failures

Sometimes I guess everyone needs to get knocked off the high horse. I was just cruising along, being fairly decent at feeding myself, and then BAM! Three crappy, nearly inedible recipes in a row.

1. Baked Cinnamon Sugar Apples

These guys were supposed to be like crispy, apple chips. I followed the directions exactly, mind you.

Look how beautiful this apple is!

I had such high hopes for you, little Rome Apple.

Then you turned out to be mushy and gross! Seriously. Mushy. Gross. But nicely colored.

 

2. Chicken Curry (in a hurry)

Yeah, that’s what it was called. It should be called Chicken Curry (run for your life or just go get take-out!) because this recipe was just a disaster! I means seriously, it doesn’t even look good…

This mess looks nothing like the curry that I love. I guess I learned to leave that to the experts.

Some good did come from the curry. If you’ve been keeping up, you know that I loathe cutting onions (really read the one about pork chops for a refresher). However, I found a new way to cut onions, and it was awesome! Super easy, and now I don’t hate cutting onions as much as I used to. Good news!

 

3. Baked Pear Bread Pudding

I don’t even like bread pudding, but I found a recipe for it, and I thought my boyfriend would like it. What a mess! I was super wrong! Neither of us liked it because it was gross. It called for some cheddar cheese on top of it, so I only put it on half. Honestly, I should have just covered it in cheese because that definitely wouldn’t have made it any worse…nothing could have.

It was seriously like eat maple and brown sugar oatmeal with a slice of cheese on top. The texture was infinitely wrong. Nothing good came from it…except that I don’t dislike bread pudding anymore than I did before I ate this….

 

Here’s to better luck with future recipes!

chicken tacos and mimosas

Let me start by saying that my grandmother makes the best chicken tacos in the world. The ones I made last night are a close fourth!

This meal was created with a bunch of random stuff we had on hand –– with the exception of tortillas. I didn’t even use a recipe!

I boiled some chicken breasts with oregano, green onions, garlic, chili powder and cumin until it was cooked. Then I shredded it when it had cooked. I honestly should have let it cool a little longer….

Check out these yummy toppings: shredded romaine, cheese, sour cream. All that piled on top of chicken and delightful corn tortillas!

After the first bite, I knew I wished I had some salsa or at least fresh tomatoes. Next time, I’ll remember that part.

I really enjoyed my tacos, and we had a lot of leftovers. Apparently three shredded chicken breasts can make a lot of tacos! The boyfriend liked them so much he had –– wait for it –– FIVE! Yes, five chicken tacos!

I mean, look at that! Can you blame him for eating so many!?

Me either. I have more self-discipline lately, though.

 

Until it comes to champaign that is.

On my first day of my new job, a new co-worker handed me a “Valley” grapefruit. I’ve just had it in my refrigerator since then (that’s three weeks for those keeping count) waiting to work up the courage to eat it. Grapefruits are intimidating, you know.

We juiced this bad boy and made fresh grapefruit juice mimosas!

Bubbly, right! This was so delightful, and it was a perfect ending to our night! I can’t wait to find more Valley grapefruits at the Farmers Market when we go. This time maybe I’ll just eat one!

tuna burgers

It’s funny how some days you are honestly just too hungry to prepare your dinner then wait for ONE WHOLE HOUR to eat it.

That’s what happened to us last night. The plan was to make these delicious sounding Chicken and Mushroom Pies from the Unofficial Harry Potter Cookbook that the boyfriend bought me a while back as a sweet “just because.” However, that recipe takes entirely too long for significantly hungry people who don’t have patience.

So instead we had Lemon Garlic Tuna Burgers.

It’s a big deal that I actually followed the recipe and mixed this will my hands.

I don’t like to get dirty. Like I really, really dislike being sticky or dirty. I’ll have to keep that picture forever as proof that I can live through a little mess!

This recipe is really easy, too. It was fast and delicious. The boyfriend even had two burgers! Plus he’s taking the third of four total for lunch today. I packed up his lunch and wrote him a little note on a napkin like my mom used to do for me… because I’m just adorable!

Above is the masterpiece Lemon Garlic Tuna Burger!

 

 

 

lo mein

Try this recipe.

It’s easy.

It’s yummy.

Plus, apparently it’s healthy!

The recipe says it serves two, but I’m pretty sure it could easily serve four! The boyfriend liked it, even though it’s vegetarian lo mein. He added extra Sriracha, which is a good idea if you like Sriracha.

I brought it for lunch today, but I had to take an emergency trip to Subway instead. I’m leaving it at work, and I’ll have the leftovers tomorrow! I’m pretty excited, and you should be, too!

 

cheating

Last night we kind of cheated on dinner. By that I mean we didn’t stuff our own salmon with crab meat. No, we bought it from the store pre-stuffed along with steam-in-the-microwave potatoes and green beans.

The meal was just OK. I don’t know how down I am with crab stuffed salmon. It just doesn’t seem natural for some reason, and the vegetables were….well, not that great.

Lesson learned: If you have time, do it yourself.

Plus, it just kind of looks…odd.

In other news, Barbecue Lays are going to be the death of my weight loss. We bought them for a game night the boy and I went to over the weekend, but naturally, no one ate them, and we had to bring them back home. Bad choice.

Now these guys are sitting on my counter…mocking me, and I’ve debated just crushing them into little pieces and tossing them off the balcony. Luckily, I’ve managed to keep it cool, and I’ve only eaten two (that’s 2) chips. I wish they would have tasted terrible…

 

baked tilapia with zucchini & tomato gratin

Yesterday we had a really late dinner because the boyfriend had to work until 10 p.m. I was fairly tired, rather cranky (it’s a terrible flaw) and I seriously debated just ordering pizza mostly because Papa John’s commercials were infiltrating my enjoyment of Nazi Hunters. Yes, I tend to watch a lot of Nat Geo, and it’s never very appetizing. However, instead of ordering a deliciously cheesy pizza with extra sauce (the only way to eat Papa John’s) I got off the couch, and I made dinner.

I’ve told you about No Takeout before. It’s still great. The meals are really fast and easy, and I’m never disappointed with the taste! I highly recommend you subscribe if you are even remotely thinking about trying to cook for the first time. Anyway, last night we had Baked Tilapia with Zucchini and Tomoto Gratin. In case you didn’t know because I sure didn’t, gratin basically just means something covered with cheese, breadcrumbs or some egg/butter concoction then baked. And you know it had to be French word.

I used another one of the tomatoes from earlier this week (two down, more to go), and it was still delicious! I was surprised how easy tilapia filets are to work with. If you’re trying to eat more fish, I like salmon better, but tilapia is a great “starter fish.” The kind I bought didn’t have scales either, so that was less work.

So here it is!

Yum, right!? Right!

In other news, since I started this resolution to be healthier, I’ve lost seven pounds! Go me! Keep up the great work, self!

 

honey-soy salmon

Remember that time I said I was going to eat less red meat? Yeah, me too. I’m doing a great job!
No seriously. I’m doing a really excellent job keeping my resolution!

Last night was an exciting night that was supposed to be really relaxed. It was still relaxed, but it did really go as planned.

The original plan
I work from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., so the plan was to head home at 5 p.m., change clothes real fast, go to IKEA really fast to help one of my dearest friends pick up a new desk and then go home and make Honey-Soy Glazed Salmon. Good plan.

However….
I had no problems getting home. No problem changing clothes –– I’m really good at that! No problem getting to IKEA. And then…

Disaster struck when we were unable to squeeze two IKEA boxes (one desk) into my dear friend’s car. Luckily, I brought some extra muscle (the boyfriend), and he and my dear friend took the heaviest box back to her apartment while I waited with the lighter one at IKEA. I wasn’t too worried because dear friend lives only 15 minutes from IKEA, so I thought I could just sit outside by the loading area and wait.

15 minutes go by, and I’m thinking, “Oh. They’ll be at the apartment now. Unloading.”
20 minutes go by. “They should be heading back for me know. I really need to pee, but I’ll just wait.
30 minutes go by. “OK, cart collector man, I don’t think you’re cool. Please get away from me.”
35 minutes go by. “Did they decided to run off together? I know they love each other, but I’m still here…. They clearly didn’t run away together.”
40 minutes go by. “I’m going to run to the bathroom, and when I come back out, they’ll be here.”
45 minutes go by. “OK. Seriously?!”

Finally, almost an hour after these crazy kids left me at IKEA, I get a call from dear friend saying they’re pulling up now.

It’s about 8:30 p.m by this time, and as it turns out these two very important people in my life were late because an 18-wheeler caught fire on the highway, and all the lanes were closed. Oh boy.

Long story short, my dinner was very late, but I still had to make it because 1) I’m trying to be healthier and 2) fish goes bad really fast apparently. I started dinner just after 9 p.m.

I know the recipe asks for spinach and red bell peppers, but I like green beans and tomatoes better…because I think they are easier.

Before, I might have told you about the steamer I made from things I found in my kitchen. Here it is filled with green beans!

At the store, I found really great looking locally grown tomatoes, so I bought…well, too many.

But look how pretty it is!

The honey-soy glaze is super easy. Maybe I’m just getting better at cooking, but really this entire meal is super easy.

Then you get to drizzle the glaze on the kind-of-broiled salmon, and it looks really nice.

I should give some credit to my boyfriend because this recipe called to cut off the skin/scales/whatever, and he did a great job! Next time I’ll try it, but I just wasn’t ready for that step just yet.

Let me just tell you how much I love salmon, friends! It’s beyond delicious, and you can really do a lot with it. I highly recommend this particular recipe because it’s soooooooo easy! Plus, it tastes awesome! AWESOME!

…and it looks pretty, too!

worcestershire

I guess my mom couldn’t say this word either, so we’ve always just called it Wooster Shooster Sauce.

I love it even if I can’t say it!

Worcestershire Chicken is seriously awesome! I used Jasmine rice instead of basmati rice because that’s what I had in my pantry.

oh salmon

This is terrifying. Well, it was. I wish you could see that it has freaking scales on the other side! Apparently you leave the scales on to cook salmon. Who knew! Now me.

This could quite possibly be my favorite meal ever now. I was really unsure about it before I decided to make it. A friend of mine, who I’m extremely proud of because she’s seriously been healthy about losing something like 60 lbs, suggested that I try salmon as a replacement for red meat.

She was totally right about how delicious it is!

So I made Baked Salmon with Lemon and Capers from a great website called No Takeout. Delicious!!! Please try it!

 

resolutions

I know, I know. A few days late to share my resolutions.

1) Blog a little more. Two months between posts is too many months. I need to think of my blog like my new co-worker, Liz, thinks of her blog — it holds her accountable.

2) Read at least one book a month. I’m not ready for suggestions just yet because I seriously have like 15 books that I’m borrowing from various friends. Friends, I promise I’m not trying to steal your books. I’m terribly sorry!

3) Get healthier. To do this, I’m eating out less. I’m trying to avoid fast food as much as possible. I’m cutting back on red meat. I’m working out a few times a week. Later maybe I’ll boost that up….

Because I’ll be cooking more at home, hopefully I’ll blog more. See how this all works?

My sister is a moderate extreme couponer, and she sent me home with like four things of Various Meat Helper, so I made that. It’s not the best or worst thing I’ve ever eaten, but I don’t think I’ll be eating it unless it’s free. I bought two packs of hamburger meat before I decided that I was going to eat less red meat, and I didn’t want to eat Hamburger Helper twice in one week. That meant Spaghetti!

It was almost as good as my mom’s!