Venetucci Farms CSA (in Colorado Springs, CO) has it’s signup deadline this week. I’m looking forward to the bevy of fresh vegetables and accompanying culinary challenges they will present. The weather is almost spring-like and I’m hankering to sit in a warm breeze.

As I prepare for the new season mentally, I’d like to put out a call for vegetable recipes of any type that you’d like to share. The CSA Recipe Spot will grow also this season and you can help! Send along your jewels to kitchenconfidence@gmail.com and I’ll post them in the appropriate sections!

Bon Appétit is a great collection of songs about eating and where food comes from. ”Germs” is a great track about why you need to wash your hands before eating. It is one of my daughter’s favorites. She also loves the jokes on “Food Jokes” which are semi-lame jokes to give you a good chuckle the first time around anyway.

The tunes are upbeat and catchy. We often listen to this CD in the car. Check out the tunes for yourself by clicking:  Bon Appetit.

Here’s another recipe from my grandma’s collection. It has been updated by my favorite aunt, and is really tasty. Bran Muffins aren’t something I would usually consider in the tasty category, but these are truly the exception to the rule. The batter keeps in the refrigerator for up to three months, so you can keep it at the ready and have fresh muffins in minutes anytime.

Ice Box Bran Muffins

1 1/2 cups    sugar  

3 Tablespoons    oil  

1 cup boiling water  

1 cup bran buds  

2  eggs, beaten  

2 cups buttermilk  

2 1/2 cups flour tortillas  

2 1/2 teaspoons soda  

1/2 teaspoon salt  

2 cups all bran  

1 Preheat oven to 400° F.

2 Pour boiling water over Bran Buds. Let stand 10 minutes.

3 Mix sugar, oil, eggs, and buttermilk.

4 Sift flour, soda and salt.

5 Add water and Bran Buds, then flour and all bran. Mix slightly.

6 Pour into muffin tins and bake 10-20 minutes depending on your oven and size of muffins selected.

 It has been 17 days since my last post. The holidays came in with a flurry of activity and extra requirements on my time. As a result, the nonessential went out the window. I was also lucky enough to have a week of vacation from my parenting responsibilities visiting my aunt and doing whatever I pleased for a whole week. During that time I pursued another interest, genealogy. In that vein, I will share my grandmother’s recipe for Oatmeal Cookies which is legendary in our family. They’re good for after holdiay sweet eating since they have a modicum of nutrition over other cookies with the oatmeal and raisins therein. They would be a welcome addition to a school lunch! My mother and Aunt made these weekly to be in their lunches and usually had upset stomachs from eating too much raw dough!

Oatmeal Cookies

1 cup margarine  

1 1/2 cups sugar  

3 eggs  

3/4 cup sour milk *

1 cup raisins  

2 cups rolled oats  

2 cups flour  

1 teaspoon baking soda  

1 teaspoon salt  

1 teaspoon cinnamon  

1 Preheat oven to 375° F.

2 Pour boiling water over raisins and soak for 1 to 2 minutes. Drain and squeeze out liquid.

3 Cream together margarine and sugar. Add eggs. Mix well and add sour milk.

4 Add soda, salt and cinnamon, mix again. Add flour gradually until combined.

5 Mix in oats and raisins. Add flour to make thicker if necessary.

6 Drop by teaspoonfuls onto a greased baking sheet.

7 Bake for about 12 minutes.

* If you don’t have sour milk (lucky you) you can make some by putting 1 tablespoon of vinegar in a 1 cup measure and filling the cup to the 1 cup mark with milk. Buttermilk would also be a good substitiute.

This is a tasty pasta dish that works well in summer when zucchini may be coming out your ears. However, ingredients are still readily available in winter. It’s hearty and pretty healthy too. It packs about 350 calories per serving (figuring the entire dish would serve 9). It’s not yet on my young cook’s hit parade, but I’m going to keep trying it.

Your young cook can help a lot in this dish just by seeding the peppers. Cut the top off, and then let those little hands dig into the pepper cavity and pull everything out. Then you can cut it all up for the recipe. They could also cut up the zucchini and yellow squash with their lettuce knives if you’re feeling brave.

Zucchini, Pepper and  Feta Pasta

2 1/2 cups uncooked ziti (short tube-shaped pasta)  

1 lb. chicken sausage  

2 medium thinly sliced zucchini  

1 red bell pepper  

1 orange bell pepper  

1 yellow bell pepper  

1 large onion, cut in half and then sliced  

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt  

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper  

3 garlic cloves, minced  

1/2 cup  fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth  

2 teaspoon all-purpose flour  

3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese  

3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese  

1 Preheat oven to 400°.

2 Cook pasta in boiling water 7 minutes. (Note: you’re pre-cooking the pasta, it will cook more in the oven).

3 Prepare vegetables: slice zucchini and onions, cut peppers into large dice. Mince garlic or put through garlic press. Place all in a large bowl and set aside.

4 Slice sausage into discs. Add sausage to a large skillet sprayed with cooking spray; cook until browned. Remove from pan.

5 Spray pan again with cooking spray. Add zucchini, peppers, onion, salt, ground pepper, and garlic. Cook 10 minutes or until vegetables are tender and zucchini begins to brown, stirring occasionally.

6 Combine broth and flour in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add broth mixture to pan; cook 1 minute.

7 Combine zucchini mixture, pasta, sausage, and feta cheese in a large bowl; toss well. Spoon pasta mixture into an 11 x 7-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle evenly with mozzarella cheese. Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and lightly browned.

This dressing is a dream to make with the food processsor and tastes great. It’s sweet enough to appeal to young palates and is a lovely red which looks great against greens whether you’re celebrating Christmas or another holiday.

French Dressing

1/2 cup sugar  

2 teaspoon worcestershire sauce  

1/2 cup vinegar  

1/2 cup oil  

1/4 cup lemon juice  

1 teaspoon salt  

2/3 cup catsup  

1/2 onion diced fine  

1 teaspoon garlic powder  

Put in food processor and blend well.

My mother turned me on to this basic recipe from a friend of hers. I’ve modified it and find it’s pretty quick. Make sure you decide what kind of rice you’ll use to serve with it so that you’re not caught with finished chicken and then need to do the rice if you’re not making instant! (Can you tell I’m speaking from experience?)

My young lady likes this dish quite well even though the flavors are quite unique. I am not a fan of Indian food due to a pregnancy aversion, but love this dish.

Moroccan Chicken

3-6 chicken breast halves  

1 large onion, diced

3 cloves garlic  

1/4 cup olive oil  

1 1/2 tsp cumin  

1 1/2 tsp turmeric  

1 1/2 tsp paprika  

1 1/2 tsp curry powder  

1 tsp alt  

1/2 tsp cinnamon  

1 box pitted dates  

1 thin skinned lemon  

1. Mix spices, garlic, olive oil in large deep pan over stovetop. Roll chicken pieces in marinade. Cook chicken 10 minutes on one side, then turn over and cook an additional 10 minutes.
2. Add 1 cup of chicken broth to get the sauce going and deglaze pan.
3. Add onion, dates, and lemon (squeeze juice into pan). Simmer entire dish another 10 minutes.
4. Serve with white rice.

Lil’ Red, University of Nebraska Mascot

Whenever the thermostat needs to be turned up because of wintery weather, my desire to eat soup is piqued. I love the heartiness of chowders and the extra starchiness of a corn chowder appeals to my carb addiction. Being tied to my favorite College Mascot through the corn connection doesn’t hurt either.

This recipe came to me from my dad’s wife. It’s easy and fairly quick too.

Your young cook can aid you with peeling the potatoes and measuring the other ingredients. My own young cook added some steamed broccoli to the mix which we had alongside the soup and she says it’s delicious.

CORN CHOWDER

3          potatoes  

3          slices bacon  

1          onion  

2          cans creamed corn  

4          cups milk  

8          oz. Colby or Cheddar cheese  

Cut the potatoes into chunks, boil in water until tender. (about 20 minutes).

Brown 3 slices bacon until crisp. (alternatively use the microwave to cook bacon- high power for 3 minutes).

Dice and Sauté an onion.

Add 2 cans creamed corn, bacon, potatoes, and 4 c. milk- heat. (do not boil)

Grate 8 oz. Colby or Cheddar cheese, melt in soup.

When trying to think of something for dinner the other day I had a brainstorm. Why not write down some ideas that you can carry with you for when you’ve got to come up with something quickly and are having a brain block??

I carry a tiny notebook in my purse to record things I want to remember later. I’ve started a section for each type of main dish that I fix on a regular basis. So far I have sections for beef dishes, for chicken dishes, for vegetarian dishes, and a soup section. Whenever I start thinking about what’s for dinner I record any idea that comes to mind under the appropriate heading. Since I always carry the little book with me it will be there when I’m shopping for just one meal to try to put off a major shopping. When I’m sitting down to do planning for a “regular” week’s worth of meals, the list can also help me to get those last few meals into the plan.

This approach also works for making those few minutes of time between other commitments productive. Whenever you’re hungry the ideas flow better for meals, and writing something down instead of putting chips in your mouth can save you a few calories too.

In the midst of the feature shows on the Disney Channel, you’ll find Tasty Time with Ze Fronk from time to time. This is a 5 minute program on which a daschund (Ze Fronk) teaches snack recipes. Its shortness doesn’t allow for much actual instruction, but does give kids some ideas to get active in the kitchen. The recipes are kid appropriate, for instance: turkey roll up, tuna sandwich, banana berry smoothie, juice ice cube tray Popsicles, and energy mix.

If you don’t have the Disney Channel in your lineup, you can still access the information Ze Fronk imparts through the web. Here is the recipe book he cooks from. There are also videos on line that you can watch instead of trying to catch it whenever it’s presented on tv.

At the very least, the characters are very cute and Ze Fronk has a fun French accent.