Sweet Love and Ginger

Jessica

My First Kitchen: Cooking Lessons for Newbies

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Cooking Lessons

I get asked a lot of questions about cooking, some pretty basic, and some are very involved. After years of running this blog I realize that there are certain aspects of cooking and recipes that I take for granted, things that I assume everyone knows. Then some one like Chuck tries to read my recipes and comes back with a million questions, and I realize that not everyone is on top of all things cooking. I thought it might be a good idea to go into a bit more detail about cooking basics.

This series will be a once a month series that will run for at least a year, perhaps more. I’d really like to use this series to help new cooks build a strong foundation of information that will last a lifetime.

I’m going to start out very small and hit all of the topics that I think are important. I would also love to hear from you guys, what do you want to know? What are the skills that you want to learn or the random weird questions that you have? Please comment or shoot me an email me. If there is anything that I do not know I will take some time to figure it out or get a professional to help me.

I’m really excited about this series so keep an eye out on the second Tuesday of every month for a new cooking lesson starting tomorrow.

Weekend Links

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Once in a while I’m overwhelmed by all the cool stuff on the internet and I just have to share it and what better way than a nice round up post?

 

 

First off the US updated its dietary guidelines and finally admitted that sugar is bad for you, while simultaneously removing the limit on eggs that should be eaten daily. FINALLY

The Myth of Easy Cooking

Only 8% of Americans keep their resolutions to loose weight? Wow. Eye Opening.

Chuck and I are experimenting with this diet so here it is again for your reading pleasure.

Speaking of diets, check out what Tom Brady & Gisele’s diet looks like.

I’m excited to show this blog series turns out. I spend less than $100 a month on groceries as well, and no one ever believes it. Now I’ll be able to them here.

And because we all need to learn to laugh at ourselves a little. Also even the Pro bloggers have off days.

I love this guy, I even got one of his books for Christmas, and this post makes me love him even more.

Venison Meatballs

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This is a recipe for basic Venison Meatballs to be served with tomato sauce.

Venison Meatballs

In our house venison is pretty much a staple, and because of this I haven’t bought beef in quite some time, something you long time followers may have noticed. It’s not because we don’t eat red meat, believe me we do, it’s simple because we don’t need to buy it. I like to think that we are helping in the fight against factory farming by not buying it as well.

Anyway over the years I have learned how to work with venison as a substitution for when beef is required in a recipe; most of the time it works quite well. I know that many people worry about the gaminess of the meat and if that will come through in the finished dish, but this has never really been a problem for me. Much of the gaminess comes from excess blood in the meat poor butchering or dressing and can easily be corrected by soaking it in buttermilk or salt water.

This recipe is pretty straight forward and sure to please. While it’s based on the basic Italian style meatballs that would be served with tomato sauce this recipe is basic enough to be used with a number of sauces for serving.

Venison Meatballs

Venison Meatballs
Author: JC
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6 to 8 servings
Ingredients
  • ½ cup plain breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 2 lbs ground venison (95% Lean)
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried parsley
  • 1 ½ teaspoon garlic powder
  • ½ teaspoon dried basil
  • ½ teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
  1. Combine the bread crumbs and milk in a small bowl and let stand for 5 minutes.
  2. Combine all other ingredients in a large bowl and pour the breadcrumb mixture over the top. Using your hands gently mix the ingredients together. Once combined use your hands to form golf ball sized balls.
  3. Bake at 400 degrees on a greased baking sheet for roughly 20 minutes or drop into a large pot of tomato sauce and simmer for 30 to 40 minutes.

Related Recipes:

Venison Swedish Meatballs

Venison Swedish Meatballs

Venison Meatloaf

Venison Meatloaf

Venison Steak with Mushroom Sauce

Venison Steak with Mushroom Sauce

Clean British Baked Beans

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Clean British Baked Beans

As of Sunday Chuck and I have taken on a new health challenge. We are trying out the slow carb diet for 28 days. That means getting creative with beans and lentils for nearly every single meal.

One of the first things I thought about when I was researching this diet was breakfast, beans with breakfast just seemed weird at first but then I remembered Ireland. Specifically the fact that standard Irish breakfast typically include English style baked beans, along with sausage, bacon, blood pudding, tomatoes, or mushrooms, eggs,  and toast. While that’s a little more than I need to be eating each day I decided to recreate a healthier version of it for this challenge.

**Photo**

For this breakfast I made my own homemade beans (recipe follows), turkey sausage, sautéed spinach, and eggs. It was really great, and the recipe make enough beans for both Chuck and I to last nearly the whole week!

For lazy week day mornings I’ve taken to just cooking up spinach, beans, and eggs all in one big scramble, it comes together in just a few minutes which is what I need in the morning.

Clean British Baked Beans

Clean British Baked Beans
Author: JC
Prep time:
Cook time:
Total time:
Serves: 6-8
Ingredients
  • 1 lb dried navy beans
  • 1 onion, quartered
  • 4 cloves of garlic, peeled
  • 6 ounces tomato paste
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 bay leaf
  • ¼ teaspoon sage
  • Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
  1. Place the dried beans in a large bowl and cover with enough cold water to cover the beans by 2 inches. Leave to soak overnight.
  2. After soaking drain and rinse the beans and place in the crock pot.
  3. Add the onion, garlic, tomato paste, pepper, bay leaf, and sage. Stir until well combined.
  4. Cook on high for 4 to 5 hours or until beans are soft.
  5. Remove onion, cloves, bay leaf and adjust seasonings.
  6. Serve.

 

Annual Income Report

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Annual Income Report

Just like last year I am doing another income report. Again I think transparency is important and I want you all to know that I do make money from blogging, though for the second year in a row that number is pretty darn small.

I know some of you have seen Pinch of Yum, Smart Passive Income, and a slew of other website posting their monthly income reports, and this one is going to be laid out pretty similarly to those, albeit a little shorter, and less technical, because lets be honest, I don’t have much to report.

Income:

Contributor Work: $227.66

Sponsored Posts: $65.99

Dealspotr.com: $48.97

Affiliate Sales: $9.50

My Recipe Magic: $7.50

*unfortunately My Recipe Magic stopped paying me money I have been owed since June and refuses to provide an explanation, so I have discontinued working with them. I would not recommend them to anyone as their site is riddled with problems, and they have no customer service to speak of.

TOTAL INCOME: $359.62

Expenses:

Switch to WordPress: $225.00

Domain/Hosting Fees: $65.17

Learning tools: $34.95

Advertising: $7.00

TOTAL EXPENSES: $332.12

Net Income: $27.50

 

Notes on this report:

This year I made money, that’s a huge increase over last year’s -$29.59, but it’s also not allowing me to pay my bills.

This year I chose to make the switch to wordpress from blogger, which in tern meant my hosting & domain fees have gone way up, and will continue to be at their current rate for the foreseeable future. You can read more about my domain and hosting set up here. For the actual transfer I used High Note Designs because sometimes it’s worth going with the professional. In this case it definitely was and I couldn’t be happier with the results.

The income I made from sponsored posts was manly through product reviews, so while I still have to count them at their dollar value as income “you cannot eat product”, so keep in mind more than half of those dollars are not actual dollars at all.

I lumped all of my affiliate sales into one category because I am a part of several affiliate programs and have only made minimal amounts at each. It didn’t seem useful to list all of those dollars separately. The affiliate programs that I am a part of are AvantLink, Shareasale.com, Amazon and Pinch of Yum. Also there is quite a lot of money sitting in a number of these affiliate accounts, but since they only pay out at larger dollar values I cannot count them as income. I will count them as income once they are actually paid into my accounts.

In 2016 I hope that I can improve on these numbers and increase my income. Any income that I do make will go right back into the blog. I am excited that I might finally be able to spring for new photography equipment or a blogging class this year. This blog is my hobby and it’s a hobby that I am passionate about and I want to learn more. Making money here allows me to reinvest it in the blog, and learning tools so that I can then supply you guys better content that is free to you.

I also want you to know that I appreciate each and every one of you that stopped by my little corner of the internet, even for a second. Every single view, comment, question, and share counts.