Travel Plans

I, as evidenced by this blog, am a planner.  I don't know if this is a hardwired trait or a learned response.  Nature or nurture as it were.  I do know that there is an abundance of bad food available and why on this sweet earth would anyone want to, by choice, eat bad food?  I also know that bad food, at least for me, seems to be, oh so, so much more readily available than that which is of good quality, nutritious, and delicious.  So I plan.

As a planner, and a person who particularly does not like to waste, food inventory and meal planning have become an almost second nature to me.  Ask for something out of the fridge and both males in my house simply stare, vacantly, into the bright cool light of the refrigerator.  They both seem somewhat stupefied by turning raw ingredients into, dinner.  And these are both highly intelligent males.  So I get it. My brain, for whatever reason, works differently. It is what it is.

So prior to leaving on the Great American Road-trip, I consulted Tripit and learned our flight was due to arrive home around mid afternoon and wouldn't it be great if I could have something ready to pull out of the freezer for suppa.  Also I had a mess of veggies from the following week that I wanted to put to good use, in addition to the Tomato Butter Sauce from Food 52.

Call it finding joy in the small stuff, but I get great pleasure out of emptying a dishwasher full of tupperware.  That is a sure indication that I have used up all of our PlannedOvers.  It is amplified when leaving for a trip to know that not only have you used up all of the produce in the house, a delicious and easy part of a meal awaits your return.

I found myself with some roasted squash, roasted veggies, caramalized onions, and the tomato sauce.

All components went into a bowl and a few olives and a crumble of Goat cheese rounded things out nicely, and into the freezer to await our return.  It might seem like a lot of planning to have your dinner decided for the day of your return before you even go onto your trip.  And it is.  But the reward.  Nothing can ever replace the calming knowledge, as I wait on a plane that will land 2 hours after it's scheduled arrival time, that I have something delicious waiting for me at home.  And planning for the delay in travel, is a plan that will bring you great serenty.

Happy Eating!

Good Old Arizona Road Trip Part 2

Day Four:  A beautiful sunrise met us this morning and we decided, based on my aversion to heights and ledges, to split up and see seperate areas.=. The guys headed on a four mile hike along Bright Angel Trail and I took the 9 mile Rim Trail from the Village to Hermits Rest.  Majestic views were had by all and we all slept quite well.  

Day Five: We started the day with the obligatory photo “On the Corner of Winslow, Arizona” complete with the song playing on the radio as we made our way down the road, for a long stretch of driving through the Painted Desert loop with a stop in The Petrified National Forest, ending in Globe Arizona at The Dream Manor Inn.

Day Six:  We set out early for another day with lots of miles to cover, with our first stop in Oracle, Arizona to visit Biosphere 2, which was in one word, amazing.   The original purpose behind biosphere was to create a closed environment in which 8 people were sealed for a year to live.  It is now owned by the University of Arizona and used as a control to test all kinds of potential environmental factors. Leaving we headed southwest to Tombstone with all of the necessary stops like the OK Corral and Big Nose Kate’s .  We ended the long day of driving, coming full circle for 2 restful days in Phoenix.

All told we traveled 1300 miles and I can honestly say that I have never, in all of my travels, been anywhere quite like Arizona where a 25 minute drive can wholly and completely change the scenery that surrounds you.  I am again reminded that while travel abroad is wonderful, there are many amazingly exquisitely places to visit in this great country as well.

Good Old American Arizona Road Trip-Part One

PlannedOvers is taking a break this week for a good old fashioned road trip.  It all began long, long ago, well actually about two years ago when the wee one, who by the way is not so wee anymore these days, mentioned a desire to visit the Grand Canyon.  Being the planny people that we are, wheels were set in motion and the road trip planning began.  Now that we have embarked on this journey, not only is it the first time for wee out west, it’s also, shockingly, his first ever road trip.

Our journey....

Day One:  Early, early flight from the east coast puts us in the 108 degree Phoenix at noontime where we pick up our rental and head on to scenic 89A.  A quick google search finds a Trader Joe’s in Prescott where we stock up on snacks and, of course, vino.  Overnight at the Hilton in Sedona, where we are all too beat, sadly to check out the planned dining destination, Javelina Cantina, opting instead to eat on property at Oak Canyon Grille.  A complimentary wine tasting featuring Girard Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Noir as well as a lovely selection of cheeses(yeah Cheese!!! Including cambozola - a most lovely marriage of Camembert and Gorgonzola, really, need I say more??? ) greeted us which we sampled before seating.  Despite a somewhat limited menu, we found the staff to be very friendly and knowledgeable and the food decent.  We were all out for the count at 9pm.

Day Two:  Upon the recommendation of the restaurant manager we stopped by Indian Gardens to gather supplies for a picnic at Slide Rock Park.  While waiting on our sandwiches we overheard that the park was full and not allowing additional cars or visitors at the current time.  The very helpful staff at Indian Gardens pointed us directly across the street where we could access the river, less crowded and free.  They braved VERY cold water and climbed the rocks downstream until out of sight returning a little battered and WET.  A quick dry on the rocks and down the road to another scenic spot to picnic on the way to Flagstaff.  Little America Hotel, is as it’s moniker suggests, is just that, a little slice of Americana and exactly what we were envisioning when planning this trip.  The two story, four building, accommodations, complete with pool, ginormous gift shop, volleyball, and (!) horseshoe pits was perfect for our overnight stay.  We opted for ease to eat on property again and the Western Gold Steakhouse, which scored high in convenience and friendliness but not so high on everything else dinner should be.  Especially the apple pie.

Day Three:  While the wee one slumbered we rose early for coffee and to explore.  A sign pointing to a nature trail led to a lovely, highly unexpected,  3+ mile hike through the woods owned by and adjacent to the Little America Hotel property.  On the agenda for today Meteor Crater and while not the largest meteor crater on earth, it boasts being the most well preserved

Some 50,000 years long, long ago, a meteor traveling 26,000 miles per hour (to put THAT into perspective - a flight from New York to LA traveling at that speed would take 5 minutes!!!) struck the earth leaving an indentation that today is nearly one mile across, 2.4 miles in circumference and more than 550 feet deep. Pretty impressive.  Our plan is to see as much of the scenic beauty that Arizona has to offer so our drive will take us down 180 and a quick stop at Wildflower Bread supplied us with provisions for our journey.  As this journey was planned many, many months out, we are able to stay on property and El Tovar Hotel will be our home for the next two nights, and we and the wee one rally and we make it to the Dining Room at El Tovar, gracious service, the very short commute to dine, and good conversation placate the high for what you are getting prices in the dining room.  There is something to be said that we are in the middle of practically nowhere, in the desert no less, and I am eating grilled salmon....but I digress.  As a side note, as I am writing this on day 5, after many, many, many days of my only protein choice being salmon, I think, no scratch that, I am pretty sure it will be a few months before, I will find myself “in the 

 mood.”

Stay tuned for the rest of our Amazing Americana Adventure!!!

Eggplant and Mush?

While I wholeheartedly realize that this post is pretty specific and most likely not for very many, and my darling husband actually accused me of posting it for the sole purpose of stating right out loud that I make my own tofu.  But it's not.  Really.  If you are one of the few who does make your own tofu, you will know that after soaking the beans, and grinding them, by whichever method you choose, (personally I use a SoyQuick) you know that upon completion of the soy milk making process you are left over with what I guess basically equates to ground soybeans.  And for years, I never knew just quite what to do with this, for lack of a more culinary correct term, mush.  And I confess, right here and right now, for years I simply washed this straight on down the drain.  But in the spirit of the PlannedOver lifestyle, no waste great taste, I decided NO MORE.  I would find something that could put this mush to good use.

My CSA box was full of eggplant so that seemed a reasonable place to start, and of course there is always an abundance of spinach to be found, and the creamy whiteness of the mush called to mind ricotta, and thus, eggplant Parmesan was born.

I mixed the mush with sauteed spinach with garlic, Parmesan cheese and an egg to bind.

See, it sort of resembles ricotta

Next I dredged my sliced eggplant in an egg bath and into bread crumbs.  I stacked my breaded eggplant on a sheet pan topped with spinach mixture, another eggplant and, of course, cheese.

Into a 350 oven for 40 minutes and finish with a touch of red sauce aka gravy.  Dinners done!

So if you do not, at this current juncture, make your own - or for that matter even eat it at all- tofu.  You can always take your PlannedOver spinach, and your abundance of summertime eggplant and create a delicious, healthy and satisfying Eggplant Parm!

Happy Eating!!!

Puree and Butter

Pumpkin in July you say?  Well I received a pie pumpkin in my CSA and was told that it needed to be cooked sooner rather than later as it did not have a very long, or stable shelf life. And it certainly wouldn't be very plannedovery of me to allow that to happen, so into the oven my seed-scooped halved pumpkin promptly went.  I figured I could use some in a Gluten free almond "bread" recipe made popular by Dr. Davis in his book and blog Wheat Belly.  Almond four, in general was a new experience for me and the notion of baking with a nut "flour" all together foreign. The "bread" itself is quite crumbly it's not really suitable for a sandwich, nor does it really resemble bread made from wheat.  However it is quite good* and an excellent vehicle for butter when toasted!  Because, really, isn't that the whole very point of bread?? To schmear it with some delicious, salty creamy butter?  Well maybe butter is not the whole point, but butter does make pretty much everything better.  Take for example this little doozy of a recipe sent to me courtesy of Rebecca along with my CSA contents list.  Tomato Sauce with Onion and Butter. I'm not quite sure, given the abundance of tomatoes currently upon my counter, that anything has sounded, more simple, yet so delicious.   While I've not yet made this, the reviews alone have put it on the very tippy top of the to do list.  Tis the season for tomatoes, and I think this recipe will quite nicely utilize my abundant supply and be an excellent base for a future Planned Over. Back to butter in a bit

An hour after roasting in a 350 oven, my pumpkin emerges, smelling up the house quite like it is fall.  But fall it is not.  However, pumpkin did I have so pumpkin was on the menu.  Fortunately for me, there is not a vegetable that I have encountered that is not equally, if not superior when it has spent a spin in the Vita-mix or Cuisinart. I have long teased with my mother that as a second child I never got enough baby food which has spawned my love affair with all things pureed.  Chickpeas, cauliflower, carrots, beets all heavenly when able to be eaten with a spoon.

I decided to make a spin on shrimp and grits with cumin and smoked paprika scented pumpkin puree.  Sauteed a mess of garlic, red peppers, onion and a little butter and white wine.  Add the shrimp for a few minutes at the end and pour over warmed pumpkin puree.  I think it just might beat out the grits!

Happy eating!

*If you haven't eaten bread in several months, I can tell you wholeheartedly, it is quite profoundly delicious toasted with butter. 

Chocolate Chips and Chicken Carcases

A recent rainy Saturday found me in the midst of all kinds of projects in the kitchen.  First and foremost importantly was to make, for my darling husband, in honor of his birthday, his absolutely favorite cookie of late Chewy Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies.  To say he is fond of these cookies is likening my interest in food as passing.  He like them.  A lot.  I figured if I was going to bake cookies, I might as well make a whole boat load of cookies. And I did.  Seven dozen to be precise.  And seven dozen cookies got me two things, a happy husband, and an extended period of time in the kitchen while they were baking, cooling and waiting to be baked. So why not make stock.

Making stock is really a lost art form as most people tend to these days prefer quicker cuts of boneless meat.  It's also a tendency to think of making stock as some antiquated laborious process that really it's just not.  The thing about stock is that yes, it IS time consuming, but not YOUR time.  I found myself recently with a late evening and a shopping list to Costco, to which was promptly added, a rotisserie chicken for supper that evening.  Which found me the following day with a picked over cooked chicken and the plans of slowly simmered stock soon to follow.    Throw your carcass into a pot with some aromatic veggies and herbs cover it all with water over a low flame, and wait.  For hours.  On end.  Active time of max 10 minutes, hours of a delicious smelling house and a final product that is leaps and bounds above what you can buy in a store. 

In the beginning

At the end

I also happened that very day to have a mess of roasted squash and eggplant from my CSA.  I thought I had roasted just about everything, but had never once even thought about putting summer squash into the oven to roast.  But now I have, and I will continue to do so, and not only when I am receiving an abundance of squash.  I chopped up onions, garlic, red pepper, and zucchini and yellow squash, - tossed it with some olive oil, salt and freshly ground pepper and put it in a 425 oven for 20 minutes.  To that I added some chopped eggplant and roasted for an additional 20-25 minutes.

Quite heavenly on it's own, it became even more spectacular in it's PlannedOver form.  I made a roux with flour and butter and to that added some of the long simmered chicken stock and a touch of milk.  Boiled pasta and finely chopped the PlannedOver roasted squash.  Drained pasta and veggies were all added to the pot of sauce and tossed to coat.  Sprinkled with, of course, a dusting of Parmesan cheese.

Try your hand at making a stock, the 10 minutes of active work you have in it will pay you dividends of rewards in taste.  And you will have plenty of time to whip up a batch of cookies!

Happy Eating!

Re-cobbled Cobbler

It is hard for me to believe I am writing this, let alone that I would ever in a bazillion years, ever find myself with the need to generate a Planned Over for any type of cobbler.  You see around my house there are two.  One of which is 15 years old and can eat his weight in, well lets be realistic, just about anything he puts his mind to.  I had no idea that male adolecents could eat as much as they do.  Did my boyfriend at the age of 15 hide this from me?  It never fails to boggle my mind when he makes himself a full on sandwich for a snack 15 minutes before dinner.  And that's even when he LIKES what I am making.  The second one at home loves cobbler.  Loves it.  The man has not met a fruit that to his liking, was not thoroughly enhanced with some flour, sugar, butter and a brief stint in a hot oven. 

It all began innocently enough.  Wanting cobbler but realizing that I was up to my eyeballs in the remainder of dinner prep, the husband took over mid recipe.  Miscommunication ensued.  I thought he understood that I had already added the sugar to the FRUIT, and he heard I had added ALL of the sugar required for the recipe.  Needless to say, after their first partially eaten servings,  neither of my cobbler eating males was having any more of this particular dish. 

So here we are, cobbler sans sugar coupled with a desire for variety and my unwillingness to throw out perfectly good food, and the re-cobbled Cobbler is born.

I took the remainder of the PlannedOver cobbler and chopped it. 

To that I added some fruit from the freezer, I had raspberries, blueberries and a few blackberries on hand, so in they went.  To add moisture, melted vanilla ice cream, and soy milk french vanilla creamer that found its way into my fridge following some houseguests.  I am certain that milk with a little vanilla extract would work equally well. 

Next I needed some body and binding.  I added a beaten egg and some crumbs.  I figured if you add bread crumbs to a crab cake to help it bind why not try graham cracker crumbs here.  It was a soupy mess, not worthy of a picture, but 45 minutes at 350 produced a nice crust with a soft, moist interior.  Served with a scoop of vanilla, this time around, not a leftover to be found!

Happy Eating!