Magical Tricks with Food

Goal: Make the best lunch ever

Challenges: We haven’t gone grocery shopping this week

Advantages: Mass quantities of salad dressing, ketchup, and beef that we put an unfortunate flavor of chicken seasoning on two nights ago

Kitchen Status: 51% clean

Health Status: Hungry

Iron Chef Surprise Ingredient: Worcestershire sauce (we bought it to make Chex mix last winter and there’s tons leftover, so whenever Allyson isn’t looking I put some in whatever I am cooking to use it up)

Ingredients List: Weird ground beef, 1 can tomato sauce, steak seasoning, a few squirts of Ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, carrots (chopped tiny, so that roommates don’t notice the imposter veggies), and curly-shaped spaghetti.

Directions: Put weird beef, tomato sauce steak seasoning, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, and carrots in a pot and cook them up! Make spaghetti. Eat them together.

Anticipated Outcome: Spaghetti and meaty tomato sauce.

Actual Outcome: I don’t know how or why, but I seemed to have recreated the exact sloppy joe recipe that I was served as a 6 year old at St. Augustine’s School cafeteria.

Results: It tasted good, actually, but not on pasta. I ate it on a toasted hamburger bun the next day and it was MUCH more delicious.

Findings: If you throw all your leftovers in a pot and let them simmer long enough, they will turn into food.

Unanswered question: Why is the pasta shaped like a bobby pin for giants?

My Kitchen is a Grocery Store

Some of our scavenges: a mirror, chair, table, box of tissues, and princess trash can. Photo by Rachel Salois


One week ago, Allyson made a Facebook event called “Give us your leftovers” in which, people would give us all their food when they moved out, and, in turn, we would give a coupon for a free hug (expires June 1st). We were clear about what we wanted: everything except used toilet paper, moldy things, pet fish, and Cheese Wiz.

We had no idea that by making this event, Allyson and I would be the proud owners of 9 salad dressings, 3 jars of peanut butter, 4 containers of salt, a princess trash can, a multi-colored Christmas lights rope, a television, and 3 mega-boxes of instant mashed potatoes. Our cupboards and fridge are literally exploding with food. (No joke: a stick of butter just dove for Allyson’s foot when she tried to put away the pasta salad a few minutes ago. We were able to subdue it and get it back in the shelf with some effort.)

Clearly this is a tribute to the generosity of our friends, and to their love of buying mashed potato flakes and not eating them (perhaps a wise choice—what are they made of?). Thank you!

19 Songs to Listen to Every Day and Never Get Tired Of

Everyone knows that the three keys to happiness are food, nature, and cute animals, so please use this list of fun songs to make sure you get your fix every day.

Songs Regarding Animals:

Hummingbird by Wilco
Three Little Birds by Bob Marley
The Pink Panther by pretty much every jazz band ever
The Chicken by Jaco Pastorius Big Band

Food:
Banana Pancakes by Jack Johnson
Whipped Cream by Herb Alpert & the Tijuana Brass
Sweet Tangerine by The Hush Sound
Pumpkin Soup by Kate Nash
Georgia Peaches by Lynrd Skynrd
Icecream by Lou Bega
Pour Some Sugar on Me by (a sweet remix) The Marginal Prophets
Whisky con Ron by Salsa Celtica
American Pie by Don McLean

Nature:
Island in the Sun by Weezer
Waterfalls by TLC
Sun Comes Up by John Legend
Monsoon by Jack Johnson
Food Chain by Eric Hutchinson
Sea of Love by Cat Power

Cooking Something You Already Know How to Cook: Smoothies

Yesterday, I rediscovered smoothies.  I’ve always loved milk, fruit, and yogurt, but I forgot how delicious and surprisingly different they taste together.  The inspiration came to me when I found my brother’s unused blender sitting in our garage.  Since it’s July, I was able to use fresh, local ingredients like strawberries and blueberries to make my smoothies. 

            This is the recipe that I used to make a chunky and sweet, classic-tasting smoothie:

 

A blender (you can find one for under $20) 

1 banana (a medium sized banana has fiber and potassium, as well as only 105 calories)

1 small handful of blueberries  

5 strawberries, sliced

Approx. ¾ to 1 cup 1% milk (don’t measure, just pour it in)

Approx. ¾ cup yogurt (consider buying a large container if you’re going to make more than one smoothie)

 

These ingredients made enough to fill one large drinking glass.  The recipe has approx. 2 servings of dairy and 2 servings of fruit.   

 

            Today, I made another smoothie that I could eat during the winter, when most fresh berries aren’t available.  It had two teaspoons peanut butter, one banana, and a cup of milk, which made it more smooth and creamy than the berry one.  The peanut butter also added a bit of protein.  Both recipes were filling and would be a great breakfast for me to bring along to class in the fall.  Another great aspect of smoothies is the cleanup.  Everything was mixed in one pitcher, which meant I only had to wash two dishes, including the glass that I drank it from!