Rainbow Salad

So here is another quick summer salad, modified from a BHG recipe.

3-4 ears of corn

6-7 sweet bell peppers

1 small cucumber or ½ a large one, peeled

½ a red onion

1 jalapeno

15-20 cherry tomatoes

spoonful of parsley

½ tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp black pepper

½ cup of apple cider vinegar

1: Cut corn off the ear

2: dice bell pepper, onion, jalapeno to roughly the size of a kernel of corn

3: Quarter the cucumber and slice

4: Halve the cherry tomatoes

5: Mix all the veggies together with the parsley

6: In a separate container, mix salt, pepper and apple cider vinegar until the salt completely dissolves, then add to veggies.

7: Enjoy

Black Bean and Corn Salsa/Salad

What you need:
2 ears of corn
1 lg can of black beans, drained
2 medium tomatoes
1/3 bunch cilantro
1-2 jalapeños
1/2 a red onion
2 lemons
Salt to taste

What you do:
1: cut the corn off the ear
2: dice red onion, 1/3 of the bunch of cilantro, tomatoes and jalapeños in relative small pieces (I usually do everything very fine except the tomatoes which I leave kind of chunky) I would recommend half a jalapeño for mild, 1 whole jalapeño for medium and 1.5-2 for hot.
3: mix everything you just diced with the corn and black brand in a large bowl. Add salt to taste, I usually do about a large spoon full, I'm not really the measuring kind.
4: squeeze the juice from both lemons, make sure to strain any seeds, and pour over the veggies
5: serve with tortilla chips as a salsa or just eat it like I usually do as more of a a salad.
6: enjoy the yummy amazingness!

 

Pin It Do It - Caramel

It's not Friday, but here's a Pin It Do It that was super easy, cheap and delicious.  All you need is a can of sweetened condensed milk and a crock pot.  Submerge the condensed milk in water in the crock pot and cook on low for 8 hours and voila you have the most amazing caramel.  One caveat though is that it is not as amazing the next day, so make sure you've got your apples or what ever you are going to use it with ready that day.  Here's a link to the pin and below is a picture of my result.

Italian Garbage Soup

So I made the most amazing soup last night from scratch (which I never really do ever since the from-scratch thai peanut sauce stirfry fiasco that left Mike with what he will tell you was a case of botulism for three days). I think I will call it 'Italian Garbage Soup' and it comes Mike-approved ( he actually told me it was in his top three meals I have ever made from scratch) here you go...




*be warned that this feeds a small army, because much like my mother I have no concept of how to cook a meal to serve less than ten people

8 cups water
10 cubes beef boullion

1 pound of italian meatballs (I suppose you could make them but I just had a bag of the frozen meatballs from Costco because they cater to my inability to cook small meals, I used about one-fifth to one-quarter of the bag which I think is 5lbs but I threw it away so I could be making that up)
6 sliced zucchini (we really like zucchini in my house)
2 cups of sliced mini bell pepper (the little red, yellow and orange ones that are shaped like jalapenos)
2 cans of white beans
1 cup carrots
2 cups baby spinach
1 large can of italian stewed diced tomatoes
1 tbsp of minced garlic
1 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste

*boil water and add boullion cubes, stir until dissolved
*add everything else but the spinach (I even put the meatballs in frozen because I'm lazy)
*bring to a boil then simmer on medium-high with a lid for about 30-40 minutes (or until you can tell that the zucchini are cooked and soft all the way through)
*add spinach and simmer another 10-15 minutes
*enjoy (add french bread for dipping if you live with dippers like we do)

Yum Yum Yum

We have started giving Parker solid food in addition to regular nursing.  I have been making my own food for him so far (sweet potatoes, green beans, and random samples from our dinner).  I read a lot about cooking for your baby because then they get a taste of how you cook at an early age.  I really liked this whole concept as a way to try to curb picky eating right off the bat.  When Mike and I got together, both he and Hailey were the pickiest eater's ever.  This was always such a pet peeve because they wouldn't even try something new.  Happily, they have both matured in this arena and after many successes (dumplings at Din Tai Fung, pho, Indian food, etc) they generally trust me when I try to introduce something new.  My dad has always been a pretty adventurous eater, and I have always generally trusted his taste as well.  So in that vein, I want Parker to start out with that adventurous spirit.  Oatmeal is apparently way better than rice cereal.  Sweet potatoes have been a hit, green beans not so much.  Spaghetti sauce is tasty and so was that tiny bit of whipped cream :)
 
Anyone have some good recipes for babies?