better than take out

what is better than take-out fried rice? cheaper, tastier, and homemade fried rice.

i wish i could come to you this week with an riveting or at least somewhat interesting story, but i don't have one. my cooking adventure today went like this: it was 2pm. i hadn't eaten lunch. i was hungry. i wanted fried rice. i made fried rice. i ate fried rice. i now give to you my fried rice recipe that is better than fried rice. fun side note, the chopsticks pictured are on of my souvenirs from Japan.

Fried Rice

Yield: 4-6 Servings 

Adapted from: Gimmie Some Oven

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons butter, divided

2 eggs, whisked

2 medium carrots, peeled and diced

1 small white onion, diced

1/2 cup frozen corn

1/2 cup frozen peas
3 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper
4 cups cooked and chilled rice
3 green onions, thinly sliced
3-4 Tbsp. soy sauce, or more to taste
1/2 tsp. toasted sesame oil

Directions: 
1. Heat 1/2 tablespoon of butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until melted. Add egg, and cook until scrambled, stirring occasionally. Remove egg, and transfer to a separate plate.

2. Add an additional 1 tablespoon butter to the pan and heat until melted. Add carrots, onion, peas, corn and garlic, and season with a generous pinch of salt and pepper. Saute for about 5 minutes or until the onion and carrots are soft. 
3. Increase heat to high, add in the remaining 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter, and stir until melted. Immediately add the rice, green onions, soy sauce and stir until combined. Continue stirring for an additional 3 minutes to fry the rice. 
4. Add in the eggs and stir to combine. 
5. Add the sesame oil, stir to combine, and remove from heat.
Serve warm.

on the go

the secret i have sound (this would my sixth) to a successful day in my college/working phase of life is to spend the least amount of time getting ready in the morning. this allows for more time to sleep and more time to spend with God in the morning, a win win situation. they key to achieving this i have found is to be prepared and ready for the next day before going to bed and to have breakfast food you can grab on the go. this eliminates extra time spent getting ready to head out the door. i have found that frozen muffins are the ultimate grab and go breakfast item because: [1] they last for ever in the freezer (muffins for days). [2] i love muffins. [3] i love warm muffins. so i ask, what could be better than running out the door with a warm muffin that was previously frozen 15 seconds ago, but seems like it was freshly baked? 

this is my go to muffin recipe. i almost hate to share it as it is a recipe i have been perfecting over the past three years (my whole college career thus far), and there are still a couple of small tweaks i want to try. i'll keep you posted on how those turn out.
Cinnamon Streusel Muffins
Yields: 24 Muffins

Topping:
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup rolled oats (optional)
1 1/4 cup flour
9 Tablespoons softened butter

Cinnamon Mixture:
6 Tablespoons softened butter
1 cup brown sugar
3 Tablespoons ground cinnamon

Batter:
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
1 1/2 cup milk
4 large eggs
3 1/2 cup flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 Tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400, line or spray muffin pans.
2. Prepare the topping by mixing the ingredients together until crumbly, set aside.
3. Prepare the cinnamon mixture by mixing the ingredients together until they've become paste-like. Set aside.
4. For the batter: In a large bowl, whisk together the melted butter, milk and eggs. (allow melted butter to cool and bring eggs and milk to room temperature so milk and eggs don't curdle).
5. In a separate bowl whisk together dry ingredients.
6. Add the dry mixture to the liquid stirring just until combine.
7. Pour cinnamon mixture over batter and swirl to combine.
8. Fill muffin tins with batter just a little under 2/3 full. Sprinkle about 1 Tablespoon of the topping over muffin.
9. Bake muffins for 15-20 minutes, or until they're golden brown. Remove from oven and wait 5 minutes before transferring them from the pan to a rack to cool. Drizzle with a powdered sugar glaze, if desired (i desired not to).

brussel sprouts

Brussels sprouts are one of those vegetables. you know the ones that maybe you've never actually tried before, but heard were disgusting so why chance it? until a couple of years ago i had no clue what Brussels sprouts tasted like, but i knew they had to taste disgusting. when i finally tried one i found that they were just as i thought, disgusting. but, my parents loved to eat Brussels sprouts (another sure fact i that they must be one of those vegetables, a vegetable only grown-ups like) and i would try just one every time to see if my taste buds had changed. well, the disgusting taste never changed until just last month. for the first time i ate a Brussels sprout and it was a pleasant experience. my dad had roasted them in olive oil and seasonings and somehow it had done the magic trick.
the other day i saw a recipe on pinterest for roasted sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts. i couldn't help but make them. they were delicious! i do not know what is happening to me. i guess i must be growing up or. either that or my taste buds are slowly dying. the roasted vegetables went perfect with some pork loin leftovers from my mom (secret 5 to surviving college: always steel leftovers from home). it was such a beautiful day yesterday that i was able to eat my dinner on the stoop of my back porch, my favorite place to eat at my apartment.

Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts
Yield: Serves 6-8
Adapted from: The Food Charlatan

Ingredients:
1 pound brussels sprouts, trimmed
1 large sweet potato (1 pound)
1/3 cup olive oil
1 teaspoon cumin
1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1 teaspoon salt
pepper to teaste
1 Tablespoon red win vinegar (i did not have this luxury so i had to with out)
fresh thyme, to garnish (optional, another luxury I didn't have so i sprinkled some ground thyme on)

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400. Line a pan with alumn foil, drizzle a little olive oil and rub it all over foil.
2. Cut brussels in half and peel and chop sweet potato into 1-2 inch pieces. Add to a large bowl.
3. In a small bowl mix olive oil and seasonings to taste.
4. Pour olive oil mixture into larger bowl and toss vegetables to coat. 
5. Spread veggies evenly on pan.
6. Roast in oven for 40-45 minutes or until veggies are browned and soft. 
7. Place the veggies in a serving bowl and toss with 1-2 tablespoons of red wine vinegar to taste. Garnish with fresh thyme if you like. 

reinventing an old classic

there's nothing better than reinventing an old classic. today it was my chicken salad's turn to be reinvented. typically i add some carrots, nuts, and grapes to jazz up my boring old chicken salad, but today i tried using avocados! not only was it delicious, but way healthier as the avocado and dollop of yogurt take the place of mayo. i garnished my sandwich with thinly sliced tomatoes. this is a great quick, easy, and healthy make-ahead lunch. thankfully i still have some this chicken salad leftover to use another day (secret four to surviving college: always make extra)

Avocado Greek Yogurt Chicken Salad
Yields: 5 sandwiches

Ingredients:
3 cups shredded chicken
1 avocado, mashed
1 Tablespoon plain greek yogurt
1 Tablespoon lime juice
1 Tablespoon finely diced red onion
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:
1. Mix shredded chicken, mashed avocado, yogurt, and lime juice. If mixture seems dry add more yogurt.
2. Add diced red onion, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and stir to combine. Taste to adjust spices, if desired.
3. Serve on wheat bread, a sandwich thin, crackers, bed of lettuce, and the possibilities are endless!

the perfect crepe

...because let's be honest why would you wait a whole day to go out and buy an over priced crepe when you could make a perfect crepe for free. free meaning i was at home (food at home is free: secret three to surviving college). i fee like crepes get a bad rap just like cheesecakes. homemade in your own kitchen crepes and cheesecakes are delicious and not a complicated process, contrary to popular belief. the everyday common at home cook has been deceived into think these are both complex things to make. the key is in knowing the secrets. the secret for making crepes? refrigerate your batter for at least 1 hour before cooking. this allows the bubbles in the batter to subsided so they will not tear. i learned this trick from my personal favorite chef, Alton Brown.

my long lost cousins and i made these crepes when we were craving the so badly and didn't want to wait to go out to eat for them the next day. we filled them with scrambled eggs & a homemade cheese sauce.

Crepes
Adapted from:Food Network
Yields: 12-17 small crepes

Ingredients: 

2 large eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup water
1 cup flour
3 tablespoons melted butter
Butter, for coating the pan

Directions:

1. In a blender, combine all of the ingredients and pulse for 10 seconds. Place the crepe batter in the refrigerator for 1 hour. The batter will keep for up to 48 hours.
2. Heat a small non-stick pan. Add butter to coat. Pour 1 ounce of batter into the center of the pan and swirl to spread evenly. Cook for 30 seconds and flip. Cook for another 10 seconds and remove to a plate separating crepes with small sheets of wax paper. 

Leftover crepes can be kept in a sealable plastic bag in the refrigerator for several days or in the freezer for up to two months.

a whim gone great

we were walking up and down the aisle at Aldi (secret one to surviving college) slightly panicking. it was one of those moments where we had a great idea on whim, went through with it, and then remembered that ideas made on whims are not always successful. 


my roommate and i had the 'great idea' of bringing the story of stone soup to life. stone soup is an old folk tale we had both grown up hearing. there are several different variations, but the gist of the tale is that hungry strangers compel the people of a town into sharing their food. our idea was simple, make a big pot of stew and ask our friends to bring an item to add to the pot. but, we didn't really think about the logistics of:

how many people are actually going to come?
what if everyone brings weird things that will ruin the whole soup?
or what if everyone brings the same thing?

all of these questions hit us as we were trying to decide how much and what type of meat we needed (who knew there were so many options!) the fact that everyone one was coming over in a little over an hour did not relieve any pressure. our conversation as we were eyeing the meat section was something like this..."wow, meat is more expensive than i thought...did we really invite everybody...oh my goodness, what if this turns out terrible...i know it worked in the folk tale, but uhhh it might not work in the real world...if this flops we're going to have an apartment full of hungry people...bread, we need bread, lots and lots of bread."

fortunately, for us we got the folk tale ending we were hoping for. our friends came bearing potatoes, carrots, celery, tomatoes, green onions, and cilantro. everyone clustered around our small kitchen table chopping up their items and adding them to the giant pot of simmering beef stock, stew meat, and spices. it smelled wonderful. we sat around chatting as the soup 'stewed'. surprisingly, the soup turned out to be delicious. some of our guests went so far as to say it was the best they ever had. the night turned out to be a smashing success.
the morals we learned from a modern day folk tale?

great ideas made on a whim can be successful

there is noting better to build community than stone soup

and better yet is having left-overs for days (secret two to surviving college)

Stone Soup
Adapted from: Gimme Some Oven
Serves: 15-20

Ingredients:
3 tablespoons of olive oil
4lbs. beef stew meat
20 cups beef stock
5 bay leaves
2 (28oz) can diced tomatoes, with juice
2 1/2 Tablespoon worcestershire sauce
2 1/2 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
2 1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
15-20 friends to bring vegetables to add

Directions:
1. In a large stockpot, heat olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the stew meat and cook, stirring frequently until well browned.
2. Add your remaining ingredients and bring to a boil and simmer.
3. Add friends ingredients, bring to a boil, and reduce to a simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until the meat and vegetable are tender.

...and we're back

the nine hundred and twenty-four day silence is over. crazy how fast time has flown. it's seems like just yesterday i was calling my family to the table to see if my tuesday night cooking adventure was a success. now most tuesday nights i find myself eating on the go, over my textbooks, or my roomate's floor. while the 'atmosphere' may have compromised the cooking adventures have not. (CONFESSION: i may or may not of made mac'n'cheese from the box last week...it was for the first time since i've moved out so that counts for something, right?) but back to those cooking adventures. i've learned some valuable lessons like while cooking and freezing may work for some foods, it is not the answer for all foods. (don't freeze quiche) or be very careful in trying new recipes, because if they're a flop your stuck eating it for the rest of the week because throwing food out in college is not an option, and i most likely will not be able to eat a whole bag of potatoes before they go bad. somewhere between all of these 'adventures' i missed recording them. but tonight i decided no longer, so here's to breaking the nine hundred and twenty-four days of silence.


 Oatmeal Brown Sugar Muffins
Adapted from: Averie Cooks
Time: 30 minutes     Yield: 10 Muffins

Ingredients:
1 large egg
1 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned whole-rolled oats
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup syrup
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup greek yogurt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray 10 of the 12 cavities of a muffin pan.
2. Add all ingredients in a large bowl and whisk until smooth.
3. Evenly distribute batter into 10 cavities of the prepared pan
4. Bake for 20 minutes or until tops are sent, spring to the touch, and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
5. Cool muffins in pan on top of wire rack for about 10 minutes before removing and placing on a rack to cool completely.

Muffins will keep airtight for up to 1 week or in the freezer for up to 6 months.