Photo 109/365 Dinner

J brought me a huge batch of banana peppers and I had no idea what to do with them. I went searching and found this recipe on allrecipes.com, but of course, changed about a million things, like used half beef/half Italian sausage, stuffed some bell peppers along with the banana peppers, Romano instead of Parmesan cheesed, used a mix of homemade sauce and jarred sauce, etc. The good news is Mr. Fix-it liked it and there's enough leftovers for another couple dinners, lunches, and a dinner for his dad. And there's several stuffed peppers in the freezer since I couldn't fit them all in the pan (and I used an 11x16 pan!). The bad news is, with all the modifications, I'll never be able to duplicate the recipe exactly. But I could probably come close. Not that I want to make it again any time soon since I was prepping for an hour. I'd never make it on Hell's Kitchen.

Photo 108/365 I think we're well stocked now

TP was on sale, had coupons, and got a $5 gift card for purchasing two mega packs. (Unfortunately, I didn't get it for free like you expert couponers/CVSers do.) Ran out of room to store all of this, lol.

$2.99

Holding steady.

Photo 107/365 Home cooking

You can't get a meal much cheaper than this. With J gone for a few days visiting Mom, it was back to long work days for me. Didn't feel like cooking so came up with this: leftover brown rice, leftover veggies (bean sprouts w/string beans and green onion from the garden), and then racking my brains for another dish, I remembered Mom and Uncle T's filler dish--scrambled eggs and peas, seasoned with oyster sauce. You won't find this on any restaurant menu and I'd never serve it to company, but just thought I would pass this on if you're looking for a quick, cheap dish to fix.

I'm finally getting around to creating my recipe pages for my annual "Cookie Day" with my girlfriends. These are half letter pages, 5.5x8.5. I'm finding it harder than I thought it would be to work with this smaller size.

Photo 106/365 Winter melon soup

What? It isn't winter you say? Ahhh, that's the beauty of a freezer. The melon is from Mom and since I got multiple melons from her, I ended up freezing some of it. Winter melon soup isn't Mr. Fix-it's favorite so J's visit was the perfect time to cook it. I think the texture is slightly different after freezing, but J didn't notice. Or maybe she didn't care since she doesn't get this soup very often.

My version is different from Mom's: I cut the melon into bite-size pieces, she leaves the melon in big chunks and then you use your spoon to scrap the melon away from the skin. Less waste that way. I also have more ingredients and (gasp) use canned broth (usually) instead of homemade stock. And, chicken broth instead of pork stock. Gotta go with what's on hand, right? I don't have pork bones in the freezer like Mom does. (Her freezer is scary, lol.) I guess my version is the next generation soup.

$2.99

It is what it is...

Blueberry Muffins

My friend Holly blogged about "To die for blueberry muffins" and since we had blueberries in the fridge, I was inspired to try the recipe. The recipe was originally posted on allrecipes.com.

I kept the Blueberry Muffins part of the name because I'm a simple kinda gal and don't need all the superlatives. Plus I don't think they were to die for, they were good, but not to die for. On the other hand, I'm not a muffin fan so what do I know.

The recipe below includes my modifications (I used a different topping, yogurt instead of milk, and modified instructions). See the links above if you want the original recipe.

Ingredients
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
scant 3/4 cup white sugar
1/2 teaspoon sale
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup plain yogurt (can use buttermilk or milk instead)
1 tablespoon milk or cream
1 1/4 cup fresh blueberries

Topping
2/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter

Directions
Preheat over to 400 degrees.

1. Sift dry ingredients together.
2. Beat egg, then add oil, yogurt, and milk.
3. Fold dry and wet ingredients together, then gently fold in blueberries.
4. Fill muffin liners (in the pan of course) almost to the top, then sprinkle with topping. You may have some topping leftover.
5. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until inserted toothpick is clean.

Store uncovered to keep the topping crunchy.

Makes 10 regular size muffins. I used the Pampered Chef muffin pans, if that gives you any idea of size.

Photos 104-105/365 Garage Sale

M had a garage sale, which is code for "clean out Dad's garage and whatever crap doesn't get sold gets dumped." He filled up his trailer and hauled it all back to his house. Traffic was sporadic until one shopper told him his signs had blown down. After they went back up, it was non-stop. The kids had fun playing on the trailer. Here's C exploring some of Grandpa's treasures from his dumpster diving days. (C is in the dotted shirt and E is in the striped shirt. Per Mom, C choose that shirt to wear. Guess clothing preferences start early.)

Photos 101-103/365 What's in the Kitchen

I got the cooking bug so whipped up dinner from the garden and then was inspired to make dessert too. I made a quick tomato sauce with tomatoes, basil, and green onion from the garden and added a side of Chinese string beans. For dessert, I made blueberry muffins with berries that were on their way out. Of course, I made a mess in the kitchen too.

Not again

Another aunt passed away. She was on my dad's side of the family. I don't think I will be attending this funeral since I wasn't close to her. I'm getting tired of sad news.

It has been a tough couple weeks

Work has been tough (lots and lots of work, plus more work). Life has been tough (my mom's favorite and last sister passed away; we drove up for the funeral). Even my garden isn't cooperating (the aphids and grasshoppers have invaded again). I guess that's why I haven't felt like blogging. Plus I'm overwhelmed by my backlog of photos to post. I hope to post more soon.

$3.05

Better than $3.09 at the station across the street.

Photo 100 Chess Masters

G wanted to play checkers until we reminded him that this was chess. Since none of us wanted to play, he convinced C to play with him. Here's how you play: First, you line up all the statues. Then you kill them (hey, his words, not mine). It was so cute to see them concentrating so hard. Not only that, G put everything away correctly and without any fuss. That was the most fun of all to watch!

Photo 99/365 Garden

More suicide tomatoes. A mass suicide this time.

Photo 98/365 What's cooking?

After a couple hours of chopping and sauteing, this is all I have to show for it, a couple quarts of mirepoix. It's all going into the freezer for future use.