On Saturday, after the Roxboro Arts Festival, we headed to the Asian Festival.  Everyone was tired, but Nick didn’t want to miss it.  It was hot and we were exhausted, but we went anyway.

Stephen works less than a block from location of the Asian Festival.  We decided that we’d be able to park in his lot.  That turned out to be a great decision.  Our trip to the Asian Festival started out with naps.

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By the time we got from Cleveland Heights down to E.30th and Payne, both kids were totally asleep.  I pulled into the shade, rolled down the windows and snoozed a bit myself.  I didn’t really fall asleep, but the calmness and quiet of the breeze was awesome.  It turned out to be a refreshing 45 minutes for everyone.

Once the kids woke up, we headed down the street to the festival.  Nick was excited to see the road closed for the tents.  The festival was well organized with a food court area, entertainment, kids area, and marketplace.  There were also lots of volunteers available to answer questions.

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The kids were excited to see inflatables.  We entered the festival near the slide and the kids took a few minutes to wait in line for it.  After their trip down, I realized that many kids and wrist bands and maybe we were supposed to pay for the attractions.  We were hungry and headed to food anyway, so it worked out ok.

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The kids were excited to see the Goodyear blimp flying overhead.  Usually, I spot it in the car, but it hides behind a building or tree before they can spot it.

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After a quick pastry wrapped hot dog to eat, it was slush time.  It was at least 85 degrees in the sun and a cold drink hit the spot.  It was fun to watch some of the food tents from behind.  These ladies were frying up pot stickers.  Each griddle had 50 or so of them cooking away.

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This vendor was frying up egg rolls in huge propane powered woks.  Each wok held at least 20 huge rolls.  There were also two tents with performances.  We took a minute to check out these dancers.  Sally likes everything musical.

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Nick has heard of book-mobiles before, but this was his first time seeing one up close.  He loved going up into the bus to check it out.

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We really didn’t stay at the festival very long.  Everyone was tired from the busy day, but it was important to make a stop there since it was on our list.  Nick and Sally really like schedules and plans.  (I wonder where they get that from?)

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On the way out, we had another peak of the blimp and the marketplace.  I’d definitely try and make it to the festival again next year.  I look forward to trying out some different foods and taking in more of the culture of the festival.

 

Last month, I participated in “foodie pen pals” for the first time.  You can read all about my first month here.  I enjoyed it so much that I decided to participate again for April.

This month, I sent a box of goodies to Alison over at Crafty Bake Oven.

In return, I received this box of goodies from Jessica over at  Opened Earth.

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The chocolate chip cookies were amazing.  I don’t usually care for “hard” cookies, but these we so flavorful and tasty.  I enjoyed dipping them in milk.  I even shared some with my husband.

Everyone enjoyed the peanut butter too.  The white chocolate flavor really spruced up PP&J sandwiches over the last week or so.  The kids and I have been enjoying snacking on the other items, too.  But the peanut butter and cookies are definitely our favorites!

I’ve enjoyed these couple of months participating in the Foodie Penpals.  I’m going to be taking May and June off since my schedule is way to crazy, but I’ll be back.

Meanwhile, if you want to participate….

It’s time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  It’s open to blog readers and bloggers, so it’s open to everyone.

-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.  You can participate in just one month, every month or any other schedule you choose.

-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day business day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!   If you aren’t a blogger, you write a short guest post for your pen pal.  If you get paired with another reader, you just enjoy your goodies.  Either way, remember to thank the sender!

-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!

-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)

If you’re interested in participating for May, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by May 4th as pairings will be emailed on May 5th!

 Posted by at 4:08 PM
 

A few weeks back, I came across “foodie pen pals” while reading another blog.  I checked into it further and decided that I would participate for March.  Lindsay started this back in September and it’s grown to almost 300 participants.  In a nutshell, you are paired up with another bloggers or readers and you send a package to someone and get a package from someone else.  The packages are up to $15 worth of foodie goodies.  You make contact with your recipient to check for allergies and other special information and then you put together a box of goodies for them.

I received my box from Rebecca over at http://runningbooboo.blogspot.com/.  She shared a box of her favorite go to snacks on the run.

Included in my box:

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  • Sweet Potato Tortilla Chips
  • See Tangle Snacks – Korean Nori
  • Chococonut Granola Bar
  • Pumpkin-N-Spice Granola Bar
  • Blueberry Larabar
  • Blueberry Crisp Clif Bar
  • Miracle Reds Bar
  • Organic Gummy Bears
  • Honey Sticks

My kids and I have been enjoying the snacks.  So far, everything we’ve tried has been great.  The Gummys only lasted a couple of minutes after they were opened.  They are already gone in this photo.

I sent a box to Debby over at Deb’s Daily Life.  I’m excited to see what she thought of her box.

It’s been fun participating this month and I look forward to next month.

 

And now it’s time for some details about Foodie Penpals.  It’s open to blog readers and bloggers, so it’s open to everyone.

-On the 5th of the month, you will receive your penpal pairing via email. It will be your responsibility to contact your penpal and get their mailing address and any other information you might need like allergies or dietary restrictions.  You can participate in just one month, every month or any other schedule you choose.

-You will have until the 15th of the month to put your box of goodies in the mail. On the last day business day of the month, you will post about the goodies you received from your penpal!   If you aren’t a blogger, you write a short guest post for your pen pal.  If you get paired with another reader, you just enjoy your goodies.  Either way, remember to thank the sender!

-The boxes are to be filled with fun foodie things, local food items or even homemade treats! The spending limit is $15. The box must also include something written. This can be anything from a note explaining what’s in the box, to a fun recipe…use your imagination!

-You are responsible for figuring out the best way to ship your items depending on their size and how fragile they are. (Don’t forget about flat rate boxes!)

If you’re interested in participating for April, please CLICK HERE to fill out the participation form and read the terms and conditions.

You must submit your information by April 4th as pairings will be emailed on April 5th!

 

Stephen and I have always been a fan of Iron Chef America.  We have watched it for a long time.  We enjoyed watching The Next Iron Chef for the last couple of seasons as well.  It was extra fun watching Michael Symon win.  When I heard that Jonathon Sawyer was going to be on Iron Chef yesterday, I knew I wanted to watch it.  Usually, we DVR the show and watch when it’s convenient, but I didn’t want a spoiler.

Shortly after I heard he’s be on the show, I heard about the watch party at The Greenhouse Tavern.  Before I could ask Stephen out on a date to watch and find a sitter, it was sold out.  I was bummed, but knew we could watch the show at home.

Shortly after finding out about the sell out, I read at Chef’s Widow that a second watch party would be happening at NoodleCat.  I registered for the event and then confirmed with our sitter and Stephen.  We ended up going to the watch party last night, even though we were both exhausted from the week.

We are so glad that we went!  We parked in a lot on Prospect and walked over to the restaurant.  Noodlecat is located close to The Greenhouse Tavern, so it would be easy for the Chef to visit at both parties.

We were greeted at the tour and told we could sit anywhere.  80 seats were sold and they expected a full house.  This Tweet memo was at our table.  I was glad they had Wifi so I could try out my tablet.

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We arrived just after 9PM.  They were offering a limited menu and we ordered a couple of sodas and BBQ Ohio Pork Belly Buns.

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There was also a contest to guess the secret ingredient.  I guessed apples.  It was not correct.  No one guessed MINT, so the contest turned into a random drawing.

There was also a TV set up with one of the playoff games and a large screen running the Twitter Feed.  Chef Sawyer and his sous chefs walked back and forth from The Greenhouse Tavern during the show.  It was fun to see all of the positive energy.

Once the show started and the ingredient was named, we were given these.

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Throughout the show, we were given a variety of appetizers to enjoy on the house.  They were all fabulous.  We had a fritter course, a salad course, and a chicken wing course.  At the end of the show, we sampled the Stoner Sandwich.

My photos didn’t turn out so great since there wasn’t much lighting.  Here’s the crew just after the verdict on the show.  Chef Sawyer is the one clapping in front.  He didn’t win, but he did Cleveland proud.  Chef Sawyer is a class act.

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We had a great time and are so glad we stayed up late to go out on a work night.  I’m even more excited to try The Greenhouse Tavern soon.

 

I realize that Wednesday may seem like an odd time to plan meals, but I think that any day is a good day to plan.  Today, our fridge is almost empty, but our pantry and freezers are still full.  I feel like I need a plan.  I never did a full pantry inventory, but I can assure you that we are well stocked in pasta, grains, beans and other such necessities.  If oatmeal would go on sale, I’d be in heaven.

I went down to the freezer and pulled out a few items that looked good and here is what I came up with:

Tonight:  Stephen picked up Subway for dinner at the museum.  We are trying not to eat out much this year, but we had some money left on a gift card.  I’ve been under the weather, and we’ve had a tough week with the kids.  My extra time today needed to be spent elsewhere.  I was planning on a nap during nap time, but Sally didn’t cooperate.

Breakfasts are fairly simple for us.  Stephen and I usually have oatmeal.  We always have yogurt, fruit and cereal available for the kids.  I try to keep muffins and pancakes in the freezer, too.  Tonight, I’m making a batch of baked oatmeal for tomorrow’s breakfast since we have to fast for blood work and need something easy and portable in the morning.

Lunches have their ups and downs.  Stephen gets a packed lunch each day.  For the most part, we all eat leftovers for lunch.  Usually, I keep a few servings of soups and casserole items in the freezer to have these easily on hand.

Dinners get a bit more challenging.  This time of year, we don’t have as much fresh produce to use up.  Usually, it’s filling the fridge and what’s for dinner is obvious since we don’t want food to go to waste.  So, after thinking about real food and looking around in our freezer, here’s my plan for the next several meals.

Turkey vegetable soup with whole wheat dumplings

I took a misc. piece of turkey (left from when we bought a fresh local turkey at Thanksgiving) out of the freezer.  I guess it’s mostly the back, but it still has meat on the bones.  I’m going to make stock with it.  I’ll also add the usable meat to the pot.  Our freezer has plenty of vegetables.  Once the stock is done, I will season it and put it in a crockpot with lots of vegetables.   I have a basic dumpling recipe that I think can be made whole wheat easily, so we are going to try it out with the soup.  We usually open a jar of fruit to go with meals like this.

Fajita stuffed bell peppers

When I go to the freezers to figure out what to cook, I try to pick out things that are older and things that take up lots of room.  I also like to use odd ball sized packages.  Doing that helps rotate stock and gives me room for the next great stock-up deal.  I took out 2 packages of whole bell peppers that were cleaned and prepped for stuffed peppers.  I plan to make a fajita based stuffing with local ground beef, homemade tomato sauce, onions, peppers and fajita seasoning.  I’m going to cook some quinoa for a grain and mix them together.  I’ll stuff the peppers and bake them in the oven.

Black bean soup

I have a pork hock and local black beans to use.  Although this won’t do much to empty out my freezer, we have a busy week ahead and this can be made in the crockpot with minimal effort.  I don’t have an exact recipe picked out yet.  I’m secretly hoping that my husband will pick this to make for his meal this weekend.  He has been trying to cook one meal on the weekend to give me a break in the kitchen.  He recently made an Andouille and sweet potato hash and a roast that was done with apples, onions and sweet potatoes.

Black bean burgers

I like Emily’s recipe for burgers that she has on her Daily Garnish site.  I plan to make them along with some homemade wheat buns.  I’ve never made the burger buns before and this is the perfect time to experiment with them.  My dinner rolls turned out well, so I’m hopeful.

Spinach gnocchi

I found this recipe while searching for ways to use frozen spinach.  Apparently, I was on a spinach kick at some point and we have several bags of it frozen along with some kale and other greens. I’ve made gnocchi before, so this looks simple enough.  I picked up some ricotta at the store today.

Spinach pizza

We have whole wheat dough, sauce, cheese, mushrooms, and spinach all available so we’ll throw a pizza together one night.

Spinach quiche

I have a good recipe for whole wheat crust that I like for quiche.  I’ll use spinach and mushrooms for the filling.  It’s also a perfect opportunity to use up some of the egg beaters that are in our freezer.

Spinach casserole

I read several recipes for creamed spinach, baked spinach and spinach casserole.  I’m going to create some time of concoction based on these ideas.  I’m thinking veggie based chicken pot pie without the crust.

WOW!  I’m so excited to spend some time in the kitchen now.  I’ll be back with more meal ideas once we’ve cooked our way through this list.

 

For Christmas my in-laws bought me a set of umbrella lights for use in my blog photography.  I haven’t been happy with many of my photos lately, especially with the CSA photos.  The time change has a lot to do with that.  You really want nice natural light for photos.  The problem is that natural light isn’t always available, especially in Cleveland.  When I couldn’t take photos until later in the evening, the pictures were terrible.  It was still nice to document what we got in the CSAs, regardless of the photo quality.

A photo with the old set up would look something like this:

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With the light stands, a photo looks like these.  The difference between these is the setting on the cameras.  I’m no expert, but I like the second one better since the table looks more natural.  I’m pretty brain dead this late in the day, so Stephen was helping me.  One afternoon this weekend when I am more alert, we can review the camera settings.  Either way, it’s so much better than the above photo.

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I just use a Canon point and shoot camera and this option for improving the photos in much less expensive than a digital SLR camera would be.  As long as I figure out how to take manual photos with my point and shoot camera, I think I’ll be very happy with the photos this winter.

I’m not sure how easy the stands will be to take up and down, but I’m sure they will be used for every CSA pickup beginning this Thursday.

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It’s such a fun Christmas gift.  I’m sure we will get a lot of use out of them.  Since Stephen has been taking photos of circuits for his blog, he’ll be using them too.

Now, I am even more excited for Thursday’s CSA pick up!

 

Back in the middle of November, I did a post on our freezer inventory.  Last week I got to thinking about our pantry.  I did a good job of freezing some of our favorite fruits like peaches and blueberries, but I also spent a considerable amount of time canning this summer.  It dawned on me that I don’t have a good list of what we made and that will make it hard to decide what to make for next season.

So, I’ve done my best to summarize each item that I canned this summer and its current inventory in our pantry.  Our house has a canned cupboard and it’s actually being used for its intended purpose.  It’s also fun to look at this list because we picked most of the items personally at local farms.  The exceptions being tomatoes and pears.

item amount canned in inventory 12/14 unit
pear sauce 22 18 quarts
chopped pears 6 0 quarts
applesauce 18 13 quarts
chopped apples 2 0 quarts
peach jam 8 7 pints
peach honey 5 5 1/2 pints
sliced peaches 28 25 quarts
strawberry jam 6 3 1/2 pints
strawberry- vanilla jam 9 7 1/2 pints
strawberry -lemon butter 4 4 1/2 pints
apple-plum sauce 6 5 pints
tomato sauce 9 8.5 gallons
blueberry jam 3 2 pints

I think it will be good to revisit this list every once in a while to make sure we don’t forget what we have and to get an idea of how much we really use during a given year. I already know that we need many more quarts of chopped pears next season!

 

We have 3 freezers in our house.  We have the one that is connected to our fridge in our kitchen along with two larger ones in our basement.  The ones in the basement aren’t really that big, but they are the biggest one that would fit down our wacky stairs.

To keep track of what we had, I started a freezer inventory.  Every few months, I would empty the freezers and take a detailed count.  Occasionally, it was convenient to have a list on the fridge of the contents.

Once the CSAs started this summer, we hardly used anything from our freezer.  We have some items that are over a year old.  We’ve also stocked up on items when they were in season like blueberries.

In an effort to rotate stock and highlight items that need to be used, I thought I would publish my inventory along with an action plan for the next month or so.

Here are the 4 highlights for this month:

  • bagged frozen veggies such as broccoli, green beans, spinach, kale and leafy greens
    • While I certainly won’t use all of them this month, I’d like to use 5-7 bags of them up.  After all of the freshness from our CSAs, it’s really hard to eat grocery store bagged frozen veggies.  But, we won’t let them go to waste.
  • meat
    • My goal with meat is not to buy any this month.  We are getting a turkey from our Fresh Fork CSA and we occasionally get other meat in our CSA.  We don’t NEED any more right now.
  • prepared foods
    • We’re pretty good at freezing portions for meals for future use.  These should be easy to use this month.
  • bread
    • My goal with bread this month is to make our own muffins, bread and rolls.  We have a bread machine and a couple of good recipes.  It’s cooler now and seems appealing (and less expensive) to make our own.

The detailed list of our freezer contents is below if you are interested in the detail.

I’ll be back in 4-6 weeks with an update!

Item Total
Vegetables
broccoli, steam fresh 6
butternut puree 1
corn 5
corn on cob, steam fresh 1
corn, steam fresh 3
edamame, steam fresh 1
grean beans 8
green beans, steam fresh 2
green peppers, whole, 4 pk 2
kale 1
leafy greens 1
mixed veggies 0
onions, gallon bag, sliced 1
onions, green 1
onions, qt 2
peas 1
peppers, chopped,qt bags 14
peppers, hot, whole, qt bag with 4 1
pumpkin puree 4
pumpkin water 1
shallots, chopped, qt bag 1
spinach 7
squash, shredded 4
sweet potatoes, gallon, puree 2
tomatoes, gal bag chopped 1
yellow peppers, chopped/sliced 4
Meat
bacon 1
boneless beef chuck roast 1
chicken breast, ground 1
Chorizo sausage 1
country sausage, 1/2 pound ground 7
ground beef 4
hot dogs 2
Italian sausage, ground 2
maple sausage, ground 1
rib steak 1
sirloin steak 1
sweet Italian sausage, ground 1
veal 1
Bread
bagel thins, pack of 4 1
bagels, blueberry 5
banana bread 1
banana muffins 2
bread, GH whole wheat 1
cinnamon walnut bread, slices 3
dough, whole wheat pizza 2
pumpkin bread 1
Fruit/Juice
applesauce, qt bag 1
apricots, small bag 1
banana 3
blackberries, gallon 1
blueberries, gallon 4
cherries, qt bags 8
coconut water cubes 1
dates, pint bags 4
orange juice 1
peaches, gallon 5
pear juice 3
raspberries, gallon 2
rhubarb 2
strawberries, gallon 2
butter, pounds 5
butter, sticks 2
egg beaters 4
mozzarella cheese, 8 oz 1
Herbs cilantro cubes 1
basil cubes 1
chive cubes 1
Prepared black beans, cup cooked 1
chorizo, cooked, ground 1
vegetable lasagna, servings 3
caramels 1
unstuffed cabbage, servings 2
butternut squash soup, servings 1
pulled pork, large 2
mushroom ravioli, package 1
 

Last Monday evening, I had the privilege of listening to Michael Pollan live at the Ohio Theatre.  The evening was part of the Cuyahoga County Public Library’s Writers Series.  My husband Stephen, Lisa and I attended.

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Mr. Pollan is the author of several books and has appeared on the NY Times best sellers list. My favorite book so far is Food Rules. I have the non-illustrated version, but a new version with pictures is coming out this week. In a nutshell, Mr. Pollan describes 64 rules for eating. Don’t eat anything your great grandparents wouldn’t recognize as food. This is just one of many of the rules. The new addition has additional rules. If you aren’t hungry enough to eat an apple, you probably aren’t really hungry.

The talk was done in an interview format and was quite thought provoking.

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The evening ended with a book signing and a photo. I was so glad to be inspired by the evening.  I was also happy to celebrate Food Day in this way.

 

I haven’t written much about my weight lately.  So, I thought I’d give everyone an update.  I love Weight Watchers, but since I stopped going a few weeks back, life has so much less stress.  I didn’t realize how hard it was on me to take the kids to the meetings.  Paying $40 a month to not be able to participate in the support part of the experience didn’t make sense.  I love having Thursday mornings free as well.  We’ve been trying out the local U-Pick places and it’s been a blast.

Now, my trainer weighs me once a week.  That gives me some accountability.  Several weeks went by without a trainer appointment due to my knee, but on Wednesday, I weighed in.  I was down over 9 pounds.  I am very happy that the lack of activity didn’t impede my progress.  Obviously, my food choices are paying off.

I’m happy to be in the 270’s and on my way down!  Some members of my family recently had some health issues and when things hit home, it’s a bit easier to take care of yourself and work even harder to become healthier.

I’ve had several big changes lately.  I cut out all sugars except honey and maple syrup.  So, I’m not eating white sugar, powdered sugar, brown sugar, rice syrup, corn syrup etc.  I’m on the fence about agave sweetener.  Since we have an unopened bottle in the cupboard, I will probably go ahead and allow it.  It’s similar to honey and maple syrup, but it’s not available locally.  I haven’t been perfect – like when I didn’t realize that Penzeys Pizza Seasoning had sugar in it and I allowed some cranberry bread and I’m sure the cranberries themselves had sugar added.  But, if my only sugar is contained in a bit of spice or a few cranberries, I’ll call that a WIN!

I also quit eating white flour.  So, anything with white flour has been eliminated.  It’s amazing how many “whole wheat” products really aren’t whole anything.  I’ve been focusing on more whole grains and making bread or buying 100% whole wheat bread from Great Harvest.  They make it with honey and grind their own wheat.  Along with this, I’ve stopped eating white rice too.  Most of the time, I’m having quinoa, brown rice, whole wheat pasta, wheat berries, corn meal, etc.  I love it and I’m so much more satisfied.

Between the new flour and sweetener plans, I have essentially eliminated fast food, soda and unplanned desserts.  I don’t even miss it one bit.  I still have lots of treats, but they are whole grain and honey based or made with other “real” foods and take some planning.  For example, we enjoyed homemade strawberry ice cream last weekend.  We had to plan ahead.  I also make banana bread fairly often.  It’s been fun to learn how to cook with honey and my taste buds have adapted so many items are tasting great without any added sweetener.  I can’t remember the last time I had fast food.  I feel great about that and the example that it sets for Nick and Sally.  I also don’t feel deprived one bit.  That is extremely nice.

I’m still working on vegetables.  It’s getting better and I’m definitely eating less meat and more vegetables.  I’m enjoying some spaghetti squash while I type this post.  Now, I do need to figure out some more vegan recipes that are tasty so I can work on my biggest food vice left – CHEESE!  I just eat way too much cheese.  But, it’s a process.

I’m also glad both CSAs have started along with U-Pick season.  Our kitchen is well stocked with fresh fruit and vegetable that will rot if we don’t eat them.  This provides extra motivation to eat at home and cook fresh yummy dishes that everyone will enjoy.

 

 

 

 Posted by at 9:05 PM