Chicken Thighs Save Lives

I feel like I've blogged about this before, but this year I've started to develop a love of cooking for Jimmy. I task Jimmy with finding a recipe.  After work, I head directly to the grocery store and buy ingredients for the night.

I'm learning that chicken thighs save lives: it's cheap, it's delicious, it's moist and it's so easy to cook.  I've compiled the recipes that I've completed on my pinterest board! I've made all those things.  I also make enough for Jimmy to have lunch the next day.

After dinner Jimmy provides me with with so much unsolicited appreciation and affection.  "Thank you baby it was delicious" as if I've achieved some amazing feat. "Let me do the dishes!" He shouts as I put things away.   It's so wonderful and makes me so happy when he responds that way.  Food is love.

He's usually home by 6:30 and dinner is ready.  One time, he came home earlier.  To my excitement he was able to help me like those couples on TV!  I gave him basic instructions and after completing them he just sat down.  I was annoyed.  As if the rest of the meal was going to prepare itself!  I thought about it for a moment, cooking is the last thing he wants to do after work and forcing him wouldn't help.  So I just took a deep breath and made a mess in the kitchen while he scrolled his phone.  He offered to help when I was basically done, (of course.)  He proclaimed how delicious and it amazing it was and gave me a giant kiss.  I compare it to how I never offer to drive.  Driving is the last thing I want to do and he knows this, so he ends up driving us to restaurants and events and always finds amazing parking.  I should show more gratitude for this.  While I can't say Jimmy loves driving all that time, I think it's fair to say that we find balance with things that we don't mind doing for each other.  I feel pretty lucky that we're able to compliment each other in this way.

Cooking has allowed me to become creative with left overs.  I always take home extra rice to make fried rice and recently I turned a box of leftover veggies from a party platter into soup!  No waste ever!  One of the best moments was turning cherry tomatoes into a light marinara for pasta!

I should take better pictures of my creations, but for now... here's an Instastory about my journey with Emeril  Braised Chicken Thighs and tiny hands.

  

Homemade Lasagna

 Jimmy's friend Collin from Ohio prepared a midwest lasagna.

 We wanted to be healthy so we added eggplants!

I tricked my friends to help us cook.  We feed you.  You must help!

 

While it bakes, we play kings.  Just for kicks.

BAM!

Baking with Cheese!

Can you tell me what the following three nights have in common?

I'll give you a hint. Starts with 'C' and rhymes with Disease!

Enchilada Night

1. Season the ground beef with pico de gallo and onions
2. Roll the meat and cheese in tortilla and pour entire can of tomato sauce.  Top with CHEESE.
3. Bake at 450

NOM NOM NOM


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Baked Mac and Cheese Night

1. Make CHEESE sauce - add Cajun seasoning
2. Pour into tray of elbow pasta
3. Sprinkle with CHEESE
4. Bake at 350

NOM NOM NOM
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Chicken Parm Night

1. Tenderize chicken, add bread crumbs
2. Fry in lots of artery clogging oils
3. Put on tray with large piece of Mozzarella CHEESE

4. Heat Mushroom pasta sauce and add left over CHEESE
5. Bake at 350

6. Serve and plate on bed of pasta

NOM NOM NOM

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So thankful for this oven.  Any other suggestions?


BAKE SOMETHING WITH CHEESE YOU LAZY BITCH.

Kitchenware Madness!

March 20:
Brian works on graphic design for a kitchen needs company.  They had their annual Employee and Friends factory sale.  Everything - 75% off.  If we came later in the day, the left overs were 90% off!

Here we are lining up outside waiting for the clock to strike 11AM for them to blow the whistle.  You can hear and feel the excitement from homemakers.  I didn't know what to expect, but I had a list of things that I needed: toaster oven, dish sponge with bristles, pizza cutter, silverware, ice scooper, ladle, cooking chopsticks.... whatever.

When they let us in, we passed most of the inventory and was sent straight to the back.  They covered the untouchable merchandise with large walls of cardboard.

And we were left to dig through goods that looked like returns and items with missing parts.  It became a competition to find the best stuff.

Some of the boxes had other things inside, so you really had to look.  There were random DVDs, dishes, bedding, etc.  All the really good stuff was probably taken by the first shift at 7AM.

Alysia checked Amazon to confirm food mixer parts.  This is our cart, we started stacking whatever we thought was interesting.  It was as if we were in a game show, trying to grab and balance as much as possible in our cart.

We made it out alive!  Alysia got some things that she wanted for the kitchen.  Brian and Ryan got dishware, a toaster and a donut maker.

Jimmy I got some cups, pans, pizza cutter, french press, espresso maker, compost pail (for hipster Ern) and.......

A GIANT TOASTER OVEN!!!!  In which we immediately baked a pizza in when we got home.  Our gas oven at home doesn't regulate heat, so it just gets hotter and hotter and racks up the gas bill.

Pretty good for a $35 toaster oven.

We've also been using our $15 espresso machine.  I've become an addict.

Thanks Brian!!!

So far I've made pizza and an enchilada, in the oven.  Must bake more now that I can!

Hot and spicy rice cake (ddukbokkie)

March 16:

With the help of Maangchi, Jimmy has mastered the art of making Ddukbokkie!

No more paying $14 for spicy rice cakes in ramen!!!!  F*cking overpriced Korean restaurants.

Adding to Jimmy and Chris' favorite Dishes
-Ddukbokkie
-Eggs Benedict

Family Dinner

March 19

Bien texted Jimmy: I'm hungry, feed me.

So, we did.  Ern made his sweet potato mash and some stir-fry.  We had some couch surfers over and they said they liked LA more after hanging around for a day.  Bien was really amused because he was joking about us feeding him and just wanted to chillax before he stopped by his boo's place, but we went all out.  Set the table, pulled out seats, everyone had a drink... it was nice.

I logged onto Instagram to pleasantly find this picture that Bien posted with hash tags #family #dinner #321.  I love it so much.   Come over, we'll feed you.

In Search of a Good Vietnamese Cooking Show

Just learned about Maangchi, a Korean food cooking guru.  She has this auntie, mommy vibe that makes her show so entertaining.  Jimmy told me she quit her job to make her youtube channel a full time gig.

She is absolutely lovable.


She found wild green onions at a park to make Korean Green Onion Pancakes!!  It's true, "those aren't groceries!! That's food from our BACKYARD!!"  (Asians can't fend for themselves.)

I also found Pailin who is a culinary student from SF who has a show for Thai food.  Cute and sister-like.


Once again, food from our backyard!

My grandma used to grow squash and make her own chili paste from our backyard.  It made me want to find a lovable Vietnamese cooking guru, but so far I've only found these dude-bros. TrancanCook.  "Sup dude, ready to get our grub on?" "YEAH MAN."   Though I love the effort, I'm looking for a Vietnamese mom/grandma like Maangchi.

 

But all I was able to find aret cooking shows IN Vietnamese and this Mom wearing a ridiculous apron.



Cute and motherly, but still not completely there because it's all in Vietnamese!

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Someone get a cute close to English speaking Vietnamese mom on youtube STAT!  And youtube needs to update their browsing feature so that we can search by "style."