Pizza Pizza

On a recent trip to the Caribbean, G’s parents and I discovered her love of pizza. Though she had had pizza prior to our trip, she had never shown such admiration for it before. She scarffed down about half as many pizzas as days we were on vacation. Of course being the little carnivore she is, she particularly enjoyed her pizza topped with ham. Coincidently, G’s parents recently received a pizza stone as gift so upon our return to the states, I decided to put my pizza making skills to the test.

Starting with fresh dough that I set out to rise, I used my hands to stretch out the dough into a personal size pizza disc. Next I floured my pizza paddle and with a bit of beginners luck, managed to slide the dough effortlessly on to the hot pizza stone. After five minutes I again gracefully removed the dough, dressed it with sauce and cheese and returned it to the oven. What came out was a delicious crispy crust, soft cheesy middle pizza perfection. I felt I was a pizza making natural, until of course my luck wore out just in time for my next attempt. My second pizza, a broccoli and cheese topped pie, was tasty yet too chewy in the middle. This was probably due to letting the dough rise for the first pizza and then putting half back in the refrigerator. My third pizza was my best yet. After asking G’s mother to purchase a rolling pin, my pizza crust was much improved. As a result, it came out much thinner, which made it easier for G to chew. With this third pizza I also added thinly sliced ham just as it came out of the oven. Yum!, or so G thought.

Pizza is fun since the variations are endless and there does not seem to be an end in sight for G’s love of the delicious cheesy delight. I don’t think anyone has ever grown out of or become bored of pizza but you never know with a two year old.

Meatloaf, Double-Beatloaf, I...Love Meatloaf?

As I was flipping through the pages of Jessica Seinfeld's brilliant children's cookbook, I came across a recipe for turkey meatloaf I just knew G would love. As she is a fan of anything turkey, it's just a bonus that four slabs of bacon rest neatly atop this loaf. I am certain G had never tasted bacon before, as it caused quite the little reaction. About three chews in, she actually reached inside her mouth, pulled out the half chewed piece of bacon and offered it to me to try. She looked pretty surprised when I denied the gnarled bacon bit but she gladly put it back in her mouth to finish. Just in case you are wondering, yes, I do realize that I am the only one who finds this story adorable. The point is, although I would not know, apparently this recipe is delicious.

Italian Meatloaf

Adapted from:

Deceptively Delicious

by Jessica Seinfeld

In a large bowl, soak 1 cup Italian-style breadcrumbs in 1/2 cup non-fat milk. Saute 1/2 onion, finely chopped in 2 tablespoons olive oil for 7-10 min. Add 2 celery stalks, finely chopped and cook for 3-4 min. longer. Put the mixture into the bowl with breadcrumbs and add 1 pound lean ground turkey, 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1/2 cup carrot puree, 1/4 cup ketchup, 1 teaspoon salt, 1/8 teaspoon pepper and stir to combine. Put into a 9x5 inch loaf pan and smooth over the top with a spoon. Pour 1 cup tomato sauce over top and place 4 slices turkey bacon across the top. Bake for 45-50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Kid Tested, Nanny Approved

In my first ever blog post, I mentioned that G loves Turkey Meatballs. As an early Christmas present to anyone who loves meatballs, I thought I would share the recipe I use. I served these to G for dinner recently and after her first bite she turned to me and said, “mmm yummy, thanks!”

Turkey Balls

Adapted from:

First Meals
By Annabel Karmel

In a bowl, mix together 1 lb ground turkey, 1 onion finely chopped, 1 small apple, 3 tbsp bread crumbs, 1 egg, 2 tbsp chopped fresh sage or thyme, salt and pepper. Form walnut-size balls, coat in flour, and sauté in vegetable oil until golden brown all over. Transfer meatballs into a casserole, cover with tomato sauce and cook in a preheated oven set to 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

My New Kitchen

There is a reason why New Yorkers eat out and order in so frequently, their kitchens or lack there of. Residents in this city are rarely allotted more than a cubbyhole size space to work with. Pre-war buildings may be very beautiful, however the pre-war appliances they are likely to come with, not so much. The kitchen in my first apartment post college, a studio on the Upper East Side, is a good example of such.

Firstly, it was small, so small only one person at a time could step foot inside it. Secondly, the appliances were extremely old, so old that each and every one was broken to some extent. The electric burners would often shut off randomly, so as you can imagine, boiling water was an issue. The oven racks were tilted forward, something I learned when my first casserole dish filled with bubbling hot baked ziti went sliding off and straight onto the floor. The refrigerator made a consistent ticking noise and from time to time the freezer required chiseling as it would turn into a solid block of ice. One of the biggest selling points of the apartment, due to the extreme rarity of such, was the dishwasher. Sadly it only leaked water, broke dishes, and was used all of about three times before I gave up on it. Funny how the last line of my lease mentioned that if the dishwasher was broken, the landlord was not responsible for fixing it. There was also the unfortunate rodent problem, which after realizing the mice were gaining access to my apartment through my kitchen, I was terrified to use it. And that's just the kitchen but for the purpose of this blog, I will stop here. I am one hundred percent okay with blaming my mediocre cooking on my past kitchens, as it does not matter how much interest you have in something, if the proper learning environment is not provided, skills are very hard to come by. Though there were a few pathetic kitchens to follow this one, I am happy to say that the days of, well, terrible apartments are officially behind me.

Within my beautiful new apartment in Brooklyn exists the most gorgeous kitchen I have ever seen (in my price range of course). It is big, big enough for a full-size dining table, has new(er) appliances, lots of storage, and counter space. I am so fortunate as I feel this kitchen is the launching pad to my cooking success. In the past, kitchens that were cramped and dysfunctional created a stressful and simply miserable cooking environment. In my new kitchen, I can look forward to learning and creating in the ease of space intended for a fun and rewarding cooking experience.

Impromptu Paella(ish)

In an attempt to mix up the usual meal routine, I recently went looking through one of G's kid cookbooks in search of a new recipe. On this particular day, I came across a recipe called Chicken with Tomato Sauce and Rice. In recent months, introducing new foods has become a more difficult task so the recipe was quite perfect as it incorporated some of G’s favorite foods yet constructed them in a new and interesting manner. Unfortunately, I only had half the ingredients the recipe called for and therefore improvisation was required. Since I did not have chicken, the main ingredient, I went with sausage as a substitute. This actually worked in my favor as I’m convinced G only tried the meal after realizing it contained sausage. What I ended up with was a much less complicated and fussy yet delicious meal, essentially simplified paella. A saucy rice dish combined with onions, carrots, peas and sausage…an instant hit with G!


Natalie’s Paella(ish)

Sauté 1 small onion and 1 carrot, both chopped in some olive oil. Add approximately ½ cup tomato sauce, cover, and simmer for a bit until onions and carrots are tender. Add 1 cup cooked white rice to the mixture along with some frozen peas, stir and cook on low just long enough for the rice to absorb the tomato sauce. May need to add more depending on how saucing you like it. You can eat as is, adding more veggies if you like, or a protein such as chicken, sausage, or shrimp.

Filet of ...

In just this past year I have attended five weddings and as with most events, the food has been fundamental to the success of each party. In fact, the food is so important that it is a constant throughout the entire event, from the cocktail hour, to the sit down dinner, to dessert. Come to think of it, it would be a fantastic idea to serve little snacks during the ceremony as well. Food brings the entire event and the people attending together. There is no better way to bond with a complete stranger than over a delicious mini appetizer half falling off your teeny tiny napkin while at the same time balancing your cocktail in the other hand.

At each of these weddings, I have always found the main course entry options to contain at least one fish or vegetarian choice. Supplying a wide variety to a large group is key if the goal is to satisfy everyone. While I realize that offering a vegetarian meal is a fairly recent concept, I was under the impression that serving fish is a common practice. Apparently this is not always the case as I learned, the hard way, at a recent wedding I attended.

For this particular wedding, the main course entry choices were not supplied with the invitation and instead, orders were taken once everyone was seated. The waitress for our table explained my options as lamb, chicken, or filet. Not even for a second did I question what they were filleting as my brain immediately denoted the first two options as land animals and therefore I proceeded to order the third. You can imagine my surprise when instead of a filet of fish, a huge hunk of meat was sitting on the plate served to me. I think what surprised me most was not that I had actually ordered filet but that at no point before receiving my meal had I realized my ordering blunder. I actually found the occurrence quite amusing and the other guests at the table enjoyed my mistake as they were all dished an extra helping of filet mignon. This was definitely a first for me however, part of being a vegetarian is anticipating that these things will happen and going with the flow once they do.

It's Just That Simple

If you ask my Mother and Father, they will say that becoming vegetarians collectively as a family when I was 7 years old was my brother’s idea. This should not surprise me, as my younger brother has always been quite the little dictator. But, if I have the details correct, a once 5 year old swayed my parents into becoming vegetarians…he really should have ran for President, what a shame.

Although there must be a bit more to this story than I am aware of, I can say for certain that growing up in the Ocean State guaranteed the continuation of our seafood consumption. This I am thankful for, as my childhood summers would not have been nearly as fun without the memories of eating clam cakes and chowder on the rocks at Galilee. Regardless of who is to “blame” for my vegetarianism, I am now the lone vege of the family, as one by one the others kicked the habit. Keeping this whole shenanigan up into my adulthood has been my choice, which leads many people to ask the question, why?

I guess now that I am in my mid twenties, people have realized it was not just a phase and are baffled that I have chosen to forgo meat permanently. Beyond basic inquisitiveness, the topic of eating meat has become ever more popular, stirring people’s curiosities even more. Many want to know my views on the subject however this is the cause of a great personal dilemma. Though I have many a good reason for choosing the route of an herbivore, most of the carnivores asking do not truly care to understand my position on the subject. Furthermore, I have zero interest in neither educating nor converting anyone. Bottom line, when it comes to food, people can be easily offended and there is no one less interested in offending a meat eater than I.

Throw away all of my motives for leaving meat off my plate and what I find is that being a vegetarian is simply my preference, no explanation needed, it just makes me happy.

Feathered Friends

Soon after I was hired as G’s nanny, her mother informed me that the only other woman interviewed for the job was also a vegetarian. Thank goodness I did not divulge too much information during my own interview, as both G’s parents felt it was strange when the woman expressed she would be uncomfortable cutting up a whole roasted chicken. I remember just laughing it off like, “oh yeah, what a crazy person, aren’t you glad you hired me”, while silently starting to panic. I can only imagine myself standing at the kitchen counter starring down at a dead headless chicken, cleaver in hand and cutting it up into little pieces. Where on earth, or on bird for that matter, would I even begin? I am pretty sure by now, nearly two years later, they have caught on and would not ask this of me however, if they ever do, hopefully for everyone’s sake, including the chicken's, I have access to Google somewhere very close by.

So if I’m not roasting up whole chickens, what exactly am I cooking? My most recent endeavor was Turkey Enchiladas. Although G is not a huge zucchini nor pepper fan, I thought I would give this one a try. I should have known the tortilla would be her favorite part of the dish, good thing I bought whole wheat! Just as a side note, I have to say that I am much more comfortable cooking poultry than any other type of meat. I guess it comes from familiarity as I for a short time during my high school and college years ate chicken and turkey. Although I found the Turkey Enchilada recipe in a children’s cookbook, it is just as appropriate for big kids. It would also be super easy to make these enchiladas vegetarian by replacing the turkey with more vegetables or beans and cheese.

Turkey Enchiladas

Adapted from:

First Meals
By Annabel Karmel

Sauce:
Heat olive oil and sauté 1 onion and 1 garlic clove for 5 min. Add tomato puree and 1 tsp fresh oregano, salt and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes.

Turkey Filling:
Heat olive oil and 1 garlic clove, 1 red onion, 1 red pepper, and 1 zucchini. Cook for 5 minutes before adding turkey. Cook through for 7-8 minutes and add salt and pepper. Stir in ¾ cup grated cheddar cheese until melted.

Divide filling into 8 flour tortillas, roll into a cigar shape, place in an ovenproof dish and cover with tomato sauce. Top with ¾ cup cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes. And voila…turkey enchiladas!

Back to the Start

Most everyone spends a good portion of his or her day simply deciding what to eat. Whether or not all people put much thought into this is debatable but still, choices must be made. As a nanny I am constantly thinking about what to feed G. It is a huge responsibility making sure you fill that little body with food that is both nutritional (important to me) and tastes good (very important to her). As long as a little thought is put into the process, I have found a balance is certainly attainable.

Before I became a nanny I spent many years building experience as a babysitter. It was my choice college job after a 6-month stint working behind the counter of Cold Stones. If I had continued any longer I surly would have developed carpel tunnel or at the least died of embarrassment from forced public singing. Anyway, my first job as a babysitter was to care for 1-year-old twins. You may think you read that incorrectly but it is true, a mother trusted me, an inexperienced, never changed a diaper in my life, 20 year old college student whom she didn’t know anything about, care for her twin babies. As it turned out I actually knew what I was doing however her poor choices only hindered every decision parenting deems you responsible for, which of course included feeding. The twin’s diet was designed solely around convenience, a.k.a. anything microwavable or prepared food available for sale within a 5-block radius. The twins and I became well known at several chains including Pizzeria Uno’s and Burger King. I can remember watching them cram Chicken Fries in their mouths and cringing at the thought that their growing bodies were being feed by…Chicken Fries. Not that I wasn’t familiar with fast food, just that is was a treat, not a staple. It all came to a head the night the twin’s mother turned around from the freezer to face me holding their dinner. Now I was used to feeding them frozen food but this time it was different, it was Hungry Man TV dinner. Very soon after she left I walked to the garbage shoot, tossed the meal, box and all and made dinner from scratch.

I will never forget this moment in particular as I learned my limit to what I will feed a child in good conscience. Overall, my first job as a babysitter was truly priceless. I gained an abundance of knowledge and I am forever grateful to the twin’s mother for “taking a chance on me” for I may not be where I am today without it.

Introduction

The true inspiration for my blog is the beautiful, fun loving, over the moon happy little girl I nanny for, of which I will simply call G. She is obviously a little meat eater (hence the name of my blog) and over the past, let’s say year (she wasn’t eating much before that) I have been in the kitchen cooking her many a various meat dishes. I’m sure there are some who can’t possibly imagine me, a vegetarian, making meatballs with my bare-hands, as I could barely recognize myself during the process. One of those people in particular would be my boyfriend of nearly eight years whom has never found me preparing him my apparently delicious turkey meatballs (sorry love!). Since I began working with children six years ago, I have witnessed family eating habits ranging from the oh so terribly bad to the oh so terribly too healthy. Yes, even as a vegetarian I think you can be too health conscious. During this time I have also worked at becoming a better cook myself, though I obviously haven’t put in enough effort as I still have not perfected my Aunt Diane’s baked macaroni and cheese! Though I know small NYC apartments are partially to blame for my lack of skill, I am determined to make this the year I at least become more confidant in the kitchen. Through this blog I hope to explore my views on cooking, eating, the thought process that occurs in between and to document my experiences along the way!

Side note: Technically I am a pescetarian meaning I eat seafood and dairy products. However, I call myself a vegetarian for several reasons. 1) Most people whom I utter pescetarian to look at me like I have ten heads. 2) It sounds more pretentious. 3) If I fail to inform people that I don’t eat meat, I will most definitely be served meat.