Hospitals and Weddings and Hospitals Again...

I know I've been MIA the last few weeks, but that's because I've been in and out of the hospital three times. They think I may have had a mild heart attack. Well, if they think that's going to stop me, they've got another thing coming!

Chocolate Recipe Roundup

I have been having some serious chocolate cravings lately. I absolutely positively can't get enough of the stuff. I even bought chocolate yogurt yesterday. You know it's bad when you're turning your healthy snacks into chocolate treats! Andrew's been having the same issue - he actually found (and bought) a 1 lb. chocolate bar at the grocery store - I wouldn't even go that far! But, just in case you are having the same insatiable cravings we are, I decided to be a sweetie and put my best chocolate recipes all in one place for you. Enjoy!

Sesame Shrimp Soba Noodles

A few weeks ago, we took a trip to the Asian Supermarket near our house to look for bento lunch supplies. I didn't find anything I wanted, but I have trouble walking out of a store with nothing. I always feel like the owners are staring me down, calling me names in their heads. 

So we walked around for a while, checking out all of the bright packages we couldn't read and looking at bulk bins of things like tiny dried fish. I finally settled on a pack of wonton skins, 2 different sizes of wooden skewers, some cute plates and bowls, and a package of soba noodles. Shortly thereafter, we went to Trader Joe's, where I picked up a bottle of toasted sesame oil. There was a sale on shrimp at the regular grocery store, and suddenly I knew what we were having for dinner on Seafood Friday.

2013 Kitchen Bucket List

Over the years, I have definitely grown more comfortable in the kitchen, but there are still a few foods that intimidate me. This year, I plan to tackle them all. Let me know if you see any good recipes for them so I have somewhere to start. Thanks!

Eggplant Parmesan

The first thing my mom taught me how to make was pancakes. The second thing she taught me was breaded chicken. I remember many, many nights standing at the counter and double-dipping chicken breasts into egg and bread crumbs. This turned out to be one of my all-time favorite dinners. As I got older, I learned that the egg and bread crumb combo could be applied to pretty much anything, like pork chops or zucchini, cube steak or eggplant. Now, I'll be honest. I love eggplant but the boys aren't really into it. But if you have boys that are anything like mine, if it's fried, they'll eat it. The first batch usually doesn't even make it to the sauce-and-cheese phase of the meal prep.