Gumbo

I totally cheated on this recipe. Seriously, it was the easiest and most delicious, possibly most fattening thing I've made so far. All you need to get is smoked sausage, I use Conecuh sausage that's made in Alabama, and it is unbelievably good. Then you just buy a box of gumbo mix by Zatarain's and read the instructions. For real, this is perfect. I actually had frozen okra hanging out in my fridge so I made that and put that in the mix.

I didn't actually realize that okra is slimy when you cook it, but really, slimy as in slime comes off of it. You can see the slime. It's like in the Princess and the Frog when she complains because she's slimy, but really she's secreting mucous. You know what I'm talking about? If you don't, go watch the movie, it's amazing. Actually, she makes gumbo in the movie now that I think about it...

The finished product was so so so good. I'm thinking of adding corn or peas next time with the okra, it just added so much to it. Try it out, you won't regret it.

Bacon Crescent Wraps

This recipe, found on The "Unworking" Mother blog, produces really delicious bacon-y treats. Unfortunately for me, mine turned out looking nothing like pinwheels. They actually were described at work as "bacon cookies." Which sounds gross, but considering they were always supposed to be savory it actually ended up being decent.

For the Alabama v. LSU game all my coworkers that worked late brought something and these were my contribution.

If you want them to look pretty, I'd recommend putting the rolled dough with filling in the refrigerator before you try slicing it. I just think my dough got too warm and I was too lazy to wait for it to cool off.

Bacon Crescent Wraps

Ingredients:
1 3 oz package of cream cheese, softened (or just just 1/2 a block - 4 ounces)
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup real bacon pieces
1 8 ounce package crescent rolls
2 tablespoons chopped onion

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine cream cheese, bacon, onion and pepper. Separate crescent rolls into 2 rectangles. Pinch seams together. Spread cheese mixture on each rectangle. Roll up, starting at the longest side and seal. Cut each roll into 16 slices. Place on baking sheet with cut side down. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Notes:
For parties - I always double this recipe, sometimes I triple it - they go fast.
I usually buy bacon pieces in the jar (for salads). This saves time and mess from having to cook bacon.

Garlic, spinach and egg whites frittata

I made this to bring for lunch this week. It was delish. I added feta on top and it looks really fancy but in reality it was one of the easiest things I've ever made. It's kind of like a quiche without the crust. Which is the best part of quiche but also probably the most fattening part.

I'm only talking about fattening because technically I'm doing Weight Watchers right now. I'm not doing a very good job though because, not joking, I've gained 4 pounds in the 2 weeks since I started. Now, tell me how that makes sense? At least you can't tell, and to be honest, I don't need to do Weight Watchers I just wanted to learn to eat more healthy.Which...I guess I'm not learning. Maybe by the end it'll be better.

Back to the frittata. Here's how you make it.

Garlic, spinach and egg whites frittata

Ingredients:
2 cups Baby Spinach, fresh,
1 medium Onion chopped
1 to 2 tsp Olive Oil
Garlic, 2 to 3 cloves peeled & finely chopped (use less if you are not a garlic fan)
1 cup of egg whites (about 6 large eggs worth)
splash of Milk (I guesstimate 2 tablespoons)
12 - 15 grape Tomatoes sliced in half lengthwise
1/4 - 1/3 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
2 oz Pancetta (2 slices Boars head pancetta) torn into small pieces
1 tbs *Balsamic Vinegar

Directions

In non stick pan, warm the olive oil. Add the Garlic and sautee for about a minute. Add the onions and continue. Once the onions are translucent (but before they are golden) add the pancetta. Cook all until onions are deep golden. Add balsamic vinegar. Cook another minute then stir in Spinach and cook until it is wilted. Remove from heat.

Meanwhile in bowl mix egg whites & milk. Add salt and pepper to taste (I also add some freeze dried basil)

Assemble

Place spinach onion mixture in bottom of 9 inch glass pie plate that is coated with non stick spray. Top with the egg/milk/seasoning mixture. Drop in the grape tomato halves, distributing them evenly. Sprinkle with freshly grated Parmesan.

I just mixed Parmesan from a bag in, but then again, I'm lazy.

bake at 375 for 15 to 20 mins, or longer if you like it more golden.

Southwest Black Bean Casserole

I made this recipe last week and honestly this is one of my favorites, so far. A Pinch of Yum had this great recipe. I actually combined it with another recipe so mine was a little different. Like I left out the jalapeno peppers, bacon and chicken broth. I also used a jar of black bean and corn salsa in it as opposed to the tomatoes and such. I still used a can of black beans though, they're delish and good for you. And I used the cheddar cheese as opposed to Monterrey cheese. Instead of serving it with chips or tortillas I ripped up flour ones and mixed them around in the mixture before I baked everything.

I made the casserole and then I cooked some brown rice and put it with Goya's sofrito tomato base. You just spoon some of it, let's say three or four tablespoons of it, into the rice mixture and mix it around. My friend Joe likes to use the cilantro base, which is also very good if you're a fan of cilantro.

Southwest Black Bean Casserole

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb. ground extra lean turkey
• 1 chopped onion
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeds and ribs removed, diced
• 1 red pepper, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
• 5 garlic cloves, minced
• 2/3 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 2 (15 oz) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1-2 chopped seeded tomatoes
• 1/4 cup crumbled bacon
• 1/2 cup (2 oz) shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425F.
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground turkey and a handful of the onions to the pan, sauteing until meat is browned. Remove turkey and set aside.
3. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add onion, pepper, and jalapeno, sauteing for 4 minutes and stirring occasionally. Add salt, cumin, red pepper, and garlic. Saute for 1 minute, stirring constantly (I added a tablespoon or two of water to keep things from sticking in the pan.)
4. Stir in broth and black beans. Bring mixture to a boil and cook for 5 minutes. Mash beans to desired consistency.
5. Spoon mixture into an 8-inch square baking dish coated with cooking spray. Top with turkey, bacon, tomato, and cheese. Bake at 425F for 30 minutes or until lightly browned. Top with green onions and let cool for at least 10 minutes (otherwise it will be too runny).
6. Serve with sour cream, tortilla chips, on tacos, on a salad, or just eat it plain!

2012 thus far

So, it's not that I haven't been wanting to blog, I've just been too lazy to blog. So, I figured I'd take this time to 1) start blogging again and 2) talk about all the things I've been doing in the new year that take up my time other than writing my thoughts.

These are things I recommend you do as well because...well...they're entertaining or good for you. Just consider it, k?

1) Pinterest - That's a surprise, right? I know I get all of my recipes and crafts from Pinterest already. But it's just so addicting and makes me actually want to craft or work out or, you know, decorate my apartment better.

2) Cooking - After my few decorating disasters where I almost set my kitchen on fire, I decided that the things I'm good at making go in the oven. I'm talking casseroles and such things. Anyway, the stuff I've been making has actually been really good recently. Before I'd get bland things, or slightly not cooked all the way rice in one instance. And, thanks to my friend Joe, I've actually started making full meals (entree and side dish.) If you don't know how to cook, try learning sometime, it makes you feel really accomplished and is pretty relaxing.

3) Working out - I had really lazy about working out for a while, but recently I've been trying to get back into it. I try to at least do something four times a week and now I even have an idea for things to do after work during the week. They're circuits, and yes I found them on Pinterest, but when I was training for soccer in high school we'd do similar things, but we called them plyometrics. These include sets of squats, lunges, jumping jacks, push ups, crunches and so on.

Here's an example, I did this one today:

You will be sore, but after a while it should really tone you up.

4) Reading - I'm on the third book of The Hunger Games series and I'm not going to lie to you, I love them. I've been recommending them to everyone recently. One of my friends made a good point, though, that I'm pretty embarrassed about, I also recommend Twilight when I first read them. I was in high school, don't judge me! It was a phase! These are actually really good, I haven't finished them, but I'm expecting good things from the ending.

5) See movies - I saw three this weekend. And I realize how expensive this is, but I wanted to see them, and I get great joy out of seeing movies. It makes me forget about everything I'm worried about. I saw My Week With Marilyn, Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close and The Iron Lady. I'm going to say My Week With Marilyn was by far the best movie of the three. Meryl Streep was brilliant in The Iron Lady and it was a very impressive film as well, just a little too historical and real-life for me to see multiple times. But Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close was just so hard to watch. It was emotionally draining and frustrating and tragic all in one.

2012 has been going well so far, let's just hope it keeps getting better and better.

Brie-stuffed Latkes

So, excited, now I have leftover brie to eat with crackers! Brie is my favorite cheese. I bet if you really think hard about it you have a favorite cheese, too. That'd be a pretty good ice breaker question instead of what's your favorite color I think. Anyway, these took FOREVER to make, as do most things.

They are good though, but I almost lit my apartment on fire...again. I was holding a paper towel that was on fire, staring at it trying to figure out the best course of action. I ended up throwing it into a pot and pouring water on it.

Also, Happy Hanukkah from your Catholic friend. I know it doesn't start until the 20th, but I'll be surrounded by Christmas time festivities then, so I figured I'd make these early.

Brie-Stuffed Latkes

4 large potatoes, parboiled and peeled
2 large eggs, scrambled
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
2/3 pound Brie, rind on
Handful of all-puropse flour
1 tsp baking powder
Dash of milk, soymilk, cream, or water
Salt and pepper, to taste

Vegetable oil, to shallow-fry

We're following this technique almost totally - the only difference is the stuffing part, which happens in the pan, so procede as decribed - parboiling, peeling and shredding your taters - shredding the onion over the same disc, adding your minced garlic, salt and pepper, then mix. Add your eggs, flour, baking powder, mix, and then a tiny pour of milk, until you see batter thinly coating each shred of tater.

Heat about 1/2 inch of oil in a heavy iron skillet to medium. Have your cheese at the ready. We're keeping the heat a little lower than usual to give us time to make and stuff three latkes at a time.

Fork about a tablespoon of batter into the pan and flatten it with the back of a spoon. Quickly press a piece of brie into the batter, leaving a border of pancake free from cheese all the way around it. Fold it to fit if need be. Fork an equal portion of batter over the cheese, making sure to enclose it completely. Procede to make 2 more latkes in this way - by time you finish the third, it'll be time to flip the first.

When you flip these babies, press down slightly to compress, but be gentle. You don't want to squash your cheese out of its pocket.

Continue making latkes until the batter is gone. You'll have 10-12 large pancakes.

How To Destroy a Grilled Cheese Sandwich

I know, it seems almost impossible to mess up a grilled cheese sandwich. Let me tell you though, it is very, very easy when you start messing with the traditional construction of a grilled cheese sandwich. I did it this afternoon and am incredibly embarrassed about it.

Grilled cheese is delicious, unless you are allergic to dairy or such things. It is incredibly easy to make, too. Slap some butter on two slices of bread, put that delicious processed cheese in the middle and put in a pan. Flip until both sides are slightly brownish. You can even burn grilled cheese slightly and it's still fine.

Today, I thought I'd try to be a little fancy with my grilled cheese. I put some Ranch inside. Which I think sounds amazing, but somehow I must have put too much in. The results were this kind of creamy light yellow center of a sandwich. In other words, it was way too Ranch-y. So much so that it was a bad thing. I find this difficult to understand because I think Ranch is good in any facet. Somehow the overload made me not want Ranch for a long while though.

In honor of my terrible mistake I am including good recipes that are variations on the grilled cheese.

Grilled Cheese with Tomato

Greek Grilled Cheese

Jalapeno Popper Grilled Cheese

Southwestern Style Grilled Cheese

Grilled Cheddar, Avocado and Bacon

The Mac and Cheese Sandwich

Also, try your grilled cheese with tomato soup or bisque. I prefer bisque. It has a lovely velvety consistency with a lot more flavor.

Penne a la Betsy

So, tonight I decided to make a large dinner. Typically, because I live alone, I make a huge meal on Thursday or Friday and then eat on it until I'm off again (which is the next Thursday.) I decided to try something new this week. I can really only make curry, fried rice, and grilled cheese sandwiches (I'll put those recipes up later), but I'm trying to expand my cooking horizons now. I'm super great at baking, I'm lacking at cooking. Anyway, this is what I cooked tonight:

Penne a la Betsy

Ingredients

• 3/4 pounds Penne Pasta
• 1 pound Shrimp
• 3 Tablespoons Butter
• 3 Tablespoons Olive Oil
• 1 whole Onion (small)
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 1/2 cup White Wine, Or To Taste
• 1 can Tomato Sauce (8 Oz)
• 1 cup Heavy Cream
• Fresh Parsley, to taste
• Fresh Basil - To Taste
• Salt To Taste
• Pepper To Taste

Preparation Instructions

Cook the penne pasta until tender-firm, also known as al dente.

Peel, devein and rinse (under cool water) 1 pound of extra large shrimp. Heat about 1 tbsp. butter and olive oil in a skillet. Add the shrimp and cook for a couple minutes until just opaque. Do not overcook them. Remove from heat and let cool for a few minutes. Now, put the cooked shrimp on the cutting board and pull off the tails. Chop the shrimp into bite –sized pieces and set aside.

Finely dice one small onion. Mince two cloves of garlic.
In a large skillet heat 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons olive oil. Add the garlic and onion and sauté, stirring occasionally. After the garlic and onions have cooked a bit add your white wine. Let the wine evaporate for a few minutes, stirring occasionally. If you would rather not use wine, you can use low-sodium chicken broth instead (about ½ cup).

Now add an 8-ounce can of plain tomato sauce. Stir well until combined. Then add 1 cup of heavy cream. Continue stirring. Turn heat down to low and let simmer.

Now chop your herbs, about a tablespoon of chopped parsley and about the same amount of chopped basil, or if you’re feeling very proper, chiffonaded.

Now add your chopped shrimp back into the tomato cream sauce. Give it a stir and add salt and pepper to taste. Throw in your herbs and stir until combined. Finally add your cooked penne pasta and give it a good stir.

I highly recommend the Pioneer Woman blog. She actually takes you step by step through the recipes, which people like me that are cooking challenged need. When I made it I made it with whole grain penne, and I accidentally got a can of whole tomatoes instead of the tomato sauce. Yea, that's how bad I am at cooking. But I crushed up the whole tomatoes and it worked fine for the most part.

Look at me! I can make like four meal that are delicious. I'm nearly domesticated. Almost. Try this recipe, if I can do it, you can do it, trust me.

xoxo