First two weeks

So far I have packed my lunch for last week and this one.  I am really getting into the routine of making my dinner and packing a lunch for the next day.  I hope it is helping my health.

Today's lunch was chilled apple and peach soup.  The recipe I used is from the Courses Cookbook from the Princess Cruise lines.

The recipe was pretty simple and requited no cooking so it was great for summertime and the heat.  The exact recipe can be found here.

It was very creamy and I feel it is for a sophisticated palate.

To round out my lunch, I had some watermelon and a tuna fish sandwich but instead of bread I used a tortilla.

I hope to see you tomorrow and have another lovely lunch day.

2022-2023 School Year

Today help me to keep eating better, I bought myself some Bento Boxes to start the school year.  I must admit that it has been so much fun thinking of my lunches that right now, that is what is inspiring me to go to school.  So far, I have made my lunch for 3 days. 

Day One- Salad with thousand island dressing and vegan chicken salad and peach slices

Day Two- Brussel sprout ravioli, broccoli cole slaw and cherries

Day Three- Salad with dressing and lobster bisque soup and a peach

I don't really plan that far in advance but just went to the grocery store for inspiration and got some healthy food and we will see what happens.  

Turns out I have enjoyed making other meals as well.

Breakfast:

Day One- Oatmeal with brown sugar and cinnamon

Day Two- Chia seed chocolate pudding

Day three-oopsy ran late

Dinner:

Day One- Brussel sprout and bacon ravioli and salad

Day Two- Lobster Bisque and garlic toast

Day Three-  We will see

Who Needs McDonalds?!?

Just like many of us, during this quarantine I have been using this time to try pick up some skills. One of the most popular skills that people have been working on is bread making. I have made a couple of loaves and am trying to make some sourdough starter but that is the extent of my knowledge.  However, several years ago I bought a series of DVDs called Homestead Blessings  In this series their is a DVD called The Art of Bread Making.  I thought now would be a great time to get it out and see if the recipes work.  

The recipe that interested me was Hamburger Buns.  So I got out the flour, salt, yeast, milk etc and tried my best.  For a first attempt it wasn't to bad.  They didn't rise very well but they looked ok and were pretty soft and tasted well. 

Not bad for a first attempt

Since I had some leftover rice and some cans of beans, I decided to make some veggie burgers to go with these buns. I used the vegetarian burger recipe from Martha Stewart's Favorite Family Meals DVD.  I tried to find the recipe on her website but they were a little different from the one I used. 

After making the patties, I got some lettuce from my garden.  I just picked off a couple of leaves but this is the first food I have gotten from it this year. 

My first food from the garden 

Added some pickles and ketchup and I had a great dinner. 

Yummers

There is always a feeling of satisfaction when I have learned to do something new.  With each new skillI feel a sense of freedom.  I don't have to settle for what someone else is offering. I can make my own,

Lenten Idea

I have decided to give up shopping for Lent.  this is allowing me to "shop my cabinets and freezer" first. Of course being snowed-in and out of school for 2 weeks also helped.  I really feel that I am getting into the swing of things.
Since my sister-in-law has given me a new 31 lunch tote I am going to start taking my lunch to school again.  

One year!

Well, I am only 1 year behind. I will need to work on that. I do feel that when I blog, I am more likely to stick to a project. I will think of a good one.

P.S. My sister-in-law just bought me a beautiful new 31 lunchbag so maybe I will start with that again.

Kroger Lunch

Thank goodness for BzzAgent and Kroger for saving the day again.
This Friday morning I redeemed my free coupons for a Kroger Skillet Meal of Chicken Fajitas and a Fresh Selections Salad with the Bacon Buttermilk Variety. 
I was just using the coupons because they were free.  However, I was pleasantly surprised that my lunch turned out to be very tasty and probably better for me than I imagined.

I took home the Kroger Skillet Chicken Fajita Meal and put it 1 tablespoon of oil and cooked it for 8 minutes.  I used a pot instead of a skillet which is why the veggies were more mushy than expected.  If I had used a saucepan they probably would be more tender.
It seemed to be a simple packet of chicken and veggies. However, when I added the spice packet, it whole meal seemed to come together. I don't know what they spices were but they transformed the plain chicken. Fortunately, it wasn't too spicy. I do not like a lot of spice and this was perfect.
The package includes some small tortillas to go with the meal. It says to defrost them for 5 minutes but it may take a little longer than that. Mine took about 10 to completely thaw.
There was enough there for my lunch on Friday and Saturday.
I also added the Kroger Fresh Selections Buttermilk Bacon Salad.  In my opinion, it was the perfect accompaniment.  The lettuce was fresh and crisp and the croutons were crunchy and flavorful.  Plus, the bacon was actual bacon. I was expecting the hard crunchy things that are usually found at salad bars.  Nope, this was much better.
I have some pictures that I will add when I get to my other computer.
Bottom line.....Would I buy this meal again.  Absolutely. It was fast, good, and well worth purchasing. 

Buitoni help for vegetarian

Through my BzzAgent account I received a free package of Buitoni Wild Mushroom Agnolotti.

#GotItFree

I didn't know what Agnolotti was but it look similar to polish pirogis. These were filled with portobelli mushrooms and cheese. 

The directions were to boil 4 quarts (1 gallon?!?) of water and add the pasta and bring back to a boil.  My pots were not that big so I just got the biggest one I could find and filled it with water and boiled it.  I added the pasta and a tablespoon of oil to keep them from sticking to each other.

Agnolotti

 After about 8 minutes I plated half the pasta and added some pizza sauce that I had.

The pasta was nice and meaty but I feel that without the tomato sauce it would have been quite bland.

However it was quick and easy and a great way to eat vegetarian without too much difficulty. 

Will I buy it again. Probably. While it was not the best pasta in the world, it was good and made me feel like I had made a dinner and not just something to eat.

Nigella Rules

Nigella Lawson is one of my favorite food personalities because she seems so relaxed in the kitchen and she doesn't mind if you alter her recipes.
On her website she has a monthly cookalong and I finally decided to try one.  The recipe for August was Maple Chicken and Ribs.  It doesn't require many ingredients or techniques.

It starts with 12 chicken thighs and 12 spare ribs. As a single person, I thought that was a bit much so I only got 6 of each.  Spare ribs are pork and short ribs are beef. This is was I learned at the meat counter of my local Fresh Market. As a bonus, the thighs were on sale for 99 cents a pound so thank you Nigella. Unfortunately, I wasn't so lucky with the spare ribs.

 

 

 

You then need 1 cup of apple juice and 4 tablespoons of maple syrup.  I already had apple cider and thought that would so well with the maple so I used that.  I didn't realize it but maple syrup is graded differently than most other things.  Grade B is actually better than Grade A. Oops

 

I added the remaining ingredients- 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil and soy sauce, as well, as the star anise. There was no cinnamon stick in the house so I just used a pinch of ground cinnamon. My market offers garlic in containers already peeled so I just used those instead of the 6 unpeeled cloves.

In separate ziplock bags i put the ribs and chicken and added the dark brown marinade.

 

They were then put in the refrigerated overnight and I took the chicken and ribs out and cooked them for 1 hour and 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

 

 

I plated it with watercress for greenery and some butternut squash. Yum. The taste from the star anise gives the meat a somewhat haunting flavor. The ribs were moist but completely white on the inside. Thighs gave a luxurious feel and the skin was a lovely dark brown.

 





 

 

 

Emergency Chocolate

A friend recently came to stay with me when she was feeling a little off-kilter. I asked if there was anything I could do to make her feel better. She responded that the only thing she wanted was these chocolate peppermint candies* that I bought at our local natural grocery store.
It is has become her favorite thing to eat when she comes over and needs dessert.  I had a bunch in the refrigerator because I bought them when they were on sale.  Unfortunately, there were no more left.  I ran to the store to get some more. The clerked helped to look but finally determined that those candies were only sold at Christmastime.
Upon returning home I told my friend and she was very saddened but took it like a trooper. Next christmas, I vowed to purchase even more so as not to run out. They were never mentioned again and we didn't give them another thought.
Until, watching these Everyday Food videos by Sarah Carey.  She recently did a video on Simple Rocky Road Fudge. Huzzah! I thought with a little tweeking, this could turn into the Chocolate Peppermint Candies.



Here is how I altered her recipe.

Instead of almonds I used peppermint candy canes crushed up.

The marshmellow fluff was changed into mini-marshmellows.  Also, because she likes dark chocolate, those were the chocolate chips that were used.

She gave the fudge for taste an 8 (on a scale of 1-10) It received a 6 on presentation because she would have preferred the peppermint on top of the chocolate. The candy sometimes got in the way of the chocolate sticking to the graham crackers.

 



* I would tell you the name of them but I forgot it. I have googled but can't find the name.

Hey Dumplin'

I have tried another Gwyneth Paltrow recipe again. This one is the Veggie Dumplings. The recipe call for (imho) alot of equipment and ingredients.  This is not one that you want to try "on the fly".  It takes time and organization.

 However, the recipe does say you can freeze them for the future and it does seem to make many at one time.

Ingredients: garlic, onions, cabbage, cooked quinoa, tofu,frozen peas, egg roll wrappers, soy sauce,

It is important to have the quinoa cooked first. Hopefully, you have some leftover. I didn't so it took about 18 minutes for the quinoa to get done.

First you have to chop up garlic, onions and napa cabbage.  Since I didn't have any Napa cabbage handy I did you a cabbage that my neighbor gave me. WooHoo!

 

You put the garlic, onion and cabbage in a food processor and blitz.  The onion seemed to get a little "pasty" before the cabbage was fully chopped so I chopped in smaller batches.

 

After mixing this together, you place it in a frying pan with neutral oil in it. They saute until the onion and cabbage are almost brown.

 

Add the tofu, quinoa, and frozen peas to the pan and cook until the peas are softened.

 

 

 

*Then remove the pan from the heat and add soy sause and toasted sesame oil. Mash it all together.

 

 

Get out the egg roll wrapper and place them somewhere flat. I used a baking sheet with a silicon mat on it for ease.

Wet all for sides of the wrapper so it will stick together when forming the dumpling. Some people use a pastry brush, I just used my finger. Add about 1 tablespoon of the filling to the middle.

 



 

Then, bring up all for sides to meet in the middle to form a dumpling.

 

The top of mine looked too large for the bottom and was very flacid.  So I decided to cut the original wappers into fourths and make the dumplings much smaller.

 

 

You then need to steam them for about 4 minutes. They suggest you use a bamboo steamer. I just use the steamer pot that came with my pans. They turned out pretty well. 

 



If I make them again I would make sure to:

1. Not make them when I am hungry
2. Get everything set up beforehand and have plenty of time to create them
3. Use one big batch and freeze some, so you don't have to go through this process everytime you want dumplings.
    

 

 

*This is the step I forgot to do and maybe why my dumplings did not look nearly as good as Julie's and Gwyneth's





 

Paco Joe

This was begun by Amanda Soule at Soulemama.com.  I wanted to join in.

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

 

Blueberry Bounty

This is the latest recipe from It's All Good by Gwyneth Paltrow that I have tried. The recipe called "flourless any fruit crumble" was chosen because the Fresh Market had a sale for the 4th of July on blueberries. It was good. On a scale of 1 to 10 it was about a 7 overall. Of course my friend who came over for dinner had three helpings so, opinions may vary.



This is the book picture

You start with 4 cups of any kind of fruit. The picture in the book looks like there are apples and blueberries. Due to the sale, I got 4 POUNDS for $10 so I had plenty. I did make sure to take the stems off before I washed them.



4 cups of blueberries

The author's said to use a shallow baking dish but I decided I wanted to use a different type and it may have alter the recipe.The next ingredient to add to the blueberries is maple syrup. It says you need 4 tablespoons but you only use 2 tablespoons with the blueberries. You use the rest of the syrup later so if you want to divide it to make it easier you might want to.




Maple Syrup

For the one tablespoon of lemon juice, I had some frozen that I was going to use. The recipe calls for fresh though. Unfortunately, the frozen didn't thaw in time. I did have a lemon and wound up using the whole lemon to get the one tablespoon of juice. I put it in with the blueberries.

Lemons Lemons

Julia and Gwyenth said that you could substitute groun up almonds for the almond flour in the recipe.  It was easy as pie to do. I had previously gotten a bag of almonds at Big Sam's and just put those in the food processor and ZAPP!

You need 1/2 cup of almond flour and 1/2 cup of Quinoa. The cookbook lists Quinoa flakes and the ingredient. I am not sure if these a the flakes or not. Fortunately, the rosemary and olive oil seasoning is in a separate bag. So the quinoa was just plain.  These go into a separate bowel for the topping. Then add the leftover maple syrup and some salt. This gets mixed well together and becomes the topping for the crumble.


When everything is put togeth you place this dish into a preheated 400 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. 

Before
 

 

 

 

 

 

Kettle Chip Crazy!

When I received my free chicken from the Kroger Deli through BzzAgent. I also got a free coupon for their Kroger Kettle Chips. I really enjoyed how light they were. In my opinion, most kettle chips are heavy and thick. They taste like eating fried cardboard. 
The Kroger brand were alot thinner and more delicate. I actually ate the entire bag of chips which I normally never do.

I didn't get a picture of the chips but here is what is left of the chicken.

 

Free Lunch

For being a BzzAgent, I received a coupon for a free 8 piece deli fried chicken meal.  The chicken was much better than I had thought.  Normally the grocery store chicken is heavily breaded with big chunks.This breading was very light and not greasy at all. I only wish there had been more meat on the pieces.

Here fishy, fishy, fishy

Tonight I made the Mustard + Old Bay Fish Fingers from Gwyenth Paltrow's book It's All Good.
They were much better than I expected them to be. I even had to stop myself from going back for second helpings.

Of course,as usual, I didn't exactly follow her recipe to the letter. The reasons are:

1. I had so much at home that I need to use up
2. Too lazy to make a major shopping trip

Instead of Vegenaise, I used 7 packages of mayonaise that I had left over from some chicken sandwiches.  It also calls for coarse seeded mustard.  I am not sure what I is so I had some Coleman's dry mustard and used that. The breadcrumbs I used were what I had stored in the freezer. It was a little bit of this and that. There was even some Ritz cracker and challah bread crumbs in there. At my grocery store the only kind of white fish they had was catfish.

So even though, most of the ingredients are different, the fingers were delicious.  They were crunchy but the fish was still soft. The added squeeze of lemon also helped brighten up the flavors.

Since the fish was over 1 pound, I had alot of fingers leftover. They were put on a cookie sheet before baking and put in the freezer. They only take about 10 minutes to back which will make for a great quick lunch or dinner. I am sure they will come in handy soon.

Price of ingredients:
Vegenaise (mayonaise)- had at home
coarse seeded mustard (Colemans)-had at home
Dijon mustard- had at home
Gluten-free bread crumbs (used what I had)- had a home
Old Bay Seasoning- had at home
sea salt (kosher)-had at home
4 flounder, fluke, or sole fillets (catfish 1 pound)- $5.39
olive oil spray (Pam)- had at home
lemon wedges- had at home

 

The saga continues...

I have made the first recipe out of Gwyneth Paltrow's It's All Good cookbook this evening. The recipe was "Brown Rice Pasta with Fried Capers and Tuna."Overall, it was a pretty good meal. It didn't seem like something "healthy" or "good for you".

My kitchen, I must admit is not gourmet by any stretch of the imagination. The hardest part of the recipe was finding where my can opener was :-) However, it was easy to make and didn't take long at all. The total time seemed to be about 20 minutes. In fact, I was debating about making something to take to school because it was the end of an enjoyable day and I was tired.

It tasted really good and in my mind if you add parsley to anything, it will be scrumptious.  The pasta was light and the "topping" was satisfying and comforting. The fried capers were a new taste sensation and added a little crunch to keep in from being too mushy.

Does my food look anything like the anything like the food in the book? Nope. Absolutely not. Mine looks like brown sludge with green leaves. As with anything though, I have learned from my mistakes (when they say a large skillet, use a large skillet) and it will be better next time.

The book has been criticized for being too expensive for the average family. As for Ms. Paltrow mu thoughts are: as one person on tv said " They ain't never bought me lunch, so I don't really care." I will just tell you what the ingredients were and how much they cost me.

Olive oil-- had at home
cloves of garlic-- had at home
brown rice pasta-- 3.79 (used 1/2 bag)
1 lemon-- 4.49 for a bag of about 6
parsley-- 1.99 (used 1/2)
anchovies-- had at home
tuna-- had at home
capers-- had at home
red chili flakes-- had at home

Since I am trying to eat better and summer is coming up, I want to keep using these recipes.
**as a side note. I never imagined how much this blog would help me keep up with things that I want to do and goals to attain.  It has been pretty cool :-)

 

GP and me

Gwenyth Paltrow is my new lifestyle muse.  I subscribe to her newsletter GOOP and wish I could afford her "collaborative" items. 

I don't know why but seems down to earth and I can relate to her but yet, she still seems glamourous and aloof.

Recently I have been having some health and weight issues and want to start eating healthier. This book seems to combine the best of both worlds. Whatever the reason, I can't wait to start using recipes from her book "It's All Good."

Today I am going grocery shopping to help start out on the right foot. Critics have bashed the book as being too expensive for a family. I am not a family so I will try and see how "bad" it is.


 

Off the wagon

Well I made it 4 complete days without purchasing any prepared food.  Today wasn't too bad.  I used my Chick-Fil-A coupon for a free sandwich but I bought fries and a soda to go with it.  I still made all the other food that I had today.

I am also trying to get back on-board with my meal weekly menus. I am working on this weeks. RIght now

Total           Left
$4                $175

* I know the totals keep changing but from now on I am sticking with the goal of $179. 

Threpeat

I don't think I need to blog about this everyday, at least until I miss a day or complete the month of January.
I did go by TJ Maxx to pick up a gift for my sister-in-law. The dutch ovens are still there. One is $179 and one is $159 so hopefully it will be soon.

Total            Left
$3                 $154

If I don't eat out or pay for unhomecooked meals I will have enough money by June 22. That will make it $183.   If the other one is still on sale, that will be available $162 will be on June 1st.  I think I can do that. The best way is just taking it one day at a time for me.  No pressure

Twofer

Total                              Left
$2                                   $258

Well, I am two for two.  I didn't eat out today and I was really tempted because today was our first day back.  Alot of teachers went out for lunch but I decided to stay and work in my office.

I do need to pack my lunch for tomorrow. I am glad that I don't have to stick to the "no leftovers" rule that I had with the first project.  I think I will take my steak stir-fry and some broccoli with cheese.

I have also started drinking out of my Athena water bottle and have drunk over 24 oz today.  I know it will be more hopefully at least 40 oz.