Recipe Test: Burger in the Grass

Some nights I just start exploring in the kitchen,  and before I know it,  I think I’ve created something new and awesome.  Last night,  my goal was to use up some fridge leftovers.

Before I knew it,  I had come up with this burger creation.  A burger “in the grass”  is like a thing right now.  Instead of ordering your burger on a carb-y bun, a lot of burger restaurants give you the option to instead have it served on a bed of lettuce.

I’ve side-eyed this option for so long because I am a believer that the bun makes the burger. With that being said,  I also know that a quick way to make a burger healthier is to serve it without a bun. I had a bag of shredded iceberg in the fridge leftover from taco night, so I figured why jot give it with a try?

I made some barbecued onions and my own burger condiment, and used some thin slices smoked gouda cheese.  This was one of the tastiest burger I’d ever had.  I’m throwing it out there,  and your responses will let me know if you want the full recipe for anything!

A new way to enjoy a burger

Saturday Night Snapshot: Treats and Tacos

I ended up having a night in thanks to a little winter blast that FINALLY put some snow on the ground here.  Honestly.  Being from the Northwest Hills, I am used to getting 2-4 inches like, once a week.  This is only the second time there’s been snow on the ground here all season.

But I digress.

Tomorrow we are throwing a surprise 80th birthday for my grandmother.  We are having it at a banquet hall, so I really didn’t need to make anything, but I never pass up a chance to mass produce a dessert.  I wanted something that was quick, easy, came in a big batch, and traveled well.  Something bite size, because there was already going to be cake.

I settled on these Chocolatey Pretzel Bites.  They are SO easy and cute.  All you need are square pretzels (I used Snyder’s Snaps), Hershey Kisses, and M&M’s.  In my haste, I accidentally purchased the GIANT M&M’s, but they worked just fine.  I also dabbled in using Rolos and Peanut Butter Cups.  The Rolos were a great success…don’t try the Peanut Butter Cups.

All you do is line a baking sheet with parchment paper (makes clean-up easier) and pre-heat the oven to about 350.  Spread the pretzels out on the baking sheet.  I do no more than 30 at a time to make it easier on myself later.  Put the Hershey Kiss on the pretzel and put in the oven for about 5 minutes until the Hershey Kiss is shiny but still holding its shape.  Then press an M&M gently down on each melted Kiss.  Pop in the fridge until they are solid.

Little bites of goodness

For dinner, I was in the mood for something taco-y.  I typically default to a taco salad, but today I wanted the real deal.  I am going to do a product plug here.  I HATE when you bite into a taco and it goes ever.  Or when you are making them and they don’t stand up.

Genius

Ortega makes these Fiesta Flats.  They are wide, flat-bottomed taco shells that don’t tip over and hold their shape up until the last bite.  They are easier to stuff than a traditional hard taco shell as well.  They have a great crunch and yummy taste.  If you assemble them right, you get all the ingredients in every bite.  I highly suggest them for your next Taco Night.

Taco Tuesday on a Saturday

That about does it for me tonight.  I’m binge-watching an entire season of Worst Cooks in America in preparation for the new season!  Enjoy your Saturday night!

 

Steak For One (When You Have No Grill and It’s Winter Anyways)

Tonight, you will learn how to make JRae’s Famous Onion and Blue Cheese Crusted Sirloin. Sounds fancy, right?  It’s one of my go-to, let-me-impress-you meals.

I adore steak.  A lot of people assume that steak is one of those “expensive” foods.  Even at a chain restaurant, such as 99, a 6 ounce sirloin meal starts at $9.99.  The trick is watching sales and knowing what cuts of meat will be yummy.  For this meal, I bought 8 ounces of petite sirloin from Stop & Shop for $4.39.  The rest of the ingredients are pantry/fridge items for me.

Another misconception is that you need a grill to make a good steak.  I have come to terms with the fact that for the next 10 months, I will not own a grill (thanks a heap, wooden balcony).  Besides, it’s about 20 degrees out right now anyways.  So I did some research and came up with this pan/oven hybrid method of cooking.

This is NOT the healthiest meal that you will find here, but it also isn’t going to McDonald’s.  I use butter, and I use blue cheese.  They are crucial parts of the meal that just can’t be substituted.

Onion and Blue Cheese Crusted Sirloin

• 8 oz (or your preferred amount) of petite sirloin
• Honey Teriyaki Marinade (or your favorite marinade)
• 1-2 tbsp butter
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 2-3 tsp blue cheese crumbles
• salt/pepper/garlic powder (dashes)
• Montreal Steak Seasoning (or your favorite seasoning)

Start by marinading the steak for at least a half an hour.  I use a liberal amount of Ken’s Honey Teriyaki…it’s to die for.  I just throw it in all in a bowl and make sure it’s coated well, and set it aside in the fridge.

Is this the secret ingredient? Could be!

Getting flavorful

Next, work on the “crust.”

Chop up half an onion.  I’m a terrible onion chopper, I wish it was a finer chop, but it is what it is.

In a small fry pan over low-medium heat, melt about a tablespoon of butter.  Add the onions and a dash of salt, pepper, and garlic powder.  Stir occasionally until the onions are translucent and soft, about 10 minutes.

Scoop most of the onions into a bowl (it’s okay if there are a few stragglers left in the pan).  Add 1/4 cup of Panko bread crumbs and 2-3 teaspoons of blue cheese crumbles.  Mix and set aside.  Hopefully away from your pain in the butt cat.

Snatched away just in time

 

Onto the steak.

At this point, pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees.

If needed, add another smidgen of butter to pan.  Turn the heat up to just under medium.  Add the steak to the pan.  Season as desired (I use McCormick Montreal Steak seasoning).  Cook on each side for about 4 minutes.

So much deliciousness

Transfer to a baking dish.  This is the tricky part.  Everyone prefers a different done-ness.  I like my steak medium-rare to medium.  It takes about 7 minutes to cook.  However, I am always poking it, checking how firm it is to feel how done it is.

Add the crust over the top, turn the oven up to broil, and broil for 3 minutes or until the crust looks brown.

Perfection in a dish

Now doesn’t that look fancy? Typically, I go super traditional and pair this with some sort of potato and green vegetable.  Tonight I went full carnivore and just had the meat alone.  And I enjoyed every bite of it.

So there you have it.  You can cook a “fancy” meal on a budget, and when traditional tools are unavailable.  Now, I have to go wash the dishes before Isabel licks them clean.

New Year, New JRae

Man, how things have changed.

The last time I posted was May 29th, 2014.  In the weeks that followed, my life took a series of drastic turns.  By mid July, I had lost my job, found out I was being cheated on and subsequently ended my relationship, and moved out of my “dream home” back to my parents house.  I was a pretty broken women.

But almost immediately after moving home, I found happiness.  Michelle and I jetted off to Wisconsin for another amazing year of Airventure with my father.  Our whole family finally took a family vacation to Mexico, which was easily the best week of my life.  I accepted a job teaching first grade in New Haven, and fell in love with my students almost immediately.`

In October, I was ready for another step, so Isabel and I packed up whatever we could fit in Dad’s pick-up and moved into a studio apartment in Hamden.  Living here has been an adjustment to say the least.  I have only ever lived in a house, and now I more or less live in a big room.  I’ve never lived alone.  There’s carpeting EVERYWHERE.  My kitchen is about the size of a postage stamp.  I don’t even have a pantry, just a coat closet with shelves in it. Gone is my giant desk and office, replaced by a writing desk in the corner.

At least I have a dishwasher

My fridge will never be bare

Makeshift pantry/junk drawer/storage closet

Tiny little workspace

But I love it.

All of my New Year’s resolutions are based around this quote I found:

“I love the person I have become, because I have fought to become her.”

My goal is to continue to fight to be the person I love, whether it’s getting healthier, continuing my 365 project, traveling, or returning to blogging.  My “home” may be smaller, and may not technically be mine, but I can still do amazing things here.  Here’s to 2015 being MY year, and I hope y’all join me on my journey.

Updates From the Homestead

It has been a hectic couple of weeks.  It is that time of the year at school where not leaving until after 4:30 is becoming the norm.  I am adjusting to Nick working 24-hour shifts rather than 3-on, 3-off.  The yard is a lot more work than I bargained for.  And most days, I come home, watch a bit of TV and find myself asleep before 10 PM.

But there is light at the end of the tunnel.  School is out for the summer in less than a month, Nick’s schedule is turning out great, and we are finally checking some things off of that forever growing To-Do List.

The most exciting thing in my eyes is that my backyard is finally green!  We have a lot of that dormant grass that stays yellow for a LONG time, but once it turns green, it is like a carpet.  There are SO MANY types of flowers coming up, I’m so lucky to have such a cool and pretty backyard!

Also, our koi fish are doing well.  I am still convinced that two are pregnant.  What’s neat now is that when they see me come to the side of the pond, they swim right over assuming I have food.  Most times, I have food.  When I don’t I feel guilty and go get food.  They are smart fish.

This is my favorite flower so far.  I had never seen a poppy in real life until they started blooming in my backyard.  They don’t even look real.  They look like they are made of tissue paper.  They are very delicate, and short-lived, but on the days I have some, they are lovely to look at!

Another thing that excites me as a grown-up is our new grill.  We have had it a week and I have already made like 3 things on it.  I love its convenient little electric start and how quick it heats up.  We also just got a patio set, but that isn’t set up yet.  I may be more excited about that than the grill.  Stay tuned.

We are FINALLY working on our future laundry room!  Today, Nick’s parents came and helped me strip the wallpaper and take down the ironing board that was fastened to the wall.  Nick’s dad also filled in the holes.  I have NO idea what color I want this wall to be.  I am just so happy to be working on this project.  I actually loved peeling wallpaper!

Kitchen Snapshot: Pizza Night

Sometimes, I come home from work, eager to cook a meal for Nick and myself, and it comes out great.  And all I have to show for it is a photo of the final product, rather than the step-by-step pictures I wish I had

This was one of those nights.

I hadn’t made my own pizza in forever, but with eating healthy looming over me, I wanted to figure out a way to cut a few calories from a typically wildly unhealthy meal.  

When it comes to pizza, Nick and I have very different tastes.  With both pizzas, I used whole wheat rather than white dough.  I put down a layer of cornmeal so the crust has a little crunch and doesn’t stick to the pan.  On both pizzas, I skipped regular pizza sauce and shredded mozzarella.

Jenn’s Pizza (Margherita Pizza)

• Plain crushed tomatoes
• Diced white onion
• Fresh sliced mozzarella (the kind you buy in a ball with the fancy cheeses)
• Fresh sliced basil

Nick’s Pizza (Buffalo Chicken Pizza)

• Fat free cheddar cheese
• Perdue pre-cooked chicken strips, diced
• Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
• Crumbled fat-free blue cheese

This was some of the best pizza I have ever had.  I wasn’t sure how the whole wheat dough would be in terms of flavor or cooking time, but it was nothing out of the ordinary and super yummy.  I like the pre-bake the crust a bit before adding the toppings, which helps prevent the pizza from being soggy.  All in all, it was a lighten-up pizza meal for sure.

Cookin’ With Kids: Kissin’ Kate Barlow’s Spiced Peaches

As a teacher, there are many things that I am passionate about.  One thing this year has definitely stuck out, and that is making sure my kids get to experience things in the classroom they might not get to experience elsewhere.  My kids have gotten to garden extensively in the classroom and on our rooftop garden.  They utilize the technology in the classroom better than most adults.  They get to express themselves with painting and other art projects.

And I have taught them a few things about cooking.

The first “cooking” thing I did was making instant pudding on Read Across America day.  We made vanilla pudding, added a ton of green food coloring and called it “Green Eggs.”  We talked about the importance of measuring and how pudding works.  They were transfixed the entire lesson, full of questions and wonder.

Recently, we finished the book Holes.  If you have never read it, I advise you to, even as an adult.  It is a well-written book that teaches about friendship, perseverance, and luck.  Then go watch the movie, because young Shia LaBeouf is so dang awkward it is adorable.

Anyway, upon completion of the book and movie, I was looking for some activities to enrich the students.  We had already re-written sections of the book, written letters to Stanley, analyzed the curses and pretended that WE were being sent to Camp Green Lake.  Then I found this recipe, and I knew we had to try it.

The recipe had an interesting ingredient list.  Some things, like brown sugar and apple cider vinegar, I had readily available in my pantry.  Other items, like whole cloves and cinnamon sticks had to be bought special.

Now I had to figure out the best way to bring my kitchen to the classroom.  I put out an email searching for a hot plate, and luckily one of the reading teachers had one.  I brought a pot, a measuring cup and a can opener to school.  I brought my best Rubbermaid container to store the peaches in.

As I added ingredients and talked about the process, the kids were once again hooked.  I had to break up a few scuffles, as kids kept trying to push past each other to get a closer look.  They all got to smell the various spices and wrinkled their noses at the vinegar, and made predictions as to what it might taste like.

The recipe called for the peaches to chill for a minimum of 24 hours, and due to classroom timing, ours chilled for about 36 hours before being brought to room temperature.  The 29 oz can of peaches held exactly 9 peach halves; one for each of my students.

I dished them out to all the students and watched with great amusement as they took their first bites.

The verdict?  Not our favorite dish.

The students couldn’t get past the strong vinegary taste and the variety of spice flavors.  I reminded them that in the book, the vinegar and spices are what helped the peaches last in the jar for 110 years.  They reminded me that they were not starving in a desert like Stanley and Zero were, and lunch was in 5 minutes.

Regardless of the outcome, it was a great final project to do with my students, one I will certainly try again.

Just maybe with less vinegar.

Mother’s Day Brunch

Ever since we bought the house, I have been DYING to throw some sort of party or get-together.  I like hosting, I like cooking, and our house is so cute, I just want to show it off to everyone.  We closed on the house the day before Thanksgiving, and I wanted to have Thanksgiving dinner in our house.

I have lofty aspirations.

However, Christmas, New Year’s Eve, the Superbowl, my birthday, Easter, Cinco de Mayo.  All possible shindigs came and went, and while I cooked some pretty amazing meals, it was just Nick and I.  We had some friends and family over here and there, but no parties.

Along comes Mother’s Day.

Now, I love nothing more than going out for a big brunch buffet on Mother’s Day.  But so does the rest of America, and I can’t stand crowds and having to wait forever to be seated only to find half-emtpy serving dishes of cold eggs.  So I decided to bring the brunch buffet home.

The size of the party was small.  My parents, my sisters, my grandmother, and Nick’s parents.  Nine people, in a house with four chairs.  Not to worry.  My mom came to the rescue, finding a beautiful set of four slatted wooden folding chairs that someone was giving away.  I put the extra leaf in the table, and figured we would be cozy while eating.

The brunch took about a week to organize and shop for.  I delegated some of the dishes out.  Nick’s mom could bring a fruit salad, my grandma would make bacon, my mom had a monkey bread she could make.  I took special requests, such as what to put in the quiche and then also making regular scrambled eggs for Michelle.

I did my final shopping trip the Saturday before Mother’s Day, and spent most of the day cleaning.  I made flower arrangements and organized my ingredients.  All cooking happened in stages on Sunday morning.

My brunch was a huge success.  It was the first time Sarah and my grandmother met Nick’s family, and our first big family meal together.  I hope to make this brunch a tradition.

• My table set-up consisted of all plastic, and I am not even ashamed to admit that.  I am a big believer that family gatherings should be spent together, not washing dishes, so this helps keep clean-up minimal.  All the silverware, plates, bowls, cups, and napkins are generic brands, but they are made similar to Chinette; that heavy duty, practically dishwasher safe stuff
• At Michael’s they had these cute flower-shaped pieces of card stock on clearance for $2.  It made for great, color-coded name cards for place settings.   (Pink was the moms, yellow for girls and blue for boys)
• Also at Michael’s were these slightly flared clear vases that I believe I paid $3 each for.  I bought fresh-cut tulips (a Big Y silver coin deal) and arranged them with clear colored stones that I already had.  Not only did these make a gorgeous centerpiece, I also sent them home with the moms as a gift

• I bought the tiny easels at Michael’s for $1.50 each.  I wrote on them with a chalk marker.  The great thing is all I have to do is wash the chalk off, and I can use these for another function!
• In the Crockpot is homemade hot chocolate.  It is so sweet, my sister called it “Liquid Diabetes.”  It is a great Christmas (or brunch) addition during coffee hour.  Find the recipe here.
• My grandma makes the best bacon in the world.
• I made scrambled eggs with cheese as a last minute request from Michelle.  I think she was wary of my screwing up the quiche, plus scrambled eggs are a brunch staple.
• Nick’s mom made the delicious fruit salad

• My mom had this frozen monkey bread in the freezer.  It was just about as good as the homemade kind.  then she gave me that fancy Tupperware cake stand.  Thanks Mom!
• I was very nervous about making a quiche.  I know that is is very easy for it to become too dry or too custard-y.  I had asked my sisters about what they wanted in the quiche, and they said cheese, bacon and broccoli.  After eating it, the consensus was while it was very good, they would like it with slightly fewer “things” in it.  I loosely followed this recipe.
• That Berry Croissant Casserole was my favorite thing ever.  We’ll come back to that.
• I am wildly in love with Cracker Barrel’s hash browns, and I am forever trying to recreate them.  This attempt came close.  One of my downfalls was using really high quality cheddar cheese; great for flavor, bad for greasiness.  Here is the recipe I followed.

Back to that Berry Croissant Casserole.  When I saw the recipe, it was simply a blueberry croissant casserole.  I, however, prefer a plethora of berries, so I added blackberries and raspberries.  The blackberries were so big they had to be cut in half.  This was SO GOOD.  Similar to a bread putting in texture, so it that isn’t your thing, you might want to pass on this one.  This also warmed up really well the next day (the tiny corner that was left after everyone devoured it.)  I highly recommend this dish for your next breakfast/brunch party.  Check out the recipe and keep in mind, I added extra berries!

So that about does it for this party.  I was hoping to throw a Memorial Day cookout, but that ship has sailed.  Perhaps my next party will be a Father’s Day BBQ!

A Cinco de Mayo Feast

There is nothing I love more than having an occasion to cook for.

Birthday?  Whatever you want?

Mother’s Day?  Let’s do brunch?

Snow day?  I’ll make a 3-course meal.

So of course on Cinco de Mayo, I want to do something with a Mexican flare.

I had been saving this recipe from Emily Bites for some time.  I never make Mexican food with chicken.  I always go the taco meat route.  But this looked simple, delicious, and LOW CALORIE HOORAY!  Not to mention Nick had specifically requested chicken as the base for the meal.  So I decided t give it a go.

I am not even going to post the recipe.  I want you to click and go to her blog.  But I can share with you the amazingness that was the sauce for the chicken.  I felt so cool making my own sauce and seasoning.  And it was SO much tastier than the pre-made stuff.

In there is two cans of tomato sauce, 4 tsp of chili powder, 2 tsp of cumin, 2 tsp oregano, 2 tsp minced garlic, 1 tsp of sugar and 2 tsp white vinegar.  That’s a whole lot of seasoning.  I had to buy the cumin today, it was the one spice I didn’t own yet, but it is the key to making this taste authentic.  Also, the original recipe calls for white wine vinegar, and that is something my teeny tiny grocery store does not carry.  But this is what goes into taco sauce!

This was the epic finished product.  Shredded Mexican chicken tacos with cheese, lettuce, sour cream and mango salsa.  The mango salsa is also my little secret; the sweet is a nice surprise to the spicy.  Also pictured is some Mexican rice which Uncle Ben was so nice to help me with.  Nick made his into burritos using tortillas!

When Nick and I were in Mexico last summer, we went on a tequila tour and brought back authentic agave tequila.  I had been waiting for a long time to open it, and finally had the opportunity to!  I mixed:

• 6 oz tequilla
• 12 oz strawberry margarita mix
• 8 fresh strawberries
• juice of 1 lime
• cup of ice

AND IT WAS SO GOOD! (And by the way, that made two margaritas)

Anyways, please go check out the recipe for the Shredded Mexican Chicken!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

It only took until May, but it is ALMOST acting and looking like spring.  I was able to go outside in a t-shirt, there are buds on the trees, the lawn is turning green.

Well, some of the lawn.  We have a lot of that dormant stuff that stays yellow for an awful long time.  At least we haven’t had to mow the lawn yet.

Another interesting observation; does anyone else notice a CRAZY amount of ticks this year?  I have lived in the woods all my life and I never even had a tick crawl on me.  This year, my mom pulls them off the dog in handfuls, I had them crawling all over me, Nick had one IN him, ugh.  Today, he walked to the shed, put some things away, and came back with two on him.

But I digress.

Our house has a TON of flower beds around it.  Since we bought the house in November, we never had a chance to see what blooms where.  And seeing as spring was so late this year, a lot of things are still only just coming up.

And I don’t have a lot of patience.

With that being said, buying flowers is my new addiction.  The more colors, the better.  I have no restraint.  I have been planting every weekend, whether it’s flowers in the ground, herbs in window boxes, or seeds in paper cups.  I run a “Garden Class” for enrichment at school.  My kids are giving little flower pots to their moms for Mother’s Day.

I’m still not sure if I have a green thumb yet.  Hopefully, it’s something I inherited from my grandmother, who can nurse even the deadest of plants back to life.

So let’s take a look at some current projects and goings-on

This was PROJECT #1.  The one thing I had been dying to do since move in day.  A HUGE chunk of decorative grass used to be here.  I hate decorative grass.  It blocked the entire view of the steps.  So one day, Nick’s mom and I grabbed shovels and dug and hacked away at it until it was gone.  Some other plants have since popped up, but I was adamant on planting bulbs.  Walmart was running a special on tulips and hyacinths.  Obviously I planted a rainbow.  I also put gladiola bulbs in the ground, which are just starting to make an appearance.

Seeing as we are coming up on a slew of patriotic holidays (Memorial Day, Flag Day, Independence Day) I went with the red, white and blue theme for decorations.  The flag and other touches really makes me feel like we are living in a classic All-American home.

 

I’d also been dying to get some flowers in this planter at the base of my driveway.  The green glass balls were left behind, and until I find something I like better, they will stay.  I love marigolds because they are so hardy and simple, and I found these dahlia-like beauties at Stew Leonard’s the other day.  The forsythia in the back needs some serious taming, so that’s on the to-do list.

This bed is my current area of concern.  It is on the corner of the lot, and it just looks tired.  There are some plants popping up, and I am giving them a chance, but until then, I added some impatients and little Gerber daisies.  Just something to try and brighten this area up.  The marigolds might go in here as well, if I have any left after my Mother’s Day projects at school.

I am trying my hand out at refinishing these heavy heavy HEAVY deck planters.  I am not sure yet whether they will be going on the railing or on the edge of the porch, but I am excited.  Eventually, they will be a navy blue to accent the red shutters.  For now, they are primed.  As an aside; today I learned that gray primer exists, because apparently it’s what I bought.

Also in the background; what will hopefully be herb boxes.  I planted basil, oregano and cilantro.  A few green sprouts are just starting to make an appearance.  Stay posted for this one.

This was a very pleasant discovery today.  We have SO many birds.  We have a male and female cardinal family that I am so madly in love with.  We have a little pair of wrens building a nest in this old birdhouse on a shepherd’s hook.  And we have been seeing robins with mouthfuls of twigs and straw.  Well, we found their destination.  As you can see, it is currently empty, but I am hoping we get some eggs soon!

No sooner than I talked about my little cardinal buddy, he was at our window feeder.  Which apparently needs to be cleaned badly, but how cool is he?

It was a lovely, productive weekend!