fresh from the oven

the november issue of bon appetit came yesterday. usually i browse the magazine thru and choose recipes to try...and never actually cook them. this issue had an interesting recipe for oatmeal muffins (interesting because it calls for blueberries, that i have a lot in the freezer) (thanks mom!)







the ingredients are pretty basic, but i didn't have natural oat bran (need to figure out what it is...), wheat germ nor pecans. the measures for oat bran and wheat germ are only 2 tbsp so i thought it was ok to leave them out. i substituted pecans with mixed nuts. i think there was one pecan in the mix!







this bear hasn't been doing too great of a job keeping my brown sugar moist, there are huge rock-hard lumbs in the jar. but the bear is cute...







the batter resembled spicy, nutty oatmeal...







...until i added the blueberries, somewhat peculiar color







but they looked decent once baked. i thought the amount of cinnamon would be too much, but its taste blends in nicely. also, i used muffin tins with large cups, i got 11 out of the recipe, magazine says it makes 8 large ones. i don't think the muffins need much else in them, might try once with pecans (although pecans aren't something i can say i like...)







one day last summer (there isn't a post of it yet) i made some tomato sauce. tomatoes were dirt cheap at the grocery store, figured it was time to try making my own sauce. i had pizza in mind when making the sauce, but as i was making dinner tonight i remembered the frozen sauce and decided to use some in my bolognese







by now, you all are using whole wheat pasta, right?







with the one cup of my own sauce i used one 400 gr tin of crushed tomatoes and some browned ground beef. i bought 800 gr of ground beef and browned it yesterday, but as it is so good right off the pan, some disappered...i didn't think the sauce needed any spices but ground black pepper might work great, as would fresh parsley, basil, oregano...







i let the bolognese cook for 15 mins before mixing it with penne pasta. served with grated parmigiano







ps. certain someone made the mistake of leaving a half-eaten muffin on a plate on a low table...the dog seized the opportunity...he seemed to enjoy the catch

difficult & 3 easy ones

the last week or so has been difficult, ever since my last doctor's appointment. i get that the wrist isn't well, what eats me up is the fact that i can feel it getting worse and i have no idea why. right now i'm almost back to where this started a year ago and wearing a wrist support. the pain is back, not as severe as it has been, but it's lurking around and making my patience work overtime. i'm starting to find it difficult to be polite at work because of it, and that is not good. so not good.

but i've cooked...easy things, very easy. like this 4 ingredient dish: whole wheat coucous, broccoli, sundried tomatoes in oil and chicken cutlets. 15 minutes and you'll have dinner, or in my case, lunch to work.

brown the chicken on a hot pan, 3 to 4 mins per side, turn off the heat, place lid on pan, leave pan on the stove while you cook the cousous according to package instructions. to the cousous, add broccoli, tomatoes and 2 to 3 tbsp of the oil of tomatoes, mix well, and you're done. i was tempted to add some sesame oil to this...maybe next time







this salad is ridiculously easy: any salad greens (arugula works especially well), persimon and brie...







...slice the persimon and brie (best to cut it when cold), arrange slices on the greens, let sit for 30 mins for the brie to come to room temperature, drizzle with balsamico and olive oil







now, everyone knows how to make a fruit salad, right? my latest craving has been a mix of cantaloupe, pears and grapes







just peel and chop cantaloupe and pears, wash the grapes and mix all in a big bowl. packs easy to work and is guilt-free munchies even late at night...although, i have really fough the temptation to add some maple syrup to the mix...