Happy Thanksgiving from Katie’s Kitchen

 

True story from my kitchen.  It was still edible at least.

Oops!! I lied in my last post

I will blame it on brain fog from my pregnenolone levels being too low.  Any excuse you can add will be welcome.

I used the wrong brand name on my last post.  It is all fixed now but good grief.  I give a review and name the wrong product.  Sorry!!  The mistake was realized while I was doing dishes 5 seconds ago.

 

WearEver Ceramic Cookware

I having been using a set of WearEver ceramic cookware since December.  I wanted to make the switch to ceramic to get away from Teflon and still retain non-stick options in the cabinet. There was also the issue that my old pots were, well, old and did not cook evenly.

I really enjoy using these ceramic pans.  They cook much more evenly and clean up easily.  If you are looking for the infomercial style non-stick, these are not it.  While they do clean easy, they require a few more wipes than the Teflon pans.  I also find it necessary, or at the least, very helpful to use a little bit of oil (usually coconut) when cooking items like eggs and salmon.

Care:  As per the directions that they came with, I seasoned the pans with oil prior to using the first time.  They are dishwasher safe, however, I do hand wash to preserve the finish as much as possible.

Con:  The handles are attached by rivets on the inside/cooking surface of the pans.  My perfect cookware would not have these as they make it a bit harder to clean and can be an area where germs hideout.

Overall I am so glad that Santa brought these WearEver pans to me and I would recommend these if you are in the market for ceramic cookware.

This post brought to you courtesy of a week’s vacation:

Made new friends this week:

Tried new food:

Best Burgers! Diet blown…

What to try next time I eat on the run.

Tried a new Recipe:  thanks to The Savvy Sister

I had to substitute a bit but it still came out fabulous!

A great week to be sure, I must do it again sometime.

10th Annual Cookie Weekend….with a twist

We embarked upon the 10th annual cookie bake off with the intention of dialing it back to limit our fatigue………

Well, we had a successful cookie weekend, but as for cutting back on the number of cookies, we were not as successful.  It was a fabulously fun and tiring weekend.  It has become one of those traditions that the bakers and the nibblers all look forward to!

I did experiment with a gluten and dairy free recipe that turned out pretty darn awesome.  It still may need some tweaking because it was a little dry.  Oh, but did it hit the spot!  I took my favorite chocolate chip cookie recipe and substituted gluten free flour for the all purpose flour and coconut oil for the butter. The chocolate chips were soy, dairy, and gluten free.  I accidentally put an extra 1/4 teaspoon of salt (Himalayan) in the batter, but I think I liked it that way.  If I make it again, the salt will be dropped back to recipe levels, just to experiment.

Our pitiful and comical relief came from the pups.  One was still recovering from surgery and had to be put in a crate to keep him from going bonkers over the kitchen action.  Once he fell asleep, he was totally out of it.  His brother enjoyed poaching chew toys when the patient was sleeping or out on a bathroom break.  Quite the pair!

Christmas Colors and Irony

I added beets to my usual volcano rice/chicken/coconut milk with greens. For the rest of the week, I shall have cheery red and green lunches. 8)

Now, as I sink into the couch recovering from kitchen chaos, I am amused by the mix of commercials.

– candy, pharmacy, candy, heart burn drug, fast food, shoe inserts-

Is that like the dentist giving out lollipops?

Katie’s Kitchen

I cooked last weekend!  Not the fried egg sandwich kind of cooking.  I mean, I actually cooked real stuff.  I have a freezer full of soup to prove it.

It started with a turkey.  No, I don’t mean me.

I used folded aluminum foil to make a drip pan inside of a cake dish.  I put a cup or two of vegetable broth in a pan with some raw, local honey.  A little heat, a little stir, and a lovely mix for basting.  I did put some sea salt, pepper, thyme, and clove in it as well.  The turkey was massaged with sea salt, ground pepper, sage, and marjoram after a light rub of lemon.  The lemon wedge and a garlic clove were placed very delicately under the turkey breast.  No butter, no oil, no no fat of any kind added.  Not bad for my first turkey 8)

Baked for about 2 hours at 350 degrees F. with occasional basting.

The Plot Thickens…or the soup thickens.

Roasted Vegetable Soup with Turkey

As the turkey cooled, I cut up, salt and peppered some veg to put in the oven for roasting:  Brussels sprouts, yellow bell pepper,parsnips, and garlic cloves.

I diced up a yellow onion and sweat it down with a 1/2 tsp butter.  Mixed in some celery and added the carrot and kale pulp from some juices, and the base was ready for vegetable broth.

After adding some water, I put some of the skin and bone from the turkey in the pot.  Any part of the turkey breast that did not carve pretty or have fat on it, ended up in the pot.

It was about then that I received a call from some friends.  “You want to come along while we pick up our new baby?”  How can anyone say no to that?

After that adventure, I put the pot back on the stove.  Fishing out the skin and bones, I thought it needed a little brightening.  The juice of half a lemon found its way into the pot.  la fin

10th Annual Cookie Bake Off

Warning: Nothing healthy on this page but the story of a good time and a great tradition.

One weekend a year, my mother and I spend the better part of 48 hours baking.  We make all sorts of confections.  Some recipes are old and have stood the test of time.  Some are new and experimental.

While we do strive to actually make good food that we can share at work and with our neighbors, I think the best part is spending the weekend goofing off together and completing a project.

It doesn’t hurt that occasionally a cookie will break.  We would not dream of handing out broken cookies so we hide the evidence.  Mmmmm.

Maybe next year we will start to incorporate healthier substitutes into our recipes.  For now we will just sit back, rest our legs, and enjoy the memories of another successful cookie weekend.

 

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Prepare for Nutrition

Watch out! Katie is in the kitchen.  My cooking style seems to have landed somewhere between dorm room cuisine and Food Network fan.  To eat well during the week, I need to cook on the weekend.  Today’s preparations were inspired by fellow bloggers and Dr. Oz.