Sweet and Spicy Cashews

Let me start off by saying:   I hate cashews.
Because of this my dad wonders whether or not I'm his kid, but I just tell him that it makes us a great team because he hates the peanuts in the mixed jars and I like them and I hate the cashews and he likes them!

These cashews are amazing.

My mom emailed me the recipe saying that they're awesome and I had to try them even though I despise the nut...  So I did.  Now I can't stop eating them.  Thanks, Mom.

1 egg white
1 Tbsp water
19-1/2 oz cashews (I used about a pound and a half, maybe a bit more)
1/2 cup white sugar
1 Tbsp red chili powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (optional)
a dash (maybe 1/2 tsp or more) of ground cinnamon (optional, but I did it and it's gooooood)

Whisk together the egg white and water in a large bowl.  Add cashews and toss to coat.  Transfer to a colander and drain for about 2 minutes.

In a separate bowl combine sugar and spices.  Add the cashews and toss to coat.

Arrange in a single layer on a baking pan and bake for 1 hour 15 minutes at 250˚F, stirring once half way through.  Store in air tight container.

YUMMMMM!

Three for Three!! (Lean Turkey Meatloaf, Sweet and Spicy Sweet Potatoes, & Jammin' Jalapeno Stuffed Chicken)

I've had the last few days off and I promised Brent that I would have supper ready for him when he got home from his long days.  Poor guy leaves home at 7:30AM and comes home around 7:30PM.

Monday night I made sweet and spicy sweet potatoes with pan seared chicken and jasmine rice, yesterday I made Jammin' Jalapeño (sauce from BWW) stuffed chicken, and tonight I went out on a limb and made turkey meatloaf and mashed tatoes.

For the record, I despise meatloaf.  I've NEVER liked it, not even when Mom and Gramma Ann made it and I couldn't bring myself to eat it.  "Shut up, put it between a couple pieces of bread and eat it."  I ate the bread, hid the meatloaf in a napkin and threw it out.  I basically starved that night because I couldn't choke down the meatloaf.   (Sorry, Mom and Gramma...)

I'm not sure why, but I've been craving meatloaf (no, I'm not pregnant) over the past few weeks.  I think it's just because it's been so long since I've tried it and I wanted to make sure either "Yep, this sh*t's disgusting" or "Hmm.. Maybe it's not so bad?"  My taste buds have changed so much as I've gotten older I wanted to give it another shot.

This recipe I found was a Weight Watchers recipe.  It seemed pretty legit.  I linked the page for the recipe, but please keep in mind that I do like to add more or less to the meals and what I typed up is what I did - it was good.  For reals.

Here goes:  (and I'll post the recipes for the other ones, too)

For the meatloaf:

1.3 lb 93% Lean Ground Turkey

1 C Grated Zucchini, all moisture squeezed dry with paper towel (don't peel it!)

2 Tbsp Onion, minced (I just put a couple shakes of dried onion flakes in there)

1/2 C Seasoned Breadcrumbs

1/4 Cup Ketchup

1 Egg

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1/4 C FRESH Chopped Parsley

For Skinny Mashed Potatoes:

1 lb (about 2 medium) Yukon gold potatoes, washed well and cubed 

(you can peel them if you want, but I'm lazy and hate peeling potatoes... So I just don't :) )

2 Large Garlic Cloves, peeled and halved*

2 Tbsp Fat Free Sour Cream

1 Tbsp Light Butter/Butter Substitute

Kosher Salt to Taste

Dash of Fresh Ground Pepper

2 tsp Thyme

1 - 1-1/2 Tbsp Dried Rosemary (ground very well)

Put the potatoes and garlic in a large pot with salt and enough water to cover; bring to a boil.  Boil until potatoes are tender.  Drain and add butter and the herbs - use a hand mixer and mash until smooth.  Add the sour cream and season with salt and pepper.

*I buy the jars of minced garlic and keep them in the fridge - I used 1/4 tsp minced garlic when I was mixing in the sour cream, butter, etc.)

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375˚F - spritz loaf pan with non-stick spray.

In a large bowl, mix the turkey, zucchini, onion, breadcrumbs, ketchup, egg and salt.  Place meatloaf mixture into pan and make sure it is flat on top.

Bake uncovered for 18-20 minutes or until cooked through.  Remove from pan onto plate.

Another thing you might want to try is putting the meatloaf into tinfoil muffin cups and putting them into a muffin tray.  Two muffins would be one serving.  You can also put the mashed tatoes into a ZipLock bag, snip the corner and pipe the potatoes onto the top of the meatloaf muffins.  :)

TAYSTEE!!!!!!!!!

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Sweet and Spicy Sweet Potatoes (I got this recipe from my friend Teresa)

Three large sweet potatoes (I used a type of squash that tastes just like sweet potatoes - my mamacita gave them to me and I needed to eat 'em up!)
1 Tbsp cinnamon
1 Tbsp ground ginger
1 Tbsp ground coriander
1 tsp dried garlic
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp cayenne pepper (I used 1-1/4 tsp red chili powder since I didn't have anymore cayenne pepper)
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground cardamom
1 tsp turmeric
one half stick of butter
1/4 cup real maple syrup
salt to taste (not too much, but you still want to add a little, or the flavors will be flat)
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1 handful golden raisins (optional) (I threw them in there, t'was pretty good :)  )

Boil the sweet potatoes until almost cooked through. You don't want them to get too soft because you will be cooking them more later. In the meantime, in a medium saucepan, melt the butter and add all the spices and the maple syrup. Reduce heat and let simmer gently until the spices become fragrant, then turn off the heat, and set aside. When the potatoes are done boiling, drain them and cut them into one inch cubes. Add the potatoes to the maple/spice mixture and stir to coat all the pieces. Add the raisins and cover and allow to cook over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally, allowing the maple and spice flavor to penetrate the potatoes. Remove from heat. Arrange potatoes in a serving dish topped with the chopped pecans.

I dusted the chicken breast with some black pepper and browned it in a pan on the stove - I used some Promise butter spread in the pan (because I've never really cooked whole chicken breasts like that on the stove and it's too cold to grill (my dad would be so disappointed if he heard me say that it was too cold to grill)).  I threw the chicken in the microwave for a minute and a half just to make sure it was cooked all the way through (juicy chicken freaks me out...).  I steamed up some jasmine rice, laid some down on a plate, put the cut up chicken on the rice, then covered it with the curried sweet potatoes.

(no picture of this, sorry dudes...)

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Jammin' Jalapeño Stuffed Chicken

3 chicken breasts

6 oz Cream Cheese

2/3 C Finely Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

B-Dubs' Jammin' Jalapeño sauce

Place chicken breast (one by one) into a ZipLock bag and seal it.  Pound the chicken breast out using a rolling pin.

Spread 2 oz of the cream cheese on the chicken breast, sprinkle with a bit of mozzarella cheese and drizzle some sauce on it.  Roll the chicken breast up and put on a lightly sprayed piece of tin foil (large enough to fold up around the breast) and pour some more of the sauce over top before folding up and putting on a baking sheet.

Do this with all three of the chicken breast and place in the oven at 350˚F and cook for 25-30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Use a tongs to place chicken on a plate and drain some of the juices onto the chicken.

SOOOO GOOOD!  :)

Corn Bread! Ain't nothin' wrong with that!

I wish I knew how to upload Word Documents (if that's at all possible?) - That way I would be able to upload my recipe card template with the recipe on so you folks can just print them!   Alas, I'm not sure if I can do that.

ANYWAY!

I loves me some corn bread and heaven knows that Famous Dave's has some of the best out there!  Here's a recipe I found online for it:

1-1/2 C Yellow Cornmeal
1/2 C Stone Ground Cornmeal (I couldn't find this...  I just used 2 cups of Yellow cornmeal)
9 oz pkg Yellow Cake Mix (half of a regular box - or you can double the recipe!)
2 tsp Baking Powder
1 tsp Salt
1/2 C Milk
1/2 C Buttermilk
1/4 C Vegetable Oil
2 Eggs
2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
2 Tbsp Honey
1 Tbsp Real Mayonnaise

Mix all the dry ingredients together - then - mix all the wet ingredients (except mayo) together and add them to the dry and mix them gently until there are no lumps, being careful not to over-mix.  Fold in mayonnaise and let it rest, covered, in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or up to overnight.

Bake at 400˚F for 25-30** minutes - drizzle with honey butter once pulled out of the oven.  Makes about 18 muffins.

Honey Butter:
1/2 C Butter
1/2 C Honey

Melt the butter in a pan and add the honey - simmer, stirring occasionally.

I would put the muffins on a tinfoil lined pan and drizzle the muffins with the honey butter - it's kinda messy.

**Don't wait until these muffins are golden brown to pull them out!  I would even say put them in for 21-23 minutes - mine were dry :(

@Ryan B  -  yep, you hate mayo, I remember this, but don't worry!  You won't taste it.  Just put it in there and forget that it's even in there!  OR have Laura make them and just ignore the mayo idea ;)

THANKS, MOM!!!

She got me Hungry Girl's cookbook!!  :)  Hooray!
I'm really excited to make some of these recipes and post them up on here!

Rosemary Potatoes

We went to Smash Burger today for the first time (we had a buy one get one free coupon, which is usually how we eat out) and we shared an order of their Smash Fries.  AMAZING!  I told Brent we needed to make our potatoes like that tonight for supper.  It's really super easy and a no-brainer as to how you'd make these potatoes, but I figured I'd still document it.  These are also a lot more healthy than the fries we had today.  

I realized that I didn't need to spray my tin foil like I usually have to (force of habit, but I never use much)  -  The EVOO made a great nonstick  ;)

I ground some rosemary down and let it soak in the EVOO so the flavor was able to soak in.

I tossed the potatoes in the mixture and laid it on the tinfoil and made a packet out of it and thew it on the grill.

Yummmm  :)

ORGANIZATIOOOONNNNN!!

I used my Gramma Ann's vintage canisters to hold my lentils and bulk spices (packaged in freezer bags, of course)

:)

Had to duck down so you couldn't see my reflection... :D

Apple Crisp with Extra Crisp...

...just how Gramma Ann made it.

Crumblies:

3/4 cup plain oatmeal

3/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup flour

Slice enough apples to cover 9x13 pan and sprinkle them with cinnamon.

Put the remaining crumbles on top of the apples.

Bake at 350˚F for 35-40 minutes

***  DOUBLE YOUR BATCH FOR THE CRUMBLIES!  YOU WON'T REGRET IT! :)

Surprisingly Amaaaaaaazing! (Not Your Typical Banana Bread)

So, you're going to look at the ingredients for this banana bread and think 'WAT?' But, seriously, it's the best banana bread I've ever had.  Brent even likes it!!!

1 Cup  FIRM Silken Tofu

3 bananas

1/2 Cup Soy Vegetable Oil

1/2 Cup White Sugar

2 Cups All-Purpose Flour

1-1/2 Tsp Baking Soda

2 Tsp Baking Powder

1-1/2 Tsp Cinnamon

1/2 Cup Chopped Walnuts

Yes, you're reading that correctly, there are no eggs or dairy in this recipe  :)

Preheat your oven to 350˚F.

Grease and flour one loaf pan or casserole baking dish.

Blend together tofu, bananas, oil and sugar until smooth.

Stir together the dry ingredients and then add it to the wet mixture and blend it together well.

Mix in the walnuts and place the batter in the baking pan and bake for at least an hour,

or until knife inserted comes out clean. (I had to bake for 1hr 15 min)

Cool on rack for 10 minutes, then loosen edges and turn out on rack.

1 loaf = 16 slices

Nutrient Analysis:  per slice

Calories:  226

Cholesterol:  0 mg

Fat:  10 gm

Sodium 174 mg

Soy Protein:  1g

I know Gramma Ann is rolling in her grave saying, "You put WHAT in banana bread?!"  

Seriously, though.  It's incredible.  Try it  -  and if you have a picky eater at home, make them try it first and then tell them what's in it...  Or just don't tell them ;)

Curried Chicken

(Adaptation of yellow chicken curry from India)

Ingredients:

3 Tbsp Oil (vegetable or olive)

1 Small Onion, chopped

2 Cloves Garlic, finely minced

3 Tbsp Curry Powder (equates to one of the short containers of yellow curry powder you find in the spice section of your grocery store)

1 Tsp Cinnamon

1 Tsp Paprika

1 Bay Leaf

1/2 Tsp Grated, Fresh Ginger Root

1/2 Tsp White Granulated Sugar

Pinch of Salt

2 Skinless, Boneless Chicken Breasts, cut into thin bite size pieces

1 Tbsp Tomato Paste

1 Cup Plain Yogurt

3/4 Cup Coconut Milk

1/2 Lemon, juiced

1/2 Tsp Cayenne Pepper

Directions:

Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat.  Sauté onion until lightly browned.  

Stir in garlic, curry powder, cinnamon, paprika, bay leaf, ginger, sugar and salt.

Continue stirring for 2 minutes.

Add tomato paste, yogurt, coconut milk, and chicken pieces.

Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 20-25 minutes (until chicken is cooked through).

Remove bay leaf and stir in lemon juice and cayenne pepper.

Simmer five more minutes.

Serve over Jasmine or Basmati rice with plain yogurt on the side.  Naan bread is also a really nice addition to the meal :)

More Tagine!

This is by far my favorite recipe for tagine!  Posting this recipe for a friend of mine that tried my other tagine recipe :)

Sorry, no pictures, but I'm in love with this meal.

Enjoy!!

Moroccan Chickpea and Sweet Potato Tagine                                                  

2 tbsp olive oil

2 med onions, diced

2 carrots, chopped

1 tsp coriander seeds

1 tsp cumin seeds

1 tsp turmeric

1 tsp salt

¼ - ½ tsp cayenne pepper

2 tbsp peeled, minced ginger root

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 ½ lbs sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped

1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1-28 oz can crushed tomatoes

4 cups vegetable broth

½ cup cilantro leaves, minced, for serving

¼ cup dried apricots, sliced thin, for serving

¼ cup golden raisins, for serving

8 oz whole wheat couscous, uncooked

2 cups vegetable broth or water

Preheat a heavy 4-6 qt pot over med heat. Add oil, onions and carrots. Cook, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender and golden, ~8minutes.  Meanwhile, toast coriander and cumin in a small pan over med heat, stirring until fragrant. Remove from heat. Transfer toasted seeds to a coffee grinder and grind into a powder. Transfer grounds to a small bowl then stir together with turmeric, salt and cayenne pepper.  Add ginger and garlic to onion mixture, then stir the spices and cook another 3-5 min to let the spices color the onions, stirring to prevent the garlic from burning.

Add sweet potatoes, chickpeas, and tomatoes to blend.  Add 2 cups vegetable broth and simmer about 20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are fork tender.  Check stew and add more vegetable as needed.

Meanwhile, in another pot, bring 2 cups vegetable broth to a boil.  Stir in whole wheat Israeli couscous, cover and reduce heat.  Simmer for 8 – 10 minutes, or until liquid is almost gone.  Stir and serve immediately with tangine.  Offer cilantro, dried apricots and raisins at the table for diners to stir into the tangine.

Serves six as a main course.

Visiting Morocco Again...

Chicken tagine tonight!  It was fantastic.  Sweet, savory, and hearty.

Here's what you'll need:

2 cups Chicken Broth

2 Tbsp Tomato Paste

2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

2 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour

2 Teaspoons Garlic Salt (**I didn't have garlic salt!  I used 1 clove of garlic and a pinch of salt)

1-1/2 Teaspoon Ground Cumin

1-1/2 Teaspoon Ground Ginger

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

3/4 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

Whisk together all of the above ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

NEXT!

4 Large Carrots, thinly sliced

2 Large Onions, thinly sliced (I just used one large one...)

1/2 cup Dried Cranberries (didn't have these, I used raisins, craisins would have been way awesome!)

1/2 cup Dried Apricots, chopped or sliced

I used extra raisins :)

NEXT!!

1 Eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes

8 Skinless, Boneless Chicken Thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces

I trimmed a lot of the excess fat off (obviously).  And, if I could recommend anything, add extra chicken thighs and don't use chicken breast!  The texture of the chicken thighs was fantastic in this dish.

Take 2 - 3 tablespoons of olive oil and heat it over medium/high heat in a skillet.  Place the chicken and eggplant pieces in the heated oil.

Stir and cook until the chicken is browned on all sides but NOT cooked all the way through.  Remove the skillet from the heat.

Place the browned chicken and eggplant on the bottom of a slow cooker.

Layer the onion, carrots, dried cranberries (or raisins), and apricots over the chicken mixture.

Whisk the liquid mixture once more and pour over the top of the veggies and chicken mixture.

Here's Zeus keeping an eye on the chikkunz :)

Cook on high setting for 5 hours, or low setting for 8 hours.

I chose the low setting, personally.  I think that cooking on high cooks everything too fast,

dries it out and burns the food.

Stir it about half-way through.

NEXT!!

You will need some couscous!

1 Cup of it to be exact, but I'd do more because we hardly had any left after dinner.

Cook according to package.

(If you can't find plain couscous, just buy a box of it but don't add the flavor package :)  )

My bad - we were so hungry we ate right away and I forgot to take pictures of our plates.  Here it is in the Tupperware ;)

I chopped up two sweet potatoes into about 1-inch chunks, put a dollop of Promise butter, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, drizzled a little honey and sprinkled some cinnamon on top and put it in a small glass dish, covered it and put it in the microwave for 7 minutes (or until soft).  It was sweet and really complimented the tagine.  I put the rest of them (and the liquid) on top of the left overs.  It was really delicious together  :)

All in all:  AWESOME dinner - I think next time I'd add a can of chickpeas (rinsed) and 2 small chopped sweet potatoes to the crock pot...  Although, I'd still make some for a side ;)

Here's your ingredients so you don't have to go back up and re-write everything down:

2 - 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil

8 Skinless, Boneless Chicken Thighs, cut into 1-inch pieces

1 Eggplant, cut into 1-inch cubes

2 Large Onions, thinly sliced

4 Large Carrots, thinly sliced

1/2 Cup Dried Cranberries (or raisins)

1/2 Cup Dried Apricots, chopped or sliced

2 Cups Chicken Broth

2 Tablespoons Tomato Paste

2 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

2 Tablespoons All-Purpose Flour

2 Teaspoons Garlic Salt (or 1 clove of garlic and a pinch of salt)

1-1/2 Teaspoons Ground Cumin

1-1/2 Teaspoons Ground Ginger

1 Teaspoon Cinnamon

3/4 Teaspoon Ground Black Pepper

Couscous

***I forgot to add that I did put in a couple dashes of cayenne pepper and a couple dashes of red chili powder just so there was a bit of spice to this.  It wasn't spicy, but had a little warmth to it.

"So... What'd you guys have for supper?"

That's what our friend, Troy, asked us when he got into the car with us to go see fireworks put on by the Pyrotechnics Guild International.  Yeah..  We had some really, really great tasting Indian food!

Our friends, Mona and Utpal, invite us over and cook for us all the time.  It's seriously so good that I begged them for cooking lessons!

They have a cooking kitchen in their house with a venting hood leading outdoors and windows that we can open so the smell doesn't get strong.  In our apartment we have a cooking hood that doesn't filter outside so it got a little strong.  If you had a grill with gas burners on them, you could definitely make this outside.

For Mona's chickpea dish you'll need:

2 - 2-1/2 tbsp Vegetable/Canola Oil (do NOT use EVOO, it changes the taste of the dish)

Pinch of WHOLE Cumin seeds

Toast the seeds in the heating oil and add 2 chopped White Onions (medium/large)

Brown the onion after toasting the seeds so it's slightly brown and becomes partially transparent

Meanwhile, drain and rinse 3 cans of Chickpeas; add them to the browned/cooked onion

Add 2 (grated/crushed) cloves of Garlic

2 tsp grated, Fresh Ginger

Pinch of Salt

2 cups of Water

Stir in 1/4 tsp Turmeric

1-1/2 tsp Red Chili Powder

1 heaping tsp Coriander

1 heaping tsp ground Cumin

2 chopped Roma Tomatoes

From here, you either cover it and simmer until the chickpeas are softened or put it in a pressure cooker and let them cook for about 10 minutes (we bough a pressure cooker just so we could make this dish :)  )

In the meantime, while the chickpea mixture cooks down, peel and chop 2 Medium Potatoes (pieces should be about the size of the chickpeas), salt lightly, and cook in a covered, microwave safe dish until tender.  Cook potatoes in the microwave, otherwise they get too soft in the pressure cooker.

After the chickpeas have softened, add the potato to the mix.  Stir in 1-1/2 tsp Chana Masala, then garnish with chopped Cilantro.

Chop the onion in half then chop so as to make "slivers" of onion.

Toasting the cumin seeds.

Finished product (with Utpal's Fried Rice - recipe below)!!!!!!

We always accompany the chickpea dish with some fried rice.  It's really delicious.  You can either use Jasmine or Basmati rice.  We cooked up 3 cups of dry rice, yielding 6 cups, as this rice makes fantastic leftovers.  Cook it ahead of time and either let it sit and cool to dry out, or make it the day before and refrigerate it.

What you'll need:

2 - 3 tbsp Vegetable/Canola Oil

2 handfuls of Raw Cashews

          Cook on high in a large pot or wok

2 Small/Medium Onion (chop it just like you did for the chickpea dish)

Add onion to cashews and cook until brown and soft.

          Turn stove down to med/low

Add 1 handful of Raisins

Add 1 bag of Mixed Veggies (previously cooked in microwave in a microwave safe dish)

          (We used the bag that has the peas, corn, carrots, green beans and lima beans)

Add 1/4 tsp Turmeric powder

1 tsp salt

1 Tbsp White Granulated Sugar

Mix well!

Add rice and mix well with mixture so the yellow color from the Turmeric covers all of the rice.

If you'd like, you can add pineapple chunks/tidbits, too!

Raw cashews - I used the whole bag, I love them in this dish!

AND!  Even if you don't like raisins, I recommend adding them anyway, they add a hint of sweetness to the rice dish that can't be beat!

Finished Rice!  :)

Many of the spices can be found in specialty Asian American grocery stores, especially the Chana Masala. I also found the raw cashews in the specialty store, however, you can usually find them in the bulk section of your grocery store.  I have noticed that many ingredients you find in the specialty grocery stores are very reasonably priced!  That's why I bought such large containers of spices and cashews.

I really love these dishes and I recommend trying them.  If you're afraid of onion, (Mom) DON'T WORRY!  It cooks down and you seriously can't even taste it.  Brent and I aren't huge fans of onion and we eat it simply because we can't taste it in these dishes.

These make a great amount of leftovers and it's so good.  You've probably noticed that these dishes are completely vegetarian.  It's incredible how full you get off of the proteins in the chickpeas!  You can make the chickpea dish with shrimp.  Just buy raw, deveined shimp and instead of using Chana Masala you'll use Garam Masala.  They're completely different spices.  Also, if you're a fan of spicier food, add a little more chili powder.

I can't help it!

I think I'm addicted to French toast.

Brent and I headed to my family reunion on the last weekend of July and on the last day we went to a restaurant in Ellendale called the Fireside.  I ordered their cinnamon roll French toast.  HOLY MOLY!!  Amaaaaaaazing!

I took a knife and cut some cinnamon rolls that I had purchased from the grocery store in half (they came in a big plastic container, I also tried to scrape most of the frosting off).

For the batter, I just made the same batter that I made when I made the banana bread French toast.  I like the lightness of it and also the flavor the spices give it.

I dipped the toast into the egg and cooked it on the "crust" sides first.  I did this because it seemed to cook faster and the left over frosting would caramelize as it cooked.  This was really awesome and really messy all at the same time.

Aaaaaand, the finished product.  Served with super cheesy eggs!

It made much more, but we were so excited to try it out that I had forgotten to take a picture until I was cleaning up the table.  Whoops!!

If I were to do anything differently I wouldn't purchase "fried" cinnamon rolls from the bakery and I would try to Google a recipe that I could make from scratch, making my own little "paste" of brown sugar, cinnamon and butter to spread over the dough before cutting it into rolls and baking it.

The fried-ness of the rolls made it hard for it to absorb on the crust side of the toast.  I'd also be able to avoid the mess that I had with the caramelized maple frosting mess that was all over my spatula and pan.  When I was done cooking and the toast I grabbed my measuring cup and filled it with water and poured it into the hot pan.  It pretty much lifted all of that melty sugar up off the spatula and my pan.

All in all...  It was really good.  We had left overs and had it this morning for breakfast :)  Yum!  :)

For Crystal :)

As I was bombarding my friend's Facebook post about food and curry dishes, I remembered my fried rice recipe that I seem to alter every time I make it, but for the most part it's pretty similar.

The first time I made it, it was a little bland so I added what I thought would help it (curry sauce) and it was amaaaaa-ziiiiiiing!

We usually eat it just as a dinner on it's own so I make a boatload of it.  Leftovers don't go over very well with my boyfriend, but I don't mind eating them, especially these :)  You can always half the recipe, too, depending on how many mouths you feed.

What you'll need:  (I'll add pics next time I decide to make it)

2 Cups of Rice/3 Cups of Water (I use a rice cooker to make it)
Fresh Mushrooms, sliced
Small Green Pepper, chopped
Small Red Pepper, chopped
1 Cup Frozen Peas and Carrots
Chopped Onion (add as much as you're comfortable with, we use very little just because we're not huge onion eaters)
3-4 Eggs, lightly beaten
3-4 Chicken Breasts, cubed and cooked (or Shrimp!!  Deveined and Tailed)
3-4 Tbsp Butter
3-4 Tbsp Soy Sauce
1/2 Cup (or More to Taste) of Curry Sauce (I like making some of the stuff for the Thai Chicken Curry and putting that in or a jar'd stuff you can get from PartyLite that my friend sells)

Obviously this recipe is a lot of "a little of this and a little of that".  It's not very precise, but I like to taste it all the way through to make sure it's to my liking.

Cook your rice up and then remove it from the heat and leave it uncovered.
Meanwhile in a large pot saute your mushrooms and peppers (and onion) up.  Stir in the eggs.  Throw in your cup of peas and carrots.  Add in the cooked chicken or shrimp.  Stir in the rice and shake some soy sauce in.  Add in your curry sauce to taste and mix it well.

You can really modify this however you like.  It's a really quick and easy meal and is awesome for busy weeknights.

omgz.... SUCCESS!!!! (Banana Bread French Toast)

 Huzzah!!  Banana Bread French Toast was a huuuuuge success!
I've got to thank Mr. Emeril Lagasse (BAM!) for helping me out with this amazing success at brinner.  Gah, the man's a genius!!

Brent and I had first tried the Banana Bread French Toast thing at the HoDo's Easter Brunch.  It was phenomenal.  I'd love to go to another one of their holiday brunches.

Here's your batter recipe:
4 large eggs
2 tbsp milk
1/2 tsp vanilla (I used 1-1/2 tsp :)  )
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp granted nutmeg

Cut the banana bread into 3/4" - 1" slices.  Dip it into the batter.  I used a spatula (the kind you see in the pic below) so the bread doesn't crumble in the batter.  Make sure to slice your bread up a little in advance so that it dries out a little bit so it isn't too moist (ugh, I hate that word...)

Toss it into a pan on medium heat and let it cook.  You're supposed to grease the pan, but for some reason I have a huge issue with butter and a hot griddle/pan.  I always seem to burn it and it gets gross and...  You get it.  Anyway, I just use non-stick pans.  They're great.

I made a double batch... That's why there's so damn much of it.  I went through almost two loaves of banana bread..  Yeah, I over did it...  My bad.  BUT!  Troy did have some left overs to bring home!

Here's the finished product at the table.  Big ass plate of bacon, eggs and a butt load of banana bread French toast!  Woot!  SO good..  HOWEVER, if I may add a bit of a suggestion...  Go easy on the maple syrup.  Lots of butter (I use Promise because I enjoy that fake buttery taste and that it's not one ion away from being plastic) and it's amazingly tasty.  Just like regular banana bread, but with a little kick :)

Naner Bread

I LOVE banana bread, especially my gramma's recipe.  I made two loaves of it and one of them is going to be important for tomorrow's dinner...

Recipe for Gramma Ann's Banana Bread

Cream Together:
2/3 C Sugar
1/3 C Shortening
2 Eggs

Stir In:
3 Tbsp Buttermilk (if I don't have any I just use regular milk, however, I have heard beer is a great substitute as well)
1 C Mashed Banana (I usually use two thawed bananas that I'd saved in the freezer)
2 C Sifted Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 C Chopped Nuts or Chocolate Chips (optional)

Put in a well greased pan and let stand for 20 minutes.  Bake at 350˚F for 50 - 60 minutes.  Test by sticking a butter knife in the middle and making sure it comes out clean.



Now, I'm doing double duty with this bread because Brent and I went to a FANTASTIC easter brunch and there was Banana Bread French Toast there.  It was the most incredible I'd ever tasted.

Pics of that to come!

For now, enjoy the banana bread and the lovely smell it fills your house with :)

Super Delish Impromptu Dinner

Brent and I eat chicken A LOT.  That's our main source of protein and while he and I love it a lot, we can also get sick of it pretty quickly.  We're constantly trying to find different ways to dress it up.

I told Brent I wanted to brush this curry sauce on it and he said he didn't think that it'd be that great for grilling.. I, of course, was bummed because I loves me some curry..  He went online and Googled "good dry rub for chicken" and he clicked on a random link..  It was AWESOME!  :)  I think it'd be really good on a roast chicken, too...

So, anyway - we had grilled asparagus (with course grain salt and some of that fake Promise Butter stuff), chicken breast and mashed sweet potatoes a la Paula Deen, y'oll!!!!!!!!  Let me tell you...  AAAAMAZING!

Here's the recipe for the rub:

1 tsp.  Ground Black Pepper
1-1/2 tsp. Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp Brown Sugar (packed)
1 tsp Ground Oregano
1-1/2 tsp Paprika
2 tsp Ginger**
1/2 tsp All Sprice
1 tsp Dry Mustard

Mix ingredients in a bowl and rub onto chicken (if making bone-in chicken breast, rub on the meat under the skin and replace skin)

Store the remaining rub in an air-tight jar or plastic container and store in a dark place.

**I didn't have enough ginger, I got a little over 1 tsp into the bowl, it still turned out well, though.


Mashed Sweet Potatoes: Brent and I were watching TV one morning and that crazy Paula Deen was making these potatoes.  My mouth was watering as I watched her whip those together.

10 cups of sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1/4 - 1/2 cup Butter
3 Tbsp Honey
1/4 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 tsp Kosher Salt

I did NOT make this large of a batch - I peeled and chopped four sweet potatoes and guess-tamated from there.  When I was watching her make these on TV she added a boatload of honey..  She says she likes honey.. I'm guessing not as much as she likes butter, but still.  I also added 1 Tbsp of brown sugar.

The sweet potatoes really complimented the chicken with the rub we made.  It was awesome :)

This is a really crummy entry because I don't have any pictures.  I wanted to take pictures as soon as we ate everything.  The only thing we have left is a small container of the mashed potatoes :)

Oh, snap! (Cinnamon Caramel Monkey Bread)

I haven't posted in a LONG time.  Work's been so busy and we took about a month hiatus from actually using our monthly meal plan.  We'd cook here and there but with me traveling to Bismarck for work and Brent being gone a couple of weekends it was really hard to keep up with.  

I decided to make some caramel rolls from a recipe I got from a girl I work(ed) with.  Angie's since transferred to a different corporate store, but man do I miss working with her.  These monkey bread style caramel rolls were just one of the things she'd brought to one of our work potlucks.  She would also bake cakes for people's birthdays.  Yes, she's totally that awesome.

Anyway, last night I had some time on my hands before I was going to start getting ready to go out for a going away party for another friend and I started on these.  I fixed them up and then set them in the oven (no heat) to rise.  I had originally thought that I had let them rise too long, but oh. my. goodness.  They turned out perfect this morning!!

What you'll need:

2 loaves of frozen bread dough (thawed)  

          **I used 3 loaves since they usually come in bags of three.  You can find them in your grocer's freezer section.

1 stick of butter (not margarine)

1 lightly packed cup of brown sugar

1 cup vanilla ice cream

Cinnamon

Sugar

Once the dough is thawed, break it into pieces and roll it in a bowl with the cinnamon sugar mixture.  Put it into a slightly greased pan (DO NOT use an air bake pan).

This is pretty tedious, so I break them into several pieces, throw it in the bowl and then roll them around by hand. Your nails will be packed with dough by the time you're done with this.  :)

Let the dough rise.  I let it rise for about 12 hours.  This is totally not necessary as they were practically spilling from the pan by the time I got to them, but like I said, they were amazingly perfect.  Light and fluffy.. Sticky and sweet.  They just have to rise enough so they reach the top of the pan, or even a little bit more.

After the rolls have risen, take your brown sugar, butter and ice cream and put it in a pot over medium/low heat.  Stir until melted and continue stirring until boiling.  Pour caramel sauce over the rolls.  Careful, I've got three huge burn marks from where I accidentally got some of the boiling caramel on my skin.  Whoops.

Bake in the oven at 350˚F for about 20 minutes.  I put a large flat pan under the other pan so when and if the sauce boils over, it won't stick to the bottom of my oven.

Let cool slightly and enjoy.  These turned out so amazing.  The pieces at the top where the caramel is slightly over-baked is my favorite :)  Brent says his favorite is the ooey-gooey stuff.  Clearly we're perfect for each other ;)