What's Cooking December 2022

Bread baking again. I decided to try a recipe from my new book so refreshed my starter and got to work. Tara's class is the first sourdough class I ever took she's so nice and knows so much that I needed to get the book.

I decided on Lunch Box Loaf since I could bake a loaf in one day. The directions are great, the loaf was pretty and delicious, buy a scale.

Since my starter was so refreshed and I had a good amount, I decided to try some sourdough English Muffins. Also good! I did refrigerate the dough overnight. I split the muffins before freezing them.

I bought a gift for myself. Well, for the house I guess. I've been using a grain mill for a while now, it's been good, has stainless grinding plates, I wanted a mill with stones.

There was a sale, I now have this beauty! I used it to mill some grain for the lunch box loaf and am so happy with my purchase. It's a dark green color.

The dirt in the pot to the left is my avocado that finally rooted, maybe it will sprout. Stay tuned.

I tried a new soup recipe and we both enjoyed it. I used kale because we love it but spinach would work, Swiss chard or escarole. Not photogenic. Kale keeps well also.

I'm not sure why I had so very many potatoes, but since I love them, not a problem. I seared some tuna with seasoning, roasted potatoes and green beans. Not exciting but good.

Really a lot of potatoes so I made potato soup. I added the bacon and cheddar to the soup and garnished with chives from the front yard. They generally grow all year.

Working on menu planning to not overbuy produce, not waste food, and work around Christmas. Shopping every two weeks or so still seems to be working.

We had SO many tomatoes still, so I cooked them down with a little olive oil and seasoning and then used the sauce on frozen Costco spinach ravioli. Very good! I can't pass up a giant box of organic grape tomatoes for .99.

Made Scampi with Linguine that I've made many times before, easy and good.

Very good cookies, and if you need gluten free they fit the need.

Other good meals but no pictures:

Mahi Mahi with Thai Coconut Curry Sauce is something I've made for years and love. I adapted it some though - I mix the sauce ingredients together, put the fish in a baking dish, pour the sauce over and roast at 400 until fish flakes. Any fish you like would be good and the sauce over rice is delicious.

Thai Style Ground Beef is very quick and tasty.. I served it with butter lettuce, the leftover rice I had and Trader Joe's scallion pancakes (they are delicious).

On the deck, my deer friend was back to hang out by the fence. I scared her though when I looked over the deck before dumping bird baths. Now I look out the window before going out.

We also had an opossum hang out on the deck one evening. Husband not as excited about our wildlife as I am. I read that they kill snakes, he hates snakes, but he is still not open to the whole wildlife preserve.

I made a trip to Trader Joe's and visited a friend after, I took her some things she wanted from TJs. Also lunch. We chatted for a while, she is pretty ill, very courageous and her faith is amazing. I got potato chips for myself and scallion pancakes that are delicious.

So glad I got brave and went to the knitting group several weeks ago. It's hard to meet new people as an adult and this group is very nice. One of the women hosted a Christmas party on the 14th and there are some good cooks too.

Porch plants are doing well. The kale might grow enough for another harvest, the celery is gorgeous.

Fun adventure was a trip to SCAD to see the Madame Grés exhibit. I had never been to the Atlanta location and as much as I don't dress up, I love design and fabrics. The exhibit is wonderful, I think it's on until June.

Parking is free, the admission was $8 to $10 and even the view from the roof was excellent.

After the exhibit we got lunch to go from Cafe Sababa, another favorite. I had the lamb sandwich, husband had gyro. Everything is great.

Working on menu planning, my Butcher Box comes the 13th so that means I need freezer space. And that means potato soup for another meal, no room in the freezer!

I made space in the freezer by using a container of chicken soup, a container of beef queso and rearranging some. I can coast for a while on cooking!

Grocery shopping on the 19th to make it through I think until the beginning of January.

What's Cooking November 2022 Wrap Up

December! I feel like I've been running to catch up on things but haven't felt that I had a lot going on. Very weird.

Thanksgiving was the two of us and I pretty much forgot to take pictures of our meal. I did not make turkey because I had a pork roast in the freezer. I made Tuscan Pork Roast and it was delicious. Of course stuffing - bread with sausage, celery, onions, parsley, sage. I always need mashed potatoes. I tried a new recipe for cornbread dressing and it was not good. Not linking.

For green I made spinach mornay and it was good. For dessert, no pie! I made maple cheesecake and wow. I did not top it with caramel or whipped cream, I think it was perfect without any topping. And Friday leftovers.

Some new recipes after Thanksgiving - Lazy Pork and Shrimp Wonton soup from the cookbook Cravings. I discovered that I can get cookbooks through the Overdrive app from the library. Love to be able to browse new cookbooks.

The soup was very good, made a ton, I had won ton wrappers left from the egg rolls. And then soup left for another meal where I used some frozen egg rolls. I am on an egg roll craving path.

Because I love mashed potatoes I made SO many. I had leftovers even after leftover Friday. But that meant I could make Potato Croquettes. I've made this recipe many, many times and love it.

I found I had many, many tomatoes so decided to cook several down with a cubanelle pepper, an onion, a zucchini and make a sauce for pasta and salmon. We can always use tomatoes and when they are a good price I buy them.

Another new recipe - crispy coconut chicken tenders with pineapple chili sauce. Also from the Cravings cookbook, also good. Also made a ton so leftovers became part of a big salad.

I'm trying not to add too much more to the freezer but did have two containers of stuffing for future meals. I've been grocery shopping every two weeks but think I will go a little longer this next time.

Apparently I think produce looks good, I buy it and then need to use it. Not a horrible problem, vegetables are good for us, just some menu replanning.

Porch/deck updates. I had a hummingbird buzz me last week but have not seen another. The feeder will stay up. I went to my craft room to water my plants, I haven't spent a lot of time downstairs knitting, and had a surprise out the window.

A new little friend!

She munched a little and then spent the rest of the day napping. She was gone the next day.

We don't have a manicured back yard with grass, it's wild with ivy, leaves, fallen branches and I like it for the birds, occasional raccoon, deer and last night a possum.

I googled "what do possums eat", husband was not as excited about our new visitor. I am not luring them to the yard/deck, but they are welcome. I told him them eat mosquitos, snakes (he hates snakes) and he still thinks they are ugly.

No picture since it was dark and I wasn't expecting visitors, I just checked to see what was interesting to the cats.

I bought a new bread book so am excited to try new recipes from Flour Power by Tara Jensen. I also bought a new grain mill and some pullman loaf pans. I am continuing my baking journey.

What's Cooking November 2022 Part 2

I know, everyone says the same thing, time is flying. Not sure what I've been doing, I don't feel overwhelmed, but we're almost done with November.

I've felt better about cooking. Tried some new recipes, made some favorites. Tried to balance meals, sometimes just ate what I craved. Husband has to follow my cravings. He claims he doesn't suffer.

New recipe - Garlic Bread Wreath. Delicious! Looked much better baked. I pretended it was pizza and had salad with it. I harvested a batch of kale and romaine since we were heading into another freeze.

New lasagna recipe that I knew would be good because every recipe from Amy Casey is good. Spinach lasagna for dinner and a future meal. Heated perfectly.

Made once before, still delicious, masa harina biscuits. I got 12 biscuits using a 2 1/2 inch biscuit cutter. Multiple breakfasts from one bake.

One night I wanted an easy, lighter meal so purchased hummus, cut some red bell peppers strips, had tzatziki sauce from the steak wraps, red leaf lettuce, romaine, Greek seasoning sauted chicken, tomatoes, feta. So perfect.

Tried, true and made many, many times Philly cheesesteak stuffed peppers. I buy whatever color pepper is less costly. In case you need a good meal that can satisfy everyone and is gluten free, this is it.

I've used flank steak, sirloin steak, strip steak and a friend has used ground beef. Versatile!

Another severe craving has been egg rolls. Have not had them in forever. Decided to go out for lunch after grocery shopping and get egg rolls. But had masa biscuits before shopping and we weren't ready for lunch.

Bought what I needed for egg rolls while shopping and made them. Very good, not too difficult. I don't submerge the egg rolls in oil and once cooled, strained it to use again.

The kale and romaine might be coming back for a third time. We'll see. The celery is gorgeous and I cut some leaves when I made chicken soup.

The mint looks better than it did in the summer.

For my "getting out and having fun" time, I found a llama fest that was a fundraiser for llama rescue. Who knew! The day was gorgeous, the llamas lovely and some very festive. Husband is not usually an animal snuggler, but he got into the llamas.

Knitting group is still very nice and we even sometimes knit while chatting. I had tea with a friend at her house and caught up from the last two years. Reading Hope in the Dark for women's group.

Still enjoying the birds and snapped a few pictures the other day. Even with a full feeder, this little guy looks grumpy.

I'm seeing woodpeckers, doves, bluebirds, finches, sparrows, Northern flickers and a hummingbird buzzed me two days ago. Left one feeder up for hummingbirds.

No turkey for us for Thanksgiving. I had a pork roast in the freezer so the menu will be pork roast, mashed potatoes, spinach mornay, cornbread dressing, sausage stuffing, maple cheesecake. Some new recipes, some tried, some future freezer food!