Muddy Buddies

It’s official. I’m the worst food blogger ever. It’s been what, five months since I’ve posted something? That’s unforgivable. But at least I have a reason… or an excuse rather. This semester has been crazy as far as school work is concerned But I promise I’ll get better about posting!!

Anyway, I’ve got a great really easy recipe that anyone can do. And believe me, I mean anyone. They’re called muddy buddies, and they’re delicious. Their name isn’t the most appealing, but that’s clearly just so that people that don’t know what they are stay away so that you can have more for yourself! Muddy buddies are basically just chex cereal that you toss with melted chocolate, peanut butter and butter and then coat in powdered sugar. They’re completely amazing. I must have eaten at least half of the recipe by myself, and my friends were more than willing to have some as well.

Here’s the recipe:

9 Cups of Rice Chex – I chose to use rice chex because their texture is light and fluffy, which makes a big difference for me

1 Cup Semisweet Chocolate Chips

½ Cup Peanut Butter

¼ Cup Butter

1 ¾ Cup Powdered Sugar

Step 1: Measure 9 cups of the chex and place them in a large bowl

Step 2: Measure the chocolate, peanut butter and butter and place in a medium sized microwave safe bowl.

Step 3: Microwave the chocolate, peanut butter and butter for about one minute on high. If you’d rather melt them over a stove top you can. If they aren’t melted after the one minute, stir them and place back into the microwave at 10 second intervals.

Step 4: Pour the melted ingredients in with the cereal and mix them together thoroughly. This step is kind of annoying, but you need to make sure that every piece is coated so that the powdered sugar can stick to them.

Step 5: When the melted ingredients and the chex are mixed completely put them into two separate one gallon freezer bags and pour half of the powdered sugar into each bag. If you pour too much don’t worry about it, once the muddy buddies are completely coated the sugar will just stick to the bag.

Step 6: Pour the muddy buddies out onto a piece of parchment paper and let them cool completely. Once they’re cooled you should put them in an airtight container so that they don’t get stale.

That’s it! They’re easy, delicious and definitely a crowd pleaser! Enjoy!!

Pasta-Salad-with-Cherry-Tomatoes-and-Green-Olivada

So, It’s been a while. I know. But I promise I’ll start updating more and more! Hopefully… Things have just been kinda crazy around here. I’ve been going back and forth between Boston and New York every few weeks and I’d frequently leave my computer behind. I do have a great recipe for you though!

It’s a pasta salad which I know is often overdone during the summer months but this has a pretty interesting twist on it—instead of using mayonnaise it uses a home-made olive Olivada (olivada is an italian olive spread). My only warning is if you don’t like olives I’d avoid this recipe; the olive based spread it makes the entire salad taste slightly of olives.

Here's what you'll need:

Adapted from Bon Appetit, July 2010

1 garlic clove, peeled

2 cups coarsely chopped pitted green olives (I used stuffed olives with red peppers on the inside)

3 tablespoons capers, drained

1 tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon anchovy paste

1 tablespoon Dijon mustard

1/4 teaspoon dried crushed red pepper

1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

1 pound gemelli, fusilli, or rotelle pasta (I used tri-color pasta)

2 pints cherry tomatoes or grape tomatoes, halved

1 8-ounce package small (cherry-size) fresh mozzarella balls in water

The recipe calls for a food processor but I used a blender instead.

Begin by placing clove of garlic (chopped finely) into the food processor/blender. Add half of the chopped olives, the capers, the white wine vinegar, anchovy paste, crushed red pepper and mustard to the blender. Pulse ingredients until mixed together coarsely. Slowly add the half cup of olive oil into the blender or food processor while the machine is moving. (I wasn't able to do this with my blender so I added a little bit at a time and then mixed it.) Once the olive oil is fully incorporated move the olivada into a separate bowl and refrigerate.

Next, cook the pasta in a large pot of boiling water until it is al dente (tender but still firm), stirring occasionally. Once the pasta is cooked drain it in a colander and place in a large bowl. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the pasta and toss to coat.

Add the olivada, tomatoes and mozzarella and toss together.

All things considered the recipe is really simple, and I can't recommend it enough! It really is a great summer dish!

Oatmeal Raisin Bars

I know it may not seem like it from these posts, but I like to eat healthy as often as possible. But from time to time I can't help but eat junk food, sweets, excessive amounts of cheese, I just can't do it. So after moving to Boston for the summer I decided to make my roommates something that (almost) everyone enjoys, oatmeal raisin cookies. Sadly, I didn't have cookie sheets up with me and neither did any of my roommates, so instead I chose to make them into cookie bars.

All things considered, this recipe is incredibly easy-you can make the dough and throw it in the oven right then or you can put it in the refrigerator and let it chill (doing this makes the cookies chewier when you bake them.) It is a great recipe to learn off of and once you get more comfortable with it, you can experiment with food other than raisins. I like to use cranberries but other people prefer chocolate chips or different types of nuts.

I've had this recipe for years so I don't actually remember where its from, possibly a food blog or maybe a friends mother. If you recognize it, feel free to comment and tell me!

What you'll need:

1 cup (2 sticks) of butter, softened

1 1/3 cup of light brown sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1 1/2 cup of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon of salt (you can add up to a teaspoon if you enjoy very salty baked goods, but if you add more it'll be too salty)

3 cups of rolled oats (not instant oats)

1 1/2 cup of raisins

Like any recipe you start with creaming the butter and sugar together until they are fully mixed together. Luckily one of my roommates has a KitchenAid so that made the process of mixing much easier. Next, add the eggs and vanilla extract to the butter and sugar and mix those until they're fully incorporated.

Then place the flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into a separate bowl and mix them together with a fork. This allows for the dry ingredients to be evenly distributed so that when they are mixed in there is an equal amount of each ingredient being combined with the wet ingredients.

Slowly add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients; if you add them too quickly you'll send flour shooting all over your kitchen. I recommend using a quarter of a cup at a time, I know its tedious but it is a heck of a lot easier than cleaning it off of your cabinets later on.

Once the mixture is smooth start to add the oatmeal and the raisins into the dough. Doing this slowly will prevent your electric mixer from possibly shorting out due to having too much to do at once.

After all of the ingredients are mixed together butter an 9x13 pan and place the dough into the pan. Make sure to scrape out all of the dough from the bowl so that you are not leaving any behind. Then flatten out the dough into the pan and try to make sure it is even--doing this will ensure that the bars are all evenly cooked.

Cook the bars for 25-30 minutes at 350° F and let them cool completely before cutting them.

Brie and Apple Grilled Cheese Sandwiches

Wow. It's been a month. Between the end of classes, concerts, finals and friends graduating I've barely been able to cook, let alone remember to update the blog. But I have been cooking I promise! So I've got a few recipes lined up, so hopefully they'll be up soon!

Anyway, a few weeks ago (more like a month) I was craving a grilled cheese, but I didn't want to settle for your typical dining hall grilled cheese. After having an discussion about cheese, more specifically Brie, I decided I wanted a Brie and apple grilled cheese sandwich, and who wouldn't want one?

...I mean, come on, look at that delicious sandwich.

So I went on a trip to the grocery store (which, as a car-less college student is quite a pain) and I got myself some Brie and some apples and went on my merry way. If I'd had the time I would have tried to make my own bread, but since I don't have the resources at school I couldn't. The recipe itself is pretty easy, but it is definitely worth it.

What you'll need:

- A small wheel of Brie. You can also use any cut of Brie that is the same weight as the average small wheel.

- 2 medium-large apples. Choose your favorite variety.

- A tablespoon of butter

- A non-stick pan

Cut the apples and Brie in thin slices and place them on one of the pieces of bread. Using a sharp knife helps you cut straighter and keep your slices more consistent. Once you've cut up all of the apples and brie heat the pan to a low-medium heat and grease it with the butter once the pan is warm.

Place the Brie and and apples on one piece of the bread and put it on the pan. While the sandwich cooks place brie on the other piece of bread and put it on top of the half of the sandwich already in the pan.

Wait for the cheese to start melting on the bottom slice and then flip the sandwich over. The piece of bread that is facing up should be a golden brown by now. Wait for the Brie on the bottom to melt and flip the sandwich again. Once both sides are golden brown and the cheese is meted remove from the pan and place on a plate. Cut it however you want and enjoy!

This recipe is incredibly easy and incredibly delicious! When you get a chance you should definitely try it!

Nutella Sandwich Cookies

So I apologize for being MIA lately. April has been a crazy month. Between easter, birthdays, school work, internship applications and everything else I've barely had enough time to cook, let alone write about it. But now, I'm setting aside some time to tell you about one of the most delicious cookies I happened to discover around easter time.

I'd been eying this recipe for Nutella pocket cookies for some time, and decided that easter was the time to do it. I was going down to my grandparent's house and although their kitchen doesn't have a lot of new equipment, its still a great kitchen to work in. What I wasn't anticipating was that I'd be out of a rolling pin when I got to their house, so I had to change the plans around. Instead of making pocket cookies I'd make sandwich cookies, I mean who doesn't love the idea of an oreo-like cookie and who doesn't like Nutella? (as my friend Chelsea said: "Everyone likes Nutella, just not everyone LOVES Nutella.") But with these cookies I got nothing but a positive response, everyone loved them, even people who had never tried Nutella, people who don't really like sweets or people who don't like chocolate.

The cookie was light, and the dough was something pretty unique. I'd never used cream cheese in a cookie dough before, and it added a whole new level to the cookie, it made it somewhat creamy but not overwhelming. Also, the cinnamon in the dough cut the cream cheese taste so it wasn't overwhelming. Although the sandwich cookies required a little bit more effort (mixing the dough by hand is a pain, and waiting for the dough to get cold enough that it won't bend with your hands is tedious) they're worth it. I also had my dad helping out to mix the dough when I got tired, doing it in shifts makes the mixing much easier.

This recipe was adapted from La Fuji Mama's "Nutella Pocket Cookies"

1 cup butter, softened

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread)

Mix together the butter, cream cheese, sugar until everything is smooth. Mix together the dry ingredients (cinnamon and flour) and stir together to aerate the flour a little (this is my fast way to pretend-sift flour.) The add in the vanilla to the wet ingredients and when that is incorporated slowly combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

When the dough is smooth put on parchment paper in small 1.5 diameter rolls and put in the refrigerator over night. About 30-45 minutes before you are planning on baking the dough place the rolls in the freezer so that they will harden just a little more, doing this prevents the dough from getting warm and losing its shape easily.

When you are ready to start preparing the dough, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Next, cut the dough into 1/8-1/4th inch slices and place them on a cookie sheet with parchment paper underneath. Using parchment paper allows for an easier clean up, the cookies don't stick to the cookie sheet and the parchment paper doesn't get too warm. Place the cookies in the oven for eight to twelve minutes keeping an eye on them so that they do not burn, if your oven cooks faster in the back make sure to flip the pan about halfway through so that the cookies will bake evenly. This will make about 80 individual cookies.

Take the cookies out and let them cool for a few hours. When they are all completely cooled take the Nutella and spread it on one side of a cookie and take another cookie that is about the same size and sandwich them together. All things considered this is a lot of work for cookies, but it is well worth it. They were a huge hit with everyone I shared them with, so hopefully they'll be a hit for you too!

Monkey Bread

Its been one of those weeks, where everything is incredibly busy. So to decompress this week I went to target and bought a monkey bread making kit. For those of you who don't know what monkey bread, its a delicious cinnamon-y sugar-y doughy mix. There are really simple recipes to make monkey bread, but if you buy the Nortic Ware kit you actually end up making the dough yourself (in most recipes you would usually just use pre-made biscuit dough). Instead of giving you the directions from the kit, I'll give you the simple directions.

Ingredients:

4 cans refrigerator biscuits (about 40)

1 1/2 tablespoons cinnamon

1/2 cup butter

1 cup white sugar

1 cup brown sugar, packed

Cut up each individual biscuit and roll into a 1-2 inch balls. Put them into a ziplock bag a few at a time with the cinnamon and the white sugar already in it and shake. When the pieces you put in are covered with the cinnamon and sugar mixture add more dough until there is none left. Place the pieces into a buttered bunt pan (I used cupcake tins and it made about fifteen large individual monkey breads.)

Melt the butter and the brown sugar in a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Let the mixture cool for about ten minutes and then pour over the dough in the pan.

Bake for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. If you used the bunt pan allow it to cool fifteen minutes when you take it out of the oven before you flip it over and serve it.

Some Good Ol' Stress Relief

My junior year in high school I realized that when ever I'd get stressed out baking helped to calm me down. The exactness of baking is what makes it so tranquilizing for me, you don't need to think, just measure, just relax. That's exactly what I did, and by the end of my senior year I was known as the person who would bake cookies for pretty much every club I was in. Sadly in college I haven't been able to bake as much as I would like (especially considering my stress level) which has caused baking things to be a rather large deal.

While I was home over break I decided to try to squeeze as much baking as possible into one week, I didn't succeed as much as I'd originally hoped to. But I did find one of the best (according to my Mother and Father) chocolate chip cookie recipe that I'd used so far. I'm not one to eat what I bake, not because I don't trust it but more because I eat enough of the dough or batter to want to eat a ton of the final product. But these cookies were different. I made 2.5 dozen large cookies with this recipe, and by the next evening they were completely gone. I easily ate at least nine of them, with the rest of the batch going to my parents and aunt and uncle.

The recipe is adapted from the "Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake" recipe from foodnetwork.com.

2 sticks unsalted butter, softened
1 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt (I added 3/4 teaspoon of salt since salt makes the cookies taste sweeter)
1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups bittersweet chocolate chips & 3/4 cup white chocolate chips (I just dumped the entire bag into the dough)

The directions are pretty standard.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit or 190 degrees Celsius.
First, cream the butter and sugar until they're completely mixed. Then, add the eggs one at a time to allow for them to fully incorporate into the dough.



Next, mix the dry ingredients (Flour, baking soda, and salt) and mix with a whisk, this ensures that the dry ingredients are mixed. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the butter mixture. When you are finished adding the dry ingredients add the vanilla extract and mix. When the vanilla is fully incorporated fold the chocolate chips into the mix.

Spoon the dough onto a cookie sheet and place in the oven. All it to cook for 20-25 minutes (the cookies will appear done on top, but give them a few extra minutes so that the bottom and inside will firm up as well.) When you take them out of the oven let them cool on the pan for about ten minutes and then transfer to a wire rack (if you have one) to fully cool.

Tomato Soup

Being home for spring break, I couldn't help but be a little adventurous the other night while both my parents were working late. Again, choosing food over school work (a trend you'll probably notice) I wanted something to keep me distracted from school work, and the awful weather. After the four day nor'easter I needed some type of pick-me-up from feeling waterlogged, cold and well, grumpy. So I decided to make tomato soup, one of my favorite comfort foods, and with this recipe, who wouldn't want to make it.



The recipe was simple (although tedious at times) it didn't require too much prep, or tools. All I needed was a medium pot, two bowls, a large strainer, a tinfoil wrapped baking sheet and a blender or food processor. For those of you that don't like tomato soup, well you're lucky, this soup isn't super tomato-y like your typical canned soup. Instead it's sweet, with just a hint of tomato, it's delicious.

Here's the recipe: (Stolen from SmittenKitchen.com)
2 (28-ounce) cans whole tomatoes packed in juice, drained, 3 cups juice reserved
1 1/2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
4 large shallots, minced (about 1/2 cup)
1 tablespoon tomato paste
Pinch ground allspice
2 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 3/4 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons brandy

Set the oven to 450 degrees and make sure that one of the racks is in the middle of the oven. After opening the can, begin to peel open the tomatoes and remove the seeds into the strainer while placing the seeded tomatoes on the covered baking pan. Do this for both cans, and empty the juice into the strainer so that any seeds in the juice are removed. Leave juice from the tomatoes in a bowl while you roast the tomatoes, you will use this later. Next, cover the tomatoes on the pan with the dark brown sugar and place in the oven for about thirty minutes (or until the water has evaporated). When you remove them from the oven, take them off the pan and put them in an empty bowl.



Next, mince the four shallots and prepare a sauce pan or soup pot by melting four tablespoons of butter over medium heat. When the butter is melted, reduce heat to low, add the shallots and the tomato paste and mix-cook until the shallots are browned. When the shallots are browned add the two tablespoons of flour, this will create a mock roux (a mix of melted butter and flour, when combined the butter breaks the starch in the flour; when liquid is added it thickens the liquid). Next mix in the stock slowly while continuing to stir the mixture. When you are done with the stock, the reserve tomato juice and the roasted tomatoes. Bring heat to medium and allow flavors to combine for about ten minutes (I got distracted and let it simmer for about 15 checking on it occasionally).



Next, strain the soup, rinse out the bowl and put the strained liquid back in the pot on the stove. Put the shallots and tomatoes in a blender with about a cup of the strained liquid and puree. When blended place in the pot with the rest of the liquid and add in the half cup of cream and let it warm over low heat for a few minutes. When the soup is warm, remove it from heat and add the brandy. If you'd like you can add salt or pepper to the soup, but I thought it was fine on its own.

That's it! Tomato soup in less than an hour! Both of my parents loved it and I can't wait to make it again.

Crepes with Gabby

Sometimes, it seems impossible to cook at school. Tiny kitchens, next to no equipment, no money and no time its not a surprise that ramen is the most common food made by college students. After itching to make something for a while I hopped on my friend Gabby's floor program (she is an RA too) so that she would have an extra person helping her. Gabby decided to make something that no one would expect to be made in a dorm room kitchen--crepes. And needless to say, it was much easier than you would think.



We started cooking at 10 in the kitchen of her dorm, which is pretty scary, mainly because people don't clean up after themselves. This meant that before we could cook, Gabby and I had to clean and prep. I handled the cleaning while Gabby stole butter, peanut butter, eggs, bagels, and a few other ingredients. After arranging all of the ingredients on the table we began to cook.

Here are the ingredients you'll need:
1 Cup all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
2 eggs
4 teaspoons of sugar
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
(this recipe is adapted from Relaxed Cooking with Curtis Stone )
Crepes with only seven ingredients look easy, right? That's because they are! First, you whisk the milk, cream and eggs together, and then you gradually add in the flour and sugar. When the first five ingredients are completely combined you add in the salt. That's all you need to make the batter - no refrigeration, no frustration…just mixing.




Some might think that the hard part is cooking the crepes, but the steps to creating crepes are enough quell any fears. You just need to heat your pan to medium heat, and coat it with butter. Then, pour about a quarter of a cup of the batter onto the pan and swirl it around so that it coats the pan. Let it sit for two minutes and then flip the crepe using a spatula. The other side will not take as long to cook, so be sure to watch it!



Finally, you just top it with whatever you want. I chose to use peanut butter and bananas, a combination that I never can never tire of. Other people chose scrambled eggs, some people mixed oranges and confectioners sugar. The possibilities for the fillings are endless.

In total, this only cost 12 dollars to feed over 15 people--a quick and easy meal for anyone on a budget.

First Post's The Charm

For as long as I can remember, I've had a passion for food–and for about half of that time I’ve loved making it it. I grew up the youngest of five on Long Island, yes Long Island, not “Lawn Guyland.” For my entire life I’ve been surrounded by different cultures, I’ve experienced food and traditions from France, England, Vietnam, Spain, Italy, India, Thailand, Greece… if you can think of mainstream food, I’ve probably tried it. I love trying new foods, I’m not necessarily a picky eater, and while at college, food in the dining hall has made me even less picky. Which is why I want to create alternative ways for college students, or just people living on a budget to cook good food. Because in the long run, its cheaper than most people would expect.

I’m hoping to update this weekly, but I know I’m guilty of getting myself in over my head, so I can’t make any guarantees. The dishes I create will have easy to find ingredients that require little prep and few kitchen tools.