Cooking mama!!

Today was my marathon day of cooking. Well....it started last night with the defrosting and giving the meat grinder a workout making ground beef and ground turkey. It is so much cheaper (and healthier) to buy a whole turkey or steak and grind it yourself. No fillers for me or my hubby! The numerous attachments for my pretty pink kitchenaid mixer have been a blessing!

I kicked off at noon by popping the pork shoulder roast in the oven. 

 4 hours and 45 minutes later......the big reveal

A 350 degree oven, a little salt, olive oil and tada!

Work it a little, pull it apart and you have.....pulled pork!

And yes.....that's turkey stock simmering in the background. Soup for the week and 2 quarts for the freezer.

While this masterpiece was in the oven I even made it to the gym for a mega lover body workout that was much needed. I felt like a rockstar walking out of that gym. I need a long hot bath before bed tonight for sure!

Growing up I always made tabouli with my mom. The rinsing, mincing and chopping for which seemed like forever back then all paid off when we got to sample the refreshing salad.

This is what you start with.
(Make sure to cook the bulgur the night before so it cools.)

And the chopping begins! This is my FAVORITE knife in the ENTIRE world!!
(Kyocera Pink Revolution Santoku Knife)

 Add the parsley.....

 Add the cucumber.....and mix

Add the onion.....and mix

 Add the tomato....and mix

Add 1 Tbsp EVOO, 1 tsp herbamare, 1/2 c apple cider vinegar, 1/2 c lemon juice
Mix, then refrigerate and serve when chilled!
 
 Next was guacamole with tomatoes

 A little white rice
(as you can see....i'm obsessed with Le Crueset cookwear!)
 
My husband was VERY happy with his "faux" cuban dinner.

 And after dinner and cleaning, I packaged up whatever pork we wouldn't eat this week and put it in the freezer. I put 3 of these qt. bags away. A 7 1/2 pound roast goes a long way! And for just $8.50 for the entire roast...You can't beat it!
 

The things your mail says about you........

BEWARE!!! Your mail could be spreading rumors about you! Allow me to explain...6 months ago yesterday, I married the love of my life. Shortly after our honeymoon I started receiving emails about babies and pregnancy and then.....formula samples. I have to date had 2 samples of formula magically appear at my P.O. box and 3 formula samples arrive on my doorstep. Well...Not MY doorstep per se. My husband and I live in an upstairs apartment and share a front door. Our mail and our landlords come in one huge pile so it's up to us or them to separate it. Lot's of bills are "opened by mistake".....yeah right. Anyways... Along with the 5 can's of formula I also have a "complimentary" subscription to Baby talk AND American baby magazine!! I did not subscribe to either of these!

So here's where the rumors come in.....About an hour ago I was outside shoveling out the car because we got dumped on yet again. When is this snow going to stop?!?! After I finished our car, I decided to be nice and shovel out our landlords daughter's car as well. Just as I was finishing, she was crossing the street on her way home from work. So I stopped, let out tired little huff to catch me breath and said hello. She looked at me and yelled..."Are you ok? What are you doing? Aren't you pregnant!?"...I'm not going to lie, I was a little mortified when it hit me that my landlord and daughters must all think i'm pregnant!! Have I really gained that much since getting married?!?! I quickly said "NO NO NO......you must have seen the formula samples and baby magazines. They just started coming automatically after the wedding. I have no clue why! Please tell you parents so they don't go on thinking i'm about to have a baby!"

In  short.........Mail sucks and tells people lies about you! Now I'm thinking......I wonder what the mail man must think of everyone on his route.......He must know some pretty interesting things about the neighbors!

Happy New Year 2011!

1/7/11

Well…the new year is here…Sure, just like everyone else, I have new years resolutions. The same resolutions EVERY SINGLE YEAR!!! I will eat healthy. I will work out every day, I will practice my singing and piano, I will keep the house clean, yadda yadda yadda…..I have yet to make it to the gym, ordered Chinese AND PIZZA, and have not sung or played the piano once! I’m ON A ROLL!!!!

            While I was walking down the street on my way to a Microsoft casting this crazy thought crossed my mind…”I should write a blog.. My life is interesting, right? I’m sure there are plenty of people who would love to read what I do every day, what I cook, the good deals I get while canvasing the grocery store for specials and sales, how I’ll get my husband and kids to eat their veggies, the cool parenting tips I have, awesome birthday party ideas,……WAIT A MINUTE…….parenting tips??….I don’t have any KIDS!! How am I cooking for them and throwing them birthday parties? I’ve only been married for 5 and a half months!" I guess my mind kept rolling from post to post and before I knew it, I was writing about sending them off to college!

            Back to reality. I’ll start this slow and take it day by day, post by post. Will people read this, who knows! But, it can’t hurt to share how I made it through the day. I figure it will be just like talking on the phone to a good friend and sharing our stories. So….Stay tuned for stories about……normal everyday life. Here we go!