8/27/2011 Basket - Lazy-man Noodles

Sometimes we're not very hungry - not hungry enough to make a big meal anyways. So when we have extra vegetables laying around, we make Lazy-man Noodles. Think of it as "Hamburger Helper," but for vegetables.

Lazy-man Noodles

Uses: Broccoli, carrots

Cook broccoli and carrots in any manner you like (steam, stir-fry, boil, etc.), remembering that carrots take longer to cook than broccoli. While the vegetables are cooking, follow directions on noodle pouch to cook noodles. Today we used this:

Once the noodles had boiled in the water/milk mixture for eight minutes (as indicated on the package), I added the cooked vegetables to the noodles and mixed it all up in the sauce the noodles cooked in. Then I let it sit for two minutes before serving. The sauces in these noodle packets are so tasty that you can pretty much add any vegetables to them, and they turn out great.

8/27/2011 Basket - Breakfast Burritos

Breakfast Burritos

Uses: Green bell peppers, potatoes

Cut potatoes, peppers, and onions into small pieces. Cook potatoes in frying pan of hot oil until they start turning brown and crispy, then add onions and peppers. Once the onions turn translucent, turn off the heat and add a few eggs. Stir until the eggs are cooked. Add salt and pepper to taste. Wrap in tortilla (maybe from your tortilla pack) with cheese and top with sour cream and salsa.

8/27/2011 Tortilla Pack

We also got the Tortilla Pack for the first time.

It comes with:

3 dozen 12" flour tortillas

2 dozen 6" flour tortillas

2 dozen 6" corn tortillas

8/27/2011 Basket

We picked up this morning's basket at the Provo Town Square Mall.

We got:

20 potatoes

9 bosc pears

9 nectarines

1 bag green seedless grapes

2 tomatoes

2 green bell peppers

1 cantaloupe

1 head romaine lettuce

1 lb. carrots

1 bunch broccoli

8 bananas

5 ears of corn

8/20/2011 Basket - Corn and Smoked Salmon Salad

Corn

Uses: Corn

Boil corn until cooked.

Salad

Uses: Lettuce, tomatoes

Toss lettuce with tomatoes, craisins, croutons, and smoked salmon chunks.

Make a dressing* by whisking together 2 T. mayo, 1 T. white wine vinegar, 1 t. lemon juice, 1 t. Worcestershire sauce, 1 t. Dijon mustard, 1/2 t. dried dill, 1/4 t. pepper.

*I wasn't crazy about the dressing and hadn't planned on posting the recipe, but my wife liked it and insisted that I post it. Beware.

8/20/2011 Basket

We picked up our basket this morning at Provo Town Square Mall.

We got:

1 head romaine

4 ears of corn

7 bananas

1 lb. bag of carrots

1 cantaloupe

2 bunches of broccoli

1 lb. strawberries

1 bag grapes

9 peaches

11 plums

4 roma tomatoes

8/13/2011 Basket - Chicken and Black Bean Salad

Chicken and Black Bean Salad
Uses: Romaine lettuce, tomatoes, red bell pepper

Cook chicken. I used this recipe, but did the 2nd and 3rd "Expert Tips" below the recipe to make crispy chicken tenders.

Chop tomatoes and red bell pepper. Toss with romaine lettuce, black beans, and chicken.

I used the cilantro ranch dressing recipe found in this post.

8/6/2011 Basket - Asparagus & Eggs

When I tell my wife that we're having asparagus and eggs, she always complains, but then ends up really enjoying it. I guess it really doesn't sound very appealing.

Now I admit - this sounds like a weird dish. I didn't come up with this though - I saw it on a number of Food Network shows before I went ahead and tried it. And believe it or not, it's really tasty. I basically follow this recipe from the Barefoot Contessa, except this time I added some blue cheese crumbles and parsley on top.

Now the secret to cooking scrambled eggs is to cook them low and slow. In France they cook eggs over a double boiler. The proteins in eggs will stiffen up and cling together if they are heated up too quickly. So cook the eggs over low heat, stirring often. It will take longer, but it will be worth it.

8/13/2011 Basket - Chicken Primavera

This recipe is from a Velveeta box. I'm typically not one to use on-the-box recipes, but this one turned out delish, and has become a summer regular in our house.

Chicken Primavera
Uses: broccoli, tomatoes

1 lb. chicken, cut into chunks
3 c. water
4 c. uncooked pasta
2 c. broccoli
1/2 lb (8 oz) Velveeta, cut up
1 t dried basil or 10 leaves fresh basil, chopped
1/4 to 1/2 t black pepper
2 tomatoes, cut coarsely


Spray large skillet with cooking spray. Add chicken; cook and stir on medium-high heat 4 min. or until chicken is no longer pink. Stir in water. Bring to boil. Add pasta; cook 8 min. or until tender. Add broccoli, velveeta, basil, and pepper; stir until well blended. Cook until velveeta is completely melted, stirring frequently. Stir in tomatoes. (I don't add tomatoes to the whole thing, because if there are leftovers they store better without the tomatoes.)

8/06/2011 Extra - Bottled Spaghetti Sauce

This was my very first attempt at bottling my own food. I got this 25 lb. box of roma tomatoes as one of the 'extras', and added a few of my garden tomatoes to make an even 30 lbs.

My husband and I did the dip-in-boiling-water method to take off the skin, then sliced them horizontally to remove the seeds. We thought this would take us two hours. It took ten.

We cooked the tomato chunks for several hours with seasonings and red wine vinegar in place of lemon juice. I combined three recipes I found on line, but I haven't tried the post-bottle product yet, so I'm not posting the recipe. It tasted delicious in the pot, though!

Now we've got 16 pint jars of homemade spaghetti sauce. Woohoo!

8/13/2011 Basket

This is from South Towne Towers in Sandy. The truck arrived just as I did, so we were an hour late getting our stuff. That's the first time I've had a problem in the last four months.

1 head of romaine
3 walla walla (sweet) onions
2 red bell peppers
7 cobs of corn
6 roma tomatoes
1 canteloup
1 (1 lb) carton of strawberries
5 plums
2 mangoes
1 bag of black grapes
4 bananas

This week I also got a 36 lb. case of pears, and 8 (1 lb) cartons of strawberries. Bottled pears and freezer jam, here I come!

8/06/2011 Basket - Cream of Fresh Asparagus Soup

I love asparagus, and therefore I love this soup. I have been known to lick the pot clean. True story. This was the first time I gave it to my kids, so I put sour cream in a baggie, snipped off the edge, and drew a swirl on the soup. Then I used a toothpick to drag from the inside out, making a spider web. It's amazing how appealing green soup can be to kids when it has a spider web on it. I actually told my boys the soup was made with real spiders. I'm a liar like that. :)

Cream of Fresh Asparagus Soup
Uses: asparagus, onion

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/cream-of-fresh-asparagus-soup-ii/detail.aspx
(btw, if you think this looks or smells yucky as you go along, don't give up! it will turn out beautifully!)

8/06/2011 Basket - Mozzarella and Tomato Salad

We have a gigantic basil plant that is going crazy in my backyard, so this last week I tried to cook with basil every day.  It also happens that we have loads of tomatoes, so this was a kill-two-birds-with-one-stone recipe for me. My husband ate almost this entire plate by himself.

Mozzarella and Tomato Salad
Uses: tomatoes

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/owens-mozzarella-and-tomato-salad/detail.aspx

8/6/2011 Basket

We picked up our basket at Provo Town Square Mall this morning.

We got:

2 bunches asparagus

5 peaches

3 red bell peppers

8 roma tomatoes

4 mini cucumber

1 head cauliflower

1 cantaloupe

1 bunch bananas

1 head romaine lettuce

1 bunch celery

5 bartlett pears

7 pluots (plum and apricot hybrid)

7/30/2011 Basket - Wraps, Potato Skins, and Peach Tart

Wraps

Uses: Leaf lettuce, tomato

Spread garlic mayo on the inside of a flour tortilla. Add lettuce, tomato, bacon, and cheese. Eat.

Potato Skins

Uses: Potato

I used this recipe: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/baked-potato-skins/detail.aspx

Peach Tart

Uses: Peaches

Combine 3/4 C. all-purpose flour, 2 t. brown sugar, and 3 T. butter in a bowl. Cut with pastry blender until it resembles coarse flour. Sprinkle with 2-3 t. water and 1/4 t. vanilla. Stir with fork until dry ingredients are moistened.

Shape dough into ball and press into lightly-greased pie plate. Combine 2 thinly-sliced peaches, 1/2 t. vanilla, and 1 T. brown sugar until all peaches are covered. Arrange peaches on dough and sprinkle with 2 t. of white sugar. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.

7/30/2011 Basket - Eggplant Parmesan

We got two eggplants last week, so we made eggplant parmesan. I'd never made it before, but it turned out pretty well.

Eggplant Parmesan

Uses: Eggplant

Recipe here

It tasted better than it looked.

7/30/2011 Basket - Bacon Green Beans

My husband is a professor, and at their recent graduation ceremonies, the student speaker (valedictorian?) happened to be a culinary arts grad. She ended her speech with this juicy bit: "Remember: everything tastes better with bacon!"  SO TRUE.  My great-grandma died when I was just a few months old, but she left a legacy in her green beans. By adding bacon.

Bacon Green Beans
Uses: green beans

Cook beans. Add crumbled bacon.  That's it.  I buy the pre-cooked bacon bags from Costco cuz I'm lazy, so that makes this super easy. And it makes green beans palatable to my kids.