Wednesday Wisdom

via here

You win some.......

......you loose some

So last week I said I was going to make Sloppy Joes and I did and they were inedible.   This does not happen to me often when I try a recipe.   I can usually "fix it" as my husband says.   This however was not fixable.   The first time I try a recipe I basically do what it says for the most part.  Even though a little voice told me that vinegar was a bad idea I did it anyway.   It tasted ok on Sunday but when I took it out to reheat on Monday.......wowza on the vinegar.   Not to worry I thought this is fixable so I added some sugar and then some more sugar, and then some ketchup, and then some tomato paste, and then basically I decided to quit wasting things throwing them in this pot.   I wasn't really hungry and G was late so I ate some sauteed zucchini (YUM!) and fixed G a sandwich when he got home.   Now most things are better with a big slab of Tillamook cheddar so I slapped one of those on the sandwich.   Didn't work.   G struggled and I said - I know its no good just have a bowl of cereal.   He was sweet and said no problem and that he figured I would fix it for us to eat later.   I told him I'd already tried that and it was a lost cause.   Oh well maybe I should of just used Manwich - wonder if they still make that?

In the winner circle however is this chicken.   It's super simple and what I would call a Pantry Dinner. However, I did half Dijon and half yellow (I know I know that's not following the recipe - I did say most times) as G is not a huge fan of Dijon mustard.   I would however recommend less vinegar.  I had to "fix" with more mustard and syrup after I added the vinegar.

Maybe I have bad vinegar?  Is that possible?   Is there a shelf life on red wine vinegar?

Perhaps I should look into that......

This is in the refrigerator as we speak waiting for me to get home and put it in the oven.  However, I halved the recipe and didn't use onion, pepper, or jalepeno's but did use some mild green chili's.  Oh and I didn't have biscuit mix so I used biscuits in the can on the bottom.   Maybe I don't always follow a recipe the first time afterall?  I seem to be contradicting that right and left now don't I?

What's for dinner

Here's the plan.....

Saturday
BBQ burgers
homemade potato salad - not sure if I've shared my recipe but will soon
fruit salad

Sunday
Happy Fathers Day!

Chicken with Forty Cloves - going to try this with Chicken breast
Rice or pasta
Zucchini or salad

Monday
Sloppy Joe's because you always have leftover buns for the BBQ burgs
Steamed spinach

Tuesday
Leftover Joes
Zucchini saute

Wednesday
Leftover Chicken
veggie of some sort....

Thursday
I'm going out to Sushi with a friend!

Friday
Take out......

Scrap soup

So I read somewhere - not sure where - an easy way to make your own veggie broth.  You always have veggie scraps but never have a whole bunch at one time so.......put what you have in a ziplock in the freezer and just keep adding.   Then once the bag is full you can make your own veggie broth.

I tired it and it worked!

I had a bag of onion, celery, asparagus, carrot scraps.   But it in my big kettle - most of it still frozen - covered it with water and turned the stove on high.   Once it boiled I let it simmer along for about hours.   Here is where I will do this differently next time.   I would let it simmer longer.   Once it was "done" I let it cool for a minute.  Took out the big pieces and ran the rest through a sieve as I put it in Mason jars to freeze.  Not a super strong flavor but it is a lovely color and it was basically free!

This is a must try........

May

Mother's Day

Dad's 79th birthday

Eating my veggies!

Chillin.....