Cooking Fun

A while back we had the idea of buying new things at the grocery store, to expand our menu, and keep out of a boring rut of the same things over and over. We've also started watching Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. Aaron's always been a big fan, but watching the show together and talking about it has been a good reminder that we should be eating healthy too. We aren't perfect, we both love our snacks, but we are embracing the idea that cooking is fun, and a lot yummier when you put the effort into making it. And it's good to know exactly what is in the food you are eating. So here is another list of things that we've made lately..

Parmesan Potato Wedges - I know I mentioned this last time, but I hadn't included a picture. We've made it several times already. Healthier than French fries, and homemade is ALWAYS better!




Taco Salad - Starting with an entire head of lettuce made for a LOT of salad. We ate it for nearly a week. But it was tasty. The funnest part making our own bowls! Take a tortilla (we even had healthy whole wheat ones) and put it in an oven safe bowl. Bake for about 10 minutes at 400 degrees - keep an eye on it though, so they don't burn. TADA!

Broccoli Tomato Toss - I don't usually like cooked broccoli, but this was alright. Everything else about it was off though - especially the onion. Not something we'll likely make again without some heavy tweaking.



Oatmeal Pancakes - Something different for breakfast. A bit too different though. It's pancakes, but with oats instead of flour. Weird. The idea sounded alright, but they were too sweet (and made worse with syrup), and the texture was just off. Definitely not something we'll make again.

Deviled Eggs - My memories of Easter include potato salad and deviled eggs. We didn't have time for the salad, so for Easter dinner with Aaron's family we made up some deviled eggs. I found out that Aaron's siblings are incredibly picky about eggs - Taera doesn't eat them at all, while Nathan will only eat them scrambled. Hey, more leftovers for us!

Bruschetta - I have nothing bad to say about this, especially since we had it on homemade French bread too! I could eat this all the time. Absolutely delicious. And knowing exactly what was in it all, including the bread, made it even better. This is what dreams are made of.



Tempura Battered Asparagus and Yams - Asparagus was on sale, so we bought a lot of it. Then we got a new recipe book and had to try some new things out. It isn't technically tempura, because we had regular flour, but same idea. Something new, something different, but not as healthy if it were just steamed. Doing thin slices of yam was pretty good though too - something not sweet with the yams.

Meatballs - I had tried making porcupine balls before, and they didn't really stay as balls. Aaron made some meatballs when we did Chinese food, and they were excellent. So my turn to try again and make it work. Success.

Root Vegetable Salad - While wandering the produce section at the grocery store, we can across rutabagas and parsnips. Aaron had made some salad at school using those, along with onions and carrots (and turnips, but we couldn't find those), so we figured why not! He liked it, I didn't. Eww. Just not for me. Now we've got some rutabaga and parsnip left in the fridge that we need to figure out what to do with. Maybe I'll like them in something different.

Potato Nachos - Aaron has made this many times before, but we're continually improving upon them. Slicing the potatoes a lot thinner, and frying them for just a bit longer made these the best yet.



Chicken Garlic Pizza - Homemade crust, homemade garlic sauce, all delicious. Chicken breast is expensive here, but was totally worth it for this meal. Delicious. It seems that whenever we include homemade bread, the food is amazing.

I just have to say, I love being married to Aaron.