at home with ann

Nearly all the guys (and most of the girls) I know love buffalo flavored anything, and I personally have  never met a hot sauce I didn't like.  When you bring this dip out at a party, people can't get enough.  A few months ago my brother in law and I made a serious dent in a bowl of it.  He always eats with me so I won't feel self-conscious eating constantly while pregnant, and he takes the responsibility very seriously.  It's not exactly diet friendly, but all things in moderation, and you can eat it with celery sticks, so that cancels everything out. Buffalo Chicken Dip  recipe from my Mother in Law 1 package cream cheese, softened 12 oz. hot sauce 8-12 oz. shredded cheddar, reserve some for top 12-16 oz. blue cheese dressing 2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded(I used an entire package ~1# of thin sliced chicken breasts, and poached them) Mix together all ingredients, spread in a baking dish.  Top with remaining cheddar.  If you're...

Mama Pea  is a bit of a celebrity in the blog world.  A one-time lawyer, she left her job to stay home with her adorable daughters, and transitioned her family from a conventional to a vegan diet.  This is not the land of fake food, however, her recipes are varied, flavorful, filling, and satisfy everyone.  Plus, she shares awkward things like how she spends all day wearing old yoga pants.  I do too.  And she never fails to make me laugh.  She has a cookbook coming out this week, which I desperately want, but in the meantime I will keep cooking from the fantastic recipes she posts on her blog.  One such recipe is this tortilla soup.  I love tortilla soup, but do not always love dealing with chicken, so this was a perfect alternative.  I changed it very slightly just based on the veggies we had on hand, and also to add a mini cheese quesadilla for dipping, because we eat cheese around these parts. Tortilla Soup very slightly modified ...

It's a bun!  That's right, sometime on or around December 24th I'll be having a baby!  I can't begin to express how excited and happy we are. It's been tough keeping this secret off the blog for the past 4 months, although a couple of my friends said they had their suspicions during the weeks when I only ate egg sandwiches and smoothies.  Sorry about that exceedingly boring blog time.  I'd also say it explains why I've been eating so much ice cream and cheese, but let's be honest, I'd probably be doing that anyway. I will likely be getting an email from Jon telling me I'm embarassing him, but he has been wonderful and I am so lucky to have him.  He has patiently sat through many, many doctors appointments, and put up with quite a few crazy pregnancy things from me, including but not limited to: -Those rough weeks in the beginning when I couldn't walk through the kitchen or smell food, ate only egg sandwiches, smoothies, and peanut butte...

As you have likely noticed, I like main course salads.  They can be made in advance, and usually get better a day later. This was my first time cooking barley.  I thought it would be with the grains like rice and couscous in the market, and had nearly given up hope and gone to Whole Foods, where you can always find everything, when I found it with dried beans.  So if you want to make this and can't find barley, check with the beans. Peach Cucumber Barley Salad slightly modified from Good Housekeeping Ingredients: 1 cup pearl barley 2 cups water, vegetable broth, or a combination (I just used water) 1 cucumber 2 peaches 1 pint cherry tomatoes 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves 2 Tablespoons vinegar (cider or red wine) 1 Tablespoon olive oil salt and pepper 1 15 oz. can chickpeas, drained and rinsed Place dry barley in a saucepan over medium heat and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring, until toasted. Stir in water/broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, c...

Indian food is one of those things that I can go weeks without thinking about, but then when I want some curry, I want it now.  Back when we lived in the big city, there was an awesome hole in the wall Indian restaurant on our block, but pickings are a little slim out here in horse country.  Fortunately, vegetarian dal such as this are very quick and easy to make. Spicy Red Lentil Dal canola oil 1 cup onion, chopped 2 garlic cloves, minced 1 teaspoon cumin 1 teaspoon coriander 1/2 teaspoon turmeric 1/2 teaspoon garam masala 1/4 teaspoon cayenne 1 cup red lentils 1 15 oz. can diced tomatoes 2 cups water parsley greek yogurt, for topping In a large saute pan, heat the canola oil over medium heat.  Cook the onion and garlic for a few minutes, add in the spices and cook a couple minutes more.  Add in lentils, tomatoes and water.  Bring to a boil, reduce to low, and simmer with the lid on for about 20 minutes.  Serve with rice, top with parsley ...

Continuing on the trend of things to cook when it's 95 degrees outside, here are a couple simple salad ideas. Caprese My all time favorite.  Juicy tomatoes, creamy mozzarella, and fragrant basil dressed simply in balsamic vinegar. Roasted Beet with Goat Cheese The beets were from our CSA share this week.  After scrubbing, I drizzled them with olive oil, wrapped in foil, and roasted at 375 for about 40 minutes.  They probably could have used a few minutes more, to be honest.  Served over red leaf lettuce (also a CSA pick), topped with crumbled goat cheese, and dressed with balsamic vinegar and olive oil.   I can't eat beets without thinking of The Office.  Actually, that's pretty much the main reason to eat beets at all.   Bears, Beets, Battlestar Galactica.   http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-POY08-Mro

I received an ice cream maker as a wedding shower gift, and although I don't use it nearly as often I should (every day), it's a great little appliance.  Aside from a hand crank contraption using rock salt and all that, you can't really make ice cream at home without a special appliance, so in my mind it's totally worth it. The ice cream shop we stop at every Sunday on our way home from the beach (it softens the blow of having to leave, at least that's what I tell myself) has monthly special seasonal flavors.  I was expecting July to be something in the red, white and blue genre; blueberries, strawberries and the like.  Instead it was cake batter that included a blue frosting swirl.  Blue frosting does not do it for me, so instead I've been eating coffee ice cream for the last three weeks.  The point of this rambling story is that I decided to take matters into my own hands and make blueberry ice cream at home. Blueberry Ice Cream Recipe from Southern Food ...

I did a similar salad to this a few months ago, but it's really just a template, the possibilities are endless.  It's a great balance of protein, carbs and vegetables to keep you feeling good but not over-stuffed.  It's also excellent on a 95 degree day when you can't stand to be in the kitchen.  So is homemade ice cream, but that's tomorrow's post. Wheat Berry and White Bean Salad 1 cup cooked wheat berries, prepared according to package directions (I use Bob's Red Mill) 1 cup white beans 1/2 cucumber, chopped 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped 1/2 pint grape tomatoes, chopped scallions, sliced olive oil red wine vinegar salt and pepper parsley goat cheese or feta, optional Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl, garnish with chopped parsley and goat cheese.  Chill or serve immediately.

We have such a great assortment of vegetables from our CSA share this week!  I can't wait to get cooking. An assortment from the mix: lettuce, broccoli, garlic, onions, zucchini, squash, beets, pickling cucumbers, and greens beans. On the menu plan: Grilled zucchini and summer squash for veggie wraps Roasted beets and goat cheese salad Home made pickles Kale chips Still thinking of ideas for everything else, but it will be a good week!

The escarole was the last thing (aside from lettuce, there is always lettuce) left from our CSA share last week.  As much as I love having a fridge full of healthy vegetables, it's also nice to get it cleaned out once in a while so things don't mysteriously disappear into the back to be discovered weeks later. Escarole and white beans is an Italian dish.  My guess is it would likely be a side dish or one of the twelve courses in an Italian dinner, but we had it solo.  Beans, greens and carbs make a good dinner to me.  It was so creamy from the beans that it didn't even need cheese, imagine that! Escarole and White Beans Olive oil 1 large head escarole, rinsed and cut into pieces 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 1 clove garlic, minced 2 cups white beans Salt Pepper Parsley Hot sauce, optional Heat olive oil in a large saute pan (something big with a lid) over medium heat. Saute garlic and white beans for about a minute. Add in escarole, about ha...

We had another big bunch of swiss chard in our CSA veggies this week, so I wanted to do something new.  A lot of the greens recipes I've found include bacon as an accent, because when you're getting all those healthy vitamins and minerals, you want to balance it out a bit.  Plus, bacon is really just a salty condiment.   This is another quick meal, maybe 20 minutes of cooking time.  Good thing since I realized at 9:15 at night that I needed to make something for the next day.  I do that a lot.   Bacon and Swiss Chard Pasta recipe from Bon Appetit Ingredients: 1 pound linguine - I used whole wheat spaghetti 12 ounces bacon, cut crosswise into 1/2-inch slices 1 very large red onion, halved, sliced (about 6 cups) - I used vidalia 2 large bunches Swiss chard, stemmed, chopped (about 12 cups) 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 2/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese Cook pasta according to package directions, reserving 1/...

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 ...

After a wonderful beach day on Saturday, we came back home Sunday night.  Today I opened my book and dumped sand all over my lap, which is a good gauge of the weekend. Grilling barbecue chicken can be tricky.  It's easy to burn the sauce and overcook the meat, so it takes a little finesse with the grill.  Jon was in charge, as always, and used an indirect cooking method. We used boneless skinless chicken breasts, although I've read bone-in, skin-on is easier to grill and more traditional.  He started by sprinkling the chicken with a barbecue rub, just a mixture of spices.  He set the grill up with the coals concentrated under one half to create a section of direct heat and indirect heat.  To initially sear the chicken, cook for a couple minutes on each side close to the hot coals.  This will give you nice grill marks and seal in the juices.  Then move the meat to the non-coal side of the grill for indirect cooking, basting with sauce on each f...