Weeknight Dinner

I grew up in a coastal town in northern Oregon. My parents - my mother a Norwegian and my father Alaskan native, served fish regularly. This dish reminds me of a dish my mother would have made. This is Cod with Parsley Sauce from Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook. For those of you on Weight Watchers the point value is 4, but that was for the previous point system.

The recipe book says that the subtly flavored dish requires a mild-tasting fish.  If cod is unavailable, try halibut, grouper, or perch.  Use flat-leaf parsley, if possible, since it has more flavor that then curly type.

Makes 4 servings

1 cup low-fat milk

1 1/4 pounds cod fillets, cut into 4 pieces

4 tsp reduced-calorie margarine

3 TBS all-purpose flour

1/4 cup low-sodium chicken broth

2 TBS minced parsley

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper

1.  In a medium skillet over medium heat, heat the milk.  Add the cod; poach, covered, until fish is just opaque in the center, 4-5 minutes.  With a slotted spoon, transfer the fish to a platter, reserve the milk.  

2. In a medium saucepan over low heat, met the margarine.  Add the flour and cook until bubbling, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat; whisk in the milk and broth, then add the parsley, salt, and pepper.  Return to the heat and cook, stirring constantly, until the sauce thickens, about 3 minutes.  Pour over the fish.

Since this is a fairly colorless main dish, it's nice to have a colorful side dish to go along with it.  We generally like peas with this - they are delicious with the sauce.  And, there is plenty of sauce to be a nice "gravy" for potatoes, too.   Enjoy!

Envelope Budget

Oh my, this year I spent more than I intended to on incidentals! I found this system of keeping cash in appointed envelopes and using this to budget my money. I thought I'd try it.  Jesse at Simple Dimples inspired the idea, which was possibly initially inpired by the infamous Dave Ramsey.  You can read more about how to use this system on Dave Ramsey's site. I found Jesse's printable template here.

Suppplies needed: Templates, scrapbook paper, and gluestick. For 10 envelopes I used five sheets of 12X12 double sided scrapbook paper. I was able to cut two templates from each 12X12.  I glued the tabs down with gluestick. 

 I used remnants of the scrapbook paper about an inch wide and the length of the envelope to glue one evelope to the next  between each page like this:

Then I took a final scrap, about 1 1/2" wide, and applied this to the bottom, adhering with gluestick to the front to the back.  Along with the templates you'll find circle lables which fit nicely onto the tabs. While there wasn't a circle that read "Books", since I buy way too many books and need to budget for this, I created my own circle with Ariel font, size 20.  There are blank circles so you can change this up to meet your needs.

Roasted Tomato Soup

Autumn is a time when the last of the tomatoes in from the garden are harvested, and hung in the shop to continue their ripening process. We end up with a beautiful assortment of tomato varieties. Today I decided to make  Roasted Fall Tomato Soup from Vegetable Soups cookbook by Deborah Madison. The soup was delicious!  Here is the recipe:

3 TBS olive oil
1 onion, sliced
3 lbs ripe late-summer or black-skinned tomatoes, rinsed and halved
Sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 TBS agave syrup or brown sugar
2 cloves garlic, slivered
1 pinch saffron threads
1/2 cup quinoa, rinsed well in cool water
1 to 2 tsp curry powder, to taste

To finish:
1/2 cup yogurt, whisked until smooth
Minced serrano or jalapeno chili
Chopped cilantro

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Brush some of the oil over a 9X13 inch baking dish, scatter the onion over that, then add the tomatoes, cut side up.  Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon salt, plenty of pepper, and the syrup.  Slip the garlic into the tomatoes.  Drizzle with the remaining oil and bake for 1 hour.

2. Bring 1 cup of water to a boil with the saffron and 1/4 tsp salt.  Add the quinoa, reduce the heat to low, then cover and cook until the grains have absorbed the water and the germ is visible, about 15 minutes.  Set aside.

3. Puree the tomatoes with their juices, then pass them through a good mill or strainer.  Stir in the curry powder, holding back a little is the soup is going to stand for a day. Season with more salt and syrup if needed.

4. Ladle the soup into bowls, divide the quinoa among them, swirl in a spoonful of yogurt, and garnish with the mince child and/or cilantro.

Autumn Table Runner

Autumn is such a beautiful time of year. The dining table is a lovely place to reflect the wonder of the season. Here is an easy autumn project: A Patrick Lose Studios Fall Finery Table Runner pattern. It can be found here.

This is my final project - actually I think that it is prettier than the photo. The bold pattern, texture, and colors are all yummy! 

                             

For this table runner three coordinating fall colors are chosen including orange, yellow and red prints, and a background brown print. The leaf prints are batiks which makes for a nice organic look. 

I traced the leaf patterns on lightweight fusible interfacing, fused, and cut out the leaves. 

The background measures 14 X 44", cut twice for the background and for the backing fabric.

The leaves are placed onto the background and fused them in place. 

The table runner top is then sandwiched onto a lightweight batting remnant and backed with the same fabric as the background. After machine quilting with a random pattern, the edges were bound with the yellow fabric. Some highlighting of the leaf lines was done with an overlay thread, and the edges were adhered with a small zigzag stitch. 

Ready for the table!