by kathilipp | Apr 16, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Now if you are not excited or motivated quite yet about growing a garden maybe these recipes will get your mouth watering.
Roger’s Salsa: Roger Lipp
Ingredients:
12 tomatoes (or two large cans of crushed tomatoes)
1 (15 oz) can of tomato sauce
1 bunch cilantro, chopped coarse down to the stemmy part
2 stems green onion, chopped medium
1 red onion, chopped medium (I use two slices from the center portion)
2 jalapenos, chopped fine (leave seeds in) — if you want mild salsa substitute Anaheim peppers; if
you want hot salsa substitute 4 habaneras.
4-5 garlic cloves, chopped fine
Directions:
Combine these ingredients in large glass bowl.
If tomatoes were room temp to start with, I add two ice cubes and mix in. The following seasonings are very approximate… I don’t measure.
Add the following seasonings to taste (measurements given are approximately what I use… ish)
2 T fresh oregano leaves, chopped
1 T cumin powder
1 T coarse ground black pepper
1 T fresh basil, chopped
1 tsp marjoram
I have to admit I was pretty jealous of Roger and his world-famous (OK maybe more friend and family famous) salsa, but now I have bragging rights of my own – Bruschetta.
I spent weeks working on a recipe – finding what other people were doing – tweeking and tweeking until I got something that I loved. Now when I’m asked to bring something to a party, I make the bruschetta several hours ahead and let it set in the fridge and let all the flavors meld.
Bruschetta: Kathi Lipp
Ingredients:
1/3 c. olive oil
3Tp. balsamic vinegar
1/8 c. chopped fresh basil or 1/2 tsp. dried
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
4-5 medium, ripe tomatoes, (I prefer Roma, but any firm tomato will do) seeded and chopped. Drain in a strainer for 15 minutes. (You can use a paper or cloth towel to very gently press out the extra moisture)
2 baguettes, cut into 1/2-inch slices
4 cloves garlic, sliced in half
½ c. grated Parmesan cheese
Directions:
Combine oil, vinegar, basil and pepper in a large bowl and whisk together. Add drained tomatoes to oil and vinegar and toss to coat. Allow to marinate for at least 15 minutes, and up to 4 hours.
Toast bread slices on one side, flip and then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese on the other. Once toasted, rub the cut side of the garlic on the top of each slice.
Top each slice with the tomato mixture.
Serves 8 as an appetizer
Nothing makes me feel more “gardeny” than to go out to our back patio and harvest dinner. This is a pretty simple dish, but nothing will highlight your gardening prowess better than the recipe below.
Garden Pasta
8 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
½ c. butter, melted
¼ c. chopped fresh basil, or 1 T, dried
8 ounce dried angel hair pasta, cooked
Parmesan Cheese, grated
Combine tomatoes and garlic in a saucepan. Simmer for 15 minutes then set aside.
Toss pasta with butter and basil.
Stir in tomatoes and serve with Parmesan cheese grated on top.
Serves 6
If I could only have one item growing in my garden, it would be tomatoes. If I could only have two, the next item would be bushels and bushels of basil. Make this pesto one time and you will want to install an indoor hot house to grow basil year-round.
Garden Pesto
2 c. fresh basil leaves
4 tsp minced garlic
2 T pine nuts, roasted
1/3 c. extra-virgin olive oil
2 T fresh-grated Parmesan
Salt and pepper, to taste
Chop the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor. With the motor running, drizzle in the oil. Blend in the cheese, salt and pepper.
Do you have a favorite garden recipe? Mind sharing with us?
by kathilipp | Apr 15, 2012 | The "What's for dinner?" Project |
What do you do when you do not have a freezer meal thawing, nothing in the crock pot, it is 5 pm and the kiddos are getting restless? If you are like most you probably have a well stocked pantry. So you plan a meal on the fly with just your pantry items. A tasty and quick meal to prepare is chili. Grab a salad, corn chips or veggies for side dishes and shred some cheeses for a garnish.
Kathi’s Chili
A less-spicy version that even kids will like. Most of the ingredients are straight from the pantry. Plus, if you already have some fried ground beef with onions and garlic stashed in the freezer (one of the staples of our deep freeze) the meal practically makes itself.
3/4 lb Ground turkey or beef
1 c. Chopped onions
1 clove Garlic, minced
1-16 oz can Stewed tomatoes
1-16 oz can Kidney beans, drained
1-16 oz can Tomato sauce
3 tsp Chili powder
1/2 tsp Basil
1-6 oz can Tomato paste
In a large saucepan, cook ground turkey, onions, and garlic until the onions are translucent and the meat is brown. Drain. Stir in un-drained tomatoes, drained kidney beans, tomato sauce, chili powder, basil and pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 30 minutes.
Servings: 4
by kathilipp | Apr 10, 2012 | The Husband Project, Uncategorized |
Make your husband something special in the kitchen (reservations don’t count).
It’s an unfair fact of life – men like a woman who can cook.
Most of us didn’t grow up with a mom who passed down an exceptional culinary legacy. Many of our mothers were out there bringing home the bacon and frying it up in a pan (or nuking it in the microwave before she had to get a bunch of kidlets off to soccer practice).
My mom worked outside the home, and is a great cook. But, like her sewing skills, natural cooking abilities skipped a generation.
In my first tiny apartment living alone, I survived for a year on takeout food and ham sandwiches. I was deathly afraid of cooking anything as complicated as chicken, fearing that I would certainly poison any partakers with a lethal case of salmonella.
When I got married, however, I quickly realized that perhaps my groom would not be quite so satisfied with a steady diet of take-out sushi, yogurt smoothies and Diet Coke. It was time for me to spend some quality time with my soon-to-be new best friend, Betty Crocker.
I decided to dedicate myself to the task at hand and learn to cook. Diving into the culinary deep end, I tackled teriyaki chicken. While the first Your Results were a bit dry, they were not lethal. This gave me a great deal of confidence to try and jump a few more epicurean hurdles.
If you’re not a cook, but you know that your husband would like for you to be, here is a fail-safe recipe that I know you can do, and that your husband will love. How can I be sure? Both our teenage boys cook and eat this recipe. If they can cook it, you can cook it. If they will eat it, your husband will eat it.
Teriyaki Chicken
I make this marinade again and again – it is much better than any prepared marinade you can find in the store.
4 each Chicken legs and thighs (or use six chicken breasts)
½ cup Soy sauce
3 Tbsp Honey
1 tsp Grated, fresh ginger
1 clove Garlic, minced
2 Green onions, thinly sliced
1. Prepare: Place the chicken in a gallon plastic bag. Mix the remaining ingredients together in a bowl. Pour the mixture over the chicken; fully coating each piece. Seal the bag.
2. Freeze: Place your bag in another gallon bag and lay flat in the freezer.
3. Serve: Defrost the chicken. Pour off marinade and bake chicken in a pan at 350° for 30- 40 minutes (or until no longer pink in the center).
Servings: 4
by kathilipp | Apr 8, 2012 | The "What's for dinner?" Project |
I love when I find other food nerds out there. It is a title I use – and embrace – lovingly. It’s very different than food snobs who want to tell you that you are using the wrong knife or look down their nose at you if your cheese isn’t aged properly. Food snobs can get away with cooking once a week and call themselves a gourmet, but a food nerd is always looking for new ways to make food better and easier – we are the ones who trade recipes at MOPS meetings and steal (with permission) each other’s freezer tips for getting dinner on the table.
Let me introduce you to fellow food nerd Kelly Rankin. Kelly and I met at an event I was speaking at, and we became friends through my blog. Kelly has taken the concept of freezer meals and slow cooking and done a mash up – freezer/slow cooking.
I am also a freezer/slow cooker, but Kelly’s ingenuity of stretching her meals and leaving no leftover left behind is admirable. I asked Kelley to share her plan for using her freezer and slow cooker for maximum savings of time, energy and stress:
Some of her favorite slow cooker to freezer recipes are things like soups, stews, and chili. You can double or – in a 6-quart slow cooker – triple a soup-like recipe and, after it cools, bag it up into gallon bags to be re-heated another time.
Here is a great recipe to make in the slow cooker and the store in the freezer for a busy night of running kids around. It makes a great dish for a potluck or to have for a family picnic while enjoying the great weather.
“Slow cooker Smoked Pulled Pork BBQ”
By Kelly Rakin
4 Simple ingredients and a day of slow cooking lead to an amazingly simple, economical, and delicious pork BBQ. No smoker needed, and the leftovers freeze beautifully for a later meal. The liquid smoke and beef bouillon are the essential keys to this simple recipe, giving the pork a great flavor with minimal BBQ sauce. Perfect for a large gathering!
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 7-9 hours
Yields: 10 servings
INGREDIENTS:
5 lb Pork Sirloin Tip Roast
2 Ts Liquid Smoke (Typically found with condiments)
2 Ts Beef Bouillon (NOT Broth)
1/3 C. Water
Serve with your favorite BBQ Sauce, to taste
DIRECTIONS:
Place pork roast in a large slow cooker. Pour water, liquid smoke, and bouillon on top of pork roast. Cook on High for 7-9 hours, flipping roasts once during cooking, if possible, to allow the juices to simmer all sides of the meat. Meat is finished cooking when it easily pulls apart with a fork. Remove roasts from slow cooker and pull pork apart. Return pork to slow cooker and add BBQ sauce to taste, or serve BBQ sauce on the side. Great on sandwiches or by itself.
To freeze: Place cooked BBQ in 1 quart freezer bags, removing air. Thaw, re-warm, and serve. Keeps in freezer up to 6 months.
by kathilipp | Apr 3, 2012 | Home |
I’ve heard it several times on cooking shows: “The true test of a chef is this: How well can you roast a chicken?”
Well move over Thomas Kellar.
I have been tinkering with my roast chicken recipe and I have one that makes Roger weep with joy when he walks through the front door (OK – joy, or possibly the eight cloves of garlic I use..)
To make your house smell as great as mine, follow these simple instructions.
(And be sure to go to my Facebook Author Page t get the Ultimate Guide to Leftover Chicken so you don’t have to cook the next night!)
Roasted Garlic-y Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 (3 pound) whole chicken, giblets removed, rinsed
- 8 cloves of garlic
- 1/4 cup butter
- salt and pepper to taste
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Put salt and pepper, half the butter, and the eight cloves (cut in half) in the cavity of the chicken.
Place chicken in a roasting pan that has been sprayed with olive oil.
Cut up the rest of the butter and place it on top on the chicken, and put salt and pepper on the skin of the chicken to taste.
Bake uncovered for 75 minutes in the preheated oven to an internal temperature of 180. Remove from over and paste with the drippings. Cover with foil and rest for 10 minutes before serving.
Serve with mashed golden potatoes and a spinach salad.
Beyond Yummy…
by kathilipp | Apr 3, 2012 | The Husband Project |
When you and your husband were dating what did he do when you guys were not together? What did he want you to do with him? And how long has it been since you have done that activity with your husband? This week initiate an activity that your husband used to love. Whether it’s his favorite hobby, sport, or pastime, it’s time for you to get involved – be his buddy today. It is a great time to get outside, days are longer and the weather is warmer. Do you need to reserves a court, schedule a tee time or offer to go to the gym with him?
Most guys don’t spend a lot of time hanging out with their buddies—you are his buddy. He married you to have a built-in friend who he can do all those fun things. (The fact that the two of you can have sex is definitely a bonus…)
It’s vital for men to build friendship into each other’s lives, and as wives, we have a responsibility to encourage our guys to hang out with other good guys. However, in most marriages, our husbands will be looking to us to do life with.
My husband loves to go to the woods, build a fire and have a cookout. I’m more of a white tablecloth kind of girl. But, you know while we were dating I was the happiest “camper” around. I prepared the food for our open flame. I bought cute hiking boots. I joined him on seemingly endless hikes surrounded by mosquitoes and poison oak. While we were dating, I would have hunted wild moose just to be with him.
Once we were married, many of my husband’s favorite activities were put on the back burner… I would love to be able to say that I encouraged him to have his “guy time,” but there was a house to clean, kids to raise, and jobs to get to. Watching all six Star Wars movies and trekking into the mountains would have to wait until our kids were grown (and possibly into early retirement…).
It’s time to think about those things your husband loves to do with you—his buddy. Maybe it’s hiking up a mountain, hanging out at Best Buy, or watching his alma mater’s football team play at the local high school. It doesn’t matter if you like it or not—your fun will come from watching the look on your husband’s face as he reclaims some of his long forgotten loves. (Video gaming anyone?)
by kathilipp | Apr 2, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Mary Mary quite contrary,
How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells And pretty maids all in a row.
You know what you want to grow so now is the how are you going to grow it?
There are gardening essentials everyone needs regardless of the plants they choose.
Tools like a shovel, gloves, knee board and or short bench if you will be working at ground level.
You will also need containers to start your seeds in and even larger ones if you choose to do a container garden.
Seeds of choice and some good plant food and soil, dirt and poop
I love what Jennifer Beauchamp of Tucson, Arizona does to celebrate the season. One of her friends will open up her house and throw a “Dirt Party”.
You see, Jennifer is from farm folk and has never met a bag of steer manure she didn’t like. But now that she lives is the very dry city that is Tucson, several of her friends (and their friends) are desperate for her country knowledge on how to keep their plants from dying.
Every guest brings a plant that needs to be re-potted. The men do the hauling (manure, potting soil, dirt,) and the women get their hands dirty re-potting the plants in Jennifer’s special mix:
1/3 local soil
1/3 potting soil
1/3 steer manure
Everyone swears by Jennifer’s not so secret formula, and all the plant owners go home with healthier plants.
If you know the person with the green thumb, you may want to throw your own “Dirt Party” and get your hands dirty in spring for salsa in the summer.
Start small and create a Kitchen Garden
I started to attempt to garden when I was homeschooling my kids back in the elementary grades. The house we owned had a small, plot of dirt in the corner of the yard, just large enough for a few small plants to get started.
We planted a few, small veggies. I have to say our first year was wildly unsuccessful. (Who knew that things like watering would be so essential?)
Fast forward several years. Roger and I decided to plant our own salsa garden in containers on our back patio, (we live in a townhouse, so my visions of sowing seed for crops and my own hen house have to be put on hold for a while.)
We kept it simple the first year – just a few tomato plants, a couple of peppers, cilantro, etc. But as our garden grew, so did our farmer-like confidence.
This year, we planted more than a dozen tomato plants of every variety and size you could imagine. Our herb garden is off the hook, and Roger has peppers a plenty to make all the mouth-burning recipes he can handle.
Here is what we have planted:
- a variety of Tomato Plants
- basil
- cilantro
- parsley
- a variety of hot and mild peppers
- green onions
- green garlic
- zucchini
- squash
We have learned a few things in the couple of years we have been playing around with amateur gardening:
- It is not necessary to purchase every tomato plant at Home Depot. Starting off with a half dozen plants is a great place to begin.
- Pick some early bloomers and some late bloomers. Otherwise, everything comes in at once and you go from famine to feast in a matter of days. (And, if you happen to be on vacation when all the tomatoes come in, it may be an indication to the worms of your neighborhood that you don’t want your tomatoes and that you were kind enough to plant a smorgasbord just for them.)
- Install a drip system. I am a stingy water-er. I always feel like I have better things to do (probably something involving a rerun of The Office) than stand in the back yard with a hose.
But, as soon as Roger installed our drip watering system, I was AMAZED at what a difference watering makes. (Yeah, I know. Duh.) For less than $60, our entire backyard bumper crop is downright lush because of the daily hit of water. If you are person who embraces routine and loves the meditative state of watering – great. Otherwise, get a drip-system and get it on a timer. When you are sitting down to enjoy the season’s first bruschetta with your home-grown tomatoes, you’ll thank me.
by kathilipp | Apr 1, 2012 | The "What's for dinner?" Project |
It’s Monday morning. Staying in bed would be great, why is the weekend so short? For most of us Mondays are busy. But now that the days are longer it seems as if dinner time creeps up quickly and how many nights have you been scrambling to get dinner on the table before 8 pm? Well I have a solution for you. Get out the Crock Pot! If you don’t have one think about getting one, it will make getting dinner to the table easy and quick. You won’t have to spend much time in the kitchen and your house will smell delish.
For starters are are some Slow Cooker Tips
- Let the meal equal the pot – The only time I have had poor results with a slow cooker is when I haven’t put enough food into the pot. When the pot is too big, food can tend to scorch and dry out. I actually have two slow cookers now – one for meals just for me and Roger (a 2-quart), and one for when I know all the kids will be home or I am making a meal with leftovers to be used in the following night’s dinner (a 6-quart).
- You can overcook – Everyone says, “Just throw it in the pot and forget it!” Well, that’s true – to a point. You do what to make sure that to pay attentions to timing on your meal so that it doesn’t dry out.
- If you are always going to be arriving home after a meal should be done cooking, you may want to consider getting a slow cooker with a probe thermometer. Our big pot has one of these handy little gadgets and can be programmed to stop cooking when the meat reaches a pre-determined temperature.
- Use a non-stick cooking spray on the inside of your pot to make clean-up easier.
- Meats don’t brown in the slow cooker, so if you do want your meats browned, do it before you put it on the pot.
What you should serve your troops!
Citrus-Glazed Pork Roast
I love pork roast in the slow cooker for several reasons – it doesn’t get dried out, you can cut it to size in order to have just enough to feed your troops.
Ingredients:
1 (3lb.) boneless pork loin roast
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ tsp. dried thyme
½ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. pepper
1 T vegetable oil
1 c. chicken broth
2 T sugar
2 T lemon juice
2 T soy sauce
1 ½ tsp. orange zest
3 T. cornstarch
½ c. orange juice
Directions:
Cut roast in half.
In a small bowl, combine the garlic, thyme, ginger and pepper; rub over roast.
In a large skillet over medium heat, heat the oil and brown the roast on all sides.
Place roast in a 5-qt. slow cooker.
In a small bowl, combine the broth, sugar, lemon juice, soy sauce and orange zest; pour over roast.
Cover and cook on low for 4 hours or until a meat thermometer reads 160 degrees F.
Remove roast and keep warm.
In a saucepan, combine the cornstarch and orange juice until smooth; stir in cooking juices. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.
Serve with the roast.
Now you just need a side or two. Steamed veggies, mash or roasted potatoes, fruit salad and dinner is served!
by kathilipp | Mar 27, 2012 | The Husband Project |
What do others hear you say about your man? Is it positive, negative, embarrassing? Today start a pattern of saying something nice about your husband to someone else. Make sure you tell him what you said, and to whom. Only you have the bragging rights to your man, no one else knows him better!
As cliché as it may sound, our husbands want to be our heroes. More than they want to know that we love them, they want to know that we respect them. They need to know that they’re never the butt of our jokes, that they’re the go-to-guy in every story we tell.
Make an opportunity today to brag on your husband to someone else. It doesn’t matter if it’s one of your friends or one of his; let that somebody know how blessed you are to be married to your guy.
Some key phrases you may want to put on index cards to help you remember:
- “I feel so lucky to have a man who knows how to do his own laundry.”
- “You know when I knew that my husband really loved me? When he could remember my order at Starbucks.”
- “I just love the way he is with our kids.”
- “He makes the best lasagna on the planet.”
Steering the Ship
A small rudder on a huge ship in the hands of a skilled captain sets a course in the face of the strongest winds. A word out of your mouth may seem of no account, but it can accomplish nearly anything—or destroy it (James 3: 3-4 The Message).
As wives, we are often the ship’s captain, while our husbands are that huge ship. Words spoken in encouragement and love can go a long way to building our men up. But the opposite is true as well. There is nothing that can determine the direction of our husband’s day quicker than the words that are spoken to him in the morning
Sometimes as wives, we forget the role we play in our husband’s lives. We all remember that great line from My Big Fat Greek Wedding, spoken by Toula’s mom, “The man may be the head of the household, but the woman is the neck. She tells him which way to turn.”
The words we use will either bring him up or tear him down. They will make him rush to get home to us or procrastinate at work, be willing to help cheerfully around the house or look for reason to leave and be with his buddies.
While your greatest need may be for your husband to tell you that he loves you, most guys are programmed differently. He wants, at his very core, to know that you respect him. He wants to know that you are proud of him and that he is the one you would choose again if given the chance.
This goes a long way to solidifying you as a team, as well. There’s no way that anyone in my family would ever say a word against my husband. They know that I’m on his side, and it’s a gossip-free zone around me (unless the gossip is about how great he is).
Spend sometime brainstorming about all the great things your husband does, how amazing he is and so on. This will help give you the words to speak to others, it may even make you find new ways you love your man and the best part it could put you in the mood to surprise your man in the bedroom as soon as he gets home!
by kathilipp | Mar 26, 2012 | Uncategorized |
Every good idea needs a plan. Gardening may intimidate some but it is rather easy and you do not have to dig up your yard and plant a farm. It can be as simple or as difficult as you make it.
Keep it Really Simple. To start with, I suggest you start with a simple concept for the types of plants you purchase. For the past several years we have planted a low-maintenance “Salsa Garden” and have enjoyed the variety and simplicity of that assortment every time. Here is what goes in our salsa garden:
- A variety of tomatoes plants
- Peppers
- Cilantro
- Green Onions
Ask an Expert. Explain that you want to keep it simple and ask what you need. My own experience here is that it will do you no good to ask the 17 year-old at the giant Depot store what are the best tomatoes to grow for an early harvest in your area of the country. This is where the little mom and pop gardening store shines. Ask one of the employees (who probably is in the midst of growing her own garden at home) what you should get.
Use the Correct Container. Read those little tags carefully that tell you how big the pots you plant in should be. I was crowding my plants and not getting the results that I needed.
Figure out your watering system. For most gardeners I know their watering system is them. But since I travel a lot, it was important that I didn’t need to rely on teenagers to keep my basil alive. If you know that you are not going to want to rise at dawn every morning with a c. of coffee in one hand and a hose in the other, you may want to create a system for watering.
Now if you are not excited or motivated quite yet about growing a garden maybe these recipes will get your mouth watering.
