Dinners, Sans Hubby

While NavyGuy's off playing war games (and losing us money), I'm enjoying my chance to eat some meals that he wouldn't necessarily deem suitable for human consumption. Like a box of frozen chicken empanada appetizers. (Judge me not.)

Last night's menu was my own recipe: Frito Taco Nachos. What? What's that you say? Your stomach is growling and your mouth is watering at just the name? But of course. Just wait for the ingredients! (Many of you will probably recognize this as a walking taco, but hear me out.)

You pile Fritos Scoops on a plate. I recommend the "scoops" variety for reasons forthcoming. Then cook up some hamburger and season it with a taco seasoning packet. Then, pile the hamburger on top of the Fritos, and add cheese, lettuce, salsa, tomatoes, or any other taco accessories you enjoy. Grab a stack of napkins and dig in! The scoops make nice little boats for all the taco-y goodness. If you're a real fan of nachos, you could melt nacho cheese and layer that on as well, but I prefer to focus on the meat aspect.

While I find this perfectly acceptable as a dinner, NavyGuy would likely have balked. Other meals I enjoy for dinner that he may question...?

- a bag of popcorn

- two or three bowls of cereal

- any breakfast food (with chocolate chips added for fun)

- taco dip and chips

- couscous

- bagels with peanut butter

and last but not least, cheerios and ice cream. (Separately of course. Don't be ridiculous.)

Time to 'fess up - what weird meal do you love that you can't possibly convince your significant other to consume?

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Escape to Wisconsin: Did I Come for the Company, or the Food?

"There is no love sincerer than the love of food."
~George Bernard Shaw

NavyGuy's family has a long running joke that all we ever do when we vacation, celebrate holidays, or get in a group of more than three, is eat. I would argue it's less a joke and more a rule. One I wholeheartedly and without question follow. So it should really come as no surprise (tee hee hee), that much of my trip back to Wisconsin was spent eating. There are many delicacies that I can't get out here, so I have to fit in as many Wisconsin dishes as possible whenever I'm home. Here's a glimpse at my diet for the five days I was home...

-a fabulous Friday night perch plate, complete with beer battered perch, french fries, and rye bread. Wisconsin. Friday. Fish. Say no more.

-Culver's hot dog, french fries, chocolate custard, cookies and cream custard, and chocolate oreo volcano custard. Yes, Culver's must have figured out my surprise visit and planned two of my absolute favorite flavors of the day. That makes up for the fact that they changed their previously delightful hot dog! I know! Scandal! They used to have a wonderful hot dog on a normal bun, and now they've switched to a random weird roll in place of the bun, and they cut the hot dog in half! In HALF! I choked it down, but the magic is gone. (Apparently my mother knew about this travesty ahead of time, but felt she should keep the info from me lest I launch some sort of protest outside the restaurant and get us both arrested for disturbing the peace. Whatever, the police and judge would have totally been on my side once they heard the circumstances. In HALF!)

-Fond du Lac Chinatown Kitchen Sweet and Sour Chicken. Oh lordy. I don't actually eat the sweet and sour sauce (leading NavyGuy to claim I'm simply ordering Chinese chicken nuggets), but the fried rice, egg roll, and deliciously fried chicken pieces are enough to make me melt into a food coma. All the Chinese restaurants out here stink; the fried rice isn't greasy enough, the egg rolls have too much cabbage (or whatever that stringy stuff is), and don't get me started on the subpar sweet and sour chicken.

-French toast, hashbrowns, sausage, and bacon brunch at MOH's house on Sunday morning (have you noticed that there pretty much hasn't been a single vegetable on the list so far... hehe, oops). She invited the fam over for some quality baby Lily time, and offered to feed us as well!

-Grilled pork chops, homemade bread, carrots, and twice-baked potatoes (ha! veggies!) at Uncle J's and Auntie T's house Sunday night. Uncle J missed his calling and should have opened a restaurant years ago, because the man can cook like no other. I don't even like pork chops, but Uncle J sprinkled some magic on them or something cuz I cleaned my plate! (And scarfed down a brownie and two chocolate covered strawberries for dessert - ooo, fruit!)

-Monday night was fettucini alfredo a'la HistoryGirlie. I had scooted back up to her neck of the woods to hang out for the night, and got the royal dinner treatment (including garlic bread and beans... which little Kitty proceeded to mush into her hands, face, and hair). Dessert was the mini-chocolate chip cookies that come in that fun plastic tub from Pick'n'Save (a Midwest grocery store). HG and I gave Kitty a bath (okay, I sat on the counter and told random stories while HG did the real work), watched Elmo, and finished our gossip session.

-Q'doba chicken burrito (plus chips). And a side of salsa. So technically we have Q'doba out here, but it's a 70 minute drive away, whereas the one in Fondy is three minutes from Mom's house. Also the reason why I went to Target twice while home - because it's less than five minutes away.

Are you horrified? Or impressed? You should know that I gained more than two pounds (but less than four) while on my Wisconsin food binge, which I consider a successful vacation. Aside from the Culver's hot dog incident, the only other food disappointment was discovering that Panchero's on the east side of Appleton had closed. Discovering this after Mom and I had driven across town and I had gotten my mouth all watery and excited for tacos. And then discovering that NavyGuy knew it was closed and kept the information from me!!! What is it with people not telling me about changes? It's like they think I can't handle change...

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Leftovers 1, NavyGirl 0.

I gave up yesterday.

After staring at the tupperware containers in my fridge one last time, I admitted defeat.


All our Thanksgiving leftovers have finally been trashed. Nothing was growing mold on it or looking unfit for consumption, but the jig was up. The Thanksgiving leftovers won. Neither NavyGuy nor I are big fans of eating leftovers to begin with, so after too many days of trying to muster excitement for turkey, sweet potatoes, carrots, stuffing, and cranberry sauce, the end has finally come.

Do I feel guilty throwing away such large quantities of food? Of course.

Do I feel guilty enough to attempt one of the four million "Thanksgiving Leftover" recipes bouncing around the internet and November's Real Simple magazine? Nope.

But now I am kind of jonesing for some mashed potatoes...

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Obsession of the Week...

Thank you thank you thank you Thomas' Bagels! Finally someone has acknowledged that just because a person enjoys cinnamon flavor does NOT mean that same someone enjoys raisins! I can't tell you the number of delectable pastries that I've mauled trying to eat around the raisins.
Found these tasties at Safeway this week, and I've eaten six three already (they're mini-sized!). They have a good deal of brown sugar and cinnamon sweetness; I've been toasting them and adding a thin layer of butter - magic.

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Tasty Treat

Pink baking goodness.



One pink bowl, two pink bowls, three pink bowls! (And a pink spatula for good measure.)

This bread mix was a wedding shower gift; I opted to make muffins as an attempt at better portion control.



Yum!



Muffins, good. Pink muffins, goooooood.

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"Oh, I'm Ross - I'm too Good for the Hut"

Wednesday night was my first shift training at the Pizza Hut/Food Avenue in Target. From those six hours, working Food Ave seemed to revolve around cleaning, shoving personal pan pizzas in the roller oven, and handing out Icee cups to nine year old boys, who like to mix the raspberry, blueberry, and Cherry Coke Icee to make a brown slushie they proclaim "awesome!". Totally doable.

Then came Thursday. The plan was for me to train all morning with Nicole, a team leader, and learn how to open the Food Avenue, watch a bunch of the required videos, and generally ease my way into food handling and pretzel salting. Ha! When I showed up at 7am, Nicole had called in from the emergency room with some sort of neck debacle, so Candace, who was supposed to be working Starbucks, would now be training me... which means there would be two of us to work the Food Ave and Starbucks... one of whom was not certified in Starbucks, and knew little to nothing about Food Ave... so now we have all the components for a day of chaos and half-assing.

The day was ridiculous. Candace taught me how to open Food Ave, while we simultaneously opened Starbucks for the day and dealt with a fruit fly invasion in the pastry case. Normally two separate (trained) people do these jobs. Then it was the two of us manning both areas until 9, when one more employee showed up to help. I stumbled my way through Food Ave most of the morning, learning how to prep sandwiches, salads, and pizzas, helping guests, filling in at Starbucks when I could, and generally trying to run around like a superhuman all the while remaining perfectly calm and in control. Never a hair out of place ;) (No thanks to my super-fly Target baseball hat and apron).

Candace and I actually managed fairly well - both of us were ready to drop by 3:30 when we were done with our shift, but she complimented me on the day and seemed pleased with my progress (gotta love being thrown into the open ocean to learn to swim... or drown really really quickly). Most important lesson of the day... when in doubt, use an oven mitt! I have another closing shift tomorrow night. I can only hope that everyone who's supposed to be there, is there, and of course, that our precious Icee machine keeps spitting out sugary goodness...

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Portland "Mini-Cation" Recap Part 2

When we last saw our intrepid travelers, the girls were shopping (and eating) and the boys were... well, turns out they found a way to entertain themselves:

The 15th Annual Spring Beer and Wine Fest

As a brewer, BeerMan had this Portland event on his radar. So, why Miss A and I were surprised to receive texts from the boys as they were getting drunk at 11 am sampling beer is beyond me. At least they enjoyed themselves and stayed out of our hair while we shopped; after they finished all of their "samples," they met us at Portland's famous bookstore: Powell's Books!


Okay, so how do I describe Powell's to the uninitiated? Have you been on Amazon.com? Picture what you think the warehouse looks like where they store the millions of books available through that website... okay. Now add a small coffee stand, and you basically can understand what Powell's is. The photo above is one side... of one aisle... in one room. There are like 10 rooms the size of football fields full of new and used books! Powell's in my new religion.NavyGuy had never been to Powells so he literally sprinted up the stairs leading to the science fiction section like the place was on fire and had he not gotten hungry, he may have stayed there indefinitely. And since the economy needs major stimulating, NavyGuy and I stepped up to the plate and did our part. One bag (FULL) of books later, we realized we needed a snack.That's Miss A and I in our glory - we basically laughed like that through four years of college (it's really a wonder we both managed to get our degrees on time). Somehow she manages to still look radiant while chortling, whereas my eyes are squinched into my face. Oh I remember the joke! Our first attempt at this photo (taken, by the by, at a great happy hour bar where we refueled), looked horrible; our chins were squashed back into our necks. So NavyGuy - future Annie Lebowitz that he is - offered this helpful advice just before he clicked the next photo: "Chins out girls!" Yeah, maybe you had to be there ;)

After we snacked, we (of course) saw a movie! Sunshine Cleaning was a great dark comedy with a positive ending. Love Amy Adams, love Emily Blunt. Our big dinner plans for the evening were to check out Miss A and BeerMan's new fave restaurant - Toro Bravo! They serve tapas - small sized dishes or appetizers traditionally from Spain - which is perfect for a group like us; we're totally indecisive and we like to eat off each other's plates ;) So we could each pick out a couple we wanted to try and share amongst the group.
NavyGuy and I chillin' before the food arrived. The restaurant was obviously super popular, as it was PACKED! Instead of waiting three hours for food, we opted to sit at a counter seat, which was actually more fun than a regular table might have been. The restaurant's kitchen is right out in the open (very confident), and we could sit and watch everything being prepped; it became a little game to watch what the sous chef was doing and try to figure out what dish he was preparing.
Isn't that a fun view? (Please excuse the poor photo quality - I didn't want to distract the people with the sharp sharp knives in their hands, so I took a flash-less pic.) We gorged ourselves on amazing dishes - manchego and paprika fritters, baked polenta, sauteed kale raab with sunny side up egg - yummo! (Fancy names for cheese ball, baked corn, and green veggies covered in egg.)

My only sour notes of the tasting were the seared scallops (scallop texture freaks me out - it feels like wet playdough in your mouth) and "French Kisses." French kisses are brandy soaked prunes stuffed with foie gras. Yeah. I should have known from the description that they'd be nasty, but BeerMan loves them and wanted me to try one. NavyGuy and I both gagged them down and swore that foie gras is not worth the ridiculous cost. (P.S. Did you know it's duck liver!?!? I did and I still ate it anyway! Idiot!)
Miss A and BeerMan - aren't they adorable? Thank god they come with beer knowledge and oodles of sarcasm or I'd hate them both.

Of course we splurged on dessert. I have a standing policy of "no dessert sharing" but basically when three people attack you with spoons, you have to make an exception. Molten chocolate cake with homemade ice cream - is it too obvious I'm in love?

After our late dinner, we stumbled home and embarassingly, all went to bed by 10:30. I'd blame it on our busy eventful day, but mostly, we're just all getting old. Sunday we had brunch at a cute little place, Simpatica, which is located in an old church. We had brunched there after Miss A and BeerMan's wedding last August, but NavyGuy had had to catch an early flight and had missed the famous waffles and fried chicken. Despite having sworn not twelve hours earlier that we'd never eat again, we polished off four plates of amazing brunch food, and then it was time for NavyGuy and I to head back to the land of rain and airplanes.

Big thanks to Miss A and BeerMan for hosting our "mini-cation" in Portland - can't wait to see you guys again in a few weeks!!!

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Party Time!

In celebration of NavyGuy's 27th birthday (I know - isn't he old?), we had Roomie #1 and another good Navy friend join us for dinner, cake, and presents. Sadly for NavyGuy, he had to do most of the cooking on his own birthday!

The menu was steaks and potatoes on the grill (see potato recipe below), Caesar salad, rosemary bread, and...... Ice Cream Cake! (Lucky for NavyGuy, I did not take a photo of him once he devoured his piece of cake - his lips and tongue were stained scary blue from the frosting.)

Awww... he looks so happy to be celebrating! Now make a wish...
Yeah, he definitely spit a little bit on the cake. We ate it anyway. It was ice-creamy good.

Campfire Grilled Potatoes
Spray aluminum foil with Pam (liberally) and then layer sliced potatoes. Add shredded cheese and chopped onions. Season with salt and pepper. Cover the potato mound with another sheet of aluminum foil and pinch all of the sides together to make a giant pouch. Then, cook on the grill for about 40-45 minutes (depending on the amount of 'taters), flipping pouch a couple times.

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Happy St. Patrick's Day

I may not ride the corned beef and cabbage train, but I do rock a great Irish Soda Bread recipe :)

This is my second annual loaf after Historygirlie convinced me I could probably tackle this one without much disaster inspired me with her version a few years back. NavyGuy tasted this year's version and declared it a winner!

Amazingly Easy Irish Soda Bread

- 4 cups all-purpose flour
- 4 tablespoons white sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup margarine (or butter), softened
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 egg

- 1/4 cup butter, melted
- 1/4 cup buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly grease a large baking sheet.

2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and margarine. Stir in 1 cup of buttermilk and egg.

3. Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead slightly. Form dough into a round and place on prepared baking sheet.

4. In a small bowl, combine melted butter with 1/4 cup buttermilk; brush loaf with this mixture. Use a sharp knife to cut an 'X' into the top of the loaf.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 30 to 50 minutes. You may continue to brush the loaf with the butter mixture while it bakes.

Mine cooked up in 35 minutes, but it's definitely something you need to check every 5 minutes once you're past the 30 minute mark. I brushed it with the buttermilk/butter mixture twice while it cooked, and it keeps the bread much moister. This is a very dense bread, and can get dry if you overcook it; if you're worried about that, set the oven temp a little lower and cook for a bit longer.

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Recipe: Tomato Curry Chicken

We have a couple new recipes on the menu for this week (yes, I've started planning weekly menus... I've become boring and old and practical and too lazy to go to the grocery store eight three times a week). First up tonight was a variation on curry chicken. NavyGuy would eat aluminum foil if it was seasoned with curry, so I was fairly confident that this recipe would be a winner.

Tomato Curry Chicken Ingredients:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, chopped (I used about 3/4 of a small onion)
  
• 2/3 cup beer
• 1 (10.75 ounce) can condensed tomato soup
• 1 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Place chicken in a 9x13 inch baking dish. Melt butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Saute onion, then stir in beer, soup, curry powder, basil and pepper. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 10 minutes, then pour over chicken.
3. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 1 hour; sprinkle with cheese for last 10 minutes of baking.

I followed the directions exactly as they're written, and it was delicious! I love that it takes a little bit of prep ahead of time, but then you just shove the dish in the oven and essentially leave it alone for an hour. I served it over white rice. You could also serve it with couscous, which would soak up the extra sauce quite nicely. Let me know if you try it and have success!

Just a quick Happy Sunday Night card! The image is from Stampin' Up Pocket Silhouettes.

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Recipe: Easy Clam Chowder

NavyGuy is crazy - CRAZY - about clam chowder. He snaps it up whenever it's the soup d' jour at a restaurant, but at home when he has a craving I tend to pacify him with the canned version.

Tonight I tried a semi-homemade variety. Success! Here's an easy version you can try:

Ingredients
- 1 can cream of potato soup
- 1 can cream of celery soup (I got the low sodium ones)
- 1 1/2 cup milk
- 1/2 a stick of butter
- 1 C of chopped clams (I used just one small can and it was plenty)
- salt and pepper

Melt the butter in a pan, then add the other ingredients, giving them time to warm up. Once you've added the milk be careful not to let it boil.

That's it! We had some sourdough bread along with it and it was a grand little Tuesday night dinner.

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Recipe: Wisconsin Chili

With the cold and ickiness last week, it was the perfect time for chili. NavyGuy and I prefer the Wisconsin version (with macaroni noodles!) and I've shared the recipe below...

Wisconsin Chili
- 1 T vegetable oil
- 1 to 1.5 pounds ground beef
- 1/2 C chopped onion
- 1 packet of chili mix seasoning
- 1/2 C water
- 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes undrained
- 1 T brown sugar
- 1 C uncooked elbow macaroni

Directions
1. Heat oil in skillet. Brown beef and onions.
2. Add chili seasoning mix, water, tomatoes, and brown sugar.
3. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, then simmer for anywhere from ten minutes to several hours (the longer it simmers the richer the flavor).
4. Just before you're planning to eat it, cook the elbow macaroni according to the package directions. Then add them to the chili mixture. (If you add the macaroni to the chili mixture earlier in the process, the noodles will soak up all of the water and end up overdone.)

Serve with oyster crackers, Saltines, or rye bread. Mmmmmm!

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Super Bowl Sunday

I've discovered what it takes to make football interesting for me.

Money.

NavyGuy and I went to a Super Bowl party tonight. Another flight student in his class was hosting a party at his house, and as we're always up for chicken wings a good time with friends, we headed over there to watch the game. Part of the fun of the night revolved around a pool that everyone threw money into. NavyGuy and I had awfully terrible numbers (the pool was based on numbers in the teams' scores at the end of each quarter), but as the fourth quarter neared an end, we were in position to win the big prize! Suddenly, I was inappropriately interested in whether or not the Steelers scored again... as opposed to previously when I was only interested in the commercials (which by the by, stunk hard core this year). Sadly, the stupid Steelers did manage to score again, snatching a twenty dollar prize away from me.

Still a good party though (despite NavyGuy's near coronary at the poor calls by the refs). I brought the infamous Beer Dip, a recipe that Historygirlie gave me a few years ago. It has become a staple of all festivities and gatherings ever since, and NavyGuy will dip almost anything into it (chips, pretzels, veggies, chicken wings, napkins, etc.). It's too tasty not to share the recipe:

HistoryGirl Beer Dip
Mix all of the following ingredients (I use a hand mixer to make sure it's super smooth): two regular size packages of cream cheese, one packet of ranch dressing mix, 1/2 a can of beer, and a little bit of shredded cheese. That's it! Refridgerate (it's excellent the second day because the beer has soaked in more), and eat with pretzels or crackers.

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Date Night

Saturday night excitement - dinner and a movie. We crashed the Olive Garden in Burlington, spotted a man who either had a very fuzzy ponytail or a mullet (I checked on the way to the restroom - it was a fuzzy ponytail), and dined on the finest Italian food. I had my holy trinity of fancy food - shrimp, asparagus, and risotto. One of those items alone on an entree list is enough to catch my attention; all three of them combined in a luscious bowl - jackpot.

Our main feature for tonight was Frost/Nixon. Great movie, but not for everyone. It's adapted from a play and it's a movie I would deem "talkie" meaning there's little action. It's mostly dialogue and pensive looks between people - but the dialogue is brilliant, and the pensive looks - riveting. Frank Langella portrays Nixon and is captivating in the role. You watch him for one minute and think, aww... he's just a cranky old grandpa... and then you remember his diabolical mind, rampant paranoia, and mouth that would make a sailor blush. One particular scene between Nixon, and David Frost (the British talk show host who's secured the first post-resignation interview) shows how quickly Nixon would go from coherent to totally crazy. If you're a fan of history, you'd definitely enjoy this one.

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Rockslides and messed up blizzards...

As the federal government has decided that the best way to celebrate Martin Luther King Jr.'s legacy is to stop people from working or learning (or getting mail), I had no subbing opportunities today, and NavyGuy had no rockets to learn. It has been decent weather here the past few days (despite the "air stagnation" warnings - say huh?), but we're stir-crazy regardless. Too much time spent in the house with the Marines. Our solution for this yesterday was to take a hike near the lake by our house. As always, I started out gungho about the adventure, but twenty minutes in had to use the little girls' room (which is NOT, nor will EVER BE, out of doors), and by the end was exhausted, doubled over, grasping the back of NavyGuy's jacket, hoping his momentum would help pull me up the hill to our house (for those of you who are wondering, no, there weren't any accidents).

Clearly in no mood for another hike today, we opted to head north and check out the Bellingham mall and surrounding stores. Long story short - the route home on South I-5 was down to one lane because of a rockslide. A rockslide! Good grief. Luckily, NavyGuy whipped out his trusty Blackberry Storm, and while I was in my new rubber stamping Mecca*, he found an alternative - though slightly longer - route that would avoid the traffic (and, you know, the rocks).

The other blight on my day was the fact that Dairy Queen jacked up my blizzard! Hello!?! I said OREO. And you repeated OREO back to me. How did my order of an OREO blizzard somehow magically end up in my car as an M&M blizzard? Of course, I didn't check the blizzard until we were back on the highway so it was a lost cause. I know, I know. "Oh, poor little unemployed girl had to choke down M&Ms instead of Oreos in her blizzard today... cry me a river." Well you know what - those M&Ms get too cold in the ice cream and they hurt my teeth! And I almost died in a rockslide! (And this is when NavyGuy usually starts to tune out my exagerrated ranting, so feel free to move on if you'd like.)

Not much else to report on the Washington front. Must go rest up for the big to-do tomorrow!

*I'm in big trouble. Big, big trouble. How much crafting money do you think I could get for a kidney?

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Let Them Eat Cake!

Drooling yet?

And my sister wondered what in heavens name I would do with a cake dome... (thanks for the bridal shower gift!!)

NavyGuy ate 1/4 of it within twenty minutes of it being frosted. I think it's the pink frosting that won him over. (Yes, I made the cake. Yes, it was a Betty Crocker box mix. Yes, I've made my piece with it.)

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