The Taste of New Adventures!

Chocolate. Chicken. Pastrami. A Blog of Epic Proportions?

2013-01-09T22:17:00.002-08:00

Ahoy, fellow adventurers! I realize that it has been months since I posted last time. I know you're tired of excuses so lets get down to the brass tacks!

Lately, I've been really focusing more on myself than food. I have also been cut back to part-time hours at my new job. I am no longer at Noonan's because it is seasonal. I started working at Jezebel Gourmet Bistro in November as a prep chef. I just prep things as I need to. Chopping lettuce, onions, tomatoes, broccoli, etc. Plucking spinach. Slicing lemons. All the necessary preparations to keep the chefs on the line, ready. I really do like it. I also get to jump on the line sometimes and I really like that. It also helps that I like everyone I work with. Everyone works very well as a team. And in a kitchen, teamwork is everything.

Since I have been focusing more on myself, I started a new blog called "The Path I Travel" which is more about fitness and just my everyday life. Kind of like my diary but online. It's pretty personal but it's cool. If you want to get to know me, here is the link to my first blog entry.

Click here for: The Path I Travel

I have been cooking but nothing too crazy or unusual. I really wanted to make a duck for either Thanksgiving or Christmas but those ducks are expensive! Almost $20 for a duck that I'm not sure if it will even turn out. I don't have the $20 to blow like I used to. I have made something that you may all like to try.

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Homemade Hot Chocolate with Cinnamon

Fill whatever mug you want to use with milk. Whatever kind of milk you want. 2%, whole, skim, etc. Pour that into a saucepan to fit your milk. Turn the heat in between low and medium. You don't want scalded milk. Next add 2-3 heaping TBS of Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder. Whisk it really good to make sure that the cocoa is incorporated thoroughly. Get all of the clumps worked out of there. Next give it a nice squirt of Hershey's Chocolate Syrup. Next add sugar to taste. You either like it sweet or you don't. So you be the judge of sugar. Next add a tsp. of ground cinnamon. Keep on whisking. If you want a little kick of caffeine, add a tsp. of instant espresso powder. Once everything is mixed together and you've got your ingredients all working together and nice and hot, pour your hot chocolate and enjoy it! I was pretty impressed with the result of this hot chocolate. Hints of cinnamon and rich chocolatey goodness.

What else have I made... hmmm.. I tried making homemade chicken fried rice with brown rice. That was a mushy mess.

You know what is really simple though? Chicken breast cooked in Campbell's Cream of Mushroom Soup. We also had leftover steamed broccoli so I added that to it. Put it on top of brown rice and you've got an awesome meal that is a little healthy and fills you up. Cream of Mushroom soup is awesome especially when you add it to things like casseroles. Who doesn't like a nice casserole?

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(I have one of these spatula's and I love OXO brand)

Great stuff.

Another favorite chicken dish is

Almond Crusted Chicken with Curry Risotto.

To make the crust, you grind up a handful of almonds and coarsely chop them in the food processor. Put the chopped almonds on a plate and add some breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Put your chicken breast in it and press the mixture onto the chicken to give is a nice crust. Fry it up and if you want, finish it in the oven.

Curry risotto is just like any other risotto. 1 cup of risotto to 4 cups cream, 4 cups water, OR 4 cups chicken broth. If you look up one of my blogs about risotto, you'll see what to do. Just do the basic risotto and add a couple spoons of curry paste and you have some awesome curry risotto to go with your chicken.

NEW FOOD ALERT!

I tried shawarma for the first time a month or so ago! (I'm sorry if I spelled that wrong.) I really liked it. I had absolutely no idea what to expect. It was diced chicken in a pita pocket with tomatoes and onions with a yellowish oily sauce. It was messy to eat but it was different. I really liked it. I definitely recommend that you try it at some point. The restaurant I had it at was the Mediterranean restaurant next to the Valli Produce on E.State.

Another great food I had was what I thought was a mexican hot pocket. It was a roll that tasted like french bread but inside, there was ham, cream cheese, and a slice or two of jalapeño. It was REALLY good! Michaels mom picked them up at the mexican bakery in Belvidere and it was awesome. I think if you got one and warmed it up a tad in the microwave or maybe on a panini press, it would be a tasty treat when you bite into it.

You can see the ham and cream cheese but not too much jalapeño. Perfection.

The same night I had the bread pocket of sunshine Michaels mom made us tacos. They were pork tacos and I let Michael doctor them up the way he likes. He put chopped onion, chopped cilantro, and some fresh squeeed lime on them with avocado. Best tacos ever. I forgot what the pork is called but it's spicy and red. I loved those tacos. Finish them off with a perfectly frosted bottle or two of MGD and you've got yourself a perfect dinner.

I'm starting to realize that I love mexican food. But no mexican food can compare to Michaels moms. Everything I have had of hers has been amazing. She makes the best chicken tomatillo tamales. Great posole. Great Rozca. I've had a lot of mexican food the past couple of days and I just love it. No other mexican food can compare to hers. You have no idea.

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(One of the best knives I have ever used. Pricey but worth every penny.)

A few nights ago on a Saturday, Michael and I decided to have a Fry Night. Usually we have them on Fridays but it was Saturday. A fry night is where we fry whatever we want. We had one months ago when we lived at our apartment. That time we fried fresh chicken strips, mushrooms, pickles, olives, cheese, jalapeño poppers. Everything that was fryable in our fridge. This last time, we fried catfish nuggets, chicken drumlets, our homemade jalapeño poppers, and even oreos! Everything was good except we didn't really like the catfish. We make the best jalapeño poppers. Get a can of jalapeño's and cream cheese. Slice a jalapeño down the middle and stuff it with cream cheese. Dunk it in your batter (we made beer batter) and fry it up. They don't take long and they taste phenomenal! We love them.

And last but not least, on this past Friday, we wanted a Pastrami sandwich. We almost went to Chicago in search of a pastrami sandwich. Turns out, we didn't have to go far. In Rockford, there is a deli that has pastrami. It is called Brooklyn Deli and they are located on E. Riverside in between Alpine and Mulford. By Charter Fitness and Cookies by Design.

Their french fries are awesome and crunchy. We had the Rockefeller. It is Pastrami, Corned Beef, Onions, and Spicy Mustard on a Toasted Bun. SUPER GOOD! We went two days in a row. Our second day we had the Hot Pastrami. I liked the Rockefeller better. I definitely recommend this place though. Here's a nice picture to ease your thoughts.

Thanks for reading. I can see that people are reading every day and I do appreciate it!

Baked Coconut Chicken and Brown Rice with Lime

2012-10-24T13:01:00.000-07:00

Well, as usual, it's been far too long since I've given you all something tasty to read. My apologies. I've been busy and my blogs are usually so long. But this one is going to get right straight to it.

Baked Coconut Chicken

You will need:

Maybe 4 Chicken breasts

1 can of coconut milk

Sweetened coconut flakes

Bread crumbs

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. You take your boneless chicken breasts and make sure they are thawed out. About an hour or two before you want to start cooking, marinade your chicken breasts in coconut milk. It is brown and white can and the milk (if I remember correctly) is from Thailand. Make sure you shake the can before opening.

Let the chicken soak in the milk for an hour and a half to 2 hours. Once your chicken has soaked for however long, mix together a 1/2 cup of coconut flakes and a little bit of bread crumbs on a plate. Mix it so that the flakes and crumbs are about even amounts. Take your chicken and take off the excess milk that is still sticking to the meat. Now get a nice coat of the flake/crumb mixture on the chicken and place your chicken on a baking sheet. Repeat until all of your chicken is coated. If you happen to run out of coconut and crumbs, just add more to the plate of each. I had to do that. Make sure you wash your hands first because you don't want to get salmonella.

Place your baking sheet in the oven and depending on the thickness of the chicken breast it may take up to an hour to bake. Mine were pretty thin so I baked mine for about 50 minutes. If you aren't sure how long, just keep checking your chicken without getting burned.

When making the brown rice, follow the instructions on the bag depending on the amount of servings you want to make. When it is finished, plate your chicken and your rice. Add a squeeze of a half of a lime to your rice and a little on your chicken if you'd like. I think you get the best taste when you mix a bite of chicken with some of the rice.

Very very good!

And healthy!

I also had a nice chopped romaine salad with olive oil, apple cider vinegar, avocado, and mushrooms. This meal filled me right up and I didn't feel bad for eating it!

I mean of course if you wanted a crunchier crust, you could always fry it up in a pan too. That sounds pretty tasty! Just a suggestion.

Enjoy!

How I Feel About Organics

2012-06-11T17:46:00.001-07:00

Even though I'm not an executive chef or anyone prominent in Rockford, IL. I still feel as if I play some part when it comes to the Rockford Culinary Community.

We have a lot of great places to eat in Rockford but at the same time, we don't.

I think that kind of sucks.

But there is one place that I went in April that kind of made an impact on my life. Why? Because the food was the best food I have ever had in Rockford. This place is called Social Urban Bar & Restaurant. From the outside, it looks small and cozy with cool lighting. On the inside, you feel like you are in a sexy restaurant in downtown Chicago. I've wanted to try this place for quite sometime and I finally was able to for my friend Jasmines birthday. I saw that we'd be going to Social on the wall of the Facebook invite that she sent us. I knew a little about this place. And the little that I knew, I loved.

This restaurant gets a lot of their ingredients from local farmers and growers in the Midwest. I love that. The fact that they don't have food solely shipped from California or from Sysco is pretty damn awesome to me. I love the sense of community. I love that they utilize what they have. I don't know much but as a food lover I know that this place was awesome when we ate here. The food was a little pricey so I mean, I can't go every weekend but if or when you have the money, you need to try it.

I had the braised pork shoulder and it was simply amazing. I loved it. I ate just about everything on the plate. It came with jasmine rice and that was great. The pork shoulder was tender, juicy, and delicious. I'm usually someone who doesn't eat fat. I cut my fat off. I think it's kind of gross. But the fat from this pork shoulder was so good I couldn't believe it!

I also had I think it was called something like the Pot de' creme or something like that. It was a little pot of creme brulee or something. That was just as good as dinner. I figured, I don't get to eat like this very often and I tend to live by the motto, "Go Big or Go Home" and so that is how I lived that night.

I hope that someday when I own a restaurant, that it is half of the restaurant that Social is today.

On another note:

Do you know what they put in our meat? Places that put hormones into our chicken and beef corn and other plants to make them grow 2x bigger in the little amount of time that they are given. They don't grow naturally. They are fed corn and other by-products. It just isn't right. I hate that we have to buy this meat. We have to buy the hamburger that has amonia in it. I say we "have" to buy it because people such as myself that are on the lower part of the social strata, can't afford organic foods! The reason they use hormones to grow are food is because we think that "bigger is better" when it comes to food and other things in life. So they subject our poultry to terrible things. If the Obama campaign wants to start telling everyone what to eat, then maybe he should start with the farmers of America that use pesticides, hormones, and anti-biotics! Maybe we could eat better if hormones were illegal in our foods. It should all be natural. Not just some. Maybe we could eat healthier if it wasn't so damn expensive. Maybe our nation wouldn't be known as the "Fattest" Nation if they didn't mass produce our food with additives and other terrible things.

Think about it.

After watch the movie "Food, Inc." this really got my gears turning. I feel like there is nothing I can do to stop it. If you are interested, watch that movie. It'll change the way you think about your food.

This link explains more about what I'm saying.

Additives and Hormones in Our Food

Beautiful, Beautiful Food

2012-06-11T17:03:00.000-07:00

I know I only update about once a month and that sucks. I'm sure I'd write more if I actually wanted to become a writer someday or maybe if I knew people were reading this. I only know of a few people that read this and to you all, I thank you for taking the time out of your day to read my long blogs. I think blogs are supposed to just be short and to the point but that isn't how mine are. Some people blog and all they write is a paragraph or two. I don't know what the point of that is but if it works for them, then that's awesome.

I've made a few things lately. Burgers. Tacos. A bunch of other stuff but i'll write about the ones I can remember off the top of my head.

First let me tell you about these burgers I made. I was gonna be grilling for Me, Michael, Gina and Conor. Two burgers a piece. Not just a regular old burger.

This was about a month ago and I'm trying to remember what was put in them.

I had about 2 lbs of burger meat.

fresh squeezed lime juice

fresh chopped parsley

salt

pepper

garlic powder

onion powder

and I think that's it.

I mixed it all up and made each patty about the same size. (I know from watching Rachael Ray that you don't want to mix up your burger too much or else it'll get tough.) I let them sit for about a half an hour in the fridge so that way all the flavors can sink into the meat.

I popped them on the grill over direct heat. I cooked them until they reached 160 degrees F. because we like our burgers well done. I like my burger well done and juicy. A lot of people think "Well done? You don't get any flavor that way!" or, "You want to be a chef and you like your burgers well done? What the hell?"

That's just how I like it! And you know what? They were awesome! Juicy burgers and put colby jack on some (my favorite) and muenster on some others. I also made a spicy mayo mixing

lime mayo

(Michael loves that stuff)

cayenne pepper

lime juice

and Melinda's Original Habanero Pepper Sauce (Extra Hot)

salt and pepper

I also sauteed some onions to go on top. So you have

The parsley lime burger

Muenster or Colby Jack cheese

Cooked onions

spicy mayo

and a bun.

I haven't found a better burger in town than my own burger creations. Michael agrees. There are no good burger places in Rockford. And that is the truth.

The other night, we had Mexican Night (well, sorta) at our apartment. Michael tried to make his moms mexican rice and I cooked the meat for tacos. My dad gets meat from Utah where the cows are grass fed with no hormones and they kill the cows naturally. The meat from this place tastes great and fresh and it's got beautiful marbling and color. The tenderloins are to die for! But anyways, we had two sirloin steaks left so I cut them into thin strips and cooked them on the stove in some olive oil, shallots, garlic, onions, and red wine. The meat cooked for about 40-45 min on medium and it came out full of flavor and tender too. I was worried about the meat being tender because usually you have to cook meat on the stove a little longer. But for me 40-45 min did the trick. We had tortillas with a little sour cream and the beef and onions.

SO SO GOOD!

We had a little trouble with the mexican rice. :/ It was good, but not as good as I've had before. I think it was missing flavor and we also needed chicken broth or stock. Next time, we'll have the broth and stock and it'll be much better. Still good though.

Here are a few pictures:

I think this picture is beautiful.

Oh! And let me tell you about some beer brats!

The other night me and Michael's friends Kevin and Taylor had dinner with us. It was a "B.Y.O.M" (Bring Your Own Meat) night and Taylor brought steak for herself, Kevin brought brats or italian sausage for himself, and Michael and I had Ribs. I also made garlic herb mashed potatoes for everyone. Me, Michael, and Kevin all shared our food. We had beer brats. Made with MGD beer!

Boiled the brats in the beer for about 15-20 min.

Then put them on the grill for another 10-15 and BOOM!

Those were some good ass brats!

The guys told me to poke holes in the brats so that way the beer could infuse into the meat! It really worked! They were really good and you could actually taste the beer in them. Pretty darn good.

Taylor also said I make a pretty damn good steak too.

At the end of the night, we were all full of good food and happy!

Mmm beer!

Even though my ribs don't fall off the bone, they are still tender and juicy!

Chicken Alfredo From Scratch!

2012-05-03T11:18:00.001-07:00

I've got another good one for you. Chicken alfredo!

Who doesn't like a good hearty alfredo sauce?

Communists?

Maybe.

But then again there may be a family of communists out there that actually LOVE alfredo sauce and if there isn't a family like that out there, well then after they read this blog, we might have found our first..

Alfredo Lovin' Communist Family!

Cooking Time: 1 1/2 hours

Yield: 4-5 servings

So what you will need for the sauce is:

Half a stick of butter

A shallot (chopped)

A few cloves of garlic (chopped)

2 quarts of heavy whipping cream

1 cup of white wine

fresh chopped mushrooms (if desired)

Salt

Pepper

and for the chicken:

Olive oil

1 or 2 chopped garlic cloves

Chicken Breasts cleaned and deveined and cut into chunks or strips

Salt and pepper

and pasta, of course:

1 box of Fettuccine pasta

or if you have the luxury, fresh pasta would be amazing.

The SAUCE:

Start by melting your half stick of butter. Once it's melted add your chopped shallots and garlic. Let that cook for about a minute on medium heat. Add your cream and your wine. Add salt and pepper to taste. Quite a bit of salt. Like three or four good pinches. Keep stirring every now and then, and watch it closely so it doesn't boil over and you don't want it to burn either. You want to see a slow rolling boil. You need your cream to reduce so that way the cream can thicken up and to not be runny like milk. You'll know it has reduced once it can coat a spoon. Once it has been cooking for about 15 minutes, add the mushrooms. This way the mushrooms can absorb the flavor. Let this keep cooking and stirring every 5 minutes or so.

Once you've been cooking the sauce for about a half an hour, get your frying pan ready and hot.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Keep stirring your sauce!

The CHICKEN:

Salt and pepper the chicken with a little bit of garlic powder.

Get a frying pan ready with a splash of hot extra virgin olive oil and some chopped garlic.

Once the garlic is in there and the oil is bubbling around the garlic, STIR YOUR SAUCE! put in your chicken. Once the chicken is cooked about half way, (white on both sides and still pink in the middle) transfer to a oven safe dish or a pie pan. Something oven proof. Transfer your chicken to the oven safe pan and put in the oven for about a half an hour. Make sure that your chicken IS NOT pink in the middle when it comes out of the oven.

Stir the sauce some more!

Now start boiling your water in a big enough pot for pasta. STIR THE SAUCE! Throw some salt in the water to flavor your pasta. Not oil. I don't think oil helps anything.

Is your sauce thickening? If not, don't add the pasta just yet.

Once you see a change in sauce, it's ok to add your pasta to the water, but only if your water is boiling, of course.

You should cook your pasta to al dente (to the tooth) and then drain your pasta. By the time your pasta is done, your sauce should be thick enough to coat a spoon.

Take your chicken out of the oven. Turn off the oven but only if your chicken is cooked through which it should be.

Turn down your sauce to low and add your noodles still cooking for maybe 3 to 5 minutes in the sauce.

Once all of your noodles are coated in the sauce,

Eat and Enjoy!

or as the Italians like to say,

mangiare e godere!

This is my own little creation. I haven't made alfredo sauce many times before but it is one of the sauces I am trying to perfect and this time it came out really well. It could've used a little salt but besides that, it was hearty and rich with great flavor. I've been watching at work because sometimes they make chicken alfredo for dinner and the 4 main things you need are:

shallots, garlic, cream, and wine.

One great thing about this is that if you're a vegetarian, you don't need the chicken. Just the sauce and noodles would be a great dish for anyone who doesn't eat meat. Or maybe even eat it as a dish for the Lenten season. It's up to you.

So i've been working on this one and I think it would be cool to throw a couple splashes of tobasco to give it a little kick or maybe even some fresh basil to give it more of a unique flavor. I just love making this and everyone enjoyed it.

Let me know what you think of it if you try it!

And if you have any questions, leave me a comment.

Oh and by the way, I'm sorry there aren't any pictures for this one. I was so hungry last night I didn't want to take any more time to take a picture. I'm sorry but if you make it, send me your pictures! And I can add them to the blog as my viewers pictures! That would be awesome! Please do it! That'd be so much more rewarding for me than money!

Thanks for reading!

Ribs and Sauerkraut (Crock Pot friendly)

2012-05-03T10:20:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone!

Sorry it's taken me so long to write again. :( NO TIME! It's been a crazy month! April 1st I started a new job which I've been working during the day and Josef's has been busy at night so I haven't had many days off. I put in my 2 weeks at Josef's but now I wish I hadn't. I've come to realize this past weekend that I really like the people at Josef's. The servers and the guys in the kitchen. Although it gets really crazy sometimes, I've been having a lot of fun because I finally feel like I'm part of a team. So I want to ask Josef if I can just work weekends and then the other job during the day. That way I'll still have time to work out. Sadly, I haven't been working out as much as I've wanted to. I was doing really well for a few weeks then I got another job. And after working all day and all night. From 10am to 10pm, I don't have much left in me plus my feet are killing me. So that's why I'm getting my work stuff together so I can start working out again and eating healthier.

I was doing so well!

I was feeling so good!

What happened?!!?!

I'd tell you about it but, that'd be a long blog and I don't think you wanna read a long ass blog.

So first I'll tell you about my ribs and sauerkraut. It's a crock pot recipe or put it in a roaster in the oven. I thought the crock pot tasted just fine but my parents say the oven is better. So you choose.

-Just grab a rack of beef baby back ribs

-A jar (not a can) of franks sauerkraut

-A few potatoes or a lot depending if you like potatoes or not (red or yellow or russet)

This is all you have to do:

Take the membrane off of the ribs which is on the bone side. It's that white film stuff. You don't have to but I would suggest you do it. Tastes better.

If you don't know what i'm talking about, here's a link where you can see a video.

He'll explain why too.

Don't be shy! Take that membrane off!

Cut the ribs up into chunks. Cut them at every 3rd bone.

Empty your jar of sauerkraut into the crock pot or roasting pan.

Cut your potatoes into 4th's or 6th's depending on the size of your potato.

Put your potatoes in the crock pot or roaster over the sauerkraut.

Put your chunks of ribs in on top

Fill your empty sauerkraut jar up 3/4's of the way with water.

Empty into the roaster or crock pot.

Add your salt and pepper to taste.

Maybe like a Tablespoon of salt or more if you're using kosher.

And however much pepper you want to add.

Cook on high in your crock pot or 375 degrees in your roaster for about 5 hours. Or until the rib meat falls off the bone.

Sorry the picture is so big, I just want you to be able to see it in all of it's glory.

I hope you enjoy this one!

Nutritious and Delicious

2012-03-15T13:27:00.002-07:00

Hey everyone! So I wanted to give an update on what's been going on. I've been trying to eat healthier and have been exercising 5 out of 7 days a week. Today is Day 8 for me and in 8 days, I have already seen improvement. I've read that you should give your body what it needs and what it deserves so I asked my body what it wanted.

I said, "Body?"

Body said, "Yes, Jennifer?"

I said, "Are you happy?"

Body said, "Meh. I'm alright but I could be better."

I said, "Well, what should I do?"

Body said, "You know what you have to do. What we have to do."

I said, "So is that a challenge???"

Body said, "If it were a challenge, you wouldn't be able to handle it."

I said, "Oh, I can handle it."

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Challenge Accepted!

2 or 3 weeks ago, my boyfriend and I were talking before bed and he told me he wanted to eat healthier. Since moving into our apartment we haven't been eating very well. Little money means little nutrition. At least that's my excuse. But when we were talking, he said that basically we need to be on the same page. I wasn't on the same page. I want to eat things with great flavor and fat = flavor. But then he said that I said that I don't believe in diet or nutrition. Or some balogna. So after a great day, before bed there was tension. I laid there for a while and I said, it's hard to eat healthy because healthy food isn't full of flavor. But then I thought again, sure there is! We started talking and I asked what he wanted to eat. I told him that tomorrow while he's at work, I was going to find a bunch of recipes and foods that were healthy, and full of flavor. He got me jump started. I found maybe 10 things and made a list. Being the little chef that I am, I wrote all of the things down that sounded tasty and that way, I could use these things to kick start the ideas of healthy meals.

The things I found at SparkRecipes.com:

-Ratatouille

(all veggies with part skim mozzarella)

-Marinaded Chicken Breast

(marinaded in orange juice, lemon juice, spices, etc. for 3 hours or overnight)

-Fajitas or tacos

-Stuffed Mushrooms

-Chicken Salads

(chicken breast, hard-boiled eggs, nuts, low-fat cottage cheese, avocado, and a tasty vinegar and oil dressing)

-Baked Chicken Tenders

(marinade with a dressing then put some bread crumbs on it.)

-Chicken and Rice

(flavor your chicken, add a veggie, brown rice, easy.)

-Crockpot Garlic Lime Chicken

-Make a whole chicken in a crockpot

-Stuffed Bell Peppers or tomatoes

(stuffed with a mix of ground turkey, garlic, onion, diced tomatoes, seasoning)

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These are just a few options. Yes, there is a lot you can do with chicken. Ground turkey is also an option but I really don't like ground turkey. I've never really had it where it has tasted good or worth it. Michael says he can make good turkey burgers but i'll be the judge of that.

I haven't tried any of those recipes but I have been eating healthier. I've given up pasta, ice cream, eating out, potatoes (I LOVE POTATOES, PASTA, AND ICE CREAM). I have been snacking on bananas and instead of drinking 2% milk, I now just started drinking skim. It isn't that bad. I have been eating so much chicken. I gave up pop/soda for lent. Giving up pop and cutting out sugary juices is definitely a good way to start getting healthy. One year I gave up pop for lent and by the end of the 40 days, I had lost 10 pounds. But I was younger and more active back then. I also have not been drinking a beer or two every couple nights and i've cut out all of my usual eating habits. I haven't been going out for $3 pizzas either. This kinda sucks because I haven't seen my friends in what feels like forever.

This is my new routine:

Wake up at 10 a.m.

Drink a cup of coffee

Poop

Pack my bag and go to the gym

Work out for a good hour, maybe a little longer

Come home and drink a protein shake

Eat a banana or two

Make a healthy lunch, drink water

Michael comes home, I go to work

Drink tea or lemon/lime water at work

Come home eat something small or more chicken with a veggie

Sleep

~Repeat~

It may seem boring, but this has been consistent just about every day. I wanted you to know that I have been pooping regularly now for the past week. I read that the average person poops 2-3 times a day. TMI: I am lucky if I poop every other day. I am a very irregular person. Well I was. You may relate, you may not. But if you aren't pooping regularly, that isn't a good thing.

My boyfriend has always been the one to research things. He googles what he doesn't know. It's what he does. He learns and retains info like no other. And so lately i've been reading up on healthy living as well. Looking at Yahoo articles and researching what I want to know. Such as whether to go with whey or casein. I wanna know if bananas are good for me or how good they actually are. I wanna know about the 9 bad habits that are actually not that bad at all. I wanna know if a high protein diet is okay. So these next couple articles have helped me and I hope you let them help you.

Another reason I started working out and eating healthy is because lately i've been feeling down in the dumps. I thought it was because my seratonin levels were down. What is seratonin?

From Seratonin: The Chemistry of Well-Being

"Certain aminos cause you to have better feeling of well being. Serotonin is a chemical that helps maintain a "happy feeling," and seems to help keep our moods under control by helping with sleep, calming anxiety, and relieving depression."

"It has been discovered that some foods influence the brain's behavior, and the brain's neurotransmitters, which regulate our behavior, can be affected by what we eat. Research is showing that some foods such as bananas and turkey have proteins that help to create the chemical seratonin. So, diet may contribute to depression, especially poor eating habits and constant snacking on junk foods."

I don't know but I think that my new diet has been helping me a lot. I've been feeling a lot better. Not 100% but in good time, it is possible.

I want you to know how great bananas are for you and I found this little gem online

Are Bananas Good for You?

I thought this was pretty interesting:

Chocolate Dipped Frozen Bananas, Box of 10 (Google Affiliate Ad)

"When compared to apples though bananas have 4 times the protein, 2 times the carbohydrates, 3 times the phosphorous, 5 times the vitamin A and Iron and much more vitamins and minerals than apples do."

They've always talked up apples. Apples, apples, apples! Well what about bananas???? Read that article and you might feel the same way

I have a few more things to add:

I want you to know that at the beginning of the week when I started I went to the store after my workout. I bought veggies, fruits, and a package of chicken breast. I divided up my package of chicken breast into portions so I'd have some for lunch every day. I also got a head of boston lettuce. Just wanted to try it.

The one lunch I made that was really good was a salad with chicken breast and sauteed onions. I mixed up a salad with roasted garlic red wine vinegar, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper. I sliced a whole avocado. And then because it was windy out I didn't want to start the grill. So I got my frying pan out and made magic. I started with extra virgin olive oil (a Tablespoon), 1 clove of chopped garlic, half of an onion- sliced. Cooked the onions until translucent. Then added the chicken that was seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Cooked until done. Cut the chicken into thin strips. Put the sliced chicken back into the frying pan, turned the heat to low and added a small bit of shredded colby jack mixed with parsely. Let that melt and you've got yourself a tasty salad. It was awesome. I'm not a big fan of salads but DAMN! I impressed myself and I had enough so Michael could have his own too. I made a nice, healthy lunch. And I was full throughout work.

For breakfast, sometimes I'll eat an egg or 2 with toast. Other times, a bowl of some Honey Bunches of Oats with Almonds will do.

The Gourmet's Vinaigrettes and Salads Cookbook: Superb Nouvelle Salads (Google Affiliate Ad)

Really my diet has consisted of a lot of protein. Chicken, eggs, protein shakes, fish. You know the deal. But I do know there are pro's and con's to a lot of protein. That's why you need calcium and vitamins and all of the other things that make up a happy body.

And the last article or slide show I want you to see is the pro's and con's of high protein. I just figured if this blog has maybe changed your views on some things maybe you'll wanna check it out.

High-Protein- Good or Bad?

I haven't cut out all bad things but I have cut back. I don't use as much butter. I don't use as much sugar or creamer in my coffee. I haven't cut out beer completely but I have cut back and have refused beer and have replaced it with water. Alcohol has a lot of calories and it just seems like, "I am on a good path, why mess up now?"

I have to confess something though, last night,

I....

I..

ummm...

well ya see..

I was craving wings. I wanted them. It was late when I got off of work and I didn't have time to cook and if I did cook, I wouldn't have eaten until midnight. So I got them. 15 wings. Spicy garlic and ranch. I always take off the skin but still. I just wanted some. I won't be doing that again for a while. I know it wasn't a good decision but I made it and it's done. I can only move forward and that is what I will do.

I'd like your input on healthy recipes and any other tips from you healthy people out there!

So please share. :)

Risotto like a Pro!

2012-02-01T13:25:00.000-08:00

The head chef was gone for two weeks and so we had the head chef from Pearl come over and work with us for two weeks. I got this job in hopes of learning as much as I can. When our usual head chef is here, I hardly ever get to do much of anything. I can try something out and if I mess up once, I don't get to do it again. But that's really like the only way I can learn is by making mistakes. I can come home and just try to make anything but at work I get so nervous because I don't want to mess up. So our head chef is on vacation for 2 weeks and I finally learned something. I learned more in the past 2 weeks than I've learned in the 4-5 months that i've been there. I don't know, I'm just ranting. I'm not sure what to do about it.

But anyways, one day I go into work and I get to work on the line. I'm learning all these things- like how to make sea bass, dover sole, fingerling potatoes, mussels, different sauces, etc etc. It was really fun and one night I went home and looked up what risotto was. I knew it was rice but not sure what it takes to make it.

What I know about Risotto:

-short grained rice (Arborio rice)
-an Italian staple
-has a creamy texture
-takes a little while to make (~45 min)
-requires a lot of attention and stirring
-At first the rice has a little white spot in the middle but by the end,
it shouldn't have that spot anymore.
and there are so many different kinds!

At Josef's we make:

Wasabi risotto

and

Champagne risotto

maybe different kinds but those are the two that I know of.

I saw how to make it and I wanted to try it.

I looked up how to make risotto and I saw that

1 cup of rice = 4 cups liquid

I decided to make my risotto with chicken broth which is pretty popular and easy.

First I put a little bit of oil and butter (a drop or 2 of each) in a sautee pan with finely chopped onion and garlic.

I let the onions cook until they were slightly translucent and then I added the 1 cup of rice. The website or blog I was looking at said to let the rice toast up a little bit before you add the liquid so I cooked the rice with the onions until the onions were fully translucent. Then I added 1 cup of the chicken broth and started stirring and stirring and stirring. The rice absorbs the liquid and that is what starts to make the rice tender. Once you can tell that the rice has absorbed the first cup, you then add your 2nd cup and then repeat with the 3rd cup and then once that's all absorbed the 4th and final cup is added.

To shorten it up:

Add broth

stir

and stir some more

when broth is all absorbed

add 2nd cup

then repeat these steps x3

During this process I added a little salt (broth is salty in itself)

black pepper

with a little bit of cayenne pepper (just a sprinkle)

and some garlic powder

When I first started making the risotto it only took up about 1/4 of the frying pans depth. As you keep adding the broth or liquid of your choice, the risotto absorbs and absorbs and absorbs. So of course it's volume keeps expanding and there is only so much room in the pan. Thank God I used the pan that I did because by the end the risotto was almost over flowing and I had to make sure it didn't spill out. My pan was about 10 inches round and maybe an inch or two in depth.

With every cup of liquid you add, the rice gets softer and softer and looks gooey and hearty. Like regular long rice, you can see each individual grain but risotto bonds together to actually make a savory sauce and a solid meal whether you eat it with something and the risotto is the side or just by itself.

It's savory and delicious and when you're eating it nice and hot and it's freezing cold outside, it definitely hits the spot. Michael had some the next day when he got home from work and he said it was delicious and he must not have hated it because he ate the rest of it. It's a comfort food and I think it would put a smile on someones face if they had a cold or just weren't feeling too well. It's like a bowl of chicken noodle soup on a cold day but..

10 TIMES BETTER!

I've obviously been on a risotto kick because yesterday I really wanted to try making coconut risotto.

No recipe or anything.

So I put some butter in the pan (1-2 TBS) and let it melt. Then I added a half cup of rice and let that cook for a few minutes. I then added some cream of coconut, a couple spoonfuls. Then I let that cook down and stirred it up and I had a pint of heavy cream so I added a little at a time. Add some, stir x3, then add some more,

stirstirstir.

Well you get the point.

I added the whole damn pint of heavy cream plus a little more cream of coconut. I also added some sweetened coconut flakes.

The rice was still kind of hard.

So I added some 2% milk. About a cup.

Then I sprinkled some cinnamon.

Then I started adding water.

By the time I had to go to work, I had been working on this risotto for about an hour and when I left the risotto was still a little chewy. But the thing about it was, it tasted really good.

It tasted like rice crispy treats - No joke.

It wasn't overbearingly sweet but it's so weird that it tasted like marshmallow fluff.

I'm not sure what I did wrong and I would love some feedback on this.

This is the coconut risotto and it looks a lot different than the pictures of the chicken risotto.

I don't know--

-if I should've added more cream than just a splash and then stir

-if I should've used coconut milk instead of cream of coconut

-if it just needed to cook longer

-if I should've toasted the rice longer in the beginning

I'm just not sure but if anyone has any pointers,

I'd appreciate it because I really enjoy making risotto.

I was just called and told I don't have to work tonight so if by some miracle these dishes wash themselves or maybe I wash them,

I really wanna give it another shot.

I'll let you know how it goes.

Live. Laugh. Love.

& Eat.

As of late...

2011-12-30T12:36:00.000-08:00

Heyyyyyyy!

So this blog has been called "as of late" because we don't have internet at the apartment so it's hard to keep up on my blogs. Not too hard to make tasty food though.

Steak Sandwich

One night I was craving a good steak sandwich. So we went to the store, grabbed some cheap steak, went home, cut it into strips, and I cooked it in my Le Creuset pot. I just seasoned it with salt and pepper and cooked it with some yellow onions and jalapeno. I toasted up some buns with Muenster cheese. I then put the steak onions and peppers on the bread and we chowed down. Steak was a little tough but it had a really good flavor. I'm sure if the steak would've cooked longer and slower, it would have been a little more tender. Overall, it was very satisfying.

Next up..

Conor's NoodleLog/ Noodleloffloff/ somethin'...

So Conor wanted to make dinner for all of us, esp Gina but it ended up being for 5 people. Gina, Conor, Me, Michael, and Jazzy. It was noodles and cheese and butter and tastiness! We had no idea what to expect. But when it came time to eat, it was pretty damn awesome and we all had seconds!

and Sushi...

Yeah, we make sushi. So what? My favorite has cream cheese, avocado, and spam. Yes, I SAID SPAM. Don't hate.

And I grilled chicken. And we made a salad.

That chicken was so damn good and the salad was mixed greens, avocado, cucumber, red onion, tomatoes with garlic infused red wine vinegar, olive oil and salt & pepper. Sweet Baby Rays bbq sauce is just so perfect. And the chicken was juicy and perfect. This dinner was perfect.

And one of my favorite pasta dishes of all time,

Rachael Ray's Tomato, Basil, and Cheese Baked Pasta

along with tomato, basil, and mozzarella salad.

To make this pasta, it's a little pricy-but so so worth it!

Here's the link to her pasta:

Tomato, Basil, and Cheese Baked Pasta

And then there was Paula Deen.

My most favorite southern belle.

My favorite chef.

And to the haters who say she is making the world fat..

SHE IS MAKING THE WORLD HAPPY!

So....STFU.

And so there was Paula Deen's

Gooey Gorilla Bread.

For Christmas I got a surprise present from one of my best friends.

Paula Deen's Southern Cooking Bible!

I was so effing pumped to get this book.

So not even a week later, I was trying her recipes.

Gooey Gorilla Bread!

SO DAMN GOOD!

Why you should make this:

1. It's easy.

2. Your house will smell like heaven

3. It's a hit with all the ladies. HAHA (But seriously.)

All you need is some biscuits, brown sugar, reg sugar, cinnamon and butter, of course.

Here is the link for this recipe:

Gooey Gorilla Bread

Lastly,

another recipe of Paula's

Cream Cheese-Chocolate Chip Bread Pudding.

Let me tell you something about this recipe.

It's the best food you will ever put in your mouth.

Your taste buds will thank you.

One little side note though; the recipe calls for an egg bread like brioche or panettone. I couldn't find either of those breads. So I decided to use french bread. Whenever I've seen a bread pudding made on food network, they always say just use whatever bread you have laying around. So I just figured french would be fine. The crust was a little tough but it wasn't. Some parts were chewy and delightful, other parts were creamy and just as delightful. The chewiness gave this recipe some character.

If you don't believe me, try it yourself and let me know what you think.

Proceed With Caution!

This recipe is rich!

The link to this recipe:

Paulas Bread Pudding

Any comments, you know where to leave them.

Live. Laugh. Eat.

So...it's been a while.

2011-11-08T23:48:00.000-08:00

Hey.

It's definitely been a while. But lately, i've been meaning to write and inform but I just haven't.

Busy? Lazy? All of the above?

So I have decided to just write about the foods that I have had in the near past.

Let's start with our trip to Florida.

Well, Michael and I went to Miami this past summer and we had a lot of Latin food and a lot of tasty food in general. First of all, let me just say that Angelina's in Miami has the best fro-yo (frozen yogurt) in the world! I didn't think I liked fro-yo because Red Mango is so terrible. But Angelina's was awesome! I had Raspberry Tart and Dulce de Leche... AMAZING! With some strawberries and coconut..O.M.G. If you ever go to Miami, definitely hit that place up.

I also had fried plantains for the first time. They were so good! Tasted like fried bananas. I enjoy fried bananas a lot, and the plantains were just as good.

I also had patacones and taqueno's. I don't remember what patacones had in it because I didn't like it too much. But those taqueno's. Those were tasty. They tasted like a pillsbury crescent roll stuffed with ooey-gooey cheesy goodness! My cousin got like, 50 taqueno's to-go for our sugo night which would be the night after.

Another sweet treat was at Tasti-D-Lites. We were walking around checking out art galleries and stopped at this place for ice cream. They had like a bajillion flavors! 70 calories, 80 calories, or 90 calories. Or something like that. But I had the mint chocolate waffle cone -70 cal.- and it was darn tasty! I thought it would taste like some diet ice cream but it surely did not. It felt awesome to know that I was eating a huge ice cream cone and I wasn't going to feel like a fatass afterwards!

Super awesome.

Now let me fill you in on my life recently.

I got a new job and left Scrubway. I am currently working at Josef of Barbados. Very classy restaurant. Probably one of the classiest in Rockford (Keep the "Rockford sucks" comments to yourself). I am an apprentice to the chefs and I love it! I'm like a little chef. I've already learned how to make so many different things. I've learned how to make goat cheese souffle, quiche, fry some potatoes and plantain chips, sausage rolls, escargot, along with slicing and dicing whatever they throw my way and a slew of other stuff.

My favorite thing that I have been learning is how to plate the desserts.

They are so beautiful.

This is the first one I learned.

Kind of proud of myself just because it isn't the easiest to remember.

The Crispy Almond Tuille Brulee.
Compliments of Josef's facebook.

Some day I may even get to learn how to make the desserts with the pastry chef. Ever since, well, forever I've wanted to be a pastry chef. And the fact that I get to plate desserts and hang with the big dogs is kind of a big deal (to me). I am very very grateful that I got this job. I am actually happy when I walk into work. That is something I have never really known.

Along with a new job, I've moved out and moved up into a sweet apartment with Michael. Just livin' life and growin' up and stuff.

New apartment = New kitchen.

I've made a few things in the kitchen:

Steak sandwiches.

Italian beef.

Grilled up some fish.

Made a red velvet cake and didn't have any.

Grilled pork chops (my specialty).

My version (Gina's favorite) Teriyaki Chicken.

That's just to name a few.

I'm not sure what I want to make next but I'm thinking it might be Tiramisu. That is my favorite dessert of all time and I love trying it at different places. I've even had it in Italy and in England.

It's just what I do.

It's my favorite.

It's creamy and has coffee in it and I've made it once before but that was a long time ago. I think it's time for me to try it out again.

I think the best is at Franchesco's. I just had it a few nights ago. And it is truly the epitome of amazing. Just put a nice big smile on my face and on Michaels.

Well, I think it's time for me to go to bed.

Let me know if you have any ideas of what else I should make.

I'd appreciate it!

Rules are for Fools!

2011-07-26T22:06:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone! I know it's been a while but I haven't had money. I finally had just a little bit of money and I needed to cook. Honestly, it was a need. I bought some olive oil the other day and decided to separate some into a smaller bottle and added fresh garlic cloves. I also had a quarter of a box of pasta left and I really was feeling like some pasta. But I didn't make any the other day because, "I am trying to stay healthy and pasta is not healthy." So much for that idea! Today I was really hungry and we had some random stuff and I decided to check out my Rachel Ray cookbook and as I was looking at the pastas I said to myself, "Nope. I'm not gonna use a recipe because recipes are for chumps!" So I knew I needed some cheese and I wanted something tomato-ey. I also wanted some fresh herbs. I went to the store and I bought Asiago Cheese, Canned Tomatoes with Italian Seasoning in them, Organic Rosemary, Peaches, and Raspberries. I gave myself a budget which was $10 and I ended up spending 11 something. Pretty good I'd say.

When I got home I started cooking right away as if my life depended on it.

1st up was the pasta.

(Let the record show, I did not use any measuring cups or anything. These are just guesstimates.)

Jenny T's Pastachino

Ingredients:

A cup or so of Angel Hair pasta

1 sprig of my good friend, Rose Marie. (Rosemary)

About a half a cup of Asiago Cheese

Half of a medium onion

A 14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes with the seasonings

Olive oil infused with garlic

A pinch of Red Pepper flakes

And salt and pepper to taste

1st I started to boil the water and once the water came to a boil, I added the pasta to the water and I heated up the frying pan at about medium-high heat. To the frying pan I added about a tablespoon of the olive oil and let that get hot. Then I added the onion and as it started to cook I added a nice pinch of the chopped up rosemary. I could smell it right away. It smelled so sexy.

Once the onions turned slightly translucent I added the whole can of tomatoes.

Once that started to bubble I added some salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. While this was cooking together I drained the pasta and added a little bit of canola oil to the pasta so it wouldn't stick together. I then grabbed about half of the asiago I had grated and added that to the tomatoes and onions. Once that got all melty, I added another pinch of rosemary and it gave the sauce more flavor. I turned it off and added half of the pasta to the tomatoes and onions.

Then I ate it.

It tasted really good. I could taste the onions and tomatoes and especially the rosemary. I added a little more of the asiago on top to make it pretty for the picture and plus I love cheese. For being pasta, it was quite light compared to what I usually make. When I make pasta I use lots of butter, oil, and cheese. But not this time. I tried to cut back on everything and this pasta turned out awesome. No exaggeration.

Then came time for dessert.

I have wanted to grill peaches for a while now. So I looked up grilled peaches at FoodNetwork.com and I came across a Bobby Flay recipe. But I didn't read much into it except that he used butter, cinnamon, and brown sugar. From that I made my own recipe.

Grilled Peaches and Raspberries

(Again, I did not measure anything out.)

Ingredients:

3 peaches

a handful of raspberries

1/2 cup of brown sugar

1 Tablespoon of ground cinnamon

a pinch of ground nutmeg

1/2 stick of butter

Heavy duty aluminum foil (better for grilling)

I started up the grill and away I went.

First I took the seeds out of the 3 peaches and cut the peaches into pieces of 8. So I quartered the peaches and cut each piece in half again. I sprayed the foil with some non stick cooking spray and put the peaches on the foil. I then added a small handful of raspberries. I sprinkled on some cinnamon and added the brown sugar. I then put 4 pads of butter on top of the fruit, cinnamon, and brown sugar. I decided to add a little bit of nutmeg because... well... Hey! Why not?

I wrapped it all up in the foil and put it onto the grill over indirect heat. I let the peaches cook for about 15 minutes then rotated them. I let them cook another 15 minutes and opened up the foil and checked them out. They were done and looked absolutely awesome. I did this all just randomly because I thought all of the flavors would go together like best friends that met in pre-school. And boy oh boy was I right.

I came in and served the peaches and melted berries to Michael, Jasmine, and my mom. Of course I tried some too even though I'm not crazy about peaches or fruit in general. I just thought it'd be a good idea.

We all tried it out and they thought it was really good but the sauce that it made reminded them of something. Michael said it'd be good on some kind of meat and Jasmine said it'd be good over ice cream. I then had a brain blast and grabbed my blender and sent Michael out to get vanilla ice cream because he's the best! I then puree'd the rest of the peaches and berry sauce until it was smooth. Michael came back and I put a little bit of the puree'd mixture over a couple scoops of ice cream.

Oh My God! It was soooooooo good! It was creamy and smooth and just a good idea all around.

Jasmine then proceeded to tell me how great of a friend I am and how she is really glad we are friends. I would love to cook for everyone someday and I promise that someday when I have my own restaurant, I will be inviting you all to eat at my restaurant. You won't be disappointed.

I hope you guys enjoyed this blog and sorry I go so long between blogs.

Any feedback just leave me a comment.

Live. Laugh. Eat.

Grillin' Like A Champ 101

2011-06-01T22:58:00.000-07:00

So it has been forever and a day since I've last posted a blog for my awesome viewers. I figured you all were getting hungry since it's summertime and junk. I've been hungry. Real hungry. Especially for steak. Or any kind of meat you can get your hands on (or grilled veggies for all of you non-meat lovers!)

Once it started getting nice around here, which was around mothers day, I decided to get out the old charcoal grill and make mom a meal she'd never forget! She loves New York Strip steak and so I went to the grocery store to find a couple less expensive steaks for my sister, my mom, and myself. I didn't buy the pre-packaged stuff because that's LAAAAAAMMME. I got two decent sized (1 lb. each) NY Strip from behind the counter or whatever. It was like $6.50/lb. so it came out to be about $13.00 for both steaks. We had some other steak at home I was going to grill up too. I came home and seasoned up the steaks but not too much seasoning. Just enough to taste. A light sprinkle of things- i.e. salt, pepper, garlic salt, and a little basil.

I let the steaks sit for a little bit with their seasonings so they can get to know each other before they head to their final resting place.

In the meantime I got the grill going. I learned all my grilling skills from my dad because he can grill up anything and everything. (no joke.) And if I learned anything from him in the past 21 years, it's that gas grills can SUCK IT and charcoal grills reign supreme especially Weber Grills. For a while we were grilling with charcoal lighter and matches. Then.. we got the grill chimney. It's a metal contraption and the way it is used is to put a few pieces of crumbled up newspaper in the bottom, and the old leftover charcoal (from your last cookout) with some new fresh charcoal on top. You light up the bottom newspaper and eventually the coals start to become white (Remember: not completely white.) When this happens you flip the chimney over and lay out your coals (on the coal or bottom rack) evenly and add some more briquettes (charcoal).

This process takes about 20-30 minutes. It takes up more time this way so people use gas grills to save time and effort.

So then I put the top grate back on the grill and let that get nice and hot. I went in and got the steaks and put those on. I cooked them mostly with indirect heat meaning I didn't put them in the center where most of the heat was. I put them on the outside of the grate around the coals, not directly on top. When you cook with direct heat, you end up burning and charring the outside of your steak before the inside can even start to have some sexy time. So that way, your steak cooks evenly.

The steaks turned out AWESOMELY!! My mom is usually a very harsh critic when it comes to my food, but when I cooked for her, she said the meal was the best she's ever had. I also made mashed sweet potatoes. Just steamed up some cut up fresh sweet potatoes for 20 min. Then mashed them up and added butter and some brown sugar. OMG it was awesome.

I love a man that can eat!

Just a couple weekends ago, Michael and I were wanting steak for lunch and instead of going out for steak, we went to Penguin meats in Rockford because we were in the area. So Michael got two beautiful steaks that weren't too expensive and I got 2 fillet because it was the cheapest they had and I was broke. So we went home and I grilled us up Michael's picked steaks because his were fresh and mine were frozen. My mom pulled out a package of Johnsonville Brats for herself so she could have that for lunch for a few days. Michael loved the steak and my mom loved the brats. She was nervous about me cooking them because we didn't boil them first, we just threw them on the grill. My mom said that the brats were the best she had ever had! And she wasn't joking because she still talks about them 2 or 3 weeks later. Michael ate his steak and I ate mine and Michael had a bite of a brat to try it. He liked it so much he ate the whole thing! I didn't try one. I was too full from the steak.

Sexy grill lines and not charred whatsoever. :)

A few weeks ago my mom bought some cheap $6.00 ribs from Aldi's. She took them out of the freezer the other night and wanted me to grill them and I decided to cook my fillet as well. I lightly seasoned the ribs and steak and put them on the grill. I wasn't expecting the ribs to turn out very well because I had never cooked ribs by myself without my dads help. Plus we didn't have any Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce. :(

Things to remember:

-Don't over season.

-It isn't always about direct heat. (Slow and in control).

-Charring any food is unhealthy.

-Always use Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce.

-With a little Reynold's tin foil, anything can be done.

-Charcoal grilling is ten times better than grilling with gas.

Why?

Gas grills cook unevenly.

Propane tanks scare me.

Well I hope you learned something from this blog. If you have any questions, feel free to comment.

What's the deal with the Veal?

2011-02-01T22:56:00.000-08:00

Ok, so this really isn't about veal. Well kinda. Or not really. But I did have veal! At my grandma's. She bought these meat sticks. They were pretty tasty. I took a bite. After a bite or two, I was informed that I was eating a veal stick. I had not really planned on eating veal just because of the simple fact that veal is baby cow. *sad face* I hate to say it, or love to say, that it was quite tasty.

Ya know, I've had a few new foods since the beginning of my adventure that I have failed to mention in my blogs just because of the simple fact that I am lazy.

But I have tried the following:

-Fried Okra from Bandanas BBQ
verdict: It didn't taste like anything. Blah. But most of the time when I have fried food, it doesn't ever taste like anything.
-Leeks
verdict: Michael and I made Parsley soup. Leeks were involved. Smell like onions. Taste like onions. Not as potent as onions.
-Pho (pronounced FUH) from Pho Square in Rockford on Riverside.
verdict: Vietnamese soup. I had heard good things about this soup from friends and therefore tried it with them. They give you a big bowl of soup. I got the vegetable Pho. It had a bunch of different types of veggies along with Tofu. I like tofu. It was a tad bland but it looked absolutely beautiful. And for the record, the people that worked there were the most friendly people I have ever met! (Especially being at a restaurant.) They were so friendly, it put me in a great mood.
-Pastrami (from the workplace. Aka: Subway.)
verdict: It was kind of fatty. Okay, so it was really fatty. And greasy. But you know what, I had it once. The flavor was really good though. Not one of Subway's finest sandwiches but a good flavor. Just add some nice yellow mustard and it was a decent sandwich. I ended up having it 3 or 4 times.

Short, Sweet, and To The Point.

2011-01-27T11:18:00.000-08:00

*READ WITH CAUTION: I did not proofread this blog.*

So here's the duck deal. I have been suuuuuuuuuuuuper lazy lately and I just haven't felt like writing. I don't know why but the duck I made just kind of ruined my motivation for a while. This blog that will be short and sad (just like myself).

JUST KIDDING!

Let me just say this:

The Duck Sucked.

Basically, I had very high hopes for the duck even though I had never roasted anything (turkey, duck, any kind of meat) by myself. Meaning-- without the help of a parent who happens to know what they are doing. i.e. my dad. I wanted to make it by myself and so I did. I couldn't find a set recipe for a duck online because there were so many variations and it was just all confusing me. They would say, "Do this OR do this OR combine it all!" After seeing that a few times I gathered the info I wanted to use and just WENT FOR IT!

I woke up that day and I ran to the store to get some pineapple juice, an onion, and whatever else I got that I can't remember. I set the oven at somewhere in the low 300's. (Degrees, Fahrenheit)

I washed the duck with salt and took the liver and kidneys and heart and neck out of the bird and I had to stop for a second because touching that stuff grossed me out. Made light slits in the bird so the fat would render (more fat would come off the bird = not so greasy bird like everyone was telling me). After it was all dry from being patted with paper towels (drying the ducks skin after washing makes for a crispier skin, or so the online people said). I stuffed the duck with a few sprigs of fresh (expensive) rosemary or Rose Marie, as I like to call her. I quartered an onion and an orange and put 3 of the 4 pieces of each into the duck, along with a few smashed cloves of garlic, and a few cinnamon sticks. I did this so the beautiful flavors would be held inside the duck and move throughout.

I also made a glaze/juice to keep putting over the duck as it cooked. In my head I added everything up and it seemed legit.

Pineapple juice

soy sauce

brown sugar

a little bit of regular sugar

salt

pepper

and other stuff I can't remember.

*Whisked all of that together*

Drizzled it on the duck.

Shoved it in the oven for an hour.

Turned it and added more sauce stuff.

Cooked and Waited 30 minutes.

Turned it again and drizzled more sauce.

Cooked and Waited another 30 minutes.

Turned it for the last time and added more sauce.

Cooked and Waited for 15 more minutes.

Then took it out to sit for 30 minutes.

Tried pulling off a duck leg (because Paula Deen made it look easy) and found that I was having a wrestling match with the duck.

Carved in to one breast and it was cooked but tasted (insert *nasty* face here). Well, it just wasn't tasty.

It tasted game-y and tough. I don't know about you but I don't like tough meat.

My mom didn't like it either. That wasn't a big surprise. She's picky.

Gina my seeester, kinda liked it. Then bit into a pink part and spit it in the garabage. Good girl.

Then...

Carved in to the other breast

IT WAS STILL BLOODY!

After seeing this, I got nauseous and upset, then I said, "That's depressing."

Kept the good meat and threw the whole effing duck in the garabage.

Brought some of the good meat to my dad and he said it was good. He had never had duck before.

He isn't picky.

I talked to him about it and he encouraged me to try again and next time USE A MEAT THERMOMETER AND COOK IT SLOW!

YES! A MEAT THERMOMETER! HOW COULD I HAVE FORGOTTEN????!!!

and

COOK IT SLOW?! THAT SHOULD BE COMMON SENSE!

But either way, I didn't have a meat thermometer at my moms house. Next time I will

DONE!

I also made Paula Deen's Sweet Potato Pie with the help of Alton Brown.

I watched Alton's video:

Click Here to watch Alton's video!

and looked at Paula's recipe because who better than the down-home country gal, Paula Deen for a sweet potato pie recipe?? Um No One!!

Click Here for Paula's Old Fashioned Sweet Potato Pie Recipe!

I watched Alton's video because Paula didn't explain how to cook the fresh sweet potatoes. So it was very easy. I chopped up the sweet potatoes and steamed them for 20 min. Perfect Potatoes every time!

I followed Paula's recipe, minus the meringue. Baked it and it was absolutely delicious and flavorful and fresh! It tastes like pumpkin pie but fresh and like sweet potato. Fresh pumpkin pie is also great but who has the time to mess with a whole fresh pumpkin? Not me.

(Well, sometimes. Around the holidays at my dads.)

But anyways, The duck sucked and the pie rocked! I definitely encourage you to try Paula's Old- Fashioned Sweet Potato Pie recipe. It's awesome.

Also:

Never give up especially on yourself. And if you mess up a few times, don't let that get you down. Keep going. No matter what it is.

WWDD?

(What Would Dory Do?)

"Just Keep Swimming."

or...

"Don't let the fear of striking out keep you from playing the game."

-Cinderella Story

or...

Whatever your motivational quote is, JUST DO IT.

Cottage Cheese Pananacakes!!

2011-01-07T19:30:00.001-08:00

Cottage Cheese Pananacakes = Pancakes with Cottage Cheese and Bananas

Sounds disgusting right? Right.

Different than your average pancake? Most definitely.

You're probably wondering why cottage cheese pancakes. Well I can give you a hint: Matt Kittoe. Who is Matt Kittoe? Well, I work with him and he is Michaels' bffeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeaeae! He eats healthy and is getting in shape (as we speak). He is always talking about cottage cheese pancakes. They are healthy for you. I don't know how really but they are. They consist of cottage cheese, eggs, a little flour, a little baking powder, and your choice of salt or sugar. My lovely assistant Michael and I decided on a pinch of salt and a teaspoon of sugar and also added a whole banana. << Yum Yum Potassi-YUM!!!

Click Here for the recipe!

We told my mom we were going to be making pancakes and she decided out of the kindness of her heart that she would supply the funds for this tasty adventure. She also supplied the funds for the Flan. Thanks Mom!

Here is a tip from her to the world that she tells me every time I go out at night:

"Be Aware of Your Surroundings."

Well first the recipe said to mix the 2 eggs and 1 1/2 cups of cottage cheese together. I did the cottage cheese and Michael used his one-handed cracking skills (sexy!) with the eggs that were put into one mixing bowl. Whisked it up a little, then added 1 teaspoon of baking POWDER. (This is very important because if you use baking SODA when it calls for POWDER, you will mess the whole recipe up. No matter what you are baking. That's real talk!) Once that was all mixed up, I quartered a whole banana and chopped the banana into small pieces, whisked it up a little more, then it was time to start cookin'.

I don't have a griddle so we used a large non-stick frying pan. Works just as well, just less space. A few more ingredients we used were leftovers: coconut from our Flan, sliced almonds my mom had left over from making cookies, and Fruit Loops. Yep. You heard me. Fruit Loops.

I wasn't yankin' your chain :)

Well, we got the pan nice and hot and added a little canola oil. It called for vegetable oil but I didn't have that so canola was our only option. My dad is an awesome pancake maker and so he's always taught me that when making pancakes, drop only a dime-sized bit of batter onto the pan. That way, you can tell if the pan and oil is hot enough and ready to go. You will know it's hot enough because the sides of the dime-sized drop will start cooking and turning light brown. Once that little bit did exactly what we were looking for, the fun began. At first we did 2 pancakes at a time then moved up to four pancakes at a time. You will know the pancakes are ready to flip when you see bubbles appear through the batter and end up on top. So I tried the first flip and I messed it up. From there I let Michael watch the pancakes because he's a pretty good pancaker himself. So I grabbed the coconut, almonds, and fruit loops. We had a few pancakes with just coconut, a few with just almond, and a few with almond and coconut. The last of the batter made one more pancake and that was the one with the fruit loops.

When all of the pancakes were done cooking, we divided the pancakes up between us. I had heard that honey was good on pancakes along with being a healthy alternative to syrup. I tried it on one and it wasn't my thing. So I stuck to Mrs. Butterworths syrup and so did Michael. On the side we had some chopped strawberries and kiwi.

After we both tried all of our choices of pancakes, we agreed that surprisingly, the fruit loop pancake was our favorite. It gave the pancake sweetness, color, and an all-around great taste. It was one of those things, don't judge it 'til you try it. My second favorite was the almond pancake.

Going into this, I didn't know what to expect because I thought, "Cottage cheese? In pancakes? This should be interesting." My mouth just didn't know what to expect. But the fact is, if you came to eat these pancakes, and we didn't tell you that there was cottage cheese in the pancakes we made you, you would never know there was cottage cheese in the pancakes you had just devoured. I could taste the banana but not the cottage cheese.

Sometimes you have to just jump and try something new without thinking yourself out of it. Now if only I could apply that to life and not just food. I think that should be my new motto. Because when you eat, you do so much more than chew, digest, and be happy. You have to taste. You have to think. Sometimes fall in love. So this week, try something new. Anything. Don't think, just Do.

(: See ya next blog :)

*Pictures coming soon*

The Triple Threat: Spicy Tomato and Lentil Soup

2011-01-02T23:48:00.000-08:00

*Everything in this blog that is red, is something new that I have never used or have done before.*

It all started with the thought of... The Tomato.

My best buddy, Andrew, had a hankerin' for some sort of tomato soup. For Christmas, I had recently bought him a cookbook with a multitude of low-fat and/or fat-free recipes. He has worked very hard to get his body in great shape and has lost quite a bit of weight over a period of months, so therefore, I bought him a healthy cookbook.

Ladies, he's 20 years old, single, a scorpio, loves being active, and an all-around great guy who will treat you right and make you a great sandwich. You want a shot with him,

shoot me a comment, message, or Facebook me:
Jennifer Tillou (I'm the only Jennifer Tillou).

;)

Anyways...

Andrew had a hankerin' for some sort of tomato soup. He had a few recipes picked out and so after work I went down to his house, a few houses down from mine, and we decided to make "Spicy Tomato and Lentil Soup." The picture for this soup looked the best out of the 3 I had to choose from.

The first thing Andrew wanted to do was make a list he would need at the store. We went to Woodman's, "the grocery store of grocery stores", and we got everything we needed;
such as:
Fresh Ginger Root,
A pound of fresh Tomatoes,
A yellow Onion,
Sunflower oil,
Crushed Cumin seeds,
(We bought those whole because our only options were whole or ground)
Red Split Lentils,
(Lentils are a type of bean that you do not need to soak or cook all day)
Tomato Paste,
and lastly...
Vegetable Stock.

Before we started, I ran up to my house to grab fresh garlic, my food processor, and my special chopping knife. Once we got back to his house after the store, THE PREP BEGAN! I was in charge of chopping the onions, chopping the ginger root, and seeding the tomatoes. The recipe called for a pound of fresh tomatoes that were skinned and seeded. This was something I had never done before personally, but I had seen the technique on t.v. many times before. It also helped that the cookbook told us how to do this properly, as well. We had to bring a pot of water to a boil to submerge the tomatoes in for 30 seconds. We counted to 30 in tandem. Then we took each tomato out of the boiling water and shocked it in a pot of very cold water. After that was done, we dug our finger nails into the tomatoes to peel the very thin layer of skin off of them. (Don't worry, we washed our hands many times during the making of this soup.) I was having trouble peeling the skin because I really don't have nails to dig in with, so Andrew peeled the tomatoes and I started the seeding process by using a spoon to scrape the seeds out, ever-so-lightly. Then I chopped the remaining tomatoes up and put them in a bowl.

In the meantime, Andrew started to try to crush the whole cumin seeds. The recipe called for crushed cumin. Our only options were ground or whole. So we went with whole. Little did we know that it would be so difficult to find a way to crush the whole cumin seeds. I made suggestions that he tried, like the butt of a wooden spoon and his mom, Mary Jo, suggested to use a wooden meat mallet. Then, Andrew came up with an idea that was molded by a stroke of genius. After trying numerous kitchen utensils, he went for,

wait for it...
wait for it..
wait.

HIS COFFEE GRINDER!
(Which I bought him for his birthday this year!)

It worked perfectly and would give the soup that spicy little kick. The cumin smelled like it belonged in chili. Which it usually is used in chili. I never really knew that and neither did he because we both decided that it belonged in chili.

Another new ingredient I had never cooked with fresh was the ginger root. We only needed an inch of it. Literally, an inch. It smelled amazing. Like lemon. The freshest of lemon. It was such a happy smell. It was kind of tough to chop but I am...

The Chopper!
>>Insert Evil Laugh Here<<

Once everything was done being prepped, the adventure began. Andrew fired up the stove and added the sunflower oil (a healthy alternative to olive oil or canola oil) to the hot, deep soup pan. Once the oil was nice and hot, I added my finely chopped onion. He cooked the onion until it became soft and slightly translucent. From there we added the chopped garlic, ginger, and cumin.

Once that had all cooked together for a few minutes, Andrew added the red split lentils and I added the chopped tomatoes simultaneously.

Beautiful colors!

He let that cook for a few more minutes then he added about two Tablespoons of tomato paste. (The recipe only called for one Tablespoon but we put just about two. Because we can.) I added the (unsalted- Andrews decision) vegetable stock. The recipe called for five cups of chicken or vegetable stock, but it wasn't until we got home that the vegetable stock we had bought, only contained four cups and not five.

Oh well. No bigs.
:)

Once the soup came to a boil, Andrew turned the flame down on the stove and we let the soup simmer for a half an hour. To pass the time, we admired just about every recipe in the cookbook I had bought him that he seemed to have fallen in love with. From pastas to salads and to desserts and breads.

Now for the fun part.
:D

We turned the flame off on the stove and poured our simmered soup into the food processor. Suddenly, the liquid of the soup started leaking out of the food processor from every which-way. The blade seemed to be too shallow and therefore, the liquid of the soup came out from under the blade and leaked out onto the kitchen counter. It looked like puke. Yes puke. And honestly, it kind of made me nauseous. So as Andrew's and my eyes grew bigger because of the mess we had begun to make, we each took ten seconds (felt like a minute) to figure out what to do next.

Do we just go for it as fast as we can and make an even BIGGER mess or do we use paper towels to sop up the dripping mess and then go for it?

DUN! DUN! DUN!

Andrew grabbed a few paper towels and wrapped it around the food processor with his hands holding them in place. I secured the food processor lid and pressed "On" while he proceeded to hold the towels in place. We stopped, he changed the paper towels, and I pressed "On" one more time. We agreed that that was enough. When we were done processing the soup, I tried to unlock the part of the processor which held our processed soup. When I got close to having it unlocked, more soup mess came out. So Andrew pretty much said, "Watch out!" and picked up the whole processor and poured it back into the pan. We turned the flame back on to bring it to a simmer to heat the soup back up. While the soup heated back up, we cleaned up our soupy/pukey-looking mess. And cleaned up the food processor and it's parts.
(For those of you that care about the food processors' well-being, it was cleaned up and is looking good as new.)

Then the soup came to a slight boil and we turned off the flame and We. Were. Done!

Andrew took down two very pretty, clean, white glass bowls and he poured our soup into the bowls.
I snapped a few pictures and Voila!

End Result: Spicy Tomato and Lentil Soup.

When the soup was all done, we were ready to eat.

Without even mentioning anything, Andrew pulled down some crushed red pepper flakes from the cupboard and added a sprinkle of black pepper. That thought never even crossed my mind. It was that extra "beauty" and extra "taste" component. Or better yet, the cherry on top of a perfect sundae. (Even though I don't like cherries but bear with me. You know what I mean.) We each salted our bowl of soup to each of our own likings and it was nothing short of awesome.

It was a perfect dish for the winter time.

The memory it brought to my mind was something like we had just got home from sledding and it was very cold outside. This soup would be ready on the stove and ready to be eaten to warm each of us up. My only warning to you people who do not like spicy foods, this dish may not be for you. I thought that it was perfectly spicy, but that's my own personal opinion. Andrew likes crazy amounts of spicy.

Also, usually I am that person that needs something to drink while I am eating; no matter what food it is. But I didn't want a drink with this soup. It was perfect.

But like I said, the spice was not over-bearing whatsoever, and it will definitely clear up your sinuses. Andrew can agree with this statement because after he was done eating, he had to blow his nose.

This was a great soup and a great time.

I conquered 4 new foods and 1 new technique with 1 new recipe. I have Andrew to thank along with his mom for letting us cook at their house.

Remember:
Chew. Digest. Be :).

FLAN, Bam, Thank You Ma'am!

2010-12-30T16:02:00.000-08:00

So on December 29th, 2010, at about midnight. It began.

The task at hand was Coconut Flan.

Flan (or said like Flahn) is a spanish custard dessert dish that Michael suggested because I had never tasted Flan, let alone, know what it is. So he came over and we checked out some Flan recipes online. We both enjoy coconut so we decided to try the Coconut Flan. We found the recipe on Foodnetwork.com, courtesy of
Marcela Valladolid.
Click Here to check out the recipe we used!

The adventure began at Loglis. Everything we needed was located in the baking aisle. I already had the 6 eggs, vanilla extract, salt, and vegetable cooking spray. But we needed to go to the store to pick up:

3 cans of Sweetened Condensed Milk,

1 can of Unsweetened Coconut Milk,

1 can of Evaporated Milk,

Shredded Coconut,

Caramel Sauce,

and

A Bundt Pan.

We had found everything at Loglis EXCEPT the coconut milk. All we could find was "Cream of Coconut" and we were leery about buying that because what the heck is Cream of Coconut?! So after thinking it over and over and over, we put everything back where we found it and headed out to Woodmans, which by the way, is one of the best grocery stores in Rockford. AND, they are employee owned, so I found that almost everything we bought at Woodmans was cheaper than at Loglis. We found the coconut milk first. They had like SIX different kinds of coconut milk! Loglis had one kind and the kind we needed was all out anyways and we weren't going to settle for Cream of Coconut. Then came the sweetened condensed milk and that was, if I remember right, a dollar or two cheaper per can.

*Cha-Ching*

We also found the Bundt Pan. For those of you that don't know what a Bundt pan is (like me before we started); it's an angel food cake pan. A cake pan with a hole in the middle.

Easy.

BAM!

After grabbing all of our ingredients and supplies, Michael showed me around because I had only been to Woodmans maybe twice; he goes there all the time so he knows his way around preeeeeeeetty well. When we arrived back at my house, we found a hoodlum on my front porch who was trying to sell us stuff. He greeted us by saying, "Whatdya buyin'?" Lo-and-behold, it was my bestest buddy, Andrew! He stuck around for a little while. Once we went in, we started getting everything ready. The recipe said to mix with an electric beater, the milks, salt, vanilla extract, and eggs all together. Then we greased our bundt pan and put the caramel in the bundt pan by twisting the pan until it had caramel sauce all over it. We felt like pro's. Then we poured the mixture into the bundt pan. Put the bundt pan inside of a deeper pan and filled the deeper pan with water. This is so the Flan would cook evenly throughout. Then we covered the top of the bundt pan with foil. And it was ready to be shoved into the oven which was pre-heated to 350 degrees. (Andrew headed back home at this time.)

The pan in a pan.

Then we baked it for an hour and a half and checked it. We were looking for a slight jiggle just like when baking a cheesecake. So we put it in for another 15 minutes because it still seemed a little too liquidy. And that did the trick.

Check out the slight bit of golden brown around the edge!

After eating chinese food, Edam cheese, meat, chocolate covered peanut butter balls, and having a glass of Milk (Michael) and Cranberry Juice (Myself), we snatched it up on out of the oven and and let it sit out for 30 minutes. Then we cleaned up and Michael headed out because at this time it was about 2:30 a.m. After the half an hour of sitting, I put it in the fridge for the rest of the night. I promised Michael that I wouldn't flip it with out him. So he came back over around 2:30 p.m. and we flipped it and it started oozing caramel! I had to act fast! I grabbed a cookie sheet and we put the plate with the Flan onto the cookie sheet.

In the middle you can see the pool of caramel sauce. YUMMY!

Then Michael toasted the coconut.

I like a man at work! ;)

Once the coconut was toasted, we sprinkled it all around the Flan.

Are you ready for this??!!

BAM!

It turned out beautifully, but did it taste beautiful?

Trying to cut into it was a task and it was even harder trying to get the piece onto the plate. But we did it and we didn't make a mess. I was scared to take a bite but I did it. The first bite tasted a little awkward in my mouth because the texture is something to get used to. The second bite was better. Michael liked it and I thought it was okay. But my mom didn't like it. It was SUPER sweet and tasted like a stiffer vanilla pudding. After 5 bites I had to put it down because it was just so rich and sweet. I couldn't finish my piece. But I did like it. It's one of those things where a little bit goes a long way, so a smaller piece would've been good with me. I am not sure if i'll make it again but it was fun to make and I was surprised that it turned out as beautifully as it did.

This was definitely a brand new experience for me and I'm glad that Michael was there to help.

My new motto to live by after this is:

Chew. Digest. Be :).

Day 2: Sweet Aaaaaand Salty?! In one place!?

2010-12-23T23:11:00.000-08:00

So earlier today I decided that I was NOT going to eat at work since I only had a four hour shift. But of course, I was hungry. I am ALWAYS hungry. Ask anyone I know and they'll even say (probably) something like, "Oh yeah, Jennifer is ALWAYYYYYS hungry! It's kinda crazy." Then throw a weird look your way and then it's all downhill from there.

Anywayyyyyyys.

So I grabbed some Joe (Joe = Coffee for the N00BS out there) at the local Coleman residence (my best friend Andrew's house) and then proceeded to the local grocery store, aka, Loglis. I was going to make a sandwich that wasn't too heavy (since I would be sleeping afterwards) or expensive to make.

So since I knew I wanted to make a sandwich, the first food that made my mouth water was pineapple. I grabbed some pineapple and I had a Pauly D. moment so I said, "OH YEAH PINEAPPLE YEAH!" and went on with my business. I grabbed some fresh mushrooms and baby spinach from the produce area. I then went to the cheeses. (By the way, I LOVE CHEESE.) I wanted some Gouda but I couldn't find it, so after pacing back and forth in front of the cheeses, I came across Edam cheese from Holland (which I had never heard of >>*New Food*). The package said, "great for sandwiches," and I said, "We will do great things." Then came the bread choice. I was thinking maybe a dark rye but that just wasn't appealing to my eyes. I grabbed some San Francisco Sourdough Bread and proceeded on my way. From the bread I decided I wanted a little bit of meat for the sandwich, but nothing that takes too long to cook. So I grabbed a thick slice of pre-cooked ham that was cooked and packaged.

From there I proceeded to check out. I had a budget of $20 dollars and just made it. I usually over-spend, so that was definitely something to be proud of. I went on my merry little way and headed on home.

Now for the fun stuff!

*Raises Eyebrows*

I started cooking right away by sauteeing my mushrooms in butter the way they should be. I added a little salt and pepper, even though they didn't need it. While those started to cook I started slicing up a little bit of onion and a few cloves of garlic. I put a little bit of olive oil in the pan and then went in the garlic and then the onions. I started cooking the onions until they became slightly translucent. From there, I added the mushrooms and their buttery goodness to the onions and garlic. I chopped up some of the pineapple into little bite-size pieces and added those to the mixture. I had a few limes in the fridge already so I added half of a lime. I then chopped up some of the pre-cooked ham and added that to the mixture until it got warm and cozy with its bunk-mates.

The end result (in the frying pan) looked like this...

(: Look at the color! :)

But I wanted to make a sandwich. REMEMBEERRRR????

I toasted 2 pieces of the sourdough bread in the toaster and meanwhile had a hell of a time slicing the cheese. Once I was done with those tasks I got down my lovely Pocahontas plate from the cupboard and placed the 2 pieces of toasted bread on the plate. Then, I added a layer of the baby spinach and a thin slice of the Edam cheese. I spooned out a little bit of my Sweet and Salty mix on to the bed of spinach along with a little bit of the juice from the mixture. I added one more thin slice of cheese and the other piece of toasted bread.

Thus, the end result.

*DRUM ROLL PLEASE!*

BAM!!!

It might look good, but does it taste good?

The answer is... Yes, I took a bite and it had the perfect crunch along with the perfect amounts of my sweet and salty mixture. They complimented each other quite well and with every bite I could taste the salty cheese and the sweet pineapple, along with the mushrooms, caramelized onions, and all of the other tasty goods.

It was easy.
It was affordable.
It was colorful.
It was energy efficient. *wink*
And best of all...
It was TASTY.

Day 1: Noodles and Company.

2010-12-20T15:08:00.000-08:00

Day 1 = OH YES!

So my lovely boyfriend (Michael) asked to take me out to lunch today and suggested somewhere new that we have never tried before. Of course, I said yes! When he picked me up he asked if I wanted to go to Noodles and Company. I said, "Oh my God! I had a feeling that we'd go to that place!" So he gave me that million dollar smile of his and we were one our way.

When we got there, we walked in we checked out the menu and they gave us three choices:

Asian. Mediterranean. American.

Neither of us wanted American because well... BORRIIIINNNNNGGG!!! So, being the pasta loving Italian gal that I am and the Italian-appreciating guy that Michael is, we went with Mediterranean. I was originally going to get the Penne Rosa but then I asked Michael what he was going to get. He said, "... the Pesto Cava?? tappi?? I don't know how to pronounce that, you're the Italian one!" and so we laughed and I decided to get that same thing; Pesto Cavatappi.

We also had the option of getting chicken with our pasta:

Parmesan crusted or grilled.

We each chose the grilled chicken.

Well, I'm sure you want me to get to the good stuff and are asking yourself, "JUST TELL ME WHAT'S IN IT, WILL YA!?" Alright! I'll tell you!

Noodles and Company describes this dish as the following:

- Pesto Cavatappi -

Curly pasta sautéed with basil pesto, garlic, mushrooms, tomato and a splash of cream. Topped with parmesan and Italian parsley.

I have had A LOT of pasta in my time (20 years mind you and in a big Italian family to boot). I have even been to Rome, Italy and had the freshest pasta. Let me tell you something, this pasta was perfectly cooked, the parsley on top tasted fresh and was the vibrant green it was meant to have, it wasn't too cheesy, and the pesto (crushed fresh basil, garlic, olive oil, parmesan cheese, and pine nuts), wasn't too basil-y, garlic-y, or oily. All of the tastes that were put together were in the right amounts and worked as a team to make a home run -- in my mouth.

*wink*wink*

Michael agreed and we ate every bite. Well, I didn't eat all of my chicken because to me it was a little much, but I did eat all of my amazing pasta. So I gave some of my chicken to Michael and he didn't mind at all because he enjoyed this dish as much as I did.

So this was a great start to a tasty new adventure. The atmosphere was chill, the workers were friendly, the food was awesome, but best of all, I had the best company. If you ever get the chance, definitely give this place a "look-see". I'll even give you the website to check it out.

Yay Noodles!

Cheers to Tasty Adventures!

The Introduction.

2010-12-14T22:38:00.000-08:00

Hey!!!!
My Name is Jennifer Tillou and I love food. Simple as that. I love it.

So here is the plan. School is almost over. I only have a few days left. Once it is over, I plan on trying a bunch of new foods. Foods that have never touched my tongue before! My goal is to try 1 new food a day. Hopefully this works out but I cannot promise a new food every day because I am simply not rich! If you haven't noticed, restaurants are expensive and prices at the grocery stores rise and fall every day. But I will try my hardest to try a new food every few days. Once a week I will set 1 day aside where I try 1 new ethnic food. I will try these things either by myself or with friends. I have a big range of ideas. Ethnic foods to healthy foods, to fast food (not much), new recipes (I will give the recipe I used and give credit wherever necessary), and just a new food to me in general. Plus, I will take a picture of everything I eat.

I will be starting this adventure on Monday. The 20th day in December of the year 2010!!!!
The end will be Sunday. The 16th day in January of the new year 2011!!!

A few examples of new foods to me are:
Sweet Potato Pie
Clams
Oysters
Duck
Veal
Cactus
Okra
... and a bunch of others. Mostly I will be going through the local grocery stores looking for things I have never tried before.

I am really excited to get this going! Don't be afraid to make suggestions or comments. I could use all the help I could get.

Wish me luck,

Jen