...with nature's bounty.

As summertime nears it's end (at least in my neck of the woods!), here's an update on my "farmer's market" habits. I decided to skip the CSA this year and see if I could get nearly all my veggies from farmer's markets and other venues (read: my parents large garden)!

I started the summer out by attending a local farmer's market every Saturday. As we all know, early season market's don't have a ton of produce, but I was able to buy plenty of salad greens and herbs. In addition I was able to buy fresh eggs, pork and even buffalo meat! This particular farmer's market has a great variety and has more than just produce - there are several vendors selling meat and eggs, flowers, honey and baked goods and even homemade caramels and ice cream - yum!

There is a much smaller farmer's market just across the park from our house that I have been to a couple of times as well (on Wednesdays). The selection is much smaller, but the prices are cheaper.

In the last month or so I haven't been to the local market's, as I have been well stocked with produce from my parents ginormous garden. My latest "veggie delivery" from my parents has included zuchinni, yellow squash, green beans, jalapenos, tomatoes (grape and roma) and even acorn squash. They also grew eggplant, but I learned from our CSA last year that we don't enjoy it. I am looking forward to the late summer/early fall produce that my parents will have (pumpkins, apples and more squash varieties). I am also planning on heading back to the local Saturday market so I can get more eggs (we don't go thru eggs very quickly) and maybe try some other fun things too.

Now, this doesn't mean I haven't been buying produce from the grocery store. I still buy most of our fruit at the grocery store, because last time I checked there weren't any banana or mango trees in Wisconsin, and we buy A LOT of bananas and mangos!

...with recipe catch up.

I have been a cooking maniac lately. I just keep finding more and more recipes online that look so good, so I have been whipping up new things and taking photos (if they are good enough!) to keep for my recipe book project. In case you are looking for something new for your meal plans - check out these recipes.

My most recent favorites are these:
Pacific Pork Kabobs with Pineapple Rice


and Tyler's Mozarella Grilled Cheese Sandwiches I even got my mom hooked on these! I ate one for lunch everyday for a week!


If you need something refreshing and want to save a couple of bucks at your favorite coffee shop, then you should try this:

Recipe for Iced Mocha Frappucinno
Ingredients:

1/2 c instant coffee (adjust to taste)
1 cup sugar
1 cup non-fat dry milk powder (one package)
1 cup powdered non-dairy creamer
1/3 cup baking cocoa (adjust to taste)
1/4 teaspoon salt
Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together well

If you like a stronger/weaker coffee or mocha flavor, adjust those two ingredients accordingly.

Stores perfectly in a 1 quart jar for up to a year.

To make a perfect Mocha Frappe:

1 1/2 cup crushed ice

1/3 cup mocha mix

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup milk

Toss crushed ice into food processor first and blend until it looks a bit like snow, add mix & water, process until well blended and then add in milk. Blend just until it's mixed well (7-10 seconds).

...with Streusel Topped Blueberry Muffins

Back when I was stockpiling food away for my maternity leave I specifically searched for a blueberry muffin recipe that would freeze well. The recipe I decided on came with a bonus...streusel on top! Yum! These muffins are huge...and so yummy. The recipe makes 12 muffins (using a regular size muffin pan....they are just filled very full to make big muffins!). They freeze great and taste wonderful after a quick defrost in the microwave. I have made these muffins about 5 or 6 times now and they will continue to be a recipe I make frequently.
The only downside to this recipe, is that's it's one of those recipes that uses a TON of bowls....you know, "mix these 3 ingredients in this bowl, mix these 4 ingredients in that bowl, wisk this in another bowl and them combine bowl 1, 2 and 3 together in bowl #4". I hate recipes like this....because I hate doing all the dishes afterwards. But, these muffins are worth the extra dishes!

Blueberry Muffins
Streusel Topping:
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
3 tablespoons dark brown sugar
pinch table salt
½ cup plus 3 tablespoons (3½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons warm, melted unsalted butter

Muffin Batter:
2 cups (about 10 ounces) frozen blueberries, picked over
1 1/8 cups (8 ounces) plus 1 teaspoon sugar
2 1/2 cups (12½ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon table salt
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
¼ cup vegetable oil
1 cup buttermilk (see note)
1½ teaspoons vanilla extract

Note: If buttermilk is unavailable, substitute 3/4 cup plain whole-milk or low-fat yogurt thinned with 1/4 cup milk.


FOR THE STREUSEL TOPPING: Combine all the dry streusel ingredients in small bowl. Drizzle with the warm, melted unsalted butter and toss with fork until evenly moistened and mixture forms large chunks with some pea-sized pieces throughout.

FOR THE MUFFINS: Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Spray standard muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray (or use baking liners if you prefer). Bring 1 cup frozen blueberries and 1 teaspoon sugar to simmer in small saucepan over medium heat. Cook, mashing berries with spoon several times and stirring frequently, until berries have broken down and mixture is thickened and reduced to ¼ cup, about 6 minutes. Transfer to small bowl and cool to room temperature, 10 to 15 minutes.

Rinse the remaining cup of berries under cold water and dry well. Toss dried berries in 1 tablespoon of flour and set aside.


Whisk the remaining flour, baking powder, and salt together in large bowl and set aside.

In another bowl, whisk remaining 11/8 cups sugar and eggs together until thick and homogeneous, about 45 seconds. Slowly whisk in butter and oil until combined. Whisk in buttermilk and vanilla until combined. Using rubber spatula, fold egg mixture and remaining cup blueberries into flour mixture until just moistened. (Batter will be very lumpy with few spots of dry flour; do not overmix.)

Use an ice cream scoop or large spoon to divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (batter should completely fill cups and mound slightly). Spoon teaspoon of cooked berry mixture into center of each mound of batter. Using chopstick or skewer, gently swirl berry filling into batter using figure-eight motion. Sprinkle prepared streusel evenly over muffins.

Bake until muffin tops are golden and just firm, 17 to 19 minutes, rotating muffin tin from front to back halfway through baking time. Cool muffins in muffin tin for 5 minutes, then transfer to wire rack and cool 5 minutes before serving.

...with the Recipe book idea...and Strawberry Honey-Butter.

If you think you've been reading a lot about recipes on my blog lately, that's because you are. I have decided to use my blog as a way to "collect" some of my favorite recipes and when I have plenty of them saved up, I am going to make a photo recipe book. I know I'm not the first person to do this, it's actually something I've thought of doing in the past. Just recently I decided I better finally get around to actually doing it though. You see...I tend to print out a recipe and after I've made the recipe I hang it on my refridgerator to live. We've got about 15 pieces of paper hanging off the door of our refridgerator right now. They have always made my husband batty...and well now, there are so many that it's driving me crazy too! In addition, some recipes tend to walk off from time to time (meaning Elena snags one off the door and runs off with it) and then I have to reprint the recipe.
So there you have it, my goal is to take a picture of each recipe I want included in the photo book (and blog about it!) and once I've collected enough I will "design" the book and have it printed.

Here is my latest recipe. I found this linked online and when I saw the picture I just knew I had to make it. Strawberry honey-butter! Yum. It smells so good and tastes so good....I could have eaten it like ice cream....except that it's butter, and that would NOT be a good thing for one's stomach!
It was easy to make and filled the house with a sweet aroma!
After making it I decided I needed to make something special for it to be eaten with, so I found a simple recipe for Buttermilk Scones (I had a lot of buttermilk that needed to be used up, so I specifically searched for a scone recipe using it!).

Just a note on the strawberry butter...it made enough to fill 3 of my yogurt jars (what you see in the picture) and they each hold about 7-8 fluid ounces. This would make a great gift for someone!

Strawberry Honey Butter Recipe is here, along with picture tutorial.
Buttermilk Scones (aka Coffehouse Scones)

...with Oatmeal Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies

At the cafe at work there are these delicious oatmeal coconut cookies that always call out my name...and what can I say? I answer back by buying one of them and then eating every last crumb. I recently did a search online to see if I could find a recipe for these yummy little morsels.
Today I made a batch of these cookies and ate one...or two or three...and the day is not over yet!
Check out the recipe at A Chica Bakes, and while you're at it check out some of the other recipes too....they all look so good!

...with the productive weekend.

This past weekend my mom came to visit, which allowed to me to check a few things off my long list of "things to do before the baby arrives". The great thing about moms, is they always come bearing gifts. She brought with her a jar of fresh maple syrup that my dad tapped from the maple trees recently. She also brought 4 pre-made casserole meals to freeze.


My mom was able to entertain Elena while I kept busy. We ran a few errands to the craft store to pick up some supplies for a project I want her to crochet for me and we hit up the local spice store to replenish a few things I have used up while preparing meals for my maternity leave.

The rest of the weekend was spent finishing up the meat meals I wanted to get done.
It was productive to say the least, but I still didn't start/finish the baking, but such is life. I had wanted to bake some scones, muffins, pancakes, etc to make breakfast time a little easier/quicker. Hopefully this baby will stay put for another few weeks so I can slowly finish up on my days off. (This morning while Elena ate breakfast I was able to make some pancakes (with sweet potatoes) to freeze).

Here's what we accomplished this weekend. I have included some of the recipes...remember, these are all recipes I have tried before, so I won't be surprised when it comes time to eat.

All the meat was cut up, portioned into family sizes, marinated/seasoned and then vacuum packed in a Seal n Saver we received for our wedding 4.5 years ago!

Here's what now takes up residence in our deep freezer:
4 packages of ribs flavored with this seasoning
3 packages of hamburgers (some are teriyaki flavored using the same recipe I used for meatloaf, others I used a spice mix)
3 packages of boneless pork chops (I used this recipe to season the chops....will make the salsa at the time the chops are actually cooked).
flank steak for fajitas
2 flank steaks for kabobs
3 packages of veggies meatballs (these are cooked and ready to go)

Our freezer is pretty darn packed now, so I think it's safe to say that I am pretty much done preparing meals. I have decided not to make any casserole meals of my own, because I don't have the space and I want to relax a little before this baby comes too!

In other baby news, we received our infant car seat in the mail! My husband took it out of the box and left it sitting in the living room. I walked in to find this:

..with the slacker mommy.

Ugh. I'm talking about myself. Being slacker mommy is not a good feeling. It's hard keeping up with a toddler and trying to get ready for another baby all at the same time. My days are spent occupying Elena and it leaves little time for me to get ready for Baby Boy. My goal every day is to work on his nursery while she naps, but what can I say, I find myself lying down to nap as well.
I am 32 weeks pregnant. That leaves 8 weeks to finish preparations for this little guy.
The only thing the little guy has going for him so far is one styling wardrobe...thanks to my mother and I's shopping habits. Yeah, talk about priorities, huh? I find myself picking up cute little outfits for him whenever I am out running the usual errands...groceries, Target, etc.


I am really behind on the nursery. But I apparently am the only one who is concerned about the nursery not being ready. Getting the furniture involves driving an hour each way, and lifting heavy pieces into the back of our car, which I cannot do (I can drive, just not lift furniture!) Add to that the fact that we have had things going on most weekends that have kept us from making the trip to pick up the nursery furniture. We still need an infant carseat, but it is going to be a gift from a relative, so we are still waiting on that.

I haven't been able to work on decorations because I have no idea what the placement of the furniture will be in the room. Once I can see it set up with my own eyes, then I will have a better idea of how I want to decorate, etc. I will say though, I have decided that I will make a fabric art piece like I did with Elena's room and I have already purchased the fabric and I happen to have the canvas for it already too. So that's progress! I do have new sheets for the crib, a new changing pad cover and I have even washed some of the newborn diapers! See, so I'm not a total dud!
Have I mentioned what the theme of Baby Boy's nursery will be? Hmmmm? Well, the walls will stay blue. Colors will be black, white and yellow. Here's a hint...it's a bird....that starts with the letter "P". Here's a quick peek at the fabric for the wall art ~


Once some progress has been made on the nursery, I fully intend to provide a photographic tour in the blog ;)

In addition to getting the nursery ready I have still been working on freezer meals. I must say, this is the one area I have not slacked! I have a total of 20 "meals" prepared and in the freezer. Okay, so they are NOT a full meal by any means. They are the meat part of the meal. I stocked up on fresh chicken when it was on sale and from there I broke down the packages into portions for our family. I marinated the various cuts of meat and labeled them for what I intend them to be used for.
Here's a partial list of what is in the freezer already:
3 teriyaki meatloafs (meatloaves?)
2 whole chickens, butterflied and seasoned for baking
cubed and marinated chicken breasts for kabobs on the grill
cubed chicken for making orange chicken
marinated chicken breasts for grilling (I made about 3 different marinades)
marinated chicken thighs
strips of seasoned chicken breasts for fajitas
plain chicken breasts for whatever we are in the mood for

As you can see, these "meals" aren't cooked already. I just hope that by marinating them ahead of time I am taking out some of the mystery of "what should we have for dinner tonight?".

Next on my list is to buy some various cuts of pork and beef and do the same thing.

Oh, and decorate the nursery ;)

...with the freezable scones.

As mentioned in my last post, I have been on the lookout for recipes that freeze well, cook/reheat well and STILL taste good! I think I found one. No, I KNOW I found one.
Meet chocolate chip scone, dear reader:




I made these babies a few weeks ago and they were gone in 2.5 days. I made another batch just a few days ago...they are that good!
Since these scones weren't something I had made before, I wanted to be sure they would reheat well and taste yummy. I mean, there's nothing worse than preparing all this food ahead of time only to have it taste like dog poo when it comes time to cook/reheat and eat it...right??? So this was essentially a taste test. A taste test that I plan to give all the freezable food recipes I find. If they pass, then I will make them and freeze them for my maternity leave!
These particular scones are frozen unbaked, and when you are ready to eat you just preheat the oven and cook them from their frozen state. Easy. Now, admittedly, I cooked half the batch right away (and ate them) and froze the other half. Then I waited a few days and cooked the rest of the scones from their frozen state to make sure they passed the test. Let's just say they passed with flying colors. The second complete batch I made was for my freezer stash. Whether this batch makes it to my maternity leave still has yet to be determined. They may just jump into the oven one day and then into my belly ;)

I found this recipe on one of my favorite food blogs: Annie's Eats
She has other scone recipes as well, a few of which I am going to try out soon!

Here's the recipe to share!

Chocolate Chip Scones
Ingredients:

1½ cups plus 2 tbsp. all-purpose flour
¼ cup sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
Pinch of salt
1 cup (6 oz.) chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp. butter, melted
Additional sugar for sprinkling (optional)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 375˚ F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a medium bowl; stir to combine. Toss in the chocolate chips and stir to blend. Add the heavy cream to the flour mixture, stirring just until a dough forms and the dry ingredients are incorporated. Knead the dough very briefly with well floured hands to ensure even mixing.

Using a large dough scoop (or a large spoon), drop rounds of dough onto the prepared baking sheet. Brush lightly with melted butter and sprinkle with additional sugar (if using). Bake 15-20 minutes, until lightly browned. Makes about 8.

...with the nesting.

I'm only 29 weeks pregnant...and I'm already starting the nesting phase. Namely with cooking and stocking up on "supplies". It's like we're going into hibernation or something. Or going on a 3 month trip to the moon. Who knows, whatever it is, the nesting bug has taken a huge bite out of me and I am obsessed with making lists of things I need to stock up on before baby #2 arrives. Things like toilet paper, shampoo, soap, etc. The main reason I am so interested in stocking up on things is because I don't have a paid maternity leave, so the more stuff I can stock up on now, the less I have to spend while on leave...and you betcha, I am taking the full 12 weeks.
I am also starting to prepare food dishes that will be quick and easy to cook once the baby arrives. Because, I'll have 2 kids to keep an eye on. Yipes. Sounds a little scary right now. I am not a huge fan of casserole dishes...a few here and there are okay, but I don't want to eat casseroles every night of my maternity leave. Not only that, I don't want to be using the oven frequently during the summer months...just gets things too hot in the house. I have been searching online for recipes that freeze well and actually am going to try out a few ahead of time to make sure they really do freeze well and then cook up well after being frozen. Did you know you can freeze mashed potatoes?

For now, I am making lists of the things I want to prepare ahead of time. It's a little too soon to start making and freezing things, as some things don't have a long freezer life. I found a nice chart on the FDA's website which gives a good rundown of how long certains foods can be frozen for. Check it out here. We fortunately have a deep freezer, so freezer space is not a concern at this point.

I have been working extra grocery items into my weekly shopping trips when there are sales and good deals. Just today I purchased boneless, skinless chicken breasts on sale and plan to cut them up, marinate and then freeze them to be used for kabobs on the grill. I also was able to get 2 whole chickens on sale and will marinate those as well and then freeze. Not everything will be cooked ahead of time...I plan on stocking up on "staples" too...like boxed pasta (just got 2 boxes today for free after coupons!!!) and cereal.

Here is more of what I plan on making and freezing, with links to possible recipes:
Muffins (for breakfast)
Scones (breakfast, or just to snack on!)
Hamburger buns
Meatloaf (already have tried this and it is delicious)
Marinted chicken thighs and breasts (for grilling)
Pasta dishes???

If you have any recipes that you've already tried and give a stamp of approval to, feel free to share with me! I am on the lookout for more recipes!

...with cheesecake + peanut butter + chocolate = Yummylicious!

My husband's birthday was yesterday and for his birthday cake I decided to make something involving cheesecake (his favorite...or wait, is it my favorite?!?!?), peanut butter (ok, that's his favorite!) and chocolate. I initially was thinking of making a regular size chocolate peanut butter cheesecake, but since he's been watching what he eats and exercising regularly (and asking me to not keep sweets in the house because they tempt him!) I decided to look for something different. Imagine my surprise when I found a recipe for chocolate peanut butter cheesecake LOLLIPOPS! The great thing about these is that they can be freezed, so we won't feel the need to polish off an entire cheesecake before it goes bad in a week...but who am I kidding - this pregnant lady may still polish them off in a week ;)
Let me tell you, this recipe did not disappoint! I will definitely keep this one around to make again in the future!

These were relatively easy to make and the best part was that I already had all the ingredients (including the lollipop sticks - leftover from last years hot cocoa on a stick!).
Here's the yummy recipe!
The only thing I have to say about the recipe, is that the dipping chocolate wasn't enough for my 36 lollipops. So I ended up only dipping about half of them in chocolate before I ran out (maybe mine wasn't thin enough?) and then froze the rest without chocolate. I figure I can easily pull them out of the freezer and dip them in chocolate as needed :)

Ingredients:

Cheesecake-
1 1/2 cups dark brown sugar
1 1/2 pounds cream cheese, at room temperature
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 3/4 cups creamy peanut butter

Chocolate-
5 tablespoons butter
12 ounces semisweet or bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Line a 8 by 8-inch baking pan with foil letting long flaps overlap on each side. Spray foil with nonstick spray.

2. In a standing mixer with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese and sugar on medium speed until very smooth. Add the cream and beat slowly; then add the yolks and vanilla mixing until just combined. Gently stir in peanut butter. Take care not to over beat the mixture; this incorporates too much air and causes the cheesecake to crack.

3. Pour and evenly spread the batter in the prepared pan. Bake for 15 minutes. Open the oven to release some heat, then lower the temperature to 200 degrees F. Continue to bake the cheesecake until the outside is set but the center is still loose, for about 45 minutes. Turn off the oven, and cool cheesecake in the oven for 45 more minutes. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

4. Lift cheesecake from the pan by lifting up the foil. Transfer to a cutting board. Cut into 1 1/2-inch cubes. Stick a wooden pop stick halfway into each bar and freeze for 1 hour.

5. Meanwhile, put the butter and chocolate in a medium heatproof bowl. Bring a saucepan filled with an inch or so of water to a very slow simmer; set the bowl over, but not touching, the water. Stir the chocolate occasionally until melted and smooth. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly.

6. Dip the pops into the chocolate mixture, and stand on waxed paper to set, about 5 minutes. Serve cold (straight from the fridge), or freeze up to 2 weeks.

...with Elena's homemade Apple Banana Bran muffins.

I recently wanted to try out a new toddler food recipe for Elena that is in one of our baby food cookbooks. I specifically wanted to make a breakfast recipe, as I have been making homemade pancakes of every flavor (beet, blackberry, cinnamon and vanilla are some of Elena's favorites) for Elena, so I wanted to try something different. I have made blueberry muffins before and Elena was interested in them, so I decided a muffin recipe would be a good one to try out. This recipe is for Apple Banana Bran muffins. It was simple to make and you can either make 24 mini muffins or 12 regular size muffins. I made the regular size muffins as I don't have a mini muffin pan. After cooling, I froze the muffins in the freezer, so I can grab them out and thaw as needed. Elena enjoyed her first muffin quite a bit!
Here's the recipe:
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup applesauce or apple puree (I made my own apple puree)
1-3 medium banana's (1 mashed, 2 sliced***)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease muffin tins. (I used paper liners)
With a fork, combine first four ingredients in a small bowl.
Melt butter . In a large bowl, combine the melted butter, apple puree, mashed banana, sugar and eggs. Mix together with a rubber spatula. Add flour mixture to apple puree mixture and stir until just blended. Batter will be lumpy and moist.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, filling 2/3 full. Place a banana slice on top of each muffin (***optional). Bake for 12 minutes (for mini muffins) or 15-18 minutes (for regular size muffins). Cool muffins in pan for 5 minutes before removing from muffin tin.
***I only say the sliced banana's on top of the muffins are optional because I forgot to add them! Oops. But Elena enjoyed them without the banana slice on top!

Enjoy!

...with a glimpse of what is on Elena's plate!

I am still going strong with making Elena's food homemade. I am slowly trying to have her eat the same food we eat, however we eat many things she just doesn't have the teeth for quite yet! Not only that, but she eats much healthier than we do and eats vegetables that even I don't eat ;) I could learn a thing or two from her.
So, here's a glimpse into what I have been serving Elena.

Lunch today included soybeans (from our CSA), Great Northern beans (canned), sweet potatoes, leftover banana from breakfast and homemade chicken "nuggets".






Dinner a few days ago included peas, acorn squash (from Grandma's garden), homemade blackberry yogurt and homemade turkey and veggies meatballs.








Here's the recipe for the veggie meatballs. I used ground turkey.
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 - 4 medium carrots, finely grated)
2 medium (not massive!) zucchini, finely grated
1 1/2 pounds lean ground beef
1/3 cup fine dried breadcrumbs
3 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried)
2 teaspoons finely chopped oregano (or 1 tsp dried)
2 teaspoons finely chopped thyme (or 1 tsp dried)
1/4 cup finely chopped parsley (nice, but you're okay without it)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

:: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, add the onions and saute them for 7 - 10 minutes, stirring often, until they're soft and translucent. Add the garlic and saute for another minute. Add the carrots and zucchini and cook for another 10 - 15 minutes, until the mixture is tender (but not mushy) and sweet. Set aside to cool.

:: Add all the other ingredients to a large mixing bowl. Once the veggies are cooled, add them as well. Using a large wooden spoon (or your hands, if you aren't grossed out) mix everything together until evenly combined.

:: Preheat the oven to 375 F. Have a couple of baking sheets ready, lined with aluminum foil or with a Silpat. Start with slightly damp hands and roll the mixture into meatballs that are about the size of a ping pong ball, or a bit smaller if you want dainty appetizers. Bake for 35 minutes (5 - 10 minutes less if you're going for a smaller size).

...with the chocolate beet cake!

As part of our CSA box, we received beets. I had never eaten a beet up until this point! Can you believe that? I had no clue what to do with our beets until a friend suggested I make a chocolate beet cake. I searched online and found several beet cake recipes. I pretty much chose the one for which I had all the ingredients already.
The recipe was really pretty simple and easy to make. There weren't any unusual ingredients, other than the beets. The cake came out super moist and was tasty. I don't see myself buying beets just to make a cake, however, if I ever do receive beets, I will definitely make this cake again!
Here's the recipe for you:

Chocolate Beet Cake

1 c. margarine, softened, divided
1 1/2 c. packed dark brown sugar
3 eggs at room temp
1 1/2 oz. dark chocolate
5 medium beets/2 c. pureed beets
1 t. vanilla extract
2 c. all-purpose flour
2 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/2 t. cinnamon
1/4 t. nutmeg
confectioners’ sugar for dusting

To make beet puree, trim stems and roots off beets and quarter them. Place in heavy sauce pan filled with water. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer for 50 mins or until the beets are tender. Drain off remaining liquid and rinse beets in cold water as they’ll be too hot to handle otherwise. Slide skins off and place beets in blender. Pulse until a smooth puree forms. Let cool slightly before using in cake. Puree can be made several days in advance.

In a mixing bowl, cream 3/4 cup butter and brown sugar. Add eggs; mix well. Melt chocolate with remaining butter; stir until smooth. Cool slightly. Blend chocolate mixture, beets and vanilla into the creamed mixture (mixture will appear separated). Combine flour, baking soda , salt, cinnamon and nutmeg; add to the creamed mixture and mix well. Pour into a greased and floured 10-in. spring form pan. Bake at 375 degrees F for 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool in pan 15 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Cool completely before dusting with confectioners’ sugar.

...with my CSA creations!

Our first CSA box was a success! I was able to find something to do with all the veggies in the box! Even Elena benefited from the CSA box...she was the lucky recipient of the asparagus! Poor girl...the husband and I both hate asparagus, so I decided to whip up some asparagus puree and see if Elena would eat it! Surprisingly, the girl quite enjoyed it! Don't know who she gets that from!

Would you believe I have never eaten or cooked with rhubarb before! It was on the list of foods "that look weird, therefore I don't like them even though I've never tried it". Well, rhubarb has officially been removed from that list! I found a recipe online for rhubarb coffee cake. OMG. This was the best coffee cake I have ever made. Here's a picture of the final coffee cake...I'm not quite sure where the rest of the coffee cake went ;) And if you are interested in the recipe, you can find it here.
The other new recipe I made was Penne with Ricotta and Green Garlic Sauce. Our CSA box contained green garlic (which looks like scallions on steroids). This recipe was simple, easy and quick. The recipe can be found here.

I can't wait to see what the rest of the CSA season holds for us! I am looking forward to trying out more new recipes! The one thing I enjoy so far, is that it forces me to meal plan (I have not given up on that!).

...with R's birthday gathering.

We celebrated R's birthday this past weekend by having several friends over to watch the Marquette basketball game on T.V. (they won-woohoo!), making chili and later in the evening, by playing hours of Wii. We had a great time and stayed up way too late! As a snack, I made homemade salsa using this recipe from the Pioneer Woman. I should have taken a picture, but forgot. This is definitely a good recipe to keep and I will be making it again!
For his birthday "cake", I made cupcakes. Chocolate cupcakes that are supposed to taste like a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup. The recipe came from my FoodNetwork magazine. They were pretty good, especially the peanut butter layer. I did manage to remember to take a picture of these!

Today was spent relaxing since we are sleep deprived! I did work on this week's dinner menu:

Trader Joe's Orange Chicken (this was on last weeks menu, but we ended up making something else instead)
Pork Chops with Mango Mint Salsa
Chicken and Sun Dried Tomato Salads
Thyme Chicken Thighs
Toasted Deli Sandwiches

...with week 2 and 3 of meal plans

Here I am catching up on 2 weeks worth of meal plans (last weeks and this weeks). I've been doing a good job of keeping up with them and even finding new things to make!

Tortilla Soup (homemade!)
Tri-tip Steak Sandwiches
Pizza
Leftover Tortilla Soup
Grilled Chicken

Chicken Stir Fry Lettuce Wraps
Sauteed Pork Chops with Onions and Bell Peppers
Leftover Pork Chop and Corn
Beef Tacos
Orange Chicken (yum.....the kind from Trader Joe's!)

...with the "goals".

Let's face it. I hate "New Years Resolutions". Try as I might, I have never kept one. Maybe it's because they aren't achievable. You know, like "win the lottery". Yeah, not going to happen.
So this year, my *ahem* New Year's Resolution is to not have any New Years Resolutions :)
It does just so happen to be a coincidence however, that A. it's a new Year and B. I have made a few goals for myself in this coming year.
One of these goals, is to be a better meal planner. I have become the person who has a cupboard full of food yet still manages to stare into said cupboard for 20-30 minutes trying to decide what to make for dinner. When I can't decide, I go to the refridgerator and stare in there for 10 minutes. Then I head back to the cupboard and look in there again; you know, just in case some more food has shown up while I was busy looking in the fridge. All the while, that darn food just stares back at me (pick me, pick me!). I give up and make grilled cheese, or worse, a frozen pizza. Now, mind you, I have many cook books and actually subscribe to the Food Network magazine. Problem is, is that I get halfway through an ingredient list before I realize I don't have 25% of the ingredients listed....many of which are the essence of the recipe! Or, I decide I want ribs and whaddayaknow......the ribs are frozen solid in the freezer and will take hours to thaw......if only I knew last night that today I would be in the mood for ribs then I could have put them in the fridge to thaw. So, how is this going to work?

1. Make a meal plan consisting of 5 dinners one week in advance. (I will only do 5 per week, as we tend to have alternative plans on the weekend and don't always cook at home).
2. Read through the ingredient list (if using a recipe) and make a list of any ingredients that need to be purchased.
3. Go grocery shopping and purchase ingredients needed to make those 5 meals.
4. Read meal plan each night in order to be proactive and thaw any ingredients out in a timely fashion!
5. Make meals without staring into the cupboard or fridge for 30 minutes.

That's it folks! Let's hope I can meet this goal.
To get us started, here's my meal plan for week one! (I have decided not to assign a meal to a certain day of the week).

Tortilla and Black Bean Pie
Chicken Stir Fry
Pork Loin Tacos
Cheesy Salsa Chicken
Pork Loin Sandwiches (using left overs from the tacos)