Homemade Green Bean Crispers

Whenever I go out with family or friends to Applebee's I always, allwaaays, order the green bean crispers.  They are kinda healthy right? Since they are green beans and all.... 

This Christmas Eve I set out to make my own version of these tasty (deep fried) hors d'oeuvre's!

Ingredients:

• Green beans
• 1 cup flour
• 2 tsp. garlic powder
• 2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• Salt & Pepper
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 heavy cream
• Panko bread crumbs (or Italian)

Directions:

• On one plate mix together flour, garlic powder, paprika, onion powder and a dash of salt and pepper and set aside
• On another plate, crack your two eggs and whisk with heavy cream
• On your third and final plate mix your breadcrumbs with some salt and pepper
• Take your fresh green beans and snap off the ends.  Boil a pot of water and blanch the green beans for a minute, turn down the water and cook for an additional 2-3 minutes.  Strain the hot water and run green beans until cold water to stop the cooking
• For the purpose of convenience I cooked the green beans in the deep fryer but these can be done in a pan on the stove with some oil
• First drudge the green beans in the flour mixture, then move them to the egg mixture and lastly coat with the bread crumbs.  
• Stick a small handful into the deep fryer at a time and keep an eye on them.  They cook very quickly. I'd say about a minute, maybe two max, but I removed them from the oil once they had turned golden brown

Dipping Sauces:

Applebee's serves these green bean crispers with two dipping sauces and so since I was making them, I figured I'd go ahead and try to make my own!  

Barbecue Ranch Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

• Ranch dressing
• Barbecue sauce

Directions:

• I made this by taste but basically you want to have a 2 to 1 ratio.  So two parts ranch, one part barbecue sauce!

Horseradish Dipping Sauce

Ingredients:

• Mayo
• Onion Powder
• Ketchup
• Paprika
• Garlic Powder
• Horseradish

Directions:

• I also did this by taste but I started with about a half a cup of mayo, a tsp of ketchup, a tbsp of horseradish and then seasoned with the above spices!

Enjoy cooking!

 

Homemade crock pot hot chocolate

I've wanted to make homemade hot chocolate for quite some time now.  This time of year, when it is way too cold for comfort, it makes cuddling under a heap of blankets that much better.  Have I mentioned that it is super easy? Just grab your crock pot!

Ingredients:

• 14oz can of sweetened condensed milk
• Dash of salt
• 8 cups of water
• 1/2 cup of dry baking cocoa
• 1 and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract 

Directions:

• Combine condensed milk, water and vanilla extract
• Add dry cocoa and salt and whisk until all ingredients are combined
• Cook on low for 4 hours or until the hot cocoa is very hot

Serve with some marshmallows and whipped cream!

Here's a picture of the finished product in the crock pot! (Not the best photograph but it does it justice I suppose)

Sinful chocolate cookies

Holy delicious cookie guys...I was really in the mood for a chocolate cookie that was easy too so I searched online and combined a few recipes to make what I think it probably the best cookie I've ever had.  I'm not just tooting my own horn, they are so easy and so delicious!!!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/4 cups sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.  Also grease 2 baking sheets with cooking spray.
• Put the confectioners' sugar into a little container and set aside as you will use this later to coat the cookies.
• In a medium bowl, mix flour, cocoa, baking powder and salt
• In another bowl, using your mixer, beat butter and sugar until it's combined and creamy.  Add one egg at a time and mix until blended.  Then add your vanilla to this mixture.
• Add the two mixtures together and beat until blended
• Using a tablespoon, scoop some of the dough out
• Roll the dough into small ball's using your hands (time to get dirty guys!)
• Roll the ball in the confectioners' sugar that you set aside in the beginning
• Place the balls on the baking sheets (12 on each) about 2 inches or so apart
• Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until they are cracked and puffed!

It's almost my birthday month!

July marks my birthday month and although I have to wait pretty much the entire month for my birthday to actually roll around, I love July for more than just my birthday.  July, in my eyes is the best month of summer.  It's beautiful weather, barbecues, the 4th of July, pools, the beach, and my boyfriend.  It's amaaazing.  Next week Tim and I are kicking off the first week of July with my family in Buffalo.  We'll be attending a bridal shower for my Uncle's fiance as well as a rodeo...random, I know.  I'm just so excited to kick off my favorite month with the people I love most.

How are you guys planning to spend the month of July?  I'm looking for some birthday ideas as well as great day trips for Tim and I!  Comment, comment, comment....or email :)

In honor of my favorite month and of course, my birthday I created a July wishlist!

1.  A Pandora charm bracelet
2.  Erin Condren Life Planner
3.  J.Crew necklace
4.  New cookbook
5.  New bag

What are you wishing for?

What I'm watching

I'm about the head back to work so for the past month that I have had off to do next to nothing I have picked up a few favorite t.v. shows.  I think by now you all know that I have a deep love of food and so I typically gravitate towards cooking related shows.  If you are looking for something great to watch on t.v I highllyyyy suggest these!

1.  The Chew

It's no secret that Tim and I love this show.  We've been twice and while I totally love it for all the awesome food and stuff I really love it because I love the people on the show.  To break it down, Michael Symon and Mario Batali are my favorite Iron Chef's, Daphne Oz is phenomenal (go buy her book Relish), Carla Hall was me and my mom's favorite Top Chef and I have been watching Clinton Kelly on What Not to Wear since I was a kid.  It airs at 1 p.m. on ABC.

2.  Master Chef

Gordon Ramsey scares the crap out of me but I also love him at the same time.  Master Chef is a cooking competition for untrained chef's which I think is so fascinating to watch because they all have such a natural talent (well some of them, not all).  I would love to go on this show at some point so he could scream in my face but Tim tells me that I'd cry a lot...which is true.   

3.  The Great American Baking Competition

This show is brand new but I still think it's great.  After the first episode the woman who cooks with bacon is for sure my favorite because she's basically precious.  These bakers are also untrained which is totally after my own heart since I've never had training.  Essentially they give them different challenges to see how well they do on more crafty recipe's without much prior knowledge.

4.  Hell's Kitchen

So this is Gordon Ramsey's other cooking show that is on right now and these people are trained but also always seem a little bit like idiots.  I love it nonetheless because I really like Gordon Ramsey, especially when he's yelling.

5.  Eat St.

If I'm obsessed with any show in particular it's this one.  It's about the food truck frenzy that is taking over our nation and I just loooveeee to see some of the creative trucks out here.  Makes me want to hit up the city and go eat at my favorite trucks!  Never underestimate a food truck guys...the secrets they hold...oh man.

6.  Unique Sweets

Last but not least this show is all about desert but unique ones at that!  I love to watch it because it gives me such great ideas.  I think sometimes people are afraid to be bold with their cooking or are afraid to try new things because they could fail.  Sometimes it's fun to just cook what you feel would taste amazing.  Cook from the heart like these restaurateurs do!

Holy crap they are all about food.  Thought for sure I'd have one in there about singing or something!

What are you watching these days?

In other news, I'm sick

I feel like I have been missing in action this week and I sincerely apologize for disappearing for a bit but guys...I.am.so.freaking.sick.  Tim was sick earlier last week and he really didn't seem that bad (I know some women say that men are wimps when they are sick, but Tim is a champ.  I never can tell when he's feeling particularly awful.)  Anyway, I was convinced that I would beat whatever Tim had and then, just as I feared, last Sunday I started feeling sick.  We were out at the hitting range on a little date and I started to get a sore throat.  Well...it's Thursday now and I have no voice, an awful cough, a stuffy nose, body aches..the works! I feel awwwfffffullllllll.  Maggie came over last nice since I'm home house sitting and as a nursing major/best friend she did her best to keep my spirits high.

In other news, I experimented this morning with a new pancake recipe and it was yummy but still missing something.  I added vanilla this time around to give it a little kick but they still feel like they need more!  Do you guys have any suggestions for great pancake recipe's?!

In other other news, I want to take cooking classes for my birthday this year and have been trying to do some research online to find the best place.  Have any of you taken a class in the city and recommend a good place?

So sorry that this was such a random post, but I didn't want to leave you guys hanging while I try and beat this cold!

Reading, Living and Loving Relish

I'm pretty certain after reading Daphne Oz's new book, Relish, that her and I should be best friends.  I bought the book simply because I love Daphne Oz and anticipated it to be just a cookbook but friends, it's so much more.

Relish is a book to live by.

From cover to cover, Relish contains practical tips to eating well, loving well, and living well.  From healthy recipes for all three meals to beautiful cocktails and deserts, Daphne Oz gives you a taste of her world.  You can tell how much love when into writing this book and boy do I love it back.

As women, I feel like we often need a few good words to live by and now it seems we have a book.  Every woman should own Relish and not just because it's filled with phenomenal recipe's that are also good for you but because it's filled with advice from hosting a dinner party to navigating a food store.  There's no shortage of incredible, wholesome advice in Relish and as a girl in her young twenties, I needed that!  It's not often you pick up a book and think, "Gee!  This woman read my mind!"  I like to think that in the near future I will need to crack this book open to recall what Daphne said about applying bronzer or when I need to host a dinner party.  Guys, I'm glad I own this book and if you don't already have it, go get it...

To be it simply, Relish is beautifully written.  There's nothing complex about her writing, which, I think is the best part.  To open Relish is to read a conversation with an old friend, it's that good. 


*This is not a sponsored post, I just needed to share this all with you!

Perfect spring frittata!

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that Tim and I cooked  brunch for my family the Saturday before Easter. I put up a few of the recipe's from brunch but totally forgot to put up this amazing ham, broccoli and cheese frittata!

Ingredients:

• 8 large eggs
• One package of steamed broccoli
• 1/2 pound of deli ham
• 1 cup of sharp cheddar cheese
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 2 teaspoons olive oil

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees
• Heat oil in at least a 10 inch skillet over medium-high heat
• Add broccoli and ham to the the skillet
• In a large bowl, whisk eggs, cheese, salt and pepper together and pour into skillet.  Make sure that everything is covered.  You want to cook this until edges are slightly set (about 1-2 minutes).
• Transfer to the oven and bake until center is set, check at 20 minutes.  Do not put your skillet into the oven if it has a plastic handle.  I transferred mine, after the edges were set, to a quiche dish which ended up working perfectly!

Enjoy!

Easy, delicious crumb cake

When I decided that I wanted to make Easter brunch for my family with Tim I knew that I wanted to stick to breakfast foods.  I also knew that I wanted to find a simple dessert to balance all the intense, rich flavors of the other dishes.  What I decided to make was crumb cake.  If anyone has every working with crumb cake before you know it's unlike anything else.  It's a thick, dough-like batter that is difficult to spread and work with.  Having never had experience making it before I got frustrated and left most of the spreading, crumb making and cake baking to Tim, but the recipe is mine!

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons canola oil, plus more for 9x12 pan
• 4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 large egg
• 1/2 cup of milk
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 cup unsalted butter
• Confectioners' sugar for dusting
• 2 tablespoons sour cream

Directions:

• Preheat oven and spray baking pan with canola oil, set aside
• Mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, sugar, baking powder and salt
• In a second bowl, whisk together egg, sour cream, milk, canola oil and vanilla
• Mix dry and wet ingredients together gradually
• Spread batter into prepared pan and set aside
• In another bowl, mix together remaining 2 1/2 cups flour, brown sugar and cinnamon.  Pour melted butter over mixture and toss until crumbs form.  Sprinkle over batter
• Bake in oven for 10-20 minutes or until a fork comes out clean
• When cooled, dust with confectioners' sugar

Cinnamon bun casserole

This cinnamon bun casserole was among many of the dishes that Tim and I cooked for my family Saturday morning.  This one seemed to be the fan favorite!

Ingredients:

• Baking spray for your 11x7 pan
• 2 cans of cinnamon rolls with icing
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• Maple syrup (if you want, it's delicious without it)

Directions:

• Heat your oven to 375 degrees and spray your pan
• Open both cans of rolls and begin pulling the rolls apart to make smaller pieces, place in dish
• In a bowl, mix together eggs, cream, cinnamon and vanilla
• Gently pour this mixture over the pieces so that they are almost covered
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.  I took mine out just at the 20 because I found that it cooked very quick, so keep an eye on them so that they do not burn
• Heat the icing in a microwavable bowl for 20 seconds and pour over casserole when you are ready to serve!

Enjoy! 

Happy Easter!

We hope everyone has a very blessed Easter!  Tim and I are with our respective families today but yesterday we cooked brunch for my family (recipe's to follow) and we went to Easter Vigil and had dessert with his!  During mass I got so excited watching the people receive full communion. I can't wait for next Sunday!

Enjoy your day's :)

-Ashley&Tim

Delicious Blueberry Muffins

Is anyone planning on cooking brunch for Easter?  Whether you are or aren't this easy-to-make muffins can be changed to your liking (chocolate, strawberries, bananas, etc...) What I've created is an simple muffin base that can change depending on the day you want to eat them!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 2 cups flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 milk (I always add a splash more but you really have to eye this one.  Don't let them get to watery, but don't let them be too dry)
• 1/2 tsp  vanilla
• 1 1/2 cups chopped blueberries (or something else if you'd prefer that)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray muffin pan to set aside.  You can either cook these in cupcake holders or without, it doesn't matter
• Mix butter and sugar together in a mixing bowl.  Add in egg and beat.
• Add flour, baking powder and salt into the bowl and mix.  Add in your milk and then vanilla.
• Gently stir in your choice of fruit (or chocolate)
• Sprinkle some sugar on top!
• Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean!

Enjoy!

Cinnamon toast crunch cupcakes and the battle that ensued

It's no secret that I love to bake but sometimes I just shouldn't do it.  For example, last night I decided really late that I wanted to make Cinnamon Toast Crunch cupcakes!  I was baking them loosely off of a recipe but was also altering it based on my own experience and I was exhausted.  Well the first issue of the night was that I didn't have eggs.  That morning Tim and I used them to make the perfect sunny side up eggs (I'll post that recipe..so easy!) and I totally forgot to get more.  So I call my neighbor and solve my egg issue except for the fact that I bring them into my room and sit them in a basket until I need them.  We will return to the eggs momentarily.

So I start my batter and everything is going just fine, changing the recipe having a grand ol' time and I put in my baking powder.  Seemingly, all is well.  I return to my room to get the eggs and as I go to turn around one slid out of my hand, smacked the doorknob and cracked on my grey carpet.  Great.  I can't get the stain out by the way.

I put the cupcakes in the oven after scrubbing endlessly in hopes of getting the egg stain out of my rug and wait.  I generally am the type to check the oven a million times to see what the cupcake looks like but instead I just went about my business.

When the timer went off I was so excited because the kitchen smelt delish.  Well...to my surprise....I open the oven to find cupcake batter EVERYWHERE.  I exploded the cupcakes.

In utter shock I decided to reread my recipe and go over what I had done and realized that because I was tired and changing the recipe without paying attention...instead of putting 3/4 teaspoon of baking powder, I put 3/4 cup.  How on earth did that not register as odd?!  Who knows...but it was a mess!

This morning I woke up and tried again and with the right amount of baking powder they turned out great.  Recipe below!  Enjoy!

Cupcake Ingredients:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• salt
• 1/2 milk (whole or skim, I use skim)
• 1/2 stick butter
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup +2 tablespoons sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

The frosting is a simple butter cream frosting which you can find a recipe online for. I simply added some Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal and cinnamon to the recipe.

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line your cupcake pan to set aside
• In large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt
• In a small sauce pan on the stove, melt butter with the milk and set aside
• Using your electric mixer, mix in eggs, sugar and vanilla extract with the flour mixture you set aside earlier.  
• Once that is incorporated, add in the milk and butter and mix until all together
• Fill cupcake tins 3/4 of the way and bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean!

So easy!