quiche

Another quick and easy meal is quiche.   (It's especially quick if you already have a pie crust in the freezer).  We make one pie to split.  I like how I can have different veggies on my side than Garrett (who wouldn't prefer veggies at all actually), though he does complain when a mushroom swims into his half. 

Quiche

Roll out the pie crust and put it into a pie or cake pan. (don't prebake) 

Prepare the filling ingredients and layer them in the crust. You can use anything you like. You can leave the meat out. You can change the vegetables. Don't leave out the cheese.  It is good to have a balance between salty things like meat or cheese and vegetables.
Ideas for fillings: 1 medium onion, chopped and sautéed

100 g bacon, chopped and sautéed

100 g sliced mushrooms

100 g ham

200 - 300 g of cheese (eidam, cheddar...whatever)

1 pkg of frozen spinach, cooked and drained

other cooked veggies (broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, etc).

20 – 30 g cream cheese, cut into small pieces – put this on the very top

Mix all of the following till smooth and pour over the top of the quiche. 

4 large or 5 small eggs

1 cup of whipping cream or evaporated milk 

1/2 cup of milk

1/2 teaspoon basil 

1/2 teaspoon salt 

2 teaspoons prepared mustard  

Bake at 200 C (375F) for about 45 minutes, until the crust is light brown and the egg mixture is firm.

in which I begin to reveal my cleaning and beauty secrets

This year I've been inspired to make my own natural recipes for cleaning and personal care, and I'd love to share what's working for me.  (along with everyone else in the blogging world.)

There are so many ideas out on blogs right now - diy, natural, at home, etc.  It can be a little overwhelming.  I've made changes slowly, as I've found key ingredients and studied different recipes.  In order for me to make a change, the new solution has to be some combination of: greener, cheaper, healthier, safer, and at least moderately easy.  And also, do-able in the CZ.

so far I've made changes in...

• fabric softener
• hair wash
• hair conditioner
• bathroom cleaner 
• general cleaning 
• laundry soap
• shining agent in dishwasher 
• face lotion
• face wash
• deoderant 
• basically using vinegar, baking soda and oils in a whole heap of places 

I think the first change I made was in making my own fabric softener.  This started over a year ago I think, and I used vinegar, water, and conditioner.  It worked fine, but when I started washing Julie's baby clothes in just vinegar, because I didn't want any scent or chemicals in her load, I realized that the vinegar worked great as a fabric softener and the rest was just a hastle.

Now I just dump about a quarter cup of vinegar into the rinse-bin for every load.  At 7kc for 1.5L, this is a way cheaper solution.  There is no vinegar smell on the clean laundry.  Besides softening, vinegar deoderizes and sanitizes.  Wahoo.

a good fall meal, for Carol

Chili

This recipe is from a fellow teacher's cookbook.  It's the only chili recipe I've ever followed, and I think it's easy and tasty. 

This recipe makes an enormous amount.  Halve it, and two of you will have enough for tonight, tomorrow night, and maybe a lunch or two. 

Saute the onions and the garlic in the olive oil until the onions are soft.

3–4 medium onions, chopped

3–4 cloves of garlic, pressed

1 Tablespoon of olive oil

Add the meat and fry it until it is brown, mixing it in with the onions and garlic while it fries. 

        500 grams (1 lb) of ground beef, ground pork, or mixed (beef tastes best) 

Add the beans and the tomatoes, squashing the tomatoes with your spatula as you add them. Remove any skins that were left on the tomatoes when they were canned.

4 cans of kidney beans, including the juice

4 cans of tomatoes, including the juice

Add 1 Tablespoon of chili powder, mix and taste. Add more as desired. Add salt to taste.

1 to 3 Tablespoons of Chili con carne powder to taste

Salt to taste

Let your chili simmer for at least 30 minutes before serving to blend the flavors.

Serve over rice or with cornbread.  Great to add grated cheese into it, and sour cream (especially if you make it too hot!)

Now you'll need a recipe for cornbread too.  

Cornbread

This recipe, made by my Bible study leader last year, is moist & buttery.  Mmmmmm. (again, I halve it for two of us, and it's plenty to last through the chili)

½ cup sugar

1 ½ cup all-purpose flour

1 ½ cup cornmeal, yellow 

1 Tbsp. Baking powder

½ tsp. salt

1 ¾ cup milk

½ cup oil (not olive)

2 eggs, slightly beaten

Stir all the dry ingredients together first. Then add the wet stuff.

Mix all well, but not more than about 50 stirrings. Pour into

greased 13 x 9 inch pan, or pour into 24 greased muffin cups.

Bake in preheated oven 375 for 30 minutes (15 – 20 minutes for

muffins).

If you want to halve the recipe, most amounts are easy to cut in

half; the milk will be: ¾ cup plus 1/8 cup. Use an 8 x 8 pan.

Macaroni & Sneeze

I'm counting this as my "new" dish this week, since we've only tried to make it here two times, and both were rather a failure, we think because we weren't using the right cheese.  (We can't get cheddar here.)  This time I went to a nice cheese store, and asked for a good melting cheese.  I wish I knew what it was called, but it was lovely.  I even thought it tasted like cheddar (but maybe I'm delusional).

This was a success: Garrett, who speaks highly of his dad's mac & cheese, loved it.  And Julie, who's teething and very picky about foods these days, loved it too. 

It's easy, and it really doesn't take that long.  I think with two people helping, it could be whipped up in 10-15 minutes, and then while it's baking you can do the dishes, make veggies (I did carrots with some cinnamon, yum) and set the table.  

Macaroni & Cheese

Prep 20 min; Bake 30 min

4 servings

Cook macaroni according to the package directions. (Get this started first; then grate cheeses, then start roux.)

• 8 ounces uncooked elbow macaroni (225 g)

In a saucepan, melt butter or margarine over medium heat. Stir in enough flour to make a roux.

• 1/4 cup butter (55g)
• 2 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (20g)

Add milk to roux slowly, stirring constantly. Stir in cheeses, and cook over low heat until cheese is melted and the sauce is a little thick.

• 3 cups milk (710mL)
• 2 cups shredded sharp Cheddar cheese (275g)
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (40g)

Put macaroni in large casserole dish, and pour sauce over macaroni. Stir well.

Melt butter or margarine in a skillet over medium heat. Add breadcrumbs and brown. Spread over the macaroni and cheese to cover. Sprinkle with a little paprika.

• 2 tablespoons butter (30g)
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs (55g)
• 1 pinch paprika (1g)

Bake at 350 F (175 C) for 30 minutes. Serve.

re-written from allrecipes.com 

more in the kitchen

Another new recipe I tried this week was

no bake energy bites

They were very tasty!  I couldn't eat just a few.  I suppose they are more healthy than other things I might be gobbling down.

Here's a link to the recipe: http://gimmesomeoven.com/no-bake-energy-bites/

This will be a keeper.  Pleased to have an easy-to-make, cheaper, healthier, more natural option for a granola bar snack.  They are just great with an apple!

Julie Grows

Cheesy Cottage Pie

One Recipe a Week :: Fall 2012 :: Week 2

This week I went to my recipe file, and found clippings of recipes from a supper club I went to years ago. Jen liked to make food by Jamie Oliver, and one week it was 

Cheesy Cottage Pie.

Not really too much work, and quite yummy. A sort of wintery comfort food. It wasn't very strong in the spice-department, but it was nice. And next time I'll be more generous with the peas and carrots. 

I strongly prefer my recipe instructions to be mixed in with the ingredients, so I don't have to go back-and-forth with my eyes.  So, it's been re-written like that for you.  But it originally comes from here. 

Serves 6

1. Put the potatoes on to boil before starting anything else.

• 6 large potatoes

2. Heat the oil in a large frying pan and fry the minced meat till browned.

• approx 800g minced beef
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

3. Remove from the pan and set aside. Add the onions to the pan and fry till lightly browned.

• 1 large onion, finely chopped

4.Add the tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes before adding the beef, carrots, peas and herbs.

• 2 tomatoes, chopped
• 2 large carrots, peeled and cubed
• 2/3 cup of frozen peas (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon sage

5. Add the beef stock and season with salt and pepper.

• approx 250ml beef stock
• Salt and black pepper to season

6. Cook over a low heat for about 20mins, adding a bit more stock if it seems too dry (see note). {I added some of the potato water, rather than making more beef stock}

7. Once it's simmering, preheat the oven to 190C.  Hopefully before the end of 20 min, the potatoes will be done.  Mash them with

• a little milk and butter
• 1 handful of grated mature Cheddar cheese (or mature Gouda)
• 3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• Pinch of nutmeg

8. Transfer the meat into a large baking dish or ovenproof casserole.

9. Top with the cheesy potatoes and score the top with a fork. You can either dot a little butter over the potatoes or spray a little olive oil over the top.

10. Bake at 190C for approx 30mins, till golden.

Note: If you prefer more gravy in your pie, double the quantity of stock and thicken with a little cornflour towards the end of cooking.

It's been almost a year since this bundle of joy showed up (and was wrapped in swaddling cloths).

in which I got a deal, but not the deal I thought I was getting...

Still chuckling to myself.

I went into a small electronics store to buy a micro SD card.  The man spoke no English, so I tried to say in a Czech accent "micro sd", and he pointed out the glass case with various sizes.  I looked at the smallest 2gb one, and saw 1200kc on it.  I said, in English, "1200KC?!"  (60+ bucks).  He said "yes."  I attempted to say in poor Czech: "In America, they are 5 dollars - 100 kc."  He said a lot of things, and I said I didn't understand.  And then he said to me, "for you, 100kc."  I said, "Really?"  I couldn't understand how he could sell it to me for so much less than what he wanted, but I took it.  I handed him two 50kc pieces that each weigh 15 times what I was buying, and took the sd card.  

Upon closer inspection I saw what I could not see clearly through the glass: it was 120kc.  And the 'kc' was smudged so I thought it was a 0.  

What a nincompoop I am. 

These sorts of things happen regularly when you live in a foreign country.  

Chicken Tikka Masala

One Recipe a Week :: Fall 2012 :: Week 1

One thing I hate: being hungry at 5:30, not having enough ingredients in the house to make something, and having absolutely no inspiration. Blah. Grumpy.

Since school's started back up, and I'm working more, and our schedules are full, I decided I needed to be proactive so this doesn't happen so often.  Also, I was recently irked that whenever I go looking for a recipe, I pass one (or two or three...) recipes that I've never made and want to try.  But I always forget about.  

I came up with a solution for both.  Now, every-so-often, about once a week, I sit down with a little slip of paper, a pencil, and my recipe collection.  I list the next 5-7 days, and create a menu.  This has been brilliant for me for several reasons:

• This acts as a simple planner...Thursday - Liz - mac n cheese (meaning, don't forget Liz is coming for dinner). Friday- Annika's - leftovers (which means to me, we're going to Annika's for games, so just have quick leftovers before we leave)
• When I create this list at a moment of inspiration, I think of the foods we've mentioned we feel like having, and stick them down on different days. 
• Then I'm left with a few blank spots. Here's where I go to my recipe places (electronic OneNote, recipe box, books..) I thumb through it until I find one I want to make. I decided I want to try at least one new recipe a week this fall. 
• Since there's still plenty of time between when I'm picking the meal and we're actually eating, there's no hindrance about what ingredients are included (as long as I can find them in Prague...)  This makes me braver to try new things.  
• While I'm choosing recipes and have my recipe books open, I make a shopping list for at least the first two meals coming up. 
• I keep it simple: pencil, sticky note, scribbles. What I don't need is a system so elaborate I can't keep up with it. No rules about starting on Sunday, no rules about not leaving anything blank, no rules about changing my mind about when I cook something. 

And that's what I'm doing. And I like it.  I'm actually enjoying cooking these days. With more practice, I'm getting better at the challenge of order and timing.  As I get better, it's more fun.

Last week I made my sister-in-law Caren's recipe for

Chicken Tikka Masala

...this was certainly a lesson on order and timing. It was an ordeal, but it was WORTH it! I think it was the best meal I've ever made. And while it was on the longer / challenging end of the spectrum, I found it manageable because I juggled the timing just right.

While the chicken is sitting with the rub, make the yogurt mixture and set it aside. Then get out all the ingredients for the masala, and chop the onions. While the onions are cooking, chop and measure everything else in the sauce. By the time it's ready to sit and simmer for 15 minutes, you can take the chicken out of the fridge and put it in the oven.

I've never cooked chicken under a broiler like this, and certainly never with a yogurt rub on it. It was the tenderest chicken I ever made.

Here's the recipe; I don't know where it originated from, so I can't give credit. But someone deserves it!

Chicken Rub:
1. Combine Cumin, Coriander, Cayenne, and Salt.

1/2 tsp Cumin 

1/2 tsp Coriander 

1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper 

1 tsp Salt 

2. Sprinkle on both sides of chicken.

2 pounds boneless skinless chicken

3. Refrigerate 30-60 minutes

Yogurt: 

Whisk together yogurt, oil, garlic and ginger

1 cup plain whole milk yogurt 

2 Tbs Vegetable Oil 

2 Garlic Cloves Minced 

1 Tbs grated Ginger 

Masala Sauce:
1. Heat oil in Dutch oven. Add Onion and cook 8-10 minutes.

3 Tbs Vegetable Oil 

1 Onion Minced 

2. Add Garlic, Chile, Tomato Paste, and Garam Masala. Cook 3 minutes

2 Garlic Cloves Minced 

2 tsp Grated Ginger 

1 Serrano Chile (remove seeds and ribs) 

1 Tbs Tomato Paste 

1 Tbs Garam Masala 

3. Add Tomatoes, Sugar, and Salt. Bring to boil. Simmer 15 minutes.

1 28oz can Crushed Tomatoes 

2 tsp Sugar 

1/2 tsp Salt 

4. Stir in cream and return to simmer. Cover and remove from heat.

2/3 cup Heavy Cream 

While Sauce Simmers:

1. Set your oven rack to 6inches from broiler. 

2. Dip chicken in yogurt & arrange on rack with a tray to catch drippings below the rack 

3. Broil 10-18 minutes flipping halfway. 

Final Preparations: 

1. Let chicken rest 5 minutes and then cut the chicken into 1inch chunks. 

2. Stir the chicken chunks into the warm sauce. 

3. Stir in Cilantro and season to taste with salt.

1/4 cup Chopped Cilantro 

Serve with Basmati Rice

We had a few people over to enjoy it with us.  We nearly licked the bowl clean.  Julie, however, spent her time drooling over Jake...she wouldn't even let him eat his dinner!