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A Wonderful New Blog (and Giveaway!)

For any of you who love any of the following things:

1. Books/reading
2. Hilarious up-and-coming writers
3. Young Adult literature
4. Shenanigans
5. Free stuff!

One of my good friends, Corey, has started a site called Twin Pigeon.  I lived with Corey in my freshman year of Undergrad in KY and we spent a lot of time goofing around, eating wonderful college food and talking about music/books/movies.  Corey is hilarious…there is really no other way to describe her in a nutshell.  I am always thrilled when I see an email pop up in my inbox from her because it is full of goodness.  She got me hooked on the Twilight series, and I’m not sure if I should thank or curse her for that.  It’s too late now though, so we just spend a lot of time making stupid jokes about how many times the word “chagrin” is used in the series. 

In case you missed the subtle hints above, Corey is big into Young Adult fiction.  I am not as well-versed as she is, but I love it! For me, between semesters in an English BA (followed by more semesters in an English MA) program, something like Twilight is just what I needed.  YA novels tend to suck you in like no other (except maybe Picoult?) and get you to love characters who have a good chance of being ridiculously annoying and will probably make horrible decisions repeatedly throughout the book.  It’s awesome.

Another wonderful thing to know about Corey:  she had a KICKASS wedding…I was a super-helpful bridesmaid, dressed all in red.  We marched up the aisles of the KY theater for a dark and wonderfully romantic ceremony on the stage with a delicious reception full of movie-themed goodies all around.  Yet another reason she is great.  Does this make you want to visit her new blog???

ANYWAY, Twin Pigeon is currently mostly about reviewing YA books…it’s just getting started, so send her some love/suggestions/harsh criticism/knee-slapping jokes about vampires/whatever.  BUT to start things off on a blogger-friendly note, Corey is giving away a book!  A FREE BOOK! This one is a brand new, hardback, just released, fresh off the presses, exciting work of literary wonderment. You all know how contests work, so click your way over and enter Corey’s contest and explore her quickly growing site 🙂

PS.
Corey, WOOO!

Sunday Gritty Sundae

Saturday we ate out…for every. single. meal.  It was delicious all around, but we didn’t feel so hot afterwards.  Sunday we vowed to do some good eating in.  And we did!  For dinner, we had leftover tortilla soup…this stuff was even better the second time around (largely because I could now taste it) and we both had giant bowls.  Plus we froze two double-servings for later.  Because I got the giant pack of chicken thighs on sale for just over $5, this was a super economical creation as well! Hooray!

For breakfast, we had some old-ish apples and I remembered we had quick cooking grits in the cupboard. Easy easy breakfast to the rescue:

Cinnamon Apple Grits Breakfast Sundae

• 2 servings grits
• 5-6 small apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 1/4 cup apple juice or cider
• 2 Tb sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon

1. Combine apples, juice, sugar and cinnamon over medium heat in a small saucepan, stirring to coat.
2. Cook away, stirring frequently to avoid burning, until apples are nice and soft and the liquid has cooked down into a nice syrup.
3. If the apples get too dry and all the liquid evaporates, add more juice or cider as needed.
4. While apples are cooking, prepare grits according to package directions.  I added a tiny bit of butter at the end to add a bit of flavor and extra creaminess to the grits!
5. Top grits with apples and dig in!

I’d recommend serving with biscuits and jam (which we didn’t have) or toast or maybe even more fruit on the side.  This bowl was really filling at the time, but didn’t last us all the way until dinner.  So tasty though.  Yum!

And for some fun, here are giveaways!

• Envirosax Giveaway at Jackson’s World
• Maple PB giveaway at I Walk In This World
• Holey Donuts (!!!) at Danica’s Daily

Recipes From Home

Things have been ridiculously busy, and I’m about to head to KY for a long weekend to celebrate a friend’s wedding…plus we have been reheating leftovers from the freezer and having boring meals lately, so there hasn’t been much to post.  Plus, Santana has been exhausting me lately….she’s fussy about her food all of the sudden, sometimes doesn’t eat her breakfast, and last night I had to sleep on the couch with her to keep her from howling all night.  Not so good.  Hop on over to her blog to read about our hike last weekend.

My mom, however, has been on a roll cooking up some of my favorites (and some new things).  She sent me massive info about all this stuff, and I’ve decided you’re lucky enough to get a peek at her cheesecake.  It’s way down at the bottom of this post and it is my absolute most favorite cheesecake ever.  Especially when she uses the mini chocolate chips.  I can’t wait to go home (hopefully in September!) so I can get some of mom’s cheesecake 🙂

These are recipes that are simple, easy and satisfying.  My dad usually eats them several times in a row for lunch, and lots of times they’ll have leftovers for dinner throughout the week.  I love my mom’s recipes because a) she’s hilarious and b) it’s a refreshing change from the fancy blog recipes you sometimes see.  Plus, the ingredients are straightforward, easy to find and not intimidating…my mom was NOT excited about trying edamame or tofu at any point.  🙂

Mom & Dad’s Chicken Dinner

POTATO SALAD

Cook cut up potatoes until done. Cool. Add the following:

• Cut up hard boiled eggs (I use lots)
• diced dill pickles
• chopped green olives (unless you are serving Matt)
• diced carrots or/and celery if you want

Season with seasoned salt and pepper. Add a few tablespoons of the pickle juice and yellow mustard. Toss with miracle whip and chill. Turns out different all the time but after a while you get a feel for the mix and consistency you like.

3 BEAN SALAD

I had a recipe to try with fresh beans but in Unadilla, there were no fresh beans at our HUGE store. So I can across this one in a cookbook I had before I got married –  New and Revised Betty Crocker 1978 !!

• 1 can (16 oz) green beans, drained
• 1 can (16 oz) wax beans, drained
• 1 can (15 oz) kidney beans, drained
• ¼ cup chopped onions (calls for green)
• ¼ cup snipped parsley ( I used 1/8 cup dried)
• 1 cup Italian dressing
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed (once again from my limited pantry – I used 1 teaspoon minced from refrigerator)

Mix beans, onions and parsley in large bowl. Mix dressing, sugar and garlic. Pour over salad and toss.  Cover and refrigerate, stirring occasionally, at least 3 hours.  The recipe says to serve in lettuce-lined bowls…. Of course, I didn’t..

TEXAS-STYLE FRYER CHICKEN

  From Taste of Home Chicken Cookbook

• 1 Tablespoon seasoned salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 broiler/fry chicken (3-3.5 pounds)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced (or in my case 1 teaspoon minced from jar)
• ½ cup butter
• ½ cup chicken broth
• ½ cup lemon juice

Combine seasoned salt and pepper; rub inside and outside of chicken. Place chicken on rotisserie rod on grill (we subbed by putting on a rack in a disposal pan). In a small saucepan, sauté garlic in butter until tender.  Stir in broth and lemon juice. Pour into drip pan and place under chicken. Baste with sauce every 15 minutes for 1 to 1-1/2 hours or until juices run clear. Dad made this so I don’t even know how much of this he followed!!

Boiled Dinner

(I will pick the ham and potatoes out of this, but always hated the way the cooking cabbage made the house smell! -Mallory)

 

Add to large crock pot:

• 3.5 lbs ham (I used half of a bone in one)  Froze the rest for another meal.
• Potatoes
• Carrots
• Onion
• can of broth

Remember to leave enough room for cabbage later..Cook on high 3 hours. Add cabbage wedges. Cook 2 more hours..

That’s it.  I didn’t add salt as ham can be salty.  I drizzle vinegar over mine.

Mom’s Cheesecake

(I generally love cheesecake, but this is my FAVORITE, especially when it has the chocolate chips-Mallory)

• 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 3 tablespoons margarine, melted

Combine crumbs, sugar and margarine; press onto bottom of 9 inch springform pan. I bake in the oven when preheating but only for a few minutes. Make sure it is cooled off before adding cake mixture.

• 3 8-oz pkgs of cream cheese (softened) -  I bring to room temp and then microwave at 50% for 1.5 minutes. You can use one “Lite” cream cheese but don’t use 3 – really changes the consistency
• ¾ cup of sugar
• 3 eggs
• 1 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate pieces
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

Combine cream cheese and sugar, mixing at medium speed on electric mixer until well blended.  (This is when the mix flies all over if the cream cheese isn’t softened enough). Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.  Blend in chocolate pieces and vanilla; pour over crust. Bake at 450 for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 250 (leave oven door open a crack until temp. reaches 250. Continue baking 35 minutes. Loosen cake from rim of pan. Cool before removing rim of pan.

Chill.

 

Next week I should have more recipes to post…but for now I’m headed to KY and dreaming of cheesecake from home in NY 🙂 Miss you mom!!!

Big S Farms Salsa Redeemed, or Making The Most of a Tortilla Disaster

2 weekends ago we bought some whole wheat tortillas to make breakfast burritos…it was a good thing there were only two of us eating.  There was a note on the package saying they pack their tortillas when they are fresh and still warm, so there may be some sticking together.  I shrugged it off when I read it, but THEY WERE NOT KIDDING.  We only managed to salvage two whole tortillas for burritos.  The rest were practically glued together and impossible to pry apart without tearing.  So much for more filled-tortilla meals after that. 

To make up for the disaster and not waste the tortillas (which were pretty tasty at least!), I concocted one of my favorite things, a CASSEROLE!

Tortilla-Fail Turned Taco Casserole

• 1/2 pound ground beef
• 1/2 large onion, chopped
• 1 green bell pepper, chopped
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 1 tb minced garlic
• 1 package fajita seasoning or taco seasoning
• Salt, Pepper, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, hot sauce (Big S Farms!) to taste
• 1 cup water or broth
• 1 can pinto beans
• 1 1/2 cups salsa (Big S Farms Smoke on Mountain! Yum!)
• A giant pile of tortillas, shredded/torn/cut/involuntarily turned into medium-sized pieces
• Shredded mexican-type cheese

1. Brown ground beef in a large pan.  Remove beef, leaving just a little bit of fat to cook onion, pepper, carrots and garlic until soft and translucent.
2. Add seasoning packet, spices, water, beans and salsa.  Simmer over medium heat until it gets nice and thick.  As it heats, taste a couple times to adjust seasoning to your own spiciness.
3. While the meat mixture is cooking, spread tortilla pieces on a baking sheet and coat with cooking spray and toast in a 350 degree oven for about 10-15 minutes or until they’re a bit brown and crispy (check on them to make sure they aren’t burning). 
4. Combine the meat and the tortillas in a large casserole dish coated with cooking spray.  It will take a little bit of work to get it evenly mixed…I mixed it in the casserole dish and the tortillas really wanted to clump together.  It would probably work better to dump the tortillas into the pan with the beef little by little and mix until they’re all coated with flavorful sauce.
5. Top casserole with cheese and bake at 350 degrees until everything is bubbly and the cheese starts to brown. 

We served over shredded lettuce with some fresh chopped tomatoes and sour cream.  SO filling and amazing.  Matt had it for lunch leftovers yesterday and completely forgot the lettuce and sour cream (we are out of tomatoes).  He said it was still delicious! I’m having it for lunch today, but will definitely be adding the lettuce because otherwise I would be tempted to eat way too much of the yummy part and end up with an over-full tummy from lunch.  No fun when you’re trying to get work done! 

Here are some pictures, some fuzzy (grrr), some great.  Also, note the return of Big S Farms salsa…I was completely right…it worked really really well in this dish! Can’t wait to open up one of the spicier ones!

Big S Farms Salsa arrival!

Thanks to Missy’s great salsa recipe contest a couple weeks ago, I received a big box full of spiciness on Wednesday! I didn’t get a picture of the box, but it was pretty great…one huge box, full of packing peanuts, with a much smaller box packed inside. Inside this wonderful smaller box…3 jars of salsa and 3 bottles of hot sauce (and some recipe cards)!! Thanks to Vance from Big S Farms!

I am crazy about salsa…if there are tortilla chips and salsa in the house, I will probably want to snack on them. If I snack on them, they will probably disappear. I’m ok with this. It’s delicious! On the Big S Farms website, they describe their Gourmet Habanero sauces and salsas:

Our habanero sauces and salsas are crafted with a perfect balance of heat and flavor to make the perfect taste treat for even the most discerning palate. Each product is made with all natural habanero varieties and ingredients.

I’m contemplating a big Mexican feast this weekend, since I have so much salsa and hot sauce on hand. Perhaps perhaps perhaps. As I try all the varieties, I will definitely be reviewing them here and letting you know how I used them in my meals!

However, we already have two jars of salsa open in our fridge (one we bought a while back and one my parents had at their hotel when they were in town). It seems silly with two half-eaten salsas already on hand to open another jar. But it was new! We had to try it!

So we chose the Medium salsa for a blind taste test of salsa brands!! Matt and I are big fans of taste tests…does anyone remember when Diet 7up had a promo where you could fill out a form online and get a can of diet 7up, sprite zero, and diet sierra mist delivered to you? It was 2 years ago, I think? Anyway, we were EXTREMELY excited about this, and ran to the computer to fill out the form as soon as we saw the commercial. I don’t even think we had to talk about it…the commercial ended, we looked at each other, and we ran to the computer.

We didn’t see the package for a while…and when we did, we had mostly forgotten about it. I went to UPS to pick it up and since it was a package, I had to open it right away…I called Matt from the car, VERY excited. Not only that, they were whole cans of soda! I got 3 cans of soda in the mail! Awesome! He was just as pumped, and we soon were blind taste testing away!

We set up a pretty elaborate scheme with 6 cups. Each of us filled up the others’ cups and marked them with a sticker on the bottom. The taste test revealed some interesting results. From best to worst, Matt’s choice was: Sierra Mist, 7up, Sprite. Mine was: Sprite, 7up, Sierra Mist. We had reverse preferences! My favorite part is that despite the fact that this was a 7up promo, neither of us preferred the Diet 7up over both of the others…promo failed!

Needless to say, Matt was up for a salsa taste test.

I set the test up like this (sorry for the fuzziness):

6 chips, 3 salsas (Big S Farms Smoke on the Mountain, Trader Joe’s Medium Salsa, San Juan Salsa Mild), 1 glass of water.

First, Matt closed his eyes while I fed him the salsas in a random order and then I recorded his preferences. Then Matt fed me the salsa in a different random order…I had to turn around because I am really bad at keeping my eyes closed for things like this.

THE RESULTS (from most to least favorite):
Matt: Big S Farms, San Juan Salsa, Trader Joe’s
Mallory: Trader Joe’s, San Juan Salsa, Big S Farms

We are reversed again!! I think this is hilarious.

I was sad that I didn’t like the Big S Farms salsa! It had a strong flavor that I couldn’t pinpoint and I just wouldn’t be able to snack on that! I think I preferred the TJ’s because it is the thinnest and simplest, without a lot of “fresh” flavors…this sounds strange, but I grew up snacking on this kind of salsa, and it’s the one I can eat with tortilla chips for hours on end because it’s so addicting. I think the Big S Farms will be ridiculously better in meals, and I can’t wait to try it out! We both agreed that we liked the San Juan Salsa brand…we used this in our breakfast burritos over the weekend and it looks homemade…chunky and finely diced (similar to a salsa I made recently). Matt said his top two were really close to one another, almost tied…and I really enjoy the San Juan Salsa, I just couldn’t snack on it on a regular basis.

No matter what my fussy salsa taste buds think, Big S Farms won the Matt Taste Test! Hopefully he will snack on it, and at least I know he will love it when I use it to make some Mexican food! Have you tried Big S Farms? If not, click over to their site  to order your own or find some recipe suggestions! I can’t wait to see how its unique flavor works with other things, especially when heated up! (This makes me consider another taste test…salsa con queso dip! Matt, can I count you in?)