Feelin' Domestic

I made it a goal recently to finally try my hand at making stuff, like, food, I mean. All my life I've been pretty lazy/uninterested in cooking, but I suppose I'm becoming domestic in my old age. Ha. So, the goal is to make something once a week (baby steps).

Two weeks ago I made my mom's barbecue meatloaf.
And even though it tasted pretty salty, I made it again last week, too. Come to find out, there WAS way too much salt in it. Either I was told wrong or I wrote it down wrong. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to making it again with much less salt.

On Sunday I made granola!!! And LOTS of it! (p.s. the pot may be misleading. I didn't cook it in a pot...I just didn't have a big bowl to mix it all together.)
I know I've only made two things so far, but this is probably going to be my favorite. Here's why:

1.) It's so easy!! Just a tad time consuming, but what else are you going to do on a Sunday?!

2.) It's delicious!! What's great is, after the main ingredients, you can customize it with the nuts and dried fruit you like.

3.) It's long lasting!! The recipe calls for a pound of oats! I'll be eating granola for DAYS and loving every minute of it! And it keeps nicely.

4.) It's good for me!! It's got wheat germ and cranberries, to name a few!

I think I've made my point. But it's back to the not-so-healthy for the meal to be cooked later this week--Tater Tot Casserole, here I come!

A Bold Experiment

Fall has arrived! I love my windows in my bedroom, because I look out of them and see trees and leaves! Oh, and also an old skool fire escape, which reminds me I live in NYC. Not that I need that reminder...but sometimes I do. And I'm sure other places besides NYC have fire escapes, but this is a first for me.I am almost half way through midterm paper madness!! I turn in #2 (but kind like #3, since there are two parts to one particular midterm), tomorrow, then two more next week. Gaaaah. I'm not getting too excited, though, because right when the last midterm paper is handed in, I'm sure I'll be starting on final papers. Waaaah! But! On a lighter note...
At least I have things like the above to cheer me up! When I went to a church activity last week someone's daughter was there selling them for school! It was crazy, seeing the "World's Finest Chocolate" bars in their box, staring me in the face. I made sure to tell the girl that I used to sell those same exact candy bars when I was in elementary school!! And I went further to prove it, by stating that I bet they had a coupon on the backside of the wrapper. Sure enough, I was right! It was even a Pizza Hut coupon, which I'm pretty certain was the same coupon on the back of the ones I sold. I had no idea these candy bars were still in circulation, even at an elementary school on the opposite side of the country! I was quickly saddened by the fact that I didn't have any money with me to buy one. To my surprise, someone else overheard my elation upon seeing that nostalgic chocolate and bought me one! I made sure to make it last, enjoying every bite.=)

On a healthier note, I finally went grocery shopping last week and actually bought food with a meal plan in mind...kind of. I just knew I didn't want frozen meals for dinner. I didn't want to eat out either, because that is pricey. So, the other night I cooked some whole wheat pasta noodles with Alfredo sauce, sauteed some mushrooms and peas.
Wah-la! The result! It didn't have much flavor to it, but that's pretty typical for Alfredo sauce dishes, right? I'm no cook, but I was pretty proud of myself for stepping up from where I have been (aka: frozen pizzas or frozen veggie burgers).
And this one above is a new one for me, introduced by my roommate. Beans and hard boiled eggs, with a little hot sauce to give it kick. When I first saw her eating it I thought, that's a weird combination. And then I tried it, and it's delicious! It takes more patience than I am used to (a whole 20 minutes or so just to boil two eggs!), but I'm learning. Ha. One of these days, I'll actually try and get past cooking the things that just require heating up in water, straight from a can or bag, and they're ready to eat. But baby steps, people. Baby steps.