Dinner for One

Today my hubby went out with a friend for supper, so I was on my own. So, to make something simple for myself, all I did was put a bunch of stuff in the oven for 40 minutes and voila... dinner served!

Spray a small baking pan with cooking spray. Add a piece of chicken. You can shake n bake it if you wish, but I like mine plain. Add one chopped potato and other various veggies, sprinkle your favorite salad dressing over top (I used Italian), about 1/4 cup. After it's done, sprinkle some shredded cheese on top. Voila.

Make Baby Food: Step by Step

Today I was all excited to spend some time doing some craft projects after I put Baby M down for her nap, when I suddenly realized... no time for that, I need to bake, and make baby food, and exercise (plus, 5 minutes into the project I found out I didn't have the right colored thread anyway). I didn't exercise yet, but no matter. I figured I'd tell you all how to make your own baby food step by step. Make sure to read all the instructions first before you start (remember? They always tell you to do that for tests... and I never did, anyway...)

How to Make Baby Food: Apples

What you need:
6 apples
a steamer
a blender
an ice cube tray
sanity

Step 1: Pull out the steamer and 6 medium apples.

Step 2: Start to core, peel, and chop apples.

Step 3: Look at pile of apples left to do vs. pile of apples done and mentally try not to look at how much is left.

Step 4: Excitedly think how fast this is taking only to realize that instead of 4 apples, you've only done 4 quarters of an apple, meaning you still have 5 left to go.

Step 5: Grab another apple from the fridge upon realizing you've eaten about that much of your freshly chopped baby food.

Step 6: Put that apple back after almost giving your nails an impromptu trim, chalking it up to taste testing the baby food instead. After all, that's important to make sure it's good for baby, right?

Step 7: Wonder if all this work is really worth it. Try to consider how much money you are saving.

Step 8: Arrange all the chopped apples in the steamer as per directions. Turn steamer on.

Step 9: Make rice krispie square in the time it takes for the apples to steam (this'll make the man happy, right? It's kinda like baking). Realize that rice krispie square is quicker and easier than even steaming apples!

Step 10: Steamer is done. Treat yourself to some square while you let the apples cool.

Step 11: Get out blender and place apples inside (use the water runoff in the steamer tray to help get the puree thin enough). Blend/chop/puree them like a mad woman (which doesn't take much since the blender probably doesn't wish to cooperate anyway and is making you mad) until a nice baby food consistency.

Step 12: Pour applesauce into ice cube tray, cover with plastic wrap and freeze.

Step 13: Wonder why you didn't just buy the stuff in the first place, then proceed to look up all sorts of crafts you could make with baby food jars to help you justify buying them later on.

Step 14: Do it all over again next month.

Notes: Make sure to label the container you put the frozen cubes of food into with the type of baby food and the date you made it. Also, instead of steaming the apples you could boil or bake or microwave them if you wish. I just love to use my steamer.

BBQ Season! BBQ'd Potatoes

So, it's been awhile since I've posted anything new! How sad is that! I never stopped cooking, so exactly what happened?


Anyway, it's BBQ SEASON! YIPPEE! That means all I need to do is prep food and clean up food, and hubby can do the 'cooking', hahaha.


We got a brand new BBQ on monday. I got it for my hubby as a late anniversary and early father's day gift. Yeah... real early... Anyway, it's stainless steel, has 3 burners (countem, 3, woah!), and it cooks evenly! Posted is the picture of our first meal cooked on the grill...

BBQ Potatoes

You can BBQ just about anything. A friend of mine showed me how to do potatoes on the grill a few summers ago and we've been doing this ever since.

First, chop your potatoes (and other veggies). I like to stick them in the microwave for about 5 minutes to partially cook them so that they don't take quite so long on the grill. Get a large piece of tinfoil, spray it with cooking spray, and place the veggies in a row down the middle (works best if you do only 1-2 people's veggies per piece of foil and just have multiple foil pouches on the grill). Add your spices, whatever tickles your fancy, and a bit of butter (again, however much you want). Make a pouch from the foil by grabbing the long ends and wrapping them over the mixture, pinching and 'rolling' them together somewhat... (I wish I took pics, but this diagram should help... I hope...). You should have a tube of foil with veggies inside. Roll each of the ends tightly to close them. Place on the grill, seam side up, preferably over really low heat or on the 'warmer' section (unless you want charcoal potatoes). Voila! "Baked" potatoes and veggies on the grill!

Of course you could probably grill them seperately with tinfoil, but what's the fun in that?