french fries

A quick and easy way to make yummy fries...is by baking them! So this bad for you treat becomes something that is actually healthy (or relatively so!).

-Potatoes (the bigger the better!!!) at least one per person. In my house two persons works better!

-Olive oil

-seasoning: salt, pepper, chili pepper, garlic powder- really anything that sounds good to you!

Time: 20-45 minutes

Serving size: How many potatoes do you want to peel?

Pre-heat oven to 450

Peel potatoes (although you can leave them unpeeled just make sure you wash them well if you leave them with the skin on. The littles in this house don't like peels and the chickens love them, so we peel ours) Cut potatoes into the size and shape you want your fries....stake fries, home fries, McD size fries, again this is up to you! My family chooses some where between the stake fries and the fast-food chain size fries. Sometimes it just depends on the meal!

Place uncooked fries in plastic ziplock bag add olive oil- enough to liberally cover all the fries. Don't be afraid to have left over oil. Its better to have too much than too little in this case.

Spread the oil coated fries on a cookie sheet and sprinkle whatever seasonings you have decided on (I find its good to mix the fries about so that both sides get season).

Place in oven and start baking. After about 7 to 10 minutes, stir and flip fries (this does not have to be precise! you just want them to bake fairly evenly). Every 5 to 7 minutes repeat this process. How long the fries take depends on if you like them soft or crispy. My family likes a nice medium- not too crunchy but nicely crisp. It usually takes about 30 minutes.

fruit granola bars

One of my mom's favorite treats was a soft granola bar from Wild Oats, unfortunately the store by our house closed down and now that treat is a rare commodity.

This is my attempt at make something like it for her and the rest of the family.

This recipe comes from "Love in the Kitchen" by Wendy Jeub with Cynthia Jeub. This is a well liked cookbook in our house as it is written by a mother of 14 and recipes yield nice sized quantities.

3 cups flour (whole wheat is better- but in a pinch like I was tonight white works fine)

3 cups oats

1 cup butter, melted (I use Earth Balance Natural Shortening- make sure you get the Vegan kind if you are trying to make a non-dairy version!)

1/2 tsp cinnamon + (I used more because I LOVE cinnamon)

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 cups brown sugar - (I used 3/4 cup because we don't like to use a lot of sugar here- toddlers and lots of sugar do not mix well, especially when they have ADHA and sensory issues!)

3 cups of your favorite jam

Pre-heat oven to 350

Mix all of the ingredients together - except for the jam- and press half of the mixture into a 9x13 pan sprayed with oil. Pour jam over mixture (heat the jam up, just a bit, if it is especially thick- otherwise when spreading it you pull up some of the bottom mixture.)

Spread the rest of the flour mixture on top and press down, but not too hard. Cook for 15-20 minutes. start checking at 15 minutes for jam bubbling around the edges of the pan, once there is a fair amount of bubbling- its done!

Cool and cut into bars.

Well, I must have done something wrong because when the bars finally cooled and I eagerly cut myself one- it was horrible! Crumbly and dry in parts and sticky and gewy in others. WAY to sickly sweet, like eating jam rolled in sugar with some oats along for the ride. Not at all what I was expecting!

I plan on trying it again at a later date, and altering the recipe even more...hopefully with better results!

(don't let this reflect on the book though! I have made many other wonderful dishes from it, this one just didn't turn out so great).

update

Just a quick update: Little brother is OK. He is home and safe. We're in the middle of making dinner right now so I will write a bit later and give yummy recipes.

Popcorn days

In our house we call days that just go bat you-know-what crazy "Popcorn days". It started when my mom read a blog from Soule Mama whom she has been following for quite sometime now. This particular entry was written by the author's husband and described such a day where popcorn was for dinner--because that is all that anyone had the energy to make. We have adopted this phrase in our house and when its just one of those days we say "its been a popcorn day" or something like that.

As I type this my parents are driving to the hospital with my three year old little brother. He has had a nose bleed that started around 6:45, stopped right when we were ready to take him to the ER the first time and allowed him to sleep for a bit and then decided to start up again about 40 minutes ago. Today has been a Popcorn day. Tomorrow I will post some yummy recipe and hopefully it will bring you a full tummy and some happiness. For now though I am off to make popcorn (or maybe just eat some pumpkin chocolate chip cookies that are in the freezer- I'll post that recipe tomorrow! they are truly yummy and quick to make too!) and wait by the phone.

Beans and Rice-my way

Tonight, I decided that the meal of Sloppy Joes was just not enough for me. So at 9:30 or so I started making beans and rice. For me though beans are also not enough. I have to have veggies in with my beans. Most of the time I use what ever is in my refrigerator- a staple for me is squash of some kind.

First starting water for the rice- I wanted to be sure that everything would be done at the same time!

Pouring a little olive oil in my skillet so that my thinly sliced potatoes would not burn (or even worse stick!). I love the sound that oil makes when it is hot! I don't know why exactly but its this excited kind of sound that makes me happy- and a bit cautious, because lets face it, who really likes getting splattered by hot oil! I waited about 3 minutes then added in diced zucchini, diced tomatoes, and chopped chives (I would have used onions but it turned out we are completely out of onions! Time to go to the farmers market!).

I added the rice to the boiling water at this point.

Once the potatoes were starting to be somewhat tender I poured in a can of black beans, liquid and all. Next a liberal dash of red chili powder was added. Mixing it all together and then making sure to stir every few minutes after that so as not to have burnt food. By the time the liquid had cooked off, the rice was done and the potatoes were tender. Dinner (or 2nd dinner) was finished!

I was going to take a picture of my efforts but this meal is not exactly pretty looking. Tasty but not pretty.

I am going to play around with it some more- adding some different spices and veggies. It was truthfully a bit bland- adding a bit more chili powder would help. I am still a bit cautious of adding too much (one mistake where I dumped a huge- OK massive would be a better word for it- amount of chili powder in by accident and suddenly I am chili shy!)

If you want to try it:

1 small zucchini (or a 1/4 of a large zucchini)-diced

1 medium potato peeled and finely sliced

half of a small onion diced or several stocks of chives

3 smallish medium (but not cherry!) tomatoes diced

1 regular can of black beans

chili powder

Next time I would also add- a small yellow squash diced

Don't forget to cook the rice- starting before the rest of the meal!

1 cup uncooked rice

This made three servings and some left over rice.

If you try it let me know what you think and let me know if you come up with any improvements!

Have fun!

The Beginning...

Cooking Up Peace came to me via my mother. As I sat at my computer putting the finishing touches on a project proposal that I would be spending the next few months working on, she came up to me and said "How about a cookbook?" A cookbook? What does that have to do with peace? "You can talk about community and how food is a huge part of all cultures around the world and how hospitality is important to peace." Huh, I thought, she has a point. "Plus," my mom added, "you love cooking and you could try recipes out on all of us (my family) which we would love." And so the idea for this project and cookbook were born.

This cookbook will be kid friendly (as I will be trying everything out on my friends and family), as well as allergen friendly. My younger siblings have an extensive list of allergies (and I am allergic to dairy) so I have experience changing recipes to fit our needs. Ideally, it will also be a wide range of recipes from all around the world.

What you can do...send me family favorite recipes (all kinds are welcome! I will do the work of converting them to being allergen friendly, so don't let that scare you off!); quotes on/about peace, food, hospitality, and/or community that have touched you; stories from your lives and families; and anything else you think would be good for this project!

I will of course be crediting everyone who helps! If your family recipe comes directly from a cookbook...thats OK! just send me the name of the cookbook so that I can credit it as well!