Adventures In Cooking

[hoosierbitch]

I have been COOKING! It started at the beginning of the semester, when I was too poor to, like, buy food, and was scraping things together--but I'm still going! I've been doing little things like buying carrots/celery/peppers/broccoli and cutting them up all at the same time. Then I just put them in little ziploc baggies and take them to school with me, and eat them with hummus, and they are tasty. I'm discovering how much I like fresh, uncooked peppers.

Also, crepes are super easy to make, and I have nutella and frozen strawberries to put in them, but ALSO, I put in stir-fried veggies and mozzarella one time, and it was AWESOME.

I baked a couple loaves of Challah for Passover, and made chili on Saturday, and made potato soup tonight (it is cheesy and delicious and full of fresh parsley). I made huge batches of both and put a lot of it in the freezer, so that when I'm in hell week for my show, I won't be reduced to eating Burger King every meal. O.o

I got eggplant and butternut squash at the farmer's market, so I'm gonna make eggplant parm and a squash casserole.

Pretty much the most cooking I've done prior to this in my life is, like, macaroni. So it is all very new. Thank god for the internet. My search history is kind of sad. "Can I use potatoes when they have grown EYES? How can the onions not make me cry? Can you cook potatoes with skins on? HOW DO I FOOD?"

YAY ADULTHOOD

Comments

[coffeethyme4me.livejournal.com]

Cut your onion through its fuzzy butt. Don't cut it so you have one side with all fuzzy butt and one side without. Don't ask me why, but there's less crying.

I've only been cooking for a few years now. (Cooking used to be an open peanut butter jar and a spoon for me.) But I've become really good! I'm proof it can happen. ;-)

Best of luck to you -- in this and everything.

<3

[hoosierbitch.livejournal.com]

I think what I'm gonna do is buy a super cheapo food processor thing so that onions won't make me go blind and also it'd save me some time. I just don't want to buy one and then, like, lose my desire to cook. 'Cause it is new and weird. O.o

If you have any quick-meal tips (vegetarian ones!), lemme know! :-)

Thanks, darlin'!

[rabidchild.livejournal.com]

Whee! Cooking! Actually, the food processor will make the crying worse - the more the onion is damaged by a blade, the more noxious gases escape. I don't cry from onions, I think because I wear contacts. But the type of onion matters too. White and red ones are particularly horrible. Yellow ones less so. "Sweet" yellow ones like vidalia are the least bad.

Do you know you can make marinara sauce in the time it takes to make the pasta? You will never buy a jar of sauce if you:

Fill pot with water, add salt, put on high to boil.
Heat smaller pot over medium heat.
Add 2 tablespoons oil, 2 cloves of garlic, smashed (or minced), a pinch of red pepper flakes. To the smaller pot - did I mention? Cook 1 minute
Add 1 large (28-oz) can crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, a big pinch of sugar, 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano. We're still talking sauce here.
Stir. Bring to a simmer and reduce heat under sauce to low.
Add pasta to water and cook.
Drain pasta and enjoy.

[embroiderama]

Yay, cooking! Your food sounds wonderful, especially challah...YUM.

[elrhiarhodan]

If you cut off one end of the onion and let it sit for a few, the sulfuric gases will dissapate and it won't make you cry so much.

Also, never underestimate the power of a good, sharp knife. Dull knives are dangerous (esp trying to cut through onion skin) and they'll bruise the onion cells, releasing more of the gas that makes you teary.

[coffeethyme4me.livejournal.com]

I think that sounds like a great investment. :-) Personally, I've come to enjoy the process of chopping vegetables. I love the tactile sensations and the...oneness of it. I tend to sort of Zen out. ;-)

Vegetarian dishes: I'mma keep my eye out for you. I had a great lentil thing, but I've misplaced the recipe. I'll look for it (and others) for you.

It sounds like you're not under as much stress as the last time you posted (I hope). It's good to hear you doing well. <3

[castalie.livejournal.com]

Yay cooking!

What I love about it is that it doesn't have to be fancy to be tasty. For today's lunch I made rice with mushrooms and pieces of parmesan, mixed with sour creme and mustard. Easy as pie but so good! #SmacksLips

[miri-thompson.livejournal.com]

I've never made my own challah--how did that go? Is it crazy labor intensive?

And the potato soup sounds yummy!

[hoosierbitch.livejournal.com]

It is v. tasty! My favorite part of challah is then making challah French toast...mmm...

[hoosierbitch.livejournal.com]

I'm still hesitant on making anything that doesn't come with a recipe, but I'm working on it! Your concoction sounds delicious! :-)

[embroiderama]

OMG yes! When I was in college I lived about three doors down from a 24-hour Ukranian restaurant that had the most amazing challah french toast. Also you could get a bowl of soup and two thick pieces of challah with butter for like $2.50. *misses like crazy*

[hoosierbitch.livejournal.com]

It's actually really easy, it just takes a while since you have to wait for dough to rise & then bake. I usually make it on a day when I'm also doing difficult reading for school, since having scheduled breaks every 45 minutes to check the bread is a nice mental rest. :-)

[hoosierbitch.livejournal.com]

OM NOM NOM

That sounds delicious! I think I need to go raid my fridge now. O.o

[hoosierbitch.livejournal.com]

I actually used sweet onions, and they still made me cry a lot. Food processor would mean less exposure time, which seems nice.

I did not know that tomato sauce was so easy!!! I am totally going to do that!

[hoosierbitch.livejournal.com]

Ooooh, nice tip! Thank you!

All of our knives are kind of pitifully dull...I'll look into sharpening them. O.o

[hoosierbitch.livejournal.com]

I like the peace of chopping veggies, but when I'm making soup or something that's basically all veggies, it takes too long.

Thanks for looking out for recipes! :-)

Much less stress now that my two big presentations for the semester are over with. \o/

[photoash.livejournal.com]

If you sprinkle your cutting board with white vinegar and also sit a shallow dish with vinegar in it beside the cutting board it absorbs a lot of the onion gas and makes crying significantly less :) or not at all.

You can keep sprinkling your cutting board if you're cutting up lots of onion.

Buying sweet onions helps too. And really just becomming used to how to cut them and of course using really sharp knives :)

If you have quality knives it's worth it to pay to have them sharpened if you can find somewhere to do it cheap. If you have cheap crap knives you're better off buying new knives that are also inexpensive or ceramic from somewhere like tjmaxx :)

[asimaiyat.livejournal.com]

Cooking! Yay! :)

[coffeethyme4me.livejournal.com]

I'm so glad to hear that!

And I found the lentil stew recipe! I had posted it on FB a year and a half ago:

Servings: 6 - 8

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

2 - 3 carrots, sliced

3 stalks celery, sliced

as much minced garlic as you want (I do a really heaping tablespoon)

1 t dried oregano

1 bay leaf

1 t dried basil

1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes

2 cups dry lentils

8 cups water

as much fresh spinach as you can conceivably stuff in there (2 cups?) rinsed and sliced

2 - 3 T red wine vinegar (or other vinegar of your choice)

salt, garlic salt, and pepper to taste



Directions:

In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium. Add carrots (3 min), then celery (3 min), then onion (5 min). Stir in garlic, bay leaf, oregano, and basil; cook for 2 more minutes.


Stir in lentils then add water and tomatoes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 1 hour. When ready to serve, stir in spinach and cook until it wilts. Stir in vinegar and season with salt, garlic salt, and pepper.

It makes a ton, so be prepared to freeze some.

Let me know if you make it and what you think (even if you hate it ;-) ).

[hoosierbitch.livejournal.com]

AWESOME! I actually have all of those ingredients, and I need to use up my spinach! I'm going to make this for dinner tomorrow. :D :D :D

Thank you!

[hoosierbitch.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the vinegar tip! I'll try that next time! :D I even use sweet onions already, my eyes are just apparently really sensitive. (I am slowly getting faster at cutting up veggies--I did take a tiny chunk out of my thumb the other day, tho...I'll be looking for better knives that'll make chopping easier.)

THANKS!

[hoosierbitch.livejournal.com]

:D

[coffeethyme4me.livejournal.com]

That makes me sort of ridiculously happy.

:-)

<3

[(Anonymous)]

A few links:

http://sugarcooking.blogspot.com/2010/02/perfect-pizza-crust-and-roasted-garlic.html
http://www.bhg.com/recipe/beans/bbq-white-beans-with-peppers/
http://www.onceuponachef.com/2010/08/black-bean-salad-with-corn-red-peppers-avocado-lime-cilantro-vinaigrette.html
http://www.twopeasandtheirpod.com/smashed-chickpea-avocado-salad-sandwich/
http://www.countryliving.com/recipefinder/curried-spinach-lentil-bake-recipe
http://blogs.babble.com/family-kitchen/2010/09/09/how-to-make-ratatouille-and-what-to-do-with-it/
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=1072189
http://thepioneerwoman.com/tasty-kitchen/recipes/salads/roasted-eggplant-and-tomato-couscous-salad/ (tons of other good recipes on this site)
http://www.kalynskitchen.com/2011/07/recipe-for-easy-cheesy-zucchini-bake.html


One of my staple snacks/meals is veggie enriched tri colored pasta with chopped fresh veggies in it. Cook the pasta and in the last 4-5 min of cooking throw chopped veggies in the water. Drain when the pasta is cooked. I use red peppers, mushrooms, and baby carrots, but you can use lots of things. You can add dressing, but the cooked veggies have a lot of flavor. I mixed in shredded mozzerella cheese as well.

Also, search pinterest for recipes and tips on storing meals. Stuff you can make a big batch of and then freeze is great, becuase you can some home tired and heat it up quick.

Get one good sized ceramic knife. I use mine to cut everything, and it cuts clean and quick. Some are $$$ but you can find ones for 20-30 usd (check amazon).

I once set fire to a paper towel with nothing but a pot of boiling water, but I still manage to feed myself without buying pre-made stuff. You can too! It's healthy, can be fun, and with some planning and care it can be cheaper. Also, tasty!

Final tip: Check for sales and weekly discounts at your local stores. Mine has a little newpaper thing that lists all the specials for the week. Planning meals around that can save money.

[hoosierbitch.livejournal.com]

YOU ARE FANTASTIC. Thank you! A lot of those recipes look really great, and I KNOW I'm going to be using the put-veggies-in-while-you-cook-pasta trick soon!

:D :D :D