Farm Fresh

I will never forget the first time someone asked if I had ever been to a farmers market... my response was simple, no.. my daddy is the farmers market at my house. Living on my own in the city has definitely made me much more appreciative of all the bountiful things that come from my dad and mom's hard work. Here are the goodies I got to bring back from my last trip home!

There are red potatoes, okra, squash, corn and white potatoes (like Russet). YUM! I just love getting to cook all of this home grown food! What a blessing!

Some of Hunter's favorites

A couple nights ago (around February 16), I was wondering what to do for dinner, I had recently stocked up on veggies at the publix sale and needed to finish off a sack of potatoes.

Hunter had some left over steak from our valentines night out and I decided to put it to good use. I cut up the steak and added it to a frying pan with some soy sauce, sauteed it for a bit and ta-da! A whole new meal. I baked the asparagus in the oven with olive oil and salt, and prepared a version of my friend Jackie's potato fries. I sprinkle them with a little salt and some crushed red pepper. Spicy foods are mine and Hunter's favorites.

Never forget to use up those leftovers! Make something new out of something and jazz it up a bit. The possibilities with food are endless!

Work Christmas Lunch

I created a beautiful batch of cookies from a recipe written about by my wonderful friend Jackie, you can find the post here!

The guys at work love these red velvet cake cookies. They are amazing! I added frosting, cream cheese of course, to add just a little punch. Here is my finished product. Check out my friend Jackie, and you can find many more great recipes like this!

Beef noodles

Hunter's dad makes wonderful Taiwanese beef noodles.

The week I stayed when them for his graduation was the first time I had ever been with a family so immersed in the culture of Taiwan. After serving more than 20 years in Taiwan, that is where their heart lies.

Beef Noodles are spicy and heart warming. The perfect comfort food, and I understand why Hunter likes them so much.

The second time I stayed with his family his father cooked them again. It is Hunter's favorite, so they try to make it every time he comes home. This is when Hunter's family taught me to use chop sticks to eat my beef noodles. It was HILARIOUS! It took me twice as long to eat mine as it did for them, but I was not going to be the only one at the table using a fork and spoon!

The soup is a labor of love...filled with spices, beef and specialty items. It cooks all day, and the house smells delightful as the fragrance fills the air.

So... the other day, I tried to make a cheap knock off. While it was good.. it was nothing like the real thing.

Ingredients:
Noodles (I used fettuccine)
Beef broth (or bullion and water)
Crushed red pepper
salt and pepper to taste.

I first made my broth and brought it to a boil, then I added the spices. The soup is meant to be spicy... SUPER spicy.

I then cooked my noodles, and once cooked added them to the simmering broth.

Ta-da. Super simple, and quite tasty... but like I said, not as good as the real thing. But this would be a great soup for a cold winter night when you have a cold. :)

Happy cooking!

Jalapeno Poppers

On my last visit home, my mom gave me a jar of homemade pickled jalapenos from our neighbor down the street. In my quest to eat all thing spicy and use these wonderful pickled jalapenos I stumbled upon this:

Source: aisletoaloha.blogspot.com via Keri on Pinterest

Using this recipe for inspiration and guidance, I made tasty jalapeno poppers of my own!

Ingredients:
Jalapenos (fresh or pickled)
Crescent Rolls
Cream Cheese
Bacon

First, spray cookie sheet with non-stick spray and preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Then, roll out crescents and cut in half, making 4 triangles from each pair:

Then prep the rest of your ingredients. She suggests you chop the bacon before cooking, for me... this was a nightmare. Have you ever tried to cut bacon, pre-cooking? It was horrible. Next time, I will cook, then cut.

I also spooned out the cream cheese onto the center of the rolls, and took the seeds out of the jalapenos.



 Then, layer all of your ingredients

And take the three tips of the triangle, pull them up and twist them. Pinch together the sides so that the stuff doesn't ooze out.

Bake, at 350 for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.

Enjoy! :)



Fish Tacos

I must say, I have cooked for many a person throughout my college years, and I was quite impressed when I noticed Hunter eating (and liking) vegetables. And he likes fish too!!

I am excited to know that he will eat most anything, and it is fun being able to cook good for you items like vegetables, without a fuss. So yesterday we decided to experiment and make fish tacos for dinner. With a little help and ideas from my friend Jackie I think they turned out well, and Hunter like them too!

Fish Tacos:

Tilapia fillets

Blackening seasoning (I used Old Bay)

Tortillas

Toppings of choice: Hunter used re fried beans, I used vegetables and cheese.

The one thing Hunter seriously doesn't like, is cheese. Crazy, isn't it?!

One easy to make veggie side I love is sauteed bell peppers and onions. Chop your veggies into slices or cubes, for me, this varies depending on what I am cooking them with. Heat a pan on the stove with a little olive oil. When the pan is hot toss in vegetables and season. I usually just use salt and pepper, or a little soy sauce, again depending on what I am making them with. Stir occasionally, the veggies are done is a matter of minutes. Quick and easy!

Next, the fillets. I rinsed them, patted them dry with a paper towel and then sprinkled Old Bay Blackened seasoning all over them. I chose to pan fry them, so I then placed the fillets in a shallow pan with hot oil. cook for three minutes on each side, or until fish flakes with a fork.

Hunter and I then assembled our tacos. We each chose an array of toppings, and you can too! Here is my finished product: What a fun, quick and easy meal!

Sunday Dinner

When I went grocery shopping last week, my grocery store had a few select meats on sale.

I was able to grab a beautiful bottom round roast with which to make my mom's roast and potatoes. I just love this meal, and it brings all the comforts of home to life. Usually my mom adds carrots to hers, but considering I don't eat much carrots, I didn't want to buy a pack, just to have them spoil.

This meal is made in the crock pot... making a super easy, fix and forget meal. Even better, my mom brought me a crock pot liner bag this weekend to test out on this meal! It made clean up a breeze, and I will be buying more!

For dinner:
Put roast in crock pot in the morning. I put my roast on just before I left for church. To keep it from drying out I added half of a cup of water, just in case. Here you can add anything you like, such as cream of mushroom soup.

That afternoon before going back to church I chopped up potatoes into about one inch pieces, and added them to the crock pot. Your potatoes take about two hours to cook.

So.. I forgot to take a completed meal picture... Sorry!!


Roast: cook in crock pot on low for about 8-10 hours, add potatoes 2 hours before desired meal time. ENJOY!

The crock pot bag made clean up so easy! After I put away the left overs and let the crock pot cool, I pulled the bag out. My crock pot was spotless, however I did wash it before putting it up... OCD, much?

Semi-homemade dinner

I love to cook. It gives me some of the greatest joy in life. With my busy schedule I am often tired and worn out by the time I get home. Two nights ago Hunter and I were pondering what we would eat for dinner... I hadn't put anything out to thaw that morning, so unless we wanted to eat late, the meat needed to be something that didn't have to thaw. So, in the spirit of Sandra Lee I took my groceries and went to work.

Hunter loves steamed vegetables. The fact that he loves veggies blesses my soul... and he always wants them steamed, I guess that comes from his Asian roots. :)

So, we had: Beef tips (precooked, heat and serve from the grocery store), rice, steamed broccoli and corn.

The key to this meal was getting everything ready at the same time.. each component took different amounts of time to cook.. During this meal, I used all four burners on my stove.. I wish I had gotten a shot of that.

Now, most everything was pretty basic, heat the corn add seasonings, cook the rice and season.. warm the meat.. so I wanted to spruce up our meal by adding a little something to our steamed broccoli.

I steamed the broccoli by placing it in about an inch of water in a pan on the stove, let it boil for 3-4 minutes and then drained the water. Afterward I added a little soy sauce and some seasonings to the pan and cooked the broccoli a minute or two more, infusing the soy sauce.

And, we're done... a meal in less than 30 minutes. And Hunter seemed to enjoy it. :)

Like I have said many times, cooking at home saves you MONEY! It is good together time as well. Meals don't have to always be fancy and tough to be enjoyable... quick throw together meals are great too!



Buffalo Chicken Pizza

I am in love with all things spicy. I love hot wings, but I am not necessarily a fan of the mess. I first had a buffalo chicken pizza while in DC with Mary-Anne at California Pizza Kitchen.

So, earlier this week I had grilled chicken and didn't want to just have plain left over chicken. As I was sitting at my desk I pondered what would be easy and tasty. Taking inspiration from my friend Jackie I decided to just try something, so I settled on what I would hope to turn out well... The end result? Buffalo chicken pizza.

Disclaimer: I am a total measurements girl - it goes with the OCD, but for some reason I just threw this together... next time I will try to better the recipe.

Buffalo Chicken Pizza

Pizza crust (store bought, home made, you choose)
Ranch
Buffalo Wing Sauce (I used Frank's Red Hot)
2 Chicken breasts (grilled or boiled)
Cheese


I first prepared my crust and then did a thin layer of ranch dressing, in place of pizza sauce. I chopped my chicken and then tossed the chicken in a bowl with the buffalo sauce. I then spread my sauce covered chicken over the crust and ranch and topped with some shredded cheese. I forgot to take pictures throughout, but here is the finished product:

Note: This recipe was a total miss with Hunter! HAHA! However, you can't blame him, he doesn't like wings, ranch or cheese.... So there was no hope. But, he at least tried it! :)

Pizza Rolls

Last week when I got home I was craving pizza. I had had a long day at work and with classes and did not feel like venturing out for food. I wanted to use what I had at home, and here is what I ended up with.

Pizza Rolls:

1 tube, crescent rolls

pepperoni's

pizza sauce

assorted cheeses

I layed the crescent rolls out in the individual triangles, and at the base of the triangle, put a small spoonful of pizza sauce. I then layered three pepperoni's, and a pinch of two types of cheese onto the sauce. I used cheddar and parmesan.

I then rolled them into crescents, being careful to keep my ingredients inside, and baked using the directions on the crescent packet.

YUM! No hassle, no driving, SUPER CHEAP! A college kids dream, and fun if you have kids! Enjoy!

A post Jackie-Eats would be proud of... :)

As many of you know, I love to cook. My friend Jackie has a wonderful blog of her culinary adventures. And she posts some pretty great recipes! Now, I usually don't have much time to cook these days, so anything quick and easy, or just pop in the oven and go is really helpful!

Jackie blogged about how to use up potatoes that you don't know what to do with and I made my own version of these yummy steak fries!

I cut and cooked my steak fries as Jackie recommended. See her version here at Jackie-Eats! But I seasoned mine a little differently. I coated my fries in salt and a tiny bit of black pepper, then I covered them in Cayenne pepper. I love, love, love spicy things! They were so great! And, if you needed to cool them off a little, they were great dipped in some ranch as well! My roommates enjoyed! 

Another quick and easy thing I love to make was inspired by a bunch of friends from Enterprise. Visiting some mission trip friends, their mother made us a dinner I will never forget. This dinner has become a tradition in mine and Sean's circle of friends! It is making homemade calzones and cheese sticks! YUM! However, this is more of a crowd/family fun meal, so in search of a yummy substitute I started making homemade pizza! You can top it however you like, bake it up and what a great meal! Here is a picture of my latest pizza creation:

This time I topped my pizza with cheeses, bell peppers, banana peppers, and of course used pizza sauce! I have been using a crust that you have to mix and roll out yourself, note the imperfect circle... :) So I am thinking of experimenting with different crusts in the near future! 

I love to eat, I love to cook. Stop by sometime and I would love to cook for you! ;)

Quiche

Last week I was able to cook a lot more than usual, and that makes me happy. I explained to a few of my friends back home that the thing I miss the most is cooking for 12 people every week. Funny story, they said they missed it too! :) So glad my cooking is appreciated.

So, my mom always cooks quiche for Christmas holidays... and quiche is something I love. It is just about the only way that I will eat eggs. I just cannot stand the texture of eggs... so, yeah, I don't eat them.

So... quiche is something that you can throw a bunch of ingredients in... just whatever you like! I chose to put ham, cheese, and fresh bell pepper in mine. This picture is before baking, just so you can see all of the ingredients. I layered mine and then poured the wet ingredients over the top... However, I do feel that it would work if you mixed all ingredients together and poured into the pan.

It is easy and I was actually able to just put together what I had and it turned out to be a great meal. I love easy comfort food. I love trying new recipes, and I love to call on my ultimate cookbook, my mom. She can just throw stuff in a pot and it turns out to be great... This was my first time making quiche and I was so happy with how it turned out. Now, quiche may seem like girlie food, and maybe it is. But I believe that this is great as any meal, from breakfast to dinner. Just choose hearty ingredients or light ones depending on your mood and time of day. 

Cooking truly one of my favorite things to do!

Stress and Sugar

I have decided to stay with my parents through the week and have really been enjoying my time at home. I helped mom clean today and we cooked meringue shells yesterday. I had recently been watching food network and saw a lady cook meringue shells; so I asked my mom if we could try to make them. Sure enough, when I got home this weekend mom had bought the ingredients and gotten a recipe from my aunt. I have been having cooking withdrawals this summer. I love, love, LOVE to cook and since being in my apartment I haven't really had the opportunity to cook much of anything yet. So I was really excited about mine and my mom's newfound culinary adventure. After almost three hours the meringues were done... they are a slow and steady process, taking patience and care.

And, here is the end result.....

They were amazing!! We topped them with whipped cream, strawberries and chocolate. YUM! I then drove to Troy to deliver Donna a few treats. I just couldn't wait to share my little goodies. :) She of course shared some of her's with Dr. Blackstock, who in turn, when asked what they were made of said, 'It doesn't matter what they are made of, they could be made of elephant dung and it doesn't matter! They're good!' I was very pleased that my treats went over so well. 

I continued in my travels through Troy and was able to stop and see my friend Courtney's new house. She is teaching Math at my high school this year and I am really excited for her! I hope she loves it. I am also excited in a selfish way, because I know that she will be close to me throughout this year, and I know she will be great for ZC. 

After that I went to see Sean and tried to see Elana and Joshua. However, when Sean and I tried to leave for dinner I tripped down the stairs and onto the concrete stepping stones. Sean thankfully caught me before I completely hit the ground, so only my big toe is truly messed up. I will spare you the details, I was just thankful for Sean being there. He carried me inside and took good care of me. He used peroxide to clean my wound and then Elana came over and brought neosporin and bandaids to help bandage me up.

Today, has been a crazy day to say the least. I have next to no cell service at my parents house. I have been waiting on a call back about my job interview from next week. And right before lunch, I got a call from another department for an interview. And of course, after lunch, I got the call from Mr. Deshara about the office job. He wants to hire me!!!! I explained to him about my interview Wednesday, and he said that it was ok to call him after my interview on Wednesday. I hope that he still wants me Wednesday. I really want either of these jobs. 

Prayers and hopes that all goes well these next few days and that I have a definite answer at the end of the week.