Starting Family Food Traditions

Family Food Traditions

Family and food.  Those two words often go together for most people.  Whether you wake up and cook pancakes on Saturday mornings, have a weekly pizza night, or always make certain Christmas cookies around the holidays – there are some things food always brings to the table.  Maybe you always go to a certain restaurant for special meals, or maybe you have your grandmother’s recipe for gingerbread and her worn cloth apron that she would wear as she labored hard over her yeast rolls.  Smell in the memories.

Growing up, we didn’t have a lot of these.  We loved food – don’t get me wrong.  There are a few things: smoked mullet, Granny’s chicken and rice, and Dad’s creole black eyed peas every New Years.  Those are good traditions and I even introduced my mister to Papa’s smoked mullet a few years back.  However, I want more.

As a wife and a mother of two littles, I want to create traditions, with the OK of my mister, that will do two things:

1.  Provide a way to create memories for our family.

2.  Help us to see the goodness of God to our family.

Here are three that we have started, and I will explain these two above points as we go along.

Weekly Pizza Night : making it, Little Caesars, store bought – just a night for pizza (and leftovers of course). Who doesn’t like cold pizza for breakfast.  Hold the olives, please!

Weekly trips to Trader Joe’s and Ray’s Donuts.  I am so grateful that my husband makes time to keep the boys while I go grocery shopping.  I seldom go with them anymore because even if I’ve just fed them, they will eat the produce in the cart.  Not going to happen.  But, I like taking them to Trader Joe’s on Monday mornings.  We get TJ cinnamon cookies, try new products, and make all the clerks smile.  Building relationships.  Its important.  And happy boys.  Also, we’ve started going to Ray’s Donuts in Marietta (amazing donut holes) one day each week.  Nothing fancy, but good donuts.  We spent 1.80 this morning, hung out with some friends who joined us, and ate donuts.  It was so much fun wiping down my boys’ fingers with a wet wipe because they had glaze in between their little fingers and on the corners of the their lips.

Homemade Pad Thai for New Years.  I am definitely southern and like greens and black eyed peas – but I wanted to do something different.  So, last year the Mister and I said we would do this.  I want to teach my boys to love it – and to teach them to love the different cultures of the world.

Our family is just starting out, but so far I’m building relationships that can hopefully spread into opportunities to share the gospel and I can teach our boys to be thankful for pizza, donuts, and pad thai.  God is so good to us.  Whether its an additional 5$ for pizza on a Sunday night – where we can rest and enjoy one another and not dirty up a kitchen – or 1.80 for a mid-morning, mid-week fun time with mommy with sticky fingers.  These boys will have memories.

What food memories are you creating for your family?  We will install more just waiting to see what yumminess!

Eat This: Baked Pizza Chicken

posted in: food | 0

baked pizza chicken

Garlic.  Tomato.  Cheese.  Crust.  Italian Sausage.  Onions.  Gooey-stringy.  Texture.  Taste.  Comfort.

All of the above give you a snapshot into why I love pizza.  What I don’t love about pizza: the way it makes me feel.  I can’t eat it as much anymore and I will save the rarities for grace pizza.

I still love the flavors of pizza so I want to incorporate those flavors into a more healthy dish for my family.  This was gobbled up by my men and me one evening for dinner.

Baked Pizza Chicken
Author: 
Recipe type: Dinner
Cuisine: Chicken
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 4
 
An easy baked chicken dish with all the flavors of pizza.
Ingredients
  • 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  • 10 slices pepperoni
  • ½ cup full fat ricotta cheese
  • 1 cup pizza sauce
  • 1 cup Italian cheese
  • 1 T Italian seasonings
  • 8 oz angel hair pasta
Instructions
  1. In an oven-safe dish, spray or grease the bottom.
  2. Place your chicken in it.
  3. Season both sides of your chicken with salt and pepper and italan seasonings.
  4. Smear ricotta cheese over both pieces of chicken.
  5. Layer the pepperoni over the top of the ricotta cheese.
  6. Pour the pizza sauce over the top of the entire dish.
  7. Top with the Italian cheese.
  8. Bake at 350 for 35 minutes or until chicken is done (will depend on how thick your chicken breasts are).
  9. In the meantime, cook angel hair (or any other pasta) according to package directions.
  10. When chicken is done, slice on the diagonal and layer on top of the noodles.
  11. Serve with salad or garlic bread.
 

Taste of Durham: Pop’s Trattoria/Rue Cler

posted in: food, restaurants, Uncategorized | 0

Two delicious downtown restaurants: one week: one owner.

Rue Cler is about a block from First Durham, a french restaurant and bakery (I’ve heard their blueberry muffins are just excitement for your mouth).

A friend and I went.  Dinner menus are daily reads, so I couldn’t plan ahead of time (ACK!).  They are pre-fixe menus, but you can substitute for anything, or you can do it a la carte.

I got the salad frisee (frisee greens, croutons, vinaigrette, bacon (which I left off for meatless year) and an egg – broken down into the greens – maybe all the time from now on.  Then I had a side of the pomme frites (really yummy seasoned french fries).  I didn’t care for the sauce (butter/tarragon) but I refrained from asking for ketchup. 

We had a great waitress who was patient in answering all of our questions because neither of us specialize in French cooking.

The other restaurant I tried this week was Pop’s Trattoria on Main Street.  They recently moved buildings – into an urban/warehouse type feel with local artist’s work adorning the wall.  We walked right in on V-day weekend because of reservations.  They sat us right next to beautiful precious friends which made the night even more special. 

Mussels with tomatoes, white wine, and red chili – AMAZING.  You really want a straw to sip up all the broth – but instead you dip the bread.  They come around to the tables periodically with a big basket and a set of tongs to give you as much bread as you desire. (1 1/2 for me).  The olive oil they served was delicious and fruity, but it didn’t compare to the mussels’ broth, so I chose that for my dipping choice.

Those we devoured – we also got the apple brie ricotto pizza topped with a truffle oil cream.  Very rich, we took leftovers.

The food was better than the service.  That’s not to say the service was bad, just not STELLAR – but the food definitely made up for it.  I could go back every night just to have the mussels.  Will definitely be going back to Pop’s!

TriRestaurant Week: Vivace

posted in: food, restaurants, vegetarian | 2

Unpretentious.  Good food.  Hopefully go back for the good wine.  Good price.  Good friend.  What more could you ask for?

A friend and I celebrated hump day by taking advantage of Triangle Restaurant Week and went to a new place for us both, Vivace in North Hills.  I will definitely pay a return (or two or three) visit!

They brought out delicious simple crusty bread slices with a white bean hummus type dip.  Good, simple.

We both ordered the salad: spinach, dried apricots, slivered almonds, and a prosecco vinaigrette.  Loved the attention of the dressing of the salad with the light vinaigrette and the sweetness (but not overwhelming) dried apricots.  Maybe the hand was heavy on the pecorino cheese, just a bit salty.

I ordered the pizza, minus the chicken since I’m going meatless.  The presentation was flawless, brought out on a wooden cutting board.  Thin crispy-edged pizza with olive oil, goat cheese, roasted garlic, pear, and red onion.  Simple.  Mastered.  I took one bought, slouched back on my cushioned-seat, and sighed.  Good food.  Such a pleasure.

My friend got the mussels in white wine sauce and linguini.  I tasted a mussel and tried some of the sauce.  Splendid.  And both meals provided us leftovers.

Dessert: cappuccino panna cotta with raspberry puree (dotted with 3 chocolate covered espresso beans) and biscotti.  Everything was good, nothing oh my goodness stellar (like the pizza).  I enjoyed it.  Brown colored desserts are not easy to photograph. But, neither of us (my friend nor I)  are HUGE coffee fans and we both enjoyed it!

So.  My plan: return for a visit.  Go late at night with a friend who wants to split a pizza, a glass of something, and sit there and talk, oh for hours.

And we had attentive wait staff and an enjoyable time!  Thank you Vivace.  Enjoy the photos.

Taste of Apex: Anna's Pizzeria

posted in: food, Uncategorized | 0
What wonderful delicious-tasting, fresh-made Italian food in downtown Apex. I was there taking some photos of my friends at Moon & Lola and we went to Anna’s (downstairs from their jewelry studio) for lunch. And what a warming lunch it was. I found out today that they make their own mozzarella. Now that’s what makes a good pizza – even better…
Oh, if you are in NYC – there are three locations in the big City. Big City pizza in little city Apex…

The salad at Anna’s was non-descript (lettuce, tomatoes, olives) but the balsamic vinaigrette was pretty good, little thicker than most balsamic dressings.

I ordered the lunch special for around 6$ and got salad and a slice of pizza. Ok, this wasn’t just any slice of pizza. This was an inch thick (thin crust, all toppings mind you) and massive slice of stringy cheese, moist chicken goodness. I decided on the Chicken Marsala pizza and it was perfect: sautéed mushrooms, caramelized onions, chicken, Marsala wine, and that wonderful fresh homemade mozz cheese!

Thanks downtown Apex!

Much & Link Love: November 21 edition

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Vacation over: Thanksgiving ahead.
1. Vacation was great: hiking, eating, sleeping, photoging, seeing friends. Beautiful weather.
2. Parents come in town tomorrow.
3. I’ve decided not to do the half on Thursday. That would take out 9 hours of what my parents and I could do together (drive, run, drive), so we will find stuff to do in Raleigh without going to Charlotte.
4. Friends are crucial to my wellbeing, but I also love downtown when I don’t see another soul. I’ll have to find a time to do that after my parents leave. Hmmmm. Maybe New Years.
5. It just wasn’t a pretty football weekend, except for the GATORS. I was in Boone (home of ASU) and loved saying GO GATORS. One of the signs I saw read “Gator: It is what’s for dinner. Go App.” – Well, that didn’t happen.
6. Short week in the office, busy week of editing and reading.
7. To shed some weight this holiday season (instead of put it on): one meal a day has to be either oatmeal, egg white omelette, or veggies. That will definitely help cut some calories during the day.
8. Got some new things in the works for after New Years. Thinking and excited.

Link Love:
1. Girls Gone Wise blog hits up entitlements and rights of women.
2. I think I would like to host one of these. Anyone in RDU interested – good way to start the new year.
3. These will definitely be making their way to a holiday party near you.
4. These will also be making it to a Christmas party near you (if you live in RDU or Lakeland).
5. Love this article that Justin posted on his blog. Often as Christians we ignore culture. But, here are some wise ways to engage and redeem. Hopefully a post will be coming on that by a friend of mine.
6. I would like to try this Chicago-style pizze at home one night, maybe while the parents are here.
7. Ed Stetzer to the rescue – especially if you are flying this holiday season.
8. I thought of these videos a lot this wknd while scaling 23 feet up a ladder on a side of a mountain.

Taste of Pizza: Brixx

posted in: Uncategorized | 1

I love thin crust pizza.  I love whole wheat crust.  I love non-greasy pizza and ones with delicious toppings.  And I love salads.

The Brixx salad was simple and delicious: greens, goat cheese (I could eat this by the log), pistachios and croutons.  Their housemade balsamic – man I would love the recipe for that.  Fresh cracked pepper – fococcia (didn’t like that bc it was cold).  Hmmm.

We shared a 10 inch whole wheat crust 1/2 pizza.  The crust was perfectly thin and not too crispy so that it busted in your hands.  BBQ chicken was the waitress’s favorite recommendation and is usually a favorite of mine.  It was good – just nothing special.  The other half was pear and gorgonzola.  Subtle, slightly sweet, love the walnuts on it.  Sauteed onions were simply delicious.  Good choice.

Brixx.  Would go again.  Not the world’s best pizza.  But, good for a chain.  Salad was good.  Can I honestly get a recipe for that dressing?