more veggie pasta experiments

I needed another quick lunch today, so I decided to go a more italian route.

I once again boiled a small amount of wheat linguine. I then seasoned a frying pan with olive oil, minced garlic and crushed red pepper. I opened a bag of frozen italian style veggies into the pan. After about a minute I added some thyme, basil and oregano. I tossed the veggies in that and then added about a teaspoon of honey, tossed the veggies some more then added a little italian dressing, tossed again. As I was waiting for the veggies to cook all the way through I opened my fridge and thought about what else I could add. I had some blackberries and raspberries that were about to spoil if I didn't use them soon, so I thought 'what the heck... I'll try it'. I put in a handful of the berries, stirred them about the mix a little then tossed the mix. The finished result was very tasty. The sweetness of the honey, dressing and fruit complemented the seasoning well. This was just a bunch of stuff from my kitchen thrown together off the cuff though. Now that I've tried them together, I think next time I'll make a glaze with the honey/dressing/fruit mix... possibly add some fruit jelly (apricot, orange marmalade) into the glaze.



The pic is a bit blurry, but you get the idea. You can see the seasoning and the berries all up in there. YUM!

mid-day quickness

Today I was contemplating what to eat... I boiled some noodles and decided to do some stir-fry with my own seasoning choices. I seasoned the pan with about a tablespoon and a half of sesame oil and garlic with some thyme. Then I added the veggies, just a stir-fry blend from the frozen section in the grocery store. I added a little more sesame oil and some hoisin sauce and put the veggies over the pasta. YUM!

Just a quick documentation. This was a yummy and easy lunch and I'm taking the rest for dinner at work.

Added bonus: it smells amazing!

as usual

Yes I'm still cooking, I just haven't been cooking a whole lot. Last week my boys got sick, and I got sick of pasta. I got the bug at precisely 2:30 in the morning on saturday before I had to go to work. I went back to bed and felt fine when 6 O'clock rolled around so I went to work, but I felt pretty puny for the next couple of days. Not to mention the fact that we went out to my parents house saturday night to have Christmas with my brother who has just returned from deployment with the Marines. Then sunday David's mom made some lunch so we headed out there. Lots of food for my poor tummy.

Monday I cooked my next pasta dish. I really only cooked it because it called for a lb. of ground beef and I had already bought it. Didn't want it to go to waste! However I guess it really didn't make a difference becuase I've only eaten the leftovers once and it's now thursday. Whatever.

I made dark chocolate chip cookies yesterday, so that's yummy! I missed the gym though (until yesterday) due to feeling yucky and crummy weather. By the way, this is the third day in a row that schools are cancelled but the first day it actually affects me! I think I may actually get my laundry done today!!!

So that's what's up. Sorry for the no updating. Also, since I'm so sick of pasta I think I'm going to change up my approach. I'm gonna go chapter by chapter... not recipe by recipe. We'll see how this works out.

yumyum
LQM

Day 5: woot

No, I didn't post yesterday. Yes, I did cook. I had a very long day again and had company all night and another early morning.

Last night's meal was Linguine (again) with a Tuna red sauce. I'm still pretty drained from today so I don't really feel like going to check the actual name of the recipe.

It really turned out delicious! Yay, again.

I'm not 100% sure I'm going to cook this weekend, there's a lot going on. My oldest brother is back in town from his deployment with the Marines. Church is tonight. I joined a gym so I need to get at least one workout in this weekend (for my own good). We'll see.

And you know, if I do end up cooking the next recipe, I'll be posting. Keep your eyes peeled!

LQM

Day 2: Pasta Puttanesca

Ok. For starters, I realized as I pulled out my cookbook today, I've been spelling Ms. Ray's name wrong. Her proper name is Rachael Ray. Sorry.

Alright. So my pasta puttanesca was, I dunno, kinda blah. Forgive me if I maybe expect too much. They are, afterall, meals you can make in only 30 minutes, but I want something tasty! I thought as I was consuming my meal that the blandness may possibly be due to the fact that I usually (when making pasta) boil my chosen pasta in butter and a little Tony Chachere's. (Side note, Tony's is a great allspice mixture from Louisiana pronounced shash-er-ees.) So I think, even though Rachael's recipe doesn't call for it, in the pasta I make from here on out I'm gonna go ahead and use butter at least.


So aside from all that, it was much more flavorful than last night's Aglio Olio. Also I ran into some snags while shopping for ingredients. The recipe called for an 8 oz. can of crushed tomatoes. I could only find the big 28 oz. cans and of course my measuring cup was nowhere to be found. I ended up eyeballing it with a paper cup I had that looked to be about the size of an 8 oz. can. My second shopping issue was that the recipe called for capers. I am not a super chef. I have heard the word used on the Food Network shows, but I really had no clue what it was. The only capers I could find were with the pickles. Meaning they were, of course, pickled. I didn't really notice that they gave the dish much of a bad flavor so I don't think it really mattered. Of course the best part of the dish was one of the smallest. It called for a palmful of pitted olives cured in oil. I decided to grab some of those mediterranean olives and it turned out great.

I think that going forward with this cookbook I will be using my brain. As in modifying as I go. Well, I say that now but in a few days the recipes go from easy pastas to restaurant pasta dishes. So I guess we'll see!

LQM

LindsayMachine's home chef school: Day 1

Today was MLK day. I happened to have the complete day off from everything. At the beginning of the day I thought I'd just be a lazy bum and lay around watching shows in my pjs. However, around 3:00 I decided that I'd get to work on my new year's resolution (of sorts) and start making my way through one of my cookbooks. I have a few, but being a single girl who doesn't always get the chance to see her boyfriend and his son around dinner time, I decided to go with the first cookbook I ever bought myself.



I've tried a few recipes from this, but I haven't cracked it open for a long time. I opened the book to the first recipe - Aglio Olio: Garlic and Oil Pasta.

It was a pretty simple recipe. It called for anchovies. My first thought was "ick!" But I went ahead and soldiered through. Rachel Ray promises on the side of the page that we will not taste the anchovies in any of the recipes that call for them. Reassured as I was, I have to say, I did end up screwing up. I burned my first go 'round of the garlic and red pepper mix because I didn't read properly... of course. I regrouped and put a new mixture in the pan. From that point on things went according to the page.



I have to say that when I started consuming my creation, I found it pretty dry and flavorless. I had to add some italian dressing, but it still seemed to be missing something. I didn't add anything else this time, but since it is served in a salad-like capacity I think I may add some chopped tomatoes, possibly add in some grilled mushrooms or olives if I make the recipe again. Also, as I was getting through my meal, the red pepper decided to come out. My lips were on fire after I finished.

So recipe number one is out of the way. I have lunch for tomorrow and notes for next time I make it. It was very simple and indeed came out in 30 minutes or less, as promised!

LindsayQMachine

"New Year New You"

That's what the sign above CGW 1 in Magazines is supposed to say. It doesn't, but what's new about that?

So Christmas came and went. The eve of the new year came and went. Here I am dragging my old ass straight into 2011. I still haven't figured out if I'm kicking and screaming or falling headlong into it. I look at where I am in life and think to myself:
"Well that makes sense."
Then I think about how old I am and, well, we don't really want to go there right now.

Christmas was good. David and Connor were a hit at my family celebration. My Great Grandma was there and as awesome as ever for being in the hospital not a week before. She actually just turned 97 on the 10th. Crazy! I won't mention what a hoot David's family and extended family turned out to be.

For New Year's Eve we acted like old people. (Laughing) No really, we had Connor with us so we stayed in a watched a movie or something (probably Buffy), played some scrabble and drank some adult beverages. Along came midnight, we toasted and immediately crashed. See, Laughter is appropriate!

Now I'm on the verge of 3 months, and then V-day. I've already booked a hotel with 2 beds in Lafayette during festival, so here's hoping that works out! Just kidding. It's suprising how much I really enjoy having them around on the weekend, but not suprising that I still relish my weeks alone. Still contemplating futures and all, but it's looking stable.

Also, trying to get back into school. Again. Can someone please pull the giant stick out of K-State's butt so they'll release all their shit along with my transcripts? Sigh. I'd like to at least be on the road to not being a failure by the time I'm 30. Which is less than 2 years away now.

I'm trying an experiment. I'm going to cook through my cookbooks. Hopefully. I just need some quality cookware now. Of course one could say that I need to prove I need it by actually doing this thing. But that person is not me and I say I need nice things!

As I'm typing this and finishing up, I'm listening to "Goodbye Sweet Dreams" by Roky Erickson and Okkervil River. Yeah, that crazy guy from the 13th Floor Elevators.

Check it out.

so there's my update. I'm feeling quite robotic today.
Lindsay Q.