Category: Food

  • Spaghetti squash

    As if on cue, the beans started coming up yesterday. And it rained some more. Based on the forecast, doesn’t look like I’m going to be cutting the grass until later this weekend, but I’m still hoping to get everything transplanted. The seedlings spent the night out on the porch last night, and I let them have some of the rain that blew through. They grow up so fast… I’m having S put them out into the sun (if we get any) for a little bit while I’m at work to get them used to that, so we’ll see how that goes. It’s her first experience with hardening off plants, but I trust her 🙂


    For dinner we had spaghetti squash with sausage. Pretty simple, but yummy. This, of course, is not a fresh squash, but still good. I’m definitely looking forward to when we do have fresh squash, and fresh everything else. Okay, recipe.

    1 spaghetti squash
    1 can/jar of tomato sauce (preferably homemade, but I’m out)
    A couple sausage links or a half-pound of bulk sausage (we used some Garden Veggie Chicken Sausage from Trader Joe’s)
    Salt, pepper, and additional seasoning as desired

    First step is halving the squash and cooking it. Big squash requires a big knife, or even better, a machete, but I don’t think S would let me have one in the kitchen. Scrape out the seeds with a spoon, or your hands. You can then either toss it in the oven for a half hour or so on 350-375 F, or microwave on high for 6-8 minutes. Make sure that the cut side is facing down. I also usually put it in some kind of vessel with just a little bit of water to keep the face from drying out. Most of the time we use the microwave, since time is always at a premium in our house.

    When it’s done cooking (should be softish to the touch), let it sit for a few minutes. If you can’t wait, at least wear an oven mitt, because that squash will be one hot mother. When cool enough to handle, scrape the inside with a fork to remove all the strands, moving longitudinally (stem to blossom end). You should end up with a big pile of strands that look like… spaghetti.

    While the squash is cooking and cooling, cook the sausage in a skillet, then add tomato sauce and seasoning. When everything’s done, pile some squash on a plate and top with the sauce mix.

    Spaghetti squash at sunset
    There are plenty of different variations on this one. You can go all out with meatballs and sautéed mushrooms, or keep it simple, as we sometimes do, with just some butter, a pinch of salt, and a little Parmesan cheese.

  • Good eats, baby-style

    When C was old enough to start expanding his culinary horizons (about two months ago), S and I decided we’d make as much of his food as possible ourselves. This way we could control everything he was taking in and (we assumed) save a little money too. So far, so good.

    His first meal was butternut squash, and since then he’s sampled carrots, sweet potatoes (he hasn’t turned orange yet), peas, spinach, asparagus, zucchini, corn, apples, pears, bananas, blueberries, mangoes, and his recent favorite, Chicken Tomato Casserole. I think he may have a more sophisticated palate than many ten-year olds. We try to do organic as much as possible, which isn’t terribly difficult – most of it comes from Whole Foods, Trader Joe’s, and even Marc’s. Just cut it, steam it, blend it, and pop it into some nifty freezer trays from Beaba. Makes a bit more mess than just opening a jar, but not by much. It takes a bit of effort (maybe 1/2 hour?), but we know it’s 100% pure food. Even the organic version of a common baby food contains gelatin, choline bitartate, ascorbic acid, and tuna oil – there may not be anything wrong with adding vitamins and other nutrients, but we prefer that his carrots contain… carrots. And an occasional dog hair that seem to end up everywhere.

    Yum.

    As far as the price breakdown goes, we average about $0.40 – $0.50 per serving, and have been as low as about a quarter per. Compare that to an average price of $0.80 for a regular jar, or upwards of $1.25 for the organic stuff, and I’d say we’re making out pretty well. Which is especially good since the kid eats like a horse. He definitely got daddy’s appetite. On the flip side, he is always moving and he’s consistently on the low end of the weight chart, so he also appears to have gotten daddy’s metabolism. Could be worse.

    All in all, we’re pretty satisfied with how things have gone. It’s saving us money, it’s probably healthier because it’s one ingredient and they’re fresh, not canned, and we can expose him to a much wider variety of foods – I’ve never seen jars of asparagus or mango, though I may not be looking hard enough. I’m still new to the baby thing.

    Enjoying the fruits of our labor. Literally. It's pears.

  • Lamburger

    Made lamb burgers for dinner tonight. I enjoy lamb, while S isn’t usually a huge fan of the flavor, but she was a good sport today. I think more than anything else, I just like saying lamb burger. Lamburger. Laaaamburger.

    Anyhow, I do say that this blog is about food too, so I may or may not occasionally post a recipe or two. However, one of my quirks in the kitchen is that I rarely follow an exact recipe (except maybe for baking, where accurate measurements can be more important). Most of the time I take ideas from a recipe, or several similar recipes, and add my own touch. I know, I should have been a chef. So if I’m relaying a recipe to y’all, I’ll probably stick with very precise ingredient amounts like “a little,” “a bunch,” and “some.” Okay, the details:

    Lamb burgers

    About a pound of ground lamb
    Crumbled feta cheese (1/2 cup or so?)
    Couple cloves of crushed garlic
    Spoonful of molasses
    Moroccan seasoning (this is just a jar of stuff we had in the cupboard that I thought would work well – use any other spices you prefer, to taste)

    Mix all the above (by hand is more fun than with a utensil; nothing like squeezing ground meat between your fingers). Saute in a pan, or grill, or bake. I pan-fried tonight. Serve on a toasted bun, and top with my homemade yogurt sauce.

    Yogurt Topping

    One small container of Greek yogurt
    More feta cheese
    Chopped cucumber
    More Moroccan seasoning

    Mix all these too.

    Serves two to four. I made some whoppers, so it was only two.

    Laaaamburger. Hehe.