Urban Gypsy Musings

Strained Yogurt

2012-02-25T13:01:00.003-08:00

I've been wanting to make labneh for a while now. Labneh is strained yogurt, also known as yogurt cheese. The title is a little misleading, because when most people think cheese, they think curds and chunks and crumbles. My labneh came out about as thick as sour cream, which is hella exciting. It still has the sourness of yogurt, so I might go as far as to say it's halfway between sour cream and cream cheese.

That being said, I was thinking on what to do with it. I added a little salt, but then I remembered that I had a packet of Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning in my cupboard that I was originally going to use for a crockpot recipe I didn't go through with. So I stuck it in, gave it a stir, added some garlic juice, and omg. So tasty!

I did the math using a few sources on line, and I discovered that the calories per cup with the strain/reduce has 87% less calories. That means my yogurt has gone from 120 calories per cup to 105 calories per cup, which is 13 calories per fluid ounce, or 2 tablespoons. Two tablespoons of sour cream is 60 calories.

47 calories less and just as freaking tasty? Sign me up. I want to go buy pita chips and nom now.

Recipe Roundup

2012-02-04T20:35:00.000-08:00

I made the pie. It was delicious.

Still haven't made the tuna casserole. But I did make my curry creamed spinach with a couple little adjustments, since I had heavy cream on hand. I'm very pleased with it.

And it turned out that my bread wasn't stale. I just shouldn't have left that particular kind of bread in the fridge. I typically keep my sandwich bread in the fridge because it doesn't turn green as quickly, but a rustic loaf bread gets hard. Lesson learned.

I just bought this amazing honey. I've had it before, but I bought it again because I had been craving it. It's Trader Joe's hickory honey. I'm planning to make Chinese Honey Chicken in the future, once I pick up a spider skimmer. There's no rush, obviously, because honey doesn't go bad so fast. I might just cheat and make the sauce, then buy some fried wings and toss 'em or something. I'm not very good at deep fat frying things T_T.

I'm also very interested in making this Spicy Peanut Sauce. I love pad thai, and being able to fake it with this sauce would be awesome.

Lastly, I just picked up a bunch of cocoa. I bought some baking powder and baking soda, so I might make some mini chocolate cakes in the future. Possibly chocolate whoopie pies. Or brownies. I love brownies.

Why I Love Bacon Grease.

2012-02-02T22:20:00.001-08:00

I love it. I love to cook with it. When I mention that I cook with bacon grease, I get reactions between brow raises and "eeeewww"s, but hear me out.

Everything tastes better with bacon.

Seriously. I'm not saying replace your butter with bacon, but sometimes? Replace your butter with bacon. Or at least half of it. Consider, if you will, pan fries or hash browns. What do you cook 'em in? Butter? Oil? Try bacon grease. Now your pan fries/hash browns are 100% more awesome.

Cooking onions? Bacon grease.
Making apple sauce to pour over your pork chops or your (non-kosher) potato pancakes? Bacon grease.
Mashed potatoes?
Noodle dish that needs a little more oomph?
Roasted veggies? Green beans?
Corn Muffins?
Bread crumb topping?
Beschamel/White sauce?

Sing it if you know the words.

Here's some stats according to LoseIt.com, my calorie/exercise counter website. Each of these is one tablespoon measurements.

Extra Virgin Olive Oil: 120cal

Fat: 14g
S.Fat: 2g

Bacon grease: 116cal

Fat: 12.8g
S.Fat: 5g
Cholest: 12.3mg
Sodium: 19.4mg

Unsalted butter: 102cal

Fat: 11.5g
S.Fat: 7.3g
Cholest: 30.5mg
Sodium: 1.6mg
Protein: 0.1g

Soft Margarine: 102cal

Fat: 11.2g
S.Fat: 1.6g
Sodium: 100mg
Carb: 0.2g
Protein: 0.1g

Granted, this website doesn't track Mono- Poly- and Un-saturated fats, but you get the idea. I'm not telling anybody to take the butter and oil out of your diets and replace it with bacon fat. I'm just saying to be a little more open-minded to the deliciousness that can happen in your mouth. Besides, you bought that bacon. It comes with free fat. Why are you throwing it away? Don't be wasteful; be more delicious.

Recipe Roundup

2012-01-28T18:32:00.000-08:00

I've got too many tabs open, and I need to save all this stuff because I'm planning to reference back to or make some of this stuff in the very near future.

So here we go!

17 Uses for Stale Bread
Spinach and Pancetta Strata
Best Tuna Casserole
Sunday's Apple Pie

Also, have I mentioned my love for Cooking Channel and Food Network? I've found a few really fantastic new blogs to follow through them, specifically The 99 cent Chef and Casserole Crazy. I was already following Fancy Fast Food, and you should too.

10 Foods You Didn't Know You Could Freeze.

2012-01-25T13:07:00.000-08:00

Opened up my facebook today and one of the local area grocers -- PCC Natural Markets, had this great link to this fantastic article. I knew some of them, but not all of them.

Butter
Nuts
Block Cheese
Baked Goods
Milk
Flour
Pesto
Herbs
Cream Cheese and Sour Cream
Jam

Save money by buying in bulk and making use of your freezer. » http://pcc.coop/wEywuH

Crockpot Adventures

2012-01-22T22:05:00.000-08:00

Making a modified Soy Vay Crock Pot, and BBQ Pulled Pork. Lots of delicious noms tomorrow.

Also making chicken stock with my $5.99 whole roasted chicken remains. And just to strengthen the flavors further, I took the 2-quarts of stock I made last time and used that as the simmering liquid. So I'm sure this next batch will be double-strong. Nothing wrong with that, IMO.

It's only been about an hour, and my house smells so good oh god. I'll take pictures and post them tomorrow.

Freakin' POTATOES omg.

2012-01-19T23:51:00.000-08:00

I had a ton of potatoes. Too many to go through quickly, to be honest. I am not as much of a Meat and Potatoes person as my pops is, so they started sprouting. Now don't get me wrong, I love potatoes, but I couldn't think what to do with them with what I had on hand.

My first thought was to make potato chips. I had a pint of oil in my cabinet, and salsa in my fridge. So I put the oil on, cranked the heat, and for some reason thought it would be a good idea to put a lid on it to help it heat faster. Understand: I don't fry things often. I hate how the house ends up smelling after food is fried. So I have almost no experience frying outside of using the fryers at Arby's and McDonald's, and in both cases it was almost completely automated. Which brings us to our second problem: I didn't have a wire spoon to get the chips out, and I wasn't using a basket fryer, so I decided to nix the idea. So I go to lift the lid off the oil and WHOOOOOSHHH. Smoke in my face. So much smoke that I started to panic and threw open all the windows and turned the fan in my living room on high.

I decided to try and bake the chips I'd sliced instead. But I didn't use a mandolin cutter, so they weren't uniform cuts. Some of them burned, others didn't crisp properly. They came out more like french fries. I was so disappointed. But I ate them. The other potatoes I peeled were stuck in water so they wouldn't oxidize.

I could always mash them, but I don't have a proper masher. And if I mashed them, I could do sheppard's pie, but I would have to go and buy peas and beef for that. I could also do colcannon, but same issue: I'd have to go get cabbage. I did, however, have a ton of tomato sauce. So! I decided to make gnocchi. I have never made gnocchi before. But I've seen it done on the Food Network a ton, and on a couple of my food vlogs on youtube that I like to watch. So I went for it. How hard could it be?

Yeah. If you ask yourself that before you start something, guess what: It's pretty damn hard.

Really, my biggest issue was not finding a recipe and following it to the T. I always tell people, unless you're familiar with what you're making, use a recipe and follow it like your life depends on it. So I mashed the potatoes, and I started adding flour, and the dough never started to set. It was very sticky. So I kept adding flour. Then I got online and checked a few recipes. They said to add egg, so I added egg. I probably could have put in more egg though, but that's besides the point. still sticky. More flour. Probably more flour than was necessary, but I was more concerned that it wouldn't come out right if I didn't. They finally started not to stick so much. I started doing the tine roll, then got frustrated when they started not looking right and checked online. Turns out I was doing it backwards. -_-

Eventually, they started going into the water. The first batch came out, I gave it a taste, and it tasted like a noodle! I did it! It was bland, but I did it! I finished 'em off, then threw them in a can of tomato soup since tomato sauce would probably be too heavy.

And I still haven't used all my dough. What's left is in the fridge. And I didn't even finish eating what I did make, because they were so filling. So I'll make some more later, maybe boil them in chicken stock and saute them in garlic butter before I toss them with some sauce. I would post the recipe, but honestly, don't follow my method. Find a proper recipe and follow it. You'll do fine, just be sure you're sitting at a table so you don't throw your back out like I almost did.

God, I hate having huge tits.

Product Review: Dassant Premium Baking Mixes

2012-01-07T19:30:00.000-08:00

I have tried the Ginger Gingerbread and the Cinnamon Bread. I have the Beer Bread on standby, and will probably be making it to eat with my Grillin Beans for dinner in the very near future.

In both cases, I did not have eggs on hand. I did, however, have overripe bananas. Since the first two things I made were dessert breads, it worked out fine by me.

The Cinnamon Bread was amazing. It was moist, it was light and tender, the flavors were fantastic. I made an apple-pear compote and ate it like dessert and breakfast until it was gone. Fantastic, and highly recommended.

I'm not a huge fan of gingerbread in truth, but it was tasty and had the same moistness as the cinnamon bread. It definitely needs the glaze that it suggests on the side of the package. I would suggest adding vanilla to the glaze though, or maybe a bit of sweet orange juice. You could even try seasoning the milk with chai tea bags or orange pekoe. You could even maybe fry the bread mix into little donut holes. It would give some oomph.

I'm thinking what I'm going to do with the gingerbread is to grab a recipe off their website and make Gingerbread Pudding with Candied Apples. I have a ton of apples in my fridge right now, so it works out. I'll let you guys know it turns out.

This company makes fantastic product. If you ever see some in the store, buy one. They have twelve different products, and the recipes on their site can easily amp up the flavor. I would definitely buy from them again.

Dinner Tonight: Stroganoff Casserole

2012-01-07T18:17:00.000-08:00

I had sour cream about to turn in the fridge, and I knew there was cream of mushroom soup in my cabinet, so I decided it was time to make stroganoff. But, I also had a bunch of potatoes that were starting to sprout, so instead of going noodle-y, I went with sliced potatoes, which meant a casserole. So I did a little allrecipes search just to see if it had been done before, and I came up against something pretty close, and used that as my ratio monitor.

I didn't like the under-seasoned look of the recipe, so I kicked it up with roasted garlic, fresh cracked pepper, and Mediterranean sea salt. Instead of just frying the onion and beef, I took it up another level: I carmelized the onion, and char-grilled the beef on my George Foremann, then finished off the cooking with the onions and drained it off. I mixed sour cream and just a little bit of milk with cream of mushroom soup. Layers potatoes, soup-sauce, beef-onion mix, then topped the whole shebang with shredded medium cheddar.

The potatoes didn't soak up as much flavor as I would have liked, and I think maybe a few more minutes in the oven would have done it, but I felt the need for more sour in the dish. Maybe a spoonful of deli mustard (the kind with whole seeds) or possibly some malt vinegar added to the soup-sauce mix would have done it for me. I didn't have either, alas, so I just drizzled my bowl with some yellow mustard.

I ate two bowls. I would eat the whole dang casserole if I could, but I used three small potatoes and two medium ones. Too much food, even if pretty much the first thing I've eaten today. I'll probably finish it off tomorrow, though. God, I love leftovers.

Erin's Breakfast Pockets

2011-12-08T21:30:00.000-08:00

My dear friend Erin was trying to perk me up today after a particularly unwanted grade. She knows I love recipes, so she gave me this one:

You need:

1 can crescent roll dough
1 package Jimmy Dean 'Sage' breakfast sausage
1 package softened cream cheese
1 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup parsley flakes

Brown sausage in a skillet, then remove from heat. Mix in cream cheese, cheddar cheese, and parsley until thoroughly blended.
On a greased cookie sheet, unroll crescent dough into four rectangles (They're cut into triangles - just put two triangles together and press the seams closed). Spoon two heaping tablespoons of sausage mixture into the center of each triangle (this uses approx: half of the mixture. put the remainder in an airtight container and refrigerate to be used with a second batch whenever the mood strikes).
Fold dough edges up over the sausage mixture and twist/press closed (dough will be thin, use gentle pressure). Bake at 350 for 16 minutes. Let cool for 5.

Turkey Day

2011-11-24T18:08:00.000-08:00

I decided to come down and visit my folks for the holiday. My friend Alicia also has family in my hometown, so I was able to hitch a ride with her. I'd like to pretend that I kept her from getting out of the car on the freeway and killing everyone.

I made my signature deviled eggs as per usual this year, though I added a bit too much mustard powder and they were a tad on the spicy side. Mom got Safeway's Turkey Dinner package, which included a 10 pound turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and pie. Fearing we might be a bit thinner than normal on the feast, we also picked up a ham, mini eclairs, and a box of scalloped potatoes. The ham was basically smoked and not pre-cut, so I decided to jazz it up with pineapple slices and glaze. Rather than go simple brown sugar, I found a recipe for hard cider glaze. It took a bottle and a half of Hornsby's Hard Cider: Crisp Apple to make it, and it was fab.

One of the rugrats went to her dad's house for thanksgiving, so she didn't eat much. We still have a ton of leftovers (so much for being thin on the feast), so all is well. I'll be taking the carcass up to Seattle with me to make stock, no doubt.

Poulét Les Traggon ala Creme

2011-11-20T18:42:00.000-08:00

This is one of my mom's go-to recipes. It is inspired from a French dish she ate at a restaurant she once worked at in Portland, Oregon. There are a few similar recipes online (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) but this is the one I grew up eating.

You will need:

2 lbs of Chicken Breast cut into cubes
1 container of sliced mushrooms
I quart of Half and Half
1 quart of Milk
3 tbsp corn starch
1/3 C hot water
2 sticks butter
Fresh or dried Tarragon (about 2 tbsp)
Any shape pasta (about 4 cups cooked)
Salt to taste
Garlic salt

Sauté the mushrooms in butter and garlic salt and set aside.
Put Half and Half in bigger pot and put in the roux (corn starch and hot water mixed until dissolved) on medium heat.
Add tarragon and mushrooms. Cook until it thickens as you start the water for the pasta.
When sauce gets thick, start adding milk until it's the right consistency. If it gets too thin, make more roux and add to thicken again.
Add the whole cube of butter, then salt to taste.
Put pasta in boiling water.
In a sautée pan, sear the chicken in three separate batches in butter. Repeat until all three batches are cooked, then add the sauce. Do not drain off the butter or chicken fat; it adds flavor to the sauce.
Continuously stir the sauce periodically so it doesn't burn on the bottom.
After all three batches of chicken are in the sauce, season to taste.
Serve sauce over cooked pasta.

The differences between Thai and Indian Curries.

2011-09-07T14:19:00.000-07:00

I often ask myself this question, and until today I never thought to ask Google what it thought. So I got myself some answers, and now I'm presenting them to you:

Yogurt vs. Coconut Milk. While southern India may sometimes have coconut milk, India as a whole pretty much is yogurt based when including a "creamy" element, whereas Thailand goes for their treenut milk of choice.
Herbs vs. Spices. Thai curries consist mainly of kaffir lime leaves, lemongrass, and fish sauce. Green curries include Thai basil; yellow curries include turmeric; red curries include red chili peppers. Indian curries consist mainly of hard spices, such as cardamom, cumin, black and yellow mustard seeds, fenugreek, and asafoetida. Both regional curries use ginger and garlic.
Fried vs. Roasted. With fresh herbs, oftentimes they are stir-fried in order to release their aromatics. With the hard spices, roasting is needed. Both types of cooking release very different flavors.
Main ingredients. Beef is almost completely missing from Indian curry, unless you're having British-Indian, Pakistani-Indian, or Japanese curry (which uses a lot of the same base ingredients). Thai curry typically favors seafood. Both will use rice and grains to accompany, though Indian curry will also include lentils and peas.

And now you know!

Urban Foraging

2011-07-09T12:48:00.001-07:00

Who doesn't love free food? But did you know that you can find some, right in your own back yard?

Some people are leery about eating wild foods, but in all honesty the only reason you should be leery is if you don't know what the hell you're doing. I mean, take mushrooms for instance: there are only about 300 growers in the United States. That means most of the mushrooms on your table? Are wild. That's why there are classes and books about the subject. And because we live in a digital age, there are also blogs and youtube playlists.

So go! Buy yourself a guidebook for your local area! Eat some wild, free foods! Don't be afraid!

Easy poached eggs

2011-06-12T13:35:00.000-07:00

I found this amazing article on Apartment Therapy via The Yarden. It's how to make poached eggs in the microwave.

I may never eat another fried egg as long as I live.

Recipe: Curried Creamy Spinach

2011-03-13T19:28:00.000-07:00

I love palak paneer. Unfortunately, I don't have any paneer, and no fresh spices other than garlic. I also didn't have a pound of fresh spinach -- only about 4 ounces.

So I improvised. And it was delicious. This is a small recipe, so feel free to double it and adjust to your tastes.

What you'll need:

4 ounces baby spinach
4 tbsp unsalted butter, divided.
1/2 small onion, coarsely chopped
1 tbsp garlic, diced
1/4 cup milk
1-1/2 cup mashed potatoes
4 oz shredded Gruyere cheese (or any creamy cheese of choice)
Spices to taste: Curry powder, black pepper, cayenne pepper.

Directions:

In 1 tbsp melted butter, wilt the spinach. Once cooked, immediately submerge in cold water to stop the cooking process. You may omit the butter and steam to make this a little healthier.
Heat remaining butter in a skillet. Add garlic and onion, and heat until onion is translucent.
Add the spinach and stir.
When butter starts to bubble up again, add mashed potatoes and milk. Stir.
Remove from heat when mixture bubbles up a second time. Add cheese and stir thoroughly until melted. Serve over rice or pulse blend to make a delicious soup.

2011-03-04T17:21:00.001-08:00

Weigh-in 1/18/11: 232
Weigh-in 3/04/11: 222

10 pounds lost! Woo!

So, my favorite locally-owned movie theatre, the Kelso Theatre Pub, announced a new pizza today. I'm going to go and eat some tomorrow and see 127 hours. It's been a while since I saw a flicker anyway.

Food, Inc. and Dieting

2011-01-23T22:55:00.000-08:00

Still chugging away at my Chem 120 class. This week's post is about the Documentary/Book "Food, Inc."

If you haven't seen the documentary or read the book, I strongly suggest you do. I would suggest eating before the film, however, as you may find yourself completely uninterested in eating anything again afterward.

The film is incredibly eye-opening. I know most people are at least moderately aware of the horrors of the meat industry; but in case you're not aware, the produce industry is equally bad. I have become increasingly alarmed and plan to radically change the way I buy my food in the future once I'm back in control of the food being bought (I live with my folks while going to school; they do the shopping).

There are two links I'd like to share in this post. First is a link --provided my by instructor-- about what produce you should and should not buy organically. I am fortunate that there are a few places in town where local produce is sold, and also where I am able to buy organically. The next is a short youtube video on how to wash your produce. I'll admit that before watching Food, Inc., I didn't really take the precautions of washing my produce. That will certainly be changing henceforth.

Next on the update is news of a grant I applied for at my school. Due to last quarter being extra failtastic, I lost my scholarship. I was surprised to see my finaid check it listed as paid-to-me, but the word "END" followed the description; so I'm instead of having lost $600, I only lost $300. Anyway, I digress. I applied for a Personal Enrichment Grant, which is available through the Student Support Services (aka TRIO) program at my college. My goal is to lose 10 pounds in 7 weeks, which is roughly 1.4 lbs/wk. I started on Tuesday. My weigh-in on 1/18/11 was 232lbs. As of yesterday, I did not lose any weight. I will admit that while I've certainly dropped my calorie intake significantly, I was only physically active twice last week, and my over-enthusiasm on Day 1 sort of had me limping the rest of the time. I will try adding in the physical activity again as of tomorrow, but my right knee is still really hurting me quite a lot. Perhaps I'll go with "Super Hoola Hoop" and "Rhythm Boxing" on the WiiFit instead of steps.

My local YMCA has an aquatics fitness program that I am very interested in joining. When I lived in DC and was attending the gym on a regular basis, I decided to get a personal trainer for a short time and he introduced me to aquatics after I told him about my fibromyalgia. It was amazingly effective. Since then, I've wanted nothing more than to find a local program to re-enroll in. Guess what my plans are tomorrow? Essentially the plan is to do the gym at my school (which is free) Tuesdays and Thursdays, and to do the pool aquatics Mondays and Wednesdays. Friday through Sunday will be WiiFit days. I'm also debating on buying a few Medifast meals on eBay, but we'll see. I need to think on that some more.

That's all for today.

Blending/Juicing fruit and veg

2011-01-11T15:01:00.000-08:00

I've enrolled in two lifestyle classes this quarter: Chemistry 120 - Nutrition, and Health 106 - Health Today. It's only been a week, but already my brain is excited with thoughts and ideas about the class.

I won't lie, I'm horrible about vegetables. I've gotten better after being on a diet in DC, but I still have aversion to certain ones. Today, I've been doing some researching on tricking my way through consumption, and one way is through juicing and blending.

But what's this I hear about oxidation and nutrient-destruction? Apparently by blending and juicing, this happens. Eating raw and/or steamed is the best way to eat veg, no doubt about it, but it takes a while to get to this point if you're not used to doing it. This article discusses how juicing and blending are good ways to consume nutrition otherwise unavailable by raw and steamed veg, but also advises that it should not be the only way to get this nutrition. NPR's Susie Chang also discusses in this interview how to sneak veg into foods, but says the best way to get over veg aversion is to create new ways to eat the food and therefore making new, pleasant memories.

Finally, my last link is My Kids Really Eat This. It's a fantastic site about a mom with three kids who finds inventive ways to include vegetables and otherwise not-so-kid-friendly foods into the menu. I plan to try out a few myself because in all honesty, I seem to still be a kid at heart when it comes to my food choices.

Alternatives to Microwaves

2010-11-17T11:37:00.000-08:00

Found an interesting article on one of the blogs I follow about ditching the microwave for other cooling methods. I can definitely see the appeal.

Don't toss out your peelings and bones!

2010-10-25T22:55:00.000-07:00

I took a very valuable class in high school that has taught me all about living on a budget. In addition to learning about managing money and learning about insurance and whatever else (I remember less about those portions), we spent a good chunk of the class cooking. My favorite part of the class was when we learned to make homemade stock.

In the class, we worked primarily with turkey carcasses, since it was about Thanksgiving when I took the class. Most people forget how much meat a carcass still carries, including the neck - which most people don't eat optionally because of the number of bones. We spent a good portion of the class sifting through the last of the bones and pulling away the fork-tender meat once we'd boiled the broth down from a gallon to a quart and intensified the stock.

This doesn't just apply to a turkey carcass, though; almost any bones will do. Dry roasting the bare bones in a 450°F oven for 90 minutes will help bring out the flavors. This is referred to as Fond brun, and once in the stock pot with water it will need to be simmered for at least 3-4 hours along with your preferred vegetables.

But here's the trick: in both cases, you do not need to buy fresh bones or fresh veggies. As you eat your bone-in steaks or Super Bowl chicken wings and peel your vegetables (carrot skins, celery tops/bottoms, onion skins, potato peelings), save them! Get a 1-gallon freezer bag and fill them each with either bones or peelings - just make sure to label what bones are in what bags. KFC chicken bones are also just as good as the bones from a roaster you made yourself, but use them in a mixture of other bones, as the salt content may be overwhelming if they are used as your primary source of stock.

I saw a Japanese cooking show called Dotch Cooking! that clued me in on saving the peelings, as I'd already been saving bones. In fact, the chef didn't boil the veggie peelings but put them in a bowl filled with water, a bit of dry white wine, and stuck the bowl with its contents in a steamer for two hours. This is a much gentler heat than sticking everything into a stock pot and going from there, and I can definitely see the appeal.

Stock is one of those things that takes time and patience, but the end result is so wonderful and delicious. On a day when you plan to be home, doing homework or babysitting, or whatever else is keeping you from going out, take the time to grab your two freezer bags and go to town. Roast your bones (and any fresh veg you have at the 45 minute mark), put your peelings and bones in a pot, fill with water to cover, add your choice seasonings (fresh is best, but dried is also nice), bring to a boil, then reduce to simmering and simmer away for the rest of the day. The longer it reduces through simmering, the better the finishing product. It can later be frozen into ice-cubes and used to add flavor almost anything.

My Body Vow

2010-08-24T04:55:00.000-07:00

I can't remember when it was, or who said it, but I remember how I felt afterward.
I felt stunned. It was like being slapped. I immediately knew that I was the wrong kind of different, not the right one. I remember hating myself every moment I saw myself in a mirror after that. I remember crying a lot. I remember a few years in my early teens where I worked out so hard that my body ached for days. I remember how horrible I felt going into Lane Bryant for the first time because I couldn't find jeans at Sears or JCPenny that fit me right. I remember starving myself, thinking it would make the words and the weight go away. It didn't. Even if I lost the weight, I was always going to remember how it felt.

About six months ago, my niece saw the stretch marks on my stomach for the first time and told me they were ugly and that she wasn't going to have them. I went in my room and cried. Not much longer after that, there was an incident where she called a girl in a magazine ugly because she was fat, and she and I had a very long tearful talk about how appearances don't mean a person is ugly. I honestly don't know how successful I was. She's seven, but to hear her say things like that kills me a little inside.

Honestly, I don't like hurting my body. I don't like the feeling of starving myself. I don't like the pain after working out. When I do those things, I feel so horribly bad... nothing in the world feels worth it enough to do those things. I want to get in better shape, but not for anyone else but me. So I live longer. I want to live, but I'm not going to deny myself the things that give me happiness, whatever they may be. Years of being told "no" have made me much more self-indulgent, and I'm not going to look at that as being a negative thing.

I vow that I will live my life with the bones, muscle, and yes... even fat... that I've been given. I vow that I won't associate with anyone who tells me that I'm less. I vow that I will take the bad with the good; that I will love the scars, the marks, the so-called imperfections that make me different in a good way. I vow that I will work on not comparing myself to others, and that I will stop calling myself ugly. I vow that I will retrain myself that other's opinions of me don't matter.

I am a work in progress, and I vow that I will love every minute of it from here on out.

(For ProjectLifesize)

Pedialyte Clone

2010-08-11T19:02:00.000-07:00

I adjusted this recipe from about three different recipes, to cover all the important ingredients. I don't claim this to be World Health Organization compliant, but I did use their measurements for ratios.

I am not a medical doctor. This recipe is for dehydration prevention, not purely for rehydration purposes as it does not contain the complex nutrients and electrolytes needed (see link). Please exercise caution when using any home remedy, and talk to your doctor if dehydration becomes worse.

1 quart water
1/2 tsp salt substitute (potassium supplement) or 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp baking soda (sodium supplement)
1/2 tsp table salt (sodium supplement)
3 tbsp sugar and 1 packet unsweetened Kool-Aid drink mix
Or 1/2 cup (4oz) 100% fruit juice and 2 tbsp sugar

Dissolve dry ingredients in warm water until no longer grainy.
Freeze into ice cubes or popcicles to preserve shelf life, or use in 3 days.

Túrós Csusza

2010-08-11T18:49:00.000-07:00

While living with a woman in my early 20s, I had the privilege of eating a "family dish" in her company. She didn't allow me to watch her make it, as it was a secret, but I was able to remember the ingredients from the look on the plate. I spent a few days googling up recipes including the ingredients, and found one that I believed to be correct. I saved the recipe off of a website called "Buda Bites," which has since closed. I've had the Americanized Turos Csusza (made with cottage cheese rather than farmer's cheese), but not the Lesco. Included is the blurb about author Carolyn Banfalvi's thoughts and opinions, as well as the recipe:

One of my all-time favorite Hungarian dishes is túrós csusza. And it’s even better when it’s served with lecsó. Túrós csusza is essentially pasta with curd cheese (either cow’s or sheep’s milk)* and lecsó is pepper and tomato stew seasoned with paprika. It only requires simple ingredients, and I could eat it night after night (which I sometimes do when there’s a big batch of lecsó around). Recently, we made our most successful meal of túrós csusza with lecsó ever by upping the quality of all of the ingredients. Rather than using store bought pasta, we used rich, homemade, egg pasta that we bought at the market. Rather than using curd cheese from the grocery store, we also bought freshly made curd cheese at the market (which tastes nothing like the grocery store variety). Finally, we made the lecsó with just-picked peppers and tomatoes from the garden. The top ingredients made an enormous difference. The only problem is that going back to the “regular” ingredients will be a disappointment. Make lecsó now, while there are still lots of fresh peppers and tomatoes at the markets. And if you get so inspired, make an extra big batch of it for freezing or canning so you can enjoy it even when the fresh tomatoes are long gone.

Here’s how I make my túrós csusza and lecsó. If the bacon fat in these recipes scares you off, use oil instead. In Hungary, people tend to think that everything tastes better with a little bacon (and I tend to agree).

* In Hungary curd cheese (túró) is common, and sold at every grocery store and tiny food shop. In America, it’s not as easy to find (and it’s not the same). The best equivalent would be farmer’s cheese.

Túrós Csusza

500 grams (1 pound) pasta, kocka tészta (small, flat, square shaped pasta) is often used in Hungary
500 grams (1 pound) curd cheese
fatty bacon (use as much or as little as you’d like, depending on your taste)

Boil pasta in salted water. While the pasta is boiling, finely chop the bacon (szalonna, if you’re in Hungary) and render over low heat. Pour the fat into a glass pan and reserve the leftover chunks of bacon. Heat the glass pan over a low burner. When it’s done (and still a tiny bit firm), drain the pasta and add to the glass pan. Add the cheese to the pasta, and mix a little, just enough so it’s evenly distributed. Don’t stir the pasta and cheese mixture, but use a spatula to scrape the bottom and flip every few minutes. The idea is to let it get a bit brown and crispy. To serve, add the extra bacon and add sour cream if you’d like. Preferably serve with lecsó.

Lecsó

40 grams (1.5 ounces) fatty bacon, finely diced
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 tablespoon sweet Hungarian paprika
1 kilogram (2 pounds) sweet peppers, cored, seeded, and cut into 2cm (¾ inch) pieces **
500 grams (1 pound) tomatoes, roughly chopped
½ tablespoon salt

Add the bacon to a pot and cook over low heat until the bacon is rendered. Add the onions, cook over low heat until they are translucent (not browned), about five minutes. Stir in the paprika and then add the peppers. Cook for ten minutes or so, and add tomatoes. Lecsó is often cooked until the peppers are mushy, but I prefer to stop the cooking before they turn to mush.

** You can increase or decrease the ratio of peppers to tomatoes if you’d like, with no real effect. This is a loose recipe, and I’ve seen it written with all sorts of quantities.

Microwave Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

2010-08-11T18:39:00.000-07:00

A cupcake in 5 minutes? Begin by adding brown sugar, a maraschino cherry, and crushed pineapple to the bottom of a muffin cup. Top with cake batter and microwave on high power for 3 minutes. Let stand for two minutes before removing from pan. Timing is very important, but may slightly vary with the power wattage of your microwave. Do not over bake or the cake will be tough and chewy. So easy to prepare when you need a quick dessert.

Preparation time: About 10 minutes.

Equipment you’ll need:

Microwave oven
two 6-cup microwave muffin pans
electric mixer
measuring spoons
rubber scraper
table knife and serving plate.

Safety: Use dry potholders to remove muffin pan from the microwave. Carefully remove cupcakes from pan, juices are hot!

Recipe:

1 9-ounce box Jiffy Golden Yellow cake mix
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 8-ounce can crushed pineapple, drained and patted dry with a paper towel.
Maraschino cherries

Prepare Jiffy mix according to package directions.
Prepare microwave pan by coating cups with cooking spray.
To prepare cupcakes:

Spoon 2 level packed teaspoons brown sugar into bottom of each muffin cup.
Place half of maraschino cherry in center.
Top with 2 level teaspoons crushed pineapple.
Cover all with 2 level tablespoons cake batter.
After filling cups, tap on counter to settle and take out air bubbles.
The cups should not be more that 2/3 full.
Microwave on full power for 3 1/2 minutes. Let stand for 2 minutes.
Remove from microwave and cut around each cup.
Carefully invert onto a serving platter.
Clean up: Wipe off the microwave with a damp cloth. Enjoy cooking, but always clean up after you cook.

Yield: 12 cupcakes.

The Recipe Book (Master List)

2010-08-11T17:19:00.000-07:00

These are recipes I plan to someday execute or want to keep track of. Some of them might be what people would call "trashy eats," others a little more complex, but all of them are important to me. Should I decide to cook them anytime soon, I will include reviews.

Over 21 Recipes (I am not responsible for your children finding these, sahry):