Baked Egg Cup

As I mentioned in the beginning, my diet use to consist largely of fast food. When it came to breakfast, McDonald's was my first choice (crazy not Chick-fil-a huh?). I would always get an Egg McMuffin- cheap, relatively healthy, and quite tasty. Recently, I learned how to easily re-create the Egg McMuffin at home, saving a good bit of money and wasted time driving to McDonalds. Long story short, eating all of these Egg McMuffins (first McDonalds, then my own) has burned me out. I wanted to try something a little different and was excited when I discovered this recipe. 

It is basically the Egg McMuffin sans the mcmuffin. Seems I just can't stay away from them. I chose to whisk the egg in a small bowl before putting it in the muffin tin, but you don't have to. If you don't do it then the yolk will taste the way it does when you boil an egg (if that makes sense). You're choice! You can also use turkey instead of ham. I only had turkey at my house and it worked just fine. The cheese can also be varied. I used cheddar but I think it would also be good with mozzarella, pepper jack, maybe even feta? It's the perfect breakfast to make when you don't have much time to spend cooking. All you have to do it drop the few ingredients in the muffin tin and viola! You have a hot, protein packed breakfast. 

Also good to remember when you have to feed a-bunch of people but still want to look like you put in effort... :)

Ingredients

12 Eggs

12 thin slices of deli ham (round)

1/2 Cup of your favorite cheese (I used Parmesan)

1/2 Cup diced scallions

Directions 

Fresh cracked Sea Salt and Pepper

Preheat the oven to 400.  Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.  

Lay a piece of ham in each hole creating a little ham cup.  

Crack one egg into each hole and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Bake the eggs for about 12 minutes…until the white is firm and the yolk is still nice and runny.

Carefully remove each egg from the muffin tin and top with grated cheese and scallions.  Serve hot! 

http://thesimpledelights.com/?p=246

Shrimp & Grits

My roommate convinced me to go out to eat last night. I had been doing so well up until this point, not wasting money on food I had right in my kitchen. Eating out has become a special occasion to me. Maybe family's in town, or a night out with the girls is planned. Or the once in a blue moon date with a BOY. Crazy huh? It's saved for retrieves from cooking, not from a laziness towards it.

Like I said, we went out to eat at Square One, which is actually a very good restaurant. Since I am the continually poor college student, I stuck with a Caesar salad, but couldn't help but notice the food at the table next to me. The most delicious shrimp and grits I had ever seen sat in front of both people beside me. It took all I had not to reach my fork out and take a taste. Luckily, my self control stayed intact.
I decided at that moment that I would have to try and re-create the dish that kept distracting me all night. 

I have personally never cooked shrimped before. Not even just to eat plain. My mom cooks them all the time but I guess I never really paid much attention. Cleaning the shrimp, or as properly termed "de-veining" the shrimp, was not fun (I was less than thrilled when my mom told me after the fact that you can buy de-veined shrimp). It was time consuming and tedious but now you all know it doesn't have to be like that. You're welcome for being the guinea pig.

The rest of the preparation went smoothly. I forgot the mushrooms but I think it tasted just fine without them. I should also note that I ended up adding about half a cup of water to the shrimp- it needed more liquid and the water did just the trick. 

Now i'm not going lie and try and say this recipe is healthy. It's probably not. If you want healthy, nix the grits, but how terrible would that be?? We can just consider this a cheat day :) 

Ingredients

2 1/3 cup(s) whole milk

2 cup(s) water

Salt

Pepper

1 cup(s) quick-cooking grits (not instant)

6 slice(s) bacon, chopped 

1 bunch(es) green onions, thinly sliced

2 clove(s) garlic, finely chopped

1 small red pepper, finely chopped

1 pound(s) frozen shelled and deveined raw shrimp, thawed

Directions

1. In 4-quart saucepan, heat 2 cups milk, water, and 1/8 teaspoon salt to simmering on medium-high. Whisk in grits. Cover; reduce heat to medium-low. Cook 10 minutes or until liquid is absorbed and grits are tender, stirring often. Keep warm.
2. Meanwhile, in 12-inch skillet, cook bacon on medium-high 5 to 7 minutes or until brown and crisp, stirring occasionally. With slotted spoon, transfer bacon to paper-towel-lined plate. Discard all but 2 tablespoons of fat in pan.
3. To same skillet, add green onions, garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper. Cook 2 minutes, stirring. Add red pepper; cook 2 minutes, stirring often. Stir in shrimp and remaining 1/3 cup milk; cook 5 to 6 minutes or until shrimp just turn opaque, scraping up browned bits. Remove from heat. Stir in bacon and hot sauce.
4. To serve, spoon grits into shallow bowls; top with shrimp. Garnish with additional green onions and hot sauce, if desired.

http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipefinder/easy-shrimp-grits-recipe-ghk0112 
 

Baked Garlic Brown Sugar Chicken

Ready to hear the simplest, most delicious baked chicken recipe out there? Really though, this one is a classic for sure. I've been a little weary cooking with raw meat, mainly because I never cook with raw meat. The only meat I usually eat on my own is either processed turkey or frozen chicken cooked on the George Foreman. I wanted to try something less processed, less frozen, and much more tasty. Feeling pretty poor, I felt as though I had hit the lottery when I came across this recipe. The two ingredients I needed (other than the chicken) I already had! Brown sugar, and garlic. Surely EVERYONE has these two. Believe me...if I do, then you do. All I had to buy was the chicken- $4.50 at Kroger...all in all, very cheap. 

Al righty now for the cooking part. Maybe it was my lack of experience with cooking chicken, but I will be honest, I was very unsure how this was going to turn out. I felt as though the chicken would surely be too bland with only some brown sugar & garlic sprinkled on top. Thankfully, I was wrong. The sugar & garlic mixture forms a type of sticky glaze over the chicken, covering it in entirety. The flavor reminded me of oriental dishes I've had before. I give it a 10/10. 

Ingredients

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
4 garlic cloves, minced
4 tablespoons brown sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 500°F and lightly grease a casserole dish.

2. In small sauté pan, sauté garlic with the oil until tender.

3. Remove from heat and stir in brown sugar.

4. Place chicken breasts in a prepared baking dish and cover with the garlic and brown sugar mixture.

5. Add salt and pepper to taste.

6. Bake uncovered for 15-30 minutes.

http://jujugoodnews.com/baked-garlic-brown-sugar-chicken/

Oven Sweet Potato Fries

I think my mom is obsessed with sweet potatoes...per my request, she kindly brought me groceries on one of her trips to visit. Milk, eggs, lettuce- the usual. And TEN sweet potatoes. Ten. She claims my grandfather gave her a bunch and she was just trying to get rid of some (why he has that many sweet potato is just as alarming). Anyway, I have been trying to come up with different ways to cook them before they go bad. I've always been a huge fan of sweet potato fries at restaurants, but never have tried to make them myself. This recipe was a complete gamble. I found it on another cooking blog and decided to give it a shot.

I'm going to be honest, the preparation was quite difficult. I almost lost a few fingers...literally. I'm not sure if there is a trick i'm unaware of but raw sweet potatoes are nearly impossible to slice. My roommate watched me with full intention of having to take me to the ER. It was so difficult, BUT....

So worth it. They were delicious! Therefore, I'd recommend either figuring out a better way to cut them, or taking your chances and being super careful. They are cheap to make, nutritious, and soooo yummy.

Enjoy!

                                               PS: This picture does not do them justice :)
RECIPE:

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled, sliced into medium strips
• 1 tablespoon Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 egg white slightly beaten
• 1/2 teaspoon curry powder
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (OPTIONAL)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Combine dry ingredients in a gallon size zip lock bag. Whisk together in a large bowl oil and egg white. Add potatoes and spices to oil & egg mixture, toss lightly to coat.

Place potatoes on a non-stick cookie sheet, spread out so they are not touching, bake 30 minutes or until tender on the inside and crunch on the outside. Turn potatoes after 15 minutes of cooking time.

NOTE: Feel free to add more spices or different spices altogether

http://skinnyms.com/sweet-potato-fries/

Baked Cream Cheese Spaghetti Casserole

Yesterday I was feeling especially considerate (ok,maybe a little bored), and wanted to surprise my roommates with a homemade dinner. So far, I've focused on cooking for one person. I really wanted to broaden my expertise, maybe show off a little, and find a recipe that would impress my roommates. 

I don't know what triggered this memory, but I started thinking back to my soccer days in high school. Before every play-off game, we would always meet at my coaches house for dinner. His speciality was an infamous "spaghetti casserole." I figured this would be the perfect dish to make for the roomies, if I could figure out the recipe. 

I searched around online and found variations of different "spaghetti casseroles," finally picking one. The hardest part was deciding between cream cheese, sour cream, or cream of mushroom soup. All of which can apparently be interchanged for one another. I chose cream cheese and deemed it a success.

Both of my roommates loved it, it was pretty easy to make, and we had tons of leftovers (lunch tomorrow!). To make it healthier, I used whole wheat spaghetti, reduced fat cream cheese and parmesan cheese, and ground turkey (instead of ground beef). All in all costing me less than $10. 



RECIPE
12 oz whole wheat spaghetti 
1 (28 ounce) jars prepared spaghetti sauce
1 lb ground turkey
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 clove garlic, minced
8 ounces reduced fat cream cheese
1/2 cup reduced fat parmesan cheese, grated


DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 350 F degrees.

In a skillet, brown the ground beef until cooked through; drain fat and stir in spaghetti sauce.  Set aside.

Cook spaghetti according to directions on packet.  Drain and place cooked spaghetti in bowl.  Add cream cheese, Italian Seasoning and minced garlic.  Stir until cream cheese is melted and the spaghetti is thoroughly coated.

Lightly grease a 9x13" pan.  Spread a small amount of meat sauce in the bottom of the dish.  Put spaghetti on top of sauce and top with remaining meat sauce.  Sprinkle parmesan cheese on top.

Bake for 30 minutes, until bubbly.


http://allrecipes.com/recipe/the-best-spaghetti-casserole/

Cabbage Enchiladas

I'm having a fat day. Yes, I know I sound like one of those annoying girls, and yes, I know i'm being ridiculous, but oh well. I can't help it. To top it all off, the only thing on my mind right now is Mexican. Cheese dip and a shredded chicken casadilla for La Parilla? yes please! 

Coming to my senses, and sadly passing on glorious La Pa, I attempted a recipe that was at least in the "ballpark" of my initial craving. 

I've never been a big enchilada eater. To tell you the truth, I can't even tell you the last time I had one. But something about this recipe interested my taste buds. Maybe it was the use of cabbage instead of tortillas (fat day, remember?), or that all of these ingredients were readily available in my fridge. Either way, it was a pretty good success.

I say pretty good for a few reasons. First off, you need to make sure that your head of cabbage isn't the size of a basketball...like mine was. It was very hard to peel off the shells without ripping them. A smaller head would be much easier to work with. Second off, and this could very well be a personal opinion, 2 cans of green chilis are 2 cans too much. Kidding, kind of. But really, 1 can would definitely suffice. 

All in all, I'd say this recipe is a hit. Healthy, relatively cheap (instead of buying chicken and having to cook it I just used some of a rotisserie chicken I already had in my fridge), and pretty easy to make. It takes a little bit of time to prepare everything but nothing too outrageous :) 

Ingredients:

1 head of cabbage
Shredded Chicken (I used leftovers from a rotisserie chicken we had)
1 cup chicken broth
1 cup sour cream
2 (4 ounce) cans of chopped green chiles
Fresh cilantro
Salt & pepper (to taste)
shredded cheese (optional)

For the Sauce:

Add the chicken broth to a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and mix in the sour cream and green chiles, heat thoroughly but do not boil and make sure to stir often. Let simmer for just a bit and the sauce should thicken. Season with salt and pepper.

For the Enchiladas:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Peel the cabbage leaves – make sure to peel them gently, as you don’t want them to tear. I ran the cabbage under warm water as I was peeling. This helped a ton. Throw the cabbage leaves into the pot of boiling water for a couple of minutes. Remove and set on a paper towel to dry.

Mix the shredded chicken with chopped fresh cilantro and shredded cheese (optional). I also seasoned well with salt & pepper.

Spread the enchilada sauce in the bottom of an 8×8 baking dish. Then take your cabbage leaves and place the chicken mixture inside of them and roll up. Place each cabbage roll in the baking dish. Once done, pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over them. I also topped with shredded cheese.

Bake at 350° for about 20 to 30 minutes. Top with sour cream or anything you please. 

http://hip2save.com/2012/04/25/simple-cabbage-enchiladas-recipe/

Crispy Edamame

As I was coming home from work today I remembered a recipe I saw online for zucchini chips. They were easy to make, just thinly sliced zucchini with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top, baked to crispness. I had my mind set on making this healthy snack when to my dismay, I realized the zucchini I had for who knows how long had rotten (gross, i know).  Plan B was a bit of a gamble....and a complete success.

A 12 oz bag of edamame (that had been in my freezer for months but luckily can't go bad), a little olive oil, and parmesan. BOOM: perfect snack. It's healthy, cheap, quick, and very simple to make.

The parmesan adds just the right amount of flavoring and allows you to lay low on the salt. It nicely crisps over the edamame and makes for a nice crunchy snack or appetizer.

Bon appetit!  Or as the Japanese say, 食欲

RECIPE

1 (12 ounce) package frozen shelled edamame (green soybeans)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
salt and pepper to taste


DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Place the edamame into a colander and rinse under cold water to thaw. Drain.
2. Spread the edamame beans into the bottom of a 9x13 inch baking dish. Drizzle with olive oil. Sprinkle cheese over the top and season with salt and pepper.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the cheese is crispy and golden, about 15 minutes.

http://allrecipes.com/recipe/crispy-edamame/detail.aspx