Seven Layer Greek Dip

Seven Layer Dip- when you hear this name, probably the first recipe you think of is the delicious gooey goodness of refried beans, guacamole, salsa and sour cream topped with all the fixin's. But everyone brings the Mexican version to parties... how about changing it up Mediterranean style next time? Here I layer creamy hummus, bright and zippy Greek yogurt sauce similar to Tzatziki, garden tomatoes, cucumbers, feta cheese and Kalamata olives for a fresh and unexpected spin on a traditional party favorite. This recipe has become a go-to of mine to bring to parties and get-together's with friends.  It is ALWAYS a huge hit and the recipe is always requested.  In fact I bought this appetizer to a recent neighborhood Recipe and Wine Night party and won 1st Place for best Appetizer! Its great served with fresh pita bread, a veggie tray, crackers or pita chips. And if you happen to have leftovers, roll them inside a pita with some crunchy lettuce for a delicious wrap.

While you could totally buy a tub of hummus and pre-made Tzatziki at the store, I love making my own for this app. Hummus is one of those recipes that is SO EASY that after making it the first time you will wonder why you ever bought it pre-made at the store. The ingredients are inexpensive, you can easily change the flavors by what you happen to have in your fridge and all you do is literally dump all the ingredients into a food processor or blender, push a button and DONE.  Simple as that! I am going to share with you my favorite Hummus recipe if you wish to give it a whirl! But either way, store bought or homemade, this Seven Layer Greek Dip is sure to be a huge hit with all your up and coming holiday parties!

Seven Layer Greek Dip

1/2 English cucumber, quartered and chopped
1 pint cherry tomatoes, quartered
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup sliced Kalamata or black olives
3 Tablespoons finely chopped red onion
a few sprigs fresh dill, stems removed

For the Hummus
2 (15 ounce) cans of garbanzo beans (chickpeas), juices from one can reserved
1/3 cup tahini
1/3 cup lemon juice (roughly the juice of two and half lemons)
3-4 cloves garlic
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp crushed red chili flakes
pinch cumin

Combine in food processor or blender the garbanzo beans, tahini, 1/4 cup lemon juice, garlic, salt, red chili flakes and cumin.  Bend until smooth.  Taste and add more lemon juice to suit your taster.  We prefer  it more on the lemony side.  It will be quite thick at this point.  Slowly add in some of the reserved garbanzo bean juice to thin it out.  Blend again.  Add more of the juice, blend and taste. Repeat until you reach the right consistency.  You won't need all the juice just enough to get it creamy!!  The texture should be smooth and creamy and not too thick.

For the Greek Yogurt Sauce
1 1/3 cups thick plain Greek yogurt, like Fage
1-2 garlic cloves, finely minced (I love a lot of garlic flavor, so I use 2 cloves)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 Tablespoon fresh dill, minced
1 Tablespoon fresh parley, minced

Combine all Greek Yogurt Sauce ingredients in a medium sized bowl and set aside. If you prefer a more mild flavor, you can make this up to a day in advance stored in the fridge.  The longer it sits in the fridge, the less "bite" the garlic will have.

Putting it all Together

On a large platter or 8x8 pan, evenly spread the hummus. Next, careful not to smear together with the hummus, evenly spread the Greek Yogurt Sauce on top of the Hummus creating your second layer. Top with cucumbers, tomatoes, feta cheese, olives, and red onion.  Sprinkle minced fresh dill over the top (kitchen scissors work great for snipping dill evenly over the layered dip!)

Serve immediately with pita bread cut into wedges, fresh veggies, crackers or pita chips.

Fridays Feasting with Friends Featuring Erin Fabian

"One of the delights of life is eating with friends, second to that is talking about eating. And, for an unsurpassed double whammy, there is talking about eating while you are eating with friends."

~Laurie Colwin 'Home Cooking'

Erin Fabian

Today's guest is a truly special person in my life, and one I am very excited about sharing with all of you.  Erin Fabian is a dear friend, fellow educator with Babywearing International of Cleveland and easily one of the kindest and most compassionate people I have ever, ever met.  Has there ever been a time when you've met a person in life and you just know they were put into yours for a specific reason- that is my sweet Erin. What started as a mutual love for teaching others about Babywearing, has grown into a friendship built on faith and fellowship. When I think of Erin my mind wanders to Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another." She is my wonderfully levelheaded friend, my confidant and go-to when I need support and honest advice.  She makes me feel stronger when I am near her and helps me to see things more clearly. Plus she is just so darn fun! What a treasure to have in a friend! So without further ado, I give you Erin. 


What is your occupation?
I am a pharmacist by training but I work for a medical publishing company. I write information for health care professionals on poisonings and overdoses and the use of medications in pregnancy and lactation. So, if you overdose on something, the ER doctor might look up what to do for you in the stuff I write. Or, if you want to take a medicine while pregnant, the doctor or pharmacist may look in the information I write to decide what to tell you.

What is your favorite thing to cook?
I prefer to bake. But, in general, I like to cook meals that are a part of family traditions or are a part of a meaningful celebration.

If I had to pick a “favorite”—it would be Potica. Potica is a Slovenian nut roll that my grandma taught my father, sister, and I to bake before she passed away in 2014. Her husband’s family owned a bakery on the east side of Cleveland and she had learned how to make potica as a young wife from her mother in law. She would always scoff that various bakeries would put breadcrumbs in their nut rolls which is why they didn’t taste as good as hers. Any time she would taste another person’s potica, there would be a comment about the thickness of the dough, the presence or absence of raisins, and just a general sense of disapproval. She had her ways and they were the best.

Potica was her signature dessert and it was a big deal that she even let us know how to make it. We spent YEARS fighting tooth and nail to get her to tell us all of the ingredients. Slowly but surely, she began to fill in the blanks of the frustratingly empty handwritten recipe card that she kept in her recipe box (WHY do handwritten recipes NEVER include all the ingredients or instructions?!). She was always so smug sitting in the corner supervising our efforts—smirking when we would trip up. The Christmas after she passed away, my dad, sister, and I decided to keep our Christmas tradition of baking potica alive and we struggled to get it just right that year. The following Christmas, our world would be rocked.

Erin's sister Nickele and their grandmother making Potica

In preparation for “The Baking of the Potica 2015”, my mother headed to the grocery store to gather the necessary ingredients. A sucker for interesting packaging, she decided to go with a different type of flour. The package had caught her eye because it looked “old fashioned”. She went with it. To her surprise, when she unpacked the groceries at home, she spied something eerily familiar on the back of the flour bag. A recipe for nut roll. That was exact, word for word, my grandmother’s recipe card. Annoying omissions and all. What. The. Hell.

As it turns out, the flour company was an old Cleveland institution back in the early 1900’s—just when my grandfather’s family ran their bakery. We have done some investigating but we cannot determine which came first, the family potica recipe or the flour company recipe. We may never know.

How about your least favorite thing to cook?
Anything that requires too many dishes or gadgets. I have only recently began living in a house with a dishwasher and I still just cannot get used to using it. I still like to hand wash dishes as I cook and too many dishes make me bananas. Speaking of bananas, my husband and father in law love my banana cream pie and it requires the use of a lot of dishes. So that’s my answer. I don’t like making banana cream pie.

What is your favorite local restaurant and what is one you are dying to try out?
Favorite: That’s hard. I have specific favorite things from a bunch of different places. I love the french toast from L’Albatros. I love the affogato from Crop Bistro (no longer on the menu…boo). I love s’mores ice cream from Mitchell’s. I love hummus and milk shakes from Tommy’s. I love the way my kids eat anything they get at Yours Truly and don't complain while they are there.

Dying to try out: The Farmer, The Butcher, The Chef in Austinburg, OH

Music and food go together so beautifully. You are hosting a dinner party, what would be on your playlist?
Likely I would have a theme to said party—so some sort of theme music.

If it is friends hanging out, probably something chill. Iron and Wine, The Wood Brothers, The Devil Makes Three, The Band, Mandolin Orange, Mipso, Trampled by Turtles, The Avett Brothers.

If it is a gaggle of toddlers and preschoolers and frazzled moms (most likely): Caspar Babypants

What would you choose to be your last meal on earth?
Apple crisp with vanilla bean ice cream

What are you currently reading?
Discovering the Enneagram by Richard Rohr

What is your favorite Kitchen Gadget?

Tie between a stand mixer and the InstantPot

Do you have a signature go-to dish?
My family would say chicken paprikas

What is your favorite thing about the Cleveland area?
The fact that we have four distinct seasons, the lake and the various things that come with it (sailing, swimming, sunsets), awesome rivers for paddling, great biking, a thriving wine region, countless destinations for family vacations within a reasonable driving distance. The fact that our cost of living is low. The growing optimism that is palpable downtown. Our museums. The orchestra. The theater.

Seriously, aren't her daughters just the cutest?!

Do you have a favorite meal from your childhood and do you cook it today?
My mom rarely made the same thing more than once—but she did routinely make a certain tortellini sausage soup. And yes, I still make that. My grandma made many of our meals when I was a kid. One of my favorites was Hawaiian Bread French Toast on Thursday mornings. I tend to make french toast with challah bread instead. But I will break out the sweet bread if I am feeling nostalgic.

Top 3 Movies of all time?
Zero idea. I am not much of a movie enthusiast. I’ll go with movies I have probably seen the most in my life: Monty Python and the Holy Grail, Goonies, and Beauty and the Beast. As you can tell, I haven’t watched many movies as a grown up apparently.

What was your happiest moment in life?
Falling in love with my husband and the birth of my kids (separate moments—I loved my husband before my kids were born)

Erin and her husband Jayson

Where do you do your grocery shopping?
Costco and Giant Eagle mostly (but would shop at Wegman’s hands down if we had one closer to us!)

What is your favorite guilty pleasure when it comes to food?
These dark russet potato chips that are like a whole bag of burnt potato chips. LOVE.

Do you have Culinary Resolutions that you would like to accomplish this year?

Get our chest freezer moved back into our house (we recently underwent a giant renovation and not everything has been moved back) and start back on freezer meals for weeknights.

One word that best describes you is:

Energetic

Eclipse 2017 anyone?!

And now for your favorite recipe:

Chicken Paprikas
Serves 4-6

1 onion, chopped
2 tbsp bacon grease
1 tbsp paprika
1 tsp black pepper
2 tsp salt
4-5 lbs chicken thighs
1 ½ cups water
½ pint sour cream
3 tbsp bacon grease
Enough flour to make a roux

Instructions:
In a large dutch oven or similar pot, brown onion in 2 tbsp bacon grease; add seasonings and brown until fragrant. Add chicken. Brown for 10 minutes. Add water; cover and let simmer slowly until tender (2 hours).

Remove chicken from the liquid, discarding skin, bones, and knuckles. Set meat aside.

In a medium pan, melt 3 tbsp bacon grease. Add flour and whisk to make a roux. Slowly add liquid from the chicken pot to the roux until well mixed. Add all back to the chicken pot. Add sour cream to the pot and mix well.

Return the chicken to the pot.

Add galuska (see recipe below), if desired
Heat through and serve
For more gravy, add ½ pint sweet cream to sour cream

Galuska
Serves 4-6 people

3 eggs, beaten
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
½ cup water

Instructions:

Mix all ingredients together and beat with a spoon
Drop batter by teaspoonful into boiling salted water.
Cook about 10 minutes; drain and rinse with cold water
Drain well and add to paprikas or serve on the side.

***Recipes adapted from my grandmother and the ladies of the Hungarian Reformed Church - Fairport Harbor, OH***

making silly faces with her daughter

Classic Ratatouille

We belong to our local CSA, Fresh Fork Market and just LOVE IT. Wednesdays are my favorite day of the week when we get to head to the neighborhood truck and pick up our weekly share. The bags are overflowing with the most gorgeous fruits, veggies, and since we get the Omnivore Share, meats too. It's such a fun way to not only support local farms and small businesses, but also try things you may never have picked up at the grocery store on your own. It keeps meal time exciting for sure! 

But sometimes I gotta admit on weeks when we are particularly busy (like last week!) I have to play a game of catch up to use my veggies before 1) they go bad 2) we are hit with next week's share doubling our fresh food and loosing space to store it all in my fridge! In these situations soups, stews and stir-fry's are kings in our house! And Friday was one of those days. In my crisper was zucchini, patty pan squash, eggplant, a variety of peppers and my counter tops were full of tomatoes (just to name a few!!). What was the best way to use this all up? Ratatouille of course! 

Ratatouille is a delicious vegetarian stew from the Provence region France using the best of summers bounty. It can be eaten as a side dish, spooned onto nice crusty bread, served over rice, stirred into pasta, we love it over roasted chicken and as a base instead of sauce for homemade pizza; its uses are endless! I won't lie, it is a bit of a labor of love due to lots of vegetable chopping and sauteing in batches, but its a super easy dish to throw together and can be made in advance and reheated throughout the week.  I actually think Ratatouille tastes even better the next day because then all the flavors have had a chance to meld together. It also freezes wonderfully! This recipe has become a favorite and I hope you love it as much as we do. 

Ratatouille

Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 onions halved and then sliced into wedges
2 peppers, deseeded and chopped into 2" chunks
2 eggplants quartered and then chopped into 2" chunks
2 zucchini or yellow squash halved and sliced
5-6 tomatoes roughly chopped, juices and seeds included
1 can whole plum tomatoes or stewed tomatoes, undrained
4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced
A few sprigs of fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried
1/2 bunch fresh basil
2 Tablespoons Balsamic Vinegar
Salt and fresh ground black pepper

Heat a large stock pot over medium heat. Add 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil. Once oil is hot add your chopped peppers, zucchini, and eggplant and sauté until they begin to soften and brown a bit. Do not cook through. Work in batches if needed and transfer cooked veggies to a bowl. Set aside.

Add a teaspoon of oil to the stockpot along with the garlic and onions. Sauté for 15 minutes until soft and beginning to caramelize. Add the cooked vegetables, tomatoes- fresh and canned, whole sprigs of thyme and Balsamic Vinegar to the pot. Stir well to combine, gently scraping the bottom of the pot to incorporate the wonderful brown bits into the stew. Cover and turn the heat down to low. Allow to simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Add a good pinch of salt and fresh ground black pepper and stir well. Simmer for an additional 15-30 minutes allowing the sauce to reduce and thicken. The longer the veggies simmer, the softer and silkier they will become. Taste and adjust seasoning.  Remove the stems of the thyme and discard. Now you want to chiffonade the basil. You do this by stacking the basil leaves on top of one another and then roll up. Thinly slice the basil creating long thin strips. Sprinkle the basil into the ratatouille, reserving a bit for garnish. Stir to combine.

Serve alongside crusty bread, trust me you'll want it to sop up all the delicious sauce. Enjoy!

Insalata Caprese, Tomato and Buffalo Mozzarella Salad

While studying abroad in London during college I took a holiday to Paris for the weekend. I got in late and was STARVING. After checking into my hotel I decided to go wander around and find a place to get a bite to eat. Paris seems to never sleep and there were so many amazing sites and smells all around me, but a cozy little pizza place called my name. After traveling in a foreign country, here I felt at home. This restaurant, of all places, was where I had Insalata Caprese, or Tomato Mozzarella Salad, for the first time. A classic Italian salad while in Paris, France! No better place really, it created a special memory that I'll never forget. What's even better is that it is SO EASY to recreate, and has become a summertime staple in our home.

Insalata Caprese

3-4 large Tomatoes, thickly sliced
2 large balls of Fresh Buffalo Mozzarella, thickly sliced
1 bunch fresh basil leaves, leaves stripped from the stems
Coarse Sea Salt and Fresh Ground Black Pepper, to taste
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Balsamic Glaze

Alternate thick slices of fresh Tomato (look for nice big ones!), Buffalo Mozzarella and Basil leaves around a large platter. Season generously with coarse sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Drizzle with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and a Balsamic Glaze. And then dig in!


This salad goes with just about anything. We equally love it alongside a juicy steak as with nice dippy eggs at breakfast. Sooooo good. While the tomatoes are still showing up in your CSA bag and at roadside stands, be sure to give this recipe a try! You'll see it's the perfect kiss of summer.

And here's a little tip.  Instead of buying the expensive basil in the plastic clam shell packs in the produce department (that seem to go bad way before you have time to use them all!) buy the fresh cut stems.  Then when you get home, place them in a glass or mason jar of water on your windowsill. You can pinch off the leaves as you need it when cooking and after time, your basil will start to take root! Eventually you can plant them in a pot for a kitchen cutting garden or in your back yard!

My Anniversary Surprise

One night while laying in bed, we were chatting about what we missed about life pre-kids. There really wasn't much we could think of, they definitely make our world better! But I did mention to Scott that I missed being able to go out on a whim for an overnight someplace, not needing to worry about babysitters or getting home at a particular hour, then sleeping in until we felt like then rolling down to brunch. We giggled and sighed and decided we traded in these little things for some pretty great kiddos.

East 4th Street, Downtown Cleveland

Well fast forward to last week and my sweetheart surprised me for our 12 year anniversary with EXACTLY that! He planned the whole thing- my amazing in-laws took the boys overnight so we could have a night on the town enjoying our beautiful CLE and one another, of course!

The view from our hotel room

We stayed at The Holiday Inn Express which is located in the renovated 19th century historic Guardian Bank Building built in 1894. Gorgeous! It was like taking a step back in time, but with modern flair. Our room had hardwood floors! I've decided that all hotels should have that, so so cool. The view from our room was awesome and we were located directly across the street from E. 4th meaning we could walk everywhere.

Signature Cocktails at Mabel's BBQ.  From left to right: Fool's Gold and Sauce Cutter Cocktail

The Arcade and a view of Public Square 

Bopping around the city on foot reminded us of our pre-married life living in Cambridge, MA. Scott thought of everything! Since he snagged our sitters early, we had the afternoon to explore, and that we did!  We had a Signature Cocktail at Mabel's BBQ (we neeeeed to go back for the food.  It smelled SO GOOD in there!) and visited Cleveland's classic Arcade.  What a gorgeous piece of architecture! We then wandered through 5th Street Arcades and discovered a few hidden gems and a new favorite shop, The Happy Hour Collection. Its full of retro barware, cocktail mixers, bitters and tinctures. This will be my new go-to for special gifts! It was then reservation time for a spectacular dinner at Red Steakhouse (no pictures! We were too hungry and gobbled everything up before I remembered to take a photo!) and then popped into the new Heinen's to take a peek. What a beauty! I wish that could be my regular weekly grocery shopping spot.

Art Museum or Grocery Store? - The stunning Heinen's Downtown

Then off to my next surprise of the evening which walked us right past where it all began, The Wyndham Cleveland at Playhouse Square, where we held our wedding reception 💗 Of course we had to snap a photo.

Allen Theater at Playhouse Square for Shakespeare in Love

Then it was off to Playhouse Square to see Shakespeare in Love! Oh what a wonderful performance. It was funny and charming and romantic all rolled into one. The cast put on a spectacular show and reminded me just how much I love the theater! We don't get to do this nearly enough.

Velvet Tango Room

After the show we popped into the Velvet Tango Room for some swanky cocktails to round out our night. If you have never been here before it is worth a visit! Each cocktail is carefully crafted; you can truly taste the artful mixing these bartenders create.  It's a welcome step back in time, where the clock slows down, the live music is jazzy and the conversation is always special.


But of all the beautiful plans for my surprise getaway, I think Friday morning was my favorite. We slept in as long as we wished in plushy, white blankets and lots of pillows with no requests for juice, or snacks or kindles. We enjoyed sweet morning snuggles while sipping coffee and catching up on blogs (me) and The New Yorker (him) until our tummies were ready for food. Then we got ourselves prettied up and headed to my next surprise- BRUNCH! It's probably my favorite word and easily my favorite thing. And something that we don't get to truly enjoy much anymore.

Le Petit Triangle Cafe

Scott took us to the most adorable restaurant, Le Petit Triangle Cafe. It's this tiny, colorful French bistro in the heart of Ohio City. The coffee was the best, hands down, I have ever enjoyed next to our honeymoon in Italy. Not to mention the wonderfully spicy Bloody Mary's. Mmmm.

Now onto the food... my photos don't do it justice, but trust me when I say it was perfection. I enjoyed the Croque Norveggien, which was egg dipped challah, smoked salmon, spinach, creamy boursin, drizzled with béchamel and topped with an egg. Scott had the Baccalahau au "Benedict" which were these incredible salt cod and potato cakes, pugliese, fried eggs, and a pimenton aioli.

left to right: Baccalahau au "Benedict", Croque Norveggien

Best. Coffee. Ever.

I can't recommend this restaurant enough, they created a cozy, truly authentic, down right delectable experience. Right here in our very own CLE! It was so fun being tourists in our own town and experiencing Cleveland in a different way. I think this may have to become our new anniversary tradition! Thank you Scottie for showering me with such a beautifully thought out getaway.  It was truly romantic!  I love you to the moon and back.



Have you ever taken a vacation in your hometown, treated your adventure as if you were a tourist yourself?  I would love to hear all about it!  Please share your stories with me here in the comments, on my Facebook page, or as you follow along with our families adventures on Instagram.

Friday's, Feasting with Friends Featuring Wendy Haas

"One of the delights of life is eating with friends, second to that is talking about eating. And, for an unsurpassed double whammy, there is talking about eating while you are eating with friends."

~Laurie Colwin 'Home Cooking'

Today's featured guest for Friday's, Feasting with Friends is my dear friend and fellow Babywearing International of Cleveland educator, Wendy Haas.  I have been attending meetings and then teaching with Wendy for what feels like ages and I love being able to share that part of my life with her.  There is a special bonding that comes with helping caregivers to wear their babies. I'll never forget the meeting that we were co-teaching, and chitchatting a bit while setting up. We discovered that we were both Art Historians- not a profession that you encounter very often! It is so fun to find your people in the least expected places. I worked at Harvard University Art Museums in Cambridge, MA directly out of college.  It was an amazing experience and one that very much formed me into who I am today. But holy cow, that was TWELVE years ago. It feels like a lifetime with so much that has happened in those 12 years- marriage, three children, moved 4 times, bought two houses, became a Stay at Home Mom; big life changes that make life pre-kids and marriage almost seem like a distant dream.  So having the opportunity to reconnect to that part of myself again through Wendy is a breath of fresh air. She is a wonderful conversationalist- be it art, music, politics, kid's, LIFE, it's good meaningful stuff. We went on a road trip together this summer to the International Babywearing Conference in Atlanta, GA and those many hours in the car flew by filled with wonderful conversations. That's what road trips are made of! Wendy has the loveliest little girls, they are such a delight, plus a sweet husband completing their little family.  She is a kindred spirit and I am pleased to introduce you all to her.  Enjoy.  

 Wendy Haas

What is your occupation?

Professor of art history

What is your favorite thing to cook?

Fried rice

How about your least favorite thing to cook?

Anything time-consuming.  I don’t MIND cooking, but I don’t really love it, either.  I want the things I make to be healthy, tasty, and EASY.

What is your favorite local restaurant and what is one you are dying to try out?

Mustard Seed has great vegan options for us (also, Melt and Aladin’s)!  We’d love to spend more time exploring the near West side and Tremont, trying places like Cleveland Vegan and Helio Terra Vegan Cafe.

Music and food go together so beautifully. You are hosting a dinner party, what would be on your playlist?

Beatles, probably because it’s the only request my children make!  Depending on the mood, I’d choose Paul Simon’s Graceland or Neutral Milk Hotel’s In the Areoplane Over the Sea, for myself, because they pair well with everything.

What would you choose to be your last meal on earth?

Gnocchi?  Not something I want to contemplate!

What are you currently reading?

Oh, Crap! Potty Training is on the list for the holidays, but I’d really like to finish Justin Cronin’s City of Mirrors first!  After that, I just got Confronting Racism in the Arts, which I hope will give me plenty of food for thought going into the spring semester.

What is your favorite Kitchen Gadget?

No contest!  Immersion blender!

Do you have a signature go-to dish?

I make a mean vegan spinach artichoke dip!

What is your favorite thing about the Cleveland area?

Low cost of living, excellent park system, world-class arts and culture...!  There’s so much to love about living here.

Do you have a favorite meal from your childhood and do you cook it today?

Nope!  I was a pretty picky eater and my parents, while good cooks, tended to prepare pretty generic fare most of the time.  Since going vegetarian in college and vegan a few years ago, almost all the recipes I use are new to me and my family.

Top 3 Movies of all time?

Star Wars, Indiana Jones (I’m partial to Temple of Doom, but love them all), Romancing the Stone

What was your happiest moment in life?

Hard to pinpoint.  I loved traveling alone, and found the freedom intoxicating!  Seeing monuments and museums I’d only ever studied was powerful and deeply moving.  But I also look fondly back on the first few weeks of my kids’ lives, the haze and fog of new love, and think that’s really what it’s all about.

Where do you do your grocery shopping?

Mostly Costco and Giant Eagle.  Some vegan ingredients are easier to come by at specialty stores; our local one is Krieger’s.

What is your favorite guilty pleasure when it comes to food?

Peanut butter, I think.  I eat it straight from the jar and get annoyed when my husband or anyone else uses it, even for the kids.  They have their own!

Do you have Culinary Resolutions that you would like to accomplish this year?

Not really.  We’re always working toward more efficient meal-planning, and wasting less food.  That last one may be nearly impossible with toddlers, but we can certainly be better at batch cooking and freezing things!

One word that best describes you is:

Anxious

And now for your favorite recipe:

Fried Rice with Tofu and Veggies
Adapted from 15-Minute Vegetarian

Ingredients:

1 c. veggie broth (I use one bouillon cube dissolved in hot water for extra flavor)

2 Tbsp. soy sauce

1 Tbsp. oil (I use canola)

Minced garlic at your discretion (I probably use a tablespoon or more!)

1 tsp. Ground ginger

Pinch of cayenne pepper

Stir-fry veggies (I use about a pound or a pound and a half of a frozen mix that includes onion, peppers, water chestnuts, baby corn, green beans, broccoli, etc.)

1 package of firm or extra-firm tofu, cubed (I usually press it for a half hour to an hour before cubing)

3-4 c. cooked rice (I tend to use brown rice, but recently tried this with cauliflower pearls and it was okay, too!)

1. Stir together broth, soy sauce, canola oil, ginger, garlic, and cayenne.
2. Heat a wok over medium-high heat for a minute or so, then pour in about a third of the broth mixture and add the veggies.
3. Stir-fry for a few minutes (usually 4-6) until soft.  
4. Add the tofu and another third of the broth mixture.  Stir-fry for another few minutes.
5. Add the rice (or cauliflower!) and the remainder of the broth mixture.  Stir and toss until heated through (about 3-4 minutes).

Bone Broth

One of the best things you can prepare in your own kitchen instead of purchasing in the store is hands down homemade stocks and broth.  Sure it is convenient to grab a box of chicken or beef stock at the grocery store when your recipe calls for it, but the nutrient-dense stocks that you can cook at home with very little effort and very minimal cost outweigh any convenience!  The main ingredients to any stock or broth are water, bones from animals (chicken, turkey, beef, lamb, fish, venison, bison, pork, etc.), a few vegetables, and spices. You put all your ingredients together in a large stock pot or crock pot and allow to simmer (about 45 minutes to an hour for broth, 3-4 hours for stock and 24+ hours for bone broth), strain and then serve or store for future recipes.  And what you get in return is not only delicious and pure- no strange preservatives, MSG or additives added in like the store bought counterpart, but jam-packed with nutrition. There is a reason chicken soup is suggested to help beat a cold!  Sure it is warm, comforting and easy on a sore throat but it is so much more than just that.  It is super high in protein, full of minerals that your body craves; gelatin, calcium and potassium, all which support healthy skin, hair, nails and bones, and teeth.  It is a basically a powerhouse of nutrition!  The longer you cook your bones the more minerals and nutrients you are pulling out of the bones. If chicken stock that has been simmered for 45 minutes is thought to be good for a cold, can you imagine the dense health benefits a bone broth that has been simmered for 24 or more hours can do for your body? The stuff is pretty amazing.

Broth and stocks can be sipped as a tea, used as a base for soups, braising vegetables and meats, and to replace the water in most recipes (rice, sauces, gravies, etc.) to not only add the health benefits but also boost your flavor!  Try making a simple rice using just water and give it a taste.  Next make that same rice but replace the water with stock.  You will never want to use water again, it's a game changer!

You can purchase your bones at the butcher or the meat counter of your local grocery store for about $2 a pound.  You will then want to roast them in the oven (30 minutes at 350 degrees) to bring a richness in flavor but also to remove any bitterness the raw bones can add to the stock. But really the easiest method in my opinion is to simply reserve the leftover bones when you roast your meat- chicken, turkey, a pot roast, etc.  If I don't plan on making my bone broth within a few days I will store them in the freezer in a resealable plastic bag until I'm ready. You will almost always find a chicken carcass or two in my downstairs freezer!

Turkey carcass, vegetables, herbs and seasoning

If I am cooking a quick broth or just a simple stock that only takes 3-4 hours then I make it on my stovetop in a heavy bottomed stock pot or dutch oven.  But when I am doing a chicken or turkey bone broth that needs to cook for at least 24 hours or a beef bone broth that will go for 48 hours then I prefer to utilize my crock pot. I just feel safer going to bed or leaving the house during that time without an open flame on my gas stove.

On Thanksgiving I am just as excited to save my bones after my (very handsome!) husband carves the turkey, as I am to eat the meat itself!  Ha! Our turkey this year turned out so fantastic (thank you Alton Brown! Your Brined Thanksgiving Turkey recipe never fails!) that I knew the bone broth was going to be incredible.  So after carving, the bones went back into the roasting pan, covered and into the fridge until the following day.  For a bone broth you want to pick off the majority of the meat.  A little bit is ok, (think the meat left on the neck or the little bit that is adhering to the bones) but our focus are those beautiful bones.

Scott carving up our Thanksgiving turkey

Snow is falling, temperatures dropping and Winter is upon us. Which means one thing- cold and flu season is here.  So if you haven't started making your own bone broth and stocks now is the best time. Let's build up those powerful immunities and make staying healthy our top priority! Here's to a healthy You!

Turkey Bone Broth after 27 hours in the crock pot, before straining

Bone Broth

2 lbs or more, roasted bones (about 2-3 chicken carcasses, or 1 turkey carcass)
1 onion cut into fourths
2-3 large carrots, cut into thirds (if organic no need to peel)
2 celery stalks including the leaves, roughly chopped
2 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 bay leaf
1 Tablespoon whole peppercorns
2 garlic cloves, smashed
Optional: bunch of fresh herbs (since this was thanksgiving turkey stock I wanted to go with those flavors so I used parsley and rosemary)
salt, about a teaspoon

Place roasted bones in the bottom of your crock pot. Add the vegetables, vinegar, bay leaf, peppercorns, garlic and herbs. Add enough cold water to cover the bones.  Cook on low a minimum 24 hours.

When finished cooking the bones should crumble when pressed lightly between your fingers.  This means that all the minerals and nutrients have been pulled out of the bones and into your bone broth. Turn off the crock pot and allow to cool slightly.  Strain the broth using a fine mesh sieve to remove all bits of vegetable, herbs and bones.  I like to lightly press the solids with a wooden spoon in the sieve to remove all the broth. Discard all of the bones and vegetables. Season with salt.

To skim or not to skim? You can enjoy your bone broth as is, but if you choose to have less fat in your broth, then you will need to skim the fat that accumulates at the top.  Skimming off most of the fat is more important if you’re using bones from animals that are conventionally raised, like those found at your traditional grocery store.  But fat is your friend and if you know the animals that you get your bones from are grass-fed then you can skip the skimming step. The easiest way to skim the fat is to place your bone broth into the refrigerator for several hours until a milky looking layer has formed on the top of your broth.  This is the fat.  You can then just scrape this off and discard.  

Store in fridge for up to one week or freeze.  You can freeze flat in quart-sized freezer bags, freeze in icecube trays and then transfer to freezer bags for more individual servings, or in mason jars. If using glass mason jars be sure to allow at least 2" of space to allow for expansion.  If you don't leave space and over-fill your jars they will crack and you will be left with a mess and no broth. Terribly tragic! Allow to cool completely before freezing.  Will store in the freezer for up to 6 months.