What did you Bake/Cook Today?!?!?! :)

[Lexicon]

Lot of Halloween baking with people this week...

Apple crisp, & pumpkin sugar cookies made into zombie cats... and their victims.

...also did a spooky dinner for everyone, with random stuff I had in the house last night. Friend’s kid liked it.

‘Monster’ burger with pepper jack teeth, severed fingers (jalapeño chicken sausage w/pepper jack fingernails), ghost-pepper chips, & homemade pumpkin pie ice cream shakes (made w/leftover pumpkin purée), topped with whipped cream, chili dark chocolate flakes, & a candy corn.

These were all just fun activities that tasted mediocre. I had to sub some margarine for butter in the apple crisp, & it didn’t crisp up as nicely. The cookie recipe was a new one I was trying from Allrecipes. The pumpkin flavor didn’t really come through the final result, most of the spices, either. It was just cloves I picked up the most. I gave away most of the cookies to people who liked them. I'm not even big on icing/frosting - I just find decorating fun, & people in my life enjoy it.

The pumpkin pie shake came out great, though. Just some vanilla bean ice cream, pumpkin puree, a tsp pumpkin pie spice, a dash of brown sugar, some vanilla unsweetened almond milk, & the aforementioned toppings. I eyeballed all this stuff in terms of measuring, & blended it up in the Vitamix, adjusting til it reached the proper flavor & ultra-thickness.


The dinner was just a whim, mostly for the kid present, but I just made the same for all of us, since I had a bunch of turkey burgers in the freezer to use up. The chicken sausages were mine- I didn't want a burger. I just put it all on 1 plate because it looked funny. And we all got chips & shakes.

 

[The Cat]

On todays episode of Cooking with the Cat, I'll be cooking up an utter catastrophe, the secret ingredient is my life. The steaks will be high and your expectations should be low. Our special guest The Void will be joining us and will be sharing their best recipes for screaming. We've got a fine show ahead on existential quisine, it may be your life, but your life is food for something bigger than you. No matter how you live it.

 

[Lexicon]

I cooked a metric f-load over the past few days...

After a bunch of delays, I finally have hip preservation surgery almost exactly 1 month from now. I want to rely on others as little as possible during recovery. I’ve looked at other patients’ blogs/lurked in P.A.O. support groups to get an idea of how people were doing their meals in that first month, among other ‘what to expect’ things. Many patients did tons of takeout, or had family bring food over/stay with them (shudder).

Instead, I plan to premake/freeze a month’s worth of dinners between 12/5-12/8, just before the procedure. I even measured out my space in my shared freezer to ensure it’d fit what I need.

I decided to do a ‘test run’ of sorts with the remainder of this month— just to work out any last min kinks or fitting issues, etc.


First, I cooked a huge turkey (cheaper than chicken right now) from frozen. It took longer, but it actually came out more tender. I tore all the flesh from the bones & stuck it in the fridge to weigh out/portion later.


I made a bunch of dinners for the next few weeks that can go directly from the freezer to the countertop toaster oven at 350 & be heated in 30 min.

(The turkey burgers belong to my roommate; I’m not a fan of this brand.. I prefer to make my own with seasonings etc & freeze them. Not doing burgers post-op.)

I used these containers for my dinners:

Choice 1 1/2 lb. Shallow Oblong Foil Container with Board Lid - 50/Pack

Keep delicious meals-to-go perfectly secured in this Choice 1 1/2 lb. shallow oblong foil container with board lid. Whether your customers are taking home leftovers from your restaurant or buying a freshly cooked meal out of your food truck, this take-out container is the perfect choice. The...

www.webstaurantstore.com

I can probably even eat directly from the containers to reduce dirty dishes, post-op.


Originally, I’d wanted glass Pyrex containers of this shape/size, but I can’t afford that many containers for a whole month’s worth of food. Not to mention, I don’t have the cabinet space for permanent storage. Also, if I were to drop a glass thing post-op, I won’t be able to pick up the broken glass right away. I don’t need my cat walking on it/playing with it, or eating it (& shredding his lovably idiotic insides) because it has food scraps stuck to it. So, I went with disposables. I figure if i rinse them, they’re recyclable, at least...





To the right of the containers are some breakfast sandwiches I also pre-made.






The dinners are a variety of things I threw together:

They’re all comprised of about 20% protein source, 20% grains, & 60% veggies.

Cream of Mushroom Turkey - that’s 3oz turkey, brown rice, quinoa, & kale all mixed together, topped with condensed cream of mushroom soup (I picked up the brand @ceecee recommended this month) & canned ‘no salt added’ mushrooms.

Spicy Curry Turkey - 3 Oz turkey, brown rice, Peking stir fry mixed frozen veggies, & spicy red curry sauce, all mixed together.

Shrimp ‘Teriyaki’ - put in quotes because it’s super half-assed. It’s fully cooked frozen shrimp with cayenne pepper, teriyaki seasoning/sauce, frozen broccoli, & brown rice w/lower sodium soy sauce

Southwest Turkey - 3oz turkey seasoned w/a southwest spice blend, brown rice, similarly seasoned & mixed with diced tomatoes, cilantro, jalapeños, red onion, & kale. Can be topped with plain greek yogurt after reheating.

‘Thxgiving Leftovers’ Turkey - 3oz turkey + a bit of gravy I made from drippings, diced frozen sweet potatoes (found in grocery freezer section, never had these before), & green beans brushed with a little olive oil & sea salt.

Italian Chicken Sausage/Rotini - Al Fresco Italian chicken sausage links, sliced, whole wheat rotini tossed with olive oil, basil, oregano, sea salt, pepper, spinach, & chopped up cherry tomatoes that were on their way out. The spinach coiled up into the rotini spirals nicely.


The breakfast sandwiches were just this recipe, but I used Market Basket whole wheat deli thins flatbread instead of English muffins. I just googled “freezable breakfast sandwich recipe,” or something like that.

Make Ahead Freezer Friendly Breakfast Sandwiches

Make Ahead Freezer Friendly Breakfast Sandwiches are the holy grail of meal prep! Make once eat all week for on the go busy mornings!

theskinnyishdish.com

I have some healthy cereal & shelf stable almond milk as another breakfast alternative. And canned soup & some sardines. I’d like to grab some of these dumplings from the Asian market if I have time. They’re horrible for you, but so damn delicious. Maybe a treat for NYE.

Lunches will be homemade smoothies: Greek yogurt, frozen fruit, spinach, & green tea/almond milk. The Vitamix is on the counter directly between the sink & fridge, so, that’ll be easy for prep/cleanup.


I think cooking this stuff next month is going to go a lot faster now, since I did a practice run.


There are probably other healthier meal options or recipes to there, but I just kind of went with what I have around regularly, & what took the least time to prep, as presently I can only be on my feet doing prep/cooking/measuring/storing/cleaning for so long til I get too sore. A lot of this I was able to cook in bulk and then dole out into containers.

I did premade commercial frozen T.V. dinners from the grocery store when I had a less invasive hip surgery in 2019. They take up more freezer space, cost A LOT more, and taste disgusting after a couple of days in a row. What I’m doing now seems like a better option, even if the prep takes some time.




If anyone has any similar recipe ideas* I might be able to add in easily on my next shopping trip next month, I’m all ears!
*PLEASE, NO HAM. It is my most hated food. It should not exist. Mod action will may be taken if you dare to suggest ham.

 

[Lexicon]

TARDIS & TAROT CAKES


I baked a Doctor Who T.A.R.D.I.S cake for my friend's kid's 13th birthday. It didn't come out as sharp and polished as I'd have liked, but the small human it was for loved it, so, that's all that counts.

That's kid-hand. She was about to start tearing pieces off.





Cricket stole her seat when she went to wash her hands.

And the cake fell after I sliced it.








Black velvet cake with vanilla baking chip stars inside, homemade pink nebula buttercream, Rice Krispy Treats for stability at the bottom/in middle, blue modeling chocolate outside, black fondant police sign with white modeling chocolate letters (on the front, sides, I tried icing.. I regret the icing letters and windows. I wish I had edible paper). The door handles were little slivers of black fonant painted with Wilton silver color mist. The light is an LED balloon light I grabbed at a party supply store, & I built a lantern around that the same way I did the door handles. Little sprinkle on top.

I attached all the small details with Wilton edible glue, and also sometimes just using a lighter on some of the modeling chocolate.





TAROT
A couple of days ago, I made my best friend a gluten-free confetti cake (King Arthur mix) in the shape of a fortune teller's table. Her b-day isn't til next month, but I won't be able to make her a cake then. And she's coming to stay w/me to babysit my dopey ass the first few days after surgery, so this cake was both a preemptive birthday & preemptive thank-you cake.

Purple buttercream inside. Blue modeling chocolate tablecloth, white uncooperative fondant ribbon painted silver. Tarot cards were white modeling chocolate, edible marker, sprinkles. Crystal ball was just a Lindt white chocolate truffle painted with silver food color mist, anchored to a Rolo caramel candy. If I had more time, I'd have done a more ornate crystal ball setup, but this worked out okay.

 

[ceecee]

I made everything yesterday with the exception of a Italian cream cake that I purchased. I don't feel like cooking today but I have a couple big loaves of Italian bread left and I might make bread pudding with boozy sauce.

 

[Saturnal Snowqueen]

A Poppin Cooking. They were edible haha, somehow slightly annoying to make despite the simplicity, but now I just want to find more. I'm scared to try the savory ones, but also that's what I want to buy next:

 

[Lexicon]

Last week:

I ended up having a lot of extra chocolate cake from the TARDIS, that I put in the freezer. There’d been a few practice attempts to create stars in the TARDIS cake with white sprinkles or baking chips, etc. The extra cake parts were the failed attempts (sprinkles dissolved during baking/disappeared).


So, the spare cake, & remaining modeling chocolate, etc, went to creating a rudimentary K9 from Doctor Who. I needed the freezer space opened back up, plus, another friend’s bday is at the end of Dec, so, despite its imperfections, they loved this.

(don’t mind the crumbs everywhere— I make huge messes when I do cakes.. I cleaned later, I swear)


The body is black velvet cake with homemade dark chocolate buttercream frosting, covered in white modeling chocolate, colored gray, then misted w/Wilton metallic silver edible color mist (still drying in this photo).

The control panel is also cake.

His tail is just a chopstick coated in modeling chocolate & gum paste.






K9’s head was hand-shaped with Rice Krispy Treats, thinly coated w/chocolate buttercream frosting, then covered in modeling chocolate.

K9’s ear antennae are made of modeling chocolate & gum paste, attached with toothpicks. His ‘eye’ area is white modeling chocolate colored red & attached to the face with Wilton edible glue.


The head was placed on a chopstick to attach to the cake body. Unfortunately, the head was quite heavy, & fell after the photos were taken/could not stay on. It was still happily eaten. If I’d had enough Rice Krispy Treats to use as a base layer on the body cake, the head chopstick would’ve had that to anchor itself to/stay up.

Closeup, it’s quite noticeable that K9’s exterior is nowhere near as smooth as the TARDIS, despite both being decorated with modeling chocolate. Reasons for this:

1.) the kitchen was much warmer when decorating K9 & working the modeling chocolate. This made it much, much softer & a little less cooperative. I could have kept refrigerating it then reworking it/rinse-repeat, but as this was more of a pleasure activity with a limited amt of spare time, I didn’t bother.

2.) modeling chocolate takes fingerprints & other things very easily, so you have to wear vinyl or nitrile gloves to avoid that. Unfortunately, the only gloves I had left were too large, so every wrinkle in my baggy gloves kept imprinting on the chocolate as I worked & molded everything. I lacked the additional tools or time to smooth that out.

3.) this is only my 2nd time working with modeling chocolate.


Though he wasn’t as pretty as the TARDIS, his disassembly was just as delicious.

For reference. Again, a lot of accents missing on mine, but I was just trying to use up my remaining ingredients from the other project.

 

[Lexicon]

Past few days... all my food prep for after my hip PAO surgery (coming up in a few days now).

I fricken DID IT.

I’ve been running around like a crazy person getting all kinds of crap ready. I’m off all my anti inflammatories as instructed, my hips are screaming, and I’ve been exhausted & im still not done other home stuff.

I actually ruined the turkey I first bought for my poultry in my frozen dinners. It was done baking really late. Pulled it out to cool a TIIINY bit, before dismembering it/weighing it out, etc. I set an alarm so as not to lose track of time. But, I fell asleep on the couch by mistake I was so fucking tired. Completely slept thru alarm. And it sat out. For 5 hours. Completely unsafe. I’ll be honest, i sat on the kitchen floor and cried for a few min about that stupid bird, I was so mad at myself. Just sore and tired and buried in shit to do. Cricket came and sat in my lap. I got over it.

I got a new one at Target, of all places, & got back to work. And I am DONE THE FOOD PREP NOW.

My roommate’s food is in the bin on the lower right, plus the pkg upright beside it, plus the bag of dumplings on the top right, & a few things behind the sandwiches up top. And in the door shelving, not pictured. They eat a lot of fresh stuff & takeout, so it all worked out.

My stuff: dinners, breakfasts, and, I premade a batch of sugar cookie dough (Xmas for my grandmother), gingerbread cookie dough (for me/roommate & her kid for Xmas), & gluten-free gingerbread cookie dough for INTP best friend, who will be staying over on weekdays to help me out the 1st week or two home.

30 healthy frozen dinners, variety of meals:

- 8 Thai curry turkey meals (3oz turkey, 1c. Brown rice, red curry sauce & a ton of Peking stir fry mixed veggies)

- 8 cream of mushroom turkey meals (3oz Cajun seasoned turkey, 1/2c brown rice mixed w/ 1/2c quinoa, with kale & mushrooms mixed in, all topped with cream of mushroom condensed soup)

- 6 southwestern turkey meals (3oz taco seasoned turkey, 1c. taco seasoned brown rice, a little corn, hot pico de Gallo, kale, & chopped jalapeños & shredded mex chz blend)

- 2 shrimp stir fry meals (5 big shrimps, seasoned w/cayenne & teriyaki sauce, 1c brown rice w/lower sodium soy sauce, mixed w/Peking stir fry veggie blend)

- 2 ‘thxgiving’ dinners (3oz turkey, diced sweet potatoes, mixed veg, in brown turkey gravy)

- 2 jalapeño chicken sausage meals, w/diced sweet potatoes & kale mixed with olive oil & garlic pepper seasoning

- 1 turkey mealball pasta dinner, w/whole wheat rotini (3/4c) kale, & marinara

- 1 Italian chicken sausage pasta dinner, w/whole wheat penne (3/4c) kale, & diced tomatoes w/basil, oregano, & garlic pepper, topped with fat free mozzarella


15 breakfast sandwiches
Turkey sausage, 1 egg (Eggbeaters actually), & fat free cheddar on whole wheat deli thin flatbread

3 white whole wheat Belgian waffles - half of one of those is 1 breakfast for me. The quarters go right in the toaster. So that’s 6 more breakfasts.



I also have other breakfast options that required no prep... like a 6pk pumpernickel bagels w/lite crm chz, or kashi honey almond flax cereal w/unsweetened vanilla almond milk (box yields 7 servings).

Lunches - smoothies I will make daily. Dannon Oikos Triple Zero vanilla greek yogurt (hi protein/hi fiber), frozen strawberries, frozen banana, frozen spinach, & some almond milk for healthy fats.




I also bought a 6pack of Gosling’s Diet Ginger Beer for nausea at home (At my pre-op 3 days ago, they said they’re discharging me w/oxycodone, always makes me queasy). ginger beer > ginger ale, ime. More gingery. I like diet soda, the regular kind tastes weird to me, I’ve never liked it.



And I got ginger candies for hospital nausea. And I bought a 6pk of Propel clear berry electrolyte water to keep in the hospital by my bed, in case I’m thirsty & nurses are busy (I don’t wanna be ‘that patient’ who buzzes all the time). And individual packs of Kodiak Cakes teddy bear mini graham crackers for nausea or snack between meals. Got the little bears vs whole graham crackers because whole ones = inescapable hospital bed crumbs.

...back to the cleaning etc for me.

 

[Saturnal Snowqueen]

Well, I TRIED to make some Turkish coffee today-I thought it'd be semi easy to make as you're supposed to simmer the coffee for some time and let it make some foam and you scoop it into your cup and then the actual liquid goes in. Half an hour went buy and still no foam. Oh well, I've always wanted to try Turkish coffee, it looks so rich.

 

[Lexicon]

Wish I’d taken photos, but it was all eaten too fast...

Snowstorm Tuesday. I made a loaf of cinnamon swirl white whole wheat bread from scratch, with this recipe:

*I brushed the dough with butter, & sprinkled w/cinnamon & sugar at step 3.


Wish I had a photo of it sliced.

I used the King Arthur Whole Grain Bread Improver @ceecee recommended awhile back again. Man is it a game changer.


After fully cooling, I cut the bread into THICK slices, & made quite possibly the most rich, delicious, all-around amazing French toast I’ve ever eaten. Thick homemade bread makes such a difference. It was practically a religious experience, ha.

This simple recipe from my super ancient handmedown cookbook:

Friday, I made a classic boiled dinner for St. Paddy’s. Followed this recipe, except it was all done in my crock pot on low, all day.

 

[ceecee]

Wish I’d taken photos, but it was all eaten too fast...

Snowstorm Tuesday. I made a loaf of cinnamon swirl white whole wheat bread from scratch, with this recipe:

View attachment 28584


*I brushed the dough with butter, & sprinkled w/cinnamon & sugar at step 3.


Wish I had a photo of it sliced.
View attachment 28585

I used the King Arthur Whole Grain Bread Improver @ceecee recommended awhile back again. Man is it a game changer.


After fully cooling, I cut the bread into THICK slices, & made quite possibly the most rich, delicious, all-around amazing French toast I’ve ever eaten. Thick homemade bread makes such a difference. It was practically a religious experience, ha.

This simple recipe from my super ancient handmedown cookbook:

View attachment 28586

Friday, I made a classic boiled dinner for St. Paddy’s. Followed this recipe, except it was all done in my crock pot on low, all day.

View attachment 28587

I used my St. Paddy's Day leftovers for egg rolls yesterday. I don't use a recipe, just combine the beef, potato, cabbage and carrots, plop on a egg roll wrapper, wet the edges and roll. Fry until brown and you could probably air fry if you wanted. Serve with this sauce which is also amazing on a Ruben.

RUSSIAN DRESSING
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream (may sub more mayo)
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon grated onion (I use my zester)
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon Frank's Original RedHot Sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp EACH ground mustard, sweet paprika (may sub smoked or regular paprika)
1/4 tsp EACH garlic powder, salt, pepper

 

[Lexicon]

I used my St. Paddy's Day leftovers for egg rolls yesterday. I don't use a recipe, just combine the beef, potato, cabbage and carrots, plop on a egg roll wrapper, wet the edges and roll. Fry until brown and you could probably air fry if you wanted. Serve with this sauce which is also amazing on a Ruben.

RUSSIAN DRESSING
3/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup sour cream (may sub more mayo)
1/4 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon grated onion (I use my zester)
1 tablespoon prepared horseradish
1 tablespoon Frank's Original RedHot Sauce
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp EACH ground mustard, sweet paprika (may sub smoked or regular paprika)
1/4 tsp EACH garlic powder, salt, pepper

I’m putting a sticky note in my cookbook to try this out next year with leftovers. That sounds delicious.

 

[Lexicon]

I broiled the most delicious salmon last night. Simple rub made with onion powder, salt, pepper, paprika, & pepper flakes, with a pinch of dark brown sugar to caramelize it. Broiled about 6 min to 145F at the thickest part. Brushed w/a bit of avocado oil.

Served with homemade cole-slaw, & some brown rice.



It’s not “pretty,” but it’s the most tender, flavorful salmon I’ve ever made.

(Turn up your screen brightness 100% to fully appreciate part of this picture)