Idn't it great?

I am taking a two week hiatus from any food related posts in order to spend some time back east with Flick and his family.  In fact, I am writing this as we put together picture boards for my father-in-law's memorial service tomorrow.  I can't believe it.

I have been blessed with an amazing family that only grew infinitely larger when Flick and I got married.  I could not ask for better in-laws.  Bob and Caryl treated me like a daughter from the get go and it means the world to me.  I can't fully wrap my head around the fact that Bob has been taken from us, not this soon.  I am glad to have gotten to know him and learn from him over the past 8 years but wish that we had many more ahead of us.  When I sent out the email to let everyone know that I had enabled the 'follow by email' functionality, he wrote me back to let me know that he was a closet follower who always got a good chuckle out of my posts.  I hope he is reading this now and knows how much I love and admire him and all that he has done.

Bob genuinely appreciated everything and everyone in his life and I think that was one of his most special qualities.  His catch phrase for living was 'Idn't it great?'.  I am so grateful to have had him in my life.

Sameness

I don't know if it is a human nature thing or if it is just me, but I go through "kicks" where I will read/eat/listen to/watch/wear something that I like, and then proceed to re-create the experience for some undetermined amount of time.  Does this sound familiar at all?  Reading is where it started.

I really love to read.  When I was younger, I spent a fair amount of my spare time with a pile of books by my side.  My mom would schlep us out to the library during the summer and I would come home with what seemed to be no fewer than 17 books...all of which were Nancy Drew novels.

I would breeze through one book every day or so until they were done and we would start the process over.  Imagine my disappointment when I exhausted the Canterbury Library's collection.  I then moved on to the American Girl stories.  When I decided I wanted to be a veterinarian, I read all of James Herriot's books.  As I got older I devoured Mary Higgins Clark, then Ken Follett, Marian Keyes, and Bill Bryson.  Of course there were one-off books in between that I thoroughly enjoyed, but to this day, I am always looking for an author who either writes a series or has a few books under their belt so that if I like one, I can keep moving through their novels until my appetite for their work is quenched (or I run out of material).

I have to be very mindful of my tendency for "sameness" when I am cooking.  Fortunately, Flick helps me stay on track, otherwise our menus would be surprisingly homogeneous.  Last winter I was on a real risotto kick.  We were trying to eat less meat and risottos happen to be a very satisfying way to incorporate a meatless meal into your week.  After 3 or so weeks in a row of 2+ risottos per week, I was thanked for the delicious meals that were being lovingly prepared every night...and gently reminded that maybe there was more than one way to make a meatless meal :).  If it weren't for Flick, I would need to buy grain bags full of Arborio rice.

That isn't good for anyone (except the farmers I suppose).  So you will have to forgive me if I turn out a few menus here and there that seem to have a common theme...I am probably just on some sort of kick and it will soon pass.  Off to research how I can get my hands on some of those old Nancy Drew books...enjoy the meals!    

Monte Cristo Sandwiches

Monterey Jack, Corn, and Roasted Red Pepper Risotto

Pecan Crusted Tilapia

Parmesan Polenta and Spicy Sausage

Parmesan Sage Crusted Pork Chops

Family Style

Well - I got distracted by an amazing trip up to Breckenridge for the weekend (congrats Sarah and Luke!!) so I am a little behind on getting this out.  Keep your eyes peeled for another post later this week...then I should be right back on track.

I took a vacation day today and it felt great (it is Wednesday...it takes a few nights in a row to get these posts completely pulled together). I am not sure how most people spend their vacation days but mine included getting up at 5:15 for a little yoga, washing the floor, having a lunch date with my leading lady, Ellie, at Mod Market in Boulder, going shoe shopping for said leading lady, and washing Dozer.  Good stuff all around.  Doesn't sound like much of a vacation day you say?  Well, the fact that I don't have to stress about doing all of those things after working and putting Ellie to bed is enough of a relief for me to call this vacation day a success.

Ellie's new shoes :)

With all that in mind, I have to say that the best part of my day came at around 6:10pm when for the first time, Flick, Ellie, and myself sat down and had dinner together.  We have had plenty of meals where Ellie has been at the table with us, banging around a toy or sleeping in her bouncer, but this was the first dinner where she sat in her high chair at the table and had a mini version of our meal.  It was SO great.  It is hard to beat an awesome meal with your family, out on the back deck on a summer evening.  For me, this meal was the perfect cap to a productive vacation day and gave me a taste of a tradition that I can't wait to get going in the Colorado Flickinger household.  Enjoy the meals this week - we are making some serious headway in getting all those recipes onto the new site!

Grilled Zucchini Caprese Sandwiches

Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi

Maple Mustard Chicken Thighs

Honey Mustard Chicken with Roasted New Potatoes

Meatloaf...remember this guy?

Email notifications have arrived!

It is an exciting day in the Flickinger household as I *think* I have figured out how to add email notifications to my blog so that you can sign up to receive an email when new content is posted.  Who's excited?  I am giving it a test run and we'll see how it goes!  If you want to be part of the guinea pig group, go ahead and enter your email address in the "Follow by email" box appearing in the right hand column of the blog.  I promise not to inundate your mailboxes!

Changing of the seasons

After what feels like 5 years of oppressive heat, it is finally "cooling down" a bit in Boulder.  Yesterday I wore a SWEATSHIRT while eating dinner outside and had to close the windows a bit at night...big doings!  I couldn't be happier about it.  Understand that we are still hitting the 90s on a regular basis, but with these cooler nights, I know sweet relief is just around the corner.  In honor of this realization, I bought a down jacket on Steep and Cheap (love it when Patagonia pops up on there) and  started looking at skis for this season.  That's right, mama's gettin' some new fat skis this year, look out.  Of course, this pretty much guarantees a repeat of last years snow (or lack-there-of) for Colorado (sorry everyone), but I am due.

With cooler weather comes a whole new arsenal of recipes for me to work into the dinner rotation: Chili, beef stew, pot pie, roasts, and dishes involving winter squashes and apples (pies and cobblers anyone?).  Don't get me wrong, I love the rush of inexpensive, fresh produce that fills the supermarket shelves in the summer, but by the time September rolls around, I am ready to change gears.  This is what I love about the seasons.

Seriously, what is better than this?

Once I am through moving my recipes to the new site, get ready for some of our favorite comfort foods and fall dishes to start making an appearance.  Anyone have some good Halloween costume ideas?

 
 Enjoy the meals this week!

Curry Spiced Noodles (apparently I have some work to do with my photos)

Filets and Spinach with Balsamic Vinaigrette

 Heavenly Honey Chicken

Italian Meatball Sliders













Fall Veggie Curry over Cashew Coconut Rice

Intentions

In my pre-baby days I was involved in a number of athletic endeavors.  I played on an indoor and outdoor soccer team, did yoga, rode my bike multiple times a week with Flick, ran, swam, skied, hiked, and occasionally even rock climbed.  Many of those activities had to take a back seat while I was sporting a very protuberant midsection.  In the months following Ellie's birth, it was easy to say "well, I am not doing (insert activity here) right now because I just had a baby".  In my opinion, this is extremely legit.  You birthed another human...you deserve some time off from having to do anything but take care of that little person.  I am reaching the limit of my "just had a baby" response.  I think it is different for everyone, but for my own personal baby experience, I feel like it is time to get back into some of those old habits that I miss so dearly.

Last camping trip before Ellie!

As a step in this direction, I pulled myself out of bed at 5:20 two mornings this week to go to a yoga class...a real yoga class.  Not my beloved prenatal classes where we talked about how we were feeling, swapped stories, and spent an hour and a half limbering up (might I recommend, Yo Mama Yoga to any pregnant Boulderites out there?  LOVE this place).  This was a legs and arms shaking, sweat dripping, Ujai breathing, mind centering yoga class (well, it was for me at least...thank you Radiance Power Yoga!).  It was difficult and really great all at the same time.  For the first time in about a year, I set an intention for myself to focus on during the class - being gentle and understanding of the new post-baby "me".  It is too easy to set high expectations and be disappointed or frustrated when we don't meet them.  When you are just starting out, or getting back into something after a long hiatus, give yourself a break!

This goes for cooking as well.  If you are a take-out kind of family and want to turn the corner and get into the kitchen, start small.  Maybe 2 nights a week you do a home cooked meal.  It is much easier to stick with something when it is reasonable and attainable.  Think of how good it feels to accomplish something and to be able to move on to the next level.  If you start too big and have to scale back, it is still 100% fine but can be a little self defeating.  Give it some thought, set your intention, and get after it!  I hope you enjoy the meals this week:

Coconut Curried Pork, Snow Pea, and Mango Stir Fry

                                   Cornmeal Crusted Catfish

Enchilada Casserole













Curried Couscous with Broccoli and Feta









Grilled Veggie and Hummus Wraps (again, no photo...I didn't realize I was missing this many!)

To do's...well, trying to do's

Have you ever set out to check a major "to-do" off the list only to find you are missing a key component to getting said task done?  I have been positioning myself to tackle a major project all week.  I made sure I had enough food to be able to do leftovers tonight, got my birthday thank-you notes addressed, and kept up with the dishes all day to ensure I could devote 2 hours to this arduous task.  What could possibly require this much preparation?  Ironing.  Ugh.  The only thing I hate more than ironing is staring at the laundry basket full of clothes to be ironed in our bedroom.  What was the missing piece?  A functioning iron.  Kind of important and really no way to work around this one.  Looks likes am going to have to purchase a new Rowenta here in the next day or so.

Speaking of missing components...despite all of my planning for our meals each week, we often are digging through the cabinets looking for an appropriate substitute for some forgotten ingredient.  The great thing about cooking is that it tends to be pretty forgiving.  The other great thing about cooking is that we are living in the age of the Internet.  Missing buttermilk?  Google "buttermilk substitutions" and you will learn that you can actually MAKE it with some milk and lemon juice!  Who knew?

While we are on the subject, one thing I DO know that is that allspice does not make an appropriate substitute for nutmeg in any way, shape, or form.  Don't even try it, I've done the legwork and it ain't pretty (or tasty).  In fact, the best way I can think of to spoil a good muffin is to sub in some allspice for the nutmeg.  As a disclaimer, I made this little snafu back when I lived in Boston and was just barely out of college.  Fortunately, Flick patiently waited for me to come into my own in the kitchen - I would like to think it is paying off for him!

Exhibit A: Inappropriate Ingredient Substitution

I am continuing forth with my shift to the new recipe site.  Here are the five recipes for this week - we are a little heavy on the chicken only because I am working in alphabetical order at this point in order to ensure that I don't miss any of the recipes on my old site!  If you are looking for something a little different, hit the "recipes" tab on the menu bar for a list of recipes by type.

 Chicken Kabobs with baked potatoes and corn

Chicken with Lemon Leek Linguine

Chicken Stroganoff

Chipotle Bean Burritos (sadly, no picture!  I will work on this...)

Cilantro Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa