Alone in the Kitchen

Cooking has always been an interest of mine, but I am not one to be creative on my own. I will improvise on recipes, but rarely go into a meal without the guidance of my trusty cookbooks. When we moved, I set all of my cookbooks on a shelf in our den. I figured that this room would definitely be unpacked during transition (because it is Adam's home office), and books can be easily packed into boxes with other books. This practical thinking backfired when Adam declared upon our arrival to the apartment that "no personal office items are going to be in here, I want only work stuff". Ok. I can't argue this statement because it is his only office in south Florida until he finds an office space to rent. But where are my cookbooks? Buried somewhere in our garage or walk-in closet, either way, they are gone for the next 6 months.

This leads me to my current feeling of being alone in the kitchen. I have a few go-to dishes that I can make without guidance, and of course most recipes can be found on the Internet. But the comfort of my own handy books is gone. Oh well. I was frustrated momentarily by this discovery, but now I've taken it on myself to try new recipes and hopefully add a few to my regular repertoire. And to bridge the gap, I have added taco Tuesday to our weekly meal schedule. Mmmm tacos, what could be easier or more delicious?

The new dishes I've attempted so far:

Effortless Spinach Salad Found on the back of the Craisin's package, this is easy and delicious, plus I had most of the ingredients on hand even before I tried to make it. I changed it up by doing a spring mix instead of spinach, and I added a few fresh strawberries. It was good, and will be making return appearances in our kitchen.

Slow Cooked Italian Chicken with Noodles I tried this recipe after reading a rave review and recommendation from my friend Jen on Facebook. This dish got a mixed response in our house, but Aiden gobbled it down, so it might be a keeper. If he starts to get more picky, I might have to come back to this one. The recipe is provided by McCormick, and I think they were a little to liberal with the spices.

And soon to make its first appearance in our kitchen:

My Kid's Favorite Pork Chops This recipes has rave reviews where I found it on AllRecipes.com. I love cooked onions, so I'm very optimistic about this dish.

Any new recipes that you've added to your kitchen lately?