My face is burning

Well, it hasn't taken too long for me to get to my first kitchen blunder on here, so here it goes.

Sunday my wife and I hosted Mother's Day dinner, we had tacos. I decided to make some stuffed jalapenos that my oldest brother had made this past Christmas. He gave me the list of ingredients and heating instructions, however there were no instructions as to how much of each ingredient was needed. I eyeballed it and everything turned out pretty good.

My wife asked me to make them again for her fine arts gathering after school today so I made some more last night. These jalapenos are cut in half, length wise, then deseeded to reduce the heat and allow ample room for the filling. Now, when I made these Sunday, there were no problems, however last night there was a huge problem ... one might even call it a burning problem.

My wife was doing some laundry, which is adjacent to the kitchen, when I asked her if my face was red. She replies with a gentle "no, why?" Then it hit me, I was an idiot.

That's right, I wash my hands after deseeding the peppers. When I cook I get hot and tend to begin to sweat, so that first time I wiped my brow and the rest of my face for that matter, it soon began to burn like a really nasty sunburn.

I kept going because I'm a tough guy ... or so I thought. I had just began to brown the Italian sausage when I told my wife I had to go wash my face, I simply couldn't take it anymore. I went to our bathroom, grabbed my bar of Lava soap and went to town on my burning flesh and got my stupid butt back in the kitchen to finish.

Finally, about 2 hours later, I felt normal again.

Lesson learned. Wash your hands well after deseeding jalapenos. I know some people wear gloves, but that's not for me.

Now, to the peppers themselves. They turned out great once again. To make them yourself, it's quite simple.

Sausage Stuffed Jalapenos
Jalapenos
Sweet Italian Sausage
Cream Cheese
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Diced Peppronci peppers
Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cut stems off jalapenos, cut lengthwise, remove seeds and place on baking sheet. Brown Italian sausage. In a medium size bowl, mix sausage, cream cheese, shredded cheddar cheese (save some for later), diced peppronci peppers, salt and pepper. Fill peppers with the mixture and place on a baking sheet. Top with the rest of the shredded cheddar cheese. Place in oven for 12-15 minutes.

One piece of advice that I would give, other than washing your hands well after deseeding the jalapenos, is to utilize the same method as breading chicken when you fill the peppers. Keep one hand clean to work the spoon while the other is the dirty hand. You may need to use your fingers to spread the filling in the peppers.

Overcoming the weakness

As I am trying to cook and eat healthier, I am trying to be smarter about how I eat. My breakfast the last few months has consisted of a Coke or a cup of coffee with some doughnuts from the convenience store ... talk about empty calories. I have replaced that breakfast with a Special K Protein Meal Bar and I'm happy to say I haven't stopped for doughnuts in a little over a week.

I've been told it is healthier to east several smaller meals throughout the day to keep your metabolism working. That's all well and good, depending on what you consider a small meal. There is a reason that a convenience store is called such. It's so easy to swipe the debit card and get a Oatmeal Cream Pie, Nutty Bar, or a giant Coke, but I don't think that is what the experts are talking about, not to mention those little purchases start to add up after a while.

This week I've been eating my meal bar around 7 a.m. in the car on the way to work, trying to eat slower. I follow that up with some light yogurt, my favorites are strawberry/banana, key line, Boston creme pie and red velvet cake, somewhere around 10 a.m. Then I'll eat my lunch, usually leftovers from the night before, around noonish. In the afternoon, I'll eat a sugar free chocolate pudding cup around 2:30 p.m. which will likely hold me over until I get home and make dinner at about 5:30 p.m.

From time to time, I'll be sitting at work thinking, "man I'm hungry and it's only 8:30 a.m." Giving into that hunger is what put me in the position I'm in now. Every day I say no to that desire for empty calories, the easier it gets.

I haven't quite tackled my evening snacking issues just yet because I've been busy with projects around the house that I haven't had time to snack, but that is certainly next on the docket.

Boy, look at the time, I think I'll go get my yogurt ... it's a Boston cream pie day.

Quick and in a hurry

Last week my wife went grocery shopping without me and she picked up a packet of Kraft Fresh Take seasoning. This premixed seasoning/breading packet is similar to Shake 'N Bake. It was in the refrigerated section, near the cheese if you want to go look for it at Walmart. Anyway, she got the Southwest Three Cheese flavor, there were six different flavors to choose from. I was a little skeptical about how good it would be.

The other night we were in a rush to get dinner going and then get to work on our bathroom remodel that is taking far longer than anticipated, so I grabbed the package and began to thaw out the chicken. I was pleased from the beginning. The resealable bag was separated into two pouches, one with the seasoning/breading and the other with some shredded cheese. I opened the bag and and pulled apart the divide to combine the two sections as directed.

It was super easy, you put a piece of chicken, shrimp, pork, whatever, in the bag; close it up and shake it pat it, do whatever to adhere the breading to the meat. Take it out and pop it in the oven.

I was pleasantly surprised that it tasted pretty good. Unfortunately I didn't get to eat it that night as my help with the bathroom showed up a few minutes before the chicken was done in the oven. I can't attest to whether the chicken was moist or not, but after reheating it in the microwave for lunch the next day, it was still pretty good.

Needless to day, when we went grocery shopping Sunday, we picked up another one in a different flavor, Cheddar Jack and Bacon. We very well may "try them all."

Bull's-Eye Onion Burgers

I’m constantly scouring the internet for recipes to add to my collection. Yesterday was no different, with my wife going grocery shopping for the week before I got home from work I quickly did a search for “cheap healthy meals.” After some sifting through various sites I came across www.hearthealthyonline.com and a list of 20 Cheap Heart-Healthy Dinners Under $3. Included in that list was a recipe for Bull’s-Eye Onion Burgers and I thought I would give it a go.

There is nearly always a story to triumph over adversity when I cook and last night was no different. It was a very good thing that the recipe was simple and I had read over it enough times to remember it. My wife, who had just returned from the grocery store a few minutes before I got home was attempting to make a bottle to feed our 4-month-old baby girl when she asked me to help her and apologized for my recipes. I didn’t think anything of it grabbed the bottle, tightened up the bottom of the bottle to stop the water from spilling out … then I went back to my recipe. It was then it occurred to me why she apologized. With all the groceries still on the counter, the only space available to make the bottle was the small space I had cleared to set my recipe down. Since the bottle leaked (which was totally not her fault) all the ink on the page had turned to a nice blur with about a dozen sporadic words that could be made out.

I kept plugging along and soon it was time to eat. What I made was slightly modified because I chose not to use the Kale leaves, we used slices of French bread rather than the Texas toast, and we also used ground turkey instead of ground beef. Served with a side of Chipotle Sweet Potato Fries that we got in the freezer section at Walmart, we had ourselves a pretty nice meal.

The meat was a little dry and that could be caused by several different factors. I think I will use the beef next time and see if that is any better.

The best part, aside from having dinner at home with my wife and daughter rather than going out to eat, was the fact that there was some left over to take for lunch. Basically for less than $12, we got dinner and lunch for my wife and me.

Getting Started

In my ongoing quest to create a healthier version of myself, I have rediscovered the joy that I get from cooking. I used to write a blog as a requirement for an old job and the most popular topics were my disasters and triumphs, but mostly disasters, in the kitchen.

With the goal of preventing my love of writing to dissipate, I have decided to start this new blog. Killing several birds with one stone, I hope to entertain, educate, and overall make people feel better about themselves at my own expense.

That being said … bon appetite!