Caprese Chicken Rollatini

Caprese Chicken Rollatini

For the Chicken Rollatini:

• 2 chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp pesto sauce
• A few slices of Mozzarella cheese
• Balsamic Vinegar
• cooking twine.
  

Recipe for the tomato Bruschetta can be found here

Directions:

1. You need to pound the chicken to about 1/8-1/4 thickness. The best way to do this either a)wrap your butting board in plastic wrap. Place one chicken breast in the center. Cover the chicken with an additional piece. or B) place chicken in a gallon sized ziploc bag and zip up. To evenly pound the chicken, start from the center of the chicken and work your way out. Repeat for 2nd breast.*note- if you are using a ziploc bag this can be tricky when the chicken becomes too big for the bag.

2. Take the tbsp of pesto sauce and spread on the chicken.

3. Add a slice of the mozzarella cheese. If you are slicing cheese by hand, try to make it as thin as possible. Don't add too much or it becomes impossible to roll.

4. Tie with cooking twine.

Chicken should look like this. I added too much cheese so it was coming out.

5. Put both chicken breasts on a baking sheet lined with tin foil (I sprayed with Pam for good measure). In a 350 degree oven let the chicken cook for about 40-45 minutes.

6. When ready to serve garnish with Bruschetta and a drizzle of Balsamic vinegar.

Been playing with photoshop. Which image is more appealing to you?

OVERALL: For my first attempt in a while at making an original dish I was really happy with this one. Originally I wanted to add the tomato into the rollatini as well, but decided that I'm not a fan of warm tomatoes.

My chicken was not thin enough. I spent probably 30 minutes pounding chicken with a frying pan (I don't have a meat pounder) while my roommate was watching T.V. So I probably should have gone a bit longer on both. My other mistake was using fresh Buffalo mozzarella cheese. When I checked up on the chicken, most of the cheese had melted out because it's like 80% water. I would used a sturdier mozzarella for this or perhaps skips the cheese in the middle and add it ontop halfway through cooking.

Also, the bruschetta was very good! It will probably be my go to recipe.

I was very happy with this meal and I'll keep working on perfecting it.

Merlion

So one of the great things about being away from home in a semi-large city is the non chain restaurants you can find.

Merlion is suppose to be a Singapore cuisine restaurant, but to me it looks more oriental/American fusion of eastern food.

There were so many choices I wanted to try! I had:

• Walnut Chicken
• Crab Wonton Appetizer things (WHICH WERE AMAZING)

Their menu was extensive, even including a vegan menu. They also have a huge assortment of Teas. Most of all, the prices were fair, I think my bill was $12 with tip.

I'm mainly writing this (and I have a few other restaurants that I want to write up) because whenever friends/family are like "where should we go to dinner", we always end up at TGIFridays, Hops, Olive Garden, and other restaurants that you can basically go anywhere in the country.

This place gets my thumbs up!

New Banner :)

Made a new banner to fit the chocolate-y theme.

Image if from Pistacho Cake I made last year.

Oil for Beginners.

Cooking with oil for the first time is kinda scary. What is even more intimidating is going to grocery stores and seeing just HOW many variety of oils there are. What if you are trying to eat healthy, aren't oils and fats bad for you?

No. There are bad kinds of oils and fats that you should limit, but oils and fats are important in diets, in small amounts. The molecules that compose of oils and fats are necessary for normal body processes.

The Bad Fats
Saturated Fats	Saturated fats raise total blood cholesterol as well as LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol).
Trans Fats	Trans fats raise LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and lower HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol).
The Good Fats
Monounsaturated Fats	Monounsaturated fats lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol (the bad cholesterol) and increase the HDL cholesterol (the good cholesterol).
Polyunsaturated Fats	Polyunsaturated fats also lower total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol. Omega 3 fatty acids belong to this group.

(Source)

So which oils should you buy?

Good Cooking Oils:

• canola oil
• flax seed oil
• peanut oil
• olive oil
• non-hydrogenated soft margarine
• safflower oil
• sunflower oil
• corn oil

Apparently Veggie oil isn't that good for cooking with from what I've seen!

The bolded oils are oils that I use often. When you are on a budget, there is no need to get ALL of these unless a specific recipe calls for, say, peanut oil. But chances are most of your cooking can be done using Canola oil & Olive oil.

Cooking with Oil

Probably the most intimidating cooking material to work with is oil. Working with oil your first time, you aren't sure when the pan is hot, what to do and what not to do, how high to turn the stove up. Most of my friends are scared because oil will spit and while the spitting rarely causes burns, it certainly makes you fearful of going near the pan. It's okay! Cooking with oil doesn't have to be scary. Let's talk about some basics:

All oils have a "smoke point"

Smoke Point- the temperature at which a cooking fat or oil begins to break down. The substance smokes or burns, and gives food an unpleasant taste. Therefore, the smoke point of a given fat is a key consideration in frying, with the smoke point of the oil dictating what temperatures and therefore what purposes a particular fat may be used for (for instance, deep frying is a very high-temperature process and requires a fat with a high smoke point). Beyond the smoke point is the flash point, the point at which combustion occurs.

The smoke point of an oil lets you know how hot the oil to get before cooking with it becomes very dangerous. Olive oils are best for medium heat. Olive oils are not good for frying because their smoke point is often too low for adequate frying. If you need high heat for frying, it's better to use " refined safflower and sunflower oils, peanut, safflower and soy oils. Refined almond, avocado and cottonseed oil are also great if you can find and afford them, and canola oil is usually not a problem either." (Source)

When do I know when oil is ready?
When sauteing, using a small amount of oil, you do not need to coat the entire bottom, a dime-quarter size will be enough. Notice when you pour the oil out, the oil moves slowly (Faster than syrup but slower than water) Turn the stove on medium heat. When the oil moves around the pan with the consistency of water (meaning easily:P), the oil is ready for cooking.

Why does my oil always spit?
Spitting oil is normally caused by 2 things: A) The temperature is too high or B) What you are cooking has a high percentage of water. If you are cooking meat, chances are you have your temperature too high and the oil isn't happy. Turn the heat down slightly. My mom has a wonderful screen that fits over a 10 in saute pan to temper oil spitting. If you are on Medium heat, chances are the oil is fine and what you are COOKING has a high percentage of water (such as veggies). Oil and water do not mix. This is why when using a deep fryer for a thanksgiving turkey YOU NEED TO THAW THE TURKEY! Oil and water leads to fires if precautions aren't taken when using the deep fryer. Another note, when you are done cooking with the pan, let the oil cool before you decide to clean the pan, otherwise the hot oil will react with the water and potentially cause damage to you or your home.

Storytime: So this entry is more or less dedicated to my roommate, who refuses to cook with oil after a bad experience. She put some oil in a pan, heated in, added pork chops to the pan when the oil was ready. Well, the oil was too hot and started to smoke. I'm really not sure where my roommate was at this point or if she thought it was the meat cooking. Anyways, the pan caught on fire. On fire people. She screamed and her Chinese roommate came out and took the pan off the heat and dropped it on the tile floor. The picture on the left is the result. I don't know why they didn't reach for the fire extinguisher, it's in the kitchen.

I'm still scared of using Oil to cook with!
It's alright. Having a bad experience when cooking with oil will make most people nervous before doing it again. If you can get yourself a saute pan screen to reduce any oil spitting. If you can't afford, don't want to spend money until you know you can cook with oil, cover the pan with a normal lid. When you need to stir the contents to the pan, remove the pan from heat for about 30 seconds or until you don't hear the oil sizzling anymore.

When can I use butter?
If you want some light sauteing, butter is fine. My mom would normally melt a tsp of butter in a pan and throw some chicken in the pan. The chicken would lightly brown. Water can be added to this method of cooking. Butter has a low smoke point so you can easily burn butter. You won't fry anything with butter. I prefer using butter with more sweet dishes, like peaches I made a few weeks back.

More questions/answers can be found Here including the differences in the various Olive Oils, How to store oils, how long you should keep oils. Another great website more in detail about EVOO here

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If I've forgotten anything or have anything incorrect up here, let me know! Most of this information comes from my own experience cooking and maybe I'm doing things incorrectly!

Unhealthiest Restaurants

Thought this article would be important for college kids, mostly because your first year, you WILL eat out a lot!

America's Unhealthiest Restaurants

My notables on that list:

• Baskin-Robbins
• Denny's (so many midnight dinners)
  
• Dairy Queen
• Ruby Tuesday
• Chilis
• Macaroni Grill
• Applebees
• IHOP (Mmm, this is where we went after Gators won nationals!.. at 2 in the AM)
  
• TGIFridays

My Own List:

• Chipolte
• Moe's
• Coldstone

Mac and Cheese gone wrong

Mac and Cheese. Let's not kid ourselves, how many times do you open up a box of Kraft Mac N Cheese, or Easy Mac, or whatever store bought cheese powder is your preference. For me, Mac N Cheese was my staple freshman year. It was easy to make, hard to screw up, and about $0.80 a box. Now that I've grown out of "the cheesiest" Mac N Cheese, I've been looking for some more sophisticated takes on my childhood favorite. Here's an article I thought interesting, followed by my own attempts to spruce up this dish:

Norma Jean Darden, the owner of Miss Maude's and Miss Mamie's soul food restaurants and Spoonbread Catering in New York City makes the best mac 'n' cheese I've ever tasted. She was kind enough to share her recipe in The Magical Melting Pot cookbook. What makes it so delicious is the cheesy custard surrounding the macaroni, and all the cheese on top which gives it a beautiful, golden appearance.

You can easily create international versions of this mac n' cheese recipe by using foreign cheeses and adding locally popular proteins such as salami, ham, or shrimp, and seasonings such as dill or chili peppers. Here are four recipes that shed a whole new light on what mac 'n' cheese can be! Proudly serve them for lunch or dinner, along with a nice, big salad tossed in vinaigrette dressing. Enjoy!

Norma Jean Darden's Basic Mac 'n' Cheese Recipe
(makes approximately 6 servings)
2 cups dry macaroni, or other shape pasta
2 teaspoons salt
2 large eggs beaten
1 can (12 oz.) evaporated milk
3 cups Cheddar cheese, shredded
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Grease a 9" X 13" baking dish.
3. Cook the pasta in boiling water with the two teaspoons salt, until al dente. Drain and set aside.
4. In a large bowl, beat the eggs and whisk in the evaporated milk until well blended. Add 2 cups of the the cheese, the 1/2 teaspoon salt, melted butter, and cooked pasta.
5. Pour the mixture into the baking dish. Top it evenly with the remaining cup of cheddar cheese.
6. Bake for approximately 40 minutes, or until the custard has set and the cheese on top turns golden brown.

"ITALIAN" MAC 'N' CHEESE
Proceed as above, but add:
4 ounces dry salami (hot or regular), thinly sliced and cut int 1/4" pieces. This should be approximately 3/4-cup, firmly packed.
1 cup sun dried tomatoes, cut in 1/4" pieces or shredded. If you use the kind that are packed in oil, drain the oil.
Substitute 3 cups of shredded Italian blend cheese (Quattro Formaggio with Parmesan, Asiago, Fontina, and mild Provolone) instead of the Cheddar. If you can't find the Italian Blend, use any of these cheeses, or some combination.

"MEXICAN" MAC 'N' CHEESE
Proceed as above, but add:
1 4-oz. can chopped chilis (mild or hot)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Substitute 3 cups of shredded Mexican blend cheese (sharp Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Asadero, queso blanco) instead of all Cheddar. If you can't find the Mexican Blend, use any of these cheeses, or some combination.

"SWISS" MAC 'N' CHEESE
Proceed as above, but add:
6 ounces sliced, cooked ham, cut in 1/4" pieces (approximately 1 cup, firmly packed)
Substitute 3 cups of Swiss cheese, shredded, or sliced and cut in 1/4" pieces.

"DANISH" MAC 'N' CHEESE
Proceed as above, but add:
2 cups shrimp (baby shrimp or any size, cut in 1/4" pieces)
1/2 cup fresh dill, finely chopped (or more if you love dill)
1/2 teaspoon salt
Substitute 3 cups of Havarti cheese (plain or with dill), shredded, or sliced and cut in 1/4" pieces.
Source

So In my attempts to spruce up the mac and cheese I made my own...

Mac N Cheese with Pepperjack...in the crockpot?

Ingredients:

• 2 cups uncooked elbow macoroni (no, I had penne)
• 4 oz light cheese, cubed
• 1 cup shredded mild chedder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp pepper
• 1.5 cup skim milk

Directions:

1. Combine ingredients together in crock pot. cook on low for 3-3.5 hours. Stir after 20-30 minutes.
   

OVERALL: Sounds good right? I followed everything, the only substitution I made was using pepperjack cheese cubes. When it came time for me to stir the dinner, I noticed that my pasta was burning. WTF, how do you burn food in a crock pot? I stirred and added a bit more milk. Now, I was growing concerned. I double checked and I added everything in the right amounts. But I noticed it was for a 3-4 quart crock pot. I have a 6 qt crock pot. Damn. Ultimately IF I was to try this again, I would double all quantities. But I prefer the stove top way 100 fold!

Blog Feature Recipe!

This is actually a note to myself:

I just made Joy the Baker's Chocolate Banana Bread and it turned out wonderfully! Must make again, but I would add a bit more banana to mine.

Raisin granola muffins

Raisin Granola Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1.75 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 2 tsp salt
  
• 1.5 cup granola
• 1/4 cup dark brown sugar
• 2 egg whites
• 3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 tsp vanilla
  
• 3 tbsp veggie oil
• 1/4 cup raisins (my add in)
  

Directions: Mix dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl mix wet ingredients. Fold in dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Mix. Spoon into cupcake tray. Cook for 15 minutes at 400 degrees.

OVERALL: So I rarely make things from stratch. Not because I don't like it, but it's always time consuming for me and I don't have enough bowls to mix things separately and I generally make a mess. Plus, I feel like I have less ability to use my creative energy to modify the recipe! But I was staring at my box of granola, which had this lovely recipe on the side. It looked simple enough, and I HAD all the ingredients to make (minus the vanilla). So I decided to make them.

They tasted very good when they came out of the oven. There was only a hint of sweetness, no where near what I'm use to when buying muffins from Starbucks, but they were still good.

I have no idea what happened overnight. I put them in the fridge, covered and all, and they turned to rock hard muffins. They were almost painful to eat. I ended up throwing about half away after I couldn't eat anymore. So I'm not sure if I would make again, maybe some weird planet alignment caused the muffins to turn on me.

Peaches Gone Wild

Oh baby baby!

So I was craving sweets the other night. I've been trying to limit the amount of sugar I eat because trust me, it's a lot. So I threw out my sweets and decided cold turkey was the best option.

Lies.

Just like any drug user, I need to wean myself off the drug. So, in an attempt to cure my aching for sweets, I sauteed some peaches:

Sweet Peaches

• 2 sliced peaches
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp butter
• Optional: 1 tbsp good rum, vanilla ice cream
  

1. Add sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg (and rum if you chose) to sliced peaches. Let them "marinade" for about 20 minutes. I had fresh peaches that were about to go bad, so I used them. I suppose canned would work, but fresh is best!
2. Melt the butter in a saute pan.
3. Add peaches to pan.
4. Cook for about 10-15 minutes until they are soft.


Overall: Yeah, it cured my sweet tooth. I wish I was 21 so I could go get some rum to cook with. Or I had some vanilla ice cream to top. Or had some flour and other ingredients to make like a cobbler. But it was yummy, and I had the rest the next morning in some yogurt and granola.

On another note, I'm TRYING to work on my photographing of pictures. The next few posts are actually scheduled so they don't reflect my attempts at taking pretty pictures.

Interesting Article: Easy Dinners

t’s 6 p.m. and the family wants to know “What’s for dinner?”

Why not look in your pantry, root through your freezer and search the refrigerator to come up with some short-cut meals? People ask me if I cook and I say yes, but I also do a lot of meal assembly when time is tight. Here are some meals in minutes that will please the family and the cook.

Have a question of general interest? E-mail Chris Rosenbloom Fit to Eat columns With right ingredients on hand, dinner is fast Keep diet, budget under control Don't just count carbs, look for quality in them More Fit to Eat • Chris Rosenbloom, Ph.D., R.D., is a member of the nutrition faculty in the College of Health and Human Sciences at Georgia State University Related: • Carolyn O'Neil: Eat healthy snacks to stay alert in seminars Good links: • Evening Edge • AJC Food & Drink • AJC Health Channel • Diet and Nutrition headlines, resources • Atlanta Restaurant reviews and search • Low fat/ heart healthy recipes • Search recipes

• Brown, black and red burritos. Use a bag of ready rice (brown rice is best) and cook in microwave according to package directions. Pour the rice in a bowl and mix in a can of drained black beans and some jarred salsa to taste. Wrap in tortillas or stuff in pita bread and sprinkle with shredded cheese. Serve with a side of baked tortilla chips and salsa.

• Chicken soup meal. Take a couple of cans of chicken soup (or any broth-based soup) and add a can of mixed, drained vegetables and a can of drained garbanzo beans (chickpeas). Sprinkle with grated Parmesan cheese and serve with whole-grain bread.

• Pasta in a hurry. Cook any type of pasta in your pantry according to package directions (spaghetti, fettuccine, etc.). Heat olive oil in frying pan and toss in bite-size pieces of vegetables (broccoli, bell peppers, onions, carrots, etc.). Serve over pasta with drizzle of olive oil. Serve with side salad and bread sticks.

• Tuna toast. Drain a can or two of tuna and add finely chopped celery, onions, olives and raisins and mix with reduced-fat mayonnaise. Spread over thick slices of whole-wheat bread or any bread in your freezer. Place under broiler to heat through. Serve with baby carrots and apple wedges.

• Tortellini soup. Cook a package of refrigerated or dried tortellini (any kind will do). Drain. Mix one can of chicken broth with one can diced tomatoes. Add chopped garlic and dried basil. Mix in tortellini. Serve with green salad or steamed vegetables.

• Chicken nuggets. Using boneless, skinless chicken breasts (thaw in microwave if frozen), slice into strips. Dredge in an egg white (give the yolk to your dog) and dredge in panko (bread crumbs). Bake on cookie sheet (covered in foil for easy clean up); add slices of potato drizzled with olive oil and a sprinkle of dried rosemary on the same baking sheet and cook until the chicken and potatoes are done, about 20 to 30 minutes. Serve with cooked frozen or canned green vegetable.

TOP 10 PANTRY ITEMS FOR SHORT-CUT MEALS

• Cans of beans (keep a variety on hand: black, kidney, garbanzo, cannellini and pinto)

• Bags of ready rice (brown is preferred)

• High-protein whole-grain pastas

• Cans of broth-based soup

• Oatmeal

• Olive oil

• Couscous, bulgur or millet

• Light chunk tuna canned in water

• Low-fat microwave popcorn

• Nuts

TOP 10 FREEZER ITEMS FOR SHORT-CUT MEALS

• Whole-grain breads

• Chicken breast or chicken thighs

• Whole-wheat tortillas

• Vegetables (buy bags of veggies for easy storage)

• Turkey or black bean burgers

• Frozen fruit (for out-of-season use)

• Whole-wheat pitas

• Whole-grain waffles

• Ground turkey breast

• Frozen boneless fish fillets

Weeknight dinners :)

Doesn't that look appetizing? Yeah it was just that good.

So a lot of my friends wonder how I can cook myself dinner. Dinners for one are never really fun. A lot of work for just eating alone and then mounds on pots and pans to clean up.

This is what I pretty much make when I'm too tired to cook and don't want to clean a sink full of pots.

Potatoes & Onions
Ingredients:

• 2 small-medium potatoes (depending on how hungry I am)
• 1/4 white onion
• garlic
• Seasonings I vary between (I only use one): Paprika, chives, rosemary
• Salt & Peppa (:P)

Pretty much throw in a pan with a little bit of oil. Add potatoes first. When the potatoes are almost done, add the onions. If you add everything at the same time onions will burn. Season to taste. If you want some hot potatoes use cayenne, red pepper flakes, and/or chili powder.

Honestly, I throw this together in about 15 minutes. And I only have one pot to clean. It's fab. Yeah, I know it's starchy. Add what you want to make you feel better about eating it. More veggies & leftover meats would allow you to cut back on using so many potatoes. You can add in bacon, top with cheese & sour cream, whatever. I'll eat about half and then store the rest for another night.

*facelift*

Now I just need a new banner :)

I've died and gone to heaven

Cappuccino Hazelnut Cheesecake $52.00

Candy Crazy Sampler Reg Price $44.00 on sale for $30.80


Heath Bar Cheesecake Price $35.00

Chocolate Lover's Sampler Reg Price $40.00 On Sale $28.00

Oh god. Saw this on Unwrapped.

Eli's Cheesecake

Oh. My. God. I don't think there is one cheesecake there I would not try. They have Cheesecake Couture!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Mmm, another application of the wonderful Shredded Chicken Recipe I posted a few posts back. Leftovers are wonderful for me because I can spend sunday cooking and procrastinating on my homework and make lotsa food for me to eat throughout the week, but something different all the time!

Chicken Tortilla Soup:
Ingredients:

• 10 oz Master Recipe Shredded Chicken
• 1 can canned tomatoes with green chili peppers
• 28 oz chicken broth
• 1 package frozen peppers
• 1 can corn (or frozen I suppose, we used canned)
• Tortilla chips
• Optional: Jalapeno pepper, sour cream, shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients in your crock pot.
2. If you want the jalapeno, seed and dice the pepper. BE CAREFUL! Jalapenos are wicked painful to the eyes if you touch your eyes after working with the peppers. Best option is to work with plastic glove. If your hands are going naked, make sure to wash REALLY well. I've made the mistake of NOT washing my hands well enough. It hurts. Real bad.
3. Cook on low for 5-6 hrs or on high for 3.5-4 hrs.
4. Garnish with Tortilla chips (we had pita chips), cheese, sour cream, or whatever else you like in your soup
OVERALL: It was good. Honestly though, I am not a fan of soups. My entire family, who is not as finicky as I am, loved the soup and it was gone within a day. That must say something about it right? But I probably won't make again because I don't like soups. Unless it's cold. Then I would.

Kitchen Social Experiment

This post isn't really about food. But it's about a college experience nonethenless. Unless you've grown up in a house where you make your own dinner or you have a fair amount of siblings, it comes as a shock when you move out on your own and face sharing a kitchen.

My first year at college was spent in a dorm. I shared a room with a girl. We never became friends really. I had 2 pots, one chefs knife, one paring knife, a small plastic cutting board, and a community kitchen. Now, I'm pretty sure my experience was abnormal compared to others who have shared the joys of dorm life, but I didn't like living in a dorm. Next year I moved into an apartment with friends, thinking it would be a huge change from the constantly dirty pots and pans piled in the sink for days.

I was wrong.

Right now there are only 2 of the 4 girls in my apartment that *know* how to work a dishwasher apparently. Myself and a graduate research student from germany.

The hardest thing you will have to content with when living with others, is people using your stuff and not cleaning it. I can't tell you how upset I was when I saw my new chefs knife I got for christmas sitting in the dirty sink water. It now has little rust stains on it. It was brand new. Roommates cut meat on my wooden cutting board and LEAVE PIECES OF MEAT OVERNIGHT on my cutting board. Roommates use my teflon pans and use shiny metal tongs or forks to stir, scrathing the coating. Roommates leave food overnight in my pans. Like, right now, theres a pot of rice that has been on the stove since thursday night. One roommate lives by the motto "out of sight out of mind", which is evident in her forgetting that meats and vegetables have a shelf life. I cleaned the fridge this weekend and threw out rotten tomatoes and marinating pork chops that were in the fridge since mid week february.

The worst part was the dishes in the sink. I would put away dishes every night and unload the dishwasher every other morning. They weren't even my dishes. It just got to me.

I told me roommates they can't use my stuff anymore, and they need to do their own dishes. So far it's worked out alright but there are dishes in the sink this morning from 2 days ago.

Not really sure why I'm posting this. I just am at a loss of what to do.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwich

This recipe uses the Master Shredded Chicken recipe!

So I love anything buffalo really. This was really easy to make and tasted great:

Buffalo Chicken sandwich

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of Master Sheredded Chicken Recipe
• Hot sauce to taste
• 1/4 up sour cream
• 3 tbsp crumbled blue cheese
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• Bun!

Directions:
1. Combine the chicken and as much hot sauce as you want. Buffalo marinade/sauce would also work, but I didn't have any so I just used hot sauce, tasted good.
2. Heat the chicken
3. In a separate bowl combine sour cream, blue cheese, cayenne pepper. Mix well.
4. Cut your bun, add a piece of lettuce, pile chicken on. Top with blue cheese sauce.
5. Enjoy:

So I made 2 and had already ate one before I realized I should take a picture!

OVERALL: Simple easy snack using leftovers and easy/cheap ingredients. Also can be scaled up to feed a large group! I'm sure you can use the same concept with BBQ sauce and coleslaw for a BBQ chicken sandwich.

Master Recipes

So my mom got this AWESOME crock pot magazine and here are 2 recipes which will be critical for future recipes I'm going to post/try. No pictures this time.

Shredded Chicken:

• 4 to 5 lbs of chicken thighs, skinned.
• 4 thyme springs
• 4 parsley stems
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 cloves garlic, halved
• 1 32 oz chicken broth

1. Combine in crock pot, cook on low for 7 to 8 hrs or high 3.5-4 hrs.

Shredded Pork

• 3-3.5 lbs pork shoulder
• 1 cup chopped sweet onion
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 20 oz bottle chili sauce
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tbsp cidear vinegar
• 1 tbsp worcestershire sauce
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 0.5 tsp pepper

1. Combine in slow cooker. cook for 10 to 11 hrs on low or 5 to 6 hrs on high.

The idea is the meat to have a mild flavor so it can be easily combine with other sauces for other dishes!

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice cream

So for Christmas my grandma got our family an ice cream maker:


Behold! The wonderful ice cream maker. Sadly, I don't live at home so I haven't gotten to use it since Christmas because I haven't been home. What a waste of a beautiful machine too. My mom and sister don't eat sweets and my step dad will have a sweet tooth once in a blue moon. But I wasn't allowed to bring it home.

So my first experience with an ice cream maker was a blast. My mom and I spent the time catching up and having a great time. We made Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream.

Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream

• 4 oz egg beater
• 2 cup heavy cream
• 1 cup pureed strawberries
• 8 oz cream cheese
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 cup sugar

Optional: So if you want some texture in your ice cream you can add chocolate chips, quartered strawberries, whatever you would like in your strawberry ice cream.


Directions:

Note: You have to put the metal canister in the freezer for a LONG time, we left it in for like 24 hours so it was nice and cold.

1. Cream together egg beaters and sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add in cream, cream cheese, pureed strawberries, and vanilla.
3. Mix thoroughly.
4. Once everything is mixed, set up the ice cream machine and have everything ready to pour into canister. Once you take the canister out of the freezer it starts to thaw, which is bad because the cold canister is what freezes the ice cream.
5. turn on machine. leave for 30 minutes.
6. Ice cream is going to be custard-y once done. Put in a container and freeze for a few hours if you want it harder.


Overall: Honestly, this was just as fun for me to make as it was to eat. The ice cream was creamy and had nice flavor. I would have loved some chocolate chips. But it was fun. Wish I had this to play with. Do you know HOW many flavors of ice cream you can make?