Lunch Box Chronicles: Day One-Hundred Forty (On the Edge: Food for A Crowd)

We have had so many kids around the house this weekend that I have lost count - maybe 5 or 6 or 7.

The number keeps fluctuating.  We have two young overnight guests due to their parents being on vacation, and sundry other tykes who roam through the neighborhood and weave in and out of our house.

The big topic for the overnight guests is will they ever get to go home again given all the anxiety around Hurricane Irene.

Regardless of the uncertainty of the hurricane, one thing that I know for sure is that I need to keep feeding them.

In all this making and baking, I forgot what we had for yesterday's lunch, but for dinner I made homemade pizza and grilled chicken with rice, sliced cucumbers with rice vinegar, and salad with homemade balsamic dressing.  Breakfast this morning was spelt waffles (with a little rum, because I ran out of vanilla).  For lunch, I made an incredible vegan dish and forced the most skeptical of the younger crew to "just TRY it!"  For the most part, they liked it, though I did witness a few selective fork maneuvers in which certain "green things" were strategically left at the edge of the dish.

Tonight was a potpourri of leftovers as I was tapped out energy.   The "green stuff again?" one desperate 9 year old pleaded.  "Yep, kid, along with the left over grilled chicken and Spelt Right pizza from last night."  I did manage to find a few scraps of greens for a new salad.

As for the Green Stuff, it really is a marvelous recipe:

Eggplant, Zucchini, Yellow Squash and Chick Pea Stew

Ingredients:

1 large onion (finely to coarsely chopped)

1/4-1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil

1 16 ounce can of organic chic peas (garbanzo beans)(rinsed and drained)

3 cups of water

1 large eggplant

1 medium sized zucchini

1 medium sized summer squash

10-12 cherry tomatoes, sliced in fours

1 1/2- 2 teaspoons of sea salt

1/4 teaspoon of pepper

1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon

Place onions and oil in saucepan.  Cook until onions are golden brown.  Add drained chick peas and water.  Cook for approximately 5 minutes.

Peel eggplant and cut into 1 inch cubes.  Cut up summer squash and zucchini.  Cut up tomatoes. Add vegetables to chick pea mixture.  Add seasonings.  Cover and cook for 20-25 minutes on medium heat, stirring occasionally until eggplant and vegetables are tender.  May be served hot or cold.  

Serve with rice and try to hide the green stuff.

Delicious Dish Despite the Green Stuff

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day One-Hundred Thirty-Four (Happy Birthday to Me!!)

Having entered into August, the month of this Lioness's birth, I was finally the beneficiary of an incredible spelt birthday cake made by our in-house cake boss, Spencer, who has recently reached the ripe age of 14.

He pondered for several days on the perfect cake for mom's big 48th....He concluded that A GERMAN CHOCOLATE SPELT CAKE made with organic spelt flour and organic sugar would be fitting.  Unbelievably rich and complicated!!!

This cake and the process that went into it brought us full circle to the reason we have become such a foodie family.

Spelt German Chocolate Cake

Ingredients (adapted from AllRecipes.com)

• 1/2 cup water
• 4 (1 ounce) squares German sweet chocolate
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 2 cups organic cane sugar
• 4 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2 1/2 cups Vita Spelt organic white spelt flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 4 egg whites
•  
• 1 cup organic cane sugar
• 1 cup evaporated milk
• 1/2 cup butter
• 3 egg yolks, beaten
• 1 1/3 cups flaked coconut
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•  
• 1/2 teaspoon butter
• 1 (1 ounce) square semisweet chocolate

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour 3 - 9 inch round pans. Sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside. In a small saucepan, heat water and 4 ounces chocolate until melted. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
2. In a large bowl, cream 1 cup butter and 2 cups sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in 4 egg yolks one at a time. Blend in the melted chocolate mixture and vanilla. Beat in the flour mixture alternately with the buttermilk, mixing just until incorporated.
3. In a large glass or metal mixing bowl, beat egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold 1/3 of the whites into the batter, then quickly fold in remaining whites until no streaks remain.
4. Pour into 3 - 9 inch pans Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the pan, then turn out onto wire rack.
5. To make the Filling: In a saucepan combine 1 cup sugar, evaporated milk, 1/2 cup butter, and 3 egg yolks. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened. Remove from heat. Stir in coconut, pecans and vanilla. Cool until thick enough to spread.
6. Spread filling between layers and on top of cake. In a small saucepan, melt shortening and 1 ounce of chocolate. Stir until smooth and drizzle down the sides of the cake.

Although the cake should have taken about 2 hours to make, it took Spencer nearly 6 given we don't even have an electric mixer (it broke somewhere along the way), and he had no help from adults.  

Tim put together a wonderful last minute birthday gathering at Gritty's on Exchange Street in Portland.  The photo is the cake perched on a ledge overlooking Wharf Street from back side of Gritty's.   

Typical of planning though, Tim was right on time, but I was an hour and a half late with Spencer and Olivia in tow.  It turns out, that while Spencer had a great time making the cake, he forgot to feed his own body during the process, and had such a protein low it was as if we were full circle back to where we started 7 years ago with this diet change.

Both of us quickly realized that the melt down was simply a lack of eating - and we called Tim to order a Gritty's burger for Spencer upon his arrival.  

With Spencer fed, friends imbibed, and kids clamoring, we had a wonderful time.  "Happy Birthday day to me...."

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day One Hundred and Eleven (Egg and Cheese Fitayers with Spelt Right Pizza Dough)

Our camera is on the blitz so we are resorting to Blackberry photos for this blog.  Please bear with us.  At some point, a quality camera will appear - perhaps a gift from heaven??

In any event, this morning, the family seemed a bit at a loss for breakfast ideas.  I was slow to get out of bed, not really liking to face the cold (which is not good thing if you live in Maine in the winter), and as I dragged myself down the stairs, I heard the familiar mantra...."Maaaaummmm, I'm hungry!"  Soon, it seemed like there was a chorus singing those words even though there were no more than two kids in the house.

"Quick," I said to Spencer "Get out the eggs, milk, Cabot cheddar, salt, pepper, dried dill, and Spelt Right Pizza Dough."  The kid knows the drill, is pretty quick on his feet, and went right to work.  Spencer mixed the eggs, milk, salt, pepper, and dill in bowl, while I cut and shaped the pizza dough(which had been thawing in the fridge for a few days) into eight equal rounds.  In a matter of no time, we had all of the fixins' ready to make egg and cheese fitayars.

Directions:  Preheat oven to 400-450.  Prepare scrambled eggs how you like them prepared.  We mixed eggs, milk, dried dill, salt, and pepper, and then added cheese.   Use a fully thawed and risen Spelt Right Pizza Dough, cut into eight equal pieces, place on lightly oiled stainless steel baking pan, stretch dough to about 1/4 inch thick, put egg and cheese mixture on it.  Fold into triangles.  Here are step-by-step directions for making fitayers. Bake for about 10 minutes.  Watch these carefully, because they are easy to over-bake.   We made two batches, so that we have enough for the week.  We froze the extras and will use them during the week.  They can be microwaved or put in a toaster oven to reheat.

These are great for busy mornings.  You will also see that we made one with just pizza cheese.  That is for an afternoon snack.  YUM.