Rebecca’s Cooking Journal

My husband wanted his grandma’s cream of tomato soup, and no other recipes I could find met his needs. So he made the soup himself.

I like it because it is so simple: the soup is very thin, but this suits it. It’s also very easy to whip together. (more…)

It was a pretty good week. I really love the fajitas because the salsa is so tasty. The rub on the steak and chicken was a bit too spicy this time (my husband went a bit overboard with the cayenne pepper, I think) but it was still good.  Friday’s salad was made with leftover chicken and I think it was a little off. Other than that, I don’t feel like there were any disasters. I feel more confident in my ability to create a meal!

Sunday

Steak and Chicken Fajitas with Guacamole, Salsa Fresca, and sautéed shallots

Monday

Carrot and Ginger Soup and homemade bread (via breadmaker)

Tuesday

Grilled Chicken Salad with Maple Vinegar Dressing

Wednesday

Parmesan Risotto and baked broccoli

Thursday

[leftovers]

Friday

Arancini and spinach salad with leftover bacon-cranberry topping, chicken, and potatoes

Saturday

French Toast and Brown Sugar Bacon

Paula Deen’s food on her Food Network show are usually not too appealing to me, with all the fat. When her friend made Brown Sugar Bacon, though, I thought I’d give it a try. I don’t like bacon, normally, but I hoped the sugar would make it tasty.

It was good, although I let it get a bit too dark in the oven.

Get the Brown Sugar Bacon recipe from Food Network >>>

“Arancini” means “little orange balls.” I ate them once at a restaurant, and just as I thought when I first had risotto, I thought: “Wow! This is fancy! If I every cook arancini, I’ll know I’m becoming a cook.”

Arancini is so simple to make, that thought makes me laugh!

Some people don’t like leftover risotto: it becomes sticky and gummy, and loses the “fresh” consistency after a day in the fridge. I don’t mind it, but I love arancini better.

It’s so simple: make a ball of cold risotto, stick a little bit of melting cheese in the middle of it, roll it in bread crumbs, fry it in oil. Yum!

Yesterday night I only have cheddar cheese — I forgot to buy the swiss or mozzarella that is best in arancini. I wasn’t crazy about the cheddar flavor, but it still worked okay. I used a mozzarella-pesto sauce (the same one I had on my meatballs a few weeks ago, i.e., crushed tomatoes mixed with pesto) and it also tasted very good on arancini!

Giada’s recipe is slightly more complicated than mine: she rolls the balls in egg before bread crumbs. I also used plain Parmesan risotto and her recipe calls for mushroom risotto with peas. I think any kind of leftover risotto might work.

Get the recipe from Giada >>>

My first date* with my eventual husband, he cooked me dinner. When I came in, there was something simmering on the stove.

“Have you ever cooked risotto?” he asked.

I hadn’t. I hadn’t even heard of it, and it seemed to be a very fancy dinner.

In fact, risotto is quite simple, and it has become a regular fall back meal for me. There are infinite variations, so I can add vegetables to it and have a one-dish meal.

I never cook it with white wine, but when I make it plain I do add some lemon juice. Delish has a simple recipe that is much like mine. I never heat the broth separately, though, and I also use shallots instead of onion. I also cook more than twice what that recipe calls for so they are leftovers (you’ll see why in the next post!). The secret is stirring it until the starches come out and the rice is tender.

Get the recipe from Delish >>>

*My husband still doesn’t consider this our first date.

I always fall back on a maple vinegar sauce for chicken. My husband isn’t crazy about it just on plain baked chicken, but if I grill the chicken and mix it up with some greens and potatoes, it turns out pretty tasty. Last week also added an apple to it. You could also use leftover chicken.

I love the taste of real maple syrup, so this recipe is a favorite of mine. Even my son wanted more at dinner last night!

(more…)

This week I started feeling the burn out of being creative every day. I went back to some old recipes, and my husband and I together whipped up some yummy meals. He has an amazing talent for taking what’s in the fridge and making a masterful creation, all without a recipe. I helped, but I can’t even begin to try to recreate a recipe for your sake.

Sunday

Grilled pork with grape and cranberry sauce; walnut green beans; mashed potatoes with sour cream and parmesan*

Monday

Breakfast: Coconut and Lime Granola

Macaroni and Cheddar (original here)

Tuesday

Mozzarella Meatballs; baked broccoli; mashed potatoes (original here)

Wednesday

[leftovers]

Thursday

sandwiches

Friday

Cheese and tomato sandwiches with bacon-cranberry salad*

Saturday

Picnic: egg-salad sandwiches, carrot sticks, mozzarella and basil salad, and leftover bacon-cranberry salad*

*My husband’s creative non-recipe creations

Coconut & Lime’s 5-year blogiversary contest has a deadline of today. So I better get this post up! I wanted to make Kiwi Sorbet, but I didn’t find inexpensive kiwis. It’s on the back burner for a day that I do.

I’ve been trying to perfect the breakfast granola I make. I love cold cereal, but it’s so expensive I prefer to make it. I think I originally based my recipe off of Amateur Gourmet’s recipe here, but I’ve changed it a bit in the past few months.

I thought that for the contest, I’d try adding some lime juice to give it a little zing, and thereby create a recipe with coconut and lime in it. I’m just a beginner at cooking, let alone creating recipes, but I think it worked out pretty well.The granola doesn’t taste like lime, but there is just enough other flavor to be different.

I thought I was being creative to add lime to breakfast, but then I noticed that Rachel herself just posted about coconut and lime waffles! Yum. I may have to try that next.

In the mean time, here’s my granola. (more…)

It wasn’t a very original recipe-filled week; I had cooked so much food last week, we enjoyed leftovers a few times this week. We also ate with family one night and stopped a restaurant the next night. Overall, it was a tasty week, regardless of the fact nothing was challenging to make. It goes to show that we can have very yummy food.

What did you eat this week?

Sunday (June 7)

Macaroni and Cheddar

Monday

[leftovers - our fridge was busting!]

Tuesday

Chicken Pot Pie Stew and Buttermilk Biscuits (stew recipe here)

Wednesday

[leftovers and homemade bread via the bread maker]

orange sorbet  (recipe here) and out-of-the-box brownies for a visit with friends

Thursday

Grilled Chicken Salad with Cranberry and Maple Dressing, and potato wedges and apples

Friday

[We didn't cook; we ate with family.]

Saturday

[We ate at a restaurant as we were out and about.]

I can’t eat Kraft Macaroni and Cheese Dinner. It is just hurts my stomach and feels empty and cheap.

Of course, my one-year-old son loves it. I like to mush up butternut squash (from the frozen vegetable isle) up in his Kraft dinner. If it’s mashed up enough, he doesn’t notice it, and he gets some vegetables in him.

But while I don’t like Kraft dinner, I love real, oven-baked macaroni and cheese, specifically macaroni and cheddar. There’s something about the crispy crust that just makes it complete. I use a medium cheddar, but if you like it sharp, that would make it even more flavorful.

One can add vegetables to this casserole if desired; pre-cooked chicken could also be sneaked in. Last night, I made it without anything else added, and it was still delicious. My son loved it too. (more…)