From My Kitchen: What I've Been Up To

I've been cooking a lot lately, here are some pics of the delectable creations.  I may include recipes later, if I ever get around to typing them up :D

Weight Watchers Chicken and Broccoli with Garlic Sauce

Spinach, Bacon and Shallot Frittatas

Eggplant Parmesan Pizza

Turkey Burger with Sweet Potato Fries and a Garden Salad

New Recipe! : Spinach and Chickpea Pouches

The latest from the Kitchen Messes and Successes files... this recipe is out of Almost Meatless.



The Stuff
2 tsp vegetable oil
8 ounces ground beef
1 small red onion, sliced into thin strips
8 cups (about 6 ounces) loosely packed fresh spinach, coarsely chopped
1/4 tsp dried chile flakes
2 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 tablespoon)
1 Tbs fresh oregano leaves, chopped
1 roasted red bell pepper, cut into thick strips (about 1 cup)
1 (15-ounce) can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
Kosher salt and black pepper
12 sheets filo dough, each lightly brushed with olive oil
1/2 cup feta cheese
1 egg, lightly beaten
1 Tbs lightly toasted sesame seeds
1/2 cup tzatziki, plain Greek yogurt, or sour cream

The Method
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
To make the filling, heat the oil in a saute pan over medium-high heat. Crumble in the ground beef and cook, stirring occasionally to break up the pieces. When the meat is cooked through, remove it from the pan and set aside. Add the onion, spinach, chile flakes, garlic, and oregano to the pan until the spinach wilts. Remove from the heat and stir in the cooked beef, pepper strips, and chickpeas. Season the mixture with salt and pepper.

To assemble and bake, cut the 12 sheets of filo dough in half horizontally so you have 24 rectangles. Stash the filo not being worked with under a damp tea towel to prevent drying. Divide into 6 stacks of 4. Place 1/2 cup of the beef mixture in a long mound toward the center of each stack, sprinkle with 1 heaping tablespoon of the feta cheese, and fold up the sides to enclose. Transfer each pouch, seam side down, to a rimmed baking sheet lined with a silicone mat or parchment paper. Brush the tops of each pouch with the egg and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Transfer to the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until the dough is golden brown. Serve each pouch with a dollop of tzatziki.

The Verdict
I made a few modifications: I only had frozen spinach and a fresh red pepper so I boiled the spinach on the stovetop and sauteed the onion, pepper and garlic in olive oil instead of the hamburger drippings since I used some beef I had already browned earlier this week.
Also, this was my first time cooking with phyllo(filo) dough. Unfortunately, I thought I could just pull it out of the freezer and get down... not so. When I unrolled it, it was brittle and broke into shreds. So instead proceeding as planned, I sprayed an 11-by-7 inch baking pan with cooking spray, spread the spinach mixture in and dotted with the feta. Then I layered the shreds of phyllo dough on top, brushing a little olive oil between each sheet. I used about 16 sheets, staggering to cover the whole dish. Then I popped it in the oven and baked for about 25 minutes. It came out pretty good! The filling is super tasty, with just enough beef to satisfy the carnivore. The chickpeas and spinach are filling and red peppers are my new favorite flavor addition.

New Recipe! : Baked Spinach and Brown Rice

Inspired by a recipe in the Gooseberry Patch Comfort Foods Cookbook.​
​
The Stuff:​
1/2 large red bell pepper
1 smedium yellow onion
1 tablespoon butter
1 1/2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
10 oz brown rice (I used Trader Joe’s frozen fully cooked brown rice)
10 oz. package frozen whole leaf spinach​
2 large eggs, beaten
2 cups cheddar cheese​

The Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Dice the pepper and onion into uniform pieces. In a skillet, melt the butter and olive oil, then add the pepper and onion. Add salt and pepper to taste. Saute over medium heat until softened, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat. Meanwhile, prepare the rice and the spinach according to package directions.

Thoroughly drain the spinach. Allow the rice and spinach to cool, then combine all the ingredients (including the eggs and cheese) and spread into a greased 8-by-8 pan.

Bake for 25 minutes. Enjoy!  Serves 4-6

The Verdict:
I love the colors of this dish!  And it's pretty healthy, too.  Something about tossing veggies with cheese and then baking makes them irresistible!  It's easy enough to prepare for casual weeknight dinner fare, but also pretty enough to present at a gathering.  Prep time was minimal, especially using the frozen rice and spinach.  I can definitely see why this was included in a comfort food cookbook. All the ingredients are pretty cheap and usually on hand in my kitchen.  The original recipe called for processed cheese cubes and a slice of crisply cooked turkey bacon.  While I don't regret swapping the cheese, I do wonder what the addition of bacon would have added.  Anyhow, it was delicious as prepared!  Baked Spinach and Brown Rice is a new staple for me!

what it all means

my room is a disaster area. every night i clear away a space on my bed where i can crawl up and go to sleep. and its not as though there isnt enough time for me to clean it up, since i hardly ever do homework or anything else productive. as i stand and survey the entropy that is my room, i realize today that i am subconsciously attracted to the beauty, familiarity, and comfort that is chaos. regarded as a function of time, the state of cleanliness of my room is a random variable. a markov chain, if you will. the previous state has no bearing on any future states; which explains why two minutes after i clean it up, im right back to where i started.

why are we as a society so opposed to chaos? live the manic life. embrace the chaos.

bouncing back

i am not fucking okay
i am tired of being strong
tough
courageous
brave
resilient
i am angry psychotic and bloodthirsty
fuck it
this is my diary
and i am a mad black woman
i am a bitter black woman
and im sick of carrying the weight of love on my shoulders
and bearing the burden of pain in silence
and swallowing the bile that raises in my throat nightly
i demand my right to breakdown
i demand my right to cry and curse and kick and scream
and shake my hair and punch the walls
and throw my shoe at my tormentor's face
as he tries to calm me down...
i am sick of dealing with shit
on the sole premise that because i am strong i can bounce back
i want to lie broken on the ground for awhile
spill my guts on the pavement and mourn their loss
i want to plot heinous revenge schemes
walk around my house in bathrobe and fuzzy slippers for a week
and do not ask me if i am okay
i am not okay, do i look okay?
i will fucking fuck your shit up
i am angry psychotic and bloodthirsty
and i've got a gun

love grotto

i love your kisses
i love hearing my name from your mouth
i love tracing the veins in your forearms
i love the way i fit in your embrace
i love it when we lay in bed til 3
i love cooking for you
i love watching you leave to go to work
i love waiting for you at the door when you get home

i love you

i love wrestling with you over the remote
i love betting against you in poker
i love showing you off to my friends
i love it when we play outside
i love nursing you back to health
i love dragging you to places you dont wanna go
i love your forgiveness of me

i love you

i love buying you things
i love getting presents from you
i love hiding your shoes when i dont want you to leave
i love when u pull me back to you
i love the way your breath feels on my neck
i love it when u make me laugh when im mad
i love the way your eyes follow me as i leave the room
i love the way you need me

i love you

i live for the days when we play together
i sleep soundly knowing im in your arms
i rise knowing that you want me
i try because you care
i excel to make you proud
i push because you need it
i nag only when absolutely necessary
i cry and you catch the teardrops
i smile and you bathe in the sunshine

my successes are your coups
my losses are your heartbreak
my words are a remix of your thoughts
my thoughts are the spawn of your love

when lengthening shadows turn to dark and the footfalls of children fall silent
when the lights in houses extinguish one by one
we sneak off behind the rose garden
and through the enchanted forest
to a still and quiet grotto where reality has no bearing
reclining in the ivy leaves, sipping nectar from the tulip cups
my heart, my love, my sweet sweet passion
no action grows old, no token mundane
no phrase cliche, no gesture hackneyed, trite, or stale
love bleeds fresh in a babbling brook
my love for you goes on
my love for you multiplies infinitely in a widening gyre of time

i love you

the thunder, perfect mind

for i am the first and the last.
i am the honored one and the scorned one.
i am the whore and the holy one.
i am the wife and the virgin.
i am the mother and the daughter.
i am the members of my mother.
i am the barren one
and many are her sons.
i am she whose wedding is great,
and i have not taken a husband.
i am the midwife and she who does not bear.
i am the solace of my labor pains.
i am the bride and the bridegroom,
and it is my husband who begot me.
i am the mother of my father
and the sister of my husband,
and he is my offspring.
i am the slave of him who prepared me.
i am the ruler of my offspring.
but he is the one who begot me before the time on a birthday
and he is my offspring in due time,
and my power is from him.
i am the staff of his power in his youth,
and he is the rod of my old age.
and he wills happens to me.
i am the silence that is incomprehensible
and the idea whose rememberance is frequent.
i am the voice whose sound is manifold
and the word whose appearance is multiple
i am the utterance of my name