Freezer Roulette

Before their departure, James showed me a small chest freezer in the garage with various foods (mostly meat) and told me to eat it.  Most of it would be no good by the time they got back and would just end up thrown out.  While not exorbitant, meat is certainly not cheap here so I was quite grateful for this windfall.  Some of the items were still in their packages from the store, meaning I knew what it was, had a vague idea how old it was, and also how much there was (1 kg or 500g).  Quite a few of the items were not so finely packaged.  Wrapped in thin white bags, most not even sealed in any way, they were mystery meat.

I think this is frozen couscous, but it could be breaded chicken.
I'll figure it out eventually

 So I've taken to making a trip to the freezer, pulling out something, letting it thaw, and then trying to decipher what it could possibly be; based on my analysis I decide how you cook it.  It's been quite fascinating and has definitely sent me to the internet to search for recipes since we don't eat much lamb back home.  One day I was quite sure I'd thawed ground beef and decided to make hamburgers.  Once I smelled them cooking I knew instantly that it hadn't been beef, but lamb.  They tasted fine, so no harm, no foul.  Some items have been delightful surprises, such as frozen croissants that far surpass any croissant I've eaten in recent memory, but that's a story for another time.

Remember the dinner party last Friday, with the lamb shank?  Well, Val sent me home the bones off everyone's plates to feed to Sam.  Eileen warned me to be careful though, something about enzymes in lamb that can be life-threatening to your dog, that plus the fact that you're not to give dogs cooked bones because of all sorts of health problems it could cause.  All that to say, I fed Sam two of them before chickening out and deciding to use the rest of them to make bone broth.  Mind you, I've never made bone broth before, but the internet is a beautiful thing.  I found a few recipes and decided I'd just wing it.  It's hardly a science and one of the recipes mentioned using a slow cooker so I threw some stuff in the pot and left it cooking while I slept.  I srained everything the next morning and it tasted wonderful.  Success.

Ah, but now what to do with lamb broth?  Back to the interwebs...  Several Google searches later, and a trip to the freezer that produces what I'm quite confident is part of a previously roasted, half-eaten pork shoulder, I decide on Linsen Suppe (German Lentil Soup).  I still had some split, red lentils in the cupboard from my last last pot of soup (no recipe to that one either, which sadly means I can't replicate it), so it seemed like the perfect choice. As my younger brother can attest, I rarely follow recipes to the letter; I use them as loose guidelines and improvise as necessary.  Sometimes it works really well and sometimes not as well.  Despite his protests of my cooking style, he has admitted (of his own free will) that he never liked cheesecake until I started making them, so take that for what it's worth.  So, anyone care to hazard a guess on the outcome of my latest creation?

It's absolutely delicious, and since my opinion is the only one that counts seeing as I'm the only one eating it, the verdict stands.  As I help myself to seconds I'm slightly saddened by the realization that I'll never be able to replicate this soup.  Ah, well, that's the hazards of flying by the seat of your pants.

In other news, I had more guests book in this week.  There was no time-frame on their reservation to give me an idea of their estimated arrival (the booking was made online), and by 11pm that night I called it quits and went to bed.  They never did show up.  Anyway, I also had my first exam in my psychology class.  I took it Tuesday afternoon and when I woke up on Wednesday morning I saw an email from the teacher (to all the students) advising us that we were allowed to use our notes and our book when we take the test.  I think I did ok without the help, but the time difference is definitely a hindrance sometimes in online studying.  I still don't enjoy the studying and test-taking but the material is fascinating.  My younger brother took the same class, from the same professor, and told me that I shouldn't have any trouble.  Trouble I might have, but I will pass, and hopefully with an A.

Enjoy this chunk of "Experiencing Psychology" from the chapter I'm reading today:

Cultures vary in the ways they define intelligence. Most European Americans think of intelligence in terms of reasoning and thinking skills, but people in Kenya consider responsible participation in family and social life an integral part of intelligence. An intelligent person in Uganda is someone who knows what to do and follows through with appropriate action. Intelligence to the Iatmul people of Papua New Guinea involves the ability to remember the names of 10,000 to 20,000 clans. The residents of the widely dispersed Caroline Islands incorporate the talent of navigating by the stars into their definition of intelligence. Some cultures do not even have a word that refers to intelligence as most Westerners think of it. For instance, Mandarin Chinese has words for specific abilities, such as wisdom, but not one single word that means, essentially, being smart.

You can try out a culture-fair IQ test for yourself: http://psychologytoday.tests.psychtests.com/

A Birthday Cheesecake

Now along with my love of travel, crafts, and books, I also have a thing for making cheesecakes.  I rarely follow a recipe exactly, because you can do so much experimenting with cheesecakes.  My Dad is certainly not averse to cheesecake, so for his combined Father's Day & Birthday dinner I decided to make him one.  I asked him to tell me what kind and he said I could decide.  Of course once I told him we'd need to buy some cookies for me to make a crust (I rarely use the standard graham crackers - too boring), he decided he wanted Butter-Pecan Cookies as the base.

That gave me a starting point and from there I turned to Pinterest.  I chose Bake or Break's Pecan & Salted Caramel Cheesecake recipe to use as my guideline.  I was then going to use the Pecan Pie Layer portion from another recipe, but ended up leaving it out because I didn't have any pecans and didn't want the hassle of another step.

Caramel-Nut Shortbread Cheesecake

Crust:

1 cup of pecan shortbread cookies, crumbled
3 TBSP unsalted butter, softened
½ cup crushed pecans or walnuts

Cheesecake:

4 packages (32oz total) cream cheese, softened
¾ cup granulated sugar
1 large egg yolk
3 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

Filling:
40 caramels (I used about a bag of Kraft Caramel squares)
1 ½ TBSP milk
1/3 cup of mini chocolate chips (or more)
½ cup crushed pecans or walnuts

Instructions
To make the crust: Preheat the oven to 325°. Spray or butter the sides of a 9" spring-form pan.  Mix the cookie crumbs and butter together until thoroughly combined.  Press into the bottom of the pan and bake for 12 -15 min.  Remove from oven and let sit until you've prepared the fillings.

To make the cheesecake:  Mix the cream cheese and sugar together with an electic mixer, until light, airy, and smooth.  Add the eggs, one at a time, mixing completely after each addition.  Add the vanilla extract and mix until blended.

To make the filling: Add the carmels and milk to a heavy bottomed saucepan,  stir continuously over medium heat until completely melted.

Create your layers:  Pour half the cheesecake mixture into you pan, then top with the chocolate chips, nuts and carmel; finally, top with the remainder of the cheesecake mixture.  Bake for about 40 minutes (with or without a water bath), until the cheesecake is just set.  Turn off the oven, leave the oven door slightly ajar, and let the cheesecake cool completely.  Once cooled completely, top with any remaining nuts, chocolate, and/or carmel, as desired.  Refrigerate for at least 2-3 hours (or overnight) before serving.

**Warning, if you cut this into 14 pieces, you're still looking at around 600 calories per slice...but hey, birthday's only come around once a year, right!?

Calorie (noun)

Physiology:

1.  a unit equal to the kilocalorie, used to express the heat output of an organism and the fuel or energy value of food.

2. a quantity of food capable of producing such an amount of energy.

Health-Nut Oatmeal Muffins

I've been working with this recipe from Sugar-Free Mom (that I found on Pinterest) for quite a while now and decided I'd share my tweaks with you all.  She calls them Personal Sized Baked Oatmeal, but I only ever make them as muffins (they make a great snack at work).  Sadly, she takes much better photo's than I do....  The recipe is great as is, but I didn't really like the banana taste and wanted to make it a bit healthier so here's what I've got.  The original recipe is really easy to adapt - so go for it!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup of Chia Seeds
1/2 cup of water
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 cups of applesauce (unsweetened) *I used home-made
**you can add some shredded zucchini if you like, decrease the amount of milk if you do
1/2 cup of honey (I usually use a bit less)
2 cups of rolled oats
2 cups of cooked quinoa *I usually cook mine the night before or use leftovers
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 cup of flax meal
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 ¾ cups milk
1/2 cup chopped nuts (whatever kind you like)
10-12 oz. dark chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Mix your chia seeds and water together in a bowl and let sit (stir occasionally so they're evenly soaked).
2. Mix eggs, vanilla, applesauce, and honey together in a bowl (you would add your shredded zucchini now if you want - I've used frozen & fresh).
3. Add in oats, quinoa, chia seeds, salt, baking powder, flax and cinnamon  - mix well with wet ingredients.
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
5. Pour in your milk and mix well to combine everything - don't worry, the batter will look runny.
6. Add in your chopped nuts & chocolate chips (you could also use fresh, frozen, or dried fruit too).
7. Put your cupcake liners in your muffin tin (spray with cooking spray if not using liners). This recipe usually makes about 24-30 muffins.
8. Use a 1/4 measuring cup to fill your muffin cups - they don't raise, so fill them full.
9. Bake for about 32 minutes or so.
10. Cool for about 5 minutes and take out of the pans (I've found that if you let them cool in the pan too much condensation builds up).

I make a batch and keep 5-6 in the fridge for the week (I take them to work for a healthy snack) and freeze the rest, taking out 5 more every Monday morning until they're gone.  Enjoy!  

Muffin (noun)

An individual cup-shaped quick bread made with wheat flour, cornmeal, or the like and baked in a pan (muffin pan) containing a series of cuplike forms