Squashed

   I had high hopes of canning and baking and a few other culinary activities for today, all of which were squashed when I woke up feeling out of sorts due to an early visit from she-who-shall-not-be-named.  So instead of jumping up and making coffee upon waking up at the crack of 8am, I snuggled around under the covers trying to get comfortable to no avail.  I hung out in my room for a while talking on the phone, checking emails and prolonging the inevitable: joining the rest of the world for this beautiful Saturday.  Finally after almost giving in to the lovely idea of a mid-morning nap, I made myself get into a very steam-filled shower that should have helped my unsettled (crampy) tummy.  Unfortunately, it wasn't much help.  So hopefully I will get to canning my goodies tomorrow (fingers crossed).

  On the bright side, my haul from the farmers market yesterday (also beautiful) was very satisfying!  I came home with twenty-ish pounds of peaches for canning and maybe an experiment or two, fire-roasted peppers (they roast them in front of you on the spot), a whole pound of chopped walnuts for $6.50(!), purple, yellow and rose fingerling potatoes for grilling, a few huge and very yummy apples, and loaf of scrumptious locally made rosemary-parm bread.  

  Made a trip to Goodwill to drop off a few boxes and decided to go in and look around; I'm so happy I did because I found a barely used metal colander for $2.50 (score!).  When finished with all my laid out tasks I decided to fill up my Growler at Atomic, the local brewery (conveniently located a few blocks from home).  Had a lovely glass of their Platinum Blonde, which very well may be the last of the season as they are almost tapped out (pun intended) and had my jug filled with their latest very tasty IP2A.  I should not be allowed to consume alcohol at such an early hour when I have other chores to accomplish as I am a non-functioning drinker.  I got home and put a few things away and then sat down on the couch, which was a poor decision and I did not want to get back up, damn.  Tried to take a nap and my mommy showed up and destroyed my hopes for that activity.  So I resigned to catch up on a few episodes of Grey's on Hulu in my sweats and vowed to perform all my planned kitchen efforts in the am.  So far I have made coffee and tidied up a little, oh and hung out on my couch reading Whole Living while paying about 40% of my attention to the college football games I was flipping back and forth through.

  So, in lieu of having a fresh perspective on a recipe I've decided to share my stroganoff recipe from a few nights ago.  Alex begged me the night before for "Hamburger Helper" and I don't like to prepare boxed meals so I searched for a recipe to substitute and satisfy; both of my kiddos scarfed it!  This is a concoction I loosely followed found recipes of.  I took the basics and went my own way, removing what I didn't like (processed, prepared and just unwanted ingredients) and adding what sounded fitting.  Lucky for me my adjustments are almost always impeccable.  I didn't, however take any pictures this time around, but will make a better effort to do so for future postings.

  Well, here we go...

                                          Just for Alex Sirloin Steak Stroganoff

Ingredients:

8 oz of egg or whole wheat noodles (gluten free if preferred)

1 lb. cubed sirloin steak

6-8 oz milk (1% ideal)

2-3 T cornstarch 

1 T garlic powder

1 t garlic salt

Johnny's or McCormick seasoning salt to taste

1 small onion or shallot

2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 hand-full sliced or chopped crimini mushrooms

1/2 cup fat free sour cream

dried parsley flakes

salt and pepper to taste (always better with fresh ground pepper and sea salt)

Directions:

1. Prepare noodles according to package directions and set aside.

2. In a separate skillet over medium heat, saute the sirloin for 5 to 10 minutes until brown.  Drain any excess fat.  Add onion or shallot, garlic, and mushrooms and simmer over medium-low heat.

3. In a sauce pan bring milk to a boil, reduce to medium heat and add corn starch.  Simmer, stirring slowly until sauce thickens (add more corn starch if sauce doesn't thicken properly) then add garlic powder, garlic salt, sprinkle some parsley flakes, and salt and pepper.

4. Add sirloin mixture and noodles to saucepan. Simmer on med-low covered 8-10 minutes.

5. Remove from heat and mix sour cream, serve immediately.

There you have it.  Tomorrow I will post my Banana Apple bread recipe, but for now I'm going to watch the end of the 4th quarter of the University of Oregon game, Quack!

A nice hot cup of Fall

This morning was different from most for me; I got up at 5:15, made coffee for my boyfriend and had a cup of my own. I'd like to say that this was an act of selflessness, but I was having back spasms and a toothache. The reason I went downstairs in the first place was to hunt for an aspirin. Unlike most mornings I decided to push through the grogginess, have a cup of yummy fresh ground, from the french-press, coffee (great idea!). Surprisingly, I slept through most of the night last night, which is almost unheard of in my world. Most nights, I sleep for around four hours before waking up at about 2-3 am and tossing and turning until David gets up. At which time I noisily (to make sure he notices that he's disturbed my "slumber") thrash around and throw a pillow over my head until he kisses me on the forehead and leaves for work. After that, I try to get back to sleep and almost always succeed within about 15 minutes of my oldest getting in the shower. That's when it's a done deal because I now have to get up to supervise morning routine and make lunches.

Getting back to the point, I was up before David (so he assumed something must be wrong with me.) I feel pretty darned refreshed. Maybe the problem with my sleep isn't that I'm not getting enough, but that I get too much. Don't say' "I told you so", I'm aware that that is the case more often than not for most. I only get 4 to 5 hours of good sleep a night though, so I just assumed that it was lack of instead to more than necessary. Call me crazy, but I think I just had an epiphany (and if you're wondering, yes it hurt.) Now the issue becomes, not how to obtain more quality sleep, but how to drag my butt out of bed when I can no longer sleep. Either way, I'm still no morning person.

I thought maybe if I made a coffee station in my bedroom i t might help, but this poses a few problems: waking up the other room occupant, clean-up, and additives. Crap. Setting an alarm is no good because it actually has the opposite effect, which is to make me think I'm more tired than I really am. Opening the window and letting in the cool pre-sunrise air helps, but then I just want to snuggle back into my cozy and already warm bed with all my comfy pillows. Ugh! Why can't this just be easier?

Moving on, I read in my Whole Living (Formerly, Body and Soul) Magazine yesterday that coffee is good for reducing your risk of Parkinson's disease (wow!), type 2 diabetes and that it is a perfect catalyst for much needed nutrients. "1,299 milligrams: The amount of immune-boosting antioxidants the average American gets in her daily coffee." Who knew?! The article also makes a few suggestions of what to add to fortify your morning cup of brew: Cinnamon helps to stabilize blood-sugar and Nutmeg reduces inflammation. Sugar and creamer are apparently bad (shocker) and organic 1% or calcium fortified soy milk are great options (I like the Albertson's line of Organics: vanilla soy milk.) Honey is also a great sweetener for coffee that is much under used and can help with an unsettled yummy, which I am plagued with often. I also suggest having a banana or apple alongside your am beverage to ward off jitters, which are caused by the metabolism boost brought on by the caffeine in your drink. I'm not an expert, but have experienced much bouncing off the walls as a result of too much, too fast and the comedown that comes with it. This morning I opted (on my 3rd cup) for a little cinnamon and a few drops of pure vanilla extract, YUM. It tastes like a nice hot cup of Fall, which happens to be my favorite season.

As for the rest of this crisp morning, I suppose it's time to get a move on with my morning rituals. I'm walking the kids to school this morning so that my daughter can donate a few guppies to the class aquarium, Alex is off to Pioneer days for his first field-trip of the year, maybe I'll do a little morning Yoga, and then I'm meeting Cheryl at the farmer's market to see what treasures we can come up with for our canning (and wine drinking) adventure on Saturday. Happy Friday :)