The Makeshift Chef

Catching up

2010-05-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

While my food blogging has suffered greatly, it definitely does not mean that our eating or my cooking has been related! In fact, it's probably gotten even more delicious, more interesting, and ever more of a creative outlet for me.

I am continually amazed at the variety of foods that I have never explored. Foods arrive at the farmer's market that I have never even seen, much less eaten or cooked with - and that means I inevitably have to research it and try it. I just updated my blog list over to the left, and these are all resources I read and use to help me be more creative, simplify what we're eating to get down to the bare bones of the flavor, and use as many natural and unprocessed foods as possible.

One of my favorites right now is Heidi at 101 Cookbooks.

Some of her recipes are a little beyond me still, and may always be, but I have found some real gems that taste even better than they originally sounded. Most recently I tried her Black Bean Salad and the dressing was tangy and delicious - and it was a great way to use up some of the pot of beans I had cooked up earlier in the week and the arugula from our garden. It will be perfect for a hot summer day when I don't want to turn on the oven, but we need a good meal that includes some protein.

I also loved her Red Lentil Soup a few weeks ago, which will be a cold-weather repeat. I am new to the use of curry but have ventured out into that world a few times lately with only great results.

Not to mention the deliciousness of her Roasted Pumpkin Salad that we enjoyed in the middle of winter. Again, an amazing dressing that just made the salad!

As always, I am trying something new almost daily, but try to repeat old favorites. Tonight we are having The Pioneer Woman's Spicy Shredded Pork, which is simmering away in my crockpot and filling the house with the aroma of cumin, chili powder, brown sugar, onion - and making my mouth water every time I walk by the kitchen.

My thoughts and ideas regarding food have changed and are continuing to change. Hopefully more posts to come on that and on some of the other new meals we have been eating!

Gyros and other goodness

2009-12-30T18:33:00.000-08:00

March was the last time I posted here?! That sounds about right though, because it was just about then that I stopped meal planning thanks to morning (all-day) sickness that started about then. I did go back to meal planning in my second trimester but thanks to the exhaustion of pregnancy, support raising and packing to move, I didn't exactly make posting my plans a priority! I have been thinking about getting back to it, mostly because I like to go back through old posts for meal ideas when I'm stuck. This week:
Monday: Curried Sweet Potato Stew
(This was really yummy. Curry is not something I used to ever include in my food choices but over time spent in Thai restaurants, my taste repertoire is expanding. This was a good way to use up leftover sweet potatoes, carrots, celery, and lentils! If you don't like the flavor of curry, this wouldn't be for you.)

Tuesday: Cheddar Chicken with Warm Black Bean Salsa (a WW recipe I got out of one of my mom's books... one of my old favorites that I pulled back out) with homemade tortilla chips and leftover roasted sweet potaoes.

Wednesday: Chicken Gyros, homemade tzaziki sauce, green salad and Lemony Pilaf (see comments below...)

Thursday: Spaghetti with homemade crockpot spaghetti sauce with Sesame Roasted Broccoli and homemade bread

Friday: Pizza using leftover sauce from spaghetti

Saturday: Chicken Noodle Soup

Sunday: Garlic Herb Marinated Chicken with leftover salad

Now, for my thoughts on the Gyro. We love to eat Greek food and I decided a few months ago to figure out how to make gyros at home. I also wanted to find a recipe of at least one good side dish that might be similar to one you would get at a good Greek restaurant. I knew the key to the gyros would be a good recipe for tzaziki sauce, the yogurt-cucumber sauce that is always served on a gyro. If I could replicate the sauce, my effort would have been for naught.

That said, I found this great recipe for tzaziki sauce from Kalyn's Kitchen. It takes a little thought in advance, since there's a few steps and then it needs to rest for the flavor of the cucumber and dill to permeate the yogurt, but it's so worth the effort. It is completely delicious, to the point that with each bite, I make "yumming" noises.

But the deliciousness is only added to by the perfect blend of spices found in this chicken recipe. The rosemary, mint, and marjoram stand out in the gyro, especially when paired with the tangy sauce. (note: I do not use the recipe for sauce in this link). All this wrapped up in a pita with goat cheese, tomatoes, and chopped onions is pure heaven.

Meal Plan 3-9-09

2009-03-08T21:49:00.000-07:00

After a great weekend in Portland I came home and threw myself into the duties of the week. I miss eating out and relaxing in Oregon already. We ate at a few great places, one bar in particular that we really liked last night called "Huber's." I'll try to post pictures of it on my other blog soon but not tonight. While there, we had a great Spanish coffee that was made in flaming glasses. Yum! We had some great appetizers in place of dinner including smoked salmon and artichoke dip. The atmosphere was fun and the bar has been in existence since the mid 1800s. It was hoppin' and we had to wait for a table in the dim and crowded room!

This week's menu includes:

Monday: Brown rice, shrimp, and snow pea bowl (see recipe below taken from Everyday FOOD magazine) - one of our favorites

Tuesday: Broken noodles with homemade tomato sauce and ricotta (found in the March 2009 Everyday FOOD magazine- I'm using spinach fettucine since I couldn't find pappardelle)
Wednesday: Slow-cooker smoky beef tacos (found in the March 2009 Everyday FOOD magazine) with cilantro lime sour cream and salsa - new recipes

Thursday: Two-Potato Pancakes (from Fresh from the Garden by Ann Lovejoy) - new recipe

Friday: calzones with pepperoni, olives, and mozzarella using this 30-minute pizza crust recipe from Crystal. This recipe is tried and true, I just usually add a bit more flour than she calls for. I especially love making it in my KitchenAid with the dough hook because it gets really smooth. I've never tried calzones so we'll see how it goes! They're a favorite from my childhood and hopefully an incentive NOT to go eat out on Friday night!

Saturday: Tilapia foil packets from Stephanie's crockpot blog. I have no idea how these will turn out but I figured they sounded like they were worth a shot! I'll definitely be using parmesan since cheddar on white fish sounds really strange to me. I'll also roast some fingerling potatoes from the farmer's market that we got a few weeks ago.

Sunday: We're hoping to have friends over Sunday evening so I'm planning to make mom's easy crockpot Cheesy Chicken and Rice, orange rosemary muffins (also from Fresh from the Garden) and roasted parmesan asparagus. I'm still debating about dessert and will have to do more scouting before I decide.

I hope it's a yummy week. I'm also hoping that I can jump back in the swing of things easily and even get all the laundry done tomorrow.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Brown-Rice Bowl with Shrimp, Snow Peas, and Avocado
(from the January/February 2008 Everyday FOOD magazine). This is a favorite that I have made multiple times and enjoyed each time! It's easy, healthy, and yummy. The ginger and citrus make a really yummy sharp taste that pairs so well with the smooth buttery avocado.

Serves 4

course salt and ground pepper
2 cup long-grain brown rice
1/4 c. soy sauce
1/4 c. lemon juice
2 Tbsp rice vinegar
2 tsp light brown sugar
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 pound peeled and deveined medium shrimp, thawed
1/2 lb snow peas, trimmed and halved on the diagonal
1 piece (1 inch long) fresh ginger, peeled and cut into matchsticks
1 avocado, pitted and cut into chunks

Bring 2 cups salted water to a boil, add rice; cover and reduce heat to low. Cook until rice is tender and water is absorbed, around 45-50 minutes
Meanwhile, in a small bowl, stir together soy sauce, lemon juice, vinegar, and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Set aside.
When rice is finished, heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add shrimp, snow peas, and ginger, season with salt and pepper. Cook until shrimp are opaque throughout and snow peas are bright green, about 2-3 minutes
Divide rice among four bowls. Top with shrimp mixture and avocado; serve sauce on the side

First March 09 meal plan!

2009-03-02T10:33:00.000-08:00

I can't believe it's March already. Not even the first of March, but the second! This year is speeding by uncontrollably. I'm at home sick today with some sort of stomach bug, which is making meal planning a little difficult (nothing sounds good) but it's got to be done or we'll eat out all week, making for a much more expensive meal plan in the long run. Fortunately, I was jotting ideas down all week as they came to me, so I had half the plan done already. I always do that - "Oh, that sounds yummy, maybe we'll have that next week" but then if I don't write it down, I will forget by the time my meal planning rolls around. Here's what I thought about last week's eating:

The lasagna was good and simple - I just used the recipe on the back of the noodle box and it didn't end up taking as long as I thought it would and it provided yummy leftovers. We didn't end up eating the beet salad so that goes on my meal plan again this week. Beets keep relatively well in the fridge so I'm not worried about them going bad. I loved using my Kitchen Aid to make the pizza dough on Friday night - that way it could knead it while I prepped the rest of the ingredients. I love the 30 minute dough recipe I use. Here's what's up this week:

Monday: Teriyaki chicken and rice using my favorite teriyaki sauce: Yoshida's! Yum!

Tuesday

My easy chicken noodle soup and Betty Crocker's Baking Powder Biscuits. For the soup I'll be using leftovers from last week's whole chicken, which we made with dried rosemary and Lawry's seasoning salt before roasting. I made chicken broth in the crockpot overnight afterward using a modified version of the recipe from Stephanie O'Dea's blog (Homemade chicken broth crockpot recipe here). I didn't blend the veggies into the broth but left it clear and then froze the leftover chicken and veggies I used in the broth to add to the soup this week. It made about 7 cups of broth so I'll use some of it this week. Yum!

Wednesday
French Winter Beet Salad (from one of my favorite cookbooks by Ann Lovejoy caled Fresh From the Garden) and broiled trout with lemon

Thursday
I just discovered you can bake potatoes in foil packets in the slow cooker, so since we have a meeting that night, I'll make potatoes in the slow cooker so they'll be ready by the time we get home and want to eat before zipping out the door! I have been enjoying the blog mentioned above by Stephanie O'Dea (A Year of Crockpotting). The simple recipe for baked potatoes can be found here.

Friday-Sunday: we're headed for a getaway in Portland so I'm trying to plan a few meals that don't require us to eat out. I doubt our hotel room has a microwave or mini fridge, so I'm thinking I'll bring the cooler to keep some things like yogurt or cream cheese for bagels or something. We'll probably mostly eat out though.

Planning ahead

2009-02-23T22:48:00.000-08:00

Menu-planner, seeking inspiration. Longing for spring, hence the crocus. I have yet to actually see a crocus yet this year but am in desperate need of some color! Last week we did pretty well sticking to our meal plan but somehow have one left over - maybe we ate out once, I can't remember. Everything was yummy, especially the bean and rice burritos that I created - they were easy and delicious, definitely something to repeat. This week's menu:

Monday: Happy hour sushi again, this time with Jesse and another couple. It was yummy tonight and then we headed over to Dilletante's for coffee and dessert. Now we'll have to stick to our meal plan since that ate up our funds for restaurants for the week! It was worth it though.

Tuesday: Lasagna and roasted asparagus with parmesan cheese

Wednesday: Winter beet salad and broiled steelhead trout

Thursday: Taco salad with ground beef, black beans, olives, lettuce, cheddar, tomato, avocado

Friday: Pizza with feta, pancetta, artichoke hearts, mozzarella, etc
Saturday: Roasted whole chicken and potatoes - save the leftovers for salads next week

Sunday: Beef stew and homemade bread at a friend's house - yummy!

Monday: Frittata (potatoes, feta, leftover veggies) and applesauce

For more menu plans, see Laura at www.orgjunkie.com

February Meal Plan

2009-02-15T16:06:00.000-08:00

My meal plan for February 15-22

Sunday:

Out to eat after church with friends... then we're headed to a $3 movie! Jesse's brother is in town for a job interview, and Jesse and I have tomorrow off, so we're living it up!

Monday: I'm going out to sushi with college girlfriends to the Dragonfish Asian Cafe for half price Happy Hour! Jesse can have baked potatoes or something else if he wants.

Tuesday:

Thai-spiced Pumpkin Soup. This is a new one and looks yummy... and Mache with orange-cumin dressing (see below)... we went to the farmer's market this week and were hoping for spinach until we found out it was gone... mache (with a little arete above the "a") is a European relative of spinach and is apparently usually an expensive gourmet green. We got it for cheap and this recipe sounds good!
Wednesday: Bean and rice burritos (experimenting) with chips and salsa

Thursday: French Winter Beet Salad from Fresh From the Garden Cookbook: Recipes Inspired by Kitchen Gardens by Ann Lovejoy. I was skeptical about beets until recently, having only had the red, strong-flavored beets at the salad bar or roasted at home. They are typically too strong for me to eat alone but last winter I discovered Chioggia beets at the U District Farmer's Market. The flavor is much more subtle, and look at the coloring in the picture at the top! This salad is one of Jesse's favorite meals I've made in the last few months; the beets paired with apples and walnuts with a lemony mustard dressing is delicious!

Friday-Sunday we are headed to Spokane for a wedding and a visit with Jesse's family. I am glad, we haven't been over there since Thanksgiving and I am looking forward to seeing his mom and hopefully his sister Holly.

Monday - I always like to plan at least one meal for the day after we get back in town since I don't want to worry about grocery shopping right away. We're going to have lasagna and garlic bread

Adventures in local eating

2008-12-19T11:55:00.000-08:00

This winter we decided to join a local CSA so we could continue the adventure we began earlier in the year trying to eat mostly local produce. If you're unfamiliar with Community Supported Agriculture (I was until a couple years ago), here's a great description from the National Agriculture Library:

Community Supported Agriculture consists of a community of individuals who pledge support to a farm operation so that the farmland becomes, either legally or spiritually, the community's farm, with the growers and consumers providing mutual support and sharing the risks and benefits of food production. Typically, members or "share-holders" of the farm or garden pledge in advance to cover the anticipated costs of the farm operation and farmer's salary. In return, they receive shares in the farm's bounty throughout the growing season, as well as satisfaction gained from reconnecting to the land and participating directly in food production. Members also share in the risks of farming, including poor harvests due to unfavorable weather or pests. By direct sales to community members, who have provided the farmer with working capital in advance, growers receive better prices for their crops, gain some financial security, and are relieved of much of the burden of marketing.

There are actually a few farms in Kent nearby who offer CSAs and after researching them further, we decided to invest in the Whistling Train Farm which is a mere 10 minutes away from where we live. It was even more convenient than I expected! We have been pleased with the quality and amounts of food we receive each week, and I love the challenge and fun it presents in learning to cook with fresh, local bounty, such as kale, chard, different squashes, and turnips. Of course, we also get some more "standard" vegetables, such as potatoes, broccoli, carrots, garlic, etc.
I know many people who would find this daunting and stressful, but seeing what produce we're going to get each week has been a highlight for me. I start right away imagining what combinations of meals I can make with what we have stocked in our fridge.

However, it is an investment, as we've learned this week. You see the sentence in the paragraph above : "Members also share in the risks of farming, including poor harvests due to unfavorable weather or pests"? We've learned that firsthand this week as well, since the Puget Sound has been solidly frozen and snowy for the whole week now, making harvesting and produce pickup impossible. While disappointing, we knew this was the risk and part of the deal.

For some reason, even this disappointment causes me to be at least a little excited. It is a different disappointment than going to the grocery story and finding them out of the ingredient you need; different, I think, because we know where our food is coming from and know why there isn't any this week. It wasn't because some fool forgot to order enough the week before Christmas or because there was some mad rush by humanity on the stores, but instead due to unchangeable circumstances of weather, determined by God. In the way farmers in the past depended on Him directly to control the weather and provide for him, we are making our best attempt to do the same; when there isn't an abundance, we will adjust our lives to this. When there is an abundance, our appreciation and joy abounds as well.

We have been reading works by Wendell Berry, who writes extensively in both fiction and non-fiction modes about our culture's major shift in the last period of time away from the land and agriculture. We have moved so far away from an agricultural community that we usually have no idea where our food is coming from, nor do we, as a society, care. This seems to be possibly the first time in history that this is the case for such a huge majority of a society, and our new health challenges may be reflecting this shift.

I could go on; Jesse and I have made some decisions about our lifestyle that not all will make and we know this. But it is exciting for us to see what life can be like; that you can begin to live in a sustainable fashion, even while we are in the middle of the city; living in an apartment! So, this week, we may eat a lot of potatoes, rice and beans, but we know that it is temporary and in just a few short months we will joyfully be eating fresh-picked strawberries and asparagus! What anticipation we already feel about spring and summer!

October Meal Plan

2008-10-25T19:23:00.000-07:00

I've been consistently making meal plans but have forgotten to post them every week! This week I am particularly excited to try a few meals, so I thought I would post my plan and later any recipes that worked well. Here's what's to eat this week:

Saturday (tonight): Danish squash stuffed with cranberry apple wild rice with apples and cheddar on the side

Sunday: Homemade pizza topped with chicken sausage, carmelized onions, and mozzerella

Monday: Twice baked potatoes with broccoli and cheddar (a good way to finish off the broccoli I have left from last week)

Tuesday: Shrimp with scallions and crispy potatoes (from the November 08 Everyda FOOD magazine I got in the mail yesterday!)

Wednesday: Low-calorie chicken enchiladas (at Jesse's request)

Thursday: Potato salad with local red and yellow potatoes

Friday: Chili and cornbread (for our Halloween party) with roasted pumpkin seeds and mulled cranberry apple cider

Saturday: Kabocha squash soup with carmelized onions

Potential side dishes:

corn on the cob
sweet potatoes
carrots
spinach
red leaf lettuce (salad?)
rice

I am also going to try a new whole-wheat bread recipe if I get a chance. Should be a yummy week, I hope! Later I'll post any good recipes I discover!

My far-too-easy Chicken Noodle Soup

2008-04-02T14:27:00.000-07:00

Jesse raves about this, which cracks me up, since it's totally a fall-back meal. Meaning, when I don't feel like making whatever I planned for dinner, I make this instead. It makes a lot, so I'm always happy because it's just good the next day!

4 cups (2 cans) good chicken broth
2-3 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 can white chicken meat in waters
a couple handfuls of spirally noodles (I use egg noodles or fusilli pasta - rotini is TOO noodly, we tried that once, never again!)
Basil, salt, and other spices to taste

1) Pour 4 cups of good chicken broth (I like the free-range chicken broth in cartons, but often use Swansons if I have them on hand) into a stockpot. Add carrots and celery and heat to over medium high. Cook for 5 minutes

2) Add noodles and let cook until veggies and noodles are soft - about 10-13 minutes

3) Add chicken + water from the can (yep, just dump it all in). You could theoretically use chicken you've cooked and diced or shredded, but this eliminates a whole step! I'm all for that, since this IS one of my fall-back meals. Throw in some salt, basil/Italian spices... what have you... to taste.

It really is that simple and it's so much better than stuff out of a can! It's especially good with soft fluffy biscuits or a loaf of homemade crusty bread. Yum!!

THE Spiced Zucchini Bars with Cranberries and Pecans

2008-03-03T21:39:00.000-08:00

This recipe is stolen (borrowed?) from the book One Smart Cookie by Julie Van Rosendaal. I love this cookbook, since the recipes are pretty low calorie, low fat, and often high in fiber and other good stuff. There are some healthier versions of staples (chocolate chip cookies, oatmeal cookies, no bake) and some delicious recipes for bars, cookies, and biscotti.

I made the zucchini bars for a group of college age/young adult folks and they raved about them. I know if something doesn't have chocolate and STILL receives rave reviews from that crowd, it must be special. And these are special.

The ingredients:

3 tbsp butter or stick margarine, softened
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup packed grated raw, unpeeled zucchini - this is about one medium zucchini (unpeeled to keep the beta-carotene found in the peel)
1/2 cup dried cranberries or raisins
1/4 cup chopped pecans, toasted

What to do:

First, I made sure I knew how to toast pecans. I spread them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven at 300 degrees for about 5-7 minutes or until they smelled really good. Don't let them burn, though!

Then preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
In a large bowl, beat butter, brown sugar, egg, and vanilla with a mixer or by hand until smooth. In a different, medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, allspice, and salt. Add the flour mixture and the zucchini to the egg mixture and stir by hand until almost combined (don't forget that part - don't over mix it. Almost combined to me means until it doesn't look like there are dry powdery spots everywhere but it's not quite smooth yet). Add cranberries and pecans and stir until just blended.

Spread the batter into an 8"x8" pan that has been sprayed with nonstick spray. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until the top is springy to the touch (but don't burn yourself). Cool completely in the pan on a wire rack.

Makes 12 bars (or if cut smaller, many more). This kept nicely overnight with just a towel over it. The nutritional info: 155 calories per bar, 4.9 grams fat, 22.4 grams carbohydrates, 1 gram fiber. Maybe it wouldn't be so good for those doing Atkins. ;) But for the rest of us who can't get enough carbs, this is scrumptious. If you're feeling bold, serve it with a little Cool-Whip... or if you're really crafty, whip up your own cream. I'm not that crafty, especially not when I am serving this after returning home from work and church to a houseful of people. ;) Cool-whip was sufficient.

Cheesy Chicken and Rice

2008-03-03T21:26:00.000-08:00

I have no idea where my mother got this recipe and whether she's modified it from the original. I have no pictures (yet) for this recipe, although I will try to include some after I make it this week.
Cheesy Chicken and Rice is comfort food extraordinaire. It is one of the meals I come home to in the winter and can't wait to dig into. It is divine. And oh-so-easy. Don't be fooled by the simplicity, though - I can never get enough.

The ingredients (these serve 4-6, I usually use 1-2 chicken breasts with the same amount of soup and we have plenty for leftovers):

2-3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves
1 can cream of cheddar soup
1 can fat-free cream of celery soup
1 can cream of mushroom soup
A bit of sour cream and some fresh sliced mushrooms.
When I copied this down over the phone from my mom, she added in all sorts of interesting tidbits. One of these included the suggestion to "mix the soups together and then save half the mixture in the freezer for the next time you make this, since you're only making it for one or two people." Another tips included "You could put in a little onion powder to give it more flavor." I've since taken that suggestion and expanded it with most foods I make- I experiment with a little spice here and a little herb there. You could certainly add some onion powder- I still do. I also add lemon pepper sometimes, regular pepper, basil, whatever strikes my fancy. Have fun. And always listen to your mom - she has good advice.

What you do:

Put the chicken in the crockpot. Mix the soups together in a bowl and then pour over the top of the chicken. Sprinkle onion powder (or your own creative mixture of spices) over the the top. Cook on low 6-7 hours (I usually just cook it until I get home from work 8 or so hours later, and it's just fine).

The terrible part is that it's not ready yet, but don't give up. About a half hour before eating, shred the chicken. I use two forks to do this and I'm not terribly selective about how small I shred it. Then add 3/4 cup fat free sour cream and the mushrooms. Serve over rice.
Also, if you want, add a little soy sauce. Yep, you heard me, soy sauce. It's good. Mmm. I love this meal.

Banana Bread to Die For...

2008-02-16T09:57:00.000-08:00

Welcome! I finally decided I needed a place to post recipes. Maybe no one will read them (chances are high), but at least I will have some of my favorites organized if I want them! I often post my meal plans on my other blog and then wish I had somewhere to link recipes for use during the week.

Today's links:

Grandma Ruby's Banana Bread - passed from grandma to mom to me...

Yes, those are cherries and chocolate... in banana bread. You've never had anything like it...

AND this recipe does indeed make two loaves, making it perfect for company, gifts, or just pigging out.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup shortening or butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 mashed bananas
1/4 cup chopped nuts (optional - I always opt out since I don't think this bread needs any)
8 or 10-oz jar maraschino cherries
6 oz chocolate chips (I always eyeball it)

Preheat oven to 350. Cream shortening or butter and sugar. Add eggs, flour, baking soda, mashed bananas, chopped nuts (if using), and the juice from the jar of maraschino cherries.
Mix together and then fold in chocolate chips. Pour into greased loaf pans and push cherries in from the top. Bake in 350 degree oven for about 45 minutes or until an inserted knife comes out generally clean (melted chocolate is OKAY - nay, perfect!)

NEXT up... Adrienne's Ranch Roast...