M & K Cook That Noise!

ugh, how terrible are we at keeping up with this thing? i’m super sorry about that. i promise when i cook things i always go “oh my god, this would be awesome for the blog” & then i don’t, because i’m sometimes forgetful. but i made some delicious taters tonight that i wanted to share! you will need:

• red potatoes (as many or as little as you want)
• salt
• pepper
• garlic powder
• thyme
• olive oil

pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees. grab a pot that can hold how many potatoes you’re trying to prepare (i only cooked three, & i have leftovers). put some water in that pot, & some salt. get that water to boilin’! once you see those magical bubbles, plop in your taters. cook them until they’re fork tender.

on a baking sheet, pour some oil so the taters won’t stick later. when the taters are done cookin’ in the pot, put them on the pan. OMG Y’ALL HERE COMES THE FUN PART. get a potato smasher if you have one (i don’t) or a drinking glass (i have lots of those) & SMASH DEM TATERS. don’t smash them so much that they’re completely flat—they should kind of look like open baked potatoes. 

next, get some more olive oil & drizzle them on the potatoes. after you do that, it’s your turn to be creative! sprinkle, drizzle, or pour whatever seasonings you want on your taters. i used some salt, pepper, garlic powder, & thyme…& it was awesome. i think rosemary would probably be good, too.

put the taters in the oven & let them bake for about 20 minutes. pull them out & get ready for a tasty treat! i paired these smashed red gems with lamb chops & a veggie-filled salad….but ya know, follow your heart.

enjoy, darlings! xoxo M

so, a couple weeks ago Earthfare had an amazing coupon to the folks who are signed up on their mailing list—2 free handmade, organic sausages from their meat department. i jumped at the chance for free meat (carnivore, duh), but i don’t usually cook with sausage. irregardless, i turned in my coupon for one hot sausage & one chorizo. i gleefully came home & put them in my freezer. these beauties have gone untouched…until last night.

twas the night after christmas, & all through my house, i was craving pizza…but was broke as a louse. so i decided to make a pizza casserole! brilliance! combine both my craving & the delicious treat hiding in my freezer. i decided to use the hot sausage first (chorizo…we shall meet again).

for the casserole, i wrangled up these ingredients:

• 1 sausage
• pepperoni—as much or as little as you like
• crumbled bacon—as much or as little as you like
• 1 cup italian blend cheese
• 2 cups of shell noodles
• 2 cups of your favorite spaghetti sauce

prepare the shell noodles as you would for any pasta dish. when they are done, place them into a baking dish. add your other ingredients, but only use 3/4 cup of the cheese. mix the noodles & your other ingredients together in the baking dish. sprinkle remaining cheese on top. cover with foil, then place in oven. bake for about 25 minutes @ 350 degrees.

y’all….this turned out to be incredible. it reminded me of a more delicious, spicy version of this pepperoni casserole i used to eat by the pound at pizza hut when i was a kid. i have plenty of leftovers for when i go back to work, & it smelled so good that my BFF sara almost canceled on her date with her boyfriend to eat my concoction (just kidding…sort of). this would be great for a potluck, or just cooking for pals.

so dig in! & enjoy!

i have been very bad lately. i have been eating a lot of red meat, which is not something i typically do. don’t get me wrong—i am a total carnivore. however, i like to vary my meals so that i am being healthy & happy. i realized that i greatly needed some fishy in my diet this week (ugh, the holidays make me feel so bloated), so i decided to try a new spin on some salmon i had in my fridge. for this dish, you’lll need:

• 1/8 cup of mayo
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1/2 tbsp Italian salad dressing
• 1 tbsp chopped onion
• 1 salmon steak
• 1/2 tbsp seafood seasoning (I used Old Bay, but you can use whatever you have)
• 1/8 cup bread crumbs

after defrosting my salmon, i patted it dry with a paper towel. in a small bowl, i mixed the mayo, mustard, Italian dressing, & onion. i mixed all those delicious things together to create a sauce that was simply ridiculous because it was so good.

i took the salmon & sprinkled it with teh seasoning on both sides. in a baking dish, i placed the salmon (skin side down) & then pour that amazing sauce all over it. sprinkle the top with the bread crumbs. place in the oven, that you have conveniently pre-heated to 400 degrees.

let this bake for about 20 minutes. i have realized that my oven is super-crazy hot, & it takes less time than other people’s ovens. so check on your fishy so it doesn’t overcook! nothing is worse than bad salmon (ok, there are several things that are worse, but…you know what i mean).

after you take it out, the fish should be opaque (great word) & the onions should be cooked. y’all…i took my first bite, & i thought i had died & gone to heaven. it was incredible! very flavorful, & not very fishy at all. this would be an excellent dish for kids, or for someone who isn’t sure how they feel about eating fish—they’ll definitely change their mind after this.

i paired my salmon with a spinach salad & a dr. pepper (duh). you totally have to make this easy, delicious, & incredible dish!

xoxo M

i’m not going into detail about how it was done, because i am kind of ashamed about it. i will tell you it was delicious & had texas pete.

xoxo M

halloween is totally my favorite holiday, y’all. & although i primarily love to cook, i do have a tender spot in my heart for baking. i’m much better at cooking than i am baking, but when it comes to holidays…i just get the itch. & today it was so beautiful, so full of fall, & of course…halloween is tomorrow. so i made these cupcakes…& y’all. how adorable are they?

they were simultaneously tricky & easy to make. baking the cupcakes was the easy part…i used Betty Crocker’s Double Fudge Cake Mix (which only required 3 eggs, vegetable oil, & water), and it was a delicious idea. making the faces? that was the hard part. i used Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Frosting, a package of Oreos, & got a large bag of M&M’s (but i didn’t use the whole bag).

for the eyes, i used the creme side of the Oreos. this was definitely the trickiest part…because Oreos love each other & don’t like to be separated. so i microwaved the cookies for 7 seconds (this was quite the trial & error process). to separate the cookies, i used a butter knife & a whole lot of patience. i kept the other half of the cookie though, because that’s how i made the owl ears!

once the cupcakes were done baking & iced, i placed two of the creme-halved cookies in the middle of the cupcake. i then took two brown M&M’s & placed them on the creme—you can be as wacky as you want with the eyeballs (my favorite part). for the nose, i took a colored M&M, turned it sideways, and placed it between the “eyes”. yay!

for the owl horns/ears/whatever that is on an owl…i took the other half of the oreo & broke it in half. placed it at the top of the cupcake above the eyeballs…& ta da!! the most adorable cupcakes in the whole entire world!!

i hope these directions make sense! it was definitely a fun project, and absolutely delicious (leo has already had 3!) but i think i’m going to stick to my forte of cooking for the most part :) xoxo m

y’all know how i feel about fish. i love it! i love all kinds of seafood, but i struggle at times with coming up with creative, flavorful ways to  make one of my favorite kinds of fishies—tilapia.

people hate on tilapia all the time because it’s cheap, kind of fishy in flavor, &…did i mention cheap? i know it’s not as full of nutrients & good things as say, salmon…but when you’re cooking for friends that only eat fish & chicken (i.e. one of my best friends, skyface), it’s important to be as cost effective as possible. so, although it may not be the finest of fish, it is what i had…& what i wanted to cook.

so, back to me. i had two tilapia filets & a whole lot of hope. as it has been expressed in every single one of my dishes, i can never get enough garlic. like, seriously. so i created a tasty, fast meal that was TO DIE FOR. to die for, i say! here is what you need:

• 2 tilapia filets
• 1 tbsp butter, melted
• 1 1/2 tsp lemon pepper
• 1 1/2 clove garlic (wish i had used more…but you know)

so those lonely filets need some attention. pat them dry, & put them in a baking dish. pour the melted butter over the filets. sprinkle the garlic & lemon pepper. bake in an oven @ 375 for about 20 minutes.

hey, you know that lonely, boring tilapia? guess who’s the new belle of the ball? THAT’S RIGHT. & now it’s in your belly. enjoy, fellow chefs-in-dreaming.

xoxo M

i’m going to make this short & sweet, just like me. you will need:

• 1 steak (carnivores rejoice)
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1 1/2 cloves minced garlic
• some season salt, or salt & pepper, whatever you like to season a steak

get yourself a pan. put the heat on medium-high. you know that butter? toss that butter in said pan. you know that garlic? toss that garlic in said pan. let it all melt & ooze together to create a sexy union of fun & flavor. when it’s all melted, pour it into a separate bowl (you will reunite shortly).

that steak…it’s sitting around. toss it in the pan & turn up the heat. sear the steak & cook for about 4-5 minutes on each side, depending on how you like your steak prepared. take it out of pan.

put steak on plate. pour garlic butter over steak. let this sit & fall in love for about 2-3 minutes. now dig in.

you’re welcome.

xoxo M

so, a group of friends & i have a thursday night tradition—we watch jersey shore & eat italian food. simple enough, right? well, the cooking alternates between my BFF sara & myself, & we have gotten pretty great at italian cooking. so far she has conquered spaghetti, lasagna (SHE MADE THE DAMN SAUCE FROM SCRATCH, Y’ALL. SHE CRAZY), & meatball subs. i have tried my hand at homemade chicken parmesean & homemade pizza….and tonight, i made something epic. something crazy. i made….a spaghetti pie.

it was definitely one of the more complex dishes i’ve created in awhile. let me tell you what you need to scrounge up so you can make this gem of a dish.

• a package of thin spaghetti
• 2 tbsp butter (you’re welcome, K)
• 1/3 cup grated parm
• 2 eggs, beaten (be sure to do this before you add it to the noodles)
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1/2 cup an onion…i used literally half of a small yellow onion
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 jar of pasta sauce…i used this off brand four cheese style, it was da shit
• 1 cup of ricotta cheese
• a plethora of mozzerella cheese

hey there, you saucy gal/guy, you. i see you there…wanting to impress your friends on jersey shore night. yeah, let’s do this shit. boil some water for your noodles. throw in some garlic salt in that pot, because you KNOW we love garlic as much as pauly d loves blow-outs. while this is boiling, brown that ground beef. when it starts getting as juicy as a night out with the jersey shore family, throw in the onion & garlic. oh baby, it’s becoming a situation. once the meat is done cooking, toss in that sauce. heat through. boom baby.

so, back to your noodles. drain the noodles, then get ready for something more excited than the jersey turnpike or even GTL. while the noodles are still hot, mix them with the eggs, butter, & parmesean cheese. toss that shit around like a bed in ANY of the shore houses. once it’s all mixed, take a pie tin. yeah, i bought one specifically for tonight. what? you don’t have one? well, whatever you’re using to make your food, butter it up before you start the magic. put the noodles in the pie tin/baking dish/grenade you’re using & create a “crust” of sorts. remember that ricotta cheese i mentioned earlier? yeah buddy! spread that over the noodles. top it with your meat concoction. BOOM.

with an oven preheated @ 350, toss that bad boy in there. let it bake for about 20 minutes, then put some mozzerella cheese on top & broil for an additional 5 minutes. hey, what do you know…you just OWNED jersey shore night.

that’s sara with the finished product. DON’T YOU JUST WON’T TO EAT THAT ALL NIGHT??!?! this shit would solve any problem ronnie & sammi have. i swear to god.

xoxo m

y’all, i think i have made one of my most favorite dishes ever. that’s right, i said it. it is absolutely so freaking incredible, i can barely stand it. ok, i won’t keep you in suspense any longer: it’s a ginger-soy chicken satay over shredded lettuce. YOU WILL NEVER GO OUT FOR CHINESE FOOD AGAIN. i swear.

you will need:

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1.25 lbs of chicken
• salt
• black pepper
• 3 tbsp grated ginger
• 6 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper
• 2 green onions, chopped
• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 3 tbsp honey
• 1 head of lettuce (i used green leaf)

so, you got all that sexy chicken, right? well heat up your olive oil in a frying pan, throw those chickies in there, and let them cook for about a minute—just long enough for the meat to sear & you to realize what a brilliant idea this is. season it with some salt, and plenty of black pepper (or not…i love spice!).

after about a minute, throw in the ginger, garlic, & red pepper. omg, smells SO DELICIOUS. cook this for another 2 minutes, & then throw in the green onion. OH YEAH, BABY. GREEN ONION. ALL UP IN THERE. about letting that satay for another minute, throw in the soy sauce & honey. THERE. BOOM. YOU DID IT. YOU JUST CREATED THE MOST ORGASMIC SAUCE OF YOUR LIFE. FROM SCRATCH. YOU ARE NEVER GOING TO VISIT P.F. CHANGS EVER AGAIN.

let this cook a little longer—the chicken should become all glazed & seductive. yum. remove it from heat for the sauce to thicken a bit. yeah, you like that thick…i know it.

grab a handful of lettuce & throw this chicken concoction on top. TA-DA. that was so easy. & it is SO. FREAKING. GOOD. i swear, you will cry from being so happy after your meal. & then you’ll yell at alex trebeck & wonder how many beers you can buy at the bar tonight (what? just me?).

xoxo M

hello, poppets! k & i are not as consistent with this thing as both of us had hoped, but we are trying to be GROWN-UPS, ya know? & sometimes being a grown-up means eating a shitty sandwich (because you’re lazy) & only watching re-runs of parks & recreation on netflix, hulu, & ondemand (don’t judge us). however! tonight, i made a delicious new pork rib dish that i am excited to share with y’all.

you need:

• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 1/3 cup of sweet chili sauce
• 1/4 cup of italian dressing
• 1 tablespoon of soy sauce

mix all of these goodies together in a small bowl. i would recommend adding some red pepper or ginger, but i was cooking for friends & they don’t care for spicy food. with about 1.5-2 lbs of pork ribs, i sprinkled some garlic powder (Y’ALL KNOW HOW I AM WITH GARLIC) & some seasoning salt. i pre-heated the oven at 425, baked those bad boys for about 20 minutes, & voila.

holy shit

delicious

get in my belly

hooray!

i know it’s been awhile, but i hope this recipe makes up for it. <3 xoxo M

I’m going to make tofu tacos with homemade pico de gallo! I went to Trader Joe’s and grabbed some tofu [as always] and was wandering around when I saw the taco shells! I got the idea from my friend Helen’s Tiny Kitchen Blog in which she posted about making tiny tofu tacos! 

She baked hers, and that sounds like a great idea, but it’s much too hot in the apartment right now to do that. 

For the tofu: 

olive oil
lemon juice
cayenne pepper
chili powder
sriracha sauce

I’m going to coat the tofu in that mixture and then put it in the skillet!

Once that goes in, I’m going to drain a can of black beans and put those in another skillet for refried black beans! All you need to do for that is cook them down, and mash them the entire time. You can add some finely chopped onions to it if you want, too! I’m going to add some to the tacos, and have some on the side, too! It’s a delicious side dish, too! Just sprinkle some cheese on top! 

While that’s working, I’m going to start on my homemade pico!

tomato
onion
fresh lemon juice
parsley 

I hate cilantro, and we have parsley growing on our porch, so I’m going to do that. I only have lemon juice, but I want to give it a nice tangy kick, so I’m sure that’ll work just fine. I’m going to chop up the tomato and onion incredibly fine, squeeze some fresh lemon juice over it, and then throw some chopped parsley all over it.

By this time, the tofu should be nice and crispy on the outside, and the black beans should be nice and mushy. 

Take your taco shell, put the delish tofu on the bottom, put some refried black beans on top of that! Throw in the cheese now, since you’ll want it melty, then throw some lettuce on there, and top it off with that amazing pico! 

Tacos are fucking delicious, but can also be healthy! Aside from cooking the tofu in olive oil, everything else is fresh or doesn’t involve oil at all. But, yeah! TACOS! I’M EXCITED! 

so sorry it has been awhile since my last post—i haven’t made anything i’m particularly excited about (except eating tacos for about 3 nights this week…yum), but tonight i decided to share what i whipped up in the kitchen.

i am the kind of person that absolutely LOVES seafood—but sometimes it’s hard to get creative, ya know? tonight i wanted some tilapia, but wasn’t quite sure how to prepare it. i was inspired by the jar of Walnut Acres Organic Zesty Basil Pasta Sauce in my cupboard i’ve been dying to use. not just wanting to toss it on some noodles & calling it a day, i decided to utilize the flavors in the sauce for a delicious seafood pasta treat.

for the fish portion of my dinner, i used one filet of tilapia, 3 tablespoons of olive oil, 3 tablespoons of the pasta sauce, 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder, 1/8 teaspoon dried oregano, chopped 1/4 of a red onion, and sliced 1/4 of an orange bell pepper. in a small bowl, i combined 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, the pasta sauce, garlic powder, and oregano. i store it up all nice, and it tasted insanely good. in a small baking pan, i used the other tablespoon of olive oil. i placed the filet in the dish, then spread the sauce concoction all over that sexy piece of fish. i then took the onion & pepper & sprinkled it all over. it looked a little something like this.

in an oven i pre-heated at 375, i placed in my little friend. y’all, i wish i could explain how tasty this made my house smell. while this was baking, i was making some rigatoni noodles (one cup). rigatoni noodles are my absolute favorite—they are very filling & go with anything. they’re my go-to noodles when making pasta, and i always have some in my cupboard. nom.

after about 15 minutes in the oven, i took the fishy out. man, it sure did look good. but i like my fish to be a little crisp, so i took a tablespoon of butter (i know K is ecstatic about this step, given our recent debate about butter) and put it on top of the little guy. i turned the oven on to broil, and let the tilapia sit in there for another 5 minutes.

after being in a constant state of smellgasm, i took out the finished product. holy crap, y’all. i plated the fish with the rigatoni pasta & some more sauce, and paired it with a salad (always need my greens, ya know!). oh, and a cheerwine…because i am moving back to NC in 2 weeks! i gotta celebrate the south with my beverage choice, obviously!

verdict: absolutely delicious. the flavors weren’t as explosive as i thought they would be, but it was very tasty, pretty light, and easy to make. y’all try it & tell me if you made any changes, and how it worked for you!

xoxo m