Saving Dinner

Odd title for a quilting blog??  Yep, it is. However, after cooking this way for the past month, I have to share.  First thing you should know is that I enjoy cooking, but, like quilting, I'm easily bored. What this translates to is that I'm not one of those people that cooks the same thing over and over.

A good friend of mine told me about this cookbook: "Saving Dinner the Low-Carb Way."  (Sorry, I stole the picture from Amazon, so you can't 'Look inside'.)

I love this cookbook!!  Inside are menus for a week, along with side dish suggestions and shopping lists. Often, during the week, there is at least one crockpot option. Cooking the dinners rarely takes more than a half-hour. This book totally addresses my "what's for dinner?" dilemma and my issues with cooking the same thing over and over. Its a win/win. There are several versions of the cookbook, including vegetarian and holiday ideas. 

And now, back to our regularly scheduled quilting content!!

Dory

What'd you get for Christmas??

Dennis knows I love gadgets, so for Christmas I got:

A Fitbit Force!  Have you seen these? They are so much fun. I had never even heard of them until we were wandering around the Reno airport and they had a similar one there. I was immediately intrigued.  We got home, Dennis did a ton of research, and the end result: I'm now wearing my Force everyday. It has a display so that I can check stats directly on the watch, or I can sync with my tablet, pc and phone. Yesterday I took over 10,000 steps (I'm sure it had something to do with moving everything out of my studio and into the dining room), climbed seven flights of stairs (I live in a two-story house) and burned 2,200 calories. I can even track my sleep...its so much FUN!!

And...to go with my Force, I now have a Vitamix. I was surprised by this gift as Dennis has often said that he thinks they're nothing more than a glorified blender. However, he's since changed his mind.  I've made just two things so far (strawberry daiquiris and Broccoli Cheddar soup), but that was enough to convince him. My goal is to use it at least 5 days a weed: soup in the winter and smoothies in the summer.

How was your Christmas??

Dory

Cooking

Another thing I enjoy doing, especially when I find a new recipe or a cookbook with interesting recipes. I'm also discovering that the groceries in Sequim have lots of really fresh food; something that Quincy didn't have a lot of.

My new cookbook is "The Pioneer Woman Cooks," by Ree Drummond.  The cookbook itself is fun to read, as is her blog, which I also look at on occasion. My friend and neighbor here, Annie, just had knee surgery. I wanted to take her something for dinner, so I found the perfect recipe: Homemade Tomato Soup in my new cookbook. I did something I never do...I followed the recipe exactly. It was outstanding.

Tonight, I picked up some fresh shrimp (it actually came deveined and shelled!!) and made Penne a la Betsy. I added a bit to this one, but it was still quite good even before my addition of cayenne pepper.

A warning, however, this cookbook is not for anyone on a diet! I will be making more recipes out of  this book, but only if I continue to workout so that I can burn off the heavy cream and oodles of butter!!!

Dory