Grilled PB&J on homemade white bread.

Now this is comfort food.

Leftover Latkas

I often find creative uses for my leftovers since I’m just cooking for 1 and I get bored eating the same thing every day. This one’s simple. I had about two cups of leftover mashed potatoes with peas in them, I mixed in a can of salmon and an egg, formed patties covered with a thin layer of flour, and then fried them up in some butter.

Finally, I topped them with Sriracha, my condiment of choice.

I’m not a huge sports fan, but I love any excuse I can get to make a big meal. This year’s feast is going to be epic!

On the Menu Tonight:

Bacon spinach cream cheese dip

Habanero salsa

Slow-cooked three meat chili

Homemade white bread

Chocolate chip cookies

Full recipes and report will follow!

“The hallaca (pronounced AH-YA-KAH) is the main Venezuelan Christmas dinner dish. It was created by the slaves during the colony times. They put the left-overs of their master’s Christmas festivities in a bit of cornmeal dough, wrapped this with banana leaves and cooked to mix the flavors. As many things in my country, the hallaca has the influence of three cultures, the white one (European ingredients like raisins, nuts and olives), the native one (the corn meal colored with annatto seeds), and the black one (banana leaves used to cook the food). The original hallaca is made with meat (pork, poultry, beef, lard, crisp pork rind, etc) and boiled eggs. The hallaca tastes better once it has cooled. It requires hours of preparation, but it is usually prepared by the whole family. Its preparation is a celebration by itself. Music and drinks make up the festive atmosphere. Mothers nagging children as they steal bits of fillings from the table, and the guys complaining of being relegated to the leaf cleaning and last minute shopping are typical during the hallaca making party.”

Raspberry chocolate burritos with vanilla ice cream. I think this is my dessert for the month!

Howdy y’all!

I’m going to be trying two new recipes this week - one super-healthy and one not so much:

• Healthy Choice: Farfalle with Zucchini and White Beans
• Not So Healthy Choice: Chocolate Raspberry Burritos

Look forward to some delicious pics, and let me know if you have recipes I should try!

With big changes also come greater adjustments. One of the most important things I learned about living on my own was how to cook for myself. While my roommates relied on frozen and microwavable foods for sustenance, I took the much more arduous route and taught myself how to cook.

First time cooking real bread on my own and it turned out great! Can’t think of a better way to spend a Saturday night, and I don’t care if you judge me for it.

PS: Here’s the recipe I used - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/traditional-white-bread/ 

Spinach dip! - http://allrecipes.com/recipe/best-spinach-dip-ever/

Just made Homemade Habanero Cheese Bread. Just added some Habanero cheese instead of regular cheddar. Here’s the recipe:
http://www.lynnskitchenadventures.com/2009/10/easy-homemade-cheese-bread.html

So Yummy!