Thanks everyone for all your great comments recently – especially as it pertains to my two posts on year 2010 goals. I think we all have goals, but for me, putting it out there and in some sense therefore being more accountable makes it more fun – and more of a challenge for me! So thanks for all your lovely comments and feedback!

In my last post, as it pertains to one of my food goals for this year, I told you I was going to post a recipe for creamy tomato soup that I prepared in my Vitamix for lunch last week. I was lucky enough to receive one of these AWESOME machines from my lovely husband for my birthday. I have been wanting one for over 3 years, and this year, I guess I was a good girl! These machines are not cheap, but they do take the place of a blender, food processor and grinder (you can actually grind coffee beans in it) all in one. In fact you can make fresh fruit and veggie juice in it too – not pulpy but rich and creamy from all the natural fibers – the blades are that powerful. You can even make a kind of ice milk or fruity dessert in it as well.

We have really been enjoying all the above mentioned treats have we make with it, especially our nightly smoothies, but one of the things I love the most about the Vitamix is that is actually MAKES soup – I mean you don’t even have to cook it – the heat created from the friction of the ultra fast blades heats it up! So you literally have soup in 5 minutes.

Here is what I did:

INGREDIENTS:

1 box of Pomi strained tomatoes
1 ½ organic roasted red peppers (jarred)
dash of organic heavy cream
salt
freshly ground pepper
dried oregano
dried basil

I put all of this in the Vitamix and let her rip. In about 3-4 minutes you could see the steam coming out of the lid, telling me that it was done. That’s IT. The soup was so rich and creamy. The taste of the black pepper was very prominent – I guess it go so pulverized that it really infused the entire soup. I put a dollop of homemade yogurt on top and it was a wonderful, filling and super healthy lunch full of one of my favorite things – Lycopene, because it is oh so good. So go ahead and enjoy some tomato soup today!

On another note my friend Betherann from Kitchen Courage gifted me with a Beautiful Blogger Award and asked me to share 7 things about myself. So here they are:

1) I just took a DNA test for ancestry and health. I am adopted and know nothing at all about my birth family, my ethnic heritage or the types of health problems that run in the family. I have been waiting 33 years for this – and decided to finally do it. If we are facebook friends, keep checking my status update for how you can be involved in this life changing event! Trust me, it’ll be fun!

2) My favorite flower is the Thistle.

3) If I never had asparagus again in my life, I wouldn’t miss it.

4) I believe in life you have to be willing to take risks in order to realize your full potential.

5) My favorite color is Rust – which is why I probably love eating pumpkin, squash and sweet potatoes so much!

6) I spent a year in Norway and speak some Norwegian  – I used to be fluent – but it has been 15 years!

7) I am a very accurate and passionate archer – makes sense since I am a Sagittarius!

I got a comment recently from a new reader. She said she was enjoying my blog, but didn’t see many recipes for leftovers. That comment kind of surprised me, because most of the food I make uses some kind of leftover component. However, I don’t always specify that when writing my posts. So I want to make more of an effort to point out the leftover components I am using, and to talk about other ways that my food philosophy extends, but yet still encompasses “leftover qualities”. Things like making food from scratch using what it in your pantry or fridge, making things you eat often like bread, cheese and yogurt, or preserving seasonal vegetables and making your own condiments. This is all part of the Leftover Queen philosophy – use what you have on hand, make substitutions whenever necessary, to be able to focus on what using what is on hand, and make as much as you can from scratch using wholesome basics.

In this vein I want to talk about beans and rice. I love beans and rice, and it is certainly a meal that embraces leftovers. Beyond the basic components of beans and rice (and even within those two ingredients there are many varieties), you can throw anything you have lying around in the fridge that needs using up. As usual I always soak my rice and beans ahead of time. I generally take a day during the weekend, and do large batches of soaking – grains, flours and legumes, and then cooking til almost done, so I can just package them up and throw them in the freezer for quick yet nourishing meals later on.

The week before vacation is always a busy time, so I was happy to be greeted by beans, rice and other grains when I opened the freezer that I could throw together for a quick meal. For this particular batch of beans and rice I added some chopped up organic kielbasa and sauteed it with the rice. Then I added about 2 cups of chopped kale, some spices like New Mexico green chili powder, cumin and coriander, a few tablespoons of homemade tomato sauce (also from the freezer) and water. I let everything come to a boil, and cooked on low heat for about 25 minutes, adding more liquid as necessary.

Beans and rice is a combination dish that is eaten all over the world. It is frugal, healthy and delicious, and you can constantly change it up to suit your tastes! Make it with leftover meat, or keep it vegetarian – the choice is up to you! Top it with shredded cheese, yogurt (or sour cream), salsa or even guacamole!

So enjoy some beans and rice for lunch, dinner, or even breakfast, today!

Stay tuned for some posts about The Foodbuzz Food Bloggers Festival that I will be attending this weekend! Looking forward to meeting many of you there!

This is a great and easy recipe to make on a week night. I love eggplant dishes, especially those that are baked with cheese and sauce. So when I saw this recipe for eggplant torta, especially having a guest from Italy in the house (who is not used to American foods) I thought it would be perfect.

I really loved this recipe – and it made delicious leftovers. Dishes like this often taste better a day or two later (another concept that was lost on our Italian guest – I guess leftovers are a rarity in Italy), and this dish was no exception. I enjoyed it for lunch the next day!

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Everyone loves 2 for 1 sales, that is, if you like the product being featured. Most of the time this is not the case for me. Usually at my grocery store, two for one deals are on pre-packaged foods that we choose not to eat. Some people may believe that this makes me mental but I chose to see myself as a concerned consumer.

I have been thinking a lot lately about food, the food industry, consumerism and, well being a concerned consumer. I have been reading Stuffed Nation by Hank Cardello over the past week and there is a lot of food for thought regarding being a concerned consumer in that book. Some of his points I agree with, some I don’t necessarily, however, I will be discussing this in more detail next week, when we announce the Foodie Blogroll giveaways for September, as his book is one of them! This will give us all a change to weigh in with our thoughts about food policy.

But back to my 2 for 1. As I have mentioned before,  I am really in love with the book Nourishing Traditions and I have been trying some recipes from the cookbook portion of the book. I love that the book focuses on traditional foods and traditional food preparation. So many of the recipes seem like things I already enjoy making, but the preparation is a bit different, and it is the preparation that makes the difference for my belly and the bellies of others.

Bone broths are a very old idea, but also an idea that has kind of fallen out of common practice for the most part. If a recipe we are using calls for stock of any kind, we are more likely to go and purchase a can or box of stock at the grocery store, rather than reach into our freezer for homemade. I want to change this in my own home. Over the past few months, in addition to already baking my own breads and pastries from scratch, and making ice cream, I have started cleaning out my pantry of canned beans, and beginning to use dried beans, soaking them in a mixture of warm water and raw apple cider vinegar over night before cooking. I have also recently purchased a yogurt maker and the cultures for yogurt, buttermilk, kefir, creme fraiche and fromage blanc. Along those same lines, I have also started making bone broths. Bone broths are rich and nutritious as they contain gelatin which actually aids digestion and joint function. It also acts as a “protein sparer” that allows the body to more fully utilize the proteins that are taken in with it. To read more about the benefits of bone broth, check out Jenny’s blog, The Nourished Kitchen.

I have always made stocks with the bones from roasted chickens, and I have even been known to bring home fish bones and heads from the restaurant to make fish stock, but I have never made a stock with the whole animal, since I normally prepare it a different way. By following the directions, in Nourishing Traditions, I decided to do just that, boil up a chicken, for 24 hours, and then make a whole other meal with the cooked chicken (they have a ton of recipes dedicated to just this!).

I have to admit I had a fabulous time with this broth. You don’t have to cook it for 24 hours, you can do it from anywhere between 6-24 hours. But I figured for my first time, I might as well go all the way! It was very satisfying to cook a broth for this long – the house smelled amazing, and I was really in domestic bliss. Once the cooking was over, I waited for the broth to cool, and then I packed it, 2 cups (for convenience) at a time in freezer bags. I got 13 cups of stock!

With the chicken I decided to make chicken tostadas. Roberto’s brother is visiting from Italy, and has never had Southwestern food before, and I was really craving it. So we gave it a go! It made enough for all of us (me and two very hungry menfolk) with leftovers! That plus the stock is certainly 2 for 1. I paid about $7 for the organic free range chicken, and maybe $1 for all the veggies that went into the stock. Add about $7 tops for all the toppings, tortillas and extra bits for the tostadas, and we are at a grand total of $15 for 6 meals and 13 cups of chicken stock (usually about $4 for 3 cups at the grocery for organic). That is less than $2 a man sized meal PLUS the stock. In my opinion that is money well spent. Who says it is expensive to eat organic, good quality food?

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I really love playing in the kitchen and sometimes, I like to play in the kitchen with others. The kitchen in our condo is kind of small and lacking counter space, but I have still found it possible to squeeze people in the kitchen with me, so we can have a good time cooking up something fun! Everyone I know, knows about my love of cooking and I like to have the opportunity to share this passion of mine with them. Cooking together is a whole different experience from cooking FOR someone, although that is great too! I think the key to cooking together with people in small kitchens is to use as few bowls and pans as possible, and to keep it simple so people can enjoy themselves no matter what their level of cooking is.

A few weekends ago we had both my mom and my cousin Michelle visiting. They both came up on a Friday, and since Fridays are always “Movie Night” in this household, I wanted to pick something that would be quick and easy, but also fun and delicious that we could eat while watching movies. Also since Michelle is the only other person besides Roberto that I know who could literally eat pizza every day I decided to do a “make your own pizza” night!

Before anyone arrived I made sure to make a batch of the Olive Oil Dough from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day (seriously, if you don’t already have this book, stop reading this post and get it!). I also checked to make sure we had my secret pizza sauce ingredient – tomato paste. We use it straight from the can as pizza sauce – it is nice and thick, so no soggy crust!

Everyone had a great time rolling out their individual pizzas. I wish we had been better about taking photos of actual people, but we were too busy having fun! We had a variety of toppings to choose from, which are things I just had in the fridge: fresh mozzarella, roasted red peppers, olives, Applegate Farms pepperoni (no nitrates, antibiotics, etc), peperoncini and fresh heirloom tomato slices, and of course extra virgin olive oil to drizzle on top. We had a great time making pizzas and a week later I was still finding flour in random places

Then last week, our friends Chris and Erin from The Olive Notes came over for a pasta party. When they lived in Italy they always had several jars of Barilla’s Pesto Genovese in their Italian pantry, however were sad to discover that they could not find it back in the states. So when we were in Italy in March ( and I promise there are more travel posts to come) we brought them back a few bottles. To thank us, they suggested we have a pasta making party. Since Roberto and I are moving at the end of the month, we decided to have them over so that we could have one last get together at the condo.

We decided to make a filled pasta, and went with ravioli. We used this recipe for the dough from Recipe Zaar and decided to fill our fresh pasta with a mixture of wild mushrooms that Erin got at the Farmers Market, goat cheese and fresh chives from my garden. We also seasoned it with Sicilian Sea Salt with Blood Orange Zest that we got from D’Italia .

First we made the filling in the food processor – basically threw everything in there and let her rip. Then we cleaned it out and made the dough in the processor at well. Then Erin and I got to rolling out the dough, while the boys made various bruschetta.

Once the dough was rolled it had to sit for 15 minutes and then we filled and cut out the ravioli.

At this point we had another hour to wait until we could cook it, so we ate our bruschetta, sipped some wine and made a delicious salad made from wild arugula and heirloom tomatoes topped with a homemade balsamic-mustard-honey dressing Erin made – it was delicious.

We cooked up the ravioli and then enjoyed an evening reminiscing about our respective Italian travels.

We had such a good time cooking with people in our home that I plan to make this a regular thing, especially now that we are going to have a much bigger kitchen in the new place! So look forward to more of these posts in the future!

Here is another post about a featured pantry item. This was not planned it just so happens that the last few times I cooked, I got so inspired by a key ingredient and just went off on different tangents with it. Which to me, is my favorite way to cook – when I am inspired and excited about ingredients – when they make me hungry and I can’t wait for the dish to be done. This post is going to feature different uses for tomato sauces, which I made from boxed tomatoes.

Now I am putting a disclaimer out there that this isn’t my mom’s, my grandmother’s or probably anyone’s grandmother’s recipe for tomato sauce, or meatballs. Even though I grew up both Spaghetti Squash and Spaghetti and Meatballs, I don’t like making anything EXACTLY the same way every time. Since I like to use my leftovers, when I make a sauce or any kind of dish, really, I always do a tour through the fridge to see what needs to be used yesterday, and find a way to incorporate it. Usually this means we get extra veggies in whatever dish I am making, which is never a bad thing. But it also ensures that my dishes are always slightly different every time, making it more interesting.

Here is the story of this Tomato Sauce Extravaganza! I bought a spaghetti squash with all intentions to make baked spaghetti squash with fresh mozzarella for dinner. Then on Twitter, I was chatting with some of my buds and Elle, from Elle’s New England Kitchen was making Spaghetti and Meatballs, and Peter, from Kalofagas was talking about garlic bread. So naturally, I started craving both things. So I decided to act on those cravings and just make everything all at once. So I made the tomato sauce so that it could go in my baked spaghetti squash dish and also be used the next day for the meatballs. I must admit both dishes were fabulous!

Then I made garlic bread topped with parm and a little leftover blue cheese. It was the perfect accompaniment.
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This is another recipe inspired by my new favorite cookbook,
Dishing Up Vermont.

This particular tagine recipe is perfect for the winter bounty of vegetables that we are experiencing right now. I would not call this a “tagine”, technically, but more of a stew, as that is the way it is prepared, as opposed to the traditional slow roasting method in clay that tagine in known for. However, the flavors are very much reflective of this well known Moroccan dish.

I did not have all of the ingredients in the original recipe, so I filled in the gaps with things that I had on hand, and I must say it was delicious and certainly very easy to make. I would encourage anyone to try this dish with whatever seasonal veggies you have on hand, while keeping the spices the same, and you are in for a real hearty treat. Topped with a nice dollop of strained Greek yogurt and you have a wonderful healthy meal, perfect for staving off the colder weather. It is definitely a dish that I will be making again.
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I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday, and for those of you who didn’t celebrate, I hope you still had lots of good food. I am sorry I am just getting around to my Thanksgiving Day post, I can see that the blogosphere is already into the Winter Holiday mode. But between traveling and the terrible cold I picked up, I have not been up to my regular blogging schedule. But I think now things should get back to normal soon.

Thanksgiving really is a food lover’s holiday which is why it is one of my favorite holidays. I also love the sentiment behind it, it is not a day to give out lots of presents, and I feel that it is the least “Hallmark-y” of the holidays. It is essentially a day to give thanks for the many blessings in one’s life and to spend good times and good food with family and friends. Something many of us need to do every so often, especially this year. Despite the negativity that surrounds the invention of this American holiday (I’ll skip the whole Pilgrim and Indian Story), I like what it has come to represent for my family.

We spent Thanksgiving with my Dad and Stepmom this year in Annapolis, MD at their home and it was truly awesome. We had about 12 of us there, including two adorable little girls, and of course it was all about the holiday favorites – Turkey (both roasted and smoked), stuffing, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, gravy and a Baltimore, MD traditional dish, sauerkraut and fresh kielbasa. This was certainly a departure from the Thanksgiving meals of my childhood which consisted of all of the above (minus the kraut and kielbasa) plus Italian wedding soup, Ravioli and my Nana’s famous sausage stuffing. But the meal was great and it was really nice to spend time getting to know my stepmom’s family. There was also a cocktail hour which included my dad’s bloody mary’s or gin and tonics served with MD crab dip, a cheese plate and a sweet and spicy dip over cream cheese served with crackers. Pretty good spread.

So on Thanksgiving, I didn’t do too much cooking, just helped wherever help was needed. BUT, the next day was my big day. My dad and stepmom arranged for 10 of their friends (including my biggest fan, their longtime friend, Gloria – in the above photo) to come over and enjoy a Leftover Queen, Leftover Thanksgiving Dinner.

I thought this was a fantastic idea and so Friday morning, after taking stock of the leftovers from the night before and what was in their kitchen pantry and fridge, I set to work on a menu. We ended up having a Southwest inspired salad with smoked turkey and honey-lime dressing, potato croquettes with marinara sauce, mini turkey sandwiches with turkey, cranberry sauce, stuffing and gravy, as well as sauteed green beans with almonds and shallots. There was also leftover kraut and kielbasa and plain ‘ol roasted turkey as well. With the obligatory pumpkin pie for dessert!

We all had a great time and I even learned another term for Leftovers, from Gloria, “Mustgoes”. She said she learned it from a friend of hers and usually when she asks people if they have ever had “mustgoes” they don’t know what she is talking about!

At the end of the night we had an impromptu Scotch tasting. Roberto and I are both big fans of single malts and we brought a bottle for my dad. But it turns out he prefers bourbon. However, my stepmom who is a wine distributor also carries a few selective single malts and there were a few people there who also enjoy single malts, so we had a good time talking about the various types and distilleries and trying a few varieties.

So thanks Dad and Kayzie for coming up with this great day after Thanksgiving celebration. It was a lot of fun and I think is a great tradition!

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