Sorry guys, another dessert this week. I just like them better. I'll do something healthier next week. Also I want to say that as of yesterday I made it to 50 followers!!! I know that is not really that many but I feel like its a milestone worth mentioning.
I was inspired to make this recipe because of this episode of Psych in which Gus and Shawn eat more slices of cinnamon pie than I can count (okay, I could but then I'd have to watch the whole episode, which I don't have time for today).
Ingredients:
1 c. white sugar
1.5 Tbsp flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch salt
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp melted butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 c milk
1 unbaked pie crust (10", these are found in freezer section)
Optional: Whipped cream
Procedure:
1) Preheat oven to 400º F
2) In a medium bowl combine sugar, flour, cinnamon and salt.
3) Add beaten egg, butter and vanilla. Mix well.
4) Add milk. Mixture will be very thin, aka "liquid-y".
5) If using the aluminum pie plate it came in, place crust on cookie sheet first. Pour mixture into pie crust and place in oven.
No, I didn't put my crust on a cookie sheet first, that was an after thought.
6) Bake at 400º for 15 minutes then reduce to 350º for an additional 45 minutes.
Will look cooked on top, but pudding like underneath until it sets.
7) Let cool completely to set before serving (I did not do that when I cut the slice in the above picture. I suggest refrigerating). Refrigerate leftovers.
8) If desired, serve with whipped cream!
9) Watch Psych.
This recipe is easier than you think and it's super-duper yummy. Yes, I just said 'super-duper.' Anyway, like in all my recipes calling for some kind of wine, I use grocery store cooking wine so feel free to do the same if you don't feel like hitting up a liquor store.
Chicken Marsala
Ingredients:
3 boneless chicken breasts
1/4 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
pinch ground pepper
1/2 tsp oregano
4 Tbsp olive oil
4 Tbsp butter
8oz c fresh, sliced mushrooms
1/2-3/4 c Marsala wine
Directions:
1) Slice chicken breasts into two or three pieces, height-wise (...? I didn't know how to describe this in words so it actually makes sense, so I found a picture online.)
2) Mix together flour, oregano, salt, and pepper.
3) Heat the oil and butter in a large skillet on med-high heat until butter is melted and bubbling lightly.
4) Dredge (coat) chicken pieces in flour mixture and cook on medium heat on each side for about 2 minutes, moving to a plate afterwards.
5) Once all chicken has been cooked and removed, add mushrooms to skillet and cook for about 2 minutes.
6) Stir the mushrooms then add the wine to the mushrooms.
7) Return the chicken to the skillet, over lapping pieces if needed, so that it's at least partially submerged in the wine. Add a little more wine if needed.
8) Simmer for 5 minutes, then flip the chicken pieces over, and simmer for an additional 5 minutes.
9) Serve and enjoy!
Not the simplest recipe but follow directions precisely and it will be well worth the work. Crunchy on the outside, gooey on the inside, these are sure to please!
Chocolate Chip Macaroons
Ingredients:
1 14oz package sweetened shredded coconut
4 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk
pinch kosher salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 large egg whites at room temp.
2/3 c granulated sugar
1 c. mini chocolate chips
Directions:
1) Preheat oven to 325º F
2) Combine coconut with the condensed milk, salt chocolate chips and vanilla in a large mixing bowl.
3) Mix egg whites in a separate bowl using a mixer with a whisk attachment. Beat on medium speed until foamy.
4) Gradually add the sugar and continue to whip until medium peaks form m6-7 minutes.
5) Gently fold beaten egg whites into the coconut mixture.
6) Scoop Tbsp-sized mounds onto a parchment lined (DO NOT USE SILICONE) sheet pan. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown.
7) Immediately transfer parchment sheets to a cooling rack.
Remember last week when I preempted a promised story for a guest post? And promised to bring you one this week unless something really important comes up? I seriously was only kidding at the time about that and planned on having a story for you but then Stacey from CAPS (parentheses) and exclamation marks! tweeted me this video and told me to blog about it. I got home and watched it on my laptop and was like what the fuck? But didn't really think it was worth a blog post. Then I watched it AGAIN and lost my shit. Anyway, watch this first, and then we can talk about it. (Also I didn't feel like drawing today, but that's besides the point.)
Holy fuck balls. How much does my brain hurt trying to comprehend this one? My first response was that this song is basically the most boring 13 year old's journal entry put to music. "Today I did nothing remotely compelling, fun fun fun fun"
I'm just going to break it down, criticism by criticism.
1) "Gotta get to the bus stop, gotta catch my bus, I see my friends" Why did she have to go to the bus stop when she doesn't seem surprised to see her friends who are picking her up instead?
2) Why is she so excited about a) that her friends are "kicking in the front seat, sitting in the back seat" and b) which seat WILL SHE CHOOSE?!? btw, there was only one seat left? Unless she's a total bitch who's like bitch, I'm riding shotgun I don't care that you were there first.
3) She can't really sing.
4) Ok so they're all in the car. She's 13 so she either has friends who are way older or no one should actually be driving. AND the three in the back seat didn't want to actually sit in their seats and are instead sitting/standing on the edge of the car, "cruising down the highway." Hey kids! It's cool to be unsafe while riding in the car with your unlicensed friend!
5) Seriously the thing about where she's going to sit is a repeated bridge? How hard is it to decide where to sit?!? and she's already in the damn car!
6) Now some dude seemingly unrelated to the rest of the video is rapping about where he's sitting in his car? Uhhh?
7) A list of my favorite lyrics:
Gotta catch my bus, I see my friends
Which seat can I take?
Fun, fun, fun, fun
Fun, fun, think about fun
My friend is by my right
Yesterday was Thursday, Today it is Friday. We we we so excited, we so excited.
Tomorrow is Saturday and Sunday comes afterwards.
Such good songwriting here. And that's really who's to blame not the creepy Rebecca Black girl (she and her friends are seriously creepy looking when they look into the camera right?). Rebecca just wanted to be a singer, (I'm not going to touch the ridiculous bio on her website), and someone thought "Why not? Who care's if we have to use computers to make her sound at all decent?"
Well that's my pointless rant. I just thought it would be fun to jump on the bandwagon, maybe get some search engine hits...
In response to my post of this video on Facebook, one of my friends posted this:
This one actually is a joke, from How I Met Your Mother, but very reminiscent of Friday. So if nothing else was good about this post for you at least you got that.
I bought this crazy-old out-of-print cookbook put out by Bennigan's on Amazon, hoping there would be a recipe for their chicken fingers. There wasn't. So I made this recipe instead.
Make ahead: Garlic Lemon Butter
Cream 1 stick of softened butter with an electric mixer. Mix in 2 tsp. crushed garlic and 1.5 tsp lemon juice until smooth. Refrigerate until needed.
I eat anything that doesn't need a knife with chopsticks
Garlic Shrimp
1lb peeled, deveined shrimp
1/4 c + 2 TBSP garlic lemon butter
1lb linguini or 4 servings rice
2) Melt 1/4 c. garlic lemon butter in a saute pan on medium-low heat.
3) Add shrimp and cook for 5-6 minutes, turning after 3 minutes. They are done when opaque and pinkish in color. Do not overcook or they will be tough and chewy.
4) Microwave remaining butter in microwave with pasta/rice for 45 seconds. Mix then keep covered until ready to use.
5) Serve pasta/rice in a large bowl with shrimp poured on top.
6) If desired, sprinkle with optional ingredients to garnish.
I made a page for my blog on Facebook. Okay this is probably less exciting for you than me, but what on my blog isn't?
Go here "Like" it and never miss out on my blogs news.
I made this recipe using some recipe I found online but when it was done I was not impressed. That's what I get for picking something cause it's simple. First it was not so much soup as much as it was glop. Also it just sorta tasted like mashed up raw mushrooms if they could be raw and hot at the same time. So I added some stuff till it was way better and now it's a Lauren Original! If you hate it though, I take no responsibility for it.
Cream of Mushroom Soup
Ingredients:
5 c. sliced fresh mushrooms
2 c. + 1 c. chicken stock
1/2 c chopped onion
pinch dried thyme
3 TBS. butter
3 TBS. flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 c. half and half*
1/4 c. Marsala wine**
Directions:
1) In a large sauce pan, cook mushrooms and onion in 2 c. of chicken stock with thyme until tender, approx 10-15 mins.
2) Let mixture cool slightly then puree in a blender or food processor (I used my Magic Bullet***) leaving some chunks if desired (I didn't).
3) In a small bowl, melt the butter in microwave and stir/mix/whisk in flour until smooth.
4) Scrape into sauce pan, add the salt,** pepper, half and half, and remaining 1 c. chicken broth and mushroom/onion puree (that's everything except the wine).
5) Stirring constantly, bring to a boil and cook until thickened.
6) Add more salt/pepper to taste, then add marsala wine.
*I had heavy cream already so I used 1/2 c. cream and 1/2 c. whole milk. I think that's what half and half is anyway...?
** I buy my cooking wines at the grocery store. If you do this, they have salt added to them so you may want to exclude the 1/4 tsp. salt from the recipe.
*** DO NOT use the Magic Bullet blender attachment. I tried this once and just got scalded because there is no actual way to seal the top. Not cool Magic Bullet! Also be careful if using a blender, I once did that and it was too full so it came out the top of that too.
**** Look how many footnotes I have!
I've always been the kinda girl who would like to eat healthy but can't be bothered to follow through. One day when I was at the store in the baking aisle buying sugar, I saw the vast array of Splenda products. I remembered seeing previously that they make a granulated variety so that people will buy it to bake with. I guess it's awesome for diabetics who will die if they eat sugar but I picked up a bag so that I could pretend that I'm eating healthier. 4 months later I found this recipe box at a store and remembered having that bag of sugar and yada yada yada, I finally made a recipe with Splenda! P.S. You can get these recipes on Splenda's website if you want to try more! Also I'm sure I will be making more in the near future. This one actually called for the Splenda sugar blend which is 50% real sugar. BTW I'm in no way making money from Splenda for this, just wanted to fill you in!
Let me mention up top that they bake for 2 hours so plan ahead when making these! I chose to do their recipe for Chocolate Chip Meringue Crisps but I made it without walnuts and they came out different than the picture. While I'm still crediting Splenda for the recipe, I bring you my version of recipe:
2) Beat egg whites with vanilla at high speed until foamy.
3) Add sugar 1 tbs at a time (I found that mine were a bit sweeter than I'd like so I suggest using 1/4-1/3 c. instead), continue beating until stiff peaks** form.
4) Gently stir in chocolate chips.
5) Spoon rounded teaspoons onto parchment lined baking sheets. (I used a tablespoon sized scoop so the ones pictured are larger than they should be). They can be placed fairly close together as they do not expand or spread while baking.
6) Bake for 2 hours. Cool slightly then move to wire racks to cool completely before storing in an airtight container.
Splenda says these have 35 Calories each but my recipe will be more due to the extra chocolate. Lessening the sugar blend will bring it back down a bit.
Here's a really simple recipe for baked salmon that I love making when I'm just cooking for myself. I make it in my toaster oven, but if you do not have one you can make it in the oven, just make sure to use a small baking dish. Also, If you don't keep white wine in your home, like me, you can pick up 'cooking wine' in the grocery store!
Lemon-Baked Salmon
Ingredients:
Salmon filet
1/2 lemon per serving
1 TBSP Spreadable butter/margarine
1/2 c. White wine (+1/4 c. for additional servings)
Optional:
Salt/Pepper
Other:
Non-stick cooking spray
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Preparation:
1) Preheat oven to 400 F.
2) Cut fillet into 1-1.5" pieces. Wrap up extra salmon with plastic wrap and freeze or refrigerate.
3) Spray baking dish with cooking spray. If you wish, line with foil for easy clean-up!
4) Place piece(s) of salmon, evenly spaced, in the baking dish, skin side down.
5) Slice two thin slices, per serving, of lemon and cut them in half.
6) Dab butter onto the surface of the salmon.* If it spreads easy enough, spread a thin even layer instead.
7) Place lemon slices on top of the butter.
*If you have trouble spreading the butter evenly you can sort of blob it on and then use the lemon slices to push it down and spread it out a bit.
8) Pour wine over the salmon pieces, letting it run off into the pan.
9) Squeeze the rest of your lemon over the salmon.
10) Bake for 15-20 minutes.
11) Enjoy!
**Disclaimer: If using a toaster-oven, be careful when using foil. If it is too close to the heating elements it can catch fire.
Here's a really simple, fun, quick, tasty recipe (What? Too many adjectives?) for an elegant treat. Enjoy them yourself or give as a gift!
Chocolate Covered Pretzels:
Ingredients:
2 Bags Pretzel Rods (I use Snyder's)
1 Bag (14 oz.) Chocolate Wafers
1 Bag (14 oz.) White Chocolate Wafers
Equipment:
2 Tall coffee mugs
Parchment Paper or Silicone Baking Sheet
*Note: When buying pretzels, look for bags with the least amount of broken rods. This is harder than it sounds.
1) Lay out sheets of parchment flat on a counter top where you will be dipping the pretzels.
2) Pour approx 3/4 of each bag of the chocolate wafers into each of the coffee mugs. (In the picture I used bars of chocolate).
3) Microwave one mug of chocolate on high for 1 minute and then for 30 second intervals, stirring (i would use a knife, less messy) at each interval until melted. *Make sure to stop and stir or chocolate can get ruined.
4) Once completely melted, dip pretzel rods into the chocolate, holding the mug at and angle to coat the length of the pretzel leaving an un-coated bit at the end as a handle.
5) Let excess chocolate drip off then place on the parchment paper to set.
6) Once done with the first half of the pretzels, repeat this process with the white chocolate. *Be even more careful when melting, white chocolate burns faster and becomes very hard to work with.
7) After all pretzels are dipped, melt the rest of the unused chocolate and use a spoon to drizzle it over the contrasting dipped pretzels.
8) Place in freezer or refrigerator to set chocolate.
* Do not use regular food coloring if you want to color the white chocolate. Either buy colored chocolate or use and oil based food dye.
**Instead of drizzling chocolate you can decorate with sprinkles or colored sugars.
9) Enjoy!
I didn't mean to have two recipes in a row that would inspire Seinfeld reference titles, but that's what happened and thus, another Seinfeld video clip:
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