It's time to thin the heard, as far as they're concerned.
We started Friday evening, yep we're that exciting that's how we spend our Friday's --Cleaning. Yay.
I started in the office, by organizing the bookshelves. I have some very outdated software manuals, tons of papers and books that I have just let pile up on the shelves (well not tons but a small pile). By the time I'd finished the first two cases I had a full shelve of one bookcase completely empty.
I have a lot of cook books (including some vintage books from the 30s 40s and 50s) and when we moved into the condo we put them in the cabinet over the fridge and closed the doors on those cabinets and haven't touched them since. Out of sight, out of mind. Well truthfully, the cabinet isn't Fridge width, so it's set back and we have a tall fridge so I can't reach them without a ladder. Over the years I just piled some large bowls and other large pieces ontop of the fridge, effectively blocking those cabinets.
Now with an empty book case, I decided to move the books out of that closed cabinet and put them on the shelf. They just fit and took up the whole shelf. I'd forgotten about some of the books that I have. My favourite is a complete set (from 1972) of the Family Circle Illustrated Library of Cooking. I've made a few recipes from there but it's funny to read them, in a way, and see how tastes have changed (and how they've stayed the same) over the years.
Taking the books out of the kitchen, then opened up that cabinet and allowed us to begin to re-organize the kitchen and actually to put some small appliances away, thus freeing up counter space.
We've finished the kitchen, the laundry room and I'm still working on the office. I may put some items on Ebay, Kijiji or Craigslist, stuff that I'm not that interested in having anymore or just want to get rid of. My comic collections, for instance, I haven't collected since I was in my early 20s, is pretty much just sitting there in comic bags and comic storage boxes. I haven't even opened the boxes in more then 10 years. Never had anything super valuable and I'm not that attached to any of it so I might get rid of it. I also have a small collection of sports cards as well. Originally, I had planned to pass the comics and cards onto to my nephews and/or nieces but I don't think any of them are interested in them so I'll just sell them. They'll go up for sale, as will some of the bobble heads and other toys. I'm donating all my Disney VHS tapes to my niece (she's 2) as I haven't even unpacked them, since we moved in here. I have every Disney animated film released (except Fantasia and Beauty and the Beast - didn't like either one) on VHS.
I'm hoping that with all this cleaning and purging, to get rid of 2 or 3 of the smaller book shelves in the office. The office is also our second bedroom and our guest room. I have an air mattress that we inflate, as needed but I'd like to get a day bed (well ultimately I'd like to get a Murphy bed system but that can wait) to better use the space but need those book cases gone to fit it in.
Enough of my boring ass cleaning schedule let's cook some food.
Today I'm offering a very simple recipe, if you can cut stuff and sprinkle stuff you can make this dish.
Roasted Vegetables
1-2 Heads of Broccoli (peel and use the stems if you like them as well)
½ Head of Cauliflower
1 Zucchini – Quarter into wedges (cut in half is too long)
3-4 Potatoes, cut into wedges
1 tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp dried Oregano
1 tsp Garlic Powder (more or less if you like/hate garlic)
1 tsp of Dried Chili Peppers or 1 tbsp of Chili powder
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 tbsp of Extra Virgin Olive Oil (EVOO)
Grated Parmesan, as much as you like (optional)
Juice of ½ of a Lemon
Slice the Broccoli heads into quarters, break apart the Cauliflower head and sliced the zucchini and potatoes into wedges.
On a baking sheet or cookie sheet (you may need more then one sheet), arrange the vegetables pieces loosely.
Mix the Italian Seasoning, Oregano, Garlic Powder and Chili, in a small bowl and sprinkle over the cookie sheet(s).
Sprinkle the Salt and Pepper over the veggies, drizzle with the EVOO, toss the vegetables on the sheet(s) to coat evenly.
Bake at 400F for about 25 minutes.
Grate a light coating of a good Parmesan over them as soon as you take them out of the oven, drizzle with the juice of ½ lemon.
Serve hot.
The beauty of this recipe is that it can be made with any vegetable that you like. We will most often make with Potatoes and Broccoli but we’ve used baby bok choy (the leaf ends crisp up like chips), carrots and others. You just want to keep all you pieces about the same size or thickness and cook denser vegetables together so the cooking time will be about the same time for each. You may have to monitor the veggies and pull the faster cooking ones out a bit earlier.
As well, the seasoning mix used can be whatever you prefer, rosemary goes well with potatoes, and thyme would add a great element to this mix. Experiment with various spices and herbs to find the flavours that you enjoy most and use those ones.
Optionally, sprinkle the lemon juice on the raw vegetables prior to the cooking process.
Optionally, depending on thickness, par cook the potatoes by poking them in several places with a fork (after cutting), putting them into a microwave safe bowl, cover with water and nuke for 3-4 minutes. This is handy if everything else you're cooking is smaller and will cook faster then the raw potatoes.
If you prefer to Grill your Vegetables, this recipe can be made on the BBQ as well.
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