When we were in our last couple of years of college, Matt and I lived in a house off-campus. It was there that we first started honing our cooking skills. With our college friends in tow, we would gather, watch Junkyard Wars (remember that show?) and make up everyone's family favorites. In the eight (?!?!) years since college, we have grown as cooks (chef sounds a bit too fancy for what we do) by leaps and bounds. Where we once took the "easy route" and bought things like garlic in a jar and processed foods, we now know the joys of making our own pasta and bread and using fresh ingredients as they are available.
These days, our food must be fast and easy to feed our young family, but fresh and nourishing and light for everyone's health. We strive to have a home-cooked meal on the table just about every night of the week and to eat as few processed foods as possible. Weeknights are quick pastas, egg dishes, burritos and the like. On the weekends we do our "big cooking" and prepare the more complex meals and stock our freezer. We are by no-means perfect and in times of great diress (kids screaming hungry and an hour of errands left) we take that easy drive-thru. But we believe in the powers of a home-cooked meal for health, happiness and tradition.
This section of the blog is made up of recipes, but also points the way to our favorite cookbooks, a list of recipes by category, some helpful tips and tricks in the kitchen, and some menus; both to give you a hand in meal-prep and to remember ourselves what we like to go together. The latest feature I've added is a "family favorites" section. These are the recipes that we prepare time and time again and consider to be at the center of our family's cooking lexicon.
We hope you find the cookbook useful and interesting and come back frequently.
Some Recent Additions to the Collective
Ingredients
4 Bell Peppers
1 T Olive Oil
1 Medium Onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves
1 tsp ground coriander
salt and pepper
1 cup quinoa
1/2 cup fresh parsley
1/3 cup walnuts coarsely chopped
1 cut coarsely grated Provolone
Directions
Preheat oven to 450 with rack in upper third. Slice a very thin layer from the base of the peppers so it sits upright. Slice off tops just below stem and remove the ribs and seeds. Discard stems, chop tops and set aside.
In a medium saucepan, heat oil over medium. Add onion, garlic coriander, chopped pepper tops and season with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until onion has softened, 4-5 min.
Add quinoa and cook until fragrant, 1 min. Add 1 cup water and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until water has been absorbed and quinoa is tender, 11-13 min. Remove from heat and stir in parsley walnuts, and 3/4 cup of provolone. Season with salt and pepper
Dividing evenly, stuff peppers with quinoa mixture; place in 2 qt baking dish. Cover with aluminum foil and bake until peppers are tender, about 1 hour.
Uncover and top with remaining 1/4 cup of provolone and bake until cheese melts 10-15 min more.
Filed In
Meatless , Clean , Lighter
Ingredients
3 3/4 cups flour
2 1/2 teaspoons instant or other active dry yeast
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon sugar
1 1/3 cup room-temperature water
Directions
Combine dry ingredients in a medium bowl. Add water, reserving the last 1/3 cup until you are sure the dough won't be too wet. Mix thoroughly for at least 30 seconds. Dough should be stiff and not sticky.
Form dough into a ball and leave in the bowl to rise until more than doubled in volume, about 2 hours. Split into two even pieces and use immediately or freeze for later.
Pizza bakes with raw crust, topped, for 15 minutes at 500 degrees.
Jess says ...
I subbed 2 cups of whole wheat flour in, which was great.
Filed In
Baked Goods , Other
Ingredients
turkey meatballs (from the freezer section)
stirfry veggies (right next to those meatballs in the freezer)
sweet & sour stirfry/simmer sauce
noodles of your choice (spaghetti works great)
Directions
Cook noodles according to package directions. Meanwhile, cook meatballs to done in microwave or skillet, set aside. In a large skillet, cook frozen veggies until warm. Add simmer sauce, noodles and meatballs (cut in small pieces if you like) and combine. Warm to desired temperature and serve.
Jess says ...
This is so easy it hardly warrants a recipe, but it is a very fast, healthy go-to meal for our family.
Filed In
Asian , Quick , Clean
Ingredients
olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
14-16 oz lump crab meat
zest and juice of 1 lemon
1/2 cup flat leaf (Italian parsley), finely chopped
12 oz spaghetti or linguine
chili oil and Parmesan to serve (optional)
Directions
Cook pasta according to package directions. While it is cooking, heat oil over medium high heat. Cook onions and garlic until translucent and beginning to become soft, about 5-7 minutes. Reduce heat. Add lemon zest, crab and heat through.
Toss pasta, crab mixture and parsley. Season with salt and pepper and lemon juice to taste. Serve with chili oil and Parmesan as desired.
Filed In
Italian , Quick , Lighter
Ingredients
1 lb chicken
2 bell peppers, whatever color you like (I say red and orange - pretty and tasty!), cut into strips
1 large onion, cut into strips
2-6 garlic cloves, minced
6 oz of provolone cheese, shredded
olive oil
salz und pfeffer
sandwich rolls of your choice
Directions
Heat the broiler. Smack that chicken down flat with a mallet so it cooks evenly, then brush olive oil and salt and pepper both sides. Broil it, 5-7 minutes a side (you have to do both sides). It may still be a teeny bit pink in the center, but that is AOK. You'll cook it a bit more later.
While the chicken is cooking, toss peppers, onions and garlic with a bit of olive oil and salt and pepper. When the chicken comes out, swap the peppers for the chicken and put them in the oven for 5-7 minutes. Cut up the chicken. When the peppers are starting to get done, add the chicken back in and cook for a minute or two. Then sprinkle with that cheese and cook a couple more minutes until it gets all melty.
Serve on rolls (toasted or un, your choice).
Filed In
Chicken/Poultry , Clean
