S'mores ice cream sundaes

Combine graham cracker no-churn ice cream, milk chocolate magic shell, and freshly scorched gooey marshmallows to make the best and easiest ice cream sundaes to celebrate summer! #meandthemoose #nochurnicecream #s’mores #s’moresrecipes #nochurnicecreamrecipes

Combine graham cracker no-churn ice cream, milk chocolate magic shell, and freshly scorched gooey marshmallows to make the best and easiest ice cream sundaes to celebrate summer!

Take me to the sundaes!

Combine graham cracker no-churn ice cream, milk chocolate magic shell, and freshly scorched gooey marshmallows to make the best and easiest ice cream sundaes to celebrate summer! #meandthemoose #nochurnicecream #s’mores #s’moresrecipes #nochurnicecreamrecipes

Before we get to the ice cream, I need to vent a little. I haven’t been making these posts as person lately because there’s so much kerfuffle on the internet about how people hate reading food bloggers’ life stories. But I guess if you’re reading this, you’re one of the people who is, at worst, neutral on the topic, so here we go! (If you’re here by mistake, there’s a “jump to recipe” button above.)

I need a break from the mental load. We all have one. It’s made up of the stuff that weighs on us and feels like quicksand because there’s no way to think ourselves out of it, though we can’t stop trying. It’s made up of the constant to-do’s and the guilt when they constantly don’t get done.

I’m stuck under the mental load of parenthood and all the ways in which it affects my identity. Lately I’ve been thinking about how I invest too much in both parenthood and my blog/food photography to feel really masterful at either. I suppose one can argue that there’s no such thing as “investing too much” in parenthood, but I really enjoy writing and taking photos and that work helps me feel like I’m something other than “someone’s mom.”

But I also feel guilty about the times I let Z play by himself in his playroom (that’s part of our kitchen, don’t panic) when I want to work on a new recipe or catch a specific light. I’m sure someone would argue that I’m selfish while someone else would point out that kids need to learn independence. And, frankly, both of those people are me. But really, who added “constant playmate” to a parent’s job description?

Anyway, it’s hard to feel productive or creative when so much bandwidth is devoted to pediatrician appointments and camp drop-offs and nap times and making sure all the little things are accounted for. But when I do focus on work, I wonder if I’m depriving M and Z of quality time that will have lasting affects on their development? Maybe that’s way too dramatic. It feels a little dramatic as I write this.

And then I worry (maybe that’s my actual full time job?) that I spend SO MUCH time thinking about parenting and work that I neglect all of the other import things. Like, when do I think about my marriage? And developing new friendships? And nurturing old friendships? And exercising? And did we give the dog his heartworm medicine this month? And what do we do about that front porch pillar that seems to be sinking?

And then my brain short-circuits and I have to cool it down with an ice cream sundae. What a transition!

Combine graham cracker no-churn ice cream, milk chocolate magic shell, and freshly scorched gooey marshmallows to make the best and easiest ice cream sundaes to celebrate summer! #meandthemoose #nochurnicecream #s’mores #s’moresrecipes #nochurnicecreamrecipes

If, like me, your brain is a funny place to live sometimes, you want to combine elaborate and easy. This ice cream sundae is sort of a three-part recipe, but each part is dead simple. So, it feels like you’re doing something tricky but also not.

We start with a straightforward vanilla no-churn ice cream base that has soaked graham crackers in it. Then, we top it with a two-ingredient milk chocolate magic shell and freshly charred marshmallows.

You might be wondering, why wouldn’t you just combine the milk chocolate bits and charred marshmallows in the actual ice cream? And you absolutely CAN do that! BUT, frozen marshmallows bear no resemblance to fresh gooey ones. And why have plain chocolate bits when you can spend 30 seconds melting them with coconut oil and pour it over for some ice cream magic? And some of the magic shell probably won’t freeze, so you get the gooey marshmallows AND the gooey chocolate, which feels very much like the real s’mores deal.

ALSO, leaving the graham cracker ice cream alone makes it adaptable to soooo many other flavor combinations. Cheesecake ice cream? Yup. Key lime pie ice cream? Yup. PB&J on a graham cracker ice cream? You bet. The possibilities are endless.

So what are you waiting for???

A couple of notes:

• You can let the graham crackers soak for as little as an hour or you can forget about them overnight. As long as the cookies are completely mushy, you’re good to go.

• When making no-churn ice cream, i’m a big proponent of throwing everything together and whipping it in one step, but in this case, whip the cream/graham cracker mixture first and then fold in the condensed milk.

• DON’T FORGET THE SALT! S’mores are a sweet affair to begin with. A nice pinch of kosher salt in the ice cream base before freezing cuts the sweetness just a bit.

• For charring: if you don’t have a kitchen torch (but they really are super fun to use and you can get one at Target), roast your marshmallows over a fire or in the oven, but WATCH THEM LIKE A HAWK. Marshmallows can catch on fire under a broiler, so I set the temp to about 400/425 depending on your oven and move a rack up to the top third.

• For the magic shell: I like to use filtered coconut oil because it doesn’t taste like coconut. Virgin is fine to use if that’s what you have, but it might taste faintly of coconut.

Combine graham cracker no-churn ice cream, milk chocolate magic shell, and freshly scorched gooey marshmallows to make the best and easiest ice cream sundaes to celebrate summer! #meandthemoose #nochurnicecream #s’mores #s’moresrecipes #nochurnicecreamrecipes

S’mores ice cream sundaes

Time: At least overnight, but about 15-20 minutes of active time
Yield: about 5-6 large sundaes

For the ice cream:
8 full sheets of graham crackers (or one package if they come three packages to a box)
1 pint heavy cream (2 cups)
14 oz sweetened condensed milk (1 small can)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 large pinch fine kosher or sea salt

In a large bowl, mash the graham crackers into tiny bits. I use my hands for this because the bits don’t have to be uniform. Pour the cream over the bits and stir to combine. Cover and leave in the fridge until the graham crackers have turned to mush, about 1 hour or up to 1 day.

Once the graham crackers have softened, remove the large bowl from the fridge. Using a hand or stand mixer, whip just until the cream makes stiff-ish soft peaks (see photo above), about 45 seconds.

Add the condensed milk, vanilla, and salt and fold gently with a spatula.

Transfer to a freezable container and freeze for at least 8 hours or overnight.

For the magic shell:
6 oz milk chocolate (chips, chopped up bars, whatever)
2 Tbsp coconut oil (see notes above the recipe)

Marshmallows to taste

Combine the chocolate and coconut oil in a microwave-safe bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir well. Repeat in 10 second bursts until fully melted. (Mine usually melted within 30 seconds, but it’s really hot here, so my chocolate and coconut oil were already soft.)

Let cool for 10-15 minutes while you char your marshmallows (see note above).

Assemble sundaes with ice cream, magic shell poured over and topped with marshmallows and an optional pinch of flaky sea salt.

Warm potato salad

Potato salad might be the perfect transitional food: It’s reminiscent of the BBQs and long summer days that we’re leaving behind, but as we head towards fall, what’s more comforting than a bowl of starchy goodness?

Bring me to the potatoes!

Phew. I am in the thick of this motherhood in a pandemic thing, y’all. (While also trying to be okay with what we have [in-person school half of the time; outdoor, distanced playdates], and what we don’t [travel, grandparents without preplanning, sports, activities]. I was about to actually start this blog post asking, “from where is our worth derived?” And then I said to myself: GET A GRIP BECCA, THIS IS JUST A FUCKING FOOD BLOG.

One thing I’m really missing, and I think we can all relate to this somewhat, is that sense of having discreet portions of the day. I blame the pandemic, the world being both literally and figuratively on fire, and being home all the time, but having a 5.5 month old baby who is, thus far, schedule resistant, also doesn’t help.

Whatever the cause, I miss those few downbeat moments every day where you could switch from one mode to the next. Now I feel like I’m never able to focus on one thing completely. I can’t just test a recipe or take some photos. Instead, I’m doing that while comforting a crying baby and finding a very specific episode of Paw Patrol on the DVR and getting some water and searching for a missing Lego and nursing and and and.

On the flip side, I find myself not tuning in to my kids entirely either, which makes me really upset with myself and this fucking situation we’re in. I think that fear, anger, resentment, and frustration makes it hard for me to find the bandwidth for a really involved pretend game or art project or science experiment. But that sucks for my kids because they aren’t responsible for the pandemic. But I’m also human and I can’t be the perfect mom all day, every day. * PRIMAL SCREEEEAAAAAMMMMM *

But anyway, time marches on and suddenly summer has turned into fall. I don’t know what we did with the warm months. Did they even happen? Who knows.

We did celebrate summer produce thanks to our prolific cucumber, zucchini, and basil plants AND our favorite farm stand. Now that fall is bearing down on us, there’s nothing like a meal to mark the changing of the seasons and this potato salad is the culinary equivalent of a light jacket: A nod to both warm and cold, casual and cozy.

While potato salad might seem relegated to side-dishery, I topped this with a runny egg for an unexpectedly fab breakfast. Try it!

Warm potato salad 

Time: About 15-20 minutes, mostly active
Yield: about 3-3.5 cups of salad

1½ lbs small potatoes (new, fingerling, red, etc; cut any larger ones so that most pieces are about the same size) 
¼ cup mayonnaise or Greek yogurt 
3 Tbsp dijon mustard
¼ cup chopped red onion (about 1 thick slice from a medium or small onion) 
2 Tbsp finely chopped chives
1/4-1/2 tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp smoked paprika
Dash of red wine vinegar or 1 tsp of chopped capers 

Microwave the washed potatoes in a glass bowl covered with plastic wrap on high for 10 minutes. Or cover the potatoes with cold water until they’re just submerged. Heat over a high flame until boiling. Boil, lowering the flame slightly to avoid the water boiling over, until fork tender, about 12-14 minutes. 

While the potatoes are cooking, combine the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix well. 

Once the potatoes are fork tender, add them to the mixture and stir to combine. Taste and adjust seasoning as needed.

Broccoli tacos

Roasted broccoli, poblano and meunster cheese sauce, and broccoli micro greens make for a quick, nutritious, and lip-smackingly good meatless monday or taco tuesday meal.

Take me to the tacos!

A few weeks ago, M decided that he didn’t like tacos. He still liked tortillas and all of the fillings, but brand anything as a “taco” and he was not interested. I only cared because often, the easiest route to dinner goes right through fridge-clearing-taco-ville. Maybe if I’d offered a Chocotaco he would have been into it? We’ll never know.

But while I was making these broccoli babies for the first time, he commented, “that smells really good.” Dear reader, he ate it. The whole thing. It was definitely the poblano cheese sauce, which I would like to put on everything for the rest of my life.

Instead of making a queso with cornstarch added at the end, I make a roux to start and added the cheese once the milk had thickened. I’m sure going the traditional queso route would also have been delicious. I just chose something else because life is about choices.

A couple of notes:

• Keep an eye on the broccoli after about 15 minutes. The cooking time really depends on how fresh your broccoli is, how large your florets are, and how hot your oven runs.

• Add in any other bits and bobs to the tacos that you want. I used broccoli because its a favorite in our house, but other roasted veggies or proteins would be delicious here.

• Double the cheese sauce. Just do it. This recipe makes enough for about 6 tacos, but the sauce makes a delicious dip for chips or raw vegetables.

Broccoli tacos

Yield: 6 tacos
Time: About 40 minutes, mostly active

1 lb broccoli florets (buy 1.5 lbs because you’ll cut off the stalks)
3-4 Tbsp olive oil 
Large pinch of salt 
1 large poblano chili (or 1 small can of pre-roasted chili) 
1 Tbsp butter 
1 Tbsp flour 
¾ cup whole milk 
3 oz muenster cheese 
1 oz cheddar cheese 
½ tsp sea salt 
¼ cup minced poblano chili 
6 corn soft taco shells
Broccoli microgreens 

Preheat the oven to 425. Spread out the broccoli florets on a baking sheet and toss with the olive oil and large pinch of salt. Roast for 20-25 minutes, or until the broccoli is as crispy as you’d like. Stir the florets around on the sheet pan halfway through cooking. 

While the broccoli is roasting, make the sauce. 

Roast your poblano pepper. Turn on the stove burner and place the washed and dried pepper directly on the flame. Have a pair of tongs handy and turn the pepper every 30 seconds or so to ensure that it’s charred everywhere. This usually takes me about 5 minutes.

Once the skin is blistered all over, place the pepper in a large bowl or paper bag and either cover it with plastic wrap or a tea towel or close the paper bag tightly at the top. Let the pepper stand for 5-10 minutes until the steam has loosened the pepper’s skin. Check by pinching some of the pepper and the skin should slip off easily. If it doesn’t, let it steam for a few more minutes and try again. 

Once the pepper has steamed, remove as much of the skin as you can, the top, and the inner seeds. Chop the pepper into small pieces. One pepper should make a scant ½ cup of chopped, roasted peppers. 

In a small pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and let the mixture bubble lightly until it has turned a medium golden color, about 5 minutes. 

Whisk in the milk and stir thoroughly to combine. Continue to stir as the milk bubbles very slightly on the edges. If the milk bubbles up too vigorously, turn down the heat. When the milk mixture has visibly thickened and coats the back of a spoon, add the salt and cheese and stir until the cheese has melted.  

Stir in the chopped roasted poblanos.

Assemble the tacos.

Heat up the tortillas in a hot, dry pan for about 1 minute each. When hot, fill the shells with the roasted broccoli and top with the cheese sauce. Top with the broccoli microgreens, avocado, grated cotija cheese, and any other toppings you like.

Creamed broccoli

A little garlic, cream, and parmesan transform ho hum frozen broccoli to a delicious side dish that even my 5-year-old, hot-dogs-for-breakfast kid will eat.

Take me to the recipe!

I don’t actually feed my kid hotdogs for breakfast, but he WISHES that I would. I’m pretty sure he’s cried about it at least once this week.

How are you all feeling about your kids’ nutrition during quarantine? I know I’ve been eating like a maniac for a few reasons. First, I’m nursing, so I need at least 10,000 calories a day, right? Second, we can’t go anywhere or do anything, so we’ve definitely been using food as recreation, pleasure, and fun; all of the things we used to get outside of our house and with people besides one another. Third, I’m awake so many more hours per day with a newborn that I have more time to graze in a fatigued stupor.

All of this has set a really bad example for my kid. He wants to eat only comfort, pleasure foods and I’m too tired to fight it a lot of the time. Also, he’s kind of a jerk when he’s hungry, which I’m pretty sure is genetic. This broccoli has been helpful because I feel good about him eating something green and he feels good about eating something with cream and cheese.

I’m really trying not to sweat the eating too much. I think we’re all feeling like some degree of failure if the number of “It’s okay to______ or not to _______during quarantine” think pieces I’ve seen is any indication. It’s hard to do anything all the time. Like I always say, too much of a good thing is still too much. Family time is great, but no one gets a break from each other. I like being a homebody, but what I wouldn’t give for a playdate so my kid could destroy someone else’s house for a change.

If eating a fourth cookie means I can laugh at the AWFUL haircut my husband gave M and not cry with rage because he looks like Eleven from Stranger Things, so be it.

A couple of notes:

• This recipe is barely adapted from one I found on epicurious. Some commenters didn’t love it, but extra Parmesan and garlic really help, I think.

• This is a little soupier than other “creamed” things like spinach or corn. A lot of recipes call for a roux, which I opted against because I wanted this recipe to be fast and also, AP flour is about as scarce here as toilet paper or hope. What? Too dark??

• I kind of like the soupyness because we all have enough homemade bread to last until the next pandemic, right? So we need something to sop up with all those carbs. This is also nice tossed with some noodles or zoodles or the like.

• I use frozen broccoli for this recipe because I feel like that might be more accessible currently, but you can definitely use fresh broccoli.

• If you don’t have a shallot, sub in some really finely minced onion or just another clove of smashed garlic.

• When I say “well-smashed” I really want you to give the garlic a good squish with the side of your knife. Get aggressive. You want each clove to be in several pieces.

Creamed broccoli

1 bag frozen broccoli or 1 large head of raw broccoli (about 4 cups of florets and stems)
1 Tbsp butter
4 large garlic cloves, smashed well
1 large shallot, thinly sliced
1 cup heavy cream  
½ cup grated parmesan cheese
Salt and pepper to taste

Yield: About 3-4 cups of broccoli
Time: 15 minutes, all active

In a large bowl, microwave the frozen broccoli until completely defrosted, about 4 minutes. Drain and place the broccoli on a paper towel while making the sauce.

If using fresh broccoli, bring a large pot of water to a boil and drop in the florets. Cook for 3-4 minutes and drain. Set on a paper towel to dry while making the sauce.  

In a medium pot, melt butter over a medium flame. Add the garlic and shallots and cook until fragrant, about one minute, reducing the heat if the shallot or garlic start to burn.

Add the cream and allow it to bubble. If it isn’t coming to a boil, increase the heat slightly. Similarly, if the cream is scalding or bubbling too fast, reduce the heat slightly. You want the cream to bubble pretty vigorously and it’s okay if it bubbles up and seems to expand, but we don’t want browning or burning.

Keep a close watch and stir occasionally until the cream has reduced and thickened so that when you scrape the bottom of the pot, the liquid doesn’t immediately re-cover the metal, about 4-5 minutes.

Add the parmesan and stir until melted, about 30 seconds.

Carefully taste the sauce (don’t burn your mouth!) and season with salt and pepper.

Add the broccoli and cook, stirring, until the sauce has covered the broccoli to your liking. The broccoli will release some water and thin out the sauce.     

Mushroom pasta

I know we’re all eating canned goods from here on out, so maybe bookmark this one as a spring-y, post-virus meal for when the world feels real again? Or, if you impulse bought mushrooms during your panic shop, use them now!

I don’t want to hear more about this freaking virus: Take me to the recipe!

I haven’t posted much in recent weeks because, and I know I’m not alone here, I’ve been in a deep, dark pit of worry about Coronavirus. While healthy kids are at much lower risk for developing symptoms, I’m 38 weeks pregnant and about to bring a newborn into this mess. Like, any day now. Newborns are not kids. This also means, I have to go to a HOSPITAL in a few days, just about the last place I want to be.

Oh, and we’re self-quarantining for as long as possible because we need a grandparent to come watch M when I go into labor and all of them have between two and seven of the risk factors that make this a much more serious illness. Can you imagine if we infected one of them because we were carriers and didn’t know?

And, in the event that one of us gets sick, I don’t know what that means for delivery. If M or Ethan are sick and a grandparent can’t come, do I have to give birth alone? Do I have to stay in the hospital and away from M for longer? Will I be separated from my newborn if it’s me that develops symptoms?

Everything feels so scary and overwhelming and unknown. I don’t generally think of myself as someone with strong “mama bear” instincts, but this crisis has awakened a desperate need to protect my family.

So, anyway, you probably just want to hear about food, yes? This pasta is really good. It’s also fast and easy and full of flavor. The preschooler didn’t love it, though he did have a few bites. I think he’ll learn to like it. He has no choice because it’s so good, I’m not going to stop making it!

A couple of notes:
- Feel free to swap in dried thyme for fresh if you don’t have any.
-The vinegar gives the pasta a little tang and acid, but if you don’t like it or LOVE IT and want more of it, feel free to skip or add more. I also like a little sprinkle of vinegar splashed on at the end.
-I add the cheese at the end as a garnish, but fee free to add up to a cup of cheese while the pasta is still hot and mixing it in with the melting butter to make a thicker sauce.
-Julia would be APPALLED by how much I crowd the mushrooms when I make this dish. I can’t help it. I have no sense of volume when it comes to mushrooms and the appropriate pan in which to cook them. I find that it doesn’t really matter. They cook down significantly, so as long as you’re okay with rescuing a few escaped shrooms at the start of cooking while you give things a mix, eventually, they’ll all fit in the pan just fine.

Mushroom pasta

Yield: 5-6 adult servings
Time: 25 minutes, mostly active

14 oz-1 lb whole wheat pasta, cooked until al dente
4 Tbsp butter, divided
1 Tbsp olive oil
2 large shallots, thinly sliced
1 leek, halved and thinly sliced
1 lb mixed mushrooms, sliced
4 large garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp fresh thyme (3-4 stems), or ½ tsp dried
½ Tbsp red wine vinegar (or more to taste)
Salt/ pepper to taste
Nutty cheese, such as Parmesan, Gruyere, Romano, or Gouda

Cook pasta in well-salted water.

In a large skillet, melt 2 Tbsp butter and 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium heat. Add the shallots and leeks and let cook for 5 minutes until translucent and soft., stirring frequently to avoid browning.

Add the mushrooms and cook for another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the mushrooms start to cook down and release some of their juices. If they haven’t cooked enough at the 5-minute mark, keep going until there’s a fair amount of liquid in the pan.

Add the garlic and let cook for 1 minute, or until fragrant.

Add the vinegar and let cook until evaporated, about 1 more minute.

Season the mushroom mixture with salt and pepper to taste.

Drain the pasta, but don’t go crazy- a little water will help keep the pasta loose. Add the noodles to the mushroom mixture along with the remaining 2 Tbsp of butter. Stir well and turn off the heat. Taste again for seasoning and serve immediately.