A Vida Brasileira (Brazilian Life)

There are a lot of good things I am looking forward to this new year, but there are two in particular.  Although I am not ready to share one yet (and NO, I am not pregnant, although I know that is the first thing that popped into your mind because that is the first thing that pops out of everyone's mouth when I say I have good news...), I am excitedly and openly looking forward to the other.  (And now that I have you in suspense -- "WHAT could the other one be?!"  -- you will just have to wait and find out.)

It is time to go back to Brazil!  Not yet, but soon.  And this time we are taking friends.  That excites me beyond belief and I find myself thinking about it a lot.  Although I have never actually lived in Brazil myself, I have spent some considerable time there.  One month the first time, two months (so, maybe that counts as mini-living-there) the second time, another month a year later, and two weeks last year... it adds up to my own friends and my own connections and not just being the wife of my husband.  Of course, that is my pride in everyday life and my fame in my Brazilian life, but I realized after our last trip that I now have pride inside of me for Brazil as my place, too, not just his.  (I realize that it will always be his more than mine, but he is a good sharer so I think this concept will work out ;)  )  So, let me show you my "other place" :)  (All of these pictures were taken by me last time we were down there, one year ago.)

Quick Fix: Hawaiian Meatballs (Again)

If you saw my weekly menu for this week, then you would know that last night we had Hawaiian Meatballs with Rice. 

Except we didn't... when put my scooper in to the rice bag it came back almost empty.  No rice for my meatballs-with-rice.  And I had already put the meatballs, pineapple chunks, and sauce on the stove. 

I started rummaging around in my cupboards, but I could find any rice of any kind.  No arborio (which I usually have on account of being a fan of risotto), no long grain, no wild, no instant.  Not even Uncle Ben's.  (But I never have that.  I don't even know how to cook minute rice... but apparently it isn't that hard.)  However, I did have orzo.  So, no rice, but small pasta instead. 

All in all, it turned out good.  The texture was different than we are used to, but the flavor remained the same. 

You know what this means?  I did something completely different than the recipe called for, but I made it work.  I did not send my husband out to get more rice, nor did that thought even cross my mind.  I just found something that would work. 

A year ago I didn't even know what orzo was.  No joke -- the first time I used it was last Spring Break, and if my memory serves me correctly, I had to ask the Trader Joe's dude to help me find it.  Now I am whipping it out of the cupboard and throwing it into a dish that in noway calls for pasta, but sounds like it could be just the thing to get me out of that pickle I am in...

I also discovered that for some strange, odd reason, I find wooden spoons to be beautiful.  Very earthy.  So I took pictures of my spoon.

Yes, I am a little odd like that. 

(But you must admit, the color of the spoon with the pineapple can is quite nice, isn't it?)

Anyway... back to the meatballs.  They turned out nicely.  You should make up a batch yourself.  They really bring a little summer flavor into this cold month of January.

INGREDIENTS
Frozen meatballs (I use turkey)
can of pineapple chunks
jar of Soyaki (or soy sauce with minced garlic)
side of rice OR orzo ;)


RECIPE
Make the rice/orzo/whatever.  Meanwhile, the meatballs, drained pineapple chunks, and 1/2 jar of Soyaki together.  Cook 20 minutes.  Stir occasionally.  Set on top of rice. 

COST: $6.68                  PER SERVING (4): $1.67

Throw a little salad on the plate to go with it, and you are just slightly above $2.
Sweet.

Weekly Menu: January 2

Happy 2012, Friends! 

To start off this new year I am going to try to add something new here.  Since I already go through the work of making a weekly menu + grocery list for us, I have decided why not share it?  I know most of the time you will not need it, but just in case you think, "Man, I am so tired and I can't think of anything I want to cook for this week..." well, you won't have to.  It will all be right here.  And for those who don't cook because they never have any ideas... this is for you, too.  The grocery list attached will have everything you need to make these meals happen at your house.  And chances are, you probably have lot of stuff on the list anyway, cutting the list to a much smaller size.  Just buy the rest of the stuff, click on the links to take you to the recipe, and Happy Cooking!

Hawaiian meatballs w/ rice
Salad

Creamy Asparagus Soup with Chicken Sausage (optional)

Bread & Butter

Penne Pasta with Marinara Sauce  (NO LINK, but it is easy.  You can figure it out :)

Bruschetta (basically, toasted sourdough with chopped up tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil, salt & pepper mixture on top)

Salad

Chicken Piccata with Mashed Potatoes   (NEW RECIPE... click HERE)

*Note- the recipe I am using calls for chicken broth instead of white wine.  Use either.

Roasted Zucchini & Squash

Basil Burgers (AKA Tiffany Burgers)

PRODUCE

1 1/2 bunch asparagus

1 zucchini

2 yellow squash

4 small potatoes

1 leek

garlic

1 lemon

1 onion

fresh basil

tomatoes

parsley

4 large potatoes

salad base (lettuce or spinach) and extra fixings

MEAT

2 8-oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts

meatballs (of any kind; I get turkey)

chicken sausage (optional)

1 lb. ground beef

DAIRY

butter

milk

mayo

Greek yogurt - 6 oz.

OTHER

soyaki (or soy sauce w/ minced garlic)

can of pineapple chunks

rice

chicken bullion

sourdough bread

hamburger buns

penne pasta

marinara sauce

capers

Italian seasoned bread crumbs

garlic salt

ketchup

mustard

2011, It was a pleasure to know you.

This year is almost over.  Like, three more sleeps and then it is another year.  Remember how when you were a kid and it seemed like Christmas took forever to get here?  Now it just comes and goes in a blink of an eye.  Whoosh.

Looking back on 2011 I see this as my year of creativity being realized.  I had an article published in Guideposts Magazine, I took engagement pictures and maternity pictures and trash the dress pictures plus some more, and I really put myself to work in the kitchen.  And of course, I started this blog!  Obviously, there is a whole lot more to say about this year, mostly good, some bad, but that is what I will always remember this year for.  

Let's take a look at where this blog/this year has gone:

APRIL

It all started as a way for me to record my recipes and to keep track of how much money each one cost.  I was not concerned with getting into the "blogging world", I just wanted to share with my friends and family.

MAY

Learning to cook is a tall order.  Learning to cook while blending two cultures is a doubly-tall, doubly difficult order.  But it is fun.  Challenging things aren't always bad -- sometimes they are the motivation you need to keep things interesting.

(This is Prestigio Cake, by the way.  My husband's favorite.)

PS - We also went one month (yeah, you heard that correctly) without spending any money WHAT-SO-EVER on eating out.  One month. 

JUNE

Teaching my baby brother how to cook.  It took me years of begging him to join me in the kitchen, but he finally decided to humor me.  And he was good at it!  Don't let the badass tattoos fool you; he has many talents.  (Did I ever mention that he has a beautiful singing voice?  Beautiful.)

JULY

My first (and only) attempt at "cute food".  Yeah, there are some things I am not cut out for.

AUGUST

Challenge of one week, completely new recipes with fresh ingredients.  My favorite food week of the year.

 

AND

I hosted a Foodbuzz 24x24 party, themed "Festa Brasileira".  Not only did we get fourteen Brazilian and American friends together to eat and have a good time, but we had had money left over and were able to donate $100 to the World Hunger Project.  Win-win in my book.

Oh yeah, and I learned some more of that all-important-Brazilian-cooking.  Triple win.

SEPTEMBER

Being a lover of good photography, I decided it was time to bring my food-pictures up to the level I expect of all my pictures.  I don't always make it happen, but I do make an effort.

OCTOBER

October Unprocessed: one month of NOTHING I didn't make from scratch.  It was difficult, eye-opening, and fun.  I actually cried when I made vegetable stock from scratch.  To see that I have the ability to make something without relying of food companies to do it for me... exhilarating.

NOVEMBER

My friends and I gave thanks while trying give others a reason to do the same.  With a team of young adults and people willing to join us, plus a 7x matching opportunity, we raised enough money to provide 35,112 meals to those in need in Africa.  That's 35,112 reasons to give thanks.

DECEMBER

And that brings us to now, December.  What can I say about this month?  I realized that along with developing my cooking skills I have also developed my photography, my writing, and have connected with people around the world I would have never met otherwise.  I have become a better cook, for sure, but I have also become a more well-rounded person. 

2011, you have been a good one.

And now on to see what 2012 has in store for us...

May your New Year (eve/day/year) be filled with love, family & friends, good food, and laughter.  Thank you for being a part of my inner-creativity discovery process!

Almost English Toffee

Yes, you read that right.  English Toffee  FUDGE.  Except it's not really fudge.  Nor is it really English Toffee.  Actually, it is an accident.

An amazing accident.

Two days I go I was cruising food blogs and I found out that English Toffee is incredibly easy (sounding) to make.  I wanted to make sure if I was going to make some I was going to make the best possible, so I googled recipes for it and compared them.  Finding the one that sounded the best, I set out to make some of my own.  I already had all of the ingredients on hand except almonds, but I don't like almonds, so I grabbed some walnuts down and was set.

There were tons of suggestions how to make it work correctly, and I read them all -- I promise.  I guess I just didn't fully understand them all, because what I wound up with was not English Toffee.  It was softer, melty-in-your-mouth, and oh-so-good.  So I did another google search for undercooked English Toffee.  According to everyone there, it should have been really sticky and get all stuck on your teeth, which mine did not.  So then I googled fudge.  Wouldn't you know it, fudge and English Toffee are almost the same concept, but one main difference (among the smaller ones): the temperature.  I guess my thermometer reading skills need a little improvement.  Oh well.  This was the best kitchen accident I have ever had.  I showed my husband a picture of what I supposed to be making and he told me to keep making this accident again and again, because he has had English toffee, but this is better. 

The best part?  It tastes like English toffee still.  So I have flavor of something delicious with the texture of (slightly grainy) fudge.  Score!

I am going to give you the real recipe for English toffee, but note my mistakes changes in italics.  Follow either version to have something delicious.

Ingredients

(Yields two pounds/ 32 servings)

• 2 cups butter
• 2 cups white sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups semisweet chocolate chips
• 1 cup finely chopped almonds

Directions

1. In a large heavy bottomed saucepan, combine the butter, sugar and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring until the butter is melted. Allow to come to a boil, and cook until the mixture becomes a dark amber color, and the temperature has reached 285 degrees F (137 degrees C). Stir occasionally. OR cook until it reaches about 110C or 230F. 
2. While the toffee is cooking, cover a large baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
3. As soon as the toffee reaches the proper temperature, pour it out onto the prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle the chocolate over the top, and let it set for a minute or two to soften. Spread the chocolate into a thin even layer once it is melted. Sprinkle the nuts over the chocolate, and press in slightly. Putting a plastic bag over your hand will minimize the mess.
4. Place the toffee in the refrigerator to chill until set. Break into pieces, and store in an airtight container.               

SOME VERY IMPORTANT TIPS I found included stir continuously with a whisk (which I did), use a casserole dish instead of a baking sheet (which you should do if you are making it my way), and keep in an airtight container in the fridge.  Use Bing or Google to find out more, but good luck!  And if you happen to recreate my accident, well, good for you :)

COST: $8.00                     COST PER SERVING (32): $0.25

And from our family to yours, we hope you had a wonderfully beautiful Christmas.