Foodie Friday: September 14, 2012

Welcome to Foodie Friday! Foodie Friday is a freestyle segment of Easy Eats where I entertain you with a story or two, regale you with my latest successes (and failures!) in the kitchen, and provide reviews of my favorite new food products and gadgets!

Last Sunday I got on a cooking frenzy and made a roast chicken in my crock pot. I stuffed that baby with rosemary, parsley, lemon, and garlic and set it on high for 3 hours until the meat literally fell off the bones! All week we whittled away at it making chicken and mushroom skillet, curried chicken salad, and barbecue chicken over brown rice. I wish I had a picture to show you all, but of course I forgot to take one. This is definitely something I plan to make often! The ingredients were under $10 total and make at least 5 meals for us throughout the week.

Rosemary, parsley, garlic, lemon for my roast chicken

On Sunday, I also whipped up a batch of oven-roasted tomatoes. Now, I'm not normally a tomato person (at least not fresh), but these babies taste like sweet candy. Simply halve and core a pint of grape or cherry tomatoes, toss in a little olive oil, then spread on a (lined) oven pan and bake at 350 for 30-45 minutes. Once they are done, sprinkle with a tablespoon of sugar, a grind of salt, and roast an addition 10 minutes until they turn a rich, deep red color. These are insanely good in salads, pastas, wraps, or even just on their own. I had to stop myself from eating the whole pint in one sitting!

Oven-roasted tomatoes are nature's candy

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday were hellish days at work. Half our office is out with the flu, so every day I stayed late. By Wednesday I had almost 35 hours! I was so exhausted Wednesday I made Jeff take me to dinner instead of cooking. Of course after such a busy week, I woke up sick myself on Thursday. After getting myself to the doctor's, (and calling off of work) I spent the day sleeping, and being a bum. It was much needed. 

I had today off too, so I've been cleaning and cooking all day. I stopped at one point to make my new favorite beverage, a club soda and lime. We had an abundance of limes from the farmer's market two weeks ago and I couldn't think of any other way to use these bad boys up. Although sugar-free, it does remind me of soda which is nice when I'm craving something other than water or coffee. 

My refreshing, post-cleaning treat: Lime and club soda spritzer

Lastly, I FINALLY got around to mixing up this sourdough starter I ordered months ago from Amazon. Sourdough is a lot like a baby; you have to feed it, and baby it until it's just right. Every 12 hours I have to add flour and water to the sourdough yeast. After a few days I'll throw out (or turn into pancakes) about 1 cup of the starter to give it more room to breathe and grow. Yes, it's odd to think of yeast as a living thing but it most certainly is! I cannot wait until I can start pulling from this jar to make amazing rye bread, or English muffins from scratch. Jeff does not know how lucky he is to have a partner like me!

Patience is a virtue.

So how was your week? What cooking highs and lows did you experience? Comment below!

Simple, Delicious, Done!

XOXO

Shauna E!