Posts Tagged ‘Recipe’

First off, I was caught slightly off guard yesterday by the news showing up at work…

 

I just have to say, no day is the same at work which is nice.

 

Last night, I made Shrimp Arrabbiata.  I have had this on my “to make” list for some time, and I had all of the ingredients on hand.  I have also been trying to clear up some space in my pantry so this felt like a good opportunity to use a few cans of tomatoes, sauce, etc. 

 

I used up the last of a Costco-sized bag of shrimp.  One thing done with.

I should also say that I love my spice drawer.  It is perfect as it is next to the stove and I can just open and get my spices.  Before, they were haphazardly thrown into the cabinet.  I also had a problem buying repeated spices such as ginger and cinnamon and garlic flakes.  Now I just have to look here to see if I have them.  Perfect!

 

  

I used up two open boxes of angel hair pasta. Two additional items taking up valuable space in the cupboard.

 

The dish was fantastic.  It was definitely spicy.  I made it more sauc-y with the addition of more canned tomatoes, but I kind of wanted it that way.

 

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I received quite a few samples to try-out yesterday from Healthy To Go.  I will be trying them out over the next few days and posting them on here. 

This weekend flew by.  I have another vlog that I need to work on, so maybe sometime this week I will get to that…

Otherwise, I spent Sunday doing what needed to be done: laundry and relaxing.  Our dryer is yet again on the fritz, so it took the majority of the day to get my clothes dry…

 

I did manage to figure out how what to bake, though!  Cinnamon Streusel Coffee Cake was on the agenda.  Jared didn’t want cake-cake, he wanted banana chocolate chip coffee cake (a la Starbucks) but all of the recipes I found needed cream cheese and we didn’t have any.

 

 

I had Jared make the struesel topping as well as the buttermilk.  We didn’t have buttermilk either, but that is easy to “make”…

 

 

Jared also buttered the pan.  I used a spring form because I only have a bunt and not a tube, I also didn’t want to “fight” it to come out of the pan.  This coffeecake is by no means healthy.  Nope.  It’s rich and dense.  Considering how much I bake, though, I’ll run a few extra miles to even it all out .

 

While the cake was baking (mine took 67 minutes), Jared and I ate dinner.  I had put a pork tenderloin (I still had one in the freezer from Christmas) and two bottles of beer into the crockpot to cook.  When It was done, I shredded it and topped with bottled barbeque sauce.  Simple.  Earlier in the day I also made some potato salad.  I had a bunch of redskinned potatoes that needed to be used (some were starting to sprout) so I figured this would be a good way to use them up.  The salad itself was simple…  About 1/4 c. of mayo and another few “squirts” of light Caesar dressing..  I ran out of mayo haha!  My cooking style is sporadic at best .

 

  

 

I wanted to make myself a fish taco.  I really didn’t want pork.  I knew I had a pecan crusted tilapia filet in the freezer from McGinnis Sisters so I figured I’d use that.  Well, I slapped that on the fry pan and got really excited.  Then I flipped it over.  It still had the skin on it.  I tried to scrape off the skin.  Oh gross.  Then it started to smell fishy.  Ugh.  Totally not my style.  My stomach turned.  I ended up throwing the fish away.  I can’t do fish with the skin on.  I really didn’t want pork, either but my choices were limited at that point…

 

The good part of the meal was that I served Jared his pulled pork on Pretzel buns. 

 

 

 

My plate is above.  As you can see, I didn’t give up hope with the taco theme, but it just wasn’t the same…   I actually didn’t eat the taco-y pork part because I was still trying to regain my appetite.  I did, however eat all of the beans and a part of the potato salad.

 

Sixty-seven minutes later, the oven was beeping for the cake to be done… Jared and I agreed that it looked perfect.  Perfect in the “bakery” sense.  That doesn’t often happen with my baked goods, which is fine.

 

We debated having some that night.  Jared said only with coffee.  I said if I had coffee at night, I wouldn’t be able to sleep.  While he was putting his clothes into the wash, I cut into it.  I could argue that coffee cake is good with milk, which is exactly how I had mine.  I also knew that I wouldn’t eat something heavy like this during the week =)

 

I cut us both a piece.  I wanted to try it while it was still warm.   It was really good.  The crumb topping is always good.  It also had a layer in the middle, if you can tell. Having baked it in a spring form pan probably doesn’t help identify the “layers” as much.  It was rich.  Now that my sweet craving is gone, we have about 3/4 of a coffee cake left haha!  I may cut it into pieces and freeze some of it. 

 

Oh, and I will say that I “earned” every bite of that.  I did a 4 mile hill run on the deadmill…  it looked something like this.

Mile 1: 0.2 M –6.4 MPH @ 1%, .1 M walk @ 1% repeat until at mile 2

Mile 2: 0.2 M – 6.4 MPH @ 2%, .1M walk @ 2% repeat until at mile 3

Mile 3: 0.2 M – 6.4 MPH @ 3%, .1M walk @ 3% repeat until at mile 4

Mile 4: 0.2 M – 6.5 MPH @ 4%, .1 M walk @ 3% repeat until at mile 5

This is typical of me: when I decide I want to bake/make something “out of the ordinary” or a treat, I want to make sure it is “just right”…

 

Do I make this amazing looking Butter Pecan Cake on Bake or Break?

Or do I make the caramel walnut upside down banana cake from Smitten Kitchen?

Or do I pull out my trusty cookbooks, including the several I have from Moosewood Restaurant?  One time, some time ago, I made their carrot cake which was divine. 

 

I love weekends, because questions like these are my biggest to ponder =)

Ahh, Sundays are always so relaxing.  Wake up, take your time doing everything, enjoy the “last” day. 

I wanted to make a batch of granola yesterday in an attempt to stop purchasing from Market District…

 

So I gathered the oats & oat bran and all of the “stuff” I wanted to throw in.  My stuff was a combination of goji berries, cinnamon, raisins, cherries, and a half a bag of leftover trail mix.  Cinnamon, maple syrup, and brown sugar add to the flavor of the granola.

 

 

I toasted a bunch of leftover nuts I had in the freezer: almond slices, whole almonds, and a handful of pecans.  I then combined those with 3 cups of oats and 1 cup of oatbran.  I added maple syrup and brown sugar as a “binder”.  I toasted everything at 350 for 20 minutes, stirring every so often…

 

While the base mixture was cooking, I combined my dried fruits in the same bowl. 

The result?  A cheap granola mixture with loads of flavor.  I’d say it made 30 servings or 20 big servings.  It’s delish!  I’d pay around $9 for this much granola at MD.  This was less than that price.

I just had to go out and run yesterday, I had all of my “needed” gear, and I actually enjoyed freezing my ass off.  Crazy?  Yes.

 

It was Eight Degrees when I left yesterday.  I could feel all eight degrees.

 

There was no base layer-and-wind coat.  It was full on layers.  My first layer was the typical base layer.  My second was the warmest pants I could find.  Coupled with the warmest jacket I could find that had a hood.  Two layers of socks and gloves, YakTrax, headband with ear warmers, and my “Hotties” hand and foot warmers.  Crazy.  My fingers and toes were still cold.

 

What did I forget?  Tissue.  My nose started running and I had to use a glove.  Sorry, gross, I now.  Mid-point in my run I realized it was freezing as my eyes were watering and which I blinked, my eyelashes were frozen.  My only option was to turn around and get home. 

 

My nails are a disgrace.  That was on the agenda yesterday ha.  I came home, promptly showered and made brekkie for Jared and I.  Jared is making his way through the ham, slowly but surely. 

 

 

I made Oatmeal Pancakes using:

• 2 Cups Oats
• 1/2 cup flour
• Few dashes salt
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 cup water
• Cinnamon
• Dash salt

I simply combined everything in a bowl, let the oats sit for a few minutes to “soak up” some of the liquid.  It made about 10 pancakes.  They were filling and delicious.  Easy, too.  You definitely need the cinnamon, otherwise, they will be bland.  I didn’t enjoy the PB too much, and was too lazy to unfreeze any berries.

Jared enjoyed all of the ham, eggs, and a few of the pancakes.  We have some leftover which I will nuke this morning at work…

 

I also made lentil soup last night!  It was just okay…

 

 

I added about 1.5 c chopped carrot, 2 onion, with 10 cups water, a hambone, bay leaves, and lentils.  It simmered for about 2 hours until the lentils were tender.  I was hoping it would taste like my favorite Progresso Lentil Soup, but it didn’t.  It was good, not great.  In fact, I wasn’t a fan of the hambone at all.  I added it to try to get Jared to eat it.  He didn’t finish his mug.

 

I made a grilled sandwich for me which included roasted red pepper and two slices of reduced fat Cabot cheese.  It was good and the addition of the pepper gave it some interest.  I finished my soup, and liked it by the end.  I saved the other soup in hopes of a future reheat.  We’ll see.

 

Oh Monday.  Why are you always here so soon!?