Im on Youtube!

So i've taken this blog thing a step further, and I am not only posting my recipes on here, but I am showing you how to cook the recipe as well on Youtube. I think I can upload the movies here so you can have everything you need on one website, but if you have any suggestions on how to perfect the youtube thing, please let me know!!

Click here to go to my YouTube account :)

Day 45: Pasta Salad

So today I am going to a Memorial Day party at my boss's house. I wanted to make a side dish since they will be cooking hamburgers, and I figured a pasta salad is kind of a no fail. Also what else is a no fail is Paula Deen's recipes! So you can only guess who's recipe I used :)

Ingredients

• 1/2 teaspoon salt, plus more for seasoning
• 1 pound bow tie pasta
• 1 cup store-bought balsamic vinaigrettedressing
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 cups halved cherry tomatoes
• 1 (4-ounce) can sliced mushrooms, drained
• 2/3 cup pitted kalamata olives
• 1/2 diced green bell pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• Grated Parmesan, for topping

Directions

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium heat. Add the pasta cook it according to package directions.

While the pasta is cooking, in a small bowl, whisk together the balsamic vinaigrette, mayonnaise, and sugar.

Drain the pasta well, transfer to a large serving bowl, and let cool. Add the tomatoes, mushrooms, olives, green pepper, salt, to taste, and the black pepper. Pour the dressing over the salad and toss to combine. Sprinkle with the cheese, toss lightly, and serve.

Day 44: Job Chae (Take Deux)

When in Knoxville, I visited the Asian Supermarket, and if I could have I would have bought the whole store! I did end up buying rice noodles, sesame oil, bag of rice, and a sushi mat. I have been trying to recreate Job Chae that I previously have tried, except this time, I thought I had the correct noodles, that could possibly get the job done. Since I had just got done working, instead of using fresh vegetables, I just used frozen vegetables.

I basically followed the Job Chae recipe and instead of using spaghetti, I used rice noodles.

What we thought:

Jimmy would rate this a 7. Lets say he is much more generous that I am going to be. I would rate this a 1. I found it very bland, and for some reason, it lacked the flavor compared to the first time I made job chae. The noodles were different. I am usually very open minded about food, and usually i will try anything twice, even if I hate it, but these noodles lacked the texture and taste that I am used to. I probably did not make them correctly since this was the first time I even attempted to cook rice noodles. I will do more research on rice noodles, and maybe they will be great with different ingredients. I am still trying to perfect job chae. Any suggestions?

Day 43: White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

2 Cans (13 oz) drained chicken breast

1 Large Jar White Beans

1/2 Jar (15 0z) Salsa

2 Cans (12 oz) Chicken Broth

2 Cups Colby Jack Cheese

1 Tbsp Cumin

2 Cups Crushed Tortilla Chips

Directions:

1. Place chicken, beans, salsa, chicken broth, cumin, and cheese in a large kettle

2. Heat on medium until mixture is hot and cheese is melted

3. Add crushed tortilla chips as topping

What we thought:

Jimmy rated this a 9/10, and I rated this a 10/10. Jimmy says the chili tasted good, but it was missing something. I rated this a 10/10 because its super easy to make, easy on the wallet, and it tasted like the previous white chili i've had at restaurants. I will make this again for sure! On a side note, I added more cheese because I wanted it super cheesy :)

Day 42: Beef Stroganoff

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds cubed round steak, cut into thin strips
• House Seasoning, recipe follows
• All-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 medium onion, sliced
• 8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
• 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can beef broth
• 1 (10 3/4-ounce) can cream of mushroom soup
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 cup sour cream
• Cooked egg noodles

Directions

Season the steak strips with House Seasoning, then dust with flour. In a large skillet, quickly brown them on both sides in the olive oil and butter. Remove the steak from the pan. Add the onion slices and mushrooms to the pan drippings. Saute for a few minutes, until the onion is tender. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon flour. Put the steak back into the pan with the onion and mushrooms. Add the mushroom soup and beef broth. Cook over low heat for about 30 minutes, covered. Adjust seasoning to taste, adding salt and pepper, as needed. Stir in the sour cream the last few minutes, right before you serve. Serve over cooked noodles.

House Seasoning:

• 1 cup salt
• 1/4 cup black pepper
• 1/4 cup garlic powder

Mix the ingredients together and store in an airtight container for up to 6 months.

What we thought: My grandma was feeling sick one day, and she requested that I fix dinner. Well of course, I didn't care, but I had no idea what to make. I decided to make beef stroganoff, which was my dad's favorite, and attempt to make it. Grandpa helped me with this recipe, that I got on Food Network, and it turned out on an average: 9/10. My brother and his fiance rated it a 9/10 because of the mushrooms. I do not enjoy mushrooms, but for some reason, I am ok with mushrooms on this dish. Jimmy, Grandpa, and I rate this a 10/10.

Day 41: Shrimp Pasta Salad

My mom called and recommended a recipe my sister Jasmine and I could make for the blog. I was very eager to try it! It sounded good, and healthy. I had it before at Gilligan's Bar & Grill in Harrisburg, PA. This is where mom got the idea from, I believe. It is very simple to make!

Ingredients:

1 bag of dole lettuce (the salads in the bag. Preferably either spring mix or mediterranean blend)

1-2 roma tomatoes

1 cucumber

1 pound of precooked shrimp with old bay on them, peeled.

Shredded mozzerella cheese

2 cups of corkscrew tricolored pasta cooked as directed

Salad dressing: recommend Balsamic Vinergerite Dressing

Directions:

Cook pasta as directed, once cooked through, chill in cold water, set aside.

Take shrimp if chilled and remove shell and cook just till warm (should already be precooked)

Arrange on plate:

Lettuce

Tomato slices

Cucumber slices

Cup of pasta

Shrimp

Cheese

Ashley's Thoughts:

Jimmy rated this a 7/10 (he's not a lettuce person). I would rate this an 8.5/10. The only thing I wanted was, was more spice on the shrimp. Maybe I am starting to like spicey foods more? Old Bay is still good. I get Old Bay on my mongolian grill chicken at this one restaurant. I forgot to top my salad off with cheese, but that saves the calories anyways. I would make this again for sure! It adds a twist to my regular salads!

Day 40: Chocolate Pudding Pie

I had a dream that I had made this chocolate mousse-pudding pie with a graham cracker crust. I then added crushed oreo and gummy worms on top. Well, I googled this, and to find out, its an actual pie! The pudding box I bought even had the recipe on it. Who knew?! Jimmy says I got the idea from watching Julie & Julia because she had made the same pie before trying Julia Child's cook book. I had watched this movie right before I went to bed, so maybe he's right!

Ingredients:

1 box of pudding, any flavor.

1 container of Cool Whip

Graham cracker pie package

Directions:

1. Make pudding according to directions

2. Combine pudding and cool whip together, mix

3. Put ingredients onto pie crust, let cool for an hour.

I shredded a chocolate bar on top to add to the presentation

What we thought:

Jimmy rates this a 10/10. I would rate that a 10 as well. It satisfied my craving for chocolate and the taste of graham cracker and chocolate was like uber yummy!!

Day 39: Mexican Pizza with homemade tortilla chips

Family came into town for my surgery and Jimmy's graduation. I decided this would be the perfect opportunity to use my 90-something tortilla wraps. Going against everything my doctor told me not to eat after surgery, I decided to make Mexican Pizza and homemade tortilla chips.

Mexican Pizza

(Grandpa's pizza)

(Jimmy's pizza)

Ingredient

• 1 (16 ounce) can refried beans


• 1 pound ground beef


• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning mix


• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil


• 4 (6 inch) corn tortillas


• 8 ounces shredded Cheddar cheese


• 8 tablespoons sour cream


• 2 roma (plum) tomatoes, chopped


• 2 green onion, chopped


• 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles, drained


• 1/2 avocado, diced


• 1 tablespoon black olives, sliced

Directions

1. Heat the refried beans.


2. In a large skillet, brown the ground beef. Stir in the seasoning packet.


3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).


4. Place a small amount of vegetable oil in a large skillet. Let the oil heat, then place one corn tortilla in the skillet. After 15 seconds, flip the tortilla over and let it fry another 15 seconds. Repeat this process with the remaining tortillas, letting them drain on paper towels once they have been heated. When the tortillas have drained, arrange them on a cookie sheet.


5. Spread a thin layer of beans on the tortillas, followed by a layer of beef, and cheese.


6. Bake the tortillas in the preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes. Slice the tortillas into wedges and arrange them on plates or a serving platter and garnish them with the sour cream, tomatoes, green onions, chiles, avocado, and olives.
   

What we thought:

When we made these, we forgot the lettuce but substituted it with cilantro and left out the olives. I think everybody came to an agreement that these were a 9/10. The only thing wrong with these were the tortillas. They were kind of hard to cut. We tried to come up with an idea on how to make the lower tortilla softer, and keep the crispiness of the top tortilla. We added some mango-peach salsa we picked up at the store. Since I was not allowed any "spicy" foods, Jimmy picked out the mango-peach because it was not that spicy. We all were pleased, and we are looking for suggestions on how to make the pizza easier to cut through.

Tortilla Chips

See my "What we thought" section to learn on how to make homemade tortilla chips! We all thought these were a 10/10! They were tasty with the mango-peach salsa!

Day 38: Chilaquiles

Happy Cinco De Mayo!!! With finals wrapping up, Jimmy's graduation, and my surgery going on, I totally forgot it was Cinco De Mayo. Thanks to Facebook status updates, I was reminded. I googled some "traditional" recipes, and I came across Chilaquiles. I've never had this before, and since I am trying to be more "well rounded" when it comes to different cuisines, I decided I HAD to try this.

Ingredients

For The Chicken:

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts		1 onion, quartered
2 cloves of garlic

For the tomato sauce

2 onions, fnely chopped		1 garlic chopped very small
12 tomatoes peeled and seeded and pureed		1 Tbs cilantro, minced
salt and pepper, to taste		2 Tbs Tabasco sauce if you want it hot (optional)

Plus you will need

4 round corn tortillas		Sour cream, diluted with a small amount of water
½ lb manchego cheese		½ pound mozzarella cheese

Cut the tortillas into strips

Cook chicken with a little water, the quartered onion, a pinch of salt and two cloves of garlic. Cover, cook slowly over a medium heat.

Once the chicken is fully cooked, place chicken on a plate. Cool until you are able to handle it.

Throw away the garlic and onion.

Tomato Sauce

Sautee the chopped onion and garlic in some olive oil. Once the onion is translucent, add tomatoes, cilantro and Tabasco sauce, over medium heat for 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Shred the chicken and place in sauce, lower heat and cook for a few minutes to absorb some of the flavors from the sauce. Do not over cook.

Frying the corn tortillas

Deep fry the corn tortillas. When they are crisp, remove and drain on paper towels.

Assemble

Set the chilaquiles like lasagna. Use a large lasagna pan and layer the following:

• tortillas



• chicken in sauce



• sour cream {diluted in water}



• cheese.

Repeat layers and finish with cheese and sour cream. Bake at 335 degrees F for about 45 minutes.

What we thought:

This took about two hours to make, not including oven time. When all said and done, this tasted great! Jimmy and I both rated this a perfect 10. We liked the "freshness" the cilantro provided plus I really enjoyed the kind of cheese I used. For some reason, it didn't occur to me that you can chop of tortilla wraps and make tortilla chips. Remember, I was born blonde. My tortilla chips turned out great! I did not fry them like the recipe called for, I baked them. I sprayed canola oil on both sides and cooked for about....4 songs worth (i was listening to music at the time). That would be about 12 minutes. I just need another recipe so I can use up my tortilla wraps. Any suggestions?

Day 37: Spaghetti and Meatballs

Today my sister, Jasmine, will be cooking and contributing to the blog today! I decided to do something easy tonight, and I figured Spaghetti and home made meatballs are perfect!

What you will need (Meatballs):

1 lb of ground beef


2 eggs


bread crumbs (enough to hold beef together, about 8-10 crackers)


2 tablespoon parsley


Onion (1/2 cup or so. I like lots of onions, so I will probably use more)


1 tbsp Olive Oil


1/4 cup parmesan


Salt & Pepper






Spaghetti:


Enough spaghetti to feed your family


Jar of sauce










Directions:


1. Cook pasta according to directions.


2. Prepare the meatballs. Mix by hand in a large bowl beef, parsley, eggs, breadcrumbs, cheese, salt, and pepper until well mixed. Use small melon baller, or teaspoons to form 1-inch round meat balls (or your hands). Roll and compress into tight balls.


3.Heat frying pan on high heat. Add olive oil. Sear and brown meat balls on all sides. About 2-3 minutes. Depending on pan size you may need to brown two batches of the meatballs. Do not crowd the pan by stacking the meatballs. Cook in a single layer. Do not over-cook.


4. Combine cooked meatballs and sauce in a pan or crockpot. You can heat meatballs in crockpot all day on low or you can heat the meatballs on high for few minutes till sauce is warm






Ashley's Thoughts:


I really enjoy these, whenever we do make them. I blanched some spinach and put the spinach in the sauce to add a little bit of vegetables to it. Jimmy would rate these a 8/10. I guess i'll agree with him. He said these meatballs were missing something. Maybe I should have put like a jalapeno pepper of put cheese in them to make them "pop".

Day 36: Chicken Stir Fry && Rice Krispies Treats

Today is one of those rainy days, actually, it has flooded entire downtown Nashville, and we were craving Rice Krispies Treats and Stir Fry. I was originally not going to put the stir fry recipe up since its way too simple, but I used a skillet so I figured that was "cooking".

Chicken Stir Fry

1-2 chicken breasts (depending how many people you are feeding)
Vegetables (celery, carrots, brocoli, green beans, snap peas, etc)

Sauce (pre made stir fry sauce or you can use soy sauce/sugar combo)

Rice (optional)

Directions:

1. Defrost chicken, and cut chicken into slivers. Cook chicken until fully cooked (3-5 minutes).

2. Add vegetables, pour sauce over vegetables and chicken in skillet, and cook until hot.

Serve over rice. Enjoy

What we thought: We added a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables plus a frozen bag of snap peas. I ate mine with rice. I thought this was so good! It was easy, effortless, and perfect for those lazy sunday days. 9/10!

Rice Krispies Treats

(this recipe came straight off the cereal box)

You will need:

3 tablespoons margarine or butter

1 package (10 oz, about 40) regular marshmallows OR 4 cups miniature marshmallows

6 cups Kellogg's Ricke Krispies cereal.

Directions:

1. Melt margarine or butter in large saucepan over low heat. Add marshmallows over low heat. Add marshmallows and stir until completely melted. Remove from heat.

2. Add Kellogg's Rice Krispies cereal. Stir until well coated.

3. Using a buttered spatula or waxed paper, press mixture evenly into a 13x9x2-inch pan coated with cooking spray. Cut into 2 inch squares when cool. Best if served the same day.

What we thought:

Well, when I was melting the marshmallows with the butter, I couldn't help but think of the commercial where the dad was making krispy treats with his two daughters, and they were laughing and having the time of their life. I did not have that much fun making these, but I sure enjoyed eating them! They were delicious! This was my first time, that I can remember, making krispie treats. It was so good warm, and it just melted in your mouth! 10/10!