October. Les do it.

This blog includes recipes for lasagna, pumpkin cookies, and pulled pork

Good lord. Who in the hell pressed fast forward on October?? Lack of blogs is due to my job and school. Boooo. Anyways, my apologies, and hopefully this makes up for the lack of good reading material.

This first recipe comes from People Magazine. It's Julianne Moore's recipe for vegetarian lasagna and it is very good. If the word "vegetarian" scares you, brown ground turkey or ground beef and add that in with the sauce.



Vegetarian Lasagna

12 pasta sheets from 1 box of oven ready lasagna It is very important that these lasagna noodles are oven ready.
6 cups of marinara sauce (Or 1.5 giant cans of the cheap-o spaghetti sauce)
4 tbsp. olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 bunch asparagus, sliced thin on bias
2 large zucchini, diced
Salt and pepper
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 container (15 oz.) ricotta cheese
1 egg
2 cups shredded mozzarella

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add garlic and saute until golden (about 1 minute).
3. Add vegetables and saute for 4 minutes, or until golden brown. Season with salt and black pepper.
4. Combine ricotta cheese, ¼ cup Parmesan cheese and an egg in a large bowl. Mix well.
5. Spray a 13 × 9-in. baking pan with nonstick cooking spray.
6. Spread 1 cup marinara sauce on bottom of the pan.
7. Add a layer of 3 uncooked lasagna sheets.
8. Spread 1/3 of the ricotta cheese mixture on top.
9. Add 1/3 of the vegetable mixture and top with 1 cup of marinara sauce.
10. Layer 3 more sheets of lasagna
11. 1/3 of the ricotta.
12. 1½ cups marinara sauce.
13. Layer 3 more lasagna sheets, the rest of the ricotta mixture and vegetables and 1 cup sauce.
14. Finish with 3 lasagna sheets, remaining sauce, and top with mozzarella and the rest of Parmesan cheese.
15. Bake covered for 50-60 minutes.
16. Uncover and bake until cheese melts, about 5 minutes.
17. Let stand 15 minutes.
Enjoy!

To add some zing to this, I would rip up basil leaves and add to the sauce. You can never go wrong with basil.

I apologize for not adding a picture for this. I am a firm believer that you eat with your eyes first, then your mouth.

As you readers know, I am not perfect. I mess up on recipes and choose ones that are just...eh. That would be the case with the "healthy" cheesecake I attempted from a mass e-mail of a viral health blogger. Let me tell you, after a handful of "eh" results from her recipes, I will no longer be wasting my time. I know what tastes subpar, and that cheesecake was subpar. I'll try to keep tweaking it.

A blogger that I absolutely love is Gina from SkinnyTaste.com. All of her recipes besides one that I've tried are delicious. They don't taste like health food, which is great when you live with roommates who aren't on a diet. For these cookies, I didn't make the chocolate glaze because I don't like pumpkin and chocolate together. But these are a cakey consistency, and not too sweet.

Pumpkin Cookies

Ingredients:
4 oz 1/3 less fat cream cheese, softened
2 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
1/4 cup 1% buttermilk (I poured 1 tsp. lemon juice in a measuring cup and filled it to 1/4 c. with almond milk. You can do this with regular milk, as well)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup all purpose flour
1/2 tsp pumpkin spice
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder

For the chocolate glaze:
1/4 cup confectioners' sugar
1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tbsp 1% milk
1/8 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Line baking sheet with wax paper.
2. In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese, butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
3. Add egg; beat well.
4. Mix in pumpkin, buttermilk and vanilla.
5. In another bowl combine flour, spice, baking soda, salt and baking powder; gradually add to pumpkin mixture; mix well.
6. Drop by rounded tablespoonfuls, 2 inches apart onto silicone lined baking sheets.
7. Bake 12 - 14 minutes or until golden. Remove to wire rack to cool.

For the glaze: Whisk the confectioners' sugar, cocoa powder, milk, vanilla and salt in a bowl. Place in a piping bag or a zip lock bag with the point cut off and drizzle onto the cookies.

These are nummmmmy and approximately 2 points apiece.



I work with an authentic Texan. She told me this recipe, and it was fantastic. I invited my friend over for lunch to have this, and turns out, it's a great hangover cure. Tidbit!

1 can of Dr. Pepper (I used Diet Dr. Pepper and it still tasted delicious)
3 pound pork loin (According to WeightWatchers, it's a lean cut of the pig)
1 bottle of BBQ sauce (As you all know, I love Jack Daniels)

1. Pour Dr. Pepper in a slow cooker.
2. Add pork loin.
3. Let sit for at least 10 hours on low.
4. Remove pork and shred with forks.
5. Stir in BBQ sauce.
6. Add to bread, buns, or just enjoy by itself.

Easy, and delicious!


Any comments, questions, or requests? Leave a comment and I'll get back to you!

Until next time,
Cuisinier eLLe

It's Been A Long Time Coming

My oh so loyal readers. My apologies for being a giant slacker and not posting for over a month. I've been really busy with school starting and such. However, you should be happy to know that I have been keeping recipes that I have been making just to share with you.

Within the last month, I have also joined Weight Watchers. I've been feeling super unhealthy lately (even though I've never been an unhealthy eater). The stuff I've been putting in my body has created low energy and I've been prone to naps. Now that someone has to weigh me once a week, I'm being held accountable, so I'm sticking to the plan. How will that change the blog? Well, the recipes will more likely be healthier and have PointsPlus values attached to them. (If you aren't aware about Weight Watchers, it's a great plan that afixes a point value to every kind of food. You get a certain amount of PointsPlus you can eat in a day according to your sex, height, and weight. It's the one diet I've found that doesn't exclude something. It's all up to you if you want to have a cake or filling items throughout the course of the day. And no, they're not paying me to say this. I'm actually paying them to weight me. Funny how that works).

The first recipe I'm going to share is a vegetarian-friendly option. Don't run away in the other direction just because it doesn't have meat. Chill out. We'll get to the carnivorous options later. This is a recipe I found in Self in a burger feature they had. Now first of all, I invited a legit vegetarian over because it's one of the first things I've made that he can eat. He told me, "This is the best tasting 'burger' I've ever had." To me, that was a huge compliment. I've never really cooked vegetarian, so to hear this from someone who can only eat vegetarian, I was humbled.

This was called the black bean-corn burger, but I had kidney beans. And I like kidney beans anyways.

For "burger"
1 can rinsed and drained kidney beans
3/4 cup corn
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 1/4" dices
1/4 cup whole-wheat bread crumbs (I didn't have any, so I put bread crumbs in the oven to dry them out)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
3 egg whites, lightly beaten
1 tsp. red pepper
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
Olive oil

For "sauce"
1/2 avocado
1/3 c. reduced-fat sour cream
1 tsp. fresh lime juice
3 cloves of garlic

I used my whole-wheat bun recipe. It complimented these well.

1. Combine beans, corn, green pepper, breadcrums, cilantro, egg whites, red pepper, oregano, and cumin.
2. Heat a good layer of olive oil in pan over medium-high heat.
3. Form mixture into patties. A warning, these are kinda difficult to form into patties and to flip. Because the fatty component that is holding them together is the egg white, they tend to fall apart if you're not careful.
4. Add patty on pan. Brown 5 minutes on each side.

As you can tell, mine looked ridiculous.

5. Season with salt and pepper.
6. To make sauce, puree avocado, sour cream, lime juice, salt and pepper, garlic. (It makes a guacamole-like component).

7. Put a patty on a bun, and top with sauce.
8. Enjoy!


Now, I realize, I was very optimistic to try this. But, if I got my super skeptical roommate to eat these, you're safe.


Recipe two!


I don't know about the rest of you, but I have a large amount of pork chops in my freezer. I don't know where they come from, but they magically show up. And then I have pork chops for days that I don't know what to do with. So, I came up with this.

You need:
Two pork chops, cut into cubes
3 LARGE tomatoes, diced
4 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 1/2 tsp. oregano

1. Warm olive oil on a pan over medium heat with chopped garlic.
2. Add pork chop cubes.
3. Once pork has browned, add tomatoes and the juice, and oregano.
4. Let stew.
5. Serve.

Super simple. We paired this with salad and my homemade vinaigrette. That, is easy as well.

Vinaigrette
3/4 c. olive oil
1/4 c. red wine vinegar
Pinch of pepper
Little more than a pinch of salt
4 cloves of chopped garlic
A squeeze of mustard (No, I'm not joking).

Shake together. Leave at room temperature.

1 tbsp. is 3 PointsPlus.

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

You need:
1/2 cup butter, softened (I used olive oil)
1 3/4 cups sugar
1/4 cup canola oil (I used olive oil)
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup 2% milk (I used almond milk)
1/2 cup buttermilk (I used 1/2 tbsp. lemon juice + almond milk = 1/2 cup of imitated buttermilk)
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup baking cocoa
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded zucchini
1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1. Beat the butter, sugar and oil until smooth.
2. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.
3. Beat in vanilla.

This is the tricky part!
4. IN A SEPARATE BOWL, combine milk and buttermilk.
5. In another SEPARATE bowl, combine the flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt

6. Take the two separate mixtures alternately, beating well after each addition.
7. Fold in zucchini.
8. Transfer to a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking pan.
9. Sprinkle with chocolate chips.
10. Bake at 325° for 45-50 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean.

This recipe is definitely not Weight Watchers approved, but I'm going to try to make one. Bare with me. However, if you don't care, make this. The entire pan was gone in a day. I kid you not.

Weight Watchers Crepes

You need:
5 egg whites
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c. milk (Whatever milk you choose. I used almond milk).
1 c. flour
Fresh fruit

1. Whisk all together until just combined.
2. Spray pan with PAM.
3. Let pan heat until hot.
4. Put 1/4 c. of batter on bottom of skillet.
5. Tilt skillet for the batter to cover the bottom.
6. Cook 2 minutes, flip. Cook 2 minutes.
7. Top with fresh fruit and sprinkle powdered sugar.
8. Fold in half.
9. Enjoy!

This is 3 PointsPlus. And nummy. I paired it with an egg white omelette with mushrooms. 4 PointsPlus breakfast. Score.


Again readers, I apologize for the long delay, but hopefully you enjoy the plethora of new recipes.

Until next time,
eLLe

"Back to Basics" [Turkey] Sloppy Joes

Back when I was a kid, moms would make a massive amount of sloppy joes for the family. It was always filling and really easy to make. I looked at the recipe she gave me, Googled, and decided to tweak it.

A lot of sloppy joe recipes include tomato paste and stuff like that. If you've read my blog, you'd know that that stuff freaks me out. It's like tomato jell-o. Yick. I tried to puree some tomatoes and make that the base, but it wasn't thick enough. So, I used tomato soup.

Sloppy Joes

1 lb. of ground turkey
One diced onion
3 tsp. garlic powder
4 tsp. chopped garlic
2 1/2 tsp. cumin
2 1/2 tsp. worcestershire sauce
15 oz. can of kidney beans
3 large, pureed tomatoes
Can of Campbell's tomato soup
Salt and pepper to taste (I don't like giving specific directions on salt and pepper. People's tastes are different)

1. Brown turkey over medium heat in a saucepan.
2. Add onion.
3. Add seasonings.
4. Add kidney beans.
5. Add pureed tomatoes and tomato soup.
6. Add salt and pepper. Do the taste test to gauge how much you want in it!
7. Let simmer over medium-low heat.
8. Serve over buns.


I used my bun recipe that I posted before. It was delicious having hot buns and homemade sloppy joes.

Break-Yum-Fast

If you've read the blog before, you'd know that I'm lactose intolerant. I still do eat some dairy, but I limit it a lot more, and I'm NORMALLY pretty good about it. Well, last night, I was craving some coffee cake. Good coffee cake. So, I Googled. And I found a recipe on Pioneer Woman's blog. (It's the moms favorite food blog. Besides mine. Haha).

When I looked over the recipe, the total recipe called for THREE cups of butter. Not one or two, THREE. I decided to cut the butter down because I don't feel like having coronary artery disease at 23. I subbed the soy butter I featured in one of my other blogs, for butter, and subbed almond milk for whole milk. It's my lactose intolerant friendly version of coffee cake. And it's yummy.

This is a crappy picture, I'm sorry. It's not me, it's the Blackberry.

For the cake:
1 c. butter (I used soy butter. You can use whatever).
2 c. sugar
3 c. flour
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 1/4 c. milk (I used almond milk).
3 egg whites, beaten until stiff

For the "crumble":
1 c. butter
3/4 c. flour
1 1/2 c. brown sugar
2 tbsp. cinnamon

For cake mixture:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in a bowl.
3. Cream butter and sugar for cake.
4. This part is tricky. Alternate the flour mixture with the milk until combined. That means, add a little flour, mix, add a little milk, mix, add a little flour, mix, add a little milk, mix. You get the point.
5. Beat egg whites until they have foamed a lot. Pioneer Woman calls this beating until stiff. Yeah, I don't know. I just followed it until mine looked like they did in the pictures.
6. Fold egg whites into cake mixture. This means mixing the sides into the middle with a spoon.
7. Spread into a 9x13 or larger greased cake pan.

For "crumble":
8. In a separate bowl, combine topping ingredients with a pastry cutter (or whisk, fork...whatever works for you.
I tried to do this, and it became a mush of deliciousness. There's no way that'd be crumbly. So, I took two ziploc bags on each hand, smushed balls of the mixture until flat, and dropped it over the cake. It worked but took a while.
9. "Sprinkle" over cake.

10. Bake for 40-45 minutes; until lightly browned.

Serve this business warm.

It makes a TON. The wife and I are gonna have non-dairy coffee cake for DAYS.

Nom nom nom.

So, I don't know if y'all have heard me rant about coffee cake, but corporate coffee shops who try to appeal to people by making breads that have no resemblance to coffee cake, but have coffee cake in the title are ruining everyone's perception of what coffee cake should be.

Coffee cake is made to be two layer. The bottom part is suppose to be an almost flavorless, spongey cake. The top, the crumble, is suppose to be a super sweet and sugary contrasting topping. You're suppose to eat coffee cake by taking a bite that includes the two parts. I've had people eat just the spongey cake part and complain that they don't like it. Well, you didn't eat it correctly. Not my fault. So try and have your bites incorporate both parts.

This coffee cake is good with coffee, milk, whatever.

Until next time!
eLLe

Nom Nom Pasta

This is the pasta. THE pasta. Once you've had this pasta, you will be ruined of Olive Garden. Oh, and the kicker? It's quick.

Aglio e Olio
It is italian for garlic and olive
My recipe is a tweaked version of traditional aglio e olio.

You're going to need:
--Pasta (I use whole wheat penne or angel hair)
--A good amount of olive oil
--A head of garlic
--Red pepper flakes
--Salt
--Tomatoes
--Parmesan cheese

1. Put a bowl of water to boil over medium-high heat and add salt.
2. Make sure the noodles are halfway through cooking, and THEN put a saucepan over low-medium heat.
3. Add a generous amount of olive oil; enough to cover the bottom.
4. Chop five cloves of garlic and add to olive oil.
5. Add a generous amount of red pepper flakes.
Make sure not to brown the garlic too quickly. If you do before the pasta is done, it will make the pasta taste burned, which you don't want.
6. Stir frequently to combine the mixture.
7. Once noodles are done boiling, drain.
8. The garlic will start to turn a slight color.
9. Chop up some tomatoes (I used two) and stir.
10. The tomatoes will acquire a light glaze of garlic, red pepper flakes, and olive oil.
11. Toss pasta while the oil mixture is still over heat.
12. Increase heat to medium.
13. Make sure all of it is combined.
14. Salt and pepper to desired taste. (I recommend not salting it to desired amount because the parmesan cheese will add more salt).
15. Serve with fresh basil leaves and shredded parmesan cheese.


This pasta is delicious and extremely flavorful. It's amazing served with the traditional Italian sides; salad and French bread.

I originally had this dish in Eugene with a friend of mine at an amazing, legit Italian restaurant. This wasn't any Olive Garden, which I cannot eat at anymore because the flavor does not exist and it's a waste of money to me. Besides the French bread and salad, which I love. Everything else, no.

I'm sure you could impress someone with your skills if you were to whip this up.

Need any feedback, have any tips, just want to leave a comment? Let me know!

-eLLe

I have mastered... CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES.

Some of my coworkers are either moving or quitting, so I took it upon myself to spontaneously throw a barbecue and Wii dance party that will probably last until the Wii hours of the morning. Haha, I didn't even mean to do that. Yusssss.

Side note, I was given a bread maker for Christmas, and YES, I actually use it. All the time. (Thanks Grandma!) There is no air freshener that can match the aroma of baking bread. Mmmmmm. I hope you can imagine this smell right now. And I have found the best recipe for hamburger/hot dog buns. This is one of the only recipes I have practically memorized. (Yes, I've said that recipes don't matter, but they actually do when it comes to a bread maker).


YUMMY BUNS!

Ingredients
1 c. water
1 egg
1/4 c. olive oil
1 c. flour
2 c. whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 c. sugar
3 tsp. yeast

You're going to need a bread maker for this recipe, so if you don't have one, my apologies, but you're missing out on fantastic-ness.

1. Put liquid ingredients in the bread making bowl. This includes the water, egg, and olive oil.
2. Next, Put in dry ingredients which includes both flours, salt, and sugar.
3. Create a small dimple in the flour with your finger that's not deep enough to reach the liquid ingredients. Put yeast here.
4. Start on dough/pasta setting.
5. When the machine is done, take out and split dough into 8 mounds for hamburger buns, or 12 for hot dog buns.
6. Preheat oven to WARM.
7. Spray cookie sheet with olive oil PAM.
8. Place mounds on cookie sheet and cover with a towel.
9. Place in oven for 10-15 minutes; enough time for dough to double in size.
10. Take out of oven and heat oven to 400 degrees.
11. Place rolls back in oven for 10-12 minutes; enough time for rolls to brown.
12. Take out and ENJOY.

These buns are delicious. The wifey likes stealing them and using them for sandwiches. They're just good.


So, I've been on a mission to find a recipe for the GREATEST chocolate chip cookie. One that leaves a moist cookie, flavor in the dough enough to compliment the chocolate. Plus, I love cookies. Who doesn't?

First and foremost, I love The Food Network. And Alton Brown; yes the crazy scientist looking dude from Iron Chef. He's the one gave me the phenomenal recipe for pizza. Not him personally, but his show, "Good Eats." I have learned that, more egg yolks makes the cookie chewier. As does a higher brown sugar to white sugar ratio.

I only had a 1/2 cup of butter, so I had to adjust. Plus it made only like 9-12 cookies.

1 c. butter
3 1/2 c. flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
1/2 c. sugar
1 c. brown sugar
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp. milk
2 tsp. vanilla
Chocolate chips

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cream 1 c. butter and 1/2 c. sugar and 1 c. brown sugar.
3. Mix in 1 egg and 1 egg yolk, and 2 tbsp. milk and 2 tsp. vanilla.
4. Gradually add 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. baking soda, and 3 c. flour.
5. Mix in chocolate chips. (I know everyone likes a different amount of chocolate chips, so mix until you think looks good).
6. Scoop into mounds ON WAXED PAPER on a cookie sheet. (I personally love massive cookies... Like the size of your face).
7. Bake for 10-14 minutes. (I cooked for 12 minutes, but that can change depending on your elevation or taste for chewy or crunchy cookies).
8. Let sit on cookie sheet for a couple minutes, then ENJOY.

Another random ADD input. I cut up ten pounds of potatoes for french fries I will be baking. I saw on the Food Network that if you let them soak in water overnight, it will make them less starchy. I'll let your know how they turn out. But, I will be tossing them with olive oil, garlic, and salt. Pretty simple stuff.

Oh! That'd be the bread maker beeping at me.

Until next time!
eLLe.

Biscuits 'n' Gravy

Growing up in a highly agricultural area, my parents tend to give me some of the butchered pig they buy at the local Livestock Show. So, I tend to have a plethora of pork sausage. Same goes for the wife; she grew up in a very small area as well. Gotta get rid of it somehow! It may not be the healthiest, but biscuits and gravy are delicious.

My pops showed me how to make this when my curiosity was sparked in high school. If you've read my previous blogs, my dad doesn't tend to use measurements. He just judges it by looking. I also made some tweaks to his "recipe".

Ingredients
Sausage (I used pork sausage because it's what I had. Use turkey sausage for a more healthy alternative).
Chopped garlic
Rosemary
Salt
Pepper
Flour
Milk

1. Brown some pork sausage in a fairly large saucepan to leave room for the gravy.
2. Add chopped garlic for more flavor. Brown together.
3. Salt and pepper. Add in rosemary for another extra kick.
(With any kind of sausage, it gets greasy. This is how the flour is able to stick to the meat).
4. Add in flour until the grease is soaked into the flour, coating the sausage. Make sure that it's well coated, or else you won't have thick gravy.
5. Add in a good amount of milk (so that it more than submerges the meat).
**The higher fat content in the milk, the more thick it's going to be. I use almond milk because I'm lactose-intolerant, and it still works.
6. Let simmer over low-medium heat, and let thicken.
7. Pour over biscuits and enjoy.


Sometimes when we had biscuits and gravy on Sunday mornings, my pops didn't have anything to make biscuits with. So, you gotta improvise. I used croissants this time. Ripped up pieces of toasted bread works as well. If you've got Bisquick laying around, that's always a quick way to whip up some speedy form of a starch.

When I was a camp counselor a couple years ago, I made this over a fire for my campers. The added smokeyness was a delicious kick. So, for all you campers for the Fourth out there, you CAN make biscuits and gravy when you're in the wilderness! I mixed Bisquick and put it in aluminum foil balls. Turned out really good except for the occasional burned biscuit. And believe me, I know what I'm talking about when it comes to cooking over a fire. While working at that Camp, I had to learn pretty quickly, and because I had cooking experience before, it worked out. You can ask any of my past coworkers... I had people fighting over who would accompany me on a cookout.

That reminds me of a fruit cobbler I made in a Dutch Oven.

For those of you who don't know, a Dutch Oven is an SOB to carry. It's made of cast iron, so it's heavy as hell. In order to cook something in a Dutch Oven, you have to create a fire but put the Dutch Oven over the coals for it to cook slowly. It's kinda like a very old school crockpot... Except you use fire. According to the roommate, there are people in Montana who have clubs and groups dedicated to using Dutch Ovens; it's an art.

You can make this cobbler in an over or a Dutch Oven. Doesn't matter.

You need:
Bisquick
Sugar
Canned fruit (I used canned peaches and fresh raspberries. This worked because of the juices from the canned peaches counterbalancing the fresh fruit).

1. Spray down the container with PAM that will be holding the cobbler.
2. Dump in the canned fruit.
3. In a separate container, mix Bisquick, water, and sugar. When I was in the woods making this, I eyeballed it and taste tested the batter to see if it needed more sugar/water/Bisquick. You do the same!
4. Spoon the Bisquick mixture over the fruit and flatten.
5. Put in oven at 350 degrees and watch for the cobbler to brown. I don't have a set measurement or time, just make sure to pay attention. If you're making it in a Dutch Oven, put over coals and let cook.
6. When the Bisquick mixture has cooked through, let cool and serve!

Questions? Comments? Post me a comment. :)