The Sign of A Good Salad? Bacon.

Is it bad that my kind of salad usually has more calories than a bacon cheeseburger?

I mean, I like a salad with as much meat, cheese, and fatty dressing as possible.

Lettuce is optional. Bacon is mandatory.

While at college, I usually survive off of pasta and frozen dinners. But tonight, I made something so phenomenal that I'd feel like a horrible person if I didn't share with my blog readers. I mean, it was really good. And that's not me bragging. That's me still trying to overcome my amazement that something I made was not only edible, but actually TASTY. As in, I wanted to eat it! And not just because I needed to put food in my mouth to get rid of the hunger pangs!! Because it tasted like good food!!

Guys. I'm serious.

Without further ado, I present to you: Amy's Southwest Cobb Salad.

Here's how I came to it: I had a craving for a cobb salad. But then I had a craving for a Cafe Rio salad. So I made this.



Basically I just layered the following ingredients:

Romaine lettuce
crushed tortilla chips
shredded pepperjack cheese
salsa
green onions
tomatoes
grilled chicken strips (mine were from the freezer section, shhh)
corn
real bacon torn into pieces (not from a can, ewww)
avocado chunks
more tortilla chips
ranch dressing + sour cream + fresh-squeezed lime juice mixed to make a flavorful combo dressing

Having a car is doing wonders for my cooking, because I can actually go buy ingredients on the spur of the moment without having to walk to the store and carry all the shopping bags home!!! Therefore, more food and less exercise..... That's good for you, right?

It's not? Shoot.

yay calories!

I hope you've enjoyed this first and likely only installment of "Amy's Cooking Adventures!" It may have had something to do with me having a paper due tomorrow and not wanting to write it.

But mostly it had to do with the tastiness of bacon.

Help Me Aunt Jemima, You're My Only Hope

I'm not a bad cook.

I've been making grilled cheese sandwiches and scrambled eggs for myself since I was eight years old, buttering and assembling and frying in my tiny little pan with a pride that could not be crushed by my friends who were still eating cold peanut butter sandwiches for lunch.

I progressed from there, learning to make macaroni and cheese, rice dishes, spaghetti with Prego, Alfredo noodles from a packet. I helped my mom make dinner sometimes, chopping the vegetables for stir fry, watching pots for her, and mashing the potatoes once in a while.

She taught me how to make my favorite meals and I got better at making them as I got older: sweet and sour pork, tacos, beef stroganoff, stir fry, meatloaf. I took a cooking class in high school where I learned to make homemade cream sauces, pot roast, rolls, delicious pulled pork sandwiches, salsa chicken....

I can follow a recipe. I feel pretty confident in the kitchen. I usually eat pasta or taquitos or frozen chicken for dinner, but I know I could cook if I took the time to buy the ingredients to make real meals and spend more than 10 minutes in the kitchen a night. I could. Or at least I tell myself that as I heat up a frozen dinner at nine o'clock at night...

But one thing humbles me without fail:

Breakfast food.

I can't make it. Ever.

Omelets turn into scrambled eggs. Fried eggs turn into rubber. Hash browns either burn to a crisp or float in the pan like sad, soggy failure. Bacon burns black. The sausage usually comes out okay, but where's the satisfaction in cooking decent sausage links? No where. Waffles crumble or burn.

And pancakes, Oh the pancakes.

Whether too thick or too thin, too burnt or too light, gooey in the center, crumbly, tough, tasteless, lumpy, or plain disgusting, I have NEVER made a decent pancake. It haunts me.

I tried again this afternoon for lunch. This is what I got:

A pile of crumbles that tasted worse than flour paste.

New requirement for future husband: MUST COOK GOOD BREAKFAST FOOD. Or be willing to take me to IHOP once in a while.

Otherwise I am going to be living a sad life of cold cereal and oatmeal. Shiver.

My Crib

Hey all! Well I'm all settled in at my apartment and getting into the routine of my classes... things are going good! I thought I would share some pictures of my nice apartment because I think its purdy.

But first, I have a looooooonnnggg overdue announcement! Kolby, a beautiful 15 year old girl from my home ward was diagnosed with Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma cancer, and some GREAT women from the ward have put together an online auction to raise money for her family to help with medical expenses. Please check it out and bid on something! It is really great and I have been meaning to spread the word sooner! http://keepingkolbyauctions.blogspot.com/ I just donated a headband so you should check it out and getting the bidding going crazy over tharr!

After you bid on something, come back and check out the sweet pics of my apartment!

My side of the bedroom.... Its so much bigger than last year, I love it!

Wayyyy too many earrings, necklaces and headbands!

Why I chose my apartment: TONS OF CLOSET ROOM. The left three doors are all mine!

I have a LIVING ROOM! I feel so official now! And unlike most apartments in Provo, its actually PRETTY!

Kitchen! Holla!

More kitchen.... niiiice.

I am sooo grateful for my nice apartment and my sweet roommates. I didn't find a place to stay for a long time and I thought I would be homeless! But my apartment is less expensive than a lot of dingy-er ones, one block from campus, and seriously so swanky compared to all the ones I looked at. Nice tile floors, new cabinets, new carpeting.... I am such a lucky girl! Plus, I have to admit its nice to upgrade from the dorms.


If you come to Provo come visit me and I will let you sit on my pretty couch!