food – hellomelissa.net

Pierogies Alfredo

Ingredients:

1 package of frozen pierogies (I used potato and cheddar, but use what you like.)

1 jar of Alfredo sauce

fresh black pepper

bacon bits

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray.

Pour a package of frozen pierogies into the baking dish.

Pour a jar of Alfredo sauce over the pierogies and mix it all together.

Grind fresh black pepper to taste and sprinkle bacon bits over the pierogies. You can also do this step at the table if like me, you have picky eaters that will flip out if there are spices in their food. Being allowed to customize it at the table is fun too.

Bake uncovered for 40 minutes.

I didn’t take any pictures because I’m not a food blogger or food stylist. The pierogies were delicious, but completely un-photogenic. I made the whole package, so there were leftovers for our family of three and we had the rest last night. Flora liked sprinkling the bacon bits on them, but she picked at them as four year-olds like to do. Sean and I ate them with great gusto and I will probably make them again. If I was cooking them for more adventurous eaters, I’d add some onion. If I had more time, I’d have probably fried up real bacon to put on them (I did that with my leftovers and it was a good idea.) These are a substantial side-dish so make sure your main is light. We had it with ham slices and mixed veggies and they were good companions.

This would also be a good dish to take to a potluck. I’m writing this recipe down so I remember it the next time I need something easy, quick and comforting.

Everyone has a a weird food thing. A strange combination that makes the best snack. Eating candies in order of colour. An insistence that food items cannot touch on your plate. A food they cannot bear to eat.

Eggs look nice, but I cannot eat them. — Photo courtesy of Jaycee Barratt, burningwell.org

Here’s mine: I cannot eat eggs.

I’m not allergic, but I can’t even fathom the thought of eating an egg. I can’t remember ever eating a breakfast-style egg. I must have had a really bad experience when I was a baby before my memory kicked in. My parents never pushed eggs on me, so maybe they remember the experience I don’t. (Remind me to ask my mom sometime.) I have no problem eating eggs in baked treats (cookies, cakes etc.) or in pad Thai, but when I went to try Sean’s omelet at home one night, I took a miniscule piece that fit on my baby fingernail – and couldn’t bear to put it in my mouth.

Don’t offer to pay for my breakfast buffet at a restaurant – that money is generally wasted on me as I avoid all of the dishes involving eggs.. I love a good Sausage-only McMuffin though.

When I tell this story to people I know, the part that really shocks them is when I tell them I had to read my Better Homes and Gardens cookbook (the cookbook that covers the basics in my house) to figure out how to make omelets. And maybe scrambled eggs. Sean had a hankering for some eggs and neither one of us had cooked them ourselves. Me due to the yuck-factor and Sean because his mom always cooked for him growing up.

I realize I’m probably missing out. I know eggs are a nutritional powerhouse and that they are more than a breakfast food. I like the idea of eggs – their convenience and versatility appeal to a slacker cook such as myself. It’s just that the thought of actually eating an egg that is not folded into a baked treat grosses me the fuck out. I’ve cooked eggs here and there over the years for Sean (and Flora – don’t want to pass down my neuroses!) but I don’t ever sample the dish and I just hope I’ve cooked them right.

I’m not sure if this is something I’ll get over during my lifetime. Here’s hoping that Sean gets the hang of cooking the breakfast eggs on the weekends. It seems unwholesome to have someone cook food that they would never eat themselves.

Photo courtesy of Jaycee Barratt, burningwell.org