Just Like (a) Human

I’m starting to get a little love for the kitchen back into me as of late, having found a few recipes on Instructables that make my stomach gurgle with delight.

I’ve ended up taking advantage of a farmer’s market that’s on my ride home at nights to get more vegetables and fruits, and getting those back into my diet at a much more affordable cost. One such example was a recipe for roasted tomatoes that I found and fell in love with. (In fact: I’ve got more tomatoes that I need to slice and roast tonight. I’ll be going with a thicker slicing tonight, to make more deliciousness, and pack ‘em away. I just might want to hunt down another pan to roast in, just to be more efficient, though. )

I also tried an eggplant parmesan recipe, and was pleasantly delighted at how well it came out, considering I’ve never made anything with eggplant in it before, as well as a fried apple pie recipe (which I kinda failed at. Will try again with an actual pie crust, though~).

I’ve got some portobello mushroom caps in the fridge that could use some worcestershire sauce, sea salt, and a little lemon zest before they hit my little Foreman grill. I guess I should pick up some wheat bread of some sort before I get home, give that a bit of a thick cut, and toast this; have a Mushroom Burger, without the beefs.

I want to find another good recipe for eggplant, as well. Maybe something a little less fried than the parmesan that I did, but still equally delicious.

Noticed all this missing meats? Last weekend, I went meatless for the whole weekend, just to go with a suggestion my roomie made. I liked it, surprisingly, so I’ll be doing it again this weekend, just for the change of pace it provides.

That, combined with the increase in veggies and fruits just equals awesome, honestly.

One of the other possibilities involve kidney beans and pasta with a light olive oil, butter, and garlic sauce with some parmesan cheese to go atop that.

Granted, these ideas are making me hungry while I’m at work… but hey. That’s what home is for.

I’m sitting at work, waiting for another caller to come in with an issue, and thinking about how I want to go home and try to make doughnuts, or bake a cake.

I had seen an entry on Instructables that detailed how to make ‘easy doughnuts’ from premade biscuits, which I liked, but they just weren’t doughnutty enough for me. I decided I would try it once. I would find out how to make my own doughnuts, and try it.

As a result, I’m looking for recipes on making doughnuts now, and looking for the few recipes that might come out great. I’m also realizing that I need to get some mixing bowls if I’m going to make anything of substance while I’m in my kitchen.

Maybe I should add that as a goal on Furnish Our Apartment…

— Since I’ve moved, I’ve started cooking again. I pulled out my little crock pot yesterday and took some beef that I had laying around, cut it up in smaller, mostly bite sized pieces, and put those in.

To that, I added white potatoes with their skin, after tossing them in garlic oil, garlic powder, and thyme, and set the pot in motion. Once it had started cooking, I added a can of whole kernel corn, and let it continue.

Added a half-teaspoon of  salt to draw out any flavors hiding, and just let it cook until the potatoes became softer, and quite tasty. For an impromptu gig, it came out quite well, really.

Of course, preparing ahead is always a good idea when you don’t have all day to cook, so taking the rest of the meat and seasoning it up for a random entree  (including some rum in the bag – not much, mind you, but just a little) can be good. Now all I have to do is toss this in some flour, put it to a hot skillet with some oil, and make with the om-nom-noms.

I’m eagerly awaiting my apartment, so that I can finally get in the kitchen and cook like I’ve never eaten before.

I’m fairly sure that Steve and I will eat like kings the first week we’re in, but the question is, “Just what the hell will we eat?”

I’m thinking that we might have a steak at one point, but given that we’d just be getting our kitchen online, we would be down a few cool kitchen tools, like a good blender, a beater, etc. I just want to bake a yellow cake, like my mom used to when I was a kid, and would give me a slice without putting frosting on it.

Right now, though, I’m definitely open to suggestions for simple, delicious things to eat that are budget conscious.

I’m just not telling Steve about the suggestions until it’s too late.