I love Pinterest because I find reading recipes relaxing. Reading recipes lets me escape to this wonderful place where I have endless access to ingredients and cooking utensils. I dream about cooking things and at the end of my daydream session, I'm inspired. We had guests here 3 weeks ago and they remarked about cooking ability - and Dan really praised my abilities. Well, my ability to 'make it up' comes from reading recipes and catching what flavors work together.
Pinterest has provided me with an endless access to recipes. Now, I will share some recipes that have recently graced our table.
On the table today:
Balsamic Pot Roast and Onions - in the crock pot. In 2 hours, I will let you know if it received Dan approval. 15 minutes before we left for church, he got it ready to go - so, it's pretty quick to whip together.
For breakfast yesterday:
Baked Oatmeal in individual serving sizes. This received Dan approval! It worked really well for us because Dan's not a big fan of nuts. So, he got apples and oatmeal, and peanut butter-chocolate chips and oatmeal. I got apples, pecans and oatmeal, and peanut butter-chocolate chips, apples, pecans and oatmeal (or what I called the "garbage" baked oatmeal).
On the table last week:
Baked Parmesan-encrusted Asparagus - delicious! In fact, the week that Dan was gone, I just ate this for dinner one night. Don't worry, I had like 25 (super skinny) asparagus, so I got my fill. :) Yes, these also received Dan approval.
The breakfast we served our guests:
Bacon-egg-toast cups. AMAZING!
I transformed this recipe just a little. I had some Jiffy corn muffin mix on hand and thought, "Hmm, I bet these would be delicious with the baked egg & bacon cups." So, I mixed up the muffin mix and started baking them. They were too big to make room for the egg & canadian bacon (which, as all good, meat scientists know is not the same as ham). So, I baked the muffins and THEN baked the canadian bacon and egg. My mouth is salivating just thinking about them.
I also made this AMAZING vinagrette last week....and I didn't repin the recipe. So, I'm not sure I will ever be able to recreate it - but it is so good. It's got balsamic vinegar, paprika, salt, pepper, sugar, olive oil and sesame seeds. I made it last weekend; it's been marinating in the fridge and I used it on a salad at lunch yesterday. It was even better than last week. I will be using it this week on my 'oriental chicken salad.'
Also up this week from Pinterest
Chicken & Asparagus Stir Fry (asparagus is on sale for about $1/bunch around here)
Homemade Granola Balls - will be using pistachios instead of peanuts, and cranberries & apricots instead of cranberries & raisins
Better Than Everything But Sex - okay, I changed the title - Chex Mix. I am referring to this as the adult staple for Girls Nights In replacing our slumber party favorite: puppy chow. I don't have all ingredients on hand (of course) - but, I'm going to improvise just to try it out.
