What's happening in my kitchen
If you stopped into my kitchen lately, you'd see:
-yogurt incubating
-iced tea in Mason jars
-zucchini bread that blurs the line between bread and cake.
(actually, it probably crosses that line altogether.)
-dishes. always dishes.
(they're part of the clean/dirty/clean/dirty cycle)
-a newly decluttered under-sink cabinet (I was inspired by Rachel's ridiculously clean cabinet!)
-more cut-up discounted cantaloupe (they actually gave two to me for free at the end of the day!)
What's happening in your kitchen?
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Today's 365 post: This one makes me smile.
Joshua's 365 post: Out of place
Why is the tea in a mason jar? May be a silly question but I'm curious.
That's because I prefer to avoid plastic as much as possible. And I have a lot of Mason jars.
I keep iced tea and other drinks in mason jars as well, but I was wondering what cap you have on the jar? Also - did you just happen to have a large influx of zucchini this week?
Everything looks great!
I want to know what these lids are on the Mason jars too! I use mine for EVERYTHING 🙂
It's real fancy. Ready? It's a lid from a Parmesan cheese cannister. 😉
Oh, and yes, I got zucchini from my parents' garden. Free!
It's nice to see that other people have as many dishes as I do! My sister once commented that we have more dishes to do every day than anyone she ever met. Oh well, it's worth the home cooked food on real dishes (to me).
I made yogurt for the first time this week (it rocks!), so our fridge has some of that in it. We've reached the season where my veggie garden is producing like crazy. Even after giving more than 50% of it away, I still have a pile of fruits/veggie taking up ever spare corner of the fridge, window sill and table! I need to get on the canning/freezing/cooking roll to avoid food waste! I love every minute of it.
P.S. We use mason jars as drinking jars because they last way longer than any other type of drinking glasses we've ever tried (yeah, I'm a klutz!).
I'm a little concerned about how many dishes we'll have when/if we have 4 kids... because right now we have tons, and there's only 2! Do what you have to I guess :-).
Lately we've had, whole grain biscuits, yogurt dough for crackers, lots of discount veggies being frozen or eaten, and some homemade ice cream.
Sweet photos! Thanks for sharing!
My kitchen is a busy place right now too... And soon to get busier! This is my last week of 9-5 work before I start my maternity leave and have my 2 and 4 year old girls home with me. We try to make things from scratch, and 99% of our meals are cooked at home, but I can't wait to do more! I'm also planning a few freezer cooking sessions so I can have some meals put away for after Baby #3 comes along.
Lately, though, my kitchen has been filled with yoghurt making (the slow cooker method, though), homemade granola, panzerotti (as an alternative to our regular Saturday night pizza). Last night after making shrimp stir fry and brown rice for supper, my husband made rice pudding and a no-bake blueberry cheesecake. 🙂 (Wild blueberries are so prevalent in my neck of the woods that we have a blueberry festival every year!) I cleaned up after all of that... so many dishes! But so worth it. 🙂
atsquared - I love the slow cooker method for making yogurt too. I don't want the heat in the house during the summer, so I move my crock-pot and my toaster oven out into the garage. I have an 8' counter on top of my washer and dryer, so it's very safe and keeps the heat out of the kitchen.
I just finished the marinade for Jamaican Jerk Chicken (tonight). That, and a pot of coffee, are all that is going on in my kitchen 🙂
Your kitchen looks much like mine! It's a workplace!
In mine -- Yogurt making, jelly making, sourdough sponge on the counter waiting for today's bread, quilling paper scraps from daughter on kitchen table, and of course, the pile that never moves -- both daughters' dance gear on the kitchen floor. But, alas, no zucchini bread in this house. Our zucchini is still a couple of weeks away.
Kristen, where do you get your pyrex (with the red/blue lids)? Do you just pick them up whenever you find them for a good price at goodwill? Or do you know someplace that sells them fairly cheap?
We could use a few of the mid-sized ones...but MAN are buying just those ones expensive!
And any chance of sharing that zucchini cake bread recipe? 😉
I second Reese's request, will you share your zucchini cake bread recipe? Please?
Yeah, I bought some at Goodwill and also from Amazon when Mr. FG alerted me to a sale.
I will indeed share the recipe!
Yes, the dishes are never ending! Like you, I have overflow drying piles on a regular basis.
In my kitchen now, I'm testing recipes in the freezer to prepare for an upcoming Yellowstone camping trip. For example, I've always read that potatoes don't freeze well, so I took a few of the cubed roasted potatoes from last night & stuck them in the freezer. I'll pull them out in a couple days & taste test.
Good for you for testing it for yourself.
Raw potatoes don't freeze well at all, unless you have special equipment or live in the Andes. Cooked potatoes, OTOH, often freeze just fine.
Our kitchen has been busy with bread baking, raspberry packaging and freezing and yogurt making (thanks to you - we soooo love it!). Next on the list will be some freezer meals, mostly soups, and some beans cooked up to add to future meals. Always busy in the kitchen!
Just like you, cooking, cooking, cooking. I love the cooking, but I wish someone would come do all of the dishes for me.
We have iced tea in mason jars too. 🙂
I have two CSA subscriptions, so I spend a lot of time using the extra ingredients in meals that I put up in the freezer for the fall. Can't wait to see how much all of those already made meals (with local fresh ingredients, no less) will save us on groceries in just a few months.
This was a really fun post, your kitchen looks great! My kitchen has coffee going and some blueberries spread out on a kitchen towel drying. And a pot of kimchi soup that I left out to cool from last night.
The same constant stream of dishes so many are mentioning. I have so few that they are in near constant use.
Half a loaf of multigrain bread. I just made it Sunday night and there's only two of us. Good thing the recipe makes two loaves.
Made hard boiled eggs for breakfast. I also cleaned cherries for breakfast but forgot them when I noticed I was running late. So, cherries for after-work snack instead.
Not much going on today since it's a long work day for me, but Sunday I had the kitchen in full swing--processing rhubarb, cooking up rice and meat scraps for the dog, and making soup plus a month's worth of paperwork on the kitchen table to catch up on in-between. Having a month of company leads to getting very behind on mundane stuff!
Not much, a reaction against all the cooking I've been doing in the past few years I think. So simple stuff:
* happy pig marinating, and asparagus, for Ginger Beef tonight;
* happy pig scrapple I forgot to take to my friend's birthday;
* CI's sugar cookies which, tasty as they are, don't roll-and-cut well, darn it;
* tofu and napa cabbage for a dish later this week;
* a dish of "Zesty Tomato Sauce," leftover chix scraps, and cooked beans, for future lunches (the sauce recipe was fine but not a keeper);
* lots of chopped produce and quick protein (sliced meat, sausage, cottage cheese) so I don't have to cook.
I'm also working my way through the frozen lunch buildup. There are a couple weeks' worth of lunches that aren't that great, but aren't bad enough to throw out.
I saw an idea of putting individual linoleum tiles under the sink to make inevitable spills and leaks easier to clean up and it protects the cabinet floor...just haven't got it done yet. 🙂
We made a big batch of chicken spaghetti yesterday - four meals worth. And put up two cases (24 pints) of blueberries in the freezer.
We had some zuchinni bread a couple of weeks ago. Last week was yogurt lemon cranberry bread. Yesterday, brownies. YUM!
Half gallons are one of our favorite storage containers - we put grains, rice, flours, sugars, pastas...you name it, in them. Our vacuum sealer has an attachment that will vacuum seal wide mouth jars. It's an awesome way to keep things fresh in the pantry!
Thank you for sharing that you have tons of dishes. Sometimes it seems like no other house has as many dishes as we seem to generate.
I raised some dough, made a couple of pizzas for lunch for the guys. I folded some laundry on the kitchen table--I know weird place for it, but there you go. I plan on some pulled pork burritos for dinner with rice and beans and an avocado salad. Doesn't seem like enough activity, so maybe I'll bake something. 🙂
Free cantaloupe!!! Imagine!!!
Yesterday I bought 9lb of ready-t0-eat organic bananas for 99cents each (does it bother you that there is no "cents" symbol on keyboards anymore?) and froze them up. Today my kitchen is pretty quiet. My husband is out of town and I sort of think of this as a vacation from cooking very much 🙂
Fun post! You inspired me to write one too!
I thought my under-sink cabinet was okay until I saw Rachel's. The latest big thing that happened in my kitchen was the spilling of 1lt cold brew coffee: http://www.chriskiki.com/2012/07/parenting-lesson-from-max.html Thankfully it doesn't have sugar on it.
I know! I saw Rachel's and felt mortified about mine.
Hey Kristen, your kitchen looks so nice! I love that you make your own yogurt. I make it every week too. It's cheap and somehow because it's made at home it tastes better. I have recently started making Paneer (Cottage Cheese) at home. It just takes 5 minutes to make and needs nothing but milk and vinegar. It costs half the price as the dairy or store bought one and it's instant!
Thanks for inviting us into your kitchen! Inspires me to get back in mine...
Been having one of those days...but...still got stuff going on...
Sour dough on the bench doing it's thing...
Same dishes as you; yup, I recognize them!!!(thank you for the comfort you gave by sharing that!!!) plus lots of folks leaving food uncovered on the bench today, grrrr...
Jars of lemon quarters, salted and on their way to becoming Moroccan Preserved Lemons...tastes awesome!!!
Washing dishes with my home made soap!!! I like it but others in my house are not so enthused...
Picking baby dandelion leaves in the garden for a salad...
and...
Wouldn't it be nice if I could get the fridge cleaned...mmm...
Currently I have a cake baked but not yet decorated for my Nephew's Birthday. It's 'survival' themed', so camouflage and campfires - wish me luck! I've more cake hanging around - some sticky-bottomed raspberry cupcakes leftover sitting in a tin. I donated some to neighbours but some still remain. Finally lot's a bits and pieces sitting around waiting to be packed for our inaugural family camping trip. Finally the rain has let up, finally!
ps - loving the jars, I'm making the transition to glass currently.
What is the recipe for your zucchini bread? It looks great! I hope you can share.
How fun to be reading your blog and then see that it's linking to mine, thanks! Yes, I would say that under my sink is ridiculous, but the rest of my kitchen is much more normally messy.
I tried to make yogurt this week, but I must be out of practice because it turned out just alright.
I meant the ridiculous as a compliment, just so ya know! 😉 I'm very envious of your bright, clean cabinet.