Monday, January 28, 2013

Culinary Adventure - "Blackened" chicken

I have found that any recipe with "basic" in the title ends up causing me some trouble. This one was no different. So I got this "basic sauteed chicken" recipe here and decided it would go well with some white rice. Healthy dinner to help lose all the weight gained from my cruise. Well, first of all - the rice didn't work out. Had some spaghetti and meatballs left over from my welcome-back dinner last night. Easy peasy - heat that up in the microwave, and have with the chicken. 

Well, the recipe was going well until the 4th minute or so on the second side of the chicken. That's when things got a little dark. And smokey. Lots of smoke. Everywhere. Husband was laughing at me. So I moved the chicken into the oven (the meat was fine, fortunately) and stared at my blackened pan...

Well.... Let's try the wine, anyway. NO! If you end up with a blackened pan, just don't do it! My eyes are still burning. Wasted my leftover wine (which I totally could have drank!) and ended up with the worst sauce looking mixture ever that went straight down the drain.

Oh well. Chicken was good with a little BBQ sauce. So there's that, at least.

Sunday, January 27, 2013

Meal Planning - 1/27/2013

For those unaware, I spent the last two weeks on a cruise ship in the Caribbean for my honeymoon. It was seriously one of the best experiences of my life, and I'll be writing about it soon. But first I need to say - daaaamn the food. DAMN - food!!! Gonna try to learn some new, impressive dishes. I'll seriously miss that food.

Sunday:
Jambalaya (super easy Zatarain's mix.) Forgot my mom planned a welcome-home dinner.

Monday:
Sauteed chicken and rice leftovers from Sunday

Tuesday:
Make your own tacos (Recipe on El Paso boxes. Srsly easy, dudes.)

Wednesday:
Meatloaf and Mashed Potatoes

Thursday:
Pulled pork sandwiches and roasted butternut squash

Friday:
Freezer pizza (because I probably won't even be home - planning to see Warm Bodies with my bestie.)

And now off to the store!

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Culinary Adventure: Ermagerd Meeert Seeerce

So last night before I went to bed, I (really Husband) cooked up the meat and onions for this recipe. Got every other ingredient setup next to the crockpot so I could get it put together this morning before work... 

Get home tonight at 5:30 and...


Whole house smells delicious! So exciting! Gave it a little taste, and although it burnt the hell out of my tongue, it tasted as good as it smelled.

Boiling spaghetti is pretty easy, so this is a great meal for when you're feeling lazy... Assuming you've done all the hard work the night before. That said, the recipe on that blog makes a metric shitton... We're only two people, so we are going to have a lot of leftovers (even beyond my lunch tomorrow)... But maybe we can have it with the chicken tomorrow instead of veggies. Carnivore's diet.

Monday, January 7, 2013

Culinary Adventure: Broiler Burgers and Mashed Taters

My very first impression of meal planning is pleasant surprise. I got home from work today, knew exactly what I was going to have for dinner, and got started right away. No hum-hawing for an hour about "well do I want to cook" and "what do we have"... Nope - everything was ready and waiting.

I used modified version of two recipes from the book 100 Recipes Every Woman Should Know. I love this book because it's hilarious, easy to follow, and has a lot of recipes I've tried and loved.

So first up we have my Broiler Burgers.

Obligatory Instagram food photo.

 Ingredients

  1. 1 pound ground beef (80-20)
  2. Salt and pepper
  3. 1 tsp ground cumin
  4. 1 shallot finely chopped (I used half a large onion today and it was just as good)
  5. 2-4 dashes of Worcestershire sauce
  6. Pats of butter
  7. Cheese (optional)
  8. Hamburger buns lightly toasted (toasting the buns makes burgers 100% better)

Prep

  1. Mix meat with salt, pepper, cumin, shallot, and Worcestershire sauce. Do not warm meat.
  2. Divide into 2-4 balls and flatten.
  3. Create a depression in the tops of the burgers with your thumbs and add a pat of butter to each patty. Refrigerate for 15 minutes.
  4. Preheat the broiler.
  5. Broil patties on a foil rimmed baking sheet for 7 minutes.
  6. Flip and broil for 4 or more minutes, depending on desired doneness.
Super easy and super delicious. This time, I put a little Montreal Steak seasoning on the burgers too. Experiment with what you think might add a little something!

With the burgers we had Mashed Taters. My grandmother used to complain about making mashed potatoes for as long as I can remember, and I don't understand why! I think she didn't like peeling potatoes, but I feel like they're super easy to make and *very* delicious.

Ingredients

  1. 2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 2 inch pieces
  2. Salt
  3. Somewhere between 1/2 to 1 cup of milk (I use lactose and fat free, you can use whatever)
  4. A ton of butter (I usually use about 1/4 of a stick, but the recipe calls for up to a stick)
  5. Nutmeg to taste
  6. Pepper

Prep

  1. Cover potatoes with cold water in a large pot and bring to a boil. Cook approximately 25 minutes.
  2. Drain potatoes and return to pot.
  3. Smash potatoes with potato smasher or giant awesome fork.
  4. Add milk (NOT ALL AT ONCE!) and butter.
  5. Add nutmeg, salt, and pepper. Don't be afraid to taste it!!
We ate all the burgers, but I have leftover potatoes to bring to work tomorrow (and some leftover rice from yesterday, too...). You could definitely play with both of these recipes, too. Maybe add some cheese or garlic to the potatoes. Let me know what you try and how it goes!

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Meal Planning - 1/7/2013

Okay, so... I'll admit that my usual trip to the supermarket happens when we start to get desperate. Out of milk, out of cereal, or out of cat litter. We don't typically plan out the week ahead, either. Sure we'll grab some frozen pizzas and eat them eventually, but that's about a close as it gets.

So my goal is to try this whole "weekly meal planning" thing that I see on so many of the home blogs I read. I guess this means I'll be cooking a little more... But oh well! I think I can do it!

Monday:
Tuesday:
  • Spaghetti with crockpot meatsauce (planned leftovers for wednesday lunch!) I got the recipe here.
Wednesday:
  • Shake n Bake chicken, green beans
Thursday:
  • Sexy Porkchops, rice
Friday:
  • Freezer pizza

Fortunately, I already have some stuff that I need to make these... But I will need to pick up a few extra things tonight.

Shopping list:
  • 3 pounds ground beef
  • 1 shallot
  • Hamburger buns
  • 2 large onions
  • 28 oz diced tomatoes
  • 30 oz tomato sauce
  • 6 oz tomato paste
  • Spaghetti noodles
  • 1 pound chicken breast
  • Green beans
  • 2 bone-in porkchops
  • 1 garlic bulb
  • Rice
  • Freezer pizza
Once I get around to cooking these various meals, I'll post pictures and full recipes. I'm excited to get started!