Burgers and tots

Lately I’ve been making these quite often.

And these are just plain addictive!

A guide to surviving Christmas alone

While most people will be going home to enjoy family and friends filled Christmas, there are some of us who face this holiday season alone. Maybe you’re stuck at work, or travelling, or maybe you’ve moved to a brand new place like me and haven’t had the time to build up your social group yet. Rather than feel sad that you might be spending Christmas (and maybe New Years) alone, allow me to share some “bachelor” tips to lighten up your holiday.

1. Avoid all sad Christmas songs at any cost.

Music affects your mood so this is completely logical. “I’ll be home for Christmas” in particular is the one to avoid, along with everything else on this list. Instead, go for the happy tunes. My personal favourites include “Rocking around the Christmas tree” and the “Jingle Bell Rock”!

2. Contact family/friends

This is 2011. We are officially and irrevocably in the 21st century, with technology and all that it can provide to help us stay in touch. So rather than talk to yourself in the mirror, how about you Skype your family, text them, whatsapp them or just plain ring them on the phone. I spent most of today on Skype with my family (since it’s Christmas already where they are) and have been using whatsapp to contact other friends who are away.

3. Cook up something nice

Food never fails to cheer people up and being alone doesn’t mean that you should be relegated to eating two day old pizza. Go make something nice for yourself. Plus, since you only have to worry about pleasing an audience of one, you can cook your favourite comfort foods. I made myself a giant pot of curry and rice, which I am looking forward to continue feasting on tomorrow (Bonus! I don’t need to cook again for a few days!).

4. Catch up on your guilty pleasures

For me this includes lazing about in bed, reading (while in bed) and watching tv (also while in bed). I’m seeing this three-day weekend as the perfect excuse for doing just that. Also my Christmas present to myself was a Kindle. Perfect.

5. Eggnog and whisky

Nothing wrong with a little glass. Or two. This is prrroabbaly affeckting the resto f this post.

Anyway Happy Holidays! May your Christmas be merry and your New Year’s be bright and joyous with the hint of exciting things to come!

Simple tortilla dinner

The mall experience left me quite tired! Mall’s here are huge!

After the whole ordeal and getting a little lost on the way home, I thought that  treat myself and cook a nice dinner. For those of you who don’t know, I really enjoy cooking… the slicing and dicing, the frying and, most of all, the eating! So, naturally, one of the things I love the US is that you can get just about any ingredient at the grocery store.

So tonight I made a very simple tortilla meal for dinner tonight. It’s very simple, all I did was to fry some chopped onions in a pan until soft, brown some lean mince and add a can of chili beans. Simmer for about 15 minutes. Season and topped it all off with some chopped green peppers and tomatoes and it was all good to go! The tortillas I got from Schnuck’s (love the name!). A stack of 30 pieces cost me only $2! Just heat them up for a minute in a pan. Spoon the filling in and munch down. Delicious!

Hope you all had a great Saturday!