Tormented Kitchen

Hello, dear readers. Welcome back! My garden is growing at an amazing pace.  We started late, thanks to worries about frost. We finally planted things in early June.  I figured the garden might be a little bit small from having plants die in the heat, but we've actually had very little die-off. We have a single zucchini plant and it is producing at a good rate.  I already have enough that I used a few in the lasagna for dinner, a batch of this zucchini bread, and I still have a few that I haven't touched. Plus, there are more on the plant! Quite a while ago, I picked up this recipe off of a message board for scrapbookers. There are so many lovely people out there making beautiful creations, not just scrapbook things, but food, crafts, and things for the home. I've been too busy to keep up on the message board, but I did friend a many of those crafty people on Facebook so I can keep up with them. Now, on the recipe details. I've made a change to ho...

Hello, friends! I have something new to share. People who know me know that I'm a tea drinker.  I don't like regular coffee. I tried it ages ago, but it didn't hit the spot.  Once in a while, I might drink a fu-fu coffeehouse drink made with espresso and lots of milk and flavorings. So rewind back to last April, when I was pregnant with Natalie. I have no explanation for this, but I suddenly loved coffee. I would wake up at night dreaming of lattes. I'd fix myself an afternoon treat with the Keurig machine and doctor it with cocoa mix and lots of cream. My husband likes espresso and we'd talked for years about getting an espresso machine. It just happened to be a really low priority since I've been a tea person and not an espresso person.  Suddenly it made sense to me to get the espresso machine for his birthday so I could also have it to satisfy my cravings. Isn't that how marriage works? I got one of the Nespresso Lattissima+ machines. It's bee...

Hi Friends! Today I'm sharing a recipe for a casserole that I learned about when I got my first real job out of college.  It was informally called tamale pie. Essentially, the original recipe consisted of a can of this and can of that layered in a pan. There was corn bread mix from a box, layers of seasoned meat, cheese, salsa or Rotel, beans, and so on. (I'm skipping details on purpose. They're boring.) Then you baked it until it was hot. Yeah, I customized my procedure and ingredients to match what we liked. I started making the mush with a little cinnamon and used regular milk instead of canned milk. I used taco seasoning on the meat and skipped the salsa/Rotel step. I added frozen corn and sliced olives. I couldn't skip the cheese since we love cheese. But it has evolved from the original can of this and a can of that. Now hold on for one second.  Have you seen other tamale pie recipes? You know, the ones that put the corn mush on TOP?  What is that about? F...

Hello again, I'm back with a new recipe. I've been ready for casseroles for a long time and now I'm on a roll.  I recently got a free jar of Ragu Sauce to test from Influenster. They asked me to use it and make up a recipe to go with it. I used some things I already had around the house. We grew dinosaur kale in the garden this year so I was already thinking about using kale in a dinner dish.  I almost always have cheese and pasta on hand, so I didn't have to buy more. I did pick up some ground turkey at the store. Then less than one easy-peasy hour later, I had a really tasty dinner ready to go. It also made a huge amount so we have plenty of leftovers. Give it a try, I think you'll like it. Ingredients 1 lb organic ground turkey 1 bunch dinosaur kale, ribs removed and chopped 2 Tablespoons garlic flavored olive oil (or regular olive oil) 1-2 teaspoons dried red pepper flakes 1 16-oz box of Barilla Pasta,  campanelle, elbows, rotini, penne, or s...

Hello dear readers.  It's officially Fall!  It's casserole and soup season!  You have no idea how happy I am for the cooler weather. Being pregnant during the summer was not so fun. I had no appetite and I was not interested in cooking anything in the oven that would make the house hotter than it already was.  I think we'll get the AC serviced in the springtime because it's just not cooling anymore. Anyhow, FOOD! I've been hungry for something different than our standard, go-to meals.  I had to think back to the old days growing up and what kinds of interesting things we found at church pot-lucks. That brings me to home-cooked Basque food. I perused my old community cookbooks and got some ideas. I perused the Internet for more ideas.  Food started flying into the pot on the stove. And then bingo! Basque chicken and rice was served. Basically it all started because we took a short road trip back the old hometown to visit Grandma Rose so she could m...

I'm going to share one of the easiest recipes I have. It's not even really hard enough to be called a recipe by my standards. Don't be fooled though. Simple food can still taste amazing. Check out this "recipe" for egg drop soup. I usually use whatever frozen, cut-up vegetables I have in the freezer. I particularly like peas and diced carrots, but the combination of corn, beans, peas, and carrots is good too. Some restaurants around here might use diced fresh zucchini and canned water chestnuts, too. (Smiley Jenny) There are even a few places that add chopped evil mushrooms...so no soup for me at those places. (Frowny Jenny). Darn food allergies! As for the cornstarch, you can add more if you want it thicker, or leave it out completely.  The soup is great either way. Cornstarch is gluten-free if that is a concern for you. Ingredients 1 32-oz carton low-sodium chicken broth 1 cup mixed frozen vegetables, (or frozen peas & carrots, or corn-beans-pea...

Hello dear readers! The past week Sparks was host to the annual Nugget Rib Cook-off. Of course we went and it was as busy as ever. This year we just went on Sunday. We caught a matinee at Century 14, Minions, since the big kids hadn't seen it yet. It was cute! We have been in the middle of minion madness, and the movie was the biggest deal to the kids. This was also the baby's first visit to a movie theater! After the movie, we walked through Victorian Square. We ate our fill of ribs from some favorites like Texas Outlaw and Chicago, plus a few of the vendors we don't always get like BourbonQ and Texas Thunder. We also chowed on deep fried pickles, deep fried peaches with whipped cream, a funnel cake, and shaved ice.  My husband also convinced me to help him drink a blended margarita. So what if I ended up drinking most of it? By the way, we seriously considered buying the whole roast pig this year.  Some friends have been hard at work helping another...