Quisine and Quirks

Alright, I have been quite the bum about posting. I know… every blog out there had Christmas ideas, recipes and event planning. Not to mention, they probably did a rinse and repeat cycle for New Years. I decided to just focus on having fun during the season. Plus, I was running around with my head cut off. Despite how early I started the holiday prep, I used every minute down to the wire. The culprit this year? My OCD self. I just had to wrap my gifts super pretty this year. Super pretty meant I spent a total of 12 hours wrapping gifts. I carefully selected ribbon and gift tags for each and every present. I should have made everyone ogle their gifts a bit longer before opening them considering the elbow grease I utilized. The prezzys did look quite festive. I will post pics of them a little later. I am being lazy still if you can’t tell.

Anywho, enough of that. Super Bowl is around the corner so I thought I would share this dip I make. I call it Bacon Cheddar Ranch Dip. Others call it crack. It is extremely addicting and beyond simple simple simple. Beware, I warned you. It is not a healthy dip so if you are trying to follow through with your temporary fitness resolution, click on a different recipe asap. And…. GO!

For those who are a less optimistic about 2013 being the year of the hot bod, proceed to a little heaven in your mouth. This dip is definitely worth a love handle or two. I promise!

Bacon Cheddar Ranch Dip

Ingredients

15 oz. reduced fat sour cream

1 packet of Ranch dip seasoning

1 cup 2% sharp cheddar (shredded)

1 3oz packet of bacon bits

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Mix thoroughly. (I like to mix the ranch packet first with the sour cream. Then I let the bacon and cheese come to the party.)

2. Chill in fridge for about 30 minutes to firm up.

3. Serve with Ruffles. Pretty easy huh?

It’s finally starting to feel like winter here in Texas. Just a few days ago, I sported shorts and a short sleeve blouse for Christmas Eve. Now it is 40 degrees out. Brrrrrr….. chilly.

After watching The Pioneer Woman this morning, I was inspired to make something warm and comforting for my “cowboy.” So while he was out doing manly things like buying tools, I started looking for a potato soup recipe. What else warms you up better than a little baked potato soup?

All the recipes I pinned on my Pinterest utilized a slow cooker. A hungry man (and woman) can’t wait 5 hours for some deliciousness. After browsing the internet, I settled on one from Cooking Light. Call me a bit of a bandwagon chick, but with the new year coming, I wanted to make some healthier fare. It also only took 20 minutes to make. Perfect!

With a few minor changes, this soup was a home run. I forgot to mention that I tried a different recipe a couple weeks ago from The Neelys. It was an epic fail. It tasted like beer and flour. Huge bleh! My bf is a great sport about my cooking. Even when I make dishes that are completely gross, my bf puts on a happy face and eats every bite as he tells me it’s the best he’s ever had. When he came back from doing his “manly” things, I told him we were having potato soup. He grimaced…lol.

This time though, he didn’t have to put on a happy face. He loved it! I served it up with a side of King’s Hawaiian Bread in lieu of bread bowls. MMM mmmm YUMMY! Enjoy!

Healthy Baked Potato Soup

(Adapted from Cooking Light)

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients

5 (6-ounce) red potatoes

1 tablespoon minced garlic

2 teaspoons olive oil

1/2 cup prechopped onion

1 1/4 cups fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

2 cups 1% low-fat milk, divided

1/4 cup reduced-fat sour cream

1/2 teaspoon and a pinch of salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

bacon bits (garnish)

1.5 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded (about 1/3 cup)

4 teaspoons thinly sliced green onions (optional)

I know Thanksgiving is right around the corner. I also know that there will be a million and one recipes floating about for variations of pumpkin pie or pumpkin cheesecake. What about those peeps that do not enjoy pumpkin? During our long road trip across Louisiana, I learned that my boss wasn’t much of a pumpkin person.

That made me wonder what alternatives were available on Turkey Day for non pumpkin lovers. To be honest, I normally go without dessert. I make a fabulous pumpkin cheesecake that everyone loves. I, however, never eat it. I guess I’m not much of a pumpkin person either.

Well, if you have any non-pumpkin lovers, you should definitely consider a dessert just as decadent as pumpkin cheesecake. This ButterFinger Peanut Butter Pie is very rich. Your pumpkin/non-pumpkin guests will all be sighing in content with this dessert. The boyfriend and I are slowly consuming our Butterfinger Peanut Butter Pie. Don’t worry though. We sure are not complaining!

What desserts do you like to serve Thanksgiving Day?

ButterFinger Peanut Butter Pie

Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients:

25 whole Oreos

4 Tablespoons Butter, Melted

1 cup Creamy Peanut Butter

1 package (8 Ounce) Softened Cream Cheese

1-1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

1 package (8 Ounce) Cool Whip, Thawed

3 mini ButterFinger bars or 1 regular sized bar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. For the crust, place all the Oreos into a blender or food processor. Mix well. It should be just crumbles when you have blended it well.
3. Pour melted butter over crushed Oreos. Mix thoroughly.
4. Press the Oreos into a pie pan. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes. Let cool.
5. Mix the Cool Whip, peanut butter, powdered sugar, and cream cheese together. Mix thoroughly.
6. Place filling into crust.
7. Coarsely chop ButterFinger bars in the food processor. Sprinkle on top of your pie.
8. Chill for 1.5 hours before serving.

So there is one great thing about having a ton of pumpkin guts…. lots of pumpkin seeds. Between the two pumpkins we carved, I was able to sort out 2.5 cups of seeds. What to do with the seeds? Hmmm….what to do? I know! We will roast them! What a marvelous idea? I bet you didn’t see that one coming.

I love traditional roasted pumpkin seeds, but this year I wanted to kick it up a notch. Thank you Emeril for that catchy phrase. So I used some cajun seasoning and ground ginger to make it a whole new type of fragrant roasted seed. The house smelled awesome as the hints of ginger wafted out of the oven. Mmmm…. Well give this a try and let me know what you think.

Cajun Pumpkin Seeds

Ingredients:

2.5 cups of pumpkin seeds

1 tsp cajun seasoning of your choice (I used Slap Ya Mama)

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp paprika

1.5 tsp of extra virgin olive oil

ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Pre heat oven to 350. Clean off your pumpkin seeds by rinsing them with water. Pat dry.

2. Combine all seeds, spices and olive oil into the bowl. Hold off on the black pepper for now. Mix thoroughly and coat evenly.

3. Cover the top of the mixture with ground black pepper. I ground enough pepper to cover the entire top of the seeds. Then mix.

4. Line a baking pan with foil. Spread the mixture across the pan. Roast for 350 for 30 min or until golden brown. Be sure to turn/stir the mixture every 10-15 minutes to ensure they don’t burn. Since seeds are all different, you may need to roast them for a little longer depending on how well you were able to pat them dry.

What says yummy better than Lobster Mac and Cheese? I will tell you what. Nothing! I made this side into my dinner entree a couple of weeks ago. It was pretty satisfying. However, I made some tweaks to Ina Garten’s recipe to make the meal more economical. While I tweaked the measurements, I still ended up with a TON of mac and cheese. So just be prepared to eat this for a few days. That shouldn’t be a problem though if you make it correctly. =) What are some of your favorite sides?

Lobster Mac and Cheese

(As Adapted From Ina Garten)

Ingredients

• Kosher salt
• Olive oil
• 12 ounces of pasta shells
• 1 quart 2% milk
• 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 12 ounces Gruyere cheese, grated (4 cups)
• 8 ounces extra-sharp Cheddar, grated (2 cups)
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 package of Classics lobster meat (this can be found in the seafood section)
• 1 1/2 cups Italian bread crumbs
• 1 tbsp minced garlic (optional)

Directions