The Creative Kitchen
Since becoming a mom, a huge part of my creative process has unexpectedly moved into the kitchen. Feeding three toddlers means I’m constantly thinking about food, recipes, and how to make nourishing meals work in real life. I used to think I hated cooking, but it turns out I only hated cooking while toddlers tugged at my pants and screamed through dinner prep (people who have never cooked with three toddlers will confidently suggest, “just include them”… very cool idea). Now that we’ve found a rhythm, I’ve realized I actually love cooking — especially experimenting with new recipes inspired by Blue Zone and Mediterranean-style eating. Because I’m trying new meals all the time, I decided to start sharing my favorite recipes from each month.
Disclaimer: I’m not sure any of this would be classified “kid approved”. I don’t cook for my kids necessarily. I cook what we would eat, and give that to my kids. They are not always stoked on that, and I very much do hear about it. Sometimes if I have leftovers and I’m trialing a recipe like “sardine toast” I will give them the leftovers. However, interestingly enough when I did that with the sardine toast they wanted to try it, ended up liking it, and asking for more, but…the black beans were an egregious request on my part apparently. So…you just never know.
This month’s collection leans heavily into Blue Zone and Mediterranean-inspired recipes focused on whole foods, longevity, and simple family meals.
Blue Zone Cooking
I’ve recently gotten into cooking that aligns more with the “blue zone” diets. This month specifically I got heavily into Mediterranean, so you’ll see several recipes along those lines. I also did some “three sisters” recipe trials and I think I’ve really found something special there.
Because I’m not a food blogger, I don’t think I’m required to include 17 paragrahs and my life story prior to introducing the recipe…so, we’ll just get into it. (Click either title of recipe, or recipe photo to be directed to the original recipe).
Sardine Toast
Photo originates from original recipe
I am not excited about sardines. But for some reason we have a bunch of them in our pantry and I’ve been reading about how ridiculously good they are for you (a girl I used to follow on IG claim they’re THE way to get your butt back after kids. Not a particular issue for me…but…go on…), so I wanted to try a few recipes to use them up. This was the only recipe worth sharing.
Hortopita
Photo originates from original recipe
This was a labor of love…mainly for myself. It was SO GOOD. Seriously, I will think about this for a long time. However, Brian is dairy free so he couldn’t have much (sometimes if I can’t get a food out of my head but it includes dairy, I will make it anyway expecting that I will be the main consumer), and this was truly a bit too spicy for the girls. When I make it again I will cut the red chili flakes in half. We don’t avoid spice with our kids, but this did sort of toe the line for what I’d expect them to be able to tolerate. Paired with the 3 pounds of greens, I think we were asking too much. However, Mila did say she really liked it—was just too spicy.
Brian ended up breaking his dairy-free diet and probably consumed more of this than I did. It was worth the tummy aches apparently.
I used THIS recipe for the inside of the pie, and THIS recipe for the homemade crust.
Hummus
Photo originates from original recipe
Someone once told me making your own hummus was really difficult because you had to take the skin off of each of the garbanzo beans??? This is a lie. It’s not hard…at all. I’m going to chalk it up to someone claiming something they do is incredibly difficult because it makes them feel like what they’re doing is not something anyone could do. Trust me, my 4 year old could do this.
Pro-tip: Add half of a jalepeno, and in our house always extra garlic ;)
Three Sisters
Okay, THIS is Brian and my favorite new meal. In Nicoya, Costa Rica they eat what is called the “Three Sisters” diet (incredibly fitting in our household). This includes: beans, squash, and corn. Apparently a complete protein/nutrient meal—I don’t fully understand, but…science? And seriously, the way I’ve been doing it…the best thing we’ve eaten all year. Do exactly as I say, and you’ll be surprised that beans, corn, and squash could ever have such a place in your heart.
Take a squash, cut it in half, pre-heat oven to 400, drizzle (drench) squash in olive oil, season with salt, cinnamon (because why not), a bit of chili powder, and place skin-side down on baking pan in oven for…a long time? I never set a timer, but I think it’s around 45 mins. Check with a fork and just wait until it’s really fork tender.
Get corn tortillas, heat a neutral oil in a pan, fry up the corn tortillas on each side. I just got pounds and pounds of dried corn for milling, I’ve made homemade cornmeal for cornbread, but next month I’m going for homemade corn tortillas…stay tuned.
Make guacamole. This is always just made with a mess around and find out attitude. Usually 2-3 avocados, lime juice, salt (more than you’d think), and some garlic powder. Mash mash.
Put it allllll together. Sometimes I put the squash in the tacos, sometimes I put it on the side, sometimes I do both. It’s whatever whatever.
Chicken Shawarma
Photo originates from original recipe
We don’t have a ton of Mediterranean near us, and it’s one of my biggest cravings. Coming from Ann Arbor where great Mediterranean was everywhere…I’ve needed to bring it to my own kitchen. I’ve tried a lot of shawarma recipes, and this is by far the best.
My mother-in-law tried this and said it wasn’t as saucy as mine? I did double the recipe and split marinade between one pound of shaved steak and one pound of chicken. I suggest cutting chicken into strips prior to marinating. I also let marinate for at least an hour on my kitchen counter.
Serve with pita (here’s a good homemade milled wheat recipe), the hummus recipe from above, homemade pickled turnips (yeah right finding them in the store in Southern Indiana), homemade garlic sauce (again, homemade out of necessity), red onion, and tomatoes and…MY GOSH. YOU’RE SO WELCOME.
Make sure you sign-up for my newsletter (in the pop-up when you first come to my site) so you never miss a post, and you get the insider tips, tricks, and all things 3zzz’s. Next month, I have a few Meghan original recipes for you that are VERY much kid approved.
