Hello! How is everyone doing? Do you need a brief diversion from reading about transmission rates and mortality projections? Let's talk about food.
I have been spending a LOT of time in the kitchen: stress baking, making meals for all these people who seem to want to eat hourly, and scowling at the never-shrinking pile of dirty dishes. I'm no chef, but I'll share what we have been eating lately in case anyone else is in a rut and wants to borrow an idea.
We have made a lot of sweets, including the following:
Custard pie
Oatmeal chocolate chip cookies
Rice krispy treats
Brownies
Banana bread
Granola
I made fudge too, and it was good but definitely a first draft. Need to work on that one.
We've also made Mary Williams french bread multiple times, as well as these other non-sweet things:
Design Mom chili
https://www.designmom.com/chili-cookoff/
Pioneer Woman pizza crust (I double it to make two large sheet pan pizzas, plus I bake the crust for a few minutes, then add the toppings and continue cooking. I find that it is SO HARD to get a good crust on a cookie sheet. Sigh. Some day I might invest in a real pizza stone and a peel, but for now my kids rave about our "sloppy pizza".)
https://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/pizza-ree-a/?printable_recipe=11669
Pasta with easy Italian meat sauce
Bangkok curry (I love this so much, I could drink the sauce like a milkshake.)
I tried this wild rice and butternut squash recipe yesterday. Matt and I liked it; the kids were not impressed.
We've also had a baked potato bar, sandwiches & chips (that's always a favorite because the boys get to pick their favorite chip flavors!), tostadas with refried beans, breakfast casserole, spaghetti pie, and ground pork tacos (because they were out of ground beef the day I was at the store).
Today for lunch we used some leftover chicken to make buffalo chicken dip. That's right, we had chips and cheesy dip for lunch. I actually deviate from the original recipe and bulk it up with pureed chick peas, so I don't even feel guilty about it.
Kinda sorta healthy Buffalo chicken dip
Two 15 oz. cans of chick peas / garbanzo beans, rinsed and pureed until very smooth (add water if needed to help it blend well)
One 8 oz. brick of cream cheese
1-2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese, cubed
1/2 cup blue cheese dressing
2 cups cooked chicken, chopped or shredded
1/2 cup buffalo wing sauce, or more to taste
Add all ingredients to a large skillet and simmer on low until all the cheese is melted and combined. Serve with tortilla chips.
This recipe is very flexible: vary the amounts of the cheeses, add more spicy wing sauce, or omit the chicken to make it vegetarian. The Alamo Drafthouse recently published the recipe for their vegan cauliflower bites. ( https://drafthouse.com/news/make-your-own-vegan-buffalo-cauliflower-alamoathome ) Maybe you could follow their lead and add some lightly steamed cauliflower pieces to this dip?
Tomorrow's dinner is broccoli cheese soup. I happened to find a picture of it from when I made it back in January. Remember January? I'd sure like to go back there.
I hope each of you are holding up well, with enough to feed yourselves and your people, plus a good stash of pantry chocolate to sneak when times get tough. Much love.
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