Butternut Squash Soup

Butternut Squash Soup with Apples and Garam Masala

 I made this last year and I am surprised I didn't blog about it...this is one of my favorite soups on the planet! In an effort to decrease my squash supply,  I used the two butternut squash I had on hand and set to work.  This is another easy soup recipe. The time to prepare and roast the squash is the only time consuming part of the recipe.  I also use less apple than the recipe calls for, we find it is too apple flavored otherwise. Once again, I made this soup on the weekend and froze it for a future monday night meal.  I didn't have shallots on hand so I used leeks and I never strain this soup, just puree it well. I didn't add the half and half since the soup was going in the freezer. I will add that when we have it for a Monday meal.

Print Page

Pork Tenderloin with Sauteed Apples

It was a big cooking weekend and this was Sunday night's dinner.I had a pack of two pork tenderloins, so I decided to make it all, figuring I could freeze the leftovers for another night.


The recipe is from myrecipes.com, and it is Spiced Pork Tenderloin with Sauteed Apples.  I cut my loins fairly thick, so the cooking time was increased.  I actually seared the pork and almost cooked it through and then finished it in the oven while I made the apples.  I didn't have shallots, so I used leeks and I didn't have apple cider so I used a little white wine.  I would think that the use of cider would definitely sweeten this dish and the apples combination would have been a bit thicker.   We all loved the pork and it was a split decision on the apple topping.  Half thought plain old applesauce would have worked better.  The pork was a big hit though, I would definitely make it again.  I doubled the seasoning as well.


Print Page

Smoked Beer Can Turkey

This is what Paul made for us LAST Thanksgiving, and I wanted to share this idea that produces a moist turkey as we start this month. He combined a couple different recipes/ideas to come up with this one.

Admittedly, the picture is a bit ugly...but it was delicious. It was nice to have turkey that is moist, especially those of us who are in the white meat camp.

Paul bought a 15 lb turkey and soaked it overnight in a cool place in 3 gallons of water and 3 c kosher salt. We are fortunate to have an upstairs sleeping porch, so that's where it sat overnight. We were a bit concerned about what animals would find this...so it had to be a cool and safe spot.

In the morning he pulled it out of the soaking brine and rubbed some garlic and butter under the breast skin and placed a peeled onion in the cavity.

In a large beer can (Foster's) he filled it about 1/2 full with light beer and some fresh herbs (thyme, sage, oregano).

The turkey went into the smoker without water using hickory and applewood as well as some charcoal. He smoked it until the internal temperature was 165 degrees. This took about 2 1/2 hours...way, way faster than we expected.

This is going to be repeated this year since it was really good!

Print Page

Winter Squash Overload!

 The CSA is wrapping up its summer deliveries and moving into fall. Over the last few weeks I have received the squash above plus 4 others! Unfortunately, my family isn't big into squash. I am always amazed at how Karen is able to make all these squash filled dishes...won't fly here!

Today I decided to break down the squash and now I only have the two butternut squash, the bright orange squash and the hubbard squash left.  I started with the pumpkin...I cooked it in the microwave, scooped out the flesh, pureed it in the food processor and have 5 cups of pumpkin puree to use for pies or future baked goods. I also have pumpkin seeds which Meghan is thrilled about!

I then cut all the other squash in half, scooped out the seeds and threw them on a baking pan and put them in the oven until they were cooked.  This I also pureed and will use in soups, pies, muffins, breads etc for the rest of the winter.

I'm sure I will be getting more squash...I'll have to find a few more recipes...



Print Page

Scrambled Tofu

I don't often make scrambled tofu since I think that the egg is an awesome food. Why have tofu when you can have eggs? But, I had a package of tofu that had last week's date as a "sell by" date so it really needed to be used. Tofu is one of those things I like to get at Trader Joe's and can always use it in a stir fry. This package was remaining, and I knew I had to figure out a way to use it. I don't like to waste food...someone grew it, someone picked it, someone packaged it, someone shipped it, and I bought it. Not to say that sometimes things get away from me, but I do try to make use of things I buy.

I had come across this scrambled tofu recipe on a blog I like, so I thought that would be a good use for this package. I also keep some of the Trader Joe's chorizo in the freezer (almost always), so I noticed the rave reviews that blogger had about it also. I had a large bag of potatoes that my parents brought me last weekend since they had gotten a coupon at the Green Bay Packers game for a bag of free potatoes. They couldn't use two, so they asked if I could use some. Sure, I can always use them.

I baked two potatoes in the microwave, chopped and onion and a pepper, and put my extra firm tofu in a strainer with a pot of water on it to drain the water. After sauteeing the onion and pepper and adding shredded potatoes, tofu chorizo (used 1/2 package as I have a plan for the other part this week), pressed tofu, and a bit of cheddar cheese...I had breakfast.

Really I'll probably use eggs when I make this again; however, this was a good option as well.



Print Page

And the weeks go on....

Menu planning....check out my friend Erin's blog(organizednowplease) about how she's outlining each month instead of each week for meals at her house.Sometimes I pull more recipes than I need for one week and have them "on deck" for the following. Hey, whatever works! Sometimes all different combinations work...one time a month of meals, one time a week of meals, etc.

I still like to do each week but adjust as needed. For example, last week:
chicken soup
soy chorizo tacos
pad Thai
crockpot pork
pizza thing with chicken apple sausage and squash

What really happened was the chicken soup was used for lunches, we ate ate Noodles after a swim meet since we were riding with friends and that's their tradition after Whitefish Bay swims against Grafton, and I didn't have time to make pizza so we had the chicken apple sausage and squash over pasta.

That meant that the pad Thai was moved to the following week along with:
turkey meatloaf, and CSA veggies
squash soup (for lunches)
rice con queso
Brit noodles

I just find that I don't need to plan something for every night since we end up with too much food that way. Leftovers usually are on the menu for at least one night each week...and sometimes, when Eleanor goes to the spaghetti dinner, we just end up eating a salad or bruschetta or something.


Print Page

Cookie Dough Egg Rolls

What's not to like? Melty cookie dough inside an eggroll wrapper, fried, and served with ice cream and chocolate sauce.....yum. How did I end up making this dessert?

One of our favorite restaurants in Madison is Bluephies. My sister discovered it when she was a student there and told us about it, and it has become an almost regular stop when we're in Madison. Last weekend Eleanor was there for the Wisconsin honors orchestra (yay) and we had been planning our visit to this place since we knew she was going to be in the area. After we heard a great concert, we all headed to Bluephies for and early dinner/late lunch and their awesome desserts. We had to wind around a bit to get to this Monroe Street eatery since I knew how to get to this end of Monroe Street from campus and downtown and not from the music venue; however, we got there!

We ate our meal. Last time I got black bean and goat cheese enchiladas and loved them. I got the chickpea chop this time. The food was OK (I do remember it being a tiny bit better)...but then...it was time for the main event....the desserts!

Being a food allergy parent, I have learned it is all in who you ask. We have eaten there a number of times and asked the same questions; however, this time we learned that the fryer is used for catering as well, so there could be nut contamination in the oil. Although nothing on the menu had things to which Eleanor was allergic, the catering menu was a wild card. So, we left the restaurant without having dessert even though she had already eaten a french fry from that same fryer. It's just hard to eat something when you have the thought that it may make you sick.

For those of you not having a food allergy or a child with a food allergy...or for those who think it isn't a big deal...let me explain. It's tough. Different people (as with everything) respond in different ways. Some people say, "Oh...the allergy isn't that bad so we won't let it stop us". OK...if that's your comfort level. I prefer not to play Russian Roulette with serious illness. I know Eleanor has been exposed in more ways than I know...she has eaten desserts at this place before, she's eaten the hyper-labelled lettuce from Trader Joe's, and I had used the chicken broth made in a facility with nuts for months before noticing the label about potential nut contamination. The thing is...once you know...it's hard to feel good about consuming something. I do know some people with food allergies end up with anxiety issues, so it's a fine line between being safe and keeping things a bit on the normal side.

We know that there's always a risk..at home or at a restaurant...and that's why we have an Epi-pen or she doesn't eat anything (even an apple). We know that we aren't able to eat at potlucks or from the table of homemade snacks at a swim meet, or birthday treats at school. We don't think it's fun to go out for ice cream...Dairy Queen has a sign on the door basically telling allergic people not to eat there. Ice cream, while fun for some families, really isn't fun for us after asking for the clean scoop and unopened container and getting the teenaged eye roll before being served. And we are prepared for those circumstances and just live our life safely. I get why people decide that they will take the risk and eat something processed in a facility with an allergen since the risk is probably really really low. However, once we know about an allergen, we just don't feel good about eating that food.

I get that there are much more serious things to have than a food allergy, which is just a slight inconvenience. I really am thankful that's all I have to worry about; however, it does curtail restaurant fun. Even without the allergy we would prefer to eat at home, so it isn't a lifestyle changing thing for our family. But I do wish restaurants would have a bit of increased awareness about safety and accommodating these people. I had tried to lobby a state senator about including some basic information on this to restaurant employees...but he wasn't interested in taking on the restaurant industry. I knew it wouldn't pass, but I thought the awareness it raised would be good. I understand that the staff is busy, but it really is a cleanliness issue in many places.

Anyway, back to the feeling at the restaurant when leaving. It's always with a bit of false cheer on the parental end. "That's OK about the eggroll you have been waiting to have for 6 months. We'll go home and make cookies!!" Or the time we were told at the Cheesecake Factory that the only THING in the entire restaurant for a person with a nut allergy is strawberries and whip cream. Of course we told our 4 year old, "Strawberries and whip cream...yum...you are so lucky!". Seriously, that's the only thing she can have? We have never gone back, so it's likely that a different server/restaurant/chef would accommodate a bit more and use a separate pan for customer. Although the honesty is appreciated the eating is a bit uncertain.

I think if I had a bit more energy or a bit more time or a child allergic to more things, I would work on developing some type of rating system. For example, Cold Stone Creamery gets a 5 star rating for helping allergic people be able to eat ice cream. They willingly get clean scoops for their ice cream and a clean bowl to mix in items. Yay. The places that aren't helpful, well, I guess they don't need our business. It would be good to start sharing that information, but I haven't done that....yet.

So, in the car on the drive back to Milwaukee I started to think about making the chocolate chip cookie egg roll. The idea grew until we made a run to Sendik's on the way home and got eggroll wrappers and ice cream. I'm not really a deep fry kinda gal but had used a skillet to fry something about 20 years ago. We were laughing a bit at some of the burn marks on the pan from long ago...but I still have that pan that would work with 1/2" oil heated in the bottom.

So, rather than continue to feel irritated that the chef at Bluephies didn't come up with this idea, I energized (even though I just wanted to sit) myself and got going on this project. Eleanor and Paul were a bit skeptical; although Eleanor was a good sport and mixed up the cookie dough. I poured the oil in the pan and gently heated it (no burn marks this time). Just then some friends stopped over and were amazed and surprised that I was deepfrying:)

We made a log of cookie dough and wrapped it eggroll style (Eleanor did that while I supervised the oil). She did a great job sealing the ends with water since we didn't have a leaky one out of the 5 we made. They were absolutely perfect! Paul and I were happy since our child got to have a cookie dough eggroll. Eleanor was happy since she didn't think my deep frying would really work. And our friends were really happy that they stopped over at the right time.

I don't know what the oil temperature was...but I did place a tiny bit of cookie dough in before placing the eggroll in the pan and it was sizzly around the dough.

Voila! We did it. Now this may be a bit dangerous for the waistline. When I didn't think I could make them we split one of these every 6 months or so. Making them at home...yikes. Next I could try the Butterfinger wontons....


Print Page