A New Day

So much has happened in the last 6 months! We moved back to my home town of Louisville Kentucky. We're currently under a massive project of renovating our home. A slow and tedious process I assure you. Our son has learned to walk and has taken on quite a personality. He's no longer eating baby food and has graduated to eating everything I make (for now.) We're still working around his dairy intolerance somewhat, but all in all it seems he's growing out of it. All in all, we're happy and loving life. Taking on new challenges and still eating together as a family.

Sorry I've been away for so long, but thats going to change. My sabbatical is over :)

Roasted Vegetables

Roasted veggies are so simple to make and are oh so good for you! They can be used in so many dishes. This past weekend we had dinner at a cousin's house, she served roasted veggie tortas. Man oh man were they so good! I'm a huge fan of roasted veggie soups and simply making them to accompany a main dish, like how I'm making them for tonight.

You can pick any combo of veggies you want. I suggest that you cut the veggies you do pick into similar sizes for even cooking. I had red bell peppers, brussle sprouts, broccoli and garlic cloves on hand. Mix and match your own combo and use up those veggies you have in you fridge!

Ingredients:
1 pound of various veggies
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
generous pinch of kosher salt
fresh cracked pepper

preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a baking pan coat veggies with 2- tablespoons of olive oil. Place in the oven and roast for 30 mins. Halfway through make sure to stir them so they don't burn. When finished and cooked through season with salt and pepper.

There you have it Folks! Simple and easy.

Baking Bread In A Dutch Oven

Baking bread is a job that is considered a labor of love in my book. I love to make various types of bread and breads that are baked in a dutch oven come out with a soft crumb and a crisp crust that crackles when you take it out of the oven. For this particular photo tutorial I used a basic recipe that consists of flour, salt, water and yeast. I added 6 cloves of garlic sliced and a large sprig of rosemary chopped.

I'll show you some different bread recipes from beginning to end in the near future, so keep a look out for them soon.

Take your dutch oven and place on the bottom rack and preheat for about 20 mins. On a piece of parchment paper, punch down and round out your dough after the initial rise. Cover with a cloth and allow to rest for half and hour.

When the dutch oven in heated place the dough parchment paper and all into the dutch oven, cover immediately and place into the oven and bake covered for 15 mins.

Remove the lid and lower the temperature of the oven to 450 degrees and bake for 15 mins longer.

When finished remove from dutch oven immediately and place on a cooling rack. Allow to cool for at least 1 hour.

Here it is, a loaf that has a crispy exterior and a soft crumb. Hope you try it soon!

Chicken Lettuce Wraps

As I mentioned in my recipe for shrimp lettuce wraps, I am the queen of them. They are fast and easy to make and they taste yummy. You can serve these for and appetizer or a main course.

Ingredients:
1 pound of ground chicken or turkey, you can also use boneless skinless chicken breast diced up.
1 tablespoon of canola oil
4 cloves of garlic minced
2 scallions cut on a bias
on serrano pepper diced 
1 teaspoon of fish sauce
1/2 cup sweet chili sauce
1 tablespoon of siracha
1 tablespoon of brown sugar
2 tablespoons of rice vinegar

 Brown chicken on med/high heat with a tablespoon of canola oil.

Grate 4 cloves of garlic into the pan with the chicken.

Add hot pepper.

Then the fish sauce.

Chili Sauce along with the sugar.

And the Siracha

Finally stir in the scallions at the very end.

There you have it. I like to serve it with cilantro and shaved red onion as well.

Provecho!

Mel's Meatloaf

My Husband is a huge fan of meatloaf, we don't eat it that often but when we do its a night where we really don't talk during dinner if you catch my drift.  There is something to be said about a loaf of meat that is seasoned to perfection and topped with a tangy ketchup based glaze, its almost as if you are having a party in your mouth.

Now this isn't your Momma's meatloaf. No sir, this is MEL'S meatloaf. Its tender and moist and full of flavor. If you happen to have some leftover you can make a meatloaf sandwich that will make you smile when you take a bite into it. So go on ahead and make meatloaf!

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
2 slices of thick cut bacon chopped very small 
1 slice of bread crumbled (I use multigrain)
1/4 red bell pepper minced
1/4 spanish onion minced
3 cloves garlic minced
1/4 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon pepper

glaze:
1/2 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons cider vinegar
1/4 cup of brown sugar
1 tablespoon Saracha or a few dashes of your favorite hot sauce


Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

 Mix all ingredients for the glaze and set aside. 

 Mix all the ingredients for the meatloaf and allow to sit for 20-30 mins.

Mold beef mixture in a baking dish or in a loaf pan, then top with ketchup glaze.

Bake for 45 mins. to an hour until cooked through.

Serve it with your favorite side and ENJOY!

Stage 1 Baby Food

When your little one is ready to have something more that cereal, you can start them on stage 1 foods. Making them are very simple and you know whats going into your baby. All you need are a few items.

1. blender/hand blender or food processor 
2. breast milk, H2O, or formula for thinning
3. stage 1 fruits and veggies.
4. steamer basket
5. grater

Many Momma's start off with mashed bananas, most babies love them because they are so sweet and they are so easy to make, you simply just mash them with a fork. Or you can mash up a little banana and mix it with oatmeal/cereal.

Things like sweet potatoes, winter squash, pears and peas can be placed in a steamer basket and steamed.
Once the veggies are steamed, blend until its a coarse mash. Add a little of the steaming water a tablespoon at a time and blend until in the consistency of your liking. Store in a airtight container and it will last 2-3 days in the fridge. Thin out with breast milk, formula or water if desired before serving.

Hope your little one likes stage 1 foods like mine!

Provecho little ones!

Mel's Chicken Tacos

This a simple dish you can make fast. I had half a roasted chicken left over and even though they are not my favorite, a box of crunchy taco shells in the pantry. You can add any type of topping and make a little taco bar, but I prefer the traditional Mexian way of cilantro and minced onion.

Salsa verde gives the chicken a kick! I would to add Oaxacan cheese or queso fresco, but until my little man's allergies subside that won't happen. Try adding your own style to appease your own tastes and enjoy this low fat, simple dinner!

1/2 roasted chicken breast shredded
6 taco shells, or flour tortillas
1/2-3/4 cup of salsa verde, click here for my recipe for roasted salsa verde.
your choice of toppings, I chose cilantro and onion

 

In a skillet over a medium heat add shredded chicken.

Add salsa verde to the chicken and heat through. At this time heat up tortillas and prep toppings.

Place chicken in shells or tortilla and place toppings.

There you go! Provecho.