flailing in my kitchen v3

How can I be sad when I have breakfast, lunch, and dinner?
Showing posts filed under: green bean casserole

Salmon and green bean casserole

Some time last year I cooked salmon for my boyfriend, and even though I've prepared salmon so many times, and it's one of the easiest things to cook, I ended up totally overcooking it, and it was terrible. ): I bought that salmon from Aldi, and since then he's been convinced that Aldi salmon is bad. I wish he had just concluded that I did a bad job cooking the salmon.

I think Aldi has great salmon, and now I'm determined to make some delicious salmon from Aldi.

Today I went with something really simple: Salmon with Dill. I used to use a recipe for this, but at this point, I know that it's just a bunch of seasonings sprinkled onto salmon. Here's what I put in this one:

  • Garlic salt
  • Onion powder
  • Dill
  • Parsley
  • Black pepper
  • Butter
Uncooked salmon
This post is not sponsored by Aldi

Cooked salmon
Ignore the cut I made through the salmon to check that it was cooked >.>

These were pretty thin pieces of salmon, so I only cooked it for about 12 minutes at 350°F. This was about the right amount of time. I thought the thinner part of the salmon was a little overcooked, and the thicker part was a little under, but I like my salmon a little under.

I also decided to make green bean casserole because my aunt gave me two cans of cream of mushroom, and I have no idea what I'm supposed to do with that except make green brean casserole. I also happened to have a container of fried onions that I kept snacking on (and later regretting), and I really needed to use it in a dish before I ate the whole thing by itself.

Green bean casserole is one of the first foods I ever tried to make on my own, and I can't believe I haven't really featured it in any blog posts yet! I actually have my own recipe for it, but I didn't follow that for today's meal. Today I made the most basic green bean casserole. Green beans + cream of mushroom + fried onions. That's it.

Green bean casserole and salmon meal
Okay, it's not that basic. I did use fresh green beans instead of the canned kind.

It's exactly how my aunt makes it, and it's always delicious. Overall, I'm really happy with my dinner.


Social Distancing: Days 12 - 14

Day 12(Monday): We still have a decent amount of Thai basil leftover, and I figured it's due time for some stir fry. Plus I don't think it's going to last another day. I'm scrolling through recipes from The Woks of Life and I come across one that looks good. It also looks familiar. I made it last year! So I check my old posts, and it says to double the amount of basil. Well, that's not happening. Doesn't matter. This was still delicious.

Thai Chicken Stir-fry with Basil (recipe from The Woks of Life)
Thai Chicken Stir-fry with Basil (The Woks of Life)

We also realize that even though we bought a ridiculous amount of groceries the week before, that we were running out of fruit! So we go back to the grocery store an pick up more stuff. Hey, we lasted one extra day this time!


Day 13 (Tuesday): I have a friend of a friend that apparently works at a local restaurant, and they've got a ton of food (ingredients) that they're telling their employees to take home. So what does that mean for me? I get a surprise box of produce! It's like Misfits Markets again!

I mean, really all I specifically asked for was avocados, but she asked me if I was also willing to take limes, and so I said, I'll take anything! But these avocados are super ripe, so they need to be used today.

And what else can we do with avocado? Put them on some BBQ chicken pizza!

We half the dough recipe this time since we had super thick pizza two days ago. But this turns out super thin. Next time we'll go with 3/4 the amount of dough. And maybe one day I'll actually buy a circular pizza pan so we can have proper circular pizzas.


Day 14 (Wednesday): Yesterday we had chips and guac. Today we decide to have chips and queso!

But what about dinner? We have so much food. Why did we buy so much food? What do we have that looks like it's going bad? The green beans are looking a little sad. Let's make green bean casserole! I have this can of Cream of Chicken that has been sitting in my cabinet for who knows how long. It looks like it expired last year. But it's canned, so I assume it's fine.

In making the pizza and the cheesy bread a few nights ago, my sister learned that I have a large amount of cornmeal just sitting in my pantry, so this inspires her to make some cornbread.

Now all we need is some protein in this meal. I did buy a family pack of chicken breast from the store on Monday. So I look for some chicken breast recipes, and found this super basic one from Budget Bytes. Chicken breast is kind of boring, but as long as we absolutely do not overcook it, it will be delicious. The recipe says to cook for 20 minutes. I think we cooked it for less than 15. Perfectly cooked chicken breast.

Garlic Herb Baked Chicken Breast (recipe from Budget Bytes)
Garlic Herb Baked Chicken Breast (Budget Bytes)


Showing posts filed under: green bean casserole