Thanksgiving 2011

Thanksgiving and Friendsgiving (the after party of digesting and drinking) were a big hit.

Appetizers
Cheese Ball
Spinach Artichoke Dip (Alex and Jenn)
Boiled Shrimp (Mom and Dad)
Bacon Wrapped Oysters (Bennie and Melody)
Bacon Wrapped Cocktail Weenies (Bennie and Melody)
Tamales (Mom and Dad)

Main Course

Turkey
We started with a 14 lb bird and set it in the fridge about midday on Sunday to start defrosting.  On Wednesday during the day we started the brine which was based on Pioneer Woman's favorite brine.  The main change we made was to reduce the salt since our bird was smaller. Also, instead of measuring out the water, the brine was boiled in a 4 quart pot that was almost full then it was poured over the bird and then we just added enough water to cover the bird.  We used one of the large oven bags for poultry to put it in and tied it tightly, being sure to get most of the air out.

The turkey was baked at 500F for 30 min and then I placed foil over the breast portion and turned the oven down to 350F.  The bird cooked until it reached 161F on the thermometer that was placed in the thickest part.  If I remember correctly it took about 2 hrs for our 14 pound bird.  Once done cooking we took it out and covered the whole thing in foil until we were ready to eat.  Mom still complained about how hot it was 2 hours later when she was cutting it up.

Macaroni and Cheese
Brussels Sprouts
Green Beans
Two large bags of defrosted (previously frozen) green beans were placed in a casserole and tossed with almost a full Kraft container of shredded Parmesan cheese.  Add a bit of pepper and butter for good measure then bake at 350 until the beans are tender to your liking, perhaps 30 minutes.  With 10 minutes left top with some Fried Onions.  (Note - Next time I will add some mozzarella as well for a little more of a melty texture)
Dressing (Alex and Jenn)
Scalloped Potatoes (Alex and Jenn)
Cocktail Shrimp Salad (Bennie and Melody)

Rolls

http://www.howsweeteats.com/2011/11/buttery-cloverleaf-rolls/

Desserts

Brittle - Peanut and Spiced

Toffee
Apple Pie (Mom and Dad)
Coconut Cream Pie (Mom and Dad)

Pumpkin Pie

Hershey Bar Pie

Dinner for One - Beefy Peas

Don't hate me but these pictures really are terrible.  It is impossible to make split peas look delicious since they have this terrible muddy green color about them.  Not to mention that I am using my 3Gs iPhone with bad lighting to take these pictures.  They have no hope.

All that being said, I am loving eating these meals.  It is a one pot wonder at it's best.

Start by boiling one cup of peas with 2 cups of water for about 30 minutes.  Keep an eye on them and if they start to run out of water then add more.  Try to not add too much water so the leftovers aren't soupy.  As the peas are boiling toss in the beef and any extra flavors.  The beef I used was about a cup of leftover roast.  When you stir the peas the beef will shred into the soup.  Depending on how salty the beef is you may want to toss in some bouillon, but isn't really necessary.

Here is my first bowl of soup the night I made this.  Looks yummy, no?

Since there were plenty of leftovers, I did my favorite thing to do...create a patty/cake out of it.

Combine
1.5 cups of the leftovers
1 egg
1/3 cup flour

Drop roughly a quarter cup of the mixture into bread crumbs then flatten the mixture out in a hot skillet that has a bit of oil.  Cook both sides until crispy and you get something like this.

The texture and taste were pretty awesome.  I served them with dijon mustard, sour cream and sriracha.

Since I really don't eat much there are still two portions of soup left and one portion of the patties.  The leftover patties are going to go into a tortilla with some mustard and arugula for lunch one day and the soup will just be reheated with some water to thin it out a bit.   Who knew peas could be so versatile?

Dinner for One - Lentils and Quinoa

Forgive the ugliness of this meal.  I will also admit that I had a leftover slice of pizza while this was cooking so my portion was quite small.  The main goal of this was to have leftovers that I could put on top of a salad for lunch the next day.

Recipe

1/2 cup Lentils

1/2 cup Quinoa

Stock (I used Mushroom)

1/2 tsp Paprika

Pepper

Both lentils and quinoa have a water ratio of 2 to 1.  Since we have a total of 1 cup of dried goods, use 2 cups of liquid.  This makes it easy to adjust when you want more or less.  I just happened to have some celery that needed to be used so it got diced and tossed in, but it doesn't really affect the dish much so it can be left out.  Combine everything in a pot and bring to a boil.  When it starts to boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook for around 15 minutes or until the liquid is all gone.

Possible modifications

This would be really good with other spices, especially curry powder.  I had considered tossing in some hot peppers, but decided I wasn't in the mood.  Get creative with what you have in the pantry and what you are in the mood for that day.

Salad Option:

This is what lunch the next day looked like.  Well worth the effort of the day before, but you could also have just go straight to making this as dinner.  Underneath there is a bed of romain lettuce, parsley and tomatoes.  On top there is the lentil and quinoa mixture plus some goat cheese.  It makes for quite the satisfying lunch considering how much protein is in lentils and quinoa.

Dinner for One - Cabbage Saute

Admittedly this was lunch, but it could just as easily be dinner.  The inspiration for this meal was Reuben sandwich.

1/2 Small Cabbage

1/4 to 1/2 cup Pulled Pork

1 small can Green Chilies

1 tsp Dijon Mustard

1/2 tsp Caraway Seeds

Salt and Pepper to Taste

Toss everything in a skillet and saute on medium heat until the cabbage is tender.  Roughly 10 to 15 minutes.  Serve on top of a toasted piece of bread with some cheese on top.  Obviously the bread and cheese are optional.  What really makes the dish are the caraway seeds.  The caraway seeds provide the distinctive flavor that rye bread has which is goes right along with a Reuben.  If you don't happen to have leftover pulled pork you could easily substitute some other protein, like a sausage link, ground beef or ground turkey.  Whatever you happen to have on hand will work just fine.

Dinner for One - Beets and Millet

It doesn't get much easier than this.  Open a can of beets put half on a plate next to whatever grain you have (I had millet).  Top the grain with a bit of butter and salt and microwave the whole thing.  Top with a bit of goat cheese and dive right in.

This may not be the prettiest picture, but it sure was tasty.

Booty Camp Oct 19 2011

Warm up - Jog two laps around the track

3 circuits of the following.  Place the weights 10 yards apart, going out to 50 yards.

1. Jog to the first weight
2. 10 push-ups
3. Pick up a weight
4. Jog back to the start with the weight
5. Return the weight to its starting position
6. Jog to the start
7. Repeat going to the second weight

After each circuit do 4 minutes of one of the following while holding a weight

• Lunges
• Dead lifts
• Dead lifts with a squat jump

Just for the fun of it CB brought out two 50 lb bags of seed and split us up into two teams.  Then we raced around the track with that bag of seed.  CB got quite the kick out of watching us do it and it really was a good work out.

10 minutes of abs, doing each exercise for 1-2 minutes

• Tick Tocks
• 6 inches (hold your legs straight 6 inches off the ground)
• Flutters (flutter your legs up and down 6 inches off the ground)
• Out/In (spread your legs out and back in 6 inches off the ground)
• Hold your legs straight in the air and reach up to touch your toes
• Keep your feet on the floor and reach up to touch the sky
• Sit in a V position with your knees bent but feet off the ground and then alternate touching the ground on either side of you

Don't forget to stretch afterwards.

Stats

Duration 53:06

Calories 445

Average HR 146
Max HR 181

Fat Burn 12:12

Fitness 40:43

In the news - Farm:Shop

I recently read this article about Farm:Shop.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2011/oct/07/hi-tech-urban-farming

I have to say I love the idea.  The general premise is that they are growing/raising food in an urban area through volunteers.  They are proving that you don't need the country side to produce food.  One way in which they are doing so is by raising chickens on their roof.  One of these days when there is no threat of abandoning them for weeks at a time I may consider doing something like this.  The unfortunate part is that I really think chickens are disgusting, but they do serve a purpose.  Fresh eggs really are tasty and they work wonders on food scraps.

The other cool part is that they are growing lettuce hydroponically.  If you read closely they learned how to grow the lettuce from people that are growing cannabis in their homes.  Ha!

Perhaps something like this will makes its way to Dallas some day.  Here is to hoping.