second time's the charm oatmeal

the first time i tried this oatmeal it was meh. in all fairness, i did not do the recipe justice.

for one thing, i didn't realize we were out of real maple syrup. we only had sugar-free maple-ish syrup that the geek accidentally bought a while back.

it also didn't help that the only berries we had on hand were fresh strawberries. when baked, they kind of just dissolved into flavorless mush. (sorry strawberries, i really didn't set you up for success here).

the meh-ness was my bad. i should have planned better, so with a big bag of rolled oats still in the pantry, i vowed to give the recipe another shot.

the second time i made this oatmeal, i planned ahead. real maple syrup? check! berries that bake well? check!

and you know what? it was delicious!

the bigger surprise? the geek loved it.

he loved it so much that it is now on the short list of foods that he actually requests.

he loved it so much that he's looking forward to eating it tomorrow...even though the forecast says it will be in the 80s and we're sitting here with all the windows open and the fans blowing. (north carolina, i miss you and the air conditioning we had in our home there).

once the weather begins to cool, i bet he'll fall even deeper in love with this oatmeal.

sloppy joes

this is how the geek eats his sloppy joes. he's quite neat about it. i, on the other hand, like to eat them as open-faced piles of sloppy goodness.

i first made these for the geek back when we were dating. yes, i know- this is probably the most unromantic thing to make someone. it's messy and not at all sophisticated. elementary school cafeteria lunch anyone? it's probably the equivalent of showing up for a date wearing sweatpants and an old t-shirt - totally not fashionable, but oh so comfortable.

but the geek is a man of simple tastes. up until these, he thought sloppy joe filling only came in a can. so upon his first bite, he was impressed. he loved it!

he still requests this on a regular basis and he's even learned to make it himself.

and despite my earlier elementary school lunch comment, i love these too. it's saucy, satisfying tastiness on a bun.

turkey meatballs

this recipe has three winning characteristics. first, it's super simple. second, it uses ingredients we usually have on hand. third, it's delicious (even mr. picky-pants himself is a fan). it's flavorful and a lot lighter than it's beefy counterpart. oh and bonus- it freezes really well.

we usually have these as 'grinders,' sandwiches with saucy meatballs, crusty bread, and a bit of provolone or mozzarella. these are also fantastic with pasta and sauce. add a simple side salad, and you've got yourself a balanced meal. if you'd rather have a side of fries or chips, i won't judge.

my poor baking pan. it's a trooper that has seen better days.

shoyu chicken

shoyu is japanese for soy sauce.

growing up in hawaii, shoyu was right up there with ketchup when it came to our tabletop condiments. it was also a common cooking ingredient and my family had both a tabletop bottle and a gallon size bottle to serve each purpose.

i love shoyu. it's salty, it's tasty, it's probably the only reason i liked eating tofu as a child. (tofu, the perfect vehicle for shoyu!)

sadly, the geek does not love shoyu. in fact, he does not like it. he'll go for the miso ramen over the shoyu ramen because he 'really doesn't like that flavor.' when eating a piece sushi off my plate, he won't dip it in shoyu voluntarily.

so imagine my surprise when he hesitantly tried shoyu chicken for the first time and realized he really, really liked it. when shoyu is combined with mirin, brown sugar, garlic and ginger alchemy occurs and the result is a delicious flavor the geek loves.

it's now become one of his favorite meals!

the geek's favorite chili

the other day, i mistakenly opened a can of kidney beans. i mistook them for black beans as i foraged through our pantry. not wanting to waste them, i put them in the fridge and declared the next day a chili day.

for the geek, chili day is a great day. chili is one of his favorite meals and the leftovers taste great the next day.

simple chicken quesadillas

quesadillas make for a quick and easy meal. while these are in no way authentic, they are quite tasty and satisfying. this is more of a suggestion than an actual recipe, so use what you have on hand and enjoy!

serve these as appetizers or as a meal.

five-spice braised short ribs with rice

five-spice has a very distinct flavor. with it's combination of cloves, star anise, cinnamon, fennel, and pepper, it is hard to describe with words.

in fact, i didn't even attempt to describe it to the geek. five-spice is the star ingredient of these luscious ribs, so i just served him some ribs with a big scoop of sticky rice and left them alone to get acquainted.

i think the meeting was a success...kind of. while the geek still cannot identify which part of the overall flavor can be attributed to the five-spice powder, he declares these ribs "very tasty, tender, fall off the bone" and says he "rejoices" whenever we have them for dinner.

football grub: pulled pork tacos (eastern north carolina barbecue)

prior to moving to nc, the only barbecue sauce i knew was the thick, ketchupy, sometimes mesquite/smoky variety... like what comes in those kc masterpiece bottles. upon moving here, i learned that eastern north carolina barbecue is:
    -a thin, liquidy sauce, not a thick sauce (more like a marinade than a basting sauce)
    -vinegar-based, with no tomato or ketchup whatsoever
    -tangy, sweet and hot, not smoky or molassesy
    -not the same as western north carolina barbecue sauce
    -especially delicious with coleslaw.


last sunday, we fired up the crock-pot and made some pulled pork. it was easy-peasy to make and turned out deliciously moist and tender. we opted to do an eastern north carolina barbecue sauce and topped it with a quick and easy coleslaw. we offered both hamburger buns for folks who wanted a more traditional pulled pork sandwich, and taco shells for those who wanted some extra crunch.

easy cheesy chicken casserole

the casserole in the picture still needs to be baked, so imagine that the cheese is melty and bubbly, and that's what it would look like if it had just come out of the oven.

i'm traveling for work this week, so i made the geek this casserole to heat and eat later. it's simple to assemble and makes for a comforting, tasty and filling meal. 'assemble' is actually a very fitting word, since the actual cooking involved here is minimal.

a classmate in high school shared a variation of this recipe with me, and it's been my go to 'simple-yet-satisfying' dish ever since.

maybe if the geek is nice, he'll take a picture of the finished product. :)

my oh my, it's shepherd's pie!

the best shepherd's pie i ever ate was in british airways' club world business class on a flight from london to boston. ever since that flight i've been in love with shepherd's pie. once i found a recipe and started making this at home, the geek fell in love with it too.

this isn't the prettiest of dishes (at least it isn't when i make it), but it's oh so tasty and filling. as an added bonus, it's budget friendly too.

traditionally shepherd's pie is made with lamb and cottage pie is made with minced beef, so i guess this technically should be called a cottage pie recipe or 'americanized shepherd's pie.' as folks always tell me when i'm in england, we're two countries separated by a common language.

parmesan chicken tenders

the geek loves pizza, hot dogs, bean burritos, and chicken fingers. someone once commented that he has the taste preferences of a 6 year-old, to which he responded, "i stick with what i like!" :)

fortunately, he'll still try new things. he won't necessarily like the new things, but he will at least try them. sometimes it's totally new, like when he tried steamed barbeque pork buns from the asian market (he liked them!) or vichyssoise (didn't like it all that much). other times, it's a new variation on something familiar, like these parmesan chicken tenders (he liked these too!)

these chicken tenders are a great, hearty appetizer. they offer a nice alternative to the fast-food chicken fingers that the geek loves. they are crunchy on the outside and tender on the inside. i love them with the balsamic vinaigrette dipping sauce, the geek loves them with ketchup. they are simple to make and can be easily turned into an entree.

football grub: taco lettuce cups

we have the nfl sunday ticket package, so during football season, the geek's forty-niner loving family comes over to watch the niners play. since i'm not as invested in the game (or in a fantasy league or pool), i'm in charge of preparing the grub.

this week we decided to do an assemble-your-own-taco bar. i love tacos, but lately my pants have been fitting a little tighter than usual. i wanted to lighten up the meal without turning it into diet food (because apparently, diet food is not football food). so, borrowing the idea from the asian lettuce cup appetizer, i decided to offer lettuce leaves as an alternative to tortillas. notice i said alternative, since the geek loves tortillas (and his pants are fitting just fine).

eat more salad! abc salad

as a general rule, the geek hates salad. hates it! that being said, there's one salad that he likes (almost loves). he calls it "the best salad ever!" it's based on an apple-bacon-cheddar sandwich served at one of our local restaurants. the sweet, crunchy apple, salty-savory bacon, and sharp cheese all work well together in taste and in texture. 

this is not so much a recipe as it is a recommendation.

geek grub: pigs in a blanket

the geek is a picky eater. he's not picky because he's a food snob or a gourmet; he's picky because he likes what he likes and in many cases, these are things that he's liked for years. when i'm out of town, he will happily exist on pizza, hotdogs, burritos, chicken fingers and sandwiches.

when we were planning our wedding, we decided to each pick two appetizers to offer during the cocktail hour. i chose sushi and vegetarian spring rolls with plum and peanut sauces. the geek selected crackers and cheese with fruit and pigs in a blanket with ketchup and mustard. he was very excited about the pigs in a blanket (in fact, he just declared that they are the only appetizer he can remember from our wedding).

they are a cinch to make, so we'll have them as a snack when we have folks over to watch football. the geek will also eat them as a meal. right out of the oven, they're tasty and satisfying.

ginger molasses cookies

the geek loves molasses cookies. he also loves the triple gingersnaps we get from trader joes. these ginger molasses cookies are a little bit of both. the recipe is a mish-mash of molasses cookie recipes from around the web (with the primary influence being the pioneer woman's recipe for spicy molasses cookies).