Vicky Learns to Cook

Today I made my own Thai curry with chicken ...  If you know me, you know I am not only a big wimp when it comes to heat but I am allergic to MSG. It makes my Thai food experiences limited.  Before I turned 26 I could eat anything, but food allergies reared their ugly heads and now I cannot.  Thai food is amazing and I love the flavors, but it took me another 26 years to really try to make my own.  For those die hard authentic Thai food fans, look away now. It's Amercanized to be sure.  First I had to figure out what a curry was.  Essentially it's peppers and spices, to put it simply. I found a recipe that I could modify (see modified recipe below) with what I had. I intend to add in the lemongrass paste and shrimp paste once I get some, next time, to see how it changes it.  Thai chili peppers are pretty darn hot, so wimpy me will use bell peppers and then add in the heat with crushed red pepper flakes.  No it won't taste the same but I want to ha...

 Good morning! I woke up contemplating breakfast. Had a good think on it before I got up. My go-to is a half cinnamon raisin bagel, but I worry that while it's convenient and tasty, it is not nutritionally sound, and it may be setting me up for eating a lot of white carbs throughout the day.  Could I do better? I've made a whole wheat version of the bagels but it's a lot of effort for frankly fairly tough bagels. No convenience factor, and no protein so you know it doesn't last long. I dont mind things like eggs but I want them fried or poached so I can have separate yolk as a sauce as opposed to mixing them into a frittatta, omelette, or quiche. Of the three it sounds like Omelette would be best if I liked them, but I dont. The yolk turns into something completely different when cooked to hard stage and Im just not a fan.  So then how will I incorporate whole grains, vegetables both green and not, something tasty, and the favorite protein of the morning, eggs? I decide...

 First, I'd like to say condolences to the Powell family. The real Julie (from Julie and Julia movie) passed away recently, which got me thinking of blogging again. She was the one who inspired me to blog about food to be honest. I'm planning to sit down with my daughter soon and watch the movie again.  This is the story of the Passionfruit White Chocolate cupcakes:  I like a challenge.  In the beginning, I had ordered a bunch of passionfruits from Imperfect Foods. I tend to just buy things and then figure it out later. But sometimes I dont have time to figure things out and end up with these weird fruits and vegetables that dont really go with anything.  This one, I happened to be making a pomegranate lemon cupcake and had posted it on Facebook. Seeing that, my friend April had mentioned wanting a good White Chocolate passionfruit cake recipe since I think she found a place that makes them and she wanted me to help. I had ordered some passion fruit so this...

 Stay tuned for a week of using up all the veggies I got from Imperfect foods and my own garden.  I have so much cooking & baking planned including 3 soups! ....

Baking Day!  I've been thinking of actually trying the saved recipes from my Facebook page and blogging them here.  I think it would be an interesting experiment to see if things turn out as well as they look. Maybe I'll tackle some Pinterest recipes too - if I can figure out how to actually get to their recipes...I swear it just takes you down a rabbit hole with some of them! A few days ago I ran across a Apple Butter Snickerdoodles  recipe. It's a completely FALL thing to make and I'm looking forward to eating it! The recipe is soft so it requires you chill before baking, which is a pain because my fridge is pretty stocked on Saturdays, but I made some room. The dough tastes tangy and a bit cinnamony which is really wonderful. I hope the cookie is just as good baked.  I'm watching the Witcher while I make them, wondering to myself if the monsters they have in this show are made up for the show or if Im just not well versed in monsters? Anyway, the first batch ...

 Continuing the theme of "lets get rid of the most perishable veggies first", today was broccoli and a box of "baby portabella" that were not so baby, in fact one was full size. I had a jar of marinated artichoke hearts and some artichoke bruschetta.  I added mayo, parmesan, salt, pepper and chopped artichokes together, and spread that over the chicken. While that waited for the oven I boiled some spaghetti and started chopping broccoli and mushrooms.  I have a love for the spice blends from Pampered Chef, so I usda Rosmary and herb blend for the veggies.  This is the  spice blend from Pampered Chef... The not so baby bellas, sliced and sometimes halved.... Broccoli...  you know the song? Choppin Broccoli? https://www.eater.com/2014/7/11/6188681/watch-dana-carvey-perform-his-classic-ode-choppin-broccoli  Check it out, I swear you'll love it :) I got this bruschetta made with artichokes from Imperfect foods, and i just added this and some parmesaon to t...

I went a little crazy with my box of veggies this week.  Old mangoes were waiting while new mangoes were coming in. I thought, hey I wont need to worry about my veggies and fruits for a few days yet because ... what it was perpetual Monday for the last three days? Who knows. I literally checked what day it was 3 times and it still didn't register! I'm not normally this much of a space cadet, but I'm transitioning at work to a new job/promotion, and I'm in the "gathering the things I need to do" phase.  School starts in a couple weeks, too, and my entire schedule is in flux. My brain is all over the place.  My main concern at home with the food is not to allow anything to spoil, so I am trying to get the most perishable items eaten first. It's a challenge, especially when 2 boxes of veggies and fruits come in when you thought you had more time.  Oops.  What did I have? I looked in the freezer and found sausages. In the fridge a few wrinkly peppers telling e...