When It Snows

It's nearly the end of April and it's snowing outside.  My boyfriend (from now on referred to as The Greek) has been swearing all day.  We have the house for sale here in Kenosha and will be moving down to Arizona as soon as we can get rid of it.  The Greek likes to torture himself and on his desktop he has a widget that shows the weather here.  He has a second one that shows the weather down in Casa Grande, AZ  where we are looking to move.  It's been in the 80's and 90's all week.  Every time he sees it, he starts swearing again.

"I could be wearing shorts and drinking a cold beer!"  No, he would be wearing shorts and drinking coffee.

The Greek is a coffee drinker, big time.  He is seldom without his travel mug of coffee, even in the car.  His coffee of choice is Gevalia, which gets delivered every 6 weeks.  We have a closet full of coffee.  I'll have to admit it is good.  I especially like their Mocca Java.  I am sensitive to caffeine, it makes my heart race, so I only get to sip at his.

This winter I've been indulging in a cup a day but I have to have decaf.  I tried a few different brands and flavors until I finally found one I like.  It's from a little Wisconsin firm called Berres Bros Coffee.  I've come to love their Decaf Highlander Grogg.  Their website gives this description:

"Indulgently sweet, richly enticing. Our top seller...an explosion of caramel, butterscotch and hazelnut."

Tonight,, I'm drinking it with a bit of sweetener and a good helping of Silk Pure Coconut (I normally use SoDelicious unsweetened but the store was out of it last visit).  I have to confess though, my favorite way of drinking coffee is with cocoa.  I use about a cup of brewed coffee and a packet of cocoa mix.  My favorite is Nestle Dark Cocoa.  It's got a deeper chocolate flavor and much less sugar than all the others.  I add a good helping of the coconut milk or almond milk.  I microwave it for about 2 minutes because it has to be HOT.   I won't drink it once it gets lukewarm.  It's rich, indulgent and surprisingly not that bad for you.

The Greek likes his coffee unadulterated.  No sugar, no cream.  He cringes when he sees what I do to mine but he happily comes home with boxes of cocoa he found on sale.

Are you a coffee drinker too?  If not, tell me about your favorite hot beverage.

Quickie Go To Meal

It's been one of those days.  I had 3 shows today and I try not to eat 3 hours before a show or I'm too full to sing. Also certain foods muck up my throat but I haven't pinpointed which ones they are yet.  Days like today are rough.  I ate lunch at 2:30 pm and then couldn't eat again until after midnight when the last show was over.

Sad to say my usual go to is a Smart Ones Frozen entree.  Fast and doesn't require any thinking.

When I am thinking more clearly though my favorite thing is noodle soup.   Not chicken noodle, but things like ramen.  Well ramen is notoriously bad for you.  Both high in carbs and fat, at least the ones that taste any good.  I've recently come up with a good substitute though.

I use soba noodles.  My favorite brand is Roland because they are fast and easy to make.  I put a pot of salted water on the stove and bring it to a boil.  I add the soba and  turn the heat down to a gentle bubble.  Set the timer for 3 minutes and it's always perfect.  Other brands I've tried so far take over 5 minutes and the texture is not so great.  Soba noodles have no added fat and have a good amount of fiber.

I put them in a deep bowl then bring a small amount of water to bowl in the same pot.  I use about a cup.  If you want any veggies you can add them in now.  I've used broccoli, green beans, bean sprouts and mushrooms.  I've added cubes of tofu or frozen shrimp or mixed seafood in too.  I've even cracked an egg in on occasion.  Bring to a boil and add one packet of instant miso soup.  Pour on top of the noodles in the bowl. You can garnish with green onions, cilantro and thin slices of cooked meat.  I like to add sriracha and sometimes lime juice too.  I get a satisfying bowl of noodles for half the calories of a package of ramen.

I've been wanting this for over a week but since I had to cut out seafood for a while, I haven't been able to indulge.  Soon and then I'll post pics.

I confess!  Sometimes only the real thing will do but between those times this makes me very happy.

These are my favorite dry noodles.

How about you? What are your favorite fast "go to" meals?

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder

Living in a house with 5 grown adults, two who are unable to currently work (myself, since I am still considered a “visitor” in Canada, and my mother in-law who is currently disabled) means I have to get creative with meals and I am always on the lookout for good deals at the grocery store. The local store here tends to have all the “prettier” cuts of meat and therefore more expensive, however every now and then they’ll have the less common pieces and usually for a steal. My husband and I stopped at the store to grab a couple things for dinner when he suddenly tore off towards the meat department and came running back with the biggest piece of meat I’ve ever seen! As he proudly hefted an 8lb picnic pork shoulder with the hock still on into the cart, he excitedly declared that it was *only* $11.00!! Now, as I said before I had never worked with a piece of meat so large before. My mother had made plenty of picnic roasts when I was younger but I don’t remember there being a whole leg attached, with the skin! Being the adventurous culinary seekers that we are we happily brought home this pork shoulder like it was a prized trophy. And so began my search on how to cook this darn thing!

We spend a lot of time on the food channels so we knew that slow and low was the way to go... but how?! One of my favourite foodie sites is Chowhound. Their message boards are usually filled with quality tips and recipes so that was my first stop. After reading a bunch of recipes I happened upon this post and decided that it sounded tasty yet simple enough that I couldn’t screw it up. What I didn’t realize was I don’t own a slow cooker big enough to fit the whole pork shoulder in! So... back to the drawing board I went. Eventually I came across this post and decided to combine aspects of both recipes together. The results were a success and tasted fantastic!

Slow Roasted Pork Shoulder

1 7-8lb Pork Shoulder

2 Tbsp Garlic Powder

2 Tbsp Ground Cumin

A light sprinkling of chilli powder, salt, and pepper.

Lemon Juice (to baste with)

I decided to go simple with the seasoning since it was so much meat that I knew we’d be using it for various things over the course of the week and I didn’t want any conflicting flavour combinations.

First I set the oven to 450 degrees and went about the task of loosening the skin from the meat and spreading a bit of my spices under the skin then I scored the top of the skin being careful not to cut too deeply. I finished covering the rest of the meat with the rest of the spice mixture and placed it on top of a rack inside a deep roasting pan. I brushed it with some lemon juice and placed the roast in the oven for 30 minutes.

Pork shoulder before any cooking

After the 30 minutes, I lowered the heat to 250 degrees and let it cook for 7 more hours. I would rotate the pan every hour and baste it with more lemon juice each time.

About 4 hours into the cooking time

After the 7 hours of slow roasting I switched the oven to the broiler and crisped up the skin till it was nice and bubbly on top... it happened so quickly I almost burned it! So keep a careful eye on it during this part.

Crispy skin after being under the broiler! YUM!

I let it rest for about 10 minutes then sliced off chunks of meat for my husband to shred and I removed the crispy pig skin which was happily and furiously devoured by my mother in-law. The meat itself didn’t have much seasoning to it but the juiciness and tenderness made up for it and it tasted great in the tacos we had that night. I think we’re planning on making some BBQ pulled pork sandwiches with the leftovers and who knows what else. There’s so much meat left after feeding 5 people already that I might just have to freeze some for another time!

Quick and Easy Portobella Tacos

I got a late start today.  Had to run to the doctor's to get a couple of test run.  While I was there, BF got a call that someone wanted to come see the house in a couple of hours.  He has the house for sale.  We got home and started straightening up.  I tried to grab an orange but there were none in the fridge and I won't eat them warm.  So I had to wait until after the the house tour was done.  By that time it was nearly 6 pm and I was starving.  BF took out a few thin cut sandwich steaks and we decided to do them as bulgogi (Korean bbq meat).  It had to soak for a few hours so we figured it would be for a late dinner after my show.

I had the hankering for some Mexican but didn't want to use a lot of points since I knew I'd be eating rice and kim chee later.  I had some portobellas left over from the meatloaf.   For those that don't know, fruit and most veggies are no points on the new Weight Watchers system.  I made up some portobella tacos.

Portobella Tacos

Portobella Tacos

3 portobella mushrooms ( probably about a cup sliced 1/4 inch thick)

2-3 stalks of green onions cut in 2" lengths all the way down to the white part

1 clove of garlic, smashed

1/4 tsp salt

2 tsp shoyu (soy sauce)

1 tsp oil (or non stick spray)

2 corn tortillas (I buy ones with only masa and water, no added fat)

Heat oil in a frying pan till hot.  Add garlic and stir for a minute.  Add the white green onion sections.  Saute for another minute, then add the mushrooms.  Keep cooking, occasionally stirring until mushrooms look nearly done.  Add the rest of the green onions, salt and shoyu.  When onions are wilted, take off the stove.

Almost done!

Heat the tortillas either in the microwave or in another frying pan. I put about 1/2 oz. of shredded cheese on each and sprinkled lightly with garlic powder before I microwave them.  Divide mushroom mix evenly between them and garnish with cilantro.  Serve with salsa or sour cream, if you wish.

You almost don't miss the meat in this as the mushrooms have a meatiness all their own.  You can adjust the seasonings to taste or even add others.  I think next time I'll try some yellow onion and sliced jalapeños too.

This is my favorite shoyu:

Mangoes Make A Comeback!

A new look!  Not a bad second try.  I'm sure this page will keep evolving until we get it where we want it.

Today's food topic is...Mangoes!

If you follow my other blog, you know that last week I had an allergic reaction to something.  Doctor told me no fruit, no nuts, no fish or seafood until it was over.  I finished talking the pills a couple days ago.  Rash is gone so I'm ready to start adding that stuff back, slowly.  I figure I'd start with mangoes for 2 reasons.  A lot of people are allergic to them so it's better if I get them ruled in or out right away.  The second reason is that BEFORE I broke out in a rash, I had gone to Costco and bought a case of them.  They are all ripe now and need to be eaten asap.

I spent  part of my growing up years in Hawaii.  No one bought mangoes there.  Mango trees are huge!  When it's mango season, people give brown grocery bags of them away.  Otherwise they would just drop to the ground and rot.  My mother worked in a bank and her customers would drop them off for her.

I guess we always had them so I am surprised when I find out others have never tried them.  My boyfriend's sons are in that category.  Two days ago one of them tried a cube and his eyes lit up.  Mangoes are silky and sweet as sugar when they are really ripe.  I see them cut up in the stores and have bought a few like that in desperation only to be disappointed.  Mangoes sold like that aren't really ripe yet.  A mango should yield to pressure when pressed.  When cut open, it should be soft, almost slimy and the juice should run all over your hand and arm.

You can eat mangoes green, but they should truly be hard and green.  They will be almost crisp when you cut them.  Cut them into matchsticks and make an Asian salad.  I just like to eat them dipped into one of several seasonings.  The simplest is to mix salt, sugar and black pepper together.  I also like shoyu (soy sauce) and either lemon or vinegar.  I even add something spicy to that mix, whether it be japanese dried red pepper (togarashi or shichimi) or sriracha (spicy red pepper sauce).  Makes a wonderful snack.

My current favorite way of eating mangoes is in my nightly oatmeal.  My mouth is watering and I can't wait for tonight's bowl.  Maybe I'll throw just a bit of coconut and vanilla in there too.  Yummmmms!

One of My Newest Finds

It's been hectic in both our lives the past week so we've been bad about posting.  I hope to find a way to fix that soon.  I was flipping through the Costco magazine recently and they had a few new books that were interesting.  One of them was a diet book.  I wasn't looking for a diet, per se, as my daughter and I are trying the new weight watchers points plus, but it was written by a real chef.  I found out he had a cookbook where he took some of America's comfort foods and redid them.

This was my thinking...this guy is a professional chef, so his food has to taste good because he's got a reputation to protect, right?  I decided to splurge and maybe learn some new techniques.  He's got everything from "fried" calamari to chicken cordon bleu to tiramisu.  Oh and meatloaf!  I LOVE good meatloaf but I know how bad it can be for you.  All that fat and breading in most recipes.  I decided to give Rocco DiSpirito's recipe a try.  That's the book at amazon.com on the side there.

His recipe uses portobella mushrooms as part of the filler.  It was an easy recipe to make even without using the food processor.  I chopped everything by hand and had my stronger half press the garlic cloves for me.  I'm still trying to get in the habit of remembering to take pictures, so I forgot until it had already gone in the oven.  I'll get better at this...one would hope.

Here is the finished product as it came out of the oven.

I served it with roasted asparagus and green beans and couscous.  I love couscous because it's fast to make.  Boil the water or whatever liquid you want to use, pour in the couscous, cover and let sit 5 min and it's done.  I added chopped parsley, a few raisins and a touch of olive oil and lemon to ours tonight.

The meatloaf was awesome!  Moist and flavorful.  Simple and fast.  A quarter of the recipe is 5 pts for those using the plus points system, leaving me ample points for my nightly oatmeal. Thank you Rocco! Now I'm eyeing up his recipe for jalapeno poppers!

Sweet & Spicy Ham

I am not one you would call a morning person. The only mornings that I enjoy are ones which I am still awake for from the night before. Anyone who knows me knows that in order for me to wake up while the clock still reads A.M. I need a darn good reason for it. I would love to say that waking up and smelling the roses and listening to birds chirping outside was enough to pull me out of bed excited for the day to come, but alas I would be lying to you. I need something more, something I can truly enjoy and look forward to and for me that’s FOOD! I love everything to do with food. I love to read about it, talk about it, smell it, cook it, and most of all eat it. And now I’m learning to write about it. Since this is my first post I figured what better way to start it off than with a yummy breakfast ham. I take after my mom in so many ways (it’s almost scary) and one thing we both love is the sweet & salty combination in our food. I’m generally not a big ham eater but with this recipe I really just can’t get enough! It’s super simple, fast and trust me, you’ll want it again and again.

Ingredients (for one person):

2 Slices of Ham (I like mine thinly sliced because it gets crispy under the broiler)

1 Tbsp - Brown sugar (packed)

½ Tsp – Chili Powder

¼ Tsp – Cayenne Pepper

Non-stick spray (like PAM)

1. Turn on the broiler in your oven. I set mine to High with the rack at the 2nd closest position.

2. Take a frying pan and toss the slices of ham in to heat them up. It doesn’t take very long.

3. While the ham is frying, mix together the brown sugar, chilli powder, and cayenne pepper on a small plate.

4. Take out a baking sheet and line it with foil and give it a quick once over with the non-stick spray.

5. Once the ham is warmed up take one slice at a time and press into the mixture on the plate. Make sure to get both sides and dust off any caked on sugar; you want a decent coating but not too thick.

6. Place the ham slices on the baking sheet and place it under the broiler for about 1 minute or so then flip the slices over and let it go for another minute. The sugar should be bubbly and

the ham slightly charred at the edges.

I like mine with a couple runny eggs and a small tomato which was put in the broiler with the ham. This is such a simple recipe that anyone can do and tastes so good. It has just the right amount of salty, sweet, & spicy. My mouth is watering just thinking about it...Enjoy!!!