Meals on Wheels

Since I've been sick, meals have been flowing into our home. Friends and family have been taking such good care of us in this way (and lots of other ways, too). This is a big deal to me. In case you haven't noticed, food is important to me and knowing that I wouldn't be able to cook for my family was a major stress to me prior to the surgery. And then my friends arranged some meals and those meals have been so delicious and my kids are healthy and eating well AND THAT MAKES ME HAPPY! So, thank you, thank you ALL of you that have brought over food for us- I love you!

(the dinner above was some braised chicken with couscous that my friend Xuan brought over- YUM!)

monday night dinner

These Black Bean and Rice Cakes are one of our favorite recipes. The cilantro yogurt sauce is a must, so don't opt out of making it. I added some turkey tomatillo tamales and the meal was complete. The kids loved this combination and Elliot kept calling the cakes "cookies." Yum!

We're also prepping the garden for the summer. We converted our cold frame into a raised bed and the greens are loving the warm sun. The kids played with Pebbles (the hermit crab) by hiding her in the collard greens.

tuesday night dinner

We're on this crazy-strict budget and I'm coming up with some pretty creative ways to stretch my food dollar. Last night's dinner was a new one: anything in the freezer/fridge that we could throw together and make somewhat edible. I made some risotto with a bunch a random veggies in the veggie drawer (4 mushrooms, an onion, and 2 carrots), some leftover sweet potato fries from Monday night's meal, and some spinach topped with frozen veggie burgers. It all came together really well and the kids chowed it (which is a plus). What will come out of the freezer tonight?!

Chicken Tamales

I finally learned how to make tamales! This recipe for pork tamales is what I used, but I changed it up a bit. I used chicken instead of pork (1-2 breasts) and I didn't have tomatoes so I added about 2 Tbsp ketchup (don't judge me Latinas!). I also added 2 tsp chili powder and cilantro.

Here's Melany assembling some tamale goodness!

I shot this picture of Diego and Mike working on their laptops. Don't they look so accomplished doing their last few edits on their dissertations? Maybe we'll do another huge batch of these for graduation!

Chicken Soup and Rice

In March the wind blows down the door,

And spills my soup upon the floor.

It laps it up and roars for more!

Blowin' once, blowin' twice, blowin' chicken soup and rice!

It is the first day of Spring and my back yard looks like this...

so I decided to make some chicken soup and rice. Plus, Elliot has been sick with a nasty stomach virus and this soup was his first real food in two days. It was so delicious and perfect comfort food. Here's the recipe:

1.5 lbs skinless split breasts

4 carrots, peeled and diced

4 celery stalks, diced

1 large onion, chopped

4 garlic cloves

2 Tbsp olive oil

8 cups water

1.5 cups white rice

seasonings: salt, pepper, dried thyme, dried parsley, bay leaf

In a large stock pot or dutch oven, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the veggies, 2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1 tsp thyme and 1 tsp parsley and cook until tender.

Add the chicken and cook 5 minutes. Add the water and bay leaf- boil covered for 15-20 minutes until chicken temps at 160 degrees.

Remove chicken. Add rice and cook 15 more minutes, covered. Shred the chicken with a fork and return to soup. Done!

Spring Break Treats

I woke up in a baking mood! I had some mashed potatoes in the fridge and thought they would be delicious in some potato rolls (from the BHG cook book). I was correct- they ARE delicious! I swapped out the milk for water and the shortening for butter and probably should have added more salt.
Then we took the leftover dough from the graham crackers I made Monday and we made some cookie letters, Scrabble style.

We're eating dinner with some friends tonight and I am bringing Irish soda bread and chocolate cupcakes. I'll post those pictures later. What will be in the oven tomorrow?

*this bread was so good! Izzy and Max made it all by themselves! No joke! Izzy measured all the ingredients (Max watched) and they both mixed it all up with their hands (clean hands, of course). All I did was pour it on some parchment paper and stuck it in the oven. Way to go, my little sous chefs!

Graham Crackers

I finally got around to making the graham crackers that I posted about almost a year ago. We were wanting banana airplanes for snack and you can't properly make a banana airplane without graham crackers. I didn't have any in the pantry, so figured I should just try this recipe out. They were so good! I probably should have baked them a few minutes longer so they would be a bit crisper, but no complaints from the kids. I have a little dough left over so I'm going to have the kids cut out alphabet shapes and bake them. Yum!