Pioneer Asian Noodle Salad

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/asian-noodle-salad.html

video uses rice vinegar

V8 Gazpacho

This one needs a food processor.  Mine is broken, so I'm going to try it in the Blendtec, though it will no longer be chunky.

Into the food processor:
2 cloves garlic
4 tsp parsley
2 tsp chives
2 stalks celery (cut into chunks)
1 red bell pepper (seeded and cut)
1 cucumber (peel, seed, chunked)
2 tomatoes (peeled and seeded)

pulse after each addition, or if you're me, just do it all at the end. Don't let it get too fine.

Transfer to a large bowl and add:
2 tsp sugar
2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire
1/4 tsp sriracha, which I prefer to tabasco
1/4 cup olive oil
2 TB red wine vinegar
2 TB lemon juice
4 cups vegetabel juice (V-8)

Serve. Gazpacho is a dish best served cold, or at room temp. 

Yeah, I know it's a soup that's half V-8, but I love it, though I don't love V-8.

Keep track of the Garden

April
the violets flower
the daylily greens grow
task: order compost to be delivered second week of May

May
the violets continue to flower until midMay
the irises begin to flower the last week of May
the daylily continues to green
the lilac is in full bloom
30 May, the bush next to the shed finishes its white blooms.
the lilacs blossoms are turning brown.
task: weed the front and side yard
task: weed the woodland garden (along backyard fence to F&J property)

June
task: once the lilac stops blooming, trim it back

Late Summer/Fall
task: divide Irises

May

Roasted Cauliflower (with what? Can't remember)

Lasagna of roasted eggplant, zucchini, and kale.  Should have chopped the vegetables into small pieces or even pureed them.

Taco salad: hamburger version and bean version.  One person was sad I put cucumber in it.

fajitas of sliced beef or beans with onion/bell pepper.  Guacamole was ignored.

Vegetable hot and sour soup with tofu: Budget Bytes

Slow Cook Pork Loin

Leftover Pork Loin-red cabbage sandwiches

Bulgogi, mapu tofu, rice, stir-fried frozen asian vegetable mix

Shrimp fajitas: tortilla, rice, onion/bell pepper, shrimp sauteed with chili and salt.

Side dish:
Budgetbytes thai cucumber salad
Didn't have the green onions, so I left onion out.
Didn't have peanuts, so I put in some natural peanut butter

Cauliflower Soup and Spinach Salad.
Pioneer Woman's Spinach Warm Bacon Salad with sauteed mushrooms and red onion
Martha Stewart's Spinach, Mushroom and Red Onion Salad (vegetarian)
Cauliflower Soup: Put 4 cups leftover roasted cauliflower in Blendtec with two cups of water and heaping scoop of Better than Bouillon.  Came out so creamy, I'm never going to use the immersion blender on soup again!

Pioneer Woman: Quick and Easy Apple Tart uses packaged pastry dough

rototiller rental

http://www.essexequipment.com/custompage.asp?pg=walkbehindequipment

April Second Half

Oven diced potatoes, cheese sauce, and broccoli
Salmon with maple glaze
Cheeseburgers
Lentil Sloppy Joes
Oven Roasted Eggplant as a side

snacking on: corn tortilla/pepper jack cheese quesadillas

discussion of replacing bedroom windows for egress

http://www.professionalhome.com/Q-windows.html

I am interested in buying a ranch house built in 1955.  I have been told that the bedroom windows won't meet the fire code.  Will this prevent me from buying the house, and what can I do about it? 

The bedroom windows probably do not meet modern “egress” requirements.  Living space rooms require an adequate direct means of escape to the exterior in the case of fire.  A fire that occurs outside a bedroom could prevent escape unless a direct exit from the room exists.  Any room with a door that exits directly to the exterior would of course be acceptable.  If the direct means of escape is a window, there are minimum requirements to ensure that a person really could get out in an emergency.  Some older ranch style homes have bedroom windows that are too small and too high off the floor to satisfy modern codes.  Basically, the opening must be no more than 44 inches off the floor, the minimum opening size must be no less than five square feet, the minimum height of the opening must be 24 inches, and the minimum width must be 20 inches. 

Codes apply and are generally enforced when a house is being built, or if major remodeling is being done.  It is unlikely that anyone is going to require that an older house meet modern “egress” requirements as a part of the sale.  However, it is important that an adequate means of escape is available if you are going to live safely in the house.  It is relatively easy to replace a window with one of the same width but taller.  Window manufacturers have windows designed to meet “egress” requirements that might fit in the existing opening if the sill height is lowered.  Ensuring adequate escape routes is important in every home. 

And this unrelated discussion of ranch architecture in Roanoake

http://www.roanokeva.gov/DocumentCenter/Home/View/1474