Boyfriend Makes Dinner, Bee Makes a Side Dish

What did I tell you about the pictures? Better ones are coming, I promise!

It's always sweet when the boyfriend offers to make dinner... or, rather, when he forcibly removes me from the kitchen in order to cook something that's in danger of nearing its expiration date.

Still, it's sweet.

It's also always tacos or kielbasa.

But oh, does the man make a good kielbasa. Gone are the days I merely squirted mustard and called it a day, or nibbled them off toothpicks in their h'ors d'oeuvres state. It's go honey barbeque or go home. It's quite simple to do: Take one kielbasa, slice it up, smother in bbq sauce, and cook over medium heat until fully cooked. Top with more bbq, and you're done!

Yep, this is boy food at its finest. Pair with a beer for that extra bit of classy. It's truly delicious. And goes really really well with a Blue Moon.

However, I had fully intended on making this:

I entirely stole this picture from my friend's Facebook to show you in a better resolution what this dish should look like. Here's a link to his wife's blog. That counts as credit-giving for the picture, yes? Sure. Anyway. This amazing deliciousness is brussels sprouts with bacon and onions. It looks divine. And I'd already purchased the ingredients to make it.

Thankfully, it made a lovely side dish to Boyfriend's kielbasa and boxed noodle concoction. If you have any doubts about brussels sprouts, please put them behind you and smother them in bacon grease. You'll be glad you did.

I'd also like to point out that in most recipes, I will forget an item. Especially if I make a special grocery trip to buy the ingredients, there will ALWAYS be something missing from my list. In this case, it was chicken broth. Now, I could have gone the healthier route and used water and salt or something of that nature. But no, I mercilessly slaughtered a can of condensed chicken soup (shaped like Disney princesses... why he had this in his pantry I have only a vague idea) and made makeshift broth. I was hesitant because said can was a month past its expiration date, but various googlings assured me that I would not die of botchalism. Close call.

Brussels Sprouts and Bacon

(adapted from Rachel Ray's recipe here)

• 4 slices of bacon, chopped
• 1-2 tbs extra virgin olive oil (enough to coat the bottom of the pan and a little more later to coat the sprouts)
• 1 small onion, chopped (the recipe calls for shallots, but I used regular onions since they hold up a little better in the frying pan)
• 1 to 1.5 lb brussels sprouts, halved or quartered by size
• 1 cup chicken broth (or a drained condensed chicken soup can with some water, hah)

-Cook the bacon until crispy. Remove to a paper-towel lined plate and set aside.

-Add olive oil to pan and mix around with the bacon grease. Add onions and saute until they begin to soften but not brown.

-Add sprouts and coat with oil--add more oil at this point if you need to--season with salt and pepper, and cook until just soft.

-Add chicken broth and simmer until sprouts are tender. This will take ten minutes or more, check tenderness with a fork until desired softness is reached.

-Remove from heat and mix in the bacon. Serve! Devour! Delish!