Anyways, I've actually planned out a set of meals to make this week! YAY! But I didn't exactly stick to my plan. I made too much food so I had leftovers on Tuesday since Tim isn't home for dinner then, but other than I've stuck to the schedule.
Ok story time: About two years ago, I became obsessed with cooking seasonally. I would go to the farmers market and buy all sorts of fresh produce and yummy cheeses and breads and plan to cook with it, but I could just never find any recipes out of my 30 some (now almost 60!) cookbooks that involved at least one of the ingredients I had (that I could cook since then I lived in a dorm and the kitchen was down 5 floors and through a tunnel into the other building. And if I forgot anything, well, I just had to pack everything up and carry it up to my room and back again.) Anyways, I decided to make an excel spreadsheet of all my recipes, what season the main ingredients are freshest in and eventually I want to list each recipe by the main ingredient. Crazy, I know. But I've almost got the first part done. I just have... 7 more cookbooks to go then I'm done. So anyways, now I'm trying to cook my way through as many recipes as I can get. I've just started this week.
So for monday, I made Ina Garten's Chicken Piccata with Couscous. I wanted to make broccoli, but it just didn't fit in timewise. So there. But it is delicious. Anything piccata is wonderful. I love the lemony-winey taste with the crispiness of the breading with the juiciness of the chicken. Ahh I'm drooling just thinking about. (Ok not really.)
Anyways, so then I had leftovers on Tuesday. I didn't go to classes this morning (bad girl, I know) so I went to the grocery store instead and bought ingredients for lunch and dinner. I made BLTs for lunch, with avocado on mine. Tim hates avocado. He can't even stand to look at it. He sure does not know what he's missing. Then tonight, I made a Pan-Seared Steak with Simple Pan Sauce (from Williams-Sonoma Mastering Beef and Veal) accompainied with a green salad. It was good. I really enjoyed the flavors, although the cut of the meat was not the one called for in the recipe. It actually called for tenderloin, but seeing such that I'm a college student and I'm about to run out of the money I saved from my summer job after this months rent, I bought cheaper cuts that were much chewier. So next time I make this dish, going for the tenderloin.
And for the rest of the week, tomorrow night we are having Bean Salad Wraps from Better Homes and Gardens Cookbook. I am not so sure about beans. Never had much luck with them, although I've only tried once. Then Friday I'm making Tuna with Tangy Onions from Coastal Living Cookbook. Again, never tried cooking fresh tuna (I'm great with the canned stuff) so it will be an adventure. And Saturday (or Sunday if we go out to eat or have plans or something) I will be making a Spinach and Bacon Souffle from Williams-Sonoma Complete Seasons Cookbook. I saw a picture of it and I was immediately hungry for it. Problem: I don't have a souffle dish. I have little ramekins good for creme brulee and other sugary wonderful desserts, but not one large one. So I will make a trip to good ole Fred Meyers to find one and just buy an inexpensive one so I can have it, and then put a really good one on my wedding registry in a few months :)
I truly have too many kitchen things. And I have bought barely any for myself. I inheritied a lot of things from my grandma, and my parents gave me their old stuff (blender, food processor, slow cooker, etc.) when they got new ones. I have so many odd things too. I have a madeline pan. Who really ever has a madeline pan?
Well, me. And even though I have so many kitchen utensils and gadgets, I'm still missing some key things. Well, key to me. Maybe excessive to others. Like a mesh pan cover. For when you cook bacon. To avoid the grease splattering all over your kitchen, like mine did today. And I need an immersion blender. For all sorts of things. Like soups and milkshakes and smoothies and... ok that's all I can think of for now, but I'm sure there are plenty more uses. But I'm getting that for my birthday from my fiance's mom. So my future mother-in-law. Hmm...
I also need a new microwave since I busted mine and it stinks to high heaven. For someone who can cook things from scratch and not poison anyone, I cannot, absolutely cannot make things from a box. It's literally impossible for me. Ok not everything, but most things. And it's more like just using a microwave. I am terrible at using a microwave, but I can sure use a stove or an oven pretty well. Anyways, the short version is that I burnt a frozen pot pie in the microwave and there was smoke and flames and fumes and oh I don't want to remember this. On to the next thing I need (well, more like want, but who's counting?).
I do need a camera. To take pictures of all the things I make. I have a camera, but it eats batteries like the cookie monster. So I have no camera. And it makes me very sad. I want to kidnap (or would it be cameranap?) my dad's but he won't let me because he needs it for train parts. Psh, food is so much more interesting than train parts.
Ahh, it's so late. I should be in bed. But I'm rambling on anyways. I stayed up late in hopes that Tim would call to tell me he's off work early and I would go pick him up, but nope. He's gotta stay till midnight. I'm so glad he's going to be working only one night or none next quarter. But then again he's going to start to have softball so we won't be getting home till 11 then anyways. Who needs sleep, right?
I wish I had a camera. Especially to take pictures of my BLT. It was delicious looking. And tasting. Why are BLTs so good?
Ok. Going to bed now.
Dobrou noc!
No comments:
Post a Comment