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Mac and Cheese Bites

This recipe came from the Simple and Delicious cookbook by Taste of Home. An easy recipe; and not the most healthy. But it's a fun snack or lunch item. This recipe is made to be an appetizer, and baked in mini muffin pans. Personally, I didn't want to go out and buy a mini muffin pan, so I do ubled the recipe and had enough to put in 18 full sized muffin cups. There were some adjustments I made, one just by circumstance and the others purposeful. It had specific measurements for how much bread crumbs to sprinkle in the bottom of t he muffin cups, but I just used my judgement. My first mistake was not having enough sharp cheddar cheese for the recipe. To compensate for this, I used more swiss cheese. It actually gave it a unique, almost sharper, flavor I liked rather than the common mac and cheese flavor people usually go towards.   I had enough cheese for one and a half boxes of macaroni, but I did not realize this at the time. I cooked only one box, even though I had two,...
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The Salad Balance

Salads, much like anything else in the cooking world, is about balancing different flavors. As you plan your salad, you'll find there are more components than you realized before.  First, there's no steps; it's more of a web plan than anything else. You could decide what lettuce you're in the mood for, then find out that the ingredients you want could overpower (or not hold up to) the flavor and texture of the leaf type you've chosen. Let me give you an example. A few days ago, I decided to make a salad for dinner. I'm not talking about a side salad. No, more like a main entrée salad. At first I was thinking romaine lettuce as the base, but I quickly realized some of the foods in my fridge would pair better with spinach (which I also had). So I set up my prep-station. I took out baby spinach, carrots, cucumber, red bell pepper, pinto beans, and great northern white beans. After putting the spinach into the salad bowl, I shaved the carrots and cucumb...
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Pomegranate and Pistachio Crostini

This recipe is from the Taste of Home Simple and Delicious cookbook. It's meant to be an appetizer, but the taste is of a dessert. The way to create these is to first bake the bread before you prepare the sauce for on top of the bread slices. The sauce I recommend whipping with an egg beater to mix properly while the bread cools. Also, chop the pistachios and place in another bowl. In another bowl, pop out the seeds of the pomegranates to make it easier for application. Once this is done, decide how many crostini's you want at that moment. Don't put sauce on any more than you want to eat; the bread will get mushy after a while if the sauce is left on there. Once you have scooped the sauce onto the bread, sprinkle with the pistachio crumbles and pomegranate seeds. Then take a chocolate bar (I used one with a little sea salt. It made the taste more like a tart.) and shave some chocolate onto the pieces of bread. For storage, I recommend separating all ingredients into dif...
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Sweet & Spicy Asian Chicken Petites

This recipe comes from the Taste of Home cookbook Simple and Delicious. These petites have been designed to be appetizers, however, since I want them to be paired in a meal with another appetizer (Look for the post: Pomegranate and Pistachio Crostini) I decided to double the recipe to make these chicken petites the main course. Doubling a recipe is always tricky, especially when dealing with strong oils, such as sesame seed oil. In my case, when I was adding in twice the dosage of sesame seed oil, I realized I didn't have enough for two full tablespoons. It was actually a good thing that I ran out since I discovered after adding the 1 1/2 tbsp of oil, it was already very strong. You could smell it. Usually, smelling an oil while cooking isn't a good thing, so naturally I was worried. I took a small taste of my chicken mixture to make sure it didn't have too strong of a taste. The oil was recognizable, however, it may not be prominent while actually eating my petites. Oi...
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Scrambled Eggs

There's many different ways you can make scrambled eggs. Dozens of combinations of seasonings to try. Go ahead and experiment with that, but if you want to know a delicious base to put seasonings on, keep reading. First thing first, heat your skillet on low heat for 5 minutes (so set the timer). Then, in a small mixing bowl, dump in the eggs. A trick for really flavorful eggs: put one extra yolk in, just the yolk. The yolk is where the flavor is. Yes, it's cholesterol, but if you want a healthier way with lots of flavor, use one less egg than you were planning on. For example, if you want a three egg scramble, dump in two whole eggs and one yolk. Then add a teaspoon of fat free half-and-half milk. The thicker, creamy milk will keep the eggs soft and fluffy without being runny. Then, add whatever seasonings you think would go well, and whisk with a fork. I recommend the fork because it separates and mixes a lot faster and better than a whisk, in my opinion. Once the timer go...
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Fried Eggs

I know what you're thinking: "Eggs? Anyone can cook eggs." Yes, anyone can cook eggs, but can they cook exemplary eggs? How many times have you broken the yolk? Gotten eggshells in your bowl? Burned the eggs or cooked them past the point you wanted? Well, then keep reading. The first thing you do is take out a small non-stick skillet, enough for 2-4 eggs and heat it up for 5 minutes on low heat. Yes, set the timer. Eggs are very temperamental and require timing for every step. The reason behind heating up the pan, just heating up the pan (no oil or butter) is so when the eggs finally hit the skillet, the surface is evenly heated. You don't want one egg cooking more than the other. While it is heating, get all your ingredients together and prepped. If you're cooking 2 eggs, one small glass bowl is all you need. If 3-4 eggs, then you'll need to split the eggs between two small glass bowls. I say glass because it will slide out easier and won't stick so c...
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Disclaimer

Despite what the title says, I'm not a cook. Well, at least, I don't have a job as a cook and not once in my life have I had a cooking class. I am a cook, however, in the sense that I create meals out of food using recipes or substitution or just plain curiosity if pairing this ingredient with that will churn out something good. I'm a cook at heart. I know there are a lot of food/cooking blogs out there, so right about now, you're thinking, "What makes this one worth my while?"  Well, the title should give you a hint. This blog isn't about quick recipes or anything specialized. What my blog can give you is the little tricks of how to know which produce to bag or which groceries to put in the cart. As you read the posts, you'll notice I add little tricks. Most of these tricks, I've picked up through other cookbooks and confirming it with my own work. Sometimes I even modify the tricks, but most come from other sources of information.  My blog ...
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