Creativity Is Overrated

Every now and again I get the urge to spice things up, mix it up, be what everyone deems as creative! So they can say wow those cookies were so good! Yes, I agree. Do you know why? Because she got creative with them...ooooohhhh. Yes, that was a conversation they would have had if my creativity burst had gone well. They did not say that though because well, my family is honest with me and let's just say my little spark of mixing things up didn't go as planned. Now with my current dietary changes, some things are left tasting a little plain. Extremely healthy and nutritious yes, but plain because I don't add as much of the sugar, butter, and no dairy like before I realized what it was all doing to my digestive system. SO...here I am being all good and healthy and it's delicious in a new way...but just a bit plain.

So here is what has happened this week. I made homemade applesauce and it went over big time. That dinner was delicious. I made pork loin with a delicious soy sauce/honey glaze, homemade applesauce for dipping, mashed potatoes(thanks to my mom), salad, asparagus and bread. It was quite the feast. The applesauce was SO delicious for lack of a better word that everyone ate it, one of my brothers practically licked the bowl. So yesterday I decided to use up all the apples in our fruit bin and make it again, but with a twist....oh yes, my very special twist. I added some orange zest and an array of spices. That part was good, smelled good, tasted...Bleh. It wasn't horrible and it's still getting consumed, but let's just say there is still a bunch left in the bowl. LESSON ABOUT APPLESAUCE: Use Mackintosh apples and Granny Smith apples. Really it's the only way to go no matter how much twisting and creativity you try to do with spices and zest of citrus fruits, it all goes flat without the right ratio of those 2 types of apples.

On to the next adventure. Right after the applesauce disappointment I decided to yet again change up another recipe. Pumpkin Spice Muffins. I had some leftover canned pumpkin from the previous batch(not quite enough, but I deemed it enough to make another batch). So there I am mixing and adding my own array of spices(deviating from the recipe...OH what a rebel!), and they are a little less orange than the first batch. Bummer, not enough pumpkin...but alas! My spice mixture will save the day. Once again they smell delicious as I am spooning them into the muffin pan. (Now remember that the first batch I made was awesome except lacked flavor..hence me adding new spices). So I'm about to put them in the oven and I say to myself: "Self wait! Let's spoon peanut butter on top and it will sink to the middle and add a protein kick to the muffins! Great idea self! Then top them with brown sugar for extra yummy factor! Self, you are too amazing!" It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Had I been using my brain properly I would have realized that the consistency of peanut butter is not made to sink to the bottom of a thick batter. Instead it melts all over the top and the brown sugar kind of looks weird like burnt peanut butter. Yay...ugh. Creativity fails, yet again. So I decide to let it go and try to reign in my perfectionist side, by not throwing them away. Then the darnedest thing happens. I'm taking them out of the pan and the peanut butter starts peeling off in sheets. Wow...this is ridiculous I laugh and keep going, and eating sheets of peanut butter that fall into the tin. Well, it didn't taste half bad. So they are not pumpkiny enough, and covered in shiny, peeling peanut butter. "It's okay self. Just let it go. Next time, don't be so darn creative!!!" So I'm not going to be The Next Food Network Star, whatever, I don't care...*sniff sniff*

Here are pictures of my latest creations. The pumpkin muffins are what's left of my PB Pumpkin Spice Muffins and the other dish is a Chicken, Spinach and Roasted Red Peppers pasta in Marsala Wine Sauce. Now that was a hit. The pictures really are the best camera phone quality aren't they? Oh well, even though I've taken photography and can take a decent picture, I'm lazy and pressed for time to pretend to be a food stylist and upload nice looking pictures. Maybe some day when it bothers me enough that I'm posting ugly pictures. For now, this is just another amateur cook, signing off! Bye!

Dietary Changes Lead to Ambitious Ideas

Today I received an amazing book: What to Eat with IBD-A Comprehensive Nutrition and Recipe Guide for Crohn's Disease and Ulcerative Colitis. I have the latter. Most people think of dietary restrictions as an awful thing and let's face it, they can be. However, when you know that certain food can actually hurt or heal you, then I'd say your going for the healing foods. This book has been an amazing find. It is actually written by someone who deals with the disease and not just a doctor. Oh and she's a dietician! Jackpot! It is really about relearning how to eat and lo and behold!!! A big secret....eat healthy. Not that I wasn't already, unless you count the Taco Bell Potato Tacos and McDonald's Egg McMuffin(they aren't that bad!) now and then. But, really my doctors could never tell me what to cook, eat or really do with diet other than trial and error.
So back to my recent discovery. I start examining this book, like I'm back in high school biology. For those of you that don't know, this means I'm reading and re-reading and memorizing, like I'm trying to ace a test. I LOVED biology and I love food, so I've got to figure out how to eat well and heal my body.
I decide to make "Pumpkin Spice Muffins" from the recipe section of the book. I made them this evening so they would be ready for breakfast in the morning.
They were easy to prepare and after slyly taking a taste of batter, I knew they'd be delicious once baked! The house filled with the smell of cinnamon, spices and that undescribable baking smell. Yum...my mouth was watering as I washed up the dishes. Out of the oven they came and I popped one out and started breaking it up to have my taste-tester (Mom) try some as well. All I have to say is how can something low-sugar, lactose-free, and full of nutrients be so delicious!? The outside was just the right texture and the top with the sprinkle of cinnamon-sugar was perfect. Then there is the moist, melt-in-your-mouth inside, steaming as we broke it open. SUCCESSS!!! I can eat real food and enjoy it!
So here is where the ambitious ideas come in. I am always looking for ways to make a few extra dollars. I get to thinking that maybe just maybe I can start a business. Creat some recipes, bake some samples, get some input, website, and start selling baked goods out of my kitchen for those with dietary restrictions. I'm really inspired at the moment and even want to see if I can be a registered dietician because let's face it...I've never met someone with my condition, other than the books out there that knows what they are really talking about. And I've never met anyone selling actual baked goods like this....so yes, it is an idea for now, but hey, who knows what the future holds other than what's written in the Bible?

Black Bean Casserole

So tonight I decided to go through my mom's recipe box and pick out something to make and decided upon Black Bean Casserole. It's actually extremely easy to make and I added ground beef to it instead of just leaving it vegetarian; my brother's would stage a revolt if a dish did not have meat. I informed them of my decision and regarding a dish without meat my brother, Scott said, "What's the point!?" So I'll keep my love for veggie dishes to myself. Anyway, I'm reading the recipe and after a long day and not a lot of sleep the night before(I always have an excuse!) I now have to read my mom's handwriting. This is not usually a difficult task except when it says "2 cloves minced garlic." The ingredient before that was cumin so I am still in spice mode. I'm thinking "Cloves!? What in the world would I put cloves in a dish like this for!? That's weird! I think I'll leave it out." Then I notice there is no measurement listing, just 2 cloves (apparently I can't read MINCED GARLIC, although being that it didn't say OF MINCED GARLIC I am at a loss) so I think that maybe it means fresh cloves and she just forgot to write how much garlic. "What!? Do we even have fresh cloves?" I determine that we don't and then I realize we are out of garlic which is no big deal. Hmmm...why are these ingredients written on the same line? The genius that I am never cluing in to the fact that what the dish is calling for is 2 cloves of garlic. DUH!!!! Fortunately, I decided to not put in cloves and when I realized how weirdly I had interpreted what 2 cloves minced garlic meant...well, what could I do? I literally smacked myself in the head. I will never ever forget that cloves are the parts of the garlic bulb. I did actually know this before this episode of kitchen mania, but my synapses were not firing well today. C'est la vie. Another story for the blogs.
Until next time, The Unexpected Cook

The Right Rice

Tonight was Taco Thursdays. Tacos are quick, delicious and easy for meeting nights. I got a little creative and threw in some black beans and green chilis into the ground beef, along with seasonings, of course. Everything was smelling good and simmering just spectacularly. Then there is the rice. You see the problem with rice is that for amateur cooks it can be difficult to distinguish one type from another. So I decided to try my hand at making my own version of Spanish Rice to go with my kicked up tacos. (The tacos themselves turned out great. Phew.) I threw in some seasoning, tomatoes, and pepper in the rice and put the lid on and let it go to town absorbing all the yumminess. Cooking rice is tricky because you can't take the lid off during cooking or that defeats the purpose. So you wait until the time is up to take a look at what it is you've created.
Back to distinguishing types of rice...there are many kinds...of which we have at least four varieties in our home. There is regular white rice that we use for most things...like Spanish Rice. Then there is my favorite, sticky rice. There is a term for it, of which fails me now and I am not running downstairs to get the name and make this technically accurate. Sticky rice is used in most asian dishes. We make a lot of beef broccoli stir fry and such in our home. It goes well and is easy to pick up with chopsticks, hence it being sticky rice. Well, it all looks the same to me. As I took off the lid to inhale the delicious smells and bask in the glory of my creation, I stirred once and saw the sticky consistency. Slop, squish, sqalsh. Immediately I knew I had done something very wrong! Long story short....tonight I made a giant batch of Spanish style sticky rice that wasn't seasoned nearly enough and tasted more like rice with tomatoes. Uh..I was going for healthy/interesting...yes Thoroughly Modern Jen's Asian-Spanish sticky rice and Kicked Up Tacos...heh heh. It's good, right?

Almost Wasn't Sausage and Rice

I think that I subconsciously mess things up or have near misses so that I have something to write about. Tonight, for example, I was making Sausage and Rice. It is a good, hearty meal to have during fall/winter weather. It is also extremely easy. Well, easy unless you are me and working to get everything done before everyone gets home. I will make an excuse for doing what I am about to relate. I got little sleep last night, so I was tired oh that and other things. It's those other things that really got me. So yes, back to being tired. Yes, that's it...I was extremely tired!

Here is my thought process as I begin to make this casserole. "Self," I say. "You need to take the sausage out of the refrigerator so it can finish defrosting." (Takes sausage out of the fridge.) "Self, this sausage doesn't look like it has any casing on it." (Little voice telling me that just can't be the case.) "Go away little voice! I know what I'm doing." (I poke the sausage as if that's the determining factor of whether or not it has a casing.) So I take the sausages out of their packaging and place them ever so nicely in a hot pan waiting to brown them up. I let them sit for a minute because they are still a bit frozen, but then I notice the outside is starting to burn, but they aren't cooked. "Self, what is happening?" (Tries to cut them with the spoon to no avail. "Uh oh." Light bulb goes off. I am so out of it and unresponsive that I am totally not surprised to realize I had not peeled the casings off!) "Ha." I think. I quickly turn the pan off, burn my hands a bit quickly peeling the casings off and all is saved. Yea!

"You idiot." I say with laughter and continue preparing the meal. Oh the joys of cooking and talking to yourself in your mind and having no one hear your plight. Lesson learned once again.

The interesting part of all of this is that I have made this before...same exact ingredients and everything. Yes, sausages are almost always put into a casing...I've even seen them made on TV. So, you'd think I would know to automatically pull it off. Oh well. OBVIOUSLY I'm not the brightest cook in the kitchen. Cooks need a lot of sleep before preparing gourmet creations!.....heh heh....You don't believe me?

Sausage and Rice

Rice...Sausage(sans casings)...Mushrooms, Marinara sauce(homemade or preferred jar brand)...Mozzarella Cheese.

Layer in a casserole dish. Rice, Sauce(has been mixed with sausage/mushrooms), and slices of Mozzarella cheese. REPEAT. Bake for 30 min at 350F

Flops Turned Foodlicious!

I recently had some mishaps in the kitchen arena. Now being a bit of a perfectionist, little things can seem like MAJOR things. The other night I decided to make dinner for my family. We have this recipe for Spinach Pizza. It is delicious. Granted I was out in service all day and forgot to take the dough out to thaw until after 4pm that day. Bread normally takes hour to thaw(if frozen) and rise. So the back of the package suggests a quick defrost method using the microwave. Now microwaves are good for many things, however do not defrost dough in it no matter what the package says! It starts to cook the ends of the dough and will not let it rise. I take it out and of course do the finger poke test. Yikes! The edges were tough and cracked. Oh well I thought. I will let it sit until 5pm and let it rise. Well, rise it did not...boo hoo! So I start cooking the sausage, spinach, and grating cheese. I roll out this interesting half cooked dough as much as it will go. It is ripping and breaking because it's already partially cooked. However, I became creative and used a little camouflaging. The parts of the raw dough I wrapped around the yucky parts. The oven worked it's magic! It was delicious and I even had time to make a healthy and colorful salad. I told my family what had happened and they would have been none the wiser had I withheld that information about my microwaved and mutilated dough.



Then last night I come home from work and begin preparing my Cafe au Lait Cheesecake that I bragged about (and posted pictures about) until I was asked to make it for our congregation lunch(today). Unbeknownst to me, we have about 3 different sizes of spring form pans. So I pull out the first one I see, thinking I am so cool because this time it took me lickety split time to prepare this cheesecake. I pour the first layer(the thought crosses my mind that it is too thin) but I bake it anyway. The second layer goes on and I bake it despite my strange feeling about the way it looks. It has to cool for about 30 minutes and when I pull the outside part of the pan off, no joke it's about 1.5 inches thick!!! WHAT!? I look at my mom and say OH NO! What happened!? My mom informed me that we have many sizes and I obviously used the wrong one. It's a good thing I've had years to calm down my crazy and not throw it out and start over. Granted, I was still worried about it, but I drizzled some chocolate over the top and lo and behold...it was a hit. The friends enjoyed it and although it wasn't what I had expected, it filled bellies and gave smiles and that is all I can ask for.

So...I have learned 2 things: 1. Perfection holds no ground in the kitchen because the unexpected often makes the best meals (like last night's creation of everything but the kitchen sink grilled chicken salad). 2. Don't tell everyone that you messed up and used the wrong pan because 9/10 times they have no idea what it was supposed to be like, don't care that it isn't perfect and are just happy to have something yummy to satisfy their sweet tooth/insatiable hunger. I'm really enjoying cooking because even when you mess up the bread, the cake isn't exactly right, the rice is undercooked...etc., etc., there is usually something salvageable about it and lesson learned for next time! :D

Oh and just a little side note...cutting veggies, fruits, or whatever strikes your fancy is a great way to get rid of stress. I recently discovered that being a sous chef would not be so bad. It is a creative way to try new ways of preparing ingredients for main dishes, how you can slice, dice, chop, cut, chiffonade items, get lost in your own little world and just think about the thoughts of the day. I can even pray or just plain ignore people with the excuse that "I'll cut myself if I lose my concentration, this is a very sharp knife." Some may say that is the sign I am not a good cook because I can't multi-task. Whatever! Think that as they may, I like my own little kitchen world of thought processing and food making magic. :P

The Best Lunch is a Home-Made Lunch

I decided to start my new job off right by eating healthy. Being that the majority of my time would be spent in an office sitting on my behind, I figured it'd be best for me not to get that lovely physique so common in the office place. So of course I was searching through Real Simple magazine and found an awesome lunch. It's a pasta salad. Here are the ingredients: gemelli pasta, grape tomatoes(halved), fresh cubed mozzarella, spinach and salami. Then you make a simple dressing with olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. Let's just say that I was sitting here on my break and decided to blog about it. Another lesson I learned in my quest for starting my new job off right: simple is better! This applies to food and life (duh!). That pasta salad was D-E-L-I-C-I-O-U-S! If you want the recipe let me know!
Question for those who actually read this: Any suggestions for lunch time meals? What have you learned about food?