Seduced

1. couple of bbq ribs
2. pasta salad
3. banana pudding

Pasta salad. Imagine me SPITTING the words. Try again...pasta salad. I was seduced my friends. My head was turned alright. Curly rotini pasta drenched in pesto with tomatoes and tiny mozzarella balls. You know I'm a sucker for tiny mozzarella balls. And cheap. If there's one thing I like better than tiny mozzarella balls it's cheap stuff so if you combine the two...well look out Rhonda! Oh. What a disappointment. This looker was all show and no go. Big talk, slow walk. A teaser. Not a pleaser. You might have fooled me once Fresh&Easy, but I won't get fooled again!

Banana pudding. Imagine me saying it like "hello lover". Now lick your lips and go mmmmmmm. But not in a gross way. This is a family friendly blog. Now banana pudding sure doesn't look like much to write home about the second day, but could sure teach pasta salad a thing or two about satisfaction. Beauty is more than skin deep you know. Books shouldn't be judge by the cover. People shouldn't drink coffee after midnight and go on and on about their stupid lunch. Sorry. Want to know how I make it? It's awfully good and if you've only ever had pudding from a box you owe it to yourself to at least try this once. Live a little!

I like the recipe right off the Nilla Wafer box, but with a few changes. First of all - there will be no meringue. I don't care for it. Also, there will be more pudding, twice as much, so double the sugar (just one cup, the other 1/4 cup in the original recipe is for the meringue), flour, salt, vanilla and milk. 5 eggs is plenty. I just think this makes for a much nicer custard to other stuff ratio than the original recipe. Of course you'll think the same. I'm sure of it. Since I don't do a meringue it doesn't need to go in a baking dish so I just use my biggest bowl. I also don't count cookies. Counting cookies is for LOSERS, but basically you open the box and whatever doesn't get eaten while the custard cooks goes in the pudding. 5 bananas are plenty too, don't double that! I usually end up using 4. One tip though, and this is critical, make sure the bananas are plenty ripe, not banana bread ripe but after all the green is gone and they get brown speckles and start to smell like bananas. Sometimes if I'm feeling sassy I'll dump some whipped cream on top, of course I'm not a Presbyterian so I think it's okay.

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Nicoise, Very Nicoise

1. tuna
2. potatoes
3. green beans
4. eggs
5. tomatoes

This was a plenty good and serviceable dinner served warmed with the leftovers reassembled into a plenty good and serviceable lunch served cold. Or room temperature really. Have I ever mentioned that I don't refrigerate my lunch? Ever? You probably should. And you too. Especially you. Do as I say, not as I do and all that. Food safety! Salmonella! PLAGUE! Certain. Death. But if you don't die, there's just something awfully special that happens when hard cooked egg meets mustard vinaigrette with the snap of a green bean, the smoosh of a potato and the pop of a tomato and it isn't cold or hot but just right.

See those tiny potatoes? I've been buying those from Fresh & Easy and I love, love, love them. They are so tiny, and cute, and little, and small, and oh, you know, but they cook SUPAH fast and they're kind of sweet and there's even a purple one in the mix. I have a vague suspicion there might be some serious genetic engineering going on there but I'm gonna choose not to dwell on it. Because they are just so damn cute.

Oh, I should tell you about the dressing! I sometimes make vinaigrette in the blender but usually in a bowl with a whisk. Mainly because I don't want to have to wash the blender. You might think a lazy person like myself would just put everything in a jar and shake it and have even less to wash. You'd be wrong. Until now anyway. I'm officially a shaken vinaigrette convert so it's kind of my duty to proselytize - you might think it's the most obvious thing in the world but clearly SOMEONE failed to let me know about it so there could be others out there. People like me. People who have no idea. This is my mission. My destiny.

Mustardy Vinaigrette Dressing

30ml apple cider vinegar
120ml olive oil
1 T coarse ground mustard
1 clove of garlic smashed hard
1 lemon, squeezed
1 quick squeeze o' honey (a teaspoon tops)
big pinch of salt
bigger pinch of pepper

Pour everything into your vinaigrette making container with a tight fitting lid cleverly marked in mls on the side for your measuring convenience. You might know this by it's other name, "water bottle". Apply lid. Shake like mad. Pour over your food. Eat. Store leftover dressing in the fridge in the, wait for it, same container you used to make it in. I know, right???

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I'm Going to Miss the Free Citrus

1. costco chicken with pomegranate jus
2. pureed maple carrots aka Plan B Carrots
3. lemon bar made from the last of the lemons
4. last of the kumquats

If you knew me you'd know I recently got a pressure cooker. You'd also know that was really exciting to me because you'd have heard me talking about it all the freakin' time. I pretty much love it. It's so fast you guys! Like a microwave only less creepy. So, carrots. That should take like ... 5 minutes? Apparently not. Pressure cook carrots for 5 minutes and take a peek. Looks fine right? Now try to pick one up. Psych! Remember when it used to be cool to yell Psych! Yeah, me neither.
Plan B. Scoop up the "carrots" and smoosh 'em around with some butter, salt and a drizzle of maple syrup. Realize pureed maple carrots rock! Pretend they turned out just the way you planned.

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Is There a Season for Salmon?

1. grilled salmon
2. fennel and grapefruit salad
3. chunk of bread that wasn't nearly as big as it looks

Sometimes I think my enjoyment of a particular food item is inversely proportional to it's cost. But enough about expensive fish that's probably out of season or whatever - should probably just remind myself that I live in the middle of the freakin' desert. Anyway, check out those grill marks! That pan was worth every penny of the 20 bucks I paid for it. And the salad? That I could eat again and again. Crisp and cool and just different enough to feel a teeny bit exotic. You can make it too!

Fennel and Grapefruit Salad

Chop up a small red onion and a head of fennel in the smallest dice you have the patience for. Supreme out a grapefruit and hack that up too. Mix up your favorite vinaigrette*, dump it on top and stick in the fridge for an hour. Fancy fennel frond garnish is entirely optional.

I used a citrus vinegar from Trader Joe's in this and let me tell you it was lovely.

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An Exception for Every Rule

So what's the rule? If you (meaning me) don't post your lunch on the day that you eat it you don't post it at all. The exception? This post. And probably tomorrow's.

Hey, it's my rule, I can break it if I want!



1. peanut butter sandwich
2. plum jam
3. carrots
4. oreos
5. full fat milk

Looks like a pretty normal lunch, no? A veritable American classic I'd say, if not for that jam on the side business. Let me tell you about that. I -needed- PB&J because I'd already decided on the oreos and milk. Self-explanatory, right? So I started my sandwich and only then discovered that I didn't have an appropriate jelly. There was raspberry which of course can only be eaten on toast, and Seville orange marmalade. Uhm, no. What to do?

I know what to do. Grab a couple of plums off the counter and make your own damn jam, that's what to do. Or you could go to the store. But I didn't, I made jam. Felt like Ma Ingalls making-do during a long cold winter out on the prairie! (Except she probably didn't have plums sitting around. Or sugar.) And best off all it was the most delicious plum jam I've ever had the privilege to smear on bread.

Turns out plum jam is really easy to make, just chop up some fruit and cook it for 1/2 of forever with just enough water to cover and a little sugar to make it sweet until it gets sort of goopy, cool it and eat it. (Feel free to steal this recipe)

See? Look at it? Doesn't it just scream sweet/tart wonderfullness?



Of course the reason I was so dead set on my oreo and milk idea was because I made the oreos. That's right, homemade oreos. None of that nasty cake mix business either! I was inspired by @scatteredmom from Chasing Tomatoes who had been inspired by a recipe found on Smitten Kitchen. I wanted a dark, crisp, thin cookie and the third time was the charm. I was -really- happy with the way these turned out. Want a closer look?



I know right? Here's what I did:

Cookie:
1 1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup dark chocolate cocoa
1 cup sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 stick softened salted butter
1 egg

Filling:
1/2 stick softened salted butter
1/4 cup vegetable shortening
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups powdered sugar

Pre-heat the oven to 375 F.

Stir the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and sugar together then with an electric mixer add in the butter and the egg and mix until it makes a ball. Gently knead it a few

times until it turns into something resembling black play dough.

My small cookie scoop was too big for these (and don't even try a press - trust me) so I scooped out 1 teaspoon sized scoops, rolled them into balls and arranged them on a paper lined cookie sheet. I covered the sheet with waxed paper and smashed the balls flat with the bottom of a beer a glass then peeled away the paper. I ended up with 3 trays of 15 cookies each not counting attrition by tasting. I baked these on sheet at a time on the center rack for 11 minutes.

To make the filling just beat the butter and shortening together with the vanilla, add the sugar and mix on low until smooth, then beat a couple of minutes until fluffy.

Match up your halves for size and fill with a generous sploodge of filling (I used a pastry bag) then smash it down with the matching half.

Eat with milk!

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Rarer than Rubies

A lunch without leftovers? I know! I couldn't help myself, dinner was a delicious sandwich from Flancer's and I ate every last bite! Can't remember the last time I had to pack a lunch without the benefit of leftovers.



1. somen noodles with boiled egg and chives (sauce in the bottle)
2. dumplings with dipping sauce in the panda
3. green beans
4. tomatoes
5. teeny tiny cupcake with a marzipan persimmon on top

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When the Cat's Away

The mice eat scallops!

With the spouse out of the country and girl insisting on salad (!!Iknowright??) it was a great opportunity to indulge in some expensive seafood. The boy was hoping for BACON wrapped scallops but honestly I don't know how you are supposed to get the BACON done without overcooking the scallops. Heck I usually overcook scallops without any complicating factors at all. But not this time. I cooked the BACON first, then managed to get a decent sear on the scallops without overcooking them at all. It was almost like a Christmas miracle.

The puree was an attempt to entice the Boy into loving squash by adding copious amounts of butter and heavy cream. Okay a little butter and a splash of half and half. Either way it didn't work. He still hates.



1. scallops with BACON
2. squash puree
3. some figs and a berry and dried cherries

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Green Chili Chicken Ehn-chih-LAH-dahs

I'm in love with my enchiladas. You know why? It's because they have BEANS in them, black beans, and CORN and not very much cheese. If my enchiladas were human they'd totally be my new boyfriend.



Now and Later Green Chicken Chili Chicken Enchiladas

2 chicken breasts about 12 ounces each, poached and diced (or use rotisserie chicken)
1 can of black beans rinsed (I prefer Goya brand)
1 bag of frozen corn
1 small white onion finely minced
1 can diced green chilis
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups of shredded cheese (I usually use 1/2 jack and 1/2 cheddar)
2 packages corn tortillas (24) total
2 19 ounce cans of green enchilada sauce (Las Palmas is the best)

This recipe makes 3 loaf pans of 8 enchiladas each. We eat one, save one for leftovers and freeze one.

Open 1 can of the enchilada sauce and divide it evenly between the 3 pans. Pour the other can into a mixing bowl. In another bowl mix the chicken, beans, corn, onion, chilis, half of the cheese and the salt.

Dip each tortilla in the enchilada sauce to coat on both sides before filling with about 2 generous tablespoons of the chicken mixture.

Sprinkle the remaining cheese evenly over the three pans and pour the remaining sauce from the bowl over the pan you wish to freeze. Cover that pan tightly and freeze for up to a month.

Cook the other two in a pre-heated 325 degree oven for 35-40 minutes or until the edges of the tortillas start to brown and the sauce is bubbly. The frozen enchiladas will cook in about 60 minutes at 325 degrees.

Top with sour cream, diced tomatos and cilantro leaves.

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This is the Best Thing You've Cooked in a Loooooong Time

Picture this.

Him: "Honey, that was delicious. I really mean it! That was awesome. That was the best thing you've made in a long time, in a looooooong ti ... "

Me: stare.

Him: " ... week or so."

Me: stare.




1. balsamic chicken with mushrooms
2. stewed vegetables

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Questionable. W/Cheese

1. quesadilla with chicken and carmelized onion
2. tomatoes
3. chopped roasted chili waiting to be stirred into sour cream

I think it's telling that spell check wants to change quesadilla to questionable and that's all I'm going to say about that. I will say though that I think it's high time for another Haiku that Blog!. It's been too long. Can't wait to see if I get any haiku'd spam.

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Don't say that later will be better

Now I'm stuck in a moment
And I can't get out of it

I may have mentioned that I'm stuck in a rut. Food wise. Or maybe not. I don't know. Like it matters. Anyway, it's not like I stopped eating or anything but the cooking mojo, she is gone. Or maybe just drunk in the next room. Like really really drunk. And maybe listening to old Smashing Pumpkins songs or maybe U2. Either way.

So this was something different! Something new! Something exciting! Something to frighten the children! Children who by the way are plenty damn old enough to stop sniffing suspiciously at things they don't recognize on their dinner plates. I mean if I was -gonna- try to poison them I would surely have done it by now.



1. grilled chicken kebob
2. Romesco sauce
3. saffron rice
4. grapes

The chicken and sauce were lifted directly from this post at Crepes of Wrath. Stop here for a second and say it with me. Crepes of Wrath. Is there a better name for a food blog? I. think. not.

The chicken was fine, it's really just chicken after all, and I've had it before. The sauce though, the sauce is a revelation. Now it's possible, maybe even likely that I'm ... shall we say ... out of the loop, but I've just never tasted anything like it and I pink fat pink puffy heart rainbow unicorn sprinkles loved it. On chicken, on bread! on my big fat finger; I'm just that easy.

There's a tiny bit left. I think I'm going to make it into a vinaigrette. I'll let you know how that comes out. Unless I just lick it out of the container.

PS. I did use significantly more olive oil that the recipe indicated I'd need. Also, toasted the almonds.

But wait! There's more! Order now and you'll also receive ...



This is Candied Pineapple Coconut Bread from Peabody. Now I'm not sure exactly what went wrong here but this bread, while delicious, is just tooth aching mouth sweating crazy eyed sweet. The only thing I can think of is that I might have inadvertently doubled up on the sugar. I was pretty distracted by trying to wipe out every last smear of Romesco from the food processor bowl you know.

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Meatloaf Sandwiches

Pretty much the only reason to ever make meatloaf.

1. meatloaf sandwiches
2. mashed potato with ginormous slab of butter

I bought a little potato ricer at IKEA the other day that I didn't honestly really think I'd ever use since I have a big crank one somewhere collecting dust. Julie didn't try to stop me though, so I went ahead and got it and now I'm really happy I did 'cause it is SO easy to make just one mashed potato with that thing!

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Buy me some peanuts!

1. hot dog
2. chips and dip
3. grapes
4. one sad and lonely leftover Christmas buckeye

Man. What an unsatisfying lunch. And I love hot dogs. I mean LOVE hot dogs. Passionately. But today? Not so much. And I didn't even mention it was packed in my baseball container! Meh. Damn glad I had the buckeye.

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Roast Pork, Spinach, Polenta

That is all.

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BBQ Salad

A few days ago a co-worker brought in a BBQ Chicken Salad from somewhere made with lettuce, corn, black beans, chicken and cornbread croutons. Cornbread croutons! Why didn't I think of that? Well, this salad isn't that.

This salad is just a mess.

1. lettuce
2. baked potato
3. some beans
4. pulled pork

It was still pretty damn good though. Even without any cornbread croutons.

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Meaty Love Stuffed Buns

1. sweet meaty love stuffed buns
2. salad

At least once a week this winter I've been making a low-rent version of Boeuf Bourguignon and loving it. Amazingly enough the rest of the people that live at my house have been loving it too, even my little teetotaler likes it if enough of the 'devil juice' is drained off!

This of course means no leftovers. Usually. But this time was different. And there was. So I shamelessly stole this idea from my friend Julie and baked some up in some bread dough for lunch the next day.

Très Magnifique! And I quote from SMS; "I don't know what you did when you made this meat buns but they are freaking good."

High praise indeed.

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Frustration with a Side of Optimism

Boo packed my lunch for me today. Of her own choosing. Without prompting. And included a pink fork. That might not sound like a big deal to you, but believe you me - it is. That girl is so far into her own 14 year old self I wasn't even sure she actually realized that anyone else even ate lunch. Other than herself of course ;0

1. screamin' hot keema courtesy of Shan

2. rice

In other news. This whole blogging thing? Muy frustrating. New camera. Can't use it. New computer. Can't use it. New phone. Can't use it. Can't take the picture - can't find the picture - can't post the picture - by the time I find the damn picture AND manage to get it posted I just don't much feel like talkin' anymore.

Bleh.

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Back in the Saddle: Redux

1. teriyaki salmon, pan seared
2. rice with random vegetables

This is was the remains of our token attempt at the whole traditional New Year's eat healthier, live stronger, save money, protect the environment, foster the orphaned ocelots of East Bristol Bay resolution thing. Which should be ending ... right about ... now. But seriously. Eating lunch out every day doesn't do the hiney any favors. Or the pocketbook. So I'm climbin' back up in the packed lunch saddle.

Ha! Who am I kidding? I couldn't wedge my arse into a saddle for love nor fudge. Not even with Crisco. Not that I have any Crisco. What? It makes good pie crust! Don't judge me! And now I've got to be saving all my lunch money for k-cups. Did you hear? I'm in love!

Meet the Keurig:


Love. Love. Love.

So much that I'm thinking about getting this little sweetiefor my desk at work.



I know, right?

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Solid Gold!

What do you do when you're having roasted chicken and the only two vegetables on hand are ones that you know nobody is going to want to eat? You mix them together! Duh.

1. roasted chicken
2. spinach and butternut squash

Kitchen alchemy? Eh. More like spinach and butternut squash kinda mixed together. But I do love me some chicken skin, and sometimes that's enough.

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Boeuf au Vin and Noodles

1. chuck roast braised with onions in shiraz
2. over egg noodles
3. lemon cilantro hummus and pita chips

'Cause that's the fancy kinda eatin' we do around here.

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