Procrastination.

OK, so my main goal for today is to procrastinate as much as possible. I have psych homework to do which I reallllly don't want to do. It's a horrid assignment. The likes of which no one should ever have to endure. Ugh.

So far I have been mildly succesful at this procrastinating thing. I have, already today, gone to Toy's R Us, The Dollar Tree, the grocery store, did 3 loads of laundry, did the dishes, fed my child and myself AND picked up the living room that is temporarily a dumping ground for any and every toy God ever made.

Now? I am sitting here writing to you all. I really do not have anything profound to say, just looking for excuses to stay away from mental health. That's all.

Speaking of mental health, this morning I spoke to my scarves. Yes, out loud. To those inanimate objects that you put around your neck. I love my scarves and I am so excited that it is now time to bring them out and wear them in all of their glory:

I brought them out of their box in the closet and said "Come out pretty girls! I've missed you."

Moving on to stories of other inanimate objects.

I made a really yummy recipe last night that I want to share with you. My mom gave me this recipe after she made this for me one time and I almost fell out of my chair. It is that good! And it is SO easy. If you don't like Thai...move along little doggie, because this is Thai all the way.

Red Curry Chicken (Or that's what we call it! And it's not creepy curry...it's the yummy kind.)

2 chicken breasts (chopped into bite-sized pieces)
1 or 2 cups misc veggies (I used broccoli, onions and green peppers. Anything you want really. She also used those rediculously cute miniature corn things that get thrown into chinese food. Adorbs.)
2 tblsp red curry paste
2 tblsp sugar
14 oz. coconut milk (Not the low fat kind. And no, this dosent taste like the smell of suntan lotion.)
3 or 4 cups of day old rice (Or 3 day old in my case. Ha! ;)  Seriously though...make the rice a day before or use that leftover stuff from your chinese take out box. It's gotta be like hard-ish.)
salt to taste
rep pepper flakes (Optional. Do it though. You won't regret it.)

Cook the chicken in vegetable oil until done. Add the veggies (parboil anything like broccoli, cauliflower or those adorable corn things) and saute with the chicken until slightly tender (leave some crunch, people). Add the sugar and a good amount of salt. Stir and then add the coconut milk and red curry paste. Mix the pretty pinkish, orangey goodness well. Let that bubble for a few minutes on medium-high heat. Add the old rice and stir until combined. At this point you can add the pepper flakes and more salt to taste, if needed. Let it reduce a bit and enjoy! Here's mine from last night:

Note the orangey goodness.

Now that I have successfuly wasted another 14 1/2 minutes...I guess I will go do the dreaded assignments.

Have a great rest of the day!

-K

Cooking sesh.

As I mentioned before, we went to our friend, Kevin's for a cooking sesh this past Sunday.

The goal was for everyone to make a small dish or two, tapas-like, and we could all sample each dish and just enjoy the food. We started cooking at 3:00 and didn't go home until about 9:30. Yes, 6 1/2 hours of cooking and eating. SO fun. Again, they were very small portions, so we didn't get stuffed or disgustingly full. You should try it some time. I took pictures as we went--I was the designated documenter :) Here's a few things that we made:

I made my favorite bruschetta:

And Ofir and I collaborated on mini chicken picatta:

My brother, Drew, made sweet potato raviolis (homemade!) with sage butter sauce and topped with pancetta. Yes, sweet potato. They were ahhhmazing:

And he also made a yummy fish dish with a potato and parsnip mash and spinach with a saffron/vanilla sauce. Sounds weird, but totally wasn't weird in my mouth. :)

Kevin made steak tacos with a great corn, tomato, bean and pepper relish:

My mom made precious cornish hens (I just pretend that these are not darling baby chickens...just small grown chickens, uh I mean...cornish hens). They were filled with a delish french bread and fig stuffing:

She also made a lovely, light salad topped with fried gouda cheese. Oh yes...fried cheese:

And finally, my stepdad, Mike, made dessert. He made rum baba. Pretty much pastry, rum and whipped cream. Mmm hmm:

I don't even like rum...but these babies were gooood!

Foley was bored with the cooking. We humans are not very interesting. Unless we are offering them food.

My mom brought these. Love:

Now, go gather some friends or family (or ME!) and have a cooking session. Enjoy them and the food you make together!

-K

Mangia! Mangia!

I had two of my friends from nursing school over for dinner the other night. We had wayyy too much fun.

Way too much of this:

And this:

Oh, bruschetta I love you. "Is it bruSHETTa or bruSKETTa?"



And this:

Someone please tell me WHY there is this much food for three people.

This is just a little bit of nursing school humor. No big deal. This is Candy and Ashley, by the way. Love them! I am sure they would like to see normal pictures of themselves posted, but unfortunately...that's all we got. So for now, you can just picture them to be weird, homely, unattractive people--none of which are true :)

I love how the bottom left picture of Candy looks like the folks in The Ring who watched that freaky video and then got the call that they were doomed and then they freak out, etc. etc. etc. Hopefully she dosent end up like this:

We also had an atrocious dessert:

No really, it was terrible. It was supposed to be tiramisu, but it was an epic failure.  It involved wateriness and an accidental anise flavor. Don't even ask. Let's just say I will not be posting that recipe for you to make. At least my presentation was good. Ha!

We had a great Italian cooking sesh together!

Ashley also entertained us with her freaky double-jointedness in her feet:

Hopefully she dosen't end up like those Chinese people who crush their feet into miniature shoes so they can have adnormally small ass feet:

I think I just threw up in my mouth a little.

Have a great day!

-K

"Best Ever" Banana Muffins.

That's what the recipe card says--"Best Ever."  And they pretty much are. My mom gave me this recipe and I make them all of the time. I love them. Ethan loves them. Ofir loves them. Score!

They are super easy and fast. Oh, and scrumptious:

"Hello golden-brown deliciousness!"

Now, make sure you start with super ugly bananas. Like, you'd be embarrassed to be seen with them in public, ugly. Like this ugly:

The uglier, the better :)

Ingredients:
3 large bananas (hideous one's, remember now.)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup melted butter

Mash bananas. Add the sugar and slightly beaten egg and mix well. Add the melted butter. Add the dry ingredients (you could sift the dry ingredients to make sure you get all he lumps out. I, on the other hand, do not have a sifter, so I just wisk them together in a seperate bowl to break any lumps up before adding it to the wet ingredients), mix it on up and cook for 22 minutes at 375 degrees.

This makes about 12 muffins. You could probably put this in a bread loaf thingy, but I don't know how it would affect the time. Just watch it like a hawk and I am sure it would be fine.

This time I added some cinnamon in there. You could add nuts, chocolate chips, blueberries...this list goes on and on. Make it your own! :)

Enjoy!

Food blog, really.

I am beginning to feel like this is a food blog with all of this food I have been posting. Food food food. Who dosen't like food though?

I made a really delicious pasta dish last night: Penne with Artichokes and Olives. I kind of went off a recipe, but added twists here and there. If you don't like artichokes or olives, then you are sh*t out of luck.

-1 small onion (I used red)
-2 cloves garlic (minced very very fine)
-2 plum tomatoes--seeded and diced (I only had a big beefsteak one and that was just fine)
-1/2 cup chopped kalamata olives (mouth is watering, just so you know)
-1 can artichoke hearts--drained and roughly chopped
-1/3 cup parmesan cheese
-2 tbsp. olive oil
-1 box penne past
-1 cup chicken broth (I used part vegetable broth, part white wine)

Cook the pasta al-dente.

Add the olive oil and cook with the onion until translucent on medium-high heat. Add the garlic, tomatoes and olives. Cook down for about 10 minutes, add the artichoke hearts and cook for another 5 minutes or so on medium heat. Add about a 1/4 cup of white wine (I used Pinot Grigio) and let that reduce. Then add 3/4 of a cup of the broth and let it reduce slightly. Add the pasta directly into the pan (you will obviously need a larger pan or pot here, people) and toss until combined. Add salt and pepper as desired. Serve and top with parmesan. Mmmm! Delciousness on a plate and not too bad for you either!

(Nevermind the bad, indoor, at night lighting.)

Non-food related. Well, actually it is food related. E eats with a fork now. Such a big boy. I am proud of him.

OK, now definitely non-food related. I had a dream about my 5th grade crush last night. We won't name names...but...Hahah! We were working at a car wash together and had to dodge the alligators. So dumb. So exciting.

Hope you are all having a wonderful week.

Love,
Food Blogger Extraordinaire

Chick pea goodness.

Do you like chick peas? If not, I am not sure that we can be friends.

I love me a good chick pea. I was so super bored with side salads with lunch and dinner, so I scrounged up whatever I thought would go well together and made a new side salad--a chick pea one :)

I really like sweet and spicy/salty/sour foods together, (just not sweet and sour chicken. Ewwness.) so this is so right up my alley. If you do too, make this:

1 can of chick peas

1/4 cup of canned corn

1/3 cup of chooped green bell pepper (red would be yummy in this too!)

1/4 of a small onion diced very very fine
1 stalk of celery, diced

8-10 jalapeno slices from a jar (Less or more depending on your liking for heat)

1/3 cup of Craisins

A loop or two around the bowl with Italian dressing (mayyybe two tablespoons. Not a lot at all)

A dash of pepper

If you are looking for a new, healthy side dish or snack...give this a try!

Have a wonderful Friday and an even better weekend, folks!

Love,

Chick pea Enthusiast Extraordinaire

Stats and a burger.

So, I was all amped on posting E's stats and then I thought "Who really cares about his stats other than me, Ofir and my parents?" No one, probably. But then I remembered how lazy I have been with filling out his baby book and if I just type it here, then I can always look back and see his weight and such and not actually have to lift a hand and get the book from the shelf (groan), flip the pages (groan) and lastly, write it all down (double groan).

So here, future Kristina, are your child's stats:

*Weight: 24 lbs. 6 oz. -- 43% (The Dr. actually said that he would like him to be a tad bit bigger. Hmm. I guess all you folk who exclaim "Whoa...he's a very large boy" just have no concept of the size of a child his age. So...there!)
*Height: 30.8 inches -- 37%
*Head circumference: 48.3 cm. -- 78% (Huge head. He is definitely his father's child)

In other news, I think I am going to make this burger this weekend:

Black Bean Burgers


1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup onion, diced
1/2 cup red bell pepper, diced
1/4 cup carrots, diced
1 15 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 teaspoons cumin powder
salt and pepper to taste
1 egg
1 cup dried bread crumbs
1 tablespoon canola oil
4-5 slices of provolone or pepper jack cheese

Add the olive oil and veggies to a frying pan, and cook at medium-high heat until veggies begin to soften. While the veggies are sauteing, add the beans into a medium-sized mixing bowl. Mash them up a bit with a potato masher, leaving about 1/4 of the beans whole.

Add the sauteed veggies to the bean mixture and stir to combine. Add the remaining ingredients (reserving the canola oil for frying the patties in) and mix together. (It's best to use your hands to mix everything together at this point).

Divide mixture into 4 or 5 patties, depending on your preference of patty size. After forming the patties, fry them in the canola oil until golden, about three minutes per side, over medium-high heat. Top with the cheese of your choice, once bean burgers are flipped.

Serve on hamburger buns, with mayonnaise, greens of your choice, and tomatoes.

Sounds yummy and pretty healthy, huh? :)
 
Enjoy your weekend!!!!

Festive Dessert.

Look at this cute little dessert that I am making right now for Christmas Eve dinner tonight at my dad's:

Southern Living, DECEMBER 2010



Coconut Creme Tarts

• 3/4  cup  sugar
• 1/3  cup  all-purpose flour
• 4  large eggs
• 2  cups  milk
• 1  cup  sweetened flaked coconut
• 1  tablespoon  vanilla extract
• 1  (8-oz.) package frozen tart shells
• Sweetened whipped cream
• Additional coconut

Whisk together sugar, flour, eggs, and milk in a heavy saucepan. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, 10 minutes or until a chilled pudding-like thickness. Remove from heat; stir in 1 cup sweetened coconut and vanilla. Cover and chill 6 to 24 hours. Bake frozen tart shells according to package directions, and cool completely. Spoon custard into tart shells. Dollop with sweetened whipped cream; sprinkle with additional coconut.

Cuteness, huh? I haven't made these before...but I am looking forward to trying these little guys. Deliciousness in it's own mini pie crust? Yes, please.

Merry Christmas Eve and an early Merry Christmas! I am finally feeling the spirit, people. I was worried there for a minute--not excited about Christmas? What was wrong with me? Well...I had my reasons for the lack of excitement--but I have gotten past that nonsense. I won't bore you with my reasons.

Love!

What's for dinner?

This is for all of you (Rachey, this means you especially!) who would like a few new recipes to try out. I know, in our family, we have about a dozen or two staple meals that we tend to cook a lot. The husband and I are creatures of habit, so we don't really mind eating certain things over and over again. However, I do love cooking and I do love trying new things--like every recipe that Ree puts in front of me. Don't you love how I call her by her first name, like we are friends? We are friends. She just dosen't know it. Yes, we only met once, but how could she forget my fabulously gorgeous face and my electric personality?

Moving forward.

Here are a few recipes that I have tried lately. I hope you like them and add them to your "same 15 meals again and again recipe book in your head." :)

Turkey Burgers With Mustard Sauce:

5 Kaiser rolls or hamburger buns (I use whole wheat rolls, cuz that's how we roll in my house. No pun intended. Yes it was.)

1 lb. uncooked raw turkey
1 egg, lightly beaten
3 Tsp. honey mustard
1/4 tsp. each salt and black pepper (I go heavy on the pepper. I like a little pepp in my step. No pun intended. Yes it was.)
1 Tsp. olive or vegetable oil
1/3 cup mayonnaise
1 medium tomato, sliced
1 medium avocado, pitted, peeled, and sliced (optional)

Directions:

1. For bread crumbs, in blender or food processor coarsely process one roll. In large bowl combine turkey, egg, 1 cup of the crumbs, 1 tablespoon of the mustard, and the salt and pepper. Shape turkey mixture into four patties.

2. In extra-large nonstick skillet cook turkey patties in hot oil over medium heat for 12 minutes, turning once, or until no longer pink (165 degrees F).

3. 3. For mustard sauce, in small bowl combine mayonnaise and remaining 2 tablespoons mustard. Spread some sauce on remaining four rolls. Layer turkey patty, tomato, avocado, a dollop of sauce, and roll top. Makes 4 servings.

Beef and Rice Soft Tacos (this is a yummy and oh-so quick one, people!):
1 Tbsp oil
1 lb. lean ground beef
2 cups water
1 cup salsa
1 pkg (1 1/4 oz) taco seasoning mix
2 cups instant Brown Rice, uncooked (use the brown rice here. You cannot taste the difference and you get so much more nutritional value out of it!)
8 flour tortillas
1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded

Directions
1. HEAT oil in large skillet on medium-high heat. Add ground beef; cook and stir until lightly browned. Stir in water, salsa and seasoning mix. Bring to boil.

2. STIR in rice; cover. Remove from heat. Let stand 5 minutes. Stir.

3. SPOON ground beef mixture evenly onto tortillas; sprinkle with cheese. Fold half of tortillas to enclose filling.

Hope you try these! Both are easy and aren't too bad for you. Two pluses! (Pluses is a word, right?!)

Enjoy!

Pancakes and Frankenstein.

We love Sundays. They are our out-and-about-on-a-gorgeous-day, big breakfast-making days. Ofir and I decided that we will make Sundays our homemade pancakes days; make it a tradition for our kiddos. This was how our lovely morning started:

I was so excited when I found these pancake/egg stencils. I have been looking for some fun shapes and stumbled upon these at World Market (I love that store, by the way). We gave them a try this morning and they came out gloriously. Wouldn't you agree? :)

Oh, and on another note..Happy Halloween from E and Frankie:

Have a fabulous, beautiful Sunday my friends!

Coolest invention ever...bottom line.

I just have to share the coolest thing on this planet that we inhabit.

Meet my new friend:

It is imperative that you listen to what I am saying. You MUST try this. It is so yummy. And let's talk about the fact that it uses organic products and wheat flour. Hello? That makes me happy. It's pancakes folks and, eaten in moderation, they are fine. Oh, I would love to eat about 63 1/2 of them, but for the sake of my waistline, I will pull back and only eat 44. Thank you for your support of my willpower.

I'm gonna need you to head over to the site and do your research: http://www.batterblaster.com/    :)

TRY IT! Do it now.

p.s. Isn't it cool that I only have one Follower? One day we will all look back and laugh at the days when I was so unpopular.