Today was a lazy day if there ever was one, but I went into it not knowing what I was making for dinner. After talking my husband into putting some rice into my Black & Decker Handy Steamer and thawing some chicken, I was committed. Remembering a lonely can of cream of chicken condensed soup [...]

Who says udon noodles belong in soup? Delicious udon noodles, salty and sticky, are also a great base for a stir fry when rice gets a little boring (or will take too long to make).
For this stir fry I started with some chicken that was sealed in a FoodSaver bag with some Mrs. Dash Spicy [...]

Among the many items in my pantry that I consider staples is Classico’s Roasted Garlic Alfredo sauce. Whether I’m using it in my famous cajun chicken pasta (which I surprisingly still haven’t shared on this blog!) or tossing it with shrimp and sun-dried tomatoes, it’s restaurant quality and simply the best out there, especially [...]

CONFESSION: I kind of love Hamburger Helper. Yes I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating. It’s a great starter for an interesting weeknight meal if you get creative enough.
Tonight I made the Cheesy Ranch Burger Hamburger Helper, but of course I added my own special touches to make it my own. I sautéed sliced [...]

I never would have thought of using tunafish in tacos. But when Rick Bayless made some on his show, I knew I had to try it. I had some Sweet & Spicy tuna packets (Aldi’s generic competitor to the StarKist brand) that, to be honest, I was kind of terrified of, and they’d been living [...]

There’s something kind of great about bringing a lunch in to work and having people ask where you ordered it from. It happens a lot when I make stir fry, probably because the sauces I get are so aromatic. My trusted brand of sauces is Lee Kum Kee, available in Asian markets and some [...]

Chicken Saagwala is one of my favorite quick and easy meals. I pulled it from the archives to post here when I opened the blog and today, after spending 2 hours on a drive that usually takes 40 minutes (thanks, flooding!) quick was necessary.
Kitchens of India’s Palak Paneer makes it super simple to have something [...]

Tonight’s weekly Farscape night went the direction of many Farscape nights lately, filled mostly with eating and visiting until it was too late to get a proper episode in. But at least dinner was good! I love hosting dinner for friends, so when it’s our turn to host for Farscape it’s always a treat figuring [...]

CONFESSION: I know nothing about wine. Not even a little. I just know that red wine is good for cooking with red meat, while white wine is better for cooking with lighter meats and seafood. The good thing about this is, I’m totally not a snob. This allows me to try all sorts of new [...]

When I discovered Pastoral Artisan Cheese, Bread and Wine, a wonderful cheese shop / sandwich shop near where I was working recently in Chicago’s Loop, I was ecstatic! I’d been searching for a great source for my favorite serrano ham and manchego cheese for awhile to make a really special treat. We enjoyed it today [...]

Fajitas are tricky to photograph, especially when toothpicks are hard to find. Luckily we still had these bizarre jungle friend martini markers (they dangle on the martini glass like wine charms), so with a little stab at least these stayed put.
I prepared these fajitas using Lawry’s Tequila Lime Marinade that I included with some [...]

CONFESSION: We’ve eaten out every day for nearly a week. Crunch time at work means not a lot of cooking gets done in this house lest my husband cooks for himself. So when my craving for great buffalo chicken got the best of me today, a bottle of Buffalo Wild Wings Spicy Garlic sauce kept [...]