Noodles stuffed with WHAT!?

You can stuff noodles with ANYTHING.  I tried something new...and I thought I'd share it with you!

1/2 Cup Basil Pesto
1 TBSP of olive oil

Mix together in a bowl - set aside

1/2 Zucchini chopped
1/2 Red pepper chopped
1/4 White onion minced (chopped up real tiny)
1/4 Cup Mushrooms chopped (optional)
1 TBSP of garlic
1/2 Cup Ricotta cheese
1/2 Cup Mozzarella cheese
1 TSP Basil
Large pasta shells

Preheat oven to 350*

Cook shells accordingly

Saute the veggies with olive oil and basil
Add garlic towards end of saute-ing and turn heat up
Mix cheeses, basil pesto, and veggies

Put the mixture into the cooked shells
Place the shells into a pan that is foiled and sprayed with cooking oil
Top with extra basil pesto and cheese

Cook for about 15 minutes (or until cheese is melted/browned a little)
SERVE AND NOMZ!

Along side the shells, a tomato and mozzarella salad is good and light.  Chop fresh tomato and fresh mozzarella cheese, add a little basil and balsamic vinaigrette. toss and EAT!

Tatos on Fajitas?

When I went to Santa Fe Mexico last year - I ate breakfast burritos like it was my job.  They all had potatoes in them and they were DELICIOUS.  

So I thought to myself..."Self...Make a dinner fajita with potatoes!"  So I did.

1 Green pepper

2 Chicken breasts

2 Red potatoes

1 TSP of cilantro (fresh or sprinkle kind)

Green Chile salsa (or enchilada sauce)

Southwest Chipotle seasoning (Mrs. Dash is my hero)

1/2 red onion

Cheese

Cut chicken into thin strips and cook in the skillet with butter and southwest chipotle seasoning

Slice the green pepper and onion into thin strips

Cut the potatoes into smaller chunks

Toss all of this into a skillet with butter and saute with a little garlic

When to chicken is cooked, throw it in the veggie skillet

Put the cilantro in, turn up the heat and finish saute-ing

Warm your tortilla and fill it.  Add the green Chile sauce.

Top with cheese and sour cream....FIESTA IN YOUR MOUTH!

 

Sushi Time!!

Before I start this "recipe", let me just tell you how I USED to be one of those people that made a nasty face every time someone said sushi.  The thought of eating raw fish disgusted me in more ways that you can imagine.  I barley enjoyed eating cooked seafood...so I wasn't about to touch something raw!

I was introduced to sushi with a couple of my friends (Chelsea and Riley...U r awesome!) about 6 years ago...and I fell in love.  They started me out with just fresh fish laid over a ball of rice...I ate everything on my plate EXCEPT the octopus. (Still refuse to have eel or octopus)

I am no sushi expert, I just know that I like it...and I recently found a love for making it myself at home.   Usually when I go to eat sushi out somewhere, I'm spending an easy 50 bucks only to leave the place still wanting more food!  Now that I make it myself, it has proven to be SO MUCH CHEAPER!!

After going to a friends house to have homemade sushi, (Thanks Jen and Bryan!) I was determined to learn to make it myself.  So for Christmas my Mom and Dad got me sushi making tools and a rice cooker!  

I know everyone makes sushi their own way, but I will share with you how I like to do it in my HOME.  I like to add chicken in the mix...so for everyone who hates seafood, try a chicken roll!  You can almost put anything into sushi that you want.  This is why its so fun to make it at home!

I have found these tools essential for sushi making...

*Rice cooker - A small one works just fine.  Mine is a 1-6 Cup Aroma rice cooker/steamer

*Bamboo mat - You can find them online for less than 6 bucks!

*Sushi knife - Really any SHARP knife will work, but I love my little sushi knife!

*Large cutting board

I buy rice in a big amount, partially because I eat sushi often enough to have a big bag!

First off, I'm a HUGE fan of spicy things.  So the spicy mayo is a MUST HAVE when I'm making sushi.

Spicy Mayo

1/2 Cup mayo

2 TBSP Siracha hot sauce

1/3 TSP Lemon juice

1/4 TSP Sesame oil

Mix in a bowl and then store in the fridge!

Right now, since I don't own a squirt bottle...I dump it into a plastic baggie and cut a tiny piece of the corner off.  Then I can squirt it onto the sushi rolls!

After the mayo is made, I start the rice in the rice cooker.  If the package of the rice doesn't inform you, WASH the rice before you cook it!!  I bought a small strainer from the Martha Stewart collection.  It collapses and fits in my cabinet perfectly.  After rinsing the rice, pour  water (your desired amount of servings) into the cooker...then add the rice.  Mine usually takes about 20 minutes.  I use 1 cup of rice for about 4-6 rolls.

I cut all of my veggies and prepare my fish while the rice is cooking so that when I'm ready to make the sushi, I just grab whatever I want from the plate.  Cutting all of the veggies and fish is probably the most time consuming part.

In the photo above - 

On the left plate, I have Battered shrimp (homemade), cooked shrimp (cold), crab, and spicy crab (Just regular crab mixed with spicy mayo and EXTRA Siracha hot sauce).  

Battered Shrimp

Cold cooked shrimp

Flour

Panko breadcrumbs

Eggs

Cooking oil

Dip the shrimps in the egg, then flour, and then breadcrumbs.  Toss in the heated oil and fry them until browned!

In the middle, Spicy sauce and teryaki chicken strips

On the right plate, cucumber, carrot, avocado, cream cheese, pineapple, and red pepper.

Now the fun part...Making the sushi ROLL!

First - It's less messy if you wrap your bamboo mat with cling wrap, or throw it into a plastic zip lock bag.

Lay the Nori shiny side DOWN.  Some people put rice on the whole thing, I like to use a little more than half so there isn't as much rice.  I always have a small bowl of warm water to dip my fingers in.  This keeps the rice from sticking all over your fingers.  Make sure the layer of rice is thin.

Next, lay your ingredients down.  Shown in these photos, is my version of a spicy crab roll. 

Can't hurt to have a helper! :]

Pull the Nori wrap to the edge of the bamboo mat.  Roll the edge and tuck it under all of the ingredients and squeeze with both hands to make sure it sticks.  (I found that it is hard to make sushi and take photos yourself so this is why I'm only using one hand...I'm not THAT skilled!!)

Check to make sure that the Nori is tucked well under the ingredients.

Continue to the roll the sushi with one hand, while the other pulls the bamboo mat along with the roll.  You don't want to get your mat rolled up IN your sushi!!

Roll the sushi to the end

Because there is no rice at the end, the Nori will not stick.  You can just cut the leftover off and toss it.

Pull the roll to the beginning of the mat again and roll it all the way up, using both hands squeeze and roll the sushi 

For this part, it works easiest if you run your sushi knife under HOT water.  Cut through the middle of the roll.  Continue cutting the roll so that you get 8 pieces.

Place the rolls on a plate and top with spicy mayo and sesame seeds!

Some of my favorite rolls to make - 

Spicy Crab

Red pepper

Cucumber

Cream cheese

Spicy crab

Topped with spicy mayo and a drop of Siracha

Caribbean Chicken

Teryaki chicken strips

Pineapple

Red pepper

Cream cheese

Topped with spicy mayo and a slice of jalapeno

Crunchy Shrimp

Battered shrimp

Carrot

Cucumber

Avocado

Cheesy Crab

Crab 

Extra cream cheese

Avocado

Benihana soup...MY WAY!

2 Boxes of Swanson's chicken broth
4 Celery sticks
2 White onions
Sprinkle of parsley
2 TBSP of salt
1 Cup of water
1 Cup of mushrooms (Sliced incredibly THIN!)
2 Cups of flour
Cooking oil
1 Cup of chopped green peppers
2 Cups of milk


Soup:
Chop celery and onion into large chunks (leave about 1/4 of an onion for the fried onions)
Heat your crock pot on high and pour water and Swanson chicken broth in
Put the chopped veggies into the broth
Sprinkle parsley and add salt
Cook on HIGH for 5 hours
Fish out all of the chunks of veggies so that JUST the broth is left
Add the sliced mushrooms and green peppers...let this sit in the crock pot until its ready to serve

 
Onions:
Slice onions in little sticks (as shown in picture)
In one bowl, place flour...and the other bowl, the milk.
Heat your skillet (please use a splatter guard!!) filled with vegetable oil
Dip onions in milk and then flour
Put the onions into the skillet and cook until browned
Place on a paper towel to drain oil

Add the onions to the soup when you serve it...

DEEEELISH!

That's a tostado...MY WAY!

Everyone always raves about my guacamole...so here you go peeps...MAKE IT!!  The portion size is for two people, if you want more...just times everything by TWO! :]

Guac:
2 Avocados
1 Lime
2 TSP minced garlic
1/4 TSP black pepper
1/2 TSP margarita salt
1/4 Red onion finely chopped
1/4 of a cucumber finely chopped
2 TSP of chopped jalapenos (Spicy to tastings!)
2 TSP cilantro (chopped fresh or from the spice section)

Cut and SMASH them avocados!
Bang the lime on the counter...BEAT IT!  This gets the juices loosened up!
Cut the lime in half and squeeze all of the juice in
add the rest of your ingredients...and mix together!

Enjoy...promise it will be the best guac ever..if it's not...YOU MADE IT WRONG! ;]


The rice...simple favorite of mine...southwest from steam fresh!


Tostados:
Preheat the oven to 400*

What do you like in your Mexican dishes?  There are your ingredients!
I put refried beans, rice, jalapenos, and mexican blend shredded cheese in mine!

Place tortillas in a muffin pan...and then fill them up!

Put them in the oven and back for about 7 minutes, or until your tortilla shell is hardened.

OLE!

Teryaki Skewer with Avocado salsa

Skewer:
2 Chicken breasts (Thawed)
1 Zucchini
1 White onion
Rice
Teryaki sauce
1 Green pepper


Chop chickens and marinate in teryaki sauce for 30 minutes
Chop zucchini, onion and green pepper into large pieces
Place above on to a skewer
GRILL TIME!!

Cook rice accordingly and drizzle with soy sauce

Avocado Salsa:
1 Avocado
1 Small can of pineapple chunks
1/4 TSP of sugar
Cilantro

Chop the avocado into chunks and mix with the pineapples
Add a little excess pineapple juice and sugar to the chunks
Top with cilantro

NOMZ!

Pork the chops and stuff the tomato!

Pork chops:
2 Pork Chops
Basil
Bread crumbs
Vegetable oil
Salt
Oregano
2 Eggs

In a bowl, add bread crumbs, sprinkle basil, salt, and oregano and mix together with a spoon
Break 2 eggs in a bowl and wisk (just like scrambled eggs!)
Cut the pork chops into strips like in the picture
Heat your skillet with vegetable oil in it
Dip the pork chop strips in the egg and then the bread crumbs
Put in vegetable oil and cook until done
Place chops on a paper towel to drain grease
READY!

Stuffed tomato:
2 Roma tomatoes (oval shaped)
1 cup of ricotta cheese
1/4 cup of parmesan cheese
1 TSP of basil
1 TSP of garlic
1 TSP of oregano

Preheat oven to 400*

Take the roma tomato and slice a little bit of the bottom off so that it sits flat.  Cut the top off and gut the inside.  Spray a piece of foil with cooking oil and put it on a pan.  Mix the remianing ingredients together and stuff it inside the tomato

Baked red potato:
Wrap in wax paper and press the potato button on the microwave!
Top with butter, sour cream, and cheese!

Asparagus:
Saute the asparagus in a skillet with butter and garlic

Summer salads...some arent.

My favorite thing to do in the summer is to eat outside.  I also love salads...

This is one of my favorites.

1 Chopped tomato
1/4 Chopped red onion
1 Chopped ball of fresh mozzarella
Balsamic vinaigrette
Fresh Chopped basil
Garlic bread
2 Chicken breasts (Thawed)
Garlic
Chopped lettuce
Olive oil


Mix the tomato, mozzarella cheese, and red onion with a little bit of olive oil.  Add garlic and basil to taste.  A little bit of sea salt is good too!
Top the chopped lettuce with the mix above, drizzle with balsamic vinaigrette


Marinate the chicken in basil and olive oil
Throw on the grill until cooked
Chop up and serve next to the salad

Make garlic bread accordingly

Angihana?

Now this is a dish that I prepare for only my close friends.  It is VERY time consuming...about 3 to 4 hours to prepare and cook everything.  To keep the guests busy....?  BEER...and nice weather of course...because for this one...ITS GRILL TIME!  I think that one day I will have to get a flat top so I can cook like the chefs at Benihana!

Its best if you prepare everything before you get ready to cook.  I'm not going to write out the recipes, this is a meal that is hard to cook all at once...guess you will just have to try...or come to my house for a show! :]

What you see is what you get...Everything in the picture below is what I cooked.

The end result....

I bet you wished you knew how good this tasted....

Summer Salmon

Summer Salmon

2 Salmon filet's
1 Red pepper
1 small can of pineapple (chunks)
1 TSP sugar
Dash of teryaki sauce
Cilantro (fresh of from the spice section)

Marinate the salmon in the pineapple juice, teryaki, and sugar for about 30 minutes
Chop 3/4 of the red pepper into chunks and mix with the pineapple chunks
Make a foil boat for the salmon to sit in (take a piece of foil and fold the sides so that no juices can leak out!)
If you have a searing part on the grill...seer the salmon on both sides before putting it on the foil boat...for a crispy outside
If not, put a dollop of butter in the foil and place the salmon on top.  You can drizzle any leftover pineapple juice on here as well.
Place the salmon on the grill and cook on both sides until done.  When the salmon is finished cooking on one side, pour the pepper and pineapple on top of the fillet and close your grill.  YUMZ are happening.  Your salmon is ready to go...



From what you see on the plate above...there is obviously more food than just the salmon.  The crab cake is just one bought from Kroger.  Bake in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes and then brown it on both sides in the skillet with some veggie oil.  SIMPLE STUFF!

Spicy Rice

...This side can be paired with almost anything.  It is one of my signature side dishes!

Red Pepper
Zucchini (I'm determined to get you to like this)
1 serving of Rice
Red pepper flakes (the kind you put on pizza)
Teryaki sauce

Cook rice accordingly
Add a scoop of butter to the rice
Chop 1/4 red pepper into tiny little pieces
Take about an INCH of zucchini and chop into tiny pieces
Put red pepper and zucchinis into the rice and stir around
Drizzle a tiny bit of teryaki sauce on top
Sprinkle red pepper flakes onto rice (taste to your spicy likings)
Let that cook on low heat so that the veggies can warm

EAT!


The zucchinis in this photo were just grilled with a little bit of light butter.

The shot on the side...1/4 pineapple juice and the rest is coconut rum!  Nice sweet little gift!

Veggie Pita

Veggie Pita

1 Zucchini
1 Squash
1/4 Red onion
1/2 Red pepper
Feta/Shredded hot pepper cheese (options!)
Balsamic Vineagerette
Pita bread

Chop all of the veggies into chunks
Toss them in a little bit of Balsamic
Heat a skillet with a scoop of butter
Dump the veggies into the skillet and cook until brown on medium/high heat
Turn your own on BROIL.  Put the pita bread on a pan and put it in the oven until warm
Fill your pita with the cooked veggies and drizzle with a little extra balsamic
Top with cheese and CHOW down!

Grill THIS

Now I'm a grilling QUEEN...I love anything on the grill.  My favorite thing to do is to grill vegetables.  They turn out so crunchy and juicy...MMMmmm mouthwatering!!

My parents got us this BOSS grill for our wedding gift...

My favorite thing to grill is zucchini.

There are a few ways to do this...You will see in my later posts, that I eat a lot of grill zucchinis!

Balsamic Glazed Zucchini

Slice the zucchinis long ways - This makes for easy grilling!
Drizzle balsamic vinaigrette onto the zucchini
Place on the grill and wait until you get those amazing looking grill marks...flip...drizzle balsamic vinaigrette...and DONE!
Feta cheese is a nice little touch to add when they are ready for serving.

Citrus Pulled Pork

Citrus Pulled Pork

1 half of a pork loin UNFROZEN.  You can make the whole thing, I just have a smaller crock pot!  When you buy a pork loin at the store, cut it in half...two meals is better than one!  Just freeze one of the halves in a freezer zip lock.
1 orange
1 TBSP of cinnamon
2 TBSP of paprika
1 Quart of orange juice (estimate)
1/2 Cup of maple syrup
2 TBSP of brown sugar
1/2 TSP ginger
1/2 Cup of terryaki sauce
1 onion
1 Bottle of Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce

Turn crock pot on HIGH
Brown the pork lion on both sides each for about 5 minutes in a skillet with olive oil
Chop the whole onion into big chunks and put them in the bottom of your pot
Slice orange into thick slices
Place pork loin into the crock pot
Fill the pot with orange juice enough so that most of the meat is covered
Add everything else and whisk the ingredients into the orange juice
Cover the top of the meat with a little paprika and the orange slices
Cover the pot and leave for 7 hours
Turn the meat over if you can in the crock pot at about 4 hours to make sure the top gets done
At this point you can also scrape the white fatty parts off and toss them (GROSS, I KNOW)
Take a large glass dish and cover the bottom with BBQ sauce
Transfer the meat onto the dish.  Pull the meat apart with a fork (or it may just fall apart)
Top with BBQ sauce...eat plain or on some BUNZ!

Chicken Pesto Pasta

Chicken Pesto Pasta

2 Chicken breasts (Thawed)
Spiral pasta
1/2 Red pepper
Basil pesto
Minced garlic
Basil
Mozzarella cheese
Olive oil
Mushroom (optional)
Red pepper flakes (optional)

Cut chicken into chunks
Cook chicken in skillet with TBSP of garlic and a sprinkle of basil
Chop red pepper and mushrooms
Saute the mushrooms and red pepper in a little bit of butter
Cook noodles accordingly
Drain noodles and put back in the pot.  Add chicken and vegetables to pasta over low heat
Pour 1 TSP of olive oil and about 4 TBSP of basil pesto.  Stir.
Add mozzarella cheese (as much or little as you'd like)
EAT AND NOMZ!

Chicken Pesto Pizza

Chicken Pesto Pizza

1 Boboli pizza crust
1 Red pepper
1 Ball of FRESH mozzerella cheese
1 Tomato
2 Chicken breasts (Thawed)
Basil
Garlic
Butter
Basil Pesto


Preheat oven to 400*
Chop chicken into SMALL chunks.  Heat and spray skillet.  Put chunks into skillet and sprinkle garlic and basil over the chicken.  COOK all the way.
Slice tomatoes thin
Chop up the red pepper
Use an egg slicer to slice the fresh mozzeralla ball
Place crust on a pizza pan coated in cooking spray
Spread basil pesto to cover pizza crust
Add tomatoes, chicken, and peppers
Top with mozzeralla and basil
Cook for about 15 minutes or until cheese starts to brown a little on top

Chicken Divan

Chicken Divan

1 can of cream of chicken soup

3 chicken breasts (Thawed)

1 package of broccoli florets (frozen or freshly chopped is fine, but the steam fresh are easiest)

1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup of bread crumbs

Butter

1 tbsp mayonnaise

Rice

Preheat oven to 350*

Cut thawed chicken into chunks.  Heat pan with a tiny bit of oil or butter.  Cook the chicken in the pan, maybe add a little garlic or basil for taste.

Pour soup into pan and heat over medium heat.  Add mayo to soup and stir.

While the soup and chicken are cooking, heat a smaller skillet with a scoop of butter.  Pour breadcrumbs into skillet and mix them in with the butter until they are all covered.

Cook broccoli accordingly 

Cook rice accordingly

Poor soup, chicken, and broccoli into an oven safe dish.  Top with breadcrumbs and cheese.  Cook for 30 minutes.

Serve with white rice!

If you are making this for more than 3 people, you can add another chicken breast or two, and just a little milk to the soup to thin it out a little bit...

Eat THIS!

So, I'm new to this blogging thing....

People continuously ask me for recipes of the food that I make, but I don't use recipes, I make up my own stuff. I'm using this blog as a way to jot down what I cook so that other people can use MY personal recipes!

 Most of these recipes are cooked for two people, so you may notice I don't jot down serving sizes!  Sometimes there are extras...just freeze it for next week...and it will still taste just as delicious!

CHICKEN TIPS (or chunks...?)
A lot of my recipes involve chicken.  A lot of people have trouble cooking chicken in a skillet.  Here are my secrets, some common sense...but you never know!

I thaw the chicken JUST enough to be able to put a knife through it.  I then chop it up into bite sized chunks.  ALWAYS spray the skillet before you cook the chicken!! (even if its non stick)  Start off heating the skillet on HIGH, then add the chicken and turn it to medium to cook it.  This slowly cooked the chicken.  Constantly shake the skillet (if you got skillz like me!) or move it around with some rubber tipped tongs.  Stick your cooking tool into a piece of your chicken to make sure its well done.  Towards the end of the cooking I like to turn the heat on HIGH and brown the outside of the chicken a little bit.

FOR PEOPLE WHO DON'T KNOW - NEVER USE METAL TONGS, FORK, OR SPATULA ON A NON STICK SKILLET.

If you are marinating chicken, don't dump the marinade in the skillet WITH the chicken because it will burn and stick to the pan...then you have burnt tasting chicken.  I find it best to fish the chicken OUT of the marinade.  Towards the end of cooking the chicken at the point where I'd put it on HIGH heat, I like to add a little extra marinade!


Enjoy your NOMZ!