at home with ann

If eating Orange Chicken put you in the mood for more Food Court favorites, you're in luck, because today we're recreating the Orange Julius.  I'm not even sure if Orange Julius exists anymore, but I do remember begging my mom to get me one when we went to the "big" mall in Manchester.  Shopping can be just parching. This isn't really much of a recipe, so I'll just give you the ingredients. Creamy Orange Shake 1 orange, peeled, cut into segments and frozen 1 handful ice cubes 1-2 cups milk Blend until frothy. Alternatively, you can use frozen orange juice concentrate in place of the orange, or add some sugar if you like. This completes our walk down mall food memory lane.  Doesn't it just make you want to hit up Claire's for some cheap earrings, the Limited Too for purple leggings,  and the CD store?

Jon's office building is part of a complex that includes a mall.  In the food court of the mall there is, among other fine dining establishments, a Panda Express.  On occasion in years past he would come home and tell me he had Orange Chicken for lunch.  I was horrified that he ate junk food, but we all want some good Asian style orange chicken once in a while. I had a bag of oranges in the back of the refrigerator for what may have been weeks.  They were ignored after Jon said they were too juicy to eat at work and I dripped orange all over the baby.  The inspiration for orange chicken was born. This is far better and healthier than anything you'll get in the food court.  Now I should figure out how to make Orange Julius and Cinnabon.   Orange Chicken based on All Recipes Ingredients: Juice of 3 oranges (~3/4-1 cup) Juice of half a lemon 1 cup water 1/4 cup rice vinegar 1/4 cup mirin 2 tablespoons soy sauce Zest of one orange 1 cu...

Crock Pot Beef Stew is comfort food at it's best. It really is amazing to walk into the house at the end of the day and smell dinner, or walk back into the house after getting the mail, if you're me.  I've become a bit of a recluse in my post-having-a-baby world.  I'm more than ready for warm Spring weather so going outside doesn't involve bundling up in one of Jon's jackets over both me and the baby.  This takes slightly more prep work than some of my other crock pot meals because it involves searing the beef.  This step is totally worth it, even if you pour wine into your screaming hot skillet and it spatters all over the stove.  Maybe don't do that last part if you can avoid it. You can, of course, add in different vegetables here.  Sliced mushrooms would be good, and a couple handfuls of frozen peas tossed in near the end.   Crock Pot Beef Stew 2+ pounds beef (I used pre-cut stew meat because I couldn't deal with meat slicing, but any stea...

Continuing my recent obsession with cornbread, today we have tamale pie.  I've never made tamale pie before, but now that I have it's going into the regular rotation.  Similar in concept to shepherd's pie or leftover Thanksgiving pie, the protein, vegetables, spices and sauce make up the bottom layer with the carbs on top, and the whole thing gets baked together.  In this case, sort of a taco bottom with cornbread topping.  This recipe is merely a starting point, as with many things, you can customize it based on your tastes and whatever you have on hand.  Tamale Pie Serves 6-8 Ingredients: Olive or canola oil 1 package ground turkey (mine was 20 oz.) 1 can pinto beans, drained and rinsed 1 bell pepper, chopped 1 onion, chopped 1 clove garlic, chopped 3 chiplote peppers in adobo sauce, minced 1-2 teaspoons cumin 1-2 teaspoons chili powder kosher salt and ground black pepper 1 14 oz. can tomato sauce or crushed tomatoes 1 recipe cornbread 1 jala...

This cornbread recipe is so easy that I let Jon make it while I was holding the baby, and only gave him instructions once or twice.  I can be a little bossy in the kitchen, as you may have guessed.  This isn't one of those puree your fresh corn and grind cornmeal and use buttermilk kind of recipes.  One step up from an instant mix, it's ready to eat in 25 minutes and I'm sure you have all the ingredients in your pantry right now.  Except maybe cornmeal, but you should pick that up for making homemade pizza anyway. Cornbread 1 cup cornmeal 1 cup flour 1/4 cup sugar 1 Tablespoon baking powder 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 cup canola oil 1 cup milk 1 egg Preheat oven to 425 degrees. In a bowl, mix together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl (I just use a 2 cup measure to minimize dishes), whisk together oil, milk and egg. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until combined. Pour into a 9x9 baking dish coated with cooking spray...

I've shared my version of red beans and rice with you before .  But that was almost a year ago, and I found a way to simplify it even further.  My crock pot (are you not supposed to say crock pot? Is that like kleenex and scotch tape?  I can't be bothered) has come in very handy in the past few weeks.  I don't know when I'll have time to cook during the day, but I can almost guarantee it won't be between 6-7 in the evening.  Around 11 in the morning my little guy is usually asleep in the sling, so I can carry him and work in the kitchen at the same time.  Perfect timing for setting up the crock pot.  Of course, you can do all the prep the night before or first thing in the morning if you're fancy and have a job that requires you to dry your hair and wear clothes not made out of yoga material.  Crock Pot Red Beans and Rice Serves 6 as a Main Course Ingredients: 1 cup uncooked brown rice 1 medium onion, chopped 1 bell pepper, chopped 2 stal...

Colin had his first play date yesterday, so I made some cookies to bring along.  He's lucky enough to have two cousins within 5 months of his age (he's the youngest), and I'm lucky to have two other girls in our family to have mom chats with. This is one of my fail safe cookie recipes. I almost always have all the ingredients on hand, it only takes about 20 minutes start to finish, and is always delicious.  Borrowed from the lid of the Quaker Oats canister, it's also available online . Oatmeal Cranberry Cookies recipe from Quaker Oats 1/2  cup (1 stick) plus 6 tablespoons butter, softened 3/4  cup firmly packed brown sugar 1/2  cup granulated sugar 2  eggs 1  teaspoon vanilla 1-1/2  cups all-purpose flour 1  teaspoon baking soda 1  teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2  teaspoon salt (optional) 3  cups Oats (quick or old fashioned, uncooked) 1  cup dried cra...

I'm not sure why it took me so long to cook spaghetti squash.  I have a vague memory of my mom feeding it to us when we were little, but I went through a pretty long anti-squash phase, so I'm sure I turned my nose up at it.  In any case, roasting spaghetti squash is beyond easy, and it serves as an excellent alternative to pasta.  I can eat a huge bowl of pasta and it doesn't really keep me full for long, but the squash provides good fiber and protein with a far lower calorie count. To roast the squash, simply prick all over with a sharp knife so steam can escape, place in a baking dish and cook in a 375 degree oven for an hour.  Allow to cool slightly so you can touch it, slice in half, and scoop out the seeds in the middle.  Use a fork to scrape the flesh of the squash into spaghetti-like strands, and serve topped with sauce.  I made a simple tomato and meat sauce to go with our squash.  I've shared a recipe for Meaty Tomato Sauce before, and us...

It's been a whole month since I've checked in, I hope a few of you readers are still around!  I took my little guy to his one month checkup today.  He's in the 84th percentile for weight, this kid likes to eat!  Just like his mom.  My sidekick doesn't always feel like hanging out in the kitchen, so I've been doing a lot less cooking these days.  I have been doing a lot of one-handed eating, however.  New mom tip: Drink your soup out of a mug.  Don't bother trying to mess with a bowl and a spoon, you'll never get to eat lunch. Yesterday I did a little cooking for the Super Bowl (we will not be discussing the outcome...).  On the menu was buffalo chicken nachos with blue cheese, pico de gallo and guacamole.  Sadly I didn't get a chance to photograph the nachos due to the aforementioned sidekick who was feeling a little fussy, but they were delicious.  I made the chicken in the crock pot.  One package of chicken breasts into the ...