apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

I've learned to make seitan. I'm not even a strict vegetarian, but I had some that tasted great. It's not half as hard as I thought it would be.

The process is really not too bad if you have a kitchen aid to do the kneading for you. The time it takes to simmer isn't bad because I do it while I'm doing other stuff around the house.

I made my first successful batch of granola! I know that this isn't very impressive to all of the accomplished foodies out there, but for a household dependent on store-bought cereals, my first homemade granola is a big deal!

Next week? Yogurt! And my breakfast will be complete!

I learned to make my own yogurt! I generally don't even eat yogurt because it's too sour for me but the homemade stuff is so yummy! and cheap to make! and easy. I feel so self-sufficient, like when I learned to make my own bread.

The other day I made a simple salad of whole wheat pasta shells, thinly sliced raw radishes, and slivered broccolini, dressed with olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper. I discovered that I actually like raw radishes and broccolini! Who knew?

The thin crust pizza dough from this site. Almost instant dinner with any topping I can find.

As far as food goes, the bestest thing I've made recently is a sweet chili - I HATE that spicy canned crud that stores sell. Give me a good corn chili anyday.

As far as prep methods go, I've begun keeping a tupperware to toss random bits and ends of veggies and garbage as I cook, so as not to mix scraps with food. It's also useful for going through to save heals for soup.

I just made my own granola too! *High-five's Liana*

My attempts at falafel, however, are something we shall politely ignore.

I've been on a fermenting kick. My husband and I picked up a few books on the subject and now at any given time we have any number of crocks all over the kitchen - filled with sauerkraut, kimchi, fruit kimchi, spicy asparagus "pickles", etc. we even put up a crock of miso which should be ready to eat in a year!

I've been baking cakes. I love to bake, but cakes were never my forte. And frosting? Terrible. I have yet to master buttercream, but the maple cream cheese frosting I made for my first carrot cake was awesome (so was the carrot cake). This year I plan to try an angel food cake, and I just got my mail-order meringue powder, so a frosted cake for Memorial Day weekend or the 4th of July is planned.

I have mastered cooking and baking in a countertop convection oven. In Celsius! The roasting part was easy, but I ruined several cakes. It takes longer, since it's so small, but I can do anything I could do in a bigger oven.

I've learned to pressure can my soup. Without any explosions thankfully :P

Pancake dough can stay in the fridge for a few days, so you don´t have to make all the pancakes in a batch to freeze or eat. You can leave it and next morning have a wonderful breakfast in a couple of minutes.

I made bagels for the first time last week, and was blown away by how easy and delicious they were.

A few things, I roasted my first chicken Sunday and it was incredible--yes I realize I'm one of few on the planet who didn't grow up on roasted chicken! I will be doing it again, and again.

Two things that are no news but really have made my kitchen life that much simpler are to cut up my parchment rolls into sizes for my baking sheets, and some for my quarter sheet pans, then store the parchment sheets in between the baking sheets to keep them flat.

And I finally got a larger sized microplane for grating garlic, and wow is that the way to go! It takes seconds, it's easy to do into a mise en place dish, or right into the pan, love me a Microplane.

empresscallipygos, have you ever tried this falafel recipe from epicurious? My attempts at making falafel were a great source of shame and woe for me until taking a crack at this recipe. It was fairly easy and way delicious.

http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/My-Favorite-Falafel-231755

I second the falafel recipe on epicurious! I had just about given up on making it, but this recipe is great. It's not a typo, you really don't cook the beans. All they need is a good soaking, and be sure to grind them as finely as you can. I add extra spices, too.

I learned from watching The F Word to begin sauteeing mushrooms in oil, then finish in butter for great flavor. Sounds simple, but I hadn't thought of doing it that way to keep the butter from burning.

I realized something I learned awhile back. When baking with a toddler, make sure to remeasure your flour before adding the liquids. Otherwise, you may end up with too much or too little flour in your baked goods. Also, let your toddler add the chocolate chips...they'll add way more than you would.