Sunday, February 13, 2011

Breakfast sandwich! Yum!

It's still really cold here...they said it's warming up but I don't feel it. I haven't felt my toes in weeks.
Anyway, one of the best things to do on a cold day is stand over a hot stove so this morning I decided to make a hot breakfast and kind of got carried away. Scrambled eggs turned into eggs and ham...and toast...I just kept cooking because it felt so good to be standing over those hot burners!
Also, I have these gorgeous ripe tomatoes from my delivery this week and happened to wash an extra pear so slicey, slicey and breakfast is ... gone! It was pretty good. The simple things...
In other news, I'm having a lot of thoughts lately about what's next in life. I guess you could call it a phase? It's all about, "what do I do next?"
Any suggestions?
I'm just having this gut instinct that things are really going to change in the near future. Also, looking back, I can see that I'm preparing for something. A couple days ago I checked all my finances and realized that I'm totally flush. My assets are higher than my liabilities. It made me feel pretty good to know that I could sell my house and be free and clear of every obligation and just start fresh.
Yeah, that's what I mean. I don't think think things like, "I can really settle in and build a life." or "I could remodel, go shopping, donate more to charity or get more involved in my community." I think, "Wow, I could just up and change everything about my life - I could start over from scratch. I could run away." That's what I keep doing too - every few years I just start over from scratch. Different career, different house, different states even. I'm just built this way and I've been fighting it for some time now, trying to be normal. I'm telling ya, I've really dug in here and tried to be the most boring, stable version of myself.
Who knows, maybe tomorrow things will feel different, sometimes stable isn't so bad ;0)

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Spring Rolls


Look at these babies ;)
I got inspired to make spring rolls, finally and it was super easy! You should try it...
Basically I got some rice sticks, green onions, cucumber, carrots and pre-cooked shrimp. Put a little pickled ginger and Thai Kitchen sweet pepper dipping sauce on the side and tah dah!

It's also a good way to use up the leftover veggies too :)
Now, if only spring will finally get here!! It's been a long cold winter at Cocoa's place. I was so desperate for some sun I went and sat in my car so the sun could beat on me but I wouldn't be out in the cold wind! It was nice and I'm sure if anyone saw me they thought I was nuts. Don't care. I got warm ;p

Monday, February 7, 2011

Wow, I'm actually cooking again!

I think it was the cold weather and the only recipes I could find for my leeks were for soup, so I sliced those babies up and put 'em in the crock with some vegetable broth, 3 red potatoes and some S&P. 4 hours on high later and I was floored! It was really delicious. I expected it to be bland or watery, but it wasn't :0) Looks bland though, doesn't it?
I also rolled up some collard green wraps:

It might sound weird, but trust me - this is a fabulous little dish! I've made it a few times before and ate them so fast I forgot to take a picture. This time I happened to have the camera in the kitchen and snapped it quick!
These are so easy too.
First, you wash your collard greens - I soak them in water for a few minutes then rinse them under running water. Mostly I just want to make sure I get all the dirt off.
Then, you lie one on your cutting board and with a sharp paring knife start at the stem and cut up the leaf. Your knife will automatically cut the boniest part of the stem as long as you're sliding it along the stem toward the top of the leaf. You'll have to repeat on the other side. Did that make sense?

If not, come over and I'll give you a live demo.

Next, pick your filling. I love doing some tuna salad with tomato slices.
Put a dab (spoonful) on the end of a leaf and roll it up. Voila!

Now, promise me you'll try it some time and let me know what you think!

Thursday, February 3, 2011

A little help from Barilla


This was possibly the best pasta I've ever had...ever. I had a little help from Barilla though, so I can't take all the credit ;0)
I started by slicing up some mushrooms, onion and zucchini and threw in a few grape tomatoes and sauteed until they were tender. Then I dumped in a jar of Barilla and simmered it for the 15 minutes it took to boil the pasta (Tinkyada shells, btw)

Isn't it pretty?
So, here's the sauce I used and I chose it because it had the best ingredients...and it was on sale!


Doesn't it sound good? Like sauce my Italian grandma would make, if I had one. Can I borrow yours?
This was about a 25 minute meal - 10 mins to sautee the veggies and get some water boiling and 15 to simmer and boil the pasta. I managed to mix a pomegranatetini and load the dishes in there too. Multitasking, I am - I am!