Monday, October 28, 2013

DIY...

One thing I need to remind myself of:

DIY, RIL.

Meaning, do it yourself, regret it later.

I get all these REALLY GOOD IDEAS for home improvement projects, and evvvvverytime I underestimate the amount of work it takes.

I can't be the only one though.

The project of late that I am referring to is our living room/dining room area.  I decided it's time to de-oakify our whole house and this was the starting place.

Step One:
Buy a super cool respirator.  You don't want to be inhaling lead paint or other chemically business. I feel like a She-Heisenberg in this thing.
 The point of you-can-return-but-it'll-cost-you-big-$$$.  Priming the trim and windows. 
 Watching me do manual labor puts her right to sleep.
 This is the current state of the room.  The gray walls/white trim are maybe overshadowed by SO MUCH STUFF.

 I tried out a new dinner recipe, based on something we'd at my in-laws a few weeks ago.  It's super easy.  It's pretty much baked pork chops with a mushroom gravy.
 We harvested our first spaghetti squash and cooked that up as well. 
Woo, worst photo ever.  Blob and blob and blob.

Don't let that stop you from trying this recipe though.  Really. 

Baked Pork Chops with Mushroom Gravy makes 6-8 servings
1 package boneless pork chops (about 6-8 thin sliced chops), with visible fat trimmed
1 large onion, sliced
1 cup corn, fresh or frozen
2 cans low sodium cream of mushroom soup
1 cup skim milk
1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms (optional)
Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.  Coat a large glass baking dish with nonstick cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together soups and milk until smooth.  Stir in corn, mushrooms, onion, and 1/4 teaspoon ground pepper.  Ladle half the gravy into the baking dish.  Arrange the pork chops on top.  Cover the chops with the remaining gravy.

Bake for 45 minutes (or you could turn the heat down to 250 and bake for 2+ hours).  Be sure the internal temperature of the pork is at least 165 degrees.

To make spaghetti squash, I prefer this method:
-pierce the skin with a fork 2 or 3 times.
-place whole squash in the microwave and cook for 5-6 minutes.  This allows it to soften a bit, making it much easier to cut.
-cut the long ways and scoop out the seedy guts
-spray lightly with olive oil spray and season with some pepper
-bake cut-side-up until softened and golden
-shred into spaghetti with a fork  

Good thing last night's dinner made plenty of leftovers 'cause I still have a ton of work.  DIY, RIL...



More like "Everymonth Dietitian"

Yowza.  It's been so long since I posted that I'm pretty this blog has started to get moldy. 

Things have been...busy?  Yes, busy.  And by "things" I mean work.

And by the time I get home, cook dinner, eat, and clean up, well, it's bedtime. 

Pretty sure the best bloggers around don't use that as an excuse.  I need to learn. 

I do have some pictures to share.  Some interesting, some not.  A few weeks ago I went on a Vegas trip with my mom.  Woo WOO!

 First stop was one of my Vegas faves- Mon Ami Gabi.  It looks right out on the Bellagio Fountains.  And they give you a whole baguette. 
 And a delicious steak sandwich with pommes frites.  French fries = avoidable.  Pommes frites?  Yes please.
 My favorite Kir Royale cupcake from the Cupcakery.  Raspberry cake with champagne buttercream.  SHUT-UP-I'M-ON-VACATION.

 Went to see Josh Groban.  Super big nerd.  He needs some tips from Mr. Buble.  Hearing him sing "You Raise Me Up" live with a choir?  Great musical moment. 
 Awkward selfie from inside the top of the Stratosphere.
 Awkward selfie from outside the top of the Stratosphere.
 I need some downtime while on vacation.  And what better vacation TV than the Kardashians? 
 Best meal of the weekend was at Buddy V's new restaurant at the Venetian.  All I know about him is he is the Cake Boss.  Do I watch his show?  No.  Did I enjoy his food?  Yes. 
 They had a super cute dessert menu- each page was a family photo and the description of the dessert.  We ordered Lisa's warm Nutella cake with salted caramel ice cream.
 SHUT-UP-I'M-ON-VACATION.
But I justify the sweets because I did take the stairs about every chance available.  Unlike these people.  Also my mom might have cursed me a leetle bit for me insisting she take the stairs as well. 

So now it's back to reality where I don't spend the day eating cupcakes, shopping, and wearing a robe to watch some mid-afternoon trashy TV. 

*Sigh*

Monday, October 7, 2013

Improvisation

I haven't been feeling super motivated to cook lately, so when we were grocery shopping yesterday (Aldi's, baby) and beef pot roast sounded delicious, I was actually excited.  Buuuuut then I remembered the broken oven.  Boo.

Good thing I have no fewer than three slow cookers to choose from.

Pot roast on the right, homemade applesauce on the left.

The reason pot roast is perfect for a slow cooker has to do with the cut of beef you use.  Stew meat is fairly tough with thin connective tissue.  Cooking it at a low temperature for a long time allows the connective tissue to turn gelatinous- yummm.  You wouldn't ever want to pan-fry or grill this meat.

I didn't really have the 6-8 hours required- I put it on HIGH for 3.5 hours and called that good.  Fortunately my husband and I have strong teeth.  Don't try what I tried.  If you are going to use stew meat (chuck, flank, skirt), make sure you cook it on low until it is done.

I think we'll stick to sandwiches for dinner tonight.

Thursday, October 3, 2013

It's not the best of days when "911" is on your history of placed calls

Have you ever had a pasty?

Not pastry- but pasty.

I think it's a Michigan church lady type thing.  And it's delicious.  It's a meat and vegetable filled dough ball.  I buy them frozen from the grocery store every now and then.

Last night I was feeling lazy and unmotivated and I can't just have apple cake for dinner, so I turned on the oven to preheat for my pasty.

When I came to double check, this is what I saw:
Oven a-blaze!

The coil, or element, was totally on fire.  Eeeeeeeek.

Turned the oven off, and I at least had enough wits to know that I should keep the door closed.

In case of emergency, always grab:
The Chanel handbag and mini fire extinguisher.  And then call the fire department.

Turns out all I needed to do was undo the "breaker" down in the fuse box to cut off the oven's electrical supply.  The fireman guy, well, one of the 27 people that came racing over, acted like no big deal.  Apparently this happens often?  Maytag should have a giant warning sign imprinted on it:

OH HEYYYY SOMETIMES I BREAK AND IT LOOKS LIKE A WELDING FACTORY UP IN HERRRRR

Now we will pay to have it repaired, unless I can convince my husband that it is the cooking gods sign that we need to buy this baby.

Microwaved pasty and burned out oven?  Fun times.  


Wednesday, October 2, 2013

Adult Fun

There was a time, not too many years ago, when my definition of a glorious day involved doing nothing at all.  Pure laziness.  Maybe some unbaked cookie dough, a few hours of "Gilmore Girls" on DVD, and stretchy pants.

(Mind you this would've been in my grad school days, so student = acceptable occasional lazy days, right?)

But now at my age I am reveling in allllllllll the chores I accomplished this past weekend.

I mean, who knew steam cleaning carpets could be so satisfying?

Saturday was cold and rainy, so I focused on indoor chores.

 (My creepy hand is saying "ta-da!")
 Scrubbed the tub.

 Not a single piece of dirty clothing in our house. 
 Dusted and polished the food furniture.  Lemony fresh!

 Sunday was perfect weather for biking relaxing boating outdoor chores.

Sweeping the acorns from the driveway.  *My professional dietitian advice: never buy a house with a massive oak tree in the front yard. It's like we're the Walter White of acorn production and the squirrels 'round here be kraaaaaazy.

Scrubbed all the window screens and Windexed inside and outside.  Yes, that can be a verb.

Had my two li'l helpers.  What's worse- the one that sniffs the butt, or the one that enjoys butt being sniffed?

Trimming the hedges.  He cuts, I bag.  

The weekend wasn't all chores though- we got to have Sunday dinner at Benihana.  Shrimp, please.
 
And I did make a new recipe, adapted from Shelly over at CookiesandCups.com. 

I loves me some apples, and right now I have no fewer than 3 bags, including a new variety that was gifted to me:
INTENSITY!

The orchard must think highly of their apples to come up with this kind of name, but they are really good.  So good that I decided to *not* chop them up and use them in this cake.  I'll eat them plain.

Apple Spice Cake
1 Tbsp olive oil (or other oil)
8 oz unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 heaping teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (or you could use just one type of flour)
3 cups chopped apples (about 3 large apples)- I used Granny Smith

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat the heck out of a Bundt pan with nonstick baking spray.
2. Beat together oil and applesauce with both sugars.  The mixture will look weird and discouraging- like this:
Keep ye faith.

3. Add eggs and vanilla.  Mix for 1 minute.  Add in baking soda, salt, and cinnamon and beat 1-2 minutes.
4. Turn mixer to low and add in flour.  Mix just until combined. 
5. Stir in chopped apples.  You will be thinking "no way- waaaaaay too many apples". 


Keep ye faith.

6. Spread evenly in the Bundt pan and bake 55-65 minutes, or until a knife inserted comes out clean.

7. Allow cake to cool for 10 minutes, then invert onto a wire rack to continue cooling.

Makes 12 servings.  Per serving: 208 calories, 4 grams fiber, 19 grams sugar.  Ok let's be real- this is called cake, so low sugar it is not, but it is still a ton better than the original recipe, which was 400 calories and 35 grams of sugar per serving).

Perfect way to end a long productive satisfying weekend.  Who needs cookie dough anyway?