The Perfect Omelet!

For less than $1 per omelet and an endless possibility of ingredient combinations, omelets are cheap, yummy, healthy, and could be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The food revolution is not only about cooking at home, but about convenience without compromise and saving money. So here we go!!

William Turbyfill has been on a similar path as I have been lately. In his blog, Two Guys Who Talk, he has been on a theme lately called Road to AwesomeTown which includes lots of information he is learning about eating healthy and cooking from fresh ingredients. Check it out to find out about making spicy crazy awesome barbeque sauce and more!

Also, like me, William follows Jamie Oliver, and learned some of his omelet tricks from watching a clip of Jamie's on Amazon.com and came over to share this with me! Some things (like how many veggies to prep, when to add what, whether or not to add milk) are up to the individual, but the key factors to making the perfect omelet that are a must are:

1. Cook in butter, not oil. Mmmm.....

2. As soon as you put the eggs in, mix the liquid around so there are no pockets of air and the entire bottom is covered. This helps to cook it evenly. Just make sure you pan isn't too big. (My pan was a bit too big, so my omelet broke, which is why I am covering part of it with my hand in the picture, so you can't see the gaping hole.

We used fresh spinach, green peppers, onions, tomatoes, and the must-have sriracha sauce. As we scarfed them down (so yummy) we discussed other ingredients that would be so yummy. Feta cheese, avocado, cream cheese, etc. So once you get the basics down, get creative go crazy with it!

A happy ending for the lentils after all!

The magical Julie Rex came and made some croquettes with my lentil mesh, and it turned out great! The only thing I did wrong was make the patties too thick. And, we discussed that these croquettes, made slightly larger, would make an excellent meat substitute for hamburgers.

Side note about meat: Something you will learn about me over time is my desire to lessen the amount of meat I eat. Partially because I know how ridiculous it is that Americans eat such absurd amounts of meat, but mostly because I desire to buy meat that isn't full of fatal chemicals and hormones, and that gets expensive. So any way to substitute meat in a meal is a good idea!

Lastly, the excess liquid from the boiling lentils, carrots, and celery made a beautiful broth to make soup in the near future (and tasted amazing mixed in with mushed carrots to make my baby food). Also, I have excess onions, carrots, and celery already chopped from this project, and that, I learned from the soup guru Grace Sullivan, is a great base for many many soups. Stay tuned for that lesson!

Lentil Disaster!

So, I had all these lentils and wanted to make something fabulous. I thought lentil soup was too boring, so I went for a fancy sounding recipe "Onion and Lentil Croquettes". Sometimes I need to do be overly ambitious just to put me in my place. Beginner recipes only from now on.

So, the first problem I encountered was when I decided to triple the recipe. My thought is that I should make loads of extra whenever I cook, and freeze it, so that I always have "convenience" foods on hand. Going from frozen pizzas to cooking every single night may not be realistic so it is a good idea to have freshly made dishes with fantastic ingredients, frozen and ready to make a quick dinner any time. But, in this case, making so much made it very challenging to cook. My stovetop looks like it is a stovetop for ants. There is only 1 large burner, and I am pretty sure that it is unusually close to the other burners because fitting a large pot next to a pan is nearly impossible and quite frustrating. Not to mention that my front small burner smokes every time I turn it on (cannot figure it out) so I can't use that one.

Besides the tiny stovetop, everything was going quite well, but then time became my quickening threat. I had finished cooking the main part of the recipe and thought I was almost done, when I looked at the clock (7pm) and then looked at the rest of the recipe, which was not almost done, and then proceeded to allow a creative variety of nasty phrases come out of my mouth. I am pretty sure that my daughter will grow up associating swearing with the smell of home cooking. So, Luke went and got some sandwiches from the deli (a feeling of utter defeat washing over me) and I wrapped up the food to finish the next day.

The next day:

Advanced recipe books assume that the reader knows a thing or two. Like, how hot the stove needs to be and how much oil is needed for frying. Thank God I had just watched a video on Jamie Oliver's iPhone app that taught how to stir fry (never use olive oil for frying, it smokes). But, after I had burned a whole set, then I realized they weren't getting cooked evenly throughout. Luke tried to help me, but I just gave up. But, the stuff tastes good, actually, and it calls to be served with ketchup, so I have been treating it like meatloaf (similar consistency) and it will get eaten.

Lessons learned: only try recipes taught by friends, from Jamie Oliver's iPhone app (is as simplified as it gets), and the Martha Stewart magazine that looks delicious! Try more advanced recipes later! Also, thrift stores are a great resource for cooking gear, as well as Ross. My kitchen is almost functioning!

...just a quickie

I did not attempt any great challenge for dinner tonight (frozen veggies, canned refried beans, rice, and pre-seasoned meat). But, I did think it was worth mentioning that recently I have learned that everything Mexican has cumin and chili powder so every time I make anything Mexican I incorporate these seasonings. I put it in the rice, which did give it some extra flavor, but it only made me wish I knew how to make authentic Mexican rice. So, here is a challenge for me, soon! A good friend of mine is going to show me how to do this as well as make homemade refried beans as soon as her Mother-in-Law visits from Mexico. And maybe tamales, too. Stay tuned!

Welcome!!!

Welcome to my blog! This is the first of many entries that I will be making. This blog will be a journal of my adventures of learning how to shop for and prepare healthy, fresh meals for my friends and family. I have absolutely no experience in the kitchen whatsoever, but have been finding myself more and more convicted of the food I eat.

Part of my new revelation stems from becoming a "stay-at-home-mom", as I have ample time to prepare meals, the desire to learn to cook and eat well, and want to be able to pass this onto my daughter. It was one thing to fill my body full of Taco Bell and ice-cream, but it would be selfish and unethical to pass on that lifestyle to my child, who relies solely on me for her nutritional health.

Other factors that have influenced me lately, as I have begun looking deeper into issues surrounding food, have been movies, media, and television. Did you know there have been several documentaries about the food industry that will inform you about the disgusting reality of the food we eat? So disgusting, in fact, that once you begin finding out the truth, it is impossible to go back to the way you used to eat (which is a good thing). By far, the most amazing source of inspiration for me has been Jamie Oliver. He has been the famous "naked chef" for quite some time, starring in t.v. shows and specials in the U.K. for quite some time, but has recently come to the U.S. to start a Food Revolution. Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution television show will conclude after 6 episodes, but after one, my heart was changed for good. I knew that I had to be a part of the revolution. Even if all I ever do is cook healthy meals for my children, I know that I will have done something huge.

I am the third generation of people in this country who has not cooked regularly at home. My grandmother's generation was delighted to take full advantage of the modern conveniences of it's time. My mother's generation was dramatically more reliant on these conveniences as more and more households consisted of two parents who worked full-time. T.V. dinners made in the microwave, boxed, canned, frozen, pre-made meals, etc. became the welcomed norm for every meal. Since then, these convenience foods have gotten even worse, being packed full with toxic preservatives and artificial ingredients. What the average person in America is eating on a regular basis no longer resembles food, but is more like a product of man-made "stuff" that passes as food.

If I can learn the truth about food, and learn to buy food that is real, made of real ingredients, and learn to prepare the food in my tiny, outdated kitchen, with a result of meals that actually taste good, on a consistent basis, then anybody can do it! My hope is that my blog might influence just one other person to try to change, to make better choices, to face their fears in the kitchen and have the courage to give the finger to the large corporations that are killing us with their poisonous convenience foods and to eat well.

Viva La Food Revolution!!!!