I did it!

It's official, people! I cooked my very first meal, all by myself. Now to some of you, this may sound absolutely pathetic, but I'm used to that reaction. My parents have always told me that they would rather do things for me, instead of me trying because "it's too painful to watch." Thus, I will be twenty years old at the end of the month and I can't do my own laundry, nor can I make anything other than Ramen noodles.

Anyway, back to the meal. So my last post was about jumbalaya. Something that I absolutely love. I'm originally from Virginia Beach and you can get a mean gumbo or jumbalya down there. Stocked full of seafood and fresh veggies. Therefore, I decided to try to bring the South to the North, for just a little while.

As my dad lingered around the kitchen, trying to check on me, I prepped all my vegetable. Washed them, cut them up and put them to the side. Next was the chicken. Okay, I have never in my life touched uncooked chicken. I cut the squishy mass into strips and then into cubes. Sick! But, I did it. Next was the polish sausage, not nearly as bad. And then, to add a little bit of seafood, I used some shrimp!

I browned the chicken, with some oil, then put in the polish sausage. Next came the vegetables, the chopped tomatoes and the rest of the veggies. Water and rice completed the mixture. Because I purchased frozen shrimp, that was pre cooked, I threw them in at the end so they could just get warmed up.

After about 45 minutes it was ready, and I couldn't have been more pumped. I made my entire family try it, and was even able to bring it to some friends, it makes a lot! It was a hit. And, the best part was, I did it, all by myself!

Jambalaya!

I've been looking through all my dad's cooking magazines, trying to find something that maybe I would be able to pull off. After consulting with my master chef of a father we came up with this!

Jambalaya, duh!
Yield: 8 Servings

1 lb smoked kielbasa, or smoked Polish sausage, cut into 1/4 inch slices
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1 inch cubes
2 celery ribs, thinly sliced
1 large onion, chopped
1 medium green pepper, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 can, 28 oz, diced tomatoes, undrained
2 cups uncooked rice
2 cups water
1/2 lb fresh or frozen uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1. In a dutch oven, saute sausage for 1 minute. Add chicken; saute 2 minutes longer. Add the celery, onion, green pepper and garlic; saute for 2 minutes or until vegetable are crisp-tender. Stir in remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil.

2. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 20 minutes of until chicken juices run clear. Stir to fluff the rice. Let stand for 5 minutes to absorb any remaining liquid before serving.

We'll see how it goes! :D

Starting off little..

Since my dad told me that I was on my own I decided that before I jump into anything wild and crazy, that I'd start off simple. I have never cooked a thing from scratch, ever. Therefore, I wanted to make something fool proof. What better than pizza? I know, I know. It's not fear factor food, but for me, it's the first true, real meal that I have cooked and completed from scratch.

I found this recipe online and it turned out really good.

Homemade Pizza Dough Recipe

Prep time: 2 hours Cook time: 30 minutes
Pizza Dough: Makes enough dough for two 10-12 inch pizzas

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 cups warm water (105°F-115°F)
1 package (2 1/4 teaspoons) of active dry yeast
3 1/2 cups bread flour)
2 Tbsp olive oil
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon sugar

In a large bowl of a heavy duty electric mixer, add the warm water. Sprinkle on the yeast and let sit for 5 minutes until the yeast is dissolved. Stir to dissolve completely if needed at the end of 5 minutes. Attach a mixing paddle to the mixer. Mix in the olive oil, flour, salt and sugar on low speed for about a minute. Remove the mixing paddle and replace with a dough hook. Knead using the mixer and dough hook, on low to medium speed, until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. If you don't have a mixer, you can mix and knead by hand. If the dough seems a little too wet, sprinkle on a bit more flour.

These are the instructions from online. I don't have an electric mixer, I got to do it by hand. Fun at first, but got annoying really fast.

Place ball of dough in a bowl that has been coated lightly with olive oil. Turn the dough around in the bowl so that it gets coated with the oil. Cover with plastic wrap. Let sit in a warm place (75-85°F) until it doubles in size, about 1 to 1 1/2 hours.

When my dough was ready I put it on a cookie sheet. I sprayed the cookie sheet with Pam so it didn't get stuck. I just used a tomato/pizza sauce you can buy at your local grocery store, mozzarella cheese and pepperoni. I baked the pizza at 425 degrees for about 20 minutes. You can bake it for 20 minutes, or check on it to see when it turns golden brown.

The only problem I ran into was that the dough was uneven in some places, leaving it under cooked it some areas. It was the best pizza in the world but, I like it. I had a sense of accomplishment because I did it, all by myself! :)

Stumped

Well, I'm stumped. My dad has decided that this project is something that I should do on my own. The only problem is, he was the inspiration of this project in the first place! Recently at the bar he works at one of the bartenders left for a better job. Now, my dad is stuck working his shifts, which make him very tired. Instead of working occasionally, he's working four days a week.

Now to us that doesn't sound like a lot really. I would love to work four days a week and call it good, but it is a lot more difficult for those with a brain injury. The commotion of bar/restaurant leaves him tired after a short shift, so he usually goes to bed almost immediately after getting home. With his work schedule the way it is I'm going to have to take on this whole cooking/eating project on by myself.

I'm planning on cooking tomorrow or Saturday. So I was wondering if any of you guys had a good idea for me! Like I said in the beginning of the blog I'm down for anything so wild suggestions would be great! If not, no worries, I'll find something myself. :)

Sushi should be spelled d-i-s-a-s-t-e-r..

Once, I begin this I do apologize for the lack of blogging, onto the story!

Sushi making was a complete disaster! I can't even begin to explain how badly this went. My father and I have sworn to never try this again.

We were going to try to make the simplest of all the recipes. Vinegared, steamed white rice with salmon, wrapped in seaweed. Sounds simple, right? Wrong.

Everything that could go wrong, did. First, the rice was absolutely dreadful. We tried everything completely original, so we didn't try minute rice. That was a mistake, it turned out hard, and super vinegary. Yuck. Secondly, the fish we bought was not the best thing I've ever tasted, and I usually like salmon! Just not, raw, I suppose. Lastly, the seaweed wrap we used was the stringiest, most vulgar thing that has ever passed through my lips. And the best part about it all? It didn't even stick together. It crumpled. I'll be uploading pictures later, so you all can see exactly what I'm talking about.

But, the best part about this all was the laughter. My dad and I were literally, almost crying at how terrible these turned out. Even though the recipe was a complete bust, which I won't put up here, because no one should waste their time with it, he and I had the best time together. I couldn't ask for a funnier night.

Back in the game!

After a long week dealing with health issues, my dad and I are back in the game. There were a few scares in there, but we're all doing just fine.

Now, back to the food. And I have one word, Sushi! I've wanted to try authentic Japanese sushi for years, but living in the UP you can't get a decent Japanese, or Chinese, meal to save your life, so my father and I are taking that into our own hands.

I don't know a lot about sushi, but I think it's interesting. So, I researched it, intensely, I want the best sushi, ever. Not some nasty fish guts.

Sushi began as a method of preserving fish, but soon changed into an interesting dining experience. In its earliest form, dried fish was placed between two pieces of vinegared rice as a way of making it last. Seaweed, or nori, was added later so people's fingers wouldn't get sticky. The word sushi refers to the rice, the Japanese word 'su' means vinegar and 'shi' is from meshi, the Japanese word for rice, so basically, sushi is 'vinegared rice.' But as time has went on sushi went from meaning 'vinegared rice,' into the colorful and distinct pieces of edible art we see today.

I cannot wait to try this! Wish me luck. :)

It's more than food now..

So this week, I'm in charge of my own food experiment. My Dad has decided that he doesn't feel like it. This may sound harsh to some of you, but in all honesty, it's not. It's something that I've dealt with for the past 5 years. After our short trip to Miami, my Dad's brain just decided that it was tired, so it was done. That's what happens, in some cases, when you have a brain injury. Hurting your brain isn't like hurting your arm, if you break your arm, you can fix it. If you break your brain, there's no turning back.

Think back to your morning. You probably got up, showered, had breakfast, made your way out of your dorms, or drove to class. Thoughts probably ran through your mind of what you have to do today, what happened last night, or about that asshole that just cut you off. Now, imagine that once you had those thoughts, you could never recall them. Imagine reading a book, then picking it up later that day, and not recognizing a thing. This is what my dad deals with every single day of his life, and will deal with this until the day he passes.

My dad has a cognitive brain injury, and short term memory loss. It takes months of repetitive practice to make something "old memory." So, when his brain "tires out," or things get too hard, he quits. Our vacation was too much for him to handle, so he quit. That means my mother and I have to pick up what he lacks and move on. This happens once or month or so. I'm grateful though because he is still here and I can still see him, but sometimes it's so hard it's unreal. And what kills me even more is that I wish I could help him. Just give him a pill to fix his brain, or some surgery, but there is absolutely nothing we can do. And as he grows older his brain will deteriorate, causing his moods to change, completely changing the man I know as my father.

When I started this whole shenanigans I expected to eat some gross food and try to remain composed, but this is completely different. It has made me grateful for the simple things I can do in my life. Never take life for granted, ever. Though I've grown up with these issues for the past five years, no one will ever "get used" to this situation. My brother and I try to work with him as best we can. He can function completely fine by himself. Driving, cooking, whittling, he can do it, but when he's tired, he's done. Now for those of you married, or in relationships, imagine the man, or woman, that you're with changing in an instant. They're not longer the person that you fell in love with, welcome to my mother's life.

My mother has taken this all in stride and I couldn't be more proud of her. She's one of the strongest people that I know. This experiment has opened up my eyes to the things that I didn't want to realize, the things that I didn't want to think about. It was just easier to cover it all. But, you guys wanted my dad in this blog, and here he is.