The Confessing Lunatic

Tonight's meal was excellent - time intensive - but excellent. I have a subscription to Food on the Table , an online recipe collection that allows you to add meals to a meal plan and then it builds a grocery list for you. It even recommends recipes based on the sales at your local grocery store. This recipe was adapted from one of their recipes, Shrimp and Quinoa. According to WHFoods.com , "quinoa is an amino acid-rich (protein) seed that has a fluffy, creamy, slightly crunchy texture and a somewhat nutty flavor when cooked." I love it because it has about the same about of carbs as pasta and is higher in protein, amino acids, magn esium, phosphorus, and potassium. The Food on the Table recipe was only for 4 servings and had onion and bell pepper that I didn't have on hand so the veggies are different. I marinated the shrimp, too. The time to prepare was more than stated on the recipe (15 minutes) as well as cook (30 minutes). I imagine the time to peel and de

This has been quite a week. Since Friday I've only cooked once. So much for my resolution to cook at home and eat more healthy. After the bulgogi adventure on Friday, I was worn out. Certainly more worn out than I should be. Turns out I would come down with something that completely took my voice and my will to get out of bed! Despite that, I did have the opportunity to have two great family dinners with my Mom, Dad and Uncle Larry, one courtesy of Cracker Barrel and one home-cooked meal. For the home-cooked meal, I decided to bring out the Rosemary Roasted Potatoes, and try a new dish called Vegetable Tian , and roast two whole chickens using the new roaster trees that I got Jim for Christmas. The recipe for the roast chickens was inspired by Beer Can Chicken . I used a half a can of chicken stock and a q uarter cup of white cooking wine instead of the beer. Mom provided us with an apple coleslaw and pecan and pumpkin pies to round out the meal. Then I had a great meal with

So, the Asian food craze struck again. Friday, a week ago, we feasted on bulgogi and dak galbi - or a version thereof - and several sides. About a week ago I made Sweet Pickled Daikon Radish and homemade pickles. Then I fixed another banchan (Korean side dish), apples and cucumber with Greek yogurt. I'm not sure how authentic it is but it is similar to one that I have enjoyed at the Korea BBQ House in Fort Worth. The marinade for the bulgogi is a compilation of a several of different recipes: recipe 1 , recipe 2 and recipe 3 and the card that came with the Korean grill pans that I bought Jim for Christmas. Once I try it again, I'll write down exactly what I did, but for now, you can get the gist from these three. With the bulgogi, I sauteed several red and green peppers and an onion. Now, these recipes are not near as healthy as they should, so I need to see how to adapt them to be more healthy. Certainly the veggies I've added are healthy but the amount of sugar

Leftovers, leftovers how do I love thee? Let me count the ways. 1. I don't have to think too hard about what I'm going to serve! Serve up the leftovers with a salad and I'm good to go. 2. It's easy on my pocketbook because I have what they call in the business world "sunk costs". 3. I know my kids will like it because they've eaten it before! 4. Did I mention that I don't have to think too hard? 5. I am being a good steward of the resources God has given me (okay, so I have to have one churchy-sounding point to extol, right?). Tonight it is especially good because it's FWF - or First Wednesday Food. FWF is held the first Wednesday of each month and Jim and I feed the youth during our regular meeting. For our New Year's eve service and watch party I made my customary super large crock pot of chili. Normally my chili is completely gone and there are only memories of how good it tasted, but this year was strange. We came home with almost a

I confess, lately I have been craving all kinds of Asian cooking! I can't seem to get enough. I don't know if it's that garlic-ginger combination that comes in many dishes, or the Korean bulgogi and dol sat bi bim bop I recently enjoyed at Korea House BBQ, or the home cooked bulgogi and dak galbi that we enjoyed in December using the Korean bbq plate I gave to Jim for Christmas. At any rate, tonight's meal was a savory yet sweet Thai-inspired Ginger Chicken. I adapted the recipe below from the blog, Edible Obsessions . The biggest change was I increased th e quantities of my recipe and added mushrooms. The pictures on the Edible Obsessions blog are incredible! Reg ardless, here are a couple of mine: Fresh veggies are terrific! Love the color and the taste. Cooking the onion , garlic and chicken. The finished product! And now, for the moment you've been waiting for...the recipe: Thai-inspired Ginger Chicken Serves: 6 plus two healthy leftovers for t omorrow&#

I am resolving this year to make healthy meals for my family and reduce the number of times we go out to eat. Often I am too overwhelmed with all the kids' activities and working full time to cook. However, when I looked back at our spending for the last three months, and took into consideration how much weight I have gained in that time, I realize I have to do things di fferently this year! So, I plan to chronicle my meals to help me be accountable and share the fun I have in creating great tasting meals. Yesterday's meal was roast lamb with herb jus, orzo with zucchini, yellow squash and roasted red peppers, roasted rosemary baby red potatoes, sauteed mushrooms, and of course, blackeyed peas with bacon. I must confess that these dishes weren't necessarily the most healthy because I was mostly concerned about taste. The recipes for these were found on the Internet and adapted f or my family and tastes. I'll post the recipes at the end. Today's meal was Lamb St