Tom Drapeau

So, my awesome sister @ddrapeau has been patiently waiting her turn to show me up in the cooking arena. Since I tend to show off by taking pictures of the finished meal, a la Chicken Alfredo over Biscuits, she responded in kind. The gauntlet has been thrown down… how should I respond, lazyweb?

tdrapeau Food cooking, Italiano, Tomato

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

I tried my hand at another Betty Crocker dish last night, a Pan-Fried Ravioli in Vodka Sauce. Some notes on getting the ingredients and prep: I couldn’t find the exact right proportions at the local A&P for this… I got a 20oz bag of beef ravioli (recipe calls for 25oz), also I got the Emeril brand vodka sauce, since it was lighter (110 calories per 1/2 cup, vs. the 150 for the others.) Couldn’t find Asiago cheese, and mistakenly used Mozzarella cheese instead of their option B (shredded Parmesan).

Also, did not read the instructions closely enough on the prep, and ended up having to dice the plum tomatoes while the ravioli was frying–made for a bit of an uncomfortable rush while cooking. Next time I will definitely dice the tomatoes before beginning to fry the ravioli.

Unanswered question: Are diced plum tomatoes really any different from diced beefsteak tomatoes? It would seem to me that instead of scouring the vegetable aisle for 3 plum tomatoes, I could have diced a single beefsteak tomato and had the same effect. Untrue?

Anyhoo, it came out great. I’m eager to try it again with the right cheese. It made a bit much for us (makes 6 servings, although I cut down 5oz on ravioli so it was more like 5), so I might cut down on the proportions a bit more next time.

Here’s how I did:

tdrapeau Food betty crocker, cooking, Pan-Fried, Ravioli

So I tried my hand at another Betty Crocker Quick & Easy dish last night, the Brown Butter Fish Florentine. I went to a local seafood seller and bought the tilapia Tuesday, washed it with lemon and let it sit overnight. The cooking experience was pretty good–I didn’t realize that there is a difference between raw almonds and slivered almonds, but am glad @ShayWade got slivered almonds. I also did not think that my little skillet could handle 1/2 a red pepper and 9 ounces of baby spinach leaves, which are grilled in the sauce leftover by the fish, but I was really wrong.

All in all, a very pleasant eating experience. Take a look–it looks just like the book!

tdrapeau Food betty crocker, brown butter fish florentine, cooking, Fish, Food

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