Special Christmas Cookie Edition 2012

'Tis the season for Christmas/Holiday cookies. Honestly, I am just glad to have an excuse to bake. Now I can bake as much as I want and just give the extras (if there are any) to my co-workers and friends to eat. I'm thinking of doing a Christmas cookie edition every year. Let the sugar and butter fest begin.

Cranberry Orange Cookies (adapted from Allrecipes)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 tsp grated orange zest
• 1 tbsp orange juice
• 1-1/4 cups flour
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup chopped dried cranberries
• 1/4 tsp grated orange zest
• 1 tbsp and 1-1/2 tsp orange juice
• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar (powdered sugar)

Ingredients: craisins, orange zest, and orange juice

Orange glaze

Cookies with the glaze

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, cream sugar, apple sauce and butter until smooth. Beat in egg until well blended. Mix in 1/2 tsp zest and 1 tbsp orange juice. Combine flour, baking soda and salt. Mix in the cranberries.
3. Spoon teaspoons of dough on cookie sheet about 2 inches apart between each dough ball.
4. Bake for 12-14 minutes then cool cookies on wire racks.
5. In a small bowl, make the icing by mixing together 1/4 tsp of orange zest, 1 tbsp and 1-1/2 tsp of orange juice and confectioners' sugar until smooth. Drizzle over cooled cookies and let it set.

Apple Spice Oatmeal Cookies (adapted from Betty Crocker)

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup butter, softened
• 1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 cup flour
• 2 apples peeled, chopped (about 1.5 cups)

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter, apple sauce, and sugar until smooth. Beat in egg and vanilla then mix in oats, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda and flour until will blended. Fold in apples.
3. Make dough balls and place them about 2 inches apart from each other.
4. Bake 13-17 minutes. Then cool cookies on wire racks.

Ginger cookies (from Allrecipes.com)

Ingredients

• 1 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons butter, softened
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1 egg
• 1-1/2 teaspoons water
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 1 tablespoon white sugar (for rolling)

The batter. It was very difficult to hold together let only try and make gingerbread men.

I gave up on the gingerbread men.

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Cream the sugar and butter in a large bowl. Beat in egg, water, and molasses.
3. In a separate bowl mix the baking soda, cinnamon, ground cloves, ground ginger, salt, and flour.
4. Slowly mix in the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients. Mix until well combined.
5. Put dough in the refrigerator for about 15 minutes. Roll dough into balls and coat with sugar. Place dough balls at least 2 inches apart on a cookie sheet. You can also roll the dough flat with a rolling pin and cut shapes out of the dough.
6. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Cool cookies on a wire rack.

Shrimp Pasta with Avocado and Ricotta cheese

The best inspirations come from staring at the contents of your fridge and thinking "This is about to expire; I should make something with it. What goes well with this?" That's how I came up with this recipe--ricotta cheese and ripe avocado needed to be eaten. Originally I was going to cook a hot pasta with spinach, onion, and peppers until I started chopping up vegetables and preparing the avocado. I realized that all the ingredients I was using were in guacamole except for the spinach. I should rename this post "Shrimp Guacamole Pasta Salad." There's a couple of things I would do differently next time: more avocado, less ricotta. The dish came out pretty good but I couldn't really taste the avocado underneath all that ricotta.

Ingredients

• 16 med shrimp
• 1/4 cup red bell pepper, finely diced
• 1/4 cup green bell pepper, finely diced
• 1 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• x servings of pasta of your choice
• 1 med tomato, diced
• 1 ripe avocado, peeled and pitted
• 8 oz part skim ricotta cheese
• 1/8 med onion finely chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• dash of crushed red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

Procedure

1. Cook the shrimp in a frying pan with the olive oil, garlic powder, basil, oregano, salt and pepper. Set aside in a bowl and put it in the refrigerator.
2. Boil a pot of water and cook pasta according to the directions on the box.
3. In a large bowl, smash the avocado with a fork and mix in the lime juice. Add the ricotta cheese and then mix in the vegetables until well mixed. 
4. Take the shrimp out of the refrigerator and mix it in with the avocado and ricotta mixture.
5. If your large bowl with the avocado-shrimp-ricotta mixture is big enough to toss in the cooked pasta, do so. Otherwise, find a larger bowl and toss everything in it. Mix well.

Eggplant Lasagna

Lately I've been eating a lot like a vegetarian. This vegetarian eggplant lasagna turned out pretty good, but I've decided that I like normal lasagna better. I can't really compare this to real lasagna. Noodles are just too delicious to replace. I'd rather call it an eggplant casserole. Next time, if I ever decide to make lasagna without noodles, I'd use a can of crushed tomatoes rather than crushing canned whole tomatoes. It's just too much work and not saucy enough. The lasagna turned out too watery in the end. That's what I get for wanting to add mushrooms. Also, although Rachel Ray became famous from her show 30 Minute Meals. I can tell you that meals take 30 minutes to cook only if you already have all the ingredients prepared (i.e. chopped, sliced, minced, measured, etc.) and ready to be cooked.

Cooking/preparing the filling

Thin slices of eggplant

Side view

Too watery :(

Yummy melty cheese.

Eggplant Lasagna ( adapted from Rachel Ray)


Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1/4 large onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped or grated
• 1 28-ounce cans whole plum tomatoes
• 4 to 5 leaves basil, torn
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 cups ricotta cheese, part skim
• 1 egg yolk
• 2 large Chinese eggplants peeled and cut into lengthwise slices
• 1 cup shredded Italian blend cheese
• 1/3 cup grated parmesean and romano cheese
• 1/4 red bell pepper, diced into small pieces
• 1/4 green bell pepper, diced into small pieces
• 5 cremini (baby bella) mushrooms, diced into small pieces

Procedure

1. Preheat oven to 375ºF.
2. Place a large skillet over medium-high heat with the olive oil. Add the onion and garlic to the pan, and cook until tender. Add in the tomatoes, basil, bell peppers, mushrooms and some salt and pepper. Crush the tomatoes up to make a chunky sauce. Bring up to a simmer and reserve the sauce warm.
3. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the ricotta, parsley, egg yolk, parmesean and romano, some salt and pepper.
4. Ladle about 1/4 of the sauce into the bottom of a 9x9 in baking pan. Lay down enough eggplant slices to cover the bottom in a single layer. Top with about 1/4 of the ricotta mixture and repeat another layer of eggplant. Continue assembling the lasagna in that order until you’ve used up all the fillings, ending with red sauce. Sprinkle the shredded Italian blend cheese over the top of the dish and cover with foil.
5. Bake the lasagna for 30 minutes with the foil on, then remove it and continue baking for another 15 minutes until the eggplant is tender and the cheese is browned.

Beef and broccoli with black bean sauce

Originally I was going to make a Mongolian beef recipe that I found while stumbling, but then I saw how much sugar was required and how I had to fry the beef in a lot of oil. So I changed gears and came up with something slightly healthier and reminded me of home. For my dad, beef and broccoli was something that he could cook while he was asleep. It was easy. I felt a little homesick and wanted to try and recreate it. I came close, but no cigar. Maybe if I tweak it some more it'll taste like his beef and broccoli. Enjoy!

Pieces of beef mixed with the sauce

Fragrant ginger and garlic stir-fried in a pan

Broccoli boiling on the back burner

Finished product on the pan

Beef and broccoli nicely plated

Beef and broccoli with black bean sauce

Ingredients

• 2 tsp. vegetable oil
• 2 tsp. ginger, peeled and minced
• 1 garlic clove minced
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp water
• 1/2 crown of broccoli cut into florets
• 1 Lb. chuck tender steaks
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 large green onions
• 2 tsp black bean sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 4 tbsp chicken broth

Procedure

1. Boil a small pot of water and cook broccoli in it.
2. While the broccoli is cooking make the sauce mixture. In a medium bowl mix the vegetable oil, soy sauce, water, corn starch, black bean sauce, sesame oil, and chicken broth. Stir mixture until the cornstarch is dissolved. Cut the beef into small pieces and put it in the bowl with the sauce mixture. Mix beef until well coated.
3. Pour 2 tsp of vegetable oil into a medium pan and cook the garlic and ginger in the pan on medium heat. Cook the garlic and ginger for about 5 minutes.
4. Add the beef and sauce mixture into the pan. Stir occasionally. When the beef is mostly cooked through (slightly pink), add the cooked broccoli. Cook covered for about 10 minutes or until the beef is no longer pink. 
5. Serve with rice and enjoy!

Crockpot pot roast

Starting today I made a goal for myself to make a blog post every week. I started making a lot of personal goals today. I hope I can keep them. This blog will probably showcase more and more crock pot recipes since I'll be starting my crazy work schedule and will want to make something quick and easy. More quick and easy recipes should be appearing as well. I made a goal for myself to simplify my cooking and to reduce my time spent in the kitchen both cooking and cleaning.

As for this particular recipe, I had some left over chuck roast from some ropa vieja that I made and forgot to blog about. I figured a good pot roast could come out of it, so here you go.

cooking in the pot

pot roast served with garlic mashed potatoes!

Crockpot pot roast (adapted from Martha Stewart recipe)
Ingredients

• 1-2 lb chuck roast
• 18 baby carrots
• 1 tbsp flour
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 stalk of celery cut into pieces
• 1/4 onion chopped
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• salt and pepper

Procedure

1. Mix the flour and water together until most of the flour dissolves. Pour into the crock pot. 
2. Add baby carrots, celery and onion to the pot. Mix in some salt and pepper.
3. Trim excess fat from the roast. Place in pot and drizzle the soy and balsamic vinegar over the roast. Sprinkle in some more salt and pepper (no more than 1/2 a tsp of salt and no more than 1/4 tsp of pepper).
4. Cook on low for 10 hours or high for 6 hours.

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

I had an extra box of potatoes au gratin and figured I'd make a casserole out of it. It'd make a nice, well-rounded meal. I had some frozen broccoli and some chicken in the fridge. Cheesy, potato-y chicken and broccoli sounded delicious and tasted even better. This dish definitely turned out way better than I thought it would. Next time I want to try it with already prepared chicken to save time. Maybe I'll try it with canned chicken.

Ingredients laid out

Defrosted frozen broccoli

Seasoned and pan fried chicken

Before baking

After baking

Delicious lunch

Chicken and Broccoli Casserole

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup frozen broccoli (defrosted)
• box of potatoes au gratin (4.4 oz)
• milk
• butter
• water
• chicken
• 2 tbsp chopped onion
• Italian seasoning
• pepper
• cooking oil

Procedure

1. Cook the chicken in a pan with the onion, Italian seasoning, pepper, and cooking oil until the meat is no longer pink. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Follow the instructions on the box of potato au gratin and mix in the cooked chicken and broccoli before putting in the oven.
3. Bake for the instructed amount of time.

Butternut Squash and Lentil pancakes

It's 5:30PM and I am tired from a long day at work. What to cook for dinner? I was feeling lazy and apathetic. I was about to make a sandwich until I spied the leftovers I had in my fridge from previous cooking projects: cooked lentils (from stew) and mashed butternut squash (from pie). The cooking took a bit longer than I thought it would, which always happens to me, but I really enjoyed this.

Butternut Squash and Lentil Pancakes (Warning: I am only estimating the ingredients. When I do this again I will edit this entry) 

Ingredients

• ~ 1 cup cooked and mashed butternut squash
• ~ 1 cup cooked lentils
• 2 eggs
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 tsp cumin
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp flour
• vegetabl oil (~ 1 tbsp)

Procedure

1. Mix ingredients together in a large bowl.
2. Pour 1 tbsp of oil into non-stick pan and set to medium heat.
3. Pour a large spoon full (approximately 2 tbsp) of butternut squash and lentil pancake mixture into the pan.
4. Cook pancake until you are able to easily flip it. (Approximately 3 minutes).
5. Cook the other side of the pancake until golden brown.
6. Repeat steps 3-5 until you run out of the mixture. Add oil to the pan if the pancakes start to stick a little.

Twice baked loaded potatoes

Last week I bought a large bag of russet potatoes. I love potatoes, but I didn't really have any ideas on what to cook other than mashed potatoes and stew or curry. Then my friend told me about twice baked potatoes. I had never made them before but they sounded delicious so I took a stab at it. Now I know how long it takes to make them and I don't think I'll make them very often. Also, I had no idea of the proportions so I made too much of the "loaded" part of the potatoes. Now I have leftover chili. I unintentionally made the "loaded" part with ground beef, onion, and tomato which is essentially chili. I don't mind. It's all delicious.

The "loaded" part

Potatoes covered in extra virgin olive oil before being baked

Baked potato prep

Baked potatoes with the insides scooped out

Mashed potatoes and the "loaded"

The "loaded" stuffed back into the potatoes

Finished product with delicious melty cheese on top

Leftover "loaded" that will become chili

Twice baked loaded potatoes (Warning: This recipe will give you lots of leftover ground beef mixture)

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground beef
• 28 oz can of petite diced tomatoes
• half onion chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic minced
• salt, pepper, cumin, oregano to taste
• extra virgin olive oil
• shredded cheese
• 6 russet potatoes
• 2 tbsp sour cream
• 1 tbsp butter

Procedure

1. Cook the onion and garlic with about 1 tbsp of the olive oil in a large pan and then add the salt, pepper, cumin, and oregano. When the onions are cooked and begin looking a bit clear add the ground beef and canned tomato. Mix well.
2. While the beef is cooking, place the 6 potatoes on a microwaveable plate. Use a fork to stab small holes in each potato.
3. Cook potatoes in microwave for 15 minutes on 60% power.
4. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 
5. When potatoes are done, cover a baking pan with foil and place the potatoes on the sheet. Cover the potatoes with the olive oil.
6. Bake potatoes in the oven for 30 minutes.
7. Check on the beef mixture and try to cook out as much of the liquid as you can.
8. When potatoes are done, cut a small slice off each potato and then dig out the potato like a little boat. (See pictures above).
9. Mix the potato innards with about a quarter of the beef mixture. Add the cream cheese and butter. This makes the "loaded" part of the potatoes.
10. Put the "loaded" part of the potatoes bake inside the little potato boats and bake at 400 F for about 10-15 minutes. Top with cheese. Enjoy!

Grilled Ham and Cheese with Tomato Soup

The first time I ever had a homemade grilled cheese sandwich was when I was a sophomore in college. My friend Lisa introduced me to the surprisingly delicious grilled cheese sandwich dipped in tomato soup. After that, I was hooked. Every time I eat a grilled cheese sandwich I can only have it paired with a can of Campbell's Tomato Soup and every time I eat it, I am reminded of Lisa and my first grilled cheese sandwich. It's comfort food. Simple and delicious. I find that a lot of my recipes are a little too involved and complicated so today I wanted to share something without all the frills.

I wanted to add a little more protein so I added ham to the sandwich. The pictures nearly speak for themselves.

All the ingredients (yes, that's pepper jack cheese)

Ham nicely folded over the cheese and a slice of bread.

Tomato soup!

Butter the bread on the outside to get a nice brown toasted look.

Ham and cheese sandwich, nicely grilled/toasted.

The best and only way to eat grilled cheese sandwiches.

Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwich with Tomato Soup

Ingredients

• slices of deli ham
• your preferred variety of sliced cheese (Usually I stick with cheddar or American, but I had some pepper jack that I wanted to use up.)
• bread
• butter
• can of Campbell's Condensed Tomato Soup
• water or milk

1. To make the soup, follow the directions on the can.
2. Butter a slice of bread and place it butter side down in a small non-stick pan.
3. Place a slice of cheese on top of bread and then place folded slices of deli ham on top of the cheese.
4. Butter another slice of bread and place the slice of bread on top of the ham with the butter side facing up.
5. Cook the sandwich on low to medium heat for about 3 minutes and then flip the sandwich with a spatula and cook the other side for another 3 minutes.
6. Dip sandwich in soup and enjoy!