Freezer Meals

Once a Month Mom

I found this link through Meredith at Like Merchant Ships (great tips for living, decorating, entertaining on a budget), and found myself quickly engrossed in the recipes and ideas. The concept: freezing a month's worth of meals. But unlike the pricey specialty shops where you can go do this, she offers meal plans, grocery lists, printable labels and directions to do it all at home FOR FREE.

Free is my price point!

I struggle with dinners a lot around here, especially on evenings when nobody feels like prepping a meal and I end up in line at a fast food joint. I think I just might have to give some of these a try. Maybe not a full month yet, but a modified version to start?

She also has baby food recipes for freezing which I'm thinking of whipping up for Riley. So for the Mamas and soon to be Mamas reading, heads up!

Blue Lights, Thanksgiving and Chex Mix

I bought an 18 pound Butterball on Friday, for FOUR PEOPLE. I'll never stop pointing that out. The excess we go through each year for FOUR PEOPLE. I mean I guess I'll stop if it's ever more than FOUR PEOPLE. But until then...

And really we do enjoy the leftovers. A lot. I think I enjoy the cold stuff the day after more than the actual meal. Since by dinner time on Thanksgiving I'm usually too exhausted to really enjoy my plate. At any rate I've finished most of the shopping. Behold, the menu:

Dinner:
Turkey
Dressing
Pioneer Woman's Rolls
Roasted Brussels Sprouts
Corn
Broccoli Casserole
Mashed Potatoes/Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
Pickled Beets
Deviled Eggs
(and anything else I've failed to list...which I'm sure is something)

Dessert:
Pumpkin Pie
Jello
Chocolate Pie
Pumpkin Cobbler

Today I strung blue Christmas lights for the first time ever. I must admit, there is something very retro and cool about them. Or nuts. Really...it's all about perspective. I'm trying to stay positive.

And I made homemade Chex Mix. Which I still can't decide if I like or not.





I used corn and wheat chex, pretzel sticks, cheereos and Planter's Pecan Lover's Mix. And of course the recipe from the Chex site. I tried to make it once when I was like 12 or 13 in the microwave. Needless to say it was disgusting. So I was at least much more pleased this time.

And finally, have you heard the news? Apparently I've hobnobbed with the future Secretary of State!

Sure, she'll meet lots of important people over the next few years...but first? She had to meet me! ;)

Of Pizzas and Televisions

Another weekend, another experiment with yeast.

Believe it or not I've never made pizza dough from scratch. We've always bought those little packages that you mix up at home or frozen dough. Again, had to do with that whole 'fear of kneading' thing.

I used this recipe from Epicurious, which is becoming one of my go-to websites these days. One pizza I covered in pepperoni and green olives on one side, my mother covered another with her favorite toppings: mushrooms, onions, green peppers, and olives.

Final verdict: all delicious but I still need to play around with the thickness of the crust and just how done the bottoms of the crusts should be.











In unrelated news: the tv in the living room blew up this weekend. And by 'blew up' I mean it stopped working, made a horrible sound followed by a horrible smell. We knew it was coming since it's had this awful picture for about a year...but I come from a family of procrastinators. And tightwads.

It's made for some hilarious moments. Like last night when I just couldn't stop laughing about it while my brother moped around like it was the end of the world. Or this morning as I watched my Dad, reading glasses a top his 50 year old wrinkling face, as he pored over the paper ads muttering, 'what happened to tube tvs????'

So I guess we're on the market for a new...fancy television. I feel like a Clampett moving to California or something.

Anyone have a LCD tv brand that you just love and want to rave about? Or one that you'd like to tell me to stay far away from? Because I've got my parent's credit card and it's burning a hole in my proverbial pocket.

Getting things off of my chest, the annual purging of emotion and thoughts

I had to register for next semester's classes this week. Something about doing that sent my mood this week into a downward spiral. I feel so close, yet so far away from graduating. A few years ago in my college career I let myself get into a bit of a pickle. I was living in Lexington, feeling very alone, hating my roommate, hating everything about the way college was turning out. I stopped going to class very often and barely squeaked by with the grades I got. It was never that I wasn't capable, it was that depression had overcome my life and I could no longer function.

I remember walking around like a zombie that semester. And then that semester turned into the entire school year. Finally I made the hard decision to move home and not return back to living in Lexington the next fall. Last year was a bit of an experiment in how that would all work. I didn't take a terribly full workload since I wasn't sure how the commuting thing would go.

My life now is completely different, a total turnaround from that dark year. I've never been the type to need to be around people, but I did need to be around family. I was tired of cooking microwave meals and eating them alone. I can honestly say I am now a much happier person.

But I'm still feeling the effects of that dark year, and the subsequent adjustment period.

It is going to take me a little longer than I'd ever thought to finish my degree. And this year has been a bit of a challenge, not because of classes, but in overcoming this looming idea of timeframes and how my life should be and at what age.

I'm sharing this because this is what I deal with. These are the things that run through my brain on a daily basis. And I don't think I'm always upfront with myself, much less everyone else. I suffered from depression. I don't let a day go by without realizing how thankful I am for that low point in life to be over. But I still struggle with the feelings. And it's okay.

Anyways, I wanted to get this out there for my own cartharsis. Maybe if I say what I'm feeling I can confront it, right?! haha

I also wanted to share a few things that are bringing me great joy right now, and counteracting those crummy feelings I sometimes let myself get ahold of.

So my mother started collecting those Christmas Village houses this year. I'm still not quite sure why. Except she always gets on a kick of some sort with a new hobby every few months, and this month it's Christmas Villages. Ehh, whatever.

I initially rolled my eyes. Thought it was stupid. I think I even laughed at her a few times.

And then I went to Michaels and Garden Ridge, found the Lemax Villages on clearance and 50% off and well...I have a hobby, it's calling finding good deals and not being able to resist them:



Umm yeah, I bought all of these in ONE trip. And my Mom is the one laughing at me now.

The problem remains though, apparently the purpose of a Christmas Village is to put it on display. And I've now bought so many that we're going to have to buy a table, or stop eating at the one in the kitchen.

I also wanted take the time to point out that while I have been baking many things lately, many fattening things, I am not eating all of them. I threw away more than half of that monkey bread last night. Not because it wasn't good, it was quite delish. But because I've been the same weight for the last several years, and while I'm not doing anything to lose any of that weight, I don't want to do anything to make me gain 50 pounds on top of it.

That said, has anyone ever eaten chicken noodle soup served over top of mashed potatoes. Like this recipe here?

We don't do a lot of chicken soup around here, but I'm very intrigued with the over mashed potatoes part. It sounds like a lethal combination. And by lethal I mean...insanely delicious.

And finally, does anyone else watch, or did watch, or enjoy, The West Wing? I didn't while it was actually running on television. I always thought I'd like it though. And now...I'm obsessed. Where was I 10 years ago? Why wasn't I watching this piece of brilliance?

Monkeys and Butter

I dream of one day owning a camera worthy of creating fantastic photos of food. Because maybe then I could branch out and just have a food blog. That would be awesome.

You see, the thing about this stage in my life: 'Limbo' as I like to call it, is that not much is going on that is blog worthy. I could bore you with stories about my classes. But...they bore me and I'd rather not discuss them. I don't have children so I can't hop on the Mommy-Blog bus. I'm not married, don't have a mortgage. I can't even knit...so there goes that marketable blog niche.

Honestly, I'm no longer an interesting person.

I don't drink, so there are no wild and crazy parties to write about. I have no juicy love life. If I had been blogging my actual 'life' over the last several weeks it would have gone a little something like this:

I went to class today, stopped by the grocery, made dinner for MY PARENTS (loser), watched CNN and went to bed. (Also, wah....why is my life going nowhere? *insert whine, and tears here*)

The end.

But I bake a lot. I do a lot of cooking. That I can write about. That might actually be interesting. Except that little detail: all the interesting food blogs are interesting because the photos are good.

And my camera is a lovely piece of shit.

Heck, maybe if I had a decent camera I'd be a food AND photography blog. Omg....creative juices are FLOWING in my brain right now. (Must continue to hint at camera for Christmas. Not too old to resort to begging my parents.)

For now I will suck up my pride and share the shitty pictures. Because I made butter. And monkey bread.

Butter

So, I took a small carton of heavy whipping cream and poured it into a bowl with a tight lid. And...I began shaking. And shaking. And then I handed it to Jon and he shook it some more. After about 10 minutes or so of shaking you hear a solid part begin to form and a lot of sloshing going on:



The butter is beginning to form and the liquid is....*drumroll please*...Buttermilk (Go ahead, tell me I'm a genius). You can either pour off the buttermilk and save it for baking (or drinking if you are like my late grandfather who loved the stuff) or pour it down the drain like I did.

Secure the lid again and shaking some more, you want to really remove all the buttermilk. If not, this will cause the butter to go rancid faster.



Keep shaking, keep pouring.

Eventually little is left to pour off. At this point cover the butter with a splash of cold water. Begin to 'massage' (mix around in the water) the butter with a spatula. This will help really remove all of the buttermilk. Drain off the water and repeat the process until the water is clear.



Pour off all excess water and spoon the mixture into a ramekin or other storage device. Add a little salt if you prefer salted butter.

Monkey Bread

I made the butter because A) I've really got nothing better to do and B) I had made homemade yeast rolls to go with beef stew and homemade butter sounded heavenly.

But the yeast roll recipe (the one I shared before) makes A LOT OF ROLLS. And I didn't really need a lot of rolls. So, instead of putting the last of the rolled balls of yeast dough into muffin tins, I used the remainder to make monkey bread.

I rolled each ball into a mixture of cinnamon and sugar. Layered them haphazardly into a greased bundt pan and allowed them to double in size:



Then I mixed up 1 stick of butter and 1/2 cup of brown sugar and brought it to a boil on the stove. I poured that mixture over the risen yeast and baked it all at 350 for about 20 minutes.



After it was done cooking I immediately turned it out onto a plate. You don't want it to cool and stick to the pan.



And so then, as if there were not enough calories involved already I mixed up 4 ounces of cream cheese, half a stick of butter, 2 cups of powdered sugar and a tsp of vanilla to make cream cheese icing to dip the monkey bread in.



Sometime after that I stapled my mouth shut and burned my cookbooks.

The end.

Photo of the Day

I spent a little while at the phone bank this morning making calls for Bruce Lunsford. After that I had a few hours to goof off a bit so I stopped by the used book store and perused the clearance racks. I figure I need something to occupy my time after this election is over.



Baked this weekend:
Snickerdoodles: recipe from Martha Stewart. Martha is my new favorite person ever. I don't know why I never paid much attention to her before. She's fabulous.



I also made potato soup and vegetable soup, but alas...no photos.

And one last Barack-o-Lantern picture, just for fun.



And Jon's ghoul/phantom thing. Whatever. Mine's better. ;)

I Could Study...

But I'd rather fill this out.

FAVORITES

1. Clothes Shop- Lots of stuff from Target. I shop the sales racks at Macys quite often. I love TJ Maxx and Marshalls. And believe it or not, I get several basics each year at JC Penney...by no means uber classy, but it works for me.

2. Furniture Shop- I wouldn't say this really applies to me currently. I love shopping resale shops and antique stores, my home style would probably lean towards a preppy-Martha Stewart-eastern seaboard meets KY-country style. Which sounds weird. But trust....it will be beautiful.

3. City- I've not been to many cities. I love Louisville. Nashville has an awesome vibe. The Atlanta skyline is gorgeous. I'm dying to visit Chicago and NYC.

4. Sweet- Cheesecake, chocolate cake, various pies, sour-gummy-sweet things.

5. Drink- Coca-Cola, Dr. Pepper and lately: Sprite.

6. Music- Dixie Chicks are my favorite everything. Lately I've been playing my Election 08-Road to Victory mix (yes, I made a playlist and named it this) so lots of Stevie Wonder (signed sealed delivered), Bruce Springsteen (the rising), and The Beatles (here comes the sun)

7. TV- One Tree Hill and Grey's Anatomy. Everything on TLC, I'm most recently (and sadly) obsessed with The Duggars. As well as The Rachel Maddow Show, Countdown with Keith Olbermann, Election Center with Campbell Brown and Anderson Cooper's AC360.

8. Film- I can appreciate art. I can watch a lot of stuff. But if I'm picking just for fun I'll always pick a cheesy chick flick or some documentary.

9. Workout- I go for a lot of walks. That's the only workout I can be diligent about. I need to walk the labrador more often, he could use the energy expenditure.

10. Pastries- I enjoy donuts. Chocolate Covered, Cream Filled Long Johns to be precise.

11. Coffee- toffee nut frappucinos, white chocolate mochas, caramel machiato.

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Let's see, what else?

Oh yeah.

I made a chocolate chip cookie cake this weekend. And this pumpkin pie dessert-y thing. I only have a photo of the cookie cake:



I'm not defending my decorating skills. I shall only point out I wanted lots of icing on it. Because seriously, that's the best part.

(I may have been hormonal and craving sweets all weekend long. So sue me.)

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I know some of you may be avoiding my blog like the plague lately. I'm sorry if you are. But there is only a week until this election. Until then, I'll leave you with this disclaimer.

What did she cook this time?

The Pioneer Woman's No Knead Rolls!



These things were freaking fantastic. If you like carbs, that is. If you have the slightest problem with the C word, you might want to stay away.

Seriously easy as far as bread goes, it took only one pan:



I let them rise in the oven, which I'd warmed and turned off, since the house was otherwise freezing:



But the best part was learning you can keep the dough in the fridge for a couple of days. I had no idea you could do that! Call me ignorant in the ways of dough.

I made two pans today, which we ate...too many to even mention. And I have the rest of the dough in the fridge. I plan to use it over the weekend.

Between the cinnamon rolls and the dinner rolls, this was my week of coming to terms with the big scary thing I call YEAST. I was always afraid of kneading properly, killing the yeast, ruining entire recipes. But I think I'm ready to purchase a large can of the stuff to have on hand now.

And maybe a treadmill or something to counteract the carbs.

Cinnamon Rolls

First, the cinnamon rolls. Excuse the crappy quality.





Second: A food survey, for fun. I hope you all play along.

My favorite non important question to ask someone is 'what did you have for dinner last night'. I am a person obsessed. Always have been. But I love to hear about what other people eat. Because sometimes it's so different from the things I grew up having in my house. Or other times it's terribly similar. So, as a play on my favorite question I hope you all will join me in filling out a little survey. So I can quench my 'what you had for dinner' thirst.

What did you have for dinner last night, or tonight? I made sweet and sour chicken. Marinated cubed chicken breasts in cornstarch/soy sauce mixture, fried with a little oil, drained the chicken, served with homemade sweet and sour sauce, white rice and slices of fresh carrots, onions and green peppers along with chunks of pineapple.

What was your favorite meal as a child? Pepper steak. I still don't know how my Mom made it, but the recipe came from my Dad's father. It involved strips of steak, rice, soy sauce, green peppers and bean sprouts. I used to request it for every birthday dinner.

You favorite place to grab a bite to eat? Cheddars has the best burger ever. The only burger I openly crave on a habitual basis. So probably there if I'm sitting down for lunch somewhere. And I would be in serious trouble if Louisville had a Chipotle like Lexington does.

Something you or your family makes that you've never heard of anyone else making: Lots of people make goulash, but nobody makes ours. It's sort of a Hungarian Goulash, but a little different. Again, another of my Dad's father's recipes. We also used to stop at Kroger late in the evenings and pick up thinly sliced corned beef or pastrami, and swiss cheese from the deli, spicy brown mustard, sauerkraut and marble rye bread and have these New York style deli sandwiches. Since my Dad's father grew up in New York City he always made sandwiches like those for his kids. He used to pack my Dad pastrami sandwiches for lunch with squares of baklava for a dessert.

What are you most likely to snack on? I love dry roasted sunflower seeds, pistachios, edamame. I also have a serious weakness for chips, anything but plain. And limes with salt.

Do you call it Coke, Pop, or Soda? Coke. Coke. Coke. Anything else is wrong.

Your favorite dessert is.... birthday cake, ben & jerrys ice cream

If you were hosting a dinner party at your house, what are you most likely to make? Probably a lasagna with garlic bread and a huge salad. Definitely something that is crowd friendly and involves minimal pans.

Italian, Chinese, Mexican? Which one is your favorite? My mom would say Mexican, my brother would say Chinese, I would have to go with Italian. I like chinese food, but I couldn't eat it all the time. I'm not a huge fan of beans or spicy things. Italian is very comforting and filling.

Favorite celebrity chef(s)? Paula Deen, Ina Garten and Giada de Laurentiis. Although if I had to pick a favorite of the three I've mapped out a strategy. Giada does Italian, Paula does Southern food, Ina does it all and with just as much butter...so she'd have to win.

Favorite cookbook? The Joy of Cooking is a nice reference book. If I'm in the middle of a recipe and it's not going so well the Joy of Cooking always has a comparable recipe to help me out.

Favorite 'weird' food? I love brussels sprouts, a lot. I've been known to eat a few slices of pickled bologna. I like clam strips. Fried cauliflower, after it's gotten cold in the fridge.

Food you won't touch with a ten foot pole: fennel, onions in most things, oysters, black beans, black olives, most pork.

Coconut Cream Pie

I like pie. A lot. I would say on a scale of desserty goodness, pie ranks right up there in my book. Above cookies, but just below birthday cake. But I especially like baking and creating pies. I think there is a very simple reason for this: pies are a lot less science-y than cookies or cake.

It's true, if you really get to thinking about it. Forget baking powder or soda, or you know...anything, and a cake or cookie can become a gigantic FAIL. But pie? A little more room for error.

My mother came into my room early Saturday morning telling me some story about Barack Obama and pie. I was only half listening, nodding into my pillow and drowning out her words to be completely honest. But something about that pie story stuck in my head, specifically the coconut cream part.

So before you know it, I'm standing in the kitchen on a Sunday evening stirring custard (which I've NEVER EVEN ATTEMPTED BEFORE) and toasting coconut.

I think the results were pretty damn awesome.

I based my recipe on this one, modifying slightly due to a lack of half and half.

• 3 cups milk
  
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cup flaked coconut, toasted
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 (9 inch) pie shell, baked
• 1 cup frozen whipped topping, thawed

1. Blind bake a pie crust. I had a frozen Mrs. Smith crust in the freezer. When using frozen you want to thaw it out, prick the bottom with a fork, place a piece of foil filled with dry beans or rice in it, and bake for about 12-15 minutes at 375 degrees.

2. Place milk, sugar, eggs, flour, salt and into saucepan. Bring to boil on low heat, stirring quite frequently.

3. Remove from heat, add 1 cup of toasted coconut to mixture and 1 tsp of vanilla extract. Pour into baked pie crust. Chill in fridge for 3-4 hours.

4. Top with tons of whipped cream and remainder of toasted coconut.

(Toast 1 1/2 cups of coconut by placing on a cookie sheet and baking for 5-7 minutes at 350 degrees. Stir a few times during baking.)

Recipes

Apple Butter:

I based this recipe on one I found online at a crockpotting blog. I've never really eaten much apple butter, but my Dad loves it, so I figured if anyone would know if this was good or not it would be him. He loved it, so I'll share it.

3 pounds of whatever apples you love (I imagine you could do as many apples as you'd like, but I had a 3 pound bag on hand)
1 bag of those cubed melty caramels
1 tablespoon of vanilla extract
2 tsp of cinnamon
a few dashes of cloves
1/2 cup of white sugar

Core and slice 3 pounds of apples, add vanilla, place in crockpot on low and cook overnight. (8 hours)

Wake up to a wonderful apple smell.

Smash the cooked apples with a fork. Or some fancy masher if you are so inclined. We aren't that upscale around these parts.

Add cinnamon, cloves (I only used a dash because I hate when cloves overpower anything, but if you love feel free to add more), sugar and an entire bag of those caramels. (I only used 16 caramels thinking it might be too many. HA, go for the WHOLE BAG, trust me...it can handle it.)

Turn on high and cook for a couple of hours with the lid OFF.

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Pumpkin Roll

• 1/4 cup powdered sugar (to sprinkle on towel)
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup granulated sugar
• 2/3 cup pumpkin
  

Filling:

1 pkg. (8 oz.) cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup powdered sugar, sifted

6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Powdered sugar (optional for decoration)

FOR CAKE:
PREHEAT oven to 375° F. Grease 15 x 10-inch jelly-roll pan; line with wax paper. Grease and flour paper. Sprinkle a thin, cotton kitchen towel with powdered sugar.

COMBINE flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves and salt in small bowl. Beat eggs and granulated sugar in large mixer bowl until thick. Beat in pumpkin. Stir in flour mixture. Spread evenly into prepared pan.

BAKE for 13 to 15 minutes or until top of cake springs back when touched. (If using a dark-colored pan, begin checking for doneness at 11 minutes.) Immediately loosen and turn cake onto prepared towel. Carefully peel off paper. Roll up cake and towel together, starting with narrow end. Cool on wire rack.

FOR FILLING:
beat cream cheese, 1 cup powdered sugar, butter and vanilla extract in small mixer bowl until smooth. Carefully unroll cake. Spread cream cheese mixture over cake. Reroll cake. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least one hour. Sprinkle with powdered sugar before serving, if desired.

I used Libbys Pumpkin Pie Filling for the pumpkin in this. If you are unfamiliar, it's pumpkin with the necessary spices already in it. So I just did 2/3 of it, and didn't have to add the spices. But, do whatever works best for you.

And for those who think I'm cheating by using canned pumpkin: MARTHA uses canned pumpkin. That makes it okay. ;)

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I also made a chocolate cheesecake, but now I can't find the recipe. Oops.

I've decided the ONLY good thing about cooler weather is the baking. But the baking is bad for my heart and my thighs. So logically this proves my theory that moving to South Florida will prolong my lifespan.

What are you people baking? Have any good recipes or blogs to point me to? I have a long weekend ahead of me and my neighbors are starting to expect goodies.

Scenes from a Saturday

*I did the sewing on the quilt block by hand and by myself. Needless to say, lots of patting myself on the back has gone on this evening.
*Happy Birthday Dad & Madonna.
*The cake was strawberry, not my fave but my Dad is a big fan.
*My brother thinks he wants to grow his hair out and find out at what length it becomes curly. The ends are curling as of recent, but the rest is still thick and fro like. I'm none to pleased, but somebody has to document this ridiculousness.

Little Gems

I myself have never made a lasagna. I've seen my Mom do it dozens of times, but if I'm going to do Italian I usually go with spaghetti or fettucini instead. This week at the grocery I happened upon those Barilla Lasagna noodles that you don't have to boil first....HELLO, that is so up my alley. I bought some non-tainted beef, a shitload of mozzarella, a little pasta sauce and some ricotta and away I went.

Oh my word...so worth my time.


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Can we discuss my mom for a minute? Specifically my mom and her dog?

Good. Okay, so I took these last night after dinner, so I could illustrate that when I say this dog is my mother's baby...I am so not lying.

I've seen a picture like this before, in it my mother is holding ME.



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Finally a little money saving tip:

I saw all of this while I was in Walmart the other night, but when it was listed on MoneySavingMom.com this morning, I remembered to share it with everyone else. I haven't seen school supplies this cheap in several years, but it's a good time to go stock up on stuff. Whether you are in school right now or not, everyone can enjoy paper and crayons. Just saying.

Crayola Crayons (24 ct.) were 25 cents
Rose Art crayons (24 ct) were 17 cents
one subject notebooks were 5 cents
2 pocket folders were 15 cents
Elmers school glue was 22 cents
Crayola colored pencils (12 ct) were 88 cents

Cookbook Roundup

A post at Devin's Blog got me thinking about the essential cookbooks in my kitchen. I love to cook. I remember being in middle school and thinking I'd never, ever learn how to cook because I had an uncle who said I should because it's a "womans job". Thankfully I got over it. Gender roles aside, I've embraced my domesticity as the years have gone by.

Here are a few cookbooks that have never ceased to fail me:

My mom has had this Betty Crocker cookbook for years and years. I can recall not even being in school yet and thumbing through this cookbook. It's got a section for everything imaginable: appetizers, soups, salads, condiments, pork, chicken, beef, fish, cookies, cakes, candy...etc. I think every kitchen needs a good all around cookbook and this is a great candidate. Not to mention it was recently updated, and I've seen dozens of the updated versions sitting in the clearance sections of Borders and Barnes and Noble.

The Joy of Cooking is another fantastic all around cookbook. Everything you'd ever want to make is found within the nearly 1000 pages of this book. There are directions for cooking any cut of meat, any way you want to do it. Just the other day this book helped me figure out how to pan broil a ribeye on a rainy day when the grill wouldn't start. Which is why it's in my kitchen. When I'm in doubt, or crisis, this is the book I grab.

Let's be honest here: no respectable southern kitchen is complete without Paula Deen. I have her "Celebrates" version because it was a Christmas present, but I think her box set of the original Lady and Sons is the real essential Paula Deen. She has such simple recipes that are incredibly easy to follow, which I love. But really, it's the copious amounts of butter that make me love these cookbooks more.

There are a few things food-wise that I hate. Any side of pork that isn't bacon or barbeque, huge chunks of onions and salmon patties. I also hate making cakes from scratch. Oh I can do it. I've done it several times before, thinking they would somehow be a million times tastier. They aren't. I say the only way they are different is the trouble it takes to make them. Which is why this little book is my lifeline. Each recipe starts with a basic cake mix, which you doctor up to make an incredible cake. Then you add one of the zillion incredible frosting recipes and VOILA...Cake. I couldn't live without this one.

When I'm not consulting cookbooks I'm consulting websites. In fact, anymore I consult websites more than cookbooks. I guess that's only natural. Here are my favorites:

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/

http://www.workitmom.com/bloggers/orderingdisorder/

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/cooking/

Inspire me, what are your favorites?

Photo of the Day

I'm not lying when I say this plate of sweet and sour chicken and lo mein was the most exciting part of my day.

I'm not complaining

My Key Lime Pie

Big white sail, red sunset

Lobster tail and don't forget

My, my, my - my key lime pie

--Kenny Chesney

One of my favorite pies is Key Lime. I believe it's my inner Jimmy Buffett to which I owe this one. And one of my favorite memories ever is eating Key Lime Pie on the beach this past summer.

The other night I was watching "Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives" on Food Network. The diner he visited that night was famous for their Key Lime Pies and I salivated as the woman making the pie remarked on the "copious amounts of whip cream" she puts on her version to offset its tartness.

For some reason the thought of copious amounts of whip cream stuck with me. However the idea of making my own pie never crossed my mind until today, when this magazine (another freebie, by the way!) showed up in my mailbox.

I immediately flipped through to the back and found the recipe. It was easy: using only 1 can of sweetened condensed milk, 1/2 cup of key lime juice and 3 egg yolks, which you bake for 15 minutes and chill. However I'm not crazy about merengue.

But HELLO, no problem! How could I forget? Insert COPIOUS AMOUNTS OF WHIP CREAM.

Tada.

Because She Loses Motivation Quite Often

So I haven't talked diet in a while. I suppose I have done that thing where I let life sidetrack my progress. And despite my efforts to jump back on the bandwagon I'm sad to admit it just hasn't happened yet. I think it's just easy and complacent to sit back and not pop in that workout DVD or spend time on the elliptical or drive 3 minutes to the park.

And that's where I'm at: complacency.

Most of the time I'm okay with being a Size 16 American. I really am. I don't think it's productive to spend time in this life, as short as it is, hating my body or the way I look. And it sounds ridiculous but I can't imagine myself with a skinny body, I just don't think it's built to be that way. However I do wish things more more toned up. Namely the flabbiness on my stomach and hips. Other than that, my legs are fairly strong (all that flip flop walking ;) ), I don't hate my arms and I'm fine with my face. Which is why my refusal to hop back into the working out thing pisses me off. I know that just a little everyday will go a long way to making me feel better and more in shape.

I bought myself 2 dresses on Tuesday. They are cotton, from Target and totally comfortable and cute. They are casual dresses, the kind you just throw on with a pair of flip flops and walk out the door. Along with the other things I've bought and the stuff I already owned I'm really loving my Spring/Summer wardrobe.

And to tell you the truth, I'd actually hate to lose a ton of weight and not fit into any of it! But if it all just fit a little more comfortably that would be awesome.

Which is why, starting next week, when I'll have 12 weeks until we leave for Savannah and Sanibel, I'm going to stop the cokes, eat 300 less calories per day (which honestly is, at the very least, my coke intake) and work out 3-5 days a week. Hopefully I'll be able to lose a pound or two each week and by the time we leave out of that driveway for Savannah I'll feel more fit and ready for that walking ghost tour and later, our time on the beach.

Ross Mathews from the Tonight Show really inspired me a couple weeks ago when he talked about the "little changes that add up" in terms of weight loss. Get moving, eat less and a pound or two a week is possible.

I can do it.

I just need to get more vigilant and motivated about it.

So I found out that the Coach Outlet in Fort Myers, right before you hop on the Sanibel Causeway, is having a "Super Saturday Sale" the day I roll into town. If I stick to my guns on this weight loss thing I've told myself I can get another purse in Fort Myers.

Seriously, I think I found my motivation.

The CJ Reads My Mind

http://www.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080318/NEWS01/803180383

Organic

I've been thinking a lot about the significance of organic. It started with biscuits.

I woke up on Friday with the express purpose of baking biscuits. I'd tried it once before, a couple years ago, to miserable results. I'd lived up to every expectation passed on from my mother....they were hard as rocks and the dogs wouldn't even look at them. Despite the disaster, I always felt if given a different recipe and sometime to properly prepare myself by researching oh....Paula Deen, that I could accomplish fluffy biscuits to the surprise of my Father and chagrin of my mother. She's never figured out biscuits, even though she makes a mean sausage gravy.

So that is how I found myself in the Baking Aisle at Valumarket, staring down the flour while Dan Kelty's daughter eyed me suspiciously. I had a serious look on my face, I'm sure it seemed odd. I picked up my usual flour, a natural unbleached white flour that doesn't have preservatives in it. Preservatives give Mom migraines and we've been trying to avoid them. However, from the corner of my eye I caught a package of flour that was ORGANIC. I panicked. Organic is good for us, right? That's what all the talk is. Buy Organic!!

But I love my flour, even if it isn't organic. And I was conflicted. So I placed MY flour in my cart and picked up the Organic one. There was nothing. Just ingredients: Wheat. Nothing explained that it was unbleached. No seals promised it's Organic-ness. Nothing.

So I walked away from the Organic Flour. Has Organic become a buzzword in the Supermarket industry? Stick Organic on it and you can suddenly charge an arm and a leg for it?

All of this organic thought got me further thinking about Milk. With the price of Milk skyrocketing as it is, and the fact that the household I live in currently goes through 2 gallons in about a week and a half I'll be the first to admit that aside from a small individual carton every now and then, our house does not buy Organic Milk.

Organic Milk is typically close to $4 per 1/2 gallon. Which would mean in a week and halfs time my parents would spend $16 of their money on Organic Milk. That is kind of nuts.

So I started researching about Organic Milk. Most of it (Horizon and Organic Valley) are Ultra-Pasteurized. Which means it's Pasteurized at a higher temperature to make its shelf life longer. Supposedly this is so it can be shipped from farther away in less shipments. Ultra Pasteurization makes the milk taste different than what you are used to. And it creeps me out that Horizon Milk can be left on a shelf forever until you refrigerate it.

But what is Organic Milk? Basically 2 things: no Bovine Growth Hormone was administered in the cow and it was not given Antibiotics.

Well. I could care less about antibiotics. And something tells me the person buying Organic Milk probably takes their kid to the doctor too much anyway and it's always on the drugs.

However the rBGH does freak me out just a bit. There are studies involving it and various cancers. It and young girls going through puberty sooner and sooner. I get the freak out over that one. Which is why Kroger and various other retailers began in February stopping the sale of milk that contained rBGH. So all of the milk options available at Kroger are free of this hormone anyway. And I imagine this is just the first of many.

Which of course brings me to the sustainability part of it all. We should buy local and support local farms. I get that, I really do. Except Kentucky is not at the forefront of sustainability. Rebekah Grace Farms has made their way into Valumarket stores and I am planning on purchasing a half gallon of their unhomogenized milk occasionally to support the efforts. But other than that you just don't see much of it.

However, milk talk always leads to egg talk which is why...

While I was at it, I found out that Free Range Eggs just mean the Chicken has access to a place to roam. It doesn't actually have to mean they let the chicken do it. However they feel free to jack up the price because of the "access". Yeah, tell that to the next person who acts like they are a saint for buying them.

So I've come up with my own manifesto on it all.

• I vow to purchase produce because it's closer to me, not because it's labeled organic. Organic fruit from the South of Chile really isn't better than non organic fruit from Florida.
• I vow to grow my own produce, as much as I can this summer, to offset. What I can't grow I plan on finding at Farmer's Markets.
• I vow to continue purchasing my "Bad Milk" even though it's bad. Because I don't care for ultra-pasteurization or high prices. However, I do plan on purchasing the local milk every now and then. Call it a treat.
• I vow to not care about buzzwords. Organic Mac and Cheese from a Box is really not better for me than Mac and Cheese made with the stuff from my own pantry and refrigerator. And mine will taste better.
• I vow, for the love of god, to stop thinking Free Range means a damn thing in regards to eggs.

My new definition of ORGANIC: anything made from my own two hands without the help of shortcuts and 3rd parties.

And by the way my organic biscuits were fabulous. Much to my mother's chagrin.

Weekend Update

Accomplished: One week of made from scratch meals. Including:

• Baked Chicken with Saffron Rice and Brussel Sprouts
• Sweet and Sour Chicken with White Rice
• Ribeyes with Salad and Fried Cauliflower
• Breakfast for Dinner
• Pot Roast with Carrots and Potatoes (and a salad)
• Cube Steaks with French Fries
• Pizza

Accomplished: Biscuits from scratch. My mother can't even make biscuits from scratch. But I can! Mwahahaha....

Not-So-Accomplished: Rice Crispie Treats. Apparently I don't do well with the simple dishes.

Next Big Thing: Quilting. I actually just came up with this one. But I'm intrigued. My grandmother and great grandmother quilted. Perhaps I can do. Or it'll go the way of every other crafty hobby I've tried, which is...not so great.

Still on the Fence: Milk. I can't figure it out. Is Organic worth it? What about Local, but not organic milk? What about store milk that doesn't come from rBGH Cows? Oh so confusing.

Not Accomplished: My Costco trip. I'm still dying to go, maybe next weekend.

Accomplished: Easter Candy buying.

Not Accomplished: Avoiding eating it until next Sunday.