Simple Eats

One of my most favorite side dishes in this simple rice dish. I found this recipe on my all-time favorite blog www.ourbestbites.com. I tampered with it a little bit and came up with a side dish of heaven that we eat all. the. time. So give it a try!

Start by cooking up a pot of rice. Which I don't have pictures of. I usually make 8 servings worth, which is 2 cups of rice to 4 cups of water. I season the water with Lawry's Garlic Salt, a tip I learned from a room mate ages ago and I haven't cooked my rice any other way since.

While the rice is cooking chop up some cilantro. Or if you're feeding my family, a lot of it.



We LOVE cilantro, possibly even more than my gals at Our Best Bites do!



Then cut some limes in half. Or you can go my family's route and cut up a lot of them. We like lime, too.



Once your rice is cooked, put in a bowl with a couple tablespoons of butter. Again, no picture. Then squeeze your limes into the rice.



Then dump all that delicious cilantro on top and mix away. The first few times I would recommend that you hold back a few limes and some cilantro and do a mix-taste-mix-taste deal until you figure out the ratios you like.



You'll end up with this delicious bowl of goodness that everyone will gobble up!

Lime Cilantro Rice
Adapted from Our Best Bites

This is the amounts that I put in for my family, but experiment with yours!

2 cups dry white rice, cooked in 4 cups of water
6-8 limes (depending on how sassy you are feeling that day!)
2 bunches of cilantro
2 tablespoons Lawry's Garlic Salt
2 tablespoons butter.

Heat 4 cups of water in pot. Season with garlic salt. (Note: This may sound like a lot, but I heard once on the food network that when cooking rice and pasta you have to season the water that it cooks in so the rice/pasta is seasoned when it comes out. "Salty like sea water" is what the Anne (Mario Batali's sous chef) said and she has never led me wrong with that!) Once the water boils, toss in your rice. Bring back up to a boil, then lower to a simmer and cover. Cook about 15-20 minutes. (Or however you make rice, everyone's method is different!) Dump in your butter and toss to coat. Then, put in your cilantro and lime, stir it up and enjoy!

My New Faves!

'I am seriously slacking on this blog. My kitchen situation added with my constantly changing work schedule makes it really hard to me to cook on a regular basis and I am feeling constantly deprived of my kitchen time. I'm hoping to find a better job with a more regular schedule and have goals of starting to meal plan and figure out ways to cook around my crazy schedule.
We have been eating out a lot, which would be embarrassing to admit but you know what? I'm actually eating healthier! Here's just a few things that I'm obsessed with lately...

This oatmeal is sooooo good. The oatmeal itself is okay, but they put in apples, dried cranberries raisens and golden raisens. Oh. My. Yum! I've started getting it in the mornings that I have my 8 AM class and I'm actually able to stay awake through the whole thing! For the 9.2 ounce serving you get 260 calories, 4.5 grams of fat, 18 grams of sugar and 5 grams of protein.



This salad. Oh my goodness. This salad is sooooo good. You get THREE cups of fruit and vegetables from this delicious awesomeness and it's not even that bad for you! The nutrition info isn't on the McDonald's site so I'm using the nutrition info from my weight loss site that I've fallen in love with - www.myfitnesspal.com. According to them, one salad has 390 calories, 38 carbs, 12 grams of fat, and 33 grams of protein. And that's WITH the amazing Low Fat Sesame Ginger dressing. *drool*




This burger has been awesome as well. It's from Carl's Jr - Or Hardee's for all you East Coasters out there - and it's awesome. Make it a meal and substitute the fries for apple slices, and drink a Coke Zero and you have yourself some major yumminess. According to www.carlsjr.com the nutrition round up for this beauty is 470 calories, 14 grams of fat, 19 grams of sugar and 32 grams of protein.



Now I am by NO means saying you should rely on these as your 3 daily meals, but if you're forced to eat out a lot like I have been lately maybe try and steer towards these delicious alternatives and you'll see a difference. Kid you not, I just noticed the other day that my love handles are smaller and I have less back fat. HECK. YES. Give these a try and you can thank me later! ;)

Grandma Hillam's Waffles

For Valentine's Day morning I was bound and determined to make a fun breakfast like I remember my mom making every year for us kids. So I decided to recruit my sleepy kiddo...



round up these ingredients...



And get started! I should mention I usually toss in a teaspoon or 2 of vanilla. It isn't on the recipe but I LOVE how the waffles taste with it, I just happened to be out of vanilla and wanted waffles regardless.



While you let Mr. (or Miss) Helpful think they're helping you with something very important on the stove you're going to mix together flour, baking powder, and salt, then add sugar or honey, milk, oil, food coloring. Separate the 2 eggs and put the yolks in with the mixture. Put the whites in another bowl and set aside. Oh, and you should put vanilla in them, or different flavorings. I'm just out of vanilla right now, saaaaaaad.



You'll get something that looks like this. Set that aside to let the baking powder do it's work, and turn your attention the the 2 egg whites. Grab your hand mixer and whip the egg whites until they form soft peaks. I usually am lazy and only go to soft peaks, but took them all the way to stiff peaks like you can see in the picture below, but my waffles ended up chewy so I either over whipped the egg whites or over mixed the batter.





Plop the egg whites in with the batter and gently fold in. It'll take a minute or two, but it really makes a huge difference in your batter and end product.





This is what it will look like when you are done.



Bust out your waffle maker, let it heat up, and start makin' waffles. I like to use a 1 cup measuring cup and fill almost all the way up. My waffle maker has different settings for different crust done-nesses so I've played around with them and on my favorite setting the waffles took about 6 minutes each.



Plate, and enjoy! I should have bought some strawberries and whipped cream, but they were just as good as with syrup!

Grandma Hillam's Waffles
2 cups flour
4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 TB honey or sugar
2 TB oil
2 cups milk
2 eggs, separated

Mix dry ingredients, then add honey or sugar, milk, egg yolks and oil; stir until just moistened. Whip egg whites into soft peaks and fold into batter. Ladle just under a cup of batter onto waffle maker and cook until done - watch for the steam to stop as a general indicator of doneness. Top with desired toppings and enjoy!

I'm already brainstorming green waffles for St. Patrick's day...I'm wondering how using Irish Cream coffee creamer in place of some of the milk would effect the batter. Worth a try!

So...I Suck

I have been cooking a lot, especially now that I have a wonderful boyfriend to cook for. And I even have a good handful of pretty food pictures to post. Buuuuuuuut my computer is not connected to the internet. So I'm typing this on my wonderful boyfriend's computer...Which does not have my pictures on it. I'm trying to find a new place to move, which will hopefully have a big, wonderful, open, creative cooking vibe! I'm trying to concoct a dark chocolate chip cookie recipe; hopefully the results will be good enough to post!

Southern Style Strawberry Cake

This is a really fun, easy, impressive cake to make. I found it while reading up on one of the best baking blogs EVER www.joythebaker.com. Joy is witty, adorable, and always has the best recipes. One day, when I have my dream kitchen, I'll make every single thing she's ever posted on her blog. For reals. Starting with this killer cake!



Southern Style Strawberry Cake

Cake:

1 (18.5 ounce) box white cake mix (without pudding)

1 (3 ounce) package strawberry jello

1 Tablespoon self rising flour

4 teaspoons granulated sugar

3/4 cup vegetable oil

4 eggs

1/2 cup water

1/3 cup fresh strawberries, finely diced.

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 (8 ounce) block cream cheese, softened

2 sticks (8 ounces) unsalted butter, softened

2 (1 pound) boxes powdered sugar

pinch of salt

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup sweetened shredded coconut

pink food coloring

4 sliced strawberries

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

To make the cake, combine to cake mix, Jello, flour and sugar in a large bowl. Mix well. Add the oil. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition Add the water and strawberries and mix well. Divide the batter evenly into three 8-inch round baking pans that have been oiled and floured. Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a tooth pick inserted into the center of the cakes comes out clean and the layers pull away from the sides of the pan.

Transfer the layers from the oven to wire racks. Let them cool, still in their pans, for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, run a knife around the inside edge of each pan, then unmold each layer onto the racks to cool completely.




To make the frosting, in a bowl combine the cream cheese and butter. Beat until soft and pliable and no lumps remain. Add one box of the powdered sugar, salt and vanilla extract. Beat until incorporated. Add the second box of sugar and mix until incorporated. If you would like a smoother consistency, and a slash of milk. If you would like a thicker consistency, and a bit more powdered sugar until the desired consistency is achieved.




Put the coconut in a small bowl and sprinkle with two or three drops of pink die. Mix with hands to distribute the color and wash hands immediately. Once the cake is frosted, decorate the top of the cake with the shredded coconut and sliced strawberries.



Enjoy!

Poor Man's Gumbo

This dish is one of my favorite go-to recipes. It's simple to make, but has a great flavor and once you whip out the word "gumbo" around people, they get impressed.





Plus, it has bacon and bacon makes people happy.

So make someone happy and make them this today!



Like this happy guy


Or this dog. He's real good at begging.



Just don't slice your finger while trying to dice onions. It hurts and it makes it really hard to cook.

Poor Man's Gumbo
From Eveyday with Rachael Ray

• 12 slices bacon (about 1/2 pound)
• 2 ribs celery, chopped
• 1 onion, chopped
• One 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
• One 12-ounce can solid white tuna packed in water
• 1/4 cup tomato paste
• 1 jalapeño chile, seeded and chopped
• 1 teaspoon filé powder, such as Zatarain's
• 1-1/4 cups rice
  
  

1. In a large, heavy skillet, cook the bacon over medium heat until crisp. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate.

2. Drain off all but 1/4 cup bacon fat and return the skillet to the heat. Add the celery and onion and cook until tender, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes, tuna and its liquid, tomato paste, jalapeño and 1 cup water and simmer until thickened, about 20 minutes. Whisk in the filé powder; remove from the heat.

3. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, bring 2 1/4 cups salted water to a boil. Stir in the rice, cover, lower the heat and simmer until the water is absorbed, about 20 minutes. Serve the gumbo over the rice and crumble the bacon on top.

I like to stir the bacon into the gumbo about half way into the 20 minute simmering, it gives the dish a good flavor. Also, I'd rather use red pepper flakes instead of the jalapeño. It didn't really add much taste or heat to the dish and the red pepper flakes give it a nice heat.

In honor of...

...It being exactly 2 months since I have posted I'll just throw a bunch of pictures on here. I started this blog with the best of intentions but have since totally failed. I just don't have the time to sit down and create an amazing blog a la my sisters. I don't even know if anyone reads this, anyhow so it's not skin off my back. But I'm going to try and be better about posting on this thing and we'll see how that goes!