The Tasty Space

Brendan’s plate :) which mostly ended up on the floor (sad, I know, but at least the cat ate like the Queen she is)

This first week, I decided to make a WHOLE meal out of things I’d never made before! 

The menu included:
Faux-tisserie Lemon-Rosemary Chicken (made in a Crock Pot)
Acorn Squash Soup 
Artichoke w/ butter
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Parsnip Patties 
Coconut Cake w/ Mango Sauce 

Those Drumsticks literally melted off the chicken… Oh Y-U-M
Oh, and don’t look at those blackened Brussels Sprouts like that! I was concerned when the recipe said “until brown, almost black” but the taste is incomparable, they would not have been so good had they been bright green!
The Parsnip Patties…? Not my favorite, but they were OK when dipped in the soup… otherwise, I wouldn’t recommend this use for parsnips… I will attempt them again later.

Artichoke w/ Butter  

Artichoke
Literally, I googled, how to cook an artichoke… This is what I found and followed.
I wish I’d found a “How to Buy an Artichoke” article, first. I feel that the artichoke I picked led to the resulting outcome. We had to peel back SEVERAL layers to get something tender and edible. Personally, I don’t like the flavor of artichoke, so I might be kinda bias — you know, looking for something not to like.

OK. Next dish please! 

Faux-tisserie Chicken in a Crock Pot

Chicken
Oh my goodness, have you tried this yet??? Best thing ever! So easy! So delicious! So tender! and did I say EASY?

1. Crumple tin foil into balls, place in the bottom of Slow-Cooker to cover the bottom. It took me about 6 balls. Spry entire interior with cooking spray, or olive oil.
2. remove giblets (and such) then rub inside and out and all over with spice mixture of choice… I mixed 1 Tbsp Seasoned Salt, 1 Tbsp Lemon zest, 1 Tbsp crushed Rosemary. 
3. Cover and cook on high 4-6 hours… yup that’s it for most of the day!
4. When it was finished, I juiced half a lemon over the chicken and sat the other half in the Crock Pot for this picture! ;)

Acorn Squash Soup - Sooooooo Y-U-M!

Acorn Squash
I am falling truly madly deeply in love with Squash… squash of EVERY variety! And this is no exception… I found the recipe Here on Allrecipes… I didn’t include the bacon… but if that floats your boat, go for it!

Brussels Sprouts
These were so good. Roasted Brussels Sprouts will become a staple in this house. Some people recommended cutting them in half before roasting them, to make them crunchier… but we left them whole and they were heavenly! Recipe here.

Parsnips
Alton Brown did a WHOLE episode about making Parsnips delicious… let me just say: I wish I’d paid more attention… I will definitely be attempting this root again. But for reference’s sake, they are prepared like potatoes. I boiled them, mashed them, added parmesan, egg, milk, flour etc. and fried… next time (if I make patties again) I’ll add more cheese and serve them with a gravy or a sauce. We mananged to be fine by dipping them in our soup… (have I mentioned how delicious the soup was?)

Coconut Cake w/ Mango Sauce
I didn’t make this one, this week… so be on the lookout for it in a future blog… it is bound to be delicious!

 
Then my amazing sweetheart hubby cleaned the kitchen! <3 

Until next time…

I decided to work my way through the produce section and learn how to cook EVERYTHING! We have a lot of grocery stores out here and each one has it’s own variety of what-the-heck-is-that kind of fruits and vegetables.  I know you know what I mean — you’re walking through the aisles, grocery list in hand, scoping over all the bins and shelves looking for carrots, tomatoes, celery, apples, kiwi, whatever… and you see something strange: jicama - what the heck is that? who eats it, and how? how is it even pronounced?

Jicama - /ˈhikəmə/ - Hick-um-uh - The crisp, white-fleshed, edible tuber of a Central American climbing plant of the pea family (Pachyrhizus erosus, family Leguminosae), cultivated since pre-Columbian times and used esp. in Mexican cooking

That’s why I’m doing this blog, If I don’t know what something is, how it tastes, or how to prepare it, then it’s going in the cart! I was trying to come up with some kind of limits restrictions or rules for myself… (Like 1 a week, 5 a week, 4 every two weeks, all in one meal, one in each meal, a week of desserts from time to time.)  but I decided that would be no fun… Truth is, I’m a mother and a wife FULL-TIME, and only a part-time chef… So I will cook these things as I get around to it and it may take even longer to write up my blog about it, but I’m sure your mouth will water just the same. Not to say that i want you to be jealous of all the good food we’re eating, but rather that I want you to be inspired to try some of these things yourself!

Eating is a very important part of life. We must eat to live. What is a travesty, is that some people are living to eat while others are dying from starvation. Our culture is one of greed and “more is better.” and what do we have to show?

if you answered “our guts” then you’d be right.

I acquired a habit of eating anything I could during the morning sickness phase of my pregnancy. If I could keep it down, it was worth eating, after all, I had a little life to support and it was important that he got plenty of nutrients, it would do no good going down the toilet. However, into my second trimester I was feeling great, and I could eat practically anything I wanted, and I did just that! The intake didn’t have much of an effect on my figure as the baby did. On into my third trimester, still eating a lot, “because I could.” I think throughout the pregnancy I gained around 30 lbs, and everyone assured me I’d lose it after he is born. Then, because I was nursing, I knew I was burning enough calories to enjoy an apple fritter, or a Frappuccino. Haha! Well I am finding out (only 15 months after his birth) that maybe had I eaten better, those calories I was burning would have helped me to lose some baby-fat. I lost around 12-15 lbs immediately after birthing, and since then, I’m sure I’ve gained 5-10 back… are you keeping track?

Now, beyond just what I am eating, I’ve been rather lazy… I could exercise, but there’s Facebook. Spending too much time on Facebook, not enough time exercising, too much time baking brownies, not enough time eating vegetables. This is where my wonderful husband comes in. He is so passionate about exercise and nutrition, and I am passionate about good tasting food and being in the kitchen, together we have begun a journey to form habits of eating right, while learning how to prepare everything in the produce section. Also, I have committed to quit Facebook until I lose 10 lbs… wish me luck!

With love,