a chili cook-off

September 8, 2012lynley Leave a comment

how exciting it is to call up a friend to see if they want to hangout and be told they are having a chili cook-off?! my friend elise and her brother ray over the years have hosted a chili cook-off. when i showed up to the event ray was showcasing the trophy he had created for this year’s winning chili.

ray showcasing his homemade trohpy

the trophy

there were a total of 5 chilis to sample, including one vegetarian.

the chilis were named and numbered

i having never been to a chili cook-off before did not know how to approach sampling. i was hungry, thus i loaded up my bowl with chili number 1. it was very yummy with a combination of chicken and sausage and heavy on the tomato.

chili #1

the second chili would have been the one i declared a winner, great sausage based chili, however its downfall was that some of the beans were still a little crunchy. i was unable to try any more. elise’s boyfriend dillon informed me i had gone about the tasting all wrong. you don’t do full bowls you just grab a spoonful or two and keep going and retasting. he was an expert at the art of sampling chilis.

chili # 2

and the winner is…………

although i thought i was stuffed to the gills, the sugar cookies sitting right behind me were just way too tempting. i loved how they looked like a 5 year old made them. meaning they were going to probably be supper sweet and sugar goodiness.

coookkkiiieeessss

the night ended with friends and a porch swing. now that is what i call a chili cook-off success!

Sunday Night Dinner: Black Bean Burgers and Rosemary Fries (recipe too!)

September 4, 2012sfarrisyoung Leave a comment

John and I drove 10 hours on Saturday so for our Labor Day Sunday Night Dinner I decided to keep it easy and thaw out some of Lynley’s black bean burgers. She’d made them at our house months ago and we froze the extras- yay for Lynley and for the freezer.

I’ve started adapting a recipe for spicy oven fried and have turned it into a non-spicy rosemary (with a touch of garlic) fries. After years of the original I think I almost like the new version better. I always intentionally make too many so I can have leftovers for breakfast the next day…sneaky cook that I am.

Rosemary Oven Fries Recipe:
(for 4 or 3 with breakfast leftovers)

3 medium sized potatoes (russet or other)
2 1/2 tablespoons of Olive oil
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons of dried rosemary
Generous sprinkles of ground pepper
And garlic salt to taste

How-to:
Pre-heat oven to 450f
Grease baking sheet with olive oil or cooking spray.
Slice potatoes thinner than a French fry, 1/2 inch thick or even a 1/4 inch.
Pile in a bowl.
Add rest of ingredients into bowl, toss to coat.

Spread potatoes out onto the greased baking sheet.

Bake for 20 minutes until edges start to brown slightly. Some edges may not brown at all, but the potatoes will have a cooked translucent-ish look. Stir potatoes once during cooking time.

Done!

We also had sautéed summer veg- mostly squash and zucchini with a little carrot, green onion and whole almonds thrown in.

Before cooking:

After:

I added smoked english seaside cheddar to the black bean burgers. Thank the cooking gods we had 3 in the freezer because Josh joined us for dinner.

Labor Day had always been the unofficial last day of summer to me, so I had to send it off with a lemon shandy ale. It only seemed right.

My plate with some sugar snap peas and watermelon too.

We talked about our trip to Indiana and the fire breathing dragon we saw along the highway, a cool comic book store in Bloomington (John’s childhood dream realized) and of course the Dr. Who season premiere.

For dessert it was chocolate chip cookie ice cream sandwiches from a local dairy, Shatto.

After admitting that we all 3 had already had ice cream that day we dug into a true last day of summer treat.

Yeah, I wussed out and ate only half, BUT that means I have dessert for tonight too! See, that freezer thinking ahead really can pay off.

Pizza coming and going

September 3, 2012sfarrisyoung Leave a comment

John and I made our annual trip to Bloomington Indiana to visit his side of the family. This is John’s hometown so there are some places my honey has to eat or it’s just not a homecoming.

When we first started our trips we always ate at Noble Roman’s John’s childhood pizza place. They served breadsticks with nacho cheese dip- Then I thought this was the most decadent pizza dining idea…now it is a standard at our house. Sadly, Noble Roman’s is no longer in John’s side of Bloomington, so instead we go to Cafe Pizzeria on Kirkwood. It’s our tradition to eat there just after pulling into town.

It’s a total college pizza place and they also serve breadsticks with nacho cheese dip.

John got his standard cheese.

I got the veggie but swapped the banana peppers for pineapple (my favorite pizza topping).

However- I think they put the peppers on there then took them off because it was h-o-t.

But still tasty.

When we drove across several states on the way home our plan was to stop at this pizza place in St. Louis that we always see signs for- Stefania’s. Alas it wasn’t open, so instead we opted for the St. Louis classic, Imo’s.

Imo’s is known for their extremely thin crust pizza. What I was distracted by in the restaurant was a Army pilot mannequin standing in the middle of the booths for no reason.

I was so weirded out by it I had trouble ordering! I ended up with a salad made mostly of cheese with unwrapped saltines on the side.

And you guessed it- pineapple pizza .

I like the way the cut the crust like little crackers and it’s about cracker thin.

Needless to say, the mannequin was still distracting…

Young Family Breakfast at the Village Deli

September 3, 2012sfarrisyoung Leave a comment

Village Deli is my favorite restaurant in Bloomington Indiana. When we visit our family there I have to eat there for lunch (and get the vvd, Village Vegetarian Delight, with homemade potato chips) and for breakfast on our way out of town.

They serve giant pancakes (thank you pancake gods). I get mine with peanut butter chips and this time I added banana and a basted egg on the side. I thought the fruit would be on top, but nope, it was mashed in chunks inside- thank you Village Deli.

ya know why i love my job…….

August 30, 2012lynley Leave a comment

because teachers have students but lunch ladies have kids. and i have two very special types of kids that i’m responsible for this year. last year and this year i’m responsible for the allergy kids, aka the kids who are allergic to anything and everything eatable. in the morning i make up special little breakfasts for them that are put in sacks with their names. at lunch they go through my line so i can make sure they haven’t picked anything that might have something they are allergic to.

the second group i look after are a couple of kids that are red flagged because they are homeless. i have to make sure they come through the line everyday and that they do get food, no matter what. these two really put things in perspective for me. it made me think about what i used to do, working for hallmark, where i’d have to track down information like “when was the first barbie keepsake ornament?!” or file away the Hall Family’s personal christmas cards every year. my kids have made that all seem very meaningless. i wake up at 4:30am because i love the special ed students that come through my line and tell me to have a good day or so i can go make chit-chat with the “at-risk” 8th grade girls homeroom, which has now gotten them all eating their breakfast i deliver to them. i might work 20 times harder for a lot less money but knowing that at the end of the day my kids got feed maybe they only meals they’ll get all day, or they got peanut free food and had their orange juice instead of milk is much more satisfying and makes me glad to go to work every day.

cafeteria style

baking, hip hop, and whiskey

August 28, 2012lynley Leave a comment

apron ready

my favorite way to spend an evening is to put on some good hip hop, fix me a glass of whiskey and find a yummy recipe to bake up. lately all i have been wanting to do is to bake up a batch of cookies. this would be because i have been given my grandma’s cooking jar. ever since this cookie jar has arrived in my kitchen i have been wanting COOKIES.

this jar says “cookies please!!”

to create the right atmosphere for the night i turned on my cow that supervises the kitchen and i believe when turned on provides good “mojo” to the cooking process.

i have a light up cow, steph a light up ice cream cone. don’t ask just accept it

because i had all the ingredients for it i decided the honorary cookie to first occupy the cookie jar would be “dream cookies.” you might know them as “no bakes” but growing up we always called them dream cookies. mom would make them and then dad and i would stand looking into the fridge waiting for them to set-up. i of course of changed up my recipe a bit. my dream cookies over the years have found whiskey in them but the latest additional flavor is chili pepper. chocolate goes so well with spicy. when the whiskey is poured and the hip hop is on the baking can begin!

when you drink from a tea-cup no one knows what might be in there

RECIPE: CHILI PEPPER DREAM COOKIES

makes 2 dozen

dream cookies

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup coco powder

3 tsp cayenne pepper

1 TBSP butter

2 cups peanut butter

2 cups quick oats-oatmeal

*in a large sauce pan bring to a rapid boil the sugar, coco powder, pepper, and butter, mix well. add in peanut butter stir till all the peanut butter has melted, remove from heat. add in oats, mix oats till coated with chocolate and peanut butter mixture. on wax paper place a spoonful of oat mixture, refrigerate over night.

meatless monday: lets do dinner!….II

August 27, 2012lynley Leave a comment

the second “lets do dinner” meatless monday bash was an all ladies night affair. the guest list included the gray sisters: emmy and jess, cynthia and cassie. all us ladies went through middle school and high school together. so after a brief catch up on what every one is doing now, the topics of conversation included…..creepy middle school teachers we had, favorite foods from the cafeteria, why cassie went vegan, and the crazy happenings at a cat clinic.

the ladies are ready to dine

on the menu: roasted eggplant and spinach muffalettas, coleslaw, homemade sweet potato-potato chips and for the non-vegans homemade coconut-chocolate chip ice cream (cassie brought her own vegan ice cream)

the food ready to serve

the muffaletta was in one simply phrase “to die for.” the sweet potato-potato chips on the other hand were at the opposite end of the spectrum with a “oh so sorry i probably shouldn’t have made them the day before i swear as i cooked them they were crispy.”

the chips that were a disaster

the ice cream that redeemed the chips

look at them beans!

August 26, 2012lynley Leave a comment

when trish and stan were in town over the summer they were on a quest, a quest for beans. they love a jarred beans called “randall beans.” when they discovered that HyVee carried them they just didn’t buy a jar or 2 to take home, oh no, they bought 6 cases that had to be special ordered and delivered to the store. in total 48 jars of beans. of course they gladly gave me a jar to try.

great northern….mmmmmm

the time came to crack open my jar of great northern and cook up some dinner. i doctored them up a bit, adding in some cooked bacon, okra, and creole seasoning. along with it i baked jalapeno-cheddar corn muffins. and to balance the meal out some coleslaw, can’t go wrong with coleslaw.

a plate of YUM

the conclusion on Randall Beans…….they were damn good. i’m sold. they made a quick and yummy dinner. i think from here on out i’m always going to have a jar in the cabinet. i might have thought you guys were crazy, trish and stan, but thanks for introducing me to Randall Beans!

RECIPE: JALAPENO-CHEDDAR CORN MUFFINS

makes 9

1 cup flour

1 cup cornmeal

1/4 cup honey

4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 eggs 1 cup milk

1/4 cup shortening

1 cup shredded cheddar

2 TBSP jalapeno slices

*preheat oven t0 425, grease cup cake pan.

*stir together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, and salt. add in eggs, honey, milk, and shortening. use mixture to mix well, batter will still be slightly lumpy. stir in cheddar cheese and jalapeno slices. for full large muffins add 1/2 cup batter to tins, for smaller muffins 1/3 cup (this will also give you 12 muffins)

*bake 15 minutes

sweet pots

August 23, 2012lynley Leave a comment

i’ve been on a sweet potato frenzy lately, sweet potato-potato chips, sweet pot tots, and up next sweet potato-potato salad

meatless monday — a peachy quesadilla

August 20, 2012lynley Leave a comment

melty yummy goodness

i feel like i go through phases of making quesadillas all the time and then i’ll realize it has been a year and i haven’t made a single one. when examining my fridge for dinner options at first glance i thought i had nothing for a quick meatless monday dinner but then i say tortilla shells, black beans, an avocado, plain yogurt, and peach salsa……QUESADILLA!!!! the tricky part is always flipping the quesadilla without all of your ingredients falling out. i know the trick is to use lots of cheese to hold everything in place but i have yet to perfect this flipping action. beans, cheese still come flying out, it is just hit and miss on how much comes out.

Hearty Eaters

sisters sharing meals & cooking long distance

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