1. Fresh Tomato & Herb Bread: I’m thinking this will make a lovely companion to any soup or stew as the cold weather cranks up in the next few months. I’m putting it on today’s list in September because I want time to test this recipe and make a few batches to bake up and freeze so I don’t have to worry about wanting a few slices with dinner randomly at a moment’s notice. My mouth is watering just thinking about how it’s going to taste.

2. Cinnamon Cream Cheese Roll-ups: Now this is solely for the husband. Everything about it has his name written all over it. From the bread (check), to the cinnamon (check and check) to the filling (swoon), he will be pleased. Definitely!

3. Chickpea Curry (Chana Masala): Kevin, from Closet Cooking, has this tasty and comfort looking spicy chickpea stew I really want to make and eat this very instant. Love this kind of stew over rice! This plays nicely into my chickpea addiction, so… Yeah, you just know I’m going to make a whole vat of this stuff to hoover back.

4. Homemade Goldfish Crackers: This is a no-brainer, right? Some days I come home from work in this zombie vegetable state, and the cooking just does not get done. Dinner? Eat air. Thirsty? Lick your lips. It’s brutal some nights around here. If it weren’t for snack foods like these crackers, my husband might waste away. 😉 (Ok, not really, but he would eat these every night for dinner if they were kicking around.)

5. Chicken Teriyaki Sushi Balls: I have some ground pork left over from this week, so I may use them in these sushi balls. I may not, but I may. We’ll see if I’ve found another use for the pork by then or not. I have everything to make these right now but some defrosted chicken. These look like they’d be a great brunch item. I’d need a great dip for them, though. That shouldn’t be too hard to whip up.

(stroking chin) Hmm…

Ooooh, it’s Friday the 13th. Are you superstitious? I’m not, but I always support those who are, because I want to feel a part of something. I have a sad little life like that. 😉

So, work is work. We’re gelling together as a team nicely after four weeks, which is good because the large crowds haven’t died down. At all. It’s kinda scary when you look up.

What’s new, you ask? Well, I managed to burn my hand at work while on a break yesterday. I was trying to pour hot water from the dispenser into my tea cup when I misjudged where the invisible internal spout was on this newer dispenser machine (on older models, the spout hangs down so it’s visible and you don’t have to guess) and the scalding water dropped down on my hand instead of down into my waiting cup that was positioned about two inches away. Oops. Imagine my surprise. It doesn’t look so bad now, and it only hurts in the small area that got hit the longest which is where I have a bit of bruising and swelling.

I figure the burn will all be healed by Sunday or Monday – just in time to do it all over again? 😉 The good news is this will NOT affect my Weekend 5 list. Woot. So, here we go:

1. Sesame Chicken Kebabs: These will be done on Sunday since I have not one lick of chicken in the house right now. We’re planning a Costco run on Sunday AM to grab more. I really like the idea of ground chicken on sticks rolled in sesame seeds for some strange reason. I’m weird like that. Bonus: I’m thrilled to find another food blogger with the Brachydactyly Type D (cosmetic) gene mutation in his or her thumb(s) like I have. I wonder if this person is a member of the Facebook group? Or, perhaps s/he isn’t even aware his or her thumbs are different from others and is somewhat loved and is considered special by the others in our small circle??

2. Healthy Fettucine Alfredo: I don’t use Alfredo sauce much because I usually don’t like the taste of commercial white sauces. They’re… caulky. Also, I don’t think they’re as heart smart or calorie friendly as basic tomato sauce. And truth be told, I much prefer a lovely basil pesto, but the husband won’t have anything to do with pesto. He’s anti-pesto. Have you ever heard of anything so silly? Anyway, the use of a vegetable to make this sauce has me intrigued enough to try it. I wonder if the husband will suspect?

3. Caramel & Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies: For brevity, I condensed the name of this blogger’s cookie. I don’t have all day for a name that long, y’know? 😉 (That sounds mean, doesn’t it?) These look great. Again, this will be for the inlaws more than for us. The husband isn’t big on caramel anything, but he might try one or two if he’s curious enough because he does adore his peanut butter so. And I really adore Fall themed oatmeal cookies. Win-win.

4. Fresh Tomato & Herb Bread: I’m thinking this will make a lovely companion to any soup or stew as the cold weather cranks up in the next few months. I’m putting it on today’s list in September because I want time to test this recipe and make a few batches to bake up and freeze so I don’t have to worry about wanting a few slices with dinner randomly at a moment’s notice. My mouth is watering just thinking about how it’s going to taste.

5. Cinnamon Cream Cheese Roll-ups: Now this is solely for the husband. Everything about it has his name written all over it. From the bread (check), to the cinnamon (check and check) to the filling (swoon), he will be pleased. Definitely!

 I decided to make the green beans for dinner on Friday night since I had the day off and lots of time to work on them, but as a side to the frittata. The frittata was the main attraction. I loved it. So tasty. I recommend this recipe.

The beans, however, were… ok. I liked the taste of them enough, but my gripe is with the amount of work that goes into deep frying them. I’m not a fan of deep frying at home. I really have to be into the food going into the hot oil to set this up and babysit it at the stove top. Perhaps it’s something you’re into, but not me. And the batter fought with me, so it was frustrating. I’ll give this one a pass, but if you’re interested and don’t mind the labour intensive work, go for it.

Tonight for dinner, I decided to try my hand at making the noodle burger ‘buns’. It was really easy to make and fry up, but I made them too big and that lead to sloppy buns, lots of extra food and a plate of bits and bobs on the plate as I wiped my hands off over and over. The issue with making the spaghetti buns instead of the ramen noodles is that’s all we tasted – despite using jalapeno-lime aoili sauce, turkey burgers and lots of roasted peppers.

My SIL’s birthday is on Tuesday, so I baked up the apples I bought the other day. I left the skins off because she doesn’t like them, and I left out the pecans because she’s allergic to nuts, but other than that, it’s the same dish. The recipe was quite straightforward and easy to throw together quickly and to dress up any way you like once it comes out of the oven.

I topped ours with fresh whipped cream and drizzles of homemade caramel sauce. Everyone liked the taste and textures, but the apples themselves were slippery and hard to cut with a spoon alone, so serve this dessert with a fork and knife. I’m recommending this as a lovely, simple apple dessert, perfect for the fall and last minute bakes.

I made the salt, but I have yet to use it, so I’ll let you know how that turns out another time.

Wow, it’s been so long. I’m sorry. I have two jobs now, and this week marked the end of training on the second one, and my schedule during the week finally stabilized, so I am back! Let’s do this, kids.

I have a few things that caught my eye that I’ve been waiting all week to make. Hopefully that husband, and all of you, will enjoy my picks and decide to give them a whirl in your own kitchens this weekend

1. Copy Cat TGIF’s Green Bean Fries: I have some beans I want to use up before they go bad, and before the recycle guys pick up our green bin contents (the ends of the beans) in the morning, so I’m going to make a batch of these to go with tonight’s dinner efforts. (See #2.)

2. Zucchini-Tomato Frittata: I have very limited energy after a long week at work. Coincidentally, I also have eggs and tomatoes in my fridge that are set to expire very soon, so this easy dinner idea is a great use of materials and the meager cooking effort I’m willing to put forth tonight. Ugh.

3. Spaghetti Bun Burger: Ever since Jay from @TheAimlessCook vlogged his version of the ramen noodle burger ‘bun’, I have been trying to decide if I want to give this a go. I’m not a big fan of ramen noodles but I bought some packets nonetheless the other day, so this weekend seems like a great time to try out his method. And in the future, I can alway sub out the ramen for homemade spaghetti noodles if I end up liking the texture. I may not. We’ll see.

4. Seasoned Salt: Ever since I started using liquid smoke, I have been thinking about smoked salt. I have imagined all the various uses to justify baking salt with liquid smoke. It’s going to happen. This weekend. Perfectly timed for Fall cooking, of course. 🙂

5. Baked Apples: Bought some love apples today because they were pretty, and on sale. I have been going back and forth for a few hours, pouring over my Pinterest board, before finally setting on baked apples. It seemed like the right dessert to ease us into that kind of baking. And I know my husband loves this dish, so there’s that…