Food Stamp

To the greek

2012-02-01T09:28:00.000-05:00

The culinary club is back! Didn't you miss us? It has been a while since our last meeting but we all came together for our Greek restaurant visit so that we could get inspired to cook Greek food.

We chose to go to Mykonos Taverna. It seemed to be the Show.biz Pizza of Greek restaurants. From the decor to the waiters, it was Greek all over. They even broke a plate (intentionally) while singing the birthday song. Very authentic.

We began with a Greek salad with homemade dressing. It was very good. But for me, you put feta cheese on just about anything and I am all in.

Chicken and lemon soup. I didn't taste this but it was described to me as a gelatinous soup with dumplings.

Homemade bread. Looks delicious doesn't it? Nah not really. I have never had bread that didn't taste like anything. Very bland. We figured out that sprinkling a little salt on it helped tremendously.

Chicken and beef skewers. Both tasty.

A child's plate of chicken skewers and very delicious french fries.

The lamb gyro. The meat was good and the portion was huge.

Arni Youvetsi, also known as lamb shanks. The lamb was very good but the orzo and sauce it was resting on left much to be desired. My brother said it tasted canned.

Souvlaki platter. Yes 5 measly pieces is all the lamb she got on her plate.

Spanakopita. Spinach pie with feta cheese. It was alright.

Fillet of Flounder. It was good.

Stuffed Chicken Florentine. Chicken stuffed with spinach and feta. It was tasty.

I ordered the Moussaka (I really wanted some authentic Greek). It's a Greek lasagna of sorts consisting of layered eggplants, potatoes, and ground beef, then topped with a bechamel sauce. This, my friends, was not that good. The bechamel was not saucy, it was thick and kinda doughy even. After I took that 2 inch layer off, the filling was alright. Those lemony potatoes on the side were really good though.

My husband got the Brizola Moscharisia. Or more simply a steak with Greek seasonings.

This is the Mykonos Vegetable Combo which came with the spanakopita, vegetable moussaka, hummus, rice, and green beans.

We ended the evening with a slice of the baklava cheesecake...

...a slice of the chocolate mousse cake...

...and a piece of the regular baklava.

In the end, the food was just...ok. I don't feel that we were sufficiently inspired but we were definitely inspired to do better than they did! We will decide what we are going to make and then show off our skills at our next meeting in March.

Until then! Opa!

What's your favorite Greek food?

Picture Dump - Volume 5

2012-01-11T09:00:00.001-05:00

More food pics for your hungry minds.

I had a sample of Quiktrip's chicken salad at Taste of Atlanta last year. It has pecans and craisins in it and I liked it. So I decided to give the sandwich a try. It was decent. Nothing I would go out of the way for though.

The grilled salmon plate from Boneheads. Always good. Tried something different with it and got a side of asian slaw. Won't do that again.

We took a trip to Glady's Knight Chicken and Waffles. I have never been overly impressed with the food there. These were both the buffalo chicken and the collard green eggrolls. They were good.

I got the smothered chicken with collard greens, and macaroni and cheese. It was straight.

Hubs got ~~everything on the menu~~ a waffle, and some kinda omelet. This picture was taken after he had already violated his grits with ketchup.

This is the white chocolate cake I got from Piece of Cake for my daughter's 5th birthday party. It was a really good cake and I am not even a cake fan. A little pricey but if you gotta eat cake, it may as well be a good one right?

I tried the Asparagus, Mushroom, and Swiss Bagel Thin Eggwhite sandwich from Einsteins Bagels. I really liked this one.

On another note, I tried the breakfast sandwich from Subway. Since you get to pick from all the regular toppings, I really didn't know what to put on it. But I don't know if the toppings could save it. I just didn't like anything about it.

We went out for my friend's birthday to Pozole. I got the tilapia quesadilla. Yummy! I liked all the food I tried there. And we also liked the drinks. This spot is on the list! (The red light was a heater over our table)

This is the Japanese katsu from Tin Drum Cafe. It was chicken in a yellow curry sauce. I have concluded that I like yellow curry.

My mom bought these from the health food store and would not stop until me and my brother had tried them. It is dehydrated corn kernels flavored with butter and salt. Supposed to be eaten as a snack. They tasted fine but were a little weird to me. My life will be fine without them.

And lastly, the ultimate apple fail.

Totally disgusting.

Bean patty

2012-01-08T10:16:00.000-05:00

Today we will be making one of my favorite vegetarian recipes, falafel.

Let's make Baked Falafel with Tahini Sauce.

The Troop: Chick peas, parsley, garlic, cumin, coriander, chili powder, and flour (not pictured)

Combine all of your ingredients in the food processor. I doubled the recipe and since my food processor is probably as small as they come, I went through this process twice.

The outcome was crumbly and wet. And it smelled delicious.

Form the chickpea mix into small patties.

Put them onto a greased cookie sheet. Coat the tops with oil (I used vegetable) and put into a 400 degree oven for 20 minutes.

In the meantime, make your lemon tahini sauce. This was my first time working with tahini. I am not that familiar with it so I was excited to use it.

The sauce was supposed to be as simple as mixing the tahini with fresh lemon juice. First off, let me say, tahini is some of the foulest smelling stuff I have ever smelled. I was worried about this sauce.

Then for some reason, my sauce kinda congealed on me. I don't know what I did wrong. Maybe I didn't buy the right stuff. Or maybe the tahini knew how I felt about it and got all sensitive on me. Either way the sauce was a bust and I had to abort that mission.

The patties came out of the oven beautiful and golden brown.

I served on some bootleg pita bread (I didn't know my local Wal-Mart didn't have pita bread so I had to buy the closest thing), with some lettuce, tomato, and feta cheese. I also added a little Italian dressing to replace my missing sauce.

I thought that they came out really good. The patties were crisp and very flavorful. They tasted like the falafel I have had out in various places. Now granted, they would have tasted better if they were fried. I admit that. But this was definitely tasty and pretty quick and easy to do.

You try it and let me know how yours comes out.

Chili bang bang

2011-12-17T10:46:00.001-05:00

I decided to pull it back out. Even though our first adventure was somewhat of a disaster, I had to try the crockpot again. I know I need it in my life. It is everything that is missing from my dismal kitchen existence. I had to make it work for me this time.

For crockpot cooking, since mine doesn't have a timer, I know I need recipes that can cook on low for at least 10 hours because that is how long I am gone from the house. So I thought this recipe for Slow Cooked Sweet Potato Chili was made for me.

The Crew: Sweet potatoes, onion, crushed and diced tomatoes, kidney beans, black beans, brown sugar, garlic, and ground beef (optional)

I cut up my sweet potatoes and added them to the crockpot.

Then in went my tomatoes and beans...

...followed by the sugar, garlic, and spices.

Then mix it all up.

I put it in the fridge overnight so that I could just turn it on the next morning before work.

I have read in many crockpot recipes that use ground meat, that you have to cook the meat first. I try to avoid any crockpot recipe with those type of pre-steps. Why am I using the crockpot if I have to cook first?! But this recipe said you could just dump the meat in. This, my friends, is my kind of recipe.

But, since any kind of pre-preparation is so far beyond me, I didn't even thaw the ground beef. In the morning, I topped my chili with a hunk of frozen meat.

I popped the lid on and then went to work.

The more I sat behind my office desk, the more I realized that I could possibly come home to a great sweet potato chili with a huge meatball floating in it. I was worried.

But when I got home, it looked great. The meatball had broken down a little but there were still several big chunks in there that needed to be broken up (I would suggest you go ahead and use thawed meat though).

There is no way to take a flattering picture of chili.

Overall, I was pleased with the way it turned out. I served it up topped with cheese and accompanied with some cornbread and everyone loved it. The sweet potato was a nice touch for texture and I could totally see making this without the meat.

I have renewed belief in my crockpot again. I think we can possibly make this relationship work. But we are still working on it. 10 hours at a time.

Got milk?

2011-12-09T20:21:00.000-05:00

Alright it happened again. I came across a recipe that was too easy not to try. We are going to make Almond Milk today!

I am a milk drinker. I have no aversion to it. But I do also drink milk substitutes from time to time such as Soy, Rice, or Almond. So I am very familiar with the whole non-milk scene. I was excited to give this experiment a try.

This ingredients are very simply, honey, vanilla, raw almonds, and water.

The recipe says to soak your almonds in water for 6 hours. Well, mine soaked for a couple of days because I kept putting off doing this recipe. So they had time to get nice and plump.

See.

You can definitely tell a size difference between the soaked and unsoaked.

Dump your almonds and your water into your blender...

...and get to blending.

After about 30 seconds, stop to add your flavorings. I went with honey and vanilla but the recipe mentions a few others you could add. I whirled it around again, tasted it, and then decided to add more honey for more sweetness. I call that Kool-Aid syndrome...and I have it.

After it is tasty enough for you, start the filtering. Get some cheesecloth (I got mine from Wal-mart in the craft section) and layer about 4 layers over the top of your container.

Slowly pour your milk through the cheesecloth so that the liquid can fall through and all the gunk gets caught in the filter.

This is the almond pulp that will accumulate. Just press the liquid through, scoop out the pulp, and keep going.

Here is all the pulp I ended with. I don't know what to do with this. Throw it on the compost heap or something.

The finished product.

How did it taste?

It tasted just. like. almond. milk. Crazy huh?

It's a little on the thin side and I actually would have added even a little more sweetness but I really like it. I will definitely pour up a glass of it when I am thirsty. If you consume a lot of almond milk, I would really consider making your own because it was ridiculously easy and very cost efficient.

You get to milking and let me know how yours comes out!

Chicken on a bun

2011-12-08T09:16:00.000-05:00

I am never the one to make a burger. I just think they are too much work. Especially for what you get. But I came across this recipe on Pinterest (my new love) and decided to give it a go because it looked intriguing enough to get me interested in making homemade burgers again. Here we have Chicken Parmesan Burgers.

The Posse: Ground chicken, breadcrumbs, garlic, parsley, eggs, mozzarella cheese, and marinara sauce (not pictured).

Mix your chicken with the breadcrumbs, eggs, parsley, and garlic. I doubled the recipe because I have a lot of hungry little mouths to feed.

One of the issues when making burgers (or any other meat mix such as meatloaf) is that you never know if your meat is seasoned enough.

So a quick way to figure that out is to take a small sample of your mixture, put it on a napkin and microwave it for about 20 seconds (depending on the size of your sample). Just make sure it is done all the way through.

After tasting my mini test burger, it was quickly established that mine needed a bit more salt and pepper.

After you are satisfied with the taste of your burgers, form them into patties. As I worked, I learned that that the chicken mixture is very wet and difficult to form into patties. I figured out that it was easier to plop a ball of mixture down and form it into a patty right there on the pan. I put them into the oven on 350. You could also grill them if you feel like it.

I don't know how close up you like to see your raw meat but...here it is.

In the meantime, season your buns with a bit of garlic powder and toast them in a bit of butter.

After about 30 minutes your burgers will be done.

Top with mozzarella cheese and broil for about 5 minutes.

I warmed up about a cup of jarred marinara sauce to top the burgers.

Now assemble!

Yummmmm.

The sauce is a nice touch for the burgers. My family loved them. Especially the hubs who kept telling me "This is a really good chicken patty." Why thank you mydear. They were really flavorful. The texture of chicken burgers could be a little off putting but I liked it.

Now you make them and let me know how yours come out!

Dreamy fish

2011-11-07T10:17:00.000-05:00

Have you ever heard your teacher or mother tell you to "Do as I say and not as I do"? Here is one of those recipes where you definitely need to heed what I am telling you to do and not quite pay attention to everything I actually did.

My mom stumbled up this dish at a demonstration table at Sam's Club quite a few years ago. Ever since then, it has been in constant rotation and it keeps getting better. We are going to make Salmon with Herbed Cheese.

What YOU do: Buy a fresh slab of salmon with the skin removed or remove the skin yourself.
What I did: Use a frozen slab of salmon. Fresh salmon is mad expensive. Averaging about $23 a slab. This frozen slab from Wal-Mart was $8.98. But this recipe is definitely better with a big fresh slab so do as I say.

Frozen slab of salmon I used

What YOU do: Get aluminum foil and spread a little butter on it. Sprinkle the butter with lemon pepper seasoning. Lay your salmon on top of the foil.

What I did: I skipped this step because I was out of lemon pepper.

Get yourself an herbed cheese. These are usually found in the speciality cheese case. There are normally several different brands. You don't have to go with this one.

Season your salmon with salt and lemon pepper. Then dot the top with the herbed cheese and butter.

Cover the fish tightly with aluminum foil and bake on 350 for about 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the fish. You definitely do not want to overcook it.

What YOU do: Cook your fish to perfection.

What I did: Overcook my fish. Since the frozen slabs are thinner, they definitely did not need the full cooking time.

But it was still very good. It makes it's own sauce and it is very tasty. It's just another way for me to enjoy my favorite fish.

Try this dish (the right way) and let me know how it comes out!

Picture Dump - Volume 4

2011-11-05T11:43:00.001-04:00

I will begin my return from my hiatus with a gang of pictures that date all the way back to the summer time.

My uncle has a large garden in his backyard and he invited my family over this summer to pick peaches and plums off of his tree.

We ended up getting quite a haul.

We had to eat all these peaches and plums in about a week so they wouldn't go bad. But they were so good that I didn't even get sick of them.

Here is a portion of the carb overload we had the day before my family ran the Peachtree Road Race.

I bought a dragonfruit from the Farmer's market just to try.

It's a beautiful fruit, but it really didn't taste like anything.

Mexican food from the spot right by my job. I often stop in there for a quick lunch. I always get the Speedy with rice. I am often in and out of here in about 20 minutes. My total is always $8 (including tip). Gotta love that.

This is a dish I make pretty often. It's chicken sausage with bowtie pasta, pesto sauce, and tomatoes. The family likes it.

We took a trip to Isabella's Cafe in Decatur on a Scoutmob deal. Their samosas were excellent.

(edited to add: As I went to look up the menu to remind me of what else we had I saw they are now closed.)

Duck had a burger and fries.

I had chicken marsala. It was ok.

Hubs got panko fish.

The girls shared the turkey meatloaf with mac and cheese.

This is the Gunn Slinger from Delia's Chicken Sausage Stand. It's a chicken sausage with salsa, guacamole and jalapenos.

Also on a Scoutmob deal, I stopped by Spoon for lunch one day and got some Thai food. I ordered the yellow curry with chicken. I really enjoyed it.

Here is the lamb plate from Nick's Food to Go. It's simply gyro meat and fries. It also came with a greek salad. The meat is really good and and extra awesome when dipped in the tzatziki sauce.

I also tried some spanakopita. I thought it was pretty good but it was my first time having it so I have nothing to compare it to.

We also got some hummus. It was excellent.

I indulged on some chicken alfredo from Olive Garden. And that little ramekin in the back is extra alfredo sauce. When I say indulge, I mean indulge.

Here is more hummus we ordered from Marlow's Tavern. It was good but not as good as Nick's.

That's all for now. Look out for more stuff later!

Been so long

2011-10-21T09:34:00.000-04:00

If you have noticed, I have been totally missing from Food Stamp. I don't know what happened. I feel like the culinary part of my brain died. Weirdest thing.

But I think I may be getting my kitchen mojo back so look forward to some new posts from me real soon.

I'll be back!

Feast for the eyes

2011-08-31T21:39:00.001-04:00

People say "You eat with your eyes first". I have definitely found this to be true. There is nothing like dining out at a fancy schmancy restaurant and the server places before you the most lovely plate of food you have ever seen. Pretty enough to make you wish you COULD eat with your eyeballs because you can't pick up your fork fast enough.

Yeah well that doesn't happen at home too much. Every now and then, I will make a beautiful dish but for the most part my food looks...edible. And that's good enough for me. But an even smaller percent of the time, I make food that flat out looks like it is not fit for human consumption. It's not aesthetically pleasing, it's not beautifully presented, it's just slop on a plate. And yes, I expect you to eat it.

So this is part 1 of what will hopefully be a 1-part series on Food I Make That Looks Like Dog Food.

We will start with the treat of mix mash processed meat and potatoes more formally known as corned beef hash.

Doesn't it look like this should go directly into Snoopy's bowl?

It's a breakfast buffet staple and I honestly think you had to be raised on it to even like it. It's terribly bad for you (high sodium) so I don't eat it very often but I do love it on the side of my french toast on occasion.

After you add a little water and warm it through, it looks a little better...but just a little.

The next is this little ditty that I whip up every now and then when I am in a pinch. Let me introduce you to...

...creamed tuna.

Despite the fact that it looks like freshly harvested vomit, it really is pretty good. I learned it from my roommate when I was in college. You cook up some bell peppers and onions in the skillet, then dump in a few cans of tuna. Saute it up a bit then add a can of cream of mushroom (or any other kind) and a little milk or chicken broth to thin it out. Season with salt and pepper and there you have it! Serve over rice and you have your dinner.

I used to make this when Hubs and I first got married and he wouldn't eat it. I assured him it was good (just as I am assuring you) but it was still a few years before he tried it. And now he likes it. It really tastes a lot better than it looks, and believe me I know that's not saying much but you are gonna have to take my word on this one.

Do you cook anything that looks like nasty but tastes o so yummy?

Getting tipsy - Part 2

2011-08-15T22:23:00.002-04:00

It's time to finish up the limoncello !!!

I moved the concoction to a more size appropriate vessel shortly after I started. Now the four weeks is up and as you can see, the alcohol has turned a beautiful urine-like color. Appetizing!

Strain and reserve your liquid.

Now make the simple syrup.

I melted 2 cups of sugar in 2.5 cups of water. Then I added the lemon zests just for a little extra zing.

Left: The alcohol Right: The simple syrup

Pour both into your jar, shake to mix, and viola!

You have limoncello!

Store this in your freezer (liquor doesn't freeze) and you will have ice cold shots ready for whenever you want to get to it.

The verdict: Even though this is diluted somewhat with the simple syrup, it's still grain alcohol so it definitely has a little bite to it. But when you remember that this is not for casual sipping but is supposed to be consumed as shots, you then realize the bite is not so bad. Also, I thought mine was a tad bitter but since I have never had limoncello, I really have nothing to compare it to. I have given it to a few people and they all really liked it. It's tasty and boy does it get the job done, if you know what I'm sayin'.

Limoncello Feel-o-Meter

2 shots = Good

3 shots = Great

4 shots = Done

5+ shots = Knocked out and slobbing on the sofa

But I like it.

I will definitely start another batch brewing because its good.

You make some too!

On the go

2011-08-07T21:56:00.000-04:00

With the first day of school upon me, I have been dreading the one thing that has been the thorn in the side of my morning routine. Breakfast.

I am in charge of taking my 3 and 4 year old daughters to school and from the minute they wake up, until the minute we step out the door, it's go go go. I long for the scenes I have seen in movies where the whole family all sits down to a homemade breakfast. Then Mom hands them their sack lunches and ushers them to the awaiting school bus. Sounds blissful right?

Well after I wake my girls up, I get them dressed, brush their teeth, and wash their faces in about 20 minutes. Due to time constraints, breakfast is a treat that is normally eaten in the car on the way to school and it almost always is instant oatmeal. While there have been no complaints from the girls about the homogeneous breakfast options, I do want to offer them something a little more homemade...at least once in a while. But it must be a heat and eat option. I have absolutely no time to cook anything in the mornings.

So I did a trial run on these egg muffins to see if this would be a viable option for my busy weekday mornings.

First, I sauteed up some green peppers and onions. Then, I lined the bottom of my greased muffin tin with slices of turkey ham. I then added my veggies to some eggs I had scrambled up and then poured them into the tins and sprinkled with some cheese.

I baked them in a 350 degree oven for about 20 minutes or until the middle is set.

I had a little bubble-overage.

I learned you do not need one egg per muffin tin. With the addition of the veggies, I could have shorted an egg.

But they turned out lovely. They popped right out of the tin and they looked delicious.

We ate a few for breakfast that morning...

...and the rest I decided to wrap to see how they would hold up throughout the week.

The next day, I tested them by warming one up for my breakfast at work. It was as good as the first day. The only problem I could find is that they weren't substantial enough. Given that each muffin is just one egg, I feel like I needed to eat two of them to be full. And since I will probably be grabbing one of these in the mornings right along with the girls, it definitely matters. But this was good enough to try again. I can make a batch of them on Sunday and wrap them up to heat and eat during the rest of the week.

This is one good idea but I need more.

What do you serve you kids for breakfast on busy weekday mornings?

Soup & bread

2011-08-03T21:47:00.000-04:00

In my never ending quest to try out different soups, I came across this recipe for Mexican Corn Chowder and I gave it a whirl. I also had another recipe that I tried simultaneously so you lucky folks get a twofer today!

The Clan: Boneless chicken thighs, onion, garlic, bullion, creamed corn, half and half, green chiles, cheese, cumin, and cilantro.

I started off by cooking the chicken in olive oil with the garlic and onion.

In the meantime, I decided to start on my bonus recipe. I saw this recipe while perusing the web and the name made me stop and gasp. I gasped even more when I saw the extremely short ingredient list. I had to try it. So I decided to whip up a batch of Mayonnaise Biscuits.

The ingredients are milk, flour, and mayo.

Can anything right come of this?

I mixed the ingredients up...

...dropped them on a greased cookie sheet, and put them in the oven.

Then I got back to my chow-dah.

After the chicken was nice and done, I dissolved the bullion cube in water and added it to the pot. I also added the cumin, the creamed corn, the green chiles, and some salt.

The last things I added was the cheese and the cream.

And that's it!

Serve with a sprig of cilantro and you got it.

By the time the soup finished, the mayo biscuits were ready to come out of the oven.

It took them a while to brown and when they came out of the oven they were a little dense.

So how was everything?

Well the chowder was really good. It was very easy so I would definitely do it again. Maybe next time I would add some potatoes to make it a little more chowder like. But overall it made the list of repeat recipes.

Now the biscuits were another story. Even though they were dense, I could have dealt with the texture. The problem was they were incredibly bland. They tasted like flour and nothing else. At the very least they needed some salt. Maybe they could be made more flavorful by the addition of an herb or a spice, but I don't care enough to find out. Why oh why did I expect so much from something called a mayonnaise biscuit?!! I was dead wrong for that.

Try the chowder guys. I assure you that was good.

Morning cake

2011-07-18T16:07:00.000-04:00

My husband's birthday was a couple of weeks ago and I honestly did not have a lot planned. So whenever there are no plans...you can always cook (and say you planned it).

I woke up early and made him a manly breakfast of steak and eggs. But I had to make something for the kids too. So I figured it was a perfect time to try out a recipe I had seen on the web for a German Pancake.

It always amazes me that the basics of flour, eggs, and milk can make something totally different depending on the quantity. Baking is kinda cool. But just kinda. I'm still a savory girl.

Mix well...

...until its all combined.

I also added a dash of cinnamon and a splash of vanilla extract.

Then pour it into a greased baking dish and pop it into the oven.

The novelty about this dish is the fact that it rises in the oven like a souffle.

So I watched it start rising...

...then rise a little more...

...til it had lifted right out of the pan.

When I took it out of the oven it deflated a little.

You cut slices and pour syrup over it like any other pancake.

I gave it a try after my ~~guinea pig~~ son tasted it. It was not as bready as a pancake. My conclusion was that it tasted like both pancakes and eggs since it was sort of souffle-like. It tasted good though. Nothing I would go out of the way for but I would keep in the repertoire to make again.

Get German on 'em and make your family one too.

Seeing red

2011-07-15T20:20:00.001-04:00

The culinary club had it's latest meeting and it was a total blast.

We had out first summer party which I deemed "The Strawberry Party". Why strawberries? Because the theme was the color red! We all wore red and the food all had to have some kind of red element. We even made red cocktails. It was maximum fun.

This was my red ensemble for the party.

I found this uber cute strapless dress and cardi at the consignment store. Win!

I was concurrently holding a House Party for Veev liquor. It is a new spirit made from the acai berry. It was kind of fruity and really tasty all by itself.

But we made a mixed drink out of it.

We added lemonade and cranberry juice for pre-dinner cocktail.

Our strawberry lemonade.

I made these cute centerpieces from vases I got from the dollar store, and a few strawberries.

Now on to the food.

These were chicken lollipops. She added a little red food coloring for the festivities.

Roasted broccoli.

Where is the red? There were red pepper flakes.

Stuffed red potatoes.

More roasted veggies.
There were some red bell peppers in there for color.

This was some lemon pepper salmon with herbed cheese.

And we had a vegan cake for dessert.

Pretty spread.

After dinner, we started on the post-dinner cocktail which was a strawberry cheesecake martini.

When you mix this stuff, it really tastes like cheesecake. Delicious.

After everyone was sufficiently tipsy, I thought it was a perfect time to play with knives. So we played our game which was a chopping challenge.

I split them up into 2 teams and they had a relay to see who could chop up 3 items (a potato, some mushrooms, and garlic) the fastest, and to specifications.

It was very intense.

We had a member that came late and was about to fix us another red dish when...the electricity went out.

But you know what? Every one was ~~so drunk~~ having such a good time that we all stuck around for at least an hour even though there was no power.

And for a bonus picture, here is my mom, my daughter JoJo and my niece Raelyn.

It is such a great group of people.

I can't wait for the next meeting!

Dump it out

2011-06-20T23:21:00.000-04:00

Easy dessert time!!

I first ran into this recipe a couple of years ago on Pioneer Woman's blog.

4 ingredients+ 2 minutes preparation time = my kind of dessert.

Let's make a dump cake shall we?

All you need is cherry pie filling, crushed pineapples, a box of white cake mix, and butter (not pictured).

I have read other versions of this dessert where people use all different combinations of canned fruit. Plums, peaches, blackberries, etc. So you can experiment to find your favorite combo. But I have found nothing better than these two.

Now this is gonna go real fast so stick with me.

Dump both cans of fruit (undrained) into a casserole dish.

Mix it up.

Sprinkle the cake mix over the top.

Cover the top in pats of butter.

Here, I tried to make a "light" version with less butter but honestly, the more butter the better.

Bake on 350 degrees for 45-60 minutes until the top is golden brown.

Kinda like this.

Scoop some out and serve with ice cream.

This dessert is so simple but it's so good. It is kind of reminiscent of a cobbler, but without that pesky crust.

This is my husband's favorite dessert that I make. He loves it...and I love making it for him.

Go try this dessert and let me know how you like it!

Gettin' tipsy

2011-06-10T09:14:00.000-04:00

Summertime seems to be the season for liquor. It is at this time of year that I bring out my supplies and throw my hat into the homemade spirits ring.

I have dabbled in wine-making several times. Sometimes to great results, and sometimes to disappointing results (more on that later).

But this recipe was just too easy to pass up. When I saw it...my brain exploded with drunken happiness. And then I had to clean it up.

This is a recipe for the Italian lemon liquor Limoncello.

For the record, I have heard of limoncello but I have never had limoncello. But this recipe makes it too easy to not whip up my own batch.

The ingredients are simple.

Lemons and grain alcohol.

Simple syrup (sugar & water) will be added later in the process.

After reading the original recipe, I hit the net to research other recipes and methods. The recipe I started from just quartered the lemons and dumped the alcohol over them. But everyone who used that method explicitly used Meyer lemons. Since the lemons I bought were not Meyer lemons, I decided to go with the most used method of using just the lemon zest. I didn't want to mess up my first (and possibly only) batch of limoncello.

So I got to zesting. It's best to use organic lemons because they don't have the wax on the skin.

Thankfully, my veggie peeler is a beast so the process went really fast.

You want just the peels with the smallest amount of white pith as possible. The white makes the drink bitter. Some people went as far as to cut the little bit of white off of the backs of each piece of the zest. But ummmm.....it's really not that crucial. Not to me anyway. But if it comes out bitter, I guess I will take more care next time.

Put your zest in a glass container and add in the alcohol. All I have is this huge container that I use for making wine but you should use one a little more appropriate for the quantity you're making. Also, given that I have never had Everclear before, I saved a shot of it and put it into a smoothie I had and...lets just say, I like the way it made me feel.

Anyway...

Put this container in a cool spot and let it sit. It needs to sit anywhere from 2 to 4 weeks (depending on which recipe you go by). You should swoosh it around every few days. When it is done, you will complete the beverage by adding simple syrup.

I am absolutely thrilled to have this batch of limoncello brewing!

I will keep you guys updated on the process.

Boom...roasted

2011-06-07T19:03:00.000-04:00

I have never met a veggie that I didn't like. But I know that statement puts me in the minority. There are tons of people who do not enjoy vegetables.

Boiling or steaming vegetables usually makes them a mushy mess. I could totally see the hesitation in others loving them the way I do.

But no more. Welcome to the world of roasting vegetables. It's a life changer. Brace yourself.

Any vegetable is better when roasted. Here are a few examples.

Kale chips

Start with kale that you have cleaned very well.

Tear off the stems leaving only the leafy part.

Dry them with a kitchen towel. You want them extremely dry.

If they are wet, they will steam and not get crispy.

Toss in olive oil and sprinkle with a little salt.

Cook in a 350 degree oven for about 10-20 minutes until the edges are crisp, but not burnt.

They are not "chips" in the normal sense of the word (delicious fat fried potatoes) but if you are already going to eat kale, this is the way to eat it. It's pretty yummy.

This technique of coating in olive oil and salt, and roasting can be applied to almost anything.

It is perfect for making anything you deem nasty taste delicious.

Broccoli...

...okra (no slime whatsoever)...

...and more. I also use it for cauliflower, brussel sprouts, and sweet potatoes. But the sky is the limit! Tomatoes, zucchini, whatever else you want to roast. The veggies get nice and tender with a little bit of crisp to the outside. They are just perfect.

Head to your kitchen and see what you have to roast!

Cheesy poofs

2011-05-26T11:26:00.000-04:00

If you know anything about me, then you know I like things quick and simple. I stumbled across this recipe on one of my favorite food sites and I put it on my short list of things to try.

And tonight, I finally tried it. So lets get started with Pao de Queijo (Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls).

If you have ever been to a Brazilian restaurant then you have had these little cheese rolls that come out piping hot to your table. The ingredients are simple. Most are staples that you already have in your cabinet. Eggs, milk, cheese, oil, and then there's this guy.

Tapioca flour

The word on the culinary streets is that you can find this speciality flour at Asian stores or at heath food stores. I called quite a few stores until I finally found it at Sevananda, a popular local health food store.

It is very similar in consistency to cornstarch.

Now, this recipe is ridiculously easy. Dump all the ingredients into a blender and pulse a few times until mixed.

I poured everything into the blender and I pressed pulse.

I got nothing.

I pressed it again.

Again, I got nothing.

After realizing that it had been a few months since I had used the apparatus, I realized my blender had probably blended its last blend. Awww man. I can't even deal with that right now. I got cheese rolls to make.

I started a new batch in a bowl and pulled out the arm blender, better known as my whisk, and got to mixing.

The batter is really liquidy and thin.

Fill your well greased mini muffin tin about 3/4 full.

I added a little more cheese and a sprinkling of salt to the tops of the rolls.

And put them in the oven for 15 minutes.

I took a little peek after about 7 minutes. They were rising like little souffles.

After the total cooking time, they had fallen a little.

But they still looked fabulous.

And they tasted the same.

They are not like muffins or even the least bit bready. They are very spongy, airy, and light. Like little cheesy pillows. The family loved them. I will definitely be making them again.

Let me know when you make yours!

Menu mania

2011-05-04T09:22:00.000-04:00

Do you guys know what time it is? It is spring time! And that means it is also the start to my summer event schedule. I have quite a few things lined up for this summer and I can't wait to start on them.

Hub's Surprise Graduation Dinner

My husband is through with college!!

To congratulate him I want to make him a special dinner of things that I have heard him mention he wants to try. From our many seasons watching Hell's Kitchen, I have gathered that he wants beef wellington (even though he hates mushrooms) and risotto, neither of which I have ever made. I have found a few recipes for both but if any of you have some great ones, let me know. I will probably also make asparagus and a dessert (don't know what yet). I have to make a fabulous dinner for him. I just can't mess this one up.

My Annual Summer Kick-Off BBQ

Last year's BBQ was a bit...dare I say... pedestrian. I kept it really simple with a burger bar. And even though it went over really well, this year, I want to go a bit of a different route. I am trying to keep the guest list smaller, so that I do something a little better.

Grilled chicken and fish- Both breasts and bone in. Fish will possibly be cooked on a cedar plank depending on the cost. I will also have buns just in case people want to sandwich it up.
Salad- Not a green salad. I am thinking about a cold pasta salad or a corn salad.
Grilled vegetables- Onions, zuchinni, squash, etc. I also found a recipe for a balsamic glaze to go with these.
Something else- I need that something to complete the menu but I don't know what. Maybe a dip?
Hot dogs- For the kids.
Dessert-Possibly a store-bought cake. I don't really care much about this course. I'm a savory girl.

I am also going to make some wine (more on that later), as well as some homemade pickles. I am also going to make 2 different barbecue sauces (a white one and a mustard one).

I'm getting hungry just thinking about it! But, I need suggestions too.

What do you think about the graduation dinner?
What are your favorite BBQ sides? How can I round out my menu?
Help me!

Won't be long

2011-04-15T11:50:00.000-04:00

Hi all!

Sorry for my long absence from Food Stamp (as if you guys even noticed). Honestly, I just haven't been cooking a whole lot lately. But don't worry this place is not going to start growing cobwebs.

Spring is upon us and I have a lot of exciting food-related things coming up so don't bail out on me. I'll be right back!

Seviche story

2011-03-21T21:00:00.001-04:00

Seviche is one of those items that I have always wanted to try. The few things I know about it, I have learned mostly from Top Chef. I know that it is fish that is not cooked with heat in the conventional sense, but it is "cooked" in citrus juice. So when Jameil over at Record Dish posted this recipe, I knew I had to give it a whirl.

The posse: Tilapia, limes, onion, jalapenos, avocados, and cilantro.

I decided to make this one at my mom's house. But after seeing her make the funk face after I told her that the fish wasn't formally cooked, I decided to halve the recipe. I didn't want to be eating all that seviche alone.

As I started, family members wandered in and out of the kitchen.

Dad: What you gonna do with that fish?
Me: I'm going to do a dish where the fish is cooked in citrus juice.
Dad: Is it fried in citrus juice?
Me: No dad...it's not fried.
Dad: Well I don't want any.

I chopped up my fish and then I added the chopped onion.

Then I proceeded to try to juice the driest, most ratchet limes that I have ever dealt with. I need 3/4 of a cup and it just wasn't happening.

I juiced and juiced and juiced and only got about half of what I needed. So I supplemented with a little lemon juice that mom had in the fridge.

Pour it over the fish and onions.

I really could have used a little more but this was all I had.

Sister in law: Whatchu doing with that fish?

Me: I am about to put it in the fridge and let it cook for a couple of hours.

SIL: Oh. Then are you gonna fry it or something?

Me: *sigh* No, I'm not frying it...

After about 2 hours, the fish was done!

It had obviously really been "cooked". It was really neat. Food science is so cool.

I drained the juice off and then added the rest of the ingredients. Salt and pepper, avocado, diced jalapeno and cilantro.

Here's the finished product with a side of chips.

Me, my mom, and my brother all took our bites at the same time. I read their facial expressions. It didn't look too good. We all agreed that the lime juice flavor was a little overpowering. But the more you ate it, the more palatable it got. Or so I thought. I was over there chowing down on my food, minding my business, while in the meantime a decision had been made behind my back.

They cooked my seviche.

Totally against my wishes.

I protested but the deed was done.

The hope was that it would take away some of the liminess. And it did. But it also overcooked the fish.

But that's not the point.

In the end, my seviche did end up getting fried.

I can't do nothing around these people.

Let me know how your seviche comes out!!

Picture Dump - Volume 3

2011-03-14T13:09:00.000-04:00

It's time for more food pics! Enjoy.

Thanks to Scoutmob we were able to check out Las Brasas Peruvian chicken for half off. We had rotisserie chicken, potatoes with huancaina sauce, sweet potato fries, and lolo saltado which is stir fried steak, onions, and tomatoes. I thought the food was ok. Rotisserie chicken is rotisserie chicken. I also thought the potato dish was going to be hot but it was cold.

This was from Anatolia hookah bar where Hubs and I went for a date night. He had the vegetable pie and I had the chicken skewers and falafel. It was yummy.

Here is a chocolate cheese ball that someone gave us. It was chocolate marscarpone cheese and chocolate chips. It was SO good! It's the kind of thing you have to make yourself stop eating cuz you know it just ain't right.

This is the salmon sandwich and rice from Boneheads. Good, but expensive.

I got a crepe for lunch one day. This is a Mexican chicken crepe with jalepeno slaw. I didn't like it. The filling was dry and the crepe was mushy. I guess it's not my thing.

Hallelujah! I have found some good onion rings in my city. These are from Ted's Montana Grill and they are wonderful! They are huge and are served with a yummy horseradish dipping sauce.

Here is the bison meatloaf. Hubs thought it was alright.

I got the salmon. It was really good but they serve their salmon medium and I like it a little more done than that.

Lunch from Moe's. After learning that dumping the tortilla saved about 200 calories, I haven't looked back. My regular, the Joey Junior streaker (no tortilla) with steak and no cheese is only 172 calories (according to Moe's nutrition calculator)!! But watch out for the chips. They will definitely add up quick.

This is my husband's plate from Daddy Z's barbecue. I am admittedly not a barbecue person. I would never choose it. But he liked it.

I went to a Meetup at the Chocolate Bar. This was my chocolate mint martini.

I ordered the chicken panini which came with a side salad with chocolate dressing. It was alright.

Another interesting item on the menu was the chocolate wings. The girl who ordered them didn't like them.

Someone else ordered the grilled cheese and chocolate soup. They were obviously working that chocolate theme from every angle. She didn't like it. Basically, if you go there, go for the drinks and dessert. They have some work to do with the food.

My regular Waffle House meal. A dark waffle and a chicken breast. The best it gets.

Hubs took a picture of the huge pumpkin looking tomatoes at Wal-Mart.

Why? Just cuz they look funny.

That's it for now!

Culinary Club - Jamaican

2011-03-08T08:11:00.000-05:00

The culinary club meets again! I know it has been a while but sometimes life gets in the way of the things you really want to do. But we found our way back together to see how we would fare with Jamaican cuisine.

I opened up the meeting with a game of Guess the Jamaican Slang. Boy did they do terrible! None of us have a drop of island in our blood so they were crashing and burning. But we had a special guest! Jehan of Jehan Can Cook was there and since her husband is Jamaican, she whooped us in the game.

So on to the food. What did I make? Of course I wanted a challenge. So I decided to make beef patties.

The first thing I did was make the filling.

Among other things, the filling includes allspice, onion, garlic, thyme, and ketchup.

Then on to the pastry.

This was my first time working with shortening and it took a little getting used to since it is just pure fat. I have never made pastry before so I kept this really goofy, excited smile on my face the whole time.

Since I am not into baking, I don't have all of the necessary tools (i.e. a rolling pin), so I had to make do with a can of tomatoes wrapped in plastic wrap. Same thing!

I added the filling, crimped the edges, added the egg wash, and baked them. I thought they came out pretty good. It was fun to try. Too much trouble to ever make again though.

In addition to the patties, we had this scrumptious curry chicken.

This is authentic peas and rice.

This is a sweet potato and carrot souffle. It was really good.

Yummy jerk chicken with a homemade jerk marinade.

This was a fish dish.

Everyone said it was really spicy but I thought it was perfect. I like heat.

This was a Jamaican salad.

Known to us Americans as coleslaw. It had pineapples and other spices in it and it was really yummy.

And we rounded out the night with the mandatory fried plantains.

The nights food was amazing. We have been doing really good! I announced to the group that the next meeting would be...Greek! Beyond gyros and pizza, everybody was stumped so we will be doing a restaurant inspiration visit. Look for it!

Til next time!

New student

2011-03-06T21:20:00.000-05:00

Taking a cooking class is something that I have always wanted to do. With the help of a local deal site, I was finally able to do it. I bought a half off deal to the Irwin Street Cooking School. It is located in the super cute and tiny Irwin Street Market which is a series of individually owned shops which all serve very creative foods.

The market.

The class I took was taught by Shelly who is also known as The Food Relationship Coach. It was Meatless Wednesday so we made some vegetarian dishes. The class was very small, and very hands on. By the end of the session we had made some fabulous food.

We stuffed portabello mushroom caps with onions, garlic, spinach, tomatoes, and vegan sausage. We also made a creamy polenta with cheese.

For dessert, we had pound cake (premade) topped with a sweet marscarpone cheese, fresh strawberries, and balsamic syrup.

Me and Shelly, the instructor.

The food was very good and overall it was really a great experience. I wouldn't hesitate to take another cooking class. In fact, I look forward to it.

Yuc-ca-razy

2011-02-23T22:49:00.002-05:00

When I went to the food blogger meetup, I told you guys I was totally taken by the yucca fries. They were new to me, and you know how much I love new stuff, so I decided to give them a try.

So it's gonna be yucca for this edition of TNT-AT-TFM (Trying New Things At The Farmer's Market, formerly known as GITFMATSMYNH. (Thanks GP!)

This is a yucca.

I really can't tell you any more than that about it.

I went online and did my research on how to cook it. I read some recipes, I watched some videos, and when I felt I was ready, I got started.

These things are notoriously hard to peel.

Vegetable peelers won't work through the thick skin, so you just have to take a sharp knife to it.

Keep going until you get it all peeled.

Then cut them into pieces...

...and boil.

I boiled it for about 15 minutes until they were pretty much fork tender.

The next step was to cut cut out the fibrous, stringy middles.

Without knowing what I was looking for I did the best I could.

Then cut them in to sticks for frying.

Some of the pieces got a little overcooked during the boiling so I had to deal with a little bit of mush too.

Put the sticks into some oil and fry until golden brown.

After a few minutes they come out of the oil crispy and beautiful.

I didn't have any fancy aioli or dipping sauce for them so I gave them a sprinkling of seasoned salt.

So what was the verdict?

They were pretty good. Not as good as the ones I got at the restaurant but...good. I did notice that mine had a funny aftertaste though. I don't know what that was about. Also, the whole process was too much work. I know that you can buy the yucca already peeled, cut, and frozen so if I were to ever do it again, I would go for that. But I probably won't. It's too much trouble for a side dish.

But guess who SHOULD try it? You should! Let me know how your yucca fries come out.

Birthday Dinner - Part 2

2011-02-14T23:25:00.001-05:00

If you haven't read part 1, go do it!!!

We scheduled the dinner for 4 so we got to mom's around 10 that morning to get started. We had gone over the schedule many times and we were ready to work together like a well-oiled machine.

I started by making the salad dressing for the chopped salad. I had never made my own dressing before so I was very excited to be finally attempting it. There were quite a few ingredients that I whirled in the food processor.

Then I streamed in the oil to bring it all together.

The dressing came out perfect. I was so giddy that I had made it. But I couldn't dwell on my first win. There was more food that needed to be cooked. So I moved on.

I needed to start pounding the chicken for the Chicken parmesan. My mom had bought a 10 lb bag of frozen chicken breasts. They were thawed and ready for pounding.

No fancy tools. A rolling pin should do it.

But it didn't. I beat and beat but it wasn't turning out right. Then my brother suggested that I just butterfly them. *light bulb clicks on* Great idea.

While I switched gears to cutting the chicken, my brother was working on the crispy potatoes and the spinach artichoke dip.

The potatoes were simple. Just red potatoes tossed in olive oil, salt, pepper, and Italian seasonings. They were cooked in the oven until they got crispy.

The dip was also going to be fairly easy to assemble. It consisted of frozen chopped spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, canned artichoke hearts, heavy cream, and cheese, cheese, cheese. We took a shortcut by using jarred alfredo sauce, and also added both grated parmesan and asiago cheeses. It was a heart attack on a plate...but I knew it was going to be good.

Mix it all up, put it in a pan, and bake in the oven.

By this point we were really in our groove. And even though time was ticking away, we were still on schedule.

Bro got started on the baked ziti. He made a pomodoro sauce which is a very simple tomato sauce with canned and fresh tomatoes, garlic, olive oil, rosemary, and basil. For such a plain sauce, it really tasted great. He topped the ziti with (more) shredded parmesan.

The salmon was up next. We had two fillets which were marinated in a mix of lemon juice, herbs, and white wine. You can't marinate if for more than 30 minutes or the citrus will start to cook the fish. When the marinating time was up, we popped them in the oven.

In the meantime, I starting frying my chicken for the chicken parmesan. First I dipped them in egg, then rolled them in a mixture of breadcrumbs and (surprise!) parmesan cheese.

Another shortcut we used here was to used prepared marinara sauce that I had purchased from the Farmer's Market. It was a homemade sauce...just not made in my home.

As I fried the chicken, we threw on a layer of the sauce, a slice of mozzarella cheese and fresh basil. Then into the oven to heat through and melt the cheese.

Phew!!!

We finally finished. People were arriving and it was time to wrap things up. Check out the spread.

Yum....meee

Chopped salad with tomato, avocado, blue cheese, and homemade dressing

Crispy potatoes

Chicken parmesan

Lemon and herb salmon on sauteed spinach

Baked ziti in pomodoro sauce

Spinach and artichoke dip with toasted baguettes

It turned out to be a fabulous birthday dinner. We had MORE than enough food. People were packing up some large plates at the end of the night. My brother and I were a little critical of the food (what chef isn't) but everyone said it was great. We got complimented all night. And most importantly, we were able to give Mom the birthday she wanted.

We were totally pooped by the end of the night. (It took all of our energy to muster up those smiles and bro still looks half sleep.) And although it was tiring work, we had a really good time doing it. Mom is already planning next year's dinner.

Ummmm, we'll see about that.

Birthday Dinner - Part 1

2011-02-12T20:12:00.000-05:00

We knew her birthday was coming up. So when my mom told my brother and I she wanted to go to Maggiano's with the family it wasn't a surprise. But we threw her a loop. "Why go to Maggiano's?" we asked. "We will bring Maggiano's to you!"

Here was the initial Birthday Dinner plan:

K. Rock and her family
My brother and his family
+ Mom and Dad
A total of 11 people.

No problem.

My brother and I were going to cook dinner inspired by Maggiano's menu, and serve the courses family style. We would all dress up for the event even though it was just at Mom's house. It sounded great.

We started planning and then Mom called and dropped a bomb. She wanted to invite more people. The guest list had swollen from 11 to 30.

Ummmkay. I wasn't prepared. I was ready to call the whole thing off. But bro insisted we give her what she wanted. It WAS her birthday. So we planned the best we knew how for what would ultimately be our first catering event.

The Menu
Maggiano's Chopped Salad
Spinach and Artichoke Dip
Lemon and Herb Salmon with Sauteed Spinach
Chicken Parmesan
Baked Ziti
Crispy Potatoes

We were armed and ready. I could only only hope this would go well.

Meet and greet

2011-02-07T18:59:00.001-05:00

At the advisement of a friend, I recently joined the Atlanta Food Bloggers' Alliance. It is a Meetup group aimed at local blogging foodies which gives them the chance to network while trying out different eateries around the town.

I recently attended my first Meetup and had a wonderful time. It was at a restaurant in Sandy Springs called Fuego Mondo. The owners were nice enough to give us some samplings of the food

Plantain chips and fresh homemade dip

White and red wine sangria

The chef grilled up some skirt steak for us to try.

We also sampled some tilapia and homemade chicken sausage.

These are the yucca fries.

I had never had yucca before but consider my mind sufficiently blown. I am definitely going to be trying to replicate this one.

They also set up this wonderful buffet for us.

The desserts included flan and gluten-free carrot cake.

Ummmm....this plate got murdered.

The food was really, really good. And about 90% of the menu is gluten free. If this place weren't so dang far away from my side of town, I would go a little more often.

But for you guys to go and check it out, here is a coupon.

Pot Luck - Volume 3

2011-02-02T18:51:00.000-05:00

1. The Super Bowl is coming up! And although I have no vested interest in either team playing, (since the Falcons are out) I am still excited about it because it is one of my favorite food gatherings. I love party food! Sliders, dips, wings, etc. I only get most of these foods on special occasions. It's the same reason I love baby showers. It's the only time I get deviled eggs and meatballs. Yum!

2. And speaking of wings, what's your pick, drums or flats? I am flats all day!!

3. I love to shop and I frequent discount retailers like Marshall's and Ross. One thing I love about these stores (in addition to all the deals) is the little gourmet section in the back of the store. They sell specialty oils, sauces, candies, and all types of stuff. I always make the time to look although I rarely buy any of it. But I think I am going to be trying a few new things from back there the next time I go. Do you ever buy any of these items?

Some of the specialty foods in Ross.

Milky treat

2011-01-24T19:46:00.002-05:00

When I am perusing the internet for recipes, I am always the most intrigued by the simplest ones. And I have found that some of the ones with the fewest ingredients, make the biggest impact. This is one of those recipes.

We are going to make Dulce de Leche. It's a condiment that you can use to top ice cream and other sweets or dip fruit into.

Here is our list of ingredients:

Sweetened condensed milk, and.....that's it.

Pour the can of milk into a pie plate.

Cover it tightly with aluminum foil.

Place the dish in a water bath. I used a 9x13 in. dish and filled it with water about halfway up the pan.

And that's it for prep work. Put it in the oven on 425 degrees for about an hour. At about the 50 min. mark, I had to peek.

You want the milk to get a caramel color. I will leave it in for another 10 minutes or so.

Here it is after the hour. I think I got that skin on the top because I didn't re-close my aluminum foil tight enough after the peek.

But it's nothing a good whisking can't handle. I mixed it up until it was all smooth and uniform.

We chose to test this by dipping apples.

So what was the verdict?

Everybody absolutely loved it. It tasted just like caramel. And since I have never had Dulce de Leche prior to this, hopefully that is what it was supposed to taste like. I would definitely make this again and try to find different uses for it.

You try it too ya hear!!

Chicken and veggies

2011-01-23T19:46:00.000-05:00

I recently visited my friends meat market again and stocked up on meats. One of the things I got was these:

Split chicken breasts on the bone

Now, I don't know what to do with these things (If anybody has any ideas let me know), so I decided to just boil them and take all the meat off to freeze for recipes during the week.

But wait...since I'm gonna be boiling chicken anyway, why don't I just make my own chicken broth? I have seen people do it online and it seems pretty easy. It's just boiled chicken juice with vegetables. And I use broth pretty regularly to make soups and other things so why not make my own and save a few bucks?

So, I gathered my aromatics (I have always wanted to use that word.)

Just your basics. Celery, onion, carrots.

I gave everything a very coarse chop.

Along with my chicken breasts, I also added a few wing tips that I had left from cutting my own drummettes.

It already looks good.

I filled the pot with water, and added salt, pepper, and a few bay leaves.

When this stuff got to boiling, it smelled SO good. It pretty much smelled like someone else's house.

I let it cook for about hour or until all the chicken was done.

Now my only negative with this whole process, was that I got a layer of fat on my broth. I am assuming this is because I used the skin. Next time I know I will have to skin my chicken first. But until next time, I will just use this batch.

I took my chicken out, let it cool, and deboned it. I got a pretty decent amount of chicken. It will be about 2 meals worth in this house.

I also got 2 FULL bags of broth. It was good and flavorful but I could have been a little more liberal with the salt. Also, I definitely could have stored these a little better. Ideally, I would have stored them in smaller containers in the freezer so that I could pull out small amounts to use. But 2 big bags will have to do. If I want a small amount, I will just have to go in the bag and chip off a slice of broth for whatever I need it for.

But overall, I am proud of my broth. I haven't used it yet but it looks good in my freezer. But when I do use it, you guys will be the first to know.

Renovations

2011-01-20T15:57:00.000-05:00

I decided to give this blog a makeover!

I contacted Christina at Visual Luxe because I have seen her designs and I love them. She patiently worked with me and my scattered brain until we got to a great representation for the blog. She was awesome to work with and was very professional.

So welcome to the new, improved, revamped Food Stamp!

Let me know what you think of it!

Rise and Shine

2011-01-06T13:59:00.001-05:00

Breakfast is the most important part of the day. That's what they tell me at least. But I never have time to cook in the mornings. So I keep a box of oatmeal at my job and I eat it every morning. But here are a few things I have tried for breakfast lately when I was running short on time and had to pick something up.

First up...the Spicy Chic.ken Biscuit from Chi.ck-Fi.l-A. They are debuting this in Atlanta this week and I had a reservation for a free one and since free is my favorite food, I couldn't pass it up.

There was no nutritional info on this product on the site yet but the regular chicken biscuit has 440 calories so I assume this is somewhere in that range. But, there are little things you can do such as...

Every little bit counts.

No before I go on, let me disclose that Chic.k-Fil-A can do no wrong to me. I love all their food and they are my fave fast food joint. So naturally, I liked it.

Even though my biscuit was not as done as I like it (I hate pale biscuits!!!), I thought it tasted pretty good. The chicken had a little spice but nothing you had to run screaming from. I probably won't get it again soon because I am trying to eat better, but it was free, so it was fine.

It earned my Food Stamp of Approval.

Next up is good ole Mickey D's. I don't like anything on their breakfast menu so I never go there in the a.m. But I was curious about their latest offering.

Fruit and Maple Oatmeal.

Coming in at $1.99 around these parts.

I have never purchased prepared oatmeal before because I am kind of picky about it. From consistency, to flavor, to sweetness, it's just one of those things that are hard to get right. But I figured I would give this one a try, for the sake of science.

The nutritional info is right on the container. 290 calories for breakfast isn't bad in my opinion. Let's pop this baby open.

Ummmmm. There are apples, golden and regular raisins, and dried cranberries (me favorite). I was worried about it being too hot and me having to wait for it to cool off but it was really a perfect temperature. Not scalding hot, but warm enough to enjoy.

I got it all mixed up and ready to devour.

And approximately four minutes later I was done. And it was good!! I was pleasantly surprised. I was worried about it being not sweet enough but since there is enough fruit for every bite, it was plenty sweet. I probably could have eaten two of these but I have issues. The portion size is probably fine for most normal people.

This one is most definitely getting the Food Stamp of Approval. I will be trying it again another time. Good job Mc Dizzle.

Drive Thru

2011-01-03T21:06:00.000-05:00

I know it took forever but remember this post? I was trying to figure out what to get for my next kitchen gadget.

Well...wanna know what I decided to get?

Huh, do ya?

I got the mandolin!! You guys gave me some awesome suggestions but I guess my heart was set on the slicer so I went with it. So let's whip this baby out shall we?

I read through the manual and put it together.

So the first thing I decided to make with it was, of course, french fries.

I strapped my potato in and got to slicing. It cut like butta. Very sharp and easy to use.

I got perfectly cut fries. The only thing was they were a little thin. But this was the biggest they could get so they would have to do.

We needed something to go with our fries so I left that up to Mr. Rock. He makes these burgers that are very similar to Steak & Shake burgers in that they are small and thin...and tasty.

You begin by making large meatballs out of the meat. This is 4 lbs. of meat (we had company). Salt the top of the meatballs.

Put the balls in your skillet on your griddle. Let them brown on the bottom and then mash then flat.

Cook for a minute or so, flip them over, and salt the other side. You end up with a tiny patty with all the crispiness that is the best part of the burger. These are made so you can pile 2 or 3 patties on the bun.

Here is the platter full of patties. Make sure you serve these with plenty of raw diced onion. They really set the burger over the top.

Now back to the fries.

I tried something different this time and decided to make a batter for them. I mixed flour, water, garlic powder, onion powder, and a little cayenne.

Toss the fries in the batter and throw them into the oil.

A couple of minutes later, you have these really delicious crispy fries (that still needed a sprinkling of seasoned salt when they came out). But this exercise right here just reiterated the reason why I don't deep fry. I think I was frying fries for like 2 hours. Too much work.

But like any fry, they are best fresh out of the oil. Let them sit for a minute and they get a little limp, but the flavor was still there.

Overall, our burgers and fries were great. You give this drive thru meal a try and let me know how you like it.

Squish Squash

2010-12-24T00:47:00.002-05:00

Grocery shopping is just one of those things that I dread doing. Even though my local Farmer's Market is a virtual treasure trove of cool stuff, I still get stuck in a rut. I end up picking up the same vegetables every single time. Potatoes, zucchini, cabbage, broccoli, and a few others. So I decided to change that.

Introducing the first Go-Into-The-Farmer's-Market-And-Try-Some-Mess-You-Have-Never-Had post, also known as GITFMATSMYHNH.

The star of our debut post is.....

...butternut squash...!!

Yeah yeah, I know. This is not really anything fancy. But, I haven't had it before. And that's the whole point. So off we go.

I went on the internet and read a few recipes until I got the general idea. You roast it.

I cut the squash into thirds (which was supposed to be quarters but my knife skills are lame) and scraped the seeds out.

Since I didn't know what it tastes like, I decided to keep it simple. I dressed it with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Most of the recipes I saw said to cook this with brown sugar or maple syrup. I don't like sweet food so I definitely wanted to keep it savory. I roasted it on 400 degrees for about 45 minutes until it was fork tender.

Here it is fresh out of the oven. So now...what do I do with it?

I decided to cut it out of the skin.

It peeled right off.

It needed more seasoning so I added more salt and pepper, and a couple pats of butter.

With all the mixing, it ended up being mashed butternut squash.

I served it alongside some tilapia, and spinach.

So now on to the important questions.

How did it taste?

It was different. The consistency was very potato-like. I would describe it as a sweet potato that is not as sweet. The seasonings I decided on worked out fine.

Would you try it again?

I definitely would. Next time, I would like to find something to make it a little more savory. Maybe an herb or something. But everybody liked it except JoJo, and she is a finicky eater anyway. So I would call it a success.

That's it for butternut squash. Hope y'all join me for the next edition of GITFMA...B......C(?).....man whatever.

I gotta find a shorter name.

Picture Dump - Volume 2

2010-12-05T19:35:00.001-05:00

More food pictures for your thirsting palette. Most of these pictures go back to the summer time. Enjoy!

We went to this Hawaiian BBQ place. We had the short ribs and chicken plate, chopped beef sandwich, and panko breaded chicken for the kiddies. I thought the food was really good. I would definitely go back again.

Lunch made of leftovers. Tilapia, fried corn, and okra and tomatoes. Everything is swimming in butter because my sister-in-law cooked. But my goodness, was it tasty!

I took the time to try Pinkberry frozen yogurt since everyone was making a big deal out of it. I got the original flavor with strawberry, kiwi, and some chocolate crunchy things. This stuff was sooooo good to me. It took me off guard because I was expecting it to taste like ice cream. But after I got used to the taste, I killed it. I haven't been able to go back but I really want to.

I also got a chance to try one of the other new things poppin' in Atlanta. Food truck food. We got some things from the Yumbii truck.

I got a trio of beef and chicken tacos.

And a side of seasame fries.

My verdict is that its a bit overrated. Although it was really good, I had heard so much about this truck that I expected it to blow my mind and unfortunately my mind wasn't blown.

We tried a burger from Grindhouse Burgers. It was good but in a really inconvenient location. So I probably won't go back.

The onion rings were losers. Why are onion rings so hard to perfect?

If any one can point me in the direction of a good onion ring in Atlanta, please do so...now.

Salmon cakes at Ruby Tuesdays.

I think this was chicken. I don't remember. But I do remember ordering my asparagus well done but then having to send it back because it was too crunchy for my liking.

Lunch from Panda Express. Mongolian beef and mushroom chicken. Yum.

I love food.

Sweet treat

2010-12-01T22:33:00.000-05:00

Ever since seeing this recipe, I have been intrigued. Crescent rolls? Mountain Dew? It was all very strange. Strange enough for me to try it.

So here we go with Apple Dumplings.

The Posse: Crescent rolls, Granny Smith apples, Mountain Dew, butter, sugar, and cinnamon

Start by peeling, coring, and cutting your apples into eighths.

Wrap each piece of apple in a crescent roll. We used the large crescent rolls.

In the meantime, melt 1 cup of butter and 1 and 1/2 cups of sugar. You want the sugar to melt a bit but not totally. We also added a splash of vanilla.

Now pour your sugar syrup over your mummified apples.

Then pour the can of Mountain Dew around the outside of the pan.

Sprinkle the tops with cinnamon.

And bake on 350 degrees for about 40 minutes or until nice and golden brown.

The soda and the sugar make their own yummy sticky syrup....and it tasted...ummm....so...goo...

*sigh*

OK OK. You caught me. I didn't eat one.

See I am on this health kick and when I saw that sugar being poured over the top, I just couldn't bring myself to eat one. I hope you guys can forgive me. I am so ashamed.

I did taste a corner of one and that little bit was yummy.

But, everyone in my family said they were delicious. So you should try them...and eat them.

Kitchen help

2010-11-12T15:49:00.001-05:00

As you can see from this blog, I like to cook. But I should clarify that I like to cook NEW things. The regular ole run of the mill stuff bores me. The "I-just-got-home-at-5:00-so-let-me-make-something-to-eat-that-will-sustain-my-family's-life-but-will-not-taste-worth-a-crap" type of cooking is monotonous.

So sometimes, I enlist help.

On the days that I am going to get home late, or I just plain don't feel like cooking, in walks hubs, Mr. Rock, who always makes himself available to help out when necessary. He is by no means a whiz in the kitchen. But he can grill anything and his spaghetti is boss. He has also developed a small repertoire of dishes that the Rock family gets treated to whenever he's up to bat in the kitchen. Here are a couple.

The first is a mixture of whatever ground meat we have in the freezer, and white rice.

It's a dish that we affectionately like to call...

...Meat Rice.

This particular iteration of the dish is starring ground chicken. And he seasoned it up just right. UmmmUmmmm!

As a family, we all love meat rice. The kids eat it, so it's a win all around.

The next one is a dish that was passed down to him from his dad.

This is Western.

He cooks beef sausage in the pan until it is super done, and then he dumps in 2 cans of baked beans.

And then the icing on the cake is that this mix is served over rice. It is a very...ummm...stick to your ribs type of dish.

There is also a breakfast version of Western that uses scrambled eggs in place of the beans. Take the time to picture it......

I love my boo so don't misinterpret my jovial tone as complaining. I am severely thankful that he is willing to help out. He makes cooking one less thing that I have to do in the evening. When I come home to find dinner already done, there is nothing better than that. Whatever he makes is my favorite food.

Big meat

2010-11-02T17:04:00.000-04:00

An acquaintance of mine recently opened a meat market. I have never shopped at a meat market so I don't know a whole lot about them. But I have heard that the meat is fresh and cheap. So of course I had to support the brother and stop in.

I liked it and I would definitely go back.

Do you ever shop at meat markets?

A Fish Dish

2010-10-28T21:08:00.000-04:00

If you can't tell already, I eat alot of fish. Probably about 2 or 3 times a week. So I am constantly looking for new things to do with it. I had been looking for a recipe for some type of fish stew and I believe I have found it. I tried this recipe for Brazilian Fish Stew and here is how it went.

The Fish Stew Clan: Lime juice, cumin, paprika, garlic, tilapia (or any other white fish), diced tomatoes, onions, green peppers, coconut milk, and cilantro

Start by making a marinade for the fish using the lime juice, cumin, paprika, garlic and the salt and pepper.

Cut your fish in to chunks.

And bathe it in the marinade. Put it in the fridge for 20 minutes to overnight.

EXTREME CLOSE UP!!! Don't ever doubt the power of a camera phone.

While my fish marinated, I chopped up 2 onions and 2 green peppers. I cooked them a little in some olive oil.

I then added the 20-minutes-worth-of-flavor infused fish and the drained can of tomatoes.

Then in went a can and a half of coconut milk.

It only needs to cook for about 15 minutes more because...(News Flash!!)...fish cooks fast.

Plate on your pearly white paper plate with some rice and fresh cilantro and devour.

So how was it? It was really good. I have never cooked with coconut milk before and I was worried about this dish because for some reason I thought coconut milk was sweet. But it's not. My only tweak to the recipe would be to add a little more seasoning to the soup itself. But I will definitely be adding this to the repertoire to make again.

Cake fake

2010-10-17T23:00:00.000-04:00

The clock struck 9:00 p.m. and my sweet tooth clicked on. I decided that now was as good a time as any to try a recipe that I had come across while perusing the internet.

They were described as Pumpkin Spice Cookies and they only had 2 ingredients. That is definitely my kind of recipe.

Spice cake mix and a can of pumpkin.

How easy is that? * said in my best Ina Garten impression*

Dump both ingredients into a bowl and mix vigorously.

It actually took quite a bit of elbow grease to get it all mixed up.

Drop spoonfuls onto a greased cookie sheet and put them into a 350 degree oven for 10-12 minutes.

Now, before I continue, let me restate that this recipe was named Pumpkin Spice COOKIES. Where in hell's kitchen do you mix anything with cake mix and get COOKIES? Answer: You can't. Don't ask me why I suspended all common sense and expected these things to come out like COOKIES.

When they came out of the oven, they had sprouted into...mini-cakes.

Very non-cookie like. More like cup cakes. So for the rest of the night I referred to them as cupcookies.

As far as taste goes, they were actually pretty good. Especially right out of the oven. The taste was nice and cakey and they were perfect with a glass of ice cold milk. I was just expecting something different.

But you guys should give it a try.

Let me know how your cupcookies come out.

Cooking all day

2010-10-12T12:42:00.000-04:00

I am in need of some serious time management. I have to figure out how to have some food on the table without me having to cook for 45 minutes after I get home from work.

So my mind wandered..I know what I need.

A crock pot!!

So I promptly went to my mom's house and borrowed hers (I know you didn't think I was gonna buy my own).

I knew this would be the end to my problems. I would be coming home to dinner already perfectly prepared. I found a few recipes online and I decided to start with a simple chicken. I put it on when I left for work and the house smelled great when I got back.

Ummmmmmm

Taste test time!

First bite....Booo!!! It was overcooked. The white meat was mush. I guess that's what happens when you cook a chicken for 10 hours (!). The dark meat held up pretty good but overall it was nothing impressive.

Was I disappointed? Yep. Will I try again? Of couse! It's too good of an idea not to try it again.

I believe in the crockpot. I know it won't let me down next time. I know a crockpot is the truth!!!!!

If you use a crockpot (successfully), then lend me some of your surefire recipes. If you don't have one, why not?

P.S. Thanks for all your feedback with suggestions for my next kitchen gadget. I decided I'm gonna get a........nope. Not gonna tell. I'll show it to you when it gets here.

New Stuff

2010-10-04T13:06:00.000-04:00

I am looking to expand my kitchen utensil drawer and I am wondering what I need. Besides a sharp knife (which I have ordered and should be here soon), what other kitchen utensils do you think are imperative to a blooming cooks kitchen?

I think I have all the basics and now I am trying to get gadgety. I am leaning toward a mandolin. How often have I stopped my preparations and thought, "If I had a mandolin, I wouldn't have to do all this chopping?"

Ok ok, not that often.

So talk me out of it. What else do I need? A garlic press, a mallet for Smashing meat? WHAT?!!

What is in your kitchen that you love, or what do you wish you had?

Culinary Club - Mexican

2010-09-27T22:31:00.000-04:00

Last night, we had out latest culinary club meeting and the theme was Mexican. We didn't want to make your ordinary Mexican fare. No tacos or nachos up in here. We had to try something different...so I went for chili rellenos. I have always seen them on the menu at Mexican joints but I have never ordered them. So I wanted to try to make them.

I started with poblano peppers. You have to char them to get the skin off so I got my grill going and got to it.

After they were nice and charred, I peeled off the skin. I learned that any parts of the pepper that weren't blackened, would not come off very easily. So I struggled a bit. But I got it done.

I made a stuffing with ground beef, onions, tomatoes, and cumin.

Then topped with cheese.

I had to secure them with a few toothpicks. They looked very..Hellraiser-ish

The batter was a mixture of beaten egg whites and egg yolks. Then, I dusted them with flour.

Next, into the oil.

They came out pretty good.

Everybody else's food came out pretty good also.

Along with my chili rellenos, we had some other really tasty dishes.

These are flautas stuffed with chicken and green chilis.

This was corn that was covered in butter, mayo, cotija cheese, and paprika. It was my favorite of the night. We all absolutely loved it.

These burritos were stuffed with a black bean and sweet potato mash. Yum.

We even had tamales...which he said he would never make again because they took so much time. He stuffed these with chicken, cheese, peppers, and...grits. Yes, a little non traditional but we got the point.

This was the filling. They were really good.

There was also homemade guacamole, and a traditional Mexican drink horchata. The drink was made from rice, water, and spices. It was reminiscent of a thin eggnog. I liked it alot.

And to round out the meal, we had ~~an attempt at~~ a flan.

The flavor was really good but we all agreed that none of us could get with the texture. It was very egg custardy like.

So that concluded another wonderful night with a lot of wonderful food. The next meeting is going to be.....Jamaican!! It gonna be great. See ya next time!!

Copycat

2010-09-20T09:26:00.001-04:00

Every now and then, a friend and I go for lunch at this little sushi spot. No....it is not for sushi (the texture of raw fish totally puts me off). It is for something waaaay better.

The meal starts off with a salad and this delicious ginger dressing.

Then there is the miso soup. Not my favorite part of the meal but I am just waiting on the main course.

Then out comes...the salmon katsu. It's a piece of breaded and pan fried salmon. It is absolutely wonderful. By the time I finish, this whole plate is empty. I even put a hurtin' to that carrot garnish in the corner.

Man, look at that. It's sooooooo good!!!

After my friend introduced me to it, I had to have more, so I knew I would have to replicate it at home. Here is what I came up with.

The first star of this recipe is these frozen salmon fillets.

I use these because they are fairly thin and you need a thin piece of salmon for it to fry right. But I would never use these fillets for anything but this. They really don't taste that good when eaten alone.

The next star is panko bread crumbs.

I start by heavily seasoning the panko with garlic powder.

I season the fish with Adobo and dip it in beaten egg.

Then it goes into the breadcrumbs.

Next, into the oil. Not long. You don't want to over cook it.

Flip it and see the golden brown.

That's it! All done!!

The final product was quite good. It was moist all the way through and not dried out due to the fact that I didn't cook it too long. I was really impressed with myself. And my family really loved it.

And while I will splurge every now and then for the original, at least now I can have it whenever I want.

Try it and let me know how your salmon katsu comes out.

Picture Dump

2010-09-15T15:27:00.001-04:00

Lately, I have been taking pictures of me and my family's food when we eat out. I have amassed quite a few pics that I don't really know what to do with. I couldn't just delete them because that's a waste of a perfectly good food pic so I will do a picture dump here. Nothing special...just some food to look at. Enjoy!

These are from F.igo Pasta. I remember that hubs didn't like this dish and sent it back. It's some kind of fish and couscous.

Cheese stuffed ravioli

Pasta with the lamb ragu

Gnudi. It was for the kids. I don't think they liked it.

Cheese ravioli with the lamb ragu

Lunch at work from M.oes. The Joey Junior with steak.

This is the Trout almondine from R.uby T.uesdays. It was ok.

This was a tilapia dish. It was better.

The buffalo and blue burger with sweet potato fries from The V.ortex. They are known for their burgers so I had to try one. That glob of white is the biggest scoop of blue cheese I have ever seen. It was a bit much for me. The burger was just alright.

Lunch at the mall yesterday. The broccoli wasn't cooked enough for me. But everything else was good.

Lunch today was leftovers from last night. Tilapia, roasted sweet potatoes and peas and carrots.

It was great.

That's it. Now I can clean out my camera.

Pot Luck

2010-09-10T10:08:00.000-04:00

1. Look what I bought!!

Zatar!!

Looks yummy!

I don't know much (read: anything) about this spice. I saw a recipe using it and since I had never heard of it, I decided to give it a try. And, at my local farmers market, all of the spices are ridiculously affordable. I am going to try to find something to use it in but if you have used this spice before, let me know how it went.

2. I roasted garlic for the first time. It has always been something I wanted to try so I went for it. The recipe said roast on 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes but it actually took the garlic I had about an hour and a half to get soft.

I squeezed it out anto a piece of Italian bread and it was quite delightful. Not as garlicky as raw garlic.

I will definitely be doing it again.

3. I am struggling with this food photography thing. I only have one window in the food prep area and there always seems to be a light bulb or two out so my kitchen is really dark. I am not ready to buy a professional camera yet but I would invest in a small light of some sort. Any other suggestions on how to take better food pics would be greatly appreciated.

Leafy greens

2010-09-07T13:51:00.001-04:00

As much as I try to eat right, I often find myself a slave to fast food. And when they come out with new products, I (usually) love to try them.

The latest thing I have tried is one of the new salads from W.endy's.

I opted to try the Baja salad which is described as:

"A hearty salad with Southwestern flair, featuring fresh pico de gallo, guacamole, and slow simmered chili, all topped with a red jalapeno ranch dressing."

Here is the salad base.

It looked good. I guess that little bit of tomato on there is the "fresh pico de gallo"

Here is all the stuff that went on the salad (including the chili and the guacamole which were left out of our bags that hubs had to go back to get). It really seemed like a lot of fixin's for a little ole bitty salad but I went with it.

And here is the salad all dressed up. I wasn't going to use the dressing because I thought the chili was dressing enough. But I decided to slather it on there after I took this picture.

The verdict: The guac was really nice and actually tasted homemade. The chili was fine (if you like their chili, which I do). But the dressing was a bit unnecessary since all you could really taste was the chili. Overall, the salad was good though....but, note that there is so much on it, it hardly qualifies as anything healthy. I actually felt less healthy after I ate it. But when you eat fast food, who is going for health eh?!

Side note: I was going to do a review of the new Cantina T.acos from T.aco B.ell. I asked Hubs to go out and buy me one. He said he would buy it for me to take a picture of but he wouldn't advise I eat it. He already had one and he told me he couldn't finish it because it was so horrible. So....there's your review.