A Food Entry

Good evening!  As an adult, I have never really been a fan of cooking.  I tried in college, but found it hard to fix an entire meal for just one person.  Then, when I cooked for more than one, I would have so many leftovers that I would get bored of the same meal after two days of leftovers.  I found it just easier to buy pre-prepared food and just, essentially reheat the food.  However, in the past few years I have been trying to discover my "Inner Woman."  Or maybe I have just gotten bored with eating pre-prepared and tasteless food.  I also have been reading and following a couple of food-related blogs, communities and have been finding myself saying, "I can do that!"  Also, since I now cook for two, we still have leftovers but they don't usually make it past two more servings.  And since P doesn't know how to cook that many dishes, I have been experimenting with different things to make while also going back to my "roots" as they say, and cooking dishes that my mom used to.

The first dish I have to offer tonight could be a one pot dish.  In our family we call it, "The Casserole."  All you really need is some kind of meat, a box/bag of pasta, a can or two of beans, a can of olives and a jar of pasta sauce.  Here we have bow-tie pasta - because BOW-TIES ARE COOL - ground turkey, kidney beans, garbanzo beans, olives and I think a generic pasta sauce.  Boil up the pasta and set it aside.  Make sure to run water over the pasta every now and then to make sure it doesn't stick together.  Next, cook up the turkey.  Once all the meat is browned and a bit caramelized (the way I like it), dump the noodles into the pan and stir.  Then dump the sauce, beans and olives in and stir until everything is covered in yummy sauce.  Let the mixture sit on the stove until everything is warm and the house smells yummy.  Spoon into loverly bowls and add cheese on top if you like.  This dish tastes even better the second day after all the ingredients have had time to meld together in the fridge.  I love taking my leftovers to work.  All my coworkers follow me around asking what the meal is and how to make it!

The next dish I have is pizza!  This pizza happens to be chicken with white sauce, baby Portabella mushrooms, olives and chives.  The crust is a premade one, but P and I both work 40 hour work weeks and we don't have forever to make dinner.  Now, since the crust is premade, all you really have to do is pile on all the toppings, shred cheese on top and bake for 8-10 mins at 400 degrees.  Let cool for a few minutes after baking, then cut and serve.  It is so hard not to eat this entire pizza in one sitting!  I just have to remember how awesome it is as a lunch the next day.  This also made my coworkers jealous as a left over!

One thing I haven't shared with my coworkers is my WAFFLES!  My mom likes to tell the story of how we found a waffle iron while going through my great grandmother's things and me grabbing it, holding it to my chest and not letting anyone near it.  I remember the waffle iron.  It traveled around with me until it finally died.  If I'm remembering correctly, it was round and one of those older ones with the fabric chords.  One day I plugged it in and where the chord attached to the back of the iron popped, sparked and burst into a small fire that quickly died out.  I was sad but also knew the waffle iron lived a long and happy life.  Shortly after, the family got another waffle iron that made those big square waffles.  It died not too long ago and it was replaced by one of those sandwich makers with removable plates.  It was also at my family's house a state away so fortunately, I got a waffle iron as one of the gifts from my bridal shower.  I have to say it makes pretty dang good waffles!  There are many waffle recipes out there but I happen to like the one on the side of the Bisquick box, with a few little additions like cinnamon and vanilla.  I also like to double the recipe so I can freeze the rest and pop them in the toaster for breakfasts for the week.  They are a nice change from toast.

Last but not least, I couldn't finish my first food blog without mentioning my cookies!  I make some pretty good Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies.  Today I had to stick around the house and wait for the cable guy to come by and fix our internet and since I didn't have internet and had to be home all day, I decided to bake.  It also wasn't too hot so the oven didn't heat up the entire house.  I am still getting used to baking in this high altitude, but I think they came out pretty good.  :)  The recipe is the Oatmeal Raisin Cookies from the bottom of the lid from the Quaker Oatmeal container but with a few changes, like chocolate and white chocolate chips instead of raisins.  I also change a couple of other things, but those things shall remain a secret.

So, as you can see, I have been having fun in my smaller-than-a-postage stamp kitchen and making some yummy things!  I have to say that it's more fun cooking and baking for more than just me!  :)