Trial and Error....

Everyone makes mistakes...even at something they're good at.  It's only a matter of time before a mistake occurs.  I think it's only fair that I put a few of my kitchen mishaps on here to show everyone out there, that even people who have been cooking a while mess up.  So here is what happens when one is trying to cook and has no patience and is in a rush...

~Last night's dinner..Pizza!  I wanted to be creative and make my own pizza dough..FROM SCRATCH.  I have never attempted this, shouldn't be that hard, right?  Just mix a little yeast with warm water, flour, olive oil, etc...

Being extremely hungry and ready to eat...I wasn't about to wait the amount of time the directions said for the dough to rise...1 hour!  Also, it had to be in a draft free room (away from AC).  I also thought that didn't matter much.  So I just covered the dough and put it on the kitchen table and waited about 30 min...

Anyway, so then all seems to be going accordingly, so I decide to put it on the round pan and dress it up.  (note to self, if doing this..put enough cornmeal at the bottom so it will slide off easily onto pizza stone...

So far, so good right?  Looks yummy..lots of cheese, can't wait to eat!   But then...

DISASTER...

Lesson learned on this one.   Don't try to rush things by cutting directions!!  The directions are there for a reason.  Several errors on this one, but mainly...I didn't put near enough cornmeal, so it stuck when I tried to slide it onto the pizza stone.  Better luck next time!! : / Dinner last night consisted of garlic breadsticks....those were quite tasty!

Beef Tips & Rice

So easy and so yummy!

You Will Need...

~1 package of stew meat
~2 packages McCormick brown gravy mix
~1 small onion, chopped
~2 teaspoons garlic, minced
~2 1/2 cups water + 1 cup water for gravy
~salt and pepper


Brown stew meat in about 2 Tablespoons of olive oil for about 15-20 minutes.  Add onions and cook for an additional 1-2 minutes.  Add garlic.

Add 2 cups of water and bring to a boil.  Simmer for 45 minutes, covered.  In a bowl, fill with 1 cup of water and empty gravy packets.  Stir until dissolved in water and slowly add to beef tips.  Stir in gravy and bring to a boil.  Let boil for an additional 5 minutes.  Cook rice according to directions.  Serve beef tips over rice.


 
After gravy is added                                    
Finished with side of spinach!
                                                            
             

A Tip for Cooking with Vino...

I have recently started cooking with wine.  Red and white.  I've always been a big wine drinker, but I thought with cooking...I could cut costs by using a really "cheap" wine.  Don't do this!   Your food will still have the flavor of the wine.  Only cook with wine you would drink.  If you pour yourself a glass and it makes you gag...your food won't taste much better....  Just a tip!

A Great Dinner Made With Leftovers

I had no clue what to make for dinner last night..I was tired and just wanted to be lazy.  So I went through the freezer and we have had a container of red beans frozen for a couple of weeks...I made it into a great dinner!  Red Beans and Rice and Cornbread.  Winner!

Best Sushi!

Brookshire's Sushi Bar is THE BEST.  I know you're probably thinking grocery store sushi....um no.  I'm telling you, the location in Shreveport on Line Avenue is seriously some good sushi.  It's always fresh and affordable.  I can get a 6 piece nigiri and a 12 piece roll for 15.95 total.  It would be twice that much in a sit down restaurant.  I love the salmon nigiri and spicy tuna roll!

Chicken Parmesan

Really easy and very good!   You will need....

~2 boneless chicken breasts
~3 TBL olive oil

~salt and pepper

~1 tsp Italian seasoning

~Spaghetti sauce(about 2 cups)...homeade or from a jar

~1/3 cup of Mozzarella cheese

Preheat oven to 500 degrees.

Sprinkle both sides of chicken with salt and pepper.  Mix olive oil and Italian seasoning together and brush each side of chicken.  Brown chicken in a large pan for about 4-5 minutes on each side. 

Then, place chicken in a greased casserole dish and put spaghetti sauce on top of chicken and all around.  Sprinkle top with cheese and but a little slice butter on top of the cheese.  Bake for 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

YUM!

Perfect Steak

Joey's friend, who is a chef, told him if you have a good steak...all you need to put on it is salt and pepper.  This was our dinner last night.  It was pretty much awesome.  Joey put salt, pepper and a little garlic powder.  This is a beautiful ribeye...(we defintely split this!)

Right off the grill!

Diaper Cake

I made my first ever "diaper cake" this weekend for my sister's baby shower.   Even though it's obviously not edible, I still had to put it on here!   It's really easy to make, just a little time-consuming.

You will need...

~70 diapers (a pack of 70 costs around 16.00 @ Walmart)
~a bunch of rubber bands
~a card board cake plate to place the finished product on
~a center...could be baby bottles (I did a bottle of wine)

                    
Basically, all you have to do is place the item in middle and wrap diapers around it to create tiers.  Roll each individual diaper with a rubber band.   When you get done with each circle on the tier, wrap all diapers with a rubber band.  You can hide the rubber band with a bow like I did.   The bottom tier has 3 parts, the inside(diapers wrapped around the wine bottle), middle and outside.  There are a lot of YouTube videos and you can get as creative as you want.

Labor Day Cooking: Cajun Style

My husband who is from South Louisiana is an amazing cook!  He makes the best jambalaya I have ever had.  He competed in the "mini pot" section of the Jambalaya Festival last year in Gonzales, LA.  He had to cook a jambalaya over an open flame, which is very difficult to do.  It takes 2 hours, but it is AMAZING! So for Labor Day, he made a delish jambalaya!

A Little Bit Of Awesomeness

Last night was a "board game night" and yours truly provided some appetizers!   I made mini taco salads!  Everyone loved them and they're super easy!  To make, you will need....


~Tostios Scoops chips
~1 lb ground meat
~package of taco seasoning

~shredded lettuce

~grated cheddar cheese

~salsa

~ranch dressing

Brown ground meat in a large pan.  Add taco seasoning according to package directions.

Then place a little spoonful of cooked meat in the tortilla chip.

Next add a sprinkle of cheese.

Then top with a few shreds of lettuce.

Put a drop of ranch on top of lettuce.

Finally put a tiny drop of salsa.

The Perfect Chocolate Frosting

Why would anyone buy a container of frosting when you could make some this good?  I have been trying to make this, but it has usually come out too watery.  This is PERFECT.  It will go great on cupcakes, cakes, brownies....just make sure you don't eat it all before it goes on the cupcakes!:)

You Will Need...                                                                    

~1 stick of butter

~3 cups powdered sugar
~3/4 cups cocoa
~2 Tablespoons Milk
~1/2 teaspoon vanilla


Let butter get to room temp.  Cream the butter and then add sugar and cocoa and then milk/vanilla.  Mix until it is creamy. 

Chicken Florentine Style & White Wine Risotto

Gourmet dinners aren't that hard to make!  You just need a little time and planning.  The other night a made Chicken Florentine Style and White Wine Risotto.  I have never made risotto, but it's really good!  It will definitely take a little while to master this.  Risotto is an Italian rice dish, made with Arborio rice. Arborio rice is an Italian short grained rice.   It's cooked to a creamy consistency (not too thick or watery).  It has to be made just right.  I made mine with white wine, chicken stock and a finely chopped onion. There are many variations of this dish, such as mushroom, asparagus or red wine risotto.  I just wanted to do a simple one for my first try.   To make risotto, you will need the following...

~1/2 finely chopped onion (you don't want chunks of onion

     ~1/2 cup white wine

     ~4 cups chicken stock

     ~1 cup Arborio rice

     ~2 Tablespoons butter

     ~parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup for garnish)

Place chicken stock in a small pot over medium-low heat to keep warm.  In a large saucepan, over medium heat, add butter.  When butter starts to melt, add onions.  Cook onions for 1-2 minutes (don't let them get brown). for about 2-3 minutes, also don't let rice get brown.  Add 1/2 cup of white, stirring constantly until absorbed by the rice. Then, add 1 ladle or 1/2 cup of chicken stock, also stirring until absorbed.  Do not add another ladle of stock until previous is abosrbed.  Do this until all stock is in pan.  When all liquid is abosrbed remove from heat.  Your finished product will be a creamy rice mixture.  Serve immediately.  Garnish with parmesan cheese and parsley. 

CHICKEN FLORENTINE STYLE

I got this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis.  It's super easy!  You will need...

~4 boneless chicken breasts

~1 cup heavy whipping cream

~1 1/2 cups white wine

~1 shallot

~2 Tablespoons garlic

~2 Tablespoons butter

~1/2 cup flour

~1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning

~1 bag spinach

Season chicken with salt and pepper (I also add a sprinkle of cajun seasoning).  Coat both sides of chicken with flour.  In a large pan, melt butter over medium heat.  Place chicken breasts in pan to brown for about 5-6 minutes on each side.  Remove chicken from pan and place on a plate with foil over them to keep warm.  Next, add shallots and garlic in same pan with an additional 1 Tablespoon of butter.  Saute shallots and garlic for about 2-3 minutes.  Add white wine and bring to a boil.  Boil for 2 minutes.  Next, add in cream. Boil this for an additional 3 minutes until sauce become thick.  Add in Italian Seasoning.  Place chicken back in sauce mixture and simmer for another 2 minutes. 

SPINACH

In a medium sauce pan melt 1 Tablespoon of butter.  Add bag of spinach and cook over medium heat.  It will look like a lot at first, but when it cooks down it will be just enough.  Cook for about 4 minutes stirring every minute.  This is the perfect side dish!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/chicken-florentine-style-recipe/index.html

Chocolate Chip Cookies

I just made 5 dozen of these for my husband's office party!  I have been searching for the perfect cookie and still, the NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE® cookie recipe is my favorite..

~2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

~1 teaspoon baking soda

~1 teaspoon salt

~1 cup butter or margarine, softened

~3/4 cup granulated sugar

~3/4 cup packed brown sugar

~1 teaspoon vanilla extract
~2 large eggs

~1 (12 ounce) package NESTLE® TOLL HOUSE® Semi-Sweet Chocolate Morsels

Preheat oven to 375. Combine flour, baking soda and salt in small bowl. Beat butter, sugar, brown sugar and vanilla extract in large mixer bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.  Drop by rounded tablespoon onto greased baking sheets.  Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until golden brown.