Monday: homemade pizza (spinach, olive, tomato)
Tuesday: Basil and tomato penne, veggies
Wednesday: leftovers and sandwich night!
Thursday: lemon-garlic chicken and rice casserole, peas
Friday: leftover casserole
***************************************************************
This may look like a lot of cooking, but parts of everything comes from a box or the freezer, so it's not bad.
And Joe eats A LOT, so while most couples would have leftovers every night, we don't. He eats it all. And sometimes what's on my plate too. We joke that he has a tapeworm...it's even nicknamed Oscar.
I don't know why I felt inclined on sharing that...so. Um, yeah.
Wednesday, January 7, 2009
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
And another!
Oh! I have to type this quickly so I can go to bed (super tired!). I am sooooooo excited for classes to start next week!
I am also terrified, but the excitement is the overwhelming emotion right now. My class schedule is crazy, plus with work and squeezing in gym time, I'm gonna be a busy lady this semester! But I know I can do it. I really want to be more focused this semester and raise my GPA. This fall was hard- and it was just because I didn't study enough. I know it was my fault, and I know I can do a lot better!
Also, I am going to start up the meal plan again. Wednesday of this week (tomorrow), I am going to make up several batches of bread dough and freeze them in loaf sizes so that I don't have to keep the bowl of dough in the fridge for two weeks until I use it up. This way, when we want a loaf of fresh bread, we just defrost the dough in the fridge the day before and bake it up when we want it. Yay for yummy bread! I have really gotten interested in making our own. The stuff you buy in the stores are usually made with bleached flour which cuts out the health factor and could be loaded with preservatives and such. I know I eat stuff that I shouldn't (cheese, anyone?), but I think that this is a step in the right direction. I also found out that you can use whole wheat flour instead of white flour! We love wheat bread, so when I run out of all the flour I have stockpiled right now we will start doing it that way. Woo hoo!
I am also terrified, but the excitement is the overwhelming emotion right now. My class schedule is crazy, plus with work and squeezing in gym time, I'm gonna be a busy lady this semester! But I know I can do it. I really want to be more focused this semester and raise my GPA. This fall was hard- and it was just because I didn't study enough. I know it was my fault, and I know I can do a lot better!
Also, I am going to start up the meal plan again. Wednesday of this week (tomorrow), I am going to make up several batches of bread dough and freeze them in loaf sizes so that I don't have to keep the bowl of dough in the fridge for two weeks until I use it up. This way, when we want a loaf of fresh bread, we just defrost the dough in the fridge the day before and bake it up when we want it. Yay for yummy bread! I have really gotten interested in making our own. The stuff you buy in the stores are usually made with bleached flour which cuts out the health factor and could be loaded with preservatives and such. I know I eat stuff that I shouldn't (cheese, anyone?), but I think that this is a step in the right direction. I also found out that you can use whole wheat flour instead of white flour! We love wheat bread, so when I run out of all the flour I have stockpiled right now we will start doing it that way. Woo hoo!
Cause I'm so...cool?
I have been encouraged (yet again...cough cough) to blog more frequently, so here goes another lil entry in my journal o' fun!
So the other day I had a hunger pain, looked in the fridge. There wasn't much in there. Some ketchup, two varieties of mustard, a tortilla. So then I looked to the freezer with hope. And alas, I found a frozen bean burrito!
"Yes!! Burrito! That is what I want!," I thought to myself. So I got it out of the bag, stuck in on a plate and instead of cooking it in the microwave like I should have done, I set it on the STOVE and TURNED ON THE BURNER.
Yeah. I did. And then I spent the next 40 minutes unable to speak clearly cause every time I did I started laughing at myself (again).
It's these kinds of things that make me an interesting person, right? :)
So the other day I had a hunger pain, looked in the fridge. There wasn't much in there. Some ketchup, two varieties of mustard, a tortilla. So then I looked to the freezer with hope. And alas, I found a frozen bean burrito!
"Yes!! Burrito! That is what I want!," I thought to myself. So I got it out of the bag, stuck in on a plate and instead of cooking it in the microwave like I should have done, I set it on the STOVE and TURNED ON THE BURNER.
Yeah. I did. And then I spent the next 40 minutes unable to speak clearly cause every time I did I started laughing at myself (again).
It's these kinds of things that make me an interesting person, right? :)
Friday, January 2, 2009
Boule (Artisan Bread!) Recipe
This recipe may look frightening, but really it isn't. And even if it was, it would be worth it, cause this bread is AMAZING!!! :)
Special equipment needed:
A pizza stone
a 5 quart bowl with a lid (I believe Saran wrap would work too)
a pizza peel or a cookie sheet without a "lip" on it
3 cups water
1 1/2 tbsp granulated yeast (1 1/2 packets)
1 1/2 tbsp coarse kosher or sea salt
6 1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour
cornmeal for pizza peel or flat edged cookie sheet
Mixing and Storing the Dough:
1. Heat water to just a little warmer than body temperature (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit).
2. Dissolve yeast and then salt in water in a 5 qoart bowl, preferably one with a lid.
3. Mix in the flour by gently scooping it up, then leveling the top off but don't pat it down. Mix with a wooden spoon, a high capacity food processor with a dough attachment, or a heavy duty stand mixer with a dough hook. If hand mixing becomes too difficult, use very wet hands to press it together. Don't knead it! This step is done in a matter of minutes, and the dough should be wet enough to conform to the container.
4. Cover loosely- do not seal. Gases need to be able to escape. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse, approximately 2 hours. Longer rising times, up to about 5 hours, will not harm the result. You can use a portion of the dough anytime after this period. Refrigerated wet dough is much less sticky and easier to work with than room-temp dough. It is reccomended that you refrigerate the dough at least 3 hours before shaping a loaf.
On Baking Day:
5. Prepare pizza peel by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal to prevent the loaf from sticking to it when you slide it in the oven.
Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour, then cut off a grapefruit-sized portion with a serrated knife. (This should be about 1/4 of the dough.) Add more flour as needed to keep it from sticking to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on four "sides", rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go, until the bottom is a collection of four bunched ends. Most of the dusting flour will fall off; it doesn't need to be incorporated.
6. Place the ball on the pizza peel. Let it rest uncovered for 40 minutes.
7. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone in the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray or casserole dish on the shelf below (this is for holding water).
8. Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour and slash the top of the dough three times. This will allow the bread to expand during baking and the flour keeps the knife from sticking.
9. With a forward jerking motion of the wrist, slide the loaf off the pizza peel and onto the baking stone. Quickly but carefully pour about a cup of hot water into the broiler tray and close the oven door to trap the steam. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the crust is browned and firm to the touch.
10. Refrigerate the remaining dough in your lidded (not airtight) container and use it over the next two weeks. The dough can also be frozen in portions in airtight containers and defrosted overnight in the refrigerator prior to baking day.
Special equipment needed:
A pizza stone
a 5 quart bowl with a lid (I believe Saran wrap would work too)
a pizza peel or a cookie sheet without a "lip" on it
3 cups water
1 1/2 tbsp granulated yeast (1 1/2 packets)
1 1/2 tbsp coarse kosher or sea salt
6 1/2 cups unsifted, unbleached, all-purpose white flour
cornmeal for pizza peel or flat edged cookie sheet
Mixing and Storing the Dough:
1. Heat water to just a little warmer than body temperature (about 100 degrees Fahrenheit).
2. Dissolve yeast and then salt in water in a 5 qoart bowl, preferably one with a lid.
3. Mix in the flour by gently scooping it up, then leveling the top off but don't pat it down. Mix with a wooden spoon, a high capacity food processor with a dough attachment, or a heavy duty stand mixer with a dough hook. If hand mixing becomes too difficult, use very wet hands to press it together. Don't knead it! This step is done in a matter of minutes, and the dough should be wet enough to conform to the container.
4. Cover loosely- do not seal. Gases need to be able to escape. Allow the mixture to rise at room temperature until it begins to collapse, approximately 2 hours. Longer rising times, up to about 5 hours, will not harm the result. You can use a portion of the dough anytime after this period. Refrigerated wet dough is much less sticky and easier to work with than room-temp dough. It is reccomended that you refrigerate the dough at least 3 hours before shaping a loaf.
On Baking Day:
5. Prepare pizza peel by sprinkling it liberally with cornmeal to prevent the loaf from sticking to it when you slide it in the oven.
Sprinkle the surface of the dough with flour, then cut off a grapefruit-sized portion with a serrated knife. (This should be about 1/4 of the dough.) Add more flour as needed to keep it from sticking to your hands. Gently stretch the surface of the dough around to the bottom on four "sides", rotating the ball a quarter turn as you go, until the bottom is a collection of four bunched ends. Most of the dusting flour will fall off; it doesn't need to be incorporated.
6. Place the ball on the pizza peel. Let it rest uncovered for 40 minutes.
7. Twenty minutes before baking, preheat the oven to 450 degrees with a baking stone in the middle rack. Place an empty broiler tray or casserole dish on the shelf below (this is for holding water).
8. Dust the top of the loaf liberally with flour and slash the top of the dough three times. This will allow the bread to expand during baking and the flour keeps the knife from sticking.
9. With a forward jerking motion of the wrist, slide the loaf off the pizza peel and onto the baking stone. Quickly but carefully pour about a cup of hot water into the broiler tray and close the oven door to trap the steam. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the crust is browned and firm to the touch.
10. Refrigerate the remaining dough in your lidded (not airtight) container and use it over the next two weeks. The dough can also be frozen in portions in airtight containers and defrosted overnight in the refrigerator prior to baking day.
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
oh hell.
I'm so mad I could shit a brick.
Tonight was Joe's birthday dinner with his family. His mom invited people over, planned what we would have, ect...which is all quite nice, except how did she know that it was what Joe wanted??? She didn't. He told me last week that he really wanted to be in Jonesboro for this whole week, but that couldn't happen b/c we will have Sarah (15 year old niece) this coming weekend, and that would mean an extra trip, which we can't afford. So we stayed here. Joe is kind of a hermit, almost anti-social when it comes to family events. It's not that he doesn't like them, he just prefers being alone or with friends.
Well, I invited our friends Will and Hannah over tonight cause I knew Joe would really love that. He and Will are two peas in a pod, and I ADORE Hannah, so it was fun for me too :) they are a great couple. Robyn didn't seem to have a problem with it, and I just told her it was happening since she had taken over all the other arrangements, I figured I wouldn't ask permission for this to happen- and why should I? It's not like we are 12.
So anywho, we ate dinner, Hannah and Will got here, and the four of us watched some youtube in the bedroom while everyone else was milling around the house...then we all had cake, and the four of us were in the dining room still and most everyone else had gone outside to smoke. So we were just hanging out, but the youngest niece, Ashley, was being really loud and driving us nuts and Joe didn't look like he was having much fun, I sure wasn't, and Hannah really wanted away from the 8 year old. So we decided to go hang out somewhere else.
I found Robyn, told her what we were doing, and she didn't look too happy about it. I didn't think she'd be MAD tho, but apparently she was. She told Joe we were being rude for leaving a party. Nobody else was talking to us anyway (they NEVER do), neither of us enjoy being at these family events, and they weren't there because it was Joe's birthday- they came because there was free food and cake. That's how they are.
And besides, we haven't seen Will and Hannah since August. So if Joe wants to spend his birthday with them, why the hell would she say anything about it?!?! It pisses me off.
I just really want to go back to Jonesboro. I'm thinking about getting Sarah to go with us on New Year's Day, and just say, "well, she gets an extra day there with us!" and making it sound like we are doing it for her benefit. I can't stand this anymore. When I come up to do photoshoots next month I think I'm gonna go stay with my old foster parents. I love Robyn and Truman, I really do. But it's getting to the point where I am so used to how we live at home that I can't stand being here for very long. They eat dinner super late, and they fry everything, and the dog smells....
Tonight was Joe's birthday dinner with his family. His mom invited people over, planned what we would have, ect...which is all quite nice, except how did she know that it was what Joe wanted??? She didn't. He told me last week that he really wanted to be in Jonesboro for this whole week, but that couldn't happen b/c we will have Sarah (15 year old niece) this coming weekend, and that would mean an extra trip, which we can't afford. So we stayed here. Joe is kind of a hermit, almost anti-social when it comes to family events. It's not that he doesn't like them, he just prefers being alone or with friends.
Well, I invited our friends Will and Hannah over tonight cause I knew Joe would really love that. He and Will are two peas in a pod, and I ADORE Hannah, so it was fun for me too :) they are a great couple. Robyn didn't seem to have a problem with it, and I just told her it was happening since she had taken over all the other arrangements, I figured I wouldn't ask permission for this to happen- and why should I? It's not like we are 12.
So anywho, we ate dinner, Hannah and Will got here, and the four of us watched some youtube in the bedroom while everyone else was milling around the house...then we all had cake, and the four of us were in the dining room still and most everyone else had gone outside to smoke. So we were just hanging out, but the youngest niece, Ashley, was being really loud and driving us nuts and Joe didn't look like he was having much fun, I sure wasn't, and Hannah really wanted away from the 8 year old. So we decided to go hang out somewhere else.
I found Robyn, told her what we were doing, and she didn't look too happy about it. I didn't think she'd be MAD tho, but apparently she was. She told Joe we were being rude for leaving a party. Nobody else was talking to us anyway (they NEVER do), neither of us enjoy being at these family events, and they weren't there because it was Joe's birthday- they came because there was free food and cake. That's how they are.
And besides, we haven't seen Will and Hannah since August. So if Joe wants to spend his birthday with them, why the hell would she say anything about it?!?! It pisses me off.
I just really want to go back to Jonesboro. I'm thinking about getting Sarah to go with us on New Year's Day, and just say, "well, she gets an extra day there with us!" and making it sound like we are doing it for her benefit. I can't stand this anymore. When I come up to do photoshoots next month I think I'm gonna go stay with my old foster parents. I love Robyn and Truman, I really do. But it's getting to the point where I am so used to how we live at home that I can't stand being here for very long. They eat dinner super late, and they fry everything, and the dog smells....
Monday, December 29, 2008
oh boy!
I took photos of Sarah the other day and I have had pretty good reviews on them! Yay! Her boyfriend saw them and asked me to do his when he's riding his dirt bike. That sounds exciting, huh??
Now I REALLY need to make up a price list.
For reals yo.
Now I REALLY need to make up a price list.
For reals yo.
Friday, December 26, 2008
working on it
I'm really bored right now and I apologize for the rambling!
Joe's cousin has agreed to model for me for Bridal shots and I'm super excited!! Woo! She's actually divorced now, but she got married May of 2007 and she still has her dress, and besides, she's gorgeous and will be a great model. So now, I just need to get my dang camera! Hopefully the money will be waiting for us when we get back to Jonesboro, and I can go buy it before we take our 15-year-old niece to Memphis that weekend. We are going to the Peabody to see the ducks that Saturday morning (they do their thing at 11), then we're going to visit the Pink Palace Museum. On the way home we are taking a detour up to see Reelfoot Lake- which is where the river ran backward and made this lake. They have a sanctuary with eagles and owls and you can see them up close! I've always wanted to go there, but it never occurred to me just how close we are to it! So I'm REALLY hoping I have my camera for that. If I don't, I'll just take my MIL's Sony, which is better than mine, but still nothing fantastic.
Christmas was okay I guess. I'm really trying to think positively about it- but things are so sad to me this year. Part of it is because this is the 10th year without my mom, and that hurts. I feel guilty for being happy when she isn't around to be happy with me. Plus I haven't seen my brother in over two years, and he's just started calling me again and I'm pretty sure it's cause he wants money...well, I don't have any money to send him, and even if I did, Joe hates him and would be soooo pissed if he knew that I was helping him out. I don't blame him for hating him; if he wasn't my brother, I'd hate him too. He's done some really crappy things to me and I don't know why I forgive him.
Anywho, I really had my heart set on that little kitty being mine, and it didn't happen. I got a coffeemaker that I'm gonna take back to the store cause there is NOWHERE in my house to keep it. I want a coffee maker, don't get me wrong, but I don't want to have to unpack it everytime I want to use it, and we just don't have the space to keep it out on the counter. We don't even have cabinet space to put it away in the kitchen. So I'd have to keep it in the carport building and bring it inside...and I'm just not doing that. I wasn't gonna say anything to Robyn (Joe's mom) about it, but I thought about it all day yesterday and she told me that she almost didn't get it for me because of that reason and that I should take it back and put the money toward something else. So I think I'm gonna get a card for my camera instead.
I did get a new hair dryer, which is wonderful, and some dish towels. And candy. And Joe's aunt gave us a gift card to Wal-Mart, yippee!
Joe's mom really loves the knife we gave her, and I'm glad. It is a Cuisinart one, and I REALLY wanted to get one for myself, but they are kinda expensive! :) She is the most fun to shop for, cause if it's something I like, she'll love it too. So I just find something I want and we get it for her...that's exactly how we shop, too. Joe says, Okay, what do you want Anna? Then I go find it. haha
Joe's cousin has agreed to model for me for Bridal shots and I'm super excited!! Woo! She's actually divorced now, but she got married May of 2007 and she still has her dress, and besides, she's gorgeous and will be a great model. So now, I just need to get my dang camera! Hopefully the money will be waiting for us when we get back to Jonesboro, and I can go buy it before we take our 15-year-old niece to Memphis that weekend. We are going to the Peabody to see the ducks that Saturday morning (they do their thing at 11), then we're going to visit the Pink Palace Museum. On the way home we are taking a detour up to see Reelfoot Lake- which is where the river ran backward and made this lake. They have a sanctuary with eagles and owls and you can see them up close! I've always wanted to go there, but it never occurred to me just how close we are to it! So I'm REALLY hoping I have my camera for that. If I don't, I'll just take my MIL's Sony, which is better than mine, but still nothing fantastic.
Christmas was okay I guess. I'm really trying to think positively about it- but things are so sad to me this year. Part of it is because this is the 10th year without my mom, and that hurts. I feel guilty for being happy when she isn't around to be happy with me. Plus I haven't seen my brother in over two years, and he's just started calling me again and I'm pretty sure it's cause he wants money...well, I don't have any money to send him, and even if I did, Joe hates him and would be soooo pissed if he knew that I was helping him out. I don't blame him for hating him; if he wasn't my brother, I'd hate him too. He's done some really crappy things to me and I don't know why I forgive him.
Anywho, I really had my heart set on that little kitty being mine, and it didn't happen. I got a coffeemaker that I'm gonna take back to the store cause there is NOWHERE in my house to keep it. I want a coffee maker, don't get me wrong, but I don't want to have to unpack it everytime I want to use it, and we just don't have the space to keep it out on the counter. We don't even have cabinet space to put it away in the kitchen. So I'd have to keep it in the carport building and bring it inside...and I'm just not doing that. I wasn't gonna say anything to Robyn (Joe's mom) about it, but I thought about it all day yesterday and she told me that she almost didn't get it for me because of that reason and that I should take it back and put the money toward something else. So I think I'm gonna get a card for my camera instead.
I did get a new hair dryer, which is wonderful, and some dish towels. And candy. And Joe's aunt gave us a gift card to Wal-Mart, yippee!
Joe's mom really loves the knife we gave her, and I'm glad. It is a Cuisinart one, and I REALLY wanted to get one for myself, but they are kinda expensive! :) She is the most fun to shop for, cause if it's something I like, she'll love it too. So I just find something I want and we get it for her...that's exactly how we shop, too. Joe says, Okay, what do you want Anna? Then I go find it. haha
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
