I really like pickled carrots... I think. We used to go to this Vietnamese restaurant in Houston and I would get this pork/egg roll noodle thing. It was amazing, and it would come with shredded pickled carrots on it. I loved them. I've been trying to find a recipe for them, and I think I'll have to come up with it on my own. I think rice vinegar and sugar are involved. Anyway, this is not that recipe. It looked tasty, so I wanted to try it. I need to eat more carrots anyway.

Side note: If you know me, you may know my distaste for carrots. I've never been overly fond of carrots, especially not store bought carrots. Garden carrots are good, but I've never been too much of a fan. ...Until those pickled carrots...

So, I found this recipe from The Kitchen Magpie and it sounded good, and I hoped it would be something along the same lines as the other pickled carrots. I broke out the DSLR for these pictures, so they are all fancy. The following ingredients and directions are straight from The Kitchen Magpie.

Ingredients:

• 8 ½ cups peeled garden fresh baby carrots
• 5½ cups white distilled vinegar (5%)
• 1 cup water
• 2 cups sugar
• 2 teaspoons canning salt
• 3 tbsp pickling spice

Directions:

1. Wash and rinse pint canning jars; keep hot until ready to use. Prepare lids and bands according to manufacturer’s directions.
2. Wash carrots well and peel, if necessary. Wash again after peeling.
3. Combine the vinegar, water, sugar and canning salt in an 8-quart Dutch oven or stockpot. Bring to a boil and boil gently 3 minutes. Add carrots and bring back to a boil. Then reduce heat to a simmer and heat until the carrots are half-cooked (about 10 minutes).
4. Divide the pickling spice evenly between 4 jars and place in the bottom of each clean, hot pint jar.
5. Fill hot jars with the hot carrots, leaving 1-inch headspace. Cover with hot pickling liquid, leaving ½-inch headspace. Remove air bubbles and adjust headspace if needed. Wipe rims of jars with a dampened, clean paper towel; adjust two-piece metal canning lids.
6. Process in a boiling water canner = 0 - 1,000 feet - process for 15 minutes, 1,001 - 6,000 feet process for 20 minutes and above 6,000 feet process 25 minutes. Let cool, undisturbed, 12 to 24 hours and check for seals.
7. Allow carrots to sit in processed jars for 3 to 5 days before consuming for best flavor development.

The jar on the left (filled with water) went through the water bath canning process with the carrots because I didn't have enough full jars for the whole basket. Our water is terrible here. Luckily all that gunk just wipes off, but I won't be drinking the water here until it gets heavily filtered. 

Notes:
I didn't use baby carrots, I used the big carrots and sectioned them. I did also try this with baby carrots, and I think the baby carrots should have cooked a little longer. Maybe 12 minutes instead of 10. 

I always try to make extra liquid, just in case you don't have enough. I would make the pickling liquid and an extra half batch. I always run out of the liquid... I should really have learned by now. 

Review:
Let me just start with saying these: These are officially one of my favorite foods ever. 

If you like pickled things and pickling spice, try these. I even tested them out on a 4 year old and she ate a bunch! Seriously my favorite way to eat carrots now. 

​These do not taste like sweet pickles, they're different. I don't like sweet pickles. These are way better

My only warning goes along with anything sweet you're dealing with... things can get sticky. That's all. 

Total Score: 
Out of 5? 7. Okay, I know, 5 is the top, but seriously. 

We had ground beef in the fridge. 

That's how it always starts, isn't it? What can I do with this ground beef? 

I decided to make pasta. I had stewed tomatoes that I canned last year. There was a lot of water in the jars and I was a little annoyed about it when I canned them, but I decided to make it into a sauce. I kept cooking things and then thinking that I should have added something else. So, everything about this pasta was an afterthought. 

Ingredients:
Whatever I had in the kitchen...
Onion
Garlic
Ground beef
Stewed tomatoes
Spaghetti noodles
Olive oil
Mushrooms
Herbs
Pepper
Water
Salt


Directions:
Cook your noodles (dash of salt in your water)
I started to brown the beef with a little olive oil in the bottom of the pan.
I realized that I should probably use onions... and that I should have sauteed the onions first, so i just tossed them in with the beef. 
I put stewed the stewed tomatoes in a pot and heated them. 
When the noodles were done, I strained them and put them in a bowl with a little olive oil. 
I added herbs and garlic and pepper to the tomatoes (homegrown thyme, oregan, parsley, sage, rosemary, and basil)
I covered the tomatoes and let them simmer. 
I then realized there were mushrooms in the fridge, so I cut up a few of those (5 white button mushrooms) and put those in with the tomatoes to cook.
Last but not least, I mixed the beef and onions with the tomato stuff and heated it. 

​

Notes:
I promise I am not "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"... but this recipe really felt like it. 

Have fun with it. If you think it goes with spaghetti, put it in there. 

For those of you who need specific measurements, it's a dash of salt, a tbsp of each herb, 2lbs beef (or 1 if you like less meat), two pints of stewed tomatoes with the water, 1 chopped white onion. I don't really operate in the world of precision when it comes to cooking. I'll do my best to translate what I do. 

Review:
I have never really liked spaghetti, but this was probably the best spaghetti I've ever had. I think it's because I'm not fond of sauces. I like the chunks. 

There is liquid in the bottom of this, it's not really a sauce. It is, however, really tasty. 

Total Score:
​5

I had leftover chicken. I'm always looking for fun things to do with leftover chicken. This time I decided on a soup. I got the recipe from cooks.com which is actually one of my least favorite sites to navigate. Let's just dive in!

Ingredients: 
3c Chicken Broth
2oz Rice, Uncooked (for brothier soup... 3oz rice for thicker soup)
Chicken (Optional... I just used a little bit of leftovers)
2 Eggs
3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
Salt 
Pepper

Directions:
Bring the broth to a boil
Add the rice, cover, and reduce heat 
Simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the rice is tender (be careful with this, rice is shy and doesn't like to be peeked at)
In a separate dish beat the eggs and the lemon juice together
When rice is done, slowly add the egg mix into the rice and broth while stirring rice constantly in a clockwise direction (or anticlockwise...). Basically you want to be pouring into the whirlpool that you create by stirring. 
Add chicken if you used any
Heat the soup without boiling 

Notes:
I didn't season this until after it was in the bowl. It only needed a smidge of salt, and a light peppering. I think I would use a little more lemon next time. 

This could easily be a vegetarian dish. Just use vegetable broth (which you can make yourself!) and no chicken! This soup would probably be really good with tofu too!

We used brown rice with this, which is not my favorite, but it didn't affect the flavor.

This was one of the easiest meals I've ever made. 

The recipe says it serves 4. It does if you're using it as a side dish or an appetizer. As a meal, it serves 2 with no leftovers. 

Review:
Super easy

Super tasty

I want to make this all the time. Seriously. 

Total Score:
​5

I love duck. I really do. I love duck more than I like more other foods. The problem is that it is more expensive than I like to spend. I guess I'll have to raise ducks, because I really... really like duck. 

I picked up a duck the other day and decided to roast it in my new roasting pan. I've roasted duck before, but I had to cut it in half to make it work. This time, I got to roast the entire duck, and I did not follow directions. Before I even begin telling you what I did and did not do properly, I need to tell you about the tutorial I used. It's amazing. The pictures alone are amazing. I can't even begin to come up with a tutorial that compares in any way. The tutorial is from The Hungry Mouse. In fact, the tutorial is so good, that I'm just going to direct you to that page. 

http://www.thehungrymouse.com/2009/02/11/the-best-way-to-roast-a-duck-hello-crispy-skin/

Now let me tell you what I did wrong. 

First of all, when you buy a packaged duck at the store, sometimes it comes with a package of orange glaze and the heart, neck, and liver still in the middle. I didn't plan ahead enough and it took over 45 minutes to thaw. When I took it out of the microwave, it was still a little frozen in the middle, but I got the packet of orange glaze out. You are supposed to tie the legs together, but I didn't have anything that could accomplish the task, so I just didn't do it. If you saw the tutorial, there is a bit in there about folding the wing in some crazy way or another... yep. Didn't do that either. 

Secondly, before you stick the duck into the oven, you have to score the skin to make sure it gets super crispy. For some reason, my duck's skin was not easy to score. We have some sharp knives, but I don't know what the problem was. I raggedly managed to score the skin, and I stuck it in the oven. It sat in there for about 25 minutes before I thought, "Ya know (I am Minnesotan after all), I am pretty sure there was a heart, liver, and neck in the last duck...". So, I took the duck out of the oven and carefully (the duck was pretty warm at this point) removed the innards... which were still frozen. So, the inside of the duck was still a little frozen, but I just let it go. 

I followed the rest of the tutorial pretty well. I didn't glaze the duck because the flavor of duck is so good that you don't even need to glaze it. Also, I recommend having the windows open because duck has a very rich smell, and it can be overwhelming. 

Alright, that being said, my review is simple.

Review: 
This is amazing. Follow this tutorial. Eat duck. Save the duck fat. Sooo tasty. 

Total Score:
5

Just looking at these pictures makes me want to make duck again. 

TC likes to have egg whites in the morning, and I like to have eggs. So, to spice things up a bit today, we made eggs in an onion ring. I've tried this in the past and the egg never stayed in the onion ring. So, here I chronicle the attempts at making the eggs look pretty:

Just goes to show you, It's not always perfect and pretty. In fact, with this particular food, it has a 75% chance of being pretty... Assuming that you cut your onions as thick as mine. I was advised to cut them thicker next time, and I think that's great advice. 

Also, TC uses Egg Beaters, which are already beaten eggs. Those leaked way more than just a regular egg. I think it has to do with how well a raw egg stays together. Either way, next time, thicker rings!

I love salty foods. Salt and I are good friends. I consume more salt than most people, but I also need more salt than the average person. Anyway, I like salty foods. So, I was looking for a better way to snack than chips or popcorn. I tried kale chips, and then I tried spinach chips. Then I also tried sweet potato chips and yellow squash chips. 

Let me just tell you now:
Spinach and kale = success
Sweet potato and yellow squash = fail

The yellow squash chips were inedible. The sweet potato chips wouldn't dry out enough and they took forever. Not worth the time invested. 

So, here is how I bake kale to make chips:

Ingredients:
Kale
Olive Oil
Parchment Paper
Baking Sheets
Salt

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 300°F.
• Remove the spines from the kale (the thick green parts. They don't bake well. You just want the leafy bits)
• Place parchment paper over baking sheets (this step is definitely worth doing, it will save a lot of the cleaning hassle)
• Lightly oil the parchment paper (I use a paper towel to smear the oil around.
• Sprinkle the leafy kale onto the parchment paper and try to make sure they aren't all sitting on top of each other. 
• Spray lightly with olive oil. If you don't have the means to spray olive oil, you can pour a little olive oil over the kale and then toss it lightly to spread the olive oil as much as possible. I use a Misto, and it has worked so far, so no complaints. 
• Lightly sprinkle with salt. 
• Bake for 20 minutes. 
• Take the crisp pieces off the pan. If there are any flexible pieces, but them back in the oven for another 3-4 minutes.
• Repeat the last step as needed. 
• Enjoy!

This is what baked kale looks like when it isn't burned. Lovely, isn't it? 

Notes:
For the first batch at least, as soon as you start to smell the kale, let it bake for about 45 more seconds to a minute and then check to see if it is crispy. It is usually done at this point. This doesn't work for the subsequent batches because the house already smells like kale. 

I can't make enough of these to have a surplus. They get eaten so quickly, I don't know how to do this in bulk, but I want to know. 

TC likes them with less oil. He will eat them with no oil at all, but I like the oil, so we compromised and I only use a little. 

Review:
Love.

We love this so much. I want to make it all the time. We both give it a 5. 

Warning: this may be an addictive food, so be careful. 

Total Score:
5

I've been meaning to break in my new cast iron dutch oven with a delicious dessert. I finally got the chance last night. I had some pears that weren't very flavorful and needed to be used, and I had a ton of apples that I was going to make into apple chips, but I needed someway to keep the moisture out. I'm currently waiting for an Amazon order to do the apple chips. Anyway, this crisp was calling out to me. 

Ingredients:
Filling - 
4 small Apples
4 Pears
2 tbsp Lemon Juice
1/3 c. Sugar
1 tbsp Cornstarch
1 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch of Salt

Topping - 
2/3 c Light Brown Sugar
1/4 c. Gluten Free Flour Blend
1/2 c. Gluten Free Oats
1/4 c. Almond Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch of Salt
1/3 c. Coconut Oil, melted

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 375°F
• Grease pan (we used a dutch oven, but a 9x9 pan would also work)
• Peel, core, and chop apples. Peel, core, and chop pears. 

Notes:
I originally got this recipe from the Minimalist Baker. The original recipe did not include pears. I added them myself. 

The recipe you see above, the topping is doubled. As you can see in the picture above, we didn't make enough topping to cover the whole thing. So, if you don't want to double the topping, the original measurements are as follows:
1/3 c Light Brown Sugar
1/4 c. GF Flour Blend
1/2 c. GF Oats
1/4 c. Almond Flour
1/2 tsp Cinnamon
Pinch of Salt
1/3 c. Coconut Oil

There were apple and pear peelings everywhere. It was crazy. 

I didn't chop the pears and apples. I think it would have been easier to eat if I had. 

Review:
This was amazing. I was a little surprised. I wasn't expecting much, but I was pleasantly surprised. I think I would have added a little more salt to the topping. Three of us got to experience this dessert and we all think it would have been good with a caramel sauce, but the dish can stand alone just fine. TC and I had ours with coconut whipped cream. TC says, "It was really good. Needs peaches." TC's cousin also agreed that peaches would make a good addition. TC gave it a 5. TC's cousin gave it a 4.5, and I give it a 5. 

Total Score: 
5

Tonight we make Borscht. Tonight is also the night I cut my thumb while attempting to cut a potato and TC finishes making Borscht. 

Today was not my day for finger safety. One finger was crushed in a slamming window and my thumb is missing a rather large chunk. It took hours to stop the bleeding. Once I finally figured that action need to be taken to stop the bleeding, I put cornstarch on the wound to force a clot. It's working awesomely. 

Anyway, the borscht got made, and let me tell you, I was not looking forward to it. Ever since I was a child, I have had a fear of beets.  Not that beets are scary in and of themselves, but I was continuously warned that beets would stain. I would get in trouble if I stained something, so beets would inevitably get in trouble for eating the food my family made for dinner. I have never liked beets since. 

Ingredients:
2-3 Beets
2-3 medium Potatoes
4 tbsp Olive Oil
1 med Onion, Finely Chopped
2 Carrots, Grated
1/2 head Cabbage, shredded
1 can Kidney Beans
10 c. Water
6 c. Broth (we used Pacific Foods Organic Vegetable broth... must learn to make my own broth)
5 tbsp Ketchup
1/2 c. Lemon Juice
1/4 tsp Salt
2 tbsp Dill, Chopped

Directions:

• Fill pot with the 10 cups of water. 
• Add beets 

Notes:
This recipe has been modified from the original Natasha's Kitchen post. The order of operations of the original post was confusing to me. I felt that I should clarify a few things. Example, I was confused about when to add particular items. Should I add the broth before the potatoes have finished? The original recipe is unclear. I said no. Wait to add the broth. 

[VE] When a recipe tells you to boil something for an extended period of time, you don't need to have the stove on high the entire time. On my stove, things still boil at a 6. Important note: We had to add about 16oz of water to compensate for the low fluid. 

Don't cut your thumb at the beginning of this recipe. You won't be able to do a lot of the tasks if you cut your thumb. That being said, today's recipe has been prepared by TC!

I know you're concerned about the amount of beet juice I got all over my counters. Well, HA! Jokes on you! TC handled the beets so the mess was contained. 

We had Baked Bananas: Part 2 for dessert. So good!

Review:
As someone who is not fond of beets, I was not looking forward to this. I also am not a fan of the vegetable broth we got (I have a really hard time with the taste of celery). That being said, this recipe is delicious. We both got second helpings. I had mine with sour cream, TC had his straight up. I wholeheartedly give this recipe a 5. TC says, "We're definitely having this again" and he gave it a 5 as well.

Total Score:
5

And now a little bonus...

Since I loved the way the previous bananas tasted, I made them again tonight. A wild success. 

Ingredients:
1 medium- large Banana
Flour or some kind of starch (we used rice flour)
1 tbsp Coconut Oil
2 tsp Honey
Cinnamon

Directions:

• Cut bananas in half, lengthwise. 

(it's important to note that I smelled them burning, but they weren't actually burnt. Just keep an eye on them)

• They weren't done as well as I wanted them to be, so I flipped them over. This step is optional. 
  
• Serve

They looked so pretty in the pan, but they didn't plate very well. 

Notes: 
We served it up with some failed coconut whipped cream. Usually, when I chill the coconut milk so that the liquid and the cream separate, the liquid and the cream actually separate. Not so this time. I don't know what happened. 
Then, when I went to filter the water out with chemistry paper which has worked so well in the past, it wouldn't filter. So, I just put the whole can in the mixer and let it whip. It won't hold a peak, but it tastes good. 

I think these would also be really good with a couple drops of lemon. 

Review:
Mess factor was the flour and the fact that I make messes all the time. It was minor this time, thank goodness. I gave TC a piece and he said, "I give it a 4. It would go well with vanilla ice cream". I told him I would make coconut whipped cream with vanilla. Once he had those two together, he gave it a 5. 

I give it a 5 without the whipped cream. The whipped cream is just a bonus for me. When we finished our bananas, we both seriously contemplated making more. Unfortunately it's 2300 and that's a little too late tonight to be baking bananas.

Total Score:
5


Update 01162014:
I decided to have TC try to make this recipe with a few differences. I had him cut the banana in the peel to see if that would be easier. 

It wasn't.

Update 01202014:
I got to be a guest cook in someone else's kitchen, It was exciting. I didn't, however, have my cast iron with me. I tried to make these in a glass casserole. They did not crisp. I don't recommend that method. I ended up frying them up in a skillet, and they were delicious, but I liked them better in the cast iron. 

The bananas from the glass casserole are on the left, you can see that the rice flour is soggy and not crisp. I decided to experiment on them and served them with a few drops of lemon juice on top. Everyone said they liked, and would like it more if they were crispy. I agree. I think the lemon makes them a little bit better. 

The bananas on the right were fried in a skillet and not served with lemon. They were still delicious. 

I have not been looking forward to this post because the recipe is long and we changed a lot of things in it. So, I have to remember what we changed. Everybody loved this lasagna, so it needs to be posted... I just don't want to. Le sigh. We don't always get what we want. ;)

Ingredients:
9 Uncooked Lasagna Noodles
1 Onion, Chopped
4 Cloves Garlic, Chopped
14.5 oz. Vegetable Broth
3 tbsp Italian Seasonings (basil, rosemary, oregano etc), divide in half
1 can Artichoke Hearts, Drained, and Chopped
1 10 oz Package of Frozen Spinach, Thawed, Drained, and Squeezed Dry
1 Jar Tomato Pasta Sauce (about 12-16 oz)
3 c. Shredded Mozzarella
1/2 container Ricotta
1 Package Seasoned Feta (herbs)

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350°F and spray a 9x13 casserole
• Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil
• Add noodles and cook for about 8-10 minutes (I always add a couple extra noodles to the pot unless one of them breaks. This is also helpful to test the doneness of the noodle. You'll want it to be al dente*.
• Drain noodles. Don't let the noodles lay on top of each other because they could stick.
• Use oil, butter, or spray for a skillet and saute the onions and garlic
• Stir in broth and seasonings
• Bring to a boil
• Reduce heat and simmer
• Stir in pasta sauce
• In a large bowl place the ricotta, spinach, artichokes, mozzarella cheese, and seasonings and mix (there will probably end up being extra of this)
• Spread a little of the tomato sauce on the bottom to keep the noodles from burning or drying out or whatever it is that noodles do.
• Put a layer of noodles over the sauce
• Put a thick layer of the ricotta mix
• Add another layer of noodles
• Add sauce, but don't use it all, save a little
• Add another layer of noodles (should have used 9)
• Put another, thin layer of sauce on the top to prevent noodles from doing bad things. 
• Sprinkle the delicious feta over the top
• Bake covered for 45 minutes
• Uncover and bake for another 15 minutes
• Let stand for 10 minutes before serving

Notes:
If you use the entire container of ricotta, then thaw a second package of spinach to balance it out. The leftovers can be used to make stuffed crescents (recipe coming soon).

I got to the point where the noodles were done cooking, and I picked one of the noodles up out of the pan (with tongs) and thought, "I bet these have wheat in them". Turns out I did not make a gluten-free friendly meal and so I could not participate. Sad day for me. 

We used half the amount of tomato sauce to accommodate TC's high-acid woes. 

Review:
This took forever to make. I don't know that I have ever made lasagna before, and if it always takes this long, I don't know that I want to make it again. TC said it was amazing and would love to have it again. His vegetarian cousin also gave it 5 stars and asked for the recipe. So, we would call this a win, and I may make it again because everyone liked it so much. As for the mess factor, TC mixed the ricotta stuff with his hands, and that was a big mess. I didn't use a big enough pan for the onions because I didn't realize you have to add the broth to it, so it almost overflowed. Since it had to boil, there were little brothy splatters everywhere. That's easily remedied though. 

Total Score:
5