This is Oscar. See how cute he is? He's trying to keep his toes warm on my heating pad that was incubating my latest batch of yogurt. Oh he's cute, I had to get a photo...an hour later I could have rung his neck because he was so into the heating pad that he knocked over the yogurt, grrrrr! Such a clatter...I did actually spring from my bed to see what was the matter! How did I not see that one coming??
After my initial "Oh My God OSCAR!!!!" squeal...he ran upstairs to hide next to Charlie. Aw, I can't stay mad at any of them. I managed to salvage some of it, but it didn't really set very well. Pets...
I made Alex some of that Beef Jerky that he loves so much. I'm not sure what happened, but it dried out so quickly this time that we had to re-marinate it and let it dry again. I hope my dehydrator isn't on the fritz because I always get the same cut of meat and use the same drying time. At least we salvaged that too! A day of food-rescue!!!
For dinner I made Alex a roast beef. I wanted to use the Brussels Sprouts that I'd bought on shopping day, they lasted a very long time in the fridge. I just cooked them in a pan with butter and salt and with a baked potato, Alex loved it! I'm not a beef-eater anymore because of my digestion, sadly because this looked and smelled so good! I found a simple method online for the beef. Just salt, pepper and Dijon mustard rubbed and then baked 25 minutes a pound for medium. How do you make your roast beef? I was trying to get the similar scent and taste of my grandmother's old Sunday dinner roast! I think I succeeded!
For me, I had a nice piece of Rainbow trout with a Chardonnay butter sauce (wine, butter and onions, that's it!). The first few bites were divine, but as I kept eating, I didn't really enjoy it, which kind of surprised me. I'm a fish lover, but I found the Rainbow to be really intensely strong in flavour. I got turned off salmon for the same reason, when years ago I used to eat it a few times a week...I hope my taste buds aren't shifting!
Another Chapter of the "Not Surprising" Files:
Some of you may remember I wrote about a box of Premium Plus crackers that Alex bought for me when I had food poisoning. I mentioned that one of the sleeves of crackers was all burned. Well, at the beginning of March, I did get a coupon from the company as a result of complaining. I used it to buy a box of Cheese Nips the other day, Alex loves them but we buy them rarely because they're not good for us. Check this out:
BURNED CRACKERS AGAIN!!! I've had it. I wrote again to the company saying I felt like I wasted my coupon on these burned Cheese Nips. No quality control. And I'll bet I simply get another coupon in the mail with no care about how mediocre the product is. Every day I get more and more examples of poor products and it really motivates me to become as self-sufficient as I can be. Crazy!
I had that happen to me with basa fish. LOVED it at first and then all of a sudden could simply not abide it any more!
ReplyDeleteHi Debra :) I love Basa fish and I hope I never get sick of it! I guess our tastes change as time goes by right?
Deletenaughty kitty! haha! the cracker thing is amazing. i can't imagine how these companies get away with this. i haven't made a roast beef in ages. we are not big beef eaters either.
ReplyDeleteHi Joyce :) I know, I don't understand the quality thing at all. It's a plague.
DeleteThinking of the burned crackers, the more I see of this very evident lack of quality control in commercially prepared food, the scarier it gets. I mean if they can't spot or care about a burned cracker coming off the line, are they any more careful about the flour, for instance, that goes into the crackers? Might it be happening that they see mouse (or rat) droppings in the flour and not care about it? You're right, Rain. Becoming as self-sufficient as we can is the only "safe" way, I believe. It's a shame it has to be that way, but so many parts of our modern day society seem to sliding down the slippery slope.
ReplyDeleteRoast beef -- I brown mine on both sides, salt and pepper well, add water about half way up the meat, and simmer on top of the stove for several hours adding more water as needed. I know it's not the typical way to cook a roast (as in the oven), but this way I have the water containing juices from the meat with which to make a wonderful gravy or to use as beef broth.
Your trout looks wonderful. Such a shame the flavor didn't set well with you. I guess your body was telling you something.
Hi Mama Pea :) I've thought about that too, what else could have contaminated these things. I'd love to go towards buying local and organic, but who is rich enough for that? I guess I need to make everything possible from scratch as I can with the hope that the producer is responsible. I never thought Premium Plus from Mr. Christie would have such lousy products, but then it got bought out in 2000 by a company called Mondelez. I did some research, they also bought out Cadbury, the Oreo and Chips Ahoy brands and a slew of other snack companies. We bought some Chips Ahoy around Christmas and the cookies were all broken in the box. I think that this company assured the steady decline of those brands...but then again, it's rampant in all areas of merchandise isn't it?
DeleteAnd honestly, I rarely enjoy going to a restaurant anymore because we've always had either mediocre service or food or both! There's only one restaurant now that we'll go to and we know the owner, she cooks everything from scratch and her kitchen is open for all to see. Otherwise, we prefer to eat at home.
I like how you make your roast. Speaking of self-sufficient, I need to start making my own broth too.
Oh bad kitty ... lol
ReplyDeleteYour roast looks good. I bet it smelled delicious.
I brown mine and then roast it in the oven slowely with carrots and onions.
I bought a box of crackers today for two puky kids :( I actually thought of u when I bought it and was surprised there was nothibg wrong with it...lol
Hey Nik :) You're lucky no crackers were burned!!! ;) The roast did smell so good, I wish I could have tasted it!
DeleteWe raised our own steers and have been eating on the grass fed beef for a while. It has a different flavor and isn't injected with what they call broth so the burger doesn't fill the pan with water like store bought does. We used no medication on the animals once they were past the calf stage. A lot of work and store bought is probably cheaper but I don't trust what or where it came from.
ReplyDeleteHi Gill :) I don't even want to think about what kind of mystery things are injected into the food I eat...I think it's great that you raised and eat your own beef. I'd like to get to that point, or at least buy from a reputable farmer. There isn't much of that in this area.
DeleteHi Rain! My next challenge is homemade yogurt! I need to get a heating pad and cage the cats! :) What I would really like to start making is cheese. I saw your recipe for ricotta - that looks super easy and tasty!
ReplyDeleteIf I do a roast (once a year if that) I do a pot roast. I find that this is the tastiest. Its the way my grandmother did hers as well and hers were delightful. I find that as I get older *ahem* that my tastes are changing. I have a nice sweet tooth but even that is shifting. I can't do strong fish but I really do love steelhead trout. We get that at our Real Canadian Superstore. Not sure if you guys have those? I actually bought one today as I did my grocery shopping after work. But I do echo the comments of others - you just don't know what you are getting from the store. Sad really. But for the record - those brussel sprouts look DELICIOUS. :)
As for those crackers - I cannot believe it!! I would be p****d if I got yet another box of burnt crackers. I am curious to hear what their response is. Likely all those crackers were baked in the same super hot oven!!!
I hope your weather is turning and its warming up for you!
Have a good night,
Dianna
Hi Dianna :)) The homemade yogurt is so easy...you just have to remember to have some to act as your starter. I usually use about 1/5 liters of 2% with 1/4 cup of yogurt, yes, the challenging part NOW will be to keep Oscar's feet off the heating pad lol...Brat.
DeleteWe don't have Real Canadian Superstores here, Quebec always has to be different. I love steelhead trout too, it's milder in flavour but we can only usually find it at the end of summer or the fall around here. I've heard nothing from the company yet regarding the crackers, I'll keep you posted!
Well...as I type it's snowing and Friday we're supposed to get another 5 cm...but it should melt pretty fast, I hope!
Both the trout and the roast beef look splendid. We had brussels sprouts a couple of weeks ago as the complaints of only ever having broccoli (the only vegetable everyone will universally eat) had become overwhelming. Butter and lemon - and lots of both - seem to be the way to go.
ReplyDeleteThanks Toirdhealbheach :) Butter is always the way to go for me :) I like veggies, but I have so much trouble digesting them, they have to almost be overcooked for me to enjoy them.
DeleteI love to put my roast in my crock pot. Seems to work well with some homemade condensed mushroom soup. We love to roast our brussel sprouts in the oven with garlic and onions. Yum. You food looks wonderful. You cat looks like our Tiger, ha!
ReplyDeleteHi Kristina :) Yes! I saw a photo of Tiger lol...I thought about Oscar right away. I nearly put garlic in the Brussels Sprouts but figured I wanted to taste them on their own, next time though I'm going to garlic them up a little.
DeleteRain - the food looks delicious! when i do a roast i caramelize onions in butter and then remove the onions and brown the roast in the same pan on all sides. i put the onions in the crockpot, add a ton of fresh garlic, a bunch of spices and then put the roast on top. i fill it halfway with really strong homemade beef broth and then add my secret - chopped up anchovies! they really bring out an intense flavour to the beef. we love beef done like this! i'm sorry that you can't have the beef!
ReplyDeletetrout season has just started up here so jambaloney will be going out and getting us wild trout everyday - woohoo! and i am sorry that your trout kind of turned you off - that's sad! but we are finding that certain foods are turning us off too ever since we got off dairy and gluten. i think some of us are much more sensitive to food changes/allergies/sensitivities as we get older.
your cat looks like my noodie-noo - such a cutie!
i loooooove brussel sprouts too....cooked in a ton of butter and garlic! do you steam yours first? if you steamed them for about 6 mins and then fried them in butter for about 4 mins it might make them a little easier for you to eat.
as for your luck with crackers - bahahahahah! but it sucks when you buy a product and get such crap!
we don't eat at restaurants and now we can't really eat at friends' houses because everyone uses flour in their foods. everyone laughed at a party we had a few weeks ago - i couldn't eat any of the sandwiches or sweets or processed meats...but jambaloney got a few pieces of meat and licked the mustard off - bahahahah! everyone laughed at that! they all think we are nuts but from here on in we are bringing our own food to parties and get togethers.
wow! long comment eh? sending love! your friend,
kymber
Hi Kymber :) I didn't steam the sprouts, no, but maybe that would have been a good idea, they were good, but a little hard, not crunchy-hard, but could have been softer. I'm envious of your fishing season starting!!! I mean, IF the lakes were thawed we could still fish and release, but to catch one it's end of April for trout here. My taste buds have changed quite a bit over the years, especially after I stopped meds for depression and anxiety. My whole physiology changed, I developed a lot of allergies and intolerances and lost my taste for foods I used to love. That's okay, gives me a chance to try new stuff right?
DeleteLol...but what can you do? You HAVE to bring your own food to parties when you start to eliminate things right? Oh I love long comments, no problem with that!!! :))
Yes, they're not good for you but every once in a while I will buy a box too. They should send me the burned ones as in my world the crispier the better and I even like my cookies a little burned and my bacon is REALLY crispy when I'm done with it! LOL! I have been wanting to make my own crackers of all kinds and I need to try some recipes. I wonder if there is a hack for cheese crackers? I'm sure there is.....here I go...another rabbit hole! I don't eat much meat but that roast looks so good. I sort of follow what my body says to me and every once in a while I feel the need to eat some meat so I do! LOL! I see a roast in my future! LOL!
ReplyDeleteP.S. Yes, Oscar is cute and so is my Annie but they were both bad this week! LOL! I can't stay mad very long either and so glad you were able to do your 'food rescues'!
ReplyDeleteHi Sam :) I wish I could transfer that "can't stay mad" attitude towards humans, but you know I always think humans should know better...but maybe they really don't know better...or the pets just know how to pull our heartstrings lol...smarter than we think!
DeleteI like my cookies and bacon well done too, but those crackers tasted like a fireplace lol...ick! If they were just charred a little, that's okay, but those black pieces infected the whole box and it smelled like a chimney when we opened the package. I did make homemade cheese nips once...I just went to my bookmarks, here it is: Homemade Cheez-Its ...mine didn't turn out as pretty as hers, but I think I will revisit this recipe, Alex liked them, I'm not sure why I didn't make them again though...
I can't believe you got double burnt nips!! Crazy! I can never stay mad at my pets either. Sometimes when my Fina messes up, I give her a stern talking to, but it's more for my benefit than hers.:)
ReplyDeleteHi Rachel :)) I know, it's crazy isn't it? Alex said, let's just create a cycle of getting free crackers then complaining for more free coupons and eventually we'll even out...lol...but I can't put that much time into being a full-time complainer lol. I like that, I give them all a stern talking to, and it always makes me feel like I have some kind of control ha ha ha.
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