kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Thursday, November 28th, 2024 12:08 pm
Happy Thanksgiving to those who celebrate it today, and happy Thursday to those who don't.

And for anyone who is having a rough time of whatever type, I send caring and hope it gets better in whatever way it can.

Meanwhile, I share a brief and silly story to brighten your day. We are having Thanksgiving dinner at home, and I don't normally cook a Thanksgiving dinner - let alone a full turkey. But as I was able to get a free one at the store while buying what I would have anyway, I am in fact cooking a whole turkey. Plus miscellaneous sides and so on, though at this stage there's very little left to be done other than application of heat and some mixing for some of them.

But! I was planning out tucking the roasting pan and the sheet pan the rolls will be on back in the oven to cool (so they won't be on the counter when I need that counter space!) later on. At the same time I was getting a kid some microwave pasta because it's hours yet until the feast and he was hungry now.

So I put on the oven gloves to take the bowl from the microwave (four minutes makes for a very hot glass bowl, and I prefer not to burn my hands), moved it to the hot pad I'd set out, turned back to close the microwave door, and - because I'd been thinking about returning things to the oven which is right next to the microwave - very nearly took the gloves off and tucked them in the microwave.

I'd have had a right hard time finding THOSE when I next needed them! Fortunately they are back where they are supposed to be, so I don't have to use a clumsier oven mitt to get the turkey out later, only to find what I needed a bit after when I microwave the peas.
kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Saturday, November 23rd, 2024 02:15 pm
1. What is your favorite childhood memory?

Hard to say. There are many good ones. Time with my parents and the cats at home is definitely up there, but picking one is not easy.

2. If you could be reincarnated as anything besides human, who would you want to be?

A cat. Preferably a pampered housecat, but even as a feral, I think it would be interesting.

3. If you had to start your life all over, what are three things you would change?

I would write down more things in the moment to help jog my memory later (which I nevertheless still don't do often enough). I would spend more time just talking to my parents. And I'd try to be more courageous about changing jobs more often, rather than staying as long as I did. That has worked well for me but meant I've gotten to do fewer different things than if I'd moved on more often.

4. If you had to forget everything in your life, except one thing, what would it be?

There's no good answer to this. I mean, if I remember my self but nothing else, does that drag along all the how-I-became this way? I think the best answer would be "my family" just because it's pretty broad and I wouldn't want to forget them, but then that implies forgetting non-family friends which just no....

5. Do you have a lucky charm?

Nope. Sometimes we have them for a bit when the boys beg and I'm feeling like a sucker, but otherwise, nope. (No, I don't have one the way the question means it, but how could I pass up a chance to make it about the cereal anyway?)

Questions post
kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Saturday, November 30th, 2019 09:16 pm
Speaking of clam chowder, this recipe gets lazier every time I make it, to good effect so far. Here is the current incarnation:

New England Clam Chowder
Serves 6 to 8 )
kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Thursday, October 10th, 2019 06:50 pm
It has been a very busy week. But the parent-teacher conferences went fine, the appointment went fine, the benefits info for open enrollment this year at work was boring*, we had a team lunch and I was able to order something off the menu adjusted to be fine for me to eat (and it was tasty).

The road construction today was very much Not Wanted - I ended up parking at Graham Oaks and walking to the school (which is about a 5-minute walk) to pick the boys up from their school's-out program (which is at the school). On the other hand, they are doing the stretch in front of the schools today and tomorrow, when they are NOT open so it's just Club K attendees and some staff affected. It was originally going to be Tuesday and Wednesday next week, when it could have snarled up the afternoon school buses (among other things).

* Open enrollment info SHOULD be boring, in my opinion. It's very, very rare that any excitement around the open enrollment is good. I mean, if they want to do something exciting-but-good I won't complain, but I also won't ask for it unless it happens. But I do like to avoid exciting-because-it's-bad news. :)
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kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Sunday, January 22nd, 2017 01:47 pm
Mmmmmmmm. Clam Chowder (Jake's, from a can...so sue me) was always among my favorite things growing up. YUM. And...then I had to go lactose-free. Clam Chowder generally doesn't work with that. And then I went low-FODMAP...onions, celery...oops.

So. Today I have GLORIOUS clam chowder, richer than what I was used to, but in a very good way.
I started with https://fructosefreeme.com/tag/clam-chowder/ and made the following changes:
  • Substitute Earth's Balance one-to-one for butter
  • Substitute lactose-free whole milk one-to-one for cream
  • Completely omit celery
  • Use only 1.5 turnips (because shredding turnips is a pain...)
  • Substitute 1/2 tsp dried thyme (because I had it)
  • Substitute 3 ounces of chopped cooked bacon intended for topping salads (because I'm lazy)


And thus, add the bacon/Earth's balance/turnip all at once initially and cook for 8-10 minutes, then move on with the recipe.

Oh MAN is it good. Ian liked it so much he asked for seconds. Scott and Andrew had taquitos, but I expected that.
kyrielle: (too sweet)
Sunday, January 1st, 2017 11:30 am
1/3 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp vanilla extract, hot water until just runny, add to 6 cups popcorn.
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kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Sunday, November 6th, 2016 06:31 pm
I haven't had KFC chicken in so long I can't actually comment how close this comes!

But since the "secret" recipe was splashed all over the press - whether it's accurate or not - I figured I'd adapt it to be low FODMAP suitable for my diet. It's yummy, whether it's accurate or not.

Half this recipe is sufficient for 12-13 chicken drumsticks (4+ pounds). You'll see in a moment why I didn't halve it, however... I might triple back to the original and just store it for use when I want some! O.o It'd be easier. (And anything that references 1/3 tsp or 2/3 tsp, I was totally estimating with sorta-heaping 1/4's....)

2/3 cup Bob's Red Mill 1-to-1 gluten-free baking flour (I suspect a plain rice flour would work fine here also)
2/3 tsp salt
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tps basil
1/3 tsp oregano
1 tsp celery salt (the level of celery exposure here should be low enough to be fine)
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried mustard
1 Tbsp paprika
1 tsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp white pepper (yes, you really really need the white pepper)

The original also had garlic salt - I omitted and drizzled a little garlic-infused olive oil over some pieces and ate other pieces as was. I'll be honest, it's fine either way, so I'd skip the garlic-infused olive oil (that way, you don't have to try not to accidentally put too much on a piece). If you tolerate garlic well, add 2 tsp garlic salt to the recipe to get closer to the original, but at that point the only substitution is the gluten free flour

Pat the chicken legs dry. Coat lightly in the mixture (probably a shaking bag would be easiest, but rub it on, dip it, whatever method you prefer). Lay out on an oiled baking pan. Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, flip, and give it another 30 minutes or so, until well cooked / internal temperature of 160 (if you like to use a meat thermometer; I'm lazy about that).
kyrielle: (stormy sea)
Saturday, October 15th, 2016 09:36 pm
The high wind warning was originally to expire at midnight, but they changed it to expire at 9 pm. We did have some pretty good gusts and Scott (who took the boys to a friend's birthday party this afternoon) tells me there were some tree branches down, but it was nothing like as bad as the worst-case scenario.

Here.

The coast had a really brutal time of it. The Portland NWS issued *10* tornado warnings (previous record, at least as far back as 2005, was 2...). I could then claim they were being alarmist because of the forecast, except that there actually were two confirmed tornados on the coast. (One in Manzanita which did a fair amount of damage, and one near Oceanside that...wandered on to the beach and that was it. Thank goodness for that, at least.)

Meanwhile, I planned my cooking to hopefully have everything done before the hours of likeliest power outage. We didn't have a power outage, but we did have a yummy lunch and dinner, so that worked just fine. :)

And hey, it spurred me to get some chores done early, which means I have a little bit of flexibility in my weekend for tomorrow. (...because we didn't do anything outside the house except the birthday party, today, and I was home doing chores and cooking during that....)

My house is warm and safe and comfy, my family is secure in it. The boys are asleep and after a bit more that needs to be done, I will be.

For this, I am thankful.
kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Wednesday, June 29th, 2016 06:11 pm
This is adapted from this recipe: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/cabbage-and-potato-bake-recipe.html

It was adapted to use what I had in my CSA share, and also to be low-FODMAP. Sourcing notes for products I used at the end.

my recipe )

Verdict: I like this. It's a little mild, so if you want a stronger flavor you may have to adjust it, but I'm pretty pleased. Just finished it and Scott's not home with the boys yet, so I don't have the family verdict.
kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Wednesday, May 18th, 2016 06:14 pm
Well, the boys were "okay" with their eggs and pleased with their garlic bread tonight. Didn't get them to eat the salad. (Didn't try hard, either. WHY do people love "spring greens"? I consider eating them a necessary evil when they're what I have, but if the taste were any sharper, I could've used it to cut the garlic bread.)

We are getting a CSA share from OurTable this summer: http://www.ourtable.us/news/springsummer-local-food-boxes-week-3 was this week's.

Garlic bread made with the white part of the garlic and a whole lot of butter (and a loaf of Italian bread from the store); eggs cooked with the green garlic (for the boys and Scott) or with zucchini, some radish greens, and a bit of choi (me, because cannot have garlic); and, urgh, spring greens in a salad.

Not too shabby. I'll enjoy eating the actual radishes tomorrow, and I have another serving of my eggs and another of theirs left over. And enough greens for argh. They were really generous with the salad greens.

I'm actually looking forward to "oh GOD they planted ZUCCHINI" season because I love all the options zucchini provides. I realize this makes me a freak. But...we got our first zucchini this week. YAY. (Extra yay, because joking aside, that means we'll lean more toward strawberries in a future week, and if you ask me if I want 'extra strawberries' or 'extra zucchini' to be a thing in a week that already had some of whatever-it-is, well, extra strawberries are more-appreciated by the rest of the household and equally appreciated by me, so. But I also have a lovely chocolate-zucchini-muffin recipe that will probably get some play time this summer. Tonight I didn't have the energy for it tho.)
kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Wednesday, May 4th, 2016 05:54 pm
This...turned out really nice. And for those who don't know, most vegetable broths do not work well with low-FODMAP (celery is a minor issue, garlic and onion a bigger one), and the white part of leeks is also a no-go. (Which also makes this thing a lovely mid-green, more pea-soup in appearance than potato-leek.)

1/4 cup? olive oil, divided*
2 cups chopped leek parts (dark green leaves only)**
5-3/4 cup water and some salt, and a little bit of garlic-infused olive oil (1/2 tsp?)***
2 pounds potatoes, cut in cubes****
3/8 tsp cayenne pepper*****
some salt

Get your pot, put it over medium heat. When it's heated up, add some of the oil and the leek parts. Cook until they're tender, you're bored, or both - about ten minutes. Add oil as needed.

Pour in the water mix and add the potatoes. Bring it back to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and let simmer for about 25 minutes. (I actually arguably boiled it for 20 of those minutes, because hi, not paying enough attention. Worked fine. Anecdotally.)

Put mix in blender and puree until fine; you don't want to fill the blender more than about half full, so this will take more than one cycle. Once it's all pureed, stir the cayenne pepper and additional salt in, tasting as you go and adjusting as needed. Make sure you stir well.

Careful with this one. It's a lovely, mild potato taste with just a little bit of onion/leek flavor to it. It's really very mild and calm. And just as you're realizing that it's friendly and tasty, the after-burners kick in. It's _nothing_ like a serious pepper and it won't threaten your taste buds' existence. But it can and probably will startle you. (I warned Scott and it still startled him. This soup has a serious second personality.)

* I didn't bother to measure this. I just put some in, and added when it seemed to need it.

** Just shy of two leeks in the case of the ones I had; if FODMAPs is not a concern, substitute two leeks here, it's easier.

*** Probably 1-2 tsp salt, but I just dropped it in. If FODMAPs aren't a concern, use 4 cups of vegetable broth and 1-3/4 cup water.

**** I left the skin on, and it worked fine.

***** I will be doing 1/4 tsp at most next time. Uff da. But I am a wimp.
kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Saturday, March 5th, 2016 03:03 pm
I'm lazy, so I Googled this and found: http://www.paleorunningmomma.com/pre-race-food-easy-paleo-and-low-fodmap-meatloaf/

And then, because I'm lazy, I further adapted it. What I did:

2 pounds ground turkey
1 whole egg
1/4 tsp salt*
2-3 tsp Italian seasoning**
1 tsp dried chives

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix ingredients thoroughly. Spray a 9x5 baking pan and press mixture into it, pressing down a bit more in the center. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes / until no longer pink in the center. (I think I overcooked this slightly. I don't think it actually mattered. It was wonderful.)

* I was quite happy with this amount but you should be aware that I often find tasty what others call bland, and adjust your recipe accordingly. The original called for 3/4 tsp.

** I didn't have poultry seasoning handy and I couldn't find any at the store that was looked low FODMAP. As it happens, I'm glad I couldn't find it. Best substitution is best. I don't WANT poultry seasoning. I used McCormick's Italian mix. Since this already had oregano and basil, I added more than 2 but less than 3 teaspoons and called it good. It was.
kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Thursday, February 25th, 2016 07:02 pm
So, I love Qdoba's pulled pork. And honestly I tolerate it pretty well. But I confess to a desire to make it at home, and why would I _not_ convert it closer to low FODMAP?

So, I got the recipe I started with here: http://qdobaathome.blogspot.com/2013/04/pulled-pork.html

And I did this:

3 pounds pork*
1 bunch green onions, green portion, chopped
1-2 Poblano chilies, cut into thin strips
2 JalapeƱos, seeded and minced
0-2 Anaheim or Hatch green chilies, cut into thin strips**
2 cups tomatillos, husked, cut into large chunks***
garlic-infused olive oil (maybe 2-3 tsp?)
2-2.5 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Wash and cut onions, tomatillos, and peppers. Place in bottom of crock pot. Place pork on top of vegetables. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and garlic-infused oil.

Turn crock pot on low and cook for a minimum of six hours. (Per the original recipe, if your crock pot has a high setting you can cook on high for the first two hours, but don't leave on high too long as pork will become tough.)

After six hours, shred pork with tongs or forks, removing any fat prior to shredding.

* I used carnitas; pork chops and shoulder roast have both reportedly worked for others.

** I totally omitted these, I liked the milder flavor.

*** Hahaha I misremembered and only used 2 tomatillos, this would be much better.

...so so so SO good.
kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Saturday, February 20th, 2016 08:48 am
Low FODMAP, of course. I could just have hash browns, but I had leftover quinoa to use up.

These aren't horrible, but next time want more spicing.

1 cup cooked quinoa
1 large egg
salt/pepper to taste
Garlic and onion infused olive oils*

Mix the quinoa, egg, and salt/pepper. (It probably wants more salt than you think, but that can always be added after.)

Heat a pan on medium, add the oil after the pan's hot, and cook the mixture in thin patties (I used about half the mix per patty). Cook on the first side until the edges firm up.** Flip, and cook just slightly less time on the other side.

They were nicely edible but not yet delicious; on the other hand, they did neatly use up my leftover quinoa.

* If you don't follow the low FODMAP diet, maybe do something with garlic/onion and olive oil separately. And no, I didn't measure, just eyeballed it.

** If the patty is thin and you wait until the edges brown, you will burn other parts of the patty.
kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Sunday, June 21st, 2015 06:56 pm
So far, I can have wheat but not too much wheat, things flavored with garlic/onion (but probably not too much garlic/onion - have no desire to try something with whole roasted cloves!), and apparently one apple is fine. Honestly, I really appreciate this. Small to medium amounts of sugar/candy/honey appear okay too.

Potato chips are fine: not surprising, since all the ingredients are fine. But corn chips are NOT fine, and so I'm being cautious about corn. I do need to reintroduce it some time, but...caution.

Tonight, I had spaghetti (regular spaghetti!) with sauce (regular sauce!) and a small slice of raspberry pie. That's pushing it on the wheat, but I think it'll be okay.

This afternoon, we went to Mod Pizza, and I got a salad, which actually was quite tasty and didn't have _anything_ I can't freely have, so no worries on that front.

...I'm fairly pleased, actually.
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kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Sunday, May 17th, 2015 08:50 am
After seeing several very positive posts from [personal profile] synecdochic about sous vide and the Anova Precision Cooker, I decided to get one and try it.

I'm terrible at steaks. Seriously, oven-baking them is the only way I don't destroy them to the point you can't eat them. I've set the smoke alarm off. It's ridiculous.

Sous vide and sear? I can do that, and my first attempt produced the best steak I've ever cooked...and it was edible. So, there's that. Now trying it with a lesser cut and seeing if the long-cook-time means tender works for us.

So, easily amused Laura is easily amused. Also enjoying the chance to eat good steak without having to go to a steakhouse. Since I'm still eating mostly low-FODMAP with some experiments to see where I don't have to, it's nice to know what the seasonings are. (Low-FODMAP means, among other things, no onion or garlic flesh. Restaurants probably do use those in a lot of cases.)
kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Sunday, April 5th, 2015 07:20 pm
Went to Easter dinner at Uncle John & Aunt Julia's. I'm on call for work, as a back-up, but they have good wifi and aren't too far away, so I figured no big deal. I was right - especially since I didn't get called at all. Yay for not being needed right then! :)

It was a lovely meal, and the fruit and dip I brought got positive comments. (Mostly the dip: it was basic, but I served it in hollowed-out pineapples. I found that on the internet, which is why I had to bring fruit and dip, because seriously that's awesome.) There was a bunny race (of little pull-back-and-they-run bunny cars) and the boys got to run around and play (MOSTLY in approved ways, Ian had a couple moments where he was a bit too wild and got picked up by a parent to calm down).

The food was lovely, the company was more-so, and the weather was glorious - cloudy but bright, dry, and cool but not cold. After we finished dinner and the games and were about to clean up, the clouds grew more ominous, so the deck was cleared first. 15 minutes later it was raining and shortly after it was storming, with pouring rain.

So, a lovely Easter; the forecast weather held off until it was a welcome glory to watch, rather than something to be overcome.
kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Monday, September 8th, 2014 07:06 pm
I declare victory. Scott, I, and Ian all liked tonight's chicken taco soup. (Drew didn't, but he tried it, so.) So I record it and shared it.

1 can low sodium pinto beans, drained and rinsed.
1 can low sodium kidney beans, drained and rinsed.
1/4 cup McCormick original taco seasoning.
1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into chunks.
1 can creamed corn.
2-3 cups water.

If preparing ahead of time, take everything but the water, seal inside a gallon freezer bag appropriately labeled, and freeze.

Thaw overnight, and drop in the crockpot - adding the water. Cook on low for ten hours. (May be done sooner - we were gone for long enough that it needed to be ten hours.)

If you're not freezing it, it probably won't need to cook as long and/or you could cook on high, but otherwise I assume about the same results/steps.

You may want to add a bit of salt - it's on the light side for salt, though I found it quite tasty.
kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Sunday, August 10th, 2014 01:25 pm
Oh man I am stuffed. Happily. The kids mostly ate the rice (Drew) and olives/pineapple (Ian), but both tried the chicken, and Ian at least said 'yum' and liked the spicing. Scott and I loved it.

Recipe, in case anyone wants it )

And enough leftovers for me to have a couple lunches this week from it (one wrap in a tortilla - yes, I'm weird - and one salad with a side of the dish cold), plus probably another meal's worth of rice (for Drew) and meat/sauce/whatever (for Scott and I, with olives for the boys).

...yes, really, it went that fast. Inhale-worthy. Though if I weren't cooking for the boys, I'd be really tempted to omit the black olives. They don't hurt the flavor, but they're not adding much ... except for making the small ones even try the meal. Which is a lot. (And no one even noticed the onion in the end result, which is IMO the way onion should be - adding to the whole and keeping quiet about it. :)
kyrielle: painterly drawing of a white woman with large dark-blue-framed glasses, hazel eyes, brown hair, and a suspicious lack of blemishes (Default)
Saturday, July 19th, 2014 01:00 pm
So, we're doing the summer library program, which is reading for 20 minutes a day, with the boys. And it comes with a separate track of doing science experiments also. We're trying to do that with the boys, but really, mostly with Drew - Ian doesn't entirely understand (not surprising - he isn't even three!) and also gets bored.

Today, however, Ian managed to stay focused for most of the time involved.

See, I got a book on candy experiments.... So we did color dispersion, and dissolving candy in water and adding baking soda to tell if it was an acid (and confirming that acids were sour, which of course meant a taste test of the candies, which was popular), and then - stretching the definition of experiment marginally, but in a good cause - we compared the behavior of *chocolate* in a microwave to the behavior of a *marshmallow* in the microwave.

Happy boys. Too much sugar around, but I think I kept the ingested amount reasonable, and happy boys.

And we still have a "pizza box oven" out back trying to heat s'mores. I think they've actually subsided on the plastic and are no longer in the proper shape, but eh, we'll see. If they melt, it will have made its point. And really, shouldn't candy science be sticky and gooey and messy?