In Fear of Mustard | The best Balsamic Vinaigrette, ever

Last week, I finally got around to making this delicious Avocado Chicken Caprese Salad I found over at Joyful Healthy Eats. It was beautiful! I took a few liberties; I cooked my chicken in a cast iron skillet instead of firing up my grill and I completely forgot to add the fresh basil. The biggest …

day 5: Cooking for 1 (or 2)

When I was in college, I used to invite my friends over for Spaghetti Night. For a bunch of college kids, home cooked meals are the Holy Grail. I'd make a huge pot of my famous sauce and a couple pounds of noodles and we'd all eat and laugh and have a grand time. The …

Let them eat chicken…

Okay okay...I've talked about my chicken salad before, but I have this problem wherein I make chicken salad, with the intention of taking a photo and showing all of you lovely people, and then something terrible happens. I eat it. Every last bite. No photo.  No bueno. Chicken salad is one of those crazy personal …

No Soup For You!

I hate soup. This is a mostly true story. I don't hate all soups, but I don't like many of them.  Something about things that are cooked together for that long and they all start to taste the same and...icky.  It makes me shiver a little just thinking about it. That being said, today I …

The most wonderful time of the year…

I like Christmas, I really do.  But for me, the most wonderful time of the year is Fall.  Hands down. With the air getting crisper and the leaves getting crisper it seems only obvious that my food should get crisper too. ...Right?  Whatever. I love roasting vegetables.  They get deliciously crispy on the outside and …

A clever pun about a fish…

  Hello, lovelies!!! It's Friday, usually a day of joy and excitement, but this one has been more of a day of stress and an ever-increasing list.  Boo. However, I do want to tell you about a wonderful fish dinner I made earlier in the week.  For those just joining us, you can read about …

The Case of the Missing Inspiration or, How I’m Kicking the Habit.

I am in a rut.  A food rut. I can cook.  Really, I'm quite good at it, but somehow I find myself making the same seven or eight dinners all the time.  And honestly, how many times can a person make the world's easiest from-scratch spaghetti sauce before it stops being impressive?  That's what I …

You Know What? Fine!

So, I've started a new job.  Not just now, a couple weeks ago.  One of the perks of having this job is that I have coworkers.  These are generally lovely people and they have this great tradition of eating lunch together every day at noon.  For someone who has been working by herself for 2 …

Adventures in Chicken

I know that I've talked a few times about my Magic Pot (AKA Deep Covered Baker) from The Pampered Chef.  I've talked about how it makes chicken in the microwave, and I've regaled you with its amazing prowess.   This post really isn't about the Magic Pot, but it starts with some chicken breasts that …

Stir. And then? Panic.

I am a baker, both by experience and by personality (if you know a lot of bakers, you understand what I mean).   So when I decided to try out a homemade caramel recipe I found on Pinterest (by the way...can we just talk about Pinterest for a minute? Ah-may-zing!  If you're still waiting for …