Every once in a while, I cook something so delicious that I wish everyone I knew could take a bite of it to tell me how awesome it is. And tonight, I made something that good. Oh my GOSH I was really surprised by how good my dinner was!! I'm really excited for leftovers tomorrow night.

I made a seared tuna sandwich with balsamic onions.

The picture does not do this sandwich justice. This sandwich bursted with so much flavor and even though I am stuffed, I am kind of craving it again already. So how did I make it? I dredged the tuna fillet in flour, salt, garlic powder, and pepper and then cooked it in a skillet for a few minutes on each side. Then to cook the onions, I sauteed them in butter and then sauteed them with balsamic vinegar and dried thyme. On the bun I put a little bit of dijon mustard, add the tomato and lettuce and bam! There you have an incredibly delicious sandwich. For a side, I made roasted green beans with lemon (a repeat).

My tummy is really happy right now.

Today I decided to venture out of my own cookbook...and into my roommate's cookbook! So I made asian food tonight, and I didn't fail. hooray.

I made shrimp pad thai and while it was a little bit lighter than what I am used to from restaurants, it was actually really delicious!

I never thought I was capable of making asian food, so this triumph was very exciting for me. I will for sure try to cook again from my roommate's cookbooks.

My big fat greek recipe!

Tonight I made Greek lamb chops (for some reason I like imagining the word lamb being pronounced with a thick Greek accent, so do me a favor and imagine the same). Awesome. I seasoned the lamb with oregano, garlic, lemon juice, salt, and pepper. Then I broiled the lamb. For a Greek side dish, I made couscous tossed with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, and feta cheese.

Me cooking all of this Greek food is not going to help correct people who swear I look Greek. I promise you, I am not Greek. Ask my mom and dad.

A deliciously healthy alternative to mexican food

It is so important to cook with fresh ingredients. And the recipe I made tonight proved this fact. Fresh ingredients make food taste so good!

Tonight I made chicken with black bean salsa. And it was awesome. In the first picture you can see all of the ingredients I used to make the salsa: black beans, fresh sweet corn, red onion, jalapeño peppers, fresh lime juice, olive oil, salt, ground coriander, and cherry tomatoes. The chicken was cooked very easily: over the stove in a pan with a little bit of butter. It was tender and simply delicious.

I really enjoyed this dish and do not feel greasy and icky like I usually do after eating mexican food. win.

breakfast for dinner?? you bet.

I have never cooked let alone eaten a frittata before tonight. I thought this recipe sounded good so I decided to give it a try. And, I am so glad I did because I now have a new favorite breakfast/anytime of the day meal. This frittata was so good! For those of you who do not know, a frittata is basically like an open face omelet baked in the oven instead of over the stove. I made this frittata with fresh sweet corn, mozzarella cheese, fresh basil, salt, pepper, and of course eggs. For a side dish, I steamed fresh broccoli with a little bit of mozzarella cheese (I had some left over) and garlic salt. MMMM!!


Things were hot on the stove tonight, but almost just as hot outside (I know, I am so witty). Today the temperature hit 115 degrees fahrenheit and tomorrow it is supposed to be 117! It is actually kind of scary outside. I don't like. However, I am getting a nice tan.:)

I have always loved stir fry. It is such a great main dish because not only is it delicious and flavorful, it is really healthy!

Tonight I made a stir fry with fresh ginger, shiitake mushrooms, snow peas, minced serrano chile, tofu, green onions, and a little bit of soy sauce. When making stir fry, you really only need a little bit of soy sauce because it really goes a long way. Be careful not to ever add too much because your dish can easily become way way wayy too salty. Last summer when I cooked tofu a lot, I had a lot of trouble with often over-seasoning with soy sauce. and it can get icky.

But this stir fry was really yummy! And only about 200 calories for the entire plate above! Pretty awesome.

So I didn't update my blog much last week because I didn't cook anything exciting worth blogging about. But, I finally got my first paycheck. Which means I got to go grocery shopping! And now the cooking begins again.

Tonight I made a very delicious dinner. I had never made fried fish before and it turned out very very well! I made crispy crusted catfish. It was a catfish fillet dipped in egg whites and ranch dressing, and then dredged in cornmeal, parmigiano reggiano cheese, flour, red pepper, and salt. It is a little bit healthier than normal frying because I baked it in the oven instead of deep frying. And to top it off, I served it with lemon which went amazingly with the other flavors. For a side dish I made baked potato wedges, kind of like a homemade potato chip. I just sliced yukon gold potatoes, added extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper, and garlic powder and then baked the potatoes for a little under an hour in the oven. Simple and delicious. And for those of you who know me well...you know how much I LOVE potatoes. So I enjoyed these a lot. I don't like how yellow this plate of food is, but for me it is about taste and not about looking pretty. And this food tasted deeeeeelicious.



I had my first private golf lesson today and it went really well! I really like the golf pro who is teaching me. We worked on my full swing today, and I really learned a lot! I am really not bad at all at golf and I have found that my learning curve is extremely steep, which is great. I plan on going to the driving range tomorrow after work to practice what I learned. Golf is so fun!

In other news it is really, really hot here. And it is actually kind of humid for Arizona too. It is monsoon season, apparently. I don't like it. I would like it to be 70 with 0 humidity, k mother nature? Thanks.

This week my cooking will be lazy and easy. The reason? I don't receive my first paycheck until this Friday and I am running low on money. sadface.

So until Friday, I am going to cook whatever it is I can find in my pantry or fridge. And tonight, I made grilled cheese.

I accidentally deleted the picture of it. oops. But, this is another recipe inspired by Glor so here is another shout out to him! I made grilled cheese on honey wheat bread with swiss cheese and tomatoes, and sprinkled the bread with garlic powder, garlic salt, and pepper. It was yummy and reminded me of childhood.

Best. Weekend. Ever.

So, I have not updated my blog in a little while because Casey came to visit me for fourth of July weekend! We had SUCH a blast.

He came in on Thursday night and I picked him up after work. We went to dinner at this little sushi restaurant right next to my house and we even walked there it was so close! I was EXTREMELY surprised to find that this sushi was outstanding!! I did not expect to find any good sushi in the southwest, and this sushi was just as good as some of the really nice sushi restaurants in Chicago! And, to make it even better, it was affordable. I will definitely be going to this restaurant on a regular basis. Actually I am craving it right now...

Friday I went to work and Casey met me and some coworkers for lunch at in-n-out burger, a delicious gem of the southwest. Then after work, I gave Casey a tour of Intel and he seemed to really enjoy it! I really do work at a cool place! So family and friends...here is some incentive to come visit me. If you visit, you will get to have a tour of Intel. And it's pretty darn awesome.

Friday night I cooked a delicious celebratory meal for Casey and me and of course I forgot to take a picture but hopefully a description will be good enough to explain how yummy it was! I made roasted beef tenderloin stuffed with mushrooms and shallots and seasoned with soy sauce, butter, salt, and pepper. Then for sides, I made homemade mashed potatoes (with yukon gold potatoes which I really think are the best for creamy mashed potatoes) and balsamic glazed asparagus (a repeat). YUM it was so good! This of course is not a recipe I could make often because beef tenderloin is very expensive, but it was worth it for a reunion meal with my favorite man.

Here comes the most exciting part of our trip. On Saturday, Casey and I took a day trip to the Grand Canyon! It was absolutely amazing. I had never been and it literally took my breath away. First, we stopped in Sedona for lunch because it was right on the way and let me tell you, Sedona was gorgeous as well! The red rocks are beautiful! I really enjoyed it there and wish we could have stayed longer, but we didn't have enough time. Once we got to the Grand Canyon, we decided to splurge a little bit and take a helicopter tour. Being in a helicopter over and inside of the Grand Canyon is by far one of the most amazing things I have ever done. It was for sure a once in a lifetime experience. If you haven't been to the Grand Canyon, you should go because it it is truly incredible there. I can't believe it is natural. Here is a picture of me and Casey at the top of the canyon!

Yesterday for the fourth, Casey and I had a blast. First, we went to the driving range to brush up on our swings. Then, we spent the rest of the day out by the pool with some neighbors, drinking beer and relaxing. And of course for dinner, I had to cook some American food for the occasion so I made Chicago style chili cheese dogs and grilled corn on the cob. I forgot to take a picture of the corn, but here is the hot dog. It was yummmmmmy.:)

So today, Casey and I woke up SUPER early (I'm talking 5:30 am early) to beat the crazy Arizona heat so that we could play 18 holes of golf. I had SO much fun playing golf and I actually didn't suck. Okay, maybe I played off of the kid tees but I still hit the ball straight which is great! I have a lot of work to do but I am finally starting to enjoy the game and really want to learn!

Playing golf in Arizona is such an interesting experience because of the heat, but also because of the wild animals that are around. These animals are not afraid of humans, which is a little bit scary. You will be getting ready to hit a golf club and look out to see a fox running across the green. Or you will be making a putt and in the corner of your eye you will see a coyote running in the distance. Or you will see a jackrabbit. Or a baby ferret. The list goes on.

So in short, I had an amazing fourth of July weekend and am sad it is ending, but I am also excited to get back to work tomorrow and start working on exciting projects there. Hooray for Arizona being so much fun!