Fix, Freeze, Feast

Even before we had the little chef's helper, I had my lazy nights, where I did NOT want to cook. Or maybe I was just busy, and/or got home late. Cooking can be the last thing I want to do on certain days.

I've learned ways to get around cooking on those nights. I love to double our pasta casserole recipe and freeze half for later. Sometimes I'll make 'brinner' (breakfast for dinner - french toast is usually my favorite). Or we have (gasp) a frozen pizza at all times in the freezer.

But here's a cookbook devoted to making large portions of a dish, freezing it in smaller dinner portion amounts, and then feasting on your hard work at a later date! I love it. (Wish I'd thought of it, actually)

Fix Freeze Feast by Kati Neville and Lindsay Tkacsik

AND, they have sample recipes! Wish they had a vegetarian sample recipe, but that's ok. Most of the book looks to be meat related, but there's a whole section for vegetarian MAIN DISHES. That's key, as a lot of cookbooks have vegetarian meals, but they're pretty much side dishes. Um, that's not enough peeps. We like to eat a full meal, thanks.

If you don't want to buy the whole book though for one section of recipes, perhaps you can peruse the book at Barnes and Noble and take your iphone with you to copy a few of the veggie recipes. Shhh, did I say that?

Since my sister bought the book, I've already perused it (and plan to use it. ha, that rhymes!) Here are some of the recipes included that I'm excited about: Asparagus and Potato Frittata, Thai Red Curry with Vegetables, Teriyaki Sauce, Raspberry Vinaigrette, Cheese Biscuit Mix, Five-Spice Cookies, and Ginger Cookies. There were a number of portobello mushroom recipes, but as you may know, I'm not a fan. However, I do realize, you might be.

Aaaaand, get ready for another gasp... I might as well tell you now, we are going to feed our chef's helper meat (no, this wont change the blog to a meat blog!). However, we happen to think that he should make his own choice in being vegetarian, or not. So, in the meantime (as he's only able to drool and coo right now, and not hold a conversation about vegetarianism), we'll give him meat so that he gets acquainted with it and knows the taste. When he's old enough, we can talk to him about why mommy and daddy don't eat meat.

Have a great weekend, and guten appetit!

Product of the Month: Organize with free online tools

I need all the organizational help I can get. I do well with lists, but the lists are usually on random scraps of paper, on the back of receipts or possibly on a sticky note.

Enter, stage left, Mommy Track'd!

Mommy Track'd has generously put together and offered 6 different organizational tools, which we can download for FREE to help us mommies (and daddies) keep our heads on straight.

I especially love The Eat Sheet weekly meal planner/grocery shopping list. It's something you could do yourself on a wipe board, but if you don't have one of those, theirs is awfully cute and free (did I mention, free?!). The Party Planning Worksheet is my second favorite tool.

Check them out, I bet you'll find something you like and can use too!

Product of the Month: Crockpot

Do you use a crockpot?


I admit, I do not. I had my grandmothers hand-me-down for a while, but I never used it and Tim kept wondering why I kept it around. I believe I kept it in part for the sentimental value, but I also have dreams (yes, dreams) of using a crockpot one day... in the not too distant future... maybe. But the dreams are there!

I think it's just a fear of the unknown. I've never used a crockpot, so it's taking the first step. Making that first recipe. The idea of a slow-cooked recipe where the spices and flavors meld, and that you simply toss together in the morning and have a fully-done meal by evening... Quite impressive.

If you crockpot, do you have any favorite recipes? Maybe I'll make 2009 the 'year of the crockpot'. (Dont hold me to that, as it's very unlikely)

If you DO crockpot though, here is an interesting recipe site where the author committed to using her crockpot every day of the year in 2008. Now that's commitment.

I hope everyone has had a wonderful 2008, and is looking forward to an even greater 2009. We have many happy days and changes awaiting Tim and I this year, and I can't wait to experience them. With, or without, a crockpot.

Some recipes from A Year of CrockPotting:
- White Bean and Pesto Spread
- Sundried Tomato and Caper Pasta Sauce
- Moroccan Lentil Soup
- Indian Curry
- Sweet and Sour Tofu
- Brownies in a Mug
- Crockpot Chocolate Mousse

Guten appetit!

Product of the Month: Vegetarian Times

I know there are a lot of web recipe sites out there (I surf them daily), and plenty of great cooking magazines... but this was a new one for me that blew my socks off.

I'm not sure if I should admit this on a vegetarian blog, but I'm an honest girl... my confession: I'm not usually a fan of vegetarian websites or magazines. Why? I've never thought they were all that good. A lot of recipes are flat-out strange. There, I said it.

I hate portabella mushrooms and eggplant (which many vegetarians waaayyyy overuse), and they use a bunch of ingredients I've sometimes never even heard of (and yes, I'm lazy enough not to bother looking them up). Also, while I consider myself earth friendly and eco-conscious, I'm not super-bio girl. A lot of vegetarian sites or people, are associated with being 'crunchy, tree huggers' as well. I'm working on it, but admittedly, not yet at the level of making my own household bio-cleaners. And I don't want to feel bad about that.

But, I may be changing my tune for one particular magazine. My friend gave me her copy of Vegetarian Times a couple months ago, and really, it was so great. Like Cooking Light, for veggies. Had interesting health and fitness info, and normal, yummy looking recipes. Wahoo! Someone got it right.

If you are ever in the mood to try out a new magazine, I urge you to give Vegetarian Times a shot. Peruse it during your next long, coffee in hand, Saturday visit to Barnes and Noble and let us know what you think.

CancerCare for Kids

I used to love bake sales at school... almost always participated. Brownies were the easiest, cookies a second, and cupcakes the most delicious but hardest to do (especially for a budding cook, in her teens).

If you miss those days, or never had the chance to participate in one, now is your chance!!


Duncan Hines is sponsoring a cupcake bake sale challenge, with all proceeds going to CancerCare for Kids. Noble cause, fun times, delicious food - doesn't get any better!

If you haven't heard of them, CancerCare for Kids provides FREE support, education and advice to parents, and counseling to children and teens to help them understand cancer. If you know someone who has had cancer, I'm sure you realize how valuable this service is.


I'm trying to think of how to do something over here... but with my total of 5 friends, I feel a little limited. I'd love to hosts a tea party, or a trivia night/bake sale, but realistically, I'm circling around the idea of baking cupcakes and selling them at tim's work - he's got some seriously sugar deprived coworkers. A euro a cupcake? I'm sure Mr. Hines wouldn't balk at accepting my euros.

AND, not as if you need further incentive as the cause is wonderful enough, you do have the opportunity to win prizes.

So, go out there and bake, bake, bake! I'll let you know what I finally decide to do, and try to get some pictures up*.

* I have very, very, very sad news. Our macbook hard-drive crashed on Sunday. Note to self, and all others in the world, back-up your hard-drive!! We'll take it to a mac shop this week, but I'm pretty darn sure we've lost all pictures from the last 4 years of our lives. I'm very sad, but Tim told me this morning that at least I still had him to look at, and he wouldn't ever crash on me. What a good husband. But if you see posts sans pictures for a while, now you know why. Boo.

Guten appetit!

Product of the Month: Mushroom Brush

Mushroom brushes: I had never heard of such a thing, before Germany. Do you have one?

They are the best invention, and I can no longer live without my mushroom brush. Seriously.

I used to spend 1o minutes washing 1/2 pound of mushrooms, because as I would wash them by hand, they would start to 'peel' and then once you start one peel on the cap, the rest of the cap needed to be peeled. My sink also looked like a mushroom peel battleground.

Well, no longer.

The mushroom brush gets all the dirt, and even some dark spots, off the mushrooms without ever peeling the mushroom. AND, it take me so much less time. I'm probably down to 2-3 minutes vs. 10. That alone is worth the purchase of this little wonderful, handy, you-gotta-have-it gadget.


I found mine at a German craft-fest, with stalls of kitchen, pottery, etc. items. Here's one from Sur la Table for $1.95.

Works great while making Happy Hour Mushrooms.

Happy mushroom cleaning!

Guten appetit.

Product of the Month: Popsicle Molds

I remember summertime growing up, and my mom making popsicles. They were frozen Kool-Aid, and they tasted so great. I'm not sure if she did that as a cost-savings, or due to the lack of sugar-free popsicle options back in those days... or both. Whatever the reason, we lucked out. They were THE best.
Very few things these days are new, we mostly see new takes on the old favorites. Hey, why reinvent the wheel, or fix something that isn't broken, and yeah, all that...

Homemade popsicles are a right of summer, and Bed, Bath & Beyond currently has these star pop molds (in green) for $9.99. They're also on Amazon for $7.99, along with these cool rocket pop molds.


If we were in the states, I'd buy 2. Tim would probably shake his head - conflicted because he's excited to get a popsicle, yet wondering why we bought another kitchen item that will get used only a few times a year. Hey, what price or kitchen storage limitations can you put on summertime delight?


Guten appetit!

Creatively tricky

I feel constantly amazed at people who are creative and motivated... those that think of something new and yet so obvious, and then not only think about it, they DO it.

Fellow food bloggers have been amazing me most recently, with what seem like professional pictures, easy explanations and wording for delicious recipes, and even being organized enough to develop a sensible layout that is both easy and fun to use. None of those are simple tasks, I assure you.

As I was lurking through various blogs (ahem, us hausfraus have a bit of time on our hands!), I stumbled across one that had a 'product of the week' category and this week was how to sneak healthy food into your kids everyday meals. With a laundry list of friends with babys and toddlers, and having my own food interests, I was more than a little excited!

What a fantastic idea, and I'm so impressed by the authors for the time and creativity it must have taken to think up the recipes, experiment, create a book, etc.

The blog I was reading discussed the Sneaky Chef, but I found another I wanted to highlight as well:

The Sneaky Chef, by Missy Chase Lapine, &

Deceptively Delicious, by Jessica Seinfeld

Wow! I wish I'd known of these books when my friends 'baby boom' was happening a couple years ago, what a great shower gift. Pureed carrot and sweet potato in a yellow mac & cheese recipe - ingenious!

If you have either of the above books and tried a recipe or two, would love to hear your thoughts. (There are also sample recipes on their websites, if you want to 'try before you buy')

Happy, healthy eating (for us, and the little monsters... oops, darlings)!

EDIT: After informing my Nutritionist mom about these books, her reply was that it's a controversial concept in the nutrition world. Some believe you shouldn't 'hide' the vegetables, but instead teach kids about them and expect them to eat them. My opinion was somewhere in the middle, since I think it's really, really hard for anyone (namely, me!) to eat 5 fruits and veggies a day, on top of all the other stuff you're supposed to eat/drink. Hiding some in your main dish or breakfast seems like a great way, on top of eating others 'au naturale', to get your daily dose. But, to each their own.