Did you know you can BAKE bacon?

'tis true my lovely readers. You can, in fact, cook bacon in the oven. 

I had some bacon that I bought with the intention of frying, but never did. It was coming close to expiring and I didn't want it to go to waste. I don't remember how I ended up finding the wonderful news that you can make it in the oven, but somehow, thanks to the internets I did. 

Start with a cookie sheet. Line it with aluminum foil (Use two sheets. Trust me. Just use two.) The aluminum saves you mucho time on clean up afterwards. 

Lay the bacon on the sheet. Did you notice that I didn't tell you to preheat the oven? I meant to do that. DON'T preheat the oven. I don't really know why, but just listen to the recipe, kay? ;) So, put the bacon in a cold oven, turn the heat up to 400* and walk away. Set a timer for 17 minutes and come back and check it. The recipe said to cook for 17-20 minutes but mine was done at 17 minutes. The bacon will burn quickly too, so watch it. Also, the closer to the bottom of the oven (or wherever the heating unit is in your oven) the crispier the bacon will be. I had 2 sheets in there. The one on the lower rack was nice and crispy the one on the top was more soft. 

PERFECTLY COOKED BACON! Without the nasty jumping burning grease that I am terrified of. 

The best part? 

You can crumple up the tin foil afterwards. It makes clean up a breeze. :) 

Super Yummy Summer Tuna Pasta Salad

I love tuna. I love pasta. I love tuna and pasta combined. My mom's been making this for as long as I can remember and for some reason I was craving a little tuna pasta magic the other day. It's so easy (I mean, if I can make it and make it taste good, anyone can) and it's perfect for those 100* days in the middle of the summer when baking something is way out of the question. 

ingredients: 

1 large can of chunk tuna (you can use chunk lite if you'd like, but I think it tastes better with the chunk) 

1 cup of frozen peas 

3/4 cup of mayonaise (you can adjust this up and down depending on how mayo-ee you like your food. I start with a little and add more if need be.) 

1 box of shell pasta 

salt and pepper to taste 

to cook: 

1. cook the pasta according to the box instructions. Make sure you leave it a little al dente too! while the pasta is cooking, take the peas out of the freezer and open the tuna and drain it. set both aside. 

2. drain pasta and run under cold water for 30 seconds or until it's cooled down 

3. in a big bowl combine the pasta, mayonaise, peas and tuna. make sure you stir GENTLY so that you don't break up the tuna or wreck the noodles. 

4. taste it and see if it needs more mayonaise. if it does, add it! 

5. add salt and pepper to taste (you might have to add more when you actually eat it. it tends to need a little more seasoning. but, maybe thats just me.) 

6. stick in the fridge and let it chill out. 

7. once it's chilled (the longer it sits in the fridge, the yummier it gets), go on and serve it! 

notes! 

1. make this earlier in the day (like, lunchtime) and let it sit in the fridge for a while. it's better the colder it is. 

2. you may need to add more mayonaise right before you serve if the noodles soak it up and make it dry.