Sometimes I Cook

Hello everyone!

I'm back at school which means I'm back to cooking for myself!!

(....not sure how those !!! are meant....Am I angry or excited..? Maybe both...)

Anywho, food comes in entirely too large of packages for a college student to eat in a timely manner which means I have to repeat meals a lot in order to eat my food before it goes bad, and if I could eat all of it before it goes bad, I couldn't have it anyway since there is thismuch room in our kitchen. 

Yay, college. Yay, leftovers.... -_-

So in an effort to NOT have exactly the same thing every night I've been experimenting and cooking lots* of things: 

Lemon-Pepper Tilapia & Lemon Pasta

Spicy Tilapia & Vegetable Stir Fry

Fried Tilapia & Salad

*This is lots of things for me. Normally I'm either having Ramen Noodles or Spicy Ramen Noodles.

 Yeah, I realize that EVERY SINGLE ONE of those contains tilapia, but I'm not letting myself buy any other kind of meat until my pack of it is all gone.

It's taking a while....

On the plus side, these were all delicious. 

It's okay to drool a little. 


Did everyone see that? Because I will not be doing it again.

-McKenna

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! 

This Thanksgiving in the midst of turkey comas, food babies, and backyard football, I thought I would make a little list of things I am thankful for....as you can see, it grew. I am thankful for:

Mum

Dad

Hannah

Ashton

Grammy Kathy

Grandpa Burd

Grandma Wilson

Grandpa Wilson

Grandma Nadine

Grandpa Joe

Grandma Pratt

Cousins

Cousins’ kids

Aunts

Uncles

Great Aunts

Great Uncles

Sarah

Austin

Shelby

Dallin

Spencer

Quinten

Jo
Laramie

Melissa

Taylor
Kelser

Allie

Keni

Becca

Best Friends

Roommates

Abraham Lincoln

George Washington

Joseph Smith

William Tyndale

Theodore Roosevelt

Albert Einstein

Thomas Edison

Walt Disney

Thomas Jefferson

William Shakespeare

Sir Isaac Newton

Chocolate

Pork Chops

Steak

Trout

Potatoes

Corn on the Cob

Cake

Brownies

Ice Cream

Garlic

Tapatio

Jalepenos

Onions

Computers

Internet

Printers

Toilets

Running Water

Heaters

Air Conditioning

Garage Door Openers

Lights

Cellphones

Email

Letters

Pride & Prejudice

All the Harry Potters

Vampire Academy

The Host

Sherlock Holmes

The Scarlet Letter

The Foot Book

How the Grinch Stole Christmas

The Notebook

The Chronicles of Narnia

Hercules

The Princess Bride

Pocahontas

Serendipity

Castle

Mulan

Leap Year

The Notebook

P.S. I Love You

Aladdin

Bed

Afghans

Quilts

Laptop

Heated Blankets

Sweaters

Jeans

Running Shoes

Yoga Pants

High Heeled Shoes

Eyes

Ears

Nose

Lips

Birthmark

Fingers

Feet

Legs

Arms

Brain

Basketball

Yoga

Running

Football

Hot Baths

Singing

Listening

Hugging

Sleeping

Talking

Nyssa, Oregon

Home

Church

Logan, Utah

Apartment

Twin Lakes

Owyhee Dam

Oregon Coast

United States of America

Fruitland, Idaho

pinterest.com

facebook.com

gmail.com

hulu.com

google.com

usu.edu

Wikipedia.com

Etsy.com

Youtube.com

Spotify.com

Jesus Christ

The Atonement

The Plan of Happiness

The Scriptures

Father’s blessings

Patriarchal Blessings

The Sacrament

Preach My Gospel

Prayer

Temples

Eternal Families

Missionaries

Cats

Kittens

Dogs

 Sheep

Horses

Puppies

Seahorses

Goldfish

Cows

Birds

Utah State University

Calculus

Math

Reading

Nyssa High School

Journals

Physics

Mirrors

Blogs

If you made it this far, thanks for reading. I am so blessed to have so many things to be thankful for. I hope you have a great day with your loved ones! 

Some people care too much...I think it's called love

McKenna

Hey Look I Can Cook!

I've been up here at college for about a month and I'm finally cooking things other than ramen noodles (although I actually do love ramen noodles and ate them all the time at home!). 

So yesterday I made ceviche (or rather my own simplified version), and I guess it technically doesn't count as cooking since I didn't actually use any heat. 

So I guess the title of this should be 'Hey Look I Can Chop!'

...and stir? Add salt? Make edibles?? 

That's it. 'Hey Look I Make Edibles!'. 

Anywho, I took lots of pictures so I can explain this really simple process.

First I chopped jalepenos, onions, and tomatoes (it's basically pico de gallo at this point). I don't have a food processor or it would have been a much quicker process. As it was, my adorable purple knife got a lot of use (1000-bonus-points-and-the-points-don't-matter if you can spot it!). 

Then I chopped and added avocados (because who doesn't love avocados?!)

Then I juiced a lime (and another half a lime because I love limes, but do whatever makes you happy) and added some finely chopped garlic (garlic makes EVERYTHING better, except perhaps cake).

Now for the fun part. I bought some frozen shrimp that were deveined and cooked already, and thawed them out.

And chopped them up too (hence the revised title) and added them to the bowl.

Then I stirred...it's a complicated step so if you struggle here don't feel bad. It takes practice. 

And an innate, inborn, unteachable talent. And great hair. 

So no worries. If you don't get it you probably never will. 

Add chopped cilantro and salt to taste and you're done!

It's better than noodles anyhow. And pretty great in tacos. And straight out of the bowl...

No judging.

Jealous? You should be.

Whistle while you work.

-McKenna

P.S. That's kind of impossible for me because I can't whistle...

Chopped

First thing you should understand, there is no TV in my apartment.

Which means I've been watching entire episodes of shows on my laptop through hulu.com. One of the shows I've been watching is Chopped. Now, I don't know if you've seen it, but it's a cooking competition where the chefs are given these crazy ingredients and have a short amount of time to create something fabulous with them.

Sounds like college to me.

No, seriously. If you have a kitchen in your dorm room meal-times usually go like this:

You must compose a meal of ramen noodles, yogurt, and almonds in twenty minutes before your next class. Bonus challenge: don't set off the notoriously sensitive fire alarm in your building or everyone will hate you.

Exactly like Chopped...minus the fire alarm thing (more on that later).

Except, unlike Chopped, in college you don't have a fabulous fully-stocked pantry, you only have two square feet to work in, and your seasonings are limited to sugar, salt, and pepper.

College is much harder.

So, if any of you are training to become Chopped Champions, may I propose that you go back to college? Your skills will be honed in no time.


To infinity and beyond.

-McKenna