try a new recipe once a month

Chopped onions + minced garlic + chicken broth + cubes of squash = delicious.

I tried a new shrimp and mushroom and tomato dish last night. It turned out great.

It’s a recipe I adapted from out crockpot recipe book. I’m amazed that I made some chili that Mr. Whirly raved about. He usually doesn’t like chili.

Tatoes and butter are heading for an overnight in the fridge. The mixture is a little… sticky? Not sure how that bodes for tomorrow.

Okay, second take of Quinoa was a cinch!

I soaked, re-soaked, and rinsed, then added to the pot with 1.5 cups of water instead of 2. Brought to a boil, then left simmering for 12 minutes and it was perfect. Woot!

I tried eating a bit with some Parmesan and green onions, but the green onions I had were really overpowering. I’m going to try it with different stuff throughout the week, though in the long run I think I may stick to The Whole Kitchen recipe.

Believe it or not, peaches and a bit of peanut butter go together in a smoothie. I also included ice cubes, almond milk, vanilla whey protein, and vanilla. Mmmm!

Okay – making this was a bit of a nightmare, but of my mostly own doing.

Recipe: http://thewholekitchen.blogspot.com/2009/07/cinnamon-spiced-quinoa.html
Tutorial: http://www.squawkfox.com/2008/08/12/how-to-cook-quinoa/

First, I began soaking the quinoa, thinking I would get a mesh strainer at lunch, but last night was a late night and the strainer shopping got put off for after work (and a nap… and swimming). So I think it soaked a little too long. Also, in the tutorial it says to dump the water and soak in clean water after two hours. I did do that, but lost some of it in the process since I was just using my hands to strain it. And then I lost more when I was getting ready to cook it because the strainer I bought was way too small (I blame lack of sleep).

Okay, so all strained and in the pot, I added water—without taking into account how much quinoa went down the drain. Oops.

Anyway, once the quinoa, water, vanilla, brown sugar, and cinnamon stick were in the water, the boiling and simmering were a cinch. Unfortunately because of the water issue I ended up having to strain it, since it was cooked before all the water was boiled. Also unfortunately when I strained the water out, the sugar, vanilla, etc. went with it.

So, I took it out, fluffed it, and added half a tablespoon of butter and a couple teaspoons of sugar back in.

And it was good! I think it’ll be better cooked properly, but it was really good. The one thing I felt it was missing was pecans, but I really like pecans and cinnamon together.

I’m going to try cooking it again on Wednesday, a bit more carefully, hopefully with a bigger strainer from IKEA, and a lot more sleep. Plus, I’ll take pictures!

01. September 2009: Cinnamon Spiced Quinoa. I want to start off with something easy and try something new (quinoa at all is new to me).

02. October 2009: Gnocci. Something I’ve wanted to try for forever. I’m going to try it using Pamela’s Baking Mix.

03. November 2009: Peanut Butter Finger Mini Cheesecakes. A use for leftover Halloween candy. :D

04. December 2009: Fudge. I haven’t picked an exact recipe, but I plan on making a boatload of fudge for the holidays.

05. January 2010: Granola bars – I’ll modify the recipe in 1000 Gluten Free Recipes by Carol Fenster. I’ve made granola, but not bars.

06. February 2010: Hush puppies – also from 1000 GF Recipes, but I’ll sub the sorghum blend with Pamela’s. If that doesn’t work, I’ll retry later with something else (but not sorghum, it doesn’t agree with me).

07. March 2010: Pita bread. I need to get Bette Hagman’s book for this. I put this in March because it will require special flours, and hey, tax return! Also, not so hot out yet that the oven will cook the apartment.

08. April 2010: Quiche – undetermined recipe. It’s something I want to try. I might make a pie crust, I might not.

09. May 2010: Flourless Chocolate Cake – not sure on this recipe, either. I have a few saved.

10. June 2010: Roasted Cinnamon Nuts. This may get moved up and replaced. I don’t know if I can hold out almost a year to make them.

11. July 2010: Crumpets!. That recipe uses a flour mix that has “gluten free wheat starch” (seriously, wtf?!), but I bet I can find a mix over here to at least try it with.

12. August 2010: Ravioli. This’ll require making my own pasta, so, a big challenge for me.

I’ve finally started cooking again. I know, over a year! But I’m sorting it out, finally. I’ve actually cooked three new things recently – corn tortillas, granola, & poblano enchiladas.

Tonight I’m sitting down with my cookbooks and Evernote recipes and coming up with a 12 month plan. One recipe per month, and then I’ll finally clear this goal and move on.

Mr. Whirly gets credit for researching a recipe and making it in the crockpot on Monday. (I helped by finding the seasonings and putting them on the counter, so Mr. Whirly could have that visual cue to make it.)