I added the stuffed squash to today's prep list. There are Family Things going on, and I'll be lucky to have even a few hours to cook, tomorrow. I think what I've left are the pies (4 of them) and prepping the turkey. I have a couple of last minute items to pick up at the store, and I'll get our CSA box at 4:00.
There's something else... but my list is downstairs. Anyway, I think I'll make it, now that the squashes are done.
They look properly pretty, too!
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
The Week - Day 2
I overslept. This is a minor miracle. Weird dream, too, but it was kind of cool.
Today: turkey delivery from Wind Dancer Ranch. I'm babysitting two of the turkeys until their owners can get here to pick them up. I wonder if I need ice to keep them cold?
Do I want to brine my turkey? I haven't decided, but I'm leaning toward doing that.
Food Prep:
Freeze the second batch of pumpkin ice cream
Make cornbread, break it up and toast it until dry and crunchy. Set aside for Friday.
Make the cranberry-zinfandel salad dressing. That's for Thursday.
Make cranberry sauce, for Thursday AND Friday.
Hmm. What's for dinner tonight?
Today: turkey delivery from Wind Dancer Ranch. I'm babysitting two of the turkeys until their owners can get here to pick them up. I wonder if I need ice to keep them cold?
Do I want to brine my turkey? I haven't decided, but I'm leaning toward doing that.
Food Prep:
Freeze the second batch of pumpkin ice cream
Make cornbread, break it up and toast it until dry and crunchy. Set aside for Friday.
Make the cranberry-zinfandel salad dressing. That's for Thursday.
Make cranberry sauce, for Thursday AND Friday.
Hmm. What's for dinner tonight?
Monday, November 23, 2009
The Week - Day 1, con't
and the lovely veggies:
I forgot to take a picture of the pumpkin ice cream, but that will put in more appearances during the week. Trust me - it was good!
The Week - Day 1
Today is lunch with out-of-town friends. The menu is
Sun-Dried Tomato Tapanade with Crackers
Antipasto Vegetable Platter
Roasted Pepper, Kalamata Olives Pasta
Pumpkin Ice Cream with Graham Cracker Bits and Whipped Cream
Wine? Dunno yet.
So far, I've steamed the veggies and they are splashing in the marinade.
The peppers have been roasted and are resting in a plastic bag.
I did the breakfast dishes, too.
Sun-Dried Tomato Tapanade with Crackers
Antipasto Vegetable Platter
Roasted Pepper, Kalamata Olives Pasta
Pumpkin Ice Cream with Graham Cracker Bits and Whipped Cream
Wine? Dunno yet.
So far, I've steamed the veggies and they are splashing in the marinade.
The peppers have been roasted and are resting in a plastic bag.
I did the breakfast dishes, too.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
The Holidays are Here...
I'm trying to be good, although I know I must face the reality of the holidays. This week alone, I've got three big meals to prepare. I will not deny myself a taste of everything - the real work will be to restrict myself to small amounts. And watch the drinking.
I consider it a good holiday if I don't GAIN anything, but these days, that's how I feel about every day. I love the holiday food, too. Pumpkin and other squashes are just about my best favorite - in any form. I'm serving stuffed acorn squash as a side to the turkey on Thursday, and my kid's favorite sweet potato casserole on Friday. There will be pumpkin pie of course, with whipped cream. And pumpkin ice cream will put in appearance at each of the big meals. I'll be making that today, because the first meal is tomorrow (lunch with some out-of-town friends).
This year, an exciting plan is to give my six-month old grandson his first bite of grown-up food during the festivities: baked sweet potato. The camera will be ready for that!
Last year was the first time in YEARS that I cooked a turkey. It didn't get done in the allotted time - we ended up having to toss some of the carved pieces into the microwave. This year, I'll allow more time, but honestly - I used the time/temperature charts from many sources, and it didn't work! I think it was a 16 pound bird, and I roasted it for 5 hours at 350. By all the charts, it should have been done.
I notice this with nearly all the meat I cook in my oven. Chicken, beef roasts, turkeys, whatever... they take a lot longer to cook. Yet the thermometer in the oven shows the right temperature. And other things, such as the rolls I baked the other day, get done far too soon!
Why can't it just be simple?
Anyway, this year our turkey is a fresh one from Wind Dancer Ranch. I can't wait to taste it - I'm really excited about it.
I consider it a good holiday if I don't GAIN anything, but these days, that's how I feel about every day. I love the holiday food, too. Pumpkin and other squashes are just about my best favorite - in any form. I'm serving stuffed acorn squash as a side to the turkey on Thursday, and my kid's favorite sweet potato casserole on Friday. There will be pumpkin pie of course, with whipped cream. And pumpkin ice cream will put in appearance at each of the big meals. I'll be making that today, because the first meal is tomorrow (lunch with some out-of-town friends).
This year, an exciting plan is to give my six-month old grandson his first bite of grown-up food during the festivities: baked sweet potato. The camera will be ready for that!
Last year was the first time in YEARS that I cooked a turkey. It didn't get done in the allotted time - we ended up having to toss some of the carved pieces into the microwave. This year, I'll allow more time, but honestly - I used the time/temperature charts from many sources, and it didn't work! I think it was a 16 pound bird, and I roasted it for 5 hours at 350. By all the charts, it should have been done.
I notice this with nearly all the meat I cook in my oven. Chicken, beef roasts, turkeys, whatever... they take a lot longer to cook. Yet the thermometer in the oven shows the right temperature. And other things, such as the rolls I baked the other day, get done far too soon!
Why can't it just be simple?
Anyway, this year our turkey is a fresh one from Wind Dancer Ranch. I can't wait to taste it - I'm really excited about it.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Using leftovers
I overcame my food lethargy enough to cook up most of the veggies from last week's CSA box. I baked the Delicata squash and served it with butter and brown sugar - true comfort food. The meal was rounded out with the last of our CSA hog: thick braised pork chops.
This is an example of never throwing away food, because I had some stuffing in my freezer from a meal I'd prepared months ago. I've never learned the art of truly stuffing something - I always have lots of the stuffing mixture left over. It was basically onion, pecans, breadcrumbs, butter, and a bit of bourbon. I had about a cup of it left.
So I sprinkled the chops with salt, pepper, and garam masala, browned them in oil, then removed them from the pan and added the stuffing to the pan. I used more bourbon to scrape the pan, put the chops back in, covered it with a lid and stuck it in the oven for about 45 minutes.
Those were really good pork chops.
I sauteed all the greens from the box: there was kale, the tops of the turnips, and leaves from the cauliflower. They were a little bitter - that's something else I need to work on. Anyone have pointers from removing the bitterness from greens?
Anyway, it was a lovely meal. I also steamed the cauliflower and the turnips to put away for another meal. We had the cauliflower last night, sprinkled with salt, pepper, and olive oil. It was quite good.
We added some of the leftover squash to our pancakes yesterday. I'll use the rest in my morning oatmeal.
I love winter vegetables.
This is an example of never throwing away food, because I had some stuffing in my freezer from a meal I'd prepared months ago. I've never learned the art of truly stuffing something - I always have lots of the stuffing mixture left over. It was basically onion, pecans, breadcrumbs, butter, and a bit of bourbon. I had about a cup of it left.
So I sprinkled the chops with salt, pepper, and garam masala, browned them in oil, then removed them from the pan and added the stuffing to the pan. I used more bourbon to scrape the pan, put the chops back in, covered it with a lid and stuck it in the oven for about 45 minutes.
Those were really good pork chops.
I sauteed all the greens from the box: there was kale, the tops of the turnips, and leaves from the cauliflower. They were a little bitter - that's something else I need to work on. Anyone have pointers from removing the bitterness from greens?
Anyway, it was a lovely meal. I also steamed the cauliflower and the turnips to put away for another meal. We had the cauliflower last night, sprinkled with salt, pepper, and olive oil. It was quite good.
We added some of the leftover squash to our pancakes yesterday. I'll use the rest in my morning oatmeal.
I love winter vegetables.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Lament, continued
I just remembered another of my diet blockers: crackers and hot sauce.
See, instead of chips, with their high calorie/fat content, I eat crackers with hot sauce. And sometimes, that craving for hot sauce overwhelms me. I like it HOT, and I like a lot of it.
The hot sauce itself is great - low calorie, full of veggies. It's the crackers that are the problem.
I remembered it because I just scarfed about five crackers - large crackers. At least that many. In this case, five crackers are 115 calories. If I had more than that...
I know. I should have counted. Well - I certainly didn't have more than seven crackers.
That may sound like a great snack to you. But see, my allowed calories are so tiny, that 150 extra calories in the day puts fat on my stomach. It really does.
If I exercise - strenuously - I might come out even. But I've got a metabolism that's on ambien or something - it's so slow, it sleeps. And it makes me want to cry.
And give up.
These are the kinds of things that wipe me out, diet-wise. It's not soft drinks or lattes or donuts. It's the usually-healthy-good-for-you food I've got in the house.
Sometimes, I wish I had a soda habit. I wish I drank an 800 calorie coffee drink every day, or bought a Jamba Juice smoothie for every breakfast. It would be easy to lose weight then. But if I'm already not doing any of that stuff - where do I go?
See, instead of chips, with their high calorie/fat content, I eat crackers with hot sauce. And sometimes, that craving for hot sauce overwhelms me. I like it HOT, and I like a lot of it.
The hot sauce itself is great - low calorie, full of veggies. It's the crackers that are the problem.
I remembered it because I just scarfed about five crackers - large crackers. At least that many. In this case, five crackers are 115 calories. If I had more than that...
I know. I should have counted. Well - I certainly didn't have more than seven crackers.
That may sound like a great snack to you. But see, my allowed calories are so tiny, that 150 extra calories in the day puts fat on my stomach. It really does.
If I exercise - strenuously - I might come out even. But I've got a metabolism that's on ambien or something - it's so slow, it sleeps. And it makes me want to cry.
And give up.
These are the kinds of things that wipe me out, diet-wise. It's not soft drinks or lattes or donuts. It's the usually-healthy-good-for-you food I've got in the house.
Sometimes, I wish I had a soda habit. I wish I drank an 800 calorie coffee drink every day, or bought a Jamba Juice smoothie for every breakfast. It would be easy to lose weight then. But if I'm already not doing any of that stuff - where do I go?
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