Pizza buns...YUM.

After wanting to make this recipe ever since I stumbled upon it through foodgawker.com, I finally made pizza buns for my family's Christmas Eve gathering. (Thanks to this awesome blog!). My mom and I decided to do a little "cook off".  She made a delicious calzone type of pizza snack and I'm sad because I didn't get a picture of it! I also was not able to do a step-by-step process of my pizza bun creation in pictures since my camera battery doesn't want to charge :( Why does that happen when there are quality upcoming picture ops?

Okay, soooo here's some pics:

I added more sauce and cheese and they were soooo yummy. In case you're wondering, the overall consensus was that my dough (which was made from scratch, Mom's wasn't), was tastier, however, my mom's calzone had more scrumptious insides (turkey pepperoni, lots of cheese, green pepper).

For Christmas Day at Chris's family, I made mini brownies topped with strawberries and then iced to look like a Santa hat. Chris helped with the icing.

Strawberry/brownie recipe found here

Now to reflect...I learned a ton about cooking the past two months. I've had frustrations along the way but I am glad it is a skill I have semi-acquired. =]

Next hobby: Crocheting!

Ode to Lasagna

Okay...so I haven't been loyal to my blog as of late.  I'm blaming Pinterest!

I did cook up some lasagna last week.  It was decent. Maybe more meat next time. I also made some "Sweet Potato Bourbon Mash", but I lacked bourbon so I used Southern Comfort instead. BIG mistake. Man, it was disgusting. Maybe it was the molasses in it that didn't do much for me. Or maybe I just really screwed it up with the Soco. Either way it looked like straight-up poo and I am too embarrassed to even post it :)

Lasagna Recipes

Onto the lasagna pics....

Yum, that sauce was deeeelicious.

Noodles, standard.

Yum!

Not quite the thickness I anticipated. I'm not sure how this happened as I followed the recipe for how many layers it called for...

So excited to do some baking for Christmas. This will be the first Christmas where I participate, in a cooking sense. Also, my mom and I are having a pizza bun-off, so to speak. I'll post pics.

If I don't post before Christmas (I probably won't, let's be real here), have a Merry Christmas!

Long time, no see...

The holidays are upon us! This means I can cook/bake holiday themed food items which is fun.  I have been kind of in a rut with cooking/baking. I guess I've been kind of lazy, but I think tomorrow I will be back in action. Perhaps I'll check out a recipe that I have saved on my allrecipes.com account.

Anyways, I made some easy dijon chicken the other night. Very quick and simply meal for a chicken-lover who wants to add a little zing to their pallet.

Dijon Chicken recipe

Cheers!

First slow-cooker recipe.

Very excited to report that I finally put my slow cooker recipe book to use.  I made corned beef and cabbage last week and it turned out delicious. I'm not an avid corned beef eater but this was real good. The only thing I did not like was the black peppercorns.  I for sure am going to make this again when St. Patty's day rolls around.

My hunter of a boyfriend comes back from deer camp tomorrow. Thinking about cooking up something yummy again. Mondays seem to be good cooking days :)

Corned beef recipe

The picture doesn't do much justice since this was taken the day after and I had reheated it for some nice leftovers :)

Banana cupcakes

My mouth is still watering over these scrumptious cupcakes.

Banana cupcakes with maple butter cream frosting

Right out of the oven.

Frosting.

Finished!

All cooled.

I think tomorrow I'm going to use my slow-cooker recipe book.

Have a great weekend!

-Amanda

Mac and Cheese time!

I made homemade macaroni and cheese last night. Usually when I hear 'homemade' I think 'timely' and 'a lot of work', but this meal was real quick and easy (obviously, it's basically cheese and noodles).  I decided to add parsnips to the mix because I was reading the new Parent and Child magazine (when I'm bored at work it's good reading) and saw a parsnips recipe along with some fun facts about this vegetable. Personally, I've never eaten a parsnip and rarely hear about them. The guy at the register at Pick n Save didn't even know what to ring them up as, granted he was probably in highschool, but still, they are not a popular purchase. I don't know why though, they are yummy, a good source of fiber and richer in vitamins and minerals than their close relative, the carrot.

So, mac and cheese, parsnips and then Chris threw in some baked chicken because he likes that.  My one struggle with cooking thus far is that I am a horrible multi-tasker when it comes to timing things right.  I was cutting up the parsnips (which was a bitch, btw), and then I realized I overcooked the noodles.  Who does that?  In my defense, I haven't cooked elbow macaroni in years.  But whatever, the macaroni and cheese was delicious, very cheesy and the bread crumbs really added a nice touch.  The parsnips were soooo good. They had a sweet potato consistency.

Mac and Cheese recipe

For the parsnips, I cut up 3, into 2 inch pieces then cut those length-wise.  Then I put them in a 13x9 inch pan, poured 2 tbsps of vegetable oil over them so that they were all covered, then added a few tbsp of salt and pepper (however much you want).  Then put in the oven at 375 for about 20 minutes, take out and mix around, then put back in the oven for another 15 minutes or so.  The parsnips should be tough on the outside and soft on the inside, and taste sweet.

Happy eatin'!

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween!

I carved my pumpkin last night. It was the first pumpkin where I really made an effort to make a neat one. 

Mine is on the left..and achem...Chris's is on the right (pretty generic if you ask me :)

I then found a neat recipe for the seeds! Yum! I don't really think it counts as cooking but it was fun all the same.
Maple cinnamon pumpkin seeds.

A nice spin on the typical roasted seeds I am used to. Try it!
Have a wonderful Halloween! Currently watching Halloween the original =]

Oh dear...new obsession.

I just became aware of http://www.foodgawker.com/. Love it. How many gawker websites are there, anyone know? I know there is also craftgawker and weddinggawker.  Anyway, food lovers and cooks, this is that is the place for you ^. Also, allrecipes.com has become a website I now frequent. So many fun food items to make for Fall!

Edit-
There is also dwellinggawker.com

Stuffed Green Peppers!

I made stuffed green peppers tonight. They were real yummy! My only mistake was that I forgot to buy instant rice that the recipe called for and bought wheat rice (was thinking healthy).  I also added cilantro to the tomato sauce. Yum!  Chris and I enjoyed them.  I always feel like my concoctions are successful because Chris is such a good eater :) (He probably won't like that I put that).

Have a good week everyone!

Peppers recipe

The First Supper

Okay, I realize it is not November 1st, but after my first blog post, what can I say, I got inspired.  So I decided to do something for my boyfriend, Chris, that I've never done for him before: Cook him dinner!  Now, this dinner was not anything fancy but it sure was delicious!

I found a recipe for potato skins and decided to make them for an appetizer.  Then I made chicken spaghetti for the main course.

Here is the recipe for the potato skins:
Potato Skins

The most tedious part of whole process, digging out the potatoes. I put aside the guts to eat at a later time =]

Yum!

Ready to eat!

 They were delicious! They tasted like a restaurant's but so much better. Chris ate about 5 =]


For dinner we had Chicken Spaghetti. Chris assisted me a little in this dinner. We decided to tweak the recipe and it was very yummy!

Chicken Spaghetti

Potato skin and chicken spaghetti..oh and an Oktoberfest, of course =]

It was delicious and it actually felt good to cook. Also, this whole meal was very cheap. I had no idea that potatoes was so cheap!  I plan on making those potato skins again for sure!

I'm thinking of doing some baking next. The cold and dreary weather inspires me!

Have you ever made potato skins before? Any different versions?

My very first post.

Time for a new stage in my life. A stage in which I explore new hobbies.  I find that in life we become  too comfortable with the same routine.  Same job, same activities, same relationships...etc.  Why not a change?  Here is my objective: I will explore a new hobby and completely commit myself to it for two months while blogging about my experience, any struggles I happen to face, time commitment, advice for anyone wanting to do that specific hobby, etc.  Why two months?  One month is too short, three months is too long.  Why am I doing this?  I'm bored.  Sure, my life has its little fun hiccups of excitement, but I simply just want to try something new, experience a new group of people, or perhaps acquire a new skill.  I might surprise myself, too.

So, with that being said, November 1st I start my first hobby.  This hobby is one that I've never actually tried.  One that I often make excuses about because I may be bad at it.  One that I think would be a good hobby and skill to possess when I get married and have a family.  Yes, that's right....COOKING.

So, I hope you will follow along with me on this journey.  I encourage everyone to try a new hobby.  I think it will make you a more wordly and well-rounded person =]

What is a hobby you would like to try?  What is stopping you?