Procrastination...

Anyone who knows me well knows of my favorite way to procrastinate: cook. Usually, I bake, simply because it doesn't require an extra trip to the grocery store. In high school when I couldn't drive, I would get bored at home and bake - we always had all of the necessary ingredients: flour, sugar, eggs, etc., so I could always come up with some recipe to bake.

This time since I had groceries, I cooked. But I gave myself a time limit: 1 hr 30 min total, including eating time. I rounded up at just over an hour so I was impressed.

I learned from the Food Network that it is way too easy to make your own tomato sauce, so why buy it pre-made? Today, I made a pasta sauce with eggplant and mushrooms. I sauteed the eggplant with a little oil to get them cooked. I chopped up some garlic and one onion and let them go in another pot. Added a few squirts of tomato paste (I love tomato paste in a tube.. so inventive!) and the mushrooms, and then two cans of crushed red tomatoes. Then in went the eggplant.

Spice time: added some "pizza seasoning" - it smelled Italian - and Herbes de Provence - Giada from Food Network loves that spice, so I figured why not. Then some red pepper flakes for heat. Salted every step as I added something new, so it was perfectly salted by the end!

Chopped up some cilantro for garnish and boiled some pasta. Easy as pie, delicious and healthy. And quick!

 

Finally, just now, I was craving ice cream. As I explained to Matt, I refuse to go get ice cream alone. I feel like you should only eat ice cream socially. Otherwise you're an ice-cream-aholic and I'm sure there's a CAGE equivalent for that. So, I do what I always do.... go to the kitchen and see what I can make. The results...

 

 

I had some semi-sweet baking chocolate from when I had baked before; strawberries from when Affy bought me groceries. Melted up the chocolate in the microwave, and voila! Instant treat. 20 minutes later, I am back to studying! Food is always the best study break.....