i know, i know i haven't done this in far too long. *but* school has been ruling my life. so i will just show you some pictures from the past two months. it may look like i've only been eating pizza and pasta but i can assure you that it not the case haha. i just haven't been taking pictures of most things.
well, tomorrow is back to school. well, back to minneapolis, and tuesday is back to class. ready? not so much. summer wasn't quite long enough; i think after this past winter, we all deserve twice the amount of summer. and before long, it will be fall and get cool again, then cold, then frigid..and we all know where that ends. oh, in about may. such is life. if cold weather is the worse that it gets, we have it pretty good.
okay let's backtrack here...
i last left you with a next dinner of vietnamese chicken salad. while it turned out okay, i wasn't a huge fan of it. i think it was because of the fish sauce--i can't stand the smell of it (but who loves it, really?), and after cooking with it i could smell and taste it too much in the dish. mom and dad seemed to like it okay though. if i had to pick a favorite part, it would be the nuts. but then again, you are what you eat. (a nut, not vietnamese.)
next i did beef with spicy vinegar sauce--although i just baked the beef in the oven with some of the sauce, then finished up cooking it in some more of the sauce, in a saucepan, on the stove. i served it with caramelized onions with barbecue sauce, since we have an abundance of onions from the garden. finished it off with some oven fries and steamed green beans, both fresh from the garden.
next we had roasted spiced chicken with cinnamon and honey-glazed sweet potatoes. the chicken was alright, i forgot to buy the habenero (and didn't realize we had them in the garden), so it was lacking that kick. the sweet potatoes were pretty good, but didn't quite compare to the ones mom made a few days back with olive oil and sea salt (they were cooked just right, a little crispy and delicious!!). i also made warm roasted mushroom and feta salad. it was good--i love feta--but wasn't quite feeling the mushrooms that day.
friday for dinner i made dad is pre-run pasta; for his sauce i used tomatoes from the garden. i made him tilapia, breaded with garbanzo fava flour, dried thyme, dried oregano, (salt and pepper). fried it in the skillet with olive oil. mom and i got mac and cheese pizza! as i was rolling out the dough and noticed all of the air bubbles all ready, i knew it was going to be a good one. :) the bottom crust, which is usually a little thinner, turned out a little thicker this time. in addition, of course, to be traditional huge crusts on the edges. mmmm so good!
then yesterday for lunch i made andouille and beef burgers with caramelized onions. well, not quite andouille, we couldn't find it at the store, so we used spicy sausage instead. worked close enough. the burgers had pecans in them, which was different but actually quite good. i think it was my first time being in charge of watching and flipping the burgers on the grill, and i think i did quite well. so juicy and succulent. we had them on pretzel rolls from city market, and i toasted them on the grill as well. success!
tonight is the last supper in wisconsin, till thanksgiving. going over to jen and bryan's, should be delicious as always. then tomorrow morning, it's hit the road jack! we plan on going to good earth for lunch, and i hope to try something other than breakfast food. but it's just so hard, cuz it's so good! won't get to cook much this week, due to moving in and team dinners, etc. but i'll try to keep you in the loop! meet ya back here next weekend! ;)
Wednesday, August 20, 2008
well, i go back to school in a week and a half, so i've been getting things ready. i decided to put my spices in mini tupperware containers, because last year i kept them in the little bags they came in (i buy them in bulk from fresh market), but they tend to not seal after a while (and spill all over the place), and the writing on the labels rub off so i'm constantly playing "What's this Spice?" i just wrote the name of the spice right on the tupperware so i should avoid past problems. however, i have a new dilemma: how to store all of these 30 containers? before i just had all the bags in two baskets, but let's face it, tupperware takes up more room. so now i need to figure out just how to store them so they are 1) accessible, 2) easy to see which spices are which, and 3) not taking over my entire kitchen.
mom and dad are sad to see my cooking leaving them for a while, but minneapolis is anxiously awaiting its return. but for now, i've still got some time left in this kitchen. let's see what i've cooked up...
saturday for dinner it was just me, so i felt like having pizza when i got home from work. i made mom's pizza dough, since it does not require rising time. i made a light red sauce and used up some of the cheeses we had--provolone, mozzarella, parmesan, and feta. it was quite tasty.
then, sunday for dinner we had potato and chorizo empanadas, black beans, and a salad i tossed with a pico i quickly made and squeezed some extra lime juice onto. for dessert, i made churros. the empanada dough with dry and difficult to work with. it may have been because i substituted the all-purpose flour with corn flour, so that it would be GF. it's okay, they turned out alright anyways. all in all, it was a successful meal. :)
monday for dinner i just made a chef salad with roasted turkey breast, tomatoes, olives, artichokes, cucumbers, all mixed with red leaf lettuce. you can't go wrong with chef salad.
alright, i've been too busy lately to get around to this. so, seeing as i've got weeks of dinners to share with you, i'll just post pictures and title them.
well, the weather's finally getting hot and summer is flying by. i think i will be back at school before i know it.
on friday for dinner i made two pizzas. a mac and cheese pizza, as promised to hannah because she loves mac and cheese and she loves pizza--so i thought she would love this one. the other was a traditional pizza with italian sausage, tomatoes, artichokes, provolone, and a sweet red sauce. both were loved by all! the mac and cheese wasn't my best mac and cheese pizza ever, but everyone thought it was delicious so that is what matters!
sunday for dinner mom made an awesomely delicious tomato phyllo tart. tomatoes, feta, provolone, fresh basil all on a flaky phyllo crust. it was *soo* good, i couldn't get over it!!
monday for dinner we went chinese-style, with sushi and egg rolls. i made GF egg rolls, which were pretty good, even though they didn't look too much like egg rolls--being a GF dough, it was difficult to roll it out super thin. it just wasn't as elastic as regularegg roll dough either. i baked them and then finished them off with a little oil in a skillet to give them a little color and crisp. i also made foreigner rolls (falang rolls) and veggie sushi. mmmm!
the other day i also made some sweet and salty trail mix bars. puffed rice, mixed dried fruit, sunflower seeds, cashews, and peanuts. pretty tasty, although they don't hold together like store-bought bars. maybe some more honey to hold them together better and pressing them tighter together in the pan would help. i'm happy i halved the recipe, though, because i still filled a 9 x 13 pan; the complete recipe calls for the mix to be put into a 11 x 17 pan and i think even then, that would have been overflowing.
what's cooking tonight: grilled tuna steak and tropical fruit salad, along with banana-macadamia nut muffins.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
oh man, it's been a busy week. we just had our grand re-opening at victoria's secret, so a lot of workin has been going on. but our store is so beautiful! it's the biggest VS in wisconsin and just too fabulous. :)
last wednesday for dinner we had tomato-tarragon soup with croutons. the recipe said to chill it, but it was the type of day where a warm soup was nice. i made a GF baguette for the croutons, and they were very good. the soup was quite thick, so dipping the croutons in it works well. it would make a nice appetizer. however, the recipe did not make very much so i had to quickly come up with something to accompany the dish. mom suggested the leftover ribs from sunday, so i tore the pork of the bones, heated it with the leftover guava barbecue sauce, and made sandwiches on pieces of the baguette. turned out to be a good meal and the soup was really good, i think!
friday we had lunch with the peters for the fourth of july. i had planned to make hamburgers with peach barbecue sauce, however i didn't read the reviews of the sauce before i made it. one said that it tasted like barf. and you know what? it kinda did. so i just made my regular barbecue sauce and used that--which yielded a much better result. i made kaiser rolls where were pretty darn good. i searched for a recipe for GF kaiser rolls, but was unsuccessful. so i decided to throw together some GF flour, cornstarch, water, yeast, salt, and oil in hopes of getting some kaiser rolls. umm...not so successful haha. instead of getting rolls, i got rocks. then, i had a brilliant idea: search for "hamburger buns." duh! that way i found a recipe, and they turned out fabulously. the directions said to make them in muffins rings---which i don't have--so i poured the batter into small pyrex containers. perfect! mom also made an awesome german potato salad and we had corn on the cob, too. mom made lemon bars for dessert.
saturday for dinner i chose to make something from the grand canyon cookbook mom and dad gor for me. i made grand canyon burros, which is basically beef with tomatoes, cumin, other spices, onions, and goodness. i served them with refried beans and corn, and of course tortillas (both flour and corn).
tonight for dinner i made spiced-up, oven-fried chicken and served it with mashed potatoes and corn (love my supersweet corn!). the chicken was good! instead of using a whole chicken, i used chicken breasts. way easy, too--it worked out being a nice dinner to make after work. the only thing that sucks is that cornflakes don't come in small boxes and i only used like 3 cups--and cornflakes aren't my favorite cereal to just eat for breakfast. i might just have to think of something creative to do with them.
tomorrow for dinner is pizza night with the peters!
Monday, June 30, 2008
last thursday's dinner menu was garlicky grilled chicken, portobello, and radicchio salad. it's basically just brushing with a marinade and grilling all of those three ingredients, and tossing them together with some watercress. the grilled chicken was my favorite part, had a nice taste to it. then the portobello. the radicchio was okay too but it was my first time having it and i think having it grilled may have to be an acquired taste. the watercress, on the other hand, was not the tastiest. i'm not sure if that's just the strange taste watercress always has to it, or if we had bought it a few too many days in advance. it also had a lot of stems, which tended to interfere. so while i probably wouldn't make the recipe again, i would make simply the chicken and/or portobello portion of it, and add another side.
friday i ventured to make the peachtree pork salad again. it was still different from the original recipe because, if you recall, i had already made the vinaigrette with raspberry jam. all in all, it was a pretty easy recipe and tasted good. i liked the raspberries the best, they were so sweet! katie, who was in town for the weekend, wanted to know what kind of chicken was in the salad.
saturday i successfully made my first batch of gnocchi. they were actually really easy to make. i made lemon gnocchi, using potatoes and GF flour. dough doesn't always hold up with GF flour as well as with regular flour, but this came together very nicely. probably because of the potatoes. fresh lemon zest and juice made it smell wondrous while cooking and eating them. the sauce was tasty too, but quite rich; it was basically butter thinned with chicken broth and lemon juice. i served the gnocchi with some fresh oven-roasted green beans. i tossed the beans with chopped fresh basil and rosemary and olive oil. after roasting, i tossed with a little of reduced balsamic. finally, i made cranberry walnut bread, and it tastes really good! it holds together very well, especially for being gluten-free. i'm starting to believe that you can make anything gluten-free and have it turn out just as nice. it's just all about experimenting with and learning about the different substitutions for flour and in what proportions to use them in. it's quite fun, i must admit!
sunday i decided to whip up a loaf of multigrain bread in the breadmaker since we were out of sandwich bread. besides, homemade bread always beats out everything else. for dinner we had a late father's day dinner. guava ribs (from jen and bryan's cuban cookbook) were the main character, where were delish. the barbecue sauce is supposed to contain guava paste, but the mexican market was all out! so jen picked up a jar of guava jelly from the grocery store, and i just simmered the sauce for as long as i could, which helped thicken up the sauce. i also reduced the vinegar to cut down on liquid content. coconut rice with black beans and fried plantains were the supporting actors, and let me tell you, they did a good job. i love coconut rice, and black beans too. oh and plantains haha. basically i just love cuban food, okay? for dessert jen made an assortment of empanadas. mango, chocolate, and guava (and cream cheese of course). and some a combination of two. seeing a guava empanadas require guava paste (and recall there was none to be found), bryan suggested buying guava nectar and reducing it. well, it turned out just like guava paste! the 33-ounce box of nectar didn't turned out much paste at all, but hey, that's what happens when you reduce something. so nice job, team, we made it work!
i work these next two nights, but wednesday for dinner i am planning on chilled tomato-tarragon soup with croutons. i can't decide if i actually want to serve it chilled or warm. the croutons are actually slices of baguette, and i will be making a GF one. the recipe i have calls for a few flours that i don't have and pick n' save doesn't either, so i will either make substitutions or try to find them at a specialty store.
so monday for dinner we had cashew chard "burritos," but i used napa cabbage instead of swiss chard, so really, they were cashew napa "burritos." lentils, tofu, carrot, and cashews, with some good seasoning--cumin and others. that dish has such a great flavor. mom and i liked it, but it wasn't dad's type of dish.
today for dinner i was supposed to make peachtree pork salad, but when i opened up the jar of peach preserves, there was a little brown bug in it! and mind you, that was a brand new jar that had never been opened. as i looked closer, i noticed that mr. bug was on his back, with little legs moving! how it survived living in a sealed jar, who knows?! all i know was that it was very gross. so then i found a jar of raspberry preserves from the farmer's market. since there were already raspberries in the salad, i figured i could substitute these preserves into the marinade. so, i make the marinade. then i go to get the other salad ingredients, and the raspberries were moldy! we had just got them a few days ago. as mom said, this salad was just not meant to be. so, after me not being able to decide what to have for dinner, mom and i ended up at panera, which was pretty tasty.
right now i'm baking GF banana bread with pecans. tomorrow for dinner i plan on making garlicky grilled chicken, portobello, and radicchio salad. let's hope that doesn't end up failing too!
so! i think saturday was nice weather, so we grilled out. jen and bryan came over, and figured they'd bring the baby as well. mom made chicken thighs with some sort of hickory-smoked barbecue sauce. we also grilled zucchini and pineapple, and i made grilled sweet potato and scallion salad. it has a balsamic-type vinaigrette with grilledsweet potatoes and scallions. it was tasty! for dessert mom made strawberry shortcake with whipped cream. i didn't have any, but it looked as thought it turned out pretty good.
sunday for dinner i made korean bulgogi over jasmine rice. not only did it taste awesome, but it sure did make the house smell great! the dish is basically a thinly sliced beef in a marinade of honey, chili sauce, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. it's then stir-fried and you add bean sprouts and onions to the stir-fry. mmm!i also made a salad with fresh greens from the peters garden, fresh sweet peas, radishes, and scallions from ours, and alfalfa and tomatoes.
today mom and i are babysitting oliver. he took a great 2-1/2 hour nap this morning, and then we just got back from a walk to the park. we put him in the baby swing and he wasn't sure if he was scared or if he liked it. i guess the swing is like twice his height off the ground. i'd be scared too!
what's cooking tonight: cashew chard "burritos." gotta love tofu and cashews all in one!
. it may look like i've only been eating pizza and pasta but i can assure you that it not the case haha. i just haven't been taking pictures of most things.
he dish. mom and dad seemed to like it okay though. if i had to pick a favorite part, it would be the nuts. but then again, you are what you eat. (a nut, not vietnamese.)
shed up cooking it in some more of the sauce, in a saucepan, on the stove. i served it with caramelized onions with barbecue sauce, since we have an abundance of onions from the garden. finished it off with some oven fries and steamed green beans, both fresh from the garden.
rosciutto and balsamic, which was simple and pretty tasty. i maybe should have reduced the balsamic a little more to make it
a little more thick and syrup, but it still turned out alright. in addition we had arugula salad with grilled pears and pistachios. delsih! a nice summer meal. :)
re to the ones mom made a few days back with olive oil and sea salt (they were cooked just right, a little crispy and delicious!!). i also made warm roasted mushroom and f
eta salad. it was good--i love feta--but wasn't quite feeling the mushrooms that day.
rden. i made him tilapia, breaded with garbanzo fava flour, dried thyme, dried oregano, (salt and pepper). fried it in the skillet with olive oil. mom and i got mac and cheese pizza! as i was rolling out the dough and noticed all of the air bubbles all ready, i knew it was going to be a good one. :) the bottom crust, which is usually a little thinner, turned out a little thicker this time. in addition, of course, to be traditional huge crusts on the edges. mmmm so good!
well, not quite andouille, we couldn't find it at the store, so we used spicy sausage instead. worked close enough. the burgers had pecans in them, which was different but actually quite good. i think it was my first time being in charge of watching and flipping the burgers on the grill, and i think i did quite well. so juicy and succulent. we had them on pretzel rolls from city market, and i toasted them on the grill as well. success!
ome from work. i made mom's pizza dough, since it does not require rising time. i made a light red sauce and used up some of the cheeses we had--provolone, mozzarella, parmesan, and feta. it was quite tasty.
may have been because i substituted the all-purpose flour with corn flour, so that it would be GF. it's okay, they turned out a
lright anyways. all in all, it was a successful meal. :)
grilled tuna steaks with citrus fruit salad
banana-macadamia nut muffins
ould love this one. the other was a traditional pizza with italian sausage, tomatoes, artichokes, provolone, and a sweet red sauce. both were loved by all!
the mac and cheese wasn't my best mac and cheese pizza ever, but everyone thought it was delicious so that is what matters!
ous tomato phyllo tart. tomatoes, feta, provolone, fresh basil all on a flaky phyllo crust. it was *soo* good, i couldn't get over it!! 
GF dough, it was difficult to roll it out super thin. it just wasn't as elastic as regular
egg roll dough either. i baked them and then finished them off with a little oil in a skillet to give them a little color and crisp. i also made foreigner rolls (falang rolls) and veggie sushi. mmmm! 
dipping the croutons in it works well. it would make a nice appetizer. however, the recipe did not make very much so i had to quickly come up with something to accompany the dish. mom suggested the leftover ribs from sunday, so i tore the
pork of the bones, heated it with the leftover guava barbecue sauce, and made sandwiches on pieces of the baguette. turned out to be a good meal and the soup was really good, i think!
ws of the sauce before i made it. one said that it tasted like barf. and you know what? it kinda did. so i just made my regular barbecue sauce and used that--which yielded a much better result. i made kaiser rolls where were pretty darn good. i searched for a recipe for GF kaiser rolls, but was unsuccessful. so i deci
ded to throw together some GF flour, cornstarch, water, yeast, salt, and oil in hopes of getting some kaiser rolls. umm...not so successful haha. instead of getting rolls, i got rocks. then, i had a brilliant idea: search for "hamburger buns." duh! that way i found a recipe, and they turned out fabulously. the directions said to mak
e them in muffins rings---which i don't have--so i poured the batter into small pyrex containers. perfect! mom also made an awesome german potato salad and we had corn on the cob, too. mom made lemon bars for dessert.
oes, cumin, other spices, onions, and goodness. i served them with refried beans and corn, and of course tortillas (both flour and corn).
d of using a whole chicken, i used chicken breasts. way easy, too--it worked out being a nice dinner to make after work. the only thing that sucks is that cornflakes don't come in small boxes and i only used like 3 cups--and cornflakes aren't my favorite cereal to just eat for breakfast. i might just have to think of something creative to do with them. 
ecall, i had already made the vinaigrette with raspberry jam. all in all, it was a pretty easy recipe and tasted good. i liked the raspberries the best, they were so sweet! katie, who was in town for the weekend, wanted to know what kind of chicken was in the salad. 
s came together very nicely. probably because of the potatoes. fresh lemon zest and juice made it smell wondrous while cooking and eating them. the sauce was tasty too, but quite rich; it was basicall
y butter thinned with chicken broth and lemon juice. i served the gnocchi with some fresh oven-roasted green beans. i tossed the beans with chopped fresh basil and rosemary and olive oil. after roasting, i tossed with a little of reduced balsamic. finally, i made cranberry walnut bread, and it tastes really good! it holds together very well, especially for being gluten-free. i'm starting to believe that you can make anything gluten-free and have it turn out just as nice. it's just all about experimenting with and learning about the different substitutions for flour and in what proportions to use them in. it's quite fun, i must admit!
i also reduced the vinegar to cut down on liquid content. coconut rice with black beans and fried plantains were the supporting actors, and let me tell you, they did a good job. i love coconut rice, and black beans too. oh and plantains haha. basically i just love cuban food, okay? for dessert jen made an assortment of empanadas. mango, chocolate, and guava (and cream cheese of course). and some a combination of two. seeing a guava empanadas require guava paste (and recall there was none to be found), bryan suggested buying guava nectar and reducing it. well, it turned out just like guava paste! the 33-ounce box of nectar didn't turned out much paste at all, but hey, that's what happens when you reduce something. so nice job, team, we made it work! 
rt of hickory-smoked barbecue sauce. we also grilled zucchini and pineapple, and i made grilled sweet potato and scallion salad. it has a balsamic-type vinaigrette with grilled sweet potatoes and scallions. it w
as tasty! for dessert mom made strawberry shortcake with whipped cream. i didn't have any, but it looked as thought it turned out pretty good. 
hili sauce, soy sauce, garlic, and ginger. it's then stir-fried and you add bean sprouts and onions to the stir-fry. mmm! i also made a salad with
fresh greens from the peters garden, fresh sweet peas, radishes, and scallions from ours, and alfalfa and tomatoes.
alk to the park. we put him in the baby swing and he wasn't sure if he was sca
red or if he liked it. i guess the swing is like twice his height off the ground. i'd be scared too! 
