Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats

As I celebrated the big 26 this weekend in Evansville, I remembered, I have a blog. A very very sad blog with lack of posts. So what if I don't have a camera, if it's worthy enough, it can be visually described.

My late birthday weekend was filled with food. I had a delicious angel food cake (made by Betty Crocker herself) topped with the freshest of fresh berries. And my mother has apparently been keeping up with my food blog because I received a brand spanking new rolling pin for my birthday. Yes, you heard that correctly. Goodbye empty Svedka vodka bottle, hello delicious wood rolling pin. I also got a hand mixer, can opener, and mixing bowls. Who knew a 26 year old would be so thrilled over such commodities.

We also ventured out to take in the new flick Julie and Julia. If you haven't gone, you should. It is fabulous. If I only had the blogging/cooking skills as portrayed in the movie. Well, for one, I'd be enormous. The main ingredient in each dish is butter. But honestly, quite a good film.

Since I can't simply post about my fabulous weekend, that did come complete with the best 60 minute massage ever, I have posted a new favorite snack.

Peanut Butter Rice Krispie Treats
You make these the traditional way, bag of marshmallows, stick of butter, small box of krispies. However, try adding about 1/3 cup - 1/2 cup peanut butter while melting the marshmallows and butter. Your taste buds will thank me, your gut, not so much. I could have eaten 1/2 the pan the first night. Luckily these were going to the local Gilda's club, so none stayed in my kitchen!

Enjoy, and I promise to not abandon you anymore poor blog.

Goulash, or something like it

First and foremost, I apologize for the picture. My camera bit the dust shortly after the upload. Thank goodness I have a birthday coming up, hint hint.

Growing up, everyone has that one food that they hate, well, I had many, but the one that you hate, and then as you get older, you love. Mine was my mom's goulash.

Goulash, well, sort of, kind of goulash. Each member of my family makes this completely differently but for some reason it all has the same name. This is my version.

My Version

Small Onion

Clove of Garlic

Green Pepper

Half bag veggie crumbles

Big can diced tomatoes

Cooked elbow macaroni (use your best judgement, I went with half the package)

Salt

Pepper

Cut up vegetables and cook with veggie crumbles until they are no longer frozen(the veggie crumbles that is). Add diced tomatoes, 2 pinches salt, 2 pinches pepper. Stir until hot. Add to cooked, drained noodles and season to taste.

You can use ground beef, but, I don't like to touch it so I opted for veggie crumbles. You all missed the bison steaks I cooked up this weekend, hehe.

*Note, there is no mention of the corn, it tasted like earth.

homemade mayo!!

i dont eat it very often so there is really no point in buying it.  but, while bobby was here for the 4th of july i was cooking like a mad woman and realized that i needed some for the coleslaw i was making.  i didnt want to go to the store and richard and bobby had downed an entire bottle of jager in 30 minutes so they werent going either....

hummm... what is a girl to do???

make her own, of course!!! :)

this recipe is so so so simple!!

ingredients:

1 egg

1 tablespoon mustard

1 teaspoon lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon white vinegar

2 teaspoon powdered sugar

1 1/4  cup canola oil

mix everything except oil together in a blender.  NOTE:  ALL INGREDIENTS NEED TO BE ROOM TEMP!  slowly add oil while continuously blending.  i actually doubled everything because i was making avocado ranch mayo.  (hence the empty avocado and ranch packaging)  for that i used 1/2 cup mayo, 1/2 cup sour cream, 1 avocado and 1 packet of hidden valley ranch dry mix.  mash up the avocado and mix everything else in with it.  it is really really good  :)

comfort food

i dont know what my deal has been lately but ive been craving carbs!  i didnt exactly know what i wanted but i know i wanted to feel full.  so, while richard was playing with his toys (aka turntables) i decided to make something yummy and this is what came about....

i took this recipe and made my own little version of it.

ingredients:

12 ounce package dry gemelli (its pasta... use whatever you want)

small onion

1 pound fake sausage

1/2 cup white wine

1 15 ounce jar spaghetti sauce

6 ounce can of tomato paste

14.5 ounce can of fire roasted tomatoes

shredded cheese... the more, the better :)

preheat oven to 400.  you will also need to start boiling water for the pasta and get that going.

chop up that onion.  i cant get enough of my nicer dicer.  it is the best thing i have in my kitchen right now... until i get my kitchenaid standing mixer.  dont worry nicer dicer, i will still love you equally.

you will need to brown the meat.  obviously, you dont have to use fake sausage but sausage is needed for this recipe.  so, for you meat lovers... go ahead and eat little wilbur.  anyway... once you start to cook the sausage, add the onion and cook until evenly brown.  (if you are using real meat, once the meat is finished cooking make sure to drain that nasty, greasy fat)  then add the wine, spaghetti sauce, fire roasted tomatoes and tomato paste.  simmer for about 10 minutes.  stir occasionally.  (are you jealous of my cast iron skillets?  its ok, you can be) :)

next toss pasta with the sausage mixture.  from this point, you can do what you like.  you can throw this is a greased 9x13 pan, cover it with cheese and bake it or you can layer it.  one layer pasta, one layer cheese, one layer pasta, one layer cheese... you get the point.  (layering is what i did)  

bake for about 20-25 minutes and then enjoy!!! :)

it was really really really good.... this recipe is very versatile and super easy to make.  you can add and take out whatever you want.  since it is just me and the boy, this dish lasted us all week.  well, i also make eggplant parmesan so between the 2 of those dishes we were set! :)

Homemade Tortillas

Literally, I'm cooking with cocktails. I was in the mood for a cheesy quesadilla but had no tortillas. I whipped up some real quick. However, I lack one important thing, a rolling pin. Thank goodness for vodka bottles, and have you tried Svedka? Cheap, delicious, and look how cute that little bottle is. Goes great with pineapple juice, cranberry juice, or even pink crystal lite!

Tortillas

2 cups all purpose flour

1/4 cup Crisco

1 tsp salt

2/3 cup warm water

Work Crisco (or any vegetable shortening) into the flour until crumbly. Dissolve salt into water and add too flour mixture. Mix until goopy.

Knead dough for 3 minutes and then divide into 12 small balls. Cover and let sit for 30 minutes to an hour.

Heat skillet, no oil. Roll balls of dough into flat, very thin shapes (I couldn't get circles for the life of me, I went with blobs). Cook for about a minute on each side watching carefully not to burn them.

Let cool between paper towels, store in an airtight container.

Fill with your choice of wholesome goodness. I opted for cheese this evening, but cooked up a delicious vegetable mixture for tomorrow's lunch. (Squash, green pepper, onion, garlic, and some vegetable that looks like a cross between a squash and a cucumber. Sprinkled with some black pepper and Italian seasoning and topped off with juicy pepperoncinis, sure to make the coworkers jealous).

"they melt in your mouth" (thats what she said)

ok, sorry... i couldnt help myself on that one.  but the quote is real and she really did say that :)

4 words

honey chocolate chip cookies

yes.  they are amazing.  you might not be ready for it....

i found this recipe and decided to make a little bit of a twist to it.  i really had been wanting to use the honey i had recently bought at the farmers market and thought this would be the perfect opportunity.

 

ingredients - 

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking soda (i didnt have baking soda so i used baking powder.  i used about 3 tsp)

3/4 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs, beaten

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup crisco (melted and cooled)

2 cups chocolate chips

1/2 cup honey

in medium mixing bowl, mix sugars, crisco, eggs, honey and vanilla until combined.

in a large bowl, mix flour and baking powder until combined.  then add sugar mixture to the large bowl and fold into the flour mixture.  add chocolate chips until it looks amazing and you want to eat all the raw cookie dough :)

i let the dough cool for a few hours before baking it.  actually, in all honesty... this was the night amanda came over with her wine charms.  i let the dough sit for about 5 hours and then made the first batch.  (i only have one cookie sheet)  then i realized it was almost midnight and i needed to go to bed.  i ended up waking up at 6am (which came entirely too early) and made the rest of the cookies.

but, all in all.... it was worth it.  these cookies are pretty damn amazing and everyone at my work (and richards) ate them right up.  i will be using this recipe again because its a no fail kinda deal :)

moms taco salad

when i was younger, my mom made this amazing taco salad.  as ghetto as it is, you are going to love it too.  if you dont, you suck and im telling my mom on you.  :)

ingredients:

doritos

1 pound meat (and as you all know, mine was fake)

taco seasoning

cheese... lots of it

i also put green peppers and onion in the "meat" while it was cooking but you dont have to.

first, smash up a bunch or doritos.  this is the fun part... and i had a lot of fun making it after a long day at work last week.  just beat the crap outta those chips!! :)  once you have done that, make a layer on the bottom of a greased, 9x13 pan.

next, take the taco "meat" and make a layer on top of the chips.  (obviously, you know how to make taco meat... cook the meat, add taco seasoning and shazam!!  taco meat!!)

after the taco "meat" layer, throw on a bunch of cheese.  the more, the merrier.  repeat these layers until you can layer no more.  then add more cheese... 

i love cheese.  i dont know if you all knew that or not :)

then, during all of this tedious work, you get someone awesome to do their part.  *que richard*  my lovely stepped up and made cocktails... even though he doesnt blog, he does his fair share :)

ta da!!  of course i ate it before i took a picture of it... when food is calling my name, i dont hesitate to answer.  :)  

just bake this sucker for 15-20 mins at 375 and you are good to go.  add whatever you like on top.  i put lettuce, tomato, onion, salsa and of course, more cheese.  richard did all of the above minus onion plus sour cream.  it was yummy in the tummy!

Simply Cocktails

This being a blog about cooking and drinking, I have to show you the newest addition to my collection. My dear, sweet, loving aunties made me my very own wine charms. And yes, you are reading those correctly, they aren't nice, but are very appropriate.

I immediately showed up at Megan's house with not one, but two bottles of wine so we could test out each one.

Iced Oatmeal Blueberry Bars

Once again, instead of doing things like running and filling out those same IRA forms, I opted for cooking. This time I stuck to baking, it's not has hard to ruin a good dessert recipe. I was searching for a good blueberry oatmeal cookie recipe when I stumbled upon a recipe for Oatmeal Blueberry Bars, so I decided to whip that up instead. After removing them from the hot hot oven, they weren't as pretty as imagined so I drizzled with a little glaze.

My parents and I have decided to take a hike through Brown County tomorrow and enjoy the spring like summer air. They are bringing the lunch, I'm in charge of the dessert. Let's hope these taste as delicious as they sound!

Cookie Ingredients
1 3/4 cup pats
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup butter; melted
2 cups fresh blueberries (frozen if fresh aren't in season)
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 and grease up that 11x17 baking dish.

Combine oats, flour, brown sugar, almonds, baking soda and salt. Add melted butter and mix until crumbly.

Pat 1/2 of mixture into greased pan, reserving 1/2 for later. Bake for 10 minutes

While baking, bring blueberries, 2 tbs water, and sugar to slow boil. Simmer 2 minutes. Combine 1 tbs water, cornstarch, and lemon juice and gradually stir into blueberry mixture. Cooke about 30 seconds while stirring until thickened.

Spread blueberry mixture over partially baked portion of oats (watch out for the edge of the pan). Pour remaining oat mixture over blueberry portion and carefully pat down.

Bake 22 minutes or until topping is golden brown. Let cool and drizzle with icing.


Icing
This might possible be the easiest icing I've made.

1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 tbs soy milk (could use water, milk, juice, etc)
1/2 tsp vanilla (or if you had a little left over blueberry sauce, this would be delicious)

i love goat cheese

this really isnt too exciting of a post.  for one, i had to use my camera phone and two, there really isnt much to it.  

i decided that i needed to eat cheese last night and since i had goat cheese just hanging out, i though to myself... "mmm, goat cheese sticks!"  so, here is how it came about.

this is the cheese, yum.  :)  i chopped it up and then mixed it up with some basil, minced garlic and parsley.  i obviously got carried away and forgot to take a picture of the mixture.

speaking of add, i had cherry tomatoes that were calling my name so i chopped one in half, scooped out the inside and threw some of the goat cheese mixture inside.  it was yummy :)

i took about a half a teaspoon of the cheesey happiness and rolled it up in a wonton wrapper.  to be honest, i found this recipe a long time ago when amanda and i realized that we couldnt/werent allowed to go to spinellis every single night.  the only difference that im making to this recipe is that im using goat cheese.  any other time ive made them, i use string cheese.

prepped and ready to hit the oven!!

and this is the outcome.... nothing fancy but then sure tasted good.  :)

baked cheese sticks - 

wonton wrappers

string cheese (as previously mentioned, i just sub-ed the goat cheese mixture for this certain creation)

thats it.  thats the ingredient list.

basically, just roll the cheese into the wonton wrapper and pop in the oven on 350-400 for about 10-15 mins.  when using string cheese, cut them in half and they fit in the wrapper perfectly.  :)