Roasted Garlic & Herb Chicken w/ Pasta

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 box of mini rotini pasta
1 bag of Jack Daniels Roasted Garlic & Herb Marinade (It comes in a bag)
1/3 cup of butter
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1-2 cloves of garlic OR 1 teaspoon of pre-minced garlic
1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt
1/2 cup of Mixed Veggies (frozen)

Stick the chicken breasts in the marinade bag and let it marinade for at least 30 minutes in the fridge. It's basically a giant zip-loc bag filled with marinade. It's like $2-3 at the grocery store and it is amazing for adding flavor to meals. After it's been marinaded, grill up the chicken for about 5 minutes, or until fully cooked. Set aside on a plate to let the juices re-distribute.

Boil the pasta and drain. Add in the butter, basil, oregano, garlic, and garlic salt, mixing well. Turn the heat on low and add in the veggies. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until the veggies are tender.

Cut up the chicken breasts (one per serving, this recipe is meant for 2 people) and add one to each bowl. Mix  with the pasta and veggies, and serve! :)

BBQ Burgers

So I bought a few fresh onions from the store when I made a (failed) attempt at turkey meatballs. I decided I needed to use it somehow so it wouldn't go to waste. Then I came up with this idea for burgers AND to freeze the rest of my onions. :)

1/2 lb ground beef (I used 85/15 fat content)
4 tablespoons of Spicy Honey bbq sauce
1/2 onion chopped obnoxiously fine in the food chopper
2 tablespoons of Steakhouse Grinder seasoning mix.
2 slices of sharp cheddar cheese

Add the onion and seasoning to the meat and completely mix together. Separate the meat in 1/2 and make them into balls. Squish the balls until they make a nice even patty shape. :) Stick them on that pan! Let them heat thoroughly. I like my burgers well done so I usually wait a good 4 minutes per side. ONLY FLIP YOUR BURGERS ONCE!!! It makes sure that each side is cooked evenly and that your center is where you want it at.

After your burgers are about 99% cooked, you add two tablespoons of Spicy Honey bbq sauce to your burgers each. I generally put one tablespoon on one side, flip, then the rest on the other side. I cook these for maybe 30 seconds more to warm the bbq sauce and let it caramelize a bit on the outside of the burgers.

It looks gruesome but trust me, it's delicious :)

Afterwards, stick the cheese on it and whatever other toppings. I used a little bit more bbq sauce on the bun for an extra zing. I heated up some rice in a bag and voila! Dinner is done! :)

Adventures in Food!

So this is basically a mish-mash of my encounters since last posting in May :)

My mother is a Whole Foods fanatic when it comes to quick lunches and snack-y items. She'll call me from Chicago and tell me about all the deals going on. She's funny like that. While I was home over the 4th, I went with my mother onto one of her excursions to Whole Foods. Low and behold, I discover key lime pie slices in a plastic tin. Who knew such beauty existed in this world? It even comes with a mini spoon. Who doesn't like mini spoons? Thus, now I shall venture to Whole Foods for the sole purpose of getting my Key-Lime on.

Second trip: Hawaii. My parents took me to Hawaii (Maui specifically) for my 21st birthday, as well as a much-needed family vacation. :) We encountered this place called Whaler's Village and found a cookie store! It's called Honolulu Cookie Company. They have the most amazing shortbread cookies. Some made with Kona coffee, others dipped in chocolate, others filled with macadamia nuts! It's wonderful. They do online orders and ship 2nd day. I've shared a few of these cookies with the front office of my apartment complex and they love 'em too! :)

Third Trip: White Chocolate Grill. There's a location in Scottsdale (way north on the 101) and there's a location in Naperville, IL. Since I'm from Naperville, naturally while home I went there. My family and I went for my father's birthday and trust me, it was divine. I do have to mention though that it is a little pricey. I wouldn't go in there hoping that 2 people can eat for under $40 or so. Being called White Chocolate Grill, naturally, most of their desserts are amazing. And White Chocolate. But don't be too upset! They do have non-white chocolate desserts as well for those who don't like white chocolate (blasphemy, but I don't judge :-P).

Specifically, we ordered the chocolate cake/souffle and white chocolate "blondie" brownie. The white stuff on the chocolate cake is actually just a vanilla sauce. They were absolutely amazing and I taunted my friends gleefully that evening.

Last Note:

This has absolutely nothing to do with food, but ever get so annoyed that you wish you could let people know without being a jerk? Have no fear! There are options! I work at Rio Salado College's bookstore and we get neat little knick-knacks in, sort-of like Borders does. This one entertained us the most. You should definitely pick one up if any of this applies to you :-P

Chicken Chili - Update

Hi! Sorry it's been so long. I've had a few health issues to deal with and they're finally under control. Also took a vacation to Chicago to visit family, which is all fun and fantastic. :) Here is one of my updated recipes!

Chicken Chili

2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
3 Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts
4 Bell Peppers
2 small cans of Chili Beans (Pinto beans w/ chili sauce)
2 28oz cans of Crushed Tomatos
1 cup of frozen corn
1-2 onions, chopped fine
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 box of "Mini Rotini" pasta
1 1/2 tablespoons of chili powder
2 teaspoons of cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1/2 Teaspoon of Cayenne (adjust for desired heat)

Cube up the chicken into bite sized pieces and throw into a heated (LARGE) pot with the olive oil and brown off. Chop up the veggies as well into bite size chunks. I like to leave the bell peppers in strips, but it's whatever you like. I personally mutilate the onion because I like the flavor but not onion chunks. Mini-choppers are great for this. However, if you like your chili topped with onion, reserve about 1/4 cup of onion for the top. Throw the veggies in the pot and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the veggies are tender.

Add both cans of chili beans AND THE SAUCE! The sauce adds plenty of extra depth to the chili and makes it a little thicker than usual. Stir up the veggies, chicken, and beans so everything is even. Then add both cans of crushed tomatos. My gallon-sized pot was barely able to contain all of this so if you have a bigger pot, I'd suggest it. Now it's time to add all of the seasonings. The Red Pepper flakes and Cayenne can be adjusted as needed for spice. The current recipe makes it probably about a "medium salsa" if that makes sense. Stir carefully and completely to make sure all of the seasoning gets distributed. Now one last touch: Pasta.

Add in about 1/2 a box, or a little less, of mini rotini pasta. The mini pasta is best because it doesn't compete in size with the other ingredients. It basically turns this into a complete meal all in one bowl!

Make sure to simmer this for about 10 minutes, or until the pasta is completely cooked through. Then serve, and enjoy!

This makes a TON of food so feel free to adjust it as needed. This is becoming my lunch for the next week (overtime, yay!) for work. Here is me, consuming the delicousness!

Till next time folks!

Spicy Montreal Burgers

Honestly, I find burgers incredibly annoying to make in my kitchen. I don't have a grill or a grill pan and the "community grill" outside scares me. I don't know what's been growing or whatnot on there.. Thus, I have to basically pan fry them and hope all goes well.

The name Spicy Montreal comes from my favorite little seasoning shaker. I'm a spicy food freak (I add Tabasco to everything..) so naturally, I would go for the mix with red pepper flakes. I also purchase the pre-made burger patties as well. I like that they're already weighed out for me. These generally come out to be about 1/3 of a pound each, roughly. Those make some mighty big, fine burgers. :-) Here's the burgers in progress.

I know, a little gruesome, but hey, whatever works right? Well, they ended up turning out awesome. I decided to add some tomato too. Now I'm really against slicing vegetables. It's probably because I don't know how to properly slice them, but anyways, I sliced up a tomato. I was super proud of my awesome slices...I mean, they're pretty. I even picked one up for Chris and was like "I made pretty slices!" See for yourself.

I also enjoy being very meticulous about stacking the toppings. I always add one condiment (mayo) to the top bun, and the other (either mustard or ketchup, depending on who the burger is for) on the bottom. I also make sure to spread it with a knife. I hate gloppy ketchup and mayo running every which way, but that current bite not having enough. I also prefer spinach over lettuce because I like the flavor. Spinach isn't evil, people! And it doesn't have to just be for salad! :-) Here's what the burgers looked like after I added cheese and my annoying stacking obsession.

Yummy! By the way, they're friggin' huge. I couldn't fit the whole thing in my mouth. (Awaiting the "That's what she said!" comment...) After cooking up some sweet potato fries, lunch was ready :-)

I think my next adventure will be some sort of taco flavored burger with salsa on top...Any ideas!?! :-)

Salmonella

Never, ever get coffee with raw milk in it. No matter how delicious that peanut butter mocha sounds, it will wreck you.

A few weeks ago I came down with a nasty bout of salmonella. Had to fill out a bunch of CDC paperwork and crap. It wasn't fun. Now, I love my boyfriend dearly. We've been dating for the better part of 3 years. However, he decided that I needed to be sheltered at his apartment during this so he could take care of me. Aww, cute, right? Well...his idea of "cheering me up" was this...

Seriously? Who does that? He buys me delicious chocolate peanut butter truffles, even eats a few next to me, when the last thing I want to do is even look at food. I give him props for trying, but I think he needs to have some better timing. In the end, they were delicious, you know, once I got better. But I hated him so much for taunting me with this. :-P Sigh. Men.

Happy Cupcake!

Okay, so this has a story. My mom got bit by a spider when I was home for Spring Break this past March. It sucked. She ended up in the hospital and all that jazz. It wasn't a fun time for her. My dad and I were being good family members, cleaning the house, etc. I decided to make a run to the grocery store. My mom is known for chatting up the checkout ladies at Dominick's, or wherever she goes. My mom is super friendly, as many of my friends would know, and always has to get the scoop on EVERYTHING. Anyways, sidetracked, I went to Dominick's and was picking up some things that would be easy for her to eat. The manager, whose name I can't remember, immediately recognized me as my mother's daughter. I guess we look alike. :-P See for yourself!

Yay momma! So, when the manager recognized me and heard of my mom's predicament, she immediately went over to the bakery section and got my mom's favorite sweets. Well, antibiotics tend to do bad things to your stomach, so my mom told me to have some of the sweets that the manager bought for us. The manager specifically said that this cupcake should make my mom happy. It is a very happy cupcake. :-)

And yes, I do play World of Warcraft. I am a bit of a nerd. :-P

Delicious things I have encountered

Instead of only sharing my recipes, I like to tell people about delicious places I've been and things I have enjoyed. Sometimes it makes me want to recreate them, other times, I just want to devour them. Here's some of my favorites thus far.

Chompies Jewish / BBQ Sliders


If you've ever watched Man vs Food when he did his college showdown, you may have seen him do the Slider Challenge at Chompie's in Tempe, AZ. Seeing as I go to Arizona State, I decided to try it out. Their slides are made on brioche, which makes them super rich. I had the BBQ sliders, which has brisket, BBQ sauce, and onion straws inside that delicious casing of brioche. I have to tell you, they were DELICIOUS! Chris tried the Jewish ones. The Jewish ones had a latke (potato pancake) on top of the brisket. I think there was something else too but it eludes my memory at this moment. You also have the option of getting sweet potato fries (!!!!) Either way, here's a picture for your ogling. :-)

Kabuki Japanese Cuisine


Oh my god, I freaking love sushi. My first job was hostessing at a local sushi restaurant with my friend Dayna when I was 16. I have hunted through Arizona trying to find good sushi. At Tempe Marketplace, Chris and I stumbled upon Kabuki. They're only in Arizona and California, but it is the best sushi I have tried out here. Chris and I actually made a date out of it for Valentine's Day. He had class, unfortunately, so I got some take-out and we made a picnic of it. The best non-sushi item is definitely their teriyaki platters. We decided to get the "Samurai Deluxe" which is beef and chicken teriyaki, shrimp & veggie tempura, rice, and salad. Pretty good for $12. They also have amazing Tonkatsu (Fried pork) with their own Japanese bbq sauce (I think it's called Hoisin?). Sushi wise, definitely try the spicy tuna or the rose roll, which is spicy tuna and shrimp tempura rolled up into one. Yum!!! Here's our date picnic.

Red Lobster's Key Lime Pie


Dude. It's Key Lime pie. Don't hate.

Salmon in a "Bag"

Chris begged me to make something different. Of course, after asking a million times what he wanted, I always got the same response... "I don't know." Ugh. I went to Safeway and behold! Salmon is on sale! And the meat counter guy is kind-of cute. Back around 2008-ish, I used to eat at Red Lobster with an ex of mine all the time, especially around Lent. I always got this tilapia with wine sauce and veggies thing. It was amazing! Unfortunately, they don't have it anymore at Red Lobster. :-( However, I decided to make my own...somewhat ghetto version of their nice, neat fish in a bag. I googled a recipe and adapted it slightly because of my limitations with the kitchen. (here is the original recipe: http://twocoasttable.com/post/480063325/brown-bag-salmon)

Salmon in a "Bag"


1 lemon
2 Tablespoon Olive Oil
2 8oz salmon filets (skin on is the best)
1 cup of frozen stew veggies (thawed, or heated up in the microwave)
1/2 cup of white wine
Salt & Pepper
Lots of tin foil...

Heat your oven to 375 degrees. Take your tin foil and have some fun. Make little square "boats" with your tin foil, but you will probably need more tin foil than you think. Make sure that your "boat" has high enough sides so  that you can fold it over completely and make a pouch, or cube, or whatever shape you want to call it. I had issues with my first one and had to cover it with a second piece of tin foil at the end.

Put your thawed stew veggies on the bottom of each of your little boats. Try your best to divide them evenly. The stew veggies I use have pearl onions, carrots, and halved potato chunks, so it made it a bit hard to divide up. Place your salmon on top of the veggies. Drizzle 1 tablespoon of olive oil per salmon fillet. If you need to add more, go ahead. It tastes great either way! Top with the salt and pepper. Pour 1/4 of the white wine into each of the boats around the veggies. Add slices of lemon over the top of your salmon. I only used 2 per salmon fillet. Cover the salmon with the remainder of the tin foil of your boat. Pop them on a sheet pan in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. Personally, my oven leaned more towards 25 minutes, but if yours is newer than mine (think cheesy early 1970s ovens...) it may take about 20 minutes. Unwrap and enjoy straight out of the boat!

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By the way, those potatoes are just cheesy potatoes from a box. Nothing fancy. :P

Meat Sauce / Sloppy Joes

This is my basic recipe for a meat sauce. I use this for everything. Sloppy joes, pasta, on top of hot dogs, you name it, I've probably put on it. Chris calls this Goulash, I call it yum. :-)

Meat Sauce


1lb ground beef
1 tablespoon of McCormick Spicy Montreal Steak Seasoning
1 14oz can of tomato sauce
1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons of chili powder.

Brown up the ground beef and drain. Add the beef back into the pan, then add in the tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, and seasoning. Heat through, and enjoy! You may want to add a little water to thin it out if you choose to use it for pasta. Otherwise, it gets kind-of pastey.

My favorite is to add in Potatoes O'Brien (you can find them frozen, it comes with onions and peppers with hash brown potatoes), peas, carrots, and corn into the meat sauce. I usually heat up some mini shells (like the Barilla Piccolini boxes), and throw that in too. It makes an awesome dinner. It may only be 1lb of beef, but it makes a TON of food. This adaptation has fed Chris and I for about 6-7 servings.

For Sloppy Joes, you may want to add an extra shake or two of the seasoning to kick it up, then serve it over bread (or Chris' favorite, bagels...don't ask me where he got that from).

Easter Dinner made easy

Everyone eats a spiral sliced ham on Easter. However, with my tiny oven (seriously, it's tiny. It doesn't even fit a standard sized cookie sheet...), I opted for something else for Chris and I. I love my slow cooker with a passion. You can pick one up for as cheap as $7 at Wal-Mart. I think mine was roughly $15 and it's a good sized 4qt one.

Meat tips: For Chris and I, the huge pork and beef roasts at Safeway / Dominicks tend to be a bit much. Even a 7lb roast is too big. Try and find the smaller butt cuts if you're just feeding two. They generally run around 3lbs and are plenty enough for us.

Pork Pot Roast:


1 3lb pork butt roast
1-2 bags of stew vegetables (Around $4 for two bags from Safeway!!)
3-4 red-skinned potatoes, whole
1 package of McCormick Beef Pot Roast seasonings

Place the stew vegetables and potatoes on the bottom of the slow cooker. Place the pork roast on top of the vegetables. Pour over the seasoning packet on the vegetables and the beef. I put about two cups of water into the slow cooker as well. If all of the seasoning packet isn't dissolved into the water, don't worry. You'll be cooking this thing for 6-8 hours on its own, or longer if you wish. The steam and melting of the fat in the pork roast will dissolve the rest of the seasoning. Speaking of which, switch that baby onto high, stick the lid onto it, and forget about it. If you have oodles of time, you can stick it on low for 10-12 hours and it will still be just as good! After it is done cooking, take two forks and shred the pork. It should be very tender by this point. If it's not easy to tear apart, you may need to cook it an additional hour or two. I use tongs to get the deliciousness out of the slow cooker so I don't burn myself.

Grandma's Sweet Potatoes


1 large (24 oz or bigger) can of Princella Sweet Potatoes (or whatever brand you like)
1 bag of marshmallows (mini ones, or I found these neat ones that are already in planks for s'mores)
1 cup of light brown sugar
Get out that brownie pan again!

Drain out the sweet potatoes. Pour them into the brownie pan and mash them with a fork. You can make them as smooth or chunky as you like. Cover the top of the mashed sweet potatoes with the brown sugar. Then, cover the top with the marshmallows. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees and stick the pan in the oven. Wait about 10 minutes and check on them. You should see a light brown crispy top to the marshmallows. They will puff up so if they start to rise above the edge of the pan, don't freak out. Once you take them out of the oven, they will deflate. Make sure to let them sit on the counter for a few minutes so  the marshmallow can reset itself. Spoon and enjoy. :-)

Omnom Pasta and Broccoli


1/2 box of rotini pasta (I like Barilla personally)
1/2 block of Velveeta cheese. (You can use the flavored ones now too!)
1/2 cup of chopped up, thawed, broccoli

Cook the pasta as directed. (10-12 minutes at a full boil, usually). Drain the pasta, but reserve some of the pasta water. About 1/4 to 1/2 a cup should do. Add in the cheese and turn the heat onto medium-high. Melt the cheese into the pasta. Add in the chopped broccoli (I can find it pre-chopped and frozen usually in my freezer section). Cook the broccoli throughly. Spoon out and enjoy! :-)

Pizzoli

After many a-drink and some chick flicks, my girls and I were hungry! My friend Ashley turned me onto this wonderful, sugary creation called a Pizzoli. I believe it's served at Oregano's Restaurant, but I have not personally had it there. It's SUPER easy!!

You will need an 8x8 brownie pan or something similar. Being a college student with one stew pan and a brownie pan, it was the best I could do. :P

Pam Cooking Spray
1-2 tubes of cookie dough (we mixed chocolate chip and sugar cookie, but use whatever is your favorite)
1 container of Haagen Daaz Vanilla ice cream (again, this can be switched up, this is my preference).

Spray the pan liberally so the cookies don't stick. Take the cookie dough out of the wrapping and stick it in the pan. Get your hands dirty and spread the cookie dough evenly all over the bottom of the pan. Preheat your oven to whatever the directions say on the packaging. Generally it's about 350 degrees or so.

Look at your directions. Do they say "Bake for 10-12 minutes"? Or something similar? Don't. Cook it for a few minutes less. The idea of this is to cook the cookie dough enough to heat it up and somewhat bake it, but still make it gooey and delicious.

Take out your delicious cookie concoction and let it cool for a few minutes. Then, top with Haagen Daaz ice cream and enjoy! I tended to spoon out some onto a plate and then top it with cookie dough.

The beginning!

Alright, so, here we go! I decided to post up all my recipes and pictures that I had of various recipes I've acquired or thought of randomly. So, I'll start with a few. :] They're honestly really simple recipes that probably are mass produced, but I find to be yummy. My man does as well. :-P

Gorditas

1 lb ground beef
1 8oz bag of Southwest Vegetable Mix (Birdseye makes a good one)
1 packet of McCormick Original Taco Seasoning
5 hard taco shells (I use the "stuffers" taco shells, they're wider)
5 medium to large flour tortillas (Mission is what I normally use)
1 bag of Mexican Cheese
1 bottle of Pace Red Taco Sauce
1 small (8oz or so) container of Sour Cream (Daisy)

Basically, cook the ground beef and drain it. Add the taco seasoning and add the water as directed on the package. In my experience, I've had to add more water than was recommended, just so all of the beef was coated nicely. Add the bag of veggies and let them cook through, which takes about 5 minutes. Take the tortillas and coat them with the Mexican cheese. Microwave the tortilla with the cheese for 30-35 seconds, depending on your microwave. Wrap the hard taco shell with the cheesey flour tortilla. Fill the taco shell with the meat mixture and top them with cheese, taco sauce, and sour cream. Enjoy! :]