Showing posts with label I heart cooking.. Show all posts
Showing posts with label I heart cooking.. Show all posts
Week 5
Though I've made this recipe before, I basically ruined it the first time. And by basically, I mean that it was almost inedible. Remember, I never claimed to be good at this cooking thing. As a matter of fact, I'm pretty sure that I'm the exact opposite of good. But hey, here I am on week 5, and still pushing through and practicing to make perfect. (I won't mention the fact that I've skipped a couple of weeks and should be on week 7. Whatev.)
The Pioneer Woman is, once again, the hero of this recipe. Parmesan Crusted Chicken is its name and supposed delicious-ness is its game.
My opinion for what it's worth: The first time I made this, as mentioned in paragraph 1, it had a great flavor once you scraped the top off, which is pretty much why it looked and sounded delish. The reason, in my mind, for its fault was that it did not have an exact measurement for garlic salt. It just said "generous amount." Wouldn't that be a weird thing to put for a recipe? Isn't generous to me different from (maybe it should say "different than"; ask Grammar Girl, not me.) generous to me? This time I put much less garlic salt, but it tasted the same. So sad that I have failed again. The good thing is that the hubs likes it even if he scrapes the top off every time. The bad thing is that the top is kind of expensive with its sun-dried tomatoes. Though I love to please the hubs, this makes it unworthy of the "I heart cooking" binder. Darn it. Another one bites the dust.
Recipe #2: We'll call it Peanut Butter Brownie Cookies.
Am I an over achiever or what this Tuesday--pretty much a Monday thanks to Memorial Day--night? I also made these delicious cookies. The recipe is from another coworker. Those coworkers of mine are really helpin' a girl out these days. These might change your life, and by might, I mean the most definitely will. If you're not a peanut-butter lover because your brother ate it by the spoonful and made you want to vomit, have no fear because these cookies can even help you overcome that. Not enough to make you love Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and avoid being squawked at by the world. Sorry, they're not miracle workers.
Here they are in all their glory. (If I was as cool as Pioneer Woman, I would have pics to go along with these. Sorry, no coolness here.)
Chocolate Part:
1 box of regular fudge brownies (no added caramel, fudge, nuts, cookies, etc.)
1/4 cup melted shortening
4 oz cream cheese
1 egg
Mix all of this together in a bowl. It's very sticky, and that's how it's supposed to look.
1 cup powered sugar
1 cup creamy peanut butter
Mix this together. It's stick and creamy all at the same time. (Don't lick your fingers or your spoon out of sympathy for others who don't like the idea of having just peanut butter in their mouths and bringing back horrible memories.)
Now roll the cookies into balls, and then make a little divvy in them by pressing down with your thumb. Place a small spoon full of peanut-butter mixture in the divvy. Bake at 350 for 10-14 minutes. After they are completely cooled, frost them with fudge icing. (Though my mom would be ashamed, you can use it from a can.)
That's all I have for cooking tonight. I've literally slaved over the stove for at least three hours. Who is this girl anyway?
Labels: I heart cooking.
I heart cooking (aka opening cans and packages and adding some spices).
1 comments Posted by Lilies of the Field at 12:33 PMThere will be no recipe posting this week, unless I come up with a really good way to make beans and rice. We want to Be the Message.
Labels: I heart cooking.
Week 4Chicken AlmodineBoil the chicken. (Recently learned tip: the chicken is ready when it floats to the top. Who knew? My mom was a beef lady.) Shred the chicken. Mix the sour cream and soup. Add the shredded chicken to the sour cream/soup mixture. Spread the items in a 13x9 baking dish. Crush Ritz and sprinkle on top. Melt butter and spread over crackers. Sprinkle almonds over the dish. Bake 350 for 25-30 minutes or until bubbles.My opinion for what it's worth: I am copying this dish from a paper towel; it's classy, I know. It was given to me by a coworker who wrote the recipe during lunch hence the paper towel. It's almost the exact recipe for poppyseed chicken, but the poppyseed has been replaced with almonds. I promise, this is yummy. You can either eat the egg noodles separately, or serve them under the chicken dish. The almonds give a great crunch. You won't be disappointed. Even the hubs liked it, and that's saying a lot for my Whataburger-loving husband.It's going in the binder! Fo shizzle.
Labels: I heart cooking.
I think. Actually, this is my form of reverse pshychology. I really don't enjoy cooking, but I do enjoy eating and really want to be a better cook for my hubs and future kiddos. As with anything, I know that it takes practice. The problem with cooking is that the practice part also requires you to practice finding what to cook and to practice cleaning, too. I don't need any practice with that. I've got it down. I think. Those are two of the aspects of cooking that make it unloveable. With the good of anything you practice, there always comes some bad, right?
If you want to be a good teacher, you certainly have to endure a first year of chaos and some difficult students.
If you want to be a good wife, you certainly have to be willing to to give up some things that you used to feel are worth dying for so that you can please the hubs.
If you want to be good at grammar, you have to endure some learning of rules. (I've probably said that a few times to a few 8th graders.)
If you want to become a good half marathon runner, you certainly have to endure the running part.
(These all have to do with my life, though I'm certain I am still working towards the good part in all of them. Except for maybe running, I'm not even trying to be good!)
Because of this desire of mine, I made a "New April's Resolution". I'm allowing (and by allowing I mean making) myself try one new recipe a week to be placed in a "I heart cooking" binder. This madness comes from my desire to heart cooking and to have enough recipes to not make tacos every week. This has probably been happening in some homes, some where. Not mine. Nope. Never. Ok, it has. I confess. Tacos were our number one, over-made recipe. Give me some credit; I did mix it up: chicken tacos, beef tacos, low-fat beef tacos, ground turkey tacos, soft tacos, hard tacos. With this resolution, I desire two things:
1. To be a better cook
2. To have more than two recipes in my repertoire
I'm getting there, but I have a long ways to go. Many of these have come from The Pioneer Woman, another blog that I stalk. She has pics of the process and end product which helps decide if I want to make it and if I will like it. It's beautiful. Check it out. Here's what I've gotten so far:
Week One:
My opinion for what it's worth: (If you're like me, you're much more likely to cook something if someone else says they like it. It's like the peer pressure you felt to curl your bangs ridiculously high in middle school; everyone else said it was cool, so you did it too.) This lasagna was so great. I have made homemade lasagna before from the Italian lady on the Food Network. Three words: Too Much Work! This lasagna was fairly easy (not as easy as tacos but whatever) and yum, yum, yummy! We had dinner guests that night, and they gave many compliments to the chef, which was me by the way. Check mark!
This particular night I also made Yellow Cupcakes (from scratch!) with Sticky Chocolate Icing. The problem with these is that the cake part tasted more like cornbread. It's just too weird to eat cornbread with chocolate icing. Needless to say, they won't be going in my binder. Dang. I wasted some Godiva chocolate baking bars. Live and learn.
Week Two:
Nothing.
Give me some credit here, I tried two recipes the first week. I'm not a failure at this. Yet.
Week Three:
My opinion for what it's worth: They were good. However, they're definitely not Chuy's or any decent Mexican restaurant for that matter. They're pretty easy though, so I'll add them to the "I heart cooking" binder.
I also made Orange Mini-Muffins. Two words: MMMM Good. I took them to school, and though the didn't all get eaten, I am still putting them in the binder. I liked them, and isn't that what matters? (Hubs was out of town, so he missed the delicious-ness of these goodies.)
I have one more week to add, but this is getting entirely too long. Next time. It's delish as said by hubs and me. (And the person from whom I got the recipe.)
Labels: I heart cooking., Lovely Friends
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)