Okay. Who follows me on Twitter? (You don’t?! Well, get to it already! @ChowMamaStacie, of course!) While I try to keep my tweets to great recipes, food news, and other relevant family, kid, and food stuff, I occasionally leak a 140 character sigh. These exhales (sometimes groans) usually follow a day or two long Twitter silence because I’ve been overwhelmed with work, personal stuff (a technical term), or exhaustion at trying to balance it all while 36 weeks pregnant. What’s this have to do with food? If you followed me on Twitter, you’d know.
This has been a nutty week. And it looks like the upcoming weeks are shaping up similarly. Not sure what it means for my ability to keep up while in the home stretch of pregnancy and during the first few weeks after baby’s arrival, but I can tell you what it has meant this week: relying on quick, easy, comforting standbys. Meals that take no more than 30-40 minutes, largely unattended. Meals that require no more than one pot and a few utensils. Meals that can be made in a big batch and are adaptable—so that leftovers don’t have to look exactly the same two nights in a row. Meals that I can make with my eyes closed.
These are two meals I’ve already made this week. Both are great transitional meals—perfectly cozy for the the slight autumn chill in the evening air, but still light. Make them once or twice and I promise you, too, will be able to make them with your eyes closed.
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Photo: prettywar-stl

The ChowBaby and I were stuck on the train coming back from the American Museum of Natural History the other day. It was naptime and I was hell-bent on keeping him from falling asleep so that I could put him down when we got home—and actually get an hour or two of work in! So I regaled him with some of his favorite stories, including the one of my honeymoon in Tunisia.
Not only did I manage to keep him awake, I was also inspired to make something honeymoon-ish to surprise the ChowPapa when he got home from work. Without much time to spare, I whipped up one of my favorite North African street foods: the omelet sandwich. It reminded me that a simple change of spices can make something old Iike an egg sandwich new again.
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Photo: taratara69

I know, it sounds strange. But think about it. You eat blueberry muffins, right? And blueberry pie? And blueberry pancakes? All a combo of blueberries and something bready or doughy or crusty. So why not a berry pizza? Besides, it gave me an excuse to use my dad’s pizza stone. You know I’m not one for extra kitchen gadgets, but I have to say that it did wonders for my crust. I am tempted.

And my sweet and savory pizza pie was tempting too. For all three generations that sat down to lunch. So much so that in minutes, it was gone. Leaving us with only good conversation to share.

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Photo: star5112

I’m in Pennsylvania farm country for a few weeks. That means lots of just-picked peaches, more sweet corn than you can possibly imagine, and even a few stellar tomatoes that haven’t been decimated by the 2009 tomato blight. All good. Until a craving for crab cakes hits. And then what’s a rural gal to do?

With no fish market within 30 minutes, I had no choice. Cravings must be satisfied. So don’t blame me. I turned to crab in a can. It isn’t organic. And I’m sure the can is lined with BPA. But I’m posting as a reminder to you (and to myself) that we parents (especially) have to make the most of whatever you’ve got. Just for kicks, I made the recipe almost exactly as printed on the side of the can. And guess what? When I added a little love, these crab cakes were simply delish. Even Atticus (Mr. I’m-not-eating-fish-anymore-because-it-stinks) ate two—with his fingers, of course!

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Photo: Dave Lifson

Summer brings lots of great things. Picnics. Road trips. Barbecues. While all that stuff is super fun, it also seems to mean we all eat too much not-so-healthy food. The stuff that’s fine every once in a while but not so great with the frequency we’ve been consuming it lately. One result? We all have had more than one tummy ache lately.

I tried limiting the amount of corn chips and hot dogs my ChowBaby eats when I’m not the one cooking for him. But it is hard constantly trying to get between him and the stuff that all the other kids are eating. It’s not fair to him or to me since then no one has fun. And food should be fun. My solution? I’ve started carrying around a little crystalized ginger. It’s slightly sweet so it is easy to get him to eat it—and the ginger helps aid digestion. So far, no more tummy-aches!
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Photo: roboppy

Food is good. Good for the body, good for the soul, and even good for the brain. And, no, I’m not talking about foods that are artificially supplemented with things like DHA or ALA. I’m talking about the lessons food can help you teach your kids. About manners. About family history. About different cultures. About sustainability. Even about science. And that, class, is today’s lesson.
No, you say? School’s out? Well, guess what? Here’s a summer science lesson no one can resist. Homemade ice cream!  And it’s doable without an actual ice cream maker—who needs one more kitchen gadget?  I turned to our friend (and Take Back Your Table blogger) Christina Stanley-Salerno’s recipe for ice cream in a bag on Kaboose and made a few tweaks. While the ChowBaby and I rolled the bag back and forth between our legs, we talked about why salt turns milk into ice cream. And when it was ready, we shared a not-super-creamy-but-still-totally-yummy Salted Toffee Ice  Cream that made me wonder why salt makes sweet that much better.
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