Around the Table With the Burkes: The Week With No Food

“I just learned, in researching for this article, that Soda Bread recipes are often unique to a family, passed down through the generations, with different fruits and spices added as available. Ours is a fairly standard version, though I guess it qualifies since I got it from my mom.”

My happiness with avoiding fast food last week was replaced by all of the fast food this week. It was a rough one.

On Saturday I went with the Instant Pot pulled chicken standby. It has rescued dinner at least five times in the last few weeks. Last Sunday was St. Patrick’s Day, I’m the daughter of a Barry and a Carey and married to a Burke, so Irish Traditions are a thing in our house. I have never been on the corned beef and cabbage train, so I went with stew for dinner — beef rather than lamb, with lots of potatoes and carrots. I also made Irish Soda Bread, a recipe from my mom, who got it from her grandmother. I have vivid memories of baking it with mom as a kid. She’d pull out her weathered and worn recipe notebook and tell us stories about Great Grandma Peg. I just learned, in researching for this article, that Soda Bread recipes are often unique to a family, passed down through the generations, with different fruits and spices added as available. Ours is a fairly standard version, though I guess it qualifies since I got it from my mom. It’s a little late for the holiday this year, but we always made it whenever the mood struck.

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Irish Soda Bread

• 2 cups flour

• 2 Tbsp Sugar

• 1 ½ tsp Baking Powder

• ½ tsp Salt

• ¼ tsp Baking Soda

• ½ cup Raisins

• 1 Tbsp Caraway Seeds

• 1 Cup Buttermilk (I have never in my life used buttermilk, I make sour milk with a tablespoon of lemon juice mixed with enough milk to make a cup. Let it sit for a few minutes, then add it)

Mix all ingredients until combined, pour into greased loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes.

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Thus ended the week’s real dinners. We went with Publix chicken on Monday, Pizza on Tuesday, Happy Meals Wednesday, and my kids were fed by my friend on Thursday while I had a bowl of cereal. Friday I made pancakes because it seemed on-brand for the week.

I would love to do better this week, but it seems unlikely with all of the work I have to do. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, however, and then I think there will be an explosion of food at our house. Maybe I’ll throw a party, Irish hospitality lasts year-round.

Around the Table with the Burkes: Cosmic Space Odyssey

After my bout with bronchitis, I was hopeful that the illnesses were over…No such luck as my youngest came down with a nasty cold and decided the only cure was to attach himself to me like a barnacle.

A common mantra among the self-help crowd is some variation on the idea that you get out of life what you put in. What goes around, comes around; self-fulfilling prophecies; positive mental attitude. So I wonder if my continuing declaration that 2019 is a rough year is making 2019 a rough year. And what does that have to do with food?

My husband took dinner duty on Saturday with grilled pork chops, green beans, and spaetzle. Sunday I made roast beef with broccoli and noodles. We’re eating a lot of noodles these days.

After my bout with bronchitis, I was hopeful that the illnesses were over and we could get through a busy week as planned – meals, activities, and meetings. No such luck as my youngest came down with a nasty cold and decided the only cure was to attach himself to me like a barnacle. Fortunately, my mother-in-law arrived on Monday (seriously, thank goodness for excellent in-laws), and she helped immensely with my older kids and getting my house in order. I went prepackaged on Monday with a frozen lasagna from Costco that was surprisingly acceptable!

Tuesday we celebrated my sick toddler’s second birthday. I made some of his favorites in the hope he would eat some real food. BBQ chicken in the Instant Pot, corn, and (shocker) noodles. He ate virtually nothing. However, he did provide his only smiles of the week when presented with cake. Cake: the cure for everything!

One of the things on my plate last week was Teacher Appreciation Week at my daughter’s school. I’m a person who really, REALLY appreciates my children’s teachers, and as Head Room Mom, I had quite a lot planned with a fun Outer Space theme! Wednesday was dessert day and I LOVE to bake, so I made Cosmic Brownies for the teachers, and – since my oven was already on – banana bread and pumpkin bread for my family. (My banana bread recipe is a favorite, found here.) For Cosmic Brownies I made a Ghirardelli boxed brownie mix and drizzled the top of the finished brownies with white chocolate colored blue, purple, and pink. In a Pinterest-packed frenzy I also made fruit rockets from strawberries and bananas.

For dinner on Wednesday we went with beef tacos, accompanied by black beans, corn, lettuce, and cheese. Thursday and Friday we went simple with leftovers and pizza night. Another week survived. Now I’m putting out into the universe that the coming week will be amazing and all will go according to plan. Whatever works!

Photos by Norah Burke

Around the Table with the Burkes: Solo Parenting

The potatoes are a treat for me; my children torment their Irish and German ancestors by hating on potatoes and, as such, I don’t make them often.

I left off last week with big plans to do some freezer meals and set myself up for an organized week of solo parenting. Best laid plans…

On Saturday my oldest son insisted we throw a surprise birthday party for his best friend who a) had already had a party, and b) hates surprises. My son was not to be deterred by these facts, so I made some macaroni & cheese, threw together a veggie tray, and ordered some cupcakes. Friends brought chicken to complete the meal. We all had a great time at the party no one actually wanted to happen.

Sunday I was struck down by whatever illness is floating around my kids’ schools, so my freezer meals were tossed out the window. However, I pulled myself together just enough to put a pork shoulder in the Instant Pot with barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and cider vinegar; 90 minutes later we had pulled pork, paired with spaetzle and green beans.

My husband’s job took him to Winston Salem for most of the week, and I felt like I had been hit by a truck, so after struggling through Monday I picked up Happy Meals and called it a night. All hail the red-haired clown.

I found myself feeling slightly better on Tuesday, so I made an actual dinner of pulled chicken, green beans, and roasted potatoes. The potatoes are a treat for me; my children torment their Irish and German ancestors by hating on potatoes, and as such, I don’t make them often. Peel potatoes, cut into 1-inch squares. Coat with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic, crushed rosemary, salt, and pepper. Roast at 425 for 20 minutes, increase to 450 for an additional 10. They’re ready when they start to brown.

Wednesday evening was spent in the company of two toddlers, so I busted out the leftovers. An unexpected benefit of being husband free is the abundance of food in my fridge. I might get away with only cooking once or twice a week from now on. Won’t that make for some interesting articles…

Travis made his triumphant return home on Thursday. A better wife would have made a welcome home dinner, this wife (who was still sick) ordered a pizza.

Today I went to the doctor and learned I have bronchitis. Armed with this information and some medicine I have higher hopes for getting my act together next week. As for dinner tonight, we have yet to have the circular “I don’t know, what do you want to eat?” conversation, but I’m already leaning pasta.

Weeks like this one remind me why a plan is a wonderful thing to have.

Norah’s Simple Roasted Potatoes: Peel potatoes, cut into 1-inch squares. Coat with olive oil and sprinkle with garlic, crushed rosemary, salt, and pepper. Roast at 425 for 20 minutes, increase to 450 for an additional 10. They’re ready when they start to brown.

Around the Table with the Burkes: 2019, A Year for the Burkes

As always, my husband and I do our best in the name of elusive family togetherness.

Thus far, 2019 has been a rough year in the Burke house (and it’s only February!). Sometimes the hits just keep on coming and it can be difficult to find your feet again. This is where I find myself at present. It’s hard, then, to do things like plan a week of healthy meals and get everyone to the table. As always, though, my husband and I do our best in the name of elusive family togetherness. I have also been unable to make it to the Farmer’s Market for a few Saturdays now, but I maintain the hope that tomorrow will be the day. So on to the week!

We had a full house on Saturday as we offered to feed our neighbors’ kids while they worked on an important home project. With six kids around the table, Travis grilled hamburgers (he is a hamburger master), served with broccoli and noodles. I would share his special hamburger spice blend, but he won’t even share it with me, alas.

Sunday was another big group dinner. In cleaning out our freezer we discovered a giant pack of steak that was an all or nothing defrosting endeavor. We invited our friends to join us for sweet potato fries, green beans, and grilled steak. Travis put on his chef hat once more and handled it all. We went the easy route with fries we also discovered in the freezer, but when I’m feeling ambitious I slice up sweet potatoes into eight sections each, coat with olive oil, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and chipotle chili powder if we’re feeling spicy. Roast at 425 for 20-30 minutes, until the outsides are crisp and the insides are soft.

I returned to an old staple on Monday with a chicken stir fry and rice. Tuesday I threw together pork chops, egg noodles, and corn as it was just me and the kids. My older children eat dinner at church on Wednesday nights before choir, so Travis, the toddler, and I took out leftovers that night.

Thursday night was pasta night, and tonight I’m thinking I’ll change my plans to something hearty and warm to stave off this ridiculous weather. Chili or a stew of some kind.

This weekend I’m going to try my hand at making a supply of freezer meals. My husband is headed off to Winston Salem for work, leaving me to manage our circus alone for awhile. I’m hoping an ounce of preparation (and the help of the world’s best friends) will help me maintain just a tiny bit of sanity. Tune in next week to find out!

Around the Table with the Burkes: Survival is the Main Ingredient

Meal planning is a really useful tool for making sure we don’t have McDonald’s every day, but sometimes my ambition on Saturday doesn’t match up with my energy level on a Monday evening. Flexibility and a Plan B helps.

Crib rails and baby gates are merely training devices for the youngest’s future Ninja Warrior career.

Greetings Beacon readers! After a short hiatus Around the Table has returned with more tales of survival and food from the Burke household, survival being the key ingredient these days. I have been suffering from an overdose of tired lately. A death in my family, whirlwind travel, and major changes coming to my household have caused my brain to short circuit. Additionally, my youngest child (2) has decided that a.) he’s never going to sleep again, and b.) crib rails and baby gates are merely training devices for his future Ninja Warrior career. Meal planning is a really useful tool for making sure we don’t have McDonald’s every day, but sometimes my ambition on Saturday doesn’t match up with my energy level on a Monday evening. Flexibility and a Plan B helps.

Last Saturday I had a meeting all afternoon and was out later than I planned, so we ended up ordering pizza. Highlight of the evening was my food allergy kid getting his first slice after months of trialing different pizza components. He was so excited! Can I just serve pizza every day and still maintain “Okay Mom” status?

Sunday I planned on Beef Stew for “Hearty Superb Owl Man Food.” I was going to go with my quick and easy McCormick packet cheat, but that only works if you actually have a packet on hand. So I took to googling recipes and made a bit of a FrankenStew using my Instant Pot. Positives: delicious stew beef from the Farmer’s Market made ultra tender by the Instant Pot. Negatives: waaaaaaay too much tomato paste, and not enough beef broth. Not my finest dish, but not entirely inedible.

My good friend got chickens last weekend. The live, future-egg-laying variety. They’re pretty cute, and I am a bit of an animal nut, so hanging out with chicks instead of working was how I spent most of my days this week. Monday evening rolled around and I threw together some baked pork chops, noodles, and corn. Some days the most basic home cooked foods are a win. Tuesday’s dinner was leftovers. Thank goodness we had some.

Wednesday I shocked my husband by making “real” food – chicken chili and biscuits.

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White Chicken Chili:

• A pound and a half of chicken cut into bite size chunks (I use breasts, thighs also work)

• 3 cans of white beans, drained and rinsed

• Seasoning mix (per pound of chicken, I double this for 1.5 pounds):

  • ½ tsp sugar

  • ½ tsp corn starch

  • 1 tsp garlic powder

  • ½ tsp cayenne pepper

  • 1 tsp cumin

  • ½ tsp oregano

  • ½ tsp cilantro

• 1 cup frozen or canned corn

• 2-3 cups water

Brown the chicken on all sides, then add water, seasoning mix, and beans. Bring to a boil and cook for 10 minutes. Add the corn and cook another 6-10 minutes. Serve with something you can use to mop sauce!

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Thursday I shocked Travis again with meatloaf, squash, and spaetzle. I also did dishes. Travis thinks I might be very sick.

As for tonight, I’m at a loss. I see turkey burgers on my plan, but that seems like a lot of effort. In all likelihood we’re going to end up having pancakes and French toast for dinner. Plan Brinner.

One of these days I’ll head back to the Farmer’s Market and one of these weeks I’ll have myself back on track with my goals for the year.

Around the Table with the Burkes: Super Spouse Dinner Takeover

“Tonight we’ll be roasting hot dogs over a campfire with friends. The side will likely be s’mores and chances are good there will not be a vegetable in sight.”

Photo by Norah Burke

Photo by Norah Burke

This week seemed to fly by, didn’t it? I didn’t get to the Farmer’s Market last Saturday thanks to a migraine, fortunately winter vegetables have a delightfully long shelf life so I still had cauliflower from the week before as well as some meat in our freezer to create our meals this week.

On Saturday I helped throw a last minute birthday party for a good friend (hi Kelly!). My contribution was homemade baked mac n’ cheese and a chocolate cream pie. I know you want those recipes, the mac n’ cheese can be found here (note: I replace the onion with a tablespoon of onion powder for kid friendliness). The chocolate cream pie recipe is here, for this one I have made the crust in the past and it’s phenomenal, but when I’m feeling lazy I pick up an Oreo crumb crust from the grocery store.

My husband Travis racked up some super spouse points this week by taking the lead on dinners. On Sunday he made hamburgers, sweet potato fries, and corn.

Photo by Norah Burke

Monday he grilled pork chops (from the Market), and I roasted cauliflower. I coat the cauliflower in 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp olive oil, black pepper, and garlic and then roast it on a sheet pan in a 425 degree oven for 20-30 minutes.

Tuesday and Wednesday I was out of the house, so Travis served up leftovers to the kids. Supposedly they ate them all. I never look a gift break from parenting in the mouth.

Thursday I assuaged my mom and wife guilt with roasted butternut squash, rice pilaf, and soy-ginger-garlic-brown sugar chicken. Lest you think I’m some culinary professional, the chicken was… not great. I didn’t cut my pieces uniformly so some were overcooked to rubber, blech. The rice pilaf isn’t authentic, per se, it’s more of a 1950s midwestern version (my source lived in Ohio for a long time…), but it’s a favorite of the husband and yummy.

Photo by Norah Burke

Oma’s Rice Pilaf

• 1 ¼ cups Parboiled (converted) Rice

• 1 10.5 ounce can Beef Consommé

• 1 10.5 ounce can French Onion Soup

• 6 Tbsp Butter (I always cut this to 4-ish)

Combine the ingredients in an oven safe covered dish. Cook in 350 degree oven for 45 minutes, remove lid and cook uncovered for an additional 15 minutes.

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Tonight we’ll be roasting hot dogs over a campfire with friends. The side will likely be s’mores and chances are good there will not be a vegetable in sight. I’ll be back at the market tomorrow on the hunt for spinach, broccoli, and carrots. And let’s be honest, coffee from Good Cup and some kind of pastry. Bundle up and join me!

Photo by Norah Burke

Around the Table with the Burkes: A Week Without Takeout

“[One] resolution for the new year is to eat out less, I’m going to call this week a success and enjoy this sense of pride before life happens and we get derailed. ”

Happy New Year, readers! There’s nothing like being home after travel, is there? I took my time at the Farmer’s Market on Saturday, it was slow and smaller than usual thanks to the holidays, but it’s the season for some of my favorite vegetables. Broccoli and Cauliflower! Mustard greens, some beautiful lettuce, and sweet potatoes rounded out my purchases for the week.

On Saturday I made chicken stir fry. To me, stir-frying is one of those magical cooking techniques where you put in things you like and the result is always delicious. Vegetable stir-fry, beef stir-fry, pork stir-fry, fish stir-fry, all good. Chicken stir-fry is one of the dishes my mom made when I was little to stretch a package of chicken to feed six people. I change my recipe pretty much every time I make it, but my starting point is usually the following:

Chicken Stir Fry

• 1-2 pounds boneless chicken breasts (or thighs if you like dark meat), cut into 1-2 inch chunks

• 2 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (here’s another place to change up the flavor by using sesame oil, or a blend of the two)

• Marinade:

• ½ Tbsp Garlic Powder, or 4-5 minced cloves (or more, you can never skimp on garlic IMO)

• 1 tsp Ginger

• 1 Tbsp Honey

• ¼ - 1/3 cup Soy Sauce

• 2 Tbsp Corn Starch

Additional Spice Options (I play around to see what we like): Chinese Five Spice, Chili Powder, Cayenne Pepper, Paprika, Cinnamon, Wasabi. A shake here, a pinch there, sometimes nothing extra at all

Vegetables (pick and choose any or all): Baby Corn, Broccoli, Green Beans, Carrots, Snap Peas, Bell Peppers, Water Chestnuts, Onions, Mushrooms (I guess? If you like that kind of thing)

Put the chicken chunks into a bowl, pour in the marinade, and stir to coat. Prepare your vegetable selections, making sure everything is cut into uniform sizes. Vegetables that take longer to cook (corn, water chestnuts, carrots) should be cut smaller than faster cooking vegetables. In a wok (I used a cheap wok from IKEA for 10 years, and recently replaced it with this one since I stir fry a lot it’s worth the investment to me) heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil to shimmering hot. HOT is the key to stir fry (but don’t light your kitchen on fire, keep both eyes on it!). Drop the chicken and marinade into the wok and cook, stirring constantly, until the chicken is browned on the outside. Add your vegetables and continue cooking until the chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender, but still brightly colored. Watch your heat, you want it to be hot, but not burn. If you like to have a little sauce, toward the end of cooking pour a few tablespoons of water into the pan, dribbling it along the side of the wok so it heats up before it hits the rest of the ingredients. Serve over the rice variety of your choice (my fave is Basmati, but any variety will do).

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My plan for Sunday was to rest in preparation for a big New Year’s Eve dinner, so my husband threw together some pasta and crusty bread. Quick, simple, and I didn’t have to make it!

“ I love making biscuits from scratch when I have a chance (isn’t it a requirement for Southern residency?).”

Monday I baked a spiral ham with sweet potatoes, spaetzle, and biscuits. I love making biscuits from scratch when I have a chance (isn’t it a requirement for Southern residency?). I start with Betty Crocker’s Baking Powder Biscuit recipe, which I found in my oldest, most beaten up cookbook, but is now online thanks to the magic of the internet. I replace the shortening with butter and the milk with buttermilk.

Tuesday we had leftover ham, much to my children’s delight. My son opted for rolled up deli turkey. Insert eye roll.

I got experimental on Wednesday, making a dish that was both new to us and vegetarian. I made a resolution to start incorporating more meatless meals into our dinner menu, to both save money and reduce our environmental impact. So I made quinoa and black bean tacos from my new vegetarian cookbook “Love Real Food.” I was pleasantly surprised, they were quite good. I’ll tweak the spices next time because the flavor wasn’t as in your face as we like, probably with more garlic (have you noticed yet how much I like garlic? Because I really like garlic. Fortunately, there is lots of garlic to be found at the Market), more chili powder, and possibly the addition of a homemade taco sauce because we were missing some moisture. But overall the tacos were really good, I think we’ll make them a regular addition. I topped mine with lettuce from the Market, cheddar cheese, corn, and some crumbled tortilla chips for crunch. If you’re wondering how they went over with the kids, well… it’s good to keep chicken nuggets in the freezer.

I threw together a quick chicken chili on Thursday with boxed cornbread.

Today we’ll clean out all of the leftovers from this week; there are lots of options. I’m sure my kids will complain about all of them and ask for McDonald’s, but I’m not going to give in because we made it through a week without takeout! Another resolution for the new year is to eat out less, I’m going to call this week a success and enjoy this sense of pride before life happens and we get derailed.

Enjoy your weekend!