What The Eff Is That Thursday: Calamari with Broccoli Rice

Just in case you were wondering...

"what the eff is that mound of weird green stuff" in the last pic I posted yesterday...

I've decided to share with you one of the most interesting culinary experiences I've had in my travels with the Navy (even moreso than the haggis I had in Scotland which I will most likely blog about next week). 

Now, when I ordered this supposed delicacy of Brazil, I was expecting some squid rings with some rice and a few trees of broccoli on the side or somethign of that ilk.  Instead, I was served this Half Dome-esque creation that you see pictured here. 

New House...New Kitchen! New way to make burgers?

 We just moved into a new house...

with a much nicer and larger kitchen ...

 I'm almost afraid we'll have to change the title of this blog! Well...maybe not...
Anyway, today I'm going to share my first cooking experience in our new kitchen.  It was not our first meal here, just the first I cooked.  So without further ado...

Homemade burgers!!!
But wait, Dave, you are thinking.  You've already done an entry about homemade burgers...
True, but that was a Wordless Wednesday...I'm gonna talk about these ones.
As we have just moved in, I did not have my usual seasonings at my disposal...okay, so I once again started prepping the meat before CHECKING that I had everything I needed.  So I got creative....

The ingredients from left are nutritional yeast, red pepper flakes, Panko breadcrumbs, sesame seeds, "woostah", black pepper, Newman's Own Mango Tango salsa, also added, but not pictured: one egg and crushed up blue corn tortilla chips.  Yeah, I know, ghetto, right?

They tasted AWESOME!  Despite their Frankensteined creation, they turned out juicy and delicious, especially when topped with Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Barbecue sauce.

Join me next time when I talk about some of the foods I enjoyed on my recent trip to Brazil!

Meatless Shepherd's Pie

That's right. Meatless Shepherd's Pie. And it's damn good, too. I'm by no means a vegetarian and really desire and almost require some dead animal served to me on a daily basis, but Amy has been trying to break me of this. I resisted at first, but over the past seven months since returning from deployment, my dear wife has convinced me to tolerate meals containing little to no meat or meat substitutes.
Audrey is another story...and yes that IS a Misfits shirt she's wearing.

15 minute chili

There are those who argue that a good chili must simmer and stew for at least 3 or 4 hours. I used to be one of these folk until yesterday.

I had about 20 minutes to make food and Amy (my wife) suggested chili. Naturally, I scoffed and repeated the aforementioned food law to her. She rolled her eyes and proceeded to thoroughly prove me wrong.

HOLY CRAP this stuff was good!

And the magic of it is how simple and quick it was to bring about such gastronomic excellence.