Arugula Italian Sausage Linguine

Over the past two years I have really focused on what I have been eating. It is not that I starve myself or eat only salad, but I definitely make sure I don’t overeat. Calorie counting I suppose.

That doesn’t mean I don’t eat pizza and ice cream or drink a beer or two. I have days where I go over a target number. But over the past two years I have dropped close to 60 pounds. Its pretty cool.

One of the foods that I do not eat as much as I used to is pasta. I love pasta. I love carbs. But I just eat and eat and eat. A pasta dish is a rare treat once or twice a month nowadays because of that. And a rare treat is what was had tonight.

It is a dish of linguine tossed with mushrooms, tomatoes, Italian Sausage and arugula. Simple to make in about 20 minutes. Makes enough for the whole family. A lot of taste in each bite. It is one of my all time favorites.

My Basic Mexican Seasoning

A long time ago I got fed up with prepackaged taco seasonings. So I made my own. And in many of my dishes that have a Tex-Mex bent to them, you will find some variation of this seasoning. There is no exact science to this either. Certain dishes require more of one spice than some others.  But typically most are always included.

So what do I throw in the mix?

Sea salt
Black pepper

Turkey Baked Potato – Quick & Easy

Remember a few years ago when the baked potato was all the craze? Yeah totally missed it. Not out of not being around, just from not caring all that much.

A baked potato was part of my weekly diet so it really didn’t matter that you could put all sorts of different toppings on top of a spud. I just didn’t feel the need to head to the potato stand when I could grab a sandwich.

Over time the baked potato worked its way out of my weekly diet.

Now let me introduce some of you to a little BBQ chain called Rudy’s. Smoked meats with all the sides, and best of all a spicy sauce that is some of the best I have ever tasted.

I got back into the habit of the occasional baked potato thanks to Rudy’s. They would take the spud top it with cheese, sour cream and the meat of your choice. Then you sit down and slather it in the sauce that just sits on the table. Needless to say, you can get where I am coming from on this.

Three Bean Chili

Best chili in the world? That would be my dad’s chili. Its a recipe I don’t even actually have. He sends me premade chili spice packs. At a cook time of three hours, the house smells so good by the time its ready to eat.

Now I am a pretty good guess. I think I can pick out what is in his mix, just not in the proper measurements. It contains a bunch of what is already in my spice cabinet.  I am not stranger to chili type concoctions as well. Taco soup is always an option.

Experimentation is always fun as well. Once before I had tackled a vegetarian chili that turned out pretty good. Forgot to write it down. So when dinner time rolled around tonight, I shelved the thawing chicken and went back to reinvent it. Lucky for me I had what I think were the base ingredients in the pantry.

Chicken Wings with Green Chile Rice

Not actually mine. Those I ate much to quickly.

Going to college at the University of Texas opened my eyes to many things. Playing quarters with Red Dog. 3 a.m. pizza delivery. Watching the hillside of sunbathers from the 13th floor of the dorm. You know, normal college stuff.

But perhaps what has stuck with me the most is probably the food. Its not the first time I have talked about the likes of Magnolia Cafe and Kerbey Lane, nor will it be the last. But prior to college chicken wings were a random appetizer never partaken. And then Pluckers and Buffalo Wild Wings came into my life. It was a very dangerous discovery. Even more when you start adding in 64 oz. of a frothy beer.

And Pluckers and BWW are not the only places that got it right. I have to say most chicken wing joints in Texas got it right one way or another. And then I moved to Utah. A place where BWW doesn’t doesn’t exist. And the chicken wings here leave you scratching your head.

Much like my search for good Mexican food, I can never find anything quite how I want it. Now to give SLC credit, Trolley Wing Company near downtown SLC doe s make a good wing. And Wing Nutz has Shiner on tap. But we are not playing horseshoes or hand grenades here. And it does tend to get a bit pricey.

Play with your food! English Muffin Pizzas!

Just want to get this out of the way but…I have just hit the 10 pounds lost mark. How? Simply watching what I am eating. Granted a little physical activity would be the best to go along with some calorie counting but I am working my way into that.

It has been somewhat of a goal of mine to find a way to lose weight. No surprise. Everyone does it. But I never found anything I could stick with. I want to do a lot of things, but actually getting to them is pretty darn hard for some reason.

And then rolled around a little website my bud pointed out to me. Nothing fancy, probably 10,000 more out there. Simply a net blog for yourself to keep track of what you eat and the caloric intake you are busting out each day. Pretty eye opening when you actually start looking at what you eat. And even more how much of it you are eating.

Spinach & Romaine Salad

At lunch today I was faced with a decision. Eat a salad or eat the Thai Spicy Noodle dish over at the Chinese counter. I chose the Thai Spicy Noodle.

It was good. But the minute my lunch companion sat down with her chicken Caesar salad I knew I wanted a salad. And soon. Perhaps for lunch tomorrow. Perhaps for dinner when some friends come over? Pshht! No. How about tonight!

Green stuff. Red stuff. Orange stuff. Some brown stuff. Protein and veg. But every once in a while you need that kind of stuff I suppose. And too be honest it was yummy. I would eat it again. Maybe for lunch tomorrow. I used a creamy poppy seed dressing drizzled over the top.

Homemade Pizza with Black Bean Pizza Sauce

Wow. Been awhile hasn’t it? Life has been crazy busy. Work mostly. Trying to fit in other things as well. And well, some laziness on my part. It’s not like I have not been cooking. I have. So I hope to catch up with some of what has been brewing the kitchen over the next few weeks.

My son has taken to hanging around the kitchen lately trying to figure out what dad is doing. He doesn’t last long, but he is always around. At times he will run over to his play kitchen and grill and do a little cooking of his own.

 

He really has not done too much with actual food. Mostly he really likes to make cookies. Go figure. But I wanted him to get his hands dirty again. So what better way to let a kid go at it than to break out the English muffin pizzaas. So he loaded his up with cheese, sauce, pepperoni and olives. And then he chowed it. Score!

Spring Vegetable Pasta with Facon

So you might have heard me talking about the vegetarian who comes over to the house to hang out every now and then. Well really every week. And since this vegetarianism is only a couple of months old, there is only so much mac ‘n cheese and cheese pizza a man can eat.

So then I started thinking. What fake meat exists out there? I have already had that protein crumble stuff they pass off as substitute ground beef. Someone wise just told me taco seasoning makes that better. But then I thought which meat makes everything better? Bacon!

Breakfast tacos

So simple, yet so delicious.

The other day when I talked about breakfast tacos must have really put a bug in my brain. Because ever since that day, all I could do was think about them.

And this morning, after a long weekend up in Park City, UT watching the Utah Symphony at Deer Valley, I made an executive decision to whip up a batch of what my friends and I used to make on Saturday mornings.

As I was making them, I realized it had been over four years since I last made these. Probably even longer since we did it as a group. So as I cut the potatoes and cooked the bacon all I could do was thinking about piling into a kitchen and destroying it for the next hour for about 3-4 tacos each of goodness.