I Love Chiles.

I love Chiles!  They are so diverse and yummy and fun to cook with.  My number one favorite chile is the poblano, and I have several poblano plants growing in my little backyard "salsa garden".  

To roast chiles, I just put them in my toaster oven with the heat as high as it can be (450F for my model).  I keep an eye on them as the skin begins to blister, and turn them occasionally to make sure they roast evenly.  Once they're thoroughly blistered up, I put them into a big tupperware container and put the lid on for 5 minutes or so.  This gives them an opportunity to release a lot of heat and steam, which loosens the skin, which makes it easier to peel them.  Once you have a lovely pile of roasted, peeled (and stemmed and seeded!) chiles the possibilities are endless.  Chop them up and add them to just about anything- Mac N Cheese, casseroles, soups, salads, paninis, pastas..... 

My two most recent roasted chile recipes were rajas and green chile salsa.  

For rajas, I roasted poblanos and red bell peppers, cut them into strips and then added them to sauteed onions and garlic (I cut the onions into long thin strips to match the size and shape of the peppers).  Then I made a creamy, cheesy sauce and combined it with the chile mixture, which resulted in a delicious dish for dipping tortillas in or for spooning over rice and beans or adding to burritos... it was spectacular!  

Rajas (the photo definitely doesn't do it justice!)

The green chile was an attempt at re-creating Paul's Grandma Emma's chile, which we have tried to do several times.  This time wasn't *just* like Grandma's, but was our closest yet and absolutely delish.  For Grandma's green chile (the vegetarian version), you need a combination of 6 jalapenos, 6 green chiles, and 6 yellow chiles.  I added 2 poblanos to the mix, because.... well... I wanted to.  So, we roasted the chiles in the toaster oven, set them aside in a covered container to steam, and then de-stemmed, de-seeded, and peeled each one (without running them under water!).  We diced the roasted chiles and combined them with 3 cloves of diced garlic (this makes a very garlicky chile, 1 clove would suffice if you're not big on the raw-garlic flavor), 2 chopped scallions, and 1 chopped yellow tomato (that was a random addition, simply because I had the tomato and it needed to be eaten.).  This chile wasn't nearly as liquidy as Grandma's is for some reason, so it's more like a chile salad than a salsa.  We have been sprinkling it onto everything for the past several days, and it is addictive.  It's quite spicy, but not painful to eat.  I'm totally pleased with how it turned out this time but am still looking forward to playing around with the recipe a bit more, too. 

Springy Lasagna

 A couple of days ago I spent over an hour prepping a lovely spring lasagna.... I think that merits a blog post.  Also, I just don't post enough on here so it seems like a good excuse to add another post to my poor, lonely, neglected bloggy-blog.

So, here we go.

I bought a bunch of super skinny asparagus, which was the inspiration for the dish.  I also got a nice yellow squash, a zucchini, and a shallot to add to the Springtime vibe I was going for.

First, I boiled the lasagna noodles according to the package directions.  I sliced the zucchini and yellow squash on an angle to get nice big oval shaped discs, and sauteed them with olive oil and a couple of cloves of chopped fresh garlic.  Once they were nearly cooked through, I transferred them to a bowl and then used the same garlicky-oily pan to briefly sautee the asparagus (just for a couple of minutes to get them started before they hit the oven).  I transferred them to a separate plate and then got to work on the sauce.

At some point here the noodles finished cooking (cooked to al dente so they could finish in the oven), so I drained them and separated them from each other a bit so they wouldn't form a big noodle clump while I was still working on the other components.

Ok, sauce.  I diced the shallots, plopped them into the same pan I used for the veg, and added about 2T butter.  When the shallots were translucent, I added 2T of flour and cooked while stirring continuously for a couple of minutes.  Then, I poured in some whole milk (didn't measure, just added as much as I thought seemed right.... hopefully you can do the same.) and whisked to combine everything.  Once it hit a simmer I reduced the heat, added salt and pepper, and let it sit on med-low heat for a few minutes to thicken up.

Once all of the components were cooked and ready, I assembled my masterpiece.  The first thing into my lightly sprayed lasagna pan was a ladle-full of the bechamel sauce.  Next, 4 of the cooked lasagna noodles, slightly overlapping, and then another one (torn to fit) along the top because the noodles aren't as long as the pan.  The first veggie layer was the squash.  Even though it wasn't visible, I got all shmancy and alternated rows of zucchini and yellow squash to form that layer.  Then I sprinkled on some chopped fresh Italian parsley and some chopped sun-dried tomatoes (from a bag, not soaked in oil but not crispy... kind of like raisins).

After that I added the cheese layer.  I mixed 1 whole egg with 1/2 a small container of ricotta and added dollops of that all over the top of the veggies.  Then, I sprinkled grated mozzerella on top.

Next another layer of noodles, then more sauce, then the asparagus.  I trimmed it so it was shorter than I would have if I was serving it on it's own, and then arranged it so that there were asparagus tips on both of the outer sides and the stem sides all met in the middle.

I added another ladle full of sauce on top of the asparagus, then a bit more mozzarella and another layer of cheese.  Last layer was just noodles, sauce, mozzarella.  I baked it at 350 covered for about 25 minutes, then took off the cover and baked another 20.  It was delicious! 

Valentines

Last week we celebrated that most controversial of Hallmark holidays- Valentines day.  While I tend to agree that it is over-commercialized and pretty much ruined by the giant pink and red plastic heart-shaped everything, I refuse to refuse to participate.  I like to be crafty.  To me, Valentines day is an opportunity to do something fun, sparkly, girly, and love-filled with my little girls.  My four year old is in preschool, and we had fun making home-made valentines for her to give to all of her classmates.  My daughter was literally the only child in her class who gave something hand-made, rather than a perforated-edged store-bought card on which a parent had (presumably) hastily filled in the "to" and "from" section and affixed a new pencil or a bag of mini m&ms.  Unfortunately, this left me feeling slightly embarrassed for having put so much effort into this little preschool exchange.  Oh well, we had fun and despite feeling a bit like we overdid it, I know that I stayed true to my anti-commercialism perspective while also taking advantage of a chance to get crafty and break out my glitter collection.

First, we made heart shaped crayons.  This was seriously an exciting project for us both.  We searched through the crayon bin to find all of the broken bits as well as the undesirable very used crayons to be sacrificed for the hearts.  The most tedious part was peeling the paper off of each crayon, but after they were all de-papered the creative part began.  We used a silicone heart-shaped mini muffin pan, filling each little heart with broken crayon bits of assorted colors.  I tried to do hearts with colors that would contrast nicely- pink/orange/yellow or blue/purple/gray or green/yellow/blue, for example.  Once each heart was filled, I let my daughter sprinkle glitter over the whole thing and then placed the silicone tray onto a cookie sheet and popped it into a 375 degree oven for 5-10 minutes, until the crayons had melted completely.  As soon as they were melted, I carefully carried the cookie sheet outside and left it out there to cool off.  The melted crayons definitely gave our whole house a very waxy smell, so letting them cool outside also helped keep the aroma from being overpowering.  Once completely cooled, the heart-shaped crayons popped right out of the silicone pan with ease.  The melted wax creates a beautiful swirling effect, sort of like marbles.  We were both very pleased with the end result!

For the valentines for the class, we went to Michaels and bought several sheets of scrap book paper in all sorts of neat prints.  During my daughter's quiet time, I used a package of plain-white heart shaped cardstock to trace hearts from the scrap book paper and then cut out an assortment of patterned hearts.  My daughter then used a glue-stick to affix the colorful hearts onto the cardstock, and then decorated each  one with glitter and rhinestones.  She wrote the name of each of her classmates on the plain white side and signed her name on each one (this was the most time-consuming part for a four year old!).  We used little circles of double-sided sticky foam to affix a heart crayon onto each, as well.  The finished valentines were unique and very representative of my daughter's personality, and I think that she was proud to give them to her friends.  It was fun to see her select which heart would be for which classmate (only one special little boy got a heart that looked like a waffle, and with a cupcake sticker on it.... cute!). Here are her finished valentines, with crayon hearts affixed.  See the waffle, in the middle of the bottom row?  Her best buddy got the butterfly.  Happy Valentines Day- no perforated edges here! :) 

The Oatmeal Trifecta.

I cannot decide what to call these cookies. They are sweet oatmeal heaven. They are divine. They are, quite possibly, the most delicious cookies I have ever made.

It started with a hankering for a chocolate chip oatmeal cookie. I did a recipe search on allrecipes.com and decided to give the recipe 'Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies III' posted by Janie Mai a try.

The recipe was interesting. First of all, it doesn't call for any eggs. I was tempted to find another recipe, fearing that there had been a mis-type that would result in a failed batch (it's happened before using recipes found online!).  The author made a point of saying that this is an egg-free batter, so I went with it.  I didn't have enough chocolate chips, so I had to improvise... which is what led to the trifecta of deliciousness that made them so crazy good. The recipe called for 1 1/2 cups of semi-sweet chocolate chips and an optional 1/2 cup of raisins. My four year old is vehemently opposed to raisins, so I couldn't add them unless this was meant to be a way to torture her... which it wasn't. So, I used 1 cup of chocolate chips and 1/2 a cup each of butterscotch and white chocolate chips. The combination is very sweet, and the result is a sweet-tooth's dream. I found that they took longer to cook than the 10-12 minutes the recipe called for, more like 14-15. You really have to pull them out when they have *just* finished cooking through, before they become overcooked. They're kind of delicate and wanted to fall apart when I transferred them to cooling racks, but most of them turned out perfectly.

I will definitely be making these again, and plan to use the batter to make a batch of oatmeal trifecta cookie dough ice cream, too (I think it'll be perfect because it's eggless!)!

Here's the recipe..... try it, and then tell me what you'd name them.  I don't think oatmeal-chocolate-chip-butterscotch-white-chocolate cookies sounds very good......

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies III a la Maryanne:

Ingredients:

* 1 cup butter

* 3/4 cup packed brown sugar

* 1/4 cup white sugar

* 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

* 1/2 teaspoon salt

* 1 teaspoon baking soda

* 1/4 cup boiling water

* 2 cups quick cooking oats

* 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

* 1/2 cup white chocolate chips

* 1/2 cup butterscotch chips

Directions

1. Beat butter or margarine, sugars and vanilla until light and fluffy. Add flour and salt, mix well.

2. Dissolve baking soda in boiling water and add to mixture. Stir in rolled oats, and the 3 kinds of chips.

3. Drop by teaspoonful onto ungreased cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 10-12 minutes. Don't over cook.

Kickin' Salad!

That's what Paul said when I fed him last night. I always feel a bit guilty when dinner is either a)ethnic or b)healthy.... and this salad was both. He's a hamburger helper loving, American cheese worshiping, crispy-fried kind of guy.... he recently told me that if I'm planning on making Indian food I should give him several days of forewarning so that he can mentally prepare himself to walk into our curry-scented house thinking 'Mmm... Indian food!' instead of 'Crap. Indian food.'. Being vegetarian, it can be challenging to come up with a good variety of meals which provide us with our daily nutritional needs while also making us feel satisfied. I try to balance out the mac n'cheese and burritos with things like roasted vegetables and cheese-less ethnic items. Last night I made an Asian salad and was pretty thrilled when Paul scarfed it down saying, "This salad is kickin'!".

Here's what I did:
In a calm moment during afternoon nap, I sliced half a zucchini, half a red pepper, and half a cucumber into long thin strips. Meanwhile, I cooked some 'smart' spaghetti (the kind that looks like white pasta but is really full of protein & stuff), and made an Asian sauce/marinade. For the sauce I mixed together a splash of apple cider vinegar, plenty of ginger-soy sauce (Kikomans... it's hard to find, but SO good!), a good glug (don't you love the exactness of my measurements?) of sweet chili sauce (bottled, in the Asian food aisle), a splash of toasted sesame oil, and some sesame seeds. Once the noodles were cooked & cooled I put them into a bowl, added the slivered veggies, and poured on the sauce. I gave everything a good "jooj" (as Rachel Ray would say), and put it in the fridge until dinner time.
When Paul got home I assembled our salads. First, I sliced up some scallions and some fresh cilantro, then diced an avocado. I put a bed of baby spinach leaves onto a large plate, topped the spinach with a mound of the marinated noodles & veggies, topped that with the diced avocado and sliced scallions and cilantro. For some crunch I sprinkled toasted slivered almonds on top, and then drizzled some of the sauce on top.

Voila. Kickin' salad! I suppose I should have taken a picture to include here.... oh well, I'm sure you can imagine it in all of it's glistening soy-noodle-avocadoey goodness. Try it, let me know what you think.... and go ahead and throw some chicken or shrimp on top if that's your thing.

Drowning in Life.

Life feels so up in the air lately. I find my mind racing all the time, trying to shuffle through the 'to-dos' and the 'what ifs' and the 'if onlys'.... trying to make sense of this crazy thing that is life. Time really does keep ticking, ticking, ticking into the future and if I'm not actively managing every little aspect of life, I tend to feel like like I'm just being dragged along by it, constantly trying to catch up, get organized, get it together.
The biggest problem at the moment is one that Mama Berenstain Bear would put under the heading of 'too much stuff'. We are 7 living creatures living under the roof of this two bedroom house, and we are at max-capacity. I feel like I'm in a perpetual state of disarray and that no matter how often or how hard I try to get organized and find a proper place for everything, nothing is where it should be most of the time. I'm also in a perpetual state of clutter-clearing. I've got bags labeled 'give', bags labeled 'Craigslist', bags labeled '2T Winter', '3T summer', etc. I haven't seen my kitchen table for a few weeks now. It, too, has fallen victim to the 'too-much-stuff' syndrome which I am currently losing the battle against. Try as I might to develop systems for organizational storage, everything seems to find a place in the wrong place.
I like to think that all we need is more space, but my logical mind tells me that if I had more space I would probably just acquire more stuff with which to overload the spaciousness. What we really need is LESS STUFF. I have to remind myself multiple times a day- I must value space more than I value stuff if I am ever to feel organized and in control of my external surroundings. I resent this consumer-driven world and the tendency to be brainwashed by billions of ads- they're everywhere- constantly trying to make us feel like we'll be better/happier/more fulfilled if only we have this thing or that product or whatever.
Even my four year old daughter is already falling for it- every supermarket display and television commercial geared towards her demographic causes her to feel absolutely, wistfully, desperately void of whatever that particular sparkly-sneaker or battery-operated hamster could do to improve her sense of self.
At least I am aware of the situation (and knowing is half the battle, right G.I. Joe?), and am determined to get things under control. I like to re-read Karen Kingston's book 'Clear Your Clutter with Feng-Shui' to boost my motivation. Watching the occasional episode of 'Hoarders: Buried Alive' doesn't hurt, either! Note to self: if I ever come up with a logical reason why I need to save a dead kitten in the freezer I have lost this battle (seriously saw a hoarder explaining that she just kept ONE of the dead kittens from her cat's litter... no big deal, just one.). I resolve to not let that happen, hah! :)

I did it.

I think I'm still adjusting. I'm still absorbing the reality that I have actually, finally completed my bachelors degree. It is insane to consider how many years ago I began my first college courses. The years that encompass my undergraduate education have been a journey, to say the least. I am so proud of myself. I think it is hard to compare anything in life to the amazing sense of pride, joy, happiness, awe, etc. that motherhood has afforded me, but knowing that extreme of positive emotion helps to put perspective on everything else, I guess. I can say in all honesty that I am so proud of myself. I went through a long phase of feeling ashamed of the academic aspect of myself and my life, I really bottomed-out and had a hard time knowing what to do about it or where to begin or how.... fortunately, time puts space between the hardships and confusing phases in life and takes us to the places where we can see things from a clearer perspective. Fortunately, I wound up in the right place. My journey brought me to the Liberal Studies program, and my degree turned out to suit me perfectly. I am finally a college graduate. I went back to school while I was pregnant with Eila. I began my fall semester when she was two days old, and I completed my spring semester- and my degree- when she was almost nine months old. I went from pre-motherhood grades that put me on academic probation, to post-motherhood grades that earned me invitations to student teach and offers from my professors to be of assistance in my future endeavors. I am thoroughly enjoying the feeling of lightness that has come with the attainment of my degree. I feel happier, more relaxed, more present. I am so proud of myself! I did it!