expiration date

When I made Cornelius' birthday dream pie, I had a lot of egg whites left over and I was pretty excited to make some macaroons. Unfortuntely, my macaroon-making was a total bust. All those egg whites wasted due to the mass humidity of our apartment. Coming out of the oven they seemed okay, but an hour on the kitchen table reduced the cookies into a sticky, inedible mess of goo. Into the garbage for the whole lot. Grrrr, I hate wasting food! I think it's time for a new apartment or a dehumidifier!

The next day, things in the kitchen were much better. I made some of my baked oatmeal for breakfast but I ran out of my skim milk. Luckily, Cornelius had just a little bit of eggnog left over from all the holiday festivities, and the expiration date was still a day away. So along with my 1 remaining cup of skim milk went in a half cup of the 'nog and boy oh boy, did this oatmeal rock my socks! I had already added in a bit more spice than the original recipe called for and with the added kick from the eggnog, this oatmeal was a total flavour sensation. Wondering what to do with some leftover 'nog? Put it to use for breakfast and treat yourself to something extra special. Oh boy, I guess this makes the 2nd of 2 breakfast eggnog posts! And I don't even like eggnog!

Earlier this week, I made for dinner some good ol' rice and beans. Please excuse the photo as I was only able to snap one blurry shot before my camera battery died. But don't judge this recipe by one shoddy picture because this meal is so easy to put together and it's full of flavour and spice. Plus, it's the epitomy of cheap eats which makes it the perfect meal after all of December's excess. You can adjust the heat by adding more or less chili....I went a bit crazy with the peppers but I tamed it with some honey and a big dollop of fat free sour cream. We heated up a few corn tortillas to eat along side. Yum.

red beans and rice
1 c rice
2 c water
1 t olive oil
1 can of red kidney beans, drained & rinsed
1 small onion, chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1/2 c salsa
2 T dark rum
1 T cumin
1 t red dried chili peppers, crushed
a few dashes of piri-piri sauce or your favorite hot sauce
1 T honey or brown sugar (optional)
dash of salt

1. Prepare rice as per usual. I always boil up 2 cups of water and then add in the rice. I keep the lid on and simmer on low heat for 5 minutes or so and then I turn off the heat and forget about it. Just don't open the lid as the steam makes everything perfect!

2. Heat up a large cast iron pan with the olive oil. Add in the onions, garlic, celery, green peppers, and crushed dried chilis. Throw in a dash of salt to help the juices flow and stir until everything gets wilty.

3. Next, add in the kidney beans, spices and salsa and stir about until everything is combined and heated through. Taste to adjust spices and add in the rum and the honey if needed. Simmer for a few minutes and then serve in deep bowls on top of the rice.