Home Alone!

RCP left this afternoon for a ten day, whirl wind business trip to Europe; Stockholm, Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Frankfurt, with a quick layover in Paris. Samsung GSG (Global Strategy Group) "Better Halves" aren't allowed to tag along on trips so this has left me HOME ALONE! What am I ever going to do with myself for this week and a half!? I'm alone all day, every day, so I'm sure it won't be that different, except I now have the luxury of sleeping smack-dab in the middle of the bed, a place that I adore.  I'm sure there won't be one moment of boredom; plans are in the works for some lunches and dinners with friends who have also been left home alone and I've been wanting to check out the Rodin museum for some time now.

I think one activity that I'm definitely going to try to work on is practicing some of the cooking tips and lessons that I've been receiving via email from Uncle Derick. His advice, in response to some very important questions I had regarding mashed potatoes and sauteing eggplant, has sparked my culinary spirit, so since I have no one relying on me for a hot meals cooked to perfection, this is the perfect time to experiment.

With that said, this is also the perfect time to NOT COOK and explore the world of Korean frozen food. I have yet to find my favorite home alone food here: the frozen microwaveable meal. My all-time favorite used to be Healthy Choices' Beef Pepper Steak. I ate this every Friday of my childhood when Mom always declared she wasn't cooking because it was Friday and proceeded to let us pick out whatever kind of dinner we wanted. I'm not sure what made me start choosing Healthy Choices' meals at that young of an age; Christopher ALWAYS chose Red Baron's frozen personal pan pizza. Anyway, I've since graduated to a new and somewhat more sophisticated frozen meal: Lean Cuisine's Spa Cuisine Apple Cranberry Chicken. I mean where else can you get grilled chicken in an apple reduction with cranberries, french cut green beans and whole wheat orzo pasta in 5 minutes? Needless to say, I have yet to find these culinary wonders of the freezer section at any grocery store here, but I'm happy to settle for other frozen entrees until I do.

Tonight's menu? Frozen pot stickers! They were a little more effort than the Spa Cuisine used to be, only because you actually have to put some oil in a pan to brown them AND I made a soy/garlic dipping sauce to accompany them). They turned out fresh, fantastic and extremely filling....and with that, the personal chef at Villa Nova Apt. #201 is now officially on vacation.  

 Frozen goodness.

An ingredient and always helpful prep pictorial, for those of us who can't read.

Sizzle sizzle.

The pot stickers have slightly more plate appeal than my Lean Cuisine's.

(One should ALWAYS plate their frozen microwaveable meals).