Some (very early) mornin' cookin'

A very early good morning to you all, folks!

I have a lot on my mind lately, and couldn't sleep. I've been up since 2:30 this morning! I listlessly laid in bed for about 2 hours and decided that I wasn't going to fall asleep, so I might as well do something productive, like make my lunch. 

I decided to make Poulet au Paprika (Food Network). I was trimming the fat and skin off the chicken legs for the Poulet au Paprika recipe when I thought to myself, Man, I never realized how smelly raw meat is! That was when it occurred to me to check the best before date, at which point I discovered the chicken had gone bad :'(

I then remembered that I still had some asparagus from when I made the Salmon Wellington. I also distinctly remember my sister saying that the asparagus was hard and tasted "not fresh", and me realizing that I forgot to trim them (doh!). Anyway, I hadn't trimmed the asparagus today and was about to throw the chopped up pieces on a skillet. I tried to justify not trimming them by saying to myself that I would be increasing my fiber intake, but I knew I was lying to myself; who was I kidding? I was just being lazy, haha. Also, I had never trimmed asparagus before. So, take note, my fellow aspiring cooks, if you have not trimmed asparagus before, because I have learned an easy way to do so! (Yet again, I should have taken pictures, but it's upstairs and everyone is still asleep. I promise to eventually take and post a picture of this because I'm not how well I can explain it!)

First, I held an asparagus stalk perpendicular to me. Using a steak knife as a fruit peeler, I peeled the husks but quickly realized how much 'meat' this took off the asparagus. I decided to try a different approach. I lay the asparagus stalk on a cutting board, and with the steak knife perpendicular to the axis of the stalk, I used the very end (sharp end) of the knife and applied light pressure, removing just the outer husks! I was so proud of myself. I self-taught myself how to trim asparagus, without the help of any Youtube video or guide. Haha!

So I just sauteed the asparagus with a few droplets of oil. No spices, seasonings or even salt. Nothing fancy, but healthy! (By the way, for those of you who don't know, it is good to eat your veggies with a bit of oil or oil-based salad dressing because there are some nutrients in veggies - and fruits, for that matter - that are fat-soluble. If something is fat-soluble, it means that it dissolves in fat. The health benefit of this is that our bodies will better absorb the nutrients! Examples of nutrients that are fat-soluble include vitamins D, E and K, to name a few).

Anyway, next, I made a crab and mushroom quesadilla. I was not following a recipe; I just threw this together. I chopped two white mushrooms into small pieces and sauteed with a teaspoon of oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Next, I added two teaspoons of drained canned crab meat and cooked for a minute. I then added a squirt of tartar sauce and a generous teaspoonful of mayo; I cooked for about 1 minute. I then removed the pan from the stove and added some chopped fresh dish. Now for the tortilla. In a skillet, I toasted a tortilla and added some shredded mozzarella cheese. (I also had cheddar but cheddar has a stronger taste and I didn't want the cheese to overpower the filling.) I topped with the crab mixture. Delicious!

Now that I know that I have enough to bring for lunch to work, I think I'm going to try to catch a little bit of shut-eye before work. I am actually quite sleepy now. Oh, it's going to be a long day!

Have a wonderful day!

-Kitchen Girl