Our Private Kitchen

Cook the Blog- Butternut Squash Risotto

Sara — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 03:28:00 +0000

I learned of a friend’s passing a few weeks ago. It was quite sudden and I was incredibly shocked. Sadly we had lost touch in the past year and now I found myself wishing I had picked up the phone to catch up. He too had a stutter and we quickly formed a friendship. Having a stutter and handling a job that not only required heavy communication skills, but confidence while speaking in negotiations was no easy feat. I remember we would talk extensively on the subject. He also loved to cook. He was ever asking what delicious meal I had cooked up recently and we often found ourselves talking recipes and ingredients.

To say that day at work was hard is an understatement. When I got home I did the only thing that made sense to me. I cooked. I chose a delicious butternut squash risotto recipe that I had been eyeing for awhile. And with each stir of my wooden spoon I re-played all the happy times with my friend. His love for sports. His love for this crazy business we are in. His love for planes. Our laughs over cooking adventures in the kitchen. When it was done I was amazed at the result. I’m quite certain my friend would have loved this dish.

Butternut Squash Risotto

*From Clean Eating Magazine Oct 2001

5 cups low sodium chicken or vegetable broth

3 cups peeled and diced butternut squash

2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil

1/2 cup chopped red onion

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary

1 cup arborio rice or short grain rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

salt and pepper, to taste

1.) In a medium saucepan, bring broth to a boil on high heat. Reduce heat to lowest setting.

2.) Set a steamer basket in a pot and add enough water (~1 to 2 inches) to reach bottom portion of the basket. Bring water to boil and add squash. Cover and reduce to medium high heat. Steam until squash is tender when pierced with a sharp night, about 6 minutes. Turn off heat.

3.) In a large saucepan, heat oil on medium. Add onion, garlic and rosemary and saute until onion is translucent. Add rice and stir for 30 seconds to coat the rice with pil. Add wine and cook, stirring constantly until liquid is almost fully absorbed, about 2 minutes. Reduce heat to low, stir in 1/2 cup of broth and cook, stirring occasionaly, until borth is almost absorbed. Repeat until all broth is added, about 45 minutes in total. Stir in squash. Serve and garnish with a little cheese (we used white cheddar).

Cook the Blog: Spaghetti with Kale & Poached Egg

Sara — Tue, 18 Oct 2011 03:19:29 +0000

If you’ve been a reader of my blog for awhile you might remember an installment I did awhile back called Cook the Blog. In the interest of finding quick yet delicious homemade meals I’m bringing this feature back. If we want to get particular I actually found this recipe in a magazine, but I think you get the point. The recipe I want to share with you is incredibly simple yet tastes extremely indulgent. The secret is chicken broth and a poached egg. Both lend a creaminess to the dish that will have you licking your lips long after the first bite. I kept asking Ryan, “are you sure there’s not butter in this?”. I love the addition of the kale in the pasta as well. If you want to make it more nutrient dense feel free to sub in whole wheat pasta.

A tip on the poached eggs is to use fresh eggs and put a tsp of white vinegar for every egg you want to poach. Older eggs will do just fine, but the fresher they are I find the more everything holds together. Here’s a great tutorial as well.

Spaghetti with Kale and Poached Egg

*found in Clean Eating Magazine October 2011. Serves 4

Ingredients:

8 oz Spaghetti

1 lb Kale

1 medium red onion chopped

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 cups low sodium chicken broth

4 cloves garlic, minced

4 eggs

Instructions*:

Fill a large pot of water and bring to a boil.

Remove leaves from kale and chop coarsely. Add kale leaves to boiling water and cook for 2 minutes. Remove kales from pot and transfer to a strainer. Keep pot of water simmering on low.

In a large skillet, eat oil on medium high heat. Add kale stems, onion, red pepper. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are golden brown (~8 minutes). Add kales leaves and broth, stir and cook for 5 more minutes. Stir in garlic and reduce heat to low.

In a large saucepan, bring two inches of water to a boil on high heat. Crack each egg separately into a small bowl or coup. Slowly pour each egg into water and reduce heat to low, cook for 4 minutes.

Meanwhile, bring pot of water back to boil and cook pasta. Drain and add spaghetti to kale mixture, toss to mix. Divide mixture among serving bowls and top with one poached egg. Season with salt and pepper (optional)

*I should note the original recipe called for 4 oz of Feta cheese that was crumbled over the pasta at the end. We used cotija cheese instead- a great substitute!

If you’re interested in other Cook the Blog recipes you can find them all here. Enjoy!

The Marathon Baby

Sara — Wed, 12 Oct 2011 19:40:10 +0000

By now many have probably seen this video about a young woman who gives birth after running and walking a marathon. I admit at first I was shocked (a marathon can’t be an easy feat) but when I listened to the video I was very impressed. In reading several articles that have discussed the story I was disheartened by the amount of negative comments though. Pregnancy is an amazing journey, but I dislike how often we can be put in that ‘sit over there and grow a baby’ category. I realize that not every pregnancy is normal or low risk, and for those I totally understand watching your activity level and taking it easy. But if you’re an incredibly active and fit person before pregnancy (and get your doctors approval), I see no reason why you shouldn’t be able to walk, run and exercise your way through your pregnancy. I picked up walking late in my pregnancy but by 6 months I started walking every day. At first it was 30 minutes a day and then it quickly became 3-5 miles a day. I absolutely loved it! I was surprised by how many people automatically assumed I must be miserable being pregnant and trying to exercise. For me, exercise gave me so much energy and helped clear my head of my ever growing to-do list. I also credit my walking in helping me bounce back and start running again post partum. Each pregnancy is different though and it’s important to listen to your body, your doctor and your growing babe. What are your thoughts on the story? I’m interested to hear what you think.

Mommy Blogs

Sara — Fri, 09 Sep 2011 13:00:59 +0000

As you might have guessed from my post about Google Reader, I love blogs. I love reading other people’s stories, learning new recipes and workout tips. Since becoming a Mom I have really enjoyed finding more motherhood related blogs. Here are some of my favorites. Don’t see your favorite listed? Leave a comment and let us know! What’s one more to add to my reader?!

Angels of Baby Sleep-A great blog about the various methods she uses to put her son to sleep. I like that it varies and she too is adjusting her methods to what works for her son and family. I especially could related to her blog post about daycare (http://angelsofbabysleep.wordpress.com/2011/08/01/daycare-life-via-the-playdate-mommies/ )

Motherlode-A NY Times parenting blog. The author always writes about relevant topics and I really enjoy the discussion that goes on with the parents. A recent post that really got me thinking was about ‘When Parents Fights’- http://parenting.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/05/when-parents-fight/. . I especially loved her post on Fear, Empathy and Parenthood and The Working Mother-How She does it.

LyonsDenMom- I first was introduced to this blog from Motherlode and since fallen in love. She and her husband have 5 kiddos and she truly shows a realistic account of how a working mother does it. I especially loved her post about whether working mothers can ever win.

Green Mommy Blog -I love reading Kristen’s green and/or holistic tips. She also has an excellent post about different baby wearing carriers (even a Youtube video where she explains the benefits of each and how each work).

- Side note on carriers: I have the Moby, Bjorn organic, and the Ergo. All are fantastic carriers. My favorites are the Moby and the Ergo (as they are very back friendly), while Ryan loves the Bjorn. If you’re interested in a more detailed review of baby carriers let me know and I can also do a post on them.

On Becoming Mommy- I love her writing style and reading her section on breastfeeding

Ain’t No Mom Jeans- This is a great blog for mothers and mothers-to-be. It covers a variety of topics and provides great beauty tips & fashion tips for dressing while pregnant & after!

A Cup of Jo-Her blog is a combination of various topics but on Mondays she focuses on motherhood. A few of my favorites posts are here & here.

Okay, so the one’s below aren’t necessarily ‘mommy’ blogs but they are talented ladies whose blogs I love:

For the DIYer:

Bower Power- This chic is incredibly funny and I love reading her blog. She’s at SHM who loves to DIY and really into photography. Her pictures are absolutely incredible. Some of my favorite posts are http://www.bowerpowerblog.com/2011/08/his-crib/

Young House Love- This blog is mostly focused on creative, inexpensive DIY projects as they renovate their house but they also numerous posts about cloth diapering, chic and eco friendly nursery design, breastfeeding.

- http://www.younghouselove.com/2011/07/14-months-of-breastfeeding/

- http://www.younghouselove.com/2011/05/dog-days-cloth-dipes/

- http://www.younghouselove.com/how-to/#babybusiness

For Fitness/Healthy Living

Faith Fitness Fun- A healthy living/fitness blogger who also happens to be a stay at home to two adorable kiddos. She has a passion for fitness and even with her youngest being seven months old has a workout schedule that rivals any non-mommy fitness blogger. She inspires me to get out there and work out!

The Fitnessista-A great fitness/healthy living blog in general. Ever since I was pregnant I’ve loved reading other people’s pregnancy blogs and she’s currently blogging all thorough the pregnancy. And even though I’m not pregnant, it’s still so much fun to see her progress through her pregnancy.

Daily Garnish- Emily’s blog is by far one of my favorites. Her recipes are always dynamite too! She also is currently pregnant and blogging. It’s fun being able to follow along in her journey.

Catching up to technology

Sara — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 23:00:14 +0000

I have an addiction. Along with food and fashion magazines, I love reading blogs. And I read a crazy number of blogs. Thirty three to be exact. I thought I had such a good little system organizing them in my favorites folder, by category, and over the course of the week I would check each of them. Then I discovered a little thing called Google Reader. Can I just say ‘oh my’?!! Google Reader is seriously the coolest thing ever (saying in my best 13 yr old girly voice). It keeps tracks of all of my blogs and easily lets me see when a new blog post is available. This saves me so much time as I don’t have to manually go each website to check on the latest post AND I don’t fill up my inbox with tons of blog updates!

Front Door Fashion: Color Blocking

Sara — Mon, 29 Aug 2011 13:05:00 +0000

After giving birth to J I was anxious to be able to wear all of my pre-pregnancy clothes again. When I returned back to work, I soon realized every morning that I kept picking the SAME outfits to wear to week after week. This was in part to the fact that I’m a bit larger on top (thanks to EBF) making it harder to find shirts that fit correctly but also because I had gotten lazy in my outfit selections. I can tend to be repetitive. Find a new song? I’ll listen to it over and over again. Order an excellent new dish at a restaurant? I’ll never order anything different again. I extend this same repetitive methodology when picking out an outfit. Once I find a combination of pieces that go great together, I don’t change. This monotony has really started to bother me the last couple of weeks. Maybe it’s the hormones or the fact that the last couple of months of pregnancy you have reached whale status, but I’ve really been wanting to change things up and start incorporating different pieces into my regular rotation of outfits. And I’ll be honest, I want to look my best. I would live in sweatpants and oversized sweatshirts if I could, but wearing a cute outfit really perks me up and I feel ready to tackle the day. Anybody out there know what I’m talking about? So where were we, ah yes, the desire to look cute.

So, since having a baby doesn’t exactly leave you with tons of extra income, I’ve been energized to put together outfits using pieces already in my closet. Enter my first foray into color blocking. Now, I’m nowhere to close to being a fashionista, but I’ve been reading some fashion type magazines/blogs and color blocking seems to very popular this summer. Basically it’s the incorporation of two or more blocks of color in an outfit. The color combos can be a little crazy, but they can also be fun. And after checking out several magazines for outfit ideas I was happy to see that I already had several pieces that I could pair together to make a totally unique, new to me, outfit.

Long story short, I’ve challenged myself to come up with 30 unique outfits all with pieces I already have in my closet. This is my inaugural first outfit using the color blocking theme. Now not all of my outfits will be CB but this was excellent motivation to play with some color. What do think? Would you try color blocking? Would you be interested in seeing goofy photos of myself to see the rest of the outfits I put together?

Front Door Fashion- Outfit #1

Why Hello There

Sara — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 19:00:50 +0000

Hello from the land of diapers, baby toys and breast milk! Wow, did I just say breast milk? Funny how becoming a Mom lowers your inhibitions. Must be something about the whole labor thing or coming to terms with the fact that your clothes will never EVER be clean. If all I have on me is drool and milk it’s a very good day indeed! Anyhow, hello again. I’m back in the kitchen, with a baby on the hip, and looking forward to getting back to sharing some delicious recipes with you. Some will be healthy, family friendly and some will just be posted because they are just pretty darn awesome-regardless of calorie count. You can thank me later. Preferably after you’ve tried the recipe but BEFORE you try on those skinny jeans again.

I’ll also be incorporating some ‘Mommy’ blog related posts and other ramblings. I’ve often struggled describing my blog to others because I really don’t fit neatly in the ‘Food Blogger’ box. Now, I love food (I know you weren’t really worried) and I love writing about food, but I also LOVE writing about so much other stuff. This is my creative outlet and my life is not all about food. As such, expect to see a random assortment of posts about my workout schedule, mommy ramblings, or just a random thought about life in general. Having said that I know not everyone wants to read all about breastfeeding, starting solids., etc. While I plan to create a specific Mommy page I haven’t quite figured all the ins and outs of WordPress. So, for the time being enjoy the various topics and hopefully not too much TMI. If you want to hire me a housecleaner, nanny and personal chef then I can get to reading my WordPress for Dummies book. :-)

Also, just a quick reminder about the OC Bakery Crawl! The crawl is scheduled on September 10 (time and meet location is still TBD). I’ve been overwhelmed by the number of people who want in on the action. More people = more help to roll yourself home! If you’re in So Cal and would love to be a part of it please contact me. Also, if you have any suggestions for bakeries we should hit up please let me know those too. We’ll be voting on the final 3 or 4 bakeries in the coming week!

And by popular demand, here’s a recent pic of me and my boy. Have a great weekend everyone!

A Pie for Mikey

Sara — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 11:21:00 +0000

We often hear the saying that life is short and to live your days as if it were your last. I was reminded of this last week. One of our fellow food bloggers lost her husband to a sudden heart attack. Other than sending my condolences I felt helpless and wised I could do more. I was not alone. Hundreds of food bloggers asked her what they could do to help. Jennie asked that in honor of Mikey we make a peanut butter pie and share it with those we love. In full force, the food blogging community did just that.

On Sunday my husband and I made a pie for Mikey. My young son sat nearby watching our action in his bumbo chair. As we cooked together, the Perillo family never strayed from our thoughts.

Here are just a few additional posts from fellow food bloggers all over the world. May we all take a minute to reflect, love deeply and hold our loved ones a little tighter.

A Video for Jennie-Mikey’s Peanut Butter Pie- by White on Rice Couple

Creamy Peanut Butter Pie- A Pie for Mikey- by Guilty Kitchen

Gluten Free Peanut Butter Pie- A Pie for Mikey – by Deliciously Organic

If you want to join in or see more beautiful peanut pies for Mikey, search the hashtag #apieformikey on Twitter or join the Facebook page.

OC Bakery Crawl Sept 10th!

Sara — Fri, 12 Aug 2011 03:30:26 +0000

It’s BACK!! OC Bakery Crawl is scheduled for Saturday, September 10th! Join some of your favorite So Cal food bloggers (Chrystal and Amir of The Duo Dishes, Quyen of KitchenRunway & Bianca of South Bay Rants N Raves) and walk, jump, skip and crawl towards the best bakeries in the OC.

Time and location are TBD. If you’re interested in crawling with us send me an email at ourprivatekitchen (at) gmail.com and I’ll add you to the list! I’m also taking recommendations for OC bakeries- we’ll be voting in the next couple weeks to narrow down our selection to 3 or 4 bakeries.

So, go find your stretchy pants and let’s get our crawl on. Looking forward to seeing everyone!

Hiatus

Sara — Wed, 15 Sep 2010 19:11:53 +0000

Hi Everyone! As I’m sure you have noticed I’ve been quite absent on the blog lately. The big surprise news is that “I’m pregnant!” I’m 15 and half weeks right now and everything is going great. Unfortunately with all the fun craziness going on right now I haven’t had alot of time (or leftover brain power) to blog. In all honesty my appetite is still pretty up and down so we haven’t been doing alot of major cooking either. As a result I’m going to take a hiatus of sorts. I truly hope to get back to blogging about cooking and sharing our culinary adventures with you. Happy cooking everyone!