Cooking All Afternoon

Today I pushed myself to get a couple of dishes done and into the freezer for the next couple of weeks. After weeks of takeout I don't want delivery until September, but I still need something for the nights when cooking is just not going to happen.

First up, Spinach Mushroom Ravioli. I stuck to the recipe almost exactly, only adding a clove of garlic to the filling. The recipe says you get 12 ravioli, but I got more like 18. Maybe Giada is padding her bra with the extra filling or something, but there's no way to only get 12. The raviolis were then frozen and bagged for easy use later.

Second up, Spanakopita, not exactly this recipe but close. The ones I made are big enough to be an entree, not the appetizer size you usually see. If you've never used phyllo dough, make sure to cover the sheets you're not using with a damp cloth, otherwise it will dry out. And that makes it a complete bitch to work with. After fighting with the phyllo, solving the drying with MORE BUTTER!, and rolling them up the turnovers were ready to be wrapped and frozen as well.

Last success of the day was Pizza Pouches. I made my own pizza dough, mainly because I like to have some whole wheat flour in the crust, and then added pepperoni instead of meatballs. I need to work on the execution of these a little, as the pouches have quite a bit of extra dough. Being a carb addict, this isn't a problem for me, but I think the spinning teacher would want me to back off a little.

I did have one total failure. I tried to make my own chicken stock and it did not go well. It just tasted salty and bland and smelled like dirty socks. Even Teddy didn't want any piece of it, and she'll beg for anything.