Happy Thanksgiving!

I know been a few years but.... just wanted to wish you all a happy thanksgiving!

These are the dishes I made for Thanksgiving:

Upper left is vegetable lasagna. 

Upper right is mac & cheese. 

Lower left is Haitian-style potato salad (with beets-- so nutritious and yummy!). 

Lower right is quinoa corn casserole.

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Chef M3RLz is back!

Hey guys! 

I know I haven't written any food-related posts in months but I'm back. (Just for tonight tho. LOL)

I have been cooking but I haven't been posting any pics. 

I haven't forgotten about this blog, since I am occasionally reminded by my homie E that I'm  "slacking on my food posts". I prefer to call it "p0rn" but is it really food p0rn? Is anyone calling it that? Anyone? Anyone at all?

Oh yeah, I forgot.... I only have one consistent reader and that's E. 

* side bar *

Hi E! 

How are you doing tonight? 

Yes, I am cooking at midnight. 

No, I'm not bored or anything. 

Just wanted to give you something to read. 

:)

On the menu for tonight: 

Baked panko crusted shrimp with cheese and broccoli rice.

How sexy is this shrimp?!?! 

This pic is definitely food p0rn. LOL

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Chef M3RLz: 12/29/12

Tired of spaghetti and meatballs?  Try this on for size:

Spaghetti 

with codfish!

It might sound like a weird dish but trust me, it's yummy. Here is what I used:

• cod fillet
• ripe tomatoes, diced
• large onion
• olive oil
• garlic clove, minced
• tomato sauce
• spaghetti
• hot sauce (I use pepper sauce, Mom uses cayenne)
• Italian seasoning
• Salt and pepper

It can be paired with garlic bread, a side salad, or you can eat it by itself.

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Chef M3RLz: 12/16/12

Hola!!!! 

My computer's hard drive died so all of my food-related pictures are MIA until I can pay someone to burn them onto my external hard drive. 

You'd think I would have learned my lesson the first two times that this happened to me.  

Moving along.... 

I'll continue to try and cook once a week but I can't make any promises. This year, my immune system has taken quite a beating! Since Thanksgiving, I've had a cold and the flu and it hasn't even been a month!!!!

Without further interruption....

Today's meal:

Long grain and wild rice, baked BBQ chicken, potatoes au gratin, and salad.

I told everyone on twitter and facebook that I made it from scratch but I didn't. Well, it can be considered "from scratch" since I made it straight out of the box!!!

• Long grain and wild rice - Uncle Ben's (very yummy)
• Baked BBQ chicken
• Potatoes Au Gratin - Betty Crocker
• Salad - Stop & Shop
  

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Chef M3RLz: 09/20/12 and 09/21/12

Chicken, chicken, chicken!!!!

Bawk, bawk, bawk!!!!

I'm consuming so much chicken, that I'm afraid I'm going to turn into one!

Is that a feather?! Oh no! Help!

Silliness aside....

Before this cooking challenge, I was only eating meat 2 or 3 times a month! Now I'm eating meat 5 or 6 times a week! My stomach is in complete turmoil! My routine diet has taken a backseat to these delicious meals that look too good to pass up! As a flexitarian, a person who eats a primarily vegetarian diet, but occasionally also eats meat, I'm teetering towards a carnivorous lifestyle!

Booooooooooooooooo! Meat is murder!!!!!

Well, except for shrimp, of course.

Don't judge me....

So this week, my two meals are vegetarian! Both meals contain Dole's Very Veggie Salad Blend: Romaine Lettuce, Iceberg Lettuce, Carrots, Snow Peas, Red Cabbage, and Radishes.

9/20/2012:

Fusilli pasta with homemade pasta sauce
and a side of  Dole's Very Veggie Salad Blend
(Excuse the dirty stove....and some pieces of overcooked pasta)

9/21/2012:

Dole's Very Veggie Salad Blend 

(Romaine Lettuce, Iceberg Lettuce, Carrots, Snow Peas, Red Cabbage, and Radishes)

Added tomatoes, cucumbers,  raisins, sharp cheddar cheese, pepper jack cheese and a light creamy Caesar salad dressing.

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Chef M3RLz: 09/13/12

Last night I made homemade pizza for dinner. Yum!

Tonight's menu:  Baked Apricot Chicken with Fried Plantain and Veggies.

I was bored and had 2 hours to find a recipe to make before my movie started. (I'm an avid movie fan, some even use the word "obsessed", so I have a schedule to follow; click here for my Monthly Movie Lists.) My mom was cleaning out the fridge and offered me 2 pieces of chicken to experiment with. I have dabbled with the Smucker's Apricot Preserves before but this time I wanted to make a great dish instead of a good one.

Don't have the exact measurements but here is the original recipe:

• 3    pounds chicken drumsticks
• 1    cup Smucker's Apricot Preserves
• 1/2  cup ketchup
• 1/4  cup soy sauce
• 2    tsp hot pepper (Used Matouk's Hot Calypso Sauce which is very spicy!!!)
• 2    tsp clove garlic, minced

Vegetables (sauteed) :

• Onions
• Red pepper
• Green pepper
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Garlic

Baked Apricot Chicken 

with Fried Plantain and Veggies

It was so yummy, I took a quick bite before snapping the first pic. 

It was gone by the 2nd pic! LOL

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Chef M3RLz: 09/11/12

My mom is bragging to her friends about my cooking again. That's the same person who is always reluctant to try my food. She loves to complain that her "blood pressure is too high" or her "sugar level is abnormal" and that since my food is too sweet, it would cause her levels to fluctuate. My American food that is, not the Italian dishes.  

Excuses, excuses. I think she's afraid that if she tries it, she'll actually like it! I know she would.

One of the people that she told was my uncle. He loves when my sister and I excel at different hobbies so he's always super supportive when we try something new. He's yet to try any of my food (see last post) but has decided to contribute a large bag of jumbo shrimp! Ka-ching! I love that man! :)

Keeping with my new schedule of cooking twice a week, I've managed to serve a few dishes recently. For the month of September, I've made cod fish, chicken, and shrimp and we're only 11 days in. I'm back with another chicken dish: my tweaked version of a Honey Baked Chicken recipe found online. Turned it into curried chicken instead since my food is always too sweet; notice I said "curried chicken" and not "curry chicken". Unfortunately, I did not follow the recipe. I never do; just use the same items but change the amounts and add other things. Here is the original recipe:

• 3 pounds of Chicken drumsticks 
• 1/4  cup of butter
• 1/4  cup of honey
• 1 tbsp of mustard
• 1/2  tsp of salt
• 1/2  tsp of black pepper
• 1 tbsp of curry powder

Curried chicken, white rice, 

with string beans and carrots.

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Chef M3RLz

My mom is an excellent cook who's been making meals for over 45 years! Our household is known for having visitors who are "in the neighborhood" and happened to "stop by" to see how my mom is doing. Of course, the conversation always includes "I'm hungry; what did you make today".

My mom is a devout Christian woman who strongly believes that sharing is caring. No matter who comes through the door, they have to sit down and eat and 95% of the time that's exactly why they are "in the neighborhood" or have "stopped by" to do.

While our visitors are stuffing their faces eating, they always ask "can you cook as well as your mom?".  My reply has always been "Why are you all up in my business?! I can't cook".

Honestly, I can cook. I just refuse to cook for non-immediate family members. The responsibility of being half as good as my mom is stressful enough without the added anxiety that comes from impressing others. Once I manage to amaze my mom, I can cook for anyone without any hesitation! Trust me.

During my childhood and teenage years, I voluntarily accepted every single corporal punishment unleashed upon me for not wanting to cook. I wore each punishment as a badge of honor. Then I realized that one day I would have a family of my own. One day, but not today. I was in my early 20's when I started learning how to cook and it was only because my boyfriend kept impressing me with his West Indian meals. If a man can cook, why can't I?

Fast forward to my late 20's, when learning to cook moved to the top of my list instead of the bottom. So for the past few years, I've been cooking once a month to showoff my culinary skills. According to my mom, I don't have any. With that being said, it's very frustrating to satisfy someone who thinks all American-style cooking is sub-par and bland. The only dishes that I'm "actually decent" at making is lasagna, spaghetti, and stuffed shells, which are all Italian dishes. "Actually decent" is a good compliment when mumbled by my mom; it means that if we ran out of food and one of her many visitors appeared, she would feel confident enough to serve it to them. But if they get food poisoning, that's their fault for asking to sample my food. (Yes, that was a disclaimer....)

This year, I've been cooking once or twice a week but today I've decided to showcase my food. I don't have anywhere else to post these pictures. It's my blog, so my rooms. Now don't judge me too harshly.

Feta Cheese and Plum Tomato Pasta Salad

05/22/2012

Spicy Lemon Shrimp and Roasted Rosemary Potatoes

09/08/2012

I like everything well done. "If it ain't burnt, it's not ready yet."

Look out for more food related posts.

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