I currently sound like Darth Vader and have almost no appetite. Except of course, when my stomach abruptly demands food and then hates me for actually eating. I have a cold, which turned nasty, and has taken up residence in my lungs. Not exactly the best conditions for food blogging. I’m feeling slightly better, which is good, but still ended up taking a few days off to try to recover. Fancy is being very cuddly. She insists on sitting with me and keeps following me round to make sure I’m okay.

The Husband drove me to a vending event this past weekend and stayed to help me sell, which was nice. I ended up selling the Yoga Frog bag, which made me happy. I wanted it to go to someone else who would like it just as much. It was a nice event. I was not in the best shape to fully appreciate it, but it was still fun. I made some new flowers while there, but they are in a box waiting to have their picture taken.

Anyway, now that you are all caught up, on to the recipes!

1- Sausage and Mushroom Penne Skillet from an Oscar Mayer recipe card.

Modifications: I added a bunch more veggies, zucchini, onions, and multicolored peppers. We also used chicken sausage instead of Italian sausage. Also, we had pepperjack and smoked Gouda cheese, so I used those instead of all mozzarella. I was laughing a little when I made this, because this is essentially one of my quick meals, although I typically make it with no cheese. It was delicious! I think I will add cheese from now on.

2- Irish Stew from Crockpot Best Loved Slow Cooker Recipes. Section: Spring and Summer Sensations

Modifications: None made. It was good. I didn’t have very much of it, but the Husband enjoyed it. I finally found lamb stew meat in the store. I might kick up the seasonings a bit, but other than that, it was good.

3- Pizza from Bernard Clayton’s Complete Book of Small Breads. Section: Pizza

Modifications: None. I was home all day when I made this, so I did all the rise times it requested. It’s definitely not a quick recipe, but it turned out to be very soft and pillowy. It was a Sicilian style dough shaped into a rectangle. The Husband thought this was the best pizza crust I had made.

I sort of followed the recipe for the pizza sauce that was included as well. I used half a can of diced tomatoes and two cans of tomato sauce. Added dried spices instead of fresh and that’s about it.

The pizza was topped with diced ham, mushrooms, green pepper, and onion. It was very good. We’ll definitely add this to the pizza rotation.

4- Chicken Stir Fry, method by me. This one was a miss. Stir fry is one of those things that I really need to actually follow a recipe. Otherwise, I mess up the proportions and everything is off. It was not inedible, but it wasn’t good either. I used a bag of frozen stir fry mix and some marinated chicken from the freezer.

We also had French Onion Soup from the crockpot, but I’ve talked about that recipe already. Tonight I am not feeling like cooking. I will probably have chicken soup and crackers. The Husband will have leftover pizza, I think, if there isn’t food at his meeting. Hopefully my body will start healing itself soon and I’ll feel up to cooking and crafting again.