Sunday, February 6

Super Bowl Sunday.  I had originally planned sloppy joes -- I figured they would be easy to make (and to eat) during the game.  Michael found out about my plans and objected.  Apparently the Super Bowl is a holiday and should be treated "like Christmas" with a special meal.  I renamed them Super Sloppy Joes and served them with football themed plates and napkins and that seemed to satisfy him.  The chips are blue corn chips.

Super Sloppy Joes
Buy can of Manwich at grocery story (original, not bold flavor).  Follow directions on back of can.  Don't try to rush the cooking, the flavors need to develop completely.  Serve with dill pickles, chips, and large hamburger buns sesame seed tops.  (I don' t know why, they just taste better that way).

Thursday, September 30

Pork Chops and scalloped potatoes

Another from the freezer and pantry dinner night.  I pulled the pork chops out of the freezer this morning and had Michael check they were defrosting during the day.  We bought the pork chops (which are huge -- I cut them in 2 so they aren't so thick) in bulk at Costco so we always have a huge selection of chicken, hamburger, pork chops, and sometimes steak in the freezer. 

I sliced the chop down the middle to make 2 thin cut (I've found that one chop is enough for both of us), seasoned it with Penzey's Pork Chop Seasoning, which has a really nice smokey flavor and threw it on the George Forman grill.  I also made a prepared box of Scalloped Potatoes.  (Cheese and pork chops is a bit of an unusual combination, but we just had rice on Tuesday).  The chops were cooked in ablout five minutes, but I left them on a little longer to brown and surprisingly, they didn't end up dry and overcooked.  Michael isn't a huge fan of pork, but he even liked the flavor tonight.  And asked that I always grill pork chops in the future.

I served dinner with a tomato, lettuce, and cheese salad.  Using up the lettuce and tomatoes from last night's burger night and the cheese still leftover from the wedding.

Wednesday, September 29

Hamburgers and chips

It was my night to cook.  No pictures because we were too hungry.  Today was Baxter's daycare day for the week and Michael picked me up at the Metro station closer to Baxter's daycare so that we could pick him up together.  Traffic was a nightmare because of a bad bus accident and we had to stop at the grocery store to get buns for the hamburgers.  By the time we got home, it was about an hour late and we were both starved.  So, no pictures. 

I did the hamburgers (1/5 pound each) on the George Forman grill with a little bit of seasoning.  Served them with chips left over from the wedding.

Wednesday, July 28

Cuban Ham Quesadillas.

My night to cook (and yes, I know things are really messed up from the calendar.  Blame it on the power outage on Sunday).  I'll be honest, Michael gagged when he heard we were having Ham Quesadillas for dinner.  He said that it just sounded gross.  But they turned out really good.  I used deli ham, Gruyere cheese, chopped pickles, red onions, and a dijon mustard sauce.  Surprisingly good.  And fast to make.

Thursday, July 22

Frozen dinner, served with salad and frozen garlic bread.

My night to cook.  In our continuing attempt to rid the freezer and pantry of items we don't really like or use, I decided to use up the last remaining frozen entree.  It's a Bertolli frozen chicken pasta meal.  It's really not so bad, but we've discovered that we can make better options ourselves.  I served it with a salad and garlic bread.

Wednesday, July 21

Taco night.

My night to cook.  I made tacos with all the fixin's and served them with Margaritas. 

Wednesday, July 14

30 minute buffalo chicken salad


My night to cook. So the photo doesn't make it look so appetizing, but I thought dinner was actual pretty tasty. I used frozen breaded chicken, which I baked (rather than fried) and then tossed in a homemade buffalo sauce. I served it on lettuce -- iceberg and romaine -- with a garnish of celery and carrot sticks, with homemade blue cheese dressing.

Wednesday, June 30

Planned cheat night. No pictures. I had a picnic after work with my coworkers -- typical picnic food of hamburgers and hot dogs. I got home in time for us to go to the free outdoor movie in the town square, so Michael stopped at California Tortilla on the walk over for a fish taco.


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Thursday, June 24

Chicken quesadillas served with salsa, sour cream, and tortilla chips.

My night to cook.  Can you tell.  I expected to be home late because my office was supposed to have a gathering after work, so I planned a quick dinner.  The gathering was cancelled because of the heat -- it was 99 in Washington today -- so I was able to get home on time.  I used our electric griddle to make the quesadillas and it was very convenient. 

Thursday, June 17

Taco Night (Rescheduled from yesterday)

My night to cook. I made (assembled) a do-it-yourself taco bar with hamburger, refried beans, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and various condiments.  Not a fancy dinner, but pretty fast and tasty. 

Saturday, June 12

George Forman grilled Chicken, Pasta Roni, Green Beans

My night to cook.  Originally it was supposed to be Michael's but he was gone all day to his friend's house to play "Star Wars role playing game" (think Dungeons & Dragons with Star Wars characters), so we traded.  I seasoned the chicken tenderloins with some steak rub I found on the spice rack and grilled it on the George Forman grill.  In my continued effort to use up all the box mixes in the pantry, I made a fettucini alfredo pasta roni, and served it all with green beans sauteed in butter.  Dinner took me 15 minutes total to cook. 

Thursday, June 10

Hot dogs and Sun Chips

My night to cook.  (That's pretty obvious).  There's a good reason, though.  We needed to use up the leftovers from Memorial Day (I threw the leftover hot dogs and buns in the freezer for the week) and we went to a concert in the Town Center before dinner.  Since I knew we would be starving afterwards, I wanted something super easy and super quick to make for dinner.  Michael's hot dogs were topped with chili rather than ketchup and mustard.

Sunday, May 23

Sloppy joes with Cool Ranch Doritos and pickles.

My night to cook.  I know, not very original or exciting.  But let me explain.  Michael had a few friends over to play a "Star Wars role playing game" (think D&D with Star Wars characters) and so I wanted to make sure dinner was quick to make after they left.  So I browned hamburger, mixed it with Manwich and let it simmer for 10 minutes.  I know, I know, I'll do better next time.  I promise.