The Portable Breakfast Snack

Since I want to eat healthier for breakfast, I decided I should start baking muffins. The only problem is that they don't last more than a day LOL Once I start finding recipes I like, I'll start doubling and reserving muffins for my breakfast. This one is a keeper.


Banana Nut Muffins




2 extra ripe bananas
2 eggs
1 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup melted butter
1 tsp. vanilla
2 1/4 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Beat bananas, eggs, sugar, butter and vanilla. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Stir nuts into dry ingredients. Add banana mixture to flour mixture. Mix just until well blended. Spoon into well-greased muffin tins. Bake at 350F for 25-30 minutes.

Source: Bake Bake Bake LJ

I'm also watching a show on Food Network where 5 finalists are competing to make the next Hagan Daas ice cream flavor. That would be so much fun!! I don't know if any company has made this, but I would go for a banana foster flavor. I really need to buy an ice cream maker lol



Le Chef Murray

Why I Could Never Be A Professional Chef

I was watching "The Next Food Network Star" last night. I realized even if I auditioned to be on the show, I would never be good enough. First, I'm only a beginner's chef and still need recipes to make meals. Two, I love cooking for myself and hate accommodating for other people's tastes. Third, if I don't like a dish, I don't want to make it. Fourth, I don't like being rushed. The six remaining contestants had to do two tasks for an army camp. First task was to spice up those on-the-go meal packets for when they can't eat back at the mess hall. I think they had less than an hour to do it. I know I would feel too rushed. I don't even know what I would've done. The one guy made it into a stew, which is something I could do. He's really good with spices; I'm not.

The second task they had to do was make either a meatloaf, pot pie, or lasagna meal in two hours. I hate meatloaf, I hate the crust edges of pot pie, and I loathe ricotta cheese. See a problem with this list? lol The two guys who made the pot pie used deep-fried potatoes on top instead of a crust, so I would definitely eat that. Meatloaf is meatloaf. I also have trouble touching red meat. I want to make homemade hamburgers, but that involves direct touching. I'm hoping this summer I can get over that. It doesn't help that nobody in my family makes homemade burgers. We usually buy frozen patties.

How many of you would want your own cooking show? What would you name it?

On a Lemon Kick

I never made muffins before, so when I added the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, I freaked out when the batter became dough-like instead of runny. I guess I was expecting runny, like cake and cupcake batter. I should've known better. I used two recipes for these muffins. Since one required more butter than the other, I added more butter in a panic. Whether it helped, I don't know. I do know that it could've used more lemon juice because the lemon flavor wasn't strong enough. I used only 1/2 lemon, but I would suggest using a whole lemon.


Lemon Muffins




2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick butter, melted
1 1/2 tsp grated lemon zest
Lemon juice from 1 lemon
2 eggs
8 oz sour cream

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin tins or line with paper cups.

2. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt; blend well.

3. Melt butter. Stir in lemon juice, zest, eggs, and sour cream. Stir wet mixture into dry mixture and blend until moistened. Do not overstir. Spoon in muffin tin. Bake 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Source: Inspired by Razzle Dazzle Recipes and Recipezaar



"I can't reach!"

Interview Questions from Paige + Cake

Have you ever known someone with the same birthday as you? I haven't met her personally, but Paige from Chef-girl.net shares my birthday - May 15. I replied to her post about interview questions, and she sent me 5 questions to answer.

1. What's the weirdest thing you've ever eaten?
I love to try new foods. Whenever I was in Scotland, my friends and I stopped at an Australian bar. I ordered a kangaroo burger while one of my friends ordered a springbok burger. Surprisingly, both were very tasty. The kangaroo burger was very lean, and I think I read on the menu it's healthier than a beef burger.

2. What ingredients do you always like to have on hand?
As far as baking goes, I always have a bag of chocolate chips plus the basics - baking soda/powder, shortening, sugar, flour, etc. As far as cooking goes, spices are essential - basil, chili powder, cumin, garlic salt, etc. I try to have some sort of veggie with dinner, whether it's frozen, canned, or fresh.

3. If you opened a restaurant, what would you call it, and what would you serve?
This is a tough one. I have ideas for a bakery but not a restaurant. Since I'm 50% Italian, I would probably have an Italian restaurant. As far as the name goes, I can't think of one right now. For my bakery, it would be called Chocolate Moosey, have a moose theme, and serve all types of baked goods. Maybe even a cafe/bakery because I love coffee.

4. If you were to go on a food-themed vacation, what country would you choose?
Since I've eaten alot of Chinese food and not much Japanese food, I would choose Japan because I love sushi and so I could experiment with different meals.

5 - (and the classic) Which three people (living/dead/fictional/real) would you invite to a dinner party?
Antonio Banderas because he's sexy, Owen Wilson because he's hilarious, and JD from Scrubs because he's my favorite character (besides Dr. Cox).

Directions for the Interview Meme
1. Leave a comment saying, “Interview me.”
2. I will respond by emailing you five questions. Please make sure I have your email address.
3. You will update your blog with the answers to the questions.
4. You will include this explanation and offer to interview someone else in the same post.
5. When others comment asking to be interviewed, you will ask them five questions.


I also made dinner and dessert tonight. This is what I do on my day off from work.


Linguine Tuna Salad




1/2 lb. linguine
1/4 cup lemon juice
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tsp sugar
1 tsp dried basil
1 (12 1/2 oz) can tuna, drained
1 (14 oz) can peas, drained
1 (7 oz) can mushrooms
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes, drained

1. Cook pasta according to package.

2. Meanwhile, combine juice, oil, onion, sugar, and basil. Drain pasta; toss with mixture. Add tuna, peas, mushrooms, and tuna. Chill for an hour before serving.

My thoughts: I subbed angel hair pasta for linguine. I would suggest using fresh veggies instead of canned.

Source: "Favorite Italian Brand Name Recipes" 1983 p.10


Lemon Cornmeal Cake




This has to be one of my best cakes yet. Since I had leftover cornmeal from the Weekend Cookbook Challenge round-up, I viewed the entries for ideas. This cake wins. You don't even need the powdered sugar on top, but I did it for garnish. You could also top with cream cheese frosting or glazed icing. Recipe can be found at Lemon Almond.



My baby looking for attention.

Why Can't Everyone Enjoy Seafood?

It's very hard to make seafood dinners when one member of the family hates it. Not only do I have to make the seafood dinner, I also have to make something else to accommodate my mom's hate for seafood. Usually she's content with a grilled cheese sandwich, but since there was veal in the freezer, Friday night I made 2 dinners and dessert. It was easy to do because both involved spaghetti and I could bake the meat while cooking the shrimp, but there's a lot of preparation for one person to do. Fortunately, dessert only took 5 minutes to prepare.


Lemon Garlic Shrimp




1 pound large shrimp, peeled, deveined and cooked (tails optional)
2 Tbsp + 1 tsp lemon juice (or juice from 2 lemons)
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 tsp dried basil
1/4 cup olive oil
Enough spaghetti for 4 people (1/2 - 1 lb.)

1. Prepare shrimp as necessary. If frozen, run under hot water. Make sure all shrimp are deveined (if using prepared bag, some shrimp are overlooked in the deveining process). Tails are ok to leave on (although I would recommend tailess). If not already cooked, cook the shrimp.

2. Boil pasta in water. Meanwhile, combine lemon juice, garlic, basil, and oil in a bowl. Pour into skillet. Heat shrimp in lemon mixture until hot. Add more lemon juice if needed.

3. Drain pasta. Add pasta, shrimp and lemon mixture to bowl; toss together.

My thoughts: We didn't have enough spaghetti, so there wasn't enough food for 3 of us. I served it with green beans.

Source: Inspired by Razzle Dazzle Recipes


Veal Scallopini




I never had veal before, so I tried a piece when I cooked it. I think I'll stick with beef. My mom enjoyed it, so that's good enough for me. Since I didn't change the recipe (except changing it to 1 serving), you can view it here.


Pudding Parfaits




1 (4 serving) box of banana pudding
2 cups cold milk
Sliced strawberries
Chocolate syrup
Whipped topping

Prepare pudding as directed on package. Fill the bottoms of 6 wine glasses with pudding. Add enough chocolate syrup to cover the pudding. Top with strawberries. Repeat the layers. Top with whipped topping.

There are many variations to this recipe. You can have banana pudding + banana slices + chocolate syrup; coconut cream pudding + shredded coconut + chocolate syrup; vanilla pudding + chocolate chips + chocolate syrup; chocolate pudding + banana slices + strawberry syrup. Experiment with different flavors. Perfect for hot summer days.

Source: Me (inspired by picture in "New Joys of Jell-o" April 1991, p.15)

Bisquick - Every College Student Should Own A Box

Since I'm home for the summer, I'm experimenting with dinners so when I go back to school in the fall, I'm ready to cook tasty and non-pasta dinners. Bisquick makes any dinner easy. I had some leftover from the fall *cough* but it didn't expire until July 2007. I even purchased the healthy heart version. Same price, better for you. Since it wasn't a full box, I didn't have enough Bisquick for 1 1/4 cups, so mine came out a little too thin. Perhaps I should've used a smaller pan to make up for it. This alone doesn't feed four people, so expect to serve something else with this. I could've eaten the entire thing myself (perfect for college).

For those who aren't familiar with Bisquick, it's premade baking mix. Here's a recipe to make homemade Bisquick, but I'm not sure how accurate it is.


Bacon Tomato Pie




1 1/4 cups Bisquick
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup water
1 tsp. dried basil
1 cup onion, diced
3 tbsp. bacon bits
1 tomato, cut into 6 slices
1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1. Heat oven to 400F. Grease 9x9x2 pan. Stir Bisquick, Parmesan, and water until moistened. Spread onto bottom of pan. Bake for 12 minutes.

2. Meanwhile, mix basil, onion, and bacon in a bowl. Sprinkle over partially baked dough. Place tomato slices on top. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake uncovered 15-20 minutes or until edges are golden and cheese has melted. Let cool. Cut into 6 slices; serve warm.

My thoughts: I tried adding garlic salt to the dough, but the bacon covered up the taste. I only added 1/2 tsp, so maybe you could try 1 tsp or even 1 tbsp. I thought 1/4 cup Parmesan looked like too much, so I cut it in half. I suggest using all 1/4 cup.

Source: Betty Crocker's Bisquick Easy Suppers October 2001, p. 19

It Never Lasts 24 Hours

You know you succeeded when something you bake doesn't last 24 hours. Every time I make bread, it is gone by the next evening. This is no exception. I had 1/4 bag of chocolate chips leftover from January *cough* and they were still good, so I baked chocolate chip bread. I also had one almost-rotten banana, so I threw that into the batter. I would recommend using 2 bananas because I didn't taste enough banana. My parents kept commenting on how I should've added nuts.


Chocolate Chip Banana Bread




2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
2 bananas, mashed

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in large bowl. Combine egg, milk, and oil in separate bowl. Add to flour mixture; mix just until moistened. Stir in chocolate chips and mashed bananas. Spoon into pan. Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until wooden toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Source: Diana's Desserts

Esta fiesta!

For dinner on Saturday, I decided to cook Mexican-style. I haven't had Mexican food since I visited Scotland (we were desperate for food at 9 pm and it was affordable and not crowded), which was back in March. I decided it was time to treat myself (and the family, but mainly myself). Please read my notes after the recipe so you can adjust accordingly.


Nacho Casserole with Mexican-Stuffed Mushrooms




For the mushrooms:

12 large mushrooms
1/3 lb. ground beef
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1 tbsp. minced onion
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
1/2 cup breadcrumbs

For the casserole:

1 lb. ground beef
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. celery salt
1/2 tsp. onion salt
1/2 tsp. garlic salt
8 oz. sour cream
1 can (10 3/4 oz) condensed nacho cheese soup
1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes, undrained
1 can Mexican corn, drained
1 can (15 oz) pinto beans, drained (optional)
1 jalepeno pepper, chopped and seeded (optional)
1 can (2 1/4 oz) sliced black olives, drained
1 bag of nachoes

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Brown all of the beef in a skillet. When done, remove from heat and drain the grease. Remove mushroom stems, being careful not to destroy the mushroom caps. Chop the stems. Spoon 1/3 lb. beef into a bowl. Add garlic, onion, 1/2 tsp. chili powder, 1/2 tsp. cumin, cheese, chopped mushrooms, and breadcrumbs. Spray cookie sheet. Spoon breadcrumb mixture into each mushroom cap and place onto cookie sheet. Save any remaining breadcrumb mixture.

2. With remaining beef in skillet, add oregano, 1/2 tsp. chili powder, 1/2 tsp. cumin, celery salt, onion salt, and garlic salt. Stir in sour cream and cheese soup. Add undrained tomatoes and drained corn. Spread mixture into a casserole dish.

3. Cover casserole dish with a lid or foil, sprayed side down. Bake mushrooms and casserole for 30 minutes. Remove mushrooms and let cool. Remove lid from casserole dish. Sprinkle with remaining breadcrumb mixture from mushrooms (or use 1 cup cheese if no breadcrumbs are left). Top with sliced olives. Bake another 10 minutes uncovered (edges should be bubbly). Serve with nachoes.

My thoughts: The mushrooms seemed a little dried out after baking, so I don't know if you should let them sit in water while baking or simply brush the caps with water. Also, the recipe was for 24 mushrooms, but we only had 12 so I cut everything in half. There was plenty of breadcrumb mixture left (even after topping the casserole), so you may want to cut it even further. For the casserole, I used 1/2 jar cheese sauce instead of soup, but it made the casserole too runny. Stick with the soup because it's thicker (unless you add some cream with the sauce). I didn't top mine with olives because they were slimy (always keep your receipts in case something like this happens. Bought it the day before too and didn't expire until 2009!). We used the nachoes to scoop up the casserole, but forks work just as fine. You may need to adjust some of the spices. My mom doesn't like anything too spicy, so I cut back on the chili powder and cumin. I also omitted the jalepeno pepper and pinto beans (Mom's preference). You can probably replace the tomatoes, beans, and pepper with salsa. I added the corn because my dad kept "showing" me that he bought canned Mexican corn. I also guessed on the spices in the casserole because the recipe called for taco seasoning mix.

Sources: Casserole - Old El Paso Mexican Cookbook August 2006 p. 39; Mushrooms - CD Kitchen

Cookies That Spread

Ever have too much chocolate in the house that you wanted a healthy cookie? We have so much chocolate in the house because I came home from Ireland this past Saturday. I even had a cake. My best friend and I decided to bake oatmeal raisin cookies because they had oats, raisins, and nuts, which is healthy enough for us.


Oatmeal Raisin Cookies




3/4 cup butter, softened
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup milk
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
3 cup uncooked quick oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup raisins

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease 3 cookie sheets.

2. Combine butter, both sugars, milk, egg, and vanilla; beat until light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter mixture; stir well. Add oats, raisins, and walnuts.

3. Drop by teaspoonfuls onto cookie sheets (cookies will spread when baked). Bake 12-15 minutes (we baked 15-20). Let cool; remove from sheets.

Source: Gooseberry Patch Family Favorite Recipes with Sun-Maid Raisins 2005, p.22

Weekend Cookbook Challenge 17

The theme for the next WCC is cornmeal. Cornmeal is very cheap to purchase, so I usually have a couple of boxes handy. I made this cornbread muffin recipe before and enjoyed them so much, I decided to share for this challenge.

EDIT - The round up has been posted here.


Corn Pup Muffins




3/4 cup yellow cornmeal
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp garlic powder
1 cup milk
1 egg, beaten with fork
2 Tbsp oil
1/2 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
4 hot dogs, cut into 1 inch pieces

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line muffin pan with paper liners or coat with cooking spray.

2. Stir together cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, chili powder, cumin, and garlic powder. Make a hole in the bottom of the bowl and pour in milk, beaten egg, and oil. Stir just until blended. Fold in cheese.

3. Drop a spoonful of batter into each muffin cup. Place hot dog piece into batter. Fill with enough batter to cover the hot dog (This does not mean drown the hot dog. It means make sure the piece is covered in batter because the batter will rise).

4. Bake 10-12 minutes. Muffins should be lightly browned and clean when toothpick is inserted. Let cool before removing from pan.

My thoughts: Being tired does not help me with this recipe. First, I forgot to add the chili powder. Second, I forgot to switch the oven from preheat to bake, so my baking time was alot longer. Third, I filled each cup too much so I only got 12 muffins and used only 2 hot dogs. The recipe does call for mini-muffin tins so that could justify for my amount. Despite my mess ups, I love eating these.

Source: USA Weekend Newspaper - Nov. 10-12, 2006