tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-76343571752739924892012-01-27T11:10:21.272-10:00Recipes and culinary adventures of a busy family. With vegetarians.Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.comBlogger181100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-43609935844652699342009-07-20T18:19:00.002-10:002009-07-20T18:25:58.001-10:00

and it was delicious.So, it's a Mexican-inspired bean and vegetable and rice dish. Here we go.In a large skillet, sauteOne diced onionThree cloves garlicwith 2 tablespoons olive oil and 1/2 cup strong brewed coffeeAdd 1 teaspoon (or more) ground cumin and 1 teaspoon (or more) ground coriander.Oh, and some splashes of Cholula hot sauce.When onion is translucent, addOne diced summer squash or

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-31049899497120431492008-07-02T17:27:00.003-10:002008-07-02T17:36:57.942-10:00

It's only day two and already I'm not so sure I'm up to this daily blogging. I did fine in November, but life was different then.My eldest child, my daughter, just had a birthday last month. She was out of town with my parents on her actual birthday, and we've had a busy, busy summer, so we haven't been able to schedule her birthday party until tomorrow.So here's the deal.She wanted our

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-66990621659983229142008-07-01T16:16:00.004-10:002008-07-01T16:31:41.099-10:00

My relationship with food has been a bit of a roller coaster over the past few years. Now, that statement seems loaded. Do I have an eating disorder, or do I fight with my weight? No, and no. As far as eating goes, my relationship with food is pretty steady: I eat when I'm hungry, and I mostly eat what I like. No, the relationship to which I refer is more about the kitchen. See, sometimes I

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-54557315168626202252008-06-28T05:29:00.003-10:002008-06-28T05:41:19.129-10:00

I've neglected this poor blog for too many months, but I'm back!We were a little more ambitious this spring when we planted our vegetable garden. Flushed with success in growing herbs and tomatoes in past years, we raised the stakes a little and decided to try a few more vegetables; jalapeno peppers, bell peppers, and cucumbers have joined a few more tomato plants. As has been the story for the

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-21514416839585072472007-11-27T11:49:00.000-10:002007-11-27T12:00:16.745-10:00

While it would have made sense for me to have blogged about our Thanksgiving dinner, I didn't. I was having way too much fun cooking to remember to take pictures, and I realized that many of our family favorite dishes don't really translate well in a visual way. Plus, frozen vegetables plus a can of cream of mushroom soup hardly strikes me as blog-worthy. (Tasty, yes, blog-worthy, no.)But what

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-49211872654597902692007-11-20T08:08:00.000-10:002007-11-20T08:31:21.768-10:00

I've been so busy posting every day on my other blog that I've neglected this one. Truth be told, my kitchen has been neglected a bit, too, but Thursday it'll be back in action!This year we're potlucking with two other families, one of whom includes a 20-year-veteran chef. He's in charge of the meat, which, at press time, is going to be Cornish hens.My family has a few "traditional" dishes we

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-88592841175077330962007-10-25T15:57:00.000-10:002007-10-25T16:21:51.182-10:00

Now that we have the bread sorted out, let's make it a balanced meal. Because nothing warms me up on a blustery fall day than a dinner of soup and bread. And nothing cleans out the refrigerator better than my family's favorite soup.This one is never exactly the same twice, because the whole point is to clean out the fridge. You know what I'm talking about. The celery that's not quite as crisp as

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-20800180258989686792007-10-23T15:27:00.000-10:002007-10-23T15:58:47.444-10:00

The laptop has returned to the land of the living and I just uploaded a zillion pictures. So here we are, just in time for the return of autumn.Let's bake some bread!A few assumptions. I have a Kitchenaid mixer and I use it as much as I can. Even though Jamie Oliver says we should make our dough with our hands, I prefer to make less of a mess and get things done. I'm a busy woman. But last winter

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-27912458530133596232007-10-17T10:58:00.001-10:002007-10-17T11:01:00.445-10:00

I'd love to post.But my laptop is in the laptop hospital.And all my pictures are on my laptop.But coming soon...baking healthy yeast bread and biscuits (using half oat bran flour), chicken soup, vegetable soup, slow-cooked pears, and more.Any requests? The holidays are coming and I'd love to try some new ideas.

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-65440900354487467302007-08-08T04:14:00.000-10:002007-08-08T04:22:34.394-10:00

I've been working about eight extra hours per week for the last few weeks, adding four hours to my Mondays and Wednesdays. With Craig teaching a night class on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and a busy weekend this past weekend, something crucial didn't happen.We didn't plan meals, nor did we go to the grocery store.Most of the time, cooking is something I enjoy. But only under the right conditions.

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-7503914707558585592007-08-01T03:16:00.000-10:002007-08-01T03:28:02.969-10:00

Last night was one of those nights. My family had plans that didn't work out. Those plans included the post-vacation grocery shopping. But the car had other ideas, namely not turning over and being quite still in the driveway. On grocery nights, my kids often eat TV dinners, only because (a) they like them and (b) after working all day and grocery shopping, there's not time or energy to cook.

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-74304154172035275582007-07-31T07:18:00.000-10:002007-07-31T05:01:15.633-10:00

Tonight I'm cooking dinner times two. My neighbors just had a baby girl, and they're home from the hospital. When my second child was born, my friends hooked me up with a food chain, bringing meals to my house every other day for about a month. It was the best gift, in so many ways. Each friend stayed about an hour, appropriately oohing and aahing over the baby, often bringing her own small

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-36802245374552133692007-07-12T06:05:00.000-10:002007-07-12T06:10:47.094-10:00

Our tomato plants in the back yard haven't given us quite the bounty they did last year. June was quite hot; that's the only reason I can think of.But we finally have a few that are ripe enough to eat (we had more, but some creature took bites out of them a few hours before we planned to pick them, which was heartbreaking).Since I've got a movie date tonight, I'm going to make a simple

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-1066785961459720932007-07-10T03:34:00.000-10:002007-07-10T03:51:12.608-10:00

Adventures with ProduceAs promised, we hit the produce market yesterday, and scored a couple of Arkansas tomatoes so firm, heavy, and juicy that they were nearly obscene. Since neither of us really felt like a big meal last night, we bought some good whole wheat bread, some bacon (for me), some vegetarian salami (for him), and red onion and I made BLTs (or a vegetarian variation).Years ago, when

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-36360977206339504382007-07-09T07:52:00.000-10:002007-07-09T07:57:21.415-10:00

Last night I told my husband that I wanted to go to Easy-Way and buy a lot of vegetables today.He eyed me suspiciously and asked why. (He's a vegetarian, so this is not a problem for him, but it's not what he expected me to say.) See, the thing is, traveling? Especially by car? Does not mean eating well. I suppose I had some control over that...I could have brought healthy snacks or stopped at

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-6789855528557674672007-07-07T01:24:00.000-10:002007-07-07T01:45:02.342-10:00

With Pictures!The secret to eggplant is letting it sweat. I've heard and read different methods for doing this, but what works for me is slicing the eggplant, layering it on tea towels, salting it, then pressing it. Ignore for a few hours, then the bitter juices are soaked into the tea towels. It cooks much more nicely (and tastes better) when this step is not omitted.Gorgeous eggplants from the

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-36393618974325120762007-06-30T18:27:00.000-10:002007-07-03T03:44:16.759-10:00

Ever since I had kids, and even before, I've enjoyed making special meals for holidays. July 4 lends itself especially well to a festive meal, forcing a little creativity. Fortunately, in-season produce is appropriately colorful, as well as nutritious.This year, we're celebrating twice, since Memphis's big fireworks display happened June 30 (much to the confusion of my children). We'll host

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7634357175273992489.post-80154597736706328302007-06-27T04:38:00.000-10:002007-06-27T04:47:01.263-10:00

In addition to my regular blog, I wanted a space to share some of the foodie things I love. In this blog, I'll share recipes that worked (and some that didn't) as well as restaurant experiences, food sourcing, and more.Last year, around this time, I got obsessed with the Caprese salad. I would spend hours thinking of variations on that theme. Since the tomatoes in my vegetable garden are this

Kaleighhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14625956690334985799noreply@blogger.com1