Anniversary Flan!

I recently discovered caramelization, which is kind of odd for me because I tend to hate all things caramel.  That seems to be the general idea of caramelization.  If you're like me and you clicked on the link to find out more about caramelization, you may not have understood much of the process. 

Here's what I know about caramelization:

1.  If you caramelize something for too long, it burns. 
2.  It has something to do with sugar.
3.  Caramelized bananas are where it's at. 

My wonderful hubby took me out last night for our two year wedding anniversary to Fogo de Chao.  When we were trying to decide what we should do for our anniversary a few weeks ago I said, "Why don't we go to that meat place... you know, where they have all the meat?"  My new mommy mind doesn't let me remember words sometimes.  Jimmy knew right away where I meant (he's good at deciphering my speak)... so we went!

Well, the meat was fantastic.  My favorite was the filet mignon wrapped with bacon.  I'm a fan. 

However, at one point the meat men brought us a plate of caramelized bananas.  We both looked at them like, "What's this?"  Then I ate a bite and fell in love.  Too bad caramelization takes all of the healthfulness directly OUT of the banana.  Haha.  Anyway, I want to try this recipe for Caramelized Bananas.  Soon. 

After dinner, they brought us this awesome anniversary flan. 

Here's what I know about flan:

1.  It jiggles like jello when you poke it.
2.  It's the consistency of pudding or cheesecake... maybe a combination of the two.
3.  It's yummy.  Especially when it's anniversary flan!

Fogo de Chao rocks.  :-)

Chocolate Trees! (2011)

I just realized that I totally failed to post pictures of our most recent chocolate escapade!  We made chocolate trees this (well, last) year... :-)

Neal and Casee's supplies

 

 

Complete with the Christmas hippo!  :-)

Alissa and Jimmy's supplies

 

The woodland creatures are staring in awe at the tree...

Yep, and that's us eating them later on... animals made out of chocolate are scrumptious!  :-)

Herbalicious

So, for Christmas I asked for a Chia Herb Garden.  My brother, awesome as he is, got me said herb garden and yesterday I put it all together and "planted" my herbs.  I say "planted" because it's a Chia garden and you put the seeds on TOP of the soil.  Like so.

I started with cilantro, dill, and sweet basil and next I'll grow chives, majoram, and parsley.  It stinks that the kit only comes with three clay pots and six packets of seeds.  Although, it's probably best for easing myself into this process.  We'll see how this works! 

Greenhouse effect? 

Just so you don't have the wrong impression of my growing/planting skills... you should know that I've killed two cacti on separate occasions (one in college and one a few years ago). 

I also receieved two lovely potted plants at the end of the school year last year that were both dead within a few weeks.  I actually have a picture of one of them after the first time it rained... let's see if I can find it... ah yes.



Like I said... dead within weeks.  I actually managed to keep that purple-flowered plant (I don't even know what it's called!) alive by trimming it and watering it for a while... and then I went on vacation for the weekend, came back, and both plants were all brown.  It was sad. 

Anyway, I'm hoping that I can keep a few herb plants alive.  Wish me luck! 

Meat!

Happy New Year!  :-) 

I hope you're having a good 2012 and working on whatever your resolutions may be.  I made a few resolutions and I'm doing my best...

1. Read at least 20 books this year. 
2. Learn how to cook meat.
3. Paint my kitchen yellow.

So far I've read one book: The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson.  It's the second book in the Milennium series and I thought it was better than the first.  I technically finished the first book in 2012, but I'm not counting it because I started it last year.  :-p  Any book recommendations for me?  I've got a new Kindle that's itching for books! 

Meat, in general, intimidates me when it's in a large chunk.  I'm not afraid of ground beef, ground turkey, or ground chicken because it's all ground up already!  I am now equipped with a nice meat thermometer and so my mission begins. 

Today I made two things... first, Meatball Mushroom Soup, which turned out more like a thick stew.  Meatballs don't scare me because they are little... so I started off kind of small.  Mmm...  

 

Carrots are bleeding!  (They didn't stand a chance.)

Meatball Mushroom Soup

So, I'm pretty sure that this was super thick because I didn't follow the recipe.  I added more rice, barley, and noodles than it called for because I thought, 'How can that be enough?!'  Well, it was enough.  Don't get me wrong... the thickness was delicious.  Just not what I was expecting.  I think this was also the first time I've ever knowingly eaten barley.  What an odd consistency! 

The second thing I made today was Dijon Beef and Mushrooms... which was supposed to be more of a stew-like substance and turned into soup!  For this recipe, I cut up my first hunk of steak meat ever.  *That link is not the exact recipe (which I can't find), but it gives you a general idea. 

Hunk of meat!

Mess of stuff in the crockpot...

Four hours later... it's like soup!

Dijon Beef and Mushrooms

It was so saucy, I decided to serve it over brown rice.  The recipe I used came out of a Skinny Slow Cooker magazine that I got at the grocery store the other day.  I'm excited to start using my crockpots more... I love crockpot cooking!  <3

Oh!  As far as painting my kitchen yellow goes, it will happen.  Just not yet.  Life's been a little busy lately.  In a good way!  :-) 

Carmelized Onions?

So, I actually had some time to cook last night.  Jim went shopping for chocolate supplies (look for in the next post)... and I had not one, but TWO dinners cooked and ready for him when he came home.  I was on a roll.  Why?  Who knows? 

I made good old spicy chili.  Mmm.  I also made this:

Macaroni and Cheese with Carmelized Onions

Fancy, right?  I've never carmelized an onion before.  You may say they look a little blackened... is that different from carmelizing?  Haha.  About half the onion burnt to a crisp and I had to throw it away.  Those were actually the less blackened ones...  :-)

It was still pretty tasty.  Not to mention a weight watchers recipe.  For Mac & Cheese.  Dig it.

Onions prior to blackening... I mean, carmelization.

After it was all mixed in the pot, it went in the oven for a little while and got all congealed and cheesy.  Yum.

I do have to say that while this was fairly good, I think I have to say that the blue box is still my favorite.  What kind of macaroni and cheese do you like? 

Casseroles for Baby

With baby on the way, I started making casseroles... I figured at least if I could freeze a few casseroles for later, we wouldn't starve.  Here are some pictures! 

Beef & Tater Bake

Who doesn't love tater tots?  I'm a fan.  Remember, though, I am in general a fan of things all jumbled together in a yummy mess.  Plus, I was pretty pregnant when I made that.  Regardless, it was tasty.

This next casserole is for any fan of pizza.

Spiral Pepperoni Pizza Bake

A little warning... either don't fill your dish quite so full of mozzarella OR put the dish on a cookie tray so that the cheese doesn't bubble all over your oven.  I love my darling husband who cleaned our oven!  <3

This last casserole is completely designed by me! 

Alissa's Mexican Polenta Bake

Alissa's Mexican Polenta Bake
1 can refried beans
1 roll of polenta, cut into rounds
Corn (canned or frozen)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
Green chiles
1 lb. ground beef, turkey, or chicken (I prefer beef... but you can use what you like!)
Taco seasoning (Packet or make your own!)
1/2 onion, chopped
1 jar salsa con queso
Other toppings... grape tomatoes, black olives, mushrooms, banana peppers, jalapeno peppers, sour cream, guacamole, etc.

Cook the ground beef in a pan and toss in the onion.  Add the taco seasoning.  *Just a side note... I made my own taco seasoning the other day without a packet (because I didn't realize I was out of them).  This works just as well! 

Spread the refried beans into a 13 x 9 pyrex dish.  Sprinkle some of the corn and black beans on top.  Add the polenta rounds spread out evenly.  Add more corn and black beans.  Add the seasoned meat and onions.  Add mushrooms or banana peppers if you're going to do so.  Add more corn, black beans, green chiles, jalapenos, etc.  Top the dish with the jar of salsa con queso. 

Bake in the oven at 350 for about 20ish minutes.  Top with anything else you want!  See... easy.  For all of you who are watching your weight... this was about 9 WW pts for 1/8 of it.  Not too shabby.

Please note that I am writing this almost 6 weeks (tomorrow) after baby arrived! Did I manage to make and freeze these casseroles prior to baby arriving? NO. Baby came 3 weeks early and surprised everyone... especially me and Jim. 

My sweetie at 1 month.  :-)  Love!