whatcha cookin' good lookin'?

i love to cook. i'm not an expert.. i HAVE to follow the directions to the letter. that would be why i can make a rachael ray 30 minute meal turn into a good hour's worth of cooking. but i do it anyways. another "enjoy the process" kind of things. so here's the latest that graced it's presence in my kitchen: my super quick fettuccine. looks normal right? well, it's made from tofu noddles. it's a hungry girl recipe. love that girl! when you can come up with a cupcake recipe that is less than 200 calories per cupcake?? you're a hero in my book! anyways, the whole bowl was less than 200 calories and it was actually really good. the noodles... well they had a funny texture. a little on the rubbery side for me. but i ate it! not sure if that gives me a gold star from trying something new or a "wow, you're not right in the head" stamped across my forehead?

now! let's get to the GOOOOD stuff! enough of this tofu mess. enter stage right: the mr's kind of meal... bbq pork ribs and mac-n-cheese. yes ma'am! lovin' me some crock pots meals this week! i cooked a roast on monday... not near as good as nanny's but these ribs will give you a run for her money! i would much rather have coleslaw, baked beans, potato salad, something else other than mac-n-cheese to go along with this... however the mr. sits on the picky side of the fence, so the mac won out. and i will give all the credit to my fabulous crock pot for this meal! don't know what i would do without you this week! the crock pot and i have a loving relationship... we LOVE food! and a good hot bath when we're doing working. :)

and this is where it all went wrong. *raising my right hand* "betty crocker, i apologize for not following the directions that you printed beautifully on the back of your butter recipe cake mix. i acknowledge my foolishness and will never replace any ingredient you have listed for one that i think is better..." IDIOT! yes ma'am! learned my lesson in baking 101 this afternoon. thought i would be all "miss know-it-all" and swap out the oil for a cup of applesauce. yes ma'am! betty crocker mocked me in the face when these cupcakes came out heavy and crunchy in the top! and i didn't even see the red flag when my ice cream scoop turned cake batter dipper outer thing broke while dipping the batter that weighed 10 pounds! so nooo, not again, will i swap oil for apple sauce!! may tomorrow be the day when i redeem myself with martha stewart's strawberry cupcakes with strawberry meringue buttercream... oh how i wish i could have juila child for a fairy godmother!