You Don't Know Jack

New favorite meal: Burgers with pepper-jack cheese, caramelized onions and Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Chipotle BBQ Sauce on English muffins and smashed potatoes on the side.

Ingredients
-Lean ground beef
-Dry seasoning (Kosher salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic powder & basil flakes)
-1/2 cup of onions, sliced into thin strips
-1/8 cup extra virgin olive oil
-7 red potatoes, cubed
-English muffins
-BBQ Sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's Honey Chipotle)

Directions

In a medium size pot, let potatoes boil until tender. Then "smash" with a potato masher, adding garlic powder, pepper and butter for seasoning. Caramelize onions in olive oil over medium-low heat. Form burgers out of chop meat and season. Heat a large pan on medium-low heat. Spray with cooking spray and let burgers cook about 6 minutes on each size.  When burgers are just about done, add the cheese and let it melt. Serve on toasted English muffins.

Apple Cinnamon French Toast

This morning for breakfast I made french toast with apples & cinnamon-sugar :)

Ingredients
-3 slices of bread (I used Fiber One bread because it's thicker)
-3 eggs
-approximately 1/8 cup of milk
-1 1/2 tablespoons of butter
-1 gala apple
-cinnamon sugar

Directions

Peel and slice apple into medium sized pieces. Melt 1 tablespoon of butter in a small pan then add apples & cinnamon sugar cooking until soft on low heat. In another pan, melt the remaining butter or use cooking spray to prevent sticking. Beat eggs & milk together in a medium sized bowl. Evenly coat each slice of bread, but don't let them get too soggy. Place the battered bread in the pan over medium heat cooking approximately 3-4 minutes on each side. Once your french toast is on a plate, add on the apple mixture and a little more cinnamon sugar.

A Colorful Fall Dinner

Baked chicken cutlets with veggies and mashed sweet potatoes!

Ingredients
- 2 thin chicken cutlets
- 1 cup whole wheat Italian bread crumbs
- 1 egg
- 1/4 cup milk
- 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon of honey
- 1 large sweet potato, peeled & cubed
-1 packet of steam-able mixed veggies

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a medium size pot, bring potatoes to a boil for 25 minutes or until tender. Dip chicken cutlets in egg & milk then coat with bread crumbs. Drizzle oil on a baking sheet and bake cutlets for 15 minutes, flipping half way through. When potatoes are soft, drain well then mash. Mix in cinnamon and honey (I definitely think I could have used more). To save time I just used steam-able veggies.

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies!!

A rainy night in means experimenting in the kitchen! Tonight I made the most delicious oatmeal, banana and chocolate chip cookies! I got my inspiration from Bethenny Frankel’s recipe, but did not have the ingredients she used. These cookies were improvising at its finest!

Ingredients

-2 cups of all purpose flour

-2 cups of oats

-1 ½ cup of sugar

-1/4 cup of apple sauce

-3 teaspoons of vanilla extract

-2 teaspoons of baking soda

-1 teaspoon of salt

-4 ripe bananas

-1 ¼ ups of semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

First, mash up the bananas in a medium size bowl then add in all of the other ingredients, mixing evenly.  Use an ice cream scoop and spoon to evenly space mixture onto a cookie sheet (non-stick or spray with cooking spray). I was able to fit six cookies per cookie sheet (they also expand a lot in the oven!).  The consistency was a more like banana bread than a cookie, so this is a recipe I'll be trying again. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean, rotating trays half way through. Let cool for at least 30 minutes! Makes 18 yummy cookies :)

Pesto & Sundried Tomatoes!

Tonight I made a yummy pasta dish and even had some pesto left over.

Ingredients 

-2 ounces of fresh basil
-1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
-1 medium clove of garlic
-1/4 cup Pignoli (pine) nuts
-about 1/8 cup of extra virgin olive oil
-1/4 cup sundried tomatoes
-1 cup of whole wheat penne

Directions

In a small food processor add basil, garlic, cheese, nuts and drizzle in oil. Add your ingredients in a little at a time until you have used them all. Don't add too much oil at once because your pesto will become too watery. On the other hand, if your pesto is too thick you can always add in a little pasta water later on. Slice up the sundried tomatoes and warm them up in a small pan. Mix together your pasta, pesto and sundried tomatoes and you're done! This meal took no more than 20 minutes.

Turkey & Apple Panini

First post of the fall 2011 semester! Tonight I made Paninis with oven roasted turkey, granny smith apples and Munster cheese.

Ingredients
-Sliced oven roasted Turkey (I used Nature's Promise pre-sliced package)
-1 tablespoon of butter
-1 teaspoon of sugar
-1 granny smith apple, sliced
-6 slices of deli style Munster Cheese
-2 Ciabatta rolls
-Panini press

Directions

Melt butter in a medium sauce pan then add sugar. Once combined, add apple slices and cook on low heat until soft. My turkey was not fresh out of the oven, so I heated it up in a large pan on low heat. Slice the rolls in half. On the bottom slice place 2 pieces of cheese then the turkey. Next add on the apple slices followed by another piece of cheese. Place in the Panini press until cheese is melted.