Treat for the other family members aka The Pups!

So I have been doing so much cooking lately for Ben and I, that I have neglected the other members of my family Rosie, Eleanor, and Woodrow (okay so they are dogs but we refer to them as children)!! I was given a recipe for dog treats by my dear friend Lacey, so I decided it was time to show the pups alittle TLC.  I also had leftovers from the night before and who are we kidding, I needed to kill some time before "Real Housewives of New York" came on at 9pm!  So I gathered all my igredients up, and as a side note, you can use regular milk in these treats, but my little Westie, Woodrow, has a very sensitive stomach so I used half soymilk and half water (the original recipe calls for 1 cup milk) I think 1 full cup water would work too!  Hope your Pups enjoy! I know mine did!!!

A few ingredients...........

 Add 1c peanut butter chunky or smoothe to your flour and baking powder......

 add your milk, water, or 1/2c soymilk and 1/2c water...........

 Put dough into a ball.........

 Roll out and cut into shapes with your favorite cookie cutter.....

 Bake at 375 for about 20 minutes and Voila! Dog Treats.....

 Good Boy Woodrow! He is patiently waiting for the treats to be ready.....

 And who are we kidding....with a few yummy additions.....

 You can feed them to your husband as dessert!! No joke! So I guess the are dog/human treats!

Oh, and the "Children" liked them too!!

 And I was happy because now, it's time for ME!!.......Well hello Real Housewives of New York, oh how I've missed you all.........

Dog/Human Treats (I believe this recipe came from barkbites.com)

2c Whole wheat flour

1tsp baking powder

1 c water or milk (or 1/2c soymilk and 1/2cwater)

1c Peanut butter, chunky or smoothe

Preaheat Oven to 375, mix all ingredients together in large bowl.  Roll dough out and cut into shapes. Lay onto greased cookie sheet and cook for about 17-20 minutes....let cool and serve! If you are a human eating these, add some preserves and fruit and you have one hell-of-a dessert!

If at first you don't succeed try, try again! Spanish Rice take two!

So last night Ben actually requested "Black Bean Tacos" (I posted about these last week if you would like the recipe), so I decided it was the perfect opportunity to try my hand at Spanish Rice again (if you have been reading you know that I tried this last week and it went down the disposal). Let me just give you alittle backstory on this "recipe". My husband's side of the family is Mexican so let me say that we have the MOST DELICIOUS Mexican food when we are together, so there is alot of pressure for me to figure out how to make these dishes, so I can one day pass them onto my family! When we first got married, I called Shelly and asked her for her rice recipe and her words were, "there isn't a recipe, I'll just have to show you how to make it, like I was shown how to make it!"  So, I went to her house and she showed me how make rice like Augustina, Ben's grandmother, showed her. I took down a few notes and have successfully made this, but it's been a while....like over a year...until last week when I tried and failed miserably! Another important factoid is Shelly uses Comet Brand rice, and I tried to healthy it up by using Full Circle organic brown rice, which is great, but maybe not so great for this recipe--however, I did use the brown rice last night and it turned out pretty close to Shelly's version.  So now you have the back story to the "no recipe" Spanish Rice-- that I am trying to create a recipe for so you all can make it too!  The main trick to this recipe is making sure it doesn't get dried out before it gets totally cooked so you definitely have to keep an eye on it!  I know, I know that was alooooottt of rambling, but a backstory is important when the dish doesn't have a recipe!! So here it goes....Spanish Rice!!


Okay, here we go again! Rice ingredients.....

 Pour rice, water (use the H2O specificationson your rice package) and one 8ounce can of Tomato Sauce...

 Add your spices....1tsp garlic salt...

 1TBS of Chili Powder and 1TBS of Cumin.......Bring to a boil..

 After it is boiling, reduce to a medium-high simmer and cover! Do not peek for at least 10 minutes, then check the rice but DO NOT STIR to see if it needs more liquid.  Do not let it dry out before it is fully cooked!

 May I suggest passing your time with an ice cold beer with lime.....

 And Voila! Once rice is cooked, garnish with fresh cilantro (this is not how Shelly does it...just my artistic liscense....)

 And serve with your favorite Mexican dish!!

No recipe, recipe, Spanish Rice

2TBS Olive Oil

1c rice (i think white will take less time, but I used organic brown)

1 8ounce can of tomato sauce

Water (for your rice specifications...mine called for 2/12c to 1c rice and I ended up using about 6c total until my rice was cooked....keep an eye on it)

1tsp garlic salt

1TBS cumin

1TBS chili powder

fresh cilantro (optional)

Michelobe Ultra with a Lime (optional)

Begin by preheating your pan to medium high heat  with your olive oil.  Add 1c rice and stir until rice browns just slightly (doesn't take long!).  Add your tomato sauce, water, garlic salt, cumin, and chili powder and bring to a boil.  Reduce to a medium to high simmer and cover tightly with lid.  (Drink your Michelobe here if you desire)  Check  rice after ten minutes to see if it needs more liquid and add liquid in 1/4 to 1/2c increments until rice is fluffy and cooked through....fluff with a fork if necessary but do not stir or your rice will get gooey (thats what my mother in law told me so I'm telling you!).  Garnish with fresh cilantro and the other half of the lime you used for your Michelobe and serve!!! 

**This is the way I made it last night and is as close as I can get to a recipe the way I learned...maybe one day Shelly will have us all over and she can show us!?!....or better yet, maybe I will video this and we can continue to improve upon it!

"Skinny" Pot Pie

So last night was a great night because my husband was actually home! No work, no school, no homework, no studying, just a night to hang with me!! I looked at the night as the possibility of what could be when this journey called Law School ends in May...oh and when the BAR is over July...(I have a feeling May to July will be worse than the three years of school combined).  So to celebrate the togetherness, we decided to have a meal together and thankfully Ben really loves to help me cook, he is definitely the best Sous Chef a gal could ask for.  We could not let the night go by with the usual "I'm eating by myself" can of soup (which I eat in front of the TV and he eats at his desk), so I went to the store and decided to make what I am affectionately calling "Skinny Pot Pie".  It is a revamped version of Chicken Pot Pie (I looked up alot of pot pie recipes and decided to make my own using a few measurement cues from allrecipes.com), minus the chicken and heavy on the veggies, I promise you won't miss the meat!  Let me just tell you, it was delicious!! It still had the same savory chickeny taste but minus the calories, and I actually made my own Pie crust with whole wheat flour (word to the wise, it is harder to tell when the crust is done because the Wheat crust is already "browned").  If I can roll out home-made pie crust in my tiny kitchen, any one can (although I did roll it out on my dining room table which isn't technically "in" my kitchen, but you get the idea...) So here you have it, "Skinny Pot Pie".


Get all of your ingredients together...
                                     

 Mix your dough in a food processor and roll into a ball...let chill for 30 minutes and then roll out to fit your pie dish....

Saute garlic, onion, and mushroom until clear....

 Add your carrots, celery, potato, and whatever combination of veggies you like, I added green lentils (because I already had them) and canned corn...peas would also be a nice addition...

 Combine 1TBS corn starch with 1/4c water to let it dissolve.....

 Add 3c vegetable broth along with your mixed corn starch, then add your spices....Salt, Pepper, ground thyme, and two bay leaves...

 Pour your thickened mixture into your pie pan and cover with crust....YES I I KNOW...mine isn't very pretty but practice makes perfect right??...

 Bake at 425 for 30-40 minutes or until crust is sufficiently browned.....

 There you have it!! "Skinny Pot Pie"

 Although, I'm not sure how skinny it is if you and the person you eat it  with finish off the entire pie....OOPS!

Whole Wheat Pie Crust

2c Whole Wheat Flour

2/3c Vegetable Shortening

1tsp salt

7-8TBS ICE COLD water

In a food processor or mixer, blend together the flour, salt and shotening.  Add 7TBS of water and if you feel the mixture is too dry, add another tablespoon.  Once combined, pour out onto a floured surface and make into a ball. Cover in wrap and let chill for 30 minutes.  After chilled, roll out onto a floured surface until it is about 1/4in thick and will cover your baking dish.  Bake over your dish for about 30-40 minutes or until crust is "browned" (IE more brown than it started :) )

Skinny Pot Pie Mixture (remember you can use whatever veggies you prefer)

3TBS extra virgin olive oil

1/2 Large White onion diced

10 large Mushrooms diced (I used whole white mushrooms)

3 garlic cloves minced

2 Carrot sticks diced

2 Celery Sticks diced

1 russet potato diced

1/2c Green Lentils (or peas or whatever)

1/2c golden corn kernels

3c vegetable stock

1TBS corn starch

1/4c water

2tsp ground Thyme

2tsp salt

1tsp pepper

2 Bay Leaves

Preheat large skillet to medium High heat.  Add oil to pan.  Add onion, mushrooms, and garlic and let saute about 3-5 minutes until clear.  Add carrots, celery, potato, lentils, and corn and saute for about 5 minutes or until barely softened.  Add vegetable broth and let mixture come to a boil. In a separate containe add cornstarch to water and mix together so the corn starch does not have clumps.  Add cornstarch/water to the vegetable/broth mixture.  Turn mixture down to a simmer and add thyme, salt, pepper, and bay leaves.  Cook for about 2-3 minutes or until the mixture has begun to thicken.  Add to your pie dish and cover dish with pie crust.  Cook in preheated oven at 425 for 30-40 minutes and serve!

Is it the weekend yet??? "Pantry-Only Brunch"

Well, I have definitely got a case of the "Monday Blues" today.  It has just been a typical Monday where something seems to go wrong and make you wish you had just oneeee more day of weekend bliss...but then I guess Tuesday would be the new Monday, right?  Well I had a fabulously relaxing weekend and actually spent Saturday morning with my husband!! So, we decided to make brunch together, whole wheat pancakes and my mom/aunt's famous hashbrowns! YUM!  The best part of this brunch was we came to our menu soley based on what was already in our pantry! I think that made my husband the happiest because he is usually (and by usually I mean always) the one who has to run to the store to pick up at least one of the missing ingredients.  Not this time!!  In fact, none of the ingredients even required refridgeration, so it was a pantry-only meal! Gotta love easy! So here you have, it my "Pantry-Only Brunch"....


The morning's brunch playlist--"Something's Gotta Give" soundtrack....my alltime favorite...

Pantry ingredients (except for the water)

Sift your dry ingredients....

Make a well in the center of the sifted dry ingredients...and pour in your wet ingredients....

Grate one whole potato...

Heat your oil at a medium-high heat....

Make an even layer of your grated potatos let cook, then flip until desired crispiness is reached...

Heat your pan for pancakes.....when heated pour 1/4c batter into pan.....

When all is cooked, Bon Appetit!

Whole Wheat Pantry Pancakes.....(inspired by on allrecipes.com)

1 1/4c Whole Wheat Flour

2tsp Baking Powder

2 TBS agave nectar (sugar works too)

1/2tsp salt

1 1/4 c water

1TBS Vegetable Oil

1/2tsp Vanilla

Pre-heat Griddle to a medium-high heat....and grease.

Sift together baking powder, salt and flour.  Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and pour in agave nectar, water, oil, and vanilla. Whisk together.  Use 1/4c measuring cup to measure out each pancake.  Pour onto griddle, flip once the pancake edges begin to bubble and Serve!

Debra and Peggy's Hashbrowns

1 baking potato

1/4 c vegetable oil

Salt and Pepper to taste

Preheat skillet to medium high heat and coat the  pan with oil.

Grate one large baking potato, and add to hot oil in skillet.  Make an even layer and use back of spatula to press on potatos (thats how AuntPeg does it, my mom, Debra does not press on it).  Once potato side down is golden brown, flip the potatos to the other side until golden brown or your desired crispiness is reached.  Cut into pieces and serve!!



Black Bean Tacos...mmm mmm GOOD!!

Since I have become a "vegan" for lent I have been searching for good Mexican food recipes that do not have meat or the classic staple, cheese. One of my favorite on-the-go lunches has been the "Amy's" brand frozen burritos, they are so delicious! They are definitely big enough for a full meal, but I feel alittle guilty heating them up in the microwave and yelling to Ben in his office, "Honey, dinner is ready!"  So, I decided , surely I can recreate this meal using fresh ingredients, and anything home made has to be better than anything you can get in the freezer isle, right??  So I went on a mission last night to create a burrito inspired by the delicious frozen burritos I have been eating.  I decided to call them Black Bean Tacos...creative right?? If you have a better name, please feel free to comment on this post!  I thought that some mexican rice and chips with salsa would be good company for the tacos, too! Wait...did I say rice?? Well......scrap the rice, or at least scrap my rice "recipe" while I reconvene with my husbands hispanic side of the family for tips...I definitely did something wrong, ha! So for now, just grab the Old Elpaso Rice Mix, or use a recipe you already have!! At any rate, the tacos were a MAJOR hit, and Ben didn't even miss the cheese or sour cream (but he may have missed the rice, I know he had his heart set on his Mom's recipe...sorry honey)!  So here it goes, Black Bean Tacos!!

Start with fresh, simple ingredients.....

 Get all your pans pre-heated to medium-high heat.....(over on the right....RIP spanish rice)

Begin Cooking! (this is your rue for the Enchilada Sauce that will bind your ingredients together)



                                               
 Saute your veggies.....

 Combine Veggies and drained black beans with Enchilada sauce.....

 Top with fresh Cilantro......

 Es Muy Delicioso!!

Black Bean Tacos

2 15ounce cans of Black Beans drained

1/2 white onion diced

2 serano peppers, seeded, and diced

1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced

1 anaheim pepper, seeded and diced

(you can use any pepper combination you like, these happen to be my favorites)

2 TBS Fresh chopped Cilantro (optional)

1 tomato diced (optional)

Enchilada Sauce

3 TBS whole wheat flour (or regular flour, that works too!)

4 TBS Olive Oil

1 1/2 TBS Cumin

1 1/2 TBS Chili Powder

1/2 tsp Garlic Salt

1/4 tsp Corn Starch

1 1/2 c Vegetable Stock (or whatever stock/broth you have on hand)

Heat your oil over a  medium-high heat.  Using a whisk add flour and let cook for approx 30 seconds to 1 minute until flour begins to dissolve with the oil.  Add Cumin, Chili Powder, Garlic salt, and Corn starch with a whisk until a paste forms.  Slowly whisk in your vegetable stock, whisking while you pour as to not create any clumps in your sauce.  Continue to whisk occasionally while sauce thickens for approx 15 minutes.  (If you were to make the sauce for enchiladas, you would double this recipe and substitute half vegetable stock and half water so it is not too salty.)  For this recipe, you want it to be fairly salty so you do not add any more sodium once your black beans and vegetables are combined.  

While Enchilada Sauce is thickening....Add your diced veggies to a saute pan with about 2TBS heated Olive oil. Saute until soft.  Once sauce is thickened, and veggies are cooked, combine your veggies and drained Black Beans with the enchilada sauce.  Stir in and let thicken for approx 15 minutes (the longer it cooks the thicker it will become, if it gets thicker than you prefer, you can add water or broth to thin it out). Top mixture with fresh cilantro and tomatos. Heat your corn tortillas (or Flour tortillas if you prefer) and ENJOY!

Rice

to be continued after said meeting with Mother In-Law.....





Just how small is my kitchen??

Nothing makes you feel "old" (even though I am only 26) like taking the "little" girl you used to babysit to dinner to congratulate her on her....ENGAGEMENT! So congrats to my little Lacy!!  Anyway, my point of this story is I did not cook last night. However, it did occur to me that some of you might wonder how small my kitchen is or what it looks like....since it is the title of my blog!! So I took some current pics and found some old ones taken before the remodel (and by remodel I mean new coat of paint and rearrangement of accessories....gotta work with what you've got in a duplex!).  So although my kitchen is small, it is still managable when it comes to cooking, I make due.  Sometimes I even put my cutting board on the stove for extra "counter" space (although ben hates that because he says one day the stove will be on and I will regret it....he's probably right...).  I have a few of my favorite cookbooks on the counter, ones that inspire me like Nigella Lawson's beautiful books, Paula Deen's Southern Comfort, Julia Child's "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" (although I have yet  to make anything from that one yet....) but my favorite is Ina Garten's "Family Style" along with all of her other cookbooks.  If you have never caught an episode of "The Barefoot Contessa" on the foodnetwork, I encourage you to catch an episode or two.  She makes roast chicken seem like the most special meal!  Anyway, I digress, my kitchen is small but I have tried to fill it with a few inspirational pieces and keep the rest functional--all the necessary equipment, the knife block, mixer, toaster, and coffee maker.  The main point is, ya gotta work with what ya got! So here it is, a few pics of my little duplex oasis, where all the cooking magic happens!

The "Remodeled" Version Circa 2011.....you can see it is only about 4 1/2 feet wide from left to right! From back to front it is around 9 feet long.

 Pre-Remodel Circa 2009 (this is what it usually looks like when we are in "cooking mode")

 And waaaay back in the day with my roommates in College.....circa 2007!

Caroline's "Favorite Meal"

Since I had dinner at Book Club last night (thank you for the delicious meal Lacey!) I don't have any new cooking pics to post today! So, I decided that I should pay homage to one of the people who inspired me to think and cook outside the box (other than my mother, Debra, my aunt, Peggy, and my grandmother, Goggie all of whom I will credit as soon as I get some pics)! She is Mary Caroline's mom, Caroline! In highschool I spent many a night at Mary Caroline's house watching tv, downloading music, and doing homework but one of my favorite things to do was to watch Caroline cook. Mary Caroline and I would plop down on the barstools and tell her about our day while we watched her create many delicious masterpieces.  Caroline taught me how to peel garlic--who knew you layed it on the cutting board and smashed it with the back of your knife!?! She taught me how to make home-made dressing and croutons and so many other creations! Watching her cook and hearing about all of her travels to other countries to take cooking classes always left me feeling inspired to make new and interesting recipes! Anyone who knows Caroline can tell you that she throws amazing parties and can make any meal feel "gourmet" and special.  One meal in particular we called "favorite meal" because it is Mary Carolines, well, favorite meal! It is a delicious meal of tortillas with medium rare flank steak and the most delicious black beans and all the fixins!  Below is a picture of us eating "favorite meal" for the last time at the old house before Caroline left the panhandle for Tyler, TX. Oh how I miss her!!  Thank you Caroline for all your inspiration!!

 Caroline's Black Beans (as I remember them, and how I make them...)
Two cans Black Beans
2 TBS light colored vinegar (white, apple cidar, redwine or whatever you have)
10 springs of Cilantro (approx) bundled together with twine
2 cloves of garlic smashed and peeled but not chopped
2 TBS sugar (or agave nectar)
Put all ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Lower beans to medium heat and let simmer approx 10 minutes.  Remove cilantro bundle and garlic cloves (I like to leave mine in, but you can remove them) and Serve!!
**Caroline if you ever read this feel free to comment with anything I might have missed or done wrong!

Below is a picture of "favorite meal" that I attempted to re-create about a year ago, it is definitely not as pretty a pic as I would intend, but I never meant for anyone other than Mary Caroline and Caroline to see it! Ha!! So here it is!