Tom Drapeau

My friend Travis reminded me not too long ago that you should never try anything that isn’t at least version 3.0. Well, if each new recipe is another major version of the Tom cooking machine, we are finally in the money! Today’s attempt was at Chicken Alfredo over Biscuits, a nice comfort food dish from Betty Crockers Quick & Easy Cookbook.

I have to say, this one was quick and easy. I didn’t have as much of the frozen vegetables as I wanted (recipe called for 1 pound, I had 10 ounces), but I didn’t notice an imbalance in the finished product. It was very, very tasty. I cut the chicken first, then put the biscuits in the oven. After that, there were 3 steps to the recipe, and I was done within 20 minutes. I would definitely make this recipe again.

Here is the result:

tdrapeau Food Alfredo, betty crocker, chicken, cooking

Hello Food Fans, here’s another installment in the “Tom learns how to cook” series. Today was Barbecue Chicken and Vegetables. I love one pot meals , so easy. I thought the recipe needed refrigerated potato wedges instead of frozen potato wedges, so I put them in hot water while I cooked the chicken. The green beans were OK to be frozen going in, said the recipe, so I just let them be.

The result was a good dish, although the beans needed a bit more. The chicken was delicious and the potatoes were good. All in all, a success. Take a look (just like the book!):

tdrapeau Food Barbecue Chicken and Vegetable Supper, betty crocker, chicken, vegetables

Hi interwebs. I’m trying to lose lots of weight (~100lbs) and I’ve been successful losing that much once before, and losing about 50lbs once before that. The first time I did Slimfast meal replacements, and the latest time the Zone Diet Delivery Service. Both times I accompanied this with a healthy exercise regimen, and felt good about my progress. Unfortunately, shortly afterward, I would gain the weight back and then some.

This time I’m doing things a bit differently. I’m not buying diet food. I’m going to learn how to cook, and cook healthy foods. I’m counting calories using Gyminee (you can follow my progress here) and tracking my workouts there as well.

Growing up I never read nutrition labels on food, and never considered what a serving size actually was before plunging into food. Reading the labels and paying more attention to the food I eat has already been a rewarding experience. I have now lost 15 pounds in the past month and am feeling terrific. I don’t expect to continue losing at the same rate, but that’s just fine by me.

I am trying to learn with the cookbooks MomWonder and I already have. We have cookbooks from Betty Crocker, Trader Joe’s and Woman’s Day. So yesterday, I went to the local A&P, bought the ingredients, and MomWonder and I made Southwestern Chicken Scaloppine. I would include a picture but neglected to take one last night.

Anyhow, the cooking experience was great. It wasn’t a terribly difficult dish, and MomWonder was supportive and told me everything I needed. I’m sure someone out there has already said this in a more eloquent fashion, but to me no food is as good as food you cook yourself.

I hope to have many more blog posts related to cooking new foods. I haven’t done much with the Rubik’s cube since I posted about it–hope this one proves different.

tdrapeau Food betty crocker, chicken, cooking, southwestern chicken scaloppine