What's Cooking July 2022 Part 2

Things have been a little slower. I've been a little blah. Not feeling much like cooking but still feel like eating.

Some deliciousness:

I made ice cream because what we made at cooking camp was so good. We only got a small spoonful and I wanted more. I looked at one of my books, The Perfect Scoop and decided on malted milk ice cream.

It's very creamy, very rich and a little goes a long way. It also stayed creamy in the freezer, no iciness.

More treats - oatmeal cookie sandwiches. I've had these pinned for a while but they seemed hard. One morning I woke up, it was dark and stormy so it was time for a cookie project. They aren't really difficult to make! I like that they can all be baked at once. I have cookie scoops so got the correct size and made the amount stated in the recipe.

I made recipes so I'd have leftovers to avoid cooking every day.

Pizza, this is a sturdy dough and I made two very big pizzas topped with sausage, mushrooms, banana peppers, roasted red peppers, red sauce, parmesan, mozzarella. Fresh basil once cooked.

Husband went to Greenville for a couple days so I had pizza, cookies (sent some with him), stroganoff meatballs with mashed potatoes (freezer find), steak salad, popcorn. I was not in a huge cooking mood.

Once he got home, still not feeling the cooking and needed to grocery shop so Easy Quiche Lorraine for pre shopping. Freezer - already made crusts, bacon. Fridge - leeks (keep forever), gruyere, eggs, milk. Dinner and breakfast meals.

Salmon (freezer) sauteed on the stove with asparagus risotto (last of Costco asparagus) with pantry items ( chicken broth, arborio, parmesan).

When planning for shopping, still not overjoyed with the idea of cooking. Maybe it's too hot? But one of the salads from cooking camp sounded perfect. Greek wedge salad with added roasted shrimp (freezer shrimp).

Bread is always good for me. This was pretty easy and made enough for dinner, breakfast and croutons for future uses.

Focaccia for breakfast - pretty fancy Sunday brunch plan. Toasted the focaccia, after splitting, under the broiler to crisp both sides. Browned some Canadian bacon and made some over easy eggs.

Made a quick cheese sauce - melt 2 tablespoons butter, add 2 tablespoons flour, cook about 2 minutes, add 1 1/2 cups milk and a heaping spoonful of Dijon mustard. Whisk and thicken over medium heat, add about a cup of shredded sharp cheddar cheese. Taste for salt and pepper.

Assemble - focaccia, bacon, egg, sauce. Sliced tomatoes on the side.

My friend Jonathan gave me a recipe for goat cheese pasta and it was delicious.

Comfort food time too. Really any food can be comfort food depending on my mood. French chicken stew with planned leftovers.

What else has been going on? I visited a friend who is having some serious health issues and took oatmeal cookies. She was grateful but it turns out they're her husband's favorite. We had a wonderful visit and chat.

Since husband was away for three days that meant party time for me and the cats. And party time meant steam cleaning the bedroom carpet. I did half one day moving half the furniture and greatly disturbing the cats. Let dry overnight and did the other half the next day.

Cats are not overly open to change so the nightstand in the bathroom was concerning and the lamp in the living room was just too much chaos! They were exhausted from stress the third day.

My shadow cat/yoga/blogging buddy.

The International Quilt Museum had a fund raiser for Ukraine and I got one of the mini quilts. The quilts were kept until after July 4th so mine just arrived and I love it. I need to get a hanger for it but it's down in my craft room waiting.

I need to spend some time in the craft room away from cats. Starting soon.

Normal things - haircut, grocery shopping, menu planning (still love Plan to Eat), bird feeding and watering, plants on deck having a hard time in the heat. Pepper plants in the front yard have leaves chomped off, not looking good. Sharing with wildlife.

Upcoming appointments - retina doctor, dentist, ophthalmologist. Still meditating daily and really believe that it has helped my sleep at night. I use the Ten Percent Happier app and like the variety - anxiety, relaxation, stress, simple breathing, sleep.

I don't always like the podcasts because some of the professionals are able to focus on retreats, meditating and quiet in structured spaces with not much real world interaction. And that's not my life. But do like many of the guided meditations.