Shrimp & Couscous with Ginger-Orange Sauce

I love Cooking Light, (which is why I should probably renew my subscription), and when I was in college I made this delicious recipe that, four years later, I'd been hankering to try again ever since.  The recipe is for crunchy shrimp with couscous and ginger-orange sauce.  It has a semi-long ingredient list, but the actual preparation is not difficult, and Lennon has been not-so-subtly hinting that I should make it again ever since he got a taste.

Here it is, with notes on the few modifications I made:

Ingredients

Sauce:

• 1  cup  orange juice
• 1  tablespoon  chopped fresh cilantro
• 2  tablespoons  reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 1 1/2  tablespoons  chicken broth (I used veggie broth)
• 1  teaspoon  grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1  teaspoon  fresh lime juice
• 1/2  teaspoon  ground cumin
• 1/4  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  ground red pepper   

Couscous:

• 1  cup  uncooked couscous
• 1 1/2  cups  chicken broth (I use veggie broth)
• 1/2  cup  orange juice
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/3  cup  chopped green onions
• 2  tablespoons  sliced almonds, toasted
• 1  tablespoon  unsalted butter

Shrimp:

• 20  jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined (about 3/4 pound)
• 1  large egg white, lightly beaten
• 1/2  cup  panko (Japanese breadcrumbs - I used whole wheat bread crumbs)
• 1  teaspoon  chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/2  teaspoon  grated peeled fresh ginger
• 1/8  teaspoon  freshly ground black pepper
• 1  tablespoon  canola oil
• 2  cups  trimmed watercress (I used spinach)

1) Thaw the shrimp!  I forgot to do this in advance and practically had to boil the shrimpies in tap water while I prepped everything else.

2) Grate the ginger, chop green onions, cilantro, etc.

3) In a saucepan, bring 1 cup orange juice to a boil over medium-high heat; cook until reduced to 1/4 cup (about 10 minutes). 

4) Remove from heat; cool completely.
5) Stir in 1 tablespoon cilantro and next 7 ingredients (through red pepper); set aside.  Note: I may have reduced the orange juice too much, but Lennon and I both agreed that more sauce would have been better, because it's delicious.

5) To prepare couscous, place couscous in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; cook 3 minutes or until toasted, stirring constantly.

Lennon in the middle of peeling mostly thawed shrimp.  We are cheap and bought the kind with exo-skeleton still on.  Quote: "I LUV SHRIMP!"

6) Add 1 1/2 cups broth, 1/2 cup orange juice, and 1/2 teaspoon salt; bring to a boil. Remove from heat; cover and let stand 5 minutes. 

7) Fluff with a fork; add onions, almonds, and butter, stirring until butter melts. Keep warm.

Peeled and thawed shrimps. 

8) To prepare shrimp, combine shrimp and egg white in a large bowl, tossing to coat. Combine the panko, 1 teaspoon cilantro, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, and black pepper in a large zip-top plastic bag. Add shrimp to the bag, and seal and shake to coat. (I did not do this, I just stirred it all in a bowl).

9) Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat; arrange shrimp in a single layer in pan. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until done.
10) Place 3/4 cup couscous on each of 4 plates; top each with 1/2 cup watercress and 5 shrimp. Drizzle each with 1 1/2 tablespoons sauce.

In the words of Julia Child, and many French people: bon apetite, (unless you're a shrimp).

Addendum: "This is the Lennon's favorite dish that Amanda-pants has made."    -- the Lennon.

Remembrance of Things Passed: Prescott, Little Rock

I drove to Little Rock on Wednesday, getting in at 11:30PM, to attend my great-grandma Grady Faye's funeral on Thursday morning.  To me and my cousins, she was Grady Faydie. Just like I didn't know she was my step-great-grandma until college, I also didn't know that Grady Faye was her real name, I thought it was her grandma name, (we like to make up our own, my grandmother is Gramadear).  The funeral was in Prescott, the small town where my grandmother was born and raised.  She said it used to be thriving when the railroad brought it lots of people and business, but the highway has since diverted both commerce and visitors.  Compared to how it used to be, she said it's practically in decay.  Seeing historic main streets and store fronts abandoned and falling into disrepair, as well as hundred year old houses that are begging for new paint, roofs, foundation work... is a sad testament to how architectural history is often treated.

My Grady Fadie knew something about style, though.  She went out in a pink casket, with pink roses, wearing a pink suit with hand-sewn pink sequins and beads on the collar and cuffs.  If I wasn't terrified of caskets over cremation, I'd do the same thing.

Cremation is an odd thing, though.  My mother was cremated, and it has left me with a sort of "lost" feeling as to where to "visit" her, as there's no real grave.  There's the place where the ashes were scattered, and a shared plaque, but it's not really the same.

Gradie Fadie is being buried beside her first husband.  A few hops up, my blood great-grandfather and great-grandmother are buried side by side: August and Thelma.  I never met either of them, but I have great-grandma Thelma's Prescott High School class ring, a perfect fit.  The date has rubbed off the front except for a barely visible "19," but her maiden initials are still clearly visible inside the band: T.P.H.

I also have my grandmother's Prescott High School class ring, and my mother's Parkview High School ring.  It makes me regret not getting my own class ring, as it will leave a gap in the collection.

This was Grady Fadie's house, and sadly, I will probably never see it again.  She moved in when she married my great-grandfather August, and my grandmother was born in the Prescott hospital and raised here until she left for the University of Arkansas and married my grandfather.  She said the back den used to be a screened in sleeping porch for hot, Arkansas summer nights, and several of the trees surrounding the house are pecan trees.  Grady Fadie used to give me ziplock bags full of the pecans that fell to the ground.  The house is ninety years old.

After the funeral, we skipped the typical deli tray luncheon and went to Maxine's Diner.  I had to get fried okra, because aside from loving it, Grady Fadie used to make it for me.  My Aunt Carol and I split this gigantic piece of coconut cream pie.  She had to hold it up to her face for a size comparison.

Before leaving my grandmother's house in Little Rock, (my grandfather is still alive, but he's in a nursing home), I pulled this dress out of the closet in my mom's old room.  My grandmother made it for her to go to a formal dance when she was in high school, and the lace details were made by great-grandma Thelma.  For some reason, this dress has always fit me, even though my mom's wedding dress most certainly did NOT when I tried it on back when I was engaged.  I love it, and Austin is a city in which I could actually wear this, where as I would feel people were looking at me funny if I wore it in Little Rock.  My grandmother is going to shorten the skirt so it hits at my knee, and I can't wait to wear it.

I'm now back in Texas, but am staying over night at my dad's house in Copperas Cove. 

This is only the second time I have been back in Little Rock since I moved.  Little Rock has the affect on me, where I have a memory tucked into every corner and crevice of it's cityscape, so that I feel as though I own it.  I can tell you how everything looked twenty years ago from personal memory, as well as up to sixty years ago from family stories.  I spent time with friends, with Michael, with family, in what feels like every building, parking lot, street light... it makes everything feel as though it is mine, and makes me unafraid of any space. 

When Lennon and I go to Dallas, he says the same thing about it and Grand Prairie.  He drives down the streets wide-eyed and relaying stories about every inch of street he's traveled.  I suppose I do the same thing in Little Rock. 

Do you have a town or place like that?

Triptychs & Mango Lassis

I had a mango I didn't use from a recipe I made the other night, so I saved it to put into a mango lassi for breakfast.  I used this recipe:

Ingredients

1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 cup milk
1 cup chopped mango (peeled)
4 teaspoons sugar, to taste (I used agave nectar)
A dash of ground cardamom

Directions

Put mango, yogurt, milk, sugar and cardamom into a blender and blend for 2 minutes, then pour into individual glasses, and serve.  Sprinkle with a little cardamom.  The lassi can be kept refrigerated for up to 24 hours and makes about 2 cups.

Other than the fact that I need a better blender, it's sweet and bright and perfect for a rainy morning, (especially a morning where I should really be rushing out the door as opposed to making fancy smoothies and then posting pictures of it online).

As I haven't put on my pants and wellies to brave the wet weather outside yet, here is another boots outfit that I wanted to share.

First picture: my hard core neck tattoo!  (does a Frida Kahlo element count as hard core?)
Dress: from Little Rock boutique two years ago
Tights: Target
Cardigan: Target
Boots: Steve Madden
Necklace: from my step-momma
Standing on a stool: I have no idea why

I have an important meeting in like twenty minutes....

But I have to post my internetz fame!

 

Meghann immortalized me in reference to this moment, (see below), which I promptly came in to work and told everyone about after it happened.  And that thing around my neck is the massive key chain/ID on a lanyard I carry around at work.

 

I have mad skills in the kitchen sometimes.

I work hard to test all my recipes before I post them for your viewing pleasure (disgust?)

How To Have an Awesome Morning: Eat Awesome Food

Not long ago I made a recipe called Italian Eggs and Polenta.  Making the polenta from scratch, I doubled the recipe and set some aside in the fridge for later.  That later came in the mornings that followed for the remainder of the week, because I made super delicious Mexican Breakfast Eggs and Polenta!

This is the container I refrigerated.  It's sort of like cold cornbread before heating it up.  

I don't feed the boys for breakfast - one egg just for me.  And maybe I'm crazy, but I think the eggs are adorable in this little egg fry ring.  I got this yellow one in a four pack from Williams-Sonoma, but sadly I lost the pink one in a move :(

These things were supposedly non-stick, but I find if I don't spray them down prior to cooking, then I have to dig the egg off the edges. 

I also made salsa from scratch the other day.  While it wasn't the best thing I've ever made, it was still pretty darn good and great for use in dousing my polenta.  I have my low fat plain yogurt that doubles as sour cream at the ready.

Hello Heaven: thy name is egg yolk, salsa, cream, (yogurt), cornmeal, and cheese.

Mexican eggs, grapefruit, and tea.  This was indeed an awesome morning.  Having just failed miserably at making rice for my dinner (it's the simple things that I find the most difficult), I'm now salivating at the memory of this.  Oh, and picking crunchy rice from my teeth... lovely.

Nuclear Salsa!

When I left Naval ROTC at the George Washington University and moved back to Fayetteville to attend the University of Arkansas, I missed out on a huge component of starting university as a freshman: meeting people.  Most of my high school friends were gone at out of state universities, I did all of the freshman orientation get-to-know-your-neighbor shenanigans at GW, (and made some of the best friends of my life - I love you Mitchell Sixers!), and worst, I committed the cardinal sin of transfer student life: I moved into an apartment instead of a dorm, even though I was only a sophomore.  Being painfully shy, (more so then), I went through the next three years without knowing scores of people... more like five people, with close friends passing through town on holidays to keep my social candle barely aflame. 

In retrospect, I wouldn't have had my college years any other way for one main reason and one sub reason.  While Lennon had quite the crazy college experience, and sometimes makes me envious of his stories of dorm parties, wild exploits, etc., I could not change anything about how my low-key, knitting to Billy Holiday CD's and shopping at the organic Co-op because my parents still paid my credit card bill and staying in weekends experience played itself out, because if it had been different I wouldn't have been with my mom the last year she was alive.  She got so sick she had to leave the house in Texas to stay with my aunt and her family in Fayetteville, which meant I got to see my momma on a near-daily basis.  If she'd been in Killeen, TX, still, or I'd been at George Washington or any other school, I would have maybe seen her twice that year - she died in May.

So that's the huge reason I don't regret my quiet college years.  The secondary reason is that I learned how much I love to cook and make everything from scratch.  The only thing that stands in my way most of the time, is, well, time.  On my 20th birthday I didn't have anywhere to go so I stayed home, watched a movie, and made myself green Thai curry, cutting up every vegetable and using a cookbook I had bought the previous summer while living with Joanie & Julia (my girls!) on Martha's Vineyard and working at the Bunch of Grapes bookstore. 

Ok, all of this back story to say, what exactly?  To talk about making salsa from scratch.  Without a recipe.  So am I going to sell these instructions as the world's best salsa recipe?  Heck no, I confused serrano peppers with poblano peppers at the grocery store, I didn't peel and seed the tomatoes, and I listened to Lennon (BAD IDEA) and put in two jalapenos and burned the crap out of my mouth. 

But we made it together, it was fun, and after sitting in the fridge overnight, it came out spicy and tasty.  Next time, though: no poblano.  Expect this to be the first of a series of salsa posts, I'm a tad obsessed with the stuff, as well as recipe tweaking.

Nuclear Salsa: Take One

Ingredients:

Roma tomatoes

Jalapenos

Green onion

Poblano pepper (don't use it!)

Cilantro

Garlic

Chop everything into little bits!  The seeds in the jalapeno make it extra hot.

It's time for a quiz!  Amanda is doing the following:

        a) taking the world's most flattering picture
        b) wearing a poblano pepper stem as a hat
        c) doing my best Alton Brown impression complete with sea salt
        d) all of the above

Tricky, eh?  If you need the answer, you can email me at: dishevelledstars@gmail.com, but that's cheating!  Remember integrity is important when making salsa.

Blenders are also important.  Put everything in one.  A food processor also works.

Oh, oh!  It's quiz time again!  Lennon is:

      a) competing with Amanda for world's most flattering picture

      b) drinking the glass of red wine beside the giant glass of beer

      c) about to blend together all salsa ingredients before putting it on chips and in a mason jar

      d) answers "a" and "c" only

Again, feel free to email me for hints.

So while this salsa was a bit pulpy, it was certainly good!  Be prepared to see it make an appearance in a few more recipes I have waiting in que for an appearance on this blog.

The Average Grocery Cost Debacle

Before I begin this post, can we talk about how much I love the hats my grandma makes me?  She just sent me this peach beanie in the mail - and it may edge out the competition as my favorite.  It's perfect for a sunny day that's too warm for jackets but too cool in the shade to walk around with a naked head.  My co-workers and I are offering a knitting/gossip circle group to the girls in our after-school program this semester, so maybe I can sit in and learn how to knit too. 

Hat: my Gramadear!
T-shirt: Delias
Undershirt: J. Crew
Jeans: Sevens from Buffalo Exchange
Shoes: sequined Chuck look-alikes by Gotta Flirt

Ok, back to my promised topic, food:

I know it's not proper etiquette to talk about money, but Lennon and I are having a disagreement, and I want to air it out in public and open up the debate.  The topic is average weekly grocery expenditure.

Last week, I spent about $80 total on groceries.  With this money, I made/acquired:

• Veggie chicken pot pie
• Veggie chicken tetrazzini
• Polenta with Italian eggs
• Tamale Pie
• Salsa from scratch
  
• Bagel, cucumber, cream cheese and tomato sandwiches
• Red wine
• Cereal
• Fruit for snacking
• Breakfast stuff
• Staples: milk, yogurt, etc.

Sunday evening, we spent $90 on ingredients and food for the week.  We got ingredients for meals and items that included:

• Corn and potato chowder
• Enchiladas Verde
• Butternut squash soup
• Veggie chicken pot pie (again)
  
• Pesto sauce from scratch
  
• Tomato sauce from scratch
• LOTS of fruit. (we both need to up our intake)
• Salad fixins
  
• Red wine
• Six pack craft beer
• Cereal
  
• Staples like OJ, milk, cooking spray, olive oil, more yogurt, etc.

We divided up the cost of everything, like we do, and after he paid, he about had a heart attack at the register.  This is from the boy who can feed himself for $20 a week on Ramen, mac n'cheese, and PBR.  In the past we have also been guilty of only cooking one to two times a week, as we tend to over indulge in eating out or unhealthy, quick choices (like the mac n'cheese, I won't touch Ramen).  So this whole cooking-everyday-thing is a recent development of the past few weeks.  (At least for him, as I used to cook with incredible regularity, and am much happier, healthier, and typically richer when I do, as eating out can cost upwards of $20 a meal).  

He argues that the amount of money we have spent on groceries in recent weeks is ridiculous, but for a "family of two," the national average says that we are well below par.    I offer up the following evidence from the USDA's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion's average cost of grocery statistics:

For the age bracket of 19-50, with two people in a house, the "thrifty" average cost from November 2009 is about $80 a week, and the "low cost" average is $101.  At $70 and $90 the past two weeks, I'd say we know how to pinch pennies.  Lennon disagrees. 

Is it too un-kosher to ask for opinions on this matter, or worse, ask what y'all's average cost of groceries is?  Do you cook in or eat out?  Prefer making from scratch or from a box?  Clip coupons?  I don't do that like I should, but I tried it once and found myself buying things I wouldn't have otherwise just because I had a coupon. 

Our compromise is that Lennon and I will try and keep the monthly average on or under the $250 mark, which still seems very, very thrifty to me.  If I had my way and the money, I'd be at Whole Foods every week!  But considering our nick name for it: Whole Paycheck, that won't be happening anytime soon.  My co-worker Elizabeth has raved about Central Market and it's price variance in product offerings, so maybe I can sneak over there from the regular HEB occasionally. 

To conclude: I'd love to hear thoughts on the great grocery debate, and/or advice on belt tightening (in both senses, as eating out makes my middle expand). 

Polenta Under Italian Eggs

Coming home semi-early most of this week, Lennon and I have settled into a cozy routine of cooking dinner and then settling down to watch Chuck DVD's that our friend Elizabeth from church loaned us.  It feels nice to just be "existing" and not focused on working towards something: graduate school, moving out of state, some giant project - it almost feels like vacation.

I've had a blackboard over my "desk" (antique kitchen table) since we moved in, but didn't buy chalk until last Saturday.  I can finally keep menus and grocery lists at an easy glance - no more sighing and buying $2.50 Tony's pizzas or opening a box of HEB mac n' cheese (no offense to those amazing and frugal food products) when I am unmotivated to find a recipe and cook.

First up on the roster this week was a recipe from Cooking Light, which I love and always does a vegetarian feature.  I found Polenta + Italian Eggs (they list it as a breakfast food, bah) on their website.  They recommended buying a tube of polenta from the grocery store as the base, but anything that comes in a tube is de facto questionable.  It's too easy to make polenta from scratch to submit to the campy, mega-mart Americana that is tubed-food. 

Easy-Peezy Polenta

Ingredients: 

5 cups water

1.5 cups cornmeal

1 tsp salt

2 tbs butter

1) In a two quart saucepan, stir together water, cornmeal and salt until there are no lumps.

2) Bring to a boil over medium/high, stir continuously.

3) Reduce heat, simmer, stirring constantly until the polenta leaves a clean path when you scrape the bottom of the pan.  Not gonna lie, this can take an hour.  I camped out by the pot with my copy of Julie Powell's Cleaving (also have to admit, as a vegetarian, that book makes me squeamish).

4) When thick, add butter and stir till melted.

5) Spread into a pan and let cool.  Voila.  I mean, "bon appetite!"  Actually, don't eat it yet, it's better with sauce, kind of like chips. 

This pan is only half of what the recipe makes.  I split it into two pans and stuck one in the fridge to eat later.  For this pan, I had big plans:

Italian Eggs With Sauce! 

(recipe for 4, I made for 5, but served two eggs to the boys)

Ingredients:

Pat of butter
2  cups tomato-basil pasta sauce
1  (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach
4  large eggs

2 cloves minced garlic
1/2  cup  (2 ounces) shredded Asiago cheese

1) Heat stove up to broiling.

2) While stove heats, pour sauce into a large sauce pan and bring to a simmer over medium/high heat.

3) Stir in the spinach and garlic and cook until spinach is wilted, stirring all together.

Gratuitous shot of delicious cheese

4) Make four indentions in the top of the mixture using the back of a wooden spoon.

5) Break one egg into each indention, cover, reduce heat, and simmer until eggs are done to taste.

6) While eggs heat, spread a bit of butter on top of the polenta and broil  in the oven for three minutes.

7) When eggs are finished, scoop them out, along with sauce, and arrange on top of polenta on a dish. 

8) Sprinkle cheese on top, and serve! 

Both of my roommates highly approved.  The next task, aside from joining a CSA, is to tackle is learning to make my own pasta sauce - I haven't tried it since college when I stewed tomatoes all night long and made enough sauce to last a semester, (all night studying? pfft).  I'm all about the trial and error, as the salsa making adventure I will share in the near future will attest. 

Does anyone else cook by the "maybe a little of this, little of that" method, or do most people adhere to recipes?  Sometimes, I definitely wish I'd adhered to the recipe!  But what is life without a little experimentation...

______________________________________________________________________

And don't forget, if you haven't entered my giveaway for a song bird necklace, be sure to do so before Monday night!  You can enter here.

Crave Sushi & Knitted Hats from Grandma

After so many pint nights this week, it was definitely time to stay in.  Earlier this week, though, Lennon and I tried out Crave Sushi on Guadalupe.  It seemed prime to go since all of the students were still home, which meant there was a place to park, an anomaly that never happens!  I got sushi and Lennon got chicken fried rice.  The food was good, but I'm yet to find a Hanaroo that serves kiwi on sushi, or a Sushi Cafe with a mango Hawaiian role.  I don't know how I feel about backless benches, but the inside of Crave was very pretty in black and sans backs.  I can't wait till its warm enough to bike places comfortably, and sit outside!  Tonight's chill and thriftiness has merited movies and hot chocolate.

Today, like yesterday, was ridicu-cold in Texas, so I got to bundle up in the hat my grandmother just sent me - which I love!  When I was down in Little Rock before Christmas I picked out the purple yarn and the style, then eagerly awaited till it arrived.  I'm sending her this link so she can see the pictures, so hi, Gramadear - I love you!

I borrowed Eirik's eleven year old chubby kitty, Aretha, for the photos.  Fashion model kitty was not amused, thought angle of camera made her look fat.  Fashion model Amanda feels similar, seeing as those pants have not fit for the past two years because they were too big.  I need to exercise for four main reasons: 1) my health, as I'm a prime cancer candidate, 2) because my face carries weight like a chipmunk, 3) most of my clothes no longer fit, 4) I miss having the extra energy.  Things to worry about when it warms up...

Hat: my grandmother!

Scarf: J. Crew outlet

Cardigan: Target

T-shirt: Urban Outfitters

Purple tank top: Target

Pants: Gap

Shoes: Sperry's

Smoked Gouda Macaroni & Cheese

One of the great things about holidays is the extra time for things that get neglected when I'm stressed and busy - like cooking!  Since it's actually been cold in central Texas, I wanted to make something familiar and filling.  I usually cruise Vegetarian Times or Cooking Light when I'm not using one of my cookbooks, and in my searching I found Smoked Gouda Macaroni and Cheese.

I followed the recipe exactly, but next time I would add more cheese, and skip the brown rice bread crumbs I accidentally bought in favor of real, crunchy ones.

This recipe was easy:

Ingredients

• 1  (1-ounce) slice whole wheat bread
• 1  tablespoon  butter
• 1/4  cup  thinly sliced green onions
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 2  tablespoons  all-purpose flour
• 2  cups  fat-free milk
• 1/2  teaspoon  salt
• 1/4  teaspoon  black pepper
• 1/2  cup  (2 ounces) shredded smoked Gouda cheese - but I'll be using more next time
  
• 1/3  cup  (about 1 1/2 ounces) grated fresh Parmesan cheese
• 5  cups  coarsely chopped fresh spinach
• 4  cups  hot cooked elbow macaroni (about 2 cups uncooked)
• Cooking spray

Directions

1) Preheat oven to 350°.
2) Place bread in a food processor, and pulse until coarse crumbs measure 1/2 cup.  (or just buy a canister of bread crumbs).
3) Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onions and garlic; cook 1 minute.
4) Add flour; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Gradually add milk, salt, and pepper, stirring constantly with a whisk until blended.
5) Bring to a boil; cook until thick (about 2 minutes).
6) Add cheeses; stir until melted.
7) Add spinach and cooked macaroni to cheese sauce, stirring until well blended.

 8) Spoon mixture into a 2-quart baking dish coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake at 350° for 15 minutes or until bubbly.

Lennon also suggested sprinkling shredded cheese on the top with the breadcrumbs.  Basically, we are of the philosophy: "the more cheese the better."

I like it when I feel like I'm getting my vegetables without having to make a salad.  Although, the leftover Gouda cheese would be delicious cubed and added to a salad.  That is, if you can refrain from eating all of it before you're finished making the recipe.  I love Gouda cheese.  I also like that it comes wrapped in red wax just like all the cheeses in the Netherlands, and I used to live there. 

1960's Housewife

Of course I looked just like this while cooking - wearing a sparkling white apron with my wedge espadrilles in a sizable kitchen and my size 2 waist.

Ok, so I'm lying.  My kitchen is a size 2 and my waist is the thing that's becoming sizable, but at least that's a testament that my food is good.  Lennon almost ate the whole two quart dish of pasta, and I had to stop him so I'd have leftovers for lunch the next day.  Let's hope he and I never have sons, we'll be broke.