Lean, mean cooking machine

For a good chunk of last year, I got into a groove where I spent Sundays cooking for the rest of the week. It made it easy to grab a container of yummy, home-cooked food instead of slaving over the stove after a long day at work. I got out of this groove, however, and I missed those Sundays in the kitchen. Though the dinners J made for me lately were really nice.

Armed with my new spices, and some new recipes to match, and a strong desire to utilize every utensil in my kitchen, I got to work today. Behold:


An old favorite, crock pot chicken. I love this recipe, because you can do all sort of things with the chicken: tacos, served over rice, as part of a casserole, the sky is the limit



No bean chili (J hates beans of all kinds, unless they're green). Currently simmering on the stove



Cardamom granola bars. Breakfast for the week--score!




Cardamom mango bread pudding. Dessert for the week--double score!! It turned out better than I thought, since we didn't have any white bread lying around. Double-protein multi-grain bread works fine


A bowl full of yumminess: dried cranberries, and 3 kinds of chocolate chips (white, milk, and semisweet)


And the resulting cranberry chocolate chip cookies, specifically requested by J

If you happen to want any of these recipes, let me know in the comments and I'll be happy to share

Bon apetit!

The Spice(s) of Life

I like to cook. I don't always have the time for it, but I really like it. Friends and family know this. Dad and I occasionally swap recipes, Mom has been known to send me a box full of recipe books, a good friend sent us a box of spices for a wedding present, another gave me a cookbook at our bridal tea. I love trying new things, too. I have some old standbys, but it's nice to go outside the box sometimes.

We happened to be at the grocery store last night, and I decided to check out the spice aisle. Not usually something I do, since we're pretty good in the spice department, but you never know. Lo and behold, Spice Island (or maybe just my grocery store) is discontinuing a chunk of their spices, and they were on sale TEN FOR $10. I started grabbing bottles left and right. I mean, some of these spices go for $10 or more for just one bottle.

Some of the bottles I bought, like the sea salt and the cloves, are going to get a lot of use. Others I'm going to have to research so I can find more of a reason to use them. But I figure they're all in nice sealed glass bottles in our pantry, so they should keep for a while.

If you happen to have any recipes for tumeric or cardamom, please pass them along. I found a few for cardamom, and my Indian co-workers tell me they traditionally put some in their tea (and I'm a big tea drinker). Not so many for turmeric--at least, not many recipes I could see my husband eating.

Bon apetit!