Peanut butter + bananas + coffee = pure genius

It was shortly after I got back to my apartment after the long holidays, that I went a little bake crazy. Maybe it was my new Kitchen Aid Mixer, Maybe it was that I missed being able to cook for myself (even though my mom's food is WAY better than anything I could make, it's still nice to feel "independent). Whatever it as, I went crazy. I made muffins, meatballs, chilli, and a pasta dish. All in one weekend. Oh, and I also made this most amazing peanut butter banana bread with a coffee glaze, which I came across on one of many wonderful blogs I follow.

I love peanut butter. I love bananas. I'm clearly obsessed with coffee. This bread was a match made in heaven, and made especially for me. I didn't have a bread loaf pan, but it worked perfectly fine in a circle cake pan. I also adapted it just slightly and used smooth peanut butter (I'm not a fan of crunchy).

This bread freezes well too - I cut it into slices and just pulled out a piece when I wanted it, and popped it into the microwave until slightly warm. Amazing!

So, if you're looking for a delicious, easy bread to make, I highly recommend Nikki's recipe. Chances are if you're an avid baker like me, you probably have most of the ingredients already in your kitchen. So get baking!

World's best cheeseball

I have a major weakness for cheese. I could eat all kinds, any day of the week (except blue cheese, but otherwise I love it!) So, it really shouldn't be much of a surprise that one of my most favorite things that my Mom makes for almost all holidays, is a cheeseball. The worlds most glorious cheeseball that I can remember eating probably when I was 5 or 6, at my grandfather's house - and it's been at all my mom's family gatherings since she was a little girl.. My great-aunt would make it, and man is it amazing. At Christmas Eve's, my cousin and I tend to park ourselves right in front of that cheeseball, and can't stop eating it until someone forces us to "leave some for the others" (granted, there are 50 people in my family, so that's fair)! 

In preparation for the Superbowl next week, and for going over to a friend's house for a little "Bachelor Wedding dinner party" (yup, I went there). I whipped up a batch of this cheeseball. Warning - it is fabulous and you won't be able to stop eating it. Just don't read the calorie count on the ingredients :) Also, don't let the grocery store employees tell you that old English cheddar is the same thing as cheez-whiz - it is NOT! 

Enjoy!

Ingredients:

• 2 8 ounce cream cheese, softened
• 1 stick butter, softened
• 1 jar Kraft™ Old English Cheese Spread, room temperature
• 2 Tablespoons dried parsley
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 cup walnuts, finely chopped

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together using an electric mixer until smooth and well blended. Chill 3-4 hours. Divide into thirds and roll into balls. Roll in chopped walnuts.

Bernaise

It probably isn't all that shocking that I love and watch Top Chef, and therefore get geeky excited every time a chef from the show opens a new restaurant in the DC area. I'm pretty proud of myself for having gone to several: Graffiato and Kapnos from Mike Isabella, Volt from Bryan Voltaggio and Belga Cafe from Bart Vandaele - all of which were excellent. Of course, you can't think of DC "Top Chefs" without Spike Mendelsohn - his restaurants are now popping up all over the city it seems.

I'd been to Good Stuff Eatery and We the Pizza, and enjoyed both of them as great, "quick eats" places. So, I was very curious to see what Béarnaise would be like. I found the concept - steak and frites - interesting and definitely up my alley. I made a reservation, grabbed my go-to foodie coworker/friend, and we excitedly made the trek to Capitol Hill.

First: it was July, and extremely hot and about to storm. As we walked into the restaurant, rather than being met with a cool blast of air conditioning, it was a heat wave. Unfortunately their AC was not working, but it's safe to assume 4 months later it's fixed (and now that it's fall, no longer needed!). We started our night with cocktails, a cold potato soup, Brussels sprouts covered in Bearnaise sauce (not pictured we ate them too fast), and then the course: steak with Bearnaise sauce and bottomless french fries. The sauce was my favorite part, rich and buttery and perfect, the fries were also great.

We left the restaurant, literally as the massive storm rolled in, but we were happy and stuffed. I still think I like Spike's Good Stuff Eatery more, but this is a nice option on Capitol Hill for a more "upscale" dinner.

Stuffed Zucchini

My parents have an amazing garden in our back yard; my Dad grows everything. Tomatoes, cucumbers, grapes, peppers, eggplant, berries - and I got to eat so much fresh food the whole time I was home. Before hoping in my car my Dad handed me a huge bag filled with zucchini, cucumbers, and tomatoes - more than I know what to do with! I've eaten tomato and cucumber salads with feta cheese the past two nights, which is such a simple yet delicious meal. I needed to use up the zucchini, which led to several Google searches and taco stuffed zucchini from the blog Skinnytaste. I love Mexican food. I love zucchini. I love cheese. What else could you want? 

Blueberry Banana Baked Oatmeal

I have somewhat of a love affair with baked oatmeal. About a year ago, I hated oatmeal. Just hated it. Thought the texture, smell, everything about it was gross. Then, as I became more and more into food blogs and "fancy" recipes, I discovered several interesting recipes on one of my favorite blogs for simple, delicious and cheap recipes, budget bytes. The first one I made, apple pie baked oatmeal, smelled and tasted AMAZING. It requires no complex ingredients, is so easy and comes out warm, filling, and bonus was that making it on Sunday allowed me to eat it for breakfast the whole entire week. I think I made this recipe every Sunday....for probably 4 months straight. I am not one who complains about eating the same things, at least for breakfast and lunch!

After it became spring/summer, I decided to try some different variations, including lemon raspberry (also good). This past weekend, once I unpacked and reorganized my life, blueberry banana baked oatmeal was made (recipe still courtesy of Budget Bytes). I've gotten so many of my friends and coworkers to try baked oatmeal and be converts like me. You'll be surprised at how easy this is - it takes less than 10 minutes to mix it all together, and about an hour in the oven. Enjoy (and please ignore the fact the photo isn't all that great, its delicious!)!

Ricotta, Ricotta

A good weekend for me will typically include some sort of baking or cooking - I find it relaxing after a long work week, and then of course I can enjoy the food afterwards. Cooking for one can have its downsides, but I can easily cook one batch of something and have it last for a week's worth of lunches.

This weekend, I discovered my love for ricotta cheese - it's sweet, it's savory. I can use it in desserts, in lasagnas, on pasta, eat it plain. Why hadn't I ever discovered its amazingness before?

My mom is an amazing baker and cook; one of her specialties is the lemon ricotta cookie. Everyone loves them, including all my coworkers. They frequently request them, and my Mom mails them to me in big batches - they always quickly disappear. This past weekend,despite the pressure I was feeling to live up to my Mom's versions, I tried a recipe that she suggested to me use (link above). The cookies themselves turned out great, light and fluffy. My lemon glaze, while it tasted good, just didn't get as thick/glaze like as my Mom's - she said I probably didn't use enough powder sugar. However, for my first attempt making them, I was pleasantly surprised.

When I made these, I bought a HUGE thing of ricotta cheese. I'm going to be honest, I didn't even know where in the store to look for it, or what ricotta cheese looked like. So once I made the cookies, I had so much left I wasn't sure what to do with it. Did it go bad fast? How would I eat it? So, I turned to Google for "ricotta recipes," and found one for broccoli and cheese stuffed shells. And, I had most the ingredients already, it was meant to be.

These were easy, smell amazing - and I have enough for lunches for the week. Seriously, ricotta you can't do wrong. I am now on a mission to find more things I can do with ricotta, including a garlic chicken pizza recipe. Share your ricotta recipes with me in the comments!

My Best Food Week

It's not a secret that DC's food scene is hot right now, and also that I love food. Every week there are new restaurants opening in the area; so many I can barely keep track! While I love having so many great options of restaurants, it's also hard on my wallet so I have to carefully select where I want to eat, and pace myself, as I eat my way through the city/surrounding area. A further sign that I am neurotic - I have a spreadsheet where I track restaurants I want to try, and categorize them by "DC," "VA" and "MD." I update it any time I hear of a new place I know I must try.

This past week has been what I have to call the best food week of my life. My parents were in town, and it was my birthday = way too much amazing food. I must provide a recap of the best food week ever.

• Good Stuff Eatery - My parents are bigger foodies than I am; they love Top Chef so what better place to kick off our "food tour" than Spike Mendelsohn's burger place? I'd actually only ever had their shakes before; so we all got burgers, fries and onion petals for a very delicious meal.
• Nando Peri Peri - This is a chain restuarant, but it is my favorite. I live very close to one, and I 've eaten there way too many times since I've moved in. We had lunch here, but I must say, their chicken wrap sandwich with haloumi cheese and pineapple = to amazing.
• Kapnos - Mike Isabella's latest restuarant which just opened a few weeks ago. I had been counting down the days until I could try here, and it did NOT disappoint. Greek small plates, with a focus on spitfire roasted meats. This was my "birthday" dinner with my family, and every plate of food we ate was better than the last. We had an a smoked eggplant and feta dip, fried potatoes, goat, lamb, swordfish, it just kept coming. If you're looking for a nice dinner, please go here!

• Cantler's - Cantler's is basically a shack in Annapolis, with amazing seafood, water views, and just plain fun. My mom had never done the crabbing experience before, so we drove up to Annapolis for the day, walked the Chesapeake Bay, and had crabs (and of course,Summer Shandy). While its a lot of work for you food, it's a fun and yummy.
• Jaleo - Dinner on my actual birthday consisted of a group of my friends going to Jaleo for Spanish tapas, where again we stuffed ourselves on cheeses, croquetas, and tortilla espanola, and of course plenty of sangria.

• Bearnaise - Went to another Spike Mendelsohn restaurant with my coworker, his newest steak and frites place. The food = very delicious; however the restaurant was SO hot (we are in a heat wave, afterall), that it made the experience not as lovely as it could have been. However, french fries, and Bearnaise sauce were great, so were the roasted brussel sprouts.
• Cheesetique - Lastly, I went to a restaurant I've been meaning to try, literally for years. It's nothing but cheese, and what girl doesn't love cheese? I had a refreshing glass of white wine on another HOT day, a cheese board, and a pimiento grilled cheese sandwich. Heaven.

And that, my friend, concluded the best week of food in my life. What are your favorite restaurants in the DC area?

Nutella Cookies

A while back, my friend Stacy at Every Little Thing posted an amazing sounding recipe for nutella cookies. Now, I know that this will sound insane, but I have never tried Nutella before. Everyone I know insists its heavenly, in Spain my friends bought it in massive quantities. I was skeptical, but I picked up all the ingredients and my first ever jar of Nutella, and gave the recipe a whirl. Given my not so great track record of late with baking, I was nervous. But, the cookies turned out SO delicious. I'm not usually a fan of chocolate, but these were different.

They're basically chocolate chip cookies with a twist, the Nutella gives them a richer, almost nutty flavor. I took them to work and they were a hit with my co-workers and my roommate. I was surprised at how easy the recipe was, and I will be making these again. The only downside, would be the calories- I made sure to give plenty away!

The recipe:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter (1 stick)

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup + 2 tbsp brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp Nutella

1 cup chocolate chips

Mix up the flour, baking soda and salt in one bowl. Mix up the butter, sugars, eggs/tofu, and vanilla in another. Combine, then mix in the Nutella. Use an ice cream scoop or a spoon to separate the dough into balls. 

Bake at 375 degree for 8-10 minutes.

Then be prepared to enjoy the delicious cookies!

        

Weekend Restaurant - French style

One of my favorite things to do is to try new restaurants; and I frequently go to places with my fellow (vegetarian) foodie friend. This weekend we tried a place new to both of us, Bistrot Du Coin, a quaint French bistro near DuPont Circle. She had read about it somewhere and was dying to try it, so she made us a reservation. Sidenote: DuPont has SO many amazing restaurants and fun bars, I recommend taking a stroll through that area!

I've never had much experience with French food, but I was excited. When I went to Paris, I unfortunately went with girls who would only eat McDonalds or Italian food (NO JOKE, I was so mad), so even in France I didn't get that experience, which clearly I am still bitter about 2 1/2 years later.


Okay, back to Bistrot Du Coin- the atmosphere in there reminded me of the cafeteria's in Spain. Old feeling, quaint, loud, music, but delicious food. And, our food was DELICIOUS. I want to go back and try more food. My friend and I split a warm goat cheese & walnut salad, which, while small was yummy. We both wished that it was a bigger portion- it would have been perfect for one person.

Not a photo by me, but you get my point!

We then had mussels, also tasty. The pot was large and filling, which led to us reminiscing about our trip together to Belgium, where we had HUGE pots of mussels that cost us only $10 in a small restaurant, sitting by a fireplace. The mussels came with some really yummy (but salty) french fries, too.


We finished off our dinner with a French cheese plate. I love cheese, but I wasn't so fond of the stronger ones. I tried a bit of each, but stuck with the amazingly yummy brie cheese, and my friend ate the rest.

We were stuffed to the brim by the time we were done; I wish we had gotten dessert. I will be back to Bistrot Du Coin; perhaps with my parents when they visit or with other friends. Highly recommend this restaurant!

And, now I'm wanting to go back to Paris and eat real French Food and not cheeseburgers and spaghetti.

November Inspirations

A few days into November and it's already shaping up to be a busy month that already is busy as a lead in to the holiday season. I'm moving to a new apartment and packing up my old one, and getting a roommate, work is picking up now that I've been there a month, Thanksgiving/heading home for the holiday, birthday parties for friends, college football heading into the final stretch, cold weather; its just a busy month. I can't even believe how fast October went by and this month seems like it will be just as busy!

Here are few things that are inspiring me this November.

Music: Taylor Swift's "Speak Now" and Darius Rucker's "

I'm constantly listening to both these albums on my iPod at work. Love them both, even if Taylor's bitterness at such  a young age is slightly disturbing. Its funny to listen to the songs and try to figure out which "boyfriend" she's talking about.

Fashion: Warm, cute pea coats.

I recently purchase an amazing Calvin Klein pea coat from Lord & Taylor (the best store for coats, in my opinion). I'm not 100% sure if this is my coat, because mine looks lighter/longer in person, but I LOVE MY PEA COAT. It has pleats in it, which I think is adorable. I took inspiration from watching endless reruns of How I Met Your Mother, where Cobie Smulders wears an amazing trench coat (I just googled it, it was Burberry). I only wish I could have found a coat like this, but my Calvin Klein one suits me very well and I love it. Nothing better than bundling up on a cold morning and walking to the metro to head into the city for work.

The most beautiful coat

Food: Making my own Chili 

So far, I've tried one recipe that my Mom sent me via BBM. And WOW Chili is SO easy to make, and you can make lots of it at once. Its warm, delicious, filling, freezes well, relatively healthy. What more could you want in a meal? I'll be continuing to experiment and try new recipes throughout fall/winter.

Drink: Anything warm and pumpkin flavored.

 

I've NEVER liked pumpkin anything until this year. Now I brew Pumpkin Spice Dunkin Donuts every morning, and am making pumpkin spice muffins. So delicious and comforting with the cooler weather.


These are just a few things "inspiring" me this month! What are some of your inspirations?

Halloween, oh Halloween

 

I'm not the biggest Halloween person. I think it goes back to the 7th grade, when my Dad told me that I was "too old" for trick-or-treating, BUT he allowed my younger brother to keep doing so until high school (still a bit bitter on this one.) Since then, I don't think I've dressed up. I've never gone to a costume party and I've never felt the need. Most costumes in college are girls just seeing who can wear the least amount of clothes, and that's just not my style. I also dont like scary movies, but I've never liked them, Halloween or otherwise!

I love decorations for Halloween, however. And passing out the candy to kids. And seeing all of their adorable costumes. And caramel apples and "spooky" treats. And carving pumpkins, and pumpkin seeds, and pumpkin bread. Apple orchards, haunted houses, corn maizes. All of that stuff, I just love. I already know that when I have a home and have kids someday, I will love Halloween!

In the Halloween spirit, here are a few of my favorite photos of food and decorations; courtesy of Martha Stewart.

Happy Halloween!

Umm. PS how awesome would it be to go squash bowling?

Food on my mind

I promise, I don't always think about food this much! Today has been an absolutely perfect fall day, of walking outside in the gorgeous weather, shopping at a farmers market, and cleaning my apartment and gearing up for this week. I am counting down the weeks until my new apartment (4, if you're wondering) and get to go home for Thanksgiving, but enjoying fall in the district. I leave you with my food thoughts from this weekend.

On Friday night, my friend & wandered through Dupont searching for a new place to try. We had no idea what we were in the mood for, and she is a foodie as well (albeit a vegetarian one!) and my "food friend." We strolled into Ezme, a tiny Turkish tapas restaurant right off of Dupont Circle. It's very tiny and was packed, so we assumed it would be delicious. It did not disappoint. The food was amazing. It is mostly Mediterranean style food, we had an appetizer of scallops with Gruyere cheese. For my meal I had Doner Kebab, which is just gyro like meat, with rice and a yogurt sauce. YUMMY. We both agreed we'd go back.

I have a new Food Website/blog that I am simply obsessed with. Healthy Eats, part of Food Network. I wasted a good hour or two yesterday pouring through all the articles, and learning a lot about cooking and being healthier! Will be using their website frequently, I am sure.

I went to the Farmers Market today, also in Dupont. I've heard great things about it, but I've always opted for Eastern Market in the past. So, I put my walking shoes on, and walked (I didn't want to waste time transferring lines on such a nice day) to the market from the Foggy Bottom area. Wow. I was so impressed and will be going back next weekend! They had everything imaginable- although it was quite crowded. Fruits and veggies, meats, cheeses, eggs, anything you could want at fairly reasonable prices. I was in heaven, and tempted to buy a whole lot more than what I left with.

 Apples are my favorite part of fall- apple cider, apple sauce, apples, and then I bought some cheese as well.

Sweet potatoes, squash, eggplants and a cucumber.

And now, my friends, I'm off to the grocery store to pick up a few extra things I need to make a yummy dinner with my foods, eggplant parmesan!

Cooking Challenge Week 1 Update

A cooking challenge update: I'm not 100% sure why I chose my first full week at my job as the week to begin this challenge. It failed. Miserably. So, I'm chalking it up to my own poor planing abilities, and starting from scratch this upcoming week! Despite my failure, I did manage to make one pretty delicious meal on the fly earlier this week. I had chicken, goat cheese, and wanted to use both. Did a quick Food Network recipe search (I adore Food Network) and pulled up a recipe for goat cheese-stuffed chicken breast. It turned out delicious, was easy, and everything was already in my fridge/pantry!


A few "lessons learned" (as always):

• I have issues with cooking chicken. Mine took about double the amount of time to bake - this may be because my chicken breast was thicker? I really don't know.
• I also recommend using a bit more goat cheese, if you're like me and have a love (and hate) relationship with cheese.

 Here are my thoughts for this upcoming week, in terms of recipes and foods. I'm in a dire need to create healthier meal choices, and to begin losing weight.

• I'm going to whip up a pasta salad so I can take it for lunch all next week.. but first I'm checking the calorie count!
• I'm considering investing in a crock pot this weekend, and making my own soups/stews/other meals. I kind of want to make chili. Anyone have good crock pot recipes to share?
• Some sort of taco dish? Any thoughts would be awesome!

Also, I'm in dire need of advice. To the blogosphere: What are the best ways to cook chicken, and how to avoid undercooking it? I'm horrible!
Healthy meal recommendations, anyone? Low-calorie would be great, but still filling!

Friday 6.

My first week as a full-time worker is officially over, and here I sit on my couch, drinking coffee at 6:30 at night (probably not smart, but whatever.) Dinner & a night out awaits with my friend, but as she is a fan of later dinners, we will not be meeting until later. My friend over at Every Little Thing posted today a series of questions for her readers to answer, so in my time before eating, I thought I'd answer them. Here I go!

1) What is your favorite meal to cook?
I love making pasta salads, because they're easy to make and pretty to look at. Plus, they'll usually last me all week long. Speaking of pasta salad.. maybe I put one together for lunches next week! But, in terms of actual recipes/meals, I'd have to say chicken squares. They're SUPER easy (but not exactly the healthiest of meals.) The recipe isn't the exact one I use (I use a variation my Mom created), but its pretty darn close.

2) What is your favorite meal to eat?

Basically anything that my mother makes is my favorite meal to eat! Some favorites include chicken enchiladas, spaghetti pie (again, not my exact recipe, but close!). Dang, I'm getting incredibly hungry now.

3) What is one thing on your Bucket List?

I would love to say that I've traveled/been to all 50 states. That's a goal of mine. 

4) Do you want to go to your next class reunion? Why or why not?

I'm not 100% sure on this one. We apparently are not having a 5 year reunion, so this mean I wouldn't be going to one until 2015. The people that I want to see, I'm friends with and still talk to. I don't keep in touch with that many high school friends. I guess I'll have to re-evaluate this question in 5 years!

5) 10 years ago today, who were you?

Wow. 10 years ago.. I was in eighth grade. I tried every sport, but never made any of the teams, and was devastated. I was always a manager (NOT cool). I'm pretty sure I was a huge dork, and spent a lot of time trying to be "cool," but I remember that I spent a lot of time on AIM messaging my friends, because AOL was the just the best!

6) 10 years from now, who do you want to be?

In 10 years.. I'll be 33, which is scary! I hope to be happy in whatever I'm doing (hopefully what I'm doing now!), well-traveled, and successful. Still living in or near a city, and possibly married (??). I think whats most important to to me is I'm happy, still learning something new everyday and traveling. Also, spending time with my family. That's what is most important to me.

Stuffed chicken with Tarragon pan sauce

In theory, I always think that I'd enjoy a week off with nothing to do. But now, 5 days in to my week long break before my job starts, I am bored. There's only so much TV, internet surfing, shopping & reading a girl can do when everyone else is at work.

I'm still excited for my cooking challenge and am starting to plan out my grocery list and recipes I want to do so I can stay in my budget.

In the meantime, I cooked dinner last night and this evening, both turned out pretty delicious. Last night, I made Mexican Fish & Chips, courtesy of a Food Network recipe (I'll share that another time). Tonight, I made a Rachel Ray recipe (notice the food network trend?) and I was pleasantly surprised!

Prosciutto, Garlic and Herb Cheese-stuffed Chicken with Tarragon Pan Sauce - (Rachel Ray - "365: No Repeats")

4 6-ounce boneless, skineless chicken breast halves
4 slices proscuitto di Parma
4 ounces garlic and herb cheese (they recommended Boursin)
Toothpicks
3 tablespoons extra-virgin oilive oil
salt and pepper
2 tablespoonsunslated butter
2 tablesppons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup of white wine
1 cup chicken stock
2 tablespoons fresh tarragon leaves (I just used the stuff I had in my spice cabinet)

Place chicken in between two sheets of wax paper and pound out.  Place one slice of prosciutto on top of each pounded chicken breast. Place a quarter of the garlic and herb cheese on top of each prosciutto slice.

Wrap and roll the chicken over the stuffing. Secure the meat with toothpicks.

Preheat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat with the EVOO. Season the stuffed and rolled chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Add the breasts to the pan and brown on all sides, cooking for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove the breasts; add the butter to the pan, then the flour. Cook for a minute, whisk in the wine, and reduce for another minute. Whisk in the stock and tarragon and return the chicken to the pan. Reduce the heat and simmer until ready to serve. Remove toothpicks and serve whole or sliced.

Serves 3-4

Lessons learned:

• I wasn't sure how to pound the chicken, since I've always seen my parents use a mallet, which I currently do not have. A quick phone-call to my parents confirmed I could use a the bottom of a frying pan and pound out the meat that way.
• Also, the side of the meat with the toothpicks is difficult to cook since the toothpicks are in the way - just be mindful of this and you should be okay (I somehow maneuvered the chicken in the pan, and it worked)
• I served mine with some whole wheat spaghetti pasta, which was yummy
• I didnt cut it in half this time, but next time I will. It was super easy to make though, and not very time consuming - I think it took me 30ish minutes, which makes sense, since it was a 30 minute Rachel Ray meal :)
• Also, I totally need to buy some tongs next time I'm out - flipping around chicken is serious business!

The finished product!

As always, thoughts, recipe or food ideas are always welcomed!

Cooking Challenge:

After yet another trip to the grocery store where I spent far too much money, I've realized I need to make some changes. I love cooking and trying new recipes/foods, but cooking for one can be difficult. I can't continue spending so much money on food; it's literally going to bankrupt me! As I start my new job next week, and am looking to move into a new apartment (more on these topics at another time), it's time I grow up and become more cost conscious. I'd rather not be in debt later because of stupid decisions I make now. However, I don't believe this means I need to sacrifice cooking delicious meals for only one person; I just need to make smarter choices in the grocery store.

I've given myself a challenge. Spending no more than $40-50 a week at the grocery store, I must cook at least 3-5 meals (for one!) each week, in addition to using that money for breakfast/lunch foods. I'm lowering the number of meals purely because I know I'll eat leftovers, meet friends for dinners, and eat an occasional sandwich or frozen food. I know I may not be successful all the time, but I hope it will be a good experience. I don't have an end-date in mind; I'm going to see how long I can keep this going.

I will share this challenge on my blog, including my grocery lists, lessons learned, and of course, the recipes and my (hopeful) successes!

I'm very excited to try this, and hope it can teach me how to spend my money more wisely, as well as become a better cook and try new foods and different ways to cook things. I'm still a "beginner" as far as my cooking skills go, so I'm sure this will be very interesting.

While the challenge will start on Sunday (October 10), I have some recipes I'm trying this week that I will share, including a Mexican fish and chips recipe I'm attempting this evening.

Stay tuned!