Journal

2018 - Week 28 Cooking Results

Chicken Salad

Easy peasy.

Spicy Lamb Meatballs with Raisin Pesto

I used some older mutton (as in the age at time of slaughter) and this came together well.  I used a bunch of fresh mint from the side yard.  I was pretty happy with how all this turned out.  It has been on my list of things to make, but now that the mint has exploded in growth, it's easy to harvest.

Grilled Cheese & Kimchi

So...This is quite fantastic.  It's quite important to remember when building something that the ingredients all matter.  My general lunch sandwiches use a... lackluster bread.  It's OK, but not what I really like.  I couldn't imagine how this would fall down with lesser bread, lesser kimchi or lousy cheese.  Yes I'm sure it'd probably be good, but not near as good.  I chopped the kimchi into smaller parts.  Wonderful.

Skillet Ziti with Sausage and Summer Squash

Timing did not allow this to happen.

Bacon Burger

ground pork + bacon = good

2018 - Week 27 Cooking Results

Taco Salad

Trying to drain out Shannon's head as she's had a slow and lingering cold.  She added a bit more heat to her's then normal, it may have had a bit of an effect.  Though she is still a bit crudded up.

Bacon & Beef Burgers

Good thing.  Combining bacon and beef to added a bit more fat, but with all local meats.

Slow Roasted Onion Dip And All Pork Hot Dogs

So I bought way more onions then I needed then combined a couple of types and set them to cook in the oven and cleaned some more.  I blitzed them a bit in the food processor and combined everything together.  it was pretty good, but quite a bit more then I expected.  I swapped out the cayenne pepper with dried jalapeno pepper powder.

Spaghetti with Italian Sausage, garlic scapes and summer squash

I remember why actual pasta is so good.  I sauteed the sausage and garlic and squash.  Added some canned tomatoes and tossed it with the pasta.  Good things

Chicken Salad

Delayed!  My sister Alissa and her family came through, we went out to eat toegheter.

2018 - Week 27 Cooking

It'll be an odd week.  I'm taking most of it off, one of my sisters is coming through and we're going to Hamilton (eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee) with the Mattas.  It'll be a fun week.  Even after all the weather related nonsense of the last 24 hours.  Shannon has not been feeling the best, so hopefully she can get over it before the fun part of the week.

  • Taco Salad
  • Bacon & Beef Burgers
  • Slow Roasted Onion Dip And All Pork Hot Dogs
  • Spaghetti with Italian Sausage, garlic scapes and summer squash
  • Chicken Salad

2018 - Week 26 Cooking Results

Stir Fried Lo Mein Noodles with Pork and Vegetables

So I had some fresh broccoli (Grade A) and some Bok Choy (Blue Gate) and just went from there.  It was pretty good.

Beef & Kimchi Burgers

So these kind of fell apart.  I figure I didn't drain the kimchi enough, so we treated them sort of like sloppy joes.

Grilled Cheese with Mortadella or something

I pulled out one of the last few loafs of bread I have from my brother to make the grilled cheese.  It turned out pretty good.  I do miss that bread.

Ham and Cheese Omelette

This turned into a scramble.  I decided it be easier to make.  Served with bagels.

Indian spiced Roast chicken

sprinkle sprinkle, salt salt, roast roast, slice then sandwiches.

2018 - Week 25 Cooking Results

Korean Sloppy Joe (saw it in Koreatown at the Cheese Shop)

Interesting set of ingredients, but a nice flavor profile to something that feels familiar but has a new flavor to it.  I enjoyed it.

Chickpea "Tuna" Salad

So this was a simple thing to do on a hot day.  Also avoids that burden of having tuna open with several cats in the house.  Turned out pretty good.  I diverted a bit, but followed the recipe for the most part.

Pesque de Quinua

Thursday, I was exhausted after a long day, so I stopped by the Cheese Shop on the way home and had them make us dinner.  Delicious times, and after a full nights sleep I felt way way better.

Funny thing, in describing the day and why I was tired to the nurse, through some miscommunication and misunderstanding there was an assumption that I had gotten an OWI, after explaining a bit, this was cleared up, but it struck me as funny.

White Park Beef Burger

Good as always.

egg and bacon sandwich

Between the Art Festival and seeing the Mr Rogers documentary, we had eggs and bacon.  It was good.

2018 - Week 25 Cooking

This past week I got a chance to catch up with a friend of mine.  And he noticed how much better off I was compared to the last time he saw me.  And it's true.  I am in a much better place.  I have a theory that I can tell how bad off I am by the amount of books I consume.  Perhaps.  I don't think they always correlate, but I am on quite the run this year vs previous years (already consumed more then last year).  Part of me feels like I am cheating a bit, as I am listening to audio books during my morning walk.  But even with that, I am in a better place.  I have played a bit with meditation, but have trouble fitting it in my lackadaisical morning routine.  I suppose if I segmented my morning more it'd work better.

That being said, being able to get my shit together enough to actually make progress in important parts of my life and then being generally rejected is kind of frustrating, but I was still able to roll with getting that bad news.  Knowing that, the next time I receive an advertisement for that type of insurance, I'm going to perhaps have to throw my current insurance company under the bus.  Plus...the world *sigh*.

2018 - Week 24 Cooking Results

So after reading some about elderflowers after Wabi Sabi Farm posted about it, then talking with them at market, I went down the road a bit with some experimenting with elderflowers.  After I made a cocktail / mocktail (3 small strawberries, 2 T strawberry puree, 2-3 T elderflower syrup, over ice, topped with sparkling water, and gin (2-3 shots) if you are so inclined).  I do think I need to version the elderflower syrup, I used a 1:3 ratio and the juice of one lime, as I don't need as much sugar in my life.  Looking at a cross section of elderflower syrup recipes, they tend to soak it for a lot longer.  I've seen time frames from 5 minutes to 48 hours, which seems like a range of flavors and tastes.  I'm tempted to buy a syrup, but I'm pretty sure I a. don't want to spend that much money and b. need another bought syrup in my fridge (still have a lot of tonic syrup left).  I steeped the flowers for about 20 minutes.  It does have a decent smell and a mild taste, but is oft lost in the strawberries and gin.  So more things to try. More tweaking to do.  I may try elderflower alcohol next week.

Chicken Salad (Chicken on Salad greens)

This turned into a sandwich.  Cause that's what was wanted.  I roasted the boneless skinless chicken thighs and chicken thighs for the other salad at the same time.  It was an effective use of the oven as the temperature kept increasing this week.

Chicken Salad (Chicken mixed with mayo and etc and put on a sandwich)

A simple combination of chicken, celery, some pickles, some other good things and put on bread or buns.  Quick and simple, as the cooking was done the day before.

Toppling Goliath Pseudo Sue Brats (Lucky George)

Served to me with the Pseudo Sue.  Good things.  This would make a good cook out combination.

Chopped Pork (leftover Cuban pork) Tacos

Combined with beans, tomatoes, and warmed up it made a good meat part for a taco salad.

Daeji Bulgogi (Adjusted)

I expected this to be a bit spicy, but not excessively so.  And for me, I could tell that it was building into an area that I enjoy, but my dear wife does not.  So I warned her, and her being the dutiful taster that she is, tried, but then couldn't take the heat.  I felt bad, and made her scrambled eggs (Blue Gate Farm) instead.  I baked the sauce, onions and pork in the oven at 375 for a bit until the pork was about the right temperature.  Some was a bit over (as I didn't consistently slice the tenderloin), but to much so.  I enjoyed it, but feel bad for my wife.

White Park Beef Burgers (Lucky George)

Salt, little buns, good stuff.

2018 - Week 24 Cooking

So per a discussion on my family's chat, we talked about the various versions of chicken salad.  My oldest sister (very health conscious) talking about the chicken on a salad, while an in-law was talking about chicken salad (as in mayo-based).  While I do not understand the use of canned chicken, I suppose I cannot comment to much about it since I haven't used it.  When I make mayo-based salad, I either pickup a rotisserie chicken or roast chicken thighs (the day before) and make the salad out of the pulled chicken from the thighs or rotisserie chicken.  I dunno.  Anyways, doing both!

  • Chicken Salad (Chicken on Salad greens)
  • Chicken Salad (Chicken mixed with mayo and etc and put on a sandwich)
  • Toppling Goliath Pseudo Sue Brats (Lucky George)
  • Chopped Pork (leftover Cuban pork) Tacos
  • Daeji Bulgogi (Adjusted)
  • White Park Beef Burgers (Lucky George)