Food, Laughter and Love... So much Love

    
     I have been very busy lately, to say the very least. School has started up again, that means sports, scouts and lots and lots of meetings and homework! I know my fellow parents can feel my frustration with the homework. Fuck, talk about a shit show! I know my house is a trial of tears every single night! I have been trying to multi-task and prepare dinner while helping with the homework. I have made some wonderful meals over the last few weeks and I wanted to share a few of my faves! More importantly, these are favorite meals of my spawn as well.

     Rosemary & Garlic chicken with roasted rainbow potatoes with rainbow carrots. No pic for this, but just listen... er.. read about it.  So get yourself some chicken, I don't care, what ever part you like to eat. Season it up on both sides with garlic powder, crushed rosemary, black pepper, and a dash of sea salt. Preheat your oven to about 375. Put the mother cluckers into a glass baking pan with olive oil or coconut oil. Toss those in the oven for about 30 mins and then check on them. I use the poke method to check for done-ness. My more anal retentive friends may wish to use a meat thermometer. Chicken is cooked to food safe at 165F. You can toss those potatoes and carrots in some Herbs De Province, black pepper, sea salt, garlic powder and I tossed in some onion for flavor. Toss those in the oven next to the chicken. Yep, all at the same time. Dinner orgy happening in the oven. They should all be finished close to the same time. Give the taters and carrots an extra 10 minutes if you want them softer.

     Taco Tuesday! Ground beef, turkey or pork. Brown that in the frying pan with ground cumin (a teaspoon or so), Chili powder (about the same), crushed red pepper flakes if you like HOT!, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper, & sea salt. When its cooked, add one 8oz can of tomato sauce. Re-up on all those seasonings from before. Go by taste, and take it easy on the salt until you know... trust me on that. Not going to waste my breath on the rest of the taco fixings. You know what you like on it, buy that.

     Meh, I said a few and there are 2. I will try to get you guys something else soon. I have so many dishes that I can whip up, I will try to share more with you. I have been loving life recently, so the food I cook has become more secondary to just enjoying the people around me! I have met a few new friends recently and had the pleasure of going to the Spokane Interstate Fair with them. I have to say that I have not had that much fun at a fair since I was a kid! It's truly amazing what surrounding yourself with good people can do for the soul. I have laughed more, smiled more and been enjoying myself more. Finding people that don't think that your quirks are weird, they just get excited with you over the bizarre! Those are the kind of people you need in your life.

     My kids have been making me smile and laugh these last few weeks. They are growing into beautiful people. Each one of them has their own interesting personality. My amazing daughter is turning into the kind of person I have always known her to be. She is kind, thoughtful and so very strange! My heart fills when I see her growing into such an amazing young lady. Both my son's have been pushing my patience! As boys seem to do. They are turning into little gentlemen, however. I have gotten reports from teachers that they have been respectful and kind to the teachers and other students. Nothing makes you feel more proud than to have a stranger tell you that your child has been so highly thought of.

     As we are wrapping up another calendar year, and beginning another school year. I have been looking forward to the fun that will continue and to the new adventures that I will encounter. If you all have noticed... I have not mentioned online dating in this post! That's because I have turned off the fuckery for now. I have put a hold on the shit show. After 2 solid weeks of some seriously creepy men hitting on me, I have sworn off the dating sites for the time being. It took me about 10 showers to get the last few messages washed off me. *shudders* One or more of those dudes knows how to put a woman in the trunk of their car, I'm certain of it.

So go out! do something awesome and ABOVE ALL ELSE! Have fun!
Keep it Classy as fuck my friends!
Until next time.

It's OK to Treat Yourself to a Decent Meal Sometimes

     After a couple weeks of no food posts, I'm getting back to why I created this blog in the first place! FOOD! Delicious, amazing, melt in your mouth awesomeness. 

     Tonight I made myself a rib-eye steak, asparagus, and roasted potatoes. 

     Looks amazing right!? That's because it was! Sorry, but I have to say, that I even impress myself sometimes. 

     So that sizzling hot hunk of beef was a tender, seasoned to perfection, cooked to medium rare, orgasm in my mouth. Combined with the roasted potatoes and asparagus, it was a meal fit for a Queen. I seasoned my steak with garlic and onion powder, pink Himalayan salt and fresh cracked pepper. I tossed it into the oven with the potatoes during the last 5 minutes of cooking time, at 400 degrees F.  After I pulled the potatoes out of the oven I cranked on the broiler, and cooked the steak for approximately 3-4 minutes each side. The asparagus was cooked in my cast iron frying pan on medium-high heat with about 2tblsp of butter and a splash of olive oil. Seasoned with ground blue salt, cracked pepper and garlic powder. I fried in the pan for 4 minutes, then added about a half cup of water and turned the heat on high until the water evaporated, making sure to toss them in the pan a few times.
My roasted potatoes are a combo of small red, purple and gold potatoes. Seasoned with that black lava salt, garlic powder, cracked pepper and crushed rosemary. 

     Well that's it! quick and dirty for you tonight folks. Cooking with me is fast paced and fun! Don't just wing it if you aren't comfortable though. Slowly work your way into it. I've ruined many a meal just flying by the seat of my pants and fucking it all up in epic failure glory! When cooking you should always stand in the kitchen and babysit your food. Unless it's slow cooking in the oven or crockpot. I hope that some of my tips help you to expand on your cooking horizons! I'm no gourmet chef.... but I am a damned good home cook! 

Until next time my friends! 

Double Duty Chicken!

     So tonight I will actually give you a cooking entry! Yay food! So I know what you're thinking already, "that's a lot of food for one." and you would be right, except for the fact that my kids are with me for the week. So what I decided to whip up for dinner is chicken breast that will pull double duty as a chicken pasta salad for tomorrow! Woohoo for stretching the budget!

     So to start off with, I didn't find this recipe online, this is just what I whipped up in my own kitchen out of my own food loving mind.

     The chicken breast is seasoned with crushed rosemary, black pepper, rosemary sea salt, onion powder and garlic powder. I do not cook with specific measurements, so don't even ask me how much is on each chicken breast. I added a moderate dusting of each seasoning to both sides of the chicken and rubbed it in. I cooked the chicken in a pan pre-heated to Medium, with a healthy dollop of organic coconut oil and 3 whole cloves of garlic. Covered and cooked approx 10 mins each side then removed the lid, and turned up the heat to medium high for about 2-3 mins to cook off the excess liquid and to brown the chicken. Please check your chicken with a thermometer to ensure it is cooked to the food safe temp of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. I used the old method of giving the thickest part a poke with a fork and ensuring the juice ran clear. Do not do this unless you are 100% confident in your own cooking skills, I don't recommend it.

     Ok, now for that fun and colorful pasta salad! Again, no exact measurements! Shit, I don't have time for that! Cook yourself some pasta, I chose small shells, you can get what ever floats your boat. Chop up some veggies, don't ask me what to put in there... I don't know what you like. I like many veggies, this has carrots, red bell pepper, broccoli and sugar snap peas. I also added real bacon bits because bacon is fucking awesome. I will chop up one of those yummy chicken breasts and toss it in there too. The dressing for this particular salad will be made with about 1c. of olive oil mayo because I like it, and a half packet of Hidden Valley Fiesta Ranch. Toss the salad and then eat it! YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN! get your head outta the gutter...

     Now this is the only time I'm gonna explain to you why and how I can cook without specific measurements. I first learned to cook by grabbing a packet of seasoning at the store, you know what I'm talking about, the shit they don't even keep in the spice aisle. Well after a while cooking with those things I decided to take matters into my own hands and googled what kind of spices were in them, trust me when I say this, THROW THEM OUT! Holy hell there is a lot of bad, and useless shit in those things. So I went to the store and began stocking my spice cabinet, buy in bulk bottles these things: Garlic powder, chili powder, and onion powder. Most of those seasoning packets contain one or all of these things. Then add in other herbs and spices. Rosemary, Oregano, Ground Cumin, Basil, Ginger... I could list everything in my spice cabinet but that would be another blog. Second reason I don't really care to measure is that cooking is really a feeling in the kitchen. It's just knowing what you like, and figuring out your own taste. It can become a very relaxing and enjoyable experience. Especially when you can cook with someone you love. One day I hope to be back in the kitchen with someone I love, creating pure awesome in a pan.      

     So happy cooking my friends! Until next time...