June 30, 2010 Come on, Christmas!

When I was little, if I was taking too long to do something or get somewhere, my mother would say, "Come on, Christmas."  The meaning was that waiting for Christmas to come always feels like it takes forever.  Yes, I'm slow, and so is my blog.

One thing I'm not slow about is making dinner at the last minute.  Here's one of our favorites with a special twist that I tried tonight.  My mom gave me the basics, and her cooking has always been phenomenal.  Now I put my own touch into the meals I make for myself and my son, and sometimes company.

Today's Find:  A large can of albacore tuna.

Hidden Veggie Tuna Casserole
Cooked, drained and rinsed spaghetti noodles (do this first, since it takes the longest, and set aside)
1/2 onion
1/2 bell pepper
1 large stalk broccoli (florets only)
olive oil
1 large can of albacore tuna, drained
seasoning salt to taste
1/2 cup soy milk (if you use real milk, just be careful to stir, because it sticks to the bottom of the pan)
1/2 cup chicken broth
*fresh tomato, sliced thin

Any casserole I make starts with olive oil with onions and fresh garlic in a large pan on the stove.  The amount of olive oil you use is subjective, and you should judge by how well your veggies are cooking and whether you need to add more as you go.  It's okay to start with a little and add more.

I used 1/2 yellow onion, 1/2 bell pepper and about 5 cloves of fresh garlic, chopped (about 1/4" pieces).  While these were simmering in the olive oil, I also chopped the florets of one big stalk of broccoli very, very small (I used my fabulous Progressive International Manual Food Chopper and Salsa Maker) and added them to the pan.  This is how you hide the healthy benefits of broccoli in delicious taste.  People who aren't very fond of broccoli won't notice, and those who are will love it.  It also makes the color really pop.  My son happens to be a broccoli lover, but he didn't even notice it was in there.


Once the veggies are cooked down sufficiently (the onions are mostly clear), add the tuna, soy milk and chicken broth (for flavor).  Once these are all bubbly, you can turn off the fire and quickly add your noodles and seasoning salt (my favorite is Lawry's) and stir it all up. 

I like to serve mine with little slivers of fresh tomato on top.   Mom would be proud.

June 20, 2010 Banana Poof

Today's Find:  Aging bananas.

Nobody eats the bananas once they turn brown and get a little soft inside, but they're still really good.  If you have two of them, you can make banana bread, and I have a great recipe, but last night I just didn't feel like making it.  Instead, I tried this little experiment.

Slice bananas in wheels and cover the bottom of a small oven-ready dish or pan (if you have little souffle' or custard cups, you can bake individual servings).  Cover with mini marshmallows and drizzle with melted butter (only about a tablespoon or two).  Pop into the oven and bake at 300 degrees for about 15 minutes with foil paper loosely covering it, then 5 minutes without the foil.  The marshmallows should be at least partially melted, but the tops will be a little crunchy.

If you let this cool down, the juice in the bottom will gel slightly.  You can scoop this over ice cream, or if you leave it in the fridge for about half an hour, it's delicious all by itself.  I think I'll try it later with some homemade chocolate syrup on it.

June 25, 2010 No More Tears

This issue, I'm not making food.  Well, I'll be making food later, but that's not what I'm writing about.  This time, I've had a beauty breakthrough.  If you've been reading, you know that I have practically every sensitivity in the known stratosphere, and it runs in the family.

My skin is one of my worst sensitivities.  I turn red at the mere touch of a blade of grass, wearing makeup feels like a glove on my face, and most skin creams and lotions either burn or itch, especially around my eyes.  Because of my airborne allergies, my eyes suffer the worst in the spring and summer and turn into crinkled up tissue paper.  Most cosmetic eye creams burn like crazy or itch so much that I have to wash them off.  The closest I've ever come to a facial moisturizer that didn't make me absolutely miserable was Clinique, but that stuff is expensive.  Nowadays, all cosmetics are expensive.  Petroleum jelly works okay, but it's messy.

I know this sounds really unpleasant, but I have found a solution.

I started thinking that if I'm going to cut myself off from petroleum products, one of them would eventually have to be petroleum jelly, which is pretty much the main ingredient of every commercial beauty product.  I would have to go au naturelle.  Vitamin E oil is mixed with olive oil, which is good and natural, but it's kind of thick and sometimes smells a little strong to put on a face.

Since I love trying new things, I bought a bottle of grapeseed oil recently at Whole Foods in the same aisle as the rest of the vegetable oils, right near the olive oil (I haven't checked Rouses yet, but I will).  I tried this with a cotton swab on my eyelids and found that it was light, smooth to put on and had no scent whatsoever.

Then I tried it along with baking soda as a facial scrub.  It worked very well, even on my scratchy eyelids, and it didn't sting at all!  My skin was smooth, and after rinsing it off, I dried my face and put a very thin rubbing of the grapeseed oil on my eyelids. 

This is a pretty impressive breakthrough for me.  Pass it on to another wimp you know.

June 24, 2010 I'll Take Eight of Those, Please

It's been a busy few days, but I finally have a chance to write again.  Last night I made a short drive to my local grocer, Rouses, where I have found a surprisingly large variety of gluten-free products (to my utter delight).  I needed a few things, and I love to patronize this store because 1) it's a Louisiana-owned business, and 2) they carry more local and Louisiana-made/grown/born products than any other store in the area.  They even carry two--count 'em--TWO brands of prepared roux (you can ask me if you don't know what that is).

I'm even happier than usual with this store since a few days ago I sent them an e-mail from their website (see link above) asking why they didn't carry any non-dairy or soy ice creams.  I figured I'd get some sort of form-letter e-mail saying sorry you're unhappy, blah-blah-blah.  But I didn't!  What I did receive, within a day, was a personal e-mail addressed directly to me by an actual Rouse family member, who informed me that, although soy and rice ice cream were offered in some of their stores, the two closest to me didn't appear to stock them and that she would remedy that as quickly as possible.  She even went so far as to ask me what my favorite flavors were so she could be sure they were stocked.  Wow!

So, off I went to my store to get a few things I needed.  As soon as I entered, the first bin I saw was being loaded up with fresh ears of unshucked corn.  Eight ears for $2 sounded great to me, since a couple of weeks ago they were six ears for $2, and they were delicious.  The young man doing the loading said I could pick straight from the boxes if I liked, which I did.  As I picked out my hefty corn ears, he proceeded to tell me how he likes to cook them.  Here's the best part.  They are so personable at this store!  After he told me what to do, I told him I was going to try it as soon as I got home and blog about it.  Airhead that I am sometimes, I forgot to tell him what my blog was or even get his name, but anyway, here's what he said to do:

Preheat the oven to about 350.  Remove the loose petals and fuzz on the ear of corn but leave most of the husk intact.  Place on a cookie sheet and put in the oven for about 20 minutes.  In his words, "it just cooks in its own juice."

Lemme tell ya, that was some really good corn!  It was perfectly cooked, and I didn't have to boil a huge pot of water on the stove.  You just have to shuck it the rest of the way after it cools off a little.  Not just a time saver, but a water and energy saver, too.  I can imagine the barbecuers of this world could have a blast playing with this idea.

So, there's my experiment of the day, brought to you by an employee of my now favorite store.

June 21, 2010 Why is the rum gone?

I don't know about you, but my weekend was just one party after another.  My dad lives pretty far away, so I sent him a lovely fruit bouquet, which I doubt lasted more than an hour after its receipt.  My son spent the weekend with his dad, so I was pretty well on my own, and that worked out well.

Friday's girls' night out was a better-than-standard bar room lush-fest, complete with requisite singing to the '80s, one really drunk chick that needed supervision (it wasn't me this time), and somebody who went dancing at the gay bars at 3 a.m. (also not me).

Saturday was a little more organized, but not without its excitement.  I belong to a group of people who like to play pirates and wenches on the weekends.  We dress up, pretend, DRINK, and throw parties just for the hell of it.  Surprisingly enough, we're pretty organized...for pirates.  We inaugurated our new leaders: President, Vice President (or president of vice, as she prefers to be called), Treasurer, etc.  It was hotter than Hades outside, but damned if we were going to let that stop us.  We had a barbecue and potluck outside anyway, dammit!

Even more fabulous is that the Bacardi reps were there, "teaching" us all how to make Mojitos, oh-so-refreshing and delicious drinks made with RUM!  It's a pirate/wench's dream. They even gave us free "mottlers" so we could keep doing it ourselves at home. Of course, you can go to Barcardi's website and find the recipe, but I'll paraphrase it here for you if you just don't feel like doing the work (you lazy goat).

In your cup, you squish (mottle) about half a lime, 2 large leaves of mint, add sugar or simple syrup, fill up with ice, add a shot of rum and then top off with club soda.  Yummmm!

Once the Bacardi girls were gone, along with the mint, limes and sugar, there was still rum left over (there should always be enough rum at a pirate event).  I got creative and decided to mottle some watermelon that was on the food table into my cup.  Then I added some spiced rum to that, and it was delicious, too.

Fortunately, this was a long-lasting event, and I had time to sober up before going two blocks over to my pal Melissa's place to sit and watch DVDs of True Blood until I was tired enough to call it a full night.  And I did indeed call it a full night.

June 18, 2010 Polish What?

My super-duper pal and favorite guzzling buddy, Melissa, comes from Pennsylvania.  Although she has become thoroughly assimilated in the whole Louisiana culture, I still listen to endless rantings about "back home we do such-and-such," and "you can only get good such-and-such up North."  If it's not enough that she's from there, her roommate is, too, as well as many other Yankee friends and acquaintances.

Never having been to Yankee-Land myself, there are things I've only heard about but never experienced: Special pretzels that couldn't possibly be replicated "probably because of the water" (that one came from her roommate, whom I've since dubbed "Pretzel-boy"); "authentic" pizza that even generations of Italians in the South don't know how to make right; a specific chicken marinade that tastes a lot like Italian dressing.  You get the idea.  Well, I feel the same way about so-called "Cajun" cooking anywhere else in the country, so I guess I shouldn't judge.

I focused on my friend's obsession with a thing called a pierogie.  I had never heard of one, much less spelled or tasted it, and it took all of her descriptive power for me to still not have a clue what it was or what it might taste like.  She and the other transplanted Yankees tried to tell me what it was, most of them being non-cooks, offering me the brand name of one that was sold in certain stores down here, etc., but I still had no idea whether I even wanted to try one.  This project is why my blog has been a little boring for the past couple of days.  It was a surprise, and Melissa reads my blog.

Since my friend was in Yankee-Land visiting family over her birthday, I decided to try my hand at making one of these elusive wonders to surprise her when she got back.  I found a recipe online and set about creating a pierogie.  It wasn't a difficult recipe, but I was missing some of the ingredients that I had to go out and get, and it was a bit of a learning curve to get all the steps right.

If you'd like the recipe, here's the link I used:  http://pittsburgh.about.com/od/recipes/r/pierogies.htm

After preparing the filling, mixing, rolling and cutting the dough, filling the dough with the filling, boiling the little ravioli-ish packages and then sauteing them in butter and onions, I finally had finished pierogies.  Only one problem.  I can't eat them. 

I had to find a Yankee native that could tell me whether this thing was any good or not BEFORE I surprised my friend with it.  I do at least pride myself on making good food, whether it is perfect or not, but I wanted this one to be a little bit more impressive.

I contacted another dear Yankee, Miss Kate, and asked her to taste-test the pierogie.  She wholeheartedly agreed.  I made the short trek over the river to present it for tasting, and she was most complimentary about its authentic taste and good flavor.  I solicited a few suggestions for improvement, which she gave and I took very seriously. 

Yesterday evening, I happily served my pal the beloved homemade birthday pierogies, and she was so grateful she ate 5 of them.  To a cook, that's the biggest compliment anyone could ever state in words.  She was so well stuffed that she barely had enough room for the chocolate mousse I made for dessert.  Good thing I had plasticware containers.

June 17, 2010 Nothing to see here.

I really don't have a blog post today.  I've been working on a special project for a few days that is still under wraps, so to speak, and I can't divulge the details until it is finished.  Once it's a done deal, I'll be very happy to share. Thanks for reading.

AM

June 16, 2010 Restrictions, reshmictions.

The more restrictions I acquire, the harder I try to find a way to still enjoy the foods I love to eat.  Over the years I've gone through diets and phases.  For a few years I did Sugarbusters, avoiding all sugar and starches that weren't whole grain (that was my hot-body phase).  I was a vegetarian for a very long time and still don't eat any animal above fowl on the food chain.  And now, aside from ordinary grass and pollen allergies, I've discovered that my body rejects yet another ordinary substance--gluten.

You may ask, "Don't all those dietary restrictions make it easy to lose weight?"  With the exception of Sugarbusters, no.  Quite the contrary, as a matter of fact.  Right after my son was born (and I had gained a LOT of weight), I was invited to partake in some deer meat that a friend's father had brought to the office, but I refused, stating that I didn't eat red meat.  His reaction: "You don't look like you're missing any meals."  A sobering comment from a rude, but truthful, old man. Anything consumed in excess is bad, no matter what else I omit, but it seems the more restrictions I have, the harder I try to find other ways to enjoy the foods I love.

I love beignets, or French donuts, as do many people.  In fact, I have experimented in the past and figured out how to make them with whole wheat flour (as if that made them healthier).  Now I have to start all over again.  Since corn flour can sometimes be used on a gluten-free diet when regular flour can't, I decided to try something on the spur of the moment.  If you're like me, and your favorite part of the beignet is the crunchy part, then you'll love this one.  What's great is that it's so rich and sweet, I really couldn't eat a lot of it.  It's certainly not the healthiest shortcut, but it might just satisfy that craving for a decadent snack within moderation, and without spending hours rolling dough and messing up the kitchen.

Today's Find:  Plain old corn tortillas (with no wheat flour in them)
Fast Fritters
Vegetable oil
Corn tortillas
Powdered sugar

Heat about an inch of the oil to medium/medium-high in a metal pan.  Test it by dropping a small piece of tortilla in the oil and if the oil is hot enough, it'll puff right up.  Once the oil is the right temp, you can drop a whole (small) tortilla into the oil with a pair of tongs and let it fry until golden brown (that's when it's the crunchiest).  Remove it from the oil with your tongs and place it on a plate lined with a paper towel or coffee filter.  When the oil is almost dry, sift powdered sugar over it and enjoy a quick, simple treat.

This satisfied my craving for beignets without going overboard, and my son liked it, too.

June 15, 2010 Fresh Bread! ...yeah, right.

Have you ever said to yourself, "Gee, I love the smell of fresh-baked bread.  I think I'll try making it myself"?  Well, I have...numerous times.  I get the flour and the yeast and promise myself I'll do it.  But I never do.  I'm a procrastinator extraordinaire!

Now, I have these months-old, maybe even years-old packets of baker's yeast in the cupboard that expired long ago and are useless now.  Or are they?  I asked my mother what she would do.  She replied that if I wanted to try to use old yeast, I should double up on the amount.  Okay.  I can do that.

I got out my beautiful, 3-ring binder-style cookbook that Mom gave me and starting going through the fridge finding all the stuff I needed.  Now, since I'm a "glutard" and a "lactard" (credit to my friend Melissa for that terminology), I have to be careful what I put into my recipes and substitute a lot.  So, this would be an experiment in more ways than one.

Using buckwheat flour (which is a dark brown, gluten-free flour) and totally expired yeast, I made half the recipe the book called for, so as to minimize the devastation should things go awry.  I followed the instructions (mostly) and let the dough "rise" (Hef would shake his head in pity).  I kneaded the dough and formed it, and into the oven it went.  I timed the baking, and after a while it actually started smelling really good in the kitchen and throughout the house.  Out of the oven came the dark French loaf, and it was set out on the stove to cool.  A little time to cool, and I just couldn't wait any longer.  Hold that thought.

Did I mention that I made oven-baked "fried" chicken for dinner at my son's request?  It was really delicious!  It was tender and juicy and very well seasoned.  So tasty!  Distracted enough?  Good.

Back to the bread.  I was so excited to try my first taste of the bread.  I sliced a piece with that fabulous smell steaming off of the pan, a lovely crispy crust on the outside and a soft, hearty center, and took a bite.  It was pretty good... well, it was all right... Okay, it was horrible!  This is the nastiest bread I've tasted since I tried one of those commercially-produced gluten-free breads.  I don't think even starving birds would eat this crap.

Needless to say, this experiment was a supreme failure.  BUT that won't stop me from trying again.  In fact, as I close this entry, I have yet another experiment, using a different kind of flour, waiting for me in the kitchen.

The moral of this story is the same as so many others:  If at first you don't succeed, go get fresh ingredients and try again.  But whatever you do, don't eat the Frankenbread.

June 14, 2010 Flag Day

Today I'll celebrate Flag Day by thinking a little differently about Patriotism.  Today I'm focusing more on what's in the trash than what's in the fridge.

I try to avoid using plastic baggies and other disposable plastics, too. Why? To avoid using petroleum products.  I do keep a stack of those "disposable" containers made by Glad and Ziploc. They come in handy, can be used for a very long time, and if the time comes when they are just too nasty to keep anymore, you can just throw them away, or better yet, RECYCLE them! 

Plastic baggies are convenient, but they're a lot more likely to be thrown in the trash than recycled. Besides, if you have a lot of stuff in the fridge in baggies, they don't exactly stack well. As jam-packed as my refrigerator gets sometimes, it's nice to be able to stack things up.  Plastic grocery bags can double as garbage bags, saving the money for those kitchen can and wastebasket liners.

We have an awful crisis going on down here. Oil that should be used in transition to cleaner energy is instead spewing in unprecedented quantities into our beautiful gulf and marshlands.  Plastic is an amazing substance and has made so many things in life better.  But what are we sacrificing for it?  It's time to use something a little more sustainable or just re-use the plastics we already have.  Sunchips(TM) manufactures their products using all solar energy, and their bags are biodegradable.  Now THAT's dedication!

To do my little part, I recycle practically everything. Once a month, I drive a few miles to the recycling center and drop off at least two large garbage bags of cardboard, paper, aluminum and plastic. My garbage can hardly ever goes to the street, because there's hardly ever anything in it. In fact, all my peelings, seeds, pits, stems, scrapings, etc., go into a compost pile in the farthest reaches of my backyard. 

I'm not patting myself on the back. Anybody can do these things, and I would venture to say that most of my friends and readers already do. Since I'm not an engineer or really tech savvy, I can't design an electric car or make my own solar collection cells or a water-powered air conditioner. This is all I know how to do, so I do it.

It's our patriotic duty to preserve and recycle the materials we have in this country, to take advantage of the technology our great country has developed for the good of the world, especially since we are such a large part of the earth and are the largest consumer of all materials and energy on the whole planet.

Happy Flag Day.  Wave it proudly.

June 11, 2010 Eat-Dessert-First Friday

When my son was little, all he wanted to eat was junk food (not much has changed).  So I had to create special occasions each week to keep the candy and cookies to a minimum.  For instance, if he got good conduct marks at school all week, he would get doughnuts for breakfast Thursday morning.  If he was naughty even one of those days, he knew he would lose his doughnut privilege.

We also started a tradition many years ago called Eat-Dessert-First Friday.  Based on the saying, "Life is uncertain; eat dessert first," every Friday we would give up our afternoon snack and at dinnertime start with dessert.  We would always eat a good dinner later, of course.

In honor of that tradition, I'm going to share one of my favorite desserts with you, one that my grandmother used to make for me when I was a child just because I asked for it, any time of the day.  It's not hard to make, but it is oh, so satisfying and reminiscent of a sweeter time of life.

This is a chocolate sauce, and it can be drizzled over practically anything you want.  Maw Maw always dipped bread in it and called it "chocolate bread."  It's also amazing on ice cream, strawberries, or angel food cake.

Chocolate Sauce:
powdered baking cocoa
milk
sugar
(I use soy milk and fructose sugar when I make this, but use what YOU have.)

In a small saucepan (or large if you want to make a lot of it), stir together equal amounts of cocoa powder and milk.  Then stir in about the same amount of sugar. (e.g. 1/4 c. cocoa, 1/4 c. milk, 1/4 c. sugar--play with it.) The consistency should be a little thick and soupy at first. 

(*Remember, I've been cooking a long time, so it's really hard to tell you quantities, but I did test this out.  Sometimes it's best to just keep adding little by little and taste what you have.  That's the best way to come up with your own creations.)

Put the pan on a medium heat and keep stirring CONSTANTLY.  If you leave the sauce unstirred for too long, or have the heat too high, it will burn.  This may take a little while, and patience is one of the hardest things for cooks like me to learn, but it's well worth it.  When you can still see bubbles coming up all over the pan right after you've stirred, it's probably ready (kind of looks like the tar pits).

Pour this over bread (French bread, mwaaa) or fruit or ice cream, and you'll be in hog heaven.

Thanks, Maw Maw.

June 10, 2010 Happy Dog!

Have you ever run out of dog food at the last minute and didn't have time to go to the store, or worse, it's not open?  I'm probably the biggest procrastinator in history, and it happens to me all the time.  Luckily, I've found out a way to remedy the problem that makes my dogs ecstatic!

In this issue, it's what's in the cupboard, rather than in the fridge, that we use.  One of my dogs has a whole litany of allergies, one of the mildest of which is corn, so commercial dog food probably isn't the best choice for him anyway.  Oatmeal, however, makes a great filler that has fiber and protein, very low incidence of being an allergen, and amazingly, dogs love it.


Homemade dog food/treats (3 different varieties):

Holy Mackerel:
3 cups plain oatmeal
1 can Jack Mackerel (cheapest canned fish on the market and very high in omega-3 fats)
hot water

Mix oatmeal and mackerel in a large bowl, getting the mackerel into the smallest shreds possible, then add enough hot water to make it all nice and mushy.  Let stand for about 15 minutes, or until your dog makes it impossible to wait any longer.  Scoop into dog bowl like the mush you've seen in the movies.  Caution:  Your dog will NEVER be satisfied until it's all gone, so scoop judiciously.

Peanut Buddy:
3 cups plain oatmeal
2/3 cup plain peanut butter
hot water

Same instructions as above, except that adding the hot water to the oatmeal first will make it easier to mix in the peanut butter.  Using a little less hot water, you can make little "treats" by spreading the thick mixture into a pan and cutting into squares. Another hint: These treats, as well as the mackerel mixture, make giving your dog medicine extremely easy.

Chicken oat pie:
3 cups plain oatmeal
canned chicken broth
shredded carrots
hot water

Mix the shredded carrots with the oatmeal first.  Heat up the chicken broth, and again, pretty much the same idea, mix it all together very well and add hot water for the consistency you want.  Carrots are a welcome addition to a dog's diet.  One of my dogs just devours fresh or cooked vegetables.  The other one turns her nose up at anything not at least partially meat related.

Check back around holiday time for some more pet tips.

June 9, 2010 Economy AND Ecology

Here's my kitchen tip for today. You've probably heard that if you wash your lettuce and then roll it into wet paper towels you can keep it fresh for longer and it won't wilt. Well, I've made a meager little investment in terry cloth cotton bar mops. I bought them at Big Lots for super cheap, maybe a dollar for a two-pack. I wash and wrap ALL my vegetables and fruit in these little cotton wonders, and they last for weeks. When I need a piece of pepper or cilantro, I have a bowl of clean, ready veggies under a soggy towel in the fridge just ready for me to slice up. (Note: Cucumbers don't do so well with this method.) When the towels get dirty, I just throw them in the wash with the other kitchen towels. Cotton is a renewable resource.  I very seldom use paper towels. Why? To save trees and reduce landfill. 

Today's Find:  A lime that needed to be used before it went bad.

Using my smallest-cut grater, I zested the entire lime down to the white skin and saved the zest in one of my smallest plastic containers. This went into the freezer for use in pies, mojitos, or whatever comes up in the future.  Then I sliced it in half and juiced it (got about 1-2 tablespoons).

(Newbie Notes: Zest is the grated-off skin of a citrus fruit.  You can zest lemons, limes and oranges and save the zest for recipes, such as cranberry bread, which requires at least one teaspoon of orange zest to come out great.  One of the best ways to have things to discover in your fridge is to put them there in the first place.)  


Lime Zinger
~1-2 Tbsp lime juice (juice from one lime)
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
4 tsp Tamari soy sauce (I use the wheat-free kind)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp honey

The juice went into a tiny bowl along with balsamic vinegar, Tamari soy sauce, minced garlic, and honey.  Stir.  This is a really tangy salad dressing that'll knock your socks off!  Dip broccoli, celery, lettuce, any vegetable in it for a zinger taste.  Of course, the flavors really mix together if you let it be for about half an hour before using it, but it's awesome right away, too.

P.S. If this dressing is too tangy for you, then mix all the ingredients together except the lime juice, fix yourself a salad, and then use the lime juice to make a Mojito to go with it.  You can't lose.  It's also a fabulous dip for chicken or cold cuts, and I'm sure would make an excellent marinade.

June 8, 2010 The Chopper!

I discovered this glorious device and finally got one of my own. My first introduction to the hand-powered spinning chopper was at a Tupperware party years ago, but I just couldn't justify the expense at the time. Recently, though, I found out that other manufacturers made something just like it, so I started hunting. I found another version, the Progressive International Manual Food Chopper, and someone on Amazon was selling it used...cheap. I have had SO much fun using this little machine.

It uses no electricity--only human power, it's really easy to use, and cleanup is super fast.

Before now, I just chopped everything by hand, and considering the small pieces I prefer for a lot of my cooking, that took quite some time. And don't even get me started on chopping onions. I didn't even bother putting on makeup until after the crying stopped.

I've had electric choppers and food processors before, and I found them to be a royal pain in the tush. You have to lug them out, find space on the counter, plug them in, find all the parts, find the RIGHT part, and hope to God you don't turn what you're chopping into soup when what you really want is just a nice chunky chop.

Anyway, I love this thing, and I've been making all different varieties of salsa, pico de gallo, whatever you want to call it. In fact, my first post, the minced Waldorf salad, was incredibly easy using the spinning chopper.

So here's my favorite salsa/pico de gallo (whatever you want to call it). Remember that most of these ingredients are probably already in your fridge, so they don't have to be exactly what I used. If not, next time you are in the grocery, pick some up and give it a try.

5 Roma tomatoes (Romas make great salsa)
1/2 white onion
2 stalks green onions
2 sprigs cilantro
1/4 bellpepper
1 stalk celery
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Chop everything small, stir it up in a bowl, cover and put in the fridge for about an hour.
This is great with tortilla chips, or you can use Romaine lettuce fronds to scoop it up as an appetizer or snack. It's also fabulous when dolloped on morning eggs with a little cheese sprinkled on top.

June 7, 2010 Herbs Ahoy!

Fresh herbs really do make everything taste better. I'm lucky to have a big yard where I can grow my own veggies, but anyone can grow herbs on a patio, back step or porch. Parsley, onions, garlic, cilantro: They all repopulate themselves pretty easily, so you can almost always keep fresh herbs around with a little care and attention.

A story in my family says that my great aunt grew the same green onions for over a decade. After you've chopped up the greens, put the root ends in the dirt. They just keep growing back.

Now, I live in the South, so growing things is probably a little easier, but we have our challenges, too. A torrential downpour on a summer day can drown a planter full of lettuce, for example (this actually happened to me). These new-fangled devices, such as the upside-down hanging planters for tomatoes, are making it easier for everyone to have fresh, homegrown produce. I encourage even the "black-thumb" varieties of humans to give their favorite herbs a try and see what they can grow. They might be surprised.

However, if you just can't or won't grow your own, you can still substitute with store-bought, or in some cases even dried herbs in these recipes. Play with your food. It's fun.

Today's Find: Superfast Tuna Melt.

4 Roma tomatoes, sliced in half and gutted
1 can of Albacore tuna
Veggie cheese (or regular cheese)
Mrs. Dash (my favorite is Southwest Chipotle or Tomato Basil Garlic)
cilantro
lettuce
*Balsamic vinegar

Slice the tomatoes in half, scoop out the insides and put them in a bowl. Open and drain can of tuna. Add tuna to tomato guts, stir in some Mrs. Dash (whatever flavor you like best) and mix to a fine consistency. You can add a couple of shakes of balsamic vinegar for a fun taste if you like. Scoop mixture into tomato skins until they look like red deviled eggs. Add slices of cheese on top of these and put on a tray or dish in the toaster oven or microwave oven just until the cheese is melted. Transfer onto a bed of lettuce, top with a sprig or two of fresh cilantro, and Voila! You have a deliciously healthy tuna melt, no bread required.

June 6, 2010 Start of a new blog.

My blog will be about how easy it can be to make a delicious meal or snack out of what most people already have in their refrigerators without having to go to a specialty store to search for crazy ingredients. In most cases I will use things like veggie cheese or soy milk because I'm lactose intolerant, and corn flour or buckwheat flour because I'm trying to stick to a gluten-free diet. However, for people with "normal" systems, most of my ingredients can be substituted with whatever happens to be in THEIR refrigerators, and my spur-of-the-moment meals can be just as easy to accomplish.

P.S. Living in South Louisiana, even dry ingredients, such as flour and nuts, are best kept in the refrigerator so that they do not become stale or attract insects. I find they last much longer that way.

Today's find: Red delicious apples and walnuts leftover in the fridge from Christmas baking.

My Waldorf Salad:
Minced red delicious apples (2)
toasted, minced walnuts (~2/3 cup)
pumpkin pie spice (?)
gran. fructose or sugar (1 tsp)
splash of orange juice
Spoon.

Enjoy.