Chili, The Weekend Pizza Pocket, and a Deconstructed Sandwich

I've always wanted to make chili for the longest time, but never had the guts to do it I suppose. It's just one of things that seems like a daunting task until you actually do it. So I did it :) Instead of ground beef, I bought a flank tip steak and chopped it up into bite size pieces (my family doesn't like to buy ground meat...I guess we're paranoid about contamination) and browned it with onions in a hot pan for about 5 minutes. Then, I added red/green/yellow bell peppers, V8 juice, and mixed beans. Threw in some garlic cloves, bay leaves, and chili powder and let it simmer for 45 minutes.

It turned out okay, but my roommate said it was really good so I'll trust him on that :P I just felt there was something missing, so next time I think I'm going to make it from scratch (without the V8 juice). However, it was super easy and quick to make, and has been added to my repertoire :D

This weekend, I decided to make grilled cheese sandwiches just like I had back in the days of camping haha. I packed Monterey Jack cheese, pasta sauce, and cilantro in between two pieces of olive bread, and minced garlic to spread on the outside of the olive bread. I pan fried them on med-low heat, sprinkling oregano, salt, and pepper on top. The meal kinda doesn't match well with the whole 'eat healthy' thing I've been doing, but it was just one of those days where you give in haha. For three sandwiches.

For dinner I worked on my pan-fried fish (in this case, salmon) topped with a salsa made of onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, and olives. I planned to have the salmon sitting on top of the salsa, sitting nicely on top of the rice (like I would imagine it in a restaurant), but that didn't really work out... Not bad though, just needed some salt.

Finally, I threw together a spinach/cilantro omelette, olive bread, and chopped vegetables today for a Deconstructed Sandwich. Now, it's not just my fancy name for this dish, because as I ate it, I would sometimes take a bite of each ingredient or I would build a mini open-faced sandwich playing with the order of the layers of food (wow that was a long sentence). In other words, I played with my food because I'm still very a much a kid at the dinner table.

(For my omelette I use two eggs and I add egg white for extra protein and volume of food)

The Weekend Meals aka Leftovers

So I finally cooked an omelette correctly (I turned down my super-powerful stove to medium for most of the cooking time). I still got to learn how to flip them over in one piece though. This picture is a little deceiving because I use two whole eggs and I add egg white...so it's quite a big meal. This one was a mushroom and broccoli omelette I believe. 

I began to finish the fresh food stored in my fridge, and that included shredded chicken (how I miss thee), baby carrots, and leftover rice. I threw it all together and added barbecue sauce (can't beat the Ribfest-bought sauces) and it didn't turn out too bad. Whenever I eat a dish, I try to eat the stuff I don't like first (aka carrots) and the stuff I like last, so I can enjoy it. In hindsight, I should've chopped up the carrots and softened them with heat for longer.

I didn't feel like prepping any meat for this meal, so I grabbed cottage cheese for the protein, and for the awesomeness that is cottage cheese. I suppose I got all artistic with this one...makes up for the butchered omelette presentation.

Still having problems with steak on the stovetop...it burns too fast when I have it on high...but it feels so weird to be cooking steak on medium. The middle was still raw after 2 min/side on high so I ended up deglazing the pan with water for about another 3 min. Added sauteed mushroom/onion/cilantro (have you heard how much I love cilantro? and I'm out right now D: ) and olive bread from the St. Lawrence Market back in Toronto. Also running out of good bread. Who thought it could be so depressing?

Finally, we come to tonight's dinner. I didn't want to think too much so I grabbed two cans of tuna, a can of Campbell's mushroom soup, a bag of snap peas and spaghetti. Softened the peas in mushroom soup + half can of water, combined, voila (I'm getting really lazy with the descriptions aren't I...well its not that hard....seriously). Made enough for lunch as well (other half of steak turned into a sandwich today). This is quite an important point: double your dinner portion for lunch the next day - less cooking, cleaning, more How I Met Your Mother. 

Thanks if you read this far!

Homemade Guacamole and the Experiment

This one's a pretty easy snack to make, and healthy if you replace chips with veggies like sliced cucumbers. Just use one avocado, tomato, onion, cilantro, lime/lemon juice, salt and pepper. It does take some practice to get the amount of each exactly right, but its up to everyone's individual taste. It feels weird now to be out of avocados, but they went to good place :)

Last night, I experimented with some salmon and tried to make a 'salsa-y' type veggie to go along with it. I used red/green bell peppers, broccolli stems, and onions, but...it didn't turn out so hot. For some reason, I started by cooking the veggies first, then the salmon...in the same pan. Long story short, I didn't thaw the salmon enough, veggies got overcooked, and I disguised the taste failure by adding some tomato sauce. It was just one of those days.

I'm definitely gonna come back to this recipe and perfect it. Man...I still have one portion to finish still...

One of my Quick, 10 min, Automatic Dinners

So I worked out earlier and had a salad that wasn't too much of a showcase to post. It was simply shredded Sobey's roast chicken, a fried egg, greens, chocolate milk (separately). However for dinner, I made it almost completely from freezer-stored food and within 10 minutes. I have frozen corn, peas, diced beets, and diced sweet potato (thanks mom). I threw them all into a pot with half chicken broth, half water, and brought it to a boil for 10 min. At the 8th minute or so, I threw in frozen scallops so they wouldn't overcook. You'll know when the ingredients are done by stabbing them with a fork (specifically scallops and sweet potatoes). This meal is super easy to make and clean up, you just have to have some bite size frozen stuff to make it that's prepared by your parents :)
WARNING: It's kinda healthy.

It was still steaming when I took this shot. Now I'm wondering why I put it into a plate when I could've eaten out of the pot....

Grand Re-Opening

And we're back! After an extended summer vacation from the blog, I'll be starting up again and hopefully I'll be posting a few meals each week.

I feel like coming back from my home home and cooking for myself now will take a little bit of time to adjust. After all, almost every meal during my summer break was prepared and planned out for me. However, I'm trying a new system where I buy lots of veggies and chop half of them up to store in plastic baggies. That way, I can just grab a bag to snack on or use as part of a meal.

So, the first meal I just made was a simple salad with some shredded Sobey's roast chicken. I've got the layers as follows: baby arugula, cilantro, cucumbers, tomatoes, red peppers, cottage cheese, onions, chicken, balsamic vinegar and olive oil.

In terms of carbs, I try to eat them only at breakfast and after exercise. So that includes bread, rice, pasta, all the grain-y stuff. I must admit I do sneak in several crackers if I'm really hungry at night (but I handle carbs well anyways). I'm trying to fill up at the non-carb meals with veggies mainly. It's been kinda hard but it's definitely good for me.

Now, to share some of the great food I had over the summer break:

My mom stuffed salmon with parsley and cilantro and then wrapped it with prosciutto and threw them in the oven. Delicious.

My brother and I experimented with salsa recipes several times. Not bad to snack on during family mahjong games haha.

BBQ chicken wings on the barbecue made by yours truly :P

And finally, this is in memory of the Western glass I bought as a gift for my brother, which I ended up using more at home. It shattered, but it was a great colour match for my blueberry smoothie. Goodbye old friend.

Stay tuned for more!