Profile

wednesdayvail

a young army wife exploring the worlds of housekeeping, yoga, and public speaking

  • Location: wednesdayvail
  • Favorite foods: popcorn
    wine
    sushi
    thai food

Lunch Near Sea-Tac?

personally, i like hanging out a seatac itself! fireworks is a fun and eclectic shop to browse in, then i usually grab some washington state wine at a wine bar. there's an ivar's restaurant, and dish delish is pretty good. it really is one of my fave airports! the city of seatac isn't my favorite place... i feel kinda exposed even when just driving around there. my vote would to be to just stay at the airport.

The Serious Eats Guide to Vodka

harvey wallbangers... retro and smooth.

AHT Giveaway: Case of Pat LaFrieda Burgers

i would throw a pre-deployment party for my hubby before he leaves this summer! there would be swimming, many many growlers of homebrew, watermelon, and awesome grilled burgers =)

Taste Test: Bottled Ranch Dressing

i am with dyrima! the cheap stuff that tastes slightly watery that you get at cafeterias and bad salad bars. that stuff's the best!

AHT Giveaway: Case of Pat LaFrieda Burgers

every sunday after church, my family would go to the same hole in the wall family restaurant (B.J.'s). my twin sister and i would always split a hamburger which was an enormous thing with an even bigger pile of french fries. it seemed so fun and unique to order a burger while everyone else got breakfast foods!

Bouillon Cubes

i use the cubes when i want to add a chicken-y or beef-y flavor without having to add more liquid and instead of just plain salt. they are super convenient to throw into steamed veggies or a pasta sauce in the crockpot or in rice for a lazy pilaf =)
these cubes are not meant to become "soup" lol

What do you leave OUT of the fridge? Food safety

anything bread like does NOT go in the fridge.
eggs don't go in the fridge unless it's not an egg-craving week (usually we go through about 3 doz a week between the two of us... those eggs don't even get a glimpse of going bad!)
chocolate does NOT go in the fridge
bananas do NOT go in the fridge. i cannot eat cold bananas! yuck
wine DOES go in the fridge in the summer. the house gets way to warm for me to risk my awesome red collection!
veggies do NOT go in the fridge unless I need them to last for a week or they are leafy.
oil does NOT go in the fridge.... yuck, i have to rescue the poor oils whenever my hubby cleans up after dinner!

Qualities of a foodie expert you trust

when i ask for eating out recommendations, i usually ask, "how rarely do you eat out around here...?" it's kinda a trick question because most of the places around here are terrible or mediocre. The worst part is, they are all extremely expensive! Whenever, wherever we eat out, I usually end up feeling like I could have made just as good (if not better dinner) for much much much cheaper.
If they answer that they don't eat out around here but at other nonlocal awesome places, I trust them. If they name a place around here as the greatest food ever.... I know they cannot be trusted in anything.

Indoor Edible Growing

sprouts! they grow anywhere!

Knead the Book: Fast Breads

any type of toast (dry) with thinly sliced banana and boiled egg with a sprinkle of salt and pepper

What's your secret snacking obsession?

popcorn.... and more popcorn.
today i had airpopped popcorn with salt at the movies.... then this afternoon before dinner i had more air popped corn with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder... after dinner i will probably make cake batter popcorn for dessert.
usually i try to limit my popcorn snacking to once a day. but i heard today is "no diet" day, so all bets are off!

Are you an onion crier?

there's hardly a meal in this house that does not have an onion in it. that being said, i do not cry. occasionally on a very hot day, a potent yellow will get to me. i found that walla walla onions are so sweet hardly anyone tears with them. they are the type of onion you could eat like an apple! (i really like onions)

Guacamole yay or nay?

i agree about it getting lost in taco salad. it becomes more like a creamy dressing then. we usually just add big chunks of diced 'cado.
instead of taco salad, we make taco lettuce wraps. the guac acts like a glue for all the meat, plus it doesn't get lost flavor/texture wise.

Baby Oatmeal

oatmeal pancakes!

What to do with cottage cheese?

i love cottage cheese! we grew up with it mixed in spaghettios =)

mixed with fresh mango and a dash of cinnamon
in a tortilla sprinkled with brown sugar, granola, and pineapple
microwaved with bananas
salt and pepper

Uses for white miso

i use it to make vegan ricotta...i leave out the tahini, because I cannot stand tahini...i also add a TB of cornstarch... i also use regular onion unless i am feeling fancy.... i also like fresh basil if i am using it in something italian.
it sounds weird, but it's delicious! just toss it all in the food processor. then use for vegan lasagna, or filled shells, whatever you'd like!
http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2756

Tacos

oh you guys are awful! now I HAVE to watch the taco flavored keeeeses episode! plus i'm going to be annoying because we are having tacos tonight...

Bottom Shelf Beer: Which Is The Best Mexican Lager?

Funny corona story.
We went to a barbecue with some of my husband's coworkers that was byob. The popular 6 pack of choice was corona. One of the guys showed up with a 6 pack of coronitas (you know, the mini bottles?) by accident. He was super confused until I pointed out the situation! lol
Great post as usual! I will have to email this to the hubby!

Wine tasting picnic ideas

thanks bleu! you make a good point =) i should do the best i can and let them react however they will. afterall i am the one going through all this trouble and prep and paying! lol, i will let you know what I decide on and how it goes over. thanks for y'all's support =)

Where's Your Favorite Place to Drink Outside?

i looooooooooooooooooove sweet wine by the pool. Looooooooooooooove! Mimosas if it's a hot morning by the pool =) this would already be an ongoing thing if I still lived in southern california.... but alas, in washington, the pool isn't opened until memorial day.
in the meantime, a bottle of wine and a picnic lunch at one of the beautiful wineries in Zillah, WA

40th B-Day/ Housewarming Party

i like italian dinner buffets in the summer, it's usually a needed break from summer barbecues! my mom does these all the time with shopping done at sam's.

italian sausage can be cooked ahead of time or done on the grill

a giant antipasto salad with lettuce, olives, pepperoncinis, shredded/sliced mozz and provolone, sliced salami, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, any other veggies you want (sliced mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, bell pepper), dressed with a good drizzle of olive oil, red wine vinegar, a few shakes of salt and some fresh ground black pepper

tons of garlic bread

borrow some crockpots from your friends to hold homemade sauce

get the huge thing of parmasan from sam's

meatballs are great in crockpots too

checkered table cloths with big jugs of chianti and twinkly white lights
best of all, kids and adults will like the food and leftovers are very freezable =) you can make it more appetizer-y by serving the meatballs with toothpicks, skewing sliced sausage, skewering tortelini with tomatoes and mozzarella, making a bowl of bruschetta topping, flat bread pizzas, individual caprese salads, fried ravioli, fried mozzarella sticks.... anything!
i want to come! this sounds fun =) lol, I think i am just aching for summer parties!

Freezing Clementines

have you tried them once they've defrosted? i wonder if they'd be like canned oranges then... i loooove canned oranges!

Freezing Clementines

awesome idea! cuties come in such a big box!

What are your top ten (or more) vegetarian protein rich foods?

i eat dairy rarely, but when i do it's for the protein benefit :
cottage cheese
yogurt as a dip
milk in lattes
whey powders

vegan:
homemade tofu ricotta
salted edamame
hummus
spinach in smoothies
black beans
occasionally homemade seitan sausage

Wine tasting picnic ideas

PS if you live in Washington state, like Seattle or central WA you should totally come! this is a wine event like no other! or if you live elsewhere and are tired of the prices and snootiness of napa... come join us! just let me know if you have any dietary restrictions/preferences/allergies so I can pack a picnic for you =P

Wine tasting picnic ideas

It's Spring Barrel in Yakima, Wa. This is basically a party at all the wineries. The wine they made in the spring hasn't yet been bottled, so you have the chance to taste out of the barrel and even preorder cases of your favorites. It is so much fun! Even better, a bunch of my family and friends from California are coming up here to attend. I want to pack a good picnic lunch but ran into a few problems....
these include a diabetic, a vegetarian, a low carber, and a small pocketbook on my side of it all! I don't have enough money to make a million different things, so I need help! also this is not a sit down picnic. nothing that needs forks or even necessarily plates...
so far i am planning on making popcorn (cheap, and I can't drink wine without it), and bottled water....i

I cant believe I made bad tasting cookies!

So, I tried a new recipe for cookies.
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/old-german-honey-cookies/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=german%20honey%20cookies&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

I used white whole wheat flour. The dough didn't taste sweet enough, so I rolled the uncooked cookies in granulated sugar. I baked them and they turned out thick and dense and cakey and not very sweet. I tried flattening them out, thinking that they wouldn't taste so bad if they were more like crackers. They tasted the same, just less thick.
Now I have about 2 dozen, dense, not tasty cookies. What do I do? Scrap them all? Maybe frost them?
Any ideas would be welcome!

Creative Lettuce Wrap Ideas

My husband and I have found what fun it is to eat things as lettuce wraps.. This isn't a diet issue, but more of a fun way to mix up dinners!
So far we've tried korean style beef with kimchi, cucumber salad, fried tofu, and bean sprouts; vietnamese braised pork with boiled eggs, bean sprouts, pickled daikon/carrots, and fresh herbs; chicken fajitas with fresh pico de gallo and black beans; the pf chang style chicken/tofu wraps; italian wraps with fresh bruschetta, sausage filling, and sauteed peppers and onions;
do you have any creative ideas for us that you've tried or even just thought up?

Chocolate meets "chocolate"?

So I have a lot of unsweetened baker's chocolate squares, and i was wondering if i could melt it with chocolate flavored almond bark (you know that cheap stuff that melts really easily and tastes like crappy easter bunnies?).
I'm imagining making something that tastes more like a semisweet. But I'm afraid mixing fake with real will be disaster! Does anybody have experience with this (or any ideas?)?
FYI the intended end product is chocolate/candy drizzled christmas pretzels, so gourmet is not foremost! lol

I hate brown gravy...

Making mac and cheese from scratch (mil's recipe, so i got to make it taste like childhood memories!)... misread roux ingredients, and put in 1/4 c butter and 1 c flour.... hmm, that looks more like a shortbread cookie....reread recipe. Ohhh, 1/4 c of each!
Well, I have instant roux in the cupboard, let's make that instead of using more flour and butter.
Turns out, instant roux = brown gravy.
Well I really can't make mac/cheese with brown gravy in good conscience. Scrap that. Back to recipe! Now I have the makings for a shortbread cookie, brown gravy, and hopefully soon mac and cheese!
Problem. I do not like brown gravy... But I have like 2 cups of it. What do I do with it? My cuz already said to freeze it, but that still doesn't help me use it since i don't like it.
Ideas would be appreciated!

Portland Ideas!

We have been falling in love with Portland lately, but we live 3 hours away...
so we are going there for next weekend...where are some must places? we are staying near the convention center, so we can catch the light link into the city center (and we're willing to walk). we all like wine, and craft beers. so far we are hitting up voodoo donuts (my folks are tagging along and have never been), bushwackers' cider bar, kell's, maybe mcmanimans (sp?), and that's all i've got... go!

Failed yogurt... now what?

So I tried making homemade yogurt in my crockpot. Sadly, I forgot to let the milk cool before adding my culture. Now I have a pot of slightly yogurt flavored milk. It barely set at all.
What can I do with this "milk"?

Kamut and other wheats....

I recently got a large amount of whole Kamut to make Essene bread.
Do you have any tried and true recipes for Kamut/other-wheat berries? Sprouting is so much fun, but since I'm not RAW i like having the option of experimenting with grains/nuts/seeds i wouldn't normally have on hand.
Tonight I am making a warm grain salad with spinach, onion, garlic, lemon juice, tomatoes and either nutmeg/thyme or cilantro.

Walla Walla Sweets!

So I just got the biggest, most gorgeous bunch of walla walla onions at the fm. What should I do with them? They came with about a half foot of greens attached. Can I use those too?

Why did I even bother asking?

So, I am going to the extended family's fathers' day celebration. My mama raised me right so I asked what I could bring. The hostess said a veggie platter "because you did such an awesome job last time!" All I did was cut up some veggies and threw them on a plate with ranch. Whoop de doo. All they ever ask me to bring is veggies. And most of them don't even eat anything close to a fresh vegetable!
To add insult to injury, the food that other people will bring will be things like sushi from costco, salami and cheese cubes, mushy soy sauce marinated chicken tenders, meat balls (if we're lucky with jarred gravy rather than grape jelly), doritos, and any other premade/unnatural/no-effort food you can think of.
I can cook. I cook great food. And I'm bringing veggies. Should I ask to bring something else? Is there some way to make this more exciting? Does this happen to you?

FatTuesday!

Fat tuesday is coming up! Are you celebrating? If so, what will you be eating/drinking?
We will be drinking a nice 2002 cabernet from Apex and a nice champagne leftover from valentine's day (because i am giving up wine for lent). Between drinking and smoking a pack of cigarettes (i am also giving up smoking, yikes!), i am attempting to make a jambalaya (we miss living in the south even though we're not from the south!)
How bout you?

Feb 14th is coming up! Time to start planning!

For my husband and I, this will be our first Valentine's day together. For the past several years he's either been out of state for army training or I've been in the hospital. It was even the same when we were dating!
So. I would like to make something extra special. A fancy dinner complete with complimenting drinks and a light dessert. Any ideas? Or even better yet, how are you celebrating this awesomely cheesy holiday with your sweetie!?!?!

Drunken apple pie?

I was wondering if anybody had a apple pie recipe that uses booze in it... specifically rum?
I'm open to anything. I just don't know how to make it boozy. Lol

I bought smoked garlic... now what?

So, the fruit stand had these wonderful smelling brown cloves of smoked garlic. I bought one, but am not sure what to do with it. The guy at the stand said to mix it in cream cheese to make a yummy spread.... what else could I do with it?

Pickled or Marinated Garlic?

What do I use this kind of garlic for? I am putting together a xmas present for my bro that includes garlic and garlic paraphenalia... i have seen a lot of pickled or jarred whole cloves in specialty stores. but what do you do with these?!?!
also if you have any good garlic themed suggestions for my present, I'm all ears!

Grilling: Filipino Barbecue

Grilling: Filipino Barbecue

I've mentioned my love for Filipino cuisine, but it took some time to work my way from dish to dish to develop this fondness. The first delicious item I ever tried that kicked off this journey was Filipino barbecue, a... More

S. H. Fernando Jr.'s Spicy Lentil Fritters

S. H. Fernando Jr.'s Spicy Lentil Fritters

S.H. Fernando Jr., author of Rice & Curry, calls these Spicy Lentil Fritters an Asian take on falafel, and that's a spot-on call. Subbing out chickpeas for yellow split peas makes for fritters with a great bite and the chiles, onion, curry leaves, ginger, and fennel seeds give these guys beguiling flavor, one that will have you snacking on these little fritters until every last one is gone. More

Soupe au Pistou

Soupe au Pistou

Soupe au Pistou is a traditional Provencal soup, but you'll find different versions across the region. Feel free to substitute vegetables (yellow squash for zucchini, etc) based on what's in season.... More

DIY Grenadine

DIY Grenadine

DIY grenadine is as quick to make as simple syrup, and you are in control of how sweet it is. Pomegranate molasses and rosewater add a bit of complexity to the flavor of the final product. More

Red Beet Eggs

Red Beet Eggs

Pickled eggs are bright in both color and flavor. Pickling firms the whites of the hard boiled egg, transforming them into something tangy and substantial. The finished eggs are good eaten on their own, or chopped into a vibrantly colored... More

Cakespy: Sweet and Salty Super Bowl Brownies

Cakespy: Sweet and Salty Super Bowl Brownies

tarting with a basic brownie recipe, I made these ones extreme by packing them chock-full of gooey caramel and dark chocolate, roasted peanuts, and salty pretzels. The sweet plays offense, pummeling your taste buds with a rich, chocolate-filled flavor, with salty bringing up the defense, with a crunch and savoriness from the peanuts and pretzels. Yes indeed, when sweet and salty team up, everyone wins. More