Pesto! Pesto! Pesto!

I looooovvve fresh pesto. Doesn't everyone? For this very reason, I plant many tiny basil seeds in the late spring so that there will be abundant basil leaves for pesto in the fall.

Here's an easy recipe:

2 cups fresh basil leaves
4 tsp. minced garlic or 2-3 cloves fresh garlic
2 tbsp. pine nuts
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp. grated parmesan
salt and pepper to taste

Wash and dry the basil leaves. Work quickly because the basil leaves will darken quickly once they are picked and washed. Chop the basil, garlic, and pine nuts in a food processor. With the motor running, add olive oil, then cheese, then salt and pepper. Chop until it's as fine as you like. Refrigerate immediately, preferably in an airtight container. Cover the surface of the pesto with saran wrap to prevent browning.

One thing I really like to do is freeze extra pesto and use it all winter. You can freeze it in ice cube trays covered well with saran wrap, then just pop a couple of frozen pesto cubes into hot pasta whenever you want. Or, freeze pesto into a log shape (again, in saran wrap). Then just slice off the amount you need each time.

A family favorite is just simple pasta with pesto sauce, accompanied by some sauteed chicken.

Give this a try! If you don't have access to basil plants, run to Whole Foods and see if they still have any large plants. You should easily be able to pick 2 cups worth. Buy the plant first, though.

Domestic Diva Friday!!!

Yes, I’ve fallen off the wagon again and abandoned my post in the blogosphere! My apologies!! I’m back and I’ll try to be back with some regularity now.

Here’s what’s been going on: our youngest child was diagnosed with a devastating disability in late June/early July. Ever since then, my days have been filled with doctors, finding therapists, researching treatments, etc. I will write much more about this in future blog posts. My other two children are also home for the summer and that’s been wild too – they each had camps and fun things to do (which turned me into a taxi driver most days). And to top it all off, we are having construction done on our house right now. We are adding a bedroom and a full bathroom in the 3rd floor attic. This beautiful new room will belong to Jack, and the new baby due around Thanksgiving will get Jack’s old room. More about this in future blog posts too.

But let’s get on with something more interesting and useful…

DOMESTIC DIVA FRIDAY!!!

With all that I’ve had going on, cooking has been an added chore. But I was recently inspired by an entrée at California Pizza Kitchen. It looked delicious in the photo, and when I read the description, I thought, “Hey, I can make this at home!” My general rule at restaurants is I never order something I could have made at home. In keeping with that, I did not order this, but made it at home a couple of days later. Easy and wonderful! This was enough for my family of 5 with leftovers the next day.

Asparagus & Spinach Spaghettini

In a large skillet, heat olive oil and saute fresh asparagus, a large bunch chopped into bite sized pieces. When it begins to soften, add a few cloves of garlic, pressed or chopped, plus one defrosted & drained 10 oz package of chopped spinach. Saute more. Then add in a pint of cherry tomatoes, halved, and saute until soft. Lastly, add some snipped fresh basil.

Serve over thin spaghetti, or any type of pasta you like. Serve hot with shredded parmesan cheese - WONDERFUL!!

Charlotte Turned 2!

It is our joy to announce little Charlotte celebrated her 2nd birthday yesterday, June 5th! We had a ball opening a few presents, but I think her very favorite thing was the carrot cake with homemade cream cheese icing!

Dinner Tonight

Ok, it's hot. I don't want to cook. I don't want to grill outside when the projected high is 97. So here's what we are going to have for dinner:

Spring Mix Salad (Organic)
Cherry Tomatoes, halved
Carrots
Tyson Chicken strips
Cucumber slices
Cold chickpeas
Grapes

and....

maybe a wheat roll for everyone except Jackson, who is busy following the South Beach Diet.

Am I lazy? Probably. But we'll eat and it'll be healthy too!

A Looong Respite

My apologies for not posting for almost 3 months! You'll laugh when you hear my reason. On March 17th, I found out I was pregnant! For the 4th time, no less! So, once that joyous, frightening, stupefying news was learned, I could think of nothing else and was fairly consumed with my own thoughts. I couldn't think clearly enough to write about ANYTHING, and I could not yet announce my pregnancy. I had a total mental block. Then, some pregnacy-related problems began. First I had some bleeding, which was scary and necessitated some trips to the doctor. But all's well! Then, starting at only 5.5 weeks, I began suffering from fairly debilitating nausea. Within a week, it was severe, 24/7 nausea that was even waking me up in the middle of the night. On top of that, the fatigue set in. Finally, between 8-10 weeks, we got around to telling all our family, then friends about the pregnancy. We've had one successful, normal ultrasound and the baby looks great! I'm 15 weeks today; the baby is due Nov. 26, 2008.

We have a boy name all picked out and ready to go: Nathaniel (Nate for short). However, we have NO girl names so if you have a suggestion, please reply to this post or send me an email!

The next order of business is summer. We are about to experience extreme heat in the Triangle (97 for the next week) and I'm scrambling to figure out what to do with the kids. We've really enjoyed a very temperate May and we took lots of trips to the park. I fear that's over for awhile!

I have lost my motivation to cook much with this extreme heat combined with my pregnancy fatigue. Hence my next post...

Domestic Diva Friday

You'll be glad to know today's edition will not involve the crock pot! In the spirit of this holy week, let's talk about Easter dinner.

This year, our celebration will be with family, our 5 plus two in-town family members. I am hosting a formal dinner at our house. I purchased some new spring green table linens for the dining room and I have an arrangement of fresh tulips for the table.

Here's the menu:

Spiral sliced ham

Mushroom risotto

Steamed asparagus

salad

Sister Shuberts rolls & butter

Dessert (provided by a family member, and I don't know what it'll be yet)

I hope you all have a blessed Easter and that you worship the King, Jesus Christ, who makes all this possible. And I hope the Easter Bunny brings all your favorite candy!!

Domestic Diva Friday

Before the weather really turns warm, let's have one more family chili night. This recipe is a winner all around: it's super healthy, super tasty, and it cooks in the crock pot! (I know, crock pots are becoming my theme. When the weather turns really warm, I will put it away and focus on other things, I promise.)

I took this to a church chili cookoff a couple of years ago and it got raves. I received several requests for the recipe.

Without further ado, here 'tis:

Pumpkin Turkey Chili

(recipe from Fix It and Forget It Recipes for Entertaining, page 177)


1 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped yellow bell pepper (I use frozen "stoplight" pepper strips)
3 garlic cloves, minced (I used jarred minced garlic)
2 Tbsp oil
1.5 tsp. dried oregano
1.5 - 2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp chili powder
2 15 oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained
1 lb raw ground turkey, low fat (or you may use 2.5 cups cooked chopped turkey)
1 16 oz can pumpkin
14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
3-4 cups chicken broth
1 cinnamon stick

In a skillet, saute the ground turkey, onions, peppers, and garlic in oil, until cooked and soft.





Stir in oregano, cumin, and chili powder; stir and cook for a minute more. Transfer to crock pot. Add all remaining ingredients to crock pot, stir, cover, and cook on low for 7-8 hours. Before serving, remove the cinnamon stick and stir in a few dashes of ground cinnamon, if desired. It's terrific, I promise! This will feed 6-8 people generously, with leftovers to spare!


Here's the finished product:


Happy Chili night, everyone!