Giada’s Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops with Bobby’s Greek Potatoes (and pie!)

This afternoon, I tried to drink a slimfast. The three year old slowly came towards me, licking his lips: “Is that called chocolate milk, Jenn?” He whimpered and crept closer.  I took a drink. He eyeballed me. The six year old corrected him: “No! It has protein. It makes Jenn strong.”

I just sat there and wondered if it would be ok to lock myself in my bedroom for the rest of the day.

Instead of running away for the rest of the afternoon, we took the kids to the park to play.  We amassed a snail army, ate blackberries we found, and took turns down the fireman’s pole.  and when we got home, I made Parmesan crusted pork chops, Greek potatoes, green beans, and a fairy pie (also known as a raspberry lemon refrigerator pie).

The kids wolfed it down. I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

Recipes are linked above. Changes I made were minimal. I added frozen raspberries to the pie to make it pink and that was about it.

 

Okonomiyaki

I have been pining over this recipe for years. Years. But I never wanted to attempt it until I tried it in a restaurant, so that I knew what I was aiming for. I could not wait any longer. And I’m so glad that this recipe is now in my repertoire. Here’s the recipe that I adapted from Serious Eats.

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup dashi (I used instant)
• 2 eggs
• pinch of salt (will use a larger pinch next time)
• 1 cup shrimp, raw
• 4 slices raw bacon, halved
• 4 cups cabbage, shredded. I used coleslaw mix
• sesame seeds
• kewpie mayo
• sriracha
• okonomi sauce
• pickled ginger
• green onions

Method:

Combine flour, dashi, eggs, cabbage, shrimp, scallions, and salt. This recipe makes two LARGE pancakes, so take half of the batter and fry it up. When it’s getting brown on the first side, add the raw bacon to the wet side. Flip, carefully, and brown bacon on second side. Cook longer than you think you need to and be careful not to burn it.

Add the rest of the condiments to your taste when it’s done cooking.

Notes: Next time I will make small pancakes to ensure even cooking. I am also excited to try different variations. The husband is allergic to shrimp–and he ate two today.  He’s not feeling it. So I have to think of a replacement. Imitation crab? We’ll see.

Happy Thanksgiving and Almost Christmas

Wow. Life happens and the blog falls by the wayside. We moved, by the way. Across town, closer to the kinder’s school and right next door to Winco.  I also was a co-recipient of the Oregon Small Schools Association Teacher of the Year.

It’s been a crazy busy month and a half. Right after I got the teaching award, I got strep. I am behind on my Masters homework–like weeks behind. But Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday and I planned to enjoy it, and put other worries and stresses behind for a bit. (Edit: I have now put my Masters on hold for sanity’s sake and it was the best decision I’ve made in a long time.)

For Thanksgiving, we went to my best friend’s house and ate dinner with 15 or so other people. It was amazing. We had turkey and ham, of course, and everything else you could imagine. I ended up making crockpot mac and cheese, a cream cheese and cherry pie, and sweet potato casserole.

I may or may not have eaten too much food, drank too much wine, danced too much, and actually sang karaoke on their Wii.

Giving somebody the what for

the munchkin and me, cheesing

It was my 5th year spending Thanksgiving with my best friend’s family and it was the best one I can ever remember having.

me and the bf

Later that week, Henry’s dad, Henry’s dad’s girlfriend, and Henry’s brothers came to visit for yet another Thanksgiving. As much as I lovelovelove Thanksgiving, I didn’t want to do another turkey. Instead, I made individual chicken potpies based on this recipe.

Delicious, delicious, delicious.

Fast forward an entire month and here we are, a couple days from Christmas. Henry and I are going to have a Christmas with the kids tomorrow and on Christmas, and then we will head to my dad’s, then to Henry’s dad’s, and then to Henry’s mom’s house–and then back home. A whirlwind trip if there ever was one. We are nearly ready for our own small, family Christmas. I’m going to make a turkey breast for us and have a small Thanksgiving meal for Christmas. I’ll do a post on that when it comes up in the next couple days.

On a final note, we did the last of all of our shopping today. Or so I thought. I’m thinking I have to go back and buy butter. Wish me luck. Winco is a mad house.

P.S. Here is dinner…

spaghetti sauce

What are you having?

Experimenting with Veggie Burgers

I was considering doing a full post on these veggie burgers I am making, but I’m really just throwing stuff together and I’m not quite sure if they will turn out. But in case they do–in case they are delicious, here is the game plan:

• Roasting: zucchini, two tomatoes, half an onion, half of an orange bell pepper. They are salted, peppered, and olive oiled. When they are done, I will let them cool and chop finely. Most recipes say to use a food processor, but I don’t have one.

• A couple cups of black beans I cooked earlier in the week, seasoned with cumin, Mexican oregano, etc.I mashed ’em up good.

• 1 cup barley cooked with 1/3 cup red lentils.
• Bound together with an egg and toasted cornbread.

Inspiration: J. Kenji Lopez-Alt over at Serious Eats did an amazing vegan burger about a month ago. Check it out.

I haven’t been blogging lately, I know. Lots going on over here. Bought a new car, trying to sell old car, busy with work…and in a short while, I’ll be moving. As things settle down, I will be blogging more. Hope you are all having a great spring! It’s beautiful in Eugene today! 🙂

Sweet Potato and Red Lentil Curry

The dish I am making today is a combination of two recipes I found this morning.  The first one is from The CopyCat Cook.  The combination of creamy sweet potatoes and red lentils sounds like a good pair.

This curry seems to be (and I’m definitely not a curry expert) an Indian-inspired curry (cumin, turmeric, and lentils) and I’m in the mood for Thai, so I found this recipe, which calls for Thai curry paste, cilantro, and fish sauce:  Sweet Potato Thai Curry.

The final dish will use green curry paste, coconut milk, fish sauce, spinach, lentils, ginger, garlic, onion, cilantro, and of course,  sweet potato.

(Vegetarians should omit the fish sauce!)

Finals Notes:

I decided to partially cook the sweet potatoes and lentils in their own pots prior to adding all the ingredients together in the curry.  I wanted to make sure that all the ingredients were cooked through at the same time, spent the right amount of time in the curry sauce, and cooking those ingredients separately seemed the best way to do it.  It was a bit more work, but I felt I had more control over the final dish this way.  No crunchy lentils or potatoes for me!

As I added the potatoes and lentils to the curry sauce, I also added some veggie stock to thin out the coconut milk.  Green curry also tends to taste soapy to me (am I the only one?) and the veggie stock mellows out the curry paste.

I ended up leaving out the fish sauce and the spinach and adding a healthy dose of lime juice at the very end of cooking.

This is, by far, the best curry recipe I’ve ever made.  I highly recommend it!

Sunday Menu Planning Session

Morning

BY BILLY COLLINS

Why do we bother with the rest of the day,

the swale of the afternoon,

the sudden dip into evening,

then night with his notorious perfumes,

his many-pointed stars?

This is the best—

throwing off the light covers,

feet on the cold floor,

and buzzing around the house on espresso—

maybe a splash of water on the face,

a palmful of vitamins—

but mostly buzzing around the house on espresso,

dictionary and atlas open on the rug,

the typewriter waiting for the key of the head,

a cello on the radio,

and, if necessary, the windows—

trees fifty, a hundred years old

out there,

heavy clouds on the way

and the lawn steaming like a horse

in the early morning.

______________________________________________________________________

 

My husband and I are ending this Saturday in the same way we usually start them: in our bed, with coffee, in our underwear, with our laptops, books, and cat.  He’s (the husband, not the cat) reading From Max Weber:  Essays in Sociology. It’s homework, and he’s not enjoying it.  I’m reading Kitchen Confidential, by Anthony Bourdain.  I’ve decided in the past few days that I want to be a food writer when I grow up.  I’m 24 now, and I’m not quite sure when “growing up” happens.  I have a full time, professional job.

Did I miss the boat?

Anyway, the husband and I are ending the day as we usually start it, which makes me quite disoriented.  Our normal routines have been thrown off as we’ve had a guest for a couple days.  But we love our Saturday morning rituals, so here we are, starting our weekend.

I asked the husband what he wanted to cook this weekend and he said he wants to make a Thai curry.  I’m tired and I have a stomachache right now, so I didn’t enthusiastically receive that request.  But I didn’t dismiss it outright.  I found an interesting recipe, Thai-style coconut butternut squash, which looks really good.  I’m not necessarily keen on making this tomorrow, but squash does sound good.

I roasted two acorn squash a couple nights ago with brown sugar and chili powder.  I really didn’t have a plan or a menu to incorporate them into–I just wanted to eat a bowl of squash.  So, I did.

Here’s another recipe, from that same website (Closet Cooking):  Roasted Butternut Squash with Carmelized Onions, Gorgonzola, and Crispy Fried Sage. That recipe is just asking to be made into lasagna.  Hmm.  Or soup.

(Tentative) Menu Plan:

1.  Thai Curry of Some Sort

2.  Squash Dish of Some Sort

Sorry for the lack of enthusiasm in this post.  I tried to keep my stomachache-mood from coming through. I don’t think this coffee I am drinking is helping much.

Mexican Red Lentil Soup (Vegan)

Mexican Red Lentil Soup

 

Sunday Menu: For reals, this time.

• Mexican Red Lentil Stew
• Ricotta Stuffed Tomatoes
• Mushroom Ragu with Spinach and Parm Polenta

Sunday Menu

I am really struggling with motivation to cook this weekend.  We really didn’t do much grocery shopping yesterday, either.  I was too intent on getting my middle aged man cat, Hector, from Green Hill Humane Society.

What I did manage to buy from the grocery store:

tempeh, mushrooms, fake sausage, sweet potatoes, bread, and butter

What I already have in the fridge:

bell peppers, carrots, jalapeños, onions, and garlic

So, without motivation, inspiration, or compatible ingredients, I’m getting a little worried that I won’t be able to cook meals for the week.  We may just have to wing it, which means eating out. Every. Single. Night.  Which we can’t afford.  Hmm…

Well, here is one recipe I will definitely make this week, as I have mashed sweet potatoes in the fridge left over from sweet potato yeast bread that the husband made last week:

Sweet Potato Pancakes

Tempeh: something I keep buying that I don’t exactly love, but hope to love one day.

With the tempeh, I may make:

Tempeh Bourgogne

or

Tempeh Fajitas?

Or I may just eat pizza, burritos, and Chinese food all week.

And cuddle with my new cat:

Sunday Menu

I love my Saturday morning ritual: sitting in bed, drinking hot coffee (with almond milk), and searching the Internet for recipes.

The husband is sitting next to me, reading Sex at Dawn by Christopher Ryan and Cacilda Jetha.  This book, written by evolutionary psychologists, argues that the presumption that ancient human families and sexualities were monogamous and possessive is wrong. He’s reading it as part of his research on family structure evolution.

Recipes up for consideration for this weekend’s cooking marathon:

• Pasta with Tomatoes and Goat Cheese OR Pasta with Sun-Dried Tomatoes, Olives, and Goat Cheese
• Chili (may not use a recipe)

I really wanted to make either mushroom soup or sweet potato soup, but guess what–

Thanks to the Summer of Hummus, I don’t have a blender.  And I want a pureed soup.  So, I plan on pouting for a bit this morning, and trying to decide whether or not I want to buy a blender today.