You know, I’m really proud of The Kid.
At work, my child is within walking distance of at least twenty really outstanding restaurants. It would take no effort at all to spend $200 a week on lunches.
But The Kid only goes out for lunch two or three times a month. My frugal, sensible, little worker bee is a charter member of the brown bag club.
Actually, it’s a box–this box, in fact. Ain’t my child special?
Sunday is spent preparing large batches of grub which are split up and frozen. The newest addition is a dish using a spaghetti squash.
So here, in The Kid’s own words is that recipe, along with a little lunch box advice.
Spaghetti Squash bake
2 Spaghetti squashes
3Tbs Capers
1C Spaghetti Sauce
2 cans canellini beans, rinsed.
1lb mushrooms, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, small diced
¼ c Parmesan cheese, grated
¼ c white wine
Olive oil
Salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Slice squashes into rings, remove seeds and center. Put onto lined baking sheets and brush both sides with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. When oven is up to temp, bake squash for 40 minutes, or until a knife can easily pierce the rings.
Let the squash until it is cool until it is able to be handled. Then remove the peel, and delicately break into strands. It will want to break apart on its own, so just follow how it wants to fall. Put the strands into a mixing bowl, and set aside.
Heat a pan to medium. When hot, add a splash of canola oil and add onion to pan. Season with salt and stir occasionally. When it gets soft and translucent, add garlic, and season. When the garlic gets fragrant, add mushrooms, and heavily season with salt. Stir occasionally, and cook until mushrooms are caramelized. Add wine, and cook until pan is dry.
When mushrooms are done, add to bowl with the squash with beans, capers, and sauce.
Transfer mixture to a 8X8 baking pan and top with cheese. Bake for twenty minutes, and then put under the high broiler until cheese has color.
Throw it in the fridge. Once cool, slice into servings, and put into separate containers. Freeze all portions not to be eaten in the next couple days.
*Biggest thing about lunches; have lots of options in the freezer. That way it’s super easy and you don’t have to eat the same thing until it’s gone.
While my child may be an expert on the art of carrying meals to work, I’ve become pretty proficient in healthy snacks, either at home or on the road.
I always keep a bag of nuts, seeds, and dried fruit in the fridge. I love the salty/sweet and crunchy/chewy contrast. It’s also great to sprinkle in salads or hot cereal. Right now my mix is mainly cherries, strawberries, cashews, and almonds.
I’m also fond of raw veggies and dip. Buy whole and cut them to your own desired shape. For dips, try hummus, whipped low-fat cream cheese with herbs or hot sauce mixed in, or nut butters. I love carrots dipped into peanut butter. But for the love of all that’s delicious, please don’t use those bagged “baby” carrots. They’re just whittled-down regular carrots sprayed with chemicals.
The weather’s getting cooler every day. Take some tuneage, a book, and your homemade lunch outside and enjoy your break. At home, grab the kids, some snacks, and go for a walk or climb a tree.
There will be no rescue squad to save you.
*Any injuries sustained during aforementioned tree climbing are solely the responsibility of the climber and in no way the fault of the well-meaning food columnist.
Thanks for your time.
I knew what I wanted to write about, but I was hesitant to do it. It’s not that the recipe isn’t tasty because it.so.is. It’s not that the preparation is difficult, because literally a child (with a little adult supervision) could make this dish. And it’s not that it requires a lot of expensive ingredients, because chances are you have everything on hand right now.
Makes 8 servings.
When you’re ready to cook, heat a heavy skillet on medium-high. Add about 1 inch of vegetable oil. When the oil is nice and hot, cook pork until browned and crispy on one side then flip and cook the other side.
This week it’s herbs, and cooler flavors.
You second choice is easier but you don’t get quite as long a shelf life. Trim the ends off the herbs. Fill a tall glass with water, and place in the trimmed herbs like flowers in a vase. Change water daily.
Basil is a soft leafy herb with that distinctive, fennel/licorice flavor. It’s a staple in Italian foods.
Quite a few years ago my mom developed an allergy to eggs, and from then on, left them out of the potato salad.
Serves 4-6.
Thanks for your time.
I can happily consume hours of Sharknado movies and marathons of RuPaul’s Drag Race or any of the Star Trek franchises. But a double feature of football seems like an intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Shocking everyone present, including myself, I pluck the ball out of the sky, as well as everything else thrown in my direction that day. I become my brother’s performing seal and cash cow, as he wagers on my skills with those unfamiliar with my freakish feats of hand-eye coordination.
Still though, c’mon!
Ages 17-30: Having lived around oceans growing up, I am familiar with undertows and how to navigate them. I revel in swimming straight out as far as possible, resting a bit, then leisurely swimming back to shore. While I adore this activity, Petey spends the entire time I’m in the drink composing the phone call to my parents to explain my disappearance into international shipping lanes, death by drowning, or dismemberment by shark.
I’m afraid my topic this week may throw some people into a full-on tizzy. Knickers will be twisted and pearls will be clutched.
1 yellow onion, chopped
But it taught me a very important lesson: Love is great, but even so-so take-out is better than dreck.
Synesthesia is a neurological phenomenon which blends senses. It comes from the Greek words, ‘sensation together’. For example; a person listening to music may see the sound in varying colors. One might see numbers as points in space. Or, sounds may produce feelings in different parts of the body.
But there are friendlier warm spices that evoke cozy sweaters, rustling leaves, and hay rides. And without them, I’d be bereft and my kitchen would have much less flavor.
Smoked paprika-This isn’t just the tasteless stuff your mother used to sprinkle on the potato salad to make it pretty. In Spain it’s known as pimentón. You can buy it smoked or not, and the heat level ranges from non-existent to pretty darn hot (in the spicier varieties, hotter chiles are mixed in). I use sweet smoked, and it not only adds color, but a subtle smoky flavor. When using pecans in place of bacon in foods, I toast them in a tablespoon of butter with salt and pepper, and a dusting of paprika. You get both crunch and smoke, while ingesting a good fat.
Chinese Five Spice-This Chinese staple is traditionally made from cinnamon, cloves, star anise, fennel seed, and Szechuan peppercorn. This spice blend is what gives egg foo yung gravy its distinctive taste. I purchase mine from the Asian grocer near me; it’s cheaper, authentic, and because they sell a lot of it, there is fairly quick turnover, which means fresher on the shelf. I use this powder on sweet potatoes and in spice cookies. But holidays wouldn’t be the same without my famous ham. And the glaze may change from year to year, but the one constant is my five spice.
For twenty years or so, I’ve been telling The Kid about Puerto Rico. As a child, I lived there for a few years, and it was kind of totally awesome.
We had our own horses, explored ruins, swam with exotic fish and climbed countless trees.
On holidays many families have pernil, a slow roasted pork shoulder. The outside gets brown and crispy, and the meat is moist and falling-apart tender.
The Kid told me months ago about a restaurant called Tropical Pickin Chicken. They have locations in Wake Forest and on Capital Blvd, in Raleigh. They have different types of Caribbean fare, with many dishes from Puerto Rico.
Brittany, the owner’s daughter was our adorable culinary guide. We had mofongo, covered with succulent pernil, topped with onions (which The Kid, an avowed onion-phobe devoured). It was served traditional style, in a large pilon. A small order of their delicious yellow rice and red beans was more than enough for the both of us.
Serve hot.
This week it’s a warts column.
Good or bad, what I write should be, and always has been, authentic.
But the freezer’s where they shine. There are meals for every appetite. They have enough pastas to eat a different kind every day for a month without repeating.
Trader Joe’s recommended dressing it simply, with just a little olive oil. But I decided I had bigger and better ideas for this ravioli.
There’s something else you should understand about me. When I was in high school my nickname was Little Debbie Digit, Queen of the Rotary Dial. It got shortened to Digit, or Didge, but it all meant the same thing; the telephone and I had a very close, personal relationship.
But the thing that always strikes me coming away from one of these encounters is, why would I want a mobile phone when people my own age act like they’d rather have the plague than their electronic tether?
It looks pretty much like that. The poor kids just can’t wrap their wired little minds around the concept. I get a lot of blinking, and what looks like attempts to reboot their programming.
Plate and top with eggs (for the best scrambled eggs ever, don’t whisk, mix in the blender until frothy then cook quickly in lots of butter). Serves 4-6.
bull city mom 