Tag: recipes

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

I used two new recipes this week, both for Fancy. For the Husband and I there were familiar, but good,  recipes. Tomorrow is my last shift at my third job and I’m hoping that this will free up some more creative time for trying new recipes. I am very excited to try some recipes from the freezer cookbook a friend gave me on my late evenings.

Despite the Husband telling me multiple times that he can feed himself, I’m still fighting off guilt when there isn’t a homemade dinner. I blame my Scandinavian heritage for that one. I get very nervous if I can’t feed someone properly. The few times I haven’t wanted to feed people have been weird for me. It also seems to be how I know that I don’t like someone; I won’t feed them. So you can see the problem, when my Husband is eating frozen dinners and saying “they really do taste better now. They’ve changed the recipes!” I just can’t imagine it.

So to prevent this, tomorrow I am making Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup, from Our Best Bites. http://ourbestbites.com/2009/10/tortellini-sausage-soup/

It normally turns out delicious, although I do need to see if we have apple juice. If we don’t, it may get moved to later in the week and I’ll make something else.

Here are the other meals we’ve had this week.

1- Lasagna, recipe by me. We had spaghetti over the past weekend while a friend was visiting, so I used the sauce over noodles. I used store-bought pasta sheets, as my day got away from me. I also used real shaved Parmesan. I’ve got the Husband hooked on good/fancy cheese and it makes both of us feel like fancy people.  It turned out pretty good.

2- Chef’s Salad with eggs and bacon. No real recipe, I just made a big salad and the Husband cooked the eggs and bacon when he got home. It works for a dinner and a lunch normally. We also have a fancy spicy pepper cheese that was a good addition.

3- Tequila Lime Chicken With Pico De Gallo. I used to use a recipe from The Pioneer Woman, but when I went to look for it to link it, it wasn’t there. I threw bone in, skin on chicken breasts in a bag with two sliced garlic cloves, fresh cilantro, silver tequila, olive oil, a chopped and seeded Serrano pepper, salt, pepper, and green onions. Then I let it marinate until I  came home and threw it in the oven. I baked it for about 45-50 minutes at 375. In the summer, this is really good to grill if you use boneless thighs or breasts. We had it with homemade pico and chips. I also had mango pieces with mine.

I did try to note what I was using for my pico this time, so I’ll write down what I think I did.

4- Pico de Gallo, method by me.

Roughly dice 3-4 Roma tomatoes. Chop a handful of cilantro, 2-3 green onions, and 1-2 jalapeños. I normally seed one half and leave the seeds in the second half, depending on spice levels. Add lime juice, olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic to taste. Serve with chips, or over chicken.

The Husband will eat an entire bowl of it himself if I let him. The first time I made this with chicken for his parents, his Mom was amazed that he would eat it, as he has never liked raw tomatoes. It was pretty funny.

5- Apple Cinnamon Dog Treats from Two Little Cavaliers. http://twolittlecavaliers.com/2013/11/make-apple-cinnamon-dog-treats.html

Fancy haunted the kitchen the entire time these treats were baking and she likes them even better than her store-bought ones, judging by how intently she watches us when we have them, and by her incessant tail wagging. I was able to use up all my bruised apples too and know exactly what is in these treats. I never thought I would be the person who bakes for her dog, but I guess it makes sense. I do bake for everyone else. She is also a gluten-free dog, apparently she has stomach and skin problems when she has gluten, according to the rescue. We decided to keep to that and it seems to be working.

6- Chicken Rice Treats from Kol’s Notes. http://kolchakpuggle.com/2012/02/tasty-tuesday-hearts-for-my-valentine-chicken-dog-treats.html

Fancy was very excited by these as well. Chicken is one  of her very favorite things and I was able to use up leftover rice and chicken in these. I had to give her two right away, as she snatched the first one before I could get a picture. She can be a tall dog when she wants to be and I forget how short I am until she’s jumping for something.

Hopefully this week, I can make some new meals. I have one very late night and some early evenings this week, so I am planning at least one crockpot meal.

There will also definitely be an ice cream or gelato recipe, as I just bought us the KitchenAid Ice Cream Maker attachment. It was on sale and I had a coupon and ended up saving about 40%. I’m very excited and bought a salted caramel gelato mix with it, so we are going to try that soon. Pictures to come, of course!

Monthly Review

Monthly Review

LSiehLeave a comment

Looking back on the past month, I have been terrible at taking pictures of the few new craft things that I made. I’m still struggling with actually making time to craft things, as my caseload is picking up and my schedule evolves into more time at the office, instead of at home. I’ve also been sick with no desire to eat or cook for about a week, which has thrown off all of my dinner plans.

I’m also starting to think more seriously about the garden. Last year, since we were moving, we just had containers, but they did fairly well. I had a lot of herbs, tomatoes, and jalapeños. This year we are going to try a cinder block raised bed, in an effort to keep Fancy out of it. She has recently started digging in the bushes by the house. The Husband is determined to have us grow a lot of the produce that we use and hopefully be able to can or freeze a bunch of it. I love being able to pick fresh herbs and veggies as well.

I am happy to report that it appears one of my blueberry bushes survived the winter in the garage. It had leaves on it the other day. Lately it’s been too cold and rainy to actually put it outside, but I’m hoping it continues to grow. My second one doesn’t appear to be growing, but I will see what I can do with it. I think they would appreciate bigger pots. Maybe it will help them grow more. Last year, I had a volunteer Thai Basil plant sneak into my blueberry pot and grow like gangbusters.

Recipe Update:

I used 17 new recipes and 10 of my methods/recipes. I used 7 new cookbooks, which was a lot better than I thought I had done. I used two cookbooks with double recipes, both for my birthday party.

Hits were the pizza, Irish Stew, truffles, Chocolate Strawberry Cupcakes, and Silver White Cake. The Husband requested the Szechuan shrimp sauce as a sauce for chicken too. I learned I can add butternut squash to mac and cheese, as long as I add enough fancy cheese to it. It was a pretty good food month!

The misses were the Chicken Stir fry that I attempted with no recipe, and the chicken potpie filling that was so dry and horrible. We won’t say much about either of those, except that the Husband still won’t admit that I can occasionally make terrible foods, even with the evidence in front of him. I think I’ll keep him. 😉

Food goals for the next month:

*Use 2-3 new recipes per week.

*Weekly Meal planning- I wrote down a list of the cookbooks that I still have not used and am planning to try to grab those first.

*Sort through my recipe cards, magazine pages, and recipe binder, and be realistic about what I would actually like to make. This one may take longer than a month, but I would like to at least attempt to start organizing them.

*Take better and more frequent pictures of meals, including side dishes.

Crafting update:

I had one vending event in the past month. I made one skirt, a cute Ball jar candle holder for my office, and several more fabric flowers, which are currently buried in my vending boxes.

Writing out that small of a list makes me sad. I’m going to try to stop having excuses for why I didn’t make things and just find a time to craft. It is what I love to do, after all.

My fat quarter trunk is now organized, which is a good step toward a workable crafting and sewing space.

I did run into a legitimate snag with one of the sewing books though. My Chic and Simple Sewing book is definitely sized for juniors. I’ve had it for years and found it new, with the patterns still intact on their sheets, at my local thrift store. I’ve made three of the projects from it, two wrap skirts, a few A-line skirts, and the Opera dress, which is no longer with us. The deep neckline looks amazing on the skinny model, however; on me, it’s not fit for public eyes… It was also really hard to get off and on and the hemline was accidentally asymmetrical. Those were all very early efforts. The skirts are still in my closet and I do wear them.

Now I can tell you for sure, that I am not going to figure out all my extra measurements, trace all these pattern pieces to the correct size, and make these patterns. It was one of first clothes sewing books I bought, so I was resisting giving it up, but it might be time. There is no sense in keeping things that are not useful and I have patterns better suited to my figure.

I think I’m beginning to realize that part of this challenge for me is to develop my own style and begin to weed out the things that don’t inspire me. I have so many crafting and sewing materials that are just gathering dust when they could be inspiring someone else instead. Giving up this book will let another beginner sewer experiment and learn their own style. If you know of a younger, or beginner sewer, who might like it, let me know, otherwise it will go to the giveaway pile.

Fun sewing fact, Joann’s now lets you use coupons on books and I had a 60% off one that was burning a hole in my pocket. I found this fun looking book called Sew Many Dresses, Sew Little Time by Tanya Whelan, which promises “interchangeable patterns to create 200+ unique dresses.” It has a section on alterations and the styles are much more flattering and sized with measurements, not just S/M/L. I can replace the simpler book for this one and get a lot more use out of it.

So, after that long-winded explanation, on to my crafty/sewing goals:

*Sew the pillow for my office with the inspirational quote fabric.

*Iron, back, and tie the Rainbow Snowball quilt.

*Add the fabric flowers to Etsy.

*Finish one project from the UFO tote.

*Continue organizing basement craft area.

*Take better pictures for the blog and for Etsy.

Some of these are shorter term and will hopefully be easy ones to finish. I don’t work Tuesday and will try to get the table cleared so I can at least get the quilt ironed and pinned.

Fancy has been super snuggly lately and would like me to add more walks, snuggles, and homemade treats to my goals this month as well. And really, how can I resist either of these faces?

 

She’s currently draped over my lap, snoring peacefully  away. 🙂 I should go and do the same!

Recipe Roundup

Belated Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

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.

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

This week, I used a new cookbook! Technically it is a calendar that my older brother gave me a long time ago. I also made two familiar recipes, beef stew and mac and cheese that I didn’t use a recipe for.

I realized writing that out that I’ve slowed down on using new recipes, mainly because most of my evening hours have been taken up by one or another of my jobs. I think I may have to adopt a friend’s method of making dinner, which is to make it in the morning and warm it up or finish it at night. It’s something to think about at least. A plus would be that I would get to eat the dinner if I made it in the morning.

Dinner timing is something that is still evolving, but I’m enjoying the challenge. Perhaps once I have my Sundays back, I can do some weekly prep on as well.

Anyway, I have confidence that we can figure it out eventually. Now, on to the recipes.

1- Muffins from How To Cook Everything by Mark Bittman. 2010 Calendar, Month: October

Modifications: This is the second time I have used this recipe. I forgot the oil the first time and had added protein powder to the batter as well, but since there was no oil, they turned out not very good. They were pretty dry and dense. Luckily, I had only made a half batch, so not as many went to waste. The second time I made these I remembered the oil and left out the protein powder, but added cardamom and cherries. They still weren’t very good actually, a bit bland. I think I will stick to my normal recipe.

2-Beef Stew in the crockpot. I didn’t use a recipe for this. I’ve made this often enough that I just throw everything in now and don’t measure. I browned the stew meat in some olive oil first and then added it to the crock pot with a carton and a half of beef broth, two large sliced carrots, 3 medium potatoes, half a chopped onion, a bay leaf, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and oregano. Let it cook for 7-8 hours and you will have deliciousness. I didn’t actually eat this. It made a smaller amount than I thought and the Husband ate it for dinner and two lunches. We bought a smaller crock pot after our big one developed a crack, we think from cooking meals that were too small. This one is a 5 quart and it’s perfect for us.

3- Mac and Cheese with Ham, Butternut Squash, Mushrooms, and Onions. Recipe by me! Fancy followed us all over the house and was very sad that we wouldn’t share.

So I always start the cheese sauce for mac and cheese with a roux. I think it tastes better that way and helps it be creamier. The Husband says this was the best batch of mac and cheese I’ve made out of the three other recipes I’ve made, including the bacon one, so I’m thinking I’ll continue to make a roux. Why mess with something that isn’t broken?

I’ll give you the method, again, I don’t measure when I make this, so I can’t tell you exactly what I did. It’s different every time. So to start, I added olive oil and butter to about half an onion in a sauce pan. (The Husband had made noodles for me earlier.) Let it bubble and let the onions get soft. This batch I accidentally browned the butter lightly, but it just made it taste more delicious. Then I added chopped mushrooms-1/4 cup?, diced ham- 1/4 cup?, and frozen chunks of butternut squash and let them cook. I added around a 1/4 cup flour and stirred it all together. I also added salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper at this point.

When everything was lightly coated, I threw in milk, probably about a cup, and a quarter cup or so of chicken broth. Stirred everything until it started thickening up and added about 4 oz of Colby Jack shreds, 8 oz of cheddar, 4 oz of pepper jack and some shredded parm. The Husband had requested that it be extra cheesy for shells and cheese, so I was pretty generous with the cheeses.

I added the already cooked small shells and stirred until it was incorporated and then I threw it in a 350 degree oven and we took the dog for a walk around the park for about half an hour. It was delicious.

The Husband liked it a lot and had I not told him there was butternut squash in it, he wouldn’t have known. We have an agreement that I won’t hide veggies, but I generally don’t make separate meals. He’s an adult and can pick out what he doesn’t like. The squash was so soft though that it melted into everything and you couldn’t even taste it.

3- Szechuan Shrimp from Cook’s Library Wok and Stir-fry. Section: Fish and Seafood

Modifications: I added honey to the sauce. When I tasted it the first few times it was a salt bomb and was terrible. I have learned since experimenting with real Chinese food, that the thing I had been missing before was a balance of the salty/sweet/hot/umami. This recipe called for low sodium soy sauce, but that stuff tastes horrible, so we don’t use it. The honey took the edge off the salt, but wasn’t really a flavor you noticed.

I also doubled the sauce and added veggies. The original recipe is for an appetizer and we were eating it for dinner. I sautéed julienned carrots, snow peas, mushrooms, and yellow peppers in sesame and canola oil, pulled them out of the wok to cook the shrimp, and added them back in at the end to make it a dinner portion.

This recipe called for you to make a cornstarch/salt/egg white paste to coat the shrimp in and then deep fry it. I didn’t measure the oil, which was a mistake. The crunchy coating ended up stuck to the bottom of the wok. What did stick to the shrimp though seemed to help keep it from overcooking. They were nice and tender, no overcooked rubbery shrimp! The Husband has requested that I try this with chicken or beef too. The sauce was a good sinus clearing spice level and it turned out good.

We had leftovers tonight, but I do have a new pot roast recipe cooking in the crock pot right now that I may turn into dip sandwiches. It had thawed too much for me to re-freeze, so even when schedules shifted, I just threw it in. It should be done by now, so we’ll have good leftovers for the next few days. Hopefully we can eat it all, even with Easter leftovers on Sunday!

Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

Has it been a week already? Time moved very fast. We’ve had a couple of familiar recipes this week, chicken potpie and fried ravioli. But we did try some new recipes too, so it balanced out.

The Husband says I shouldn’t talk about the potpie. Really, it was the filling over rice or noodles. It generally works out, but was absolutely the driest thing I’ve made lately and it didn’t reheat well. Potpie was my husband snaring meal, so it was pretty disappointing. I thought I had turned the burner under it off and it was actually just on low. 🙁 There were no pictures taken of my shame….

The ravioli is a pretty simple process too. Dredge cooked and drained ravioli with flour, then dip in beaten eggs, and, dip in seasoned panko or regular breadcrumbs. Fry until brown and serve with a salad or fruit. We were both too hungry for pictures.

Here are the rest of the recipes.

1- Pan Grilled Lamb Shoulder Chops from the Food Network website: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/pan-grilled-lamb-shoulder-chops-recipe

Modifications: None, except I just used a regular cast iron skillet, not a grill pan. I also found a very similar recipe in my newest FN magazine as well, but after I had already started the original recipe. It was pretty good. I am not a fan of meat fat, so was a little grossed out occasionally, but it had good flavor. Plus, it was a cheaper cut of meat, but the marinade helped it break down a bit first. We had Ranch carrots too, but they didn’t taste very much like ranch, so I’m not adding the recipe.

2- Potato Stacks from an insert in one of the Food Network magazines- 50 Things to Make in a Muffin Pan

Modifications: Nothing. I followed the recipe and they turned out pretty good. It made a lot though and I ended up using the leftovers mashed up on our elk shepherd’s pie. They had cream and parmesan cheese in them and they were delicious.

3- Curried Lentil Soup from Food Network, September 2016, v. 9, N. 7.

Modifications: I used green onions instead of leeks, since it was what I had. I ate this for lunch during the week and it was yummy. It was nice and spicy from the curry powder. The Husband doesn’t like lentils, so I didn’t have to share.

4- Herbed Chicken and Vegetables from Taste of Home: The New Slow Cooker. 

Modifications: I used carrots in the slow cooker, instead of broccoli. It was pretty good. I used bone on chicken breasts and the chicken was falling apart when we went to eat it. We had it with rice. I used the leftovers for my potpie.

5- Elk Shepherd’s pie, recipe by me. I just cooked up the meat, added Worcestershire sauce, garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper, and some frozen mixed veggies, and beef broth. I mashed up the leftover potato stacks and added them on top and them baked it at 350 for about 20 minutes until the potatoes were hot. It was pretty good. The Elk tasted like a cross between venison and beef. I think I could probably sub it in for beef quite easily.

Tonight I’m working late, so the Husband is having leftovers and I’m eating more lentils.

 

Monthly Review
Monthly Review

Monthly Review

LSiehLeave a comment

It’s that time again! It’s been one more month of this crazy idea of mine, so I thought it was time to review my progress. Lately I’ve felt rushed and not very crafty, so it was good to sit down and see what I actually accomplished. I was tempted to hold off on writing this until I could maybe finish one more craft project, but decided honesty was best.

The thing I’ve learned most this month is to really focus on being more productive with the time I have. I’ve had to shift my dinner prep time to the mornings, or lean more on the Husband to help get it done, which has forced me to be more prepared.

I’ve also reset my alarm to be 15 minutes earlier, so that on mornings I have less time, I can still get things done. I have had some episodes of insomnia and have been able to get things done when I would normally be sleeping. It’s not an ideal situation, I’d rather have the sleep, but at least I can be a little productive. This morning was one of those mornings. Fancy woke me up at 5:30 am to go outside and I couldn’t fall back to sleep, so I’ve washed two cast iron pans, made taco meat for dinner, and made eggs and bacon for breakfast. Now I just want a nap, of course.

So on the the review:

23 new recipes, 5 of them were family/my recipes. I used six new cookbooks, Market Fresh, Bacon 24/7, Icebox Pies, Nancy Drew, Garlic, and the Food of China.

The hits for the month were definitely the Thai Spiced Duck from Garlic, and the Pasta Carbonara from Bacon 24/7. The Husband also liked the Smothered Pork Chops from the Nancy Drew cookbook. Pretty much everything is a make again. We didn’t have a whole lot of misses. I’ve been going with my gut for seasoning and adding more spices if I think they might be necessary. I’ve also had the Husband do more with actually making the dinner and it’s worked well.

I’ve realized that I should remember that I don’t have to make a new recipe every day, especially on days where I have to work late. Canned soup, leftovers, or things from the freezer are also good options. The Husband assures me that he can actually feed himself if he needs to.

We are getting better about meal planning and I’m trying to use what we have. Making more things, like the crescent dough and flour tortillas for dinner tonight is also theoretically helping our food budget. We’re terrible at sticking to one when we go to the store, so if I can automatically take some of the items off the list, it will help. It can be super annoying sometimes. Lately all it seems I’ve been doing is cooking and it leaves no time for crafting or sewing. Hopefully I can make a better balance with those two things.

Speaking of crafting, I did nowhere near as well as I wanted to with finishing projects. The Snowball quilt top is still not ironed and folded in a pile and I haven’t finished any other big projects either. I mostly made Etsy or vending items, which I need to take better pictures of so I can post them. I’m going to run a sale on my Etsy store in the next week, but want to get some more items up first.

The finished craft list is 4 tea wallets, Kanzashi pins, and two hip wraps, a black and gold one and a grey and black wrap. Granted, I was out of power for a few days and have had extra work, but it’s still a little disappointing. I started it to get motivated to finish things, not let them sit half finished.

I get antsy and cranky though when I haven’t had a good crafting session or a good book to read, so I know I need to fit it in. I’m a counselor, for goodness sake! I tell my clients all the time that they need to find the time for self-care and for things that make them happy. You’d think I’d be able to make myself follow my own therapeutic goals… I should have some time on Wednesday and Thursday to buckle down and clear out a space to sew in. I’ll try to decide later tonight what project for me I’ll work on this week. Normally the decision of what to make is half the battle. I did straighten up my craft space bookshelf and find several more craft/sewing books as well.

Also, a confession… The Husband and I went to the thrift store to see if we could find a dog gate because Fancy is getting too pushy around his computers. We didn’t find a gate, but did come home with three new cookbooks… I couldn’t help myself, and he enabled me. 🙂 One is a slow cooker book, which is good, the one we have has not been terribly impressive. The second one is a Lebanese cookbook and has five separate kibbe recipes in it. I was introduced to fried kibbe last year and it is amazing. There’s lots of lamb recipes too, which the Husband was excited about. The third one is a home cheese making cookbook! It has recipes for homemade cheeses and how to use them.

I know, I shouldn’t have even looked, but I did and somehow the books just leaped into my hands and came with me to the checkout. And now that they are here, I have to add them into the rotation.

So my goals for this next month will be to stay away from the cookbook section in any stores, finish at least two big craft projects, and use at least two new cookbooks. I think it’s doable.

In the meantime, I have a dog dancing a jig because she wants to go for a walk and tortillas to finish.

Stay tuned this week for my new favorite picture of my Fancy pup and thanks for reading along.

 

 

 

 

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

LSiehLeave a comment

This has been another long week, but I ended up making things that had lots of leftovers and we’ve pretty much eaten them all. Tomorrow is a rare Saturday morning that I don’t work until my staff meeting in the afternoon, so I’m hoping to get a head start on cooking things for the week. Maybe I will actually get around to making waffles for the freezer.

This week’s meals were pretty good. I don’t know if I’ll ever top the duck dish, but they were good.

Here they are:

1- Sunday Blue Plate Special at Rudy’s Beef Stroganoff from Retro Diner by Linda Everett. Section: Blue Plate Specials. 

Modifications: None, I followed the recipe! It was a bit orange though. I may have added too much tomato paste. When I say I followed the recipe, I really mean I eye measured everything. The Husband had it with a salad and I had it with buttered green beans. I’ve decided I need interesting things in my salads, like different greens and veggies. The Husband has a little salad with his ranch dressing and likes mushrooms, green onions, and carrots.

2- The Case of the Smothered Pork Chops from The Nancy Drew Cookbook by Carolyn Keene. Section: Time For Dinner. 

Modifications: I had set this up for the Husband to put in the oven. It called for the pork to be seared first and then cooked for an hour in either broth or mushroom soup. I was concerned that it might be too dry and it did turn out that way, he said, so if we make this again, I will either use thicker pork, or not brown it. It needed a little more water too. The rice on the edges was dry. I, of course, didn’t eat it, but the Husband liked it. It was a good one for him to make himself, just add the pork, soup, and water over rice and throw it in the oven. We’ll probably use it for my long days at work. No pictures, as I wasn’t here to eat it.

3- Savory Vegetable Chicken Strudel from The Market Fresh Cookbook. Carrot Section

Modifications: Added garlic powder, omitted the broccoli, used yellow peppers instead of red. I also made my own crescent roll dough because I could. Also, I don’t like the aftertaste from the kind from the can. I have not made it before and it was kind of a long process, but I ended up starting it on another day that I had trouble sleeping and had no appointments until the evening. So again, started in the morning, slept while dough was rising. I baked a chicken breast for it and it made an excellent second breakfast. It turned out very good and it reheated well. I would like to see how it freezes because I think it would be good to keep on hand for lunches.

4- Easy No Knead Crescent Rolls from Gather for Bread. Recipe found on Pinterest: http://gatherforbread.com/easy-no-knead-crescent-rolls/

Modifications: None, it was baking and a new recipe. It turned out delicious, nice and puffy, and buttery. It didn’t dry out when reheated either.

5- Pasta Carbonara from Bacon 24/7 by Theresa Gilliam. Section: Dusk

Modifications: Regular Parmesan instead of the fancier Parmigiana-Reggiani. I had just assumed they were the same and learned that the difference is where the cheese was made. Apparently the fancy kind can only be called that if it is from a specific region of Parma. Parmesan means different things, but is not always from the same region. You can substitute Parmesan for it and some day we will get the real stuff to see if there is a difference. Also, I had to re-cook the bacon as I went away for two seconds and came back to black, smoking bacon. I drained the grease off too before adding the sauce and noodles. It was making my stomach feel gross to even look at it. Very greasy bacon.

I’ve made this dish three times now with three recipes and this recipe was the easiest and worked the best. Before my eggs kept coming out scrambled it seemed. This one had you combine all the sauce ingredients first and then add them to the pan. It worked much better then adding them at different times. We had a salad and fruit as well. The Husband approved and it made good leftovers.

6- French Bread from Tasty Kitchen. I have the original recipe written down, so I don’t remember whose recipe it is. This recipe is my go to french bread recipe. The link is a very similar one, so it should work about the same. http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/breads/no-knead-french-bread/

7- French Onion Soup by Kim (hi Kim!). I got this method from our friend Kim and it always works out perfectly. I used mostly shallots, as I have apparently used my huge onion. You caramelize  the onions the night before and then throw them in the crockpot with beef broth and spices. This time I added pepper, thyme, and a sliced garlic clove. It was very good.

Tomorrow we are having lamb chops, assuming I can find a good recipe. We may have fancy potatoes and some cooked carrots or a salad. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

I also need to rotate out cookbooks again. I’ve used the same ones again. I marked a bunch of recipes in them, so that’s why, but I still have some that I haven’t even opened yet.

 

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

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This week I made a few new recipes and one recipe based on a family friend’s recipe. I also couldn’t sleep past 5 AM on Wednesday morning, so I did what any slightly crazy person would do and started a batch of chocolate filled brioche at 6 AM. The Husband is luckily used to the way my brain works and didn’t really bat an eye.

1- Petits Pains au Chocolat from Complete Book of Small Breads by Bernard Clayton, Jr. Section: La Brioche

Modifications: I used Ghirardelli bittersweet chocolate baking pieces instead of semi-sweet, since it was what I had. I followed the recipe and I had a nice nap with the dog while the dough raised and then it chilled while I was at work. It required at least a four hour chill, if not overnight.

It was an odd dough. I’ve not felt one like it before. It was a cross between bread dough and puff pastry. Very easy to work with though. They turned out delicious, although I needed more evenly distributed chocolate and a bigger board to roll them out on. The dough wasn’t as sweet as I expected. I would make them again. The Husband enjoyed his as an afternoon treat with his lunch and liked it. The author mentions that these are wonderful “slipped in the pocket of a ski jacket and enjoyed warm at the top of the mountain.” I just had them with tea and an egg, having misplaced my mountain that morning.

2- Thai Sweet-Hot Duck from Garlic by Janet Hazen. Section: Entrees

Modifications: Dried mint instead of fresh and not as much as called for, the Husband doesn’t like mint. 1 Serrano pepper instead of 4. My mouth almost spontaneously combusted when I tested the pepper and I do like spicy food. Also served it with stir fried noodles, instead of lettuce, and it was lovely.

The Husband said this was the “single best thing” that I’ve made so far. It was pretty delicious. I did have texture issues with the duck, but occasionally get weird about new meats, so I think it might wear off. The recipe called for 10 cloves of garlic sliced thinly which I thought might be overpowering, but turned out quite nice. The Husband said that the flavor combo tasted “familiar.” It is fairly close to some of the Asian dishes we’ve been making and has star anise in it, which is in Chinese five spice powder. I got all my ingredients ready ahead of time, which helped speed the recipe along. I think I may have overcooked the duck. It was only slighty pink in the middle. We’ll be making this again. The next time I will flip the duck after searing the skin. The recipe omitted this step, but the Husband thinks the crispy skin would be nice.

 

3- Noodles with Asparagus from 400 Thai and Chinese Delicious Recipes for Delicious and Healthy Living. Section: Noodles

Modifications: Sesame oil instead of canola oil, as I had used it up in the Mongolian Beef. I think we have the wrong noodles too. I think we bought actual ramen noodles, instead of egg noodles from the Chinese grocery, but it was what we had in the cupboard and worked just as well. This was an easy recipe and went well with the duck. I would make this again, but to go with something, not on their own. They would be a little bland.

4- Mongolia Beef- The Husband’s family recipe book. The Husband says I can’t share it. He says there will be “dishonor on our cow” if it gets out… (I’ll give you a cookie if you can tell me which movie that’s from. The comments should be working.) I guess you’ll all just have to come over for dinner one night to try it.

Modifications: I left out the tiger lilly buds, as I couldn’t find them, and added garlic powder and white pepper to the marinade. I know, nothing is sacred from me changing the recipe, not even super secret family recipes! We had it over puffy fried bean thread noodles, which is what the recipe called for. I’ve not fried them before and it was fun to see them puff up. The Husband says he hasn’t had them with it before, his Dad makes rice to go with it. It was really good. Next time I will break up the bean threads, the middle ones didn’t get hit with the oil right and weren’t puffy. I also didn’t have enough oil to begin with, so will need more.

5- Scotch Broth based on a recipe from Pauline Bradley, a good family friend and I think, my older brother’s godmother. This one is pretty simple. Chicken broth-2 boxes, ground lamb, carrots, onions, potatoes, garlic, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.

The original version had barley, but the Husband is not a fan of the texture. I made it in the crockpot before work. Just brown the lamb, drain off the grease, and then throw it and everything else in the pot and let it cook. It’s delicious and even better on the second day. I had a turnip in the fridge and no recipe to use it for, so I chopped that up too and threw it in. No pictures, as I ate it too fast. It’s not terribly photogenic either, but makes up for it in taste.

I’ve got a bunch of recipes marked in some cookbooks for the future and to help with meal planning. A couple of the cookbooks only have a few more sections before they are complete!  I haven’t decided on the rules for what happens when I finish all the sections in a cookbook. They pretty much all have more than one recipe that I would like to try, but I want to make sure that the ones I haven’t touched yet get used too. Plus, there is a whole shoe box full of recipe cards and mini cookbooks to use as well. For now, I guess I’ll cross that bridge when I actually get there.

Crafty · Recipe Roundup

Cooking and Crafting Musings

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Whew! I am glad last week is over. It was crazy busy and I worked late each night.  We didn’t have many recipes to talk bout because we had canned soup one night, pizza for 2 nights, and I had the Husband bake his own chicken another night. The only two things I actually made were a Milk Chocolate Cherry Pie and more of a method for the chicken. I did make new recipe last night and attempted to make something on Sunday after I came home from my trip, but the Husband convinced me to have rotisserie chicken, salad, and bread instead. It was probably a much better idea, I was so sleepy and loopy from driving.

I’ll start with the recipes first and then talk about the crafts.

1- Milk Chocolate Cherry Pie from Icebox Pies: 100 Scrumptious Recipes for No-Bake No-Fail Pies by Lauren Chattman. Section: Chocolate Dream Pies

Modifications: None, I followed the recipe! We liked it, but it was very rich and we weren’t able to finish all of it ourselves. I think I would make it again for a party where there were more people to eat it.

2- Italian Marinated Chicken Drumsticks. Method by me: Throw chicken parts in a zip bag and add Italian Dressing, salt, pepper, oregano, basil, and garlic powder. Zip the bag and roll the chicken legs round in it. Bake at 375 for about an hour, depending on how frozen the chicken still is. Serve with a salad and bread. No pictures, I wasn’t home until after it was eaten.

3- Crossword Cipher Chicken from The Nancy Drew Cookbook by Carolyn Keene. Section: Picnic and Patio Get-Togethers

Modifications: I used butter instead of margarine. One, I didn’t have any, and Two, I don’t believe in margarine generally. I have one recipe that I use it in and that’s about it. We used garlic butter Ritz crackers for the breading and it was pretty good. The breading didn’t stick on very well in spots, until I started pushing the crumbs more firmly into the meat. We had garlic bread, raspberries, and roasted carrots with it. I don’t have a picture of the finished project, but did take a picture of the chicken before it was baked.

I was working on my vending items all week, but did squeeze in one more project from my list. I made some Kanzashi-Style Hair Clips from the book Button and Stitch by Kristen Rask. I made them into pins as I have misplaced my hair clips. I’ve made something similar before, but this time I decided to sew a back on and sew the whole thing instead of hot glue. I think it looks neater and It was a good project to do while out of power.  Eventually they will go into  my vending stash, once I have worked out the kinks. I like doing the little projects like this, as it’s lots of fun to pick out the perfect buttons for it. It also helps me use up my already cut squares. My 2 inch square bag is currently overflowing. I want to try them with my bigger squares too for a different look.

Vending is a funny thing for me. I always get anxious about it, even though I have a lot of product. I’ve been trying to branch put from my preferred colors and patterns into more things that might appeal to others. I vend at bellydance events, mostly local, as I bellydance myself. Since I also have my Etsy store, it can be a good way to get my Twinflower Fancies brand to be more well-known. It can be disappointing though, when my table gets passed over or I don’t seem to be in the right genre. This weekend inspired me to work more on my Etsy store and see if I can develop better style and pictures online. Hopefully my next events will be a little less discouraging. I definitely came home from this weekend not understanding what was wrong and struggling with the motivation to make more items to sell.

I might take a break from making Etsy or vending items for a few weeks and make a few things just for me. I am reading a bunch of sewing blogs that are inspiring me to work on my clothes goals, including working with my serger. Hopefully I’ll have more clothes pictures to show you next week.

Recipe Roundup
Recipe Roundup

Recipe Roundup

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Whew! I always forget how much I depend on electricity. We have a gas stove, but it has electric starters, so unless we wanted to light it with a match, we had no stove for a few days. We were out for about two days. Now we have power again and I have done some cooking. Here’s the recipes:

1- Slow Cooker Chinese BBQ Beef from Food Network v. 8, n. 10. 

Modifications: I used full strength soy sauce and just reduced it a little. We’ve not had good luck with finding a reduced sodium soy sauce that doesn’t taste horrible. Next time I would also reduce the Chinese 5 spice. It was a little too licorice flavored for me. I ate this on the second day since I had put it in the crockpot the night before while working. The Husband said he liked it and had it over rice. It was good, but I don’t know if we liked enough to make it again.

2- BLT Mac and Cheese from Bacon 24/7: Recipes for Curing, Smoking and Eating by Theresa Gilliam. I bought this book for the Husband for our first anniversary (paper) almost four years ago and haven’t used it at all! This is a perfect example of why I decided to write this blog. I kept looking at it and saying I needed to make things from it, but never did. We are planning on making our own bacon this summer, when it isn’t snowing outside. I’ll make sure to take lots of pictures.

Modifications: I tried to half the recipe, but forgot halfway through and ended up making almost the whole sauce recipe. The sauce turned a little red, from too much tomato sauce, but it evened itself in the end. I used dry basil, no fresh to be found, and used the rest of the romano cheese as well, instead of just all Parmesan. I also had a freak out moment where I couldn’t figure out where the bacon went in the recipe. I made the noodles and the bacon ahead of time and saved part of the bacon grease in the fridge. The Husband kindly pointed put that I was supposed to make the bacon and then add the cheese sauce ingredients directly on top of it. It worked out in the end and tasted very good. It was less cheesy than most mac and cheese, but the sauce did thicken up. I would like to try it with fresh basil, so may make it again in the summer.

3- Grilled Chicken Over Spinach from Taste of Home: The Market Fresh Cookbook. This is another cookbook I’ve had for a long time, but haven’t tried a lot out of it. Mostly veggie recipes are included in it, which might be why. The Husband doesn’t like a lot of veggies and I tend not to cook extra recipes just for me. This book is where I get my pear bread recipe from and it is delicious.

Modifications: I broiled the chicken instead of grilling it, since it was way too cold. The seasoning was very nice, kind of Italian based spices and olive oil. I also added more garlic to the spinach and made a smaller amount. This was a really fast recipe after a long shift and I would make it again. I picked it because I had a bunch of spinach in the fridge and was tired of seeing it go to waste. It made good leftovers the next day too and I think the spices would make the chicken good for leftover recipes like potpie or chicken salad.

4- Roasted Turkey with Smoked Paprika from a Meijer recipe card.

Modifications: It’s only been a few years since I have been able to eat turkey again. I had some bad experiences with cafeteria style turkey and fake mashed potatoes and couldn’t stand it for about 6-7 years. I wouldn’t even eat my Mom’s apple cider and bacon turkey and she makes excellent turkey. I still bring a few slices of ham to my inlaw’s house for Thanksgiving to this day. We’ve discovered that the less it tastes like turkey, the more I will eat it, and I don’t like it if it’s been frozen. (I know, for a food blogger, I sound so picky.)

The Husband tried a sample of this in Meijer one day and said I had to taste it and he was right. The spice rub is extremely full flavored with smoked paprika, garlic, and Italian spices. I reduce the recipe for this one, since it’s originally for a whole turkey. We normally have it on turkey breasts or tenderloins. We’ve had this a couple of times and it’s been good each time and is on our “quick and easy” list. We had this with mashed potatoes, and roasted carrots and butternut squash in olive oil and spices. No pictures because we were both starving and the carrots took longer, so things were not ready at the same time.

I think you can find the recipe on Meijer’s website as well. Tomorrow for Pi Day (3.14) I am making a chocolate cherry icebox pie that would have been made last Thursday, had there been power. I work late again, so it will be eaten after my shift ends and should be delicious. I’ll be sure to take pictures before we eat it all.