That Do-Nut is Mocking Me

As I mentioned earlier, I've been doing a lot of cooking lately, and I feel the need to brag about my creations. :) (Keep in mind that, with the exception of a few months after I moved into my first kitchen, I, up until about a month ago, considered sloppy joes on crackers to be a quality, home-cooked meal.)

On Wednesday, I made a chicken salsa verde with a sour cream sauce, sprinkled with feta. I'm not eating carbs right now, so this is an excellent dish because the salsa verde sauce (I used Ortega) is very low in carbs. Heated up, it makes a quick, filling breakfast, if you can stomach chicken in the morning. (I can stomach anything, anyime.) As with most things, I think this would be delicious served on a bed of arugula.

Earlier in the week, I bought a pound of frozen, cooked shrimp from Giant and could hardly choke them down...I didn't think there could be so much of a difference between farm-raise and wild-caught shrimp, but, boy, was I wrong...yesterday, after work, I bought a couple of pounds of frozen, uncooked "pink pearl" shrimp caught in the Florida Keys. They were delicious, and their attractive pink color made handling them so much easier to stomach. They didn't even smell bad!

They turned out delicious, and, after thawing, I cooked them in olive oil with sea salt and ground pepper. Last night, I made a black bean sauce, with avocado, lime juice, cumin and chipotle seasoning. I served this warm, and made a cold avocado, onion and orange salsa to go with it. I sprinkled feta and fresh tomatoes on top, and served on a bed of arugula. This has been my most delicious creation, and I would absolutely serve it at a dinner party.

I'm planning to spend the weekend cooking...between a friend's visit, a few too many trips to Ann Taylor Loft, buying a bed, and the impulse purchase of a fabulous mirrored side table, I have about $250 to last me until the 15th of September! That means no nomming out...which is sad, and will be quite a feat if I can pull it off, since nomming out is my absolute favorite! However, I'm feeling equally excited about the meals I'm planning to cook. I've spent the week purusing Epicurious and Williams Sonoma for recipes. I'm planning to cook 3-4 low fat meat dishes that will freeze well, so I can easily bring my lunch to work. If I can start curing the tagine tonight, (you have to soak new tagines in water for twenty-four hours before using them, or else they will crack) then I will make tagine kefta, or Moroccan Meatballs. Additionally, I'm planning to make Chicken Cacciatore with Roasted Garlic Sauce, Chicken in Carmelized Onion and Merlot Sauce, and 6 Hour Chili. It's supposed to rain all weekend, so I can't wait to curl up on the couch with a book and waft in that delicious chili smell.

And...while we're on the subject of cooking, let's just take a few moments to make fun of ourselves. ;)