Easy-Peasy Dinner & Linen Closet Makeover

Oh, if only I'd taken a BEFORE picture. Just know that on any given shelf there was: sheets folded 10 different ways, towels of all sizes, pillow cases all willy-nilly away from their mates, blankets, sheets from the last bed before we got the king, and even a few dish cloths that didn't make it to the kitchen! But now, it's so much mo' bettah.





















Okay, so on to the Easy-Peasy Chicken and Yellow Rice dinner. Every time I make this James says, "I can eat this every week." Hello, week two. We'll see how it plays out 50 more times. But, it is easy, and you could probably substitute more vegetables for the chicken if you don't eat meat (read: my own little world of meat-eating guilt). Okay, here's all you do:

1. Cook a package of the Casbah saffron rice. This brand is so good; seems to have less sodium. This is the second food on my list of..."if they told you you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?" and I'd pick donuts first (even though I rarely eat them, but I love them that much). This rice would be second. It's so darn good and fluffy and saffron-y.

2. Heat a separate pan on medium heat and add a couple circles of olive oil in the bottom. Or, "EVOO" as Rachel Ray would say.

3. Add to the oil: a clove of garlic, chopped, and a pinch of each of these seasonings: salt and pepper, dried parsley, herbs de provence, and dried basil. Let the herbs bloom for a bit in the hot pan.






4. Add chopped up chicken (I used a breast and 2 thighs) to the oil and spices. As soon as you put the chicken in, you could douse it with a pinch more of salt and pepper, to taste, if you want. When the chicken is almost done, add half of the bag of frozen peas on top and two tablespoons of capers (drained). Once the peas have thawed and are heated through you are essentially done. Just put the rice in a big flat dish or bowl and pour the chicken mixture on top and mix it all up. I also squeeze a half of a lemon on top for added flavor.














Of course, if you can make a little salad to go with it, you truly have outdone yourself, right? Ha! Notice my big honkin' bowl here.

Vanilla Hot Chocolate

Just finished editing a technology brief for le day job - yay! - and realized it was tea time. Four o'clock, right? Today's concoction -- vanilla hot chocolate. I used a Trader Joe's cocoa powder, milk, a little cane sugar (because the chocolate isn't sweetened), and the tiniest drop of vanilla. Yum! Not pictured are the chocolate marshmallows that were a gift from my niece. I've since drank the cocoa mix that came with them. And I'm not really a choco-holic, as in the solid stuff, but drinking it is another story.

In other news, we planted tomato plants last evening. Two kinds: the Japanese hybrid called Momotaro (Tough Boy), and then some Early Girl. Sounds like they make a good couple, the tough boy and the early girl.

Beds and Breakfast

Sunday was filled with yard work. James cleared out the beds in the front of the house - removed the weed liner, which I hated - and now it's just nice black dirt and plants and a few large rocks and that's it! The weed liner was slowly inching its way up above the soil in places and just looked ugly. No more! It's all gone. While J. cleared beds, I made some breakfast: toasts with cream cheese, smoked salmon, red onion, and capers. And an omelet with tomatoes, mozzarella, and red onion. And a big honkin' hash brown in the center, in case the plate wasn't full enough!? For dessert we had breath mints! Ha! It was all very onion-y.

Katie cat actually joined in to sample a little bit of salmon. She loved it! Such a gourmand, this little kitty. Have I mentioned she eats raw spinach leaves? It's very cute.

Kitchen Poetry

There's nothing like a little blog challenge to get your blog mojo going. Sometimes I get in a slump over what to post. But, over at Simple Sparrow, Toni is looking for photos of kitchen life, or her term: kitchen poetry. Neat. Last night, part of our dinner consisted of an organic tomato salad with balsamic vinegar and snipped herbs from the new herb garden, which is growing I might add! BTW, I heard about this challenge at the one and only Foziewisp.

Tuesday's Tabby Cooking School

So, really Mom, I can read upside down. First, put the olive oil on the sprouted wheat tortillas. Doesn't Real Simple have the best recipes?













These individual pizzas turned out smashingly, and they took no time at all. The recipe is in the Aug. '08 issue of Real Simple - the section is full of easy 20-minute meals. Some people may see this and think, oh gross! a cat near food! I just say, oh well, and . . . you're really going to hate the last picture where Miss Kate is sitting on the table staring at me while I ate! We're very cat-friendly to say the least. It makes Saylor so jealous because Kate can get an obvious 'begging advantage' by actually being ON the table. Ha! Of course, she never wants to eat anything (um, I've tried to give her food and she refuses it). Oh, the whacky dinner time tales at the Hardy residence.

The little pizzas have raw artichokes, red pepper, and tomatoes on them and are then topped with grated cheddar and browned under the broiler. You start by broiling just the tortillas (it called for pita bread, but I used tortillas) with a tablespoon of olive oil on them until they crisp up slightly. Then you add the toppings and put them under the broiler for 5 minutes. The broiling is just enough to make the veggies tender. The artichokes were canned and already soft.

The green bean salad has lemon juice and olive oil, and salt and pepper. The avocado is just plain.















Then, there's this face watching my every bite!

Veggies Out My Ears

Okay, so, as earlier posted, we joined the Be Wise Ranch CSA (which I've been wanting to do, and was even on a waiting list to get added to the drop-off spot I wanted) and we picked up the first box (!) on July 4th. We got a veritable truckload of veggies and fruits: a melon, grapes, blueberries, a head of cabbage, two heads of lettuce, bok choy, kale, two cucumbers, two zucchini, and a bag of flat leaf parsley. OMG!

Tonight I will cook the kale into a soup, the good lord willing. I don't think I have ever cooked kale - maybe once. So, I'm really pushing the outer limits of my creative cooking abilities. I usually make recipes up, throwing in this and that, and it usually turns out great (my Mom was the queen of this - she was a great cook). We shall see tonight! And then? Well, there's that bok choy. Stir fry anyone? I hope I can keep up with the onslaught of vegetables! Ha! I may have to check with B., the man of the Foziewisp house, and see what the heck he does with it all (B. and Sherri are members)!? I must also remind myself that this is a good move toward better eating! My mantra. :-)

On another random note, I just read Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting by in America by Barbara Ehrenreich and wow, what a read. Some of us may see the folks who do the hard work in our society, but the book points out hardships that most of us don't know about because it goes on behind the scenes. It's a real eye-opener, and I would recommend it to anyone and everyone to read. You'll be a little more conscious as that woman cleans up around your table at a restaurant (and you notice she has s tip jar sitting there) or you see someone coming out of hotel room that they just cleaned. Many of these folks have two jobs, sometimes three, and live in motels because they simply cannot get together first and last for the cheapest dwelling. And the motel rooms are usually shared with other workers.

I am such a lucky person. This book was a good reminder that my picayune complaints ain't nothin' compared to these folks.

Farmer's Market Salad

As earlier reported by Miss Sherri of Foziewisp fame, we indeed went to the Hillcrest Farmer's Market on Sunday. James was in Mexico windsurfing for the day, and we had vowed the night before to eat leftovers from Saturday night's dinner at Lorna's Italian Kitchen. (We have this running joke that he's all about leftovers, only we never seem to eat them and you know what happens to them in the fridge after a few days!) To make this meal happen, a salad was needed to go with the lasagna and 'sketti. I used organic herbs and greens and added shallots, figs, raspberries, and avocado. Topped it all with this interesting cashew-apple dressing from Whole Foods. So tasty! I also picked up some seed-covered bread sticks from Charlie's Best Bread, a regular at the farmer's market.

So, tonight I'm going to another farmer's market - the one in Ocean Beach. There's another bakery that I love - Sadie Rose Baking Co. - and they sell their bread there. I know of their bread from eating at Roots Kind Food - a super-good vegetarian place that serves beautiful food, all flower-covered and fresh.

Then, on the 4th, our Be Wise Ranch CSA membership kicks in and we will be knee-deep in kale and swiss chard and other green goodnesses that I will be challenged to cook! We shall see!

Baked Pasta w/Roasted Vegetables

One of J's favorite meals is baked pasta. I made this dish recently when our friends Doug and DeDe from Tallahassee came to dinner. I had not seen them in 14 years, and James actually was just meeting them for the first time. It was a really fun night. So, here's how you make it:
First roast the vegetables. I used portabello mushroom, red onion, red pepper, scallions, and asparagus. Just lay the veggies on a baking sheet and cover with a mixture of 3 tablespoons lemon juice,3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar, and 3 tablespoons olive oil. Season with sea salt, herbs de provence, lemon pepper, and a sprig of fresh thyme. Roast the concoction at about 300 degrees for an hour.
Next, mix it all up: once the veggies are roasted (and your house is smelling great!), mix them in with the cooked pasta (enough to serve however many folks are eating!). Add about 4 ounces of goat cheese broken up and mixed into the pasta. Cut up fresh mozzarella and mix half of it in with the pasta and reserve half to lay across the top once everything is combined. Mix in a can or good marinara sauce. Sorry I'm not providing quantities, but it really depends on how much you are making. Glad I don't write recipes for a living! To add some juiciness, add about a 1/2 cup of half and half. Mix everything together well, then lay the second half of your mozzarella across the top.
Last, it's time to bake: In it goes for about 30 minutes on 350 degrees or until you see that the top layer of mozzarella is nice and melted on top. That's it! I served this with a green olive foccacia bread and an arugula salad and it was a hit.

Chicken a la Steve

While IMing with my buddy Steve today, he told me about this recipe he makes, and I tried it for dinner. It was delicious. Here's how you make it: In a glass baking dish, add about 6 or 7 skinless/boneless chicken thighs. Add potatoes (I used a small varietal type) and carrots. Pour over about a 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar and a big, giant tablespoon of apricot preserves, and mix. I used peach instead, but Steve recommends apricot. I also dashed on some lemon pepper and salt. Into the oven at 350 degrees it went for 1 hour. The result: a flavorful, sweet and slightly tangy, very tender dish. I made a green salad on the side and dinner was served. Yum!

Hey Baby, it's the 4th of July

We had a really nice 4th. A lazy day that began with coffee and bagels at Cafe Italia. The neighborhood (Little Italy) was full of the usual Italians talking with their hands. They reminded me of my father. This is a picture of him about a year before he passed away; he was enjoying a Sicilian cigar on the porch. So, in Little Italy, everyone had on World Cup shirts for Italy or Germany. They were all gathered at the Princess Pub to watch the game which later earned the headline, "An Italian Job on Germany." I loved that headline, but of course it's not over yet! (**Update: Italy Won!!!**) As you can see in the picture with James at the Great wall, our yard is still a wasteland. But, the beautiful wall has everything secured land-wise, so we're thrilled about that. A good solid start. The picture of Oreo shows the other side of the wall. The poor boy has been sick literally since June 12th when he had a routine teeth cleaning that resulted in the removal of his top two canine teeth! It's been a slow recovery with occassional spats of feeling good. I think he's turned the corner though and should be back to his old self soon! In this picture he's giving his *new* cute smile. And how can you miss the hugest plate of pork ribs. A vegetarian's nightmare, but quite delicious if you like ribs. To divert us from the meat-fest, I made potato salad and baked beans. We, uh, made a few too many ribs. James got them at this great shop but you had to buy 3 racks. I ate 6 and James ate 10. We are gym-bound indefinitely. I'm not sure we're eating for the remainder of the week. And as if that were not enough to feed a WWF wrestler's appetite, the meal ended with Julian Apple pie a la whipped cream.

Cuban Picadillo

To me, Monday nights can require a little festivity to get the week jump-started. I had some ground beef (vegetarians stop reading) and wanted to do something different with it, so I thought of Picadillo. I'm a native Floridian, born in Miami. Throughout my childhood, Cuban and Puerto Rican food has always been something I crave. You can get the recipe from Saveur magazine here. The recipe is part of a story called Mariana's Havana which says "in the kitchens of Cuba's venerable revolutionaries, the flame of traditional cooking still burns bright with lots of authentic Havana recipes." I loved the ingredients: green olives, capers, raisins, sherry, and scallions. First step requires mixing it all together and refrigerating it for 30 minutes. While that was cooling, I made rice the cuban way, starting with olive oil in a cast iron pan and frying the rice until it turns white. Then I added the water and half an onion cut into quarters. I used basmati, so the flavor was really nutty and really tasty. Dessert, you ask? A quick, easy Meyer Lemon cake mix from Trader Joe's. Mix it up, into the 9" square pan it went, and in 25 minutes a nice little cake. TJ's makes really good quality mixes; minimal ingredients and no preservatives. Yum!