Tiny Kitchen's Weekend Workout

My husband and I have decided next year is our year to buy a new house. Yes, I am super excited...and a little bit terrified. I have never had to sell and buy a house at the same time. I know people do it all the time, but I have fears. What if I fall in love with a new house before we can get this one sold? What if this one sells immediately and we have to squat somewhere before we find our new house?  OR you might ask, what if everything goes perfectly smoothly?  :)

One of the biggest reasons we want a new house is to have a bigger more functional (read "fun"ctional) kitchen.  The other biggie is we want (need) a basement. In addition, to the extra space Midwest tornado season freaks me out not having a basement in which to immediately retreat in case of emergency. Back to the kitchen...I am desperate for more counter space. I would absolutely love to have an island. In my current kitchen, I am constantly juggling and not always successfully. Cooking/baking which I truly enjoy can quickly become very frustrating.

This weekend, for the most part, I was able to juggle and avoid frustration pretty well. I think my nightly tidy up sessions are definitely helping. Limited space means everything needs to be picked up and its place or it looks like a disaster. I started slow and built up to a Sunday kitchen fest. Friday night I made the Sweet Potato Peanut Stew  and Saturday I made the the S'mores Pudding, both of which I posted here.

Sunday, I had a full schedule of baking and cooking planned. First up, Lemon Blueberry Scones. I wanted to include a delicious treat with a cute mug I had picked up for a friend's upcoming birthday. She has a good dose of Anglophile in her, so I knew scones would be a good treat. I remember she loved a lemon blueberry cake I have made in the pastm so when I found the Lemon Blueberry Scone recipe I thought I had a winner. 

One of the most intimidating things about pastries in my opinion is getting the butter mixed in correctly. To create tender or flaky pastries the butter needs to stay in little pieces. When it melts it then creates little air pockets and buttery yumminess (that might not be the technical description, but it is true.)  You want it to remain as cold as possible and resemble coarse crumbs when mixed iwth the dry ingredients. Then when the heat hits those cold butter bits - they melt create a tender flaky texture. This recipe recommended freezing the stick of butter then grating it. I loved the idea of not having to spend all the time cutting the butter into the flour mixture. I expected to fly through the butter grating, but it took longer than I expected...frozen butter gets pretty hard and it is still a slippery thing.

I eventually got there. I had to remind myself frequently that it was not cheese and caught myself trying to nibble a few shreds.

It is important to not overwork the dough, so after adding the wet ingredients you want to mix very minimally. Because I was working with delicate berries too, I mixed very lightly than rounded the dough up right on the counter and pressed it into the circle.

Cut the circle in eight wedges and place on the baking sheet. One of the wedges crumbled as I tried to move it. I just rounded that one portion into a round scone. I have seen scones shaped both ways, but my mom always cut hers in wedges, so that is what I do.

After baking, I dipped the tops into a lemon glaze. The glaze was made with lemon juice, powdered sugar, vanilla and melted butter. I'd never used a glaze with butter in it, although it does make sense since most icings have butter in them. Also, butter and scones...

I packaged up a few for the birthday girl. Took a couple to my mom, shared one with with my niece and her grandniece since they were here when they came out of the oven - lucky taste testers. In the end, I had one left for my husband and one left for me. Forced Portion Control at work :)  And it was a good thing there was only one for me. They were tasty little morsels and I would have had a hard time stopping.

A few weeks ago, my niece and I were talking about her plans to prep more freezer meals. Her husband has gone back to school to be a male nurse...sorry I can't resist....to be a nurse. She has a long commute for her job and they have an adorable two year old. She definitely knows the value of meal prep!  After our conversation I ran across this on the bargain shelf at the bookstore.

I decided to try the Butternut Squash Chard Lasagna. (Sorry, I can't link this since it came from an actual cookbook, but if anyone really wants the recipe, let me know and I will post picture of recipe). Obviously, I am not a vegetarian, but I do like veggies and definitely would like to have more meatless meals in my repertoire.

This recipe had many steps. I actually kind of liked that because it seems like most of my cooking is pretty quick and this was a nice change for a Sunday afternoon. Now, I didn't make my own marinara, but that could have been fun to do. I do have a bowl of tomatoes that need attention.

First step was to make the cheese filling - ricotta, Parmesan, garlic, onion and spinach. The filling included oregano and a very unusual lasagna spice...cinnamon. More on that later. First lets see what a giant pan of raw spinach looks like after three minutes over the heat.

 Not much at all. But that beautiful dark green makes up for the shrinkage :)

Next step was my beloved butternut squash. It actually had been in the microwave while I worked on the spinach. The recipe said to cook for 5-6 minutes and then peel off the skin with a vegetable peeler. That worked pretty well except around the bottom where the flesh is thinner. It was too soft to peel that way.

 Then butternut is sliced into pretty little planks.

More greens to be wilted for the last layer. This time rainbow chard. I love the variety of colors in each bunch. I bought two bunches - first one at the farmers' market, but then I realized it wasn't enough and had to get more at the grocery store.

Ready for assembly. For the record, grating the mozzarella was SO much quicker than grating that butter!

 Sauce, noodles, butternut, cheese filling, etc.

I had way more squash squash planks than for the one layer listed in the recipe, so I just added another layer. I love butternut, so that seemed like the reasonable thing to do. 

 Ready for the oven.

It took about an hour and 20 minutes to cook. The squash was still a bit al dente in places.

My lasagna made 10 hearty servings at 433 calories each - definitely a better value than a 300+ calorie Lean Cuisine that leaves me hungry. I packaged three portions for this week's lunches and two portions each in two foil pans to freeze for future meals.

Veggies and cherries completed my meals. Sneak peek at the next recipe can be seen at the top of this picture.

These pans are now safely in my work freezer. No excuses if I ever forget to bring my lunch! I love these containers I found at the Dollar Tree. I used up my stash of them this weekend, so I need to pick up a few more.

I had my first lasagna meal today for lunch. Like most casseroles, soups, stews the flavors were better the next day. Things just need a chance to settle and mellow. Back to the unusual lasagna spice - I was thrown a bit by the cinnamon. It does kind of make sense with the sweetness of butternut, but it doesn't not compute with lasagna in my mind. I had to do a little reframing. I am calling this more of a layered veggie casserole and it is really is quite good. Given all the recipes out there and my crazy need to try new things, I am not sure I will get back to this exact recipe. However, if I do, I think I might leave out the noodles. They didn't seem too necessary. I guess they hold the layers together a bit more than just the squash, but I might be able to live with a messier casserole. In the meantime, I am confident I will enjoy my lunches this week and having the frozen portions later this fall.

My last two recipes of the day were super simple. Making two was really as easy as making one since there were both hummus.  Remember Maddie Lymburner from the Sweet Potato Peanut stew?  Well, I did a little poking around on her website and found a video for three hummus recipes. I was instantly smitten by the colors. I chose to make two of the three - Green Pea and Thai Red Curry. Spicy Black Bean  I will get you next time. I had the ingredients for black bean too, but somehow making three seemed a bit extreme without a party :)

A set this picture up to show the similarity - tahini, salt, pepper and garlic were common to both. Garbanzo beans would have been in both, but I only had one can, so I subbed white beans for the other one (I couldn't tell the difference). Each had a citrus component and then the seasonings were different.

A handful of cilantro  pretty much insured I would like the Green Pea Hummus. I have seen recipes that use all peas - I might try one of those in the future.

 I ended up adding a touch of cilantro to the Thai Red Curry because I love it.

 I like my hummus a bit tangy so I ended up using the juice of a whole lime/lemon instead of the half called for in the recipe.

See, aren't these just begging for a party?

I was very happy with how both of them turned out. I have to be honest though I am not totally on board with the tahini - I expected it to have more flavor on its own. Perhaps it does add to the creaminess, but I didn't have the patience to blend it super smooth. Good thing I don't mind a little texture. The friend who pointed me to this website, mentioned that her favorite use for hummus is in a simple dressing. I will definitely give that a try...and of course, make more hummus. I am invested in a decent sized jar, so I need to branch out.

I didn't mean to cook all vegetarian, but looking back it turned out that way. The hummus and the stew (if you don't use turkey broth like I did) are actually vegan. The lasagna and the desserts were clearly not vegan - well, we don't need to talk about cheese, butter and cream do we??

By Sunday evening I was exhausted, but I forced myself to clean up before bed.

Good night tiny kitchen....

Not Bad for Month One

I just realized this weekend has been one month in on my new year...quick status update:

My most positive change/report is that I have done 12 blog posts! It feels really good to be back to blogging. I am constantly looking at my life for what I can share. I think it makes me appreciate what I see and what I am doing more.

The first two weeks were good and then I allowed poison ivy and steroids to derail me. Okay, I didn't "allow" the poison ivy to invade my body, but have made choices to fight it more than fight for continued weight loss. I am on my second course of steroids and I want to eat all the time. I am not proud to admit a couple times I have actually eaten cereal in the middle of the night. I seriously, never do that...ugh. I haven't been weighing myself because I didn't want to be discouraged by water retention. However, I did hop on the scale this morning just to be sure everything hasn't gone completely nuts. I am up the expected couple of pounds. Hopefully, that will be dealt with fairly quickly as the steroids taper starting Wednesday.


I had planned to get cracking on the exercise, but hot and sweaty is NOT a good mix for my skin right now. Just walking from house to car or work to car in the sun and humidity makes for an itchy outbreak.

I have been back in the kitchen where cooking is definitely a passion. I have been experimenting with new recipes and will be sharing the results - good or bad. While we are on the subject....

Do you ever look at the title of a recipe and say to yourself..."that's not going to happen"?  I am pretty sure that is what I would have said if I had just randomly ran across this recipe - Sweet Potato Peanut Stew.  However, it was recommended to me by a well-trusted palate, I mean, friend. I love sweet potatoes, but I feel like I have had a hang up about peanuts and/or peanut butter in savory applications. A local Chinese restaurant makes decent dumplings, but I can't seem to get them to leave off the oppressive peanut sauce. My friend mentioned the recipe had a really good balance of flavors that was quite interesting. As I studied the recipe, that balance came together in my mind - sweet/savory, spicy/sweet, a bit of acidity from tomato paste.

The flavors and the texture of the stew is very comforting. The peanut butter doesn't overpower the taste and gives it a lush texture. I am already imagining this on my cold weather menu. If I had one criticism, it might be it is a tad on the sweet side .I did add extra peppers from my hot pepper-palooza. I will have to think about how to balance that a bit more for my taste. The peanut butter I used was simply ground peanuts, so no extra salt. Maybe a sprinkle of crushed salty peanuts on top would be nice. Look, I am already starting to embrace the dreaded peanuts! Maybe a splash of lime juice when serving would be nice.

I confess I did make a few adjustments on ingredients because a) it was Friday night b) I couldn't wait any longer to try it c) after a long week I certainly had no desire for a grocery run. I made these substitutions to use what I had on hand:

• Turkey stock for the veggie stock - no longer vegetarian, actual vegan
• Fresno peppers for jalapeno - supposed to be spicier, but I think it was pretty close
• Spinach for kale - kale might have been a stronger balancing flavor
• Orange bell pepper for red bell pepper - red peppers tend to be a bit more flavorful

I don't think any of these changes dramatically altered the flavor - just a bit spicier. I have a couple servings for lunches this week, so perhaps I will test those add-ons above.


Another positive change I have been working on is the 15 minutes before bed tidy up. I can't tell you what a difference it makes to wake up to a tidy house - especially the kitchen!  I am at my most productive in the morning, so having a jump start motivates me to get into some deeper projects. Saturday morning I did a complete fridge clean. I took EVERYTHING out and scrubbed it down. It is always a slightly depressing job because I realize how much food I have wasted. But ultimately the results are great. Not having to fear an avalanche when you open a fridge door is a good thing. And knowing what you have on hand helps plan meals. The before - don't judge :)

After - There is still plenty in there, but it is organized...in the first place you see (top right are things that need to be eaten quickly - cut fruit, leftovers, etc. I am a little proud that my veggies/greens are taking up the two drawers and overflowing to the shelf above, but there better be some salads this week :) 

The empty space on the left was well used this weekend during my cooking frenzy. I made two batches of S'more's pudding cake. One I divided into three small pans instead of the 9 x 13 pan called for by the recipe.I bought these little plans at Dollar tree - 3 for a dollar. They come with a cardboard lid that you wrap the edges of the pan around to seal. For the record, you will use Geometry in real life. I had to figure area of these pans compared to the 9 x 13 - it was a difference of 5 square inches and that made no difference.

Poking holes in the cake before the pudding layer.

Before you freak out about me eating all this cake (you know, steroids), I all put one small pan (7 x 5).  How I need to maintain portion control! Seriously, I do love to bake and baking for others lets me do that without eating everything.

I had noticed on Facebook that our local volunteer fire department had had an extremely busy week - several structure fires and tons of EMS calls. I thought a nice treat would be appreciated. When I dropped it off, I forgot to mention it needed to be stored in the fridge. I sent a FB message and the response was they didn't expect it to last the night anyway :)

My other clean fridge win is that I was able to do this...meal prep!

 Lunches for the week. I will share the details of what all I made on this weekend's cooking marathon later this week.

Spoiler alert:  I even had a couple of pans to put in the freezer. Even if it is delicious I don't think I could eat 10 servings in a row!  Each pan has two pieces.

Now moving forward into month two building on what I have started. Looking forward to fall...is it too soon?

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!