We're Back!

We've had a whole summer off and we took some much needed time for ourselves after THE WORST SEMESTER EVER! So far our summer has been spent working, sleeping, traveling, and cooking! We also moved into our own place together and spent the first few weeks of our vacation moving/settling in. Well I'm ready to get back into the swing of things and concentrate on something more than crappy reality television and work. We're on a countdown until school starts and still have lots planned before then...
...BUT over the past couple of months I've documented (with my super nifty camera) all the stuff I've made (I just haven't blogged it yet). One of the best documented trips of mine, was our week road-tripping from San Diego, California to Phoenix, Arizona, to LAS VEGAS, Nevada!! We had so much good food along the way I can't even believe it (nor can I wait to do it again). Seeing how it's been a while I think it's only fair I start at the beginning and work my through my culinary-empowered summer! I hope all who read, enjoy! :)

Portobello Mushroom Pitas and Cheesy Garlic Potatoes

In order to eat healthier this new year I've changed a lot of eating habits. I now eat a lot less red meat, and if I do eat it, it's organic so I actually know what I'm eating. This is actually a little more expensive which is another way I can monitor how much I eat. I also eat way more organic foods and way less processed foods in general and I actually can't remember the last time I had fast food. When I go out to eat I no longer indulge and only get what I know I'll eat- which leaves me with a lot less leftovers. For Christmas I got Michael a new grill (among other things) so we could both eat healthier. The cool thing about the grill is the grill plates come out and you can put griddle plates in instead... I fell in love as soon as I saw the thing. These Portobello Mushroom Pitas were the first meal I made with the grill. I'm a sucker for mushrooms and I'll eat them any way you give them to me (probably) so this was a definite yes. I found the prettiest ones at Trader Joe's and got my favorite pita bread from them too. I didn't think one pita per person would be enough so I decided to make some potatoes on the side. 

I had made a version of these potatoes for the blog before, and many times after, but since I didn't have red potatoes I improvised. Here's the link to that Baked Potato Chips I made before.

While I was preheating my oven and grill, I sliced 6 Yukon Gold potatoes and layered them with butter, salt, garlic powder, chopped garlic (the kind that comes in the jar), black pepper, and parsley. When my oven was preheated to 350 degrees I covered my 8x8 pan with foil and put them in for 25 min.

What I got when I pulled them out.

While the potatoes were cooking I wiped the curved part of the mushrooms with a damp paper towel and got a little bowl and poured some olive oil into it. To the oil I added garlic powder, salt, chopped garlic, and pepper (see a trend with my ingredients?) and brushed this on the outer part of the mushrooms. No I didn't measure anything, I just poured enough oil to LIGHTLY coat the tops of both mushroom. By this time my grill was hot. I set my temp for this at 300 because I figured it shouldn't be too hot. I put the oil-coated side down and put the top down.

I only pressed it like this for about 4 minutes. I didn't brushed the other side with oil because I figured I didn't need the extra. This is what I got :)

I washed some lettuce and cut some tomato to put in my pita. 

I didn't put any mayo in my pita like I usually do but I did put a little ranch just because it sounded good. And guess what- it was!

By the time I was done with making my pitas my potatoes were nice and soft. I had some Cheddar/Monterey Jack cheese mix leftover from taco night so I put a healthy amount on my potatoes when they came out. 

Once the cheese melts this was a good amount of food for two people without leaving you feeling gross and overly full. I really hope you enjoy it too.

Holiday Cookies- It's Never Too Late

I won't lie it's been a while. Moving to a new city, being on my own, and starting at a new university. I've been meaning to blog- honest I have but it took a cold for me to actually sit down and find things to do. I got a Nikon D3000 for Christmas specifically to feed my love of photography (thank you Michael) :) so I really have been wanting to get back into this. One of the first things I was able to take pictures of was our holiday cookies. I got my camera before Christmas because he knew it would be helpful :) We made 3 different types of cookies- sugar cookies, chocolate crinkles, and classic chocolate chip. We made all 3 at the same time and rotated which ones we cooked (just to mix it up I guess).

Most of the the Ingredients


Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies
We got our recipe from Alton Brown's Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. They are the perfect chocolate chip cookies and I don't know anyone that hasn't liked them.
Mike says the more brown sugar that goes into them, the chewier they'll be so I added about 2 T extra. We also doubled the batch so we yielded around 60 cookies from our batch.

Yes. This actually happened. :)

The Sugar Cookies
I got this recipe from my mom. We've been using the same recipe as long as I could remember. At first the dough seems crumbly but you really have to compress it down. After that, it should be the perfect sugar cookie dough.

I use powdered sugar instead of flour to keep the dough from sticking.

Chocolate Crinkles
These are another favorite of mine. They are a good mix between a cookie and a brownie. You should always let cookie dough chill in the fridge before you bake it but because the chocolate gets melted so the dough is pretty warm.

Push the cookies down a little because they don't flatten much in the oven. I dusted the flattened cookies with powdered sugar when they came out and they were insanely good.

I didn't post the recipes because I'm not sure if people want that info for 3 cookies but I do have them. I hope you like them :)

Camping!

We decided to take our first camping trip of the year last week. We had a great time and the weather was perfect. We love hiking, fishing, and the whole not showering thing... Something that we also get excited for is the food,though. We go beyond just roasting hot dogs and boiling water. Mikey usually handles the dinner portion (because it means he can play with the fire) while Mo handles breakfast. Our overall menu included eggs, potatoes, bacon, baked potatoes, roasted corn on the cob, clam chowder, chicken sandwiches with tomato, hot dogs, and S'mores. Oh yeah- we know...

Let's talk about the propane stove we had. It was small and only held one pan (or pot) at a time but it was so easy. It held the pot for the chowder, the pan for the bacon, the eggs, and the potatoes, and even was easy enough to use for a just a tea kettle for a quick cup of hot chocolate. The best part is that we could keep the stove by the campfire in case we absolutely needed hot chocolate but didn't feel like getting up :)

Breakfast was another thing that we had a good system for thanks to our wonder stove. Since we were only feeding the two of us we could use one pan to make everything for breakfast. One day breakfast came out particularly well; Bacon-Scrambled Eggs and Breakfast Potatoes. First cut the bacon into small pieces then cook it so there's enough fat in the pan to cook the potatoes. When the bacon's done but it on a plate with a paper towel and cover with foil. Next you have to dice the potatoes up then put them in the pan as soon as the bacon is done. Mo hates to cover things because it keeps her from being able to see what's happening but we did it anyway and they cooked faster. When the potatoes get soft and you've put enough garlic powder, salt and pepper on them then put them onto a plate and cover with foil too. Leave whatever oil is left in the pan and turn you pan to low heat. Now add beaten eggs. They should start cooking right away. You need really low heat. Mo is sort of awesome at eggs and knows you can't rush the process. When the eggs start to cook together and have lost most of their liquid consistency add the chopped bacon to the eggs. Fold, mix, stir, you know.

*Quick tip* We don't bring milk when we camp but if you're like Mo and won't cook without something in your eggs then used evaporated milk. It does the same thing, just as well.

You can't tell us that's not a pretty good meal for one pan, cooked in the outdoors! It was really filling and cleanup was minimal.