Delicious Dinner Made Easy

As a college student I realize that the combination of our time delegated between school, work, and student organizations mixed with our love of bed and Netflix, making dinner that’s not a bowl of cereal or mac & cheese isn’t too common. Growing up my mom always made a great meal for dinner every night, so now that I have a full kitchen at my disposal I want to continue eating that way. So I’m here to tell you that really tasty meals can be cooked quickly, are pretty easy to make, and the ingredients are cheap!

After I came home from class, I curled up on the couch and began watching the movie “Julia and Julia” which tells the story of a woman who attempts to work her way through Julia Child’s cook book, making all 500some recipes in one year. She also blogs everyday about what she is making. Watching this I was inspired to blog about what I was making for dinner and show how easy it is!

I made roasted potatoes, acorn squash and salmon. So to get started you are going to want to marinade your salmon. I used soy sauce and honey but you could use whatever you want.

While it marinades you can start working on your potatoes and squash. The first step for making the squash is super simple- just stick the whole thing in the microwave for 5 minutes! After you do that you can turn to the potatoes. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees and while it’s warming you can get them ready. You need to wash them and then take a knife and cut out all of the “eyes” or little bumps on it. I like to use red potatoes when I cook them this way, but baking potatoes would work as well. After you’ve cleaned them, you can start slicing them. The thinner you slice them the crisper they will be. Super thin slices may even come out like a potato chip! I like mine a tad thicker so that the outside has a crunch to it, but the inside is soft. After you’ve got them sliced how you want spread them out on a cookie sheet. Try to avoid overlapping them too much or they won’t get that nice crispness. Spread some olive oil on them and then put some Italian seasoning on for a nice flavor. I also like to add rosemary and salt to mine as well! After you do that you can stick them in the oven and set the timer for 10 minutes.

Then turn back to your squash. Cut the squash in half and scoop out all of the seeds from the middle. Then get a glass dish and put about an inch of water in the bottom. Put the squash in the dish with the cut side down and stick back in the microwave for 15 minutes.

When your potato timer goes off, putt the cookie sheet out and flip the potatoes over and stick them back in the oven for a few more minutes. You can cook the potatoes as long as you want, it all depends on how crispy you want them!

Finally you can put your salmon on the stove. Put the salmon and a marinade in a pan and cook on medium low for about 5 minutes. You’ll want to flip the salmon over about halfway through. The way to know if the salmon is done is when white stuff seeping out of it. It’s the fat that is cooking off and when you see that you’ll know that it’s done.

When you take the squash out of the microwave you’ll know if it’s done when the squash is soft and is easy to stick a fork into. Once it’s done add some butter, brown sugar, cinnamon and salt to it. There isn’t any real measurements for these ingredients, it’s just however much you want! Once it’s melted scoop the squash out and mix it all up.

Squash- done. Potatoes- done. Salmon- done. It took me about 30 minutes to make and I was watching Netflix while I did it, so you don’t even have to give that up to have a great dinner.

Hope you all try this out and enjoy!

Lovin’ the Leaves

 

So loving fall has been portrayed by the public as something “basic” and is meaningless because “everyone loves fall”. Personally, I don’t find that a bad thing- who cares if everyone loves fall? Everyone loves it because fall is AMAZING. Fall has many wonderful aspects: pumpkin patches, apple cider, bonfires, Halloween, sweaters and boots, cuddling and pumpkin flavored everything. However one of  my favorite parts of this great season is the changing leaves. I have a slight obsession with spending time outside on nice days, in fact being inside when the weather is nice is my biggest pet peeve. Even if I have nothing to do outside, I’ll just go sit out there so that I don’t feel guilty about being inside. This kicks into high gear in the fall because I know that warm sunny days are coming to and  end as winter moves in. Another reason why this is heightened in the fall is because I want to soak up every minute of the colored leaves.

The beauty of the leaves is all over, sometimes in a single tree that almost seems to be on fire with the vibrant oranges, reds, and yellows. Sometimes the beauty comes in the form of a whole hill covered with trees or a path lined with all the season’s colors.

View from my camping spot in Wisconsin over Fall Break.

When the leaves fall around me as I walk by or I hear the crunch of the leaves under my feet I can’t help but smile. It is hard to put into words the feeling that it gives, but it seems to be the essence of pure simple happiness. When I see a large group of leaves on the ground, I instantly have the urge to run through them or throw them in the air. The other day I was riding my bike in a residential area just off campus and saw multiple people raking leaves- not to jump in, but to bag and throw away— FALL HATERS was all I could think as I rode by.

I even go out of my way to see these leaves, including taking 45 minute drives purely to enjoy the leaves on the backroads of my hometown.

This mild obsession with fall and the leaves may be silly but for a few weeks, something as simple as a leaf can put a smile on my face and to me that’s something to fully enjoy.

My hometown of Galena, Illinois