Yes.  I have actually been doing some cooking.  What can I say?  You can only eat so many frozen entrees, before the guilt becomes overwhelming.

Actually, I ended up throwing out a bunch of stuff I had bought for recipes that I never ended up making. 

But I also realized that I am now retired.  I don’t have to get a week’s worth of food for recipes that I man, or may not, end up making.  I can decide in the morning what I feel like making, and go get those ingredients.  That same day. 

Gotta love the retired life.

So what have I been cooking?

Well, I made Light Onion Bread.  It’s a quick bread, using Bisquick, and is kind of messy to eat because it is quite crumbly – but also very tasty. Our fat cat Berta also approved. I had no idea she has a personal penchant for onion. In the photo, you may notice a little bit nibbled away before I caught her in the act.

And I made a Skillet Burrito Bowl.  Very easy (and you know I love easy food – because you are what you eat!) and also very tasty.

Lastly, I made Snickerdoodle Blondies (sorry no photo – but I made them before, and if you want to go digging through my old blog posts, feel free; I’m more interested in how they taste (YUM) than how they look).  Since I make them, I don’t do the glaze.  Since I touched them, they are sweet enough.

I didn’t really cook today – but I did make a delicious dinner – pulled chicken in barbecue sauce, on bakery onion rolls (I actually had to cut these things in half, and I consider that cooking), and topped with deli coleslaw. 

SKILLET BURRITO BOWL

1 T vegetable oil

1 # ground beef

1 T fajita seasoning

15 oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained

8 oz jar salsa

1 C cooked rice

½ C shredded Mexican cheese

Heat oil in large skillet over medium high heat.  Cook and stir beef in hot skillet until browned and crumbly 5-19 minutes, stirring occasionally, drain.  Stir fajita seasoning into ground beef until evenly coated.  Mix beans, salsa, and rice into ground beef mixture; top with cheese

LIGHT ONION BREAD

1 T butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

3 C bisquick

1 egg

1 C milk

1 t basil

1 t dill weed

Preheat 350˚, grease 9×5 loaf pan

                In large skillet over medium heat, melt butter and sauté the onion for 5-7 minutes or until lightly golden.  In large bowl, combine remaining ingredients.  Add onion to mix, stir just until blended.  Spoon into loaf pan and bake 55-60 minutes or until golden on top.  Allow to cool before removing from pan

SNICKERDOODLE BLONDIES

2 2/3 C flour

2 t baking powder

1 t salt

2 C packed brown sugar

1 C butter, softened

2 eggs

1 T vanilla

TOPPING:

2 T sugar

2 T cinnamon

1/8 t ginger

GLAZE:

1 C confectioners’ sugar

¼ C heavy whipping cream

1 T cinnamon

1 t vanilla

Preheat 350 º; grease 9×13 pan

                Whisk flour, baking powder and salt together.  In separate bowl, beat brown sugar, butter, eggs and 1 T vanilla using electric mixer until smooth and creamy.  Stir in flour mixture until batter is well combined and thick; spread into prepared baking pan.

                Combine topping ingredients; sprinkle over batter.

                Bake 25-30 minutes – until blondies are beginning to pull away from sides of pan and are set in the middle.  Allow blondies to cool, at least 30 minutes.

                Beat together glaze ingredients until smooth.  Drizzle onto blondies.