susuwatari

Once again here are some of my favorite recipes that I have found on the internets. The theme with this set (I’m doing themes now?!?) is simple, fast, and delish.

Ham and Cheese Turnovers I really like the simplicity of this recipe and how little time it takes. It actually feeds a lot of people or provides lunch for one person for a whole week. It is also very easy to play around with.

Malboro Man’s Second Favorite Sandwich I love how this is very easy and simple to make but yet tastes like restaurant quality. So far everyone I’ve made this for has loved it, and that includes some picky people like my mom and grandma.

Smothered Pork Chops The pork in this recipe stays so moist and I love the “gravy” with mashed potatoes too.

Mystery Rolls I love these rolls. They are so simple and quick to make and so so good. Beware this recipe is definitely for the Blue Cheese lovers out there as well as the butter lovers so it is in no way shape or form good for you, unless you count happiness.

As part of Operation Debt Free and in cooperation with the project Bikini 2010, I have been cooking a lot more than usual. To make it more interesting each week I’ve tried to cook at least one if not two new dishes. I thought I would share the ones I’ve liked enough to make it into my recipe book. Christina and Wes can attest that I am the biggest critic of my cooking. To make it into the book it has to be very good or at least adequate but really easy and quick to make.

Blue Cheese Burgers I don’t own a grill so this was made on a pan. It is NOT good for you but it is oh so yummy! I did have some problem keeping the burgers together as I was cooking, definitely get the higher fat meat like they say.

Irish Beef Stew I of course left out the carrots because I am still 3 and not a fan of vegetables. They call it a stew but it is not really thick, it is more like a soup. A yummy yummy meat soup. Wes likes this one because it means I bring over all the leftover beer for him to drink.

Heidi’s Steak Diane I was a little nervous about this one but figured hey if I don’t like the sauce I can just eat the steak without it. This is one of the only trial ones I’ve made for Christina that turned out really good. If you follow the directions the steak is cooked well-done (Christina’s preferred) so if your like me and like it more medium rare you may not want to cook it as long.

Fettuccine with Creamy Italian Sausage Sauce This is one that tastes even better as leftovers! It makes a huge amount and I ate this for lunch for basically the whole month of January and I still love it.

Christina and to some extent Wes have suffered through many of my experimentations with good grace. That I believe is because every once in a while I find a gem like these Heart of Darkness Brownies (which I found in the book in the background).

Yep that is home-made brownies which have chocolate chips and chunks of Snickers in them topped with marshmallows and a caramel sauce. SO GOOD! Also VERY messy and time consuming to make. I made this for Christmas for my family. I knew I had made something awesome when even my Grandma was scarfing them down.

The folks came up from Alabama to be with us during this fine holiday. I am in charge of cooking the “main” meal but am thankful that my sister and her mother-in-law have also volunteered to make many of the sides. My Dad will be spoiled this year since Jean is actually making sides with…wait for it….wait for it…..VEGETABLES in it. The poor man has to suffer much for his picky wife and children, but at least now he appreciates seafood and vegetables more than most. So far so good, I have the turkey in. I’m cooking it in a bag which I’ve never done before. It is supposed to keep the turkey moister than just foil and according to the directions it cooks quicker. If all goes well the turkey should be done well in advance of dinner time and I’ll have plenty of time to cook all the other things I need to in the oven. Now I just need to actually clean my house which my dogs have liberally painted in mud. :/

Excuse me as I step onto my soap box and support a belief that is currently unpopular within the media and current culture of America. Obviously my viewpoints are heavily influenced by the fact that I’m a scientist and that I’m a cheapskate. I think this organic craze is a con job preying on our fears to get you to pay more for items we normally wouldn’t splurge on (like milk!) and normally I wouldn’t care about it except I am disgusted by the methods that are being used to promote this idea. Still if people want to have organic food and can afford it than by all means go ahead, heck if the organic food is cheaper than what I was going to get you’ll see me getting it too (back to me being cheap). Even with economic times as it is America is a pretty rich and blessed country and people can often afford the choice of what type of food we consume. What makes me sad is seeing these biases pressed on a country that can not afford this choice. There are many complicated problems in Africa that can not be easily solved, but food should NOT be one of them.

Here is some “food” for thought (ha ha I’m so punny).

Enviro-romanticism is hurting Africa

Ugg and now enough with being serious, it is too much work and not enough fun.

I found this link on Apartment Therapy and I thought it was very useful information seeing as I am always pushing the boundaries on leftovers myself. It gives advice on how to store your fruits and vegatables best. Storage Tips

Okay, so I’m thinking the pregnancy cravings have officially started. As in last night I rolled over at 12:30am in bed and said to Wes, “How much do you love me?” Things went sort of downhill after he figured out I was more in the mood for him to run to the grocery store than for some “loving.” But seriously, what can I do? My mind has fixated on the object of my mouthbuds’ desires and there is no stopping it. Of course the current obsession is the one thing I’m pretty sure I will not be able to find. (**IMPORTANT: If you live in the St. Louis Metropolitan area and you know where to find the below object you had better leave a comment STAT. Thank you.**)

I present to you… the Japanese Crepe.

(The above pictures were shamelessly stolen from a random google image search where I tried to stop myself from licking the computer screen. No credit to artists or whatever. Sorry.)

Hello crepes come to Mama. Seriously… these are the best thing ever. These are no stinking snobby French food. You buy these babies on street corners and subway stations. One thing I can assure you of is Japan + street food = Heaven/Nirvana/Unrequited love. You can customize these at the shop. The crepes are HUGE and folded so that there is no leaking and they are amazingly delicious. I like the mixed fruits crepe (kiwi, strawberry & banana) with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate syrup. Oh yes. I do indeed. But that cookies and cream one is looking pretty good right now too. I haven’t had one of these since Wes and I were in San Francisco a year ago. Like to the day. And oh, how I miss them.

Now, seriously, I can’t go around eating stuff like this all the time because then I will get fat and my unborn baby will get fat and then I’ll have to give birth to a 400 pound hippo and rupture things I don’t like to think about and die. Instead I am trying to be good and eat healthy alternatives. In this case, I can settle for the mixed fruit part and sort of meet the demands of the craving. So getting back to last night, after I had described my fantasy of us flying to California or Japan so I could get this amazing confection, my next best idea was for Wes to run to the store and buy me some kiwi, strawberries and bananas. This was a no go. I’m pretty sure he thought this was a passing fancy, something I would sleep on, forget, and then move on to the next thing. Of course I immediately started salivating this morning when I woke up and the craving is back strong as ever. So I’m off to the grocery store to get me some fruit.
love, Christina

I promised to share the recipe with Mona of the chicken wings I made during the 4th of July festivities. I got the recipe from this wonderful woman’s website here: Pioneer Woman Cooks Wings!
Not only does Ree tell you how to make it in a very amusing way she provides lots and lots of pictures so you can visually see what things should look like. This is very helpful for the cooking handicapped such as me. Now for some of my personal observations making this recipe:

1. Do not be a chicken with the Tabasco sauce. USE IT! The smell from the sauce as your making it is enough to burn your nose hairs, but that hotness is not as concentrated on your chicken. The first time I made these I used only a little dribble of medium Tabasco (not even the regular type like she uses) and it was actually way too mild for even big baby me. Now I must admit that I have increased my tolerance and desire for spice in my life (I am proud to say I now get the medium sauce at Qdoba), but still I know compared to most I’m a big wimp. Long story short use the Tabasco sauce and you need to actually really shake it to get the sauce out. Phew.

2. Wait to make the sauce until the chicken is almost done as fairly soon after mixing everything beautifully together like it looks in her pictures it starts to separate a little. I still found the sauce good even if it separated. You sorta are stirring the sauce with your little chicken wings anyway.

3. I needed to stir the wings a lot while they were cooking or they would just sink to the bottom and stick making a big ol’ mess.

4. You are going to need a lot of oil to cook the wings. And don’t be like me; think about WHAT you’re going to put this oil into once you are done BEFORE you start cooking.

5. Eating wings is a messy endeavor so I guess it makes sense that making them is messy too, even if you stir diligently.

6. Have people hanging around immediately after you are done making them or you are in danger of eating them all by yourself.

As for her other recipe on there about the home-made ranch dip, It’s really good but survey says (ok my sister says) it’s not that drastically better than what you can buy at the grocery store. Unless you got time on your hands I’d stick with just buying it pre-made.

So I’m pretty excited about something that most people might think is no big deal. I found out today that there is a Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) program here in St. Louis. That’s a crop share for those of you who aren’t familiar. So basically we could get tons of fresh veggies, fruit, herbs, and flowers all summer long for a super price! It’s like having the farmer’s market delivered to you. (Actually I’d have to drive 5 miles to go pick it up but close enough!) I’m loving this idea. I just sent info in to be added to the 2009 waiting list, so this isn’t even something that would happen soon, but I’m just excited to find out it’s available. Here’s a link to the farm: http://www.threeriverscommunityfarm.com/index.html.

I’m thinking we’ll sign up for the 13 week program for our first year and see how much we are consuming. This is the cheapest way possible to get a ton of locally produced, sustainable-grown, organic vegetables. This works so well for us. Wes is a vegetarian, and that’s pretty much all I cook at home, so when we go grocery shopping the bulk of our money is spent on getting fresh produce. Honestly, I’m not an organic freak at all. I do however, love the idea of buying local to both support our local economy and to cut back on our carbon footprint. I promise I’m not going all hippie or yuppie consumer on people. I am a lazy person and I know it. God bless America. But if I can be lazy, save money AND do something good for our environment sign me up! The farm also sends out recipes and newsletters for farm members so that when you get your big bucket of chard you’re not left wondering what the hell to do with it. Yay! I’m thinking this may have the side benefit of getting me to cook more healthy meals at home and try some new foods. I also think it will be fun to be able to go to the farm and do some pick-you-own activities. Yay for free flowers!! I hope we make it on the list for next year!

Apparently I’m not the kind of girl who can bake home-made cakes. My first clue should have been when both my sister and my friend Kristin each said “You? You are going to bake a cake? Really?” once told of my plans. My second clue perhaps was that my only cake making experience to date is a failed attempt at cake from a box. Ah well it’s fun to make messes, especially when you have a puppy to help clean them up.

One matter in which my sister and I disagree is the subject of bST in milk. I get irate about the exploitation of the people’s fears just so they can convince people to pay for the more expensive milk, while my sister cringes over the image of swollen udders. I found a good page that talks about some of the common questions people have and the answers to those questions here, sadly they do not talk about how swollen the udders may or may not be. I assume that the reality of that depends really on how good and caring the farmer is to his or her livestock’s needs. I’m sorta scared of what I’ll find if I google swollen udders.