The creating didn't stop after the cookies

Continuing on my mission to use things up, I made meat sauce out of the half an economy size jar of pasta sauce I had leftover from Saturday's dinner party. Armed with lean ground beef, an onion, fresh tomatoes,  Gourmet Garden Italian seasoning paste and olive oil, I turned Ragu into F00d P0rn worthy creation. I served it over Italian spice pasta with a salad (created from leftover vegetables) and a piece of garlic bread. My only regret? The snowstorm made it impossible to share with anyone. Oh well. Maybe later in the week.

Until then? Enjoy creating wonderful things from things you want to use up.

Meat sauce on the stove

Italian spice fettucine with meat sauce, salad and garlic bread

It's amazing what you can create from things you want to use up

I had all these things in my pantry leftover from recent creations that I wanted to use up. Among them: half a bag of milk chocolate chips and half a package of raisins. After looking at the other things I had on hand, I decided to try a new recipe: chocolate chip raisin oatmeal cookies.

When the snow arrived at around 4:00EST, I headed into the kitchen to create. The smell of cinamon, sugar and butter filled the air as the snow came down and turned Maryland white.

I haven't had dinner yet but I couldn't resist eating a little one fresh out of the oven. I pronounce this recipe a keeper. These cookies are AMAZING!

It makes about three dozen so if any of my local followers want any, you know where to find me. I am happy to bring you some tomorrow when the sun is shining.

One dozen oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies ready for the oven

Cooling on the table

Oatmeal raisin chocolate chip cookies on a plate 

Blogging and creating F00d P0rn creates some cool opportunities

One of which is the opportunity to write reviews about products and web sites such as CSN Stores. I had never heard of this site until a few days ago and wow, what a great site it is. They sell everything from kitchen and dining products to modern office furniture. As I write this, I am contemplating a cute apron or perhaps another baking set.

Be sure to tune in later on this snow day when I post tonight's creation: oatmeal, raisin, chocolate chip cookies.

Entertaining on a Monday night

This morning, I mixed a marinade of fresh lime and lemon juices, cumin, chili powder and cinnamon and poured it over bite-sized pieces of chicken breast so it could have several hours to absorb the flavor. Then I headed out as I had a meeting in DC.

After spending most of the day frigid downtown, I was happy to come home and create a delicious Mexican meal for my friend.

On the menu for tonight: chicken fajitas (served with whole wheat tortillas),  black beans and rice. The best part? This all came together in about 40 minutes from start to finish. That includes cooking, cleaning my kitchen and setting the table. My friend loved the meal and it was so much fun to entertain on this cold Monday night.

F00d P0rnographer's note (1-26-2011): This meal was created mostly from using things I already had on hand and wanted to use up. I was making a grocery list to try a new recipe when I happened to look in the fridge and noticed I had half a jar of salsa, half a container of sour cream and Mexican mix cheese. I immediately thought fajitas. All I needed to get was bell peppers, onions, and a can of black beans to create this meal.

 Onions, red and green bell peppers all sliced and ready to become fajita filling.

                                             Marinated chicken breast cooking on the stove

                                          Chicken breast, onions, green and red peppers.

                                               Fajita filling, black beans and rice on the stove.

Salsa, sour cream, romaine lettuce and cheese all ready for fajitas. Ole!

A special dish I only make for others

I love chicken parmigiana but I reserve it only for special occasions.  As I write this, I cannot remember the last time I made it. Last night, I had friends and over decided to make this dish that has sentimental value to me. Why is this dish special to me?  Because it is one of the first things I learned how to make when I was a teenager and our housekeeper was teaching me how to cook.

I do not fry the chicken.  I simply dip it in eggs, roll in in bread crumbs, cover it in sauce, cheese and bake it to hot, bubbly goodness. Everytime I make this, everyone loves it. I cannot wait to make it again! Anyone want to come over for dinner sometime?

Chicken parmigiana with whole wheat linguine in tomato sauce and a crescent parmesan roll

A round of applause for this dessert creation

I had a dinner party tonight. On the menu: chicken parmigiana, linguine in tomato sauce, parmesan rolls, salad and my newest dessert recipe: a brownie baked in a round pan.

You might ask: why bake a brownie in a round pan? The reason I wanted to do this was because I wanted to make brownie sundeas and I thought a brownie baked in a round pan would make a prettier presentation. It took me some research to find a recipe for a brownie baked in a round pan, but I eventually found on one on the Tollhouse web site.

This recipe was very easy and took minutes to prepare and put in the oven. I was a little concerned when it came out of the oven as it was not as thick as I would have liked. However, when I ate some of the crumbs I knew there was nothing to worry about. This was chocolate heaven!

I let it cool for a bit, then melted milk chocolate chips for icing and it looked amazing! However, the big moment came when I presented it to my friends tonight and served it with scoops of ice cream and hot fudge. The result? Heaven for the eyes and taste buds. Oh yea; and the woman serving it is pretty easy on the eyes too.

Nom, Nom, Nom to all. Please resist the urge to lick your computer screen as you view these photos ;).

 Brownie in round pan fresh out of the oven.

 Iced in melted milk chocolate chips

Wedge of brownie with ice cream and chocolate fudge

This time I got it RIGHT

On Christmas weekend, I tried to make chocolate rice pudding. This recipe was an epic fail and wound up in the trash. It didn't take me long to figure out where I went wrong: I mis-measured the rice and it messed up the whole recipe. Knowing that, I decided would re-visit this recipe when I replenished my supply of cocoa. Well, I did that this weekend as I needed it for an upcoming dinner party.

Today was one of those dreary, sunless and icy winter days. I took advantage of being homebound to re-visit this recipe. It required constant supervision, stirring and has probably ruined one of my best pots (it's soaking in the sink now) but if the little tastes I took while I was scooping it into individual portions are any indicator, it was worth EVERY minute. This came out rich, creamy, delicious, with an understated chocolate taste and just enough sugary goodness to satisfy a sweet-tooth. I am going over to my neighbor's later to share leftovers from last night and this creation and I hope she will love it as much as I do.

 Getting ready to slowly simmer to creamy goodness.....

                                                Off the heat, allowed to stand and thicken

 Five individual portions of chocolate rice pudding in Ikea cups

Five individual portions of chocolate rice pudding taken from another angle

My best use of leftovers EVER!

As promised the other night, here is the creation I made using most of the vegetables from the feta chicken with Greek vegetables (I made this the other night).

First, I sauteed bite-sized pieces of chicken breast in a little olive oil. Then, I added a one teaspoon of minced garlic, an eight ounce can of tomato sauce and a tablespoon of Gourmet Garden Mediteranean seasoning paste. Finally, I added the leftover spinach, eggplant, onion and tomato mixture from the other night. I brought it to a boil, covered, turned the heat down and allowed the mixture to simmer while I prepared the spinach-basil pasta.

I tossed the chicken and vegetable mixture with the pasta and topped with some feta cheese. I call this creation Mediteranean Chicken Pasta and this was DELICIOUS. This is the best use of leftovers I have ever made. As I write this, I am full, happy and resisting the urge to invite people over and charge them $16.95 each for my food.

 Chicken, spinach, eggplant, onion, grape tomatoes, tomato sauce, garlic, Mediteranean seasoning paste and chicken breasts simmering on the stove.

.....Tossed with spinach basil pasta



Mediteranean chicken pasta sprinkled with feta cheese 

Meh to this Mediterranean dish

This recipe was called Feta chicken with Greek vegetables. It had spinach, asparagus, tomatoes, eggplant, onion, feta cheese and of course, chicken breasts. I followed the directions to the letter but was not wild about the result. However, I have a BRILLIANT idea for the leftovers. Stay tuned!

Feta chicken with Greek vegetables on a plate.

The proof in the (rice) pudding

As you know, my first foray into rice pudding was an epic fail when I tried to make chocolate rice pudding over Christmas weekend and it wound up in the trash. Feeling a little gun-shy, I made rice pudding earlier this week using a very simple recipe for banana rice pudding from the Uncle Ben's web site. This recipe tasted good at first but it didn't last long. This made a huge batch and we all know bananas go bad quickly. As I write this, I am banana rice pudding-ed out. I was eating 2-3 portions a day just to get rid of it. Banana rice pudding: it's not just for dessert! It makes a great breakfast, not to mention a nice post-workout snack.

This afternoon, I decided to do the real thing. What do you know? This time IT WORKED! Rich, creamy, delicious and best of all, homemade. I am never using that other recipe again. Next, I need to muster the courage to re-visit that chocolate rice pudding recipe.

                 Rice pudding gently simmering on the stove, this was right when I started it.

                                                   Look how rich and creamy it's getting!

                               Look at this delicious-ness! This was after I folded in an egg......

Individual portion of rice pudding in a cute cup from Ikea.

A delicious and easy dessert

I found this recipe for banana rice pudding on the Uncle Ben's web site. This was super-easy and basically a dump it recipe. The most time consuming part was preparing the rice. This makes a lot so I suggest you measure it into individual serving cups for portion control. This is creamy, quick and delicious. I am also thinking it is versatile and you could change it up with different pudding flavors and fruits.

 Banana rice pudding in a pot. I was using the big spoon to scoop it into individual portions.

Individual portion of banana rice pudding in a cute cup from Ikea.

My rendition of a restaurant favorite

One of my favorite things to order at a well-known burger chain is the Guacamole-Bacon burger. I decided to re-create this in my own kitchen (sans bacon). I started out with homemade quacamole. This was very easy to put together, required few ingredients and I enjoyed nibbling on bits of avocado while I made it.

For the burger, I used a recipe called sirloin-black bean-chili burgers. Not only do ingredients such as beans and portobello mushrooms add healthy bulk to burger recipes, they also add moisture and tenderness to the meat.

My rendition was delicious, healthy and made for a fraction of the cost of a restaurant meal. One disclaimer: DO NOT plan on kissing anyone after you eat this meal. The guacamole and burger have red onion in them and are guaranteed to give you dragon breath. I can literally smell myself as I write this but it was worth it. Now: off to brush my teeth!

                         Beautiful ripe avocados, cumin and chili powder for guacamole.

All blended and ready to sit at room temperature for an hour.

Sirloin-black bean chili burgers ready for the broiler.

All done!



Plated with Swiss cheese and lots of guacamole.

What a difference

One of my first posts on this blog was "Red curry on a cold windy night," This post featured a delicious Thai curry served over basmati rice. The first time I made this, I used full fat, thick, delicious coconut milk.

As a F00d P0rnographer, I like to experiment with my recipes and change things up. This time, I made this recipe with light coconut milk. Two words for you: epic.fail.

Instead of being thick and rich like the last time, this was thin, soupy and not nearly as tasty. I am never using light coconut milk again. It's delicious and worth every calorie!

 Red chicken curry made with light coconut milk. Look how thin and soupy it is.

With basmati rice in a bowl. I had to eat this with spoon!



Lauren: this one is for YOU. This is from the first time I made this---see how thick the curry is? This was made with full-fat and calorie coconut milk.