Use What You Have Quesadillas

On Sunday's, I cook.  I quite literally open the fridge, plan out my lunch for the week and then create some chaos with what is left over.

For lunch, I was craving quesadillas.  Of course, I was out of sour cream and guacamole.  And, in typical me fashion, I bought the world's smallest tortillas.  Was I going to let that stop me?  Uh, never.  I also had another hungry mouth to feed, so no pressure.

Today's ingredients (makes 4 quesadillas):
3 oz. turkey, cooked, sliced, and diced
cheese, shredded
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 red onion
3 crimini mushrooms
1 small tomato
1 tbsp. olive oil
salsa

In a pan with high sides, heat the olive oil.  When the oil is hot, add the vegetables and cook long enough to soften them.  About two minutes before you take the mixture out of the pan, add the turkey.

Remove from heat, spoon mixture into a bowl, and set aside. Carefully wipe out the pan with paper towel and return to the stove.

Allow the pan to heat up again and spray with cooking spray.  Add a tortilla.

Top the tortilla with your vegetable and turkey mixture.

Then add some cheese.

When the underside of the tortilla is golden, top with another tortilla, and cover with a plate.  This helps keep the heat in and melt the cheese.

Flip the quesadilla and cook until the second underside is golden brown.

Now slide that lovely piece of heaven onto a cutting board and allow it to cool for about one minute.  This lets the cheese set all over the vegetables and keep things in place.  Cut in four and plate.

Serve with sour cream and guacamole, if you have them.  Enjoy!

I Heart Sundays. And Hate Grocery Shopping

(Originally posted on my old blog "The Domestication of a Punk Rock Foodie" on August 08, 2009.)

Sundays are a great day for brunch and a book. And after hectic Saturdays, I heart them.

I work Monday to Friday and I try to do all my errands and chores on Saturdays. Usually this means by 4:00 I'm a manic, exhausted, chain smoking hawt mess because I hate people who are out in public on Saturdays... most of the people... and really really really hate the ones that are out on Saturdays, murdering me one minute at a time in a line at a store. Ohhhh I know you know what I'm talking about. The dumbasses at the till, still shopping even though being in line at the till indicates you are finished doing what you need to do in the store, want to pay for your shit (so the bag boy doesn't body check you into the display at the front doors and have you arrested by mall security) and leave. Ya, those fuckers. I always end up in line behind them. Hate them. I hate them with a such a passionate rancor it makes me want to spew bile. It makes me a bad Buddhist, I know, I know. But surely even Buddha would get his robe in a knot if he had his life shaved off him while standing in line behind these assholes.

Another thing I can't stand about lines is people who ram their carts into me. Here's the thing about that... I have a fat ass. You can't miss it. Its flat but its fat and if you have eyes in your head, whoop, there it is. Therefore the "Sorry, didn't see you!" argument fails. Big. Epic. Fail. Pushing your cart into my fat ass will not get you and your groceries to the till, scanned, bagged, and out the door any faster. I do not possess a magic ass that, when a cart is inserted in it, unleashes the grocery store faeries who you imagine will poetically swoop down, check out your groceries and get you out the door, ahead of everyone else. No, its a very normal ass. Its an ass that functions in an exit-only manner so keep your dreams of anal grocery cart action and faeries to yourself. Please, just back up, chill out, and realize that we all have to stand here and wait our turn.

Now you know why I like to become one with the sofa or a chair on the deck on Sundays. The best way to get that started is a great breakfast.

MAKE
Menu:
Lower Fat Banana Muffins
Strawberry Lemonade
Gourmet Scrambled Eggs

LOWER FAT BANANA MUFFINS
Make these first so they are all lovely and warm when you are done making your lemonade and eggs. Feel free to add 2/3 cup dried fruit and/or a 1/2 of chopped nuts for added flavour and texture. And calories, but good calories. Not bad fast food death calories.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 c. all purpose flour
1/2 c. whole wheat flour
2 1/4 tsp. baking powder
2 1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
2/3 c. sugar (I like to use Splenda's brown sugar)
2 egg whites (or 1 whole egg), beaten
3 tbsp. canola oil (extra virgin olive oil will work too)
3 tbsp. soy milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. allspice (you can use cinnamon and/or nutmeg too)
2 bananas, mashed
paper muffin cups
Pam olive oil spray

Method:
-preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
-combine all dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl
-make a well and add wet ingredients
-mix by folding the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients; make sure you don't over mix as this will overwork the batter and you won't have all those lovely pockets of air the baking soda and powder create
-very lightly spray muffin tin with Pam
-line muffin tin with paper cups
-fill the cups between 1/2 and 3/4 full
-bake for 20 minutes
-do the sexy toothpick trick (insert, pull out... clean = done, wet = cook more, in 5 minute increments)

STRAWBERRY LEMONADE
The night before you make this recipe, hull and halve one cup of strawberries and put them in a sealed container in the freezer. These will double as a garnish as well as a fruity ice cube when you are putting the finishing touches on this drink.

Ingredients:
1 c. sugar or Splenda
1/2 c. water
2 c. fresh strawberries, washed, stemmed, and sliced
1 c. fresh lemon juice, strained (You can use the bottled juice but may have to adjust your sugar to compensate for the acidity)
24 oz. sparkling water (I've been known to use any of the following: San Pelligrino, Perrier, Club Soda.)
1 c. frozen strawberries, hulled and halved

Method:
-combine the sugar (or Splenda) and water in a saucepan and cook over medium heat, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves and the mixture becomes clear
-pour into a blender or food processor
-add the fresh strawberries and lemon juice and puree until evenly blended
-in a large pitcher, mix the puree with the sparkling water
-place frozen strawberries in glasses and pour the mixture over the frozen strawberries

GOURMET SCRAMBLED EGGS
There aren't any measurements to go with this recipe. The ingredient list is something that you can play with and adjust to your palate. Have all your ingredients ready because this recipe cooks fast.

Ingredients:
eggs
fresh spinach
fresh basil (you can use fresh oregano as well)
salt
pepper
shredded cheese or crumbled cheese (like feta)
salsa
low fat sour cream
Pam spray
silicon or rubber spatula

Method:
-chiffonade spinach and basil, set aside
-shred or crumble cheese, set aside
-beat eggs
-spray a non-stick pan with Pam to thinly coat the pan
-turn heat to medium
-add salt and pepper to eggs and beat well
-add eggs to heated pan and constantly folding and scrambling the eggs using the spatula; if you are using a rubber spatula, don't leave the spatula in the pan or it will melt
-add spinach and basil
-after about 30 - 45 seconds, turn off heat and continue to cook using residual heat
-add shredded cheese and fold into eggs
-plate and top with salsa and sour cream, if desired

THINK
Find out what you are afraid of and go live there. ~ Chuck Palahniuk (from Invisible Monsters

LISTEN
Jay-Z, Kanye, Rihanna - Run This Town (for Amy)
Lauryn Hill - Lose Yourself
Exploited - Maggie (BIG c-bomb warning... these guys hated Margaret Thatcher and what she did to the U.K. during her reign as the Iron Lady)

READ
Sun Tzu - The Art Of War

This book was written in the sixth century but contains tactics used in modern era warfare by the likes of Mao Zedong and General George Macarthur. That being said, this is not a manual on waging war. The Art Of War is less about war and more about outsmarting your opponents and adversaries, in an effort to avoid a physical and armed conflict via negotiation and strategy.

WATCH
The Story Of Stuff

This 22 minute video will open your eyes to how we consume.

VISIT
TWiT Live

Leo Laporte, the Tech Guy... he makes that technogoobledygock make sense to me.
GO GREEN
Use olive oil as furniture polish (this is for polished wood only):
-combine two parts olive oil with one part lemon juice in a bowl
-using a lint free cloth (micro fibre cloths work well), rub into the wood, following the direction of the grain of the wood

It Was A Red Velvet Sunday

While most of you were sleeping on Sunday morning at 9:30 am, I was being summoned by my six year old sous chef to make red velvet cupcakes.  All I wanted to do was stay in bed, read a couple of books, and kick this lung infection in the butt and out the door.  No, no.  Nay, nay.  "Auntie, we have to get going soon cos we have to buy a new egg beater machine (that's six year old for hand mixer) and get the stuff from the grocery store and we have to hurry Auntie, cos we also have to make a strawberry upside down cake... "  Gawd that child can say a lot in one breath...

Whoa, there's a cake AND cupcakes on our list of things to do?  Hand mixer, grocery store?

I'm sorry, can someone remind me again who runs my kitchen?

And there was something in there about making her a nice lunch but my CPU doesn't go that fast on a Sunday and it barely registered.

While the sous chef and I were in Zeller's not paying 79.97 for a hand mixer, I suddenly became surrounded by randoms that were way too super flirty for a Sunday.  Like surrounded.  Hemmed in on all sides at the checkout.  I know, who knew Zeller's was The Place To Be For The Nearly Forty.  No, I did not find Mr. Right.  Sous chef shut my groove down and let everyone in the store know we needed to "blow this dump" and find a "cheap egg beater machine".  I  totally had us a pizza lunch date worked out but she dissed and dismissed her almost future uncle for a trip to another store.  I don't mind.  His taste in flip flops is questionable.

I was reluctant to make these cupcakes because red velvet cake always looks so decadent and most of the recipes I could find used lard.  Straight up lard.  Gawd, I can't even imagine.  So after much time with Lord Google and the Google Gremlins, I found three recipes which I cleverly ripped off combined into one.  This recipe is fairly easy in terms of method.

I highly recommend having a young sous chef with you when you add the food colouring to the chocolate batter and turn it red... there's nothing in the world like hearing (all whispery), "Oh, Auntie, you're magic."

It made all the mania worth it.

RED VELVET CUPCAKES WITH CREAM CHEESE ICING

Makes 24 cupcakes.

This recipe can also be used to make a cake.

Cupcake Ingredients:
2 1/2 c. cake flour
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 tsp. baking soda
2 tbsp. cocoa powder
1 tsp. salt
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. vegetable oil
1 c. buttermilk (if you do not have buttermilk, add 1 tbsp. lemon juice to 1 c. milk, stir, and let sit for about 5 minutes before adding to mix)
1 1/2 to 2 tbsp. red food coloring
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
1 tsp. white vinegar

Cream Cheese Icing Ingredients:
1 - 8oz package cream cheese, brought to room temperature
1/2 c. butter, brought to room temperature
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract
4 1/2 c. confectioners (icing) sugar

Method:
-preheat oven to 350 degrees and line cupcake tins with liners
-in a large mixing bowl with high sides, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cocoa powder, and salt
-stir to combine, form a well, and set aside
-in a medium mixing bowl combine oil, buttermilk, food coloring, vanilla and vinegar
-using hand mixer, beat wet ingredients on a low setting to combine well
-pour half of the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and beat on a low setting
-continue to add wet ingredients to the mix
-when all wet ingredients are added, increase the mixer speed and beat the mix until it is completely smooth
-using a soup ladle or ice cream scoop, carefully fill cupcake liners about 3/4 of the way full
-gently tap the cupcake tin to release large air bubbles
-place in oven and bake for 20-25 minutes (use a toothpick to test at the 20 minute mark)
-remove from oven and let cool for at least two hours before frosting

-in a new bowl that has high sides, using the hand mixer to combine cream cheese with butter and vanilla and beat to combine thoroughly
-using the hand mixer on a low setting, slowly add 1/4 c. confectioner's sugar to the mixture and blend well; continue to add the sugar until it has all been incorporated into the mixture
-note: depending on the temperature and humidity, you may find you have to add a small amount of water (one teaspoon at a time) to the mix to reach the desired consistency
-once cupcakes are thoroughly cooled (about two hours), you can spread or pipe the icing onto the cupcakes and serve

Even though I put my finger through my piping bag and totally destroyed it, it really was worth it to see this yummy goodness:

And this other yummy goodness:

Now here is the bad news...  ouch but sooooo worth it! (click to enlarge)

 

Note: because there is cream cheese and butter in the icing, the uneaten cupcakes (should there be any!) must be refrigerated.