Moving sucks.

Granted, when the dust has settled and I actually have a couch to lounge on again, it will be a wonderful move. It’s just that this was one more curve ball life threw my way that I could have done without.

In my last post, I mentioned that I had a bunch of updates for you, and I do. I just didn’t like where my original post was going, because it was beyond depressing. Mind you, a lot of what I’ve been dealing with over these past couple of months has been beyond depressing, but still… I don’t want to drag everyone else down, and rehashing the bad only makes me continue to feel funky.

It's impossible to feel sad with this sandwich around, though. I'm officially in love.

So, to catch everyone up to this point, here’s the Cliff’s Notes edition of what I’ve been dealing with these past couple of months:

My health continues to suffer, and I just got over the longest, most intense PHN/shingles flare ups since I was diagnosed with this lovely disease two years ago (already?!) it lasted 6 weeks; my father, who is in early renal failure due to complications from diabetes, was hospitalized for a long time due to a serious bout of pneumonia and he almost died; my mother’s health is taking a turn for the worst again, even after her successful surgery last summer; I lost my sweet little girl cat, Hana Leigh, to a 3-month battle with her own diabetic complications, including hind leg paralysis which involved a lot of nursing (she died in my arms early one morning… seriously THE most intense, heart-wrenching things I will ever experience); and the eviction I’ve been fighting so hard to avoid these past two incredibly hard years, almost became a reality. But I do need to move because I will never get out of this financial hell with the overblown rent I struggle to pay here.  The good news is that I’ll be going somewhere I can feel a lot less stress, and which will hopefully have no negative impact on my health like this place does. (That’s a WHOLE other blog post, though.)

In short, it’s been a very, very dark time.

Which is part of why I enjoy bright, happy-looking food.

Fortunately, the one bright spot has been my job. I still have one, which is awesome in this still-flailing job market, and while it’s one of the most challenging jobs I’ve had in years, I absofrigginlutely love it. In a slightly masochistic way, lol. Maybe it’s because I grew up with parents in the restaurant business, as well as my own personal restaurant experience. It’s hard work, has taken over 75% of my dreams since I started, and really keeps me on my toes. It suits me though, and I’m learning a lot about a side of the restaurant business I never expected I would enjoy so much, but again, that’s a whole other post. I’m also surrounded by some of the most amazing culinary talent in Sacramento, so it’s great to be next to so much creativity and drive.

ANYWAY….

During those uber-crappy months of January, February and most of March, I was stuck in survival cooking mode. Like I mentioned in my last post, that was a very bad idea, and I’m still trying to make amends with myself for stifling my creative side for so long.  And while a lot of what I’ve been making lately has been quite simple, it’s been fun letting my mind go for a while, using my cooking as a way to escape all the difficult things I’ve had to deal with recently.

This is one of those recipes. Actually, I take that back. This is one I’d developed a few months ago, right before all the proverbial shit hit the fan, so it got pushed aside. But it was one I thought about almost daily, picturing how it would look once plated, imagining how the flavors & textures would dance across my taste buds.

Turns out it’s also a real case of better late than never, because HOLY HANNAH!  this is SO my new favorite vegetarian sandwich. (Sorry, Apple, Kale & Cheddar Melt! I still love you, though…)

Seriously, though... look at this thing.

It’s super simple to make, and if you’re a fan of spicy foods like I am, it’s another way to get your heat on without resorting to the usual fare. Filled with plenty of meaty mushrooms, melty cheese, and fresh, chunky pico de gallo, this sandwich is a total party in your mouth. It’s is such a hearty sandwich, even some meat-lovers will find this one equally satisfying as a meat-centric sub. And don’t worry about this being too spicy – the cool salsa really helps tone down the spicy hot mushrooms.

Just a couple of things to note for this one: feel free to use your favorite bread rolls for this sub-style sandwich. I’m in a Dutch crunch phase right now so that’s what I used for mine, but almost any sandwich roll should do. I’d probably stay away from the sourdough since it could compete with the flavor of the mushrooms, but otherwise you’re good to go. And if you want to go the burrito or taco route instead, just spoon the filling into some tortillas, add pico de gallo and start chowing down.

Okay, enough babbling already! Recipe in 3…2…1…

Hello, my darlings.

It’s been beyond forever since I’ve been able to post, and while I do have several updates for you, I needed – yes, NEEDED – to share something beautiful and delicious with you first.

The other day it occurred to me that even though I’ve been cooking these past couple of months, I haven’t been doing any creative cooking because of all the terrible things I’ve had to deal with recently. And that sucks. One thing is cooking for basic purposes, like survival or the occasional grilled cheese sandwich craving. But to cook creatively is also – at least for me – necessary for my survival.

I often play with my food like this, even if there's no special occasion going on. Food is art.

Like I said earlier, I’ve had more than enough major life problems happen recently (more than the usual), which makes me have to keep postponing my posts. I’m not the crank-out-a-crappy-post-just-to-post-something type and frankly, with some of the stuff that’s been thrown my way, there just hasn’t been enough time (seriously, this whole when-it-rains-it-pours-thing is very time consuming).

But during these extremely difficult last couple of months, I feel like I did myself a disservice by cooking only what I needed and not allowing my creative side to filter its way into my dining process. For a food blogger (at least this food blogger), that doesn’t just include developing new recipes, it also includes the beauty of making (not just taking, thanks Penny De Los Santos) new pictures, and just talking/writing about it. And while this isn’t a brand new recipe, and I wasn’t able to post about it right then and there, just waxing poetic about it on Facebook that night felt good.

Almost as good as this tasted.

I’ve been meaning to revise this recipe for years now, but not as much as I’ve wanted to change the photo. I’ve taken some horrific photos in my day, especially at the beginning of PGEW, but this one is probably the worst one. Why I even allowed it is beyond me, but there it is. And I’ve wanted to share it as a PGEW Recipe of the Day or on Pinterest, etc., but it was so darn ugly that I just couldn’t bear it.

So when I had this recent attack of “Screw everything, I NEED to be me” (meaning PGEW, not Worried About All These Major Problems Girl, not Can’t Stop Thinking About Work Girl), I went straight for the shrimp and pineapple I knew I had on hand. For a moment I considered fiddling with something new, but the sun was setting and part of my “need” that day was just to photograph food, so I stuck with this recipe revision.

And that was a fabulous decision.

Based on some reader suggestions and the produce I had on hand, I tweaked a few things and ended up with a really good dish turned awesome. They were very simple changes too: just a little bit of pineapple juice to make the relish more “relish-y” (some folks felt the original version was too dry), and mixing in chopped fresh cilantro at the very end. While the chopped scallion garnish from the original recipe was a fabulous addition (which would have ended up in this version if I’d had some… how did I run out of green onions, of all things?), the cilantro just took it to a different level. All of a sudden it popped with freshness and tasted like summer. And while we’re only at the beginning of spring, that’s not a bad thing (especially since so many of you are still covered in snow!).

If you’re one of those people who can’t stand cilantro, A) I’m sorry it tastes like soap to you! I wish you could taste what the rest of us taste, and B) no worries at all. You can stick with the scallions from the original recipe for a dash of color and extra flavor. If you’re a fan of both things like I am, and if you have them on hand, by all means use both!

Normally, I would stop here and direct you to the original recipe with the swanky new photos, but I’m being brave and leaving both the original recipe and the hideous original photo. Just because it’s fun to flash back every now & then and see how things have evolved   (and I do discuss a bit of the background of the dish as well). It’s also there to serve as inspiration for those of you who have told me you could never take fabulous food photos. This is absolute proof that practice – and a little patience – makes all the difference. And hopefully, it’ll make perfect eventually, too. : )

As I get more settled into my new job and schedule, I’m finding more ways to streamline my day, especially when it comes to meals. Gone are the days of being able to keep a big bag of supplies in the break room fridge and coming up with different concoctions whenever lunchtime arrived. Now I’m all about packing lunches, prepping for meals a few days in advance, and trying to come up with sensible things to eat after work. I feel like the mother of a kindergartner at this point, such is the need for constant prep work!

The hardest part has been making the switch from fun & exciting dinners to fun & exciting lunches. After years of working the 8-5 circuit, not having the evenings free is a little strange. I miss celebrating things like Taco Tuesdays, and breakfast-for-dinner gets really confusing once you start having it around 2am (because at that point, isn’t it just breakfast again?). So, I’m making small lunchtime changes here & there to allow these little traditions to continue, only on a less elaborate scale.

I threw these puppies together a few days ago on a whim, chucking the more time-consuming sweet potato hash with poached eggs I’d originally had in mind for some quick tacos instead. Going in a sweet potato-less direction was not an option, as it appears that they’re my first I’m Obsessed With You, Dear Ingredient of 2013, so I figured I’d cook them up with some ground beef I had defrosting in the fridge for a simple taco filling. But let me tell ya, these are anything but simple when it comes to flavor.

Easy to prepare and quick to assemble, these little guys are packed with spices and a little heat for kick. Earthy, smoky cumin, spicy cayenne pepper, and a couple dashes of smoked paprika take an otherwise tasty taco filling to a whole different level. The mild sweetness and velvety smoothness of the sweet potatoes help to tame a bit of that kick, so if you’re a little on the shy side when it comes to spicy food, you should be just fine with these.

Served street-style on small corn tortillas with plenty of chopped onions and cilantro for garnish and crunch, just two or three of these make for a delicious, yet effortless lunch. Because I get home so late these days, I try to have dinner options in place before I leave so I don’t have to start from scratch when I get home, and this recipe turned out to be perfect for this new practice. I made a big batch of filling, had the fresh veggie toppers all chopped up and ready to go, and all I had to do is reheat and serve. If you’re pressed for time and looking for meal-related time savers, you’ll definitely want to bookmark this one.

Before we check out the recipe, I wanted to point out how keeping your spice pantry stocked, even with the very basics, can make all the difference in the world when you’re cooking. As you can see here, what could have been a good dish is now a fun one, alive with exciting flavors. Except for the spiced paprika, which I actually happened to find at my beloved Trader Joe’s for a mere $1.99 (!!!), the ingredients used to take the taco filling from meh to OMG are quite simple and relatively inexpensive.

Of course, you could just go the taco seasoning packet route and save yourself some measuring time. But you’ll be spending way more in the long run and won’t have the ability to tweak those flavors until they make your taste buds sing. Keeping basic herbs & spices on hand opens up a world of possibilities, and with some of the shopping suggestions in Tip #2, you should be able to create a decent spice pantry of your own without breaking the bank. Once you find out what works for you and you commit to keeping those herbs & spices well-stocked, there’s no limit to what you can do, even with the most basic ingredients.

Okay, it’s recipe time! Let’s check it out. : )

It seems to have become PGEW tradition for me to start off each new year with a quinoa recipe – two quinoa recipes, actually. It might have started way back in 2009, my first PGEW New Year. I was feeling rather prolific that morning, despite all the champagne consumed the night before. I wanted something tasty but much more healthy than what I’d had earlier that week, so I cooked up a large batch of quinoa and whipped up two totally random dishes. They ended up being some of the most popular dishes of that year and the a new tradition was born.

And with good reason. ‘Tis the season to be focusing on health goals, eating more healthfully, and all that jazz. As I’ve said time and time again, quinoa is a wonderful staple to keep around, not only because of its high yield and versatility, but because of its nutritional values as well. In an effort to restock my freezer with new supplies for the beginning of the new year, I like to cook up big batches bare bones staples like quinoa, so that I can portion them out and freeze for later use.

But before freezing must come experimenting, so I divvied up some of my most recent batch between my Cranberry-Pistachio Oatmeal-Quinoa Cookies and this new little pilaf I’ve been thinking about for days. I’d played around with an easy quinoa pilaf over the Christmas holiday and liked the result so much, I started coming up with other flavor combos. I had a good idea in mind but didn’t want to use up all my quinoa for this dish, since I was eager to getting the freezing & stocking portion of my day out of the way.

Eyeing the pot of brown rice that had just finished cooking on the stove, I had an idea I’m ashamed I hadn’t thought of earlier. Put the two things together, for crying out loud! It makes sense, right? The rice helps to stretch the use of the quinoa even further, helping to spend less on the mother grain, while the quinoa lends extra protein and nutrition to a familiar staple. A few vegetable additions later and voila! Dinner is served.

I’m still in seasonal cooking mode, so I made use of this ridiculously adorable butternut squash I’d been hoarding for a couple weeks. Along with tender, meaty mushrooms, and some bright green kale for color and crunch, this quickly became a fabulous one-dish meal. And because I’m throwing dried cranberries into everything these days (holy recent bulk sale, Batman!), I added a few of those at the very end, for even more color and an added zing. I realize some folks might find this addition a bit odd, so I’ve left them as an optional ingredient in the recipe, but if you’ll trust me on this one, try it with the cranberries first. They really kick things up a notch!

Though I’m used to making a lot of these one-dish meals, I have the feeling I’ll be making a lot more of these this year. With the new work schedule, my dinnertime is way off, happening either around 3pm on the train headed there, or at around 1:30am, once I’ve tended to the furchildren and soaked my sore feet. Having this sort of thing on hand to take with me to work or have on hand to reheat quickly after my shift is over is an absolute lifesaver, so if you struggle with the same kind of hectic day, you’ll love what’s coming this year. Just commit to setting aside a few hours of just one day to get a lot of your prep done – like cooking and freezing staples like rice, beans and other grains – and you’re good to go.

Back to this dish, though… I love it. I had two bowlfuls of it the first time I made it and smiled happily with every bite. You can tell that it’s good for you with all that healthy nuttiness lent by the quinoa and brown rice, but it’s not like typical “health food”. It’s more like health comfort food: a big, hearty dish that’s both filling and filled with great flavors. The sweetness of the squash, the crunchy green flavor of the kale, all those mighty, meaty mushrooms – everything comes together beautifully. As I’ve mentioned before, it makes a fantastic meatless entree, but it’s also a wonderful side for lean cuts of chicken or pork. And while it’s meant to be served hot, I just snuck a bite from the bowl in the fridge and found it’s pretty darn tasty cold, too!

Enough babbling! It’s time to check out the recipe. Here’s to a much happier and (hopefully) healthier year for all of us! Happy New Year, everyone!  : )

I hate to admit it, but this (er, last) year I could not get into the Christmas spirit until about 10pm last Saturday night. Between all the craziness I’ve already been dealing with this year both healthwise and financially, providing what’s essentially hospice care for my sweet kitty, Hana, and adjusting to the new schedule of my new job (it’s hard going from diurnal to nocturnal when you’re no longer a young whipper snapper, lol), I completely forgot to feel festive.

It’s sad, really. Usually, once Thanksgiving is over, I’m in hyper-Christmas mode, donning Santa hats and jingle bell rings whenever I get the chance, and busting out the holiday decorations by no later than December 1st. But life seriously kicked my ass in 2012, and if it hadn’t been because of all the Christmas parties going on at work, and the fact that my mom was coming to rest after her post-surgery return to work, I would have been blindsided by Christmas.

Fortunately, it all worked out. At the restaurant we finished an absolutely jam-packed week that left us all exhausted, so it was nice to spend some quiet time at home with my mom. Those of you who’ve been following the blog for awhile know that when she and I hang out, cooking and baking are always involved, so naturally we took advantage of our days off to get some of that done.

While she set about whipping up some incredible piña colada cupcake concoction (it’s okay to be jealous… I’m jealous of myself and all the treats I get whenever she comes over), I decided finally to add another notch in my baking-with-quinoa belt by making quinoa cookies. Not quinoa-only, per se, as I’m still working on a recipe that pleases me in that respect, but something just as awesome: a chunky but moist cookie, mild in its sweetness but simply exploding with fun textures.

The goal wasn’t to make a holiday cookie – really, all I wanted to do was bake to take the chill out of the air and the stress out of my hear. But because of the seasonal favorites of cranberries and nuts, and the added festive look of the red quinoa, these worked out nicely for our holiday dessert spread. But these are definitely year-round cookies, so don’t feel like you have to bookmark these for this new year’s holiday baking frenzy. Like my strawberry-banana quinoa muffins, I have the feeling these are going to be on heavy rotation for me as pre- or during-work snacks.

Though the title might suggest that this is a rather involved recipe, its deceptively simple to make, especially if you’re like me and are used to cooking up decent sized batches of quinoa to have on hand. My plan was to work on a new savory red quinoa recipe for the new year, but quinoa is a funny thing once it cooks, yielding far more than you needed for the recipe in mind. This is one of the biggest reasons I harp about quinoa as a PGEW Bare Bones staple – like pasta and rice, the finished product it yields makes this ancient grain a sound culinary investment. The fact that it also packs an awesome nutritional punch makes it an even better choice, with its range and versatility making this one of the most valuable ingredients around (in my kitchen, at least).

But back to the cookies…

Using whatever chunky, chewy and crunchy things I had on hand, I whipped these together fairly quickly, despite the elbow grease expended on the actual mixing, now that one of my mixer’s attachments has walked away from my kitchen (where the heck is that thing?). Even with the added arm workout, prep time for these only came out to about 10-12 minutes tops, which is an added bonus. Baking can be so much fun, but I feel like I can only enjoy it when I have a full day of nothing else to do, so it’s a rare joy to find one I can put together in less than an hour.

I used cranberries and pistachios in my cookies because A) I love that combination, and B) that’s all I had on hand, but I know these would be amazing with almonds or pecans instead. The dough itself is very mild in flavor, so you don’t have to worry about these being overly sweet. With the rolled oats and the fun pop! of the quinoa, if you’re a fan of textures like I am, this is definitely the cookie for you!

Now, because these have relatively pricey ingredients like pistachios, cranberries and quinoa, they’re not as uber-cheap as, say, a sugar cookie recipe. But that doesn’t mean this has to be a $15 recipe. Paying attention to and using what you have on hand, and using some of those ingredients wisely (like splitting batches of cooked quinoa into different recipes) can help keep those costs down. You might not have cranberries but maybe you do have raisins, so you can use those instead. No nuts? No problem? They’re not an absolute requirement, and you’ll still have plenty of fun texture to play with without them. With a recipe like this, it’s okay to goof around with the additions; as long as your basic cookie dough recipe is measured out properly, you can take liberties with those add-ons.

How else can you keep a cookie recipe with so many healthy, happy things so affordable? Keep an eye on those Bare Bones staples! As I delve further into the world of baking, I realize those little guys don’t only come in handy for regular meals, but for fun baking projects, too. A silly “discovery” really, because it’s not like I didn’t already know this. But when you’re not used to baking regularly, a lot of those ingredients seem to fade into the background until they’re actually needed.

It’s been worth taking a closer look at them, though… Those oats don’t have to suffer through another life sentence of breakfast-dom; that quinoa can turn into almost anything from what I can gather; and all that dried fruit that usually goes into salads or pilafs when I”m the one doing the cooking? It can actually go into something fun like a batch of cookies! Who knew, eh? ; ) Think outside the box, repurpose the familiar, and you’ll be amazed at what kind of kitchen magic you can conjure up.

Have fun with this one, folks! And if you end up using different fruit & nut combos for your cookies, let me know what you come up with in the comments below! I have the feeling these will be just as versatile as those sweet little muffins. : )

Hey everyone!

It’s been forever and a day since I’ve been able to post anything here and I miss it (and all of you) so much! It seems like 2012 has been, among other bad things, the year of evil technical issues. Ever since my darling blog was redesigned last year, I’ve been plagued with a litany of technical problems, which I’ll describe in a bit.  I seem to be able to do some basic things on here again, so I am excited to be able to share some new recipes with you shortly. But needless to say, it’s been an excruciatingly trying year in many respects, so I’m eagerly awaiting a (hopefully) brighter new year filled with recipes that will actually post, email accounts that work, and all sorts of other positive things.

But before I share some recipes, here are a few updates to get everyone caught up on what’s going on PGEW Land…

~ Tech Issues: I need some serious help. As I mentioned earlier, PGEW went through a major redesign last year, and as gorgeous and polished as it is, it’s been nothing but a headache for me. See, I came from a Blogger background, where everything was WYSIWG and easy. The design and extra features I’d added to the first few incarnations of the site were all done by me through many hours of learning Blogger hacks and making them work for my site. Last year, my (now former) best friend from college, who owned a web design and marketing firm, offered to have his folks redesign it to make the site look professional, polished and really showcase my ever-improving photography. Unfortunately, he had to close his company, and all the tech support I was supposed to have went pretty much out the window. The last time I learned any coding was back in like 1995, when HTML 4 was awesome and frames were sometimes considered “cool”, so going from super simple Blogger to a self-hosted site on WordPress without any training whatsoever was not an easy thing.

He helped me out for a few months with the stuff he knew how to do, but basically I’ve been stuck with a format I’m not 100% satisfied with in terms of functionality (I ADORE my design, though) and I have no idea how to change it. To make matters worse, my email address for the blog went from super simple Gmail to a nice @poorgirleatswell.com address – that doesn’t work. I can’t log in, the forwarding I’m supposed to be getting to another address gives me perpetual errors, and I’m barely getting any correspondence unless it’s from readers who used to use my old email address. I’ve tried to get this fixed on my own but trying to reach a human being at Google is pretty much impossible (and the forums are pretty useless), and I made this former friend aware of the situation. “Sure, I’ll take a look at that in a bit” was the standard response until he pretty much fell off the face of the Earth and left me hanging with a website I don’t know how to manage on the back end, no information on the server I use for when it goes down, and no way to get my book designed. Emailing, calling, and sending physical letters do not seem to do much in terms of getting this person to reply or help finish what he started, so I’m pretty much in the dark and floundering in a sea of tech issues I have no clue how to fix.

I’m not quite over the personal betrayal of how all of this went down (after 17 years of being friends, to be dissed like that is hard to handle), but I have professional concerns to contend with. I just can’t keep the blog that I’ve worked so hard to get to this point continue like this without some serious help from someone who knows what he or she is doing. So if you know of someone, or if you are good at contacting Google for tech support and/or some WordPress help on the coding side, please email me at poorgirleatswell [at] gmail [dot] com. Please do not use the contact form on the site or use kimberly @ poorgirleatswell.com, as these are currently not working. I’m not expecting anyone to fix stuff for me (esp. since I can’t really afford to pay someone for that right now), but if you could point me in the right direction to solve some of these problems, I’d greatly appreciate it.

~ New PGEW Book Release Date: Between the tech issues and other glitches I’ve run into in trying to get my book printed and published, as well as the two months I had to take off from writing because of how severe my illness got during the summer as well as caring for my mom post-cancer treatment/surgery, the release date for the first PGEW cookbook has been (obviously) pushed back a few months. I’m looking ahead to early March of 2013 for pre-orders. I don’t have an exact date yet, as all of the design & technical aspects of the book have fallen into my hands after this jerk disappeared on me, but for those who have asked, YES! The book is happening! Here’s a sneak peak at the chapter list thus far:

My Story
About Me
460 Calories
Becoming “Poor Girl”
Tips
Change your mindset
Like losing weight…
Let go of shopping shame
On Impulse buying
The Beauty (and money saved) by eating seasonally
The Organic Issue
Stock your kitchen
Find your Bare Bones staples
Find your spice staples
Pots, pans, gadgets
Go shopping
Buy whole ingredients/ Do it yourself!
Buy what you need, but read carefully!
Need what you buy, but allow yourself a splurge or two
Realistic couponing for singles or people with small apartments
Tips for a successful $25 Shopping Cart
Start cooking
The importance of Mise en Place
Save those scraps!
Love those leftovers!
Recipes
Breakfast
Bare Bones
Meats & Poultry
Seafood & Fish
Salads
Sandwiches
Soups & Stews
Veggies & Sides
Pasta, Rice & Other Grains
Desserts (OMG, I’m STILL trying to whittle this down to a manageable size!)
PGEW Splurges
PGEW.com Favorites
Fun Food
Drinks

Hot damn & hallelujah, it’s shaping up so nicely! As you can see, there are some familiar titles and categories, as well as a lot of new ones. But as excited as I am to share all the new recipes with you, it’s the Tips section I’m most eager to share with everyone. It’s one thing to have fabulous recipes to make, but doing things the PGEW way is more of a lifestyle change than just a quick fix with a sexy recipe. I really hope you’ll enjoy all my new tips so you can get the most bang for your food buck while checking out the new dishes! And as promised, 25 of the top rated recipes from the site will make a glorious, delicious comeback in the book.

~ Last, but certainly not least, I’m employed again! *cue applause* Just like many folks over the past 4-5 years, I’ve struggled to stay employed because of the bad economy and perpetual layoffs resulting from it. Things were looking pretty bad there these last couple of months, and it’s the closest I’ve come to getting evicted. Somehow, the universe smiled upon me three weeks ago with a great opportunity to finally get back into the restaurant business. I’m happy to report that I’m working at the fabulous Enotria Restaurant and Wine Bar, Sacramento’s former best kept secret that is receiving so much amazing press, it’s quite possibly the most exciting restaurant in the Capital City. I’ve landed one of the coveted spots at Enotria as hostess, and have the great pleasure to work with the amazingly talented Chef Pajo Bruich, and pastry chef extraordinaire, Edward Martinez. It’s been a whirlwind of activity being December and all, but I’m learning a lot and enjoying being surrounded by so much culinary excellence. I have a Photo Friday post all planned out once the holidays are over, so I’m very much looking forward to practicing more food photography, and sharing some of the most gorgeous food Sacramento has to offer.

That’s it for now, folks! As always, thank you for being the best readers on the planet, and especially for your patience during this most difficult year. I’ll be sharing an awesome cookie recipe with you next, but for now, have a beautiful and very Merry Christmas with your loved ones!

Love,
Kimberly

For the past couple years, I’ve made it a point to help procrastinating Thanksgiving cooks with easy, affordable menu ideas to get their Turkey Day festivities going. As much as I love it this holiday sneaks up on me every year, and I know I’m not alone in this. (Which is why I’ve created a special Thanksgiving Menu Ideas Pinterest board just for you, in case you still haven’t gone shopping. You might want to get started on that soon, lol.)

This year, however, I thought it would be fun to look ahead to the day after Thanksgiving. No, not that evil, ridiculous display of overblown consumerism that’s starting to seep into the last precious moments of Thanksgiving time with loved ones, and which people have the nerve to consider a “holiday” now (can you tell I’m not a Black Friday fan?) – I mean LEFTOVERS DAY. That wonderful time of the year when the ginormous meal that made you pass out during Uncle Fred’s 897th retelling of the time he taught a squirrel to play fetch, becomes even better the next morning.

Thanksgiving leftovers often get a bad rap because people don’t think outside the box enough and stick with boring things like dry turkey sandwiches. Now, I’m a huge fan of turkey sandwiches (good ones, not the dry, bland kind), but come on now… there’s a lot more you can do with such a fantastic bird. And all the rest of those leftovers like stuffing and mashed potatoes.

I like to start Leftovers Day with a smaller repeat of my T-Day spread, and always have plenty of my mom’s Arroz con Pavo on hand (a great way to use up a lot of that leftover turkey meat), so I actually eat really well the first couple weeks after the big feast. But after that, I’m pretty much in food math mode and start putting things together in new ways. Not only does it help to clear out some much needed fridge space, mixing it up a bit also keeps things far less boring.

If you like these recipes, awesome! If not, I hope they will, at the very least, inspire you to think beyond the turkey sandwich and come up with your own fantastic leftover creations. I have a couple more ideas that I’ll be posting once I actually have leftovers to work with, so be sure to stay tuned for those this weekend!

And now for some tasty li’l leftovers… (Title links to recipe.)

Spicy Turkey & Chipotle Pepper Soup

Warm, spicy chipotle-flavored broth with tons of veggies and plenty of tender turkey makes this a fall and winter favorite at Chez Poor Girl!

Turkey Shepherd’s Pie

Get rid of turkey and mashed potato leftovers in one delicious, comforting swoop! A perfect excuse to prepare more gravy from those tasty turkey drippings, too.

Creamy Mashed Potato & Turkey Soup

Another great way to turn classic comfort food into another warm & cozy winter meal.

Candied Orange Yam Empanadas

I really need to re-shoot these (this was from a good 3 years ago, well before I had the practice I have now), but trust me, the end result is phenomenal! It’s a rather lengthy post since there are several recipes in it, so feel free to scroll down to the very end of the post for the recipe. Unless you have some time to check out the other ones… ; )

My Mom’s Arroz con Pavo

This has been a post-Thanksgiving staple in our family for as long as I can remember! It’s healthy and incredibly easy to prepare. To get the most nutrition bang for your buck, use brown rice instead of white. (Hint: it tastes even better with some pique on top, the recipe for which you can find in the previous post for the empanadas.)

Colcannon Stuffed Baked Potatoes

Uh, Poor Girl, St. Patrick’s Day is in March, not November. Yes, I know this, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have mashed potatoes any day of the year. Plus, colcannon is really just that: mashed taters with some bacon & greens mixed in. How much easier could it get? : )

Spiced Sweet Potato & Carrot Puree

Love your sweet potatoes but don’t have enough to last you a bit longer? Stretch them out with some carrots to create this deliciously spiced side that goes great with just about everything this season.

I hope you all have a wonderful, safe, and utterly delicious Thanksgiving holiday!

It’s hard to believe that Thanksgiving is in just three days. I know, I know, I say this every year, but it just keeps sneaking up on me! Of course, the weather here in my neck of the woods is partially to blame: except for a handful of storms over the past week, this fall has been extremely mild. It’s hard to feel like Turkey Day is right around the corner when you’re forever in shorts and flip flops.

I also blame the election. Whether you were obsessing over every article and meme that showed up on your news feed, or just obsessed with it being over, it consumed us all, and definitely threw off my internal holiday clock. I’m not used to being so incensed so close to a day filled with my favorite thing in the world: a table full of delicious food made by me mum.

But it’s almost here, folks. And if you haven’t already done so, that means it’s time to seriously contemplate what to put on that table for your family and guests on Thursday. I’ve been contemplating such deliciousness 24/7 since the election ended, making up for lost time that should have been spent dreaming of my mom’s candied orange yams, and how the sweet syrup accidentally ends up mixed in with my turkey & stuffing, and how flippin’ delicious that combination can be…

Focus, Kimberly, FOCUS.

Longtime readers know by now that I love, love, LOVE Thanksgiving sides. Don’t get me wrong – I look forward to that turkey just as much as the next person (in fact, I don’t think I have turkey any other time of year. I should fix that), but what good is a bird without its trusty sidekicks? Stuffing, potatoes, salads, green bean casseroles, yams… the list goes on and on and on, and to me, every single one of these sides is ESSENTIAL.

Because of my horrendous decision-making capabilities, however, I have a hard time choosing my favorite Thanksgiving side. Stuffing is fabulous; my mom’s candied orange yams are a work of art; and even my trusty Warm Brussels Sprouts Salad has swiftly become another must-have over the past couple years. They’re all so delicious in their own right, but even more incredible when they come together to make the most perfect meal of the year.

But what’s this? It looks like I might have missed one. Yep… there, nestled quietly among the glitz and glamour of the garlicky buttered peas and that sumptuous cranberry sauce, is the “forgotten” side. The one that can get overlooked when you’re spooning dollops of this and that onto your plate.

Mashed potatoes, and I love them very, very much.

Now, this isn’t a Thanksgiving-only kind of thing. With most Americans eating over 125 pounds of potatoes per year, chances are some of those spuds come in mashed form. And why not? They’re comforting, they’re filling, they’re ever-so-delicious – they’re just perfect. And they’re so cost-effective! Even with food prices skyrocketing all over the place potatoes are still fairly inexpensive; along with their versatility, they make for perfect bare bones eating.

Kitties like these, too.

But sometimes all that rich, velvety goodness can come with a lot of added fat & calories from delicious things like cream and butter and cheese. With the amount of damage I can do to a Thanksgiving spread, it’s good to have options that are slightly less evil than their richer counterparts.

You’ll notice that these look quite different from the usual Thanksgiving offering. They’re lighter, have skins and greens floating in them – definitely not the creamy, rich-looking mashed potatoes so many of us adore. But they’re still 100% delicious and if you’re like me, you’ll find yourself turning to these more often than not, because they’re so different. Made with zero dairy, these mashed potatoes get their flavor from chicken or veggie broth, garlic, and plenty of tasty scallions. And while cream and butter and all that other good stuff is wicked awesome, sometimes they mask the taste of the actual potato. I like the way potatoes taste when they’re mostly naked. This is a good way to enjoy that flavor without having something completely bland.

So… what’s with the skins?

Skins are awesome! I love chomping on potato skins whenever possible, and I don’t mean just the sports bar kind. They’re packed with nutrition (the most nutritious part of the potato, mind you), and help you get in some extra fiber. And again, with everything that’ll be going into one’s tum in a couple days, it’s nice to have all the help you can get. Combined with the slightly crunch scallions, and you have some fun texture to enjoy as well.

In the end, you’ll probably end up adding a bit of butter before digging into these (I know I do), but don’t feel too badly about it. There’s a big difference between a small pat of butter and a small pat of butter on top of uber-rich and creamy mashed potatoes. I enjoy these the most with homemade chicken or turkey gravy, which is fantastic, considering I’ll have the greatest turkey gravy on Earth in less than 72 hours. But again, these aren’t just for Thanksgiving, so put ‘em on regular rotation! They go great with just about any meat or veggie.

And did I mention they’re only about $0.75/serving? Oh, mashed potatoes, I love you so…

You know that expression, “He’s a good egg”? Every time I have an egg that is poached, or baked, or over-easy, or in any form in which the egg is the true star of the show, I think of that expression. Not in the metaphorical sense, but quite literally. When an egg is the main focus of the dish, it’s essential that it is of the highest quality and flavor one can afford.

Therein lies the problem for a lot of us. Truly good eggs, the ones that come from healthy hens that are fed good things and allowed to roam freely, are quite expensive. I mean, really expensive. When I was working at the farmers’ markets earlier this year, there were many days when I sighed wistfully at the idea of the free-range, organic eggs staring at me from the stand across the way. And sigh wistfully for them was about the best I could do, because at $8/dozen (*gulp*), there was no way that could be considered a prudent food choice for Poor Girl.

The decision to leave such goodness behind is always a difficult one for me, as I try to make sure my eggs come from the most sustainable, humane places possible, despite my limited means. But as deliciously perfect as I know those $8 eggs will be, that’s just not a wise move. Fortunately, places like Trader Joe’s and brands like Eggland’s Best are trying to make that a little easier for shoppers. Cage-free, organic eggs for under $3/dozen is possible if you check out the TJ’s egg section. If you’re an EB fan, taking a trip to your local Target is definitely worth your time, as I recently saw their brown eggs for just $2.89/dozen. Not bad, not bad at all.

For a time, I never had to pay for my eggs because I was swimming in coupons from Eggland’s Best. Win a few recipe contests, get compensated in free dozens of eggs (works for me!). That beautiful era has long since passed, but they’re good, flavorful eggs, so I try to pick some up if I can afford them. I had the pleasure of doing so the other day while I was at Target and decided to celebrate the occasion with some baked eggs.

This was one I’d actually whipped up for my mom when she was still at my house recuperating from her surgery, and she loved it. It was around the time she was still not allowed to have any fresh vegetables, which to both of us, is a fate worse than death (I mean, really… a meal without veggies? Quelle horreur!). I was trying to figure out ways to keep those veggies coming without completely messing up her recovery, and without having to stick with the un-fun canned kind.

This worked out perfectly, as the mushrooms & broccoli cooked up nice and tender while the egg baked; the melty cheese brought everything together. Mom even mentioned that something delicious had happened to the broccoli, making it taste like it had been cooked with chicken or some other savory thing. Every time I’ve had them since, I’ve noticed the same thing. The only thing I can think of that would result in such a phenomenon, is the addition of the mushrooms; maybe their umami goodness does something to the broccoli when cooking.

As usual, baked eggs are a great brunch alternative to the standard omelettes and frittatas that are often served. Depending on what you add to them, they also can be a much healthier alternative. This one strays a bit from the “healthy” category with the cheese, but the amount is so small, I think it’s okay to indulge in a tablespoon or two. Adding tiny broccoli florets and chopped mushrooms allows for yet another way to get rid of any veggie scraps you might have in your fridge (so if you have them, there’s no need to rush out and buy more just to make this).

But back to the good egg thing… does this mean you can’t make this unless you have “good eggs” on hand? Of course not. That’s just silly and elitist. It’s wonderful that people have become much more conscious of the origins of their food for personal health and sustainability education. However, it’s also important to be realistic about what you can and can’t afford. If you’re totally broke, still looking for a job, chronically ill, barely getting food stamps, and buying the standard $1.79 eggs is all you can afford, and those eggs will keep you fed so you have enough nourishment, then…. that’s a good thing. You have not committed some cardinal food sin. You’re surviving and making the most of what you have.

And sometimes that can look pretty darn good.

Yes, it is important to know where your food comes from, what’s in it, and how it’s raised; but when times are genuinely tough and you’re truly struggling, it’s far more important to get in some basic nutrition, controversial as it may be to some. If you can afford to splurge a bit on the good stuff, then by all means do it! But please don’t ever feel that you’re a “bad” person for not being able to get the “good” stuff. If you can’t afford it, you can’t afford it. Money, or the lack thereof, severely limits choices, so you have to do the best you can with what you have. Once things get better (or once government subsidies stop going to Big Business and actually help the farmers that feed us, but I digress), then you can start adding in those ingredients that cost more, but are more sustainable or organic. Lord knows that’s exactly my plan once I’m no longer in the aforementioned situation.

For now, do what you can with what you have. It’s okay. You’re still a good egg, I promise. : )

Back in the day when I still had an office job, there were times when there was so much work to do, even things like my lentil tacos took too much time to prepare in our break room. Getting through lengthy audits and dealing with the madness of moving offices made lunchtime degenerate into a sad, sad state of affairs. Sometimes a handful of almonds was considered a lunchtime feast; at others, it was a spoonful of almond butter (I know, I know, that does NOT a meal make!). But most of the time, I just indulged in my perpetual snack of hard boiled eggs.

It should come as no surprise to my regular readers that I have a slight obsession with eggs. I have a slight obsession with a lot of things, like cheese, chocolate, tomatoes, kale, etc., but somehow eggs seem to sneak into a lot of things I make. When I’m too tired from a pain flare up to make a full meal, I fall back on my old standby of scrambled egg whites with salsa for dinner. I don’t do so regularly, but on weekends I love to make things like frittatas, bread puddings, custards, and the like, and it’s a rare day when you open my fridge and don’t find a bowl of perfectly hard boiled eggs ready for snacking.

And why not? They’re relatively inexpensive (compared to most foods right now), they’re packed with nutrients, and that high protein factor helps keep you fueled and full for several hours. As much as I love nuts, they’re not too easy on the budget, so a hard boiled egg is a much better option for me when it comes to snacking or the quickest meal possible.

But eating them straight all the time can get boring. Heck, even my favorite Deviled Egg Sandwich can get old, and I don’t often like to go there because the homemade mayo (as tasty as it can be) is so rich and heavy. So how the heck do you enjoy eggs (or, more specifically, their hard boiled whites) without resorting to the same old thing?

You make yourself a fine salad with them, that’s how.

It happened like this: There used to be this great little veggie blend that was available in most grocery stores’ freezers. They called it the “Fiesta Blend”, possibly because it was so darn fun. It had the usual frozen veggie suspects like broccoli, carrots and peppers, but it also had garbanzos, kidney beans, and other legumes that pretty much made it a solid meal on its own.

One day when I was hastily trying to figure out when I was going to fit in eating with everything else I had to do, I quickly checked my “pantry bag” I kept in our break room fridge, and noted all I had left were two hard boiled eggs and about 1/4 bottle of Italian salad dressing. Panicked, I checked the freezer to see if I’d stashed anything there, and sure enough, I had a bag of said Fiesta Blend hanging out behind someone’s Hot Pockets. It seemed like an odd combo at first, but I was pressed for time and so hungry I was ready to eat the toaster oven. So I bit the bullet, hacked up my egg whites, tossed them in with the thawed veggies and some salad dressing and took it back to my desk to chow down.

And it wasn’t half bad.

It’s a protein lover’s dream, what with all the beans and eggs, and when you’re super busy, you want a meal that will fill you up for awhile, without sitting like a brick in your stomach. All those veggies definitely help pack in a lot of fiber and nutrients (frozen veggies are, contrary to popular belief, oft’ times more nutritious than the “fresh” vegetables you’ll get in your grocer’s produce section, as those can sit on a truck for weeks, while most frozen veggies are picked when ripe and flash frozen). And it’s so quick to make, it’s not even funny.

I’ve fallen back on this dish several times throughout the year because of its simplicity, and the fact that it’s so filling and nutritious. Sometime in the spring, I realized that the fiesta blend was no longer being sold at Safeway. Or at Save Mart. Or at Raley’s or any other store I tried, desperately hunting for the darn bag of goods. But it’s not the end of the world. Really, this is best when you use all those odds & ends veggies that you might be tempted to toss, but will hopefully turn into stock instead.

You can use any veggie combo you can imagine in this; whatever suits your tastes and current inventory. You can also do what I did and make your own “fiesta blend” to portion out into different bags or containers that you can freeze later. Because of its flexibility, this salad definitely falls under the whole “ingredient assembly” category vs. an actual recipe, but it works either way. And since this is one of my famous chopped salads, a few ingredients can go a long, long way.

So I dedicate this one to you, my fellow I’m-too-busy-to-think guys and gals, for all those harried, frazzled days when you know you should eat something better than some Fritos but don’t really have the time or money to go grab a healthier alternative (and we all know those are few & far between at fast food joints). And at just $0.95 per serving, you can get back to work without worrying about your waistline or your wallet. : )