Spazzmanda

Mom came over again and we painted some more. Still not finished. This is going to take a long, long time.

Here is the progress of her RUG that she is knitting. (Who knits a rug? I wouldn’t be able to bear someone putting their feet on something that took this much time, but whatever floats your boat.) I think it looks like Uncle Sam’s lower intestine, but I’m assured it will be rug-shaped.

She then made me this salad, which was very appetizing even though there were no tomatoes.

I’m mad today. Mad is better than sad. Sad sucks.

Angry is working for me today.

The last two mornings I have been enjoying my new favorite breakfast for the gal on the go- a spinach smoothie.

It looks totally icky. Jeff says it is a cross between that slime on Nickelodeon and the scene in the movie Gremlins where the little green monster blows up in the microwave.

I know, it looks grody, but it is surprisingly good. The health benefits are obvious, another serving of veggies in drinkable form, but you’re also supposed to start craving green leafys like LOTS more if you drink this smoothie. Now there are many recipes out there, but I just modified mine to suit my tastes (and what I had on hand.) In my handy-dandy magic bullet blender (I just LOVE my Magic Bullet) I combine the following: ice, orange juice, a blob of nonfat yogurt (any flavor will do), a handful of spinach, 1/2 banana (strawberries would probably also be nice) and some flax seed. Churn until about this consistency:

I know, still gross. But it is tasty, I swear!

Last night I made a wonderful Smoky Refried Bean Soup, a recipe from  Fat Free Vegan Kitchen. Again, not a vegan here, I probably could be happily vegetarian, but I loves me some cheese. (And we put some cheese as a garnish on this soup, sorry, had to be done.)  The soup itself was both easy and wonderful. I love refried beans, particularly my grandmother’s- and never the canned ones- but in this recipe, canned refried beans really make the texture of this soup deliciously velvety and the fire-roasted tomatoes… mmmmmmmmm. I give it two enthusiastic thumbs up and plan to make this soup again.

As for the smoothie, I’ll continue to do that too, until I turn green or something.

Happy Valentine’s day and all, but dude, it is farking cold outside. So I make soups to cope with not being able to feel my appendages. Or really this one would be more aptly named a “stoup” because it is thick and hearty- and this recipe is 100% MY creation (so if it offends your sensitive palette, please feel free to keep that information all to yourself…)

Jeff loves the soup at our local favorite Mexican place. Like, he gets a sniffle and wants the soup. He then oohs and aaahs his way through a bowl of this soup and wants it at least once a week. I agree, it is very good, but seriously, it’s just soup- with flavors, which are to me, all easily identifiable. The chicken broth, shredded chicken, onions, rice, tomatoes, chili powder, fresh cilantro, lime juice and avocados. I was convinced I could do this one.

And I totally  did.

In favor of using the crock pot whenever possible, this is a crock-pot friendly recipe (YAY!)- the crock pot is essential to achieve that shredded chicken that has been slow cooked all day thang.

Mexican Restaurant Chicken and Rice Stoup

Combine the following in a crock pot and turn to “low” all day long:

1 very large frozen split Chicken Breast, 1 large can crushed tomatoes, 1 small white onion chopped, 1 can chicken broth, 1/2 lime freshly squozen lime juice, 2 TBS-ish (or just a LOT) of chili powder, ground red pepper (to taste) 1 cube chicken buillon, 1 1/2 cups water (Later you will have to fish out the chicken breast, shred the chicken and remove the bones and return all meat to the pot, but it is well worth the effort.)

When you get home:

Make about two servings of rice (I used brown rice), slice the remaining lime, dice an avocado, and coarsely chop a bunch of fresh cilantro. When you are ready to eat, turn off the crock pot and stir in the cilantro. Serve soup over rice, garnish with chunked avocado and some more lime juice.

I served this stoup with some cheese quesadillas made with sharp cheddar and whole wheat tortillas. Mmmmmmm. Tasty.

Alas, I don’t take photos of my cooking, they are never very pretty or interesting, but I do have a favorite picture of mine, a happy man, a monster burrito and coincidentally at the very same restaurant that inspired this recipe!

Stay tuned to see why this photo is particularly special today of all days!

For Carnivores Only!

Sometimes I’m completely uninspired in the kitchen, and sometimes I just want to make something easy and ‘man-pleasing.’ This recipe is my Auntie Kathryn’s and it rocks.

If you like Brunswick Stew but don’t want to spend a million years preparing all the meats (yes I said “meats” plural) this is the recipe for you. Also good to have on hand for the eventual but unlikely snowstorm because it is comprised of all canned items.

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Post’s Blueberry Morning changed their recipe and for months I have been struggling to find a cereal that Jeff will eat, the key ingredients being dried blueberries and the ‘perfect’ flake combination that isn’t too puffed and isn’t too grainy (?!) I didn’t really know what he is talking about either, but I’ve been knocking myself out buying cereals that might tempt him. “Honey, how is THIS one? No?” Ok back to the drawing board.

Jeff has two cereals that he likes right now, one is Peanutbutter Cap’n Crunch (which doesn’t count obviously because it is all sugar and What are you, seven? Not to mention, ew.) and the other is a praline granola I purchased at Trader Joe’s on a whim (for ME) which isn’t exactly right around the corner. So I had to get creative because lord knows the man would starve without me, or worse, increase his weekly bacon intake..

I made some homemade granola last night based on this recipe for Apple Flax Granola at one of my favorite cooking blogs, Vegan Yum Yum. I’m not a vegan, but I like to cook and I love eating as many vegetables as I can- and I’m inspired by vegetarian and vegan recipes with the use of unique ingredients that add nutrition to your meals. I had to make some minor alterations, of course. First I subbed dried blueberries for the currants (because we weren’t so sure what currants were and if they are in the raisin family I would lose Jeff, not to mention the previously stated blueberry prerequisite.) Also, since he has a tad of a sweet tooth I wanted to ‘enhance’ the sweetness of this cereal without adding any real ’sugar.’ So I added sesame seeds and a small spoonful of molasses and increased the baking time so it would be very crunchy.

We achieved success! I am very happy with the results and the man is happily munching on yogurt, granola and fresh fruit for breakfast (two points for me and the great battle of nutrition!) But there are already some downsides, now I have to MAKE him his freakin’ cereal. Good thing I made a bunch, we should be good for at least a week or so, depending on how much he really likes it.

I’ve been a lazy blogger. And I have some finished objects that I haven’t had the inclination to photograph.

I like to cook and share recipes, so I thought it might be fun to share this one.

It has also come to my attention that my photo sizes that I attach to ye olde blog from my flickr account cause the page to load slower than is desirable, so until I can come to terms with that (or figure out how the heck I’m going to fix it) I thought I’d just post a favorite recipe of Jeff’s to share with the whole wide world on such a cold and icky day. (He wants me to make this every other week or so.) Read the rest of this entry »

I know it is quite the ambitious title for a post, but I have a lot to catch up on. Last weekend we went to see the Police in concert on Saturday and then Blue Man Group on Sunday. That is a lot of concerts. That is a lot of concerts for a girl that has a pretty strict bedtime. So, of course, on Monday I woke up with a cold (I consistently get sick when I get tired) but it was totally worth it. I got to see Sting, up close. Our tickets were for right behind the stage, but it was so much better than being in front of the stage and far, far, far, away. I swear he smiled at me, and I screamed my head off. It was awesome.

Here we are at the Police (that is me and Jeff, of course, with my mom and stepdad.)

I had seen Blue Man once before, and let me tell you, the show is an amazing experience. This time we were up front and it did not disappoint. The band that plays with Blue Man is phenomenal. Really, I don’t know if people realize what an amazing group of musicians they have backing them. Again, I jumped around, acted a fool, and quite enjoyed myself.

This year, we decided to do a low-key Thanksgiving (i.e. not to spend all day in the car going from place to place and stuffing ourselves silly.) We went to my Dad’s in Stone Mountain and just watched T.V., ate, took a little nap and had a pretty wonderful day. I made Paula Deen’s Sweet Potato Balls and they kind of flopped. You see, the mashed sweet potatoes were wrapped around a marshmallow, which I did the night before so I suppose that my marshmallows must have just dissolved or something, because they sure as heck didn’t ooze out of the balls like they did on Paula’s plate (Oh well.)

Then on Friday, Jeff, Ted and I went to Watkinsville to an artist’s open house. There were potters, jewelers and the main draw (for me) was Loretta Eby, glass blower. I met her at work, we sell some of her ornaments and things and she is one of the most entertaining people I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. Every Thanksgiving, they have an open house the weekend after the holiday. What better way to spend “Black Friday” than to watch a glass blowing demonstration? I was in awe. We bought some things for gifts (and she personalized them for us.) It was an awesome trip and well worth the hour drive.

So, now I’m full, happy, tired. I dyed my wayward gray patch (yeah that was me) and baked some ginger snaps so the house smells fantastic, and I think, I daresay, I might just be starting to feel that holiday spirit! Just let me get through the next week or two at work and I’ll be golden!

Oh, another finished object- a hat for my friend Les. I learned a wonderful technique, the duplicate stitch, it beats the hell out of intarsia any old day!

So, first- I finished Sheldon and I used a retro yarn color palette (and the yarn itself is probably ‘vintage’ since it was once a friend of mine’s Grandma’s Stash.)

He is far from perfect, and might be a tad over stuffed, but he is a cute little f*@&er! I added a little turtle ’smirk’ to cover a minor flaw and now I love him even more! (He is to be a gifty for a special friend this Christmas!)

Next up, I cooked dinner last night. And not just any dinner, I was inspired by this recipe in the recent Southern Living- Corn Waffles and Cajun Shrimp and Vegetables and I made up my own “Spazz” version with what I had already in stock. And OH-MY-GOD everyone should make their cornbread in waffle irons, seriously, it is like all crust (like this brilliant brownie pan that I covet, covet, covet.) Anyhoo, I took no photos because I was too busy making an Apple Pie. I’ve been thinking about pie for weeks- maybe months. I dunno, just cuz. And I got to talking to my Mom yesterday about wanting to make a pie (crust from scratch and everything) and that Sarah Lee or whomever in the frozen food section just wasn’t going to cut it. So I did. I Googled “Apple Pie” and came up with this recipe.

This is me in full on pie mode- which was then served a la mode- so that is a good thing.

P.S. and by the way- God Bless the Cuisinart with dough blade. Moo-moo watched my every move. I suppose in her own way she was ‘helping.’ My pie wasn’t as pretty as the one in the photo online, but it was mighty tasty.

Yes, that is an mmm-mmm good Campbell’s soup bowl. Because hot pie and Häagen-Dazs could get sloppy on a plate, you know? We ate pie and watched my new favorite show, Pushing Daisies. If you don’t watch it- you must- it is one of the best things on TV right now (other than Heroes) and it comes on at 8 PM on Wednesdays.

And now for a work-in-progress. I teased that I was actually making a corset to go with a yet-to-be-revealed Halloween costume, and yes, I am indeed making one. Jeff doesn’t understand how it is going to hold anything up without boning, but it isn’t really a structural garment, it is more like a really wide belt. Can you handle it?

Now, it only looks like a big, ribbed, square, I swear. In actuality it is an ultra-sexxy corset fit for a queen. Hmmmm. I think the super-sexiness must come with the crochet border, right? Nothing sexier than crochet. I’m almost finished really and not worried at all. Nope. I’m sure I’ll find the time tonight- er- no, maybe tomorrow, um, wait going to this concert, ok, then on Saturday, the day of the party, sure thing, I don’t have anything else to do that day, no problemo.

All you SAFF-heads, have a rip-roarin’ good time and please, please, bring your schwag to the next meetin’ so I can ooh and aaah and rub my face on your fiber. You don’t mind, right? My face is normally pretty clean.

In my quest for 101 uses for sun dried tomatoes- I’m now up to two.

I made these Cottage Cheese Sundried Tomato Muffins twice last week (or was it the week before???) when a brief but powerful downpour snapped my poor basil plant in two causing me to have to make stuff using lots of basil and quick.

And these muffins were mighty tasty- and nutrient-packed (bonus!) Not to mention that the whole house smelled like tomatoes and cheese and basil. mmmmmmmmm.

I had some sundried tomatoes left after this baking tornado (apparently little goes a long way) and I made some sun dried tomato cream cheese. Jeff loves the bagels at Harry’s that have them baked right in, so I figured this is a way to duplicate the flavor sensation without driving across the world for some bread. It is like a little pizza on your bagel each morning, also YUM! Here is what I did:

Sun Dried Tomato Cream Cheese

One block of cream cheese or equivalent (softened), pinch of garlic salt, hand full of basil, 1 cup (ish) reconstituted sun dried tomatoes (I boiled mine to soften them a bit)- add all to food processor and turn ‘on’. Smear on a bagel/triscit/hunk of French bread and mmmmmm.

Sorry, again no pictures. I suck.

I don’t know why I do it to myself- I don’t even really enjoy eating cake all that much- but I feel the need to bake for people’s monumental occasions that celebrate their birth (i.e. birthdays.) Sick and sad as it seems- some folks apparently like this tradition and I may have just screwed the pooch on this one as, it seems, the birthdays keep on coming and I’m having to outdo myself time and time again. (but seriously, will it ever be better than the great Pirate Cake collaboration 2007? I think not.) In this particular instance, I made a birthday cake in the shape of a purse for Rachel’s 30th birthday from a recipe I found here.

Totally cute idea. I followed the instructions exactly (well, a minor strawberry cake mix substitution) but almost exactly. I got this late Friday night:

Now, I must interject that as I made it, Jeff was expressing his concerns from a basic construction standpoint. But I wanted to follow the directions. And for him to shut up. (Not necessarily in that order.) I should have listened to Mr. Erector-Set (tee-hee- erector) because at 6:30 AM on Saturday morning, I had this:

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