Simple Girl

It's November 13th and when I woke up this morning, it was 7 degrees with a below zero windchill.  PEOPLE - THIS IS NOT OK!  Even for sturdy Minnesotans, this is WAY TOO EARLY for winter to be digging in its heels.  I keep forgetting we haven't had Thanksgiving yet.  There is snow on the ground and I am heading straight for Christmas. The only problem is, my mums are permanently frozen in their pots.  Apparently, I missed the one day window between summer and frozen. In addition, I had to go to the dentist today.  For some, this is no big deal.  For me, this is a HUGE deal.    These are my three top fears in order: SNAKES, DENTISTS, HEIGHTS. Or maybe, DENTISTS, SNAKES, HEIGHTS.  I'm still deciding. So 5 hours after my dentist appointment, the left side of my face is still numb and I'm trying to find my happy place. Here it is. You guys. You guys and soup.  After two years of blog silence, I realized that rambling on my ...

I recently saw this on The Today Show and I thought, how great would it be if eating your vegetables could be like eating pizza? To start, you don't even need to chop up a head of cauliflower, although you could if it made you feel better.  Cauliflower is now available all chopped up for you in a microwaveable bag. Just steam it in the bag and let it cool on some paper towels. Put the cauliflower in a bowl and add all the other ingredients.   Beat it with a mixer until it all comes together. Shape the dough on a piece of parchment into a 10" - 12" round. Place the parchment and dough on top of a cooling rack which is sitting on top of a baking sheet. You need to get some air circulation around the dough so the crust gets crispy.  A crispy crust is key. Bake the crust at 400 degrees for about 25 minutes.  Like I said, you want the crust to get crispy. After the crust cools, slide the crust, which is on the cooking rac...

It was a dark and stormy night (well, technically, early morning) when I had to wake the kids up for school today.  It was the kind of morning when nothing could really persuade you that getting out of bed was a better option than staying in it. In a heroic attempt to get the kids out the door in time to catch the bus, I reached deep into the pantry and rustled up the three ingredients needed to waft aromas of autumn to the stratospheres of the second floor: Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake Mix, canned pumpkin pie filling and chocolate chips.  These three pantry staples, combined, create the sapidity of fall.  Even my non-breakfast eater managed to down a short stack! Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Spice Pancakes 3 cups Krusteaz Buttermilk Pancake Mix 2 cups water 1 cup Libby's Canned Pumpkin Pie filling (not pureed pumpkin) 1 cup chocolate chips Mix first three ingredients until just combined.  Stir in chocolate chips.  Heat a greased, nonstick skillet on medi...

I only cook Corned Beef once a year, but every time I do, I'm reminded of how really quite delicious it is! Truth be told, I love everything about the traditional St. Patrick's Day meal - the roasted carrots, the braised cabbage, the tender and flavorful corned beef - it is truly comfort on a plate. This year's corned beef turned out especially flavorful when it was slathered with grainy mustard, encased in brown sugar and braised in apple juice.  These three simple ingredients turned out to be quite transformative and may be the only way I'll cook corned beef in the years to come! Apple and Mustard Braised Corned Beef INGREDIENTS: 2-3 pound corned beef brisket 1/4 cup grainy mustard 1/2 cup brown sugar 12 ounces apple juice DIRECTIONS: Place the beef brisket, fat side up, in a Dutch Oven.  Slather the top side with the mustard.  Pack the brown sugar on the top of the mustard, covering the entire brisket.  Slowly pour the apple juice ...

Sometimes breakfast is the only meal we can have together and I'm thankful that, even though my kids are getting older, they still appreciate the magic of the cookie cutter.  These heart shaped Egg-In-The-Holes turned out to be the perfect breakfast on a sub-zero day. Through trial and error, here are a few tricks I picked up for producing the perfect egg: Use hearty bread for a good, clean, cookie cutter cut (like Ezekiel Sprouted Grain.) Butter one side of the bread and put it butter side down on a heated griddle. Crack your egg into a separate vessel and spoon the yolk into the hole in the bread.  Spoon in enough of the egg white to fill the bread hole, but not so much as it will flow over the cut edge. Place a large skillet lid over the bread to help steam the egg.  This will allow the egg to cook without the need to flip it. When the egg begins to solidify, sprinkle with kosher salt.  Garnish with chives. Wishing you all a Happy Valentin...

Just a few more days until Christmas and I'm doing my last minute menu planning. I always like to include an appetizer/snack that includes fruits or veggies because A) It's one way to get my kids to eat their fruits and veggies and B) It's one way to get me to eat my fruits and veggies in a sometimes produce-barren time of year!  This dip comes together in a snap and tastes great with both apples and gingersnaps!  (And, for my SIL, Fritos! :-) Merry Christmas! xo Rachel Pumpkin Cheesecake Dip by Rachel @ Simple Girl 8 ounce package of cream cheese, room temperature (full fat -  light comes out too runny) 3/4 cup pumpkin pie filling (not plain pumpkin!) 1 cup powdered sugar 8-ounce container of Cool Whip (can be light) Beat the cream cheese until smooth.  Add powdered sugar.  Beat until lumps are removed.  Add pie filling.  Beat until combined.  Fold in Cool Whip until combined.  Chill unt...

School has started and fall has arrived (did I mention that we might actually drop into the 30's tonight?) This combination means one thing.  I'm officially pulling out the Slow Cooker. The after school activity shuttle leaves no time for doing any actual cooking during the dinner hour. This is why I love my slow cooker. My husband bought me an All-Clad stainless steel beauty a few years back. Ahhh… flutter my heart. He loves me. Yes, while some girls call diamonds their best friends, it appears that I can be won over by small kitchen appliances. He knows me. I make this family favorite spaghetti recipe at least once a month during the school year. It's about time I shared it! It's perfect for hectic days and its ease of preparation will keep you from the Taco Bell Drive-Thru! Simply start with 3 pounds of boneless, skinless chicken thighs.  You can use chicken breast if you want, but the thighs stay moist through the slow cooking process.  Once you try them...

I've had moderate success with my two tomato plants this year and by moderate I mean that I have actually been able to gather enough tomatoes at one time to make something. Look at these beauties. The wave of feelings is swelling within me. Pride. Resourcefulness. Thriftiness. Domestic Bliss. My grandma would have been proud. While these sweet, cherry tomatoes are delicious straight off the vine, I decided to marry them with my other love: Butter Beans. Unlike their smaller cousin, the Northern Bean, Butter Beans are big and meaty and beg to be eaten with a fork. Your mouth won't even know that you just slipped it a vegetarian meal! To begin the salad, heat 1/3 cup olive oil and 1 teaspoon minced garlic for one minute in the microwave. Let sit. Sure, you could heat it on the stove and let that sweet, garlicky aroma fill the room, but this method is quick and easy. Next, cut 4 cups of cherry tomatoes in half and place them in a bowl. Realizing ...

One of the things I like best about summer is our local farmer's market. I love gathering the kids on Tuesdays and driving them to the community center parking lot filled with white canopies where they are required allowed to pick one item. That grows from the ground. I'm not saying that we never indulge in chocolate bread and peppermint bath bombs, but a fruit or vegetable is a must.  It's fun to find unusual varieties of carrots and tomatoes and even more fun to find foods that we don't even recognize (i.e. that they don't sell at Costco.) This was my pick for the week: kohlrabi. Kohlrabi has been described by culinary experts as a cross between a spaceship and an octopus. Can you see the resemblance? The name kohlrabi is of German origin and translates to "Cabbage Turnip".  Webster defines kohlrabi this way: Form of  cabbage  ( Brassica oleracea , Gongylodes group) of the  mustard family , which originated in Europe. Its most distinctive ...

Every year for Spanish class, my boy has the opportunity to earn culture points by cooking some authentic Hispanic food.  This works out great for me since his Nana is very authentic, not to mention a  very good cook! Nana has also passed on her culinary skills to her daughter (my sister-in-law) Rita.  As the deadline for culture points neared, I invited them over and asked them if they had a recipe they would be willing to share with Samuel. I just love it when I invite people over and they do all the work. I'm a great hostess that way. Rita cooked the pork in her slow cooker before arriving and then showed Samuel how to crisp it in a cast iron skillet. Of course, she brought her own skillet. She's authentic like that. She even printed up her recipe for me (see below). She's a great sister-in-law like that. Here's Samuel pretending to cook the pork carnitas.  As you can see, his Nana thinks that's pretty funny. She doesn't us...