Summer Salad

I'm charging my phone. I promise I shall stop sucking by writing a food blog and a) not updating it frequently and b) not giving you photos of the food. Whoever you is. I'm pretty sure no one reads this.

Anyway it's a very basic salad. It's light and fun with equal parts sweet and tart.

• Favorite salad greens (preferably ones with some bite)
• Mandarin oranges (get the jar where they're packed in 100% juice and you'll thank me later)
• Your favorite berries (strawberries or blackberries work well)
• Plain goat cheese
• Walnuts; roasted but unsalted please
• Green onions 
• Simply flavored grilled or baked chicken
• Poppyseed dressing

Combine all ingredients and mix to your hearts content. Eat, be merry and realize you just had a meal that you didn't have to feel guilty about. 

Smothered Pork Chops

First off these aren't really traditional. They're boneless and they're not breaded. Drew has had pork chops before and he has HATED them. But they're one of my favorite dishes so I just had had had to tweak it to work here. Here's what I did (and no I don't have any pictures and yes I know I fail....moving right along):

• Boneless pork chops (center cut loin)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Minced garlic
• Yellow onion
• Butter
• Olive oil 

Sprinkle chops with seasonings. Sear in large pan with the oil (just enough so it won't stick and you get a good crust...although the heat level helps with that). Place on plate. If they're a little under done that's fine. You really just want to sear both sides. They'll finish cooking in the gravy.

Ok once they're off to the side, cut your onion up according to your preference and throw your onion in the pan with some butter. Cut the heat low, throw a lid over it and let the onions get all soft and brown and delicious. Slide those onions on top of the pork chops.

Melt some more butter in your pan and sprinkle flour in (this will depend on how much gravy you're making which depends on how many pork chops you have). Let your roux brown up a bit. Then add water, put the heat on medium high and let it work. You want to leave the lid off so it thickens up. (If the lid is on, steam hits the lid and condensates and drips back into the gravy.) Which it's the appropriate thickness, layer your chops in the pan and then put the top on and let them just get.....delicious (oh and ya know...finish cooking. Unless you like your pork underdone. I wouldn't recommend that though.).

I have no amounts. If you LOVE the taste of onions use a shit ton. If not don't. And so it goes. As always if you try it lemme know how it goes!

Chicken Nuggets!!!

So the other night I made chicken nuggets from scratch. They're one of Drew's favorites and they can be really quick. And they were simple.

• 1 pound ground chicken
• onion powder
• garlic powder
• salt
• pepper
• chili powder
• bread crumbs
• butter

Combine all of the last 2 ingredients and mix well. Form nuggets and dip in butter then in bread crumbs. Place on cookie sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees, flipping halfway through. I didn't flip halfway through exactly (12/7) and as a result they weren't all that crisp on one side.

A Nice Weekday Meal

So I tried the cheeseburger casserole Recipe Here tonight.

It was good. Could be better but good. I'll make it again and continue to tweak it. Here are the mods that I made this time:

Tater tots are the bane of my existence so I used the crescent roll top. (I got the seamless sheet made for recipes.) I used sharp cheddar and it was REALLY strong so I probably would use mild cheddar or the american it calls for. Also it seemed REALLY ketchup-y to me. Basically I'd add some ketchup and taste the mixture with cheese and play it by ear. If you like it with the whole 1/2 cup go for it. I have pics in my food album and you can see how thin the whole dish was because of how big my casserole dish was. If you want it deeper use a smaller dish. Oh and I cheated and used dill relish instead of chopping pickles.

Honestly I think it was too much ketchup for the sharp cheddar. So that relationship needs to be played with.

This recipe got my brain running. I might wanna try to make my own casserole recipes up now.

Thanksgiving!!

I came. I saw. I conquered. I got stood up and therefore didn't take pics.


Everything was absolutely delicious though. I'm very proud and as I recreate the sides or the desserts I'll share them.

Pot Roast #3 pics

The third pic is a better presentation. It was good but it wasn't GOOD. I forgot something to cut the acidity of the tomato sauce. Drew said it was too complicated but that's to be expected.


However....the other day I tried again and I do believe I got it right!!! I'm stoked!!!!!!

Pot Roast

So I've made pot roast three different times now. The third time is actually in the Crock Pot now. This is one of Andrew's favorite meals so it's nice to have the Crock Pot and be able to make it but I'm experimenting with the flavor. I got all fancy (seared it, used a bone in chuck roast, wine, onion, simmered it all day) and he put ketchup on it. So now I'm tweaking it and keeping it simpler. For the last 2 times I've used a boneless beef sirloin tri tip roast and it's been succulent.

Recipe this time:

• 32 oz of water in the bottom of the crock pot; generous amount of salt and pepper
• 1 lb bag of baby carrots in there and then garlic powder, onion powder, celery seed, thyme, and a dash of ground cloves
• Roast on top of that. This one was about 2.65 lbs. Small Yukon Gold potatoes quartered on top of that.
• 6 oz can of tomato paste stirred in 20 oz of water; pour that over everything. Sprinkle on more garlic, salt and pepper. Also sprinkle on parsley and basil. 

It smells really really good.  I'll be along with some pics.

Something New to Try and I Know I Suck

I have photos. I have recipes. I just haven't had the time to write the posts. I'm sorry, I suck. :(

That being said...I saw this on a forum and I was intrigued. I will be trying it next grocery trip.

CHEESEBURGER CASSEROLE!!!! Yes, Im yelling.

1 lb lean ground beef
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped dill pickles
1/2 cup water
1/2 cup ketchup
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded American cheese (6 oz)
1 can (8 oz) Pillsbury Crescent refrigerated flaky dough sheet
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon sesame seed

1. Heat oven to 375°F. In 10-inch nonstick skillet, cook beef and onion over medium-high heat 5 to 7 minutes, stirring frequently, until thoroughly cooked; drain. Stir in pickles, water, ketchup, mustard and pepper.
2. Spoon beef mixture into 11x7-inch (2-quart) glass baking dish. Sprinkle with cheese.
3. Unroll dough; press into 12x8-inch rectangle. Cut into 6 squares; place on top of cheese. Brush with egg; sprinkle with sesame seed.
4. Bake 25 to 30 minutes or until deep golden brown.

I top mine with sliced american and tater tots instead though. Its better that way.

Drew really really REALLY likes burgers so I'm thinking....this could be fun? We shall see.

Fettuccine Alfredo

This is SO versatile. And relatively easy.

Yet hard to grasp.

I don't just plan to blog about the successes that I have in the kitchen. I wanna share the whole journey. I, Joy LastNameHere, can not make alfredo sauce from scratch. It either comes out with the right flavor but entirely too thick and gluey or the right consistency but bland as a piece of paper. Which is a shame because I LOVE fettuccine alfredo.

So I make due by tweaking a jarred sauce. Add some spices and some sour cream and half and half and some cheese and just keep it moving. It works but one day I'd love to be able to master a sauce.

Anyway, earlier this week we had seafood alfredo. I minced garlic and onions and sauteed them in butter, adding salt, pepper, parsley and oregano. Then I tore up some flake-style imitation crab meat and put that in the pan along with some small already cooked shrimp. (Add in a little more butter because...well just because.) Add a bit more seasoning. At this point, pour in the jar of sauce. Fill up part of the jar with half and half, shake and pour into the pan. (I'm all about getting my money's worth.) Then add about 2-3 spoonfuls of sour cream for thickness and tang!

That's pretty much it. At the end I added in a couple of handfuls of spinach to just add a bit of green to the dish.

It was amazing and the next time I make it I shall have pictures for you!

FISH!

So.....

I have been cooking fish at least once a week. This has made for a very happy marriage. Joy gets to go to Whole Foods and just roll around in the vibes of freshness and Drew gets fish. Which he loves.

Last week it was tilapia. I cooked about a pound of it in a foil packet. Drizzled some canola oil on the foil, laid down the fish, sprinkled it with salt, lemon pepper (of the salt free variety) and red and black pepper.

Drew ate it in about....10 minutes. (Didn't want any for myself.) And loved every bit. It was nice to see him inhale like that. I kinda patted myself on the back.

No pictures though. Hopefully I will get pictures of the salmon I'm making tomorrow. I'm not sure how I'm going to prepare it just yet but I do know that dill will play a huge factor.

Stay tuned!

Chili Deferred

I made chili tonight. I will edit this post and add the recipe, because I didn't write it as I cooked it and my husband's insistence that I make something else (that was basically cook meat and add to contents of the bag) made me space and lose it.

Here's pictures of the final result, I have step by step ones that aren't worth shit without the steps.