Awesome website

So I was procrastinating today and I found this awesome website while stumbling. (Stumbling=using www.stumbleupon.com, go look it up!)

You basically put in that ingredients you have around your house and it will give you recipe's!

It could save your life if you don't feel like being creative :)

http://www.supercook.com/

Yours till the cookie crumbles!

What are your thankful for?

So for Thanksgiving we had a bit of a mishap. Shaun (my fiancé)  and I were going to just make food at his house during the day. We get all ready to go there, and guess what happens? The oven doesn't work. And it's basically the basis for everything we are cooking. 


Anyways, over the next few days we were at my friend's house and cooked our dishes one by one. So here are the recipes for it!


The first is the turkey recipe which I got from Food Network. Now it didn't turn out as well as I would have liked as they did not have any turkey breasts at the store... so we just used turkey cutlets and made individual stuffed pieces. 


Also since I don't drink alcohol, though I don't mind cooking with it, but I am not yet old enough to buy said alcohol to cook with, so I  used Apricot Nector I found in a can in the juice section for the brandy, and additional chicken broth for the white wine. In some places though you can find non alcoholic white wine, so look for that first!

Turkey Roulade with Cranberry-Apricot Stuffing

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup whole almonds
• 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 1/3 cup Cognac or other brandy
• 1/4 cup water
• 2/3 cup dried cranberries
• 2/3 cup dried apricots (about 8 medium), coarsely chopped
• 2 medium shallots, minced
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, plus additional for seasoning
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley leaves
• 2 boneless, skinless turkey breast halves, butterflied (about 5 to 6 pounds)
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 3 cups white wine
• 1/2 cup chicken broth

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Spread the almonds and fennel seeds on a baking sheet and cook until golden and aromatic, about 10 minutes. Let cool to room temperature. Warm the cognac and water in a small saucepan, add the cranberries and apricots, and set aside until plump, about 10 minutes.

In a small food processor, pulse the almonds and fennel until coarsely chopped, then add the fruit and any unabsorbed liquid with the shallot, butter, 2 teaspoons salt and pepper, to taste, until the fruit and nuts are coarsely chopped. Add the parsley and pulse once or twice more.

Place the turkey breast halves on a cutting board. Divide and spread the fruit mixture evenly over them, leaving about a 1-inch border. Starting with the long end of each breast, roll like a jelly roll and tie firmly with butchers twine. Season generously with salt and pepper.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil, and heat until shimmering. Sear the turkey roulades, turning occasionally, until they are golden brown on all sides, about 8 minutes. Place the 2 roulades on a rack in a roasting pan and pour 2 cups of the wine over them. Roast, uncovered, until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of the meat registers 165 degrees F, about 1 hour and 10 minutes. Transfer the breasts to a carving board, tent loosely with foil, and let rest while you make the sauce.

Put the roasting pan over medium heat on the stovetop. Add the remaining 1 cup of wine and stir with a wooden spoon to release the brown bits that cling to the pan. Add the chicken broth and cook until syrupy, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Carve the turkey into 1-inch thick slices and serve with the pan sauce.

Then we had the traditional green bean casserole, which Shaun had never had before!

1 can (10 3/4 ounces) Campbell's® Condensed Cream of Mushroom Soup (Regular, 98% Fat Free or Healthy Request®)

1/2 cup milk

1 teaspoon soy sauce

Dash ground black pepper

4 cups cooked cut green beans

1 1/3 cups French's® French Fried Onions

• Stir the soup, milk, soy sauce, black pepper, beans and 2/3 cuponions in a 1 1/2-quart casserole.
• Bake at 350°F. for 25 minutes or until the bean mixture is hot and bubbling.  Stir the bean mixture.  Sprinkle with the remaining onions.
• Bake for 5 minutes or until the onions are golden brown.

And Finally we had these Sweet-Potato Souffles which were alright...they didn't turn out as good as I thought they would...

Ingredients

8 small sweet potatoes or yams (choose whichever is brighter in color at your grocery store or farmer's market), peeled and chopped into large chunks 8 egg whites, beaten until peaks are just starting to form 4 tablespoons unsalted butter (regular or vegan) 4 tablespoons soy milk 2 tablespoon honey 2 teaspoon salt 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon scooped seeds from a real vanilla bean 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

Put the potatoes in a large pot of cold salted water.  Turn heat to high and boil until the pieces are tender when pierced with a fork.  Once the water starts boiling, reduce the heat to medium or medium-high to avoid splattering. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Drain the potatoes in a colander, then transfer to a large bowl.  Add all the other ingredients and combine with a potato masher.  Once most of the lumps are mashed out, finish with an immersion blender to make the potatoes completely smooth.  Taste the mixture, and add salt if necessary. Mix the sweet potatoes with 1/3 of the egg mixture.  Stir until completely combined.  Then fold in another third.  Mix until combine.  Fold in the remaining egg whites, and mix just until combined.  Mix lightly to keep air in the mixture. Spray 12 ramekins or ovenproof custard cups with cooking spray.  Evenly scoop the mixture into the ramekins.  Place them directly on the oven rack.  Bake for 30 minutes or until the soufflés are just slightly firm to the touch.  Remove them carefully so you don’t smash down the soufflé.  Serve immediately, while hot, or keep them warm to serve later. So there ya go, that's we did for our Thanksgiving. We have yet to make our pumpkin pie though...so that will come soon :) Soon our Sunday dinner recipe will be on here for fried chicken! Yours till the cookie crumbles

What's in the cabinet?

So the other day we went to his house to see what we could scavenge and make into an alright meal. In the end it turned out pretty dang good to be honest.

So here's what we did!

Things  you'll need:
Vegetable oil
Chicken thighs (you can use others pieces, this is just what Shaun had)
Coconut milk (just one can)
Curry powder
Red chili powder

Put about an inch of  vegetable oil in a frying pan and began to heat it up
Then mix up equal parts of the curry powder and red chili powder together in a separate bowl
Rub the spice mix on the skin of the thighs as well as under the skin
Fry the chicken in the oil when its ready (I put a couple of droplets of water and see if it sizzles to tell when it's ready), about 10 minutes on each side
While the chicken is frying mix up coconut milk, red chili powder, and curry powder (equal parts of both, I really just guesstimate...I never use measuring cups unless it's for a specific recipe)
Warm the mixture on the stove in either a frying pan or sauce pan.
When the chicken is done, pull it out and put it in the pan with the sauce in it
Serve! And rice goes really well with this

And there ya go!

Now originally I was going to Maui for Thanksgiving, but that has changed. So I am now making food for just my fiancé and I....hopefully it all turns our all right. And I will for sure be blogging about the recipe's I find and use :D

Yours till the cookie crumbles!

Back in Hawaii

I am once again back in the wonderful state of Hawaii :)

So much has happened since I last blogged...and I do have a recipe this time!

Just to fill you in though...I'm engaged to the most amazing man ever! He flew to Missouri from Hawaii to meet my family and ask my dad's permission to marry me, and then two days after we returned he proposed to me :) And I am getting married here in Hawaii :)

So anyways.

Here is my brownie recipe I discovered from Williams and Sonoma. I just have to say they are the most amazing things ever.

Just to let you know, there are a couple different shortcuts I take.
-Use a ziploc container/glass bowl (one that will hold all the ingredients) to melt the chocolate and butter in, just put it into the microwave for 30 seconds to begin with, and then stir it every 15-10 seconds until it is all melted. Then just use that as your mixing bowl for all the other ingredients as well. Only one other thing to clean then!
-I don't use cake flour, just regular all purpose, and I don't sift it. I'm a college kid I can't afford either, especially in Hawaii.

And here is the recipe:

• 8 Tbs. (1 stick) unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces
• 3 oz. unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• Pinch of salt
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup cake flour, sifted
• 3/4 cup bittersweet chocolate chips, semisweet
    chocolate chips, peanut butter chips or
    white chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

Preheat an oven to 350°F. Lightly grease an 8-inch square baking dish, preferably glass.

In a saucepan over low heat, combine the butter and unsweetened chocolate. Heat, stirring often, until melted, about 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar and salt. Add the eggs and vanilla and stir until well blended. Sprinkle the flour over the mixture and stir until just blended. Stir in the chips.

Pour the batter into the prepared dish and spread evenly. Bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out almost completely clean, about 30 minutes (longer if using a metal pan). Do not overbake. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool completely. Cut into 2 1/2-inch squares.

You can always just eat these out of the pan like I do as well as my friends. Oh and I suggest making double the recipe. And one other little trick. I decided to add a little extra flavor to these. 

I took several Hershey's Dark Chocolate infused with Raspberry Flavor squares and melted them in the microwave with a couple tablespoons of butter and then added a bit of sugar in as well. Then I drizzled it over the top of the brownies. It sincerely makes these brownies a bite of heaven. Or you can use whatever other flavor. I prefer the Hershey's to the Ghiridelli's (I can't spell) with Raspberry filling because it actually is all incorporated into the chocolate flavor and not just a filling inside. Be sure to check them out! 

Next time, let's see what Shaun has in his cabinets and what I can make out of it!

Yours till the cookie crumbles!

Fall Harvest

I am back at home now. Now it's just a waiting game until I go back to Hawaii for school. What shall I do with my spare time?

Cook!

And not just with any ingredients, items fresh from our garden :)

Over the next couple weeks while I am home I plan on finding different things I can make from our garden.

First on the list? Pumpkin!

I am currently in the process of figuring out what it is I plan on making with some of our pumpkins from the garden.

Recipes should be up soon with pictures :)

Yours till the cookie crumbles

The Most Indescribable Food!

Last night I had the most amazing opportunity! I was able to eat at the restaurant I work at. Which is Victoria & Albert's at the Grand Floridian Resort at Disney World. It is a 5 Diamond restaurant and it wasn't cheap. Though it was worth every single penny that was spent. 

And due to the fact that it was an extremely nice restaurant, I got to get all dressed up, along with my roommate Kimmy who came with me!

Kimmy and I waiting in the lobby at the Grand Floridian!

Upon waiting for reservation we were downstairs in the lobby listening to Christian play the piano. Christian also plays the harp at Victoria & Albert's when he isn't playing the piano. After seeing me there he then dedicated and played "The Hawaiian Wedding Song"  which  made me really happy and smile a lot! 

We finally arrived! Here are our lovely plates that were there when we arrived. Our servers were Allen and Mike and they were AMAZING! They made the evening extra special for us! :)

Did I mention they gave us the best table ever with Elizabeth playing right in front of us?!

Each of our menu's were personalized! Here is Kimmy's!

Here is the Amuse-Bouche, kind of like a present from the chef with a sampling of different things. All of these had some salmon in it and it was delicious!

Here is my cold appetizer! It was a Gulf Shrimp with Breakfast Radish, Kohlrabi, and Tamarind. And then Kimmy's cold appetizer, which was a Minnesota Elk Carpaccio with Olive, Artichokes, and Chorizo Vinaigrette

We both ordered the same fish course. A Citrus Poached Halibut with Warm Verjus Vinaigrette. And yes, that is a baby cucumber on top :)

Here we have Kimmy's and I's hot appetizer.Hers is a  Duck Breast, Duck Sausage and Confit with Strawberry and Rhubarb. The Duck Breast was absolutely amazing! For my appetizer I had a Brentwood Corn Soup with Petite Crab Cake. Yummy yummy! :)

Finally we get to the entree.... Kimmy got the Niman Ranch Lamp with Spring Asparagus and Minted Jus and I got the Filet Mignon with Marble Potatoes and Sauce Soubise.. Oh and that's not it. Chef Scott also gave each of us an extra entree...which would be the Kurobuta Pork Tenderloin and Belly with Baby Beets and a Sherry-Bacon Vinaigrette. 

 

 We felt at this point that it was necessary to take a walk....can you see the hidden Mickey?

Before the next course we also got to go into the kitchen! And we took a picture with Chef Scott :)

Now we both chose the cheese course... on it was a Colston Bassett Stilton, Coach Farm Goat, Gouda Reypenaer V.S.O.P. and Comte.

 

We each chose one of the souffle's. Mine is the first one, a Grand Marnier Souffle and then Kimmy got the Hawaiian Kona Chocolate Souffle

 

Oh and Chef Scott this one out as an extra for both of us...it's a Vanilla Bean Creme Brulee :)

We kind of got started on these a little soon....First we had a Pineapple and Lemongrass thingamabob (I'm not gonna get too technical on that), followed by a chocolate filled with flavoring of Meyer's Rum and caramel, and the last thing on the plate is a little cookie with a lemon curd on top. Which are my favorites :)

And we can't forget the long stem roses we each got!

We both ended up being very very happy campers :)

Now it's time for me to go at the moment, and I'll tell you more about the restaurant at  a later date!

Yours till the cookie crumbles!

:D

So it's only 7:30 and it's starting out a bad day. Oh well. I just got to change my attitude about it. Oh well. At least I got up in time to actually try making it to work on time. Now I just have to wait for the bus to take me to work...

On the upside of things I just have to think of my boy and a huge smile comes to my face. First of all he is coming to Missouri in September! He already has his plane ticket! :D Then he is told me the other day he is looking at getting a ring soon! AHHHHH! Excitement much?! I mean the whole point in him coming to Missouri is for him to meet my family and to ask my dad for permission to marry me. HOLY CRAP. I'M GOING TO GET MARRIED. It seems so much more real when I say it like that and type it out. But I still have to wait for him to actually propose and everything...that didn't keep me from trying on wedding dresses though :P

Okay Work time!
I shall blog later!

Yours till the cookie crumbles

Story of My Life

You get busy and forget about everything except sleep and work. Or that's how it's been lately. First the blogging stopped, then the time I spend on Facebook, and now worst of all, the cooking.

I have been living off of nothing but pasta and the cafeteria food at work. I know, that's life you gotta deal with it. Oh well. So sorry about not posting blogs, I'm going to try and be better at it. Well, I mean, how can I update you on all my cooking exploits when there are none to talk about since all I eat is just pasta, macaroni and cheese, hot pockets, and tv dinners. Those are some thrilling meals right there. But hey, it's what's cheap.

Oh and the other half of my time that I'm not working or sleeping, is spent talking to the love of my life. And since no one really reads this blog anyway this is where I get all lovey dovey about the amazing boyfriend I have and how I can not wait to see him again. He is the guy I am going to marry, I have no doubts about that at all. These couple months have already been hard, and the next couple will too, but the thing is, a couple months is nothing compared to eternity. I can not wait for that day though, when it officially becomes eternity. Which hopefully is next April. I just gotta wait for him to ask until then :D

Yours until the cookie crumbles

Cheap Eats

I love the cheap mainland prices. Have I said that before?
I was in shock upon finding a 38 cent box of mac and cheese.

No more cup noodles for me this summer!

At first I didn't have much money, so I got said 38 cent box of mac and cheese, hot pockets, bread, eggs, you know, the basics. Which of course in my book also includes stuff to make cookies, the chocolate ones in particular :)

Oh. I made some green chili stew this week too, go check out the post on that to see how I made it :) It's awesome to make a huge pot of it and then when you get home at two in the morning from work each night, to just warm it up and eat.

Then again, I haven't been too hungry coming home from work. They like to feed me there, that's what they say my job is. Since I've been there I've been able to have mushroom risotto, duck with an orange sauce, mashed potatoes, countless truffles and chocolates, and the best of all, soufflé. This would be the reason right now that I can't bring myself to eat anything else right now. They gave me an entire chocolate one, and plus some of the vanilla one.

5 diamonds indeed.

Did I mention they let me take home any extra bread every night? From olive loafs, to whole grain, to herb brioche.

Speaking of the herb brioche. I made a grilled cream cheese sandwich the other day with it. It was fantastic. That's all I got to say.

And another thing I like to make. As my family calls it, humpty dumpty eggs.

Here's what you need:
Slices of bread
One egg per slice of bread
Butter
Round cookie cutter (or whatever other shape you want)
Frying Pan
Flipper thing...you know what I'm talking about :P

1. Use the cookie cutter to cut out the middle of the slice of bread
2. Heat up the frying pan and melt a little butter on it (just to keep the eggs from sticking)
3. Place the bread with the center missing in the pan, and then crack the egg into the middle of the hole.
4. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the egg if you like.
5. When most of the egg white has turned solid, so however it is that you like your eggs over easy, flip it over
6. It will only take about 30 seconds to finish cooking, then take it out of the pan
7. Butter and fry the piece of bread that was taken out of the center. You can use this to dip into the center of your over easy egg :)

And that's it!
It's really easy and it's a great midnight snack too :)

Yours 'till the cookie crumbles!

Disney World!

So I am now at Disney World!

Let me give you a couple basics really fast. I found out I am working at Victoria and Albert's at the Grand Floridian Resort and Spa. Apparently it's the most expensive place you can eat on Disney property. Over $100 a person. Yeah. I can only hope I get to eat the food there, nothing like getting a gourmet meal every night for free :D

Now onto the most important place.  The kitchen in my apartment. I have my own kitchen. Well I share it with 5 other girls, but that's better than sharing it with 200.

I went shopping at Wal-Mart. I feel like I was in a gold mine. I got so many groceries for sooooo cheap compared to Hawaii. I got bread for 88 cents a loaf. Milk for $2.50 a gallon. A pound of butter for just over $1. And vanilla extract for only $1.50. Oh there are so many other things to list that I got. I'm in heaven. There are no words to describe how much I miss all the cheap food.

Then again it's absolutely nothing compared to how much I miss my guy.

Okay back on topic. So what am  I eating these first couple days?

Just grilled cheese and cereal. The cheapest things I can think of right now because I have basically no money until I get paid.

Though one of the best deals for college students I would have to say are the hamburger helper/ banquet, they are usually by the pasta area. $3 for a box to feed 5 people. Or one really hungry person like how I usually am. Or make it and save some for later.  Which is what I am currently baking

The oven timer is calling my name!

Yours until the cookie crumbles.

Aloha

Aloha Hawaii, it's about time for me to pack up and get off this island in the middle of no where.

I don't want to leave though, like people say, it's paradise.

I can't wait to actually cook for myself all the time though. Amazingness right there.

But its not as exciting when you are leaving your boy behind.

I'll miss him. Last night was never a moment I will never forget. Banana Bread and Cold Play. What a combination.

Magical things seriously do come out of cooking. Not just in food.

I can't wait to be at Disney to cook more. And to finally be able to update my blog a lot more often than I have been :)

Yours till the cookie crumbles.

Sorry

So sorry for not having put up a new post in a while. It is finals week though, I currently have just 3 more hours left of this nonsense and I'll be free.

Well. And there's this guy. Who is pretty dang amazing. So he kind of has been taking up some of my time too :)

When I get to Disney, then there will be more posts, wayyy more :) Just another week before I'm home.

Though I don't want to leave him. He's waiting for me though :)

Yours till the cookie crumbles.

I love my friends

So life in general is pretty dang amazing. I'm switching my major from Hospitality and Tourism Management to Elementary and Special Education. I couldn't be happier about this :) I love kids and I love the idea of teaching!

Oh and then I get a break from school for a whole 4 months! I will be doing an internship at Disney World. Which of course means I will be back on the mainland. And I will have my own apartment, with a full kitchen, all to myself! Well most of it that is, I'll be sharing with with a few others. Way better than an entire dorm full. And you know what else that means? More cooking for me! I will have to make all my food myself, and, it's a million times cheaper.

Here's a list at some of the things I'm tired of prices being high.

A small box of life cereal : $7.75
A block of cream cheese: $3.79
A dozen eggs : $4.00
A gallon of milk: $7.00-$9.00
A gallon of Chocolate Milk: $10.00-$12.00

Yep. It's pretty ridiculous. But then again, I live in Hawaii for the time being, and the thought of that is priceless (before thinking about food that is).

One other thing before I leave to go talk to my advisor about changing my major. I have this amazing friend and next door neighbor named Lucy. She has a fantastic blog found here. The reason why I tell you this? Not only like I said, she's amazing, but I feel special. She blogged about me and it makes me feel special. And hereis a link to the specific blog about me that makes me smile every time I read it.

I'll post another recipe sometime this week hopefully :)

Yours till the cookie crumbles.

Happy Days

So I have been in a really weird mood lately. I have been crazy happy for some reason the past few days.

I'm trying to debate this source of happiness but I'm not sure.

Now most likely you are not fantastically happy like me at the moment, and in that case, chocolate will solve the answer to everything.

I found this recipe on another blog for these cookies. And I have to say. They are the most fantastic chocolate cookies in the entire world. I can make 3 batches of these at once and have them be gone within the day.

1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder (unsweetened)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1 1/4 cup sugar plus add 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla

Mix together flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl, set aside
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium low heat and cool slightly
Add 1 1/4 cups sugar, stir until smooth
Whisk in eggs one at a time, then stir in the vanilla
Stir the soft butter mixture into the flour/cocoa mixture until combined
Wrap the mixture in saran wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours
Shape dough into even sized balls (usually about 1 1/2 inches wide)
Roll balls in sugar. Bake 12 minutes at 350 degrees

And there ya go, you really need to make them. You won't know what happened to you after tasting one of these.

Yours till the cookie crumbles

Time Flies

It has been a long time. A long long time. Two weeks to be exact. 
Things here have been hectic. Essays on procrastination to write, midterms to take, and packing up my room.


And my computer decided to hate me. It died. So I bought a new one. And now I finally have it. Yay!


Something I made while this whole fiasco of computers being broken that went on. 


I made something I absolutely love and my family makes it all the time. We are huge fans of Mexican food as my mom is from Texas and my dad is from New Mexico. So it makes sense. 


This is all purely guesstimation on about what I used in this. 


1 onion, chopped up
2 pounds of ground pork
2 cans fire roasted green chili's (Ortega sells these if you can't get the really good ones and they aren't spicy at all), diced
Butter
2 Tablespoons flour
Red Chili Powder
Cumin
Water
2 cans diced tomatoes
Tortillas (for dipping when you are done)


So get a big pot, melt the butter and put the onions in and cook them until they are soft.
Add in the ground pork and brown it


I know this next part is going to sound kind of gross, but it's just to help it thicken up some. 


Move the pork and onions somewhat out of the way in the pan so you have access to the fat that has  come off the pork.
Whisk the flour with the fat until it's mixed together well
Add in the cans of tomatoes and add water...um... I did equal parts of water to tomatoes, so just take your empty tomato cans and fill them up with water and dump it in. 
Mix it all together
Bring it up to a boil and then let it simmer for about 20 minutes on medium low heat


Next add the chili's (you want to add these last always)


Finally, add some red chili powder and cumin, I would say about one-two teaspoons maybe, it's completely up to you, so just keep adding and tasting until you like it!


And that's it!


Now eat it with some tortillas :)


Or you can make a variation of huevos rancheros. 


Get a tortilla, spread refried beans on it(you don't have too) and then make an over easy egg, and put that on top of the tortilla, and cover in green chili stew. Feel free to add cheese and sour cream on top as well :D


We always use the left overs of green chili stew to make them :)


And that will all I shall be posting for the day, more will be up later :)


Yours till the cookie crumbles :)


(And I just used a bunch of smiley faces in those last few thingamabobs...)

Cooking Crazyiness.

This weekend I went a little crazy when it came to cooking.

First I made banana bread, one loaf of regular, one loaf with cranberries.

Next comes the doughnuts I made for our survivor competition for work (which my partner and I won the challenge this week :) )

Then I made these fantastic crescent rolls, which were made into squares and they were filled with a mixture of chicken, cream cheese, and green onions, and then baked.

Next we made chili rellenos, which are whole chili's that have been stuffed with cheese and then battered and fried.

Now we are onto Sunday. Today we made....stuffed French toast (which is King's Hawaiian Bread that has been stuffed with cream cheese and strawberries) and then homemade mashed potatoes, which were absolutely delicious.

I will post the recipes for these later, but for now it's time for me to finish my procrastination paper. Wait I lied, start it. And it's due tomorrow. Fantastic.

Yours till the cookie crumbles.

Farmer's Market

So every payday they hold a farmer's market here at school. I must say, it is the best things in the entire world!

Especially when you live in Hawaii and everything is expensive...

After putting away my bundles of grocery's, I realized that I more than likely am taking up about half of the space in our fridge in our dorm kitchen. Oops?

What can I say, I love to cook.

In fact, that's the whole reason as to why I'm behind on my homework and I have no money. All my time and money seems to be dedicated to food. I wish there was a way for me to do this all the time. Culinary school is just too expensive though.

Cooking is my passion though, and I will do it always.

I cook when I'm happy.
I cook when I'm sad.
I cook when I'm angry.
I cook when I'm depressed.
I cook when I'm feeling on top of the world.

So that results in me cooking all the time. Which I don't mind at all.

I wish I had more money to buy food to make whatever I want. That's not happening anytime soon though. I will be back on the mainland next month though, and I will be making all my own meals, and I'll have more money to spend, and I won't have to worry about school :)

I should probably sleep now. I have to get up early to make doughnuts for someone.

Yours till the cookie crumbles

Banana Fanna Fo Fanna

I know this post took forever. But school has been ridiculous. Like completely craziness. Here is the wonderful recipe for banana bread that Lucy helped me cook :) It's absolutely delicious :)

So. I love making bread. The only problem is half the time you spend letting it rise. But with this though you don't have to wait. You just mix and cook.

3 or 4 overripe bananas

1 ¼ cups sugar

¼ pound (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

2 eggs, at room temperature

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 ½ cups all purpose flour

½ teaspoon kosher salt

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

½ cup chopped toasted walnuts (optional)

1.Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9x5x3 inch loaf pan. 

2. Place the bananas and sugar in mixer bowl and whip the heck out of them, about 2 or 3 minutes (I just used a fork cause I don't have a mixer and I couldn't find my whisk. It's alright if it's a little chunky)

3. Add the butter, eggs, and vanilla, whipping well and scraping down the sides of the bowl before each addition. 

4. Scrape down the sides of the bowl, add the flour, salt, baking soda, and nuts, if using, and mix to combine. 

5. Pour into the prepared pan and transfer to the oven. Bake until golden brown and firm in the center, about 1 hour.

If you carry this down your dorm hall, you will have followers, I found this out when I was taking upstairs to my friends room :)

Hot Jambalaya!

So I got bored this afternoon. So I went to Foodland. I splurged and decided to make Jambalaya. This is one of the easiest dinner meals to make. I absolutely love it J

I’m going to be lazy and just copy and paste the recipe…Oh and if  you don’t like shrimp, you can just substitute more smoked sausage, that’s what I do when the friends I’m cooking for don’t like shrimp.

Pictures up soon! I just wanted to get this one up :)

2 cups uncooked parboiled rice (Uncle Ben’s)

2 lbs raw shrimp, peeled and cleaned

1 lb smoked sausage, sliced

1 can French Onion soup

1 can Beef Consumme

1 8 oz can sliced mushrooms, drained

1 stick butter

½ cup chopped green onion

1 8 oz can tomato sauce

Pepper, Thyme, Bay leaf to taste

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine all ingredients in a kettle or oven proof pot and mix well.

3. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees at least 1 ½ hours, checking rice for doneness and stirring pot after 1 hour.

No recipe for today :(

So there will be no recipe today due to the fact that I've been up since 3 and just trying to get ready for a freaking tsunami to hit us.

This sucks. I made french toast and banana bread this morning, but my camera battery wasn't charged so I couldn't take pictures and take my time...

So I'll make it again sometime and put them up here.

Oh and now the tsunami is getting close to be over. There was no insane changes. Which is good, but it sucks in the fact that I have spend the last few hours just laying in the hallway upstairs. Not being able to do anything.

The good part is. Work is cancelled. leaving me free to sleep early :)

New recipe tomorrow! I hope...

:)

Doughnut time!

Tonight due to the fact that I wasn't in a healthy mood (as a forewarning I hardly ever am), and I had a bad day, I decided that something fried would be good.

Now these are by far one of the simplest things ever to make and they are pretty dang cheap.

Here's what you need. 

• 1 can Pillsbury Biscuits (I picked 2 value packs of 4 cans for just $5, That's 80 biscuits!)
• Probably 2 cups max of vegetable oil for frying (You can reuse it if you decide to save some of those 80 biscuits for another time)
• Whatever toppings you might like (I used sugar this time, you could use anything from leftover frosting you might have sitting around, to crushed up cereal, whatever you want)

So what is that...like maybe $10? And you can make more than enough doughnuts to go around : D

I'm now going to stop babbling and tell you how to make these amazing doughnuts.

1. Find yourself a bottle cap I'm sure you have laying around from a plastic bottle (like a water bottle, not like one of those monster lids from Vitamin Water)

2. Open up your can of biscuits and get them out.

3. Take the bottle cap and press down firmly on the biscuit right in the center, wiggle it around a little bit to loosen the sides from the center.

4. Remove the bottle cap. Look! Starting to look like a doughnut already!

5. Heat your oil up on medium heat. IF YOU HEAT IT ANY HIGHER AND DON'T PAY ATTENTION YOU RUN THE RISK OF BURNING DOWN YOUR CAMPUS. DON'T DO IT!!!
So if you start to see smoking coming from your pot, remove it very quickly and carefully from the heat.


You are ready to fry up your doughnuts when you can drip a couple droplets of water in the oil and it sizzles, or just take one of your biscuits and dip it in partially to see if it starts to sizzle as well.

6. Let's fry these suckers! Remember not to do too many of them at a time otherwise it'll drop the temperature of the oil too much and you won't get a nice golden outside. Usually 40-45 seconds is just about right on the first side, depend on how dark or light you like them.

7. Flip over with a fork and fry for another 40-45 seconds, once again, however you like them.

8. Remove from oil and set on a paper towel to remove the excess oil.

9. After a few minutes, if using sugar like I did, then dip the doughnut into the sugar. And no, not like the bag of sugar, a cup that you have filled with sugar. One your doughnuts will fit in. Or top with whatever else you have laying around your room

10. Enjoy!