So, as predicted, I didn't cook today. Mu and I went out for Indian, and we even have leftovers, yay! Due to this, I don't have a huge amount to blog about. I do have a question in place of the Tuesday Tip.
Does anyone know of a website or app that makes calorie tracking of homemade food actually easy? I've tried several, and they're fine for brand names and eating out at chains, but don't work so well for, say, cooked veggies and olive oil and tofu. Really, what I want is somewhere where I can type in "3 medium sweet potatoes, 3 tablespoons olive oil" and have something spit out a calorie and nutrient estimate at me. There's gotta be something like that, right? Help?
Oh, unrelated to cooking, but sort of another project: I've started biking to school! This is probably a bad time to start biking, since it's very hot these days, especially in the afternoon, but there we are. I'm about 2.5 miles from school, and it's taking me 20-30 minutes, which is very slow for biking. I'm always getting passed by other, fitter bikers. I'm hoping that it'll get easier as I do it more and I'll feel less miserable in time. Right now, it's a little rewarding to know that I'm actually making an effort, but mostly not rewarding at all due to the heat and my unhappy muscles. It gets better?
Showing posts with label tuesday tip. Show all posts
Showing posts with label tuesday tip. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 24, 2012
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Cooking, recipe 7 and Tuesday Tip (and the start of a new tradition?)
I hope none of you meet this awful fate. :)
A note about the mushroom stock from the other day: it's really mushroomy! This is a good thing, but it also means that I wouldn't add this stock to a random soup unless I specifically wanted mushroom flavor. I knew this when I was making the stock, but it's probably worth mentioning.
Anyways, yesterday, I went and made a bigger batch of food again. On one hand, it's probably good, since I won't be cooking today and tomorrow. On the other hand, dude, I'm really incapable of making reasonably-sized things. In my defense, I had 4 portobellos I hadn't used, and I didn't want them to go bad! So there we are. I also started a freezer bag of trimmings in order to make veggie stock sometime next week. We'll see how that goes. The recipe itself was pretty easy and didn't take a whole lot of attention, which allowed me to make the now-weekly batch of salad for this week while I was waiting for dinner to finish.
Quinoa with mushrooms, greens, and chili
Ingredients
1 cup of quinoa
2 cups of mushroom stock (or veggie stock or water)
1 onion
4 portobello caps (reserve the stems for stock if you want)
2 broccoli bunches (apparently, broccoli stems aren't good for stock, though)
4-5 medium tomatoes
1 bunch beet greens (this is the first time I used the greens before the beets!)
neutral oil
salt, pepper, and chili powder
In a medium pot, combine quinoa and stock. Bring to a boil, then adjust the heat so that the mixture simmers. Cover and cook until the liquid is gone, 15-20 minutes. Set aside when it's done. In the meantime, chop up an onion. Heat a little bit of oil over medium-high heat and when it's hot, put in the onion. Saute 'till tender, 3-5 minutes. Chop up the portobellos and add them. Cook for about 10 minutes, 'till the mushrooms have given up juices and started browning. Chop up the greens, broccoli and tomatoes and add them at this point. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and add a bit of water. Cover and cook until broccoli is tender, 15ish minutes. Uncover, add chili powder to taste, and cook until most of the liquid has cooked off. Stir in the quinoa, adjust seasonings to taste, and cook for a few minutes to integrate everything.
Time: About an hour, of which about 20 minutes is hands-on
Serves: 6-8
Highlights/thoughts: Nice and easy recipe -- you can add pretty much any vegetables and have it turn out well. It also helps to cook the quinoa in stock of some kind rather than water. Water is fine, but stock really adds a nice flavor to the whole thing.
Would I make this again? Definitely, though probably not with identical veggies, since I don't necessarily have portobellos on hand.
And, in relationship to the recipe, here's the Tuesday Tip. It turns out that chili powder is instant yummy! I was cooking this and feeling meh in general, and the veggies were turning out pretty meh, despite adding salt and pepper. I stared at my spice rack for a while and decided, randomly, to add some chili powder. I specifically used Penzey's Chili 9000, which is a blend, but I think straight-up chili powder would work just as well. It instantly added a nice flavor and kick and really brought the dish together. Yay!
Tuesday, April 3, 2012
Cooking day 2 and Tuesday Tip
I'm making another change -- instead of doing the carrots today, I'll do them tomorrow, post-CSA pickup (where I will get carrots). Logical, right?
Today's recipe comes from a site I signed up for called The Fresh 20. There was a groupon for it a little while ago (groupons are gonna be the death of me, clearly), and I thought, eh, why not. The site gives you 5 new recipes each week, along with step-by-step instructions and an organized shopping list. Each meal is meant for about 4, which is perfect for us -- dinner and lunch the next day! I signed up for the vegetarian version, of course, but there's also classic and gluten-free. I haven't decided to cook an entire week of their recipes yet, but I may do that one of the next April weeks -- thus far, I've just picked out a bunch that I like and will try several of them for mushroom week.
Anyways, before I get to the recipe for today, have a Tuesday Tip. :) We've been trying to figure out how to eat more salad and more fruit (though not necessarily together). Having greens in the house doesn't always help -- we just don't do anything with them. Some fruit is easier, such as apples (for me) or blueberries (for Mu). For whatever reason, though, most other things fall by the wayside. In experimenting, we've discovered a few things. One, single-size portions help. Two, variety really helps. This is a little counter-intuitive -- if we have trouble going through a thing of berries, say, why would I get berries and mangos? But actually, the variety, in combination with packing, gets us to eat more fruit! Last night, for example, I packed a bunch of tupperwares with a few mango slices, a handful of raspberries, and a few strawberries -- and we've already started eating them. Similarly, a salad with smaller amounts of more ingredients makes us eat salad. Oh, and having small tupperwares of dressing to take along is great, too. That way, the greens don't get soggy, and I also don't have to eat an undressed salad. The only downside to this strategy is that it uses a large amount of tupperwares, but that's a minor issue to have.
And with that, on to the recipe for today. As I mentioned, this was from the Fresh 20 website.
Mushroom Pearl Barley Risotto
Ingredients
2 portobellos
1 cup dry pearl barley
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 cups veggie stock
1-2 cups water, if needed later
1/4 cup grated parmesan (I used more, probably about half a cup)
salt and pepper
thyme (I used pasta sprinkle, which has thyme and garlic and basil and oregano)
olive oil
Dice the portobellos. They'll look pretty big, but they cook down a lot. The recipe didn't say to remove the gills, so I didn't, but in retrospect, I probably should've. It was nevertheless fine. Saute the mushrooms in olive oil for 2-3 minutes, then add the barley and salt and thyme. Saute for another 1-2 minutes. Stir in the wine and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid evaporates. Stir in the stock in 1-cup increment, cooking until each batch evaporates. If the barley still isn't cooked through when the stock is done, add water (I ended up adding about 1.5 more cups). Once barley is ready, fold in parmesan and season with black pepper.
Recipe summary
Time: 1.5 hours, almost all hands-on. Despite what the Fresh 20 thinks, this really isn't a weeknight recipe. This made me kind of unhappy.
Serves: Theoretically, 4. I think it'll be about 5 or 6 servings for us, though.
Highlights/thoughts: I should've known that risotto takes a long time, but the recipe didn't have a time estimate, and given that it was meant to be a weeknight recipe, I was surprised at how long it took. Also, the suggestion is to serve it with carrots, which would help the presentation -- it's very brown otherwise. However, I can't imagine this serving 4 with a side! I'm going to have to reconsider following their recipes exactly, since it looks like their portions are huge. Also, watch the salt on this one. My stock (which wasn't homemade) was pretty salty, and as it cooked down, I realized I should've added less salt at the beginning.
Would I make this again? Probably, or at least some variation of it. It was really very easy, if long, and tastes creamy and rich without actually being too much so.
Today's recipe comes from a site I signed up for called The Fresh 20. There was a groupon for it a little while ago (groupons are gonna be the death of me, clearly), and I thought, eh, why not. The site gives you 5 new recipes each week, along with step-by-step instructions and an organized shopping list. Each meal is meant for about 4, which is perfect for us -- dinner and lunch the next day! I signed up for the vegetarian version, of course, but there's also classic and gluten-free. I haven't decided to cook an entire week of their recipes yet, but I may do that one of the next April weeks -- thus far, I've just picked out a bunch that I like and will try several of them for mushroom week.
Anyways, before I get to the recipe for today, have a Tuesday Tip. :) We've been trying to figure out how to eat more salad and more fruit (though not necessarily together). Having greens in the house doesn't always help -- we just don't do anything with them. Some fruit is easier, such as apples (for me) or blueberries (for Mu). For whatever reason, though, most other things fall by the wayside. In experimenting, we've discovered a few things. One, single-size portions help. Two, variety really helps. This is a little counter-intuitive -- if we have trouble going through a thing of berries, say, why would I get berries and mangos? But actually, the variety, in combination with packing, gets us to eat more fruit! Last night, for example, I packed a bunch of tupperwares with a few mango slices, a handful of raspberries, and a few strawberries -- and we've already started eating them. Similarly, a salad with smaller amounts of more ingredients makes us eat salad. Oh, and having small tupperwares of dressing to take along is great, too. That way, the greens don't get soggy, and I also don't have to eat an undressed salad. The only downside to this strategy is that it uses a large amount of tupperwares, but that's a minor issue to have.
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| Salad and fruit and dressing! |
And with that, on to the recipe for today. As I mentioned, this was from the Fresh 20 website.
Mushroom Pearl Barley Risotto
Ingredients
2 portobellos
1 cup dry pearl barley
1/4 cup dry white wine
4 cups veggie stock
1-2 cups water, if needed later
1/4 cup grated parmesan (I used more, probably about half a cup)
salt and pepper
thyme (I used pasta sprinkle, which has thyme and garlic and basil and oregano)
olive oil
Dice the portobellos. They'll look pretty big, but they cook down a lot. The recipe didn't say to remove the gills, so I didn't, but in retrospect, I probably should've. It was nevertheless fine. Saute the mushrooms in olive oil for 2-3 minutes, then add the barley and salt and thyme. Saute for another 1-2 minutes. Stir in the wine and cook, stirring frequently, until the liquid evaporates. Stir in the stock in 1-cup increment, cooking until each batch evaporates. If the barley still isn't cooked through when the stock is done, add water (I ended up adding about 1.5 more cups). Once barley is ready, fold in parmesan and season with black pepper.
Recipe summary
Time: 1.5 hours, almost all hands-on. Despite what the Fresh 20 thinks, this really isn't a weeknight recipe. This made me kind of unhappy.
Serves: Theoretically, 4. I think it'll be about 5 or 6 servings for us, though.
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| Oops, smear on the plate |
Would I make this again? Probably, or at least some variation of it. It was really very easy, if long, and tastes creamy and rich without actually being too much so.
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Tuesday Tip (request) and more fanart!
Cindy has drawn me more fanart! The backstory here is that when she and I were talking about spaghetti squash recipes, I suddenly remembered that I didn't just have one squash, I had a second, smaller squash hiding in the fridge. Cindy declared that it must be evil (because it was hiding? I'm not sure now), I agreed, and now we have this:
In other news, I'm trying to get myself organized for my upcoming month of cooking. I do a lot of recipe reading, on blogs but also offline, in cookbooks and magazines, so I'm going to need to compile a list of things I'd like to try. I've set aside some time over this week to do so, because I'm afraid that if I don't do it ahead of time, it'll feel overwhelming when I actually get into April and have to think of things to cook daily. I'm also trying to have a few themes so that I can maximize ingredient usage. So far, the themes are mushrooms, Indian (I'm thinking of changing this to Asian, though, since I don't think I want to eat Indian every day for a week), and (maybe) molecular gastronomy, though I suspect a full week of that will get old. Passover is in April, too, so I'll have 10 days of gluten-free stuff by default. I'm excited about this endeavor!
Today's Tuesday Tip is actually a tip request. What do you make when your "cooking mojo" is off? I've had a couple of recipes not turn out the way I want, and I'm trying to ease myself back in before April hits. Any suggestions for something that would be easy and relatively fail-proof?
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| It's laughing at unsuspecting kale and beet greens |
In other news, I'm trying to get myself organized for my upcoming month of cooking. I do a lot of recipe reading, on blogs but also offline, in cookbooks and magazines, so I'm going to need to compile a list of things I'd like to try. I've set aside some time over this week to do so, because I'm afraid that if I don't do it ahead of time, it'll feel overwhelming when I actually get into April and have to think of things to cook daily. I'm also trying to have a few themes so that I can maximize ingredient usage. So far, the themes are mushrooms, Indian (I'm thinking of changing this to Asian, though, since I don't think I want to eat Indian every day for a week), and (maybe) molecular gastronomy, though I suspect a full week of that will get old. Passover is in April, too, so I'll have 10 days of gluten-free stuff by default. I'm excited about this endeavor!
Today's Tuesday Tip is actually a tip request. What do you make when your "cooking mojo" is off? I've had a couple of recipes not turn out the way I want, and I'm trying to ease myself back in before April hits. Any suggestions for something that would be easy and relatively fail-proof?
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Tuesday Tip and a few updates
I meant to post yesterday, but since I'm not home, my schedule has been a little strange. I do have a crust-less quiche recipe/adventure to share with you all, but that will have to wait for a day or two until I settle back down in Tucson.
I also keep meaning to post about my April plans, since I've been telling people about them vaguely. I don't have all the details figured out, but have a tentative outline. :) So, originally, the plan was to cook every day for a month and to structure it as a fundraiser to raise money for a local food pantry. However, the more I think about it, the more I remember how much of a wimp I am about fundraising, especially when it's something so self-driven (rather than for school or another organization). I had some (well, many) ideas on how to do it, but it was all feeling more and more aversive. So, I've decided to nix the fundraising aspect of the thing for now. I may decide to try it further down the road, but not on this particular venture.
So, now that you know what I'm not going to do, what am I actually going to do? Well, the current plan is that in the month of April, I will cook a different recipe every day and document them on the blog. There will be days that I probably won't be able to do this, but I'll try to anticipate those and make 2 things the day before, or something like that. Since the goal of this is to cook new things, I'm going to try for at least half new recipes that I haven't made before. The more new stuff the better, of course, but I also know that there will be times when all I want to do is throw together a pasta sauce, say, and I want to allow for that. I'm also going to try to have a theme each week. I already know that one theme will be Indian food and one will be mushrooms, so there are two more to choose. I'm also starting to collect recipes to try, so if you have any ideas for themes or recipes (vegetarian, please, since I'd like Mu to be able to eat what I make!), let me know. I also know I want to try making my own stock, which sort of isn't a whole recipe on its own, but I'm going to count it as such. :)
Since I know that there will be times that I just can't handle the cooking, I'm going to give myself 2 guilt-free no-cook days. The first will probably actually be April 1st, since that's a Sunday and Mu and I have plans to go to Ren Faire (and hence be gone the whole day). Thus, my official starting day will be April 2nd. I'm also going to try to do prep work all in one day, as much as possible, so that the cooking time is shortened on each individual day. We'll see how well that works. I'll be posting a tentative menu plan each week, and then documenting (hopefully with pictures!) as I go.
Questions or suggestions? Or just general thoughts? I'm happy to hear feedback!
And now for the Tuesday Tip! I was talking with friends about the difficulties of cooking more than one (or maybe 2) dishes at a time, and how none of us are good enough cooks to have the timing for that kind of thing down pat. One thing that came up as a helpful strategy is writing out a list of steps, in the approximate order that one plans to do them in, with the approximate times, and having that in front of you (on the counter can get in the way, but attached with a magnet to the fridge can work!) in order to stay on track. I've tried this a couple of times now, and while I still need a lot of work to make cooking multiple things run smoothly, it really did help to have a plan of action to refer back to. I was off on my times, but at least nothing got forgotten in the chaos!
And there we are! Tomorrow, either the quiche or CSA-related recipes.
I also keep meaning to post about my April plans, since I've been telling people about them vaguely. I don't have all the details figured out, but have a tentative outline. :) So, originally, the plan was to cook every day for a month and to structure it as a fundraiser to raise money for a local food pantry. However, the more I think about it, the more I remember how much of a wimp I am about fundraising, especially when it's something so self-driven (rather than for school or another organization). I had some (well, many) ideas on how to do it, but it was all feeling more and more aversive. So, I've decided to nix the fundraising aspect of the thing for now. I may decide to try it further down the road, but not on this particular venture.
So, now that you know what I'm not going to do, what am I actually going to do? Well, the current plan is that in the month of April, I will cook a different recipe every day and document them on the blog. There will be days that I probably won't be able to do this, but I'll try to anticipate those and make 2 things the day before, or something like that. Since the goal of this is to cook new things, I'm going to try for at least half new recipes that I haven't made before. The more new stuff the better, of course, but I also know that there will be times when all I want to do is throw together a pasta sauce, say, and I want to allow for that. I'm also going to try to have a theme each week. I already know that one theme will be Indian food and one will be mushrooms, so there are two more to choose. I'm also starting to collect recipes to try, so if you have any ideas for themes or recipes (vegetarian, please, since I'd like Mu to be able to eat what I make!), let me know. I also know I want to try making my own stock, which sort of isn't a whole recipe on its own, but I'm going to count it as such. :)
Since I know that there will be times that I just can't handle the cooking, I'm going to give myself 2 guilt-free no-cook days. The first will probably actually be April 1st, since that's a Sunday and Mu and I have plans to go to Ren Faire (and hence be gone the whole day). Thus, my official starting day will be April 2nd. I'm also going to try to do prep work all in one day, as much as possible, so that the cooking time is shortened on each individual day. We'll see how well that works. I'll be posting a tentative menu plan each week, and then documenting (hopefully with pictures!) as I go.
Questions or suggestions? Or just general thoughts? I'm happy to hear feedback!
And now for the Tuesday Tip! I was talking with friends about the difficulties of cooking more than one (or maybe 2) dishes at a time, and how none of us are good enough cooks to have the timing for that kind of thing down pat. One thing that came up as a helpful strategy is writing out a list of steps, in the approximate order that one plans to do them in, with the approximate times, and having that in front of you (on the counter can get in the way, but attached with a magnet to the fridge can work!) in order to stay on track. I've tried this a couple of times now, and while I still need a lot of work to make cooking multiple things run smoothly, it really did help to have a plan of action to refer back to. I was off on my times, but at least nothing got forgotten in the chaos!
And there we are! Tomorrow, either the quiche or CSA-related recipes.
Tuesday, March 6, 2012
Tuesday Tip
I'm trying to figure out what format will work best for me and this blog, so you'll probably be seeing a variety of things as I settle in. I promise I'll have photos with the next batch of cooking, too! In the spirit of experimenting, I'm starting a (hopefully) weekly feature called Tuesday Tip!
A little bit of background is in order. Neither I nor Mu are wizards. If that phrase makes no sense, go to the link and read the post, it's rather hilarious. For the lazy, it's a comic about how being an adult is, for some of us, a lot of effort! Sometimes it really does feel like doing daily or even weekly chores consistently requires magic. So, since neither of us have those magic powers, we've been trying to find ways to make all this stuff work better. We simplify where possible, we try to get into routines, and so on. In short, we're always trying to come up with tricks for making adult life manageable. :) This isn't to say that we've got it all figured out. A little while ago, Mu said something like, "Well, we're getting better, maybe we're becoming wizards?" This seemed so far from the truth to me that I said, "Dude, we're so far from being wizards, you might as well have said that we're becoming elephants!" Of course, now, elephants are a constant joke in our household. But in any case, elephant wizards or not, I figured I could share some of the things that have been working for us, and see what others have been doing.
So, with no further ado, the first Tuesday Tip!
This Tuesday Tip is for those of you who, like me, have a hard time getting things together in the morning. I'm not good at getting up early enough to do anything more than get dressed, (maybe) have a very quick breakfast, and run. This, as you may have noticed, doesn't leave time for putting together a lunch. The normal adult response to this is to pack lunch the night before, but generally, by the time this thought occurs to me, it's after midnight and I'm in bed. What to do? So, what Mu and I have been trying (with success, I'm happy to say!) in the last few weeks is packing our food into single-serve portions right after cooking. Instead of sticking the whole pot in the fridge, or transferring the meal into a gigantic tupperware, we split it into 5 or 6 (or however many) smaller tupperwares. That way, when I'm running around in the morning, I can grab a tupperware or 2, pop it into my lunch bag along with an apple and a spoon, and be ready to go! It does mean that there are more tupperwares to wash, but we've figured out a good dishwashing system (next Tuesday Tip!) that makes it far easier to just do it this way. Plus, this way, I'm sure not to have to buy lunch, which is far cheaper and probably healthier.
What do you do to make sure your lunch comes from home when you're at work or such?
A little bit of background is in order. Neither I nor Mu are wizards. If that phrase makes no sense, go to the link and read the post, it's rather hilarious. For the lazy, it's a comic about how being an adult is, for some of us, a lot of effort! Sometimes it really does feel like doing daily or even weekly chores consistently requires magic. So, since neither of us have those magic powers, we've been trying to find ways to make all this stuff work better. We simplify where possible, we try to get into routines, and so on. In short, we're always trying to come up with tricks for making adult life manageable. :) This isn't to say that we've got it all figured out. A little while ago, Mu said something like, "Well, we're getting better, maybe we're becoming wizards?" This seemed so far from the truth to me that I said, "Dude, we're so far from being wizards, you might as well have said that we're becoming elephants!" Of course, now, elephants are a constant joke in our household. But in any case, elephant wizards or not, I figured I could share some of the things that have been working for us, and see what others have been doing.
So, with no further ado, the first Tuesday Tip!
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| My pink cherry lunch bag that I actually made! |
What do you do to make sure your lunch comes from home when you're at work or such?
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