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Super Yum Yum

08 Wednesday Jan 2014

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photo (50)You know my deal about cooking.  I only do it if it’s easy.  Well this holiday I made a couple of winners that I found on Pinterest and wanted to share with you.

* 8 Can Taco Soup – I actually skip a can (the chicken … canned chicken sounds gross) so for me this is 7 Can Taco Soup!  This could not be easier.  You take a bunch of cans of food (specific ones not just any that you happen to throw in your cart), drain whatever is in them and then plop them in a big ol’ pot.  Done!  I’ve actually made this twice once with and once without the taco seasoning packet.  I like it better without but remember I’m a huge wimp when it comes to anything spicy.  Someone on the blog suggested substituting a ranch dressing packet for the taco seasoning.  I actually had planned to do that on my last batch but totally forgot to purchase it.

If you are fancy you could add a dollop of sour cream, a couple of slices of avocado and some tortilla chips.  If you are me you can just ladle it right out of the pot and into your mouth.  I love soup and I love mexican food so this is the perfect lunch or dinner for me.  Today I’m eating it for both!  Yum yum!

Ingredients:

  • 1 (15 oz.) can black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (15 oz.) can pinto beans, drained and rinsed
  • 1 (14.5 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes, drained
  • 1 (15.25 oz.) can sweet corn, drained
  • 1 (12.5 oz.) can white chicken breast, drained
  • 1 (10.75 oz.) can cream of chicken soup
  • 1 (10 oz.) can green enchilada sauce
  • 1 (14 oz.) can chicken broth
  • 1 packet taco seasoning
Directions:
  1. Mix all ingredients together in a large pot.
  2. Heat until warm, stirring occasionally.
  3. Serve.

* Cake Batter Rice Krispie Treats – You read that correctly.  Already sounds delicious doesn’t it?  When you click on the link to go to the original blog post of this amazing concoction you will notice that the fancy pants woman made cute little cupcakes out of the krispie treats.  She even made the effort to top them with some fancy schmancy icing.  I did not do that.  I made them like a normal person would make rice krispie treats and packed them into a pan and cut them into squares.  Worked great.  Tasted better.  Seriously for how little effort it takes to add some vanilla and cake mix to your krispie mixture the additional wow factor for your taste buds is amazing.  Do it.  Wow your taste buds.  They deserve it.

Ingredients 

  • 6 tbs margarine* (3/4 of a stick)
  • 3/4 cup yellow cake mix
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3 cups Rice Krispies
  • 1/2 10oz bag of marshmallows (5oz)
  • 1 tbs sprinkles

Instructions 

Melt margarine in the microwave (about 45 seconds). Mix in marshmallows and return to microwave for 30 second intervals, stirring between, until melted. Mix in cake mix and vanilla until combined. Add in sprinkles and 2 cups of Rice Krispies with a spatula. Add in the third cup of Rice Krispies.

Fill each well-greased pan with the Rice Krispie mixture and press it in gently with the back of a spoon. Cool for 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

(I don’t have any pictures of any of this so enjoy some more dog pictures.  They are cute and sweet too.)

Dirt Soup

21 Thursday Nov 2013

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photo 1 (12)It’s getting chilly.  It even rained this morning a rarity in Southern California.  It’s soup weather!  I love homemade soup.  It’s so yummy and soothing.  It just makes me happy.  I made a vat (I can only make a large volume of soup.  It’s a full crock pot or nothing.) of chicken veggie the other day.  It was delicious.  I was looking for something new for my next soup yumminess and had decided to try to be healthy so I figured I’d make some lentil soup.

My friend Giovanna makes delicious lentil soup.  I watched her once and I swear all she did was put water, chicken, lentils & squash chunks in a giant pan and stirred it once in a while until it was done.  It’s delicious.  I figured I could do that!  To be on the safe side I looked up a few recipes online.  Then I ditched them all and did my own thing.  Now I have 3 large containers of soup that tastes like dirt.  Blah.  I failed but I have to eat the dirt soup because I made it and I’m not in a position to be able to toss perfectly good food out the window just because it’s a little “earthy.”

One of my friends is ill.  I offered to bring her some dirt soup (you know … pawn some off on her).  She declined.

For your reference here is how you make dirt soup:

* Take your lentils and lay them out to pick out “dirt and sticks” per all the instructions you read on the internet.  Decide that is dumb and after looking at it for a second or two scoop up all the lentils and put them in a bowl.  You are trying to be healthy and this is the source of protein in this soup so use a lot of them.

* Soak the lentils for 20 minutes then forget about them and realize you soaked them for about 3 hours instead.

* Toss the lentils, that have now tripled in volume and seem overwhelming but what the hell, into the crock pot.  Add 3 bags of frozen veggies.  I like to choose 3 different types so there is a lot of variety in case I don’t like something in one of them.  Pour in salt free chicken broth until the crock pot is nice and full.  Add some sort of variety seasoning thing just because it seems like a good idea.

* Turn it on high for two hours.

* Decided two hours isn’t enough because somehow the lentils are still crunchy.  Keep the crock pot on high and go to bed and read your book.

* When you are sick of reading your book and just want to go to sleep get up and turn off the crock pot.

* In the morning put the soup into containers and stick in the fridge and/or freezer.

photo 2 (12)* After exercise that night pull out one and warm up a bowl full.  Consume.  Realize you made dirt soup.  Feed some of the vegetables to the dogs to make it go away faster.
Supplement your dinner with some saltines.

Dirt soup.  It’s what’s for dinner.

(Pictures of the soup would be boring.  Think veggies floating around in a brownish liquid with weird pea colored things popping up now and then.  I’ve added pictures of the dogs for entertainment.  Please enjoy the adorableness of Riggins, Asscher, Clover & Mckenzie.)

Gluten-Free (or not) Pie

03 Tuesday Sep 2013

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photo (9)One of my good friends has decided to go gluten-free.  Between her lack of gluten and my inability to digest meat and anything spicy plus my hatred toward seafood, it’s amazing the two of us can find anything to eat together!  What is gluten-free?  Well glad you asked!

Gluten is the protein that is found naturally in wheat, rye, barley, and any grain that comes from those evil culprits (Oats are still in question.  I’m not really sure how that is possible but apparently it is.)  To be considered “Gluten-Free” by the FDA, and therefore be able to carry those words on its labels, a product must have less than 20 ppm (parts per million).  According to the FDA site “this is the lowest level that can be consistently detected in food using valid scientific analytic tools.”  How they have tools to detect it and a definition to live by and still can’t figure out if oats are good or not is beyond me.  Apparently that “level” of gluten can be tolerated by most people with celiac disease so is considered “a-ok.”  Don’t tell my friend that.  If she knew that things labeled “Gluten-Free” actually have small traces of gluten she will go on an all fruit diet or something like that.  She is a stickler for food rules.

What is celiac disease you ask?  Let me tell you.  Celiac disease is a digestive and autoimmune disorder.  A person with celiac disease can’t tolerate gluten.  Their body creates antibodies against the protein and in doing so attack the lining of the small intestine.  That just screws up everything since the person can’t absorb what they need from their food with their pissed off intestine.  As you can imagine that causes both serious and annoying problems.

I like gluten.  Wheat is delicious.  I would rather become a vegetarian than be gluten-free.  Here is a text I sent to my friend this past weekend:image (12)

I think that sums up my views nicely.

I was going to have dinner yesterday with my friend and in doing so needed to make something she would eat (without me having to lie about the ingredients).  I had wanted to make a pie for a while so I decided to do that.  Don’t ask me why I wanted to make a pie.  Summer fruit just screams pie and I’ve never done it before so I wanted to give it a shot.  Maybe it was a little elaborate for a last minute get together with a friend but I wanted pie damn it.  Leave me alone.

I used this recipe –

Gluten Free Peach Blueberry Pie

With a few minor Wendy tweaks:

  • I didn’t make the crust.  I’m not crazy.  Look at those ingredients.  What am I going to do with a bag of white rice flour?  Plus xanthan gum, like grapes, is banned from my house because of its toxicity to dogs.  Although I tend to feel if the recipe calls for 1/2 teaspoon or less you can just leave it out.  I was smart and headed to Whole Foods and bought a package of gluten-free pre-made pie crusts!
  • I read the recipe wrong and put in two teaspoons of orange juice and decided that was ridiculous so added another.  Then I realized it was two tablespoons so I added a tablespoon for good measure.
  • I know I used a 1/4 cup of sugar because I had just used that measuring device for Dragon’s food this past weekend and I knew exactly where it was.  I washed it out first … honest.
  • My plan was to use the second pie crust as a “top” but that didn’t work out well.  Apparently it’s easiest to work with gluten-free pie crust when it is really cold which is different from the package that says “room temperature” so it wouldn’t do what I wanted.  Instead I cut out little doggie bones (It was that or a Halloween theme.  Those are the cookie cutters I own.)  I REALLY wanted to put some flour down to help roll out the ball of dough (ball because I gave up screaming and mashed it all into a ball) with my bottle of wine (I don’t own a rolling-pin).  I controlled myself.  What’s the use of going through all this trouble to make something gluten-free just to throw wheat flour all over it at the end?

I thought it was pretty yummy but remember I have very plain tastes.  The gluten-free crust wasn’t horrific but I’m sure “regular” crust is tastier so do that if you can.  It isn’t overly sweet, which I like.  If you like sweeter I suggest slapping on some ice cream and going a la mode style!  Use full dairy ice cream and sprinkle some wheat flour on top for an extra gluten kick!

 

 

Delicioso

06 Tuesday Aug 2013

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I didn't take a picture of my dish. It kinda looked like this. Source.

I didn’t take a picture of my dish. It kinda looked like this. Source.

For someone who claims she doesn’t like cooking I sure have a lot of recipes on this blog.  Things haven’t changed.  I still don’t like cooking but you know what I do like?  Mexican food.  YUM YUM!  One night I was out with a friend and she asked where I wanted to go to eat.  I suggested a Mexican restaurant across the street from where we were seeing a movie.  She looked at me with disdain only allowed a friend who has to constantly put up with the simple juvenile taste buds of a dining partner and said, “aren’t we having Mexican tomorrow with everyone?”  My response, “So?”  If you give me a choice I’m going to have a fajita and a margarita on the rocks with salt and some guac and chips.

Staples in my limited supplied fridge and pantry (I actually don’t even have a pantry) include corn, black and refried beans, salsa, tortillas, avocado, tomatoes, and hot sauce.  In fact last night I had a burrito for dinner.  And when I say burrito I mean I slapped some refried beans on a tortilla and nuked it for 20 seconds before adding hot sauce and avocado slices.  Delicioso!  When I saw a recipe for a one-skilled enchilada recipe come through my email from one of my favorite bloggers I wanted to give it a try!  So I did!

photo

Nothing to do with enchiladas. Cutie pics of the 2 dogs staying with us right now. Lousy and Lordy.

She (Jillee) calls it a skillet enchilada (click to see her original post and recipe along with lots of other fun things she blogs about).  I call it “Fake Enchiladas” because lets face it … they aren’t really enchiladas.  They are more like enchiladas that got in a horrible accident and you scooped up the remains and served them to your family (appetizing).  Since I don’t do well eating red meat I choose to use shredded chicken that I had cooked earlier in the week.  I also swapped out black olives for avocado because avocado is the most delicious thing on the entire planet earth.

The pluses of the recipe –

  • It is super-duper easy and only gets one pan dirty.  I’d make it for those facts alone.
  • It’s yummy.
  • It’s filling.
  • It seems like it would be a really good family dinner.

The minuses –

  • I can’t eat it.  The enchilada sauce is too spicy for me (I realize it isn’t really spicy at all) and my stomach was very angry at me for eating it.
  • If you get enchiladas at a restaurant you can also order guac and a margarita and not have to make it yourself.

So there you go.  I wanted to like this more than I did but my stomach and I weren’t on the same page.  I’m sharing it with you since it seems like the PERFECT working mom go-to-dinner.  Let me know if you make it and how it tasted.

Pinterest Recipe Update

19 Friday Apr 2013

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image (4)I first posted some of my successful Pinterest cooking experiments awhile back. I’ve tried a few more and wanted to get you the 411. There are some really funny blogs out there of Pinterest fails. The theme being, the blogger will attempt something off Pinterest and then showcase their failed creation. They are hilarious. They also make me feel pretty cocky. After all, my attempts have, overall, turned out pretty good. If I’m to be honest with myself (and who likes to do that) it is because I’m picking easier things than these comedian bloggers. I’m having an annoying day … on my last nerve and boarding on a menace to society … so let’s just give me this one … okay?

CAULIFLOWER FRIED RICE – I made this last night. Giovanna was coming over to study Algebra and those nights demand food and tea (which we sometimes substitute with wine). More on Giovanna’s night in a second. First dinner. I had NO FAITH at all that this would turn out. None. Zero. Zilch. I could not have been more wrong. This stuff is DELICIOUS and actually does taste like fried rice. Perhaps a little earthier tasting but could easily fool a child and my dad (if he didn’t see you making it). What a crazy healthy meal! I’m so impressed with this I can’t push it hard enough on you. Try it. I’m going to be honest with you … I didn’t measure anything. I had shredded (via my trusty food processor) a small head of cauliflower and was planning to use it all. I just estimated ingredient amounts around the mound of white faux rice. Worked like a charm. A few other tweaks, I hate onions so didn’t use them. I hate egg yolks so just used whites. Finally I added shredded chicken. Delicious!

Okay back to Giovanna. I had told Giovanna how adorable our houseguest Lousy is and had no doubts that he would love my fellow dog loving friend. When she came in I had Lousy and Riggins outside and once settled I went to go let them in. Riggins made a beeline for one of his favorite people with Lousy close behind. I, being human with only two legs, was a bit further behind. Next thing I know all hell was breaking loose in my

Pictorial proof that Lousy is actually a cuddle monster.

Pictorial proof that Lousy is actually a cuddle monster.

dinning room. Lousy had gone into kill mode and was mean growling and biting in Giovanna’s direction. The poor woman leapt onto my dinning room table to save herself. By the time I got there Lousy had felt his duty was done and had left the room. When I called him back to scold him (Giovanna still on the table — I really wish I had a picture of that) he strutted in like he was the star and was shocked when he was forced to lay down on his side with my hand at his throat. He totally didn’t understand why he was being marched back outside where he was forced to stay alone for the rest of the night. Every time I checked on him he was sitting exactly where I left him looking toward the back door with sorrowful eyes. My assumption is that Lousy thought Giovanna was an intruder and went on attack to save the house, his bff Riggins, and me. Not a bad quality for a dog …. unless that intruder is actually one of your really good friends. Although it isn’t surprising for a dog to be protective of his space, humans and things it is a little odd that Lousy is so bonded considering it isn’t really his house, his brother, nor am I really his human. I also stand by my statement that Lousy is one of the cuddle-ist dogs I’ve ever meant. If he had his way he would spend all day in my lap. Lesson for all — if a dog has teeth he/she can always bite, so be careful. Learn the signs of a dog in distress so you know when to back off and when all else fails be sure you have a dinning room table nearby to climb up on!

BROCCOLI GRAPE HARVEST SALAD – I made this. It was okay, not great. I left out the grapes which I suppose could have been the big problem. Grapes/raisins are poisonous to dogs so my house is grape free. I’m also not sold on the “yogurt can be used as a substitute for mayo” thing. Yogurt is disgusting and makes me gag. Mayo is sent down from the gods to make salads and sandwiches delicious. Now that I look at the recipe again I didn’t really follow it at all. Maybe it is better if you actually do what they say.

PEANUT BUTTER COCONUT CUPS – These were freakin’ awesome! Peanut butter, oats, and coconut … oh my! It’s like someone took items from my favorite food list and stuck them in a food processor and then smashed them into a cupcake tin! Add chocolate and the dream is complete! I used milk chocolate and didn’t care about it being raw or whatever it is they suggest. You already know I keep coconut oil for slathering on my body and don’t cook with it. I used olive oil, but just a tiny bit. Finally I didn’t have maple syrup so used honey … and, as usual, gave up measuring as soon as the first ingredient hit the bowl. These things are a good time …. you should make them.

ZUCCHINI FRITTERS – These were yummy too. You could probably call them hash browns and trick your kids and my dad (if he didn’t see you make them). A little cakey but there is a good chance I put too much flour in them. They did well in a Tupperware and put in the fridge to eat the next day. Thumbs up on veggie hash browns!

ROASTED CHICKPEAS – I was looking for a popcorn replacement and came up with these. They take an annoyingly long time but if you can wait they are delicious. I did nothing it said short of use chickpeas, oil, and an oven. For seasoning I used some California Mix I picked up at Ralphs. Fancy … I know.

CROCK POT BAKED POTATOES – The fact that these even have a recipe is hilarious. BUT I can never get my baked potatoes made the old fashioned way or even the nuked way, to turn out well. These were delicious! Seriously … super yummy. My stomach had been really causing me issues a week or so ago and baked potatoes with veggies on top was the only thing that sounded good. Stop shrinking back due to your hatred toward the evil carb-by baked potato. They have some good qualities and if you are going to eat them might as well make them good! I added olive oil & some salt before wrapping them up in tinfoil. These are one of the recipes where I think afterwards, “huh .. that worked … shocking.”

There you go. Maybe you can try some of these this weekend. Have fun and stay away with any dogs that have teeth!

 

Mushless Oatmeal

22 Friday Feb 2013

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It’s national margarita day so I’m going to tell you how to make the best one person serving of oatmeal.  Sure that doesn’t seem to make sense but you can’t have a margarita for breakfast can you?  Start the morning off right with a delicious warm breakfast and your stomach will be set up for a tequila based celebration in the evening (or noon-ish — no judgement).

A week or so ago my friend mentioned to me that she was trying to eat healthier and switched to oatmeal for breakfast.  Although she likes it she isn’t happy that it is sometimes mushy.  I  realized later that I should have shared my oatmeal making technique so instead I’m sharing it with all of you!  To be honest I read how to make oatmeal this way on a blog years ago, but I can’t remember exactly where so let’s just pretend it all came from my genius brain.  Ignore the instructions on the back of the cylindar container and do this instead.

Full disclaimer – I really like oats.  If a recipe calls for oats I’m adding a double batch.  If a recipe doesn’t call for oats there is a good chance I’m adding them anyway (ex: Nutella Cookie here – http://wp.me/p159Ee-89).  You won’t like this unless you like oats but if you don’t like oats why are you even thinking about eating oatmeal … weirdo!

photo (3)Step 1. – Grab yourself a mug, Disney character optional, and fill it a tiny bit with water.  Just a bit (up to my finger in the picture).

Step 2. – Stick that baby into the microwave and heat for 60-90 seconds.  Yes, my microwave is on top of my fridge.  Yes, that does make it sometimes difficult to deal with.  I didn’t judge you for drinking at noon, back off!  Of course this is just one way to get some hot water in a mug but there are other options.  Turning up your water heater really high and just waiting for the water out of the tap to get super-duper hot is an option.  Waiting until you get to your office and then using that pre-hot water nozel thing that is oddly difficult to figure out, is an option.  Going old school and using a kettle is an option.  Whatever tickles your fancy will work just fine.

Step 3. – Grab some oats.  DON’T use the instant oats.  Instant oats are disgusting.  Those single bag instant servings are disgusting.  Grab real whole oats and spoon them into your mug until you have enough that they almost reach the top of the water.  Then stir them some, leave them be for a while (doesn’t have to be long, go get your step 4 ingredients ready), then stir them some more.

Step 4. – Add whatever yummies you feel you and your oatmeal deserve.  Milk (Hot tip for single folks or folks that think milk is gross and don’t use it that often, I fall into both of these categories, buy organic milk and it will last longer.  Seems counterintuitive but it’s true), brown sugar, regular sugar, raisins (Not my go to as my house is a raisin/grape free zone.  These food items are very dangerous for dogs.  Something in the raisin, and grape although less horrible, causes dogs kidney’s to shut down and renal failure.  There is no real treatment and they don’t even really know why it happens.  If a dog eats raisins the only option is to get them to throw up as much as possible then put them on an IV for 24-48 hours in the hope that you can flush out enough of the bad stuff before it causes real damage.  I know this because I have a large vet bill with this treatment on it.), pieces of apple, berries, or my favorite milk chocolate chips all add a yummy punch to your already delicious meal!

There you go as simple as one, two and three (and four).  No need to eat mushy oatmeal ever again.  “But Wendy,” you say, “isn’t this just the same way you make instant oatmeal but instead you are using non-instant oats?”  Yes.  I realize it doesn’t seem like it can make that big of a difference but it does.  Try it and let me know.

My Cooking Skills = You Jealous. Admit It.

17 Friday Sep 2010

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As I’ve mentioned before I read a couple of “healthy living” blogs. They are written by adorable 20 something year old pixies. Vegan or vegetarian with an undying love to whip up fancy foods for them and their equally adorable spouses before they head out for their 7 million mile runs. Just reading about them annoys me. How do this gals have the energy, time, and spirit to whip up a healthy breakfast, lunch, & dinner everyday? Zzzzzzzzz.

They are not me.

4 out of the 5 days of my work week I come home, throw on my work-out clothes, go to Bar Method class or for my run (3 ish miles vs. 7 million), come home and collapse in front of the TV for an hour before dragging myself to my bed (no need to shower by that point all the sweat has dried and Riggins doesn’t mind the smell) to read for a bit before sleep. I realize my life is much too exciting for most people to handle.

The biggest problem I have is figuring out what to make for dinner in the 5-10 seconds between going from not hungry at all post work-out to OH MY GOD I’M GOING TO EAT EVERYTHING IN SIGHT post work-out. Add exhaustion from a long day of work and then exercise and you get nothin’. I often make a big ol’ vat of something on Sunday and then put a pile of whatever that is in a bowl or plate, put it in the microwave for a bit, and ta da! DINNER! Lately I’ve been even too pooped to do that. I’ve invited what I call the NOwich. It’s like a Sandwich but not. Here is the recipe should you want to recreate:

Take a plate. Grab a packet of sandwich turkey slices. Take out a bundle of them and place on your plate. Grab a packet of pre-sliced low fat sandwich cheese slices. Take out two and put them on your plate. Make sure to take out the paper they put between slices as they taste horrible. Grab an avocado. Cut it in half. Scoop out the yummy goodness and put on your plate. Grab something from the fridge to drink and DONE! THE NOWICH.

I work from home on Thursday so yesterday I had a nowich for lunch. After Bar Method class I got home and couldn’t think about doubling up on those in one day so I grabbed my next “go to” dinner item. I will share this recipe with you as well (excited?):

Take a single serving 1 min brown rice container. Open it up. Grab a container of egg whites from the fridge. Poor the egg whites into the rice container until it is almost full. Put it in the microwave and hit “popcorn” setting. That isn’t actually a necessary setting it is just the only setting that works on my microwave. After a couple minutes take out the souffle looking item and turn it upside down on your plate. Add some salsa. DONE! EGG WHITES AND RICE.

Now when I told my mom my plans for dinner she was horrified. Who likes egg whites? I do. I LOVE THEM. If you think too much about what they really are, eggs, in general, are gross. Really disgusting. Egg whites are worse. They are the mucous plug of the chicken. Don’t look at me like that. You eat it too when they scramble up your eggs you know. Still they are tasty so you have to ignore their origin. I had an egg white sandwich for breakfast this morning!

Egg whites are also, I’m told, really good for you. Low fat, low calories, high protein. I learned this from a character on TV. He plays a doctor so I totally believe him.

So there you go. Two somewhat healthy (although not Vegan nor Vegetarian) meals that are easy and fast. Take that oddly healthy pixie-like bloggers!