Maneuvering Life and Motherhood with Twins Plus One
Category: Recipes
Get some great 30 minute recipes and organic food recipes to feed your family on a budget and in a jiff. Karie shares some of her classics and easy recipes for your family.
As we embark into the new year many of us are gearing up to execute on our new resolutions. One of your resolutions may be to wrangle your health which means taking hold of the foods we eat. Wellness begins in the kitchen. We do not lose weight by fitness alone, our bodies are living machines that process foods for optimal performance. However, we often go on fad diets for quick results and then experience a boomerang affect where the weight returns. Continue reading “The Wellness Kitchen”
Since our society has become all about convenience and fast food many of us have strayed from making our own goods. Needless to say a good portion of time goes into making and manufacturing our own foods and food items. However, something can be said for homemade without all the added chemicals, preservatives and sugar. One of our favorite appliances to use is our Blendtec blender; fabulous for smoothies, salsas, and I even made a cake in this little machine. So I wanted to make something a bit extra special this year in my blender, I fancied making my own peanut butter with my Blendtec. Continue reading “Make Your Own Peanut Butter with Blendtec”
Some decisions are truly hard to decipher. For example, what came first, the chicken or the egg? Luckily we have super geniuses like Neil DeGrasse Tyson to answer our questions of the cosmos. So for the more down to Earth questions concerning food choices and better for you foods, what do you look to put on your table? My family is all about organic, some gluten free (I like to expose my kids to a wide variety of flour and food options), and whole foods that are minimally processed without chemical additives or preservatives. We have found that many meat products have the most amount of processing and additives, but we found a real gem: al fresco all natural.
al fresco all natural has over two-dozen gourmet, healthy chicken products, ranging from Wild Blueberry breakfast sausage to fully cooked Sweet Italian chicken sausage to Tomato & Basil chicken meatballs. Each of the chicken sausage varieties has 70% less fat and 35% less sodium than pork products, and they’re all gluten free.
My family received a package of the frozen, fully cooked, breakfast chicken sausage links in Country Style and Apple Maple. Needless to say the maple was a real hit with The Chad and the twins. Big G was a fan of the country style and preferred this for sure in his brinner.
Oh yes, did I mention we made brinner with these? Brinner = Breakfast +Dinner
A family favorite for dinner, breakfast. Why slave away making an extravagant dinner when you can have all the excellent food groups in dinner. We made a breakfast scramble of which the pictures I tried to obtain were limited because dinner was such a hit in my house. We warmed these frozen links in the frying pan (just a preference over heating in the microwave) and cut them into bite size pieces.
Here is our full recipe:
1 package al fresco Country Style frozen chicken sausage
4 whole eggs + 1 c egg whites, all scrambled together
Diced red and green bell peppers
Diced red onions
Spinach (optional, but I love me some raw spinach!)
Heat links in pan until warmed thoroughly, remove from pan and dice into bit size chunks. Pour egg mixture with diced vegetables in the pan, just before eggs are completely finished cooking add in the chunks of sausage to rewarm. Toss around in pan until all egg is completely cooked and serve atop a bed of spinach. VOILA! Enjoy.
Upon further inspection of the ingredients here is the low down to really solidify the minimally processed, all natural, whole foods aspect:
SKINLESS CHICKEN MEAT, CONTAINS 2% OR LESS OF WATER, SALT, SUGAR, SPICES, SAGE, THYME, NATURAL FLAVORINGS.
That’s it! Those are all the ingredients which I can get behind when feeding my family. I know exactly what they are eating and I am not having to try to decipher some scientifically assigned word for the creation of my food. If you need a PhD in chemical engineering to read your food label we might have a problem.
While I said that’s it, we really aren’t done yet! You see, al fresco launched a recipe sweepstakes called #ChickenAndTheEgg that runs until December 31 of this year. All you need to do is submit your all star recipe to be entered to win on January 5, 2015 a free breakfast for four ($200 value) AND a year’s supply of al fresco chicken sausage (16 packages). Here’s how you can enter to win:
 Share a photo on Instagram of your best al fresco chicken sausage and egg breakfast recipe with #ChickenANDtheEgg.
Tag the @alfrescogourmet Instagram account.
Follow the @alfrescogourmet Instagram account.
Want to know where you can find al fresco products? Just do a quick search of retailers in your area. Take advantage of the #ChickenAndTheEgg recipe sweeps we would love to see your recipes and photos all over Instagram. I know a lot of you visit us for recipe ideas, let’s see your hidden gems for recipe ideas. al fresco keeps laying on the awesomeness (ha ha get it…laying…laying eggs…I digress) to have you share your recipes. Until the end of January, if you buy two packages of al fresco breakfast chicken sausages at any store, you will receive a FREE carton of eggs. Chicken sausage + free eggs allows you to make breakfast (or dinner) better.
Holidays are my favorite time of year for baking and cooking. My kids are always wanting some sweet treat for themselves or to share. Mix up a bag of fun for the holidays – no cooking required! With just a few vegan candies and snacks, plastic baggies and a festive tag that you can download and print, you can make these cute snack bags that are perfect stocking stuffers, secret Santa bonuses or class treats!
Toss a handful of each ingredient into a plastic baggie. Seal the top. Download, print, and cut out the gift label. Fold, and staple the label to the top of each sealed baggie.
I am normally a huge fan of desserts. Starting any meal with a dessert is truly living. But I live in a world where the reality is we cannot always have our cake and eat it too. So I substitute with some amazing comfort foods that warm my family’s belly’s as well as their hearts; The Chad loved to eat this favorite while growing up on air force bases. It’s a fairly inexpensive and goes the mile type of meal, sure to have plenty of leftovers, and let’s be honest….the leftovers are ALWAYS better the next day.
4-6 chicken breasts, cooked, diced and or shredded
1 & 1/2 c of Kirkland Organic Mixed vegetables (potatoes, corn, green beans, carrots, celery), I like frozen, you can just toss them in and forget about it.
Organic Chicken broth (generally about 3-4 cups depending on how many people you are feeding)
Cream of Chicken soup is the shortcut way, I like to mix some heavy cream with my homemade Organic Chicken Broth.
Salt and pepper to flavor
1 bay leaf
For the Dumplings:
2 1/2 c Bisquick (I like to scratch bake my biscuits as opposed to using Bisquick, the choice is yours)
2/3 c. milk
In a large pot, dutch oven, crock pot, or Cuisinart Multi-Cooker like mine, simmer chicken, broth, vegetables, until vegetables are tender maybe an hour or more depending on how much flavor you want your vegetables to absorb. I personally slow cook my chicken overnight to have them fall apart and shred on their own into the pot.
Slowly add cream of chicken (or cream) and stir gently ever careful not to boil. Add bay leaf and let simmer for 20 minutes, skim out the leaf before the dumplings. While simmering mix the Bisquick and milk until a dough forms and slowly drop into soup mixture, cover and let cook for 10 minutes or until dough rises like bread and biscuits form. Remove from heat and ladle out into a bowl, serve with butter and pepper.
Enjoy some of our favorite holiday recipes! Pumpkin is always a favorite for fall and winter dishes as the gourd is always in season during the cooler months. Here is our organic pumpkin pie recipe with a fresh Fairytale style pumpkin from our CSA. Another Holiday favorite is the Swiss roll. This delicious cake treat is remiss of the Little Betty Swiss Miss rolls with a creamy whipped filling, topped with a chocolate ganache coating. The cake may be a bit bitter as it is a Turkish chocolate delight, but still sweet and delish!
Pumpkin Pie
1 pumpkin
6 c. water for boiling
2 c. flour (for crust, obviously)
1/2 c. water (for crust)
1 c. shortening
Heat oven to 425*
1 3/4 c. mashed pumpkin
1 3/4 c. milk
2 large eggs
2/3 c. brown sugar
2 T. sugar
1 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves (be sure to ONLY use a 1/4 tsp or your pie will be very SPICY and the cloves will be overbearing)
Gut the pumpkin and all seeds. Cut into two inch cubes leaving skin on the meat during boiling. The boil time for an average size to a small pumpkin is roughly 25-35 minutes. Remove from water and allow to cool somewhat before removing skin to avoid burning. Once all skin is removed, mash or puree until desired consistency. Allow the mashed pumpkin to be completely cool before adding to pie mixture.
While pumpkin is cooling, mix flour, water, shortening together until dough forms. Roll out on a lightly floured surface to 1/8 inch thickness. Add to pie pan and flute edges. Fluting can be done with fingers, fork, or a spoon.
Mix together sugar and eggs until a creamed consistency, adding in mashed pumpkin. Mix thoroughly slowly adding milk, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and the cloves. By following these steps your pie will have a smooth consistency allowing all the ingredients to blend well together. Cook for 45-55 minutes using a toothpick to determine if the center is done. The pie will have a rich golden hue as will the crust.
Swiss Cake Roll
Preheat oven to 400*
2 eggs (separate yolks from whites)
3 T. flour
1/4 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 T. warm water (I used day old warm coffee, adds a bitterness and a wonderful rich sweet taste)
1 oz cube of melted Bakers Semi-Sweet baking chocolate (or 2T melted chocolate chips) Filling:
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1 tsp vanilla
1 T. confectioners sugar (or 1/4 c. sugar)
May add fresh fruit or flavor or your choice, almond, etc.
I also apologize for the poor picture quality….the cake was being eaten so fast to take when it was at it’s “prettiest.”
Beat together egg yolks and sugar until creamy, slowly adding the chocolate (be sure not too hot or will cook the eggs) and warm water. Then beat until foamy the egg whites, slowly adding in the flour, baking powder mix. Once the eggs and flour, baking powder are completely combined, slowly begin to add in the chocolate mixture. Once completely blended pour into waxed lined baking pan (13X9, buttered or greased then lined with wax paper or freezer paper for best results and lightly greased again). Bake for 12 minutes, remove immediately and place face down on freezer paper (or wax paper) dusted with powdered sugar. Place damp cloth on top to ease cooling time and allow cake to be easily rolled while warm, removing hard or rough edges, unroll after completely cooled and add cream filling.
Beat together sugar, vanilla, and heavy cream until a creamy, comes to a bit of a peak consistency. Do not over beat…filling will be ruined. Slowly spread along inside of cake, roll again and serve dusted with confectioners sugar or topped with drizzled chocolate or fresh fruit.
The chef in the family is me. I create many dishes based on flavor, taste, experience and pure creativity. Some, are amazing, some, have been choked on and then tossed. So when I feel I need inspiration because my culinary creativity is a bit constipated I reach for my cookbooks. The holiday season is my favorite time of year, baking pies, cookies, and desserts is my specialty. But with the holiday seasons I am also finding I am running out of time to make regular scheduled meals.
Admittedly I like to be a lazy cook. Most days I would rather lounge on my couch and let the cooking be done by itself, I struggle some days to find the pure gumption to concoct a creative meal. Another admission, I rarely if ever, utilize my slow cooker. One might think with twins that I would be the slow cooker queen. Alas I am not and fail miserably to even have an ounce of creativity for it’s use aside from chili or chicken and dumplings.
Apparently there is a gamut of delicious recipes that span even farther than traditional dinners, stews, chili’s and dips. The slow cooker can be utilized for any meal at any time. With the cool weather here in Arizona and my social life that
has become more bountiful than it ever was when I was in my 20s, thanks to my children, I am finding that my slow cooker is a time and life saver when running amok. Scouts, church, volunteer events, school luncheons, field trips, Jeep owner gatherings and revelry with friends creates for little time to actually exercise my true culinary talents.
So the Easy Everyday Slow Cooker Recipes Book is chock full of ideas for dinners….and now desserts. I chose one of my favorites to nosh on for dinner in a rush. Plus if you are like me and would love to use your slow cooker more, this is the book for you. Here is a new spin on beef stew for the whole family to stay warm these fall and winter nights:
Country Italian Beef Stew, page 66, beef, international
Serves 6 to 8
Ingredients:
3 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper, divided
2 lbs stewing beef, cut into 1-inch cubes
2 tbsp vegetable oil (approx.)
6 tiny new potatoes, halved or quartered
2 parsnips, cut into 1- to 2-inch pieces
1 fennel bulb, trimmed and cut into 1â„2-inch wedges
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup beef broth
1â„2 cup dry red wine
1 can (7 1â„2 oz) pizza sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp dried rosemary, crumbled
1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves
Directions:
1. In a heavy plastic bag, combine flour, salt and 1â„2 tsp of the pepper. In batches, add beef to bag and toss to coat with flour mixture. Discard excess flour mixture.
2. In a large nonstick skillet, heat half the oil over medium-high heat. Cook beef in batches, adding more oil as needed, for 5 minutes or until browned all over. Using a slotted spoon, transfer to slow cooker stoneware. Stir in potatoes, parsnips, fennel and onion.
3. In a 2-cup measuring cup, combine broth, wine, pizza sauce, garlic, rosemary and the remaining pepper. Pour over beef mixture.
4. Cover and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours or on High for 4 to 5 hours, until bubbling. Just before serving, stir in spinach until wilted.
Tip:
Crush dried rosemary between your thumb and fingers before adding it to a dish. This helps release the full aromatic flavor of the herb.
Today I begin my marathon of holiday cooking. I truly love to cook and as I mentioned desserts. I had no idea this dessert was a holiday classic. In the Best of Bridge Holiday Classics, you can find over 225 recipes like this Chocolate Raspberry Torte that are sure to be a hit for holiday entertaining:
Ingredients: Cake:
2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking powder
3 squares (1 oz. / 30 g size) unsweetened chocolate
1/2 cup butter
2 cups light brown sugar,packed
3 eggs
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
3/4 cup sour cream
1/2 cup strong coffee
1/2 cup coffee flavoured liqueur Filling:
1 cup whipping cream
2 Tbsp. icing sugar
1-12 oz. jar raspberry or strawberry jam
Chocolate Sour Cream Icing:
1 1/2 cups chocolate chips
3/4 cup sour cream
dash of salt
fresh raspberries or strawberries
Garnish:
Courtesy of Robert Rose 2014
1 good quality dark chocolate bar (at room temperature).
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350F. (180 degrees C). Grease and flour two 9 inch (1.5 L) layer cake pans. Sift dry ingredients. Melt chocolate and let cool. In a large bowl beat butter, brown sugar, and eggs at a high speed until mixture is light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in melted chocolate and vanilla. At low speed, beat in flour mixture (in fourths), alternating with sour cream (in thirds). Add coffee and liqueur, blending until smooth. Pour batter into pans and bake 30 to 35 minutes or until surface springs back. Cool in pans for 10 minutes, then remove from pans and cool on wire racks.
Filling:Beat cream with icing sugar until stiff. Refrigerate. Slice cake layers in half horizontally to make four layers. (Hint: Cake layers slice more easily if frozen first.) Place one layer, cut side up, on cake plate. Spread with 1/2 cup (125 mL) raspberry jam and 1/2 cup (125 mL) whipped cream mixture. Repeat with remaining layers, ending with top layer, cut side down.
Icing:Melt chocolate chips in top of double boiler. Add sour cream and salt and beat until icing is creamy and smooth. Ice top and sides of cake. Garnish: Using a vegetable peeler, shave along long side of chocolate bar to create small curls. Make lots! – and “spill†some onto the cake plate.
We hope you love these two books as much as we do! I know I enjoy having a library of cookbooks in my arsenal when I want to create something different and I’m short on time and sometimes creativity. Now you too can have these in your collection of quality cookbooks.
Disclaimer: Participating Blogs were not compensated for this post. No purchase is necessary to enter. One entrant per household, per address. Void where prohibited by law. Winner(s) will be contacted by email and have 48 hours to respond before a new winner is chosen. Robert Rose Inc, will be responsible for processing product to the winner of this sweepstakes. This event is in not administered, sponsored, endorsed by, or associated with, Facebook, Twitter, Google, Pinterest. Contact karie@thefivefish.com if you have additional questions or concerns.
Bru Joy is bringing joy and happiness to any chef’s kitchen. The Sydney, Australia based company is dedicated to designing products that are innovative, functional and easy to use. Make your life easier, happier and more attractive with these heavy gauge stainless steel products that make operating your kitchen a breeze.
Here is what we at The Five Fish have to say about some of the products. You can find Bru Joy and their entire line of kitchen utensils and home goods available solely on Amazon.com. Continue reading “Joy to Your Kitchen with Bru Joy Giveaway”
At Thanksgiving we will all be stuffing ourselves silly. Just before the gorge I will be preparing desserts galore, which happen to be my favorite part of the holiday, the sweets. This year I want to embrace a dinner favorite, yet give it a new spin of life. Pies are timeless, expected. What about a an old favorite like cake, married with an old favorite like sweet potatoes? Intrigued? Continue reading “Sweet Potato Cake Recipe”
The timeless smell and tangy taste of apple pie. You know fall has arrived when apple treats begin to spawn all around; candied apples, caramel apples, apple pie, apple turnover and of course apple cider. An apple treat that I stumbled across in my cookbooks over the summer resulted in a crowd pleasing favorite. Imagine apple pie made into a cake. Whimsy prompted me to choose this recipe for which I had never tried prior to the Fourth of July holiday and has since become the most requested meal of a dessert.
Not only was this apple pie in a cake, but this beauty is also gluten and dairy free. One of the many recipes I have modified for my best friend if we are to partake in gluttonous activities together.
If you are a fan of crumb cake, coffee cake, apple pie and or all of the above then this recipe is for you and surely to become a hit for whatever event you plan to cater. Most recently I was called upon by my husband and son to subject a gaggle of six and seven year old boy scouts (and their dads) to my creation. Wanting to exceed their wildest expectations I modified the recipe even further.
While the recipe calls for 3 peeled and cored apples I went a step further, as I did in my original rendering, and used 4-5 medium-large apples. The more sour the more sweet the cake is as well, so I chose some of the finest organic granny smith’s this go around. Doing so results in a mouth orgasm of epic proportions as the moisture of the apples wicks into the batter for a moderately viscous, tender cake treat. Pretty much the cake melts in your mouth for anyone lacking imagination.
Choosing not to peel my apples as well because I think the skin adds a natural beauty, crunch if exposed just right at the crust while baking, plus I would rather not waste some of the best parts of the apple. I also did not core my apples but opted to chop and then clean up the flesh housing the seeds, again not wanting to waste precious apple.
Prep your pans by misting with non-stick spray and dusting lightly with flour. Again, I modified this from the original recipe as I was catering to a citizenry of boy scouts and their fathers (my husband and son included) so we opted for cupcakes. The original will call for a tube pan.
During my chopping session which yields a great amount of pleasure and stress relief, our oven is becoming moderately warm (325*F). Prepping two bowls, one for mixing and one for the apples I start to combine some of our ingredients.
Entertaining two bowls in the baking process is helpful if you will be looking to sift flour, as you are combining and allowing certain ingredients to mix; the sifting can be performed during this time to maximize aeration of your dry ingredients. In my first bowl I have three (3) eggs that have been resting at room temperature, I can achieve a great amount of whip and volume in our cake using this logic. At this point I have only added half of the called for granulated sugar, three quarters of one cup (total recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of sugar), to our eggs. The other half has been sprinkled and tossed about in our apples. Why? You ask. The sugar will coat our apples and wick out the juices creating a wonderful glaze and aqueous rendering.
Continuing to beat our eggs…at a medium pace…add in 1 1/2 cups of vegetable oil, I opt for 1 cup of coconut oil and 1/2 cup of olive oil for the moisture. You may do as you wish and choose the full amount of either. Still mixing, fold in a half cup of packed, light brown sugar. When the mixture is smooth and creamy pour in the vanilla extract one teaspoon at a time for a total of two. Your wet ingredients should resemble a caramel color and be ready for the apple infusion; slowly add the apples to your partially completed batter, the chunks will cause bumps in the blending process however they will begin to coalesce.
Lastly our dry components to our apple masterpiece. I mentioned gluten free so hold onto your shorts before they get into a bunch. Gluten free doesn’t always have to taste like cardboard and in fact you could use standard flour, again, I like to not eat alone just as alcoholics like to drink with a crowd. Using your finest sieve filter together two (2) teaspoons of cinnamon, one half (1/2) teaspoon of nutmeg, one (1) teaspoon of baking soda and three (3) cups of flour. I modified mine, using 1c coconut flour and 2c Pamela’s Artisan flour.
Slowly fold in these final elements until well blended. Your mixture should be a bit sticky, partially lumpy with your apples, yet exuding an awesomeness in aroma before even hitting the oven.
Using cupcake pans cut my cook time in almost half, bake these beauties until the top springs back when lightly pressed with your finger. Please do so with caution…I would rather not be held liable for your burns and shortcomings. If using a tube pan, prepare for 75-80 minutes if you would like to use a traditional timer, if going for cupcakes, allow at least 30-35 minutes. Cool for 25 minutes (for tube pan) and 5-10 minutes for cupcakes and transfer to a wire rack.
Finishing touches should be a caramel glaze:
3 T: butter, granulated (or turbinado) sugar, brown sugar, heavy (whipping) cream and 1/2 tsp vanilla. Boil for a minute and remove from heat and spoon over the cake.
My finishing touch, again…modified was a cream cheese caramel glaze. Using the caramel glaze above, substituting milk for the cream and blending while still hot with two (2) ounces of cream cheese and one cup of powdered sugar.
While the recipe calls for 3 peeled and cored apples I went a step further, as I did in my original rendering, and used 4-5 medium-large apples. The more sour the more sweet the cake is as well, so I chose some of the finest organic granny smith’s this go around. Doing so results in a mouth orgasm of epic proportions as the moisture of the apples wicks into the batter for a moderately viscous, tender cake treat. Pretty much the cake melts in your mouth for anyone lacking imagination.
Lastly our dry components to our apple masterpiece. I mentioned gluten free so hold onto your shorts before they get into a bunch. Gluten free doesn’t always have to