Tag Archives: instructions

Mar 30 2013

Fried Caprese Salad Recipe

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fried caprese salad

Oh yes, this is another fried recipe and another caprese salad recipe combined into one, fried caprese salad. I wanted something fried and greasy but I also wanted to feel like I was attempting to be healthy. :/ So I made caprese salad and fried it. It was pretty good and satisfied my cravings but it’s not something I would make very often, just when I’m feeling the need for healthy and fattening at the same time. Does that make sense to anyone but me?

Ingredients:

  • tomato slices
  • mozzarella slices
  • fresh basil leaves
  • balsamic dressing
  • olive oil
  • bread crumbs
  • egg wash (1 egg 1/2  milk, whisked together)

Directions:

  1. In a small skillet, heat up about a tablespoon of olive oil on medium heat.
  2.  Stack the basil then mozzarella on top of a tomato slice.
  3.  Carefully pick the stack up and dunk in the egg wash.
  4. Coat in breadcrumbs.
  5.  Place in heated skillet, fry until bottom side is a golden to dark brown and flip to other side and fry.
  6. Place on plate and drizzle with balsamic dressing.
  7. Enjoy!

 

Mar 6 2013

7 Layer Dip Recipe

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A party favorite of mine is 7 Layer Dip. Granted mine has eight layers, sometimes nine but 7 layer dip sounds better than nine layer dip to me.

Here is what is needed, but amount depends upon how big of a plate you’re putting it on.

  1. Refried Beans
  2. Guacamole 
  3. Sour Cream
  4. Salsa, I like to use mild
  5. Tomatoes, chopped
  6. Green Onions chopped
  7. Ground beef with taco seasoning (sometimes I omit this)
  8. Shredded Cheese, I prefer cheddar and more specifically a blend of mild and sharp cheddar
  9. Cilantro, chopped

On a plate spread and layer each ingredient in order as it is listed above. Serve with a bag of tortilla chips.

Enjoy!

Mar 1 2013
fried fish

Fried Fish Recipe

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fried fish

My husband went ice fishing and brought back some fresh fish. The only problem was that it was already cleaned so I had no idea what kind of fish it was or how to prepare it. So I decided to make fried fish sandwiches. By now no one should be surprised I decided to fry it.

The amounts for everything are for 1 fish fillet. Do equal parts of flour and corn starch for more batter.

Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup cornstarch
  • ~ 3/4 cup water
  • tabasco sauce (optional)
  • celery salt
  • red pepper
  • cumin
  • oil for frying

Directions:

1. Heat a couple of inches of oil, I used canola, in a small sauce pan.

2. In a small bowl, combine flour and cornstarch, season to taste and mix.

3. Add water and a couple shakes of tabasco (to taste, can omit), to the flour mixture and whisk until smooth

4. Coat the fish in the batter, and place in the oil to fry.

fried fish

5. Fry for about 3 minutes on each side, until a nice golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon. As you can see I didn’t put enough oil in the pan to where the fillet was completely submerged so I flip it.

6. Enjoy!

I like to make a sandwich out of it by placing it on a toasted bun, placing cheese on it right after it comes out of the oil so it melts and a little bit of tartar sauce.

 

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 13 2013
cream cheese frosting

Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe

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cream cheese frosting recipe

Who doesn’t love cream cheese frosting? The rich bold flavor tastes great on almost any dessert! This recipe lightly frosted 24 cupcakes with a bit leftover.

Here is the cream cheese frosting recipe that I use.

Ingredients:

  • 1, 8 oz, block of cream cheese, softened to room temperature
  • ½ cup, 1 stick, unsalted butter, softened
  • 1 tsp of vanilla extract
  • ~ 2 cups of powered sugar, more or less to suit your tastes

How to:

  1. In a small bowl, add the cream cheese, butter and the vanilla.
  2. With a hand mixer, beat on low-to-medium speed until well combined and creamy
  3. Gradually add the powered sugar to the cream cheese mixture and beat until smooth and delicious. Adding all the powered sugar at once makes it more difficult to control the taste because you can only go sweeter and it creates a powered sugar snowfall in your kitchen from the mixer.
  4. Enjoy!

cream cheese frosting recipe

 

cream cheese frosting

cream cheese frosting recipe

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 7 2013
dye fabric

How to Dye Fabric in the Sink using Dylon’s Dye

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dye fabric

I am going to make another costume for Rusty, well at least attempt to make one. I really didn’t want to spend the money on expensive fabric because I’m going to make it up as I go, so I decided to buy muslin and dye it. I also decided to dye some of the embroidered fabric that I used for my tree skirt. I have a lot of that leftover and I was curious to see how it would take to dye.

I used Dylon Dye in Tulip Red because it is a permanent fabric dye and I wanted to try something new. The dying process took a little over an hour.

Here’s basically what the package says with my advice thrown in there:

Have a plastic bag open and ready for you to toss in the dye packet and gloves for when you’re finished to avoid the risk of staining other things around your kitchen like the floor or garbage can. 

dye fabric

supplies

1, 1.75oz, packet can be used for up to ½ lbs of fabric or one large t-shirt

Cover your counter around the sink with newspaper or rags if there is a spill or splash or you’re a klutz like me.

1. Weigh and wash fabric and leave it damp.

2. With gloved hands dissolve entire packet, use scissors to open to prevent the dye from flying everywhere, into 4 cups of warm water in a bowl or something you don’t mind getting stained

3. Fill a stainless steel sink, or bowl, with enough warm water to allow the fabric to flow freely give it space to dance

4.  Add 4 Tbsp of salt to the water and add the dye Yes that IS a lot of salt

5. Put that fabric in the sink

6. Stir constantly for 15 minutes. I made the mistake of not having any music on making the 15 minutes seem like an eternity. 

dye fabric

muslin after 15 minutes

dye fabric

embroidered fabric after 15 minutes

Then stir regularly for 45 minutes. Looking for a way to make your significant other or roommate nervous? Stir the dye bath with your dominant hand while texting with your non-dominant over  the sink. 🙂 Just don’t accidentally drop it in. 

7. Rinse fabric with cold water. Then wash it in warm water. To dry, line dry inside away from direct heat and sunlight. I laid mine flat on a towel that was darker than the dye and didn’t care about if the dye happened to stain it. Let it dry over night.

dye fabric

right after washing, still soaked

dye fabric

fabric after it dried

I’m kind of pleased how it turned out. I had no idea if the embroidered fabric would take dye, because I couldn’t remember the fiber content. As for the pattern piece, it’s a little more pink than I was hoping but part of that is my fault. I did have slightly more than ½ lb of fabric which was the greatest weight recommendation. My hopes were for a richer red. But I can make it work and I would use Dylon’s Dye again. I just need to buy 2 packets instead of one to be on the safe side.

dye fabric

color I got vs color I was hoping to get

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!