Tag Archives: family

May8

5,844 Days Old

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Food n Thought Peddler

5,844 days old, and I remember every one of them!

My baby boy turned 16 today, not a baby anymore, on a brink of turning into a man yet still very much a child especially to his mother. A strong and willful spirit, a true Taurus born in a year of a Bull (double horns anyone? ), an independent thinker who marches to his own drum, a sensitive boy (deep inside visible only to those who love and know him well), my one and only, my everything!

As a whole life awaits you up ahead, I know you’ll have some turns and twists, some set backs and disappointments and hopefully many many joyous days, just as life is in general. For a mother, all those hard moments are a real gut ripping experience but as our children grow up and go through their own trials, you know that they are dealt their cards and have to win or lose sometimes to gain a perspective what it is they want in life and who they are in their true self.

Happy big 16th, baby!

And many many more happy and healthy ones up ahead for you!

What’s Cooking This Week

As my usual food-tester, the kid has tried his share of many tasty dishes (and some that did not turned out as planned). So today I’m making something that he actually requested. I was almost sure that he’d ask for chocolate (my true child), but I guess not, he asked for a pie. A pie, kid, for a 16th birthday?! Yep! The recipe below is a combo of his requested food and mom’s quest to make it a bit more festive.

Mini Fruit Pies with Almond Whipped Cream

For the crust (makes about 18 mini pies):

2 cups of flour (I used Cup4Cup gluten free mix)

2 sticks of cold butter, cut into small pieces

1/2 cup of iced cold water

1/2 tspoon of salt

Filling:

1 cup of any cut up fruit (I used strawberries)

6 Tbspoons of sugar

1/2 tspoon of lemon juice

1 Tbspoon of flour

variation: fruit jam

1 container of Healthy Top Mimic Cream (or 2 cups of dairy whipped cream)

In a bowl combine the flour and salt and mix well, add cut up butter and start mixing in with your fingers untill it resembles a coarse meal with pea-like small crumbs. Pour cold water over and let it soak in, mix well, make a rough dough ball, place it on a floured surface and let ir rest for 10 minutes.

Start kneading it on a floured surface, then make a couple of folds, cover the dough with parchment paper and roll out the dough to about 1/4 inch thick. Use any large cookie cutter (I used a star) to cut out the mini pies.

Carefully lift each cut out and place it inside a muffin or mini pie pan (I used mini tart pan) and mold each pie inside. Prick small holes with a fork.

Place the pan into a fridge for about 30 minutes. In a mean while mix in cut strawberries with lemon juice, 1 Tbspoon of flour and sugar, let them sit. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Take the pan out of the fridge and bake for about 10-15 minutes or untill the edges become slightly golden. Fill each pie with the strawberry mixture or jam.

Bake for another 15 minutes, let them cool before removing from the pan. Whip Healthy Top or dairy cream according to the directions. Place about 1 Tbspoon each on top of mini pies or decorate with sugar and fresh fruit.

Happy Birthday Baby! Hope you enjoy them!

Mar1

Drunken Chicken

Posted on March 1, 2013 by Food n Thought Peddler

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This past week has been kind of stressful and over-run with numerous glitches, broken schedules, attitudes and other not overly pleasant surprises. Blame it on Mercury retrograde squaring Mars in emotional Pisces combining with Full Moon (and whatever else was happening in the cosmic desert and other people’s lives), but I think I need a vacation just to decompress from the past 7-10 days.

Last Friday, I got home after especially stressful two days at work covering surgery. Let me tell you (and I hope I’m not offending any surgeons, as there are definitely many who are not only skillful doctors, but also have great professional and human attitude), but I’ve worked with far too many “cut and run” surgeons to say I HATE working in surgery. There, my very personal “Full Moon influence” moment!

My coworker who covers surgery is the most respected and revered among us all, as she is the only one who seems to handle the responsibilities with her no-nonsense attitude, perfect attention to details and caring demeanor. When she is out, all of us pray for her health or immediate return from vacation and our reprieve from her line of duty. I hope to find some kind of youth serum to offer her so she works for a long long time, and none of us are ever faced with a necessity to cover surgery permanently!

So, I got home last Friday and was met with yet another pleasantry, aka cranky teen. What’s a girl to do?! With my boots still on, I marched right into the dining room and poured myself a nice shot of Amaretto. That took the edge off!

But the pleasant evening didn’t end there. The cherry on top was the kid having an immediate allergic reaction to whatever it was in those sushi that he had 1000 times before. So the evening actually ended with a Benadryl cocktail (for the kid) and me holding my own EpiPen praying I won’t actually have to use it.

Yep, it was fun indeed!

We are now in uncharted territory, having to deal with the kid’s food allergies, which are unfortunately creeping up. I always knew he was allergic to cats and to some long-haired dogs, which was easy to control as we don’t have any pets, and if we were visiting any home with pets, he’d get a Claritin before, and would be fine for that day. A few years back, we found out he was allergic to melons, which again, was easily avoidable. We’d have found out even earlier, but the silly kid was afraid to tell us that he was having a reaction every time he had a melon. I guess, we should count our blessings that he finally did say something, before we had one of those EpiPen moments. Over the last summer, he’d undergone what we thought was a thorough testing confirming his pets and melons (but not watermelon) allergies, but clearing every else, only to have a reaction to watermelon also a few months after that. And now to whatever it was he reacted to in those sushi.

So, we’re going back to see the allergist next week to re-do the whole food panel yet again. I’ll keep you posted. And if it is shrimp, the kid would be greatly disappointed, as he loves shrimp, but I know he will adjust (to whatever the allergy is) and most definitely survive!

What’s Cooking This Week

Since the theme of the last week seemed to be running around like a chicken without a head and then chasing it all with alcohol, I figured it only made sense to combine both and actually make something comforting out of it. And when food allergies are involved, you may sometimes think that certain dishes are out of your reach, but really you don’t have to, you can adjust it all and still enjoy the foods you love.

Baked Chicken in Vodka Sauce

1 lb boneless skinless chicken (I used thighs)

32 oz can/carton of crushed tomatoes (I used Pomi)

1 1/2 cup of brussels, cut in half

1 1/2 cup of baby Bella mushrooms

1 small bell pepper, chopped

1 small onion, chopped

1/2 cup of unsweetened Mimic Cream (or regular dairy cream)

1/4 cup of vodka (I used Liv potato vodka)

2 Tbspoons of fresh chopped parsley

1 tspoon of Italian seasoning blend

1 tspoon of brown sugar

salt, pepper, olive oil

Start by heating up some olive oil, saute the onion until lightly golden, then add tomato sauce and heat up on a low heat until it starts to boil. Add vodka and slowly boil until alcohol is evaporated, then stir in cream, salt, pepper, seasonings and brown sugar.

Spray a baking dish with oil spray, lay out the chicken pieces and vegetables, lightly season them with salt and pepper, pour the sauce on top and sprinkle chopped fresh herbs.

Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, or until brussels are soft.

Serve it over pasta for an ultimate comfort level.

I had it on a bed of kale leaves and thought it was still outstanding on its own.

Enjoy!

Feb8

Say What???

Posted on February 8, 2013 by Food n Thought Peddler

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Most days I cook “straightforward” meals that are both nutritious yet not too lengthy, some days, like weekends, are left for an extra creativity and time spent in the kitchen.

Some though are met with a big question mark, as to a 15 year-old, all meals should be “straightforward” even if their nutritious value is questionable (to his credit, he’s tried many of my offerings that were quite adventurous, he just didn’t know it, as much of it was disguised with things like bacon ).

So as I was spending my usual Saturday afternoon in the kitchen this past weekend, the kid walked in to inquire what was for dinner.

“Gnocchi”, I replied.

Which was met with a silent observance of all the ingredients laid out on the kitchen counter.

“Um, don’t you need potato for that?”, glancing again over the foods and not finding any.

“Yes, it’s in there”, but I was still registering some concern on the 15 year-old’s face who is suspicious by his teen nature and doesn’t like to be played with his food.

“OK, mama!”, sounded like a warning.

Let the games begin!

What’s Cooking This Week

On my never-ending quest to provide meals that are gluten and mostly dairy free but “you won’t even know it”, I was craving to find some gnocchi recipe that is both gluten/dairy free and possibly less starchy and more nutritious. After viewing some recipes and making some adjustments to satisfy all the requirements, I came up with this recipe. It still needs some minor future adjustments (mainly to play with flour/starches and wet ingredients proportions to hold the shape better), but it surely didn’t disappoint in taste. And, in case you’re wondering, the kid had two bowls. So, guess, who won?!

Pumpkin Gnocchi in Buttery Coriander Sauce

1 cup of cooked pumpkin

1 egg

1/2 cup of almond flour

1/2 cup of millet flour

1/3 cup of coconut flour

1/4 cup of potato starch

1/2 tspoon of salt

1/4 tspoon of cinnamon

1/4 tspoon of nutmeg

1/2 cup of white wine

1 tspoon of dried coriander

2 Tbspoons of oil spread (I used Earth Balance coconut spread), or butter

1 Tbspoon of fresh lemon juice

2 Tbspoons of pignoli nuts

1/2 Tbspoon of fresh chopped herbs (I used curly parsley)

In a bowl, mix together all the flours/starch with nutmeg, cinnamon and salt. In a separate bowl, combine pumpkin and the egg. Gradually start adding the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until a firm ball of dough forms.

Flour a surface and cut the dough ball into four parts, then roll each part into a long log of about 1/2 inch in diameter. Cut it into 1 inch pieces.

You can leave gnocchi pieces as is or make the standard lines with a fork. Transfer cut gnocchi on a sheet lined with parchment paper. If you want, you can freeze them at this point for future use, just make sure dust them with flour first.

Boil a pot with water, add salt and cook the gnocchi for about 5-7 minutes or untill they start to float at the surface. Drain and set them aside. In a mean while, make the sauce.

In a pan, melt the buttery spread, then add wine and let it cook until alcohol evaporates and the liquid is reduced. Add fresh lemon juice and spice/fresh chopped herbs, stir in pignoli nuts at the last minute. Add drained gnocchi and toss them around in the sauce untill well covered.

There were no complains from the kid about a “lack” of potato or meat ingredients in this meal .