Friday, you come at long last!

Can I get a huzzah?

Oh Friday, how I love you. Yes, even unemployed where one day just blends into the next in a vicious cycle of eternal monotony, I still look forward to Friday. You can just feel the relief in the air around 5:00, and it feels like sunshine and lovecicles. I could just eat that up. 

Speaking of eating, it's high time for another sporting round of Allie in an Apron! Who's with me?!?

Cilantro Shrimp Pasta

modified from

The Pioneer Woman's Shrimpo de Gallo

Make this immediately.

I saw the recipe for Shrimpo de Gallo on The Pioneer Woman, and immediately set off to make it, if for no other reason than to just pay homage to the name. Bonus points that it's filled with cilantro and I love, lawwwwve, cilantro and would eat it in Pop Tarts or on ice cream or with pancakes or alongside anything edible if I could. But then I'd be spending a fortune on cilantro, and I'd always smell herby, and I may turn green, so I refrain. For all these reasons.

The recipe sounded awesome and made my mouth water upon skimming the ingredients. Have I mentioned that simple recipes which are hard to mess up often make my mouth water? Very convenient. But I had grander plans still than just a salsa appetizer. I wanted to eat a whole plateful of this dish and not feel like I ruined my dinner. I wanted this to be dinner. So dinner it was.

I used the basic recipe from The Pioneer Woman, but omitted the avocado, as Husband and I don't like it, and the olives, as Husband won't eat them (ugh, bad Greek!), and threw in whatever spare vegetables I had in the fridge- this time cucumbers and yellow pepper. And red pepper. Oh, and I had some soy beans on hand so I cooked those and tossed 'em in too. Oh yeah, and some garlic and onion powder. I think that was all...I think.

So that made a pretty hardy dish itself, but to finish it all off, I cooked up a batch of orzo (love those slimy little suckers!) in chicken stock and used it as a bed to soak up all the deliciousness. The whole thing worked like a dream and Husband and I ate it all weekend. And I'm making it again this weekend. But this time, a double batch. And I may use black beans instead of soybeans.

Can I just say, this was so good and flavorful that it didn't even need cheese. Virtually unheard of 'round these parts.

Beer Bread and "Healthified" Buffalo Chicken Dip

from 

Eat Better America

I can't even look at you.

Ok, so this meal was actually sinful and delicious and Husband and I inhaled it with embarassing efficiency. It was a bit indecent, gastronomically speaking.

The reason it's BAD and not OHMYGOSHPLEASE is because that....that's a WHOLE loaf of Tastefully Simple (yes, what a lame name) Beer Bread. And that other thing....that's an ENTIRE DISH of the "healthy" chicken dip that still contains a whole brick of cream cheese. And you better believe we ate it all. 

ALL OF IT.

Come to think of it, I believe there was some celery left over. Naturally.

Ugh, my stomach turns just thinking about that ill fated night. But we were both feeling blah with colds, and we wanted something comforting on which to imbibe while we watched episode after episode of Big Bang Theory. And we found it. Boy did we find it. And the next day I was a whole 3 pounds heavier. And none the wiser.

Allie's Non-Fried Chicken

with

Sauteed Zucchini, Onion and Mushroom

This was food. Decent food. I basically made a slapdash mix of "breading" out of crushed Crispex, Italian breadcrumbs and garlic powder, paprika, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper. Then coated my chicken and baked away at 350 for about 30 minutes or so. Nothing special. It tasted good, but not awesome. I'll probably make it again when I don't have any more pans clean and/or don't want to mess with the stovetop.

The veggies were just sliced and cooked on the stove with a bit of olive oil and an obscene amount of McCormick's Season Salt. Love that stuff.

So that's all the action my kitchen saw this week. Oh, except last night I tried out a Balsamic Glazed Pork Chop, and the glaze was awesome (though Husband and I could both drink Balsamic Vinegar for breakfast), but I must not have cooked the chop properly as it was a little tough and dry. Maybe I'll try it again and post. Maybe.

Happy eating everyone!