A little story

Let me tell you a little story about a burger that could.

A very tired Mommy just came home from the hospital w/her new little baby boy and all she wanted was a good burger to make her life complete. You see she had been in the hospital for a few days trying to eat what was called "food type product" but not "true food" (listen sport that shit was NASTY), it was even close.

You see this burger had a garlic butter put in the center of the meat patty, so it would melt during cooking. This burger had caramelized onions, bacon, heirloom tomatoes (no matter the cost), avocado, butter lettuce, and home made BBQ sauce that was made with love at an earlier date. All of this put on a tender kaiser roll toasted to perfection. Not shadow over the burger but a nice side of fries cooked perfectly in the deep fat fryer. All of this hard work was done by a loving husband and very happy father on new baby.

Now that's what I call a "push present". A good burger and fries...I could have had a milkshake but I passed, I didn't want to be greedy.

Thus brings us to last night. Tarik called from "Whole Paycheck" offering up pre-made burgers and some frozen onion rings and fries. I was all for it-easy dinner oh yeah baby, bring it on!!

I will admit those burgers last night were almost as good as the one made for me when I got home. Never throw stones on a little help from your store when it's good, clean, and eatable. It will prob cost you a bit more, but when it's that good it's that worth it.

Food Byte:
Try to keep a spray bottle of diluted bleach and water in the kitchen. You will be ready for any raw meat or some other major bacterial dump. I like to use it at the end of each day to clean off my wooden cutting boards. If you do this and notice that your cutting boards are getting dry and kinda icky looking just rub some mineral oil on them. Don't get the mineral oil from the fancy kitchen shop (can you say bend over) just get a small bottle from a drug store, I swear it's the same stuff.

So have a burger in my honor-Garden burgers ROCK too!

Live Laugh Love
Kristin

Salt Your New Best Friend

As promised I wanted to post/talk about brining. I am totally in flavor of it, It's a step that can really help produce a good meal.

So let's start off with just that "salt", usually most recipes that call for a brine use Kosher salt, but not all Kosher salt is the same Mortin's and Black Diamond are "flaked" different is the best way I can put it. I always use Black Diamond so if you use/only have Mortin's add 2 Tbls. to the brine. There is usually some sugar to the brine part too, I have never tried to use a "sugar replacement" in this step so if you have or want to try PLEASE tell me your thoughts on the subject. But you have to be totally true to the concept; you need to do it w/sugar and then w/your favorite sugar replacement to get a true taste.

Right now I will give you my favorite Pork Chop recipie, I will do my chicken just as soon as I can. This post alone has taken me a day and a half! It’s really hard w/2 sick kids. I do want to add that if someone has an “issue” w/eating shallots or onions you can always bread up one chop, then add the shallots and proceed w/the rest. I must reference America’s Test Kitchen for this one, and most of my cooking has been learned watching this show, using their cookbooks and web site. Me loves them long time.

Crunchy Baked Pork Chops
This recipe was developed using natural pork, but enhanced pork (injected with a salt solution) will work as well. If using enhanced pork, eliminate the brining in step 1 (see related How To Cook). The breadcrumb mixture can be prepared through step 2 up to 3 days in advance. The breaded chops can be frozen for up to 1 week. They don't need to be thawed before baking; simply increase the cooking time in step 5 to 35 to 40 minutes.
Serves 4

4	center-cut boneless pork chops, 6 to 8 ounces each, 3/4 to 1 inch thick, trimmed of excess fat
4	Slices hearty white sandwich bread, torn into 1-inch pieces
1	Small minced shallot(about 2 tablespoons)
3	Medium garlic cloves, minced or pressed through garlic press (about 1 tablespoon)
2	Tablespoons vegetable oil
	Ground black pepper
2	Tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
1/2	Teaspoon minced fresh thyme leaves
2	tablespoonsminced fresh parsley leaves
1/4	Cup unbleached all-purpose flour plus 6 tablespoons
3	Large egg whites
3	Tablespoons Dijon mustard
	Lemon wedges�

1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Dissolve 1/4 cup salt in 1 quart water in medium container or gallon-sized zipper-lock bag. Submerge chops, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate 30 minutes. Rinse chops under cold water and dry thoroughly with paper towels.

2. Meanwhile, pulse bread in food processor until coarsely ground, about eight 1-second pulses (you should have about 3 1/2 cups crumbs). Transfer crumbs to rimmed baking sheet and add shallot, garlic, oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Toss until crumbs are evenly coated with oil. Bake until deep golden brown and dry, about 15 minutes, stirring twice during baking time. (Do not turn off oven.) Cool to room temperature. Toss crumbs with Parmesan, thyme, and parsley.

3. Place 1/4 cup flour in pie plate. In second pie plate, whisk egg whites and mustard until combined; add remaining 6 tablespoons flour and whisk until almost smooth, with pea-sized lumps remaining.

4. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees. Spray wire rack with nonstick cooking spray and place in rimmed baking sheet. Season chops with pepper. Dredge 1 pork chop in flour; shake off excess. Using tongs, coat with egg mixture; let excess drip off. Coat all sides of chop with bread crumb mixture, pressing gently so that thick layer of crumbs adheres to chop. Transfer breaded chop to wire rack. Repeat with remaining 3 chops.

5. Bake until instant-read thermometer inserted into center of chops registers 150 degrees, 17 to 25 minutes. Let rest on rack 5 minutes before serving with lemon wedges.

Healthy Is Out The Door People

So it goes, healthy shmealthy is what the motto of the week. I am totally using the fact that Tarik was in TX from Monday to Thursday and then I get to take him back to the airport first thing Friday morning...oh and get him AGAIN on Monday. Yeah I am your airport taxi bitch. Yuppers I just love it.

So I will totally admit to not being as healthy as I should be. The kids are eating healthy but why not me? Why can't I take the few minutes to make sure I have a good breakfast and not dive into the ice cream carton in times of stress? I mean really, we all do it, self sacrifice...but at what cost? Who wins in this game? If we don't take care of ourselves then who will take care of everyone else? And if someone else is doing it you all know it will be just, well, WRONG!!! No one can do my job as good as me but if me is sick? Oh heavens help us all.

We must make time for our health and mental health, in the few hours Tarik is here I took off w/o kids. I was constantly thinking something was wrong or I didn't feel ok...I needed to be chasing a kid in Coffee Cat just to feel normal now? WTH? I used to dance on bars and close down the place and now if a kid isn't pulling on my pants I don't feel ok? AAAAHHHHHHH I didn't authorize these feelings, I received no memo that this was going to happen, did you?

I was only gone for one hour but it was an amazing hour w/a Momma I love and would stand in front of a moving freight train for. I mean I wouldn't give up my anti frizz hair cream for but I would consider it. So the lesson for today is if your kids eat healthy so the fuck should you. You will feel better, take a few minutes each week for yourself or you will go nuts. Just go to Coffee Cat, I will even meet you there, but just take care of you Momma, because most likely NOBODY can do it better than you.

Food Bytes...forgot this the last few posts, sorry about that!

When boiling potatoes for mashed or a potato salad always start in cold water and don't forget to salt that water too. Something about keeping the potatoes firmed up and not get all mushy. I think it's fine for mashed but if your making a potato salad your potato's will look nicer and not all broken and mushed up.

I promise my next post will be about brine ing your chicken and pork chops, oh hell yeah its worth it...

Live Laugh Love
Kristin

Turbo Tax is a dirty whore

Yup I said it, I hate the Turbo Tax. I would have less stress in Vegas, I swear. I know I can't be the only one either.
We are humming along putting in the numbers, seeing those lovely green numbers and then Tarik hits this "import info" button and BAM I see my life flash before my eyes and there they are, the red numbers. You dirty bastards. Yup that's what you are. Then you add insult to injury there are commas in that red number. Well kiss my ass back you...
Does this sound familiar to anyone? I really think Turbo Tax aged me about 8 years and being that I am pushing 40 that does not bode well in my life.
I am happy to say that after correcting the numbers that the wonderful "import button" put in we are back in the green but for those few short hours I was in a major panic. I had no idea where on earth we could come up w/that kinda cash.
My heart is with you all and I hope Turbo Tax doesn't act like a dirty whore for you all...

Live Laugh Love
Kristin

Quail, it's the other OTHER white meat

It's sad to say that my titles don't come w/their own echo machine...but when both of my kids ate it I heard it in my head! Tarik had found some frozen quail at Costco (or what the kids call the Pizza Store) I wanted to try something different. I mean I was simple-defrost, pull out of the package, blot off the moisture and stick on a wire rack and put in the oven for 25 minutes!

It was pretty good too. But I was pulling off the meat for Elyas who couldn't get enough meat but he is like that. A human garbage disposal more like it. We did enjoy it but it's small and there is a lot of bones to try and eat around. Not something I would recommend for anyone that has an aversion to eating meat off of bones. But for those manly carnivores, you would be in a major place of euphoria for hours. And when the kids ate the quail, brocolini AND wild rice w/mushrooms I think I should go to Vegas? Ok they didn't eat a lot of the rice and veggies but they ate some and that's all I ask! Go us for having great kids. Now if I can just keep them from eating the furinture.

So not to digress at all from this lovely topic of meat to bone ratio meals, I wanted to take some pride and admit to doing some type of workout yesterday...I found some "Total Body Sculpting with Gilad" show on the Health Channel...ok this dude is German and I swear to GOD I kept waiting to hear "I am here to PUMP YOU UP" insert claps in the approapate places. Then that afternoon I walked down the hill to get the mail...I usually drive because I am a lazy ass and it's what I do. Today I only got the mail, yes I walked. I will also add that last night I did this thing called sleep!!! I have only seen pictures of it but last night I got some, the sleep was a thing of beauty. About 11 hours of it...yeah I think I want to try that again.

So let's see if I can keep up this work out thingy that my doctor is SO on my arse about!!!!

Live Laugh Love,
Kristin

Oh Come On, We All Do It

From time to time we need a lazy, easy dinner. I know that's pretty much a normal thing for me everyday! So I gave in and made a breakfast dinner. I loved these as a kid and I still do today. I like to bake my bacon to save room on the stove top. I just use a rimmed cookie sheet and a wire rack, but because I am so lazy I put foil under the wire rack so I don't have to scrub the cookie sheet. I bake it for about 18 mins on 400.
The next thing was that I was luck to have some lox in the house and Tarik had been sweet enough to pick up some bagels and cream cheese for breakfast that we didn't end up using that day. Those bagels were my inspiration for dinner. Of course we had to have eggs, I had some left over cheese so when they are almost done I threw the cheese in. I just love cheesy eggs, don't you?
We were blown away watching the kids eat bagels and lox, eggs w/red bell peppers! I was thinking that they wouldn't touch any of it.

Fancy Eggs: I did have one request-to learn how to make soft boiled eggs. We had them on our last day in Paris-they were AMAZING so I was up to the challenge or so I thought. I read about them and WOW is there some influencing factors that just suck trying to make that happen. And yes I wanted to start trying ASAP on that request so I tried it...a complete f.a.i.l.u.e.r But tomorrow is another day and eggs are pretty cheap. And Tarik got the "extra" egg for breakfast, lucky guy.

Even More Fancy Eggs: May I recommend eggs p repaired this way...over a double boiler. OMG they are so so SO tender and yummy. They do take some time but it's worth it in the end. Just keep the water at a low simmer, water not touching the top pot/bowl and just keep turning them w/a spatula. One side note-the bowl is a pain in the ass to clean if your using a glass bowl.

Kitchen Germ a Phobics, this is for you...to "de-germ" your kitchen sponge you should microwave a wet sponge for 2 minutes. Bacteria just loves a nice damp place to hang and grow-zap the little bastards I say!!!

Live Laugh Love,
Kristin

Pulled That Rabbit Out of a Hat

I am thrilled to say that I pulled off what I thought was the impossible. Let me explain a little more. I went to Costco, I saw what I thought would make some yummy lunches and/or dinners for us. Brie and Roasted Garlic Raviloi.
Well it sounded good and now I had a ton of it. The first night I made up a meat sauce for the ravioli, oh that was nasty. They had a sweet flavor to it, that was just wrong.
So after waiting a few weeks and truly pondering throwing the rest away-knowing how much I hate throwing out food I thought of something else...An Alfredo Sauce! Then to make it just a bit move fancy a Lemon Alfredo.
It worked, it was a home run and the sauce didn't curdle like I thought it would. Here is the recipe from Americas Test Kitchen:
"Fettuccine Alfredo" I use any type of pasta I choose
1 2/3 C Heavy Cream
5 Tbls unsalted butter
Salt/Ground black pepper
2 ounces Paramsean cheese, grated or 1 cup
pinch of nutmeg-you grate it yourself it makes a BIG flavor difference

1) cook pasta in salted water till al dente
2) combine 1 1/3 c of the cream and the butter in a saute pan large enough to accommodate the cooked pasta. Heat over low until the butter is melted and the cream comes to a bare simmer. Turn off heat and set aside.
3) After draining the pasta add it to the saute pan. Add the remaining 1/3 c cream, the Parmesan and salt/pepper to taste, add nutmeg. Cooke over very low heat, tossing to combine the ingredients, until the sauce is slightly thickened 1 to 2 minutes. Serve immediately in heated pasta bowls (you can use the pasta boiling water to do this, just put a large bowl under the stainer to capture the water)
To make it all lemony and creamy (oh this just rocks, we love it long time)
"Follow the recipe for Fettuccine Alfredo, heating 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice w/the cream and butter in step 2 AND toss in 2 tsp of grated lemon zest w/the pasta in step 3.

I will totally admit the only reason why I can get most of my cooking done is b/c my wonderful husband watches the kids for me. Hey, he wants good dinners he has to help out-family is all about teamwork.

Something to ponder:
"4 out of 5 people are in therapy because of you"

Live Laugh Love
Kristin

Welcome

Hello,

At the suggestion of a wonderful Momma (she will remain nameless but it rhymes with athy) I have started at "foodie type blog". I would like it to be more than about food, but mostly about my journey to find balance in life as a Mom of 2 small children and one big one. I do or did watch a lot of cooking show but in no way am I anything close to a cook or professional chef, I am just passionate about cooking good nutritional food for my friends and family-with as little of processed foods as humanly possible.

My first task in life is to figure out how to work out on a regular basis. I have to, no exceptions. I have sugar issues since I was pregnant w/my son. If I work out I can hopefully avoid Type II diabetes and bring down my cholesterol. I must be healthy or someone else will be raising my kids.

Food bytes:
I was asked to start out slow on this part, ok I will ML, I will.
Pasta notes:
-Always always ALWAYS salt your boiling water. It should taste like salt water. It will make a huge impact on flavor in the end. It's recommended that you salt the water after the water is boiling to prevent pitting of your pots. FYI I salt before the water boils or I will forget.
-Never rinse your pasta after you cook it, you will wash away all the starch and the sauce won't cling to your noodles.
-If you sauce seems a little thick don't hesitate to add some pasta boiling water to it.

That's it for now, as I cook and explore this world of balance and heath I will post from time to time with recipies and advice (ok just what works for me and my family) with how to or how I am acheiving this. Thank you...live laugh love Kristin