At least someone is enjoying the heat wave. My petunias. Me? Not so much. It is positively hot outside…and inside, too. Our AC died last night. It was already 88 degrees at 7:30 this morning and the thermostat in the house read 84. The weatherman warned me to stay hydrated because the heat index was going to reach 105 day. That was all I needed to hear. I went to Walmart and purchased a fan to get me by until the HVAC guy could get here this afternoon. Call it overreacting or call me a wimp, I don’t care. I don’t handle humidity well. Actually, I don’t handle it at all. I learned last summer that Mississippi humidity is so different from Iowa humidity, but I moved to Mississippi from Colorado where there essentially is no humidity, so I was a just a mess. Needless to say, Elle I can have been camped out in front of the fan all day.
Alright, I admit, I put her in the chair so I could take her picture, but she was more than thrilled to be seated in front of it. I’m telling you, she LOVES this fan. She sticks her nose in the cool air and closes her eyes kind of like she does with the vent in the car. I’m sure she was quite disappointed when random smells didn’t come pouring out of it like in the car. I left the fan on high by the couch where I was reading while I ran some errands and came home to find her in front of it – where she remained all morning. What a lazy dawg. Look at that face!
Yesterday, while we still had AC, I did major overhaul on my desk. It got so out of control that I had to move to the living room floor. I took a picture to remind myself to never let my desk get buried so deep again.
Then it was on to dinner, round two of my attempt at meal planning. It was sublime. I’m not a meatloaf fan unless it is my Grandma Marcie’s. It’s the only meatloaf I’ve ever met that I actually liked. Usually, I find meatloaf gaggable. Alex loves meatloaf, so I thought I’d give it another chance in his honor. I figured it would be a good way to score major brownie points, too. I think the thing that bugs me the most about meatloaf is the consistency. It’s just mushy meat. I found a healthy recipe that had other ingredients to help break up the smoothness and give it a little more texture.
I also think meatloaf is incredibly unattractive, thus, impossible to photograph. |
Herb-and-Veggie Meatloaf
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 2 tsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1 cup roasted garlic-and-herb pasta sauce, divided
- 2 lb. lean ground turkey (or 1-1/2 lb extra-lean ground beef and 8 oz. 50%-less-fat fresh pork sausage)
- 10 oz fresh chopped spinach (could also use frozen)
- 1/2 cup uncooked rolled oats
- 2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
- 1-1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- Cooking spray
- Additional roasted garlic-and-herb pasta sauce (optional)
Grilled Peaches Jezebel
- Cooking spray
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard
- 1 tsp horseradish
- 6 firm, ripe peaches, halved
Alex loved the meatloaf (minus all the grease and mush!!) and SO DID I! <– best part. It’s a keeper fo sho. The peaches were amazing fresh off the grill. They were warm and so comforting. Actually, the entire dinner was very comforting. I felt
It’s Thai Food Friday (!!!) and we’re going out for Thai tonight. We’re getting a little lazy with the Thai cooking, but they do it so well at Bann Thai. Here’s a recipe for you. Sadly, I do not have a photograph for you as I made this long before I discovered my addiction to phood photography. You’ll love this one, I promise. It is easy to make and very light – just in case it is hot where you are, too!
- 6 dried black cloud Chinese mushrooms (I substituted zucchini)
- 2 tbsp vegetable or peanut oil
- 2 (8-oz) sirloin steaks, sliced thinly (ask your meat counter man to slice it for you!)
- 1 onion, cut into thin wedges (I omitted, I think I substituted baby corns)
- 2 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 green bell pepper, seeded and chopped (I substituted broccoli)
- 3 celery stalks, sliced
- 2 Tbsp Thai green curry paste
- 1-1/4 cups beef stock (beef broth works too)
- 4 Tbsp black bean sauce (if you can’t find it in stores, recipe follows)
- 8 oz fresh egg noodles
- 4 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- Sambal Oelek Chili Paste, to taste (optional, it makes it spicy!!)
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 Tbsp black beans, rinsed and drained (I used canned and rinsed them)
- 2 tsp fresh ginger root, grated
- 2 tsp fresh garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1 Tbsp rice wine (liquor store should have this…it’s nasty by itself but it’s at least really cheap)
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tsp chili paste, optional (makes it spicy!!!!!!!)
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch
- 1 cup chicken stock
In a small bowl, mash black beans, ginger, garlic and sugar together to form a smooth paste. Using a large skillet, add oil. Fry the black bean mixture on medium high heat until fragrant (about 30 seconds).
Combine remaining ingredients in a bowl and stir until cornstarch is dissolved. Add to black bean mixture and bring to a full boil stirring constantly until thickened.
NOTE: This recipe makes 8 oz, and the recipe above calls for 4 oz.