Joyful Abode

I can haz suitcase?

Joyful Abode — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 11:00:45 +0000

OK, so I’m not usually one to post videos or pictures of cats I don’t know, and I’m not even really a “cat person” at all, but dang, this is just too awesome to not share. It makes me want to bring suitcases to my friends’ houses, capture their cats, and play “jack in the box” wit them.

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Zora: Chewing expert

Homemade Baked Egg Rolls

Joyful Abode — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 11:00:54 +0000

These egg rolls are crazy-easy to make, and definitely a crowd pleaser. I brought them to a recipe swap and when I looked at the table a few minutes after everyone had started eating, they were GONE.

You’ll need:

egg roll wrappers
a bag of cole slaw mix
a can of mushrooms
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/4 tsp ground ginger
a splash of soy sauce
salt and pepper
cooking spray or olive oil in a mister (I use olive oil in a mister)

Optional:

mung bean sprouts
can of tiny cooked shrimp
anything else you think would be good inside of the egg rolls

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Put your cole slaw in a large microwave-safe bowl, cover, and microwave 3-6 minutes.

2. Chop your mushrooms and put them in a mixing bowl. This is also when you’d put in the bean sprouts, shrimp, or other fillings.

3. Splash in some soy sauce.

4. Add the garlic. I used a HEAPING teaspoon but I like garlic.

5. And sprinkle in the ginger.

6. By now your cole slaw mix should be cooked. Drain it to get out any excess liquid as no one likes a soggy egg roll.

7. Then combine the cole slaw mix with the rest of the ingredients.

8. Place a bit of filling in the center of each wrapper. (See that little bowl? That has water in it, which you’ll need for sealing the edges.)

9.Fold in two of the corners.

10. Put a bit of water on the top edges with your finger. Fold up the bottom, and roll as tightly as you can to the edge.

11. It helps if you sort of tuck it as you are rolling.

12. Voila!

13. Repeat for the rest of the wrappers, and place the egg rolls on a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray or olive oil (mmm… olive oil). Spray the tops of the egg rolls with the oil, too.

14. Bake 15 minutes, then flip the egg rolls over and bake an additional 10-15 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving (this will let the wrappers get a little more crisp too).

15. Serve with soy sauce mixed with rice vinegar for dipping, or your favorite dipping sauce (spicy mustard? duck sauce?).

Happy Independence Day

Joyful Abode — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 15:40:14 +0000

No related posts.

Delightful Dinner - Pork, Broccoli, Salad w/toasted Green Beans

Joyful Abode — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 11:00:15 +0000

Oh, dinner. How I love you.

This one was super-easy, involving about 5 minutes of prep (no kidding). First I started the packet pork. Somehow I forgot that it was supposed to have lemon pepper though, so I just used salt and pepper. It was still good, but it’s better with the lemon pepper.

When the pork was safely in the oven, I cut, cleaned, and prepped the broccoli for microwave steaming. Just don’t start it until the timer for the oven says there are 6 minutes left. That way the pork and broccoli will be ready at the same time.

And here’s what I did with those too-big green beans. I shelled the really huge ones, but didn’t know what to do with the resulting beans. The Guy had a great idea though!

Put them in a pan with some butter and toast them up. It was really exciting because the “skins” on them started to whistle and then they’d POP like popcorn. Well, not like popcorn, but like something that makes that sound. I also cooked the not-too-big green beans in the butter, and salted them all when they were done.

The shelled beans became something really delicious, almost like toasted pumpkin seeds, or soy nuts or something… they were a great topping for our salads.

Homemade Pizza

Joyful Abode — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:00:15 +0000

I’ve posted here several times about homemade pizza. The first attempt I made was certainly an ERROR. After that, things generally tasted much better but were a bit too doughy for me. This one was great, probably because I realized that I need to make my dough AS THIN AS POSSIBLE in order for it to not feel like I’m just eating mouthfuls of bread.

Dough recipe:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup wheat flour
1 package active dry yeast (2.5 teaspoons)
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup warm water (110 degrees fahrenheit)
1 Tablespoon olive oil
a little sugar

Mix sugar into the warm water, then stir in yeast. Wait 10 minutes for it to get foamy.
Pour yeasty water into the mixer’s bowl.
Add flour, salt, olive oil.
Combine with a dough hook. Once it sticks together, let the mixer knead it about 1 minute. If you’re kneading by hand, need 6-8 minutes or until the dough is smooth and elastic.
Cover and let rest 20-30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit and prepare your pizza pans. The photos here only show half of the dough being used.
Divide the dough in half for two large pizzas, or in quarters for four smaller pizzas.
Pat/roll the dough out on the pizza pans or stones as thin as possible.
Pre-bake about 10 minutes while you collect your toppings.
Spread with pizza sauce (I used tomato paste with a bit of water stirred in, garlic salt, and Italian herbs) and sprinkle with cheese.
Top with whatever toppings you like (I used roasted red peppers and banana pepper rings).
Bake 10-20 minutes or until cheese is melted and toppings are warm.

Enjoy!

Huge honkin’ green beans

Joyful Abode — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 04:03:17 +0000

Oops… I kind of got behind on the green bean harvest. You know, those suckers are GREEN. And the leaves are GREEN. So they tend to blend in and not scream “pick us!” so…. I didn’t.

Until now.

Way too huge for normal cooking and eating… but I found something to do with them. (Actually, it was the Guy’s idea. And it was a good one that rocked.) I’ll share my “something to do with them” another day. For now, I want to know… what do you do with your green beans if you accidentally let them get way too gigantic?

I mean, ridiculously big? Then what?

Red, White, and Yum - Berries and Cream with Cinnamon

Joyful Abode — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 11:00:26 +0000

This delicious dessert tastes like a decadent treat, but is so simple and fresh you’ll want it every day of the week.

You’ll need:

strawberries
blueberries
other berries or cherries, if you’d like
heavy whipping cream
a sweetener, if desired (sugar or stevia)
cinnamon

If you have an electric mixer, this will be quick! If not, it will take a while to whip the cream, but it’ll be worth it.

Pour the heavy cream into your mixer’s bowl. If you plan ahead, you can pre-chill the bowl. If not, it’ll be okay.
Using the whisk attachment, whip the cream on medium-high speed.
Meanwhile, wash and prepare your berries, slicing strawberries, or pitting the cherries if you’re using them.
When the cream begins to thicken, add a small amount of sweetener if you wish to. I didn’t add any because the berries are sweet enough on their own. Continue whipping.
Divide the berries among several bowls or ramekins.
When the cream is ready (fluffy), turn the mixer off and spoon whipped cream over the berries.
Sprinkle with cinnamon (or sifted cocoa powder).
Enjoy!

Sommer’s Easy Mandarin Chicken (over Salad)

Joyful Abode — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 11:10:21 +0000

I found this super-easy recipe over at Real Moms Real Fit.

You’ll need:

a packet of onion soup mix
a small can of pineapple chunks - Don’t drain it!
a can of mandarin oranges - Don’t drain it!
4 chicken breasts

1. Dump the soup mix into a bowl.

2. Dump in the pineapple.

3. Dump in the oranges.

4. Stir it all together.

5. Brown some chicken in a pan (with salt and pepper).

6. Then dump the stuff over your chicken (notice we’re dumping a lot? That means this recipe is easy.)

7. Cover and simmer 20-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and flavors are melded.

8. Cut chicken into strips and serve over salad.

It’s good with those fried onion things over the top, or chow mein noodles.

First Squash from our Garden

Joyful Abode — Sun, 28 Jun 2009 04:34:34 +0000

Our garden LOOKS impressive at this point. Our neighbors comment about how jealous they are that our garden is doing so well. By this they mean that they see lots of green leaves. I keep telling them I have no idea what I’m doing, and that it really isn’t doing THAT well…

You see, we’re battling blossom-end rot in the squashes, cucumbers, and zucchinis. Evidently we don’t have enough calcium in our soil. I googled around and came across something that sounded pretty good… buying calcium supplements, grinding them up and dissolving them, and watering them in… so I’m trying that now.

The green beans look fine, but we haven’t been harvesting them the way we should. It’s just not that motivating to go out there and scour the plants to find the 5 beans that might be ready to pick, then not have enough for even a decent snack. I need to get on that. Next year I think we won’t plant beans (unless hubs really wants them).

So… very few beans, no cucumbers yet, no peas. We have some green roma tomatoes trying their best to ripen, no zucchinis, no peppers, no honeydew. We have two watermelons that have been steadily growing, so that’s exciting, and our herbs are all doing very well.

And this one squash:

It wasn’t very big but it seemed ready to pick and eat, so…

I cut into its beautiful creamy flesh…

And cooked it up in some olive oil, salt, and pepper. We shared it while I cooked our REAL dinner. And do you know what? It tasted every bit as good as a home-grown sun-ripened squash should.

New Pillows!

Joyful Abode — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 04:12:03 +0000

I love my new throw pillows. The old ones were great, but when we got Zora, she decided the corners of them were great for chewing on. When she became a lot less mouthy, it was safe to get new pillows.

These are from Urban Outfitters, by artist Matte Stephens. The colors are so perfect, and I love the birds.

I’m also a huge fan of this print of his.

Threefoot Arts Festival in Meridian, MS (2008)