Woe is me!

SO there has been no cooking, no experimenting, no incredibly amazing dishes, no nothing in my new little apartment. I do have to commend myself on a very nicely done steak with pan gravy and mushrooms and onions. The problem wasn't with the food though, it was with the setting. Let's just say I don't exactly have a full dining set, it's more of a plastic plate set atop my dog's kennel! I know, I know at least I have a roof over my head.
But I do have to say that my love for cooking has not diminished, I am constantly on the search for that new and exciting dish that will make me go oh man!! The problem is, the setting and as any seasoned eater knows, the setting and the company are a very crucial part of the dining experience. So needless to say that since I dine on top of my dogs kennel, I don't invite too many people over for dinner. I think until I am done with this semester and can find something a little more permanent and a little bigger, HAHA, I will have to depend on others cuisines for my major eating and dining experiences.
I am planning on doing some mussels here in the near future, so you may just see another post from me shortly!

One Meal, One Family

So it finally happened last night!! My son ate the exact same thing that I ate, no difference whatsoever. I was ecstatic. He is finally developing those tastebuds for something more than chicken, broccoli and carrots. While there is nothing wrong with that, I just want him to have a good understanding of good food. I was making a new skillet meal, ground beef, mushrooms and tomatoes (seasoned accordingly of course). Jokingly, I asked if he wanted what daddy was eating and he looked in the skillet and said yes!! I couldn't believe it. I made some peas and roasted some red potatoes and he ate everything and kept telling me what a good cook I was. Now while I like the fact that his instincts are telling him to praise my culinary skills, I even more so enjoyed the fact that he appreciated a good meal. Of course I let him help me as I always do and I think that really helps, because that is usually when I get him to try something new at least once. Next is going to be fish, so I have to find a kid friendly fish recipe that hopefully won't have to be breaded in anyway. No more picky eaters in this house!!

Disaster

I failed. Well, I won't say that I failed completely but it was definitely not what I thought it would be. The chicken curry was to say the least very curry-y! I went off of a recipe that called for curry sauce and not knowing how much powder that would equate to, I just put in what I thought would be right, well it was ridiculously spicy. The curry overwhelmed everything. Now I do like spicy food, but I would have liked to have tasted the coconut milk and the other ingredients that I put in there. Those other ingredients included, eggplant, red pepper, onions and potatoes that I roasted first to try to bring out the full flavor of them. It was for sure a learning experience, and now I just want to try it again and make it even better. That's for another day though however.

Injecting a little love.

So I read an article today in Clean Eating that was entitled "Injected with Love." I found this very intersting, becasue the author was speaking to me, of this I was sure! I love to cook for people and have hours of preparation by myself in the kitchen, dissecting recipes and deciding on flavors. Now while I don't get to do this much, I plan on doing it more. Sometimes I feel that I will be the only one to enjoy the things that I come up with, but I have yet to create a dish that has not been enjoyable. I love cooking, I love family and friends and I love company over meals. These things all require a little love. So from here on out, even if the meal is just for me or for friends and family, I am injecting some love!!

I'm in!!

Well I recently moved into my new place over the weekend and got everything settled. I have been so excited to cook my first real meal in my own place that I have been submerged in cookbooks and recipes trying to find the perfect house-warming meal to myself. I know originally I said chicken curry, but I'm a little scared honestly. I don't want to mess anything up or do it wrong and turn myself off to it.
On second thought, that's what I'm doing!! Why deprive myself of my own experiments and skills (I'm humble I swear). I know I can do it and I will have pictures and taste descriptions to share.

Pasta n' Sauce

Thank goodness my family is blessed with either super fast metabolism (kids) or a lifelong membership to the gym (me). I say this because I don't think it would be possible for us to go a week, no even two days without eating some sort of pasta concoction. Now I cook healthy, I don't use store bought sauces, so our noodles are very much so a healthy contribution to our diets. That being said, I have always been a fan of alfredo, in fact I think I could eat it a couple times a week and not think a thing of it. Especially now that I have perfected my own recipe. Garlic, cheese, fat free half n' half, onions and wine made for the perfect noodle clinging ooey gooey goodness that was our dinner last night. I used a Pinot Grigio that I absolutely love. I pan seared a chicken boob and diced it then threw it in the pan with the sauce and the noodles to let it finish cooking in the liquid. So everything really pulled together. I have to say that I have made it before, but as the saying goes, "practice makes perfect!" And it surely did, I couldn't believe how amazing it was. I almost saved the leftovers for the next day, notice I said ALMOST!!

Desperate times call for desperate measures!

So I told you all how I was deprived of a heating unit. Well, in cleaning out the kitchen (still trying to stay in the general vacinity), I found in the back of my cupboard, an electric wok. A much under appreciated gift (at the time) from an ex-girlfriend. Now I am quite thankful to have something that provides any sort of heat to contact with my meals, besides the fire I tried to build in the front yard. So now I have successfully boiled water for pasta, whole skillet meals, and breakfast dishes in this odd contraption that plugs into the wall.
I will soon be moving in to a new residence and recieving one of my biggest desires, a gas stove. I have lived with electric stoves for a very long time and will be happy to return to the regulatable world of true fire. I have decided that my first dish back, will be curry of some sort. I am very excited.