A Baker's Dozen

Hidden Veggies: Black Bean Brownies

2011-03-15T17:50:00.000-07:00

These brownies are a "Healthier" alternative. I say that with great caution as they pack a whopping 8 WW points. But they also pack at least a serving a fruits and veggies, as they are filled with black beans and bananas.....No, I haven't been brain washed, but these are Gluten Free Vegan Brownies.

They were way better than I thought they'd be but I'm going to have to play around to get the consistency right. They are thick and fudgey. So thick and fudgy that they need to be eaten with a fork. No pretty brownie squares for me. Granted I made a few substitutions, regardless in the future I think I will try a recipe that uses flour, to make a more cake like brownie. I served the brownie as a little lump of chocolate, covered in strawberries and a tbl of coolwhip (1 Tbl) - and it was delicious!

Black Bean Brownies

Food.com

Ingredients

1 (15 ounce) cans black beans
3 eggs [used 2 1/2 bananas instead + 1/2tsp baking soda]
3 tablespoons oil [used 3tbl apple sauce instead]
1/2 cup cocoa
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 pinch salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease 8x8 square baking dish.
Combine the black beans, eggs, oil, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, vanilla, and sugar in a blender. Blend until smooth. Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish. Sprinkle the chocolate chips over the mixture or mix into the batter.
Bake in a preheated oven until the top is dry and edges start to pull away from the sides of the pan, about 30 minutes.

I was worried about the flavor, and thought that it may need some more chocolate. I used the chocolate ganache from the almond joy cupcakes. [I think they'd be good without it, and it'd knock off 2 WW points].

Must Love Peanutbutter

2011-03-15T17:38:00.000-07:00

{Another forgotten Christmas Time Post}

Reeses Peanutbutter Cookies

The Busy Budgeting Mama

Ingredients

About 40 (13-oz. pkg.) REESE'S Peanut Butter Cups Miniatures
or 12 (0.8 oz. each) REESE'S Peanut Butter Cups, quartered
1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup REESE'S Creamy Peanut Butter
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Heat oven to 375°F. Remove wrappers from candies.Line small muffin cups (1-3/4 inches in diameter) with paper bake cups.
Beat butter, brown sugar, granulated sugar, peanut butter, egg and vanilla until light and fluffy in large bowl. Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; add to butter mixture, beating until well blended. Shape dough into 1-inch balls; place one in each prepared muffin cup. Do not flatten.
Bake 10 to 12 minutes until puffed and lightly browned; remove from oven. Immediately press peanut butter cup or piece onto each cookie.
Cool completely in muffin pan. About 3-1/2 dozen cookies.

Pumpkin Blondies

2011-03-15T17:30:00.000-07:00

{Note: this Post was un-posted in the chaos, It's from prior to Christmas}.

I have a love affair with pumpkin. I just cannot get enough. Come the fall holidays - I stock up. I wish it was easily available all year. These blondies were moist and a delicious. I packed a few into everyone's Christmas goody basket......and second batch for myself. I'm going to have to come up with a healthier version, because I just couldn't get enough.

Pumpkin Blondies

Annie’s Eats

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp. pumpkin pie spice (I doubled this)
1 tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. salt
16 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
1¼ cups granulated sugar (or brown sugar)
1 large egg
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup white chocolate chips
½ cup chopped, toasted nuts (optional)

Preheat the oven to 350° F. Line a 9×13-inch baking dish with foil. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda and salt. Stir together and set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat together the butter and sugar on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Beat in the egg and vanilla until well combined. Mix in the pumpkin puree. With the mixer on low speed add the dry ingredients and mix just until incorporated. Fold in the white chocolate chips (and nuts, if using) with a rubber spatula.

Spread the batter evenly into the prepared pan. Bake until the edges begin to pull away from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out with just a few crumbs, about 35-40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely before cutting.

To serve, lift the cake from the pan using the foil and transfer to a cutting board. Peel off foil and using a sharp knife, cut into 24 squares.

Unfortunate Banana Bread

2011-03-15T17:19:00.000-07:00

It's been over 2 1/2 months since I last updated. During that time, I've moved states, started a new job, and celebrated a wedding anniversary. It's been nuts. On top of that I'm on a healthy war path - I've got some poundage to loose.

I love banana bread. My favorite recipe comes from my grandmother, and Hominy Grill. In all the hustle and bustle of moving, I've lost my grandmother's recipe. My family has copies, but I've yet to get it from them. Unfortunately Hominy Grill stopped giving away their recipe for free and I've yet to purchase a book..... Long story short, I had mushy bananas and was craving some Banana Bread and so I googled.

This Banana Bread recipe is highly rated on food.com. It was pretty good. However, I think this is because I used gluten free flour. Unfortunately shortly after I made the bread, I got sick, and stayed sick for about a week...and the lonely banana bread sat in the fridge. When I was finally well I was craving something good - and I got a brilliant idea - Bread Pudding!!

. I used the bread to make Bourbon Bread Pudding with Caramel Sauce. (I used this recipe for the Caramel Sauce, as I had none on hand). I know I know - I'm supposed to be eating healthy....but after a week of not eating, I was pretty much starved but It was simply delicious. Definitely hit the spot.

M&M Cookies

2010-12-27T09:37:00.000-08:00

These M&M cookies are from "Sing For your Super"

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter
1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar, light or dark, packed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 large egg
1 1/2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 tablespoons milk, optional
2 cups Holiday M&M’s

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease two baking sheets, or line with parchment.
Beat together the butter, sugars, salt, vanilla, baking soda, and baking powder until well combined. Add the egg, beating until smooth. Scrape the sides of the bowl, and beat again until smooth.
Add the flour, mixing it in completely. Stir in the milk, then carefully stir in the M&M’s.
Drop the cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto the prepared baking sheets, spacing them about 2″ apart. A cookie scoop works well here.
Bake the cookies for 14 to 16 minutes, until they’re a light golden brown, and a bit darker around the edges.
Remove them from the oven, and cool right on the baking sheets.

{More Pictures after the Break}

Puppy Chow

2010-12-24T12:22:00.000-08:00

Holiday Puppy Chow Recipe

[Savory Sweet life]

Ingredients:

9 cups Combination of Corn, Rice, and Wheat Cereal squares (Chex) *For gluten-free, omit the wheat chex.
1 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoon vanilla *make sure to check vanilla for gluten-free
1 1/2 cups powdered sugar
2 1-gallon ziplock bags

Directions:

Place cereal in a large bowl and set aside. In a medium microwavable bowl, add chocolate chips, peanut butter and butter. Microwave on High for 1 minute and stir. Microwave 30 seconds longer and stir mixture until smooth. Stir in vanilla. Pour sauce over cereal and stir until evenly coated. Spoon half of the mixture in each 1-gallon resealable ziplock bag. Add 3/4 cup powdered sugar to each bag, and seal. Shake the bag until everything is coated. Spread on waxed/parchment paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

**DISCLAIMER** Although this recipe is called “Puppy Chow” it’s not for canine consumption!!!!!

A Baking Frenzy

2010-12-22T12:02:00.001-08:00

Stretching it: Three meals out of one

2010-12-22T05:23:00.000-08:00

While I've been in school, Hubby and I have tried, rather unsuccessfully i might add, to stick to a budget. The area we've done the most damage in is the food budget. We love food. The Hubby has always eaten well, and budget has never been much of a concern.....and I, well I just love food. It's taken us a year but we've slowly cut back. Now that school has ended, I'm jobless and my supplemental loan income is gone, so we have no excuse but to cut back.

The one thing I've learned is its important not to skimp too much or to make the same thing to often. Then you get sick of what you are eating and eat out and splurge. The trick seems to be in stretching a single meal (and its left overs further). I also try to make "fresh" meals for dinner, and left overs for lunch. We really get into a rut when we have left overs for dinner.....My latest goal is to be more creative in my cooking... we'll see how it all works out.

Here's today's scenario.... but first earlier this week I made some salsa bean dip to accompany burgers. It's pretty good with corn chips, but is definitely best with Fritos. My mom used to make this all the time. It's super easy. Just combine a can of black beans (drained), can of corn (drained) and can of salsa in a bowl. Enjoy!

Meal 1: Today, the hubby came home for lunch and I made taco stuffed peppers. Instead of a can of salsa, I through in a can's worth of the black bean/salsa dip (recipe above). Then cooked everything as normal. It was delicious.

Meal 2: I only ever make two peppers, (and the recipe really calls for four), so I combined the left over with more salsa, two table spoons of dice tomatoes + green pepper, two ounces of cream cheese (to thicken it and make it creamy) and lots of rice. It's a tex-mex rice bowl. And it's delicious. [Made 4 1/2 bowls worth]

Meal 3: Modified Nacho Soup. Cheddar cheese soup + 3 bowls tex-mex rice + the rest of a can of Rotel.

[Note - while this is 3 meals. These meals are spaced out over a week. In between we've had crab bisque, burgers, and meatloaf. All in all quite a bit of variety.]

Stuffed Portobello Mushrooms

2010-12-19T07:07:00.000-08:00

In an effort to spend less, we've started buying bulk products at BJs (like Costco, Sams). Not just the processed food. The meat there is half the price of the grocery but your stuck buying four pounds of it.... This how I ended up with a 2 1/2 lb meatloaf. Anyway, during my most recent visit I purchased a pack of beautiful portobello mushrooms. It came with a total of 6 Shrooms. We used about 1/3 of them to make portobello fries, and the rest I stuffed, using a variation of Emeril Lagasse's sausage stuffed portobello mushrooms. My modified recipe is below.

Ingredients

6 portobello mushrooms, stemmed (reserve minced stems)
3 tablespoons plus 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling
12 ounces hot Italian sausage
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1/4 cup finely chopped green bell pepper
1/4 cup finely chopped celery
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1/2 cup plain bread crumbs
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan
1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon minced fresh parsley leaves
2 teaspoons Tony's
1 egg, lightly beaten

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
Using your hands, lightly rub each portobello mushroom with 2 teaspoons of olive oil.
Cook the sausage in a medium skillet until browned, about 4 minutes.
Add the onion, bell pepper, celery, and mushroom stems and cook until softened, about 3 minutes.
Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Remove from heat.
Transfer sausage-vegetable mixture to the bowl of a food processor. Add, 1/4 cup of the bread crumbs, 1/4 cup of Parmesan, 1/4 cup of parsley, the Tony's and the remaining 2 teaspoons of olive oil. Pulse until mixture is finely chopped and comes together slightly, about 30 seconds. Transfer the mixture to a bowl, add the egg, and stir until well combined.
Divide the filling among the mushroom caps, about 1/2 cup for each mushroom.
Place the filled mushrooms on a baking sheet.
Combine remaining 1/4 cup of bread crumbs and 1/4 cup of Parmesan in a small mixing bowl.
Divide the bread crumb mixture evenly among the tops of the mushrooms.
Bake until golden brown on top and the mushrooms are tender, about 15 to 18 minutes.
Remove from oven and let cool slightly. Garnish with remaining tablespoon of parsley, drizzle with olive oil and vinegar and serve warm or at room temperature.

[The making of this meal in pictures, below the break]

The cajun trifecta: onion, celery and bellpepper

Hot Itlian Sausage + Trifecta

Blended mixture for stuffing

Lonely Mushroom caps

Filled Mushrooms

Fried Portobello Mushrooms

2010-12-18T08:08:00.000-08:00

One of my absolute favorite appetizers my father-in-law makes is "portobello" fries. He dips them in what looks like pancake batter, flour mix, then fries them up in a pan.......mmmm mmm good. We've never been able to get the recipe from him, so I tracked down a substitute. These are more like the fried mushrooms at the fair, but they are pretty good. Got the recipe from Food.com.

Ingredients:

2 cups Beer
2 Cups Flour
2 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
2 tsp garlic powder

Instructions:

Heat vegetable oil in a pan (med. high heat).
Remove the stems off mushrooms. Cut into slices.
Combine all ingredients
Dip Mushroom in ingredients and drop in hot oil.
Turn after approx 1-2 min
Remove when golden brown

Meatloaf

2010-12-17T09:15:00.000-08:00

It may not be the sexiest slab of meat, but it sure was delicious! Recently hubby's been talking about making a meat loaf, since we buy these massive 4lb packs of meat from BJs. This week I noticed that BJs had a premixed meat pack labeled for meatloaf. It's just several kinds of ground meat. I googled and found the following recipe from Real Mom Kitchen and was originally intended for meatloaf sandwiches. We may just do that with the left overs.

Meatloaf Sandwiches

[Real Mom Kitchen]

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 medium onion, diced small
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 1/2 pounds ground beef (10 percent fat)
[My pack was 2 1/2 lbs]
1 cup roughly crushed Ritz crackers (about 15 crackers)
[I used a heaping cup of Italian bread crumbs instead]
1 cup coarsely grated sharp cheddar (3 ounces)
3 large eggs
1 tablespoon plus 2 teaspoons prepared horseradish
[Used 1tbl Spicy Brown mustard + 2 approx tsp horseradish - I was not aware I had any until after I used mustard]
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon coarse salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
In a small skillet, heat oil over medium; add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes.
Add tomato paste and cook, stirring constantly, until brick-red in color and fragrant, 3 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine beef, onion mixture, crackers, cheese, eggs, horseradish, Worcestershire, salt, and pepper.
On a parchment-lined baking sheet, use your hands to form mixture into a 9-inch loaf. Bake until cooked through, about 40 minutes. Let rest 15 minutes before cutting into thick slices.
[Mine actually took 1 hour]

[Ooops!: This was a HUGE amount of meat. Nearly double what the recipe called for. I did not notice this until after cooking. Easily 6-8 meals worth of food. Next time I will use half the amount of meat].

Delicious Crab bisque

2010-12-16T06:54:00.000-08:00

This soup was such a treat. It was delicious, warm and filling. The perfect combo on a cold winter night. Even more than that it was a seafood soup. That's kind of a treat in this house, since I made the decision to plunge into school debt. This soup was well worth it...

According to Cake, Batter and Bowl - the creator of this recipe - it is a mere $5.30 per serving and makes 4 servings, but I think we had 6 hearty bowls worth.

Crab & Red Pepper Bisque

{Cake, Batter and Bowl}

Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 leeks, white and light green parts only, chopped [I left these out]
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 cup flour
4 cups chicken stock
1 12-ounce jar roasted red peppers, drained and chopped
1/4 cup tomato paste
1 pound fresh lump crabmeat
1/2 teaspoon dried basil
1 cup heavy cream
3 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 teaspoons salt

Directions:

Heat olive oil over medium heat and sauté leeks for 5 to 7 minutes or until tender.
Add garlic and sauté 1 additional minute.
Meanwhile, melt butter over medium high heat in a large stockpot. Whisk in flour until smooth and cook one minute or until mixture starts to brown.
Add chicken stock, red peppers, tomato paste, 14 ounces crabmeat, basil, and sautéed leeks to the stockpot and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until thickened.
Use an immersion blender to puree soup until smooth. [I do not have an immersion blender. Instead I removed approx 3Cups at a time and blended in a blender then added back into the pot. I wanted it a little chunkier and choose not to blend everything]
Add heavy cream, red wine vinegar, and salt to the stockpot and simmer for 2 to 3 minutes or until heated through.
Scoop into serving bowls and garnish with remaining 2 ounces crabmeat. [I didnt not reserve crab for the topping]

[Nutrition: 687 calories, 55.3g fat, 2.5g fiber, 14.8g protein per serving]

Gifts in a jar

2010-12-15T10:36:00.000-08:00

Chocolate Coffee Mix

[from Sing for your supper]

Ingredients:

1/2 cup instant coffee (I’m sure espresso powder would be great as well!)
1 1/2 cups powdered Coffeemate creamer (original flavor)
1/2 cup Nesquik (powder)
1/4 cup sugar
dash salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Directions: Mix all ingredients in a blender or food processor until well combined. The blog states for gift giving she recommends making a double (or triple) batch. But one batch filled a pasta jar. I also gave a bag of crushed peppermint. To serve: use 1-3 heaping teaspoons per cup of boiling water.

Peppermint bark

2010-12-14T08:46:00.000-08:00

I made this Peppermint bark for my Hubby's secret Santa. It was meant to be swirly white and semisweet chocolate peppermint bark from Confessions of a Food Bride.....but the hubby got a little aggressive in his swirling. Either way it was delicious!

Ingredients

1.5 lbs white chocolate [I used 1 16oz bag]
1.5 lbs of semi-sweet chocolate [I used 1 16oz bag]
24 peppermint candies

Directions

Set up two double boilers
Unwrap 24 Starlight peppermints Crush [the blender works well]
Let the chocolate melt mostly on it’s own, giving it a nudge every once in a while with a rubber spatula. When it’s mostly melted, remove it from the heat, being SUPER careful to make sure no steam or water got into the chocolate.
Stir until completely smooth and then spoon each chocolate in random blobs on a wax paper-lined 11×17, filling most of the surface.
Using the end of a small frosting spatula held vertically, swirl the chocolate until you’re happy with the presentation.
Pick up the pan a few inches off the counter and let it fall back, to evenly distribute the chocolate and get rid of any air bubbles.
Scatter the peppermint pieces over the top.
Let sit at room temperature until completely hardened. [I threw it in the fridge - as I have no counter space to let things sit out]
Break the bark into pieces and enjoy! Store at room temperature in a covered container.

Snowman Poop

2010-12-13T19:52:00.000-08:00

In the cold of winter when snow arrives,
The snowmen dance and feel alive.
If you follow in their tracks,
You'll find little droppings from their cracks.
Round and white, so sweet and light,
Eat one or two for sweet dreams tonight!

(From Hubpages - More Snowman Poop Poems)

I was researching Christmas gag gifts for my husbands office party. Thinking of gags gifts for people you don't know is much more difficult then I expected. You have no idea of their sense of humor. I ran into a whole bunch of sites which centered around "Holiday poop"....Elf Poops (Red & Green candies), Reindeer poop (chocolate covered candies), Grinch poop (green candies), Snowman poop (white candies/marshmellows). All of them featured some little poem to go along with a lil lunch sized goodie bag. It was really cute! Unfortunately this is an office party, with a budget <$20-ish. I felt a little cheap just giving some candy....So I made snowball cookies instead and bagged them as snowman poop.

I used a recipe for snowball cookies from sprinkle bakes. My dough came out very dry. So I doubled the vanilla extract, and added an extra stick of butter. They came out perfect. They melt-in-your-mouth and taste a bit like shortbread. Yummy!

Snowball Cookies

[Sprinkles Bakes]

Ingredients

2 cups flour, sifted
1/2 cup butter softened [I used 1 1/2]
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract [I used at least 2]
1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup chopped pecans
1 cup powdered sugar for dusting

Directions

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
In the bowl of an electric mixer with paddle attachment, combine butter and sugar; beat until creamy.
Add vanilla extract and mix well.
Add flour and salt. Mix until partially incorporated and then add nuts.
Mix until a thick, uniform dough forms.
Roll cookies into 1" balls and place on parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for 20 minutes or until cookies are slightly golden and fragrant.
Remove cookies from oven and allow to cool completely on the pan before trying to remove from the baking sheet.
Coat cookies with a generous amount of powdered sugar.

Back from my Hiatus

2010-12-12T19:52:00.000-08:00

So I did it - I survived nursing school. I have graduated! I started this blog shortly after beginning nursing school.....and I've now completed school. It's been one-hell-of-a-16-months, but well worth it. The last few weeks have been so crazy, I can't tell you what I ate or baked. I definitely didn't keep up as well with this blog as I had hoped.Whoops! I think that will be changing now.

NOM NOM NOM

PINEAPPLE!!!!

2010-11-27T09:15:00.000-08:00

Walmart totally had pineapple on sale. I didn't realize how easy it is to cut up, and how much cheaper. I got a whole container of pineapple, for only $2.50! Here's how to cut up a pineapple.

Nacho Soup - Easy & Delicious

2010-11-25T10:08:00.000-08:00

In a pan, Cook 1 lb Ground Beef. Add to it Taco Seasoning. Follow directions on packet. Meanwhile in a seperate pot combine1 Can Condensed Cheddar Cheese Soup,1 Can Milk (Per soup Container) and 1 Can Diced peppers w. Green chiles. When Beef is done add to pot. Bring to a boil. Decrease temperature and simmer for approx 20 min. Serve with cheddar cheese, sour cream and tortilla chips. (modified Idea from Betty Crocker)

Peach Crunch Cake II

2010-11-20T10:08:00.000-08:00

I made this peach crunch cake a long time ago.....It was our thing for a month or so. Once or twice a week Id bake individual containers. Its originally from Bakerella. This time though, I made it gluten free and topped it with ice cream.

Gluten Free Cake Mix

2 1/4 c. gluten-free flour blend*

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

Peach Mix

Ingredients:
24.5 oz jar of sliced peaches in light syrup
1 package yellow cake mix
1 stick butter (1/2 cup), cut into 16 pieces
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Layer ingredients in a 13 X 9 dish, in order starting with the peaches.
Bake for about 40 minutes.
Serve warm or cold… with or without ice cream.

(As usually, More Pictures below the break)

Taco Stuffed Shells

2010-11-09T15:53:00.000-08:00

Long before I made taco stuffed bell peppers, i made taco stuffed pasta shells. This used to be a favorite. I haven't made for at least a year though, and the recipe is long lost. A quick google search and I found this recipe.

Ingredients:
1lb ground beef [or turkey]
[ Added 1 large can of mushrooms ]
1 package taco seasoning
1 4 once package cream cheese [I used eight, because of the added protein]
12 large pasta shells
1 cup salsa
1 cup taco sauce
1 cup cheddar cheese (shredded)
1 cup Monterey jack cheese (shredded) [I only used cheddar]
1 ½ cups tortilla chips (crushed)
3 green onions (chopped)
1 cup sour cream

Instructions:

In a pan cook ground beef and add taco seasoning and prepare according to package directions.
Add cream cheese cover and simmer until cheese is melted. Blend well.
Set aside and allow to fully cool.
Cook pasta shells while beef is cooking.
Pour salsa in the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch baking dish [I use two 8X8 and freeze one]
Stuff each shell with the meat mixture.
Place the stuffed shells in the baking dish and cover the tops of the shells with taco sauce.
Cover and bake in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes.
Uncover, and sprinkle crushed chips and shredded cheddar and Monterey jack cheeses on top.
Cook for about 15 more minutes.
Serve with sour cream, additional salsa, black olives or whatever you think goes good with tacos!

Pork Enchiladas!

2010-11-02T19:13:00.000-07:00

I found the most delicious recipe for pork enchiladas....We had a ton of left over pulled pork in the freezer and I needed something to do with it. The pork was from a recipe Budget Bytes. Its an amazing crock pot recipe. I've made it several times, but most recently the batch was HUGE. We had so much left, and I just couldnt have more BBQ pork. I went in search of a recipe and found Pulled Pork Enchilada's from Life's Ambrosia . They looked superb. But, despite a grocery list, I didn't get home with all the ingredients....and I was starving. So I substituted and rearranged and made my own version of pulled pork Enchiladas and they were amazing. Hubby was so impressed!

The Actual Recipe is below the break, I followed the recipe for the enchilada sauce can, for the most part. I sauteed onion, combined it with pork, cheese and a portion of the can. Wrapped it all up in a tortilla. Poured a layer below and a layer above the enchiladas. Baked 350 for 20 minutes.

Enchilada Sauce

2 tablespoons canola oil
1/2 cup minced onion
2 tablespoons flour
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (if desired)
kosher salt and fresh cracked black pepper to taste

Filling

1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 cup minced onion
3 cups leftover pulled pork
1 (4 ounce) can diced green chilies
1 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese

To assemble the enchiladas

10-12 corn tortillas
canola oil for frying
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded Monterey jack cheese
guacamole
sour cream

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To prepare the enchilada sauce. Heat oil in a small sauce pan. Cook onion until softened about 5 minutes. Sprinkle flour over the top, cook 1 minute. Stir in tomato sauce and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and let simmer while you prepare the filling. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
For the filling, heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook onion until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in pulled pork and diced green chilies. Cook until warmed through. Turn heat to low while you prepare the tortillas.
Use enough canola oil to lightly coat the bottom of a small pan, about 2 tablespoons. Heat over medium-high heat. Cook tortillas one at a time until soft, about 30 seconds on each side. As you cook each tortilla, place them on paper towels to absorb any of the oil left over.
Lay each tortilla on a flat surface. Spoon about 1/4 cup filling into center, sprinkle with shredded Monterey jack cheese. Roll closed. Repeat with remaining filling and tortillas.
Spread a thin layer of enchilada sauce on the bottom of a baking dish. Place rolled tortillas in the baking dish. Spoon remaining enchilada sauce over the top. Sprinkle with shredded Monterey jack and cheddar cheese.
Bake 15-20 minutes or until cheese melts. Turn on broiler, broil for 3-5 minutes or until cheese browns. Remove from oven. Let cool slightly and serve with guacamole and sour cream.

Candy Corn Cookies

2010-10-31T18:36:00.000-07:00

I messed these candy corn cookies up pretty royally. I added 4X the salt. They smelled delicious. Tasted like they had potential, but way too salty. They look good though?

Candy Corn and Peanut Cookies

1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/4 cups sifted flour (140g)
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup salted peanuts
1/2 - 3/4 cup candy corns

Heat oven to 325°F
Cream together butter, peanut butter and both sugars with an electric mixer until light and fluffy.
Add egg and vanilla and mix until fully incorporated.
In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda and salt.
Add flour mixture to butter mixture stirring until blended. Stir in peanuts.
Form 1 inch balls of dough, inserting one or two candy corns into the center. Make sure dough completely covers the candy on all sides. Place on baking sheet and slightly flatten.
Bake 13 to 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and immediately press a few candy corns into the top of each cookie. Let cool several minutes (baking sheet should be cool enough to touch). Carefully transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely.

Almond Joy Cupcakes

2010-10-28T19:05:00.000-07:00

I will most definitely be making these again. They might even go in my christmas goodie box - thats if I can bring myself to share. These are Almond Joy Cupcakes.Basically its a brownie, stuffed with a coconut macaroon and topped with chocolate ganache and almonds. The result is really indescribable . Warm - this might be my favorite dessert.

The Original recipe, from bake it in a cake, is below the break, along with pictures of the process. Just so you know, I used brownie mix, since I had it on had, rather than home made like the recipe calls for. With all the pictures this is an incredibly long post. So check below the break.

ALMOND JOY CUPCAKES

Macaroons:

6 T. sugar
1 1/4 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
1 large egg white
1/2 t. vanilla extract (the good stuff, if possible)
a small pinch of salt

Brownies:

4 oz. good quality unsweetened chocolate
3/4 c. unsalted butter
2 c. granulated sugar
3 eggs
1 c. all-purpose flour

Ganache:

4 oz. good quality bittersweet chocolate
1/3 c. heavy cream
1 c. sliced (or finely chopped) toasted almonds

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees (F)

1. Mix all the macaroon ingredients together in a small bowl. The mixture should be moist and sticky.
2. Use a round tablespoon to form small balls and place them on a cookie sheet about 1 inch apart.

3. Bake the macaroons for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown. (They’ll be fragile when you take them out of the oven, so let them cool for a few minutes on the cookie sheet before you move them to a wire rack.

4. Meanwhile, mix up the brownie batter by melting the butter and unsweetened chocolate together in a large microwave-safe bowl. Once combined, stir in the sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, stirring until the batter is smooth. Stir in the flour.

5. Put a heaping spoonful of brownie batter in paper-lined cupcake tins. Press a cooled macaroon into the batter, careful not to push it all the way to the batter. The batter should come up the edges of the macaroon, slightly. Put another heaping spoonful of brownie batter on the top of the macaroons, spreading it over the top and all the edges of the cookie (the batter is thick, you might have to get your hands dirty here)

6. Bake the brownies in a 350 degree (F) oven for about 30 minutes, until set. Be careful not to over-bake. Let them cool for at least 30 minutes before you top with the ganache.

7. For the ganache, chop or break the bittersweet chocolate into bite-sized pieces. Put it, along with the heavy cream, into a small sauce pan and melt over low heat until it’s smooth.

8. Spoon a generous tablespoon of ganache over each cooled cupcake, and top with a sprinkle of toasted almonds. ENJOY

OMG Baking Frenzy

2010-10-27T17:40:00.000-07:00

I haven't legitimately baked in months....so tonight instead of soup night - I went on a baking spree. Together my friend and I made Almond Joy Cupcakes, Candy corn cookies, and Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies... There's a lot of pictures to come over the next few days. I Finally have something to post about!

Easy Marinara

2010-10-26T19:42:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I made a jumbo batch of Italian Meatballs - using my favorite recipe from the budget bytes blog.I went to eat one today and I was fresh out of sauce. I forgot to hit up the grocery today and I got a wicked craving for these meatballs at 9:00 at night....and I was still out of sauce.

Pasta sauce is something I just accept as canned. I know you can make home made, but I find the out of the can stuff is pretty delicious. I dug through my cabinets and then I googled. I found this 1-2-3 Marinara, from Hunt's Tomatoes and I happened to have the two, yes just two, ingredients on hand.

2 (6oz) cans tomato paste + 3 (14.5 oz) cans Diced tomatoes (w. Basil, garlic, oregano) + 3 Cups Water

It was delicious!

Fair Food

2010-10-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

Apples

800lb+ Pumpkin

Odd Edibles

Short & Sweet

2010-10-24T14:20:00.000-07:00

I've been sick for over a week now. I'm finally feeling better. I'm too exhausted to cook, but I am starving. I finally got my appetite back. Today has been a day of quick and easy eating's.

Cinnamon Rolls for breakfast. Hubbies never had one!

The making of Chicken Fajitas for lunch:

Super Quick Fajitas: Perdue Short Strips + Frozen Fajita Blend + fajita Spices + 1/2C water. Cook until sauce thickens.Wrap in a tortilla and enjoy.

Fair Food

2010-10-23T14:31:00.000-07:00

The fair is one of my favorite yearly events. I was determined to go, regardless of how sick this silly cold had me feeling. Where else can you get enough grotesquely greasy food to give you an instant heart attack? The fair is about animals, people watching and food - ok, I lied - its really all about the food for me. This year we are a deep fried snickers, fried mushroom, onion rings, deep fried oreos, and a london broil sandwich. I didn't eat all by myself though, I split it with the hubby and a friend. Still Kind of amazing that I'm still kickin huh?

Fried Snickers

Fried Mushrooms

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

2010-10-21T07:04:00.000-07:00

This blog is intended as a chronicle of my cooking experiences. I'm about to start a new carrier, and I am a newly wed. Cooking (& Baking) are an adventure. Over the past year, I've set quite a few cooking goals....baking something weekly, new foods, meatless days.......none of them have lasted as long as soup night. I look forward to this day, and eagerly search for new soup recipes. I think it's the company that soup night brings. Soup is so comforting and warm. Come spring, I'll need to replace soup night, but for now its a delicious weekly treat....

This weeks soup was Loaded Baked Potato Soup from Pennies on a Platter. It accompanied Honey Chipotle Ribs. It was thick and creamy. Incredible hearty and tasty. Despite the warmth of the soup, it worked perfectly to cool your palette after the spicy ribs.

Loaded Baked Potato Soup

[Pennies on a Platter]

Ingredients
2/3 cup butter
2/3 cup flour
7 cups milk
4 large baking potatoes, baked, peeled and cubed (about 4 cups)
4 green onions, sliced (and then more for garnish)
12 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
1 1/4 cups shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
3/4 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
1/2 teaspoon pepper, plus more for seasoning
garlic salt, to taste

Directions

In a large soup kettle or Dutch oven, melt the butter. Stir in flour; heat and stir until smooth. Gradually add milk, stirring until thickened (about 10 minutes). Add potatoes and onions. Bring to a boil, stirring constantly.
Reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and stir until cheese is melted.
Season to taste with salt, pepper and garlic salt. Serve immediately.

Honey Chipotle Ribs

2010-10-21T06:53:00.000-07:00

This recipe for Honey Chipotle Slow Cooker Ribs is from Life's Ambrosia, a blog that is always bursting with flavor. These are incredible...fall-off-the-bone delicious - but be warned they are HOT. I served this along side loaded baked potato soup - as part of soup night. It was a rather perfect combo. [Recipe below the break!]

The Rub

Ready to Bake

Time to Eat

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons kosher salt

1/2 teaspoon black pepper

1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon paprika

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon cumin

2 tablespoons olive oil

4 pounds baby back pork ribs

1 onion sliced

Honey Chipotle BBQ Sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

2 tablespoons honey

1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

2 tablespoons packed brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1 (7 ounce) can chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
In a bowl combine kosher salt, black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, paprika, onion powder, cumin and olive oil in a bowl. Stir to make a paste. Rub mixture all over ribs. Transfer to preheated baking sheet. Place in oven and cook for 15 minutes. Turn and cook for 15 more minutes.
Place the sliced onion on the bottom of the slow cooker.
While the meat is cooking combine all of the ingredients for the BBQ sauce in a food processor and process until smooth.
Transfer ribs to the slow cooker. Pour BBQ sauce over the top. Cover and cook for 6 hours. [I cooked for 4H on high]
Serve.

Pumpkin Pie Pudding

2010-10-20T19:28:00.000-07:00

It's like oh my god........and it's as easy as 1-2-3. The original recipe is from Food.com. It calls for sugar-free vanilla pudding, as a lower cal alternative to pumpkin pie. I used regular, because its what I had. It taste just like pumpkin pie, without a crust, and creamy texture. At 111 calories it's guilt free. [use sugar-free for even less calories]

1. Mix Instant Vanilla Pudding with 1 1/4C Milk

2. Add 15oz Pumpkin Puree (Canned Pumpkin)

3. Fold in Pumpkin + 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

4. Refrigerate, then Eat (Top with Cool Whip)

Missing Pictures

2010-10-15T10:24:00.000-07:00

I Finally got my camera working......Here's a few pictures

Mmmmmmm Chai Tea

My Dishes

Making Cookies

CHOCOLATE

White Chicken Chili

2010-10-12T21:00:00.000-07:00

I am really getting into this soup night thing. Chili is so hearty and delicious. I especially love it when I can throw it in the crock pot. This delicious recipe for spicy white chicken chili is from Kohler Creation.

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 (4 ounce) can diced jalapeno peppers
2 (4 ounce) can chopped green chile peppers
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth
3 cups chopped cooked chicken breast
3 (15 ounce) cans white beans
1 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
note: I also threw in a can of white corn.

Directions:

Brown the garlic with oil in a sauce pan and throw in the chicken chopped in slices or pieces. Cook until done and set aside.
Add all of the rest of the ingredients with the cooked chicken/garlic into the crock pot and cook on low for at least 5 hours (6-8 hours preferred).
Slowly stir in the cheese until melted. Serve warm.

Hearty Goodness

2010-10-07T11:05:00.000-07:00

[ Picture from Southern Living Magazine ]

You know what I love about fall? Soup and Chili. Especially hearty, meaty chili. For soup night this week, one of my friends brought over a pot of slow cooker turkey chili. It's originally from Southern Living Magazine. It was superb.

Ingredients

1 1/4 pounds lean ground turkey
1 large onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 (1.25-oz.) envelope chili seasoning mix
1 (12-oz.) can beer
1 1/2 cups frozen corn kernels
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
1 (28-oz.) can crushed tomatoes
1 (15-oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 (8-oz.) can tomato sauce
3/4 teaspoon salt

Toppings: shredded Cheddar cheese, finely chopped red onion, sliced fresh jalapeños

Preparation

Cook first 4 ingredients in a large skillet over medium-high heat, stirring often, 8 minutes or until turkey crumbles and is no longer pink.
Stir in beer, and cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Spoon mixture into a 5 1/2-qt. slow cooker; stir in corn and next 6 ingredients until well blended.
Cover and cook on LOW 6 hours.
Serve with desired toppings.

A Pig in the Potato Patch

2010-10-05T16:35:00.000-07:00

There is a delicious BBQ restaurant, called Jim N Nicks and they make these delicious loaded baked potatoes, called a pig in a potato patch. According to the menu its a baked potato "loaded with smoked bacon, butter, sour cream, cheddar, bbq sauce, and a choice of pork or chicken". It's one hell-of-a-way to eat a potato.

I used some left over crock pot pork (from Budget Bytes). I microwaved a medium sized potato (how to microwave or bake). Put on some butter, then BBQ sauce, then pork, then BBQ sauce, and topped with cheddar cheese. I popped it in the microwave because I was short on time, but in the future I'd like to bake it to let the flavors work. Regardless, it was delicious. It really hit the spot.

Surprise Cookies

2010-10-05T16:26:00.000-07:00

I've been trying to empty out my freezer and subsequently my fridge. I had a bunch of Oreo truffles (pre-chocolate covering) and a some frozen cookie dough in there, so i defrosted them. I was just going to make chocolate chip cookies and oreo truffles, but then I saw a recipe in my google reader "Oreo Truffle Surprise cookies". They are chocolate chip cookies, stuffed with you guessed it - Oreo truffle. The link to the recipe is completely from scratched, but I used oreo truffles from Bakerella and premade Nestle cookie dough. They are delicious....and super easy!

What a week

2010-10-03T18:35:00.000-07:00

It's been a long week, and it's only leading to a longer week. I have a lot of left-overs from the past week, and I haven't done much cooking - or at least exciting cooking. We are are chowing down on some variety of left over pulled pork, broccoli cheese soup; as well as Caesar salads, sides of mash potatoes. We've even had Brats.

Tonight was the most delicious meal all week though: a delicious appetizer Caesar salad, followed by rib-eye steaks with mushrooms, and a side of sweet peppers. It was mmm mmm good.

Grilled Sandwiches

2010-09-29T19:34:00.000-07:00

I made these Turkey & Provolone sandwiches to accompany Broccoli & Cheese soup. These are delicious. I was really surprised how delicious they were. My friends had spinach on theirs, but the hubby and I did not as we ran out, and I am not a huge spinach fan anyway.....

Turkey & Provolone Sandwich

[ Image & Recipe from A Taste of Home ]

Ingredients

4 slices rye bread [ I used regular sliced wheat bread ]
2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
4 slices provolone cheese (1/2 ounce each)
10 spinach leaves
4 ounces sliced deli peppered turkey
4 roasted sweet red pepper strips
4 teaspoons butter [ i did it in the george formen, so i used pam ]

Directions

Spread two bread slices with mustard.
Layer with cheese, spinach, turkey and red pepper.
Top with remaining bread.
Spread outsides of sandwiches with butter.
In a large skillet over medium heat, toast sandwiches for 3 minutes on each side or until cheese is melted.

Soup Night

2010-09-29T19:28:00.000-07:00

Tonight was Modern Family night.......which means the girlfriends came over for soup night! We made Broccoli cheese soup from cooking light, and Provolone and turkey sandwiches. Each person received a bowl of soup and a half salad.

Broccoli & Cheese Soup

[ Image & Recipe From Cooking Light ]

Total: 33 minutes Yield: 6 servings (serving size: 1 1/3 cups)

Ingredients

1 cup chopped onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 (16-ounce) package broccoli florets
2 1/2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
8 ounces light processed cheese, cubed (such as Velveeta Light)

Preparation

Heat a large nonstick saucepan coated with cooking spray over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic; saute 3 minutes or until tender. Add broth and broccoli. Bring broccoli mixture to a boil over medium-high heat. Reduce heat to medium; cook 10 minutes.
Combine milk and flour, stirring with a whisk until well blended. Add milk mixture to broccoli mixture. Cook 5 minutes or until slightly thick, stirring constantly. Stir in pepper. Remove from heat; add cheese, stirring until cheese melts.
Place one-third of the soup in a blender or food processor, and process until smooth. Return pureed soup mixture to pan.

Nutritional Information
Calories: 203 (28% from fat)
Fat: 6.3g (sat 4g,mono 1.8g,poly 0.4g)
Protein:15.6g
Carbohydrate: 21.7g
Fiber: 2.9g
Cholesterol: 24mg
Iron: 1.2mg
Sodium: 897mg
Calcium: 385m

Pulled Pork

2010-09-26T12:22:00.000-07:00

[ Picture from http://alonbj.wordpress.com/ ]

So the picture above may or may not be totally inappropriate for this post.....for many reasons, but mostly because the BBQ Pulled Pork I make, is made in the crock pot. Oh the blasphemy.....This is the second time I've made this recipe, originally from the budget bytes blog - I posted about it here. I made it again last night. It was delicious!11111

Iced Pumpkin spiced latte

2010-09-26T10:14:00.000-07:00

Dear Starbucks - I love you from the bottoms of my heart (and stomach), but its not a good time in my life to be partaking in your goodness... Given your prices, and continued increases, I'm not sure there will every be a time for us to be together. Your deliciousness fills up my stomach, and empties my wallet. This is the end of our friendship...I can make your drinks on my own, for half the cost (and less calories). - Rachael

Iced Pumpkin Spice Latte

[ From "A Cozy Kitchen" ]

Ingedients

2 cups milk
4 tablespoons canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1-2 shots espresso

1-2 shots espresso = about 1/4 cup of espresso or 1/2 cup of strong brewed coffee

For Iced:

Brew your coffee or espresso and let it sit out for a few minutes until it reaches room temperature. You could also put it in the fridge or freezer to speed up the cooling process.
In a saucepan combine milk, pumpkin and sugar and cook on low heat, stirring, just until the sugar and pumpkin are desolved.
Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and spice, transfer to a blender and process for 15 seconds until foamy. If you don’t have a blender – just whisk the mixture really well with a wire whisk.
Pour into a cup filled with ice. Add the espresso or coffee on top.
Top with whipped cream and sprinkle pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, or cinnamon on top.

For Hot:

In a saucepan combine milk, pumpkin and sugar and cook on medium heat, stirring, until steaming.
Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and spice, transfer to a blender and process for 15 seconds until foamy. If you don’t have a blender just whisk the mixture really well with a wire whisk.
Pour into a large mug or two mugs. Add the hot espresso or coffee on top.
Top with whipped cream and sprinkle pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, or cinnamon on top.

Cheesy Goodness......

2010-09-25T20:07:00.000-07:00

I found another blog to add to my blog roll. It's called "The girl who ate everything". From the title it's a woman after my own heart. Not too long ago a recipe for Chicken and Spinach Stuff shells popped up. Its was like oh. my. god.

Chicken and Spinach Stuffed Shells

[ from The Girl who Ate Everything ]

Ingredients:

1 (12-ounce) box uncooked jumbo pasta shells (I bought two just in case)
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
2 cups fresh chopped spinach
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (15oz) container ricotta cheese (I used light)
2 (8oz) packages cream cheese, softened (I think you could get away with one package)
1 (5oz) package shredded Parmesan cheese (about 1 2/3 cups) (I forgot this)
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 Tablespoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese, divided
1 (26oz) jar prepared spaghetti sauce (I used two jars)

Directions:

Cook shells according to package directions. Be careful not to overcook them or they will tear easily when trying to fill them. Drain and set aside.
Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly grease two 9x13 baking dishes.
In a large bowl, combine chicken and all the rest of the ingredients except mozzarella and spaghetti sauce. Stir in 1 cup mozzarella. Spoon into shells. *Tip: For easier filling, fill a gallon ziplock baggie with the filling and snip a quarter size hole off the corner of the bag. Then you can just pipe the filling into the shells.
Spread half of spaghetti sauce into prepared baking dishes. Arrange shells over sauce; top with remaining sauce. Cover tightly with heavy-duty aluminum foil. If you are freezing one of the 9x13 prepared pans, freeze it after this step. Include a baggy of the remaining mozzarella for when you cook it.
Bake, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover, sprinkle with remaining 1 cup mozzarella. Bake for 5 to 10 more minutes.

Just a few Notes:

It made 36 noodles (There were 40 in the box). According to the original recipe this is 8-10 servings. I got three 8X8 Trays. I am going to freeze one.
I accidentally left out the Parmesan cheese. The author noted that you may be able to get away with only one block of cream cheese.....In the future I am going to add in the Parmesan and leave out some cream cheese.
This recipe rings in at 150 calories per noodle (w/o the Parmesan and w. light ricotta). Next time I think I will switch the Parmesan and cream cheese, and use light cream cheese.

It's Football season! GEAUX TIGERS

2010-09-24T23:00:00.000-07:00

I'm not a huge sports person. I'd consider my-self an SEC football kind of girl, but I don't watch that much.....I'd also say I bleed Purple and Gold - but I'm not even sure who LSU is playing this week. My family though, is cajun, and I'm pretty sure my family bleeds purple and gold (and black and gold). One of my favorite things about Football season though is TAILGATING.....

LSU has repeatedly made the "list" as one of the best places to tailgate. Where else can you get fried gator? Boiled Crafish? Gumbo? In a parking lot outside of a football stadium. I have been craving some good cajun tailgating food, so tonight I cooked up a big ole batch of gumbo. I've cooked and posted about this before. It was delicious, as always. Check out the Recipe.

A "Glee"-ful soup

2010-09-22T23:00:00.000-07:00

Tonight we ate a late dinner. I miscalculated my timeline, and ended up cooking pretty late. It worked out ok though. I had a friend come over, and we ate and watched Glee. We made Black Bean Soup.

I decided to make this soup because its supposedly fall - despite the heat and its delicious. I've also noticed throughout my blog-roll this idea of "meatless Monday". It's healthy, and cheap. My husband and I are big meat eaters, but meat is expensive. Anything in excess is probably not a good idea. I feel my schedule is too chaotic to have a designated meatless day, but I would like to try and incorporate more meatless meals. This soup fits the bill perfectly!

The first time I had Black Bean Soup - was the first time I made it. I used the same recipe last time, but misread the direction. I blended the entire soup. This go-round, I made it properly. It was just as delicious if not more, and actually had some texture.

Tgi Friday's Black Bean Soup 2

(From Recipezaar)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
3/4 cup diced white onion
3/4 cup diced celery
1/2 cup diced carrot
1/4 cup diced green bell pepper
2 tablespoons minced garlic
4 (15 ounce) cans black beans
4 cups chicken stock
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon hickory liquid smoke

Garnish
shredded monterey jack and cheddar cheese blend, blend
chopped green onion, sour cream

Directions:

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large saucepan over medium/low heat.
Add onion, celery, carrot, bell pepper, and garlic to the oil and simmer slowly (or"sweat" as it's called), for 15 minutes or until the onions are practically clear.
Keep the heat low enough that the veggies don't brown and be careful not to burn the garlic or it will be bitter.
While you cook the veggies, pour the canned beans into a strainer and rinse them under cold water.
Measure 3 cups of the drained and strained beans into a food processor with 1 cup of chicken stock.
Puree on high speed until smooth.
When the veggies are ready, pour the pureed beans, the whole beans, the rest of the chicken stock, and every other ingredient in the list (down to liquid smoke), to the pot.
Bring mixture to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 50 to 60 minutes or until soup has thickened and all the ingredients are tender.

Satisfaction

2010-09-12T16:03:00.000-07:00

This morning I awoke with a craving - a really random insane craving for a Portabollo burger, and this delicious pasta salad I recently had at a friend's baby shower. Well I more than fulfilled my craving. I'm sitting here utterly satisfied. There's nothing like a meal that just leaves you completely and utterly satisfied... Yum.

The Portobella burger was pretty easy. I used my George Forman and followed the recipe from the site. Wipe clean a medium to large mushroom. Remove the stem. Place the mushroom on the grill. Close lid and cook until the mushrooms are done through. This can take 10 - 15 minutes. I added some roasted red peppers and closed the grill for another minute. I topped this with a piece of mozzarella, with the grill open. After a min I placed the whole thing on a bun with some mayo. I know I am bias but despite being so simple, it was incredibly divine.

On the side, I had a delicious pasta salad. I halved the recipe, which mostly comes from the McCormick Supreme Pasta Salad seasoning. Pasta + Seasoning + Italian Dressing + Veggies = Yum.

Ingredients:

1/2lb Pasta ( I used Barilla plus!)
2 Tbl Supreme Salad Seasoning
1/2C Italian Dressing
Veggies (bite sized) - Red pepper, tomato, Onion
Added Cheese (I used about 1/2C mexican blend).

Do Failures come in Sets?

2010-09-10T19:32:00.000-07:00

Last night I had a good friend of mine come over for dinner. She brought her puppy, so our babies could play, and I cooked, and then we went out for dessert. I showed her this recipe before she arrived, and she was pumped. We both were, Chipotle and Artichoke!? Sounded like a great plan.

I found this recipe for "Chipotle Chicken Pasta" through my foodgawker feed, it comes from a blog called "Big 2 Beautiful". This was the first time I viewed this blog, but everything looks delicious. I love the pictures and the look of the blog itself.

My friend loved it. I felt it was missing something. I used chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, and I probably put in too much heavy cream. I added some Cajun seasoning and that helped. It just looks so delicious, I am going to definitely have to try this recipe again. [Recipe below the break]

(Picture & Recipe from Big 2 Beautiful)

Chipotle Chicken Pasta recipe

Ingredients

1 (16 ounce) box dried pasta noodles
2 tablespoon cooking oil
2 pounds chicken breast fillets, sliced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 (15 ounce) can artichoke hearts, halved
2 chipotle peppers, seeds removed and finely chopped
1 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped

Ingredients:

Cook pasta noodles according to package instructions. Drain and set aside.
Season the chicken with salt.
Heat a fry pan or skillet over medium high heat, once hot add the cooking oil to the pan and the sliced chicken breast. Cook the chicken until it starts to brown, about 2 to 3 minutes each side.
Add in the chopped chipotle peppers and saute for 1 minute. Then add the chicken broth to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.
Next add the, artichoke hearts, cooked pasta noodles, heavy cream and Parmesan cheese and simmer for 2 minutes. Remove the pan from heat and give the dish a good stir, let sit for 5 minutes (the sauce will be thin). Letting the dish rest will allow the pasta to absorb the sauce. Garnish with the basil and serve with a fresh garden salad or steamed vegetables.

Failure

2010-09-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

I bake for therapy and relaxation....Failure hits me pretty hard. I know that since I'm using a inconsistent oven with no viewing window, that a baking failure is rather inevitable, but it doesn't make me feel any better. I was attempting to make "Texas Cookies" from Thibeault's Table. I found it through Food Gawker.

They were square and gooey and delicious looking. I decided to bake them for my husbands poker game. Mistake number one, was I waited to long and was in a rush......then I didn't mix things in one as a time, I kind of threw it all together, then I over mixed and baked it in too small of a pan....The results were a pan of half-burnt, half-raw goey cookie dough....and a mess all over my oven. [Recipe below the break]

Picture courtesy of Thibeault's Table

Texas Cookies

(Thibeault's Table)

Ingredients:

1 Cup Flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
2 cups firmly packed brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
2 cups pecans or walnuts
Chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Line a small jelly roll pan with foil and butter.
Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
Cream together the butter and sugar and beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the vanilla. Add the flour mixture. Mix well.
Spread the mixture evenly in the pan. Sprinkle with nuts and chocolate chips. Bake for about 20 minutes or until cookies are almost set. Do Not Over Bake.
Remove from oven and let cool. Slide cookies and foil out of pan on to cutting board. Cut into squares.

Someday I'll have to revisit these cookies, they just look so delicious....

Buffalo Chicken Wrap

2010-08-31T16:31:00.000-07:00

(Frank's)

I Love a good buffalo chicken wrap, sandwich, and/or hot wings. Really I just love anything Hot & Spicy that can be easily dipped in ranch. Recently I ran across a recipe for a "Buffalo Chicken quesadilla" recipe on "Naturally Ella". It sounded superb, and was definitely my inspiration.

The recipe calls for Frank's Red Hot. I'd never used this before, but as I have never used buffalo sauce I was willing to give it a try. However, her recipe calls for several ingredients - including butter. I read the directions on the Frank's original red hot and the buffalo wings. They appear to be pretty similar, except the later did not call for butter or any additional ingredients to make wings. So I chose this one.

It was a super simple meal. I cooked the chicken. Threw in some sauce and let it simmer. Put in on a wrap with lettuce, tomato and cheese. Put a bowl of ranch out for dipping.

Buffalo Chicken Wrap

Ingredients:
- Chicken Breast, Chopped - approx 1"
- 1/2C Frank's Red Hot
- 1 tbl Corn Starch
- 1/2C water
- Wrap (I use Flat Out)
- Toppings (Ranch, Lettuce, Tomato, Cheese)

Directions:
1. Heat EVOO in a pan. Add Diced chicken. Cook for 2-3 min. Stirring and turning chicken regularly.
2. Add Buffalo Sauce. Bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer for 2-3min.
3. Combine cornstarch and water. Add to pan. Continue to simmer for 2-3min.
4. Remove from heat, and combine into wrap.

Dinner

2010-08-30T10:30:00.000-07:00

I had the most delicious burger the other night......homemade, covered in grilled onions and mushrooms. It was heaven on a bun :-D

Goey Chocolate deliciousness

2010-08-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

Every time I try to diet and exercise (properly) something so delicious comes along that I just have to bake......and its ooey and gooey and deliciously chocolatey. I stumbled on these via a blog called "Delish". She made this using a gluten free alternative, However, the original recipe comes from "Bon Appetit". I did use a gluten free mix because I wanted to give some to a friend of mine as a thank you. Hubby has been snacking on these all day. They are nearly gone already.

Giant Chocolate-Toffee Cookies

Ingredients
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 pound bittersweet (not unsweetened) or semisweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
1 3/4 cups (packed) brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
5 1.4-ounce chocolate-covered English toffee bars (such as Heath), coarsely chopped
1 cup walnuts, toasted, chopped

Preparation

Combine flour, baking powder and salt in small bowl; whisk to blend. Stir chocolate and butter in top of double boiler set over simmering water until melted and smooth. Remove from over water. Cool mixture to lukewarm.
Using electric mixer, beat sugar and eggs in bowl until thick, about 5 minutes. Beat in chocolate mixture and vanilla. Stir in flour mixture, then toffee and nuts. Chill batter until firm, about 45 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment or waxed paper. Drop batter by 1/4 cupfuls onto sheets, spacing 2 1/2 inches apart. Bake just until tops are dry and cracked but cookies are still soft to touch, about 15 minutes. Cool on sheets. (Can be made 2 days ahead. Store airtight at room temperature.)

A quick Lunch

2010-08-28T12:52:00.000-07:00

Hubby & I are trying to save money by eating at home. I have this bad habit of entering this awful home-cooking/buying dinner spree. I start cooking dinner at home and bringing lunches for 2+ weeks, then get really sick of feeling like I am eating the same thing over and over, and we blow a ton of money eating out and eating fast food over the next week or two. I'm not sure its healthy, and I know it's not great for the budget. I've decided to really make an effort to change it up. A few weeks ago I made "cajun fried chicken with chipotle-lime dipping sauce". The original recipe is from a blog called Life's Ambrosia. The wings were pretty good, but the dip was amazing. I love chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. They are incredible hot, but so flavorful. I knew I'd have to make further use of this dip.

For lunch today, I made chipotle chicken wraps. I pan-cooked some chicken, and put them in a wrap with cheese and the chipotle-lime sauce. It was delicious. In the future i'd probably grill the sandwich, or add lettuce and tomatoes or both. Regardless it was pretty delicious. Definitely hit the spot.

Chipotle Lime Sauce

(From Life's Ambrosia)

Ingredients
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions: Combine mayonnaise, chipotle peppers, lime juice, vinegar and kosher salt in a food processor. Process until smooth.

Chicken Parmesan

2010-08-27T13:29:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, I made a delicious batch of spaghetti and meatballs. I had the left overs for lunch today. So what do you do with left over spaghetti noodles, and a jar of pasta sauce that is not the same as your last two meals? Chicken Parmesan.

I hadn't made chicken Parmesan for years. My husband has never seen me make it, and was very worried about my ability to pull this dish off. But I did. And he was very impressed.

I followed an incredibly simple recipe from Food.com (Formerly "recipezaar"). Easy & Delicious. Just the way I like it :-D

Victory's Simple Oven Baked Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (I used 2 breast)
1 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup Italian seasoned breadcrumbs (I used 1/2C)
1 (28 ounce) jars pasta sauce (I used approx 1/2 of the jar)
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees, dip chicken in egg then bread crumbs.
In a 13x9" glass baking dish, arrange chicken and bake uncovered for 30 minutes.
Remove dish from the oven and pour pasta sauce over chicken then top with cheese.
Return dish to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes until chicken is done (juices run clear) and cheese is melted.

Blue Velvet

2010-08-17T06:39:00.000-07:00

(Picture from sprinkle bakes)

What could possibly be better than red velvet cupcakes? BLUE VELVET! I'd never heard of this, but when I saw a picture in my blog roll, I just had to make them! I followed the recipe below from Sprinkle Bakes, but decided to be lazy and used funfetti icing I had in the fridge. My pictures could not compare with those on the original blog, so I used hers.

Note: I over mixed my batter and had trouble getting my cupcakes to rise pretty. I turned up the over 50 degrees, and baked for 22 minutes. Though it took a few tries, the final cupcakes were beautiful.

Ingredients

Cake portion:

2 cups sugar
1/2 pound (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
2 eggs
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
1 tablespoon Wilton royal blue gel food coloring
1 small dab of Wilton violet gel food coloring
2 1/2 cups cake flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon vinegar

Frosting:

1 pound cream cheese, softened
2 sticks butter, softened
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups sifted confectioners' sugar

Directions

Cake:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare cupcake pan(s) with paper liners.
In a mixing bowl, cream the sugar and butter, mix until light and fluffy. Add the eggs 1 at a time and mix well after each addition.
Mix cocoa and food colorings together to form a paste, and then add to sugar mixture; mix well.
Sift together flour and salt. Add flour mixture to the creamed mixture alternately with buttermilk. Blend in vanilla.
In a small bowl, combine baking soda and vinegar and add to mixture.
Pour batter into cupcake papers. Batter will be thick!
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Remove from oven and cool completely before frosting.

Frosting:

In a large mixing bowl, beat the cream cheese, butter and vanilla together until smooth.
Add the sugar and on low speed, beat until incorporated.
Increase the speed to high and mix until very light and fluffy.
Frost the cupcakes with a butter knife or pipe it on with a big star tip. Embellish as desired.

Funfetti Cupcakes

2010-08-16T07:36:00.000-07:00

These are in my new cupcake/cake carrier. First time I've used it. I LOVE wedding gifts :-D

Bottom Level

Top Level

Sausage and Peppers Sandwich

2010-08-15T11:50:00.000-07:00

Pistachio Ice Cream

2010-08-10T11:49:00.000-07:00

I finally got around to using my Kitchen Aid Ice Cream Maker attachment.My sister and I decided to give it a try. We settled on chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream, and we failed miserably. Some how in the custard making process I think we burnt the milk, it also tasted a little bit eggy. After my failure I was determined to make a good ice cream, but I needed something easy to repair my bruised ego.......I wondered could you make ice cream with jello pudding mix? I scoured the internet and came across several recipes using jello gelatin, or a combo of jello gelatin + Jello pudding before finally stumbling on "Fireman's No-cook Ice cream" from the blog, A making of a foodie.

I basically used the recipe below. I halved it and substituted a can of condensed milk for half and half. I left out the pistachios and used 2% milk. It turned out much better then I thought it would. The only problem was the texture was off. It was a little icey - the kind of icey you get when ice cream melts and refreezes?

Fireman's No-Cook Ice Cream

Ingredients
1 quart Half and Half
1 cup of sugar
2 small boxes of your favorite JELLO pudding flavor (I used Pistachio)
3 quarts of Whole Milk
1/2 cup of chopped, salted pistachios (omit if you choose another flavor of pudding)

Directions
Mix all ingredients in a large bowl until very well blended.
Making sure all of the pudding mix and sugar have been stirred together and dissolved as best as you can.
Chill the base until completely cold.
Add to ice cream maker and make according to the directions.

I need to eat healthier........

2010-08-06T13:53:00.000-07:00

nom nom nom nom

2010-08-05T20:49:00.000-07:00

Image from Stumble Upon

Green & Delicious

2010-07-31T16:23:00.000-07:00

It's been a very busy week. A rather long week. The semester is coming to a close, and with an extra day of school, and extra work, I haven't had much time to do much of anything, much less baking and cooking. This week I've been eating a lot of left overs, freezer meals, cereal and unfortunately a lot of eating out. I did make one fabulously easy and delicious meal: Tortellini with Hot italian sausage and garlic and herb tomato sauce. It's as simple as it sounds, I cooked some Buitioni Three cheese Tortellini,Johnsonville Hot Italian Sausage, and Hunt's Garlic & Herb Spaghetti Sauce. Once everything is done I just tossed it all together and topped with Parmesan cheese to make a relatively cheap, and incredible satisfying meal.

Last night I went on a bit of a baking frenzy and made several batches of cookies - using Pillsbury pre-made cookie dough.I made White Chocolate with macadamia nut, Peanut Butter cup, and Mini Chocolate chip.

Photo from Wegmans.com

Tonight, I made Spicy Chicken fingers, using the same recipe as last Saturday's Chicken Wings.I dipped these in the chipotle lime sauce (same as last week), while the hubby dipped them in his favorite Honey Mustard Sauce. They were delicious. Definitely easier to dip than the wings, though not quite as juicy. I pan-fried the chicken fingers, I think next time I will bake them.

For dessert I made "Watergate Salad". I distinctly remember my grandmother making this odd green dessert when I was little. I only remember having it once, but it was delicious. I was reminded of it earlier this week. The hubby and I went to get ice cream, and the flavor of the night was Pistachio ice cream with fresh pineapple and marshmallows. It sounded so gross. I tried it though. It was delicious. One bite made all the memories of the delicious green goopy dessert come flooding back and I knew I'd have to make it! Fortunately the recipe is right on the Pistachio jello box! It was a hit.

Image from Kraft.com

Watergate Salad:

Ingredients

1 Can (20 oz) Crush pineapple in juice, undrained
1 Package (3.4 oz) JELL-O Pistachio Flavor Instant Pudding
1 Cup Mini Marshmallows
1/2C Chopped pecans (I left them out)
1 1/2C Thawed COOL WHIP whipped topping

Directions

Mix all ingredients until well mixed
Refrigerate 1H

Makes 8 servings (1/2C each)

Some like it Hot

2010-07-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

I've never made chicken wings. Ever. I'm not sure I had home made chicken wings growing up. But when I am in the right mood, I looooooooooove Chicken wings. Theres nothing like a good wing bar and a delicious variety or flavors. When these Spiced Chicken wings with Chipotle Lime Dipping Sauce popped up in my google reader feed I just knew I had to make them. This recipe hails from Life's Ambrosia, a blog that never fails to be absolutely delicious.

Ambrosia: In ancient Greek mythology, ambrosia (Greek: ἀμβροσία) is sometimes the food, sometimes the drink, of the Greek gods (or demigods), often depicted as conferring ageless immortality upon whoever consumes it. (Wikipedia).

These chicken wings are covered in a combo of plain dry and panko bread crumbs and baked. This makes them a bit healthier then the fried ones - just a bit. What really makes them superb is the dip. They come with a side of Chipotle Lime dipping sauce. This sauce packs quite a punch!

The only down side is that wings are somewhat difficulty to dip and horribly messy to eat. I'm thinking of repeating this recipe, sometime in the next week...with Chicken tenders. I imagine they'd be equally delicious.

Spiced Chicken Wings w. Chipotle Lime dipping Sauce

Life's Ambrosia

Ingredients

1 1/2 pound chicken wings, cut at the joint and tips trimmed
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
1/2 cup plain dry bread crumbs
1/2 cup mayonnaise
3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
juice of 1 lime
1 teaspoon vinegar
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Directions

Rinse and pat dry the chicken wings.
In a bowl combine garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper, salt and olive oil in a bowl.
Sprinkle Mixture over the chicken wings and toss to coat completely.
Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
After the wings have marinated, preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Mix panko and plain dry bread crumbs in a bowl.
Press marinated wings into the bread crumbs to coat completely.
Place on a baking sheet and bake 20 minutes. Turn and bake for 20 more minutes or until chicken is cooked through and bread crumbs are golden brown.
Transfer to a serving platter and serve.
While chicken wings are baking, combine mayonnaise, chipotle peppers, lime juice, vinegar and kosher salt in a food processor. Process until smooth.
Transfer to a bowl. Serve.

BBQ Pork from a crock pot!?

2010-07-22T16:12:00.001-07:00

Can you still call it BBQ pork when it comes out of a crock pot? Regardless of what it's called, It's pulled pork doused in some delicious BBQ sauce.....and it is mmm mmm good. This recipe comes from Budget Bytes and it totally rocks. It was easy to make and wonderfully delicious. The only problem I had was making the gravy - I failed at it miserably.

Dinner this evening was deliciously southern. Rice (which was meant to be covered in gravy), sweet buttered corn, sauteed squash, zucchini and onion, and a large heaping pile of pulled pork covered in BBQ sauce. The corn was steamed in the microwave. This was my first time using Ziploc's "Zip n Steam" bags. They were easy, mess free and the corn came out spectacular! I'll be making more use of these in the future. As mentioned above the pork recipe comes from Budget Bytes. We covered in Sticky Finger's Carolina Sweet BBQ Sauce.

Put this sauce on your list of "Honey Do's". Our Memphis Original Barbeque Sauce has just enough honey to make you buzz. This delicious sauce is the key ingredient in our famous Carolina Sweet Ribs, the most popular style of ribs that we serve. (Sticky Fingers)

Budget Bytes places this pork recipe at $8.34 and less than 1 dollar ($0.93) a serving. My husbands favorite part of this recipe: its PORK. My favorite part - it uses in the crock pot. I put in all of 10 minutes of effort, throw it in the crock pot and when I get back from school its DONE!

Crock Pot Pulled Pork

Budget Bytes

Ingredients:

3.5lbs Boneless Pork Roast (Shoulder roast, Boston Butt, Picnic Roast)
1 Med Yellow Onion
1 Med Bell pepper
5 Cloves Fresh garlic
2 Tbl Paprika
1/2 Tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 Tsp Chili Powder
2 Whole Bay Leaves
1 Tsp Salt

Directions:

If your roast has a net, remove it.
Cut deep slits in the meat and push in peeled garlic cloves
Mix paprika, garlic powder, chili powder, salt and pepper in a bowl.
Rub spices all over the outside of the roast - top & bottom.
Place Roast in Ziploc bag.
Dice onion and Bell pepper. Add to bag.
Let the roast sit over night in the fridge.
Dump Contents in the crock pot. Add three Cups of Water.
Heat on low - 8H
Use tongs/fork/other to shred/mash the pork.

Note: Juice can be kept for gravy. Meat can be frozen.

It makes me smile......

2010-07-18T20:20:00.000-07:00

I've had a killer craving for Banana Pudding. The thought of pudding just makes me smile. I meant just think about it...cool creamy Pudding, delicious Nilla Wafer, and Bananers topped with a dollop of whip cream....does life get any sweeter? I've been meaning to make some for quite sometime now. Normally I use the jello pudding from a box, and cool whip - but I stumbled across a recipe for real-made-from-scratch-traditional-southern Banana Pudding - and I knew I had to make the real thing. Beside the recipe came from The Brown Eyed Baker - and she never does you wrong.

Southern Banana Pudding

The Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:
2 cups whole milk
2/3 cup granulated sugar
¼ teaspoon salt
1 egg + 1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

30 vanilla wafers
2 large bananas, cut into ¼-inch slices

¾ cup heavy cream, chilled
¼ cup powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

Heat the milk, sugar and salt in a medium saucepan over medium heat until simmering, stirring occasionally to dissolve the sugar.
Meanwhile, whisk the egg and yolk in a medium bowl until thoroughly combined.
Whisk in the cornstarch until combined and the mixture is pale yellow and thick, about 20 seconds.
When the milk mixture reaches a full simmer, gradually whisk the simmering mixture into the egg mixture to temper.
Return the mixture to the saucepan, scraping the bowl with a rubber spatula; return to a simmer over medium heat, whisking constantly, until a few bubbles burst on the surface and the mixture is thickened and glossy, about 30 seconds.
Off the heat, whisk in the butter and vanilla.
Strain the pudding through a fine-mesh sieve set over a medium bowl. Place plastic wrap directly on the surface of the pudding to keep a skin from forming.
Line the bottom of a 1½-quart serving dish with vanilla wafers. On top of the wafers, place a layer of the sliced bananas. Pour ½ of the pudding over the bananas, and spread to the edges of the dish. Repeat the vanilla wafers, bananas, and pudding again.
Press plastic wrap against the surface of the pudding and refrigerate for at least 4 hours.
When ready to serve, whip the heavy cream with the powdered sugar and vanilla until soft peaks form. Spread on top of the pudding and top with crushed vanilla wafers. Store leftovers in the refrigerator.

(Recipe adapted from Evil Shenanigans)

An easy traditional Side

2010-07-18T18:56:00.000-07:00

A random song that I happen to love right now...

I love Summer time but I've spent most of this summer inside studying, and complaining about how hot it is. My neighborhood pool is always packed. I was determined to make my way down there this weekend, but when I'd finally reach a study break - it'd start lightening, thundering and pouring rain. Needless to stay, I've been indoors pretty much ALL weekend......

We went to an (indoor) cook out. I made potato salad for the first time. I purchased an entire 5lb bag of Yukon Gold Potatoes at the grocery when I was making the potatto rissoto. On the bag was a coupon to get a free jar of the "new" Marie's Potato Salad Dressing. I chose the Dijon Herb dressing. It was incredibly easy to make. Peel, cut and cook 3lbs of potatoes. Once cool, cover in dressing. It was actually rather delicious.

Short & Sweet

2010-07-18T18:04:00.000-07:00

Tonight's dinner was simply but quite good. We had a delicious London Broil, and mac and cheese. We picked the meat because it was on sale, and looked like a nice big cut. The mac & cheese was Kraft's new home style mac and cheese. It was great and was also free - from Kraft's first taste program. We marinated the steak in Big Daddy's marinade... and then My husband cooked it. He found directions on yahoo answers of all places!

Preheat oven to 425. Heat a heavy, oven safe (cast iron works great) skillet with a bit of olive oil till smoking hot. Add steak and sear for five minutes. Flip steak and immediately pop it into the hot oven for 5-8 more minutes depending on how you like your steak.

Let the steak rest covered with foil for 10 minutes to allow the juices to redistribute, then slice horizontally against the grain at an angle so that you get wide slices.

Chocolate Kahlua Cupcakes

2010-07-17T07:56:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, one of my good friends asked me if I could help her bake something for her friends birthday. Her friend loves chocolate, and she wanted something different, something no one else would bake her. Of course I said yes! Any excuse to bake and use my kitchen aid mixer :-D! Besides, I was thrilled to be baking instead of studying. I searched by google reader and we decided on Chocolate Kahlua Cupcakes, from Annie's Eats. According to the website the cupcakes themselves are adapted from Martha Stewart's Cupcakes, and the icing is from Annie herself. I included Martha's Cupcakes, and Annie's Icing Below. I don't have any pictures, but I promise they were delicious! I'm going to have to find an excuse to make them again.

Chocolate Kahlua Cupcakes

Ingredients:

For the cupcakes:

¾ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tbsp. instant espresso powder
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups sugar
1½ tsp. baking soda
¾ tsp. baking powder
¾ tsp. salt
2 large eggs
¾ cup warm water
¾ cup buttermilk
3 tbsp. Safflower oil (substitute vegetable oil)
1 tsp. vanilla extract

For brushing the cupcakes: Kahlua liqueur

For the frosting:

12 tbsp. unsalted butter, at room temperature
4 cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
7-8 tbsp. Kahlua liqueur
2 tbsp. heavy cream

Directions:

Cupcakes

preheat the oven to 350˚ F. Line standard muffin tins with paper liners.
In a large mixing bowl combine the cocoa powder, espresso powder, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt; whisk well to blend.
Add the eggs, warm water, buttermilk, oil and vanilla extract to dry ingredients and mix until smooth, approx 3 minutes
Divide the batter evenly between the prepared cupcake liners, filling about 2/3 full.
Bake until the tops spring back when pressed lightly, about 20 minutes, rotating pan if needed.
Let cool in the pan 5-10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Poke a few holes in the top of each cupcake with the tines of a fork and brush with Kahlua while still warm. Allow to cool completely.

Frosting:

Beat the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Mix in the confectioners’ sugar until incorporated.
Add in the Kahlua and beat on medium speed until well blended.
Add in the heavy cream and beat on medium-high speed for about 4 minutes, until light and fluffy.
Frost cooled cupcakes as desired.

LOVE = Chocolate + Peanut Butter

2010-07-15T18:37:00.000-07:00

Months before I purchased my kitchen aid mixer, I stumbled across The Brown Eyed Baker....I knew right away this was a blog for me. Front and center on the page was a Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte. I love food - a lot....and I've been teaching myself to make delicious desserts from all kinds of fancy and unusual combinations - but nothing beats a classic. This Chocolate Peanut Butter Torte is incredibly sweet. Peanut butter permeates every bite. It sits on an oreo crust and is covered in chocolate ganache. Drooling yet?

The recipe is below. It calls for a 9" spring form pan. In my excitement to make this I purchased a set of 3 4.5" spring form pans instead. Whoops. I ended up with three mini pies, and a lot of left overs. I threw the left overs into a 9" graham cracker crust I had laying around, begging to be filled. The oreo crusted mini-torte's are incredible. They are better for two though, they are pretty big and quite sweet. I took the graham cracker crusted pie to school - it was gone in under a half hour.

I took pictures of the whole process, but I took them with my iphone, so they aren't great. They just don't do it justice. The Brown Eyed Baker's Pictures will make your mouth water.

Peanut Butter Torte

The Brown Eyed Baker

Ingredients:
1¼ cups finely chopped salted peanuts (for the filling, crunch, and toppings)
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon instant espresso powder (or finely ground instant coffee)
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
½ cup mini chocolate chips (or finely chopped semisweet chocolate)
24 Oreo cookies, finely crumbled or ground in a food processor or blender
½ stick (4 tablespoons) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
Small pinch of salt
2½ cups heavy cream
1¼ cups confectioners’ sugar, sifted
12 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature
1½ cups salted peanut butter – crunchy or smooth (not natural)
2 tablespoons whole milk
4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped

Directions

Getting Ready: Center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan and place it on a baking sheet lined with parchment or a silicone mat.
Toss ½ cup of the chopped peanuts, the sugar, espresso powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and chocolate chips together in a small bowl. Set aside.
Put the Oreo crumbs, melted butter and salt in another small bowl and stir with a fork just until the crumbs are moistened. Press the crumbs evenly over the bottom and up the sides of the springform pan (they should go up about 2 inches on the sides). Freeze the crust for 10 minutes.
Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then transfer it to a rack and let it cool completely before filling.
Working with a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, whip 2 cups of the cream until it holds medium peaks. Beat in ¼ cup of the confectioners’ sugar and whip until the cream holds medium-firm peaks. Scrape the cream into a bowl and refrigerate until needed.
Wipe out (no need to wash) the bowl, fit the stand mixer with the paddle attachment if you have one, or continue with the hand mixer, and beat the cream cheese with the remaining 1 cup confectioners’ sugar on medium speed until the cream cheese is satiny smooth. Beat in the peanut butter, ¼ cup of the chopped peanuts and the milk.
Using a large rubber spatula, gently stir in about one quarter of the whipped cream, just to lighten the mousse. Still working with the spatula, stir in the crunchy peanut mixture, then gingerly fold in the remaining whipped cream. Scrape the mousse into the crust, mounding and smoothing the top. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours, or overnight; cover with plastic wrap as soon as the mousse firms.
To Finish the Torte: Put the chopped chocolate in a heatproof bowl and set the bowl over a saucepan of simmering water. Leave the bowl over the water just until the chocolate softens and starts to melt, about 3 minutes; remove the bowl from the saucepan.
Bring the remaining ½ cup cream to a full boil. Pour the cream over the chocolate and, working with a rubber spatula, very gently stir together until the ganache is completely blended and glossy.
Pour the ganache over the torte, smoothing it with a metal icing spatula. Scatter the remaining ½ cup peanuts over the top and chill to set the topping, about 20 minutes.
When the ganache is firm, remove the sides of the springform pan.

Storing: Well covered, the torte will keep in the refrigerator for about 2 days; just make sure to keep it away from foods with strong odors.

(Original Source: Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan, pages 282-283)

WOOOT!

2010-07-13T12:46:00.000-07:00

I don't think I've been this excited about a kitchen accessory since I actually got my Kitchen Aid mixer. When we bought it, it qualified for a rebate. The choice for the mixer I had chosen was a food processing attachment or a grater. We chose the grater, though we weren't particularly excited about either. To be honest - I completely forgot about the whole thing, until today. Just a few minutes ago Fed-ex knocked on my door and there was my Kitchen Aid gift.... the ICE CREAM MIXER........I can't even describe my excitement.

Something Old - Something New ...

2010-07-10T12:14:00.000-07:00

Perhaps, one of the reasons I don't post as often as I should - is that I have a tendency to keep making my favorite stand-by dishes.... I almost always have pasta and Italian sausage on hand. I tend to buy sausage in bulk when my favorite Johnsonville Italian Sausage is on sale. So there's usually a pack in the fridge. I love them grilled. My Husband LOVES to make sausage and peppers sandwich out of them. (Peppers,onions, sausage and provolone on a bun). I love to throw it in some pasta sauce with mushrooms, onions and peppers. Mmm Mmm. One of these days I'll write down some sort of recipe and take some pictures and post it....its just such a "regular" in my kitchen - it does feel new and post-worthy....

Another current standby is meatballs! The first time I made meatballs was only a two months ago, but they've become a reoccurring favorite in my house! Each serving is incredibly cheap, they freeze and reheat great, and can be eaten with pasta, alone or on a delicious sandwich. Budget Bytes, the blog I originally discovered this recipe on, works it out to approx $0.89/serving (4 meatballs). Though I'd venture to say that this is even less when I make my meatballs...I substitute the lb of ground beef for 1/2beef+1/2turkey and the Italian sausage for breakfast sausage. Turkey is nearly half the price of beef, and the breakfast sausage can be less than $1/lb. Talk about budget friendly!

Yesterday for lunch - I had the most delicious salad! We had some left over lettuce in the fridge, and I had purchased a package of Sargento Salad Finishers - to try. I chose the "classic chef" salad finisher. In side the bag is three packets: cheese (w. bacon), Ham&Turkey, and a pack of croûton. Just dump over the packets over a salad, and add some dressing. It was delicious. It seemed to be a great idea for a bag lunch, but At close to $4 a bag for salad finishers, its a little pricey to keep on hand... so I decided to make my own. Just snacks size bags of cheese, bacon, meat, and croutons to put on top of some lettuce for lunch at school. No soggy-ness, just fresh tasting delicious salads. You can see my jumbo salad below:

And finally, my favorite part of the summer-time - WATERMELON. I just bought a giant water melon - all for myself. My husband doesn't like watermelon. It's sooooooo delicious. I love it! I'm going to use some of it to make a watermelon cooler - or perhaps a watermelon slushi (Sonic Style). I can't wait.

ommmmggggg Potatoes!

2010-07-08T16:40:00.000-07:00

After blogging about my complete blogging failure - I decided to branch out and make something new! I had *starred* this recipe in my blog roll, and finally decided to give it a go. I found this recipe at Spork or Foon, a blog I've recently been following and I just knew my Husband would love it!

Sirloin Steak with Creamy Potato Risotto adapted from Bon Appetit

From Spork or Foon

Ingredients
1 tablespoon butter
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 pound Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices, then 1/8-inch cubes
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Coarse kosher salt
1 1/2 cups (or more) low-salt chicken broth (I used beef stock and it was delicious)
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh chives
6 6-ounce beef sirloin steaks (each 3/4 to 1 inch thick)
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
1 tablespoon (or more) olive oil

Directions
Melt butter in heavy large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion; cover and cook until soft and translucent, stirring occasionally, about 7 minutes. Add potato cubes and cayenne pepper; sprinkle with coarse salt and pepper. Add 1 1/2 cups chicken (or beef) broth; bring to boil. Reduce heat to medium and simmer until potatoes are almost tender, adding more chicken (or beef) broth by tablespoonfuls if dry (mixture should be creamy with some sauce, not dry), about 8 minutes. Add cream and simmer until potatoes are tender but still hold their shape, stirring often, about 10 minutes. Stir in cheese and chives.

Sprinkle steaks with coarse salt and pepper, then chopped thyme. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add steaks and cook to desired doneness, adding more oil as needed, 1 to 2 minutes per side for medium-rare.

Divide potato risotto among plates. Place steaks on plates and serve.

Potato Cubes

STEAK

Dinner is Served

Quick & Easy Fajitas

2010-07-07T19:01:00.000-07:00

Quick and easy, just the way I like it.......I love to cook, but I am so busy I just feel like I never have enough time. I think I'd cook a lot more often if it was always quick. I am really in-love with this cooking channel show - Semi home made with Sandra lee.

Image from Foodnetwork.com

In an atmosphere as inviting as her recipes, Sandra Lee, author of the best-selling cookbookSemi-Homemade Cooking, shares her techniques for combining fresh ingredients with specially selected store-bought items. The results: mouthwatering meals and desserts, prepared in minutes, that taste like they were made from scratch. Now you can see why consumers, viewers and celebrities from Katie Couric to Nathan Lane have made Sandra Lee one of America's most sought-after culinary experts!

I don't get to watch the show too often, but I love the idea of it. It's really inspired me to try to use some "pre-made" ingredients to cut down on my prep and cooking time. After all sometimes there's no time for a complete home made meal. I figure semi-homemade must be better then store bought.

I had a coupon to try some of Perdue's "Short cuts". These are precooked chunks of chicken. I chose the south western flavor. I sautéed some red and yellow peppers, along with a bit of onion - then threw in the chicken to heat it up.Right before I finished, I threw in some cheese and mixed it all up. The concoction made the most delicious fajitas!! I would highly recommend trying these! I am going to try to keep some short-cuts on hand for the future.

I Fail at Blogging

2010-07-07T18:43:00.000-07:00

The title says it all, I fail at blogging. I started this blog to keep track of my cooking, because I was going to try new and exciting things - and I was in desperate need for a recipe database! I suppose I secretly hoped that I may get somewhere with it someday. I'd love to have a wildly successful blog with gorgeous food pictures. A combination of my favorite things in life cooking,baking, eating and photography! - but I've failed pretty miserably. Here's to giving it another go!

Most recently I made my favorite Taco stuffed peppers, but instead of using the remainders to make a tossed taco pasta...I made a variation of "mexican lasagna".

Ingredients
1 (15 oz) can Corn
1 (15 oz) can black beans
1 (10 1/2 ounce) can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
1 (15 ounce) can tomato sauce
1/2C Salsa or 1 Can Rotel
1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 large egg
16 ounces regular sour cream
2 cups shredded Mexican blend cheese, divided use ( i used 1/2 mexican, 1/2 cheddar)
Elbow Pasta
1 lb ground beef
Taco Seasoning Pack
1 small can slice mushrooms
1/2 diced onions.

Directions

Pour can or corn and black beans into a colander. Rinse with warm tap water. Set aside to drain.
Cook Pasta according to package Directions
Cook the ground Beef. Drain/Rinse.
Add Mushrooms, and onions. Add Taco Seasoning and cook according to package
A small bowl stir together tomatoes with their juice, the tomato sauce, salsa, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and sugar
In another medium sized mixing bowl, break the egg, and beat with a whisk or fork until foamy; Add the sour cream and 1 cup of the cheese; Stir to mix well.
Add the sour cream and 1 cup of the cheese; Stir to mix well;
In a large bowl combine meat mixture, tomato mixture, egg/sour cream mixture.Combine with noodles.
Pour noodle into appropriate sized casserole dishes. Cover in Cheese.
Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

[ I used 3 8X8 casserole dishes. I froze two dishes (without cheese) ]

*note: since I first cooked the meat to be used with the taco stuffed - I only used about 1/2lb - 3/4lb meat*

I like to eat eat eat apples and bananas....

2010-06-08T16:32:00.000-07:00

I love peanut butter, and "bananers" are delicious...I think it hard to go wrong when you combine the two. I was really excited to find these "peanut butter banana bites" they are originally from a blog called "Going Down", but I found them on my favorite food porn site : food gawker.

I didn't take pictures because I burnt mine. My mini muffins always come out dry, so I bought a mini cupcake maker.......and then I burnt three batches. It says they will brown less with liners, so I'm gonna give it a try... and I'll post an update. The warm, gooey, unburned centers were delicious! I still have a ton of batter left, as I tripped the recipe. I may try to make some normal sized muffins, since I can usually handle those.

Banana Peanut Butter Bites

Ingredients
1/3 c mashed overripe banana (about 1 medium)
¼ c chunky peanut butter
1 1/2 T honey
¼ c buttermilk
½ c flour
½ t baking soda

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Grease 12 mini muffin cups.
Mix the banana, peanut butter, honey and buttermilk together in a medium bowl. Stir in the remaining ingredients just until moistened.
Divide between muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full. Bake for 15 minutes (or until done) and remove to cooling rack.
Leave in tin for five minutes, then remove to cool completely.

Nutrition Info (per muffin):
66 calories; 3 g fat; 84 mg sodium; 77 mg potassium; 9 carb; 1 g fiber; 2 g protein

My Googlereader is always full

2010-06-06T15:56:00.000-07:00

When I discovered google-reader, I added more and more blogs to my list...too many blogs. I have a constant stream of food porn. I rarely find myself with enough time to read it. I add recipe after recipe to my to-do list. I could cook forever. I can't wait until I am out of school, at least I may have a shot at adding a few new recipes to my repertoire. One of the blogs I love is "Brown Eyed Baker". Recently she posted a Baking FAQ. It's definitely worth reading,especially if you have a tendency to substitute. Heres an excerpt from the post, you can read the rest here.

Q: Why do my cookies always turn out flat?
A: There are a few things that can cause cookies to turn out flat. A few of the most common reasons are: The butter is too warm when you add it to the batter; try refrigerating the dough for 30 minutes before baking. The baking powder or baking soda is old. The oven temperature may be off (again, I recommend an oven thermometer). Too much extra butter or shortening from greasing a baking sheet; instead of greasing, use parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Q: Most of your recipes call for lining a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Can I just grease the sheet instead?
A: Well, you could, but here’s the thing. Depending on how heavy you are with the greasing (using either butter or shortening), it could affect the final product. Especially when baking cookies, once that butter or shortening starts to melt in the oven, it gets into the dough, and if too much is there, it can cause cookies to turn out flat. If you do a lot of baking, I would recommend investing in one or two silicone baking mats, or you could purchase pre-cut parchment sheets from a baking supply store or even on Amazon.

[Brown Eyed Baker]

FAJITAS

2010-06-03T19:45:00.000-07:00

I love fajitas. They are so quick and easy to make, and they taste delicious. I've only made them twice since moving up here with my now hubby, but I really should make them more often. I usually have the ingredients on hand. All you need is chicken, onion, pepper, fajita seasoning mix and chicken, plus any additional toppings (salsa, sour cream, guacamole, cheese).

Delicious Bell Peppers

Ortega Fajita Seasoning Mix

The almost finished product...

Summer is officially here

2010-05-28T18:14:00.000-07:00

...and I'm in school, and stuck inside doing school work. It's been getting hot, and its been beautiful out, but it has yet to feel like summer. Today was incredibly hot.....almost too hot and the pool as been packed, but it didn't feel enough like summer time. Well Today, I made a ice cold picture of straberry lemonade. It taste just like sweet summertime. I'd like to say its home made, but its not. I have a recipe around here somewhere, but I went with good old fashioned country time lemonade. Why mess with a good thing?

For dinner, we made Chicken Caesar Salad Wraps, they were delicious and so easy. I can't believe I haven't made it before! Cook some chicken, cut up some romaine, throw on some dressing and Parmesan and wrap it up! I made the mistake of thinking tortilla's would cut it as a wrap....way to small, they were more like chicken caesar tacos? Still delicious. For dessert we had smores.....yes smores. There were gooey, messy and utterly delicious. I was covered is stickiness and felt like I was 5 years old again. I'm going to have to make smores more often.

[Picture from Grocery Mama]

And it's two bare feet on the dashboard

Young love and an old Ford
Cheap shades and a tattoo
And a Yoo-Hoo bottle on the floorboard

Perfect song on the radio
Sing along 'cause it's one we know
It's a smile, it's a kiss
It's a sip of wine, it's summertime
Sweet summertime

Killer Left Overs

2010-05-25T18:34:00.000-07:00

I've been falling behind on posting again. Part of that is due to school, the other is just do to a lack of anything worth posting as a single post....We've been in and out of town, so I've been trying to cook with what we have, eat our left overs, so there's nothing left rotting in the fridge while we are gone. Besides I wanted to clean everything out before stocking up by hitting up Harris Teeter! I've become somewhat of a coupon fanatic, and This week is "double Doubles", they'll double any coupon up to almost two dollars, combine this with whats on sale, and you've got some killer deals. I did pretty well cut my bill in half. :-D

A quick summary....Over the past week or so I made another batch of Strawberry Shortcake, using the muffin cap pan from the XXL M&M cookie recipe. I heated the other half of a batch of taco pasta. Since its just me and the hubby I always divide that dish into two 8X8 pans, and freeze one for later. I made pork tenderloin, using the half that was left marinating in the freezer. Extended marinating is really the way to go, it was delish. I attempted to make a huge batch of egg-fried rice, and totally miscalculated the amounts. I ended up with 10 cups of rice instead of five. I'm bagging and freezing those for later. (How to Freeze Rice)....

Picture from Budget Bytes

First *new* delicious left over dish - meatball sandwich! I found this recipe for meatballs from budget bytes, a blog I started following recently. I made them a week or two ago (read about it here). They were delicious. I froze a few bags of them, and some spaghetti. I made another batch, using spicy sausage instead of mild, and made some sandwiches with them. They were divine. The hubby thought I was a total genius. Unfortunately we ate it so fast, I didn't get a chance to snap a picture. The picture above is from the same site (budget bytes). For this sandwich, she used home made marinara. I made mine with a sub roll, and I used a jar of Classico Four Cheese Pasta sauce (this goes perfectly w. the meatballs), threw on a piece of provolone. This will definitely be a dish we make again!

HUGE COOKIES

2010-05-20T18:16:00.000-07:00

I made delicious giant M&M cookies. I found a recipe that uses a a "muffin cap pan". I ordered one off Amazon as soon as I saw them. Its a brilliant idea for making large, consistent size, and beautifully shaped cookies. I used it later to make shortbread for strawberry shortcake. Now I posted the recipe below, but I have to be honest, its not the one I used. I still intend on using it, but I'm low on baking supplies and was feeling incredible lazy, so I used a bag of Betty crocker cookie mix, and threw in some M&Ms. It was really good, I'm certain the home made ones are better, and I will make this again sometime, using the home-made recipe.

XXL Chocolate Chip M&M Cookies

courtesy of the Picky Plate Blog.

2 sticks softened butter
3/4 Cup sugar
1 Cup packed light brown sugar
2 extra large eggs
2 Tablespoons pure vanilla
3 3/4 Cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
12 oz bag chocolate chips
1 bag M&M’s (you’ll have some left over)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. In a stand or electric mixer beat the butter and sugars until well beaten. Beat in eggs and vanilla until well combined. Place flour, baking soda and salt into a large bowl; mix. Slowly add to wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips. Do not mix in M&M’s!!
Scoop 1/4 Cup of dough and press into a muffin top pan (or just press onto a parchment or silpat lined cookie sheet). Now, press your M&M’s onto pressed cookies. This way they won’t break apart!! Bake for 12-15 minutes, until edges just start to turn golden brown. Let cool for 10 minutes on muffin top pan or cookie sheet before transferring to a cooling rack. Grab a tall glass of milk and EAT until your hearts content
About 18 XXL cookies!

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas

2010-05-12T11:17:00.000-07:00

Whenever I am in the kitchen, I turn the TV to the food network. One of my favorite shows is semi-home made. "An internationally-acclaimed home and style expert, Sandra Lee's trademark 70/30 Semi-Homemade philosophy combines 70% ready-made products with 30% fresh, giving everyone the confidence to create food that looks and tastes from scratch." Basically, Sandra's 70/30 is my way of cooking. I try to be as homemade as possible, but I really don't have the time.

On the last episode I was watching she made delicious fajitas in the crock pot. She used beef, but I had a load of chicken in the fridge, so i googled and found a recipe for Chicken Fajitas in the Crockpot. The recipe is from Kalyn's Kitchen, but originally comes from a blog called MomFood (a site that no longer exist).

I made this yesterday and it smells delicious. I can't wait to try it, I'll update and post pictures!

Ingredients

2lbs Chicken Breast (approx 4-5 breast)
1 onion, thinly sliced (I use red onion)
1 red bell pepper, sliced in half-circle slices
1 green bell pepper, sliced in half-circle slices
2 teaspoons chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup chicken broth (I used homemade chicken stock)
2 tablespoons fresh lime juice (or more, I use about 3 T)

Directions

Trim all visible fat and tendons from chicken breasts, and cut chicken into 1 inch crosswise slices. Place chicken in crockpot.
Cut both ends from onion, then peel, cut in half top to botton, and cut into half-circle slices. Add onion to crockpot. Cut ends from red and green bell pepper, cut in half top to bottom, remove seeds and membranes, and cut into half-circle slices. (Cut up the stem and bottom end too.) Add bell peppers to crockpot.
Squeeze lime juice over chicken, onions, and peppers in crockpot. In a small bowl stir chili powder, cumin and salt into chicken broth. Pour over chicken. Cover and cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 3-4 hours, or until tender. (I usually cook about 3 hours on high.)
Spoon chicken and vegetables into warmed tortillas and serve with toppings. This is also delicious just served on a plate, with cheese melted over and other toppings added.

Side note: South Beach Suggestions: With whole wheat tortillas, this is a great meal for phase 2 or 3 of the South Beach Diet. It's also great eaten without tortillas for a phase one dinner.

Italian Meatballs

2010-05-12T08:04:00.000-07:00

I recently stumbled across another food blog : Budget Bytes. What I love about this site is that each recipe is broken down into actual cost. Obviously this varies by where you live, and shop, but its a great starting point. One of my personal goals for my blog was cost & nutrition information. That definitely won't be happening until I graduate - but its a nice goal to have.

Anyway, point of the entry is, this blog had a delicious entry featuring meatballs! I've never made meatballs. I really don't even have meatballs that often. Not even growing up. But I Love meatballs. I also love that meatballs can go from pasta to sandwich, how many foods can do that? I first made these meatballs almost two weeks. I made them with spaghetti. I just Barilla plus spaghetti noodles and topped with classico four cheese sauce. According to budget bytes, the meatballs themselves work out to $9.37 recipe (approx 40 meatballs) / $0.89 serving (4 meatballs) / $0.22 meatball. My husband definitely thinks I'm some kind of kitchen goddess now.

I bagged half the left over spaghetti and have the left over meatballs and froze them for use later. I made them again this week. I'm going to throw them in with some sauce and penne noodles, and make some meatball subs.

The recipe below (the break) is from budget bytes. For a pricing break down visit her blog.

Ingredients
1 lb. ground beef
one 1.25 lb. package mild italian sausage, casings removed (I used a Roll of mild/hot Sausage)
1/2 medium yellow onion
2 cloves fresh garlic
6 Tbsp, divided olive oil
1/2 cup bread crumbs (I used italian)
1/3 cup grated parmesan cheese (I used shredded)
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley
2 large eggs, beaten
1/2 cup all purpose flour

Directions

Finely dice the onion and garlic. Cook them in a small skillet using 2 Tbsp of olive oil until they are soft and translucent.
In a large bowl combine the ground beef, Italian sausage (remove from the casing), bread crumbs, parmesan cheese, beaten eggs, parsley and onion/garlic mixture (let cool slightly so they can be handled with your bare hands). Using your hands, mix and squish it all together until it is thoroughly combined. Your hands really are the only tool that will accomplish this effectively so if you don't like touching raw meat, you better get yourself some gloves!
Prepare your meatball making station by getting a small bowl and putting a 1/2 cup of flour in it. You will be dredging the meatballs in the flour before pan frying them. Also grab a large plate or platter to hold the flour dredged meatballs prior to frying. Using your hands (again) grab small amounts of meatball mix and roll into small balls (I made mine slightly smaller than a golf ball) and then roll them around in the flour until coated lightly. Place the floured meatballs on the plate and continue until you have used all of the meatball mix. You will probably need to rinse your hands every 10 meatballs or so because they get coated and sticky, making the rolling quite difficult.
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and get a large glass dish ready for baking. Put the remaining 1/4 cup of olive oil in a large skillet and heat it over medium/high heat until it is very hot but not smoking (if you drop a little flour in it, it will sizzle A LOT when it's ready). Working in batches (about 10 at a time), brown the meatballs on all sides (about 30 seconds to 1 minute on each side). The meatballs do not need to be cooked through because you will bake them as well. Basically, you are just adding texture, flavor and strength to the meatball by searing the outside.
As you remove each batch of meatballs from the skillet, place them in the glass dish until they are all done pan frying. Place the glass dish full of meatballs in the oven and cook at 350 for about 25 minutes or until cooked through. If you made larger meatballs they will take longer to cook. If you are unsure about whether or not your meatballs are done cooking, simply sacrifice the largest one you can find and see if it is still pink inside.

Coconut Pineapple Vegan Banana Bread

2010-05-12T06:39:00.000-07:00

I'm pretty sure at this point in my life, I would bake and try just about anything on Joy The Baker's site. Her recipe's have yet to fail me. They are always good, and her descriptions are always lovely. Even the Raisin Bran Muffins I made a few weeks ago were superb. Earlier this week I made Coconut Pineapple Vegan Banana Bread. What a mouthful. It's delicious. Unfortunately my lens is on the fritz and I really have done a very poor job of taking pictures lately. Really I just need a new lens....Don't worry though, Joy took plenty of great pictures. I, as usually, made this bread into muffins instead. Its easier to grab and run out the door with in the morning.

{Recipe after the break}

Coconut Pineapple Vegan Banana Bread

[makes one 9×5-inch loaf or 12+ Muffins]

Ingredients
2 large or 3 small very ripe bananas
1/4 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
generous pinch of ground ginger
pinch of allspice
1/2 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease and flour a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan.
In a large mixing bowl, mash the bananas really well. Add the sugar, pineapple, and oil and whisk briskly to incorporate.
Sift in the flour, baking soda, spices, and salt. Use a wooden spoon to mix until the wet and dry ingredients are just combined. Fold in the coconut.
Transfer the batter to the prepared pan and sprinkle with extra sugar if you’d like. Bake for 45 to 50 minutes. The top should be lightly browned and a knife inserted through the center should come out clean.
Remove from the oven and let cool for 20 minutes before transferring out of a pan and onto a wire rack to cool completely.

My Newest Love: Chipotle in Adobo

2010-05-12T06:31:00.000-07:00

I discovered Chipotle peppers in Adobo sauce about a week ago, when I made some spicy, smokey guacamole. My husband does not eat guacamole, and did not discover the greatness that is Adobo until just the other night, when we made Rachael Ray's Mini Chipotle Burgers.These mini sliders are have a smokey heat that makes them absolutely delicious. They are covered in melted smoked cheddar, and fire roasted garlic ketchup. The recipe calls for 2lbs of beef, and makes approx 12 mini burgers (6 servings). They make delicious left overs.

You can find the full recipe is below the break. It's take from Foodnetwork.com. You can visit the Food Network for pictures and the actual video from Rachael Ray's show.

Ingredients

2 pounds ground sirloin
1 medium onion, peeled and cut in 1/2
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce, eyeball it
2 chipotles in adobo and 2 tablespoons of adobo sauce
2 tablespoons grill seasoning, a couple of palm fulls
(recommended: Montreal Steak Seasoning by McCormick)
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus some for drizzling
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/4 cup vinegar
1 (15-ounce) can crushed fire roasted tomatoes, about 2 cups
Salt and pepper
12 slices, 1/2-inch thick, brick-cut smoked Cheddar or sharp Cheddar, (recommended: Cabot), optional
12 small round rolls, split
(Many markets sell mini Keiser rolls or use dinner rolls in any flavor you like)

Directions

Preheat grill pan to high.
Place the meat in a bowl. Cut the onion in half. Grate half the onion into the meat using the small grate on a box grater. Chop and reserve the other half onion. Add Worcestershire, chipotles and sauce and grill seasoning to burgers. Drizzle a little extra-virgin olive oil over the bowl and mix meat. Score the meat into 4 sections. Make 3 mini-burgers, each 3 inches wide, 1-inch thick, from each half-pound of meat.
Heat a small sauce pot over medium heat. Add extra-virgin olive oil and garlic. Cook garlic 2 to 3 minutes then add sugar and vinegar, cook 2 minutes more and stir in tomatoes. Season sauce with salt and pepper and allow it to reduce 5 to 6 minutes more.
Grill meat 2 to 3 minutes on each side and top with cheese, if you like.
Place burgers on buns and top with raw chopped onions and warm fire roasted ketchup and serve.

Strawberries galore........

2010-05-12T06:23:00.000-07:00

The other day my darling husband took me strawberry picking. Two years ago, was the first time I went Berry picking. I Loved it. Its fun, you feel like you've accomplished something, and more importantly you end up with the biggest reddest ripest strawberries you will ever get and they taste delicious! The grocery store just cannot compare. I've had strawberries every day this week. I used them to make one of my favorite desserts: Strawberry Shortcake.

The recipe is below the break courtesy of tender crumb....A few notes on it, I whipped the cream by hand the first night I made this, they next night I cheated and used cool whip (for me) and rediwhip (for the hubby). Its not quite the same, but if you don't have a mixer its a legitimate option. I also don't own a rolling pin as of yet, I placed a layer of parchment on top and rolled with a champagne bottle......it was quite comical. They still came out great. I am used to a more angel food cake like strawberry shortcake, this resembled sugar cookies to me. I thought it was good, but old habits are hard to break. My husband LOVED it. Two nights in a row, was not enough for him. He is asking for more!

Strawberry Shortcake

{ approx 4 servings }

Shortcakes

1 C AP flour

1 1/2 Tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

4 Tbsp unsalted butter - cold and cut into little cubes

3 oz heavy cream

extra cream and sanding sugar for the biscuit topping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silpat and set aside.
Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl and stir to mix.
Add the butter and cut into the flour until the mixture resembles a coarse meal (I like using my fingers to do this, but you could use two forks or a pastry cutter)
Add the cream and stir to mix until the dough comes together. Use a light hand, and don't overwor
Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and press together into a flat square shape, and roll out dough to 3/4 inches thick. Cut the dough into quarters, and place on the prepared baking sheet.
Brush the tops with a little heavy cream and sprinkle with a little sanding sugar.
Bake for 12 minutes, or until golden brown. Place on baking rack to cool

Strawberry Mixture

1 pint fresh strawberries, hulled and sliced

2-3 Tbsp sugar, to taste

1 tsp good aged balsamic vinegar (optional)

Mix half of the strawberries with the sugar and balsamic vinegar, mashing gently with a fork to release the fruit juices
Toss in the remaining strawberries and set aside for 15 minutes to macerate

Whipped Cream

2/3 C heavy cream

1-2 Tbsp powdered sugar

1/8 tsp vanilla extract

Whip the cream in a bowl with and electric mixer (or use a whisk if you've got strong arms!).
When soft peaks form, add the sugar and vanilla and continue whipping until stiff peaks form.

Assemble the Shortcakes

Slice each shortcake in half crosswise. For each shortcake, place the bottom half of one shortcake cut side up on a plate.
Layer a generous spoonful of the strawberry mixture, then the whipped cream, and finish with the top half of the shortcake. You can top with more of the strawberry mixture or whipped cream, or both.
Serve immediately and enjoy!

Heath Bar!!!!!!!

2010-05-06T13:44:00.000-07:00

Heath Bar is one of my favorite candies. I can never find the actual bars anymore, but I can always find the toffee chips. I use it to make my "chocolate heaven". I stumbled across a recipe for heath bar cookies the other day, and I was in love - I just had to make these cookies. The delicious recipe is after the break!

Heath Bar Cookies

Ingredients

2½ cups all purpose flour

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup unsalted butter, softened

¾ cup granulated sugar

¾ cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups coarsely chopped Heath, Skor or chocolate covered toffee bars

Directions

Preheat oven to 350.
Sift together flour, salt, and baking soda and set aside.
In your stand mixer (or with a hand mixer) cream together softened butter, sugar and brown sugar until fluffy. Beat in eggs one at a time, then add vanilla.
Slowly mix in flour mixture into butter mixture until well combined. T
Then fold in chopped Heath candy bars.
Cookie dough should be chilled for at least 30 minutes, up to overnight.
Scoop 2 tablespoons of cookie dough, gently form into a ball and place on a parchment covered cookie sheet. Dough balls should be placed about 3 inches apart.
Bake for 10-12 minutes, checking after about 8 minutes for browned edges. Once the edges are beginning to brown remove from oven and allow to rest for 2-3 minutes on cookie sheet. Then allow to cool on a cookie sheet.

Recipe from The Novice Chef Blog (adapted from simplyrecipes.com)

When I got to the end of the batter process, I dumped in the Heath bits and realized I had toffee bits and no chocolate. I threw in about a 1/2C of chocolate chips...They still tasted delicious, they just baked sorta funny.

Dog Bone

2010-05-06T13:38:00.000-07:00

I finished my last exam of the semester... after a few minutes of relaxation, I got back to what I love - Baking!

Earlier this week I ran accross some homemade dog treats, from a cozy kitchen. I thought my puppies would love them... unfortunately they are made with chicken broth. We think my older dog is allergic to chicken, so these were out. That's when I found this recpie from la petit broche.

Ingredients

1 1/2 C Flour

1/4 C Oatmeal

1/2 C Peanut Butter (Creamy)

1 Tbl Honey

1 Egg

1 tsp Vanilla

2 Tbl Shortening

Directions

Preheat Over to 350 degrees
Combine all ingredients, mix well.
Roll out to 1/4" thick
Cut using cookie cutter, or shape by hand
Bake for 20 min or until slightly brown

I think these worked out pretty well. They fell apart easily, but I may have rolled them too thin. There cute though, and the dogs don't seem to mind that they fell apart, they lick up every crumb!

Guacamole

2010-05-05T14:47:00.000-07:00

For some reason, I've had this insane craving for avocado. I keep trying to buy them, but I get them and they aren't ripe, then they are too ripe.......well I finally bought a winning few...and right in time for cinco de mayo. I used my delicious ripe avocados to make a spicy chipotle guacamole.

It's delicious and addictive. I love spicy food and my mouth was on fire, but I couldnt stop eating it... I used the recipe below (after the break), from Life's Ambrosia.

Ingredients
2 large avocados
4 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped small
1 tablespoon adobo sauce
1/4 teaspoon cumin
juice from 1/2 lime
1/4 cup minced red onion
kosher salt to taste

Directions

Cut the avocados in half lengthwise and remove the pit. Scoop the flesh of the avocado into a bowl. Mash the avocado with a fork, until mostly smooth.
Mix in remaining ingredients. Chill for 30 minutes to give the flavors a chance to meld.

I only used 3 peppers and it was still hot, and I LOVE really spicy food. I also used 3 med sized avocados. I had to plop in a big dollop of sour cream to cool it down.....but I'd definitely make it again!

Pork Tenderloin & Rice

2010-04-30T07:36:00.000-07:00

This week Lowe's grocery had a great deal, BOGO meats. Needless to say, I stocked up. One of the meats available as part of the special was pork tenderloin. My mother used to make this all the time when I was little. The hubby loves pork, and I really like pork tenderloin, so even though I never have cooked it, I thought I'd give it a try. It was delicious. I served it up with a side of egg fried rice (also a semi-new one for me). We were to hungry to pause and take a picture, but it looked and tasted delicious.

{Recipes below the break}

Pork Tenderloin (my mother's recipe)

2 Tbls brown sugar
4 Tbls soy sauce
2 cloves garlic minced
1 Tsp ginger
½ Tsp pepper

Put in Ziploc over night if you want more flavor
Bake 350 for 30 to 45 mins or until done.

Egg Fried Rice

RecipeZaar #347607

Ingredients

3 eggs (or use as many eggs as desired)
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon butter
2-3 tablespoons oil
1 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, coarsely chopped (or use as much garlic as you desired)
4 cups cold cooked white rice
4 tablespoons soy sauce (more to taste)
1 teaspoon sesame oil (you could omit but it is best to add in)
1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
2 green onions, finely chopped (optional)

Directions

In a small bowl beat the eggs with water.
Melt the butter in a large skillet or a wok over medium heat or until sizzling.
Add in eggs and leave flat for about 2 minutes or until cooked through; remove to a plate then chop.
Heat oil in the same skillet; add in onion and saute until softened (about 3-4 minutes, adding in the garlic the last 2 minutes of cooking time).
Add in cold rice, soy sauce, sesame oil and black pepper; stir-fry tossing continuously for about 5 minutes (adding in more soy sauce and black pepper if needed to suit taste).
Stir in the egg and green onion.