Showing posts with label Mom's Home Cooking. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Mom's Home Cooking. Show all posts

Sunday, September 16, 2012

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day One Hundred Sixty Five (The Bellwether Meal: Shepherd's Pie, Beth Style)


Cooking is my bellwether.

It’s not the literal sheep (wether) wearing the bell, and leading the way. But, it is the metaphorical indicator of my wellbeing.

Bellwether. Wellbeing. Interesting how close those words are juxtaposed. Or if I play with them a little more, it becomes WellBether.

How Weird. Cooking relates to a Well Beth.

Well, this Beth has not been so well the past month, and she has not been up to any cooking. So, cereal and pasta, if anything, it has been for this family, except for the few nights that Tim did some stupendous cooking.

But, I love to cook, and to write, and when both are stifled, it is an indication that something is wrong. The WRONG was a strange anaphylactic response to some unknown that lasted in various stages for about a month, followed by strep throat. It was like my body wasn’t my own.

Finally, happily, my body is once again my own. No more swollen face or scratchy throat. And, with this rejuvenation comes the impulse to cook and shop. Luckily, my new pal Ruthie likes to grocery shop too.

So after “schlepping” two dozen cases of Spelt Right product to the UWS Whole Foods for our upcoming demos, (thank you, Ruthie, for the Yiddish), we visited the Farmers’ Market on 97th Street and loaded up on fresh locally raised meat and turkey, fresh grown veggies, and the rest. You know the scoop, summer and fall in the Northeast create a virtual cornucopia. Pure bliss for those who love to cook.

I decided to make turkey shepherd’s pie – hey, how apropos for a bellwether meal. The sheep and the shepherd are joining us for dinner.

As I was about to boil the potatoes, I decided to modify the recipe and use home fried potatoes instead and add ground turkey, and organic corn, and create a hash-like shepherds meal rather than in layers as in shepherd’s pie. Along with gaining my health back, I also gained some creativity. This was a “yum fest”.

Ingredients and Directions:

  • 4-5 potatoes, diced, and sautéed on stove top with EVOO and a smidge of salt until golden brown and soft to cut.
  • In a separate pan, sauté one chopped onion, 4-5 cloves of garlic mashed with about 1 teaspoon of sea salt in about 1/4 cup EVOO. Saute until golden brown.
  • Add, one pound of ground turkey meat. Cook thoroughly. Salt and pepper to taste.
  • Chop one head of curly parsley and add to meat mixture.
  • Add in cooked potatoes.
  • Toss together.
  • Feed to very hungry and happy family and to one healthy mom.

This meal and blogpost are bellwethers of happier, healthier days to come.

Friday, May 18, 2012

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day One Hundred Sixty (Popeye Knew Best - Spinach As the Cure All)


Headache cure? Mom’s home cookin’!
Poor little Olivia never experienced anything like this in her 10 years.  A searing headache.  “It hurts so bad! I am going to get sick to my stomach!” 
Dad and mom inquired, “Olivia, what did you eat today?  Did you have any water?” 
These Spelt Right Doughs are READY to use
Breakfast=last night’s left over Mexican from local dive.
Lunch=mystery food from PS 123.
Snack from Aftercare = Candy?!?
Wednesday = CRAPPY FOOD DAY. 
CRAPPY FOOD DAY= Severe Headache. 
Mom needs to get back involved. 

Fast forward.  Mom made a bunch of Spelt Right Pizza dough today, brought some home and pondered an easy solution.  Spinach, onion and goat cheese fitayers! 

Ingredients:
Would Some PLEASE Send Me Some Decent Pans??
2 Spelt Right Pizza Doughs, fully thawed and risen
2 bunches of fresh spinach, rinsed with water (and vinegar for cleanliness), and spun
1 large onion
2 fresh lemons
1/4-1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
Sea Salt to taste
Pepper to taste
4 ounce log of chèvre (goat cheese)

Directions:
Chop onions into fours, place in food processor and chop.  Place chopped onions in medium sized bowl.
Shaping the Dough Into Triangles
Make sure the spinach is destemmed, rinsed, and dried well.  Chop as much as you can in food processor until all is chopped.  Place in bowl with onions.
Squeeze lemons (remove seeds). Add to bowl.  Add in EVOO, salt and pepper.  Toss altogether.

Cut each dough ball into 8-10 even size pieces, shape into rounds about 1/8 inch thick.  Place rounds on well oiled stainless steel baking sheet, preferably with edges.  Spread about two teaspoons of chevre on each round.  Squeeze a small handful of spinach mixture in hand (about 2 TBLS) (this is to squeeze out some of the liquid - do this over the bowl), and place in center of dough ball.  Make triangle with dough ball.   Bake at 450 for 15-20 minutes or until brown on the bottom.

THE CURE ALL
As a side, I put the remaining spinach “juice”, strained and rinsed chick peas, and about 3 cups of left over rice in pan on the stovetop, and tossed together until warm.

End Result?  An Un-Whining of a Whiney Kid.  Good-bye to a headache that we hope will be a thing of the past – as long as mom continues to cook and wards off the outside assault of bad food.


We should have listened to POPEYE. all along.  This spinach pie definitely served as a our cure all.


"He's Popeye the Sailor Man. He's Popeye the Sailor Man. He's strong to the finich cause he eats his spinach, he's Popeye the sailor man."  


Can you imagine what Popeye would have thought of these spinach pies?