at home with ann

A few weeks ago we went into Boston for the day. After chasing little people up, down, and around the Children's Museum, watching Colin climb up three stories on a jungle gym and James' excitement at a room filled with golf balls, we went to Flour Bakery for lunch.  I had the Roasted Sweet Potato sandwich, and it was amazing. I just checked the menu , and it looks like they don't offer it right now, but lucky for you I made a salad that's just as good.  The original sandwich was roasted sweet potato, apple, walnut pesto, blue cheese and kale on wheat bread.  I took some liberties, changed up some ingredients, and made it into a salad. Roasted Sweet Potato Salad Romaine and Kale, shredded Olive oil Sweet potato rounds, roasted Apple, sliced Avocado Roasted tomatoes Goat cheese Balsamic Vinegar Drizzle kale and romaine with olive oil Sweet potatoes - coat slices or cubes with olive oil and roast at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. Tomatoes - toss with olive o...

Last week our upick option at the farm was kale.  It was way out in a field that required quite a bit of a walk, but the wonder of kale makes it all worth it.  Colin hitched a ride back on the front of the stroller, which is always a nice chorus of James screeching and Colin complaining that he's kicking him.  At the end of the day, we had a big bunch of kale I've been making into chips and sneaking into their smoothies. Friday morning we went out for a family run.  Thanks to a big hill and a big stroller filled with big kids, all being pushed by Jon, I was able to pull ahead of the crew for all of 10 yards or so before they smoked me to the finish line.  After we got home, I wanted to make a healthy breakfast, and the summer breakfast scramble came to be.  Colin mentioned several times that it smelled awful, so it might not be a hit with the younger set, but I thought it was delicious. Summer Breakfast Scramble (for 2) 3 leaves kale, stem removed and...

You've heard me go on and on about how much I love our CSA from Tangerini's Farm .  This is our third year participating.  The first year I was pregnant and got bigger and bigger by the week until it got to the point in late October when I couldn't comfortably bend over to pick vegetables in the fields.  Last year Colin was 5-9 months old.  I'd carry him in the ergo or wheel his stroller out to the ends of the rows in the fields and wave every so often.  This year he runs all over the place, pointing out all the fans, of course, and visiting the animals.  When we pull in the driveway he starts saying, baby goat, baby goat, baby goat, mehhhh, mehhhh.  He has mustered the courage to pat them now, as long as they don't look at him. This CSA summer season started up a few weeks ago, and among our first batch of vegetables were kale and garlic scapes.  Jon made kale chips from half the bunch.  I said I wasn't hungry, didn't want any, and pro...

This is the same mushroom millet bowl that I made last month, but I bet a few of you passed it over because the picture was less than awesome.  It's hard to photograph mushrooms and kale at night.  I'm here to tell you to give it a try, though, because we had it again yesterday, and it is delicious!  Also, thanks to the sun staying up later and a slightly earlier dinnertime for me yesterday, I have a better picture now.  I changed the cooking process a tiny bit, so I'll just reshare the recipe with my new notes.  To mix it up even more, try adding diced chicken to the mix.  Mushroom Millet Bowl with Kale original recipe from Oh She Glows 1/2 cup uncooked millet extra virgin olive oil 2 cups chopped sweet onion 3 garlic cloves, minced 16 oz. sliced baby portabella mushrooms 1 tsp minced dried rosemary 2 tbsp nutritional yeast 1.5 tbsp tamari or soy sauce 1/2 tbsp cornstarch 1 1/4 cup vegetable broth 1 bunch fresh chopped kale, stems removed ...

Not that long ago I thought I didn't like mushrooms.  It turns out what I don't like are slimy mushrooms.  I think we can trace this back to a trip to England I went on with my parents when I was 15.  We stayed primarily in bed and breakfasts, and every day the proprietors would serve a "full English breakfast," which included, among other things, canned mushrooms.  Canned mushrooms are the ultimate in sliminess.  By the end of the trip I stuck to toast and tea in the morning.  Non-slimy mushrooms, on the other hand, I like quite a bit.  This saucy, hearty bowl reminded me of the mushroom demi glace that you sometimes get at steakhouses.  I bet this would actually be delicious served over steak, but it was great (and vegan) on it's own.  There are a couple ingredients in this recipe you might not be familiar with.  I'd never cooked with millet before.  It's a grain, and high in nutritious elements such as manganese, phosphorus, ...

Another crock pot recipe, you say?  Another reddish/brownish bowl of mush?  I know, crock pot stews don't photograph particularly well, but they are delicious and this one is also super nutritious.  I hope you aren't totally bored of crock pot ideas, though, because I have another one cooking away for dinner tonight.  Plus, this is just another opportunity to make crock pot jokes.  Not only that, this is a very affordable recipe, it yielded 8 servings for us, barely over $1 per bowl. Who doesn't need some more convenience in their cooking once in a while, right? Crock Pot Butternut and Kale Stew recipe based on Eat Live Run 1 onion, chopped 1-2 carrots, chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 jalapeno, minced 2 tsp garam masala 1 butternut squash, peeled and chopped 1 28-oz can diced tomatoes in tomato juice 2 cups vegetable broth 1 cup red lentils 2 15-oz cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1/2 bunch kale, ripped into bite sized pieces salt and pep...

This is another pantry recipe.  At any given time, you probably have most, if not all, of these ingredients on hand.  As such, it's a great idea to have in the back of your mind for an easy lunch or supper.  While I was watching Rachael Ray the other day I took note of her garbage bowl.  If you haven't seen it, the garbage bowl is just the bin she uses to dispose of scraps, containers, etc. while she's cooking.  You can go online and purchase your very own garbage bowl for the reasonable price of $19.99.  Or, you can just use one of the many bowls you already have.  I take it one step further and use produce bags.  For any given recipe, I am usually emptying some produce bag, so I leave on the counter, put all my cooking scraps and trash in it, and toss it when I'm done.  This isn't any genius idea, but it does save me a lot of time because I'm not turning to throw things out all the time.  Back to the soup.  Potato Soup with ...

Homemade mac and cheese is one of the best comfort foods of all time.  However, you need to be in a particular mood to consume huge amounts of pasta and creamy cheese sauce.  That mood being one which involves yoga pants.  These days my mood always involves yoga pants, but I wanted to add a few healthy features to this mac and cheese so I could get away with serving it for dinner without a side of running on the treadmill.  In addition to your usual pasta and cheese, this recipe includes roasted butternut squash puree, as well as steamed broccoli and kale.  The butternut squash thickens the sauce and brings that lovely orange color reminiscent of the blue box we all grew up with.  Butternut Mac & Cheese 1 cup cooked butternut squash (I roasted a 4 pound squash, and reserved the rest.  You can also substitute frozen butternut squash puree.) 3/4 -1 cup milk (I used unsweetened almond milk) 1/2-1 cup shredded cheddar cheese 2 tsp dijon mustard ...

You know I am a big fan of kale, although I admittedly mostly eat it in chip form.  Kale is crazy good for you, lots of vitamin K, A, and C, among others.  One of my friends sent me this recipe (I love when they do that!), and I was excited to try it with some of the giant bag of kale I picked this week.  I modified the original recipe a bit to add some more ingredients and make it into a meal (and consequently, no longer officially raw, if you care about that sort of thing). Kale, Tomato and Avocado Salad adapted from Happy Foody 1 bunch of curly kale (I filled up about half a salad spinner to serve 2 as a main course) 1 large tomato, chopped 1/2-1 avocado, chopped 1/2 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained 1-2 Tablespoons olive oil Juice of 1/2 lemon sea salt goat cheese, crumbled, for serving Rip kale leaves off stems and tear into bite size pieces. Mix in olive oil and lemon juice with your hands.  Really, use your hands.  The more it gets worked ...

As promised, here are the recipes for the two side dishes we ate with the barbecue chicken on Sunday night.  I am absolutely loving our CSA veggies, and it has encouraged me to cook with ingredients I don't normally use.  While we all know I love kale chips, radishes and japanese turnips weren't frequent in my cooking before. Kale Chips Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Tear stems off leaves, rip into bite size pieces, and wash well. Spin dry in a salad spinner, if the kale is wet, it will steam, not crisp. On a lined baking sheet, toss kale with a small amount (a couple teaspoons) of olive oil. Sprinkle with kosher salt. Optional additions: nutritional yeast, cheese, spices Bake for about 15 minutes until crispy and edges are starting to brown. Radish and Japanese Turnip Slaw with Creamy Dill Dressing adapted from  Cooking Light 2-4 cups shredded radishes and Japanese turnips 1 carrot, shredded 3 Tablespoons sour cream 3 Tablespoons mayo 1 Tablespoon chopped ...

I like to make a batch of soup on Sunday afternoon to eat for lunches throughout the week.  This one is full of hearty vegetables, and roasting really brings out the flavors.  It is a good source of fiber, and the beans provide protein.   Roasted Vegetable and Kale Soup slightly adapted from SimplyRecipes Ingredients: 4 carrots, peeled and cut into chunks 1 onion, peeled and cut into large slices 1/2 small butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2 inch chunks 4-6 cloves of garlic, peeled Olive oil 14 oz. can diced tomatoes 4 cups vegetable broth 4 cups chopped kale 1 tsp dried thyme 1 bay leaf 1/4 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes 1 15 oz. can white beans (I used navy) Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Put cut carrots, onion, squash and garlic on a baking sheet.  Drizzle with olive oil and toss to coat.  Sprinkle with salt and pepper.   Roast until vegetables are browned and tender, about 45 minutes.  This is what they will l...

Chips may be my favorite way to eat kale.  They are crispy, salty, and super easy to make. Aside from being delicious, I'm writing about kale chips today in response to a request from a reader.  I can't tell you how happy and excited I am that anyone is actually reading and cooking from my blog.  It's been a wonderful month and a half thinking of recipes and sharing them with you, many more to come!  Also, if there's anything in particular you'd like to see, let me know! Kale Chips  Ingredients 1 large bunch of kale, stems removed and leaves torn into pieces.  I found a huge bag of kale at BJs last week that was pre-torn, so I just filled up my salad spinner. 2 teaspoons olive oil kosher or sea salt parmesan or asiago cheese Wash the leaves well and spin until dry.  If you have time, do this step in advance so they can dry well.  If they still have water on them, they'll steam and wilt before they can crisp up. Spread leaves on a baki...