Cooking – Page 6 – Chocolate 'N Children

July 17, 2015July 14, 2015

Food Friday – Sautéed Squash

We love Sautéed Squash at my house. It’s so quick and easy to make. I’ll whip it up for lunch or an emergency snack. It’s soft so the baby can eat it (though, he has molars now so it’s not really a problem anymore).

Sautéed Squash

1 large or 2 small squash – rinsed and sliced into rounds
1 Tbsp butter
Salt to taste
Parmesan Cheese

Place sliced squash and butter in skillet over medium heat. Add salt as desired. Cook, stirring frequently until squash is soft and lightly browned – about 15 minutes (if you use a nonstick skillet it won’t brown that much).

Remove from heat and serve topped with grated parmesan cheese.

July 16, 2015July 14, 2015

CSA – Week 9

Another delicious week of vegetables. There was a lot of variety this week!

Such a yummy CSA this week, starting with parsley. Because you can never have too much parsley. I love adding it to foods!

Peppers, red and yellow. My 2yr old insists on calling them apples. And he’s more than happy to just take a bite out of them!

These are called red torpedo onions and they look delicious! Every time I look at them I want to eat them.

Beets, I made another batch of pickled beets this week. My 6yr old likes them.

Green beens. You can have too many of these (if you’ve ever had too many bean plants you know what I’m talking about) but it’s really hard because they’re so delicious.

Kale – I love kale, but my family does not share my like 🙁

Celery. This organic, local celery is so flavorful. It has way more flavor than what you get at your grocery store. I’m just amazed.

July 10, 2015July 8, 2015

Food Friday – Green Beans

I just love green beans. They’re one of my favorite vegetables, a favorite with the kids, and so easy to make.

Garlic Green Beans

1 lb fresh green beans – with ends cut off and broken into 1 in pieces
Water
Salt
2 cloves garlic – crushed

Put green beans and garlic in a pan, cover with water. Add salt to taste. Place on stove and bring to a boil. Turn heat down and simmer for about 15 minutes for crisp beans or 45 minutes for softer beans. My kids will only eat green beans if they’re not chewy so I just boil them longer until they’re nice and soft.

Drain any extra water and serve hot.

July 9, 2015July 8, 2015

CSA – Week 8

Here’s my latest CSA haul.

I’m just loving this squash. It’s one of my favorite vegetables. And this squash is so tasty!

More celery, I still have half a head from last week so I need to find a recipe that uses lots of celery. I’m thinking I might make up a bunch of cream of celery soup and freeze it for later.

Green onions. I think I’ve gotten green onions every week so far. I’ve figured out how to add them to things without my husband and the kids discovering them so I’m always happy for more.

My 6yr old likes my pickled beets. I’m not a fan of beets but they’re ok pickled. So I’ll probably do that with these.

Basil, I’m loving having so much fresh basil. It’s so delicious and goes great in so many things!

Beans. I’m so excited to finally get some beans. I really love fresh beans, and these were delicious!

Greens, they didn’t tell me what kind and I just don’t know the difference between all of my greens. Unfortunately no one wants to eat them (except for me) so I’m going to have to get sneaky about it.

Tomatoes. I’m loving all these fresh tomatoes! So tasty.

July 3, 2015July 3, 2015

Food Friday – Crockpot Vegetable Soup

I’ve been on a soup/stew kick this past couple of weeks. Mainly because we’re super busy and it’s easy to toss everything in the crockpot before heading out the door for the day. And then supper is ready when I get home!

For this vegetable soup, you can toss in just about any vegetable if you don’t like the veggies I used.

Crockpot Vegetable Soup

2 Large Tomatoes – cut in chunks
Handfull Chopped Cauliflower
4 Sliced carrots
1 Beet peeled and grated
3 Radishes sliced (I’ve noticed the spicier the raw radish, the sweeter it is cooked)
1 Cup chopped greens (I used swiss chard)
2 Cups chicken broth or chicken soup base
1 Cup cooked meat (I had some leftover hamburger and pork chops that I cut up and put in)

Put all ingredients in the crockpot. Add extra water to full cover vegetables if needed. Cook on low 6 to 8 hours.

July 2, 2015June 30, 2015

CSA – Week 7

This week there was another green of some sort in my CSA. Sometimes they send an email telling what everything is. This week they didn’t. I’m not entirely sure what this is, but it tastes pretty good.

Green onions. I think I’ve had them in every CSA box so far. I am figuring out how to use them up though, so they’re actually nice to have now.

Basil, I’m just loving this sweet basil. It’s great for making spaghetti sauce, or just tossing in dishes that I’m making. It adds a nice flavor to everything.

Squash and a cucumber. These things are very large! One of them can make lunch for me and the kids. Luckily, we love both of them and I’m loving having them for easy lunches.

This is the first time I’ve had cabbage in my CSA. I asked my husband what he wanted me to do with it (he doesn’t really like cabbage) and he said the only way he’ll eat it is as sauerkraut. So, I’m making some of that. It has to ferment for a couple of weeks but I can’t wait to try it when it’s done.

Red lettuce, this is my favorite lettuce type to get in my CSA. It’s actually a tad sweeter than the green lettuce and has a great overall flavor. This week, I rinsed, cut up, and dried the entire head then put it in a tupperware in the fridge. Eating salads is so much more convenient this way, and covered it’ll last almost a week after I prepare it.

Swiss chard, I’m not eating through it fast enough, because no one will eat it plain. I have no problem getting the kids to eat it if I mix it in other dishes though.

June 26, 2015June 25, 2015

Food Fridays – Vegetable Beef Stew

Vegetable Beef Stew

1 lb Beef Stew Meat
5 carrots – sliced in rounds
2 green onions – sliced
4 stalks celery – sliced in 1/4 in pieces
5 leafs swiss chard – broken in small pieces
2 cups beef stock
2 Tbsp corn starch
Water

Place stew meat, carrots, green onions, celery, swiss chard, and beef stock in crock pot on low for 6 – 8 hours. About 30 minutes before serving, mix 1 cup water with the 2 Tbsp cornstarch and pour mixture into the crockpot. Stir well and let cook for about 30 minutes more or until slightly thickened.

June 25, 2015June 25, 2015

CSA – Week 6

I’m having so much fun with these CSAs. Here’s what came in this week’s CSA.

More beets. This is not my favorite vegetable, but after having them for weeks, I’m staring to discover some ways to use them that me and the kids all like.

Green onions. I’ve started putting these in everything, and I’m finally using them up as I get them!

Swiss Chard. I didn’t think the kids would eat this, but I’ve been putting it in dishes and as long as it’s cut small enough the kids are eating it without a problem.

Parsley. No basil this week, but I have a bit left from last week, and now I have parsley as well.

Lettuce. It’s a good thing we like salads. I’ve gotten lettuce every week.

Tomatoes. I love these tomatoes. They’re so delicious!

Squash. This vegetable is a favorite at my house. And these look so delicious.

Celery. I tried one of these plain and it was so strong! I didn’t realize how much more flavor locally grown would have. I’m loving this in soups and it would be great with peanut butter as well.

June 19, 2015June 16, 2015

Food Fridays – Lots of Basil

I got my second bunch of basil this week, so I figured I should probably do something with it, other than just add it to the jar on my counter with the first batch of basil. Basil lasts a long time if you put it in a jar of water on your counter.

So, this week I tried out two recipes with basil. I have lots of tomatoes on hand too, so I decided to use lots of veggies and I made spaghetti sauce.

Spaghetti Sauce

4 Large Tomatoes
3 Green Onions
1/2 Cup fresh basil leaves
3 Cloves garlic
Salt & Pepper to taste

Cut the tomatoes in rough slices, slice the green onions, and place all ingredients in a pan. Simmer over medium/low heat until tomatoes are cooked down. I cooked mine for about 1.5 hrs but you could do it faster (I was trying to cook off some of the excess water from the tomatoes). After veggies are done, place in a food processor and pulse until all chunks are gone.

Serve over pasta and topped with grated parmesan cheese.

Basil Berry Sparkling Ice

I found this recipe here on Kroger’s website. But the measurements were confusing for me, so I didn’t really do exactly what they said.

8 Large Blackberries
6 Fresh Basil Leaves
2 Cups Blackberry Sparkling ICE (it’s a brand Kroger sells but any blackberry sparkling beverage will do)
2 Cups Sparkling Lemonade
1/4 Cup Lemon Juice

Put the blackberries, basil leaves, and lemon juice in a pitcher. Mix up and let set for a few minutes, or until ready to serve drinks. Right before serving, pour the blackberry sparkling ICE and sparkling lemonade into the pitcher.

I refrigerated my drinks before opening them but if you don’t refrigerate first, you will want to serve this over ice.

June 18, 2015June 16, 2015

CSA – Week 5

My girls are so excited about these carrots. They love carrots, and had carrots a few weeks ago so this week they were asking for them again. They’re so happy to have more carrots.

I can’t say I’m happy to see more beets. I’ve already pickled two bunches. I haven’t decided yet what I’m going to do with this bunch.

Swiss chard. I remember my mom making this accidentally once when I was a kid thinking it was kale. It’s not kale, and it didn’t taste good. So I’m a little afraid of it, but I’m sure I’ll find something I can make with it.

Basil, luckily I have ideas for using this since I’m just now finishing off my last batch. In fact, tomorrow I’ll have two recipes for you with basil.

More tomatoes. These are so yummy! And I’m eating through them so quickly, I’m always happy to have more tomatoes.

And lettuce, we love salads at my house, so that’s what this gets used for. There’s also a lovely red pepper I forgot to take a picture of – and since I ate it before I realized that I didn’t have a picture, there’s no picture. It was very tasty.