cooking Archives - Real Life Notes

The Spice of Life: Cute and Easy Spice Storage

June 14, 2013 by Jill 2 Comments

A few weeks ago, I did a quick update to my spice storage. And the results were awesome. Using washi tape and some leftover jars, I turned my mish-mash of spice jars into a fun and functional spice storage solution that happened to be really easy to do and easy to change in the future too! Win, win, win! 1. Choose the jars for your spice storage. I used Gerber baby food jars for the spices. Once they were super clean, they were the perfect size. I had two different sizes of jars. The bigger … [Read more...]

Filed Under: cooking, household management, organization Tagged With: kitchen, spices

Veggies and More Veggies: Whole Living Challenge Week 2

October 8, 2012 by Jill Leave a Comment

Well, I survived the first week of the Whole Living Challenge. Now I'm starting week 2 of the Whole Living Challenge. How's it going? I still don't love vegetables. But I did eat a lot of them last week. Until Friday, when we left town for a Settlers Weekend at the beach. Then I cheated all weekend long and ate whatever I wanted to. And it was awesome. But now we're back home, and I'm trying to stick to week 2. This week I can add seafood tofu, beans and lentils. I'm very excited about this. It … [Read more...]

Filed Under: cooking, household management, life, recipe, thirty by 30 Tagged With: whole living challenge

Why Can’t I Love Vegetables?!?

October 2, 2012 by Jill 6 Comments

[pinit] The 30th item (clearly I'm going out of order in completion) on my Thirty by 30 list is to eliminate processed food and learn to eat vegetables. This week, I took a tangible step towards that goal, hopefully. I started the Whole Living Challenge. The challenge is structured as a cleanse and detox, which is good, but isn't exactly my main goal. My goal is to learn to enjoy fruits and vegetables. I don't right now. When I'm hungry, I don't think, "A banana sounds good." I don't reach for … [Read more...]

Filed Under: cooking, life, recipe, thirty by 30 Tagged With: fruit, vegetables, whole living challenge

The Quest: Bubble Tea 1

April 17, 2012 by Jill 1 Comment

I've started a new cooking quest. (Read about my earlier quests: chai shortbread cookies and oatcakes.) This time, I've set out to create bubble tea at home that's just as good as what I love to buy from tea shops. I love bubble tea. Jaye loves bubble tea, too. My current favorite is an Oolong milk tea from Chatime, a new tea shop at the Mall of America.It's incredible. I try to watch to see how they make it, but I don't know what their ingredients are. I asked how it was sweetened, and … [Read more...]

Filed Under: cooking Tagged With: bubble tea, cooking quest

Best Kale Salad Ever

March 8, 2012 by Jill 3 Comments

or I ate an entire bunch of kale for dinner... OMG. I just finished eating an entire bunch of kale. Raw. Delicious. I don't even like kale. But I do now. One of my college friends was in town this weekend. When I mentioned how I'm trying to eat more fruits and vegetables she recommended a cookbook (for which I immediately put in an interlibrary loan request) and wrote down this awesome kale salad recipe for me. Seriously awesome. This is the second time I've made the recipe this week. … [Read more...]

Filed Under: cooking, recipe Tagged With: kale, salad, side dish, vegetables

Making Homemade Baby Food: Beaba Babycook Review

March 7, 2012 by Jill Leave a Comment

I've been making most of Jaye's baby food since she started solids about 3 months ago. I use the Beaba Babycook Baby Food Maker.It's been really easy so far. I take whatever fruit or vegetable I'm ready for Jaye to try next, peel it if needed, chop it a little, and plop it in the basket of the Beaba. I don't dice the fruit or vegetable, just chop it up into smaller chunks. I add water to the top of the Beaba. There are lines on the side of the cup; I usually add water to the second line. Then … [Read more...]

Filed Under: cooking Tagged With: baby, baby food, review

The Quest: Oatcakes

February 23, 2012 by Jill 2 Comments

For a long time, Phil and I have had this idea of something that would be delicious to eat. We call them oatcakes. We weren't sure they existed anywhere. They'd be a cross between a muffin and a cookie and a scone. Dense, but not too dense. Hearty, good for breakfast. Adaptable to lots of different flavors. Once we saw something that looked about right at the co-op in Bloomington, Indiana, but we didn't buy it and eat it (I'm not sure why? We should have!)A few weeks ago, I started trying … [Read more...]

Filed Under: cooking Tagged With: blueberry, breakfast, cooking quest, scone

Grocery Breakdown: Week of Sept. 27

September 29, 2010 by Jill 1 Comment

Sunday: Leftover tortellini from last week. Monday: Black Bean Soup and Cheese Quesadillas Tuesday: Chili and Cornbread. (I froze some chili last week and made homemade cornbread from the recipe below) Wednesday: Italian Sausage and Ravioli Thursday: Chicken Verde Tacos Friday: Oktoberfest with Maureen and Laura and friends Saturday: Phil is going out for pizza, I'll stay at home and scrounge while studying. Total this week: $63.14 Homemade Texas Cornbread: (adapted … [Read more...]

Filed Under: budget and expenses, cooking, household management, recipe Tagged With: cornbread, grocery breakdown, meal planning, side dish