Category Archives: food

Good Burger

Posted on by
Reply

One final food post before I turn in for the night.

The husband makes a good burger. While the Le Crueset stovetop grill we have does a great job, it wasn’t always consistent. A few weeks ago he decided to try broiling the burgers for a change of pace. On the middle rack for 5 or 7 minutes, then top rack for a few minutes. This turned out to be the best burger I had had in a long time. I was so excited about it. The next morning I was still raving about his burger. The husband was pretty pleased with it, too. Sadly, I didn’t take a picture because I did not realize I was going to be in Hamburger Heaven.

So, today as we passed by Kidd Valley on our way home, my burger-reflex was triggered and I suggested we have burgers for dinner tonight. The husband was more than happy to oblige.

I forgot to take a pic the last time, so here it is the second time around.

Mmmm ... burger ...

Mmmm ... burger ...

We like it simple. A little cheddar cheese melted on a toasted ciabatta roll. Mine had ketchup and mayo. His had ketchup, mayo and relish. We ate them outside on our deck with a side of potato salad. Summer doesn’t get much better than this.

Egg

Posted on by
Reply

Lots of co-worker and food stories. Stewart and his wife, Cindy, have a farm in Snoqualmie. A small farm. Chickens, turkeys, maybe some goats. They let the hens lay eggs naturally, and do not use artificial lights or anything to trick them into laying more eggs. I’m sure Stewart could go on about the other stuff they do, and as I learn more I can report back. The small farm life is really quite fascinating. I’ve been meaning to try Cindy’s damn fine poultry on for size since I learned of the farm. Lucky for me, Stewart came by on Friday (his day off) with free eggs for a select few (woohoo!). The husband had one in his salad last night, and this morning I gingerly fried one up for breakfast. I wanted sunny-side up but we have no bread in the house so I would have nothing to mop up the yolk with, so before I smashed the yolk and cooked it “overeasy-smashed”, as we like to say in our household, I snapped a picture.

damn fine egg from cindy

damn fine eggs from cindy

My camera does not do it justice, but the amazing thing about these organic, homegrown eggs is the bright color of the yolk. What a beautiful color. Makes me wonder what those commercial farms (even the organic ones we purchase) are doing to their hens.

The (Italian) Hangover

Posted on by
Reply
Hangover breakfast special

Hangover breakfast special

Hangover breakfast special. Only, I don’t drink enough to have a hangover. Actually, I don’t drink at all. We had some leftover pasta and chicken from the previous night, so I warmed it up in a small skillet, added an egg and some egg whites, let the eggs set then put it under the broiler for a few minutes. Easy enough instructions, eh? So why did the husband feel the need to direct me at every turn? And why did I feel the need to let him butt in?

The husband cooks alone. And so do I, so getting us in a kitchen together can sometimes be nightmarish. I sarcastically told the husband that he should have his own cooking show. We decided it would be called “Cooking with @$$hole”. Everytime a guest shows up on the show the husband’s signature line would be, “You’re doing it wrong! Get out. I’ll just do it myself!” And at the end of the show we’d say in that talk show voice, “If you know someone who has never watched this show that would like to be a guest, please call now.”

Heh. All in all, the leftover egg dish (I think I’m calling it The Italian Hangover) was quite delicious. And the making of the dish quite amusing to me.

Whole Paycheck? Not anymore

Posted on by
Reply
whole foods in seattle (but not the one we shop at)

whole foods in seattle (but not the one we shop at)

Indeed, it is possible to walk out of Whole Foods and spend less than $25. We successfully did it this morning. Generally a Sunday morning shopping trip to WF would go something like this:

The husband would decide that he needs X (fresh fish, chicken sausage, garbanzo beans, etc) and I would tag along. He would pick up what he needs … maybe a few yogurts, a nice beer, oven-baked french fries. Meanwhile, I would decide, hey, I’d like some Clif Bars. I also think I’ll have a latte. While we’re here, let’s get some hot breakfast. And oh, look, they have those samosas that we like so much. Before you know it, we’re out of the store and we’ve spent $50. Ho ho ho, we chuckle, you can’t leave that store without spending $50.

Enter a new era. One we like to call a recession, one where we’ve decided to take a look at what we buy, and not buy the things we don’t need. So, today’s Sunday trip to WF came about because I wanted to buy some oatmeal in bulk. The husband bought some fresh cod for tonight’s dinner, and some frozen bison for two future dinners. Add in a few yogurts, and my favorite tofu that happens to be cheapest at WF (compared to PCC, QFC and MM) and a few other necessities. We spent about three minutes in the chips aisle debating whether to buy pretzels or not (the outcome: yes, we’ll buy).

The other aisles we toured but just toured. No single serving apple pies. No nice bottles of beer. No fru-fru cold drinks and no carb-heavy hot breakfasts. We toured and looked and laughed at what we weren’t going to buy. Got in line at the register and spent a whole whopping $24.89.

Of course, we could have spent $0 and gone to Safeway instead. But we’ve made the decision to save money by cutting out the unnecessary stuff, not by sacrificing taste and quality. So, goodbye (for the most part) to chips, cookies (specifically those big single ones), lattes, beers (unless it’s in a can and says MGD) … hello bulk oatmeal and tubs of yogurt. So far, so good.

Oh, this is just week one. Check in with me a few weeks from now, and see how we’re doing.

Happy VD

Posted on by
1

I told the husband last week that I didn’t want flowers on Valentine’s Day (what we prefer to call “VD”). I didn’t want jewelry (not that we can afford it right now). I didn’t want a fancy dinner. I all I wanted, I told him, was some petit fours from the Market. And he delivered. Hurrah!

petit fours for valentines day

petit fours for valentine's day

They are delicious. Light and airy, with a touch of marzipan in the center of two layers of cake. Just the right amount of sweetness.

Thanks to the husband!

Homemade Energy Bars

Posted on by
Reply

A few weeks ago the husband and I were at Whole Foods where I normally stock up on inexpensive energy bars (yes, Whole Paycheck was one of the few stores that sold Luna Bars on a regular basis for $.99). Imagine my surprise when the price had gone up 20 cents, to a whopping $1.19. The husband noticed the same thing happen to their canned beans (believe it or not, you can find good deals at Whole Foods, especially with their 365 brand, and on organic foods). So, as our once regular trips to WF have dwindled, I realized maybe it was finally time to stop wasting money on something like Luna Bars, when I could easily create a homemade concotion that served the same function, mainly fuel replenishment after a workout.

Now, at this point, the husband would say, “Yeah, it’s called a banana, yogurt and almonds”. But who remembers to pack all that stuff in a gym bag? And the yogurt needs refrigeration. And lots of bananas, yogurt and almonds adds up wallet-wise. The economy is in the toilet, so let’s find something that won’t break the bank.

Enter the homemade energy bar. I found a recipe on FoodNetwork.com, from Ellie Krieger, whose show “Healthy Appetite with Ellie Krieger” I’ve only seen once, and it was by accident. Today, decided to try it out.

The results are in … This was a worthwhile venture. First, the numbers. I used the “Toasted Nut ‘n’ Cranberries” Luna Bar as my comparison. This is one of the small handful of Luna flavors that I ate, and the only one with out the drizzled chocolate or whatever stuff, so it seemed a pretty decent comparison.

Luna Bar: 180 calories

Fat grams: 4 (saturated fat .5g)
Carbs 26
Fiber 4
Protein 10 g

Ellie’s Energy Bars: 133 calories
fat grams: 5 (saturated fat .6g)
Carbs 20
Fiber 2.5
Protein 5g
So … Luna wins out in the higher Fiber and Protein count. Then again, since it is also higher in calories, I could double the serving size (which, come to think of it, soon becomes about the size of a Luna bar), and for a few more calories I would be receiving an equivalent amount of protein and fiber.

Taste-wise … well these homemade versions certainly aren’t going to win any awards. And Luna/Clif certainly don’t have to worry about the competition. However, as homemade energy bars go, they aren’t bad. The best thing they have going for them is that they are not overly sweet, which is my preference for a pre-workout or post-workout snack. I don’t want anything that makes me crave for something more, the way sweets often do for me. The first bite seemed a bit dry, but I could bake them for less time and that would probably fix the problem.

Price. Ah, the fun part. I went to the bulk section of PCC to purchase the ingredients, and spent $4.62. (I heart Bulk! Quick Rolled Oats! $0.24! Sunflower Seeds! $0.36!) Since I’m doubling the serving size to equate one Luna Bar, price per bar/serving is $0.46. This price is 61% lower than the Whole Foods Luna Bar price. Keep in mind that WF (and maybe TJ’s still does it, too, I haven’t been there in a while) offers these bars at the lowest price I can find (not on sale). You’ll find them at other stores for between $1.25 to $1.39 or more). Not too shabby.

But, wait, Chattycha. What if you were to purchase a case of Lunas from Costco? Okay. You’ve got me. I haven’t priced these suckers at Costco. And I bet if I bought a case I’d get them for a cheaper price. But I don’t have a membership to Costco (which is what, $40 a year? Seriously. I have no idea), and the closest one is who even knows where so don’t forget to include all that driving time and gas and mileage. PCC, on the other hand, is walking distance from my house. Come to think of it, we are PCC Co-op members and since we used our 10% coupon today, technically the ingredients only cost $4.16. Besides, in the amount of time it would take me to drive to Costco, purchase said Luna Bars (and probably $100 worth of other stuff), I could bake these babies, cool them down and slice them up. So, you do the math. Oh, wait, I already did.

Now, for me, energy bars are really intended to fuel the body following a good lifting workout. Or, I’d eat half of one before rowing practice in the morning to wake up the body and get it going. I’m not really exercising right now, unless you count the 30-minute treadmill walk and 15-minute recumbent bike exercise (HR at a nice steady 100 bpm because anything higher and things start to hurt). So consider this a test run for when I return to my regular programming, sometime in the new year. Not sure when exactly, but I know it’s coming.

Pics to come. I’m just a bit too lazy to download the images onto the PC. Hey. I’m 36 weeks pregnant. I can’t be expected to run up and down the stairs simply for some blog artwork.

Got a quick an easy energy bar recipe I should try? Send it on.

Legalize Frostitution

Posted on by
2

Day 8, stuck here at the house. We ventured out yesterday to First Hill for a doctor’s appointment. While the freeways were clear of any snow, slush nor ice, the roads to and from the freeway were a far different story. First Hill being, you know, hilly, there were several main roads that were closed, so we went the most circuitous route possible to get to Madison and Minor. And, if you think it would make sense for the city of Seattle to, at the very least, plow the streets leading up to oh, I don’t know, a HOSPITAL, well ho ho ho are you way off-base. At least, I was when I said to the husband, “Surely Madison will be clear of snow.” The ride to the doctor’s was bumpy bumpy bumpy. Baby was not fond of the ride, so far as I can tell. We thankfully have a 4Runner with 4WD that got us to our destination, but boy was I nervous about all of the OTHER cars on the roads, like the lame Toyota Corolla in front of us trying to get to Capitol Hill, or the insane Honda Civic that thought it could bypass a “Street Closed” sign on Boren but then fishtailed and ran into the curb. Some great driving going on.

And, I’m not the only one complaining about the poor job the city has done with clearing the streets.

So, that was our only jaunt of the week (not including a two-mile round trip to UVillage over the weekend). Needless to say, we’re staying home as much as possible. As you might have guessed, I’ve been a little stir crazy. I baked cookies last week, intending to give them to some co-workers. Being as how I never made it back to the office, the work cookies soon became neighbor cookies. I made a batch of chocolate chip and a batch of sugar cut-outs, and frosted them with this lame icing from the BHG cookbook. I wasn’t crazy about the cookie dough, either, so I decided to try again.

Snowman Sugar Cookie

For this batch, which I finished today, I used the Best Rolled Out Sugar Cookies. Seriously, that’s what they call them at allrecipes.com. I also found a frosting recipe from allrecipes. It is my go-to site for simple recipes and all-american cooking (i.e green bean casserole).

I had quite a bit of fun frosting these. The frosting is way better than what I used from BHG. BHG was basically powdered sugar and milk. Blech. I sent the husband out for food coloring and added it to the new version, made of powdered sugar, milk and butter (the original recipe called for shortening but I declined. I’m not sure what shortening does to frosting that butter doesn’t)

The toppings I got from Williams Sonoma, on sale. I’m hoping we make it to the in-laws tomorrow for Christmas, so I can give these cookies away. Otherwise I am going to come out of this snowstorm one roly-poly cookie-eating chica.

See more cookie pics on my flickr photostream.

BTW, I am not so clever as to have invented the title of this post. I have to give credit to Cupcake Royale.

Speaking of cupcakes, I imagine this frosting would be incredible on a nice chocolate cupcake. Yeah!

Holiday Potluck in C/1089

Posted on by
Reply

Who needs a fancy work party at the Westin? We’ve got a hot potluck in the big conference room.

Everyone loves a good potluck, right? Especially when one gets awards. I didn’t go for the award this year, actually. Too much other stuff going on to spend time dreaming up the “best original dish”. But, take a look at the best original dish, prepared by Alejandro. Chicken Empanada:

MSN Empanada. Now thats team spirit.

MSN Empanada. Now that's team spirit.

I brought a pasta salad. Made with tri-color rotini, marinated artichoke hearts and roasted red peppers. I forgot the olives and ditched the capers.  An easy dish that took all of 20ish minutes to make the night before. Maybe next year I’ll be up for the competition again.

Good fun was had by all.

Gobble, gobbled

Posted on by
Reply

Another Thanksgiving come and gone! I asked the husband if he wanted to watch any Christmas movies today. He says we need to allow Thanksgiving to have its time in the limelight. I said it did … yesterday. He insists it needs the full weekend. So, no Rudolph or Frosty just yet. But, I bet before I return to work on Monday we will have our awesome fake Christmas tree out of storage. Happy Egg Nog.

Thanksgiving was at the in-laws last night. The lighting wasn’t very good in the dining room, so I apologize that the pics are sorta dismal. The highlights: a brined turkey. Incredibly juicy! The husband carved and was amazed at how pieces of turkey just fell out. Green bean casserole! What a great tradition. Stuffing! With water chestnuts and chicken liver. Yum. Oh so good.

thanksgiving plate

thanksgiving plate

juiciest. turkey. ever

juiciest. turkey. ever.

green bean casserole

green bean casserole

stuffing

stuffing

Did I mention, the mother-in-law surprised us with a delicious chocolate pecan pie? Yum. The husband really loved it. I was glad we got to take some home.

chocolate pecan pie via chattycha on flickr

MILs Chocolate Pecan Pie

And, I brought along the Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake.

Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake (the 2008 version)

Bourbon Pumpkin Cheesecake (the 2008 version)

I used a mix of reduced fat cream cheese and whole cream cheese, and for the topping I also combined low-fat sour cream with regular sour cream. If I can remember, for next year, I may do like the MIL, and try a new recipe. I’m not really a cheesecake eater, and this tends to be the only time of the year I will eat (let along bake) cheesecake. So, I’ll have to decide if I’m willing to give that up!

BTW, the cheesecake recipe is courtesy of Gourmet Magazine, on Epicurious.com