Four home cooked meals!!

Home cooked meal #1 10/19/08

I heated up the ham slices then took them off the flame and set them aside. I had everything else chopped up. My ingredients were: red bell pepper, 1/4 white onion, a carrot, a tomato, and a tooth of garlic. I sprinkled some salt and some hot spices.

I cooked the potatoes first because they take longer then I added the carrots and covered it all up. I turned the heat down and allowed them to cook. Then I threw in the other denser ingredients like the bell pepper and onions. I let it all cook and then at the end put the ham and tomatoes in. Cooked it all together for a bit and wala.

The final result was that the potatoes were perfect but I think that I over powered the meal with the hot spices and let the tomatoes cook too long.

I combined the whole meal with rice which came out perfectly.
It took me about 2.5 hours to cook and eat all this.


Home cooked meal #2 10/20/08

I bought some fresh ravioli filled with spinach and cheese. I was told that they were good with just grated parmesan and olive oil. So I didn't buy any sauce.

I couldn't just eat pasta so I paired it with some grilled chicken that I threw some hot spices on and put it on the pan with butter on low heat.

So I cut up some small pieces of Pecorino Stagenato Toscano to go with my chicken but it didn't compliment the chicken too well.

The chicken was amazing, it tasted like the chicken I had at a restaurant. The ravioli was good I really like the spinach and cheese. The parmesan made for a great taste.

I then had half a cantaloupe that was very sweet and I was very satisfied with this meal. It took me about an hour to cook and eat this meal.

Home cooked meal #3 10/21/08
I grilled the chicken in butter and then put it on the side when it was done.

I made spaghetti and then put it on the side when it was done.

I then cut up 1/4 of a potato, 1/4 red bell pepper, 1/4 tomato, 1/4 onion, and a clove of garlic. I first put the potatoes and then after a while I put in the other ingredients. When they were getting done I put in the chicken pieces and spaghetti.
The potatoes are awesome because they absorb so much flavor that when you eat them with the other food it gives it a really great taste. They were slightly fried so that was a nice twist.

I had some wine rice to go with it and finished with some wine and grapes.

Home cooked meal #4 10/22/08

I went to the San Lorenzo Market and bought some fresh Gnocchi and pesto sauce. I marinated for one day the chicken in pink wine with salt.

So I cooked the Gnocchi and then I grilled the chicken, but before that I grilled a zucchini in butter with salt. I sprinkled fresh Parmesan Romano and it came out very soft and savory.

I then mixed the cold pesto sauce with the Gnocchi and added Olive oil and ate it with the zucchini. I then ate the chicken with melted Pecorino cheese on it separately with some left over rice.

I finished my meal with some Romaine lettuce salad with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Then had some sweet grapes afterwards.

This took me about 1 and a half hours to cook. I really got lost in my cooking and just enjoyed the whole experience while listening to some of my favorite latin dancing music. I was very satisfied and felt very fulfilled. The chicken needed some work and the Gnocchi was a little bit too salty I think I put too much salt in the water when I was boiling the water and it absorbed it. Next time I will not put any salt in the water and we'll see how it turns out.