I received a gift a couple of weeks ago from my dear husband. He knows me. I covet cookbooks.
All of them. Any kind, any size, any topic, though I do prefer lots of pictures. However as I type that I realize my favorite cookbook is The Joy of Cooking and that has no pictures.
This is the newest addition to my collection. I attempted the Gratin of Eggs, Leeks, Bacon, and St. Andre Cheese. Yes that is actually the name of it. Can you guess what's in it? The only other significant item is half and half. And here are my results.
Here is an after shot. Yummy. I made two servings for our family size. I will also say this was not a winner with the younger ones.
Cooking Light, has to be one of my all time favorite magazines. I find so many inspirations and recipes to add to our family cookbook. I appreciate the "transitional phase" it gives many items. I don't have to go all vegan or all pastured raised beef, this magazines allows me to pick and choose which also helps my budget.
Here is our attempt at the above recipe. The ingredients:
We used a cheese we have not previously had, it was a nice touch. The recipe also called for fingerling potatoes something we had not had previously, but fortunately we were able to find them at our local store. This is how ours looked at completion.
The kids were frowning a bit while I was making it. But everyone loved loved loved it. I had to snatch Daddy's serving out before it was all gone. Even the little ones devoured their rainbow chard. Good times.
This was supposed to posted yesterday, but alas.....
Everyone at sometime or another begins to look or take a second look at their diet. I do the same. I evaluate how much we are spending, how healthy we are eating, reading the list and checking it twice. I am constantly attempting to judge how much organic/natural foods we purchase. These items are not cheap and with a large family on an almost non existent budget it can become quite a juggling act to include these items in menu planning. I generally believe in the "hype" of an organic mostly vegetable (if not raw) lifestyle. I also know that Jesus stated did not want us to worry undully about tomorrow, and we were to sick the will of the Father first and foremost. Matthew 6:33-34. This allows me to have a fairly balance and open view of eating. I don't beat myself too much if I have to grab that sack of white flour off the shelf instead of my preferred unbromated unbleached flour.
I had noticed, probably due to my mood, that I was not fixing dinners. The kids had become accustomed to grazing. Eight kids eating all day is not a good thing. Of course all this last meeting eating also led to packaged foods, sweets, etc. So I had to check myself. We also have been watching those documentaries. You know Food Inc., Food Matters, Tapped and the like. Of course I walk away going I need to make some changes. I tweaked our menu. I have created a 5 week menu this way I don't need to worry about creating a new menu each week, which sometimes can be a task. Anyway in most families, certain items become favorites and most of us shuffle through several dozen recipes. I decided to cut down on some of our meat consumption. So we are going down to meat two days a week, this probably does not include our homemade pizza nights. I want to make our plates more colorful, making sure we partake of fruits and vegetables at each meal not just grains. Lastly I would like our morning and afternoon meals to composed of mostly raw fruits or vegetables.
I love reading about cooking and attempting new recipes. I absolutely love my Cooking Light magazine. So you'll find the bottom non-colored row is what we are currently doing. I'll think I will use my menu as a jumping off point. I will adjust taking advantage of seasonal items, sales and recipes we want to try.
My kids love to be in the kitchen. I don't necessarily love it. I have a large family so to feed them in the most economical and nutrious way, I choose to find ways to become excited by it. Through trial and error our family has developed some pretty tasty recipes. I make awesome soups, the kids make banging chili, and we put together some mean roasts in our crock-pot.
There are several items that have eluded me. Most are in the backing category. So I am so grateful to PBS Parents over @ Twitter, who posted this scrumdiliuptious (not a word I know stop hate'n) recipe for soft pretzels. Who doesn't love soft pretzels!!??? I don't care that you don't you don't count! I have a hard time finding good one. I don't like any of those franchise ones you can find at the mall, too soft and wet for me. But I can't wait until State Fair to have my tummy tickled. Here is the recipe they posted. It turned out so well. I mean good. We have tried several times before all were fails. This recipe was super easy to follow. Try it, they are also having a giveway for a pack of gourmet pretzels, mmm. If you don't enter, better for me. I would share but they are all gone
