Yes, this blog has long been neglected. Alas, I no longer have time to cook and take pretty pictures of the food and post them here. Someday I shall resume this project.
Not only do I not have the time for this blog, but I haven't been eating anything worth writing about. I'm on a strict diet to lose 25 lbs of baby weight. Have lost 11 lbs in 2 weeks...only 14 lbs to go!
Monday, April 27, 2009
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Happy New Year!
Ok -- I'm going to have to put this blog on a little hiatus. I'm too tired to cook lately, so we've been eating lots of convenience foods and take-out and pizza.
And starting Feb. 1st, I'll be resuming my Atkins lifestyle -- so I'll probably end up writing a lot about that and posting lots of low-carb recipes. But, I still have to cook for Steve and Rylan...no worries...there will be regular recipes on here too. Eventually.
And starting Feb. 1st, I'll be resuming my Atkins lifestyle -- so I'll probably end up writing a lot about that and posting lots of low-carb recipes. But, I still have to cook for Steve and Rylan...no worries...there will be regular recipes on here too. Eventually.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Merry Christmas!
I have "sample" copies of our uncompleted cookbook in PDF if anyone's interested! Just leave your email address in the comment section and I'll send it to you. Merry Christmas!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Bacon Salt and Beef Stew
First off, thanks to Patrick and Emma for their awesome Christmas gift of Bacon Salt and Baconnaise! Thank you! We haven't tried it yet. But I bought some frozen french fries today to put the Bacon Salt on. And I plan on making some deviled eggs with the baconnaise. Should be some good eats!
Second, what's for dinner tonight, you ask? (Because I know you've been eagerly awaiting my wonderful posts!! That was a sarcastic remark, by the way.)
Well, it's chilly outside (by So Cal standards, anyway) and Steve is planning on doing a little Christmas shopping after work tonight. So I thought a big pot of beef stew would be good. It's comfort food and will hold well and stay hot on the stove until Steve gets home.
The recipe is based off Steve's mom's version. It's pretty basic. Here's how I made mine, obviously you can change amounts of the meat/veggies.
1.5 lbs. london broil (or other such "stewing" meat
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
6-8 mushrooms, quartered
2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced (yukon golds are perfect in this, but I didn't have any on hand and wanted to use up my russets)
1 qt. low sodium beef stock
1/2 can tomato sauce (this is what the recipe calls for, but i forgot to buy it at the store. so i used 1 can of condensed tomato soup instead. and i have to say it was really good that way! the tomato soup is slightly sweeter than tomato sauce and gave the stew a really nice velvet-y texture.)
1 cup dry red wine
2-3 T flour
salt, pepper, various herbs and spices
Worcestershire sauce
Ok, so I cubed my meat, dumped it into a ziplock bag and threw in enough flour to coat well. I rummaged through the spice rack and threw in whatever seemed good -- garlic powder, Italian seasoning, seasoned salt, and lots of black pepper. I even tossed in some Creole seasoning to spice it up a bit.
In a large stock pot, heat up a few tablespoons of oil and brown the meat. You may have to do this in a few batches to get a really nice brown crust on the meat. But I was too lazy, I just dumped it all in. Still got nice and browned nonetheless. Add the wine, scraping the bits off the bottom of the pan. Add tomato sauce, beef stock, worcestershire and all the veggies except the potatoes. Cover and simmer for an hour and then throw the potatoes in. Cook another 30-45 minutes or until meat is very tender. I tend to let my stew go for 2 hours or more sometimes...just because I like the meat to be falling apart pretty much.
Also, I'm not going to bother doing cost breakdowns for each meal. No one cares and it's too much math for this lazy brain. I do, however, try to be as frugal as I can when I go to the grocery store. I try to shop at WinCo and Costco only, where everything is cheaper. On average I spend about $65-70 per week on food. That does not include diapers, of course. :) Only food enough for 6-7 dinners, with enough leftover for lunches the next day...and snacks...and drinks...and dessert treats...and necessities like toilet paper and paper towels and such. Not bad.
Second, what's for dinner tonight, you ask? (Because I know you've been eagerly awaiting my wonderful posts!! That was a sarcastic remark, by the way.)
Well, it's chilly outside (by So Cal standards, anyway) and Steve is planning on doing a little Christmas shopping after work tonight. So I thought a big pot of beef stew would be good. It's comfort food and will hold well and stay hot on the stove until Steve gets home.
The recipe is based off Steve's mom's version. It's pretty basic. Here's how I made mine, obviously you can change amounts of the meat/veggies.
1.5 lbs. london broil (or other such "stewing" meat
2 celery stalks, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
6-8 mushrooms, quartered
2 russet potatoes, peeled and diced (yukon golds are perfect in this, but I didn't have any on hand and wanted to use up my russets)
1 qt. low sodium beef stock
1/2 can tomato sauce (this is what the recipe calls for, but i forgot to buy it at the store. so i used 1 can of condensed tomato soup instead. and i have to say it was really good that way! the tomato soup is slightly sweeter than tomato sauce and gave the stew a really nice velvet-y texture.)
1 cup dry red wine
2-3 T flour
salt, pepper, various herbs and spices
Worcestershire sauce
Ok, so I cubed my meat, dumped it into a ziplock bag and threw in enough flour to coat well. I rummaged through the spice rack and threw in whatever seemed good -- garlic powder, Italian seasoning, seasoned salt, and lots of black pepper. I even tossed in some Creole seasoning to spice it up a bit.
In a large stock pot, heat up a few tablespoons of oil and brown the meat. You may have to do this in a few batches to get a really nice brown crust on the meat. But I was too lazy, I just dumped it all in. Still got nice and browned nonetheless. Add the wine, scraping the bits off the bottom of the pan. Add tomato sauce, beef stock, worcestershire and all the veggies except the potatoes. Cover and simmer for an hour and then throw the potatoes in. Cook another 30-45 minutes or until meat is very tender. I tend to let my stew go for 2 hours or more sometimes...just because I like the meat to be falling apart pretty much.
Also, I'm not going to bother doing cost breakdowns for each meal. No one cares and it's too much math for this lazy brain. I do, however, try to be as frugal as I can when I go to the grocery store. I try to shop at WinCo and Costco only, where everything is cheaper. On average I spend about $65-70 per week on food. That does not include diapers, of course. :) Only food enough for 6-7 dinners, with enough leftover for lunches the next day...and snacks...and drinks...and dessert treats...and necessities like toilet paper and paper towels and such. Not bad.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Cookies and other stuff.
Went to my parents' yesterday and they watched Rylan while I made two huge batches of cookies. One butterscotch chip and one chocolate chip. I won't post a recipe, I just used the one on the back of the chocolate chip bag. :) The only difference is that I use 1 1/2 bags of chips per batch (for even more chocolatey goodness) and I underbake the cookies by about 1 1/2 minutes than what's recommended in the recipe. Cause we like gooey cookies not crunchy ones. Oh and baking on parchment paper is a MUST! I've been meaning to shell out the money for a silpat liner -- but it's just too expensive and parchment works well.
For dinner last night, Steve and Rylan had "saucy franks". I think this is a recipe from Steve's grandpa and Steve grew up eating it. I had leftover pizza and salad -- the saucy franks sauce would have given me terrible heartburn. Anyway, you can make this dish with regular hot dogs, veggie dogs, or I use turkey dogs. The idea is that the sauce is NOT like spaghetti sauce...it's more of a tangy-sweet tomato sauce. If you like it less sweet, use less sugar. More tangy, add more vinegar. Rylan loved it --
saucy franks
1 bell pepper, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
4 hot dogs, sliced or cubed
2 15 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 tsp vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar, or more to taste
salt and pepper
1 tsp oil
1 lb. wide egg noodles, cooked according to package directions and tossed with butter
Saute bell pepper, onion and garlic in oil until soft. Add hot dogs, cook for 2-3 minutes. Add tomato sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat for at least 10 minutes. Serve over buttered egg noodles.
(No pics of this -- that'll be in the cookbook)
Tonight I'm going to make cheese soup. Maybe some ham sandwiches to go with it since eating JUST soup never seems like a complete meal to me. This soup has Cheese Whiz in it! Yeah, yeah, I know....it's processed cheese....but it is SOOOO good and smooth and creamy and doesn't get oily like other cheese soups do. Recipe tomorrow.
Tuesday, December 9, 2008
Lazy
I promise that this blog will eventually get better. Really!
As of now, though, I'm tired, cranky, fat, and achy...and even though I LOVE LOVE LOVE to cook, I just haven't felt like doing much lately.
Tonight, we're either going to eat leftovers (which I hate, but otherwise it would go to waste) or just order a pizza.
Tomorrow I'll be going to the Commissary on March AFB with my parents. That means fresh California rolls for Rylan and me!! (They have an excellent in-store sushi chef there -- between my mom, Ry, and me we usually end up buying at least 5 packages of assorted sushi. All cooked. Nothing raw, of course.) Anyway, the main reason for this trip is to buy ingredients for Christmas cookies. My dad wants me to make a big batch of chocolate chip cookies and butterscotch chip cookies. :)
Also for tomorrow, I'll make "Saucy Franks". Not my favorite meal, but Steve and Rylan love it!
As of now, though, I'm tired, cranky, fat, and achy...and even though I LOVE LOVE LOVE to cook, I just haven't felt like doing much lately.
Tonight, we're either going to eat leftovers (which I hate, but otherwise it would go to waste) or just order a pizza.
Tomorrow I'll be going to the Commissary on March AFB with my parents. That means fresh California rolls for Rylan and me!! (They have an excellent in-store sushi chef there -- between my mom, Ry, and me we usually end up buying at least 5 packages of assorted sushi. All cooked. Nothing raw, of course.) Anyway, the main reason for this trip is to buy ingredients for Christmas cookies. My dad wants me to make a big batch of chocolate chip cookies and butterscotch chip cookies. :)
Also for tomorrow, I'll make "Saucy Franks". Not my favorite meal, but Steve and Rylan love it!
Monday, December 8, 2008
Thanks Jennifer!
I thought I'd repost this here, so everyone can see.
Here is a really inexpensive recipe for winter time. It doesn't look appealing when you are making it but turns out very yummy.
Potato Soup
Bring to a boil & cook till soft. Do not drain:
6 c. potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 4 large)
4 c. water
3 tsp. salt
2 bunches of green onions, cut into 3 inch pieces
Blend the following ingredients until very smooth:
1 c. water
3/4 c. blanched almonds
Add to above ingredients after the potatoes are cooked. Bring to a boil mixing all ingredients well. Use a potato masher to mash potatoes to desired consistency. Add 2 c. of fresh or frozen corn as an option. Serve in bread bowels.
Thanks Jennifer! We'll definitely try this!
Here is a really inexpensive recipe for winter time. It doesn't look appealing when you are making it but turns out very yummy.
Potato Soup
Bring to a boil & cook till soft. Do not drain:
6 c. potatoes, peeled and cubed (about 4 large)
4 c. water
3 tsp. salt
2 bunches of green onions, cut into 3 inch pieces
Blend the following ingredients until very smooth:
1 c. water
3/4 c. blanched almonds
Add to above ingredients after the potatoes are cooked. Bring to a boil mixing all ingredients well. Use a potato masher to mash potatoes to desired consistency. Add 2 c. of fresh or frozen corn as an option. Serve in bread bowels.
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