My Two Part Approach to my New Year's Resolutions

Being that I'm still recovering from adolescence, my New Years resolutions usually include "being healthy", which is really just code for "losing weight". This year is no different and I'm taking steps in the right direction (I hope!). I'm going to see about a gym membership on Saturday at Curves. I'm a little skeptical, but it didn't seem *too* expensive and it's way closer to my apartment than the UT gym. I've also resolved to start eating better, which includes my snacks. Tonight it was chicken noodle soup, which was basically chicken stock, noodles, chicken, and veggies (this time being carrots, onion, and celery). The other night we made stir-fry with broccoli, chickpeas, and green pepper all foraged from the local Whole Foods. And I can see now that this post is mostly to showcase my horrible camera skillZ AND to keep with my new year's resolution.





Perhaps, one day, I'll figure out how to incorporate pictures into this... but anywho... The other thing that we've been doing a lot is drinking smoothies for whatever reason. I think part of it is that we got a ginormous bag of frozen strawberries from Costco (which, if you're into bulk goods, is a much better choice than Sam's Club).

Mid-snack, it occurred to me that this is exactly the best food to give to sick kids. Who doesn't love soup when they've got a cold? And these smoothies have so much vitamin C that it's a better way to boost the immune system (and to make Linus Pauling happy) than simply taking vitamin C pills. The only thing that's missing is the Vernor's (which is by far the superior ginger ale if you're into that sort of thing). It's revelations like that that make me want to have babies like yesterday.

Flying Spaghetti Monsters sans the flying and monster-y bits

So I haven't written in this in forever. There's a good reason. Actually, no there's not; however, there are always a lot of excuses, including: I was sick for a month.

Things I've cooked since last time... pan fried chicken (not actually a departure from too much, but I learned the lovely process of dredging). Beef bolognese (lots of time, minimal effort, pleaser of crowds). Um... a lot of corn bread, almost weekly. Cupcakes (not from scratch). Stir-fry. Packaged hot dogs. I eat pork again.

So let's go with the bolognese and I'll update the Christmas stuff at some point so I can remember how to do things in the future.

Beef Bolognese

6 Tbs butter
6 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

3 c mire poix:
3/4 c celery, chopped fine
3/4 c carrots, chopped fine
1 1/2 c onion, chopped fine

3 cloves garlic chopped fine
salt + pepper
1 lb beef
1/3 lb pancetta cubed
1 1/3 c tomato paste
1 1/2 c whole milk
2 c red wine
2 2/3 c whole canned tomatoes, torn and seeded
4 c stock
handful of spices
mushrooms

So... melt the butter+oil and, when hot, add in the mire poix mixture and season with salt and pepper. I stole this from a NYT Magazine article on ragus. Simmer in the butter until the colors "brighten" (~20 minutes). Add in garlic and let it cook and get fragrant. Add in the beef+pancetta and let it brown (~25 minutes, longer if frozen). Add in the tomato paste, mix, and let it cook for 5 minutes. Add in the whole milk until the mixture really "takes it" in (10-15 minutes). Do the same with the red wine. This bit takes awhile. The key point is getting it all to reduce well. After that, add in the canned tomatoes, the stock, the mushrooms, and the spices. Mm mm spices. I used basil, thyme, oregano, and sage in dried form. Let it simmer for 3 hours. Stir it once in awhile. Perhaps at the end, you should skim the fat and stick blender it. This is if you're too impatient to let the tomatoes break down and such (I was). Eat-y eat-y yum yum.

Serve with garlic bread... which is made by chopping up garlic, melting butter+garlic in the microwave, letting it get hard-ish in the fridge, and then smearing on a loaf and baking it at 300 in the oven til when you feel like it.

Enjoy.

I made a discovery!!

Chicken stock is my new favorite cooking device. My second new favorite cooking device is the wok that I stole from my dad. Chicken stock + wok == best stir-fry evAr. Well, maybe not ever, but you get the drift.

I made quinoa again, but this time I used chicken stock instead of water and oh boy, it was 8000 times better. I used the quinoa instead of rice again and it was an excellent addition to my stir-fry, which consisted of a bunch of vegetables that I was going to use then or throw out. Veggie stir-fry is becoming my new default because chicken takes too long and I'm lazy. I maintain that it's healthier than fast food.

So at the grocery store, I bought a couple cans of chicken stock. My new game is going to be to see what all I can incorporate it into. I also got asparagus. Stoked about that! I'm thinking of trying risotto soon, but I couldn't find arborio rice. Sadness. Maybe later this week, I'll find it.

Other new discovery... the cookie recipe I was using is better if you forget the recipe and run out of vanilla. I think the new best way of dealing with it is to use two eggs (instead of 1 egg + 1 yolk) and to half the amount of vanilla. I made them again by actually following the recipe and was a bit disappointed; however, my friend Dave decided that he likes the actual recipe better. So I guess experimentation (i.e. forgetting the recipe) is the best.