What Rhymes With Orange?

I had plenty of leftover hash from last night so I figured hash and eggs would be a good way to start this surprisingly chilly morning.

Minimal Ingredients


Easy enough to prepare, just put the hash in the frying pan and crack a couple of eggs on top.

Hash And Raw Eggs


I used the old putting the cover over the pan trick again to cook the eggs and heat the hash all the way through.

So Easy


On the plate it was just like having breakfast in my local diner. Well, minus the wise-cracking waitress and the English muffin.

Not Bad For At Home


Lunch was just another peanut butter and banana sandwich.

The Usually Usual


Tonight was going to be a chicken night, but I felt like doing something a bit different.

An Orange Chicken


First thing I did was just get a little zest off one of the oranges.

Adding A Bit Of Zest To My Life


Then I juiced the two oranges.

Doing It By Hand


Then I just added the juice to the container with the zest. Gosh, isn't this interesting. Kind of reminds me of chemistry class. And, I diced up the garlic too.

Preparing The Chicken Bath


I threw the garlic into the juice and then sliced up some ginger. I stuck the ginger in the microwave for about thirty seconds just to soften it up a bit and let the flavor seep out better.

The Ginger Is Ready To Go



And Everything Into The Bath Water



And The Chicken Taking The Plunge


I let the chicken marinate in the refrigerator and then got to thinking that maybe I should add a bit more orange flavor.

I Squeezed Another Orange


I stirred in some salt and then loaded up my syringe.

This Won't Hurt A Bit


After injecting the chicken I let it sit for a bit and then put it in the frying pan with a bit of olive oil.

Skin Side Down


While the chicken was frying I also put on the rice.

Rice In A Pot Of Water, Wow!


And I threw a serving of my frozen mixed vegetables into a little pot to boil away for about ten minutes.

See The Above Caption - Substitute Veggies For Rice


The Chicken Crisped Up Nicely


Again, I always hate to let the drippings of anything go to waste. When I make rice I will always stir it into the drippings of whatever else I have cooked (well, not fish) to give it some additional flavor and a nice brown color.

Rice With Some Flavor


When all was said and done I again had a very respectable dinner.

Eating Cheaply Doesn't Mean Not Eating Well


Tomorrow will probably just be leftovers, I do have to get rid of them. Not that I have a lot of leftovers, I have planned things pretty carefully. Probably the last of the chili for lunch and the last of the pea soup for dinner. I am saving my steak for Friday.

I see where the Yankees, apparently embarrassed by the empty seats behind home plate, have reduced the price of the tickets, by 50% for some seats, down to a mere $1,,250 from the original $2,500. I guess if you can afford to sit in those seats the price of the beer probably won't be an issue.

Hashing Things Out

A good day for oatmeal, but then isn't any day a good day for oatmeal.

1/3 Plain And 2/3 Raisin And Spice With Dried Bananas


I stopped in at Trader Joe's for the last of my grocery purchases. I really went overboard too. Two bananas at 19 cents each and a potato for 38 cents. Probably not too many people walk out of Trader Joe's and only spend 77 cents. I asked the cashier to double bag it too, just to see her expression. It was, shall we say, one of confusion.

I broke out all of the ingredients for my hash including my last chunk of beef and the two best looking carrots that I had left. The half-dozen or so that remained went into the garbage, they were beyond salvation.

Ready For The Master's Touch


First, I peeled everything that needed peeling.

Naked Veggies


Next I diced up the potato and my two carrots. I derive a certain peaceful satisfaction when I slice and dice things. I am not very fast, though.

First Round Of Dicing Is Done


Because the carrots and the potato need to cook the longest they, of course, went into the frying pan first. About a half a tablespoon of olive oil beat them in there, though.

Starting To Simmer


While the carrots and potato were starting to cook up I diced up the garlic and onions.

The Second Stage Of Dicing Done


And into the pan they went as well.

All The Veggies Happy Together


For the meat I broke out my finger-slicer special. By far the sharpest knife that I own. If it ever gets dull I will take it in and have it professionally sharpened. I sharpen all of my other knives, but this one I think I will pass on.

Finger-Slicer Waiting For Action


After I chopped up all of the meat I realized I probably didn't have enough. I shouldn't have nibbled.

Not Quite Enough


I had at least one pack of pork left in the freezer (there might be another one in there someplace, I forget) so I dug it out and stuck it in the microwave for about a minute and a half and then chopped it up too.

A Pork Supplement



All Chopped Up


And then threw the meat on top of everything that was already in the pan and let it fry up for a few minutes more.

Everything But The Kitchen Sink


I just fried it over a fairly low heat until everything was nicely browned.

Lookin' Good Enough To Eat


I dished myself up a very healthy portion and I had my lunch.

Just Like At The Diner


I made a pretty good batch, so there was a lot left over.

I Made A Good Dent, But Still, Just A Dent


The rest went into the refrigerator and I will have it for breakfast tomorrow with an egg or two.

Tomorrow's Instant Breakfast


I wasn't all that hungry at dinner time. Maybe my lunch had something do do with it. A bowl of leftover chili was plenty.

Just A Light Dinner


Well, after spending my 77 cents today my grand total for the month is now $138.57. And, for the life of me, I can't think of anything more to spend it on. Not if I want to finish up some more of what I have left. If I was going to carry this forward I would probably start to stock my spice cabinet. But because I already have a fully stocked one, it would be pointless for me to actually do that. I will give you a few more of my thoughts on living on a food-stamp diet when I am actually finished, but I think you can see that it is certainly possible to eat well on this amount of money.

I had to kind of laugh at the guy from CNN who complained that he started to run out of energy towards the end of the month and he thought it was because he wasn't getting enough protein in his diet. I should go back and see how the hell he spent his money, because a lack of protein certainly wasn't my problem. I probably ate more meat this month than I usually do.

Enjoy Every Sandwich

I got the portions down pat now, one and one-half packages of the instant oatmeal. Today it was one-half package of Plain and one package of Apples and Cinnamon.

The Perfect Combination


Today was my roast-beef sandwich day, and I had actually been looking forward to this. First step was to thinly slice the beef and thinly slice a small onion.

The Beef Is Still Looking Good


First step, as it so often is, was to fry up some onions.

Frying Them Up


When the onions were pretty much done I threw on the beef and sprinkled it liberally with pepper.

Looking Good


I just wanted to warm up the beef, not really cook it, so I just put the cover on the frying pan for a couple of minutes and then piled everything onto a slice of toast.

Now This Is A Sandwich


And, as you can imagine, it was delicious and filling.

For supper there wasn't anything fancy, just some frozen pea soup that wasn't all that frozen after sitting in the refrigerator since yesterday night.

Solid, But Not Frozen Solid


I threw it into the microwave oven for five minutes and out came:

The Swamp Monster


I threw it back into the microwave for another couple of minutes and then I had myself my bowl of pea soup.

Peas Porridge Hot, Peas Porridge Cold, Peas Porridge...


I am watching the Hawks/Heat game tonight and I couldn't help but think, Michael Phelps gets a picture taken of him with a bong and Kellogg cancels his endorsement deal. Charles Barkley runs a stop sign, gets arrested for DUI, and tells the arresting officer he ran the stop sign because he was in a hurry to get oral sex from the prostitute who was in the car with him. Oh, yeah, they also found a loaded handgun in Barkley's car when he was arrested. And he didn't seem to lose any endorsements. And is still on on TNT giving half-time commentary on the game tonight. And plugging the new X-Men movie.

Why do I think there is something just a bit wrong here? I guess Phelps should have been doing endorsements for T-Mobile.

Bakon Vodka, Coming To You Soon

This was just too good not to share, bacon flavored vodka.

It takes a sick mind to think of such a thing, but you have to admit, it has a certain appeal. How about a nice Bloody Bacon Mary?

• 1 oz. to 1½ oz. Bakon Vodka in a Highball glass filled with ice.
• Fill glass with tomato juice
• 1 dash celery salt
• 1 dash ground black pepper
• 1 dash Tabasco
• 2-4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
• 1/8 tsp. horseradish (pure, never creamed)
• Dash of lemon or lime juice

Garnish with a celery stalk; a skewer of olives, pickles, carrots, mushrooms, or other vegetables; or even meat or shrimp (bacon, salami, shrimp, etc.) and cheese. Pickled asparagus spears or pickled beans are also great as a garnish.

Or, an Irish Boar?

• 1 part Kahlua
• 1 part Irish cream
• 1/2 part Frangelico
• 2 parts Bakon Vodka
• 1 part half-and-half
• Shake with ice, strain
• Mix salt and sugar rim of martini glass

Shake ingredients over ice and serve in a salt and sugar rimmed martini glass.


Currently Bakon Vodka is only available in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana.

You have to love it though, they are making the vodka with Idaho potatoes, so now you can be a real meat and potatoes kind of guy, or gal, and never have to eat either one.

Fishermen's Swill, Dark And Dank

In preparation for the end of my austerity diet, that really wasn't that austere, except for one thing COFFEE, I ordered a bunch of beans from my sister-in-law who runs the Left Bank Cafe in Slayton, Minnesota. I asked her for six pounds of blends on the robust side, and she didn't let me down. I received a pound each of Charlie's Charge, Rusty Nail, Truffle Blend, Aw Nutz, East Timor, and Left Bank Hammer. I am looking forward to sampling, make that slurping, them all.

I also asked her to send me a pound of ground coffee for me to bring up to The Opener in Minnesota when I will be hanging out with a bunch of my buddies for a looong weekend.

She Outdid Herself


I guarantee you nobody else will be drinking this.

Fishermen's Swill, Dark And Dank


Believe me, we need something Dark and Dank in the morning, something that can stand up to that breakfast glass of Manishevitz Heavy Maluga and the smell of unwashed men in a small cabin. Well, to be honest, most of us will shower later on, but the mornings are still pretty ripe.

If you want to try some very good coffee, and you can pretty much custom blend your own from the Left Bank Cafe website, just click the picture below:

Roasting, In More Ways Than One

Whew, after a long and dreary start to the spring, warm, make that hot, weather hit with a vengeance. The temperature was into the nineties and records for high-temperatures were shattered all over the Northeast, some by as much as ten degrees. For example, in Central Park it hit 92 F yesterday, the previous record was 83 F, and that was in 1942.

I still started the day out with a hot bowl of oatmeal.

An Oatmeal Blend


I think that two bags is too much though. Going to cut it back to a bag and a half.

A Big Breakfast, A Bit Too Big


I had the leftover spaghetti that I wanted for lunch, but for some reason also had a hankering for an egg. I just modified the egg in toast routine a bit.

Spaghetti Instead Of Bread


And, I used the old bit of water with the cover trick too. I didn't need to add any water, though, because the spaghetti had enough moisture.


Pretty In Pink



Spaghetti And Eggs, A Surprisingly Nice Lunch


I had the roast sitting in the refrigerator overnight and then let it set out for awhile. I like my meat close to room temperature before I cook it, particularly larger cuts. I am not sure if this is recommended or not, but I must have picked it up from somewhere. I know this is important when grilling so you don't overcook the outside in order to get it cooked all the way through.

A Nice Cut Of Meat


First of all I just seasoned it with plenty of salt and pepper and then put it into my cast iron Dutch oven to brown it in a bit of olive oil.

A Meat For All Seasons



All Browned Up


I wanted to cook it to an internal temperature of 135 F. One of my favorite Christmas presents from the Mysterious Chinese Woman's family (they know I like to cook) was this handy, dandy device. A Williams-Sonoma remote thermometer. It works really well, with one small quirk. You can't set the alarm to specific temperatures, only to presets based upon the type of meat, and their perceived level of doneness. For example, for beef done rare it sets at 140 F, and you can't seem to override it. To me, that is too way too high a temperature for rare.

Still, Pretty Nifty


Because it is a remote thermometer, you can set the read-out device anywhere within 100 feet.

In My Technology Center


This allows me to do much more important things while still keeping my eye on my meat.

Is That A Giant Spider Creeping Over The Hill?


When the roast hit 135 I ran to the kitchen, leaving my Death Knight, DeeKaa, to fend for himself, protected by his faithful ghoul, Skullchewer (hey, I can't choose the name of my ghoul).

Looks Just Right


It is very important to let your meat rest before, well, before a lot of things, actually. In this case before slicing it. This lets the juices reabsorb into the meat and not just run out when it is cut. Also, the temperature will continue to rise about another 5 F during this resting periond. I like to loosely wrap it in foil while it is resting to keep it moist.

My Meat Is Resting


While the meat was roasting (before it was resting) I also made some rice and threw another serving of my frozen vegetables into some boiling water. I sliced up some ginger and then fried it up in the melted fat that had accumulated on the bottom of my Dutch oven.

Crispy Ginger


When the rice was done I dumped it into the Dutch oven and stirred it up with the ginger and let it absorb some of the nicely browned up fat and crispy pieces on the bottom. It adds a nice flavor.

Browned Rice, Not Brown Rice


Now it was time to slice the roast. As you can see, my 135 F was a good call. This is more of a medium rare so the 140 F setting on my thermometer would definitely not be rare.

Just About Perfect - No, Make That Perfect


Plating is important, even when I am only serving myself. Although, I do have to admit, most of the time I just throw everything on a plate.

Restaurant Worthy, And Probably Expensive


I also have a heck of a chunk of meat left over too. Tomorrow I think I will use part of it for a nice sandwich for lunch.

Another scorcher tomorrow, but it isn't supposed to be quite as hot as today. I have a dental appointment tomorrow, just a check-up, but I am wondering if I can use this flu-scare thing to get out of it. Crowded subway and everything. Probably won't though, don't want to leave my dentist with a hole in his schedule, he may take it out on me next time I visit.