CONFESSION: I love cookbooks. Like LOVE cookbooks, even though I rarely use the recipes as described. I like browsing through for fun, getting ideas, learning new techniques I can apply elsewhere. Sure, I use the internet to find recipes on occasion, but my first stop is almost always my shelf of cookbooks. And that’s where [...]

Since I started teaching in August, my 10-hour days plus my teaching schedule have made dinners at home generally boring and certainly nothing worth posting. Lots of repeats of previous favorite meals, that sort of thing. But I’ve decided to begin harnessing what time I *do* have to begin cooking meals ahead of time. As [...]

When I discovered Trader Joe’s had langostino tails (little, sweet lobsters) for only $9 a bag I about lost my mind. There’s little I love more than seafood alfredo, and now I would be able to make my own!!
It was really quite simple to do. I thawed and rinsed the langostinos before sautéeing them in [...]

Who knew a crappy little hole-in-the-wall restaurant would have one of the best meals out I’ve had in a long time? My friends and I had dinner at Taste of Lebanon in Chicago before seeing our friend Don play Tom Cruise in a reenactment of Legend at the Neo-Futurists Theatre and were treated to a [...]

CONFESSION: I am hugely skeptical about tofu that claims to be something else. Unless it’s made by Quorn. Then it’s cool.
That said, it’s not a surprise I’m not terribly impressed with Smart Strips Chick’n Strips. They simply tried to make them too much like chicken, which is awesome in its own way, I guess, but [...]

Chicken piccata is something I’ve never tried to make before. I used to love Lean Cuisine’s Chicken Piccata back when they had it (I think it might be spookily similar to the Lemon Chicken now)  so when I saw that Trader Joes carried a jarred chicken piccata sauce, I was ecstatic to try it. The [...]

I’m not afraid to mix my Asian cuisines. Korean, Chinese, Japanese, Thai—if it comes from Mitsuwa it all overlaps in my kitchen. Trader Joes also has pre-marinated Korean Boolgogi (or Bulgogi), but I prefer the stuff from our favorite Asian grocer.
Again using the peppers and onions from the taco party, I stir fried the marinated [...]

Okay, so our friends had this party that involved a taco bar. And they overprepared. Like OMG overprepared. Like after TWO dinner parties that weekend they still sent guests home with bags of chopped onion, tomatoes, peppers and cheese. My cooking usually features a lot of peppers and onions, but these formed the base of [...]

Trader Joes, how do I love thee. I don’t care that you’re Aldi in a fancy dress. In fact, I love that you’re Aldi in a fancy dress and your delicious foods are priced accordingly. And I do love thee. Let me count the ways.

First there’s their Garlic Naan, in the freezer section for < [...]

One of the keys to keeping at-home cooking interesting is knowing how to put meals together, combining flavors in a variety of ways. Tonight’s dinner was grilled on my Mario Batali Grill Pan. For these great thinly cut pork chops I used Penzey’s Northwoods Fire, a nice smoky and spicy blend. I brushed the chops [...]

CONFESSION: Campbell’s taught me how to cook. The first cookbook I ever used regularly was Campbell’s Quick and Easy Cookbook. While my dad has a lot to do with my love of cooking, this was the first cookbook that taught me how to shortcut through recipes and how to begin experimenting with the possibilities of [...]

As we save up to buy our first home, we’re on a big money-saving kick. A big part of that is keeping up our lifestyle, eating the foods we love on a budget, so low-cost restaurant-quality meals are a big bonus.
Our favorite local gyros place (at least for cheap gyros) is about $4.50 for a [...]