Cooking For The Week

On this freezing cold Sunday - I'm cooking!
Last night I made penne with artichoke hearts, bacon, onions, garlic, and some shredded mozzarella. So delicious!! There are still a couple more servings in the pot for leftovers and I'm looking forward to them!

Ooops! I had a culinary disaster: After getting my garbanzo beans perfectly ready to roast, I burned them to a crisp. I am not fond of this oven, we are constantly at a disagreement. Cooking times are much too long or, as in the case of my garbanzo beans, surprisingly short. So much for my snack last night.

Lentil soup is on the stove. My forever lunch companion. 1 cup lentils, 1/2 cup brown rice. 3 carrots, sliced in chunks, about 3 cups of chicken stock, half an onion, chopped. Seasoned with some Adobo seasoning and Spike - to taste. I always taste for seasoning.

There were two lonely apples sitting on my counter this week, so I peeled and diced them, added some cinnamon, brown sugar and poured them into a pyrex dish. For the crumb topping I had 1 cup oatmeal, half a cup of flour, half a stick of butter, diced, 2 tablespoons brown sugar and a few dashes of cinnamon. This mixture I worked with my hands until all the butter was mixed into little lentil sized bits. Smells delicious!

For good measure, I have a big baked potato in the oven and some black beans ready to simmer.

Last week I came up with a great idea. I took a flour tortilla, filled it with a scoop of beans, some leftover meat, cheese, salsa, sour cream and a dash of adobo seasoning. I rolled up the tortilla, then rolled it up in waxed paper. This was my work lunch for 3 days last week. In the microwave for 30 seconds and I was in heaven. It filled me up. Work lunches have always been about getting full to go on for the next 3 or 4 hours.
I love to wrap stuff up in waxed paper, burritos, sandwiches - I love how it sounds and it feels so much better than plastic wrap - wrapped tightly. If you need to, you can always put a rubber band around a sandwich to keep it secure in your bag.

I am smelling that apple crisp and really want some! On a cold day like this, it feels so nice and homey to have food cooking. And it will be ready for me; ready to go for lunch and ready to heat up when I get home from work, just to add a salad or sauteed vegetables. Taking care of myself...Ahhhh.