Toffee

Had a cookie exchange at work.  While I was waiting for the dough for my actual cookie to cool in the fridge, I thought I would whip up some toffee.  I made this once before and it was so good.  This is where it came from. 

What you'll need.  Not pictured is the water or vanilla.

 

Put all but vanilla in saucepan.  OP uses a cast iron skillet.

Look to the OP for the explanation of what to look for to know when the candy is done.  This recipe doesn't use a thermometer.

 

I got distracted and let this batch go a few minutes too long. 



See the butter separating?  I think that's the result of cooking too long.  Don't worry though, if this happens just take some paper towels and soak up the oil

Spread the chips over the warm toffee.  If for whatever reason the candy cools too much to melt the chocolate, just stick in a 300 degree oven for a minute or so.

Spread out chocolate.

Sprinkle whatever nuts you want into melted chocolate or use no nuts at all.  Mix nuts into candy before cooling then do chocolate.  You can do whatever you want.  I think whatever nuts I use next time I'm going to toast first.

I stuck it all into the fridge for about 10 minutes then took it out and broke into pieces.  This recipe is SO easy to do and you probably already have most if not all of the ingredients on hand.  Note that the OP says to make sure you use AA grade butter or better.  I never knew there were grades of butter!

Enjoy!



Pork Lo Mein

Hi!

Been a while.  A few months I believe.  Don't know what to say except I've had a lot going on. Personal issues, work issues, family issues and in between that sick with various stomach and sinus problems.  I've been in a bad place for a while and as a result, I've gained almost all 20 pounds I lost over the past year.

I haven't been cooking because frankly, I've been doing nothing but stuffing my face with fast food and beer. 

I'm slowly getting back in the swing of things because I hope to be going on my first cruise this spring.  I haven't told my mom I gained all the weight back and I don't plan too.

So here we go with a recipe for pork lo mein full of veggies!


Tried something new here.  When I have take-out chinese I always noticed the noodles are brown.  This is a pot of water with soy sauce and sesame oil.

This is what I used for noodles.  Use whatever you like.

This is what the noodles looked like after boiling to al dente.  I tasted them and they did have a slight taste of soy sauce but not over powering.

The rest of the ingredients.  The meat is pork, use whatever you like. 

I don't like to bite into even the smallest bit of ginger so what I do is put my sesame oil in and slowly "fry" the ginger.  I let this go at low heat for 10 -15 minutes to get the flavor of the ginger.

When you're done with the ginger, stir fry your pork until no longer pink in the same oil.

When meat is done, add veggies according to how done/crisp you want then to be.

When veggies are done, add meat and pasta and mix everything together to combine and cook for another few minutes.

After combined and everything is heated through, take everything out with a slotted spoon.  The juice that is left will be your sauce.  At this point I added a few more squirts of soy sauce, a good handfull of brown sugar, a few squirts of Siracha and thes some cornstarch to thicken it up.

Pour in sauce and mix to combine.

Enjoy.

Pasta Salad with Poached Shrimp and Lemon-Dill Dressing

 

I was just flipping through Pinterest and saw this pretty pasta salad.  I love shrimp and had all the ingredients on hand so I figured this would be nice for lunch.  I got the recipe here.  

 

It was ok.  For me very lemony.  I think what my mistake was was that I used bottled lemon juice instead of fresh.  I also only had dried dill, not fresh. 

 

I think I might like to try this again and follow the recipe exactly. 

 

The dressing mixed up.

My skrimps.

Skrimps in the dressing.



Finished product.

After thinking about it, I think one thing that kind of turned me off of it was just the fact that when I think "pasta salad" I think mayo based.  The pasta in the dish was really dry to me and I'm thinking a little mayo would make it better.  I'm also thinking same salad but without the pasta.  Maybe some more veggies like green peppers and carrots.

Flag Cake

 

I hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th.  I was off but had to go in on the 5th.  Not a huge deal since we weren't busy and it was a chance to catch up on some stuff.

 

Anyway, I saw this cake on Pinterest and when I saw it I knew I just had to try and bring in for the skeleton crew that worked the 5th.  I even had doubters when I showed them I was going to make it.  Well, the cake itself was really easy.  It's a little time consuming just because of all the steps.  You can see the recipe here.  I think for the first time attempting this, I did good.  I have to admit, all the components are store bought but there's some additions that are unique.  At least to me. 

 

So here's how it turned out.  Everyone said it was really tasty.  Not too shabby!

 

 

Baked Bacon

 

 

I hate making bacon.  It splatters when you pan fry it and it never really gets crispy when you nuke it.  Enter baking.  Now the only down side to this is the length of time it takes which is usually about 20-30 minutes.  So if you're making it to eat at the moment, not you best method.  I make a batch for the week so I'm usually doing and cooking other things at the same time anyway.

 

Start with a rack on a foil lined baking sheet.  Trust me on the foil part.

 

 

Place the bacon as close as possible but don't overlap.



 

 I bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes.  I also like this method because the bacon stays flat which is perfect for a BLT.

 Now you have nice crispy bacon for all your bacon needs.

 

See all that grease in the pan?  If you're so inclined, you can drain it off and save it for whatever you do with bacon grease.  If you're like me and sadly trying to avoid tasty, bad for you things, stick the whole pan in the fridge and roll up and toss the foil after the grease has hardened.  Just make sure you crumple the foil kind of like a little package so if the grease melts you wont have a mess in the trash bag.

 

 

So there you have it, baked bacon!



Tortilla Roll-ups or Pinwheels

I had a function at work where we were to bring in finger foods.  I was feeling lazy so I looked for something easy that didn't need to be kept warm.  I see these all the time on Pinterest in various varieties.  I looked at many ideas and really just threw 2 different kinds together.  I used the same base for both which was cream cheese and ranch dressing powder.

For the BLT version, I just diced tomatoes and cooked bacon and mixed in the cream cheese mixture.  Then I spread it out on a whole wheat burrito sized tortilla.

 

Then I covered it with romaine lettuce.

 

Then rolled it up tight in plastic wrap.

 

The next morning I cut them into slices.  



 

This is the turkey and provolone version I did with the same cream cheese mixture.  They looked much prettier, but both tasted good.

 

 

 

This will be my go-to for me now if I have to make something quick.  There are so many variations you could do.

 

Enjoy!



Microvave Potato Chips

 

A few months ago I saw a pin on Pinterest for microwave potato chips.  There are actually a few, so if you want to see them just search.  Anyway, I tried them and they were ok.  Using a mandolin speeds things up as far as slicing.  The only thing is, it's time consuming to do 1 plate of chips at a time.  They also took way longer to actually get crispy.  I never did it again.

 

Then, at work, someone brought in a Pampered Chef catalogue.  I glanced through it just to look.  Then, I saw their microwave chip makers.  Long story short, I got them.

 

The nice thing is, there's 2 that you can stack so nuking goes way quicker.  The only thing I didn't like was that the recommended 3 minute time was way too short.  This just may have been because my microwave is a bit older and maybe not as powerful. 

 

Not shown, but I also did sweet potatoes which took a little less time than the white potatoes and were really good.  Next time I might sprinkle a little cinnamon on them.

 



I think I used Yukon golds.  I was thinking cooking time might be lower with Russet or another lower moisture potato.  These are out on paper towels and lightly salted with sea salt.  Also patted on top with another paper towel layer.

 

First layer.

 

Two layers in the microwave.

 This is after about 3 minutes which is what the instructions say is the max.  As you can see, they're just a little translucent.

 

This is after 7 or 8 minutes.  You can see how they're browning a little, but it doesn't affect the flavor.  At this point, they're nice and crispy.  Now I'm not going to try and lead you to believe these taste like store bought bagged chips.  In fact, if you're a dip lover, these would be a  perfect alternative for dipping.  A lot better for you than greasy chips.

 

Of course Calli needed to get in on the action...

 

 

and munched away.

 

I also did some apple slices.

 

They didn't end up crispy, but would still be a good snack with some cinnamon sprinkled on them.

 

7

Chicken Parm Enchiladas

 

These were really good.  I just kind of took the idea of enchiladas and the craving for chicken parm and went with it.  I really didn't want to make your usual chicken parm.  Too lazy.  This is basically sauteed onions and garlic mixed with your choice of jar sauce and shredded chicken that came from a whole chicken I did in the crock pot the day before.

 

Rolled up chicken, sauce, garlic and onion mix in whole wheat tortillas and sprinkled shredded "Italian blend" cheese I had.  First spread some sauce on the bottom so the tortillas don't stick.

Roll up until pan is full and mix is used up.

Finish pan, spread some more sauce over top and cover with more cheese.

Bake for about 20 min at 425.

This is yummy.  The tortillas get pretty soggy, but not in a bad way.  I portioned leftovers for lunch and it was good. 

Enjoy!