Spontenaity

As I've mentioned several times before, I'm not the best at throwing stuff in a pan and calling it a day. Usually I try to follow some semblance of a recipe but it doesn't get me very far as I can't always seem to read a whole recipe before diving in and finding out I'm missing an ingredient when I'm covered in flour, butter, or what have you.

Last night, however, I had a definite plan in mind for the chicken that was left over from last, last Sunday's potluck (mmm, tasty). I had some zucchini and yellow squash I had picked up from Jewel and the chicken thighs. I also had a $1 can of tomatoes picked up from the Dominick's here on campus. Let me tell you that I do not miss shopping at this Dominick's! It is stressful and small and everyone and their brother's uncle comes to shop here, and they never, ever have more than three check out lanes open... seriously. One time the lady at the customer service desk told me that they're basically the 7/11 of Dominick's, in that they carry just enough of everything but not hardly enough of anything. I think they don't even really have any frozen vegetables. Not that that's a great tragedy or anything, but just sayin'.

So I went home, cut up the squash, cut up the chicken, used the chicken skin to grease the pan (no olive oil! of course) and cooked up the squash, dumped the tomatoes in (I should note that these were special canned tomatoes, garlic and oregano seasoned, yum!)

and threw in the shredded chicken. It was done in about 20 minutes. Maybe less. And it was fabulous. Could even be served with a tidge of pasta. It practically required no thought at all. My roommate ate it with some crumbled feta and lots of black pepper, and some crusty bread, aaaand she had two servings :) Probably because she had just come home from class and was starving, but I like to think it was my awesomeness.

So there you go! Sometimes it does work, this "throwing stuff in a pot on a wing and prayer." Here's hoping to more happy experiments in the future.

An Un-Monday Post

I meant to post yesterday but it was a little more hectic than my average Monday. I got to work late after proceedings in the morning, and then there was some sort of summit/conference/mabob thing and that didn't get out until 3, and then I volunteered at 6, so really, no time to update you, my trusty friend. Seeing as no one reads and comments anyway, it wasn't a total wash.

Sunday night, M joined me for a dinner of pork chops. I've attempted to make pork chops before and they have always turned out pretty dry and uninspired. I was worried these would befall a similar fate. Thankfully, Dinner: A Love Story came through in the clutch again :) These pork chops were tender, juicy, and although I've never been a big fan of mustard, actually tasted delicious. I even substituted red wine vinegar for apple cider vinegar and cranberry juice for apple cider, but it still turned out pretty darn good. Substituting is still something that scares me because I'm not entirely confident my substitutions will contain that one ingredient that I think will be fine and then actually ruin the taste. Despite my fears, all was well.

On the side, we had steamed broccoli and mashed potatoes (too creamy because of too much milk, my Achilles' Heel, always) and a salad. All in all, very good meal, easy to make, and didn't take all night, which is always a perk. (As much as I love Julie/Julia, eating dinner at 10 pm does not appeal to me.) Thanks, Dinner: A Love Story! We love you!

Tonight's goal: take the remaining pork chop and make a nice stir fry with it and the remaining half of spaghetti squash... too ambitious? We shall see...

PS:
I know this blog is severely lacking in pictures but we're working on it... hopefully we'll get it all sorted out for next week's pumpkin potluck.