Clean plate=good meal :)

I had some luck tonight. I made my own pasta sauce. Yes, that’s right I made it from scratch and it was very tasty. I did tweak the recipe a bit but i still cleaned my plate.

The recipe was fairly straightforward. The only snags I ran into was the amount of meat I put into the sauce. I put over a pound and I think it might have made the sauce a little too meaty. There were no complaints from husband but I like  my sauce less meaty. Also, I am pretty sure I forgot to add the water and I definitely read the ingredients wrong because I only put in one can of tomato paste and obviously there should have been more. I decided to cut the oregano quantity in half and double the garlic instead. I am not sure how it happened but the sauce tasted very good. I would recommend it and I will definitely be making it again.

Mom’s Quick Pasta Sauce (not my mom ‘s sauce)

1 pound lean ground beef

1 1/3 (6 ounce) cans tomato paste

1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce

1 (1 ounce) dry onion soup mix

1 cup water

1/4 tablespoon dried basil

1/8 teaspoon garlic, minced

2 teaspoons oregano

salt to taste

ground black pepper to taste

1. In a large skillet cook ground beef. Mix in all other ingredients.

2. Simmer until heated through.

Courtesy of allrecipes.com

I’m on a bender

Hi, my name is Jennifer and I love takeout. I’m currently doing badly. This is the second night in a row of not eating at home. Yes, yesterday I attempted cooking, but I did not like it so I ate delicious appetizers for dinner at TGIFridays. Tonight, I gave up before I even started and had yummy Chinese food. I felt guilty eating it but at the same time. I’m hot and tired. Does cooking really have to be so hard?

Chicken and Brocceli my favorite!

I hate your chicken Michael!!!!

I tried something a little harder tonight and I’m paying for it. My tongue is burning, my arm still hurts, and some of my chicken never made it to the baking pan.

Michael’s chicken. I don’t know who you are Michael, but I hate your chicken. I hated it from the second I started making it. It seemed so simple make a sauce, brown the chicken, and then bake it-one, two, three. Well, it was not easy and I did not enjoy it. I had no trouble making the cider mixture except when I tasted it, I knew something was wrong. It was extremely spicy. Even my husband who likes spice was blown away. There was nothing on the recipe that said spicy. Yes, I know chili sauce and cayenne pepper should be indicators of “heat,” but they were such small amounts I did not think twice. I was hoping the sauce would get milder in the oven, but I was wrong. It is insanely hot and my tongue is still on fire.

Then I had some minor oil and chicken issues. The recipe calls for browning of the chicken in a medium skillet. Well, I tried that and all I got was burns and two pieces of chicken with black and blue marks. I wish I was kidding about that one. I don’t know if it was me or the chicken, but I am blaming the chicken. I tried a few different pieces and they browned. Two pieces did not make it though. In the process of browning the chicken, I got splashed several times with hot oil. I tried using oven gloves, but that did not work. It turns out cloth gloves just absorb the hot oil. Finally, I got everything into the oven and I cooked it.

Final product: I will say the chicken was very moist and I will think about browning my chicken before baking it. However, the sauce was overpowering and I could not eat it. There will be take out tonight. It has been a while since I have completely given up on a meal, but this one was hopeless from the start.

Do not make this recipe!

Michael’s Chicken

3/4 cup cider vinegar

1/4 cup chili sauce

1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce

1 6 ounce can tomato paste

1/2 cup diced onion

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

8 chicken thighs

1. Preheat oven to 350 F

2. In a medium saucepan over medium heat, blend cider vinegar, chili sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato paste. Mix in the onion, brown sugar, and cayenne pepper.

3. Heat oil in a medium skillet over medium heat, and saute the chicken thighs until browned. Remove from heat, drain and arrange in a medium baking dish. Cover with cider vinegar mixture.

4. Bake covered for 45 minutes in the preheated oven or until chicken is no longer pink and juices run clear.

 

Courtesy of Allrecipes.com

New is not always better

So another week has gone by and I’m still cooking. The original goal of this blog was to capture my attempts at cooking, but the blog has turned into a lot more for me. I have learned to conquer my fear of being afraid of things not turning out well. Now, I blame the recipe, not myself. Yes, there are still times when it is me who is to blame, but many times the recipe is just not for me. I accept that.

Tonight I prepared a new salmon recipe. Typically, my husband puts salmon in a plastic bag with teriyaki sauce and leaves it to sit in the fridge for a while. Tonight I found a similar marinade that is just as easy.  I tweaked the recipe slightly. Instead of broiling I decided to cook the fish the regular way. Broiling scares me. I don’t know why, but maybe one day I will turn the dial to broil. It will not be today.

I think I will be staying with my old recipe. The new recipe was just okay. I felt it lacked flavor. I will try to find another salmon recipe.

Teriyaki Salmon

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup lemon juice

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 teaspoon ground mustard

1 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

4 salmon steaks

In a large resealable plastic bag or shallow glass container, combine the first six ingredients; mix well. Set aside 1/2 cup for basting and refrigerate. Add salmon to remaining marinade. Cover and refrigerate for 1-1/2 hours, turning once. Drain and discard marinade. Place the salmon on a broiler pan. Broil 3-4 in. from the heat for 5 minutes. Brush with reserved marinade; turn and broil for 5 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork. Brush with marinade.