Honoring the Memories

  This past Sunday was the anniversary of the day that my Mom was called home to Heaven. This year was 14 years since that day, and I was 14 years old when it happened, so this year was a little harder. September 29th has always been an emotional day, but for the past two years I've tried to celebrate my Mom, rather than grieve.

  Last year, for the first time, I thought I'd cook a special meal completely out of my Mom's cookbook, as a way to celebrate her life and one of her favorite hobbies.

  This year, I decided to do the same thing. I prepared Chicken Divan for dinner and Lemon Chess Pie for dessert. Chicken Divan (Turkey Divan in my Mom's cookbook) was actually a recipe belonging to my Grandmother, but I remember eating it all the time when I was little, so I wanted to make it. 

  It was probably only the second time I've ever cooked it, but it turned out fabulously and tasting it took me back to the kitchen table of my childhood. 

   Here's the recipe. I did use chicken instead of turkey and I substituted non-fat Greek yogurt for the mayo, and I promise you couldn't taste the difference. Greek yogurt is a wonderful and much healthier option to use in place of mayo and sour cream. 

  Mary Faust's Turkey Divan

• 1 bunch fresh broccoli, cooked and drained
• 3 cups cooked, sliced turkey
• 1 (10 oz.) can cream of chicken soup
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tsp. lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp. curry powder
• 1 cup grated cheese
• 1/2 cup soft bread crumbs

1. Place the broccoli in a layer in a buttered, ovenproof casserole. Add the sliced turkey. Blend together the soup, mayo, lemon juice and curry powder and spread it over the turkey. Sprinkle grated cheese over all, then top with the bread crumbs. Bake in a 350 degree oven for thirty minutes. 

  For dessert we had Lemon Chess Pie. I don't remember eating this too often when I was little, but I remember that it was a very popular dessert in my Mom's restaurant. I turned out very well and T and I both savored it!

Lemon Chess Pie

• 4 eggs, well beaten
• 2 cups sugar
• 1 Tbsp. flour
• 1 Tbsp. corn meal
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 2 Tbsp. grated lemon peel
• 4 Tbsp. butter or margarine, melted
• 1 8-in. pie shell, unbaked

1. Combine all the ingredients and mix well. Pour into the pie shell. Bake for 1 hour at 350 degrees. 

  Our special dinner turned out wonderfully and was a perfect celebration of my Mom! And just a little reminder, I had my Mom's cookbooks reprinted last year and still have several copies available. If you'd like to get one please contact me under the "Contact Me" tab.

Ginger and T Cook: Crispy Quinoa Sliders with Avocado and Chipotle Mayo

  I'm so happy that tonight T and I were able to cook our weekly meal together. We had planned to cook it earlier this week, but Tuesday night I was struck down with a mystery illness and spent the rest of the week on the couch and was having nothing to do with food! I'm finally beginning to feel a little better and with my appetite returning was ready for some real food!

  T selected our recipe this week and surprise, another vegetarian dish! I actually made us some yummy egg salad sandwiches for lunch today and during dinner asked T if he was feeling okay. He gave me a strange look and said yes, of course. I told him I was just checking since he hadn't eaten any meat all day. I then proclaimed, "See, it'd be easy for us to be vegetarians!" He laughed and loudly said, "No!"

  Anywho! Tonight we made Crispy Quinoa Sliders served with avocado slices and chipotle mayo. Here's a link to the recipe that we slightly modified and used. http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/09/crispy-quinoa-sliders/. 

  T and I love this site for recipes. She's very creative and fun and I want to be a blogger like her when I grow up.

  We didn't have green onions, so I just diced up some yellow onion and used cheddar slices on top of our patties, instead of shredded provolone. We made our chipotle mayo by mixing some sweet chipotle sauce into mayo.

  Here's all the ingredients mixed together.

  You definitely have to pat the mixture together really well to get everything to stick together in the skillet. Next time I might add one extra egg to help hold it together a little bit more.

  This recipe was delicious and will definitely be something we try again in the future.

Ginger and T Cook: Double Bean Quesadillas with Yummy Sauce

  This week for our cooking adventure T and I chose a new vegetarian recipe to try. I've always contemplated becoming a vegetarian and I've really had it on my mind lately, so I love trying new meat-less recipes.

  For this recipe you'll need:

• 2 cans of beans (we used black and navy)
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• Whole wheat tortillas
• 1 avocado
• 1/2 cup of plain greek yogurt
• 2 tbsp. parsley
• 1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 3-4 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and pepper

  Start by combining the avocado, greek yogurt and all other sauces and spices into the food processor. I was using fresh garlic and with my mighty strength actually managed to break my garlic press. This lead to me having to use jarred garlic that I had in the fridge and buying a new garlic press the next day. Here's the before and after pics of the yummy sauce.

  While I mixed up the sauce T rinsed the beans and then mashed them with a potato masher.

  Once your beans are mashed, melt a little butter on a hot griddle or skillet. Throw down a tortilla and layer it with cheese, the bean mixture and then some more cheese. Top it off with another tortilla. Flip it every minute or so. You'll want to make sure your tortillas are getting nice and crispy on the outside and that all the yummy goodness on the inside is getting melty. When it's done, slice it up and serve with the yummy green sauce.

Mmmmm.....goodness!

Ginger and T Cook: The Glorified BLT

Let me start by saying that eggs are not my favorite food. After a very nasty experience on a mission trip to Romania about 13 years ago (wow, that makes me feel old) I didn't eat eggs for a long time. When I do eat eggs it is usually only scrambled, and occasionally boiled. That's it! I don't do the runny, yolkie (yes I just made that word up) eggs. Nasty!

  So, our new recipe for this week was definitely a stretch for me, but I did it, and I'm proud! T and I cooked what I'll call "The Glorified BLT." It was an idea of T's, probably mainly because it involved bacon, and he's one of those people that likes runny, yolkie eggs.

  We started out with some sourdough bread fresh from our grocer's bakery, tomato slices, lettuce, avocado, pepper bacon, eggs and spicy mayo. We made the mayo by mixing some spicy chili sauce into regular mayo.

 

 

  I fried the bacon, while T made the eggs. Now let me tell y'all that T was super excited about this recipe because I got good bacon. He told me, "now we can't do this with that turkey bacon stuff that you usually buy. It's gotta be the good stuff." So, I got the good bacon. You know, the kind that actually comes from a pig. 

  T cooked the eggs by cracking them on the skillet and letting them cook on the lowest setting. Nice and slow and no flipping. When he said they were ready, but I'd noticed he hadn't flipped them and he said he wasn't going to I made a scrunchy face and moved on with my life. We then assembled the sandwiches. And.....I knew it was coming, but I was still slightly terrified. Very quickly after putting everything together the yellow gooey stuff started running everywhere. 

  Now I know you may be thinking.....I thought she said this was a BLT. Yeah....I took the pictures, but forgot to put in the "L." Oops, please forgive me. 

  I did very well with the runny, yolkie stuff and the sandwich was absolutely delicious. The combined flavors of the egg, bacon and avocado were fabulous. Give it a try!

The secret to more money and less stress

   Today I want to share with you the secret to my millions. Ok, so maybe not millions, but this little trick has definitely helped our household budget. And not only that, it has majorly cut down on a daily stressor. Can I get an amen to that?!

  Meal planning people! That's where it's at! Several months ago T and I made a vow to start having a better plan when it came to our daily dinners. I had heard a little talk about meal planning and thought I'd give it a shot. It has been a lifesaver. I no longer walk into the house after a long day, exhausted, and tell T that we're on our own for dinner. This translates into, T is having eggs and I'm having a salad. 

  We also have dramatically cut back on our trips to the grocery store. Hallelujah! Sorry to sound so excited if battling hundreds of other shoppers on a Wednesday at 5pm, when you're tired and hungry, just happens to be your absolute favorite thing to do. 

  So, here's how it goes down. T and I have perfected the 2 week meal planning. Every other week, usually on a Friday, I sit down and make up our meal plans for the next 2 weeks. I have this cute little paper that I write everything on and then hang it on the fridge. 

 

 

  As I plan every meal I look through the pantry and deep freezer to figure out what ingredients I have and what needs to be purchased. I write out a very detailed shopping list, organized by the way my grocery store is laid out. It's a shining example of my OCD at it's best. Please tell me that I'm not the only one who does this.

  

  I'll never forget one time when T and I were at the store together and we went in the door opposite of the section where I usually start and he asked, "can't we just do the list backwards?" I then looked at him like he was completely nuts and he proceeded to push the empty shopping cart all the way across the store so that we could start everything in the proper order. 

  Ok....where was I? Oh yes, meal planning.....not talking about how crazy Ginger is. 

  I only add things to the list that we need, and we're usually pretty good about sticking to it. I would say we might buy one or two things that are not on the list. They are usually chocolate chip cookies. 

  I cannot say enough good things about meal planning. It cuts back on the daily question of, "what's for dinner?" We've also noticed that we're now eating better, healthier meals. Meal planning can really help eliminate your trips to the grocery store. Because let's be honest, how many times do you go in and just get that one ingredient that you're needing for dinner?! Since we've been meal planning we only go to the store twice a month, usually on Saturday mornings before it gets insane and I start threatening to hit people with my shopping cart because they've been staring at the 15 different types of tomato sauce for 3 minutes. I would highly recommend that you give meal planning a try. If there was a company that marketed meal planning I totally just rocked the selling of their product.

Ginger and T Cook: Breakfast Style Baked Egg Rolls

  This week for our cooking adventure T and I made breakfast style baked egg rolls. We had some leftover egg roll wrappers in the fridge and T is always thinking of fantastic and fun ways to use up any leftovers we may have.

  We started with scrambling four eggs with some salsa and spinach mixed in. Through trial and error we've learned the trick to successful rolling when assembling your egg rolls. If you're using a filling that is hot, let it cool down a bit. So, after the eggs were done we set them aside while we got everything else ready.

  Set up a nice little assembly line with everything that you're going to fill your egg rolls with. We used the egg mixture, deli ham slices and shredded cheddar cheese.

  Start by layering your contents into the wrapper. You'll want to use a small amount, as too much will make it too hard to roll it up. Roll up your egg roll similar to the way you would roll a burrito. At each fold brush some egg wash onto the wrapper to help hold it together.

    Place the prepared egg rolls on a baking sheet that's been sprayed with non-stick spray. Brush some more of the egg wash onto the outside surface of the egg rolls.

  Bake the egg rolls at 375 for about 12-14 minutes. When they're done your egg rolls will not look like typical egg rolls that you'd eat at your favorite Chinese restaurant because they're not fried. They won't have the darker brown outside, but trust me, they'll still be delicious....and a lot healthier!

 

  From our kitchen to yours, enjoy!

Ginger and T Cook: Smoky Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos

  T and I have always enjoyed cooking dinner together and we love to try new recipes. T is much more adventurous when it comes to trying new dishes, but I'm really trying to branch out from my normal rut of dinner options. Don't get me wrong, I love to cook, but I tend to stick with the same things.

  A few months ago T was watching an episode of "Raising Hope" and the couple were trying to discover a new hobby that they could share together. T immediately paused the show, looks at me and proclaims, "we need a couple's hobby!" We decided that we'd pick one new recipe each week and cook it together. We've had some really great dishes, have discovered new foods, and it's been a great bonding experience for us. I thought that it'd be really fun to share our cooking adventures with you!

  In addition to trying something new, we've also been making an effort to eat one vegetarian meal for dinner each week. We thought this would be a great idea because it's not only a healthy option, but also a great way to help cut back on our grocery budget....and who's going to argue with that?!

  Last night we made our new recipe for the week and also made it a vegetarian option. T found our recipe this week, which was Smoky Sweet Potato and Black Bean Tacos. Here is a link to the recipe http://www.howsweeteats.com/2012/12/embarrassingly-easy-smoky-sweet-potato-and-black-bean-tacos/

  We made a few adjustments to the recipe because we didn't have everything. We used a different type of cheese for the topping and I didn't have adobo sauce, so we just used a little chili powder. We also tossed in some diced zucchini into the mix because one of T's coworkers gave him two huge zucchini from his garden, so we're trying to get creative with ways to use it all.

  Here's the mix in the skillet, almost ready!

 
   We used flour tortillas to make tacos with the mix and topped it with the Chipotle Lime Crema, some cilantro and fresh lime juice.

  It was an excellent dinner and T said that we definitely need to add it into our dinner rotation. That's code for, "I really like it!"

Celebrating my Mom

  Today is September 29th, a day that for the past 13 years has been a difficult day for me. Today is the day that my Mom passed away. Usually this is a day filled with sadness, tears and grieving for me. As the years have gone by I don't think that it's gotten any easier. My life has just changed and I wish that my Mom was here to experience it with me. I also think that as more time goes by it's easier to forget certain things. Lately I've been experiencing a lot of sadness because I don't remember what my Mom's physical touch felt like....things like a hug or a simple, encouraging rub on the arm. I think that it changes, but there's always a level of sadness there for me....sometimes it's just more intense.

  Because I know that this is usually a difficult day for me I told T that I wanted to try to do something to "celebrate" my Mom's life today, rather than spend the day moping. I figured that in order to celebrate her life I could do something that she enjoyed doing, and I know that something she probably enjoyed the most was COOKING! My Mom was a nurse by trade, but a cook by heart. She was always catering events, cooking meals for people who were sick, had new babies or just needed a good meal and she had a life dream to own her own restaurant. She fulfilled that dream by opening and owning her cafe for a year before losing her battle to cancer. In that time she also started writing, compiling and publishing her own cookbook. Unfortunately, she never saw the finished product, but I know that her hand was in ever step.

My Mom's Cookbook

  So, I told T that I wanted to celebrate my Mom by cooking an entire meal for us, all out of my Mom's cookbook. He thought that was a great idea, so I got busy planning a meal for us.

  You should have seen the cookbook when I first started going through it....there were tons of bookmarked meal ideas! We definitely had to narrow it down, but the finished product turned out great!

  We started our meal with a baked artichoke spread with lentil crackers and crispy bread circles.

  We had some nice, sweet red wine with our appetizer. A good margarita would have been more my Mom's style, but I figured that a nice red went better with our meal.

  Our main course was Chicken Supreme with Lemon-Garlic Zucchini and Italian Garlic Bread. It was wonderful, and it tasted just like my childhood.

  For dessert I made Chocolate French Silk Pie. This pie was the most popular pie at my Mom's cafe and sold out every single day. I haven't had it in over 13 years. It was fabulous.

  I feel like celebrating my Mom in this way was a great idea....much better than being sad all day. I know that she wouldn't want me to be sad.

  I know that many of you would probably like the recipes that I made, so I will be posting them tomorrow under the Recipes tab. Have a great evening!