Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

June 23, 2014coldfishie 1 Comment

One of my worst habits has to be over paying for coffee, and some type of pastry before work. Yes, Starbucks takes so much of my money that I actually contemplated getting a job there so I can get free stuff. I decided to challenge myself this week by not going into a Starbucks this week. For this to happen I would actually have to make my own coffee and my own breakfast treat. And before anyone tells me that I shouldn’t eat a carb for breakfast, and how bad it is – ME AND MY BIG BUTT ALREADY KNOW THIS. I’m Mexican, we love our pan con cafe. LOL. I’m taking small steps to change my habits.

We are not really big banana eaters in this house, but for some reason we always seem to have bananas lying around getting brown. Some weeks we’re like monkeys, the next we’re over them and they just sit there getting all brown and soggy. Most of the time they get thrown into the freezer and saved for a smoothie later. And it just so happens we have a bunch of brown, soggy bananas sitting in a fruit bowl. I decided to make banana muffins because they are so easy to throw together… and it seemed like a healthy option.

Banana bread is good on its own, but add chocolate chips to the mix….. wooooooo! This will not disappoint your taste buds, especially when you bite into a warm muffin. Sweet enough for your tooth, healthy enough for your guilt.

Ingredients
2 cup all-purpose flour
2/3 c. old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick cooking)
2/3 c. brown sugar
2 eggs
12 tbsp. melted butter
6 tbsp. sour cream (or buttermilk)
1 c. mashed ripe bananas, about 2 bananas
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 c. chocolate chips ( I really didn’t measure)

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In the bowl of a stand mixer, beat together melted butter and sugar. Add sour cream and mashed bananas, mix on low for 30 seconds. Add egg and vanilla, mix until just combined.
3. In a small mixing bowl, combine flour, oats, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together then with mixing speed on low, gradually add dry ingredients. Mix until just combined. Remove bowl from stand and fold in chocolate chips. Scoop into muffin tin.
4. Place in oven and bake for 18-22 minutes. The tops should be lightly golden brown and they should be nice and firm. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pans for 2-3 minutes before removing and stuffing your face.

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

April 30, 2014coldfishie 2 Comments

Double Chocolate Chip Cookies

In this house when something is good it doesn’t last too long. And when I made these double chocolate chip cookies it was pretty hard not devouring them as soon as they come out! These are so decadent that you will definitely need a cold glass of milk near by. After letting them cool for about 5 minutes they are just so deliciously gooey and it’s almost like your eating a mini brownie. If you can possibly let them cool longer say overnight (this was almost impossible) they turn into a crispy cookie perfect for dunking in milk. These will not turn rock hard – let me repeat that – these will not turn rock hard. If you like chocolate, you will fall in love with these cookies, you will start talking like the Cookie Monster, “yum,yum,yum” and your eyes will roll around just like his when you take your first bite!

Let first say that I really don’t like making cookies mostly because I have no patience, all that waiting for them to cool down is for the birds. A couple of weeks ago I made some regular chocolate chip cookies – which were also very good, and now that I think about it… they were more than just regular!! I would have posted the recipe but we ate them so fast I didn’t get a good picture of them, and all that means is that I have to make them again – everyone is this house will be happy!

Back to the double chocolate… I wanted to make a chocolate cake, but decided on cookies because I got lazy all that cooling, making frosting, layering, and frosting just seemed like too much work to do on a Sunday afternoon. Not to mention I ate like a pig and all I wanted to do is sit on the couch and watch HBO. So the cookies won! These were so easy to make, and not as much work as I thought so I will be making these again. Not by choice, my Husband loved them so much he wants me to keep them in stock!

Ingredients

2-1/2 sticks Butter, Softened
2 cups Sugar
2 whole Eggs
3 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2 cups Flour
3/4 cups Cocoa Powder
1-1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon corn starch
1-1/2 cup Good Quality Semi-sweet Chocolate Chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Using a mixer, cream butter and sugar until fluffy, scraping the sides once.
Add eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. Mix in vanilla.
Sift together dry ingredients, then add in batches to the mixer, mixing until just combined after each addition.
Gently blend in chocolate chips.
Make 1 tablespoon portions to baking sheet.
Bake for 9 to 11 minutes or until cookies are barely done but still soft and chewy.

Fancy Mac

April 21, 2014April 21, 2014coldfishie 1 Comment

mac n’ cheese with goat cheese, bacon, and cranberries

Sometimes I like to get a little fancy in the kitchen, and when I say fancy – I mean I make easy things look complicated. Wait, let me take that back… now that I think about it mac n’cheese is complicated! Everyone thinks its sooo easy but it’s not, unless your making it from a box. Anyone can make it from a box, but not everyone can make it from scratch.

First of all I love any kind of cheese, but goat cheese is just plain delicious! Most people don’t like goat cheese because of its tangy flavor, the best way I can describe it is tangy cream cheese. When paired with something sweet like cranberries, it taste like a little piece of heaven… yummmm…. and throw bacon in the mix even better!! The best way to describe this fancy pants mac n’cheese is Thanksgiving on a plate.

Ingredients

Kosher salt
1 pound elbow macaroni or shells
1 1/2 cup milk
8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter, divided
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
8 ounces goat cheese
8 ounces mozzarella, grated (2 cups)
3 cups chopped bacon
1/4 cup of dried cranberries chopped
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon rosemary
1 cup Panko bread crumbs

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

In a large pot of boiling salted water add the macaroni and cook according to the directions on the package, 6 to 8 minutes. Drain well.

Meanwhile, heat the milk in a small saucepan, but don’t boil it. Melt 6 tablespoons of butter in a large (4-quart) pot and add the flour. Cook over low heat for 2 minutes, stirring with a whisk. While whisking, add the hot milk and cook for a minute or two more, until thickened and smooth. Off the heat, add the goat cheese, mozzarella, 1 tablespoon salt, pepper, and rosemary. In a 3-quart baking dish combine the cooked pasta, bacon, and cranberries. Pour cheese sauce over pasta.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the macaroni is browned on the top.

Steak Sandwich with Chipotle Sauce

March 25, 2014coldfishie 1 Comment

Steak Sandwich with Chipotle Sauce and Sweet Potato Fries

THE GET OUT OF JAIL FREE MEAL!

Spend too much money…MAKE THIS SANDWICH. Pay a bill late…MAKE THIS SANDWICH. Stay out too late with the guys…MAKE THIS SANDWICH. You forgot your anniversary…MAKE THIS SANDWICH. Shrunk his favorite sweater…MAKE THIS SANDWICH. Trust me, make this sandwich for your significant other and they will forget all about what you did.

The first time we had this sandwich was with my friend Jenny, she was at working at an upscale restaurant and recommended it to my Husband. He fell in love, and I became jealous of a sandwich. Sad but true. The sandwich was so simple and good, not to mention good-looking. Warm French bread, oozing cheese, steaming peppers, thin cut layers of Steak, and a pastel orange sauce that had the perfect amount of heat. How could I not be jealous? I asked Jenny if she knew the secret to this sauce, she laughed and said it was only two ingredients!!! I couldn’t believe it, here we were paying around $18 each for a sandwich and fries, and the main component that kept us coming back for more was only two ingredients!!!!!! I could have saved my dollars and bought some shoes! Needless to say the place closed, and I had to make my version of this steak sandwich.

For all the ingredients I spent $23.75, and this meal feeds about five that’s about $4.oo a person a whole lot better than $18 each. There are so many benefits to making this yourself:

1. its cheaper! I can’t say that enough.
2. You can have seconds, or thirds.
3. You won’t embarrass yourself in public when you’re licking the plate.
4. You can eat this in front of your television, in your pajamas.

Sandwich:

Thin sliced steak (skirt, sirloin, and tenderloin work great)
Red Pepper
Green Pepper
Onions
Garlic
Mozzarella
Spinach
French Bread

Sauce:

1 can of Chipotle Peppers (whole)
4 tablespoons Mayonnaise (sour cream, or Greek yogurt can be substituted)

Fries:

3 Sweet Potatoes
3 table spoons Olive oil
1 table-spoon Rosemary
Salt & Pepper

Directions:

Pre heat oven at 400°

Fries:

Start this first!!! Takes the longest but so worth it! Trust me!

Cut into large matchstick wedges
Toss with olive oil, rosemary, salt, and pepper
Place on baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes.

Sandwich:

Chop all veggies into thin strips
Sauté until soft (about 7-10 minutes)
Season Steaks with salt and pepper
Grill Steaks (I use a stove top grill, but if you can grill outside I recommend it!)
Flip steak and place a slice of Mozzarella on top of steak so it heats up and melts

Sauce:

Place Chipotle Peppers, and Mayonnaise in blender.
(Add more or less Mayonnaise depending on how much spiciness you like)

Assemble Sandwich. Stuff your face, and rub your belly.

Chile Rellenos

March 18, 2014March 20, 2014coldfishie 2 Comments

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If you ever made Chile Reyenos you know how much labor goes into making them, its almost like your going to war with a Poblano Pepper! First of all, I don’t have the patience or arm strength to beat egg whites to death. I want to eat, not workout. Then, when you finally get your peppers covered in egg and placed in the pan it falls right off! Not to mention, I HATE the aftermath of frying them. I’m left with tiny burn marks on my arms from oil popping all over the place, (I always forget to use the pan lid as a shield) and your clothes, hair, towels, pillows, curtains I mean EVERYTHING in your house smells like cooking oil. I’m not about that life. That smell is my biggest pet peeve. Just because I’m Mexican doesn’t mean I have to smell like a greasy tortilla chip!!!!! And the smell last for days. All that work for five cheesy, glorious bites of a stuffed pepper.

So to avoid injury and a workout, I decided to wrap my chiles with dough. Yes I know I’m a genius. I’ve made them this way with three different types of dough, Puff Pastry, Phyllo dough, and Crescent rolls which is what I used today. Each gives the pepper a different texture and flavor. The puff pastry gives a sweeter flavor and crispness, Phyllo dough turns into a delicate flakey crust, and the crescent roll is soft and buttery. My favorite of the three is the Puff Pastry it’s all three rolled into one! There still are some technical steps to make Chile Reyenos, but it’s so worth it. Trust me this is so much easier, and you wont even miss the egg coating. You’ll never want to eat it any other way again.

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Ingredients:

Poblano Pepper’s as many as you need, or can eat
Queso Fresco- Mexican crumbling cheese
Queso Chiuaua- Mexican melting cheese
Crescent rolls- I used 2 triangle pieces for each pepper

If using any of the next of items you will need extra ingredients.

Puff Pastry- if your going this route you’ll need one beaten egg to seal pastry.
Phyillo dough- you will need to use olive oil or butter in between each sheet
Directions: pre-heat: oven 350˙