I'm a maaaaaniac..maaaaaniac on the floor.

I just put the image of Chris Farley's gas pump dance scene from Tommy Boy in your head, didn't I?  Oh I didn't?  Well, now I did. You're welcome.

I have been quite the little cooking machine.  Stella...move out of the way because Kristen got her grove back!  <insert sassy finger snap>  I was in a rut with cooking because I was sick of the food I kept making and didn't want to try new recipes because if they were bad (or I didn't do something right), then I just wasted time and money.  Plus, now what the heck am I going to eat for dinner?  And since I'm only one person, that means I'm out lunch and dinner the next day too!

Well, I decided that if I stick with recipes that mostly use ingredients I know/like, then chances are things will go well.  I came across this recipe called "Philly Cheesesteak Stuffed Peppers."  I didn't want the meat called for in the recipe so I changed it.  Chicken or black beans sound like good alternatives depending on what you like.  I must say, this was quite the delicious dinner!  I have been on the lookout for food that is lower in carbs and I found this gem.

 

 

I'm not completely cutting out carbs (obviously there are carbs in vegetables), but my goal is to be more conscious about the types of carbs I'm eating.  I want to eat fewer bread type carbs and instead incorporate more carbs from veggies while still occasionally using oats, rice, quinoa, etc.

If you're interested in making the recipe yourself, here is the link.  If you notice, I sliced the provolone in half for the inside of the peppers because I only found medium sized peppers and let's face it.  Fitting a whole slice of provolone in those peppers was like fitting 5 pounds of crap in a 3 pound bag.  Not going to be pretty.  But, I still think my half a slice of provolone worked out really well.

Next on the menu, mini pies.  This is what actually got me back into the baking/cooking mood when I made a version of these for my best friend's birthday earlier this month.  Then I made them again for another bestie's birthday.

I made a cranberry/strawberry filling.  I learned the hard way, but luckily you get to benefit from my mistakes.  Since strawberries are pretty watery already, mixing them with sugar only pulls out the liquid.  (I should have known this because I've made a sauce where you sprinkle some sugar over strawberries.  Place it in the fridge and the sugar pulls out the liquid for a great sauce on Angel Food Cake.)  Anyway, I decided to add cranberries to help thicken things up.  Then there was liquid draining, sugar adding, rinse, repeat, you get the idea.  So, this is what I would do next time:

Sauce/Filling for Mini Pies:

1.) Put cut strawberries and 1/3 c. sugar in sauce pan.  Turn up to a medium heat and stir regularly.

2.) After about 5 minutes, the strawberries will have a liquidy sauce.  Adding the cranberries will help thicken it up.

3.) Then add about 1/2 a bag of cranberries to the mix along with 1/4 c. of water and 1/4 c. of sugar.

4.) If the sauce looks too runny/pink, add more sugar.  If it's too thick, add a bit more water.  

*Note, the sauce won't completely jell until cooled so if it's bright red and a little thick, then you're good.  I notice it's done when I lift the spoon out of the sauce and can see little bubbles on the spoon.

*Alternative method: follow the instructions on the cranberry bag (1 c. water, 1 c. sugar, bag of cranberries).  Then add blueberries once the cranberry mix is heated.  The blueberries weren't as temperamental as the strawberries, but both tasted yummy in my opinion.

Original Crust:
This lady clearly knows what she's doing and mine look like crap compared to hers (mine look more like tarts) but hey.  I'm not a full time chef here so cut me some slack.  You can use her recipe for the crust.  The only issue I had was it didn't make as many pies as I thought it would have.  Probably an error on my part.  After all, we already established I'm the novice.

For this version, I played around with an alternative crust.  Instead of using all-purpose flour like I did last time, I made my own oat flour to use instead.  Thanks, Vitamix!  (I also made some brown rice flour too, but the oat flour takes much less time and I was reading online how the oat flour works better in pie crusts.)

*I used her recipe except I substituted the all-purpose flour for 2 c. of oat flour and 1/2 c. of potato starch.  (I read that potato starch helps makes recipes a bit smoother and not so grainy.)  I also tried cutting down on the butter and only used one stick.  Um, yeah.  It was a bit crumbly so I'm going to wager a guess that I need to add the other stick or see if adding applesauce for the other half helps.

Next on my list was trying this Hungry Girl recipe for this Greek slaw salad.  It calls for raspberry vinaigrette, which gives it a little bit of sweetness.  It was different, but good different.  I made the vinaigrette from scratch and again, gotta thank my Vitamix.  I'm seriously adoring that thing!

Yum all around!!!  And for the record, I think I would enjoy cooking/baking so much more if I had a dishwasher...not named Kristen.  One named GE, Maytag, or Whirpool.

Challenge accepted. Challenge - FAIL!

I'm just going to put it out there.  I sucked something awful at doing the whole no-more-soda challenge for the month of June.  Despite drinking it more often that I care to admit (and frankly, I couldn't even tell you how much soda I drank if I tried), I decided I actually do not particularly care for it.  When I stopped and thought about it, I honestly realized how much it takes like carbonated chemicals.  I only drink diet soda so I can't speak to the taste of regular soda anymore.  However, it got me thinking.  (Brace yourselves.  This could get ugly.)

If I stopped and really thought about whether or not I want or even like a particular food or drink before I consumed it, how much less junk would I be putting in my body?  You may be saying, "No crap, Columbo," but while it sounds like a logical thing to do, how often do we actually stop and think about what we put in our bodies?  Sure, I think I'll buy all the healthy stuff in the produce section at the grocery store, but it comes down to it do I truly like these things or am I buying them because I think I have to since they're healthy or because I think I want it/like it when I really don't?

Therefore, I proclaim:
I do not like my soda pop.
I would not drink it with a cop.
I do not like it in my house.
I do not like it, Santa Klaus.
I will not drink it with a boar.
I do not want it anymore.



PS - I will be playing around with more recipes and will blog about those after some trial-and-error.  :)