Miscellaneous

April 2012 Recipe Roundup

I feel like I didn’t cook that many new (recipes in April, but it seems like I cooked about 25 of them!  Not too shabby.  A few of them were even standouts that I’ll list in this post! 

I think I’m also going to start including the cook count for each of the most cooked (recipes of the past 12 months, just because I find them amusing. 
**
Most Cooked Recipes**
Mom’s Chicken - 6
Bread - 5
Tetrazzini - 5
Pasta with Sausage, Basil, and Sundried Tomatoes - 4
Less Than Salad - 4
Hummus - 3
Chicken Sancoche - 3
Amatriciana - 3
Sweet Potato Fries - 3
Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing – 3
**
Neat New Recipes**
Basic Barbecue Sauce
Basic Risotto Recipe
Breakfast Fried Rice
Island Marinade
Lemony White Bean, Tuna, and Arugula Salad
Linguine with Garlic Cream Sauce
Mini Yorkshire Puddings
Risotto with Currants, Pine Nuts, and Feta Cheese
Thai Red Beef Curry

Dear Art, Please Don"t Starve

In about two weeks (aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!!!!) I’m going to be leaving for Norway with Lance.  We’ll be gone for almost three weeks and leaving Art to hold down the fort.  At one point, I had entertained the grand plan of cooking lots of big meals the month before I left and freezing extra portions so that Art would have a stockpile of food in the freezer to turn to.  For many reasons, this did not happen.  Instead, I’m giving him the next best thing – a list of hand-picked (recipes that I think he’ll like and have no problems cooking while I’m gone.  I assume he’ll supplement this with googled (recipes, grilled hamburgers, and delivered pizza.  I also hope that he’ll remember to go to the farmers market every Saturday to pick up some good seasonal vegetables to supplement these (recipes with. 

Beans
Slow Cooker Red Beans and Rice – Make the rice in the rice cooker.

Breads and Grains
Quinoa with Squash and Garbanzo Beans and Cumin – There should be quinoa in the Red Mill boxes in the utility room.  This goes well with Moroccan Chicken.
Apple Raisin Bread Stuffing – You can make this in the Dutch oven with a package of turkey tenderloins on top.  Yum. 
Pumpkin Bread – I think we even have a can of pumpkin. 
Almost No Knead Bread

Chicken
Chicken Korma
Hoisin Chicken with Noodles and Green Beans
Grilled Chicken with Balsamic Vinegar
Grilled Barbecued Chicken Kebabs – These are the ones with bacon paste!
Mom’s Chicken – I know you know how to make it, but I’m linking the recipe for the timing. 
Elegant Garlic Chicken
Chicken Breasts with Balsamic Vinegar and Garlic
Moroccan Chicken – This goes well with the aforementioned quinoa dish.
Pan Glazed Chicken with Basil
Peanut Noodles with Chicken and Vegetables – Got to eat that peanut butter while Lance is gone!
Baked Pesto Chicken
Tetrazzini
Chicken Sancoche – The Caribbean curry powder is in one of the square jars by the knife block.
Chicken Piccata
Chicken Saltimbocca
Grilled Jerk Chicken – Please, make this a lot. 
Grilled Chicken with Spinach and Pine Nut Pesto
Mexican Lasagna
Chicken Bacon Quesadillas – Or any quesadillas. 

Cow
Bacon Burgers with Bacon Onion Balsamic Jam – Or just the jam :)
Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
Sloppy Joes
Filet Mignon with Red Wine Sauce – Our old favorite. 
Beef Stroganoff Hamburger Dinner in a Skillet
Nacho Beef Skillet
Slow Cooker BBQ Shredded Beef Sandwiches – You love this stuff.  The coffee pot is in the utility room and there are coffee pouches in the kitchen freezer on the top rack. 
Grilled Flank Steak with Bacon Balsamic Glaze – Nick’s flank steaks, please!
Broccoli Beef Noodle Stir Fry

Desserts
Molten Chocolate Cakes – They’re easy and you should treat yourself to nice things. 

Eggs
Scrambled Eggs with Parsley and Goat Cheese
Quiche – Easy to make and you can use whatever. 

Pasta
Pork Sausage Pasta
Sausage, Tomato, and Arugula Fettuccine
Cajun Chicken Pasta – We’ve got Cajun seasoning somewhere… under the knife block I think?
Farfalle Pasta with Sausage, Tomatoes, and Cream
Sausage, Basil, and Mustard Pasta
Baked Ravioli – Or tortellini, or whatever stuffed pasta you fancy. 
Creamy Lemon Pasta with Spinach and Tomatoes
Chicken Broccoli Alfredo
Sour Cream Hamburger Noodle Bake
Egg Pesto Pasta
Pasta with Sausage, Basil, and Sundried Tomatoes
Italian Ziti Bake
Amatriciana Pasta
Spaghetti Pie
Creamy Parmesan Orzo – Another old favorite.  We used to make this all the time with the aforementioned filet mignon recipe. 
Skillet Carbonara Casserole
Pasta with Chicken and Mushrooms, Risotto Style
Queso Chicken Pasta

Pig
Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Fresh Herbs – I don’t think we’ve ever grilled this, but you can!  Please don’t use the Zekiah tenderloin. 
Szechuan Green Beans with Pork

Potatoes
Devilish Potatoes – We used to make these a lot and now we never do, I wonder why?

Rice
Risotto with Currants, Pine Nuts, and Feta Cheese
Breakfast Fried Rice – Remember to add more veg. 

Salad
Chickpeas with Sausage and Sundried Tomatoes – I think we’ve got a package of Aidell’s in the kitchen freezer that you could use for this. 

Sauces, Spice Blends, and Stuff
Sundried Tomato Butter – If you grill steaks.
Basic Barbecue Sauce
Island Marinade – You can use this for any meats. 

Soup
Sausage and Lentil Soup – You sure love sausage…
Beef Chili with Bacon and Black Beans – We made this a while back for a Game Day and really enjoyed it.  It would go well with a cornbread recipe.

March 2012 Recipe Roundup

I think that we had the algorithm wrong for figuring out the most cooked (recipes since I noticed that January and February’s lists hadn’t changed at all.  Art and Lance both tweeked some things in their processes, though, and I think that this is the correct list.  I also think that it will be correct from here on out – now that we know what we’re doing!  (Now that we’ve gotten right, I’m amused that the (recipes I’ve cooked the most in the last year were only cooked a maximum of 6 times.  My average cook count for the (recipes on this list is 4.  This explains why the guys say, “Great meal!  Too bad we’ll never have it again!” when I cook.) 

Apparently I only cooked 7 new (recipes in March, but 3 of them were standouts so I guess that’s acceptable.  When I’m not home very much I tend to cook tried and true favorites when I am home! 

Most Cooked Recipes
Bread
Mom’s Chicken
Tetrazzini
Pasta with Sausage, Basil and Sundried Tomatoes
Less than Salad
Hummus
Chicken Sancoche
Amatriciana Pasta
Sweet Potato Fries
Spinach Salad with Warm Bacon Dressing

Neat New Recipes
Makhani Dal
Spinach and Orzo Salad
Tilapia Piccata

February 2012 Recipe Roundup

This post is super late.  I’ve had the information in an email since March 6th and I fully intended to make this post while in French Lick, IN.  Then we didn’t have internet so the whole blog posting thing was a no go.  Better late than never, so here goes!  I didn’t cook that many new (recipes this month, but two deserve to be mentioned here. 

Most Cooked Recipes
Mom’s Chicken
Gazpacho
Fajitas
Tetrazzini
Chicken Sancoche
Meatballs
Quiche
Baked Manicotti with Prosciutto
Szechuan Green Beans with Pork
Cheater Greens

Neat New Recipes
Wheat Berry Salad with Orange Dijon Vinaigrette
Naan

Gardening - The Layout

I keep worrying about losing my garden layout, so I thought I’d go ahead and share it here.  That way you can see my plan and I won’t have to worry about misplacing it!  Each cell is one square foot of garden space.

The Left Side

Tomato

Cucumber x2

Tomato

Cucumber x2

Parsley x4

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Basil x1-4

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Cilantro

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

The Center

Tomato

Bell Pepper

Tomato

Summer Squash

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

The Right Side

Tomato

Zucchini

Tomato

Onion x16

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Swiss Chard x4

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Lettuce x4

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Garlic x4-9

Lettuce x4

Gardening – Building a Better Mini Greenhouse

As mentioned in my previous gardening post, I have to start seeds outside due to the presence of cats inside.  To achieve this goal, I ordered a mini greenhouse that seemed like it would work well enough for my little operation. 

The first mini greenhouse I ordered was the Misco GH31 Three Shelf Greenhouse and, well, it sucked.  The plastic struts were brittle and broke when the metal rods were inserted.  The top plastic struts were miscut so that the metal rods didn’t even fit.  I used quite a bit of duct tape to secure the metal to the plastic and figured it would be good enough to last until I found a better solution. 

The second greenhouse I ordered was the Esschert Design GT32 Hardwood Small Greenhouse.  With a hefty price tag and quality materials, I figured I’d be all set.  Sadly, when it arrived, the hinges were damaged beyond use, one of the wood frames had come apart, and the wood was gouged in a number of places.  Really neat design but super poorly manufactured.  (The shipping box didn’t show any damage, so it seems that the product was just very poorly assembled.)  This one got returned to Amazon with quite a bit of disappointment.  It had so much potential!

Next, I decided that the MacGuyver’d greenhouse would suffice for this first season and that Art and I could take our time to build a better one together.  Shortly after I made this decision, the zipper decided to detach from the plastic, requiring more duct tape, and causing me to reevaluate my decision to wait. 

After thinking about possibilities, I decided that the best, and hopefully easiest, option would be to build a wood frame out of 1x3s that would surround a purchased shelving unit.  We picked up this unit from our local Home Depot, wood, hinges, brackets, screws, wood glue, and waterproofing.  And lath, sponge brushes, a drop cloth, and probably a few other things I’ve forgotten about. 

We built three walls, a door, and a top.  The goal was two tops – one to frame and give support and one that would be hinged - but I realized late last night that I’d measured for the tops wrong, so we couldn’t  build them as planned.  We did end up using one of the incorrect ones anyway, but we’re going to attach a hinged top later on that will allow for better temperature control once the days warm up.  We’re also going to build an interior frame for the door to give the whole structure more support that it has now. 

For the most part, everything went well.  Then we got to the part where we put the door on and things stopped going so well.  We had picked up the wrong size of hinges and what we had doesn’t quite do the trick.  It’ll work for now and I’ll be able to handle a few minor adjustments by myself during the next few weeks.  Art and I got the bulk of the work taken care of and it’s certainly functional as it is now! 

greenhouse

Right now I’ve only got two cartons of seeds starting – parsley and lettuce.  The white thing on the top shelf is the remote sensor for the weather station. 

greenhouse

The whole thing!  The bin on the bottom is from the defective composter (the company has since sent us a new one that ROCKS so far) that will eventually be filled with compost to help warm up the air in the greenhouse. 

greenhouse

With the door closed.  We used 6mil greenhouse film to cover the walls. 

weather

This is the weather station receiver which we keep on the dining table.  My parents gave us this for Christmas since my family sort of has this Thing about the weather.  I tend to use NOAA and my eyeballs for the weather, so I thought that using the weather station to monitor the greenhouse’s stats was a great idea!

January 2012 Recipe Roundup

Lots of different (recipes in the roundup this month!  Nice!  There were also a number of delicious new (recipes added to my repertoire during January.  I look forward to more delicious ones in February. 

Most Cooked Recipes (in the last year)
Mom’s Chicken
Gazpacho
Fajitas
Tetrazzini
Sancoche
Meatballs
Quiche
Baked Manicotti with Prosciutto
Szechuan Green Beans with Pork
Cheater Greens

Neat New Recipes
Bolognese Sauce
Chicken Congee
Ginger Dressing
Grilled Steakhouse Burgers
Philly Cheesesteak Sloppy Joes
White Chicken Chili

December 2011 Recipe Roundup

I decided to try something slightly different and only compile stats for the previous 52 weeks of meal plans in these posts instead of compiling data since the beginning of the blog.  In theory, this should generate more movement as well as a more current list.  Much to my surprise, the list still didn’t change that much! However, it was interesting to see that most of these “most cooked (recipes” were only cooked about 4 times in the entire year.  That’s pretty cool, I think! 

Since it’s the end of the year, I also included a list of the most popular (recipes according to visitor counts.

Thanks to all of my visitors who have made this another great year of blogging for me.  I appreciate all of the hits and continue to enjoy this recipe-sharing hobby of mine!

Most Cooked Recipes
Mom’s Chicken
Bread
Tetrazzini
Amatriciana
Sweet Potato Fries
Aioli
Chicken Sancoche
Oven Fried Coconut Chicken and Rice
Hamburger Stroganoff
Pasta with Sausage, Basil, and Sundried Tomatoes

Neat New Recipes
Grilled Barbecued Chicken Kebabs

Most Popular Recipes in 2011
Slow Cooker Roast Chicken with Crispy Skin
Crunchy Potato Wedges
Slow Cooker Honey Roasted Chicken with Rosemary and Dijon
Pan-Seared Cod with Herb Butter Sauce
Roasted Potatoes with Pesto
Marjoram Chicken
Bacon Swiss Quiche
Slow-Roasted Eye Round Roast Beef
Smothered Yellow Squash and Zucchini with Chicken, Pasta, and Basil
Slow Cooker Lemon and Dill Salmon with Spinach

Gardening - Gathering the Supplies

Today is the day.  The last day of the year.  The day to get my act together for Gardening 2012.  Since I already mapped out my garden, this mainly involved figuring out which plants to order from my chosen seed vendor and ordering my seed starting stuff. 

To rewind slightly, I’ve already planted 30 square feet of garlic.  Lance and I attempted to do this before Thanksgiving but I managed to forget how to walk down stairs thanks to our beautiful new wall and ended up in Urgent Care with a badly twisted ankle.  Art, Lance, and I all finally finished the planting of garlic on November 27th. 

Since I’m planning on doing Square Foot Gardening, I’m planning everything by the square foot.  I have 48 square feet to work with in my garden, 30 of which are taken up by garlic, and the remaining 18 will be taken up by various vegetables and herbs. 

My main trial with garden planning is the whole “need to start seeds inside” issue.  I have cats.  My cats like to eat plants, knock them off counters, etc.  I don’t have a place where I can set up a seed starting rig that would be safe from these kitties which limits my options significantly.  Hopefully House 2.0 will have some sort of garage.  Or spare room.  Or something. 

In the meantime, I needed to explore other options and, after research and talking with my awesome local farmers, I opted to try a mini outdoor greenhouse.  I might try it out inside first, but it will probably end up on the patio in the backyard.  I’m going to start seeds in peat pellets placed in old egg cartons and then transplant them when they’re ready.  Hopefully this will work out well! 

I also went ahead and ordered all of my seeds and transplants for the garden.  It’s quite the list.  I’ll include the number of square feet I’m planning for and any other notes below. 

Tomatoes
Aside from garlic, tomatoes are my main reason for gardening.  I’m planning on six square feet in my raised bed plus two extra plants to go into the lovely pots my parents gave us for our new wall.  Tomatoes come in two varieties.  The indeterminate ones grow as vines – I’ve got six of those coming.  The determinate ones grow as bushes – I’ve got two of those ordered for the pots.  Since I’m paranoid about tomatoes, I also ordered six indeterminate transplants, just in case my seed starting fails.  I’m not sure what I’ll do with the transplants if the seed starting succeeds, but I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it.  You can probably tell by the tomato plant names that I started at the beginning of the list and picked the first eight I came to. 

Tomato #1 – Austin’s Red Pear OG
Tomato #2 – Beam’s Yellow Pear
Tomato #3 – Black from Tula
Tomato #4 – Black Krim
Tomato #5 – Black Plum
Tomato #6 – Blondklopfchen
Tomato #7, determinate – Black Sea Man OG
Tomato #8, determinate – Cream Sausage
Tomato Transplant #1 – Amish Paste
Tomato Transplant #2 – Brandywine
Tomato Transplant #3 – Cherokee Purple
Tomato Transplant #4 – Gold Medal
Tomato Transplant #5 – Mexico Midget
Tomato Transplant #6 – Lemon Drop

Cucumbers
I’m doing two squares of cucumbers.  I can’t believe I used to hate them since now I can’t get enough!  (The OG stands for organic.)  Cucumbers are planted two to a square foot, so I should have four plants total.  They also grow in vines like the tomatoes do. 

Cucumber #1 – Early Fortune OG
Cucumber #2 – Bushy OG

Lettuce
I’m devoting two squares to lettuce which I hope will be enough.  In theory, I can grow four plants per square so I went ahead and ordered four different varieties. 

Lettuce #1 – Amish Deer Tongue
Lettuce #2 – Green Oakleaf OG
Lettuce #3 – Webb’s Wonderful OG
Lettuce #4 – Forellenschluss

Onion
I’m not sure how well the onion attempt will work, but I’ve got one square slated for them.  I can plant 16 per square, which I think might mean I get 16 onions total?  Seems space intensive to grow onions. 

Onion – Long Red Florence

Bell Pepper
These are one to a square so I might not end up with enough.  We’ll see.  This is why the first year is an experiment, eh? 

Bell Pepper – Bull Nose Bell

Summer Squash
I’ve been told that people who grow summer squash always end up with too much.  I’m sticking to just two squares and, therefore, two plants.  One zucchini and one yellow.  We’ll see if we’ve got it coming out of our ears at the end of the growing season.

Zucchini – Black Beauty OG
Yellow Squash – Summer Crookneck OG

Swiss Chard
I love the stuff even though it’s only been a part of my life for the last three years or so.  Apparently my mom loves it as well.  Who knew?  I guess she didn’t want to share it with anyone when I was a kid.  This variety has beautiful multicolored stalks. 

Swiss Chard – Five Color Silverbeet OG

Herbs
I’ve got three squares for herbs so I’m sticking to the ones I use most – basil, parsley, and cilantro.  I can always branch out into more pots if I need to, but we’ll see how they go in the raised bed. 

Basil #1 – Genovese OG
Basil #2 – Lettuce Leaf
Cilantro – Cilantro OG
Parsley – Giant from Italy

Since this is the first year of gardening, I’m trying to keep the vegetable selection simple and only plant the veggies I know that we’ll use.  In the future, if all goes well, I’ll branch out a bit with plants that are more challenging both in terms of growing and usage.  Until then, I’m keeping it simple.

It looks like I’ll be starting my earliest seeds in February, but I’ll try to make a garden update before then with pictures of my seeds and seed starting rig once everything arrives.

November 2011 Recipe Roundup

Just a bit of shifting in this month’s top ten.  I try to avoid making these dishes, but I don’t always succeed!  They are our favorites for good reasons, you see. 

I feel like I didn’t really to that much cooking this month so I was surprised to find seven neat new (recipes that I wanted to give a shout-out to.  I guess I didn’t do too badly in the cooking realm during November after all. 

Most Cooked Recipes
Mom’s Chicken (I can’t even remember the last time I cooked Mom’s Chicken and this makes me sad.)
Bread
Tetrazzini
Sweet Potato Fries
Aioli
Chicken Sancoche
Enchiladas
Quiche
Pasta with Sausage and Sundried Tomatoes
Amatriciana
**
Neat New Recipes**
Baked French Toast
Creamy Tater Tot Casserole
Greek Grilled Chicken Salad
Molten Chocolate Cakes
Saffron Risotto with Pancetta, Tomatoes, and Sausage
Salmon with Wasabi Sauce and Bok Choy
Top Round Roast Beef