Fried Rice

Fried rice: further proof for the phenomena that anything tastes better when you add salt, oil and heat (through cooking). In this dish, day-old rice and fresh veggies get the treatment. What’s not to love? This was my first time making it and I loved it.

This was also my first time making a fried egg. I ended up doing it over easy because while soft, runny yolks = nomz, soft uncooked whites = gross. I learned a nice distinction about eggs as well. Observe.

• Fried egg / sunny side up: Egg is cooked on one side only. Yolk is runny and whites are mostly but not fully set
• Egg “over easy:” Egg is cooked mostly on one side but flipped near the end of cooking time. You still get the delicious salty runny yolk but the white is fully cooked.

Tutorial: how to fry an egg. You’re welcome.

Recipe from Foodie at Fifteen

Spicy caramel popcorn

spicy caramel popcorn | smitten kitchen.

My first crack at making caramel. It was surprisingly easy. Hmmmmm. Plus, this recipe gets a little naughtier with an addition of cayenne powder.

Mango applesauce

Storebought applesauce is great – cheap, healthy, tastes pretty good. But it’s a bit predictable, so I made my own. This is barely a recipe; more of pointing out a specific cooking technique you can use to make pureed food.

Speaking of pureed food, I think I’m going to be one of those parents who insists on making their own baby food. I mean, you have to ensure the best for your child, don’t you? — this line of thinking has inspired me to google how to make homemade pet food, but from little cat cookies to full-blown raw diets that make you grind bones the differing opinions are way too confusing, my cats are still eating dry food. Sorry, cat girls. Jury’s still out on how best to feed you. Besides, we fed your predecessor dry food and she lived to be 19.

Back to the applesauce. I made this one with mango and used this recipe (cutesy pictures included).

Mango Applesauce

INGREDIENTS

• 2 1/2 pounds Apples, cleaned, cored and cut into chunky pieces, keep the skins on (I used Cripps Pink. Cripps, like the gang hehe)
• 2 Mangos, cleaned and pitted, skin removed and cut into chunks
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• a squirt of Lemon Juice
• 1 cup Water

METHOD

In a medium saucepan combine apples, mangos, water, lemon juice and vanilla. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to a simmer. Simmer applesauce for about a 1/2 hour, stirring occasionally. Let applesauce cool for a few minutes. With ladle put applesauce in blender or food processor. Puree until desired consistency is reached. Add more water if needed.

Bottom left photo = living dangerous with that irresistible immersion blender blade.

Results: the mango flavor was a nice addition. The vanilla was kind of dominant; I think I’d leave it out next time. Didn’t add any sugar and didn’t miss it. I used this applesauce in some muffins and ate the rest on my oatmeal for a few days. I also froze some which worked out well. Recommend! Very simple recipe and satisfying results. Plus, being able to use the immersion blender to get it to the desired texture was nice.

Cream of Wheat- FAIL!

deception

In an effort to diversify my breakfasts in both taste and nutrition, I bought some whole grain cream of wheat cereal. Cream of wheat is like, some form of wheat that’s prepared like oatmeal. It also goes by the name malt-o-meal. It’s thinner than oatmeal and kind of soupy. I had it a couple times last year and even though it made me feel like an old person, I enjoyed it.

This morning, spying the rarely-used box in my pantry, I tried it again.

The whole experience was bad, from start to finish.

Things wrong with cream of wheat:

1. Messy to measure out. There’s a spout on the side of the box, and you have to pour it out like dish detergent. It spilled over my tablespoon.
2. The fact that I had to measure it at all sucked. I can eyeball oatmeal.
3. You have to microwave it for a minute, then stir, then microwave for 30s, then stir, so clumps don’t form.
4. You also have to watch it like a HAWK or else it boils over the top.
5. Mine never got thick.
6. It still managed to boil over and dirty up my microwave.
7. I added yogurt, honey and raisins – and it still didn’t taste good.

Or maybe that was just the taste of defeat.

I couldn’t find a good blog post defaming cream of wheat, so I had to write one myself. You’re welcome.

That better not be some cream of wheat boiling over down there...

Spring Break Actually Starts (Friday)

On Friday, I joined about half the student body at Baylor and attended my normal classes ;)

It looked like it was about to rain all day, but enthusiasm was still high. I made good use of my first free afternoon by lazily surfing the internet, watching Flotrack videos (Brian Sell’s life after retiring, Christine Babcock’s injury-plagued college career – great perspective) and looking up baking blogs like I Am Baker.

Two other friends, Katie and Caitlin, had my roommate, Sam, and I over for dinner. Katie made chipotle cashew chicken with brown rice (recipe from Rachael Ray). Katie’s reputation around here is for her amazing baking (i.e. layer cakes from scratch for birthdays, chocolate-dipped peanut butter crackers at Bible study) but this dish certainly delivered. It was a little hot, a little sweet, with a nice salty sauce that soaked into the rice.

Chipotle Cashew Chicken

Sam and I rounded out the meal, bringing a basic spinach salad with Martha Stewart vinaigrette (“Martha’s favorite vinaigrette,” man, she likes her dressing strong) and a Sock It To Me Cake from the Neelys of “Down Home Cooking.” The cake starts with a basic yellow mix, you add a pecan streusel in the middle of the batter, then a yummy lemon glaze. Sam has even been to the Neelys’ Tennessee restaurant and eaten this very cake. The authenticity she brought to this dessert took it to the next level, haha.

Mmmm, check out those pecan cross sections

We ate on Katie’s brightly colored Fiesta Ware, cozily seated around the coffee table, talking with “Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants” on in the background. We simultaneously mocked it while enjoying the touching moments. BTW, Katie owns a shirt that Alexis Bledel wears in the movie. She is so cool.

My friends have Hollywood fashion, no big deal

Another night of good friends and good food. We had a great time just catching up on life. Even though we all go to Baylor we’re so busy we don’t see each other much.

To cap off the night, Cait took us to see “The Adjustment Bureau.” I went in with zero expectations since I’d seen only half of the trailer. But all of us loved it – it was fun, romantic and surprisingly thought-provoking about life and even spirituality.

Perfect start to spring break in the 254!