Mmmmmmm Spaghetti

We're not Italian but my mom makes some gooood spaghetti and meatballs. It's so easy and there's hardly any measuring required. Just throw the meatball ingredient in a bowl and mix with your hands. My mom always left the mixing part up to us kids. We thought it was fun. Now it's not so much fun when I realize just how cold my hands get. (Less so if you use fresh onion instead of frozen.) This recipe is pretty close to my mom's with just a few changes.

Ingredients for Meatballs
1lb 93% lean ground beef
2 slices of bread crumbled
liberal ketchup (give it a couple of good squirts)
salt and pepper
couple shakes of tabasco sauce
couple shakes of Worcestershire sauce
handful of chopped flat leaf parsley
1 small yellow onion diced (or less)
1 egg


Instructions
1. Put meatball ingredients in a mixing bowl and mix well with clean hands.
2. Form into small balls. Place meatballs in large saute pan and brown on all sides.
3. Add pasta sauce to meatball pan. Cover and simmer on low.
4. Boil water in large pot for pasta.
5. When pasta is done (about 9 minutes) the meatball/sauce will be done as well.
6. Drain pasta. Serve meatballs and sauce over pasta. Grate fresh Parmesan cheese over pasta.

Around the Neighborhood

Ollie has been doing much better. We started out with some short walks last weekend and now he's back to a walk every day. After not being out in the neighborhood for the last couple of weeks he had a lot of sniffing to catch up on.

Sunday Night Family Dinner

Dinner tonight was Chicken Cacciatore over Trader Joe's whole wheat couscous. This dinner is definitely a labor of love. We had family over tonight to watch the 49ers game so it was worth the extra effort.

Serves 4

Ingredients
4 bone-in, skin-on chicken thighs
4 TBSP olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
1 cup flour
salt and pepper
1 yellow onion (diced)
1 red pepper (sliced into 1-inch long strips)
1 lb button mushrooms sliced or quartered
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatos
1/2 cup chopped Italian parsley
1 tsp oregano


Instructions
1. Put flour, salt and pepper in large plastic bag. Place chicken thighs in bag one at a time and shake until well coated.
2. Heat olive oil in a dutch oven. When oil is hot, add chicken thighs. Fry until crispy brown on both sides. Remove chicken and set aside.
3. Add onion and peppers. Cook until onions are translucent.
4. Add chicken thighs back to pot. Add salt, pepper and oregano. Pour canned tomatoes and white wine over chicken. Cover pot and bring to a simmer. Cook for 30 minutes.
5. After 30 minutes of simmering, add mushrooms and parsley.  Simmer for an additional 10 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.
6. Serve over whole wheat couscous.

Saturday Steal

It was a productive Saturday. Mike and I cleaned the house top to bottom in the morning. Next I took Oliver for his first walk in over 2 weeks! He is supposed to have another week of crate rest but he has been back to his normal energy level the past several days and he desperately needed to get out of the house. I did my best to get him to take it easy but he was understandably excited to see the neighborhood and other dogs for the first time in weeks.

In the afternoon I took a little "me" time to get out of the house and wander about East Sacramento. I stopped by a consignment shop where I have taken a few things before (and hence had a store credit). Found a couple gorgeous Anne Taylor suits 1 size too small and a pair of 7's For All Mankind in just my size, but a bit more worn than I was willing to purchase. So, I passed.

The 57th Street Antique Mall was just around the corner so I stopped in for an hour to browse and see if I could find either (a) a credenza to work as a TV stand or (b) a small leather chair for our living room. We really only have comfortable seating for 3 (2 on the sofa and 1 chair) so we needed another seat to end the awkward moments when we decide if 3 people are going to cram on the couch together, 1 of us is sitting on the floor, or worse - Mike brings out the green canvas camping chair from the garage. No luck finding either of these 2 pieces. I love antique shop/estate sale/flea market shopping but I find its really tough to go looking for something in particular because when I do I never find it.

Today I did find the cutest little oil painting that I just had to take home. At $4.50 I couldn't pass it up. I found it in an upscale antique shop that specializes in pottery. In fact, it was so out of place that when I brought it up to the owner he asked if I was looking to sell the painting. It took him looking at the tag on the back to convince him I had found it in his shop, and that, yes, it was marked $4.50. The owner commented that it looked primitive. It reminded me of American Primitive/Folk Art style immediately when I saw it. I love the winter scene and the pop of yellow color on the house! I'm going to have no problem finding a spot for it. When you are just starting to decorate your house and collect art for it, you can do well and find good pieces without spending a fortune. Gorgeous original pieces can be even cheaper than Target or Ikea art! I read years ago that one way to build a collection is to start with small original pieces which tend to be more affordable than large pieces of similar quality. Small pieces can be arranged in a collection to fill up a large wall space. Don't worry about the crappy frames these cheaper pieces might come in. For example, I believe that this piece was seriously undervalued and overlooked because someone had but in a $1 frame with a cardboard back. In time, I'll have the piece matted and framed in a piece that will do it the justice it deserves. For now, I can still enjoy it as it is.

It's a Cold and Stormy Night

Winter is finally here. It's rainy and windy and after a long day at my externship all I wanted to do was get home to Mike and Oliver and relax in my warm home. Rainy weather means comfort food so it was paninis and tomato basil soup. Tuna and spinach on sourdough for me and turkey and cheese for Mike. When we received the panini maker at Christmas I was thinking I wouldn't get a lot of use out of it since I stay away from cheese. It actually made a wonderful sandwich sans cheese. We were so hungry that I completely forgot to take any pictures. Although I don't think tuna salad is particularly lovely photographed.

Tuna Panini for 1
6 oz can tuna
1.5 TBSP miracle whip or mayo
4 cornichons finely diced
1 TBSP sun dried tomatoes in oil
Black ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup spinach
2 slices good sourdough bread

1. Mix first 5 ingredients. Spread on slice of bread.
2. Top with spinach and other piece of bread.
3. Grill on panini maker.
4. Serve with soup.

Dinner was followed by a game of Sequence. We still play with my grandparent's old set with wear marks from their pushing the chips across the board.

The comfort food continued on to dessert with freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. My mom swears by the Ghiradelli Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. I don't think I've come across a better recipe. The recipe calls for Ghiradelli Bittersweet chocolate chips, but I use whatever chocolate I have in the pantry. Dark chocolate morsels are one of my favorites.

 

Split Pea Soup

Another slow cooker recipe! On Tuesdays I have a 2 hour break in the middle of the day. I've been using this time to go home, take care of Ollie, eat a little lunch and get dinner going in the slow cooker. Today was the first really chilly day of the year so pea soup sounded just right. Like beef stew, pea soup is one of my mom's classic meals. Whenever we finished a bone-in ham she would use the remaining bone and scraps of meat to make a delicious thick pea soup. I still make this soup regularly but without the ham hock. Mom makes this on the stove top. And while I occassionaly do the same, I'm more likely to throw it in my crock pot.


Slow Cooker Pea Soup - Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients
1lb dried split peas
6 cups chicken broth
2 stalks of celery (chopped)
3 carrots (peeled and chopped)
2-3 small red potatoes (diced into small pieces)
1 medium yellow onion (finely diced)
1 Tbsp butter or olive oil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp "Mural of Flavor" seasoning from Penzy's
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 Bay leaves

Instructions
1. Rinse peas in a fine mesh strainer under running cold water.
2. Wash and chop vegetables. Keep onions separate.
3. Heat butter or oil in a skillet. Add finely diced onion and cook until translscent.
4. Add peas, vegetables, chicken broth, and seasonings/herbs to slow cooker. Mix.
5. Cover slow cooker and cook on high for 6 hours. If you use the low setting, cook for 8-10 hours.
6. When soup is done cooking you will need to stir until soup has a uniform consistency.
7. Add more salt, pepper, and Mural of Flavor to taste.
8. Spoon into bowls and serve with a crusty baguette and ham. Enjoy!

Sunday Beef Stew

Beef stew seems is the perfect winter dinner. I remember my mom making her grandmother's recipe in a huge pot, slow cooking it for hours in the oven on a weekend day. Today its a healthy, low cost meal that can be put in my crock pot in the morning while I go about my day. Since its just Mike and I (and his grandmother on Sunday nights) I halve my mom's original recipe as shown below. It's almost the same as her grandmother made decades ago. I've added some spices and left out the tapioca, choosing instead to thicken the broth with cornstarch as needed at the end.

Slow Cooker Beef Stew  
Serves 4 - 6

Ingredients
1 lb lean chuck roast stew meat cubed
3 TBSP flour
2 TBSP butter
1 28 oz can plum tomatoes (cut tomatoes in half)
4 carrots
2 sticks celery
4 small red potatoes
1 medium yellow onion
1 tsp sugar
salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
2 bay leaves


Instructions
1. Peel carrots. Chop carrots, celery, and potatoes into 1-inch pieces. Quarter onion and cut into 1-inch pieces.
2. On a large plate combine flour, salt, and pepper. Dredge beef cubes in flour mixture. Shake off excess. Set aside.
3. Melt butter in large sauce pan on medium heat. Once butter is sizzling add meat. Brown on all sides.
4. Once meat is browned, place in bottom of crock pot. Place chopped veggies on top of meat in crock pot.
5. Cut whole plum tomatoes in half. Pour tomatoes and the juice from the can over the meat and veggies in the crockpot.
6. Add sugar, herbs, bay leaves, and salt and pepper to crock pot. Mix in with tomatoes and veggies, leaving meat cubes on bottom of crock pot.
7. Cook on high for 6 hours or low for 8-10 hours.
8. When finished cooking, there will be broth in the crock pot. To thicken and create a stew gravy, mix 2 TBSP cornstarch with cold water. Add to crock pot and combine with broth.

Serve with crusty sourdough bread. Enjoy!

Sunny Saturday

My goal of posting every other day kind of fell by the wayside this week. Between my first week of the new semester, starting a part-time externship, and caring for Ollie there wasn't much time for anything, including sleeping. With Oliver's ups and downs this week neither Mike or I were getting a ton of sleep. No time for sleep meant very little time for creative cooking. Wednesday night I had no appetite so it was pancakes for breakfast. I have a great whole wheat pancake recipe that I found online awhile back but I couldn't find it and chose one from a blog that sounded good and had some decent reviews. The pancakes were awful! Not so awful that we had to toss them. They were edible drenched in honey for me and syrup for Mike.

After a tough week we were thankful it was finally Saturday. And its a gorgeous Saturday! 67 and sunny in January! Oliver was feeling more like himself this morning and showed interest in his toys for the first time in a week. He's not supposed to be walking around a lot but seeing him prance around with his toy made me the happiest I've been all week. We started off the morning with bowls of my favorite oatmeal and a cup of Dunkin Donuts Mocha Mint coffee.

Pumpkin Spice Oatmeal - Serves 2

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups vanilla soymilk
1 cup Quakers quick oats
2 TBSP ground flax seed
2 TBSP brown sugar
1 tsp Penzy's pumpkin pie spice










 Instructions
1. Bring soymilk to a slow boil. Add oats. Cook according to instructions. In the last minute of cooking the oats mix in ground flax seed.
2. Spoon into 2 bowls. Sprinkle pumpkin spice and brown sugar on top. Mix and enjoy!

After breakfast we headed out for a jog around McKinley park in East Sacramento. It was sunny and mid-60s. I couldn't ask for better weather for a Saturday morning jog. After a couple of laps around the park we headed back and stopped by Jamba Juice for a light lunch. Have to save room for chips and guac during the 49ers/Saints game. Go niners!

Slow Cooker Lentil and Sausage Stew

Got up this morning debating whether to squeeze in a run and decided against because #1 it was freezing out at 7am, #2 Ollie was having a moment of energy and I wanted to encourage him to walk around, eat, and drink a little (all the things he hadn't been feeling up to the past couple of days) and #3 this morning was my first 9:00am Remedies class and I didn't want to chance being late the first day. Needless to say, I should have slept in, gone for a run, and spent extra time with Ollie because after waiting in class for 30 minutes we found out that class was cancelled for the day.

I salvaged the morning by getting dinner ready. Yes, getting dinner ready at 10:30am. I had planned on a stove top skillet dinner of lentils, sausage and kale after I found a yummy, healthy sounding recipe from Eating Well. But with the extra time I had now (and none in the evening) I thought why not convert it to a slow cooked meal?

After a couple quick internet searches I found inspiration for converting the Eating Well recipe to a slow cooker version on A Year in Slow Cooking. Here's my adaptation of the two recipes.

2 Mild Italian Chicken Sausages (uncooked) (about 0.6 lbs)
1 cup dried green lentils
2 cups low sodium beef broth
1 14.5oz can of diced tomatoes (no salt)
3 carrots peeled and diced
1 medium yellow onion diced
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp coriander
1 tsp ground black pepper
salt to taste
5-6 cups kale (shredded)
1 TBSP olive oil


1. Rinse lentils. Add to slow cooker.
2. Add canned tomatoes, beef broth and spices to slow cooker.
3. Heat olive oil in a large saucepan. Add chopped onions and cook until translucent. Add onions to slow cooker.
4. Chop uncooked sausage into bite size pieces and brown in saucepan. When fully cooked add to slow cooker. *Note: if you are using precooked sausages just chop and put directly in slow cooker.

5. Mix ingredients. Set slow cooker to "low" and cook for 7 hours.

6. When stew is finished cooking add the clean, chopped kale, mix in, and close lid. Allow to continue cooking (set to "warm") 10-15 minutes or until kale is wilted and softened.

(Ok, so in this picture, I obviously didn't mix in the kale. I got home late and was too hungry to wait for the kale to wilt in the slow cooker so I plated the kale first and spooned the lentil-sausage stew over it. Delicious!) Husband opted for no kale. So a win-win.

Vegan Cranberry Oatmeal Cookies

It's a quiet evening tonight, just keeping an eye on Ollie after his hospital stay. He was pretty subdued after his 8:00pm pain meds and I had a hankering for sweets so I started trolling the web for a vegan oatmeal cookie that I could add cranberries too. Yes, my craving was specifically for Cranberry Oatmeal cookies. If you're just starting to experiment with vegan baking, oatmeal cookies are a safe place to start. I find that they turn out great without a binding agent. Soymilk and the butter substitute keep them moist. After finding a few recipes that were close but not quite what I wanted, I read a few reviews of recipes as to what bakers liked and didn't liked about the recipes and decided to create my own version. This recipes is a keeper. They're even healthier than traditional oatmeal cookies will remaining perfectly crisp on the outside and moist and chewy inside.

Makes about 27 cookies.


Vegan Cranberry (and Chocolate!) Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup white flour
1 tsp baking soda
3 cups Quaker Oats
1/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup organic vanilla soymilk
3/4 cup vegan butter substitute (I used Smart Balance, which has less than 2% whey)
1 tsp vanilla extract (I use Penzy's)
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 - 1.5 cups dried cranberries
1 cup mini morsel chocolate chips (I used regular but vegan chocolate chips can be used)
1 cup walnuts (optional)

Instructions
1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine flour, baking soda, and spices in medium bowl and set aside.
3. In a large bowl mix the "butter" and sugars until well combined. Add in vanilla and soymilk. Continue mixing until combined.
4. Add flour mixture to large bowl, mixing as you add it. Mix in oatmeal. Mix in cranberries, chocolate chips and walnuts if using.
5. Spoon about tablespoon-sized balls of mixture onto a baking sheet lined with a Silpat or an ungreased baking sheet.
6. Bake for 11-13 minutes. Cookies should be golden brown around the edges.
7. Remove from oven and immediately (but carefully!) move from baking sheet to a paper towel or cooling rack.
8. Enjoy!

Cafe Rolle

This was supposed to be a Friday post but in light of Oliver's emergency it was one of the many things that was pushed to the side. I love East Sacramento. Although I love our little neighborhood, one day I dream of living in a place like East Sacramento with its tree-lined streets, gorgeous homes from the 1940s and quaint cafes and restaurants within walking distance. For now I just visit, admire, and enjoy. One of my favorite things about East Sac is Cafe Rolle where I lunched with a law school friend on Thursday afternoon.

Cafe Rolle is a small, casual french restaurant serving simple meals made with high quality ingredients at an affordable price. As you eat at a small table with a red and white checkered tablecloth you can watch Chef Rolle at work in his small french kitchen. If you ask and its open, you can sit at the one lone table in the kitchen. Vintage french posters line the walls from floor to ceiling and postcards adorn the tables underneath the glass tops. While I love the small European bistro feel of the restaurant, its the food that keeps bringing me back. If I'm going to lunch with someone for the first time and they haven't been to Cafe Rolle yet, I tell them they are missing out on this gem and we must go.

 (Small confession here...I had already eaten one of the pieces before I remembered to take a pic.)

I doubt you could go wrong choosing any of the items on the menu. But as a guide to get started, the French banquettes are incredible. Perfectly crispy on the outside and fresh and light inside. They smoke their own salmon and the brie is to die for. That said, it should come as no surprise that my favorite item on the menu is the Hot Salmon Sandwich. It comes with Gruyere but they gladly substitute Brie for me. The sandwiches are served with mixed green salad with they mustard vinaigrette. And if you have room, which I highly doubt you will, the desserts are like the the meals simple and no frills, but oh so good. I've tried the chocolate mousse and the creme brulee. One of my favorite desserts was a blackberry creme brulee I had once at Cafe Rolle. But no dessert for me this time. After finishing a nice leisurly lunch at Cafe Rolle we headed across the street to Selland's Market Cafe for after-lunch cookies. Yummm! Now if only every day involved an hour and a half lunch...

And then comes the salty...

Kind of a rough start to 2012. This isn't the way I had hoped to introduce Oliver on our blog but we had our first trip to the vet ER with him last night. For those of you who know Oliver personally, he's a spaz, super hyper, energetic, and outgoing. Two nights ago he yelped a couple of times when we tried to play with him. The next morning he seemed fine and went for a short run and even sprinted. But then he slowed down and later that afternoon getting off the couch he yelped again. When we came home that evening it was obvious Ollie was in a lot of pain. We took him the vet ER, got x-rays, which revealed a problem with his spine. Two of the vertabrae were narrowed causing tissue and nerve pain. Our little trooper wagged his tail (well half of it) the whole time. So we headed home with pain meds and orders for him to rest for 3 weeks.

The night was long but Ollie slept on the chair in our room and he seemed to do ok. In the morning he used the stairs on his own, ate his breakfast and went potty. We decided that because he was just ordered to rest we could go ahead with our Tahoe trip and leave him with our friends as planned. As we were lifting him into the car Oliver began screaming (and I mean screaming, I had never heard a dog scream before) peed, and gave Mike a good chomp on the hand. Ok, not normal. So now he's hospitalized and hopefully in less pain after the morphine and muscle relaxants. We're hoping to take him home tonight but right now the plan is tomorrow morning. And then what's next? MRI?, rest? surgery? We're crossing our fingers and hoping for the best for our little guy.

A side of cornbread

Lunch plans fell through today last minute so I found myself scrounging the fridge for a quick fix. Leftovers it was. Progresso minestrone - possibly my favorite canned soup and a wedge of cornbread from our chili dinner with family on the weekend. I used Paula Deen's Mexican Cornbread recipe with a few tweaks:

Used 2 jalapenos
Used skim instead of whole milk
Used light sour cream instead of regular
Added 4 large pieces of Applewood Smoked bacon (cooked and crumbled)

Everyone enjoyed the cornbread but I have to say not my favorite recipe. Next time I would increase the sugar by a tablespoon. The reviewers were right on this one. The cornbread was neither salty nor sweet and I like my cornbread sweet a la Jiffy.

Good Morning!

A year ago I was feeling really sluggish and was facing a big semester ahead. Kind of similar to the spot I'm in now. Coffee wasn't the answer since more than a measly cup makes me uber jittery. After searching the web for healthy living ideas I came upon Angela Liddon's blog http://ohsheglows.com. I took a brief trial of the vegan life that spring and my body had never felt better. After a few months we realized I was likely lactose intolerant but gradually I added back in the eggs and meat. I had never given up fish completely, although we also discovered through this trial that I have a gastro-allergy to shellfish.

Although I made the decision not to remain vegan at this point in my life I still find OhSheGlows to be a fantastic source of recipes. The one thing that I did keep are the OhSheGlows "Green Monster Smoothies". Check-out the Green Monster Movement at http://greenmonstermovement.com/. Spinach in a breakfast smoothie? Yeah, it's good! And what's more is that when I regularly drink my 2 cups of spinach, banana, soy milk, and whatever else I throw in, I find that I really do have more energy without the unsettling jitters that coffee gives me. Sometimes I make a large smoothie and split it with Mike, who has commented on the energy boost it gives him at work in the morning.

You'll find that the possible combinations for your smoothie are endless. In the past I've added flax seed, kale, fresh berries, oranges.  Sometimes I add more ice or soymilk depending on the consistency I want that morning. Today I used a bunch of frozen berries so I omitted the ice. I make my smoothies in a plastic container with my KitchenAid immersion blender. But a food processor or blender would work fine too.

Part of my New Year's Resolution was to dial back on the coffee and get back into my Green Monster habit. Here's what I put in my Green Monster with this morning:

1 cup baby spinach (usually I do 2 cups but I ran out)
1 ripe banana
1 cup soymilk
1 cup mixed frozen berries

Served with a home made banana-nut muffin. Yummm!

Quick Pasta w/ Veggies

I love cooking from scratch but between law school, work, and everything else sometimes I need a little helper. Tonight, his name was Prego. Pasta becomes a little healthier with the addition of carrots, onion, and zucchini. This is just what I had in the fridge tonight, but it would be super good with mushrooms or anything else you have in the veggie drawer.

I used:
3 carrots (peeled and chopped)
2 zucchini (chopped)
1 yellow onion (finely diced)
1 tsp oregano
1 TBSP olive oil
1 lb penne
1 jar Prego Sauce

 1. Prep veggies. Heat olive oil in large saute pan. Add onions and carrots. Saute over medium heat until onions become translucent and carrots begin to soften slightly (about 5 minutes). Add zucchini. Cook 2 more minutes. Pour jar of pasta sauce in saute pan, mix with veggies, and cover pan. Reduce heat to low.

2. Boil water for penne. Cook penne until al dente, about 9-10 minutes.

3. When pasta is finished cooking the sauce/veggie mixture will be ready.

4. Strain pasta and spoon sauce/veggies over penne.

5. Tell hubby he's on clean-up duty since I cooked.

Welcome!

It's a new year and I finally took the next step and created my own blog. My hope is that this will be a place for good conversation, interesting insights, and the everyday not-so-mundane. Expect to find some cooking and baking posts, posts about my adventures in estate sale-going and antique fair browsing, healthy (and not so healthy) living posts. Hey, this is about the sweet and the salty....There might be a fashion post or two, but nothing too outrageous since I work in the legal field, after all. There will be home and garden posts as Mike (that's my husband) slowly improve our little home. Lots of pictures of above said estate sale finds and hand-me downs that somehow all seem to mesh together into what is becoming what I would describe as Country Flea Market Chic. And I can promise frequent posts about (and maybe from) Oliver, our 2-year-old cocker mix/child with canine-disorder. Since this is a blog about my life after all, law school and my legal work will likely rear its sometimes-ugly head. But I'll do my best to keeps those posts comical or in the very least, brief. (I used the word "brief" in a sentence about law school, ha.) Ok, not that funny. So, here we go.