yikes! it's been a while, eh?

well hello again friends! :) i'm not quite sure what caused me to be so derelict in my blogging but i promise it will never happen again. i know i've kept you all waiting on the edge of your seats the last three months ; )
seeing that it HAS been three months since i have posted, let me fill you in!
october...nothing really interesting happened. didn't do anything on halloween, i think i may have been sick?
november....not too much to report in the beginning of the month. middle of the month becky and i applied for our new apartment (which we now live in...details up soon) and i started getting ready for yet ANOTHER move this year. i have moved 6 times in the last 4 years. i'm done moving to say the least! thanksgiving was super low key. mom had pneumonia so i made dinner for dad, seth and myself. it turned out really well, and i made it super easy on myself by doing the sweet potatoes and green beans in crockpots. i highly recommend this method of cooking! it totally left the oven open for cooking the turkey and dressing. it also cut down on some of my 'kitchen time' since the crockpots were already cooking away. the down side of thanksgiving was when i realized that the dishwasher detergent compartment was not closing. at. all. this meant that i got to wash all of the dishes by hand. i know some of you who do not have a dishwasher would not think this is a huge deal. please understand me. i am a child of the 80's. i have never in my youth or adulthood lived in a house without a dishwasher. washing a dinner's (especially thanksgiving) worth of dishes is not fun. it hurt my back and gave me dishpan hands. sick.
black friday was great fun, as i went shopping with my dear friend carla. we hit target, bed bath and beyond and joann fabrics. scored big time on some things i have been holding our for like a cricut cutting machine for crafting. i got it $100 off!!
at the beginning of december i moved into the apartment. for the first couple of weeks i was by myself as becky hadn't moved yet. it was refreshing to be here alone for a while. for the last year and a half i have lived with other people (roomies and my family) so it was nice to have the place to myself and have some alone time. as time went on and becky moved in, the house started looking more like it was inhabited by women and not college aged males. we're still not completely settled, but it is definitely liveable. i am excited to have a spare room (we got a 3 bed/2bath apt) where i will be able to set up my craft and sewing stuff. the thing i hate about crafting is having to pack everything up and put it away. such a buzz kill! but once i get that all set up i won't have to worry about that anymore. it will be so fun and i'm sure i will craft a whole lot more than i do now.
there are more things i am going to post on soon, like recent awesome developments in my health and what the Lord is doing in this little life of mine. stay tuned. same bat time, same bat channel.

beating the sniffles

on saturday my friend and i got together and made a TON of chicken noodle soup. it was a lot of fun getting together and catching up, and cooking is always more fun when it's with a friend!
the most important food ingredient in a good traditional chicken soup is the broth. many of us know that broth is good for us when we are sick, but does anyone know why? and did you know that the broth you are drinking is probably use less if it's not homemade? let me elaborate by taking some cues from "Nourishing Traditions: The Cookbook that Challenges Politically Correct Nutrition and the Diet Dictocrats" by Sally Fallon.

'Properly prepared, meat stocks are extremely nutritious, containing the minerals of bone, cartilage, marrow and vegetables as electrolytes, a form that is easy to assimilate. Acidic wine or vinegar added during cooking helps to draw minerals, particularly calcium, magnesium and potassium, into the broth.'

she goes on to list other important benefits of bone broth such as protein content (great any time, healthy or sick, but especially when you are ill and not eating a whole lot of protein rich foods) and gelatin which is a proven intestine healer and digestive aid. It is important to note that natural gelatin is good for you, but commerically produced gelatin can contain MSG which could be bad for those with sensitivities.

there are side benefits of drinking a warm broth as well when you are sick. first, you are taking in fluids. secondly the steam from the stock will open your sinuses, and some say that the sodium in it will raise your blood pressure a little and help you have a bit of energy.

stock can be made from chicken, beef, fish or game bones and tissue. i will briefly outline how i made chicken stock (according to the Nourishing Traditions recipe):

roast a whole chicken, let cool

take most of the meat off carcass, reserve for soup or sandwiches, etc

place carcass and any giblets that may have been included in the chicken in a stock pot with 4 quarts of water

add 2 tablespoons of vinegar

1 large onion, coarsely chopped

2 carrots, peeled and coarsely chopped

3 celery sticks, coarsely chopped

let stand 30 to 60 minutes, then bring to a boil removing 'scum' as it floats to the top. reduce heat, cover and simmer for 6-24 hours. the longer you cook the stock the richer and more flavorful it will be. about 10 min before finishing the stock, add 1 bunch chopped parsley (this will impart additional mineral ions to the broth)

remove carcass and vegetables with a slotted spoon. pour the stock through a fine strainer into a pot or large bowl to further remove left over 'stuff'.

pour stock into jars or plastic freezer containers. let cool, then strain off the fat. clear stock will keep for 5 days in the refrigerator and several months in the freezer.

so there you have it, my method for making a tasty, nutritious, healing meat stock. the vitamins and minerals that are readily available in the liquid are good anytime of year but especially when you are feeling like you want to die :)

chicken soup: good for the soul and good for your health!

'tis so sweet

to trust in Jesus!!!

i am so happy to have had an upbriging where christian music was played and (even though i didn't particularly like it at the time) hymns were sung and listed to on tv or radio. it is these songs that come to my mind when i am struggling, evoking memories of scriptures through their words. the truths written in songs of the faith are encouraging and sweet.
as i have shared before on this blog my health is a major source of 'strife' to say the least. it seems like every time i go to the doctor or have some test done it doesn't turn out well. it gets really discouraging sometimes and i would be lying if i said that i had never prayed for a new body :) even as i think of my health woes, i am getting teared up. it is hard for me to remain positive when there are so many unknowns. as i fight my human nature and strive to trust my ultimate Physician, i remember the hymn below. lately, singing it has helped me to remember that i don't need to know what is happening...i just need to trust the One who does!
Trust the Lord your God with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight. Psalm 3:5-6

’Tis so sweet to trust in Jesus,Just to take Him at His Word;
Just to rest upon His promise,And to know, “Thus saith the Lord!”

Refrain:Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er;
Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!Oh, for grace to trust Him more!

Oh, how sweet to trust in Jesus,Just to trust His cleansing blood;
And in simple faith to plunge me ’Neath the healing, cleansing flood!
Yes, ’tis sweet to trust in Jesus,Just from sin and self to cease;
Just from Jesus simply taking Life and rest, and joy and peace.
I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
And I know that Thou art with me,Wilt be with me to the end.

OH, FOR GRACE TO TRUST HIM MORE!!

i promise it's not about food

friday night becky and i went out to eat and then went and saw 'julie and julia'. we had a great dinner at olive garden and were excited to see the movie cause it just looked so darn cute on previews. let me tell you, i really enjoyed the movie!

i really found myself seeing my stage in life reflected in julie's. at the time that julie was blogging and cooking her way through julia child's mastering the art of french cooking, she was: 29, not loving her job, in a rut and looking for inspiration. oh how i relate! i am even the same age! recently i have been trying to make sure that i stay inspired in my daily life. by this i mean, keeping something special to look forward to. whether it's cooking sunday dinner, taking a doula training class, getting my camera gear out and shooting somewhere, or making sure to keep an active social life i NEED something to get me through the day, because everydayaveragelife can get, well, average.

it was encouraging to see these women take a risk and follow through even though they got really discouraged. it took years for julia child to get her first cookbook published. draft after draft, she never gave up. julie even got discouraged when recipes were a flop, and when she and her husband suffered a brief separation. anyone who knows me knows that i am not a tenacious person. i rarely finish anything i start. knowing this about myself discourages me from the get-go when i want to start a project or venture. however, i am trying to change this!! i hate being a person who gives up. it is a character trait that i do not find attractive in others yet i seem to be so adept at it :) even the thought of trying to become a more committed person is a little intimidating. but i have to stick to it. so many people have faced more adversity than i have and have come through with a smile on their face...at the finish line.

even though it was 'just a movie' it was the retelling of two true stories of two women who did not give up. i hope to tell my own story of tenacity and commitment some day. soon.

cheap dinner ideas

since moving back in with my parents i have been the chief meal planner/preparer. at first i was making meal plans that were great menus, but after a while i just felt like i was trying to out-do myself and it was a lot of effort just to get dinner done. after reading a post on the nourishing gourmet about keeping weekday meals simple and having a sunday meal be special, i was a changed woman :) one of the comments on the post was that a woman felt like she had to make a 'rachel ray' dinner every night and that it was a lot of pressure, the thought of doing it once a week was very freeing. i totally agree. this post along with the thought of heating up the kitchen in hot weather (and the hot weather making me not want to go full on grocery shopping) has lead me to make some very creative, cheap, delicious and easy meals the past week. drawing on ideas from the happy housewife and menu plan monday, i have been able to organize my meals better and make the most of my time and resources.
most of the ingredients are things i already had on hand and were not purchased specifically for the meal they turned into :) i posted the other day about the sloppy joes, and today i will share a few more recipes with you:


open-faced salmon melts


1 large can of canned alaska salmon (i used bumble bee in the tall can, there were a lot of bones since it is from the center of the fish, but it didn't take long to remove them)
1/2 cup sour cream
1T dijon mustard
garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste
2 green onions chopped (green and white parts)
mix it all together and spread over bread, buns or in our case beer bread (recipe for that coming soon!)
i also topped mine with tomato slice, tillamook cheddar cheese and alfalfa sprouts.
cost: about $3 for 4 servings


pantry pasta

i'm going to tell you what i put in my pantry pasta today, but use this as a guideline. the idea and goal here is to use up random leftovers and small remnants of things you have in your fridge or pantry. i throw almost everything in, and it always turns out great. be creative and courageous as you make up your ever changing meal of pantry pasta! :)

remnant leftover pastas (i had about 1/4 box of penne, and 1/2 box of mostaccioli)

left over sloppy joe sauce

1/2 medium green bell pepper (the left over from making sloppy joes the other day)

artichoke hearts

roasted red bell peppers

butternut squash soup (i needed a little more 'sauciness' so i added the soup. it added great flavor and of course more vegetables!)

garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste

cook the pasta till al dente,drain. in the same pot as you cooked the pasta in, add the rest of the ingredients. top with your choice of cheeses ( i had a little bit of swiss, mozzarella and cheddar)pour into a 9x13 and cook at 400 for about 20 minutes.

cost: basically free since i didn't plan on this meal, and everything was 'leftovers'! this makes a good 9x13 sized casserole so you can figure on 6-8 helpings. i have also found that this type of casserole freezes well and is great the next day for even more leftovers :)

this was the side dish to my pantry pasta today. TOTALLY FREE! one of my dad's customers gave him some walla walla sweet onions and a coworker of mine gave me the squash. i fried them up in the cast iron skillet with some bacon grease and it was delicious!


fancy chicken cordon bleu

sunday dinner this week!

raise your hand if you have ever tried to make chicken cordon bleu and gave up because you couldn't roll it!!! i love regular chicken cordon bleu, but i do not appreciate the rolling...also, i like to add my own spice to things :) the way i make the dish now is to do it casserole style and layer all of the ingredients. it makes for a much more enjoyable experience and tastes just the same.

4 butterflied and flattened chicken breasts

1 lb sliced ham

10 (or so) slices of swiss cheese

1 cup seasoned bread crumbs ( i use oregano, salt and pepper, garlic, paprika, onion powder and sage as my seasoning)

place two chicken breasts on the bottom of a 9x13 pan. sprinkle 1/2 cup seasoned breadcrumbs over chicken. top with ham (use as much or little as you like) and cheese.

**this is where i added some left over asparagus and sun dried tomatoes. if you want to add a little something special to yours, look for something with a distinct flavor but that is not overpowering. traditional chicken cordon bleu is supposed to be more mild in flavor, but you can do whatever you feel like :)

repeat the layers. bake at 425 for about 30-45 minutes. after removing it from the oven i also drizzled some pesto over the top for added 'oomph'. it worked!

cost: about $10, serves 4-6


'pulled' turkey sandwiches

earlier this month my mom bought a roasted turkey from the deli section of the grocery store (same place you get rotisserie chickens) and we had it in the freezer for a while just waiting for an occasion to use it. with the weather this last week, we took it out so that it could thaw and we would have cooked meat without having to cook (read: heat up the house). i pulled some of the turkey apart and made delicious sandwiches!

shredded turkey

spices: chili powder, paprika, onion powder, garlic, pepper, cumin

shredded pepper jack cheese

avocado

dressing: 1/2 cup sour cream, minced: onion, roasted red pepper, dijon mustard, pepper

mix the spices with the turkey, then heat in your microwave or on the stove. spread the dressing on the bun, top with turkey, avocado and cheese. you can put this under the broiler or heat in the microwave to melt the cheese.

cost: about $6 and served 4

i hope that you are 'inspired' by the recipes i have listed above. not because i think i'm a great inspiring chef but because i rarely follow a recipe although i am always looking for new ones. i use the recipes i see on other blogs, magazines and tv shows as the basis for making my own creations. my suggestion when you are in a rut is to look in your freezer, fridge and pantry to see what you have 'laying around'. be creative and have fun! if it doesn't turn out, then it's not the end of the world.

do you have any creative, cheap dinner ideas? is there anything that gets your creative juices flowing in the kitchen?

'cooking' in a heat wave

this week it has been HOT here in the pacific northwest. we have experienced record highs...as in 107 degrees...and since it's the great northwest, not many people have air conditioning. we sort of have air conditioning which has made the temperatures technically livable but let's face it, nothing compares to whole house a/c.

when the weather gets this hot, i usually don't like to cook. i really don't like to eat much either but definitely no heating up the kitchen. since we had already had salads and cold sandwiches earlier in the week, i decided to try an experiment with cooking in the microwave. of course i have made frozen dinners in the microwave but have never done anything else. some people don't like to use the microwave because of fears over radiation and nutritional loss. to this i say, sometimes it's about survival! :)

thursday night i made sloppy joes with a small side salad and it was great! i think i made up for the cheating methods of preparation by making my sauce from scratch. at least that's what i like to believe.

normally i would saute all of the ingredients for my sauce but this time i tried doing it in the microwave to great results. once my peppers and onions were 'sauteed' i warmed up the ground beef (this had been cooked earlier in the week when it was a cooler part of the day. time saving tip: if you know you are going to be using a product twice in one week, prepare it all at once then refrigerate the remainder. this beef for example was 2 lbs that had been browned, then 1 lb was seasoned for taco salad and the other left plain for sloppy joes.) then added the tomato products to the peppers and onions and heated it through. once that was all done i combined the two bowls and voila! sloppy joe sauce. also, to avoid heating my oven i popped the buns into the toaster to get them nice and crisp. take a look at the pics below, and i have included my 'recipe' for the sauce (a very rough recipe since i make it all up in my head as i go along!)

1/2 of a medium white onion, diced; 1/2 medium green bell pepper diced; about 2 T rice vinegar (you can also use apple cider vinegar for more sweetness); salt, pepper, garlic to taste; 2t chili powder; 1t mustard powder (you could use prepared mustard also, probably 1T); 2t cumin; 1T dried oregano, 2T olive oil. combine in glass bowl (don't use plastic if at all possible). cook on high for 1 1/2 minutes, stir, cook 1 1/2 minutes longer.

heat your ground beef for 3 minutes on high

6oz can tomato paste, 14.5 oz can stewed or crushed tomatoes, 3/4-1 cup ketchup, 2T brown sugar. combine ingredients in food processor and whirl till the tomatoes are smooth. combine with vegetables and meat. heat in microwave for about 3-5 minutes.

my spice arsenal

toasty buns!!

do you have any ideas for 'cooking' without heating up the house? i'd love to hear your ideas!

mt hood railroad

there was homemade rootbeer at the pub we ate at. i looooove rootbeer!

i guess it's not THAT bad of a view to live with every day :)

a view of the dome car

glamor shots by katie

the day after sand in the city becky and i went to parksdale, oregon on the mt hood railroad western train robbery excursion. she had gotten free passes from a customer of hers, and invited me to go along. it was so nice! we rode in the dome car which was very nice. the seats were comfy (important for a 4 hour ride) and the a/c was nice too (also important for a 4 hour ride). the tracks went through forresty areas, pastures and fruit orchards finally making it's destination in parksdale. there was a great pub in town that we ate dinner in, even though we brought our own picnic lunch, and got delicious ice cream cones from a little parlor.

i highly recommend the mt hood railroad. if you take kids, definitely take some toys and coloring books cause it is a long ride. BUT it's not like being in a car because they can move around and walk down the isle and around the cars.

check out their website for more events!