Thangs

In case you were wondering.....but maybe you weren't....but I'll tell you anyway.

I've been missing from the blogosphere for the last couple of days!  But.  I learned how to add code and the nifty little buttons to the right.  Now you can link my Facebook page, Twitter and RSS feed just by pressing the button.  I felt like the sidebar was getting cluttered so I fixed it up.  I have to send a big THANK YOU to Alicia for this post which was so incredibly helpful.  Now that I think I am a super code writer, those buttons will probably change up until I find some that I super like, but the basics are good for now.

Also, I have made another change on the little bloggy.  When I started this shindig, I made a conscious decision that I would not use this space to be negative.  There is too much of that in the world.  This is a happy spot.  I do enjoy reviewing things though, so initially when sharing recipe's I called them "Recipe Review(s)" and put them under the "Recipe Review" tab up above.  But, since I'm not really reviewing, but more sharing a good find, I've changed the tab and the titles to "Recipe Finds".  From now on that's what I'll be calling it when I share a recipe from someone else on the blog.  I will continue to use Yelp to do actual reviews, good and bad (but trust me, it has to be really really bad for me to actually put it in writing).

Did you see the Farmer's Market Live post?  This was a brilliant idea of friend & fellow blogger Eek! - Slurpees in spandex.  I'm going to do these as often as possible.  If you live in the area you can get a peep of what's at the market that morning.  Sweet.  Thanks Em!

Have you seen Pinterest?  It's nifty.  You can see what I'm pinning by pressing the button to the right....


I'm beginning to forget who Old Lady and the Computer is.

Oh yeah.  So, I don't promise to stop nerding out but I do promise to get back to real blog posts.

Until then!

Recipe Find - The Pioneer Woman's Chicken Tortilla Soup

So, a couple of weeks ago it was still 80 degrees here in Northern California.

as I lay in the grass and looked up at the tree in my yard...

...I prayed for changing leaves and Fall....

...and it was hot and my tree was still green.

I wanted Fall because I wanted soup!

I ♥ soup.

So I decided to make it even though it was 80 degrees outside.

I made The Pioneer Woman's Chicken Tortilla Soup once before this...

and I ♥'d it.

Pretty much like most of the things I find on her blog.

So I decided to make it again.

It is easy too....

...just pay attention to the cook time cause' it always takes longer than I think it's going to.

Start by mixin' up some tasty spices...

....which consist of these....

...you're also going to bake 2 chicken breasts.

Throw a little olive oil on top...

...and a little of that spice mixture.

Then put it in the oven.

While it's cooking you can mince some garlic and chop some onion...

....and chop some red bell pepper....

...and some green bell pepper too...

When you're done choppin', heat up your soup pot and throw in some olive oil.

Then throw in all your chopped goods and saute...

Eventually your chicken will be done and you'll shred it.

You'll also add some chicken stock and the rest of your spice mixture to the pot,

along with the shredded chicken...

...and a can of diced tomatoes & green chilies...

...and some tomato paste...

...and some black beans...

...and your soup will be simmering for awhile...

Meanwhile, you'll mix up some masa...

...which you'll add to your soup about halfway through simmering...

...while your soup is simmering, you can get your selected toppings ready...

...you will also add some tortilla strips to the soup just before it's done.

And.

If you're a good blogger,

you will take a picture of your final product.

But,

if you are Wife,

you will eat your soup in a fury because you are hungry and impatient.

Then you will say,

"oops".

And then you will sit on your couch in a soup induced coma.

Here is The Pioneer Woman's picture of the finished product...

Photo: http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2011/01/chicken-tortilla-soup/

This soup is good!  You will ♥ it too.

Don't miss the most important step though...

"Check seasonings, adding more if needed"

I didn't do this and should have added more seasoning.

I was nervous.... 

...I served this the same night I made my Costa Rican Black Bean Dip...

...and almost burned Nana's mouth off.

I was scurred to add any more seasoning to my soup.

Don't be scurred.

Trust The Pioneer Woman.

You can find the whole recipe here.

Recipe Find - Roasted Red Pepper Penne

One of my favorite foodie blogs is How Sweet It Is. The Cyclist brought it to my attention when he asked me to make Jessica's recipe for Crunchy Honey Chicken.

So, when she recently posted a recipe for Roasted Red Pepper Penne, I knew I wanted to try it. I love roasted red pepper, but I had never made it before. I envisioned lots of flame and singed eyebrows. But, it turns out roasting red peppers (at least with this method) is pretty dang easy. Let me tell you, this was super good!

I did not take photos of all the steps, but they are outlined in the above link to the recipe. I did manage to take a photo of our finished product while I was stuffing it in my face. It's a miracle there was no Roasted Red Pepper smear on the lens....




This was really tasty and not very difficult. I am now officially addicted to the roasted red pepper flavor! I plan to make a roasted red pepper marinara (with no canned tomatoes, darn it) this week...and maybe some roasted red pepper hummus. I must admit that I also attempted to make this recipe within 72 hours of trying it the first time and was warned by The Cyclist to not "wear it out". Someone in our house may be roasted red peppered out by the end of this week (but it won't be me!).

I did, however, already manage to find a way to tweak this recipe for a girls dinner I attended....I told you I am addicted to the roasted red pepper flavor! So, basically all I did was make the roasted red pepper sauce exactly as the recipe calls for, but instead of adding olive oil, I added 3 ounces of low-fat cream cheese (or neufatchel cheese). I chilled it for a bit and served it with sliced veggies. Roasted Red Pepper Dip y'all!




Yum! I won't be posting this recipe to Tasty Kitchen....I feel like it's way to similar to the original to call it my own. But, whether it be the Roasted Red Pepper Penne or the Dip (y'all), both are good and worth trying!

Maybe I can coin the term "RRP" after all of this?

P.S. The Munchkin loved the penne too!

Happy eats!

Recipe Find - Cinnamon Baked French Toast

So from something healthier to something yummy, sweet, delish and probably guaranteed to make your belly and/or thighs grow.  Yippee!

I am talking about The Pioneer Woman's Cinnamon Baked French Toast. 

Can you say yum? 

Here is her photo of this super delicious breakfast treat:

OMG butter.  Yum.

The Cyclist found this recipe some time ago and I originally made it for us when we were on our honeymoon....

Sigh.  I wouldn't mind being there now.

Anyway, we made this for a pre-hiking breakfast and it was super tasty!

Here is a picture of our honeymoon batch.....

Thankfully that day we were able to burn it off while exploring this beautiful place...

Ahh.  I ♥ feet photos.

I recently made this again for the Besties.

This is a good dish to do if you know you are going to have guests for breakfast.

Pluses are:

You make it a day ahead

It's easy

It tastes good (did I already mention this?)

Here is a pic of attempt #2...

Which pic is better? 

I think I must have used the food setting on pic number 2 in order to get that lighting....

Anyway, this is an easy dish that's good for a group and bound to get cheers from the tasters.

Also, you can cook it less time for a bread pudding type texture or more time for more of a bread-ish texture.

Either way, I recommend!

P.S.  I am finally reading the large camera manual, so I am expecting to learn and take better photos as time progresses.

Recipe Find - Healthy Cake

Hmm.  Healthy cake sounds suspicious.  Maybe I should instead call this post Healthier Cake.  Oh well, you get the idea.

The Cyclist and I are both strong believers in not piling kids full of sugar.  I am still kind of amazed at how our society promotes the idea that giving kids sweets and junk food is OK or just for fun.  We get all kinds of crazy looks when we say "no, he can't have a 'treat'" or "no, he doesn't eat cake".  All I have to say is, I know what some junk food or a piece of cake does in my body; imagine what it does in a 30 pound kid.  My best response to the naysayers is "would you like to babysit while he bounces off the walls because he just ate a cup of sugar?"  The answer has always been no. 

Now, before I move on, let me just say that we aren't super granola-no sugar-no junk-ever-people.  But we do (probably) eat healthier than the general population.  Plenty of kids get a yummy sugary cake for their birthday and are fine.  Our preference to keep the sugar low all the time is just ours.  I'm not knocking what anyone else might do with their own kid.

Instead, I'll offer an alternative.  In our quest to keep The Munchkin eating healthy but still getting good stuff on special occasions, I was on the lookout for a healthy (er, healthier) cake.  This year for The Munchkin's 2nd birthday, I found a recipe for Banana Cream Layer Cake from Eating Well.

Here is the file photo:

This recipe did some pretty interesting and creative stuff to keep the cake tasty but cut the fat and sugar.  It calls for whole wheat pastry flour which according to the recipe, "...contains less gluten than regular whole-wheat flour and helps ensure a tender result in delicate baked goods while providing the nutritional benefits of whole grains".  For the Bavarian Cream topping, you mix low-fat milk with unflavored gelatin (and some other stuff), let it set and later add in some whipping cream.

So, although this cake does have sugar and whipping cream, it's significantly less than a traditional recipe would call for.  And, most importantly, it was really good!!  The Munchkin devoured it. 

Here is our version:

Note:  I was busy chatting with The Munchkin's mom and I let my jello/milk mixture set too long. 

I think the topping would have been creamier if I avoided this, but, it still tasted good.

So, after we found this cake and it was successful, I checked Eating Well again when DD's birthday rolled around.  His favorite is carrot cake.  Lot's of people seem to have the impression that carrot cake is already a healthy (healthier) cake....I guess because it has "carrot" in the title, but it's really pretty decadent. 

As an alternative, I found this recipe.  According to the site, this carrot cake "...version has about 40 percent less calories and 50 percent less fat than most".

Here is the file photo:

This cake also used the whole wheat pastry flour and buttermilk.  It also used crushed pineapple and pineapple juice, which I assume helped cut the sugar.  The frosting was good!  Low fat or Neufchâtel cream cheese mixed with powdered sugar.  The recipe also called for walnuts, which I added, but The Cyclist & DD both requested I leave those out next time.  Also, the recipe called for unsweetened coconut, which I could not find, so I just added less coconut than what the recipe called for. 

The carrot cake was really good, it did not taste like it was lacking anything.  I will use this frosting recipe again for other desserts.  I didn't take a pic of my cake.....I cooked it in too small of a pan and ended up cutting and stacking it.  It was kind of a mess even though it tasted good.  DD sweetly told me he didn't think it was ugly at all.  Thanks DD.  :)

Last but not least, since we're talking cake, I have to share this one:

This was The Munchkin's 1st Birthday cake.  It was a sugar-free banana cake.  I did not make it!

But, if you're interested (and in the Sacramento area), I can put you in contact with the baker who did.

You're not surprised it was a bike cake are you?

That is all for now!









Moscow Mule's

It's cocktail week in Sac-Town!  Let's make us some Moscow Mule's!

I first heard about Moscow Mule's when Oprah was making them for other campers in Yosemite.  If you have not seen this, you should watch it - it is hilarious.

Anyway, when I featured the Ginger People Drinks and discovered all the sweet drink recipes the Ginger People site, I knew I wanted to make me some Moscow Mule's Ginger People style!

We are of course going to use some Ginger Beer....

....along with this other good stuff.....

Now, please note - the Ginger People's Moscow Mule recipe calls for the following:

2oz vodka

3oz The Ginger People Ginger Beer

1oz lime juice

The Cyclist went to the store and found that the Absolut Citron vodka was on sale, so he bought that instead of regular vodka.  Additionally, he could not find the lime juice, so he instead got limeade and limes.

Although our Moscow Mule's were pretty tasty, I think they would have been better with plain vodka.  There is something about the Citron that is just no bueno to me and I think it killed the ginger taste a bit.  The limeade and limes were fine.

So, using ingredients you prefer with the measurements above, shake it up and....

...viola!  A tasty and refreshing cocktail for summertime!

Also to note, Oprah's recipe is a little different, but can still be made with our favorite Ginger Beer.

Enjoy cocktail week!

Recipe Find - Pan Seared Cod Over Vegetable Ragout

The Cyclist and I are trying to add more fish to our diet.  I am not an experienced fish chef, but I do OK with cod.  (At some point I will share my fish taco recipe.) So, I went in search of a cod recipe that looked healthy and easy.  Key word being "easy".  I know better than to try and get crazy in the kitchen when the ultimate goal is to make dinner after work.  This behavior only results in late night meals that aren't that great.  "Easy" as defined by me = not a ton of ingredients, nothing I can't buy in a regular grocery and no cooking words that I do not understand.

Anyway, in looking for my healthy and easy cod recipe I went straight to Cooking Light.  This is one of my favorite places to find recipes, I have yet to be steered wrong.  My search found:

Pan-Seared Cod Over Vegetable Ragout

Ta-Da!

This recipe was really, really good, like seriously good.  The Cyclist did most of the prep work, which was super helpful.  I don't know what the deal is with prep-time on recipes (this one did not list any), but it always takes me way longer than it says.  Part of the issue are my crappy knife skills and continued attempts at not cutting my finger off, but...I swear, some of those recipe prep-times are just silly!

OK, moving on. 

So, with the Cyclist's help, we put this dish together (together!).  Here is our version:

and an up-close:

It was very, very good and not totally difficult to make.  More importantly, our 7 year old nephew (DD), who can be a bit of a Mr. Picky McPickerson devoured his entire plate and declared that I should make this for him every time he comes over.  The Munchkin slapped his plate up too, as did the Cyclist and I.  There was nothing left, anywhere.

I give this recipe 5 stars for being super good, easy (as defined by me) and healthy!  It also gets an honorable mention for being a fish and veggie dish that kids love. 

Coming soon: Pizza Night! And Ginger People Eats (I'm really excited about this one!)