Snowy cookie making

Whelp. We started the cookie baking off with some sugar cookies. Just a regular old Alton Brown cutout recipe. This post stars Karen. Woohooo !! Mostly it's a study in pictures.... 

mystery cookie! Hi Karen!!!

 

 The pizza pan kind of was a bad plan. 

 

See??? All in all, YUMMO though. 

 

Just a little snowy grilling

Tonight I decided that we would have BURGERS. But also, that I would grill in the SNOWPOCALYPSE 2016 PART 73. I mean, it was good times. My coals didn't want to heat up as much as I wanted them to and I wasn't wearing a coat (SHUT UP). But BURGERS. 

I mean. Good times right?

I also had my work party the other night at O'Malley's in Aurora. Mmmmm the main point of talking about O'Malleys is the STEAK NACHOS. 

 

Right??? 

Now that we are discussing Mexican food, let's talk about last weekend when it was Jeremy's birthday. We went to this Mexican place near Indy called 

 

Omg it was SO GOOD. First enjoy the gorgeous bright interior.....

 

 We had this chorizo-queso that I forget what it was called (choriqueso?) and it was SO DELICIOUS. Creamy and a little spicy and of course they had homemade chips which, of course I ate my weight in. Because chips. 

 

Jeremy had these deliciously pretty fajitas....

 

I believe his fajitas were chicken, steak and shrimp. I had shrimp chilequiles which were spicy and different and delicious. 

 

I also have a lovely photo of Jeremy with fried ice cream all over his face but I didn't ask so I'm not putting it up. It was an excellent Mexican place and I will obviously insist we go there again (though en route to this place we saw another new place we wanted to try). 

Overall, lots of fun food. Fun cooking. I aspire to get back to cooking and experimenting again soon....as soon as things calm down. HAHAHAHA. Who am I kidding???? 

I will be starting the holiday cookie fun soon so get ready for that! 

I'm back! Well. Kind of.

I've been so busy at work and with the kids that I have been eating frozen meals (homemade ones! Let's not get crazy) and PB sandwiches for the kids. Tonight I decided to make this chicken stuffing bake thing because I kind of wanted stuffing. I didn't actually eat any at Thanksgiving (I WAS TOO FULL FROM APPETIZERS) so I was thinking about what I had....SO legs it is and some delicious boxed stuffing.

 

I browned the chicken in the oven and then mixed cream of chicken soup and milk and poured it over. 

 

Then mixed milk with a box of stuffing (I used Aldi brand because cheap) and spooned it over the top. 

The recipe I used (found here)  called for shredded cheddar on the top. 

So I did it. 

 

It was good, but I don't think I would put cheese on it again. Because cheese on stuffing wasn't what I wanted it to be. 

 

Now. A preview of tomorrow! 

Today I busted out my pasta machine that I have had for basically a year and not used yet and it is FANTASTIC.

I made fettuccini and some other skinny noodle and lasagna. Tomorrow I'm making a lasagna but here, look at this! 

 

 More pictures of the pasta making fun tomorrow. It was one of the most fun kitchen gadgets I have ever used and FRESH PASTA IS SO GODDAMN GOOD. My kids had buttered noodles for dinner (the chicken was taking too long but they will have it for lunch tomorrow). 

 

Until my next cooking adventure friends!!! 

All hawaiian all the way

So I had the day off for Veteran's Day and I decided to COOK. I know. I'm shocked too. 

I decided to do this crock pot pineapple chicken. Basically you put your frozen (or fresh) chicken into the crock pot, and make a marinade/sauce of brown sugar, soy sauce, chicken broth, garlic, pineapple juice and pour it on the chicken. Then you put the pineapple on the top! I forgot to do th cornstarch part, but I did broil them (which my kids picked the crispy skin off!). This came out DELICIOUS. I would absolutely make it again. My kids both LOVED IT. 

 

 

Pre and post broiling. 

Then I decided I should make my own Hawaiian rolls. MMMMMMMMM. 

Pretty easy and the secret ingredient is PINEAPPLE JUICE. I enjoyed these as much as the chicken. 

While rising. Pay no attention to how they are all smooshed. 

 

I made rolls and I made a loaf. Mmmm SOMEONE SAVE ME FROM MYSELF. 

 

We also had this random rice thing which didn't work out. Oh well. 

 

Recipe for Hawaiian rolls here  Nothing like fresh bread from the oven.....

Overall, will make BOTH THINGS AGAIN. 

I also made some sauce from my tomatoes from my garden, I used the same recipe from before....it's a freezer recipe and it made a TON. 

These had been ripening for awhile on my counter. I used all of the ripe tomatoes and then went out and picked the rest of the green ones off the vine for another batch of sauce eventually.

 

I cooked them with onion and garlic this time, no peppers. 

 

Enough to freeze and share. Going to make my own pasta this weekend. FINGERS CROSSED! Overall, it was an excellent day. Lots of cooking. Mmmmmm

 

Taco Tuesday - vegan style..maybe

Been a while for writing a food blog. Figured what better distraction from the elections than to jump back into food blogging. I was sitting here thinking "TACO TUESDAY"- which is always in caps cause you have to respect it. Was debating on whether to go out and grab some food or cook something at home. After being inspired by my compatriot Roberto's pic of a butternut squash and cheddar gratin, I had picked up a butternut squash. Well I picked it up before his pic but hey why not give him credit for it anyway. I mean technically he actually cooked it before I did. That's not a euphemism. So butternut squash + tacos? Why not!

Did a quick google search and came across Cookie + Kate Roasted Butternut Squash Tacos. Seemed easy enough and was something new to do with a butternut squash.  Also I think I might have gotten brownie points with my vegan and vegetarian friends as I believe this might have been a vegan meal in its entirety. Worse case scenario it was vegetarian. I don't know all the rules...maybe I'll just stick with vegetarian meal to play it safe. Someone will correct me at some point I'm sure.

I would say probably the hardest part was cutting the butternut squash and that wasn't bad at all. I did notice the lady mentioned that you could buy pre-cut butternut squash but being a fan of chopping/Julienning I do enjoy preparing stuff myself. Plus I own a plethora of knives so why not use them.

Post roasted Butternut Squash

Cabbage and Black Bean Slaw

Karen's homemade guacamole- even I don't know how she does it

Finish Product- Roasted Butternut Squash Taco

While on the vegetarian/vegan front I did come across these at the grocery store. Had a couple of things going for it 1) brand new and 2) was on sale. So why not. They were actually pretty tasty and per the label vegan. Pretty much paired it up with the guacamole. Not sure if they sell them everywhere or what but picked them up at Meijer. Definitely on the buy again list.

The Better Chip Sweet Corn chips

Regardless of how the elections go,  I think it was safe to say mission accomplished on this foodie adventure cooking.  New food? Check. Home cooking? Check.  TACO TUESDAY? CHECK again. Vote tacos for the win.

#FoodiePorVida,

Reef

Chicken and cowboys

Earlier this week I decided to make a roaster chicken I had been saving, so I decided to go with Engagament Chicken. I read about it long ago in Glamour Magazine, where it is a THING. Now, I made it for my kids so no engagement rings in sight. But! THE KIDS LOVED IT!!! I was shocked too. 

I used Ina Garten's recipe, which was not the original Glamour one, but was very delicious. This is a terrible picture and I was so excited about it I forgot to take another picture when I was finished cooking it. Please again, don't mind my dirty stove. My youngest kid even helped to season it and stuff it with garlic and lemons. It was aawsome. (So awesome it needs two A's. Typo stays). 

 

The next day, Gav also had the job of taking the rest of the chicken off of the carcass because we were making Chicken and Stars soup. 

 

 Those are the onions cooking in olive oil, but then we also put the cold fat from the chicken pan (and onions) into the soup for extra flavor. And it came out EXCELLENTLY.

 

Now. Last night I made Cowboy Casserole. I found the recipe the other day when thinking about what ingredients I had, but also because I remembered Jer told me his mom used to make a casserole with tater tots. DONE. Sooooooo Cowboy Casserole it is. Basically, you brown hamburger with some onion and seasonings, then throw in some "cream of" soup. I had cream of chicken so that's what I used. A little sour cream, a little milk, a can of corn (I used frozen corn) and some cheddar cheese. Mixy mixy mixy. Then put in a pan with tater tots and top with a smidge more cheese, then bake it. Mmmmmm omg tater tots. I couldn't remember the last time I made tater tots. Mmmmmmmm remember when they would have tater tots in the hot lunch? BEST DAY EVER. When I was looking for tater tot casserole recipes I found a bazillion of them, ALL DELICIOUS LOOKING. Hello Pinterest! 

 

For the most part, the kids all liked it. The melted cheese on top seemed to be a deterrent for all of the kids, but other than that, kid approved. Wooohooo. Obvs Jer and I ate a ton of it because DELICIOUS. Mmmmmm. 

I'm attempting a French toast bake as I type this, so fingers crossed! 

Hmmm French Onion Alfredo Quinoa

Tonight I wanted quinoa but I didn't know what kind, so I decided to ransack my cabinets and see what I had. So. Newman's Own Alfredo Sauce, an almost expired French's French Fried Onions, Parmesan cheese and quinoa. Oh and Garlic.

BOOM. Cooked the quinoa in the rice pot, then mixed it with a tablespoon full of garlic and the jar of Alfredo sauce. Then topped it with Parmesan and the fried onions and baked it at 350 for 20 minutes. Or if you are me, I accidentally put it on broil so the onions got a smidge crispy but DAMN IF IT DIDNT MAKE IT BETTER. BEHOLD! 

 

Then I mixed it all up....mmmm

 

The flavor is good, the crunchiness is good. WOULD TOTES MAKE AGAIN. 

Weekend Cooking Spectacular

First of all, I am ridiculous and like to over plan for cooking always. 

Secondly, I decided to talk Jer (aka Big Country) into cooking ahead for the following week so we both had delicious homemade food to eat. So we (slash I, in a slightly bullying fashion-❤️ YOU BC) made a list of dishes to make, divvied up our ingredients and then COOKED. We planned for three meals, but ended up making 2, which I was cool with. We also made a pumpkin pie, which I will share posthaste.

So, we made this Skinnytaste Sausage and Peppers Macaroni bake. We used turkey Italian sausage, a red and yellow bell pepper, and macaroni. Basically, we sautéed the sausage, added in onion, peppers, mushrooms and garlic, then a can of diced tomatoes and a jar of pasta sauce. This recipe is different in that you cook the noodles in th sauce so, extra easy, so extra DONE. I only took this one crappy picture of it but IT IS DELICIOUS. And cuts up easy for portioning out and whatnot. 

 

We also made the crock pot bourbon chicken, which I had made before, but BC wasn't there for that. Turns out though, he knows the lady that runs that blog which is actually pretty cool! 

We also, made this Fireball Whiskey Pumpkin Pie, which, I think we originally saw floating around Facebook, but also, someone had left the EXACT amount of Fireball in my fridge. PERFECT! 

 

So we didn't grill the pies because I was baking. The first pie crust is the one BC rolled out. 

 Obviously th terrible second one is mine. Ha! We pre-baked them. Or Par baked them? LISTEN. We baked them for like 20 min while the sausage macaroni was cooking. Then did the recipe (which, basically, is a pumpkin pie recipe plus fireball.)

 

 

Did I happen to take a picture of the pie when it was finished? That was not in my dirty oven? I did not.Because  eating pie. But here, enjoy this fireball bottle. 

 

Overall, an excellent weekend of cooking. More cooking adventures this week I predict! 

Siempre Te Amare Tacos Al Pastor

A lover of all tacos...keep it clean people...I have never attempted or even knew how al pastor was made. As luck would have it Facebook - or more precisely Tasty- had released another one of those over head cooking videos called "homemade al pastor". As a taco officiendo I felt it was my duty to try that recipe out. Also I believe it was other folks thoughts as well as that video was sent to me by friends. Shout outs to Vicki for posting it to my page. That helped too cause I'm one of those dummies that doesn't remember where I saw something nor thinks to write it down. Pretty much before today I've stuck to three types- chicken, steak, and turkey- for meat choices when cooking tacos at home. All signs and the magic 8 ball pointed to "YES" so had to try it out.

In case you are not familiar and/or have not tried it, Al Pastor is pretty much like a Mexican  pork version of Shawarma and/or a Gyro- at least in how its cooked. Difference being that this is marinaded with spices, pineapple juice, and various other stuff prior to cooking. My go to choice of tacos is usually steak, however depending on where I'm at the alternative is Al Pastor. Just has a lot of flavor to it.

Al Pastor Marinade 

So the video "how to" for the Home made Al Pastor was originally in Spanish and did not include the written out ingredients and directions. I was going to post that however I found a site with the recipe in addition to the video (which is in English) and figured two birds with one stone. You can find that page HERE. So during my lunch break from work (FYI I work from home thus why you see me in ragged clothing), I decided to do the marinade and butchering- as the meat is suppose to marinate for at least 2 hours. Per the recipe it calls for 5 lbs of pork shoulder, but I went with a 3 pounds as there's only 3 of us. I suppose if you don't eat pork, you could probably use chicken instead and adjust the cooking time accordingly. 

Rugged man does rugged butchering

Playing Al Pastor Jenga

Probably the most work of this recipe was cutting up the pork shoulder. Otherwise it would be skewering the meat. I will say the only issue I had was with aligning the skewer into the pineapple. Because I was off center with it ended up tipping over in the oven. As the Macguyver type I am, I just compensated by adding/pouring the marinade into the tray. Figured that would keep it from burning/overcooking. Also halfway through I flipped it over.

Al Pastor resting on its skewers

Finish product: Karen edition as indicated by sour cream

Overall I think- like all those famous cooking shows would say- came out pretty tasty. In this instance I'm not lying cause I really did enjoy it. If it was crap I would say so. #BelieveIt.  Anyway if you're adventurous I say go for it. Just don't forget to invite me cause you know you ain't going to eat all that food.

#FoodieSquadGoals,

Reef