Balsamic and Mozzarella Chicken...

Basic recipe:
-Chicken breast
-Mozzarella wrapped prosciutto (once again purchased at Publix)
-Balsamic vinaigrette
-French loaf of bread (the kind you're supposed to have sword fights with in front of the Eiffel Tower) 
-Italian dressing
Heat oven to 375. Slice the bread and mozzarella and lay the mozzarella on top of the bread. Lay the chicken breast out on tin foil and marinate in balsamic and the Italian dressing. Lay some of the prosciutto mozzarella on top. Stick both in oven; cook the chicken for about 25-30 minutes, the bread about 10. Once prepared, add a bit of extra balsamic for the best taste of true Italy.

So this one was TOTALLY made up by me. I think. With a little help from Pitter for the bread idea. I was driving home from work and decided that instead of fast food or pizza, I was going to find something to cook. That's how I wandered on the specialty cheese section of Publix (my favorite section). I saw the prosciutto mozzarella and inspiration hit! I LOVE ITALY! Florence especially, and prosciutto and balsamic are my own bits of Florence in Georgia. Perfection. The rest was just brainstorming tastes. Don't trust those however, because I've been known to mix everything on my plate together because I think fried okra and pork really makes mashed potatoes special. But I like to think this worked. And it was pretty easy considering the gloriousness that resulted (did y'all know that they make individually wrapped frozen chicken breasts? Fantastic). Now disclaimer: the creamed spinach came out of the frozen foods section. But I heated it up. That's cooking. Add another point for me.

The only true problem was the chicken. I'm not that great at chicken. Let's be honest: it freaks me out. You hear so much about that salmonella poisoning and I am convinced that one of these days that could happen to me. I don't know much about it, but Monica warned Emily about it in London so I'm guessing that's bad. Poisoning of any kind is bad, and while I wouldn't necessarily mind a few legitimate days off sick, no thank you. So when I took it out after 20 minutes (the time on the package) the chicken was literally still gooey and translucent on the inside. I don't know a lot, but I know that's not done. So I just stuck it in for another 15 minutes or so. Now I know Gordon Ramsay would have been appalled at my dry chicken, but I didn't care. I'm not getting salmonella from chicken. And it turned out really good anyway so Ramsay can suck it.

Rate: 7 (definitely a good one to impress people by your fanciness and the balsamic was to die for!)

Taco Dip...

Basic recipe:
-Hamburger meat
-Taco seasoning
-Louisa's Fiesta dip (I got it at Publix, but it's just guacamole, sour cream, salsa, cheese, and beans)
-Shredded cheese
-Fritos
Brown the hamburger meat, drain, and add taco seasoning with half a cup of water. Cook on simmer until water boils out. In a bowl, add the meat and Fiesta dip and top with shredded cheese. Put into microwave until cheese melts. Eat with Fritos.

Ok, so this one was kind of a cheat, as all I really did was brown the meat. But I stole the idea from a friend of mine who makes these tostada things with that dip and chicken. As I didn't really want chicken that night (I'm a red meat girl), I decided to change it up a little with the meat. So basically I made tacos. Where's my reward? I get one right? For innovation? No? Got it.

But I will say that I had a little bit of a crisis with the meat (and this same friend can attest to that as she was on the phone with me laughing the entire time). Now, I can brown meat. That might be one of the only things I'm confident in. If God decided that only one person on Earth could perfect the browning of hamburger meat, it would be me. My problem comes later, with me thinking I'm the next Food Network star and not using a measuring cup. I don't need one of those for my meat. My meat is perfect, and that water and taco seasoning won't know what hit them.

Wrong.

I put WAY too much water in the pan with my perfect meat. After about five minutes my meat was basically floating around in a sea of brown water, so Britt through her laughter just told me to drain it again. I did, and we were back on track. Go me! The rest of it was complete smooth sailing. Add with the Dancing With the Stars premiere (which was cha-cha - very fitting and NOT planned) and you have a pretty good dinner if I do say so myself.

Rate: 8 (I even ate it for left-overs the next night, which NEVER happens! Success!)

Food for Thought...

So no more cooking as of yet - unless you count adding water to instant mashed potatoes or heating canned corn on the stove cooking. Which I don't. I feel like if I did that would be cheating.

It has occurred to me that my first post was very correct: cooking is time consuming, and as someone who doesn't have a LOT of spare time, it's just not that easy and/or worth it. But I also feel like people with similar situations can probably relate very well to me. We are of a generation that doesn't value home skills like the generations that came before us. I don't know about everyone else, but I'm starting to think that I'm ok with that. Now, I know this isn't true for some people (I have cousins that show me up on this subject on a regular basis and I love that they can do that because I benefit from the amazingness that comes from their kitchens), but I get by on a daily basis by telling myself that I AM NOT ALONE. Then again, who cares?

I have two jobs. I go to school. I tutor independently when I'm not doing the previous two activities. At the end of a long day cooking is the last thing I want to do. I would much rather pick something up and veg and do homework. I would much rather meet friends for a late dinner as that is generally one of the only times I can see them. I have reverted back to my mother's thinking. Getting things done, relaxing, and human contact is much more important to me, and I can't tell myself that that's not ok.

But another thing I have come to realize is that cooking is really not all that bad. It can actually be fun sometimes, especially with some loud girl music and a spoon (I AM the next American Idol, and my kitchen completely agrees with me). And maybe I can find a way to get my homework done WHILST I cook (or maybe not...). And maybe instead of going out to a restaurant, my friends and I can cook good stuff at home.

I need to look at this as a challenge in life - maybe it's not a real one that life has presented, but it's one that I've presented myself. If that makes any sense. Life is about taking those little, seemingly insignificant, challenges and making something come out of them. It's like I tell students all the time when they're complaining about having to remember the dates of the American Revolution (I'm sorry, but you're an American and you should KNOW the dates of the war that made us): college isn't about having to know every little thing you're taught. No, in the real world an employer at an insurance agency will not care whether or not you know when the Boston Massacre occurred (March 5, 1770) or the quadratic equation (negative b plus and minus the square root of b squared minus 4ac all over 2a!!!). What they care about is if you have the ability to persevere through things you may or may not have enjoyed. That is a student's challenge in life. I've just got to look at cooking as my own challenge in life.

I may or may not succeed. I've had an attitude adjustment about a few things this week, so we'll see how long that lasts. But at the moment, this isn't about cooking. It's about setting a personal goal and meeting said goal, no matter what.

Life finds a way to get in the way. There are some times when I have to fall victim to it. But I'm going to try to do better, and at the end of the day that's all I can do.

Anyways, that was just something to chew on...

Spaghetti and Peppercorn Pork...

Ok, so there's not a recipe for this one. I basically just made spaghetti and put a pork loin in the oven. Yum. I must say that the pork was exceptional! If anyone's looking for a quick and easy option for dinner: go with Hormel's pork. I'm still thinking about it. I put it in the oven at 450 for 30 minutes - it was perfectly tender. Now, the spaghetti sauce was my actual creation this week.

I used to work at this Italian restaurant in Buford; a side of spaghetti came with each entree. The waiters used to play with different sauces on our free time in regards to the spaghetti - not that there were that many options...marinara, alfredo, pesto, butter, garlic, different wine sauces. That's pretty much it. My favorite combination was the marinara and alfredo. It's one of my favorite memories from that job.

My original intention was alfredo (that's what I bought at the store), but then I remembered Dom's. And the fact that I still had marinara sauce left over from the last time I cooked. YAY! That's why people say that keeping a well stocked pantry is valuable. You can do things like mix alfredo and marinara! That pretty much made my cooking experience for tonight. So along with garlic bread, I had a pretty satisfying meal. And I think I'll even be able to eat the pork as leftovers (I don't eat leftovers on a normal basis)!

Rate: 9 (next time I will cook the garlic bread a little longer. That was my only complaint - but I'm gun shy with garlic bread)