Pot Pie Bowl

This probably could have been made better with the addition of chicken pieces, but was completely yummy on its own. I used the leftover chicken broth from the chicken roast? (see previous post) and thickened it with flour, adding white wine for flavor and boiling it down a bit to make a rich gravy. Then I just tore up a fresh baked pilsbury biscuit and added some steamed veggies. Stir and you basically have a homemade pot pie in a bowl (minus the chicken). Pretty genius if you ask me. 

Chicken Roast?

I'm not really sure what to call this. Basically I made the pot roast I watched mom make last night, but with chicken instead of beef and opted to keep the broth for maybe something soup-ish tomorrow instead of for gravy tonight. It turned out to be very tasty. And the best part is, I completely winged it! I may prove to have a learning curve yet! I'm pretty excited because this is one baby step closer to being able to improvise with impunity, which is truly the goal here. 

Swiss Steak

Swiss steak never looked so good! I'm just now starting to realize that all of the big, fancy, special occasion meals that I thought were challenging works of culinary skill are actually pretty easy. They just take some additional ingredients/chopping time and cook for longer than the average dinner. This has always been one of my favorites so I'm glad it was a success. I do wish I had bought a higher quality meat than chuck roast, but I can fix that for next time. 

Raisin Cinnamon Bread

It grew!

I need to remember how long this takes to make so I don't end up staying up late every time. Still yummy though. Well I'm assuming. I haven't cut into them yet. I hope Mom and Dad like it. :)

Red Variation of Pasta Carbonara

So this was an interesting experiment. It was supposed to be creamy carbonara pasta but once I gathered all the ingredients I discovered that my Alfredo sauce had gotten moldy. So I decided to go ahead and try it subbing in regular spaghetti sauce instead. Also since I had pork thawed I subbed in pieces of pork medallions instead of bacon. So it's onions and garlic sauteed in the leftover pork grease and white wine. Then the cooked pasta gets coated in that mixture before adding the sauce which is made by whisking a couple eggs into pasta sauce. After that you melt in some cheese and fresh parsley. Then top with bacon/pork pieces. I decided to stir them in and added a bit more cheese and parsley to garnish. The overall effect was interest. It was rich and creamy but I'm not sure the sauteed items made much of an impact. That may have to do with the sauce substitution though. My only problem with this recipe is that I've never used eggs in such a way so I was worried about how well they'd get cooked. 

This picture was just cool because it actually caught the steam coming off the top. 

Breaded Pork Tenderloins (with cheesy scrambled eggs and pan-seared veggies)

This is a meal I always forget about but is very tasty. And I even found a use for the leftover eggs after I was done breading. Yum all around. I probably could have done a better job with plating but I was too hungry. Still at least I have nice pretty plates now, courtesy of my Aunt Ellen. Thanks!

Cornish Game Hen

This was great fun to make and actually pretty easy, surprisingly. I thought it turned out pretty well. It was tasty at least. The only downside was the inside of the bird kinda reminded me of a certain part of female anatomy so salting the bird thoroughly kinda made me cringe a bit. Other than that, I still had fun making something new and having it actually turn out well. Now just to find an even tinier bird so that I can bake the single serving size version! I will definitely have to try to remember this one. 

And for dessert James made cheesecake. I'm gonna have to leave him home alone with cream cheese more often. I didn't make this or even see it done so my comments are limited to just Yum.

Pizza

This was my first attempt at flying solo on making crust. It was pretty plain since I have neither bread flour nor cornmeal but was still pretty tasty. It might have been a little dry. It also had a lot of crunch to it (but in a good way) and was thinner on the bottom than I expected. I think maybe I needed to knead it more so that it had more elasticity as a dough? Not really sure on this one. I used a pre-shredded Italian six cheese blend on top and it was fantastic. The tomato bacon and pepperoni that went under the cheese was quite good too. Overall I would definitely consider this a successful first flight. 

Pizza Joe's Cheesy Stir-Up

Again, maybe not one of my prettiest meals. Pretty damn tasty for a modge podge meal though. I had rice I needed to use up and I didn't want to make a stir-fry. So I made sloppy joes except I used pizza sauce instead of tomato paste for convenience purposes. Then I topped it with cheddar cheese. It was pretty good. I may have to remember this for times when I don't already have rice on hand.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Brownies

Ok, these were really good. Especially considering that they are relatively healthy. Two cups of zucchini and instead of butter or oil it calls for applesauce. I used more chocolate chips than I should have (after measuring them out I only had a little bit left so I dumped them in too) but that turned out to be a bad idea I think. All the chocolate chips sank to the bottom and I think adding more made them less solid. They were hard to get out of the pan when they were warm because they wanted to break in half  where the chocolate chips were and once cooled the chocolate chips stuck to the plate. I also might recommend squishing some fluid out of the zucchini. The batter was thick before I added the zucchini and then seemed very thin. It did produce really moist brownies so you certainly don't need to drain them but if you did a little it might make it so the chocolate chips don't sink. The zucchini really didn't effect the taste or texture like I expected it would. I do think the addition of cinnamon and cardamom made them taste less chocolate-y than normal brownies. They still tasted great, but to me it made them very holiday-ish and a bit more like cake than brownies. I will definitely be putting this recipe into the family archives, but I think we can also have a great deal of fun experimenting with and tweaking this recipe. 

Cream of Chicken Rice

Pretty? Probably not. Delicious? Oh heck yes. I probably need to remember to salt the rice at least a little. Oh and make way less. I made a full batch (9x13 pan) so I could freeze some, but made two cups of uncooked rice to go with. Way too much. Oh well. I'm sure I can find ways to use up extra rice. 

Pork Medallions (with Baked Potato and Pan-Seared Broccoli)

Really there's not much to be said beyond "yum".

Burrito

Please ignore the toothpick holding the burrito closed for photograph purposes. I have chronic over-filling problems. The burrito was pretty standard, would have been better if I had a more standard mexican cheese mix. The taco meat though, that was the genius part. I made it with ground beef, better than bouillon dissolved in water, lots of tex-mex, some cumin, and a little tiny bit of cajun seasoning. Then I let it simmer down for a long time so that it would be less liquid and more flavorful/thick. So tasty. 

Homemade Pizza Rolls

Enh. Not particularly impressed. They maybe would have been better with more cheese and less old-ish mushrooms. Clearly the theme is to use up crescent rolls. (Also I wanted pizza but don't own yeast) 

S'mores Croissants

So these aren't true s'mores croissants. I didn't have any marshmellows. but I was still really interested in trying and kinda in the mood to experiment so I added powdered sugar to sour cream to make a sort of sweet cream  to sub for the marshmellows. I wish someone else had been here to help taste test. I don't really know what to think. They're very rich and chocolatey. At first I couldn't really taste the cream, but at least from a texture standpoint I knew when I was eating it. I can't tell if the flavor was just blending really well with the chocolate, or if it just wasn't really contributing anything beyond a creamy texture. Overall it was good, but not amazing. I'm not sure I'd make it again but it was a fun experiment. I suspect if you really like the French snack of bread and chocolate then you would enjoy this a great deal. 

Giant Heap of Mashed Potatoes (with Rosemary Pork Medallions and Spinach Salad)

Clearly the "main dish" here is not the pork medallions. Two potatoes made a lot more mashed than I expected (one of them was very small and the other was not particularly large), still it was the item I was most excited about making (and eating) so I'm not complaining. It was a bit too much food, I probably could have done without the spinach but I wanted to round out the meal a bit more. It's a consistent problem I have, eating too much vs not getting a nutritionally balanced diet. Still pondering. In the meantime, I think buying more fruit to keep around the house will be a good plan. 

Butterflied Pork Medallion Burger (with Key Lime Cilantro Broccoli)

The burger was really good. I was just looking for something new and a bit more summery than my usual way of cooking medallions. The buns were getting towards the old side (overly squishy on some edges) so I buttered them and added garlic powder and salt before broiling them in the oven a bit to get nice toasty buns (tee hee). I'll never know if cilantro lime was a good combo (at least not until I try it again) since I added way too much lime and so that was all I could taste. Still edible but barely. The sandwich was good enough to make up for it though. I especially liked the cheddar/pork/garlic bread combo. 

Ice Cream with Blackberry Peach Compote

This was so pretty and yummy that I just had to post two pictures for it. What a great way to use up things I just happened to have. Yum. 

Mom and Dad's Chili

Ok so I didn't actually make this one. But I reheated it within an inch of it's life! And I also worked at my presentation and tried to get a prettier picture for today. Someday I will try my own hand at making chili. Until then, thanks Mom and Dad. Homemade chili that I only have to reheat on a rainy, gloomy day like today was just so cozy and nice. 

Beef Stroganoff

I usually use egg noodles in this recipe, but I didn't have any so I used just my normal pasta. It was actually really good. I use whole wheat pasta so I can pretend that whatever I make with it is super healthy (right). From a taste standpoint I don't think it's very different than normal pasta, it's mostly a texture thing. Normally it's just something that I don't mind, but with this particular recipe, the creamy sauce specifically, I really liked the additional texture. I only used half a package of brown gravy mix and that seemed to work out just fine. 

Pancakes

Yum. This was only a quarter batch and still ended up being a lot for breakfast, at least to me. I couldn't quite figure half an egg so they were a little extra eggy but it tasted just fine, although I could taste the difference. Overall a pretty little breakfast (ok probably lunch), although a hotter pan will help me out for next time. 

Chicken de Provence

This meal was just ok. The Herbs de Provence tasted good on the chicken but I think I over-seasoned them a bit. I also ran into some issues due to putting items in the wrong pans (cause I'm an idiot some days). Oh well. Each part of the meal was pretty good on it's own but for some reason as an overall meal it didn't seem to balance well. Is it because the coloring was so boring? I've never given meal composition much thought other than basic nutritional variety (protein, fiber, starch). I guess it's something I'll have to pay more attention to in the future. 

Hashbrown Nests

These were kind of fun to make, but I'm not sure the taste was worth the time and effort. It'd be easier, faster and possibly tastier to just go ahead and cook hashbrowns, bacon, and eggs separately. Still they turned out pretty cute.

Key Lime Cupcakes with Blackberry Frosting (and filling)

There's even more than shown here. What was I thinking? So yummy though. Only the frosting might need some work. And the proportions of the recipe. Whoever wrote it was on crack or something. No worries, I'm typing up my corrections for the family recipe book sometime soon. Until then, feel free to drool over the picture. (Just not your keyboard, I've heard they frown upon that)

Enchiladas

Ok this one actually turned out really well. It's a super easy recipe, but one without a lot of measurements. I finally got a better sour cream to meat ratio, and I used pepper jack cheese for the filling (mexican mix for the top) and that extra spice really amped up the flavor complexity of the dish. Success! I just wish it didn't make so much. This is with the recipe already halved believe it or not (note this is not a 9x13 pan, but smaller. I know it's hard to tell from this picture). 

Spaghetti

As usual, I overestimated the amount of noodles I would need for the amount of meat/sauce I used. Which is sad because I like my pasta to meat sauce ratio to range pretty far to the saucy side and yet I always get it wrong. Oh well. I also kinda forgot the buns in the oven for awhile (ha, buns in the oven) but look it turned out just fine! How often does that happen? Might have been a prettier photo without the cheese, but it's so tasty!

Chicken(Pork) Ranch Potatoes

Ok clearly I am not a food artist. But it tasted good, I promise. Now normally when I make this I boil and shred some chicken beforehand, but since I had pork thawed in the fridge, I used that instead. I just fried up the two medallions with seasoned salt and a little bit of rosemary, then sliced them into smallish pieces. It tasted really good and was still juicy and tender. I did make a couple of errors with this one. I accidentally burnt the veggies a little; I'm still not used to this stove just yet. Normally I like some browned edges on my veggies, but not necessarily for this recipe, and not on such small veggie pieces (these were julienned). I also think I over-salted the veggies, and didn't need quite as much ranch. Overall though, these were minor errors. It was still a great meal and easy to do. 

Quesadizza!

After a long week of mooching other people's food I'm back! And with a two-photo special lined up for this post. 

This started out as just a normal quesadilla (great lunch item I might add) but a severe lack of any meats or veggies or really anything other than cheese caused this to become a bit pizza-ish. So it's two small tortillas, one spread with queso, the other with pizza sauce, filled with shredded mexican cheese, pepperoni, and another layer of cheese. Served with sour cream as a garnish. I may have over-filled it slightly; it oozed quite a bit. And I'm thinking I ought to mess with my camera's flash options. Both the sour cream and the rice from a couple meals back got over-exposed quite a bit.

I found this sadness in my fridge this morning. I'm relatively positive it was fine last night. I'm really not sure what happened. Any ideas on what might cause a perfectly good can of biscuits to randomly explode during the night? I checked the date on the top and it was still good until September 4th. Part of me wants to go demand a refund/replacement but the other lazy part of me (that often wins) thinks it's probably not worth the time/effort. Oh well, C'est la vie. 

German Apple Pancakes

Or as I like to call them, GAPs! You get two lovely pictures today, which I can pretty much safely bet, whichever of these lovelies isn't tonight's dinner will be tomorrow's breakfast. (Don't worry, it's not as much food as it looks, mostly egg fluff). This was also an interesting study in the differences between baking in glass vs metal. 

Pan-Seared Chicken with Spinach Salad and Rice

I came across boneless skinless chicken thighs in a giant frozen bag at the grocery store. These seemed like a strange concept to me, but that's my favorite cut of chicken meat so I thought I would give it a try. They're a little unwieldy to cook, but tasted pretty good. I'm curious to see what they will be like when I next make my cream of chicken rice. 

Beans and Franks

There really is no good presentation for beans and franks, but look how cute my tiny pot is! Also there is something strange about using a Chicago Cutlery knife to slice up a hotdog. Overkill much? 

So this is where some decision-making comes in. Do I post everything I eat? Or at least every meal? I forgot to take a picture of the mango I cut up for breakfast this morning. Obviously there will be repeats (sometimes quite often in my case) do I post them anyway? I guess the question is, do I want it to be a calendar, a journal, or an index. Still haven't decided yet, so I guess in the meantime, everything is getting posted. 

Baked Apple

This was a total experiment. I was missing some ingredients and didn't want to cook a whole batch, so I spliced together a couple recipes and ending up mostly just making it up. Wish I had some ice cream or cool whip to top it with.

Taco Salad

I kinda wish I had made it a little smaller, but oh well, it was yummy anyway. Obviously presentation was not a consideration in this meal.