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Happily Busy!

Posted by on June 17, 2012

Good morning All-

Well, I’ve been very busy.  I’m not talking about my kids being out of school, although this does tend to complicate sometimes.  I’m enjoying the lack of schedule so far!  No lunches.  No homework. So nice.

I am so excited at the possibilities to grow my business.    I prepare and deliver healthy, delicious and kid friendly meals to local families.  With all of the processed and convenience foods out there, it feels good to share what I do with other families.

My menus are creative and give many a taste of ethnic foods they’ve not tried.  An interesting observation?  When someone else is doing the cooking, not Mom, kids tend to be more experimental with what they eat.  I’ve found this to be absolutely true with my own boys!  Often times my clients will tell me that their kids ate everything in front of them.  Such a great feeling!

This has been a much needed and welcomed challenge at this point in my life.  I’m loving every minute of it!

Have a great day!

Angie

Filed Under: Personal Chef Services | Tagged:

Ryan’s Birthday Bowling Party!

Posted by on June 8, 2012

Ryan Patrick is 7!  Bowling anyone?

My Chris had them all in order, for about one minute!  They had so much fun!  I even got to bowl a few frames.  I’m a pretty good bowler.  Oh, did I mention we had bumpers?

Today wasn’t Ryan’s actual birthday, it was May 17th.  We celebrated on his birthday and at the family lake house with a very fun party my awesome Mother-in-Law orchestrated and today with Ryan’s classmates.  Up until this morning, I hadn’t made him his special birthday cake.

My little guy loves Scooby Doo.  I looked high and low the night before for a pre-made cake.  Yes, I was going to buy a cake!  I could not find anything Scooby Doo, pre made or otherwise.  No decorations.  Nothing.  Ok,  I’ll be making a cake in the morning.

I went on line and found this image and printed it.  This was going to be the cake!  Like his Mama, my guy loves chocolate! I was delighted.  My go to chocolate cake is the recipe on the back of the Hershey’s Cocoa box.  It’s the most delicious and moist cake I’ve ever had.  You MUST try!

There was pizza.  Lemonade.  Singing.  Cake.  Presents.  Good day.

I can’t believe my baby is 7.  Whew, I have a whole year to figure out what I’m going to make for his next birthday!

Have a great day!

Angie

 

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Indonesian Quinoa Salad With Peanut Dressing…..

Posted by on May 31, 2012

Bring this salad to your next pot-luck or BBQ.  If you like peanut dressing you’re going to love this!  I adapted this recipe from a Cooking Light recipe for Indonesian Vegetable Salad with Peanut Dressing.  I changed it up a bit and absolutely LOVED this salad! (I changed the dressing recipe slightly with the use of natural peanut butter but that’s it)  Love it with the tofu and the quinoa but it would be equally delicious with shredded cooked chicken and pasta.  So good!

Indonesian Quinoa Salad With Peanut Dressing

For the salad:

2 cups cooked quinoa, cooled
1 cup shredded carrot
1 1/2 cups bean sprouts
1 red bell pepper seeded and chopped
2 cups English cucumber cut into slices then quartered
1 small bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

1 (14-ounce) package extra-firm tofu, drained
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
Dressing:

1/3 cup natural creamy peanut butter
3 tablespoons hot water
3 tablespoons fresh or bottled lime juice
1 tablespoon lower-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons brown sugar
2 teaspoons Thai red curry paste
1/4 teaspoons salt
1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1)  Cook the quinoa according to package directions and place in a large mixing bowl to cool.
2)  Prepare the tofu by slicing into 1/2″ slices and place on several layers of paper towels.  Cover tofu with additional paper towels and let stand for 5 minutes.  Cut into 1/2″ cubes.
2)  Once the quinoa is cool, add the carrot through the cilantro.
3)  Heat a non stick skillet over medium heat until hot and add the canola oil.  Add the tofu and brown on all sides.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add to the salad bowl.
4)  Whisk all dressing ingredients together in a small mixing bowl.   Pour over the salad ingredients and mix to evenly coat all ingredients.  Serves 4.

Enjoy!

Angie

Filed Under: Salads and Salad Dressings | Tagged: Tagged With: , ,

Angie’s Pantry Personal Chef Services…..

Posted by on May 23, 2012

Good morning-

I have been extremely busy getting myself ready to cook out of an amazing kitchen in River Forest.  The kitchen is about 5 blocks from my house and is in this amazing business that caters to kids ages 5-18.  It’s called Constructive Chaos.

If you haven’t heard about Constructive Chaos, you must check it out!  When you walk in all you can think of is FUN!  The focus is on creativity in the teaching kitchen as well in the whimsical art studio.  There is a separate room where they do theme parties.

What I love most about this interesting idea is that Ashely teaches good nutrition and good basic cooking skills that will last for a lifetime.  They built this beautiful kitchen with induction ranges for cooking.  These are the safest cook tops possible when you’ve got kids in the kitchen.  She has all the necessary equipment for each child to have their own work station, mixer and even mini food processor!  Oh, and a beautiful convection oven, my dream!  This is very, very cool!  I feel so honored that I get to work out of this state of the art kitchen!

Many business just starting out seek out rental time in established businesses with commercial kitchens.  The tricky part here is to get in during a time slot that the kitchen is not being used and for a convenient time for me and my family.  I want to work while my boys are in school.  I am not a night person so evening would have been out for me.  I have the most energy of the day in the morning.  The timing here was perfect.  Thank you God!

I will be making nutritious and delicious meals to be delivered to Oak Park/River Forest clients.  Most anything you see on my blog will end up on the menu from time to time.

So much to do and so exciting!

Thank you for your patience with my limited posting.   I promise there will be more updates and recipes!  Think Indonesian Quinoa Salad with peanut dressing…OH BOY!

Angie

 

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My Food Sensitivities…..

Posted by on May 20, 2012

My appointment yesterday with Naturopath  Ananda Kramer was fascinating.  My blood work concluded that my primary food sensitivity is to potato.  I have a “combination”  sensitivity is to fruit and sugar.  I can eat them separately but when I do, I need to eat them 6 hours apart.

Easy enough, right?  Simply cut out white potato, sweet potato and yams and don’t eat sugar within 6 hours of eating fruit, or vise versa.  Not so fast.  No potato includes potato starch and dextrose, a potato sugar derivative.    It is found in canned foods, bacon, lunch meats, ham, most white flours, baking yeast,  baking powder, baking soda and iodized salt.   Yes, salt.  It’s in everything.  There are brands that test negative, but not many.

Fruit is an ingredient that is also in most foods in some way, shape or form.  Citric acid, ascorbic acid, sorbitol, polysorbate-80, and fruit oils such as coconut,  and palm.  So ketchup, relishes, pickles and picante sauces are out because they have tomatoes or cider vinegar (fruit) and sugar.    See what I mean?  Seems a bit daunting.

Thank goodness I can have wheat and dairy.  I really thought I’d have issue with one or both of these!  I will come up with acceptable recipes made of whole wheat flour or spelt.  Very do-able.

I decided to cut out sugar completely.  I have always wanted to do this because of all that I’ve read about how sugar causes major inflammation in the body.   The very good news is that I CAN have natural sweeteners such as agave, pure maple sugar or syrup barley malt, rice syrup and honey.   Artificial sweeteners are not acceptable which is completely fine as I never use them anyway.

I think it’s really unfortunate how difficult it is to find “pure” foods.  Manufacturers add additives to prolong shelf life.

What have we done to food???  God bless all Moms who have children with dangerous food allergies.  I can’t imagine how hard that would be!

The notion that you should eat lean meats and load up on plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables is not a new one.

I am going to do plenty of experimentation with baking.  I’m not a huge bread person but I would really miss it if I didn’t have it.  I am going to make my own sourdough to use in lieu of commercial yeast.  I’ll keep you posted.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Angie

Filed Under: Health and Nutrition | Tagged: Tagged With: ,

Whole Grain Cranberry Scones…..

Posted by on May 17, 2012

These slightly sweet goodies will totally make your morning, afternoon, or night!   Is there really a bad time to have one for gosh sakes???   I love this original recipe as is but you can customize it to whatever you like.  Try it with dried cherries and chopped walnuts, chocolate chips, raisins and cinnamon (add 1 teaspoon to the dry mixture) or coconut and pecans…the possibilities are endless!

I topped them with large sugar granules.  You can find them at Michael’s Craft store.

Whole Grain Cranberry Scones

2 cups flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2″ cubes (if using salted butter omit the salt in the recipe)
1/2 cup oatmeal, old fashioned or quick cooking
1/4 cup wheat germ
1 cup craisins
1 1/4 cups buttermilk (you can substitute the milk with a couple of teaspoons of cider or white vinegar)
1 tablespoon orange or lemon zest
2 tablespoons milk
1-2 tablespoons large sugar granules (regular sugar is fine too)

1)  Preheat the oven to 375′.  Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
2)  In a large mixing bowl add the flour through the salt.  Add the cold butter cubes and work into the flour with a pastry blender or your fingers.  You can also do this in a food processor.  Process until there are no large lumps and the flour resembles cornmeal.
3)  Add the oatmeal, wheat germ and craisins and mix to combine.  Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the buttermilk and orange zest.  Stir until just combined.  It’s OK if it’s a bit sticky.  Flour the counter top and plop the dough onto the counter.  With floured hands, knead 2-3 times into a smooth ball of dough.  Add a little flour if necessary.  Roll out to about 3/4″.  Cut with a round biscuit cutter and place on parchment paper on the cookie sheet.
4)  Using a pastry brush, coat the scone tops with milk and sprinkle them generously with sugar.  Bake for 20-25 minutes.  Cool completely before storing in an airtight container.  They are best the day you make them.  Makes about twenty 3″ scones.

Enjoy!

Angie

 

Filed Under: Breads & Muffins, Breakfast | Tagged: Tagged With: , ,

Happy Mother’s Day!

Posted by on May 13, 2012
Special Edition
May, 2012 – Issue 2
A Mother’s Love
Did you ever think about how many amazing metaphors include the word “mother?”
We speak of Mother Earth and Mother Nature (no more easily fooled than our own Moms);
Mother Church and Motherhouse (both capture our hearts and spirits);
motherboard and mothership (one holds the crucial components of a system,
the other cradles smaller vessels that operate independently from it);
mother tongue and mother lode (our first language and an abundant, rich source).
The list goes on and on. It seems when we are grasping to express that which
holds together and nurtures, “mother” is our go-to word.
And no wonder. Mothers carry us for nine months in their bodies,
and for the rest of our lives in their hearts. While babies, we see them as mirrors,
learning who we are by gazing into their faces. As we grow older, we turn our
faces towards the world, eager for the independence that is only made possible
leaning on their love. A mother’s love is made of sacrifice and generosity,
gentleness and a steadying hand. Some mothers come to us biologically or
through adoption. Others are met over the course of a lifetime as teachers,
colleagues, partners and friends. In the best of worlds, it is our biological,
spiritual and “soul friend” mothers who teach us our most critical lessons about love.
How blessed is that?
This weekend, we remember all biological and adopted mothers, especially our own.
We thank God for all women in our lives who taught us critical
lessons and offered us the love that shaped us.
To each of them…
Happy Mother’s Day!
Prayer God our Creator, we pray:
for new mothers, coming to terms with new responsibility;
for expectant mothers, wondering and waiting;
for those who are tired, stressed or depressed;
for those who struggle to balance the tasks of work and family;
for those who are unable to feed their children due to poverty;
for those whose children have physical, mental or emotional disabilities;
for those who have children they do not want;
for those who raise children on their own;
for those who have lost a child;
for those who care for the children of others;
for those whose children have left home;
and for those whose desire to be a mother has not been fulfilled.
Bless all mothers, that their love may be deep and tender,
and that they may lead their children to know and do what is good,
living not for themselves alone, but for God and for others.
Amen
(Author Unknown)
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Wedding Shower Favors…..

Posted by on May 13, 2012

I love creating beautiful cookies.    I found these bead like little balls on line awhile ago and had this flaky iridescent sugar on hand which I used for the bottom of the dress.  I used melted white chocolate instead of icing which I applied like you would regular icing.  I used a recipe that is more like a shortbread cookie.  Basically butter, sugar, flour and eggs, no leavening to make the cookie rise.  This is the best type of recipe to use because the cookie doesn’t rise and lose the crisp shape of the cookie cutter design.

Anytime you want to decorate a cookie using white or dark chocolate, you’ll want to add the sugars and decorations before the chocolate sets up.  Makes sense, right?  Once it sets up the decorations are held firmly in place.  This will make for easy packaging.  Wrap them individually in cellophane bags and add a pretty ribbon.  Lovely.

Have a great evening!

Angie

Filed Under: Baking Tips, Cookies and Bars | Tagged:

Oven French Fries…..

Posted by on May 4, 2012

Have you tried these Oven French Fries yet?  Once you do, you will never go back to the expensive frozen varieties.  They are seasoned perfectly and they taste like an actual potato, imagine that!  You will feel so great about serving these to your family.   Won’t do much cooking this weekend, it’ll be a nice break:-)

Going to pick up Jack, my eldest from college today.  I can’t believe he is done with his first year already!  Taking Chris and Ryan along.  We are going to stay at a nice hotel with an indoor pool over the weekend, happy boys!

Have a nice weekend!

Angie

 

Filed Under: Gardening and Food Stories | Tagged:

Gluten Free=Feeling Good

Posted by on April 30, 2012

Good Evening All-

It is about to finally start warming up here in Chicago!  Interesting because we were sitting out on the deck for St. Patrick’s Day!  Looking forward to getting outside and digging in the dirt in my garden.  March was very warm, so I put my hummingbird feeder out…..can’t wait for my favorite feathered creatures to arrive. It is the highlight of my summer, so awesome!

I haven’t been consistently posting for awhile.  Lack of energy.  I’ve had tons of fatigue over the past few years and was talking to my good friend Terri.  She recommended that I have some blood work done to find out what food sensitivities I may have as fatigue can be directly related to diet.   When I broached the subject with my endocrine doctor a couple of years ago, she said my life was most likely making me tired, so I let it go.  This is a doctor I completely respect so I do not intend to take anything away from her incredible abilities!  Four years ago this month, she saved my life.  I am so thankful for her.

This week, just for grins, I decided to eliminate wheat from my diet.  At first I thought I was imagining things.  I actually felt like I had more energy…interesting.  I also felt my mid section getting smaller…also interesting.   I strongly suspect that I have a wheat issue.  Will have blood work results in a couple of weeks.

If you know me at all, you know that I am a HUGE baker.  I’ve got working with butter, sugar, flour and eggs down.  I absolutely love everything about it.   I love being in my cozy kitchen turning out beautiful and delectable baked goods.  I love the joy it brings to the people I serve it to.  I love it being the center of many joyful celebrations.  It makes me very, very happy.

As it turns out, gluten free baking is possible but entirely different from what I’ve done all my life, a  completely different science.  Ahhh.  A challenge.   I am so up for it!

Take care:-)

Angie

 

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