My Cure for Boredom

Working nights the past year has put me on a very strange schedule. Sometimes I'm awake for 30 hours at a time, and sometimes I can sleep for 20+ straight hours on my days off. When I get a couple of days off in a row, the worst thing in the world to me is to sit at home and do nothing. I want to get out, hang out with friends, go shopping, go to concerts, movies, anything to just get out of the house and be awake during normal waking hours. Unfortunately, this isn't always the case.

One of my favorite things to do when I have time is cook. I think one of the reasons Faye even chose to be my roommate this year was because she was expecting home cooked meals all the time. I have not cooked as much as I would like to this past year, but this weekend, with my four days off, I cooked two meals. That's kind of a record considering the amount of cooking I've done over the past year.

Wednesday night I made baked chicken and vegetables and french onion scalloped potatoes. I marinated the chicken breasts in olive oil, salt, pepper, fresh rosemary, and lemon pepper. I cut up a yellow squash, a zucchini, red bell pepper, and some snap peas, and marinated them in a similar marinade. I individually wrapped a chicken breast with fresh veggies on top in pieces of foil and baked them in the oven. Just something I came up with off the top of my head, and it was divine. I hate to cook unless I have someone to feed, so I called my favorite taste-tester to invite him to a free meal. I think Michael and Faye are my cooking's two biggest fans.

Yesterday I was sick all day and didn't feel like doing anything but sleeping. Michael came by after work and took me to walmart for meds and juice. He's our go to guy when we're sick. After I got some Sudafed and some electrolytes in my system I started feeling better, so I decided I wanted to cook dinner. I had not planned a meal, so after looking through the cabinets, I had an idea. Veggies and cornbread. I have not made homemade cornbread in over a year. I even asked for an iron skillet for Christmas so I could start making cornbread again. Mikey delievered, but I hadn't even used it until last night. Dinner last night consisted of black eyed peas, shoepeg corn, smashed potatoes, and delicious cornbread.

The only thing I hate about cooking is cleaning up the mess afterward...