Tag: cookbooks

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

Since I had my review on Friday, I wasn’t able to post a Recipe Roundup.

We had quite a busy weekend, but I did finally manage to get some freezer meals packaged. I used the Freezer Meals cookbook that a friend gave me.  We have 8 meals that can be thrown in the crockpot or oven for quick easy dinners. I made one of each recipe, except the fajitas, to try them. Once we know if we like them, I can make up some more.

So, on to the recipes:

1- Belgian Waffles from A Quilter’s Christmas Cookbook by Louise Stoltzfus and Dawn J. Ranck. Section: Breakfast Foods. 

Modifications: I added vanilla Chai protein powder for some of the flour. You couldn’t taste it at all and it probably only added a few grams of protein, but any little bit helps. They were good.

2- Creamy Pappardelle with Broccoli from Good Eating Pasta. Section: Vegetarian. 

Modifications: I really only used the sauce part of the recipe. I threw in mushrooms and used corkscrew pasta. I also used a shredded 5 cheese Italian blend instead of just mozzarella. If you haven’t tried it before, I highly recommend a pinch of nutmeg in cheese sauces. I was skeptical, but most of the creamy pasta sauces have it listed and it is fabulous. We would eat this again. It was quick and didn’t require thawing meat.

3- Tacos, method by me. I always half cook the meat, drain and rinse it, and then add about half a jar of salsa, cumin seed, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and cilantro. Throw it on a tortilla with some lettuce, cheese, and tomatoes and you have a delicious dinner.

4- Coldstone Sweet Cream Ice Cream from Cooking Classy. http://www.cookingclassy.com/cold-stone-creamery-sweet-cream-ice-cream-make-it-at-home/

Modifications: None! This recipe uses corn syrup and cornstarch, no eggs. It may turn into my go to vanilla recipe. It was very good. It froze a lot harder than the other ice cream we have had and didn’t melt as quickly. I did add vanilla extract, as it was a pretty plain base.

5- Creamy Coconut Popsicles from Little Spice Jar. http://littlespicejar.com/coconut-popsicles-paletas-de-coco/

Modifications: This made a lot more than I thought it would. Next time, I will halve the recipe. It made 14 popsicles and a ramekin of ice cream left over. They are very good. The Husband doesn’t like coconut, so I don’t have to share! Well, with him at least. I’ll share with other people. I finally used our rocket shaped popsicle molds. (TJ Maxx and they fell under the “$10 or under” clause… Or I’m really just a 6 year old at heart.)

I also made tortellini soup and we had canned soup and biscuits this week as well. I made yogurt again too and it is nice and thick this time.

For not feeling so good for part of the week, I am happy with how our meals turned out last week.

This week is a weird week. I’ve got late nights three days this week and we are going to a concert on Wednesday. Our 5th Anniversary falls on one of my late nights, so we’re going out to eat on Friday instead.

We’re having a party on Saturday and there will be a pickle tray and possibly two cakes… I took Friday off specifically to cook and bake. I’ve got a bunch of new recipes planned for the party, so it will probably have its own post. Now all we need is people to come eat all the food!

Monthly Review
Monthly Review

Monthly Review

LSiehLeave a comment

I have made 75 tea wallets this month. I went a little crazy. What’s also crazy is the fact that my scrap boxes look very similar to when I started. I need to get my already started quilts done so I can start making some more.

These are waiting on the last threads to be cut. It’s my least favorite part. Some of them will also need buttons.

I got tired of having nothing to report on for my craft goals this month, so worked pretty hard to get them done. I still need this darn Rainbow quilt to be done, but may be able to get the fabric washed tomorrow.

Crafting and Sewing Update

So my completed craft goals for the month were to figure out a wallet and a coin purse, organize the basement, and fix something from the mending or finish a UFO project. Some of the tea wallets were actually in my UFO bag and I fixed a skirt where the elastic had snapped.

I found a stash of wallets that I made when I was first sewing for Etsy, but had decided they weren’t as professional as I would like, so haven’t sold them. I pulled a black one made from a shrunken sweater with a daisy print fabric and daisy embroideries on the front. It’s not too big and looks cute.

I also made a zippered coin purse from some scraps from a shirt. It gave me an excuse to use a tiny 4 inch zipper.

It’s lined with the same material. I have so many zippers right now and really need to make some zippered bags for my Twinflower Etsy store. I have a bunch of weird colors though, so hopefully I can find enough fabrics that match. It would be terrible if I had to buy new fabrics after all! Well, the Husband would think so at least.

This is the skirt that I fixed. The elastic popped while on a work trip a few years ago and it got stuck in the mending pile. I finally pulled it out, picked a few stitches and re-threaded the elastic.

Such a simple fix and I just never did it. Now I can wear the skirt again and it will be even more appropriate since I work with kids.

My office art and clipboards were two things that I only got partially done. I lost my Modge Podge in one of the moves and will need some more before I can collage the clipboards.

The office art is drawn out, but I haven’t quite decided if I like it. One of the songs I had picked out, “Heavy,” is by Linkin Park. With Chester Bennington’s recent suicide (the lead singer), I’m debating the wisdom of having the song in my office. The song itself talks about not holding on to things you can’t change and recognizing that you need to leave some things behind. It’s a beautiful song and sparked a few discussions in my teen group, I’m just not sure if I should have it up right now. I can see both sides. On one hand, the song itself can be inspiring, but it now is connected with someone who died by suicide. Maybe I will still make it and put it up in a few months. This piece will have a stick figure trying to support a globe on it’s back with the words in the globe. It will either be oil pastels or collage pieces with cool colors.

My second song, “Brave,” by Sara Barellis, is one that I have wanted in my counseling office since before I had an office. It talks about saying what needs to be said and being brave. For a little while every time I had to do something big, the song would be playing on the radio. 🙂 This one will have a stick figure shouting the chorus. It will be warm colors.

Garden Update

Most of the garden is growing well. I’m still waging a war on squirrels and they are still winning. Here are some garden pictures.

These are the “mammoth” jalapeños. They still aren’t what I would call mammoth…

Green Peppers

Roma Tomatoes

Cooking Update

I used 12 new cookbooks and 25 new recipes. We had one family recipe and 4 or 5 recipes/methods by me. That’s a lot of food. How did we eat so much food?

Hits for the month were the Gold Beach Burgers, the Korean BBQ ribs, the Greek Grilled Chicken, and the Shrimp Scampi. Most of the ice cream recipes were also hits.

Misses were the Slow Cooker Soy Citrus Chicken, the Garlicky Baked Chicken Thighs/Drumsticks, and the carrot puree.

We had at least two new recipes per week and I made lots of new ice creams. I made two last night actually! This week’s recipes will be posted later.

Goals for next month: 

Sewing wise, I am relaxing my goals a little. I’m picking general categories this month. Sometimes I don’t want to work on the things I’ve picked. The only firm projects are the Rainbow Snowball Quilt and my office art.

Categories:

Clothing item, Etsy stock, and UFO/mending pile.

Continue to organize basement.

Get new storage for small pieces of fabric.

Garden Goals: 

Dry herbs for a tea making party in September.

Food Goals: 

Continue to make 2-3 recipes for week.

Try new ice cream recipes.

Use new recipes for Anniversary party.

Get freezer recipes made up in freezer.

It seems I may have a busy month ahead of me. I think I’ll join the puppers in a good night’s sleep.

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

It always seems like vacation cannot last long enough and there is so much to catch up on. I didn’t cook at all on our trip. I had intended to, but wasn’t able to pick a recipe and then vacation naps happened. 🙂 Both my parents are excellent cooks too, so we were happy to sit back and just enjoy the delicious food.

Here is the Recipe Roundup for last week. Sorry for the delay. I used three new cookbooks!

1- Grilled Greek Chicken and Beans (Zucchini) from Food Network Magazine, June 2017, V. 10, N. 5

Modifications: My friend helped with this recipe and the shrimp and it was delicious. The chicken was very flavorful. We used zucchini instead of beans and I would have used the dipping sauce as a marinade instead. It wasn’t as flavorful as it could be. I would make the chicken again, but not the veggies.

2- Foil Packet Lemon Shrimp Scampi from Food Network Magazine, July/Aug 2017, V. 10, N. 6

Modifications: None, I followed the recipe! It turned out delicious and the shrimp seemed to be cooked perfectly. I would happily make this again.

3- Gold Beach Burgers from Retro Beach Bash by Linda Everett. This book doesn’t really have organized sections per say.

Modifications: I looked up Teriyaki sauce ingredients and just added them into the meat, instead of making a full sauce. It worked pretty well. The burgers were so good! We had Gouda cheese on them. I would definitely make these again. It was a nice change from traditional burgers.

4- Oreo Ice Cream from Sober Julie. http://www.soberjulie.com/2013/06/ice-cream-recipe/

Modifications: I had half and half, so I used that along with the cream. I like custard based ice cream better so far, but the Husband liked it. It tastes okay, but it melted really fast and was a little icy.

5- Baked Chicken with Tomatoes and Mushrooms, recipe by me! (I have no actual measurements…)

Recipe: Add 4 drumsticks to a pan, drizzle with olive oil. I used garlic olive oil. Chop two garlic cloves and add them to the pan along with a quarter of an onion, mushrooms, and handful of cherry tomatoes. Add salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, basil, and onion powder. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 ish minutes, or until juices run clear.

This was a nice simple meal. The Husband threw it in the oven and we ate it separately.

6- Pickles from The Art of Preserving. Section: Pickles and Relishes.

Modifications: Absolutely none. I don’t mess with canning recipes at all, especially ones I haven’t made before. We brought a jar of these for my Mom and tried them up there. I hope they even out in terms of flavor. They were a little harsh in the vinegar department and were a little soft. I will try another pickle recipe, I think.

I was happy that I managed, with some help, to use a bunch of new recipes, even though we were going to be out of town.

Fancy is currently chasing a sky raisin, otherwise known as a fly. It’s hilarious to watch, but she’s all upset about it. She’s also trying to climb the couch to get a moth. It could be a long night.

I’m currently enjoying watching all the sharks I can handle on Shark Week. I think I’ll look up a red colored cocktail and serve it in my shark glass some time during the week.

I’m excited to show you some of the pictures I took over the weekend and get back into my regular posting routine.

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

It has been a busy week! I used eight new recipes. It was lovely to have an extra few days to relax and play. Fancy was so excited that we were home and is now sad when we go back to work.

We finally pulled out the grill. My in-laws gave it to us last year, but haven’t used it at all this year, or even last year. The Husband was the grill master and I provided the ingredients and recipes. I’ll start with those recipes.

1- Grilled Chicken and Peaches from The Taste of Home Market Fresh Cookbook. Section: Cornucopia

Modifications: I didn’t have peach “spreadable fruit,” or any peach jam, so I used the rhubarb marmalade. I also used thigh pieces instead of breast pieces and marinated the chicken in the spice mixture minus the jam before grilling it. I used the jam as a glaze when it was on the grill.

Oh my gosh, this was delicious! The chicken thighs were beautifully tender, the marinade was just spicy enough, and the jam added just a little bit of sweetness.

The peaches were something that I have really wanted to try, and they turned out wonderful. I want to make more and serve them over ice cream with amaretto or brandy. We only had one small hiccup. We think the Husband may be allergic to rhubarb. He had a nasty reaction to the chicken on the second day and the rhubarb is the only thing that he hasn’t had before. If this is true, we are going to have a lot of extra bbq sauce up for grabs.

2- Grilled New Potatoes, recipe by me!

I cut up some new potatoes and tossed them with fresh rosemary, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and olive oil. We put them in foil and found out that you can indeed burn potatoes on the grill. Only a few though, the rest were just right.

3-Grilled Asparagus with Gremolata from Food Network Magazine, June 2016. V. 9, N. 5

Modifications: I reduced the recipe quite a bit. I used garlic powder instead of grated garlic. It was good and made me feel fancy while eating it. I didn’t get pictures of the completed dish by itself, but you can see it on the grill and on the plate above.

4- Meat Pies from A Taste of Lebanon by Mary Salloum. Section: Savory Pastries and Breads. 

Modifications: The recipe called for lamb. It was a good thing to find a new recipe for lamb. I left out the diced tomatoes. It called for fresh and I didn’t have any. These were pretty good. They made tiny little pies though. Next time I will use a bigger circle. I think these will freeze well.

5-Savory Pie Dough from the same cookbook. No modifications made. I think it would also make a fantastic thin crust pizza. It’s a nice, soft dough with a mild flavor.

6- Smoky Spanish Roasted Chicken from Food Network Magazine, April 2016. V.9, N.3.

Modifications: I cut the spice rub recipe in half, as it was for two chickens. It was not as flavorful as I would like. I didn’t pull up the skin to put the spices under it and I probably should have. It called for 2 whole heads of garlic! One which was added to the inside of the chicken and one was baked with the chicken and the bread. It was still very good. We ate the bread with the rosted garlic too. Mmmmm… We had carrots as well and fruit.

7- Pasta Shells with Smoked Chicken in a Garlic Cream Sauce from Garlic by Janet Hazen.

Modifications: I had just made ice cream, so I used a cup of 2% milk along with the rest of the cream. It took a little bit longer to thicken up. I substituted zucchini, as the Husband tolerates that, but doesn’t like broccoli.

It was good and I would make it again. This was a cheat recipe, it’s the second recipe from the entree section. I suspect I may never going to top the duck from the same cookbook, but I couldn’t resist this recipe when I had the smoky chicken already.

8- Vanilla Bean Ice Cream from Ashleemarie.com. http://ashleemarie.com/vanilla-bean-ice-cream/

Modifications: None made. This was unbelievably silky smooth and rich. We had it for the special 4th of July breakfast md it was amazing! The Husband took a bite and said “Now this is ice cream!” We’re going to try chocolate next. I have plans to make meringues with the egg whites, but am still deciding what kind of meringues to make.

We’ve got another busy weekend planned. Fancy has recovered from the fireworks. This was her last night. She is such a lady…

The garden has provided four more tomatoes and two more strawberries. We keep eating them before I can take pictures. There are four more that just need one more day, so if I can get to them before the squirrel does, I’ll take a picture.

Monthly Review
Canning and Preserving · Crafty · Gardening · Monthly Review

Monthly Review

LSiehLeave a comment

It has officially been six months since I started the blog! So far, I have been pretty pleased with my progress, but can always do a little more.

I’ve decided that when I do extra things, instead of my written goals for the month, I should just get to call them “bonus goals.” That way I won’t feel bad about getting those things done instead. Like deep cleaning my kitchen cupboard…I knew it should be done, but wasn’t actually adding it to any list until there were ants. I do need to start a regular cleaning list for things like that. I tend to do them when I get frustrated, which would be prevented, if I was doing them regularly.

I am going to start with the craft part of the review today, as I am proud of what I had gotten done.

Crafting Review:

I’m in a weird sewing rut right now. I want to sew, but there are too many projects to choose from and I get consumed with anxiety about what I want to get done. I’m also not sure how many elastic waisted poofy skirts I need in my closet, which is the easiest thing I feel like sewing. I want to sew rainbow scrap quilts too, but since I have been attempting to finish one for three months at least with no joy, I’m not allowed to start another.

I’m also struggling with starting new things right now. My brain is telling me that I need to fix the things in the mending or that are half done first. My brain is right of course. I did finish one thing from the UFO/mending pile, just today actually.

I made this tunic dress about a year ago, washed it, and promptly discovered all the places the very tiny bias tape didn’t catch. This included the left sleeve, which had also frayed and was literally hanging on by a thread. I took off the edging on the sleeves and neck and sewed new hems. I also blind stitched the pocket edges down, to make them look neater. Now I can wear it again!

Here’s closeup of the pocket: You can see where the wash made it a little wrinkly, but I think that won’t be too noticeable while wearing it. Really, if anyone is inspecting the pockets that closely, I will be firmly requesting some more personal space.

The dress is a beautiful cotton batik and it has a blue linen like material on the bottom to add length and interest. It’s based on my favorite shirt pattern and is pretty comfy. I’m counting this as my piece of clothing for the month, as it was unwearable until I fixed it. 🙂

Other things that I have made:

Covered boxes for the games at work.

I decided to keep the plastic bin for my Legos, but then needed a few more storage containers to keep other card games and other small games in. I had thought about buying something, but already had shoeboxes and cute fabric. Who wouldn’t want rocket boxes?

These are just hot glued and could be neater on the inside, but they work perfectly for me, and the kids I see are not going to care.

I added black buttons to the tea wallets that I made. They look really nice. I’m hoping to get them up on Etsy soon.

Speaking of Etsy, I did end up listing 3 new things and renewing a few more. I also sold one of my older bags soon after renewing it, which was nice. I know I need to get some more stock up there. I am hoping to get pictures outside.

I also organized some more in the basement. It still doesn’t look like I did anything, but I did make my way through another pile of ironed scraps to be cut up. I did get my 1 yard totes and patterns squared away, so that helped.

I decided against making a whole new purse. The vintage ones I had book marked didn’t look as fun. I switched to a messenger style one with books on it. It has no pockets though and I desperately need a wallet and coin purse for it.

Crafting Goals:

* The ever-present Rainbow Snowball quilt.

* Make a wallet and coin purse.

* Continue with basement organizing.

* Make art for office.

* Finish a UFO/Mending project.

Garden Review: 

Everything is still alive! I picked two strawberries and two cherry tomatoes today and they were delicious.

All the food plants have buds or vegetable starts. The herbs are growing well too. I’ve been using them while cooking and have had the basil in Caprese salad about six times this month.

Garden Goals: Keep everything growing! Eat everything!

Recipe Review: 

Hits were the new chocolate chip cookie recipe, the yogurt, a caramelized onion grilled cheese, and a custard based ice cream from Pinterest-recipe to come.

We didn’t have any misses, just a few recipes I need to bump up the spice as usual. This month, I promise to actually measure once in a while to make sure I’m not under spicing the food.

I used 9 new cookbooks this month and made 25 new recipes total. I made up one new recipe, which turned out to be good. I canned 1 savory item, 2 marmalades, and one juice concentrate.

I also bought three new canning books… I couldn’t seem to stop myself at an outlet store. One was a paperback set of two for $.99 and the other I blame on the Husband. He found the Southern Living Small Batch book, which includes seasonal “Putting Up” party ideas. How was I supposed to resist that? 🙂

Meal planning went pretty well and I made at least two new recipes per week. I finally made yogurt and we’re on our third batch of ice cream. I ate good lunches too and planned enough time to figure them out before I had to go.

Sadly, I wasn’t able to find a biscuit recipe for Fancy, although, I was given one by a friend. We just bought her a large bag of chicken treats, but I would still like to find a crunchy biscuit for her.

Our bacon plans had to be put on hold, as I wasn’t able to find the right salt and had to order it online. It also takes a week to cure. Eventually we will have homemade bacon.

Fancy doesn’t seem to mind fireworks, as long as they are small ones. She does not like large booms or screamers and definitely does not like the ones directly across the street. I’m going to take her with me to organize the basement and see if that helps. We’ve got lots of cuddles, treats, and chew toys at the ready too. This is her before the fireworks.

I hope your plans for the 4th are good ones. On Wednesday, I’ll share one of my family traditions for the 4th that cause people to want to be adopted by us.

Have a happy holiday!

 

 

 

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSieh2 Comments

The featured picture was taken on Wednesday, perhaps it was a warning of things to come. When I pulled the ice cream out of the freezer, it came with a disappointed face in the lid. I have a feeling the Husband and I will be sending it to each other frequently when we need a laugh.

I had a pretty productive week, up until yesterday when my day involved the dog’s poo bags breaking, a violent and unpleasant digestive reaction to ham in my salad, and an unexpected guinea pig in session. I never thought I would need to utter the phrase “Please don’t bring live animals to session.” But now that it has happened, at least I will be prepared for the future…

I made four new recipes this week and two were not main dishes! I have plans for this weekend for the smoker, assuming it works. The Husband has had it for years, but hasn’t ever used it. If those recipes work out, it will be very exciting, as one of them is homemade bacon! It’s up in the air about whether or not I will actually be able to eat the homemade bacon. I had a bad stomach ache from store bacon in the last few weeks and now a terrible reaction to ham. I’m hoping they were just isolated incidents, but this is how the pork issues originally started, so I’m a little nervous.

Anyway, here are the recipes I used this week.

1-Fresh Herb Scones from Pillsbury Best Muffins and Quick Breads. Section: Biscuits, Scones, Popovers, and Doughnuts.

Modifications: I added a little more rosemary than needed, but it didn’t make them taste any different. I used herbs from the garden: rosemary, parsley, and thyme. We had these at a belated dinner for my father-in-law. They turned out nice and fluffy and tasted good. Everyone seemed to enjoy them.

2- Chewy Crisp Chocolate Chip Cookies from Baking Unplugged by Nicole Rees. Section: Cookies & Bars

Modifications: None, I did follow the recipe. These were eaten too fast before I could take a picture. They did not brown up as much as most cookies do, so I was a little worried they would ve doughy, but they turned out nice. I was even eating them and typically I don’t like them. They did have melted butter in them, which changed the browning and texture, I think. It also called to use a bowl and spoon, but I was in a hurry and used the mixer. These got the Husband’s stamp of approval.

3- Caramelized  Onion Grilled Cheese from Food Network. October 2016, V.9, N. 8

Modifications: I completely forgot to add in the sherry and added the thyme last minute and used dried, instead of fresh. I also used Texas Toast, as the Italian bread I had was too thin, I thought.  We had it when I was hosting craft night and it was lovely. I used pepperjack and Gouda in two of them and Colby jack in mine. We had a friend staying with us and she loved them as well. The onions were an extremely delicious addition. I would definitely make these again.I was so distracted that I almost forgot to take pictures of the sandwich and had to steal the Husband’s half eaten one to make sure we had a pic. We had this with salad.

4- Whiskey Marinated Rib Eye Steak from The Book of Steak. Section: Up Front Cuts

Modifications: I marinated the steak for longer than it called for and it got extremely whiskey soaked near the ends. It was quite strong! The other flavors were good though and I cooked the steak perfectly, according to the Husband. We had salad and scones with this. I debated putting the salad on the plate, but the steak was dripping everywhere and I don’t like steak flavored salad. I couldn’t do it, even for pictures. I only ate about half the steak and if there are leftovers, I may make a potato steak hash with it for breakfast over the weekend.

Fancy was haunting the kitchen while I was cooking and was extremely disappointed that she couldn’t have any. I caught this picture gem while she was trying her puppy dog eyes out on The Husband. After I showed him the picture he said “Oh, just give her the steak!” The marinade and sauce were definitely not okay for pups though, so she didn’t get any.

The other cool thing about this steak recipe was that the sauce was flambeed! I watched my Dad flambé things a lot when I was a kid and it was fun to do it myself. It burned for a surprising amount of time. The paper towel in the background is not on fire, I just didn’t think to move it before pictures.

It was pretty neat, but hard to get it lit. On TV, it looks so easy, but in reality, I was attempting to not pour sauce all over the stove. I would definitely flambé more things, now that I’ve tried it once.

I do have one more recipe, although I think it is more of a method. I used the yogurt maker to make my first batch of yogurt. I didn’t have time to heat it, like it said, so it made a looser yogurt. I had some yesterday with the rhubarb marmalade and had an orange, strawberry, coconut milk smoothie for breakfast today with more.

I just followed the directions in the instruction book. It turned out very good. Unsweetened of course, but I typically use jam in it anyway. This would be perfect for baking. I did use 2% milk and I think I’ll experiment with whole milk and non-dairy milks as well. It made 7- 6 0z jars. I am also going to try making it in a large Pyrex bowl and straining it for Greek yogurt. I’ll make sure to take pictures and write reviews for comparison. It is the basic Euro Cuisine yogurt maker.

Today is the first anniversary of moving into our house! If my head stops hurting, I may make a cake I will use a new recipe, of course! 🙂

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

There was a short delay after I started writing this post because there were ants. (About 7 of them before I got them.) I unexpectedly had to clean my kitchen cupboard and wash all the dishes. This was not exactly my plan for the night.

When we first moved in, we had a terrible time with red and black ants. I live in fear of another bad time. I think they had come from the moving truck. They were in a bunch of our boxes and we didn’t have them before we moved. Now I panic clean when I see tiny bugs. I hate bugs.

We had another week of late nights, but I made three new dishes. I had plans to make yogurt tonight; however, ants happened. I finally bought a yogurt maker and am excited to try it. It has the most adorable glass jars. I’ll try to get it going tomorrow, if I can get the rest of the cleaning done in time.

Well, enough about tiny creepy beasties, on to the real reason you are here: recipes!

1- Turkey Noodle Soup method by me.

Modifications: Can I actually make modifications on a made up recipe? 🙂 I used homemade chicken broth along with the store broth, turmeric, fresh herbs from the garden, carrots, onion, celery, leftover turkey, and mushrooms. I used about a stalk of celery, two carrots, an onion, about 4 cups of broth, and salt and pepper. Herb wise I used sage, oregano, rosemary, and thyme. I used about a teaspoon of turmeric. We had ditalani noodles, so I threw some of them in. Sautéed all the veggies first and dumped the broth in after. It was a yummy soup and we used up all the leftover turkey from the weekend.

Fancy is a bird dog in that she will follow you to kingdom come if you have poultry that she might be able to eat. She drooled all over the floor while I was making the soup. Then after I had it out to eat on the table, she wouldn’t stop sniffing it. Here is a picture of her turkey crazed eyes.

2- Old Fashioned Vanilla Ice Cream from Six Sisters Stuff. http://www.sixsistersstuff.com/2015/05/old-fashioned-homemade-vanilla-ice-cream.html

Modifications: We had 2% milk and cream, so I used those. I think it would come out creamier with whole milk. I used vanilla bean paste as well. It turned out delicious! I may have tried a spoonful of it for breakfast this morning…It made a little under two quarts. It also has no eggs. I do want to try a custard based recipe, but didn’t have the patience to deal with 8 egg yolks and the resulting egg whites. Maybe next week.

3- Thai Vegetable Curry with Lemongrass Rice from 400 Thai & Chinese Healthy Recipes for Healthy Living. Section: Vegetarian Main Dishes

Modifications: I didn’t have lemongrass , so the rice was cardamom and kefir lime leaf infused. I also used way less spicy peppers. Normally I would spice it up, but my stomach still hates me. The recipe started with a spice paste that made me want to eat it with a spoon. I almost swooned.

So I wasn’t planning to make this tonight. I was in the grocery store wanting to try a new recipe, without actually having looked up a recipe. I wanted something easy on my stomach and since the Husband was busy, I could eat vegetarian. I had finally decided on coconut curry and was reading the back of the a ready-made sauce packet trying to figure out what I needed. At one point, I texted the Husband to find out if it would be weird if I started reading cookbooks in the book aisle. He said it probably would be, so I refrained and guessed. 🙂

Oh my gosh, it was amazing. I used jasmine rice and it soaked up all the amazing sauce. I was so happy to not have to share. It was light and refreshing and comforting. If you are ever feeling bad, let me know and I will make you this. It will make anything better.

Our weeks should go back to normal after this. I may actually get some of these other recipes I want to try done.

Fancy will be glad to have us both on a sort of normal schedule again. I will be happy to have meals with the Husband again. It’s been kind of lonely with just me. Speaking of just me, I really need to go to bed. The ants made me crazy!

Mini Recipe Roundup and Strawberries!
Recipe Roundup

Mini Recipe Roundup and Strawberries!

LSiehLeave a comment

Our week was completely thrown off this week. The Husband was at play practice as part of the crew and I had late nights all week. We still had two new recipes though, which was my goal.

We had sandwiches a few of the nights and I made a pork loin for the Husband today for lunch. He’ll have good leftovers for lunches and quick dinners next week. It looks like his play schedule will be the same. He has been running home to change into shorts and then heads back out again quickly. I may try to make some new recipes for my lunch or have some veggie options during the week too because it will probably be just me.

I only took one picture of dinner during the week. We had the post roast when we had company over and somehow I didn’t get a picture of it.

Here are the two recipes that we used:

1- Mother’s Pot Roast with Vegetables from The Good Housekeeping Cookbook. Section: The Story of Meats.

Modifications: I left out the celery seeds and the MSG. I didn’t have either and would prefer to not have a side of migraine with my beef. I thought MSG didn’t affect me, but after getting a migraine from bad Chinese food, I have learned. Plus, it’s gross. I did add a tiny bit of seasoned salt to the pot roast along with a sprig of rosemary and a sprig of oregano. Both of the herbs were from the garden.

I completely forgot to add any veggies at all. I was too busy crafting and sewing with my friend. I did make noodles and we had salad, so it turned out alright. The pot roast was difficult to get out of the pan, it was so tender. It tasted wonderful too. Sadly, we did end up wasting a little bit of it. Both of our stomachs got a bit rumbly after eating it. It didn’t make us sick, but neither of us wanted to have rumbly bellies at work. I’m wondering if it was the red wine vinegar. It’s not an ingredient that I use a lot.

2- Hobo Meatball Stew from Taste of Home: The New Slow Cooker. Section: Soups and Stews

Modifications: I used ground elk instead of beef. I was feeling tired of ground beef. Elk is sweeter than beef, I think. Sweeter and richer. The Husband agreed with that assessment. I also used tomato sauce instead of ketchup and added garlic and onion powder to the meatballs. They would have been bland without it. Also, added garlic powder to the stew broth.

The stew is actually the cover recipe for the book. Mine did not look like that at all. I actually made this overnight. I knew we were both not going to be home for way longer than it needed to cook, so I set it going around 11 pm and turned it off when I go up at 6 am. It turned out delicious and it heats up well. I would make this again.

Today we went strawberry picking with a friend and got around 16 pounds of strawberries. I have a canning marathon planned for tomorrow, as the Husband is working on crew stuff from 2-10 pm. Fancy will be bored, I’m sure.

My canning list includes any of the following:

-Rhubarb Marmalade

-Strawberry Marmalade

-Rhubarb Butter

-Strawberry Lemonade Concentrate: need to get lemons, so this might not be tomorrow.

-Nectarine Orange Marmalade

-Orange Rhubarb Spread

-Rhubarb Barbecue Sauce

I am also going to freeze some berries for the winter. This year it will be super easy since we have an upright standing chest freezer. I can freeze more than one sheet pan at a time. One year our freezer was so small that I had to freeze things one cake pan at a time…

In strawberry picking, I am my mother’s daughter. Looking at my 16 pounds, I think I need some more. And I couldn’t stop picking them. There’s always just the one more! I might actually go back and get more, if I have time. It would be terrible to run out of strawberries before all my canning is done.

A batch of shortcake and some muffins or a fresh strawberry cake are also on the “to make” list. I’d better get up very early tomorrow. 🙂 I should probably start now, actually.

Fancy got a new toy to shred a few days ago too. She is now dubbed “Fancy of Star Command” and is dedicated to protecting her humans against an alien invasion. She takes her job very seriously, as you can see. 🙂 Hopefully you all feel very safe with her on the job!

Monthly Review
Crafty · Gardening · Monthly Review

Monthly Review

LSiehLeave a comment

I’m embarrassed about how much I didn’t get done this month… I had a lot of goals and got some of them done, but not as much as I would like. Knowing I was going to write this post did motivate me to get a few things done right under the wire. In fact, I waited to post until I had posted some flowers on Etsy, so I could cross off one more goal. 🙂

The garden was a big accomplishment too. It wasn’t actually written down as a goal, but should have been. It is going well so far. I have blooms on a few strawberry plants and my zucchini plant got bigger while I was at work yesterday. The Husband is helping me water the plants after he gets home from work, so they are staying nice. Fancy hasn’t shown any interest in digging in the containers, so that’s good.

I did make a few new recipes this week, but not really enough to write a full post, so I thought I would just combine them with the review. This week we had taco salad and mac and cheese with butternut squash and homemade sun-dried tomatoes for old recipes.

Here are the two new recipes I used:

1- Mushroom Pork Loin from the Taste of Home Slow Cooker Cookbook. Section: Pork, Lamb, and Seafood

Modifications: I was only making one pork loin, so I only used one can of cream of mushroom soup and about 2 cups of broth. I used a pre-seasoned Italian pork loin, so didn’t add much additional seasoning. I also added onions and chopped mushrooms to the bottom of the crockpot to make sure it was full enough and for additional flavor. The Husband had it over noodles and said it was good, but a little salty.

2- Asian Cucumber Salad from Food Network Magazine, June 2015, V. 8, N.5. 

Modifications: I think I accidentally got a Fresno pepper instead of a red jalepeno. It was hotter than I expected, but was still delicious. My in-laws enjoyed it as well. We had beef franks with sautéed mushrooms and onions and a side of peaches as well. I will be making this again. 

Food wise, I did alright with my goals. I used 2 new recipes each week, I think, if not more, and we did do some more meal planning. I was a little bit better at taking pictures of new meals, but have to remember to take pictures of the other meals too. Plating needs to be worked on too, since you eat first with your eyes.

I didn’t even start on sorting my recipes, but have been remembering to put the cookbooks away after meal planning. Sometimes it seems like the tables sprout piles of books when I’m not looking.

I used 13 of my old recipes, 7 new cookbooks or recipes, and 4 repeat cookbooks. I think my totals are shrinking. Maybe I need to throw another party to bump them up again. 🙂

Hits for the month were the dog treat recipes, the roasted garlic parmesan mashed potatoes, and the shrimp albondigas soup.

Misses were a pork chop dinner that was too dry, and the rosemary flank steak, which had no flavor.

The Italian Turkey/Chicken meatballs were sort of in the midway point. They were good, but needed extra seasoning. I would still make them again, just bump up the seasoning a lot.

My craft goals didn’t go so well. I did iron the Rainbow Snowball quilt, but still haven’t washed the backing or finished it yet. I also didn’t finish anything from the UFO bin. The basement is still a disaster. The area around my sewing area is slightly less of a disaster, but that’s it.

I just listed 3 of my fabric flowers on Etsy (http://Etsy.com/shop/twinflowerfancies) and finally managed to take pictures of them. I promoted the listing as well, which is something I always forget to do. They are a great hand sewing project, so I plan to make more.

I did finish my inspirational chair pillow for my office and managed to remember to take a picture of the candle jar I made.

The pillow is definitely helping me not sit cross legged all day, which hurts my back, but it does tend to fall on me when I get up.

I did have one vending event which I made a small profit at this month and remembered to take pictures of the table. I used one of the close up pictures for my Etsy cover picture and made sure to get my business cards in it.

I found myself doing things that weren’t on my list instead of focussing on things I had wanted to do, such as making these fabric trays for vending and the ones for my office. I do need some more storage options for my office and it was fun to make them, but it wasn’t exactly what I needed or had planned to do. The small ones work perfectly for pencils and my smaller fidget toys.

Another highlight for the month was getting to take Fancy to the lake. She did so well and she seemed to really enjoy herself. It was a relaxing weekend, for sure.

Food goals for the next month:

*Meal Planning: use more of what we have, spices, pantry foods, etc.-Ongoing

*2-3 new recipes per week.

*Make good lunches. Use my lunches to try vegetarian recipes.

*Sort recipe binder and loose recipes.-Ongoing

*Find a good biscuit recipe for Fancy. We go through biscuits quickly.

Craft goals for the month:

*Finish Rainbow Snowball quilt so it can go to its new home.

*Make a container for Legos at work.

*List at least one new item per week on Etsy.

*Sew one item of clothing.

*Make a new purse. I shredded my current music purse bottom yesterday while running through the kitchen on my way to work.

*Organize the basement.

Garden goals:

*Don’t kill anything!

I’m going to write these goals in my project book too, so I can have another reminder without having to go back to this post. Hopefully remembering how it feels to not achieve many of them will help me stay motivated. Feel free to check in on them throughout the month. I’m sure the extra push will be helpful.

Now I’m off to take a certain puppers for a walk, if I can get her to move out of the sunny spot in the yard. She had a big morning with lots of barking and chasing of the squirrel that lives in the yard. Hopefully your day is as happy as hers!

 

Garden Start and Canning list
Gardening

Garden Start and Canning list

LSiehLeave a comment

Fancy has been doing a lot of napping to recover from the weekend. She got to go up to the cabin on the lake, had her first boat ride, and discovered the joys of digging in the sand. She was a very good dog and has even been invited back. I took a bunch of pictures of her and have a special lake dog Wordless Wednesday planned.

Today though, I thought I would share our garden progress. We did end up going with containers and there’s a chance I lost all self-control while picking things out.

It was originally just about 10 pots, but that wasn’t enough. Now I have strawberries, ancho/poblano  peppers, red bell peppers, cucumber, zucchini, romaine lettuce, and a “Mammoth Jalapeño.” That last one I got by accident. I thought it was a dragon cayenne pepper, but didn’t read the tag. I will be very disappointed if the peppers aren’t huge!

The tomatoes have to be listed separately, as I got seduced by all the tomatoey goodness and couldn’t stop myself. I have a cherry tomato plant , a Roma plant, a “Cherokee” heirloom, a “Golden Jubilee” heirloom, and a “Brandywine” heirloom.  I planted them sideways in the containers, as it was my Grandpa Ed’s secret for excellent tomatoes and added plant food as well. I hadn’t known that trick, but had trouble with spindly tomato plants last year and thought I would try it. My Dad reminded me if it when I was telling him about the garden.

The blueberry bushes both look like dry sticks, but I watered them and put them in the sun, as one of them had some new leaves. Hopefully they will come back.

I also have a ton of herbs: Sage, rosemary, parsley, German thyme, Italian oregano, and basil.

I decided to grow my own tea herbs this year, since I know a lot of tea drinkers. (They should probably forget about this post, if they read it, or at least act surprised when I give them tea for Christmas.) For that project, I purchased peppermint, chocolate mint, Lime basil, and pineapple sage. I’m planning a tea making party in either July or August, depending on when people can come. I thought about getting some edible flower plants too, but was in a rush. I may get some of those later.

Yes, those are the cinder blocks for the raised bed. I figured while they were not being used, I would use them to keep the smaller pots out of the shadows.

I also started planning my canning list last night when we got back. It’s very long, so it will be fun to pick the things I am actually going to do. I’m through two of the books and have 2 1/2 pages of things to make already. The Husband will be glad the canning jars are finally leaving the kitchen shelf. He’s been telling me to can “all the things!” for a few months now. In my defense, there just wasn’t time last summer and they make great storage containers.

I have four canning books and magazines, two Ball books, one called “The Art of Preserving,” and a Taste of Home Canning magazine. I had to resist the urge to get a new Ball magazine at the store today, reminding myself that I had four already. Plus, there is my Pinterest list as well. I want to try to do other types of preserving this year, including some different pickles (yes, Mom, for my pickle tray) and some fruit lemonade concentrates. We’re always buying the fancy lemonades and it would be handy to make our own.

Right now I have definite plans for Roasted Tomatillo- Chipotle Salsa, mango raspberry jam, Thai Sweet Hot Garlic Dipping Sauce, homemade Rotel, cardamom fig jam, and a Spicy Wine Honey Jelly. Tomato products of all shapes and sizes will be canned as well; diced, crushed, sauce, and paste.

Hopefully, if my canning plans work out, I can have lots of homemade Christmas presents. I always get silly and nervous about giving people homemade presents. Perhaps this year will be the year I can squash that and make a new tradition.

Right now though, I’m off to work and to dream up new canning plans. Wish me luck with everything in the garden. I think it’s the biggest I have made on my own before!