Tag Archives: cook

Feb 24 2013
bacon wrapped asparagus

Easy Bacon Wrapped Asparagus

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bacon wrapped asparagusBacon makes vegetables taste better. It’s just a fact. For dinner I decided to make bacon wrapped asparagus. I use my toaster oven when I make it. It’s the perfect size.

Need:

  •  2 slices of bacon
  • ~ 12 stalks of asparagus
  • olive oil
  • pepper

How to:

  1. Preheat oven to 375°
  2. snap the ends off of the stalks of asparagus
  3. coat the asparagus in olive oil, I use my Misto so I don’t put too much on them
  4. take the bacon and wrap the asparagus with it in two different spots
  5. place on broiler pan, you want something with holes because the bacon fat will be dripping down as it cooks
  6. sprinkle pepper on it to taste
  7. place it in the oven for about 15-20 minutes, or until bacon is cooked
  8. Enjoy!
Feb 18 2013
breadcrumbs

How to Make Breadcrumbs

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One thing I like to make is breadcrumbs. We have a bread machine, and I don’t always make bread I enjoy because I try out new recipes. One recipe I tried, the bread came out too dense for me. I like my bread light and fluffy. So I decided to make breadcrumbs out of it so it wasn’t a waste.

Need:

  • bread
  • cookie sheet
  • food processor
  • seasonings

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 275°

  2. cut the bread into 1-2 inch cubes

  3. place on a cookie sheet, I like to use one with a lip all the way around it to prevent cubes accidentally sliding off of the sheetbreadcrumbs

  4. place in the oven for about 20 minutes, the goal is to dry out the bread

  5. after the bread is dried out, place the cubes into the food processor in small batches. This will be very loud!makecrumbs

  6. Season and use immediately or freeze. They’ll go bad quickly if you don’t freeze them. I try to use my breadcrumbs within a month.breadcrumbs

I sometimes add seasoning and sometimes don’t. I add italian seasonings to the breadcrumbs if I want to make chicken parm or something similar. If I want to make chicken bites or fried pickles I season the breadcrumbs with red and black pepper, cumin, salt and garlic.

 

Feb 10 2013
caprese salad grilled cheese

Caprese Salad Grilled Cheese Recipe

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caprese salad grilled cheese

 

I LOVE grilled cheese! I decided to try a caprese salad grilled cheese because it sounded delicious. It’s pretty much the caprese salad on grilled bread but I did add a slice of Muenster cheese to it as well.

What I used:

  • 2 slices of bread
  • Butter
  • 1 slice of Muenster
  • Fresh Mozzarella Ball cut into slices
  • Tomato slices
  • Fresh Basil leaves
  • Balsamic Dressing I use Cindy’s Kitchen Balsamic Vinaigrette, I buy it at Whole Foods but it should be able to find it elsewhere    

What I did:

1. Fried the tomato slices a little bit in a skillet over medium heat because sometimes when I add tomatoes to my grilled cheese they get a little mushy and I’m not a fan of that.

2. Butter one side of each piece of bread

3. On the hot pan place one piece of bread butter side down

4.On the bread, place the Muenster, tomato slices, basil leaves and drizzle with a small amount of balsamic dressing, top with mozzarella and the other piece of bread butter side up

5. Grill each side until a dark golden brown and cheese is melted

6. Enjoy!

 

 

Feb 5 2013
white chocolate cheesecake

White Chocolate Cheesecake Recipe

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white chocolate cheesecake

 

I love cheesecake! Basically I love anything that’s not healthy. But it’s ok if it’s in moderation right? Here is a recipe for white chocolate cheesecake. The white chocolate taste is very light in this recipe, add more if you prefer a bolder white chocolate taste or omit the chocolate all together if you prefer a regular cheesecake. This has a graham cracker crust, the type of graham is up to you, cinnamon and honey are good choices with honey being my favorite. Prep time is only about 15 minutes and oven time is 2 hours.

White Chocolate Cheesecake

Ingredients:

Crust:

  • 1.5 cups graham crackers crumbs (about one sleeve) can be done by hand or in a food processor
  • 1/3 cup sugar
  • 1/3 cup melted butter

Filling:

  • 3 (8oz) packages cream cheese at room temperature
  • 1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
  • 3 eggs
  • 2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 1 (4oz/113g) baking white chocolate bar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees and VERY LIGHTLY grease your 9″ spring form pan.

           – I just mist some Pam because the cheesecake sometimes sticks to the sides and breaks my cake and that makes me sad.

2. Mix graham cracker crumbs, sugar, butter.

– I find it best to use my hands to mix to make sure everything is coated in the butter

white chocolate cheesecake

crust pressed into pan

 

 

 

3. Press crust mix into bottom of pan, and up sides of 9inch spring form pan, set aside on a cookie sheet with a lip

 

 

3. Beat cream cheese on medium until smooth

4. In a saucepan melt white chocolate, add to cream cheese and beat until well combined

5. Gradually add the condensed milk, beat well, add vanilla. Then add the eggs, one at a time, and beat on medium until smooth

6. Pour into prepared crust

7. Bake for 1 hour, turn off oven and leave in oven for another hour, remove and cool completely, refrigerate

Enjoy plain, with more chocolate, or with fruit!

white chocolate cheesecakewhite chocolate cheesecake

Jan 28 2013
waffle recipe

Waffle Recipe

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waffle recipe

Who doesn’t love waffles? My waffle recipe is pretty basic. I use applesauce and honey to make them a little sweet. This makes 6 large George Foreman waffles, I don’t have a regular waffle iron.

Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups of flour
  • 1½ cups milk
  • ¼ cup applesauce
  • ¼ cup honey
  • 1 Tbsp. sugar
  • 4 tsp baking powder
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp cinnamon
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

  1. In a large bowl, whisk eggs.
  2. Add the remaining ingredients and combine until well mixed.
  3. Pour over preheated iron and cook
  4. Enjoy!

 

Jan 19 2013
stuffed shells recipe

Stuffed Shells Recipe

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Here is my stuffed shells recipe. I sometimes make it was ground Italian sausage and sometimes I omit it. It just depends on what sort of mood I am in.

This amount should serve around 4 people. The measurements are only guidelines and things should be adjusted to your own taste. I’ve made this so many times that I usually don’t measure anymore and just throw it all in and stir.

Ingredients:

  • 16 Jumbo Shells
  • 3/4 cup Ricotta Cheese
  • 1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese
  • 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
  • 2 cups uncooked Spinach, fresh or frozen,
  • 1 Egg
  • 4 shredded Fresh leaves or Dried Basil to taste
  • Italian Seasoning to taste
  • 2 small Garlic cloves
  • Pasta Sauce
  • 1/2 lbs ground Italian Sausage (optional)

Directions:

  1. Preheat Oven to 350°
  2. Cook shells according to packaging directions
  3. In a medium size bowl, put all cheeses, egg and seasonings including garlic in it.
  4. Saute spinach, in a medium skillet, until wilted, then remove it, chop it and place in bowl with the cheese.
  5. If adding sausage, brown the sausage in a skillet until cooked through, and put into bowl with the cheese.
  6. Mix everything until well combined.
  7. In a oven safe dish big enough to hold the shells in one layer, spread some pasta sauce covering the entire bottom and place the shells in the pan opening side up.
  8. Fill each shell with a scoop, large spoonful, of the cheese mixture.
  9. Cover the shells with a thin layer of pasta sauce and then cover them with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.
  10. Cover the dish with foil and cook for 15 minutes.
  11. Then remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes.
  12. Serve with a side salad and biscuits!

 

stuffed shells recipe

 

Jan 9 2013
fried chicken

How to Make Fried Chicken Bites

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I love fried foods. As I’ve said before, I don’t own a frier because that would be so bad for me. But sometimes I just need some fried chicken. Is that just me? I made fried chicken bites for dinner and I thought I’d share.

I think my version is pretty easy. It can be a bit messy though. This time I used breadcrumbs I made from a loaf of bread from Panera, but I have used Panko and Progresso breadcrumbs as well as crushed Ritz crackers. I think I actually prefer the Ritz with some seasoning mixed into them and mixed into the flour/cornstarch bowl.

I could have left the chicken in bigger pieces or in stripes for chicken fingers but I like to chop it into smaller pieces because it cooks faster. Also, since it is the same thickness I don’t have to worry as much about some parts of the chicken being cooked and other parts still being raw.

For this recipe, the amount of everything depends upon how much you want to make. I was frying two chicken tender strips.

Ingredients:

  • boneless, skinless, chicken chopped up into bite sized pieces
  • corn starch
  • all-purpose flour
  • milk
  • egg
  • breadcrumbs
  • oil

1. In a small sauce pan, pour oil, I used canola, enough to make it about an inch or more deep. Again this depends upon your amount of chicken you’re frying.

2. Chop the chicken into bite sized pieces

3. In a bowl, mix 3 parts flour to 1 part cornstarch.  The cornstarch helps everything stick to the chicken better as opposed to just flour.

4. In another bowl, with a fork, whisk 1 egg with 1/4 cup milk

5. In yet another bowl have a lot of breadcrumbs.

fried chicken

The order is going right to left because my saucepan is to the left of the breadcrumbs and yes my counter is that tiny!

6. Now, coat in the flour, dunk in the egg wash, and cover with breadcrumbs the pieces of chicken.

7. Carefully drop the chicken in the oil to fry or else the oil could splash up.

fried chicken

cooking in oil

Now my chicken wasn’t completely submerged in the oil, so I let it cook to a golden brown on the bottom, about 4 minutes and flipped them over with my tongs so the other side could fry an get a golden brown color as well.

7. With a slotted spoon, remove the fried chicken bites.

fried chicken

Yum!

Now it’s time to enjoy the fried deliciousness. I prefer to dip mine in a ketchup ranch combo. Am I the only one who does that?

I know the coat, dunk, and coat mixtures work pretty well for fried pickles too. I wonder if they work for cheese balls. I need to try it because I am missing some Culver’s cheese curds.

Jan 5 2013

How to Make Sweet Potato Fries

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This really isn’t a recipe for sweet potato fries. Just a “How To” because the only ingredients I used were sweet potatoes and extra virgin olive oil. Sometimes you just really want to have something fried but don’t want to feel guilty about eating it afterwards. Maybe that’s just me; but here is an alternative to regular fries and using a fry daddy. It would be dangerous to my health, and I don’t have the counter space, to have a fryer because I love french fries and fried pickles! I’ll stick to the stove.

Sweet Potato Fries on the stove!

1. Scrub your potatoes! Veggies are pretty dirty in general, because they come from dirt and also you have no idea how many people have touched your food before you took it home. Ok rant over back to cooking.

2. I am not a big fan of skin so I peel it off. Sometimes I’ll leave a little skin on for a bit of a flavor change.

3. Chop it into fries! sweet potato fries

4. Put a couple tablespoons of olive oil in a skillet. Heat it up on medium heat. sweet potato fries

5. Put in the heated skillet. Cook it for about 10 minutes moving the fries around on a pretty constant bases until desired crispiness.

Enjoy your sweet potato fries! I like to dip mine in ranch. sweet potato fries

Dec 22 2012
grilled cheese

Grilled Cheese BLT Recipe

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Made a delicious grilled cheese this weekend. It’s my version of a kind of grilled cheese fancy BLT combo. I’m glad it was good too because I have a battle wound from it! But that’s not out of the ordinary for me. I’m a bit of a klutz. I burned my arm on the pan in my closet sized kitchen. Guess I needed more space to stand and watch the cheese melt on my sandwich. 🙂

awkward picture of the burn on my arm

awkward picture of the burn on my arm

Ingredients:

  • bread
  • butter
  • prosciutto
  • muenster cheese
  • tomato slices
  • arugula micro-greens
  1. I like to sear the prosciutto a bit first so it’s cooked. I treat it likes it’s bacon.
  2. Butter two slices of bread on one side.
  3. On medium heat, place a piece of bread, butter side on the pan.
  4. Next, place prosciutto, tomato slices, sprinkle the arugula over it and finally the cheese slice or slices, followed by the other piece of bread butter side up.
  5. Cook until butter on bottom of bread is a nice brown color, a few minutes
  6. Carefully, flip the sandwich and cook until that piece of bread is a nice brown color and the cheese has melted
  7. Enjoy!
grilled cheese

yum

The great thing about this is, it is so versatile. Many ingredients can be swapped for another. Grilled cheese is probably my favorite sandwich!

Dec 6 2012
chicken noodle soup

Chicken Noodle Soup Recipe

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Chicken noodle soup is a classic. Soup on a cold winter day or when I’m sick is very comforting to me. I love it for lunch and dinner. I just love it. I had almost everything I needed in the apartment to make it so I decided I needed to make it. I hope others will enjoy my version of this classic. I didn’t stray too far from the original. I just used the leftover cooked chicken I had instead of poaching it. Rotisserie chicken would be really tasty in this soup as well.

This is what I did.

Ingredients:

  • ~10 baby carrots chopped
  • ~3 green onions chopped
  • 2 large celery stalks chopped
  • 2 massive basil leaves, or 4 regular size ones
  • 1/4 onion chopped, I used a red onion because that’s what I had in my fridge
  • 2.5 cups of cooked chopped chicken
  • 2 cups uncooked noodles
  • 8 cups chicken broth
  • garlic powder
  • celery salt
  • oregano
  • black pepper
  • italian seasoning

Directions:

  1. In a large pot bring broth to a boil
  2. place noodles in broth and cook noodles
  3. In a skillet, medium-high heat, place a little oil and veggies and sauté till just tender
  4. Reduce heat to simmer on noodles and add veggies and chicken
  5. season to taste
  6. simmer ~ 30 minutes and stir occasionally
  7. Enjoy your chicken noodle soup!
chicken noodle soup

simmer and serve