Category: Cooking

Once I finally tired of putting turmeric in every smoothie to help remedy joint inflammation, I ordered a 1000 empty gel capsules to fill with the spice.

I’m not quite sure why this size was considered “0,” but I was happy they weren’t “horse pill” sized. 

I’m not used to referring to nonelectrical devices as “machines,” yet I was ever so happy for this convenient contraption to make 50 pills at once.

I had a few precious trial and error moments as I made my maiden batch of pills.

Once I spread the turmeric and cleaned off the excess, I tamped the powder and spread more spice across the capsules.

Then, I rotated the end pieces 90 degrees, pushed the top piece down to expose the filled capsules.

I’d placed the tops into a measuring cup, so they wouldn’t roll away and I still lost one!

Then I placed the completed pills into a plastic container, swallowing the pill that had the lost top, which I never found even after cleaning everything up.

As I broke down the box to recycle, I rediscovered the easy-to-follow instructions on the back of the box.  In my excitement, I’d forgotten all about them and had the front side of the box facing up, during the entire pill-making process. Total Teresa moment.

Lots of people fret about what to do about all those Thanksgiving leftovers.  Talk about your first-world problems!  Not me. Ever since I went through a strange time last year, where I obsessed about food since my grocery budget was $30/wk, I’m joyous every day I have food in the house.

I was gifted a ziplock bag of fried turkey and another ziplock bag of fried ham after Thanksgiving dinner. Although I eat pork, I don’t buy it. So a bag of fried ham got me thinking of how I could honor its presence in a meal. Then, it came to me: ham mac and cheese casserole!

I’d never made it before, but this comfort food was just what the doctor ordered, considering the fact that things have been rather stressful at work and the weather has turned cooler. Combined with butter, whole milk and two types of cheddar, the ham was guaranteed to shine, especially topped off with spicy panko bread crumbs. I originally was going to add a couple of handfuls of spinach, but remembered at the last minute that I had frozen peas, which fit the bill even better.

One of the best returns on making a casserole is getting 8 meals out of it, which I conveniently packed up in plastic food containers, ready to be microwaved for lunch. This dense casserole had to be heated up for at least 2 1/2 minutes and every minute counts on a 30-minute lunch break, especially when we worked from headquarters. In my apartment, nothing is more than 10 steps away; so time doesn’t seem to slip away from me as I travel from the kitchen to the bathroom to take care of human needs before getting back to work.

During those few precious moments with my feet kicked up, I savored every rich, delicious bite. What a difference a fantastic meal makes for those afternoon calls!

I signed up to bring potato salad for a cooking meetup group. I was weary about this particular dish since it was based on my mother’s recipe. My mother is a wonderful cook, which is somewhat of a disadvantage for me. In the past, I’d tried to get recipes out of her. The most successful had been for her cheesecake.

Next time I’m home, I’ll help Mom make potato salad and jot down notes as we go.

Yet, for this potato salad recipe, she kept hemming and hawing about the details. Mom was ever so flattered to be asked for her culinary expertise, but boasted, by way of apology, that she didn’t measure anything. With much prodding, she’d dribble out a few of the ingredients and their portions. Finally, my sister texted me the “recipe,” as dictated by Mom. The day before I put it together, I hard pressed Mom for some measurements.
Even to my eye, the texture was off although it tasted delicious. Par for the course, any dish I labor and fret over does not get a good reception. Few people bothered to try it. Not even a shy little “taste.” Fortunately for me, I’m used to eating my culinary “near misses,” which is an upgrade to what my cooking disasters used to be: edible poison!

Mom’s Potato Salad

8 Potatoes

6 eggs

10 2/3 oz cubed sweet pickles, drained

Miracle whip, to taste

1 small jar chopped pimentos, drained

1 medium chopped white onion

2 stalks of celery

Salt, to taste

Pepper, to taste

Sugar, to taste

Wash the eggs and boil them with the potatoes for 15 minutes. Drain and cool. (If in a hurry, put potatoes in the refrigerator to chill.) Crack the eggs and place into cool water. Peel eggs and mash with a fork. Stir in the potatoes, pickles, miracle whip, pimentos, onions, celery, salt, pepper and sugar.

This month’s cooking theme for a meetup I’m a member of was the first of many I’d brainstormed in the middle of bikram yoga class. After nearly two years of cooking different ethnic foods, I thought it was high time we branched out a little more. Technically, “tapas” is a Spanish tradition, but we didn’t confine ourselves either to Spanish wine nor Spanish food, especially me.

A few months ago, I’d tried “Cabanero,” a delicious blend of a cabernet infused with habanero peppers. Not wanting to waste such a deliciously spicy wine on tender-mouthed people, I’d cut long colorful straws into 4-6″ sampling straws and submerged them into a shallow glass half-filled with cabanero.  I got everybody’s attention and showed them how to take a sample.

Pictured to the right of the straw-filled wine glass was the “tapa” I brought. I’d sliced Granny Smith apples into disks rather than wedges and brushed a generous amount of fresh lime juice onto every cut surface. Then I put a blue cheese spread on them, which consisted of blue cheese, cream cheese, chopped green onions and walnuts. Very simple. Turns out, this was the first time other people actually wanted the recipe for something I’d bought. All these other times, I’d taken so much time to create more complex dishes. Never again!
The novelty of both a spicy wine and sample straw delivery turned out to be a fun party favor. And here I thought I was being practical. Not that I’m complaining. Once again, the variety of food and people blended beautifully. I always opt to eat in the dining room since I don’t have one at home, but the rest of the group were in the TV room, which was where we all gathered after the fact to vote on the next theme.  Despite all the wine that had been consumed, no one thought “Ramen Noodle Challenge” nor “Healthy Diet” were good foodie themes. We agreed on “Brazilian” for the next time. I’m going to find the simplest Brazilian recipe and see how big of a hit it’ll be!

Rediscovering that inexpensive college favorite, ramen noodles, has been an amazing culinary journey. I started quite innocently  sautéing garlic, red chilies and red onion in extra virgin olive oil (EVOO). Then I scooted them to the side, cracked an egg and scrambled it quickly with a wooden spoon until it was beautifully fluffy. Next I doused the skillet with a glass of water, turned the dial from “medium” to “high,” dissolved the flavor packet, brought the water to a boil and added the noodles.

I took the above process up a notch the day I substituted toasted sesame oil for EVOO. Originally, I’d bought the toasted sesame oil to make a dip. As that oil sat untouched for months after making the recipe once, I grabbed it to sauté some veggies for ramen noodles and I’ve not looked back since.

The incredible flavor and depth toasted sesame oil brings to ramen noodles just hasn’t grown old for me. I’ve tried it in many more different combinations than I have presented below.  Usually, I’ve just not bothered to take a picture of my plate before digging in.

For this version, I used frozen Asian vegetable mix with baby corn, edamame, red peppers and string beans and of course a scrambled egg. The orange slices frame the meal as a dessert.

For a rare moment in my diet, I actually had both broccoli and cauliflower! They must have been on sale for me to have bought them that week. I know for a fact mangoes were on sale the week I bought them.

After moving to Austin from Honduras, I boycotted buying these “expensive” fruits, which happen to be my favorite, since I had to pay more than a few pennies/nickels/dimes like I’d paid for them in Tegucigalpa.

I rounded out my vegetable bouquet with my usual kale, red onions and carrots. As dark as this dish appears, I must have used a few tablespoons of peanut powder to add a more pad thai flavor to the dish.

Around this time,  small Texas peaches were in season. I love how their color contrasts with the red cabbage.Yes, another picture with red cabbage…a lesson learned: buying even the smallest head of cabbage means I’ll be eating it for nearly a month! I originally bought it to make a curried vegetable stir-fry for a potluck, but only ended up using about 1/4 of it for that delicious dish. Not that I’m complaining. I’ve had a wonderful time putting it in many other dishes along with my ramen noodle 2.0 creations, especially with these chopped navel oranges.