**Meatless Monday!** Thar's beans with dem thar' greens.

Now that winter is in effect here on the Oregon Coast (good morning 32 degrees), I've been using Mondays as a way to chase away the chill with soups. Not only does this recipe succeed in being delicious (make sure to add some minced garlic), it's also packed with iron and fiber. Those things are important right?

Be forewarned, this makes a very large pot and is extremely filling, so have giveaway or freezer ready dishes on hand.





Beans and greens with a sprinkle of Parmesan on top.



So what's your favorite way to keep the cold from creeping in??

**Meatless Monday** Three Types of Cheese?! Yes please!

Every since I was little, I've been more of a vegetarian. Don't get me wrong, when I could eat red meat, I did my colon some hurtin'. Still, I prefer salad over steak and fruit over whatever the meat equivalent to fruit is. Then when you add cheese, make that 3 KINDS of cheese, well, that makes for one happy Undomestic Goddess.

I have to stop forgetting that my oven cooks way hotter than it should, but the golden brown bits did taste scrumptious.

Was thoroughly satisfied with this 3-Cheese Pasta Bake.

How about yourself? Do you prefer the meatless meals or is it bring on the beef??

**Meatless Monday** You say potato, I say delicious

Remember when I wrote about my dirty little secret? Well sometimes I redeem myself, by reusing. Or rather, reheating.

This potato casserole tastes just as good for breakfast as it did for dinner.

**Meatless Monday** A Cranberry Tale

In high school I discovered my drink of choice, cranberry juice. Not sure why Maternal Unit started buying it but it soon became very difficult to keep in the house. If given the opportunity, I would drink the entire carton, which would then end in misery as cranberry juice is not cheap and Maternal Unit would get heated that she had not even gotten a sip (once she discovered how many carbs are actually in the juice, however, the issue was dropped and I got the juice all to myself).

Now while I love the tart and sweet nectar of the gods, especially when conjoined with vodka, I had a hatred of cranberry sauce, that all too well known staple of holiday tables, most identifiable in its cylindrical shape. This is how it appeared on our table for many years, until one day, in the midst of one of Maternal Unit's rages against the carb, she discovered she could make it herself. Not only was it better for you, it was way cost effective, as generally the only thing she had to purchase was the cranberries themselves. Add a cup of water and a cup of sugar, boil, and voila! cranberry sauce.

This year we were invited by our neighbors to share Thanksgiving dinner with them. Thrilled as always to not have to cook, I asked what we could bring. After some deliberation, cranberry sauce and rolls were decided upon. Now, bread I've been working on since my sophomore year of college, when Middle Brother and wife bought me a bread maker. Fast forward almost six years and the machine looks like it is the last survivor of the kitchenware apocalypse but until it gives up the dough, so to speak, it will remain my most beloved appliance, inching out the crock pot only because of it's ability to give me that which my heart desires most.

Any who, with the rolls already decided upon, I sent off a quick text to Maternal just to verify her sauce recipe and she replied with what I already knew. I must say that what I managed to produce was indeed so delicious that even I partook in it. Color, taste and texture were so perfect that even our neighbors' son, Favorite Redhead, ate it, which may have had a hand in making him my favorite redhead; that and the fact that he's a perfectly delightful cuddler.

Look ma! Cranberry sauce!

How 'bout yourself? What was the one thing you made this year that came out better than anything else? Or was everything equally astounding?

**Meatless Monday AND Crazy Cooking Challenge!

I'm not usually a joiner, other than the workforce and the Save a Cow, Eat a Vegetarian Foundation (that's right I just endorse cannibalism on my blog in a post about food, you may judge me). However, I came across the Crazy Cooking Challenge while stalking scouring blogs for food fodder. I'd been feeling like spreading my wings a bit and the way that Tina over at Moms Crazy Cooking laid it out, well she made it sound like not joining was the harder thing to do. Besides, the upcoming challenge was "The Ultimate Mashed Potatoes," and I mean, please, this is The UDG we're talking about here. Starchy skinned substances are my thing.

So, I set off into Blogland. Besides making delicious food, the Crazy Cooking Challenge is a way to feature recipes from bloggers who don't have their own show on Food Network or make the big bucks telling you six ways to cut an onion. The recipe I chose, Slow Cooked Rosemary Garlic Mashed Potatoes, is by Rachel at Coconut and Lime.

As you all know, I love my crock pot and I love it now more than ever, working two jobs. It's wonderful to be able to throw something in it and be able to walk away and Pinterest get my housework done. Other recipes I found called for cooking the potatoes, mashing them AND then putting them in the crock pot. Tres stupido. The thing I like most about this recipe is that, in true crock pot fashion, it's all done in one place.

I must tell you that when I made this recipe, Husband was still out of town, so I got to have these all to myself. Which is good, because the scent alone of the potatoes cooking was enough to make me find any excuse to go into the kitchen and sniff the air around the crock pot.

Here's the story of how 3 lbs of unsuspecting red potatoes became a glorious rendition of mashed potatoes.

You began your journey as nothing more than spuds, needing to be cleansed of your impurities and imperfections.

With (not so) loving care, you were whittled down and married to chicken broth, garlic and rosemary.

After you had reached your peak tenderness, you were introduced to the Dairy Fairies: Milk, Butter and Sour Cream.

Put together in the most tastiest of situations, it was a mash made in heaven.

The end.

Wash them down with some ice tea and you've got a meal. Or I suppose normal people would eat them as a side dish. So overrated.

Be sure to check out another recipe or two or all of them if you don't have a life have the time. If by chance you're feeling so inclined, go ahead and vote for me #76. If you're not, well do it any way, no one wants a guilty conscience.

**Meatless Monday** Powdered Milk to the Rescue

All I wanted was biscuits and gravy. That's it. Biscuits. And gravy. However, I used the last of the milk for who knows what (no seriously, I can't remember, maybe it went bad??) and had a mild panic attack, so I turned to the only source of culinary knowledge I completely trust (sort of): the Maternal Unit. She of course made brilliant suggestions, one being powdered milk, which I keep on hand for baking purposes, and now for emergency biscuit and gravy cravings. Didn't turn out too badly and my cravings have been officially subdued.

This is how we make biscuits at work. This is how I will make them from now on. I suggest you do the same.

Biscuits and gravy from the Queen of Improvisation

So do you always have everything on hand when a craving comes a callin'? Or do you like to fly by the seat of your pants?

PS Megan at My Little Miss Stubborn posted her last 31 for 21 post. Make sure to check it out and catch up on any of the other 30 days you might have missed (my personal faves are 2 and 29).

PSs Happy Howwwwwwwwloween!

Bright light!

*Meatless Monday* A Twist on Cheese Biscuits

I apologize in advance if this post isn't very cohesive but I'm adjusting to a new work schedule and just ate a quarter of a loaf of cheese biscuit bread by myself. This is also going to be a short post because if I sit in one place too long, I will fall asleep. For dinner today I made spaghetti and a loaf of this. Needs a little bit of tweaking but made good garlic bread.

Now this is one instance I can except cheesy goodness oozing out of my food.

So what did you make for dinner? An old standby?? Or something out of a the box?

**Meatless Monday** A Little Inauthenic Mexican

After waaayyyyyyy too many hours untangling the yarn that Melodie took her aggressions out on, I decided I didn't want to do anything too complicated for dinner. We have a 5 lb block of cheese, courtesy of Costco, and since I've been avoiding the George Foreman (although we have yet to get a propane tank for Big Beautiful), I decided quesadillas were the way to go. I made some rice to go with it, sauteed some mushrooms to go with the cheese and Voila! meal in 30 minutes. Eat your heart our Rachel Ray.

I don't like when the cheese ends up on the outside of the quesadilla, so I folded them all nice and neat.

What did you make for dinner to start your week off? Nice and easy or 3 course meal??

*Meatless Monday* Pysch!

I of course had something planned for today but Husband called around 2ish to let me know we'd been invited over to the Golf Course Girls' (our first friends here in OR) house for dinner. After a quick trip to Safeway for potato salad and wine (because I may be undomestic but I never show up empty handed), we'll be eating pulled pork. Be jealous.

So tell me, what are you eating today? Going meatless? Or delving into your carnivorous side??

Melodie suggests cow ears.

*Meatless Monday* A Ladle A Day

I broke my new grill today. Five hours and I still have to light the #%$%^ thing manually. My older brother, the Middle Child, suggested that perhaps I should have read the instructions. I suggested he come over and be the first person to light the grill.

It was cold and rainy and since my apartment sometimes smells like cat pee as a result (seriously people, cats do it inside!), I decided it was a soup day. A Parmesan corn chowder day. Quite possibly it could've become a Parmesan corn chowder and homemade bread day but my new oven is SUPER charged, so it might be a while before anything from the oven makes its way into a post.

Chowder is like the Oregon state food.

Finished product! And all I have leftover is one bolt and one nut...

Feed me!

**Meatless Monday** Girl Pizza

On Saturday, Husband and I ventured over to the home of the Sweet Pea family, thusly named because their three year old daughter is just the most darling girl and her daddy calls her Sweet Pea. We are super fond of the whole family (their house is where the Sunday Brunch group meets) and spend a lot of time with them.

Recently, we exchanged our couches for the use of their laundry room so that our clothes would be clean for the move, so Saturday was not just about eating. I'm a user.

The Sweet Pea wanted to do pizza, so her mom bought all the ingredients. Momma Sweet Pea made the man pizza and I tackled the girl pizza. It included garlic white sauce, spinach, roma tomatoes, mushrooms, mozzarella cheese, some other cheese and a blend of italian seasonings. Quite possibly the best pizza I've ever had the privilege to put together. I even rolled out the (pre-made) pizza dough. 

Meatless Monday

It's Pasta Week! Yummy carbohydratey goodness guaranteed to go straight to my thighs. I'm (not so) strangely okay with it.

Today's recipe was chosen because I somehow, magically, managed to have all the ingredients in my kitchen. This NEVER happens. I'm always missing at least one and forever wonder a) if I will ever have a fully stocked pantry and b) what that recipe would've tasted like had I made it as it was intended. Oh well, if everything turned out as intended, I'd be an intergalactic pop princess.

So I used my old stand by Allrecipes.com to find this recipe. When I make a recipe for the first time, I try and stay as true to the original intent as possible (mainly cuz I'm a big fat sissy). For whatever reason (I blame my mother's penchant for guilt), I feel like I'm desecrating something sacred if I tweak a recipe in anyway (we're not even Catholic!). And if it's a family recipe, forget it. I can't even enjoy eating it if I've made any changes (Husband doesn't share any of this remorse and wolfs down whatever is put in front of him).

That being said, this recipe warrants some polishing in my mind. Next time, I think I will use way less Italian Seasoning and way more mushrooms. It kind of tasted like an over-seasoned crouton. Also I'm going to substitute heavy cream for the sour cream. There was too much tang between the sour cream and the white wine. We'll see how the leftovers taste for lunch tomorrow. (Did I mention that the chicken stock is a stock that I make myself, from SCRATCH? No, well I'm mentioning it now. You may kiss my apron)

I promise this wasn't as bland as it looks.

EDIT: Forgot to add that no meal making is complete without my favorite (ever present) cooking companion.

Food Friday

Who knew the never ending week from the third level of hell would actually end? In celebration, here is a recap of Salad Week, in before and after form.

Monday: Meatless Monday

Before the addition of dressing-so-good-it-would-make-charcoal-taste-good

After the addition of dressing-so-good-it-would-make-charcoal-taste-good

Tuesday: Chicken Salad

Before (and I'm like 98.3462346% sure this is NOT the tuna salad)

After (ok wow yeah my surety just dropped way intp the the single digits...it's the freakin' mayo!)

Wednesday: Cucumber Salad

Before...well before the addition of cheese

After (see the layers of texture and edibilicity?? That's what feta does to your food people)

Thurdays: (Lackluster) Tuna Salad

Before (now you see my dilemma!)

After (at least I made it look pretty)

What's in store for Friday? I'm glad you asked. I am going to go join the Binky's for dinner at the Lobstah (I'm not making this up, that's exactly how she spelled it in her text). Maybe I'll get a salad. Or maybe I'll be realistic and get something dripping in butter and covered in cream sauce. Yeah, let's be realistic for a change.

Food Friday...Kind of

**So obviously it's not Friday but after I underwent internal combustion on Friday, I had to put off this post. I needed to lay in my recliner with my remote in one hand and my pants unbuttoned. In other words, I needed to be a man. A woman would have come home, poured herself a cocktail and finished Panini Week off strong. I chose another path. Don't judge me. Instead, please proceed to our normally scheduled post.**

 Since I used some of our Christmas money to buy the George Foreman, I've been meaning to try paninis on it. I should say try again, as the first time I tried, I used normal slices of wheat bread which were crushed under the weight of the lid. Note to self: use more substantial bread. Hence, the induction of Panini Week.

Monday: Grilled Cheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeese!!!!!!!!!!

  So to kick off Panini Week, I relied on an old standby-the grilled cheese. Now if it wasn't for my toaster oven, I would've given up on standard grilled cheese a long time ago. I don't think I was meant to cook in a pan; it just ends with pizza being ordered and endless scrubbing of aforementioned pan. To make a grilled cheese sandwich now, I put American cheese between two slices of bread and stick it in the toaster oven until the cheese is melted. What would the UDG be without her appliances?? (most likely just UD)
   For my grilled cheese, I used Pepperjack and Cheddar Cheese Sourdough purchased at the From The Hearth Bakery Cafe stall at our Farmer's Market (which is wonderful slathered with cream cheese! not just for bagels people!). The all important cheese portion was a mixture of shredded mozzarella and thinly sliced sharp cheddar (once you go sharp...never mind). I buttered the outside of the bread with, uh, butter and the inside I layered on Best Foods mayo (that's Hellman's to those of you East of the Rockies). The real stuff. No imitators allowed in the UDG casa. Topped it off with a salad drizzled with GODDESS DRESSING!! and popcorn. Yes popcorn.

Next time I'll leave off the butter as the sandwich as a whole got mushy in the center instead of nice and crisp. 

Tuesday: Turkey Panini w/ Mozzarella Cheese

  For my turkey panini, I used sourdough bread from Trader Joe's. Not a super impressive bread but it did have HUGE slices, which is great for sandwich making. No butter on the outside but did lay on the mayo. Paired it with some pineapple slices and my staple salad and this was a delicious dinner.

Fresh off the press w/ ice cold pineapple

Take a look at all the goo....food porn at it's best...

Wednesday: Mexican Panini

  So putting this post up late was actually my second epic pail. My first epic fail was when I ran out of momentum on Wednesday and made a Mexican Panini aka Quesadilla. And this wasn't even like, a fun quesadilla. I grated some cheese, put it between two tortillas and threw it on the press. Melted cheese everywhere. Still haven't cleaned up from it. Should probably be more ashamed, but I'm not. Topped it off with some sour cream and called it good.

Epic Fail #1 (but it was so tasty!)

After Wednesday, it was just all downhill. Thursday I ate with the Binky's (kickin' chicken taco salad) and Friday sucked so bad I treated myself to baby Panda's...no I didn't, I got take out from Panda Express (that's how rumors get started. 

Ultimately, I learned that when making a commitment to eating something for an entire week, it's best to have a menu laid out. These were probably the most boring paninis ever made and it was all due to poor planning on my part. Here's hoping Salad Week goes better.