Things I Eat: Roast Lamb

I believe I have lamb in my life. Not often thought. Meat in my family consisted of beef and chicken and sometimes pork.

So I was pumped to find a boneless lamb shank at Trader Joe's without any sauce on it.

First, meat is not the cheapest at Trader Joe's. I find fresh meat and canned food is not a deal there. But I like the quality. I also like their frozen meats. Just saying.

For sides, I did use Trader Joe's asparagus and then Hasselback potatoes.

What You Need

• Lamb: I got a boneless lamb shank, about 3lbs.
• Onions: Love.
• Garlic: Love.
• Bourbon: I was drunk at the time.
• Potatoes: You can use any type you like, I used Red Bliss because I like them. 
• Olive Oil: Woop!
• Smart Balance Butter: I can't have dairy or soy, so I use the Soy Free spread. It's not fantastic for you or for me, but, whatever. 
• Asparagus: You just nuke it.
• Thyme: I had some left so I put it in there.

What You Do
I roasted my lamb in my French Oven (dutch oven) with onion and lots of fresh thyme. I roasted it at 400 degrees for about 30 minutes. Then I reduced the heat to 375 and poured boubon over it. I cooked it per instructions, about 25 minutes per pound.

For the potatoes - super easy!

Hassleback potatoes are really just a style of potato. You cut these thin lines in them so you get this crusty, crunchy hard top and soft inside. It's really good.

I used a chopstick next to the spud - that kept me from cutting all the way through. I found it was easier to keep the chopstick on the far side of the potato so the knife touched it as I cut. That kept me from cutting all the way through. Then I drizzled them with olive oil and popped them into my toaster for 30 minutes at 400 degrees. After 30 minutes, I brought them out and seasoned with garlic, onion and the fake-butter since the taters had opened more. Then I put them back in for another 30.

Success!

I promise to do better with the whole. . .blog. .thing.

Maddy-Monster: Stronger

Just a message

Things I Eat: Pasta Gypsy Stew

What is a gypsy stew? I have made a couple - they are pretty much one pot meals with. .whatever. (You can read more in my Cook For Others post or even my Wonder Pot post)

Also, why can't I put green beans in my pasta? Why can't you? I can. You can. It's awesome!

What You Need

• Chicken thighs: I used about three chicken thighs because I like the flavor of dark meat. You could use white meat, sausage, anything, really. Or not use meat at all. Live!
• Onion: I used one whole onion. Sauted in some olive oil.
• Quinoa noodles: I like a good noodle, I got this Brown Rice & Quinoa Spaghetti pack from Trader Joe's. It's a good noodle. Even has a little flavor. I used about half a pack.
• Green Beans: Frozen and from the Joe's. I just throw in handfuls like a boss. Sometimes, I remember to snap them in half.
• Diced Tomatoes: I used the big can, I think it is 28 oz.
• Spinach: Spinach cooks down super fast, I used about half a 9 oz bag.
• Kale: Did you know we had kale? I threw that in there.
• Seasons: I used a ton of the following - Basil, thyme, sage, garlic, paprika, oregano

What You Do

I'm glad you asked! Very simple! First, I made my noodles because I don't know how quinoa noodles behave. I suppose I could have read the package, but. . .I didn't. I also only cooked them in water. If you have plain ol' noodles, cooking them in a broth is the best. 

While the noodles were noodling, I sauted my onions with some garlic and a mess of seasonings. When the onions started to get transparent, I added in my cut up chicken thighs so they could cook. Once they were pretty much done but still raw, since I have more cooking to do, I added the diced tomatoes and green beans. 

I let all that simmer and cook and all that until the noodles were done. Then I added in the chopping spinach by the handful and added more as it reduced. Then I added in the kale at the very end.

I only used maybe half of the noodles I made - I mixed them in, seasoned a little more to taste and. . VOLA!

Here, a piece of kale.

Me. At Work.

The Return of Sunday Dinner

Sunday dinner.

I did not grow up with some type of formal Sunday dinner. When I was much smaller, we would go to my grandparents for Saturday night dinner - maybe sometimes Sunday - but they lived 1.5 hours away and my brother and I are snots, so. . .

Now that I'm an adult, I decided I want to have Sunday dinner.

What is Sunday Dinner?

Sunday dinner is about coming together, reconnecting and sharing with the people you love. Since my husband claims he "can't cook" it's really up to me. That's ok because I like to try out stuff. Since I am cooking for two now, it's a little easier to make foods and try things. When it was just me, all that food would go to waste.

So, be prepared for some posts on Fridays that will reflect my previous Sunday Dinner.

Mmkay? I promise to take pictures on my new phone and be delightful.

Unless I don't have time, don't care or forget.

#honesty

Do Something With My Hair: 2016 Edition

Back in 2014, I wrote a post called "Do Something With My Hair." No reason I put that there. Just it's there.

My hair is getting longer since my last donation which you can read about in A Cut Above (The Ponytail) so I figured I should do something with it.

'Cause my relatives are always like, "Why don't you DO something with it?"

'Cause this is how I look - so I have a lot of area for adornment and improvement. Anything to distract from this personality.

I have always wanted to do a crown braid or side braid, but, my hair is very fine and it takes a lot of hair to make it work.You know, doing stuff like this in about 5 seconds while hung over - 6 Easy Braided Hair Looks.


I did recently figure out I don't have to do a three-strand braid, I can just do a two-strand twist. I don't know what the technical term is. I found I just started with my bangs, I just grabbed two strands just beyond my natural part and twisted as close to my hairline as possible.

Before I used a tiny claw thingy to clip it back, I ran my fingers under it to loosen up the twist and add some volume.

This was the result.

Here is a up-close-selfy look at how it looked. For the other side, I just pulled the hair back and used a few clips to hold it all up in a bun type thing. It did not look as good as this side since I did all of this without a mirror.

So sassy - right? Again, I did this without a mirror and while I was watching a Lethal Weapon marathon on TV. Probably drunk.

Here is a glimps of what I normally do to the back of it, just twist is up with little claws. You probably will want a mirror for this part. But, practice makes perfect!

Just keep trying. :)

Texts With Melissa: #Forever

Let's check in with my BFF!

Remember that time I wasn't feeling well and Melissa was like, "We don't have to hang out?"

How about a breakdown?