1st Fruit Delivery and Bushel Number 5

Yesterday was an exciting day, we received our fifth bushel of vegetables and our first fruit delivery.  The fruit looks awesome! I think I am going to have to learn how to make jelly this weekend.

The fruit is all organic, we received

• 7 peaches
• 9 apricots
• 9 pluots
• 6 Kent Mangoes
• Champagne Grape

I forsee a breakfast menu this weekend with lots of fresh fruit and maybe a peach pie for dessert in the near future.  If you have recipe ideas for me containing any of the fruits please send them my way.

Bushel number 5 also has a lot of exiting vegetables

1 Eggplant
1 Cucumber
Fennel
A bunch of tomatoes
7 ears of sweet corn
A bunch of carrots
Sweet onion
Jalapeno pepper
Summer Squash

We also received a melon but unfortunately it had a big crack in it. Since we don't know if the box was just dropped or if it happened while it was growing we are opting not to eat it.  Which is quite said because it looked delicious!

Heirloom Tomato Pizza

I used the 365 Everyday Organic Original Pizza crust from Whole Foods.  Lightly brush the pizza crust with olive oil.  Sprinkle with 2 chopped cloves of garlic. Add your toppings:

 

- 1.5 sliced and halved heirloom tomatoes
- 2 slices of La Quercia Prosciutto Americano
- 4 ounces of Celebrity International Honey Goat Cheese
- 9 of the small fresh mozzarella balls, slice into thirds
- Approximately 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh oregano
- 3 chopped purple basil leaves
- Chopped fresh basil leaves, approximately 5 leaves
- A few turns of a pepper mill

 

Cook on 400 degrees for approximately 12 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned

 

This meal was rated 3.5 asparagus spears

Chicken Vegetable Meatloaf Muffins Part II

Tonight I made the mashed potatoes and sauteed baby chard to top the chicken vegetable meatloaf. As far as the baby chard goes I simply chopped it and cooked it in a little olive oil and added a dash of salt. 

Mashed Potatoes
7 red potatoes
2 tablespoons butter
2 1/2 tablespoons sour cream (I use low fat)
1/2 cup of milk (I use skim milk)
1 teaspoon of Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

Wash the potatoes and quarter them. Boil the potatoes in salted (1 teaspoon of kosher salt) water. The potatoes are finished when you can pierce them with a fork. Drain the water. Return the potatoes to the pot. Add the butter and begin mashing the potatoes with a hand masher.  Add the sour cream and 1/4 of milk. Continue to mash.  Add the Montreal Steak seasoning and 1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt. Continue to mix the potatoes using a hand mixer and add another 1/4 cup of milk.

You can make the potatoes ahead of time and store them in a oven safe dish.  To re-heat put them in the oven on 325 degrees for approximately 20-30 minutes.

My daughter loved this tonight.  She ate close to three-quarters of this plus she had some fruit and green beans. She wasn't overly excited about the baby chard, she only ate it if it was mixed in withe potatoes or meat.  She was clapping after each bite of meat and potatoes.

Note: if you kids like more bland foods I would suggest reducing the amount of Montreal Steak Seasoning I used in the meatloaf because it does give the meat a bit of kick.

Chilled Cream of Celery Soup with a Roasted Beet and Chive garnish

I had a bunch of vegetables that I needed to use up so I decided to make a nice summer soup.  This was the first time I made this, in fact I made the recipe up as I was cooking. It turned out surprisingly well.
 

Cream of Celery Soup

In a Dutch oven sauté the following ingredients until the vegetables are softened

1 tablespoon of butter

1 tablespoon of olive oil

1 ½ cups of diced celery

¼ cup of chopped celery leaves

1 cup of diced carrot

1 cup of diced onion

1 cup of diced red potato

Salt and Pepper

Once the vegetables are cooked, add 2 ½ cups of organic chicken broth.  Place the top of the Dutch oven and reduce the temperature to a low heat. Let the veggies simmer in the broth for approximately 30 minutes.  Using a hand blender mix the veggies and broth and slowly add 1 ½ cups of skim milk. Blend until the soup is smooth.


Let the soup cool and bring to room temperature.


Roasted Beets

Prepare the beets by washing and trimining off the ends off.

Place the trimmed beets in a roasting pan with a little water. Cover with aluminum foil and cook on 425 degrees for approximately 45 minutes.  Let the beets cool a bit and then you can easily remove the skin.

To serve the soup, place some slices of beets sprinkled with chopped chives in a low bowl. Pour the soup around the beets. Season with a dash of salt if you choose and its ready to go.

The nice thing about this soup is it can be served warm too.  You can eat it as is or garnish with a small amount of shredded cheddar cheese and chopped chives.

Roasted Beet Salad with Honey Goat Cheese

Roasted Beets

Prepare the beets by washing and trimining off the ends off.

Place the trimmed beets in a roasting pan with a little water. Cover with aluminum foil and cook on 425 degrees for approximately 45 minutes.  Let the beets cool a bit and then you can easily remove the skin.

Slice the beets and garnish with some crumbles of honey goat cheese and chopped fresh oregano.

Chicken Vegetable Meatloaf Muffins

I have been looking for some new foods to try with S since we've been having a difficult time getting her to eat meat. Trader Joes sells something called Turkey Meatloaf Muffins which are mini ground turkey meatloafs topped with sautéed spinach and parmesan mashed potatoes. The first time S tried these I had to hide the meat in the potatoes in order for her to eat it but on the second try she gobbled up every morsel. Because the muffin tin is the perfect portion size for Stella I starting this about what else I could make in a muffin pan.

Today I made a chicken veggie meatloaf. I literally just started adding ingredients and was keeping my fingers crossed that it would turn out ok.  The recipe is below.

In a sauté pan, cook the following ingredients on low to medium heat:

1 tablespoon of olive oil
2/3 cup diced onion
2 tablespoons diced garlic
3 tablespoons grated carrot
3/4 cup grated zucchini
2 tablespoons diced red pepper
3 tablespoons chopped celery leaves
Salt & pepper

Cook until the vegetables are soft.   In a large mixing bowl combine sautéed vegetables with 1 pound of lean ground chicken thigh and 1/2 pound of ground chicken breast. Add 1 1/2 teaspoons of Montreal Steak Seasoning, 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons of ketchup. Stir well to combine all ingredients.

In a separate bowl, dice 2 pieces of firm white bread (it should yield 2 cups once it is diced). Add 1/3 cup of milk and let it soak into the bread. I used skim milk. Once the bread has soaked up all of the milk combine it with the meat mixture. Stir well.

Prepare the muffin pan by spraying each section with cooking spray. Add approximately 1/4 cup of the mixture to each section of the muffin pan. Cook on 350 degrees for approximately 50 minutes. Be sure the internal temperature is 170 degrees so that the chicken is cooked thoroughly.

S tried my meatloaf muffins this afternoon and really seemed to enjoy them.  Tomorrow I am going to saute baby chard and make some of my famous mashed potatoes to top the meatloaf. Hopefully S with still like it once I add the additonal toppings.

The Big One!

The official celebration was today but we had the big party over the weekend. Yes, my little peanut is one!  I cannot believe it. How has a year already passed? Don't get me wrong it was a very exciting day; however I am also a little sad that my little baby is growing up so quickly.

This past weekend was crazy busy trying to get everything ready for the party. We held the party at my parent’s house since it is much more conducive to holding 70 people than ours.  We would have had to invite people in shifts if we wanted to try and fit that many people in our house in one day. I decided a while ago that I was going to make most of the food for the party, however by Saturday afternoon I was second guessing that decision. Thankfully I had some assistance with a few of the dishes so I didn’t have to do everything myself. 

It seemed like everyone had a great time at the party and enjoyed all of the food despite the extremely hot temperatures.  We appreciate all of our friends and family coming to celebrate with us. I tried to document my recipes as I was cooking, however I did got a little sloppy as the day progressed.

The inspiration for the party was Sophie la girafe. S loves Sophie! The invitation had a giraffe on it and I had the same giraffe put on her cake. I put sunflowers on the tables since they were the same color scheme as the giraffe. I was super excited when I was able to find an outfit for S that even had two embroidered giraffe on the top. The unfortunate part is Sophie is currently MIA. I am hoping she was just misplaced and that we didn't actually lose her.  Especially since we already lost bath time Sophie when our dog decided to chew off her feet!

My foodographer got a little pre-occupied entertaining at the party so some of the pictures are of the leftovers.  Sorry!

The Menu

Appetizers

Pico de Gallo

Roasted Corn and Black Bean Salsa

Guacamole

Blue Corn and Stone Ground White Corn Tortilla Chips

Beverages

Skinny Girl Margaritas

Estancia Chardonnay, Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc, Apothic Red

Pacifico, Stella Artois, Bud Light

Iced Tea, Raspberry Lemonade, Pop

Lots of Water

Main Course

Fried Chicken

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Coleslaw

Greek Pasta Salad

Fruit Salad

Warm Potato Salad with Arugula

Deviled Eggs

Nanny’s Baked Beans

Sliced Tomatoes with Basil

Dessert

Birthday Cake – Yellow cake or Chocolate cake with Strawberry Filling and butter cream frosting

Rhubarb Bars

Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispy Bars

Roasted Corn and Black Bean Salsa
Clean the ears of corn by removing silk. Be sure to keep the husk attached as this will help with when grilling.   See the details of how to grill corn on my Father's Day Dinner post. I actually omitted the soaking in water step and it still turned out really well.  Once the corn is cooked, let it cool a bit and remove the kernels from cob. I used 6 ears of corn which yielded about 3 1/2 cups of corn.  

In a mixing bowl add the following ingredients:

2- 15 ounce cans of black beans rinsed and drained

3 1/2 cups of roasted corn, cooled. 

1 roasted poblano pepper let cool and remove skin, remove seeds, dice. 

Diced tomato, approximately 4-5 roma tomatoes

Chopped fresh cilantro, approximately ¼ cup of chopped   

Make a vinaigrette by whisking together the juice of 4 limes and approximately 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt, pepper and ground cumin.

I made this recipe a day ahead of time and refrigerated it.  Just be careful that your tomatoes don't get soggy.

Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I made approximately 30 lbs of pulled pork which is insane.  It was very difficult to find a place to cook this much meat.  Due to the fact that I had such large pieces of port shoulder I actually ended up having to cut them into smaller pieces so I could fit them into my pan.

In a dutch oven, heat approximately 1 tablespoon of olive oil, season pork shoulder with Montreal Steak Seasoning, Paprika, Ground Cumin and Garlic Powder. Sear the pork shoulder on all sides in the olive oil. Once all of the sides are browned, carefully pour about 1/4 cup of Makers Mark Bourbon over the top.  Let the alcohol cook off.  Be sure not to drip the Bourbon over the side of the pan as it is highly flammable. I have made that mistake one too many times in the past.  Once the Makers Mark has cooked down, add the meat to crock pot and cook on low for at least 8 hours.  You want the meat to just fall apart when you use a fork to shred it. You can cook the meat for longer just be sure to cook it at a low temperature.  Before adding the barbecue sauce, drain off most of the juice from the pork cooking in the crock pot.

This is where we run into recipe documentation issues.  I made my own barbecue sauce.  I started with 24 oz of ketchup, 1 ½ cups yellow mustard, 1 ½ cups of brown sugar, ½ teaspoon of ground yellow mustard, 1 ½ cups of apple cider vinegar, 2 tablespoons of minced garlic, 1 tablespoon or Worcestershire sauce, 2 tablespoons of honey and dash of cayenne pepper.

Then I added molasses, karo syrup, and exotic juice. I didn't measure any of this. I just started adding it until it had the taste and consistency I was looking for. I will tell you that I felt like I needed quite a bit of it to cut the vinegar taste.  So next time around I might just use less vinegar to start with.

The buns I used were dinner rolls from Costco. I was looking for a soft bun on the smaller side as opposed to using a hamburger bun.

Coleslaw

2 heads of cabbage

1 large green bell pepper

1.5 bunches of green onion

2 large grated carrots

½ of bottle of Hendrickson’s Original Sweet Vinegar & Olive Oil dressing

Greek Pasta Salad

I made 4 pounds of bowtie pasta.  Cook the pasta noodles according to the directions on the box. As you are draining them run them under cool water and continue to drain.  Add the following chopped vegetables to the drained pasta noodles: Cucumber, Tomato, Yellow and Red Bell Pepper,  Red Onion, Pitted Kalamata Olives, Feta Cheese. I used Kraft Greek vinaigrette as the dressing.  You can make everything a day ahead of time but wait to add the feta until about an hour before you are serving the salad.

Warm Potato Salad and Arugula

Thanks to my sister, Becky, for making this delicious salad and the Pico de Gallo.  The recipe is from Food and Wine magazine, Warm Potato Salad and Arugula.

Deviled Eggs

Thanks to my mom for making the deviled eggs. Poor Chris was really excited about these being on the menu and they were gone before he had the chance to get any. This recipe is simple. Hard boil eggs. Let cool. Slice the eggs in half lengthwise and remove the hard yolk.  In a food processor combine the hard yolks, mayonnaise, yellow mustard, salt and pepper.  Process until smooth. Fill the egg halves with a dollop of the filling. Sprinkle ground paprika on the top of the eggs.



A view of the whole spread



Fruit Salad

I included all of Stella's favorites in the fruit salad. Watermelon, Honeydew, Cantaloupe, Blueberries, Strawberries, Kiwi and Red Grapes.

Sliced Tomatoes and Basil

The tomatoes were fresh from my parent's garden.  We simply sliced the tomatoes and seasoned them with a little salt and pepper. Then drizzled them with a little olive oil and topped them with chopped fresh basil.

Nanny's Baked Beans

These were straight from Nanny's kitchen.  You can view the recipe on the Father's Day Dinner post in June.

My mom made the Rhubarb bars and my mother-in-law made the Chocolate Peanut Butter Rice Krispy bars.  Here is the link to the Rhubarb bars and I will post the Rice Krispy bar recipe as soon as I find it (sorry).  I ordered the cakes from Ingram's Busy Bee Bakery in Downers Grove. They have delicious butter cream frosting!

S loved her smash cake.  If I would have left it on her tray she would have kept eating it. She was a little disappointed when we took it away from her.

To celebrate this evening my we had our parents over for leftovers and we got Stella her first cup of ice cream from Oberweis.  She loved it!  But who doesn't love ice cream.

Happy Birthday my Sweet Little Girl!  We love you SO much!