week to admit a patient, and I saw someone's snack sitting in one of the employee areas. I will most likely never get to cook for Papa Picky again, but if I do get the honor, I think I will hook him up with something like the spread I saw in the ER:



I questioned putting this up, but then I realized he has always treated me with barely concealed hostility, almost since the day he met me. I can continue to cower and be afraid, and listen to his family members telling me how it's my fault and I deserved to be cursed at and treated like dirt on the bottom of his shoe, or I can be Almost Healthy about it and have a good laugh.

Star Wars breakfast!

I got these Star Wars pancake molds from William Sonoma. I couldn't resist. We had lots of fun making these.



Z, when I asked him to smile for the photo: "Mom, I need to look at what I'm doing!"






It took some getting used to in the beginning - some of the first ones were a bit overdone. Consider it the dark side!

Foodie kids!

My mom and I introduced my kids to one of our family foodie traditions: artichokes. My father took my mom out for artichoke when they were dating, and it has been a family delicacy since. The kids loved them!

And, they qualify as almost healthy. Vegetables, but dipped in melted butter. Mmmmmm. I was happy because they both filled up before they got down to the hearts, so i got to eat lots and lots of the heart, which my mom and I agree is the most important part.

Some fun new meals

I have been continuing to do low glycemic / South Beach / Mediterranean style cooking and eating. I am not specifically looking to fit some sort of weight ideal or BMI, but I have blood sugar fluctuations and can tend toward disordered eating. I think eating a diet heavier in vegetables, beans, proteins, natural oils and nuts is better.

I don't agree with sweeping bans on categories of foods, including fruit, like in the induction part of the South Beach diet. I just happily munched down on a Fuji apple with peanut butter on it.

I am really happy Z and S, for the most part, have been very cooperative about eating my dinners, and have not peeped ONCE about a lack of a white starch at the dinner. As predictable, Picky has been the biggest obstacle.

Elevensies today: "Fresh" mozzarella, presliced (my new favorite grocery item), with home roasted sweet orange pepper, and chimichurri. Mmm mmm mmm.

Elevensies yesterday: soft boiled eggs and asparagus (made the day before, simmered in chicken broth)

Z's birthday

Z's birthday is tomorrow. I am bringing cupcakes with green icing (his request) to his school. I am also getting an ice cream cake for dinner. I am not baking either. I have a quiz, two written exams and a practical exam this week. I think I can deal with store bought.

I asked him what he wanted for dinner tomorrow night. Here are his suggestions:

String cheese
Eggs and bacon
Nachos (the he said "S likes those!!")
Muffins
AND cake!!

Uh, I have no idea what to make him for dinner tomorrow night.

Since we've been back

I made a great spread on the spot when my sister in law and her friend came over with their kids to swim in our pool. I love cooking informal food for a group like this. So much less pressure than dinner, to me.

I made some delicious mojo chicken wing drummettes and sliced mild Italian chicken sausage on my new panini grill pan. (Thanks MIL! It worked great. Works well for bacon, too! Now I just have to make paninis...) We also had shrimp skewers, mostly for S, who has been asking for them.

Dessert was also for S. Mango shortcakes, with homemade vanilla whipped cream. I followed the Cook's Ill Best Recipe recipe for strawberry shortcake. But, Z is allergic to strawberries (which he feels the need to tell me every time we eat) and S loves mangoes. I picked up four beautiful mangoes from Robert is Here farmer's market on the way back from the Keys, and they were taunting me. They turned out so good, even Picky, who normally doesn't like fruity desserts, scarfed his down.

I actually think this is a good photo. Am I crazy? Am I improving? Look back at the photos of the frittata and the boar...not bad, right? (Ignore the biscuits and gravy and the cheesecake...)

Father's Day dinner was good, but suspiciously similar to last year's. Ribs, peppers, shells and white sauce (instead of mac and cheese), chocolate brownies.

Rrrrrg stinkin pie

I had noooooo pie plans. None. I am not a dessert maker in general, and tend to shy away from baking or anything that takes too much precision. But, my mom handed over about 6 pounds of apples and some refrigerated pie dough made by a chef for an event at her school that fell through.

I have been wrestling with the pie. Rolling it out between two sheets of parchment paper was a dream. I mastered this clockwise 1/4 movement that my cookbook recommends. Then, just as I tried to wrap it around the rolling pin, Z, the 3 year old, senses the horrible timing and comes in to "help mommy" by grabbing the pin. Well, the dough fell apart, and as annoyed as I would like to be at Zach, I think some of it had to do with it being at least 10 degrees warmer in my kitchen in South Florida with the windows open than it is in most kitchens. So, I am chilling my rolled out dough before trying the transfer. Wish me luck!

Now to go tell Coach Stu to corral Z...

Roasted hot sauce

I keep talking about my roasted hot sauce, so I should really post the recipe up on here.

Here is a message board post from when I made it for the first time a month ago:

I am using tomatoes (halved and cored) from the garden, some itty bitty hot peppers, one left over mild pepper (too small but all I have), whole garlic cloves and green onion (cut up). Almost all from my garden.

I tossed all of the above in a roasting baste made of tomato paste, olive oil, salt, pepper and paprika (trying to make up for my lack of sweet peppers). I roasted all of the above under the broiler in my toaster oven. I took the green onions out first and the garlic is still in, but smells pretty insane. I will be blending it all up with some vinegar soon.

It is super tasty. I am nuking a frozen burrito so I have something to eat it with.

On a side note, S fed Z a hot pepper from the garden and made him cry while I was making this. Sigh. I let S be a taste tester for the hot sauce.

*****

I made it again today for my brother-in-law. Today I had more sweet peppers. It turned out great.

Bad mommy, good cookie

I am a bad mommy. I gave Z the cookie with the burned bottom, and I kept one that was perfectly done for myself. Of course, this cookie monster will eat a cookie that's covered in dog turd. Not that I have ever tried to feed him one, but S may have.

These are killer cookies. As my pastry chef roommate says, the dough is delicious. Best raw dough around, and the cookie part of the cooked cookie ain't bad either.

You can put anything in this dough. I am sure it will work unadorned, although I am not sure why you would want to. We have put leftover chopped up Halloween and Valentine's candy in, and I am planning on trying them soon with macadamias and craisins. (For me and S. I have a feeling Picky will turn those down, if he can resist. We'll see what happens late at night.)

This is the baisc recipe, and even though Picky bitches every time about their being nuts in them, he says they are the "best chocolate chip cookies in the world."

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup high cacao-content chips
1/2 cup chopped pecans or slivered almonds

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda and salt.
In a large bowl, cream butter and sugars. Beat in eggs one at a time, followed by vanilla. Slowly mix in the flour.
Stir in 1 1/2 cups of accoutrements of your choice. I pretend these are semi-healthy due to dark chocolate (high in antioxidants) and nuts.
Drop heaping tablespoonfuls (or, as I do, use a mini ice cream scoop) onto the prepared baking sheet.
Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes, until golden brown around the edges.
Cool for 3-5 minutes on the baking sheet, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Makes about 3 dozen.

Foodie loves picky

I decided since I cook so much, eat so much, troll foodie blogs and websites so much, and post about my cooking on message boards so much, I should just join everybody and their dog (thanks nessy) and start my own food blog.

So, here it is. The concept: I am a foodie who will eat almost anything and who loves to cook new and exciting recipes. My husband has, as his sister described to me when she was giving me the pros and cons lowdown on him when we started dating, a "plebian palate" and would prefer to eat mac and cheese and a burger every night. It's not the kids I have to worry about, even though there are two lovely ones, S and Z, who also appear in my other blog. The two year old and the almost eight year old fight over miso soup and wakame salad when we order in sushi, but we always have to make sure that the restaurant also has batter fried chicken with glow in the dark sweet and sour glue sauce for Picky.