Happy Easter - Have some pie!

I had a pretty low key Easter. I went to church, performed with the bell choir, took a nap and had dinner with my family. And I made this pie. The recipe was weird enough that I had to try it.

This is a Peeps Pie, with pink Peeps for garnish...


...and lavender Peeps in the pie itself.


The crockpot makes a good substitute for a double boiler. Here are the Peeps partially melted.


Here the Peeps are completely melted. I ended up with more pie filling than would fit in the pie crust. (I bought a graham crust instead of making one.) So I finished it off myself, along with the toffee bits that settled on the bottom. (I used toffee instead of chocolate because Dad doesn't eat chocolate.)

I'm not sure if the toffee was supposed to melt or not. We didn't find any chunks in the pie, but it did have a subtle toffee taste.



The toffee was subtle, but the rest of the pie wasn't. It's very rich and sweet. I think I've had my fill of Peeps this year.

Happy Easter!

Sally's No-Alarm Chili

I never thought I'd see the day when I published a recipe on this blog. But thanks to my crockpot, that day has come. I'm probably posting this more for me, so I can repeat this in the future. However, I'd like to think someone else might want to try it.

This chili is flavorful without being too spicy. I'm a wuss about spicy things. And I hate onions and peppers. So I took my preferences and combined them with this recipe for turkey chili, the crockpot chili recipe from The Simple Dollar and some advice from a co-worker.



Sally's No-Alarm Chili
Ingredients:

1 pound of dried pinto beans
1 pound of ground beef (I used a package with a little over a pound)
1 29 ounce can of tomato sauce
1 14.5 ounce can of diced chili tomatoes (I bought the HEB brand. You can used regular diced tomatoes if you can't find the flavored kind.)
1 14.5 ounce can of water (see below)
3 cloves of chopped garlic
1 T dried minced onion
1/4 t onion salt
2 T chili powder
1/2 t paprika
1/2 t Italian seasoning
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t salt
1/4 t black pepper
shredded cheddar (optional)
sour cream (optional)

1. Soak the beans in water overnight-ish in. (I did this around 9 a.m. Sunday morning and rinsed them around 6 p.m.) Make sure they're covered in several inches of water. After you soak them, drain and rinse them and put them in the crockpot.

2. Brown the ground beef. Don't drain it. Or at least don't drain it all the way. I used 80/20 ground chuck and used the grease for flavor. Put the beef with the drippings in the crockpot. (You can also brown ground turkey with some olive oil instead of beef.)

3. Add the tomato sauce and the diced tomatoes to the crockpot. Do not drain the diced tomatoes. Fill the empty diced tomato can with water and pour it in the crockpot. (I also used a little water to rinse out the tomato sauce can and poured that in the crockpot as well.) Stir.

4. Add in the garlic, minced onion and spices. Stir well.

5. You can cook this immediately, or you can put the crock in the refrigerator until you're ready to cook it.

6. When you are ready to cook, cook it for 8 hours on low. (You can probably do less, but the longer you do it, the more the flavors meld.)

7. Serve with cheese and sour cream on top for extra awesomeness.

OPP - Katie's Crochet

Last Thursday we celebrated my sister's birthday, where I overwhelmed my sister with a lot of Crockpot Monkey Mix. (I also went overboard with the powdered sugar.)


(BTW - That's Mom's wheel in the back with some of her yarn draped over it.)

Things were a little backwards that night, because I forgot my knitting, but my sister pulled out an afghan that I haven't seen her work on in ages. It's time for OPP (Other People's Projects.)


It's a fairly simple chevron crochet afghan made with Caron Simply Soft Brites. I'm not quite sure where she got the stitch, but it's not a formal pattern. It's lengthwise, so the rows take a long time.

There's a closer look at the afghan here.


I'm not sure where Katie got the idea to crochet amigurumi-style mugs, but that's what she's been doing. She just goes for it without a pattern. This one has whipped cream on top. (There is another view of it here.)


Katie also got some "latte-colored" yarn so she can make more mugs.

There are more pictures from our birthday celebration here.

WIP: Tapestry Cowl (and some more loose ends)

I'm making steady progress on the Tapestry Cowl. I'm enjoying it, but I need to "activate" another project that requires less concentration. It's not a very good knit for waiting rooms. (Unless you're going to be waiting for hours, which hasn't happened. Yet.) It also isn't very good for talking with other people or watching TV.

Medical Crap

I think I've been spending too much time in my head with my medical crap. My family doctor said the sedimentation rate I talked about on Friday was something they'd watch, but probably doesn't mean anything. He also had me add iron supplements to my regimen, but that should be temporary. Now I'm just going to focus on my sleep study this Friday and getting on with my life. I'm making myself depressed.

I got this nifty little pill minder today to keep track of all my medications and supplements. The individual containers slide apart so you can carry one day of pills at a time. Sweet!

Crockpot

I have managed to stay on track with my crockpot. It's saved me a lot of money which I need, because I keep spending money on supplements.

This is the Brown Sugar Chicken I made earlier this week. Stephanie said her kids called it "Candy Chicken." It tasted more like a vinegary teriyaki when I made it. Most of the brown sugar slid off the chicken in the pot. Still, it was a pretty decent meal.

I don't blog about all my crockpot meals, but I take pictures of most of them. I created a Flickr Set that I plan to keep updating if you really want to follow what I'm making.

Parting Shot

Bunny Foo-Foo decided to try to get into the new bag of hay, rather than eat what she already has. Rather than stop her, I decided it would make a good picture.

Happy Anniversary to me!

I wrote about it last year, and I'm writing about it again this year. Today is my two year anniversary at my current job.

Today is Saturday, but yesterday I brought in French Toast Bake in the Crockpot to celebrate. My boss was out of the office, and I wish he could have been there to partake. While there was a burnt edge that ended up in the trash, it was basically a hit.

Celebrating my anniversary at work seems a little nutty, but as I mentioned before, starting my current job in many ways signaled the end of a very difficult phase of my life.

And much like Christmas, this is a time of year that I remember how lucky I am. And with the current economy, it rings truer than ever. I have a reasonably secure job with decent pay, bonuses for performance and benefits.

And I work with people that I like. The management pays cares about morale. (Unlike my last job, where anything outside of our day to day work was frowned upon.) I got balloons on my birthday. We took time out to celebrate the end of the fiscal year. We have potlucks, and we have holiday parties. (Unfortunately, I missed this year's party.)

My boss listens to me. He tries to help me with my work-related problems, and is sympathetic to the challenges in my personal life. When I was in the hospital, nobody was asked me to see how soon I could be back at work. And when I returned, people asked me if I was ok. They didn't bitch about having to pick up my slack.

And at 5 p.m., I'm done. I get to live the rest of my life. No weekend assignments or late night meetings.

So I've been spending a lot of time bitching and moaning about work, but I really am lucky.

And two years ago, I couldn't say that. All I wanted in the world was a decent paying job with people I liked. I'd been basically unemployed for about six months (with the exception of a low-paying part time job.) My last job had driven me to (and maybe past) the breaking point. And I was living with my parents.

So while I'm thankful, I'm acknowledging that I'm way past the survival mode I was in two years ago. I have other ambitions.

Last night after work I met with some entrepreneurial-minded coworkers. We tossed around our ideas and dreams. And I realized one thing.

I need a business plan if I ever really want to achieve my dreams.

I've spent a lot of time tossing around ideas and dreaming, but I need to make something concrete. So far, I've been using the Underpants Gnomes Model of business.

(ETA - There's some naughty words in the Underpants Gnomes clip, if that kind of things bothers you. Probably NSFW.)

So for now, I have one New Year's Resolution.

By the end of February, I want to have a business plan in place. With some specific goals and deadlines.

Phase One - How do you write a business plan?

Ummm...I'll get back to you on that one.

"Winter Mix"

more animals
Central Texas is under a winter storm warning right now. If you're not from the area, you should know that we don't handle ice, sleet and snow very well. We normally react to this kind of weather by staying home and off the roads.

At my job handles these situations by doing whatever AISD decides to do. This conveniently puts the decision on the school district.

Of course, it doesn't seem like AISD has gotten the message that the storm warning lasts until 11 a.m. tomorrow.

According to the AISD website:

"It is the Austin School District's intention to begin all classes at their regular start times on Wednesday morning, January 28. District officials will closely monitor the local weather situation throughout the evening and early morning hours. The District will take action, if necessary, as appropriate."

The local news said they district would make a final decision at 6 a.m. tomorrow. Can't we get one by midnight? I'd rather not wake up early, if I can help it.

The news has also been trying to cover all aspects of the winter storms. You know who else has to be out in the freezing weather? News crews who trying to squeeze every drop out of "the big story."


Last night's lasagna was pretty disappointing. I don't blame the recipe. I made a few mistakes.

First, I used cheap sauce in a can, not a jar. It was free with a combo. It was just...off. My parents bought the same combo, but with meat flavored sauce, and it was better than this. (But not great.) I bought the four-cheese sauce.

Also, I substituted cottage cheese for ricotta cheese. It works great when Mom does it. However, I remembered later that Mom adds an egg. (I think.)

Finally, I got the "oven ready" noodles, because the recipe doesn't require you to boil them ahead of time, and I was afraid they'd be hard. They were soggy.

It's not awful, and I do need to eat the rest of it. The leftovers were a little better because I put a bunch of extra shredded cheese on top.

I'm going to heat up a frozen pizza now.

Catching Up

This past week has been kind of rough. Work's been stressful, but there are signs that things are about to get better. I've been tired and frustrated, and not blogging much. It's time to catch up.

In The Kitchen

Last week I made Applesauce Chicken in the Crockpot. It was good, except for the burnt edges. I think I cooked it too long.

It's taken all week to get all the burnt stuff off the crock. I soaked it over and over with dish soap, then I "cooked" water and vinegar in it twice. Finally, I managed to get the last of it off with a pocket knife this afternoon. All that's left now are a few specks.

Tonight I'm putting together lasagna for tomorrow night.

My dishwasher is broken again. The good news is that the apartment is going to replace it. The bad news is that I have to wait another week before they put it in, and the standing water is getting higher.

Also, I got chemical burns from cleaning the freezer with bleach last week. (I know, I should have used gloves.) They're almost healed, but the resulting calluses on my fingertips make it hard to appreciate fiber.

Maybe I should stay out of the kitchen.

Sleeping

Tuesday I saw a sleep specialist, something I probably should have done ten years ago.

I've never slept like a normal person, but when I was in college, it got a lot worse. I never seem to feel rested, I toss, turn, kick and moan in my sleep, and sometimes my breathing is shallow and rapid.

The doctor suspects Periodic Limb Movement Disorder. From what I've read, it looks like it can be treated with medication.

A week from tonight I'll be doing a sleep study, where they hook me up to all sorts of machines and monitor my sleep.

I'm anxious to get the results. There's a strong possibly that they'll find something that can be fixed with medication or some other relatively simple treatment.

Taco Xpress

I've lived in Austin most of my life, but until last night I hadn't eaten at Maria's Taco Xpress. They're known for their good food and the giant statue of Maria with outstretched arms. I went with my sister, Katie, and her boyfriend, Aaron.


(The tacos were messy, but good.)

I think I'm going to eat my leftover taco after I finish blogging.

All my Taco Xpress pictures are here.

Parting Shot

After much questioning, I'm finally confident that I got the decreases right on the One Day Beret for my friend Lyndsey. Here she is modeling it. It should be finished tonight or tomorrow.

I can haz Crockpot!

I can cook!


After I helped some friends make "stoop" for a church event (it's half stew, half soup and 100% delicious!) and reading A Year of CrockPotting, I was inspired to ask for one for Christmas. I liked the idea of coming home to a hot meal.

I never cook because I have to do all the work after I come home from work, when I'm tired and hungry. With a Crockpot, I can do most of the prep the night before, dump it all in first thing in the morning and eat when I get home.


I decided to start with Taco Soup. This recipe makes 10-12 servings. Now I wanted leftovers, but I thought this was overkill. So here's what I put in my soup:

1 pound of cooked ground beef
Dash of pepper
1/2 package of ranch seasoning
1/2 package of taco seasoning
1 can of corn (plus a little bit I had leftover from Bill Miller earlier last week.)
1 can of pinto beans
2 cans of stewed tomatoes
cheddar cheese to put on top

You're supposed to blend the tomatoes, but since I have no blender, I decided to have chunkier soup.

I mixed most of the ingredients in tubs ahead of time so I didn't have much to do in the morning. This is what it looked like before I left for work:



And this is what it looked like when I got home:



Because I cut down the recipe, I was a little worried about overcooking. But it did just fine, except for the edges of one or two tomatoes. Good enough for me.


It was just what I hoped for. A hot, satisfying meal as soon as I got home.


And there were leftovers. If it freezes well, I'll probably make the full recipe next time.


Of course, I still have to do the dishes.