Plastic tubes and pots and pans, bits and pieces and, Magic from the hand, We're makin' Weird Science!

Remember when I did that post about the flowers blooming in my house?

Well.... I rubbed the pollen of the striped one onto the stamen of the solid bright pink one, AND... got it knocked up!! Evidence in the first pic! Those there are seed pods, when they dry out, I will have seeds, and then I can plant them, and wait for them to germinate, and sprout, and grow, and then after a year or so of developing a mature bulb, I will get to see what my very own flower looks like!! I feel like a Mad Scientist!

Hopefully we'll still be on Island when that happens so I'll get to see what my creation looks like! (I'd hate to have to break customs laws bringing plants across borders to find out).

Next we have my new hair, I dye it myself. It's and involved process, and no I'm not a hairdresser, I just pretend on my own head. I was pleased as punch that my rainbow turned out tho! Oh, and none of the color anywhere on my head is mine, I have no idea what color any of my hair actually is.

The next two are Jan 29, Steak and Eggplant Parmesan. Grilled the steak on, you guessed it, my grill pan, with S&P, garlic, and Worcestershire sauce. The eggplant is sliced thin, dredged in corn starched, dipped in seasoned eggs, then breaded, layered in a pan with parmesan cheese, and havarti and a thin layer of marinara sauce, repeat till pan is full. I used 1 jar of sauce 7 slices of cheese, 3/4 canister of bread crumbs, 6 eggs, 6 thin japanese eggplant. cook for 1 hr (till fork tender). Everyone loves this dish, and it makes a lot, so we all eat it for lunch a couple of days later (and it tastes better then!)

Last is from 30 Jan, I did Vanilla waffles with peach syrup. The syrup was easy, blendered 2 cans of peaches with the juice (I get the kind packed in 100% juice), add 1 cup sugar, boil till thick, let cool. The waffles, 2 cups flour, 1/2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp salt, 3 tbs Sugar, 3 eggs, 2 oz melted butter, 8oz milk, 8oz sour cream. Combine dry ingredients, beat eggs, add milk to butter slowly, and then combine eggs and sour cream to milk/butter. Mix wet and dry. pour in your favorite waffle iron (makes great pancakes too). To make them vanilla add 1 tbs vanilla.

Now I'm all caught up, hopefully I"ll keep caught up, but once a week seems a little easier? eh, I'll be happy with what I get, and if this is actually helping someone to cook every once in a while!

This was a triumph. I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.

Because I failed at the blog everyday in January, here's what I cooked but didn't have time to post, because of sick kids, an entire house full of closet rearrangements, a new calling at church (I'm helping the Boy Scouts now), and DH's having to go to the gym most everyday after work for mandatory PT. Things are out of order, but I will tell you when I made them.

Top: is the newest addition from last night, Sweet Italian Sausage and Spinach Tortellini with more spinach and cream. I just heated up 10 sausage in my large skillet, turning to cook evenly. I get these bags of dried stuffed tortellini in the pasta section, they have a bit of cheese and spinach in them, but are rather dry if you don't put something on them once they are boiled. I've tried Alfredo sauce and Marinara sauce but both are too flavorful for the filling and ruin the pasta. I now just use a 2 cups of cream and 1lb of frozen spinach (salt pepper, garlic to taste) to make a "sauce" that mimics the filling of the pasta. It's not a regular sauce it's more like a coating to keep the pasta moist. DH asked for sausage to go with this (he actually requested this whole meal, which is an event worth noting) but later told me he didn't care for this particular sausage. go figure. This cooks up fast, just as fast as it takes for water to boil and pasta to soften. The older kids an I had to eat this in the car on the way to our Wed night Church activities, not the way I like to eat my meals at all, but better than fast food.

25 Jan: Grilled Chicken breast strips, Feild peas with green beans, egg noodles with herbs and parmesean cheese. I used my handy grill pan (it's a large pan that has raised ridges in it for grilling on your stove top) an seasoned the strips with dried Mustard, Oregano, S&P, Garlic and Onion Powders. Cooked the veg in my cast iron with my usual Ham Flavor. Spiked the Egg noodles with Olive Oil, Parm, Salt, Garlic, Parsley.


24 Jan: Curry. Thinly slice the sukiyaki into strips and then cut the other direction to create squares, saute in Wok with Soy and garlic. Add 2 cans Mushrooms, 1lb bag Frozen spinach, and 2 blocks of curry sauce. In the Grocery (ethnic asile) there are blocks of "golden curry" sauce, I use one mild, and one medium block. There are directions on the back. I used my rice cooker for the rice. Japanese curry isn't like Indian curry, it's more like a gravy, and it's thick and slightly sweet. You can put what ever kind of veggies you like in it.


23 Jan: Fettuccine Alfredo, Honey glazed chicken thighs, Broccoli and mushrooms saute. In the grill pan cooked the boneless skinless thighs with Gourmet Burger seasoning on them, then I made a sauce with equal parts Brown mustard, honey, and Ranch dressing (about 1 Cup in all) piled all the chicken on a platter and poured the glaze over it and let them sit in it while still hot from the pan. Sauted 1 lb broccoli and 1/2lb fresh mushrroms with 1/4 stick of butter and 2tbs soy in the grill pan (lots of good flavor in that pan from the chicken). The Alfredo was from a jar.

22 Jan: Clam Chowder. Chop 4 large potatoes place in bowl and par cook them in microwave (like I do for mashed potatoes). In my large Crock Pot, dump the par cooked potatoes, and their liquid, 1lb frozen corn, 2 cans chopped clams, 1 can whole clams, 1 box chicken stock, 1 pt cream, 1/2 lb bacon (I cooked mine under the broiler) crispy and then chopped tiny, salt to taste. Cook on high till potatoes are tender, then on warm till ready to eat. DD#1 wanted this, and ate nearly 3 bowls of it, and then begged to take it to school for lunch.