I found all of these recipes on allrecipes.com. My mom told me about one. What you see here is crab Rangoon cups, bacon wrapped cocktail weenies in brown sugar glaze, spinach balls, and a cream cheese mold topped with tri-pepper salsa. There was nothing left after my girl party!
Spicy Shrimp and Grits December 14, 2010
First, I need to apologize for the absence of my bloggingness – I did not have my priorities straight. Second, before I post this scrumptious update, I need to give big ups to allrecipes.com. This website has provided me with tons of information to expand my culinary attempts. Usually, when I get an idea, I visit this website to see if others dared the same recipe. With that being said – Here is one of my favorite soul-warming recipes with some Louisianan flare: Spicy shrimp and grits. Though we did not use authentic Andouille, we did use a medium heat sausage. The sausage was cooked in the skillet with about 1/4 cup of diced onion. The shrimp, green onion, green bell pepper, and minced garlic were all sautéed in the skillet. Cook the grits in chicken broth instead of water, add salt to taste(we prefer kosher or sea salt). After the meat and veggies are all sautéed(don’t over cook because this hangs out in the over for about 30-45 minutes) combine in 9×13 dish. The grits take about 20 minutes so I start them first and then the skillet stuff. That way everything is finished by the time the grits come off. Pour the grits in the baking dish with other ingredients and add 3/4 cup of Monterrey jack and cheddar mixture. Stir. Add another 1/4 cup of cheese over the top. Bake until cheese bubbles and slightly browns. ENJOY!!!
Spring Rolls & MooGooGaiPan September 15, 2010
That’s right, we did crab Rangoon and felt brave enough to make spring rolls. I would love to say that this turned out gloriously; however, it did not. I found the perfect recipe for spring rolls… and bought the wrong wrappers! Somehow we managed to purchase the wrappers that you steam, we had no idea. So we fried them! It was awful. I am giving you a picture only to say that we will try this recipe again with the right wrappers! The moo-goo turned out great! I had always wondered how to do the “white” sauce and it’s not difficult at all. Because the moo-goo was a success, we will try the spring rolls again except with a different entrée. Enjoy the images and create the flavor with your imagination! Side note: if you try to do anything but steam the “steam wrapper” the end result is quite chewy and disheartening. Also, we bought every single ingredient(for both recipes) at our local Asian SUPERmarket for a grand total of $17, this includes the sauces and oils that can be used for multiple recipes in the future! Can’t beat a meal for two under $20.
Enchilada! September 8, 2010
Long-time no blog!!! Well, we went Mexican for a while… This post is about our enchiladas and spicy cornbread. Kevin made the enchiladas using large tortillas, ground turkey, taco sauce, enchilada sauce, and a lot of shredded cheddar. Yum!! They were delicious. My cornbread contained a little bit of creamed style corn, finely chopped jalapeno, and a couple of other ingredients that I can’t remember because this was a week or two ago… If you want to try these recipes, let me know. We obviously tweaked them a bit like we do with every recipe. Check out the pics, the meal was over all fantastic!
Quesadilla! August 23, 2010
You know what it is, we didn’t do anything special except add chicken! Yum, enjoy! Oh yeah, homemade guaca-salsa and pico de gallo.
Crab rangoon and Rice noodle August 19, 2010
Well, we did it… We tried to make our very own crab rangoons at the house last night. I’ll get in to that later, but while this was going on Kevin was cooking up some chicken stir fry with fresh bell peppers, onion, and garlic. He also tried his hand at Asian green beans. So the stir fry you should be familiar with, and maybe the homemade crab rangoons! I found the recipe online and found all of the ingredients at my local grocery, minus the canned crab meat. They do have canned crab meat in most meat/seafood sections but the Asian supermarket has the perfect kind for this recipe. It’s shredded rather than chunked so it’s easier to blend with the cream cheese. The rangoons came out looking really great but we did a horrible job of sealing them so most of the filling came out in the frying process. Needless to say, we ate the survivors. The stir fry was served over a bed of rice noodles with terriyaki green beans on the side. All in all this was a delicious meal but Kevin and I learned some valuable tactics for the next round of crab rangoons! Enjoy the delicious photos below!
Tasty Taquitos August 16, 2010
Before you get too excited(like I do when I hear the word “taquito”) these are not the traditional fried tortilla filled with shredded beef or chicken, covered in gooey queso on a bed of lettuce and refried beans. With the recipe for these taquitos you make everything but the tortillas! I made the tomatillo salsa, browned the ground turkey, and puree the topping. Once all the prep work is done, you will put the tortillas in a hot skillet until lightly browned, you should still be able to fold the tortilla without breaking. You stuff the tortilla and fold it in quarters until you have a strange burrito-style dish! It was so delicious and very filling! It was also fun to use the food processor and hand-held blender! The recipe is too detailed to even begin telling you but I will say that all of the ingredients called for make a tasty mexican-style dinner! I am not afraid to share recipes if you’re not afraid to share your email address!
Cranberry Teeth and Deviled Eggs? August 13, 2010
I know everyone has attempted Deviled eggs before but i have managed to go 24 years without doing so… I have definitely made my share of egg salad, but this was a little different for me. My favorite part was NOT peeling the hard-boiled eggs but it WAS squirting the filling out of a bag! Why is “cranberry teeth” in the title of this blog? Well that’s because I bought an ice tray that is shaped like dentures!! I was so excited I had to use it immediately, which happened to be the night I made deviled eggs. I think it is safe to say that my first batch of eggs was a great success considering that were gone before the end of the night! I will definitely be making these again(maybe for a food-day at work 😉 <– You like how I just used a legitimate parentheses as a winky-face? Smooth… Below is a picture of the Deviled eggs platter and a drink with my dental ice cubes!
It’s called “Ballin’ on a Budget” August 9, 2010
What do you do when you can’t go to the grocery store and you have a variety of ingredients already in your cabinets? Think about it for a minute and throw them together. It shouldn’t be surprising that you can make a great meal for little money. I mean, we all have to eat, right? Ok, this one is really simple(but you can mix it up/spice it up/switch it up if you want). Kevin and I made chicken alfredo pasta by boiling an entire box of whole wheat spaghetti noodles, add one jar of garlic alfredo sauce and saute one to two chicken breast(depending on how much chicken you want). Like I said, we only used one jar but I think it could have used another half of a jar. Kevin sautéed the chicken in a small skillet with some fresh onion to add a little flavor. To top it off(and I’ve done this before) we made garlic bread by taking a piece of white bread, spreading butter on it, and sprinkling garlic salt. Put it in the oven on broil but keep a close eye on it because it can burn up quick this way!
A spin on Shepherd’s Pie July 28, 2010
Just a forewarning, I don’t have a picture… BUT, I’ll add a picture the next time it gets made! My take on Shepherd’s pie might actually be a little more healthy than the traditional version. I’m sure you have seen Shepherd’s pie served in many fashions but mine is usually in a casserole: meat, gravy, vegetables, mashed potatoes, topped with melted cheese. I have seen it served in a pasta bowl like this: soft biscuits in the bottom of the bowl covered with a beef tip/mushroom gravy mixture, mixed vegetables, no mashed potatoes involved. It was yum and I found this at Patrick Sullivan’s.
Ok, so here is what I did most recently with my Shepherd’s pie. I usually use lean ground beef as the base for my casserole but this time I used ground turkey. I didn’t season the turkey because the next layer is brown gravy. Kevin said he might have put a little Dale’s seasoning or Worcestershire in the skillet with the ground turkey. After I cover the bottom of the casserole with ground turkey I smothered that with brown gravy. Then I used one can of Veg-All(drained and rinsed) as the middle layer. On top of the of the vegetables is a thick(about 1″) layer of mashed potatoes. The last ingredient is a layer of shredded cheddar cheese, enough to cover the mashed potatoes. Put the finished product in the oven at 350 degrees until the cheese bubbles, and enjoy!!! Caution: contents may be HOT!
Ok, this is a picture of when I made it with ground beef, still delish!
Adventures in Culinary Attempts 