Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Fifty-Five (Vita Spelt Pasta with Homemade Cheese Sauce)

Ingredients:  Two 8 ounces Boxes of Vita Spelt Penne.  This stuff is AWESOME and is far better than any rice pasta out there.   Check out your local health food store or supermarket for VITA SPELT pasta.  If they don't carry it, ask them to do so!!  Prepare according to instructions.

Cheese Sauce Recipe:  4 TBL butter, 4 TBL VITA SPELT FLOUR, 1/2 teaspoon salt, dash black pepper, 3 cups milk, 2 and 1/2 to 3 cups of grated cheddar cheese (we used a yellow Wisconsin cheese).   In a saucepan, melt the butter and flour together. Add the milk and seasonings. Cook on low heat and stir until thick and bubbly.  Add cheese and mix until fully blended.

Pour cheese sauce over pasta.  Toss lightly.  Garnish with parsley.

Family comments.  Spencer "It was like gourmet macaroni and cheese you get at a restaurant."   Olivia, "amazing."  Tim, who usually is the optimist and cheerleader said "it was great for macaroni and cheese, but I don't really like macaroni and cheese."  For me, it hit the spot.   It would have been great to serve in a Thermos for lunch, but there was not a drop left for the next day.

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Fifty-Four (Lime Marinaded Chicken Skewers)

We were making and baking for a frenzied 12 hours before the first of 50+ guests arrived for Emma's graduation party.  One minor complication was the bagel pizza dough order at the bakery and the untimely but good demo the day before.  Solution?  Make in advance.

LIME MARINADED CHICKEN and VEGGIES KABOBS.

Ingredients and Directions for a crowd:  Five lbs chicken breasts (we buy the Whole Foods Amish Family Farm variety), cut into skewer size chunks, 3-4 limes, 1/4+- EVOO, 5 cloves of garlic (mashed with a mortar and pestle with salt), salt and pepper to taste.  Wooden Skewers.  Zip Lock or other variety sealed plastic bags.  Vegetables for grilling (we used red peppers, onions, and asparagus)

Anytime I get chicken from the market, I clean it with a ton of salt and then rinse off all of the salt.  I learned this from my grandmother and it is a way to kill bacteria.   Visitors are always a little freaked out when they see me pour a half of box of salt on a few pounds of chicken.  I do this in a clean sink then rinse thoroughly.  Inevitably, there is some salt residue so I add less salt to the recipe.

In a large casserole dish, combine and mix all marinade ingredients.  Add chicken.  Cover with plastic wrap.  Put in fridge.   Cut veggies to that they are able to be put on wooden skewers.   Remove chicken from fridge and start making Kabobs.  I alternate chicken with veggies.  Leave a little room so that meat can cook thoroughly on the grill.  You can grill these right away OR for EXTRA TENDER chicken, you can then take the uncooked kabobs and place in large Zip Lock bags with extra marinade.  Sit over night in fridge (in dish so they don't leak).   Grill the next day.

I have only the pictures of the uncooked product, because our family and guests ate these so quickly there was no time to take a picture.  The chicken marinaded overnight was unbelievably tender and tasty.  We would have used the leftovers for lunch, but there were no leftovers.   We served with Spelt Right rosemary focaccia crisps. (Spelt Right focaccia, cut in slices, placed on baking sheet, drizzled with EVOO, baked at 450 until crisp). 

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Fifty-Three (Simple Pleasures)

OK, it has been much too busy this week, even for me.  Tho' I should not complain when orders are on the rise.  Just have to figure out how to balance it all.  20 some-thousand bagel order.  All day demo at Hannaford Kennebunk Saturday.  A gazillion guests coming for Emma's graduation/birthday party Sunday.  Figuring out a business model that works.  Feeding the little kids dinner, and worrying about big kids out on prom night.  Reading the little one a bedtime story.  And, then there is the logistical stuff (like how do I figure out to how to log on as a vendor for a major grocery chain).  But before I do that, I might need some serious anti-inflammatory meds for my very stiff neck.  "Beth, why is your neck stiff?"  "Gee, I can't imagine, what could IT be?"

In any event, my quick solution for relieving some stress.   Break out the Spelt Right Pizza Dough, and look in the fridge and pantry for ideas.  (I am getting a little loopy here - probably a glass of pinot gris would work better).

The result?  Some quick dessert mini fitayers.

Three varieties:  Trader Joe's Applesauce, Teddie Natural Peanut Butter and Natural Tiny Trapeze Marshmello Creme, and Croft's Four Fruit Spread

Ingredients and Directions:  One Spelt Right Pizza Dough fully thawed and risen.  The ingredients listed above.  This can make at least 10.  Preheat oven to 400-450.  Shape dough in 10 small rounds.   Place what ever ingredients you think might be tasty inside and make a triangle.  BE SURE TO SEAL ALL GAPS or the ingredients will come oozing out during the bake.

Olivia loved all of these, but I definitely overbaked the one with Mello Creme - it nearly exploded.  Check out the pictures.  They are more helpful than my description.   Next time, I am going to try the Mello Creme with chocolate....a variation on a s'more.   Next post - healthier - I promise.

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Fifty-Two (Olivia's Mezze of Perfection)

Ever since giving birth to Emma 18 years ago, I have had a nagging sense that neither kid nor career received the kind of attention either deserved.  Having Emma 2 weeks after graduating from law school and 6 weeks before the bar exam might have been a contributing factor to the pull.  Do you think? The balancing act began.   Now, it is 18 years later, and Emma is on her way to college, but her 8 year old clone, Olivia, reminds me that the balancing act continues.   After going AWOL from my law career about a year ago (not sure this is permanent), I experience as much or perhaps more balancing with the building of the Spelt Right business as I did practicing law, but somehow, the "business" is so much more palpable (or should I say palatable) and inclusive of the kids, especially at dinner time.   "Hey, kids, who is doing the Lunch Box Chronicle tonight?  Mom, needs help, and you all have to help at the bakery tomorrow."   Perhaps, a form of homeschooling in its own right.  A usually bored Olivia perks up, "I know, I will do a mezze plate!!"  She scrambled to the fridge and started digging in.  A half an hour later, a work of art emerged.

Here is her poem (aka recipe), entitled "THE MEZZE OF PERFECTION!" and a photo of the work of art. "If you like mezze plates, listen to me.  It has crackers, focaccia, olives, peaches and oranges too!! It's a plate with tons of yummy food! Yum. Yum. Whoo Hoo!"

Thank you, Olivia!  Vote from mom?  Two Thumbs up.

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Fifty-One (Sloppy Joe's Take Two, Salad with homemade balsamic dressing)

Garlic is an obsession in this house.   It is really a miracle food, http://www.desigram.com/Health/Ingredients/Garlic.html, and much like spelt, is one of the oldest cultivated foods.  We know from bakery experience that garlic is an antibacterial.  Have you ever noticed that garlic is never mixed right in with bread, but instead is drizzled in through a slice or sprinkled on top?  The reason is that garlic's antibacterial properties will kill the yeast or sour dough.  We once had to throw away an entire batch of bagels after trying to mix the garlic in the dough.  Never did that again.

We have been very busy in the bakery for the past week and it will last for a few more weeks (hopefully forever).  In the meantime, I had to resort to some easy home recipes.  Good thing Whole Foods is just 20 minutes away.

Tonight's dinner:  Sloppy Joe's laced with garlic made with Grass Fed Beef from Cold Spring Ranch Farm in New Portland, Maine.   Greens, tomatoes, and cucumbers with very garlicy homemade balsamic dressing.  The Grass Fed Beef from Cold Spring Ranch http://www.coldspringranch.com/grass_fed_info.htmis really the best and when I can get it, the only beef I will serve my kids.  It is run by Gabe Clark, a fellow Bates College alum (tho' many years younger than I).  

Ingredients - Sloppy Joe - Take Two: 
One Spelt Right Pizza Dough, fully thawed and risen. 
One Pound Grass Fed Ground Beef from Cold Spring Ranch Farm
3 cloves of garlic
1/2 onion
2-3 TBL Extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
pasta or pizza sauce (homemade or jarred)
grated pizza cheese (we used a mozzarella provolone mix)

Directions:  Pre-heat oven to 450 F.  In a large skillet, saute chopped onions and chopped garlic in EVOO.  After onions brown slightly, add beef cook until brown.   Add tomato sauce and salt and pepper to taste.  Set aside.  Divide dough into 8-10 even dough balls, stretch or roll out until thin, but not transparent.  Cover the dough with the grated cheese, then add meat mixture.  Make triangles as shown in the photos.   We did this on a pizza peel covered with corn meal, and put it directly on the hot pizza stone, but you can do this directly on a lightly oil baking pan.

Ingredients and Directions - Salad with garlicy balsamic vinegar.   Make a salad of your choice, we used organic green leaf lettuce, tomatoes, and cucumbers, topped with chopped walnuts, dried cranberries, and chevre.   For the dressing,  I put 3 large garlic cubes in blender, then added balsamic vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, dried basil and dill, all to taste (sorry I did absolutely no measuring with this one).  I then blended dressing ingredients together until frothy.  It was amazing, but you have to do this to taste.

Tim and the kids loved the Sloppy Joe's (I don't eat red meat so I didn't have one).  We all devoured the salad.  Nothing was left for the lunch boxes tomorrow.  TWO THUMBS UP.

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Fifty (Dinner Out at the Pepper Club!)

I had every intention of making some great meal today for my family with Spelt Right Pizza dough.   Only there were a few stumbling blocks - or perhaps, a few thousand stumbling blocks (or bagels that is) that needed to be made and packaged (thank you Kip and crew).  Also, it didn't help that I forgot to thaw out a pizza dough.

My bi-weekly delivery of Everything Emma bagels to the Pepper Club in Portland, Maine gave me a novel idea.  Eat at the Pepper Club and give yourself a break.  What a great place, incredible food, and a wonderful deal. $21 price fixed for appetizer, salad, entree and dessert.  Everything at the Pepper Club is made with the best ingredients and with such care under the supervision of the owners Mary and Eddie.

Appetizer: Carrot and almond (??) soup.  Can't remember the details, but it was DELICIOUS. 

Entree: Almond encrusted salmon, brown rice, mesclun greens, and house made dressing (EXCELLENT, and I was even kind enough to save some for the kids whom we left at home :)!)




Dessert: House Made Key Lime Pie (Need I say more??)  This fine dessert was devoured on site and none made it home to the kids.


My review?  Five Stars.

Tomorrow night back home to the dough.

Kids are responsible for the recipe though as Mom will be back to her stumbling blocks.

Lunch Box Chronicles: Day Forty-Nine (Shrimp wrapped in Spelt Dough)

This is not one of my favorite recipes, but I think there is hope and will try it again with fresher shrimp.  We sauteed some frozen Maine shrimp with garlic, EVOO, white wine, salt and pepper.   Something about the shrimp simply wasn't flavorful.  Perhaps, the shrimp had been thawed and refrozen one too many times.   We added cranberries and a little bit of tomato sauce to try to sweeten it up.   We then wrapped the shrimp, cranberry mixture with Spelt Right dough.  I'm not going to give all of the instructions because there are much better recipes in this blog than this one.  Result: Thumbs down from Beth, but the comments from the Peanut Gallery (Tim that is) are that "I thought it was pretty good.  It aged well.  I ate one when I got home and it was good!"  I looked at him and said "You must have been pretty hungry when you got home."  His response, "I was."  I love Tim for always being the optimist.  My recommendation simply is don't try this one at home.