Archive for September, 2009
by TT on January 23rd, 2012 | Recipes, Salads
After spending most of the afternoon at our daughter's gymnastics tournament, we were thinking of a meal that would be quick to prepare and filling. My husband suggested homemade steak subs with lots of veggies, and that seemed like a perfect solution. Knowing that the subs themselves may not be filling enough for my husband and teenage son, I suggested we have a side with it.
Yes, chips would have been the quick answer, but I was hoping for something healthier. I also knew that our fruit bin was filled with apples. I haven't consumed many servings of Waldorf Salad;
by TT on August 4th, 2011 | Recipes, Salads
On a recent Tapas Monday, I lacked creativity. I had a meeting near a great Italian specialty shop, so I decided to seek inspiration there. As I knew would happen, I wasn't disappointed. I found more cheeses than one would need for a dinner for two, assorted cured meats, and interesting crackers. However, cheese, charcuterie, and crackers don't necessarily make enough of a meal, at least when your dinner companion is a man with a hearty appetite.
As I was checking out their olives, I noticed that they also had roasted tomatoes in extra virgin olive oil. While I normally would
by TT on June 13th, 2011 | Recipes, Salads, Side Dishes
As I was preparing this post, I was thinking about my affinity for greens. Although I tried, I couldn't think of a green that I don't like. Escarole, swiss chard, kale, callaloo, and spinach are among the leafy vegetables I enjoy. In fact, the green I like least is iceberg lettuce, as it lacks flavor. Most other greens deliver fabulous flavors, some with more bite than others, and make a great side dish or ingredient in a salad.
With a love for these vegetables, I try to share it with my children. I understand that kids aren't supposed to adore vegetables,
by TT on January 14th, 2011 | Healthy Cooking, Recipes, Salads
This year, my husband and I each created some goals. The goals fell into separate categories: as an individual, as a couple, and as a family. Being food-centric people, several of the goals involved food, such as trying a new fruit or vegetable each month, taking the family to a new-to-us restaurant each quarter. One of the goals my husband created is for our family to use only produce, meat, and dairy items that are locally sourced. Actually, he wanted to locally source all food, but as I am the main grocery shopper and explained the logistics of that, together
by TT on November 19th, 2010 | Healthy Cooking, Recipes, Salads
After a Sunday afternoon spent shopping for outdoor gear and winter sports attire for two of my children, an easy to make dinner was in store for us. As we were without my husband due to business travel, the idea of using legumes, his least favorite food item, was high on my list. Plus, we were having our dear friends, Miss Vicki and OT, join us for dinner, so I wanted something that we all would enjoy but wouldn't keep anyone busy in the kitchen. Thus, a simple Mexican menu was planned.
I already had decided to make fish tacos, as
by TT on November 8th, 2010 | Healthy Cooking, Recipes, Salads
While my husband and I often bemoan the lack of specialty markets, as we live in a rural setting, we also are grateful for the abundance of local farms. Unfortunately, many of our local farms close after Halloween, and we are left with nothing but grocery stores for our produce, cheeses, and more. However, we discovered a farm that is only 30 minutes away is open year round and has a magnificent offering of produce, locally raised meats, cheeses, and other items.
While shopping at this farm this weekend, we were seeking some vegetable to use as the base in a
by TT on September 29th, 2009 | Healthy Cooking, Recipes, Salads
I love to use a sprinkling of vinegar as dressing quite often. We usually have an assortment of vinegars: champagne, cider, orange muscat, red wine, balsamic. Using only vinegar on a salad produces a light topping with a bit of a bite.
Last week I decided to make salad a main course dish for my husband and me. With fall's arrival, I began to think of seasonal foods that would be available. One of the fall ingredients that I love to use is cranberries. However, I hadn't seen any fresh cranberries in our grocery store yet, so I settled with cranberry
by TT on September 24th, 2009 | Recipes, Soups & Stews
Fall has arrived, and the temperatures have begun their march down the thermometer. While I love the warm fall days, cool nights, and colors of fall, I dread the end of freshly harvested produce. With that thought in mind I walked to the neighboring farm last week. With a table full of recently picked tomatoes in my view, I purchased a few pounds for our dinner that night.
While the mid-afternoon sun was warm on my back during the walk home, there was no doubt that the evening would be much cooler. Having lived in New Hampshire for a good part
by TT on September 22nd, 2009 | Appetizers, Recipes, Side Dishes
As this recipe contains only four ingredients (two, if you omit salt and pepper), I have to admit that I feel a little silly posting it. However, it rounded out our football Sunday munchies menu so perfectly, I felt obligated to share it with others.
I had found a recipe for a
hot corn dip that I really wanted to try, and it became the basis of our menu planning. As there were only my husband and me eating snacks this past Sunday, we needed to make only two or three dishes. With a chip and dip dish starting our
by TT on September 16th, 2009 | Appetizers, Recipes
I actually made this dish at the end of July when peaches were first in season in New Hampshire. However, I forgot about this simple appetizer until yesterday. That was when I went into the cheese drawer in refrigerator and discovered that I had two new blocks of blue cheese.
Everyone in our family enjoys cheese, so our cheese drawer typically is quite full. Usually I make note of what cheeses we have before I shop for groceries. I obviously did not do that on my most recent shopping trip. I thought we had eaten all of the blue cheese, so
by TT on September 14th, 2009 | Healthy Cooking, Main Dishes, Recipes
With my husband traveling on business last week, all of the parenting responsibilities were mine, which meant a lot of time was spent driving children to their activities. So, in the interest of my sanity, I decided to take a shortcut or two in my cooking.
One night we had homemade pizza for dinner, so rather than making the dough, I bought a ball of dough at the grocery store. With only two kids at home, this was enough dough to make their pizzas. Not needing another whole ball of dough for my pizza, I decided to use a piece of
