Mac and Cheese

I know it's been awhile since I last put anything on here but I made something new that I have never made. Mac and Cheese. I know it is not that special but I have never eaten homemade Mac and Cheese. I found it to be a little bit of a problem because all the recipes I looked at called for several types of cheese and one pound of elbow noodles. I had to do use my genius math skills to help me out.

Here's the yummy recipe:
2 cups of elbow pasta
1 and 1/4 cup of milk
2 cups cheddar cheese grated
4 Tbs. butter
1/2 cup flour
1/4 teas. pepper
1/4 teas. salt
1/4 teas. pumpkin spice
1/2 cup bread crumbs
2 tomatoes

Preheat Oven 375 degrees

Boil pasta 6 to 8 minutes and drain.

Heat milk don't boil. Melt 2 Tbs. butter whisk in flour for 2 minutes. Whisk in milk for a few minutes. Remove from heat add pepper, salt, pumpkin spice, and cheese. Once well mixed add pasta. Spread in greased baking dish and top with tomatoes. Melt remaining butter and mix in bread crumbs. Sprinkle on top of mac and cheese. Cook in oven for 30-35 minutes. Serve... great with a side salad to counter balance the fattyness.

Great recipe loved it and will more than likely make again since my picky boyfriend went back for thirds.

Gluten Free Cookies- March 3rd

 My sister and I came to visit my parents last Thursday. I see my sister very infrequent like maybe a few times a year so I thought it would be nice to make her cookies that she could actually eat for once. My sister has been gluten free for almost a year and has been suffering with not being able to eat food that has gluten in it. When I go visit my parents I ended up getting conned into baking something because I love to and I don't mind to.

My experiment was to bake with gluten free flour. I have never used it because I am not gluten intolerant. The recipe came from my mom's black recipe box. It was actually a recipe that she had cut out of the news paper several years ago.

Ingredients

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 cups rolled (old-fashioned) oats
• 1/2 cup coarsely chopped pecans
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup lightly packed light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions

Set 2 racks in the middle and upper thirds of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, stir the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, oats, and pecans together with a whisk or fork.

In a large bowl, beat the butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugartogether for 30 seconds until blended. Beat in the egg until smooth and barely fluffy. With mixer running on medium high, drizzle in the maple syrup, and vanilla until incorporated. Turn the mixer down to its lowest setting and gradually add the flour-oatmeal mixture.Blend just to combine, then mix in the chocolate chips.

Drop walnut-sized balls of dough onto a nonstick or parchment-lined cookie sheet at 3-inch intervals. With moistened fingers, flatten and round out the cookies a little. Bake for 9 minutes, turning the pan once for even baking. The cookies are done when they are lightly browned on top. Set the cookie sheets on a rack to cool.

I ended up substituting a few things and adding a few things. For one I made this a double batch, two I substituted regular white flour for an all purpose gluten free baking flour. I added the flour to the dry ingredients and added 1 teaspoon of xanthum gum for every cup of gluten free flour. My mom did not have a whole bag of chocolate chips so I ended up having to substitute, she's been snacking on them. There was a 1/3 of the bag left of each the semisweet chocolate chips, white chocolate chips, and the coconut flakes that I added to the cookies. I baked them with a convection oven, kept the temperature the same as in the recipe but only had them in there for 10 minutes.

For a gluten cookie to confess I could not actually tell the difference in taste. I hear that good gluten free bread is hard to come by but gluten free cookies I think are actually good. The flavors were all very good but next time  I might add a teaspoon of cinnamon.  I should probably leave them in the oven for 8 minutes instead of 10 to have them be a little softer once they cool. Also my sister liked them but she was nervous about eating them because some oats as she was telling me could possibly have gluten in them because of where they were processed.

Tiki Masala March 1st

 March 1st my boyfriend and I decided to make Tiki Masala. Again I am a big fan of curry food so I decided to experiment with it. Britain claims chicken tiki masala as there national dish. This seems odd because I figure a type of dish like this would originate from southern Asia. Masala actually means that it is a mixture of spices that are combined and made into a sauce.

All I wanted to do was create the sauce and then I could add what ever to it like vegetables or meat. I got the recipe from Allrecipes.com.

Basically I did not add chicken because I am poor and can't afford to eat much meat, especially because I try to eat as much organic food as possible. I opted on not following the directions of 2 or 3. I ended up steaming broccoli, red peppers, and red onion. I made white rice in the rice cooker. Once all that was made I combined them all in a pan and continued on to step four as well as adding sauteed potatoes and 12 ounce can of garbonzo beans.

In the ended it all tasted great but I think in the process of making it my boyfriend and I accidentally added to much spice of one thing, probably misread the amount of teaspoons added. Ended up making it overwhelmingly spicy that it was hard to eat without sweating. 


I would make this recipe again but maybe actually use chicken because that sounds really good. I have a a grill pan so I could cook the chicken that way. In all it was a well rounded meal. Next time I would probably add Garlic Naan to soak up all the yummy sauce. After doing this recipe I would like to sometime try Vindaloo it is similar as it is a sauce. 

Ingredients

• 1 cup yogurt
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 4 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces
• 4 long skewers
•  
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 jalapeno pepper, finely chopped
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons paprika
• 3 teaspoons salt, or to taste
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. In a large bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice, 2 teaspoons cumin, cinnamon, cayenne, black pepper, ginger, and 4 teaspoons salt. Stir in chicken, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.
2. Preheat a grill for high heat.
3. Lightly oil the grill grate. Thread chicken onto skewers, and discard marinade. Grill until juices run clear, about 5 minutes on each side.
4. Melt butter in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute garlic and jalapeno for 1 minute. Season with 2 teaspoons cumin, paprika, and 3 teaspoons salt. Stir in tomato sauce and cream. Simmer on low heat until sauce thickens, about 20 minutes. Add grilled chicken, and simmer for 10 minutes. Transfer to a serving platter, and garnish with fresh cilantro.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                        

Kale Chips Feb. 26

I wanted a snack and something healthy so I decided to make kale chips. A few weeks ago at our classes potluck someone brought with them spicy kale chips. I was think of having something a little on the sweet side though. Ended up finding a recipe on food network author down home with the Neely's. It was super easy to make.
1 bunch of kale
1 tbs. olive oil
salt and pepper
1 tbs. brown sugar

Wash kale and dry. Toss in olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Bake for 25 minutes in 300 degrees. Cool and add brown sugar.

Makes two servings but I ended up eating the whole bowl myself. yummy and easy.

Turkey Meat Loaf and EBT

Tonight I attempted to make meat loaf for my first time ever... It worked out, well kinda. Apart from never cooking meat loaf I realized I have never cooked with ground turkey so I thought this would be an adventure. I decided to combine two recipes from the food networks website, I realized I'm a addicted to using that website. I attempted to use part of Giadas recipe because it called for only 1 lb of turkey meat as well as Elle Krieger's recipe. I omitted a few things and added ingredients as well.

Ingredients

2 cloves of garlic minced
1/2 cup soymilk
1 egg beaten
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 yellow onion chopped
1/2 red pepper chopped
1/4 cup chopped sun dried tomato
dash salt and pepper
1 lb. ground turkey
6 oz. tomato sauce
1 teas. worchestor sauce
1/8 cup ketchup

Preheat oven 375 degrees. Combine oats and milk then add everything together and mix with hands besides tomato sauce and leave a few onion rings for the top of the loaf. Grease 9 by 5 inch loaf pan. Place meat in and top with tomato sauce and then layer with a few onion rings. Cook for an hour or until the inside reads 165 degrees.

I found the recipe to be very tasty however it did not have the texture of meat loaf I realized I added too many vegetables and thus the loaf did not bound. I could have either used another egg but more than likely I used too much milk. By adding to much milk it had almost more of a texture of vegetable meat scrambled eggs and the inside kind of looked like that. In all it was good.

EBT
I am on EBT and I am a college student who's car just broke down and I had to scrape it for money. I am in the process of buying a used car soon so I am trying to be very frugal. I am realizing that by doing this food blog I am running out of money because to do a new recipe and use new food that incorporates spending money. Well I am half way through my month of food stamps and only have 18 dollars left. Therefore I need to cut back and redirect my position on eating. I spoke with my friend about this issue and he suggested that I use what I have available with that one staple item rather than using a recipe that calls for many ingredients that I do not have. More like cooking healthy with what I have which causes me not to go poor. Tomorrow I will stand in the Food Bank line and hopefully a type of food will come around that I have never cooked with it. Also hopefully it will warm up outside so it won't be so cold.

Chicken Parmesan with Sauteed Potatoes Feb. 22nd

Last night I was feeling like I need some protein in my diet so I noticed a good looking chicken Parmesan recipe. I am not much of a meat eater because it is so expensive and I like to eat organically thus making meat even that more expensive. I have never made the recipe but I was inspired to make because I just got done watching all the seasons of the Sopranos. Below is the recipe I used was from Elle Kreiger off of the food network it was one of her top 100 favorite dishes.

Yield:

4 servings, serving size 1 piece chicken

Close

Times:

Prep

20 min

Inactive Prep

--

Cook

37 min

Total:

57 min

Ingredients

• 4 slices whole-wheat bread (1-ounce each)
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 4 teaspoons paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 egg whites
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 (6 ounce) skinless boneless chicken breast halves, pounded to 1/2-inch thickness
• Olive oil cooking spray
• 1 jar good-quality marinara sauce (about 3 1/2 cups)
• 3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons (1/2-ounce) shredded Parmesan

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Place the bread in the bowl of a food processor and process until fine crumbs are formed, about 25 to 30 seconds. Put the crumbs on a baking sheet and bake for 12 minutes, until golden. (You will wind up with about 1 1/3 cups toasted crumbs.)
In a medium bowl, toss the crumbs with oregano, garlic powder, paprika, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper. In another bowl, whisk the egg whites and milk together. In a third bowl stir together the flour, and the remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon black pepper. Dip each piece of chicken, 1 piece at a time, in flour, shaking off excess, then egg, then bread crumbs, shaking off excess.
Increase oven temperature to 400 degrees. Place breaded breasts in a glass baking dish and spray on each side with cooking spray, about 5 seconds total per side. Bake breasts until cooked though and crumbs are browned, about 15 minutes. Top with marinara sauce, mozzarella and Parmesan and return to oven for an additional 10 minutes, until cheese is bubbling.

• Per Serving

(Serving size, 1 piece chicken with sauce and cheese)
Calories 410; Total Fat 11 g; (Sat Fat 4.5 g, Mono Fat 2.7 g, Poly Fat 1.2 g) ; Protein 50 g; Carb 31 g; Fiber 2 g; Cholesterol 110 mg; Sodium 1200 mg

I found this recipe delicious but I did omit a few things. First off I substituted milk with soymillk and I forgot to by oregano so I used dried parsley flakes. I could not afford to spend $15 on Organic Chicken Breast meat so I purchased a package of boneless chicken wings for cheaper still Organic and Range Feed. I found the chicken to be rubbery and I probably should have kept the chicken in the oven for an extra 10 minutes would have cooked it more thoroughly.

As well as the Chicken Parmesan I made sauteed potatoes as a side dish. They were hearty and had a lovely color.
1 small bag of baby yukon potatoes
1 sweet potato
1 yam
pinch salt and pepper
1/2 teas. parsley
1 tbs. olive oil

Chopped up potatoes. Cooked on medium for 10 minutes and added salt and pepper and parsley. I found that some of them were cooked just right where as others were not cooked enough, I don't have a big enough pan for all of them which was probably the reason.

Gingerbread Cookies-Feb 20th

I know this seems silly to be making cookies but I had a sweet tooth yesterday and it was for a friends going away party. So I decided to bake heart shaped Gingerbread cookies with a pink cream cheese frosting. They were festive and I have actually have never made Gingerbread cookies before because I always found them to be too molassesy. They tasted great but half of the batch didn't bake properly because I was in a hurry and didn't rotate the two sheets in time, stupid non-convection ovens. But none the less they were a big hit at work and at the going away party. I would post actual pictures but my phone isn't working at the moment so I don't have much of a way of doing that, thank god for google images.

Ingredients

The foundation:

• 1 1/2 sticks lightly salted butter, softened
• 1 2/3 cups sugar
• 1 orange, zested

The dry ingredients:

• 4 cups all-purpose flour, plus 1/2 cup additional for rolling, if needed
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 tablespoon ground dry ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

The wet ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup dark molasses
• 1 lemon, juiced

Easy Orange Frosting, recipe follows

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle, add the butter, sugar and orange zest and beat until smooth, 5 to 8 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a medium bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, dry ginger, nutmeg, allspice, cinnamon, cloves and salt. Whisk to blend. Set aside.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, molasses and lemon juice.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

When the butter and sugar are integrated, lower the speed of themixer and add the dry ingredients. Add the egg mixture and when blended, remove the bowl from the machine. Divide the cookie dough in half. Press the first half of the dough in between 2 sheets of waxed paper or plastic wrap and chill for 15 minutes. Repeat with the second half. This step will make it easier to finish rolling out the dough when it has chilled. It will also mean you only have half of the dough getting warm as you roll it.

Lightly flour a flat surface. Use a floured rolling pin to gently roll the first half of the dough about 1/2-inch thick. Lightly flour the cookie cutter(s) and cut the shapes, making as few scraps as possible. Use a metal spatula to gently transfer them, cookie by cookie, (the cookies should be similar size) to a baking sheet. Repeat with the other half of the dough and transfer them to another baking sheet. A note about crowding the tray(s): these particular cookies can spread a little. Leave room between the cookies. Better to use 3 baking sheets with fewer cookies than to crowd them on 2 trays. Bake until brown around the edges, 8 to 10 minutes.

The pink frosting Cream cheese frosting

Ingredients:

1 stick room temperature butter

1 8 oz. tub of soften cream cheese

2 cups powder sugar

2 teas. vanilla

4 drops red food coloring

Mix the butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add vanilla and mix. Add powder sugar slowly. Then add food coloring.