Jun 1, 2009 - File Icon Rants/Ramblings   Comment Icon Comments Off on Hmm..

Hmm..

There are days when I think I just kick ass in the kitchen, I’m the greatest cook and make the greatest stuff.

Then some days I think the only thing I can make is the greatest mess!

Frustrating, huh?

Jun 1, 2009 - File Icon Hints/Tips   Comment Icon 4 Comments

Frozen Meals

I’m lazy.

Really lazy. So in order to feed my need of being lazy, especially with the really yucky schedule I’m on, I do things like cook for an army.

Lots 'O Tortillas

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May 29, 2009 - File Icon Candy, Dessert   Comment Icon Comments Off on Peppermint Bark

Peppermint Bark

I’m not that big of a chocolate fan, but my husband is. He loves the fact that I like cooking with chocolate, or making candies and he gets most of them.

I got this idea from the peppermint bark that Williams Sonoma sells around Christmas. It’s horribly expensive but so easy to make. I ended up showing a friend how to make it last year and the husband has been bugging me for it ever since. There’s now 2 pounds of bark in the cupboard for him, so he wont complain any longer.

Bulk Candies

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May 27, 2009 - File Icon Disaster   Comment Icon 2 Comments

Out Of The Comfort Zone

I normally don’t stray too far out of my comfort zone in the kitchen. I stay mostly with American, Mexican, or Italian food. But for some crazy reason I had decided I wanted to make Indian curry. My friend and I used to go to a great Indian place every once in a while and binge on curry, since then I haven’t been able to find a great curry sauce that I like in the stores.

So I decided to make it at home. Or try to. Oh what a fool I am.

The recipe involved a spiced yogurt marinade for the chicken, and then a tomato and cream based curry sauce. Sounds simple enough, right?

In went the yogurt and spices…

Yogurt and Spices

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May 25, 2009 - File Icon Beef, Main Dishes, Pork   Comment Icon Comments Off on Mom’s Meatloaf

Mom’s Meatloaf

My mom was not THE best cook, but she did what she could. There were times where the burned bottom of a roll was “extra flavor”. The one thing I remember from being a kid that my mom made was meatloaf. It was one of the recipes from scratch that always came out good. Whenever we found a good recipe we tended to stick to it, not really just “going with it” and see what happens, mostly because the result could be disastrous.

I called my mom recently and got all of the recipes for food that I remember growing up. It’s something that I wanted to do before I forgot or before the recipes couldn’t be found again. That tends to happen.

There were a few changes I made to the recipe, you know me, I have to do things like that.

Crumbling Oats

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May 23, 2009 - File Icon Hints/Tips, In The Kitchen   Comment Icon Comments Off on Obsessive Cake Frosting

Obsessive Cake Frosting

Sometimes at night we get horrible sweet cravings. Since I’m more sensitive to sugar now and I’m trying to make healthier eating habits we don’t keep as much sweet stuff in the house anymore. But there are those nights/days where we think “gotta have sugar!”

One of those days I found a cake mix and frosting in my pantry. Awesome. However, weird things happen when I decide to get creative in the kitchen.

I get a little obsessive. And slightly crazy.

Simple Cakes

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May 21, 2009 - File Icon Hints/Tips, In The Kitchen   Comment Icon Comments Off on Make It Ahead

Make It Ahead

When I first started at my job a few years ago, I worked the early shift (same as I work now most days of the week) which meant I had to be at work at 5:00am, or sometimes even earlier depending on the day and how much work was ahead of us. I think the earliest I got to work at one point was 3:30am. That’s just obscene but at the same time I would go in that early and not get up until 10:00am, then I finally realized “wait, I’ve been sitting for almost 7 hours without getting up…ugh.”

There is always an upside to that type of situation though. You learn new ways to deal with your new life.

Freezing Orzo
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May 19, 2009 - File Icon In The Kitchen, Rants/Ramblings   Comment Icon Comments Off on Other Than Water

Other Than Water

Since giving up soda, I’ve been reduced to water and tea. There is only so much water or tea you can drink before you just become tired of it, even with all of the nifty flavored teas out there.

And now it seems I’ve given up caffeine too! Since being sick a while ago I haven’t still had caffeine, and now I really feel the effects of it whenever I try to drink it. This is especially hard when I have to get up at 3:00AM to go to work. That early and no legal chemical stimulants? People must think I’ve gone crazy!

Well, “gone” not really, I always was crazy.

Apple Juice

So lately I’ve been drinking this unfiltered gala apple juice, trying to find something else besides water, but sadly its horribly sweet.
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May 17, 2009 - File Icon Sauces   Comment Icon Comments Off on Sweet and Tart – Cranberry Sauce

Sweet and Tart – Cranberry Sauce

I love things that are not too sweet and rather tart. It would explain my love of blackberries, raspberries and cranberries. Since I cut out soda and cut back on my sugar intake, I am much more susceptible to the sugar highs and everything tastes sweeter to me.

So when I discovered this I knew I had to start making changes to my diet. Mostly to make things at home that I can cut back the sugar on. One random thing that I’ve been craving is a Cranberry Turkey Sandwich. They sell them on the break trucks that come by my work early in the mornings, which strikes me as weird since I’m trying to copy something off of a roach-coach.

One of the main ingredients to the sandwich I’m trying to make is cranberry sauce, obviously. Unfortunately most of the store bought varieties are VERY sweet. So I decided to make my own!

Boiling Cranberries

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