food

alright, so i love food. i will never, ever be the skinniest girl in the room due to this statement. (oh, and i like beer a lot too...so i don't have a chance.) anyway, i love eating and i love cooking. however, i'm much better at eating than cooking. i used to love to cook, and now i say "ah, i just don't have time"or make up some other lame excuse. i decided (on saturday..while pondering the grocery list) that we were in a bit of a food rut (that usually includes some sort of grilled meat, something 'roni', and a canned or frozen vegetable...boooringggg.) and this week i was going to make 4 different meals that i've never made before. (think julie & julia with a pregnant lady, and 4 days instead of a year) i found the (easy) recipes and wrote up the ingredients for coupon nazi to go to the store. i thought i'd share my weeks worth of recipes (via links) & experiences. if food isn't your thing...well, you are just weird.

day one
i came home today with high hopes about my cooking adventure for the week...until i walked in the house and the entire recycling trashcan was overturned (by the dog) and stuff was strewn all over the house, making the downstairs look like a frat party took place while i was at work. (ie/pizza boxes, beer bottles, newspapers...etc) there was also a massive pile of dog shit next to the overturned can...just for good measure? in the 4 years we've had penelope...she has never, ever shit in the house. (guess there is a first time for everything.) so after i cleaned up the mess, i got crackin' on dinner. here is the result:

chicken with bacon in white wine sauce

butch opened the door and said, 'WOW it smells really good in here!' (i was thinking...sure beats the wall of dog shit that i walked into.) he galloped into the kitchen...looked at the food, then looked at me, then back at the food. (no, i'm not trying to poison you...i just decided to cook.) as he was eating he looked over (slowly chewing) and said, 'so why are you doing this again?' i said, 'i'm sick of the same old stuff we eat every week...wanted to try some new stuff.' he looked leary. 'well don't stop. this is good shit.' thanks....and it was good shit. (quite honestly, anything with bacon and wine in the recipe is alright with me.) day one, success.

day two
i was driving home from work, trying to channel martha for tonight's cooking adventure and  'shoop' by salt 'n pepa came on the radio. i unexpectedly turned into a white pregnant rapping gangster. windows down, music up...spittin' rhymes like tupac. i knew every word and i thought i was really awesome...until i came to a red light, sneezed...and peed my pants slightly. (for those of you that don't know, this sometimes happens when you are pregnant.) nothing will snap you back into reality like peeing your own pants. anyway...i got home to start meal two for the week (and change my pants) and after a rough start it actually turned out really well. turns out i didn't read the directions thoroughly the first time, and the recipe called for the fish to be grilled. that would've been fantastic, but i didn't have foil...so i had to wing it. i basically followed the recipe below, but used a saute pan and then baked it in the oven for 15 minutes. i also made a basil and tomato cous cous to go along with it. (it was a fan favorite at our house...even though i'm pretty sure butch still thinks that i lost my mind, or am adding poison to his plate.)

tilapia with white wine tomatoes and basil

day three
today on the way home i had to stop at the library for some books for school. as we walked through the 2 large automatic sliding doors ella yells on the top of her lungs, "THANK YOU!"(sounds like DANK DUUUU!) while going through both doors. (like there was a personal door opener just for her) there were a few chuckles as we made our grand entrance. i always worry venturing inside a (quiet) library with an almost 2 year old...because they can be so damn unpredictable. luckily, she was pretty well behaved, but half way through our visit decided that she no longer wanted to walk forward to get from point A to point B...but walking backwards was much better. so i let her hold my hand and walk backwards...we got stares, but whatever. (she was also wearing a leopard print fleece jacket, pants with hearts all over them, and plaid shoes...only adding to her "special" behavior.) when we arrived home, i was smacked in the face by a delicious aroma. the crock pot had been simmering all day with a rather large piece of pork inside. today's dinner? pulled pork sandwiches. (yummmmmmy.) if you are going to try any of these recipes, i suggest this be it. it was super easy and super good. (my friend fen joined us for dinner tonight, and she agreed that these were bangin'.) butch said it tasted like filet mignon. (totally different animal, but i get the point...)

pulled pork sandwiches

day four

today i got an email from fen that said, "i was in the shower this AM thinking about the pork...mmmm..so good." about 52 inappropriate responses came to my mind...but i went with, "glad my pork has that effect on you." (what a fool. she sets herself up...every. time.) anyway, i got home and decided that the bathroom needed to be cleaned and was on my hands and knees (still in my work clothes) scrubbing the floor when butch walked in the door. (nesting: it's no joke.) he then had the audacity to stand in the doorway (heineken in hand) and give me tips on how to do it. i looked up and said, "um, watch yourself. when was the last time YOU got on your hands and knees to do a floor...i think never." he started laughing. (not very funny pal.) after the bathroom was sparkling, i started dinner. not gonna lie, i took a lot of help from the store on this one. turns out zatarains does a fine job with jambalya rice, so i'm not going to mess with their expertise. however, i did saute a quarter of an onion and a clove of garlic first, and then added chicken broth instead of water. i also used cajun flavored chicken sausage as the meat. the result was pretty excellent.

jambalaya

so what's for dinner tomorrow? i don't know...but i'm not making it. heineken harry better take me out somewhere...or next week there will be an arsenic concoction laced in one of his delicious dishes.






"i cook with wine, sometimes i even add it to the food." -w.c. fields