So Bring Me Some Figgy Ideas

Sometimes, when you haven't been blogging for awhile and you're trying to get back on the horse, you feel like you need to have something profound to say at first. But nothing is coming to me so...

We're going to talk about figs today. 

Because I am so over how much junk food I LOVED eating on our Stateside vacay and I'm so happy to be back in Germany where good quality food is really cheap!

And also because I bought some and realized I didn't have a blessed idea what to do with them.

So instead of spending my time wisely thinking of something meaningful to write for you, or trying to figure out how to recap our vacation adventures, I spent over an hour on the internet learning everything I could ever want to know about this strange little fruit that I'd never eaten before.

And I decided to be nice and share that info with YOU! You're welcome ;-)

PS thank God for Pinterest.

So I've never eaten a fresh fig before. I will blame it on the fact that I don't really care for fig newtons. But also because I just never ate them and therefore don't know what to do with them... so it's remained an "exotic" fruit that has been on my "to-try" list. Until now.

Quick punny exchange between My Love and I that morning:
me: "I bought fresh figs for the first time today!"
J: "Figures."

ha. ha. he's so hilarious ;-)

You can eat figs fresh and whole (skin and all), as a topping for oatmeal or yogurt, as a smoothie ingredient, sliced and topped with a favorite cheese and some balsamic dressing, baked with honey as a dessert topping, and added to your favorite fruit salad or green salad.

Or you can wrap them in bacon or prosciutto and GRILL THEM! Yay for grilling season! 

First I just ate the figs with my favorite lunch of fresh bread, herbed goat cheese, and smoked salmon. And then we ate them in our morning yogurt with a drizzle of elderberry syrup on top. Very good. I wanted to try to blend them with maple syrup to pour over french toast or pancakes but we ran out ;-) So, next time!

Here are tons of fun facts and delicious recipes featuring figs: 

Some of them seem a little too fancy for my table, but since my girls loved our first experiments with them, I might go for it and see what happens!

Enjoy! 

The World's Healthiest Foods fact sheet

Fig Varieties 

Valley Fig Growers fun facts

Bacon, Melon, and Fig Salad You had me at bacon.

Pancakes with Calcium-Filled Fixins Love the idea of using figs and tahini as a maple syrup substitute!

Dark Chocolate Covered Figs  I need some of THIS in my life for SURE!

Coconut Fig Popcicles I think this would get me a billion gold stars with the girls.

Fig Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing 

Butternut Squash and Fig Soup

Simple Figgy Focaccia

Marinated Fig Skewers with Prosciutto, Mozzarella, and Basil

Figs on a gorgeous Cheese Platter These pictures make me want to host a cheese and wine party even though I'm more of a pizza and beer girl ;-)

Fig, Beet, and Watermelon Salad with Caramelized Shallot Dressing 

Roasted Butternut Squash and Fig Salad

Fig and Rosemary Chicken Pizza  Is it too early to start grilling pizza every other day? Nomnom

Oven-Roasted Fruit with Ricotta-Vanilla Cream This is my kind of easy dessert!

Free-Form Fig Tart

Fig Chips  I don't usually have luck with these types of "turn fresh food into chips" recipes but they are so pretty and would be so great in the girls' lunchbox!

Grilled Fig and Cheese  Oh my.

Salted Honey and Fig Cheesecake  I wonder if I can make this one without a food processor? And I'd have to call it a "cream cake" or something cause J would cry if I called a faux-cheesecake a cheesecake (his favorite.)

Avocado, Gorgonzola, and Fig Baguette Awesome easy dinner idea!


Glad to have me back? Make sure you follow me on Pinterest so you always know what randomness I'm researching today! 

Recipe | Roasted Pork Loin with Sweet Potatoes, Orange, and Cilantro

This meal is amazing... I like to call it "the meal that never ends" because if you follow my modifications, you end up having at least five meals worth of food out of one recipe, that comes together pretty easily!

I really like making this meal for company because it seems fancy but it's totally not.

The original recipe is one of my favorite pork roast meals in The America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook. {my affiliate link} I've recommended that cookbook to you guys about a thousand times now and I will probably keep recommending it till the day I die.

Important note on tools: I have changed this recipe to make it easier and the primary way I have done that is to change it from a slow cooker recipe to a dutch oven recipe. So you will need a dutch oven {here's the link to the one I use} and an immersion blender {like this one} to make this my way. If you want it the ATK way, you'll have to buy their book ;-) If you don't believe me that you need a dutch oven, comment below and I'll talk your ear off about all the ways I use mine!

Roasted Pork Loin with Sweet Potatoes, Orange, and Cilantro
original by America's Test Kitchen, modified by Jessica Aiduk

1 boneless pork loin roast (whatever size fits your pot) 
2 onions, sliced thin
3 jalapenos, minced (leave the seeds if you like things spicy) 
2 tablespoons cumin
6 cloves minced garlic
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
2 cups chicken broth
1 orange juice concentrate, thawed (standard) 
4 tablespoons minced chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
2 tablespoons dried oregano 
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped small-ish 
1/4 cup minced fresh cilantro

(optional cilantro sour cream = 1 cup sour cream, 2 tablespoons minced cilantro, 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.)

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Heat about two tablespoons of both butter and olive oil in your dutch oven at medium high heat. Dry your roast with paper towels and season generously with salt and pepper. Brown the roast on all sides, then set aside on a plate.

2. Add more butter to the dutch oven and reduce the heat to medium. Saute the onions, jalapenos, cumin, and salt until the onions are softened. Stir in the garlic and cook till fragrant, about 3 seconds, then add the tomatoes (with juice) and scrape up all the delightful browned bits on the bottom of the pot. Add broth, the entire can of orange juice concentrate, the chipotle chiles, and the oregano. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer.

3. Return the pork roast to the dutch oven, then add the sweet potatoes slowly until you have basically filled up the pot. Nestle them into the liquid. It's okay if you can't fit all the sweet potatoes. Save them for something else!

4. Cover the pot and cook in the oven at 325 degrees for about two hours. (In the meantime, make some rice or whip up that cilantro sour cream if you want!)

5. You know the pork's done when it registers between 165-175 degrees. Remove the pork to a plate. Using your immersion blender, puree the ingredients of the dutch oven into a zesty sweet potato soup!

6. Shred the pork roast with two forks into bite-sized pieces. Serve over rice, topped with a generous spoonful of the soup, and some sour cream and cilantro. (Or the yummy cilantro sour cream.)

So that's meal #1. 

Meal #2... eat the leftovers for another dinner.

Meal #3... have a hearty lunch of leftover soup with a sprinkling of rice and pork, if you have any left!

Meal #4... just soup for lunch with sour cream and sauerkraut. Or for dinner with a side of crusty bread to beef it up.

Meal #5... freeze a jar of just the soup, to be pulled out and re-purposed into another meal (saute some chicken and cook more rice, roast some broccoli, and you've got the sauce at the ready!)

Like I said, it's the meal that never ends! 

It can have a spicy kick, so be aware that you'll want to tone the heat down depending on your family preferences. My kids do okay with plenty of sour cream added. (though in the interest of full disclosure Lily is on a HUGE "I don't like anything you make" kick, so it's not like she'd be eating much more than a few bites of this anyways ;-) but that's a whiny post for another day)

So make this pork roast when you need some spicy, guilt-free comfort food that lasts for days!

And let me know how you like it!

Recipe | Cozy Christmas Chai Concentrate

So you're sitting down to do a Christmas project while watching a Christmas movie, and you need a cup of something warm and cozy. 

You're sick of hot chocolate and you've already had way too much coffee today. You're out of warm apple cider and it's too early in the day for boilo. 

So what should you make?

Christmas Chai, that's what!

Now chai tea is obviously not just for Christmas time. 

But there's something about the mix of spices in this concentrate that gets me thinking of Christmas whenever I make it.

And all you need to do when you want a cup of spiced yummy goodness is brew a strong cup of black tea and add a generous spoonful of this concentrate!

Chai Tea Concentrate

1 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk

1 teaspoon cardamom

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Mix everything together and store in a jar in the fridge. Add a generous spoonful the next time you make a cup of strong black tea!

This stuff warms you right up and gets you in the holiday spirit!

(it's also fabulous as coffee creamer!)

The concentrate makes a really great gift for friends... just make it up for them in a pretty jar and attach the instructions! 

** update ** as I'm drinking my chai this morning, I'm remembering that I forgot to tell you not to drink it all the way... all the spices sink to the bottom. Unless you like to chew on cardamom and cinnamon ;-)

Excited to try this recipe? Please pin it to your Christmas board!

Delicious Thanksgiving Wraps, with Tortilla Rolling Tips

We have a good amount of turkey and 'fixins left from Thanksgiving and in case you do, too, here is my new favorite way to enjoy them!

Thanksgiving wraps! 

So much less work than turkey pot pie or a turkey panini or even turkey soup! A tad bit more work than a turkey sandwich with mayo, but much more yummy.

Bonus points for being portable. We actually took a version of these to Colmar last year so we could still have "thanksgiving dinner" and they were great as a make-ahead meal. 

It's something you can make a bunch of at once and toss in the fridge for hungry scavengers to find! 

Tortillas, cream cheese, cranberry sauce, leftover deviled egg filling, and turkey. It's more of an "add what you have leftover still or add whatever you think will taste good" kind of thing. Not really a hard and fast recipe.

The cream cheese is important though. And also the turkey and stuffing. Otherwise I don't feel like you can call it a Thanksgiving wrap ;-)

We had some leftover veggies from the turkey tray and I've also used lettuce or spinach. I like a crunch in mine, and the green stuff makes me feel better about the boxed stuffing and the canned cranberry jelly ;-)

And that's it! Super easy! We're having them for dinner and lunches a couple times this week till the leftovers are gone. Hurray for not having to cook! I just wrap them in foil and pop them in the fridge.

Also, for those who are baffled about how to roll a tortilla tightly, fear not... 

This is the way I roll up our breakfast burritos, too. Helps keep everything together nicely!

I hope you're enjoying your Thanksgiving leftovers as much as we are! 

Did this post give you some good ideas? Please pin it to remember for later!

Recipe | Mom Aiduk's Creamy Dreamy Potato Salad

Ah, potato salad. This is the recipe you want to have on hand to make your man fall in love with you again.

Especially after he's done something awesome (the particular potatoes in question were to celebrate him nailing his most recent pt test.) And he'll totally fall madly in love if you pair this salad with grilled steak. Just saying.

Now, this isn't the healthiest recipe I make. But it is definitely one of the most popular!

A huge thanks to Jesse's Mom (hi, MIL!) for passing along this super simple, super awesome recipe. I always think of you when I make it! HUGS from Germany!

Mom Aiduk's Creamy Dreamy Potato Salad

10-12 large potatoes
12 eggs
1/2-1 onion, to taste
1/2-1 cup mayonnaise, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste

[side note: I don't mess around when I make this stuff - it's "go quadruple batch or go home." You could obviously make a smaller portion. We just really love the stuff and often end up sharing it with friends, so I like to make sure there are plenty of leftovers for My Love.]

So the night BEFORE you want to enjoy this deliciousness, boil the potatoes and eggs, whole. I know, advance prep = EW. But trust me when I say this recipe needs time to marinate in the fridge cold... and if you try to rush the process it's very stressful. I should know. Plus, it doesn't turn out as yummy.

I boil the potatoes and eggs together cause that's what my MIL taught me and it's super smart. Sometimes if I'm really on top of my game I take the eggs out shortly after the water starts to boil.

But I may or may not often leave them in there till the potatoes are done, and it still turns out wonderful.

When the potatoes are cooked fork-tender, drain the whole shebang and put it in the fridge. (I usually use the same pot I boiled them in, to save dishes and time.)

The next morning, you gather all the star players and get ready to make some magic happen.

Chop your potatoes and eggs baby! 

I don't even peel the potatoes cause I'm lazy. But you can if you want. (Also, I heard a rumor that most of the nutrients of potatoes is concentrated near the skin, which further supports said laziness.)

If you're bummed about the thought of peeling a dozen eggs, fear not! Awesome MIL tip to the rescue - just take a sharp knife and cut the eggs right in half, shell on...

Then use a spoon to scoop out the egg right from the shell! Genius, right? You're welcome. (all you have to do is watch out for wayward shell pieces!)

I generally go for a medium chop of everything. Most of it will break apart during the mixing phase anyways. And I like texture in my potato salad.

I do chop the onions pretty small.

When it comes to the onion part, use caution. The onions are super important, since they add the majority of the flavor. BUT one can have too much onion flavor. 

Trust me, from experience. Again.

So the smart move is to start with half an onion and then add more as needed. 

Once you have everything chopped and in the bowl, you add gobs and gobs of super healthy absolutely delicious mayo.

Again, start with half a cup, and add more as you stir it in. You want a moist consistency but not too much. With the batch this big, I did end up using a whole cup.

As you're stirring, liberally add salt and pepper. The salt is especially important!

The last step is to let it all sit in the fridge till dinnertime! The longer the better, really. We even like it better the day AFTER I make it. But who has the patience to wait that long? ;o) Not us!

Best potato salad of your life! 

Excited to try this recipe? Share it on facebook or pin it to your recipes board!

Easy Portable Recipe | Frozen Breakfast Burritos

Behold, the humble breakfast burrito. 

A simple way to send My Love to work with something decently healthy every shift.

He loves them so much that he's practically begged me not to mess with them. (What, me? Experiment with a recipe? NEVER!)

I make them pretty much every week, then pop them in the freezer and know that I have at least one thing on hand for him to toss in his bag for work. Or if I'm having a marathon editing session and my tummy starts growling for something spicy. 

Jessica's Easy Frozen Breakfast Burritos

3 bell peppers, any variety
1 large onion
red pepper flakes, to taste
chili powder, to taste
cayenne pepper, to taste
salt and pepper, to taste
1 cup pre-cooked meat of your choice (bacon, sausage, even chicken)

1 dozen eggs

large tortillas (whole wheat hold up the the freezing/thawing process better. Homemade if you're feeling ambitious this week - which is NOT me lately)

2 cups shredded cheese, any variety (we like cheddar) 

Finely dice peppers and onion and saute with seasonings until tender. Add meat and eggs and reduce the heat to medium-low. That's the trick for keeping my stainless steel pan from being stuck with a layer of eggs - low heat and LOTS of butter! Cook the eggs, stirring occasionally. Set the tortillas out on the clean counter with a bit of shredded cheese in the middle. Add your egg mixture and roll the tortillas into burritos!

Makes about 8-12, depending on how full you like them. 

Wrap them in foil and put them directly in the freezer, or in the fridge if they'll be eaten within a few days. Jesse actually likes them room temperature so he will pull them out of the freezer the day before he wants to eat them, to thaw. I will pop them directly from the freezer to the oven to heat up. 

The whole process takes about an hour. And I'm usually listening to good music and doing other things in the kitchen anyways, like dishes or dinner prep, so it's really not a bad gig.

If you're looking for some easy portable food to make ahead, these babies are it! We've even eaten them in the car on the beginning of road trips! And I sometimes make a batch for a friend who is going through a tough time or just had a baby.

So many possible uses for this easy frozen breakfast burrito recipe! 

Do you make frozen portable food? What's your favorite recipe? I'm always on the hunt for new ideas for the family to eat on the go!

Recipe | Easy Weeknight Stuffed Squash with Sausage, Feta, and Basil

We don't enjoy squash nearly enough in this house. Each time I make it I remember how much I love it!

So this was a recent favorite... even got two thumbs up from Double Trouble!

They might have been more excited to eat out of the "squash bowls" but hey, making mealtimes fun means they sometimes eat more of the meal!

While the sausages were cooking, I was roasting the squash in the oven. 

Just preheat the oven to 400 degrees, cut each squash in half and remove the seeds. Brush with oil and roast cut side down for 40-50 minutes until you can poke a fork into them without resistance.

[ side note: I've said it before and I'll say it again, the America's Test Kitchen Family Cookbook has been my constant friend in the kitchen ever since I got married. It basically taught me how to cook. Every home should have one. And if you follow my amazon link then they will give me a financial high five for referring you! Thanks for your support! ]

Once they are cooked through, I carefully flip them over and fill them with stuff. This particular night I had sausages, feta, basil, and a little bit of sun dried tomatoes on hand.

So I splashed some balsamic on them and popped them back in the oven until the cheese was getting all melty and delicious.

This just in: watching little kids try to imitate the way you eat with a fork and knife is freaking hilarious!

Yum. Now I'm hungry for squash!

What do you like to stuff into winter squash? Leave me a comment with your family favorites!

Kid-Approved Cold Remedy | Homemade Elderberry Syrup and Tea

If it looks like happy hour at the Aiduk Casa, you're kind of right! We are experimenting with a new recipe for homemade elderberry syrup and the girls love their new "berry medicine." I've purchased it before from amazon but it wasn't cheap and I wasn't too happy that it had so much sugar in it. So I had it on the back burner to research a DIY version... well it came to the forefront of my mind pretty quick this fall. (Thanks for the crappy weather Germany)

Basically, my immune system decided to celebrate the start of cold/flu season by being a piece of crap and letting me get sick twice. 

So I decided that I just don't have time for that and I also don't have time (or patience) for a sick kid every other week. School has started back up and with the yuckier weather we're looking at lots of time inside sharing germs with the whole KMC.

Enter this amazing Elderberry Syrup Recipe from Katie of Wellness Mama.

I've only made two batches so I can't speak from personal experience yet about it's potency... but it SEEMS pretty dang awesome!

First, it's easy. Busy mom points.

Second, it makes the house smell super good (cinnamon and cloves!) for the whole afternoon. 

Third, I don't have to bribe or brainwash my kids to take it. Like I do for my ginger lemon tea or my shots of raw apple cider vinegar.

Cheers to our good health this season and bottoms up!

Seriously you can't get much more kid-friendly (or husband-friendly for that matter!) than a super sweet mix of immune-boosting, vitamin-rich berries with cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and honey!

Bonus round - at the end of my first batch of syrup, Jesse had the great idea to see if the "leftovers" had enough juice left to steep as a tea! And sure enough... I just store them in the fridge in a glass jar and fill up the tea ball as needed.

So that's how I'm using the pound of elderberries that I got from Mountain Rose Herbs this fall! I was pretty sick with a nasty cold this week and I pretty much had a shot of elderberry syrup every few hours, either a cup of elderberry tea or a cup of ginger lemon tea in my hands at all times, and early bedtimes. After two days I was feeling much better! (Which could totally be all in my head, but hey, beginner's luck with all this hippie voodoo is fine by me if it made me feel better faster!)

If you want some more detailed info about the benefits of elderberries you can check this out.

Sherri of Raisin Acres Farm has a great post on how to PLANT your own bushes of elderberries!

And they are currently out of stock over at Mountain Rose Herbs, but if you do purchase anything from them please consider using my affiliate link at the top right sidebar to help support the blog!

So there you go - my first adventure with Elderberry! Here's to thriving this cold/flu season!

Recipe | German Wurstsalat - Sausage Salad | When in Rome...

In this "back to school" busy season, I am constantly on the hunt for super fast food. Bonus points if it's pretty healthy but feels kind of like comfort food. 

This wurstsalat (sausage salad) was a super easy dinner a few nights back.

I had it for the first time in a restaurant in the Black Forest and then just the other day I saw that Wasgau carries pre-sliced and ready to go wurst! Which is essentially bologna.

All you do is cut up your cheese into ribbons (and your bologna, if you don't have access to a German grocery store!) and mix it up.

I stored this whole bowl in the fridge "un-dressed" because I didn't want it to get soggy. But it's generally served with a bit of oil and maybe a splash of vinegar. I added some salt and pepper but if you're using sauerkraut don't add too much salt like I did. Oops. (WHY do I do that so often? Seriously you'd think I'd learn!)

You garnish the wurstsalat with a generous scoop of sauerkraut. Unless you're My Love cause he hates sauerkraut. And then I totally went crazy and added some cherry tomatoes. Not sure if that's even allowed in Germany but shhhhh. We served it with some pieces of crunchy baguette. YUM.

It kind of feels like a fancy version of a bologna and cheese sandwich! 86 the wonder bread and mayo, sub sauerkraut. And baguette.

Wurstsalat gets 4 Aiduk stars. And an extra one from Mom because it's just plain fun and kind of pretty and super easy to make! I'm thinking it might be a popular portable lunch item, too! The kindergarten teachers will be super impressed with my wanna-be-German-ness ;o)

So what do you think? Sound like something you'd try? Tell me in the comments if it totally weirds you out or if it kind of sounds yummy! 

And PS I don't recommend using Oscar Mayer. I feel like it would bring down the classy-factor a bit. Go for some high quality deli meat and a mild cheese. I used butterkase, which reminds Jesse of American cheese and is pretty popular with the kiddos.

Guten Appetit!