Soggy Left-Over Fries Get Revamped to Crispy-Spicy-Joy-Bites... Plus Clutzy Cooking gets Revamped, Too!

(That's my infamous finger lickin' roast chicken in the background but, try and focus on how deliciously crunch-tastic and spicy those fries look...)

First of all, no I did not fry these things again. 

But how many times have you brought home your left overs and had these once crisped to perfection french fries sitting in your Styrofoam container all desolate, wilted, and sad? 

Too many to count? Me too! 

Thanksgiving Post 1: Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes

So, Thanksgiving! I made 3 recipes I found online. This is the first:

Twice baked sweet potatoes. They are crunchy, sweet, and phenomenal.

I really, really can't recommend them enough. My family had the following comments:

"This is the first time I've liked sweet potatoes!" -My lovely sister

"We should do this as a casserole for Christmas! So yummy!" -My super mom

"I gotta be honest... a little too sweet for me" -My honest brother, ha

If you agree with him, perhaps you could take the sugar out of the inside, or reduce it, and keep it just as a crumble on top. 

I enjoyed the sweetness but I only ate half of one, the others had whole potatoes. 

Maybe the awesome was just too overwhelming, ha. 

Make these! Now. Recipe can be found here:

http://www.laurenslatest.com/twice-baked-sweet-potatoes-with-walnut-streusel/

B.L.T. Dip: Worth Killing For

So. This is pretty much the best dip ever. 


Seriously.


My roommate, Em, is in love with this dip. Spread on rye toast, wheat thins, triscuts, and bagels.... it's addicting. I even made it into chicken salad by using tablespoons of this dip instead of mayo. And look how pretty it looks.

See! Look how pretty! 


And it tasted EVEN BETTER!


Seriously.

So, pretty much you must make this dip. Because it is delicious. Pure pure delicious.

Go now, my loves. It WILL change your life.

B.L.T. Dip

-1 cup mayo

-1 cup sour cream

-1 cup (cooked) bacon, diced

-2 ripe tomatoes, diced

Combine all ingredients, chill for an hour. Serve with crackers. 

Cloud City Taffy Apple Salad

Looks just like Cloud City, right?

It's also a very weird recipe. I love it but, it's super strange.

It's a lot of strange ingredients that taste EXACTLY like a taffy apple with nuts when all combined. It's strange. But kind of amazing. I added some pink dye to make it go with the pink clouds which are just marshmallows dipped in pink'd white chocolate and some more marshmallows stuck to the sides to add cloud shapes. I found some petal wrappers that worked really well. This was the surprise treat of the party! Everyone looked at it with a questioning gaze and then ate it with gusto. The frog guts ACTUALLY were the more shocking winning dish but, I was happy my friends enjoyed this recipe. 

Make and enjoy :)

Taffy Apple Salad

-1 cup sugar

-2 tbls flour

-4 tbls vinegar

-2 eggs

-20 oz pineapple can

Combine the above and bring to a boil. Cook until thick, (low temp). Cool in fridge.

-8 apples

-8 oz cool whip

-2 cups cocktail peanuts

Peel and dice the apples. Mix the sauce and 8 oz cool whip. Fold in fruit and peanuts. Put in fridge until serving.

Eat and be amazed.

Steak Marinated in Teriyaki Sauce & Garlic Roasted Potatoes

Ah, steak and potatoes. The epitome of the traditional meal. Delicious, comforting, and satisfying.

Working out of an apartment with no grill, I decided to make pan fried teriyaki steaks, baked garlic potatoes, and steamed snap peas with honey for the occasion of final meals in Apartment 431. Everything turned out to be delicious, particularly the potatoes which are a family favorite of mine and endlessly delicious.

The teriyaki marinade is also well used and loved in my family. I am typically one to shy away from ginger but, in this recipe it doesn't make itself known in an overpowering way.

The snap peas are just to be unfrozen as directed with a teaspoon of honey mixed in once they are finished steaming. Simple and simply delicious.

The marinade and potatoes are slightly more complicated but, still in keeping with the easy cooking theme. Make these two recipes together or not, either way both are a treasure. Make and enjoy :)

Teriyaki Marinade

-1 cup brown sugar

-2/3 cup ketchup

-2/3 cup vinegar

-1/2 cup soy sauce

-1/2 cup veg oil

-5 cloves chopped garlic

-2 teaspoons ground ginger

In a medium bowl, combine ingredients and mix well. Marinate steaks overnight.

Garlic Roasted Potato Wedges

-1 bag red potatoes

-1/4 cup butter

-1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

-1 tsp. minced fresh garlic

-1/2 tsp. salt

-1/2 tsp. pepper

Heat oven to 425. Cut potatoes in half, length wise; cute each half into wedges. In saucepan, cover potatoes with enough cold water to cover. Bring to full boil. Cook until tender (8-12 min), drain. In 9x13 baking pan, melt the butter in oven. Stir in remaining ingredients. Add potatoe wedges, coat with both sides in butter mixture. Bake for 10 minutes and turn the potatoes. Continue baking 12-15 minutes or until browned.

Amazing and Sorta Kinda Healthy-Ish! Onion Rings

Onion Rings! And not even fried ones!

Cooked in a bit of oil and baked. So, that MAY mean fried. But it's not REALLY fried, right?

If it means you can eat more, I promise you want to go with me on this.

This spectacular recipe is from the similarly spectacular blog Brown Eyed Baker, for both the onion rings and the dipping sauce (seen almost dripping off my plate there), and while I wasn't sure I could pull it off, even I could make these!

And well too!

I DID make some errors in judgment. I have a few oil burns and... well, I burnt plastic onto my glass casserole pan. But besides those errors and a near meltdown I had while slicing the onions up and dipping them all which made a mess all over my counters....

OK. So I admit this recipe isn't clutz friendly. But it's clutz POSSIBLE. And you need to try it because, for a normal person, I'd bet this is an easy recipe (sounds easy enough on paper!) and if you can make it, you'll be both proud and enchanted by onions once more.

Plus, the dipping sauce is the tangy goodness usually associated with the onion blossoms served at popular chains so, you probably should be able to make your own.

So make and enjoy :)

Oven-Fried Onion Rings

-2 medium (or 1 large) sweet onions, sliced ½-inch thick

-¼ cup all-purpose flour

-½ teaspoon salt

-¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

-¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

-½ cup buttermilk

-1 egg

-¼ cup + 1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour

-1½ cups crushed potato chips (kettle-cooked chips, if available)

-3 Tablespoons vegetable oil

Preheat the oven to 450. The recipe doesn't say anything about how to slice up the onions and, being a clutz, I found this rather difficult. I ended up cutting them 1/2 inch thick (as mentioned) by holding them in place with a towl to avoid slips and cuts. However (safely) you manage this, just do so with a good chunking happening (no wimpy onions!) and make sure you break them up into rings. 

Combine the flour/salt/black & cayenne pepper in a bowl. In a separate container, combine the buttermilk, egg, and additional flour. Whisk until it becomes a dense, smooth, batter. In a third and final container, put the crushed potato chips. I would put in just a portion at a time so that the chips don't get soggy and unworkable as you proceed with the dipping process.

Dipping process goes as follows: seasoned flour, batter (drip/shake off excess), coat with crushed chips. When you have them finished, set them on a large plate. Repeat until all your rings are coated. 

The original recipe uses a baking sheet/parchment paper. I decided to use a glass casserole dish which worked BEAUTIFULLY. Put your veg oil into the pan and carefully coat. Place in oven (should be at 450 by now) for 8 minutes. Remove CAREFULLY!!!

Working QUICKLY but SAFELY, put the onion rings in the dish and return to oven for 8 more minutes. Flip the rings and bake for another 6-8 minutes or until golden brown. They should sizzle when put into oil.

While baking, prep your sauce!

Dipping Sauce

-½ cup mayonnaise

-2 teaspoons ketchup

-2 Tablespoons horseradish

-¼ teaspoon paprika

-¼ teaspoon salt

-1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

-1/8 teaspoon dried oregano

-Dash ground black pepper

-Dash cayenne pepper

Combine all ingredients and serve with your rings! Delicious. 

Attack Worthy Apple Sauce

This recipe is refreshing and crisp and... easy as pie.

As a lot of my earlier recipes tended to be, this is such a cinch, it's barely even a recipe.

My mom used to make this for us kids and we'd all jump down the table to eat it. All of us prefer our applesauce cold but, we'd be eating it straight out of the bowl from the microwave (remember? clutz friendly, and clutzy people use the microwave). It's first come first serve in a bigger family and if you didn't attack, you missed out on the sugary portion of dinner.

How apples with cinnamon and sugar ever made the cut of a dinner dish, I will never know. But I am oh so thankful!!

Apple Sauce

-6 cups apples (sliced, peeled, and cored)

-1/2 cup sugar

-1 teaspoon cinnamon

-2 cinnamon sticks

In microwave safe bowl, combine apples and cinnamon sticks. Cover with plastic wrap, cook on full power for 8-11 minutes or until the apples are tender. Stir halfway through. Remove the cinnamon sticks, stir in sugar, and add cinnamon. 

Serve hot or put in the fridge and serve cold. I already said which I prefer but, make your own decisions :)

The Best Asparagus

This is yet another recipe that is so short and simple, it's barely a recipe. 

If you love asparagus like I do, you're always looking for new ways to cook it up. This is by far my favorite way to cook asparagus. 

My dad makes this asparagus on the grill, which is the best way to prepare it. However, second best is to simply bake it for 10 to 15 minutes and enjoy it that way.

Less char marks and a bit softer but. Still delicious.

Dressed Asparagus

-1 to 2 bundles Asparagus

-1 bottle dressing (either Italian or a Vinaigrette. I like Raspberry Vin)

Marinate cleaned asparagus stalks in a gallon ziploc with dressing for a solid hour. Grill til cooked through, 3-5 minutes, or Bake at 400 for 10-15 minutes on lined foil cookie sheet, til asparagus is cooked thru to liking.

If you want a simpler recipe, sometimes when I have no dressing on hand, I drizzle with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Delicious.

Rainy Day Lunch: Mac & Meat with Pepperoni Rolls

My Aunt Tootsie is a dietician and one of the best "throw things together" cooks I know. 

You know what I mean. One of those people who just tosses things together and they are just randomly deliciously perfect. 

These are two of her classics that she would make for us kids when there were seven of us and just 2 moms. 

I've been thinking lately of updating the Mac & Meat Recipe even further by adding some cooked veggies. Some more color and taste. It's just sooooo good and comforting as is that I am tentative to mess with it t all. Let me know what you think.

Mac & Meat

-1 box family size kraft mac and cheese

-1 can cream of mushroom soup

-1 lb ground beef

Prepare the mac and cheese and brown the meat. Once both are cooked, throw all ingredients together and enjoy.

Pepperoni Rolls

-4 packages biscuts

-1 package pepperoni 

Take a piece of pepperoni, fold a biscut in half around folded pepperoni piece. Lay out on cookie sheet, bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes.