Drumming to the Beet Chicken Soup

“Throw it in the pot” is one of my favorite ways to cook, that is why I lay claim to this day, you just throw whatever in the pot add tons of spices that you think will make for a tasty treat and whammo you have a masterpiece just waiting to be eaten. No measuring (yahoo) a basic no fuss way to cook….unless you have my daughter Melissa living with you. She is such a stickler for measuring and writing stuff out, “Mom, how do you re-make this if you don’t measure things out or write it down?” In the first place what makes her think I want to make it again the same way and in the second place it rains on my “creativity” OF COURSE I don’t say these things out loud I may be dumb but I ain’t stupid. This does lead to some pretty good in my head conversations and retorts like “didn’t your momma ever teach you that it isn’t polite to correct your momma” or “you can’t imagine what I’ve been doing behind your back” snicker…snicker, just kidding Melissa (Not).

 To be honest, she does have a point about writing down recipes and yes, doing the measuring thing how else would I be able to give you great recipes from the land of Leona.  So here is my latest throw it in the pot soup for an army. To scale down cut everything by half.

Drum to the Beet of Chicken and Veggie Soup

I say, “Start small end BIG!”  Melissa will say, “She isn’t kidding!”

Ingredients:

3 boneless skinless chicken breast (thighs are OK too but use 6 cause they are smaller)-leave whole

1 fresh raw beet-peeled and diced up – we got this from our bountiful basket

4 medium sized potatoes diced up

2 carrots peeled and diced up

1 gallon of water to start but will need more

1 carton chicken broth – I use the low sodium 98% fat free kind

1 large onion diced

1 bunch of celery- I use only the leaves and the little white stalks from the inside (these are the parts that usually get thrown away and I think are the most tastiest in soup) chopped up

2 cups each: frozen corn and peas  

1 large can of diced tomatoes juice and all

Salt to taste- some like more, some like less

Pepper to taste-some like more of a kick, some like less

Now for the seasonings, I use a variety from Mrs Dash, McCormick’s Perfect Pinch, McCormick’s Gourmet Collection and the good old Walmart brand 5^th Season. I like to cover my bases with flavor and believe it or not these are staples in our house. If you don’t have any of these, just use what you have that is close to how you want it to taste.

Mrs Dash Salt Free seasonings: 2 Tablespoons each

Chicken chilling blends

Italian Medley

Tomato basil garlic

McCormick’s Perfect Pinch No MSG: 2 Tablespoons each

Savory All-Purpose

Tuscan

Original Chicken

McCormick’s Gourmet Collection: 1 Tablespoon each

Moroccan Seasoning (not only does it taste good, it smells good too!)

Smoky Paprika- (optional)

Walmart brand 5^th Season: 1 Teaspoon each

Garlic Powder- can use fresh or minced garlic instead, I’ve used all three in the same meal but at different cooking stages

Onion Powder- to help give it more flavor but you can leave it out

UTENSILS THAT YOU WILL NEED:

1 large (huge) soup pot- she ain’t kidding

Can opener- I say this as a reminder to us cause we keep losing ours…no lie

Your favorite cutting knife- I have one doesn’t everybody…lol

Cutting board

And a good spoon for stirring – and for smacking smart alecks with…he he he

NOW FOR THE ASSEMBLY (I know that you are all thinking verbally OK Leona get on with it no wonder you drive Melissa crazy! I say it is a short trip some days….OK, OK I digress)

Put your pot on the burner on MED. Add a small amount of chicken broth to the bottom of pot. You are going to be “frying” the onion and celery in this for two minutes stirring frequently.

Add the chicken a to the pot- “fry” for about 5 minutes turning often (add more liquid to keep from scorching). This kinda gives the chicken a browning bedsides leaving some goodness in the bottom of the pot.

Add all the seasoning to the pot giving it a good stir –it should smell good

Add the carrots and rest of the chicken broth plus some water to fill the pot 2/3rds full- let this simmer until chicken is done. Remove chicken so it can cool down.

Add the can of diced tomatoes (juice and all), the diced beet and potatoes to the pot. The level should be at least 2/3rds full. Let this simmer until potatoes are almost done.

While the potatoes are simmering, cut or tear up the chicken. This also would be a good time to do a taste test to see if you need to add more seasoning to the pot.

Add the chicken and frozen veggies to the pot and let simmer until the frozen veggies are done.

There you have it, a delicious tasting and very visual appealing chunky soup. We paired this with a savory bread and a glass of wine (oops the wine part was on my do to next time list).

Suggestions:

You can add more veggies like leafy green ones, leave out the meat, change the meat choice, use tomato juice instead of water or broth but not both….this is the type of soup that is so easy to modify I say go for it and let us know what you think , changed or to just share ideas…..we’re game.

Mexican Style Rice (Arroz Mexicana)

    OK my pretties, it is time to think outside of that Spanish rice box! This rice recipe is pretty amazing (if we may say so our selves) and is actually simple to make. I prefer to use fresh ingredients for a more honest flavour, but have included the time saving equivalents that a busy cook may need. Serves 6-8 comfortably.

1 oven roasted jalapeno pepper, chopped (or 2Tbsp canned, chopped) *
1 lb oven roasted vine ripened tomatoes (or 15once canned, chopped and undrained) *
1/2 cup chopped white onion
3 cloves garlic, minced
2Tbsp chicken bouillon granules
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
1Tbsp oil
2 cups long grain white rice
2 cups water
* for instructions on oven roasting, please see Fire Roasted Yumminess tutorial

• There are two approaches you can take to the preparation of this rice. I like to chop the jalapeno, oven roasted tomatoes (be sure to chop in a bowl to catch the yummy juices, we need those for the rice), cilantro, onion and garlic and mix it all in a bowl because it makes a nice, chunky look. If you are in a hurry, you can cut out all of this prep and throw these items in a blender or food processor and puree them. Then mix in the bouillon granules..
• Heat oil in a pan and, over medium high heat, brown rice until light brown in colour and is aromatic.
• Add tomato mixture and 2 cups of water to rice. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat to low.
• Cook for 20 minutes or until rice is done. Let sit two minutes, Stir well before serving. 

Fire Roasted Yumminess Tutorial

      When ever I go to the grocer's, I see cans of fire roasted tomatoes, red peppers, etc. and it always surprises me. I learned how to do this in my oven and, for the longest time, assumed that others knew how to do this, as well. After talking to a bunch of people, I found out that a lot of them do not know how easy it is to do this at home! I like to oven roast my own tomatoes, peppers, and chilies. I love how they taste (it is such an easy flavour booster), is cost effective, and it allows you more control over your ingredients.
     I prefer to roast my goodies with a gas stove because, well everything seems to be cooler on a gas cooker. A regular oven, however, works just as well and tastes just as amazing. I encourage you to try this at least once, you will not be disappointed!

         1.  The first step is on obvious one, wash all your veggies. While doing this, remember to (ahem) remove the produce stickers. They burn. >smile<
         2.  Next, arrange the veggies you want to roast on a cookie sheet. Please be sure that you use a cookie sheet that you don't care about!! It might warp or become discoloured. I have one that oven roasting veggies and such is its only job.

        3.When you go to broil your veggies in the oven, you need to put the oven rack in the top most slot, being as close to the top heating element or flame as possible without touching. I usually use the high setting, but you can use the low one, it just depends on your comfort level and whether or not you are multitasking (if I am cooking a meal on the stove top, I will use the lower setting because I am not always as attentive as  I would like to be).
        4.  The skin on most veggies will start to blister and char a bit as they are under the heat source. Don't panic, this is what we want to happen. Using tongs, flip and turn your veggies as needed to make them evenly roasted. You may need to move them around a bit as some pieces are going to cook faster than others.

        5.  When you are happy with how your veggies look, they are done. This should take 5 to 10 minutes, depending on oven temp and the vegetables you are fire roasting. Super easy, right?

       Tomatoes, chilies, and pepers store well in the fridge (as long as they are covered tightly) for about 5 to 7 days. This is a nice bonus because you can roast enough to last a week and have on hand to throw into what ever you are cooking to add flavour or nutrients. This is also an easy way to peel tomatoes. I like to use vine ripened tomatoes in recipes that call for canned ones. Not only does this lend any dish a more authentic taste, but it also ensures that they are made with quality ingredients.

Throw It In A Pot Thursday

    This Gumbo recipe was a first (and VERY tasty) attempt. As is common in our kitchen, we start small and, well.... it just kind of snowballs. This is not uncommon when feeding 6-8 people every night. Every week night, we have a theme. Thursday's is Throw-It-In-A-Pot Thursdays. This is the day of the week we typically do a soup, chili, or casserole of some kind, you know anything you can just throw in a pot. An easy, no brainer meal is a real must have in our house. When you are cooking for a large amount of people, there are always going to be foods that are going to be avoided, for what ever reason and avoidance= complications.
   Tonight's gumbo started as "Oh hey, we haven't had chicken in a while, let's do something with that!" on top of that, we had some ingredients from our Bountiful Basket (and some that we picked up cause they sounded cool) and Voile! this amaazing gumbo that is big enough to feed a crowd, pot luck group, or a large family. Enjoy!
   This is Leona's recipe, as she is the throw it in the pot cook of the house, the measurements are to the best of our knowledge. Please feel free to comment or post questions!

Prickly Pete's Gumbo

60 Quarts non fat, low sodium Chicken Broth
1 whole onion, chopped
ribs celery and center leaves, chopped
*6 tomatoes (we used Roma), oven roasted, chopped
*4 Jalapeno Peppers, oven roasted and chopped
*3 Anaheim Peppers, oven roasted and chopped
1.5 lbs smoked sausage or andoille sausage, cut into small pieces
2 Cactus leaves, spined, blanched and cut into bite size pieces
16 oz frozen (or 3 cups fresh) chopped Okra
2 cups tomato juice, or to taste
1tsp Cajun spice
3 boneless, skinless large chicken breasts
1 lb raw shrimp (fresh is best, but  frozen thawed shrimp is fine, just make sure it is deveined and peeled)

• Empty all containers of chicken stock into a very large pot. Throw in chopped celery, celery leaves, chopped onion, Jalapeno peppers, Anaheim peppers, and chicken breasts. bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.
• Once the chicken breasts are done, pull those out and place to the side to allow to cool, continue simmering broth. Do not add extra water if you find the broth levels decreasing!
• Cut your sausage to the desired size, we cut ours into tiny cubes. The sausage is the least healthy ingredient, but the most appreciated so we decided the smaller, the more appreciation, right? Also, start steaming your rice.
• add cactus leaves, Cajun spice, Okra, and shrimp. Cook until shrimp starts to become transparent, then add sausage, chicken, oven roasted tomatoes, and tomato juice. Once the shrimp and rice are done, you can serve this puppy up and enjoy! Green onion is a delicious garnish and some fresh squeezed lemon add some nice freshness. Try it, you might just love it.

A few notes here: 1) The spice in this dish is pretty mild; to kick it up a notch, add more Cajun spice and use all jalapeno peppers. 2) to enhance the tomato try adding 1 Tbsp (or more) tomato paste or even some sun dried tomatoes! 3) we make the rice separate and add to individual bowls instead of throwing it into the soup so that the left overs are just as good (if not better) as the firsts. Rice breaks down, absorbs liquid and gets a funny texture when left in liquid.4) Made too much?Perfect! Freeze it! 5) This can be made without the cactus leaves, but I would encourage you to use them. They are chocked full of nutrition and hide well amongst the oven roasted peppers. My kids LOVED the idea that we could eat something that looks so mean!

NapaCabbage Stir-Fry

1 Tbsp oil
1 onion, sliced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 inched fresh ginger, minced
1 head napa cabbage, sliced (be sure to clean well)
2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce (we prefer Tamari)
1 Tbsp rice vinegar (or rice wine)
2 tsp sesame oil
sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds, optional

• Saute onion, garlic, and ginger in 1 Tbsp oil in a large pan over medium high heat. Stir frequently for about a minute.
• Toss in cabbage and cook until it starts to wilt (no more than two minutes).
• Add soy sauce and rice vinegar (or rice wine) and toss until desired level of done (we don't recommend more than about Three minutes).
• Remove from heat, drizzle with sesame oil and sprinkle with toasted sesame seeds.

This is a good side dish, not our favorite for a stand alone. We served with Teriyaki Chicken and Jasmine rice. As you may see, this is great as a basic recipe and would be an awesome main dish with the addition of carrots, mushrooms, etc. Melissa likes to add some Siracha Red Chili sauce and eat large bowls as is!

Whatever Asian Wednesday

   OK, as you recall, we started calling Wednesday "West Indian Wednesday" but agree that the name wasn't quite fitting. We in Kitchen Land are trying on the new title of "Whatever Asian" for Wednesday, just to see if that fits a little better.
    In our delightful Bountiful Basket last weekend, we received a beautiful head of Napa Cabbage. Unfortunately, we are not familiar with this more delicate form of cabbage. Leona's suggestion was to steam it. We have steamed this cabbage in the past and the result was, well steamed cabbage. Melissa gets bored with steamed veggies (as we knew she would!) and decided to use this as an opportunity to explore the World Wide Web for inspiration. She happened upon this simple recipe at Food.com that is very quick and is a good basic Cabbage Stir-Fry. The possibilities are endless. You can add any mixture of veggies and precooked meat to this and come out with a winner (this recipe is perfect for a Must Go Monday when you have lots of odds and ends that need to be eaten).

Homemade Taco Seasoning

2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp mexican oregano (double if using regular oregano)
1 tsp smoked paprika (regular paprika works as well)
1 Tbsp cumin
2 tsp salt (or to taste)
2 tsp pepper (I like fresh ground)
chipotle chili pepper powder, to taste (1 tsp for a little spice, increase for more spice), optional

Mix ingrediants together and store in as you would your other spices. If you want to use this as you would a prepackaged taco seasoning, add 1 tsp flour or starch. Use 2 Tbsp (or more for added zip!) of blend per pound of browned meat and 3/4 a cup of water, let simmer until nice and saucey.
Let us know what you think!

Spirit of Tacos Tuesday

     I have decided that you can't have a Spirit of Tacos Tuesday and NOT have your own taco seasoning. I know most people simplify their lives with the little packet of taco seasoning and are perfectly happy. These little envelopes just don't quite do it for me. Most have lactose or whey (two products that I do not consume, or high sodium (we like to pick and choose where and when we consume our salts). Plus they have thickening agents, anti caking agents, etc. I'd like to give those agents the day off in our kitchen. To do that, I have started working on my own taco seasoning. I have learned that it is more cost effective, just as flavourful (I actually prefer mine), and well, it's just fun to make!
     Another bonus to making your own taco seasoning is that you start viewing it differently. No longer is it just something you add to browned ground beef to throw in a tortilla or taco shell. You can use it as a dry rub, sprinkle it on some fries before cooking, Quartered potatoes before baking, veggies to add some zip, you get the idea! This week, I added the a generous amount to my sliders meat and made some super yummy Taco Sliders. MMMMmm mmm MMM.

Add guacamole, sour cream, salsa, cilantro, and any other delightful yummy you would to a taco to this tasty treat and you have a family pleaser for sure!

Mango Chicken

   Here is Must Go Monday's Mango Chicken Recipe that my son, Anre' and I came up with:

4  Cups Shredded Chicken (or you can use 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts)
3/4 Cup chopped red onion
2  cloves garlic, minced
1  mango, peeled, seeded, and chopped
3  Cups orange juice
3  Red Chilies, soaked and chopped
1  red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
2  tsp Red Curry Paste (or to taste)
3  Tablespoons corstartch
1/4 Cup Hot water
1  Tablespoons oil
Salt And Pepper to taste

1. In a large skillet, brown the chicken breasts in oil till crispy and juices run clear. Be sure to salt and peper chicken.
2. Add the red onion, red chilies and garlic to chicken. Saute for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring often. Add the orange juice, and bring to a boil. When the juice boils, add the mango slices and Red Curry Paste. Turn down heat and simmer for 2 minutes. Dissolve cornstartch in hot water, stir into sauce. Add thn sliced red pepper. Stir until sauce thickens slightly.

We served this over Jasmine rice. Pretty tastey! This pairs nicely with some steamed brocoli or spinach.Cook's note: if you find the orange balance in this dish a little off, just add more onion (or onion powder) to make the orange less aparent.
    What we would to different: This dish is potentially very spicey. You control the spicewith the red chilies and curry paste. While Leona enjoyed the flavours in this dish, she found it too spicey (she drank quite a bit of milk to cool her tongue from this dish!) she would reduce the spicey elements to half. Melissa loves spicey food and found it to be enjoyable (even a little more curry paste would have been nice). Fresh pineapple chunks or pomiganite would have been a nice little zip, these will be added next time (Leona added pomigranite to hers and highly recomends it!). Please let us know what you think! Our thanks to Melissa's 17 year old son for such a delightful recipe.

Must Go Mondays

    During the week, we try to have s theme for the week days; we do this for a few reasons. The first is to offer structure. 8 people (and all those pets!) in one house can get chaotic, a little implied structure is helpful. Second, it helps ensure that we don't have the same tired thing everyday, but also helps us narrow our choices. Third, it helps us focus on how to use all of our yummy ingredients from our bountiful basket. And finally, well, its just fun!
   We took a family vote (which consisted of my mom and I discussing it and then telling everyone what we decided who needs a democracy when we have the perfect monarchy? buwahahaha). This is what we decided on:
   MONDAY= Must Go Mondays. This is the day of the week we serve up any left overs, use ingredients that are starting to look not so fresh, or have been hanging about long enough.
  TUESDAY= Spirit of Taco Tuesdays. While the appeal to just make some easy to throw together tacos comes to mind, this is actually the day that we set aside to try Latin American type dishes (or even dishes from Spain, or Portugal, or... I'm sure you get the idea)
   WEDNESDAY= West Indian Wednesdays. We actually need to find a better name for this day lol. Our intention, really is ANY kind of curry dish. This can included Thai or any other nation. We kinda have a secret obsession with all things curry and need to limit ourselves (for the sake of others) to only using it one day a week.
   THURSDAY= Throw It In A Pot Thursday. This day is just for Leona. She is the master of throwing random stuff in a pot and calling it good (which is usually not accurate because it usually comes out FABULOUS). She gets a little annoyed with my additive of wanting to make repeatable dishes, so this is also a day that she is aloud to let her freaky flab fly in the kitchen (while I secretly take notes). Add bonus: these are usually one dish meals, and the day of the week we hide the most secret healthful ingredients for those in the house that are not so adventurous or not so interested in eating as healthy as we have decided they should. Don't frown, we love our family and want them to be around as long as possible! As the cookers of the food it is our moral obligation to not cram it down their throats, but to let them eat it themselves with a smile (all be it a wicked smile, from us ha ha).
   FRIDAY= Fishy Friday (<3). This has nothing to do with religion and everything to do with our love for seafood. When I was a child, we lived close to the coast so we had tons of fresh seafood. What we didn't catch, it was cost effective to buy. Living more Inland, seafood is pretty pricey, especially if you have a preference for fresh, not frozen, like us. As you might imagine, we also tend to talk about the good ol' days when we would go crabbing, take family fishing/camping trips.
        So this Monday, we had some ingredients that had to go! The list included: red bell peppers, shredded chicken, and some mangoes. My Son Anre' found a recipe for mango chicken and we gave it a shot. I am not going to reference the source because the end result was so tweaked that it didn't represent the original in any form except that both used chicken and mangoes. enjoy!

A Tisket A Tasket, My Bountiful Basket

     We are involved in an awesome program that has been around for a couple of years. Some of you may of heard of it. It is called Bountiful Baskets. I mention this for two reasons: 1) We love this program, and 2) We talk about it frequently, since it is such an inspiration for what we cook.
     How it works: the Bountiful Baskets program is actually a co-op. On a specified day of the week, for a specified time period, participants log onto the BB's web site and order what baskets they would like. The pick up time and sites are city specific and I believe on a Saturday. The baskets are half fruit and half vegetable. They are at least 50% organic (there is an upgrade available to make it 100%), and are as locally sourced and farmer friendly as possible. We love this program because they really deliver on their promises of affordability, product freshness, and the simplicity. Another added bonus? You never quite know what you are going to get! This may seem like a bit of a hassle, but it is like a mystery box every week! We are learning how to better identify fruit and vegetables, store them, and prepare them. This small act has allowed us to break away from the standard "fresh from a can" approach to vegetables and has made it easy to have vegetable diversity on the table. The web site has a ton of information on how to keep the veggies fresh (we are new to this need since we would buy most of ours canned, frozen, or use right away) and other resources.
     On top of the fabulous Conventional Basket, there are other options, 100% organic bread, granola, tortillas, bulk produce, themed add-ons (last week's was Mexican, this week's was Thai, a juice pack,and more than I can probably remember :) )
    If anyone is interested in participating the website is : bountifulbaskets.org. I don't think you'll regret it!

Conventional Basket

 



    This is a pic of the take home for the Conventional Basket taken with my cell phone. You may notice Asparagus, Bananas 5 green peppers, 4 mango's, radishes,3 lemons, a head of Romain, garlic, and more. All for $15! NICE. We got more than this but we can't spoil all the surprises, now, can we?

Us, in a Nut Shell

     WE are a mother daughter team that live together. After we tally up spouses, other children, etc. our family count comes out to eight (15 if you count the dogs, cat, turtle, and fish). As  a large family living together, we get along rather well. We all enjoy each other's company, and seem to balance each other out in a surprising way. This is not to insinuate that we never have disagreements, we do, but we always have a way of muddling through.

Melissa's Point of View:
    I moved into my mom's (Leona) house, through an extended family necessity, about four months ago. Since then, I have recognised a kind of synergy in the kitchen. This was surprising to me! I have always wanted to have someone in the kitchen hanging out with me, or even helping with some of the meal preparation. I am still learning how to delegate and ask for help (I don't always recognise the opportunity) but am learning to get there.
    Before moving back in with my mom, I had tended to stay away from most traditional American food. I grew up with these things and and know them well. I am always wanting to try new things, and am propelled to do so since I am allergic to milk and most traditional American fair has butter, milk, cheese, etc that I can no longer eat. My struggle to find flavourful food (you know the kind that doesn't make me feel like I am missing out on an entire food group) has made me quite adventurous in the kitchen. I try just about any recipe that is non dairy, can be tweaked to be non dairy, or just sounds cool. I have had a lot of flops, but found some pretty amazing dishes, flavour enhancing techniques, and people along the way.
    My mom is a lover of anything gravy, add bread to the mix and you got the starter for any favorite dish. I tend to stay away from gravies (they just aren't the same with out some kind of milk) but have been known to answer those pleading puppy-dog eyes with an occasional gravy attempt. I think I tend to frustrate her because I like to have a recipe that I can replicate. I am always on the look out for a new favorite dish, and when I find that dish I want to be able to make if perfect every time! She has been teaching me the joys of just throwing stuff in a pot and knowing that it will most likely seem like it is on purpose.
     She may not realise it, but my Mom is the one who inspired me to be more exacting when making a dish. If I had a dime for every time she said, "Oh my gosh! I made the best (insert anything here). It was soooooo good. I'll never be able to make it that good again!", I'd have a lot of dimes. I have come to believe this is a missed opportunity. I believe that the flavors a cook creates in the kitchen is a way that a person passes on a piece of themselves for future generations to enjoy and remember. Recipes like grandma's Chocolate Gravy (yes this secret family recipe exists) or aunt Alma's Sweet Potatoes are how generations from the past communicate with ones in the future. I want to pass on some of my family's recipes to my children and maybe even sneak in a few of my own.
      So I guess you can say my mom inspires me to be more spontaneous in the kitchen and that it is sometimes ok to just throw in a bunch of unknowns into a pot, hope for the best, and enjoy a meal that may only shine for one night, but oh! so bright!! Oh yeah, she's also the funny one. :)
                                     

Leona's Point of View:
   My daughter and her family moved into my house about 4 months ago, it has been the most awesome 4 months EVER!!! My older son and his wife had just moved out and I was sad. You see, I am not fond of being an empty nester....I can just hear the big DUH from those who actually know me...plus I have the room and a big heart. Not to mention I now have a 23/6 live-in conscience uh...companion. A girl does have to have some time to herself or so she told me.
   I consider her dairy allergy as a bonus for me, I am let's just say "the overs", over weight, over eater with the eyes and mouth, over caring what food group I put in said mouth, over kill, over ....I think you get the big picture...so how do I find this as a bonus for me you ask? Well, we have to figure out how to  dairy-free recipes which means less calories for me. I have been using the weigh watchers points plus system which works and pairing the two together is...just...an added bonus for me. Actually it hasn't been that hard I still find ways to get my gravy fix, just not as often. Yes, I am a gravy girl I love gravy on everything except juice...oh wait a minute, silly me they call that soup.
   My daughter is a joy to share a kitchen with she brings a different outlook on the day to day food. She will search the Internet for days for that perfect recipe for us to try. I will say that our cooking methods are different ME I'm the let's try this spice and that spice and gee this might be good in that and SHE is the I want to try the recipe as it stands then next time do the tweeking let's rein in my mom kinda girl. Ya she does rein my creativity in a bit, but I'm thinking sometimes I probably need it. Then there are those days where I just sit back and think to myself ....yep I should have put this and that in there when she wasn't looking cause this is tasting kinda like dish water.This, I would say, is a LIH (laugh in head) moment.
  Some days we are so on it that it is scary how nutritious and yummy tasting our dinner taste, at least to us anyway. Then there are those days that even the dogs won't eat it, you know I am talking about the neighbors' dogs cause ours will eat even the most vile of experiments. I must say for the record that we do have other members in our household who seem to think they have an opinion as to what they eat ...silly them if they won't eat it out right we'll find a way to sneak it in their food anyway. Of course this is strictly under the premise of  "it is for their own good". What can I say, I love my family.
Well enough of being serious now let the fun begin.
What will each of us bring to the table besides our plate?
Melissa will bring a refined palette, innovative ideas, dairy free, balance and other stuff I just can't think of right now.
Leona will bring years of successful home cooking experienceand know how, an awsome sence of humor and enthusiasm, a love of good food, a willingness to laugh, and the honesty to share an opinion that you can trust.