And Tonight's Dinner As Well!

... ok, so maybe I don't post about my dinner often because F and I go out to eat a lot...

As F is working late (and got dinner without me! Without telling me! (*shock!)), I am eating by myself tonight. Now, as I still need to eat lots o' protein or I'll die (true story), and like to eat up stuff that's been in the freezer for years, my dinner is STILL pretty simple.

... although, as I was telling a good friend M about my "simple" dinner last night, she exclaimed "that's your idea of simple?!" So clearly, I'm a better cook than I thought.

So, items used from the freezer: ancient pork sausage roll, ancient green beans, "Italian Seasoned" bread crumbs (who buys that crap?). Items from the fridge: butter, the last of the ricotta (although it lasts freaking forever, who knew?), and a hefty bit of parmasean. Pantry items: penne pasta.

I'm sure it's not hard to see how this turned into a yummy, gooey, cheesy casserole. It kinda makes me wish that I had a camera, to show this beauty.

But, here's the steps for those who need them, or haven't made this kind of meal before.

Boil water. While water is boiling, chop frozen sausage and put into frying pan (covered) to cook. When water boils, add pasta -- cook until al dente (check it by eating).

Drain pasta, but leave a little bit of water (if you have milk, drain all the water out -- but I didn't have milk).

To pot with pasta, add half a stick of butter (NOM NOM), and start grating cheese over it. Grate as much as you want. Add ricotta (I only had about 1/2 - 1 c. of ricotta left). Mix it all together. Add more cheese as needed. Throw in frozen green beans. When sausage is done frying, throw some crumbles of sausage in with pasta and sauce.

Put the whole shebang into a casserole dish. Top with breadcrumbs and dots of butter (you can also melt the butter, throw breadcrumbs in that, and crumble this butter/crumb mix over the top -- I was being lazy). Stick in oven (I used 350F) until top is browned, crunchy, and sauce is bubbling.

Eat!

Dinner Revisited

As I had half of a package of Lemon Pepper pasta left, I picked up the lemon juice I needed, and fried up 1/2 of the remaining chicken, used up the last of the celery, the last of this pepper/cheese mix that has been in the freezer for forever, and kinda made this yummy lemon/pepper/cheese/oil chicken and pasta dish.

Turned out yummy!

But, learned that lemon juice will pull the seasoning from cast iron -- so had to wash it IMMEDIATELY.

Toesie Cozy

So, I was telling F about how I was SOO COLD at his apartment earlier, that I took a nap in bed for an hour and a half, and woke up with cold feet. Still. Yeah -- I get cold, and stay cold easily.

At which point, F mentioned the most amazing idea: the Toesie Cozy. It's like slippers, only both feet go in the same little pouch. <3

Thinking about it, I'll kinda want it to be basically bag-like with two ribbed openings for ankles. I took a peek at Ravelry to see what their slipper selection was like (and to see if anyone else had come up with this!). As F appears to be the first to have this brilliant idea, I will have to make it.

Looks like I'll have to go to LYS and buy something nice and bulky.

... and for another yarn project, F claims that the blanket I made him 2 years ago does not go with his new couch (his couch is sage, the blanket is cranberry, cobalt, and honey -- what's not to go?!). So, looks like I'll be making another blanket for the back of his couch (and to cover me!).

Cabbage Recipes To Try

These all look so good... I wish I had a cabbage RIGHT NOW. For some reason, I'm not interested in Asian cabbage dishes -- but East European look juuuuuuuuuust right.

Hungarian Noodles and Cabbage
Jane Brody's High Calcium Cabbage Bread
Pierogi Cabbage Filling
Ukrainian Steamed Cabbage Souffle
Polish Sausage and Cabbage
Beekeeper's Cabbage
Company Cabbage
Mrs. Howard's Baked Cabbage
Queensland Cabbage
Cabbage Strudel
Cabbage in Caraway Cream
Cabbage Au Gratin

A Few Knitty Patterns to Keep

Pattern for custom fit toe-up socks.
Pattern for heel-out socks.
Pattern for thin, soft, toe-up socks.
Pattern for a simple, toe-up sock.
Pattern for easy, lace socks.
Pattern for knit lace edging.

Pattern

What an adorable little dishcloth pattern I found!

She was a featured cook on Pioneer Woman's Tasty Kitchen blog (Erica's cooking blog)

As I need to buy crochet thread for several projects (not in the least being my LONG OVERDUE payment to Sharon Astyk), I should pick up some crochet thread for these as well.

To the internets!

Edit: $100 later, have bought yarn for Sharon's payment, dishcloths, and socks for me and F. All at yarnmarketplace.com. Must also keep in mind knitpicks.com for nicer yarns.

Recap on Animals

So, F doesn't want animals mostly because they're loud (and probably smelly). What I might be able to have:

-- bees
-- cats
-- dogs
-- rabbits?
-- worms

What I can't:

-- chickens
-- goats
-- cows
-- pigs
-- ducks
-- horses
-- sheep

What I would still like to convince him of:

-- chickens
-- goats

I can't see pigs working well in the city, nor cows and horses, and as much as I love ducks, I'd need water for them as well -- and my backyard will be full of garden thankee kindly!

(*keeps plotting...)