Shortcuts

I've been complaining about a lack of time a lot recently.  Clearly I have some time since I manage to put these posts together...but meals with minimum effort are the name of the game as the semester draws to an end.

Simple shortcuts of late include sauce from a jar: 

The jar says nothing about how spicy it is!  I was expecting mild, but it's more like HOT!  I also think that my spice tolerance has diminished living on the East Coast (lame excuse, since my diet hasn't changed that much, but even my "medium" salsa is tasting pretty fiery these days.)

Sauce from a jar, plus frozen vegetables from a bag and some chicken, served over brown rice.  The curry came together so quickly since nearly all of it was from a package that the rice seemed to take forever.

I ate this bowl as is, but when I finished off the leftovers I added a large dollop of plain yogurt to cool it down a bit.

*****

My oldest and favorite kitchen shortcut is a box of brownie mix.  My mom started leaving the brownie making to me when I was in 3rd or 4th grade; which looking back was the start of my on-going relationship with the kitchen.  The beginning of my on-going love affair with food is harder to pin-point, since I am fairly certain it began mere seconds after my birth.

Anyway, I was in a baking mood last Sunday and Duncan Hines did not disappoint!  Minimal effort with maximum results...

...especially when topped with some tiramisu flavored ice cream.  No matter how crunched for time I feel, there's always time for dessert.

Protein Punch

Dinner doesn't get on the table (or in my mouth) nearly quick enough these days.  As much I generally enjoy cooking, I am always hungry, (sweaty and tired) after exercising with my housemates, and I can't recall the last evening I didn't have school work that needed attention.  Plus, cooking usually requires cleaning up afterwards, and my dishwasher is back in Japan.

So, I've been eating lots of leftovers and quick meals of late, most of which taste fine and fit the bill.  But when I made this quick-n-easy salad a few weeks ago, it was one of the best things I had eaten for a while.

With this recipe as a starting point, I added some chickpeas and raisins and adjusted the spices to taste.

Served over a bed of spinach & carrots, with fresh bread and olive oil/balsamic vinegar on the side.

The chickpeas helped add volume and protein.  I read recently that I should be getting 46 grams of protein a day, which is way higher than I thought.  I also didn't realize how many things in my regular diet contain protein, (greek yogurt is one of my main sources, as well as the copious amounts of cheese I consume, and recently I've been eating a hard boiled egg at least every other day).  I counted up my protein intake on one random day, and it came out almost exactly to 46 grams!!  My foray into nutrition was kind of fun...maybe over the summer I will try and learn more about what I eat.

Paella

I'd been toying with the idea of making paella for a several weeks before it actually happened.  It began when I saw this no-starch version on Peas and Thank You.  But the idea of cooking and crumbling cauliflower into rice-sized bits was not particularly appealing.  Nor did I have any saffron on hand.  So paella went deep into the recesses of my scattered brain, until a trip to Marshall's.

In the food aisle at Marshall's (which I am usually a bit wary of) I found a small bottle of "gourmet" saffron.  I knew saffron would be expensive, and I knew that I wouldn't be able to tell the difference between exceptional and marginal saffron, so I decided to buy it.  According to the price tag, I only paid about half of the original retail price!  

I found a recipe for artichoke paella in a vegetarian cookbook I own (actually purchased from a previous trip to Marshall's, but rarely used) and found time one evening to make it (another rare occurrence these days.)

I sauteed zucchini, onions and garlic in the largest pot I own, then added the rice and stirred to coat.  I added the saffron and liquid and left to boil.  About half way through, I added tomatoes, artichokes, green beans and chickpeas.  The recipe said not to stir the paella, but rather shake the pan a few times during cooking.  Not as easy as it seems, so I did end up stirring the pot once or twice, and I don't think there were any negative effects on the end result.

In restaurants, there is often a note on the menu saying paella will take at least an hour to make.  But this one came together in a little over 30 minutes, no baking required.  I will gladly trade authenticity for speedy cooking time in my own kitchen.

The recipe said it would yield 4-6 servings, but I now that I have been eating this for days and days, I think 6-8 generous servings is more accurate.  Usually I have the opposite problem with the listed number of servings.  It is much more common that a meal intended to serve 4-6 people only feeds me twice!

Mmmmm Bacon!

About two weeks ago, this was sent out by yours truly to all of the planning graduate students:

Then, on Easter I woke up at 8 AM to make my contribution to the group potluck: BH&G's Bacon & Egg Muffins.

I started with the bacon, something I don't think I have ever made myself.  The recipe only called for 4 pieces, but it's impossible to buy just 4 pieces of bacon at the store.  Also, while it smells wonderful, bacon is a mess to cook, so I decided to cook up the entire package at once.

Next, I used some of the bacon drippings to scramble the eggs and...

...grease the muffin pan as suggested by the recipe.  

The rest of the muffin came together quickly, even with my addition of  some extra bacon bits.

The bacon greased muffin tin was filled with bacon laden muffin mix and topped with more bacon. (Do you see a theme here?)

Baked until the edges of the muffins pulled away from the pan and bacon on top looked nice and crispy.

The potluck didn't draw a huge crowd, but there was plenty of scrumptious food and absolutely glorious weather.

I filled up my plate (more than once) soaked up some sunshine, and threw a few bocce balls before it was time to pack up, head home and hit the books...

...and scrub the bacon grease off the stove.  At least the morning was enjoyable!

Pi Day, Week & Month

I hope no one forgot that 3/14 was Pi Day.  I most certainly did not; however this year it fell on a Wednesday which is my busiest day of the week.  I did however, mention Pi Day to Keizo as though it was a holiday on par with Christmas or New Year's.  I also suggested a recipe I had been wanting to make for a while.  Lo and behold, when I got home from class/work, this gorgeous Key Lime Pi(e) was waiting for me!

We topped it with the recommended sour cream/powdered sugar mixture and had my housemates down for a little celebration/pie swap.

Pi Day officially came and went, but the pie making did not stop.  The next week, on another one of my long days at school, Keizo made an apple pie.  While very photo-worthy, not a single photo exists to commemorate it.

And finally, on his last night in Charlottesville, Keizo and I collaborated on a Peanut Butter Pie, inspired by our dessert at Blue Mountain Brewery.  We loosely followed this recipe, but decided to make our own hot fudge and use real whipped cream.  The end result was way more calories, but fewer chemicals/less high fructose corn syrup.  You decide which you would rather eat.

We started by making the fudge.

Four hands in the kitchen = cool action shots of drippy chocolate.

Then whipped up the cream, using my insanely powerful new hand mixer.

Added the peanut butter & other ingredients.

And crammed all the creamy goodness into the pie shell.

Decorated the top with more fudge, chocolate and PB chips and put it in the freezer.

When it was time for our first pieces, the pie hadn't set for very long and was very gloppy.  But the pieces enjoyed on subsequent days were much better formed.

I made the leftovers last the whole week, but now they are gone, and I am starting to have pie withdrawal.  What ever shall I do?

Last Supper

Keizo's last night in town we decided to stay in and cook together.  We didn't head to the store until about 5, and then I made him do Insanity with me, so I don't think we started cooking until well after 7. 

The menu was pasta with vodka cream sauce, roasted broccoli and garlic toast.  The cream sauce sounds fancy, but I got the recipe off the back of a bag of store brand frozen tortellini and added a ton of extra vegetables.  

Ready to eat!

The sauce was yummy, although next time I don't think I will add all of the liquid called for in the recipe.  All of the extra vegetables meant that I had leftovers too!

Meals of March

Well, selected meals from the crazy month of March.  Note the two place settings!

Welcome to Charlottesville, VA, a medium sized town with enough restaurants to seat the entire population at once! Let's stay in and eat some chili...

with some gorgeous corn muffins on the side!

Keizo and I ate a lot of kale chips while he was here.  Wash kale, tear from stems, place on baking sheet, drizzle with 1 Tbsp olive oil, coarse salt and pepper.  Bake/broil for about 10 minutes, mixing once until saku saku (light and crispy).

Homemade pizza on no-rise whole wheat dough.  This stuff sticks to your ribs.

Banana/coconut/PB chip pancakes.  Difficult to flip over, unbelievably easy to eat.

Teriyaki fish, buttered rice, leftover pasta and spinach salad with yogurt-y dressing, broccoli, nectarine and Craisins.

Poorly photographed fried egg sandwich, one of several that were consumed.  One of the Saturdays I had to be at school, Keizo and my housemate drove out to Polyface Farm and returned with eggs and breakfast sausages.  The eggs did seem "firmer" than the ones from the grocery store, but were the same pale yellow color.  Taste also seemed about the same.

*****

Since he was in C-ville for goodness sakes, we did have to eat out occasionally.

The gelato sampler at Splendora's.  I will have to show immense restraint not to order this just for myself the next time I go there.  Clockwise from top: mint, coconut, mango, tiramisu, and hazelnut, with a scoop of Guiness in the middle (it was St. Patrick's Day after all!)

Blue Mountain Brewery's nine beer sampler, enjoyed on the patio at sunset after an afternoon of hiking.  It was as amazing as it sounds.  I hope to repeat several times this summer.

Historic Michie Tavern's endless Southern buffet!  The stewed tomatoes were my favorite part, although that isn't to say didn't also get seconds of the BBQ pork and buttery biscuits.  If you go, I highly recommend fasting both before and after.

March Madness

This post has nothing to do with college basketball.  March was crazy enough on its own without the bitter rivalries and upsets of the NCAA tournament.  Plus, I find the all squeaky sneakers rather annoying.

My month started with Spring Break.  On the first day without classes it snowed about 5 inches from 8 am - 12 pm.  

Thankfully, it stopped snowing rather abruptly at noon followed by rapid melting, allowing me to pick this handsome guy up from the airport!!

We made a quick stop at Target on the way back into town to pick up an extra jacket for Keizo, which ended up being completely unnecessary since it was close to 80*F for the rest of his visit.

His visit lasted a whole 3 weeks, and of course included lots of food & cooking; some hiking & exploring (I was beginning to feel like the only person in Charlottesville who had never been inside Monticello) and unfortunately what felt like an interminable amount of homework and two school-related Saturday events.  I really cannot complain though, except about Keizo being too nice and washing all of the dishes and even cleaning the shower (!) while he was here.  Sadly, my days as a princess ended last weekend and it was back to reality; even more school work and Skype :-(