Baltimore--Not Poeing it yet.

My intention this week was to post a recipe for a lovely spinach salad with warm bacon dressing.  I love an old fashioned spinach salad.  However, two things changed my mind.

First, I haven't quite gotten the dressing recipe right.  The first time it was---okay.  Just okay.  My mother told me to try to make it with two slices of bacon instead of just one.  I did it, but it was awful.  Inedible.  I cannot even begin to describe it.

Second, I am in Baltimore.  Baltimore is awesome.  I am not getting to Poe it out as much as I would like, but I did get to go to this lovely place called Jack's Bistro.  We went with a native of Baltimore who recommended Mac and Cheese and Chocolate.  It sounds disgusting.  Even as he described it, I thought it was disgusting. 

IT WAS THE BEST THING EVER!!!!

I know.  You think I am exaggerating. I am not.  It was pretty much the best thing I have ever eaten. 

Jack's Bistro describes this appetizer in very simple terms:  " shell pasta * smoked cheese sauce *
Columbian dark chocolate."  It is certainly not that simple, though.  It is nothing short of magical. 

Obviously we had already eaten some of this.  It smelled so good when the waiter sat it in front of us that we immediately reached for it.  That fork in the corner?  Mine.  (Thanks to Rachel Vaughan for the picture---I couldn't stop eating long enough to actually take a picture of my own). 

The moral of this story is that mac and cheese and chocolate trumps spinach salad.  Now if only I can recreate this. I think I need some smoked gouda.  Maybe some goat cheese?  It was super, super creamy.  Just so so good.

The other moral of this story is that if you are in Baltimore, stop by Jack's Bistro.  You will not regret it.  Everything we had there was amazing.

Spring Break for the...fail

Spring Break has not been my friend.  I had travel trouble...twice.  I ate a horrendous amount of food and did not exercise. I have not finished anywhere NEAR enough work. 

All of this negative will not destroy me, though.  Spring Break is not over and I decided to start today the right way.  This means one thing:  oatmeal.  Who can feel bad with a yummy bowl of oatmeal?

My choice for oatmeal this morning was steel cut oats.  I don't enjoy them in their chewiest form, but they are perfect for overnight oats in the CrockPot. 

Normally, I make apple or banana steel cut oats, but I didn't feel like that this time. Instead, I went for plain oats.

Here is my recipe:

Slow Cooker Steel Cut Oats

1/2 cup Bob's Red Mill Steel Cut Oats
1 cup water
1 cup milk (I used light original almond milk)
Dash of salt
1/4 teaspoon vanilla  (optional)
2 packets Sugar in the Raw

Spray the liner of the CrockPot. 

Add the ingredients to the CrockPot.

Cook on low overnight.  I put mine on at 12 AM and turned it off at about 9 AM. 

Bob's Red Mill recommends only water (filtered water).  I like the added creaminess of milk, which is why I add it in here.  I've used apple juice instead of milk before, but I increase the water (1 1/2 cups water, 1/2 cup apple juice).

You can add fresh chopped apples or pears (I've used both), a mashed banana, canned pumpkin, spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, pumpkin pie spice), etc, if you want.  I made this version plain so that I could have different  toppings.  This makes two servings, so I can have it tomorrow morning too.

For breakfast today, I added cinnamon (always), Plum Medley dried fruit, chopped dates, and walnuts.  The dried fruit adds a lot of sweetness, but if you like your oatmeal very sweet, you can add more sugar in the CrockPot before it cooks, or you can drizzle honey or sprinkle more sugar on top when it is finished.

I was thinking about adding PB2 and drizzling chocolate syrup on it tomorrow, but today's version was so, so good.  Just looking at it again here makes me want another bowl.  I will try to control myself.  Two meals of oatmeal in one day may be excessive.

Happy Pi Day!

Not only is today pie day, but it is (my) first day of spring break.  Celebration time.  Of course, I have a ton of work to do, but it is still a break from going to class.  I am spending it in Oklahoma with friends (a break from Texas!  Yay!).  We, of course, could not pass up a chance to celebrate Pi Day.

I thought about a nice pot pie or Shepard's pie, but we were too lazy.  Instead, we made pizzas with premade crust.  I made a Tony Packo's pizza, which of course was not as good as Vito's version.  Jason made veggie pizzas on focaccia with vegetarian pepperoni.  Both were lovely.

I decided a pizza (pie) was not enough to celebrate Pi Day, so I made a modified Ozark Pie as well.  I modified this recipe from Sour Salty Bitter Sweet, partly because I left the recipe my parents always made in Lubbock and partly because Jason was more accepting of it when it was called Huguenot Torte.

Ozark Pie

1 egg
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 Tablespoons flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg


1/2 large pear
1 small apple
1/2 cup chopped salted pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a pie pan (I followed the recommendation of Sour Salty Bitter Sweet because I've had problems with it sticking in the past).

Chop the apple and pear into small pieces.  Chop the pecans as well.  Set them aside.

Mix the egg, sugar, and vanilla together. I would have replaced the vanilla with bourbon, but we didn't have any. 

 Add the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Mix in the apple, pear, and nuts.  You could add dried cranberries, too, but we didn't have any.

Pour it into the coated pan.

Bake for 30-35 minutes, until puffy and browned.

The salted pecans made it a little saltier than I like it.  Blending the apple and pear (instead of using just apples) adds a nice layer of flavor, though.  I added the cinnamon and nutmeg because everything is better with spice!  If I had thought this through more, I would have brought my cranberries and bourbon with me.  Oh well.  Maybe I will make it again next time I visit (which will actually be later in March, so probably not).

This was the first time that Brad and Jason had Ozark Pie.  I think it was a hit, but I also think I ate more of it than both of them! 

Nutella Swirled Banana Muffins

I've been talking about trying this recipe for weeks.  Originally, I had planned to make them after my conference in Albuquerque.  However, I didn't have the energy.

Instead, I made them on Friday and brought them in to share with my coworkers in the Writing Center, because there are no better people to share baked goods with.  Really.  They are awesome.

My intention had been to begin with the base recipe I always use.  Some vegan friends of mine shared it with me.  I never followed the recipe exactly (I have a problem with that...I modify everything).  That recipe is a hit, though, so I highly recommend it.  It is Chocolate Covered Katie's Polka Dot Banana Bread.   Ultimately, I was too afraid to modify my hit recipe (I get requests for this. Frequently.).

Instead, I started with a fairly standard banana muffin recipe.  Then, I added mini chocolate chips, banana Chobani, and swirled World Market's Banana Chocolate spread on top (Although Nutella would work just as well, I just can't get enough banana flavor.).

These ones are just for me!  :-)


Nutella Swirled Banana Muffins

1 Banana Chobani greek yogurt
1/2 cup sugar (I actually used a scant 1/2)
1 Tablespoon butter, softened
2 eggs (or 6 Tablespoons Egg Beaters)
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract (vanilla bean paste would be great here)
4 very ripe, medium bananas (or three large), mashed
2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda


1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
~4 teaspoons Nutella or Banana Chocolate spread, divided

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Cream the Chobani, butter, and sugar together.  I smooshed the softened butter in the bottom of the bowl, then mixed in the Chobani, and then mixed in the sugar.  Mix in the eggs one at a time. Then, mix in the mashed bananas and the vanilla.



In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking soda).  Make sure that it is combined well.

In small batches, add the dry ingredients to the wet.  You don't want to overmix, or the muffins will be a bit tough, but you don't want to have a lot of lumps, either.

Fold in the mini chocolate chips.  You could add nuts here, too, if you wanted.

Spoon the batter evenly into the lined or sprayed muffin tins.  I actually ended up having extra batter, so I sprayed three ramekins and filled those as well, for a total of 15 muffins.

Drop the nutella or banana chocolate spread by 1/4 teaspoons on each muffin. Swirl the Nutella over the muffin.  I used a toothpick, but a knife would probably work better.

Bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean (if you can avoid the nutella).

These muffins might have been as much of a hit as the Polka Dot ones I usually make.  I certainly enjoyed them!

Thinking on My Feet: The case of the Texan Shredded Chicken

One of the things that I miss a lot from Ohio is shredded chicken.  The strange thing is that I would really only eat it two or three times a year.  It was a standard for potlucks or any sort of party (graduation, baby/bridal shower, going away party, whatever excuse we came up with), so that was the main time I would have it.  A drive in ice cream place near me would make it too, so when I could resist their pizza burgers (a recipe for another day, I'm sure), I would get it. 

Since I had it so rarely, I don't know why I want it so much.  But I do.  I really, really do.  I had a random, horribly, crazy craving for it last semester, and I called my dad to get the recipe from our old elementary school cookbook.  Then I ate it everyday for a week.  I'm pretty sure that it was more than I had ever had it before. 

This time, I dropped a can of chicken.  Really, what else could I do but make shredded chicken?  However, this time, I decided I would try to shift it to Texas style a little. I think this is where I failed.  First, the recipe:

Texas Style Shredded Chicken

1 can of chicken breast, 10 oz.(ish...I think they are smaller now)
1 can cream of chicken soup (get the reduced sodium...not that it will make that much difference)
1 can chopped green chiles (or fresh roasted or frozen ones)
1/4 cup crushed potato chips (I used salt and pepper kettle chips; jalapeno would also be great)
1 tsp Hot Shot (ground red and black pepper)

Add a can of chicken to a slow cooker or pot.  I am using a small slower cooker here.

 Then add a can of cream of chicken soup.

 Follow that by a can of chiles.

Crush the potato chips and add them to the slow cooker.  I added the Hot Shot here too.

Cook on low for four hours.  It can stay in there longer.  If you are simmering it on the stove, simmer it until it reaches the consistency you want.  It should be thick enough to be put on a sandwich.

This is where it all went wrong for me.  I changed the recipe and I changed the way I usually cook it.  Today, I put it all in the crock pot, turned it on, and went back to work.  Normally, I would cook it on the stove which would allow me to add chips until it got to the correct consistency.  I did not have that option, so when I had my tater tots in the oven and my bun toasting in my cast iron skillet, I did not know that my chicken was loose and needed more chips.

So, I put the bun on the plate and started scooping out shredded chicken.  It ran over the edges and all over the plate.  I was hungry though, so I put some on the other half of the bun, threw a slice of pepperjack cheese on top, and ate it open faced.  This is not what I had intended. (But it was super yummy.)

These pictures are from the lunch I made the next day.  It did thicken up a little, but by the time I moved the plate to the living room, the shredded chicken had all run out onto the plate.  It was still yummy, but a little messier to eat than it needed to be.  I should have gone open faced again.

What am I supposed to do with the shredded chicken now?  I could add some more chips (I might even add another whole 1/4 cup...but I think the extra juices from the green chiles was the problem), but that would be too easy.  Instead, I am turning it into green chile chicken enchiladas.  It's really Texan now.

Shredded Chicken Enchiladas

1/2 cup Texas Style Shredded Chicken
2 flour tortillas (I used 8-inch)
1/4 cup green enchilada sauce
2 tablespoons diced tomatoes (I used the Rotel-style tomatoes and green chiles, of course)
1/4 cup shredded Mexican Style cheese

Spray a small casserole dish (I used the same one I made my baked oatmeal in.  It is my go to pan.) 

Take a tortilla in one hand.  Put a 1/4 cup of the shredded chicken into the center.  Top it with a tablespoon of cheese.  Roll it, then place it seam down in the dish (Mine was a little long, but I went with it.).  Repeat for the second tortilla.

Pour 1/4 cup of the green enchilada sauce (red sauce would work just as well).

Sprinkle tomatoes evenly on top (you could also put them inside the tortilla).

Bake at 350 degrees F for 10 minutes.  Take them  out and add the cheese.  Return to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the filling is bubbling.  I used the toaster oven for mine, and it went a little more quickly. 

I was going to take a picture of a bite of these, but I couldn't control myself and just devoured the whole batch.   You can see it when you make it yourself!  Resistance is futile.

Nutella Swirled Banana Baked Oatmeal

On Thursday and Friday, I was at a conference in Albuquerque. I was certain that I would have an amazing meal or two there (only a couple, because I didn't stay very long). However, I was wrong. I went to a diner--a highly rated diner--and had a green chili quinoa burger. I expected a quinoa patty (since, you know, the menu called it a patty), but it was more like a scoop of quinoa on top of a bun. It was a bit bitter too. I was unhappy.

The next morning, I had breakfast at the hotel (it was free; I am poor. What can I say?). I had thought about going to a vegetarian restaurant there for baked goods, but I didn't have time. My plan was to have yogurt and a banana or something similar. Nope. No yogurt. Not a single type. I ended up with oatmeal, which I love. How can you go wrong with oatmeal? Let me tell you how--by having NO VIABLE oatmeal toppings. Beside the oatmeal were three little canisters. Brown sugar. Walnuts. Raisins. My thought was to add fresh fruit to it, but all they had was melon. No strawberries. No bananas. No apples. Nothing. I went with the brown sugar, walnuts, and raisins (as they apparently wanted me to). It was...edible.

My intention was to post a recipe for nutella swirled banana muffins last night (that I would then have for breakfast this morning...after eating one for dessert). However, the combination of a very tiring day (7 am wake-up, 4.5 hours of panels, 5 hour drive) and the lack luster oatmeal from the morning changed my mind. Instead: Nutella Swirled Banana Baked Oatmeal. Can I just say yum? It smelled delicious; it tasted delicious. I know everyone is jealous. I'm going to bask in its beauty for a moment.

My swirls of Nutella aren't beautiful, but that didn't really matter to me.

What I did was modify a standard baked oatmeal recipe.

Baked oatmeal is one of my new favorite things. I was a bit bored with oatmeal after having it every Saturday and Sunday for years. However, my sister told me to try a banana baked oatmeal recipe that she uses and I was hooked. I have made banana baked oatmeal, cherry baked oatmeal, peanut butter and jelly baked oatmeal, coconut chocolate chip baked oatmeal, pumpkin baked oatmeal. The list could go on forever.

Here is my recipe: '

Nutella Swirled Banana Baked Oatmeal 

 1/2 cup old fashioned oats (I may have added just a smidge extra)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
 dash of salt
1 extra small banana (I used a frozen banana that I microwaved for a few seconds to thaw and I didn't have an extra small, so I used about half of a large banana.)
1/3 cup milk (I used light almond milk)
1 tablespoon egg beaters
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon Nutella, divided (I used the World Market Banana Chocolate spread which made it just that much more awesome.)

Preheat your oven to 350F.

 Spray a baking dish. I have a small rectangle baking dish that I always use, but ramekins work well too. You want it pretty small or the oatmeal will be very thin. Mine is about 4x6 and it is pretty thin as it is (but it cooks more quickly!).

Next, mix your dry ingredients together in a small bowl. Note that there is no sugar in here. I think it works out well that way, because the banana is sweet and the Nutella is as well. However, mine was vaguely salty. You can add a little sugar here to cut that, if you want.

 In a separate bowl, mash the banana, then mix in the rest of the wet ingredients except the Nutella.

Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

 Pour into your prepared pan. Top with 1/4 teaspoons of Nutella in the corners of the pan. You can do any design there.

 Bake for 3-5 minutes. Take a knife and swirl the Nutella. It is too thick to do this before you bake it at all, but be careful. Watch the oven or you may cook it too long and then you can't swirl it. The swirls disperse the sweetness throughout, so you want to be able to do that.

 Return to the oven and bake for another 20 minutes. I like mine to be brown around the edges, but the important thing is that it is set in the middle. You can check it with a fork.

 Let it cool for a few minutes (if you can!) and enjoy.

 Now you don't have to be jealous!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day, everyone! My philosophy about today (and holidays in general) is that it is about love. Not just romantic love, but love of all types. Love of family, friends, strangers you see who need it. Everyone. Even ourselves. In that frame of mind, I decided to treat myself. However, that doesn't have to mean being unhealthy. For dinner today, I made a Garlic Balsamic Steak with Mushrooms and mixed greens. This "recipe" was a thrown together deal, so I wasn't sure how it would turn out. However, it came out like this:

Here is what I did: Garlic Balsamic Steak with Mushrooms and mixed greens 1 6oz sirloin steak (I used a lovely antibiotic/hormone free, grass fed steak from Natural Grocers*) 1/4 cup fresh button mushrooms 1/2 cup Newman's Own** Lite Garlic Balsamic Dressing***, divided (You can make your own marinade/dressing--see below) 1 1/2 cups mixed salad greens (I used Organic Girl Five Happiness--also from Natural Grocers) First, marinade the steak in 1/4 cup dressing. Put the steak in a ziplock bag and pour the dressing over top. I kept it in the refrigerator for about an hour. Jostle the dressing around in the bag periodically. Then, wash and dry your button mushrooms. I forgot about mine and put them in a cup with 2 tablespoons of dressing for about 15 minutes. Longer would be better. Ideally, you would marinate them as long as the steak (but in a separate container). Take the steak out of the refrigerator. It should sit at room temperature about fifteen minutes so that the meat cooks evenly. Heat a cast iron skillet (my go to skillet for many recipes) on medium/medium high with a tablespoon of olive oil (or canola oil). Add the mushrooms (reserve the dressing). Saute for about five minutes. They will spit a little, so be careful. Pat the steak dry. This will help the browning. Move the mushrooms to one side (but do not remove them). Add the steak to the pan. Cook it for 3-5 minutes. Flip it and let it cook for about a minute, before adding the reserved dressing (mushroom marinade). I poured it mostly over the sauteing mushrooms. Let the steak cook for another 2-3 minutes, depending on the doneness that you are looking for. My steak was a little more to the medium rare side than I would have liked, but I was impatient. I didn't let it come to room temperature and I don't think I actually let it cook for three minutes on the second side. The dressing should thicken into a sauce. On a plate, add the mixed greens. You can add other vegetables. I wanted some nice bell peppers and cucumber, but they didn't look good. You can also add shaved Parmesan. Place the steak on the other side (or slice it and put it on top for a steak salad which is also yummy) and top it with the mushrooms and sauce. All that is left is to devour it! * I am not advertising for Natural Grocers. Or at least not for pay. **I am also not advertising for Newman's Own (for pay). ***A quick balsamic vinaigrette: whisk together (or shake in a canning jar) a tablespoon chopped garlic, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 3/4 cup olive oil, salt and pepper to taste (if you like a sweeter dressing, add some honey)