Mexican Scramble 10/4/09

Arielle asked me yesterday about a recipe for a breakfast scramble. So, I tried hard to think of the last time I made one. It had obviously been too long. So today, I tried out my "Everything in the Fridge Mexican Scramble" ( has anyone else noticed that Mexican food is the easiest to prepare because you just throw everything in there with some salsa or hot sauce?)

Here it is:
I baked some red skin potatoes in the microwave until they were done (5-7 minutes). Then let them cool a bit and diced them. I heated about a 1/4 inch of olive oil in a large skillet, on medium high. I threw the potatoes in with salt, cracked black pepper and cumin, and let them brown (be careful, they splatter when you're doing them this high, but it's the only way to get them really nice a brown and crispy on the outside). I used that time to prepare my other ingredients.





Next, I lowered the heat to medium and added diced green chilies, green onions, stewed tomatoes that I cut with a kitchen shears and some more s&p and chipotle chili powder.

After a few minutes of cooking on medium, I added diced ham and chopped fresh garlic.



I sauteed for a few minutes with the ham and garlic in the middle of the skillet, then mixed everything together.



I then added the eggs (which I seasoned with a bit of s&p and a couple tablespoons of milk). Then, when the eggs were almost set, I added some fresh grated extra sharp cheddar cheese.

Serve with warm tortillas, sour cream (fat free of course!), green onion tops and valentina hot sauce (gabe's favorite) or frank's hot sauce (my favorite). Enjoy!

dresses

lazy sunday

it's cool, it's rainy, i got to sleep in on a sunday... perfect! here's lunch!

tomato and spinach couscous (from a box mix) and cuban black beans... best part is 1 cup of couscous + 1/2 cup of black beans = 5 WW points only! and it's so filling! (cuban black bean recipe is on here somewhere, so i'll spare you the recipe again)

April

I probably won't be posting too much on here for the next little while for 2 reasons:
1. I'm SUPER busy... with school (I"ll be graduating April 25!!yay!) and with my two part time jobs (Holland and research assisting).
2. I've just started on Weight Watchers. I'm not really telling too many people, but I figure, my friends on here are close, so I'm sure I've already told you anyway, or I would have in the near future anyway.
So, hopefully I'll figure out how to make some stuff that is low points when I have a little more time. For now, I'm sticking to salads and other things that I just have to "prepare" rather than cook. Kind of a bummer since I love cooking, but it's good timing because I'm so busy anyway.
See you on the flip side

It's been a while

I've made some great food lately... here's just a preview

roasted whole chicken with sweet potato fries


fish tacos, with tilapia, home made salsa and home made cumin and garlic aioli


pot roast with root vegetables


RIBS!!!!


(I've posted this one before, but it's black bean burgers! YUM!)


southwest chicken panini... mmmm.... home made southwest sauce


more chicken enchiladas


chicken and noodle soup (it wasn't very soupy... haha!)


angel hair pasta with shrimp and broccoli



I've also eaten some amazing food... here's genuine chicago deep dish pizza... man, that was good!

dinner, dec 19

so... the molasses cookies i made last night looked amazing! and tasted not so good... bummer... just another reason why baking is not for me. once you stick stuff in the oven, there's nothing more you can do, there's no control over the baking process. you just have a hope that when you open the oven door that everything turns out. i don't like that. oh well, no more baking for me!

but tonight... i made chili for the first time! beef and bean chili, i've made white chicken chili a million times. i had 4 beef sirloin steaks in the freezer, so i decided on chili. it was super easy too! and it turned out great!
recipe:
i soaked a bag of pinto beans overnight. then in a cast iron dutch oven, cooked them in water for about an hour and then drained them.
in another skillet, i sauteed the cubed beef with green onions, garlic, green chilies, chipotle chili powder, ancho chili powder, cumin, oregano and salt and pepper. after about 6 or 7 minutes, i poured the beef and veggie mixture into the dutch oven with the beans. i added two 10 oz. cans of stewed mexican tomatoes which i cut into pieces. i also added about a third of a jar of leftover pasta sauce and about 3/4 a cup of beef broth. then a few dashes of worcestershire sauce. i also added some more chili spices and salt and pepper at this point. i put the lid on and it simmered for about an hour.
we garnished it with shredded cheese, sour cream and green onions. served with blue corn tortilla chips.

christmas break means cooking a lot!

so, since school has been done, i've been on a cooking/baking spree!
first up, pasta with a homemade arrabiata tomato sauce with chicken and italian sausage


next, chicken and bean mexican tortilla soup


the next morning... homemade pancakes!


then, bacon wrapped filet mignon



just for lunch today, a chicken and bean quesadilla




right now... there is molasses cookie dough chilling in the fridge... i'll put a pick up, and the recipe up, when they're done baking... i hope they turn out!

dinner 6 december 2008

i've been devoting a lot of time to essays, studying and homework... so i haven't had much time, but on this night i was really hungry and there was nothing in the house. so i came up with making shrimp, ham and rice fritters with a garlic aioli. they make them at one of our favorite restaurants here, san chez and they're soooo good. these turned out okay, but not super awesome. next time, i'd cook my own shrimp and use that (i used canned, salad shrimp). anyway, here is the pic... i'll post the recipe later.


so...
the recipe for this recipe is actually pretty easy.
i made a pot of rice, with chicken stock instead of water and then tumeric, curry powder and cumin. i would have used some saffron, but i just didn't have any (blast!).
then, to make the fritters, i combined the cooled rice, a can of small salad shrimp, drained, some garlic, an egg, a bunch of ham that i cut into pieces and fried in a skillet, cayenne pepper, paprika, thyme, salt and pepper and about a half of a cup of italian seasoned bread crumbs. all i did was combine into small balls and rolled the balls in some more bread crumbs. at san chez, they are deep fried, but for lack of a deep fryer and a desire to stay below 400 pounds, i just sauteed in a little olive oil in med-high heat. i just turned them every once in a while.

i wish that i had made the shrimp myself and used that. the fritters did not have a very shrimpy flavor... which is probably due to the fact that those canned salad shrimp really aren't very flavorful. oh yeah, and the aioli is just mayo, salt, pepper, lemon juice and some garlic cloves i roasted in a small sautee pan for about a half hour on low and then smashed... mix it all together, it's really good for anything! especially fries! (ever had the garlic aioli at graydon's crossings? same thing!).

dinner december 2 (last night)

I've been having an absolutely stressful last week and it will not end until next Thursday evening. In the meantime, I have been slacking in my cooking... until last night. I pretty much had to do something non stressful (like cook) or I was going to have to visit Pine Rest. So I made an amazing soup... here is the recipe:

I started with a couple tablespoons of each olive oil and butter in a large pot. I softened about two teaspoons of chopped garlic in it for a minute or two. Then I whisked in about 1/3 cup of flour. I cooked the flour and butter/olive oil mixture making a light brown roux, about 3-4 minutes on medium high. I then slowly stirred in about two cups of milk, all the time whisking as to not burn the milk.
After the milk came up to a hot temperature, I took the pot off the heat and stirred in one whole large block of sharp cheddar cheese, which I had grated. Once it was melted in, I added one bottle of Bell's Winter White Ale, about a cup and a half of chicken stock, a couple tablespoons of dijon mustard, and a few dashes each of worcestershire sauce and hot sauce. I also added some paprika, salt and pepper, and stirred with a wooden spoon until hot. At the very end, I added a bunch of leftover shredded ham from a ham roast and about 6 potatoes, peeled, cooked and cubed.
I was looking for a thick consistency and a sharp flavor... so after tasting I added a little more cheddar and hot sauce. It really was the best soup I have ever made and even tasted. I think Gabe agrees... this is a soup that I will definitely make over and over and over again!
(oh yeah, and I probably would have sauteed some green onions in with the garlic, but i didn't have any at the time... but i didn't miss them!)
(sorry, this pic is awful, but oh well)

11.7.08

turkey enchiladas...

gabe is gone in indiana for the day... he'll be home around midnight. so i decided to make something so yummy for him to come home to (and i have 3 papers due next week and i am the ULTIMATE procrastinator, and i'd rather cook than do anything else)

first of all, last night i roasted two turkey breast tenderloins in the oven for about an hour and 15 minutes. these tenderloins came frozen from costco, already marinated in tequila, lime juice and cilantro... best thing from costco ever! so i roasted that last night and shredded it. so from that...

*preheat oven to 350*
i sauteed about 3/4 bunch of green onions, about 10 chopped tomatillos, couple cloves of garlic, two jalapenos, a can of diced green chilies, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper in some olive oil in a skillet. after it was thoroughly softened, i added the shredded turkey from the night before and also about half a can of green enchilada sauce (la preferida is my fav!).
then, in another skillet, i put in a can and a half of green enchilada sauce and let it get pretty warm. i used about 10 six inch corn tortillas in the small pan and 8 eight inch flour tortillas in the larger one.
to assemble, i put just a few spoonfulls of the enchilada sauce in the bottom of the pan. i warmed the tortillas in the microwave. then, put a decent amount of the turkey mixture in a tortilla, roll it up and put it in the pan. you can really squeeze them in... i got about 10 with the corn ones and 8 of the flour ones. pour the remainder of the warmed enchilada sauce over the top of the enchiladas. then put the pans in the oven for about 20 minutes. after 20 minutes, pull them out and sprinkle a half a bag of monterrey jack cheese down the middle of each. place back in the oven for another 10 minutes.
garnish with anything... i used sour cream and the greens part of the green onions i used earlier... but if you want to go all out.... use guacamole, rice, black beans, cilantro, lime... anything you want.
here's a picture (sorry, i had already taken one of each out the pans... haha)

clothes, clothes, clothes...

so, i recently acquired a ton of clothing from a friend who moved to vegas. about 12 dresses, a couple shirts and sweaters and multiple cardigans. all from banana republic, j crew, anthropologie and urban outfitters. i can't even guess the original value (close to maybe 1500?) i purchased them all for 120 out the door. i feel pretty amazing in them, and so does my friend arielle (who purchased about the same for the same amount).
arielle and i have also been thrifting a whole lot lately. i've found tons of things for gabe and i. tons of dresses, ( a great flapper dress, which i am already planning for my next year's halloween costume... this year, i've already decided on holly golightly) a vintage real fur mink stole ($25... they had NO IDEA what they had! i found about 30 others later that day about the same quality for $300 a piece!) a great pair of cowboy boots for gabe and a vintage leather members only jacket, of which is pictured below. anyway, so many things... it's kind of overwhelming!

i had these cute little kittens for 48 hours. they just left with a family that adopted all three. so happy for them, they will be cared for and loved! i will miss them so much though, the last two days with them have been the best two days in months!