Pears and Pork

So, again, I'm rifling through the drawers in the fridge, trying to figure out what I should do with what I have going to waste. The night before, I'd wanted to make buffalo wings (they looked good on screen), but they were too frozen (because I hadn't used the pack the Sunday I was supposed to). So, we had frozen fish sticks and frozen French fries and pizza rolls. I felt like making something more palatable.

The cookbook I use has a recipe for cranberry and fig chutney with pork medallions. I had no cranberries, figs, rosemary or pork medallions. But I had apple juice and pork chops. Hence, pears boiled in apple juice with ginger, nutmeg and cloves on top of broiled pork and rice. Mmm... So much better.

Spinach Stuffed Shells

One of the many recipes I marked in the cook book at the beginning of the year was for stuffed shells. They looked so good. But I never had time or a reason. (LV's not a big cheese fan, so to eat a meal of cheese and spinach seemed to be asking too much.)

I decided that, along with chicken pot pie, I was going to make stuffed shells. I would make casseroles during the day that could be popped into the oven at night for dinner. Yeah, because I suddenly have so much time to dwell in the kitchen... I made the shells one night and took a picture with the new camera and the point-and-shoot.

This is the point-and-shoot's picture.

Not Chicken Pot Pie

Ever since the first time I made chicken pot pie, I've wanted to make it again. But it was too hot during the summer. As soon as it turned colder, I started telling myself it was time to make chicken pot pie. Weeks went by before I bought the ingredients. Then I just didn't have the time. We were way too hungry to wait through 50 minutes of prep time and 30 minutes of baking. So, I stir fried the fresh red peppers, celery, mushrooms, and onions that were supposed to go into the pot pie and made some rice. Then I cursed the chicken for not cooking in the microwave fast enough.

Who knows...

I don't know what I had for dinner that day, but I definitely was testing out my new lens with my new camera. I was so in love with both until I noticed all the noise in my blacks...

More Steak

This is more steak that spent some quality time in the oven. This seems to be about the time I put a giant finger print on the lens of the point-and-shoot which then created a lovely haze in about 100 pictures.

Tacos, Chips and Salsa

We didn't know what to make for dinner, so we went to the store and bought a taco kit. Except, we didn't have a pound of ground beef. We had 2 cups of pre-cooked chicken. It wasn't really a problem, just a lot of extra seasoning.

First, I warmed up the tortillas in foil in the oven. Then I decided that it would be a waste to throw out all that foil, so I heated up the chips in the foil in the oven. Soon I'll start re-using dryer sheets...

Mushroom Sauce

I had pork and lots of mushrooms. So, I took the recipe for mushroom sauce and chicken in the Better Homes & Gardens cookbook and tweaked it. It was much more edible than it appears.