Blogging from bed rest

I have mentioned before that I have had some back issues but I don't talk about it much because let's face it, this blog is about food and not so much about my life.  But sometimes life gets in the way of cooking and that is what has happened right now.  I had a low back spinal fusion in late 2006, a baby in early 2008 and a car accident a year ago.  All of that has taken its toll and I am currently on complete bed rest.  Which means I can't cook.  Which makes blogging (especially the taking pics of food part) really hard.

But I am still writing recipes, I'm just having other people review them to see how they work.  I'm also working on some really great reviews and am excited to be working with Food Buzz and Foodie Blog Roll to come up with some new ideas, recipes and possible giveaways for the blog.  I also have some new guest bloggers coming up and can't wait to see what they come up with.

But sadly I don't know when I'll be back in the kitchen full time again.  I know I'm going to need to get back in there soon for some sanity!  My kitchen is my happy place and I miss it a lot.

In the meantime please make sure to vote for RITK both on Top Mommy Blogs and the Social Luxe 2010 BlogLuxe Awards.  You can vote once a day on each.  RITK is currently #1 for the Food and Drink category on Top Mommy Blogs and the semi-finalists for the BligLuxe awards get announced on July 12th.

RITK is nominated for a BlogLuxe Award...Now Get Voting!

I feel like one of the Oscar nominees when they say it is an honor just to be nominated.  It really IS!  When Jill over at Baby Rabies (who is also nominated BTW) posted on my FB wall I almost didn't believe her.  I checked out the site and had to look twice to make sure it was true. And it was!

Seriously, to even be nominated in the same category as some of these other blogs is a HUGE honor.  I've gone to these blogs for inspiration for years.  Heck...I still go to them!  I'm learning more and more everyday on how to take better food pics (not as easy as one might think) and love to see what everyone else is doing with the seasonal foods that are available to us as the year goes on.

You can vote here every day, once a day. The last day to vote will be July 12. The five finalists for each category will be announced on the SocialLuxe Lounge website the week of July 12. The winners (who will be chosen by this year's SocialLuxe Lounge VIPs) will be announced on August 5 at the Avery SocialLuxe Lounge party in New York City. There is a new system in place where you will need to enter your e-mail to verify the vote but your e-mail will not be used in any other way than to keep the voting legit.

So vote!  Every day.  Please and thank you!  And while you are there vote for Baby Rabies and The Eco-Friendly Family as well.  Jill and Amanda rock and both are amazing bloggers.

~Amy 

Wanna win a $500 Gift Certificate to cooking.com?

Cooking.com is giving one away!  If you look to the left you will find a poll with a pretty picture of Paula Deen. Vote for one of the options and enter to win a $500 shopping spree!  But while you are at it head over to cooking.com to see the new recipes & celebrity chef section.   Especially Guy Fieri's section.  He will forever have a very special place in my heart because he visited the hospital that Baby Sam was at undergoing chemo. (Speaking of Sam, here is a GREAT update!  But grab a hankie...you will need it!)

But Guy's visit to Sam really got me thinking about how foodtv (or as Jill at BabyRabies calls it - PFPW/Porn For Pregnant Women) has changed the way we think and approach food.  I know it has for me!  But then again I still remember when the Food Channel first came to cable tv here in MN.  It was over 10 years ago and I remember watching Ready, Set, Cook and thinking that it was corny but way too much fun.  I also fell in love with Sara Moulton, a woman who still inspires me every day.  I think of how much I learned and how inspired I was to get into the kitchen and really create!

And now look at what has happened.  The shows have come a long way since those Ready, Set, Cook and the early days of the FoodNetwork.  Shows like Top Chef on Bravo  and Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution on ABC are changing the way we think about food.  We have movies like Food Inc and Supersize Me that are making us examine our food sources and how we use food as both nourishment and entertainment.  Chefs really are celebrities now.  Personally, I love it!  I love when people talk about food, think about food and get in the kitchen to work with and play with food.

So what better way to think and play with food than to have $500 to spend on fun cooking items?  You can cook like your favorite celebrity and outfit your kitchen with everything from silly salts and pepper grinders to fancy schmancy serving dishes.  And if you win you HAVE to get a Le Creuset.  Anything from them.  Because they rock.  Whatever you might dream of or need, cooking.com has.

So register.  Enter.  Today.  And tomorrow too.  Because you can enter everyday until they pick a winner.  And it would make me very, very happy if someone I knew won. :)

Awesome Baking Bread Video!

This is very similar to my No Bricks Allowed recipe, with like I say in that post isn't really as much of a recipe as it is a method.  Hope this helps anyone is who scared to try making your own whole wheat bread.  It really isn't hard and the product is so worth the time and effort.  Enjoy!

Very good info on how to make the most of your fridge!

Watch the video!  I learned something new and you might too.  Pretty good info IMO.

http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/26184891/vp/37448648#37448648

Still no power to Red

She's still down.  I miss my laptop.  She's like my third baby! lol

I will try to write more later today while my Sous Chef naps but I don't know if that is going to happen.  Napping has been a battle here lately.  But that goes with the Terrific Twos.

So today for Field Trip Friday I ask you to visit Baby Rabies.  It's my friend Jill's blog and she has been doing a TON to raise money for Baby Sam.  I highlighted Jill in another Field Trip Friday just over a year ago...but things have really changed there and Jill has taken off!  So go take a look around, read more about Sam and donate if you can!

And for a totally selfish plug...please vote for me at Top Mommy Blogs.  The link is to the left and all you have to do is click on it and then click on the "Click here to vote" text.  You can vote once a day and I"m currently Number Two for the Food & Drink blogs but Number Three is catching up quick.  I mean, it's a good blog and all but it's not RITK. ;)

Thanks everyone!  Hope to be back to blogging more regularly soon.

UPDATE:  My Number One Taste Tester husband talked Dell into sending us a new power source!  YAY!  Monday or Tuesday will give me back my baby.

First Annual RITK Rhubarb Fest

Regular RITK readers know I have a "thing" about rhubarb.  Heck...it's even got it's own tag. lol  But that's because I love it and have since childhood.  Some of my favorite summer memories were going out into my Great Grandmother Bea's garden and picking stalks, dipping it into sugar and eating it raw.  I will forever remember my Grandma Kay's super sweet and yummy Apple Rhubarb Crisp that she made in the fall with crushed cornflakes and LOTS of butter on top.  As I got older I realized that rhubarb had so much more potential!  I also researched and learned that rhubarb has such an interesting history.  Rhubarb has been around forever and has been used for thousands of years as a medicinal plant, dating all the way back to 2700 BC.  That's a lot of rhubarb!

But let's face it.  Most people don't use rhubarb as medicine, they use it as food.  And most people use rhubarb for pie, which is why it is sometimes referred to as the "pie plant".  It even has it's own national food day!  June 9th is National Strawberry Rhubarb Pie Day, and yes I will be putting up my favorite Strawberry Rhubarb Pie that day.  But this week I'm focusing on simple applications with rhubarb that anyone can do.  Later today my Strawberry Rhubarb Balsamic Preserves will go up.  Later this week I will post recipes for my favorite version of rhubarb crumble/crisp, rhubarb muffins, a simple classic rhubarb pie and even a Chicken Smothered in Rhubarb dish that will literally make your mouth water.  I'm also hoping to to try out a yummy looking recipe for a cold rhubarb soup and I'm going to be forced to make my friend Kathy's Rhubarb ala Mike again.  It's a tough job but someone has to do it. ;)

Below are a few links for more information on rhubarb.  If you have any questions please ask away!  This is the week to try rhubarb as it's in season, fresh and so darn yummy!  Enjoy!

*Rhubarbinfo.com
*Nutritional Info on Rhubarb
*Gotta consult wiki
*Growing Your Own Rhubarb and Troubleshooting Ideas 

Previous RITK Rhubarb Recipes

*Fluffy Rhubarb Frosting (Field Trip Friday to Coconut and Lime)
*Blueberry-Juneberry-Rhubarb Jam
*Balsamic Rhubarb Sauce
*Red Wine Cranberry Rhubarb Chutney

Solar Oven Cooking - A week in review

I didn't set out to do a week of solar oven cooking...it just happened.  My friend offered her solar oven for me to try out.  The company she had bought hers from, Solar Oven Society,  was sold out from sending all of the ones they had in stock to Haiti after the earthquake. Considering it was as hot as Haiti earlier this week in MN, I took her up on it.  And I fell in love.

My oven is always going.  Literally.  Pretty much every day I'm making something good to eat, be it for the blog or for my family to keep them alive.  You know...it's like pets.  You gotta feed them or you hear about it.  Well, in the summer that gets hot!  But we gotta eat and my husband is diabetic so he needs to eat good protein.  I know I've got the crock pot but I have so little counter space that bringing the crock pot out is a huge PITA. (Literally, I will have to put up pics of my beautiful but old school circa 1913 kitchen, complete with original farm sink!)

So enter in the solar oven. Like I mentioned before, the one I used was purchased but if you are crafty and motivated you can even make your own.  I am not that person. lol

But in case you are that person, here are a few links:

1.  http://www.ehow.com/how_2083_make-solar-oven.html 
2.  http://www.solarnow.org/pizzabx.htm
3.  http://solarcooking.org/plans/

Now here is the real question.  Does it really work?  Does the food taste funky or is this something you could really serve to a guest?  You be the judge.  This Chicken with Rhubarb-Lime Sauce looks pretty darn yummy to me.

  And then there is the Moroccan Meatloaf that I made:

And of course there was the rhubarb crumble, seen here during cooking and after:

All in all this week I cooked pretty much everything under the sun.  Literally. ;)  But I made black eyed peas, refritos, corn bread, chicken, crumble,  chocolate cobbler (twice mind you...that one was GOOD), pork mole,  and even whole wheat yeast bread!

Some things to keep in mind when cooking with your solar oven:

1.  You will need A LOT less water than you think.  Because there is no evaporation you need little to no additional water when cooking things like meats and veggies or rice and beans.  This is not true however when you are baking with the solar oven.  On that one you should really stick the the recipe.

2.  Like when using your crock pot, solar oven cooking takes some planning ahead.  Things can take a bit longer, depending on the strength of the sun and how powerful your oven is.  Using things like the reflectors I used this week help a lot!  I was able to get the oven to right around 350 and hold it steady for quite a bit.

3.  It will take trial and error.  Lucky for me, I learn quick and can adapt.  But I now know that beans cook a lot faster than I thought...especially when you add a bit of baking soda.  So I made refritos instead of just the black eyed pea and zucchini cold salad that I made the night I also made the pork mole.

4.  You need to plan your cooking around when the sun is the hottest, meaning that you should really use the 10-2 time frame for cooking for best results.  Me, I pushed it and usually cooked from 12-4 or 5.  But I wouldn't plan on putting a meatloaf in at 4 and cooking at 6.  It just ain't gonna happen.

But most of all, I have to say that for a little investment it's a great product and cooking tool.  I loved the food I was able to create and it took no more effort than my normal cooking did...other than me looking like a fool trying to take pics.  I am NOT a photographer.  But I'm working on it.  I hope that my week long experiment with the solar oven has given you something to think about and maybe even something to try.  It's good for your energy bill and good for the environment too.  It was also a great tool for me to use to talk about energy and heat with my oldest.  He seemed to get it too because when he asked his friend to play on Wednesday and his friend wanted to play video games my Monkey said they could only play for a bit because too much energy use was bad for the environment.  At least I can't question where he gets it from. lol

~Amy

ETA: Thank you Lisa for catching the typos.  Gosh am I good at those! lol

Beat the heat with Cold Brewed Iced Tea

Last year I blogged about the dangers of Sun Tea.  Well, it seems that MN is having a bit of a May heat wave.  As a matter of fact, it feels a heck of a lot more like August than it does like May!  So I felt it was totally appropriate to bring back the Cold Brew Ice Tea method/recipe and get some cooler weather recipes started up.  I've also borrowed my neighbor's solar oven and have dinner baking away in the sun.  I'll have blog posts coming up soon on cooking using solar energy (Did you know you could cook with it year round...no matter where you live?  And it's not limited to just dinner?  You can cook muffins and breads and cookies too!)

But let's get back to the tea.  Like I pointed out in last years post, I was listening to my favorite radio program when I learned that sun tea can harbor lots of interesting bacteria.  I was pretty convinced by the program (and shared that info as well) but for those that weren't convinced I did a little more digging and Bill from the Tea Source was right! http://www.snopes.com/food/prepare/suntea.asp   I think I'll be keeping the bacteria out of my tea thank you very much!

Below is the very basic recipe.  Jazz it up any way you can think of.  Mix up black, green and herbal varieties.  Sweeten it as you like.  You can try honey, stevia, sugar or you can even make a simple syrup.  Sky is pretty much the limit so sit back, sip some tea, relax and enjoy!

Let's Make A Difference

I'm taking a break from blogging about about food to blog about a very special little boy.  Sam is a tiny little guy, only 5 months old, with a huge smile that lights up a room.  He was also diagnosed with Stage 4 High Risk Neuroblastoma on April 13th of this year.  His mom Cassie has been blogging their journey on their blog, the sartins.  Her courage, strength and faith are helping her get through this and be there for Sam but there is just so much to worry about, worst of all the fact that in order to be with Sam she had to take a huge change of position at her job which caused them to lose their medical insurance.  They are now faced with a $1,500.00 Cobra coverage payment each month.

So to show our support some amazing women have come together to host a Benefit Auction for Baby Sam & Family to help raise money.  Cassie has been a member of our on-line community and we wanted to give back to her.  We were with her as she carried Sam and when she gave birth...now we want to be with her as she helps Sam get healthy again.  So we have a fabulous auction starting tomorrow and going through the 28th.  More items will be listed as the week progresses and there is everything from cloth diapers to jewelry to image design and more. 

Thank you very much for reading this.  Please, check out the auction and maybe even make a bid. Together we can make a difference...even if it's just easing the stress from having to worry about bills at a time when all Cassie should have to worry about is being a mommy.

It's been a busy day here at RITK!

Wow. What a day. For very good reason I am blogging from bed, resting with my feet elevated and an ice pack on my back. Today has been long but wonderful and I can't wait to share the good news with all of you. Some I can share now...and some has to wait. ;) But I promise that some things really are worth waiting for.

I started my very busy day by throwing a pot roast in the crock pot because I knew I was going to be pretty much out of commission by dinner. And I was right...but we still ate great. I have perfected a recipe for Brown Ale Pot Roast and will be sharing it on RITK soon. I had to make it at least 6 times to make sure that it really was that easy and that good. And it was.

But why was I going to be done for the night early? Because for the third year in a row I have shared a wonderful Sunday morning and mid afternoon with my friend Kathy at the MN Living Green Expo. It was wonderful. We got to walk around and talk to so many different people and vendors. I was able to talk with a number of different farmers and can't wait to do a post on CSAs. There were so many great food items and vendors who are looking forward to sharing their green living products here on the blog. Stay tuned because I've got so many yummy things coming soon! And the heartburn from the amazing jerk chicken from West Indies Soul Food...man oh man was it totally worth it. We ate there last year and had to go back this year and my taste buds and my tummy might have been burning but the flavors were amazing, complex and worth it! And I must crack their sweet potato pie recipe. Must.

But then the day got better. :) I got home and got a phone call from my friend Stephanie Digby and she offered to bring over some extra rhubarb that she had. YAY! Which cemented my idea that I had last night that I should do a week of rhubarb recipes here as a kind of on-line rhubarb festival. So if you have a favorite rhubarb recipe to share please share it with me. I am especially looking for a savory recipe to try out.

When I finally got to sit down and check my e-mail I got even better news! Some is a super secret that I will share as soon as I can (all I can say is I screamed I was so excited!) and some I can share now. Please look to your left.

See that pretty new badge? It looks kinda like this:

Click that and vote for RITK! :) You can also click on this pretty little linky thingy. I know, sounds cheesy, but it's a pretty cool thing and I'm excited to be included. It was the perfect ending to a spectacular day. I'm excited, sore, achy, tired and overwhelmed at all the good that came from today. I am so lucky to have the friends and loved ones that I do and am thankful for the encouragement and connections they have brought into my life. Exciting things are happening here at RITK and I hope you will all enjoy.

And now finally, sweet dreams and goodnight.

Why the name Rumble In The Kitchen?

I get asked why I picked the name Rumble In The Kitchen (RITK) from time to time. It came about because I announced on a message board that as a New Year's Resolution I was going to start a cooking blog. Another poster, a pretty darn great cook herself, joked that my blog was going to be better than the blog she has started for the same reason. We joked back and forth and someone, not even sure who at this point, said that there was going to be a rumble. Then it came to me and Rumble In The Kitchen was born!

But it turned out to be very fitting. I "rumble" through my pantry and kitchen all the time. My friend Robin has told me that I have a knack for looking at what ingredients we have on hand and figuring out what to put together to make something yummy. I joke with my husband that it's a rumble each time I try to cook when there isn't someone else here to wrangle the toddler from running under my feet and driving me nuts! I've also been known to rumble with a recipe a time or two. I won't post an original recipe if I'm not sure that it's pretty much fool proof so I've been known to make the same thing as many as ten times to make sure the recipe is right. Heck...my kids could care less if they ever eat cinnamon rolls again because they are so sick of them and I need to make the recipe at least one more time before I can post it. (If anyone in the Twin Cities wants to taste test please let me know! I think I've burned out my neighbors too!)

I don't pretend to be a chef, I'm just a woman who has a passion for food. I think about it all the time and get no greater pleasure than watching people enjoy my food. The recipes I have are just real food made with real ingredients. Because of what I have learned over the years I have chosen to use as many whole food ingredients as possible. I'm not against all processed foods, heck I like a white flour, full fat, sugar laden donut as much as the next person! I just try as hard as I can to find balance. I can promise you that there are a few things you will never find in any of my recipes, MSG (I'm even looking for a replacement for all of the recipes I have that call for canned condensed soups), "fake" or artificial sugars and cilantro. The first two are because they aren't good for anyone. The last of the list is because I am allergic. Little quirky fact that adds to making me who I am.

So that's how RITK became RITK. It wasn't as easy as just writing and trying recipes though. I have come to learn that there is a lot more to blogging than just writing. To have a beautiful blog and one that invites people to want to keep reading it needs to be nice to look at. In that respect I am spoiled! I can cook, I can bake...but I can not do web or graphic design. Lucky for me my very dear friend Amanda can and does. She designed the blog layout, the blog tags and anything else you see here that looks pretty. I finally convinced her that she needs to do this for real and she recently opened up shop with Greenspired Designs. Make sure you check out the beautiful work that she does and you can see why I feel very blessed and thankful to have such talented friends.

I hope you enjoy RITK. In the last year or so it has grown to be more than I ever dreamed. I am now getting over 100 hits a day and that gives me such joy. I hope people are finding the recipes useful and enjoying the time they spend rumbling in their own kitchens. Sharing food to me is such a bonding experience...and in the end what matters more than the time we spend with family and friends? Is there really anything more important than family, friends, health and happiness? Not to me. Have a great day and don't forget to take time to enjoy.

RITK now has a Facebook Page!

And pretty new icons that link to there, Twitter, feedburner & to e-mail me. Also, we are getting mighty close to 100 followers on blogger and 150 on feedburner. Look for a celebration when we get there!

Rumble In The Kitchen on Facebook

It's official! RITK is now a .com site :D

We are growing up here at RITK and now have a new address. RITK can now be found at rumbleinthekitchen.com. Yippee!

So share away. I'm just a wee bit excited...in case you couldn't tell. ;)

And let me know what you want to see from the blog! Reviews? Give-a-ways? Budget recipes? Kid food? Fancy food? Healthy food? Requests? Comments...help a girl out please.

And we got a face lift too!!!

Opps!

I was obviously a little tired and a little medicated (back pain again, but I'm trying not to think about it) last night when I blogged the Clean Freak Recipes. I made a pretty big mistake in the ratios for the Regular Laundry Detergent. That has now been fixed but I wanted to make sure that everyone knew that using 1 part soap to one part of the other mixture would work...it would just make A LOT of bubbles! It would make a killer pre-treatment...but I wouldn't recommend it for everyday use.

Thanks everyone! Have a Happy Monday!

Clean Freak Recipes!

What is Clean Freak? And how does it belong on a cooking blog?

Clean Freak is the eco-friendly cleaning powder I created to use in my own home. It worked so well I started making it for a few friends and eventually added it to my Etsy shop. And after a long break the shop is once again open and stocked so I thought I would share some of the recipes I have made using the Clean Freak as a base. I'm very happy to say that Clean Freak has replaced most of the commercial cleaners we used to purchase.

Clean Freak Dishwasher Detergent

1 part Clean Freak
1 part kosher salt
1 part LemiShine (optional but it really helps make your dishes sparkle)

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Store in an air tight container. Use as you would any other powdered dishwasher detergent.


Clean Freak Cloth Diaper Detergent

1 part Clean Freak
1 part Washing Soda

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Store in an air tight container. Use 1 - 2 tablespoons per load.


Clean Freak Regular Laundry Detergent

3 parts Clean Freak Cloth Diaper Detergent
1 part grated soap (Fels Naptha, Ivory, Zote)

Mix all ingredients together thoroughly. Store in an air tight container. Use 1 - 2 tablespoons per load.

Important Food Recall

http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/HVPCP/

The FDA recalled 94 items contained Hydrolyzed Vegetable Protein (HVP) including pretty well known brands and stores like Trader Joes, McCormick and T. Marzetti. Make sure to check to see if anything you might have at home is on the list.

Rumble On!

Whew. Time flies when you are laid up! I haven't been doing a lot of complicated cooking...heck there have been some weeks where I've barely been doing any cooking. If I hadn't been in such a world of hurt I would be embarrassed by the amount of frozen pizza, take out and delivery food we've been surviving on. But sometimes you have to do what you have to do.

But the good news is that I have been cooking a bit more and will be back to blogging on here very, very soon. I'm working on perfecting a Cinnamon Roll and Cream Cheese Frosting recipe that will knock your socks off and endear you to your friends and family forever. You don't even have to tell them that the dough has whole wheat flour in it...they will never know and they don't need to know that the roll they are eating isn't as sinful as it is sinfully delicious.

I've also been working hard on my new essential oil blog named Essential Green. I promise to be back soon with new recipes and recipe reviews but in the meantime check out Essential Green and I hope you enjoy it as much as I have enjoyed putting it together.

And the winner is...

DieselMonkey!

Congrats and check your e-mail for more details!

Menu Planning

I am out of practice. For so long I was so good at this. I would make a list of what we had on hand and make a list of meals that I would be making for the week. I always gave myself some wiggle room so that if I didn't feel like something on a certain day I could swap it out...but I planned. Lately I've gotten lazy, and I'm sure part of it is because my back has been acting up and it's hard to cook when you can hardly stand. :(

But I am turning over a new leaf! I WILL menu plan. I will batch cook again. And I will do a better job of posting my recipes here. :D And you call can blame my friends on the Ec0-Friendly Family Board (the EFFers as we call ourselves) because they are the people who have motivated me! Thanks ladies.

Now here is this week's line-up (not in any order because like I said before, I make a list and then go by the day to see what we want):

*Grilled NY Strip Steaks (from our Meat CSA), braised fennel, salad & bread
*Grilled Chicken w/ grilled zucchini & watermelon mango salsa, chips and possibly rice
*Sloppy Joes w/ oven baked ranch french fries (also known as Ryan's Potatoes in this house because he makes them) and sauteed spinach
*BBQ Chicken Pizza (a request from the Monkey)
*Thai Peanut Noodles w/ Cucumber Salad
*Beef Pot Pie (using leftover Crock Pot Cross Rib Roast from last week & extra veggies from our CSA that need to be used up)

ETA: I meant Pot Pie...not Pot Roast. Opps.