Wii can do it!

Heh. Corny, I know. But I couldn't resist. It's completely true, and something I'm wishing I'd done a long, long time ago.

Last year for Christmas I bought Boyfriend a Xbox360 seeing as how he's a gaming fanatic. He was over the moon with excitement, and I have to admit it's been one of the best purchases I've made since I got out here. It's so much more than a standard gaming console, and it gives me both my alone time for writing, and time with Boyfriend to kick butt together. I've never once regretted spending the money, and I doubt I will anytime in the near future.

Boyfriend's been trying to find a way to ensure I stay involved in the gaming scene with him, so that we don't start ignoring each other. He is always on the lookout for co-op games so we can play (hello Halo, Borderlands, Need For Speed) and loves to play with me. Hence one of the reasons I don't regret the purchase, heheh. That being said though, he's been talking for a while now about getting me my own console. For what, I couldn't even begin to fathom, but he was. I never really took him seriously, until he started talking about the Wii. Then I started thinking about it too. Which, for us, never leads to anywhere cheap.

I've played with the Wii before, years ago, and found it mildly amusing. I couldn't see the rage behind it, and couldn't justify spending the money. I've also admitted now, both to myself and out loud, that years ago I was a quiet, shy, introverted person who hated getting up and doing anything that could potentially make me either feel or look stupid. As I creep closer to 30 though, I'm finding I care less about what other people think, and more about having fun and living life. And if that means I look like an idiot hopping around in my living room swinging a tiny plastic controller in the air, then so be it.

Target is running a special for the holidays on a red Wii and controller set, with two games. I LOVE the color red. Half my closet is red. I now own a pair of patent leather red heels. My costume was red. My piercing is red. See a theme? So when the Wii, in red, popped up, it was a done deal. Grabbed the card, hopped in the car, and to Target we went. The package included Super Mario Brothers, and Wii Sports. We got Wii Play as well, for the extra full size controller we needed. All in all, not cheap. But...worth it. So worth it.

I've been talking about signing up for the gym again for a while now. It'd cost me about sixty between the two of us, every month. The likelihood that we'd make it to the gym more than twice a month? Slim. Very, very slim. So...sixty a month, for a year, would be $720. Hot damn. The Wii just paid for itself, three times over. So really...can I complain? No.

You ask, how did the Wii pay for itself? It's a gaming console, versus the gym. No comparison. That'd be where you're wrong. If you haven't played Wii Sports, specifically the boxing, then I suggest you do so. Soon. Three rounds, about a minute to a minute and a half each, and you're jumping and hopping and swinging and laughing and feeling like a kid again in the first game. And if you go three or four games? You've broken a sweat, and your heart's pumping and you can't wipe the smile off your face even if you tried. And I haven't even touched Wii Fit yet - which, by the way, will be my next purchase.

I'm back to wanting to eat healthier, be active, and be happy. The Wii has sparked that need in me again, and I'm grateful for it. An hour in front of the tv, playing Baseball or Tennis, with Boxing to mix it up, and I've been active all of a sudden for a whole sixty minutes, without the torture or the self esteem issues that being in the gym can raise. It's all around a win-win. Like I said...

Wii can do it!!

Random Recipe: Week 1 - Tater Tot Casserole

Boyfriend loves all things potato. I shouldn't use the word love. It's too mild. He's obsessed, worships, devours, all things potato. I discovered the lengths his devotion goes to when I made fried diced seasoned potatoes for dinner one night. He ate almost the entire pan, then complained the rest of the night about how close to bursting he was. I, of course, like the good dutiful girlfriend I am, poked him in the belly and laughed myself silly when he groaned in pain. It was highly entertaining.

A couple weeks back, I got an email from Campbells Kitchen for Tater Tot casserole. It was too good to pass up. Tater Tots, and ground beef? Perfect! My only concern? The Cream of Mushroom soup the recipe called for. I've never been a fan of that soup because of the overly mushroom-y flavor, but I was willing to give it a go. Boyfriend was worried too; when I pulled the can out of the pantry, he got this seriously alarmed look on his face. The conversation went something like this:
"What are you going to do with that?"
"Put it in the pan, what else would I do with it?"
"But..but...why??"
"Uhm, cause the recipe says I'm supposed to?"
"Huh."
I'm the kind of cook who will follow a recipe to the letter the first time around, and then tweak it when I'm done with my own touches on the second go-round. So...cream of mushroom soup it was. About the only time I divert on the first attempt is if I KNOW I don't like an ingredient, and can easily swap it out, or if adding a topping would make it that much better. Which, in this case, happened to occur.

The recipe was incredibly easy. A minimal amount of ingredients. Next to no prep time. Defrosted the ground beef, chopped up the onion, and bam, prep work was done. I browned the meat and onions together, added the soup, ketchup, and worchestershire sauce (I LOVE that stuff!!!) and let it simmer for a couple minutes until the soup was fully heated. The recipe said to use a 2qt shallow casserole dish, but I only had a 3qt and a 1qt, so I went with the 1qt. Lined the pan with tinfoil, and piled the whole mess into the pan.

At this point, the mixture smelled kind of funny (funny = mushroom-y) but I decided to stick with it. I added a layer of cheese, which was not mentioned in the recipe, and then layered the tots all over the top. Now, I should mention here that the original picture for the recipe only had a layer of tots around the edge. I knew this wasn't going to fly with Boyfriend, so I laid them down sideways - instead of straight up, like shown in the picture - and covered the entire top. Why, you ask? Because sideways vs straight up means more surface for browning, which means more crunch, and because Boyfriend LOVES his tater tots. See above if you don't believe me.

I popped the entire pan in the oven at 425 degrees, and let it bake until the tots were nice and brown. I served two bowls while it was still steaming hot, added some Tapatio after the fact, and we chowed down.

My review? It was actually pretty damn good. The mushroom soup acted as a base to develop the flavor of the meat, and even helped draw some of the tater tot flavor down into the mixture. The little bit of Tapatio added the kick I prefer, and the cheese added a nice depth.

Boyfriend's review? Very hearty. It'd be a great dish for a cold winter night when you've been starving all day. The mushroom soup blended really well; he was surprised at how good it all tasted together. He liked it ALOT, and gave it his Guinea Pig Approval.

All in all, the recipe turned out really well. It's easy to make, tastes decent, and was really cheap! A pound of beef, a medium onion, some cheese, and half a pack of tater tots. All stuff that was left over from other recipes. Kewl! My only issue with the recipe is it's so far from healthy it's not even funny. I paired the dish with a basic (for me, anyways) dinner salad, and that made me feel a little bit better about the humongous amount of calories I consumed, but even that only went so far. I give the dish a 3 out of 5 on the Random Recipe scale, due mostly to a somewhat bland flavor (it definitely needed the Tapatio IMHO) and the fat factor.

And for your general perusal, should you choose to make it:

Tater Tot Casserole

1 pound ground beef

1 medium onion, chopped (about 1/2 cup)

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular or 98% Fat Free)

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

3 cups frozen fried potato nuggets

1. Cook the beef and onion in a 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until the beef is well browned, stirring to separate meat. Pour off any fat. 2. Stir the soup, ketchup and Worcestershire in the skillet. Spoon the beef mixture into a 2-quart shallow baking dish. Arrange the potatoes around the inside edge of the baking dish. 3. Bake at 425°F. for 25 minutes or until the potatoes are golden brown. Makes: 5 servings (about 1 1/3 cups each).

Random Recipe: Initiation!

So I love to cook. It's a slowly developing hobby, mainly arising from the need to eat, and a boyfriend who can't open a can of biscuits (loooong story). I guess that makes it part survival tactic, and part artistic joy. Recipes excite me - just ask boyfriend...he was slightly scared and worried for my sanity when the first issue of Food Network arrived this month - and inspire me to try new things, which is a trait I've been trying to foster. Kills two birds with one stone, yes? Yesss. ^_^

I am also, an email junkie. Newsletters are my favorite. A steady email that I receive every week (or day, in some cases) that funnels new ideas to me is a must. I'm signed up for Campbells, Betty Crocker, SparkPeople...it goes on. I'll spare you the details. Sadly, I've been so busy with other aspects of life *smacks life, stop being so busy!* that I haven't been able to pay proper attention to my newsletters. I know, it's sad. But! But, I have vowed to do better. From here on out, I am going to try a random, brand new recipe every week. I have no clue where it will come from, what the main ingredient is, or what part of the day it will be. Which, honestly, I think is why this will be so much fun. My boyfriend may not appreciate this new plan, but hey. I'm the cook here, not him. So he'll deal. Heh. Heheh. Heheheheheh!

Every weekend, I sit down and plan out my meals for the week to come. Then I build my grocery list. Usually, I plan the menu myself. Sometimes, boyfriend will chime in with a particular request. Now, I'm going to add Random Recipe to the menu. This should be fun!

It's a good thing that I'm a decent cook. And it's a good thing that I'm not so crazy adventurous that I'll try something completely off the wall that could potentially gross out boyfriend. That being said though, I am bound to try something that's not my norm. So, in an effort to keep my writing, since that's my goal, I'm going to share with this insanely curious *snort* world my adventures with Random Recipe every week. Be scared people! Very scared!