Resetting things and no pictures

 I've changed the theme and the layout a bit on the blog if things look funky, let me know as it is set to a medium computer screen. I have also realized I don't have as many unique recipes as I thought. What I have done though is write down some good basic dishes that most anyone can do. This will be for future reference for family and friends. I haven't been taking as many pictures of my cooking as before because of several factors, one being I am too busy trying to cook to take the selfish time out to take a picture. 

Cooking is a relatively fast paced situation and when you have a small space and area to use, it gets even more hectic to try and prep things in a timely fashion. 

We had beef teriyaki stir fry today, I was cooking on autopilot I think because it turned out delicious. Used left over seasoned rice, aka teriyaki rice, mixed in with a single serving of white rice. Just enough of both for seconds for two people. No pictures... see reason above.

Haven't gone shopping yet but that will be happening either tomorrow or Monday, there are a few things on my list that I want to cook this coming month that is not everyday simple sort of things. I want to tackle lasagna. That's a little extra cost for the real cheeses I need to buy, not talking about the videos everyone seems to show where they mix egg and ricotta together. Oh no my friend, this is my mom's recipe and I have posted about it before. I think the noodles I bought a few months ago are the 'oven ready' type but I still don't trust them, even if the America's Test Kitchen says it's good to go.

Right now I have two pounds of hamburger that is thawed and absolutely need to use it tomorrow. Actually, I just might cook it up tonight with appropriate seasoning... put it in a container to save time on the lasagna. BINGO! Time saver right there. Cooked meat lasts longer than raw meat in the fridge.

 

 

Fresh Roma tomatoes and Romaine lettuce in my garden growing fantastic! Both should be ready for harvest in another few weeks. I am not sure if I will have the energy and time to try and make my own sauce from the tomatoes but will post it here if I do. Tucked in between the Romaine are two Jalapeño plants and there are four bell pepper seedlings that are much too young to be even close to getting flowers let alone fruit. The lettuce will be ready before the end of June and the tomatoes not far behind that. 

Oh, I made another excellent batch of macaroni salad and am looking to try the 'Elote Macaroni Salad' recipe I have saved on my computer. 

 

Many good meals and warm summer days ahead!

New month same recipes, different results

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Going to start off with the salmon dish. Same marinade, Italian dressing then topped with teriyaki sauce. The salmon was one long filet with no skin so very little meat lost. Got a lot of pieces from it and then fixed my, now go to, rice dish. I think I am going to have to remember to add broccoli to the rice because it needs something more in it. The salmon was okay, not prime fish but good enough.

Something new this week. Picked up some pre-cooked roast beef, the kind that comes in a tray you can microwave. Fresh lettuce, tomatoes and onions, mayo and that wonderful white sauce and we splurged on some avocados and brioche buns. 

I opted to get leaf lettuce instead of Romaine this time, it's fluffy and wavy and just better on a sandwich. Even the cashier agreed when she saw it, not that it is a prime endorsement but a nice point of conversation. One note though, will not be getting the brioche style buns again, way too soft and squishy even after toasting.

I was too hungry to get many pictures but we had chicken sandwiches again with similar fixings as the roast beef. I finally got my meat tenderizer mallet! Yay! The pounding may commence! Still ended up with similar size pieces despite pounding the heck out of the breasts. I also upgraded the white sauce. Mistakenly added sour cream and then thought it still needed something extra. Cleaned out the last of the horseradish, added in some milk and about two tablespoons... almost half a packet of Rance dressing mix. A little more milk, dash or two of some hot sauce, squirt of lemon juice, dash of cajun spice and some of the smokey chipotle adobo sauce then stirred. Nice kick to it and added just the right flavor to the sandwich.

We've been watching a show called Food Paradise. They go to different food festivals, restaurants, food halls and all that. What we've realized is about a third of all the featured restaurants didn't survive the pandemic. Some of the rest closed and reopened but then didn't last very long. The running thread I realized is most of the featured food was just way over the top. Huge stacked burgers, fusion versions of things like sushi or mac and cheese and then food trucks for one episode.  If your food is so unique and specific for your location, it will fail. It's a 'locals' thing and 9 times out of 10, it will not survive. One restaurant that did survive when we looked it up, average price per person is $10-$20. If I'm going to get food that expensive, I'll go down the road to 5 Guys. 

On the other hand, it gave me some ideas on how to spice things up, change up flavor profiles and condiment ideas. So it's good for inspiration but that's about it. Got really annoying after awhile when people would basically say the same things about the flavors and 'crunch' and 'texture'. Gets old real fast.

Food is expensive when you eat out. Will see what else comes up this month.