My first invented recipe!

French Toast!

Okay, so I'm really not positive that I'm just blocking out where I heard this recipe, and it may even already be a well-known technique, but today I made the most delicious french toast.

My only change, was that after dipping the bread in egg, milk, and cinnamon mixture, I rolled it in a sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, brown sugar mixture as well.

The result- a delightfully crunchy french toast with a brilliant sugar crust.

Try it- it's delicious!

Soup Addendum.

So, I finally ate some of my soup. And it really was delicious! I got a rave from the one person I fed it to, and I'm giving it to someone else tomorrow- so I'll let you know :) The water & bullion cubes really did make a tasty broth to add to my store bought kind!

My First Chicken Noodle Soup!

No cook is complete without a good, homemade, chicken noodle soup in their repertoire, right? So, this was less of a recipe than a combination of Pioneer Woman's chicken & rice and my dad's directions over the phone. And my additions. The result? Yummy.

I've never had so much respect for soux-chefs. I mean, chopping carrots is harder than financial accounting!...well, not really. but I was definitely cursing a little bit.

We're going to call this recipe: Lauren's Soup. (with help from other people)
3 Chicken Breasts
Carrots
Celery
Onion (half of one huge, softball-size onion- like, seriously Tops?)
1 Box of Chicken Stock (herein lies problem number 1)
Bullion Cubes- solution to said problem, hopefully.
Flour & Butter- for the ROUX!
Garlic (my addition!)

I think I sound more like a cook just for saying I made a roux, despite what it tastes like. Anyway, I have to admit, I have yet to try my soup as it's still simmering on the stove. But it sure smells good and even if my bullion cube solution has created an oversalted mess, there is always pepper- right?

Until next time- major shout out to Pioneer Woman's breakfast muffin recipes. Because they sound AMAZING. And when I replenish my flour source, I will be making these, definitely!

true friends make YOU cook :)

So tonight my bud Erica came over and brought me some fabulous chicken cutlets. And spaghetti. Which was perfect because it gave me a chance to try the Chicken Breast recipe I was telling you about, with the artichokes and tomatoes. I did a little substituting, as I don't even know where to find sun-dried tomatoes in the grocery store, much less how to cook with them. Also, we used Kraft "Fancy Italian" cheese mix which, to my surprise, includes Fontina! So basically, my dinner cost exactly $3.79 :) Again, thanks to Erica for the chicken & spaghetti.

Notes to parents of impatient children- if they're starving while you're still waiting for the pasta water to boil- give them a piece of dry spaghetti to chew on. I didn't know people did it, but both Erica and my roommate seemed to be avid fans. I tried it, but still found it a little TOO crunchy for my tastes.

Well, we made the chicken and a spaghetti side on which we put the leftover stuffing mix. Tied the dish together really well. Later that night I tried to make chocolate fondue from scratch- with semi sweet chocolate bars, milk, and sugar. I really ended up with chocolate soup- but the taste was pretty much the same. I'm going to try again, definitely, maybe actually using a recipe :-p

Ah, cooking is all about improv, right? Anyway, no clue if I'm making anything tomorrow- it'll likely be more sloppy joe leftovers and spaghetti as we cooked an entire package tonight...One Job Erica!! One Job!

So a note to anybody reading this, if you're willing to provide half the ingredients, I'll cook for ya :)

Yummy Leftovers

So, my first effort of food blog cooking wasn't too spectacular. Last night I made sloppy joes for dinner. My only "great insight" was to put them in hot dog buns rather than hamburger. This made for a little less sloppy. Today for lunch, I broiled my buns and buttered the insides and added my sloppy joe mix. And let me tell you, it tasted better the 2nd time around. I promise I'm thinking of something fabulous for dinner that you'll actually want to read about. Promise. I will also definitely be trying out the pioneer woman's chicken & rice soup recipe sometime this week. I've never made soup, or worked with whole chicken. So this will be an experience.

Until next time, always remember that buns are always better broiled.

A disclaimer.

I'm not a complete moron. I have just enough cooking skills to not burn things when I make them. Unfortunately, I do have a nasty habit of ordering take-out items that turn out to be less delicious than any number of things I could've made on my own. Also, it's expensive. So today, I've decided to learn how to cook. To be one of those people who are intimate with the uses of polenta and have white wine for cooking. I have been inspired.

Why start today? Well, it's a milestone of sorts as today I was educated on what "deglazing" means and how easy it really is. So this blog is going to be my way of keeping myself honest. If I don't cook, I'll have nothing to write about. This is my April resolution. To become a cook.

To prove how committed I am to this resolution- here is an amazing-looking recipe I found the other day from epicurious.

Chicken Breasts Stuffed with Fontina and Sun Dried Tomatoes.

I'm going to make it tomorrow, so I'll let you know how it turns out...