15. Learn how to make tilapia

Why in the world was "make tilapia" on my list of things to do this year?  After making the tilapia and eating it I remember that I don't really even like fish.  Well, at least I tried!

14.6 and 14.7 Winter Warm-me-ups!

This past week I conquered 

two new recipes: Beef Stew and Chili!

 
My niece and nephew helped cut up the ingredients for the beef stew.  We were going to eat it for dinner, but Aunt Trish-wa did not pay attention that the recipe said that it takes 2-3 hours to cook.  Sad!  We ended up eating nachos instead.





The chili was a joint effort of my roomie, Deb and I.  We substituted ground chicken for beef, and it still came out quite tasty, especially with some cornbread one the side!

14.5 Thanksgiving Turkey

Recipe number 5 out of 12. This Thanksgiving I made my first turkey, thanks to a yummy Cuban style recipe from my stepmom!

Whole Garlic Cluster
1/2 bottle mojo criollo
2 tsp salt
2 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
black pepper

1. Blend ingredients
2. Clean turkey, puncture, pour 2/3 mixture over turkey and into punctures
3. Use the remaining 1/3 mixture inside the turkey
4. Sprinkle black pepper
5. Cover turkey with foil, put in fridge for 24 hours
6. cook turkey
7. Eat :)

14.4 Chicken Noodle Soup

Recipe #4 out of 12 on the list of 30 THINGS TO DO THIS YEAR.

This recipe was a group effort from my housemates and I! Deb cut the veggies and Gloria added the extra spices until it was the right kind of zesty! This was my favorite recipe so far :)

Chicken Noodle Soup from Williams and Sonoma: Family Cooking-Creating Traditions in the Kitchen

The Recipe- we added garlic, onion powder, lots of salt and pepper and basil!

Cutting up the veggies!

Nothing like a side of grilled cheese dipped in ketchup!
Yummy!

14.3 Black Bean Pasta

This is recipe #3 out of 12 on my list of 30 THINGS TO DO THIS YEAR.

It is high time that some of the lonely, often overlooked ingredients in the cupboard get used, so I went to allrecipes and typed in "pasta," "black beans," and "tomato sauce." The result: Black Bean Pasta

It was an ok recipe, a little spicy because of the red pepper flakes, but not very flavorful. I had to add some cheese and salt, which can somewhat improve almost anything.

As usual, trying to cook usually teaches me what not to do: DO NOT PUT THE BURNER ON TOO HIGH, unless you want pasta sauce all over your favorite hoodie, on the floor, and on the side of the refrigerator.

14.2 Made from scratch Pizza Dough

Item # 14 on the list of 30 things to do this year: Cook using a recipe....once a month.

I haven't been too consistent on this one, so let's just modify the goal to cook 12 new things from a cookbook! This weekend my niece Cheyenne helped me make homemade PIZZA!! So many questions came up:
- does a teaspoon of sea salt equal a teaspoon of regular salt??!! Not sure, but the pizza dough was way too salty!!
- how do you measure yeast? It says on the back of the packet that one packet equals 2 1/4 teaspoon....but I only needed 1 1/2 of a teaspoon....so I used a teaspoon, but it took the whole packet to fill it up?!
- are there any special rules for using wheat flour?

Cheyenne didn't complain, though, so I am content!

14.1 Chicken Salad

I added cooking to my list of 30 things to do because it is something that I rarely do, but definitely a skill worth having, especially since eating Peanut Butter sandwiches, oatmeal, and cereal for the rest of my life is not a prospect worth looking forward to.

The first recipe did not actually come from a cookbook, but from the Pioneer Woman's website. If you have not heard of the Pioneer Woman, consider checking out her site for fun recipes (with super helpful pictures for each step), homeschooling ideas, photography, and a really sweet love story of how she, a city girl, fell in love with a cowboy and moved to the country. *sigh*

Recipe # 1: Chicken Salad

I cannot actually comment on if the recipe was good or not because I have a tendency to look at the recipe and get overwhelmed with all the details and then do my own thing. So, the result of doing my own thing.....ummm.....a little dry. More dressing next time.

avocados, beware!

I had a gift card to Williams-Sonoma. Good thing! Among their highly specific kitchen tools, over priced everything (a pepper grinder for $70?!?!), and very enthusiastic staff, I found the answer to all my guacamole dreams. A beam of light shone from heaven upon this magical piece of human ingenuity. Behold-The Avocado Pitter/Slicer!

New Fav

Toasted 15 grain bread
Humus
Freshly sliced tomatoes
YUM!

Tortellini Soup

Tortellini Soup:
3 Chicken Breasts
1 TB butter or olive oil
3 cans chicken broth (also use the broth from the chicken when you boil it)
1 (9oz) package of refrigerated 3-cheese tortellini
1 (10oz) package of frozen spinach (thawed and dried)
1 (14.5oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies (undrained)
Parmesan Cheese (optional)

Boil the chicken in salted water for about 15 minutes. Set aside to cool. Saute garlic in butter or olive oil. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add tortelliniand cook 6-7 minutes or until tender. Stir in spinach and tomatoes. Shred chicken and add to soup. Simmer for 20 minutes. Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top and serve. Alternatively you can leave out the chicken and make it super easy and quick.

muffin + pumpkin = muffkin?

It is fall. It is time for pumpkin muffins.

1 8oz can of pumpkin
1 box spice cake mix

Mix ingredients.
Put in muffin tin.
Sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
Follow box directions for time/temp.
Bake and eat!

Love that smell!

This morning I woke up to the smell of PUMPKIN MUFFINS at my friend Melissa's house. You should try them:)

1 can of Libby Pumpkin
1 box of Spice Cake mix

Stir, put in a muffin tin. Sprinkle tops with cinnamon and sugar. Bake on 375 til done. Voila! Eat and be happy!

not betty crocker

I am a little grumpy.

The other night I went to a fellowship dinner with some ladies from my church. Everyone brought these yummy recipes to swap. So, tonight I decided to try my hand at making a yummy desert that we will just call "little oreo balls of delight"...there are only three ingredients and seven easy steps: grind oreos, mix with cream cheese, roll into balls, chill 1 hour, melt white chocolate, dip balls in the chocolate, cool.

Simple right? Not for Trish....I can't even melt chocolate!!!! I think I might have over melted it (aka burned it)....it never got to the point where I could actually dip something in it.....or maybe it was past that point....I DONT KNOW....i dipped the oreo balls in, and they fell apart as I was trying to cover them in chocolate....all I was left with was "little balls of disaster" and no fun christmas treats for my friends.

I am bummed. I don't like white chocolate anymore. I don't like oreos. And I don't like cooking!

little miss distracted

So, I just opened up my freezer and what did I find? A frozen roma tomato....no I'm serious...a tomato!!! The other day I was making a salad and I thought to myself, "hmmm...I like my tomatoes cold...I should put it in the freezer a few minutes." Somewhere between getting out the lettuce, putting on the cheese, and adding some yummy balsamic vinagrette dressing I forgot about my tomato.

And that brings us to today when I was looking for some chocolate. No chocolate in our freezer, just a bright, red, frozen tomato. In fact, I dropped it on the floor....ya know...just to see what would happen....nothing! Just a ice thunk on the floor. So we played a little frozen tomato soccer and then tried to tempt the cats into playing with us.

The sad thing is that I don't just forget about tomatoes. The same night I left the tomato in the freezer I left chicken in the oven. I was baking some chicken to use for sandwiches later that week. Luckily, my roommate, who came home at 9:30-3 hours later-decided to make some food for a work party. She found the chicken and saved us all from a potentially fire-y death.

And then this morning, I woke up and I realized that I forgot I was supposed to play in a softball game the night before. GRRRRR....How does this happen?!

The sad thing is that I don't just forget about silly things. I forget about important things....like trusting God...and loving my friends and family well.....about knowing who I belong to.

I am grateful that God does not forget.

Lord, help me to remember....who you are....what you have done, that I might learn to trust you and love you more.

Psalm 105

1 Give thanks to the LORD, call on his name;
make known among the nations what he has done.

2 Sing to him, sing praise to him;
tell of all his wonderful acts.

3 Glory in his holy name;
let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice.

4 Look to the LORD and his strength;
seek his face always.

5 Remember the wonders he has done,
his miracles, and the judgments he pronounced,

6 O descendants of Abraham his servant,
O sons of Jacob, his chosen ones.

7 He is the LORD our God;
his judgments are in all the earth.

8 He remembers his covenant forever,
the word he commanded, for a thousand generations,

a happy little sound

My microwave has the friendliest little bell. I say bell and not beep because it is a really cheap microwave with a turn timer. I just heated up a cup of coffee to drink with a really yummy cookie. When it was finished, the microwave just sang out: "DING! Come and get it! Warm, Yummy, Goodness for you to Drink." What a happy little sound!

the answer to the impossible question

You know those questions that are so hard to answer? Those ones that you think you should know the answer to, but you just can't seem to come up with one.

"What is your favorite food? "

Ahhhhh! There it is! The unanswerable question. What do you mean? Am I supposed to pick out of all the millions of different kinds of foods just ONE that I love best? Favorite is a pretty strong word. Sort of like calling someone your BEST friend or saying I LOVE cats. The word favorite connotes some kind of faithfulness to the word it is applied to.

I would like to announce that today I have found that food that merits all of the above words. BEST. LOVE. FAVORITE. My favorite food is the SANDWICH!

mmmm! The one I am eating right now: Toasted rosemary bread, provalone cheese, real chicken, lettuce, and mayo! yum! That's what I'm talkin' about!

Other notable sandwiches
1. BLT from Quiznos
2. Chicken Salad Sandwich on 9 grain bread at Atlanta Bread company
3. Chicken Salad Wrap from Arby's
4. Tuna, provalone, and lettuce on toasted wheat bread from Subways (don't wrinkle your nose...you know tuna is super-yum!)

Check out this article at wikipedia on sandwiches wiki

peanut butter cookies

I would like to make an official announcement....yes, that's right...I made my first ever from scratch peanut butter cookies....woot woot.....

Go ahead....applaud!!!

I am really excited! I am the girl who specialized in microwave meals in college. Then, one Christmas I got a cookbook....yay....no wait...."Betty Crocker's Cooking Basics"??? It might as well have said "Tricia's First Cookbook" or "Cooking for Dummies."

The secret was out =( I am no Chef-Boy-Ar-Trish. That's ok. My college roommates, who were all born with a golden whisk in hand, consoled and encouraged me. "It's ok. We believe in you."

Thanks gals! Your encouragement has paid off....or maybe it was a way easy recipe I found online....oh well....

Kraft Peanut Butter Crunch Cookies