full tummies transition!

The few of you who actually read full tummies on a regular basis will no doubt have noticed a dearth of new posts in recent months. There's good reason for this. The full tummies household has moved across our great, wide country: from East Tennessee to South-Eastern Washington! How does this transition affect this little cooking/blogging hobby of mine?

• time! As in, NO time. We spun into a whirlwind of home improvement, house listing, packing, etc. all right before the holidays. Good times, good times. I think we went a month without eating veggies. As of this writing, we've been a month without our "stuff," and we hope to move into a rental within the week (including the delivery of our worldly goods). More transition!
• CSA: obviously, the Colvins do not deliver 2400 miles away. At this point, I don't know if we'll join a local CSA or just patronize one of the (many) farmer's markets in our new community. We're right in the heart of WA wine country and apple territory. Needless to say, fresh produce abounds during the growing season in this fertile part of the state. Can't wait to see what's the same and what's different from East TN!
• space: I'm going from a large kitchen (with some 25 linear feet of counter space and nice pantry!) to a much smaller establishment...with no real pantry. Simplifying? Why, yes, yes, we are.
• simplicity: see previous bullet. With less time/space to contribute to my little cooking/blogging hobby, you can expect fewer posts (a lot!), less complicated recipes and suggestions, and know that we're enjoying all the recipes I've posted along the years!
• grocery stores: I have totally different stores available to me (no Aldi!). I need to figure out a new routine and everything.

One possible new feature is "vacation-friendly" recipes--those recipes you can make with minimal supplies on hand, both edible and equipment-related. As in, you are at a beach house that is minimally equipped, you have no spices/baking powder/flour/etc., and want to cook at home instead of eating out every night. Or, hypothetically speaking, you've just moved across country, are in temporary corporate housing, and all your own stuff is in boxes....

As in the other seasons of transition, I recommend you subscribe to the full tummies email list if you want to see new posts show up in your inbox; this will spare you needless effort "checking in" only to find there's nothing new....

Washington state image from tri-city.com

Rich People Problems

First of all, let me say that I don't usually identify myself with "the rich." (And certainly not, "the rich and famous.")

But today, I was really struck by all my "rich people problems." Consider:

We were out--completely out--of milk, eggs, bread, fresh fruit. ACK! What in the world do we eat for breakfast? for lunch? Grocery is now on the "urgent-must-do-today" list. And yet, here's what we could have eaten...just off the top of my head and working from what we still had on hand:

• smoothie with yogurt and some frozen fruit (which we actually did eat for breakfast)
• oatmeal cooked with water (which we also ate)
• cooked grains with dried fruit (I have rice, oats, farro, bulgur, ...)
• potatoes with vegetables
• cheese and crackers for lunch
• peanut butter and crackers for lunch
• fresh vegetables for any meal
• cheese quesadillas for any meal
• noodles with butter and salt and cheese on top 

For dinner, I had several options since I had chicken and sausage in the freezer, several bags of dried beans/lentils in the cupboard, the aforementioned grains, cans of tomatoes, some pasta, some fresh AND frozen vegetables, chicken stock, .... 

In short, if we were willing to be a little untraditional for our breakfasts for a few days, we could have eaten well on what was in the house. Not to mention my steady supply of fresh vegetables every week (admittedly, I'm bartering blogging services for these--but that implies that I have the time and means to blog--still a rich person's situation.)

Despite this abundance, in middle class American rich people fashion, we went to not just one, not just two, but three grocery stores. Why? Well, because I got better prices/quality on certain things at certain stores... duh! But consider:

• the transportation I had to each of these stores (implying bus fare, working car with gas, etc.)
• the time I had to do this (admittedly, I am NOT a marathon shopper and these went fairly quickly... still....)
• the money I had to do this: good prices are still prices and still reflect money I was planning to spend
• the store options: I have enough stores near me to be picky on where I go--and all of them carry abundant groceries including lots of fresh ingredients
• the storage space at my house: to bring home a week's worth (or more) of groceries, many of which require refrigeration or at least air conditioning in order to stay fresh for more than a day or two, means that I have a big enough house/electricity/etc. 
• the supplies I had on hand: for me to be able to get those good prices on random ingredients also meant that I had enough ingredients on hand (i.e. chicken, etc.) that I could afford to buy a few things we're not necessarily planning to eat up this week. And that I could afford to buy a lot of fresh fruit. A LOT, I tell you. It's almost embarrassing how much. I should confess that there are more peaches than the ones reflected in the picture above. What can I say? Those SC peaches are amazing.

So, yes, I believe we're definitely in the rich people camp when compared to most of the world. And in light of that, I chose not to complain about hauling in bags of groceries in the heat, about driving to a grocery store, about the rising cost of groceries. Prices may be going up, but we are still far better off than so many. 

Introducing Produce and Cooking to Kids

If you're a gardener, CSA shareholder, or avid farmer's market customer, your children have likely had exposure to more types of vegetables than the average American. If that's the case, this series of picture books by April Pulley Sayre will be lots of fun as your children recognize their favorites.

If you're about to venture into the world of a CSA or are contemplating making the farmer's market a regular weekly feature, then check out the books below to show your children what they might encounter. They might be less intimidated by kale, kohlrabi, or radishes if they've just chanted their way through a book on the subject! The books below are great for preschool through early elementary kids.

Rah, Rah, Radishes!: A Vegetable Chant by April Pulley Sayre. Beach Lane, 2011. 
This colorful picture book is exactly what the title says: a singsongy chant about vegetables is accompanied by photographs of the vegetables. Back matter provides a bit more information about the vegetables.

Go, Go, Grapes! A Fruit Chant by April Pulley Sayre. Beach Lane, 2012.
While the photography isn't quite as strong in this companion book, Go, Go, Grapes! is still a great celebration of fruit--and not just your typical apples, bananas, and oranges.

Let's Go Nuts! Seeds We Eat by April Pulley Sayre. Beach Lane, 2013.
This is a great introduction to the many seeds we eat: grains, beans/legumes, nuts. Photographs accompany the rhyming text and showcase seeds from around the world.


What if you have older children who are dying to actually cook? Then you might want to check out this new kids' cookbook:

ChopChop: The Essential Cookbook for Kids and Their Parents. Sally Sampson. Simon & Shuster, 2013.

Based on recipes from the magazine of the same name, ChopChop features very healthy recipes geared towards middle grades kids and up. Recipes are varied, and there are lots of base recipes with multiple variations given. Instructions are very clear--a big plus in a cookbook for kids. My biggest complaint is that the book is a large paperback; as any chef knows, these are hard to actually cook from because they won't stay open! I should note that I didn't actually try the recipes in this cookbook; many of them, though, look very similar to recipes I already know and love in other cookbooks. See if your local library has a copy!

My favorite kids' cookbooks for younger kids are the Pretend Soup and Salad People cookbooks by Molly Katzen.

What are YOUR favorite vegetable-related and healthy cookbooks for kids?

cover images from goodreads

Eat What You Have

I'm not one of those who gets dietary recommendations from the Bible, but I do think there are many helpful principles in Scripture that relate to our food consumption. For instance, I think we are commanded to be good stewards of the earth; therefore, sustainable growing practices make a lot of sense. We're encouraged to trust the Lord for our provision; therefore, not worrying about our next meal also makes sense (of course, this is much easier said than done!).

There's another principle that my friend Megan and I discuss on a regular basis: eat what you have. Really? you say. Is that in the Bible? In a manner of speaking, yes. It's good stewardship to make good use of what the Lord has provided whether it is food, money, clothing, land, .... There are also several direct examples in the Bible that point to this very thing:

The Lord said to him [Moses], "What is that in your hand?" (Exodus 4:2; not food related, but relevant in principle)

And Elisha said to her [the widow], "What shall I do for you? Tell me; what have you in the house?" (2 Kings 4:2)

And he [Jesus] said to them, "How many loaves do you have? Go and see." (Mark 6:38)

And when they had eaten up their fill, he [Jesus] told his disciples, "Gather up the leftover fragments, that nothing may be lost." (John 6:12)

Does this mean that you're being more spiritual when you eat leftovers? No. More spiritual when you make do with a random box of pasta, some random veggies, and leftover chicken? No. It does mean, though, that you're being creative, being a better steward of your resources, and setting a great example for your children! We waste a lot of time, money, and food in this country these days. I'm just as guilty--running to the store for one or two ingredients for a special recipe (and coming home with lots more ingredients), over planning meals for the week and ending up with lots of leftovers that just get thrown away, over buying in general and ending up with LOTS of food in the house that I could use up.

This summer, I challenge you to eat what you have. Summer schedules tend to be a bit more flexible, so make good use of that time. You may end up with some meals that aren't on the favorites list, but you'd be surprised what you can come up with. Invest in a couple of very basic cookbooks (some of my favorites are How to Cook Everything, Joy of Cooking, and Betty Crocker). These have recipes for things like basic muffin batters you can add to at will, pizza crust you can top with anything, flexible quiche recipes, and lots of substitution possibilities in general. If you're part of a CSA, a gardener, or shop at your farmer's market regularly, then check out Simply in Season for a wealth of simple meal ideas with lots of produce substitutions.

We're looking forward to our CSA season, but I'll confess: sometimes, it's a challenge to eat what's in my hand--or box (um, turnips, beets, and eggplant come quickly to mind!). But I can usually find a way to consume them. (Except for beets: haven't found a way yet… YET). Our favorite flexible meals: salads topped with grilled meats and random fresh veggies, pizza topped with nearly anything--even greens, rice bowls topped with some ethnic specialty, quiche with veggies mixed in, pasta with veggies and pesto, wraps with beans/meat and veggies, pita with hummus and fresh veggies,…. there are LOTS of options.

A New Season Begins

A new season begins for full tummies in more ways than one! I graduated yesterday from the University of Tennessee with my master's in Information Science ("library school"), and I'm looking forward to a new season of life without grad school homework.

And, the new CSA season is soon to be upon us!! I'm a virtual farmhand for the Colvins once again, and we're looking ahead to this new season of partnership. Today, I popped by their booth at our local farmer's market--just to say hi. Adam gave me some lovely looking Tuscan kale and some mustard greens. Thanks, Adam!! It looks like the growing season is off to a good start. Mmmmm….

Transition: Summer to School

It's officially here: the school year starts Monday. MONDAY, people. 

Which means I need to get my little lunch-making and speedy-breakfast-making ducks in a row. Quick like.

How did we do on our summer goals? I think we got a passing grade, barely. We have one swimmer and one biker-sans-training-wheels: my oldest. So, perhaps the boys will join their big sister next summer. All three made great progress. We made it through our Real Food Fast with flying colors for the most part. We did not even begin to do any meal-prep training with the kids. Nada. Zilch. But we had a good time.

Last year, I did a breakfast rotation for the four mornings of the week that we had to be out the door on the double. I hate to leave a pile o' dirty dishes behind, I hate to subsist only on boxed cereal each morning, and I like for things to be reasonably healthy and affordable. It made SUCH a huge difference in our morning routine to know exactly what we were going to have on which days--even the kids knew and if I ever deviated, they questioned it. I guess when you stagger down to the breakfast table, it's comforting to have a known entity there on the table waiting. We have one church morning (leave by 9:00 a.m.) and three school mornings (University Model School; leave by 7:20).

Last year's rotation:

• Sunday morning: coffee cake plus hard-boiled eggs and bananas
• Monday morning: Oatmeal with dried fruit and nuts (bonus if there was any fresh fruit)
• Wednesday morning: Microwave egg sandwich plus fruit
• Thursday morning: boxed cereal plus fruit

This year's rotation must change a touch mostly because my grocery shopping day has been shifted from Monday to Thursday. Oatmeal is a great meal on those mornings because I can make it with water if we're out of milk and it doesn't need any other fresh ingredient. You'll see that reflected below plus some other favorite recipes we've now worked into our regular routine. Obviously, there's room for variation (different kinds of muffins, for instance), but this really helps us have a good breakfast without too much trouble.

This year's breakfast rotation:

• Sunday: coffee cake or scones plus hard-boiled eggs and bananas (if it ain't broke, don't fix it :-) )
• Monday: cereal plus fruit
• Wednesday: Muffins and smoothies (muffins made day before; we may reconfigure smoothies once it gets cold out)
• Thursday: Oatmeal with dried fruit and nuts

Food-Related Books to Check Out

Last year, I did some quick reviews of food-related books I'd read during the summer. I think I'll make this an annual feature! This year, I'm privileged to have sneak peaks at brand new books and they're very fun.

Dinner, A Love Story: It All Begins at the Family Table
Jenny Rosenstrach
Ecco, 2012

Rosenstrach began her quest for the family dinner table in blog form, and last year she published this charming book version. By turns memoir and recipes, Dinner chronicles her struggle to figure out how this whole family dinner thing works. Rosenstrach is a funny writer and walks us through her gourmet years with her husband as newly weds, the frantic baby years when takeout was what it took, and the beginnings of the years with kids who eat like civilized folks at the dinner table. If you're committed to the idea of family dinner but struggle to find the time or wonder if it's worth it, read this book! You'll be encouraged and you'll laugh in the process. Then go try some of her recipes (we're big fans of the Sweet Potato Chicken Pot Pie. Trust me.). You can probably check this book out at your local library, but you may want to buy it when you're done.

thanks to my local library for a copy of this book; cover image from goodreads

We Laugh, We Cry, We Cook
Becky Johnson and Rachel Randolph
Zondervan, 2013 (August!)

Another memoir of food and time spent around the table together, We Laugh, We Cry, We Cook is a joint venture between a mom and her grown daughter. Together, they recount their food-related memories and share their favorite recipes. I enjoyed the honesty in this book, the recognition that food does indeed bring people together, and that grown children make new traditions that the parents can benefit from. Rachel, the daughter, and her husband decide to become vegan, and Becky, the mother, deals with it valiantly. The tone in this book is casual, much like Dinner, A Love Story and makes for a quick read. The recipes are not all vegan, but the ones Rachel does share definitely are on my "try this" list. So far, we've tried the vegan Sweet Potato Oatmeal Breakfast Bake (not sure if that's the precise title), and it was delicious! I can't wait to try some of Becky's recipes, too. Both Becky and Rachel are professing Christians, and they sprinkle in comments related to their faith throughout the book. However, it is not a spiritual meditation on food, and I think nonChristians could still enjoy it. Look for it in bookstores this fall.

thanks to publisher via netgalley for an ARC of this book; cover image from goodreads

Beating the Lunch Box Blues: Fresh Ideas for Lunch on the Go
J. M. Hirsch
Atria Books, 2013 (September)

As we gear up for another school year, lunch box meals are back on the radar. I get SO TIRED of packing school lunches. I don't know why. But that explains why I jumped at the chance to review this little book. Will it help? I'm not sure, honestly, if it will help me pack my kids' lunches. But it will most definitely help me pack mine and my husband's, and it's given me LOTS of ideas of things to try for the kids. Hirsch began this book as a blog, too (like Dinner, A Love Story), and chronicled his son's school lunch for a year. The book is not full of recipes so much as it's full of ideas: pair this with that. Use leftover chicken in one of these two ways. Try toppings like this for that. Each page is a full color, full page photograph of a lunch based on the suggestions given on that page (similar to the cover pictured). There are also about 30 dinner recipes in this book with--get this--TWO leftover lunch ideas. Genius. That's the way I like to cook. He does this with breakfast, too, as in "pack a leftover popover with ham and cheese" for lunch (or something along those lines). This is a very fun book to look through; my copy from the publisher was a digital galley, so I'm not sure how big a book it will be. Regardless, it's colorful and will get help jumpstart your school lunch packing as the school year gets under way. Look for it in store shelves this September.

thanks to publisher via netgalley for a digital ARC; cover image from goodreads.

Slow Food Nation: Why Our Food Should be Good, Clean, and Fair
Carlo Petrini (Jonathan Hunt, translator)
Rizzoli Ex Libris, 2007

I got a digital galley of this book, and for some reason thought it was "new." I don't know if it's new to the U.S. or not, but those of you who follow this kind of movement/way of life already will probably find the content in the book to be familiar stuff. If you're curious about the slow food movement, though, this book is packed with all kinds of information related to it. Yes, there IS an official slow food movement begun by none other than the author of this book! (Check out the Slow Food USA site for more information.) While I'm generally in favor of cooking from scratch, and I very much enjoy my local veggies from the Colvins in our CSA box each week, I'm also a bit wary of heavy propaganda. Slow Food Nation does lean in that direction, but no more than so many current food documentaries and other literature out these days. This particular book is more academic than many books out there, so if you are interested in really finding out about the whys and wherefores of the movement, I recommend you check this one out.

thanks to publisher via edelweiss for a digital copy of this book; cover image from goodreads

Travel + Food Reflections

My family and I recently got back from a crazy road trip to Texas; we're from East Tennessee, and we ended up in San Antoni where we proudly saw all the Davy Crockett "volunteer" paraphernalia!

But, our trip included 5 overnight locations, multiple meals away from home, and LOTS of car time. And I learned a few things I thought worthy of passing along to those of you who enjoy reasonably healthy food (as we do).

Reflection Number 1: Rest't price v. amount of veggies

The more expensive a restaurant is (and/or the smaller the portions), the more likely you are to find vegetables! Vegetables that are cooked well, not doused in loads of sauce, and which are non-starchy (or at least the option of nonstarchy) are hard to find on a steady diet of basic restaurant food. I was so starved for my CSA basket when we got home that I just wanted leaves for dinner. We ended up making our favorite pita sandwich with freshly acquired grocery store produce that first night home, and it was delicious. I'm looking forward to Thursday when I pick up my box of vegetable goodness from Caleb.

Reflection Number 2:  A little sugar goes a long way

OK, well, a lot of sugar on occasion. When you're dragging tired kiddos through a "historic" city in 100 degree heat, a giant sno-cone does wonders for morale. We brought lots of special treats (like candy!) with us, and these little fun surprises were just the thing sometimes. It's worth breaking out of your usual sugar-limits on trips.

Reflection Number 3: On the other hand, no dessert necessary

We were fortunate to be able to share a number of meals with family and friends we hadn't seen in a while. And, I must say, those who fixed us meals (7 of 'em) all made wonderful meals and not a one fixed us dessert for after the meal.* I loved it!!! Hear this, people: you don't "have" to make dessert every time you have folks over for a meal. Just sayin'. We had hot dogs, brats, hamburgers, lots of side salads, chili, bagels and lox, .... We had plenty, in other words. We didn't need extra dessert stuff. *We had one family fix us a special dessert, but we were also staying with them for a couple of nights/meals.

Reflection Number 4: Cultural kitchen spots are so much fun!

This isn't a "new" interest for me, but I thought I'd point this out: when you have the opportunity to go into older restored buildings that have kitchens, take a moment to look at them and ponder how folks must have cooked "back then." It's very eye-opening. Sometimes their stoves and cooking vessels look remarkably similar, and sometimes they're wildly different. The historic kitchens we saw in San Antonio were primitive, but they were also kitchens in which I could picture moving around and cooking as well.

Cleaning out the fridge...

After diving in head first into our loosely formed and ill-conceived "real foods" challenge (which is weak, I admit, since we're allowing sugar and white flour :-) ), I started cooking a lot more from scratch. A. LOT.

And, since we were heading out of town for Memorial Day weekend and it was the last week of the grocery budget, suddenly we started eating up the stuff in the fridge. For the first time since we moved in almost 8 years ago, my crisper bins were empty and we were simultaneously without milk OR eggs. And down to one half box of butter. No syrup. No ketchup. It was weird. And, in the process of eating all this stuff up, I noticed some nasty stuff had spilled BEHIND the crisper drawers. I've cleaned the fridge out before, don't misunderstand. But it was super easy to clean it out this time because there were so few things IN the fridge! What you can see in the picture is a quart jar of homemade yogurt (one thing I've made regularly no matter how busy I am), and our red "water tap" that the kids help themselves to regularly. You can't see the very top shelves which house many of our condiments (jelly, yeast, peanut butter, etc.) or the door shelves which also house condiments (soy sauce, mayo, BBQ sauce, etc.), so it's not entirely empty. But pretty close!

I've since gone to the store, but we haven't added too much back in (our CSA pick-ups start soon, and I don't know how much space we'll need for a large share!!). So, the picture above is no longer entirely accurate: add in 1 dozen eggs, 1 gallon of milk, some strawberries, apples, carrots, bell peppers, and cilantro. We should make a serious dent in that before Thursday! But I had to share my fridge pic with my cyber family. I'll try to remember to take a picture later this week when it's nice and full of veggies.

Summer Goals Update

Hind sight is 20/20.
Look before you leap.
Count the cost.

All those pithy warnings mean the same thing: take a minute to analyze whatever commitment you're about to make :-).

Which of course we did the night before we started our 30 day real-foods challenge. Of course we did. We even made the one rule a fairly easy rule to follow. And yet, when we woke up all gung ho on Saturday morning, what to our wondering eyes did appear? NOTHING.

Yep. We had no bread that "fit," the whole wheat mini bagels were out, all boxed cereal on hand was out....

So, we made do. And it ended up being marvelous: whole wheat biscuits (we were out of white flour, even!) and fried eggs. Mmmm.

I had to "quick-like" whip up some whole wheat bread dough so we could have some sort of sandwich for lunch and made a quick run to the store for more flour and such. This being the end of the month, grocery-budget-wise, we didn't want to overspend. And since we hadn't decided on our challenge until, um, the night before, I hadn't saved enough money nor bought the right stuff to make this first week a glorious celebration of real foods. [Approved storebought bread will cost us $6/loaf...] So, we've been ransacking the pantry and freezer and have ended up eating quite well so far. We'll be taking the weekend off since we'll be with family, and I don't expect them to be making me bread all weekend :-).

I won't be giving mini-updates all through this 30 days, but I thought it worth pointing out that the challenge so far has really pushed us to eat up some of the random food on hand, and it's been great. It's also worth pointing out that I don't work outside the home, the kids are out of school, and the hubby is fully on board. That means I have loads of time to let bread rise, to make something from scratch, and some willing "helping hands."

In fact, the biggest success of the week? The husband's sourdough starter* is flourishing, and he made an *amazing* giant boule of sourdough bread. YUM YUM. A wonderful new discovery. Did you know how cheap sourdough bread is to make?! We also made a sourdough coffee cake. And regular pound cake (heck, it's all real ingredients by our terms!). And whole wheat applesauce muffins. And Mediterranean Salmon Cakes (which we love, but haven't had in a while). And Pasta with Lentils--another dish we enjoy but haven't had in a while. And a new granola recipe I plan to share. And yogurt (I've made yogurt for years--but I'd gotten out of the habit this semester). And barley "pasta" salad.

All these recipes on full tummies that we enjoy but haven't been making--it's a great start!

I only need to make it a couple more days before heading to the store. I think we'll survive!

*He's been listening to Michael Pollan's latest book, Cooked, and has come home inspired to make sourdough starter/bread AND to start pickling things. Should be a great summer!

full tummies summer fitness goals

I don't know about you, but my family had a VERY busy, stressful spring. What happens when we're stressed? Our food gets junkier (more processed, etc.), our exercise doesn't happen (too tired, etc.), and we just spiral down into slothfulness. Admittedly, there was a lot on our plate (hah! no pun intended), and we haven't had time for true fitness.

But, this summer, we're attempting some fun fitness goals:

1. By end of summer, ALL three kids will be riding bikes well without training wheels (we have to drive somewhere for them to ride their bikes, so they don't get much practice).
2. By end of summer, ALL three kids will be know how to swim!  (hint, hint you friends of mine with pool memberships...).
3. I will work on my knee exercises (an old injury that I do NOT take care of...).
4. A "real foods" challenge! Details below. My husband and I like the idea of this, and our dinners tend to reflect this already (we, like so many, read Pollan's In Defense of Food a few years ago). But the rest of the day? Not so much lately. With our CSA share, the more relaxed schedule, and the elimination of school lunches for a while, it seems a good time to pursue some good, wholesome food for every meal, not just dinner. 
5. A healthy plate education for the kids! I plan to use the graphic shown above to help my kids start to make more of their own choices particularly for lunches. I'll be amending it slightly (i.e. dairy and protein are often redundant, depending on the dairy you choose; we also eat some combos of foods--like beans and rice--that provide protein even if there isn't a "meat" on the plate). At any rate, the plate graphic is a nice, clear way to show that yes! you need veggies even at lunch! It's simple, too, which will be a good start for my 6-7 year olds.

Our "Real Foods" Challenge: 
There are so many ways to define "real foods," believe it or not. So, for our purposes, for the next 30 days we will be following one basic rule:

We will buy/consume food that is package free (most of the package-free foods in the grocery store are the "whole foods"--fruit, veggies, better quality meat at the meat counter, etc.). 
If we must buy something packaged (which includes most grain-based products, dairy, and condiments), we plan to buy products that contain only ingredients which we can (a) pronounce and (b) could readily acquire and logically use to make the same product were we so inclined.  

For instance, my dark chocolate bar from Aldi contains the following ingredients: chocolate liquor, sugar, milk, cocoa butter, soy lecithin, and vanilla extract. Yes, you can buy soy lecithin in stores--I know folks who've used it for years in their bread. So, I'm not too hung up on that, and we don't eat much of it in the first place. I'd still buy this and eat it in moderation. By contrast, the Ranch dressing powder I use regularly (because the kids call it "white ketchup" and will eat nearly anything with that stuff dolloped on top!) contains the following: Maltodextrin, buttermilk, salt, monosodium glutamate, lactic acid, dried garlic, dried onion, spices, citric acid, less than 1% of: natural flavor (milk, soy), calcium stearate, artificial flavor, xantham gum, carboxymethylcellulose, guar gum.

Um. No Ranch dressing for us for the next 30 days (eek!). I'll have to start making this again (which the kids DO like... Mommy's just been too lazy...).

Hopefully, this will help us be a bit more conscious of what we're eating. We plan to start this weekend: no time like the present! 

Anyone want to join us? Anyone out there have summer fitness goals they'd like to share?

The "Bowl" Approach

I don't know about you, but sometimes it's hard to think of what to do for dinner. And sometimes, honestly, wrapping little things up in a tortilla is too much work (especially when you have little hands that CANNOT hold their burrito/taco in such a way as to keep the insides, well, inside). Or a stir-fry is just not the right "mood" but you still have lots of rice on hand....

Enter: the "bowl" approach

We've discovered several "bowls" that our whole family loves and they can be customized to suit the family member's taste/needs. My friend Megan, who blogs with me at Redeemed Reader, has been telling me for YEARS to try a Javanese dinner that's the same feel, so I'll be posting her recipe in this same line up. It's going in my try-this-soon-file for sure.

My "plan" is to post some of our favorite bowls regularly in the weeks to come. They're fantastic ways to use up bits and pieces of leftovers, odds and ends from the CSA basket, or ways to vary ingredients for picky eaters and/or food intolerances. So, look for these in the weeks to come:

• The Burrito Bowl
• The Fajita Bowl
• The Sushi Bowl
• The Korean Bowl ("bibimbap"--I actually have a "real" recipe I've used for this one!)
• The Breakfast Bowl
• The Javanese Bowl

While you're waiting for my recipes, have you tried this approach with your family? What's your favorite "bowl" combination?

CSA Time is a'comin'

We'll start picking up our weekly shareholder basket from the Colvins soon, so I'm getting my ducks in a row, as it were. (The season is off to a late start this year thanks to the rain and cold weather we've had so much of.) I mentioned my favorite veggie-heavy cookbooks recently. Today, I'm going to share my favorite kitchen supplies for when the harvest kicks in (this applies to you gardeners, CSA shareholders, or just those who like to shop seasonally!).

OXO Salad Spinner: I use this baby multiple times/week. I spin greens, lettuce, herbs--it's a must for the large quantities of leafy material that will start traveling through the kitchen.

Food processor: I use a giant food processor, but you don't need anything special as long as it chops, minces, and shreds. (I use mine for pie crust, bread dough, pureeing soups, etc. You don't need one this big if you're mostly doing veggie prep.) A food processor makes pesto, hummus, shredded cabbage, and finely chopped onions happen in seconds.

Tupperware Fridgesmart Containers: These really do extend the shelf life of produce. I tend to use them most for items like radishes, summer squash, bell and hot peppers, greens like arugula, cucumbers, and whatever else fits after those are taken care of. They've redesigned the containers so they now nest together when not in use in the fridge (duh!! That's my one complaint about my older set because they take up lots of space when not in the fridge...). A Rubbermaid type container or some equivalent will also do in a pinch.

Knives and a cutting board: might sound obvious, but farm fresh produce will demand more prep from you than a bag of stir-fry ready veggies. Make sure you have a couple of good knives (including a good serrated one for those tomatoes!).

1 gallon ziploc bags: these are my favorite lettuce-storing containers with a few modifications. I'll do a how-to post on washing/storing lettuce once I have a nice head from the Colvins for pictures.

Miscellaneous freezer bags and ice cube trays: I often freeze things like pesto in ice cube trays. Once frozen, I pop the cubes out and store in a ziploc bag in the freezer. You can store nearly anything in freezer bags: tomato soup/sauce/salsa, shredded zucchini, sliced bell peppers, blanched okra or green beans, etc.

What are YOUR favorite produce-related kitchen supplies?

Strawberries and Chicken Korma

Strawberries and Chicken Korma might be a weird sounding combination, but they represent two significant events for the full tummies household.

Number One: Strawberries are IN!!!
Mmmmm.... We wait all year for this big buckets of South Carolina strawberries to make it over the mountains and to our local produce market and then... we engage in strawberry gluttony for a week or two. Oh yeah, baby. Glut.ton.y.

Number Two: Chicken Korma at the Indian Restaurant
Last night we took our children to our favorite Indian restaurant in town. Does this restaurant have a kids' menu? Definitely not. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. After all, kids in India eat this stuff, right? We split a Chicken Korma entree between the three of them, ordered some extra naan, and gave them all some pappadum to try, too. The verdict: they liked it!!! (We believe Chicken Korma is the gateway drug to enjoying Indian restaurants, so this is only just the beginning). It was also a small victory to manage a restaurant sans kids' menu.

full tummies is back!

My "couple of weeks of spring break" turned into almost two months! Thanks to my faithful readers for being patient with me. Before I officially gear up with recipes and tips, I'll take this opportunity to thank our sponsors...

ha ha ha. Just kidding.

CSA season is *just* around the corner!! As I've mentioned before, I'm going to be a virtual farmhand for the Colvins this year and continue blogging about my experience with their produce/farm (I've kept a record for a couple of years now!). This year, I'm in a more official role; we get a free share in return for blogging about their produce and what we cook with it--win win for both of us! (Don't you wish we were still a bartering economy like this? Sometimes I really do.) We're in the midst of a move (local, but still an ordeal), so this will be a true adventure this summer. And, since our house is about to be officially on the market, I'm trying NOT to cook much so I don't muss the unbelievably-clean-and-tidy kitchen. Good thing it's grillin' season!

If you're a gardener or a CSA-shareholder, now is the time to eat up what's left in your freezer and in those lovingly canned Mason jars of food. The season of abundance is just around the corner. With that mind, I'll be posting a recipe shortly that's been requested by my sister-in-law. We'll be eating it later this week and using up some of the last of the frozen pesto ice cubes!

Also, it's time to get your ducks in a row cookbook/recipe-wise. You don't have to know all the recipes you're going to make, but it's not a bad idea to know where to look for recipes. When the CSA or garden gives you a bumper crop of cabbage or just a few odds and ends that don't seemingly go together, you may need some inspiration. Turn here to full tummies! You can also visit my fellow virtual farmhands: Lia of ThinkLia and Kristina of Mouth from the South. I've been tweeting about my book blog for some time, but I'm adding in full tummies now, too--so if you're willing to wade through book-links as well, you can follow me on Twitter.

In addition, there are some great other websites that are veggie-heavy:

• A Veggie Venture
• Allrecipes (can search by ingredients)
• My Veggie-Recipe Pinterest board   (I link to recipes from all over, not to ones that already exist here on full tummies)
  

And, some personal favorite cookbooks that feature LOTS of recipes and/or tips and tricks for using up produce:

• Cook's Illustrated Cookbook (and other America's Test Kitchen cookbooks)
• Simply in Season
• How to Cook Everything, 10th ann edition
• Joy of Cooking
• Vegetarian Cooking for Everyone
• 1000 Indian Recipes

The Twins Turn SIX!

[We interrupt our spring home improvement break to bring you this newsflash. Otherwise entitled: "What doesn't belong?!"]

Each year, our kids get to pick their birthday dinner. Thankfully, for the past 6 years, my boys have picked the SAME food as each other--convenient, eh? And this year, they pick some old stand-bys AND some new items. I can only credit our relentless "try this, you'll like it someday" approach and the Colvins' "surprise veggies" (as our kids call them). Here's how this went down this year:

• Me: Boys, what do you want for your birthday dinner this year?
• Boys: Hot dogs!! [no surprise there; hot dogs have been their birthday dinner for 6 years running]
• Me: Ok. What else?
• W: The Brown Beans!
• D: Yeah, the sweet ones!
• W: They're the only beans I like [he's referring to baked beans--another popular "pick"]
• Me: OK. That's easy enough. Anything else?
• Boys: Jello!!
• Me: OK. We'll make a fruity jello salad. Anything else?
• Boys: Mustard greens!!
• Me: REALLY?? Are you SURE?
• Boys: Yeah! We like them. Mustard greens, mustard greens!
• Me: [somewhat speechless]
• Me: OK. What do you want for your cake? 
• Boys: Chocolate Beet Cake!! [I despise beets, CSA notwithstanding, so last year I found a recipe that used roasted, mashed beets in chocolate cake. I could NOT abide the cake, but the kids loved it and still talk about it...]
• D: But Mommy doesn't like chocolate beet cake. Right, Mommy?
• Me: Right. Besides, we don't have any beets. [someday they'll wise up to this type of excuse, right?]
• Boys: Regular chocolate cake! With chocolate icing! [Mmmm... I'll make "my" birthday cake which I didn't make earlier this year]
• Me: Excellent choice.

And there you have it. Who'd have thunk it? Mustard greens for a birthday dinner?? For a 6-year-old?? Who am I to hold back greens from a kid who's asking for them, much less two kids who are asking for them. So, as you can tell from the photo above, they're most definitely on the menu. Will the kids still like them when they try them again? Who knows. But we'll give it a whirl before they forget they DID like them the last time.....

full tummies spring break

Here at the full tummies household, we are hard at work--and I do mean HARD AT WORK--on some much needed home improvement for our beloved 80-year-old house. (I'm actually typing this with oil-based-paint-covered hands...but it's a.ma.zing paint. Truly.).

I've decided to let full tummies take a bit of a spring break for a couple of weeks until I have a bit more time to spare (and until my hands aren't covered in paint!). In the meantime, feel free to explore the archives and indices. The Google search feature hasn't been working for me lately, so I apologize for that! I also apologize for my not-up-to-date indices. I need to update them all before we gear up for CSA season in May.

In case you missed my last post, I'm a virtual farmhand for the Colvins this year! We're excited about this prospect, let me tell you. There are two other virtual farmhands who have gorgeous blogs of their own: Lia and Kristina. Check them out! I've linked to Lia's post about our joint farm work since she has some great photos up of the Colvins' farm.

I've already got a recipe ready for when full tummies is back in action; it's a recipe in my favorite mental category: Farmer's Market Special. It uses LOTS of the veggies we'll be seeing in a few months, is easy to prepare, is tasty, and is healthy! Sounds like a winner to me.

Happy Spring! Get out in those gardens and get your hands dirty :-).

Happy Birthday, full tummies!

full tummies is 5 years old this month!! Hard to believe, I must say.

So, what's new? How have "we" grown in the last 5 years? Did I think I'd still be blogging about family food 5 years down the road?

I must confess that this blog had very humble beginnings: I was stuck at home with 10-month-old twin boys and a 27-month-old girl. I craved mental stimulation, have always enjoyed writing, was frustrated by the seemingly impossible recipes on the other blogs I'd seen, and noticed that I called my mom a lot for HER recipes.

So I started full tummies: a free hobby for yours truly. I figured it would be a nice place to collect recipes from my family and my husband's and that maybe someone else out there with youngsters would find the recipes encouraging. With rare exception (and those are always noted), I have made every recipe on this site before posting. I've got "real life" happening just like the next person, so I haven't spent much time developing cool photos or step-by-step documentation for my recipes. I'm looking forward to pursuing that a touch, but I certainly don't aim to be a professional. This blog is still mostly for me, my family, and my friends. (But, if Google's stats are any gauge, then there are a lot of you folks out there reading this whom I've never met! I'm flattered!)

5 years later, the same principles hold true: use up what we have, whole family eats the same foods at mealtimes (no special order cooking), leftovers are welcome, and good stewardship of our resources is key (waste not, want not!). What's changed is that my husband and I have really embraced "our" own cooking preferences and styles. Rather then the meat and three types meals we grew up eating frequently, we enjoy more ethnic cuisine, one dish meals like stir-fries, lots of vegetables, and more casual fare in general (sandwiches for dinner and the like). One of my early recipes, cottage cheese pancakes, is still in hot demand amongst my growing children (boys are almost 6 and our daughter is 7). But we've added recipes I would never have dreamed of trying, things like garlic and greens pizza. And, a couple of summers ago, we joined a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture).

I'm nearing the end of my grad school days (hallelujah!), so maybe I'll have a bit more time here and there to devote to full tummies. We've got some fun things lined up for this new season in our lives, and I'm getting quite familiar with packing lunches, making quick dinners when we're crunched for time, and even (gasp!) cooking without recipes. Hopefully I'll be able to share some of those lessons learned in this little cyberspace.  For now, thanks for reading along and let me know what recipes you enjoy!

Tech Troubles and an Epiphany

We've had our fair share of tech troubles this spring--no small stress given that ALL of my library science grad school work (including my actual classes) are online. We lost internet service for a FULL week--a WEEK, mind you; this meant a LOT of catch-up. My husband was out of town the weeks on either side of that week, we've had snow, we've had rain of near Noahic proportions, and...

Well, suffice it to say that full tummies has been lower on the horizon than it usually is. I'm sure my few faithful followers have missed me. (ha ha ha)

During my great silence, I did have an epiphany regarding my cooking style. I'm wondering if this registers with anyone out there besides me. My apologies to the amazon reviewer who phrased it this way since I don't remember his/her name (it's from one of the reviews of Bittman's How to Cook Vegetarian which of course I was looking at because I *need* a new cookbook every few months or so, right?!).

Here's the epiphany: I am a backward cook, not a forward cook, and THIS is why weekly menu plans are too prescripted for me. What's the difference, you ask?

A forward cook looks through cookbooks, plans recipes to cook, and then shops accordingly.

A backward cook acquires ingredients and THEN looks through cookbooks for an appropriate recipe. I'd wager that nearly ALL gardeners are backward cooks, as are many sale shoppers. Sales plus whatever produce is "in" (be it a garden, a CSA share, a freezer stash, or simply what's on sale) plus whatever leftovers we have on hand becomes the raw material for my cooking endeavors. Because I "read" my cookbooks periodically, I know where to hunt down recipes for my various ingredients. If I'm more time-rushed, then a quick allrecipes search or a full tummies search usually gives me quick direction.

My mother trained me well regarding sales and being a savvy shopper. Thus when a prescribed menu item is on sale, I'm golden. BUT, when a prescribed menu item is NOT on sale (say, boneless skinless chicken breasts), but I KNOW it will be next week (it's on an every-other-week cycle at my local Kroger), then I cannot justify buying it the first week and must think up something new for that particular menu.

I've been subscribing to emeals for a while (thanks to a groupon from last summer), but they haven't worked well for me for just this reason. They DO provide meals targeted to specific stores (and those store's flyers) but I haven't found a good fit for our family regarding a combination of health AND particular store. This makes sense because I don't shop just at one store for all our groceries anyways. [I think they provide a valuable service, and their meals often look very enticing...but for this forward/backward reason, I've had trouble conforming.]

I didn't mean to be this long-winded, but I think this concept is so helpful! It explains why certain cookbooks appeal more to me than others (I like ones with variations since I'm usually cobbling together a meal based on what I HAVE, not what I still need to acquire; my available time is also a factor--some days end up being much more rushed or busy than I'd originally planned for). Finished pictures aren't as important to me; nutritional information might be too hard to nail down all the time since my ingredients will no doubt vary. But for those forward chefs out there, cookbooks with those two features might be a must.

I bought into the idea that I "needed" a weekly menu ahead of time, but honestly, that never worked well for me. What works better--and what I've often done in this full tummies space--is to come up with a list of options that will make use of my ingredient starting points, but which includes flexibility (and I usually prioritize based upon what must be eaten up sooner rather than later). Another approach that has helped me is to have a weekly routine  (i.e. one night is "rice-based," another night is pasta night, one night is tortilla night, and so forth). So, henceforth on full tummies, I won't be feeling guilty for not throwing up a nicely organized weekly menu. Perhaps I'll go back to my "menu in retrospect" feature.

Incidentally, I think this forward cooking is a relatively recent phenomenon--at least for everyday cooking. Our foremothers certainly were backwards chefs when they were on the prairie or pulling something from the root cellar or harvesting a bumper crop of butter beans.

Are you a backward chef or a forward chef? 

Post-Thanksgiving Wrap-up

Mmmm... I don't know about you, but I had a most tasty day yesterday with promise of similar comestibles awaiting me in my fridge today.

I've updated Mama Blanche's Biscuits with a newer photo and also added some process photos and notes to Grandmother's Cornbread Dressing (shown above). I also updated Grandmother's Fruitcake with some better process directions and a couple of photos--thanks, Mom! (if you're making a fruitcake for Christmas, do it NOW so it can, um..., soak for a month in its special grown-up flavor ☺). Otherwise, wait until January when all the candied fruit goes on sale, buy your fruit, and wait until this time next year!

I discovered a new way to make decent turkey gravy this year, tried out a new DELICIOUS roasted onion recipe, ate AMAZING roasted pears that my sweet hubby made, made an old childhood favorite and was pleased with my turkey and dressing! We had a wonderful time with family; I hope you had as good a day as we did.

I'll be posting the new recipes in the next couple of days--file them away for your next big turkey event (whether it's Christmas or next Thanksgiving!).

Enjoy your extend holiday weekend--hope you're enjoying it with family and friends away from the frenetic consumerism going on at your local stores....