Wednesday, June 23, 2010

Curry & Chips Omelet

Let's say you were at Piper's Pub watching the USA vs Algeria football (soccer) match. You ordered some Curry & Chips to snack on, but were too wrapped up in the game to eat them. At the very end of the game, in stoppage time, Donovan swoops in and kicks the ball into the net for a game winning goal for USA! Woohooo!!!

Yikes! You told the boss you'd be in by noon and it's noon now. You're gonna be a little late already so you ask the bartender for a to-go box to take your Curry & Chips home for later.

Long afternoon at work, but all's well because USA is on to the second round!

It's so hot and you need a dinner plan. You have some leftover Curry & Chips from Piper's Pub, but that's not really enough for dinner... or is it?

How about a Curry & Chips Omelet?
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Get out your leftovers from Piper's.
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Pour the curry into a small sauce pan to reheat it. Or you could do it in the microwave.
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Whisk up some eggs with a little milk and salt & pepper; then pour them into a hot non-stick skillet.
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Foraging... can't have an omelet without cheese. Well, I guess you can, but I don't want one like that!

Found some muenster.
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Break up your leftover chips and put them on top of the cheese
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Let's add some more cheese while we're at it!
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Close it up
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Slide it onto a plate and top it with hot curry and it's dinner time!
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Tuesday, June 22, 2010

Peanut Butter Cookies

Jon LOVES Peanut Butter Cookies and I totally thought I had some on here. Bob and I made some not too long ago. At least it seemed liked not too long ago, but now I think it must have been quite a while, because they definitely aren't here!

Jon also likes his cookies crisp. But he's really the only one who does. So these are also crisp... just for Jon. (hoping for awesome wife points here)

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Peanut Butter Cookies
2 1/2 C flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 C peanut butter (chunky or smooth)
1 C butter, softened
3/4 C granulated sugar
1 1/4 C brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla
additional sugar for rolling

Preheat oven to 350F.
Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt and set aside.
Beat butter and peanut butter together until well combined. Add sugars and beat well. Beat in eggs and vanilla. Mix in flour mixture.
Form dough into one inch balls and roll in granulated sugar. (If the dough is too soft to roll, put it in the refrigerator for an hour.) Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet 2 inches apart.
Gently press each ball with the tines of a fork to make criss-cross marks in each cookie.
Bake at 350F for 10 - 12 minutes. Cool on rack.
Enjoy!

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Whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.
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Cream peanut butter, butter, sugars, vanilla & eggs.
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I used extra chunky peanut butter.

Mix in flour mixture.
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Form dough into 1 inch balls and roll in sugar.
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Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheets, 2 inches apart.
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Gently press with tines of a fork.
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Bake at 350F for 10 - 12 minutes.
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It's cookie time!
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Actually, I think I baked these while Jon was at band practice or jam night or something. So he didn't even have any until the next day. But we all sampled them to make sure they were ok!

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Crispy... peanut buttery... lots of peanut chunks from the extra chunky peanut butter... Just how he likes them!

Monday, June 21, 2010

Guacamole ~ Revisited

I put guacamole up on Spryte's Place way back when I first started.

I'm reposting it to add pics. The recipe hasn't changed.

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My favorite guacamole has only four ingredients.

~Avocado
~Red Onion
~Lime Juice
~Salt

That's it!

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Guacamole
2 or 3 ripe avocados, peeled and lightly mashed with fork
1 small red onion, diced
lime juice (2 or 3 TBLS) preferably fresh, but bottled is ok
a big pinch of kosher salt

Slice the avocados in half, around the pit.
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Scoop them into a bowl.
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A perfectly ripe avocado should just give when you apply a little pressure. I said a little pressure, because when I was trying to show Jon how to pick a ripe avocado, he was applying so much pressure that his fingertips were turning white. He was lucky that our grocery store rarely has ripe avocados, or he could have had quite a mess on his hands!

Mash the avocados gently with a fork. I like there to still be nice chunks in it.
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Add some diced red onion.
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Squeeze in some fresh lime juice.
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Some salt.
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Mix gently.
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Now enjoy!!
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You can add lots of other stuff to guacamole.

Some people stir in sour cream or salsa, diced tomatoes, diced jalapenos, cilantro. Lots of different things.

But this is my FAVORITE!
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I put it on everything! Nachos, burritos, enchiladas, tacos, burgers, sandwiches, everything!

It was AWESOME on this turkey sandwich!
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I'm also submitting this to girlichef for Two for Tuesdays!
24TbadgeGIRLICHEF

Friday, June 18, 2010

Black Bean Salad

This is a super tasty dip kinda salad. It makes a tasty side, or you can serve it kinda salsa style with tortilla chips.

I definitely prefer with tortilla chips.

The first time I saw this recipe, I was looking for something vegan to add to my menu.

This recipe comes from the side of the Bush's Black Beans can.

A long time ago I heard that recipes on packages are supposed to be really good. I guess the companies hope that if you enjoy the recipe, you'll keep buying their products.

There's also a cool blog dedicated to those recipes.

Cooking on the Side

Every time I see a recipe on a package, her blog pops into my head. She also writes Panini Happy. A whole blog about panini! *drool* Both are very cool and you should definitely take a few minutes (hours) to check them out!

Anyway!

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Black Bean Salad
1 red bell pepper, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1/2 cup diced red onion
1 can (15.25 ounces)corn, drained
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon cilantro
1/4 cup olive oil
4-5 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon lime juice
Freshly ground pepper
Salt
1 can (15 ounces) BUSH's BEST Black Beans, drained

Cut all the bell peppers and red onion into 1/4 inch dice. In a salad bowl, combine bell peppers, onion, corn kernels, garlic and cilantro and toss to mix. Add olive oil, vinegar, lime juice and salt and pepper to taste and toss again. Add BUSH'S BEST Black Beans mixing well. Serve over a bed of lettuce with tortilla chips.

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I whisk the vinegar, lime juice, olive oil and salt & pepper in a small bowl and set it aside.
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I LOVE how colorful this is!
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Toss it all together!
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That's it!

People who claim not to like the individual ingredients kept coming back for more that last time I served this!

It makes a huge batch.

I've been trying to think of ways to cut it down. But since you use cans of things, you end up with leftovers and half peppers.

Maybe cut the recipe in half and toss all of the leftover ingredients into Tortilla Soup for girlichef's Tortilla Soup Challenge?

Or maybe cook up the leftovers and fold them into a cheesy quesadilla? Or wrap them with some cilantro lime brown rice for a tasty veggie burrito?

Or just have LOTS of people over to enjoy!

Thursday, June 17, 2010

White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies

Summer! It gets hot and suddenly I want to bake! I don't have air conditioning and I HATE the heat!! I get wicked cranky & miserable!

Why does this happen to me??

Well... this week we had a little break from the heat. I decided to take advantage of it and get some of my bake out!

Since I've been neglecting my blog lately, I wanted to make something I hadn't blogged yet.

Jon wanted Peanut Butter Cookies.

OOPS!! I was going to post a link to the Peanut Butter Cookies that I'd already blogged about. But guess what?! I haven't blogged about Peanut Butter Cookies!!

I've done Peanut Butter Blossoms, Peanut Butter Butterfinger Cookies, Wicked Easy Peanut Brittle Bars and Bobby's Peanut Butter Chocolate Fudge, but no Peanut Butter Cookies!!

Well... I see a batch of Peanut Butter Cookies in my very near future!!

I wonder if he'll just skim over this or actually read it! If he doesn't actually read it, I'll be the wicked good wife who made Peanut Butter Cookies, just because her husband loves them. If he does actually read it, he'll still be happy to be eating homemade Peanut Butter Cookies... but I don't think it gets me wicked good wife status!

We'll see!!

Anyway!!

This isn't about Peanut Butter Cookies.... It's about White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies!

They seem to be a BIG favorite.

I posted to Facebook that I was making them and got LOTS of replies that they are everyon's favorite!

Four dozen cookies didn't last very long, so it seems they're quite popular in my house too!

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White Chocolate Macadamia Nut Cookies
2 1/4 C flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 C butter, softened
1/2 C sugar
1 C packed brown sugar
1 TBLS vanilla extract
2 eggs
2 C white chocolate chips
1 6oz jar macadamia nuts, coarsely chopped.

Preheat oven to 350F.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a mixing bowl, beat butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs. Beat well.
Mix in flour mixture, until well combined.
Fold in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.
Drop by spoonful onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
Bake 9 - 11 minutes or until golden brown.
Cool on wire rack.
Enjoy!

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Check the pantry.

Do you have these?
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No?

Browse through the blog and look for something else to make!

Chop up the macadamia nuts and set them aside.
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Whisk together the flour, baking soda and salt. And set that aside too.
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In a mixing bowl, beat butter, sugars, vanilla and eggs. Beat well.
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Mix in flour mixture, until well combined.
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Fold in white chocolate chips and macadamia nuts.
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Drop by spoonful onto parchment paper lined cookie sheet.
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Bake 9 - 11 minutes or until golden brown.
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Cool on rack.
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When I make cookies for the blog... no one gets to eat them until I get my pictures!

Tawny was being bratty and just couldn't wait!

She stole one, so she gets her bratty picture in the post!
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Yum!!!

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These were SO good!

They didn't last long. Sweet chewy cookies with crunchy nuts! I'd advise making a double batch!

Now I need to think about making some peanut butter cookies for Jon!