Fat and Crafty.com

I’d not taken anything out the night before. I had no bright ideas waiting for me at home. Baked Chicken and Peanutbutter noodles had worked last night but what to make tonight? Tuna. Yeah, we had a couple of cans of tuna. Problem wass I didnt want to make tuna noodle casserole, too much effort to make a white sauce tonight* and I was running late. Tuna Salad was out because Patrick doesnt like Mayo or tuna salad. Or sandwiches, so tuna melts were out too.

I’ve been craving crabcakes  and was passing my crabcake purveyor of choice Bicks in Broadview when the idea came to me. What about Tuna cakes? Pulling up a couple of recipes online I got the idea for the propotions. I mixed everything up,  made little patties and  fried them in a little olive oil. All in all not bad, just had to make sure the pan was good and hot. It served my craving, though the recipe can use a little tweaking

4 eggs
2 cans tuna, drained
3 cups breadcrumbs (1 cup panko, 2 cups of stuffing mix)

mix together, let sit for a minute to have the stuffing soften.

Form patties with your hands and fry.

This is a simple Friday night dinner.

Gyros meat , purchased frozen from Cash and Carry makes a great item to keep in the freezer. A cookie sheet worth can be broiled until cooked and served with all the fixings.
Pita, Brown rice, lettuce, hummus, tahini, tomatoes and feta cheese. We added crunchy Pita Chips  for the hummus and made it into a buffet.

I like buffet dinners  it’s nice to throw a little something on the table have folks feed themselves and be able to join them  as they eat.

Feeling more adventurous? Make your own Gyros meat
Don’t like beef? Saute some chicken in olive oil  with garlic, onions, oregano  and sage and use that instead.

The pile of magazines was knee high. Stacks  and stacks, I sat sorting them into seasons, 5 Seasons overall, November-December, Jan-March, Apri-June, July-August, September-October.
I decided that I’d swap them around, 3 in storage, 1 in use downstairs,  1 in use  on my bookshelf.

It all went away in a cleaning spree.  I decided it was just time to cut back, no more clutter, no more  printed material begging for my attention. I reduced my collection by more then half,  leaving only a small box in my closet full of mainly holiday and special vegetarian magazines. I’ve hesitated buying more. After all why add more if I just cleared out. I still get my monthly issue of the Cooking Light, but I dont  often add more.

I’ve been struggling with a lack of inspiration. Tired of returning to Waffles and Pancakes as regular meals, wanting something more interesting then baked chicken and Tacos. This months issue of Gourmet and Fine Cooking both found their way into my bag. I pushed myself into action immediately. On Sunday when I grilled I used the last of the coals to grill some thawed  pork chops for a later dinner. I used those leftovers in a Fine Cooking recipe that is inspired by Pork Lo Mein. I learned a new technique even, having never pan fried noodles before.

4 Pork chops grilled and sliced thinly.
1 package of noodles , cooked, then cooled.
chopped garlic
chopped onion
1 cup sliced cabbage
2 cups sliced mushrooms.

In one pan saute noodles in a little oil until golden brown. In  another pan saute garlic and onions, then add cabbage and mushrooms.  In the pan the noodles cooked in add the pork chops, a slop of soy sauce and a slop of sesame oil.

Once veggies are soft  add the noodles and pork and a little more soy sauce with a sprinkle of ginger. Combine  and serve. I wanted it a bit saucier, it was good though.

Yum.

I have no clue how to make hedgehogs. But I adore them. It’s a favorite dish that Leah makes for me  upon request. 

It’s the magical thing having her make dinner for me. I sit in the living room and wonderful smells come out of the kitchen.  I can hear the sizzle of the  stove,   and hear Leah rumbling around.  The oven opens and closes,  the water runs and dinner smells better and better

When I cant stand it anymore, a plate is presented to me, porcupines, mashers and  a veg of the day. It really is the making of the best day ever.

INGREDIENTS

    * 2 1/4 pounds ground beef
    * 3/4 cup uncooked long-grain white rice
    * 1 egg, beaten
    * 1 (26 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
    * 26 fluid ounces water

DIRECTIONS

   1. In a large bowl combine the beef, rice and egg beat. Mix well with hands, making mixture into medium sized meatballs. Set aside.
   2. Pour soup into a large saucepan, and dilute with 1 can of water. Heat to simmering over medium heat.
   3. Lower heat to low, drop meatballs into soup and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

In the past 3 weeks I’ve placed three orders with Knitpicks.com and been pleased with blinding fast shipping and some of the nicest  yarns in a while.

A couple of years ago I was given a very generous gift of Denise Knitting needles.  What I liked about these most of all was the convienence of having  tips in most every size and cables in most every size available at the drop of the hat. The drawback is the plastic  feel of the needles. I’m a fan of  Addi Turbos and very much prefer the metal needle for the speed possible with the tip. 

So Knitpicks interchangeables  looked tempting. I picked up  a couple of their needles and a couple

I placed an order for  for a couple of tips and a couple of cables.  Not reading closely enough I didnt realize that the  cables in pairs of two so I’m suddenly drowning in  24 inch cables and have a pair of 60s but beyond that its all good.

And the yarn. Wow the yarn. The Wool of the Andes was  1.99 a yard and is great for my Noni Pockets project, There is also Swish and Shine, two superwash yarns that I’m swatching for a vest for Aron.

With such swift shipping and soft yarn its fantastic. I forsee another order in the near future.

I’m running out of posts. I try to have a full 2 weeks of posts ready to go, but at this point that back up has vanished.
What now? I went grocery shopping this weekend without having planned a single thing. I’m shuffling my feet thinking that I may just give up on the project. But really why? Looking back I realize I’ve ignored my own advice. What happens when you have no inspiration?

Start looking.
As I said in my original post

When those ideas fail me, its to the short cut places:
Month of Meals, Zone Seattle , Dancing Women, Lucky Palate, Delicious Planet , Tumeric’n more, Julia’s Indonesian Kitchen.
They have great menu ideas to be borrowed. I’ll then search for a recipe that is similar to what they are serving, or I’ll come up with something on the spur of the moment.

Still out if ideas? I’ll peruse local restaurant menus to see what they are serving and what i’d like to make.

So thats what I’m doing. I’ve added a couple of other sites to my list and am still looking!

How long will this last?
At this point I’m going to try to ride the dinner project out through the 20th of September. Thats one more months of posts . What then? Well at that point I’ll be in class 4 nights a week, and one morning a week. We’ll either swap over to OMAC, I’ll be planning as someone else cooks, or we’ll do something different altogether.

So what was dinner on the 20th?

Cheese quesadilla.

I was out of the house for the night and my family decided this is what they wanted. I’ll admit its a favorite of mine as well.
Cheese, fresh tortillas , a little heat and a little of whatever else you want inside.
What can you put in a quesadilla ?
-Leftovers Veggies
-Leftover meats
-Lunch meats
-Flavorful sauces. A squirt of buffalo sauce in a quesadilla may be heretical, but boy is it good.
-Multiple cheeses

Serve with salad and some salsa

“I think its weird that you blog what we eat for dinner”
Aron said this to me the other day. Sometimes its the photo taking, sometimes its simply that I am telling the whole world out there what we had for dinner.

He thinks I should blog about the unique things I make instead. So today its donuts.

When I made the tacos I had gone ahead and fried up some zucchini’s for Leah. It’s her favorite treat and its really very easy to make. A simple batter, dip and fry. The oil was preserved for the night and before I went to bed I dug out my copy of the Joy of Cooking and donuts happened.

It’s a simple batter that you make , let sit over night. Then you cut the dough and let it sit 20 minutes or so to form a skin. Then deep fry and serve. I rolled them in cinnamon and sugar and served.

The only real tips I have is to make sure you know how thick you are rolling the dough. I dont think I rolled them thick enough. Next time I’ll try the chocolate donut recipe and try dipping them in chocolate. I love chocolate chocolate donuts.

When I served Aron said to me “See! No one makes homemade donuts”

Sour Cream Cake Doughnuts
(From “The Joy of Cooking”)

About twelve 2 3/4-inch doughnuts

* 2 cups all-purpose flour
* 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
* 2 large eggs
* 1/2 cup sugar
* 1/2 cup sour cream
* 1 teaspoon vanilla

Whisk together in a medium bowl the flour, baking powder and soda,
salt and cinnamon. In a large bowl, beat the eggs until foamy.
Gradually add the sugar and beat until thoroughly blended. Stir in
the sour cream and vanilla and beat until blended.

Add the dry ingredients and stir just until incorporated. Do not beat.
The dough will be very soft. Dump out onto a floured board and shape
dough into a disc. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate at least two
hours or up to two days, The dough will never become firm but will
become workable when cold.

Working on a lightly floured surface, pat or roll the dough out to
1/2-inch thick. Cut with a well-floured doughnut cutter, keeping the
doughnut holes, too. Drop doughnuts and holes, two or three at a time,
into deep fat heated to 365 F. Fry until golden on both sides, turning
only once. Remove from fat to paper towels to drain and dust with icing
sugar or shake in a bag with granulated sugar or sugar and cinnamon.

This one had Aron skepitcal. “It’s Japanese pizza? I first heard of Okonomoyaki through my favoirte anime Ranma 1/2. In Ranma 1/2 Ukyou Kuonji was Ranma’s second fiancee, and she specialized in Okonomoyaki martial arts.

A pancake with yam or cabbage , chopped meat, and even perhaps vegetables inside. The dough was made of flour, eggs and water, and bacon was pressed into the top and bottom as they cooked. A special okonomoyaki sauce was then squirted on top as you served. The other sauce option listed was mayonnaise.

Evidently the recipes changes based on what region you are in in Japan. A sample recipe can be found here.

In the end I found it tasty and so did Patrick. Others in the household were not sure, and it was determined that this was a decent dish, but not a dinner all on its own.

Growing up tacos at home always meant Ortega Taco Shells, Ortega taco seasoning, iceberg lettuce, wedged tomatoes and cheese. I dont remember side dishes, I dont remember if we had mexican rice or if we had chips and extra salsa.

Even going to taco bell was very rote for us. We never ordered off the menu. We always ordered taco salad, extra salsa. No tacos, no enchiladas no seven layer burritos. I don’t think I ever had real mexican food until my highschool language club went into the city to a Mexican restaurant.

These days we eat Mexican/American food pretty often and tonight it was Turkey tacos. Ground turkey sauteed with garlic and onions, with chipolte chili seasoning, cumin and oregano. A little bit of chicken broth to help the meat stew. Served with tortilla chips, guacamole, cheese, onion, lettuce, fat fluffy flour tortillas, salsa. It’s nowhere near a traditional Mexican dish, but boy is it good.

The ground turkey finally made it out of the freezer and I went with a Morrocon inspired broiled turkey bits dinner. I started with a couple of pounds of ground turkey, stirred in finely chopped onion, chopped garlic, smoked pepper. Adding parsley and herbs adds to the flavor.

Usually I form these aroud my long skewers and placing them in the oven , on broil, turning as they cook. Today I formed them into small patties and cooked them on broil on a cookie cooling rack on a sheet over a pan. Cooking them on the cooling rack works well to allow the fat to drain off and to have the burgers get a crispy outside.

Served with cous cous and spinach salad it was a deligtful dinner.