Moving to once a week?

I found a recipe for frying string cheese. YUM! I am still being healthy (I only ate 2), so now I have the rest of them to worry about. Somehow….I will disperse them. Updating twice a week has become so hard… I don’t know why either? I think it is because I want to post in the morning, but I also have to work in the morning. Productivity or fun? Fun makes me fat and productivity gets me moneys. I really need to money and not the latter. Haha. One of my best friends is getting married in 3 weeks! I am so happy for her, but I’m kind of sad because that means she’s going to move! Lucky for you though because when I get sad I tend to eat, and to eat I have to cook! I will have to post the website later, but the recipe was pretty easy.

 http://bubblecrumb.blogspot.com/2010/01/fried-string-cheese-sticks-recipe.html 😀

Ingredients:

24 sticks of cheese (I used mozzarella and a cheddar twist one)

3 plates or pan pans

flour

italian style bread crumbs

2 eggs

1 tbs of water

Frying oil (Vegetable/Canola/etc)

Method:

1. Scramble eggs and tbs of water, then place this mixture in one of the pans

2. In another pan put some flour

3. In the last pan place your breadcrumbs

4. roll the cheese stick in the flour, eggwash, and then the breadcrumbs

5. Heat the oil to high/medium-high heat. When the oil is heated fry the sticks for about 15sec-20sec on each side.

6. Drain them on some paper towels and enjoy

Notes:

I dip these in ranch, but since I don’t have any ranch I improvised with some pizza sauce I had leftover. I put basil, oregano, red pepper flakes, and some garlic into the sauce. It was pretty good. I made about 24 sticks of cheese with plenty leftover to make more. So, if you want to cook less you should definitely tweak the recipe. I think next time I am going to add some cajun powder to the bread crumbs or something because I like that kick. Did you know that humans are the one of the only animals (if not THE only) that actively seek out spicy things? Spicy isn’t a flavor…it is a feeling. So, we actively seek out pain. LOL. Isn’t that crazy? Anyway, next time I am going to make a ranch dip to go along with these…actually I may do that later because I only ate two of them. Gotta watch that waistline. Happy Nom noms!

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PS: as you can see by the title I am going to be moving to once a week posts. I don’t want blogging to feel like a chore, so I will fit it into my fun time *im updating at work*….but it will be our little secret…that I share with facebook, twitter, and the rest of the internet 😛

http://bubblecrumb.blogspot.com/2010/01/fried-string-cheese-sticks-recipe.html

SYKE!

Haha, so remember that promise I made about posted? Fail. But, I feel bad every time I don’t post, so that has to have SOME merit….right? So, lets hit up on some more appetizers :D. I still haven’t felt like I’ve found a good start off the summer right main course that I would like to do. If you have any suggestions comment on my blog :D. Also, I am looking for eaters. I decided to weight myself yesterday and discovered I am at a tragic 165. So, I am going to start cooking for other people! Obviously I am looking for people in my city because I don’t trust my car to go anywhere outside. If I can I would like to cook at said locations, but I can always cook and bring it over :D. This is just a test idea. I mean I could just cut the ingredients, but I find it more fun to share :D. Anyway, today I am doing a recipe for pizza puffs and another post to show you what I do at work on occasion:D. I will probably post a drink tomorrow because a lot of people are graduating (and leaving me). The drink is actually coming from that cookbook I mentioned oh so long ago. I am going to give away that book somehow….anyway, so we have done appetizers, I will do a drink, and I think I have dessert covered. I am in need of a main. Here is the site:

http://redsie05.blogspot.com/2010/06/pepperoni-pizza-puffs-oh-my.html

Ingredients:
3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
3/4 cup milk (I used 1%)
1 egg, lightly beaten
4 oz. mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 1 cup) (I used Monterey Jack)
4 oz. pepperoni, diced (about 1 cup) (I used turkey pepperoni)
1/2 cup pizza sauce (homemade or store-bought)
2 Tbsp. fresh basil, finely diced. (didn’t use any but will next time!)

Method:
1.Preheat oven to 375o. Grease a 24-cup mini muffin pan.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder and oregano; whisk in the milk and egg. Stir in the mozzarella and pepperoni; let stand for 10 minutes.

3. Stir the batter and divide among the mini-muffin cups. Bake until puffed and golden, 20 to 25 minutes.

4. Warm the pizza sauce, then stir in 1 tablespoon basil. Sprinkle the puffs with the remaining 1 tablespoon basil. Serve the puffs with the pizza sauce for dipping.

Notes:

YUMMMMM. This is such a fun little finger food. I added a little more cheese and pepperoni because I wanted it to be cheesier and meatier. Also, definitely add some salt. I don’t know if any of you taste batter before you bake, but this needed it. The sauce was pretty good with basil (mine wasn’t fresh though, but hey still came out fine). This is something that I will make again with my niece and nephew. I know they will really like it just because they like bite size stuff. Anyway, not much to say about it except to make it! Happy nom noms!

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PS: I took them to class for my team members to have some goodies.

SUMMER!!!!

Okay, so I am super sorry for ignoring my blog for all this time (I was having blogging withdrawals). I am happy to report that school is over! Now I have Vegas, Erin’s Bachlorette party, Erin’s Wedding… Erin’s etc. Speaking of Erin here is her blog:

http://thelongdistancebride.blogspot.com/

Just in case any of my readers a looking for a little decorating, wedding, or just inspiration in general. Anyway, I figure since I have been such a bad little blogger we could catch up with each other. Yes? Okay good :D.  I am going to be cooking ALL week and try to do a post every day from now until the end of the week. I want to hit on all of the categories, so that maybe you can do an entire meal….we’ll see though. I haven’t really found what to do for a main course yet (if you have any ideas definitely comment them below). For today, let’s start with the appetizer. Today is brought to you by the letter: Parmesan Garlic Broiled Tomatoes

So…I totally fail. I will add an edit, but I forgot that I am on my work laptop (haha…I should be a little more productive! But I finished like 3 safety campaigns this morning, so I thought I deserved a little break!) and not on my home laptop. Fail! So, I don’t have the website to give you…but the recipe was simple enough that  I can for sure post it 😀

edit: http://blog.foodnetwork.com/healthyeats/2011/02/17/robin-miller-spicy-recipes/

Ingredients:

4 Beefsteak tomatoes

1 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

salt

pepper

1 Tbs garlic powder

1/2 C Parmesan (I used an Italian mix)

Method:

1. Preheat the broiler

2. Wash the tomatoes and then cut them along the equator (you can actually cut them into thirds and it still comes out nicely)

3. In a mixing bowl, mix  cheese and garlic powder

4. brush the olive oil over the top

5. salt and pepper (i did about 3 shakes for each tomato)

6. put about a tablespoon of the cheese mixture on each tomato (I just pinched the mixture and added so the whole top was covered)

7. broil for about 7-10 mins

Notes:

I didn’t notice before when I made it the first time, but I think to broil you put your oven rack on the higher one. Yes? No? Idk. I did it the second time and they cooked a lot faster. There aren’t many notes on this except for they are REALLY good, and it is so easy. Plus, the meal says summer to me. Be aware that the cheese doesn’t separate so if you want to take a bite, it may be cheese less. Also, my tomatoes were really juicy so I got a little messy when eating (After the 2nd squirt I just popped the whole thing in my mouth. Try it out and happy nom noms!

(I will have pictures later…my phone is being dumb and not sending them to me)

Twice Baked

So hopefully these are suppose to be eaten like potato skins and no just the insides….cause I definitely at the potato skin. Although, I hear that the skin is where a lot of the nutrients are. Hrm…. *googles*:

Potato skins store many nutrients and also contain a lot of fiber, which is essential for a healthy diet. Leaving the potato skins on also helps preserve the nutrients in the flesh of the potato, which have a tendency to escape during cooking. Based on a 2000 calorie diet, a large baked potato, including the skin, has 278 calories. Only 3 of these calories are from fat. A baked potato contains only 1% of the fat allowance considered as part of a healthy diet, with 0% of this being saturated fat

Read more here: http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-the-nutritional-value-of-the-potato-skins.htm

Wow, so I did pretty well. I am trying to lose weight (maybe you knew this, or maybe you didn’t because of all the highly NON nutritious meals I post… but hey I give myself points for creativity and tastiness). If you have any Tasty diety food leave it in the comments for me and I’ll definitely do it :D. Anywho, here is the recipe:

http://www.mrsdlovestoeat.blogspot.com/

Ingredients:

2 large russet potatoes
1/2 stick butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. black pepper
2 scallions, finely chopped

Method:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pierce each potato several times with a fork. Bake for 50 minutes, or until cooked. Cool completely.

In a large mixing bowl, combine butter, sour cream, salt, pepper, and scallions, leaving a few for garnish if desired. Cut the potatoes in half and use a spoon or melon baller to scoop out the flesh, leaving behind a thin layer of potato on the skin. Add the potato flesh to the bowl with the sour cream mixture. Mash the potatoes into the sour cream mixture until it’s combined and there are no large chunks of potato.

Spoon potato mixture evenly into potato shells. Bake for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are heated through.

I also did the chipotle version:

Ingredients:

4 medium Russet potatoes
1 cup sour cream
1 cup shredded extra-sharp cheddar cheese, divided
2 Tbsp. green onions, thinly sliced
1 chipotle chili in adobo sauce, finely diced
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. salt

Method:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pierce each potato several times with a fork. Bake for 50 minutes, or until cooked. Cool completely.

In a large mixing bowl, combine sour cream, 2/3 cup cheese, green onions, chipotle chili, chili powder and salt. Cut the potatoes in half and use a spoon or melon baller to scoop out the flesh, leaving behind a thin layer of potato on the skin. Add the potato flesh to the bowl with the sour cream mixture. Mash the potatoes into the sour cream mixture until it’s combined and there are no large chunks of potato.

Spoon potato mixture evenly into potato shells, and top with remaining cheese. Bake for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are heated through and cheese is melted.

Finally, I did my own version:

Ingredients:

1 Stalk of green onion, chopped

2 tsp of Julio’s seasoning salt

1 tbs of garlic

2 slices of cheese (crumbled…you can leave some uncrumbled to garnish)

Method:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Pierce each potato several times with a fork. Bake for 50 minutes, or until cooked. Cool completely.

Cut the potatoes into halves and scrap out the insides, leaving a the least amount of potato on the skin as you can. Combine the flesh with green onion, garlic, Julio’s seasoning, and cheese.

Spoon potato mixture evenly into potato shells, and top with remaining cheese. Bake for 15 minutes, or until potatoes are heated through and cheese is melted.

Notes:

I pretty much devoured these…So, remember when I said I did pretty good with nutrition? That was possibly a coping factor for how many of these I ate. These would definitely be great at a party, and it is easy to be creative with them. Some things to try are maybe bacon bits, parmesan, rosemary, etc. Anyway, I will have to post some pictures later. Happy cooking ^_^

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Tasty Tofu Edit

Okay, so a few posts ago I tried to make pineapple chipotle tofu. It was good, but the taste just wasn’t there for me. I recently remade it with the advice of some of my friend on facebook (shout out to Carolyn). Anyway, it was so much better. The first time I didn’t dry the tofu out enough I guess, and I also marinated it in the sauce this time. Here is the post with the recipe:

https://thestumbleuponchef.wordpress.com/2011/04/07/is-that-food/
Things I did differently:

I cut the tofu into small pieces and let them lay on a towel to dry out for about an hour.

Marinated the tofu in the sauce for about an hour and a half.

Made a little extra sauce because it is hard to see the sauce thicken.

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Is that…food?

Tofu gets a bad rap, okay. It isn’t something that USUALLY gets the mouth salivating, but this recipe definitely takes the cake on tofu related mouth watering subjects. Although, my dad makes things with tofu in them all the time, so I tend to find it nice to eat anyway :D. So, this week I found a site for pineapple chipotle tofu. Doesn’t that just sound….MmmMmm? I love things that are sweet and spicy or sweet and sour, so I just had to try it… weird little fact about me is I CRAVE pickles with fruit punch powder mix on it. DON”T deny it until you’ve tried it :P. Some people use to love french fries with their frosties, but I went with the pickle thing (I never actually liked the ice cream and fries thing). Anyway, here’s the website:

http://www.biggirlssmallkitchen.com/2009/05/potluck-parties-mag-club-cinco-de-mayo.html

Ingredients

For the Glaze:
1/3 cup pineapple juice

1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons minced chipotle with adabo sauce
1 clove minced garlic
pinch of salt–or if your Phoebe more! Because we know she loves salt!

For the Tofu:
1 package firm tofu sliced into 1 inch cubes and well blotted with paper towels

Method:

In a small bowl, whisk together all the ingredients for the glaze. Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil over a medium flame, and cook the tofu, stirring occasionally, until browned. Pour the glaze mixture over tofu and allow it to thicken.

Notes:

It was pretty good for doing something different with tofu, although the flavor didn’t really sink into the tofu. I don’t know if that is how it was intended, but I am going to make it again and marinade the tofu in some of the mixture before I cook it. I did eat the sauce on my rice though!

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Making broccoli tastier

Broccoli is probably one of my favorite veggies. I eat it a lot (steamed, stir fried, raw…etc), and I like to find new ways to serve it. I stumbledupon this site a few weeks ago and instantly wanted to try this. The only problem was that I didn’t have any broccoli stocked, so I couldn’t. School basically piled up on me and I couldn’t hit the store to get any….sad days. Anyway, I finally got around to getting the ingredients (along with a few others)! You HAVE  to try this!

http://www.staceysnacksonline.com/2011/01/broccoli-bites-for-kids.html

Ingredients:

16 oz. package of frozen chopped broccoli, thawed and drained of liquid (I used fresh steamed broccoli)
1 1/2 cup of grated cheddar cheese
3 eggs
1 cup of seasoned Italian breadcrumbs

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl.

With your hands, form small patties and lay on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Bake at 375F for 25 minutes, turning the patties after the first 15 minutes.

Notes:

I hate that I keep missing instructions…but at least everything turns out well :D. I didn’t see the part that says turn over after the first 15 minutes. I just baked it on one side for about 35 minutes. I also put 2 cups of cheese and a 1 and 1/4 cup of breadcrumbs. It may be different for you, but just feel the consistency of the mixture and see if you think stick enough to make patties. I added a touch of garlic powder, but the seasoned breadcrumbs are already pretty nicely season. Anyway, these little patties were really awesome. I like that I keep running into these recipes that just need everything to be mixed together with no order. What can I say, except I love simplicity :D. Alright, get those stoves fired up, ovens preheated. and oil heated to the perfect temperature! Happy cooking!

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Tasty Cardiac Arrest

My deep fryer has gotten more use now than it has ever. I thank my blog for that :D. I stumbled this recipe a while back, but made them recently when my friend said that she had never had them before. I told her that Hooter’s has the best fried pickles, but she refuses to believe that they have good food. I’ve only been once and it was because a friend of mine said that they had the best fried pickles. It had to be proven! 😀 Plus, I use to be picky, but now that I think about it I only get to live once, so I should try my hardest to eat as many types of food as possible. Expand my palette to the fullest. Even if it makes me fat. 😛 I’ll just need to start exercising more. Anyway, I am gonna hafta say that these are so much better. Here’s the recipe:

http://misadventuresofmrsb.com/?p=1186

Ingredients:

2 eggs

1 cup milk

1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce

3/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

1 jar dill pickles (I used 24 oz, you could use more)

1 cup vegetable oil for deep frying (Or more – I made sure I had 2 -3 inches of oil in the pan)

Method:

Pour oil in pan or fryer.  Heat to 365 degrees F.  (I used my meat thermometer up to 300 degrees, then dropped bits of batter into oil to check how it fried.  Maybe not the most scientific way to go about it, but it worked)

While oil is heating, pour pickles into a strainer and drain liquid.  Lay pickle spears on paper towels and dry as thoroughly as possible.

In a large bowl, combine wet ingredients with flour and spices.  Drop a bit of batter into oil once heated and taste to test spices, adjusting batter as needed.

Dip spears into batter, making sure to coat thoroughly.  Carefully drop into hot oil and fry until golden, making sure to turn over to ensure even frying.  This will only take a few minutes at a time.

Carefully remove fried pickles from oil and drain on paper towels.  Immediately sprinkle with additional salt and pepper, to taste.

Notes:

I loved this batter. Seriously. I even did the fried mash potatoes again and used this batter. It is just sooo good! I do have some problems making the skin crisp, but either way it was YUM. Okay, I am going to get away from fried stuff after this post I swear! Hopefully I will stumble some healthy stuff. Happy cooking!

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PS: I am thinking of adding a page for other stumbles that I come upon that I think are interesting….thoughts?

Lazy Southwestern Eggrolls

I’m sorry about not posting in forever, I have been uber busy with school and stuff. So, time to kill that productivity with some fun productivity :D. About two weeks ago I was at a friend’s classmate’s birthday, and we were sitting in this really expensive place eating food that was…alright at best. I mean the atmosphere was okay, but the food was lacking in some areas. They served jalapeno poppers, fried mash (Alyson bit into one and her face was SO funny), burgers, and other stuff that I don’t remember. Anyway, The burger wasn’t satisfying our desire for burgers, so my friend Alyson and I decided that we were going to have our own! The conversation went on and transformed into us having a BBQ cookout. Here is one of the appetizers we had. I actually got this recipe from my sister:

Southwestern Eggrolls
***To make some simple adjustments…instead of the chicken breast fillet I buy the tyson’s ready to eat grill chicken, they come in sm 8oz containers or bags. I use to but haven’t lately eliminated the frozen spinach, I also 4x the recipe and use the whole red bell pepper and green onion bunch, and black beans can.

Ingredients:
***1 chicken breast fillet
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 tablespoons minced red bell pepper
2 tablespoons minced green onion
1/3 cup frozen corn
1/4 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained
***2 tablespoons frozen spinach, thawed and drained
2 tablespoons diced, canned jalapeno peppers
1/2 tablespoon minced fresh parsley
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
dash cayenne pepper
3/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
five 7-inch flour tortillas

Directions
1. Preheat barbecue grill to high heat.
2. Rub the chicken breast with some vegetable oil then grill it on the barbecue for 4 to 5 minutes per side or until done.
3. Lightly salt and pepper each side of the chicken while it cooks.
4. Set chicken aside until it cools down enough to handle.
5. Preheat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a medium-size skillet over medium-high heat.
6. Add the red pepper and onion to the pan and sauté for a couple minutes until tender.
7. Dice the cooked chicken into small cubes and add it to the pan.
8. Add the corn, black beans, spinach, jalapeno peppers, parsley, cumin, chili powder, salt, and cayenne pepper to the pan.
9. Cook for another 4 minutes.
10. Stir well so that the spinach separates and is incorporated into the mixture.
11. Remove the pan from the heat and add the cheese.
12. Stir until the cheese is melted.
13. Wrap the tortillas in a moist cloth and microwave on high temperature for 30 seconds or until hot.
14. Spoon approximately one-fifth of the mixture into the center of a tortilla.
15. Fold in the ends and then roll the tortilla over the mixture.
16. Roll the tortilla very tight, and then pierce with a toothpick to hold together.
17. Repeat with the remaining ingredients until you have five eggrolls.
18. Arrange the eggrolls on a plate cover the plate with plastic wrap and freeze for at least 4 hours. Overnight is best.
20. While the eggrolls freeze prepare the avocado-ranch dipping sauce by combining all of the ingredients in a small bowl.
21. Preheat 4-6 cups of oil to 375 degrees.
22. Deep fry the eggrolls in the hot oil for 5-6 minutes and remove to paper towels or a rack to drain for about 2 minutes. Slice each eggroll diagonally lengthwise and arrange on a plate around a small bowl of the dipping sauce.

 

Notes:

I posted the entire recipe, but as the title suggests…LAZY is a main ingredient, so stop at step 12 if you are going to be like me. I served this up like a dip, but if you don’t want to use chips you can do a lot of things, like just put some tortillas next to it and people can make burritos…stuff like that, be creative :D. If you look at the images below you will see that I posted a picture of this plastic baggie. Well, I thought that it was the mix of ingredients that my sister used when she made it. UNFORTUNATELY, it was chicken boullion powder. I couldn’t really tell the difference, but I had to recall the flavor from like 4 months ago. Instead of using frozen corn, I used canned corn (drained and rinsed), I cut the spinach out, and the red pepper I used mysteriously resembled two different peppers that looked yellow and orange. I love this stuff (as in I always order some when we go to Chili’s), so I am pretty happy to have a lazy version of it. Anyway, try it out and as always happy cooking.

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Queso!

A couple of weeks back my dad decided that he would buy 5 bags of guacamole chips… Now, I don’t know if you buy things in bulk, but I find this ridiculous. He gets mad at me when I don’t eat them either, but I mean getting through a bag takes weeks! Anyway, I have decided to humor his little shopping spree by making queso to entice the eating of chips. Apparently, this recipe is the FAMOUS ROTEL CHEESE DIP. Hrmm… We’ll see about that! Take it to the recipe:

http://www.texmex.net/Rotel/cheesdip.htm

Ingredients:

1 lb. pasteurized processed cheese spread, (Velveeta), cut into 1″ cubes
1 can (10 oz.) Diced or Whole RO*TEL Tomatoes & Green Chilies

Directions:
In a saucepan, combine ingredients; stir over low heat until cheese spread is melted.
Serve with tortilla chips, crackers, or vegetables.

Microwave: Place ingredients in a covered casserole.  Microwave on HIGH  until
cheese spread is melted, about 5 minutes, stirring once.

Notes:

Well, as you have seen in the past I like my things spicy, HOWEVER, I realize that I do entertain friends sometimes that can’t take the heat. So, I bought some canned jalapenos and put them in a separate bowl for my eating delight. I also threw in a few pinches of garlic powder, julio’s seasoning, and a pack of bacon bits.  I had half an onion left over from an earlier recipe so I said “What the heck” and chopped about half of that up and threw that in too. These went great with the guac chips and I am pretty sure they’d go great with any tortilla/corn chip. It was pretty good, but I had a problem with it being kind of runny…anyone else or that just me? Anyway, to counter this I added some slices of cheese and a tbs of cornstarch. Also famous? I guess it may be for easy cooking, but it definitely could use some tweaks :D. Happy cooking!

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PS: If you have any recipes/websites for refried bean dip…that would be great! Thanks.