Living in town definitely has advantages I hadn’t thought of before. Mainly, I’m now much closer to everything - shopping, bill paying, work. Only the sleeping arrangements aren’t as comfortable as I’d like while I stay with friends. I opted to take the couch so no one was put out of their own beds. That’s the right thing to do, I think.

When we do get into our own house, I really need to be shopping for some things such as a new mattress set and a sleep wedge, so I can rest my back better and maybe not wake up so stiff and sore.

Sometimes it’s hard for me to get going in the mornings, so I don’t even think about cooking until well up into the day when the soreness has worn off. This means no breakfast gets cooked. It also means trying to make up for that by serving more hearty lunch or dinner meals. When we finally get settled, I can work harder again to make weekly menus and shop more carefully.

Technorati Tags: shopping, cooking, weekly menus

As I mentioned in a previous post, I made a luscious lunch using rice, boneless pork steaks, corn, and salad. Today, since there are leftovers of that lunch, I’ll make a House Fried Rice.

All I have to do is thinly slice the leftover pork, make fried rice from the leftover rice, and throw in a few frozen mixed veggies, soy sauce, and egg to make a delicious new meal. What I don’t have with me right now is sesame oil, which is delicious added to the fried rice. However, I’ll make do with what’s on hand and remember to pick up some sesame oil on the next grocery shopping trip.

Because I’m off work today and everyone else is at work, I’ll make this for our dinner instead of lunch. House Fried Rice incorporates everything we need for a well-rounded meal. I’ll put salad fixings out, of course, for those who want it.

House Fried Rice

Ingredients

• About 2 cups cooked rice, either brown or white
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup frozen mixed vegetables or leftover vegetables of your choice
• 2 cups thinly sliced cooked meat (chicken, beef, pork); small cooked shrimp if you have it
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Sliced almonds, mushrooms, pine nuts, sunflower nuts, water chestnuts, or Chinese noodles add crunch and dimension.

Method

Heat oil in a wok or skillet until very hot. Add vegetables and cook until tender-crisp. Remove vegetables to a warm bowl and put rice in, cooking until it’s heated thoroughly. Remove rice and put in the same bowl as the vegetables. Put meat in and stir fry it until it’s warmed through. Add to bowl of veggies and rice. Put eggs in and scramble them, making them more flat than fluffy. Put all ingredients back into hot skillet and stir together. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve piping hot with soy sauce, sweet and sour sauce, duck sauce, or any other condiments you prefer.

Technorati Tags: House Fried Rice, dinner, wok, skillet

I am moderately settled in at our friend’s house. Enough so that I bought groceries and fixed a nice lunch for us all on Saturday.

For the salad, I prepared sliced, raw yellow squash, zucchini, sweet onion, and sliced mushrooms to toss into a salad base of sweet buttercrunch lettuce and baby spinach leaves. I topped my salad with extra virgin olive oil and a splash of Balsamic vinegar, along with a pinch of salt and pepper. Yum!

I keep a variety of olive oils on hand - extra virgin, virgin, and light - for various cooking and eating needs. Olive oil is good for your heart health, too, so that’s a real bonus. I love the floral fragrance and flavor of extra virgin for both vegetable and fruit salads. It’s a lovely thing, to be sure.

I have even used olive oil as part of a beauty mask by mixing it with beaten egg yolks and a dash of lemon juice. This really helps my dry, aging skin to feel revitalized, though it may not be the best acne treatment for those who have that problem. However, by mixing only egg whites and olive oil, your problem skin could benefit. I’m not saying it can cure acne. It certainly can’t. It just makes the skin feel good.

Technorati Tags: groceries, lunch, salad, beauty mask

I have a PC that I’ve put in storage for the time being that’s got tons of recipes on the hard drive. I prefer to use it for recipes and personal stuff, and use my laptop for more business oriented tasks. Once we get settled into our “new” house, I’ll set it back up and start sending recipes from it to this blog so I can share them with you.

I’ve got them categorized so it’s easy to find what I’m looking for. I’ve even got Once a Month Cooking recipes and household solutions recipes on it, so I think you’ll get a lot of use from them. So, keep checking in and I’ll add them and use them in a series of related recipes.

Technorati Tags: PC, recipes, laptop, Once a Month Cooking

The friend we’re staying with cooks simple but delicious meals. A couple of nights ago he fixed barbecued chicken, rice, lima beans, corn and green bean medley, and potato salad. It was cooked up quickly and served piping hot.

The chicken was the focal point, of course. To cook it, he simply dipped boneless, skinless chicken breast portions into a mixture of ketchup and Louisiana hot sauce, then baked it, covered, in a casserole dish. While that was baking he cooked rice and fixed vegetables. The potato salad was some he’d picked up at the store.

This is the kind of meal that is nutritious, warming, and satisfying every time.

Technorati Tags: meals, barbecued chicken

While we’re waiting for the final paperwork on the house to go through, we’ll be staying with our friend and will probably also wind up staying at a local motel that rents rooms by the week. They are similar to small efficiency apartments. There, I can still prepare some meals for us.

Of course, those digs won’t be as breathtaking as St. Thomas villa rentals, but they’ll do for the interim. My son was highly concerned yesterday about what we’ll do and where we’ll go. He doesn’t remember similar circumstances in his childhood, and it’s got him upset right now. I assured him that we’ll make it for the next couple of weeks as best we can and the payoff will be that house.

We’ve got everything on the moving truck but a couple of dressers and the couch. Even the refrigerator is out now, so we’ve got sandwich meats in a cooler and bread on the counter. At least it’s something to eat while we move!

Yesterday, we made bologna sandwiches with American cheese and sliced tomato. This is simple fare but to me, it’s one of the best simple sandwiches around. It takes me right back to my childhood days when my friend down the street and I would have them at her house along with a big glass of sweet iced tea.

There are just some foods we ate as children that bring back those faded, soft-focus memories of playing outside in the summer or gathering at the dinner table as a family.

Technorati Tags: sandwich meats, bologna, sandwiches

It’s going to be hard staying with someone until we can move into the house. With only a few personal possessions and not my own kitchen, I may feel out of place. I may also feel like an intruder, even though we were specifically invited to stay there.

Our friend even said he has cable, if we want to watch anything at all on TV. I have a small, portable TV and it would be nice to be able to watch Rachael Ray or some other cooking shows for inspiration. I don’t know if I’ll need HDMI switches to use on it or not yet. I hope not. Maybe I can just plug it in and watch.

Since I haven’t watched much commercial television in a few years, it’s hard for me to say if I’d like most shows or not! Do you have any favorite cooking shows?

Technorati Tags: kitchen, cable, Rachael Ray, television

Because we’re in the middle of moving, there’s not much cooking going on right now. In fact, we’re just having sandwiches and something to drink for now.

So, now all my favorite countertop appliances are packed away and in the storage unit. Everything but the coffee maker. That, I’ve got to have to keep going!

But, I’ll still be posting here as much as I can. Having a laptop makes that possible, I’m happy to say, and I’ll probably be telling you about the food our friend cooks since that’s where we’ll be temporarily staying. I told you about him in a previous post and he’s one of the best cooks I know.

Technorati Tags: cooking, countertop appliances, coffee maker