Baked Potato Chips

We are definitely not the kind of people who are against junk food. Everyone needs those days to eat way too much junk food, right? In an attempt to not be quite so glutenous we decided to make an adult version of potato chips by baking them and adding tons of herbs. Our only regret was that we didn't make a bigger batch. This was our first attempt and I don't think we would change anything if (...when) we make them again.

INGREDIENTS
(there's not very many)

3 Russet or red potatoes
garlic olive oil
thyme
oregano
parsley
garlic powder
salt

STEPS

Preheat oven to 450. Wash all the potatoes and cut into really thin circles.

Now place the rounds onto a big foil covered cookie sheet. We recommend you cover the tray in foil and spray it with non-stick cooking spray or use that non-stick foil to prevent the really thin slices from sticking. Brush the potatoes with a little garlic olive oil and lightly salt. Put the potatoes in oven for 10 minutes.

Mix the thyme, basil, oregano, and garlic powder together. Take the potatoes out and flip them over. Sprinkle a little of the herb mix on each potato and put back in the oven for 5 minutes.

Take them out and eat with some sour cream (or in Mikey's case, A LOT of sour cream).

Tomato and Mozzarella on a Baguette

Today we were in the mood for something light but with a lot of flavor. This is another one we didn't really have a recipe for, we just went with it. Everyone knows about mozzarella with tomato and basil but we did our own thing (mainly because basil was too expensive for just one dish). Anyway, we also decided that once we toasted the baguette, a little blend of the tomato and mozzarella on top would be perfect, basically like Bruschetta. There is no denying that we made something amazing that tasted phenomenal.

What You'll Need:

1 sourdough baguette

2 Roma tomatoes

8 oz mozzarella cheese

garlic olive oil

salt

pepper

Cut baguette into diagonal slices to get a slightly longer slice. Turn your broiler on just so it's ready (it'll be ready when there's a pretty steady flame from the top). Place the slices on a foil covered cookie sheet and arrange them so they're even. Pour a little of the garlic olive oil in a small bowl and put aside.

Put the bread in the oven for around 5 minutes. Half way through take out the cookie sheet and brush a little of the olive oil on the toast and place back in the oven for another few minutes. It's a pretty quick process. Wait until the bread turns a medium to dark golden brown, turn off the broiler and leave the bread in so it stays warm.

Now, cut the tomatoes and mozzarella into cubes the size of a centimeter. Drizzle some olive oil over the mix and add a dash of salt and pepper for a little more taste. Spoon the mix onto the slices of toast and eat it from there.

We bothered with plating and all that, but truth be told we ate off the cookie sheet too...

Real (Easy) French Toast

It was just one of those days where we were destined to have something with a lot of syrup. Wheat bread is the usual for us but we went all out for this. After a morning full of classes, thick slices of french toast drenched in syrup was pretty much exactly what we needed. We used the thick bread (apparently made just for this kind of thing) and it was worth it! I don't know if I can go back to regular bread after this... The best thing about it- because we're broke college students- is that the bread is all we had to buy, everything else is stuff that we all have in our cupboards. Now, there is no specific measurements for this one so just go with it. If in doubt, add a little more...

What You'll Need:

6 slices of think French Toast (but regular bread will work too)

vanilla extract

3-4 eggs

cinnamon

milk

Pam spray (because it's important to be healthy)

real butter

syrup

Crack all the eggs into a medium size bowl. With a fork, beat eggs. Add a few strong dashes of cinnamon.

Add milk, vanilla, and cinnamon. Start off with a little. If it looks like you want more go for it. Mix all three ingredients well.

Spray pan with Pam (AWAY FROM STOVE!) and put pan to heat. Dip each slice in the egg mix and place quickly on pan.

Wait until each side turns a deep gold color, they should be soft and fluffy. Plate them and butter them. Mikey likes powder sugar but that's optional.


The extra egg mix that's going to be left (unless you really soaked the bread) has a lot of potential. Take what's left and put it into the pan you just used for the french toast on low heat. They are going to cook really fast so watch them and keep stirring them.

They're full of cinnamon and taste really good with a little syrup, too. No waste here.

Mo's Special

This is one meal that I make that we both keep coming back to. It is literally the perfect mix of pasta, sauce, and shrimp! And it's so simple to make. We found a version of it online but have added a lot of our own touches. Don't get us wrong, we can't afford shrimp dinners every night but we definitely make this recipe an option whenever shrimp is on sale. Mikey suggests we substitute the shrimp, Mo says absolutely not. Its kind of amazing the way it is. We hope you feel the same.

INGREDIENTS

1 pound of extra large shrimp
1 T. butter
1 T. olive oil
1 small onion
1 cloves of garlic (at least)
2 T. butter
2 T. olive oil
1 C. white wine (drink the rest)
8 oz. can of tomato sauce
8 oz. heavy whipping cream
1 pound penne pasta

(not pictured: White wine) :(

STEPS

Remember, start the water for the pasta! Get it out of the way. After you get that going, peel and devein the shrimp. We recommend cutting the shrimp into smaller pieces before you cook it because a lot more of the juice runs out of the shrimp after its been cooked. We found that cutting one shrimp into 3rds is the perfect size for mixing with the sauce later on.

Also, it is easier to cut the onions before cooking the shrimp because the shrimp doesn't take very long.

In a hot skillet add butter, oil, and shrimp. Cook the shrimp until pink and set aside when it's finished.

In same skillet used for shrimp, add the butter, oil, garlic, and onion. Cook everything until the onions start to soften and get a little darker in color.At this point the water for the pasta should be at a rapid boil so go ahead and add the pasta.

Now, back to the sauce. When the garlic and onions are done add the wine, tomato sauce, cream and heat through.

When heated through, add the shrimp to the sauce. Now is the time to also add any extra salt and pepper, too. The pasta should also be about done (you know, al dente blah blah blah...), strain it but NEVER rinse it. Add drained pasta to sauce mix. Fold it in.

Add a good amount of Parmesan cheese and mix one last time. Hope you enjoy! :)
**By the way- this meal goes really well with the Our Chedder Bay Biscuits... Just saying...**

Our Cheddar Bay Biscuits

These biscuits are so perfect for any meal (or by themselves). They're crisp on the outside and amazingly soft in the middle. This is our go-to recipe for a really good side dish.

View full recipe

INGREDIENTS

2 C. all purpose flour
2 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1.4 t. garlic powder
1/3 C. cold butter
2 T. canola or veggie oil
1 C. grated cheddar cheese
1/2 C. milk

ADDITIONAL INGREDIENTS

3 T. butter
1/2 t. garlic powder
1/2 t. dried parsley

STEPS

Preheat oven to 400° F

Combine flour, baking powder, salt, and garlic powder in large bowl. Add chunks of butter using pastry cutter. Add oil, grated cheddar, ½ cup milk, and stir (add more milk until not sticky).

Spoon ¼ C portions on non-greased cookie sheet.

Bake 15-17 minutes.

AFTER BUSCUITS ARE MADE...

Melt butter, add garlic powder and parsley. Brush mixture on top of warm biscuits.

Serve warm. =)

Lemon Chicken

Honestly, it took us a few time to get this recipe down the way we wanted. The horrible picture does not do this meal justice. Overall, with the rice, broccoli, and sauce, this makes for a very classy meal.

What you'll need:
(marinade)

2 1/2 lbs boneless-skinless chicken breasts (cut into 1"cubes)

2 T. soy sauce

1/2 t. salt

(batter)

2 large eggs

1/2 C. cornstarch

1 pinch white pepper

oil (for frying)

(sauce)

1/3 C. sugar

1 C. chicken broth

1 1/2 T. cornstarch

2 T. lemon juice

3/4 t. salt

3 slices of peeled lemon

2 T. oil

yellow food coloring (optional

View full recipe

MARINADE

Place cut chicken breast pieces into a bowl and mix with soy sauce and salt. Cover and marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

BATTER

Beat eggs with cornstarch, white pepper and baking powder.
Coat the chicken with the batter.
Heat deep fryer to 350 degrees and deep-fry in batches until chicken is fully cooked.
Drain on paper towels and set aside.
You can also cook the chicken using a wok if you don’t have a deep fryer.

SAUCE

Combine sugar, cornstarch, chicken broth, lemon juice, and salt (if using food coloring you can add it now).
Mix until well combined and add 3 slices of lemon to the sauce mixture.
Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in your wok and stir in the lemon sauce mixture and heat until well mixed and sauce becomes clear.
Remove lemon slices and pour the sauce over the chicken and mix.
Best served with rice and broccoli.

Eat Something New

Back in the day we went to restaurants all the time- at least twice a week. The only regret (besides maybe saving that money) was that we went to the same ones over and over again; Red Lobster, Applebees, Outback, Elephant Bar etc. With all the traveling we did we should have tried more places. This link is for California cities and the restaurants in them. It's very helpful if you want to try something new.

http://www.foodiebytes.com/location/cities.html?state=CA

Obviously this works for any state, just change it. Hopefully it helps in making decisions easier... or at least in giving you more choices...

We mean everything....

Our first post and what to write? Where do you start when there's so much to say about food? Well this blog isn't just for finding recipes (we believe that you can get enough of those from cookbooks and most other blogs...) Our goal is to post things about all the other aspects of food, and then worry about sharing our favorite, easiest, tastiest recipes. We plan on sharing info about cooking, restaurants, cocktails, entertaining, and anything else we might feel like doing that day. Food is something to be enjoyed. We are not, in any way, professionals, but this is something that really brings us together and we enjoy and we hope we can share that with others.