I'm also a hands-on guy; woodworking rather than cars, but nonetheless.

I'm also passionate about cooking, and cook restaurant style at home. Blame it on my mother.

Mom was a good cook. Nothing particularly fancy, you understand, except at the holdidays. But she taught me three rules of survival, one of which was, "any man who can make his own breakfast will never starve," and she taught me to cook. Been doing it since I was eight.

I'm gonna wait until Kevin (ChubbyAlaskaGriz) chimes in. He's our resident salmon expert, and probably can supply you with a half-dozen stovetop versions without even thinking about it.

Oh, yeah! Pork chops and apple sauce. Got a yearning for those myself. But instead of buying applesauce, why don't you cop a couple of apples from school and make fried apples to go with the chops? Peel the apples. Cut them in half. Core and seed them. Then cut each half into wedges. Drop them into acidified water (a little lemon juice in plain water to keep them from turning brown). When you're ready to cook them, melt some butter in a skillet. Add the apple wedges. Sprinkle with sugar, cinnamon, nutmet, maybe some powdered cloves. Cook, tossing, until sugar carmelizes. Add a little apple juice and cook until apples are tender.

Hi 32 Chevy,

Welcome to our forum. I think you will really enjoy it here! I know I do and I have learned alot too.

So you are a junior, do they offer spelling and or typing classes? It may help you in the future to look into these classes to help fine tune your skills? No matter where you go in life or what you do reading, spelling and writting skills are necessary. Have you ever considered going to Culinary College when you graduate? If you love to cook and be in the kitchen it would be something to consider.

Anyhow welcome to SpicePlace, hope you will come here often to learn and share!

CCCathy

Hi Chevy!

Welcome to our l'il corner of the web! As you can see already, we're a fun and friendly group w/ lotsa kitchen know-how. So make yourself home with us- we're glad you're here! We hope you ask questions and share, often!

Brook (KYH) has offered tons of great info.

I'll add a couple remarks about salmon and pasta...

I was a chef for many years- recently spent 13 years in Alaska where I ate and cooked salmon almost every way imaginable...

First- I know students can be among the very busiest folks on the planet- so when you cook pasta, cook extra- rinse it well and bag hand-fulls of it up in quart or gallon sized zip-lock bags perhaps tossed with a wee bit of oil for quick, easy re-heating for several day's worth of meals. It'll keep well in the fridge (I presume you have access to a fridge- what about a microwave?).

Salmon? Well, you can buy any number of varieties of fresh or frozen salmon- even canned... I shop at a Super Wal-Mart and often I can get 2 lb. bags of frozen Alaskan Salmon ( 5-6 nice fillets) on sale for around $7.00 which is a real bargain! And since it's IQF (indiviually quick frozen) in seperate pieces, it's easy to grab one single fillet from the bag to cook- or you can again save time by cooking it all in one shot in a pan on the stove, and saving the leftovers for meals over the next day or two.

Here's a simple meal-plan for a bag of 6 salmon fillets:

Meal #1 Supper: Cook 6 fillets of salmon in a pan on the stove-top. Brush one w/ teriyaki glaze and pair with cooked pasta or rice, and snow peas or veggies for a yummy Asian-inspired meal. (wrap/chill leftover 5 fillets of salmon)
Meal #2 Breakfast: Crumble a piece of leftover cooked salmon into scrambled eggs or an omelet- adding a few pinches of cream cheese and serve with a toasted onion bagel.
Meal #3 Lunch: Crumble a chilled fillet of cooked leftover salmon onto a bowl of fresh, washed spinach leaves. Drizzle w/ a bit of dressing for a yummy healthy salad, to which you can add raisins, nuts, grapes, chunks of fresh pineapple, etc. (reserve a handfull of the fresh spinach for the next meal).
Meal #4 Supper: In a pan on the stove-top add a 1/2 c. of cream and throw in some and black pepper. When it starts bubbling, add another crumbled fillet of your leftover salmon and a bag of cooked, leftover pasta, and reserved fresh spinach. Stir or toss until the cream reduces to a thick sauce and the fish and pasta are heated through... sprinkle a hand-full of parmesan cheese over all and you have a delicious salmon/pasta alfredo/florentino! Add garlic if you like- though traditional alfredo has no garlic...
Meal #5 Lunch: In a pan on the stove-top, melt a wee bit of butter or margarine and saute some fresh sliced sweet bell peppers & onions... when they're cooked nicely, pour onto a plate, then place a large flour tortilla into the hot pan. Warm on both sides- add a bit of shredded cheddar, crumble-up your 5th portion of cooked leftover salmon, dump the peppers and onions over all, fold tortilla in half and you've got a yummy salmon quesadilla!
Meal #6 Supper: Crumble last leftover, cooked fillet of salmon into a bowl. Add a dab of mayo and maybe stir-in some chopped celery and green onion. Eat alone- on top of a salad, sandwiched between 2 slices of bread/toast, or brown buttered english muffin halves in your pan, spread salmon mixture on, top w/ slice of cheese and voila!- a salmon-salad melt!

For any of these dishes you can easily sub chicken breast, pork chops, taco/fajita meat, turkey, etc. Once you expand your kitchen repetoire you begin to realize just how truly versatile most menu items can be! Fun AND Delicious!