something out of a can.....

Dinner today....something out of a can, something out of a box....and meat.

two guesses.

.....

give up....

peaches and cream niblets, kraft dinner, pork chops.....very yellow meal.
But the saving grace is that i poured in some vermouth into the sauce to deglace for the pork chops. Although i only had a small piece of chop, (had salad only) it did get raves from those that ate.

Weekend, yaaaaay

So I made some cream of broc soup. I added vermouth just before the milk, and after the rue. It was wonderful. I tell you vermouth.....is a good thing.

So I'm sitting here it's now just a bit past 8PM and I can't keep my eyes open. Litteraly nodding off. for the last couple days it's all I can do to stay away after 4PM. This evening I've got an empty cocktail glass bedside me - but that surely cannot be the cause of said drowsiness. ITS ONLY ONE GLASS.

A wierd thing happened to me the other day that I can't get over just yet. It's actually driving me out of my ever loving mind...as it is.

It was a friday afternoon and I was walking towards the exit in a small mall and I happened by a jewelry store, and I was admiring the rings in the window. There was a display of family rings. Now I never admire jewelry - its just not my thing. But someone I know is in the market for a family ring and for some reason i looked at them. Then as I was walking away from the window display I looked at my finger.....where MY FAMILY RING usually resides aaannnnddd.......WTF WHERE IS MY RING.......??????

WTF
WTF
WTF... where the heck is it. I don't remember taking it off. I never take off my wedding band or my family ring unles I'm experiencing some wierd blotting of my hands but that hasn't happened for ages and its supposed to be RIGHT THERE.....
OH MY GOD
by the time I drove home I was kinda frantic. I checked the bathroom counters and all my containers of stuff, dumped everything everywhere and shuffled around it. no where......
I wracked my brain.....
when did I take it off? why did I take it off? ..... nothing...a blank
A few weeks ago I was running through an airport standing in line for security. The stupid thing kept beeping, had to take practically everything off....maybe....but no don't remember taking it off. and if i did why is my band where it is. but my other one isn't. they where on the same finger......
maybe it's in a pocket somewhere.....It's got to be in a pocket of something....but what?????
this is making me crazy

Vermouth day 2

Bought a new pot one that I've always wanted - on sale half price. So I wiped the cob webs off my mastercard and went to the check out. I love my pot (too bad I didn't buy the damn thing for $10 @ that garage sale in the summer kicking myself for that stupid mishap).I washed it per instructions and preheated it and threw in onions celery lemons and the spiced up breasts (bone-in). Couldn't believe how fast and tender they cooked up. Strained the juices and poured in the vermouth boiled it down and poured the whole mess over the chicken that was now all boned. Lip smacking meal the baby sweet potatoes and the roasted broccoli. Great meal thanks to julie/julia's oldd blog site that I've been re-reading. Waiting for my copy from the library for mastering the art.

Vermouth

Someone gave me (well that would be sharon) a bottle of the stuff as a gift as a secret santa for xmas probably 5+ years ago. I've had it around even moved it from place to place. But never used it....why would someone give me a bottle of the stuff anyway. I figured i'd keep it around just in case someone ever said "what this drink needs is vermouth" and then I'd run down to my wine rack in the basement and "ta da".
So far that hasn't happened.

Then...for some reason I've become obsessed with the Julie/Julia project, I've read the book, seen the movie(actually have it recorded on PVR and sometimes....late at night when I can't sleep....it's easier than finding the dvd(have that too) to stick in the machine) but i goggled something or other can't remember what, and the project came up on the search. so I've been reading it from day one. I gotta say it's taking along time to read the thing. And I've been downloading recipes that were hard to find on the internet until I found an easier site.

anyhoo,.. there is vermouth all over this book. so i dragged the bottle up, opened it, and declared to everyone...."we will finish this bottle....we will put it in everything that calls for alcohol...as god is my witness....

So I will let you know how it goes.....

testing

Just testing to see if I can upload pic from phone. So far - not working hmmm

Marcie's worlds best oatmeal cookies

Super easy to make.

1 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup granulated sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp each salt/baking soda/baking powder
1 cup quick oats
2 cups coconut

Cream butter and sugars until fluffly. Add eggs and vanilla and mix.
Sift together flour, salt, soda, and powder. Add in 4 parts to butter mixture. Mix in oats and coconut.

Drop by teaspoons-ungreased cookie sheets-bake at 375 for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. (I only cook them for ten minutes because I find they are chewier that way)

Enjoy!

I advise everyone to just do a double batch 'cause you will thank me later.

mini manicotti

or stuffed rigattoni







*rigattoni noddles
*less than 250g raw hamburger (usually the smallest pkg you can buy is 500g/1 lb so use less than half) I've used 1/2 pork and 1/2 hamburger and that's good too, even ground chicken works
*diced onion (small dice)
*3+ cans Heinz tomato soup (i've tried other brands other combinations but nothing tastes as good as heinz, you can try pasta sauces, campells tomato, basil & oregano, or campbells fiesta tomato, etc but DO NOT use campbells or no name brands tomato soup, they really really suck)
*lea & perrins
*balsamic
*celery salt
*cottage cheese
*garlic



drain liquid from cottage cheese while doing other prep ( this is important step)
you can also use a small amount of really really dry thawed out spinach chopped up but this is not necessary



I use a wok for this because of its depth, it's easier to plunge the noodles into the mixture. If you don't have a wok just use a smaller pan with high sides.
Sweat the onions and garlic, if using extra lean or chicken you will have to add oil otherwise the meat won't brown nice. I usually throw the meat in and brown everything up together at the same time



this is where you add the balsamic, lea and perrins and celery salt and whatever spice you want to add. you MUST brown the meat until no liquid is left in pan though, don't be tempted to just cook the hamburger and then drain it. And then keep browning until the meat actually pops, it should be very very brown, but not burned. Otherwise it just doesn't taste as good as it could. In fact that is one of my pet peeves, people just don't brown hamburger as long as they should. It's an important step in the flavouring. And it smells awful if not browned properly. That's probably one of the reason that I hate eating anything with hamburger in it that someone else cooks.



take the pan off burner and cool slightly, i usually stir it around alot. then add the very dry *cottage cheese curds, *1 can tomato soup, *parsley and about *1/3 - 1/4cup bread crumps, s0rry forgot to mention bread crumbs, i've used panko here only because i had some, otherwise I usually put in the ends of the loaf into the food processor and just use those. don't add too much that the mixture is really dry, it should not be really soupy either. just remember this mixture should be able to get put into the noodles



mix it all up till blended



dump 1 can of tomato soup into the roasting pan remember to grease it up or you will be sorry when you can't get the stuff out. this is non-stick and I still use a little bit of oil on it.



smear it around, remember the bottom of noodle gets cooked with this mixture, so if your using a combination of other stuff, instead of straight out of the can, get enough on the pan for this. Actually after I cooked this up I realized I should have added more under the noodles. The pan should not be visible. I should have added about another 1/2 can or some stock or just water would have done, because it was kinda dry on the bottom after I made them. Use your judgement you don't want them to burn on the bottom trust me that really sucks after you do all this work for them to be uncooked or burned on the bottom



get your noodles ready, because your hands will be all gucky so dump them out of container or bag



plunge the noodles into mixture until full



repeat, it doesn't take long plunging faster is better, 3 to 4 times per noodle usually is all it takes, and if you have little ones around get them to help they enjoy helping out. There are times I had all 3 kids plunging noodles into filling and it doesn't take as long as you might think. They enjoy filling the pan as well.They can personalize the topping later. Often one put parmesan, the other just grated cheddar and the other one who likes mushrooms put on chopped mushrooms after I fried some up for him. Mushrooms.....that's a way to ruin a good thing in my estimation. But my son likes them. Put this personalized topping on after the tomato soup topping. You can fancy it up with parsley or chives. When I had all three teenagers for those 4 years I was lucky to have a basement suite (no tenants - just extra kitchen) I made a 2nd using the oven downstairs. Because they became territorial after their toppings went on. A couple times if there wasn't too much filling left over, i would just spread the remaining mixture over the top after the tomato soup was put on. Use your imagination.



it should look like this



ooops forgot about the parmesan cheese, add some any amount you want, actually any cheese will do, I've used swiss, and many combinations of whatever odds and ends I had of hard cheeses



fill up the pan really fill in anywhere you can, but don't overfill the pan



smear the last can onto the top



i bet you thought you didn't have enough mixture, well forgetaboutit, you will have more than you need, it always works out that way i always have extra ALWAYS. I have bags in the freezer of extra mixture that I never remember I have until I throw in the current bag. If you have more cans of soup or want to try with other tomato stuff like just canned tomatoes - pulverized with an imertion blender, or any other combinations of liquid, here's your change to improve on it - in another smaller pan of sorts, but you should do this afterwards, because main roasting pan has to go in the middle of the oven and the extra one will not get the right space to cook. believe me when I say WAIT and make this second one later - you will thank me because it never turns out if the other one is on a different rack. so don't waste your time and creativity at this time



cover with foil or lid of your roaster has a lid, i've used a large turkey roaster for this for a larger amount with it's own lid and it works just fine. Just don't double up the layers because THAT WILL NOT WORK, been there - tried that- doesn't work , will be too dried out or toooo liquidy DOES NOT WORK - only one layer per pan



put it into oven at 325 - 350 (my oven is hot, yours is probably ok at 350) after 40 min open the foil carefully because the steam will burn you. and test the noodle with a fork or knife, put it in slowly, you will know when it is not done. If it's not done take it out every 10 min after that and test it. It should look dry and shinny and no visible liquid at all.It usually takes an hour. but start checking at 40 min- it's never the same twice. If you think it's ready take out of oven and let rest, covered, for about 10 min.



enjoy and let me know how it turned out







mmm goooood




















i usually cut the noodles in half for my grandchildren so they can get one in there mouths at a time, but they like to poke there fingers into each one. It's messy










what little is left is wonderful the next day cold, great for snacks or lunches or for kids en route to soccer, hockey, ball, swimming - you name it. They will be fought over I guarantee it. You can use hot sauce for dipping them also. Great finger food.

Mothers Day

Ahhh mothers day! Its taken 25-30 yrs to appreciate motherhood as a "good idea" How did it all start? Xmas 1979 we were at a family dinner and we were the only couple without children. We felt left out. I remember going to bed that night and discussing parenthood. So one day during the week between xmas and new years I had the IUD removed and probably that night concieved. My son was born Sept 20/80. On my husbands birthday during a thunder storm. Then in October 82 my brother came to visit with his girlfriend and my husband was out of town for that week so I let them have my bedroom and I slept on the couch. I was having a shower that morning when my husband came home and he refused to go in our bedroom to get "the little bags". "If I go get them, they'll know what we are doing. Don't worry I won't get you pregnant." Well so much for that. My daughter was born in July after a week of the hottest weather ever, ending in a thunderstorm or incredible lighting. I remember driving to the hospital in such a rainstorm that I couldn't see anything out of the windshield and the lightning and thunderstorm were amazing. The last day of August 84 I was moving, my husband was out of town again...... I was throwing the last mattress on the floor I remember how pissed off I was that I was doing this alone (with two little kids running around and my stepson was living with us at the time). My husband came in the new house in a really good mood and walked into the bedroom were I was arranging the last piece of furniture that I unloaded from the moving truck. I was so mad at him for all the work I had to do and he was in a good mood because he was out of town all week. My daughter was born 6 weeks early in April 85. So if you want a female baby I say have sex in unexpected places and make up sex probably helps. And the reason that she was born 6 weeks early.....once again my husband came home after being out of town and decided that sex would be a good idea. Needless to say - it wasn't. So babies are usually born during a change in the weather and if you are overdue, having sex won't be a bad idea. But not a good idea during the last trimester. So the reason I'm a mother is three times of unprotected sex, last two times I was promised that I wouldn't get pregnant, "I promise".

May already.......

What's been happening, I'm still in March. Can't believe how time is flying. Someone should do a study and just see if the rotation of the earth has sped up. Time is just going to fast lately. Way tooooo fast.

I'm in the middle of making a pie, so far the filling is to die for. It's called a Lime-Marshmallow Pie from "Ready for Dessert" by David Lebovitz.
I'm just debating weather I should make the topping or not yet. I don't have a candy thermometer. And I'm watching the grandchildren so can't run out to buy one until later. So the topping will have to wait. I just have to keep my fingers out of the pie until then. Or maybe.......I should make more filling.....for tasting or for dessert for the kiddies. Hmmmm that's a thought. That's a good thought.

Monday Morning

Well what a beautiful day. I made my ritual Meal in a muffin from leftovers. This batch had a few pieces of roasted chicken, an italian sausage, half a honey garlic pepperoni. Wow...they are sitting on the counter cooling. I don't know if I will have the will power to leave them in the fridge. They are so much better the next day.
I'm going to try buy a silicone mini muffin pan. I think the grandkids will really enjoy them in a mini muffin instead.
I was going to put in a picture, but my charger for the camera has been missing forever. I am going to have to mount an all out search for the damn thing.

Another great meal in a muffin

Mini Meatloaves

here's the original recipe

Madeover Mini Meatloaves
originally from Sobey's Supermarket magazine



Serves: 4
Prep Time: 15 min.
Total Time: 45 min.

2 tbsp Balance Zesty Italian Dressing
1 cup finely chopped Organic Sliced Portabella Mushrooms
1/2 cup each shredded carrot and finely chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 cup Balance Tomato & Herbs Pasta Sauce, divided
1/3 cup Organic Quick Oats
2 egg whites, beaten
1/2 tsp each salt and pepper
1 lb extra lean ground beef


1.Preheat the oven to 375°F (190°C). Heat the salad dressing in a non-stick skillet set over medium heat. Sauté the mushrooms, carrot, onion and garlic for 5 to 7 min. or until softened. Cool slightly; transfer to a large bowl and stir in 1/2 cup (125 mL) of the pasta sauce, oats, egg whites, salt and pepper. Add the beef and mix gently to combine.
2.Lightly spray 8 cups of a muffin pan with cooking spray. Divide the mixture between the cups, pressing gently to compact the meat. Spoon an equal amount of the remaining pasta sauce over the meatloaves. Bake for 30 min. or until a thermometer inserted into the thickest portion of the meat registers 160°F (71°C). Cool for 5 min. before serving.

Here's my changes

no mushrooms (that's the way to ruin a recipe for anything but stuffed mushrooms)
instead
3/4 c shredded zucchini
3/4 c shredded carrots
1 onion diced
1 egg (instead of 2 egg whites)

I sometimes use just italian dressing, (watch your eyes when heating will sting) or just grape seed oil, I also use a silicone muffin tin, it just browns soo much better without sticking.
I also fry the onions and carrots together in the oil before adding to hamburger mixture. I also add some taco seasoning, but not too much. But only occasionally, it's really good without it.
This is great the next day cold or sliced up into a meatloaf sandwich. I usually double the recipe so that I can keep some in freezer.

Meal-in-a-muffin

I saved the original recipe from a copy of Real Simple Magazine.
Here's the original called Zucchini Pie.

But it's the change to a muffin where it really shines. I call it my Meal in a muffin of Leftovers.

Change the 3 cups of grated zucchini to 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini and 1 1/2 cups leftover meat of any kind (rotisserie chicken, taco hamburger meat, cooked ham, deli ham, - basically any left over meat, in any combination)

Change the directions to:
Preheat oven to 350. Combine zucchini, leftover cooked meats (diced very small is best), chopped onion, 1 cup of grated mixture of whatever cheese you have on hand - the sharper the better, 3 tbsp of grated parmesan, either fresh basil or 1 tsp pesto. Mix together to combine.
Sift in the flour, salt, pepper and heaping tsp baking powder.
Mix to combine well.
Then beat the veg oil and eggs together and pour over the zucchini and flour mixture and mix to combine the whole thing. Don't over mix, but mix it all well. It will seem really gloppy and on the thick side. I usually have more than the 1 cup of cheese. And I sometimes have a little bit more than the 1 1/2 cups of meat because I usually have more than one kind of meat, that's why the HEAPING tsp of baking powder is important. I like to throw in a 1/2 pepperoni stick into the food processor and pulse to fine. This usually adds a nice flavour. It's the mixture of meat that is key to flavour. If I don't have anything but leftover cooked chicken I usually throw in whatever coldcuts I have on hand like honey ham, and pepperoni into the food processor.
The next important part of the process is that you MUST have a silicone muffin tin.
Fill the muffin tin with a scoop ( but do not over fill) and bake the muffins until they are browned. You may think they are overcooked, but trust me - very brown is best. You can eat them with a salad after cooling slightly, but the best, the VERY BEST is the next day after they have cooled and the zucchini and meat mixture and cheese all combine and wow. It's just the best taste. And kids LOVE them. They are great in the car on the way to whatever place you are going, soccer, swimming etc. But I just love them all day long. I specially like that I can rip of a piece and give it to my grandkids who never let me eat anything without sharing. They last in the fridge - i usually just put 4 into a sandwich bag. But the trick is to use a silicone muffin pan, because they will brown and not stick. I've tried in a regular pan with muffin papers, but trust me, use silicone. Ohh and sprinkle the other 1 tbsp parmesan over each muffin before throwing into the over, but I usually forget that part, I don't know why but I usually do.
I can't say for sure how long you bake them, because each time is different but usually around half hour at least, to 40 min.

Clean-up

This blog kinda sucks, the design.... I should ask the stepson (who is a computer wiz) to redesign the thing for me. I wonder if he could do that without reading it hmmm. No one knows about this thing. I want to keep it that way. This is my private place to vent.

Update

An update about the family dynamics around here. My daughter didn't move away,instead they all moved in with us. When she found she was pregnant again so soon before going back to work and not qualifying for unemployment ins. They sold their place and moved in here. And Xander was born end of Nov 2008. So now there are 4 adults, and 2 kids. It's been a trial, but seems to be working. I let my accounts go and stay home to watch the grandchildren. As of three week ago my husband is off on disability. The arrangement was working - we are living like imigrants, three generations in one house. Everyone should try it.

My stepsons marriage tanked in September last year. He discovered his (b*tch) wife was carrying on an online affair with this looser in the states for about a year. And his two children were aware of it. My stepson who had two jobs to support this b*tch (never worked a day of her life - how could she when she was so busy online all day long) was an emotional wreck. She moved out with the kids (used my minivan to move out) to her brothers. So one night he went online to match.com and did a search in the same wyoming town as this looser lived and two days later is involved with a women from the same town. So he arranged to visit with her and took off. While he was gone the b*tch got into the house and sold most of his computer equipment and wi and sony play station and alot of other stuff. Over this visit he feel madly in LOVE. I tell you no one could make this stuff up. So he decided to sell the house and move to (town in wyoming) to be with the love-of-his-life. I come down with carpet cleaner, and other stuff. Couldn't believe the mess the b*tch left the place in. A pig sty does not do it any justice. We were in the middle of the clean up when the b*tch showed up and a war of words ensued. I couldn't help myself I said a few things, there was pushing and shoving and I sustained scratches and black and blue marks ( I just happened to have my camera - i was going to take pic's to list the house) so I took some pic's of my arms and made comments about child services and the state of the pig sty blah blah blah and she ran away. One of my prouder moments I gotta add. But the whole thing kinda freeked the step son and his new love-of-my-live insisted that he come "right now" "dangerous b*tch" blah blah blah. So he did and a week later before he could go on disablity for emotion distress (manulife already agreed to the whole thing for 6 months shorterm) his dick head manager fired him for being absent after working for the dickhead for 22 years, since he was 18 yrs old - i might add here. So he decided to stay with the love-of-my-life and get a green card etc. Meanwhile the house got taken by morgage company, no money from disability etc etc. The love-of-my-life supported his until he had to come back to canada last week. Because after filing the paperwork to stay permantly he had to leave. And quess were he is residing? Yes you got it, with all of us on the living room floor on a blow up mattress.

After talking with Unemployment Insurance with his handy note from the doc about distress etc they are paying him in lump sum from semptember to march. Yay and He did his income tax and got a nice refund. And applied to a job with the competition and is working in the next booth over at the airport. So we are 5 adults and 2 kids of 18 mnts and 30 mnths.

He will probably be here until mid april (we hope no longer) and my daughter is in the planning stages of the wedding in mexico in november. So we are a happy family of many generations and step children living in one house. It's a good thing we have a full finished basement and three bathrooms.

You should try it.

To-do list

I WILL FIND A CAST IRON FRYING PAN TODAY....and I will make candied ginger. I've already forgotten the third thing I was going to do today. But I'm sure it will come to me later. I have been eager to replace my long lost cast iron frying pan for years now. Today is the day. I'm sure of it. Now that I'm almost over this horrible, awful, cold from hell. I can actually make it out the door without horking and clearing my naval cavityies and blowing my nose. It's a lovely picture isn't it. But this thing has been going on now for almost 3 weeks. And I have had enough. ENOUGH. I have to get out of this house.

Food 101

Just saw the documentary. Some parts were worse than a horror movie. I had to look the other way. Shit.....i shouldn't watch this stuff, now i'm going to have to bother the meat guy at sobey's about the origin of his meat. I don't know about chicken hmmmm that was uncomfortable to watch. It's hard to believe that walmart is becoming the place to shop for food. Wierd. I haven't been to one in ages, I will have to go check it out