Artistic Insight of the Inner Child

Ectasy Delight Chicken and 'Pookie' pasta

2009-03-27T18:11:00.004-05:00

So aptly named by tonight's guinea pigs. :) I love my guinea pigs... really I do. and apparently this gets the approval of the resident people food hating cat Poe.

So for ecstasy delight chicken here's what you'll need. (this was one of those last minute throw things together meals so bare with me)

Some variant of General Tsao's sauce
Some Variant of Sesame Garlic sauce
Balsamic Vinaigrette
and Lime Juice you know the kind that comes out of a green plastic lime :)
Oh yeah... and chicken, chicken is useful to make chicken.

Now here's what you do.

Take your chicken and defrost it (my recipes have been easy lately,and it makes me feel lazy so yeah, i might use 'filler' steps)
Mix all the sauces, dressings, and juices in a bowl.
Place chicken in some sort of pan one with sides of course
Pour mixture over chicken and place in an oven preheated to 355 for 45 minutes to an hour.

there you go...

hmmm still seems pretty short and sweet to me :(

for the 'pookie' pasta (so named for a phrase from the csi plaing in the background) you'll need:

Pasta! (i used a tomato spinach tri color pasta.)
Milk
Flour and Butter
Basil, bay leaves, thyme, lemon pepper, and parsley (all my spices are dried and chopped so... use your best judgment)
chicken stock

what to do:

prepare your pasta
make a melt your butter and whisk it with the flour to make a roux, when then stir in the milk to make the base of your sauce.
toss in your spices (i eyeballed... i always do i'm so sorry but i probably used about 1/2 tablespoon of each, maybe 1 tablespoon of lemon pepper)
Mix the sauce with your drained pasta and if you need to thin the sauce out more use a bit of chicken stock.

plate and enjoy... YUM!

Best ever Mashed Taters

2009-02-10T13:02:00.002-06:00

In my humble opinion that is.

You'll need roughly 2-3 pounds o' taters (I make large quantities) Yukon Golds or something like that works best I suppose.
An 8 oz block of cream cheese, softened
some sour cream
salt
pepper
and butter
oh and a pound of hickory smoked bacon, or whatever bacon your little clogged arteries desire ;)

So, I'm gonna be straight with you all. This is not a 'healthy' recipe i'm pretty sure i felt my heart slow down after eating these delicious spuds, and i even used Light cream cheese and fat free sour cream! ;)

But that's ok, because once in a while, you just oughta let yourself be naughty with a potatoe.

So we're gonna start like you do with EVERY mashed tater recipe i've ever heard and we're going to wash the spuds. Well you are anyways.

After that you have a choice, you can be EVIL and skin the spuds or you can be a beautiful person who let's them stay clothed ;) Me i eat my with their skins.

Cut your potatoes into consistent pieces, usually i just cut mine into eights or fourths depending on the general size of my potatoes. Then i pile all those pieces into a pan, fill it with water until the little guys are JUST covered, sprinkle in some kosher salt and let them boil. While you wait you can... make your entre I guess... or sit and watch the pot even if they do say it won't boil.

When your potatoes are fork tender, I always thought that was a funny way to say "when you can easily stab the potatoe," Drain them of their water and return to the pot (if you use a strainer like I do. I'm still not quite capable enough to strain them straight in the pot. Some people are... those people can come over and strain my potatoes for me next time :) please?

Once you have your delectable little dudes back in the pot mash them up a bit with your mashing tool and add in the entire block of cream cheese, then mash that all together and add in a few dollops of sour cream, salt pepper and butter to taste, and if you desire a bit of milk to help thin it out into a smoother mash.

Now I just remembered what you could be doing while the pot boils! Frying your bacon ^_^ i just took my pound of bacon (pre sliced) and cut them into small little bits. tossed them in a pan and cooked them until they were crispy.

In the end toss the Bacon in, mix it well and enjoy these freaking awesome spuds!

I have no ideas as to what to call this one.

2009-02-04T19:44:00.002-06:00

So I'm open to suggestions, anyone who's out there... :)

"Untitled" Chicken

I pretty much threw this together and it turned out great :)

you'll need:

Boneless Skinless chicken breasts (however many people are eating make that many ;) )
Vegetable oil (I ran outta olive oil >_> but it tasted good >_<;;)
Italian seasonings, ground pepper, kosher salt
Balsamic Vinaigrette
Crumbs (or smashed ships) of the new Spicy Sweet Doritos

Simply take your chicken breast, brush on some of the oil and vinaigrette, sprinkle with salt pepper and seasonings, and then covered with the crushed Doritos.

Place in a preheated 375 oven and cook for 45 minutes.

Forgot a Recipe!!!

2009-01-26T13:05:00.002-06:00

I was looking trying to figure out why my recipe list didn't match up with my 1001 list... and I remembered I forgot to post two of my recipes!!! oh noes!

Both are dealing with Pork Tenderloin though (YUMMY)

First up we have a Roast Tenderloin with Scalloped Taters

For the roast you'll need:

1 lb pork tenderloin
2 tbsp Balsamic vinaigrette dressing
1 tbsp honey

mix the vinaigrette dressing with the honey and then glaze the tenderloin baking in a 425 degree oven for 30-40 minutes. That's all pretty simple hmm? I added other spices into mine, like lemon pepper and kosher salt and all sorta stuffs... but the basic bits are there.

Now for the Scalloped Taters I used a cheap poor mans recipe.

You'll need:
Potatoes (I'd say I had roughly 3 lbs) sliced thin thin thin... I broke out my brand new Mandolin for this recipe (Thank you thank you thank you Mom!)
kraft styled sliced cheese (you can use whatever brand suits you best)
Flour
Pepper
Salt

all your gonna do is arrange a layer of potato slices on the bottom of a baking dish, dust the layer with flour salt and pepper and then top with a few slices of cheese (I used to or three slices usually) and repeat the process until all materials are used up. then pop the entire thing into a pre heated oven (375) for 30 -40 minutes.

the last recipe i learned was Pork Medallion Alfredo:

you'll need:

1lb Pork Tenderloin sliced into 1/2 inch thick slices
1/2 cup cream cheese spread (herb and garlic flavored is recommended)
1/3 cup less sodium chicken broth
1/4 cup balsamic vinaigrette dressing
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (yeah that little green tube of goodness)
1 tbsp Lemon juice (i substituted lime juice)
2 tbsp basil (fresh or dried) chopped
Also egg noodles cooked to your satisfaction, enough to feed four (these are four person recipes)

Spray a large nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place it over medium high heat. add meat and cook 2 minutes each side or just until pork begins to brown

Add cream cheese broth balsamic dressing, lemon (lime) juice, and Parmesan cheese and stir until mixture is smooth, cream cheese is melted, and meat is cooked thoroughly.

Sprinkle with basil and toss with egg noodles before serving.

ENJOY :)

Sweet Citrus Chicken

2009-01-25T20:24:00.000-06:00

Pretty damn easy recipe if ya ask me :)

But somewhere i lost an entire unopened box of brown sugar... so i had to break the old box apart for this :( i am saddened and maddened by this fact.

you'll need:
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts (This equated to three breasts for me tonight)
1/2 cup Orange Juice
1/4 cupped tightly packed brown sugar
1 cup of hot water
2 tbsp melted butter
1 package of chicken stuffing.

Pre Heat your oven to 400 :)

Now the recipe calls for one to flatten the chicken out by pounding it until it's about a 1/4 inch thick. While i might have gained from this after finding i had no new box of brown sugar... I didn't do this and the chicken tastes fine

Stir the cup of hot water into the stuffing mix until it is just moistened...

Mix the butter sugar and oj together and place the chicken in a baking dish, pouring the oj mix over it.

Top with the stuffing and pop it in the oven for 30 minutes if you flattened the chicken, or about 45 if you didn't.

enjoy... i'm off to go vent some brown sugar loss induced anger XD

SUSHI!

2009-01-23T23:24:00.004-06:00

Candy Sushi that is...

No recipe list here just pictures of the lovely result Miss Ashley and I came out with :)

ricecrispy "rice", gummy worm "innards", Swedish "fish", fruit roll up / fruit by the foot 'Nori', and Hazelnut Kahlua 'Soy Sauce'

The Ramune is all natural real-ness though

YUM YUM!

Cauliflower Soup

2009-01-14T14:52:00.004-06:00

Original Recipe found Via The Pioneer Woman... and I followed her instructions pretty much to the letter... But I guess I'll retype it all anyways >_>

What you'll need to make this Scrumptious bunch oh soupy bliss:

1 stick of butter (divided in half)
1/2 an onion finely diced
1 carrot finely diced
1 celery stalk (or two celery 'hearts') finely diced
1-2 heads of cauliflower chopped roughly(I used two because I'm greedy and I know I'd want lots of little white bites of heaven in my bowl ;) )
2 tbsp fresh (or dried) chopped parsley
2 quarts chicken broth or stock (I used 1 quarts stock and one quarts water because I oopsed when I was at the market >_>)
2 cups milk (whatever percentage you desire)
6 tbsp Flour
1 cup half and half
2-4 tsp salt
1 cup of sour cream

If you don't know how to slice and dice... i can't help you really, But thanks to my lovely assistant and wonderful friend Ashley, my chopping went three times faster than normal!

For the onion: I use the planks sticks and cubes approach usually, not today but it still worked out. if you cut the onion parallel to the cutting surface (or into planks) and then perpendicular (i.e. sticks) and then you just chop straight down (into cubes) you have a finely diced onion! VOI LA!

For the celery: cut each stalk in half and then just dice it into smaller pieces

For carrots: I find cutting the carot in half and each half into half etc until their fairly thin and then chopping is the easiest way for me :)

for the Cauliflower: wash the florets and lop off that stem, and then just whack at it until it's a good size for your tastes. (But be careful, I had little cauliflower escapeess all over my floor by the time I finished and had to sweep... I'm a messy knife user lol)

In a Large Stock pot or Dutch Oven:

Take half that stick of butter and toss it in the pot... Or slide, or place or what have you... and let it melt down. add your onions into the pot (don't toss these i'm sure it'd lead to a mess) and let them cook until they start to turn brown. Add the carrots and celery and allow to cook a few more minutes, roughly 3-5. Finally add in the cauliflower and parsley, stir to coat, cover and cook for 15 minutes.

After 15 minutes pour in your stock (and water if you went my route) bring to a boil and then reduce heat allowing to simmer covered.

IN a MEDIUM sauce pan:

Melt the other half stick of butter. Whisk milk and flour together and then continously whisking slowly add into the saucepan with the melted butter. let simmer a few moments and then take off the heat, adding the half and half in.

Add the cream mixture into the soup, stir, cover and let simmer for 15 - 20 minutes. Add any salt or pepper to taste.

Now to enjoy the soup, place a nice dollop of sour cream in your bowl and ladle one or two spoons of soup into the bowl, stir to mix before adding in however much else soup you feel like enjoying.

EAT AND BE HAPPY!

yum (pictures when i find batteries... again. if there's any left.

Yummy Burgers and Parmesan Fries (Recipes 2 & 3 )

2009-01-08T17:51:00.004-06:00

For the burgers you will need:

~3/4 lb lean ground beef
~ BarBQ Sauce, enough to flavor the burger and onions
~4 large onion slices
~4 slices of cheese
~4 whole wheat buns
~ Four slices of tomato (we opted out on that bit)

heat your grill, grill pan, or skillet to medium high heat. Mix about 2 tbsp bbq sauce with the ground beef, take onion slices and dredge them in the sauce as well, shaped beef into four 1/4 inch thick patties and cook until done roughly 4 minutes on each side at least, cooking the onion until crisp tender as well. Place slice of cheese on burgers with one minute left in the cooking process and when melted place burgers on sliced buns and top with onions tomatoes and what else have you.

For the fries you will need:
~4-5 medium sized fries, yukon golds work well
~ 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
~ 3/4 garlic salt
~ one egg white

Heat oven to 425 F. Cut the potatoes into halves and then wedges (each half into four wedges) combine cheese garlic salt and egg white in a bowl, add the potatoes and toss to coat. Spread wedges out on a large greased baking sheet and bake for 50 minutes.

ENJOY! (I used galric powder and kosher salt, just eyeballing it, and also added some parmesan to the burger meat before cooking... but that's cause i'm squirrely.)

Baked Smashed Taters and Maple Glazed Ham (1-100 new recipes)

2009-01-06T18:21:00.005-06:00

tonight I made ham and Baked Smashed taters, i say bake cause i'm still not sure if they'ed counte as roasted otherwise.

I used this recipe as a launching pad, but since i don't have any of those herbs on hand i just used my handy back up spices of Lemon Pepper seasoning, a grinder with dipping oil seasonings and yes my handy little bit of lavender sugar... except ground it up into a finer dust this time and stayed away from to heavy a seasoning.

What can i say i'm a sugar lover, and lavender is my new joy!

I have the potatoes baking as we speak and they smell just heavenly... I used a big plastic cup to smash them though, because i didn't want a bunch of little ridges in mine like my tater masher would have left behind.

After that i have to wait for my oven to cool a bit before i stick the ham in... yeah a half a ham. It's fully cooked, just needs a good two hours to warm up nice and cozy before we gnaw on it.

mmmm i can't wait for dinner tonight. Hopefully my camera will live long enough on it's batteries for photos, will update!

UPDATE:
Look at them aren't they lovely???

And they are delicious too!!! eat bite is like a perfectly little baked potato... the skin is crispy and delicious and hte inside is soft and yummy!

woot for successes! the ham is wonderful too!

Lavender Lemon Chicken

2009-01-03T21:10:00.004-06:00

In my first attempt to create a 'recipe' without ANY guidelines I made a rub or a spice I guess and tested it out on some chicken

With Lemon pepper (store bought) I added lime juice, salt (sadly table as i still have yet to get any kosher salt) ground black pepper, lavender sugar, and a little bit of garlic powder before using it to top three lbs of chicken breast (boneless skinless). I also tossed 3 cloves of garlic into the pan to give some flavor to the oils and the chicken. I then baked the chicken at 375 for 40 minutes on one side and to be safe ten minutes after flipping. Next time I'll cut that time to 25 and 10 respectively i think, as the chicken was a little dry for my taste.

Even So paired with some easy Alfredo side pasta 7/7 (6/6 if you don't include me) people loved it!

I wish i had gotten a picture of the finished product, but when i went to grab my camera it was already gone! O_O

I fail so hard I Win

2008-11-20T01:55:00.004-06:00

I don't like Pokemon. I've never really cared for them. I mean sure as a TCG the illustrations on the cards helped me to grow with my drawing skills, I'd draw my friends favorite Pokemon cards except larger... I look back on these and see how much they are NOT pretty but for the time it was my best. Yet by and large I could care less about the little monster that live in red and white orbs attached to a belt... Shouldn't they technically be called Beltmon then?

So what in god's green earth inspired me to create this abomination of cakery?

One of my friends made this:

It's a Hard Gay rendition of Kirby... (NSFW, I mean it's not bad, but I'm pretty sure you don't want to view it there)

I was also making a cake of roundness and wanted to try my hand at decorating, so I thought and thought of something fairly easy to make into a cake and recalled this little guy:

So it's a classic white cake (box mix) with blue jello added in (I just mix the jello powder in with the dry mix and bake as would normally, adding 10 - 15 minutes onto the bake time) With blue cream cheese frosting (hand dyed?) classic white frosting dyed red, and his eyes and tail are made from nutella, the white is all un-touched cream cheese frosting.

Oh and his paws and mouth are frosting covered york peppermint patties.

Not bad for my first attempt at Cake decorating... but I can do better.

Substitution!

2008-11-16T13:19:00.005-06:00

If you're anything like me, you've read recipes before that you would love to try, but there's that ONE item you just don't know where to get, or dislike using for whatever reason, and so you toss the recipe aside, gloomy and disappointed with the world.

The St. Petersburg Times (my old town newspaper) put out a list of various substitutions in their food section a while back, and my grandmother, Memo, graciously sent her fledgling chef the clippings. I'm going to share them with you, because i thought it was just awesome!

Photo courtesy of: ralphbijker

Shallots -> Replace with Sweet Vidalia Onion, or if it is in a cooked dish any onion will do with little flavor difference.

Sliced Portobellos -> Button mushrooms are a good replacement for both sliced portobellos and Cremini mushrooms

Grand Marnier -> substitute with frozen orange juice, The concentrate sort, or simmer regular orange juice reducing it by half.

Heirloom Tomatoes -> can be substituted with and ripe tasty tomato

Panko -> can be replace with an dried bread crumbs, though they'll be heavier than the Japanese Panko

Arborios Rice -> Substitute with any short grain white rice

Serrano chili -> Green Jalapenos

Fresh Basil thyme and oregano-> replace with dried herbs but cut the reduce the amount by 1/3

Mace, cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice -> interchangeable with one another, any mixture of two out of the five will work well

Creme Fraiche -> though not as thick, Sour Cream or Greek Yogurt are capable substitutes

Mascarpone -> mix 8 oz of cream cheese with 3 tbl sour cream

Bittersweet Chocolate -> substitute with semi sweet chocolate, most people won't notice the difference in a recipe.

Red or Yellow bell peppers -> easily interchangeable with green bell peppers, of the recipe calls for roasted red bell peppers, cheat and buy them in a jar ;)

Prosciutto -> In cooked dishes you can substitute with Bacon, in uncooked dishes use thinly slice ham

Leeks -> Substitute with Scallions or a combination of scallions and any thinly sliced onions.

Fontina cheese -> Swiss cheese shares the tasteful tang, and is just as easily grated.

Yukon potatoes -> Yellow, white, and russet potatoes are good stand ins

Marsala wine -> Pinot Noir, port wine, or any sweet red wine will work just as well

Cocktail Sauce -> Ketchup and horseradish with a generous squeeze of lemon juice will do in a pinch

Asagio Cheese -> though they taste slightly different Parmesan or Romano cheeses are good substitutes that work well with many of the same dishes as Asagio

Fresh Ginger -> for every 1 tbl of fresh ginger you need you can use 1/8 tsp of ground ginger

Vanilla Bean -> Use 2 tsp of vanilla extract for every 1 vanilla bean your recipe calls for

Cured Chorizo -> replace with Spiced salami, if using the meat raw, choose Andouille or spicy Italian sausage

Balsamic Vinegar -> Red wine Vinegar

Red Pepper Flakes -> a few dashes of hot sauce (when cooking of course) and you'll never know the difference... heat wise.

Some of these seem pretty much no brainers, but every now and then, when you're in the heat of the moment... You just need that little kick.

Chicken al la "What the heck am i making?"

2008-11-13T15:37:00.004-06:00

So i learned a lesson today. Never ever talk to another foodie friend after deciding what you will make for dinner. It will lead to you deciding that instead of taking it easy and making some rice and ramen concoction, you will end up pulling out 1 1/2 - 2 lbs of chicken, 3 lbs of potatoes, multiple soups, corn, rice and spices out the wazzoo and thinking. What can i make out of all this?

On the plus side, it might just lead to the most wonderful recipe you've made to date!

So what I ultimately ended up using was:

three skinless chicken breasts
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can sweet niblets
3 lbs red potatoes, peeled and cut into even pieces
one box of instant chicken flavored rice
Bread crumbs (eyeball it people)
salt
pepper
lemon pepper
cayenne

So... Remember how last time I said to make sure your dishes were all washed? well I was a good chef today, all my pots and pans were clean. Plates were not. So if your plates aren't clean, make sure you start the washer before the food!

I peeled and cut my potatoes into halves and then fourths and then washed them.

Placing the three chicken breasts in the pan i surrounded them with the potatoes and then with the can of sweet niblets. I then cursed Hannah Montana for making me think of her everytime I hear sweet niblets...

I sprinkled them with salt, lemon pepper and a drizzle of olive oil before covering the entire thing with a layer of cream of chicken soup. on top of that I added the bread crumbs and then popped it into the oven for 50 minutes at 375 degrees, center rack.

I completely ignored the instructions on the rice box (I do not enjoy rice that is browned before 'cooking' and so I pour 2 1/2 cups of water into a pan, added the rice and rice seasoning, then added a bit of cayenne pepper and lemon pepper to boot, stirred it to mix, and brought the entire pot to a boil. Once there i dropped it to a simmer, covered it and let it cook for 15 minutes.

If you cook like I do, and your chicken is done before you even START the rice, just cover it loosely with foil ;) it'll be like it's tanning.

Serve on a dish and eat!

P.S. if you washed your dishes right before serving, and the washer is still 'heat drying' please be careful not to burn yourself on your beloved servingware!

You don't have to Cook

2008-11-11T06:03:00.004-06:00

To make food Fun! I was digging through some old photos for a reference to draw when i came across a few snap shots from my friend's school's art show.
Some of these are pretty much no brainers on how you create them, but some of them you kind of marvel at.

I think my favorite in the humor category is the mini zombie munching on the giant Cantaloupe head.

I want this person to carve my pumpkin next year

Cheeseburger Casserole in Paradise...

2008-11-11T03:37:00.008-06:00

So I know I know I"ve been meaning to get this up for a bit. Sorry, but it makes this all that much better yes?

My mother bought me one of those "Five ingredient recipe" books a while ago, and I finally pulled it out for ideas. What did my eyes see revealed to them but a "Cheeseburger and fry casserole." I knew I had to try it, but not in it's book incarnation because they use mushrooms and I hate those blech.

So here we have our victims:

We have two lbs of lean ground beef, one 10 and 3/4 oz can of cheddar cheese soup, one 10 and 3/4 can of cream-o-tater soup, a bag (32 oz) of frozen fries, a lb of low sodium bacon. Garlic powder, Onion powder, and Olive oil.

Now please please please be a SMART person and make absolute sure that your BIG skillet is clean and ready for use. If you don't, you'll be like I was, scrambling to find an easy way to cook 3 pounds of meat without splitting it into a hundred tinier portions.

As it were, please please please do not cook two lbs of ground beef and 1 lb of bacon all at one in a medium sized skillet. It works... but it is just a frustrating ;)

Any who cook your bacon until it's nice and crispy. I usually cut mine into pieces first for things like this, but it you prefer cooking them first and then breaking them apart by all means go ahead. Remember cooking is a fun thing to do, so make yourself happy.

When the bacon is cooked to your liking, drain off the fat and brown your beef. Once again drain the meat (you can leave a little bit in there for flavor if you're naughty like I am)

So far it's easy yeah? Don't worry it's staying that way.

Find a fairly large baking dish (The books recommends a 13 in x 9 in 2 in baking pan) Now if you don't have a 13x9x2 inc dish, or if (like me) none of your dishes have size markings, you can always split this into smaller portions and just make "more" individual-ish casseroles. As it were, I made two.

Pour in your Beef and Bacon. Then pour on your Two Cans-o-Soup and mix it all together so they can make sweet sweet food harmony. Now I also added some onion powder into that whole mix (Burgers have onions yeah?!) and it came out great...

Next take your (still frozen) French Fries and arrange them on top of your casserole. Or just dump them on top and then spread them around into a semi neat presentation like yours truly.

I drizzled mine with olive oil and some garlic powder for flavor and to help give them that "out of the fryer look"

Pop your casserole into your oven (Heated at 350 degrees) for 55-65 minutes or until the fries are brown and crispy like they should ALWAYS be. none of those limp bending over from gravity fries in my house...

Take your lovely easy half store bought but still home made with love dinner out and serve!

YUM!

Sorry for the delay

2008-11-09T11:38:00.002-06:00

But cleaning house and such has taken longer than i expected... I'm going to attempt to make Cheeseburger and fries casserole tonight, So I should have the recipes and some photos of that up tomorrow if not before!

Kobari Noodles

2008-10-14T16:15:00.003-05:00

as this was one of those, "we're hungry and have nearly nothing that we know of to eat" sorta of meals everything was eyeballed... So amounts given are estimated to the best of my knowledge

What ya need:

Noodles cooked to liking roughly one pound fed two very hungry people (but we eat likes cows)

Burgers with jalapeno and monterrey jack cheese in them, browned and chopped or shredded 3 for every pound of pasta you use.

milk about 1 - 1 1/2 cups i'd say,

parmesan cheese, maybe 1/4 to 1/2 cups,

smoked gouda As much as you want! lol I used a few small breaks off a large block.,

ranch not too much, maybe 3 tbl,

minced garlic about.... 4-5 tbl

and butter, one stick.

for sauce combine milk, butter, cheeses, ranch and garlic in a blender and blend until they're smooth.

Pour over cooked pasta, add chopped burgers, let warm a bit more and enjoy!!!

(Named for the "Master" from Witch Hunter Robin, who runs Harry's cafe)

Sorry folks, right now most of my recipes are either back ups, from memory, I promise once I find the batteries to my camera I'll start posting newer ones with Pictures!

comfort in 5 minutes flat

2008-10-12T02:48:00.003-05:00

So Friday in an effort to re energize our feelings about our house, we began to re-decorate and clean the two main rooms. In the process we found our eldest cat Princess passed away underneath the entertainment center.

Damn her for hiding so often that we didn't notice her disappearance. It was a sad moment and we cleaned her up and then held a sort of funeral for her, with candles and incense at her location of passing.

Earlier in the day i had received a recipe from my grandmother for '5 minute chocolate mug cake' perfect comfort food right there.

5 MINUTE CHOCOLATE MUG CAKE

4 tbs. cake flower (plain flour, not self-rising)

4 tbs. sugar

2 tbs.baking cocoa

1 egg

3 tsp milk

3 tsp oil

3 tsp chocolate chips (optional)

A small splash vanilla

1 coffee mug

Add dry ingredients to mug and mix well.

Add the egg and mix thoroughly

Pour in the milk and oil and mix well

Add the chocolate chips (if using) and the vanilla. Mix again.

Put your mug in the microwave. Cook for 3 minutes at 1000 watts.

The cake will rise over the top of the mug but don’t be alarmed!

Allow to cool a little and tip out onto a plate if desired.

I'll do my best not to spam posts XD

2008-10-07T04:59:00.003-05:00

But i have to start off with what must be my two favorite new recipes.

On two sides of the spectrum we have Roasted Brussel Sprouts and Homemade easy peasy from Scratch (!) Alfredo Sauce.

I know, I KNOW, ewwwwww brussel sprouts right? Wrong! I recently visited my family in Florida and my grandmother introduced me to steamed brussel sprouts which to my surprise were Oh My Lanta delicious! So I looked up recipes and found an even tastier version, roasting them.

You need at least a pound of the delicious green bulbs
Olive Oil (mmmm I used Extra Virgin though I suppose you don't hafta seeing as the recipe i looked up didn't)
Salt
Lemon Pepper
And Garlic Powder

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fareinheit.

Make sure you throughly clean and check your sprouts to be sure they are at their best. How do you do that? Don't worry I didn't know either but I found out how to here: Yay for Vegan Yum Yum.

After that's all said and done dredge (and I mean dredge) those delectable veggies in the oil and season generously (or not depending on what you like) with salt pepper and powder!

Place the sprouts into a roasting pan and let em cook for 30 45 minutes, shaking the pan every 5 minutes or so, as to ensure even browning.

ENJOY!

Now for the pasta sauce:

Sauce: for a pound of pasta you'll need:

~1 1/2 pints heavy cream (I used half and half)
~2 cups or 4 sticks butter (never said this was healthy)
~salt, pepper and garlic powder (or salt) to taste.
~1 1/2 cups romano cheese
~1 cup parmesan (Wal-Mart had a romano/parmesan/asiago mixture that I used, about 1 and 1/2 containers worth.)

To make the sauce melt the butter in the cream over low heat. Next add the salt, pepper, garlic seasoning and stir. Then melt in the cheeses over medium heat.

Mix with the pasta and meat of your choice, or use to dip your bread into it. It's delicious and I swear to god this tastes like Olive Garden, though our roomate says it's better!

I guess this is "Hello"

2008-10-07T04:35:00.000-05:00

So here's the deal, I want a place away from the hype of Myspace and Facebook to keep my not so personal files. So this is primarily going to be where I keep my recipes and artwork for those who wish to see them without the clutter or lyrics and "OMG i have nothing to do so here's a really long survey!" That is not to say A.I.O.T.I.C. will never give insight into my life, for sure my art and cooking reflect my experiences.

Hopefully here you'll find not only Food and Art but uh... other good stuff too!

;)

~Sarah