I think this pic came out fairly well. Specifically meaning, it’s not too shiny. That’s an irritation I’ve been experiencing lately… shiny food pics. I now think it’s because I rely primarily on the camera flash, instead of using other lighting first. Usually, I’m getting ready to eat after I’ve made something, so I’m going for the ‘quick pic’. Also, I’ve been using the quick camera, meaning the lil digital one in the kitchen drawer. I should start using the digital SLR again and focus more on a quality shot.
But, in this pic here, I do think the lighting came out alright. I put the pre-salad under the stove light and it seemed to help cut down on the flash glare. I say pre-salad cuz it’s the majority of a salad for tomorrow, but not everything yet. 
What’s in there… romaine lettuce, cucumber, red and yellow pepper and avocado… so far. I figured I’d start that while waiting for some pasta to boil.
Crap… I meant to do something with the pasta water, but I forgot. I drained the pasta in the sink, as I normally would. BUT, I read a tip somewhere about using leftover water like that for your plants. After cooling it down, of course. So, I meant to do that tonight, but out of habit, down the drain it went. And I just remembered now that I forgot to do that. Sigh… Now that I’ve written it down, hopefully I’ll remember for next time. [ Tying string around my pinkie finger... ]
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- Grilled Eggplant
- Chopped Tomatoes
- Chopped Basil
- Feta
- Olive Oil
All wrapped in a wrap. Pretty darn yummy. I really love eggplant and don’t have it nearly enough. Grilling it quickens the cooking time, which I like. I’ve got so much basil nowadays it’s going into everything (almost). I’ve got a baggie of leaves tucked in-between damp paper towels in the fridge. Some of those went into my dinner tonight, too, just because…
What I’d like to find for some of my food pics is a “shininess=(-10)” tag, or something like that. This one above has that food shine to it too… harrumpf. But, I took the pic fairly quickly… in the morning, and mornings are not the time to dilly-dally. At least in my world. Meaning I’m usually about 5 minutes behind in getting myself out the door in time…
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Yummy and simple chicken marinade… kids will like it too, I do believe. It’s nice and nutty, and one of our favorites…
- 1/4 cup Olive Oil
- 2 Tbsp Peanut Butter
- 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- Seasonings, to taste… We like Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, and sometimes some Thyme
- Worcestershire Sauce, a dash, if we’re in the mood…
The peanut butter may sound strange, but it really melds very nicely with any other flavors you put in there. We often throw the leftover chicken in with a salad… That’s quite yummy, too. Tonight, we had it with brown rice and mushrooms, and some steamed broccoli.
I found a favorite recipe of mine yesterday… lentils with bulgar wheat, tomatoes and walnuts, and a few other things. I didn’t find any bulgar wheat at the store today, but hopefully tomorrow… I missed a few other ingredients at the store… I forgot to actually write them down, which means I forgot them. I’m liking to soon try a Blueberry Kiwi Bread that I’ve done in the past. I’ve got the blueberries, but forgot the kiwis and few extra eggs… I’m hoping to get that taken care of tomorrow…
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Posted in Cooking, tagged Chicken, Cooking, Food on July 25, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Or something like that. I’ve the ingredients prepped and ready, but they won’t be a go til tomorrow. And that is all good… it’s nice to have things ready to cook. It will be a chicken marinading in a peanut sauce/satay (yes, with peanut butter in there too)… [...]
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It’s actually been awhile since I’ve made my own pesto. I had forgotten just how important it is to add ingredients one at a time, instead of, say, dumping it all in the food processor and turning it on. 
So, this batch came out a bit pastier than I would have liked, but I will learn from it. I also added too much garlic up front… it can be tricky to recover from over-garlicking. In addition, I now remember that shredding the Parmesan cheese first is better than just cutting it into chunks. I may have strained the motor on the food processor with that one. Whoops!
Pesto ingredients are pretty basic:
- Basil Leaves
- Olive Oil
- Garlic
- Parmesan Cheese
- Pine Nuts
I also like adding Sun-Dried Tomatoes in there too, but that’s for later batches. With Round #1 now complete, my basil plant has been thinned and trimmed. I have 2 jars of pesto in the freezer, and they will be a very welcome treat come wintertime with some pasta and mushrooms. I have a better recollection of the precision of pesto-making, and of how to improve it for next time. And, it’s still early, my plant is growing strong, so there will be a few other next times this season, definitely…
One of two jars of pesto, now in my freezer.
Puggles, with Basil. One of the results of having the couch in the living room backed up against the main food prep counter in the kitchen… I don’t mind, although some might. I’m a dog person, always will be… Plus, she’s funny too… She knows not to try to get anything that’s on the cutting board, so she’ll just sit and watch me cook. But if it goes onto the counter, then it’s fair game.
Those are our rules.
I call this ‘Warhol Pesto’. This is the exact way the picture came out. Due to the angle of the flash, but I was amused by it.
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Posted in Lists, tagged Food, Lists on July 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment »
Lentil Tomato Feta on Pitas (tonight, most likely)
Grilled Chicken, Rice with Mushrooms and Broccoli (take chicken out of freezer.)
Salad, with leftover chicken from above
Variations on the BLT
Pesto (See how much this batch ends up making… use and freeze.)
Grilled Eggplant, maybe in an angel hair pasta, maybe just added along the way…
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It’s going to be pesto-making time in a day or two. My basil plant is just taking off and growing like crazy. I love simply going out on the deck and picking some leaves. Because it’s a relatively smallish quantity of leaves, and it’s keep growing as it does after I trim it back (i.e. pick and eat the leaves), I figure I’ll be making pesto quite a bit for the remainder of the summer. Luckily, I found some pine nuts at the grocery store. I was hoping to find them in bulk though. Actually, maybe I’ll see what’s out there on the internets, if anything… I just thought of that. That could very possibly work too. Such a lovely and fragrant plant. I think the only thing I’ll need after I do my first batch will be some small Mason jars… they are the perfect size for when I freeze it. And I love freezing it, because I love using it in the wintertime.
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I remembered this weekend to pick up some sunflower seeds to have in my salads. A yummy bulk-load of ‘em! It’s been awhile since I’ve added them to my salads… probably because we’ve just started really eating salads as a mainstay during the past month or two. I forgot how much I enjoy the crunchiness and texture that they add. Sometimes I’ll do the nut thing too… almonds are another favorite of mine. Chopped walnuts, too! Pumpkin seeds I’ve enjoyed in there too, when the mood strikes me. It amazes me what a handful of a lil something different can add to a salad, and make it so much different from the last one. So this evening, this was it… sunflower seeds.
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Posted in Cooking, Food Pics, tagged Cooking, Food on July 14, 2008 | 3 Comments »
Actually, this is a pic of the slice I just had for dinner. I had a slice for lunch today, too. When there are leftovers in the house, I can be a very boring eater, cuz I can usually very easily go back to what is already made. That, and I hate wasting leftovers. I tend to cook larger portions of things,too, for the explicit purpose of having leftovers for lunches and such. So… Anyway, I wasn’t certain as to how this would be, as a leftover type of food. But, it turned out it was much better than I expected. Always a plus…
This will definitely be something that I will be playing with in the future. We used a prepared crust (I’ve not graduated yet to making my own, though the inkling is there) and put some hollandaise-type of sauce on it. That didn’t really hit the spot with D., but there’s plenty else to try. The toppings were a mixture of garlic, mushrooms, and sun-dried tomatoes. Then, the breakfast meats of sausage and Canadian bacon, all covered in cheese. Not the most nutritious meal, but it was pretty darn tasty. Plus, it was on the birthday boy’s request, so how could I refuse? Oh, and scrambled eggs, how could I forget? We don’t often do breakfast foods such as the above, and this was a fun twist on it. Spinach… I think some spinach would be good in there too.
I just liked the way the toppings looked in this purple bowl. I think it’s the reflection there that caught my eye…
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Posted in Cooking, tagged Cooking on July 13, 2008 | 1 Comment »
That is what the birthday boy asked for for dinner. I’ll let you know how they turn out. It’s not something I’ve made before, although it sounds interesting… Sort of like a breakfast burrito, but with pizza crust instead of the wrap. There’ll be scrambled eggs, mushrooms with garlic, sausage or Canadian bacon, and cheese. [...]
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