The Kitchen Illiterate

Not-So-Meaty Meatloaf

Toward the end of March I started realizing that I was eating a lot of sweets. And french fries. And more pizza than usual. My carefully developed healthy habits had taken a nosedive, and I was feeling it. I decided to declare April Health Month. My intention wasn’t to embark on a month of strictness and deprivation, but to remind myself how much better I feel when I’m eating more vegetables, and being thoughtful and conscientious about the amount of sugar, meat, and fried things I’m putting in my body. I re-read Mark Bittman’s Food Matters, and I started planning healthy meals.
Continue reading Not-So-Meaty Meatloaf

2012, Week Fifteen

I can hardly believe I’ve been living back in California for a year. The weather right now feels the same as it did last year, and when I walk down the street, the feeling in the air, the sweet smells, the clearn, spring light, it all brings me back to when I arrived last April, so excited to finally be home.

We had another full week last week, and a busy weekend that involved hanging out with lots of adorable babies, so that was fun. For me at least. I do love the babies.

Also, I made bouillabaise!

Apr 8 – Bouillabaise! This is the first time I’ve cooked a fish soup, and I was intimidated for no reason. It was really quite simple. I used cod, scallops, and shrimp, plus a pinch of saffron and some chili flakes. I’ll try to share the recipe this week.
Continue reading 2012, Week Fifteen

Turnip Soup with Greens from Greens

I have recently become a little bit addicted to cookbooks. Awhile ago, I realized (duh) that I could check them out from the library, and decided that was an excellent way to test drive a book to see if I would really cook from it before shelling out the big bucks. Of course, what I discovered is that I’m very likely to fall in love with a book, even if the likelihood it would make its way off the shelf often is nill. That’s what happened with The Greens Cookbook, by Deborah Madison and Edward Espe Brown.
Continue reading Turnip Soup with Greens from Greens

2012, Week Fourteen

I’m a bit behind this week. What a shock. Things have been busy at work (so many meetings), and after a full work day, plus the gym, and cooking dinner, I haven’t really been in much of a mood for anything other than reading a silly book, watching The Daily Show, and going to bed. I do have some tasty meals to share, but for now, all I can muster are these photos. Sad face.

But oooh! So pretty:

Apr 1 – Hiking last Sunday near Mt. Diablo
Continue reading 2012, Week Fourteen

Thai Chicken Satay Pasta

The Midwestern girl in me loves a baked pasta dish. If you spend enough time digging through the archives of this site you’ll probably feel sort of appalled at the number of casseroles and casserole-like dishes I’ve managed to kludge together over the years. Give me a baking dish and a hodgepodge of ingredients, and I’ll make you a casserole. Some people aren’t into those kinds of things, but to those people I say, you are missing out. Unless you don’t like pasta (in which case, who are you?) what could be wrong with pasta baked into a dish with other yummy things?
Continue reading Thai Chicken Satay Pasta

2012, Week Thirteen

This was a full week that involved seeing both a movie AND a play. This is unusual for us because usually we’re hermits who really love our couch. We even had my brother over for dinner. Socializing! Amazing.

Mar 25 – We went to see The Hunger Games, and when we came home, I made this lamb stew. If you haven’t read The Hunger Games, do it. If you haven’t made lamb stew, you should do that, too.
Continue reading 2012, Week Thirteen

Grandma Joan’s Banana Bread

Bananas don’t usually last long enough in this house to make it to banana bread. But a few weeks ago, we were having dinner with my friend Eunice and I happened to glance into her freezer and see piles and piles of frozen, perfectly browned bananas. She sighed that she never had time to do anything with them, so I offered to take a few off her hands. I love banana bread because it’s another one of those baked goods that I can pretend is healthy. Because, hey, fruit!
Continue reading Grandma Joan’s Banana Bread

Hunger Games Lamb Stew

I, along with seemingly the rest of the world, went to see the Hunger Games this weekend. I read the books when they came out a few years ago and really loved them. The character of Katniss Everdeen was the perfect counterpoint to Stephanie Meyer’s Bella (yeah, I know everyone says that) (also I read too much YA fiction). The books capture all the things I love about dystopic fiction, and I was pleased that someone wrote a female character for whom there are bigger concerns in life than boys. Like, y’know, survival.
Continue reading Hunger Games Lamb Stew

2012, Week Twelve

Mar 18 – Chopped Salad, healthy Sunday
Continue reading 2012, Week Twelve

Peanut Butter Banana Bites

It’s Friday, and to me, that means it’s time for treats. Ok, I tend to think that there’s a time for treats somewhere in every day, but Friday is for extra special treats. (Sometimes, Monday is for extra special treats, too.) I like treats, a lot. And I especially love it when I can pretend like my treats are super healthy. That’s kind of why I’ve always loved frozen chocolate-covered bananas. It’s totally fruit.
Continue reading Peanut Butter Banana Bites