AMAZING Show

Last year I stumbled upon a show on ABC called Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution. I was familiar with Jamie Oliver as the "Naked Chef" on the Food Network so I decided to check it out. I was hooked from episode 1. Last season, Jamie was in Huntington, West Virgina (home of Marshall University) to revolutionize the way Americans eat. He focused on the public schools as well as the community. It was extremely eye opening and totally changed the way that I looked at the food that I was eating. I've never looked at a chicken nugget the same way since.

Thank goodness the show was renewed for a second season. This time, Jamie is in Los Angeles and again is trying to educated the community, specifically the public schools. If you haven't seen the show, you MUST check it out. You can catch the first two episodes on either Hulu or ABC.com. He is meeting some major opposition and it will be very interesting to see how this pans out. While this season is a little high on the "drama" factor, the message is still there. We need to pay attention to what we are putting in our bodies.

-Erin

Chocolate Chip Coffeecake

I like to eat coffeecake for breakfast. Over the years I've had many different kinds but one of my favorites is my mom's Chocolate Chip Coffeecake. I don't know where the recipe originated but I remember as a little girl that it was so much fun to get to eat chocolate chips for breakfast! The cake portion of this is coffeecake is moist and isn't overly sweet which leaves room for the sweetness of the chocolate chips. You can adjust the amount of chocolate chips to help control the sweetness. It's great with a cup of coffee or a glass of milk.

Chocolate Chip Coffeecake

1 c. sour cream
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 c. butter, softened
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. sugar
1 1/2 c. all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
2 eggs

Topping:
1/2 c. sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 1/2 c. chocolate chips (I use semi-sweet)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Cream together sour cream and baking soda. Add remaining ingredients and mix until combined. Spread evenly 1/2 of the batter into a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle 1/2 of the topping mixture over the batter. I find the best way to do this is use a large spoon, get a big scoop of the mixture and sprinkle it over the batter. Make sure to get some along the edges. Add the remaining batter mixture and spread over. (Spreading batter on top of a filling is never easy. I've found that if you scope up the batter on a spatula and let the batter fall off in as a "ribbon" over the filling, you can cover most of area. Then you can gently spread in the small areas that didn't get covered.) Sprinkle the remaining topping mixture on the top. Bake fore 20-30 minutes. Let cool and serve.

Enjoy!

Tuesday Tip- Frozen Cookies

Wouldn't it be great if you could have fresh baked homemade cookies every night after dinner? Sounds like a lot of work doesn't it? Well I have great news for you...you can!

Once you've mixed up a batch of your favorite cookies and baked what you need at the moment, portion out the remaining dough onto a baking sheet as though you were going to bake the cookies (no need for non-stick spray). Instead of popping them in the oven, pop them into the freezer for 15-20 minutes to get them firmed up. Remove them from the freezer and thrown the dough portions into a freezer bag and return them to the freezer. If it's helpful, you can write the name of the cookie along with the baking instructions (oven temp and time) on the bag. When you are craving some cookies, you can pull out what you want and bake them straight from the freezer. You might need to add an extra minute or two the original baking time.

When I want to serve fresh baked cookies for dessert, I put them in the oven when we sit down to dinner and by the time they bake and cool, they are ready to be eaten. It's not uncommon to find more than one kind of cookies in my freezer at a time.

-Erin

Beef and Noodles

 

I love comfort food, especially on chilly, dreary days. We had some amazing spring weather early in the week and but we were plunged back into the chilly weather. I really needed some comfort food and decided to make some beef and noodles and mashed potatoes. This has always been a favorite meal of my. It's super simple but always seems to hit the spot when I make it. If you make the recipe as written, you will end up with quite a bit of beef and noodles. If you are looking for a smaller portion, feel free to half the recipe. Once you've opened the beef and broth, you can combine the two in a container and put it in the freezer. The next time you want beef and noodles, you can pull out the extra from the freezer. Since the recipe uses pre-cooked canned beef, the dish comes together quickly. You could opt to cook your own beef if you prefer.



So, while I'm excited that I got to have some more comfort food, I'm really ready for spring!

Beef and Noodles

1 large can of beef
1 large can of beef broth
16 oz. package of egg noodles

In a large pot, combine beef and beef broth. Bring to a boil. As you are waiting for the boil, you may need to break up some larger pieces of beef. Reduce the heat and add noodles. You may need to add some water to help cover the noodles. Simmer for 15-20 or until the noodles are cooked. Serve with mashed potatoes. I personally like my beef and noodles served on top of the mashed potatoes.

Mint Chocolate Cookies

These are easily one of my favorite cookies. I love the mint and chocolate combination. On a trip down the baking aisle a while back, I discovered Andes Mint Baking Chips. I immediately threw them in my cart and would figure out how to use them later. I found a recipe on the back of the bag for Mint Cookies. Knowing that I love mint and chocolate I thought it would be great to adapt the recipe and make the cookie chocolate. I threw in some cocoa powder and these are what turned out.

Mint Chocolate Cookies
adapted from the Andes Mint Cookie Recipe
makes approx. 3 dozen

1 c. (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
3/4 c. sugar
3/4 c. light brown sugar, firmly packed
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 c. cocoa powder
2 1/4 c. flour
1 3/4 c. Andes baking chips

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, whisk together baking soda, salt, cocoa powder, and flour. Set aside.

Cream together butter, sugar, brown sugar. Add egg and vanilla extract and blend well. Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix until combined. Stir in Andes baking chips.

Form ping pong ball sized balls of dough and place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Once removed from oven, let slightly cool on the baking sheet and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!
-Erin

Guacamole

It may be weird, but I know exactly when I discovered that I liked guacamole. For years, I stayed away from the "green mushy stuff". Then in the Spring of 2003 while having lunch at the Star Trek restaurant in the Las Vegas Hilton, I decided the "green mushy stuff" wasn't so bad. (Side note: it was not my idea to go to the Star Trek restaurant. The food was great but I could have cared less about the Star Trek atmosphere. No offense to the Trekkies out there.) I ordered a turkey wrap with the intention of having the guacamole left off but I forgot to request it. When the food came to the table, I had totally forgotten about the guacamole and took a big bite of the wrap. It tasted amazing and I looked down and realized I had just bitten into the guacamole. From there on out, I've been eating guacamole.

Las Vegas must be a special place for me and guacamole. While out in Vegas this past fall, I had dinner a couple of times at Cozymel's. It's a fabulous restaurant. One of the best things on the menu is their Tableside Guacamole. When you order it, they bring all the ingredients to the table and make the guacamole at the table. You get the opportunity to adjust the ingredients if you'd like. It was THE BEST guacamole I'd ever eaten. The second time I ate there, I just ordered the guacamole as my meal. I was craving that guacamole a few weeks back and decided to check the web for the recipe. Thank goodness for the Internet because I found a recipe that claimed to be inspired by Cozymel's recipe. I don't know if it's the actual recipe but it sure tasted like I remembered it. The first time I made it, I almost finished the entire bowl by myself! The best part of homemade guacamole is that you can customize the flavor to your liking.

Tableside Guacamole
http://mexican.food.com/recipe/tableside-guacamole-272953

1/3 orange wedge
1/2 lime wedge (the original recipe calls for 1/4 wedge but I liked a little more lime flavor)
1 1/2 tsp. fresh garlic, minced (I use one large clove)
1 Tbsp. + 1 tsp. red onion, minced
2 1/2 Tbsp. tomatoes, diced
1 1/2 tsp. cilantro, chopped
1 Tbsp. serrano pepper, minced (I use 1 1/2 tsp. which gives it a nice kick but not too hot)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 large avocados

Open the avacados and scoop into a serving bowl. Chop up with a fork and spoon to the consistency you prefer. Use the fork to pierce the orange and lime wedges and squeeze juice into the bowl. Stir well. Add garlic, onions, tomatoes, cilantro, serrano peppers, and salt. Mix well and enjoy.

Note: The serrano peppers can be adjusted to increase or decrease the amount of heat in the dish. If you like it mild, add 1 tsp. of peppers. If you like it medium, add 1 1/2 tsp. and if you like it spicy, add 1 Tbsp of peppers.

Enjoy!
-Erin

Tuesday Tips- No More Dish Pan Hands

Every Tuesday I plan to give you a little tip on something that I do to make things a little easier or interesting.

Today's tip involves washing dishes. Who likes to wash dishes...I don't. But it's necessary sometimes because not everything can go in the dishwasher (although I try to stuff everything that can go in the dishwasher in there). Since it has to be done, why not turn it into a little spa time as well. The next time you have to do the dishes, grab the following items: your favorite hand lotion and a pair of rubber kitchen gloves.

Before putting the gloves on, slather your hands with lotion. I usually use a little more than I would regularly use. Slide the gloves on and get washing. The hot dish water and the gloves create a little "steam room" and the lotion can be easily absorbed into your hands. When you pull the gloves off, your hands will be extra soft.

While this doesn't make me want to do the dishes, I at least get a feeling of accomplishment for multi-tasking!