Two Emergencies and Weekend Odds and Ends

This is the odds and ends post for the weekend (and a couple days before) . I have a couple more in the works more with specific focuses.

One of moms of a pre-schooler on my husband's bus gave him these beautiful peaches.  Her husband works at a peach orchard. I LOVE peaches, but they are my produce nemesis - either they never fully ripen or they spoil about 8 seconds after they become perfectly ripe. These were perfect from the get go.

Perfect next to my favorite breakfast hash.

Perfect in peach salsa (made by my husband - the self-proclaimed salsa king) on grilled chicken tacos.

I am sad that peach season is almost wrapped up. I wonder if there is ANY chance of one more peach delivery...  I don't think apples are going to make a great salsa, but I am excited they are next in season.

Tuesday night I started getting a toothache. By it was more pain than not.  For breakfast I grabbed this frozen breakfast bowl. I could have made something very similar (or better), but my mouth hurt and I just didn't feel like making the effort. Fortunately, this breakfast bowl was pretty tasty and 300 or so calories is right in my preferred breakfast zone.

I finally called the dentist when I got to work. They worked me in before the office opened at 1 p.m. We really love our dentist.  I, however, did not love to hear that I needed a root canal. In fact,  I have always been anxious about dental work - trying to make a decision (about treatment and the expense) by myself when I just wanted the pain to stop was overwhelming.  Root canals have always sounded super scary to me. Turns out it wasn't awful - other than all the numbing shots, the full body shakes from the anesthetic, almost closing my mouth on the drill (dentist said it would have ruined both of our weekends), being told I have horse teeth (normal teeth 18mm long - mine 25mm) and the budget busting bill.  The truth is, I am a big baby and may not ever be able to show my face at the dentist's office again.

I stopped at the store on the way home from the dentist and stocked up on ALL the soft foods. At one point while driving (actually at a stop light) I took a big swig of water, which fell right out of my still numb mouth and down my entire front and lap...oops. Good thing the pharmacy has a drive thru.  When the pharmacist was giving me my prescription instructions, she was careful to tell me I had to take each of them with food. There were three - each with the same instructions - one pill every 6 hours with food. I was laughing by the time she finished. That is a LOT of food. Yes, I do realize I could take them at the same time with the same food, but at this point I was a bit punchy :)  I finally got home made myself some scrambled eggs and settled in the recliner to wait pathetically for my husband to get home from work and take over my care. 

Friday morning, my mouth felt pretty good and off to work I went.  Then this happened...a flat tire. My car has lower profile tires, so there was no dramatic noise of flopping tires. Suddenly my tire pressure registered zero. I was closed to a gas station, so I pulled in aired it up. When I saw it was holding pretty steady I hurried back to our mechanic near my house.  He quickly found this screw.

Apparently when the universe decides you need exercise, you get a flat tire.  Since my husband was at work, I left my car at the shop and walked the few blocks home. 

Thankfully, they were quick to repair my tire and it only cost $16 - so much better than Thursday's emergency. I may or may not have bought these on my way to work. I would never have known about them had one of my friend's not posted it on Facebook. Just so you know they weren't bad, but I am not running back for them any time soon. Not to mention, they bring bad tire luck :)

Back to enjoying my peaches on oatmeal and a side of prescriptions.

Saturday afternoon my sweet husband drove my mom and I to the international store I mentioned a couple of weeks ago. I needed a particular item for an upcoming recipe (which I made this weekend and will feature in another post).  My mom and I are very similar in our love for new foods and international cuisine. I am especially thankful my husband stumbled across some good interviews while he waited in the car - we had plenty of time to browse the whole store.

Check out these gigantic jackfruit - apparently they can grow to 40 pounds! 

My mom bought a couple pieces they had packaged up. I am not the biggest fan of exotic fruits...jackfruit included, but at least I tried. (Not my picture below)

Photo from Domestic Urbanite

The pepper section if one of my favorite areas of the store.

Many, many items I don't even know what to begin to do with...give me time. There a couple new things I picked up that you will see later this week.

I didn't buy any of this jam, but look at those flavors. I didn't even notice the upside down label until writing this post.

 I am not an ale fan, but I was intrigued by these pies. I do love a good pot pie :)

I picked up these shrimp potstickers.  I made my own dipping sauce with soy sauce, ginger, garlic, rice vinegar and sesame oil. I could eat myself sick on potstickers...so good. On my to-do list is to make my own potstickers to freeze.

I picked up some herbs - way more variety and cheaper than regular grocery stores. I bought Thai basil for lettuce wraps or summer rolls, tarragon for chicken salad and dill for potato salad (or pretty much anything- I l like it in scrambled eggs).

 Peppers - Fresno and Poblano, plus a new one for me - Cubanelle.

 Baby bok choy. Watch for it in a stir fry.

I also picked up more mushrooms and snow peas to make more of those delicious stir frys.

This pita bread is quite thin. I plan to use it for some yummy lunch wraps - chicken salad, hummus and veggies...

A few snacky items I picked up to taste. The cookies/crackers were good, as I expected. The corn puffs (Philippines) were good at first but I tired of them quickly. They really did have a sweet corn taste. The pickled onion chips(British brand made in India) tasted exactly like pickled onions, until the after taste :(

I am not gonna lie - the Crunchie bar was my favorite. I grew up in Canada and though I don't specifically remember Crunchie bar - I loved sponge toffee, which is the base of this candy. I have made it since moving back to the States, but it has been awhile. Perhaps I will put it on the Christmas treat list.

I found these chicken thighs on sale at Aldi for 69 cents a pound. I left some skin, but trimmed off a bunch of the the excess skin.

I was always very nervous about cooking bone-in chicken on the grill, until I discovered this brining technique from Tyler Florence. It is super simple, great flavor and I have managed to cook it perfectly every time. The recipe is for BBQ chicken, but I just do the brine part like he says and then my own thing for BBQ or grill as is. Simply mix the brine ingredients together - crush the garlic and I roll the thyme in my hand a little to get the herby oils going.

 Brining liquid.

Pour over the chicken in a Ziplock bag and refrigerate - two hours is recommended, but Tyler says even 15 minutes is worth doing.

 I am serious, it comes out perfect every time. The thigh on the left has been brushed with Korean gochujang sauce. My husband ate the plain ones with his peach salsa - he was a happy man.

I am throwing this tip in here because I don't want it to get lost in the cooking post (although I will probably repeat it). I boiled a couple chicken breasts for a recipe and for chicken salad I am making for lunches this week. I might have shared this before, but it bears repeating. If you need to shred chicken and have a stand mixer this is for you. Cook the chicken, throw it in the mixing bowl and mix with the paddle beater on medium speed.

I promise you, in less than a minute (maybe 30 seconds) you will have this. It's like magic....but real. You never need to shred with forks again. 

There you have it - the miscellaneous of the past few days. I look forward to sharing more of my weekend in the next couple days.

I hope you had a great weekend and make the most of the coming week.

Catching Up - Part 2

After this post, I think we will be caught up...

I have been all about the sunflowers at the farmers' market the last couple of weeks, but I found a crazy new flower and skipped my planned sunflower purchase.  These are celosia (or Cock's Comb). Side note: The plate is a yard sale find from MANY years ago, but I still love. It currently hangs in hangs in my laundry room.

Most of the varieties are more of a fan shaped (or like a rooster's comb), but these had a fun brain shape. I couldn't resist - especially for $1/stem.

We had a visit from our sidekick last weekend - four wonderful days. I love that girl to bits and am so grateful she is still in our lives.

Since she wasn't with us for Millie's birthday, so we had a belated Millie birthday party.  We made Millie peanut butter pumpkin dog treats. Anything peanut butter and Millie approves.

I didn't mention yet, but in June we said goodbye to our 17 year old dachshund, Zommie. Our sidekick adored Zommie and telling her Zommie was gone is one of the hardest things I have had to do. I got Zommie at about 2.5 months old.

Seventeen good years. So much love and so many adventures.

Sorry to just drop the sadness in there. I have been wanting to share, but it never seemed to be the right time. Thinking about how much our sidekick loved Zommie it seemed like the right time.

Sunday we went to the zoo with my niece and her daughter. They are incredibly sweet and fun together.

Our sidekick's main goal was to see the zebras. She was super excited when I mentioned there was a new baby. She decided to name him Bob. The zoo actually named him Colton, but he will always be Bob to us :)

 Those ears :)

 The apes were feasting on their morning lettuce. Everyone was in their own spot munching away.

I admit it. I may have made this face a time or two when eating salad. No doubt, I have had MANY delicious salads, but sometimes I just don't want to eat another leaf.

 Showing off that silver back.  "Hey dude, do you work out?" He cut an imposing figure.

 I think I have solved the Sasquatch mystery. Runaway Orangutan perhaps? Look at those feet!

Walking through the underwater tunnel we saw a sea lion being "scolded" by a keeper. She was trying to get the sea lion to let go of a piece of electrical tape she had found. She ended up keeping her right beside using signed commands, while waiting for assistance to arrive. It was interesting to watch their interaction. That sea lion's expression.

We spent a good amount of time in the cool herpetarium  (reptile house) - hot day at the zoo. The girls actually really enjoyed looking at the snakes. Our sidekick's eyes almost popped out her head when she turned a corner and saw the enormous python. And what little girl wouldn't love these "rainbow snakes".

I didn't warn you about the snakes, but take warning now...gross pictures ahead. Scroll fast! Don't ask how I know, but googling skin conditions is never a good idea! Remember all that amazing yard work I was so proud of a couple of weeks ago? Well, it turned into a poison ivy fest. My husband had it for a few days, then I broke out. For some reason mine went CRAZY. It started with these blisters. This was my legs on Aug. 7 when we got home from The Hill.

  I thought that was bad....then this was my leg a week later.  
I also had a couple of these patches pop up in different places. I was starting to freak out in addition to being EXTREMELY uncomfortable.

Thankfully, last summer I had found a dermatologist for another issue. When I called Monday they said they could see me the next day. Doctor said it was an extremely angry case of poison ivy and gave me much stronger meds than my GP had already given me. The steroids make me want to eat constantly - ugh!

 As you may know, dermatologists are notoriously hard to get into. I once waited 3.5 months for an appointment only to really dislike the doctor and her office staff/procedure. Her treatment plan did not work in the least and I never went back. I am thankful to have found one I really like - friendly, attentive, accessible and capable - with a very pleasant staff.

As part of my reward for going to the doctor, I talked my husband into stopping at a nearby international grocery store. I've been wanting to go for awhile, but it is about 45 minutes from home - not exactly convenient.

I made quite a haul for $30-something. I was shopping for a few particular items: egg roll wrappers (not pictured because I'd already put them in the freezer - planning to make egg rolls for my niece's birthday), cellophane noodles (for birthday egg rolls and my lunch egg roll bowls), Maggie seasoning (a bit like a soy sauce - my mom always had it when we were kids), pomegranate molasses (I was supposed to use it for my watermelon prosciutto bites a few weeks ago) and fennugreek (spice used in Indian cuisine - it smells amazing!) and dried red peppers. The produce was all impulse buys. Everything was so cheap, I kept grabbing packages. I actually considered oyster mushrooms at the farmers market that were $11/pound. All the mushrooms were $4.99/pound. I got three types of mushrooms (oyster, shiitake and shemeji), bean sprouts, two types of fresh peppers (Fresno and Bird's Eye) and snow peas.

I had a little fun with my hot peppers.  All such pretty reds, Left to right - mystery pepper (the guy at the farmers' market said they are cayenne, but pictures online look nothing like that), Fresno and Thai Bird's Eye.

Then I got the bright idea to taste test them. I even got a glass of milk at the ready to cool my mouth (water does NOT work).

I started with the Fresno. It was not really hot at all. I read it has a pretty broad range what it comes to heat (2500-10000 Scoville units), but is often compared to jalapeno. It had a sweet flavor I liked too. From PepperScale.com "It looks like a jalapeño and even tastes like a jalapeño, but the Fresno pepper has a few tricks up its sleeve that make it a very popular chili in its own right. It delivers a slightly spicier kick, like a mild serrano chili, and in its mature red form, the Fresno pepper has a fruitier, smokier taste. This is a favorite for foodies looking for a twist on the norm." 

The mystery pepper started out slow, but then burned my lips. I did a bit of a milk soak doing duck lips into the glass.

I did NOT even pretend to try the Bird's Eye - I could smell the heat the second I cut into them. From The Spruce Eats "Bird's eye chilies are very hot. On the Scoville scale, they rate between 50,000 and 100,000 Scoville units. That's over 20 times hotter than a jalapeno, but three times less spicy than a habanero. The heat can sneak up on you, as the mature red Bird's Eye chili can have a delayed potency with the heat building as you eat the dish, and then lingering long after you stop eating. If your taste tends toward medium or mild-spiced foods, try de-seeding them, then mincing for less heat."

I did use a few of the Bird's Eye in a Beef/Mushroom/Snow Pea stir fry. I cut a couple in half and cooked them with the beef. I had a little bit of beef left that I didn't use in my tacos (see below). They were scraps that need a lot more trimming to get the fat off.  The Bird's Eye gave plenty of heat just used like that and were picked out before eating. My stir fry was a way to use all the produce from the international store. I was happy with the oyster and shiitake mushrooms. I didn't remember what either tasted like or if I'd ever even had them (which seems unlikely). It was quick and super tasty. Admittedly, it wasn't the most filling dinner because I hadn't made rice...and you know what they say about Chinese food :)

Tuesday night my husband had friends over for a game. Everyone brings a dish to share - the guys brought pizza and White Castle. I made Barbacoa Beef Tacos...because I am fancy.

The bright pink goodness on the toppings tray are pickled onions I made the other day. Super simple - great on tacos, sandwiches, even salad.  Red onions are simply soaked in a vinegar, spices, garlic mixture for an hour or so. They keep in fridge for a couple of weeks...if they last that long!  I have been known to continue adding additional onions to the pickling liquid as I use them. There are many recipes out there, but I have been using this recipe from Budget Bytes.

 They eventually turn a pretty hot pink color.

Back to the Barbacoa Beef. - I used this recipe on Closet Cooking. It may look like a bunch of ingredients, but it is super simple and other than the meat I usually have these ingredients on hand.

The beef is browned and added to onions. spices, lime juice, vinegar and chiptotle peppers. It is then braised in the dutch oven for 3-4 hours until tender and easily shredded with a fork. Tons of flavor! I am in love with my dutch oven. One of these days I will show you the bread I bake in it.

We discovered this recipe in the spring when I had a "taco week" for my husband . For seven nights in a row I served him different kinds of tacos....there were NO complaints!

The beauty shot! I love these adorable little corn tortillas from Mission (only 100 calories for three). They make about a three-four bite taco.  They are especially great if you are mixing and matching fillings and toppings. This time I was super happy with my plate of four of the same :)  Aren't those onions gorgeous?  I bet this would be also be great using a big lettuce leaf in place of the tortilla - I will let you know.

I think this brings us current on what I have been up to. I will try not to let it pile up again :)  Thanks for hanging in for the whole post!