Sugar Cookie Bars with Hazelnut Frosting

Happy Wednesday! 

Weekend is almost here and a week until I get to go home for Thanksgiving!!! :) I have been feeling under the weather lately (my guess is a neurobiology stress induced cold) and needed something to cheer up my insides. Something sweet, chocolatey, nutella-y. So it was decided. Thanks to pintrest and a tweaked family recipe and heaven!

  I found the cookie recipe here. Very happy, just make sure to use a half cup of butter not a half stick of butter...doesn't come together right. Easy fix. I tweaked my grandmothers frosting and added nutella. YUMMM!!!!

It was even roommate tested and approved. The frosting is creamy and the cookie was dense and slightly crispy on the outside. Wonderful pick-me-up!

Sorry I didn't do my normal pics along the way. Next time I will. 

Happy Eatings,
Smashley

Birthday Seafood Extravaganza

Happy November 10th!!

This is definitely my favorite day of the year, but I might be a little biased. Today is the 25th anniversary of my existence (aka my birthday). So in honor of my quarter of a century and Dave coming to visit, I thought we should have an EPIC seafood feast with cupcakes for dessert and Blue Moon mango margaritas. Food coma for sure. I am so stuffed.

 First course was lobster tails, garlic sauteed green beans, and bacon wrapped scallops. Also the margaritas were pretty awesome. The lobsters were broiled and butter poured over them. The scallops were also broiled for about 25 minutes. The margarita recipe I found here.The only difference was that I used Malibu Red. It is a combo of rum, tequila, and coconut liquor. So good and worth every penny.  It is surprisingly smooth and could easily sneak up on you.

 Second course was a sea food boil. Crab, mussels, and shrimp. I boiled it with old bay spice, celery, carrots,  white vinegar, and a few splashes of white wine. This was wonderful. I used the old bay garlic and herb. Both of us agreed it was better than Joe's Crab Shack.

We finished off our dinner with Gigi's cupcakes. His was midnight magic and mine was chocolate hazelnut (filled with Nutella!!) So rich we could only eat half. One of the best birthday dinners ever!!!! So good! Worth all of the money and time.

What is your dream birthday meal?

Happy Eatings,
Smashley

Crockpot chicken tacos

Happy Saturday all!

Today was another day filled with homework and cloudy weather. Nothing better than crock-pot food under these circumstances. So procrastinating on Pintrest one day I found the popular recipe for the tacos. Quite tasty I may add. They are very juicy and fairly healthy. All that the tacos needed for perfection was a little guacamole. 

Inredients:
1 packet taco seasoning
1 jar salsa (I used a 24oz jar from Aldi- spicy level medium)
~6 pieces of chicken breasts.

Combine all three ingredients in the crock-pot. My chicken was frozen when I put it in and turned out just fine.

 Cover and put on high for a couple of hours athen reduce to low.

 I topped with guac (but not my best :(, I forgot cilantro) I also made some jasmine rice and frozen peas. So tasty!

I was quite pleased with this recipe. Definitely a keeper recipe! 

How do you make your guacamole? packet, chunks, smooth?

Happy eatings,

Smashley

Quick easy pocket dinner

Good evening every body and happy Saturday,

I am on a health food working out kick (hoping if won't just be a kick but finally sinks in and stay around for well...ever lol) so I decided for dinner to make a healthier chicken meal that is quick and easy. It is a spin off of a side dish my mom and dad used to make. The only difference is that mine has chicken and theirs didn't. This is great for a quick meal tht doesn't take long to prepare and is a quick clean up.

Preheat oven to 425*

What you will need:
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts- i have one large one cut in half for two meals
2 small potatoes (and yes I know the picture has three, I decided that 3 was to many) and cut into          small cubes
1 rib of celery cut in half length wise and diced
Baby carrots cut length wise and then in half
Half of a small onion diced
Smear of butter- or oil if you want just a little so nothing sticks
Season salt and ground black pepper
2 pieces of foil

 Cut up all of your ingredients and place on a piece of foil- estimate how much you want of the ingredients in each packet- i have 1 potato, half of a rib of celerey, and 4 baby carrots per pouch.

 Fold up and place in over. 

 Cook for 35 minutes and remove. Careful there is lots of steam and steam is HOT! And enjoy!

 I hope you enjoy this quick fix meal.

What do you make in a pinch?

Happy eatings,
Smashley

MMMM Pot Roast!!!

Happy Saturday Al!!

Today couldn't have been a better day for a wonderfully tender pot roast. It was cool, and for the most part gloomy. Perfect for crock-pot pot roast and studying for neurobiology and growth and development. Studying- not so great. The pot roast- FAB! So good.

I used the normal recipe of cream of mushroom soup and onion soup powder mix, but jazzed it up a bit. I added baby carrots, celery, onion, some Italian seasoning, and some Winking Owl Chardonnay. Very glad I added all of the extras. To go with the pot roast I made some cauliflower mashed "potatoes", some cheesy garlic bread, and some frozen peas. The cauliflower was meh. Not the best but not awful. It tasted fine, but didn't have to creamy fluffy texture like potatoes. Good to know for the next time.

Pot Roast:
3lbs chuck roast-  I got mine at Wal*Mart- be on the look out for mark downs. Mine was marked down $4 because the sell by date was 2 days away. Much cheaper- seasoned with garlic, salt, and pepper
Handful of baby carrots
2 stalks of celery cut into chunks
2 cans "Fit and Active" brand cream of mushroom soup (I love Aldi, just saying)
1 package of powdered onion soup mix
A few dashes of Italian seasoning
A few splashes of chardonnay.

All of the ingredients went into the crock pot. It was set to high for the first two hours and then on low for about 5 more hours.

The cauliflower recipe I got here, and I am not knocking their recipe, just wasn't quite what I wanted as my side.

The roast was wonderful, though I did do a lot of scooping off grease. I got probably about a half of a cup of grease off. Just an FYI. I would say it was worth it. The meat was tender and juicy. I wish I had a larger to eat more ;) The wine in the cup is Oliver honey wine with black cherry flavoring, not as good as their soft red/rose/white.

Well- happy eatings,
Smashley

Critic VI- 5 Guys Burgers and Fries

Hey everybody,

Its been a while since my last food critic entry. Today before class I got the brilliant idea to stop at Five Guys Burgers and Fries. Best decision today! I love this place. I probably don't really even need to write this review because most people know the awesomeness that is 5GB&F, but I feel they deserve a profession of my love. 

Their burgers are juicey, large, and reasonably priced. Its messy,has the perfect amount of grease, and so many combinations possible. Their fries are on the same level of awesomeness- fresh cut thick fries from real potatoes. They even have a delish Cajun salt mix, but it does pack some heat, so just be aware. 

With that said, If you have never been there here are some helpful hints:
1- if you are not a monstrous eater and can't eat a whole cow, the little burger will fill you up. I am quite full after eating a little burger. They are slightly larger than a regular burger from a fast food joint. 
2- They are generous with fries- I can split a regular fry with a friend and still have more than enough.
3- It will change your life;)
4- Don't expect the get your food as fast as a fast food place- they don't cook the burgers until you order, you can see it cooking. I waited for about 7 minutes to get my food. It is worth the wait though for a quality burger. 

So, to summarize- go there now! They are awesome! The end. 

Where is your favorite burger joint?

Happy eatings,
Smashley

Cinnamon Apples

Howdy!

Fall is probably my favorite season of the year. The weather allows for outdoors activity, it is the season for apple and pumpkin goodies, and the beginning of my busy season of birthdays and holidays.  So in the spirit of the fall equinox yesterday, I made crock-pot cinnamon apples. 

I found the recipe on pintrest (I am fully addicted) and thought it would be the perfect treat for a day full of studying for a neurobiology test on Tuesday. This is the recipe for the apples. I did some tweaking due to what I had on hand and previous apple dishes I have made before. 

First I did not have large apples- I bought a large bag of small gala apple from the store and needed to use them up. To supplement the lack or large apples i used 9 instead of 6. (yes I know there was 10 apples in the picture, but I felt that there were plenty of apple slices in the pot when slicing) Second I do not have nutmeg, so that went out the window. Finally I used 2tbsp of orange juice to give it a tart kick. I learned to make a baked apple in the microwave when I was a kid using a cored apple, stuffing it with cinnamon, brown sugar, butter, and OJ and putting it in the microwave. Turns out great. So That is where I got the idea for O.J. 

 Apples sliced and in the crock pot.

 The rest of the ingredients in the pot. I then stirred all of the ingredients together.

 Final product. I chose to do the low for 4hrs in hopes of a wonderful smelling apartment for a longer period of time. Unfortunately I did not notice the fabulous smell unless I was stirring it. It turned out so good. Warm, gooey, happiness in a bowl!

Well, that is all for now. Happy autumnal equinox all! 
Happy eatings,
Smashley

BBQ, stuffed sweet potato, cheesy veggies.

Bonjour! 

Because of my crazy up-coming two weeks of school, I was trying to make some tasty, healthy, and easy meals. Today was just that. Thanks to my new obsession Pintrest...I am finding more recipes than I can shake a stick at. That is where I found my recipes for dinner. 

I made a slow cooker BBQ chicken, a stuffed and baked sweet potato, and some frozen veggies that came with a cheese sauce. The chicken fell off the bone and could be cut with a spoon, and the sweet potato was basically a sweet potato casserole in backed potato form (with marshmallows and all.)
This is the recipe for the chicken and This is the recipe for the potato.

As a side note I love ginger slices in my water. So yummy :)
What is your easy go to recipe?

Happy eatings,
Smashley

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Good evening everybody!

So I totally wanted to bite into a fattening-ly delicious cupcakes from GiGi's right around the corner from me. They are sinfully good. Well, I have been trying to be more health, So I found something else instead. Can you say YUM! I used this recipe. It was fairly easy (except I would recommend making sure you are using a 1/2 tsp and not a 1/2 tbsp). Yeah I made a few mistakes...but they turned out ok. Good thing I realized and took out some of the salt and baking soda. That was a close call. 

These muffins have three components. The pumpkin muffin, a cheese cake layer, and a streusel layer. Over all it was fairly healthy and I have enough pumpkin left over to have a pumpkin breakfast shake tomorrow :).  

Here is the grouping of ingredients (I used 1/3fat cream cheese from Aldi)

This is the cheese cake batter

 Streusle topping- I later added more butter because this was one of the steps that I used the 1/2TBSP instead of 1/2tsp.

 Filling the tins with the filling.

The recipe made 24 muffins, but not enough cheese cake topping. Thankfully from my faux pas I had extra streusel. 

 Final product with a missing bite.

Quite tasty!!! I really liked it and the roomie agreed. Def a keeper recipe! Enjoy!

What is your favorite thing to do with pumpkin?
Happy eatings,
Smashley

Typical away at school dinner

Howdy!

So today I made a typical go to dinner for school. I made baked barbeque chicken with steamed peas and fresh radishes. Not so typical i made some mash potatoes...which I was very disappointed in because I added way to much milk. But it was still tasty none the less.

Sorry I don't have my usual pictures step by step. I was lazy. Sorry.

So I rubbed the chicken in some season salt, garlic powder, and some ground sage. Poured on some Sweet Baby Ray's Brown Sugar Hickory. (Sweet Baby Ray's is by far the best hands down BBQ sauce. Just saying) And baked for 25 minutes in the oven. I flipped at 15minutes and slathered more BBQ sauce on it. 

To the snow peas, I added some butter and steamed in the micro in a bowl covered by plastic wrap for about a minute or so. 

The mashed potatoes I boiled peeled potatoes in water with salt, garlic powder, and dry thyme. Then mashed with some (aka too much) 1% milk and some margarine.

Radishes- salt and that's it.

Happy college student for dinner :D

Well, I am off to eat my dinner now. 
What is your go to meal? 

Happy Eatings,
Smashley.

Crock-pot soup- Asian themed

Hello all!

So this weekend when I was supposed to be studying for neurobiology...BLECH...I came up with this wonderful recipe. My apartment smelled heavenly. If only you could capture smell in pictures. This soup combined two of my greatest loves in the kitchen: Asian flavors and my crock-pot. To me, the crock-pot or slow cooker whatever you want to call it, is the best invention ever....well for cooking devices at least. To just throw stuff in it, and slowly let it meld together and make the entire house fragrant, is just amazing and awesome. 

 This soup is super comforting, at least to me. It is has three strong flavors that are three of my favorite savory flavors- ginger, garlic, and sesame oil. I have been on such a ginger kick the past week. Putting sliced ginger in my water/tea with a squirt of lime....just make sure you don't cut the ginger on a cutting board previously used to cut garlic and put said ginger in tea, makes tea garlicky. Not so great actually. 

Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs- bone in, but skinned

~4 cups chicken broth ( I have since added 2-3 more cups because I added WAY to many noodles)

1 inch piece of ginger, thinly sliced,

4 cloves garlic- roughly chopped

~ 2tsp sesame oil or to taste. Remember sesame oil is very strong. A little goes a long way and it will overpower other flavors. 

~1/2 tsp sriracha sauce (rooster sauce)- once again a little goes a long way, it is flavorful but very hot. Best to add too little and add more later than add a whole bunch and not be able to taste.

1/2tsp cumin

1/2tsp dried onion

3/4tsp onion salt

3/4tsp celery salt

3/4tsp black pepper

~10 dashes of soy sauce

1 large carrot, sliced into coins

~2tsp of red wine vinegar (optional)

drizzle of agave (optional)- the vinegar and agave were to add a sweet/sour element...but not enough to really tell. 

Rice noodles- DON'T USE WHOLE 6OZ PACKAGE!!! WAY TOO MANE NOODLES!!!

lime, cilantro, and green onions for garnish

 Add all ingredients to crockpot (I used bullion cubes and added them in here)

 Add in 4cups of water

 Cover and set to high. Cook on high for ~5hrs, take chicken out and shred, set to low and cook 2 more hours.

 Add in rice noodles and let soften.

 

 Add garnishes of choice, and devour! Just looking makes my mouth water.

  

 Just a warning, I did not actually measure the spices, these are an approximation on the low side of what I used. Taste when chicken is cooked and alter to taste. 

What do you think of the recipe format? Any suggestions?

Happy eatings,

Smashley

MMM Queso

Hi everybody! 

Every time I want to write that I always here in my head "Hi Dr. Nick" from the Simpsons. I used to love that show. Key player in my childhood lol. 

So any-who queso, I love salsa con queso, queso dip, cheese dip, what every you want to call it. It is melty cheesy goodness in a jar. This time it was melty cheesy goodness over my chicken! MMMMM. My mom had bought me some cebollitas, I had half of a jar of queso, chicken, and thought why not throw some potatoes into that mix and boom dinner! So that is just what I did.

I started by making an adobo seasoning mix from this recipe. I made enough for two servings.

 Then I seasoned my chicken with juice from a lime (a very dry lime unfortunately), garlic powder, seasoned salt, paprika, and chili powder. Into the oven it went at 400.

 I seasoned the cebollitas with the adobo, oil (too much for my liking I discovered later), and a little extra salt and garlic powder. These went in for probably around 20mins, until the bulb was tender. Also unfortunately the greens got a little too crispy :(.

 The potatoes I tossed with the rest of the adobo and a little oil. Put in the oven until tender and a little crispy.

 See the ends were a little too crispy. This is supposed to be done on a grill, with much better results.

 Once I took the chicken out, I poured the cheese over it and let it sit while the potatoes finished cooking. It was delish!

So that was my impromptu dinner. I was originally going to have some soup from my grandma. But this was almost as good ;)

What is your favorite cheese meal?

Happy eatings,

Smashley

Curried tomato bisque

Hi everybody!

So for those of you who really know me, you know I have a strong dislike for tomatoes. I really really want to like them, I just haven't gotten there yet. I do like cooked tomatoes (IE spaghetti sauce, pizza sauce, chili, ...), but I normally am not a huge fan of tomato soup...until now. This was seriously the easiest and best tomato soup or well bisque I have ever had to pleasure to consume. 

My mom found this recipe in a magazine and had been wanting to make it for a while. I had already wanted to make soup for dinner since the BF was coming over to watch a movie and hand out. This was not what I was planning in my head for the type of soup to make, but I am very glad I did.  

Here are the ingredients-

Small onion (chopped)

Two cloves garlic (crushed)

28os can whole tomatoes

Salt and pepper

2tsp curry powder

1/2 cup water

1tbsp EVOO

Splash of cream (optional)

 Here is the recipe.

 Saute the garlic and onion in oil with salt and pepper.

 Toss in curry powder and heat till fragrant (the actual recipe called for 1tsp, but you couldn't taste the curry enough so I upped it to 2tsp)

 Once fragrant, add in tomatoes with the juice from can and water. Bring to a boil.

 Remove from heat.

 Transfer bisque to blender

 Puree. I added a splash or two of half and half. Totally optional. We had some left over naan bread. So we smeared it with EVOO, added garlic powder, fresh mini basil, and fresh mozzarella. Baked until melty.

This was seriously amazing. So easy, the soup prob took about 10mins to make. Great for a cool winter day! 

How do you like your tomatoes?

Happy eatings,

Smashley