Tasty links

I've been back from Singapore for 10 days. Since then I've had the jet lag, the obligatory airplane cold, the last term of preschool activities switch into high gear, another quarterly deadline looming, and DP planning another overseas trip (as of today, he knows when he's leaving, but not how many countries he's going to, or for how long).

So I haven't been doing many ambitious cooking projects. But I have been stealing time to keep up with the ridiculous number of food blogs that I follow, and to make use of some of their brilliant ideas. It's my favorite form of procrastination--speaking as a connoisseur of procrastination.

Here are a few recent goodies to help get you through whatever kind of day you're having:

Breakfast sandwiches: courtesy of Chaos in the Kitchen. Assembly-line breakfast cooking that puts its fast-food counterparts to shame. As Katie says, "if you are going to make one, you might as well make a dozen." I only made a half-dozen, because my freezer is small and already crammed full. I ate one immediately after assembling--just to make sure they were good, you understand. They were, and it's comforting to know that I've got a no-brainer breakfast ready and waiting for those days when I can't even manage to dig out the yogurt.

Ten-minute tartiflette (see picture): I'm always looking for new ways to use up leftovers, and this suggestion, from Just Cook It, is my new favorite way of using up any kind of leftover potatoes. And a perfect hearty lunch for the chilly spring Canberra is having.

Cheesy croutons: I'm just now getting around to exploring Mark Bittman's list of 101 Simple Salads, but I've already lost count of how many times I've used #44, which essentially says to make a grilled cheese sandwich, let it cool, cut it into croutons, and put it on salad. (I've been using mine for soup—see "chilly Canberra spring", above.) He ends it with, "This you will do forever." Yes I will.

Herby chicken: I got the idea for this one from A Year of Slow Cooking's Lemon and Herb CrockPot Roasted Chicken, where you cover the chicken with lemon and herbs and roast it in the slow cooker (surprise!). Except mine ended up being a puree of olive oil, garlic, rosemary and lime juice, which I stuffed under the skin of some chicken breasts. And then cooked in the oven. Oops. But I never would have thought of it if it hadn't been for this recipe.

Chocolate pots: aka Delicious Baked Fudge, from The Pioneer Woman Cooks! I've made several different versions of this, but this one is fast, easy, didn't require a special shopping trip, and was, indeed, absolutely delicious.