Experimentation

Do you ever get to a point where following recipes makes you feel like the worst kind of cook? That's what I've reached.  Don't get me wrong, I loves me a good recipe. But I've found that lately I'll get the bare bones (general seasonings, oven temperature, and cooking times) and then run with it on my own.  And the results, thus far, have been DELISHUS.

It's been as hot and humid as the Devil's nutsack here lately, so turning on the oven (hell, even the stove) is a do not want. So we've been BBQ-ing.  Tyler informed me that he really disliked the pre-made/processed chicken burgers that I picked up at Costco, so we decided to just go straight to the chicken breast. And the pork chop.

I have a confession to make.  I'm in love with Smoked Paprika. No word of a lie.  A couple years ago when we were visiting a friend in Vancouver, I was cooking supper and all he had was Smoked Paprika (instead of the regular stuff I'd always used). I took a sniff and thought "Hmm, not bad" - that's how I test my spices, I sniff and determine if it "goes"- and proceeded to use it.

Oh. Em. Gee.

It's a subtle difference, but oh so tasty.  Then I apparently forgot all about it until a couple months ago, when I randomly decided to buy some of my own.

I've been attempting to keep up with meal planning too, in hopes of saving some money in the long run.  Has it worked? For the most part.  Wanting to slim down a bit has me trying to cut back on takeout but it's just so damn tasty!

I digress.

Last night, we had chicken breasts grilled on the BBQ. I sprinkled some seasoning salt, garlic salt, thyme, and a bit of smoked paprika and drizzled with a smidge of EVOO.  The results were amazing. On the side we had a greek-style pasta salad (although Tyler only ate 4 individual noodles because he is LAME)

Tonight, we had pork chops grilled on the BBQ.  I sprinkled garlic salt, smoked paprika, Epicure's 4-Pepper blend, ginger, sage, and brown sugar on one side of the chop, basic salt on the other side once it was on the grill.  Let them cook until probably about medium, then put them into a dish with a couple tablespoons of BBQ sauce (Bullseye Steakhouse) and then into a 225 degree oven until we were ready to eat.

The chops were juicy and cooked, and the flavour was amazing.  We had strawberry spinach (& almonds & feta & Kraft Pure Raspberry Poppyseed dressing) salads, and roasted butter, garlic, lemon, and parsley potatoes.

I love experimenting.  Tomorrow's supper isn't so fancy, just tacos. It is, after all, Taco Tuesday.

Updating

I swear, I'm going to get better at this. My cousin informed me that I would tempt her with drool-worthy pictures before, so I should probably get back on the saddle.

Stay tuned next week, I'll post some pictures and recipes (possibly a meal-plan or two).  I'll also be starting a more serious weight-loss regime, so if you've got any good recipes for that please let me know!