So a couple of weeks ago, I followed a recipe (gasp!) that I got from my mom who in turn got it from my sister in law. It was for an apple crisp and I *loved* the topping; so much so that I actually made myself a little bit extra to allow for “tasting” before it was to be cooked. Anyway…

We have The Boys here this afternoon (my son, my stepson and a friend), there was a bit of one of “those” moments where there was a disagreement. After a while, they were all getting back together, and I thought “I know! Milk and cookies brings people together!”. But I didn’t have any…

Remembering the apple crisp topping, I decided to manipulate the recipe to make some quick cookies.

Instead of 3/4C quick oats, I opened two packages of Maple and Brown Sugar instant oatmeal.
Instead of 1/2C melted butter (I *know*!) I put in just over a 1/4C and an egg.
Instead of 3/4C packed of brown sugar, I put in 3/4 loose.
I still put in the 1/3C of flour.
I added a dash of baking soda and dumped in some chocolate chips.
350 degrees and 10 minutes – poof. It worked. It actually worked!

The best thing – I heard lots of “MMMMMM!’s” from the basement and they came up asking for more.

That means I got one, and my boyfriend gets one. So going to have to double the recipe next time…

Not all the experiments I try in the kitchen turn out. However, as you all well know, throwing out all that “good” food is just not always possible due to time and/or it is just too expensive to waste. What is a desperate cook to do?

I have found that there are two essentials that can fix just about any (savory) cooking gaffe (desserts are another issue):

Ketchup and cheese.

Unless what you have cooked was either really burnt or is rotten, I think you’d be hard-pressed not to be able to save the day (and your reputation) with one or both of the above.

On the surface, seems to be such a great idea; a publication has a special section they put out, giving you a week’s worth of yummy recipes and the accompanying shopping list to make your life that much easier. Let’s take a look at one of these, shall we?

This week, on Canada.com, we have the October 20 shopping list and menu. On the menu are:

MONDAY: Harvest gouda and vegetable chowder
TUESDAY: Beef chow fun (rice noodles)
WEDNESDAY: Scrambled eggs with cheese
THURSDAY: Chicken thighs with snap peas
FRIDAY: English muffin tacos

The “shopping list” is nothing but a list of all the ingredients needed sorted by dish. You need to go through the whole list to find out that you need 5 green onions and 3 medium onions in three different recipes for the whole week. At the very least, it would have been nice to have everything sorted by type; as in, we need to make sure we have 4 slices of bread on hand and 3 cups plus 2 tablespoons of Canola oil etc. *That* would be a helpful list.

However…

The issue I have with the meal choices is that it’s not based upon reality. C’mon… you have to buy a whole *bunch* of green onions to get the 5. Last time I bought a bunch there was at least a dozen in there. If I’m lucky they will keep until next week… And only needing 1/2 teaspoon of anchovy paste? I need to buy a whole tube for one meal? Two “coins” of ginger? So a whole root… you get the idea.

Nowhere in that meal plan does it take into account what you *actually* must buy to get what you need; there will be a lot of waste. A real weekly meal plan (IMHO, of course) takes into account what you already have and what you will need to buy so that you don’t need to go overboard.

Besides… English Muffin Tacos???? That scares me. Don’t get me wrong – if someone wants to make them, I will certainly be more than willing to go over and try…

If that makes me a nerd, so be it. Just had a peek at Kevin Savetz’s sites and noticed the Free Printable Recipe Cards and the Free Printable Grocery Lists.

OOOOH! I SO know what I’m going to do next… gimme a few days… I get goosebumps thinking about spreadsheets.

Yes, nerd to the core.

Dangit! I forgot to take a picture. Not that it was exciting… just that things seem better somehow with visual proof.

Anyway – last night I was having tea with my friend K. We were going to go our separate ways when I said “Ya, I should go, I want to throw together a casserole.” to which she quipped “Oh, ya, right… just *throw together* a casserole.” To which *I* responded “Oh, ya… seriously – I’m opening two cans of Chef Boyardee Four Cheese Ravioli, putting them in a casserole dish, grating some cheese on top and putting it in the oven.”

“Ha-ha!” she said “My kind of cooking.”

You betcha.

(PS – it’s actually *really* good done that way instead of just zapping it.)

If you had asked me a couple of years ago about the most important ingredient in my kitchen, I probably would have said “garlic” or “Hy’s Seasoning Salt.”

Enter the boyfriend. When we met, I thought he was crazy for putting ketchup on everything to do with meat. Well, I *still* do think he overdoes it… but the crazy thing is… it does make things taste really good. I used to think it was only for fries, hotdogs and hamburgers. Now, if something I make doesn’t taste right – just add ketchup. Seriously. I don’t know how, or why… it just works.

Sometimes, just opening a can of something just isn’t enough.

Two cans are better.

I had some leftover noodles from a failed attempt at using some pre-made chicken with pepper/mushroom sauce (turns out, it already had noodles in it…), and I hate wasting food, so…

One can of homestyle chicken noodle soup. One can diced tomatoes. Used the scissors to cut up the rapidly aging noodles (ok, am I the only one who uses scissors to cut things up in the kitchen? Dan had never seen anyone do that before… I do it all the time.). Added pepper, garlic, cajun seasoning, parsley, ketchup (that’s a whole post into and of itself…), bay leaves (some flakes, not the whole leaves) and… um… I think that’s it. (I just grab stuff that smells like it would “go” with what I’m cooking). Brought it to a simmer for a few minutes.

Sounds weird to put the diced tomatoes in… but this is a “trick” from Dan’s grandma – it is surprisingly really *REALLY* good. Usually, we just add a handful of small egg noodles and let it simmer until they are soft, but I wanted to use up the leftovers.

It turned out pretty spiffy – so much so that it was requested for dinner again the same night… *beam*

So Dan and I are working on our respective websites and I get up to go get something to eat. I was going to default to my “salad” that I pre-made earlier this week in a moment of fleeting organization (more on that in a future post) and asked Dan if he wanted anything while I was up. “Do we have the mini-bagels?”

Oooh… a bagel would be good right now.

What if… ok… so I thawed two (we have a huge bag in the freezer), cut them in half, as one would normally do with a bagel and toasted them slightly. When toasty, spread on some salmon cream cheese, some slices of roma tomatoes, salt ‘n pepper and some cheddar. Broiled them a bit and voila… yummy.

So it’s 5:30 at night. You’re hungry. Probably the kids are hungry too. You’re human… so you didn’t sit down on Sunday, plan all the meals for the week, get all the ingredients you need to make well-balanced, “30-Minute-Gourmet” meals every night.

What’s worse, there is no stinkin’ way you’re going to get back in the car, most likely having to pile the kids back in, deal with the whining (yours and theirs) to line up 4 people deep at the register and fend off all the “I’m hungry! CanwegetcookiesorhowaboutsomechocolateIwannahavepizzaIgottagotothebathroom!” bombardments.

We just can’t all be Martha or Rachel. I know I’m not.

So, what do I do? Some nights I order pizza. Some nights I make KD…

Some nights, I look in the cupboards, fridge and freezer and engage in some inventive cooking… Follow me along as I talk about what I make and talk about the reactions of those who live with me. Poor things.

I’d also *love* photos of other’s fridges/freezers and cupboards – challenge me to see if I can come up with palatable meals with only what’s on hand.

Nothing ventured…