<![CDATA[myprojectlife - Gourmet Food CLOSED]]>Sun, 16 Oct 2011 16:22:10 -0800Weebly<![CDATA[Gourmet Food Project - CLOSED]]>Sun, 17 Apr 2011 16:15:37 -0800http://www.myprojectlife.com/4/post/2011/04/gourmet-food-project-closed.htmlSo I was a little bit behind on this project, but I discovered that I could actually cook when I put my mind to it lol.  I did enjoy having a home cooked meal every day (or most days), and I think it is one more step towards living healthier.  I do now have plenty of good recipes that I would've never had tried unless I had done this project.  Good Stuff! ]]><![CDATA[Day 21 thru 26 Foods]]>Sat, 26 Mar 2011 16:50:21 -0800http://www.myprojectlife.com/4/post/2011/03/day-21-thru-26-foods.htmlYou are probably wondering why I haven't been posting this week.  Well, on Monday my cat passed away, and I found her when I got home so that wasn't a good day for me.  This week has just been weird with work and everything else so I haven't been cooking this week.  I have a few friends coming in from out of town today and we are having a BBQ tomorrow so I hope to try out something new tomorrow and get cooking for the rest of this month. Anyway, just wanted to give an update. ]]><![CDATA[Day 19 and 20 - Leftovers and Cheez-it Chickens]]>Sun, 20 Mar 2011 19:16:58 -0800http://www.myprojectlife.com/4/post/2011/03/day-19-and-20-leftovers-and-cheez-it-chickens.htmlSo this weekend was mostly leftover foods and I ended up making the cheez-it chicken tenders again for dinner tonight.  Although tonight, I actually used the food processor to blend the crackers into a small pieces which is definitely better and I used the 4 cheese cheez-its instead of the regular.  :) *yum* ]]><![CDATA[Day 18 - Mint Chocolate Chip Cookies!]]>Fri, 18 Mar 2011 21:04:53 -0800http://www.myprojectlife.com/4/post/2011/03/day-18-mint-chocolate-chip-cookies.htmlhttp://allrecipes.com//Recipe/mint-chocolate-chip-cookies/Detail.aspx

Let me just say that if you like mint, chocolate chunks, and cookies, you NEED to make these cookies!  Absolutely need to make these!

So I was a little bit late to the Saint Patrick’s day party since I made these green mint cookies today, but they were very well worth it!  My niece was over the house today and helped me make these delicious cookies (we have since eaten way too many tonight!).

We stuck pretty close to what the recipe called for except for the crème de menthe baking chips which we substituted “Intense Mint” chocolate bars since we couldn’t find the crème de menthe at the supermarket.  Other than that, we followed the recipe and boy those things were/are good!  I keep going back and eating a few here and there, but I hopefully won’t eat all of them lol  I think I might send them with the husband tomorrow to work so I won’t eat them all! :)

I did experiment putting the remainder of the cookie dough in my new cast iron skillet and making a cookie pizza.  It tasted pretty much like the rest of the cookies, but it was in a thin wedge shaped rather than typical cookie roundness.  Regardless of either being cooked on the cookie sheet or the cast iron skillet, it was YuMmY!

Grade: A+
]]><![CDATA[Day 17 - Check the gun range project!]]>Thu, 17 Mar 2011 23:44:08 -0800http://www.myprojectlife.com/4/post/2011/03/day-17-check-the-gun-range-project.htmlI got an early birthday present today and I had a few beers this evening so I didn't make any food tonight, but check out my gun range project for my fun new gift that I have to wait until may to use! ]]><![CDATA[Day 16 - Cornbread and Strawberry Jam]]>Wed, 16 Mar 2011 22:40:44 -0800http://www.myprojectlife.com/4/post/2011/03/day-16-cornbread-and-strawberry-jam.htmlToday was an experimentation day of cornbread and jam :)  I went to the farmers market earlier in the day and picked up some fresh strawberries (they are the best!), and my husband and I got around to making different batches of strawberry jam.  We had made strawberry jam last year, and it was great fun so we decided since strawberries were in season we would try it again :)

This time however, we decided to not use as much sugar as the recipe called for and see how it turns out lol.  The jam is currently cooling off so we haven't tried any of the jam yet, but tomorrow morning there will be TOAST and jam! :)  

One of the other things that I made tonight was cornbread in my lovely new skillet.  I found this cornbread recipe the other day and decided to make it tonight.

http://whatscookingamerica.net/Soup/CottageVegetableSoup.htm

I'm not sure if my skillet was too big or if I didn't have enough cornbread mix, but this recipe came out kind of bleh.  It definitely helped drizzling the pieces of cornbread with farmers market orange blossom honey, but the cornbread itself had a weird crust on the bottom that I am not a huge fan of (see picture below).  It also could've been too much butter in the pan, but I don't think I am going to make that recipe again even though it came out so-so.

Grade: B- for cornbread
]]><![CDATA[Day 15 - Flank Steak Fajitas]]>Tue, 15 Mar 2011 21:21:16 -0800http://www.myprojectlife.com/4/post/2011/03/day-15-flank-steak-fajitas.htmlhttp://www.countryliving.com/recipefinder/flank-steak-fajitas-recipe

I tried another cast iron skillet recipe since I have since felt inspired to make cast iron skillet recipes now.   So this recipe I made while watching Highlander (There can be only one!) and therefore, was cheesy and good at the same time lol. 

I love the skillet!  It makes such great food so quickly.  So the recipe turned out alright, but the steak was a bit too chewy for my taste.  I also ended up cooking the steak for longer than the recipe called for because I like my meat cooked thoroughly. 

Let’s see, I also ditched the radish salad as that was a bit weird in my opinion, but the lemon peel sour cream was a great touch for the fajitas.  The one item that I would do differently on this recipe is compliment the fajitas with either rice or beans.  I wanted to leave the recipe simple as I just wanted to see what it would taste like by itself, but it could use some more additions.


Grade C+
]]><![CDATA[Day 14 - A whole lot of nothing]]>Tue, 15 Mar 2011 20:28:02 -0800http://www.myprojectlife.com/4/post/2011/03/day-14-a-whole-lot-of-nothing.htmlSo with the daylight savings time and work, I was so wiped out yesterday that I made a whole lot of nothing lol ]]><![CDATA[Day 13 - Sear-Roasted Rosemary Steak and Potatoes]]>Sun, 13 Mar 2011 21:16:47 -0800http://www.myprojectlife.com/4/post/2011/03/sear-roasted-rosemary-steak-and-potatoes.htmlhttp://www.finecooking.com/recipes/sear-roasted-rosemary-steak-potatoes.aspx

So let me start off by saying that I had been wanting to make this recipe since I started my cook escapade, but I did not have a cast iron skillet.  I was at walmart today getting some Tupperware (since my big Tupperware just broke), and I saw some cast iron skillets on sale so I got one :)  So now a whole new world has opened up to me in the world of cooking lol

I would definitely have to say that I am a meat and potato girl, and this recipe speaks directly to my soul! :)  Using the cast iron skillet (man that thing is freaking heavy) is great because you can cook on the stove and then stick it directly in the oven without losing any of the juice/flavors of what you’ve been cooking in.  (Yes, I know most of the rest of the world has been cooking with the cast iron skillets for centuries, but I have just discovered them!)

This particular recipe calls for the steak to be cooked medium-rare, but I like my meat cooked through completely so I ended up cooking it for a bit longer than called for.  Also, I ran out of rosemary in the middle of cooking it together, and there was no time to run to the store and get more.  Also, the store only sells the red potatoes in 2 pound bags and I used all the potatoes which is a bit more than the recipe specified.

Other than those 2 things, the recipe came out great and juicy since everything was cooked together in the same skillet.  I think I will have to season the steak on both sides next time as I had only seasoned one side of the beef, and that was a lot of salt for one side.  But other than that (and having more rosemary on hand), this recipe was quick and easy and you couldn’t ask for me a delicious and flavorful meal.  Steak and potatoes are for me and this was it! (Also, hubby got seconds!)

Grade: A+

]]><![CDATA[Day 10-12]]>Sun, 13 Mar 2011 10:12:58 -0800http://www.myprojectlife.com/4/post/2011/03/day-10-12.htmlWell sometimes life just gets in the way of making food every day.  So I wasn't able to make anything the last three days, BUT tonight I am making dessert (Lemon Sabayon with Grapefruit) :)  We went farmer's market shopping yesterday at a few different places and picked up some amazing local fruit so I am stoked to make the dessert tonight!  
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