Ugly Grumbly Pie

I’ve been stewing a lot lately and I decided that I needed to get back to cooking.  

Today I will be mixing up some Ugly Grumbly Pie.  This might sound daunting to you, but it’s really quite easy.  All you have to do is mash up some hate.  Then cut in a fair amount of prejudice.  Cram in all the negativity you can find.  Sprinkle on equal amounts of fear, jealousy, ignorance and intolerance.  Finally dash in a bit of fanaticism and self righteousness and bake until slightly charred on the ends.  I caution you, this is a really tough pie to swallow, but if you chew on it enough, it will become part of you and take over your soul.  

If you want to try a sweeter recipe that goes down much smoother, you might want to give this recipe for Lovely Peace Compote with Humble Bits a whirl.  This one takes a little more time and effort on your part.  You might have to go back several times to get it just right.  First, you have to put your ego off to the side, so it doesn’t contaminate the mix.  Next, find all the love, sweetness, compassion and broadmindedness that you have.  Make sure you pat it in all together nice and solid.  Pick out all the bitter pieces and toss them in the garbage.  Then throw in some understanding, but don’t let any judgment get in or it will become cloudy.  Cover it with a blanket of harmony.  Bake until it is all warm inside.  Take out and only let cool ever so slightly.  Eat a little everyday until it becomes part of your regular diet and it will make you a much stronger, healthier person.  Feed your mind, body and spirit with goodness and you will get health in return in more ways than one.  

Please let me know how your attempts come out and if you have any suggestions to make them better.  I welcome all feedback.  

Slow Roast Bourbon Pork

I love when I can set up a dinner early enough that I can sit back and leave it alone and watch it take care of itself.  Today, I sat back for 8 hours!  I have a slow cooker that has only been used once before and I really need to use it more.  I had a pork tenderloin and although the recipe calls for shoulder or butt, it still worked.

Put the oven on broil and make the sauce.

For the sauce:
2 Tablespoons Kosher Salt
1 Tablespoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2-3 Tablespoons Mustard Powder
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar (firmly packed)
2 Dashes Worcestershire Sauce
1/2 Cup of your favorite BBQ Sauce (I used a Smooth&Smokin Chipotle BBQ sauce from Tahoe House Bakery in Tahoe, but since it is pretty obscure, use your fave)
1/4 - 1/2 cup Bourbon Whiskey

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

Meanwhile, place the pork in a lightly oiled shallow pan, turn pork over a few times to coat in the oil and then broil on both sides until lightly brown.

Take out of the oven and place in a slow cooker on the 6 - 8 hour setting depending on how much time you have to wait.  Pour sauce over the meat after putting it in the cooker.  Once every hour or so, baste the meat.  When there is about one hour left to cook, add several teaspoons of the herb or mix of herbs of your choice.  I sprinkled on Bouquet Garni, which contains Savory, Rosemary, Thyme, Oregano, Basil, Dill, Marjoram, Sage and Tarragon.  Any of these herbs would work.  After the allotted cooking time, place under the broiler again for a few minutes to crisp up the skin.  Save the sauce left in the cooker as gravy, you will want to pour it on!

I served with herb roasted potatoes and some sauteed Swiss chard.  I still have the taste in my mouth and I'm loving it.

Here's to hoping my Everyday Girls love this as much as I did.

I have young skin!

I have young skin.  At least I like to think that is why I need to use something that is usually reserved for the teen set.  Proactiv acne treatment system.  I have been using it for about a year now and I truly see a new smoothness to my skin and very few breakouts, if any.   My preteen daughter is also using it, though not as consistently as I do.  I can tell you for sure, on the days that she uses it, her skin is visibly clearer.  When she forgets to use it or gets too “busy” the breakouts come back.  

Here’s where it gets tricky.  Where should you purchase it, what products should you get and how do you use it?  I will tackle the first item, where.  DON’T buy it from Proactiv’s website or from them directly, unless you want to be locked in to a contract and constant shipments that you might not want.  I made that mistake and I was very unhappy.  Took me several tries to have them cease and desist my plan and subsequent shipments.  Even now, I get a constant barrage of emails and letters begging me to “come back!”  My best experience after that first disaster was ordering from Amazon and QVC respectively.  QVC is a wonderful place to start because they have complete sets to order on a one time basis at reasonable prices.  I would recommend getting a comprehensive set initially so you can see how it works with your skin and which of the products you like best for your skin.  If you love everything, just keep ordering from QVC.  If you find that all you need are the cleanser and toner, Amazon is great for individual items.  

For me, the Renewing Cleanser and the Revitalizing Toner are my go to items.  I use them once nightly and that’s it.  I use a clear bar soap in the morning from DHC, but that is another blog post.  Also, once a week, I use the Refining Mask and it truly seems to do wonders to the smoothness of my skin and my pore size.  There is a Repairing treatment that most kits come with that I don’t use.  However, my daughter uses it in her routine and seems to work well for her, which is why I recommend trying the set of products and tweaking to your routine and what works best for you.  

Us Everyday Girls need all the help we can get and I’m not above sharing my favorite secrets.  

And Now for Something Completely Different...

I was stuck for dinner the other night and I didn't want to "cook." I had smoked salmon in the fridge that I needed to use up, along with some flour tortillas.  I didn't want to make quesadillas, so I wondered if a smoked salmon pizza would work.  From the freezer, I got some frozen peas and heated until they were just warm.  I then pureed them with the stick blender.  This was getting interesting.  I took 1/2 a tub of mascarpone cheese and mixed it with several sprinkles of dried dill, a pinch of dried lemon grass, Sunny Paris seasoning from Penzeys and a few pinches of salt.

Meanwhile, I lightly oiled a pan for heating the tortillas.  The rest reads like a recipe:  Heat tortillas until they are browned and crispy.  Spread with a small amount of the mascarpone mixture.  I wanted more spread, but I wanted it less melted, so I stuck the tortilla in the freezer for a few seconds to cool.  Then spread more herb mixture on tortilla and top with strips of smoked salmon.  Smooth some ribbons of pea puree down the tortilla three times.  Garnish with chopped scallions.  Slice in quarters for a mini meal or appetizer.

If you have fresh dill, even better.  I would have used it if I had it.  The elder kid liked it until she got to the pea puree.  Anything peas gives her the shivers.  The youngest ate it up, no problem and the husband followed suit.  Not bad for a throw together from an Everyday Girl.

Beautifully Simple

I know it has been forever since my last post.  My time has been limited lately.  Got kids in the school play, too much homework to crack the whip on, a producer's job in said play, my own home and work to deal with and life in general.  I have been shut in with various sick kids and their high fevers.  I'm two steps away from chucking the lot.

On a lot of these days, I need to eat stuff that is thrown together, but still satisfying.  At least that went my way today.  I eat a lot of high fat, heavy cream foods, so on other days, all my body craves are plain grains and cereal and lots of greens.  I've been known to eat handfuls of plain greens and veggies on those days.  This is not punishment - I love them!  Some days, however, I want to dress it up a bit.

It was this beautifully simple salad that got me through the day.

1/4 cup mirin
2 Tbs rice wine vinegar
Fat squirt of wasabi or 1/4 tsp wasabi powder
1 tsp coarse salt
Squirt of fresh lemon or lime
Several drops of sesame oil
Hot Chili flakes
Arugula/Rocket
Avocado

Whisk the first 6 ingredients with a fork.  Pour a few tablespoons over the arugula/rocket or whatever greens you would like to use.  Use dressing sparingly, with just enough to coat the greens lightly.  Reserve the rest for salads to get you through the next couple of days.  Sprinkle on chili flakes to your desired amount of heat.  Slice in avocado over the greens and enjoy.

Cranberry Comfort

I'm finally coming off my convalescence and I really need to get cracking.  Sorry it has taken me so long to write anything, but this particular ick hit me hard and took a while to get over.  I still have some recovering to do, but I've been fever free since Friday and I'm feeling much better.

I promised to blog my cranberry recipe so here it is.  It would be great warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  If you can't find fresh cranberries now, Whole Foods has fresh frozen cranberries you can use.  Just rinse them and use in the recipe, no need to thaw.

Cranberry Treats

Top Layer                                                                            Bottom Layer


1 stick butter (room temp)                                     1 package fresh or frozen cranberries
1 cup sugar                                                                  1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 tsp. vanilla                                                                1/4 cup sugar
1 cup flour                                                                      
1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 325°


Cream butter with 1 cup sugar and vanilla.  In a separate bowl, sift flour and add baking powder.  Beat well both eggs and combine with sugar/butter mixture.  Add the flour mixture.


Meanwhile, in a well buttered 10 in. or so deep pie pan, or rectangular brownie pan, which I prefer, pour in package of cranberries (rinsed and stems removed).  Add walnuts and sprinkle in 1/4 cup sugar.  Spread the top layer mixture over the bottom layer like frosting.  Bake one hour.  Can be served warm or at room temperature.  


This is my comfort fall and winter dessert.  Hope all my fellow Everyday Girls and Guys like it.  Happy eating.

Spicy Devils

Deviled eggs are a good way to get some extra protein and satisfy your salty, spicy craving. 

I’ve always thought of them as a very American kind of food, relegated to the potluck table at a get together.  I didn’t really see them anywhere other than that and I didn’t grow up eating that kind of food otherwise.  Especially since I grew up with a Puerto Rican mom who didn’t know what these “American custom” foods were all about.     

I love deviled eggs and sometimes make them in small batches just for me to snack on over a couple of days.  The Tobasco here gives it a little kick, but the Sriracha is the real star of the spicy heat.  Here is my recipe for Spicy Devils:

4 eggs hard boiled, cooled and peeled

2 tsp  2% Fage Greek yogurt

2 tsp  Mayonnaise 

3 - 5 shakes  Tobasco sauce

1/4 tsp  Mustard Powder

1 tsp  Dijon mustard

1 tsp  Sriracha sauce (found in Asian food section of most grocery stores)

Sriracha, Paprika and chopped scallions for garnish

After your eggs are hard boiled, cooled and peeled, cut them in half lengthwise and put yolks in a small bowl.  I take a fork and mash up the yolks, but whatever way you like best can get the job done.  After mashing, add the yogurt, mayo, Tobasco, mustard, powder and the Sriracha.  Mix all up to smooth.  

I don’t get too fancy with getting the filling in, since I usually eat them myself, so I just use a spoon to dollop them into the halves of the eggs.  If you want them to look prettier, you can use a pastry bag to pipe them in.  After they are all filled, sprinkle paprika on top, then put two to three dots of Sriracha around the top of each egg and place a few chopped scallions on each.  

I made this with 5 eggs today and I just upped the yogurt, mayo, Dijon and Sriracha to a  tablespoon measurement instead of the teaspoon.  Everything else can stay the same.  If you want to make more eggs, up the ingredients slightly and judge by taste and consistency to see how much you need.  You may have extra filling left over.  Don’t overfill your egg halves.  If you have leftover, spread the filling on toast with the garnishes on top for a quick, easy breakfast or snack.  

Happy snacking Everyday Girls and Guys.