Grilled Leek

Way back when, when the Mama Bird and I were still getting fresh vegetables from the co-opt every week, we had an influx of leeks. My experience with leeks prior to that was limited entirely to knowing that Farfetch'd carried one in Pokemon. I had never actually seen one before, and I had no idea what they tasted like.

But suddenly, I absolutely had to eat those leeks. I wanted to make a super healthy dinner and I wanted it to involve leeks and I wanted to feel like I was one of those people who tracks their every meal and knows exactly how many carbs they've eaten over the last week, and I wanted to FEEL HEALTHY.

(...on that note, I recommend using LiveStrong if you want to track that kind of stuff. I use it all the time.)

But back to the leeks.

I found a recipe through TasteSpotting and told Mama Bird that I was taking care of dinner that night. And to not touch the leeks. She was amused by my dedication and told me to do whatever I wanted.

This is a super easy recipe. You cut the leeks, cook them with some stock and chickpeas, and then make a lemon-honey-dill dressing and serve it with some feta. Doesn't that sound awesome?



I have no idea why I was so driven to eat those leeks that day, but it was a solid direction. Mama Bird really liked the flavors, but it's definitely not a dish to serve to a meat lover. It would also work really well as a side, since it doesn't serve many. It also sounds really fancy to announce you're serving leeks and feta with a lemon-honey-dill sauce.

On a non-healthy note: Happy Birthday, Mama Bird. I hope you enjoyed that cheesecake, cause it definitely wasn't healthy. <3

"You're making old person muffins?"

In case you couldn't tell, I'm making a bit of an effort to start updating sort of regularly again. I'm not going to promise any sort of schedule, because this blog is supposed to be for fun, and schedules stress me out. I'll be sharing a lot of older stuff for a while- stuff I made and didn't share because I was too lazy to type.

These may be the first muffins I've made that I didn't like.

I made these thinking that I wouldn't really like them. Hoping, but thinking 'wow, these certainly sound... interesting, I hope they're good...' Mama Bird looked at the recipe and assured me that if I didn't like them, she'd eat them. So I decided to be brave and to try it. I like new food, right?



They don't even really look good.

I tried to like them, and I did eat two before I gave up and declared that they were all for Mama Bird. She did eat them all, to her credit, but I don't know how she did it. I'll be sticking to sweeter muffins from now on.

Recipe from Teaspot NYC.

2 cups applesauce

2 ounces dates

1 cup wheat bran

1/2 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

2 tablespoons honey

3/4 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

5/8 cups all-purpose flour

2 tablespoons ground flaxseed

1.25 teaspoons baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon allspice

1/4 cup old-fashioned oats

1. Preheat oven to 375.
   
2. Heat applesauce and dates over medium heat, stirring frequently, until mixture is reduced to about 1.25 cups, or 15-20 minutes.
   
3. Remove from heat and let cool completely.
   
4. Transfer applesauce to bowl, and mix in bran, buttermilk, egg, honey, ginger, and vanilla.
   
5. In separate bowl, mix flour, flaxseed, baking soda, salt, allspice, and 1/4 cup oats.
   
6. After letting stand for 10 minutes, mix ingredients together.
   
7. Transfer batter into muffin tins.
   
8. Bake 20-23 minutes.
   

Makes 12 muffins, with 90 calories and $0.43 per serving.

Butternut Squash Soup

Mama Bird has been pretty amazing recently.  Not only did she magically produce a brand new immersion blender from our basement when I mentioned I was thinking of buying one, she signed us up for a Community Supported Agriculture.  If you don't know what that is, it means that every Wednesday for the next two months we get a box of locally grown vegetables.  I was quite excited about it when she brought the idea up to me, because I knew that it meant I'd be getting vegetables to play with that I had never cooked.  Sure enough, last week we had a butternut squash and some leeks.  I haven't messed with the leeks, although Mama Bird stole the potatoes that were meant to become the chips for the fish and chips I'll be making sometime this week.  Hopefully Thursday or Friday, if Skyrim doesn't steal my entire life.

I wasn't sure I'd like this soup, because I've never been a huge squash fan, and I don't tend to enjoy sweetness.  But I liked this.  I dipped some bread in it at first, but I don't think it needs that.  It tastes thick, like it has cream, but it's all healthy.  I'm hoping to eat it for lunch this week to make up for the amount of naughtiness I've been eating- remember that coconut ice?  It's all gone now.  I throw out the remaining third after I gained enough strength to resist it.  Sadly, I didn't ever take a picture of it...   nor do I have a picture of this soup.  It just doesn't look great, sadly.

But it tastes good.  If you want a light healthy soup, give it a shot.

Recipe from A Year of Slow Cooking.

1 butternut squash

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 onions

4 cups vegetable broth

2 apples

1.5 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon cloves

1/4 teaspoon coriander

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Cut squash in half longways, microwaving if the skin is too tough.
   
2. Scoop out seeds.
   
3. Coat in olive oil and roast at 400 for 15 minutes.
   
4. In slow cooker, combine cubed and peeled apples, onion, broth, and spices.
   
5. Cover and cook on high while waiting for squash.
   
6. Peel squash, and cut into cubes.
   
7. Cook on low for 8 hours.
   
8. Blend.
   

You win this round, peanut butter.

I know this picture doesn't look that appetizing. I took it with my phone while starving and not really willing to take the time to figure out how to make it look pretty.



I've made this recipe twice now since discovering it. I wasn't sure I'd like it at first because I used to think that peanut flavor belonged in nothing but dessert, but recently I've been craving it. I have found myself eating just peanut butter and nutella, spread on graham crackers.

You should try that, by the way, because it is delicious.

But the point is, I used to seriously judge my friends whenever they would eat peanut butter out of the jar, and I have many friends who do. And suddenly I find myself thinking 'huh, that isn't such a bad idea after all.' What's happening to me? Next thing you know I'll be not eating meat for days at a time without even trying.

...Oh, wait...

Anyway, enough rambling. Ignore my poor photography, and give this a try. I have changed the recipe slightly in that I added a marinade step, because I think it gives the chicken a lot more flavor. I also think that you should steam the peas before so they aren't SO crunchy, but that may be a personal preference. Some people like them super crunchy.

Recipe modified from The Cooking Photographer.
(Makes 5 servings, with 289 calories and $3.11 per serving)

1 tablespoon light colored oil

5 thin sliced chicken breasts

2 cups snap peas

1 cup chicken broth

1 tablespoon Sriracha

1 tablespoon brown sugar

2 teaspoons fish sauce

1/4 cup fresh lime juice

1 tablespoon creamy peanut butter

3 tablespoons chopped unsalted roasted peanuts

2 green onions

pepper

1. Cut thinly sliced chicken breasts into strips.
   
2. Marinade chicken in chicken broth, Sriracha, brown sugar, fish sauce, some pepper and lime juice for at least three hours.
   
3. Begin steaming snap peas.
   
4. Heat up oil, and saute chicken.
   
5. Add snap peas to skillet and cook for two to three minutes, then add marinade and peanut butter, and cook for about five minutes.
   
6. Add chicken back to wok, and cook until marinade has boiled down.
   
7. Plate, serve with rice and additional lime wedges.
   

Today's lessons learned:

• Steam snow peas. Or they stay crunchy.
  
• When did peanut butter get so delicious?!
  

More meat, more stuffed

This will be my only post for a while. As you are reading this, I am sitting in a plane, on my way to Madrid. Madrid! I don't speak Spanish at all well enough to be going to Madrid!

Once again, I'm sure I'm going to take pictures of every meal I eat, even though my faithful camera is now broken. For the time being, I'm borrowing one of Mama Bird's old cameras, but I'll probably have to buy a new one soon. I guess I'd mentioned doing it a few times already, so it's not too big of a deal.



But before I go, I'll leave you with one of the things I've been meaning to share for a few weeks now. I made these for friends months ago, and it's high time I shared them. I originally thought that they'd be light, that everyone would be able to eat two zucchini boats apiece and it'd be a nice healthy meal. I didn't realize how much meat that would have been for everyone. Next time I make these, I may half the meat, or at least drop it to 3/4 of a pound.

Recipe from The Homesteading Housewife
(Makes 8 servings, with 250 calories and $1.94 per serving)

4 zucchini

1 onion

1 green bell pepper

4 cloves garlic

1 pound ground beef (or 1/2 pound ground beef and 1/2 pound Italian sausage)

1/2 teaspoon oregano

2 eggs

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup bread crumbs

2 cups mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 375.
   
2. Wash zucchini, but do not chop stems.
   
3. Put in a pot of cold water, and bring to a boil.
   
4. Let boil 6-7 minutes or until tender, and remove and set aside to cool.
   
5. In a skillet, brown meat and add garlic, onion, oregano, and peppers.
   
6. Slice zucchini lengthwise, and scoop out seeds.
   
7. Chop extra zucchini 'meat' and add to meat mixture.
   
8. Mix bread crumbs, Parmesan, and eggs in with meat, and mix well.
   
9. Fill zucchini boats with meat, and top with mozzarella.
   
10. Bake until cheese is hot and bubbly.
    

Today's lessons learned:

• Stuffed anything is much more filling than you think.
  
• Sometimes, more meat is not the answer. But only sometimes.
  

Parsley smells delicious

I wish I could tell you that tonight's dinner was a well-planned out meal I had been intending on eating for the last few days, but it wasn't. I decided it was going to be my dinner at about... 7 o'clock. Mama Bird, Sister Bird, and I went to the grocery store at 7:30, and we sat down to dinner at 9:30. It was one of the worst meal planning days I've had in a few weeks.

But it was good enough I am writing a post about it only hours after eating it. So at least it was inspiring.



I've been stealing Mama Bird's camera for more and more pictures. I think she's going to notice soon.

Now, as for what this fish actually was... it was very, very easy to make. Perhaps that's why I picked it, because I didn't want to be in the kitchen all night. We had most of the ingredients: we still had fresh parsley from a salad I had made previously, we have an insane amount of lemon juice, and the rest is staples in our house. Except the fish. That we bought fresh.

And really, this is incredibly easy to make. You blend some parsley, lemon juice, garlic, and then marvel at home wonderful your kitchen smells. Maybe you even call your mother into the kitchen to make her smell it too. She'll agree, but be annoyed you aren't finishing cooking everything else.



With some green beans and pierogies, it's a a pretty quick meal. I doubled the amount of garlic in the original recipe, and didn't count the exact amount of parsley I used. Next time I would have used slightly less, because I thought there was a bit too much. Maybe that's just because I wanted to use the rest of the parsley mix as a sauce for my green beans.

And sadly, my family did not enjoy this meal as much as I did. Mama Bird and I liked it, but Sister Bird and Papa Bird didn't. Sister Bird doesn't like fish, and Papa Bird chowed it but said he'd rather eat some 'real meat.' Oh well, I guess not everything can please everyone.

Recipe from Budget Bytes
(Makes 4 servings, with 170 calories and $2.32 per serving)

4 tilapia fillets

1/2 bunch fresh parsley

3 tablespoons lemon juice

4 cloves garlic

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1. Preheat oven to 450.
   
2. Rinse parsley and put in food processor with lemon juice, olive oil, pepper, and garlic.
   
3. Put fillets in baking dish and pour parsley mixture over them.
   
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes.
   

Today's lessons learned:

• Sister Bird and Papa Bird don't like fish. That is sad.
  

Too Many Cherries

Here's a little secret about Ms. Brown Bird: I think those chocolate-covered cherry candies are disgusting. There. I've said it. I do like cherries, though. So when I found a bag of frozen cherries that time had forgot in our freezer, I decided they'd be delicious in my next batch of muffins.

The cherries are lucky I didn't just throw them in a cobbler, frankly. It was so tempting.

These muffins... were not what I expected. Maybe that's because I messed up. Well. Almost definitely because I messed up, honestly. Let's be fair. Where did I go wrong? I'll let you head over to Tastorama first, so you can see what I thought I was going to be making.

Aren't they pretty?



At this point, I realized I shouldn't have chopped the cherries. But it was too late to fix that, so I just kept going until I had put the whole bag in. Mama Bird and I had an interesting conversation right about this point.

Mama: "Wow, that's... pink. How many cherries did you put in?"
Me: "Two cups..."
Mama: "Really? That bag was only two cups of cherries?"
Me: "Well, it was 16 ounces."
Mama: "...And?"
Me: "Well, 8 ounces is a cup, so 16 ounces should have been two cups. So I didn't measure, I just put them all in."

I was feeling very smug right then. I could do basic math, I knew a lot of conversions, and I had saved myself from having to wash a measuring cup. A complete victory, right?

Mama Bird then pointed out a few important things to me. 1) Two cups of chopped cherries and two cups of whole cherries are very different amounts. 2) Most objects aren't exactly 8 ounces to a cup, that's just a generally accepted conversion.

So. I had a lot of extra cherry flavor in these.



And my cutting board vaguely reminded me of a scene from Dexter.



They looked... sickly when they came out of the oven. There's really no other word for it. I was quite upset about it, because I am far too cheap to throw away muffins.

Oh. Did I mention I burned them slightly? Not really burned, but they were browned on the bottom, and I would always rather under-bake something. I've been on a streak of over-baking, it would seem...



But, honestly, they aren't actually bad. The flavor is very cherry-ful. Mama Bird is a fan of them, so not all is lost. They also freeze wonderfully, so my dream of eating muffins for breakfast every day continues. Next up will be a banana-strawberry muffin, but before I post them I'll have to share what else I made last week, and my mother's day gift to Mama Bird!

Recipe from Tastorama
(Makes 24 muffins, with 136 calories and $0.19 per muffin.)

3 cups minus 2 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/4 teaspoons salt

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 egg

1 cup yogurt

2 cups cherries

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 385.
   
2. Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt in one bowl.
   
3. In separate bowl, whisk together sugar, oil, vanilla, egg, and yogurt.
   
4. Add the wet ingredients to dry, then fold in cherries.
   
5. Scoop batter into muffin pan.
   
6. Bake for 25 minutes.
   

Today's lessons learned:

• 8 ounces is not always a cup.
  
• Not all fruit in muffins is diced.
  
• Measuring chopped fruit and whole fruit is very important.
  

Wonton Crackers and Smoky Hummus

Mama Bird and I hosted a book club with some friends a few weeks ago. I say 'book club' loosely, as although we finally had an assigned book, I was the only one who read it. It's much more a collection of women who get together and drink wine and talk for the night. And play some games.

It's interesting for me, being the youngest member by far. The rest of the women have children, and more than one have grown children, so I guess I'm the generation gap-filler. But it's interesting to just sit and talk with them. The conversation flows fine, I don't feel intimidated, and it's just like talking with any other group of people. When did talking to 'adults' stop being scary? When did I start to count as an adult?

There weren't many of us last week, so we didn't go overboard. I made some crackers and hummus,
and tried to take an extra 20 seconds to plate it nicely. And for once I actually kind of like how it looked. Mind, I'm still a terrible photographer. But you can still probably see the improvement!



Everything was surprisingly easy to make, except the exploding tahini can. But I'll explain that once I get to talking about the hummus.



You start off by just cutting wonton wrappers. I used the new meat scissors Mama Bird bought. Was that bad? That didn't even occur to me until now. I guess they can be sharpened, so it can't be that big of a deal...



It's not terribly clear here, but the wrapper on the left has been brushed with a ton of the sweet and salty mixture of honey, soy sauce, and egg white. I ended up with a bit too much each time and so some crackers had a thicker layer on them. I don't think Boyfriend Bird was a fan of that, but I didn't mind.



I used poppy seeds for these. Why? We didn't have sesame and I was too lazy to go to the store. This does change the cost of the whole thing by a little, as I believe sesame is more expensive, and of course it changed the flavor. I was fine with them, but someday I'd love to try the sesame seeds instead.

I also didn't get a super even spread with the sugar/salt/seed mixture, as you might be able to tell. This makes part of it have a lot more of an intense flavor. Next time I may try to mix the dry mix in with the egg mixture and see if it spreads better. That was really my only complaint about these, honestly.



The first time I made these I followed Martha's directions and sprayed the wrappers so they wouldn't stick. The second, I didn't. The second time, they stuck to the paper. How shocking. Next time I will PAM the parchment paper, and hopefully that'll fix the problem.

Sigh. I miss them, now that I've eaten them all.

But now for the story of that hummus...



It doesn't look great that way, does it? Well, I sort of think it does. But the smell was what really impressed me right then. The mixing of cumin, curry powder, red pepper flakes, Sriracha, Frank's... it was wonderful.

I have no recipe for the hummus, because I just sort of played it by ear for part of it. I'll make it again and try to actually measure my ingredients, but I can tell you it was probably around a teaspoon of Sriracha or more, and a few teaspoons of Frank's Red Hot, with the spices, garbanzo beans, and tahini. The tahini was a nightmare to get out of the tin, an absolute nightmare. Unfortunately both grocery stores near me only carry one version, so I will have to find a better way to use it. The oil and paste completely separate, and I had a hell of a time trying to mix them together. If anyone has any ideas about that, I'd love to hear them.

The only problem I had with it? I think it's a little dry. If anyone recalls, I actually taste tested two hummus flavors: smoky and lemon. The lemon turned out far too watery, and I think I overcompensated. Sister Bird (and everyone else who's tried this hummus) enjoy it this way, but I think next time I'll had a teaspoons of oil to make it slightly less solid.



So there you have it. Easy hummus and chips you can make for a party. Or for yourself. These would make a great lunch for a healthy week. I should take my own advice here, I've been eating just apples and yogurt for lunch for weeks now. Maybe I'll make myself something more interesting.

Sesame Wonton Crackers from Martha Stewart
(Makes 5 servings, about $0.75 and 192 calories per 10 crackers)

1 large egg white

2 tablespoons honey

1 teaspoon soy sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

Pinch of black pepper

2 tablespoons black sesame seeds

24 wonton wrappers, cut diagonally

1. Preheat oven to 375.
   
2. Line baking sheets with parchment paper.
   
3. Beat together egg white, honey, and soy sauce.
   
4. In separate bowl, mix together sugar, salt, pepper, and sesame seeds.
   
5. Cut wonton wrappers and arrange on parchment paper in single layer.
   
6. Using a pastry brush and holding the wrappers down, generously cover wrappers with egg mixture and sprinkle with seed mixture.
   
7. Bake until golden, rotating in the middle, for 7-9 minutes.
   

Today's lessons learned:

• Hummus really is as easy as everyone says.
  

Four Pounds of Frozen Turkey, huh.

I talked Mama Bird into cleaning out our huge freezer in the basement on Monday. Why? I have no idea. Maybe I'm crazy, or maybe I just like knowing what's going to waste in our house. The second is more likely this time. I've spent far too much money this month on things- mostly on myself, but on other people too! Sister Bird and I are going to go see Wicked, and I bought the tickets for that, I (finally) secured one of Boyfriend Bird's birthday presents (only a few months late, too), I got myself a tattoo, and somehow have spent 160 on groceries.

Yes, we are gonna gloss right over that tattoo comment. But I'll post pictures of it someday.

We found a lot of things in that freezer that I intend to use. Frozen cherries, for one, that will either be my next muffins or will become cobbler. We also found a ton of frozen meat, including four pounds of ground turkey, two or three of ground beef, and the holy grail of Omaha Steak purchases. So my cooking will be dedicated to cleaning out the cabinets for a little while instead of buying new things.

Which is a shame because I have already picked out the recipes I need to make the lamb pita for mission: dodgy grub. Putting it off for longer is taking quite a toll on my patience. I also bought a kitchen scale for no apparent reason, but I can now measure portions even better than before.

But the realization that I've let frugality escape me, and the purchase of this scale, has made me decide to try something new with the blog. I'm going to start calculating the cost of a meal when I post a recipe, so I can keep track of things I should make when I've gone overboard on buying again. The scale should also help me track portions better, so I will attempt to calculate how many servings and calories per serving are in each recipe. Who knows how accurate the measurements will be, but I'm sure it'll help me.

With all that said, what did I do with those four pounds of turkey? One is still relaxing in the freezer, waiting for me to consume it. The other three pounds were relocated to .Hack and 80s Birds' apartment, where Boyfriend Bird and I made it into burgers. I was a little skeptical of it, because although I know turkey can be substituted for ground beef in pretty much any recipe, I thought I'd miss the flavor. I won't lie, you know these are turkey. But you don't miss the beef at all. They're juicy, flavorful, and you don't even feel guilty eating them. I came extremely close to eating two.

Actually Delicious Turkey Burgers from All Recipes
(Makes 12 burgers, about $0.93 and 175 calories per burger)

3 pounds ground turkey

1/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs

1/4 cup finely diced onion

2 egg whites, lightly beaten

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

1 clove garlic, peeled and minced

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1. Mix everything together and form into 12 patties.
   
2. Cook in a medium-heat skillet or on a grill.
   

See? Extremely easy, cheap, and healthy. Don't forget to factor in the bun if you're counting calories, but your entire burger will probably only be about 300 calories. A little more if you're like me and add extra diced red onion and some smears of Sriracha.

Today's lessons learned:

• Ground turkey is not something to dread.
  
• Boyfriend Bird is quite skilled at dicing things...
  

Birds Can Have Multiple Hobbies?

Birds do a lot of things other than cook. Sometimes they sing (but only in their bird baths), play games, sample wines, or even do crafty things. It's difficult with talons, but birds can be quite creative. So in the interest of amusing myself, allow me to share the last crafty thing I've done.

It should be a surprise to no one that Darth Bird is a huge Star Wars Fan. But in case you hadn't pieced that together, there it is.

A group of my friends decided to do a semi-secret Santa around Christmas. I say semi-secret because Darth Bird organized it, and I told him in no uncertain terms that I knew exactly what I wanted to get him, and that I was claiming his name. He didn't really let me, but I was the first person to 'secretly' claim someone. I'm quite subtle.

Truthfully, I had a few ideas for him, but I settled on his love for Star Wars, as I figured that he'd automatically love anything that had Darth Vader on it.



Yes, I can see all the places I should have trimmed. There are a lot. Let's not dwell on them.

My interest in cross-stitching started off strangely. I encountered an old, hardly started sampler of Mama Bird's in our laundry room, and I couldn't leave it unfinished. I don't know why, but knowing it was sitting incomplete bugged me. So I learned the basics, and completed the sampler.



And isn't it lovely. Only I have no idea what to do with it, hence the wrinkles. It just lays around, moving from box to box. Someone I know needs to have a kid so they can hang it in their room. And until then, I'll just try not to lose it.

Another 'hobby' I have gotten into is fitness. I don't go to the gym, since that would be impressive, but I work out and use the elliptical in our basement. I try to run intervals, and lift some weights. Originally I was doing it because I just wanted to lose weight, but I have accepted it's something I just need to do every day if I want any changes I'm trying to make to stick. It's partially how I started becoming more interested in cooking; realizing that I ate out far too often and that if I wanted to get healthy, I needed to eat healthier. Not being a huge fan of vegetables led me to despair, until Fleur Bird's girlfriend pointed me to tastespotting, telling me that they made everything look good and usually had the recipe. And over the months I have slowly gotten healthier, learning to enjoy vegetables as more than necessary evils.

I'm in love with black beans now. I never really disliked them, but I would not have eaten a dish made mostly of black beans and vegetables with no meat. Now I am considering making more for myself, for a fourth time. I have learned.

Realizing I was no longer dependent on meat, I decided to try a powerhouse.



It looked great while I was making it. With freshly sliced cucumber, piles of baby spinach, spicy red pepper roasted hummus, thin wheat bread, what could really go wrong? I looked forward to diving into the ranks of vegetarians, at least for one meal. I brought it to work for lunch one day, and...



And it was okay. The cucumber was too thick, and I didn't have bean sprouts. Lessons learned for the next time I attempt it. Because there will definitely be a next time.

Today's lessons learned:

• Slice things thinly for a sandwich, but not so thinly you lose texture.
  
• Trim your cross-stitching better if you're going to post it online.
  

Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Pizza- cause birds don't like tomatoes.

Mardi Gras completely snuck up on me. I've always wanted to make a King Cake, but this year will not be that year. Oh well.

I made a pizza last week. Someone told me it didn't qualify as a pizza because it didn't have tomato sauce. This spawned a debate over whether or not white pizzas are actually pizza, which I think is totally ridiculous. What is the 'technical' definition of pizza? A lot of things can be considered pizza. Where do you draw the line?

But, regardless of what my so-called friend says, this is definitely a pizza. And a delicious one at that. It actually motivates me to want to make it a third time-because I made it twice in one week!- with completely homemade dough, to see how much better it gets.



But this time, I made it with store-bought dough. I bought whole-wheat from Harris Teeter, and it was quite good. I have already found a recipe for a knock-off, so I hope to recreate it at some point. I should probably wait a few weeks, though. The second time I made this, I had to use a pre-baked pizza round, because there was no dough and I didn't have time to make my own. That pizza didn't turn out nearly as well, but it wasn't the fault of the pizza crust.

...not entirely, anyway. I have learned a lot about what a difference fresh ingredients can make in a dish.



Mama Bird is so much better at chopping onions than I am. She was not amused I was taking pictures instead of making the dinner I had promised her and Papa Bird. She also chopped the jalapeño for me, because I am so bad at knives.



The 'sauce,' and what apparently disqualifies this from being a pizza, was delicious. It was a combination of sun-dried tomato pesto, basil, oregano, butter, olive oil, and garlic. Now, I am generally a big believer of 'there is no such thing as too much garlic,' but this recipe called for three tablespoons of garlic. Some googling is telling me that this should be about 5 or 6 cloves, but when I was mincing my garlic, 4 cloves was one tablespoon, and they weren't small cloves. So I added 6 or 7 and stopped. The garlic flavor was right about where I like it, although I am now curious what it would have tasted like if I had added all of the garlic.



Next time I am definitely adding more onion. I was afraid to put too much on, forgetting it was a sweet onion. Next time, I won't hold back.



I also used baby spinach because... well, honestly, I love baby spinach. I would eat it in just about anything.



The jalapeño chunks were too small to really be seen here, but the feta on top of it was amazing. I haven't had a ton of experience with feta, so I wasn't really sure what it would taste like. I tried a few stray pieces, but couldn't decide how I thought it'd interact with all of the ingredients. So I slid it into the oven, and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

The pizza dough took nearly half an hour to bake. If Mama Bird hadn't been in the kitchen guarding the oven, I would have probably eaten it half raw, because it smelled wonderful.



But it was definitely worth the wait. This pizza turned out perfectly. I omitted the sliced tomato from the cast of ingredients, because I honestly don't like tomatoes. Yes, I eat ketchup, and I am fine with tomato sauce on pizza and pasta, but I like to go light on them. And I don't care for the texture of tomato. Birds don't eat tomato. The jalapeño also had no kick, probably because we destroyed the seeds.

The second version of this pizza I made didn't turn out nearly as delicious, which disappointed me since my friends were excited for it given the description. The pre-made crust wasn't nearly as good, which was disappointing. But it was also a normal 8 inch pizza crust, as opposed to the vaguely-rectangular blob I served. It was the same amount of feta in a smaller area, and I think it was too much feta. I found it overpowering, and I don't think the guys were terribly impressed.

They don't know what pure deliciousness they missed. But you can.

Sun-dried Tomato Pesto Pizza from Reddit
(Serves 3, approximately $5.60 per serving)
Ingredients

2 tablespoons butter, melted

1 tablespoon olive oil

5-7 minced garlic cloves

2 tablespoons sun-dried tomato pesto

1 teaspoon dried basil leaves

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese

1 unbaked pizza crust

1 bunch fresh spinach, torn

1 sweet onion, sliced

1 fresh jalapeno pepper, chopped

6 oz feta cheese, crumbled

Directions

Preheat oven according to dough directions.

In small bowl combine butter, olive oil, garlic, pesto, basil, oregano, and Parmesan.

Spread evenly on pizza crust.

Arrange spinach, onion, tomato, and jalapeno on pizza. Top with crumbled feta.

Bake according to package directions.

Today's lessons learned:

• Fresh ingredients are important
  
• Feta is strong
  

Tonight I am making baked wonton crackers and two flavors of hummus: lemon and spicy. I'll be serving them as appetizers at a mini-dinner party on Wednesday. We'll see how it all turns out.

You are not a Carnivore!

One thing that has always driven me crazy has been when people refer to someone as a 'carnivore.' It's normally vegetarians who do it, in my experience, although I know other people do it as well. It drives me crazy because no one is a carnivore, no one. No one eats only meat. So why say something so inaccurate?

Of course, the reason this mostly irritates me is that 90% of the time it comes up, it's a vegetarian describing a dish, saying 'this dish is so good it'll trick even carnivores!' No, it won't trick carnivores, I don't care how good your veggie burger is. That doesn't mean they won't like it. If I eat a veggie burger or something, I know it's not meat, but that doesn't mean I'm going to spit it out and hate it.

I guess what really bothers me is just people who refer to others as carnivores. They're not. They're omnivores, even if they like meat more.

But, in case I annoyed anyone with my rant, here is a vegetarian recipe! In fact, I would say it's almost vegan, but I top it with cheese. The other day I made a black bean soup from A Year of Slow Cooking, which is obviously my favorite cooking site. I made it because I wanted to have something healthy after having a few days of rough dieting, and I was tired of eating boring lunches. So I made this for just Mama Bird and I, as well as some cornbread, and it was my lunch for more than a week.

I was nervous about it at first because the texture took a little getting used to, and it really looks like chocolate pudding. But it tastes delicious. With hot Rotel and just normal taco sauce, it had enough of a kick to satisfy me. I put a little in the freezer, but I feel like defrosting it watered it down a bit, which was a little disappointing. I really liked it, overall, and am definitely going to be making it again, maybe in a month or so.

And now my family migrates north to visit more birds. We'll see how much I end up eating. (Hint: it will be a lot.)


Black Bean Soup from A Year of Slow Cooking
(Serves ~6, approximately $1.43 per serving)
Ingredients

46.5oz black beans

10oz diced tomatoes

2 cups of broth, vegetable or chicken

2 tablespoons taco sauce

1.5 cups frozen vegetables

Directions

1. Blend vegetables together in blender.
   
2. Empty all ingredients into crockpot, without rinsing, and stir.
   
3. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
   
4. Blend everything to a smooth texture.
   
5. Serve with some cheese and cornbread.
   

Today's lessons learned:

• If you try to puree the vegetables directly from the freezer, be prepared to wake the whole house.
  

Spinach Stuffed Chicken

Last week, I went above and beyond the call of duty and planned a whole week of menus for my family, which was mostly just Mama Bird and I. I also went above and beyond the Call of Duty to fight Nazi Zombies, but that's hardly related. (We only survived to round twelve. I am not very good at fighting Nazi Zombies, apparently.)

One of the things I had planned on making last week was Broccoli Stuffed Chicken, not that I had any particular recipe picked out for it. It just sounded cool, and I wanted to try it. But Mama Bird pointed out we didn't have broccoli, just spinach, and both of us were too lazy to go to Giant to buy any. So we decided to make spinach stuffed chicken. It's got more alliteration to it, anyhow. And because I am brave and bold, I opted to not use a recipe. (Mama Bird advised me a lot. A lot.)

And it turned out pretty good! You can't tell from these pictures, as I'm a terrible photographer, but... use your imagination. They honestly weren't complicated: pound some chicken breasts so they're sort of flat, put cheese on them, and then put spinach on the cheese. Fold it, toothpick it, put bread crumbs on them if you do desire, and put em in the oven until they're done! Then eat. I'd advise you let them cool, but hey, what do I know.

I put pepper jack in mine, and Mama Bird got swiss, since she tells me I make things too spicy sometimes. I thought it was awesome with pepper jack, it gave it a little kick that it totally needed.

A not so artsy picture of them coming out of the oven. Notice the pool of melted cheese, breadcrumbs, and chicken juice in the middle. Poor planning on my part.

And this highlights the other problem I had with it: the folded end was just entirely chicken, no spinach. So I think next time I might mess around with cutting the chicken and trying to make a chicken sandwich. Yes, I know, not quite the idea, but it'd be interesting, wouldn't it? We'll see what happens.

Spinach Stuffed Chicken from the Bird
(Serves 2, approximately $4.93 per serving)
Ingredients

2 chicken breasts

3 ounces baby spinach

1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

1 teaspoon onion flakes

2 slices Pepperjack, or desired cheese

1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs

Directions

1. Boil or steam spinach.
   
2. While spinach is cooking, flatten chicken breasts as much as possible.
   
3. Place a piece of cheese on each breast.
   
4. Remove spinach from pot or steamer, and mix with Italian seasoning and onion flakes.
   
5. Spoon spinach onto cheese, and fold chicken breast over.
   
6. Secure with toothpick.
   
7. Sprinkle breadcrumbs over top.
   
8. Bake at 350 for 25 minutes, or until done.
   

Today's lessons learned:

• 'Flatten chicken' does not mean do it until you're bored, it means flatten the chicken.