I know you're not here for the scenery

My new, working gas cooktop... beeeeeutiful!

I made a pretty good dinner last night... My gas cooktop is finally up and running, which means I can give my microwave a break, and make stuff like scrambled eggs, grilled cheese, and rice! YAY for rice!

Sunday dinner was roast beef with baby potatos, acorn squash and gravy.

I'm sorry I didn't take any pictures.

Prepare your roast by sticking it in a pan with some garlic and chopped onions. If you're with it enough to have actual beef broth (which I am not) pour about 2 cups of that in with some worcestershire sauce and soy sauce- or mix 2 tbsp of beef oxo in a cup and add that. Stick it in the oven with a lid on at 350 for 25 minutes per lb... you'll need to take the lid off for the last 20 minutes... steamed meat is gross... but if you leave the lid off for the whole cooking time, you will have jerky.

Prepare potatos by cutting into a big pot, cover with salted water
Prepare squash by cutting in half and placing cut side down in a pan with about 2-3 inches of salted water... don't ask me what's with all the salt, I'm just doing it because I've always done it that way!

About 20 minutes before the meat is done, turn on the potatos and squash and cook at medium heat until they're soft.

Remove roast from oven and let it sit for 10 minutes.
Mash or don't mash the potatos
Use a spoon to remove the seeds from the squash, then dig the flesh out and put it in a bowl with a big glob of butter and a big spoonful of brown sugar and mash it all together in a bowl.

Prepare gravy according to package instructions- use the water from the potatos and the squash- it's got hidden goood-for-you in it!
OR take the drippings and broth from the bottom of the roast pan, add the veggie water and get it simmering on the stove. Add 4 heaping tsp of corn starch to a cup and make a gloop with COLD water. When the gravy base is simmering slowly pour the cornstarch gloop in while stirring constantly until a gravy like consistency is reached. Don't use too much cornstarch or you will have meat flavored jelly... Don't use warm water to mix the corn starch, or you will make a mug full of crap... DO pour slowly into the pan and stir well or you will get lumpy gravy!

Serve to your picky family and act like you busted your ass to make this!

I'm looking forward to having a "special guest" cook in the house soon. My buddy Fraser LOVES to cook and has been lusting after my kitchen since he helped me move in... Keep your eyes peeled for his appearance!

Chicken and Rice...

This was one of those nights that I made it in the door with less than an hour to plan and prepare a dinner... basically I do this about 4 nights out of 7... Sure I could be more organized, but that takes time too!

* Quick tip on getting the clutter out of your house- Get someone who you know and trust- who knows you fairly well- have them over to your house on a Saturday. Give them a box of trash bags and tell them to toss everything that they think you don't need. You MUST leave the house while they do this. Tell them to take the bags away when they are done, so you are not tempted to go digging through them to "rescue" your crap. Remember- it's ALL CRAP! LET IT GO.
You will more than likely never guess what they threw out, and you will have so much less clutter!


Ok. Back to dinner...

You will need-

• 1 lb chicken breast- boneless, skinless (or one per person)
• Honey Garlic BBQ sauce
• Garlic powder
• pepper
• Minute Rice
  
• Mixed vegetables

Heat oven to 375 degrees, line baking sheet in foil BECAUSE WE HATE CLEANING, place chicken face down on sheet, sprinkle liberally with garlic powder and pepper. Turn right side up, make several shallow (1/4'') slices lengthwise (that's ALONG the "grain") into the meat and baste liberally with BBQ sauce (remember we didn't have time to marinate the meat, so this will help get the flavor in while it's cooking). Stick it in the hot oven on the middle rack and go do something for 20 minutes.
...
Ok, now that you're back, get your medium sized pot (one with a lid that fits, OR you can use a dinner plate to cover the pot if need be)... Basically you will prepare the rice according to the directions on the box PLUS add 1 cup of mixed- frozen veggies to the water. Bring the water and veggies to a rolling boil, add the rice, slap the lid on and remove from heat. 5 Minutes later you will have rice and veggies! YAY

Assuming that took altogether another 10 minutes, you can pull the chicken out and cut into it. If it's white all through and the juices are clear (not pink) then you have Chicken! YAY! If you're not so sure about the done-ness, kill it for another 10-15 minutes.

TADA! My hubby thinks rice is for sissys and chicken is for girls (I'm paraphrasing here) So I asked him to rate it on a 1-10 scale. 1 being "Rancid Pork Fat" (I'll tell you about that some other time) and 10 being "Prime Rib"... He actually gave it a 6! Really! Coming from the Neanderthal, that's fairly decent! He even had 2nds of the rice.