We have KRAUT!

So a couple months ago, we went to the farmer's market and brought home more cabbages than I could carry for about $10.  (Seriously, Dave had to carry them to and from the car.)  We feed them through the shredding blade of the food processor, along with a half a red cabbage from my Mom, by way of my Gramma, with more determination than you can possibly imagine.

This was set to be Sauerkraut, Round 2.

The first batch didn't have enough salt, as best as we can figure and when it got a little mold on top, which in and of itself isn't really a problem - you just skim it off, the mold quickly got below the brine level, below the weighted plate in the crock and into the cabbage before we realized what was happening.

Now if you're not a fan of sauerkraut because you think it's gross, you can't imagine how disgusting it is when it gets rotten like that.  If you are a fan of sauerkraut, let me say, the blue mold was a sight to behold.  And did it ever smell bad.

So this time around, we added way more salt.  I mean, like a pound of it.  We checked on it more often, We skimmed the beginnings of mold off and checked it some more.  We skimmed more mold and checked again and I'm happy to say, that today when we took the weighted plate off, what was underneath was in fact, actually sauerkraut!  It's a delightful shade of pink from the red cabbage and very salty, but it's sauerkraut!

I'm really excited, and actually need to finish this because the waterbath is finally hot enough to can it up!

Final Totals:  14 quarts in jars and 3 more in the freezer.

It's Not Me, It's You. Really.

Dear Facebook-

It's taken me a long time to make this decision, but I think we need to break up.  I'm just not happy with you anymore.  I'm not getting a fair deal in this relationship, it's all give give give and nothing in return.  You've become that shitty friend, the one that no one likes, but you have to keep him around because there's a few specific people we really do love, that we can get in touch with, except through you.

You don't keep your promises.  I've told you time and time again, please show me my "Most Recent Stories".  I don't give a shit if 87 people like the picture my cousins posted of their kids last week, I want to see the picture they posted earlier today.  And you do let me switch, I get a notice and link asking me to switch back.

You're wasting my time.  I've been fighting to build up likes for my blog page, but you keep changing the algorithm so that fewer and fewer people see what I have to say.  I started that page so that I could post about my needlework with people who are interested without bothering the people who don't care.

And then there's the forcing me to befriend strangers just so I can pass time with a few silly games.  What if I just want to play a silly game?

Oh, and the wanting to use my stuff without asking.  I get that you make your money from advertising, but GET YOUR OWN DAMN PICTURES!  I don't want to you use my pictures for your purposes, but I can't keep in touch with out of state relatives without giving you permission to use my photos and artwork for whatever the hell you want.  Talk about being unfair.

Not to mention, the intentionally screwing with everyone's feelings all summer.  Or am I the only one who remembers the outrageous "social experiment" this summer.  Did you end getting sued over that?  Did your research partners get in trouble for violating federal standards?  Wouldn't know if you get your news from what people are sharing through you.  Scrubbed it from existence didn't you.

That being said, I can't just delete my account.  I have friends a zillion miles away that it's impossible to keep in touch with any other way.  I have a few people who like to read my blog (which doesn't get nearly enough attention since you came into my life) who don't remember to check, so I want to let them know when I update.  There's Skye Taylor's Art Forum, which is an amazing supportive place, and I'm not willing to part with that.

But I don't think you'll be seeing me post much.  I'd rather give my time to my art.  To some writing with a little more substance.  No more games.  I'll spend that time on writing some substance for my blog, painting and fixing things around my house and cooking fancy dinners for my sweetie.

I'll be checking in from time to time.  Not to see how you're doing ,but to catch up with the friends I can only talk with you around.  I'm sure you won't even notice I'm gone.  You're pretty self-centered.  Actually, you remind me a lot of my ex, and I don't need that in my life.

...and a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

or more like a big guy with a ponytail.  lol.

Years ago, my Grampa planted a couple of pear trees.  One of them is a dwarf pear of some kind and the other is, I think, a variety of seckel pear.  But Dave loves pears, and apparently we're the only ones who want to see the pears actually get eaten.

So, we went up 2 separate afternoons, and with some help from my dad and my sister, we picked all the pears (although there were only about 6 on the dwarf tree) and brought them home.  We ended up with 5 grocery bags of pears.  Not produce bags, grocery bags.

We made 4 jars of brandied pears.  We made 4 1/2 pints of pear butter with orange and ginger.  We made 6 jars of spiced pears.  We made 5 more jars of brandied pears.  We made 7 jars of cinnamon pear jam.  We canned pears in heavy syrup and I made a pear betty.  Unfortunately, we didn't get through all the pears before they started going bad, but we got all but the last 2 dozen or so preserved.

We're pretty proud of ourselves.  It was a huge project and took most of our free time for almost 2 weeks.  We ran out of canning jars.  We ran out of lids.  We ran out of space in the pantry.

Recipes:

Most of the recipes came from this site - Oregon State Extension Office.

http://extension.oregonstate.edu/fch/sites/default/files/documents/sp_50_678_preservingpears.pdf

Spiced Pears from Fresh Preserving 

Pear Jam from SUREJELL (we just added about a 1/2 Tablespoon of Cinnamon.)

Not that I expect you all to run out and get a whole tree worth of pears, but we are really enjoying these recipes, and in fact we just drank the leftover syrup from the brandied pears, and I thought I'd share them with everyone.

So, it's kind of an exciting week here.

I'm making plans to have a bunch of people over to make applesauce and learn canning basics late in October.

I'm working on plans to get a weekly Stitch N Bitch going.  I finally finished both of the baby afghans.

We're little by little getting some pretty major household projects done, and the sauerkraut seems to be working out much better this time around.

We've been out and about a lot and my work schedule has been pretty unpredictable, so there hasn't been much cooking happening, but at least we using things we've canned.

We need to decide what we're doing with our pears, too, so if anyone has any ideas, let us know.  We're thinking pear sauce and brandied pears, but I need to find out if I can preserve either of those because we'll have enough pears, until all is said and done, that we'll need to do something to save some of them for later.

Any ideas?  Let me know!

Bok Choy Fridge Pickles

We've been making loads of pickles this year.  Mostly cucumber fridge pickles.   Some processed ones.  A couple jars of pickled onions.  Then I saw on the Fresh Preserving Website...

BOK CHOY!

Bok Choy?  Really?  I like bok choy.  Let's try it.

So, I made it up as I went and this is what I got.

3 clean Pint Jars
1 head Bok Choy
1/3 tsp Chinese 5 Spice Powder (per jar)
1/4 tsp Crushed Red Pepper (per jar)

2 cups White Vinegar
1 cup Water
1 Tbsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Pickling or Non-Iodized Salt
1/2 piece Fresh Ginger Grated
2 cloves Garlic

Chop the Bok Choy stalks into roughly bite-sized pieces (save the leafy parts for stir fry!), and pack into pint jars, leaving about 1/2" headspace.  Add 5 Spice Powder and Crushed Red Pepper

Combine remaining ingredients in a small saucepan and heat until boiling.  Pour hot liquid over Bok Choy in jars, leaving about 1/2" headspace.  Make sure to distribute garlic between jars.  Add lids and refrigerate for a few days.

Enjoy!

So it's been a SUPER BUSY month.

In August alone, I've done more than I can even remember.

I made 9 jars of blackberry jam and 2 jars of blackberry lemon sage.  More fridge pickles (including onions) than I can count - we've been refilling the jars with more veggies!

I made 2 Tomato, Bacon, Feta stratas, mountains of fried eggplant, and a quart of arrabiata.

I made 6 pints of garlic dill pickles.

We started a crock of sauerkraut.

I dried to huge bunches of parsley for in soups later.

We went to GenCon.

I made a scrapbook/autograph book for my nephew.

I made 7 jars of carrot cake jam and 4 pints of bread and butter pickles.

We drove to New Hampshire to see two dear friends get married.

I finally delivered the wine jellies to Dave's sister and brother-in-law.

I made another batch of carrot cake jam.

I made 2 pints of salsa with the salsa mix my sister gave me.

****

Next on the list, Carrot Fennel soup.

After that, September promises pears and apples, and a bonus week of vacation that was only supposed to be 3 days.

And I do intend to share the strata recipe, although, if you're a smart cookie and you know how to make French toast, I bet you can figure it out!

Tomato and Olive Salad

1 quart assorted Tomatoes (I like an heirloom variety, or whatever's handy in my garden)
1 cup sliced Olives (the Greek mix at Wegman's is great, or use kalamata, black and green olives)
1 cup crumbled Feta Cheese
1/4 cup Pine Nuts
1/2 Tbsp whole Coriander
1/2 Tbsp whole Cumin
1 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Chop tomatoes.  If using grape or cherry tomatoes, cut them in half so dressing and spices can get inside.  Drop in medium mixing bowl.

Slice olives, if they didn't come that way and add to tomatoes.  Add cheese.

Gently toast pine nuts, coriander and cumin in a dry pan over medium heat until pine nuts are golden.  Allow to cool and add to tomatoes.

Drizzle vinegar and olive oil into bowl and stir gently until mixture is even.

Buffalo Cauliflower Nuggets

I LOVE buffalo wings, but I hate to use them as a side dish, especially with a chicken entree.  So, replacing the chicken with a veggie I love and WHAM!  Awesome side.

Chop a small head of cauliflower into roughly bite sized pieces (or half the head if it's one of the GIANT ones from the grocery store.  or Double the recipe.  whatever.)

Batter:
1 cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Black Pepper
1/2 tsp Cayenne (or ancho or chipotle)
1 1/3 cup water

Topping:
Your favorite wing sauce
Your favorite Blue Cheese or Ranch dressing.
(We like Frank's Red Hot's Wing Sauce and Ken's Steakhouse Chunky Blue Cheese.)


Preheat cooking oil in a frying pan.

Mix dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl.  Stir in water 1/3 cup or so at a time.

Dip cauliflower in batter and drop gently in hot oil.  Cook in batches, so the pieces don't stick together, until golden.

Drain on paper towels and top with wing sauce and dressing.

If you have a favorite hot sauce that's not a wing sauce, add melted butter to it in a roughly 50-50 mix to make a wing sauce out of it!

Blackened Chicken Seasoning

Super easy, super spicy.

Equal parts:

Fine Sea Salt
Ground Black Pepper
Ground Cumin
Ground Cayenne
Garlic Powder

Mix thoroughly.

When making chicken:

Pound chicken breasts flat, about 3/4" - 1" thick.  Cut into 2-3 pieces, depending on size of chicken piece.  Coat chicken and cook in a small amount of oil over medium to high heat.

If you prefer a less spicy dinner, reduce cayenne or season chicken lightly rather than coating.

I used 1/2 Tbsp each and had enough to generously coat 2 large chicken breasts, with a tiny bit left over.

Sorry, but this post is about my period.

So, I learned a very important lesson over the last year.  Well, I've learned a few, but this one is one that everyone should know, women especially, but anyone who knows or cares about a woman might want to pay attention.

Late last spring, I had a very heavy period.  Then another one.  Having been pretty irregular my entire life (other than when I was on the pill) I was mostly just happy they were predictable.  Then my periods got heavier and heavier.  I was soaking the biggest tampons I could find in less than an hour.  Sometime a few in a row, sometimes randomly.

Then my periods started getting longer.  And I started getting really tired by the time they were done.

And I learned the first lesson of this ordeal:  Culturally, we're trained to dread our periods.  Boys think it's gross and on the rare chance that you have a girl you can talk to about it, what response do you get?  "Oh, I know!  Mine's horrible too!"

This is not just unsupportive, it can be dangerous.  It made me feel like maybe I was getting worried about nothing.  So I bought more tampons and sucked it up.

And then in October, I had a few hours were I couldn't keep up with how heavy I was bleeding.  The next day, I had a couple more hours like that.  Then the next night and into midmorning, I went through something like 24 tampons and pads in about 14 hours.  I bled on my pajamas, I trailed blood down the hall to the bathroom.  I was so exhausted that I called off from work.

I felt like a total failure.  33 years old and my period was still getting the best of me.  I called my doctor's office and the receptionist told me they couldn't fit me in for over a month.  I voiced a concern and she said, "Oh, we all have heavy periods from time to time.  Get some rest, you'll be fine."  (See above)

My bleeding continued to get even worse, which I didn't think was even possible.  I couldn't imagine where it was all coming from.  Didn't they tell us over and over in health class in junior high and high that you can't bleed to death from your period?  That you just shred the lining of your uterus and that's as much as you can bleed?

I called the doctor's office back and asked to talk to a nurse.  I got my friend Ann's mom (YAY!) and she said she's talk to the doctor and call me back.  In about 20 minutes she called me back and said "Honey, we can't fit you in today, you're going to have to go to the emergency room.  What you've got happening isn't normal or healthy."

Dave and I hadn't been dating long and I didn't really think he'd want me to bother him at work, so I called my mom.  She drove down and took me to the ER.  When I finally got seen, I was waiting for the doctor to come in and give me what would turn out to be the first in an outrageous series of pelvic exams and I got up to pee and change my tampon, yet again.

While I was in the bathroom, I suddenly felt very dizzy and saw my lips go pale in the mirror.  I sat down quickly on the floor, wearing nothing but a hospital (much to my mother's horror), because I was afraid I would faint.  The doctor came in and her and my mom tried to left me onto my feet and I promptly blacked out.

They had to put me on a backboard to get me out of the narrow little bathroom doorway.  They had to put my feet above my head to keep me conscious.  I needed 6 liters of IV fluids to get my blood pressure high enough that I could lift my head.  I found out I have a uterine fibroid as big as my pinky.

Until all was said and done, I ended up needing 2 units of blood and I spent 2 nights in the hospital, because of Acute Blood Loss Anemia. They gave me 9 doses of estrogen in 2 1/2 days to get the bleeding to stop.  I could easily have died if I hadn't gotten to the hospital when I did.  I could have passed out at home and fallen down the stairs.  I could have had a car accident if I had decided to drive myself.

Over the last year, I have been on Provera, tried the Mirena IUD, and taken the Mini-Pill.  I've been taking so much iron and vitamin C that I'm starting to suffer heartburn and nausea from it.

Provera didn't work at all.

The IUD didn't work because my continued heavy bleeding flushed it out of my body.  (Which had to be verified with an xray and transvaginal ultrasound.)

We're still debating whether the Mini-Pill didn't work at all, or if it worked beautifully and my bleeding would have been even worse without it.

We've discussed a hysterectomy.  At one point I was threatening to attempt my own with a spoon.
Dave had been unbelievably supportive through all of this.  We've decided to go a more conservative route with my treatment and this past Monday, I had a hysteroscopy with the intention that my doctor would try to remove as much of my fibroid as possible.

He was unable to remove any of it, because it's completely embedded in the wall of my uterus.  He scraped my lining and submitted it to pathology, where, thankfully, it came back normal.  He's hopeful that this will solve the problem anyway, but at this point, we're waiting to see how it goes.

The moral of the story is this:

• If your period seems unusual, or upsetting, see your doctor.  
• If your doctor doesn't take you seriously, see another one. 
• If your friend or family member tell you that her period is upsetting, don't turn it into a misery pissing contest.  Listen, and recommend she see her doctor.

You know your body better than anybody.  If something seems fightening or unusual, err on the side of caution and see your doctor.  The worst thing that can happen is that nothing is wrong.

Especially in light of the upsetting decisions regarding women's health being made by many in our government, ladies, we need to take care of ourselves and each other.  And boys, please don't tune us out if we're scared or worried because of our period.  We know it's not your favorite subject, it's not ours either, but it's important that we can all discuss it like grown-ups.

Bacon-wrapped Water Chestnuts

Over the years I have had several coworkers who made variations of this.  When I finally decided that I was going to ask one of them for the recipe, I asked "What kind of sauce do you use for this?"  and I was pretty shocked to receive a rambling list of ingredients, rather than the brand name of the barbeque sauce.  Silly me.

So much easier this way!


2 cans Whole Water Chestnuts
1/2 lb bacon (uncooked)
1/2 bottle Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet and Spicy Barbeque Sauce

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.

Drain waterchestnuts.  Cut bacon slices into shorter pieces that just fit around the water chestnuts (1/4s or 1/3s depending on your bacon).  Wrap one piece of bacon around each water chestnut, skewering with a toothpick to hold it in place.  Arrange wrapped water chestnuts in a single layer on a cookie sheet.

Spread barbeque sauce over water chestnuts and bake 45 mins or until bacon is done.  I put a an extra piece of bacon at one end of the pan to make it easier to tell.

Leave toothpicks in place when you serve, it makes eating these potentially messy little tidbits much easier.

By the way, technically, a single slice of bacon is also called a rasher.  Sort of puts all those scenes in fantasy books where everyone is excited over a crisp rasher of bacon into perspective, doesn't it?

Easy Rhubarb Upside-Down Cake

We got a big ol' bunch of rhubarb in our farmshare box last week, so I thought I'd share this recipe!

Super Easy recipe for a SERIOUSLY under-rated piece of produce.

1 recipe of your favorite yellow cake
1 cup chopped rhubarb (5 or 6) stalks
1 stick of butter plus a little
1 bag of marshmallows

Melt stick of butter in a saucepan.  Add half of the marshmallows.  Once marshmallows melt, add remaining.  When second bunch of marshmallows are about half melted, add rhubarb.  Cook over medium low heat until the mixture forms a consistent sauce.

Grease 9x13 cake pan or casserole with a small about of butter.   Pour rhubard mixture into pan.  Top with yellow cake batter and bake according to cake recipe directions.

You could also use the sauce as a pancake or ice cream topping, or pretty much anywhere you're use a fruit topping.

It's June and it's off to a great start!

The garden is coming along nicely, but not nearly fast enough for my liking.

I made 2 amazing gourmet cheesecake recipes this past week.  (Sorry, for those of you who are interested, I'm working on a recipe book for a business plan, they're hush, hush, secret.)

We tried a fantastic new restaurant today, Full of Crepe, in Bethlehem.

We found a dragonfruit at Wegman's.

We had a bunch of people over for movies last night.

And we're going to try making chile rellenos for dinner tonight.

I'll let you know how that goes, and if it works well, I'll post the recipe!

Super Motivated Hippy

I don't know if it's the change in weather, or what, but this hippy has been unbelievably motivated the last couple weeks.  You probably saw the last post about the garden, but I've also been packing up winter linens, I finally finished hanging the last of the curtains that needed to be hung.  The only windows left without them are in the back room we use for storage.

We've been doing a ton of cooking, we made a huge mess of tempura a couple times now, and we're looking at perfecting the mole sauce and learning to make chile rellenos.  We're getting the kitchen organized to make packing lunches super easy.  We finally replaced the busted microwave.

I've getting art projects finished and framing projects hung up.  I'm scaring myself a little to be honest.

I've been attributing all of this motivation and energy to the fact that my recovery from a particularly nasty bout of bronchitis coincided almost perfectly with the sudden spring weather, but honestly, I wonder if it's not just a matter of being happy.

How does your garden grow?

So far the garden is coming together really nicely.  After not having one at all last year, I'm especially excited.

I got the Columbus Orange Rose pruned back, big time, because it wasn't doing well, but seems to be trying to get a new start.  I got some Dusty Miller put in to fill the empty spaces in the front of the flower bed.  I picked up the trash in the yard for the 8 millionth time.

The back yard is going to take some time before you can see the difference, right now it just looks like less weeds.   But, I got 8 of my nine herbs potted.  Chamomile, Sweet Basil, Oregano, Garden Sage, Cilantro, Thyme, Lavender, Rosemary, and an empty pot left for the boys' catnip.  I planted fennel, too, but with the bulb-y nature of it, it's went in one of the rows of the garden.

I got 4 varieties of Tomatoes (Sun Sugar, Plum, Early Girl and Grape) - although, I really meant to get another Early Girl instead of the Plum.  There's 5 kinds of Peppers - Red Bell, Green Bell, Mexibell, Giant Jalapeno and Poblano.  I've got Kale behind that, and still need to add the Potatoes in the last row, before the Mint patch, on that side.

The other side of the yard has an Asparagus bed against the garage, and a pretty sad looking Blueberry bush in the corner.  Hopefully, the Blueberry bush amounts to something this year, since I'll have the time to give it a lot more love than last year.  Along the fence, I've put in Zucchini and Pickling Cucumbers.  The front row is my Fennel and some Rapini.

Two more rows need to be planted, the Looseleaf Lettuce and Sweet Mesclun in one and Sugar Snap Peas and Green Beans in the other, but the desire for lunch and a need to rest my back won out over finishing the last 2 rows today.  I'm also considering garlic and onions in large pots.

I'm really excited about my garden this year.  Dave is really looking forward to homegrown veggies, and while he has expressed a refusal to weed, I know he'll help me with what I need him for.  I've finally got good humus from my compost bin that I've working in as I go.  It's gorgeous and dark and it's got a couple earthworms living in it, so it should do good things for my veggies.

Wish me luck!

Who Says Good Food has to be Hard?

Super Easy Stuffed Peppers?  Nope.  Not kidding.  Love these things because they're easier than they look and they freeze really well too!

• 2 or cups of cooked rice, bulgar wheat or your other favorite grain (prepare according to package)
• 1 lb.  browned ground beef, loose sausage, Gimme Lean (or equivalent in prepared veggie crumbles)
• 1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce
• optional Cheese/Daiya, breadcrumbs, etc.
• PEPPERS!  6 medium or 4 large.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

Mix the Sauce, beef/sausage/whatever and the rice in a big bowl.  Core and devein the peppers, then cut them in half vertically.

Stuff pepper halves generously with filling.  Bake for 40 minutes or until peppers are tender.  Top with cheese and/or breadcrumbs with about 10 minutes left in the baking time.

***

You don't have to cut the peppers in half.  I usually do if they're GIANT peppers or if I'm planning on freezing the leftovers for lunches.  A whole pepper is nearly impossible to reheat at work without destroying it.

Wait, What Kind of Chips? Kale chips?

Yup.  Kale chips.  After this afternoon, I'm going to be up to my eyeballs in them, but hopefully the D&D groups demolishes them tomorrow night.  If not, I'm going to be eating A LOT of kale this week.

I guess Natalie started it, if that's fair to say.  She's the one who brought a box of them with her last week.  Then Obes tried them and liked them.  And then Dave.  I passed because they were salt and vinegar flavor, but remarked that I've made them in the past and I really liked them.

A bit of back and forth was had about someone bringing more next week, and no, I will, and so on.  And I sort of thought that would be the end of it.  Figured, maybe this coming week, somebody brings some.  Or not, whatever.

Until this weekend, Dave and I went grocery shopping.  We eat TONS of veggies.  I think we polished off a pound and a half of roasted cauliflower last night.  He sees neat little bundles of kale and remarks that I should make kale chips for gaming.  Next thing we've got 3 bunches of kale in the cart and a whole list of different flavors I'm supposed to make today, since I only had a half day.

Well, I can't remember what the flavors were supposed to be, so Dave's getting what I feel like, HA! but I figured I've share the basic recipe for these tasty little buggers, since it's been a while since I've posted a new recipe.

So, without further delay!

Kale Chips

1 bunch kale

Cooking Spray or your favorite oil in a sprayer or Misto

Salt (any kind)

Preheat oven to 275 degrees.  Wash and thoroughly dry kale.  Tear into bite-sized pieces (stay on the big side, they'll shrink some).

Arrange kale in a single layer on a cookie sheet or in a large shallow baking pan.  (I've seen that some people like to throw parchment paper in the bottom.)  Spray generously with oil - I like olive oil.  Sprinkle with salt to taste.

Bake chips for approximately 20-25 minutes.  Turn/stir them about halfway through.  Keep an eye on them so that they only dry/toast.  Do not let them burn.   It's gross.

Enjoy!  Make more than you think you'll need, they don't last long.

If you have leftovers, or you're making them ahead, let them cool completely and store in an airtight container.

Other options:

• add black pepper and garlic powder, for a simple but flavorful seasoning
• taco seasoning
• McCormick Parmesan Herb Perfect Pinch plus grated or shredded parmesan cheese
• Ranch or other dressing mix
• curry powder

or whatever other seasonings you love!

Give Pasole a Chance

So, quite some time ago, Lisa introduced me to the wonder that is Pasole (puh-soe-lay), which if you don't know, is a DELICIOUS chile-laden Mexican pork stew with hominy.  It's often served over rice and topped with lovely things like, sliced jalapenos, various shredded or crumbled fresh cheeses or crushed tortilla chips.

After pairing down the recipe slightly (I'm not sure she meant to send me the version that calls for 6 POUNDS of hominy), Dave and I are giving it a shot today.

We had bought a very large pork tenderloin at Sam's Club for an outrageously low price.  As much as I hate Walmart, it's hard to argue with $20 for an 11lb. tenderloin.  We brought it home and cut it into more manageable pieces.  Two of these piece were cooked at pot roasts and the broth was set aside for making pasole.  A third eventually became the sausage in my last post.  The last piece is currently simmering in the crockpot as a nearly finished pasole.

Various dried/smoked chiles are first toasted slightly, then softened in hot broth.  The pork gets cubed, salted and browned.  The hominy get broken up and rinsed.  The meat and hominy get added to another, larger pot of hot broth and once the chiles have been given a quick spin in the blender, they're added too.

Loads of garlic, cumin, and since I didn't have epazote, oregano.  It's got a long simmer time left, but so far, it's delicious.

By the way, have I mentioned, I love having someone around to cook with?

Homemade Sausage

So, Dave and I had a blast cooking again this week.  I've been wanting to make homemade sausage forever.  I begged my mom to get me the food grinder attachment for my Kitchen Aid just for that reason, in fact, but in something like 7 years, I've never actually made sausage.

I've used it for salsa of all kinds: hot, mild, cucumber, pineapple, green, red, you name it.  I've used to grind venison for chili and burgers.  I used it once or twice for fruit to make popsicles.

So, I had a pork roast thawed out and we decided to finally give homemade sausage a try.  It was loose sausage because it was too late to hit up the farmer's market for sausage casing.  We had a container of roasted tomatoes from Wegman's, and some leftover shredded parm.

We put all of that through the grinder along with whole pink peppercorns, whole fennel seeds, crushed red pepper, sea salt, chili oil, garlic, basil, oregano.  And it was delicious!  I made meat sauce with it and while I worried over the sauce, Dave cooked asparagus with bacon and parmesan cheese.

Next time I'll measure and share the recipe.  :-)

Holy Mole!

So, one of the things that Dave has mixed feelings about is the fact that when I've had a rough day, I like to cook elaborate things for dinner to make myself feel better.  He says that he hates to hear that I've had a rotten day but at the same time, he really enjoys when I cook elaborate dinners.

A few weeks ago when I had not that great day, I made homemade chicken cordon bleu with rapini in a balsamic vinegar glaze and a bulgar wheat salad.  This week I had a frustrating day and came home and made a pretty damn good mole poblano with red chile rice and really garlicky black beans.

Mole Poblano is one of my favorite dishes from Senora's Authentic Mexican in West Chester.  Because it's delicious and not something that I get very often and, you know, chocolate for dinner.  I looked up a few different recipes, spent a few minutes horrified that they ranged from 6 ingredients to something like 37, and decided to call Lisa for a sanity check for I just made it up as I went.

I had some Mexican chocolate and added garlic, cinnamon, salt, pepper, cocoa powder, part of a stale fausnaut, and honestly, I'm not sure what all else, but it was delicious once it cooked with the chicken, and I'm going to call it a total victory!  Sometime I'll have to do it again and actually pay attention to what I'm adding.  :-)

Apple Cranberry Stuffing

On second thought, have a recipe anyway.

1/2 lb Apple Sausage (I think any sweet sausage, like Maple Sage would work)
1 Granny Smith Apple (or other tart apple)
A generous Handful of Dried Cranberries
3/4 cup of chicken stock
8 Slices of hearty Multigrain Bread (we like Arnold's Whole Grain Health Nut Bread)
Vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 300 degrees/

Remove casing (if any) from the sausage, crumble and brown in just a bit of oil - the sugar in the apples tends to make the sausage stick.  Save the drippings.

While sausage is browning, cut bread slices into 3/4 inch squares and apple into 1/2 inch cubes.

When sausage is done, mix all ingredients, including drippings in a baking dish or over safe mixing bowl (I love my PYREX!)  Use more or less stock as needed, just make sure most of the bread is moist.  Bake for about 25 minutes or until apples are tender.

Chaos!

So, no recipe this week, even though I had hoped to have another.  It's total chaos here and I'm actually really ok with it.  Dave moved in the rest of his furniture and took the ex's stuff to Lisa to replace her old sofa and arm chair.

Plus sides, Lisa really needed newer stuff, I'm not stuck with a sofa I never really wanted anymore, and Dave feels much more at ease having the rest of his stuff out of his old apartment.  Also, new gas grill just as mine started to need repairs.

Downsides, we never really got a chance to get everything settled and we both got sick.  At least it's not a horrible cold, but it really lingers.  All we've gotten put together is comfy place to curl up with the cats and watch TV.  But we'll get there.

Greek Yogurt Salad

So, a while back on the Daily Health Challenge, there was a recipe for a Greek Dip.  I made it as a salad and I LOVE IT!  Today I made some for Dave.  Can't wait till he gets home to try it, if there's any left.  :-)

16 oz. Goat's Milk Yogurt
4 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
6 Cloves Fresh Garlic
Salt, Pepper, Dill to taste

Combine all in food processor or blender, blend until combined.

Add the following and stir gently.

1 cup Sun-Dried Tomatoes
1 Medium Cucumber, chopped
8 oz Crumbled Feta Cheese
1 cup Chopped, Assorted Greek Olives

I usually buy the Pitted Greek Olive mix at Wegman's and serve this with Mini Whole Wheat Pitas.

Did I mention I LOVE IT!?!?!

Maple Bacon Oatmeal Cupcakes.

5 cups Rolled Oats
2 1/2 cups Applesauce
1/3 cup, plus a little extra Maple Syrup
2 1/3 cups Water
4 slices of Bacon
Brown Sugar

Cook the bacon to your preference. Save fat.  (I didn't promise these would be healthy.)  Chop/crumble bacon in to small pieces.  Preheat oven to 325 or so while the bacon cooks.

Combine all ingredients except brown sugar in a large bowl.  Add the bacon fat.

Place liners in cupcake pans.  Divide mixture evenly between cups, top with a sprinkle of brown sugar.

Bake for 20-22 minutes.  Lean toward the lower end for smaller cupcakes, the higher end for larger ones.

Once baked, allow to cool for a bit so they can set up before you remove them from the muffin pans.

Freeze or refrigerate any that aren't devoured immediately.  We've found that the Ziploc XS Round disposable containers are the perfect size to tote these in, so we put them directly into the container once they're cool for grab and go breakfast.


 Recipe yields 24 regular cupcakes, 12 jumbo.

EDIT!  If you're going to eat them as a cupcake, rather than with a fork or spoon, we've found that adding 1 large egg to the mixture helps solidify them without changing them dramatically.

Reboot! New Year, New Blog, New Happy!

Ok, well, February is not exactly the beginning of the year, but there's been a hell of a lot going on and this hippy needs to get back on track.

So, we're starting over.  I will ask that you all (there's probably only like 5 of you anyway) forgive me for the lack of posting and let me get a new start.

Here's what's new.  New start, new reasons to be happy, new health concerns, new friends, new motivation, new opportunities.

Dave and I are trying to learn to eat healthier and be healthier.  What makes me think it'll work this time?  Because Dave is in it with me.  I won't have to work around him or fight against him.  He wants to eat better too, and while it's for slightly different reasons than me, we have a lot of the same goals and plans.

Step 1:  Breakfast.  We both suck at breakfast.  I'm perfectly happy to call a cup of coffee and a donut from Wawa a good breakfast.  Dave doesn't eat breakfast.  Or if he does, he doesn't eat enough.

So we're starting with baked oatmeal, done as cupcakes.  I got this great recipe from my friend Kate, who found it, who knows how she found it.  It doesn't matter.  It's awesome.  And super easy to alter.  We made it a few weeks ago as Apple Cinnamon Raisin, and I made a "no unnecessary sugar" Pumpkin Pie version for a friend.

This morning, I made Maple BACON!  And, yes, it's not like bacon is particularly healthy, but if it gets us actually eating breakfast, for now at least, I'm ok with that.

Step 2: Blog and Blog a lot!  I'm going to use the blog for accountability for myself and for both of us.  I'm going to start sharing recipes again.  And the first recipe I'm sharing, is the Maple Bacon Oatmeal Cupcake Hack!

Step 3:  Baby Steps.  I've said this before and I'll keep saying it, diets sucks.  Lifestyle changes are what sticks, but you have to break it down into chunks you can commit to.  I'll have bacon cupcakes for breakfast this week, that's totally something I can stick to.