This was me today. This is me most days.
Author Archives: stacey
Empty Coffee Cups
Nothing makes me sadder. 🙁
Eggroll In A Bowl Breakfast
This is right up my alley. I love eggroll fillings, but I haven’t been a fan of deep fried wantons for a few decades now. I need to make this at some point this week.
Sugar-Free Fudgy Pops
What do you think of this? Is this something you can eat? This might work for you during the hot summer months.
I forget where I found this online last year, but it seems like it might work for you. Xanthan gum can be bought at grocery stores in the baking aisle, or you can buy a small amount from a bulk store.
Instructions:
In a saucepan on med-high, whisk milk / cream / Swerve / cocoa powder together. Bring to boil; cook 1 min, stirring often.
Off heat, add peppermint and xanthan gum. Whisk in well. Cool mixture on counter 10-15 mins. Pour into popsicle molds. Freeze 1 hour before adding wooden sticks. Continue freezing another 4-5 hours.
Run pops under hot water 30 seconds to release them from the molds.
Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Smoothie
Another throwback to that time I made up a tasty little smoothie on the fly. I was trying to use up some of the flavoured oatmeal packs I had a lot of at the time before they started to turn rancid.
Anti-Pasto Platter
A throwback picture to when I worked in catering and we’d have to make these huge anti-pasto platters for 100+ guests from time to time. To make it easier for us to make these on the fly, and for the times when only one of us would work on it because the other was too busy with another order, the catering manager standardized the look of the platters.
These boards really only changed minimally depending on what and how much of an ingredient we had on hand that day. I still like making these, but my husband isn’t into charcuterie boards. At all. Despite it being mostly meat. It’s baffling to me. 🙂
Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins
I really need to make these strawberry cream cheese muffins again very soon. So good. *drooling*
How I did it: I made a basic oatmeal muffin using a bag mix, mixed up a cream cheese filling, and sliced up some strawberries.
I added 75% of the sliced strawberries to the batter and used the other 25% to the tops after dropping a big dollop of the cream cheese filling into the top middle spot of each muffin.
I used a skewer to swirl the cream cheese down into the filling a big before covering it up with one or two slices.
Bake as normal according to the muffin mix instructions.
The Future of My Hair
My hair is now long enough I can cut off the lion’s share to donate for wig making that benefits cancer patients, so how is the time I have to figure out what I want the rest of my hair to look like. I have narrowed it down to two looks, and I can’t decide which one I want.
If I go shorter first, I can donate more, but I’m not really suited to too short. Hmm.
I have a feeling I will have to start with this above one, and then grow it out to the below one. The below one I love the most on me, but the donation cut may necessitate the first one. We’ll see. *fingers crossed*
Steak Quesadillas
Sometimes, after a long day at work, you just need a quesadilla. And a plain cheese quesadilla won’t cut it. That’s when you turn to chicken or, my fave, steak quesadillas. So satisfying.
I picked up a few fast fry steaks, patted them dry and only used S&P on both sides before pan frying them in butter and oil for a short time on each side. After they rested, I sliced them on the diagonal and topped my quesadillas with the tasty strips.
I was going to grill these but I couldn’t be bothered heating up another appliance. I already had the stove on to cook the jalapeno boats, so I grabbed another sheet tray to lay the quesadillas on to bake. Sure, they don’t look as pretty as if I had grilled them, but I just wanted to get that job done that night. 🙂
Sometimes I grill them, too, though.
When I cut them, I take care to keep the cut without an edge with a bit of one so it doesn’t fall apart as I move it from the cutting board to the plate. That tiny bit of uncut folded area, about 1/4″, doesn’t seem like it would help, but it does. It really does.
After you cut the half moon quesadilla into two triangles down the middle, move your knife in place to cut those two pieces into two again to get the four triangles. Now move your knife 1/4″ over to the right (or left) of the centre along the folded edge, and cut down from there to the mid point of the triangle.
Sometimes I serve this with a dip, sometimes not. Your choice. Enjoy!
Jalapeno Boats
We love pub grub, but we don’t really like going to pubs around here. They all tend to be sports themed, and we’re not into that scene. We do like patio dining, but we’re not there yet weather wise. Until then, I make us some of our faves at home. First up, Jalapeno Boats. Love these so much.
Jalapeno Boats:
6 Jalapenos
8 oz Cream Cheese, room temp
1/4 C Cheddar Cheese, grated
3 Bacon Strips, cooked, crumbled
S&P
1 tea ea: Onion Powder / Paprika
1/2 tea Garlic Powder
2 tea Butter
1 C Panko (or any other breadcrumbs) *
Trim the tails off the jalapenos barely, leaving a wall of white flesh in tact to create the look of a row boat’s blunt end. Set aside.
In a bowl, mix cream cheese with bacon bits, seasons and cheese grate. When combined completely, scoop this creamy filling into each boat. Don’t overfill the boats. The mixture should be level and flush to the sides of the boats.
* Optional Topping: I tend to make these boats with a panko topping, but I’ve also made them without it. Sometimes, like in these pix, I top the boats with half a bacon strip. Both methods are delicious.
If you want to use the panko method, simply melt the butter in a shallow fry pan. When it bubbles, throw in the panko and move it around in the pan until the butter is all soaked up. Kill the heat. Shake the pan so the panko sits evenly across the pan’s surface.
Place a boat at a time in the pan cream cheese side down. Flip it over and add a bit more panko on the top. Place these finished boats on a foil lined sheet tray or baking dish.
Bake at 400 degrees for 20 mins.