Barrack’s Cooking: Chicken Enchilada Casserole

I planned on doing very little this Labor Day weekend, and still I feel that the first day of this four-day has kept me busy, yet somehow unproductive. It feels like all I’ve done this morning and throughout the day is pick up the place, cook some stuff (mostly Jack’s baby food), take care of the little one, and pick up some more. But I still feel like I got nothing done. Hopefully the rest of you have gotten a more productive (or at least relaxing) start to your Holiday weekend.

Well, I did manage to break out the slow cooker today.

 

Barrack’s Cooking: Potato Leek Soup

Thought I disappeared again, huh? Nope, my last entry was just poorly timed. I went on leave soon after my last exciting post, making a trip with the wife and the seven month old back to New Hampshire. Yup, that’s a ten hour straight flight from Honolulu to New York City with a baby. My own parents, hailing from the Midwest, drove out to New Hampshire as well, so baby Jack got to meet both sets of grandparents.

 

Been a while . . .

I’ve taken quite the hiatus from the blogosphere. Quite a deal has happened since I last posted. Jack is a healthy 6 month old boy with incredible curiosity and a beautiful smile. I’ve gotten a promotion at work, which really means nothing, and our unit has been incredibly busy doing all sorts of last minute taskings.

So I finally have a brand new working camera, seeing as the other one crapped out on me. After that, I seemed to have lost the motivation to continue blogging, which I think is actually for the better. Instead of posting well thought out ideas and meals, I was just posting recipes for any given recipe that I had happened to have on any given evening. I’d much rather refocus on quality posts, rather than the quantity of posts.

With that, I’ve had a few suggestions on what to start with.

 

Barrack’s Cooking: Moroccan Style Turkey with Chickpeas

I’ve expressed my love for my crock pot many times, but I just can’t help doing it again. I love my crock pot!

I often spend a lot of time in the kitchen putting together a good recipe. I cut, cook, take pictures, assemble, prepare, drink some wine, take more pictures, and end up with an awesome meal and great content for my blog. It’s very satisfying, actually, which is why I keep doing it.

As much as I love the labor in cooking, though, I get even more satisfaction when I put almost no effort into a meal and it still comes out just as fantastic! There are, after all, days when I just don’t have time for an elaborate meal or I’m just feeling lazy but still want something healthy.

This meal is just that. Consequently, this particular blog entry seems short compared to my more elaborate meals. Still tasty, though.

 

Barrack’s Cooking: One Pot Wonder Chili!

I wish that I had done this a week ago, in time for the Super Bowl. Chili just seems like one of those football party foods. But I ordered a pizza instead.

Chili is one of those comfort foods that embraces our soul and warms us up from the inside. It’s one of those things, like meatloaf, where everybody has their own tradition for preparing it. For some, it can be particularly comforting for those who are away from home and don’t have any family around, as it reminds us of memories cooking in the kitchen with loved ones or having a family party.

 

Barrack’s Cooking: Coconut Curried Beef Braise

I haven’t been shy about my love for the crock pot. The slow cooker is one of many highly used tools in my kitchen arsenal that I find an absolute pleasure to use. There’s something about slow cooking that appeals to me. Our society places way too much priority on work, money, careers, social media, any media, that we often put food on the back burner. Many cultures celebrate food daily and center their culture, families, and social interactions around food. American culture views food as a means of sustainment and rarely anything more than that, save for around the holidays.

Which is why I love Slow Food. Slow Food is a movement that was started in Italy and has made its way over to the US. As a whole, slow food celebrates the process of bringing food from the farm to the kitchen to the table. It’s a bit of a grass roots movement to get people involved in their food and close the gap that people have when associating the food they eat with actual ingredients. For me, though, Slow Food is more about a cooking process that involves putting time and love in so one appreciates the flavors as much as they appreciate the effort they put into their food.