Food on Friday ~ Memorial Day Weekend
Happy Friday, let the long weekend begin.
This Monday is Memorial Day in the USA, and late Spring Bank Holiday in the UK, which means we all get a long weekend. The weather should be good, so it’s a perfect time for some al-fresco dining.
Enjoy these cool recipes.
From Tiffany at Creme de la Crumb we have a recipe for one pan creamy cilantro lime chicken and rice. I really like one pan dishes, but it’s coriander here, not cilantro. Nice by any name.
One pan Creamy Cilantro Lime Chicken and Rice
This is interesting from The Flourishing Foodie, pasta with a tomato vodka cream sauce. I’ve heard of vodka pasta sauces before, but I’ve never tried one ~ maybe it’s time that I did.
Pasta with a Tomato Vodka Cream Sauce
If you like salmon, then try this recipe for honey mustard grilled salmon with avocado basil sauce posted by Tieghan Gerard at Half Baked Harvest. Perfect for Memorial Day. Here in England we have a public hiliday on May 27th too, but it’s called Spring Bank Holiday ~ how boring.
Honey Mustard Grilled Salmon with Avocado Basil Sauce
Andrea at Cooking with a Wallflower has this wonderful dish; pan seared scallops pasta carbonara. This would be great to serve to a few friends on any holiday.
Pan Seared Scallops Pasta Carbonara
I like recipe collections, and I’m pretty certain that you do too. Ergo from Delish we have 40 recipes for the perfect Memorial Day BBQ ~ including this fabulous recipe for grilled ranch potatoes.
Grilled Ranch Potatoes
And finally for this week 65 Memorial Day recipes for your holiday weekend barbecue, from Country Living. I especially like this sweet-and-smoky cedar-planked salmon ~ and if you shop now you can probably get a suitable plank for Monday.
Sweet and Smoky Cedar Planked Salmon
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
you can buy grilling planks from Amazon
Food on Friday ~ Midweek Dinners and Workday Lunches
There is always a great recipe for tonight’s dinner.
This week’s recipes are all about making a good midweek dinner, but just as importantly every dish described here is also going to be great to take to work the following day. And, you know that it’s always better to take your lunch into work, rather than buy something at a deli or pay a small fortune to eat out at a restaurant.
So, try some of these and enjoy.
Tieghan Gerard at Half Baked Harvest gives us something interesting and colourful with her weeknight saucy pineapple bbq chicken bowls. As well as being perfect for any night of the week, this recipe is also perfect to take to work for lunch.
Weeknight Saucy Pineapple BBQ Chicken Bowls
Andrea at Cooking with a Wallflower has this really cool recipe for spinach bacon quiche ~ and this is a hell of a lot easier to make than you might think. This delicious looking quiche would be great for a midweek dinner with some salad, or to take to work for brunch / lunch.
Spinach Bacon Quiche
Another quiche, (they are so great to take to work for lunch), this time an easy quiche Lorraine from Heidi at Foodie Crush. This recipe will be great for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or even a midweek dinner. Also from Heidi 14 days of healthy breakfast recipe ideas.
Easy Quiche Lorraine
Believe it or not, this grilled Thai pork tenderloin with soba noodle salad, is also an easy midweek meal. At least Jessica Merchant at How Sweet Eats says it is. The leftovers would be utterly brilliant to take to work for lunch, eaten cold, (or reserve the tenderloin and heat that in the microwave).
Grilled Thai Pork Tenderloin with Soba Noodle Salad
Tiffany at Creme de la Crumb has this super recipe for one pan Spanish chicken and rice, a bold and zesty dish you can make in a half-an-hour. Tiffany calls one of her ingredients coriander, which you may know better as cilantro.
One Pan Spanish Chicken and Rice
Our collection this week is from Carrie Havranek at Simply recipes who has 6 easy Vietnamese recipes you can totally make at home. My favourite for a midweek dinner and something great to take to work for lunch is this Char Siu Chicken, which would be perfect with rice and /or salad.
Char Siu Chicken
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
how to make the best grilled salmon
a post from Foodie Crush
Live Within Your Means
To achieve your goals and dreams you are going to need money.
Back in the day I worked in banking and finance, and I saw first-hand just how much of a mess most people could make of their finances ~ usually due to buying things they couldn’t really afford. The three main culprits when it came to unaffordable and expensive purchases were; cars, clothes / shoes, and vacations ~ none of which are essential. (There’s a caveat, in that you may actually need a car and you do need clothes and shoes, but you can buy the cheapest used stuff you can find, rather than flashy and expensive.)
You do not need to be a millionaire, or act like a millionaire, to be successful or feel successful. Financial wealth is only one indicator of success. However, you’re going to need money just to live day-to-day, and no successful person has ever ignored their finances. Conversely, all successful people know how to manage their money and plan their finances. And rule #1 is Borrowing is Bad, especially if you borrow money you can’t easily pay off.
Financial planning begins with these 4 questions;
- How much money do you take home each month?
- What are your regular bills; mortgage, utilities, taxes, loan repayments?
- How much do you spend each month in the various stores you use; clothes, groceries, gas, booze, cigarettes, etc?
- What assets and debts do you have?
If you are in the fortunate position of making more money than you regularly spend, then you should also be able to work out how much you are saving each month.
You need to write all this down, either just pen and paper, or on a spreadsheet.
If you are regularly spending more than you earn, then you are heading for deep shit.
If you are regularly spending more than you earn, then you need to totally cut out some of your expenditure. Stop buying booze, cigarettes, chocolate, and anything else you may be addicted to; gambling, porn, sex, drugs….. Always buy the cheapest gas, buy less expensive groceries, stop eating out, stop using the deli to buy your lunchtime sandwiches and make them at home instead…..
Borrowing is Bad. Some borrowing is worse. PAY OFF YOUR CREDIT CARDS. Credit card debt is ruinously expensive. In this day and age if your paying more than 10% as an annual interest rate on a loan, then stop eating until that debt is paid off.
Some say that they can make money playing online poker. And, that its good to go to the pub most nights a week. All I know is that some people end up on the street.
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
life on the street is no fun
Food on Friday ~ Healthy Summertime
It’s a smile, it’s a kiss, it’s a sip of wine, it’s summertime.
Now that the weather is much better for most of you guys ~ warmer, sunnier, bluer skies ~ it’s perhaps time to think of lighter and healthier summertime dishes, rather than all of those warming soups you were cooking just a few weeks ago.
This week’s dishes all have a seafood angle to them.
First this week we have Chungah at Damn Delicious with these very clean and healthy looking garlic butter shrimp zucchini noodles. I have to admit that I don’t actually make zucchini noodles, but looking at this recipe I’m beginning to think that I should.
Garlic Butter Shrimp Zucchini Noodles
Now, from Heidi at Foodie Crush we have this very useful post entitled how to make the best grilled salmon. This isn’t so much a recipe as a method, but I think it’s damn good.
How to Make the Best Grilled Salmon
Elise Bauer at Simply Recipes has a great summertime dish; spicy garlic shrimp with coconut rice. And, Elise is right, any shrimp dish is best eaten fresh.
Spicy Garlic Shrimp with Coconut Rice
Jessica Merchant at How Sweet Eats has an absolutely delicious-looking crab avocado salad on buttered garlic toast. So mouth-watering. So great to serve with drinks.
Crab Avocado Salad on Buttered Garlic Toast
This is interesting from Tiffany at Creme de la Crumb; garlic lime shrimp marinade. And this is a fast marinade that will be ready for the grill in just 15 minutes. Lots of cilantro.
Garlic Lime Shrimp Marinade
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
and to drink, not wine
Heather Christo gives us a
Knowing Myself
Embrace the journey of getting older.
It’s time that I stopped bemoaning what I have lost, and started to enjoy what I have gained. It’s time I stopped crying over the fact that my life isn’t perfect. And it’s time I accepted that sometimes life is difficult and painful.
Since our society equates happiness with youth, we often assume that sorrow, quiet desperation, and hopelessness go hand in hand with getting older. They don’t. Emotional pain and numbness are symptoms of living the wrong life, not a long life. ~ Martha Beck
Getting older is a good thing, I need to open my eyes to the amazing opportunities it affords me. I can go anywhere and do anything without having to worry about money, time, work, or any of those other responsibilities I had when I was a younger guy. Instead of thinking about my past I should focus on what I have gained; insight, wisdom, experience, and a myriad of new opportunities for adventure.
I can act young ~ there is no need for me to retreat into doddering senility. But, I have lived through my youth, and there is no need for me to endlessly repeat the mistakes I made then. I can be a very mature guy and still have a youthful and joyful outlook on life.
However, I need to accept that some things have changed, and live my life the way it is today, not the way it used to be years and years ago. For example ~ I have more money than I can sensibly spend in the time I have left to enjoy it. And, I am never going to bench-press 250 pounds again.
Some say that I live a really great life. And that if I just let myself enjoy life as it is then things would become even better for me. All I know is that I have some very good friends who really care about me.
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Marmaduke is always there for me
Food on Friday ~ Main Courses
A sirloin, medium-rare, is not only an entrée, it is a philosophy.
I supposed I could have called this post Entrées, but for me that conjures up an image of something served in a high-end restaurant, preferably in Florence, or some other magical city. In that kind of place, choosing the correct wine is just as important as making an inspired choice of food.
However, if you’re lucky enough to find a really good restaurant, them you can probably rely on the sommelier to give you some appropriate advice. For wines to drink with a sirloin steak try a cabernet or merlot, unless you’re in Italy, in which case you want a really good Tuscan red or maybe a quality Barolo ~ the King of Wines. (But beware, a great Barolo can be hideously expensive.)
If you want to know how to cook the perfect sirloin steak, look no further than this link.
Our first entrée this week is by Tiffany at Creme de la Crumb, and she has the BEST ultra tender instant pot pork tenderloin, with a balsamic glaze. This cut of pork is an excellent source of Protien and lots of vitamins and minerals, and it isn’t at all fatty. You know what? I love a good pork tenderloin.
Instant Pot Balsamic Pork Tenderloin
Next, from Tieghan Gerard at Half Baked Harvest, there’s this delicious looking honey butter blackened scallops with herby polenta. I think scallops are fabulous, and I love the way Tieghan cooks them here ~ I’m still willing to be convinced as far as polenta is concerned.
Honey Butter Blackened Scallops with Herby Polenta
Another shellfish recipe, this time from Sheryl Julian via Simply Recipes ~ spring scampi with peas and mint, served on a bed of pasta. Looks great for a midweek dinner, or if you have guests at a weekend. This is a pretty easy dish, and would be fabulous if you have a lemon tree and mint in your own garden.
Spring Scampi with Peas and Mint
Broccoli is really good for you, if you want to be healthier, then eat more broccoli. Chungah at Damn Delicious offers us this easy sheet pan recipe for beef and broccoli. Allegedly this is the easiest beef and broccoli dish of your life; Chungah says it doesn’t get any easier or quicker than this.
Sheet Pan Beef and Broccoli
Your collection this week is from Great British Chefs, who offer us some great beef sirloin recipes; including this fantastic roast sirloin of beef with mushrooms, brandy, and roasted potatoes from Marcus Wareing. Admittedly this dish takes two-and-a-half-hours, but doesn’t it looks fabulous. Allegedly, it was King Henry VIII who named this cut of beef Sir Loin.
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As an accompliment to your entrée Heather Christo has this utterly brilliant spring cobb salad, which looks absolutely fabulous.
Spring Cobb Salad
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Barolo, the Italian King of Wines
Food on Friday ~ Broccoli and Cauliflower
If you want to live a healthy life, eat more broccoli.
Both broccoli and cauliflower are very good for your health, being nutritious, full of fibre, low in calories, and packed with vitamins and minerals. However, broccoli is better for you as it has much more vitamins B, K and C, as well as containing vitamin A which isn’t in cauliflower at all. Broccoli also contains a lot of sulforophane, which is said to have anti-cancer properties.
The main thing with cooking any vegetable is not to boil them to death, because boiling will leach out up to 90% of the good stuff you’re eating the vegetables for in the first place. Anyhow, boiled broccoli and boiled cauliflower are tasteless, and more akin to bad prison / school food than anything you’d want to have at home.
There are some great recipes for these two cruciferous vegetables;
First for this week we have broccoli pesto pasta with whipped ricotta from Tieghan Gerard at Half Baked Harvest. This is a 30 minute dish that you can also take to work the following day ~ perfect for Meatless Mondays.
Broccoli Pesto Pasta with Whipped Ricotta
From Joy Wilson at Joy the Baker, there’s a cool recipe for roasted cauliflower and plantain tacos. I firmly believe that roasting cauliflower florets is the best way to cook this vegetable. However, I’m not certain about making tortillas from scratch.
Roasted Cauliflower and Plantain Tacos
In Diane’s Kitchen there’s a recipe for chicken stir-fry and ramen noodles, which includes lots of nutritious broccoli. This easy dish should only take you 30 minutes to prepare.
Chicken Stir-Fry and Ramen Noodles
From the Good Houskeeping test kitchen I found this kale and roasted cauliflower salad. Now that the weather is warming up a little, perhaps it’s time to start thinking about salads again ~ and you don’t get much healthier than this.
Kale and Roasted Cauliflower Salad
Well now, this is different from Jessica Merchant at How Sweet Eats broccoli cheddar tots ~ part of her Side Dish Sunday. I guess you can call these very healthy nibbles / appetisers ~ and very interesting.
Broccoli Cheddar Tots
Your collection this week comes from Olive Magazine with their 32 best ever broccoli recipes, including this broccoli and crispy chilli beef stir fry. I just love stir-fry it’s such a quick way to cook food, sealing in all the flavours and all of the goodness.
Broccoli and Crispy Chilli Beef Stir-Fry
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
there are dozens of cool ways to cook a cauliflower
click the link to check some out
The Cashless Conspiracy
Life is like a cash register, in that every account, every thought, every deed, like every sale, is registered and recorded. ~ Fulton J. Sheen
There is a conspiracy at the highest levels of government and the banking industry that wants to do away with cash ~ that is the notes and coins in your wallet, purse, and pocket. Here in England our Treasury Department, The Bank of England, (which is really another branch of government), the large high-street banks, and the major retail store chains are doing all they can to bring about the complete end of physical cash.
In the UK the number of free-to-use cash machines, (ATMs), is dwindling at the rate of about 250 every month, and that leaves shoppers and small businesses struggling to get hold of any cash, (source ~ consumer group Which). Add to that the number of bank branch closures which adds up to about 1,000 a year over the past 3 years, and one can see that the finance industry is just not interested in anything but card payments and electronic banking.
The thing is, cash is utterly reliable, whereas electronic payments systems can and do crash from time to time. Also some small businesses cannot afford the trouble and expense of installing a card reader and becoming a card merchant, so they are reliant on cash payments. In addition, for very small payments, a card is just a stupid way to pay. (And what stripper or hooker will accept anything but cash?)
However, the Government, the Bank of England, and the rest of the finance industry are doing everything possible to either promote cashless payments, or force cashless payments upon us. Electronic swipe cards are now the norm, which means no signature or PIN is required to make a purchase, just wave your card at the reader. Trust me, as a guy with 30 years experience in Banking and Finance, electronic swipe cards are not and never will be secure. And just you try getting your money back from your bank if you have been a victim of card fraud.
One high street bank in the UK is trialing a system which will allow customers to authorise card payments for any amount just using their fingerprint ~ and that is also totally open to a number of easy frauds.
The thing is Governments, Central Banks, the Tax people, High Street Banks, Major Retail Chains hate cash because; it’s expensive for them to handle, they cannot monitor your every payment and spending pattern if you use cash, and they have absolutely no control over your earnings and spending if it’s in cash.
If we are not all very careful, then very soon Big Brother will be watching your money.
These comments apply to the banking and finance industry in England, which I know a bit about, but they also apply in equal measure to the USA.
Some say that Cash is King. And others, that Cash is Dead, card and electronic payments are the real future. All I know is I can get cash-back from my favourite store if I just make one tiny card purchase.
~
jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
The Bank of England is just another arm of Big Government
Food on Friday ~ Cooking in Foil
Cooking is fun, eating is fine, clearing up afterwards is a drag.
If, like me, you like cooking but don’t like clearing up afterwards, then cooking in foil packets is one way to cut down on the mess. And, don’t believe the urban myth that aluminium foil is bad for your health ~ you can wrap food in it, and you can cook in it, and it won’t hurt you one little bit.
You can use foil packets to cook on the grill, in a fire-pit, in the oven, (and I’ve even baked potatoes wrapped in foil in the engine bay of a sports car). Using a packet like this helps to seal in the flavours, and keeps your food moist and tender.
Add your herbs, spices, and other seasonings to the foil packet, but it’s also a good idea to use a flavouring that will add moisture to the meat, fish, or vegetables you’re cooking ~ for example; lemon, orange, honey, butter, olive oil…..
Chungah Rhee at Damn Delicious has a fantastic recipe for Asian salmon cooked in foil ~ and trust me, this is a brilliant way to cook salmon. This dish uses fresh ginger and lots or garlic, as well as honey ~ all on the superfoods list.
Asian Salmon Cooked in Foil
Another salmon dish from from Chungah, and we have this seriously easy and seriously good recipe for lemon dill salmon in foil. Really this great looking dish is a 30 minute effort, tops. And, I’m pretty certain anyone can make a great job of cooking this damn delicious dish.
Lemon Dill Salmon in Foil
For a mid-week dinner or a weekend lunch here’s a recipe for a hearty potato dish you can prepare ahead ~ sausage, potato, and green bean foil packets. If you have an oven in the lunch room you could cook these packets at work, or you could cook them ahead and eat them cold, or whatever… And, you could swap bacon for the sausage…
Sausage Potato and Green Bean Foil Packets
From San Diego’s Averie Sunshine archive I have chosen this foil pack lime cilantro salmon. This is so easy to make, and it will be ready to eat in 10 minutes ~ you heard me right, just 10 minutes to produce this wonderful tasty, and very healthy dish.
Foil Pack Lime Cilantro Salmon
I know how much you like recipe collections, so from Wide Open Eats here are 20 foil packet recipes making dinner a breeze ~ how cool is that? Anything that makes mid-week dinners easier is a good idea. Included in this collection is a great recipe for lemon chicken and asparagus from Creme de la Crumb.
Lemon Chicken and Asparagus
From Taste of Home we have a collection of 30 Wrap-and-Cook Foil Packet Recipes, including this delicious-looking crab and shrimp stuffed sole. If you can get a decent Dover Sole this would make a fabulous dish ~ even for your high-end dinner party for two.
Crab and Shrimp Stuffed Sole
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jack collier
jackcollier7@talktalk.net
Food on Friday ~ Spicy
food for the body is not enough ~ there should also be food for the soul
Everyone’s definition of what constitutes spicy food is different. Some people think a dash of black pepper is sufficient, whereas others like the red hot chili peppers, (and that’s a very overrated band).
Personally I prefer a little subtlety in my spice palette.
First up this week we have a dish with good old-fashioned mustard from Diane’s Kitchen. I think you should be able to make this Honey Mustard Chicken in about a half-hour, maybe serve it with a baked potato.
Honey Mustard Chicken
Next we have a vegan recipe from Cookie + kate, and this Spicy Black Bean Soup with a Cuban twist should be in your bowl in about 45 minutes. Obviously this would be great to take to work the following day, and Kate says it freezes well in Mason jars ~ hmmmm, I’d never freeze a glass jar.
Spicy Black Bean Soup
Jessica Merchant at How Sweet Eats has this brilliant recipe for Ginger Scallion Noodle Bowls ~ ginger is the Queen of Spices, it’s good for just about whatever ails you, as well as providing a great pick-me-up.
Ginger Scallion Noodle Bowls
Half Baked Harvest is a site for some really pretty dishes, and this 30 Minute Vietnamese Beef and Crispy Rice Bowl is no exception. I really like the look of this recipe and it’s on my list to try in the very near future ~ I like 30 minute recipes.
30 Minute Vietnamese Beef and Crispy Rice Bowl
Next to last for this week, from Amanda at Chez le Rêve Français, there’s this Chilli and Ginger Glazed Salmon ~ what’s not to like about this dish?
Chilli and Ginger Glazed Salmon
This week’s collection is from Olive Magazine, with their 25 Best Ever Hot and Spicy Recipes. I’ve chosen to feature this Sri Lankan Veggie Curry partly because it’s vegetarian, but mostly because I love Sri Lankan food ~ it’s far, far better than Thai.
Sri Lankan Veggie Curry
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jack collier
jackcollier@talktalk.net
Chinese 5 Spice Beef and Ginger Stir Fry
from Vacation Food
