braided spaghetti bread

When I first found this idea, I thought, "Duh. Why didn't we think of this a long time ago?" but every time I make it, we've always got at least one person who's mind is totally blown. I guess it is kind of cool.

Every so often, my mom and my step-dad will take trips and hire me as a babysitter/chauffeur/chef/entertainer for my teenage sisters. And by hire I mean they buy my plane ticket and leave me with the credit card.

...yeah, it's still not always the best idea, but my sisters get excited about it and the house is always standing when they get back, so...

This particular time I went to Texas, Jeremy came too and worked from his computer, and it was even more fun to spend the week with him around. But it also meant I was cooking for 4 or 5 people instead of 2, and I wanted to make something the girls would be excited about eating (yeah, they're teenagers, but still. It was supposed to be a fun week!). I only spent a couple of minutes searching before I found this one, and it quickly became a staple in my recipe arsenal.

This recipe is adapted from a Rhodes blog, so the recipe calls for a loaf of Rhodes bread dough or 12 Rhodes dinner rolls. I've made it with a Rhodes loaf, but I usually make it with my own bread recipe (which has been especially helpful in the UK where I haven't ever found Rhodes bread), because 1) it takes less time overall and 2) it's usually cheaper. If you decide to make it with a Rhodes loaf, just follow the instructions on the package about thawing (something like 2-4 hours for the loaf or 1-2 for the rolls). I'm going to explain it with instructions on how to use a homemade loaf (you don't have to do every step in my homemade bread loaf recipe, and you don't have to let it raise for quite as long either).

Ingredients

• 1 bread dough loaf
• 6 oz spaghetti cooked
• Roughly 1 cup thick spaghetti sauce
• 8 oz block of mozzarella cheese, cut into 1/2-inch cubes (if you have grated cheese more easily accessible, that works just as well)
• 1-2 egg whites, beaten
• Parmesan cheese
• Parsley flakes
• Garlic powder

Bread dough loaf ingredients

• 3/4 cup warm water
• 1 package active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1-1/2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup milk
• 3 cups all-purpose flour (roughly)

Follow the instructions for bread-making (found again here) from the beginning through step 4. The dough needs to double in size so that you can fit all of the spaghetti on the loaf. When the dough has doubled, spread the dough on a greased 12x16 baking sheet (or whatever you've got that's big). Leave to rest while you make the spaghetti.

You can do whatever you want with this spaghetti. Use your favorite spaghetti sauce, add some sausage, extra seasonings, whatever you like. You do want to use thick spaghetti sauce because if it's too runny it will just make your loaf soggy. My husband loves spaghetti drowning in sauce, but I don't go overboard because, again, no one likes a soggy loaf of bread. You can be generous without drowning the noodles (or the loaf!). Mix everything into the spaghetti, and then when it's finished, place the spaghetti down the center of your bread dough in about a 4-inch column.

Kind of like this. I had just plopped the spaghetti on for the sake of a picture, but you need to have at least two inches on each side of the spaghetti for braiding (you can get away with an inch on the ends).

This is the sauce I used for this round (in the UK), and it was delicious. So if you're making it in Oxford... I'd definitely recommend it!

After you have the spaghetti down, top with your grated/cubes of mozzarella. Then cut strips about 1 1/2 inches thick all the way down either side (I do this with kitchen scissors. It's infinitely easier than trying this with a knife). Take the bigger pieces at either end and fold them over the spaghetti, then start a braid with the strips by alternating right over left (or left over right, however you want to start). Tuck the last piece under the strip closest to it. 

If you haven't already, beat your egg whites, and then brush the whole loaf with them. If you use a large egg, you may only need one egg, but I use small-medium eggs and always end up using 2, sometimes 3, depending on how generous I decide to be in each section. Season with parsley, parmesan cheese, and garlic powder, and put it in the over at 350 (or 180 and the fan setting in the UK) and bake for 30 minutes, or until it's golden brown. Cool, slice, and enjoy!

Because I'm not particularly skilled at guessing serving yields and sizes, I will tell you this: This can comfortably feed 2 adults who are famished or 4 averagely-hungry adults when served with a side salad. It could also easily be served to a crowd as an appetizer if you slice it like a loaf of bread and cut the whole thing in half. If you make three loaves, it will feed 5 jump ropers after a long day of practice and you will have maybe half a loaf leftover. However, when I made a single loaf for my husband, 12-year-old sister, and 14-year-old sister, I ate a single slice, and in that time the rest of the loaf disappeared, and they asked if I'd made another loaf. 

So plan accordingly :)

one pan mexican quinoa

So I'm trying to be a little bit more healthy. Emphasis on "little bit".

I really enjoy food. I don't go overboard, I'm good at knowing when I'm full and when to stop and actually quitting while I'm ahead, and I make sure to stay active. So I pretty much eat whatever I want. I realize this isn't always a good idea, even if I'm not preoccupied with my figure, weight, or ability to exercise, so sometimes I try to find a healthier alternative to something I already enjoy. Especially if I can't tell that there's a huge difference when I make a substitution.

I also have this bag of quinoa that is going to expire if I don't use it all in the next month or two. So, honestly, my desire not to waste food was the larger motivator than my health. But whatever.

So I searched for quinoa recipes. Most were way too healthy for my tastes (if tofu is a main ingredient, I'll pass), but I realized I could just add what I wanted and take out what I didn't. And then I found this recipe that was basically just switching out rice for quinoa. And it was delicious. I made some changes, I added meat (because we're carnivores), and voila. Dinner 30 minutes later.

Ingredients

• 1lb ground beef (of course, there are great substitutions for this. Or you can omit it entirely. It's still really good without)
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 c quinoa
• 1 c vegetable broth
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes (fire roasted is delicious, but. Use what you have)
• 1 c corn
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• salt, to taste
• pepper, to taste
• lime juice (1 lime is plenty)
• 2 tbsp cilantro
• 1 avocado, diced

1.  (If you're using meat) Brown the beef. Drain and rinse (I've learned that rinsing really gets all of the fat off. Less oily and gross that way). Set aside, and rinse out your pan.
2. Heat the olive oil over medium high heat, and cook the garlic and jalapeno for about a minute, until it starts to smell delicious.
3. Stir in quinoa, vegetable broth, beans, tomatoes, corn, chili powder, cumin, salt, and pepper. Bring it all to a boil, then cover it and reduce the heat to a simmer. Let it simmer until the quinoa is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Stir in meat, heat through, then add lime, cilantro, and avocado. Eat immediately.

If eating healthy always tastes this delicious, maybe I'll up my healthy food game. Just a little bit. 

the "little black dress" of pizzas: garlic chicken pizza

I feel like I need to be completely honest about something that I don't think anybody really knows: I love pizza. But not like everybody loves pizza. I LOVE pizza. "Like a fat kid loves cake"? No, that would be "kind of liking" pizza. Every chance I get to eat pizza, I take it. I really honestly don't think I'd be sick of it if I ate a different flavor of pizza every day (which I did, for a few months of my life. I worked at Empire Pizza as a senior, and I wanted to try all of them. If you want a recommendation, should you be in that part of South Florida, mashed potato bacon is my favorite).
So I think it fair to say that I'm somewhat of a pizza connoisseur. Yes, I will (often gladly) eat pizzas that are below elite rank, but when there is a more elite pizza available, I will be there, trying to shovel it down in the classiest way possible.

Now, pizza is rarely a classy thing. In fact, I don't know that, even with my choice of title, pizza is ever classy. But you can certainly dress it up. Especially if you're making your own, you cut it into squares instead of triangular slices, and your pizza is a wonderful mix of looking delicious and being healthy (little to no grease). Throw together individual side salads, and you could have a dinner party (probably not a black tie event though. Pizza's name still hasn't been cleared of "frat parties," "tailgate parties," and other events where daisy dukes and beer pong might be involved).

So here we have a pizza that you can dress up or dress down. It is delicious AND healthy. I've used it for birthdays, FIFA nights, post-football game meals that turned into FIFA nights, and date night with stemware. I probably wouldn't wear a little black dress to most of those things, but. You get the idea.

You can use what you have on hand and omit some of the cheeses or vegetables (in the one pictured, we omitted a few things), or you can make a trip to the store if you're feeling up to it, especially if you want to pick up soda. Or sparkling cider :)

Garlic Chicken Pizza

• 2 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 1 1/2 tbsp Dijon mustard
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 ready-made pizza crust (I make my own- recipe at the end)
• 1 1/2 c shredded cooked chicken
• 1 c chopped tomato
• 1 c chopped mushroom
• 1 c shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 c crumbled feta cheese
• 1/4 c finely shredded Parmesan
• 1/4 c chopped green onion

1. Preheat oven to temperature listed on the package (or 375 if you've made your own pizza crust).
2. Combine first 3 ingredients, stirring well with a whisk. Place crust on baking sheet; brush vinegar mixture over crust.
3. Top with chicken, tomato, and mushrooms. Sprinkle with cheeses and green onion.
4. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until cheeses melt.

With this pizza, I made the crust, and I left out green onions, mushrooms, and feta cheese. I rarely have those on hand, so more often than not, our pizza is like this. Still pretty dang delicious.

No-Rise Pizza Crust

• 2 1/4 tsp yeast (or 1 packet)
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 c lukewarm water
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil 
• 1 tsp salt
• ~3 c flour

1. Combine the yeast and sugar in a bowl, then add the cup of water. Let react for 5-10 minutes. 
2. Preheat oven to 375.
3. Add the last 3 ingredients, starting with 2 cups of flour and then adding a little bit more at a time as needed.
4. Roll out in desired shape. Put on a greased pan, top, and bake for 20-25 minutes. 

If you decide to make your own crust, here's a tip: if you don't already have a can of cooked chicken (or want to save it for a more rushed day), use a chicken breast. Start the chicken boiling while you're waiting for the yeast to react, then it will be done cooking about the time you're done with your crust. Let the chicken cool while you prepare the vinegar mix, and after you've spread it on the crust, the chicken should be cool enough that you can handle it to shred it or dice it.

Enjoy!

white bean chili. or, "When I Was Waiting For A Baby and Bridian was in Europe"

When I was about 38 weeks pregnant, I decided I wanted to make a bunch of freezer meals. I didn't want us to even think about dinner for as long as possible after our baby was born and relatives left and friends stopped bringing food. So I started making a list of meals and ingredients I needed. As a "thank you" from my internship team, I'd received, among other things, a grocery store gift certificate, but I learned at this grocery store that you have to use the entire balance of the gift certificate in one shot- anything you didn't spend was just lost. So I made a long list. The day Berlin was due (because if nothing else, I am absolutely a procrastinator), we went shopping. We spent an hour or so finding everything we needed and then things we wanted and then things we thought maybe we should get just because we did NOT want to waste this gift certificate. Funny, because we made it to the balance, only overshooting by 20 cents. We were incredibly proud. And then when the cashier found out I was due that day, she laughed and said, "Better take another lap around the store!"

Yeah right. Like a Mortensen/Lindstrom was going to come on his due date. Ha.

So Thursday (we went shopping on Monday), when there was still no sign of a baby, I decided I should probably start cooking, since the baby was not going stay indefinitely snuggled inside of me, and I cooked up a storm all day (more on those recipes later). Closer to dinner time, I realized I hadn't really planned for dinner for that night. And I was not about to sacrifice a meal for a time when I didn't want to cook for a time when making one more meal after 10 was not really a big deal.

But I had zero ideas. Zero. Apparently cooking and creativity are inversely related.

Bridian was on her 6-week sabbatical somewhere in Denmark (or London. Who knows), but she'd been texting me when she periodically found internet. Most of our conversations were about life plans, of a little more epic proportion than what to eat for dinner that night, but. I braved the break in conversation topic. She laughed at me, especially at my problem of not being able to think of anything after cooking all day, and suggested this soup that she'd made for me one time and she thought I liked it. So she proceeded to text me the recipe. One. Ingredient. At. A. Time. Instructions weren't really included. I had to clarify a million things a million times. I finally scribbled everything on to a tiny scratch of paper to make sense of it and repeat it back to Bridian. I have lost this little scrap of paper half a million times and I really don't have any idea how I've managed to find it again (which is a huge reason in why I'm blogging this one). When I reminded her of this a couple of days ago, she laughed again. "Yeah, that sounds like something I would do."

Anyway, what resulted was one of my favorite soups of all soups. Which is saying something, because I've had are a lot of really great soups. This one is just... top 3. Super simple, super delicious. I use this one a lot for cold days and for bringing soup to friends who are sick/have just had a baby/both. I also love eating/serving this soup with homemade bread, if you care to know. But really, what soup isn't great with homemade bread?

1. Boil 1-2 chicken breasts (depending on how much chicken you want in your soup. When I double this, I use two and it's plenty). After they're cooked(10-15 minutes), let them cool until you can shred them. Save the broth!
2. Saute half an onion, diced, with a tablespoon of butter (in your soup pot).
3. Then add:

• 2 drained cans of great northern white beans
• 1 small can diced green chilies
• 3 cups chicken broth
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp oregano
• salt and garlic powder to taste

Simmer for 10-15 minutes. When it's done, add 1/2 cup of sour cream and 1 cup of heavy cream.

I don't even have anything else to say. I've already ranted and raved about it, so- enjoy!

homemade bread

In case you didn't notice, this loaf is half eaten. I'm telling you, I'm an addict.

I absolutely love homemade bread. Love, love, love. I will eat entire loaves by myself. Sometimes in the same sitting. My grandma loves to make it, especially for me, and that's probably where I learned to love it so much. I lived with my grandparents for a month or so before Jeremy and I got married, and my grandma made sure there was always homemade bread for me. 

Man, it made me love her so much more than I already did. 

 
So as a wedding present, my grandma gave me bread pans and a bag of flour. I don't know what she was thinking. She needs to just always live close enough to me to give me fresh bread! (Which she did. Especially when Berlin was born.) But finally, I decided to pull the plastic off of the pans and learn to make bread. Turns out, not as difficult as I thought. Though it took some experimenting. My first try resulted in burned outsides and uncooked insides. I called my grandma. She gave me some suggestions, and I tried again. It looked perfect, but I was incredibly wary of the insides. I sliced it open, and it seemed just fine inside too.  So I got brave and made a loaf for a friend, and warned her, "I'm still figuring out how to do this. As you cut closer to the middle, watch out. You may get a mouthful of dough." She laughed at me. And told me the next day that the whole loaf was amazing. 
 
Thank you, Grandma, for helping me get it right!

• 3/4 cup warm water 
• 1 package active dry yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp) 
• 1 tsp salt 
• 1-1/2 tbsp sugar 
• 1 tbsp vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup milk 
• 3 cups all-purpose flour, roughly

1. Put the yeast and sugar in a bowl. Add the water, and let it set for about 10 minutes.
 
I've found that the key to working with yeast and getting it to rise properly is letting it react first. The yeast needs to eat something as it reacts, which is why you add sugar. So you mix the yeast and the sugar together, then add the water. Scorching water will kill the yeast, so if you turn on your hot water and fill your measuring cup right as the water starts to turn hot, it’s perfect.
 
2. Add salt, shortening, and milk. Then add the first two cups of flour.

3. Add more flour a tablespoon or so at a time until the dough chases the spoon around the bowl. Then put the dough on a floured surface and knead, adding more flour as needed until the dough is soft and smooth (not sticky. If it’s still sticky, add more flour).

The amount of flour you need to make bread can vary, even if you’ve made it before in the same place during the same season of the year. So many factors affect bread, like the weather, room temperature, etc., so don’t get set on the same amount of flour. Don’t be afraid to add more or use less- go by the texture of the dough. If it’s smooth, you’re done. You don’t need any more flour. If it’s still sticky, keep adding, even if you’ve already used the 3 cups. That’s why it says, “Roughly.”

4. Put dough ball in a clean, greased bowl. Cover and let rise in a warm place for 1 hour (or until dough has doubled in size).

Sometimes a warm place is hard to find. If it won’t double your gas/electricity bill, let your oven start preheating to 350 and let your bread sit near it (not on top of the oven. It will start to cook parts of your dough. No good.), and then you can always guarantee good warmth. And, if it’s a cold day, your kitchen will be the place to be!

5. Punch dough down, and then move dough to a greased bread pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes (until bread fills up the pan).

If you let your bread rise a little longer than these times, it won’t hurt your bread. I’ve left it for an hour and a half instead of 30 min (I didn’t leave my oven on) and it was fine. Some people like to make the dough the night before and leave it overnight (it does get huge though, so make sure you don’t cover it with a plate or your plate will end up on the ground. In my case, broken.) so they can have fresh bread in the morning. Whatever works for you. Experiment, see what works best.
I also have only used DARK bread pans. Sometimes, you need to vary your cooking time if you use glass pans, and as far as I know, it takes longer with a glass pan, roughly 45 minutes total. Make sure you watch the bread during the last 15 minutes.

6. Score the top of the bread- make 3 slashes across the top.

7. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes. Let it cool in a clean dish towel (this also keeps it warm for longer). Try not to eat the whole loaf by yourself.

Inside Out Tacos

Food has become our excuse to be social. Between the amount of traveling we do and the number of activities in which we've involved ourselves, we don't leave many opportunities to be incredibly social, especially on weekends. Our desire to be social, however, hasn't gone away, so we've tried to find ways to be social during the week. How? Inviting people over for dinner. We always have to eat, everyone we know also happens to really enjoy eating (let's be honest: who doesn't love eating?), and it definitely makes our weekdays more interesting. Some days I think it's pathetic that this is true, other days I think that we're brilliant. Depends on my mood. And how recently we've seen the friends we're inviting over.

Sometimes though, we don't really plan a night with friends. We just start to make dinner, something happens, and we have friends over. Not to make our other friends like we love them less because we plan for them, but these impromptu dinner parties are usually the best.

Earlier this week, my brother- and sister-in-law were coming over to plan a party (by this we mean the girls were planning a party and the boys were playing FIFA. They don't care what the reason is, if it means they'll end up at the same house with an xbox, they're in).  My sister-in-law texted me to ask what time they should come over, and I said, "We're just starting dinner. If you guys haven't eaten yet, you're welcome to come eat with us." It was already 6:30, and I had just gotten off the phone with my sister who had made a dinner recommendation when I whined about needing to make dinner and not having even a bad idea about what to make. She suggested this fabulous recipe, and I needed to run to the store because we'd just run out of chicken, but otherwise, I already had most of these things from other meals that week.

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into halves
• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil, divided
• Green onions, diced finely
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 3/4 c chicken broth
• 5 cups tortilla chips, broken into large pieces
• 2 tomatoes, diced
• 1 c shredded cheddar cheese, shredded (or whatever you have. I usually have either a giant bag of Colby Jack or a smaller back of a Mexican blend. Both work great)
• 2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro

1. Pat the chicken breast halves dry and season with salt and pepper.  Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large stainless steel (or otherwise oven-safe) pot over medium-high heat.  Add the chicken to the pan and cook until golden brown on both sides (your chicken doesn't need to be fully cooked right now, just the outsides.)  Transfer to a plate and set aside.
2. Add the remaining oil, green onions, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon of salt.  Cook just until it starts to smell wonderful, about 30 seconds (and it will smell wonderful).  Add the chicken broth, scrape the browned bits from the bottom of the pan, and let it start to simmer. 
3. Stir in half of the tortilla chips. Put the chicken into the broth so that the chicken is covered as much as possible (I cut the pieces in half again, so that they cook faster and fit in the pot better) and cook over medium-low heat until cooked through, which is about 10 minutes.  When the chicken is cooked through, take the chicken pieces out, let them cool enough to be able to handle, and then shred the chicken. Put the chicken back in the pot. 
4. Add the tomatoes, 1/2 c cheese, and 1 tablespoon of cilantro. Stir in the other half of the tortilla chips until the chips are moist. 
5. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese on top and place the pot in your oven with the broiler on high for 2-3, just to melt and slightly brown the top. Top with the remaining cilantro and serve! 

My in-laws asked if they could bring anything, and I said, "It's kind of a casserole, so there's not really anything you can add... maybe fun drinks?" So they went to Sodalicious and bought us each a soda. Man, I don't even like soda very much and I love that place. 

This recipe has been passed around from blog to blog, and my sister sent it to me from a blog but suggested some alterations. I made some of my own alterations, and then I really wanted a different name. Throwing "casserole" into anything makes it sound less appealing to me, for whatever reason. So when we started to eat it, my husband asked, "What are we eating?" and I said, "It's kind of like the inside of a taco." But the shell is inside too. Inside out tacos? Duh. Why didn't they think of that a long time ago?!

Thanks Brid :)

meat and potatoes- variety with basics

So in the last five months, we've eaten a lot. If you can imagine. A jump roper and a pregnant lady. We make quite the hungry team.
I've been pretty thrilled with the energy I've had throughout my pregnancy, so fortunately I've still been able to enjoy cooking. Despite what I haven't shown on this blog. I really like to try new things, recipes others give me or random things I find online by searching for a list of the ingredients I want to use, especially when I'm not feeling terribly creative and don't have any ideas on how to mix things myself. But I also have some basic go-to ideas, formulas if you will for a quick, no-thought meal that still tastes like there was a lot of thought put into it. Marinades are great that way :)

The idea of marinating is, of course, that you let it marinate. If you're trying to think of dinner plans at 4:30 to eat a little after 5, overnight marinating is out of the question. But letting your meat bake in a marinating sauce, or really most kinds of dressings, gives your meat great flavor, even if it's not as rich a flavor as you would get from actually marinating. I also using this baking marinate method because we find random marinated and salad dressings on sale for a dollar or so, usually less than that, so we sample them. Why not? Once or twice we've found that they're a little strong for marinating (actual soaking it overnight), and the meat isn't very good afterwards. Baking instead of marinating makes the flavor not as strong- if you're experimenting, it's a safer method of not being disappointed.

So there's your meat. Thaw something that maybe you don't know what to do with (pictured: top sirloin  steak- we found in a small package that was barely enough to feed us, but it was perfect with a side) and cover it in a salad dressing (pictured: sun-dried tomato salad dressing). Let it bake at somewhere between 350-400 for about 30 minutes, depending on the meat of course, but across the board, this is pretty safe. Check it periodically, of course; some meats you want more done, some a little more tender.

Not the greatest picture in the world, but I always forget to take a picture until after we're eating. Oh well.

Then I have an assortment of four kinds of potatoes that I choose to go with the meat- mashed, wedged, baked, or twice-baked(pictured). None of them take quite as long as the meat does, so dinner can be ready all at the same time, but you can prep the potatoes while the meat is cooking. 

Mashed potatoes Everyone has their own recipe. I like to chop and boil potatoes, drain them, beat them with a little bit of butter and a little more milk. 

Wedged potatoes My sister taught me this one, and I use this style of potatoes all the time. Cut a potato into wedges (if it's a large potato, using two is too many for me and Jeremy, so maybe 3/4 of a large potato is a generous serving size for an adult), arrange them around a microwave safe plate. Sprinkle with whatever seasonings you like (I use a garlic pepper blend), and then put a generous tablespoon or two of butter in the middle of the plate. Cover with saran wrap. Put in the microwave for 9 minutes. Delicious.

Baked potatoes Stab each potato generously with a fork. Toss the potatoes into the oven around your meat tray (they'll  need roughly 15 minutes more than the meat will). You can also make them in the microwave- stab each potato generously with a fork, then put them in the microwave for about 12 minutes, flipping them over about halfway through (the time varies with the size of your potatoes and the power setting on your microwave, so you may need a little more or a little less time). 

Twice-baked potatoes There are lots of great recipes for these. I use a pretty basic and somewhat adapted recipe- Bake the potatoes (I usually do this part in the microwave), let them cool a little bit before slicing them open and scooping out the insides, leaving a potato canoe. Mix the potatoes with a tablespoon or two of butter, a little bit more milk (1/4-1/2 cup), bacon bits, and cheddar cheese. Spoon the spread back into each of the potato canoes, and stick them back in the over for another 15-20 minutes. 

Step 1: Meat and marinade. Bake for half an hour.
Step 2: Pick a potato style. Throw together while the meat's cooking.
Enjoy!

Microwave Mug Omelettes

I have a ridiculously hard time getting out of bed lately. So when I have to be up early for something, I usually want a really great breakfast. But I also don't want to get up any earlier than I have to to make aforementioned great breakfast.

So this morning, I found this:

Of course, I found this 15 minutes after my alarm went off, while I was laying in bed justifying that I was at least not falling back asleep. I was searching on my phone for a recipe, just something worth eating, while actually battling my desire to look presentable when I went to work and my desire to sleep for another 45 minutes. 

• 1 egg
• 2 egg whites
• 2 tbsp diced ham
• 1 tbsp diced bell peppers
• 2 tbsp shredded cheese

Thoroughly coat the inside of a mug with cooking spray. Mix all of the ingredients in the mug, microwave for 1 minute on high. Stir, then microwave for another 1 1/2 minutes.

I found this recipe and got a little bit excited about it. So vanity won.

We didn't have bell peppers or ham, so I just made these with eggs and cheese. I also threw some bacon on a cookie sheet in the oven and bread in the toaster, in between blow drying my hair and putting on my makeup. Jeremy came in while I was finishing up all of the food and asked what he could do, so I told him to make hot chocolate.

"Didn't I just watch you make hot chocolate?"

"No, you just watched me make omelettes."

"...in cups?"

"Yes."

Breakfast was a success. Arguably, not as time efficient as I was expecting (or I just shouldn't have laid in bed for so long) because we were still a few minutes late getting out the door, but we were all well-fed... so I didn't complain.

bacalhau com natas.

One of the things I absolutely loved about Portugal was the food. My goodness. With as much as I felt like I ate all the time because people liked to feed us so much, I'm surprised I didn't come home looking like a balloon. I asked everyone for recipes, but there was one recipe that everyone told me was too hard to make. Bacalhau com natas, literally, "codfish with cream," is a very, very traditional Portuguese dish. You can find it at every restaurant, even some fast food places, it's just the dish of Portugal. And it's so good. The first time I had it I loved it, and I really wanted it whenever I had the opportunity. When I spent a few days in the mission home after my family's car accident, the chef asked me what my favorite Portuguese meal was, and I told her this was it. And she made it for me. So there you have the sentimental factor, added to mission nostalgia, that the only thing I remember eating in the midst of disaster was bacalhau com natas (and chocolate milk, but that's just... a given). 

Just trust me. It's good. 

So when we decided to have a "mission night" for dinner, where all of Jeremy's siblings and I got together and brought a dish from each mission, depending on who had served and where they had served, to help my sister-in-law get ready for her mission, I just wanted to try to make that recipe that everyone told me was too hard. I found a million recipes that only varied slightly, but I read every one and none of them seemed all that difficult to make. It does take a little bit of time, but otherwise, nothing too crazy.

Well, okay, I lied just a little bit. The first real step is to buy salted cod and soak it for 24 hours and change the water a few times. So maybe people telling me it was hard just meant that it took some time. I used cod fillets that had been breaded and seasoned and just needed to be parboiled. It took about 24 hours off the time estimate...

Ingredients:

• 4 fillets salt cod (about 1 lb.)
• 3 lbs. of potatoes, peeled and cubed
• 1 onion
• 5 cloves of garlic
• 5 tbsp of oil
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 pint heavy whipping cream
• 1 c. milk
• 1/2 tsp of nutmeg
• 2 tbsp unsalted butter
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pepper to taste
• fresh parsley

So in case you do choose to get fillets that haven't been prepared with anything, you should soak them for 24 hours, changing the water twice. Keep the cod in the fridge. After the 24 hours, parboil the cod for about 5 minutes in water. Flake the fillets and remove the bones and skin if the cod requires it (you can buy skinless cod). Set aside.

Peel the potatoes, wash, cut in small cubes, and fry with 3 tbsp of olive oil, just until they look cooked. Don't over fry them. Set aside.

Slice the onion in thin rings, mince the garlic, add a bay leaf, and fry all with 2 tbsp of olive oil until soft and translucent (about 5-8 minutes). Add the cod, saute a little bit and then add the potatoes, mixing it all together. Remove from heat and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350F.

Sauce:

In a medium skillet, melt 2 tbsp of butter and slowly add the corn starch, mixing well. Add the milk and heavy whipping cream and mix until well combined. Add the nutmeg, salt, and pepper and cook over low heat for about 10 minutes or until the sauce has a rich, creamy texture.

Add 2/3 of the sauce to the cod, potatoes, and onion mix and pour into a large baking dish (a 9X13 is about the smallest I would go, it makes a lot!). Cover this mixture with the rest of the sauce and put in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. After the 20 minutes, turn on the broiler and gratin for another 5-8 minutes, keeping an eye on it so it doesn't burn (you want just a golden crust on top). 

Remove from the oven and allow to stand for 5 minutes. Serve with chopped fresh parsley.

*Note: The first time I made this, I cheated on the amount of potatoes I used. I was in kind of a hurry, and I didn't have 3 lbs. The result was that, even baked, the casserole was a little bit runny. It still tastes really good, but this isn't quite the traditional texture. You might not want to cheat :) all I'm saying. 

why I love clearance shopping.

We were headed up to Logan last week, and we were trying to get out the door as fast as possible.
This never happens. We try, we try to leave by 7PM so we can get there before 9PM, but we always have other things we decided we need to do and we never get there before 11PM. But I had been planning for it all day. I knew what dinner was going to be before I got to work, so I hoped that I would get home and have dinner ready and then we could eat and then leave quickly.

Potato wedges baked in garlic, and chicken marinated in dijon dressing. It was going to be half an hour, probably before Jeremy even got home from work, and we could eat as soon as he walked in the door.

The idea morphed by the time I got home. I don't know why making potatoes seemed like more effort than I was willing to go to, but it was. So I decided to put them together, with a different dressing.
Three ingredients:

1. Red potatoes (given to us by my mother-in-law the week before)
2. Chicken drumsticks (we found an incredi-sale on meat at Smith's one day. 5 drumsticks were $1.75)
3. Sweet vidalia onion dressing (one16 oz. bottle- part of a different clearance rack at a different Smith's. $0.49 a bottle)

I did cut the potatoes in half, but otherwise I was not up for effort. I threw it all into a glass baking pan. I stirred everything around to make sure it was covered in dressing, and put it in the oven at 350 for about 40 minutes.

So I cheated on the picture a little bit. I didn't serve it with broccoli, but the picture I remembered to take after we'd eaten most of it wasn't as appetizing as I thought. But it looked like this. Minus broccoli. 

It was absolutely delicious. And the whole thing cost us $2.24.

And that's why I love clearance shopping.

on babies and busy schedules- new spin on lasagna.

Jeremy and I have a couple of good friends that just had their first baby, and we were (and still are!) so excited for them. It was especially fun to tease the mom, Kana, about how enormously huge she was not even 5 months into her pregnancy. We were also excited about being able to bring them dinner one night the first week that Kana and her baby came home from the hospital.

Only we weren't actually home the week they came home from the hospital.


Fortunately, there were lots of other great people around to help them get back into the normal routine of things and brought them dinner for a week or two. But Jeremy and I felt terrible for not being around to offer any assistance, nutritional, social, or otherwise, so we decided we'd make it up to them. By texting them in the middle of the week.

"It's already in the works, so don't make anything for dinner tonight."

Both Kana and Ed laughed at us. But as Ed was also in the middle of his last finals, Kana was happy to postpone whatever they planned to eat that night (and yelled at Ed as soon as he started making lunch, "DON'T MAKE DINNER!" Poor Ed. "I was just making lunch!" Kana- "Well... I guess that's okay.").

So I found a great lasagna recipe; it's unlike any other lasagna I've tried before. And it was delicious.

Chili-Cheese Lasagna

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 jar (24 oz.) spaghetti sauce)
• 1/4 c. water
• 1 can (15 oz.) black beans, rinsed
• 1 green pepper, finely chopped
• 3/4 c. salsa
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder
• 9 lasagna noodles, cooked
• 1-1/2 c. cottage cheese
• 1-1/2 cup Mexican style shredded cheese 

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Brown beef and garlic in a large skillet. Add next 6 ingredients; stir. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Grease a 13x9-inch baking pan, then spread 2 cups of the meat sauce on the bottom of the pan. Cover with layers of 3 noodles, 1/2 cup of cottage cheese, 1/2 cup of shredded cheese, and 2 cups of the remaining meat sauce. Repeat these layers twice, and then top with the remaining shredded cheese. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and bake for 1 hour- after an hour, remove the foil and bake for an additional 10 minutes. Let the lasagna stand for 10 minutes before cutting to serve.


Thanks to kraftrecipes.com for the great recipe!

Venison: A Trial of Lots and Lots of Deer Meat

When Jeremy and I went to visit my family for Christmas, Bridian gave us what seemed like a thousand pounds of "meat"- most of it was definitely homemade packaging, some of it said "sausage", some had little boxes on it that a hunter marks (and each had different marks, don't worry), but Bridian explained it was all deer meat, just stored in different ways. She lives in Texas and works with hunters. Go figure.

The conversation preceding us possessing 10 (okay, not a thousand) pounds of venison went something like this:

"Hey, do you guys want some deer meat?"

"...uh. What?"

"Deer meat."

"I heard you."

"It cooks just like ground beef. Except for the sausage. We had that for lunch today."

(I remembered lunch, that it was good and then wondered if I really wanted to remember it being good anymore. I really was very, very hesitant to this deer idea.)

Jeremy said, "Sure!" remembering how much he had loved lunch, and we put it in the back of our car. It was December, so it stayed in the trunk very well preserved until we got home. And I had to figure out what to do with that.

So this is part 1 of what I did with the deer meat. And I have to say, especially to anyone else who is hesitant about venison and not wanting to continue reading this, it's pretty tasty. Good things ahead, I promise. And if you want to just use ground beef, most of the recipes are intended for ground beef. Either is good.

[Just an insert- we finished the deer a while ago, I just haven't posted in a very long time. I don't know if deer really will keep forever or not. So we just... used it.]


Quesadilla Casserole

• 1 lb. ground venison
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2- 8oz. cans tomato sauce
• 1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (4.5 oz.) chopped green chiles, undrained
• 1 can (8.75 oz) whole kernel corn, undrained
• 6 flour tortillas (8-inch)
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
• 2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1/2 tsp oregano leaves
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1. Brown venison and onion in a large skillet on medium-high heat; drain. [Draining is especially important. Deer fat's gross]
2. Add tomato sauce, beans, corn, and green chiles; mix well.
3. Stir in all of the spices except red pepper. Bring to a boil. 
4. Reduce to low heat and simmer 5 minutes. Add red pepper to taste.
5. Spread 1/2 cup of the venison mixture on the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish sprayed with no-stick cooking spray. Top with 3 of the tortillas, overlapping as needed. Layer with 1/2 of the remaining beef mixture and 1/2 of the cheese. Repeat with remaining tortillas, venison mixture, and cheese.
6. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes or until heated through. Let stand about 5 minutes before serving.

So good :)

Cordon Bleu: How To Host On Your Living Room Floor

Jeremy and I love Scott Christofferson. Really. He's one of our favorite people. We invited him over for dinner Wednesday night because we just wanted an excuse to see him. So hey, why not offer food?

(Let's be honest. He wanted to come over anyway. We threw in food when we already knew he was coming.)

But then Jeremy had an accident snowboarding when he tried to flip off the roof  did something to cause a muscle spasm in his back, and Tuesday night/Wednesday morning learned that he couldn't walk. Or get out of bed. Or even sit up. 

I called Scotty. Jeremy had made it to our bedroom floor and had spent the morning trying to rotate between his back and stomach, depending on which hurt less, so I told Scotty that unless he wanted to picnic on our floor, maybe we'd better not do dinner. He was a little bit distraught and asked if we could reschedule. Immediately. I said, "Of course! Scotty, we really don't mind picnicking on our floor. If you're okay with it, come over." It was more than a little tongue-in-cheek. Not that we really would've been opposed, but... When I invite someone over to dinner, I guess my expectation was to serve them good food at a table with pleasant conversation, just an overall good time. 

My expectation changed. Scotty said, "That sounds great. See you at 5:30."

I laughed after I hung up the phone. Why was I even surprised? I texted Jeremy (knowing his phone was within arm's reach) "Scotty wants to have a picnic on our floor :)" to which he responded, "Sweet."

So I went to my classes, and maybe during one of them, I found what looked like a relatively simple recipe for cordon bleu, which is one of Jeremy's favorite dishes. This has previously been a little intimidating because I'd always thought cordon bleu was complicated to make. Turns out, it really isn't too bad, I just needed a couple of things. Swiss cheese slices, for example.  I ran to the grocery story when we got out of class early, running around just a little bit because I remembered Jeremy dragging himself across the floor to get to the bathroom earlier that morning and was more than a little worried about leaving him alone for the duration of my classes that afternoon. 

When I got home, Jeremy had managed to stay comfortably propped up on some pillows against the foot of the bed and had been pretty content to get some work done on his laptop. As I started pulling things out to start dinner, he said that he wanted to at least come sit in by where I was. Thanks to my grandparents, we have a lazy boy that meant Jeremy could sit and talk to me while I made dinner. 

Which I imagine was a little entertaining. But I promise, this recipe is easy.

Ingredients:

• 6 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, thawed
• 6 slices Swiss cheese
• 6 slices ham
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 6 tablespoons of butter
• 1/4 apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 teaspoon chicken bouillon granules (or a small chicken bouillon cube)
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream

1. Pound the chicken breasts if they are too thick. Place a cheese and ham slice on each breast within 1/2 inch of the edges. fold the edges of the chicken over the filling, and secure with toothpicks.

I used an actual hammer, and this is what started my disbelief that this was going to turn out anything like cordon bleu I've had in the past. My chicken was still a little bit frozen, so sometimes when I hit the first piece of chicken, I made holes in it. Which I said out loud. Jeremy's disbelief started then too. "Um, yeah. Don't do that."

So I figured out how to not make holes in the chicken, and managed to wrap all of my chicken pieces with ham and cheese inside. I still was not convinced it was right and was sure I was just making a mess. I said to Jeremy, "Let's just not call this cordon bleu, okay? We'll just give it a new name." 

"A rose by any other name..." 

"Smells just as sweet? I'm not really worried it's not going to taste good, it just doesn't look like your conventional cordon bleu."

"Right, so it's fine if you rename it."

I rolled the last one and gave a pathetic laugh that turned into a whine as I set it on the plate to be cooked. Jeremy said, "That bad, huh?" I shouldn't have told him it was cordon bleu either.

2. Mix the flour and the paprika, and coat the chicken pieces.

Simple enough. I just thought it made my already ugly wraps look even uglier.

But then, the redeeming step.

3. Heat the butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat, and cook the chicken until browned on all sides.

Cooking it is what did it. Yes, there are definitely prettier ways to wrap chicken, cheese, and ham, but if you are concerned you aren't doing a good enough job, don't worry. Cooking the chicken changes your outlook on everything. It looks like cordon bleu, and you realize you haven't ruined a good name.

Well, I was relieved anyway.

4. Add the apple cider vinegar, water, and bouillon. Reduce heat to low, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes, until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

This starts to smell fantastic. Jeremy's disbelief disappeared when he smelled it. I was boiling potatoes at the same time (this is great with mashed potatoes) and something was burning on the burner, and that's all I could smell. "Oh no," I said, "what's burning..." sure that I, again, had actually ruined everything. "I don't know what you're smelling, but that chicken smells fantastic." I pulled off the lid and it overpowered the little piece of whatever stuck on the burner. 

5. Remove the toothpicks and transfer the chicken to a warm platter. Blend the cornstarch and cream in a small bowl, and whisk slowly into the same skillet with the remaining vinegar and spices. Cook, stirring until thickened, and pour over the chicken. Serve warm.

My only advice here is to be careful with the toothpicks. They've just been partially cooked into the chicken, so they're a little stubborn and incredibly hot. 

We laid out a blanket in our front room, used stemware and cloth napkins, and served pomegranate 7up. And Jeremy spent the meal alternating between sitting up and laying on his side. All in all, a success. As far as muscle spasmed backs and picnics on the floor go :)

Just an update: Jeremy is doing much better. He can walk, get up and down, lift things, and perform most normal life tasks without any assistance. But it made for an adventurous and creative couple of days!

Saturday Afternoon Pancakes

We drove to Texas for Christmas, and we made the mistake of making the drive down in one day again. It's 15 hours, not the worst thing in the world, but we fell asleep at 8PM Friday night, woke up at midnight to actually start our packing, and only slept again when it was not our turn to drive the next afternoon. Just in time for 9AM church on Sunday morning.

Yay.

Christmas was great, even though the break included a fair amount of sleeping, and by the time we'd managed to normal out a little bit, it was time to head home. We left on Thursday, we stopped by Roswell, NM and then stayed at a hotel around Santa Fe so we could run around downtown Santa Fe on Friday, finish the drive Friday afternoon/evening and be home at a decent hour. Except we stayed too long in Santa Fe to get home at a normal hour. So we got home just before 3AM Saturday morning. I'd come down with a cold and sore throat on the way home and hadn't been able to sleep well in Santa Fe the night before, so I took some Nyquil as I was getting ready to go to sleep.

I re-learned why I don't take medicine. I have no idea what time Jeremy woke up. I woke up Saturday afternoon at 2PM.

Jeremy, sweetheart that he is, didn't want to do anything that made noise so that I would stay asleep. (Little did he know, with that alcohol in my system, he could've run a chainsaw in our room if he wanted and I wouldn't have even flinched.) He didn't make/eat breakfast, afraid it would be too noisy, so when I finally woke up we were both starving. We wanted food that required minimal effort, and we wanted something very filling. Cold cereal was out.

I pulled out the box of pancake mix and in looking for the ratio of mix to water, I found some "suggested serving" ideas on one of the panels. It said, "Apple-filled Pancakes: Follow pancake directions. Cover portion with chopped pie apples. Fold like turnovers, sprinkle with cinnamon and serve with syrup or honey."

I thought that sounded pretty good, and while we didn't have apples, we did have a jar of apple pie filling from my aunt who bottles her own. Yes, I could've saved the pie filling for an actual pie, but why save it when you can have apple pie turnovers for breakfast?

They really were as quick as making pancakes, just adding an extra step or two. Mix the pancake mix (runnier is better for this recipe- you want the pancakes cooked through almost completely before you fold it in half. Just like omelets, the inside never really sees the hot part of the pan, so thin pancakes is more effective.), when the pancake looks ready to flip, put pie filling on half the pancake, then fold the pancake in half over the top of the apples. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

I used butter on the pan between each pancake just to make sure they didn't stick. It turned out to make each turnover easy to get out of the pan and onto the plate.

They were delicious :)

A Not-As-Quick-But-Well-Worth-Your-Effort Indian Curry Recipe

So Jeremy's in Africa. Which means I have absolutely no desire to cook. Why go to all that effort for just one person?

Okay, let's be honest, the point of this blog is "minimal to no effort in even less time."

So really what I'm saying is that I'd be okay with food just hopping in my mouth as I walk out the door to work or to study somewhere besides our house.

But on Sunday, my friend Ashley told me she loves to make curry and was missing some random ingredients that I happened to have. So we scheduled dinner for Monday night. But then, Monday night I spent on campus and didn't come home til 1:30. Long before then, I texted her to tell her I was swamped and could we maybe reschedule to Tuesday?

Tuesday was great with them, we were going to eat at 6:30. I got enough done Monday for finals week that Tuesday was a little more relaxed. Tuesday morning we sent several texts back and forth about what things I had, what she had, etc. Then at about 4:30, I get this from her-

Ashley: Ugh. So we may have to move curry to another night AGAIN... Our stove is broken and we're going back and forth with the management company and electricians... I'll keep you posted :/

An hour an a half later-

Ashley: So far it's not looking good. They said the electrician would be here to fix it any time now, but he's still not here. Perhaps closer to 7...

Me: Which works fine for me :) Just keep me updated.

About an hour later, Ashley learned that not only was her oven not working, neither was her dryer, and their electrician seemed like he was just confused about how the lights even came on. I just felt bad, maybe it would've been better if I'd just gone the night before and gotten everything else done on Tuesday, not only was dinner canceled (and she and her husband were SUPER excited about it) but they also had several appliances in their house that weren't working. I thought about offering to cook it at my house and bringing it back (they have dogs that can't be left alone yet) but that seemed crazy. But then...

Me: I'd offer my house, but your dogs can't be by themselves... Let's see what happens with the electrician tomorrow?

Ashley: Can we cook out there and bring it here? I know that's weird but Ismael could stay while we cooked...

Ashley: Meh really whatever is fine. Just rereading that sounds inconvenient for you and that's the last thing I want :)

Me: I was actually going to suggest that but wondered if it sounded crazy :) I'm game if you guys are


They were. So Ashley came over a little while after that and we made curry. Oh my gosh, it was good. And my house still smells like curry, and I love it. Except that I've been eating leftovers (and by leftovers I mean the pizza I bought Monday night when we didn't have curry and only finished YESTERDAY) since then because I'm SO lazy...

Whatever.

Indian Curry

• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• (1) 3 Tbsp curry powder
• (2) 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• (3) 1 tsp paprika
• (4) 1 bay leaf
• (5) 1/2 tsp grated ginger root
• (6) 1/2 tsp white sugar
• salt to taste
• 2 chicken breasts, cubed
• (7) 1 Tbsp tomato paste
• (8) 1 cup plain yogurt
• (9) 3/4 cup coconut milk
• 1/2 lemon, juiced (or a few teaspoons of lemon juice, whichever you prefer)
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Saute onions/garlic. When brown, add ingredients 1-6 (it's easier if you mix them in a bowl before hand and then add everything at the same time). Stir for 2 minutes. Add chicken. Add ingredients 7-9, bring to a boil. Reduce heat immediately and simmer for 25 minutes. Add lemon and cayenne pepper, then simmer an additional five minutes. Serve with rice.

If you like curry, this is a fantastic recipe. If you don't like curry, it's still a great recipe. Just maybe not for you :)

When Jeremy Cooks- A Text Conversation

Just a disclaimer right now: I realized I needed to take pictures after we'd eaten everything :( Sorry Jared!

So last night I was sitting in class and I realized I was absolutely starving. I texted Jeremy, who was driving home from work, that I was ready to eat my hands.

Jeremy: That's weird.

Me: I'm starving!

Jeremy: It'd still be weird. What are we doing for dinner? Can-should I start it?

Me: Starvation makes you do weird things, I s'pose. Yes, you can and that sounds like a great idea.

Jeremy: So... what should I be making?

Me: Sweet and sour pork. I'll text you directions in just a second.

Jeremy: Remember it needs to be done before I come get you...

Me: Dinner? Mmm. Let me pick something else. This takes too long.

So I just started putting together some ingredients in my head, things we had, what would be quick, easy, and ready to go by the time Jeremy needed to leave to get me.

I came up with something that I thought was time friendly. If put the chicken in the sink with hot water running over it, started the rice, chopped while the chicken thawed a little bit, all of it would be done about 20 minutes later. So I texted Jeremy.

Me: Can you cook the chicken in the freezer and put rice in the rice cooker?
Me: Use olive oil and chop the green onions and bell peppers in the right bottom drawer.
Me: (for the chicken)
Me: And then use some lemon pepper on all of it. Fry all of it together.
Me: And when it's almost done frying, add a can of corn with peppers from the top shelf of the cupboard.
Me: Don't drain the can.
Me: Probably throw in half a regular onion, big sideways slices, in with the frying mix
Me: Questions? :)

Jeremy: This won't be done in time.

Me: You don't need to leave for 20 minutes. While the chicken sets in hot water, chop the vegetables.
Me: Hot water in the sink. So it thaws.

Jeremy: Okay.

Me: :D

Jeremy: Fine.

Me: Thanks love.

Me: Salt and pepper to the frying mix too.

This conversation ended at 6:20. About ten minutes later:

Jeremy: How does the rice cooker work? One to one?

Me: One cup of rice, two cups of water.

...

We decided to meet in my office on campus because we were having family home evening on campus. With the rice question timing, I just wasn't sure what to expect. Jeremy walked into my office about 15 minutes after that.

Holding a container of milk and a container of cereal.


When we got home from campus, the rice was done in the rice cooker and had been warming for however long, the chicken was defrosted and waiting in the fridge, and the vegetables were all chopped and in a ziploc bag. So I threw it all in a frying pan with some olive oil, left out the can of corn and onions and lemon pepper, and fried everything for maybe 5-7 minutes, adding a garlic salt seasoning blend to taste. It was so good. So good that we ate all of it, which rarely happens because I make more than we can eat.

Evidently, that cereal helped us to work up an appetite.

The Moncurs For Dinner

What a strange title. We didn't eat the Moncurs, don't worry.

This is Rob and Lisa Moncur. Jeremy and I met Rob when Jeremy and I met- we all lived at King Henry. Then, through more King Henry ward connections, Rob met Lisa, they started dating, they got married just before Jeremy and I got engaged, and Lisa and I recently learned that we were rooting for the other couple to get married and never even put the other's maiden name into our phone. Lisa has been Lisa Moncur in my phone since I met her, and I've been Alyssa Lindström in hers.

All of that was to say, we really like them :)

We're learning about the whole married friend thing, and we love it, but we aren't very good (yet) at coordinating get-togethers. So the week before Thanksgiving, I said, "Jeremy, let's have them over for dinner next week!"

"...next week is Thanksgiving..."

"Oh. I meant the next week."

Look at us accidentally planning dinner two weeks in advance.

While we want to get great at doing dinners with our friends, this particular dinner was blog-worthy because it was... well, an adventure. For lack of a better word.

One con of planning so far in advance is that other things happen, and you forget about what’s happening in two weeks. Or sometimes even the next day. After reading a text, Jeremy told me on Saturday, less than a week before our planned dinner, “Oh, I forgot I told Patrice I’d help with a show on Wednesday.” “Okay, cool.” No reaction about Wednesday’s dinner. I forgot, and so did he. Until the next day.

In sacrament meeting. As it turns out, the best place for good ideas.

We just decided we’d need to cancel because the commitment to the show was made before the invitation to dinner was extended. But I forgot to call and cancel. Until Tuesday afternoon when Jeremy learned he wasn’t needed for the show. Lucky for us.

We also forgot that we needed to make time for tithing settlement. 7PM Wednesday night. Dinner with Rob and Lisa, 7:30PM. Not a big deal, right? Oh wait, I have class til 6:30. Oops.

But it was okay. I had Rachel Ray’s “30-minute Meals For Get Togethers” to save me. Used book store on our honeymoon. What a great find. Jeremy picked me up a little bit early from class (we got out early, just not as early as I needed) and we grabbed the few things we needed at the grocery store and I put him to work chopping onions while I threw the meat in the oven.

PORK TENDERLOINS

• Package of tenderloins large enough for your party
• Balsamic vinegar for drizzling (about 3 tablespoons)
• Extra-virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• Half the number of your tenderloins. Use that many garlic cloves, and crack them.
• Steak seasoning blend (whatever your preference is)
• Rosemary
• Thyme

Preheat oven to 500•F. Trim fat off of tenderloins and place on a cookie sheet with a rim. Coat in a few tablespoons of balsamic vinegar, rubbing the vinegar into the meat. Drizzle the tenderloins with olive oil, just enough to coat. Cut small slits into the meat and disperse chunks of crack garlic cloves into the tenderloins. Combine the seasoning blend with the rosemary and thyme, and rub the meat with the mixture. Roast in the hot oven 20-25 minutes. Let meat cool, slice and serve.

My mistake: We didn’t have enough time for the tenderloins to finish cooking. They’d only been coking about ten minutes when we had to leave, and I decided that turning the oven off right then would mean they would have enough time in a still hot oven to finish cooking and then the oven would be cool.

Nope. We didn’t serve any pork with our meal.

When we got home from tithing settlement, I was just so sad that I’d really not thought that one through and ruined what had potential to be fantastic meat. It smelled so good while it was roasting! Jeremy, in an attempt to comfort me, said, “At least it’s not like you’re feeding my parents and they hate you and this is your only chance to impress them.”

“Just let me be disappointed for a minute, okay?”

“That is letting you be disappointed! I’m just telling you it really is okay and not the end of the world. We’re also not running to McDonald’s to feed Rob and Lisa. You’ve got plenty of food.”

“Would you just go set the table?!”

It’s hard, even pretending to be annoyed with him.

We did have plenty of food. The meal that Rachel Ray planned was pretty simple, so I’d done three parts (there were four, but we just didn’t need the cheese wheel too.) Tortellini with a delicious garlic sauce and ratatouille. Yes, we ate ratatouille. I was pretty dang excited about actually making and eating that dish. Disney made it pretty big, it’s gotta be good, right? And turns out, it’s not all that complicated.

RATATOUILLE (this recipe makes a lot. Feel free to cut it in half, and it still is in pretty generous proportions)

• 1 large red bell pepper, cut lengthwise into 1-inch strips
• 1 medium sliced onion, sliced
• 1 medium eggplant, sliced into ½-inch pieces, piled and quartered
• 4 plum sliced tomatoes, quartered lengthwise
• 6 cloves garlic, crushed
• Olive oil, to coat
• Rosemary (3 tablespoons)
• Pepper and salt to taste

Preheat oven to 500•F. Combine the vegetables and garlic on a cookie sheet (this is what the recipe suggests, I used a 9X13 baking dish. Roasting time is cut down when they’re more spread out, but not by too much). Drizzle liberally with olive oil and season with rosemary, pepper, and salt. Toss to coat vegetables evenly. Roast until just tender, about 15 minutes.

TORTELLINI

• 1 package of cheese-filled or mushroom-filled tortellini (you can definitely buy it not filled and do it yourself, but a fairly large package was $2 at Smiths, so I did it this way. Cheap, and takes a lot less time)
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 2 cloves garlic
• 2/3 cup grated Parmigiano cheese
• ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
• ¼ cup olive oil

Put a pot of water on to boil. Cook the tortellini as directed. Heat 1 cup of chicken broth to boil and remove from heat. Mix broth, garlic, cheese, nutmeg, olive oil, and salt and pepper. Toss hot, cooked tortellini in with the sauce. Yum.

Besides the tenderloin tragedy, dinner went really well, and it was so fun to see Rob and Lisa, and, of course, tell them our anecdotal dinner adventures. Lisa made a delicious zucchini cake and was missing an egg in the process of baking aforementioned cake, so they understood that, you know, sometimes things happen.

And they usually happen when you really don’t have time for them to happen :) of course.