Christmas presents for the hounds

Hello y'all,

Okay, so I know I said I was gonna post a whole bunch a while ago..and honestly I have no excuse. I got lazy and then had to leave to go back to school. Now I am back in the normal routine. I still have a few posts to do from all of my holiday cooking. This one was a definite hit with canine and human kind alike. Don't judge me, I had to try one...or a few. They are made with people food and taste like cheese-its. If you didn't tell anyone they were made for dogs you would think they were cheese crackers. I got the recipe here. 

 So the ingredients required were oats, cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, EVOO, unsweeted apple sauce, and water. I needed much more water that they said because mine was not forming a dough. I also used all purpose flour because there were some recipients who are basically allergic to everything under the sun.  Note my special little helper...don't let her looks food you...she is EVIL!

 

I mixed everything and rolled out the dough. Because of the holiday spirit I used a cute little snowflake cookie cutter.

 

 Baked for about 30mins and left in the oven while the oven cooled. Bagged and delivered. Quite a hit with the canines. They loved them (so I am told)

Do you make presents for your pets?

Happy eatings,
Smashley

Basil shrimp pasta

Hello once again,

I had to get creative for this dinner because during finals week no one wants to waste time that could be used for studying (or other forms of procrastinating) and finals marks going home. I don't want to haul home more food than I have too. My roommate had brought home a ton of basil that needed to be using and I had a bunch of shrimp left from the crab boil a few posts ago. Turned out really good, but really rich. I could only eat so much. Sorry for the lack of pictures. Sometimes I forget to take pictures.
 

I boiled the pasta and let it sit. In another pan I sauteed the shrimp with olive oil, white wine, garlic and old bay spice. When the shrimp was just about cooked I added the Parmesan cheese and basil. I then decided I needed some veggies and added some frozen veggies to add some color. To finish the dish, I added some flour mixed in milk to thicken it up a bit. Ta da!

What is your quick pasta fix when you are hungry?

Happy eatings,

Smashley

Pork Roast

Hello again!

I am not sure if I have made a mention to this before or not, but I have a love of all things pig. Bacon, pork rinds, chicharones, ham, and any other pork product. So I was quite excited when my mom gave me a nice pork tenderloin. It turned out well, however there are times when I am already sick of the food I cooked by the time it is done cooking. I really hate it when that happens. I can't remember exactly where I got the recipe from. It was either from punchfork or pintrest. 

 So I started by slicing the garlic nice and thin. I cut little thin slits in the meet to insert said garlic slivers.

 Then put the meat into the pan lined with foil..why foil you ask? Because I am a lazy grad student who doesn't want to do more dishes than I have to ;)

 All of the non vegetable ingredients were then mixed to form the sauce/marinade/basting liquid and poured over the meet.

 Then I added some carrots and potatoes just for good sake.

 Baked at temperature and time I do not remember...I think 350 for about 2 hours but don't quote me on that.

 Added a fresh salad and presto dinner.

By the way, I have decided that I will no longer be using store bought salad dressings. It is so easy to make yummy dressings with good olive oil and vinegar or lemon juice. It costs the same or less and is so much healthier. No preservatives, added salt, or any other nastiest. 

With that said, happy eatings,
Smashley

Happy New Years

Hello All!

I want to start by saying HAPPY NEW YEAR 2013! Today I am going to be posting a few different posts. I have stock piled a few postings from the past couple of weeks dues to the holidays. Hope everyone is had a great holiday season and made it to the new year happy and healthy.

Happy eatings,
Smashley :)

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