I can do that most of the time, but here’s the pork rub: I’ve been a writer and editor for another twenty-plus years. My job is to look for mistakes and, often, improve or shorten sentences and paragraphs. Just when I think I can go out and enjoy a meal without picking apart the service or the salad, I look at a menu and want to hoist my red pen into action. Plus, I’ve done plenty of food writing, including restaurant reviews, menus, and marketing materials.

So I don’t get it when I see errors, confusing and/or no descriptions of menu items, and misspellings.

Serbian Bakery, Jackson, California

Don’t get me wrong: my most critical dining-out elements are the same as they are for most people. Those are the quality of food, service, and ambiance. Sometimes, my stomach leads the way, and I track down the place that will most assuredly satisfy my craving, whatever it is. Other times, it’s my mood. In these instances, I’m peering around for a comfortable booth or a sunny window to pull its weight.

But how do you know if a place you’re trying for the first time is good before you commit and place your order? Yes, there are online reviews, but I’ve eaten at plenty of places with great online ratings and then had terrible meals. Why? Because people who don’t know the difference between good gravy and lousy gravy often write reviews anyway. And let’s face it: food quality is subjective. In other words, everyone has a right to be wrong and then write about it on Yelp.

But what else do you have when you’re choosing a restaurant? Marketing. You have the messaging sent from point A (the restaurant) to point B (the potential customer) to entice you to spend your money and time in a joint. Hence, the reason for this blog (finally!).

I’m going to get to the thesis first (I mean, almost last): If a restaurant (manager and owner) cannot be bothered to get the details right or make the menu descriptions appealing, I assume they are also not tending to the details in the kitchen or within the service staff. It speaks to the overall operation when there are typos, words misspelled, or lousy messaging in general.

Hire a writer to do the writing, just like you hire a chef to do the cooking. Why do restaurants (and so many other businesses, to be honest) skip the first impression step when it comes to how their restaurant’s offerings are described on websites and marketing materials?

If you have a marketing person who generates terrific ideas but doesn’t provide copywriting, and your manager or owner doesn’t know how to write a sentence that makes sense AND entices, find a copywriter. Not all marketing professionals are writers, which is why larger agencies in markets where competition is steep, have dedicated writers on their teams. In those agencies, the brainstormers create brilliant ideas, the artists create the imagery, and the copywriters create the copy. Writing is a creative process, one in which words are intentionally chosen (or not), and the audience (customer) is kept top of mind as all the other marketing departments do in their creative processes.

In smaller markets or in mom-and-pop shops where the budgets are squeaking, they’re so tight, those elements often get ignored, especially that last one: writing.

I’m not talking about an errant comma; I’m talking about gross editing errors: a misspelled word, inconsistency, or confusing description. Every menu has one/some/many. It’s a problem.

If you’re one of those restaurant owners who think, “The food speaks for itself,” think again. Everything is online. Menus are perused before people even get in their car to head downtown.

Let’s take modern technology out of the equation for a minute and put yourself in this situation: You are visiting a strange city, and you see two Italian restaurants next door to one another. Both restaurants’ menus are posted in their respective windows. They have identical menu items and prices. One menu has listed items, no descriptions, and typos: Cheese Ravioly. Ceaser salad. Meetballs. Chiccen parm. The other menu has the same items, each with brief, mouth-watering descriptions and no typos:

• Ricotta and smoked mozzarella ravioli, made fresh daily, drizzled with browned butter sage sauce
• Caesar salad with ice-cold chopped Romaine lettuce, grilled ciabatta croutons, and housemade Caesar dressing
• Four over-sized beef and pork meatballs with our signature roasted tomato marinara on pasta of your choice
• Chicken cutlets, lightly coated with seasoned bread crumbs, fried to a golden brown, topped with roasted tomato marinara and mozzarella, then broiled until bubbly and dusted with fresh-grated Parmesan cheese. 

Which restaurant are you walking into and why?

Paragon Deli Cafe, Shelter Island, San Diego, California

Here’s another activity: Describe the salad in the picture shown in this blog as if it will be going on a menu. I want you to do the best you can in two minutes. Does it make you want to pay $20 for it?

Photo Credits

Photos courtesy of Lisa Lucke – All Rights Reserved
First published at Lisa Lucke

Frittata, that’s how.

Over a cup of coffee, I visualized my path, which is how I do most things: Chop, roast, bake. Then I started mentally adding steps: Chop everything up in medium chunks, roast it to a tender char; toss it all into my wooden chopping bowl and chop some more; throw in some fresh herbs, eggs, and slip it into a savory pie crust and bake. Frittata for dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow, and then we hit the road.

After the chopping, I scanned the spice cupboard….I grabbed dill, something called 21 Seasoning Salute from Trader Joe’s, turmeric, and some smoked paprika.

I slivered and added five cloves of garlic and a small handful of oil-packed sundried tomatoes (large size; they’ll get chopped after roasting). Into the chopped veg it went. I tossed it all with olive oil, salt and pepper, and the spices listed above and roasted at 425 – hot and fast is the rule for roasting green plant matter. Took about 18 minutes.

Time to think about that savory pie crust. Ask, and Google will provide. “Savory parmesan pie crust” brought up the usual umpteen choices; turns out, a Keto recipe caught my eye not for the Keto element, but for this reason: four ingredients. That’s one bowl, and no pastry cloth, rolling pin, or headache. Almond flour, butter, parmesan, egg. Basta.

Out of the oven, I chopped the veggies into smaller bits and then added a couple of beaten eggs, a little more salt, fresh basil from my window herb garden, and slid it all into the pie crust I put together while the veggies were roasting. Note: I didn’t bother to pre-cook the pie crust before filling it, which was actually a mistake; when I realized this fact, a bit too late, I kept going, wondering if it would be a critical error. Turns out, it was fine. I left it in a bit longer than the 15 minutes or so noted in the recipe, but it was fully cooked and even perfect on the bottom.

Oh, speaking of the bottom – I laid a few slices of Swiss cheese on the crust before adding the veg. Into the oven at 350 for about 25 minutes. I kept my eye on the crust and when it was fairly browned, I took it out.

And that’s how you clean out the refrigerator before going on vacation.

Buon appetite.

Photo Credits

Images courtesy of Lisa Lucke.

Previously published at www.lisalucke.com.

I’m making a turkey roast. More specifically, a Turketta: a deboned, hand-rolled, and tied whole turkey.

The last time I roasted a mini pterodactyl was in 2019, and I lost. That fateful night, I proclaimed that I’d never do it again and I meant it. The problem? Nooks and crannies that don’t cook evenly, bones sticking out, uncooperative joints, dry parts, moist parts, and the inane “Is that juice or blood?” guessing game. Let the bird rest, but not too much rest or it gets cold. Not enough rest and all the juice runs out. Fiddlefuck!

I will never again try to figure out if a Frankenstein’s monster of a carcass is thoroughly cooked in all the right parts and not overcooked in the wrong parts. I’m done trying to wrangle a steaming, slippery roasted disaster of the bird world. In 2019, I took the damn thing out too early, started carving, saw pink, put it back in, took it out again, continued carving, and possibly even put it back in a third time. I really don’t remember anything but the literal blanket of f-bombs I laid down as my poor sister-in-law tried to help me wrestle the devil poultry into submission. I was laughing, I was cussing, I was sweating, and I was probably half in the bag as we desperately tried to position ourselves to prevent the family from seeing what the fuck was going on over by the sink. In fact, I’m almost positive I heard my 80-year-old aunt say, “What the fuck is going on over by the sink?”

When I finally got to my seat, I made a toast: “Thanks for coming. Take a picture of that de-winged, nogginless bastard because it’s the last one you’ll ever see in my house.”

I don’t even like turkey. I’d rather have a roast chicken from Costco on my holiday table than a turkey. A few years before Turkageddon, I made a boneless prime rib roast, and it was amazing. A big rectangle-shaped slab that sits completely stable while you slice perfectly uniform slices: straight down, no bones, no joints, no secret compartments.

Since I’m hosting this year, I’ve been anticipating “the call.” Last week, it happened: My mom phoned me to tell me that Butterball turkeys were on sale at the local grocery store. I listened and then delivered the news.

“Well, I’m not making a whole turkey this year. I’m making a turkey roast.”

<<silent pause>>

“Oh. A turkey roast?”

“Yes. It’s a whole turkey, no bones. Light and dark meat, all wrapped in skin and tied up for roasting, It’s going to be really good.”

“Ok, I’m sure it will.”

“I’m done with turkeys.”

“Oh, how come?”

“Because they’re stupid, mom. And also, I hate them. I’m tired of dealing with elbows and knees. Which end is the asshole? Which end is the neck? And also, I don’t want a body cavity on my table. It’s all just too much.”

Now she was laughing, which was a good sign.

“It’s going to be really good. I promise.”

One by one I’ve been telling my family what the plan is. My kids don’t really care. They know everything I make is good. Plus, they’re all in their twenties so a homecooked meal is a homecooked meal. I can’t wait to pull out of the oven, not one, but two Turkettas, stand in full view of my fifteen guests, and proudly slice those beautiful rectangles of turkey love.

Photo Credit

Turketta image Good Eggs and RoliRoti, Oakland, CA

Originally published at www.lisalucke.com

Before I rattle off my favorites and why, I’ll tell you which ones haven’t yet passed my lips and therefore, not part of my list: Buffalo Chips and Hotel Sutter, both in Sutter Creek, and Taste A Go-Go food truck in Plymouth. Full disclosure: I probably won’t ever try Taste-A-Go-Go’s burger because every single time I step up to order one, the words “Dirty Bird Sando” come out of my mouth. That crispy yardbird piled high with tangy slaw, sliced jalapenos and some crazy blast of sauce is my favorite local sandwich, hands down, which by the way I lick clean. I’ve heard those Sutter Creek burgers are worth trying, but when it comes to getting food to go, I stay in the city limits, unless I’m chowing down in my car.

The Big Three

Three things really matter for me to enjoy a burger to the last bite, which is exactly what has to happen for me to ever order one a second time. Those three things are the meat, the bun, and the setup (setup = all the good stuff that goes on the burger – or gets “held” if you’re picky). When I get the urge to seek and destroy some meat, I need the last bite to be as good as the first. Additionally, if a burger is ridiculously tall, I’m irritated. Food has got to function.

Here are my top burgers, working from the outside in, with respect to the big three: bun, setup and patty.

BUN: A bun needs to hold up to the last bite. If it melts like a cheap cookie in a glass of milk, I’m annoyed. My two current favorite buns in the county are outstanding for almost identical reasons: Villa Privata and Bistro49. Now, Villa Privata makes their buns in-house. It’s golden brown and toasty around the edges. It’s light and airy in the center. It has its own flavor. Bistro49’s bun has the very same characteristics; on the menu, it’s called a “brioche bun.” Is it homemade? I don’t know or care. It’s fantastic. Even if no morsel of meat is left in the last bite, that crispy, golden brown, buttery remnant of bun is not to be discarded.

SETUP: I like a setup that doesn’t get in the way of the more important stuff: burger, cheese, and bun. In fact, the very worst thing a burger can have is limpy lettuce or a slice of tomato with the little white core staring up at me from the center (lazy prep). As far as setups go, Brickhouse Brews on Main St. in Jackson has a setup that rivals a tiny fresh side-salad: fresh lettuce, a thick slice of ripe red tomato and red onion that says “hello!” long after you finish your meal. And I will always appreciate Mel & Faye’s because of the fact that they have a burger setup for every mood! Not in the mood for salad on your burger – order the Sourdough Burger or Miner Burger (chili!). I also don’t feel bad making switches at Mel’s — they are always happy to accommodate, likely because that place is built for volume. For example, I love shredded lettuce on my burgers, which is on some of their other sandwiches, but not burgers, and they happily sub it if I ask them to. Like, I might say, “Can I get a bacon burger with the sourdough setup?” The answer is always yes. “Can I get a sourdough burger, add shredded lettuce?” Yes!

BURGER PATTY: Finally, the meat. Who can resist a screaming char flavor? For me, it’s a requirement, and Bistro49 has that element nailed. And I like a burger nice.and.pink. on the inside, which they also deliver. Add a hand-formed patty’s uneven, raggedy edges that get a little crispier and I’m doing the food moan. That box is also checked at Bistro49. I might be mistaken, but I *think* many of the local burgers are hand-formed in the restaurant, including Mel’s, Brickhouse, Bistro49, and Giant 88. Maybe others?

Speaking of Giant 88, the double-American cheese blast I mentioned earlier? That’s where you find it. That burger gets eaten instantly, in the parking lot, with a stack of napkins. Do not try to transport anywhere. Just eat it.

Photo Credits

Photos by Lisa Lucke

Originally published at www.lisalucke.com

But given the holiday weekend and my already compromised ability to know what day it is (thanks, COVID), today seemed like a good day to round up the usual plant-based suspects and make something.
I found zucchini, crooked neck squash, red/yellow bell peppers (the combo kind – pretty!), mushrooms, green onions, baby spinach, and one red potato.

Next, I checked the pantry. Whew! No wayward vegetables absentmindedly stashed there, but I did find one of my favorite Amador County-made products: Martha’s Organic All-Natural Cornbread Mix (available here and on Amazon). A plan began to form in my mind…Fritters!

Under normal circumstances, zucchini fritters are my go-to summertime treat, when gardens (not mine) are overrun with squash. When I was a kid, my Grandpa Boitano taught me how to make them in the cool of the basement, which had an earthen floor but also a stove, refrigerator, kitchen table and pantry shelves lined with the current season’s mother lode of freshly canned veggies, fruits, and antipasto. My grandpa sliced, battered and fried his fritters, but I eventually switched to a quicker method of shredding the zucc and mixing it into Bisquick and then frying them in olive oil for a savory afternoon treat.

But today, I decided to do something different. I grabbed my large wooden chopping bowl, cut the veggies up into chunks and slices, shredded the raw potato (skin on) and threw in four cloves of coarse-chopped garlic. Then I went chop crazy. The smell of the raw garlic and especially the bell peppers wafted up into my face like a morning garden facial.

I also tossed in a couple of handfuls of fresh-grated parm, cracked black pepper and coarse salt (plenty).

Time for the batter. In typical fashion, I sorta followed the instructions on the package, which called for adding two eggs, milk, four tablespoons of melted butter, and salt to the mix. I used three eggs, and I substituted buttermilk, to offset any slight sweetness that cornbread mixes sometimes have, although as a sidenote, Martha’s All-Natural products are organic and have very little added anything. This mix had just a tiny bit of cane juice added for sweetening, but I still tossed in a 1/2 tsp more salt than the mix instructions called for. I like salt.

I looked at the batter. I looked at my bowl of chopped veggies. Instantly, I knew the proportions would be perfect. Why? I don’t know. I have some sort of spidey sense and kitchen confidence not found anywhere else in my life. So, I combined the two bowls. It was perfect.

And then, I fried. In light olive  oil (I use light olive oil, which is just what you get in subsequent pressings after the first cold press, or extra virgin). I do not have canola or vegetable oil in the house. I use light olive oil anytime a recipe calls for those two things or when I would normally grab vegetable oil — even to bake with. For vegetarian dishes like this one, EVOO earthiness would have overpowered the fresh veggie flavors. Hence, the light.

My only concern was whether the veggies and cornmeal in the mix would soften up completely on the stovetop (as opposed to 30 minutes in a hot oven). Turns out my kitchen gut-hunch was right to chop the veggies finely – they were perfect; the cornmeal bread binder was silky and smooth and totally done. Took about three minutes each side on med-high heat in a heavy non-stick pan to get them perfectly golden brown.

This particular Martha’s product isn’t gluten free, but she has a lot of mixes that are. Substitute cornstarch & water slurry for egg if you want a totally vegetarian dish, along with any plant-based butter or oil.

Veggie cornmeal fritters. Get ready neighbors, I made a big batch!

Buon appetito!

Photo Credits

All photos courtesy of Lisa Lucke.

Originally published at www.lisalucke.com

“I’m looking forward to cooking for two. Less prep time, less cook time, less clean-up.”

“I am looking forward to not stuffing myself.”

“Huh?”

“When there’s more food I feel compelled to go back for seconds and thirds.”

“Oh, I thought you loved having leftovers for lunch the next day.”

“I do, but you make enough for seconds, thirds, and leftovers.”

“Ever consider letting your stomach catch up with your head?

As he frowned, I realized this was not only going to be easier, but healthier for both of us.

My first week’s empty-nest meal plan looked like this:

• Monday: Sesame Chicken (recipe from Facebook video; it was delicious!)
• Tuesday: Lamb meatloaf (recipe follows)
• Wednesday: Leftovers
• Thursday: Take out (that was really easy)
• Friday: Meat Pie

Monday’s meal went well, but still resulted in leftovers, and I only used two chicken breasts! When you factor in the stir-fried veggies and brown rice, two plump breasts are more than you think!

Not the prettiest, but definitely delicious: lamb meatloaf

Now to Tuesday: Lamb meatloaf. I made this up off the top of my head, and I didn’t actually partake in it for dinner because I was headed out for drinkies with a few other empty nesting moms. Nevertheless, I started with 1 lb. of ground lamb. For the mashed potatoes, I literally boiled one large russet potato. I have made beef meatloaf a million times, but now that the lamb naysayers have scrammed, I can make what I want.

One large russet does in fact make enough mashed potatoes for two!

So, Wednesday was leftovers night. A little leftover chicken and rice, a little meatloaf and mashers (one large russet makes a lot more mashed potatoes than I thought it would, and my husband loves mashed potatoes).

Thursday was take-out because I was sick all week with a nasty chest cold. On Friday I made a meat pie for two in a 9″ x 9″ square baking dish, as opposed to the 9″ x 13″ that feeds six and provides leftovers. We still had leftovers with the small one also, and that’s my meal plan for the weekend since the Mr. is out of town. Leftover fried meat pie with a couple eggs…ahhh.

(Note: I didn’t use ketchup in this meatloaf because lamb and ketchup just seemed wrong. If you substitute beef, add a bunch of ketchup.)

This recipe actually feeds four (1 lb.) so if you need it to feed six, add another ½ pound of meat and pump up all the other ingredients’ amounts. If you insist on cooking for one and detest leftovers, basically make a hamburger, not a loaf. Start with a ¼ pound of meat and go from there. Or start with a ½-lb and you will have just enough for a nice sandwich the next day. Also, I know my way around a kitchen, and rarely measure anything, so my amounts below are estimates for the most part, except for the main ingredients.

Lamb Meatloaf (for 2-4)
Ingredients

• 1 lb. ground lamb
• ½ large carrot, ½ med. zucchini, ¼ yellow onion, ½ red bell pepper; I cut these into 1-inch pieces, then throw them all together into my food processor and hit “pulse” several times until they were minced finely (see picture).
• Garlic, three cloves
• ¼ cup seasoned breadcrumbs mixed with about ¼ cup milk (should be thick, but still pourable, like a milkshake)
  
  

  Seasoned breadcrumbs and milk “milkshake”

• 1 egg
• Worcestershire sauce (about four liberal shakes; more or less depending on how you like it.)
• Salt and pepper (maybe about ¼ – ½ tsp of each)

Preparation:

1. Place the ground lamb in a large bowl. I use organic and I don’t know the fat ratio.
2. Mince veggies (by hand or food processor as described above).
   
   

   Minced onion, red bell pepper, carrot and zucchini

3. Sauté veggies until they are very soft and glossy, and edges are starting to brown. I sauté on medium for about 20 minutes, stirring frequently. Season with salt and pepper while cooking.
4. Add crushed garlic about 2 minutes before veggies are done cooking. Add veggies/garlic mixture to meat.
5. Mix breadcrumbs and milk with a spoon and add to meat mixture.
6. Crack an egg into the meat mixture. Add Worcestershire sauce. Add salt and pepper. Don’t forget you (should have) seasoned the veggies while they were cooking.
7. Mix meatloaf ingredients thoroughly; it should fit perfectly into a loaf-sized Pyrex dish or pan. Note: There is going to be plenty of oil in the dish when it’s done cooking. You can easily drain this off as the meatloaf will shrink away from the sides of the loaf pan. You can even lift the whole loaf out with a large spatula and put it on a serving plate after setting it on a paper towel to soak up excess oil.

Buon appetito!

Photo Credits

All photos by Lisa Lucke – All Rights Reserved

Carnitas

Meals from scratch are not terribly laborious when you know what you’re doing with ingredients. I am sure there is a longer way to do it, but I make my own carnitas, for example, and it’s a snap. I brown a pork shoulder roast in olive oil on the stove; while that’s happening, I cut up a few onions and peel some garlic. Then, I throw it all in the Dutch oven, add spices (not a Lawry’s envelope labeled “Carnitas,” which is probably mostly sugar and salt), a little beef stock, and toss it into the oven. In 2.5 hours (while I’ve run to appointments or gotten a chunk of work done in my home office), it’s tender, and ready to shred and pile into warm corn tortillas or roll up in a big flour tortilla. The prep time was ten minutes.

Alas, there are the days when all I have time for is “homemade-ish.” I call these meals, “half-scratch.”

Half-scratch meals typically include some pre-made base or leftover component, but with creative twists, either in the preparation techniques or ingredients. Other shortcuts, along the same lines, include grabbing side dishes from local establishments that turn a quick meal at home into a unique and satisfying grub down.

Here are a few examples of most popular half-scratch meals I’ve made that include some leftovers, but serve up like the real deal and have kept my people happy.

Linguini Pie

I invented this when I had leftover linguini (with fresh, homemade marinara). Here’s what I did: I bought a Krusteaz garlic-herb flatbread mix, spread it onto a cookie sheet and baked it. While that was cooking (about ten minutes), I reheated the leftover pasta on the stove. When the flatbread was done, I poured the pasta onto the baked flatbread, topped it with a little shredded cheddar cheese and popped it under the broiler for a few minutes to melt the cheese. I cut it into pie-shaped slices (hence the name) and served it with a green salad.

Behold, Linguini Pie.

Loaded Pancakes

Mix up a batch of pancake batter, throw in some fresh blueberries, chopped bananas, and bacon that’s been cooked and chopped. For a topping treat, toss one cup of heavy whipping cream and ½ cup of maple syrup into a blender and voila: maple whipped cream sauce is born. To make savory loaded pancakes, sprinkle chopped green onion, pine nuts and shredded cheese into the batter instead of the fruit.

Tri-tip Hash

Chop up left-over tri-tip or other pork or beef roast, and boil a few potatoes. Cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces. Sauté chopped onion until it’s browned, then throw in the tri-tip and potatoes. Brown until a nice crust forms on both sides. Serve with fried eggs for another breakfast-for-dinner meal, or with a salad.

Take out Side Dishes

Get the “feel” of your favorite restaurant without the cost of taking everyone out. In the summer, when we’re grilling burgers at home, I’ll grab a couple of large orders of French fries and onion rings from our local favorite mom & pop drive-in. If I’m making a quick weeknight dinner of homemade quesadillas, I’ll pick-up a pint of salsa and a bag of chips from my favorite local Mexican restaurant to go along with them. You can do the same with soup from the local bistro or café. Soups are great ways to dress up that homemade grilled cheese. Speaking of boring ol’ grill cheese…

Gourmet Grilled Cheese

The possibilities are endless: Add cooked bacon (make ahead of time in the oven on a cookie sheet), avocado, sliced tomatoes, jalapenos, goat cheese crumbles, roasted red peppers, or sliced red onion, etc. Go a step further and use sour dough or even ciabatta rolls. Yes, you can put some butter in a pan and fry a ciabatta roll. It’s delicious.

Have a half-scratch meal idea of your own to share? Leave a comment!

Photo Credits

All photos by Lisa Lucke – All Rights Reserved

Since I work from home, on most days, I can make adjustments (work at night or weekends or early morning) in order to be where I need to be, including the kitchen. I can even work from a deck overlooking a lake, or poolside with an umbrella drink next to me (hint, hint).

Dutch oven pot roast

Regardless of what kind of job you have, getting dinner on the table when you are a busy parent is no easy task, but it’s not impossible. I also cook from scratch as much as possible. I don’t hit a “from scratch” home run every day, but I do most days. Cooking from scratch is a genetic disorder, but the good news is that food tastes better and is better for you. Cooking is like anything else: The more you do it, the better you get. Here’s a few tips on how to pull off quick, homemade meals that your family will appreciate.

1 – Meal plan.

Sit down with a glass of wine or a beer on Sunday afternoon and make a plan for the week’s meals. When I do this, I save money, and my weeks are free of unnecessary mealtime stress, freeing up valuable hard drive space in my brain for even more teenager nonsense. Look at your calendar and see what the week has on it for you and your family. Choose a meal for each night that makes sense with that day or evening’s commitments, and right next to it, list the ingredients you need to buy in order to make it. Don’t forget side dishes.

2 – Execute the meal plan: Go shopping.

After you meal plan, you’ve got to execute. Do not make it your plan to go to the grocery store every day or even every other. I’ve tried this non-plan; it results in takeout, or an expensive meal from the grocery store deli. Get everything on the list.

3 – Prep meals in the morning or the night before.

Try to get some meal prep done earlier in the day or even the night before if you’ve got the energy. Example: While my husband is making PB&J sandwiches, I might be sleeping, or I might be chopping and sautéing onions and garlic and putting a meatloaf together, making mashed potatoes (easy to reheat later) or browning a pot roast and cutting up veggies. (Don’t underestimate the power of throwing a large piece of meat, veggies, herbs, salt and pepper, and some beef or chicken stock into a Dutch oven and tossing it into the oven. Cook low and slow and you’ll have a delicious meal on your table that you don’t have to sit around babysitting all day. Strain the remaining broth, add a little red or white wine and some butter and cook it down to a reduced, slightly syrupy consistency and pour it all over your spouse, I mean the roast. Enjoy.)

Next time: Family favorites from my “Easy, fast and delicious” repertoire! Have a time-saving idea of your own? Leave a comment!

Photo Credit

Photo by Lisa Lucke – All Rights Reserved

Now, as a grown-up in most senses of the word, I still hide healthy food, but it’s inside other healthy food, and it’s mainly for my benefit, not my kids. Now that I’m reaching the twenty-five-twice mark (it’s my age and I’ll describe it in my terms) I’ve become fond of eating real, healthy food, 90% of the time. What I do the other 10% of the time is mine, and I own it. But if I can make good choices most of the time, I’m good. I feel better when I eat well and exercise regularly, and I like fitting into my jeans. I also want to stick around long enough to witness my children pull their hair out over their own children, much the same way my parents sit back and enjoy watching me do the same with my kids.

Still with me? If so, let’s consider my favorite uber-healthy food that I sneak in all over the place: flaxseed meal (ground up flaxseeds, which are about the size of a sesame seed). Flaxseeds are considered a high-fiber, high-protein superfood. In just one ounce (3 tbsps.), you get 6g of protein and 8g of fiber. Full of Omega-3 essential fatty acids (“good” fats that do great things, like boost brain function and fight fatigue), flaxseeds are low in carbohydrates, and they make you feel full longer so you hopefully won’t snack on gummy bears all afternoon and plummet into a sugar-induced abyss around 5 p.m. Flaxseeds are also great for your gut and digestion. Flaxseed meal has an extremely mild, nutty flavor and it’s powdery, non-grainy texture allows it to really disappear into food. I shoot for three tablespoons a day and here’s how I get there:

Breakfast

Smoothies: I sprinkle a tablespoon into my morning smoothie, which typically consists of frozen broccoli, frozen organic blueberries, frozen strawberries, coconut milk or water, a scoop of organic almond butter, and cinnamon. I use all non-sweetened fruit; I’m not really a sugar person, so my smoothies are really not sweet, especially when I leave out the strawberries. If you need a little sweet, throw in some frozen pineapple chunks. (You can get just about any frozen fruit without added sugar these days at most grocery stores and big warehouse stores.)

Oatmeal: I make up a bowl of Bob’s Red Mill quick-oats (a negligible nutritional difference between quick-cook and long-cook, at least in this brand) with a handful of blueberries, a couple tablespoons of flaxseed meal, a small handful of walnuts (another excellent source of really good stuff – look it up) and a teaspoon of honey. By the way, I don’t cook the oatmeal in water; I cook it in organic coconut milk, yet another source of amazing goodness. It’s good for the heart, and a great source of lauric acid, a protective fatty acid that is linked to healthy levels of good cholesterol (HDL) and lower levels of the bad kind (LDL). It’s also high in multi-chain triglycerides (MCT). If you’re into losing weight and building muscle, look that up. You’re welcome.

Lunch and dinner

Soups/sauces: Today, I made polenta for lunch, but you can easily throw flaxseed meal into just about any soup or sauce. I like Bob’s Red Mill (not instant) cornmeal. It took 45 minutes, but I started at 11, before I got really hungry (which typically results in me stuffing a piece of Swiss cheese in my face while I prepare whatever it is I’m going to eat). I cooked it in organic vegetable broth instead of water, which makes it heartier. I added four or five tablespoons of flaxseed meal when it finished cooking. Then, I ate a big bowl of it (at least a cup and a half) topped with my homemade marinara sauce, which also had a little flaxseed meal mixed into it. I topped that with a little fresh grated parmesan (off a blok; I’m not a fan of paying for cellulose, which is in all pre-packaged grated parmesan cheeses, for “anti-caking” properties, but also because it is a supposedly harmless filler that takes up space and results in a higher profit margin. Personally, I’d rather pay more for the real thing, which is much tastier, so you use a lot less). Lastly, I sprinkled a handful of pine nuts on top, giving my polenta lunch a protein boost.

Once I began eliminating packaged, processed food from my diet, I started finding ways to boost the healthy food I was eating with even healthier food. It’s the old sneak attack, but even better. If you want to really set yourself up for success in the kitchen, eliminate all the crap; don’t pretend that you’ll resist it, just get rid of it. Then, put the things you know you want to be part of your daily diet right on the counter. My flaxseed meal is in an airtight jar on my counter with a cute little wooden teaspoon sitting on top. Make it easy, otherwise, if you’re like me, you’ll either forget or blow it off. Keep your cupboards stocked with what you need. Meal plan. Make a list. Shop weekly. Sneak it in.

Photo Credits

Grape Nuts – Wikipedia Creative Commons

All other photos by Amador Food & Review – All Rights Reserved

Today I decided to make scones—for the first time ever, while my husband “The Lunchmaker” toiled away.

Our conversation went something like this:

“Why am I doing this? Who calls for 3/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons of milk? That’s stupid!”

“You hate to bake for exactly the reason I like to: numbers.”

“I need a cooking show. I’m going to call it ‘The Bitchy Baker.’”

So anyway, I’m following the directions, which means reading every sentence 25 times because I can’t retain things I read that contain numbers, and I’m at the step where I have to “turn out the dough onto the floured countertop.” Well, that’s not going to happen! Has anyone seen my countertop? So I get a large cutting board and throw down the flour. I plop down the dough. I immediately notice two things, in this order:

1) It actually looks like the description says it should look (“shaggy”)

2) There are no berries in my mixed-berry scone dough!

Doh! I must have missed that step? Seems a little late now to add berries, but then again, it’s my first time and all, so who am I to judge? I glance at the next step: “Shape dough into a rectangle, 6” x 12” and cut into triangles.” No mention of berries! I scan the steps, backward. Still, no berries. The last time berries were mentioned in this recipe it was in the ingredients list: “1-3/4 cups of mixed berries” (because two cups, or better yet, ‘A couple of fat-fisted handfuls’ would have been too difficult).

F-WORD! They forgot to tell me to add the berries! And because I was so intent on following the directions, measuring and folding and scraping and such, it never occurred to me that anything was amiss. Who is this recipe writer?!

So I put the dough back into the bowl…the perfect, raggedy dough that I had taken so much care not to “over handle.” I poured the raspberries and sliced strawberries on top. Then, I mixed. Guess what happens when you add juicy berries to lovely scone dough? A gluey shit storm happens, that’s what. It was 6:55. The kids would be up soon.

Twenty years in the restaurant business was not lost on me, not to mention having come from a long line of fierce cooks. I quickly greased a baking dish and slid the snotty dough right into it. Into the oven it went for…hmmm. Well, I guess I’ll just have to improvise that, too!

Turns out, I made a scone cake. Mixed berry scone cake, to be precise, and it is amazing.

Photo Credits

Magazine  – Courtesy of Cook’s Country, Aug/Sept 2015

All others by Lisa Lucke – All Rights Reserved