Wow! I've never seen THAT before!

I can't say that very often at my age. There aren't very many things that truly astound me. However, when I got home tonight, the wind was blowing so hard that it created waves in the pool high enough to slosh over the side. Yep. Who'da thunk it? It was crazy.

Which leads me to the apology. After driving home in said wind and struggling to keep the car on the road all the way, I had no desire--zip, zero, zilch--to stop at the grocery store then come to grill. So, when the going gets tough, the tough get going--to a drive through. Yes, I hate them, but sometimes, necessity calls. Tonight was one of those nights. So, hopefully, tomorrow night will be the mystery kebabs.

Believing the Unbelievable

Don't you hate it when everybody loves something, so you get all excited about trying it, then end up quite underwhelmed? That's what happened tonight. Lots of people have been raving about Lee Bailey's Unbelievable Chicken. It sounded promising. The chicken marinates overnight in a blend of cider vinegar, coarse ground mustard, garlic, lime, lemon, brown sugar, olive oil. Sounds delicious. It wasn't bad--but it wasn't great, either. What the marinade did do--in spades--was result in a fabulously moist grilled chicken breast. I'll give it that. Beyond that, the flavor didn't really seep into the meat like I thought it would. If I were to make this again (which I probably won't), I think I'd try boiling the marinade for 8 minutes or so--enough to make it safe, and to reduce it enough to make a sauce.

On the other hand, if you're looking for a good, moist grilled chicken for multiple uses, this would work. You could easily make a double batch and freeze the meat in individual or family portions. It is innocuous enough to work on a salad or in a casserole, even as the chicken in chicken tacos. So maybe I will make it again--just to put some in the freezer.

Since I never did any real grocery shopping, I just pulled a couple of frozen portions of the Broccoli and Rice Casserole out of the freezer and stuck it in the microwave while the chicken was on the grill. I didn't even take pictures. All the food was beige. And you've seen grilled chicken before, right? And since I ditched the grocery store, I don't even have any herbs or green onions--or anything--to garnish with. So, that's all for tonight. Hopefully, tomorrow's dinner will be a little more exciting. It's the mystery kebab. Check back to see!

Welcome back to me!

Sorry to just abandon you out there. I have been out of town at a leadership conference held by my district. It was a great three days of focusing on our mission, networking with colleagues, and getting energized for the joys and challenges of the coming school year. We stayed at the beautiful Westward Look Resort in Tucson, Arizona. On our first night there (wish I'd taken the camera) we walked one of the nature trails where we encountered lots of local flora and fauna--including a big, gold and black tarantula who had been sunning himself on the rocks lining the path. Gorgeous. We also enjoyed a stroll through Chef Jamie's garden, and the air everywhere was redolent with herbs that were planted throughout the resort. It wasn't unusual to see one of the chefs out gathering sage for their herbal iced tea, or choosing tender buds of other herbs for various dishes. The hummingbird garden is not to be missed, as it is a prime opportunity to see the tiny dervishes everywhere--even stopping for a cool bath in the fountains.

Our meetings were held at the Omni Tucson National Resort just a few miles away. Sadly, the Omni is currently under construction for renovation, which is why we did not stay there this year. It promises, however, to be even better by the time they're finished.

Both venues served us lots of great food. By the time we had our final lunch, I could barely eat anything else. Usually, when I'm away, I miss my own cooking--but not this time!

I did cook before I left, but there just wasn't time to post. There are a couple of recipes I want to share, though. The first is Sticky Chicken, which I originally got off the CLBB and have made repeatedly since then. The beautiful thing about this is that a whole chicken is rubbed with savory spices, then tossed in the crockpot in the morning. By evening, there is a beautifully roasted, golden bird that falls off the bone...just ready to eat. This recipe can also be made in the oven, but that isn't nearly as convenient. In either case, periodically basting the bird with the cooking juices creates the "sticky" skin that is reminiscent of rotisserie chickens. Unfortunately, I have no pictures to show you. For some reason, they came out blurry.

Although not exciting, I can show you a picture of the Barefoot Contessa's Buttermilk Mashed Potatoes. These were excellent served alongside the chicken with some steamed broccoli to round out the meal. I used a ricer to mash the potatoes and it worked just fine, so don't worry if you don't have a food mill. These had a delicious, slighty tangy flavor. Certainly, they're a great choice for the timeis you want mashed potatoes, but perhaps won't be serving a gravy.

I'm not completely sure just yet what this week will bring in the cooking realm. I just haven't pulled it together enough to make a comprehensive shopping list and a real meal plan--that's never good! I'm just going to grill some burgers this afternoon and serve them on the leftover Moomie's Buns that are stashed in the freezer, and I think I'll roast some potato wedges to go with them. I have chicken thawing now to go into a sweet and tangy (supposedly) marinade for tomorrow night's dinner, and I'm also tossing around the possibility of another kebab dinner that has a surprising, new to me ingredient threaded onto the skewers with the meat and vegetables. That's assuming, of course, that I don't invoke the 12-hour rule! Check back in to see what happens.

A Crazy Cooking Day!

Today, I apparently turned into a madwoman. I spent the whole day grocery shopping, cooking, packaging, and freezing. Oh, and doing dishes. Lots and lots of dishes. I'm pretty sure I used every cooking utensil, pot, pan, cutting board, and prep tool--and some of them twice. However, the net result was a growing stash of good food in the freezer.

It doesn't make sense to do anything else, really. I'm so careful to purchase organic food, humanely raised meat, and plan nutrient dense meals. Then, I have to work 14 hours, and I go to McDonald's. Yep, that makes sense. Deplete your body with stress and exhaustion, then eat crap. So, one of my efforts this year is to develop a freezer full of quick meals, or quick go-withs. Also, I'm trying to free myself of the expectation to always fix great food. Because, if I can't, then I buy more crap. And eat it. Frankly, I could cook something better than that, even if I only had 15 minutes-as long as my freezer was full.

So, this is what I did today. First, for the Sunday Game of the Week on the CLBB, I chose to cook from Sizzle with America's Top Chefs. This is more of a magazine supplement than an actual book, but it cost $10, so I'm counting it as a book. (Speaking of way to expensive stuff, did you know that you can print out unlimited coupons for Borders for 25% to 30% off any one item in the store? Who knew?) Anyway, nothing much appealed to me today, except...this Grilled Bread with Beans and Bitter Greens. Thick sliced rustic bread is grilled until toasty, rubbed with peeled garlic, then spread with a paste of white beans cooked with garlic. That's good, right there. But then...it gets topped off with bitter greens (chard, escarole, turnip greens, etc.) which are sauteed with onion and garlic, then seasoned with red pepper flakes and red wine vinegar. This is probably my new favorite food. It was YUM-my! I could SO make this my lunch every day. It even beans out the goat cheese, roasted pepper, and arugula on a toasted English muffin. With food like this, I could become a vegetarian!

I also roasted a turkey breast, but I didn't eat any. No special reason. I just don't really like turkey. I had high hopes for this one, because it was a kosher turkey breast, and I really like kosher chicken. Alas, no. Leaves more for the Husband.

I needed something to eat too, and a Broccoli and Rice Casserole sounded good. So I made one. Hearty with brown basmati rice, full of antioxidant rich broccoli, onions, and garlic, and made with a lowfat white sauce, with some sharp cheese added for more protein, I can feel good about eating this.

I also stocked the freezer with pork wontons for Wonton Soup. This is another morph recipe left over from the Balsamic Roasted Pork Tenderloin. The filling was really good, and would make great lettuce wraps, especially if you added some chopped water chestnuts. I didn't take pictures today, but I will when I make the soup. These little wontons are really cute; hope they don't disintegrate once they hit the hot broth!

Of course, it wouldn't be dinner without dessert. We have an old favorite--a cheesecake concoction made with reduced fat products and Splenda. It's called Cheesecake Parfaits, but I quadruple the recipe (yes, really) and make it in a 9x13 pan so we have it all week. If anyone is low-carbing, the crust can be made with almond meal instead of graham crackers. It's just as good, if not better. However, this makes a great company dessert layered in stemmed glasses with fresh berries or frozen berries cooked until tender with Splenda and vanilla. Either way, it's very good--a nice, light finish to any meal. (It's also good for breakfast, not that I'd know from personal experience!

Nice Buns! But don't get sloppy, Joe!

Moomie's Beautiful Burger Buns have long been a favorite around our house. I'm not sure where the recipe is from originally, but I think it might be from King Arthur Flour. I got it off the CLBB. This recipe easily lends itself to subbing healthier whole-grain flour for most, or all, of the white flour called for. (My favorite is King Arthur's White Whole Wheat Flour, which is lighter than regular whole wheat, but shares the same nutritional profile. It's just a different, lighter, type of whieat.) Granted, the bread is a little denser with whole-grain flour, but the addition of a heaping tablespoon of vital wheat gluten helps solve even that. I make these in the bread machine, where they truly are idiot-proof. I've also made them by hand, and even using the Kitchen Aid mixer and it's magical dough hook. As written, the recipe makes 8 really large hamburger buns. Typically, I make a dozen out of the recipe, which yields a more standard supermarket-sized bun. Frankly, I don't eat a burger patty big enough to fill these up when made to yield 8.

For dinner tonight, I made a "morph" recipe (Robin Miller's term for planned-overs) from Thursday's Balsamic Roasted Pork Tenderloin. (Other recipes included for the planned-overs include wonton soup and pork fried rice.) I morphed the recipe a little more, adding antioxidant rich red and green bell peppers and chopped onion. While her recipe calls for a 5-minute simmer, I threw everything in the pan, covered it, and went and did other things for about 45 minutes. I didn't have to, but I couldn't figure out how to shred the pork tenderloin in it's original form, so I just sliced it really thin, then simmered it until it began to fall apart. It didn't change the taste, just made me happier. And it IS all about me! I was a little uncertain about the corn in this, but it ended up being quite good. Unlike most sloppy joe recipes, this one contains cumin and chili powder. It is also thinner than most, due to the addition of a can of diced tomatoes and their juice. I upped the ketchup a bit; I don't know how much--I just eyeballed it. I just didn't have enough liquid, and I wanted what was there to be a bit thicker.

This recipe was by no means a jaw-dropping WOW!!! But, it would definitely work for a weeknight. In fact, I've already packaged up two nights' worth of sloppy joe mixture to pull out of the freezer at a later date. All part of my move toward eating at home instead of eating out. I mean, seriously. This may not be a WOW!!! but it's gotta be better than Taco Bell! I've also packaged up diced pork for the Pork Fried Rice, and sliced pork for a morph from another recipe. They're vacuum sealed and in the freezer, ready to pull out for some quick, easy dinners later. Another bonus--one pan dirty. That's it!

How to use up those Herb-Roasted Onions

A few nights ago, we really enjoyed Ina Garten's Herb Roasted Onions. I knew the recipe would make a ton, but I didn't cut it down, as I had tonight's dinner in mind. It wasn't anything special; I roasted a Southwest Marinated Tri-Tip from Trader Joe's, throwing the onions in the roasting pan for about 15 minutes at the end to freshen them up. Their lemony flavor was a nice complement to the tangy beef, guacamole, and sour cream--all rolled up in whole wheat tortillas. So, the purpose of this post is really just to pat myself on the back for this baby step toward using the groceries I purchase in an efficient way instead of tossing them out the night before the trash comes!

Balsamic Roasted Pork Tenderloin

First of all, no pictures of this wonderful pork tenderloin recipe. Again. Sorry. It was late, we were starving, and the food wasn't pretty. It could've been pretty. I just didn't give a damn. It smelled good and we ate it. That's my only excuse. This is the first recipe I've made out of Robin Miller's Quick Fix Meals. Don't know if you've caught her on the Food Network yet; I think she's pretty new. She's also a little perky for my taste, but at least she doesn't cook with her exposed boobies waving about over the stove like Giada and Sandra Lee.

At any rate, I really like the premise of her book. She has some really quick-fix meals, meal kits, and lots of "morph" recipes, where you cook LOTS of one thing, but there are numerous alternate recipes in which to use it. She's also big on pre-preparation of food for easy weeknight eating. All of her recipes include an "If you stop here" note, letting you know what to put together if you're not eating it the day it is originally prepped. She also has lots of variations, and doesn't get hung up on the "follow the recipe, stupid" like some others do. Not that that's a bad thing! Her recipes also include a note identifying prep time, active cooking time, and walk-away time, so you should be able to plan pretty well to make these meals fit into your life.

They certainly aren't all gourmet, but there are lots that sound promising. She also tries to focus on healthier choices and ingredients. I think this is going to be my current focus for cooking--until I get distracted by something else.

Anyway, back to tonight's dinner. One of the options she mentions is to halve or quarter some Yukon Gold or red potatoes and toss them in the roasting pan with the pork and sauce. I did, and man, were those some good eatin'. They soaked up the sweet and tangy sauce and meat drippings, but also roasted to a crispy golden brown. We ended up just having meat and potatoes, but it was enough. They were yummmmmmy!