Hoopla Hootenanny

We invented this this morning! It's awesome!

It started with this hootenanny recipe that I found on Pinterest. We made it a couple weeks ago and while it was good with syrup on it, it tasted more like egg than pancake to me and I have never liked syrup getting on my eggs so it just wasn't by favorite. But I felt like it could be super great if we made it savory instead of sweet.

So today we made this: Hoopla Hootenanny!

It's not the most healthy thing on the planet (Is it my fault that cheese and bacon and butter taste so 

great!?), but it was tasty and pretty easy!

Hoopla Hootenanny:
2 diced potatoes (small small cubes). Cover and cook in microwave until soft.
About 1 cup diced bell peppers (red and yellow)
Combine potatoes and bell peppers and cook in a frying pan for a few minutes to get them brown.

Cooked bacon
Shredded cheese

Mix with beater: 1 cup flour, 1 cup milk, 6 eggs, 1/4 tsp salt. Pour into spray-greased 9x13 pan. Add the potato/pepper mix; spread it all over. Pour 1/2 cube melted butter over the top. Do not mix.

Bake in oven at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes.
About 5 minutes before it's done add the bacon right on top.
About 2 minutes before it's cone add the cheese right on top.

Cut into pieces and enjoy!

This "recipe" is awesome because you can put whatever you want in it and however much you want!
You could even use hash browns or thinly sliced potatoes instead of little cubes.
It would be awesome with onions, tomatoes, mushrooms, ham, cashews, different cheeses, all sorts of spices, etc. inside.
You could also top it with all sorts of stuff like avocado, salsa, etc.

Yay! That's my kind of recipe!

Homemade Coooookie Crisp cereal!!!

I was thinking about the disappointing experience I had when I finally tried Cookie Crisp cereal. It didn't even taste like cookies, they didn't absorb the milk, and, worst of all, the "chocolate" chips tasted like Peeps' eyes (you know, the plasticy mildly sugary stuff...). LAME!

So today I finally decided to try and make my own cookie cereal! :D

I started with a regular chocolate chip cookie recipe and modified it so that I ended up with smaller, dryer cookies. It's awesome! The best part is that when you put the little cookies in milk, they soak it up and expand and look and taste like real cookies! Did I mention that it's awesome?!

Here is my recipe:
1/4 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 3/4 cup flour
1/2 baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
7-8 oz chocolate chips

1. Heat oven to 375.
2. Beat butter, sugars, and vanilla in bowl. Add egg, beat well.
3. Add flour, baking soda, and salt. Mix well. (If slightly too dry, add a little more butter.)
4. Chop up chocolate chips so they are little pieces. Add to dough.
5. Form dough into small balls about the size of a penny.
6. Arrange on a cookie sheet; bake for 3-5 minutes. Watch closely so they don't burn!
7. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.
8. The little cookies should be fairly dry and crunchy. It's cereal after all!
9. Store in closed container and eat with milk! Yay!

Here are the awesome pictures! So much better than the original cereal!

When first added to the milk

After a few minutes! Yay! :)

I'm trying to keep this post kinda short and sweet (pun intended), so if you are one of the cool people in the world and want to try out this recipe, I've linked a few tips for you to follow... 1, 2, 3.

magic and pasta

As I looked into it, I discovered that there are a ton of quotes about food!

“Life is a combination of magic and pasta.”  (Fellini)
 

Pinterest Boards

I have several recipe boards on Pinterest:
Recipes- Main
Recipes- Side/snack
Recipes- Dessert
Recipes- Breakfast
Recipes- Drinks

My favorite recipe from Pinterest so far is the Crispy Parmesan Asparagus Sticks.
Seriously so good! :D

el principio

A couple of things have happened recently that made me want to start this blog:

1. I discovered recipes on Pinterest and it makes me think a lot about all the things I want to make and eat. The visual way that recipes are displayed on this site really speaks to me in a way that other recipe gathering methods just don't.
2. My poor hubby always makes food for me because I am busy and I feel inadequate when it come to cooking. This is one of the ways that he communicates how much he loves me. I really do want to be able to reciprocate love to him in that way too.
3. I have found that I don't have a very good relationship with food when I'm stressed. I either don't eat and wish that I didn't have to or I indulge and eat whatever I want... Not that good. This blog might include some of my journey to overcome this issue in my life...

All of these things and probably others have let me to want to try my hand at cooking more often. I think I could do it (I've got the genes: members of my family- my dad especially-are excellent cooks...), I've just never really tried a whole bunch. Well, now it begins!