While visiting my boyfriend on my days off, I have time to work while he's at work. Someday we will have days off together, but for now it gives me time to sit and write while I visiting his house.
This week, I was able to go through every page on the website, and make sure all the pictures were centered, add a "last updated on" note at the bottom of every page. Plus, I split out Lamb and Beef into their own separate categories, and added 2 new categories: Condiments & Sides, plus Soups & Stocks. New Recipes that have been added this week:
I also had the chance to add pictures to a few older recipes:
I started a new job last May, and I realized I had not really had time to work on this website. I had let my subscription and hosting lapse, so I now have the website back up and running and republished. Still downloading pictures and working on getting the newest recipes up and running. Plus, I started a relationship, so cooking for 2 is actually happening! He runs on mainly a keto diet, so I cooked a hot lunch for him of pesto chicken with mozzarella cheese, which was super simple and fast, once you pounded the breast out flat. I may add that one to the site as well. I've considered tagging recipes with "Gluten-Free", "Vegetarian", or "Keto-Friendly" where appropriate. What do you think?
It has been an adventure these last 6 months, and I look forward to adding more recipes, tips and tricks for single cooks, even if I am no longer single. Stay tuned! It's been a while since I posted anything new on the website. I have been working on a few dishes, and if you follow my Instagram page, you've already seen some of the works in progress. However, my recent trip to Las Vegas inspired me to get out the computer and start to finalize the new recipes I've been working on. In the works are a new dessert, a chicken dish, plus 2 new categories with 2-3 recipes a piece. They will probably go live without all the pictures needed, as I will have to eat up what's in my freezer before I can make another round to catch the images I missed on the last round.
Upcoming recipes include:
One simple answer ... gloves. Ok, backstory. My best friend and I were discussing that she has been trying to cook more for herself as well. She has been getting one of the meal prep boxes, and every time she cooks chicken, the recipe tells her to pat the chicken dry. I told her I don't bother too much with that if I'm not trying to make something like a seasoning or breading stick to the chicken. If it's just salt and pepper, I skip it. But, I digress... She has been patting the chicken dry with paper towels, throwing those away and then going and washing her hands before she does anything else. She thought maybe she was being overly cautious. But salmonella is always a risk with raw chicken, so what she was doing was absolutely right. If I handle raw chicken, nothing else goes on the same cutting board. I use one for the chicken, to prep it, season it, etc. I use another for all my veggies. That's why I think 2 cutting board is essential so you don't have to wash between prepping different items. However, if I just need to get the seasoning on the chicken and get it in a pan, I will at least put a glove on my left hand as that's the hand that typically picks up the chicken (my right hand is normally doing the sprinkling with the salt shaker). If I am coating the chicken in oil, I will put gloves on both hands to rub that in, and then remove 1 or both to do the seasoning. Sanitary removal is easy, just grab the end by your wrist and turn it inside out when you remove it, leaving the side that touched the raw chicken contained. Toss the gloves in the garbage and move on to your next step. I find it so handy, that I've taken to keeping a box of these gloves next to my utensil croc on my countertop. I use it when I am cooking, and for handling hot peppers like habanero, as well as when I am packaging up my large purchases into smaller meal sized portions after I've hit the club store. There are so many gloves in 1 box, even if I take one off and toss it only to need another one, it's still a time saver. Ok, let's rewind again... I've had gloves in my kitchen for the last 4 years. I was just starting to make my own cat food ... yes my cats are spoiled but if you had multiple animals in 1 house that all had different food allergies you'd make your own food too! Anyhow, I was handling so much raw chicken that I needed a way to be able to make food and not stop and wash my hands every minute or so when I was making 40 lbs or more of food and packaging it away in smaller batches for the freezer. I wanted gloves that I could layer up so when I needed to open the fridge, I could just take off the outer most glove and toss it. The box of plastic gloves I bought made me think of the sandwich shops around me. They don't layer up well, and for long projects, they broke too easily. I actually contacted the manufacturer because I had no idea how to find what I actually wanted, something more like what is used in a doctor's office rather than the sandwich shop. They let me know what I was looking for was actually vinyl gloves, and then actually sent me a free box of them so I could try them out and be sure they were what I wanted. I couldn't believe the great customer service I got, and when the free box was used up I ordered their vinyl gloves as well. Both work great in the kitchen, and I like having both depending on how long I plan to be wearing them: quick use, plastic; longer wearing or need to layer, vinyl. So the very long winded answer... disposable gloves is the way I like to handle raw chicken.
A good meat mallet will do most of the work flattening and tenderizing a cut of meat, making it thinner and more uniform for fast even cooking, and gives you an excuse to pound away your frustrations in the kitchen! Mine is 3-sided for different uses, flat, small spikes and large spikes. I like the weight of it, and it has rounded edges between the sides so I can use a slight rolling motion on the edges to keep what I am working on a fairly consistent thickness. Plus, the flat side has a thickness gauge built in so you can measure your thickness without resorting to a ruler from the office!
Mine does not seem to be available any longer, so when you are ready to upgrade from using a heavy sauce pan, and you start shopping for one, find a mallet that has a good weight. That means you will likely want to purchase in person and not online. You want it heavy enough so that it does most of the work, but not so heavy that it hurts your wrist. Most of the models out there have 2 sides, some have more. They are made of all different materials, but I like the dishwasher friendly versions, so that rules out wood for me. When using the mallet, I put the meat on a cutting board, cover it with a strip of plastic wrap, and then pound away. I use the flat side for tender cuts of meat like boneless pork chops or chicken breast, and the spiked sides for tougher cuts of meat like steak. With all the preparation for Black Friday sales in my day job, and the follow up to those sales, I have not gotten to post recently with the new recipes I have worked on the last few weeks. However, Chicken Pot Pie was an instant success, and I took pictures of the turkey chili I was working on. I'm still working on the spicy beef dish to get it the way I want it. I'm hoping my 5th try's the charm for that one. I kept getting comments at lunch that my food smelled amazing, but it just didn't taste the way I wanted it to. Hope you enjoy the new recipes, and get a chance to try them out yourself.
Since Thanksgiving came and went, and I do love turkey dinners, I'm thinking of trying my hand at making a holiday meal for 1, that doesn't take all day in the kitchen! We shall see how I do and if that one makes it to the website. Once you have that cast iron pan or pot seasoned, how do you keep it clean? For the most part, you will never need soap. The only time I ever use soap is when I have to soak the dish, or I'm going to be cooking in the pan for someone with a food allergy. I had a friend with a severe tomato allergy, so I always cleaned my pans with soap and hot water before I cooked anything for her just in case there was something, no matter how minor, left in the pan from a previous meal. If I did use soap, I always added a bit of oil to the pan as soon as I was finished to be sure it stayed seasoned. For the most part, If you can do it while it is still warm, add a bit of water, scrub the bottom, rinse and you are done. Always put the pan back on the heat or in the oven to remove any left over moisture to keep your pan from rusting. But, what if you have stuck on food? I have soaked a pan oversight in my sink, but you run the risk of rust. Recently, I had spices that stuck to the bottom of my pan and created a thick film. I did soak the pan overnight, but still had to use a spoon to scrape as my scratch-free scrubbing sponges just didn't have enough strength to get the stuck food off the bottom. I just found a tool I am going to try for my next stuck on mess. It's from one of the main manufacturers of the cast iron you can find just about everywhere, Lodge. It's a chainmail scrubber. They says it's made of stainless steel so it won't rust, and has a silicone sponge inside that won't wear out. The next time I buy something from Amazon, it will be in my box!
Very excited that the issue I was having getting the website to post to my domain is now fixed. Please forward to your friends and family, anyone who can use the tips and tricks I have posted for single cooks.
For those of you who haven't heard previously, I started a "cook for myself" challenge last May. It started with one of those meal prep boxes you can get shipped in. It was nice to have someone do the shopping for me and send me recipes to try. But, those soon got old as the menu wasn't varied, and often it was the same recipe just with a different side dish. I decided that I had enough recipes of my own that I discontinued the service, and continued cooking for myself. The purpose was to eat healthier for my overall health, and I will be getting my updated bloodwork in the next week to see how that has been affected. However, it's now been about 6 months, and without adding in exercise, I have dropped 10 pounds by cooking for myself and cutting out my fast food regimen. I expect my bloodwork to show that as well. As I continue to add recipes to the website that I have created, or older recipes that I have cooked recently (partly to take pictures, and partly to make sure they reheat well), I will post new updates. Let me know what you think! Had some success this week, so I've added Easy Pork Chops and Roasted Brussel Sprouts to the list. I also added a new dessert, my take on Drinking Chocolate, although I need to take pictures to add to that page the next time I crave it! Let me know what you think!
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AuthorHi folks, here's a place I can post about what's new, what's in the works, and what I have updated. Hope you enjoy! ~ Darci Archives
November 2021
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