I did have a non Asian meal Tuesday night for "whatever" while my husband was at a meeting.  I had to use up my groceries from the weekend since I bought things that my husband does not like.  He was away at a woodworking something in somewhere, maybe Ohio, so I took advantage and bought things I like. 

He likes almost everything but for some reason is opposed to things that start with an "A" and are green. So I bought asparagus, artichoke hearts, avocados for my dinners.  I had just the asparagus left.

Last night I had a meeting at 6:00 with a potential new client so I knew I wanted a quick meal when I got home.  I thought it would be about 7:30 or so.  I prepped things before I left so just had to stir fry when I got home.  Again we had fast food!

We had Pork with Spinach and Noodles.  The trusty wok is getting more seasoned with each use and is quick cleaning also.

Tonight's meal has ground lamb, edamame, cilantro, tomatoes and I think I'll use rice noodles to keep things different.  Monday we had rice, Wednesday  fresh wheat noodles so today will be rice noodles.  Still using Nancie's Sitr Fry cookbook.  I need to drop her a note and tell her how wonderful she is.  

And the potential new client?  I'm cooking for this new family on Tuesday.  Life is good! 

It was raining when we got up and showed no signs of stopping.  It slowed or got heavy, luckily no tornadoes or wind, but the rain never stopped.  

No problem.  I pulled out my heavy, cast iron, Lodge skillet and grilled indoors.  A simple meal of tuna and zucchini with Penzey's Greek seasoning and smashed, tiny, Yukon Gold potatoes.  

I did the zucchini first, it's good at room temperature.  I brushed the grill with oil, let it get hot and on went the zucchini.  I do have a down draft and had that on high in case of smoke. 

The zucchini looks great and tasted great also. 

Once the zucchini slices were cooked, I put the tuna on.  I like my tuna pretty rare, my husband likes medium, so his went on first. 

The potatoes were smashed and dinner was excellent. 

I've been at my desk now for several hours and it's time to move.  I am ready for two potential client meetings this evening.  One for a cooking class, one for a family service.  Life is great! 

Luckily I had leftover lasagna and it was delicious.  I used a new recipe, basic with meat sauce, spinach, mushrooms, ricotta and mozzarella from the cookbook One Big Table by Molly O'Neil.  A nice cookbook to cook from and to read. 

Sunday I was better rested and decided to go for the burgers for dinner.  I bought some okra while shopping so burgers and okra on the grill.

In addition to the provolone cheese that was going on the burgers, I needed lots of other stuff last night so found some lettuce, tomato and dill pickles.  My husband expressed concern that I would actually be able to take a bite of my burger, but he used the same ingredients because they looked so good. 

On Saturday I took some applesauce out of the freezer since I needed something to go with the burgers.  A nice additional side.

Tonight a new recipe, Braised Summer Vegetables.  I was going to just do vegetables but will add some salmon too so I'll have leftovers for dinner tomorrow for me.  I have been craving vegetables. 

I try and use Monday as a office day for my personal chef business and have done pretty well today.  I went to Jazzercise at 7:15, then home for some cereal and a shower before heading to a client meeting.  All went well there and I'll be cooking for a new family next Wednesday. 

Back home to throw in a load of laundry and do the blog. While at my desk I talked with a personal assistant to see how my service might help with her client family.  We talked, I sent some sample menus and she'll talk with the family to see what might work. 

A good morning of work! 

In my life that means making new recipes.  I was going to make macarons and a new chicken casserole.  I had almost all of the ingredients since I shopped Sunday with the plan.  I was missing some corn tortillas but could just run to the store for that one thing.  Of course it would have been nice had I remembered yesterday while at the store shopping for my customer day but that didn't happen. 

So after Jazzercise and laundry I decided to start the cookies.  There are several steps, I have all day with a short break at 1:30 to participate in a conference call.  I learned that I should have read the recipe yesterday so I could have separated the eggs and let the whites age in the refrigerator for 24 hours.  Okay, done with the cookie recipe!

I decided I would run out for the tortillas.  I do not like to run out for one thing and I was kind of disturbed but then I remembered that I needed my eye drop prescription refilled.  Yay, multi purposes!  I headed to Super Target, stopped at the pharmacy and then went to get tortillas.  Got distracted by nail polish and stopped to look at new colors.

I do not polish my nails but do need to have cute toes.  I picked up a pretty bottle of black licorice colored polish and a nice olive green.  Can't wait to change!  I still had some time so I thought I'd just browse the ice cream.  I like to keep it in the freezer, we were getting low. 

Some very interesting new flavors that Ben and Jerry have come out with.  Picked up enough that the cashier was wondering what I was doing!  I did however get my eye drops. 

Back home to clean off a shelf in the freezer for ice cream, move that corn.  Decided to do a blog entry, now have to get laundry in the dryer, prepare for my class tomorrow evening and yes, make a new chicken casserole recipe for dinner.  

I always have a plan, I just sometimes take the long way instead of the direct path! 

I started Monday with a trip to a store to do some work for KitchenAid.  It's not close, but I love my KitchenAid work and the people are nice also.  Round trip 65 miles.  One home I had a late lunch, it was 3 and then headed out to a new client meeting.  Charlie wanted to hire me to cook for his mom.  We had a good meeting and decided what I would cook on Wednesday.  Round trip 46 miles. 

Tuesday I had a library program to do in Jackson, Georgia.  Yes it is far, but I went last year and the program coordinator Libby is very nice and the kids are great too.  We made 3 kinds of wraps, the kids helped. 

First wrap - turkey, cream cheese with sun dried tomatoes, basil, lettuce, tomatoes.  Good basil from the garden.

Second wrap - chicken, chilies, tomatoes, cilantro, green onions, I cooked while the kids made wraps. 

Third wrap - sauteed bananas, brown sugar, ice cream.

Thanks to help from the group, we were ready to eat in about 45 minutes.  Line up and enjoy!

I got home about 9 pm, round trip 144 miles.  I told you it was far.

Wednesday I headed out to cook for Julia.  This is a new customer and she was very nice.  She had some chicken and black bean enchiladas for lunch while I was cooking and said she enjoyed them and enjoyed watching me cook.  Love my job! Round trip 45 miles. 

Thursday I cooked for Barbara and Tom.  I enjoy great bird watching while I cook for them.  Tom and I talk about birds, Barbara and I talk about our animals and knitting.  Another great day!  Round trip 50 miles. 

Today I just took some roast chicken breasts from the oven so I can make chicken tabbouleh for a meal for a family at church.  And also for us.  Great cool meal from Cooking Light. 

Chicken and Feta Tabbouleh Cooking Light July 2009

I have a call scheduled for 11 to talk with someone about doing a cooking demo at their office.  I have a call at 1 to talk about my Cook's Warehouse classes for October, November and December.  And I might get to the bank.  Round trip today 7 miles!

This was a week of catching up after camp last week.  I made some dinners for us, spent a few hours working for KitchenAid, had a client on Wednesday, a haircut on Thursday morning (much needed) and lunch with Leslie on Thursday.

Leslie is a neighbor of a client and wants to be a personal chef.  Leslie and I talked on the phone, we met at the goat farm and she wanted to take me to lunch to thank me for helping her.  Isn't that nice?  We met at Ten Bistro and had a nice lunch.  I went with the grilled vegetable sandwich and fries, a mix of sweet potato and regular.  

Today so far I've done a little desk work.  I am preparing for a bridal shower cooking class on July 9th.  I'm just getting some paperwork organized, the party count should come in the next day or so.  

I need to plan our menu for the next week.  I have to have burgers on the grill one day this weekend.  I have a meeting tonight with a possible new client so that's exciting. I have the wall paper glue to take off if I have time!  I have to think about that.  

We did have a good dinner on Wednesday.  It was supposed to be Monday's dinner but on Monday when I read the recipe so I could start dinner, I just wasn't in the mood.  Too much work!  We went out  for dinner. 

I did make the Monday meal on Wednesday and it was good but not a middle of the week dish in my opinion.  I did some of the work on Tuesday - charring peppers but still had several steps on Wednesday.  Again, a good recipe, but make it when you have some time.  I didn't take pictures, too much mess in the kitchen!

Chilies Rellenos Made Easy by Cooking Light June 2011

serves 4

Monday - Asian Inspired, Tuesday Greek Inspired, Wednesday Italian Inspired.

Tuesday evening I attended a tea presentation at Le Cordon Bleu.  Lisa Richardson gave the presentation on the history and benefits of tea with a tasting.  She is an expert and you can find her at www.lisaknowstea.com.  I learned a lot.

Wednesday we had a small challenge tossed to us but we handled it well.  Good Day Atlanta on Fox Atlanta wanted to film live segments at The Cook's Warehouse and they wanted the kid's cooking in one of the segments.  Not a problem!

Thursday the kids have a cooking competition, create their own recipes and present them to guest judges.  Another challenge handled well. 

And the winners are The Cuisine Queens!

Friday the kids invited guests for lunch and they cooked for about 40 people.  Another challenge met with no problems.

After a great lunch Friday I went to a client's home to cook a small dinner party.  The two couples decided to treat themselves while the kids were away at camp. They met at 1:00 at the pool, I served appetizers at the pool at 7:00.  They came in at 8:00 for salad and dinner of Thai Coconut Curry Grouper, Cashew Rice and Roasted Asparagus.  They wanted to relax before dessert of Blueberry Cobbler ready to be served with fresh whipped cream.  I left at 9:00 and was ready to rest.

Saturday was a wonderful lunch with many of my chef friends.  I had a great week and can't wait to see what happens next week! I love what I do and the variety I have in my work life.

In addition to eating the goat cheese that I got at the goat farm, which did take some time and I'm still in process of eating it, I have been working some. Last Friday I taught an in-home cooking class to a woman who is due with her first baby at the end of July. She wanted to learn some techniques and some quick weekday meals.  Also maybe something she could have stashed in the freezer in anticipation of the baby's arrival. 

We spent several hours using a chef knife, braising, sauteeing, broiling and roasting. She had several meals when I left and a lot more confidence in her abilities. Love that!

I had nothing scheduled for last Saturday and Sunday which is kind of odd so we made plans to go to Greenville and see the grandchildren. We were headed to Crissy's house and her husband had just had ankle surgery so I said I was happy to cook and bring the meal since I had an empty Saturday.

I had given them a personal chef service before the baby was born and they both loved the meatballs stroganoff.  And the brownies. Saturday morning after Jazzercise I made the stroganoff  and brownies and then our breakfast. 

A week ago, my husband bought me a new cookbook,that he had signed by the author.The title is Southern Biscuits by Nathalie Dupree and Cynthia Graubart. Once dinner for Sunday was done I whipped up some biscuits, sausage and eggs for Saturday brunch.  Lots of cooking! 

We had errands to do Saturday with the main stop Costco so were pretty busy. Not to worry though, we had reservations for dinner Saturday night. 

We ate at JCT Kitchens and had a great meal.  We shared an appetizer special of Suckling Pig Cannelloni, had salads, I had a flounder special, a delicious meal. 

Sunday a trip to Greenville with our cooler loaded.  Everyone enjoyed stroganoff, noodles, salad and brownies. 

Yesterday capped the cooking with an event at Coke.  I was asked to demo some recipes for an event Coke had in conjunction with The American Cancer Society.  I asked how many people were expected and they weren't sure.  They said 5,000 worked in the office and that 2,000 to 3,000 might attend the event!

Too many to cook for on my burners but I didn't have to feed everyone.  I had samples of two recipes for about 220 people.  I was a popular stop in the courtyard where employees of Coke learned about healthy eating, exercise, sun protection, how to stop smoking.  It was sunny and breezy with music and I had a great time.

Today I need to get some groceries for myself, I have my menu done. I also might relax a little. After so much fun I need a little break! 

Saturday evening I taught an in-home cooking class for Adam and his fiancee Melissa. They are getting married in June, he was recently diagnosed with diabetes and they wanted to learn some new recipes. We started at 4:00 and finished at 7:00. It was a family affair since his grandmother and grandfather were visiting to celebrate some graduations. Everyone had a task, Adam worked on pizza dough and stuffed portobello mushrooms, Melissa and grandfather worked on oatmeal cookies and biscuits and everyone pitched in for stir fry.  

Once done the whole family, even those who did not participate, tasted a delicious buffet of food. 

Melissa and grandfather had the tough job of making sure they got the exact number of cookies and biscuits in the recipe so the carb counts would be correct for menu planning.  They did a great job!

Sunday morning I went to church, went to the grocery store for my food for the week, home to make breakfast, throw a load of clothes in and them head to McDonough to visit a dairy goat farm.  It was a nice cool day with no rain. Members of the Culinary Historians of Atlanta and friends learned about meat goats, milk goats, ate goat cheese, goat meat and met some dairy goats. We had a great day. 

If you'd like to learn about dairy goats, goat milk, you can talk to Yvonne Robinson at www.nyrlerealgoats.com for more information. 

Chef Caroline made goat meatballs and goat tenderloin for us to taste and it was delicious.  If you'd like to find out about meat goats, you can contact Helen and Charles Batten at battenwhiteoak.com in Sandersville, GA.  

We also tasted some delicious goat cheese made by Robin Schick of CalyRoad Creamery www.calyroadcreamery.com

Of course I had to get some cheese and this is something I might just make using it. The recipe is good, I've made it before.

Goat Cheese Grits from Cooking Light Magazine April 2009

serves 10

Thursday no one was home when I arrived but Bob did get home right before I left. Once home we finally planted our tomatoes and herbs. I was beginning to think that we would have no tomatoes this year. I hope we get tons! 

I had nothing planned for Friday so told my husband I would be on vacation. That lasted until about 7:30 am when he saw me putting laundry in the washing machine and asked about vacation. I had things to do! After getting laundry in I cleaned a little, went to the bank, the library, and home again maybe to vacation. 

First menu planning for us then a short vacation of reading and some knitting before dinner and a little more reading. Better than no vacation at all. 

This morning I went to Jazzercise at 7:15 and came home to do more laundry and cleaning. I don't like to do too much cleaning at once!  Now relaxing until this afternoon when I get ready for an in-home cooking class with a new customer. He needs to learn some recipes that are more diabetic friendly to fit in with his new eating requirements.  

Tomorrow is a tour of a goat farm.  I will bring my camera and hopefully remember to use it. Enjoy the weekend and take some time to vacation.