Candace Walsh

a la mama

Homemade ketchup recipe from Peas of Mind

November 4th, 2009

I just got this awesome recipe from Tami at Peas of Mind, a company that makes healthy frozen vegetable fries, among other things.

When I was growing up, it was a big joke that ketchup was considered a vegetable by the Reagan administration. However, this ketchup recipe is indeed made up of vegetables, along with seasonings. My kids go through a ton of it, which makes me feel better about forgetting to stick something green on their plates now and then.

Rustic Homemade Ketchup

½ a large onion, red or white, diced, about 1 cup

1 teaspoons olive oil

½ teaspoons salt

2 lbs tomatoes, preferably Roma, chopped (about 5.5 cups), 10-12 count

Small pinch of ground cloves

Pinch of black pepper

2 tablespoons tomato paste

4 teaspoons brown sugar

3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

In a large skillet or sauté pan over medium heat, sauté the onion with the oil and ¼ teaspoon of the salt until the onion becomes soft, translucent and is just starting to brown, 8-10 minutes. Add the tomatoes, cloves, black pepper and remaining ¼ teaspoon of salt and stir to combine. Turn the heat up to high, cover and bring to a boil.

Once it’s boiling, remove the lid and boil the mixture on medium-high for 12-15 minutes, stirring about once per minute to avoid scorching. The mixture should have lost a good bit of moisture and become sticky on the surface of the pan. If not, continue cooking.

When the liquid has reduced and the mixture is sticky, turn off the heat. Add the tomato paste, brown sugar and vinegar and stir thoroughly to combine. If using whole cloves, fish them out.

Puree in a food processor or blender for at least 2 minutes and you have ketchup!

Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to seven days or freeze.

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chicken, little

February 12th, 2009

So, I’ve really been trying to stretch my grocery dollar. I can be guilty of spending more on recipe ingredients than I would on going out to a restaurant. Lately I’ve been trying to see how little I can spend, and I’ve even come back to clipping an old college love, coupons. 

Lately, I buy one package of boneless chicken thighs and make two dinners out of them. You can also use chicken breasts, or tofu. I know chicken breasts are more popular, but I prefer the moistness and tenderness of dark meat.

Saturday, we braised the chicken in a mixture of chicken broth and a can of diced tomatoes, with liberal use of dried basil, oregano, and black pepper. We ate it over brown basmati rice with wilted baby spinach, yum!

Sunday, we marinated the chicken in a mixture of peanut butter, soy sauce, green onions, chicken broth, and lemon juice. Then, we braised the chicken in the sauce and had it over jasmine rice with…the rest of the spinach. 

The week before, we had chicken breasts provencale-style, with roasted onions, olives, and roasted fresh tomatoes, with lots of garlic and broth…over barley, with baby green salad on the side.

I imagine I will get sick of chicken breasts at some point, but I’m not looking forward to that day.

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feel like making quinoa!

January 8th, 2009

what are your favorite recipes?

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Yes, the turkey does fit in the roasting pan, honey.

November 25th, 2008

I’ve redeemed myself, I think, by making pancakes for dinner. I am very popular right now. The kids got to festoon them with whipped cream and maple syrup. I also made them Arthur mac n cheese. I was crankymom before that, demanding that they keep their bedroom from turning into a disaster zone before the holiday. We actually made some progress with thinning out their dense toy stashes–they agreed to let me put many of them in a big sack in the garage. Not to donate them, mind you. But meanwhile, lately Goodwill doesn’t even want kids’ toys, nor did the other thrift shop that I tried. What do you do? I imagine a shelter, maybe? I think things have gotten a lot more complicated since unsafe toys were outed.

So here’s my Thanksgiving menu:

Spinach, red pepper, goat cheese, pinon nut salad
Pancetta-Sage Turkey with Pancetta-Sage Gravy
Artichoke, Sausage, And Parmesan Cheese Stuffing
Chestnut, Bacon, Dried Apple, And Corn Bread Dressing
Sesame-Onion Crescent Rolls
Green Bean Casserole (you know the one–fried onions on top)
Mashed Potatoes
Baked Sweet Potato Wedges
Apple Streusel Pie

People are also bringing crudité, a pumpkin pie, pumpkin cheesecake, a parsnip casserole, and bevvies.

We’re hosting 14 peeps, including four kids. Two people are only coming for “tea and pudding,” and those would be the British ones. I love British-isms.

I am seriously feeling cowed by it all, but I know it will come together. Finding fresh sage in a store would be helpful. I need 4 packages.

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Halloween Choco-loot

October 28th, 2008

I had a mad craving and ran over to the Chocolatesmith, the Mothering office’s nearest and dearest den of vice: www.chocolatesmith.com. Yes, them. They are our Second Street Studios neighbors. I totally gobbled up a dark chocolate-covered peanut butter mini bar…which reminds me of last year, when I bought a bag of Reese’s Peanut Butter cups as Halloween giveaway candy…because I didn’t like them and wouldn’t eat any. Well, guess what? I put them in the freezer to keep them fresh-ish, and one PMSy night I ate one. Well, I realized I liked frozen peanut butter cups…and so here I am, celebrating that anniversary of sorts. 

Yesterday I bought a bag of mini Snickers, because they totally gag me. I mean, no doubt. And I am not even going to try them. Just in case. 

Hey, if you are wondering about my other favorite organic chocolate source, it’s Sjaaks. I love their wee chocolate-covered peanut butter bites…and so did the entire Mothering office! The ones who aren’t into the PB thing dug the orange-flavored dark chocolate. 

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addictive salad

October 10th, 2008

Everyone’s been loving it. I’m not exactly a big salad person, but I eat this one as if it’s a big bowl of ziti. Incidentally, it tastes great with ziti. Or Shirl’s lasagna (which is made with artichoke pasta, divine).  

Spinach, Roasted Red Pepper, Goat Cheese and Pinon Nut Salad (with optional chicken)

Big bag o’ spinach

jar of roasted red peppers, drained and sliced

(a nice extra: a caramelized roasted onion) 

2 T. crumbled goat cheese

handful of pinon nuts (preferably toasted)

just-cooked chicken tenderloins (about 1/4 lb)

1 T. each of balsamic vinegar and olive oil

squirt of honey or agave nectar

Make the dressing: put both the olive oil and balsamic in a small bowl, add the honey or nectar, and briskly whisk with a fork.

Add it to the spinach and toss. Add the cheese, nuts, chicken, and peppers, and give it all a good stir. It can work as a meal or a side, depending on the portion.

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if (x) mad dash to the health food store

October 10th, 2008

where x = (I was overcome and found myself on a)

then y = seventy-some bucks deducted from my checking account, and z=satisfaction that comes from eating the foods that make my kapha-pitta body sing.

I have been so bad over the last few months. I am old enough to know that if I eat certain foods, my body purrs like a performance machine. If I eat certain other ones, I am a bloated, backfiring jalopy. Wheat is not my friend. My body loves iron, but if I have more than a little beef, I get all backed up. Cheese? Definitely not the kind that melts in burritos. One spoon of sour cream or ice cream can shut me down instantaneously. But it’s not lactose intolerance across the board. I’m actually more okay with say, a shmear of Brillat- Savarin or St. André than shredded bag cheddar. I could go on and on. Anyway, I’m doing a bit of a “I give up, you’re right, I want to come home to you, black beans, red lentils, chard, kale, acorn squash, eggs and millet toast…” because I want to feel awesome again. Not logy and puffy!

I’m refocusing on ayurvedic guidelines for my kapha-pitta constitution, but also kind of checking out the eating by blood type thing…very loosely…as soon as I feel like something is too restrictive and limiting, I’m so turned off. But, happily, most of the foods on my ayurvedic list are the ones I like best, and the no-nos are the ones I can do without, but once told myself I should like, because my parents did, or because, like olives, they seemed sophisticated (and I do like olives, after I got over the initial ick–especially Nicoise olives. But I digress). 

So, long story short, I ate millet and red lentils (with shallots and broccoli) last night, and some steamed acorn squash. I have chard in the fridge, as well as a new jar of Udo’s Blend Healthy Fast Food. According to my blood type guideline, I’d be best off as a vegetarian, and to be honest, I am not feeling much need for meat, chicken, fish at the moment…it’ll be there. For breakfast, I had an egg poached in Imagine Bistro black bean bisque, with millet bread toast, and spicy roasted pumpkin seeds sprinkled on top. 

The paradigm shift: Laura and I were at Annapurna Wednesday night, and I ordered the special, half a roasted acorn squash loaded up with kitchari, with vegan gravy on the side. Total earthy autumn yum. 

The kids are doing extemporaneous yoga in the hallway. Honorée needs to work on her yoga teacher affect…she’s being a bit of a terror. Must intervene.

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random top 3

September 22nd, 2008

1. J-41 Eco Design Shoe Line, the Madrid…

J-41 Madrid

J-41 Madrid

Recycled elastic and rubber outsoles, plus satin insets, make this vegan shoe a bit more eco than your average criss-cross Mary Jane. I’ve already gone dancing in them, and worn them to work, and I love their girliness/sturdiness combo. 

2. Mixed Emotions Card Deck

This deck, which features a card for most any emotion you could ever have, helps to identify how you feel, and gives you opportunities to shift your mood, open up a conversation, and get more deeply fluent in emotional intelligence. I am also looking forward to introducing it to my kids. Right now Nathaniel feels extremely distressed if I give him any kind of correction, and maybe working with these cards will open that up to more nuanced responses on both ends. I especially like the illustrations; an idea like this could be so great, but if the illustrations were corny, it would fall flat. 

3. Laura Egley Taylor’s iced oatmeal raisin cookies.

She brought them into the office after her husband and son decided they weren’t fans. Well, I am! Two cookies worth of fandom right here. Now if I could only find a little nook to crawl into and take a nap…

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and the night time is the right time…

September 18th, 2008

to catch up? 

I got some dishes done, and put the kids to bed after reading them The Day Leo Said I Hate You by Robie Harris and Molly Bang (which is so hilarious). Leo is being a complete booger, right down to squirting toothpaste onto the toilet seat…and then he tells his mom “I hate you!” It’s really a great way to deal with the inevitable moment when your kid starts lobbing those three other little words out there…Nathaniel has moved on from that to the other worst thing he can think of to say, which is, when he is super-duper mad at me, Poo Poo MOMMY!” It is really hard not to laugh my a** off when he says that, smoke coming out of his nostrils and all. Laura and I now use that for all sorts of annoying situations. “Poo. Poo. Driver!” “Poo. Poo. DJ!” 

I made this really great easy yet impressive dinner last night: pounded chicken breasts, sauteed, and then topped with a sauce made of sliced mushrooms, marinated artichoke hearts, roasted red pepper slices, simmered in wine and a little butter. Plus, I made mashed Yukon Gold potatoes, with my special mixture swirled in: sauteed leeks and garlic simmered in chicken broth…

I am in love with the new Pedipeds boots. Favorite boy ones: The Dylans 

Fave girl ones: excuse me, POLKA-DOTTED boots! They aren’t available yet, but look like this in boot form: http://www.pediped.com/Product/ProductInfo.aspx?id=149&cid=51

They are designed to fit for a really long time (or, relatively longer than most shoes) because of the use of a special insert that you can remove to give the kids more toe room. Seriously, though–I need a pair of these boots for my very grownup size 10 tootsies.

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It’s the meatloaf that eats like a soup.

September 13th, 2008

Last night I made meatloaf in a bowl. I was supposed to go to the store and get some kind of super-comfort-foody assortment–my seasonal yen meter was wanting roasted chicken, squash, potatoes and chard–but just when I was about to make the last mile there, my daughter’s bladder became fit to burst and I also noticed that I suddenly had this painful stomach bloat problem, and in my non-stretchy jeans to boot. We peeled off and went home. I was going to change my pants and eat something. She was going to pee. We were going to get back in the car…but no…home felt better. So, I sauteed some ground beef, thawed a bag of frozen broccoli, and added it together with a huge potbellied can of lentil soup from TJ’s. It was really good! I would have loved to bake it with a big shmear of mashed potatoes on top but alas, not to be this time. I did not mind that it cost me no (new) cents.

Young Living has come out with a roll-on aromatherapy vial called Tranquility. It contains lavender, cedarwood and Roman chamomile…it’s soothing, and pretty, and petite, and portable. I’m all about it.

Honoree’s front right tooth is about to fall out, and it’s totally skewed to the side. Poor moo. She was asking me if she could stick  a small wad of white chewing gum in the space so that it wouldn’t look so funny. Um…let’s keep brainstorming. Tomorrow is her birthday pool party at the local indoor “natatorium.” I am excited because I am looking forward to going down the 2-story high twirly slide. I also need to figure out a cake plan. Buy? Make? Cupcakes? No se. Baking at high altitude just intimidates me. I used to be so intrepid at sea level. I even made a friend’s 2-tier wedding cake…I will maybe do some research today on how to offset the altitude thing.

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