Food Survery

1. How do you like your eggs? Scrambled...Very Well Done...Some would call it rubbery, but I can't stand "gooey" eggs!
2. How do you take your coffee/tea? I don't like coffee or tea!
3. Favorite breakfast food? Everything!!! I LOVE breakfast!!!
4. Peanut butter: Smooth or crunchy? Crunchy
5. What kind of dressing on your salad? Hmmmm, depends on my mood. Italian or Ranch.
6. Coke or Pepsi? Coke if it's from Nordstrom Cafe...but otherwise Dr. Pepper. Pepsi's too sweet.
7. You’re feeling lazy, what do you make? A phone call to Eric who will stop somewhere on his way home!
8. You’re feeling really lazy. What kind of pizza do you order? Canadian Bacon with Pineapple and Green Bell Peppers.
9. You feel like cooking. What do you make? Some kind of bread...to go with Pasta of course!
10. Do any foods bring back good memories? A lot of foods bring back good memories-too many to name! Chuck E. Cheese Pizza (where I spent most of my first few birthdays), Tootie-Frooties the cereal (whenever I got to stay home from school I would eat them for breakfast), Disneyland Churros (whenever we used to go as a family), Cherry Pop-Tarts (going camping with the cousins at Carlsbad Beach), and Fuddrucker's Hamburgers (reminds me of our Sunday afternoon tradition when Eric and I were dating.)
11. Do any foods bring back bad memories? Hmmm. Ginger ale. When I was in the hospital when I was 8, I threw up about 10 feet away after drinking ginger ale. Also Baked Turkey Breast. That was the last meal I ate before I started getting Morning Sickness while pregnant with Taylor.
12. Do any foods remind you of someone? Taquitos remind me of my Mom, I remember going to Salazar's when I was little...Baked Chicken and Mashed Potatoes remind me of my Grandparents for sure.
13. Is there a food you refuse to eat? Raw anything. Especially Sushi.
14. What was your favorite food as a child? Cheese Pizza, Buttered Noodles. Plain stuff.
15. Is there a food that you hated as a child but now like? Most things. I was a very picky kid. Any kind of pasta sauce, especially pesto and cream sauce. Vegetables. Salad.
16. Is there a food that you liked as a child but now hate? Hmmmm, no.
17. Favorite fruit and vegetable? Fruit-Any of them; Vegetable-Zucchini
18. Favorite junk food? Anything sweet!
19. Favorite between meal snack? Granola bars or fruit snacks.
20. Do you have any weird food habits? Just that I love breakfast 24 hours a day!
21. You’re on a diet. What food(s) do you fill up on? Salad and bread. Bread's okay on a diet, right?
22. You’re off your diet. Now what would you like? Pizza, Enchiladas, Bread, Pasta, Burgers...I'm affectionately known as the "Carb Queen."
23. How spicy do you order Indian/Thai? I don't like ANY Indian or Thai food.
24. Can I get you a drink? Ice cold Coke from Nordstrom cafe.
25. Red or White Wine? I don't drink the stuff, but I love using Red Wine to cook with!
26. Favorite dessert? Oh, where do I start!??!

Chicken Noodle Soup

I woke up from a nap on Sunday feeling achy, tired, and overall "blah." So, what better meal than Chicken Noodle Soup?? I sauteed up some carrots and celery in butter glorious butter, then added some organic free range chicken broth, a rotisserie chicken from Vons, and a bunch of chicken-y spices like parsley, sage, rosemary, and marjoram. (You keep waiting for me to say Thyme, but I'm not going to!!! :) Anyway, as icky as I was feeling, there was still enough time to make some homemade French Bread. I started feeling much better after dinner--and a warm bath. I'm looking forward to the leftovers for lunch today!

Blueberry Oatmeal Waffles

The latest recipe I had Eric try for our Saturday Morning Breakfasts were these Blueberry Oatmeal Waffles. They turned out pretty good, although they were significantly improved with a bit of vanilla to the batter. Next time I would like them to be a little sweeter, but I have a sweet tooth, so I'm probably not the best one to ask. But, served with Scrambled Eggs and a Banana, Eric made my day by starting the morning off right--with a tasty breakfast!

Poor Little Pasta...

So imagine this delicious Italian Feast...
Homemade Pasta Noodles baked in a combination sauce of Homemade Pesto, mixed with Italian Sausage, Ricotta, Bell Peppers and some wonderful Italian Herbs and spices. Mmmmm. Look how wonderful this pasta looks. (This was hour 5 of the endeavor. Long process indeed!)

Now to mix the noodles---UH OH!! This is going to end poorly. My noodles turned to mush!! Apparently I was supposed to let them air dry for several hours before cooking. My recipe didn't say that! Thanks a lot Michael Chiarello!

Eric ate it. I think he ate it just so I would stop pouting. (I ate the homemade bread and that was it. Oh, and a pop tart.) The filling was awesome...BUT, next time I'll try it on *REAL* pasta that came out of a box.

Mexican Chicken Rice Bowls--I HATE MAKING RICE!!!

I don't know what it is, but I cannot make rice to save my life! Take these Mexican Chicken Rice Bowls for example. Delicious spiced Chicken with Bell Peppers, Black Beans, Corn, and Guacamole...it started out great! (Well, after I had to dig out the pieces of parsley I thought were cilantro, we were on our way to a pretty good meal!) Then I took the lid off my rice that had been cooking for an hour. STILL HARD AS ROCK! Ugh!!! (Last time I ever buy rice from the bulk bin at Sprouts without directions!) Then I get out my Minute Rice. I tried to add a little garlic and olive oil to flavor it, but I guess you can't do that to Minute Rice. It never absorbed the water! So, I had to strain the Minute Rice, and still we had a decent meal. Now, if someone could just help me make some good rice!!!

Rice attempt #1

Rice attempt #2

The finished product, despite the rice debacle.Dinner the next night--a much smarter idea--no rice! :)

Sloppy Joes (again)

I liked these Sloppy Joes so much I decided to make them again this week! The best part of the meal was the Homemade Focaccia Rolls. The Macaroni Salad and Buttered Carrots were pretty good too. This time I only used half the dressing for the Macaroni Salad, but I think I liked it better with all the dressing, just a little extra pasta. One-half was not quite enough dressing, while the full recipe yields too much. So, just adding a cup or two of extra pasta is a better bet.

White Bean and Ham Soup

Last weekened I made a giant ham--8.5 lbs to be exact--so I had plenty of leftovers for this White Bean and Ham Soup. (Not to mention the 10 C of ham I froze!) It was pretty good. I used Instant Potato Flakes to thicken up the soup--all my "real" potatoes had gone soft--and I can't stand the thought of Ham Soup without potatoes!