What Would Will Eat?

Okay, this is probably not a big deal to some (or all) of you, but I put all laziness and protestations of not having enough time aside this week and made my own damned pie crust from scratch. 6 T of butter, 1.5 c flour, buttermilk. Boom.

Best. Pie crust. Ever.

Fuck off, Pillsbury!

I made a mushroom ragú last night, adapted from Everyday Italian (which is excellent, by the way, and much better than watching that woman's freaky shark teeth for 30 minutes).

Put 1/4c. of olive oil in a skillet. Add some onion and a couple cloves of garlic and let saute until soft. Add about a pound of mushrooms. (I used white button mushrooms, even though Shark Lady explicitly said to use anything but those.) Saute. Add about a cup of white wine (or red wine or chicken broth -- I used some deeply crappy white wine) and some salt and pepper. Simmer for 30 minutes or so, adding a little water as needed to keep it moist until the mushrooms are cooked. Turn off the heat. Add a handful of chopped parsley. Stir. Add the juice of half a lemon and some Parmesan cheese and maybe a little more salt and pepper. Serve. Maybe throw on a little more cheese, too.

This was the best (and easiest) thing I've cooked in a while. I served it over ravioli, but it seems like it would go well on almost anything.

Damn. Now I have to go eat the leftovers for lunch.

Okay, kateadelle, you and I are going to kick this community into gear even if it's just us in here.

My food budget is pretty lean these days, and I really need a kick in the ass to cook more. I'm not so far from TFF's ideals, but I ain't that close either. So, you and I (and anyone else who cares to jump in) are going to cook/eat better starting today, March 1.

Sound good?

Low-Carb Pioneer Atkins Files Chapter 11

This might be a dumb question, so please bear with me:

Does anyone have recipes that follow our guidelines and are crock pot friendly? Or do the two not go together?

I got Everyday Italian: 125 Simple and Delicious Recipes by Giada De Laurentiis from my library and it's fairly TFF-friendly. Except for a recipe (or maybe two) that included refrigerated Pillsbury dough, all the ingredients she uses are regular foods and the recipes are all pretty short and easy. I've only made one thing from it so far (I made the piccata sauce last night) but that was excellent.

From today's USA TODAY: Kids get a whopping one-third of their calories from pizza, snacks and desserts, says a new analysis from a landmark study on children's eating habits.

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As I was giving someone the Amazon link to TFF this morning, one of the books under Customers who bought this book also bought was Joie de Vivre: Simple French Style for Everyday Living. I read this after reading TFF and I really enjoyed it.

Actually, let me take that back. When I got it, I expected it to be more like TFF and at first, I didn't really care for it. But, if you read it as more like a companion piece to TFF, which expounds on the French living aspects of TFF, then you'll probably like it.

Okay, I'll get this party [re]started...

A list of foods I never would have thought of making before TFF but now it seems essential:

1. Salad dressing. [We were going over to my mother's house and she asked us what kind of dressing she should buy for us and I honestly couldn't say.]

2. White bread. [I would go broke buying baguettes every day, so I just make them. It's easier than you think.]

3. Cookies. [Because I used to just figure store bought was good enough.]

4. Chicken with the skin left on. [And we all know the skin is the best part.]

Now, you go!

USA TODAY article on The French diet connection.