There's a Chica in My Chili!

Nominally Nom - Healthy Chunky Monkey Ice Cream!

2011-08-16T19:55:00.000-07:00

Yes, you heard me right... And the name says it all. Which is why it is nominally nom. It is also officially delicious. And I am so full of om-nom-ness right now.

Tonight's dessert was...
Healthy(er) Chunky Monkey Ice Cream

*Clicking on advertisements will add pennies (not yours) to my college loans fund. Thanks!* /plea for help

*Recipes and/or sites that we used will be at the end of the meal's post.*

And this recipe can be dairy-free if you use dairy-free chocolate!

Okay, so I added in some "extra stuff" which may or may not have put back all the calories I just worked off at Zumba, but the main recipe itself is actually not so bad.

I could snack on walnuts all day...

I bet you can't guess what the secret ingredient is in this ice cream. No, seriously. And it's not the Reese's.

I'm actually pretty proud of my somewhat
artistic photos this time. I used props!

The secret ingredient is... [drumroll please]...

BANANAS!

Aw, look! They're spooning.

Five bananas. Sliced and frozen. Of course, I put 'em in the freezer in a container, so they came out one giant frozen chunk o' bah-nahn. I would recommend laying the slices out on a cookie sheet, or else you'll be chopping the big mass of banana (massive banana?) by hand before your food processor can handle it.

It really does come out like soft serve ice cream though. Except it's banana cream.

Mmm... Creameh.

I put in a little more than a tablespoon of peanut butter, and then i mixed in some quartered Reese's peanut butter cups and walnuts. Then I put an extra spoonful of peanut butter on top. And that's why I just canceled out all the healthy eating I've been doing this week.

At least it's banana and not real ice cream. :)

So if you want to be healthy(er), lay off of these things:

Pieces of Reese's.

Also, although the recipe I used calls for 5 bananas to make 2 servings, pretty much one banana's worth of cream was PLENTY. I didn't even finish my bowl. It was too rich and full of goodness. However, I did whip up the rest of it so I wouldn't have to dirty the food processor again. I'll use the little processor to add some peanut butter to a single serving when I decide enough time has passed that I can handle this treat again. I will put more than 1 tablespoon in this time, so I don't have to add extra on top.

That's about it. Hope you enjoy it! And yes, I'm really proud of my photography skills in this post. :)

May you be nominally nom this week! And may everything you make be as well, so you are not an OMNOMALY! But that would be quite the phenomenom... Okay okay, I'm done now.

Happy Tuesday,
Sarah

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Recipes and Sites
Thank you to FoodGawker for helping us find recipes!

Healthified Supreme Chunky Monkey Ice Cream

Site:
http://www.healthfulpursuit.com/2011/07/healthified-supreme-chunky-monkey-ice-cream/

*Notes:
Five bananas, for me, is WAY more than two servings. Also, I replaced the chocolate chips with quartered Reese's peanut butter cups. I skipped the coconut, 'cause I don't like it.

Summer treat update!

2011-07-31T10:47:00.000-07:00

Hello and happy Sunday! I hope you all have enjoyed your weekend.

*Clicking on advertisements will add pennies (not yours) to my college loans fund. Thanks!* /plea for help

Here is the update, as promised, on the strawberry-banana freeze pops.

OH MY GOODNESS SO GOOD.

Pix!

One of the bowls I enjoyed making.
Unfortunately, the glass bowl broke.
DON'T FREEZE IN GLASS.

Mah spoon is not too big.

Frozen goodness.

Bite!

Freeze pops are like onions...

The layers came out really well, and the slices of fruit inside were really nice little surprises. My mom said should would have liked more of the strawberry puree, and I personally liked the yogurt/puree mix more, so next time I'll layer them to our preferences. Also, I will put in way more slices. I thought there wouldn't be enough room for more than a few, but I could definitely fit more in there. In fact, I could just dump a bunch in and put the yogurt and puree over top, and it would probably be fine.

Let me know if you try it with other fruits!

Chica love,
Sarah

3-in-1

2011-07-29T14:20:00.000-07:00

That's what today's post is. Three recipes, one mega-post. I've got a bit of a backlog from the past two weeks, and I'm about to fill you in on all the yummy goodness!

This post's meals consisted of:
Baked chicken taquitos
Vegetable loaded sloppy joe's (/chili)
Strawberry-banana freeze pops! (or ice pops, or popsicles, or whatever you call them)

*Recipes and/or sites used will be at the end of the post.*
*Clicking on advertisements will add pennies (not yours) to my college loans fund. Thanks!* /plea for help

Talk about some good meals.

Link: This is from a t-shirt.

MEAL NUMBER ONE!

So let's start with the taquitos. We wanted something simple, and my mama loves Mexican food, so this was a great pick. We prepared it early, then while I was at Zumba (if you don't know what that is, go check it out - it may change your life) my mom put it in the oven, so it would be ready when I came home with the guacamole. Which I forgot. Oops.

The recipe called for a couple of things we did not have. We were out of cumin, for example, so in order to avoid the bland taste everyone dreads, we added a little extra chili powder and an extra dash of crushed peppers. We also had no cilantro or scallions, but that was no big deal. We had no Pepperjack cheese, so we doubled our cheddar. We had no lime, so we put in a squeeze of lemon (not enough to ruin the flavor) and a little extra salsa juice to make sure it wasn't too dry.

While I was mixing all this up, my mom was shredding the chicken. Then we put it all together and it was time to roll 'em up! In soft taco shells, that is.

All dressed up from my interview earlier. Yay job hunting.

Close up on the action!

They went in the oven like this:

Chickens in a blanket. Pigs aren't kosher. :)

And came out of the oven like this:

Perfectly browned.

These were our toppings:

My hand is holding the invisible guacamole that
I wished I had remembered.

The finished masterpiece:

Delight!

Mom also made brown rice to go with it - she remembered I like brown rice! My mom's the best. It took forever to cook, but was totally worth it.

MEAL NUMBER TWO!

Moving right along, next we have vegetable loaded sloppy joe's. See, my brother's away at camp being a boy scout, so it's just my parents and me in the house. This means we can try new things that are full of vegetables and my brother probably wouldn't eat. My sister might try things, but she's off being a counselor at a different camp.

The awesome thing about this recipe is that it is actually designed for picky eaters who don't want vegetables. My brother would probably have enjoyed this meal had he been here and not watched us put the veggies in it. THEY ARE TOTALLY UNNOTICEABLE. Seriously. We put carrots, mushrooms, onion, and garlic in our mix, and my dad had to guess wildly for several minutes before getting all four. You couldn't see them and you couldn't tell by taste that they were there (unless you're a super-duper-taster, of course). And it was so delicious.

We chopped 'em up real good.

Again, we were missing a few things from the ingredients list, but we decided to wing it and see how it came out. Still no cumin, and no coriander or cloves either. So we added some extra chili powder and crushed peppers (sound familiar?). Apparently an extra teaspoon was a little much! My mom took a taste and went "Whoa!!" So I took a taste... And waited a moment... And then said, "There it is!" Boy, it took its sweet (spicy) time to kick, but what a kick. I pretty much felt the back of my mouth and throat go WHOOSH. We decided it would be chili instead of sloppy joe's.

Meat left, more veggies right.

And we discovered halfway through that we had no tomato paste, but only one tablespoon was called for, so we just skipped it.

Also, we weren't quite sure was a "tin" measured out to be, so we guessed a little. It came out a little liquidy, but we let it boil away, and by the next day it had thickened considerably. Enough to put it on a bun and eat it as a sloppy joe!

Anyway, you can put cheese on top, or you can skip the cheese. I skipped it because I keep kosher style and don't mix my dairy and meat products.* (See note below for clarification about chicken.)

Dad's on left, mine on right.

And we whipped up a peas and corn mix for a side, as well as some cornbread.

Daddy graciously let me use his bowl because
it was more colorful than mine. :)

And that was a fantastic meal. The next day I had leftovers on a bun. Wicked good. No pictures of that though, sorry.

*I keep kosher style, which means I don't eat non-kosher foods such as shellfish or pork, and I don't mix dairy with meat products. As you might have noticed, I do eat chicken with dairy. This is because after studying different texts, I feel that fowl is parve (neither meat nor dairy) just like fish. By my kosher diet, "meat" is an animal that produces milk. Have you ever seen a nipple on a chicken?

TL-DR: In short, a chicken does not produce milk, therefore it is impossible to boil a chick in its mother's milk.

MEAL NUMBER THREE!

Okay, this isn't really a meal. This is a dessert! Even better, right? And what's more, it's really good for you. Today I made strawberry-banana freeze pops. They are in the freezer as I type.

I showed my mom two dessert recipes that needed bananas, so she went out and bought a few. I had the day off from work, and I had the house to myself, so I decided to make a Shabbas (Sabbath) treat before anyone came home.

I <3 teh froot.

Since we had only about a cup of yogurt left and it was going to go bad very soon, I decided to double the recipe. Except for the honey. I only used one tablespoon of honey total. I'm not a huge honey fan, but I do like to put it in smoothies (and freeze pops) so that I can eat it without tasting it.

Doubling the strawberries meant a LOT of extra puree, which is not really a bad thing. There was simply more of it than the yogurt. Also, mixing two tablespoons of the puree with the yogurt made swirls until it blended completely. This made me very happy.

Happy swirls.

I found six popsicle molds hiding in one of our cabinets. I was pretty excited when I saw them. Layering the yogurt, puree, and sliced fruit into them was pretty fun. And a little messy.

Made with Real Froot!

And on a whim, I stuck a slice of banana onto the popsicle stick part before putting it on top. I hope that doesn't make it impossible to get them out of the molds.

Creativity at its best.

Since there were only six molds, and I had enough for 8+, I grabbed two little glass bowls and got to work.

Ready for the freezer.

They are freezing right now, and I can't wait to try them! I will put an update after Shabbas to let you know how they turned out. :)

Phew. That's it!
Happy weekend, everyone!
Sarah

---
Recipes and Sites
Thank you to FoodGawker for helping us find recipes!

Baked chicken taquitos

Site:

http://www.blissfullydelicious.com/?p=1943

Vegetable loaded sloppy joe's

Site:

http://simply-delicious.co.za/2011/07/21/vegetable-loaded-sloppy-joes/

*Notes:

We used extra chili powder and crushed peppers in place of some of our missing spices. Also, with a little extra beef stock, it turned out more like a very tasty chili than sloppy joe's. I enjoyed it as a sloppy joe the next day when it thickened.

Strawberry-banana ice pops

Site:

http://tast-e.blogspot.com/2011/07/strawberry-banana-ice-pops.html

*Notes:
I doubled this recipe except for the honey (agave) - only put a single tablespoon in the puree, and did not add any more anywhere else in the recipe. I also used a few extra strawberries. Very easy and very fun to make!

Long time, no post

2011-07-07T18:39:00.000-07:00

Goodness, it has been too long since I last posted. I'm here to fix that. Sorry I got too busy to update for a while. Summer jobs and applying for real jobs have limited free time considerably. Also, I went to Niagara Falls on Saturday! It was my first time in Canada.

Proof that I was there.

Okay. First order of business: You may have noticed some icky ads on my blog now. Why? Because every time YOU click on one, it contributes to my Pay-Back-College-Loans Fund. :) So... yeah.

In other news, There's a Chica in My Chili! has been welcomed to the FoodBlogs.com community!

And now - on to the foodstuffs.

Tonight's meal consisted of:
Roasted garlic chicken pizza
Half-veggie, half-cheese pizza

*Recipes and/or sites that we used will be at the end of the meal's post.*

The tricky thing about cooking for my family is that I need to satisfy everyone's tastebuds. Not everyone enjoys curry, eggplant, or fish, just to name a few. And believe me, when my brother says something I made tastes good, that is an accomplishment.

So I wanted pizza with lots of veggies. He said no. So we're compromising by making a cheese pizza too, loading the veggies on my side. :) We'll have salads anyway.

The first thing I had to do was shred the chicken. I think I got a little carried away...

Shred-happy.

While I was doing that, my mom was experimenting with roasting the garlic. We had never done it before, so I Googled a site to tell us how it's done. A different site told us we could microwave for one minute on high, and since it's getting late, we did that. Our microwave is pretty weak, so we put the head in for an extra minute. That was too long, and the cloves got dried out.

The second head went in for a little less time, and they came out much better. Additionally, although the web page said to cut off 1/2 an inch, we found that as long as the cloves are exposed, it's better not to cut off that much.

See the difference?

Now it gets interesting. My mom couldn't find any frozen pizza dough at the supermarket, so she picked up two packages of "just add water" Betty Crocker pizza crust mix. I was happy that I didn't need to use a rolling pin, but I had to be careful while spreading it not to leave holes everywhere. That was probably me though, not the mix.

This cooking creme stuff the recipe calls for is kinda like pub cheese. Very spreadable. Good stuff. In this dish, it's used in place of tomato sauce.

And finally the chicken, garlic, and cheese went on top. We used both mozzarella and Colby-Jack (a Colby and Monterey Jack blend).

And here's the half-veggie pizza:

Peppas and 'shrooms!

Betty Crocker's crust wasn't bad - crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. Although, I would have preferred a whole wheat dough. Next time. But whole wheat dough doesn't come in packages of 99 cents.

Roasted garlic chicken.

Half-veggie.

My brother wasn't very impressed with either of them, and said not to bother making them again. I was very happy with my veggie slice, and I would do that again for me. Love me some peppers on my pizza.

So that's it for tonight. I've bookmarked a whole bunch of new recipes though, and I hope to be trying some out soon.

Happy Thursday,
Sarah

---
Recipe and Sites
Thank you to FoodGawker for helping us find recipes!

Roasted Garlic Chicken Pizza

Site:
http://gimmesomeoven.com/roasted-garlic-chicken-pizza/

How to roast garlics sites:
http://gimmesomeoven.com/how-to-roast-a-head-of-garlic/
http://whatscookingamerica.net/rstgarlic.htm

Throwback time!

2011-06-04T17:43:00.000-07:00

Okay, you guys. Who else grew up on Arthur from PBS? Remember that episode called "D.W. the Picky Eater"?

Well, skip to 2:45 and stop at 4:13.

"I LOVE SPINACH! Everybody knows THAT."

Know what, D.W.? So do I! And that's why...

Tonight's meal consisted of...
LOTS AND LOTS OF SPINACH!
aka, my mom's famous Spinach Soufflé.

*Recipes and/or sites that we used will be at the end of the meal's post.*

And I do mean famous. Check it out:

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-snc4/64807_435804992129_500602129_5700427_3477554_n.jpg

That was at Goucher College.

Dinner was just mom and me tonight, so we made three small soufflés. Because unlike the reformed D.W., my siblings do not like spinach.

Beware the Spinach Monster!!!

We used up all the butter sticks in the house with all the baking we've been doing, so we used tub butter instead. HERE'S A TRICK!

To measure tub butter, use a liquid measuring cup. Let's say we need 1/4 cup of butter. Fill the measuring cup to the 1 3/4-cup mark with VERY COLD water. (Warm water will make the butter melt.) Then spoon the tub butter into the measuring cup until the water hits the 2-cup mark. Hurray for water displacement! Hurray for science!

We made three small soufflés - two small soufflés equals the recipe's one big one. We simply divided the recipe in half and made it three times.

We used small (about 5" x 8") aluminum pans. If you use these, melt the butter in the pans in the oven ('cause the microwave would make them esPLODE!).

I love the colors.

My mom is real funny. We were scooping, measuring, and mixing, and I randomly said, "I wonder why it's called cottage cheese."

Mom goes, "Maybe because it's been cottaged." Pause. "Ha. Ha ha. Ha."

I said, "I don't get it."

She said, "Me neither."

And then I laughed my butt off.

We were done prepping in less than 15 minutes. So easy.

Boom boom boom. Done.

They went in the oven, and we enjoyed some bread and butter while they cooked. Also, I started working on this blog post. :)

And cooked:

Have you ever seen anything more enticing?

...Did I mention this was my favorite food?

As for the plate picture...

This is my second helping.

I was so excited to eat it that I forgot to take the picture. Sorry. Hehe.

Happy fooding,
Sarah

---
Recipes and Sites
Thank you to FoodGawker for helping us find recipes!
(Except not today, because it came from my mama.)

Sarah's Mom's Spinach Soufflé

Ingredients:1 stick margarine
2 ten-ounce boxes frozen chopped spinach (thawed and drained)
16 oz cottage cheese
6 oz shredded cheddar cheese (1 1/2 cups if measuring)
4 eggs
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Put stick of margarine in 9 x 13 pan, place in oven to melt, which greases the pan.
In large bowl, thoroughly mix all other ingredients.
Cook 30 minutes - covered.
Cook 15-30 minutes - uncovered.

WARNING - Food will be hot and delicious. Which is a dangerous combination if the deliciousness causes you to ignore the hotness. Be careful of burning your tongue!

Two desserts!

2011-06-03T19:37:00.000-07:00

...and one dinner. :)

Last Friday I went to a potluck dinner, and decided to bring a dessert. It was a meat meal, so the dessert couldn't have any dairy in it. I was very happy to try out my first dairy-free dessert!

In addition to that, I made dinner and dessert for my family last night - a dairy meal this time.

This week's meals include:
Dairy-free chocolate chip cookie bars and dairy-free brownies
Baked ravioli
Chocolate chip praline brookies (that's right, brownie and cookie in one delicious mouthful)

*Recipes and/or sites that we used will be at the end of the meal's post.*

Once again I didn't get any pictures from the dairy-free desserts, but let me tell you: My friends questioned whether they were really dairy-free. Which is good, 'cause that was my goal!

Unfortunately, I tossed the recipe for the cookies when I threw away the chocolate chip bags, but you can use any chocolate chip cookie recipe. Just use margarine, vegan buttery spread, or some other dairy-free butter substitute as well as dairy-free chocolate chips. Tip: If you know about kosher symbols on packaging, look for "parve." That means there's no meat or dairy products in the package.

As for the brownies, again, you can use any generic recipe. Just be sure to use a dairy-free butter substitute if your recipe calls for it, and use pure cocoa powder because it is dairy-free. My mom's recipe is at the end of the post.

On to last night's dinner! Baked ravioli, mmm...

Raviaviaviavioliiiii.

And I hope these pictures more than make up for the lack of cookie bar pictures. I couldn't find my camera because I was running out to my Zumba class, so I figured I'd have no pictures of the dinner either. But my mom is the best mom in the world, and took pictures with her phone. A lot of pictures. Yay mommy!

So, as my mom pulled the onion out of the fridge, I said, "Can you chop the onion tonight? Last time I chopped an onion I wore sunglasses and STILL couldn't stop crying..." (Haha, remember that?)

And she didn't say anything, but her face said "No..." And then she pulled a little appliance out of the cupboard and I said, "Is that a chopper??"

"Mhm," she replied. SWEET! It chopped the onion for us! I am totally getting one of those when I move out one day.

Anyway, we used the little garlic cubes again. So no sticky garlic mincing either.

And since the majority of people in our house don't love tomatoes, we swapped out the can of whole tomatoes for a second can of crushed. Perhaps next time we'll try one can of puréed and see how the sauce turns out.

Saucy. ;)

Also, the recipe calls for either thyme or oregano. We couldn't decide, so we put in a little of both. Oh, also also, we ran out of black pepper, so we put in some garlic pepper. "You can never have too much garlic," my mother declared as she sprinkled it in.

Tossin' the paaasta.

I had my Zumba workout class at 6, so we did all this prep before I left. We let the sauce simmer until about a half an hour before I got home. Then my mom tossed it with the partially cooked pasta and baked it until I got home.

Pre-cheese.

Post-cheese.

AND HERE'S THE FINISHED BEAUTY.

So cheesy. So saucy. So tasty.

Everyone enjoyed it, although both my brother and sister agreed that we should try using the puréed tomatoes in the future. My brother said the sauce was "too chunky" and my sister simply said "lay off the sauce next time." But still she liked it enough to eat leftovers for dinner tonight. :)

Mama added garlic bread!

*Not pictured: Rainbow salad with red peppers, orange carrots, yellow croutons, green lettuce, peppers, and cukes, and white mushrooms. Om nom.

Now the dessert is one I've had in my bookmarked recipe list for a while.

Yeah, not all the cookie dough made it to the pan. We ate some.

I mentioned it to my mom as a possible birthday dessert (her birthday was in May and I still intend to make her something), and these brookies got my brother's vote. My mom has her eye on something else (ooooh, but that's for a later blog post!), leading me to bake the brookies for my brother.

There's a hidden layer of ooey gooey goodness underneath.

What is a brookie, you ask? It's a brownie with a layer of chocolate chip cookie on top. :) So bad for you, but sooooo good...

Ours turned out pretty gooey. The website with the recipe had some pictures that made them look much drier and cookie-cutter (brownie-cutter?) shaped squares.

Add milk for optimum happiness.

They were very yummy, but I don't think I'm dying to make them again any time soon though. They are VERY rich and full of calories - I mean, it's a cookie on top of a brownie, what do we expect?

*EDIT* The brookies are WAY BETTER as leftovers. Just saying.

That shiny bit is the caramel that glues the cookie to the brownie.

Only take one!

That's it for now. Until next time,
Sarah and company

---
Recipes and Sites
Thank you to FoodGawker for helping us find recipes!

Mom's Brownies (with dairy-free modifications)

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup flour
2 eggs
2 squares unsweetened chocolate (1 square/1 ounce unsweetened baking choc = 3 level tbsp cocoa + 1 tbsp shortening or oil)
1/4 lb (1 stick) butter or margarine
1 teaspoon vanilla

*Optional middle and top layers. (We couldn't because we were baking dairy-free.)

Middle layer:

1 cup powdered sugar

1 tbsp milk

2 tbsp butter

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Top layer:

1 square unsweetened chocolate

1 tbsp butter

Instructions:
Melt chocolate and butter.
Combine all ingredients; mix well.
Bake at 350 degrees for 1/2 hour.

Baked Ravioli

Site:
http://www.tasteandtellblog.com/2011/04/baked-ravioli/

Notes:
We replaced the can of whole tomatoes with a second can of crushed. We used a little bit of thyme and a little bit of oregano.

Chocolate Chip Praline Brookies

Site:
http://sheisdallas.com/chocolate-chip-praline-brookies/

Notes:
There is an OMISSION in the recipe. The ingredients list contains vanilla, but the instructions never say when to add it in. Just put it in the saucepan with the butter, milk, and sugars. Oh, PS - we didn't use pecans.

Greetings from New Hampshire!

2011-05-24T21:22:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Sarah here. Apologies for the lack of posting for the last two weeks. First it was finals week, and then Rebecca went home to Texas while I stayed for senior week and graduation. Now I'm home in New Hampshire, and I'm happy to say I've been cooking for my family!

I made dinner last night and tonight, and I'm excited to share them with you.
Last night's meal was a tuna noodle casserole.
Tonight's meal was sautéed garlic chicken and mushrooms.

My new partner in kitchen krime is my dear mother. I could be going it alone and probably doing fine, but I know that my mom has a lot of cooking experience, and I invited her to cook with me and share her tips and tricks. You never know what you'll learn!

I didn't grab any pictures of the tuna noodle casserole, but boy was it delicious. Didn't taste like tuna at all, and I could probably fool my sister into thinking it was chicken. (Mom doesn't think she knows what tuna tastes like anyway.)

The tip I learned from Mom making this meal was about the cream of mushroom soup. The stuff is thick, and it sticks to the can. To make it creamy before adding it to the bowl, we put it in the liquid measuring cup to stir it a bit. (We did this to the tuna earlier too.) Then when it was time to add the milk, we measured it in the same measuring cup... and then poured a little into the cream of mushroom soup can. Swirling it around and using a utensil loosened up the bits that were clinging to the can. Same thing for the measuring cup. This is how you can get as much of the soup as possible!

Now tonight's meal was taken from a recipe for an individual person's lunch. We made it for four people (my sister ate early tonight). We didn't have garlic butter, but we do have these little pre-crushed cubes of garlic in the freezer, so we added two of those to the butter as it melted. Couldn't really taste it in the finished meal though.

Also, we sautéed the mushrooms first and then put them on a plate and sautéed the chicken separately because my brother doesn't like mushrooms and I wanted him to enjoy the meal too.

A little monochromatic, but still a tummy-pleaser.

My brother's, sans mushrooms: at least the cuke gave some color to the plate!

It was really good, and Mom and I started thinking about how we could change it up next time we made it. Water chestnuts! Oh my goodness, do I love those... Some red peppers would add some crunch and color too. And baby corn would go well.

I'm really excited about how motivated I am to continue cooking! Last semester with Rebecca was a lot of fun and a great learning experience, and now I'm furthering my kitchen education with my mom! Got a few yummy desserts planned too... Can't wait to share them with you!

Until next time,
Sarah

---
Recipes and Sites
Thank you to FoodGawker for helping us find recipes!

Tuna noodle casserole

Site:
http://crepesofwrath.net/2008/12/02/tuna-noodle-casserole/

*Notes:
We had no peas in the house, so we simply omitted it from the recipe. I just bought a bag though, so we shan't have that problem again!

Sautéed garlic chicken and mushrooms

Site:
http://frenchyfood.blogspot.com/2011/04/garlic-chicken-mushroom-sautee.html

*Notes:
We used regular white rice. One cup was fine, boiled in two cups water. Since we were feeding four and not just one, we used 2 pounds of boneless/skinless chicken thighs (about 6 thighs). We used two cubes of pre-crushed garlic, and as much margarine as we needed. Mushrooms were sautéed first and separately. Chicken was cut up into bite-sized pieces. We did not use the salt and pepper, but we added soy sauce to our plates. The recipe says to cook on medium heat for 15-17 minutes - I used high heat and stirred constantly, and it cooked in about 10 minutes. Smaller pieces cook more quickly.

CHICKEN!

2011-04-30T22:17:00.000-07:00

Rebecca had work tonight, so Sarah was on her own for dinner. As such, she decided to make a chicken dinner (since Rebecca does not eat chicken, and it is not usually part of our culinary repertoire). GOOD CHOICE. She also invited her lovely friend Chaz to be treated to a home-cooked meal.

Tonight's meal consisted of:
Jamaican chicken curry
Cookie dough ice cream
Blue raspberry mixed drink

*Recipes and/or sites that we used will be at the end of the meal's post.*

Earlier today, Sarah donated a musical performance to Healing Hooves, the fund-raiser Chaz helped organized to benefit local therapeutic riding organizations. She knew Chaz had been working hard all day, and thought it would be nice to offer to cook dinner for her. So Chaz came shopping for ingredients, ended up having fun assisting with the cooking, and along with Sarah, very much enjoyed the eating part.

Okay, first of all, the onion we got had super powers. Sarah started chopping it first, but when her eyes started smarting, Chaz offered to take over. She said she usually doesn't tear up with onions. But she did. And then Sarah tried again. She ended up putting on SUNGLASSES to try to block the oniony fumes from getting to her, but it was too much. We are not sure how we managed to chop it up enough.

You probz can't see it, but she's cryin' like crazy.

Also, while Sarah prepared the rice, Chaz chopped carrots. We swear, those carrots knew they were going to be eaten, because they kept flying off the cutting board. With practice, perhaps Chaz can perfect the art of chopping carrots so that they jump right into the pot!

Anyway, we made a boo-boo. The recipe called for skinless and boneless chicken thighs. We guess Sarah was so excited to see "thighs" on the package that she failed to notice that it was a skin-on, bone-in package amongst the skinless and boneless. When we got back to school and opened it, Sarah wailed, "Oh no, it's not boneless!!!" Oh well. We were reassured by the fact that chefs everywhere (all over the interwebz) swear by the better flavor in bone-in chicken.

They look like blob monsters!

We prepared the chicken and then got the curry sauce going.

Soup of Great, in Chaz's words.

While it was all coming to a boil and then simmering, Sarah opened up the package of frozen peas...

Dear Sarah's Mom and Dad, we know you're reading this. Yes, Sarah began eating frozen peas by the bunch. Chaz had to stop her, reminding her we needed to save some for the food. Sarah pointed out it was a 12-oz bag and we only needed 10 oz... She even caught a handful as Chaz was pouring them into the pot. What a goofball.

HAHAHAHAHA ohhh Sarah...

When it was finally ready (and we were thoroughly hungry), we put a layer of rice on our plates and then spooned the curry chicken on top of it. It was soooo delicious. Okay, first, a picture of how beautiful it looked on the plate:

So yummy.

And now, please, take a look at that tender, juicy, moist inside:

Look at that!

Mmmm.... Holy guacamole! Seriously, this was wicked good.

And we accompanied dinner with a yummy mixed drink of sprite and blue raspberry vodka. Chaz's treat. Sarah was a big fan of the name of the bottle: Blue Bombsicle.

You da bombsicle!

It looked so pretty!

We have no "pics to prove it," but we polished off dinner with (too much) yummy cookie dough ice cream. Om nom nom...

And that's all for this week. Sarah is so proud of herself for cooking for a friend! Even though Chaz was very helpful. It was all very exciting.

Time to get our beauty rest - tomorrow is Goucher's Gala (like prom for college). Sarah is so happy to be going to a formal for the first time! And she's lucky to be borrowing a dress from Chaz too. We can't wait!

Tootles,
Sarah and Chaz

---
Recipes and sites
Thank you to FoodGawker for helping us find recipes!

Jamaican Chicken Curry

Site:
http://onehungrymama.com/2011/04/recipe-jamaican-chicken-curry/

*Notes:
As said, we accidentally used skin-on and bone-in chicken thighs. Still turned out delicious.
Our curry powder was regular, as opposed to Jamaican. The recipe said any curry would work, and this is what Sarah had (thanks, Sarah's mom!).
We used oregano instead of thyme.
Chaz is allergic to coconut, so we substituted skim milk for the coconut milk.
Even with these changes, the meal was fantastic.

Matzah, Pasta, same thing...

2011-04-23T22:28:00.000-07:00

Sarah definitely tried to read the word "matzah" at one point this evening, and "pasta" came out instead. Freudian slip? Secret desire for chametz? Probably...

Happy Passover!

Tonight's meal consisted of:
Spinach and feta mina (a mina is a layered matzah pie)
Matzah apple kugel
Peppermint hot chocolate

*Recipes and/or sites that we used will be at the end of the meal's post.*

Sara-without-an-h joined us again! (That would be Sara S, Rebecca's future roommate, from three weeks ago.) And she helped prepare the dishes with us which was delightful, as was her company.

Hard at work. Look at that blurry mixing!

So after we got the mina filling done, we set it aside in the fridge to chill while we prepared the kugel. Rebecca asserts that Gala apples are great for baking, and they certainly were. She had to sauté them half at a time though, since Sarah's pan hasn't grown since the pancakes.

Sizzly sizzly sizzly.

While she did that, Sarah prepared all the matzah-stuff. For the kugel, she soaked the five slices in a bowl with the orange juice and water (it's not as crazy as it sounds - check the recipe), and for the pie, she held each slice under the faucet and then stuck it under a towel. Then they could soften.

MATZAH IS THE BEST FOOD EVARRRR.

The kugel mixture ended up going into Sarah's pie tin twice, since it was supposed to cook in a casserole dish and the pie tin was half that size. We layered the mina filling and matzah slices into a baking pan, but didn't use the whole space.

We also were a liiiiittle short on matzah slices.

We cooked the first half of the kugel, then the mina, and then the second half of the kugel, which went right into our tupperware containers. :) ALL OF IT WAS SOOOO DELICIOUS!

They came out looking like this:

Matzah apple kugel.

Spinach and feta mina.

Dsijflkasdjfiskndfvsiojv!!!! Passover food can taste good????

Well, this is seconds, so it must taste pretty good.

After dinner and clean up, Rebecca and Sara S went to a Doctor Who new season party. When they returned to Sarah's room, Rebecca brought a happy little bottle of hot chocolate mix with a "hint of mint."

Just a hint.

Mixed with some skim milk and some leftover cream from the soup, this was really good. For an added kick, you might wanna try adding some peppermint schnapps...

"Now this is contentment..." - Sarah

Just sayin'...

That's all for this week.
Love, hugs, and deliciousness,
Rebecca, Sarah, and Sara

---
Recipes and Sites
Thank you to FoodGawker for helping us find recipes!

Spinach and feta mina

Site:
http://www.npr.org/2011/04/13/135345886/a-passover-recipe-as-easy-as-matzo-pie?sc=fb&cc=fp
(The mina template is the first recipe, and there are several filling options below it. Spinach and feta is the FOURTH FILLING recipe.)

*Notes:
We skipped the dill because we didn't see any at the supermarket. Was still crazy yummy. Also, we got a bag of baby spinach (6 ounces) instead of a small bunch. Was a good amount, in our opinion. And we used 5 slice of matzah in the template - but 6 would have been better.

Matzah apple kugel

Site:
http://www.honeyneverspoils.com/2010/04/matzo-kugel.html

*Notes:
Again, we used 5 slices instead of 6, but this time it didn't seem to matter. We omitted raisins from the recipe since Sarah doesn't like them. And as we said before, we cooked it in two halves, each for about 30-35 minutes.

Peppermint hot chocolate

A 3/4 filled mug with a milk of your choice. We added a little cream to our skim milk.
Microwave for 1 to 2 minutes on high. (Times may vary depending on your microwave.)
Mix in your favorite chocolate syrup/powder.
Add a dollop of peppermint schnapps for an optional kick.

"White Wine in the Sun"

2011-04-16T18:07:00.000-07:00

That would be the name of the song by Tim Minchin that we're listening to right now. It's in honor of Sarah opening up her very own first bottle of white wine. It was pretty silly since she couldn't get the cork out by herself.

Pull, Sarah, PULL!!!

And here's Tim Minchin's "White Wine in the Sun." You might want to grab a box of tissues...

Anyway, tonight's meal consisted of:
Cream of asparagus soup
Tuna stir fry
White wine!

*Recipes and/or sites that we used will be at the end of the meal's post.*

It has been raining all day, and a hot soup was just perfect. This recipe had been sitting in our stockpile for a few weeks, and we decided that it was time to try it out as an appetizer. We almost made a tuna noodle casserole to go with it, but we're holding off on that until after Passover (starts Monday!). Instead, we're using up some more of our rice by doing an old favorite - tuna stir fry!

We started by chopping veggies and trimming our mountain of asparagus. And I do mean mountain.

Mount Sparagus.

So we go through the directions, one step at a time, and then we got to the step about blending the ingredients until it was smooth... Oops. We don't have a blender! No matter, we just skipped that step and continued to the end, and we had a cream soup base with chopped asparagus in it. It was still delicious!

I swear it tastes amazing.

Before we could eat it though, we got the stir fry done. Then while the rice was cooking we enjoyed our soup - two cups each! We had to go back for seconds. And since we had used the white wine in the soup, it obviously went with the meal. Yum!

Yay!

PS... We got our wine glasses at the dollar store today. Rebecca chose a fine CocaCola green-tinted glace and Sarah was taken with a cactus glass. The wine was René Barbier, Mediterranean White - a Spanish table wine. It was sweet and delicious and worked really well in the soup too.

After we finished our appetizer, our rice was ready, so we served up some tuna stir fry on hot rice! Mm mm good. Best meal ever? We had seconds again.

We agreed that this may quite possibly be our favorite
meal of the semester.

We both had food coma. Rebecca even took a short nap before cleaning began. Sarah is excited for kosher-for-Passover leftovers!

Also, we realized how much we're going to miss the mess we make in our common room every weekend.

We shall miss you, dear Kitchen.

We'll make messes in other kitchens!

Next weekend will be a Passover friendly meal. We're looking forward to it!
Love,
Us

---
Recipes and Sites
Thank you to FoodGawker for helping us find recipes!

Cream of Asparagus Soup

Site:
http://www.citrusandcandy.com/2010/09/cream-of-asparagus-soup.html

*Notes:
We used vegetable oil. Also, the recipe says 800 grams (4-5 bunches) of asparagus. We thought that was a ridiculous amount, so we bought two bunches. We also skipped the blending, so we have no idea how 4-5 bunches would turn out. The unblended soup was still really freaking fantastic! Sarah may try it blended at home next year and blog about it.

Tuna Stir Fry

See previous post:
Yummy Cuddlefest

*Notes:
We doubled it, but forgot to double the tuna. Still tasted great. We also skipped the lemon again.

Naner naner naner naner BATMAN!

2011-04-09T12:07:00.000-07:00

'Cause Batman rocks.
And so do 'naners. Bananers.

Today's meal consisted of:
Banana-oat whole wheat pancakes and syrup

*Recipes and/or sites we used will be at the end of the meal's post.*

Since both Chicas are going to see Pizzazz's Showcase tonight, we decided to make more pancakes.

By the way, here is that awkwardly the same sized spatula-frying pan duo we mentioned before.

They go together a little TOO well.

So we don't need to go through everything we did, since we made these pancakes before. We made a couple of changes this time though. Rebecca's milk unfortunately smelled awful when we opened it, so we used water in place of milk. Didn't seem to detract from the goodness.

Also, we ran out of walnuts, so we used a quarter-cup of oats instead. And since oats absorb water, we reduced the pancake mix by a quarter-cup.

Sarah had a really, really, REALLY overripe banana just waiting for pancakes part dos, and it was super easy to mash up.

Naner naner naner naner...

Oh, by the way, since we didn't go out to buy stuff today, Sarah just stayed in her pjs.

Finally, since we had already had some practice flipping last time, this time we got the hang of it really quickly. Rebecca made sure the heat was on medium-low, and we were patient while waiting for the first side to cook. We also used a 1/3 cup scoop instead of a 1/2 cup. Rebecca's first pancake came out superb!

Look at that beauty.

YEAH!

Yay deliciousness!

Aunt Jemima would be proud.

And a reminder: As the end of the year approaches, please don't hate us if we don't post one week or if we post on some day other than Saturday. Schedules are about to get erratic.

Love,
The Chicas

---
Recipes and Sites
Thank you to FoodGawker for helping us find recipes!

Whole Wheat Pancakes

See previous post:
We're baaaaack!

*Notes: We replaced 1/4 cup of pancake mix with 1/4 cup of oats, instead of walnuts. We used one overripe banana, mashed. We used a 1/3 cup scoop instead of a 1/4 cup scoop.

Cheese cheese cheese

2011-04-04T17:59:00.000-07:00

This update is coming two days later... We apologize, since we know you have just been gripping your seat with anticipation for the last 48 hours!

Our meal on Saturday consisted of:
Tortellini with blue cheese and walnuts
Stir fry vegetables

*Recipes and/or sites that we used will be at the end of the meal's post.*

The original recipe was called "Gnocchi with Gorgonzola and Walnuts." However, we checked TWO supermarkets, and neither had gnocchi, so we chose a tri-color tortellini instead. Also, we went with a blue cheese that was small and within our price range, not minding exactly what kind it was.

We had two lovely guests for dinner - Sarah L and Sara S, for a total of three Sara(h)s and a Rebecca. They were awesome company during food prep, as well as very helpful when we needed extra hands. Such as when we needed a photographer!

Teamwork!

This meal was not difficult to prepare at all. However, that does not mean there were no bumps along the way. We have only one cooking pot, and the pasta called for two, so we had to cook the pasta first, drain it and put it in a bowl, then use the pot to make the sauce, then put the pasta BACK into the pot, put it all BACK into the bowl, wash the pot, and make the stir fry. That was one busy pot.

Also, Sarah pretty much dumped all the pasta into the sink while she was draining it. She'll improve. :)

The stir fry was easy, as we'd done it before on our first night. We chose it because with our carb'n'cheese filled main dish, we wanted some veggies. Also, we still have half a jar of soy sauce. Also also, we love stir fry. (Clearly, as this was our third time making it.)

Yay!

The table was set for four, and food was placed in the center. We were like a little family!

Four's a family.

The four of us had a delicious dinner, and the company was so pleasant that we continued to socialize even as we were bringing things back up to our rooms. And for several hours into the night/early morning. Which is why we forgot to update the blog... Sorry...

So pretty.

We - the Chicas - are making plans to continue the blog next year. Sarah will be graduating, but will update the blog from time to time when she cooks at home. Rebecca will be roommates with Sara S (and might be suitemates with Sarah L!), and they will update the blog from Goucher with meals from school.

Additionally, April is a very busy month, and the end of the semester is approaching. Blog posts may or may not be on Saturday nights... If neither of us have a final one day during finals week, we may decide to cook on a weeknight instead. Just a heads up.

Happy April!
The Chicas

---
Recipes and Sites
Thank you to FoodGawker for helping us find recipes!

Tortellini with Blue Cheese and Walnuts

Site:
http://simply-delicious.co.za/2011/03/07/gnocchi-with-gorgonzola-and-walnuts/

*Notes:
As we said, we replaced the gnocchi with tortellini and the gorgonzola cheese with store brand blue cheese. Additionally, we doubled the recipe to serve four instead of two. Except for the walnuts - we forgot to double the walnuts. There was plenty for everyone, and there was even enough leftover for Sarah to pack a dinner for work the next day.

Stir fry

See previous posts:
First Meal!! - regular stir fry
Yummy Cuddlefest - tuna stir fry (wicked good)

We're baaaaack!

2011-03-27T12:20:00.000-07:00

Welcome back!

Sorry there was no update last night. Sarah had a show. So instead, we decided to cook brunch today! (We are very excited about this.)

This afternoon our meal consisted of:
Banana nut pancakes!

*Recipes and/or sites that we used will be at the end of the meal's post.*

Sarah had brought up the idea of pancakes for dinner once. Well, since we could not make dinner last night, pancakes for brunch seemed like the perfect plan.

We wanted whole wheat pancakes, so we got some whole wheat pancake mix (Eating Right brand) from the supermarket. We also did not have a skillet, so Sarah picked one up at the dollar store. Cheap, but it did the trick. Besides, we're poor college students, remember?

Unfortunately, the skillet was just the right small size, but Sarah's spatula is a little too long. It made flipping the flapjacks difficult, but we didn't mind goofy-looking pancakes.

Then we thought about what to put in the pancakes. Chocolate chips with whipped cream was Sarah's favorite, but Rebecca didn't want to mix chocolate with pancakes. Sarah agreed that she could pass up on the unnecessary calories. We decided on bananas and walnuts. Mmm!

Rebecca chopped the walnuts, and we both took turns mashing the bananas.

HULK SMASH!

We mixed everything all together and heated the skillet. Then we got flipping!

She managed not to flip the pancakes onto the ceiling.

We started out making pancakes with about half a cup of batter. The center wasn't cooking all the way through by the time we needed to flip it, so most of the pancakes had holes in them. Rebecca said it was because the pancakes wanted to be beaded on necklaces and carried around everywhere! Finally we tried making them with a fourth-cup of batter, and the smaller pancakes, while still not flawless, cooked a little better in the middle.

We certainly got better at the art of flipping with time.

Practice makes... closer to perfect.

We ended up making about 10 pancakes, although the recipe said it would yield 20-24. It was not a surprise, since our pancakes were bigger than the recipe directed.

Rebecca sliced up half a banana for garnish. Drizzle some Aunt Jemima syrup on top, and we have a beautiful breakfast!

Delicious!

Seriously, these were so super good. AND this was the fastest we've ever been in and out of the kitchen: less than 2 hours! (Yeah, the lasagna had us there for something like 6 hours... We didn't want to do that again.)

All in all, it was a great start to our Sunday.
Until next weekend,
The Chicas

---
Recipes and Sites
Thank you to FoodGawker for helping us find recipes!

Whole Wheat Pancakes
(from the Eating Right whole wheat pancake mix package)

Ingredients:
2 cups pancake mix
1 1/2 cups milk (we used skim)
2 eggs
2 Tbsp oil
1 1/2 bananas, mashed (our addition)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (our addition)

Garnish (optional):
1/2 banana, sliced
Maple syrup

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients except sliced banana; stir just until large lumps disappear. For thicker pancakes, use a little less milk; for thinner pancakes, use a little more milk.
Heat skillet over MEDIUM-LOW heat or electric griddle to 375 degrees F. Skillet is ready when drips of water sizzle, then evaporate.
Lightly grease skillet with butter or oil.
Pour slightly less than 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto skillet.
Flip when pancakes bubble and bottoms are golden brown.

*Optional: top with three slices of banana and drizzle with syrup. Enjoy!

Volcanic Lasagna

2011-03-05T20:01:00.000-08:00

Happy Ides of March!

Tonight our meal consisted of:
Lasagna Primavera
Chocolate-chip cookie ice cream sandwiches

*Recipes and/or sites that we used will be at the end of the meal's post.*

This was our last Saturday before Spring Break, so we won't be cooking the next two weekends. Sadface. Therefore, we couldn't make anything that required lots of little ingredients that would have to sit in our dorms over break and possibly go bad.

Lasagna was a delicious answer to that problem! And since Rebecca had invited three people to join us, the recipe to feed 6-7 people was perfect! Unfortunately, one of our guests was not able to make it; however, at the last minute, Sarah's friend Raya joined us. But we still only managed to eat half of it, so we've got lots of yummy leftovers for mid-terms week. Rebecca is super excited that she has three days' worth of food!

Can we just say... this lasagna is HUGE. The sauce was ready to spill over the sides of the pan. (Like a volcano... Get it??? Teehee...) The recipe warned us that it would be tall, but HOLAY GUACAMOLE!

"I can't eat all that!"

The recipe assured us that it would settle into the pan while it cooked, but ours did not. In fact, Rebecca thinks it grew a bit... The veggies were piled high in this dish. And except for the frozen spinach, they were all fresh - bought and chopped by yours trulies this very day!

And when it came out...

Mmm... Delicious volcanic lazagnuh.

Oh my, did you ever see such a beautiful creation. And our tastebuds were in full agreement with our eyes. SO TASTY. Sarah said she thought it could have cooked a little longer - the veggies were still pretty crunchy - but confirmed its goodness nonetheless.

After chowing down on our dinner - it was Sarah's first time making lasagna! - it was time to prepare dessert. Homemade ice cream sandwiches? Yes please.

We decided to go with Nestle's cookie dough. Last semester we tried a different brand that came in a square package, and it wasn't good. We really wanted to make it from scratch, but we knew the lasagna would take a while. So we gave Nestle a shot.

It's pretty good raw too. :)

The cookies, of course, came out looking scrumptious. But we refrained from eating them until the very end.

Scrum-diddly-umptious.

And since we weren't making the cookies, but we wanted the "homemade" feel, we got some vanilla ice cream and made our own ice cream sandwiches. SUCH A GOOD IDEA.

Warm on the outside, cold on the inside.

We had way more sandwiches than people, so we wrapped them up individually to store in the freezer. We can give them to our friends and friendly passers-by! (Suggested donation of 75 cents.)

Our stash... Come and get some.

It is now rather late, and we realized we should have started prepping around 3:00 instead of 4:30. Why does cooking take such a long time?? Sarah admitted, "I always learn the hard way." But we do learn, and now we know for next time.

Have a great two weeks! We'll see you the week after break.
R+S

Miranda and Lindsay enjoying the lasagna.

--
Recipes and Sites
Thank you to FoodGawker for helping us find recipes!

Lasagna Primavera

Site:
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2010/09/lasagna-primavera.html

Notes:
When we got to the supermarket, we found that there were only three zucchini left, and they were scrawny and icky looking. But unlike our first week, the eggplant looked fantastic. Switcheroo! We also swapped out the squash for a yummy red bell pepper. Additionally, the ricotta cheese came in little tubs that measured a bit more than called for, but we used it all up anyway. And due to our shared love of mushrooms, we chose sauce with mushrooms in it. (We are very glad we did that.) Aaaaand we saved some of the two shredded cheeses to sprinkle on the very top.

Chocolate-chip Cookies
(from the Nestle cookie dough package)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spoon heaping teaspoons of dough about 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet.
Bake for 11 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
-Can bake frozen dough in preheated oven: Add 1-2 minutes of bake time.

*To turn into sandwiches, simply scoop a generous spoonful of vanilla (or flavor of your choice) ice cream onto an upside-down cookie. Press a second cookie on top of the ice cream. Eat before the ice cream melts!

Yummy Cuddlefest

2011-02-26T19:49:00.000-08:00

Hello lovely people!

Tonight our meal consisted of:
Tuna Stir Fry
Old-Fashioned Apple Pie (!!!)

*Recipes and/or sites that we used will be at the end of the meal's post.*

Yes, we decided to go for the stir fry with tuna. Sarah was a little skeptical, but it turned out delicious!

We went to Dollar Tree to get measuring cups and a cutting knife and board and some other things for cheap, and we ended up getting most of our ingredients there. Dollar stores. GO THERE FIRST.

Anyway, tonight we had some dinner guests. Marissa joined us for the stir fry, and Matt joined us for pie. Matt sat with us during dinner, but he had already eaten.

We started by prepping the pie. First we made the pastry, so it could sit in the fridge and chill while we did everything else. We don't have a working blender, so Sarah had to work through the shortening with two knives.

Gotta be creative in college.

We chose to use half Granny Smith and half Golden Delicious. GOOD CHOICE. It was an excellent mix. Rebecca peeled, leaving the peels on a plate for munching because we love our fiber. Sarah sliced, but Rebecca thought the slices should be thinner. So she sliced them again.

Not that she has OCD or anything.

Then we had an enormous amount of the pie filling, and Sarah was snacking on it pretty much until it went into the pie tin. Rebecca was awfully frustrated with that!

Next we got the rice steaming on the stove. While it steamed, Sarah rolled out the pastry with a nalgene bottle (we couldn't find a rolling pin at the dollar store!) and set it in the pie tin. Then she filled it with the apple filling. Turns out we had twice as much filling as necessary, and Sarah's snacking was not all that terrible - except she risked ruining her appetite.

Then the pie went in the oven, and the rice was done. We emptied the pot into a bowl and set out to make another batch of rice. That was all well and good - but Sarah forgot to turn the heat down after the water boiled, so the second batch completely burned. Oopsie... Oh well.

Finally we made the stir fry. We discovered upon heating our veggies that we do not want to buy dollar store frozen vegetables again. It took almost ten minutes to stir fry them, when it was supposed to take four. Also, there were no water chestnuts in this mix, and those are the best part!

The tuna in the stir fry was actually REALLY good. Everyone enjoyed it and had seconds. Marissa thanked us for inviting her to eat with us, adding that she had food coma.

It was sooooo gooooood!

Marissa serves us dinnah! And Matt chills out on the couch.

Then it was time for apple pie! It came out looking absolutely beautiful, and it tasted even better. Matt cut half of it into three slices for us, and we sat on the couches in taste bud heaven. We all ended up getting another helping, and by the end of the evening, we had devoured the whole thing.

Thank you to Sarah's cravings!

Mmmm...

Another delicious success for Rebecca and Sarah!

---
Recipes and Sites
Thank you to FoodGawker for helping us find recipes!

Tuna Stir Fry

Site:
http://starkist.com/recipe/albacore-stir-fry

Notes:
We forgot to get a head of garlic or a lemon. And we refused to put in any sugar. Still tasted great!

Old-Fashioned Apple Pie

Site:
http://www.howto-simplify.com/2009/11/old-fashioned-apple-pie.html

Notes:
We did not want to spend $6 on a teeny container of nutmeg, so we left it out. We didn't miss it.

First Meal!!

2011-02-19T18:02:00.000-08:00

Our first time cooking together (not counting cookies from last semester) was a HUGE success!

Our meal consisted of:
Two-bean vegetarian chili
Cornbread
Vegetable stir fry

*Recipes and/or sites that we used will be at the end of the meal's post.*

First of all, Sarah would like to say she is VERY PROUD of herself because she baked that cornbread ALL BY HERSELF. And we have to tell you, it was not an easy task.

We realized after we started cooking that we had no measuring cups. Oops. Looks like a trip to the dollar store is in our near future. But that didn't stop us!

Sarah used her handy little measuring spoons to scoop 32 tablespoons of corn meal into the bowl...

What was this, scoop #12?

And then used her handy nalgene bottle to measure out the milk...

Got milk? Yup - in a nalgene.

When it was done, it was beautiful and tasted so good, especially with the chili. It was nice and crispy, just the way Rebecca likes it.

Sarah's pride and joy.

While Sarah was preparing that, Rebecca was busy with the chili. It was a goofy process, this chili. Another important utensil we were missing was a proper knife. The recipe called for 1 cup onion, chopped fine. We chopped that onion real fine... with Rebecca's pocket knife.

You've never seen a finer onion chopper.

We consolidated our ingredients by buying canned tomatoes with spices in it, which meant we couldn't follow the order of the recipe precisely... At one point, Rebecca said to Sarah, "Do the tomatoes go in next?" And as Sarah went to consult the recipe, Rebecca said, "Tomatoes are in!" To which Sarah replied, "But we were supposed to add water and boil it first..." Oh well. At least the beans went in at the right time!

In they go...

And it still turned out wicked yummy!

So hearty, even without the meat.

Finally, we made some stir fry vegetables. We were originally going to make ratatouille, but the eggplants at Safeway were really icky and expensive. So we got frozen veggies and grabbed a bottle of soy sauce instead. Good choice! Stir fry is one of Sarah's favorite dishes.

Colorful!

Altogether, the three foods went together really well. It was a delicious and balanced meal, and we both enjoyed it very much - and we both went back for seconds. Also, Rebecca COULD NOT STOP going back for more cornbread. "It's the Southern Belle in me!"

SUCCESS!

Next weekend we're thinking stir fry again - it was that good - but this time with tuna and rice. Also, Sarah's got the urge to make some pie... We'll see! Until next week...

Ciao!
Sarah and Rebecca

"Where'd the beans go??"
"We ate 'em, silly!"

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Recipes and Sites
Thank you to FoodGawker for helping us find recipes!

Cornbread
(from the back of the Washington Self-Rising Corn Meal package)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 cups (or 32 tablespoons!) enriched Washington Self-Rising Corn Meal
1 tablespoon sugar (optional) --- we did not use sugar
1 1/3 cups milk
1 egg, slightly beaten --- we did not have an egg, so we used an extra dollop of milk, but an egg is probably better

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Put cooking oil into cast iron skillet or 8" or 9" square pan, place in oven until hot.
Combine corn meal and sugar.
Combine milk and egg; add to dry ingredients; stir until smooth.
Pour batter into hot skillet or pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes.

Vegetarian Chili

Site:
http://www.thecurvycarrot.com/2010/10/08/vegetarian-chili/

Notes:
We referred to this site for the cooking process, but we didn't have most of the ingredients, and we, erm, personalized the instructions a bit. The garlic cloves, basil, and oregano were all in our can of tomatoes. We had the oil and the onion and then added the chili powder. Then we accidentally put the tomatoes in next, and immediately added the water. After bringing it to a simmer, we added two cans or beans, red kidney and northern white. Then we realized there was too much water, so we boiled some of it off until we were satisfied.

Stir Fry

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 bag "Ultimate Stir Fry" frozen vegetables from Safeway
Soy sauce, a few shakes

We just heated the veggies on the stove in the oil until they were tender. Then we shook some soy sauce in and stirred to coat the vegetables. Done.

Welcome to There's a Chica in My Chili!

2011-02-19T15:52:00.000-08:00

Hi folks! Sarah and Rebecca here. We are two college students who don’t want to eat in the dining hall tonight (and most other nights), so we decided to make our own dinner. We’re actually in the middle of it right now… (There’s a lot of waiting around during cooking.)

Anyway, we thought it would be cool to start a blog about our eat-scapades, since we would like to do this every weekend. We’ll post about what we cook, the crazy challenges we face, and the giggles we get from all the good times. Oh, and awesome pictures too.

Thanks for checking us out!