Whew! It’s been awhile since my previous diary talking about my ongoing progress physically in the kitchen. Let’s just say I have steadily improved in terms of my physical stamina and ability to move around without my walker in our small “one-butt kitchen”, heh:) Thanks to the in-home physical therapy sessions I am stronger and steadier on my feet and while I do still have difficulty with the tremors in my arms and hands I have found some tools that help me to accomplish various chopping, dicing, etc. tasks better. One of the things I have had to recognize is that while my brain knows what to do (I like to think I used to have pretty decent knife skills) my hands do not quite cooperate, so I just have to slow down and focus. This does mean I have to prep things ahead of time more and have my ingredients ready rather than my old way of “chop and drop”. Great in theory but with little counter space it is a challenge.
One of the tools I got (courtesy of my occupational therapist!) was a pair of cut resistant gloves.
These were something I had come to learn of years ago from a friend who worked in a large college cafeteria kitchen. Kevlar lined gloves for chopping, slicing, etc. These are not the kind you can use for the oven though.
When I need to chop I wear a glove on the hand holding the item I’m chopping. They are really handy when dealing with things that are wet and/or cold too since they keep your hand from getting slippery. Plus to wash them you just wash your hands with the glove on then pull it off and let air dry. Oh! They are awesome when shredding cheese on a grater too! No more scraped knuckles;)
So, what have I been cooking? Lots of my old repertoire as I gain confidence and ability moving and lifting heavy pots and pans and so forth. I’ve made a big pot of chili, corn chowder, baked mac and cheese with ham, and tuna casserole just to list a bit. We’ve also been working on better balanced meals so trying new dishes that incorporate lots of veggies and grains more. On Sundays we have fun doing our “meal planning” so Mark can head to the store with a clear list of stuff to buy. He’s been enjoying doing more cooking as well since it’s relatively new for him:)
At the end of October I was discharged from the in-home PT/OT (yay! go me!) and I am keeping up on my daily exercises and continuing to push myself (safely of course) to continue my improvement. I will be pursuing further PT at a local facility depending on what my insurance will cover. Now, let’s talk about some of the stuff I’ve been cooking up!
Things like frozen chicken nuggets are not an ingredient I would normally think of when making a meal unless it’s the lazy chicken nuggets with some fries and maybe coleslaw or potato salad kind of night. But when I was first getting back on my feet here at home a big bag of them in the freezer was something quick and easy that Mark could throw together. We had about 20 left in a bag and I decided to try to get creative with them when we didn’t have any more fries and I really craved something a bit more substantial. Hence I scrabbled some pantry ingredients together and created this:
Quick Tomato and White Bean Curry with Chicken and Rice:
- 20 frozen chicken nuggets
- ½ cup chopped yellow onion
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 minced clove garlic or about ¼ tsp garlic powder
- 1 can cannelini beans rinsed and drained
- 1-2 tsp curry powder (I used my tasty Penzey’s blend)
- 1 can petite diced tomatoes w/liquid
- 2 servings of prepared rice
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley or cilantro
- salt and pepper as needed
In a large deep saute pan sweat chopped onions in olive oil with salt & pepper. Once onions are translucent add garlic and cook until fragrant but not browned. Stir and add drained cannelini beans and season with curry (Penzey's) to taste.
Add can of petite diced tomatoes w/liquid and more salt then bring to just a boil stirring a bit to keep any bits from sticking/burning to bottom of pan.
Lower heat to simmer and cover. Let simmer to develop flavor while preparing the chicken nuggets and rice.
Cook nuggets according to package directions until they are done and remove from oven and let cool enough to handle.
Prepare rice according to pkg directions for serving amounts. I used minute rice and cooked it in the microwave for ease and lack of counter space/ burners .
Check on sauce and taste for seasoning.
When rice is done and fluffed with a fork prepare plate for serving:
Mound rice on plate, top with chicken nuggets (which I cut in halves after taking them out of the oven). Top with sauce and sprinkle with fresh parsley/cilantro as desired. If I had some plain Greek yogurt on hand a dollop would provide a bit of tangy cool freshness to the overall dish.
Ok, so that was an example of a pretty quick and easy dish for me to whip up. One of the new dishes I made recently came out really well and is the wintertime salad pictured at the top. The recipe is quite easy and while I found it filling enough to be a light supper it would go well alongside a main protein such as roasted chicken or pork. My notes are in italics.
Skillet Barley With Broccoli, Feta, and Tomatoes Recipe
from Serious Eats
Note: Leave out the jalapeno and season with 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon dried red chili flake if you'd like to have more control over the heat level in the dish. Also feel free to substitute broccoli with other vegetables if you like to cook with the seasons.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ tablespoons olive oil
- 1 shallot, roughly chopped
- 1/2 jalapeño pepper, roughly chopped (see note above)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cups broccoli florets (I actually used frozen so added it later with the broth)
- 1 pint grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 cup pearled barley
- 3 ½ cups homemade vegetable stock or store-bought low-sodium vegetable broth (I used chicken stock since I have it on hand)
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
Directions
-
1. Heat the oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the shallots, jalapeno and a pinch of salt and cook until softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the tomatoes and broccoli and cook until the broccoli has browned slightly, 4 to 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
- 2. Add the barley and cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add the broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat to maintain a gentle simmer and allow the barley to cook until the liquid is absorbed and the barley has softened, 35 to 40 minutes.
- Adjust the seasoning to taste (remember that the feta will add a fair amount of salt). Stir in up to 1/2 cup extra broth if a looser consistency is desired. Top with crumbled feta and serve.
I mentioned in last week’s diary comments that we cooked up quite the tasty feast for Thanksgiving. This was really the first time we cooked together and it was fun and successful! Mark pretty much took charge of the ham since it was quite large and I did side dishes with him assisting me. It was great to have those extra hands doing things like chopping and cleaning dishes to keep space free as we prepared successive dishes to go in the oven at different times or on the stove. The one thing I ended up not doing was dessert. I’m not a fan of pies anyway but I did get ingredients to make a holiday appropriate batch of cookies! Since they didn’t get made for T-day (and honestly we were too stuffed to care!) I set about making them a couple of days later. I’m not much of a baker so simple recipes are always good and a few years ago I learned of this quick and easy one from Mark’s sister-in-law.
Pumpkin Spice Blossoms (makes about 30 small cookies)
- 1 can pure pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
- 1 box Spice cake mix
- 1 bag of Hershey’s chocolate kisses (and no, you will not use all of them so feel free to indulge;)
Preheat oven to 350° and grease 2 cookie sheets.
Mix pumpkin and cake mix in large bowl. Yep, really, that’s all you need. The pumpkin has enough moisture that when thoroughly mixed you will have the right consistency.
Drop dough by tablespoonfuls onto prepared cookie sheets and bake for 13-15 minutes. Rotate sheets halfway through baking as needed depending on your oven.
While cookies are baking unwrap kisses and stage them in a bowl to be ready for the cookies.
Cookies are done when nicely golden brown on the bottoms. They will be soft and cake-y. While still hot quickly press a chocolate kiss into the center of each cookie and leave them to cool for about 5 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.
Thanks for stopping in to see what’s been cooking in my kitchen! This group is such a great community of cooks and foodies and I am so pleased to be back at the table and sharing with all y’all as I continue getting myself back up to speed. Cooking and sharing the food and recipes is something I look forward to every Saturday evening here at WFD and it’s hard to believe we’re still going strong through all these years on the GOS!
Now it’s time to pull up a chair and relax with good food and good company here at our virtual table. Tell us, what’s for dinner at your place? And remember, we are always happy to share recipes, advice, tidbits, etc.
Cheers!