It's Time For Another Installment of "What's For Lunch?"

It's time for more pictures of Dean's crazy lunches. I haven't been doing much over the last few weeks except working, and his lunches are quite entertaining to me. The first one is my favorite.

On this day we have some sort of left over Asian noodle dish which required him to bring an entire bottle of Tiger sauce, whatever that is. Apparently a bag of pastrami is a nice compliment to leftover noodles. An apple, a piece of cheese, a sweet and salty bar, and a DanActiv drink round out this culinary masterpiece.

I think this is a bucket of barbeque and some chips and salsa we picked up in the teacher's lounge.

Here we have corn on the cob and a tub full of broccoli. Notice that he also has two computers on his desk. The third one just wouldn't fit with all the broccoli he has going on here.

This is usually what he eats everyday, but I found the side of tostadas strangely amusing. I enjoy a tostada with chicken, lettuce, tomatoes, and some guacamole. He prefers a bag of pastrami and a pepperoni stick.

Again, the usual meat bag and side items, only today with a huge side of broccoli.

The Kitchen: My Favorite Place on Sunday Afternoon

Ahhhhh what a wonderful afternoon in the kitchen. I simply cannot wait for summer so I can do this everyday. Today I made chewy oatmeal chocolate chip cookies with a recipe that I found here. Dean seemed like he was having a pretty rough day on Friday, so I asked him what he wanted me to make to bring to work next week and he requested these cookies. I think they are his favorite. These cookies are phenomenal! I hope they are able to take the edge off of a busy week for him and Kai. I've had a hard time keeping my hands off of them today. I like oatmeal cookies, but don't like it when they are crunchy. These are very chewy and light. They also have walnuts in them. I'm not good a describing how things taste, but trust me when I say that these rock. They were very easy to make and I highly recommend this recipe. All of my TSMS friends please stop by and try one - I imagine they won't last long!

Have you ever had spaghetti squash? It is delicious. I have not had any in several years so I decided to revisit this quirky vegetable. One thing that is cool about spaghetti squash is that you can substitute it for noodles in a pasta dish. I cut this one in half, scooped out seeds, put a little pat of butter on each side, and popped it in to a 400 degree oven for 50 minutes. When they come out of the oven you just take a fork and scrape the "spaghetti" off the sides. It comes off so easily and then you have a bowl of "noodles". I made some turkey meatballs and my own marinara sauce today to go along with it.

This is the finished product. It was so delicious and a very healthy alternative to pasta. I didn't miss the pasta at all! They squash is sweet and a little crunchy and, in my opinion, had way more flavor than plain spaghetti noodles. Try it for yourself!. You can use pre-made meatballs and sauce and only have to cook the squash. It's a very easy meal, makes plenty of servings, and you don't have to feel guilty about having so many carbs!

Pistachio Crusted Chicken Recipe

A lot of you have asked me for this recipe, so here ya go! The recipe is for one serving, but can easily be doubled, tripled, or quadrupled. As a single person I can only stand left overs so many times and I often waste a lot of food. That's one reason I like this dish so much. It is easy to make, it's delicious, and no leftovers! I have tried making two servings at a time then reheating one of them the next day, but it was not a good dish to reheat. This is the first time I've ever written down a recipe that I've adapted myself, so this is going to be very not-exact. Just roll with it.

Pistachio Crusted Chicken

What you need for the chicken:

olive oil

1 chicken breat

a handful of pistachios - throw in food processor or food chopper and grind up in to small pieces.

salt

What you need for the guacamole:

1/2 a small avocado

a little bit of chopped fresh cilantro

a few cherry tomatoes, diced

a little bit of shallot, diced very fine (I use this instead of a regular onion because it's sweeter, but you still get the onion flavor)

salt

a pinch of garlic powder

anything else you like if guacamole (jalapeno for a little spice, for instance)

First, preheat your oven to 365. Turn on your favorite music. I was listening to a playlist called New Year's Jamz. Dancing while you cook makes it way more fun. Next, heat a little bit of olive oil in a pan.

Dump your pistachios on a plate. Sprinkle the chicken breast with a little salt on both sides then mash it in to the nuts. Try to coat the entire thing.

Next, place your chicken in your hot pan. Let the chicken brown on each side for just a few minutes. You just want the nuts to get brown, crispy, and flavorful - it will finish cooking in the oven. After browning, place the chicken on a cookie sheet and place in the oven for 10 minutes.

While the chicken is in the oven, chop up what you need for your guacamole, throw it in a bowl and mash it all together.

Add a small salad with your favorite dressing and dinner is served! Very quick. Very easy. Just the way I like it! Let me know if you try this recipe and if you liked it as much as I did!