Nathalie's Notes

Mel's Dinner in a Pinch

(adapted from Cooking Light and my ineligible notes from the car)

Ingredients:

Spinach (calls for a bag, use what you have, or less if you want Spinach for tomorrow)

4 cups Broth (calls for chicken, but use what you have)

1 can Great Northern Beans (also called Cannellini)

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/2 cup sliced carrots (or not - I added some celery too. Mushrooms would be good, too. Unless, of course, you know how disgusting they are.)

some chopped meat if you a) have it and b) feel like it

Directions:

1) figure out what it is you have and what you can substitute

2) saute veggies and chopped meat

3)Add broth, Italian seasonings, pepper/salt to taste

4) Bring to boil. After it's boiling add spinach for one minute to wilt.

5) Serve.

Serve with Chicken Salad Sandwich. Wait. What? Didn't have time to stop at the deli for exorbitantly priced chicken salad? No worries. You can, get this, make your own.

You had time to make the chicken salad? I asked Mel, amazed. She has, after all, twice as many kids as I do!

Well, I had the ingredients on hand.

Yeah but by the time you cook the chicken and ...

No, the chicken is in a can. You know, like tuna.

Genius.

So in case you've never made it like someone we all know and love (or why are you still reading this?!)

Chicken Salad Sandwich

Ingredients:

can of drained chicken (did I mention this is pure genius?!)

mayo/miracle whip/Smart Balance whatever

Splash of Dijon - if you have it

chopped celery, onion, or something else crunchy.

Mel suggested adding almonds - yum.

Directions:

Mix. Serve on bread, bagels, pita, or if all of those are molded, scoop into avocado. Call it dinner.

Baby Ali hits the big time

And I'm back in business! I woke up today with that Christmas morning feeling of anticipation. All day I looked forward to the whuuump of the paper hitting the front door so I could unwrap it and see how my column turned out. This is the picture my editors used, but they cut the wipes out of the background. I am officially a columnist. Sigh.

When I showed Sam his picture in the paper he flapped his arm enthusiastically. He doesn't care about fame and fortune, he just likes to play with paper. He got the coupons while I studied the changes in my column. It's been awhile since I've been edited. It feels so good to be back in the game and working toward making a living writing. For now, though, it's a good thing Matt's willing to work his butt off because the column gig isn't exactly going to pay the mortgage. At least not yet. Who knows, maybe someone will see how damn adorable Sam is and, ta-da, thus begins his modeling career as one of America's Top Coolest Babies. Why is that not a show already?

A little note about dinner tonight - I planned to make this Easy Mexican Rice & Bean Bake. I may have mentioned my bad habit of not totally reading recipes. I scanned the recipe this afternoon, figured I had all the necessary ingredients and called it a plan. As I started putting things together I realized there'd been a little error in my calculating. I did not have the called for pinto beans. I did, however, have garbanzo beans. Hmmmm. The old me would've scrapped the whole thing and thrown away what I'd already started making. (Sorry, mom). Then, I would've declared dinner ruined and called in reinforcement/Papa Murphy's. But this new resourceful me decided to throw in the garbanzo beans making it more of a Mexican-Mediterranean Rice and Bean Bake. Results? Delicious.

Mediterranean-Mexican Rice and Bean Bake

adapted from Betty Crocker's Good and Easy Cookbook (thank you Mrs. Goodman)

Serves 6

2 cups cooked brown (or white) rice

2 eggs

1 1/2 cups salsa (i used the mango salsa i had - thank you mami) or picante sauce

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese (4 ounces)

1 can (15-16 ounces) pinto beans (or, you know, whatever) drained

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350. Grease square baking dish.

2. Mix rice, eggs, 1/2 cup of the salsa/picante sauce and 1/2 cup of cheese; press in bottom of baking dish

3. Mix beans and remaining 1 cup salsa/picante sauce; spoon over rice mixture. Sprinkle with remaining 1/2 cup cheese and chili powder

4. Bake uncovered 20 to 35 minutes or until cheese is melted and bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Stats:

Prep: allegedly 10 minutes

Bake: 35 minutes

1 serving = 260 calories (unless garbanzo beans are significantly different than pinto beans in calories)

Couscous with Apricots & Pistachios

It was awhile before we realized it became a regular thing, but Sunday night dinners with our friend/neighbors George & Amy (and Ella Kate) is something we've grown attached to. Sometimes it's leftovers on paper plates, other nights its sharing a family recipe and still others it's a chance to try a new recipe on generous guinea pigs. Whatever the food, the company is always just right.

Tonight Matt BBQ'd steaks and asparagus and I made a new recipe out of Natural Health Magazine. Here it is, with my notes.

Couscous with Apricots & Pistachios

serves 6

Ingredients:

1 cup raw, unsalted pistachio meats, chopped {I got salted on accident, Matt helped me shuck them - do you shuck pistachios? I don't know. But he was irritated with the recipe when he realized I needed a whole cup of them. He was more irritated when he smelled something burning and I admitted it was the pistachios. Salved them. All was well, though cooking with Baby Chi Chi is distracting}
2 cups whole wheat couscous {I couldn't find whole wheat and used regular}
½ cup dried apricots, chopped {sticky business; use scissors}
2½ cups water
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt {skipped this because the nuts were salted. Shouldn't have}
2 tablespoons fresh squeezed lemon juice {To get the juice out easier, roll the lemon on the counter applying a bit of pressure, poke a couple little holes in it and pop in the microwave for a few seconds - juice comes out easy squeezie.}
¼ cup chopped parsley {forgot this and ignored it completely, may have helped with the flavoring}

Directions:

1. Toast pistachios over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 2 minutes; set aside in a small bowl. {I didn't chop them until after I toasted them. I think it would've been more flavorful done the other way, you know, the way the directions say.}

2. In the same pan, toast couscous until it just begins to brown, 3 to 4 minutes; place in large bowl. Add apricots to bowl.

3. Combine water, olive oil, and salt in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil.

4. Pour water mixture into bowl with couscous and apricots. Cover securely with a plate and let sit for 5 minutes. {So I have a reading-recipes-ahead-of-time issue and didn't use a bowl that has a cover and found a cookie sheet worked fine.}

5. Fluff couscous with a large fork. Gently mix in reserved pistachios, lemon juice, and parsley. Serve warm or cold.

Nutrition Facts: {So this is all out the window since I improvised the ingredient list, but I still think it was reasonably healthy. The calorie count is higher than I would've guessed.}

Per serving: 326 calories, 15 g fat (2 g saturated), 43 g carbohydrates, 10 g protein, 8 g fiber, 390 mg sodium (17% Daily Value).

Frugal February

In what appears to be a new record for us, we've had dinner in for 17 days in a row. Which lines up nicely with our financial goals. As a direct result of our implementation of "Frugal February," we've made it a goal to stop hemorrhaging money on things we don't value and enjoy. Some dinners out are fun and tasty but what was happening at our house was that we were going out and paying too much for mediocre food due to a lack of organization and my ability to cook out of the cupboards. I'd look around and be like, "Hmmm. Nothing to eat here. Pizza it is. Again." And Matt, I think I've mentioned, can peruse the exact same cupboards and whip up something like "sorta sloppy joes" or "Leftovers Redux."

As part of my plan to be a work-from-home mom, I needed to find ways to cut costs to allow us to afford some child care so I could do some concentrated work during the day. I do better with challenges than budgets so I came up with Frugal February. On the 31st of January I said goodbye to Brenda at the coffee stand, "Until we meet again in March or I collect enough cans to buy a latte." That's a lot of damn cans.

I did one big grocery shopping trip, buying what was on sale instead of lists of ingredients for fancy recipes calling for cheese I can't pronounce and herbs I've never heard of.

We've had some good dinners, some "hey, it was food" meals and one disgusting dessert. Last night I made Rice Pudding with the leftover rice. It was so, so gross. How can something with sugar, milk and cinnamon be so nasty? Too much nutmeg is Matt's reasoning but I think it is because rice is just not a dessert. 

Stuffed Acorn Squash - cheap & tasty

Stuffed Acorn Squash (Rachael Ray)

makes 4 servings, prep time 20 minutes, cook time 1 hour

(prep time 20 minutes??? not if you're me, but it was worth it. I think it could be 20 minutes if you don't have kitchen-specific ADD).

Ingredients:

2 acorn squash - 2 Tablespoons butter - salt and pepper - 1/2 cup couscous - 1 Tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil - 1 onion, finely chopped - 3/4 pound ground beef, preferably lean chuck or sirloin (I used lean ground turkey) - 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, toasted (I didn't read the toasted part till just now and didn't miss it) - 1/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400. Cut the squash in half crosswise and schoop out the pulp and seends. (I hacked away at the squash for ten minutes before finally asking my mother-in-law for advice on how to cut into it without injury. She suggested popping it in the microwave for five minutes. After that it cut like butter). Trim the ends so each half will stand upright. (skipped this step because they stood fine without it). Place all halves in baking pan, flesh side up, and pour hot water into the pan to reach about halfway up the squash. Add 1/2 Tablespoon butter to the center of each squash and season with salt and pepper. Loosely cover the pan with foil. Bake the squash until tender when pierced with a fork: 45 minutes to 1 hour.

2. Prepare the couscous according to the package directions and set aside. (if you're like me and buy it in bulk and threw away the directions: 1 1/4 broth or water, 1 Tablespoon of butter, 1 cup couscous and salt. Bring broth to boil, add butter, couscous and salt. Stir, cover and remove from heat. Let stand covered for five minutes). Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring, until softened, about 4 minutes. Push the onion aside, add the meat, season with salt and pepper and cook through, about 5 minutes. Stir in the walnuts, cranberries and couscous; season with salt and pepper.

3. Remove the squash from the oven and, using a spatula, carefully transfer each half to a plate. Pour out any extra liquid from the centers. Divide the couscous among the squash.

Price per serving: $2.43 (I had a lunch's worth of leftovers of the couscous mix as well). Delicious!!!

The Cranberry Challenge

After moving a million times together, Matt and I have a pretty good understanding of each others moving methods and madness. That understanding doesn't preclude us from driving each other crazy though. Matt, for instance, loves the fact that I collect piles of boxes and then navigate around them figuring I'll pack later. One of my favorite things about Matt is the way he picks some random thing that needs to be packed right now. Our entire CD collection has been packed for a month. We haven't even put our house on the market yet. Last week, Matt was rooting around in the freezer and noticed we had four bags of cranberries.

What's with all the fucking cranberries? (he wasn't in the best of moods)

Oh, they were on sale.

When?

Around Christmastime.

Do you have plans for them?

I don't know how to make anything with cranberries in it.

So why'd you by four bags?

They were on sale. And I thought I might make something. Think of it them as cheap ice packs.

Well, I want to get rid of them. We're not moving fucking cranberries.

Four moves ago, I would've taken that personally and gotten all hurt and wounded about it. This time, I took that as a challenge and launched an Internet search for cooking with cranberries. The first one I decided to try was this Orange Cranberry Cake at the Better Homes and Gardens recipe center. My goal was to make the whole thing without having to buy anything special. One small problem. Not an orange in the house. But I had grapefruit that worked out just fine. If you decide to make the recipe, it is better with a powdered sugar icing. We might move wrapping paper, which pisses Matt off to no end, but by God, we will NOT move frozen cranberries.

Indian Food Rocks

Somehow I've become known among my group of friends for my salads. You have no idea how much that makes me laugh inside. People ask me for my recipes and I'm thinking to myself, if you only knew that I hardly ate vegetables for six years - pretty much from the time I moved out of my parents house and in with Matt. I think that was even part of my dad's toast at the wedding: "Matt's a good guy. He helped Nathalie with her self-imposed math block and got her to eat her vegetables."

At first I only made two salads repeatedly. Then I started experimenting with my own funky combinations. It felt safe I guess, if I fuck it up, it's just lettuce, right? Recently I realized I'd gotten into a little rut, though, making the same versions of my creation to take to every dinner party and casual gathering. So when a friend invited us over for Indian Food the other night I decided to try something new. But what the hell goes into an Indian salad? Helllllooo Google. I searched for Indian salad ingredients and wandered over to this cool website: Indian Food Rocks. I tried making her Spring Salad. It was super easy and cheap to make. And it turned out pretty tasty. Except that I still hate beets. Luckily, everyone else seemed to like them.

Spring Salad

1 bag (8 oz) spring greens

1 can mandarin oranges

1 can beets, cut into thin slivers (or use fresh boiled beats)

1/4 cup red onion, thin sliced

1/2 cup sliced almonds

1/2 cup Kraft's Light Raspberry Vinaigrette (I used Newman's Light Raspberry and Walnut)

Drain the mandarin oranges, reserve 2-3 Tablespoons of the juice to add to the dressing

1. Toss all ingredients together

2. Mix in the dressing

3. Done Deal

To read a cool blog and get more yummy recipes like this check out Indian Food Rocks.

Martha vs Rachael

I got a 725 page book from my mom for Christmas this year. "Martha Stewart's Homekeeping Handbook: The essential guide to caring for everything in your home." Basically, it's a guide for being perfect. Which I am not. Not even close. So, while I'm flipping through this massive book occasionally thinking "damn, I'm even more of a lazy piece of shit than I thought!" I ask my mom:

"Hey, what do you think of Rachael Ray?" She frowns a little. "Well, I don't like her."

"No? I love her! Why don't you like her." She smiled at my use of her pet peeve in Americans, the overuse of the word love.

"She's too fast. Her hair is wild. She doesn't plan ahead or measure and she just ..." so basically, she's not her beloved Martha. Who, my mom explains, is calm, organized and gives credit to the women in America who kick ass at keeping a home. I'm paraphrasing a little. I want to be one of those women. I really, really do. But I am so, so not. My mom, on the other hand, could teach even ol' Martha a thing or two.

But secretly, I do love the book. It might be my passport to reaching my lifelong goal of organizing everything.

Quenched Quest

I've worked all summer on creating the perfect beverage. My first concoction ended with flames coming off the burner. Today, though, I nailed it. The perfect beverage for me. I took this recipe from the best of Cooking Light and added my own twist - mixing in club soda. Caffeinated, bubbly, refreshing, low calorie, cheap and easy. At last, my quest is quenched.

Notes: To see the full recipe, double click on the picture, you should be able to scroll down. If that doesn't work, let me know and I'll post it. Also, I used Splenda instead of sugar and to save time I didn't follow all of the directions; this may or may not be the reason for aforementioned fire. I recommend snipping off the paper tag on the teabags before dangling them over the pot.

Disclaimer: this is not the perfect beverage for mint haters.

Green Beans Amandine

"Anyone can bring the green beans amandine to the neighborhood potluck, but it takes someone very special to bring the funk."

This birthday card from Christine cracks me up every time I look at it. Fresh Ink makes some of the best cards and YaYa always picks the funniest ones.

Green Beans Amandine Source: Better Homes and Gardens Ingredients 1-1/2  pounds fresh green beans cut into 1-inch pieces (6 cups) 3  teaspoons lemon juice 2  teaspoons margarine, melted 1/4  cup sliced almonds Directions 1. Cook fresh green beans in a saucepan, covered, in a small amount of boiling water for 12 to 15 minutes or until crisp-tender. Drain well. 2. Meanwhile, stir together lemon juice and melted margarine in a small bowl. Toast almonds in a small skillet over medium heat until golden, 5 to 7 minutes, stirring constantly. Pour lemon mixture over green beans; toss to coat. Gently stir in toasted almonds. Serve immediately. Makes 8 servings. Make-Ahead Tip: Up to three days ahead, toast nuts. Nutrition facts per serving: calories: 56 total fat: 3g saturated fat: 0g cholesterol: 0mg sodium: 14mg carbohydrate: 7g fiber: 2g protein: 2g