My Week and the April A-Z Challenge

 Monday-Steak, mashed potatoes and fried asparagus. We do not eat fried foods very often but the big guy saw fried asparagus on a show he was watching and wanted to try them.  SO good. Flour slightly damp asparagus, coat with egg wash and then shake the asparagus in a bag of bread crumbs or panko with salt, pepper and cayenne pepper and fry in oil turning once until golden brown.  I served them with a side of ranch.  They were so good we had them again Saturday for lunch.

Tuesday-Left over steak on nachos. In the summer I make a ton of salsa.  I still had some diced tomatoes and jalapenos in the freezer so I used them and added diced green chilis, garlic, onion, salt and cilantro.  So much better than any jar of salsa.

Wednesday- Udon noodles, chicken and veggie bowl.

Thursday- Lamb meatballs with lemon, garlic aioli, roasted onions and potatoes.

Friday- Left over meatless sauce and spaghetti, salad and fresh bread.

Saturday- Jerk spiced chicken legs with broccoli mac and cheese.

Now about the A-Z challenge.  Martha from Seaside Simplicity had a post a couple of weeks ago about the April challenge.  I thought about it and decided to do it.  If you want to learn more or sign yourself up go to Blogging from A to Z April Challenge (a-to-zchallenge.com) to sign up. My theme is going to be Cookbooks and Food Memoirs that I have read.  I think this will be a fun challenge. I hope some of you join in.

Happy Sunday!!

Things from my Kitchen

 Just a random post on some of the things in my kitchen that I love.  

My brother made this cutting board in wood shop when he was 17 and gave it to me for Christmas.  He's going to be 44 this year so that tells you how long ago that was.  For many years it leaned against the kitchen wall unused.  I thought it was too beautiful to use.  But in my quest to use and enjoy the good stuff I started actually using it.  I still use my larger cutting board the most but this no longer sits on the counter being neglected.

This is a picture of the 6 sets of chopsticks a friend of mine brought me from Japan.  They really are beautiful.  The glass that I keep them in  is one I picked up when I was 13 from a local Chinese Restaurant.  The picture doesn't show how pretty it is.  It is a dragon that wraps all around the glass.

I may do more posts of my favorite things.  It was nice to take a few minutes and think about how special some things are to me.  

My Week

 It's been one year ago today since I have seen my Mom.  We had gone out to lunch to celebrate her birthday.  In one hand it seems like it has been so much longer than one year.  I just heard that our favorite Mexican place, Gueros has been sold.  It was owned and operated by a husband and wife who lived above the restaurant and the stress of this last year has really taken a toll on their family.  They did so much for the community, this is a big loss. I think we are all going to be feeling the effects of this past year for a long time.

Dinners this week...

Monday- Ham and Cheese puff pastry, salad

Tuesday-Chicken Tiki Masala, spicy rice and cheese roll ups

Wednesday-Sloppy Joes on homemade buns and oven fried potatoes

Thursday-Spaghetti, salad, bread ( I switched out Portobello mushrooms for the meat in the sauce.  The meat eating big guy couldn't even tell. )

Friday-Pizza

Saturday- Lamp chops, baked potato, asparagus

Here is my recipe for Sloppy Joes:

3 cloves of garlic, diced

1/2 cup celery, diced

1/2 cup carrots, diced

1 pound ground beef

2 cups tomato sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tbs. Worcestershire sauce

1 tbs. red wine vinegar

1/4 cup brown sugar

pinch cayenne

pinch thyme

Sautee the first three ingredients.  Add the beef.  Once the beef is cooked add remaining ingredients.  Simmer for about 30 minutes.

The weather is warming up here.  Each day this week is supposed to be sunny and in the 60's.  

Happy Sunday!!

Things That Make Me Smile

 I finally found Florida strawberries today at Fresh Thyme.  So excited.  They are all cleaned and some are in the freezer for shakes or smoothies and a large bowl is sitting in the fridge waiting to be scooped on vanilla ice cream.  I can't wait.

My Week

I am so happy to live in the area we do. We have access to some of the best meat and produce around.  There is a large community of farmers producing amazing products and a number of small shops selling these items. It is so important to me to know where my food is coming from.  The quality of your food is what makes amazing meals.  It doesn't have to be fancy or trendy, just good wholesome and fresh ingredients.  The only thing I miss is the fresh fish I could get in Florida. You can find local catfish which is great but that is about the only one. Nothing against Indonesia but I want my food sourced closer to home. Luckily a few years ago I tried Sea to Table and we love it.  They tell you exactly when and where your fish was caught and it is shipped in dry ice right to your door.   

This week I finally found some good vanilla beans that I didn't have to spend a huge amount of money to buy.  The price has really gone up over the last few years with the weather conditions wiping out so many vanilla bean producers.  I bought a 10 pack from Native Vanilla so now I will have two more jars of vanilla in a few months. I make a batch about every 2 or 3 years.  Vanilla beans and a medium quality Vodka make the best vanilla extract. In 3-6 months the beans will release their deliciousness and turn this a beautiful dark brown.

Dinner this week...

Monday-Chicken and Rice

Tuesday-Coho Salmon, potatoes, green beans

Wednesday-Bacon wrapped meatloaf, pureed parsnips and asparagus (Shown in previous post)

Thursday-First grilling of the season!  Chicken kabobs, black beans

Friday-Chili, cheese wonton cups

Saturday-Home made beef and cheese Ravioli, salad

How was your week?

Bacon wrapped meatloaf

During the winter we usually have meatloaf once or twice.  It is a good comfort food which I have been craving.  To up the taste and change things up I made a bacon wrapped meatloaf.  It was SO good.  There are so  many little things you can do to up the taste of a dish and who doesn't like bacon?

My Week

 It is still a winter wonderland outside but the temps finally went above freezing yesterday and will be for the foreseeable future.

Meals this week were: ( because of the cold, a little heavy on the comfort food)

Monday- Beef Stroganoff

Tuesday-Lamb burger and oven fries

Wednesday-Brunswick Stew Just the smell of this stew brings back good memories.

Thursday- Spicy rice, chicken thigh and stir fried veggies with a green onion cheese egg roll wrap.

Friday- Bacon cheese burger, oven fries

Saturday Pasta bake, dandelion leaf and radish salad, bread

The big guy sent me a recipe.  When I asked him if it was something he wanted me to make he said he thought maybe we could make it together.  So yesterday afternoon we made a Hawaiian Pineapple Cake.  I actually was just a sous chef, he made the cake.  It is amazing. I can see making this often, though I will probably half the recipe for the two of us.

Cake:

2 Cups flour

2 Cups sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

pinch of salt

1 20 oz can of crushed pineapple ( undrained )

1 Cup chopped nuts (we used walnuts)

Mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl.  Pour into 9x13 inch greased pan and bake at 350 for 35-40 minutes.  

Frosting:

1 stick of butter ( room temperature )

8 oz cream cheese ( room temperature )

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/2 Cup confectioners sugar

coconut and chopped nuts for garnish

What did you enjoy this week?

Winter Wonderland

 Happy Tuesday!  There was about 3 inches of snow when I went in to work at 6 am yesterday.  It was slick and cold but manageable.  By 10 am the snow was really coming down so I packed up enough projects to keep me busy at home for a couple days and headed out.

This picture is of me leaving the hospital.  At the very end of this road, less than 1/4 of a mile away, is a large water park.  You can't see anything because of the blowing heavy snow.  I'm so glad I have a 4 wheel drive Jeep!

By 1 pm it was really coming down.  Big, dry snowflakes and a lot of wind.  This is from our front porch.  You can barely see the road.

I roasted a bone in turkey breast Sunday night for dinner so Monday night I loaded the crock pot to make stock.  Yes Brunswick Stew is getting made tonight for dinner.

This morning I logged in around 6 am.  About 20 minutes later I noticed how light it was out.  I'm glad I didn't miss this. Our backyard faces East. The picture doesn't even come close to as beautiful as it was.

We have over a foot of snow in our driveway with a drift off to one side that is probably 4 or 5 feet deep. We haven't had a day above freezing since February 6.  It's 0 right now with a high of 12 so this is not going anywhere anytime soon.  PLUS...2-4 inches are predicted for tomorrow.  We don't get snow like this very often so I'm really enjoying it.  I am really hoping the neighbor kid comes today and asks to shovel our driveway.  

Edit:  Its 2pm and we finally got the lawn guy to come and blow our driveway.  Over a foot deep with two feet at the end of the drive where the street plow went by.  Best 50 bucks I ever spent.

How's the weather in your neighborhood?

My Week

 Happy Valentines Day!!  It's a sunny day and so bright with everything covered in white.  It is 1 degree out.  Yes, 1!  They are predicting 4-6 inches of snow between this evening and Tuesday morning with temperatures in the single digits until Friday or Saturday.  

Dinners this week were...

Monday: Beef and bean chili with nachos

Tuesday: Oven roasted chicken legs, 4 cheese penne pasta and salad.

Wednesday: Bacon, veg and cheese omelet, toast

Thursday: Calzone and salad (the calzone was big but in fairness, that is a small lunch plate)

Friday: Beef back ribs, baked potato and corn

Saturday: Beef sausage and veg stir fry with rice and a cheese roll up

Saturday I also baked sugar cookies with royal icing.

Tonight we're having roasted turkey, mashed potatoes and green beans.

What's cooking at your house?

Random Thoughts on a Thursday

Well, I had good intentions of posting on Tuesday but didn't make it.  I will give the routine a few weeks, I'm sure it will easily become habit.

Like most of the US, it is brutally cold here in Southern Illinois.  Monday and Tuesday we had about 3 inches total of snow.  Wednesday, we had about a 10th of an inch of ice/snow/slush mixture.  We are not supposed to have a high above freezing for the next 9 days so none of it is going anywhere any time soon.  Plus next Monday and Tuesday we are supposed to get more snow.  It's too far off to predict how much.

I took this from my office window on Wednesday.

I am taking tomorrow off so I can enjoy a long three day weekend.  It's supposed to be single digits here so I figured it is a really good time to be home.  My plans are to watch part of a new Netflix series, Firefly Lane, which is based on my favorite authors book and she is a producer on the series.  I'm hoping it will not be a disappointment.  I also have her latest novel sitting on my bench ready for me to start.  Saturday I will be making Valentines Day cookies.  Some we will keep, the others I will take to work on Monday.  Then I'm planning on making a solid dent in my spring cleaning.  Surely with three days I can accomplish some of it. 

I haven't quite figured out what we are having for dinner but whatever it is will involve pickled jalapenos.  I pulled out a few peppers from the summer out of the freezer.  Add vinegar ( I used apple cider vinegar) and pickling spice and salt.  Just that easy.

What is going on in your world?  Stay safe!

My week

I woke up around 6 this morning. It was just starting to get light.  The blue sky was gorgeous against the new dusting of snow and the sliver of moon was shining bright. It was 4 degrees.  This entire week is going to be COLD thanks to a polar vortex.  It is winter though.

The work week was a little rocky.  By Friday I was SO thankful it was over.  Saturday morning we ventured to the grocery store.  We could have just made a quick trip for veggies but looking at next Saturday's forecast of -4 I decided we needed to do it now.  The store was a lot busier than normal, I'm sure because of the super bowl and the coming weather.  Today I am going to do my usual Sunday cleaning, food prep and laundry.  I want to be as ready as I can for the rough week ahead.  

We watched Hillbilly Elegy on Netflix which was a really good movie.  While cooking each night, I watched/listened to various cooking shows.  Thursday I had my fix of the one trash TV show I watch Southern Charm on Bravo.

Kristen Hannah is one of my favorite authors.  I have read all of her books. Some are better than others but in my opinion The Great Alone and Winter Garden are my favorites.  Her newest novel, The Four Winds was released Tuesday.  It arrived Thursday and I can't wait to start reading it.

This weeks dinners were:

Sunday- Stuffed shells, salad, bread

Monday- Beef bone broth with Thai noodles.  Our local butcher sells beef soup bones for a really good price.  I had one in the freezer so once it thawed I seared both sides in the caste iron skillet then put it in the crockpot with celery, carrots, onion and garlic.  Then I added about 7 cups of water and cooked on low until late Monday afternoon.  I pulled the pieces of beef out and strained the broth. I sauteed garlic, ginger, onion and mushrooms, splash of tamari and then added the beef.  Added the mixture to the broth, sprinkled in cumin, turmeric, coriander, red pepper flakes and let simmer for about 30 minutes.  Add the Thai or any noodle you choose, simmer for another 10 minutes.  This was one of those wing it dinners turned out really good.

Tuesday-Chicken legs, baked potato and salad.

Wednesday- Chicken (left over), cabbage, carrot and ginger egg rolls with green onion, cream cheese in an egg roll wrap. I sliced up 1/2 head of cabbage, one carrot and one nub of ginger. Shredded the left over chicken from Monday.  Cooked the veggies, added red pepper flakes, tamari and a splash of fish sauce. When the cabbage softens, add the chicken.   Cook for about 5 minutes.  Let cool and then assemble the egg rolls.  Then I just mixed green onion with cream cheese and spread on two egg roll wraps and rolled.  Then fry or bake. 

Thursday- Beef and bean chili

Friday- Mushroom, green pepper, pepperoni and red onion pizza.

Saturday- Beef sausage stir fry with spicy rice and a cheese roll up.

What was your week like?

Things That Make Me Smile

 

Dr. Ella brought me these beautiful tulips on Tuesday for making lunch on Monday.  

I found this sign and had to have it.  My dad used to get so upset when my mother would occasionally let me have cake for breakfast.  She always said it's no different than a doughnut.  Smart woman.

I am going to start doing a weekly recap on Sundays and then random posts on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  I'm feeling the need for routine in this crazy, upside down world.

What made you smile this week?