Here's Something REALLY Easy to Cook... because Kids are Hard to do

Hey there! How was your summer? I didn't do much really, just spent a few months being pregnant and the last three trying to keep my head above water with a newborn and a two year old. People tell you it's hard going from one child to two, and I expected it to be. What I didn't expect was for the newborn to be the easier part. Sure, babies cry and mine wanted to nurse every two hours for the first 8 weeks (I'm pretty sure he was hiding a stop watch in his crib), but what was hardest in our world was trying to manage the big changes that the baby made in our family life & L's routine. Three weeks in she realized that when I was nursing I couldn't get up and stop her from doing things. A week after that I figured out how to run while nursing. This is life now. Constant one upsmanship... With more wine.

We are hungry.... feed both of us. NOW. And again in an hour.

I won't make some big announcement like "I'M BACK! LET THE BLOGGING FLOW!" I'm just saying here I am today. And tomorrow everyone in my house might get a cold and I"ll be gone for a month, but maybe I won't be. Maybe I can learn how to have conversations with adults again. Maybe I can sing and dance soon without someone telling me that it is their turn to sing and dance and I am not allowed to. Maybe I can finally get the Caillou theme song out of my head and MAYBE, if I'm lucky, the characters on Sid the Science Kid will start to be less annoying. The last three months of nursing have been brought to me by PBS Kids (and Endless Alphabet on the iPad). If you have any programming questions, please direct them my way. 

I had to blog today because I found something SO EASY to cook you pretty much have to make it as soon as possible. I cannot stand it when someone tells you they have an easy slow cooker recipe and  it starts out like this: "chop your meat into 40 pieces that measure exactly one inch square. Get out a pan and brown the meat for 90 seconds on each side. In another pan mix together these five ingredients." If you tell me I am making an EASY slow cooker recipe, I want to put some things in a slow cooker and press a button. Not half cook an entire meal and THEN put it in the slow cooker for 8 hours. Let's minimize the dishes here. 

I follow the blog 100 Days of Real Food in my facebook feed and sometime last week a recipe for Pork Carnitas popped up. The woman who runs the blog only eats non processed food, so she makes her own tortillas and salsa and I think that is wonderful. I read it for inspiration. I don't have time right now to go out and buy a tortilla press and make my own salsa. These days if I put in my contacts and take off my yoga pants I'm really proud of myself. Here is her recipe that we used and made a few minor tweaks to. When I get used to this whole "having two kids" thing, I will definitely go back and make her salsa and maybe even make my own tortillas. Someone send me a tortilla press!

I didn't take any picture of our actual carnitas, but they looked exactly like this.

 Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

• 2 to 2 ½ lbs pork shoulder or Boston butt roast, cut into 5 or 6 small pieces (Have your butcher do this for you to make it extra easy)
• 3 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt (we used 2 teaspoons of kosher salt)
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 onion, cut into 6 or 8 chunks (I used three small onions)
• 3 garlic cloves, whole (I used 5. We love garlic)
• 2-4 Limes
• 1 recipe tomatillo salsa (or you can buy some in the salsa section of your store. Our salsa was bad so we didn't end up using any. Still delish)
• Corn Tortillas
• 2 avocados, sliced
• Fresh cilantro

If you are getting your pork shoulder from the butcher, ask him to cut it into five or six small pieces FOR YOU. They will do it and it's one less step for you. The butcher is your best friend, use him. 

Mix up the oregano, pepper, salt and cumin in a bowl. Coat the pork pieces with the seasoning and put them in the bottom of your slow cooker. 

Cut the onion (or onions) into chunks and drop them on top. Peel the garlic cloves and put them on top. Put on the cover and set the timer for 6-8 hours on low. We did 7 hours and left it on warm for another hour after. 

When you are ready remove the pork from the slow cooker, discard the onions and garlic. Shred the pork with two forks (or with your fingers if you don't mind getting messy). 

We warmed up the corn tortillas in a pan on the grill, sliced fresh avocado from our Farmhouse Delivery and chopped some cilantro to go on top.

When I opened up our Tomatillo Salsa I noticed there was mold on the cap. Things like this happen when you have tiny children who require shortcut taking in other areas. In place we cut some limes into wedges and squeezed them on top of the tacos. SO GOOD. 

If you are using store bought corn tortillas I recommend doubling up. Two tortillas per taco. It holds the food better and tastes better in my opinion.

Seriously, this recipe meets the golden recipe trifecta: 1. EASY  2. INEXPENSIVE  3. DELICIOUS.  And the added bonus of making your house smell amazing while it cooks.

Here's to food and kids! Kids need to eat food so they kind of go together.

-RT

Easy and Indecent Beer Can Chicken

We're going to make this quick and dirty. Tonight it's time to molest some chickens. Don't worry, they want it this way, and so do you. There are many variations on "Beer Can Chicken." Some do it in the oven, some on the grill, and some in so many different ways it makes your head want to spin. Most use beer, others use salad dressing, and still others use a can of baked beans that they then pair with the chicken after cooking. Whatever you choose, this is a pretty basic and fool proof way to cook chicken. If you are a girl still waiting to approach the grill, this is a great starting point. ANYONE can do this. If you can't, email me so I can laugh help you. In real life, you can do this. If you need some help with something TELL ME.

Look, this idiot did it. you can too!

For the purposes of this blog, let's just consider me a Beer Can Chicken traditionalist. I set out to do my Beer Can Chicken on the grill using actual beer. Call me crazy, but I like to master the basics before branching out and ruining dinner (again). They do make a stand for the chicken that you can buy, but I like to live dangerously and the chicken with the can stuck up it's rear actually creates a nice little tripod.

Here I am... I had a whole fryer that I picked up from the farmer's market. Since these chickens are not pumped full of hormones and other crazies, they are a nice small size that is easy for two people to split for dinner. Meet my chicken. We'll call her Sharon. I have no idea why.

I was kind of surprised to find that Sharon did not have her organs in a neat little bag inside of her belly. I was also surprised to find that cluck still had her neck. At least they took the head. It's the little things. Really. 

Next I found a beer in a can. It was kind of hard. I never realized how many bottles we have. Pop the top and drink (or if you want to be totally chaste about it, throw out) half of the beer. 

Hello Beer.

Pick up ole Sharon (the chicken) and rinse her off in some water in the sink, patting her dry. Then pick out your favorite dry rub. I like Uncle Chris' Gourmet Steak Seasoning. On everything. Especially steak and chicken.

After rubbing the chicken you are going to prepare to shove the beer can where the sun don't shine. Take a deep breath and tell the chicken to spread 'em. 

"You might feel a slight pinch"

See what I said about a natural tripod? Who needs a stand, really?

I had my grill heating up on high heat. When I brought the chicken out I turned off one of the burners and kept the rest running medium high, somewhere around 350 to 400 degrees. It is best to cook the chicken with indirect heat, so you don't want to have it directly over the fire or burners. I have a gas grill, and on any grill really you need to make sure the chicken set up on the beer can will fit with the grill top closed. You might have to remove a rack. In a charcoal grill you will need to make sure the coals are positioned so that you can have the chicken on indirect heat. 

 

I settled Sharon in and closed the top. About thirty minutes later... it started to rain. I called S to see if it was possible to grill in the rain. Apparently it is frowned upon. Quick as lightening I preheated the oven to 400 degrees and got ready to make a switch. After thirty minutes on the grill, Sharon was looking pretty chill.

Word

Using some tongs and an oven mitt, I transferred Sharon to a baking sheet and brought her inside to move into the oven. 

Totally relaxed in the oven.

After 30 additional minutes in the oven, I took the chicken out to cool. We were about to eat it, so it loses it's catchy name. I should have called it "Dinner." 

I really like how the chicken looks like it's sitting on a stool relaxing.

We removed the can and threw it away. That can is nasty. You don't want to keep it. This is why I don't understand the baked beans version of Beer Can Chicken. Once you remove the can, the chicken looks really violated. It's ok, you are about to carve it into pieces. It will get better. 

Violation

And finally, your chicken is cooked.

This one was amazing. I don't know if it was a size bonus or what, it makes me hungry for it all over again. Another cooking trick you can do with this (if you like BBQ chicken) is basting it with your favorite sauce or marinade the last ten minutes of cooking. Of course, that works much better on the grill than in the oven. S does this a lot for foolproof BBQ Chicken. I think it's less messy overall and less expensive. Most of the time buying a whole fryer (or Broiler or Roaster... aka a whole chicken) is less expensive or the same cost as buying three breasts. And who doesn't love drumsticks? Tell me. I'm going to get them! 

Basic cooking for the beer can chicken is 1 hour on the grill on indirect heat with the coals or other burners burning on high heat to maintain 350 - 400 degrees. I'm not sure the exact science of doing it in the oven, I kind of winged it. But if you can't do a grill, the oven seemed just as easy. I'm sure you could google an easy Beer Can Chicken in the Oven recipe. 

Back to food. It feels so good. Go cook your chicken!

-RT

The Easy Bake Oven is Heating Up

I just had to search "vintage easy bake oven" to find the one I had. Effffff.

 L recently received a play kitchen and she is LOVING it. It reminds me about how much I loved my Easy Bake Oven and my most treasured play iron and ironing board. Yes, that's right... I used to pretend iron. I'm not sure what insights that provides into my psyche, but I loved it. A lot. So there you go. Apparently some babies like to cook and clean.

While ironing is cool, chess, apparently, is not.

RT's First Ironing Board. I don't own one now, so this would be my last one as well.

 Now I have a real life oven and I made a pledge to get to know my oven better this winter. Even though it's eighty something degrees today, I am prepping for having a warm oven making my kitchen nice and toasty in the cooler months. I stumbled upon a simple roasted chicken and vegetables recipe on a blog (Life as Ashlet) I found through the Writer's Workshop. On Saturday I was wandering through the Urban Harvest Farmer's Market and picked up a frozen whole chicken and some root veggies to take home. 

Our week got a little topsy turvey, and I forgot the take the chicken out of the freezer, but we already had some boneless, skinless chicken thighs in the fridge for L. So I got home yesterday, hung out with L, sent her to bed and got to chopping.

Chicken, Sweet Potatoes, Onions, Celery, Garlic, Carrots, and EV Olive Oil. That's it.

 Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Take your chicken out to bring it to room temperature and clean your veggies and then chop them into uniform - "ish" pieces.

Combine all of your veggies and season with salt & pepper. You can also add in rosemary or parsley or whatever floats your boat. 

 I took out the thighs and placed them on top of the veggies, then sprinkled them with salt and fresh cracked pepper.

 

Then I popped it in the oven for 45 minutes. The magic of this is that the cooking juices from the chicken drip down into the vegetables and give it fabulous flavor and juicy chicken cooking goodness. That's a thing. Promise. Forty five minutes later, the chicken looks like this:

And then also like this:

Let it sit for ten minutes for all of the juicy juices to do their thang. The blog suggested the following veggies as options for roasting: pearl onions, butternut squash, brussels sprouts, fingerling potatoes, asparagus, green beans, or turnips.

So I know I throw around the word "easy" a lot. Because of this issue, and this recipe, I now need to find a word for something that is easier than easy. The Internet gave me some suggestions and I have chosen the word "effortless" to describe this. Seriously.... wash, chop, combine, sprinkle, top, sprinkle, place, bake, remove, set. Those are the steps you take and you not only have a complete dinner of chicken, starches, and veggies, you also have a world of leftovers. Landon loved this. It reminded me of chicken soup, but in a pan. This is definitely an effortless (see what I did there?) and tasty meal that you could do once a week and recreate in different ways. I'm already looking forward to trying this out again with a whole butchered chicken and some different vegetables. 

Increase the Ov Love in your life. Get after it!

-RT

Bean There, Done That

One of my most favorite things to cook is a pot of beans when the weather is cool. 1. It's easy. 2. You can make it healthy. 3. It's tasty. Please hold any 4th grade "magical fruit"/"good for your heart" jokes until the end of this blog post. 

Last week I put up a pot of black beans and they were fantastic. Someone asked me once what it means to "put up a pot" of something. I was kind of perplexed. I've always used that expression. I'm fairly certain it's southern if not Texan. I never really questioned its exact meaning and always use it to talk about cooking beans, peas, or other things you would cook for a long period of time in a pot on the stove. If someone has a proper history for this expression please fill me in... any linguist expert type people? No? Shocking.

The sorted life of black beans....

SO, I made black beans. I used dried beans, so they required some soaking. Step one in bean management involves sorting and picking through the dried beans to make sure there aren't any rocks or other non bean type items in there. Some people skip this step. I used to. Then I bit into a rock. Lesson learned. 

Bean Rinse aka Clean yo Bean

After you finish sorting, you want to give the beans a rinse in a colander. Then you have a few options.  All options start with you putting the beans in a pot (or large bowl) and covering them with LOTS of water. Specific amounts will likely be on your bean bag - mine said six cups. If you did the large bowl, make sure it is very large and cover it with a dishtowel to keep random mishmash from getting in there. Then leave the beans on the counter overnight or for at least 6-8 hours. You can do this same thing in a pot. I personally prefer the quick boil method. Mostly because I get tired at night and forget to soak the beans. For a quick soak, the beans need to be in a pot. Bring the water to a full, rolling boil, turn the heat of, cover them, and leave them to sit for 2-3 hours. 

 

Water Covered Beans

Boiling Beans

I did this first thing in the morning since I was making the beans for dinner that night. My plan was to have everything in the pot simmering by 4pm. When L went down for her nap I got to chopping. 

Back to the Grid Method.

Finished Product

I chopped one VERY large onion, sliced about six cloves of garlic (If you don't like garlic you should leave now before one of us gets hurt), and took the beans out of the pot to do one last rinse. I make this one a quick rinse so that I don't lose a lot of the goodness that is naturally in the beans. Next I got out my cast iron pot and turned the stove to medium to heat it up. Once it was nice and hot I added about a tablespoon of EV Olive Oil and tossed in the onions and garlic. 

My Garlic Friends

My lovely garlic press that has a slicing mechanism. Thanks wedding registry! 

Once in the pot, I stirred the onions and garlic until my house smelled amazing and the onions were soft and becoming "clear" in appearance. 

Clear Onions, Full Heart, Can't Lose...... it's late. shut up. 

I put a smoked ham hock in the pot and gave it a little browning on the sides before adding in about 4 cups of chicken stock. You can always add in water, but I prefer to use stock if I have it.  

Stock

Stock and Hock

 After bringing that up to a boil, I added the beans back in along with two more cups of water and two Goya Ham seasoning packets. It's like Ham bouillon. It's magical. 

Ham Flavah.

Full pot.

 I wanted the broth to cook off of the beans so they would be less like soup, so while I boiled them I left the top off and checked in on the broth level. I cooked them over a low boil for about 2.5 hours. You'll want to check the beans after two hours to check the consistency and see if they are getting to what you prefer. I like mine to still be firm, so 2.5 hour timing works well. 

Low boil, badly captured.

 After a couple of hours my beans looked like this. I took out a spoonful to sample.

Taste Test

 This is the point where I see if my beans need added salt. Because I am cooking with broth and a ham hock, and ham seasoning, I like to see how much natural flavor and saltiness I can get out before adding more in. I also (just to remind you again) don't really salt things that can be easily salted to taste after they are cooked. 

I love chopped tomatoes in my black beans. BUT tomatoes and cast iron are not friends. Also, if you put the tomatoes in too early, they wilt into nothing. I took about four roma tomatoes, gave them a rough chop, and put them in to cook for about 15 minutes with the beans. 

Tomato Party

Now  I want this again.

 The last thing I do, right before serving, is take an entire bushel of washed cilantro and tear it into pieces over the pot, dropping it all in but the stems. You have a couple of options with the ham hock. I usually leave it in and then add it to the leftovers, keeping it until all of the beans are gone. You can also pick all of the meat off of the hock and add it in with the beans and throw the non meat rest of the hock away. Do as you please. 

Up close and personal.

Finished product.

 We are usually a brown rice family. I like brown rice and if it's better for me, then bonus. I happened to have the brown and wild rice I used with the chicken soup that is fantastic, so I decided to try that out with the beans. WINNER. Here is a photo op in case any of you want to seek it out and try it. 

You know it's good because it says "Arroz"

Cooked to perfection, even though I need a new rice cooker. Suggestions appreciated. 

Things that are great to serve with this meal include: sliced avocado, Mexican cotija cheese, sour cream (or non fat plain greek yogurt), salsa, or pico de gallo. We did avocados and Cotija cheese. 

The final product. Perfection in a bowl! 

Because I was making this for us AND Landy, I didn't add jalapenos, which I usually do and love. If you want to do that, I like to add in one jalapeno (deseeded then chopped) with the onions and garlic, and then take a second jalapeno, chop the top off of it to expose the seeds and insides, and drop it into the water to boil with the beans. I remove the remaining whole jalapeno before serving. 

Cooking in pots is the best thing about cool weather. And if you happen to be home with the kids or on a Saturday or Sunday, you can work on it little by little throughout the day and still have plenty of time with your kiddos. This is also something you might be able to adapt to a slow cooker if you work during the day. I'm not great at slow cooking, but it's one of my goals to figure that out this cool weather season. Here's a quick recap of my ingredients:

1 16oz package of dried black beans

1 T EV Olive Oil

1 very large white or yellow onion

6 cloves of garlic

1 smoked ham hock

4-6 cups of chicken broth or water

1-3 packets of goya ham seasoning (to taste)

4 large roma tomatoes

1 bunch of cilantro

rice

Optional:

Jalapeno

Avocado

Cotija Cheese

Sour Cream (not really optional)

pico de gallo

This is one of my absolute favorites. I think I make it twice a month during the fall and winter. It is another warm, filling dish that is actually pretty healthy and simple. It is also EXTREMELY cost effective. On the health front, just remember, you are in charge of your own sour cream intake. I love sour cream, so I try to sub it out for plain, non fat greek yogurt. Can't even tell. Share your beans with someone you love. They are magical, after all. 

-RT

Recipe Review: Roasted Chicken Thighs with Mustard-Thyme Sauce

OH my Gravy. Or sauce, but WoW. This was a good one. Again, thank you Cooking Light for making recipes with gravy. Let's get started...

Fancy Photo Courtesy of Cooking Light

I didn't feel like skinning the chicken thighs and have yet to find bone in, skinless thighs at our HEB. Due to that, I picked up boneless, skinless thighs and will tell you how I edited the recipe to make up for the fact that the boneless meat would be more thin, therefore cooking faster. We roasted some new potatoes in the oven as well so we had a lot of oven time tied up.

Small red potatoes, salt, pepper, EV Olive Oil and sliced garlic

Chicken Thighs are being browned

Other side

Out of the oven

In the recipe it calls for you to brown the chicken thighs for 4 minutes per side. I just did 2.5 minutes per side with the boneless thighs. After that, we put them in a baking dish and instead of baking them at 425 for 16 minutes, I did them for 12 minutes. We pulled the thighs out and put them in the microwave to stay warm. We put the potatoes in the oven next and started working on the green beans and the gravy. 

I used the frozen haricots verts that were leftover from last week, defrosted them in the microwave for 3 - 4 minutes and dressed them with EV Olive Oil, a splash of White Wine Vinegar, a bit of honey, and a bit of rooster sauce. It was basically the same dressing I use on my salads, just on a smaller scale.

Frozen = Easier

Green beans ready while I mix up the flour and chicken stock.

We chopped the onions and thyme for the gravy/sauce and prepped the chicken stock & flour mixture. The pan had lots of stuck on bits and then, in a glorious bonus, we got to use the cooking juices from baking the thighs. This was all heading in a very good direction.

Sauce goes from here...

To here!! Gravy/Sauce is born.

The potatoes were ready to go just as we were finishing up the gravy. It didn't call for this, but we took the chicken thighs and put them in with the gravy and tossed them for a moment to both warm them up and also TO COAT THEM IN GRAVY. Here is what the final plate looked like:

I borrowed Landy's new place mat so I would know where my silverware went

Up close and personal and delicious. Every bit.

If you are from the South (especially the Louisiana area) then you know what it means when something is smothered. It is fabulous and not so healthy. These thighs tasted like they were SOUTHERN SMOTHERED DELISH. And they are from Cooking Light!!! You are saving calories and sodium and fat, but you are getting this amazing flavor. I really recommend this when you feel like eating something that tastes bad for you, but is actually good for you. You can also just cook it whenever you want because it is fantastic. Here is another on the side tip: The Gravy/Sauce tastes amazing on the potatoes. 

The full original recipe is below, or you can pull it up online here. This was great for the new bit of fall weather we got. We need to get back outside though. I miss by grill friend! What do you love to cook when the weather starts to cool down? 

Happy Gravy Day! 

-RT

Roasted Chicken Thighs with Mustard-Thyme Sauce
by Cooking Light

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 8 bone-in chicken thighs, skinned (about 2 1/2 pounds)
• 1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
• 1 cup no-salt-added chicken stock (such as Swanson), divided
• 4 teaspoons flour
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard 

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 425°.

2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Sprinkle chicken with 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. Add chicken to pan; cook 4 minutes on each side or until lightly browned. Remove chicken from pan; place in an 11 x 7–inch glass or ceramic baking dish. Bake at 425° for 16 minutes or until a thermometer registers 165°. Remove chicken from dish; reserve drippings.

3. Return skillet to medium-high heat. Add butter; swirl to coat. Add onion and thyme; sauté 5 minutes or until tender. Combine 3 tablespoons stock and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Add flour mixture, remaining stock, and reserved drippings to pan, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Bring to a boil, and cook for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Remove from heat, and add mustard, remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, stirring with a whisk. Serve sauce with chicken.