Salmon on Sunday

I've been trying to shake things up a bit with our dinner time menu... and, honestly, find meals that don't take 900 years to make. Since Jacob HAS to be in bed at a certain time every night because of school, dinner HAS to be on the table by 6:30pm.

Heh.

Yeah, I've been KINDA punctual about that. (please read: not really & it's a nightly panic for me)

I made this salmon this past week and it was tasty, easy & fast. The perfect weeknight trifecta. Give it whorl and see what you think!

Smokey-Sweet Salmon

salmon fillets (defrosted, if they happened to have entered your house frozen)

For the Rub:
brown sugar
salt
pepper
chili powder
cumin





I'm not going to tell you how much to use of  rub ingredients. I know.... Use the brown sugar as the base for the other ingredients and taste test as you go. What we found as the perfect balance might not fly in your house. Trust your taste buds!

Set your oven to 425.



Mix the rub ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside. 

Spray an oven approved dish with oil and place the salmon in the dish. Sprinkle the rub all over the salmon- rub it into both sides.



Let it sit for about 5 minutes.

Cook for 10-15 minutes.
Watch it carefully! 
Take it out of the oven and let it rest of 5-10 minutes.
Enjoy!

Happy Tuesday, with Food!

Welcome back, Gentle Readers!

It's been a while, hasn't it? Too long, I would say. But that punky little Tiny Human (who takes up so much time and energy) has made the weeks fly by. He's just over a month old & yes, I'll soon be regaling you all with the grand story of his birth... namely so you can laugh at me. trust me. You're gonna laugh at me.

There's so much going on here on the blog too. I have quite a few stories to tell, rants to rant, recipes to share & a give away or two! I'm super excited to share it all with you.

But, allow me to get back into the blogging swing of things with a recipe.

Show of hands.... how many people have a short person in their house? And how many people have a Disney loving short person? Does the name Remy ring a bell? If your kids are anything like the resident short person in my house, then the answer is "Yes!"....

Since the movie came out, Jacob has been hounding me to fix Ratatouille. I have not been convinced that a) I could pull this off or b) that anyone in my house would eat it.... specifically the one calling for its presence. But, last week I decided to give it a whirl. Ish.

The following recipe is not so much "ratatouille" as it is my spin on it. And by "spin", I mean, please don't consider this an authentic recipe. But... you might wanna consider it as a tasty meal-time option!

My Ratatouille

you'll need:
1 eggplant. chopped into bite sized pieces
2 zucchini- ditto from above
1 red bell pepper- chopped
1 yellow bell pepper- chopped
1 onion- roughly chopped
1 can of diced tomatoes- you could totally use fresh. I just happened to have canned
5 slices of bacon- chopped
dried basil (to taste)
garlic powder (to taste)
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper

1 box of couscous- I used "Roasted Garlic and Olive oil" flavor to save myself some time


Chop or cut your bacon into bite size pieces. Cook it. Smell the delicious aroma of bacon and remember that everything is better with bacon (almost). Remove the bacon from the pan. Drain off most of the bacon fat, leaving enough to cook your veggies in.

Start the couscous.

Add your onion to the pan and cook until translucent. Then, add the rest of the veggies. Salt and pepper. Then add your basil and your garlic powder. Throw in a bay leaf.

And let it go until the veggies start getting soft. I pulled it before they got mushy. We like some bite to our veg around here. However, you could totally let it go a bit longer.

Dish up some couscous on a plate and then spoon the 'ratatouille' over the couscous.
Serve to a thankful family.

Stuffed Potato Yummy-ness

I'm really not over reaching when I tell you that I made the greatest stuffed potatoes EVER last night. I am absolutely my biggest critic when it comes to food I prepare. I'm always and a day making something & then (3 bites in) deciding that I could have done it better- and making a plan.

But not these babies. Oh, no. They are perfection. (I sound so full of myself, don't I?!)
And... they used up some left overs that were taking up shelf space in my Frigidaire. Score! And, I made them using ingredients I scrounged the pantry for. Double Score! Also, these potatoes are huge & super filling, so they totally rock the show as the main entree. Triple Score!

Anyway, allow me to share.

First, spend about 900 hours caramelizing some onions over the stove while you watch the Big Bang Theory on your laptop.

Actually, it's more like 30-45 minutes. But whatever. Seems longer.

And I stand by my statement on the BBT.

When they start to caramelize and get beautiful, hit them with a couple of shots of Worcestershire sauce & a pinch of sugar.

AFTER you're done with the onions, start on the potatoes.

Why?

Because you're about to crank your oven up to 450 degrees for about 60 minutes.

That puppy gets hot!

And, I don't know about you, but I try and flee the kitchen when the oven is that hot. 

Moving along.

Place a cookie sheet, lined with foil on the bottom rung.

Wash your potatoes. 

Then oil those babies up. I used extra-virgin.

And then salt them up. Use kosher/sea salt/Morton's. Whatever.

Just salt the heck out of them. 

I mean it. Use more that you think you'll need. 

Then put them directly on the oven rack. Cook them for 50-60 minutes, flipping them over every 20 or so.

By the way, this is totally the way I make regular old baked potatoes. 

Now comes the fun part.  When you take the potatoes out of the oven set them out to cool for a bit & make sure you turn the oven OFF for a while. It's hot enough as it is in North Texas with out added to the heat! 

When the potatoes are cool enough to handle (and you've turned the oven back on to your broiler setting!!!), slice them open and scoop out the flesh, making sure to keep the shells intact. You're going to need 'em later. To be honest, I'm really not sure what the best way to do this is. I just made a slit in the top, smooshed up the flesh & started scooping. 

Now.

Take that left over roasted chicken from the end of last week (what, you don't have that in your fridge? ... hmm.) and mix it with the scooped out potato flesh, some sour cream & a bit of shredded cheese. Add some fresh ground pepper, some garlic powder & a wee pinch of salt. Mix it all up.

Stuff it all back into the potato shells. Don't worry about getting too much stuffing, just go for it, I say. If you're like me and the chicken is a bit on the chilly side, pop them back in the oven for a few minutes while the broiler is heating up. That should do the trick.

And remember those tasty onions from earlier? 

Top the potatoes with those.

Top the onions with some more cheese.

Then into the oven, under the broiler, for 2-3 minutes. Until they look like this:

The hand you see in the picture below is my husband's. He's almost done eating his 1st potato & was about 60 seconds away from diving into his 2nd. 

Happy Eating!

It's Almost a Recipe

So, yesterday was a big day around here. My little baby boy graduated pre-K. Sniffle. He looked so big and so darn grown up. I don't know if my heart can take this. The child had a cap (as in cap and gown) and it came home with us. And a little diploma. Sigh.

The other big event was- I went to the grocery store. Why was it a big event? Cause I looked around my cabinets last night and realized that unless I could convince my people that A) ramen was a good meal or B) grilled cheese and soup would be an excellent dinner (again)... I had to brave the grocery store & soon.

As luck would have it, I had E & Jacob with me. No, neither one of my males came into the store with me. Oy. Both would have been whining, but for totally different reasons! No. The men-folk stayed in the car while I ran in. 30 minutes later, I'm happy to say that I had a cart full of tasty food & ingredients! I'm also happy to say that having those two around when it's time to unload the car makes shopping much more enjoyable!

To make a long story even longer- I wasn't really in the mood to make a full-on dinner. Really. The less pots and pans the better. I pulled together some salmon, couscous & a salad.

(isn't it pretty?)

The star of the dinner was the salmon. It was so super easy to make. And good. Did I mention good? In fact, both the husband and the 4 year old have requested that I make it again. Sweet!

This is what I did: I looked at the trusty Internet for 20 minutes looking everywhere for a suitable salmon recipe. And I found nothing. Fantastic. So, I raided my spice cabinet. And made a rub for the salmon.

Salmon Rub:

brown sugar

onion powder

garlic powder

salt

pepper

rub the rub (ha!) all over the fish. front and back.

put in a PAM'd dish.

375 degree oven- 10 minutes... ish. 

Serve to a grateful family.

Delicious. Especially on the youngling's Star Wars plate.

I will say that I'm planning on playing with this a bit. Next time I think I'll add some spicy spices- chili powder, cumin, something like that. 

Dinner, Dinner, Chicken- oh wait...

There's no meat in this dinner.

I made soup last night. Yes, soup. That wonderful creation that requires I throw in a bunch of ingredients, stir every few minutes and then be rewarded with plenty of food to feed a house dominated by males (2-1).

And, as a bonus, my brother-from-a-different-mother was over last night having dinner with us. Did I also mention that E worked late last night? Till 8pm? So a typical, sit down dinner was not going to cut it?

So, the Soup.

I found the recipe for 3-Bean Soup in one of my 900 hundred cooking magazines. (really, it's a sickness) I didn't have everything that the recipe called for (shocking!) but I decided that (as usual) I could play fast and loose with the ingredient list and I was right.

3-Bean Soup 
(honestly.... it's a meatless chili)
(adapted from Taste of Home magazine)

1 large onion (just chop it)
1 can spinach (rinsed & drained as best as you can)
garlic (so, I just measured out a teaspoon and a 1/2)
1 can (16-oz) kidney beans; rinse & drain
2 cans (16-oz) black beans; rinse & drain
1 can (16-oz) refried beans (no, I'm not kidding.)
14 oz of chicken broth (meh. eye ball it.)
1 can stewed tomatoes (sort of mash 'em up with you toss them in the pot)
salsa (again. eye ball it. I used somewhere between 3/4-1 cup. I used mild, cause it's what I had in the fridge)
chili powder (to taste)
cumin (ditto)
2 bay leaves (why? cause it's soup! and soup needs- it begs for bay leaves!)


Get a big 'ol pot and put it on your stove. Throw down some olive oil and the onions. Let them the onions get all nice and cooked. Then toss in the spinach. I tried to get the spinach to crisp and brown a little. It kinda worked! When that was nice and cooked, I added the garlic.
Then, I just dumped the rest of the ingredients in.
Easy, Peasy.

Let it cook for 30 minutes or so.
Taste it.
Adjust seasonings for taste.

Done.

(I served with shredded cheese and sour cream.)

The next time I make it, I will probably get fancy with the some added ingredients. But, honestly. If you're looking for a super fast, low-key way to feed your people some good food.... well, make this soup.

So, I Made Lunch One Day

Every once in a great while, I like to exercise my cooking skills around lunch time. Usually around the same time I'm thinking about trying out a new recipe & I'm having doubts or questions about it. What better time, than lunch time? When it's usually just me & the wingman around to flex the culinary muscles?

I thought so.

Behold, today ... I give you a lunch time recipe. In pictures.

This first step is Important. Go to the store. Get a 6-pack of Zevia Natural Sodas. Go! Go, now! They are super yummy. And, no. I haven't been asked to say that. I just really love them. This pretty pink can is filled with tasty Strawberry (!).

Anyway. On with the show- or lunch. Whatever.

I had a recipe that I found. Somewhere. I had most of the ingredients. (yeah, whoops. always check your recipe Before you start cooking, kids!) But I had a few ideas to tweak it, so to speak.

Chop some onion. I used what I had leftover in the FridgAdair. That would be 3/4 of a white onion & about 1/4 of a purple.

Heat up a nice, large skillet with some olive oil. (net time, though, I'm thinking of chopping up some Bacon & then adding the onion once the bacon cooks up. Everything is better with bacon.) Add some garlic. How much? Hmmm.... I used one of my regular old spoons I set the table with with- one scoop. (I'm so precise.)

While the onions & garlic are cooking (and the garlic is hopefully not burning!) chop up one zucchini. Really. I just used one. I thought I might need more than that. Nope. Just one.

Throw it in the pan. And if a short one who's seen "Ratatouille" one too many times comes wandering into the kitchen begging to be a cooker like Remy & "Please, Mommy! I want to help!" I say, hold the pan and left him stir.... and, you know. Take a picture.

Keep stirring.
Let the zucchini get nice and browned and tender and yummy.

Throw in some frozen corn. (Because the 4 year old will usually eat anything with corn.)

Drain a can of beans and dump the beans in. I used red kidney beans, but I think just about any kind of bean would work. Pick one you like.

Next, open a can of diced tomatoes and pour the whole can in. Stir, please.

Add some water and bring to a simmer. Now. Add some spices. I went with some basil, oregano, bay, thyme... you know, my spice palate love language. But I say, play around. Here's where this dish can be spun around to taste Mexican-y. Or whatever you're feeling like. The point is, just add whatever you want to flavor the dish. Here.

Then let it cook for about 10 minutes or so.

Add a cup of rice. Turn the heat down and let the rice soak up all the liquid. It will. I promise.

When it's done, it looks like this. Check your seasoning. (I added just a pinch of salt and pepper after it was all said and done.)

Oh, and then it looks like this on you're plate. Because you added some cheese. :-)

I liked this one. And even the Oh-so-too-picky-for-his-own-good little Mister liked it too.


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

I made these tasty, tasty meatballs last week. Oh, my. Yes. Behold! I meatloaf that I can actually cook & eat. Yea! They cook, all the way through & I can cut them up to avoid any unsettling dinner time texture issues!

But, really. Seriously. Best meatloaf-y tastiness EVAH.


I made just half the recipe. Cause really.... three adults. 1 child. Yeah.



BUT. But.... we made the full recipe for the sauce. Yes, indeed-y. With quite a loose hand shaking in the hot sauce... cause, um. Yes, please. Even the young lad enjoys some spice in his meals. Makes me so very, very proud.

And. Someone helped make the sauce. Yes. He was so very, very proud. And he ate. And ate. And then the young Jedi ate.... some more.

Yum.



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Irony with a Side of Burgers

Or maybe the other way around.

Anyway.

True story. I do not like burgers. Or meatballs. Or meatloaf. Or any other compacted meat... thing. I have nothing against ground meat- I find it tasty, but when it's compacted... we've got trouble. It's a texture thing & it skeeves me out.

::shudder::

However, I make a really kicking burger.

ground beef
1 packet of hidden valley ranch dressing
worcestershire sauce (several healthy shakes out of the bottle)
hot sauce (just a shake or two)... note: sauce, not salsa, there's a difference
salt (a couple of grinds)
pepper (a couple of grinds)
... and to really make it fun, toss in some cheese crumbles- I like blue cheese

Mix it all together & let it sit and chill in the fridge for a couple of hours before you pat them out into patties and through them on the grill. And, if you have texture issues, like yours truly, then crumble your pattie up (sloppy joe style) & enjoy on your bun.... just be sure you can ignore the eye rolling from your beloved friends and family!

Peace Out!

I Remembered Today, Does That Count?

First things first!

Burgers-

85/15 fat. It's a must. Deal with it. And beef~ at least for these suggestions. And I mean it about the fat content. Anytime you make a burger with beef, 85/15 people.

Spicy Ranch Burger

1 lb ground beef
1 packet of Hidden Valley Ranch
a hearty dose of your favorite hot sauce (NOT salsa! there is a dif. peeps.)
shredded Gouda cheese

Mix it all together in a big bowl. Let it marinate, covered, in the fridge for an hour or two. Form into 4 patties and grill.

Makes 4 burgers.

Blue Cheese Burgers

1 lb ground beef
hot sauce
Worcestershire sauce
blue cheese crumbles
salt
pepper

Same directions as above.

Now, on to the bread.

It's your basic banana bread recipe.... tweaked
2 cups flour
3/4 cups white sugar (though I cut back just a touch on this)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 salt
4 bananas; mashed
1/4 cup milk- nonfat works best, I think
1 egg
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 & a little more brown sugar
..... and chocolate chips

Oven to 350.
Coat an 8-inch loaf pan to prevent a sad ending to a promising start. In a medium bowl, combine your dry (I'm including the sugars) ingredients and mix it well. In a large bowl (and I do mean large, if you are even the slightest bit as messy as I am) peel and mash your bananas. Add the milk, eggs & vanilla and mix to combine. Add the stuff in the medium bowl to the large bowl. Mix it up, baby.

Now.... the good part. Add your chocolate chips. I'm not going to tell you how much to add. It all depends on if you want Chocolate Chip Banana Bread or Banana Chocolate Chip Bread! :-)

Fold Them in.

Bake until a toothpick comes out almost clean. About 1 hour. Let it cool on a wire rack for about 10 minutes before removing from the pan and letting it cool completely on the rack.

Slice and Enjoy!

Some Chicken You Might Like

Warning: If the thought of consuming of preparing poultry makes you ill, then you might want to skip this post.

Today we're talking chicken. I have 2 chicken recipes for you. Both have been tested (both in the cooking and in the eating arenas) and considered TASTY.

Both recipes were snagged off other websites- one from Pace Southwestern Cooking & the other.... heh, I don't remember. Oops. All that to say, these aren't my recipes but I feel compelled to share yumminess when I find it.

You're Welcome.

Tasty Chicken #1

1 packet of Good Seasoning Italian dressing
1/2 cup brown sugar
whatever chicken parts make you happy (but I would say about 4 or more pieces)

Pre-heat oven to 350.
PAM a baking dish. Place chicken in dish.

In a bowl, mix the packet of dressing and the brown sugar. Pour over the chicken. Then slam the birdies into the oven for 50 minutes (about). No, I'm not kidding. As the sugar starts to melt, it will form a sauce, just go back & spoon over the chicken every once in a while.

Tasty Chicken #2

aka: Salsa Chicken

(unrelated question: why do recipes with a southwest bent almost always use the word "zippy"? and why do I almost always get the overwhelming urge to white-out that insipid word?... something to ponder....)

5 chicken breasts (duh)
1 3/4 cups salsa of your choice (I used mild)
3 T & 2 1/4 t packed brown sugar
1 T & 3/4 t Dijon mustard (okay, I'll be honest- I eyeballed this... and it was honey dijon)

Preheat oven to 350.
PAM a baking dish and lovingly place your chicken in it. I salt and peppered mine.

Combine the other ingredients and then pour over the chicken. Bake for 55-60 minutes.


Eat and Enjoy

Taylor vs. Broccoli

So here's the deal.

I really do love vegetables (except for Brussels sprouts, but those are an abomination & should be destroyed, yuck!). I have good and tasty recipes for corn (technically a starch, I know), green beans, asparagus (eat the asparagus I make & you'll be a convert. Trust me), carrots, etc.

......
But.


I have a kitchen foe.

Broccoli.

Oh, I have tried to tame this menace. I have tried. I have hunted through cooking books, scoured the internet.... but nothing.

It's not that it's nasty, that's not it, oh faithful InterPeeps. If that were the problem, then I could walk away with my head held high... knowing that I had tried to slay this beast.

But, alas.

The problem is that it's simply... blah. ho-hum. It's not good. It's not bad. Oh, I know that I could slather it with melted Velveta and be done with it... but.... somehow.... that seems like cheating. I yearn to put forth a broccoli dish that will delight the senses as it pleases the palette! I need to conqueror this culinary foe, my Peoples! The line must be drawn Here! Viva, la Broccoli!-......

Errrr.....

Sorry about that.
I'm better now.

What I meant to say is. If anyone has any tasty broccoli dish recipes they'd love to share, that would be great!

Gross stuff warning & other more fun stuff

So what's going on in my little corner of the world?

Well, let's see.... little Jacob is sick. Huge Bummer. Took him to the doctor last week & our rockstar family doc diagnosed him with an ear infection. Ick. Now, he's snotty & coughing up a lung. ::sigh:: And all that snot its making for a vomitous little boy. As an extra special gift last night, at 1:30 in the blessed a.m., the poor little dude threw up all over me, him and the floor in his room.

And let me tell you something, there's not much that will snap you into wakefulness like a vomiting 18 month old.

And as an extra special treat, I'm fighting off this plague. Awesome.

Yesterday I ate leftover chips, salsa and guacamole from Papacitos for lunch. And it was glorious, I tell you.

And can I just take a moment to tell you the greatest way to cook & eat asparagus? Snap the woody ends off, coat them in extra virgin olive oil, & wrap 3-4 in a strip of bacon. Then salt and pepper. Throw those puppies in an 400 degree oven & watch them closely. When the bacon starts crisping up, pull 'em out & hit 'em with some fresh squeezed lemon juice. Yummy.

Do you know the Pioneer Woman? You should. She's got a salsa recipe that I'm itching to try. You know, when I'm done slaying the Black Plague that's currently invaded my house.

Make This Chicken, Thank Me Later

Not kidding about the title-

I have found myself in a bit of a chicken rut these days. But hey, who hasn't? I've also been searching the World Wide Web over to find a good 'un'fried chicken recipe. Yes, I said 'un'fried. I want the crunchy texture- but not the greasy mess of having to cook in 1000 degree oil. And, let's face it- that's a trip to the ER that I really don't have time for. ::sigh::

Anyway- I found a recipe that sounded promising, but there was one problem.

Shake 'en Bake... you aren't a friend of mine.

But, fear not! The intrepid cook/blogger got creative last night and a tasty meal came forth from the kitchen & will now and forever more be on my chicken cooking rotation! And now, I share this masterpiece with you.

I call it....

Ridiculously Easy, Yet Marvelously Tasty 'Un'Fried Chicken
(catchy title, huh?)

chicken (duh)- I used a mix of breasts & legs
1 bottle Ranch dressing- I used Buttermilk ranch, but use whatever you have on hand.

Breading Mixture:
Panko- Japanese bread crumbs... trust me.
basil
oregano
pepper
garlic salt
(I played fast and loose with the measurements here. Go with your gut, but go easy on the garlic salt- a little goes a long way.)

Throw the chicken and the ranch dressing into a ziploc baggie & refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes. I mean it, no less.

Set your oven to 400 degree & get the breading mixed in a shallow pan. Snag a baking sheet (or 2) out of your cubbord and spray with some PAM. When the chicken has marinated long enough, dredged the chicken and place on your greased baking sheet. Into the oven it goes for 40-45 minutes, turning the chicken once.

**I turned the chicken 20 minutes into the cooking time & flipped the baking sheet around cause I have a freaky oven that cooks hotter on the back side than the front.**

Depending on where your oven grate is, the breading might start to burn a little (mine was on the middle rack), just lower it if that starts to freak you out a little like it did me.

The chicken came out yummmy, moist, & nice and crispy all the way around. No soggy, nasty real estate on these birdies. Next time I make this, I'm thinking of adding a little Parmesan cheese to the panko breading. :-)

OH! and I almost forgot! Here's something that has changed my brownie making life FOREVER! FOREVER, I tell you. On a suggestion from another, I poured my brownie batter (thank you, Mr. Hines.) into cupcake baking cup & baked them in muffin tins. Brilliant, I tell you! They are the perfect serving size and they have their own little cuppies to keep the mess in place! I may never make brownies in a pan again.

Happy Monday, InterPeeps!
And- if you have a moment, say a prayer for the Parkers. They are trying to get their son out of Haiti. It's been hell.

The Only Cookie Recipe You'll Ever Need

Seriously.......

(and I would suggest 1/2ing the recipe unless you have a passel of hungry boy scouts clambering around your table. This makes a TON of dough.)


These are the best cookies ever- end of discussion. And super easy to make.

2 cups sugar
2 cups brown sugar
2 cups butter, room temperature
4 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
4 cups flour
3-4 cups oatmeal

2 packages semi-sweet chocolate chips


Preheat the oven to 350.

Mix the sugar, brown sugar, butter, eggs & vanilla.
Mix in the salt, baking powder, baking soda, & flour. Work the flour into the dough one cup at a
time. Mix until flour is completely incorporated.

Fold in the oatmeal. Mix well.
Stir in the chocolate chips.

Bake for 11-14 minutes on greased baking sheet.

*****
Your next challenge will be to try and keep these cookies around for longer than 10 seconds a batch.

A Supposedly Pithy Post

So, I was trying to come up with some peppy, pithy little post to herald the new month of September.... and, I've got nothin'.

Epic Fail.

I am, however, proud to announce that the Battlestar family has another devoted nutcase-oh, I mean, perfectly normal fan!... Wendy H.... I've turned another one. (On a side note, she's totally 'shipping the Roslin/Adama, and don't let her tell you otherwise) I am very proud. Actually, now that I think about it- the one I turned, then turned around and turned another one. Yea!

Oh, the power.

Kinda makes me want to throw open the windows and shout out loud the wondrousness that is BSG. And I am this close (please, picture me holding thumb and forefinger a hairsbreadth apart) to getting my mother to watch, as well. Oh, my coup will be complete then.

..... and yes, I just may be listening to the season 4 soundtrack of BATTLESTAR GALACTICA, composed by BEAR MCCREARY!! GO OUT AND BUY IT & THE OTHER 3 SEASONS!!!!!!!!!!!
(Was that a big enough hint??????)

I am nothing if not subtle.

.... on another side note, I should really do an in depth post on why I ::heart:: BSG.....

Anyway, on to other business. Here's a tasty recipe that I totally swiped from a friend, thanks Malia, and then tweaked a bit. It started as a marinated tomato side dish and morphed into a tomato/red onion salad. Since I'm feeling generous (and lacking for blog topics) I'm going to post it for your view pleasure.

Tomato and Red Onion Salad
5 roma tomatoes, chopped in big chunks
1 red onion, chopped fajita style
1/4 cup olive oil
1 & 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
a couple of sweet basil leaves chopped up (I didn't do this, my dad suggested it after- I was bummed I didn't think of it.)

The ingredients from the lemon juice on can totally be adjusted to taste- I think I futzed (yes, it's a real word.... in my world) with most of those. You could also as some of those pickling cucumbers or some black olives.

And that concludes this Friday's post. Have a fun and safe Labor Day weekend!