So, we’ve just survived an earthquake, and now we’re preparing for a hurricane. How are you doing?
Actually, despite the nerves of handling natural disasters with young kids, I’ve really enjoyed being whipped into action to prepare for the unknown. I had some food storage, but beefed it up a lot today. I’ve also got gallons of drinking water, paper goods, a new propane camp stove (that I am confident works, unlike the old one), batteries for flashlights and lanterns, and some ideas for non-electric games and crafts to survive if we’re homebound, like we were during snowmagedon. I’ve yet to clear the many tractors off of my porch (don’t want them going through someone’s window:) and get all of our vital documents copied into one place. But we’re pretty much ready for the worst, I think. How prepared are you for a hurricane? Food for thought.
Anyway, over the last couple weeks, we’ve enjoyed some great meals. Rather than go through day by day, I’ll just share a few that were great enough I’ll definitely do them again. If the storm is everything it’s cracked up to be and we lose power, we’ll be eating lots of soup and curry cooked over propane this weekend, so enjoy your stove!
Baked Fish and Chips with Honey Vinegar: I didn’t use any cornmeal, just breadcrumbs, and to bake the fish I set my cooling rack on top of the cookie sheet before putting the fish on, so it could crisp on four sides. It worked great. For the vinegar, just mix 1 tablespoon of honey into 1/4 cup white vinegar and you’re set!
Veggie Burgers on Kaiser Rolls with spring greens and watermelon: I added about 1 cup of shredded zucchini because I had it on hand, and these were delicious.
Chelsea’s Chicken Mango Salad: the best of everything. And so so easy to throw together!
Homemade BBQ Chicken Pizza: Mmm. So good (and a perfect use for the rest of the chicken that you didn’t end up using in your salad!)
Taco Salads in Baked Shells: The insides were simple and flavorful, the outsides were fun and playful (if a little lop-sided:) Milo ate his from bottom to top! We used ground beef, cooked with green pepper and white onion, a sprinkle of cumin, salt, and pepper. Then added a pile of spring greens (way better than ice burg, which is usually my lettuce of choice for Mexican food). Next some fresh pico de gallo (minus jalapeños) and topped with guac and some shredded monterey jack cheese.
Chicken Marsala with Roasted Rosemary Potatoes and warm cornbread: The chicken was divine. I doubled the recipe to give some away, but still kept it to 4 oz prosciutto, and it was plenty rich. We don’t drink wine, but you bet I use the real thing in my cooking. It does always feel a little funny to get carded at the register, though! I’ve been doing rosemary potatoes for.ev.er and they never disappoint. This time, I mixed in some white onion quarters and sweet potatoes, too. And the bread? When I was in Utah my grandpa was preparing his house to sell, and was giving things away to the family. One of the treasures I found was a set of mini loaf pans. Ten in all. I channelled my inner-Helen (my late and wonderfully sweet grandmother) and made the cornbread straight from the box, as I’m sure she did (since she sometimes ate spaghetti and meatballs from a can:) It was yummy and oh, so simple.
Well, wish us luck over the next couple days! It’s kind of funny how normal life can be before a supposed big storm. Tonight, I’m headed to a screen-printing workshop at Pyramid. It’s a recipe exchange, and I’m taking my favorite cake recipe. Since I can’t eat it, I’ll print it!
