4th of July Food

Thank you to everyone who left a kind word on my post yesterday. I knew I would eventually have to write about everything we've been dealing with. You can only keep that all inside for so long. When I asked Scott if he cared whether I shared, he said How can people support you if you don't tell them?, which is obviously the truth. He's clearly much more open than me. Even the other night, I said something about "clearly things don't always work out" and he was all "There's a plan. Yes, they do". So any confidence I have these days can be attributed to him.

But to everyone who read my post, thank you. The support and encouragement means so much. It's very telling that I trust and love this community enough to explain things in a way that I don't always do with those I see on a daily basis.

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And now food. Lest we forget that I used to make a lot of different dishes...

Just a few ideas in case you need something for a holiday get-together. This is the list I would pull from. As it is, I'll probably just be taking dessert to a friend's house.

Black Bean Salsa, or add mango, as an appetizer I will fill up on and not eat anything else. Or maybe guacamole or guacamole with sweet corn.

Pulled Pork for a main course. With rolls and coleslaw. I need a coleslaw recipe.

Dessert...I usually come up with something for the 4th, whether Scott is here or whether we're with other people or whether I'm by myself.
Cake Batter Rice Krispy Treats. These are intense.
Birthday Cake S'mores. A twist on a bonfire treat.
Lemon-Lime Coconut Bars. Refreshing.
Patriotic Sugar Cookie Pie. I had used blue frosting instead of blueberries because we were in Alaska when I came up with this because #expensive.
Reeses' Ice Cream Cake. Our favorite.

Drinks...my version of rum slush or regular cherry limeaide.  Or sangria.

What are you making for the 4th of July?

Fall Food

This is a post I began, let fall by the wayside, and now I'm finishing it thanks to the Back to Blogging Challenge. 

Hey, it's fall.

I mean, kind of. Still warm here but whatever. This God-forsaken summer can't hold on forever. That's where my hope lies at this point. Nature is nature.

Here's some food I'd recommend for the season...

I make all of the main dishes to freeze. Sometimes we eat one batch immediately and I put the second in the freezer. Sometimes, when I really have it all together, I just freeze it all for future dinners.

Meatballs. I really need to get this meatball recipe on the blog. I started using one that I found online years ago, but now the link doesn't go anywhere. So I've tweaked it based on what I remember and what I don't remember. However, you really can't go wrong by freezing any meatball recipe.

Chicken Tortilla Soup. This is an absolute staple and we eat it once a month. It's really easy to freeze in batches so I almost always have some in the deep-freeze.

Tomato Soup. I love thick and flavorful tomato soups. I've been making this for 4 years now. It freezes well. 

Chili.

White Chicken Chili.

Pizza Lasagna.

Desserts...

Apple Crisp.

Pumpkin Spice Brownies.

Pumpkin Cookies with Cream Cheese Frosting.

And for breakfast and snacking options...

 Pumpkin Baked Oatmeal.

Maple Scones.

Maple Donut Muffins.

And for the pups...Pumpkin Pupcakes.

What's your favorite fall recipe?

Food I Can't Make

Yesterday I wore my Steelers jersey to Costco.  I felt like a moving target.

Even worse than a playoff loss, is a playoff loss when the winning team is your current state's team.  It's just...annoying. All the blue and orange makes my eyes hurt.

Anyway.

I made macaroni and cheese last night and it was just not as good as I wanted it to be.  Disappointing that even my solace of comfort food was ruined after an even more disappointing Steelers' loss. I found myself wishing I had a box of Annie's. I would prefer a box of Annie's White Cheddar and Shells to the time/effort/taste of what I made last night.

It made me think about food I'm not good at making, so I just don't.  Sometimes it's easier to know when to give up.

1. Omelettes. I'm really bad at them. It's not even worth it.  I make scrambles instead.  Same difference. I order omelettes when I go out for breakfast instead because that's the only way I'll ever get to eat one.

2.  Hamburgers. Since I don't eat burgers, I never really learned how to make them. The last time I tried them on the grill (for Scott and a friend), they were raw on the inside. I had no idea.

3. Salads.  I usually order salads at restaurants because I rarely make them at home. I do love a good salad, but it takes so much work and effort and grocery shopping to prep salads.  Plus, they never taste as good at home.

4. Hard-boiled eggs. Again, I don't eat them, so I don't know how to make them. I've tried all the different methods.  Scott's not picky about food at all but even he side-eyes my attempts at hard-boiled eggs.

What foods are you really bad at making? Anything you've given up on?

Food I Love (and Food I Hate)

There are some foods I really love that I'm sure 99% of you could simply do without altogether.

1.  Candy Corn.
If you've been around here for any amount of time, you already know this.  I love candy corn.  It is everything that is perfect and good and sweet in this world.  In fact, I now buy it year-round.

2.  BWW Chipotle Dry Rub Boneless Wings. 
Every once in a while, I get a wing craving that will not go away unless I answer it.  Or feed it, in this case.  I particularly adore this variety from Buffalo Wild Wings, and I am aware they're really just seasoned chicken tenders.  Bone-in wings are too much work in this modern-day, lazy society I suppose.
Anyway, I eat wings maybe 2-3 times a year.  I had them in June, with my brother, and we took the leftovers home (before that, I hadn't had them since last June).  He ate them for breakfast before I could get to them.  I was miffed.  But he had paid for them so oh well.
Last weekend, I got this wing craving again and convinced Scott we needed to pick up some on our way home from Lowe's (note: it was completely out of the way). I ate four when we got home, planned on having the rest for breakfast the next day and...he had friends over that night and he gave away my wings.  I almost started to cry because I was losing my leftovers again.  I was in a terrible mood all weekend and he knew better than to make me cry, so I was able to steal half back for myself before succumbing to "love thy neighbor".

3.  Unsweetened tea.
I don't like sweet tea.  I like it straight.  Preferably from Dunkin Donuts, but I can make it at home too if necessary.  It makes the perfect accompaniment to a bag of candy corn, really. I know so many people who can't drink unsweet tea and I'm often ashamed to offer it as a beverage choice because of this. It's just my personal preference so that's what I make, but I know many people can't stand it.  I offer sugar to stir in but I'm aware it's "not the same".

Onto food items I won't touch with a 10-foot pole...
1.  Salmon.  The flavor, the smell, the texture.  I'm not a fan.
2. Cottage cheese.  Ew.
3. Tuna.  Double ew.
4. Meatloaf. The worst.
5. Sometimes bananas. I'm really weird about bananas. They're okay once in awhile. The smell of ripe bananas is terrible though.
6. Hard-boiled eggs. The smell...
7. McDonald's.  I stand against McDonald's on principle (though I've probably only eaten there a dozen times...I don't eat burgers but I would touch them with a 10 foot pole so they didn't make this list).  I hate that McDonald's, in their commercials, makes you try to believe you can have a healthy, active lifestyle as you're eating McDonald's.  It doesn't really work that way.

We went out to dinner a couple of nights ago and Scott's friends picked the place. Before we left, I asked where we were going and Scott said, "A place that only serves meatloaf and salmon".
Every time we go to someone's house for dinner, he tells me that he told them my favorite food is meatloaf and that's what we should have.

What food do you love that seems crazy?  And/or what food won't you go near?
(This can tell you a lot about people. Also, I feel like I've written a similar post before...)