Comfort Food

The fact that I can't fit any of the pants I was wearing when Isaac was lifeflighted to Primary Children's, is proof that I have indulged (perhaps more than I should have) in quite a bit of comfort food recently. There has been chocolate, ice cream, burgers that were much too big, creamy soups, pizzas, and big plates of pasta, however, some of the most comforting meals I had while in Salt Lake were omlets.

I don't know if this is strange to others, but for me, it is. I like a good omlet, sure, but overall, eggs just aren't really what I think of when I am looking for something to feed my stress and sorrows.

At least, they didn't used to be.

But of all the places we ate, the one I miss the most is The Blue Plate Diner. And the menu item that I miss? Yep, their omlets.

The Blue Plate. It's in this funky little building that looks like it's been added onto multiple times. It has rusty bikes chained up to the front of the building. It has an odd assortment of clocks and art from the community. When you walk in, they ask you to seat yourself. I wouldn't say the place is run down, but it's obvious that the experience is not about the atmosphere of the place. It's about the food. For me, it's about the omlets.

The first one I had was "The Benedict." Honey peppered bacon, cheddar cheese, and hollandaise sauce wrapped up in eggs and served with potatoes and your choice of bread. And oh. is. it. good! Something about the sauce smothering the warm eggs and bacon takes breakfast to a new level! And you know what's really great? Breakfast is served all day! So later when I had been craving an omlet all day, I was able to go (with my good friend Rachel) for dinner and try another omlet! At the time, I was very stressed, and looking for some comfort. And it came in the shape of an omlet. This time, it was "The Spanish." Cheddar cheese, onions, green peppers, salsa, sour cream, and guacamole. I am a big fan of avacado and have a hard time resisting anything topped with them, so the guacamole caught my eye. And the waitress said it is her favorite. There are not very many meals that I can recall sighing over. This was one of them. With each bite of this huge omlet, I felt the warmth and goodness of the meal sinking in and with each sigh, the tension I had been holding onto released. I had something I could enjoy during a time of immense stress.

I cannot say if this is the best meal I've ever had, but I can say it was the best meal I could have had that day. I'm sure that there are not many health benifits to eating a giant omlet smothered in cheese, but it healed my aching. I don't know how many stars a critic might give The Blue Plate Diner, but I know I'll go back again.

Easter Fun

This Easter we had a cold going around our family. And it rained. So our kids missed out on the usual egg hunt at my grandmother's home. Instead, we stayed home and decorated some cookies! First we had to get our suplies together: Frosting, food coloring, knives for spreading, and of course, cookies!



Next, it was time to frost those cookies! William chose blue. Unlike pink, purple, and green, blue is a "Superman" color.



Next we pulled out the sprinkles for a little added decor!



And presto! Easter cookies! Aren't they lovely?

Fresh Strawberry Pie

This is my mom's recipe. I love it! I've decided what makes this simple recipe so good is the lemon!

Ingrediants:

1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
2 T cornstarch
Juice of 1 lemon
2 lbs strawberries
large pie crust

Mix sugar and cornstarch in a small bowl until well blended. Set aside. Take 3-4 strawberries and smash. Bring water to a boil. Add sugar mixture to water. Blend thoroughly while still cooking. Add juice of 1 lemon. Remove from heat and let cool. Add smashed strawberries. Hull remaining strawberries and place in large pie crust. Pour water/sugar mixture over strawberries. Refrigerate 1-2 hours or until ready to serve.

It's great served with whipped cream! I am lazy, so I usually buy the pie crust. My favorite to use is a shortbread crumb crust, but this is grahm cracker crumb. Enjoy!

Chinese!

One of the things I miss about living in Seattle is the abundance of Asian food. There are a couple Chinese places around here. They are okay, but not really great. There was this amazing place near our last apartment in the Seattle area. I think it was The Golden Dragon or something like that. Anyway, they had the most amazing lemon chicken! And fabulous fried rice and crab rangoons! I really wish I had the recipe for thier lemon sauce. I've never had anything quite like it before or since. It's by far my favorite Chinese dish. No other lemon chicken lives up to it.

While living around such fine Asian food, I learned how to make my own at home. No, it's not that fabulous lemon chicken, it's just regular sweet and sour, but I could make basically the same stuff that every Chinese restaurant makes for a fraction of the price at home. I used to make plain old steamed rice to go with it, but have had a craving for fried rice, so last night, I made sweet and sour chicken and ham fried rice. I meant to take a picture of everyting before we ate it all, but I forgot. Sorry about that. But here's the last of the fried rice.

Ham Fried rice

2 tablespoon vegetable oil

3 cups prepared rice

1 cup cut up ham

2 tablespoons sliced green onion

1 medium carrot, chopped

2 large eggs slightly beaten

3 tablespoons soy sauce

Heat 1 tablespoon oil in 10 inch skillet over medium heat. Cook rice, ham, and vegetables for about 5 minutes, stirring and breaking up rice, until hot. Push rice to side of skillet. Add 1 tablespoon oil to other side. Cook eggs in oil over medium heat, stirring constantly, until eggs are thickened throughout but still moist. Stir eggs into rice mixture. Stir in soy sauce.

The recipe I based mine on also calls for white pepper, but I don't have any, so I always just add a little black pepper. When I have them on hand, I also use peas, peppers, and any other veggies that sound good to me at the time.

As for the sweet and sour, I've found the secret is Tempura batter.

I just followed the directions on the box and it comes out looking basically like this:

The other secret is finding a good sauce. If anyone has a really good recipe for sweet and sour sauce, I'd love to try it. The recipes I've tried never come out the way I like, so we buy it from the store. This is my favorite:

Now I need to learn how to make crab rangoons. Yummy!

What is that anyway?

When my mom was in college, she got this recipe from one of her roommates. I've never come across anything quite like it. It's like pie that thinks it's cake! In any case, it's yummy! So I thought I'd share with you-or at least the recipe! ;)

Kristada

1/2 lb butter or margrine
1 1/2 C sugar
4 eggs
3 C flour
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cans pie filling (I usually use cherry, but you could do anything you like)

Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs one at a time. Add vanilla. Mix in flour. Dough will be sticky. Grease a baking sheet and spread about 2/3 of the dough on the pan. Pour pie filling onto dough. (If it looks like too much, you don't have to use all of both cans.) Spoon remaining dough onto filling. Try to spread it a little so it's not just blobs, but it you should still see plenty of pie filling.
Bake @ 350 degrees for 35-40 minutes.

Enjoy!

Great Chili

Aaron and I have decided we need to be healthier. This includes losing a bunch of weight, so we've started a "diet" for lack of a better word. Mostly, we're just trying to eat less of the bad stuff and more of the good stuff. Anyway, here's a recipe that I'm making for dinner today. I got it from a diet program we've used before. It's good and good for you! Just watch your portion size! :)



Ingredients
Olive oil-flavored cooking spray
1/2 lb extra-lean ground beef of soy crumbles
1 small onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 T. finely chopped jalapeno peppers, or to taste
2 16-oz cans diced tomatoes
1 16-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 16-oz can kidney beans, drained and rinsed
2 T. chili powder
1 T. cumin
salt and pepper to taste

Spray nonstick frypan with the olive oil-flavored cooking spray. Brown ground beef or frozen soy crumbles. If using boxed soy crumbles, skip spray and add water, heating mixture according to package directions. Add the onion and green pepper; cook until onion is translucent. Add remaining ingredients; cover and cook over low heat 15-20 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste.

Serves 6
255 calories, 17 g protien, 7 g fat, and 31 g carbs.

Enjoy!