Falling in Love with Cooking- Tip #3

-French Music-

I love all kinds of music.   I am classically trained.  I was raised on Bach, Beethoven, Chopin, Debussy, and many more.  I am a worship leader.  I write country and Americana music, I have a children’s lullaby album, and I am married to a man who introduces me to so much music it keeps my head spinning.  However, when it comes to cooking, pretty much one type for me:  French Music.

My sister got me hooked on great French music.  Luke is always asking me to change up the music when I cook, and that is when I say, “Oh honey, too many cooks in the kitchen.”  He gets to choose the music for clean up time after the meal, I choose the music for cooking time.  That is our arrangement.  As I said before, you will almost never walk into my kitchen during dinner time and not find French music serenading me in the background.  Now, if for some reason I forget to turn the music on, Jonah, my 3 1/2 yr. old, will always remind me during dinner, "Mom, we need French music while we eat."  No joke.

  Some of my favorite choices:  Edith Piaf, Django Reinhardt, Hans Zimmer, Eartha Kitt, Stephane Grapelli, and the great Charles Aznavour.  I am not saying that you have to cook to French music, but you might want to give it a try, I swear, it makes the food more beautiful.  If it isn’t French, than pick your favorite, but remember, try to make it pleasant and peaceful music, something that calms you.  This is your time of the day to let down and give a big sigh of relief.

Once in awhile I will stray from my French music and you might just walk into my kitchen and hear   Madeleine Peyroux.  She is another one of my favorite artists.  Her voice immediately makes you melt.  You want to look for the nearest bottle of wine, pour a sizable glass, and just disappear into her melodies.  She is pretty dreamy, so if you have not heard of her, please check her out!

Full Day of Christmas Music and More!

Today has felt like one of those non-stop days.  Wait, does every day feel like that?  I have had my usual lists of calls and "to do's"  that I am trying to get through.  Taking care of my two sweet kiddos, preparing dinner, teaching piano, and trying to get out the door with Luke by 7pm to attend a live video streaming of Brandon Heath- an artist who Luke is playing with tonight for a Christmas Show.

It's a busy day, and my multi-tasking skills are in full steam.  I had a friend and her baby over this morning for a play date.  While visiting with her, I prepared our dinner- Vegetarian Chili.  I have to admit, I was one of those people who did not like the thought of veggie chili.  What is the point, right?  Chili has meat.  So, if you don't want the meat, than just don't make chili.  Eat a carrot.  Until I came across this recipe!  It uses tons of veggies, of course, and then you finish it off with grating a large head of cauliflower into the chili.  The cauliflower acts as the meat, and you truly can't tell the meat is not there!  It totally amazed me, and is now one of my families' favorites.

So-while we I visited with my friend, I prepared the veggie chili, fed lunch to the kids, and cleaned up. Now, I am working on my phone calls and my lists, cleaning up behind my children, and am getting ready to leave in a few minutes to go and teach piano lessons.  It is just one of those days!  I will get home, feed the kids dinner, take that shower I so desperately long for, yet haven't had time for today (don't judge me, I am doing the best I can) and then I head off to the Christmas show.

Just thinking about everything already makes me excited for bed!

This is a typical day for us here in Music City.  We juggle a lot of things at once, work in rehearsals and recordings, play in shows, keep our family happy, and then somehow find the time to sleep.

Tune in for the live stream Christmas show tonight at Brandon Heath's house.  You will enjoy it!!!  It starts at 9pm Central.  Just click on the link below and it will take you to the live stream that begins at 9pm.

http://brandonheath.net/

Falling in Love with Cooking - Tip #2

-A Great, Sharp Knife-

 This revolutionized my cooking.  I have a beautiful, expensive knife set.   I use ONE knife at all times.   A great chef knife, or Santoku knife.  That is all you need.  If you spent less that $100 on a knife, it is probably not a great knife.  They are usually around $99.00 or more in a store (I purchased mine at Bed Bath and Beyond)  and you will use it forever.  It is worth every penny, and truly makes cooking more fun. You can find them a little cheaper on Amazon.  See links below.

My family teases me, because when I vacation at a beach house or cabin, you will always find my Santoku knife, wrapped in a dish cloth in one of my grocery bags.  I literally cannot go somewhere else and cook without it.  And guess who comes and borrows my knife for the whole vacation...my family members!    It ruined one of my vacations once because I was stuck with the cabin’s cheap serrated knife for the whole week!  I have never made that mistake again....I’m really not kidding, that is the pathetic part!

I am obsessed with cooking with a sharp, good knife.  And if you spend the money on a great knife, spend another $25 or more on a great knife sharpener.  A great knife is useless if it is dull.  It is just as frustrating.   If you think a knife doesn’t matter, and it wouldn’t make a difference to you, then I will tell you now....you have been using a cheap terrible knife.  Because once you prep food with a great knife, you can’t go back.   My Santoku knife I have had for 6 years, and use it for everything!

Santoku knife on Amazon - Buy Here

Santoku knife with sharpener- Buy Here

Roast Chicken

   

     My absolute weekly “go-to” for dinner is a roast chicken with roasted vegetables.   I roast a chicken almost every single week. We love it, and for some reason, the taste just never gets old.   It is a great way to get a lot of vegetables in at dinnertime, and I can use the leftover bones to make and freeze homemade chicken stock.  It makes your entire house smell amazing, and anyone who walks through the door while it is roasting will immediately think you must be a cook sent straight from Heaven. Another plus:  I have found that buying a whole chicken is a few dollars cheaper than buying a chicken that has been cut up. You are being charged for the fact that the butcher cut it, so just buy it whole and save a few bucks and get you something nice for yourself....like a cup of coffee.  It is a simple yet elegant meal and always turns out looking beautiful and way more exotic than the time that was put into preparing it.

A few of my tips.  (Recipe will follow)

-One whole chicken (I always buy hormone free, no antibiotics, vegetarian fed, and sometimes, I will spend a few extra dollars (and not get that cup of coffee) and buy organic.

 -Any vegetable you like-this is the great part!   Just open your fridge and pantry and throw on the roasting pan whatever you like/have on hand.
These are the veggies I love to roast with a chicken: onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, broccoli, asparagus, and carrots, cauliflower, and brussel sprouts. Lately, I have been adding fennel.  Fennel is my new love!!!!  I always try to have something green on the platter, so if I have asparagus, I roast that, if I have broccoli or brussel sprouts, I roast those. Just have something green, for health and beauty!

 My sister makes fun of me, because I love, love, love mashed potatoes!  So, I do, on occasion, mash the potatoes instead and then make some gravy from the chicken juices.   I do not do this every week, because as we all know, white potatoes basically have no nutrition.   As my mother would say, “it is like eating white paper.”  However, they taste fabulous.  I think I love them because my mom never made them once, my entire childhood.  Seriously, not once.  So, I love and adore them, and literally have to resist not making them every week.  My mother and I fight every single year over the holiday menu, because I insist on making mashed potatoes.  She says, we only need one potato, and it will be the sweet potato casserole.  I reply, “I am an adult, and I will make mashed potatoes if I want mashed potatoes.”  I am not joking, we fight about it every single holiday season.  Ok, enough about mashed potatoes.  See?!  I could go on and on about them!!!  It's embarrassing.

So.....I try to roast sweet potatoes more often than using white potatoes.  Again, it is just a healthier choice.  We eat to live, not live to eat!  You can prepare Roast Chicken several different ways.  Let your creative chicken juices flow!!!  Wait, is that gross?   All you have to figure out is the best way you like it.   I tend to make Herbed Roast Chicken the most.   I love it, it is always perfect.  As soon as I pull it out of the oven, I immediately tear off the wings and eat them...I can’t resist!  Luke always cuts the chicken up for us, and makes fun of me because he never finds the chicken without its two wings already missing.
    Here are a few of my varieties of roast chicken:
         -Salt and pepper-it is wonderful and the flavor speaks for itself -

         -Herbed Chicken (Salt, pepper, and dried herbs) -usually Herbs of Provence- generously cover it with the herbs.

         -Lemon Chicken-(Salt, pepper, garlic, and lemon)- I stuff the inside with lemon slices and garlic. Cover the outside with salt, pepper, and dried basil.

          -Cinnamon and Clove Chicken-  In the Fall, I love to prepare the chicken with salt, pepper, cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. It is so amazing. I serve it with homemade applesauce. It tastes like Fall! It is so dreamy!

 Basic Recipe for Roasted Herb Chicken:

 1 whole Roasting chicken-(the one below is 4.5 lbs.)
 2 onions -cut into big chunks (the bigger you make your veggies, the prettier the presentation)
2 sweet potatoes (or white potatoes)-peeled- I leave some skin on-again, just because I think it looks prettier.
 2 white potatoes
1-2 crowns of broccoli (or some other green veggie) (below I used brussel sprouts)
5-6 carrots-peeled and cut into large pieces
1 fennel bulb- large dices

 -preheat oven to 425 degrees -place the chicken on your roasting rack (if gizzards are still in the chicken, just remove them)  -Drizzle olive oil all over the chicken, and then massage oil into the skin of chicken, completely cover- WASH HANDS with soap and water -Generously salt and pepper the inside of the chicken as well as the outside. -Cover with dried herbs inside and out. -Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes. (I would begin checking the chicken at 1 hour, you don’t want to overcook, and remember, it will continue to cook slightly after you have taken it out of the oven) Cook until the juices run clear when you slice between the breast and the leg. (a friend taught me to wiggle the legs and if they are loose, the chicken is ready, if they are still very tight and don’t move freely, it needs to roast a little longer)  In the picture above, I used fresh herbs from my garden and stuffed the cavity full of basil, oregano, and rosemary.

Enjoy!

Falling In Love with Cooking - Tip #1

-A Clean Kitchen.

     Here is what I believe to be a major tip to enjoying cooking in your kitchen space.
   
     You are an artist, and an artist would never start with a messy canvas.  They start with a clear, white, and calm canvas.  Do not begin with chaos surrounding you.  It will just make you feel immediately defeated.  Try to clean as you go.  Years ago, Luke and I made it a habit to have the entire kitchen almost completely cleaned before we sit down for dinner.  That way, after dinner, we just basically have the plates, silverware, and glasses to put in the dishwasher, and the counters to spray and clean.
     
Side note-tip to feeling like a successful mom:  Go to bed with your house picked up each night.
You wake up and feel on top of your game rather than the poor, sad loser at the back of the race.  You go to bed with a peaceful house, and wake up with a peaceful house.
   
     Back to the clean kitchen: growing up, my dad, who is the most amazing and gifted administrator (however, the most irritating administrator when you are being constantly “administrated” or what I like to just call “bossed” by your dad) ran a very tight ship in our home alongside with my mother.   Now that I think of it....both my parents are bossy, extremely bossy!   But, we grew up in a beautiful, organized, clean, peaceful, and pleasant home where everyone wanted to come over and gather around our dinner table at all times!   Back to my dad-I heard at least 2,000 times growing up, “girls, clean as you go, clean as you go, it makes it so much easier.”  And you know what? He is right, it makes it so much easier!  And when entertaining, it is nice if you clean as you go, because when you guests arrive, they are not overwhelmed by a messy kitchen and secretly thinking in their minds, “Dear Lord, I hope this kitchen is sanitary now that I am about to eat the food that was prepared in it.”   And again, it brings them a feeling of peace as they prepare to dine at your house.
      You will notice, I will speak a lot about “peace”.   It is important to me.   A peaceful home is one of my greatest desires.  And as almost every mom can agree, it takes work to obtain peace, but it is a great desire for all of us in our crazy, errand running, diaper changing, baby feeding, toddler chasing, guitar playing, amp repairing, pedal board fixing, speaker cabinet drilling, travel gear case hammering,  craigslist trading- ok, wait, I just got lost in my “married to a musician world”- never ending daily lives.

How to Fall in Love with Cooking

I hear so many people (mostly moms) talk about how they wish they just enjoyed cooking more.   I get it- it is the end of the day, we are tired, we can hardly form a sentence.  The last thing you feel like you have energy for is a beautiful dinner.   And let's be honest, that's why most of us turn to something unhealthy in that moment.  Because unhealthy = quick and easy. When I am exhausted my first thought is, "Yum, Mexican food."

 So here are a few of my suggestions, must haves, tips, whatever you want to call them, for falling in love with cooking.  I will post one new suggestion in each blog over the next couple of weeks.  Also, stay tuned for my go-to favorite recipes.

 -Set the Atmosphere-

 You will never, and I mean never, walk into my home at dinnertime and find me cooking without French music playing.  About 50% of the time, I will have a glass of wine poured that I sip on as I prepare my dishes.  I have so many friends who don’t like to cook.  Part of my goal is to help you!   The first way to become a good cook is to figure out the best ways to ENJOY cooking!   I believe the key “ingredient” to that, is creating a beautiful and peaceful atmosphere in which to do your cooking.  I can genuinely say that I look forward to cooking 99.9% of the time, ok maybe 99.8% of the time.   It is rejuvenating, peaceful, creative, enjoyable, and fabulous thinking time.  And when I present whatever amazing dish I have created, I feel so proud, so fulfilled, and so excited to eat!  If you are a friend of mine, you will often hear me shamelessly compliment my own dishes!  You know what?  If you are a great cook, you know you are!  And there is no reason why you shouldn’t enjoy every bite as much as the person that you have prepared the food for is enjoying it!  I will sometimes be so excited about what I have cooked, that Luke laughs and tells me I am embarrassing him and to get a hold of myself!!  He is just kidding though, he loves that I can cook, and he fully delights in the rewards of it!

 In the next several blogs, I will share my tips on beginning the journey down the delightful road of enjoying/learning to cook!

New Font

Just wanted to let you all know (whoever of you are partaking in the blog) -  I changed my font.  My dear family,  who cannot for the life of them NOT give their opinion, even when I kindly ask them to just keep it to themselves, went ahead to inform me that the font on my blog was "laborious" I believe was the word that they used.  Actually, even though I am kind of kidding (not about my family giving their opinions) I actually went back and read through my blog, and after giving myself a headache, I realized, the font was a little difficult.
So, enjoy the new font, hope it makes it a little easier on your eyes.  Oh gosh-are we getting old?

Luke's Spaghetti Meat Sauce

I promised I would share my home made marinara sauce.  It truly is the simplest dish, yet I have never made it for anyone without getting compliment after compliment!  Try it out and wow your honey tonight!  I call it Luke's sauce because it was one of the first dinner's I attempted to make for him when we were married.  My original recipe came from a jar...it took me a few years to figure out this one, and I have never strayed from it.

Luke's Spaghetti Meat Sauce

1 1b. lean beef
1  medium sized onion (sometimes, I am not in the mood for the onion and leave it out) Great both      ways
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of fresh basil
salt and pepper
1/4-1/2 tsp of red pepper flakes  (if you are nervous about the spice, omit or add just a sprinkle)
2 - 28 oz cans of Crushed tomatoes
1/4 - 1/2 cup of red wine (use a wine that you would drink)


Heat a few tablespoons of olive oil in a large sauce pan or skillet.
Brown the meat.  When the meat is browned and cooked through- drain and set aside
In the same pan reheat a few more tablespoons of olive oil.  Saute the onion for about 2 minutes, then add the garlic.  Sprinkle of salt and pepper.

After the onion and garlic have cooked for a few minutes, add the meat back to the pan.  Another sprinkle of salt and pepper, and crushed red pepper.  Pour in both cans of crushed tomatoes,  chop of 1/2 of your basil (leave the rest for the end) and add 1/2 cup of red wine.

***Moms- At this time, grab a wine glass and also pour yourself a cup.  It makes the cooking more pleasant and relaxes you at the end of your busy day.  If it is the morning and you are preparing the sauce for dinner that night...well maybe hold off on the wine and have a nice cup of coffee.  :)
If it is late in the afternoon and you are beginning the dish, there is no shame in an afternoon glass of wine!

Bring sauce to a gentle boil and immediately turn down to medium low and cook, uncovered, for 45 minutes - 1 hour.  I believe this is one of the secrets to a great sauce!  Let it cook for a long time.

Before serving, chop up the rest of your fresh basil and toss it in.  It brings a freshness back to your dish.  (add as much as you want, you can't go wrong here)  Salt and pepper if needed.
* If you don't have fresh basil, then add about 2-3 Tbls. of dried basil when you are sauteing the onion and garlic.
I learned from a chef that when using dry herbs, toss them in with the other ingredients that you are sauteing...it wakes them up!


Serve over your favorite whole wheat or whole grain pasta, or gluten free pasta if needed.

I love to serve Spaghetti over Angel Hair pasta, it tends to keep it a little lighter and you don't feel horribly heavy after eating it.
I also serve it with Whole Wheat Penne pasta as well.  (honestly-I use whatever is in my pantry)

Enjoy!

Having Children = Having Adult ADD

In my last post (My Journey in the Kitchen-Thank you Martha)  I had every intention of sharing my Marinara recipe at the end of the blog.  Instead, I reached the end and happily posted it right away.  The main point I wanted to share in that particular post was my recipe, and that was completely forgotten.  Adult ADD-  I blame my children.

I can honestly say, there are times I wonder if I have adult ADD due to the absolute nuttiness of a house with children in it.  They wake up talking, they go to bed talking.  Silence?   I have no idea what that sounds like anymore.  My son has my gift of talking, he never stops.  I believe his talking has actually somewhat cured my urge to talk....because I don't have a chance anymore.  I literally find myself competing with Jonah at times to tell Luke a story.  Then I realize what is happening, and I actually feel embarrassed that I was trying to outtalk my  3 1/2 yr. old.

Adult ADD.  All moms know EXACTLY what I am talking about when I say "pregnancy brain."  I cannot explain it, but you literally can't think straight when your entire body is working to build a human being.  It is exhausting!!  While pregnant with my first child, Jonah, I unloaded groceries 2 different times and could not find the fresh milk the next day that  I knew that I had bought the previous day.  Where was it?  Always found a day later in my baking dish cabinet....and yes, I said 2 different times, it didn't happen once, it happened twice.  Fresh milk (now not so fresh) stored safe and sound in my baking dish cabinet.  Another time, I could not find for the life of me the leftovers to an amazing dinner I had cooked the night before?  Where did I finally find it?  Yes, that's right, in the drawer below my oven.  Spoiled....again.  This is pregnancy brain.  My best friend stared me straight in the face during my second pregnancy and said, "I love you so much, but I have never seen you dumber."  The sad part?   The pregnancy brain does not go away once you have your baby. It then just morphs itself into Adult ADD.  If you are a mom and you cannot relate to what I am talking about, and thinking, "I never feel like I can't focus around my kids.   I never feel like my head is floating off my body."  So sorry, but I am pretty sure I would say you are lying...and if you were one of my friends and said you could not relate to this.  Well then, I would most likely have to phase you out, because I would simply not understand you.

So all to say, I was looking forward to posting my recipe, and then totally forgot and blissfully pushed the "publish" button.  Yes, this was the same day that I actually almost took my dog's heart worm pill.  You read correctly my friend,  I found my dog's heart worm pills (while organizing my pantry-mind you, I did not set out to organize. I put something up, saw some misplaced objects, and began organizing-Adult ADD) and thought, "oh my gosh, poor Sully, I must give him one."   I opened the tablet tossed the pill in my OWN mouth and reached for my water glass.  As the cup reached my lips, I realized what I had done, screamed, and spit the pill out.  That's right folks, no lie, I almost took my Yorkie's heart worm pill.  In my entire life of owning dogs, this has never happened once.  I blame my kids.

My recipe for home made marinara (spaghetti sauce)  will be posted this week.   So stay tuned!!! (If you have the capability).

My Journey in the Kitchen-Thank you Martha

I never enjoyed cooking when I was younger.  Wait, I take that back, my best friend, Anna and I always made "no bake" chocolate oatmeal cookies (or as we called them, "doo doo" coookies-sounds yummy huh?)  And that was the extent of my cooking skills, we literally made cookies you didn't have to bake.   My mom is a great cook (when she actually takes the time to care about it).  Growing up in a small town in Arkansas, I can remember being the only one I knew in my world that had salads with goat cheese, and cranberries, and almonds in it.  Sure this is the normal salad now, but not 20 years ago in Arkansas.  My mom has always been a great and very healthy cook-she is terrible, and I mean terrible at desserts.   My older sister always had a flare for great cooking.  She helped my mother in the kitchen most every night.  After high school she spent a few months in Europe and the Canary Islands with a missionary team.  The entire time she was in the Canary Islands, her assignment was to help in the kitchen with the cooks.  So, she learned amazing things there, and I remember her coming home and being all the more interested in cooking beautiful dishes that tasted as great as they looked.

So, my job at dinner time in the Swift home was setting the table.  Man, I sure can set one beautiful table!  My mom tried several times to include me in the cooking-however, I ALWAYS burned the garlic bread,  and the one time she called me and asked me to start the baked potatoes in the oven, I burned them as well.   So, I was only asked to fill the ice water glasses, set the table, and light the candles in preparation for our family dinners.  I didn't like cooking, I wasn't interested, and I wasn't good at it.

Then I got married.

I married Luke when I was 22.  He is the love of my life and the man of my dreams, so of course, I wanted to bless him with beautiful dinners.  I remember one of the first meals I cooked for him in our small apartment in Kansas City.  His favorite food is Italian, so I attempted to make a simple Spaghetti.
I opened the jar, poured it into the pot, sprinkled some salt, pepper, and garlic powder, brought it to a boil (I would have simmered it, but I didn't know what that meant at the time) removed it from the heat, and poured it over the overcooked noodles.  We had no table at the time, so we sat on the floor and enjoyed our first pasta dinner in our new home.  He loved it, thankfully, and I thought it was pretty good myself.  I remember that I actually bought a very nice sauce in a jar--it wasn't Ragu, so it turned out somewhat decent.   Now I look back on that and think "gross".  But hey- you gotta start somewhere.  I will never forget that meal-it was precious and we were so happy to be married. So now every time we move (we have moved 5 times since that first apartment) I always make our first meal in our new home Spaghetti.  Thank God, my recipe these days is much better-and it doesn't come from a jar.

So, how did I get interested in becoming a good cook?  Honestly, I loved Luke, and I wanted to cook great dinners for him.  He was my first inspiration.  My second inspiration- Martha Stewart.  I know that sounds so cliche, but it is the truth.  I began watching The Martha Stewart show (before she went to prison and had her home shows-not her talk shows with an audience) most days at 2pm.  She would have a craft segment, a gardening segment, and a cooking segment.  I was totally inspired by her.  And slowly but surely, every dish she prepared, I would think, "I can do that."  That dish would become our dinner that night.  I had some major flops, but most of the dishes I would copy from Martha, I was able to pull off fairly decent.  Each night I would place my beautiful dish on the table in front of Luke, I was so excited, so proud of myself, and totally inspired to keep on impressing Luke with my skills!  In learning how to cook, there were also hundreds of calls to my mother and sister....hundreds.  My journey through recipes and cook books began, I subscribed to the Martha Stewart Living,  and began reading and believing I could do anything if I just tried.

Cooking has become a moment of creativity and clarity in my busy days.  As dramatic as it sounds, it helps center me at the end of the day.  I have learned to make it a moment of peace in my crazy days as a wife and mother.  I know that seems impossible when you are a mom, but in the next few blogs, I will share some of my secrets that will hopefully make you fall in love with cooking!

      My most recent monthly issue of Martha Stewart Living to add to my collection.

A Little About Myself

I am a wife, a mom, a musician, a private music teacher, and a homemaker. I have a full, exciting, non-stop, entertaining life here in Music City. My husband is a professional guitarist who travels, records, produces, and directs bands. We have two children who make our life even happier and more adventurous than it already was before they entered it. I have been a musician since I began singing every Barbra Streisand song I knew at age 4, and playing Chariots of Fire on the piano by age 5. I write, sing, and record whenever I am blessed enough with the time to do so. I have finished two albums and am currently working on my third. I am a trained classical pianist, and teach private piano lessons during the week. At times, motherhood has placed my music on the back burner, so in the meantime, I place every yummy thing to eat on the front burner to keep my mind and world filled with creativity, beauty, and love! I love and adore cooking and entertaining. I entertain at 1-2 times every week. My husband travels quite a bit as a guitarist, so when he is away, I have to hold the fort down by continuing to teach, take care of the kiddos, set up time with my girlfriends -in order to not become a sad and lonely mom who only wears her yoga pants (black of course, because it makes her feel skinnier) and her hair in a dirty bun because she never sees anyone- and also continue cooking healthy and wonderful meals for my kids and me, while he is away. It’s a lot! But when you are a musician in Music City, your life runs on a different pace than the rest of the world, and the only ones who truly understand that pace are all the other self-employed musicians! We work, we travel, we create, we LOVE what we do, and it is a weird and crazy life, but because of us....you all have great music to listen to!