Veggie Night

After spring break, I was feeling pretty disgusting. The past week had been filled with junk food, mixed drinks and drive thrus.  In an attempt to detox, I vowed to learn to cook some vegetables. I cooked asparagus as usual, just baking them for 5-10 minutes. Then, I tried cooking squash and zucchini. As I've told you guys before, I am not the improvisation kind of girl and I should tell myself that more often. I figured it couldn't be too hard to cook zucchini and squash, so I pulled out a frying pan, added a little olive oil and threw them in. It was a disaster! The oil popped everywhere and I couldn't tell when they were done. Luckily, they didn't taste too bad, but next time I'll be sure to look up instructions for cooking them or perhaps call my mom. In the bowl, I sliced up a cool cucumber and soaked it in Italian dressing for a sort of cucumber salad. I cheated a little with the macaroni and cheese and bought the Kraft grown up Mac 'n Cheese-Homestyle from the grocery store. I didn't think I could attempt to make my mom's crockpot macaroni and cheese yet and the Kraft kind is easy and scrumptious!

Vegetables Galore!

Bon appetit,

Anna

Cheesy Honey Mustard Chicken

To find this recipe, I think I literally googled "easy, healthy recipes". I found this recipe called cheesy honey mustard chicken by Weight Watchers. It was a simple combination of adding together dijon mustard, honey and bacon over baked chicken.  I will admit, my concoction didn't quite look like it was supposed to. Honestly, I don't know if it tasted like it was supposed, but it was good and easy! You know that is all that matters to me.  I love asparagus and its pretty easy to cook, so I greased a glass pan, seasoned the asparagus with salt and pepper and baked it for 5-10 minutes. My roommate and I were pleasantly surprised by this dish, although I don't know if it would be my first choice to cook again.

Always on the voyage for new and easy recipes!

Bon appetit,

Anna

Stuffed Bell Peppers

Another meal I was fond of as a child was stuffed bell peppers. When researching for a recipe online, I couldn't seem to find one that sounded like what I remembered. So, feeling spontaneous, I took a little from this recipe and a little from another to make a combination I thought would be delicious. I cut and cleaned the bell peppers and placed them in a greased, glass pan. Then, I browned ground beef and created a sort of marinara sauce. I stuffed the bell pepper and sprinkled in some cheddar cheese. I baked the bell pepper, regularly dousing it in the sauce.  When there was about 5-10 minutes left, I topped it with a little more cheese.  While all of this was going on, I used Jiffy cornbread mix to make my favorite sweet cornbread on the side.

The bell pepper didn't turn out quite like I expected, but nonetheless it was delicious!

Bon appetit,

Anna

Beef and Spinach Stir Fry

Beef and Spinach Stir Fry is an easy recipe my mom used to make for me. I thought making it would be hard, especially since in her recipe she used words such as a "dash" and a "sprinkle".  These words usually mean disaster for me.  I began by browning ground beef, which wasn't too difficult. Then I drained it and added onions and carrots in the frying pan.  After a few minutes, I drained the spinach and added that in as well. After a little soy sauce, salt, pepper and sugar, I was done! I had to tweak the seasoning a little, but I was very surprised how good it tasted. I ate it plain for less calories, but it could be spread over rice as well for a little more filling meal.

Meal one = success.

Bon appetit,

Anna

This Girl is Learning to Cook

My name is Anna and I am 21 years old. I attend a university, I live on my own, take care of my own dog, pay bills and clean the house, but somehow I still haven't learned to successfully cook. After many trials and errors, I have realized I will never be the improvisation kind of girl. I can't add ingredients without measuring them and I can't combine ingredients that I think may turn out well, they never do. So for once, I'm being patient, reading recipes and doing it right. I am sharing my adventures in the kitchen with you and hopefully you won't judge me when things don't go quite as planned.

Bon appetit,

Anna