At our house, we have a saying..."Don't yuk my yum!". We are trying to raise kids that aren't picky eaters by exposing them to many different kinds of food. It wasn't that long ago that one of my kids asked "Why can't you cook food like everyone else? Like tater tot hotdish?" The reason? It's not very healthy or creative and I think it's kind of gross. I don't cook like that. I like to use fresh, healthy ingredients to make great tasting good for you dishes. I've created this blog to share my favorite recipes with you.


Follow my kitchen adventures from using up vegetables from our weekly CSA box to baking and creative cooking.

Sunday, September 30, 2012

A New Format

It has been about a year since I started this blog, and in the last few months, I have been less than diligent about posting.  It's not that I haven't been cooking, because I have, I just haven't felt like writing about my cooking.  I haven't even been taking pictures of my cooking.

So I was thinking that it's time for a format change.  Once a week, I'm going to make an effort to post about what we ate that week.  I will post recipes or links to recipes, along with pictures of our food.  To get to the recipe, just click on the link.  I may break from this format once in a while and post about individual recipes or a list of favorites, but I want to try something new.

To get started, let me say that while October is only a day away, we are still getting our weekly produce boxes from Red Goose Gardens.   According to their e-mail this week, we should get at least six more boxes this fall.  I love to see how the contents of the boxes change with the seasons.  What started out in early June as a half-full box of peas, lettuce, and green onions has evolved an overflowing box with additional bags containing the week's harvest.  This week, among many other things, we got our fall pumpkins for decorating!  We also got a bunch of peppers--bell, poblanos and jalapeños, a huge head of cabbage and a bunch of tomatillos.

Friday afternoon had me dreaming about bacon (as usual) and thinking about what I could do with the package I had in the freezer.  Then it dawned on me...I had just seen a recipe for bacon-wrapped jalapeño poppers on pinterest!  So I made them for supper when I got home from work.  Yes, we had only Bacon-Wrapped Jalapeño Poppers for supper.  And wine.  I love Fridays!

This is the Saturday's batch.  We cut the bacon in half lengthwise to stretch the recipe, but it was just as good.   
 Then my sister came to visit on Saturday and we made the poppers again.  This time, we also made Baked Chile Rellenos to go with the poppers.  Think that was enough peppers in one meal?  I only needed one Zantac to take care of the heartburn, though.  And wine.  I love Saturdays, too!


Today, I started my weekly Sunday cooking bonanza by boiling a head of cabbage and preparing the meat mixture for some crock pot cabbage rolls.  So we had these cabbage rolls for supper tonight and they were delicious!   I have to say, when it comes to cabbage rolls, I have learned my lesson.  Add way more seasoning than the recipe calls for and NEVER just use tomato sauce!  I followed the technique described in this recipe for Sweet and Sour Cabbage Rolls in the November 2012 issue of Family Circle Magazine, but see below for my own recipe for the cabbage rolls, because I did not follow any recipe I found, I just made it up as I went along.


Along with the cabbage rolls, I also roasted a pan of tomatillos, as I described in this post from last fall. After they cooled, I put them in the freezer and will make stew out of them another day.

Then, I made another recipe I found on pinterest, Banana Oatmeal Muffins.  These muffins have no flour in them and are loaded with yummy breakfast ingredients, so I decided to whip up a batch and throw them in the freezer for easy breakfasts this week.

I added a few chocolate chips on top for extra goodness!
I also used three bananas instead of only two and added an extra half cup of oatmeal.  My recipe made 15 muffins.
 
That's it for this week.  I hope to be back next week with another exciting episode of "What's for dinner at the Huck's!"  
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Crock Pot Cabbage Rolls
1 head of cabbage
a little olive oil
a couple onions, chopped
a green pepper, chopped
a few cloves of garlic, minced (or from a jar)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 jar marinara or spaghetti sauce
1 lb. hamburger
1/4 c. breadcrumbs or crushed crackers
1/4 c. milk
salt and pepper to taste

1.  Core the cabbage and boil the whole head in a large pot of salted water for about 15 minutes, removing 12 leaves as they become pliable.  Drain well, then remove tough stem; cut leaves in half.  Shred remaining cabbage a place in bottom of crock pot.

2.  Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Add the onions, peppers and garlic and cook about 5 minutes.  Scoop out about half of the onion mixture and add to a mixing bowl with the hamburger, breadcrumbs, milk and salt and pepper, if desired.  Add tomatoes and marinara to the onion mixture still in the skillet and cook a few minutes until the flavors are nicely blended.

3.  With stem ends of cabbage leaves facing you, place 2 heaping tablespoons of meat mixture in center of leaf and roll up. Place rolls, seam-side down, in crock pot. Pour sauce over top. Cover; cook on LOW for 5 hours.
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