chill out OR watermelon agua fresca

It's been one of those days. 
We are busy!  Going, going, going from one activity to the next.  Add in school and playing with friends and cleaning the house and making dinner and doing laundry...things get crazy.  The kids start to push each other's buttons and my patience begins to wear thing.  Then a refreshing idea comes to me...agua fresca. 

"Who wants a treat?" I shout to the girls.  "Yay!"they shout back, instantly forgetting about arguing.
 We head to the car and are on our way to Rancho Market for our favorite agua frescas.  I love the strawberry and the girls prefer the watermelon.  As we sip the fruity drinks, all the troubles of the day seem to wash away.  Sometimes we splurge and get warm, homeade churros- but usually we are all too busy sipping from our straws to think about anything else! 

I recently made this delicious drink for our Cinco De Mayo party, and it was so easy I know we'll be making this all summer long.  Now I need to search a strawberry recipe.  Thanks to Our Best Bites for the yummage recipe!


Watermelon Agua Fresca
Recipe by Our Best Bites

Ingredients:
4 generous cups of cubed watermelon (seeded, if not using a seedless watermelon)
1 1/2 cups cold water
Juice of 2 limes
Mint sprigs
Honey, agave, or simple syrup*
*I use simple syrup made of 1 cup water mixed with 1 cup sugar. If desired, you can add a small handful of mint leaves or a halved jalapeño. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, then allow to cool and remove any solids.

Instructions:
Place watermelon and water in a blender and blend for about 30 seconds. Strain through a fine-mesh strainer. Add lime juice and sweeten to taste with honey, agave, or simple syrup. Serve over ice with mint sprigs. Makes 4-6 servings.

scones revisited

I know, I know- I've already posted about our family's favorite scones.  But since I made a huge batch the other day (some for the freezer!), we have been having scones and tea in the afternoon. 

 It's so cozy!  Especially on a snowy afternoon like today.  

We just snuggle up on the couch with our treat and a few books, cover up with a quilt and we are set.

 Don't have any scones in your freezer ready to heat?  It's ok- it only takes a few minutes to mix the dough and then your house will smell heavenly and warm while they are baking.  My girls like to help my roll out the dough.  Enjoy!

sweet stuff OR Vanilla Buttermilk Syrup

I used to love the store-bought, butter flavored syrup.  I'd load up my short stack and scoff as my dad would pour on just a few tablespoons of pure maple syrup onto his pancakes. 

As I've had less and less sugar in my diet, I've found that the commercial syrup is just simply too sweet.  Plus, it seems to have this chemical-ish aftertaste that I just don't enjoy.  Suddenly, I've developed a taste for that real maple flavor.  Don't get me wrong, maple syrup is still sweet.  But this seems to be a real sweetness.  When you use the good stuff, you don't need as much to pack the same flavor punch. 

Another favorite, and breakfast standby at our house, is Vanilla Buttermilk Syrup.  It comes together while you are flipping pancakes or baking waffles and tastes oh, so much better than that store-bought stuff. No, it's not low-fat, or even low sugar- but with the tangy buttermilk and sweet vanilla flavor- you don't need much to make your waffles taste like heaven!

Vanilla Buttermilk Syrup

1 cup sugar
1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cube butter
1/2 tsp soda
1 tsp vanilla

Mix sugar, buttermilk, butter and soda in saucepan; boil for 1 minute.  Take off the heat and add vanilla.  Stir to combine.  Enjoy!

sunday afternoon OR Jason's breadsticks

Sometimes there is a magical Sunday afternoon when my husband is home.  I can tell that it's going to be an extra special afternoon if he mentions, "I'm in the mood for breadsticks." 

Here's the scoop:  Jason doesn't have time to cook much, but when he does- be ready for awesomeness.  His breadsticks are heavenly. 

To begin, he turns on some music and dons an apron.  When he starts pulling salt and flour down from the cupboards, the girls figure out that something amazing is about to happen and pull their stools over to the counter so they can "help daddy."  He mixes and rolls and sprinkles.  While everything is rising, our family takes to the living room to dance to daddy's music.  This usually turns into either a twirling contest or a tickle fight.  Dad wins.  

Then the breadsticks bake up and we win.  The girls like their buttery parmesean coated fingers and ask for just one more before dinner.  I say, "This is dinner!" and we eat the whole pan.

Like I said, a magical Sunday afternoon.


Jason's Breadsticks

1 pkg. yeast
1 1/2 cup warm water
1 Tbsp. honey
1 tsp. salt
about 3-4 cups flour
melted butter
Parmesean cheese

Dissolve yeast in the water.  Add honey and salt: mix.  Add flour to the right consistency.  Knead a few mi ntues.  Pull of pieces and roll to look like sticks.  Roll to about the size of a woman's thumb.  Place on a greased cookie sheet.  Brush melted butter on top of sticks.  Sprinkle cheese on top.  Allow to rise, covered, for 30 minutes.  Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes.

it's hot outside OR simple slowcooker supper

It's summer and man, it's HOT!

I never love turning on my oven, or even my stovetop in the heat.  We do grill quite a bit out on the deck, but sometimes it's nice to have everything done right inside my cool, air-conditioned kitchen!  So as a quick dinner we have slow cooker meals quite often in the summer.  This is one of our favorites and an easy one to add to your dinner rotation.

Slow Cooker Pineapple Pulled Pork

1 large package country-style boneless pork ribs
1/2 bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce
1 can of pineapple tidbits


Combine in your slow cooker on Low 6-8 hours.  Shred with a fork, when tender, and serve on slider buns with a slice of pineapple on top.  To make this truly decadent, we grill pineapple spears to go along side with a mound of coleslaw- yummage!

summertime OR salad in a jar

Hello again.  It's been a while.

It's that time of year.  The sun is out.  The kids are swimming in the back yard every day.  Sprinklers are sprinkling the grass.  Popsicles are dripping down our arms.  Vacations to the forest seem to happen more often.  Ahh, summertime.  I love this time of year.

In the summer, meals take on a lazy-dazy feel.  We grill.  We skewer lots of things.  We make smoothies.  We seem to wrap everything in a tortilla.  And we eat salad.  Delicious salads of all sorts make their appearance on our table.  In my CSA basket, we've been getting fresh greens every week.  We've also tried out a few new foods:  garlic scapes, radish pods, breakfast radishes.  But our favorite discovery are microgreens.  These flavorful little greens spice up our salads and both my husband and I miss a salad without them now!  Keep your eyes out at the supermarket or farmer's market for those little green bites...you'll never go back! 

And to use up all these delicious new flavors- salad in a jar.  I make several of these beauties on Monday and they last us for lunches for about 4 days or so.  In a pinch, I've even emptied the prepared ingredients into a bowl for dinner, too!  I love seeing my mason jars lined up in the fridge with all my goodies from my CSA share just waiting to be savored.

sweet OR scones for breakfast

My daughters have been sick the past few days.  As hard as it is on the girls, it's hard on me too.  I hate seeing my kiddos sick and miserable.  When I was younger, I remember my mom making us popcorn for a treat when we were sick.  (Also when we weren't sick.  Really, popcorn was just an all around wonderful snack...but that's another post.)  Mom would read to us, let us eat on the couch and drink Sprite from a straw.  Even though we didn't like being sick, it was pretty nice to be treated to something special by a caring mom.

My sick girls requested cinnamon scones for their "sick treat".  I was happy to oblige, since these are one of my favorites, too.  There is something about that sweet, spicy smell wafting from the oven that makes you feel better.  Along with some hot chamomile tea, they will fix whatever is ailing you.  Another bonus to these scones- they freeze beautifully.  I've taken to making a double batch, freezing them, then bagging them.  When we are in the mood for a warm breakfast, I take out a few and pop them in the oven to bake while I mix up some yogurt and fruit to go along side. 


CINNAMON SCONES
original recipe from Good Cheap Eats, I've adapted it a bit

5 cups flour- can be a combination of white and whole wheat
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1-3 Tablespoons of cinnamon- depending on how spicy you like it!
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter, cut into cubes
1 1/2 cup half and half- I use milk if that's what I've got on hand

In large bowl combine flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Cut in butter until coarse crumbs form. Add half and half.   Fold gently until combined. Turn out onto floured surface and knead gently until dough comes together. Pat or roll to 1 inch thickness. Cut into squares. Bake for 15 minutes at 375° or flash freeze and store in the freezer.  If baking from frozen, increase baking time 5 minutes.

leftover magnet OR fried rice

One of the complaints I hear most is, "We just don't ever eat leftovers."  I say, why eat leftovers when you can have fried rice?!  Or scrambles?  Or chicken pot pie?  These are the re-tooled dishes I like to call leftover magnets.  Toss in a few fresh ingredients, mix with your last night's dinner and volia!  It's a quick dinner that disguises those leftovers into a delicious meal.  Fried rice is one of our go-to meals.  I learned to make a version of this from my roommate in college.  She would use a bag of frozen stir fry veggies, ham from the deli and white rice- it always turned out yummy.  At our house I usually have leftover asparagus or onion or shrimp that can get tossed in.

 My five-year-old daughter loves making this when it's her night to cook.  (Yes, my five-year-old likes to cook dinner!)  With a little adult supervision, stirring the veggies, cracking the eggs and shaking in the soy sauce is a great meal that my daughter can make herself.  Of course, she has to wear her protective eye wear so her eyes don't water while the onions cook! 

Because this is more of a method than a recipe, you can customize this to whatever veggies and protein that your family likes.  I like to make a big batch of rice when I cook it and save half for fried rice later in the week.  So clean out your fridge and enjoy some fried rice tonight!

FRIED RICE
this serves our family of 4, but could easily be doubled for a crowd

4 cups cold cooked rice
4 green onions, chopped (or whatever onions you have in the pantry)
1 clove garlic (or if your family loves garlic, like us, add 4 cloves)
1 cup cubed ham (or sausage or chicken or shrimp, etc.)
1-2 cups cubed veggies (celery, bean sprouts, peas, carrots, pineapple- anything!)
4 beaten eggs
3-4 Tbs. soy sauce
1 Tb-ish of red pepper flakes (optional)

In a wide skillet over medium-high heat, cook the onions and garlic in two tablespoons of oil for about 1 minute.  Add the ham, veggies and rice and stir fry until slightly browned and heated through.  Add the beaten eggs to the rice mixture and stir well- scrambling the eggs in to the rice.  Add soy sauce and stir.  Add red pepper flakes to desired heat.  Serve immediately.