My roommate, Cat, while we were in the kitchen making dinner, listening to my playlist:
"You listen to really wierd music"
*Super Bass then S&M and then Real McCoy and then NYSNC*
"What? It's just my iTunes... Shit, it's on the RiHanna dubstep part of the playlist.."
We quite enjoy ourselves when we're cooking... Or at least I think we do.
No it really was enjoyable haha.
First we had gone down to the communal kitchen and there was like a THOUSAND annoying Freshmen down there making "Brinner" and blowing up balloons for no reason.
There was three burners open but no one can get to them because THERE'S A THOUSAND OF STUPID FRESHMEN TO WADE THROUGH. Jesus.
Anyway, Cat and I trudged back upstairs with all our stuff.
We had originally decided on making our own chinese food, like Orange Chicken and Fried Rice. Gahhh my mouth just watered thinking about how good it turned out.
So an hour later *facepalm* we went down there again.
I had been defrosting my frozen chicken breasts in the sink while the Freshmen were in there.
So I looked up a few different recipes on Orange Chicken and Lemon Chicken and they had some crossovers. I wanted to experiment...
So considering I had never fried anything in my life before, I wanted to make sure that I did it somewhat correctly. The first recipe I found and drooled over was one claiming to be "Better Than Takeout Orange Chicken". Hm. I don't know about that yet. BUT I took most of the recipe of that one for the batter for the chicken and combined it with the BlogChef.net Lemon Chicken recipe. Basically they called for 2 eggs and cornstarch.
Well neither me or Cat or the campus market had cornstarch.
Shit.
Alternative as told by Google? Flour. Double the amount and add a little water.
Worked like a charm.
Basically, while I put rice on cook, chopped up the chicken into inch cubes, poured about 1 cup of veg oil into my fry pan and turned up the heat; had Cat scramble 2 eggs and then add about 1/3 of a cup of flour to the mixture, about 2 tsp of Baking powder and 3 tablespoons water.
In another bowl, 2 cups of flour and 5 tsp of baking powder sifted together decently (or mixed with your hands, I mean like I'd have a sifter in my dorm room)
So both recipes said to double dredge. Which means to take the raw pieces of chicken, dunk in the egg mixture, then drop into the flour and repeat. Then place in the fry pan with heated up oil. It'll spit at you, calm down. This kid that I was sharing the stovetop with was cracking me claiming that my chicken didn't like him because it was spitting at him. So I'd tell my chicken to calm themselves and they did :)
But so Cat and I had a good assembly line, and I'd flip and flip and flip those little pieces until they were beautifully golden brown on both sides. I cut a couple of them in half just to check they got cooked all the way through. And yes ma'am they were! So about 4 or 5 minutes in the oil til they're brown and then take them out and place on a plate covered with paper towels to drain.
We made SO MUCH CHICKEN with just the 2 big breast pieces. We've got at least enough to have dinner tomorrow, which is handy since we're going home for break in like 2 days.
So! the rice was cookin', the chicken is draining, and then it was time for the sauce.
Now I probably would've done this better, had I a better kitchen with fewer stairs to run up and down. But so I immediately decided on Lemon chicken (no orange juice :/ ) and made a super simple sauce with:
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup chicken broth
around 1/2 cup of flour
5 tablespoons of lemon juice
dash of sea salt and pepper
So I probably would've added 2 tablespoons of vinegar and potentially lemon zest but oh well.
Then so I put the chicken back in my heated pan*** and poured the sauce-to-be over it and turned up the heat to Med-Hot and stirred/folded it all.
I honestly didn't think too much about it til later, I probably should've just cooked the sauce separately and then pour over the chicken/etc but hey it honestly worked and would work either way I think.
And with all the stuff together, the Lemon chicken recipe told me to wait until the mixture thickened and went clear and whatever. It did thicken, and I was worried about overcooking the chicken, but it was still delicious and looked clear enough to me.
Served over our rice and I'm so glad I was craving chinese.
Rice, done. Check.
Chicken cooked and beautiful. Check.
Sauce applied and made the entire first floor smell delicious. Check.
Epic Roommate Dinner night achieved? Check and Check!
And next week is Thanksgiving!! Pictures and posts to come!!
(I'm so excited for Thanksgiving, I'm making my very own Turkey :D )
***Hey, when you're done cooking your chicken, pour the leftover oil you used into either a jar or a metal can so that you aren't cooking with all of that in your sauce. You can leave some of the little bits that are just residual from frying chicken but don't pour it down the drain or into a trashcan where IT CAN MELT PLASTIC. Be smart. Haven't we had this conversation before?
Sunday, November 20, 2011
Tuesday, November 15, 2011
Hellooo Seattle, I aam a Mountaineerrr...
Owl City makes Emily happy sometimes.
Even though Emily has been sick.
And Emily doesn't like being sick because when she is sick she can't taste anything.
BUT.
She's getting better and she did eat her nummy 20-minute Fridge Extravaganza Pasta Salad tonight! Yay for feeling a little better!!
(Alright getting out of 3rd person, but in my head I'm still speaking in a British accent... BOY I love my roommate XD)
AAAANYWAY-
So a friend of mine invited me over for a potluck this past weekend and I realized that my bank account is basically.... empty.. til Tuesday when I was to get paid so I was in a panic...
'What am I supposed to make to contribute????'
Okay, I wasn't panicking that much but I just couldn't think of anything...
Then it hit me.
PASTA SALAD. HAH! It's SO EASY and I basically have everything for it...
I ran to my tiny dorm fridge and pulled out the jar of mayo, mustard, Mom's homemade pickles, some celery I had picked up off hand, and the jar of malt vinegar that my Mom threw at me saying I needed. I had SO MUCH uncooked pasta, I mean it's kinda silly how much I really have. I also found a can on black olives that I snagged from my house when I was on break last, and also salt and pepper of course.
I gathered up mah cookin stuffs and headed downstairs. I looked at the clock and realized that my friend would be picking me up in like 20 minutes and then got to work.
Borrowed an RAs sauce pan since mine wasn't gonna be big enough to cook enough pasta for everyone and along with my own pan started the water boiling for the 1 and 3/4 boxes of spiral pastas.
Chopped up (or rather minced into tiny bits) about 3/4 cup of black olives, about a cup of Mom's refrigerator pickles and the 4 stalks of celery. You really can put in whatever the hell you want considering some people may not like Any of the stuff I put in there a sec ago... Hell, most people don't like olives or pickles but I didn't care because I LOVE them. But this sort of thing isn't rocket science, but I like the crunch of the celery and the tart pickles, and olives are just sort of a tradition in my family so don't hate.
But so in that mixture (in a giant bowl of course, which I just covered with tin foil when I was done and headed out), I added about a cup and a half of mayo and about 3-4 tablespoons of just plain mustard and then about 5 tablespoons of that malt vinegar. I really don't think it matters what sort of vinegar you use, it's just a nice change from the typically-very-mayonaise-y pasta salads I've had to endure in my lifetime. Just stay away from 'Apple-cider vinegar' because that's Not the right taste. But go ahead and play with it because it gives your salad personality. YOU can give your silly-lil salad personality.
By this point, my water was at a rolling boil (*HANDY TIP FYI!) and then just follow the instructions on the box. Usually you let the pasta cook for about 10 minutes and then strain it. For this recipe I Always rinse my pasta when it's done cooking, with cold cold cold water. Basically to halt the cooking process and also not to heat up the mayo and the other stuff (pasta salad is just not as good when it's warm... Duh)
But so once the pasta's done, rinse and shake and repeat, and then fold it into the mayo/vinegar/concoction and mix mix mix. It's good if you refrigerate it too, because its way better cold.
And BAM. Delicious pasta salad in basically like 20 minutes.
Then I was out the door because my friend pulled up.
Like I said, this recipe is SO easy you can use ANYTHING. The only thing I basically recommend is the vinegar and mayo/mustard ratio. Otherwise you can put in ANYTHING. My mom calls it "Refrigeration Clean-out Pasta Extravaganza" because in the mix of things she'd throw in there'd be things like Texas Pete, hardboiled eggs, celery (which is a must), onions, green onions, garlic, green martini olives with the little red things too, capers, relish (if you don't have pickles its actually handier), leftover corn, jalapenos, kidney beans, garbanzo beans etc....
I mean really. It's one of those magical recipes you don't have to Ever have a recipe for.
Just go make it up and watch people be dazzled by your deliciousness.
But I just finished the leftovers I had of it since the bowl I had made of it for the potluck could've fed around 20 people, I had taken some home and given some to Allison... It's so delicious.
Go have at it! I have faith in your delicious cooking abilities!
*HANDY TIP!* I found a magical thing, online of course, that blew my mind for a second..
When boiling water, place a wooden spoon radially across the top of your pot and it won't boil over if you aren't paying attention! See because my attention span is like that of a squirrel so I find this ultimately comforting :)
Even though Emily has been sick.
And Emily doesn't like being sick because when she is sick she can't taste anything.
BUT.
She's getting better and she did eat her nummy 20-minute Fridge Extravaganza Pasta Salad tonight! Yay for feeling a little better!!
(Alright getting out of 3rd person, but in my head I'm still speaking in a British accent... BOY I love my roommate XD)
AAAANYWAY-
So a friend of mine invited me over for a potluck this past weekend and I realized that my bank account is basically.... empty.. til Tuesday when I was to get paid so I was in a panic...
'What am I supposed to make to contribute????'
Okay, I wasn't panicking that much but I just couldn't think of anything...
Then it hit me.
PASTA SALAD. HAH! It's SO EASY and I basically have everything for it...
I ran to my tiny dorm fridge and pulled out the jar of mayo, mustard, Mom's homemade pickles, some celery I had picked up off hand, and the jar of malt vinegar that my Mom threw at me saying I needed. I had SO MUCH uncooked pasta, I mean it's kinda silly how much I really have. I also found a can on black olives that I snagged from my house when I was on break last, and also salt and pepper of course.
I gathered up mah cookin stuffs and headed downstairs. I looked at the clock and realized that my friend would be picking me up in like 20 minutes and then got to work.
Borrowed an RAs sauce pan since mine wasn't gonna be big enough to cook enough pasta for everyone and along with my own pan started the water boiling for the 1 and 3/4 boxes of spiral pastas.
Chopped up (or rather minced into tiny bits) about 3/4 cup of black olives, about a cup of Mom's refrigerator pickles and the 4 stalks of celery. You really can put in whatever the hell you want considering some people may not like Any of the stuff I put in there a sec ago... Hell, most people don't like olives or pickles but I didn't care because I LOVE them. But this sort of thing isn't rocket science, but I like the crunch of the celery and the tart pickles, and olives are just sort of a tradition in my family so don't hate.
But so in that mixture (in a giant bowl of course, which I just covered with tin foil when I was done and headed out), I added about a cup and a half of mayo and about 3-4 tablespoons of just plain mustard and then about 5 tablespoons of that malt vinegar. I really don't think it matters what sort of vinegar you use, it's just a nice change from the typically-very-mayonaise-y pasta salads I've had to endure in my lifetime. Just stay away from 'Apple-cider vinegar' because that's Not the right taste. But go ahead and play with it because it gives your salad personality. YOU can give your silly-lil salad personality.
By this point, my water was at a rolling boil (*HANDY TIP FYI!) and then just follow the instructions on the box. Usually you let the pasta cook for about 10 minutes and then strain it. For this recipe I Always rinse my pasta when it's done cooking, with cold cold cold water. Basically to halt the cooking process and also not to heat up the mayo and the other stuff (pasta salad is just not as good when it's warm... Duh)
But so once the pasta's done, rinse and shake and repeat, and then fold it into the mayo/vinegar/concoction and mix mix mix. It's good if you refrigerate it too, because its way better cold.
And BAM. Delicious pasta salad in basically like 20 minutes.
Then I was out the door because my friend pulled up.
Like I said, this recipe is SO easy you can use ANYTHING. The only thing I basically recommend is the vinegar and mayo/mustard ratio. Otherwise you can put in ANYTHING. My mom calls it "Refrigeration Clean-out Pasta Extravaganza" because in the mix of things she'd throw in there'd be things like Texas Pete, hardboiled eggs, celery (which is a must), onions, green onions, garlic, green martini olives with the little red things too, capers, relish (if you don't have pickles its actually handier), leftover corn, jalapenos, kidney beans, garbanzo beans etc....
I mean really. It's one of those magical recipes you don't have to Ever have a recipe for.
Just go make it up and watch people be dazzled by your deliciousness.
But I just finished the leftovers I had of it since the bowl I had made of it for the potluck could've fed around 20 people, I had taken some home and given some to Allison... It's so delicious.
Go have at it! I have faith in your delicious cooking abilities!
*HANDY TIP!* I found a magical thing, online of course, that blew my mind for a second..
When boiling water, place a wooden spoon radially across the top of your pot and it won't boil over if you aren't paying attention! See because my attention span is like that of a squirrel so I find this ultimately comforting :)
Monday, October 3, 2011
"When you’re on a holiday, You can’t find the words to say, All the things that come to you, And I wanna feel it too..."
"Island in the Sun" by Weezer :)
A kid started playing this while I was washing dishes... I love this song.
So welcome to the college life.
Cramming for tests, running to rehearsals or club meetings or practices, reading reading reading.
I know how you feel. Not to mention, I moved back on campus... Living with a great friend who loves when I cook.
Tonight being no different.
I got home early for the first time in so long I can't even remember, and resolved to make myself dinner. And it was Glorious.
Tonight I made Pork Fried Rice and sausages to be put away for breakfast time tomorrow, and hot and sour soup. So easy a caveman could make it.
Yes I still do have my kitchen wares from my apartment this summer but it's no big deal- a fry pan, a saucepan and spatula. It was so cheap I don't even know what to do with myself.
Rice which is like 5 cents at the closest Harris Teeter for a bag the size of a small child. It's sort of amazing. And other things easily accessible including a log of Jimmy Dean sausage, a packet of seasoning from a package of Ramen (if you don't have this, I might kill you myself. COME ON.), soy sauce, and some left over hot and sour soup from ordering out a night or so ago, salt/pepper etc.
So I headed downstairs to the kitchen in my dorm with all my wares in hand, along with my Nalgene, computer and World Lit homework.
So can I just rant a bit more about rice? Seriously. So easy. And delicious.
I started the baby sized pot with about 3 cups of water. Turned the stove to High and sat down to read a bit about Ben Franklin. About 5 minutes later, I had a rolling boil* and poured in the rice what looked to be a good amount of rice for a personal serving... Yeah probably should've measured that one out but whatev... Then I popped on the lid and turned the rice down to Simmer and let it be. Turned the fry pan on and cut off a hunk of that delectable cold sausage log (sounds nasty but SO WORTH IT). Within a few minutes it was sizzling and spitting at me (thank god for long sleeves on chilly nights) and I broke it up, let it cook for a second and read a bit more on how awesome Ben Franklin is. You gotta let it get golden and brown and it's so tasty. After a little while, sometime in the time table of 20 minutes, all the water had finally boiled down out of the rice which means it's allllllll ready. Then I poured the rice into my pan with the sausage. By now is when I started getting compliments from the hallway "hey! It smells amazing in here! Whatcha makin??". After the hubbub died down for a sec, I splashed about a 1/4 of a cup of soy sauce and that package of seasoning from the Ramen and mixed that deliciousness around. I kept my sauce pan on and dumped in my cold-at-the-moment hot and sour soup and put the lid back on.
So at this point, while I was looking at my fry pan, realized that I had enough rice to last me like 3 days (thanks Mom, learned from the best) and texted the roommate to bring tupperware-calvary. And I let the amazingness brown on one side and flatten it cover the bottom of the pan and added a bit more sausage, because who can get enough sausage?? But then after about a minute I'd flip sections and continue the browning. I did this process about 3 or 4 times until I was satisfied and my stomach was yelling at me to eat it. So I plated it, and snagged the rest of the sausage and sliced it over into the fry pan.
Yes, I made breakfast for my roommate and myself tomorrow. I rock So Hard. AND- I ate a bit of my pork fried rice, read about The Franklin a bit more, got a slight 3rd degree burn in my mouth, skyped with my sister, and got approving comments from residents in my building (along with one disapproving comment from whom I'm assuming was a vegetarian freshman. You, my dear, do not understand the beauty of the smell of sausage. Back the fuck up.)
It took about 8 minutes to brown up the rest of that sausage and find an empty Coke can to pour the grease into**. Which had given my food time to just about completely cool down enough so I didn't get 3rd degree burns on my tongue Again.
Took the soup off the burner, sat down to read and eat and proceeded to thoroughly enjoy the "Wow that smells so good!!" and an RA in my building periodically running in to steal a sausage and then run out. Yes, Jacob, I'm looking at you.
But seriously, dinner (it may not be crazy healthy but who cares at 9pm) and breakfast for about 3 people- for under $7 dollars in about 30 minutes WHILE doing homework.
College cooking ain't bad :) Saves money and also you can be in the middle of studying to do it. No issues, no worries. Just don't get grease in your World Lit book... *sigh*
Happy Cooking errybody!
*My mom would describe a rolling boil as "the bubbles look like fish eyes" which for those who didn't grow up in my house, it's when the bubbles come to the surface and you can easily see light on them, and they look glossy kinda... like.... "fish eyes".. Damnit Mom, getting me to remember things!
**DO NOT POUR BACON/PORK/ANYTHING GREASE DOWN THE DRAIN. I WILL KNOW. You can easily destroy a sink drain pipe that way. Because if it sits in the U-bend of a pipe, it might harden and I Will Kill You. ALSO- do NOT pour it right into a trashcan. It'll burn through the plastic bag and ooooh we do not want that. A metal Coke can, a glass dish, a ceramic bowl, or something that can withstand heat is good. A plastic bottle will melt. Do Not do it JUST SO YOU CAN WATCH IT. Good god people common sense please! Thank you :)
A kid started playing this while I was washing dishes... I love this song.
So welcome to the college life.
Cramming for tests, running to rehearsals or club meetings or practices, reading reading reading.
I know how you feel. Not to mention, I moved back on campus... Living with a great friend who loves when I cook.
Tonight being no different.
I got home early for the first time in so long I can't even remember, and resolved to make myself dinner. And it was Glorious.
Tonight I made Pork Fried Rice and sausages to be put away for breakfast time tomorrow, and hot and sour soup. So easy a caveman could make it.
Yes I still do have my kitchen wares from my apartment this summer but it's no big deal- a fry pan, a saucepan and spatula. It was so cheap I don't even know what to do with myself.
Rice which is like 5 cents at the closest Harris Teeter for a bag the size of a small child. It's sort of amazing. And other things easily accessible including a log of Jimmy Dean sausage, a packet of seasoning from a package of Ramen (if you don't have this, I might kill you myself. COME ON.), soy sauce, and some left over hot and sour soup from ordering out a night or so ago, salt/pepper etc.
So I headed downstairs to the kitchen in my dorm with all my wares in hand, along with my Nalgene, computer and World Lit homework.
So can I just rant a bit more about rice? Seriously. So easy. And delicious.
I started the baby sized pot with about 3 cups of water. Turned the stove to High and sat down to read a bit about Ben Franklin. About 5 minutes later, I had a rolling boil* and poured in the rice what looked to be a good amount of rice for a personal serving... Yeah probably should've measured that one out but whatev... Then I popped on the lid and turned the rice down to Simmer and let it be. Turned the fry pan on and cut off a hunk of that delectable cold sausage log (sounds nasty but SO WORTH IT). Within a few minutes it was sizzling and spitting at me (thank god for long sleeves on chilly nights) and I broke it up, let it cook for a second and read a bit more on how awesome Ben Franklin is. You gotta let it get golden and brown and it's so tasty. After a little while, sometime in the time table of 20 minutes, all the water had finally boiled down out of the rice which means it's allllllll ready. Then I poured the rice into my pan with the sausage. By now is when I started getting compliments from the hallway "hey! It smells amazing in here! Whatcha makin??". After the hubbub died down for a sec, I splashed about a 1/4 of a cup of soy sauce and that package of seasoning from the Ramen and mixed that deliciousness around. I kept my sauce pan on and dumped in my cold-at-the-moment hot and sour soup and put the lid back on.
So at this point, while I was looking at my fry pan, realized that I had enough rice to last me like 3 days (thanks Mom, learned from the best) and texted the roommate to bring tupperware-calvary. And I let the amazingness brown on one side and flatten it cover the bottom of the pan and added a bit more sausage, because who can get enough sausage?? But then after about a minute I'd flip sections and continue the browning. I did this process about 3 or 4 times until I was satisfied and my stomach was yelling at me to eat it. So I plated it, and snagged the rest of the sausage and sliced it over into the fry pan.
Yes, I made breakfast for my roommate and myself tomorrow. I rock So Hard. AND- I ate a bit of my pork fried rice, read about The Franklin a bit more, got a slight 3rd degree burn in my mouth, skyped with my sister, and got approving comments from residents in my building (along with one disapproving comment from whom I'm assuming was a vegetarian freshman. You, my dear, do not understand the beauty of the smell of sausage. Back the fuck up.)
It took about 8 minutes to brown up the rest of that sausage and find an empty Coke can to pour the grease into**. Which had given my food time to just about completely cool down enough so I didn't get 3rd degree burns on my tongue Again.
Took the soup off the burner, sat down to read and eat and proceeded to thoroughly enjoy the "Wow that smells so good!!" and an RA in my building periodically running in to steal a sausage and then run out. Yes, Jacob, I'm looking at you.
But seriously, dinner (it may not be crazy healthy but who cares at 9pm) and breakfast for about 3 people- for under $7 dollars in about 30 minutes WHILE doing homework.
College cooking ain't bad :) Saves money and also you can be in the middle of studying to do it. No issues, no worries. Just don't get grease in your World Lit book... *sigh*
Happy Cooking errybody!
*My mom would describe a rolling boil as "the bubbles look like fish eyes" which for those who didn't grow up in my house, it's when the bubbles come to the surface and you can easily see light on them, and they look glossy kinda... like.... "fish eyes".. Damnit Mom, getting me to remember things!
**DO NOT POUR BACON/PORK/ANYTHING GREASE DOWN THE DRAIN. I WILL KNOW. You can easily destroy a sink drain pipe that way. Because if it sits in the U-bend of a pipe, it might harden and I Will Kill You. ALSO- do NOT pour it right into a trashcan. It'll burn through the plastic bag and ooooh we do not want that. A metal Coke can, a glass dish, a ceramic bowl, or something that can withstand heat is good. A plastic bottle will melt. Do Not do it JUST SO YOU CAN WATCH IT. Good god people common sense please! Thank you :)
Monday, July 11, 2011
"We Could've Had It Alllllllllll.."
So fortunately I've been landed with leftovers for the last few days. Not to mention my mom was visiting and did what all amazing parents of students do: took me to Walmart.
She bought me a few essentials like different pastas and sauces of course and some tuna, etc. She's definitely a godsend.
But so last night was nice just to heat up a bowl of easy cheesy tuna noodle that, yes I added a little more cheese to because I'm pretty sure I have a problem. Or I just like cheese.
Anyway, today is the Horn in the West Thanksgiving Collaboration dinner tonight, and there will be pictures to come!
Yours,
Emily
She bought me a few essentials like different pastas and sauces of course and some tuna, etc. She's definitely a godsend.
But so last night was nice just to heat up a bowl of easy cheesy tuna noodle that, yes I added a little more cheese to because I'm pretty sure I have a problem. Or I just like cheese.
Anyway, today is the Horn in the West Thanksgiving Collaboration dinner tonight, and there will be pictures to come!
Yours,
Emily
Saturday, July 9, 2011
"It's Been One Week... "
So I'm a huge lover of music quotes, so I'm just warning you that each post is going to be named after a song quote. Don't hate. No haters allowed, that's my only policy.
Anyway, so I was told, actually it was one of my mom's friends, that I should start a blog about my cooking.
So the story about about this is actually that I HATED cooking originally. My mom had tried to teach me when I was a kid, things like baking a chicken that was full of shit like veggies and spices and god knows what else. But okay, pulling the guts of a chicken out was very low on my list on activities as a kid. I was interested at 10 and 11 mainly because it was the main thing that most of my family did. They would brag as to how their dish was new and it turned out beautifully. My Aunt Lise and my grandma and my mom of course seemed to be very adapt at making amazing dishes that everyone complimented and everyone wanted the recipe of. I started to get a bit jealous at around 16 because well... I didn't know how to keep up with that. How was I supposed to follow that act? I thought about it while I was bought a couple easy "cookbooks for teens" with recipes for guacamole and mac and cheese and scrambled eggs. It was cool and everything but didn't really peak my interest.
The summer between my freshman and sophomore year of college, my mom and I sort of fought about the fact that I just didn't seem to like cooking. It was an anomaly in my family because everyone in my family LOVED to cook and was solid gold at it.
Alright, fast forward to the summer between my sophomore and junior year in college (aka Present Day). I moved into an apartment. My FIRST apartment. I'm living off campus, without cable and solely relying on the internet and my phone. It's a little tricky but I think that if you play the right song (at least while washing dishes) you are golden.
The kitchen has an oven/stove (full sized thank god) and we bought a cheap ol' microwave etc. Nice sized sink and hardly any counter space, but it's all good. So the first few days, when you realize that you only have a grocery store and not a lot of resources, you suddenly get hit with reality. I had an epiphany the first week I was living away from my mom. I woke up with a hankering for a Bagelicious. A Bagelicious is something that the way-too-nearby Boone Bagelry sells on their menu. Typically it's a bagel (of which they have like 20 different types of bagels of course) and then it's got a fried egg, bacon, ham, a cheese of your choice, and you can get it "Overstuffed" for 1.20 extra which is basically doubling everything on it. It's absolutely heavenly and I order it with an "E.T." bagel and swiss cheese every time. But So I woke up with a crazy craving for it (most likely I had a hangover at the time, actually I'm pretty sure I did since I usually do) and realized "well Shit, I have NO money to spend on food...".
Mom being the saint she was, bought me an absolutely beautiful fry pan and a medium-ish sauce pan, a cookie sheet, a spatula and a couple of wooden spoons. God I love her for that.
Anyway, so I yanked out the fry pan (at 9:30am on a Saturday) and turned the stove on. Medium for now. Went to the fridge and snagged an egg and some lunch meat I had and the bag of bagels in the back of the fridge. Then grabbed the swiss cheese and the cream cheese Mom had also bought me.
After about 10 minutes of hungover cooking, I had a magnificent looking free Bagelicious on my plate. Cream cheese holding the whole wheat bagel to the melted cheese and the perfectly crispy store sliced turkey lunchmeat, and that perfectly mashed fried egg. Oh god it was delicious.
That was when I realized that cooking wasn't as hard as I kept making it to seem to be.
I actually kinda liked it. You just have to watch it, and not be an idiot.
Since then I've apparently made a BUNCH of different things that I would've never even thought myself to even be capable of... (Thank you for the subliminal messaging Food Network!! It seemed to have worked!!)
So among the things that I have made in the last couple of months, include:
Homemade pesto
(and obviously) Homemade Hummus
Hot Jesus Quiche
SUPAH-EASY Tuna mac and cheese
Steamed artichokes
Failure Fajitias
EPIC homemade mac and cheese (with a twist)
and Pesto mac and cheese (we have a LOT of pasta)
Oven fried chicken- with it's own breadcrumb crust
Cleaning-out-the-fridge baked potatoes
MY Personal Bagelicious
Microwave pizza
Buttermilk and Honey cornbread muffins
The Fried Egg Breakfast of Champions (Automatic Hangover Killer)
5 Second Garlic Bread
Sausage Stirfry (with some veggies so it's Kinda healthy... and the keyword is HEALTHY, tell yo mama that!!)
'Leelu Dallas-Multipass- Chicken...Good' Chicken
Salmon and Corn Tomato Chowder..we mean Bisque
REALLY Awesome Chocolate Cookies
Well damn, I didn't even know that I made that much awesome stuff!! That's awesome.
(and if you want the recipe or whatever please let me know)
But basically, having a kitchen with just about nothing to use except the essentials from Walmart, the occasional weird items from Earth-Fare (our health food store next door that's just a bit more expensive) and a couple spices found...around. Not to mention, This Girl here has no car to drive across town TO Harris Teeter or Walmart usually. But I make do; with my fry pan, my sauce pan, spatula, wooden spoons and cookie and muffin tins. I ain't done bad.
My next goal is to not spend a lot of money on food, bought from on campus and to make really awesome meals all the time. I think I can do it.
You can too. I know you can, especially if I can.
Anyway, so I was told, actually it was one of my mom's friends, that I should start a blog about my cooking.
So the story about about this is actually that I HATED cooking originally. My mom had tried to teach me when I was a kid, things like baking a chicken that was full of shit like veggies and spices and god knows what else. But okay, pulling the guts of a chicken out was very low on my list on activities as a kid. I was interested at 10 and 11 mainly because it was the main thing that most of my family did. They would brag as to how their dish was new and it turned out beautifully. My Aunt Lise and my grandma and my mom of course seemed to be very adapt at making amazing dishes that everyone complimented and everyone wanted the recipe of. I started to get a bit jealous at around 16 because well... I didn't know how to keep up with that. How was I supposed to follow that act? I thought about it while I was bought a couple easy "cookbooks for teens" with recipes for guacamole and mac and cheese and scrambled eggs. It was cool and everything but didn't really peak my interest.
The summer between my freshman and sophomore year of college, my mom and I sort of fought about the fact that I just didn't seem to like cooking. It was an anomaly in my family because everyone in my family LOVED to cook and was solid gold at it.
Alright, fast forward to the summer between my sophomore and junior year in college (aka Present Day). I moved into an apartment. My FIRST apartment. I'm living off campus, without cable and solely relying on the internet and my phone. It's a little tricky but I think that if you play the right song (at least while washing dishes) you are golden.
The kitchen has an oven/stove (full sized thank god) and we bought a cheap ol' microwave etc. Nice sized sink and hardly any counter space, but it's all good. So the first few days, when you realize that you only have a grocery store and not a lot of resources, you suddenly get hit with reality. I had an epiphany the first week I was living away from my mom. I woke up with a hankering for a Bagelicious. A Bagelicious is something that the way-too-nearby Boone Bagelry sells on their menu. Typically it's a bagel (of which they have like 20 different types of bagels of course) and then it's got a fried egg, bacon, ham, a cheese of your choice, and you can get it "Overstuffed" for 1.20 extra which is basically doubling everything on it. It's absolutely heavenly and I order it with an "E.T." bagel and swiss cheese every time. But So I woke up with a crazy craving for it (most likely I had a hangover at the time, actually I'm pretty sure I did since I usually do) and realized "well Shit, I have NO money to spend on food...".
Mom being the saint she was, bought me an absolutely beautiful fry pan and a medium-ish sauce pan, a cookie sheet, a spatula and a couple of wooden spoons. God I love her for that.
Anyway, so I yanked out the fry pan (at 9:30am on a Saturday) and turned the stove on. Medium for now. Went to the fridge and snagged an egg and some lunch meat I had and the bag of bagels in the back of the fridge. Then grabbed the swiss cheese and the cream cheese Mom had also bought me.
After about 10 minutes of hungover cooking, I had a magnificent looking free Bagelicious on my plate. Cream cheese holding the whole wheat bagel to the melted cheese and the perfectly crispy store sliced turkey lunchmeat, and that perfectly mashed fried egg. Oh god it was delicious.
That was when I realized that cooking wasn't as hard as I kept making it to seem to be.
I actually kinda liked it. You just have to watch it, and not be an idiot.
Since then I've apparently made a BUNCH of different things that I would've never even thought myself to even be capable of... (Thank you for the subliminal messaging Food Network!! It seemed to have worked!!)
So among the things that I have made in the last couple of months, include:
Homemade pesto
(and obviously) Homemade Hummus
Hot Jesus Quiche
SUPAH-EASY Tuna mac and cheese
Steamed artichokes
Failure Fajitias
EPIC homemade mac and cheese (with a twist)
and Pesto mac and cheese (we have a LOT of pasta)
Oven fried chicken- with it's own breadcrumb crust
Cleaning-out-the-fridge baked potatoes
MY Personal Bagelicious
Microwave pizza
Buttermilk and Honey cornbread muffins
The Fried Egg Breakfast of Champions (Automatic Hangover Killer)
5 Second Garlic Bread
Sausage Stirfry (with some veggies so it's Kinda healthy... and the keyword is HEALTHY, tell yo mama that!!)
'Leelu Dallas-Multipass- Chicken...Good' Chicken
Salmon and Corn Tomato Chowder..we mean Bisque
REALLY Awesome Chocolate Cookies
Well damn, I didn't even know that I made that much awesome stuff!! That's awesome.
(and if you want the recipe or whatever please let me know)
But basically, having a kitchen with just about nothing to use except the essentials from Walmart, the occasional weird items from Earth-Fare (our health food store next door that's just a bit more expensive) and a couple spices found...around. Not to mention, This Girl here has no car to drive across town TO Harris Teeter or Walmart usually. But I make do; with my fry pan, my sauce pan, spatula, wooden spoons and cookie and muffin tins. I ain't done bad.
My next goal is to not spend a lot of money on food, bought from on campus and to make really awesome meals all the time. I think I can do it.
You can too. I know you can, especially if I can.
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