Thanksgiving Break is a beautiful thing, but not perfect. I think there’s a very accurate expression “If you need something done, ask the busiest person.” This comes with the corollary: “A person with much to do will always sabotage themselves when confronted with plenty of time to do it.”  Well, we’re coming up on finals week with plenty of projects to work on…soooo.

First was a simple mix of potatoes, onions, corn, and ground round. I mixed a bit with rice for the first go-around, then cooked it overnight in beef broth. The result of which I showed in the picture.

Second, thrice cooked chicken (boiled, grilled, and pan fried[olive oil and lots of minced garlic]) in rigatoni. I overcooked the noodles a bit, as you can see in the picture, but it was truly delicious with plenty of basil, grape tomatoes, parsley, and Parmesan cheese.

I’d love to hear/see about easy dishes that you guys like to whip up.  For now I’ll put my nose to the grindstone and hope to improve my productivity.

I’ve been running silent lately. Most of this is due to the fact that I’m stretched a little too far. What I have had lately is a lot more time to be in my apartment (working or otherwise) to enjoy the joys of cooking. While I usually just throw together sandwiches or spartan pastas, now and again I get to cook up something fun. Usually this involves the NuWave Oven that I reviewed a while back (thanks again S & H).  I threw together a gallery of the ones I remembered to photograph.

The first and second was some chicken I made for my first attempt at a Chicken Tikka Masala. The chicken was rubbed in butter, onions, cayenne and ginger.  The dish went over fairly well with my parents, but it was pretty far from any Masala’s I’ve had.  Next time I’ll remember to buy the right ingredients and follow a recipe. Oh, the third picture was the same sauce and chicken (lots of leftovers) over rice.

The fourth and fifth pictures are Parmesan Potatoes (I guess that’s the best name I could come up with). Three potatoes spiced with parsley, rosemary, thyme and basil and cooked in butter and olive oil. Near the end of the cooking I threw on some grated Parmesan cheese I had sitting around.

The last pictures are from today’s lunch/dinner: HabaHoneyBQ Chicken (they’re getting worse). I had some Habanero Honey left from my trip to Colorado (courtesy of a little candy shop in Monument) which I mixed with barbecue sauce to coat the chicken. I baked for about 15 minutes on one side and 10 on the other.  The result was a deliciously charred, sweet taste.  Unfortunately  some of it was a bit tough, the reason for which I finally realized: using partially frozen chicken breasts. Unless you chop all of the chicken into similarly sized pieces the NuWave tends to overcook the smaller ones.  From now on I get uniform cuts or, preferably, allow my chicken plenty of time to thaw.

Anyways, the dish was partnered with some rice pilaf with corn and dusted with cilantro.  It’s been very tasty, but I’m not a master yet. I’ll stay vigilant and keep you updated. I’m excited to graduate and settle into a real apartment with a decent kitchen. I promise my posts will improve.

Happy Saturday.