Vicky Learns to Cook

I have this reputation among my friends that I'm some Betty Crocker. I smile but don't believe it. I do believe the key to being healthy is learning to cook from scratch. And of course I want to cook well. But I wonder, have I really learned to cook, even all the basics? Or do I have work to do? I put myself to the test today and I you guessed it, I have work to do! According to Bon Appetit magazine, we should all know these "basic" cooking techniques. I sure didnt get 100%, but, I did get a good laugh. My comments are italicized.  1. Make an Aioli. Do they mean mayonnaise? Oh, yes, well, I got hubby sick once doing that...(looks sideways) 2. Sear steak on a Cast Iron.  huh. well, shoot, I wonder where my cast iron pan went... 3. Roast a Chicken. Yes! yes, i have done this.  4. Fry an egg. Okay, well, yes, but this is not what I would call basic. It took me a few years to get this one right. 5. Make a roux. Yep. But once you learn what a Roux is, ...

So I've been at home the past almost week, taking training and running off to get kids and drop off kids and get kids,  in the process (ah the life of working moms). And I've been thinking about what I eat. I mean, when am I not? But I wanted a good alternative to pop, which is super bad for me. (but really yummy and addictive) As a side note, I tried out a frittata yesterday (good but cant make this at work, I'm pretty sure). If you dont already know, its basically a quiche without a crust. Or like eggs and stuff, usually vegetables and cheese. You should try these. It even made KALE taste good! Anyway. Today I warmed up leftover shells and cheese, but the cool thing I invented was a made up fruit drink with just juice and frozen berries right out of the bag. Or maybe someone else invented this but its not a smoothie without dairy is it? Anyway, yeah i know juice has all these sugary calories and stuff but hey I'm working my way over to healthy, not diving in h...

Rather than a new year's resolution, I create new years goals. In the past I've been creating up to 20 goals. It's too much, I've decided and dropped that down to 4 this year. (You guys are probably WAY ahead of me and already knew that 20 goals is too much, but you see I'm Wonder Woman in my own mind.) I have an upsetting number of loved ones with cancer right now, and learning how to never ever get cancer is my main goal. Also to teach others assuming I crack the code so I don't have to hear one more time that someone I love has cancer. (tears) [soapbox] It's my belief we should not be trying to fix those who have cancer but to prevent anyone from getting it ever again. [/soapbox] Okay, so that being said, goal #1 is to learn learn learn how to eat healthy, what that actually means for someone living in greater detroit, and live that way for the entire year of 2017. Long term goals here. So my blog should reflect that. Honestly the blog wont chang...

This is a story of a Chuck Roast. Marinaded, Seared, Braised, and eaten. I sit, enjoying homemade noodles, with a beef version of veloute sauce with a bit of onion powder, some crescent rolls out of a tube, and the Chuck. He is a good chuck roast. Not tough or rubbery by any means. Pulled apart with forks. A bit winey since I added wine to the braising liquid. Pretty good actually. This taught me marinading, braising, and how to make homemade noodles. Recipes are at the bottom. And no actual people or animals were hurt in this episode. Well maybe just a little from the boiling water. More on that later. Walk with me down memory lane, will you? Saturday I drove, with my son, first to the donut shop, then to Peacock Farms. Mostly because it opens at 9 and we got there too early. And because.... Donuts! (Knapps if you're wondering.) It's cute,the farm. It has a statue of a peacock in front and the sign is also a peacock. It's their last name, don't worry, they ...

Just a quick note to tell you to STAY TUNED on Wednesday December 7! I'm beginning my "eat well" plan and learning to braise a chuck roast at the same time. The beef is coming from a farm. And the recipe is coming from Pioneer Woman. The klutz, however, will be all mine. Time to break out the dutch oven! Stay tuned............. V. P.S. Going to extend this to tomorrow. I had zero time this week to do anything requiring 3 hours of cooking. But, tomorrow, I may have that slot.

So, I made pierogies today. Sure, it's easier to buy frozen pierogies. Sure, it is a LOT of work. But when you have a food sensitivity, you try. You try to make things from scratch so you don't get sick. And you try to eat things that are yummy, at the same time. While digging around in my freezer this week, I found some "No MSG added" Kielbasa. I'd have to say it's probably been 20 years since I had Kielbasa; it was one of the first things that made me sick, then I realized I couldn't eat MSG anymore.  (Spoiler: did not get sick tonight..win!) So when you find gold such as this, you tend to make a meal of it. (And by you, I of course mean me. I have no idea what you'd do, really.) So I nonchalantly promised the Hubs (aka husband, hubby ) home made pierogies, thinking hey, how hard can it be right? I should never say that. I don't think you can probably REALLY sprain a wrist kneading dough, but I came close. Here is a photo of the dou...

It's looking like my first ideas; teach a cooking class at church, help people know how to live in Greater Detroit and eat for health, maybe even You Tube videos, even including gardening, are more difficult or not the right venue right now. But, not one to give up, I started thinking while grating onions for meatloaf yesterday, that maybe I need to build up some 'cred' first. And also I should keep band-aids in the kitchen. I mean, you can't teach what you haven't lived, not well anyway. I'm just beginning my journey, so maybe this format, this blog, can get us all there together, grated knuckles and all. Stick with me and we will figure this out. This week: Thanksgiving week. Thanksgiving was traditionally a time to see cousins. Loads of them! And the food was all we could think about. We talked food. We made dishes together. We did the dishes. Then we went to my other grandmas and did it all again for dinner. More cousins, more fun. Olives on our finge...