I did it!

I finally found the time to make a baby blanket for my OWN baby!  It started out as a way to use up some silly yarn my mom gave me, but it turned out really nice, in fact I'm really proud of it!  I made up the crochet pattern using a stitch I saw gain popularity recently on Pinterest (the bobble stitch), and I think it will be a great texture for the baby to explore.

My baby's new blanket!

 I used a combination of single crochet and bobble stitches in gray and rainbow, and I finished the project by working around the edges once with the rainbow yarn in single crochet.  If it weren't so fluffy I would have done used half-double crochet stitches, but with this boucle yarn I didn't need to.  I used Lion Brand Boucle yarn (which has apparently been discontinued) and Red Heart Grey (not sure which shade exactly).

Pattern I made up (roughly, I've never tried to write a pattern before)

Grey stripe:

• foundation single crochet in multiples of 4+2, chain 1, 
• single crochet 6 (?) rows
• skip first stitch, *bobble stitch, single crochet in next 3 stitches* until end, chain 1
• single crochet 7 (?) rows
• change colors, chain 1

Color Stripe:

• skip first stitch, single crochet in next 2 stitches, *bobble stitch, single crochet in next 3* until end, chain 1
• single crochet 1 row
• skip first stitch, *bobble stitch, single crochet 3* until end, 
• single crochet 1 row
• change colors, chain 1

Repeat until desired length. 

To finish:
Working with colored yarn, single crochet all the way around the blanket.  Work in ends, wash & dry as allowed by yarn type (I put in washing machine and dryer), voila!  No blocking necessary.

Paella!

I made Paella last night, mmmm!!!!

Paella used to scare me.  It looks like it's hard to make, and I don't like shellfish.  But then one year for Christmas, my mom said she wanted a Paella pan (inspired by my recent trip to Spain), so I got her one.  And she got me one!  So ready or not, I felt obliged to at least try cooking Paella. Our first attempt was New Years Dinner 2012, a mix of chicken, seafood, and vegetable paellas.  We tried cooking two at once, which was a little overwhelming to say the least!  They were decent, but I was a little worn out from trying and decided to just stick to my crockpot risotto for a while.

Paella New Years Eve 2011-2012

Then one day a few months ago, my sister came to visit and we felt adventurous!  After browsing through my Paella cookbooks, we selected a recipe for Chorizo and Olive Paella from this cookbook.  I love chorizo!  And it turns out I love this Paella!  I made it again last night, though I skipped the addition of fancy (or any) ham, because all I had were some slices of maple ham from the deli, and I wasn't sure they'd go well with chorizo and olives!

Last night's Chorizo Paella!

Making Paella is actually very simple, and it's ok if you don't have a fancy pan.  Any wide shallow pan that is oven safe would work, and this enormous specialty pan I have makes enough for 6 or 7 people - you don't need that much!  It's similar to making risotto, but less labor intensive, almost as easy as my rice cooker risotto but much more delicious!

I don't feel it would be appropriate to post the recipe I used since I didn't write it, however, I feel that Paella recipes are likely to be very forgiving, as long as you get the rice/liquid recipe right.   This recipe that made a looooot of food used 3 cups of Arroz Bomba (fancy spanish version of arborio rice, arborio rice is fine to use for this) and 6-7 cups of broth (I say 6-7 is because the recipe calls for 6, but I put 7 cups on to boil since I knew some would evaporate).

The basic methodology is: 

• chop all your ingredients (garlic and lots of parsley are key),
• saute the meat and flavors (garlic, etc) in lots of oil, 
• stir in the rice to coat it all in flavor, 
• pour in hot broth (bring to a boil separately), 
• cook over one or two burners rotating pan and stirring occasionally until the liquid is mostly absorbed (in other words, until the risk of spilling while transferring to the oven is minimal), 
• add in any soft vegetables (snow peas in this case)
• cook in a hot oven for 10 minutes, and 
• rest under foil for 10 minutes.

Don't be afraid!  It looks scarier than it is!

What to do with all that leftover chicken

I mentioned this in another post, but as I'm sitting here eating some leftovers, I've decided it's worthy of it's own post.  The sausage flavor is delicious!

Sausage and Chicken Soup!

Ingredients (approximate amounts, I don't measure):

• 2 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 tbsp olive oil (i use extra virgin)
• 4 links of italian sausage, casings removed
• 1/2 medium fennel bulb, chopped (1.5 - 2 cups?)
• 2 cups chopped carrots
• 3-4 cups of cooked rice (it can probably be done with uncooked and extra water - but we had leftovers)
• several cups of spinach, rinsed and chopped or baby (it melts and disappears)
• salt and pepper
• 1-2 cups leftover cooked chicken, chopped (i used about 1 cup dark meat)
• 4-6 cups of chicken stock (i used homemade)
• 2-4 cups of water

Directions:

1. Heat the oil and saute the garlic and sausage, making sure to mush up the garlic into pieces as it cooks
2. Add the fennel, carrots, salt and pepper, and stir occasionally until beginning to soften
3. Add the chicken and the broth and enough water to cover, plus a couple of inches (depending on pot size) to account for the rice to be added later, and bring to a boil
4. Reduce to a simmer, add the rice and spinach and cook until the spinach has thoroughly melted and the carrots are cooked to your liking.  It will look like an insufficient amount of rice at first, but the longer it sits, the more water it will absorb until it balloons up and you have porridge instead of soup (don't worry, it will still taste good!)
5. Enjoy!

New Mom Survival - Crockpot Chicken Thighs!

Yesterday I explained how to very easily roast a whole chicken.  But what if you want something a little... saucier, with less raw-chicken-touching?  Easy!  Frozen chicken thighs are one of my best friends since having a baby.

It all started with this recipe, but as usual I didn't follow it very closely.  I didn't have any apricot preserves, so instead added about 1/4 cup of water and a handful of chopped dried apricots - turned out fabulous!!  Since then I've made a few variations (no soy sauce now that baby is soy-free), and have tried making up a few recipes of my own with varied success.  A few weeks ago I attempted thighs in homemade barbeque sauce, it worked out pretty well!  Tomato paste, garlic, molasses, and honey, mix up, add thighs, and cook for 8 hours!  I might add some vinegar next time, but i was pretty happy with it :)  Another time i added some curry powder and later mixed it with spinach, rice and coconut milk for a southeast-asian inspired soupy stew.  The great thing about chicken thighs is that they stay moist, and they're very adaptable.  And crockpot meals are forgiving, so if you don't measure very closely it's ok!

As a compliment to most of my chicken thigh meals, I plug in the rice cooker and make use of the steamer attachment for some carrot coins or green beans.  If you don't have a rice cooker, go ahead and add some carrots right into the crockpot with your chicken thighs, or stir in some baby spinach leaves last minute for an easy vegetable!

Back to blogging!

It's been a long hiatus, but I had an excellent excuse! Someone else required ALL of my attention for the fast few months, someone very demanding. And adorable. And complicated!

My excuse for not blogging

In addition to my own dietary struggles (colitis related - low fiber, gluten free, avoiding peanuts), I now have baby's dietary requirements... Which for the time being include presumed (hopefully temporary) allergies to dairy, soy, and eggs. What a challenge!! There was a 2 week period where I ate nothing but Home-roasted chicken and rice. And bananas - I had bananas and rice for breakfast. I lost a lot of weight... Look at the bright side, right? I've expanded my dietary horizons since then, cooking dinner many nights and even getting back into the world of grown ups - vacuuming occasionally, thinking about gardening, crocheting, reading, et cetera. Exciting things!

But to pay tribute to the food I survived on through the roughest time, here are some incredibly easy tips for making the most of chicken in your crockpot! So easy a mother of a newborn can do it!

Equipment:

• Big crockpot
• Small whole chicken (to fit in crockpot, sometimes called fryer chickens)
• Salt and pepper
• Couple of carrots
• Couple stalks of celery
• Optional: herbs, lemon, ginger, onion, garlic, etc.

Instructions for roasted chicken:

1. Thaw chicken if frozen.
2. Wash carrots and celery. Place in bottom of crockpot.
3. Rinse chicken inside and out and remove any innards. Optional: remove skin.
4. Season chicken inside and out with salt and pepper. If using any optional ingredients, stuff into body cavity or rub on now. I like to put a couple chunks of ginger and a lemon (poked with a fork) inside, and sprinkle lemon zest outside.
5. Place chicken on top of carrots and celery (to lift chicken up off bottom slightly).
6. Cover with crockpot lid and cook for 8-10 hours on low. No liquid needed!
7. Meat should be easy to remove with a fork and knife, no need for creepy picking of the chicken carcass.

Instructions for chicken stock:

1. Leave chicken carcass, vegetables, and drippings in crockpot. Remove anything too gross for your tastes, like a blob of fatty skin. And it's probably a good idea to remove any lemons, since lemon rind can be bitter.
2. Add any additional flavorings you like, such as fresh herbs or an onion (quartered).
3. Fill crockpot with cool water, cover, and cook 8-10 hours on low or overnight.
4. Ladle stock through a strainer and voila!

I like to roughly chop some chicken, carrots, celery and/or fennel and make some chicken soup with the broth! Throw in a bay leaf and some rice and you've got an easy homemade healthy meal! (tip - add a little sweet Italian sausage for a change of flavor!)