Rice Cooker Fried Rice

This was Delicious! We used sesame oil in this recipe and it turned out sooo good. It does need a soy or soy/ginger sauce to make it perfect. It also reheats really well! We made some shrimp to go with it, but it could be great with a number of other dishes

Ingredients:

2 cups sushi rice
1-2 tablespoons of sesame oil
1 chopped onion
4-5 chopped garlic cloves
1 teaspoon grated or chopped ginger
2 cups beef broth
1 cup frozen vegetables

Directions:

1. Set rice cooker to white rice
2. Add sesame oil. Add onions and garlic and ginger and cook until onions are softened, stirring as needed.
3. Add rice and frozen vegetables.
4. Add beef broth.
5. Cover and cook until done!
6. Serve with soy or any other sauce you like

What we liked:

So easy and good!

What we didn't like:

nothing, it was great

What Kaspian thought about it:

He was not into the rice,Astrid, however, LOVED it

Next time:

No changes needed

Astrid's Birthday Dinner

Astrid Turned 2 and we made her a birthday dinner. The recipes are all in previous posts, but here's a combined plate :)

Citrus Green Chile Turkey

We made a turkey for Astrid's Birthday dinner. We wanted to make it a citrus/soy with a hint of New Mexico - so we added some green chile to it. We made it in a bag and it turned out AMAZING. It was moist and yummy and well cooked! We completely made up the recipe and it was really great!

Ingredients:

18 lb turkey
turkey bag
2 onions, quartered and peeled
2 oranges, quartered
1 lemon quartered
1 cup soy
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
4 tablespoons turkey herb seasoning (optional)
4 oz packet of green chile

Directions:

Preheat oven to about 350 F
1. Place defrosted turkey in a bag, making sure to remove all insides and gibblets and plastic bags that come with it.
2. Stuff with lemon, orange, and onion quarters. Ones that don't fit, just place on top and around.
3. Rub the Turkey seasoning on top.
4. Pour the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce around the turkey. Place the green chile on top.
5. Place the turkey in the oven and cook based on weight. Ours cooked for about 4.5 hours. 

What we liked:

It was really fun creating the recipe and the turkey tasted great!!!

What we didn't like:

Nothing, it was great

What Kaspian thought about it:

He did not try it. 

Next time:

Definitely will make again!

Roasted Parmesan Herb Sweet Potatoes

We wanted to make sweet potatoes but didn't really want to make them sweet. We wanted to do a more savory dish with them. We found this recipe which was SUPER easy and really good. They reminded us of the sweet potato fries. Yummy! We cooked these at the same time as we did the roasted carrots and radishes and it turned out great with both dishes coming out at the same time.

Here is the original recipe: https://www.pumpkinnspice.com/roasted-parmesan-herb-sweet-potatoes

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Add diced potatoes to a baking dish.
3. Add oil, cheese italian seasoning and garlic powder to the potatoes and mix.
4. Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until lightly browned and crispy. The potatoes should be soft.

What we liked:

It was very good and a great new dish to try!

What we didn't like:

Nothing, it was great. Initially, we followed the recipe and mixed all the oil, cheese and garlic powder and seasoning in a separate bowl, but this made it clumpy and hard to mix into the sweet potatoes. Pouring the ingredients over the potatoes seemed to work much better. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He didn't seem to have an opinion. 

Next time:

NO change needed! Definitely a keeper!

Garlic Green Beans

This was probably the easiest, fastest, and most delicious green bean recipe we have made.
The green beans came out perfectly soft and cooked and were great!

Original Recipe: https://goodcheapeats.com/2011/04/easy-garlic-green-beans-whats-on-your-plate/

Ingredients:

2 cups frozen green beans
1/3 cup water
1 tablespoon butter
4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Add beans and water to a large frying pan. Cover and cook until soft on medium heat - about 10 minutes.
2. Add butter and garlic and mix together.
3. Serve!

What we liked:

So easy and good!

What we didn't like:

Nothing, it was perfect!

What Kaspian thought about it:

He was not too into food

Next time:

Perhaps add some shallots or pine nuts!

Roasted Carrots

This was a roasted carrots recipe we made for Astrid's Birthday dinner. The carrots turned out great. We also added some radishes and they were also very good. We did have to cook for much longer than the original recipe indicated though.

Original recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/roasted-carrots-recipe-1940444

Roasted Carrots & Radishes

Ingredients:

1 lb carrots
3 tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
juice of half a lemon or lime

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Cut carrots diagonally
3. Combine olive oil, salt, pepper and juice in a little bowl
4. Spread the carrots on a sheet pan and pour the olive oil mixture over them. Toss to coat. We used a baster brush.
5. Roast in the oven for about 30 minutes or until tender. 

What we liked:

They turned out yummy!

What we didn't like:

Nothing, it was good. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He liked the carrots

Next time:

Beet and Quinoa Salad

We made this beet & quinoa salad
Original recipe: http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/beet-and-quinoa-salad

But, it was so bland and seemed to be missing something so badly that it doesn't even get a picture here :)  Not recommended. 

French Onion Soup

This was a fun soup to make. It was good, and better than some restaurants. The soup did take more work than we thought it would. We had made french onion soup previously but we used the slow cooker. This version worked out better. We were never able to simmer the onions completely dry after the wine addition, but it was still good, and did not have too much of a wine taste to it. We did double the recipe because we had a lot of people and this and a light salad was the only thing on the menu, but surprisingly it made so much, that we had about half left over. Four quarts of beef broth were not fitting into our dutch oven so we only used three, but that may have been for the best as it turned out just right.

Here's the original recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/french-onion-soup-recipe2-1947434

Served

Ready to go in the oven for baking (one was without cheese)

Waiting on the cheese addition!

ready!

Look at all those onions!

Ingredients:

1/2 cup unsalted butter - 1 stick
4 onions, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 bay leaves
2 fresh thyme sprigs
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup red wine, about 1/2 bottle
3 heaping tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 quarts beef broth
1 baguette, sliced
1/2 pound grated Gruyere

Directions:

1. Melt the stick of butter in a large pot over medium heat.
2. Add the onions, garlic, bay leaves, thyme, and salt and pepper and cook until the onions are very soft and caramelized, about 25 minutes.
3. Add the wine, bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes until wine is boiled down.
4.  Discard the bay leaves and thyme sprigs.
5. Dust the onions with the flour and give them a stir.
6. Turn the heat down to medium low so the flour doesn't burn, and cook for 10 minutes to cook out the raw flour taste.
7. Add the beef broth, bring the soup to a simmer, and cook for 10 minutes. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
8.  Ladle the soup into bowls, top each with 2 slices of bread and top with cheese. Put the bowls into the oven to toast the bread and melt the cheese.

What we liked:

It was delicious!

What we didn't like:

Took longer than we thought

What Kaspian thought about it:

He ate fish sticks. 

Next time:

No need to double :) 

Potatoes Au Gratin

We wanted to make some potatoes au gratin and chose this recipe for it's simplicity and few ingredients. We probably will not make it this way again. Alona thought it was FAR too oily and greasy, while Nick thought it was just okay.
Overall, not great.

Here is the original recipe: https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/potatoes-au-gratin.html

Cooked! 

Ready to cook

Ingredients:

Spray oil for the baking dish
2 1/2 cups heavy cream
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
3 Yukon Gold potatoes (about 2-1/4 pounds), peeled and sliced very thin
1 cup grated Parmigiano-Reggiano.. we used a mix of cheese 

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Spray a baking dish with cooking spray.
2. In a mixing bowl, whisk together the cream, salt and pepper.
3. Lay out the potatoes in an overlapping single layer. Add some cheese and cream.
4. Repeat with additional layers. (we only got about 2 layers in our pan - this made it cook better anyways).
5. Place in the oven and bake, uncovered, for about an hour to an hour and half, or until the potatoes are tender when pierced with a knife and golden brown on top.
6. Let the dish settle and cool for about ten minutes before serving.

What we liked:

It was easy. 

What we didn't like:

It was not very good. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He did not deem it edible. 

Next time:

Different recipe

Avocado Toast

Avocado toast:

We had this at a local restaurant and had to recreate it. The trick seems to be in the lemon zest to really add that brilliant lemon flavor!

Ingredients:

1 Large Avocado
2 Slices of bread
1 Medium Lemon
1 Radish
1 Bunch Sprouts (Radish or Sunflower)
1 Tablespoon oil (Walnut, sunflower or olive)
pinch salt

Directions:

1) Toast 2 pieces of bread 

2) Remove the avocado from skin and place into a large bowl 

3) Zest the lemon and add zest to the bowl

4) Squeeze 1/2 of the lemon into the bowl 

5) Add oil and salt 

6) Mash the avocado and other ingredients into a thick paste 

7) Spread the paste onto the toast (which should be done by now)

8) Cut radish into thin slices and place on top of the avocado 

9) Place the bunch of sprouts on top of the radish slice

10) squeeze the other 1/2 of the lemon on top of the sprouts 

11) Optional: drizzle 1 teaspoon of oil onto the sprouts 

What we liked:

Tasty and easy to make!

What we didn't like:

Really dependent on the goodness of the avocado!

What Kaspian thought about it:

Ew!

Next time:

Sunflower sprouts and sunflower oil!

Beer Brats

We needed something quick and easy to make while pumpkin carving. So we opted for these brats.
We only used about half a bottle of corona beer, and that worked out well. Definitely did not need any more.
 Here's the original recipe: https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/bratwurst-in-beer-243230

Ingredients:

1/2 stick of butter
2 medium onions, sliced into half rings
4 garlic cloves, sliced
1/2 bottle of light beer
3-4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
7 bratwurst links
7 hot dog buns
Mustard

Directions:

1. Heat the grill to medium - hot.
2. Place the butter in a medium disposable foil roasting pan. Place the pan on the grill rack and cook until the butter melts. Add the onions and garlic; cook until softened, three to five minutes. Add the beer and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a simmer. Place the pan on the low heat zone and keep the onion mixture warm.
3. Place the bratwurst on the grill rack. Grill, turning occasionally, until evenly charred, four to five minutes. Transfer the bratwurst to the onion mixture and let stand until ready to serve.

What we liked:

Super quick and easy!

What we didn't like:

Be careful, the disposable foil pan will get HOT quickly!!! 

What Kaspian thought about it:

Both Astrid and Kaspian ate a whole brat! They loved them. The onions turned out really good too, but Astrid didn't opt for any this time. 

Next time:

No changes. 

Happy Halloween!

 We carved pumpkins last night, here they are!

Chicken and Dumpling Slow Cooker soup

This is a great soup for the starting to get cold nights. It did seem to require more work than most slow cooker soups and tasted more like a pot pie soup but it was still yummy and delicious!
We will likely make it again.

Original Recipe: http://www.delish.com/cooking/recipe-ideas/recipes/a53818/easy-crockpot-chicken-and-dumplings-recipe/

Served

Cooked! 

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 tsp. oregano
salt
ground black pepper
2 cans cream of chicken soup
5 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoon thyme
2 bay leaves
3-4 stalks celery, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
1 cup frozen peas
5 cloves garlic, sliced
2 cups bisquick mix
2/3 cup milk

Directions:

1. Add chopped onion in an even layer in the bottom of the slow cooker and place chicken breasts on top. Add oregano, salt and pepper.
2. Pour soup and chicken broth on top then add the thyme and bay leaf. Cover and cook on high for 4-5 hours, or until the chicken is cooked through.
3. Add in the celery, carrots, peas and garlic.
4. Combine bisquick mix with milk and mix until a soft dough forms.
5. Drop teaspoons sized bits of dough into the hot slow cooker mixture.
6. Cook on high for another 1-2 hours.
7. Serve. 

What we liked:

It was good!

What we didn't like:

It was like a two step slow cooker dish, unlike most where you just put it in and leave it alone it needed more work halfway through. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He preferred chicken nuggets. Astrid was intrigued by it, until her brother had nuggets, then all had to change. 

Next time:

Myabe try the not-slow cooker version of this. 

Baked Acorn Squash with Pistachios, Pears and Herbs

Total Fall dish. This looks pretty, is quick and easy to make and the blend of flavors is pretty spectacular as well. It is HUGE though. We only made one acorn squash, and a half an acorn squash is a lot for someone to eat. Just saying :) We also overfilled ours, but the more the better! We used mint and rosemary from our garden, and next time, we might tone down on the rosemary a little.

We got the recipe for this one also from the Costco Magazine, unfortunately, I am not sure which edition as that is not on my sheet that we tore out of the magazine.

This looks beautiful and tastes great as well!

Ready to Eat!

Yum

Here's a picture from this side

This is the stuffing

Ingredients:

1 acorn squash
4 teaspoons olive oil
2/3 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup pistachio nuts, shelled and cut in half
1 red pear, cored and diced into cubes
2 teaspoons maple syrup
2 teaspoons red or white wine vinegar (we used white since we didn't have red)
4 sprigs thyme (we used dried because we didn't have any fresh on hand)
2 sprigs rosemary, finely chopped
10 leaves mint, finely chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F
2. Slice squash in half vertically and remove seeds. Place rind down, on a baking dish
3. Combine half of  the oil (2 teaspoons), half the salt and half the pepper in a small bowl and using  a brush, brush on the squash.
4. Bake for 35-40 minutes until soft. (we used a fork to check it)
5. In a bowl, mix together the rest of the ingredients.
6. Divide the filling among the squash halves and put in under broiler for about 3 minutes until golden. 

What we liked:

This was so much FUN to make!

What we didn't like:

Nothing, it was fun, and very different. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

This didn't warrant his attention. Astrid, however, liked the squash and the sweet/savory filling a lot. Kaspian enjoyed the pistachio nuts alone. 

Next time:

No changes. 

Spiced Carrots with Lime Garlic Chicken and Risotto

It's Fall!

The carrots for this dish was the new recipe. The chicken we kind of just made up, marinating a couple of hours in advance and the risotto, we cheated, and just made out of a box. It was a good quick meal. The carrots were so yummy!
The carrots recipe we got from Costco October 2017 page 37 magazine.

Plated

Lime Garlic Chicken

Spiced Carrots

Ingredients:

Carrots:
2 tablespoons olive oil
4-5 large carrots halved and cut into similar sized pieces
1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
3/4-1 teaspoons ground corriander
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup fresh mint
salt and pepper

Chicken:
3 chicken breasts
half a head of garlic, peeled and cloves sliced
juice of two lemons
zest of two lemons
2 tablespoons olive oil
a splash of white wine

Directions:

Carrots:
1. Pre-heat oven to 400F.
2. Add oil to to a large saute pan. When heated, add carrots and cook for about 5 minutes until carrots start to get browned. Add cumin and coriander and stir.
3. Deglaze pan with lemon juice and put carrots and juices into a baking dish. Add water and cover with foil.
4. Cook for about 25-30 minutes.
5. Remove carrots from the oven and drain any remaining water and sprinkle mint. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Chicken:
1. Place chicken in a baking dish and pour the rest of the ingredients on top of the chicken, spreading lemon zest and garlic across all three breasts. Let marinate for about an hour.
2. Cover with foil and bake at 400F for about 40 minutes until done.  

What we liked:

So good and easy and simple. It was great to try a new recipe for the carrots!

What we didn't like:

Nothing, it was good. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

he liked the carrots, so did Astrid!

Next time:

No changes!

Kofta Kebabs with Yellow Rice and Veggie Skewers..and Hummus and Tzatziki Sauce

We made some kofta kebabs with yellow rice and veggie skewers. We got some zucchini and yellow squash and cucumbers from our local farmers market and it was the perfect timing for kebabs! We have some dill that we grew and used that in both the kebabs and the tzatziki sauce. It was a pretty labor intensive meal but it was well worth it.
The yellow rice was a new one for us. It was a different way of making it with the saffron and letting the saffron steep. It was very exciting and turned out excellent. The only thing we would add next time is some peas, but unfortunately, we had none on hand at this time. We left the cinnamon out of the rice because it didn't sound that good and Alona is not a fan of cinnamon, especially in non-sweet dishes. Also, we used our multi-cooker to make the rice - just because we love that it cooks it perfectly every time and we do not have to babysit it!
We actually added cinnamon to the kebabs and think that it was a mistake and it should definitely be left out next time.

Original recipes:
Yellow Rice: http://www.mypersiankitchen.com/mena-cooking-club-yellow-rice/
Kofta Kebabs and Tzatziki: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/kofta-kebabs-with-tzatziki-recipe-2118052

Plated!

Fresh off the grill!

Tzatziki

Hummus

Yellow Rice

Ready to grill!

Ingredients:

Yellow Rice:
2 tbsp sunflower oil
2 cups rice - washed and rinsed
1/4 tsp turmeric
1 generous pinch of saffron
3 1/2 cups hot water
5 cardamom pods
Salt

Kebabs:
6 cloves garlic
1.5 tablespoon kosher salt, plus a pinch
1.5 pound ground beef
6 tablespoons very finely chopped onion
3 tablespoons chopped dill
1.5 tablespoon ground coriander
1.5 teaspoon ground cumin
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon - OMIT NEXT TIME!!!!!
3/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
Freshly ground black pepper

Grilled flat bread - we used the mini naans from Costco

Tzatziki Sauce:
2 cups sour cream
1 medium cucumber, peeled, and shredded on a grater
2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus a pinch
2 cloves garlic
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons fresh mint, finely chopped
2 tablespoons fresh dill finely chopped

Directions:

Yellow Rice:
1. Boil about 4 cups of water.
2. Very lightly crush the 5 cardamom pods in a mortar with a pestle. Do not squish them apart, just enough for the pods to slightly open. Take them out and put them aside.
3. Crush saffron with a pinch of salt in the mortar with a pestle until it is a fine powder.
4. Add about 2 tablespoons of water to the saffron salt mixture and let it sit for about 5 minutes.
5. Pour sunflower oil into the rice cooker and set it to "White Rice".
6. After the oil warms up, add the turmeric and let it cook for about a minute.
7. Add the rinsed and drained rice, cardamom, and brewed saffron. Add some salt. Add about 3.5 cups of the hot water.
8. Mix everything, close the rice cooker and let it cook!

Kofta Kebabs:
1. Smash the garlic cloves, sprinkle with a generous pinch of salt, and, with the flat side of a large knife, mash and smear mixture to a coarse paste. Mix the paste and the remaining 1 tablespoon salt with the meat, onion, dill, and spices.
2. Make 2 inch oval balls and mold them around the skewers. about 3-4 should fit onto each metal skewer. Using a flat metal skewer works best as these tend to slide off the round skewers.
3. Pre heat the grill to medium high.
4. Grill the kebabs about 4 minutes per side until cooked.

Tzatziki:
1.  Wrap the grated cucumber in a thick paper towel or kitchen towel and squeeze as much liquid out as possible. If you have the time, you can add salt and let it sit over a colander for about 20 minutes before squeezing out the liquid.
2. Make garlic paste with garlic and salt.
3. Add cucumber, garlic, lemon juice, dill and mint into the sour cream.
4. It is best if the tzatziki sauce sits before serving, but not critical. 

What we liked:

It was a very fun meal to make. 

What we didn't like:

The cinnamon was really unnecessary. 

What Kaspian thought about it:

He liked the kebabs and Astrid absolutely loved the rice. 

Next time:

No cinnamon :) 

Aquaponics - GreenHouse!

Remember, that Aquaponics greenhouse we were building. Well, it's up and running!!!!

Here are some updates!

There are plants growing. They were planted on 7/14/2017 and sprouted 6 days later on 7/20/2017.
Unfortunately, there was an incident on 7/26 Wednesday where the water got left on at a trickle and the sump tank flooded causing the 10 or Koi fish that we had to not survive due to temperature changes.

The plants are doing well and seem to be growing. We got a nitrate and ammonia testing kit to monitor the chemical levels. We will get some goldfish hopefully tomorrow. They should be more hardy than the Koi.

We got 33 bags, a whole pallet, of hydroton. They are expanded clay pellets. To wash them, Nick constructed a special sieve to wash off the powder that coats them as that is not healthy for the system.
The pallet filled up 5 of the tanks that we have set up.