And then there are days...

When you burn the puff pastry, miss a step in the recipe and burn your finger, all within about 2 minutes of each other.

Sigh.

Sometime I think Martha Stewart is sadistic and purposefully lays out her recipes so you miss one vital part.

I would write more but it is hard to type with a blistered index finger.

This is post is dedicated to anyone who has screwed up a recipe, burned a body part or burned puff pastry, that evil delicately-layered bakery item. To all the REAL cooks out there: You're not alone and don't give up. For those who claim they never mess up, you're lying.

With love,
Badger Girl

The Plan: Final Day

We made it through the week. The only hang up we had with 'the plan' was when I forgot to turn on the slow cooker for our enchiladas. Manatee saved the day by taking me out for Mexican food.

I have to admit that I was so hungry last night that I did not take the time to take a picture before eating. :)

Talking with Manatee, he claimed this was not a huge change from our normal routine because I usually cook a lot during the week. For me though, this was huge. It was so much easier having everything planned out and the grocery list in my wallet. It also made my lunches easier as I always had leftovers.

Next week will be a little tough as we have plans every single night but none of them include dinner. I mapped out our plan and we are really going to utilize the slow cooker. Here is our plan of attack:

Sunday:
Mushroom and Pecorino  Tart
Tomato Pesto Crockpot Soup

Monday:
Enchiladas

Tuesday:
Leftover Soup
(We have a knife skills class and I know we will get turkey sandwiches at some point in the evening so we won't need much before)

Wednesday:
Slow Cooker Paella and Spanish Tortilla (hosting my bookclub)

Thursday:
Leftovers/Chicken Sausage Ravioli

Sweet for the week: Pumpkin doughnut muffins which I am going to take a brunch we are going to go on Sunday.

I will continue to keep you posted. :)

The Plan: Day 3

What is the most important step when cooking something in the slow cooker?


Turning the slow cooker on before you leave for work.

The Plan: Day 2

Day 2 and we are still with The Plan. Manatee claimed this was one of my bests. The sherry gives this black bean soup a lot of flavor. Though it was one of the best tasting, I will warn you, it is one of the worst looking things I have ever made.

I also discovered what happens when the lid is not secured when pureeing black beans and chicken broth. Luckily Manatee did not make the same discovery. I was able to hide it well when he walked in the room. I swear he has something against the food processor. This may be because of what happened when we bought it.
Me (gazing lovingly at the Cuisinart): I want this one.
Manatee (doing a double take): Are you stroking that food processor?
Me: Um...(cough) No (voice higher than normal) don't be ridiculous (cough).

Here's the recipe and picture.

I told you it wasn't pretty.


Black Bean Soup with Sherry


3 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
3 medium cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
2 15 1/2 oz cans black beans, including liquid
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp dried oregano
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1/4 cup dry sherry


Heat the oil in a 4-5 quart pot over medium heat. Add onion, green pepper, and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 5 minutes.

Puree the chicken broth and 1 can of beans (and liquid). Make sure the top is secured!!

Add cumin and oregano to onion mixture. Cook 1 minute.

Add tomato paste. Cook 1 minute.

Add bean puree and can of beans (and liquid) and cook 10 minutes (until flavors meld).

Stir in sherry. Add salt and pepper to season.

We also squeezed lime juice over our individual bowls.

Enjoy! :)

The Plan: Day 1

Well, I didn't get off to a great start seeing how I did not bake cookies yesterday, but I made up for it tonight. I made the salmon AND the cookies. :)

Five-spice-glazed Salmon
1/4 cup honey
1 1/2 tsp five-spice powder
4 tsp reduced sodium soy sauce
2 large cloves of garlic minced
4 6 oz. salmon fillets
1 lb. green beans
1 tsp Asian sesame oil
1 tsp canola oil
2 Tbsp of toasted sesame seeds
1 tsp lemon juice


In a small bowl, whisk honey, soy sauce, five-spice powder and garlic.
Put salmon skin side down on a large plate and pour sauce over it. Let it marinate for at least 15 minutes.

Position rack 6 inches from broiler and heat it on high. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with tinfoil and coat with cooking spray.

In large bowl, toss green beans with canola and sesame oils. Arrange beans on one half of sheet.

Arrange salmon, skin side down, on baking sheet. Drizzle with leftover sauce.

Broil salmon and green beans for 3 minutes. Toss green beans and rearrange salmon if necessary. Broil 3 more minutes. Toss green beans with sesame seeds and lemon juice and enjoy!

This recipe was actually even easier than it seems. We loved it.

So I didn't really know what they meant by 'toasted sesame seeds' so I took it literally. I put the sesame seeds in the toaster oven. It seemed to work pretty well!

This one type A girl I know served salmon over spinach and basil. Well it was so good I had to copy her. :) I also made some brown rice and an additional spinach salad with my favorite homemade dressing. Yum!

These are our leftovers. Yummy lunches the rest of the week!

These are what my mother and I suspect to be my grandmother's recipe for chocolate sour cream cookies. We can't find her recipe but they taste just like we remember- light, fluffy and more cake than cookie. Recipe will be included at a later date. :)

Some Leftover Pictures

Here are some pictures leftover from our Halloween dinner party and a recipe.

Caramelized Onion Dip


2 Tbsp of unsalted butter
2 medium onions, thinly sliced
1 8 oz bar reduced fat cream cheese
1 cup fat free sour cream
2 Tbsp of chopped fresh chives


Melt butter in large skillet over medium-low heat.
Add onions and 1/2 tsp of salt and pepper.
Cook until deep golden brown- the recipe says 30-35 minutes but that's a vicious lie. I cooked the onions for well over an hour.
Remove onions from heat and let cool.
Mix sour cream and cream cheese together.
Add cooled onions and mix well.
Fold in chives.

Serve with thick cut vegetable chips and veggies.

Hold Me Accountable

Now that I am finally feeling better, I am ready to jump back into cooking. Many of my friends are far more organized than I, and they actually plan a week's worth of meals before the week starts. I have decided to follow suit. Because I don't fully trust myself, I thought I would publish my plan on the blog and hopefully be held accountable.

I am also trying to make sure I use some of my awesome cookbooks as I have tendency to rely on recipes from magazines and the internet. So here is the week's plan:

Sunday: Finish up leftovers from this weekend: Coconut Curry Butternut Squash Soup, Roasted Tomatoes and Homemade pizzas.

Bake some kind of cookie

Monday:
5 spice glazed salmon with sesame green beans
(Fine Cooking magazine)

Tuesday
Black Bean Soup with Sherry
(Fine Cooking magazine)

Wednesday
Hearty Chicken Enchiladas
(Taste of Home Casseroles, Slower Cooker and Soup cookbook)

Thursday
Beef skewers with horseradish dipping sauce
(Everyday Food Fresh Flavors Fast cookbook)

Friday
Hopefully we will go out to eat :) or we will eat leftovers

The nice thing about this plan, if I can keep to it, is I will have leftovers for lunch so I won't have to worry about buying stuff to pack my lunch.

I will keep you posted on how well Manatee and I can keep to this plan. And knowing us, with all these meals there will be salads. :)