Author: lynley

lynley http://imwiththebandlfarris.wordpress.com i bake cookies for bands i make art i play the accordion i hunt graffiti i knit i dj i cook i am process driven i love whiskey i had a spiritual moment at graceland the past is our present its the whole karmic enchilada

national school lunch week 2012 — monday

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its national school lunch week!  what does that mean?  well when i asked my fellow lunch ladies they had no idea.  we all fantasized about having the week off or perhaps even getting our lunch catered.  however when i looked up national school lunch week, i discovered that the school nutrition association sets a week aside to celebrate new programs, recipes, accomplishments and what makes your school lunch unique.

i have decided to celebrate national school lunch week by eating lunch at work everyday.  yes this lunch lady won’t be bringing her lunch this week she’s eating off the hot lunch line.  school lunch programs have a bad rap.  most the time everyone is horribly applaud by what we serve our kids and i’ll admit i’m sometimes applaud too but it’s also not the school lunch programs fault.  when the government doesn’t invest in better quality ingredients there is only so much you can do to create 600 lunches with a budget of $3.00 per lunch.

each day this week i’m going to try and create a yummy lunch with all items that are available to students and staff who get the hot lunch.  all items you see on my plate can be recreated by the average student.

so what was for lunch today?……………..cheese pizza with a side salad

meatless monday — “lets do dinner!!! IV”

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october i have declared is the beginning of soup season.  for the latest “lets do dinner!!!” dinner party i created an apple-butternut squash soup.  i am one of those cooks that finds a recipe and then never follows it.  that was the situation when creating this soup.  i had never made an apple-butternut squash soup before.  when purchasing the ingredients i strictly followed the recipe, however things began to change the instant the ingredients were brought into the kitchen.

first of all i don’t think the editors of that recipe proof read their ingredients list.  the list said 1 1/2 lbs of apples peeled and chopped and 2 butternut squash equaling 5lbs peeled and chopped.  at first i thought this seemed like a lot but figured i’d be pureeing it so i went with it.  1 1/2 lbs of apples peeled and chopped and 5 pounds of butternut squash peeled and chopped later i realized the recipe was WRONG!  and the funny part is the serving amount on it said 12 appetizer servings…..for who?  king kong?!

1 1/2 lbs of apples….check

ever tried to cut up a butternut squash before?  it’s a bitch and that’s the nice way of putting it.  but i do have a trick for you……heat them up on low heat in the oven for about 15 minutes, they then cut like butter.  once i realized the recipe was wrong i threw it out the window and started throwing in anything that seemed like fall into the pot….pumpkin beer, apple cider, curry powder.  purred with a tartine topped with goat cheese and dinner was served.

fall in the form of soup

to join in on this soup season kick-off were my friends ingrid and ray.  chowing down on chive-horseradish bread and wine a-flowing  the topics of conversation included…..what muscican would you want to have over for dinner? (i said james taylor), what famous person would you have over for dinner?  which led to a debate on how some people would be better to go out to eat while others were ideal to have at home, example brain williams would be ideal to come to you house while bill clinton you’d probably want to go out with.

very hungry friends

chive-horseradish bread oh so yummy

to end the fall themed meal i created a chocolate-pecan pie.  what is more fall than pecans and honestly adding chocolate to any dessert is usually a very good idea!

might have eaten the rest of this pie for breakfast

a little side note on this meal.  ingrid and ray weren’t the only ones who got to enjoy it.  at work i was telling the story of cutting up the 6 1/2 pounds of ingredients.  the ladies got all excited about the soup.  so on wednesday i brought in the leftovers.  while the kidos might have been served chicken poppers the lunch ladies were chowing down on apple-butternut squash soup topped with goat cheese.

RECIPE:  APPLE-BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP

5 gala apples — peeled and chopped

1 large butternut squash — peeled and chopped

1/2 cup onion — diced

3 TBSP olive oil

2 TBSP curry powder

2 cups vegetable broth

1 cup apple cider

1 bottle pumpkin beer

* in a large stock pot sautee onion in olive oil  with curry powder till golden brown.  add apples and butternut squash mix throughly, add in vegetable broth, cider and beer, bring to a boil.  simmer mixture for 20-30 minutes, until butternut squash is soft.  transfer mixture to a food processor or use a hand held processor to puree mixture.  puree till smooth or leave slightly chunky, its your own personal  taste.  top soup with goat cheese and or tartines.

meatless monday — creamy tomato pasta

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can’t go wrong with a bowl of pasta

despite the fact that it’s now october and we have had freezing temperatures, dad’s garden just keeps chugging out tomatoes.  for meatless monday i decided to create a creamy tomato sauce to use up the giant bowl of tomatoes i have.  first i sautéed tomatoes, garlic, onions, and red peppers in olive oil.  while that was sauteing i sent the noodles to boiling.  for a change and to use up the box of random lasagna noodles i broke up the lasagna noodles real small to create a more eatable noodle.  once all was sautéed and boiled i tossed them together.  to get a quick and tad bit healthier cream sauce the secret is goat cheese. crumble goat cheese into the hot pasta and viola cream sauce.  not bad for using up a lot of leftovers.

the guber burger

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what do i like on my cheeseburger?  peanut butter.  oh yes i said peanut butter.  where did i come up with this crazy idea.  one place ….. the wheel inn – drive in in sedalia, mo, home of the guber burger.  the guber burger is essential a basic cheeseburger topped with lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard, mayo and peanut butter. as a kid i used to think this was disgusting but then some peanut butter accidentally got on one of my cheeseburgers when we were eating there and i became a convert.  i even have a tee shirt to illustrate my love of the guber burger.

super fan of the guber burger

dad the other night fired up the grill for homemade hamburgers and as mom was pulling out all the items for burger toppings i headed right into the pantry and got the jar of peanut butter, declaring “i’m making a guber burger!”  although it wasn’t as good as the wheel inn- drive in, it was still a pretty damn good guber burger!

my homemade guber burger

pumpkin-rosemary turkey

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hello fall!  hello crock pot you ol’friend!  fall is upon us and i have decided saturdays are going to be my crock pot day. to kick off the crock pot season i roasted a turkey breast on saturday.  aided by pumpkin beer and some rosemary i made a very yummy turkey breast.

the bird

along with it was of course mashed potatoes, carrots that were in the crock pot, and cornbread stuffing.

mmmmmmmmmmm

to help me eat this feast were the parental units.  dad brought wine and mom brought dessert.

hosting the parents

mom brought the last summer batch of homemade ice cream for dessert.  topping choices including Hershey’s chocolate syrup and strawberries and of course we had to eat them out of sundae dishes.

goodbye summer, hello fall

RECIPE:  PUMPKIN-ROSEMARY TURKEY

3-4 lb turkey breast

2 bottles of pumpkin beer (i reccommend o’fallon pumpkin ale)

2 TBSP honey

1/4 cup mustard bbq sauce

3 TBSP rosemary

1 apple sliced

1 onion quartered

4 cloves of garlic

1 1/2 cup baby carrots

*spray the crock pot with non-stick spray.  wash off turkey breast in cool water and place in crock pot.  add onion, apples, garlic, and carrots to crock pot.  in a bowl mix together beer, honey, and bbq sauce, pour over turkey and vegetables. sprinkle rosemary on top of items in crock pot.  slow cook for 5-6 hours on low.

meatless monday — beans and greens tacos

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so this monday was supposed to have been one on my “lets do dinner!!!” parties but do to various schedule changes and me being tired from being out of town all weekend i canceled it.  however one thing i do believe in is that you should cook for yourself like you would cook for others.  meaning i still cooked up a hell of a meatless feast.

on the menu:  beans and greens tacos, mexican millet, mango-cucumber salsa and for dessert mint-chocolate chip cookies

can’t go wrong when goat cheese is on the menu

the beans and greens taco was good.  its sautéed spinach, red onions and beans topped with goat cheese.  although i actually prefer a taco i make of fried potatoes, onions, beans and topped with goat cheese better i decided.  the mango-cucumber salsa on the other hand was about the best salsa i’ve ever made!  i think what made it better than times i’ve attempted in the past was that i got a mini-food processors so it had that true salsa quality to it.  i may have just put it on everything for the rest of the week. i’ve never made millet before.  its a type of rice high in iron.  sort of a cross between couscous and rice.  i liked it though i’m not quite sure i cooked it long enough, it seemed to have a slight crunch to it.

mexican millet

true story about the mint-chocolate chip cookies.  the recipe makes about 2 dozen.  i put one dozen into the cookie jar and froze the other dozen.  everyday when i got home from work this week i’d eat about 2 or 3 or sometimes 4 cookies for a snack.  on friday i came home, told myself i was only allowed 2 cookies, reached my hand in the cookie jar and found there were only 2 cookies left.  it was so sad and at the same time a startling fact i ate a dozen cookies in a week!!

i probably could have eaten the whole 2 dozen

RECIPE:  MANGO-CUCUMBER SALSA

1 mango – chopped

1 8oz can of chuck pineapple – juice drained

1/2 cup cucumber -chopped

1/2 cup tomato – chopped

1/4 cup red pepper – chopped

1 TBSP green onion – chopped

1 TBSP cilantro

1 lime – juice from

1 jalapeno – seeded and chopped

*place all ingredients EXCEPT for cilantro and green onion into a food processor.  process on high with a knife blade till a chunky salsa emerges.  place salsa into bowl and stir in cilantro and green onion.  chill salsa for 4-6 hours to allow flavors to marinate.

meatless monday — veggie burrito

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at the last “lets do dinner!!!”  jessie brought be some tomatillos from her garden.  this of course is the main ingredient for salsa verde aka the green salsa.  i contemplated doing something else with them but how can you pass up homemade salsa verde.

jessie’s tomatillos

salsa verde is so easy, chop up tomatillos, garlic, white onion, jalapeno,  throw in some cilantro and sugar and viola….salsa verde.

now what to do with the salsa verde????

deciding what to do with the salsa verde turned out to be the more difficult part of the dinner.  just it alone wouldn’t be enough dinner, enchiladas seemed to heavy so i thought why not veggie burritos topped with the salsa verde.  first i sautéed mushrooms, zucchini, onions and green peppers then cooked them in taco seasoning.  the tortillas were then filled with a little bit of refried beans and a big spoonful of my taco veggies. the  burritos were rolled up and topped with salsa verde, tomato wedges and cheese.  i love how one vegetable inspired a whole impromptu meatless monday meal.  thanks jessie!!!

i do love me some burritos

meatless monday — lets do dinner!!!! III

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you can really take any meal and turn it into a vegetarian meal.  sometimes you just got to get a little creative to do it.  when planning meals for september’s “lets do dinner” nights i really wanted to do chicago style hot dogs.  so why not just do them with soy dogs was my thought!  on the menu:  chicago style soy dogs, vegan baked beans, homemade garlic french fries, and vegan blueberry brownies.

load up my plate please

probably should have started with desert first

the guest list included my friend jessie (aka the lady i refer to as my other big sis) her husband jason and my friend elise.  topics of conversation included……foods we are repulsed by, the odd social aspects of facebook, our deep love of the tv show parks and rec, and the way to grow supper hot peppers.

ready to eat

regional hotdogs i find interesting, mainly because missouri, i don’t think has one.  i’m personally a big fan of hotdogs that have coleslaw on top of them.  i think that is considered a memphis dog.  how do areas get this special hotdogs?  i think i need to create one for springfield.  so what is on a chicago dog?   dill pickle, tomato, onions, peppers, relish and mustard and of course the buns have to have poppy-seed on them.

poppyseeded buns

since we were eating chicago themed food i decided the only way to enjoy my brew was in a stein of the chicago beer “old style.”

me and my giant stein

what is up next for “lets do dinner!!!”?  mexican!  i’m already on a quest for millet.

RECIPE:  GARLIC FRENCH FRIES

SERVES 6

5-6 small-medium potatoes (washed and leave skins on)

4 TBSP canola oil

3 TBSP sea salt

2 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp black pepper

* cut the potatoes in half length wise.  then slice each potato half into 1/8 inch wedges.  place the wedges into cold water, this will prevent the potatoes from turning brown.

*heat oil in a large skillet over medium-medium-high heat.  as oil is heating mix together sea salt, garlic powder, oregano, and pepper into a small bowl.

*before adding the potatoes to the oil make sure you get as much water off of them as possible.  i suggest placing small handfuls into a towel to dry off.  this will make them cook faster and be crisper.  the key also to frying….hot oil and not over crowding in the skillet. when frying the potatoes will puff and once they are brown they are done.

*as you take potatoes out of the oil toss them with the sea salt-garlic mixture.  serve with ranch dressing!

dorito wednesday

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“is today free chip day?!”

—–“the chips aren’t free but if you want them for your veggie then you can have them”

“YES! its free chip day!!!”

at the middle school level one wednesday a month is “dorito wednesday” or as the kids call it “FREE CHIP DAY.”  the technicalities of this are that doritos are made of corn thus they can be considered a vegetable choice.  at the high school level free chip day exists every monday.  now granted we are only allowed to sell reduced fat and baked potato chips and these chips are offered everyday for purchase.

the first dorito wednesday that happened we kind of forgot about it at the last minute.  the extra rack we fill full of bags of doritos hadn’t been put together so we just kind of pretended it wasn’t happening.  the only kids who asked about it were special ed and frankly i like those kids any ways so i let them get their bags of chips. mr ingalsbe, the 8th grade algebra teacher was also wise that it was free chip day.  the only lunch mr ingalsbe purchases is a coney dog. coney dog day always exists on free chip.  i let him have chips because i’m always trying to win ingalsbe over.  he has yet to eat a single breakfast we’ve made for him.

another experiment with the doritos happened this week, by pure accident.  we just forgot to put out the normal snack rack that has all the chips on it.  it wasn’t until the 7th grade lunch that i realized it wasn’t there.  out of almost 300 kids no one had asked about it.  since the hadn’t asked i decided to see how long it would take them to notice. only one 8th grade boy wanted to know where the chips were.  i think this means…..out of sight out of mind.  they only buy the snacks because they are offered, don’t offer them they don’t care.

the part that makes us all dread dorito wednesday now is the new federal guidelines.  in an effort to get kids to eat more fruits and veggies the new guidelines say that a meal does not have to include an entree (main dish).  a meal can be a combination of side items, 2 fruits and a milk, 2 veggies and a fruit, etc, etc.  we have yet to really promote this option.  can you guess why?  oh you want 2 bags of dortios and a slice of pizza ok that’s a meal.  you want 2 bags of doritos and an apple ok good to go.  all we would be serving is doritos.  i like what michelle obama is trying to do with revamping the guidelines for school meals, but until the government tells lobbyists that doritos aren’t vegetables even if they have corn in them or that tater tots aren’t a vegetable because they are made of potatos, the healthy options for kids at school have not changed at all.