Post-Holiday Juice Cleanse

I don't think I'm the only one who over-indulged this holiday season, but I do know that I entered into a serious food coma last night. After all the excitement we experienced this year - and ALL THE FOOD I consumed - I left the office yesterday, had a quick dinner, and fell asleep sitting up at 6:00.
That said, I asked for and received a juicer for Christmas from my grandparents - hopefully, a strong shot of vitamins and nutrients will help to shock me back into a diet that makes some sense!
I have done some reading on these sorts of cleanses, and I'm going to give it a shot to see what kind of difference it makes, if any. My first experiment was three medium-sized carrots and two Granny Smith apples. I have to say...it was delicious!

Easter weekend

Finally getting around to installing the drawer organizers from our trip to Texas...another IKEA find!

The second drawer is a little lighter on the organization, but everything still has a place.

The highlight of Easter was looking through piles of old family photo albums and laughing at everyone's hairstyles :)

Dueling pies

Last night was pie night at the homestead. I’ve been eating out a lot lately because there’s not food in the house because I haven’t been there to MAKE anything. More to come on that in the next post.

Last night, I decided to do something about my lack of sustenance. I had some homemade pizza sausage in the freezer along with a leftover dough ball that would be just enough for a single serving pizza. I laid both out on the counter yesterday afternoon to thaw so they’d be ready to go by the time I was. Along with a little sauce and some mozzarella cheese (also both kind of leftover from a previous pizza..stashed in the freezer), I had myself a nice little pie in no time at all.

The last couple times I’ve made a pizza, I’ve been baking them according to something I read in an old cookbook: apparently the “pizza-maker’s secret” is to bake your pizza with the meat uncooked. I was skeptical at first because I’d never done that, nor had anyone in my family..and we’re pizza makers. So, I figured I’d chunk off fairly small pieces to insure they baked through in the short time they’d be in the oven. I have to say, both times I’ve done it I have really enjoyed it. It gives the pizza just the right amount of grease and the meat is so tender and moist that I don’t think I’ll be going back!

I have to say, it was not my intention to make it this dark. That said, it's got great flavor and looks like it came from a gourmet pizzeria in New York City..one of those with a big 700F brick oven :)

Also last night, I peeled, chopped, and seasoned a small bucket of apples from mom and dad’s neighbors’ apple tree. They have more than they know what to do with, so everyone around has apple buckets sitting around waiting to be used!

Apple has always been my favorite pie, but it’s hard to make a good one..at least I think it is. Whenever I make one, I make sure to use something sort of acidic in the apples to give it a little extra flavor. Fresh lemon or orange juice, or even vinegar works really well and it gives the pie a little extra something..another flavor sensation on another part of your tongue. Really good stuff!

Manic cleaning/organizing on a Thursday night

In addition to laundry, cleaning the house, doing the dishes, and organizing the kitchen, I cut out these squishy shelf liners for all the drawers and shelves in the kitchen. I also loaded the kitchen cabinets with food, dishes, and other kitchen stuff. Very fancy!

The last two weeks, I've walked around piles of laundry, let the dishes pile up in the sink, and swept crumbs off the counters onto the floor. Last night, I caught up on everything in a burst of energy right before CRASHING to sleep. Looking pretty good around the house, if I do say..

Manscaping

This weekend was a lot of fun! Friday night was Knoxville Movie Night – a free outdoor showing of a film in the public park..open to all..big screen, big sound, big fun!

Any guesses as to which movie we watched this time?
http://www.facebook.com/#!/Knoxvillemovienights

Saturday I slept in a little, woke up and started pulling weeds in the garden, clearing the yard of dead and dried flowers (the drought really took a toll on..everything) and did some laundry.

Then my parents came over, and – within about 15 minutes – we went from this..

..to this..

It's always amazing what a truck and a log chain can do..

The house looks so much bigger without the bushes, don't you think?

This should make it quite a bit easier to hang the new siding and replace the windows in this part of the house. It’s also just easier for me (mentally) to get rid of everything and start fresh. Hopefully next year the weather will cooperate a little better and I’ll be able to landscape the yard, completely. With the changes I’ve made to the house and the paint colors I’d like to use on the outside, I’m excited to have a cohesive plan in place for the plantings in the yard..I just hope it’s not 115F all summer next year so I can actually work on it!

Saturday afternoon, I drove to Cedar Rapids and hung out with a group of old friends, and made some new friends while I was at it. The cool part was, we hung out in a $2,000,000 house on an acreage, complete with horses, dogs, four wheelers, and a whole lot of crown molding.

I didn’t take any pictures this time because my phone was dying all weekend..but I have these pictures from a previous visit. Pretty sweet digs J

The front door, complete with gas lamps on either side of the entry.

Foyer, complete with James Bond style secret closet for coats and shoes.

Immediately inside the front door.

Massive crown molding throughout the house. All the ceilings were at least 10-12 feet tall.

Kitchen, living room, breakfast area with a wet bar to the right. Yes, that's a freaking harp.

Bar area..with two mini fridges. You know..just in case.

From the living room: kitchen with bar to the left.

Sunday afternoon was the drive home with a brief stop at the Iowa State Fair to meet a friend. Within 10 minutes, I was being thrown through the air and spun upside down on a giant death-trap ride. Good fun! J

These were our seats. There were two other riders on at the top, and we spun like a GD windmill possessed by the devil for a couple minutes. They were even kind enough to take video of your screaming and yelling. "You shouldn't have..really"
http://www.iowastatefair.org/

There we are...flying! :)

It's beginning to look a lot like..finished :)

So, I’ve been posting much shorter entries lately. Which, for long-time readers, is probably fine because there are a few over the past several months that are a bit lengthy. Anyway..for whatever reason, the shorter posts just seem more in line with what’s going on around the house lately. Little projects here are there being finished up – but the impact of those projects is pretty huge!

The last “little” project to be done was painting the inside of the house. The entire. Inside. Of the house. When compared to building a garage or rewiring the entire place, it’s not a huge project..but it took some time, nonetheless. Now that that’s been completed, we got back into trimming things out.

Last night’s project du jour was the quarter round in the front half of the house. When we tore out the plaster and lath and replaced it with drywall, there was a pretty good sized gap between where the wood floor ended and where the wall (and even baseboard, in some spots) began.

Remember these gaps? No more!

The solution I chose was a thicker, taller baseboard that would be more in keeping with the age and scale of the house, and a ¾” x ¾” quarter round strip to fill in the gap and give it a more polished look.

I bought the quarter-round preprimed - all we had to do was throw on a couple coats of the 'White Dove' paint, cut it, and pop it in place.

Over the course of a couple hours last night, we had pretty much everything done save for a few small pieces in the office, and it looks really great!

Much more finished looking!

A few days ago, I took the time to organize where all the ‘header’ pieces would go – because we’re working with salvaged stuff, nothing fits exactly over the doorways in my house, so I was trying to fit each piece to a door with as little cut-waste as possible. Once I had everything placed, we cut the pieces down to fit as needed and did the necessary cutting, sanding, and filling to make them look good once they were in place. As of last night, the laundry room was done and we were starting to think about the more complex cuts for the pieces over the bathroom doors.

Last Tuesday’s farm box came and I feel a little embarrassed that I haven’t used up much of the produce..especially because the next box comes today at 4! Anyway, last night I made up a batch of seat-of-my-pants eggplant Parmesan. I say seat of my pants because I had never had 1. Eggplant, or 2. Eggplant Parmesan. I knew the basics – after all, two of the ingredients are in the name – but had never done it before. Granted, mine was the quickie version – no baking, just skillet-quick – but it was really good and gave me the confidence to buy and use eggplant again in the future!

OK, I cheated..this is NOT a picture of my eggplant Parmesan. I scarfed mine before taking a picture.
And this one looks better.

The other thing I tried was much more by the book – I found a recipe online for a banana cake that looked and sounded really good. I can usually kind of take or leave banana cakes, breads, etc. but this one was quite good. Really dense and moist with lots of cream cheese frosting. (The frosting was not from the recipe..it was mine: 1# cream cheese, ½# butter, 1# powdered sugar, 1t vanilla. So good.)

Waiting for the oven.

Trimmed the rounded top off the bottom layer (and dipped it in frosting..nice snack :) )

Again..cheated..not mine. But mine was kind of crooked - I'm not a professional, get over it.

http://www.bonappetit.com/recipes/2012/05/double-banana-cake

I brought the cake to work Monday, gave a hunk to mom and dad, and had a piece for dessert after my eggplant Parm..and it was pretty well gone! Which is fine..the last thing I need is a double-decker cake staring at me every time I open the fridge.

More trim tonight, I suppose – will post pictures as good things continue to happen! J

Almost forgot my trip (back) to Cedar Rapids! My friends were getting rid of a perfectly good twin bed that I will be putting in my office for visiting friends. We stopped off at Parlor City Pub & Eatery again this time and were very happy with it. Awesome beer selection and good food! http://www.parlorcitypub.com/

Kitchen mini-update

Getting all the trim installed around the kitchen doors and windows. New beadboard and stainless steel backsplash, too! There's more stainless to come, so stay tuned.

Italian Plum Tart: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/italian-plum-tart-recipe/index.html
I subbed a little fresh orange juice for the liquer and left out the tapioca entirely.

Good night, sink.

I pick up my new farm box this afternoon – I wonder what I’ll be eating this week?

Farm Box Soup

Did I tell you I signed up for a CSA membership?

Well, I did.

For those who haven’t heard of it, a CSA is Community Supported Agriculture and basically gets me my percentage of all the crops harvested from a local, organic family farm! I’ve read a lot about them, and known people here in town who have bought shares before, but never been in a position to do it, myself. Not having a kitchen will do that..

Ahh..the good old days. Er..

I took the plunge this summer, and have been very happy with it so far! I only ever really know what I’m going to get on the day I go pick up my box full of goodies..the farmers send out an email to everyone letting them know what will be in the box, new developments around the farm, how they’re doing at the market, etc. It’s a really cool way to stay in touch with what’s happening around you, AND the farmer gets a much larger chunk of your food dollar than they would if you bought the same produce from the grocery store.

It’s also way fresher (picked right before it goes into the box), local (less fossil fuel to transport AND it helps you develop higher tolerance to local allergens..a big selling point for me because I really suffer through the fall allergy season) and chemical free (never a bad thing).

http://www.bluegatefarmfresh.com/

The cost of a big box of goodness once a week throughout the growing season was $460 – kind of a big chunk of change to drop all at once, but it’s not that much more expensive than buying the same foods from the grocery store over the same time period.

Plus, it’s delivered to the bookstore near my house (http://thenextchapterbooks.wordpress.com/) so I don’t have to drive across town..I can pick it up on my walk home from work! It also forces to me try new things..otherwise I waste food and money, neither of which I want to afford to do right now.

Anyway – I got my ‘farm box’ on Tuesday and took it home to see what I had to work with.

Two different kinds of summer squash, snap peas, Swiss chard, new potatoes, hard-neck garlic, lettuce, beets, squash blossoms, assorted herbs, and a few other things. You can purchase an egg option, extended herb option, honey, or goat cheese through the program..I went with the base share this year.

Another cool thing: I haven’t been exposed to a lot of the things that come in this box. I’m learning so much, and experimenting with new things all the time! Up until yesterday, I had never eaten or cooked with a summer squash before..I decided I like them a lot!

Anyway, as I said, I had no idea what I would do with some of these things so I decided I’d make something up: Farm Box Soup..or CSA Soup, which rolls off the tongue nicely.

I large-diced the new potatoes, squash, and a few carrots I had in the fridge and spread them out on a big sheet pan. Didn’t even peel anything..very colorful..very hippie-healthy. Olive oil, salt and pepper. Roast these at about 375F until they get to be fork tender..kind of al dente, I suppose.

In the meantime, I started warming a quart of store bought chicken stock that I mixed with a little homemade chicken stock I had in the freezer. I plopped a few cloves of farm garlic into the stock to infuse a little more flavor..and let that come to a slow boil. The homemade stock used all kinds of herbs and you could really smell them all at this point.

(http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/chicken-stock-recipe/index.html - I never follow the recipe completely. She uses way more chicken than I do..because she makes millions of dollars. Also, what the hell is a parsnip going to add? Cost.)

I pulled the roasted vegetables out of the oven and scooped them into the stock to soak up all that flavor. I also mounded some chard and leftover fresh spinach into the pot and stirred that in to wilt.

At this point, I also pulled out a couple old parmesan cheese rinds from the freezer. I keep the rind to use for sauces or soups because there’s a ton of flavor left in them. I salted and peppered a bit and let everything simmer away.

About this time, I minced up some green onion for a little more flavor and pulled some pesto (that I made with the basil from last week’s farm box) out of the freezer and dropped those into the pot.

Cubed up some homemade bread from earlier in the week..use the leftover olive oil on the roasted vegetable sheet pan and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and Parmesan and toast in the oven. Homemade croutons are better than anything else you’ll ever eat. Ever.

After all of this, I still wasn’t totally sure it would be any good. Like I said, I’d never had a summer squash, and I’m still pretty new to chard. I had tasted things along the way to make sure I wasn’t going to screw up a huge pot of vegetables and I felt OK about things..but whoa.

Anything with chicken soaked croutons, though..right?

This stuff is good!

And wicked nutritious. It’s so different from the chips and salsa dinners with an M&M dessert I had eaten the previous days..

The difference food like this makes is really amazing. I don’t get to sleep as much as I’d like, but I don’t feel tired when I eat this way. There’s so much good stuff in this soup it makes me feel...good!

Anyway..highly recommended made-up soup here. Exact proportions should be decided on-the-fly..that way you can’t blame me if it doesn’t turn out right J Give it a go!

Painting/Cooking/Boozing/Cleaning/Traveling

First coat of "Greyhound" in the office. So far, so good! Probably finish the second coat tonight and start touch ups on the kitchen paint - cabinets and walls.

Homemade bread..who needs the grocery store?
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/honey-white-bread-recipe/index.html

Garden-fresh broccoli! I had great expectations that this would last me a little while. Those expectations vanished when I ate the entire head for lunch..

I've been squeezing more and more 'fun stuff' into my days lately - this was taken while crossing Lake Red Rock (just north of Knoxville) on the way to Cedar Rapids and Cedar Falls to spend the weekend with friends! I didn't do any boating, but I did take a nap while on the lazy river..nice little sunburn.

Aside from the friends, this was possibly the highlight of the Cedar Falls trip. Bloody Mary with fresh tomato juice, bacon, pickle, celery, roasted asparagus, and a sweet little pepper. Glass was rimmed with seasoned salt and pepper. I was basically full after this, but continued to eat breakfast anyway. 

Laying in a park, listening to bluegrass. Happy summer, everyone!

Two-fer Tuesday

Just a quick picture update to keep you up to speed on the progress. We’re really humming along, and it’s looking better and better all the time!

Test-fitting pieces of the range hood.

Now we're getting somewhere...

Dad finished it up this morning! Ready for paint! :)

The living room before..



..and after paint!





I imagine it will look better when I'm not using painters canvas for curtains, but you get the idea :)