Awesome Oatmeal!

Today is my day off, and it's rainy and gray out. It's the perfect weather for oatmeal!
Oatmeal doesn't have to be mushy and sticky and gross! I add lots of treats to my oatmeal that are healthy and delicious! Here's how!

1/2 Cup Milk
1/2 Cup Water
1/2 Cup Old-Fashioned Rolled Oats
1-2 Tblsp. Brown Sugar
1 tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Cup Raisins(or any dried fruit)
1/8-1/4 Cup Nuts(I used walnuts, pecans are awesome and so are Almonds!)
1/2 of a Banana(or apple, or pear!)

In a small sauce pan add everything except the oats. Heat on Low-Med until almost boiling.
Make sure to stir often so it doesn't burn and curdle, YUCK!


Add the oats and cook and stir frequently for about 8-10 minutes.


Put into a bowl and top with a bit of brown sugar and milk.


Eat and enjoy!

Cheesy noodles! A.K.A Mac and Cheese.

A girl at work brought in mac and cheese from the deli across the street for her lunch today that really made me crave mac and cheese for dinner tonight. But not the boxed kind!
So I made some delicious cheesy noodles in about 20 minutes and scarfed it down in about 5.

2 Tblsp. Butter
1/4 c. flour
1/2 small-medium onion, chopped
1-5 cloves garlic, minced(depending how much garlic you like, I love it)
Salt and pepper to taste
about 8-10 oz. dried pasta shapes(I used a mismatched mixed combo, whole wheat and regular flour)
3 1/2- 4 C. Milk
1/8tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1- 1 1/2 C. shredded cheese. Sharp cheddar, pepper jack, white cheddar, Gruyère, swiss, whatever you'd like.

Boil some water in a large pot and cook the noodles al dante. I like to add some broccoli and peas or other veggies about half way through so I have some veggies with my noodles and I don't have to dirty more dishes since I don't have a dishwasher here(Oh how I miss that!)
Drain the noodles and put back into the pot.


In a large sauce pan melt butter and add the onions and garlic and sauté until tender


Add flour and stir and cook for about 30 seconds



Add milk, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Whisk until thick.



Add cheese and stir until melted.


Pour onto noodles and mix it all together.


At this point you could put the noodles in a baking dish and top with bread crumbs and cheese and set it under a broiler for a few minutes until it's crispy and delicious.

Honestly, I was so hungry I had to skip this step. I just sprinkled it with some Parmesan cheese and pepper and devoured.

Easy as Pie! Tortilla Pie!

Well I wanted to make something super easy and quick today. Had a bunch of leftover tortilla shells from tacos the other day and froze them. So this worked out well!!!


Tortilla Pie:

2 tsp. oil
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
3 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp. ground cumin
2 tsp. chili powder
1 can black beans or kidney beans, drained
1 can diced tomatoes
1/4 c. corn meal(or you can use corn kernels, I didn't have any otherwise I would have)
1 c. shredded cheddar cheese
6-9 corn tortillas

Heat oil in a large frying pan, add onions and peppers and sautee about 3 minutes, add garlic and sautee until soft.


Add the spices and cook for about one minute


Add the beans and tomatoes and cornmeal, simmer for about 10 minutes or until cornmeal is tender. Make sure to taste and add some salt or more chili or you can add jalapeños if you like it a little spicier!


While bean mixture is simmering heat a cast iron skillet and heat up the tortillas until a little black on each side.

Set three in the bottom of a pie pan and put half the bean mixture and 1/3 of the cheese and some sour cream or plain yogurt on the tortillas, repeat the layers and add the last three shells on top.





Finish with cheese and put into the oven for about 20-30 minutes until the cheese is all melty.


Eat and enjoy!

Delicious crispiness of happenstance.

So I made rice crispy treats because I just wanted to make something cute and simple. The recipe is really easy, I just followed what was on the box, but added some of my own things, because that's what I like doing. So here you go.

5 C. crisp rice cereal(I used 1 cup cocoa crispies, and 4 cups regular)
4 1/2 C. Mini Marshmallows (or about 40-45 large)
4 Tblsp. butter.
1/3-1/2 C. Peanut butter(crunchy or creamy)
2 tsp. Vanilla
3/4 C. Chocolate chips
1/2 C. unsalted, roasted peanuts.

Butter a 9"x13" pan and add a strip of tin foil across the pan and up the sides to form handles. I used mini tart pans and cute little star pans. You can use whatever, just make sure to butter it!

Put the cereal, chocolate chips and peanuts into a bowl(You don't have to, it just makes it easier to add to the other stuff when it's ready)

Melt butter over low heat in a large pot. Add Peanut butter and vanilla and stir until combined. Add marshmallows and keep stirring until all melted.

Remove from heat and add the remaining ingredients.
Stir until it is all mixed and coated.
Press into pans and chill.

Once cold you can make a little frosting to put on it, or you can just take them out of the pan and serve as is.




Frosting:
Powdered Sugar
Milk
Food coloring

Just put about 1/2 c. of powdered sugar into a bowl or separate into small cups.
Add just enough milk to make a thick paste.
Add food coloring until desired color.

Spread on treats with fingers or spatula.


Eat and enjoy!

Falling down the Rabbit Hole.

So here we are dozing off underneath a tree in the warm, sunny spring time........

Well, actually it's a bit chilly and rainy, but we are waiting for something to happen on this lazy spring day.

I hope that this blog of mine will make you interested in food and creating if you aren't already. At least you can enjoy the pretty pictures if you don't even know how to make simple things like toast(which I hope you do).

I have been cooking and baking since I was a little girl. I've also gone to school for Specialty Desserts and breads, and food is my life.

Everything I make is vegetarian, I have been one for close to 9 years now, and it's a good way of life for me. I'm not a vegetarian that will preach to you about how bad meat is and that it's mean to the animals. I don't really care what you do with your own body, but if you have questions, ask!

The point in my blog is to help me to get my food stuff organized and posted on the internet, my long time goal is to have my own business and I hope this will be able to get my name out there a little bit.
Also, I love making food for my friends and family and I just enjoy sharing my creations with everyone!

This is mostly just an introduction for now until I get more pictures and recipes updated, for now I will post older pictures of some of the food I've made in school and random stuff from home.

~Peace,Trust,and Pixie Dust~