Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Food for those who don't cook . . . much

I saw the movie Julie & Julia somewhat recently, and this is my tribute to Julie. If you haven't seen or heard of this movie, it's basically about a woman (Julie) who starts a blog with only one topic (I know, can you believe it). She cooks every recipe in the cook book "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" by Julia Child, and gives herself a time limit of 365 days with 524 ( I think) recipes. It's based on a true story, which makes me wonder if I should stick to one topic. Nah, I think I can still get a book/ movie deal out of all my posts. Right? (Just say yes)

Waffles - A breakfast food I've spent most of my life avoiding because of those damn shallow squares that get big chunks of butter stuck in them. However, thanks to the fine people at Eggo I have recently come to love them. The key is to melt the butter in a separate container first, and then carefully pour over a previously frozen, but now recently toasted waffle. Combine with warm syrup and the result is pure deliciousness.

Peanut Butter and Jelly - a longtime favorite of mine. All the ingredients in this American past time ( I just made that up, I don't actually know the origin of the PB & J) need to be just right. The bread has to be soft, obviously. The Jelly must be grape, although my opinion on that has been known to start huge debates. And the peanut butter has to be smooth (also up for debate). I like to put on the peanut butter and then apply the jelly directly on top of that . . . I don't know why, it just tastes better that way. Once the sandwich has been put together most people like to cut it in half. I'm against that. Not only because I'm a grown up now, but also because the middle of the sandwich is the best, if you cut it in half, the middle although still the same size (technically) seems to be decreased, making the sandwich less enjoyable.

Bagelfuls - Another delicious frozen food brought to us by the folks at Kraft ( the first and only other being macaroni and cheese). I was skeptical at first. My sister told me about them and we weren't sure if the cream cheese to bread ratio would be sufficient. We were also worried about the quality of the cream cheese. Would it be acceptable? Only one way to find out. I didn't try them until I lived with my BFF. She said they were wonderful, plus she had some in the fridge and I was hungry. So I ate one and I am happy to say, they were GREAT. However, it's important that you keep them in the fridge and not the freezer. If you keep them in the freezer the cream cheese will still be frozen after you toast it. So you will keep toasting it until the cream cheese is just right, but the bread is completely burned.

Stir Fry - Pretty much the only thing I can cook. Yes, the vegetables are frozen, but only because it's more convenient, and in the long run probably saves money. The chicken is also frozen, but for the same reason. So, basically all I do is put these two things in a pan and wait until they are cooked all the way. The rice is just as simple, although I do find it difficult to get the amount of water right. Leave it to me to make something so easy, so difficult.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Butter getting stuck in those shallow waffle squares is the best part. And I go light on the syrup.

Anonymous said...

You can get butter (margarine, probably) in a squirt bottle. That might save the time to melt the butter. But I agree, lumps of cold butter in the waffle squares ruins the whole expreience.

You forgot the most important thing in making a PBJ sandwich: the peanut butter has to go on BOTH pieces of bread. Otherwise the jelly soaks in one side and it unbalances the delicious goodness.

Anonymous said...

Strawberry > Grape.

Other than that though, everything was absolutely correct. My all time favorite though, would have to be Easy Mac.

Madelyn said...

Anonymous # 1 - you are wrong about the butter stuck in the squares, at least in my opinion . . . which is all that really matters.

Anonymous # 2 - Butter in a squirt bottle huh? Not sure how I feel about that. As for putting peanut butter on both sides of the bread . . . I'll have to try it next time.

Cofo - I can't believe you prefer strawberry to grape. At least tell me you like Welch's strawberry jelly, that will ease my pain a little.

I like Easy Mac for it's convenience, but I prefer to cook it on the stove.

Anonymous said...

Rest assured, Welch's for life.

Also, I actually agree that stove-made mac n' cheese tastes much better. But you know me, convinence is worth big points.

cadiz12 said...

i'm with anonymous #1. butter in the squares is what makes waffles worth eating. without looking forward to it, you're stuck trying not to think about how quickly the whole thing got so dang soggy.