lets break this drink down-

vanilla bean sugar- go to peet’s coffee downtown and buy yourself 1 or 2 vanilla bean pods. they come individually wrapped in  a cute little test tube and they are about $2.50 each. this is by far the cheapest you will find then anywhere. if you buy one from, say,  raleys, they will run you $12. each. no joke. so buy one or 2 of these, and use the seeds inside for something awesome like the vanilla bean meringue frosting i mentioned in a previous post. then take the now empty vanilla bean pod and put it in your jar of sugar. you DO keep your sugar in an airtight jar, right? so close the lid tight, give it a shake, and wait a couple days. you will  now have delicious vanilla bean infused sugar that is awesome in your morning coffee, baking AND this iced tea.

then use the vanilla sugar to make a lightly sweet simple syrup- put 1/4 cup of sugar in a small pot with 1/2 c h2o and turn on high heat. stir and bring to a simmer and turn off when the sugar is all melted. now you have a simple syrup that would be yummy drizzled over store bought angel food cake or in some tea. but we are going to take it a step further and add about 20 fresh mint leaves. from your garden. you have mint growing in your garden, right? because, in all honesty, i have a nearly black thumb and even i can grow mint. and it goes crazy, and requires nada but a little water and sun, and we now currently have a shit- ton (accurate measurement) of mint in the garden and i get to spend the summer concocting clever and tasty ways to use it all…

sorry, i got sidetracked…add about 20 leaves of mint to the vanilla bean simple syrup, stir and let infuse for about 10 minutes. remove mint leaves and put them in your compost bowl ( what?! you don’t have a compost pile?? sheesh. thats a whole other post…) or grind em up in your sink drain and your kitchen will smell lovely and minty. ta- dah! you now have vanilla bean + mint simple syrup. ideal for cocktails or to add to some blackcurrant tea.

any kind of tea will do here, i just had some twinings brand blackcurrant black tea in the pantry and decided to use this. boil 5 cups of water and then immediately take off heat. take 5 or 6 tea bags, and put them in the hot h2o. set timer and let steep 5 minutes. remove tea bags and add them to your new compost pile (you know, the one you just started with the left over mint?) and then let the tea cool for 10 minutes. pour the tea into a large pitcher and fill it the rest of the way with cold water. add the vanilla bean + mint simple syrup. stir. fill a pretty glass all the way full with ice, dont be shy, and then pour in the tea. add of sprig of mint just because you can, and cheers!

it seems like you could add some sort of alcohol to this to make it a cocktail but im not sure what kind…suggestions?

i seem to be on a frittata kick right now, so last night we had frittata lorraine- niman ranch ham, gruyere, and onions caramelized with thyme and zucchini fritters. i used 11 eggs, and holy crap, that makes a whole lotta frittata! sorry, couldnt help myself. anyhow, it made enough frittata to feed a small crowd, probably 8 people. it was enough for daniel + i for dinner, and then for both of us for lunch today, plus the 4 daycare children will be having it for lunch with the zucchini fritters i also made last night. frittatas are great for brunches. they are impressive looking , easy and tasty, too. a triple threat. add some sourdough toast from tin roof bakery and some fruit or berries and its not a bad way to start the day.

frittatas are like quiche, but without the crust and heavy cream so its lighter in calories. im not trying to kid you and tell you this is healthy, but consider it the better option when thinking of making a quiche. and, as i said before, you can add all sorts of veggies into this to make you feel better about eating eat. saute some zucchini and summer squash and/or asparagus and use goat cheese instead and you have yourself a delicious brunch dish AND you are getting a serving or two of veggies.

frittata lorraine

11 eggs

1 cup 2% milk

slab of  ham,diced.  i use niman ranch all natural ham from trader joe’s. i dont even like ham and i love this stuff

1/2 yellow onion, small dice. white is fine here, i just prefer yellow onions. they are a little sweeter.

1/2 t dried thyme, or 1T fresh thyme

1 1/2 cups grated gruyere cheese

salt + pepper

1T olive oil

preheat oven to bake @ 375

add the T olive oil to an oven proof skillet and heat over medium heat. add the diced onions, thyme, a couple pinches of salt and a few shakes of pepper. stir it up and cook over med/med low heat for about 15 minutes to soften and to just start to brown the onions. let cool 5 minutes.

while the onions are cooking, beat the 11 eggs + milk and then add the diced ham and shredded gruyere. add the onions after they cool and give it a stir. pour 1 t olive/canola/veg oil into the pan that is over med heat and then add the egg mixture. using a wooden spoon, gently push the eggs along the bottom of the pan as they start to cook a few times.  cook for about 6-8 minutes or so, until the outside edges of the frittata are mostly set. the center will still be very wet and runny. put pan into oven on middle rack and bake for about 8-12 minutes until the frittata is beautifully puffed up, mostly set and the top is golden. it will appear just a little wobbly when you give it a gentle shake. take out of the oven and let it rest for 10 minutes. it will continue cooking, deflate, and firm up.

frittatas are also delicious as a breakfast sandwich- on a toasted ciabatta roll and topped with a little sliced avocado.

this was the first time i had made zucchini fritters, and while pretty good, they need a little tweaking. for the recipe i added more basil and onion and included some pecorino romano cheese. we didnt have any cheese on hand, but daniel and i both thought it could do with some cheese. i mean, everything is better with cheese. daniel dipped them in ketchup, and i ate my straight up, but they are even better with some sort of a dipping sauce. ranch, a sour cream + chive sauce, or a sriracha dipping sauce made with a little mayo would be good, too.

zucchini fritters

grate 2 zucchini, skin on

1/2-3/4 cup flour

1 egg, beaten

1/2 yellow onion, grated on cheese grater

4T fresh basil, chopped

1/4 cup h2o

1/2 cup grated pecorini romano cheese

salt + pepper

4-5 T olive oil to cook them in

put shredded onion and zucchini in a clean cotton kitchen towel and twist and squeeze over sink to get rid of excess water.

put the zucchini and onion in a large bowl. add cheese, basil, couple pinches salt and pepper, water and egg. stir to combine.  slowly add the flour 1T at a time and mix until you have a slightly runny batter.

put olive oil in a cast iron skillet or other large skillet. heat between med – med hi heat for  a couple minutes until oil has a little shimmer to it. drop batter into pan using 1/4 cup measure cup or ice cream scooper, cooking 2-3 at a time. cook 2 minutes, flip, cook another 2 minutes. flip one more time and cook about 30 seconds. remove from skillet and set to rest on paper towel lined plate and immediately sprinkle the fritters lightly with salt.

having a daycare definitely has its challenges- working from home is good + bad, 4 screaming 2 and 3 year olds running around the house repeating the same thing over and over tries my patience,  and the never ending diaper changes and nose wiping gets old. but i have been lucky to avoid the dreaded toddler picky eater. none of the daycare children insist on only consuming frozen blueberries or refuse to eat anything but eggs and quesadillas for each and every meal. all the kiddos that have been at little sprouts daycare have been good eaters. really, great eaters. they will try anything- hummus, salsa, falafel, spinach. not only will they try it, they will happily devour what i set in front of them 90% of the time. i think that children should eat what the adults eat. its a great way to introduce them to exotic and tasty foods. and then you dont have to make 1 meal for the adults and a separate one for the tots.

the kids usually get whatever daniel and i had for dinner the previous night + a veg + fruit/berry. this means that they eat indonesian chicken, korean bbq chicken, turkey meatballs, eggplant parmesan and frittatas. they love frittatas. essentially cheese, eggs and whatever filling you want to toss in, you can make them as simple or fancy as you want.

simple= eggs, shredded cheddar, milk, salt, pepper.

fancy= salami, feta, caramelized onion, mozzarella, milk, salt, pepper.

today i whipped up a “fancy” frittata for the kiddos, and they each ate 3 slices. look up frittata here epicurious and choose whatever sounds good to you and make it, just once. once you know how to make a frittata the possibilities are endless, they are delicious for breakfast, lunch or a light dinner with a salad, and everyone will love it- you, spouse, and toddler.

salami, caramelized onions with thyme, feta and mozzarella frittata + organic strawberries and grapes

i am always looking for new ideas for lunches for the kiddos- what do you feed your little one? any favorite lunches or dinners that you care to share?

this is an incredibly quick and pretty healthy meal considering all the vegetables in there and that it isnt a cream based dressing.  feel free to add asparagus and red onion if you like. it only took 15 minutes to bake the chicken strips and i did all the chopping and made the dressing  while they cooked. which makes this a 15 minute meal. beat that, rachel ray, you crazy b.

chicken strip salad with honey mustard dressing

romaine lettuce, carrots, tomato, cucumber, avocado, boiled egg, lightly breaded chicken strips ( frozen section of trader joe’s)

honey mustard dressing

2T honey

2T dijon mustard

1/4 c white wine vinegar

1/2 c olive oil

1/2t each salt + pepper

put all ingredients in a jar and give it a few good shakes, or whisk all together in a bowl. done.

monday is here, sigh. i have been busy today trying to work up a menu for the month of august for my little food venture. i wont be able to start until august because we have a vacation to tahoe with the lovely speers and sirvateez families on the horizon in july.  i have been coming up with prices/serving for yummy things like mac and cheese, blta pasta with bleu cheese and garlic, and bbq chicken salad. im still on my rough draft but i feel like its starting to take shape. i will email the people that have shown interest in this idea when i have a set menu for the month of august and we will go from there!

in the meantime, here is what our week of dinners looks like-

• oven fried chicken, mashed potatoes and corn

• eggplant parmesan with mozzarella, homemade tomato sauce and penne pasta

• quiche/frittata lorraine with a big green salad

• chicken salad- chicken strips, romaine, tomato, cucumber and avocado with homemade honey mustard dressing

• whatever daniel decides to make for dinner wednesday

i like to plan my meals on sunday morning and then hit the stores and get what i need for the week, which means sunday-thursday dinners are covered. we generally go out to eat on friday ( ever run into us at sierra nevada?) and depending on what we have going on, sometimes even saturday night. in the interest of trying to save money for our future adoption (yay! ) we have tried setting an “out to eat”  budget and to stick by that. however, we failed miserably the first month, and then blew it off in june. so, we are going to give it another shot in july, so wish us luck! it seems as though at least once a week we hear the brewpub calling our name,  it is not unheard of for us to be seen there 2 times in a week, even 3 times one week , but there were special circumstances!

how do you decide what will be for dinner- do you plan out your meals on sunday and shop accordingly? do you decide on your way home from work and stop at the store to get everything you need? do you search through your take out menus and pick up the phone? do you try to stick to a food budget for groceries or eating out? if so, how do you stick by it?