Truth is, I've been busy.

Busy with things like chasing down the ice cream truck on walks with the dog, and busy with trips to Leon's for ice cream, and trips to the grocery store for Popsicles and ice cream. BECAUSE IT'S FRICKEN HOT OUTSIDE. So I finally caved and turn on the AC and now I have no money left to cook. Well, that's not all true. But, I did cave and turn it on. So basically I've been sipping wine from a sports drink bottle on the couch with friends. And I've been enjoying all of that so I haven't written. Call it a summer break, if you will.

But last night before heading out with said sport drink bottle to meet up with friends, I did prepare dinner. An actual meal. The proof is the pudding. Or in this case, in the smell that's still in our condo. It smells great. I want more.

Tilapia with Basil, Onion, Garlic and White Wine

What you'll need:
Tilapia filets, we used 2 
about six cloves of garlic
red onion, thinly slice about 1/2
fresh basil (about 10 leaves)
1 cup white wine
fresh ground pepper
salt
Old Bay seasoning
about 1/4 cup olive oil

Bring the pan with olive oil up to medium/high heat. Add both tilapia filets. Season with fresh ground pepper and a pinch or two salt and Old Bay seasoning. Toss the garlic, onion and half the basil over the fish. Cook for 3-4 minutes. With a spatula, trying to keep them whole, flip the filets. Make sure the onion, and garlic are now underneath or around the edges, so they will slow cook with the fish. Add the white wine and toss the remaining basil over the fish. Re-season with fresh ground pepper. Reduce to medium/low heat. Simmer for about 5-6 more minutes.

I served ours with wild rice, a house favorite, and fresh asparigus that I cooked in a little garlic and olive oil for seasoning.

We scarfed this meal really, really fast. Both looking up at each other at the end with a clean plate and stating that we wish there was another piece of fish for each of us.

I remember the days of single. And most times, I don't miss those days.

But I remember them. Dinner from a box, hashbrowns in a pan and plain scrambled eggs were all things that I called dinner. Cereal and yogurt fall close to the top of that list, as well. Tonight Jeff is in Milwaukee with his friends and I cooked just like I used to when it was just me. Buttered noodles (elegantly) topped with my kitchen's finest ingredients - salt, pepper and parmesan cheese from the tub. I even let the noodles get a little crispy around the edges in the pan before I served myself. Just how I liked them.

Laundry is in, TLC is on. I might even paint my toe nails and make myself some popcorn later. It's nice to have these nights once and awhile.

I turned 25 on Friday.

And because I have the most thoughtful boyfriend on Earth, he let me pick between three 'packages,' which were each a day spent with him doing something different. I picked the one he described as "a culinary boner." (That's my guy).

So Saturday we spent the afternoon at Taste of Chicago. And I can't wait to write about that. But today starts my vacation, meaning I'M OFF WORK FOR THE WHOLE WEEK and my best friend of all time will be here in a few minutes. So, you'll have to stay tuned.

Among my favorite things at Taste of Chicago were the Mango Cumin Dusted Fries.

So I have this Chinese friend, and she's perfectly OK with being my Chinese friend so don't send me hate mail for referring to her as such.

Anyway, we obviously eat a lot differently than each other. Well, besides the fact that her favorite American food of all time is peanut butter and jelly, closely followed by a trip to the Culver's drive through. She also is addicted to dry cereal, but that's neither here nor there.

She's skinny, and little, and makes kick ass fried rice to which she says she only seasons with soy sauce. (Plus she puts pineapple in it and that's way better than you can ever imagine).

Moving on. Today my Chinese friend was telling me that she doesn't like raw vegetables. Fine, I can handle that. At least she eats them. Or, I hope she eats them because most Asian food is made up of veggies.

"In China, we cook dem," she said.

And then she goes on to tell me that she cooks her salads.

People, she cooks her salads! As in, she cuts up all the veggies - carrots, cucumbers, etc - and throws it all,including the lettuce, into a pan and cooks them.

"Then I put a poached egg on the top and have that for dinner," she followed up with.

Interesting.

As an aside, she said the only veggie she really eats raw is tomatoes. And I'm sure we could debate all day about whether tomatoes are a fruit or a vegetable.

I was in the mood for chick peas tonight but I don't ever really know what to do with them. Lucky for us, Jeff found a recipe in an old Rachael Ray Guy Food cookbook I got him for St. Nick's in 2005. 

I altered the recipe a little bit to accommodate what we had in the house. You can use mustard greens instead of spinach if you'd like, but we had spinach from the Saturday Farmers' Market. 

Garlic Chick Peas and Greens

What you'll need:
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3-4 cloves of garlic, crushed
1 pound of greens, trimmed and coarsely chopped
Salt and fresh pepper
1 cup of vegetable broth (we used chicken broth, it worked fine)
1 can of chick peas

Preheat skillet over medium heat. Add oil and crushed garlic, sauté for two minutes, then add greens. Turn and wilt greens in garlic oil and season with salt and pepper. Add broth and bring to a boil. Cover pan, reduce heat and simmer greens for 5 to 7 minutes. Uncover the pan, stir in chick peas. Add more salt or pepper, as needed.

Grocery shopping on Sunday night was hard knowing just how much we needed to get and thinking about how much that was going to cost. So I did something different. I made a list and planned out meals for more than one day.

In fact, I planned several meals. And that makes me feel good and in control of life. And we all know about I am about control.

Last night we had tacos.

Tonight we'll have nachos with the leftovers, plus rice and beans.

Wednesday it's Cornish hens in the crock pot because I have a late meeting and the crock pot is helpful like that when you're living on the fly.

I also have stuff for the following: scalloped potatoes and ham, pork chops and potatoes, a spinach salad, spaghetti, strawberry shortcake for dessert, fruit smoothies, one pizza night and a chicken quesadilla night. Plus we stocked up on two kinds of lunch meat from the deli and cheese and Smart Ones and Lean Cuisines for lunches.

Last night we were talking and with rising grocery prices I bet we seriously spent $20-$30 more than we used to, even with planned meals. I'm looking for tips about stretching the food. If you have any savvy recipes or good leftover tricks, I'm open to suggestions.

Tonight I plan to make these with dinner:

Potato Pancakes

What you'll need:
2 cups frozen hashbrowns (who loves hashbrowns? Mandy does!)
2 scallions, chopped
1 egg, beaten
2 tablespoons flour
1/4 cup oil
salt and pepper
a handful of parsley

Combine all ingredients except oil.

Heat oil over about medium heat in a nonstick skillet. Heap potato mixture into about three mounds in the skillet. Cook patties for about three or four minutes on each side.

Drain on paper towels.

Serve with apple sauce or syrup. I'm an apple sauce fan myself.

Since I'm still a gimp, we haven't actually done any cooking out this holiday weekend. But Saturday morning we did head to the Menasha Grill with some friends. And I'd probably trade in grilling almost any day for their cajun breakfast.

The Menasha Grill serves brunch on Saturday and Sunday each week, but I'm betting you won't be disappointed if you try lunch or dinner there. Just go.

From the outside the restaurant, located on Menasha's Main Street, the building looks like a hole in the wall. But the inside tells a whole different story. A yummy one. We all ordered breakfast, which is served with fresh beignets (cajun donuts) covered in powdered sugar. I just had a small taste of Jeff's, but go ahead, order that Bloody Mary. Those were good, too.

Onto breakfast...

I ordered the Crab Cakes and Eggs Pontchartrain (two basted eggs on top of crab cakes smothered with crawfish au gratin). I ordered mine with potatoes but everyone else had their breakfast with breakfast jambalaya. ($13).

The sauce that came over mine was to die for. Not spicy, just flavorful. Plus the crab cakes were the real deal.

Jeff's breakfast, which I happily sampled, was also very good. He had Boudreaux's Grande Isle Souffle. The soufflé was stuffed with crawfish, cream cheese and scallions and topped with cajun cream sauce and blue lump crab meat. He had his with the breakfast jambalaya ($11).

One of our friends ordered the same thing I did and the other had the Big Bayou Breakfast, which had alligator, crawfish and andouille sausage in it ($8).

The portions were not huge, but they were satisfying. We all pretty much finished our meal. And, we all decided we're going back for lunch someday.

 

Marc Summers'"Unwrapped" was in town filming yesterday. Unfortunately, he wasn't.

But that didn't stop us from heading there for dinner. I never at an A & W before so it was a new experience for me. I had a burger, fries and a chocolate malt. The fries were sub-par (Jeff yells from over my shoulder, "I liked the fries best!") but the malt was super good and thick. I think I'll go back.

I really like the whole car service thing. Just push a button and bam someone takes your order and BAM! BAM! someone is there with your food. Wait, wrong show.

Anyway, the escape to A & W was nice. Especially after all I've been through this week. Because I'm down one limb I'm not gonna write it all again, if you're interested in my where abouts, read this. And this.