Halloween Coconut Ice?

I've been cooking a lot, still. Tons of muffins- I made over fifty muffins for a little trip to the Run for your Lives 5k recently. I made whole grain pumpkin and morning glory muffins, and they were pretty much destroyed. The morning glory ones almost didn't make it to the next morning, actually.

I didn't take any pictures of them, because I am both an idiot and still don't have a camera.

Then I decided I wanted to retry the failed coconut ice I made so long ago. I got a different recipe, and mmmm, I think Prehistoric Bird will agree when I say that it's good. It's terrible for you, no doubt. But it melts in your mouth, and it just tastes like delicious sugary coconut.

I'll take pictures of it later. But for now, just know: I am still slowly trying to cook through England.

Bad things come in more than threes, these days.

My laptop's hard drive completely crashed last week. As a computer person, you might assume that I had the foresight to back up all of my important files, but you would be slightly... incorrect in that assumption. I'm hoping some of my things can be recovered, but for now, everything is gone. That means all of the pictures I had taken in the past months are gone.

I'm going to start working on replacing them with new pictures but between having mono and a huge homework load for my graduate class (not to mention all the other things going on in my life!), it certainly won't be getting done this week. I promise eventually things will start updating again!

Sick Birds don't Blog...

Sorry for the silence again, but I've been very busy. Between starting a new job and then catching mono, I've hardly had the energy to function, let alone be witty enough to write blog posts. I have plenty of posts half written, and plenty of pictures taken (jumbo muffins! You've no idea how much that excites me.), but right now I just don't have the energy to write anything lengthy. In fact, I'm about to go crawl back in bed and take a nap... and yes, I know it's only 10 in the morning.

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?!
  

Pitas appear to be beyond me.

Aha, and ya'll thought I forgot about my mission to re-cook everything I ate in England, didn't you? The one I gave the ridiculously British-sounding name to? Well, I didn't forget at all!

I'm just bad at cooking things in a timely manner, it seems.

The original version of this dish came from the Jazz Cafe, and it was one of the things I was most looking forward to. And it turned out deliciously. Everything except the pita, which I attempted to make on my own. The bread tasted fine, but you know how pitas are supposed to have little pockets, for putting food inside...?

Mine were just sad and flat. I didn't even take a picture of it, because it made me so sad.

I did take a picture of the final product, though.



So many colors! If I had not made whole-wheat pitas, then maybe there would have been even more, but I appear to be obsessed with whole-wheat. I think that's a good thing, it makes me feel healthier.

These are really easy to make. Mixing together the tabbouleh and tzatziki can be day the day before, even, and the lamb patties only take minutes to throw together. It takes a while only to chop everything up by hand. I'm a horrendously slow food chopper, so it still took me about half an hour, but Mama Bird could have done it in probably 10. I guess that should be my next goal: improving my chopping skills...

Recipe from All About You
(Makes 8 servings, with 338 calories and $2.02 per serving)
Lamb Patties

18 ounces ground lamb

4 tablespoons breadcrumbs

1 egg

zest of 1 lemon

2 teaspoons oregano

3 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons olive oil

1. Mix all ingredients but olive oil in bowl until well combined.
   
2. Shape into eight patties.
   
3. Place on tray and chill in fridge for at least 15 minutes.
   
4. Heat oil, and fry over medium to high heat for 4 to 5 minutes each side.
   
5. Drain on kitchen towel.
   
6. Serve with tabbouleh, pita, and tzatziki sauce.
   

Tabbouleh

2 ounces couscous

2 ounces fresh parsley

1 ounce fresh mint

1/2 red onion

3 tablespoons olive oil

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Put dry couscous in bowl and pour in 1/2 cup of hot water.
   
2. Stir, then cover and let sit until water is absorbed.
   
3. Fluff with fork, and add remaining ingredients. Chill before serving.
   

Tzatziki Sauce

1 cup greek yogurt

1 cucumber

1 green onion

2 cloves garlic

1 tablespoon mint

3 tablespoons lemon juice

1. Peel and dice cucumber.
   
2. Combine all ingredients and stir well.
   
3. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before serving.
   

Today's lessons learned:

• I chop things very slowly.
  
• Pitas without pockets are a lot like naan.
  

Almost Vegetarian Lentil Stew

Since my nest is located in the upcoming path of the lovely Miss Irene, Mama Bird and I took a trip to our local grocery store at 10:30pm today. I expected the store to be completely crowded with nothing left on the shelves, and she thought I was being silly and that there'd still be plenty of everything and no one there.

It wasn't nearly as packed as I thought, but the almost complete lack of bottled water was not surprising. I don't think it's going to be as bad as we're preparing for, but owning another 32 bottles of water can't be a bad thing as long as we make sure to recycle! Mama Bird and I then spent a ridiculous amount of money on groceries. It wasn't because we were trying to stock up, it was because I had a long list of make-ahead meals I wanted to try. I intend to spend at least a few hours tomorrow making my own freezer burritos, and I want to try to recreate my own version of Amy's pizza pockets, which I was in love with all through high school and college. If I could make my own, I would be able to die happy. As long as I could eat them first. I also want to make my own granola in a slow cooker, because everything is better that way.

So tomorrow is going to be quite a day for cooking, hopefully. I must be stressed.



But today I'll be sharing a lentil stew that confuses me every time I eat it. It's delicious. It may be too spicy if you're me and just start tossing peppers in without thinking about it. But no matter what you do, if you don't eat this with bread or rice, then I just don't think it's very filling. Note the calorie count.

It's a very easily modifiable recipe. You don't want it to be spicy? Don't put in as many peppers- heck, don't put in any! You don't have celery, but wow you have a bunch of carrots? Not really an issue. It's a vegetable lentil soup. It won't judge you, you can do what you want.

And even better, if you want to make it vegetarian, just switch out the chicken broth. Instantly vegetarian! And the only thing you'll miss out on is that delicious chicken flavor.

Recipe modified from Red Chillies.
(Makes 6 servings, with 75 calories and $1.18 per serving)

1 cup brown lentils

1 stalk celery

4 garlic cloves

1/2 onion

1 potato

2 cups chicken broth

2 carrots

1 teaspoon black pepper

1 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon basil

2 bay leaves

1/2 cup spinach

1/2 teaspoon thyme

3 serrano peppers

1. Heat 3 cups of water in pot, and put lentils it.
   
2. Bring to boil, then simmer for 20 minutes.
   
3. Set aside, but do not drain.
   
4. Heat a little oil, and saute garlic and bay leaves.
   
5. Add onion and mix until lightly cooked.
   
6. Add ginger, celery, carrots, potato, and spinach.
   
7. Cook until slightly less firm.
   
8. Add broth, spices, and peppers.
   
9. Simmer for 40 minutes.
   

Today's lessons learned:

• Different peppers have different levels of spice!
  

Jalapeno Cheddar Cornbread.

I love cornbread. Love, love, love cornbread. I recently went to Boston Market with someone I'll dub Model Bird, and he commented that I must not like cornbread because I didn't touch the piece they gave me.

"No, I love cornbread," I replied modestly. "I just know that I can make much better cornbread than they can."

So I did. And if anyone thinks this isn't better than Boston Market cornbread... well, then they certainly aren't any friend of mine.



My mother was concerned about the jalapeno being in it. I was disappointed to realize that the jalapeno lost its bite once cooked. I should have known that, but I forget things sometimes. It still had a pleasant little kick.





This is definitely not healthy cornbread. I have a separate recipe I do for that. You could probably half the amount of cheese in the recipe and still be happy with it. But if you're gonna make unhealthy cornbread, you may as well go all the way...

Recipe from Food Network.
(Makes 16 squares, with 295 calories and $0.60 per squares.)

3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup yellow cornmeal

1/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons baking powder

2 teaspoons kosher salt

2 cups milk

3 eggs

1/2 pound unsalted, melted butter

8 ounces aged extra-sharp Cheddar

1/3 cup chopped scallions (3 scallions)

3 tablespoons fresh jalapeno peppers

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
   
2. Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
   
3. Combine the milk, eggs, and butter in a separate bowl.
   
4. Mix wet and dry ingredients carefully, not over-stirring.
   
5. Mix in 2 cups of grated cheese, scallions, and jalapenos.
   
6. Let sit at room temperature for 20 minutes.
   
7. Pour batter into pan and sprinkle with remaining cheddar.
   
8. Bake 30 to 35 minutes.
   

Today's lessons learned:

• Jalapenos lose some of their kick when they're cooked.
  
• Bread gets moldy if you don't take care of it. It gets moldy faster if it's laced with cheese.