Foodie vs Cook

Saturday, I'm headed to my very first blogger conference, Blog Indiana. I'm a little apprehensive, since I feel like everyone else going is a much "bigger deal" than me in the blogging world, and I'm just a little hobbyist. Thing is, I've been at this blogging thing for 5 years, and I really do enjoy it- so I'm going to the conference to be around people who enjoy the same type of thing I do.

One of the panels I was particularly looking forward to is the Foodie Panel. A blog post asked for questions for the foodie panel, and I eagerly (OK, I admit, overeagerly) threw some out there, mostly about posting recipes and pictures. After taking a look of the list of bloggers on the panel, though, I realized my questions were mis-aimed. The fine bloggers on the panel aren't "food bloggers" like I read, like this blog- they're (for the most part) "foodies"- restaurant and food reviewers. I was discussing this confusion with my husband, and he said he always thought "foodies" were people who like fine restaurants and foods. I guess I had lumped all food blogs under the "foodie" label, but maybe that's wrong?

All that to say, I'm not the only one with this confusion. The kitchn is making the distinction as well, and asking which category we fall into... I'm a cook, for sure, especially if a foodie is "those who love the shiniest equipment and the newest ingredients, and follow the antics of top chefs the way others follow the NFL." Ha! Not me. You'll notice this blog is basically all comfort-food, simple recipes that can be whipped together with a bowl and a wooden spoon and not much else. I'm not into gadgets. I couldn't name a famous chef if you asked me to.

What I am into is experimenting- trying new concoctions with whatever I find in my pantry, keeping the price-per-meal down, and keeping the family's stomach's happy. So far so good. More recently, I've been conscious of finding ingredients locally, growing my own produce, and generally taking into account my meal's footprint on the earth. Does this make me a foodie, or just a conscious cook?

I've, just now, come up with even more questions for the foodie panel- they'll certainly have all the answers Saturday! What would you ask them?

Bloggers and Cupcakes!

I got together Saturday with a fabulous group of lady-bloggers from the Indianapolis area. These ladies are so far ahead of me in the blogging world, I was glad they let me tag along. We met Saturday at Paradise Bakery and talked for hours (well, until they kicked us out at 8pm, at which time we moved to Barnes and Noble until THEY kicked us out). Casey from moosh in indy, Stacy from Squirrel Chatter, Cherie from Queen of Free, and Jen from 4tunate all joined the party. All really cool ladies who can teach me a lot.

The Queen of Free organized the shindig and, even more exciting- she came bearing cupcakes!



The cupcakes were from a new Greenwood, Indiana cupcake shop called Our Bake Shoppe. I tried a coconut cupcake with feathery-light icing and a dense crumb, for a cupcake. Other flavors included banana-peanut butter, caramel, old-fashioned chocolate, and a host of others. The cupcakes are just the right size, too- bigger than bite-size, but small enough that you can justify going back for seconds! They are baked daily from scratch- if only I could get the recipe! Yum!

Follow @OurBakeShoppe on Twitter- tomorrow they are offering 50% off cupcakes for their followers!

Spice Rack Giveaway!

It just occurred to me that the giveaway on my other blog is more applicable to this one, so I thought I probably should mention it... But first! My project!


I didn't cook anything, but I made something cooking-related- a spice rack! On my wall! Check it out!

While you're over there, enter to win the magnetic tins I used, to make your own convenient, space saving spice rack!

We Have Winners!

 We have winners! The 3 coupons for a free pack of Kraft Singles, now growth-hormone-free, go to:

• One Frugal Lady, who likes grilled cheese with tomatoes (one of my favorites as well!)
• Terri, whose family's favorite comfort food is chicken and noodles over mashed potatoes
• Sue, who likes mac & cheese, but whose husband prefers griled cheese & tomato soup

Thanks for playing everyone! I liked to hear all the different comfort foods in your homes!

Comfort food for dreary days

It has been a dreary week.

Cold and wet and windy and sunless, I've really hated the weather this week. It's amazing, though, how warm familiar food can make me warm inside and make me forget about the grayness outside.

And what's more familiar and comforting than a grilled cheese sandwich and bowl of tomato soup?


Really, when my husband got home tonight, he just grinned and thanked me for making his "favorite meal".
I countered, "I thought biscuits and gravy was your favorite meal?"
"It is, too."
Sigh. Next time we need a warm comfort food, I know what to make!

Well, tonight I made grilled cheese & tomato soup. I grew up with grilled cheese using 2 slices of Kraft Singles on each sandwich. Josh grew up with sliced Velveeta. I don't think Velveeta ever entered my home as a child, but since being married and trying it "his way", I'm sold. I mean, both Velveeta and Kraft sliced cheese make a good, melty, warm, cheesy comfort food for gray days, but the Velveeta wins out.

And, this just in! Kraft cheese (they make your typical sliced cheese as well as Velveeta) are now growth hormone free, so I can feel even better about using them in my sandwiches. Because, I mean, I've tried using sliced cheddar in my grilled cheese & it's just not the same. Homemade grilled cheese demands American cheese.

GIVEAWAY!
Want to make your own grilled cheese sandwiches for your family? I'm giving away THREE coupons for a free pack of Kraft or Velveeta Singles (newly growth-hormone free!). Leave a comment here with your favorite fall/winter comfort food and you'll be entered to win.
Do leave an email address or blog address that contains contact information so I can let you know if you win.

Good luck! This post will be at the top of the blog until next Friday, November 21st, when I will announce the winners!

Frugal Food: Eggs

Frugal Upstate is hosting a Frugal Foods series- and the first week is all about Eggs!

We do a frugal "breakfast dinner" about once a week, because it's easy, quick, filling, and fun. I'll make scrambled eggs or fried eggs or an omelette, bacon or sausage, and biscuits or toast or hashbrowns. On nights (or Saturday mornings) when I have a little more time and lots of milk on hand, we'll have biscuits & gravy instead. But those don't involve eggs.

For The Natural Mommy's recipe swap: ignore the Pope Cake and the prospect of making biscuits- these all involve the oven! Other than that, eggs are a great stovetop, oven-free summer dinner!

Egg recipes on Sunflowers in my Kitchen:

• Pateta par Eeda - basically, eggs cooked on a bed of cilantro-seasoned hashbrowns. Very unusual, but good!
• The Irresistible Omelette - this was actually one of the first things I mastered cooking. I don't strat easy.
• Egg sandwiches - I love my breakfast in-hand.
• Camping breakfast - Eggs & breakfast food are a great way to feed a crowd cheaply!
• Pope Cake - This isn't exactly a cake, and the eggs aren't the star of the show, but it does involve half-a-dozen of them, so it made the list.

What's your favorite frugal meal involving eggs? Or summer meal that can be cooked without the oven?

Can't get it right!

What is it you just can't seem to cook just right?

For the longest time, for me, it was Sweet Tea. I found an acceptable solution, but I'm still not 100% happy with the results. I'll take 85%, for now.

What I really haven't felt like I've gotten pinned down is how to make a good muffin. I end up with little hard-rather-than-fluffy balls of bread, that aren't any fun to eat at all. What's your trick or recipe?

Go over to the Natural Mommy and ask your own recipe question, or drop more tips to those of us who don't have the answers!

Ordinary Days

Christ moves among the pots and pans.
- Teresa of Avila

Hat tip: God's Politics

Slacker Jo.

Yipes, I've been neglecting things here. I blame NaBloPoMo, which I'm doing over at my other blog. Oh, and moving.

I've still got Sunflowers in my Kitchen, it's just a different kitchen- NOW WITH EVEN MORE SUNFLOWERS! And you thought it wasn't possible. Pictures to come, whenever I find the battery charger for my camera, thrown in a box somewhere.

But, in other food news, I've really enjoyed cooking in my new kitchen. To date, I've made no-knead bread, pumpkin pie, chicken pot pie, and a whole lot of chicken broth, among other things. Thanksgiving cooking later this week will bring green bean casserole and a pie of some sort.

I'll get back to posting when my camera battery charger shows up, promise. It's baking season!

I've been woefully neglecting this blog lately. Part of my excuse is, I haven't had much to say. I've been cooking some, but not trying lots of new recipes or anything. Here, taken last night, is proof that I have been in the kitchen some!

over the last about 10 days, I've cooked over 30 servings worth of food for other people- and there have been no big parties here! The meals have included chicken pot pie, chicken tetrazinni, tacos & rice, and (a huge, 20 serving) pizza casserole. Oh, and then there was the popular favorite, the s'mores bars. Hopefully I'll get around to posting about the last couple.

Make It From Scratch #31

Bloggers from around the world have been cookin', craftin', and makin' this week. Let's see what everyone came up with!

BREAKFAST
There were an unusual number of breakfast-related entries this week. No complaints from me- I'm always looking for new & tasty breakfast ideas!

From Sweden, the Hairy Swede at A Swedish American in Sweden makes Pannkakor- Swedish pancakes! The crepe-like creations were her first attempt at the dish, and sounded like a great experiment!

Terry at Mom on Wheels tried a new granola bar recipe- I love munching granola or granola bars for a quick snack or breakfast, and her recipe even includes chocolate!

Amy at The MomAdvice blog had cooked up some pumpkin waffles this week- which are the perfect breakfast for the impending Fall season! The honey butter she used to top them sounds heavenly as well.

DeputyHeadmistress at the Common Room offers up a variety of oatmeal recipes, including one involving a slow cooker the night before! I have never given oatmeal its due, I suppose- these look like healthy choices worth trying.

Sarah at The Patchwork of Life makes some classic buttermilk pancakes. She used to use Bisquick to make the pancakes, but then was won over by this delicious from-scratch recipe!

Delilah at The Miller Way completes the breakfast section with iced coffee- trying to take the "latte factor" out of her budget by making it herself!

I followed the trend and made a biscuits and gravy brunch Sunday morning- all from scratch, and much to my husband's delight!

NON-BREAKFAST FOOD
Like I said, there were a LOT of breakfast entries. There were about the same number of people out there who DIDN'T have breakfast on the brain, and were cooking food for the rest of the day:

Laura at Laura Williams' Musings gives us four great ideas for what to do with pumpkins- all edible! The soup, pie, butter, and rolls all sound yummy, and creative.

Lisa at The Frugal Momma makes pepperoni bread & pizza subs. I would never have thought to bake the cheese and pepperoni into the bread as well as using them for toppings!

Heather at The Fat-bottomed Girl made cocktail sauce from scratch this week, for her family to eat alongside fish caught in Canada on a fish trip!

Stephanie at Stop the Ride! tells us how she's saving some of the summer heat for the winter: she's pickling & canning homegrown hot peppers!

Melissa at A Penny Closer shares a frugal and tasty-warm comfort food, Chicken Tetrazzini. This is seriously one of my favorite easy meals to make, and I'm glad she shared her take on it.

Heather of HomeEc101 cooks up a black-bean soup. It looks like just the think to help us get through the cold temperatures that await us in a few months!

Silvia at Po Moyemu posted her daughter Emily's favorite chili recipe. As the weather gets cooler, chili is sounding better and better!

And, of course, we can't forget dessert. Karen from Balance in Diet came up with a chocolate-chip-cookie dessert that may be low fat, but doesn't appear to be low in sugar- not that's I'm complaining! It's a no-bake recipe, too, which makes it quick and easy!

Sewing, Crafting, and Growing
The "everything else" category this week has quite a variety- a testament to the creative participants!

Lori at I Will Learn to Sew is doing just that- and she finished her pink dress! She followed a pattern and did a fabulous job- she's way ahead of me!

HowToMe is doing some sewing as well- showing us how to create khaki shorts from slacks. Her step-by-step pictures make it look easy!

Joanie in the UK posts about reusing plastic packaging to make a cute and colorful window hanging at her blog Nini Makes. Looks like a great activity for the kids!

Stephanie at Adventures in the 100-Acre Wood shares how she has been watching grass grow in her yard- finally! Certainly she'll have a lush yard very soon- and then she'll have to worry about mowing!

Cindy at My Recycled Bags never fails with her crocheting-plastic skills. This week, she shares a pattern for a market bag that expands to accommodate all your groceries!

Delilah at junky love in freehand made potholders from old jeans! I have some old jeans I've been looking for crafting ideas for, and this may be just the thing!

Melanie at Bean Sprouts in the UK made a very-cute train quilt for her son. Although he's now grown out of his train-obsession, he still sleeps with it every night!

I, with the help of Matt & James, made a knitted blanket- for a new baby in the office. Check out all the blue over at keeping feet.

iamawahm at Working At Home Mom gives future MIFS participants a variety of crafty ideas for things they can make from scratch both for this carnival AND to sell!

Next week, participate! You can enter here. Look for the next MIFS carnival posted in a week over at And Miles to Go Before We Sleep.

Thanks for visiting!

An epidemic?

The Indianapolis Star has an article about the newest obesity state rankings.

The good news: Indiana dropped in the ranking!

The bad news: We still gained weight! More than 1 in 4 Hoosiers are overweight! And we're still in the top 10 fattest states!

What this means: The nation's still gaining weight, and Indiana just happens to be doing it slightly slower than other states.

On a personal level, my cookie-and-cake baking probably don't help matters...
What can be done at a systemic level to combat this?

Pie

I'm such a huge geek. Three reasons I should get this t-shirt:

- I love making pies.
- My favorite color in the whole wide world is green
- I'm a huge geek.

Why I won't get this t-shirt:

- I don't buy clothes except when absolutely necessary.

Sigh. If YOU want to buy this t-shirt, enter the code 'shirt' as a discount code for the next 24 hours for 10% off. That's what they say, anyway.

Beware: I'm a beginner

You Are a Learning Cook

You've got the makings of an excellent cook, and the desire to be one. But right now, you're just lacking the experience. You couldn't be a top chef yet, but you could be an apprentice.

Are You A Good Cook?

It's true, I admit it. Yes I have a food blog, but I'm by no means an expert. I'm learning about this whole cooking thing still, and tend toward easy recipes I can throw together after working all day. Nothing gourmet here, sorry. I'm an engineer, folks- I'm going to stick to the Practical. We'll see what comes of it.

Sunflowers in my Neighborhood

So, this isn't exactly food-related, but I had to share.

The Indianapolis Star has a story about a group- Global Peace Initiatives- that is going around door to door in a downtown neighborhood offering to plant sunflowers in yards. The whole article:

A woman determined to do something about crime is working on a simple solution: planting sunflowers.

Linda Proffitt, a social worker and founder of a small Eastside organization called Global Peace Initiatives, believes adding beauty to a neighborhood will contribute to peace.

Earlier this month she and a handful of volunteers began knocking on doors on the Near Eastside, offering to plant sunflowers as a way to cheer up the largely forlorn environs. With just two turn-downs, Proffitt’s group so far has planted several thousand sunflower seeds. “Some of the plants are an inch or so high,” she says.

The group planted flowers this week in the 400 block of North Tacoma Avenue in lots owned by the non-profit Riley Development Corp. Proffitt’s group planted its perennials on the lots’ borders, so they wouldn’t be displaced by construction of houses that will be built there.

Across the street were not one but two boarded-up houses. The houses on the street that are still occupied appeared in serious disrepair.

“People will see this looks nice here,” said Amanda Garcia, 13, “and maybe they’ll try to make their places look nice, too. We need to change the way things are going — stray dogs roaming around, people throwing trash around. This is their earth.”

“And because of the appearance of people doing good, and taking care,” says Proffitt, “the streets are safer. There’s research.”

I love sunflowers. And beauty does bring peace and comfort. I'm excited that there are people in Indianapolis creatively solving a problem. Hopefully this neighborhood will be impacted. I hope to get down to this neighborhood later in the summer & get some pictures of the new, bright, beautiful places- and all the sunflowers.

Welcome!

Before I got married in June, 2006, I hadn't cooked, practically at all. Cooking was for my mother and my sister, while I played on the computer. Well, when thrown out into the 'real world', I was forced to feed myself and my new husband... and I discovered I love cooking! I don't know if I'm any good at it yet, but I treat it as a science experiment, and forge ahead, failures and all.

In the meantime, we eat well.

Oh, and did I mention I really like taking pictures of things too?

Cooking Fun