ADVENTURES OF THE FORTUITOUS COOK

Breakfast for Dinner!

Tonight we are having omelets with hash browns and cantaloupe, because what’s better than breakfast for dinner?

Step 1: Become an urban farmer

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 2: Gather eggs from your chickens

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Step 3: Pick some thyme and oregano from your garden

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While gathering the eggs and herbs, have pancetta frying up on the stove. When the pancetta is cooked, remove with a slotted spoon.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Add veggies to the pancetta grease and sauté – I chose bell peppers and onions.

While veggies are cooking, chop herbs, whisk eggs together with some milk, salt, pepper, and garlic powder – add herbs, whisk well.

 

Open bag of hash browns, follow directions on packet – I strongly recommended cooking in the pancetta pan.

Have husband feed daughter because omelets are not finished. Then have husband decide that he doesn’t want to eat a big omelet before he has to swim = no more hurry!

Poor 1 cup egg mixture into same pan – yep, one pan to wash! Add veggies, pancetta, gruyere and swiss cheese. Attempt to make an omelet, or something vaguely resembles one.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Poor yourself a glass of red wine, and enjoy — I have to say, these omelets may have been the best I ever made.

So why not change it up a bit? Tonight we forwent swim for cross country and girl scouts. You may say overscheduled, I say well rounded. Since I am the girl’s troop co-leader my husband gets to stay home and make dinner! So tonight we were spoiled with homemade marinara, homemade garlic bread and a salad. I have no idea how any of this was made, just that I devoured it when I got home from a far too long day. So all I have left are the very quick pictures I took before the gobbling began.

It started with this, homemade marinara — I think he should bottle this stuff.

These Bread sticks were far too yummy

And my dinner, now I am one fortuitous wife.

Day two of my challenge: Carne Asada Tortas

Goes like this:

1. Start by driving home as quickly as safely possible while daughters and husband are at soccer practice.
2. Change out of work clothes, because really, who wants to cook in 3 inch heals?
3. Start Cooking!

This meal actually started on Sunday and it went like this:

Send husband to Carniceria for carne asada (Don’t have a Carniceria? You should probably move somewhere that does.), invite friends over for a taco night, have husband grill up lots of carne asada, enough for leftovers!

Back to tonight:

Put grill pan on stove top, warm up.

 

Open frozen onion/bell pepper mix, put a little olive oil on grill pan and throw on veggies

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cut carne asada into thin slices, place on grill pan to warm up.

Fall in love with and marry a man who has avocado trees in his childhood home, and have a mother-in-law who brings avocados every time she visits. Slice up avocado.

Throw together a salad while food is cooking.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Slice open torta buns from your local Panadaria.

Pile veggies, steak and avocado onto bun.

EAT!!

 And the results??

We made it, family all around the table for dinner!!

Weeknights around our house are slightly hectic, perhaps an understatement. We have roughly 42.5 minutes between pick-up and swim practice Monday, Wednesday and Fridays to get home, make dinner, get suits on and get out the door. Tuesdays and Thursdays that time is cut to about 32.3 minutes due to soccer practice.

Our family has always cherished eating dinner together around the table, at home. When this schedule first started we found ourselves eating out too often, not good for the health or the pocketbook. So Sunday we finally got it together to create a game plan for the week.

So here it goes, my chronicles of our first week attempting to squish making and eating dinner around the table into way too little time.

We realized that for this to work we would have to go with some prepackaged foods, so like we always do, we hit up Trader Joe’s for our favorite options.

Today we decided on Butternut Squash Soup with Brie Panini’s.

1. Pre-heat oven
2. Open the Butternut Squash Soup box, pour into pot, warm up on stove
3. Slice brie into thin slices
4. Slice one apple into thin slices
5. Butter and rub with olive oil slices of good Tuscan bread
6. Place Brie and Apple slices on one slice of bread, top with crasins then the second piece of bread*
7. Place in Panini press, put in oven until cheese is melted.**

*Here is where I warmed up leftover macaroni and cheese because I realized dinner was not going to be finished in time for my daughter.

**Here is where I watched my husband and daughter leave before my husband got to eat – well, I guess I’ll keep it warm until he gets home from practice!

So, it was delicious, and I enjoyed dinner with a lovely glass of red wine eating around the table with my youngest daughter and okay, to be honest we decided the coffee table would fit our needs just fine.

So here’s hopeful thinking for tomorrow to go a little more smoothly!

Finally! After too many posts of making lovely, yet taste lacking food, I stumbled upon a delicious, yet rather ugly cake!!

It all started with a trip to the orchard for some Apple Picking, resulting in  an oversupply of apples. So it was then off to Apple recipe hunting. As I wasn’t much in the mood for a pie, I started looking up Apple Cake recipes and this is what I discovered: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/cooking-live/upside-down-caramelized-apple-cake-recipe/index.html. Now, I have to say, it is possible I made the cake slightly uglier due to only having blue corn meal on hand. This is definitely a make again cake, and as I still have a fridge full of apples, most likely it will be a make again rather soon cake!