Its that time of year again....

Salad time! Well, I eat salad almost every day, but now its time for the unhealthy, wonderfully delicious kind. The kind that I only let myself make a few times a year, preferably when I have a number of people fighting me for some, because otherwise I will eat the entire thing on my own. My family-famous 7 layer salad. I have turned on a few of my friends to it as well, but its a holiday staple for my family. I've fully explained the makeup here before.
For Thanksgiving #1 this year, the one I didn't have to cook for, my only assignment was to bring the salad. As my aunt put it, "nobody makes it as well as you". And by you, she meant me. Duh. I have tried to make it slightly better for everybody, by using organic lettuce mix, uncured bacon, and mayo that is made with olive oil, but there is not really any getting around the fact that this is a total treat. I was only able to escape with about 2 bowls worth of leftovers. They may be gone already at the time of me writing this. Exactly 24 hours after the actual meal. I won't be making the salad for Thanksgiving #2, the one I do cook for, but I think it will make another appearance at Christmas time, before going away again until the next holiday season.

beer

The people who know me know that I hate beer. Its is gross and makes me want to gag if I drink more than the tiniest sip. And I hate that I hate it because I feel like I am totally the sort of girl who would fit in well in a pub with a pint of something dark. But now I have found the (sort of) middle ground. Its called Lambic. And its delicious. It is real, actual beer. With hops and yeast and everything. But it is fermented with fruit so its girly. If it is made with something dark, like cherries or currants, it winds up a lovely red color, like the result of wine and beer's late night out. Now, like pokemon, I have to collect them all. The only one I am missing in this picture is apple, and that is because I drank it last weekend. Tonight, I am testing out the raspberry. I still have peach and cherry to go. Of the flavors I've had so far, black currant is my fave.

Asian Chicken Meatballs

This recipe really surprised me. I thought it sounded good, but decided to cook it one night just because I already had the stuff in the house and it was quick. Holy crap though, it is super freaking delicious. The recipe (thanks Martha!) calls for turkey, but I had chicken, so that's what I used. All that is in it is breadcrumbs, cilantro, scallions, garlic, fish sauce and sriracha. You mash it all together, easiest with your hands of course, and roll the balls. It makes 12 regular sized meatballs for 1 lb of meat. Then you brown them on all sides in a pan, for about 10 minutes, then toss them in the oven for 10 more minutes to bake through. Including cooking time, it only took maybe 30 minutes. Great for during the week. Serve the meatballs over rice with steamed, shredded carrots- cook the rice in the microwave, and when it's done, before you fluff, toss in the shredded carrots on top and cover with plastic. The heat from the rice will steam the carrots and then you just mix it all together. Do this while you are making the meatballs, and it will be done all at the same time. This one gets an A+ for sure. I ate all of the meatballs by the time lunch the next day was over, and was ready to make it again! This one is totally a new staple for me.

Homemade hot pockets

I got this recipe for hot pockets (the magazine called them handpies, but I don't like the sound of that for some reason) out of my favorite Martha magazine. Since I was going to the trouble, I made a double batch, one vegetarian and the other not.

First, you have to make the dough and let it sit for at least an hour in the fridge. It has cheese built right in! While that is sitting, you make the filling. My vegetarian version had sauteed mushrooms and spinach, and the carnivorous ones were chicken and spinach. I made one big batch of the spinach, and did both the chicken and mushrooms separately. You put broth in with the spinach and it turns into a gravyish substance.
Next, you have to cut the dough into discs, I just used a bowl that seemed to be about the right size, put your filling on the bottom disc, and attach the top with egg around the edges for glue. All that is left is to bake! These took me about 40 minutes, although the recipe said they would be done in 30. They held together pretty well, but the dough was a little bit crumbly. The pies were a hit in the house though.

Noodles n' cheese

You want easy dinners? Here is one that is about as easy as it gets. I mostly use this meal as a vessel for loads of feta. All you do is cook up some noodles, whatever kind you have in the pantry. Then I saute some onions and garlic in olive oil till soft, put the cooked noodles in with it, add garlic powder, tons of Italian seasoning, some butter and more olive oil, and that's it! Then I load my bowl with the noodles and tons of parmesean and feta. MMMMMMM cheese! Fast, simple and yummy.

Lentils

I remembered I do have something today! Its lentils. This is something I made for the baby. All I did was saute some onions, apples and celery in olive oil for a few minutes, then added a can of (organic- la dee da) lentils, and maybe half or 3/4 of a box of not-chicken broth. After that was boiling, I added some dry rice, garlic and Italian seasoning. I simmered it for quite a while in the dutch oven, and that was it. Easy! And yummy for fall

I'm baaaacckk

Due to popular demand by exactly one person (Steph!)I am back on the blogging bandwagon. Lately, I've just been eating meals like salad and potatoes, so right this second, I have nothing for you. But I will start making a better effort. Also, usually I skip the real easy stuff on here for my more impressive endeavors, but I will start putting the everyday kind of meals too. That is the stuff that you guys might actually want to copy. And Thanksgiving is coming soon! My favorite meal of the year. That old chefs question about what would you pick for your last meal? My answer- thanksgiving. Bon Appetit has a recipe for a beer-brined turkey. Hmmm......