TWD #34: Peek-a-Boooo-scotti. I see you…

I love this time of year.

It’s just turning cold (well… cold by California standards) so I am busting out my hoodies and scarves from their under-the-bed-abyss.

Personally my favorite “holiday” is the day after Thanksgiving for the Black Friday sales! HAHA. I get such a thrill from standing in line at 2am with other Black Friday shoppers, barely no sleep, playing cards, drinking coffee and waiting until the door opens at 5am. The adrenaline when you finally get inside is such a rush. People are running and grabbing stuff off the shelves in a mad frenzy. It’s awesome! I’ve got my eye on a laptop this year for T’s xmas gift. Ssshhhh… don’t tell!

T’s favorite holiday is Halloween. (Actually it might be tied with Thanksgiving.) He’s a bit of a movie-aholic. I think it breaks his heart that I am not. I prefer being entertained via my internet than watching Saw 4 (or is it 5 now? Did we really need more than one though?). Of all the genres, he loves scary movies. Since we don’t have kids and we live in an apt that in 6 years has never had one trick-or-treater, we always spend the few weeks leading up to and the night of Halloween watching scary movies. I am not a scary movie person. I scare easily. I don’t like seeing blood gushing out from severed limbs but there are a few that I will watch.

Psycho
Bram Stoker’s Dracula
Sleepy Hallow
From Hell
The Village
The Sixth Sense

T’s scary movie list is WAY longer. But the above movies are the only ones I have the stomach for. If I can get caught up in the story and the gore isn’t over the top, I can watch it. If its gory just to be gory, forget it!

Wait what was I suppose to be talking about? There I go off on a tangent again. Talking about Black Friday and scary movies has gotten me all flustered! HAHA. Back to the biscotti, m’kay?

I don’t think I’ve ever had biscotti. Whaaaaat?? But I am not a coffee or tea drinker and I think most biscotti eaters nibble their biscotti with a warm drink right? Needless to say TWD is about baking things out of our comfort zone so I put on my apron and did my baking thang! Thanks to our host, Gretchen from Canela & Comino for choosing this week’s recipe. You can find the full recipe on her blog.

In honor of the upcoming holiday I made my biscotti with some Halloween inspired sprinkles that I found at Macys. Gotta love Martha Stewart at Macys. She thinks of everything for every holiday. Can you imagine what she did with her jail cell? You know she worked it out! *snapsnapsnap*

What I learned this week:
I am getting more and more comfortable reading a recipe and adding my own adaptions. I think that makes baking even more fun! Especially when you can find a reason to add sprinkles!

Lenox Almond Booo-scotti
(Recipe adapted from Dorie Greenspan BFMHTY | photos from me!)

Makes 30 biscotti (I halved the recipe and got 12)

A couple TWD members mentioned they weren’t a fan of the gritty texture of the cornmeal but mine didn’t seem gritty? Maybe I just don’t have as a discriminating biscotti palate? hehe

Does my dough look kinda orange-y? I hope so! I added a little red and yellow coloring gel to the dough to make it more Halloween-y. I probably should have added more b/c its kinda faint. Oh well… next time.

I baked for 20 minutes instead of 15 minutes for the first bake. After cooling for 30 minutes, I baked 15 minutes for 2nd bake, turned off oven and let them cool in the oven. You can see that it spreads alot when you compare the loaf proximity to the words on the silpat. Crazy huh?

I sliced mine kinda thick, about 1 inch. Since I like seeing the almond chunks, I had to take a picture. hehe

Did anyone else think that Dorie’s description of “marching band” meant you stand the biscotti up vertical? I DID?! Good thing fellow TWDer, Annette, explained “…just stand them up on their original bottom from when they were in log form versus laying them down on a cut side.” or I would have try to balance my biscotti on its end with total failure. Balance is not my strong suit. Since TWD head baker, Laurie, confirmed that her interpretation was the same, I went with it. Two TWDers can’t be wrong, right? HAHA

I used 1/2 semi-sweet and 1/2 bittersweet chocolate melted via microwave in a cup. After I dipped one end of biscotti in chocolate, I garnished with various Halloween sprinkles (white ghosts, orange pumpkins, multicolor sprinkles)

Let chocolate set in refrigerator about 1 hour.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A+
He use to work in a coffee shop in college so he knows biscotti. He raved about it in the morning with his coffee and said I have to make it for him every morning. Yeah right!? haha.

Wifey rating: A
I am not a coffee drinker so T says I didn’t get the full experience but I liked it with or without coffee. It was like a dry almond cookie. I could play with so many different flavors with this recipe. I love that.

Next week: Pumpkin Muffins page 13

Bunday Monday

OpieBun is typically a lazy bunny. I love her but she’s lazy. LOL

The extent of her activity level is following me towards the kitchen between 8-9pm when she knows she’s getting dinner or hopping into her litterbox. The other 20 hours, she usually lays in the same place near her food dish so she doesn’t have to go too far if she wants a mid-afternoon snack.

But… she will break her lazy code of ethics if Daddy has strawberries. (Strawberries are like bunny crack.) All the sudden, her nose will twitch like crazy as soon as the strawberry scent hits her nostril, the cost bun-efit analysis increases and she’ll jump up on the couch to beg T for some strawberry delights.

In the words of Jonathon Adler… “Its j’dorable!” –> Who watches TD?

(You can see her size better in this picture right? I don’t call her my doggybun for nothing!)

Photo Week - Touch

I know.

I am late.

This was suppose to be done yesterday… but I hope you’ll forgive me when you see the pictures.

E is our unofficial godson. His favorite toy are these toy blocks. He loves to touch them, throw them, roll them across the floor etc.

… and a few more pics just because.

Isn’t he the most adorable baby in the world?? I love his cheeks. Don’t you?

Happy Saturday!

Homemade Samoas

(image credit: Living Novel)

Do you know what the BEST cookie in this world is…? (Aliens might have a better cookie so I am leaving it as an option just in case.)

Samoas!!!

Also known as Caramel De-Lites (but they will always be Samoas to me).

Now I know that plenty of you will disagree with me. My hubs is a Tagalong die-hard but there’s something about that caramel, coconut, shortbread and chocolate that satisfies every cookie craving for me.

It’s a good thing that the little box only holds 15-20 odd cookies b/c I’d gladly eat more in one sitting. I have memories of tummy aches to prove it. But its SO worth it. HAHA. Don’t even shake your head and tut tut tut at me. You know you’ve done the same thing yourself. Maybe when a boy broke your heart and you found your stash of girl scout cookies was the best medicine for the pain? I know the feeling girlfriend… ::shaking head knowingly::

But those darn cookies are a limited commodity and my girl scout connection grew out of her green sash with button flair and into piercings and boys. Frick! So imagine my “delight” (Get it? “Delight”? It’s called Caramel De-lite. Get it?? Is this thing on?) when I found a homemade version of a Samoa.

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

(Recipe from Baking Bites | photos from me!)

Makes about 3-1/2 to 4 dozen (I halved the recipe and got 30 cookies)

INGREDIENTS

For cookies
1 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup sugar
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
up to 2 tablespoons milk

For topping
3 cups shredded coconut (sweetened or unsweetened)
12-ounces good-quality chewy caramels ( I used Wether’s Chewy Caramels)
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons milk
8 ounces dark or semisweet chocolate

INSTRUCTIONS

To making cookies—
Preheat oven to 350F.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt at a low speed, followed by the vanilla and milk, adding in the milk as needed to make the dough come together without being sticky (it’s possible you might not need to add milk at all). The dough should come together into a soft, not-too-sticky ball. Add in a bit of extra flour if your dough is very sticky.

[NOTES: I added 1 tbsp of milk but I probably didn't need to add anything.]

Roll the dough (working in two or three batches) out between pieces of wax paper to about 1/4-inch thickness (or slightly less) and use a 1 1/2-inch cookie cutter to make rounds. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and use a knife, or the end of a wide straw, to cut a smaller center hole. Repeat with remaining dough.

[NOTES: I used the small end of my 2A round tip to cut out the center hole. Next time I'll probably use a different size cookie cutter, maybe my 2 inch instead for a bigger cookie.]

Bake cookies for 10-12 minutes, until bottoms are lightly browned and cookies are set.

Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

To make topping—
Preheat oven to 300 degrees F

Spread coconut evenly on a rimmed baking sheet and toast 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes, until coconut is golden. Cool on baking sheet, stirring occasionally. Set aside.

Unwrap the caramels and place in a large microwave-safe bowl with milk and salt. Cook on high for 3-4 minutes, stopping to stir a few times to help the caramel melt. When smooth, fold in toasted coconut with a spatula.

Using the spatula or a small offset spatula, spread topping on cooled cookies, using about 2-3 tsp per cookie. Reheat caramel for a few seconds in the microwave if it gets too firm to work with.

While topping sets up, melt chocolate in a small bowl. Heat on high in the microwave in 45 second intervals, stirring thoroughly to prevent scorching. Dip the base of each cookie into the chocolate and place on a clean piece of parchment paper. Transfer all remaining chocolate (or melt a bit of additional chocolate, if necessary) into a piping bag or a ziplock bag with the corner snipped off and drizzle finished cookies with chocolate.

Let chocolate set completely before storing in an airtight container.

[NOTES: I popped my tray into the frig for the chocolate to set for about an hour.]

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A
He liked the homemade version but he’s a tagalong man so its not his favorite girl scout cookie.

Wifey rating: A
It really tastes like a samoa!! But this recipe takes a little time to make (about 2 hours for me, not counting the setting chocolate part) so I’d only make this again by special request or a serious craving from a pregnant friend during the girl scout off-season.

Photo Week - Smell

A couple pics from the Farmer’s Market last weekend. Smell the freshness…

(photographer credit: My hubs)
OpieBun knows its dinner time when she hears the frig open and I take out the carrots. Sometimes she hops into the kitchen to sniff the dangling carrot tops (her favorite veggie treat) and tries to sneak a bite when I am not looking. She always succeeds.

The cutest bunny nose in the world

In the great words of Nelson Muntz… Smell ya later.

CEiMB #1: Mom’s Turkey Meatloaf

I know what you’re thinking.

You gotta be kidding, CB? Another foodie event?!!

I am totally psychic right? … and you would be correct. Just call me FEA (foodie event addict). I am ok with that.

Craving Ellie In My Belly is the brainchild of foodie friend, Leigh of Lemontarlet and the Dust Bunnies, and her desire to balance out the desserts from our Tuesdays with Dorie baking group with something healthier. I can definitely get behind that! I love me some Dorie desserts but my love handles are getting lovelier by the week if you get my drift… LOL

The rules are pretty simple. If you wanna join in the Ellie fun, email Leigh with your info. Tell her CB sent ya! ::wink::

Ok. Let’s talk about Leigh’s pick for our first CEiMB recipe. Let’s talk meatloaf.

To be honest I can’t remember the last time I ate meatloaf. Maybe even never. *gasp* I know. Can you believe it? So I wasn’t sure what to expect from this recipe. Ground turkey breast, Worcester sauce, ketchup? Whaaaaaat? This aint *MY* momma’s meatloaf. Well actually my mom was more of a casserole cooker. I think its a mom talent to be able to turn anything into a casserole. Am I right? HAHA

I served my meatloaf with mash potatoes and broccoli. It just seemed like the right thing to do. Kinda like pepperoni on a pizza.

(Recipe from Foods You Crave page 216 | photos from me!)

Makes 8 servings

* Nutritional analysis/serving–
Calories: 205; Total Fat: 3.5; Saturated Fat: 0.5; Protein: 32; Carbohydrates: 13 grams; Fiber: 2 grams

INGREDIENTS

3/4 cup quick cooking oats (I used old fashion oats instead)
1/2 cup nonfat milk
1 medium onion, peeled
2 lbs ground turkey breast (I used 1-1/4 lbs instead)
1/2 medium red bell pepper, seeded and chopped (I used 1 whole red pepper)
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper
1-8 oz can no-salt-added tomato sauce

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 350 F.

In a small bowl, stir together the oats and milk and allow to soak while you get the rest of the ingredients together, at least 3 minutes.

[NOTES: Since I used old fashion oats, I let it soak for 15 minutes.]

Thinly slice one-quarter of the onion into rings and set aside. Finely chop the rest of the onion.

In a large bowl, combine the turkey, oatmeal mixture, chopped onion, bell pepper, eggs, Worcestershire, ketchup, salt, and a few grinds of pepper. Mix just until well combined.

Transfer the mixture to a 9×13-inch baking dish and shape into a loaf about 5 inches wide and 2 inches high. Pour the tomato sauce over the meatloaf and sprinkle with the sliced onions. Bake until an instant-read meat thermometer inserted into the thickest part registers 160 F, about 1 hour.

[NOTES: I baked for 1 hour and 20 minutes.]

Remove from the oven and let rest for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A
T likes meatloaf. Who knew? I didn’t! HAHA. He raved about this recipe and liked it better than his mom’s. Now that’s saying something!

Wifey rating: A-/B+
I think the recipe itself is great but I am just not a meatloaf person. C’est la vie.

Next week: Steak tacos w/ cucumber-avocado salsa page 184-185

* Nutritional information for original recipe. It does not include my changes and/or substitutions.

Photo Week - Sound

I know its probably cliche to take a picture of an ear for “sound” but I really like this picture of Snickerdoodle’s ear! ::cursing my crappy lighting:: You can see her veins. Bunnies regulate their body temperature through their ears kinda like a dog when he pants to cool down. Just a little bunny education for ya.

Come back tomorrow for a “smell”-y Thursday. LOL

Photo Week - Taste

It’s still Tuesday! I have 5 hours until deadline right? Whew!

Its day 2 of photo week, hosted by Jen of Beantown Baker and this was a little harder than I thought. My dinky point-and-shoot camera is not equipped for capturing action very well and trying to get a picture of OpieBun eating hay was not gonna happen. That girl is a fast chewer! But I figured for your viewing pleasure I’d show the best one. Aren’t her wittle wips so cute?

Since my bunny idea didn’t go as planned I decided to take a different approach and post a couple pictures from my cupcake baking. Get it? Someone got a “taste” of each cupcake. LOL. I kill myself. You can find the recipe and instructions how to make them on my cupcake blog. Which one do you like better? black or white?

See you tomorrow for a safe and “sound” Wednesday!

TWD #33: “I could put it in her brownie.”

If you can accurately quote who says that line (actor or character name) and what show, you get a cookie. Ok you won’t get a cookie but I’ll be really impressed and bow down to your TV watching greatness.

Hint: Stuff White People Like.

I am not a tv person but that show was like a train wreck (in a good comedic drama way) that you just couldn’t stop watching even though every instinct said you should turn away. That family puts the diss in dysfunctional! HAHA. Oh man I miss that show. Here’s hoping for a movie reunion soon. ::crossing fingers::

As you’ve probably kinda guessed from my title… The TWD-nators baked up some brownies this week. Not just any brownies though. In typical Dorie fashion, this one fused 2 types of decadent desserts together: brownie-cake. Not only was it a 2for dessert, it had caramel. To say that I am a caramel addict would be putting it politely. I love caramel. Love, love love it! So you can imagine that I was ecstatic when Tammy of Wee Treats by Tammy chose this as her recipe. You can find the original recipe on her blog.

What I learned this week:
Making caramel is a delicate process. If you don’t cook it enough, it doesn’t have much flavor. If you cook it too long you risk burning it. If you cook it just right, its a tongue-gasm in your mouth!

Caramel-Peanut-Topped Brownie Cake
(Recipe from Dorie Greenspan’s BFMHTY | photos from me!)

To make the brownie cake—

Ooops. I forgot the parchment paper. Getting the cake out was touch and go for a bit but it eventually came out ok. Whew!

My cake sank in the middle but Dorie said it would happen so its all good.

To make caramel—

For my first caramel attempt, I didn’t cook it long enough so after I added the cream and butter it was a soupy mess so the 2nd time I took Dorie’s sound advice (Why didn’t I do it the first time??) about dropping a small amount against a white plate to compare colors. I used my creme brulee dish b/c it was the closest thing within my reach. Isn’t it crazy the difference in color and small time frame between the 4th and 5th drops? Yes. I know. I am a big fat pocket-protector-wearing nerd.

I served the brownie-cake up with some vanilla bean ice cream. Talk about died and gone to sugar high heaven. ::drool::

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A
He’s not a caramel addict like me. He thought the caramel was a bit too chewy for his own taste but he loved the brownie cake.

Wifey rating: A
Ditto hubs but reverse it. I thought the brownie cake was good but I LOVED that caramel. The salty peanuts were such a great compliment to the sweet caramel.

Other rating: A
I brought this over to a friend’s house for a little impromptu dinner invite and there were nothing but raves. It was only 6 of us but there were no leftovers. Good thing I decided not to half it huh?

Next week: Lenox Almond Biscotti, pages 141-143

Cooking Light Night

Its been more than a week since my last Cooking Light Night huh? ::hangs head in shame::

But honestly I have been cooking light though. I’ve been making variations of my margherita pizza by adding chicken or using dried basil instead of fresh. I think I’ve made it at least 5x now. Its that good!

But tonight hubs wasn’t feeling the pizza vibe so he requested something else. He wasn’t picky about what so I took that as wifey’s choice. Sa-weeet! I have been craving Thai food for days. I love Thai food so I did a quick search in my Cooking Light cookbook for my favorite Thai dish - pad thai! I found the vegetarian version with tofu but decided to add in some protein with a little shrimp. YUM!

Also wanna say thanks to Nancy of The Dogs Eat The Crumbs and Audrey of Food from Books for participating in Cooking Light Nights with me! I am having so much fun reading about your CL nights too! If any other readers are using my CL logo, please let me know! I’d love to see what you’re cooking…

Vegetarian [Shrimp] Pad Thai
(Recipe from Cooking Light, March 2003 | photos from me!)

Makes about 6 servings

* Nutritional analysis/serving–
Calories: 347 (25% from fat); Fat: 9.6g (sat 1.6g,mono 3.5g,poly 3.5g); Protein: 10.9g; Carbohydrate: 56.7g; Fiber: 2.5g; Cholesterol: 37mg; Iron: 2.4mg; Sodium: 935mg; Calcium: 80mg

INGREDIENTS

2/3 cup chili sauce (such as Heinz)
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons fish sauce
1-1/2 teaspoons grated peeled fresh ginger
1 teaspoon chopped seeded serrano chile
1/2 pound wide rice stick noodles (bánh pho) (I used pad thai noodles)
4 teaspoons vegetable oil, divided
1 (12.3-ounce) package extrafirm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 large egg whites
1 large egg
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups fresh bean sprouts
3/4 cup diagonally cut green onions
1/2 cup minced fresh cilantro, divided
1/3 cup coarsely chopped dry-roasted peanuts
6 lime wedges
1/2 lb shrimp, peeled and deveined

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine first 6 ingredients; set aside.

Cook noodles in boiling water 5 minutes or until done. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain well.

Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add tofu; cook 7 minutes or until browned, stirring occasionally. Remove from pan.

Add shrimp, cook, tossing occasionally, until shrimp are opaque and browned about the edges, about 3 minutes. Remove from pan.

Combine egg whites and egg, stirring well with a whisk.

Heat 2 teaspoons vegetable oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add garlic, and sauté for 10 seconds. Add egg mixture, and cook for 30 seconds or until soft-scrambled, stirring constantly. Stir in chili sauce mixture and noodles; cook for 2 minutes. Stir in tofu, bean sprouts, onions, 1/4 cup cilantro and shrimp. Cook 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated.

Sprinkle 1/4 cup cilantro and peanuts evenly over each serving of noodle mixture. Serve with lime wedges.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A+
He’s not a shrimp freak like me but he really liked the tofu. Go figure! My protein loving husband raved about the tofu?? Don’t worry! I made sure he wasn’t running a fever or anything… HAHA

Wifey rating: A+
This was perfect for my pad thai noodle craving. I had 2 plates and almost went for a 3rd but I restrained myself b/c I am a good girl. LOL. I will definitely make this again!

* Nutritional information for original recipe. It does not include my changes and/or substitutions.

Bunday Monday

We’re gonna do things a little different today so I can tell you about a new event I am participating in before I show you a bunny picture(s), m’kay?

Jen of BeanTown Baker is hosting Photo Week this week! The object of Photo Week is about inspiring you with different themes while in the process learning more about your camera. Even though I don’t have a fancy shmancy DSLR (yet) I knew I wanted to join in the photography fun! Wanna join in on the fun with me??

For this week’s theme, Jen, picked the 5 senses for our photography inspiration: sight (Monday), taste (Tuesday), sound (Wednesday), smell (Thursday) and touch (Friday). Now you all know how much I love 2fors so I took this opportunity to use my bunny as my model.

Click image to enlarge
Taken with: Sony DSC-S700

If you look closely at the picture (R), you can see my reflection in Snickerdoodle’s eye! How cool is that? My arm looks kinda distorted but I still think its cool…

Stay tuned for a “taste-y” Tuesday!

Foodie Question of the Day

Well… Its more foodie-related.

(image credit: Grant’s Rants)

What do you prefer? Summary or full feed for readers?

I have to admit I am not a summary fan b/c I am a lazy blogger and to be blunt, I am all about instant gratification (my infomercial fetish makes sense now right? HAHA) so I don’t wanna click over to your blog to get the full post. I want to read it now… in my google reader. ::stomping feet::

But I love blogging and if I can make a little money on something I love, all the better right?

I’ve been a foodbuzz publisher for a few months now. Foodbuzz pays per 1000 views (at least thats how my contract is set up) but it doesn’t count toward your views if readers “view” your blog via a reader. Heck I didn’t know that! Since I am a science nerd, I started formulating an experiment. I was thinking I’d change my blog to summary for a month and see if there is a significant monetary difference. If not then I’d switch back to full read b/c thats what I prefer.

After I shared my hypothesis with fellow foodie, Nikki, she immediately explained that she’s not a fan of summary feeds for the same reasons as me and she thinks you actually lose readers when you do that.

Well that sucks. The last thing I want to do is lose readership. One of the biggest reasons I love blogging is interacting with readers. I’ve met some amazing people that way. I love my readers.

So what do you think? Do you agree with Nikki?

Would a summary feed make you delete someone from your reader? why or why not?

Saturday @ Farmer’s Market

Ever since I became a foodie blogger I’ve been lusting after Farmer’s Markets. Several of my favorite foodie blogs and websites boast of farmer’s markets near them with enthusiastic praise and pictures but for some reason I got it into my head that my area just didn’t have any. At least I’d never seen any so I assumed that Whole Foods would be as close as I could get to local veggies and fruits.

But leave it to my trusty foodie friend, Nikki, and her fabulous google search abilities to find a list of local farmer’s markets near me! Definitely check out the link if you live in the Orange County area!

Since I usually work every Saturday I mentally crossed the Irvine Farmer’s Market off my list but when I found out I had today off, I knew I’d be hitting up Irvine come rain or shine. (Weatherman says its suppose to rain today. Boooo!)

I had such a great time walking up and down the aisles, looking at all the gorgeous fruits and vegetables. They were such bright colors and smelled amazing. I was getting dizzy from all the smells. After I got over the initial drug induced sensation from the first tour around the market, I got down to business and started buying! I bought some cilantro, white nectarines, fuji (not fugi, right Nikki? HAHA) apples, scallops, corn and basil. While I was looking at the basil, I found this eggplant who was “happy” to see me. LOL

Now you’ll never look at eggplant again with a straight face right? I know I won’t!

After I got home I decided to make herb ice cubes as suggested from my previous foodie question of the day, specifically with some cilantro. Nikki explained that she keeps her herbs fresh by picking off the leaves and freezing them in ice cube trays. So when she needs some for cooking, she grabs a cube (or 2). How cute is that??

They are chillaxing in my freezer right now but I’ll update later with pictures of my frozen cilantro cubes! No more black gooey herbs for me…. I hope. If this doesn’t work, maybe I’ll try the chia herb pet next?

UPDATED w/ cilantro cubes:

Happy Saturday everyone!

PS. U-C-L-A fight fight fight!

Beefy Bean Nachos

♪ Beans beans…
The musical fruit
The more you eat
The more you toot!
The more you toot
The better you’ll feel
So eat your beans with every meal! ♪♫

T’s family is very political. His dad has a degree in Political Science as does T. I am sure T gets his passion for politics, government and history from his parents. Needless to say this current presidential debate has been the topic of conversation for many months when we have dinner with T’s family.

Last night was the VP debate as I am sure most of you know. I think the elephants should be happy with Pahlin’s debate cramming abilities. I gotta say that Pahlin beat the spread. Granted it was set really low but you gotta give her props for holding her own. Does it win McCain the election? Personally I don’t think it changes much. I think how the bailout plan is handled will determine this year’s election more than a VP debate. At least it gave Tina Fey some new material right? I for one am looking forward to the next SNL spoof.

What does this have to do with beans, you ask? Well that’s what T requested for dinner while watching the VP debate last night and I posted the song b/c its such a catchy tune. It will be stuck in your head all day. Just watch. You can thank me later. Preferably not with musical toots though.

(Recipe adapted from Tammy’s Recipes | photos from me!)

Makes 8 servings

INGREDIENTS

1-1/2 pounds ground beef (I used 1 lb instead)
1 onion, chopped (I used 1/2 onion)
1 clove garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, chopped (I used red bell pepper)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
2 teaspoons chili powder
salt and pepper, to taste
hot sauce (if desired) (I omitted)
3 cups refried beans
16 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup diced green and/or red peppers (I omitted)
sour cream, for serving
4 to 6 ounces sliced black olives
2-3 tomatoes, washed and diced
jalapeno peppers, garnish (optional)
tortilla chips, for serving

INSTRUCTIONS

Fry meat, onion, garlic, and green bell pepper together in skillet until fully cooked. Drain grease, and stir in cumin, chili powder, salt, pepper, and hot sauce.

Preheat 375F.

Grease a 9 x 13-inch casserole dish and spread beans across the bottom. Sprinkle about 1/3 of the cheese over the beans, and then top with the meat. Sprinkle remaining cheese on top.

Sprinkle 1/2 cup green and/or red peppers over cheese, and bake for about 15-20 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.

Spoon hot bean and meat mixture onto plates. Top with sour cream, black olives, tomatoes, and jalapenos (if using). Serve with tortilla chips.

ENJOY!

Husband rating: A+
He ate so much that he got a tummyache. HAHA.

Wifey rating: A
I am not a big bean fan but I was really surprised how much I liked the flavor combinations. I will definitely make it again!

Foodie Question of the Day

(image credit: teamsugar)

How do you store your fresh herbs?

I love to buy cilantro, mint, basil, parsley etc but its only me and the hubs at home, so I never use it fast enough before it goes bad. I get so sad when I see them all black and wilted. I’ve tried those green bags by Debbie Meyer but it really doesn’t keep it that much longer for me. Any keep-it-fresh-longer tips?