Petunia Bloom

Recipe Box April 30, 2008

I have been creating my own virtual recipe box on KraftFoods.com and MarthaStewart.com.  It is so cool!  You can search for recipes you want to try, save them to your recipe box, and then look them up at a later date.  On KraftFoods.com one can even generate a shopping list.  The user just has to select which recipes they would like to create a shopping list for and viola!  It is very easy to edit the shopping list once it is generated.  Then, simply print and be on your way.

Another Good Video Podcast April 27, 2008

I found another video podcast that is really good.  It is called Budget Health Nut.  The theme is healthy, five star flavor on a budget.  I have tried two of Joe Dias’ recipes: the eggplant dish and the omelet.  They turned out really well.  There are several more recipes I would like to try.  The only negative to the podcast is that recipes are not provided (that I could find).  Check it out!

Aunt Jennifer’s New Puppy

My Aunt Jennifer got a black toy poodle puppy just like Sophie! It was so cute. It made me want another one. When we got to her house, we could see through the front door the little puppy laying in a big pink bed with her big pink bow. It was adorable.

Strawberries for 99 cents!

This past week I went to Aldi and found that a small carton of strawberries was only 99 cents!!  I started loading up my cart as I love strawberries and they looked and smelled good.  The next stop for my morning errands was Target.  I noticed the same amount of strawberries at Target were on sell for $2.99.  Just another reason I am shopping at Aldi now.  I still head to Target once a week but only after I make a stop of Aldi.  I realize that not everyone has time to stop at multiple places to do their grocery shopping, but if you do it is worth your time and money.

Green Peppers Galore April 11, 2008

No matter where you look these days, you will read about staying healthy.  What does your body need to stay young, live longer, and live better?  Pretty much every reliable source agrees that one must eat a wide variety of healthy foods, drink water, and exercise.

I have always done a fairly good job on the exercise part of the equation and have made it a goal to eat healthier.  Some of the ways I have gone about doing that is adding large servings of vegetables to every meal.  If I brown hamburger, I throw in 1 cup of diced green pepper to brown with the meat.  Diced peppers, in fact, have become my best friend.  You can dice them and add them to about anything.  I have added them to enchiladas, meatloaf, hamburger dishes, and wraps.  They are fairly inexpensive and are a good green vegetable.  In the May 08 addition of Fitness Magazine, it recommends eating one and a half cups of peppers (any color) per day or similar high-fiber vegetables such as raw spinach or broccoli (page 70).  So, now I am using more green peppers in my cooking than ever.

Another way to add vegetables is to shred them and add them.  Feel free to add them to ANYTHING!!  I had some extra zucchini lying around so I shredder one large one very fine and patted it dry with a paper towel (it is pretty moist) and put it all over a pizza I was making.  My husband didn”??t even notice it!  I asked him if he even noticed any zucchini on it, and he said no!

When striving to achieve goals, we all have ups and downs.  I have definitely had ruts since January, when I contrived to start cooking healthier, but I believe I am getting better at coming up with healthy ideas to incorporate into my cooking.  Each small change makes a difference!!

What do you do to eat more vegetables, eat healthier overall, and live healthier???

CHECK IT OUT!! April 10, 2008

Check out The Tulsa Food Blog.  I am a contributor to the blog and have been on a role lately.  The theme: “Tulsa restaurants casually reviewed by normal everyday people who live to eat.”  I don’t like to think that I “live to eat” but I do like to get out and try new places.  If you have gotten in an eating-out-rut check out Tulsa Food Blog to find some new places to try!!

 Below is an article that I wrote for the Tulsa Food Blog:

Before moving to Tulsa, I never dreamed I would consider Sushi one of my favorite foods.  In college my friends took me to In the Raw which is another sushi restaurant in Tulsa.  I liked it, but it wasn’t anything to write home about.  A friend suggested that my husband and I try Asahi.  He told us to definitely try the Spider Roll.

Asahi is located in a very low rent strip shopping mall behind Toys-R-Us on 71st and Memorial.  We were not impressed upon arriving and a bit hesitant to try it.  It was very clean when we got inside so we felt more comfortable.  We ordered Spider Rolls and they were excellent.  As we started eating there more, we started ordering different rolls.  We haven’t had anything that we thought was not good.

My favorite rolls include the Spider Roll (of course), the Asahi Roll #2, the Spicy Salmon Roll, and my all-time favorite is the Unagi Roll.  It is a very spicy roll with a lot of sauce on the top.  It is one of my favorite things to eat.

If you have never eaten Sushi before, I would suggest ordering at least two rolls.  One roll just doesn’t fill me up.  If you are a real sushi fiend, one of the great things about Asahi is they have half-price rolls.  If you order more than three rolls (on an order) there is a part of the menu with half price rolls.  Most of them are about $3 half price.

Asahi’s owners are a cute couple who are almost always at the restaurant overseeing things.  Several times our waiter/waitress has brought us free rolls or other free goodies.  The service is good unless they are very busy.  Then you can expect up to a 40 min wait on your food, which is worth it.  The quality of the rolls could be more consistent, but I have never had anything that didn’t taste good.

Asahi is my favorite place in Tulsa to eat.  It is a restaurant you can’t miss!!

Flooding in Tulsa

I was driving to get my tire changed today and I ran into a closed road.  It looked like the road was several feet under water.  There was a news crew covering the story.  After turning around, I saw this house.  This house is on Garnett across from Grace School.

Today in Rural Oklahoma April 3, 2008

Beautiful Tree April 2, 2008

This is the prettiest tree at our apartment complex. The blooms are just gorgeous and it smells wonderful. Does anyone know what it is?

Making Bread April 1, 2008

I made bread for the first time this week.  It looked like an easy recipe and I had all the ingredients on hand, so I did it!  My dough was really runny.  I had to add a lot of flour but it raised nicely and the bread was amazing.  It had a great texture and taste.  Ryan said it was the best cinnamon bread he had ever had.  He was amazed it turned out so well.  He was very concerned when he saw how runny the dough was at first.  He made me call his Nana.  With Nana telling me how to fix it over speaker phone, Ryan looking over my shoulder, and me doing what Nana was telling me, it was quiet the experience.  I ended up making a pan of cinnamon rolls and a loaf of cinnamon bread out of it.

Here is the recipe:  Feather Roll by Edna Gaugler (Ryan’s Papa’s Sister)

• 3 pkg dry yeast
• 1 t sugar
• 2 c warm milk
• 4 T melted butter
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 t salt
• 4 c flour + extra for dough and counter
• 3 eggs, beaten

Combine 1 tsp yeast, sugar and milk.  Beat with mixer until well blended and let stand 20 minutes.  Add rest of ingredients.  Beat with stand mixer.  Knead in more flour until dough is sticky.  Let rise in warm place.  Punch down and make rolls of second rising.  Good for cinnamon rolls and cinnamon bread.  Note:  I let them raise after I shaped them as well.

This is the recipe I used for the frosting on the cinnamon rolls.  It was SOO good.  It tasted just like the Rhodes Rolls frosting.

• 8oz cream cheese
• 1/4 c butter, softened
• 1 c confectioner sugar
• 1/2 t vanilla
• 1 1/2 t milk