To Thine Own Self, Be Food

New Orleans' Donut - the Beignet.  Powdered sugary goodness. A very unflattering picture of my son eating a fried gator Po-Boy. The New Orleans trifecta: jambalaya, red beans and rice, and shrimp etouffee Smothered crabcakes Brent's pleasant surprise: a muffaletta My new passion: The Reuben And yeah, a culinary tour of New Orleans isn't complete without a seafood dish of some kind!

For your viewing pleasure, a photo narrative... But first - context.  God Bless Andrew Carnegie and his public library idea.  I often forget what a veritable treasure trove my public library is, especially in regards to cookbooks.  Supposedly, my husband is a fan of beets...although I've seen him eat them, oh, a half a dozen times.  In FIFTEEN years.  Anyway... I've been quite prejudiced against the blood-red root veg, and I think it comes from my dishwashing days (as a young teen) at my aunt and uncle's restaurant.  Cold pickled beet juice combined with cottage cheese residue congealed into a bright pink mess on salad plates I was to scrape clean?  Did people actually eat that?  Disgusting!  And I harbored that bias for a long time... But, if there's any conviction that we here at "Be Food" (and by 'we', I mean me) try to adhere to, it's that life is about learning and letting go.  So - let's roast some beets! Mind over matter,...

First of all - welcome back to To Thine Own Self, Be Food!  It has been over three weeks since my last post.  That whole pesky novel-writing thing, you know... Second of all, check this out: This is the dividing and conquering of 50 pounds of bread flour, purchased from the local Costco (ConAgra Harvest).  At $15 a bag, it's quite a deal. However, being a King Arthur brand user, it's disconcerting to discover that Costco's flour is bleached and enriched...and so comes down to the age-old question: cost over nutrition?  I will keep you posted on how my loaves turn out. Third, we were running low on butter earlier this week, and my daughter (10) announced that she wanted to make butter.  So, I sent her and her father off in the direction of the Google.  Thirty minutes later, we had homemade butter (the shakingshakingshaking of heavy cream).  But, my oldest son became enamored of it (as did many others in the house), and I think it now shall be...

During the month of November, when I'm trying to crank out a 50,000+ novel for NaNoWriMo, my definition of 'culinary success' is different than that of the rest of the year. A culinary success in November meets three criteria: 1. Is a meal at home. 2. Is from scratch (i.e. not from box) 3. Has a degree of "maturity" (i.e. not cold cut sandwiches and chips) As you can see, I'm not so worried about nutritional value/ingredients.  It's the tradeoff. I'd like to report two successes this week.  Both come from the Food & Family magazine, put out by Kraft about every quarter.  I love that magazine, and have collected many recipes from it, many of which have been thoroughly enjoyed by my family.  The two this week are no exception. First, we were asked to bring a side dish to the end-of-year cross country awards banquet.  I dithered, and finally settled on Slow-Cooker Scalloped Potatoes .  The recipe was straightforward, and the only thing I a...

Still baking bread.  Yeehaw! Soccer season wraps up this week.  That means LEISURELY meals AT HOME. But...this is what I'll be up to for the month of November.  See my post at Wish You Were Here . See you on the other side.

About a week ago, my youngest son and I are visiting the local drug/craft store.  He asks me if I will purchase this: Elliot's Request At first, I said 'no'...because it cost $19 dollars.  But then, I came to my senses...remembering WHO I was, WHAT blog I wrote, and WHAT my responsibility is to my readers. So, yes, I splurged.  Because, honestly, when your SON asks for a COOKBOOK...what else do you do? Tonight's dinner?  Page 38 - Easy-as-Pie-Spaghetti-Bake...now known as Spaghetti Pie. An interesting twist on your typical spaghetti and meat sauce, the before-baking product looks somewhat like this: The meat/bread crumb mixture forms the pie's "shell", while the cooked spag/egg mixture makes the "filling".  Spaghetti sauce and mozzarella top the concoction! Here, later on tonight, I'll post the final judgment. Later on:  the consensus regarding the above dinner was very positive.  Seasoned breadcrumbs gave the shell a diff...

Sing above blog title to the chorus tune of Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'" I am slowly, surely making my way back here.  Life is slowing down a little, and we have eaten three consecutive dinners here in the house.  So, yay for small victories! But, I admit, I feel a little rusty in the kitchen.  For tonight's Tater Tot casserole, I forgot to mix the cooked hamburger into the soup/cheese/green bean mixture.  As I'd already spooned the soup mixture into the pan, I didn't want to rescoop it to add the meat.  So...I layered the tots on top of the meat on top of the soup. Not gourmet.  I know.  But, where the dish lacked in aesthetics, it made up for in taste.  A 9 x 13" pan would have been nearly demolished had I not rescued a spoonful for my husband's lunch tomorrow. Cheers!

It has been two weeks since my last post.  About food!  Egad! Well, I'm back with a vengeance.  For now. Yes, life is still busy and there are days that we aren't eating until eight o'clock at night, but I'm managing to make miracles in the kitchen.  My sourdough is going strong still and my loaves are getting prettier and prettier and tastier and tastier every day...or at least, every time I bake bread. But, I've had two consecutive days of culinary awesomeness.  By awesomeness, I don't mean Food Network awesomeness, I just mean homemade-from-scratch, not restaurant, awesomeness. Last night was a Nacho Cheese Taco bake that was an absolute hit with the kids.  Tacos in casserole form?  Heck yes. Tonight, though, pulled pork sandwiches in the crockpot and Butternut Squash Soup.  The squash soup thing was kind of on a whim...and I just made it up!! *Two squash, cut up and boiled about ten minutes (until fairly soft).  Then, pureed...

It's busy here at Chez Nelson these days.  Although my bread baking has stabilized, I am very grateful for my bread machine.  In addition to normal daily bread consumption, Jaycob, our foreign exchange student, usually consumes four pieces of toast in the morning.  Consequently, the loaves go fast. However, I am rising to the challenge (heh, pun intended) and keeping up with the demand.  I have made friends with my sourdough starter and it bubbles lovingly in a glass jar in the fridge. I wish other aspects of my domestic matrix were as glorious.  Grocery spending has gone up, not wholly surprising considering there's another mouth to feed.  I have not been as fastidious on deal/bargain/coupon combining as of late (read, four months).  Because we often have children at various activities from 3:30 - 6:00 or 5:30 - 7:00, my menus have been rather uninspired and repetitive - or at least I think they are. But, it is what it is.  Much of this jam...

Oh yes, I've had my sourdough growing pains, many of which I've discussed in disturbing length here.  The last couple of loaves were okay, but nothing to write home about.  But tonight, I believe I've reached the first level of bread Nirvana:   And, like Shakespeare wrote, tis an ill cook indeed that does not lick his fingers, so Brent and I sawed off a slice.  And it tasted very, very good.  Very. And so, after this loaf (maybe I'm at five now?), here's what I've gleaned: 1.  Generally, a teaspoon and a half of salt is too much....but one teaspoon is too little.  2.  The recipe I'm using calls for too much water. 3.  As much as I'd like to serve whole wheat bread to my kids, using WW flour in the dough (even a little bit) is not suiting my taste and texture preferences right now. 4.  The top must be scored like in the pic above.  Otherwise, there's cracking on the sides. 5.  25 minutes is the right amount of baking...

Tonight, I am not so completely exhausted...so I will talk about food. August is nearly gone, and I have decided to reinstate breakfast cereal here at Chez Nelson next month.  Not that it was terribly difficult to provide non-BC morning meals for my kids, but with an extra person living here with us now and this chaotic schedule upon us, I feel the pressing need to keep breakfasts as simple and self-sufficient as possible. I did prepare one last batch of homemade granola to tide us over till September, though.  I don't think I'll stop making granola - it's so good! The breadmaking, on the other hand, is becoming more and more a nonnegotiable thing.  As in, I don't think I'll ever be able, in good conscious, to buy a loaf of store-bought bread again.  I've got a system worked out too:  about two or three times a week, I do a loaf of sourdough and a loaf of bread machine white.  The loaf of white goes into the freezer (stockpile in case of Armageddon), ...

Well, I never! My foray into self-sufficient bread baking has seemed marked by tragedy from the get go. 1.  The first starter I tried went liquidy and bad on me. 2.  I used the second starter to make one loaf.  The recipe I was referencing said bake for an hour.  The ensuing product was NFL-football material. 3. I "fed" the starter, then proceeded to knock the jar over, spilling most of the contents across my kitchen counters.  There was hardly any starter left, but I added the flour and water "refeed" anyway. 4. Loaf #2 baked for only 45 minutes, but it was still too long. 5. Loaf #2 resulted in a bland (though edible) loaf of bread. 6. Starter is completely gone (after just two loaves of bread).  My proportions must have off. 7. I start another starter (#3).  That brings me to today.  I contacted Capt HD for the proper oven temp and time information and then proceed to turn out a beautifully textured, nicely tasting loaf of sou...

Well, I've worked up the guts to try this again.  My reference this time was the book, Ultimate Bread .  Things seemed to go better this morning.  I dissolved the yeast in the water, I added flour, and I stirred. I did not have excessive bubblage.  No overflow.  No sticky cleanup.  A Minnesotan friend of mine told me I needed to stir the starter a couple of times a day, which I did.  So far, so good. We'll see what tomorrow brings. My kids are a fan of the bread machine white bread, and so it's time to stockpile.  I know white is not as good as wheat, but MY white bread is not full of the crap that Wonder Bread is....so there. By the way, on a totally different topic, my 12-year-old son has started his own blog here at blogspot.  It is essentially a chronicle of his year as a first-year homeschooler.  School begins tomorrow for him (a full week earlier than his sister and brother).

One great thing (in addition to others) about Brent getting his Master's degree way back in May is that he recommandeered the planting of the garden.  When it was just me, it was tomatoes, green peppers, and one token jalapeno plant. This year, though, Brent planted tomatoes, green peppers, and...lettuce, oregano, peas, green beans, potatoes, and radishes.   I know, the guy went crazy! The lettuce grew fine, but we weren't vigilant about cutting it.  The peas and green beans didn't do well, and the oregano was bunny food.  However, we enjoyed radishes earlier in the summer, and lovely meal of red potatoes just last month.  Green peppers have trickled in, also, in pairs. Elliot visited the garden yesterday to harvest tomatoes, and he brought in a half-dozen palm-sized pretties.  Today, though, Spencer went out and brought in a full bowl of ripe-and-ready tomatoes.  The question now is, what to do with them?  I was in not in the mood to c...

Today, I created (or attempted to) my own sourdough starter.  I considered capturing my own wild yeast, but in the end, opted for the yeast-flour-water concoction.  Perhaps someday.... So, at about 8:30, I mixed two cups of water, two cups of flour and one tablespoon of yeast.  When I got home after nine holes of golf, this is what was on my kitchen counter.   Yeah, a yeast volcano.  A sticky, pasty mess.  No worries.  I cleaned it up and moved it to a bigger Mason jar.  Good times.  We'll see what happens on Sunday. Tonight, we ran out of the last of the store-bought bread.  So I pulled out the Light Rye I'd done two days ago.  Another loaf of the same is baking the bread machine right now.  Life is good.

While it is true that man cannot live by bread alone, this girl is going to attempt to live without premade, presliced bread for the next a lot of weeks. Now, this is kind of a big deal.  We eat bread pretty handily around here.  The kids make sandwiches for lunch, have toast in the morning, etc. etc. So - this means, I will now be baking my own bread.  Finally !  you are thinking, this lady is finally with the program.   This is the commitment I am going to attempt to make:  three (maybe four) times a week, I will make a loaf of something yeasty in my bread machine.  Then, I will wrap it, freezer bag it, and place it in my deep freeze.  Some folks stockpile ammunition, I shall stockpile bread loaves. I read Martha's post about sourdough bread here , and was inspired to do it for myself.  In the last month, I've had conversations with two people who bake their own sourdough bread, and if that isn't enough of a message from the universe,...

Tomorrow is the beginning of August.  August 1st.  For me, it's hard to think of August in any other way besides The Month In Which I Start Working Again. This year, however, August will be a little different.  As far as this blog goes, August is No-Breakfast Cereal Month here at Chez Nelson.  We've been without the ubiquitous grain product for about a week and a half now...so it's not like we're going cold turkey.  This morning's grocery cart did not look much different than any other week: another dozen eggs, an extra muskmelon, a few more cartons of yogurt... I did not do any make-ahead dishes in preparation for this month...so, for this first week, it looks like toast, scrambled/poached eggs, pancakes, yogurt, and fruit will headline the morning meal. Have a great week!

So. It's been awhile. How have you all been? Is it sad that I am looking forward, in a small way, to the beginning of the school year?  That always seems to mark the start of routine, of focus. For example, this week.  Last weekend, my two sons (12 and 6) picked the recipes for the family dinners for the week.  I did the shopping.  So far, so good.  We had delicious meatball subs on Monday and amazing chicken pot pie on Tuesday.  I did the prep work, and Brent finished up with the cooking. Then, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we dined out.  Even though we had a menu.   Neither my husband or I felt like cooking.  Neither of us had willpower, either.  Bad, bad, bad, bad. Oh well.  Right?  I am already looking ahead to August.  This family seems to eat best when it's faced with some kind of challenge.  It is probably time for the No-Restaurant Challenge.  I wouldn't mind trying the Homemade-Bread-F...

Let's play a word association game.  I'll give you a word, and you give me the first thing that comes into your mind. Lentil.  Barbra Streisand.  Exotic.  Split pea soup.  Legume.  New York. If any of these are familiar to you, then we share the same thought process.  Again, a lentil is a foodstuff I did not eat, ever, as I was growing up (I know, I know, story of my life).  Lentils were weird, little, pea-like things that people from New York ate.  And Barbra Streisand?  Oh, I know, "Yentl".  A movie she was in; rhymes with lentil. Lentils, I've discovered are a super-duper nutritional powerhouse.  In fact, check it out here . So, last night's dinner: Lentil Soup.  The recipe indicated that it would require two hours of cooking time, and because I would be out running errands around the time it would need to be started, I left this task in the hands of my trusty, but nervous husband-chef. As with most recipes, ...

2011 has been a year of new vegetable experimentation: turnips, asparagus, avocados, etc.  But artichokes, they're nothing new.   I've had them before.  In Spinach-Artichoke Dip.  At TGIFridays.  Which I've decided - DOES NOT COUNT. So, here's this week's vegetable project: the artichoke.  As you know, they look like this when you buy them in the produce section of the grocery store: Here are the two major things I learned: if you cut up the artichoke and don't dip it in lemon juice, it will turn brown quickly.  Kind of like my children in the summertime.  And, these guys are a pain to cut up, and I think next time, I'll go with frozen (if I can find it). So, I began my project by hacking (and I mean hacking) the stems off.  Then, I lopped off the top inch or so.  Then, I plucked off all the tough outer leaves.  Finally, I was ready to hack the bereft fruit in half... And that, right there, gives this vegetable its name: t...

If there's one thing I've learned during the writing of this blog, it's that I've lived a very sheltered life, culinarily and nutritionally speaking. Kale is another vegetable I never had growing up.  It's the weird, really curly stuff I'd see in the vicinity of the cabbage and spinach (vegetables I didn't have very often as a child, either).  I never really knew if it was a stiff kind of parsley or romaine lettuce. And for years (even into my thirties, I freely and ashamedly admit), I confused kale and kelp.  That's an ignorant landlubber for ya.  At any rate, I was never impelled to pick up a bunch of kale for any reason...which is too bad, because it's REALLY good for you and versatile and stuff. Until now (not being impelled to pick up kale, that is).  First, though, let me explain how it came about: 1.  Husband receives an iPad for his birthday (this last February). 2.  Tech-savvy husband uploads a bunch of free, fun apps onto iPad (inc...

Now, I know you read this entry's title, and you wonder what you've stumbled onto.  A food-turned-exercise-blog??  What craziness is that? Rest assured, I am still me and you are still you.  This is still a blog about food. A few days ago, I used one avocado and one tomato for those California Chicken sandwiches.  Today, I decided to make guacamole with the remaining avocadoes and tomato.  It's a pretty easy process, actually: Two avocadoes, One tomato, Chopped onion, Lime juice, Salt and pepper and Hot sauce (optional...well, not for me, but for you). Now, here's what I did: I processed everything in my food processor, until it all looked like this... I think the final product is too runny, and so next time I will cut back on the lime juice, and I will also hand mash the avocadoes and hand-mince the tomatoes and onions. As if this wasn't bad enough, one of my avocadoes was extremely underripe.  If I knew then what I know now, I would have chuc...

This is Fish.  He is a mahi-mahi. + Asparagus + Olive Oil + Salt & Pepper + Grill = Happy families and happy stomachs!

So, here's a fun thing.  Go to google.com and type in 'avocados' - you'll get 37 million hits.  It's got its own wikipedia entry (although, who doesn't, besides me?), .org website, festival, not to mention millions of recipes. So, yeah, avocados are a pretty big deal. Well, put me on the list of recent admirers! There were no avocados in my house as a youngster.  I don't remember trying one in college.  I might have had two or three children before the urge to do so took over.  In fact, the general opinion about avocados seemed negative because of the fat content.  But that was before the discovery of the benefits (or neutrality, at the very least) of the high percentage of monounsaturated fats, the fact that it contains more potassium than a banana, and a high fiber content. Thus, avocados should be enjoyed...but like everything else, in moderation. For example, at my house tonight.  My plan was to have plain ol' precooked grilled chicken brea...

Here's a tip for any of you thinking about visiting The Last Frontier: Do not underestimate driving times.  There is no such thing as a fifteen-minute drive from town to town.  That distance is measured in hours. Some of you good folks out there have the intestinal fortitude to go a good four or five hours without a stop of any kind.  Not true for yours truly.  I have a small bladder and a penchant for Diet Coke.  Also, I was traveling with five kids.  It stands to reason that we were going to stop quite a bit. Mistake #1: Consuming either Diet Coke or coffee most of the time I was in AK.  It's been proven that caffeine stimulates appetite...so I would drink, then I would want to eat.  Bad. Mistake #2: Relying on gas station food more often than I should have.  Because I was imbibing ridiculous amounts of caffeine, I was eating...I've already said that.  But...what I was eating?  Crap.  Junk.  High-carb stuff....

I have been a visitor of the state of Alaska for about four days now, and I have not sampled the local cuisine yet. I'm not sure Alaska has a local cuisine, actually.  So far, it's been pizza, grilled chicken, chicken patties, Wendy's, red velvet cake... Tomorrow, though, tomorrow, I think will be different.  We will be attending an Alaskan Salmon Bake!  More details then.

Even though I had three weeks, I did not fulfill my freezer-cleaning-out Challenge.  However, that is in the past.  Today brings a new challenge. I have one day to clear out a significant portion of my refrigerator, which contains these items: Dozen eggs Four cups spaghetti sauce Oranges Head (and a bag of prewashed) lettuce Six cups thawed chili One bag unpeeled carrots Half of a loaf of bread Half container cottage cheese Five hot dogs Leftover Tater Tot casserole A gallon of milk Half a package of hamburger buns A partially-used package of diced ham Lunchmeat The menu today stands as thus: Breakfast: Scrambled eggs and ham Lunch: Leftover TT casserole for kids, chili and salad for us Dinner: Hot dogs, spaghetti Snacks: Cottage cheese My primary concerns are the spaghetti sauce and the milk.  Looks like it's calcium overload today! We are very likely doing a big breakfast before we get on the road tomorrow, so I've decided to pack the follo...

I'm back!  Well, relatively speaking.  In three days, I will leaving for ten days as I vacation to Alaska with my entire family.  However, I will try to jam-pack the next three days with some culinary goodness for all my readers. Let's see.  School is now out, and I have not quite caught the cooking bug like I thought I might.  I attribute this to a general lack of ambition; with the impending trip, I am in "scavenge" mode...getting creative with the contents of my freezer and pantry items. In addition to the Memorial Day holiday, this weekend marks the last grocery shopping trip for this month...and you know what that means, end-of-month totals!! But, first, the weekly pie chart.  First of all, we did go camping this holiday weekend, and because of that, certain categories tend to be inflated, such as "Snacks" and "Beverages".  The meat purchased this week was only cold cuts, which will provide lunch for my children who are now home for th...

I said I would post about my omelette experience, and I hate to let down my dear readers, so here goes. I don't remember my mom making them much when I was a child, and when she did, it seemed an arduous process.  She would lift one edge of the mass of coagulated eggs and tilt the pan, letting the uncooked mess spill underneath.  Then, she'd manage to tuck it nicely into a half-moon shape on the plate.  But, like I said, I don't remember her making them often...I mostly associate omelettes with restaurant breakfasts. For all my many kitchen successes, the omelette has been the one epic failure in my culinary repertoire.  In the recent half-decade, I can remember four separate attempts at omelette-making, and all resulted in my throwing in the towel and just scrambling them in frustration. Enter Julia Child.  I decided it was time to conquer my fear of omelettes. I read the passage in her cookbook about omelette-making, reread it again, and still didn't q...

This Week's Spending: $44.18   Total Grocery Expenditures for May: $267.16 Heather's Tip of the Week: Grocery shop on a Friday night when you are: a.) very tired b.) full from a great dinner c.) towing the entire family I guarantee if you do these things, your grocery shopping trip will be short, thus, relatively inexpensive.  Why?  Because you want to get things done so you can go home and take a hot bath, watch 'Glee', and read your copy of "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" before you collapse from exhaustion around ten o'clock.  You won't waste time deliberating over whether or not to buy lunchmeat this week...you just won't. Spending-wise, though, May is shaping up to be a pretty sweet month.  I really, really don't regret that forty dollars' worth of hamburger I spent earlier this month, because it's paying itself forward now. Again, dairy and produce account for nearly a third of the total - which I think is good. ...

First off, let me just say that not even one week into the three-week No Restaurant Challenge, this family folded.  Like a fragile house of cards in a gentle breeze.  I've cooked decent meals all week long, and tonight I felt like being catered to...and I felt like a steak.  So, I got it, and I enjoyed it, and I'm not going to feel bad about it.  At all. Moving on.  Last weekend, I had the pleasure of watching the movie Julie & Julia .  Amy Adams plays Julie Powell, a 30ish something who seeks to find meaning in life by cooking her way through Julia's cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking".  The parallel storyline is of Child's trials and tribulations in the 1950s. Anyway, enjoying food and cooking myself, I took a great deal of interest in this movie.  In fact, I was impelled to purchase the paperback version of Child's cookbook at the bookstore recently.  I have been content to read it over the last few days, and I am findin...