Lazy Girl’s Salmon

Lazy Girl's Salmon

WHAT I FOUND IN THE KITCHEN-

1 package smoked salmon fillet
leftover brown rice
1 bunch asparagus, cut of the last inch or 2 of the ends
1 head broccoli, discard stem. I feed it to my dog, she loves it!

WEAPON OF CHOICE- pot of boiling water

1. Put the veggies in the boiling water for about 3 minutes. While they are boiling heat your reheat your rice.

2. Arrange your plate

This meal is soooo easy, as long as you already have rice. Sometimes I normally make it with zucchini instead of the asparagus and broccoli. I heat the sliced zucchini in a pan with the leftover rice. I serve it with a salad, OK I put a handful of micro greens on my plate. That is sort of a salad, isn’t it?

A Date

Me on our date

Sander on our date

This morning I managed to get my Lymie butt up out of bed early enough to go on a breakfast date with my husband.

I even took the time to put on makeup! I don’t even remember the last time I did that. The sick look just wasn’t doing it for me. Of course he tells me that he always thinks I’m beautiful, I know, too sweet. It’s not that I don’t believe he’s telling the truth, I just think he’s blinded by his love for me. That is a good thing, but the truth is I could use a little makeup sometimes.

We went to Zelda’s in Capitola. Not the best breakfast restaurant in the area,that would be Zachary’s. Zelda’s is right on the water and there is no wait. It was perfect, just like the weather.

What are Tomatillos

Tomatillos are those strange little things that look like green tomatoes wrapped in some kind of papery husk. That is actually pretty much what they are. Tomatillos are not tomatoes but they are in the same family. I guess they are more like cousins than brother and sister. They are originally from Latin America. The Aztecs first started cultivating them around 800 BC.

If you want to give them a try choose the firm green fruits with the skin still intact. These will be tart, the way they are traditionally preferred. The softer yellow ones will be sweeter.

Tomatillos are can be eaten raw or cooked. They are used in salads, sauces, salsa verde, stews, and baked entrees. Cooking enhances the flavor.

After you remove the husk from the tomatillos you will have to wash them. They are sticky! A little warm water and gentle rub is enough to remove the film.

Tomatillos

Pork Butt Blade Verde

Pork Butt Blade Verde

WHAT I FOUND AT THE STORE-

I was at the grocery store today and I decided I was going to buy tomatillos. I had never bought them before, had no idea how to pick them, no idea what to do with them, I literally knew nothing about them at all. I assumed that green sauce like salsa verde was made with them, but I wasn’t convinced I was right. Maybe salsa verde is made with green tomatoes. I didn’t even know if a tomatillo was a tomato. So I blindly bought seven of them.

I decided that I needed a hot pepper to go with them, I don’t know why it just sounded right. I don’t know anything about peppers either. I do know that I don’t like hot and spicy, so I asked the produce guys which one was mild. It was quickly decided that I needed a poblano pepper. So I was now armed with a bunch of tomatillos and a poblano pepper. Oh, and a yellow onion, I’m pretty familiar with those.

Pork sounded like the next natural ingredient. What do you make pulled pork with? I asked the butcher. I’m not sure he knew either but he sold me boneless pork shoulder butt blade steaks. I had to giggle a little bit, butt blade.

OK SO THAT IS-

Tomatillos in the pot

7 tomatillos, cubed
1 poblano pepper, minced
1 yellow onion, sliced
2 boneless port shoulder butt blade steaks
1/2 tsp salt
2 TBS oil

WEAPON OF CHOICE- rice cooker, I don’t have a crockpot.

1. Heat the oil in the rice cooker (or crockpot or larger pot) Cook the pork for a few minutes on each side.

2. Add the onion, poblano pepper, tomatillos and salt. Let it slow cook. After about an hour I checked the pork, it wasn’t pulling apart the way I had envisioned. So, I pulled it out and minced it up, tossed it back in, stirred my concoction and closed the lid for another hour.

It turned out pretty good. A little tart, in a nice way. I ate it with rice pasta and steamed zucchini. Next time I would eat it over brown rice instead or use as the meat for fajitas. Something about it was just crying out for sour cream. Oh I wish I could have sour cream, yummy.

Curried Potato Salad

WHAT I FOUND IN THE KITCHEN-

Curried Potato Salad

10 small yukon gold potatoes
1/2 tsp curry powder
1 small tub plain yoghurt (I used goat’s)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup toasted pine nuts
dried parsley

WEAPON OF CHOICE– pot on the stove

1. Bring a pot of water to boil on the stove. Make sure there is enough water to cover you potatoes. Put the potatoes in and boil until they are tender all the way through. Mine took about 18 minutes.

2. Meanwhile in your serving bowl mix the yoghurt, curry, salt, and  pine nuts.

3. When the potatoes are cook take them out and let them cool down enough so you can handle them. Slice them into 1/4 inch slices. Allow them to cool. Add them to the yoghurt mix and gentle coat them in it. Sprinkle dried parsley on top.

So I guess that this is really a side dish, but I ate it with with a side of green beans for dinner. If I’d have had fresh parsley I would have chopped it up and mixed it in. My sister said she would have mixed roasted chicken in to make it a stand alone meal.

Simple Sausage Supper

Simple Sausage Supper

Honestly, I hadn’t really planned to post this. It was something I just threw together for lunch today. Well it turned into a fiasco! Recipe first, story after.

WHAT I FOUND IN THE KITCHEN-

1 chicken artichoke sausage (any flavorful sausage will do)
1 bunch watercress
1/3 cup raw sourkrout, not the soggy processed kind.

WEAPON OF CHOICE- toaster oven

1. Bake the sausage at 400 for about 10-15 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, rinse your greens. Heat a pan on the stove with some oil. Cook the greens for only 30 seconds to 1 minute.

3. Get out a plate and make a pretty presentation.

THE STORY-

I truly just wanted a quick lunch, I didn’t even have the camera out. I’d rinsed my pan and was reheating the oil in it to keep it nice and seasoned. It was the watercress. The vibrant green with the yellows and oranges from the sourkrout, I just had to run up and get the camera. My husband is going to Yosemite, he packed my quick little point and shoot camera to take with him. So, I was trying to remember how to change the settings on our older camera when the smoke alarm started beeping. OK, I have an excuse kind of, I have Lyme and I sometimes have trouble with my memory. I honestly didn’t even remember the pan. Not even when the smoke alarm went off, I thought the stupid thing needed a new battery! I picked up my plate of food and took it outside to find some better light and get away from the noise. Thank God I went back in to get my fork. I smelled something burning. Ah, yeah hello, that would be my pan.

So I have to clean my nicely seasoned pan and start over, it was just getting really good (with food not sticking). Oh, well at least I didn’t ruin it. My husband is downstairs right now trying to rub out the rest of the yellow burned oil.

Kids Stepping Stools

Some more of my art that I am proud of. I have more ideas in my head, all kinds of cute screaming animals! I need to find more stools first. I can’t decide if my favorite is the frog or the monkey.

frog and monkey stepping stools

New Zealand Fav 5

I have been lucky enough to have lived in a lot of different places. There is something truly special about New Zealand.If you have been there, you know what I mean. If you haven’t you should really book a ticket and go. Here are my “New Zealand Fav 5’s”

1. The way the light hits and illuminates the landscape.

Cascade Saddle

2. The slower pace of life.

No Worries

3. The enormity of the mountains.

Mueller Glacier

4. The outdoorsy nature and sense of adventure.

Tramping on the South Island

5. The cheeky wildlife.

Kea

Bath Salt Scrub

I got hooked on bath salt scrub this year. I love it! It smells good, exfoliates, and moisturizes. I don’t even have to put lotion on after my shower any more. AND, if you like sweet stuff instead of salt you can get them made from sugar!
The only problem with the stuff is it costs an arm and leg. So, I decided I was going to make it myself.
There are a million recipes for salt and sugar scrubs on the internet. I browsed them for a while, got the idea of how to do it and went to the store. I bought corse sea salt, nothing special, I found it in the spice section with the rest of the salt. I also bought 2 essential oils, grapefruit and peppermint. I already had almond oil at home. You can really use any good quality oil, I prefer nut oils.

WHAT YOU NEED-
a jar
1 1/2 – 2 cups of salt
1 or 2 essential oils
Oil

HOW I DID IT-
I found a glass jar with a big opening, you need to get your hand all the way into the jar. Make sure your jar has a screw to lid. If you have a plastic jar or tub with a good lid this is probably better. My lid is metal and is getting rusty.
I poured about 1 1/2 cups of salt into the jar, added 20-30 drops of each essential oil and then added enough oil that the whole concoction was oily but not pooling with the oil. I would say It was about 1/3 cup of oil. It isn’t really super important to get the oil just right. If you think it isn’t oily enough add more. If it is too oily, add more salt.

NOTE- this is great for your body, it isn’t recommended for your face or neck. It will also sting if you have cuts.

New Zealand Photos

I have over 3,000 photos to organize. I’ve been meaning to do this for a long time but it is such I big job I always put it off. Well it’s only getting bigger so I should start now.

I thought I would share some of my favorites from NZ (New Zealand). Eventually I will have them uploaded to Flickr. I just have to figure out how that program works! I do have some there now from NZ, Australia, Japan, El Salvador… You can look at them by clicking more photos on the Flickr widget to the right.

Lindis Pass

Mt. Cook

Looking toward Kingston from The Remarkables

Walter Peak, our first digital photo