Ugly Ducklings

Most bloggers strive to post great pictures. There's something not-so-hot about poorly shot photos. This time of year, my foodie pics tend to fall victim to poor lighting.  During the winter months, when the sun goes down at lunchtime, or close enough, it's tough getting a decent picture of the dinner I made. Even worse than crap lighting is when the food just looks fugly, ya know? But how am I supposed to share these friggin culinary masterpieces with you when they end up looking like the plastic food I can't wait to buy for my kiddo? When I have no natural light and only my kitchen's track lighting highlighting the food, I end up with gelatinous sauces and unidentifiable ingredients. But what if the recipe actually turns out good? There's no way I want to share pictures like these. You don't deserve that. But you know what? What you need more than pretty pictures are easy, tasty recipes. So I'm gonna share em. Why? Because I'm a giver.

Cranberry Chili Chicken

Ingredients

1/2 Cup Chili Sauce

1/2 Cup Cranberry Sauce

2 Tbsp Orange Marmalade

1/8 Tsp Ground Allspice

4 Chicken Breasts

2 Tsp Veggie Oil

1) Combine first 4 ingredients and set aside 2) Brown Chicken in oil in skillet 3) Pour chili sauce mixture over chicken 4) Simmer, uncovered for 8 to 10 mins

Yeah, this looks...errr...good?

Baked Rigatoni with Smoked Ham and Fontina Cheese

Ingredients

1 LB Rigatoni

Salt

2 Tbsp Veggie Oil

Small Onion, chopped

1/3 Cup Flour

1 Qt Low-fat milk

1/8Tsp white pepper

6 oz Fontina Cheese, shredded (1-1/2 Cups)

6 oz Smoked Ham, diced

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare pasta as directed 2) Meanwhile, in 2 qt saucepan, heat veggie oil over medium heat until hot. Add onion and cook until tender, but not browned 3) Stir in flour and cook 1 minute 4)With wire whisk, gradually stir in milk, salt and pepper until smooth 5) Heat to boiling over high heat, stirring constantly 6) Remove from heat and stir in 1/2 of the cheese 7) Stir cheese sauce, ham and pasta together and pour into a 13 x 9 glass baking dish 8) Bake for 25 - 30 minutes until cheese is hot, bubbly and slightly browned.

Petrified noodles are the utmost in appetizing.

Sante Fe Chicken Saute

Ingredients

1 Medium Peach, peeled and chopped

1 Tbsp Cilantro

3/4 Cup Salsa

1/4 Cup Yellow Cornmeal

2 Tbsp Flour

3/4 Tsp Cumin

3/4 Tsp Salt

1/4 Tsp Garlic Powder

1/8 Tsp Pepper

1 LB Chicken Cutlets

2 Tsp Veggie Oil

1) In small bowl, combine peach, cilantro and salsa; set aside 2) In shallow dish, combine cornmeal, flour, cumin, salt, pepper and garlic powder 3) Coat chicken in dry mixture 4) Heat chicken over oil in skillet, then top with salsa to serve

There's chicken in there somewhere, swears.

So there's 3 quality recipes that never stood a chance. Simply because they're fug. Don't judge them by their looks though, you're a better person. I believe in you.