Cooking – Page 5 – Chocolate 'N Children

August 28, 2015August 25, 2015

Food Friday – Baked and Breaded Eggplant

So far, this is my favorite way to eat eggplant.

Breaded, Baked, Eggplant

1 medium eggplant
1 cup flour
1 egg
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 teaspoon pepper
salt

1. Start by slicing your eggplant in 1/4 to 1/2 in. slices. Salt them and set them out on a cookie sheet. Place a second cookie sheet on top and press down onto the eggplant. Let this set for about 20 minutes. Rinse the eggplant slices under running water, set on a towel, and pat dry. This removes a lot of the extra juices from the eggplant and will help your breaded eggplant to not be too soggy.

2. Put the flour, 1/4 t pepper and 1/4 t salt in a bowl, mix. In a second bowl beat the egg with a fork. In a third bowl combine the cornmeal and parmesan cheese.

3. Dip the eggplant slices on both sides in the flour mixture, then the egg mixture, then the cornmeal mixture. Place in a single layer on a cookie sheet.

4. Bake at 425 for 20 minutes, flipping halfway so they cook evenly on both sides.

5. You can serve as is or with a marinara sauce for dipping.

August 21, 2015August 18, 2015

Kale Salad

I have tried every way I can think of to get my kids to eat kale. I finally gave up, and when I got kale in my CSA box this week I figured I would end up eating it all myself.

I made this delicious Kale salad and the first time I made it I made just enough for myself. Well, my 2yr old and my 7yr old came along and ate the entire salad for me. Apparently, they like it raw, but not cooked!

Kale Salad

1 bunch of Kale
1/4 cup raisins
1 yellow pepper
1/4 cup cherry tomatoes
Italian vinaigrette dressing

Rinse and remove stems from the kale. Then chop the kale into pretty small pieces. Dice the yellow pepper. Put all vegetables in a bowl, add Italian dressing to taste and stir well.

Super easy and so delicious!

August 14, 2015August 10, 2015

Food Friday – Veggie Mac & Cheese

I have lots of random veggies that I don’t usually cook with a lot in my fridge these days, so I’m trying out new recipes. I’m loving how sweet the orange and yellow peppers are.

Veggie Mac & Cheese

1 can of corn, drained or 3 corn cobs with the corn cut off
1 yellow pepper (or any pepper of your choice) – diced
1/3 cup sliced okra
Handfull of cherry tomatoes
2 Tbsp butter
salt & pepper to taste

Mac & cheese of your choice – I made a slightly spicy mac & cheese

Make your macaroni and cheese according to package directions or follow your favorite recipe.

Place butter and vegetables in a skillet over medium heat, cook stirring often until peppers are slightly softened. Season as wanted with salt and pepper.

You can mix the veggies in with the mac and cheese or put them on top like I did. Cheese and veggies are such a delicious combination!

August 13, 2015August 10, 2015

CSA – Week 13

This week there were some veggies that I haven’t had yet. It’s so much fun having all these tasty vegetables to cook with!

Basil, fortunately, I love basil because I’ve had a lot of basil these past few months.

Potatoes, me and the kids love baked potatoes and these are delicious.

Yellow peppers, or “apples” according to my 2yr old. The yellow ones are so sweet.

Cherry tomatoes. Since I’m the only one who likes tomatoes, cherry tomatoes are perfect because I can grab just a few at a time for a salad or dish. My 2yr old thinks they’re awesome “balls” so he’ll actually sample them.

Acorn squash. I don’t cook with this often, but I do love squash.

Okra. I didn’t know okra could be red as well as green. This okra is delicious.

August 7, 2015July 31, 2015

Food Friday – Spanish Eggs

I prefer to mix my veggies in with my eggs while cooking the eggs, but to accommodate picky eaters I just added the veggies on top of my eggs after cooking everything.

These are fast and easy meal option.

Spanish Eggs

1 Bell Pepper – I used red
1 Small red onion
1 cup of corn kernels (it’s about 2 or 3 cobs worth of corn or 1 can, drained)
1 handfull cherry tomatoes (I only used 4 because I’m the only one who will eat the tomatoes)
2 Tbsp butter
Salt and pepper to taste

Dice your pepper and onion. Heat a skillet on the stove and melt your butter. Add all the vegetables to the pan and cook, stirring often, until softened and onions are translucent. About 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

While your veggies are cooking scramble your eggs.

Top scrambled eggs with veggies and add cheese or salsa on top if wanted.

August 6, 2015July 31, 2015

CSA – Week 12

So many delicious vegetables this week!

Basil, it’s a different kind than I’ve gotten in the past. It’s a much stronger basil, I haven’t figured out what I want to make with it yet.

Corn, only 4 ears this week, it’s so delicious!

Cherry tomatoes. These are so good!

Potatoes, these are always easy to eat up. My kids love baked potatoes.

Tomatoes, lots of tomatoes this week!

Red torpedo onions, these are super strong and so tasty once cooked.

More Japanese Eggplant. Not really a winner around here, but I am finding things to make with them.

And, peppers, or “apples” according to my 2yr old. Who also likes to eat them like apples. I guess it’s a good way for him to get his veggies!

July 31, 2015July 29, 2015

Food Friday – Refrigerator Dill Pickles

I got my Refrigerator Dill Pickle recipe from allrecipes. I like it so much I’ve made 3 batches so far with very little modification.

Refrigerator Dill Pickles
3 1/2 cups water
1 1/4 cups white vinegar
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon canning salt (regular table salt will work too but the canning salt dissolves faster)
2 medium cucumbers sliced
2 heads fresh dill

Put water, vinegar, sugar, and salt in a pan on the stove. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring occasionally. Once the water mixture boils, turn it off and let set an hour or so until completely cooled. This is very important. If you pour hot water over your sliced cucumbers you’ll get mushy pickles because the hot water will “cook” your pickles a little bit.

After the water is cooled, slice up your cucumbers and put them in two large mason jars (or any other jar of your choice). Add 1 head of dill per jar. Pour water mixture over cucumbers until they are fully covered and/or your jar is full.

Put the lid on and let set in the fridge for at least 1 week before eating. I think they’re best after at least 2 weeks.

July 30, 2015July 29, 2015

CSA – Week 11

Wow! 11 weeks of veggies already! Now that we’re well into summer, the last couple of boxes have been really great. Here’s this week’s box.

More onions. These red torpedo onions are strong but so very tasty cooked! I just cry a LOT when I’m cutting them up.

Corn. Last week’s corn was so delicious. I’m so excited to have more!

Baby potatoes. My girls were super excited. We made baked potatoes. I’m hoping for more in the next box.

Eggplant. I’ve never seen eggplant like this, but it’s actually easier to use because it’s in smaller portions, I can kind of sneak it into dishes and hope no one notices – let’s just say that they haven’t been impressed with my eggplant cooking skills. “It’s squishy” has been the most common comment.

I made some spaghetti sauce and tossed some eggplant in. My 6yr old caught me and asked what I was putting in the sauce. “Eggplant” I told her, “I’m going to puree it all when it’s cooked, so you won’t even know it’s in there.” 6yr old looks at my like I’m crazy, “but I know it’s in there!” She totally missed the point. She did eat the sauce for dinner and loved it. It’s amazing what you can hide in a puree.

Red and yellow peppers. I love peppers.

Tomatoes – these look a little rough, probably from the week of non-stop rain we had. They’re still tasty though and made great spaghetti sauce.

Cantaloupe, a favorite fruit at my house. This one didn’t have a ton of flavor but it was nice and juicy, so still pretty tasty.

July 24, 2015July 23, 2015

Food Friday – Glazed Carrots

I’m not personally a big fan of glazed carrots. I like mine raw with ranch, in a salad, or just eaten as a giant carrot stick. But my kids and husband prefer them glazed. Making glazed carrots is super easy, and since I’m on a roll on the blog with easy vegetables I’ll share another favorite recipe.

Glazed carrots

Carrots – sliced – as many as you want to eat, I do about 1/2 lb for my family of 5
1/2 Cup Water
3Tbsp Brown Sugar

Place sliced carrots in pan, add water and brown sugar and stir. Bring to a boil. Turn down and simmer – stirring frequently -about 30 minutes or until most of the water has cooked off and only a glaze is left.

For more easy vegetable recipes check out my:

Sauteed Squash

Green Beans

And my Crockpot Vegetable Soup

July 23, 2015July 23, 2015