#100HAPPYDAYS - Day 21 Pasta

I've been focusing on making my life easier.
I don't have to make absolutely everything we eat from scratch, but I enjoy doing so as much as possible.
I am one of those people who lives to eat; deprivation and elimination are not in my cooking lexicon.

Lately I've been cooking to suit my husband and myself,  with less worry over what or whether the kids who are still at home will eat. Let's face it, the youngest is 17, and if she doesn't want what's for dinner, she's fully capable of making herself a sandwich.

I enjoy making my own pasta, but find the work involved aggravates the painful joints in my hands.
The solution was this nifty pasta machine.

We made our first batch of fettuccine a couple nights ago and it was out-of-this-world fantastic! I'm not a gadget person, but am so happy to be able to make pasta without pain.

Michael made this incredible
mushroom, tarragon and goat cheese sauce for our homemade fettuccine; paired with freshly baked bread and roasted garlic, and a nice bottle of Pinot Grigio, we ate like kings!
 
I can't wait to try some of the more adventurous flavors and different shapes. I'm just waiting for my 25 pound bag of semolina flour to arrive!
I can't wait to try some of the more adventurous flavors and different shapes. I'm just waiting for my 25 pound bag of semolina flour to arrive!

#100HAPPYDAYS - Day 18 Bread

Spent grain bread

My husband is a home brewer who makes fabulous beer.
Though I'm not especially fond of IPAs in general, I love most of the other beers he makes.
But having a steady supply of home brew isn't the only benefit from his hobby; he also makes the most incredible whole wheat bread using his spent grains.

Spent grains are what is left and after the mash has extracted most of the sugars, proteins, and nutrients, from the grains. Breweries often sell their spent grains as animal feed, though their nutrient content is severely reduced.
Though no longer high in nutritive value, spent grains give whole wheat bread a delicious nutty flavor and a nice chewy texture.

Every time he brews, my husband uses the spent grains to make 3-4 loaves of this great tasting bread we refer to as "beer bread." He never uses a recipe, so it's a little different each time, but always delicious.
I'm looking forward to breakfast tomorrow morning when we'll turn a loaf or two of his latest beer bread into French toast.
Yum.

#100HAPPYDAYS - Day 12 - Pancakes

Pumpkin pancakes with homemade blueberry syrup

Last night while talking about what we both had on tap for today, I casually mentioned to my wonderful husband that it would be nice to have pumpkin pancakes for breakfast.
He had a busy day planned, including a 30-minute drive to help and learn at a small local brewery.
Imagine my delight when I awakened to smell not only freshly brewed coffee - my salvation! - but the enticing aroma of pumpkin pancakes.
Oh, and these pancakes are so delectable.
They are whole grain pancakes with a hefty dose of our own homegrown and processed butternut squash. Over the years I have found butternut squash to be much more flavorful than small pie pumpkins and use butternut in all recipes calling for pumpkin.
But then there's the homemade blueberry syrup!
I canned it last summer from blueberries we had frozen the year before, and it is so darn good! Just perfect on these pancakes.
My husband had to dash out the door for his brew-ha-ha before I was awake enough to converse, let alone eat. After my usual 2-3 cups of java, however, I thoroughly enjoyed the pancakes he so lovingly prepared - and even left in a warm oven.
Thank you, honey.
My day surely started out on a happy note!

#100 HAPPY DAYS - Day 5

Today's happy was definitely our homemade pizza!

It's one of the quickest, easiest, yet most delicious meals and we make it almost weekly.
A few years ago I started making the crusts from whatever Healthy Bread in 5 Minutes a Day dough I have on hand.
Often I mix up a double batch of dough and make crusts to freeze. Each recipe makes 3 or 4 crusts and freeze beautifully. Just roll them out and prebake for 8-9 minutes, cool, and freeze.


We use frozen pesto or a red sauce made from oven dried tomatoes - both homemade with summer bounty. A little sauce, some cheese, and other desired toppings and dinner is ready in a flash, with very little cleanup to boot.

Last night I was pooped, so Michael made us two fabulous pizzas using ingredients that were on hand and only needed a quick zap in the microwave. The pizza pictured above had pesto, parmesan, fresh mozarella and feta.

Our second pizza had sauteed mushrooms and a sprinkling of sausage along with parmesan and fresh mozarella. Served with fresh veggies - we had colorful peppers and sugar snap peas - this was a great meal.
And it certainly made me happy.

#100HAPPYDAYS - Day 2

I was just thinking about how much I love clementines.
Then I realized I don't have any memories of eating them when I was a child.
Hmm. That seems weird.
Well, apparently not.
According wikipedia, the market for clementines didn't evolve in the U.S. until 1997 when the Florida orange crop was devastated by bad weather.
Huh. You learn something new every day.

I've been on a clementine kick of sorts, eating 4, 5, or even 6 of them each day for the past week. While I love oranges, they are so much more trouble - more difficult to peel, to section, etc.
Plus until I get another cortisone injection in my bum thumb, holding the orange tightly enough in my left hand really hurts the joint.
Today I peeled a 4 clementines for a snack, stacking them in a little bowl.
They looked so pretty and seeing them sitting there in all their sweet, juicy goodness made me happy.