My failures as a cook

The shame about the Examiner articles I'm writing is that I can only post my success stories! Who wants to hear all about how great someone's recipes are? Nobody. People love failure. That's why we read the tabloids and watch American Idol!

I made mini meatloaves the other day. The taste was great, but they looked like dog food. Jenson actually LOVED them and ate more than we did.

I made twice-baked potatoes, but I didn't use a recipe and I should have. I thought they were too dry. I put a ton of cheddar cheese, cream cheese and sour cream in the potatoes, so why were they still so dry?? Oh, and they were fat free (obviously).

I also bombed on a Pumpkin Soup recipe. Again, Jenson was a huge fan (and so was Kaylen) but Matt hated it. I know it sounds gross, but it actually wasn't bad. Different, but not bad. It had Prosciutto, onions, garlic, pumpkin, chicken broth, nutmeg, and some other stuff.

Manhattan Clam Chowder gets a D+

The Manhattan Clam Chowder wasn't bad, but it wasn't great. I think it just comes down to preference. I prefer my Clam Chowder white and creamy. This one was spicy with a red sauce. I thought I'd like it, but I really wasn't a fan.

I skipped my cardio this morning because Matt and I stayed up late watching American Idol. I know! Its a horrible excuse to miss exercise.

Clams in a can look nasty. You'd think I would have learned my lesson from the scallops.

I jumped on the scale for the 1st time yesterday since before the holidays. And I mean I literally jumped on it in a fit of rage and disbelief. I've been doing cardio every morning since Thanksgiving, and I even worked out Saturday! But I think its going to take a little more than that. I love to eat WAY more than I want to be skinny. So I have to adapt. I went to the gym once last week on my lunch break, in addition to doing my cardio in the morning. I am going to try to go twice this week. Time to turn this flab into solid muscle! Or at least firm jello.

It never fails, when I think about working out, I think about how much I love to eat and what new recipes I want to try. I have a recipe for cinnamon cream cheese squares that I'm dying to try. But I made the Apple Cake on Saturday (which Matt and I ended up devouring directly out of the pan as we stood over the kitchen counter on Sunday) and he made his Mom's recipe for Chocolate Cake on Sunday night. We still have some cake left, but I'm trying to avoid it so I can save the calories for the next dessert I want to try. Matt is under the impression that we have to eat the whole thing, whereas I have no problem eating a few pieces and throwing the rest away. Out with the old, in with the new! Lets throw those calories away so we can substitute them with different ones. Makes sense to me!

I made a recipe for Manhattan Clam Chowder . The picture looked great, the recipe sounded delicious, but when I put it all in the crockpot this morning it looked like something you'd pull out of the garbage disposal after a busy night at Pappadeaux. And it didn't smell great, either. So tonight we'll either come home to a crockpot full of a savory, mouth-watering clam chowder, or we'll microwave Sunday's leftover hamburger patties. Either way, we'll have chocolate cake for dessert, so at least we have something to look forward to.

Scallop, you are hideously ugly. But I still love you.

My daughter is an inquisitive eater. She wants to know everything about what she eats. Not because she doesn't like it, but because she has a genuine curiosity. She asked the other night if these scallops were animals. That turned into a discussion because Matt and I are not self-professed experts on scallops. But we did know enough to tell her that yes, they are sea animals, and they are invertebrates. That's about all we knew. What do they look like when they're not in the frying pan? Do they have an outer shell? Inner thoughts? Mouths? I explored the fabulous world of Google and came up with this lovely picture. Really? That's a scallop in its natural form? I wish I hadn't gone down this avenue. I'm a bit horrified, actually. I did find out some interesting tidbits of information, though. Did you know scallops are active swimmers? They swim by flapping their shells. I always pictured them as barnacle-type beasts. Stuck to posts and sunken pirate ships.
Either way, I still adore them. And in my research, I discovered that due to several factors, Bay Scallops on the U.S. East Coast are declining in numbers! Mainly due to shark-fishing. Sharks eat sting rays, and sting rays eat scallops. So lets stop eating those nasty sharks so I can have more scallops!