First cooked meal from the kitchen in The Palms...Magna pots review

From Monday, May 30

The spaghetti sauce I cooked at the beach was soooo good.  I was really surprised.  I threw away a lot of food from the condo, and still have food in the fridge and cupboard there, but did bring a few things to The Palms.  Here is what I found in the kitchen cupboards and fridge that was usable:

I had some little bags of angel hair pasta, and I used a half bag for the pasta.

butter
1 can of cut up tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1/3 large yellow onion
about 1/2 cup low fat sour cream
some marinated artichoke hearts
salt and pepper

I mashed the onions in my Magic Bullet and sauteed them in about 3T butter.  Then I just added the can of tomatoes, tomato paste and stirred.  It was kind of thick so I added the sour cream.  Then I looked through the fridge again and saw the marinated artichoke hearts.  I get the large jar at Costco, and transferred about 1/3 of what was left at the condo into a container and brought them with me.  I put in about 10 or so.  I think they added a little spice, too, because I only had salt and pepper.  Then I put in a little water to thin it more, put on the pan lid and left it for about 20 minutes while the noodles and bread were cooking.

Angel hair pasta drained and ready to serve

 And here we are:  first meal cooked on the stove in The Palms

See the artichoke hearts in the sauce?

In a past blog post I wrote about throw-together meals using just what's on hand, sometimes it's a success and sometimes it's in the garbage.  This one is a definite success.  And I have enough left over for another 3 or 4 meals.  I'm not sure I like spaghetti that much, but I might freeze some.

I swear, if I have sour cream and/or artichoke hearts in a recipe it's a winner (for me).

The new pans were great, cooked evenly, seemed fine, no problems.  Nothing spattered on the stove top, I don't know why, maybe I put the lid on early enough - usually I get the stove dirty when I cook something like this.  The lid fit perfectly.  They cleaned up easy, too.  I put the left overs into a container and left the pots on the stove while I ate.  Later when I went back to wash them, I was surprised at how easy it was to clean the leftover sauce from the pot.  All in all, completely happy with them. I washed and dried them, and put them back - nested together and attached the bungee cord. One thing I will say, though, is there is a small scratch inside the large pan. This time I wrapped them all in the plastic bags they came in, and brought coffee filters from home that I will put in between the pots next time I use them so they won't scratch each other.

The stove cook-top was big enough, and the burners lit easily and were easy to cook on. 

I used the oven part of my toaster oven for the bread, and it was perfect.  It's small and close, so halfway through I turned the toast over to toast both sides.  In my oven in the condo I didn't have to do that, but this was toasting it pretty fast on one side and not at all yet on the other, so I guess I'll have to watch for that to make sure both sides of things are getting baked/toasted through.

I just finished cleaning my plate while I'm typing this, and it was really good. The pots get a two thumbs up, and so do the stove and toaster/oven.

Thursday, June 2

I know there are a lot of problems with Blogger lately, I've experienced some, too.  But you know what it's doing to me  - that I haven't read anyone complaining about?  I've been reading your blogs every day, hardy missing any.  Then I'll click on one and there will be three days worth, or more.  It keeps happening, and then  I have to go back and and leave comments on old posts and work my way forward.

So, if you aren't getting many comments from me lately, that might be why.  It's not happening with everyone, but enough that I'm aware of missing some.  I was up to date with Gypsy, and all of a sudden she was in New York, and I missed half her trip, same thing with Travels with Emma and Happily Hitched - and those are just a few. Are you having problems with that, too?

Saturday, June 4

Now we're up to date.  I had bits and pieces that didn't fit anywhere, and since I've been sick all day I haven't done anything to write about.  And I don't feel like writing tonight.  This is a good day to post the older snippets.

I think I have a full blown sinus infection, if it isn't better by Monday I'll call the doctor and see if I can get something to knock it out. I slept in late, than took a long nap and now I'm going to bed again when I finish this.  Katie and I did take a couple of walks today, there is a duck in the lake with five ducklings, so cute. I'll bring my camera tomorrow and see if they are still along the edge where we've been walking.

I just had hot tea and toast for dinner.  It's all that sounded good, and all I felt like fixing.  I got some Dudley's bread at Henry's Market, and it's really good toasted.

Katie is really friendly with the kids we've met during our walks, but she is kind of leery of the dogs. I'm hoping she will get more socialized while we're here. She's very submissive.  

I hate being sick, but one of the good things about being sick on a weekend now that I'm retired is I don't feel like I'm getting cheated out of a day.  If I sleep through the next few days getting better, I still have tons of days following to do what I want.  I used to hate wasting a day off being sick. 

Tomorrow I'm hoping to get to an RV store.  I need something to better level The Palms. We're not bad, but not spot-on level.

From Me and My Dog, Katie, have a great Saturday night, everyone!     : )