Smokin' At Home

A few weekend back, H finally got around to putting together his birthday present- a smoker! He wanted one of the big fancy, wood or coal burning smokers, but we decided to start him off with an electric one while he learned the art of grilling & then he can move onto mastering the fire portion of it ;)



We marinated the meat on Saturday & he woke up extra early on Sunday morning to put it on the smoker with some wood chips.



Early afternoon, we pulled it off & it was delicious! Don't mind that little bite missing from the corner- somebody had to have a taste test! We learned a few lessons and are eager to smoke more things- like some salmon and ribs.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Took the pups to the beach yesterday & had a blast!

Cooking Queen

Some of my running buddies have been doing this prepared meals thing for a few months & it sounded perfect for me. It's organized so that once a month, 15-25 women get together & pre-make 10 meals. I was sad I didn't have my own cute apron...



There were 5 stations & each group had about 5 women that prepackaged a single meal & then we put that meal in large, labeled Ziploc baggie and into our cooler before moving on to the next meal station.



It's really a LOT of women in the kitchen bustling around a top speed and going through about 427 baggies every 5 minutes. We did all 5 stations and packed up 5 meals, then took a quick breather to clean and re-stock each of the stations with meals for round 2.



So I got 10 meals for 4 people for $150 and about 3.5 hours of labor. I still need to add sides, but I'm excited about the variety and having everything all measured out already that I can just pull out of the freezer without much thought.



For my first meal, I tired the pork chops with bacon and sage.



Any meal that starts with bacon is going to turn out alright...it was hard not to eat these while the rest of my meal cooked.



Just tossed a bit of salt and pepper on the pork chops- we had 6 total.



Cooking lesson 1- don't drain and save the hot bacon grease in a plastic measuring spoon.



Throw in the sauce ingredients for a few minutes & dinner is ready!



I was really happy with how our first meal came out & how much easier it makes cooking if I don't have to browse through cook books, make a grocery list, run to the store, measure out everything, put all the ingredients away, and then wash all the measuring devices.



Later in the week, I cooked the chorizo on the stove & then threw it in a crock pot for the day over some chicken breasts. It wasn't my favorite, but wasn't too bad either.



At the last minute, we invited H's mom over for lunch after church. I was able to pull of a gourmet meal of London Broil in less than 30 minutes.



And last night, we had the maple encrusted salmon- very yummy and super easy! I'm trying to cook as much as I can before we leave & before we move, but I will be signing up for more dinners in the future.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Home alone tonight- going to play with the puppies and get lots of packing done.

Chicken Enchiladas

I've been wanting to cook (more) (again), but we've been SOOOO busy lately! I've had chicken enchiladas on my radar for months, and finally had the chance to whip them up on Sunday. I started off with this basic recipe & added a few twists, including trying to use l0w-fat ingredients and the can of diced tomatoes & chilies.



Anything that starts with sauteed onions is on the right track.



I put the onions, cream cheese and tomatoes into a mix for the inside.



I just boiled the chicken in water with some taco seasoning for added flavor.



Mix them together......



Load up your tortillas....



Roll them up and place them in a baking dish...



Add the yummy topping (cream of chicken soup, milk & sour cream), plus throw some more onions on top just for good measure...



Top with some cheese & bake in the oven! I think they came out really great, but they were a lot of work for something that's probably not very healthy (even with all the low-fat ingredients). Might be good to make for a dinner party or group, when we won't have left-overs to eat too.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: The Rockets won their first game of the 2nd round play-offs against the Lakers! I wish the games were on early than 9:30 PM, and H has some great seats for the game Friday night.

Thursday Tidbits

I've got a few things that belong in the random pile. I'll start with this as my favorite guacamole EVER. I know you can make it from scratch, but this simple mix from McCormick, with some fresh avocados, is better than anything I've had in a restaurant. We eat this about once a week in the summer and I can't wait for avocado season to arrive in full force!

I just discovered broccoli. I'm not a huge veggie fan, but was hungry the other day and it was on my plate. I had an adult-revelation and discovered that I actually liked it! We've had it once a week since I can steam it in the microwave in 90 seconds.

We attempted to grill our own lobster at home a few weeks ago. It came out pretty good, at least for lobster from Sams, but not nearly as good as some of the delicacies I've had at fancy restaurants. Anybody have any good lobster cooking tips?

A few weeks ago, we headed to mid-town to try another wine bar, The Tasting Room. Bonus feature of the night was eating some yummy sushi at Fish.

Also last month, I had a Friday happy hour with the moms. It was a perfect afternoon to sit outside, snack on chips, salsa & guacamole and talk about men!

I finally bought a display rack to hang all my marathon medals (plus a few half-marathon and a triathlon). I ordered it from here & they have lots of different ones for various sports.

This was H and his mom out a few weeks ago at dinner for a friend. She's off right now on our first big international (besides Mexico) trip as she cruises the Mediterranean.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Most of Texas is getting some desperately needed rains and some enjoyable cooler weather.

Grilled Salmon

I'm always trying to cook more Salmon at home because I like it and it's healthy. I found this recipe in one of my books & it turned out lovely. I first folded together several sheets of foil to make a 2'x3' double-thick piece. I chopped up some onions & a red pepper along with a piece of celery.

I tossed those with some olive oil, then covered with salt and pepper. I finished off the bed of veggies with some lemon slices and some fresh rosemary.

Toss on a yummy salmon plank with some more salt, pepper and lemon. We put it out on the grill for about 20 minutes for a no-fuss meal.

The fish was perfectly cooked & had great flavor, and the veggies were perfect sides.

I served this with some hot tomato soup & pasta shells. It was a super easy & healthy dinner that I'm sure we'll cook again.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: The weather is looking good so far for the marathon on Sunday and the inauguration on Tuesday.

Cookie Disaster

The weekend before Christmas I attempted to make some sugar cookies. Growing up, I remember several years in a row where I made the delicious cookies that everybody loved. Along the way, I lost the recipe & I've been determined to try recipes until I find something that produces these soft, fluffy and slightly chewy delights.
I found this recipe that looked like a good place to start, but it just went downhill and kept going. With my utter lack of a baking gene, I forgot that most sugar cookies are the roll-out flat & use cookie cutter kind. Either I did something wrong or these really weren't supposed to be the type that start out as rolled balls. My first batch is on the right, minus one bite I took out of a cookie. Then I read the line where I was instructed to roll the dough in sugar to coat the outside, and that batch on the left.

Then I became too interested in my wine or the movie and burned a batch.

I thought perhaps the cookies could be salvaged with some great icing, but this was just another tumble down the baking hill. I was really surprised the amount of shortening (pure fat!) that the cookie recipe and the icing recipe indicated.

As you can see even the icing came out much more like paste and not very "spreadable" onto the cookies. H & I ate a few, but threw most of the very fattening cookies away. Anybody have any good cookie suggestions? Almost the same consistency as the famous Wal-mart sugar cookies with the pink icing.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: Hopefully this time next week, I will be home from running a great marathon & packing our stuff for DC.

Baked Scallops & Spaghetti

Last weekend, I was still all motivated on my quest to keep cooking up new things. We were at Sams, doing our Thanksgiving shopping, and I noticed some yummy looking scallops and decided I should use them to cook something on Sunday night. I searched around the Internet & found this Baked Scallops Recipe.

There were also some yummy looking asparagus at the grocery store that were just begging to be steamed. I love steaming things- so easy & quick! Wash, cut, season & steam!

I threw some salt & diced garlic into the steam basket & drizzled some olive oil on them. DELICIOUS!

The baked scallop recipe is pretty easy- mix a few spices & some diced garlic.

Throw in some Parmesan cheese & bread crumbs to perfect your outer layer of flavor.

I dipped them in butter & then rolled them in the mixture, before placing them into the oven to bake.

I decided to serve this with some spaghetti & marinara sauce. Topped off with wine, this made a great Sunday evening dinner.

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I'm only working till noon today, and it looks like H won't have to work this weekend either!

Desperate Housewife

So after planning to spend my Saturday exploring San Francisco, I suddenly found myself sitting at home with nothing to do. I was able to get quite a bit accomplished this weekend as a desperate housewife with time to kill! First, I watch a few movies, including Sex and the City. I was a HUGE fan when it was on HBO, but I was hesitant to see the movie. I was afraid I'd be disappointed or would want more. I really enjoyed the movie and missed watching the show every week. It was the perfect girlie movie for a lonely Saturday morning.

Next, I ran errands, which included dropping of the dry-cleaning and taking Zoe to the park & giving her a bath. I also decided to do a little shopping :) We have had our old bedspread for almost 2 years now, and Zoe tends to be a bit rough on it when she's excited that H is home, so we needed a new one.

So I bought a lovely new bedspread and a few other things we needed around the house. It's a bit darker blue than our old one, but I like the color and the texture. I also got started on my Christmas shopping- let's just say I'm excited that H will be getting a mini-indoor herb garden :)

I also discovered that we suddenly have jalapenos! H walked in the back door & proudly showed me our surprise harvest! I can't believe things are still growing in the garden.

The tomatoes are still growing, and there are quite a few now, but I'm not sure they will ever turn red.

I also watched a movie called Manufactured Landscapes. It's a very interesting documentary about how manufacturing and progress, particularly in China and Asia, are forever changing the landscapes.

It looked at it both from the physical Earth standpoint and how it's changing the lives of workers too. It's actually based on a photography exhibit that tries to grasp the GINORMOUS scale of some of these manufacturing plants.

I also thought it would be the perfect weekend to knock one more thing off my 101 List- make a cheesecake! Given my very limited cooking & baking skills, I wanted to keep it simple for my first attempt. I bought a pre-made Oreo crust, and followed this very simple recipe. It was YUMMY! Next time I will attempt to make my own crust & use a real cheesecake pan. And of course, I made my soup Sunday night. All in all, not San Francisco, but not a bad weekend either!

GOOD NEWS OF THE DAY: I'm off to do a mock trial today.