Welcome to My New Home!

I've been promising to share pictures of my new house pretty much since I bought it and I haven't. But, because one of my January goals is to stop procrastinating, I'm finally sharing the pictures!

So welcome to my new house!

Because the house is large and I have a lot of pictures, I created a Flickr album to make sharing my new home with all of you a little easier. Here is the link to the album. Right here. Click here.

Did you get that? Don't forget to click here!

Fair warning: I am a terrible photographer so these are not the greatest pictures ever. I took these on a gray, misty December day, so again, they aren't great. And, I took these before I moved in, so these are just pictures of an empty house. When everything is finished and decorated I'll post another tour. But for now, you'll just have to use your imagination.  They are also out of order and I can't figure out how to fix that.  Oops.

So what do you think?!

Recipe: Lemon Vinaigrette

I have never been one to make my own salad dressings.  In fact, I thought that people who did were just overachievers.  Not that I’m not an overachiever (hello I make all of my own bread), I just thought that going to all the trouble of making a salad dressing that wasn’t going to last as long as bottled dressing was just a waste of time. 

That said, the dressing was what drew me to this recipe, and when I made it on New Year’s Eve, it was a huge hit.  But even after making the dressing and having my family devour it, I still wasn’t convinced that homemade salad dressings were the way to go.

So then why am I about to share a recipe for a homemade vinaigrette?  Because on Sunday, as I was preparing my menu plan and grocery list, I realized I had a lemon on my counter that was on the verge of going bad.  Everything I make using lemons either requires more lemons or more ingredients, and since I’m trying (and failing) to only spend $25 a week at the grocery store, I need to make something using ingredients I already had.  I remembered watching someone on The Food Network (Ina probably.  Or maybe Rachel Ray, but I tend to avoid her as her brightly colored kitchen scares me a little.) make a salad dressing using lemon juice and olive oil, so I decided that a salad would go well with my dinner.  A quick Google search yielded a lemon vinaigrette that was so delicious, I knew instantly I had to share it with you. 

Lemon Vinaigrette – makes ¾ cup

3 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (from about 1 lemon)

1 garlic clove, peeled

½ teaspoon lemon zest

1½ teaspoons Dijon mustard

½ teaspoon sugar

½ cup extra virgin olive oil

Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Squeeze your lemon juice into a small bowl (or the bowl you are going to be serving your salad from – no reason to dirty up two bowls).  Use a microplane grater to grate your garlic clove into the bowl with the lemon juice; make sure to check the back for any remaining garlic.  Zest your lemon and add the mustard and sugar.  Whisk to combine and then slowly mix in the olive oil.  Use extra virgin here, even if you usually don’t.  You can really taste the difference between good olive oil and oil that’s better for cooking in a dressing like this.  Whisk to combine and season with salt and pepper. 

Toss with your salad or store, covered, in the refrigerator for 3 days.

Photo Credit

 This recipe is linked to Tasty Tuesday and Delicious Dishes.

Menu Plan Monday

The first week of single girl cooking went pretty well!  I deviated from my menu on Tuesday because Target had frozen chicken nuggets on sale and I couldn’t resist.  Plus, I don’t consider that to be too bad of a staple food to be kept in the house for lunch or dinner emergencies.  And they taste pretty good too.  =)  

Speaking of staple groceries, I was thinking of doing a post on the sorts of foods I always keep on hand and maybe a separate post on shopping and/or menu planning for one.  Is that something anyone would be interested in?

This week, I’m trying out a new idea, where basically I cook three times a week and eat the leftovers for lunch and dinner throughout the week.  I tried to pick the days I thought would be the best cooking days, schedule-wise, and spaced them apart enough where so I thought I could finish (or almost finish) the leftovers before cooking something else.  I’ll let you know how it goes next Monday.

On the menu for this past weekend:

Friday: Pasta Frozen dinner (I wasn’t a fan in case you were interested)

Saturday: Dinner with at my parents – Shrimp, sun-dried tomatoes, and artichokes in a garlic/white wine sauce over pasta, a huge family favorite

Sunday: Penne with spinach cream sauce (scroll down for this delicious recipe), salad with lemon vinaigrette (recipe coming tomorrow!)

This week I have planned:

Monday: Out

Tuesday: Lentil soup over rice (check the comments on this post for how I make this super easy and fast)

Wednesday: Leftovers

Thursday: Balsamic chicken with mushrooms, roasted broccoli

Friday: Leftovers or something easy

I also added to my family this weekend!  I adopted (from the humane society) Catherine, a sweet one-year-old cat.  I’m going to call her Caty (or maybe even Caty Cat) because Catherine is a) my middle name and b) too much for such a small cat.  She’s super sweet and very cuddly.  She really likes her new house and so far her favorite activities are looking out the windows, showing off her amazing jumping prowess by leaping from the floor to the kitchen counter (where she does not belong – must work on that), and sleeping on my pillow.

Weekly Wanderings

Weekly Wanderings: What I Found While Wandering Around the Blogosphere

Parker House Rolls – oh, yum.  Sure to become my favorite new roll recipe.  Who says a single person can’t make a whole batch of rolls?

How To Tuesday: Curbing Household Waste – some good ideas/tips from my friend Ashley who is trying to cut down on her household waste in her apartment.

Productivity, Frugal Girl Style | Cut Schedule Clutter – Kristen shares her idea for keeping a time diary to see how much time you are spending doing pointless things.  This came at such the right time for me because Thursday morning, as I was rushing around trying to get to work on time (which didn’t happen…again), I was thinking about how I wish I had more time to do all the things on my list.  Then I remembered that I probably could have done them the night before, had I not spent an hour playing online.  Oops.  So, I’ll be heeding her advice and reducing my schedule clutter.

Herbed Risotto with Chicken and Caramelized Onions – Annie of Annie’s Eats does it again.  I don’t think there’s been a week since I started reading her blog that I haven’t found something great.  This week it was this risotto, which as super simple cooking process (way less time-consuming than my risotto) and I also found this spinach cream sauce that I’m thinking is going to be my dinner tonight.

How to Save Money on Electricity, Even When You’re a Renter – good advice from The Saved Quarter for renters and those who own.  Do you do any of this?  I keep my heat at 65 when I’m home and 64 at night.  I could probably handle it going down to 63 though.  My house didn’t come with a programmable thermostat, so that’s on my list. 

What did you find in the blogosphere this week?

Food Waste Friday - First Single Girl Edition

I knew that when my mom picked up Chinese takeout for us last Friday night and insisted on leaving me with all the leftovers, some of it would end up in the trash.  There was just no way that one person could eat all that was leftover (note to self: new Chinese place serves massive portions – order less next time!).  But I felt confident that most of it would get eaten so there wouldn’t be too much waste.

Um, wrong.

I never got around to eating any of the leftover Chinese (I blame it on Target having frozen chicken nuggets on sale).  So all of that takeout went into the trash last night.  I did get a picture so I share my shame with you.  

I also threw away some roasted potatoes from last night.  I only cooked one potato but it was way more than I could eat and I don’t like leftover roasted potatoes.  If it was on my plate and it got scraped into the trash, does it count as food waste?

Maybe next week will be better!

This post is linked to Food Waste Friday.

Things I'm Complaining About Today

Sometimes, on twitter (you follow me right?), I list random things that are irritating me today.  But today, I had more to say so I thought that I would list them for you here. 

Because I know you are all so interested in what makes me tick. 

1.      My crappy computer at home.  I have a lovely computer, really I do.  It’s a Dell, purchased in January of 2008 and I’ve only ever had one major hardware problem with it.  So what’s the problem?  It runs on Windows Vista.  And, in case you haven’t heard, Windows Vista is probably the worst operating system ever created.  It slows my computer down so much; even gmail has trouble opening on occasion.  I’ve done everything anyone has suggested to me to help speed it up or make it work better but no such luck.  I’m contemplating getting upgrading to Windows 7.  Thoughts?

2.      Doctors who borrow library books without checking them out.  I know disappearing books is a common problem in any library, but when your collection is only 600ish books, it becomes really noticeable.  Example: a few months ago I ordered this great, newly published book on obesity surgery.  I was very excited to show one of the attending surgeons the book (and its accompanying DVD) and when I went to get it, it was missing from the shelf.  So I checked my circulation system and the stack of cards the patrons sign to check out a book (welcome to a poor library where automated circulation is never going to happen), and no one had checked it out.  Yet the book was missing.  Insert major frustration here.  Any special librarians have any idea on how to prevent this?

3.      Vendors.  Vendors who call when I don’t have time/could care less about the product.  Vendors who don’t return phone calls.  Vendors who show up without notice to pitch something.  Really, just vendors in general.

4.      The fact the BCS trophy is making another round through Alabama Wal-Marts.  I know it’s probably the best place for people to see it and yes, I did stand in line at the Tuscaloosa Wal-Mart last year to see it (don’t judge me), but really?  Wal-Mart?  They couldn’t have found someplace else a little better to show it off?  Thanks for making our state look so awesome.  Again.

5.      Having food waste.  I know my food waste Friday photo for tomorrow is going to be epic and I haven’t even cleaned out my fridge.  It’s hard eliminating food waste without my dad there to eat everything just before it goes bad.

So that ends my complaining session for the day.  How is your day?  Do you have a list of things to complain about?

Recipe: Chicken Spaghetti

This recipe comes from my mom, who I consider the authority on all things casserole. She has been making this dish for a very long time, but yesterday we decided to adapt it just a little. And I think it turned out even better than before. I hope you like it as well!

Chicken Spaghetti – makes 8-10 servings

2-3 chicken breasts, cooked, cooled, and chopped (you can either boil it, roast it, or sauté it – your choice)

1 pound spaghetti or other long pasta, cooked 1 minute less than packaged directions, drained

2 tablespoons olive oil

8 oz fresh sliced mushrooms

1 medium onion, chopped

3-4 garlic cloves, minced

⅓ cup dry white wine

1½ cup frozen peas or a small package of chopped frozen broccoli, thawed

2 cans cream of chicken soup (or 1 can cream of chicken and 1 can cream of mushroom)

½ sour cream

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese, divided

½ cup grated parmesan, divided

Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large dutch oven (you want to be able to mix all the ingredients in it at the end) and sauté the mushrooms for about 5 minutes, until some of the juices have been evaporated. Add in the onions and cook until soft and translucent, another 5-7 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or two. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Deglaze the pan with the wine, making sure to scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Add the peas (or the broccoli) and cook for a few minutes to warm through. Remove from heat and stir in the chopped chicken, cooked pasta, soups, sour cream and half the cheeses. If the mixture looks too dry add a little chicken broth or water. You want it creamy, but not runny. Check for seasoning and add more salt and pepper if needed.

Bake in a preheated 350° for 30 minutes. Top with remaining cheese and return to oven to melt the cheese and to make sure the casserole is heated through.

This post is linked to Tasty Tuesday.

PS: I'm sorry about the lack of a picture. My camera batteries stopped working and I can't find new ones amidst all the boxes.