Welcome Home Taylor

dinner in: fast food

I'm going to be honest right now: I haven't eaten fast food in over two years. I vowed it off unofficially and gradually over the lastest part of my life. However, I do have fond memories of the early stages in David and I's relationship when we would share a meal at Wendy's and our first vacation together was filled with probably too many Coffee Toffee Twisted Frosty's. In case you don't remember them from Wendy's, they were awesome. And yes, I was pretty addicted to them. In dreaming up some "Dinner In" ideas, I thought of fast food and how I haven't eaten it in so long, but I do sometimes wish I had some chicken nuggets and crispy fries in front of me...and also a frosty of course. The only probably is that I hate that oily, greasy feeling in leaves in your mouth and your stomach and..I'll stop there for all of our sakes.

So, after some searching, I came up with a few recipes and compiled my favorite into one awesome one. My main concern was getting crispy french fries without, well, frying them. I've very unsuccessfully had my wake with baked french fries for a few years now. I learned the trick now though! It's soaking them in water beforehand! It honestly makes a WORLD of difference!! Okay, okay. I'll stop rambling now and let you get to the reason why you're really checking out this post: the actual recipes!!

to make chicken nuggets (for 2-3 people):

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1-inch chunks
2/3 cups cornmeal mix1/2 cup grated parmesean cheese
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder1/2 teaspoon paprikasalt and pepper1 egg, slightly beatennon-stick spray

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees farenheit. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray generously (I also covered my sheet with aluminum foil for a quicker clean up).

In a large, resealable plastic bag, mix the cornmeal mix, cheese, garlic powder, paprika, and salt and peper to taste. In a small bowl, slightly beat the egg. Toss half of the chicken into the egg and coat well, then put in the plastic bag.

Seal the bag tightly and shake it until all of the chicken is covered (I suggest doing this to an Outkast song, but that's just my preference). Shake excess mixture off the chicken and spread out evenly onto the baking sheet. Do this again with the other half of chicken.

Spray the chicken generously with non-stick spray. Alternatively, you can use melted butter, which works just as well. Bake the chicken for 12-14 minutes, flipping over halfway through to evenly brown.

 

to make the french fries:

2 medium russet potatoes
olive oilsalt and pepper

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees farenheit. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a cooling rack on top of the baking sheet. Make sure this is stable. Spray the rack with non-stick spray.

Peel and slice the potatoes thinly. I did about 1/2-inch slices. Soak in a bowl of cold water for 15-20 minutes.

After soaking, rinse under clean, cold water and pat dry, soaking up the excess water. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil (about 1-2 teaspoons) and sprinkle on salt and pepper to taste. Toss well to coat. Spread over the baking rack and bake in the oven for 20-30 minutes until browned and crispy.

 

to make coffee toffee twisted frosty:

1 1/2 cups coffee-flavored ice cream
3-4 Tablespoons milk (I used skim, but any kind will do)1 to 1 1/12 toffee candy bars (I used Heath bars)2 Tablespoons hot fudge sauce

In a blender, combine the coffee, milk and hot fudge sauce. Blend until combined. (I use a hand blender and the large mixing cup that comes with it). Chop the toffee bar into bite-sized pieces and stir into the ice cream mixture. Depending on the sweetness level that you want, you may want to reduce the toffee candy bits. We used 1 1/2 bars and found that it was overpoweringly sweet.

 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

eggless cookie dough

Here the thing: David and I have a slight obession with ice cream. It's probably my fault though, and I almost feel bad for dragging David into this whirlwind of love...of ice cream that is. I've always been an ice cream fanatic. Whenever I would go out for ice cream cones with my family I would always finish mine first (which is the only time I ate fast as I'm normally the last one done eating) and then eat everyone's leftovers that they couldn't finish. What can I say? Over the years I've slowly dragged David into this obession, seeking out the best ice cream places (my favorite is Oberweiss Dairy) and making sure we always get some while on vacation. This love has bled over into our day-to-day lives -- yep, it's getting bad -- and yet we're still left slightly disappointed at times.

David's favorite ice cream is cookie dough. I'm not sure how many of you have run into this problem, but most store-bought ice cream is very much lacking in the cookie dough area. You can hardly find any bits in them! So, I took matters into my own hands.

Originally, I searched for a recipe for this eggless cookie dough because my littlest sister was allergice to eggs and she -- like me -- LOVES ice cream and I wanted to make some homemade with her one night. We still haven't gotten around to that quite yet, but this recipe has come in handy in other ways. I started making this cookie dough so that David and I can make our own cookie dough ice cream by mixing it into store-bought ice cream! It's awesome! And honestly, way better than the store bought little bits that are thrown in there anyway. I can't wait to pull out my ice cream machine and make an entire batch of vanilla ice cream from scratch while using this stuff! Enjoy!

 

to make eggless cookie dough:

1 stick unsalted butter, slightly softened
3/4 cup brown sugar1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract1/2 teaspoon salt1 cup all-purpose flour*2 Tablespoons milk (any kind)1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (mini work great, but regular ones are equally awesome)

In a large mixing bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, vanilla extract, and salt.

Add the flour and mix until just combined. It will be a little sandy and crumbly. Add the milk and mix again. It will come together nicely and resemble regular cookie dough now.

Add the chocolate chips and mix with a wooden spoon until nicely combined. Enjoy!

 

*there is a small risk that you can still get sick from eating raw flour. I've never had this happen, but eat at your own (delicious) risk

 

a week of dinners

As promised, I'm starting a feature this week of all my dinners. David and I are just settling into our new home together and we've had a blast making dinners, planning dinners, and even shopping for ingredients! Here I'll share how we get our list together for the week and what it was that we made with links to recipes whether they be by me or other even more wonderful cooks! If you have any questions, please feel free to ask!

Monday: tomato + tortellini soup

Tuesday: David tried a new (and not good) recipe for Pad Thai. The taste was there, but the texture was alllll wrong. We ended up ordering a Thai carryout from one of our favorite restaurants instead. It was worth it.

Wednesday: Caesar Salad Wraps

(This is my new favorite Caesar dressing and we've tried A LOT of Caesar recipes before. Plus! No raw eggs OR sardines.)

Thursday: David made an awesome version of chicken cordon blue using gruyere & pancetta instead of ham & swiss. My mom and step-dad also joined us for dinner, but I was having too much fun that I forgot to take pictures! I also made deliciously easy potatoes, that I will share the recipe for soon!

Friday: sausage + spinach pasta

Saturday: sesame chicken. David's friend's came over and this was a hit with all of them. I double the recipe, which says it serves four, but I was feeding three grown men + me.

Every week, I normally pick out 3-4 recipes and I make David pick out 1-2. He picks out less only because I'm slightly more obsessive about this whole cooking thing and I love it soooo much! After picking out the meals, I write down all the ingredients that we need to buy that week for them. I think split that list up between two different stores: a regular grocery store, and a market, which is where we get all of our fruits, most of our veggies, and all of our meat. I also clip as many coupons as I can and write down which products that I have coupons for before going into the stores which makes it a lot easier for us when we start shopping. Hope this helps out some people a bit with inspiration and so forth!

xoxo

p.s. I will be doing a project for my photography class this semester where I have to post weekly pictures with hashtags that include: a #selfie, a picture that I set up #myreality, an unedited picture #nofilter, and a photo and hashtag of my choice. If you would like to follow along or join in on the hashtagging this semester, check out my Tumblr (where the project will be hosted according to the professor).

tomato + tortellini soup

The semester has just started the past two weeks. As much as I love school, I am a little bummed out about my Monday schedule. Sundays and Mondays are my "weekend" but now I have a mid afternoon class and then a night class. I have only a couple hours to spare to relax, get a few things done, and make dinner (for all of you who are concerned, David does also make dinner, but I just love doing it). I whipped up this super easy and quick dinner this past Monday, which not only served as dinner for two, but also lunch for two as well (and I love me some leftovers for lunch!)

My favorite part of moving in with David is being able to make dinner every night. I love trying new recipes and I think it helps that I'm now forced to make dinner. Also, I'd be lying if I said that I didn't equally love figuring out my grocery list and finding coupons. Even ask David: he yells at me for being such a crazy freak about it. But because I love planning and making my meals so much, I decided that I would really love to share my weekly round-up of meals that I made in the past week. I hope you guys are able to get a lot of great ideas from it starting this week!

to make tomato + tortellini soup:

1 Tablespoon butter
1/2 small onion
1 large or 2 small cloves are garlic
salt and pepper
24oz chicken broth
12oz great-quality marinara (this is important because it's going to be the base of your soup)
a few fresh basil leaves
8oz cheese tortellini

In a pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Sautee the onion for about 5-7 minutes until it's tender and slightly browned. Add the garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Sautee for half a minute so that the garlic doesn't burn. Add the chicken broth, marinara, and basil and adjust the heat to high. Bring the mixture to a boil for a few minutes before adding the tortellini. Depending on if you use fresh or frozen tortellini will determine how long you cook them in the sauce. It took mine about 7-9 minutes. Serve hot and add chopped basil and parmesean cheese just before eating. mmm!

enjoy!

 

dinner in: Champps Americana

Hey guys! I'm starting a new feature on the blog today called "dinner in" where I make dinner based off of meals that I love from restaurants. Sometimes it's nice to go out and eat, but there are a few downfalls:

1. There are usually too many preservatives and fat2. It's pretty expensive just for one meal for two

So long ago (okay, not too long ago, which I kind of hate admitting) David and I would go to a restaurant called Champps Americana. It serves burgers, fries, ya know, that whole thing. Mostly we went here because I was still a server and it would be the only place that wasn't a bar that was open when I would get out of work. After a while (and possibly more fat added to our bodies) we stopped going there, but we still missed their bruschetta burger (which we always ordered with a turkey patty) and their sour cream dip for their fries.

We've made the bruschetta turkey burgers a few times before (and love them!) but we've never actually made the sour cream dip and I was super excited to try it out! It was pretty delicious too! We couldn't find the right kind of buns so we ended up making slider-like burgers!

to make bruschetta burger:

1 pound ground meat of choice
1 teaspoon dried basil
salt and pepper
good quality bruschetta
pesto
freshly shaved parmesean
ciabatta buns
butter

Heat a pan over medium heat and spray lightly with nonstick spray. Mix the basil into the meat and shape into burger patties of your size and salt and pepper the patties. Cook over heat until cooked all the way through, about 3-4 minutes on each side.

Heat broiler in oven. Slice ciabatta bread in half and butter the sliced sides. Toast the bread for a minute or two until slightly browned. On the bottom bun, spoon pesto (however much you want) place turkey patty on top. Spoon on bruschetta and shaved parmesean and place top bun over. Enjoy with some waffles fries and dipping sauce (below).

 

to make sour cream dipping sauce:

1/2 cup mayonaisse (I used light)
1/2 cup sour cream1 Tbs. fresh squeezed lemon juice1 1/2 tsp. dried parsley1/4 tsp. garlic powder1/4 tsp. onion powder1/2 tsp. paprika1 tsp. Worchestershire sauce1/4 tsp. cayenne pepperfreshley ground black pepper

In a small bowl, mix everything together. Refrigerate for at least a half an hour to let the flavors combine well. Enjoy with fries, burgers, etc. This should last in the fridge, covered in a container, for about 5 days.

 

enjoy!

 

 

 

 

starting with a bang

I wanted to start 2014 the same way I started 2013: with waffles! I didn't have any buttermilk on hand for my favorite waffles, but I did have some cinnamon rolls in the refrigerator. I saw this on pinterest some time ago and I've been dreaming of them ever since. This was halted for a minute yesterday morning when I dropped a champagne glass on the edge of the counter which then shattered, bounced, and sliced my leg open. David and I were convinced (and David still is) that I needed to get stiches, but I was able to get it to stop bleeding, so I refused to go. Plus, I got the okay from my mom and grandma that I was fine and wouldn't need any. I wasn't gonna let anything stop me from these waffles!

These are pretty much self-explanatory, but I'll let you in on the directions anyway.

Spray waffle iron of choice with non-stick cooking spray. Plug in and heat according to your specific waffle iron's instructions. Once heated, open a tube of cinnamon rolls and place 2-3 on the waffle iron. Close and cook all the way through. My waffle iron too 5-6 minutes to cook the rolls. Spread with cream cheese frosting while hot. Enjoy your little piece of Heaven with a glass of milk or orange juice.

Hey, I didn't say I was starting 2014 off fancy; just with waffles. haha.

xoxo

popcorn chicken + honey biscuits

Back in September, when Amanda and I went to Wolverine FNO, they served us some delicious appetizers. One of which included a tiny biscuit with honey and a piece of popcorn chicken wedged in the middle. I must have ate about 100 of those little things. Since then, I've been dreaming about making a version of them myself (was it just me, or were they actually this awesome that I couldn't stop thinking about them?). Well, I finally got around to it this week on my day off and...oh man, was it worth the wait. These were so easy, I'm not sure what took me so long to finally make them. I can definitely picture myself making these for many days to come (are you ready to eat these every night, David?)

to make popcorn chicken:

about 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
2/3 cup cornmeal mix
1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne seasoning
1 teaspoon mustard powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 Tablespoons finely grated fresh parmesean cheese
cooking spray

Rinse and pat dry the chicken breast. Cut into 1-inch cubes. In a small container, mix together chicken & yogurt. Let sit in the refrigerator for 45-60 minutes.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine the cornmeal mix, cayenne, mustard and garlic powder, and parmesean cheese in a small bowl. Shake the excess yogurt off the chicken and roll in the cornmeal mixture until evenly coated. Shake off excess mixture and place on baking sheet covered in nonstick aluminum foil. Spray chicken with nonstick spray. Cook the chicken 20-25 minutes, mixing it around halfway through.

to assemble biscuits:

I used a refrigerated biscuit and cooked it according to the direcgtions. Although,these would be really great as long as you cut them into smaller circles.

Once the biscuits have chilled slightly, use a fork to seperate them into two, horizantal halves. On the bottom half, spread on as much honey as you would like (I'm a big honey lover and did about 1 Tablespoon). Then put a few pieces of chicken and cover with the top half of the biscuit.

Enjoy!

xoxo

 

chicken and orzo soup

I've been on this soup kick for a while now. I make a big batch of soup one night, then feed everyone in my house for dinner with it and I also have lunch for a week. It's a win-win. I love having something to bring to work and eat hot for lunch (a lot of my meals are just bread and turkey and carrots or something along those lines). Especialy because I go straight from work to class and it's hard enough to find one meal, but two is basically impossible these days.

to make soup:

3 stalks of celery, chopped
3 large carrot sticks, chopped1 medium onion, choppedSome olive oil
1/2 cup white wine
4 cups chicken stalk, plus two more
1 pound uncooked chicken, cut into 4-inch cubes1 1/2 cups orzo (rice-like pasta)salt and pepper to taste

In a large pot, brown the celery, carrots, and onion with olive oil and salt & pepper over medium heat for about five minutes. Next, add the white wine and bring the temperture up to medium-high. Simmer until the wine has been reduced completely, about 10 minutes or so. Bring the heat up to high and add in the chicken stalk. Bring to a boil. Add the chicken and simmer over medium heat for 15-20 minutes until the chicken is cooked through. Take the chicken out of the pot, shred it, and return it back into the pot. Add orzo to the pot and boil for 7-8 minutes until the pasta is al dente. Add more chicken stock if necessary because sometimes the orzo soaks up all the liquid. Add more salt and pepper to taste. Serve with freshly grated parmesean and obviously some good bread.

 

xoxo

 

foodie pinspiration

Since David and I are moving out this month, we've both been daydreaming about cooking together. It's something we love to do and to be able to plan out meals and cook them together seems awesome. Although, I also know the reality will feel not-as-awesome when it's a day we're both exhausted and the last thing we wanna do is get up from the couch, let alone cook. I know we'll do our best though and I can't wait to be in charge of my own fridge. haha. And I'm sure my mom will be thrilled to not hear me say, "Is there anything in the house to eat?!"

I'm super excited to make:

• Greek chicken
• Mac n' Cheese (with Greek yogurt!)
• Tortellini soup (I love making soup that will last us all week!)
• Foccacia bread rolls
• And to top it off: Pumpkin ice cream & Snickerdoodle sandwiches

Is there anything that you love/hate about cooking? Any quick and delicious recipes out there that you like?

 

xoxo

Taylor

maple popcorn

David and I are big fans of movies & popcorn. I have an air popper that I love using to make popcorn every time we watch a movie (which lately hasn't been too often because we've been so dang busy). I always try to find fun ways to make popcorn tasty. I use some ranch flavoring, which I love, and I've made a snickerdoodle mix to sprinkle on as well (I'll share that recipe some day). My mom and I have always loved caramel corn, and I really like this alternative. It's just as chewy and slightly less sweet than caramel corn is.

to make popcorn:

1/2 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup unpopped popcorn1/2 cup maple syrup1/4 cup sugar1/2 teaspoon salt1/4 teaspoon baking soda1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 250^o & butter (or spray with nonstick spray) a baking sheet and bowl. Pop the corn kernals whichever way you want. My favorite is my air popper, but I believe there are ways you can do it in a pan with oil. Put the popped corn into the buttered bowl and set aside for now.

In a pot on medium heat, melt together the butter, maple syrup, sugar, and salt. Raise the temperature to medium-high and bring to a boil. Let bubble for five minutes, then add the baking soda and vanilla extract. It will wildly bubble and spit at you, so be careful and make sure that the pot you have is big enough to handle it.

Take the sugar mixture off the burner and, in cup measurments, gently pour over the popcorn. Stir well. Continue doing this in cup measurments until it's all mixed in. Spread out onto the baking sheet evenly. Bake in the oven for 1 hour and then let cool before eating.

Store at room temperature in an air-tight container for 3 weeks, or in the freezer in a freezer safe container or bag for up to 6-months (I haven't tried this, but I hear it's good right out of the freezer).