Random Thoughts...Food, Firearms, and Fun

When I stopped to pick up the Romaine lettuce for dinner last night, I decided that I didn't really want the Dream Dinners Terracotta Chicken on pitas, but rather, wanted to use it as a topping on a quasi-Greek salad. Yes, I'm odd. It was very yummy though! I filled a large bowl with lettuce, added some Feta cheese, topped it with a Bleu Cheese Vinaigrette, some garlic and cheese croutons, and some of the Terracotta Chicken, cut into cubes. I brought the leftovers for lunch. I'll heat the chicken, then will add it to everything else. Mac opted for the regular meal, and I'll admit, mine probably looked a little odd, but it was very filling and really yummy! Mac is working overtime this weekend, which I love! We're taking a Slovak cooking class as well. My Amaranth initiation went really well, and was very nice. A photo of the corsage I was given is below. It was gorgeous! I still have it in the fridge. I received my first check from Grodo yesterday! Yes, ...

Since we've had a fair amount of chicken lately, I opted for the Cola and Lime Tender Pork Roast for dinner last night. I served it with mixed vegetables, including corn, carrots, and asparagus, and also garlic mashed potatoes. The pork roast bakes in the oven while you heat up the glaze, then you are supposed to baste it a few times with the glaze, and then serve it with it, or top it with the glaze. My solution, because I've never been a fan of basting things, was to simply heat up the glaze, allow it to thicken a bit, and then toss it all on the pork roast. Not perfect, but really all the more I cared to do last night, and it worked! The pork roast had a nicely browned top layer, and it was flavored with the glaze. The flavor was not quite what was expected. Mac's question was, "Is this the Maple Valley Pork Roast"? We could definitely taste the cola, but not the lime flavor. As this was a Fast Lane meal, I have no idea how much lime they used. We decided t...

At my session on Saturday, I prepared an extra 6-serving each of: Terracotta Chicken with Pita and Hummus Crispy French Onion Chicken Cattleman's Pie Arroz Con Pollo As such, the freezer was beyond packed, so I pulled out three meals for the week. In addition to the Cola and Lime Tender Pork Roast, I pulled out the first Arroz Con Pollo and Terracotta Chicken with Pita and Hummus from the freezer. I figured that this way, I'd rotate our stock. The Arroz Con Pollo is prepared in a foil pan, so you simply top it with the sauce and cheese, then bake for 75 minutes covered, then another 5 minutes or so uncovered. I opted to only add one bag of cheese initially, and then added the second bag when I uncovered it to bake it. I opted for this in part because the lid about touched the chicken and rice mixture in some areas of the pan. The Arroz Con Pollo was very good, and the sauce was very flavorful. The problem was that the sauce covered the chicken, but very little reache...

I'd been talking about Dream Dinners with a friend from Eastern Star for quite a while, and she decided to join me in February. She wasn't able to attend the session at the beginning of the month, so we scheduled a session for the last Saturday of the month. I prepared 4 meals, extras of things that we like, or thought we'd like. Sonja and I arrived shortly before our 10:30 session, which gave me time to explain to her what to do--find your packet, label a drawer and a freezer spot, grab an apron, etc. I know that routinely, one of the employees will introduce themselves and help the new person with their first meal, but I took care of that. We tackled the Crispy French Onion Chicken first, as I figured that was probably the easiest meal to prepare. Sonja then moved to the Cheese Lovers Manicotti, while I worked on the Cattleman's Pie. She really seemed to enjoy her visit, and she placed an order for next month as well! Tiff and I had to change our March session, an...

This entry is written by +Amber Gontz , guest blogger. She made the Beef Barley Stew from Fix, Freeze, Feast , and since I used elk meat, is calling it Elkalope Stew. I put the block of meat in first, then the frozen veggies on top of that, and poured the water in over the veggies so the block would break up a bit. I sprinkled the barley across the top and it looked cool floating on the water like that. I made the soup in my monster crock pot, used the low setting, programmed for 10 hours, after which it goes automatically to “keep warm” and it was on that setting maybe an hour max. The meat was tender. The vegetables were not mush to my great surprise. The flavors seemed to be all cooked through everything, which was tasty. I added a small amount of ground sea salt to mine because I like a lot of salt. It was good as is, just not salty. It was a good consistency for stew, thicker than soup but not solid. I think it would have paired perfectly with homemade cast iron cornbread. It h...

I'm still exhausted, and yes, that's even after going to sleep at 9 PM last night! I'll deal though, and will muddle through with today. I may take tomorrow off though, but I'm still trying to decide that. I did stumble onto another "free" money site, Great Bridge Group . Once you join, you link your cards (debit and credit), and they reward you a percentage of what you spend, everywhere. They pay once/quarter, up to $60/quarter, via PayPal or Amazon.com gift cards. I'm up to over $27 this quarter, and they list your payout date in your account as well, so there are no surprises. The link above is a referral link--if you join using that, I receive $5, and so do you. That bonus posts once you've linked a card and have been active for 90 days. I have my Amaranth initiation tonight, and I honestly don't know how I'm not going to fall asleep on the way home from there! Depending on what time I get home from work today, I may squeeze in a shor...

Preparing the Cattleman's Pie at Dream Dinners, I was a bit taken aback by the plethora of Ziploc bags we had to use. It included a gallon bag for the mashed potatoes, a quart bag for the carrots and onions, a quart bag for the sauce, a quart bag for the peas and parsley, the two packages of ground meat, and a 2 gallon bag to hold everything. Since it takes up a lot of room, my freezer space is at a premium, and I wanted to try it before Saturday, I cooked this last night. Or, I should say, Mac and I cooked it! I donated blood yesterday, at the quarterly blood drive we hold at work, and was wiped out last night. When I started donating blood years ago, I never used to get wiped out afterwards, but now, I feel drained afterwards. So, by the time I was hungry, I was also ready for a nap. Mac stepped in and helped me cook dinner, which was nice. I was a little disappointed that to prepare this, I needed a sauce pan, a skillet, and a baking dish, but I was not disappointed in the e...