Farm girl turned city girl turned suburban mom. My degree is in Family and Consumer Science Education...that's "home ec" to the old school crowd. While I've spent a good deal of time as both a student and a teacher exploring the ins and outs of food and nutrition, baking, and meal planning, I credit countless hours in the kitchen with my mom and 10 years of 4-H with providing the foundation for my knowledge of all things food and my love of cooking.
Meet the Mother of all Fix-it-and-Forget-It Cookbooks!
Here's What I'm Cooking With....
The Anolon Professional Hard Anodized Nonstick 12-Piece Cookware Set. After 2 years of putting this set to the test EVERY DAY, it is holding up beautifully!
If you're in the market for new cookware...this is a great value! Right now it's marked down from $803.00 to $179.99. WOW!
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Hungry for more? Here are cooking blogs that I frequent:
Hello everyone! It has been one crazy week around here. It is with a heartfelt TGIF that I welcome you to the weekend. In a previous post, I promised TWO giveaways in the month of July, so I'm kicking this weekend off with a chance to win a fun, colorful apron.
Before I get to the details of the giveaway, let me introduce you to Shabby Apple, an online boutique with an extensive collection of gorgeous dresses, swimwear, fitness apparel, and accessories.
Here are couple of the dresses that I have my eye on from the Shabby Apple site:
Doesn't this just make you want to go sailing?!
And I love the look of this "easy, breezy, beautiful" wrap dress.
The beauty of Shabby Apple online boutique is that you can shop by category. For instance, they have a whole selection of white women's dresses like this pretty lil' number.
They've got everything from casual to glamorous at great prices!
I thoroughly enjoyed shopping their site!
Shabby Apple offered me the opportunity to offer you one of their gorgeous dresses for this giveaway, but I'm a sucker for pretty aprons. I've built a nice collection of my own. I just can't seem to pass up a colorful, frilly, or unique apron. Plus, when it comes to aprons, one size fits all! Check out this awesome Wildberry Pie apron from the Shabby Apple apron collection.
To enter to win the Wildberry Pie apron, simply go to Shabby Apple and shop around. Then come back here and leave a comment, telling me which dress or collection was your favorite.
2. "Like" Shabby Apple on Facebook and then come back here and let me know. This will also give you the opportunity to get in on special promotions and receive exclusive Shabby Apple discounts.
3. Share this post and link on your Twitter account.
This contest will close at 11:59 EST on Thursday July 21st. The winner will be announced on Friday July 22nd on this blog. The winner is responsible for checking www.kristaskitchen.com for the results and will have 48 hours to claim their prize before this prize is considered forfeited.
Good luck everyone!
Even if you don't win, you still have the chance to save! Shabby Apple is offering my readers 10% off on all purchases for 1 month only. Just enter the coupon code: kristaskitchen10off at check out. Happy shopping!
On a final note, I apologize that this giveaway is gender biased. For all of my gentlemen readers, I promise that next Friday's giveaway is all inclusive. Hang in there guys! : )
This week has been so busy that I decided to utilize my slow cooker to ensure that dinner would be ready on time. With vacation bible school taking up our mornings and swim lessons taking up our evenings (and playdates in between), we've been out the door by 8:30 a.m. and have returned around 6 p.m. every night. I put this barbecue recipe together in the crockpot late on Monday night and placed it in the fridge for the next day. On Tuesday morning, I removed the crockpot from the fridge and set it on the lowest setting before we departed for a fun-filled summer day. When we arrived home on Tuesday night, the brisket was perfectly cooked and bubbling away in the delicious barbecue sauce. I quickly shredded the beef and threw together an easy zucchini salad and we had dinner in minutes!
Here's how the barbecue came together:
First, I combined all of the sauce ingredients in the crockpot. This is a chopped onion, minced garlic, ketchup, vinegar, beer, liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika, oregano, and brown sugar. Stir the ingredients together until combined.
A couple of days before, I began thawing a big chunk of beef brisket in the fridge.
"Brisket is a cut of meat from the breast or lower chest of beef or veal. The beef brisket is one of the eight beef primal cuts. The brisket muscles include the superficial and deep pectorals. As cattle do not have collar bones, these muscles support about 60% of the body weight of standing/moving cattle. This requires a significant amount of connective tissue, so the resulting meat must be cooked correctly to tenderize the connective tissue."
In my opinion, brisket is best prepared over low and slow heat. My preferred method is the crockpot. Because of the way it shreds up for sandwiches, the brisket happens to be one of my favorite cuts for barbecue.
I got this 5-6 lb. brisket from one of the steers my grandpa raises. It was a big piece of meat!
As I trimmed off much of the fat, I began to sympathize with the poor cave women like Wilma Flintstone. This is how she must've felt trimming up Fred's enormous Brontosaurus steaks. ; )
After trimming off as much of the external fat as possible, I cut the brisket into three large chunks (mostly so that it would fit into my crockpot, but also to ensure even cooking) and covered it with the barbecue sauce. I refrigerated mine overnight at this point. If you've got the time, you could also just throw it all together in the morning and cook it right away.
After cooking all day, I removed the meat from the sauce and let it cool for a few minutes in a separate dish.
Then I shredded it.
You can use a couple of forks and shred the beef by poking them into the meat and pulling them apart in opposite directions. However, I prefer to use my hands. That way I can feel my way through the meat and remove any lingering bits of fat.
After shredding the beef, I put the finishing touches on the barbecue sauce. First, I stirred in a little cornstarch mixed with water to thicken the sauce a bit.
Then I used my immersion blender to puree the sauce for a smoother consistency. You can also use a blender or food processor for this step if you don't have an immersion blender. Or...get an immersion blender! I love mine. No need to worry about transfering the hot sauce from the crock pot to another appliance when you've got an immersion blender, you just stick the immersion blender in and tah-dah- smooth sauce in seconds! Best of all, you won't create more dirty dishes. Who wants to take apart and wash a blender? Invest in one of these instead: Cuisinart CSB-76BC SmartStick 200-Watt Immersion Hand Blender, Brushed ChromeHand Blenders) I use mine all of the time for soups, sauces, salad dressing, and smoothies. I love it!
With the beef shredded and the sauce finished, I bet that you can guess what's coming next. A reunion! Stir the shredded beef back into the sauce.
Now all you need is a bun! My family and I really enjoyed this recipe, which I found on allrecipes.com
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It's right up there with my favorite beef barbecue recipes. I still think that Slow Cooker Barbecued Short Ribs take the prize and I'll always be a fan of this tried and true Texas Beef Barbecue recipe. But I have yet to try them all side by side. In a blindfolded taste test I'm not sure which one I would pick....
I served the barbecue alongside this impressive Cucumber Ribbon Salad.
Isn't it pretty? You'd never guess that it came together in minutes. I purposely chose this recipe because it called for radishes. I'm not a huge radish fan, but I proudly harvested these radishes from my garden this week. They are the first crop to be ready for consumption. Yay! Of course I had to use them in a recipe. The radishes added that perfect "bite" to this fresh, tasty salad.
I quickly readied the veggies for this salad: cucumber, radish, and red onion. Note: I scooped the seeds from these cucumbers with a spoon.
I used a plain ol' vegetable peeler to thinly slice the radishes.
It created perfectly uniform, thin slices.
Then I chopped 1 cucumber into chunks.
I used the veggie peeler to slice the second cucumber into ribbons. I purchased these cucumbers at the grocery, but tonight I counted 14 cukes growing on the vine of my garden cucumber plant (and it's not done growing yet!). Soon, I'll be able to step into the backyard and gather all of the cucumbers I need for recipes like this.
Arrange the cucumber ribbons around the outside of your serving plate or bowl.
These look pretty and the peeling goes really fast! Not tricky at all!
The recipe also calls for tomato-basil feta cheese. Lucky me! It was on sale this week at our local supermarket.
Ohhhh, and kalamata olives. I got mine from the olive bar at the grocery. I cut them in half so that there was a bit of olive in almost every bite.
I stirred the chopped cucumber, sliced red onion, radishes, feta, and olives together with some Italian dressing.
Then I heaped the mixture in the center of the plate with the cucumber ribbons.
It was both pretty and delicious. The few simple ingredients packed a big flavor punch. We ate it with our barbecue sandwiches and then I put the leftovers in the fridge and took them to a picnic the next day. This salad was even better the second day!
1 large onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup beer
1/2 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
4 drops liquid smoke flavoring
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 pounds beef brisket
2 teaspoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons water
16 potato buns, or as needed
Directions:
1. Place the onion and garlic into a large slow cooker. Pour in the ketchup, beer, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and liquid smoke; set aside. Combine the salt, pepper, chili powder, paprika, oregano, and brown sugar until evenly blended. Rub the spice mixture all over the beef brisket. Place the brisket into the slow cooker. Sprinkle the remaining spice mixture over top.
2. Cover, and cook on Low until the beef is easily shredded with two forks, 10 to 12 hours.
3. Remove the beef from the slow cooker, and place into a large bowl. Ladle the fat from the remaining sauce in the slow cooker and discard. Pour about 2 cups of the sauce from the slow cooker into a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat. Dissolve the cornstarch in the water, and stir into the simmering sauce. Cook and stir 5 to 10 minutes until the sauce has thickened. Meanwhile, shred the meat into small pieces using two forks.
4. Pour the thickened sauce and remaining sauce from the slow cooker into a blender, filling the pitcher no more than halfway full. Hold down the lid of the blender with a folded kitchen towel, and carefully start the blender, using a few quick pulses to get the soup moving before leaving it on to puree. Puree in batches until smooth and pour into a clean pot. Alternately, you can use a stick blender and puree the sauce right in the slow cooker.
5. Stir the shredded beef and pureed sauce together in the slow cooker. Use tongs to serve
Notes: *Because my brisket was 5 1/2 lbs, I increased the sauce recipe by 1-1/2. *This recipe makes a good amount of barbecue. We had plenty for dinner, then I put a pound in the fridge to eat as leftovers and I froze about 3 pounds in two packages for later. It freezes well!
Easy Crisp Cucumber Salad from Kraft Foods and adapted by me
2 large cucumbers
8 radishes, thinly sliced
1/2 cup ATHENOS Crumbled Feta Cheese with Basil & Tomato
1/3 cup KRAFT Zesty Italian Dressing
1/3-1/2 cup pitted kalamata olives, halved
1/2 of a red onion, thinly sliced
Make It
USE vegetable peeler to cut 1 cucumber into long thin ribbons.
Chop remaining cucumber into 1-inch cubes. Toss with remaining ingredients.
SPOON cucumber mixture onto center of platter; surround with cucumber ribbons.
Kraft Kitchens Tips
Substitute
Prepare with KRAFT Light House Italian Dressing.
nutritional information per serving
Calories 100 Total fat 6 g Saturated fat 1.5 g Cholesterol 5 mg Sodium 300 mg Carbohydrate 9 g Dietary fiber 2 g Sugars 4 g Protein 3 g Vitamin A 6 %DV Vitamin C 10 %DV Calcium 6 %DV Iron 4 %DV
I've had my eye on this Zucchini Ribbon Primavera recipe since I saw it pictured in the Spring/Summer 2011 Pampered Chef Catalogue. So when FedEx delivered my new julienne peeler, I knew exactly what I would make first. Both my new peeler and this recipe did not disappoint!
The colorful, light pasta dish is filled with seasonal ingredients and packed with flavor. Best of all, my kiddos ate both the pasta AND the veggies in this dish. I just love it when I can sneak in a little extra nutrition.
Here's the little cornucopia of garden goods used in this recipe: fresh basil, shallots, garlic, carrots, zucchini, and a red bell pepper.
My oldest daughter was excited to help with dinner tonight, so I tasked her with "squishing" the garlic cloves using our handy garlic press. I've bragged about this gadget before HERE. It's a great gadget!
Then, I supervised as she pulervized the shallots to a fine chop using the Pampered Chef Chopper.
Add the garlic and shallot to some olive oil, heated in a skillet, and cook and stir until fragrant. Don't walk away while the garlic and shallots heat up, if they burn you'll have to start all over again!
During this step, my daughter kept complaining that the shallots were burning her eyes. She finally asked me to take over for a minute so that she could take a break.
She returned with a solution: she was sporting her swim goggles. Isn't she resourceful? This totally cracked me up!
Next we added a combination of chicken broth and a dry white wine (I went with Winking Owl Chardonnay, purchased at ALDI for $3.39/bottle). Cover the mixture and bring it to a simmer.
Then add in the pasta. Whole grain pasta is recommended, but I only had the regular "stuff" on hand, so we used that. Whole grain pasta would definitely be a way to make this healthy dish even healthier by adding more protein and dietary fiber.
Cover the skillet and let the pasta cook for 7-9 minutes until tender.
It turned the zucchini and carrots into long, thin, uniform strips with ease and in just minutes. It was so fun to use and I was super impressed with the results.
Once the pasta is ready, stir in 3-4 oz. of reduced fat cream cheese until it melts.
Then turn off the heat and add the remainder of the veggies: the julienned zucchini and carrot, the sliced red pepper, and the chopped fresh basil. Toss with the pasta until combined. I re-covered the skillet and let it sit for a few minutes to allow the veggies to soften a bit before serving.
Dish it up and serve with parmesan cheese. YUM!
Will your kids eat it? My oldest immediately announced, "I am NOT eating this. Please give me some plain noodles!" I told her I would be happy to give her plain noodles, but she had to take a "real" bite of the primavera pasta first. After one bite, she didn't actually admit that she liked it. Instead she said, "Okay, I'll eat it, but only if you put more in my bowl first!" Ha! She ate the whole serving! Zucchini and carrots too (but she did pick out the peppers). My youngest didn't complain at all. She loved this dish!
Zucchini Ribbon Primavera from The Pampered Chef and altered slightly by me.
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
3 large shallots
4 garlic cloves, pressed
3 1/4 cups (800 mL) unsalted chicken stock
3/4 cup (175 mL) dry white wine such as Chardonnay
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
1/4 tsp (1 mL) coarsely ground black pepper
6 oz (175 g) uncooked protein-enriched multigrain thin spaghetti noodles
2 medium zucchini
2 medium carrots, peeled
1 medium red bell pepper
1/2 cup (125 mL) loosely packed fresh basil leaves
3-4 oz (90 g) reduced-fat cream cheese (Neufchâtel), softened
3/4 oz (20 g) Parmesan cheese (see Cook’s Tip)
Directions:
1.Heat oil in Executive (12-in./30-cm) Skillet (do not use stainless cookware) over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering. Finely chop shallots with Food Chopper. Add shallots and pressed garlic to Skillet; cook 30-45 seconds or until fragrant. Add stock, wine, salt and black pepper; cook, covered, 3-4 minutes or until simmering. Add noodles; cook, covered, 7-8 minutes or until noodles are tender, stirring occasionally.
2. Meanwhile,cut zucchini and carrots into julienne strips using Julienne Peeler. Thinly slice bell pepper and coarsely chop basil using Chef's Knife. Add cream cheese to Skillet; stir until fully incorporated using Small Mix 'N Scraper®;. Remove Skillet from heat. Add zucchini, carrots, bell pepper and basil; toss gently with Chef's Tongs. Divide pasta among serving plates; garnish with shaved Parmesan cheese.Yield: 4 servings
Nutrients per serving: (1 1/4 cups pasta): Calories 360, Total Fat 10 g, Saturated Fat 4 g, Cholesterol 20 mg, Carbohydrate 42 g, Protein 18 g, Sodium 450 mg, Fiber 5 g
U.S. Diabetic Exchanges Per Serving: 2 1/2 starch, 1 vegetable, 1 high-fat meat (2 1/2 carb)
Cook's Tips: Substituting protein-enriched multigrain pasta for regular pasta in meatless recipes is an easy way to add protein and fiber into your diet.
I realize that my meal plan went on summer break when school let out for the summer. Now that we're facing our busiest week yet this summer (Both children are enrolled in vacation bible school and I am in charge of organizing the snacks all week for 172 kiddos, plus we have swim lessons every evening and I have a couple of meetings this week too!), I thought it was time I revisited the meal plan. Hopefully this meal plan will keep me on track to provide healthy meals all week and I can resist the temptation to hit the drive-thru on the way home every night. Also, since my posts have been few and far between this summer, I'm hoping that this re-newed focus cooking and the groceries in my fridge and pantry will give me something to share with all of you!
3 oz. reduced fat cream cheese
Parmesan cheese
9-10 oz. fresh tortellini
light or fat-free sour cream
crumbled feta cheese with tomato and basil (Athenos)
sour cream
milk
4 eggs
Canned Goods
3-1/4 cups chicken or vegetable stock
3/4 cup dry white wine
olive oil
cider vinegar
honey
vegetable
Dijon mustard
lime juice (preferably fresh- add to produce list if you choose to purchase and juice limes)
balsamic vinegar
chipotle pepper in adobo sauce
ketchup
1 can beer
white vinegar
Worcestershire sauce
liquid smoke
Italian Dressing
Dry Goods
spaghetti - whole grain if you prefer
basil
garlic powder
parsley
chili powder
paprika
oregano
cornstarch
brown sugar
hamburger buns
Ranch dressing mix
Tonight, while I was preparing dinner, my husband asked, "When was the last time you posted on your blog?" Hmmm. Good question. I honestly couldn't remember. (It was a week ago, by the way).
It's true, I've been a total slacker when it comes to this blog. Between our summer activities and all of the lawn and garden work we've been doing lately, I've barely had time to cook, let alone write about it.
I did make this fruit kabob skewered pineapple for my nephew's birthday last weekend:
My sister and I just cut up some fruit, "kabob-ed it", and then I stuck the kabobs into a pineapple before serving. This is a great way to serve fruit for a summer party and it makes for a nice decorative display on your serving table as well. Give it a try! It's super easy, but looks impressive. You can even make the kabobs up the night before your gathering.
While, I've been a "slacker" on the blog front, I assure you, I'm not slacking around the house at all. And I have pictures to prove it! Here are some shots of just a few summer projects we've got going.
First of all, WATER FEATURES! Our new house has not one, not two, but THREE fountains (okay, so one is actually a man-made waterfall.) This "selling point" has translated into a good deal of labor. I am proud to say that we finally have all three up and running!
We began working on the largest koi pond first.
I pumped all of the water out. And then it rained. And then I had to pump it out again. And then the pump broke. And then we bought a new pump. And then it rained. Again. And then....well, you get the picture. The bottom line: it was a bit of a nightmare.
I scooped load after load of this smelly stuff out of the bottom. If you've ever cleaned out your gutters, this stuff smelled like that...only worse. It's safe to say that I have never been so filthy in my life and I used to shovel manure and give baths to pigs on our family's farm!
My husband was the water and power guy. After I got the pond cleaned and weeded, he got it up and running and eventually added mulch. You should see it all lit up at night. It's very pretty. While it's still not perfect and I have some planting to do, I'm just happy that it's no longer a mosquito incubator! I should add that it's not actually a KOI pond right now. It's just a pond. I'm still undecided about adding one more thing or rather things that need to be fed and cared for around here.
Yay! It works!
The smaller koi pond actually proved to be a more challenging task for me. It was just a bit overgrown. Just a tiny bit. See?
Talk about weeds! And not just any weeds. Sure, there were your run-of-the-mill thistles, ragweed, voluntary trees, etc. But worst of all there was an infestation of poison ivy concentrated around this pond. I'd estimate that I've ripped and hauled nearly 200 lbs. of poison ivy out of our lawn this summer and 150 lbs of it came from right here! Yikes!
If you're wondering if I'm allergic, the answer is....YES! Apparently, I'm very allergic. This is just one tiny spot. I won't go into the ugly details, but let's just say that I had an infestation of my own. No worries- a shot in my backside, two prescriptions, a bottle of Calamine and 6 weeks later and I'm nearly as right as rain. Nearly.
Despite the medical bill (and ultimately the chemical bill when I realized that I couldn't conquer each and every poison ivy root by hand or shovel), I whipped the area around that little pond right into shape. I'm looking forward to next year when I can really make it pretty!
During this time, my dog ate my phone. My sweet husband replaced it with a new iPhone as a gift for our anniversary. I had no idea how to use this iPhone, but soon I was adding apps left and right, including a calorie counter app. (Hang in there...I'm going somewhere with this). After a day spent working around this pond, I searched "weeding". Did you know that 5 hours of weeding burns approximately 1532 calories?! And there you have it, a silver lining in my oozing, itchy, poison ivy cloud. : )
Oh, and I've also been busy in the garden. You can check out pictures of our garden right after I planted it HERE. I know that we put ours in late (my sister is already harvesting green beans and my bean plants are still tiny), but things are moving along on the produce front in our yard.
My first tomatoes are forming on the plants. While most of them are destined to top burgers or find their way into a jar of my home-canned salsa, I'm dying to whip up my first batch of fried green tomatoes.
And these tender lil' ruffled lettuce leaves are sprouting out of the ground too.
What weeds? I don't see any weeds! Shhh. Those are my grass seedlings. : )
The vine plants are thriving and just getting their first flowers. Awww.
Despite all of the work, I'm loving this. There is a new surprise or lesson to learn awaiting my discovery every time I walk out my back door. And it's not only plants or the on-the-job learning for DIY projects. I'm tempted to start keeping my own backyard taxonomy. To name some of the "critters" we have encountered: spiders, snakes, frogs, toads, squirrels, ducks, songbirds, bunnies, bunny-eating falcons (no joke), mosquitoes, mosquito-eating bats, chipmunks, skunks, raccoons, and the dreaded garden-eating deer herd. I half expect a bear to come lumbering up onto the deck! There is certainly never a dull moment around here!
Speaking of surprises, this lily just bloomed today in front of the garden shed. Gorgeous!
So yeah, with all of these distractions I haven't been a very good food blogger lately. I promise to work on that. But in the meantime, I have TWO giveaways coming up this month! TWO! Stay tuned for the details and I might even try to cook something to share with ya'll in the meantime.
I hope that all of you are having a wonderful summer.
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I use mine all of the time for soups, sauces, salad dressing, and smoothies. I love it!
