What I Cooked Over Spring Break

Moms feed people; everyone knows that. I think it must be an inherent love language that moms acquire when they have kids, because every mom I know loves to feed her people… and by that I mean pretty much anyone who crosses her path.

I’m no exception, and now that all of my kids have left home, I don’t get to feed them every day. I miss it! So when I am with them, like this week with Theda & Tommy, I feel myself go into overdrive with cooking. (We missed Sara this week as she went on a mission trip with TCU’s Baptist Student Ministry, so she will have to wait until May for me to cook for her.) All of my creative cooking juices begin to flow, and I climb out of my cooking rut that is so easy to fall into after making meals for all these years.

I had actually intended to publish a different blog post this week, but I found that I never had time to sit down to it, given how much I wanted to be in the kitchen. So why not just show you some of what I made this week? I love hearing what other people make… it inspires me in my own cooking. And I figure I’m not alone in that. So let’s get to it!

On Sunday morning I made German pancake for Tommy & a friend from CSU who had come up to ski for a couple of days. This is a quick, easy, and very sustaining recipe. Perfect for 21-year old college guys who have high energy needs. 

Sunday afternoon, I roasted a turkey on that I’d bought on sale at Christmastime. I’ve never cooked a turkey in March before, but it worked out really well, given that we’re only four this week and it made tons of leftovers. My intent was to make so much food this week that we couldn’t eat it all, and I could send some of the leftovers with Tommy when he goes back to CSU, and leave the rest for Theda to have here after we leave. So this turkey was perfect- we had enough for sandwiches, a turkey pot pie later in the week, and still plenty to freeze for the kids.

On Monday (St. Patrick’s Day) I made Irish beef stew and Guinness soda bread. This was completely inspired by my dear Aunt Amy, who made it while I was staying with her & Uncle Ken last week while visiting my Pa in Denver. (If there’s anyone who knows how to feed people, it’s Amy Kerntke!) She found the recipe for this meal in the Denver Post, and it definitely did not disappoint. It was so good I thought I should make it for my family up in Steamboat, and cooking the stew made the whole house smell amazing! There’s something about walking in the door after being away all day and smelling yummy food cooking, that’s good for the soul. I realized anew how lovely this is when I was staying with Amy & Ken… I would walk through the door at dinnertime after visiting with my Pa all day, smell whatever delicious dish she was cooking up, and feel the love. What a gift!

On Tuesday, Tommy, Mark & I skied for half a day. Spring skiing can be amazing in Steamboat Springs, and with the fresh snow that fell that afternoon, it was a fantastic day on the slopes. That evening I made honey BBQ chicken and roasted potatoes from a TikTok video Tommy sent me. He does this often, especially if mention that I’m feeling “uninspired”, just to give me some fresh ideas for what to cook. The videos don’t always have a detailed recipe, but it’s usually enough to go on. This was quick, easy, and so yummy. The key to this recipe was adding a tablespoon of honey to the bbq sauce in the marinade- it added sweetness and helped the sauce caramelize over the chicken.

Later that evening, Theda said, “Mom, I LOVE having a different dinner every single night!!” Haha, I never really thought about it, but it’s true: all my kids have full responsibility for their meals when I’m not around (which is most of the time these days), and they certainly don’t have time to cook every day. They usually cook just a few times per week and eat leftovers the rest of the time. So it makes me very happy that for one week out of every 3 months or so, they get to eat something different every night. 

Wednesday was another ski day for me and Mark, and we thoroughly enjoyed all the fresh powder from Tuesday afternoon and evening! Wednesday night I made orzo with Italian sausage & spinach, another TikTok recipe from Tommy. We ate the whole panful that night and I forgot to take a photo! But I’ll definitely make it again and show you. 

I made banana bread and muffins on Thursday morning. This is my tried and true recipe that works both at sea level and high altitude. It uses whole grain flours and not a lot of sugar, so it’s both yummy and healthy. (I’ll give you this recipe soon!) Also, it freezes beautifully, so we ate the muffins and I put the bread in the freezer for the kids to have after I leave. 

Tommy worked on Thursday, so I made him a lunch to take with him. He works as a lifeguard at our hot springs recreation center, and it gets COLD on shift.

I wanted to make something warm and sustaining, and these “pizza burritos” did the trick. They’re made with ground beef and spaghetti sauce, enriched with a little low fat cream cheese, topped with part-skim mozzarella, and rolled into a large flour tortilla. They are really portable and freeze well. The best way to serve them is by browning them in a hot skillet brushed with a little olive oil, but the microwave works too.

Thursday night I made a Mexican feast: jalapeño poppers (jalapeño peppers stuffed with cream cheese & cheddar, then wrapped in bacon & baked until the cheese is browned & bacon is done. These are NOT low calorie… but totally worth it!), guacamole ( love me some good ol’ Haas avocados!), and beef burritos. Mark was the bartender, and everyone was happy. Sadly I didn’t take any photos of the food, but Mark snapped this one of the four of us.

I didn’t make a lot of desserts throughout this week, which is unusual for me, so on Friday morning I decided to make pie. We all love pie, but not the same kinds: one of Theda & Mark’s favorites is cherry, but Tommy doesn’t like fruit pies at all. Everyone likes banana cream, but Theda & Mark weren’t especially craving it- likely because Amy sent me up here with 2/3 of the coconut & banana cream pie that she made while I was there.

So what’s a Mama to do? If you guessed “Make both!”, you’re right- it seemed like the only reasonable thing to do! The cherry pie with streusel topping turned out great- I’ve never made it with streusel instead of a pastry crust on top, and I highly recommend it. Something about the crunchy sweetness of the streusel combined with the sweet-tart cherries & smooth sauce is just addictively good.

The funny thing about making these 2 pies is that everyone saw me making the banana cream pie, but no one really guessed I was making the cherry one until it was out of the oven. I love surprises like this!

For dinner that night I used the leftover turkey to make turkey pot pie with a biscuit topping. This biscuit recipe is my Ma’s, and I do believe she made the best biscuits in the world. Comfort food to the max! Warm and homey meals like this make me feel all is right with the world.

So it’s been a fabulous week of eating, and I get to send/leave Tommy & Theda with: roast turkey, Irish beef stew, pizza burritos, Mexican beef, and banana bread. It’s not enough to last them until I get back here again, but hopefully it will remind them of our week together and how much I love (to make food for) them.

Cheers, friends!