| Apartments/homes |
[Jul. 15th, 2009|01:33 am] |
Hello all,
What would be some money saving must-haves for someone who is moving into his/her first apartment/home by him/herself?
Suggestions could range from pest control (spiders hate walnuts! invest in a big box fan to drown out your annoying roommate!) to home care (brand xyz makes the best toilet bowl cleaner! For soap scum, don't buy that, make your own by __ etc) to space saving ideas, as I am sure some of us have seen the b.s. that is called a "junior bedroom."
I am just looking for general home necessities that may seem "duh" to you, but might have been completely overlooked by others (i.e. me).
Thanks! |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 15th, 2009|04:08 pm] |
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Kippers for breakfast, Aunt Helga? Is it St. Swithin's Day already? |
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| pork loin |
[Jul. 15th, 2009|09:32 am] |
| [ | I'm feeling like |
| |  creative | ] |
I posted a while back regarding what to do with a pork loin. I checked the memories, and was unable to find the recipe for the glaze that someone suggested. I do remember that 2 of the ingredients were pancake syrup and ketchup. It was delicious, and I would like to make it this way again tonight. If anyone has any clue what I'm talking about, and could share the recipe, I would greatly appreciate it. Thanks in advance :) |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 15th, 2009|08:18 am] |
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But I did get Paul McCartney out of Wings. |
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| I have FIBROMYALGIA, and it SUCKS ASS. |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|02:19 pm] |
( I have FIBROMYALGIA, and it SUCKS ASS. ) going to free write about what's in my heart and head. And body. My body is screaming. Muscles feel like they are being pulled tight and then tied in knots. There is burning, numb and stabbing and dull ache. I'm trying to think of a particular body part on my body that is not in pain. My nose. My nose doesn't hurt. Or...at least not the tip. Not a lot, anyway. Despite the screaming, I'm pretty content, and I feel my spirits lifted. The fire to the fight within me has been stoked. Will to live, no matter what obstacles this disease throws at me.
I got a button that says what's in the subject. It's one of several things I'm trying to do to promote awareness of this disease. And awareness leads to education and education to action and action to a cure.
BECAUSE I WANT A CURE, DAMMIT!
I'm in so much pain EVERYDAY. I forget words in the middle of a sentence. I have to take supplements for the irritable bowel syndrome that so often accompanies fibromyalgia. I have to withdraw from situations that cause me stress because stress is the number one aggitator of the pain. And stress is everywhere. I have to painstakingly plan my outings around this every time I go out. Sometimes, even after such planning I have to cancel at the last minute because I just can't move around well enough to get from the house to the car. I must know I will be able to sit down wherever I go, and that there will be no standing in lines or distant walks. Because if not I will experience crippling pain. Pain that seizes the muscles in my back until I can't move my legs. Imagine not being able to get comfortable. No matter how hard you try. Imagine how difficult it would be to go sleep like this. And if you do sleep, you wake up stiff and sore like you did your life's most intense workout the day before, even if you barely got out of bed. Noises startle you, and certain sounds or smells or textures make you want to claw the walls. I may transpose persons here, but I'm going with that...because honestly, I have stuff I want to say and normally, I would be all perfectionist about it...but guess what...I'm not perfect. And I'm not typical. So, I shall cease to achieve perfection. It was just stressing me out anyway.
Considering my disability is invisible, I sometimes think that my being totally freakin' adorable puts me at a disadvantage. I mean if I looked like I - had been in a motorcycle accident wearing nothing but a helmet (or rather as though my exposed skin had been cheese grated, and I'd been beaten with a bat) - felt, you'd understand why I can't work, and have to take a wheelchair for big public outings. Everyone would be very keen to my limitations if they could see what I felt like. Even when I have the most deliciously sweet smile on my face, I'm still fighting through pain to offer it. Even when I'm laughing at my own dumb jokes, I ache.
So, I do consider myself a warrior princess, battling within and without. Fighting for my quality of life, and fighting for a cure.
I'm helping to organize the Austin Southwest Fibromyalgia Support Group through Meetup.com, and hopefully I'll be able to address issues of those overcoming invisible disabilities in a radio show with KOOP in the future.
As for now, I'm going to wear that button, and if anybody asks, I'm going to tell them how I feel.</div>
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 15th, 2009|03:17 am] |
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PS: please alter my pants as fashion dictates |
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| annoyingly appropriate |
[Jul. 15th, 2009|12:38 am] |
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to alcohol! the cause of- and solution to- all of life's problems. |
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| You just bug me sometimes. |
[Jul. 15th, 2009|02:49 am] |
Seriously. You're like my best friend, but sometimes...
God.
I mentioned that I was thinking about doing crew a while ago, and you said that it was a good idea! You even said your mom would take me to the competitions!
So when I asked you to ask the band director if it counted for volunteer work or anything, just cause I was curious, I expected you to be fine with it. I didn't expect you to tell me that I would 'just be in the way' and that 'only parents do crew.'
Maybe I would be in the way. I don't know, and I'm not mad that you think that. But it just bugs me that you didn't say so in the first place! Why did you encourage me when you actually thought it was a bad idea?
To be honest, the only reason I was thinking about crew was cause you were the one who begged me to join Pit, even though I don't play an instrument. I thought you would think that crew was better than nothing, but apparently I was wrong.
I know that I'm probably overreacting, but it just bugs me. |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 13th, 2009|07:17 pm] |
My herb garden has a ton of chives (garlic and onion kinds). Can I successfully freeze these?
I think that part of why I have so many this year is that they never quite died from last year. It's an outdoor herb garden and somehow the dirt must not have frozen too hard or got too cold under the snow so I had chives shooting up for most of the winter too... |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 13th, 2009|07:15 pm] |
So I have a large pack of chicken drumsticks. Usually, I would just roast them or something, but my oven isn't working. I do have a crockpot, but most recipes I see require some type of sauce (barbecue, pasta, etc) and I don't have any sauce nor do I have the money to buy any. Pretty much, I'm dirt poor at moment and whatever I have now in my kitchen is what I'm stuck with. This basically means spices. Dried spices. No soups, no broths, no nothing.
So any ideas on how to cook up these babies so I can have something delicious to eat for a few days? I'm at my wits' end and I'm so hungry I tempted to eat them raw. |
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| Sterelizing Jars for canning |
[Jul. 13th, 2009|11:20 pm] |
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I have a question that I hope somebody can answer. I know the traditional way of sterilizing canning stuff is to boil them for 10 minutes or so. Why can't I place the stuff in a preheated oven at 225 for the same amount of time? |
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| Delicious Indonesian Style Chicken Salad |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|01:24 am] |
| [ | I'm feeling like |
| |  satisfied | ] |
I opened my email today to find a message from my husband (who was at work). It said, "[My coworker] made an amazing chicken salad. Can you make this tonight?!?!? MMMMM MMMM" with a link to this New York Times article. I made it because, how can you resist that?
It has a LOT of ingredients and the only things I had on hand were the chicken breasts and fish sauce, but it was very much worth a trip to the store. Here goes:
For the salad:
1 whole chicken breast or 2 boneless skinless breasts, poached and shredded (about 4 c. shredded chicken) - I used 2 boneless, skinless breasts and poached them in chicken broth. They were so tasty, I didn't even salt and pepper them when they were done.
Salt and freshly ground pepper - Like I mentioned, I didn't use them
1 bunch scallions, white part and green, thinly sliced
1/4 c. slivered fresh mint leaves
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1 small red bell pepper, cut in thin strips
1 serrano pepper, finally chopped (seeded if desired) - I seeded it halfway, which was on the mild side of medium
2 c. mung bean sprouts or sunflower sprouts - I used mung bean sprouts
1 romaine lettuce heart, leaves separated, washed and dried
1/4 c. chopped roasted peanuts
For the dressing:
1/4 c. freshly squeezed lime juice (about 1 1/2 - 2 limes)
2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh ginger
1 garlic clove, minced
1 tbsp Southeast Asian fish sauce
Pinch of cayenne
2 tbsp crunchy or smooth natural peanut butter (more to taste) - I used creamy and didn't add any more than the 2 tablespoons
1/3 c. buttermilk
Directions:
1. Place the chicken in a large bowl, and season with salt and pepper. Add the white part of the scallions, the mint, cilantro, red pepper, minced chile pepper and sprouts. Toss together.
2. Combine the lime juice, ginger, garlic, fish sauce and cayenne. Stir together. Add the peanut butter, and combine well. Whisk in the buttermilk. Taste and adjust seasonings.
3. Line a platter with the lettuce leaves. Toss the chicken mixture with the dressing, and arrange over the lettuce. Sprinkle the peanuts and the scallion greens over the top, and serve.
Serves 4-6
Here's a picture of what I ended up with. The light is bad, but the food was great. Served with purple Jasmine rice and fresh mango.
Enjoy!
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| Fair Food |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|08:19 pm] |
My bf recently went to a town festival near Chicago and told me about two dishes he sampled that he wants to replicate. The first one seems fairly easy, it's simply shrimp wrapped in bacon, but I've never really cooked with shrimp before, nor do I normally wrap meat in bacon. So if anyone could give any pointers on that dish, that'd be great.
The second one was "corned beef bites". He described it as "The bites looked like hush puppies, but when you bit into them you got an explosion of corned beef and cream cheese from within." I definitely don't know how to make those.
Any help would be greatly appreciated :D Thanks! |
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| A dialogue of a journey through several meals and cheap eats |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|08:20 am] |
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Took threefresh yellow cubanelle (california chilies) washed them thoroughly and placed them in the pot of water destined to hold spaghetti. When water came to a boil salted it well. Left the chilies in the water for about 5 minutes.
Took the chilies out of the water when they were soft and the very thin skin was easy to peel. Seeded and peeled, and smashed chilies with a fork and set them aside.
Took 4 red-ripe-medium-sized tomatoes made a small X in the bottom of each and placed them in the spaghetti water for a few seconds.
Removed tomatoes, skinned, removed stem/core, did a rough dice then added peeled, smashed chilies to the tomatoes.
Placed spaghetti in pot to cook for required time.
Made a small amount of fresh garlic oil by pressing a clove of garlic into a couple of tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, and slowly heating until it simmered. Drained oil into small container and set golden brown garlic aside.
Diced a very sweet yellow onion and added to tomato/chili mixture and stirred all thoroughly.
Removed a small amount of the tomato mixture (salsa) to toss with the cooked spaghetti.
Drained spaghetti and immediately tossed with a little of the garlic oil.
Added drained reserved mixture to the spaghetti and half of it and tossed well, considered some grated cheese, but declined.
Put remaining salsa in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid and refrigerated.
Next day at lunch dumped some extra virgin olive oil along with a dab of butter into a small frypan and fried the spaghetti to a browned crisp cake.
Took some left over salsa, trying to get a good mix of the tomatoes, chilies, and onions, along with enought of the juice to act as a light dressing for the mix, a can of drained/rinsed Progresso black beans, 2 ears of cooked corn left over from the four ears I cooked at lunch, cut the corn off of these ears and added to bean/salsa mix. Chopped a bunch of green onions and added to mix.
Cubanelle peppers are not very hot, at least for the number I used in ratio to tomatoes so added a bit of pickled-diced jalapenos and mixed in with the rest of the ingredients.
Seasoned with additional kosher salt.
Ate some immediately, stored remainder in refrigerator.
Very light and very delicious
Lessons learned. This mix loses its fresh feel and taste wthen refrigerated and stored over night.
Remainder of salsa was used to make Huevos Rancheros the next morning for breakfast.
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| Daring Cooks July Challenge- Skate, Traditional Flavors Powdered - with changes |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|02:56 pm] |
| [ | I'm feeling like |
| | accomplished | ] |
This month's Challenge was hosted by Sketchy, of Sketchy's Kitchen. And it's a doozy.
In fact, when I first read what the Challenge was, my reaction was holy shit. It took a few weeks to get around to doing this Challenge. It was actually about 2 weeks before the reveal date that I even started on aspects of this one. Unusual for me, to say the least.
The main issue was trying to find actual Skate. That turned out to be impossible here. So I went with 'Previous Frozen fresh Cod, wild caught'- an oxymoron if you ask me. How can it be fresh if it was previously frozen? Hmmm.. Anyway...
As with any Challenge or baking/cooking excursion, I gather everything I think I'm going to need... and then some. And it took 2 days.
( Onward, with a guest appearence! ) |
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| (no subject) |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|02:06 pm] |
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i have a recipe to make chocolate covered strawberries and it says to use a double boiler, but i dont have one. could i use anything in place of one? |
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| Cheese me! |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|01:48 pm] |
| [ | Current Music |
| | A Little Better - Gnarls Barkley | ] |
I went to a potluck and brought cheese, but the potluck kind of failed and we got pizza, so. Now I have a small log of herbed chevre, a .40 lb/181 gram wedge of "Italian truffle cheese" (I don't know; it's from Trader Joe's and appears to be a white cheese of medium firmness), and a .40 lb/181 gram wedge of Dutch gouda with walnuts.
Other than just eating the two wedges, do you have any ideas for cooking with them?
Thanks!
EDIT: Okay, the chevre I can think of lots of things to do with because I've bought it before (I'll probably put it in an omelet, actually)--it's the other two that I'm not sure how to cook with. And yes, the walnuts are IN the gouda! :o Thanks again! |
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| Bastille Day Roasted Garlic Aioli |
[Jul. 14th, 2009|05:46 pm] |
In honor of today being France's Bastille Day (like the American July 4th) I've posted one of my favorite French meals. Here's a piece of that, my roasted garlic aioli. It's great used as below but also wonderful with beef or lobster or even in place of regular mayo in a salad dressing or on a sandwich.
Enjoy!
Gorey's Roasted Garlic Aioli
1 head garlic, whole and unpeeled
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. Kosher salt
pinch of black pepper
1/2 c. plus 1 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 c. Canola or vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 350-degrees F.
Place the head of garlic on a square of foil large enough to wrap around it. Drizzle the 1 tbsp. olive oil over the garlic head and rub it around to coat the garlic fully with oil. Wrap the foil, loosely, around the head and place in the oven. Bake about 45 minutes or until the garlic inside is soft. Unwrap and allow to cool (you can even roast the garlic the day before).
When the garlic is cool to the touch, cut the entire head in half - across or horizontally - to expose the golden gems inside. You can hold the cut side above a bowl and squeeze gently to pop each half-clove out. You can also use a small spoon to scoop them out.
There you have roasted garlic, a lovely accompaniment to many things but we will transform it further - into aioli. Aioli is essentially homemade garlic mayonnaise. I roast my garlic because it is less intense and slightly nutty. The traditional French method uses raw garlic. I prefer the roasted but if you are a traditionalist, use 2 tsp. grated or finely chopped raw in place of my mellow bulbs.
On with the aioli:
Place all your roasted garlic, the lemon juice, salt, egg yolk and pepper in a food processor or blender.
Switch your appliance's speed on medium and, using the opening in the lid, drizzle the oil in slowly. I use a measuring cup with a spout to make this easy. Just a thin strand of oil constantly flowing in & you'll see it emusify or turn from oil into what looks like - and is - mayo.
This could take a little patience but it is worth it. When you've slowly drizzled in all the oil, switch off the machine. Transfer the aioli to a bowl for immediate service or, if making more than a few minutes ahead, refrigerate it until you're ready to eat.
Makes about one cup; enough for 6-8 people.
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