Chicken Pot Pie!! obsession!

So I'm trying to go back through my older recipes and pick my faves and write them out. This ones great because I already wrote out the recipe for my clawsin (cousin-in-law J)! The funny thing about this recipe is that I had never had chicken pot pie before in my whole life, and one day I woke up thinking “man.. I really want some chicken pot pie” and then I thought about it for a week before I decided ill just make it lol so random! But I swear I was craving it!

Anyway, I went into the humongous world of the internet to find the “best recipe”. I looked at a bunch and then made mine with all the easiest parts of the other ones! So basically, it’s like every other chicken pot pie recipe out there lol but still J  

So my pie crust is just store bought. Pillsbury pie crust.. It's in the cold section usually with the crescent rolls and biscuits.

Ingredients you'll need:

1 package Pillsbury pie dough

1 large potato (peeled and diced- it'll be probably be about 2 cups)
1/2 cup diced carrot (you can use frozen if you want! Makes zero difference.. Unless you LOVE carrots ...in which case use fresh)
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 cup frozen corn
2/3 cup onions (diced)

1 stick of butter (cut to tabs) if you're stressed about the butter, you can do a little less too.. But you need SOME for this one it seems like lol
1 cup flour

2 cups cooked cubed chicken (I was so stressed out when I was making this that I forgot the chicken until the recipe said "now add your chicken"!! But luckily I had plain chicken leftovers and just cut that up, heated it and used that. I don't know how I'm SUPPOSED to season the chicken.. I just used plain kinda bland chicken – it was only seasoned with garlic and salt. That’s it.)

1 1/2 cups of milk
3 cups of chicken broth

Almost 2 full tsp salt
3/4 tsp black pepper
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp thyme

What to do:
Preheat the oven to 425!

Peel and dice your potatoes and carrots and put them in a pot with water. Bring the water to the boil (with all the stuff inside) and then turn down to medium-low for 8-10 minutes.
Then drain and put the potatoes and carrots aside in a bowl.

Put the corn and peas in a bowl and microwave them until they're warm. Then put them aside with the potatoes and carrots.

In a separate bowl or large measuring cup, take your cup of flour and add all the spices to it. (Put aside)

In another separate pitcher or bowl, mix the milk and chicken broth together too. (Put aside)

For cooking chicken, you can use Tysons Ready-Made chicken (cubed) OR you can make your own fresh chicken!  Making your own chicken is quick, but definitely do it NOW and not later J Take your raw chicken, cube it, season with ½ a tsp of salt, ½ tsp thyme, and ½ tsp garlic powder and then put it in an oiled pan on medium heat. Put the lid on the pan and let it cook for 7-9 minutes, stirring occasionally. Once it’s done, set this aside as well!

Next, put a deep skillet on the stove and on medium heat, melt all the butter and then add your onions to that. Heat until the onions are soft (about 3-5 minutes).. Then slowly add the flour mixture you've set aside. Mix mix mix! Then slowly add your milk/broth liquid. Mix mix mix!
Mix constantly for about 2 or 3 minutes... Or just until the mixture you just made thickens. Once it starts to thicken, add all your veggies and chicken and mix it all together.. And put the heat on low and let it all simmer together for 5-10 minutes.. Then take all this stuff off the heat and set aside.

Open up the pie crusts and place them in a pie tin (or whatever it's called lol that you bake a pie in) and then fill that with the stuff you just made from the stove-top. Fill aaaalmost to the top and then place the second pie dough roll on top of that and pinch the edges like you're making a regular pie lol. Remember to cut holes in the top so it doesn't explode in the oven.

Cook on 425 for 35-40 minutes! Enjoy!! 

Be careful because when you take it out it is PIPING hot! Lol kinda burned my tongue hah. Let me know how yours turns out! 

Pot Stickers at home!! YUM!

I haven't written anything in a long long time and I am sorry to my one reader :) but I’m back today. I’m wondering what to write about.. I’ve made quite a few new things but I only like to post my favorites. I think I should tell you about the pot stickers!! Asian cuisine has been the hardest for me not to mess up lol... so the fact that these came out so good is almost a miracle. Basically what I’m saying is that if iii can make this, you definitely can. OH and not only are the pot stickers awesome, but the sauce, omg.. the sauce. If it were socially acceptable, I would just drink the sauce. AND that’s the easiest part. I’m so excited..

This opening paragraph is short but that’s all I have to say lol

Stuff you will need:

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 – 1.5 bunches of scallions (scallions are the same thing as green onions. Also new news. Dipak and I love green onions so I always put way more than I need to) chopped small

2 cloves of fresh garlic (usually I use the pre-minced garlic in a jar, but for this recipe I use fresh garlic cloves!) mince. So what I finally learned that I feel like is common knowledge, is that when you take the papery part off the garlic.. here’s how: cut the little ends off the garlic clove, and then squish it with a wide bladed knife. It just squishes the paper off! It’s amazing J and your hands don’t get super sticky. (apparently garlic is sticky.. who knew)

1 package of ground pork, or chicken (the more fat the meat has, OBVIOUSLY the more delicious lol)

3.5 Tbsp of Hoisin sauce (in the ethnic isle.. it’s a salty Asian style sauce. They even have the sauce at our tiny Publix, so I’m sure it’ll be easy to find.)

3 tsp soy sauce (you can use low sodium, or regular. I found it makes zero difference :/which always confuses me but whatever)

1 tsp Chinese-5-spice (This is a powder style spice.. looks like cumin actually. I also found this in my ethnic isle.. I assume if you can find an Asian grocery store, they’ll have a more flavorful one. Mine is a little bland..)

1 egg

1 package of won-ton wrappers (I get the smaller squares. They have the ones that are the size of a spring roll, and smaller ones are like… 2.5 inches by 2.5 inches… that’s my best guess)

A little bowl of water (keep separate)

About ¼ cup of vegetable or canola oil. (I also don’t know the difference in using these… if anyone knows, help a girl out)

For the sauce:

1 little bowl

~ 1/8 cup Soy sauce (low sodium works best for the taste to come out right- and the amount is also up to you. You can make as little or as much of this sauce as you want. You can’t really do it wrong, I promise)

½ a lemon (juice)

½ tsp sriracha (that’s hot sauce.. I’m sure you knew that but just in case! And feel free to add less or more based on your taste J)

Normally I don’t actually suggest this myself but taste as you go for this sauce so you can get it just the way you like! I love it to be extra lemony and spicy!! Mmm! My mouth is watering just thinking about it hah.

Mix these 3 ingredients together with a fork. You're done!! Best and easiest sauce ever!

Here’s what you do:

First, you can use a Wok of course for the first step, but I suggest a deep skillet that has a lid. The lid is VERY important here… and a lot of surface area.

So put your big skillet on the stove and put the heat on medium/high. Add in your sesame oil and wait for it to heat up. Then add your scallions and garlic. (you can also add minced ginger to this part, but I hate ginger. Soo…. ) So add the scallions and garlic to the warm oil and let them heat up. This is to take the “bite” off the garlic and onions. Let them simmer for about 4-5 minutes or until they start to change colors. Take this scallion/garlic mix off the heat and set it aside in a bowl for a minute.

In a big bowl, dump the ground meat (either pork or chicken). Add in the hoisin sauce, soy sauce, and Chinese 5-spice. Dump the scallion/garlic mix into the raw meat bowl. Then add an egg on top.

Finally, take a spoon (I use a teaspoon) and stir all this stuff around the bowl until it’s all mixed together and gets kind of… goopy. It’s not going to look like hamburger meat if that’s what you're thinking. It looks more like pink sticky pudding. Lol that’s gross, but it’s true.

Now the part that takes forever.. let me explain it one by one and then you can figure out your own factory assembly line system. Place a wanton wrapper (flour side down.. one side of the wrapper will have a little more flour on it than the other.) put about half a teaspoon of your meat mixture in the center of your square of wanton wrapper. Then dip your finger in the water bowl and wet two adjoining sides of the wrapper. And then fold the square into a triangle.. (I hope that makes sense. I hate origami) squeeze the wanton sides together until it’s a little triangle pocket full of raw meat.

Set your little wanton aside in a plate and cover it with a wet paper towel. (that’s to keep it moist. Until you're done making 50 more of those)

Repeat the process until your meat is gone. And trust me, I know it looks like a LOT, but pot sticker left overs are AWESOME!! They re-heat well and that sauce… my fave.

Once you have a heaping plate of wrapped up pot stickers, you take it over to your skillet (the same one you heated up your scallions/garlic in) add a little regular oil and put the heat on high (maybe a LITTLE less than the highest setting). My pan can hold about 8 pot stickers at a time, so place them in (watch out for splattering oil) let them sit for 10 seconds and then pour a dollop of water into the pan and shut the lid real quick! This steams the pot stickers! Let them steam, untouched, for 6-7 minutes. When you open the lid again, the water will be gone. The bottom of the pot stickers will be crispy and the top will be soft and steamed.

Repeat this process until you're out of raw pot stickers! Serve with the awesome sauce! SO GOOD!! Good luck! And let me know how they turn out! 

this first picture is when i spent time trying to make the pot stickers look like restaurant style... its SO freaking hard and took WAY too much time. If I had like 10 helpers, maaaybe it would be worth it, but basically now I just make them like paper footballs. 

the pretty ones..  the usual ones :) -->

2 point Tilapia!

SO! I’m trying to trim down a little... okay AND im trying to eat something other than creamy cream with a side of mayo – eating healthy for me, is SO PAINFUL! In case you couldn’t tell from my previous recipes hah. But my sister and man have both expressed how scared they are that im going to drop dead from clogged arteries enough that now im trying… I started Weight Watchers, which I highly recommend because it’s structured and rational and something to follow that motivates me to snack healthier instead of having a family-size bag of chip. Tilapia is 2 points per fillet. (that’s why the name of this entry is 2pt tilapia.. fyi) So this is me, trying to be healthy..

Step one: trying to like fish. Every time my tiny gorgeous little sister and I go out to eat, I get fried something and steak, and she gets a house salad and the fish entrée. I 100% need to work on that. SO here I am, trying to like fish. I found out that there are different types of fish (duh) and they each taste .. get this.. different! (duh?) I dunno.. I assumed all fish taste like fish. Then I heard that tilapia and halibut DON’T taste like fish. So I started there. - Im still afraid of raw meat of any kind.. so for fish ive started with frozen fish at publix. They are each frozen in their own plastic casing, so you defrost them. To defrost, I put the fillets in a bowl of tap water for like 20 minutes. Because the fillets are so thin, they defrost really fast (again, I realize for people who cook all the time, these are stupid obvious facts. But a mere year ago, I would read recipes that just said “defrost meat” and I would think ‘how? Where? How long is this supposed to take? Im gonna poison us..’ so AGAIN, this blog is for the NEW cooks. If you're seasoned and know everything already just read the bold ingredients below and skip all this crap lol)

So, I defrost the fish. Then you cut the little package open, rinse it and lay it on a baking sheet. Eventually im gonna broil the fish (broil is a setting on the oven btw.. I never knew that either. I thought it was like BOILING.. because .. mostly because they sound the same :/ im ridiculous) I think you need a specific pan for “broiling”something, but I just use my baking sheet. (if that’s terrible, someone let me know!) anyway then I season them and broil them. This fish, I’ve learned, takes on the flavor of anything you put on it. So its actually awesome. (oh unless you fry it, then it tastes like fish)

Stuff you will need:

For the Sauce: (this is PER fillet. So if you're making 2, you double this. 3 and you triple this lol you get it)

1 HEAPING tbsp non-fat Greek Yogurt (you can also do 1 tbsp (not heaping) yogurt, and then 1 tsp low fat or non-fat mayo.. the mayo changes the consistency of the sauce and obv the taste, but not really. You CAN do without it. I’ve made it both ways, and theyre REALLY similar)

1 lemon (you need half the juice for the sauce, and half for the actual fillet)

1 tbsp Cajun spices (if you look at my Cajun-cream pasta recipe, it has the Cajun spice mix there. But im putting it here too because let’s be honest, who has time to search for things: 1 tsp salt, 1 tsp dried oregano, 1 ½ tsp paprika, ½ tsp cayenne, ½ tsp black pepper, ½ garlic powder. You can also make it in bigger quantities and use it on other stuff later- and I lessened the cayenne in this because it can get too intense w the fish)

For the Fish:

1 Fillet Tilapia (lol guess that’s obvious)

1 tsp EVOO (Extra virgin olive oil)

1 tsp Garlic salt

1 tsp Onion powder

1 tsp Black pepper

1 tbsp Parmesan cheese

Preheat: put the oven on Broil LOW (there are apparently two temperatures for broil. High and low. So for now, keep it on low.

Here’s what you do: take a little bowl and mix together your yogurt/mayo the spices and the lemon juice. Mix mix mix until it’s light pinkish and smooth :) and if you want it extra flavorful, throw more Cajun spice in there! Can’t really go wrong!

Put the fillet on the baking sheet and drizzle it with the olive oil. Then squeeze some of the other half of the lemon on it (save the rest of the lemon for the other side). Then sprinkle the fillet with half your garlic salt, onion powder and pepper. Then flip the fish over. On the other side, squeeze the rest of the lemon on it, then sprinkle the rest of your garlic powder and then onion powder and pepper.

THEN, take a spoonful of your sauce and plop it on top of your fillet. And spread it around.. you can spread it on pretty thick. It’s yogurt so it’s thick anyway, but when it’s all over the fish, you should only see yogurt, don’t make it so thin that you can see the fish underneath. I hope this makes sense… make it like ¼ of an inch thick LOL… this is more complicated than it needs to be haha..

Then grate parmesan on top of that sauce. – okay when I started this mess, I was like “FISH with CHEESE!? GROSS!”but its not. Its amazing. trust me. (I derived this recipe from like 5 other tilapia recipes that said to put parmesan on the fillet. I tried those first, all good.)

Take the baking sheet and put it in the oven on the top rack closest to the top of the oven. (I think that’s how the broiler works… I THINK.) so throw it all in there for 7-9 minutes and then put the broiler on HIGH for 2 minutes.

Take out, heat up some broccoli and rice and ENJOY :) also! Its awesome with hot sauce… specifically Cholula. Enjoy and lemme know how it turns out!!

(this pic is the tilapia with black-rice and cauliflower mash. fyi)

Holy slow cooker brisket Batman!!

It’s been a while ... but I finally made something blog worthy again :)

Lately I’ve been obsessed with brisket, and its expensive and hard to find a restaurant that serves a really good one.. so I thought I’d give it a go. also I’ve never used a slow cooker, but my cousin Nedda from Canada got me one, and she’s kind of a master chef, so I figure if SHE says it’ll work out, it must be worth a try.

Okay so I started off by going to Publix (again, our grocery store here in florida) and asked the Butcher lady for 3 pounds of beef brisket. She pointed me to the ground beef and said its right there.. duh. I didnt even look! But then when i came home, I realized I should’ve asked her to cut the fat off, because then iiii had to do it, and 1. It’s so gross. and 2. It’s freakin hard to do!! basically I hacked up the slab of beef pretty badly and it looked terrible :/ but it was my first time and whatever lol.. I figured out later that the meat looks better once its cooked, even if you do hack it all up. Also you’ll want them to leave SOME fat on, because lets be serious: fat = delicious, delicious flavor.

 

Moving on – Using a slow cooker is SUPER EASY! (as I wrote to my friend Audrey) it would’ve been super easy for me if I hadn’t babysat it for 6 hours.. I sat there and watched it, and smelled it, and fussed over it up until it had 20 minutes left – it was an exhausting day. Anyway, if I hadn’t been so obsessive, I can totally see how using a slow cooker is really easy. ALSO! I THINK, a slow cooker, and a crock pot are the same exact thing. I wish someone would explicitly said that somewhere, or at least not come up with 2 similar names for the same thing.. if there is a difference, can someone tell me please?

So I’ll get to it, it’s SO EASY you won’t believe it.

Ingredients you’ll need:

 

3lbs Beef brisket (this will feed 6 regular people. Or 4 boys)

1 yellow onion (cut coarsely- and if you love onions cut them bigger, you’ll be able to find them more easily lol)

2 cloves of garlic (I usually use the jarred already-minced garlic, but for THIS, I busted out the fresh garlic. Peel two cloves, and you can smoosh them, or you can mince them.. I minced because I don’t have a crusher)

2 cups of low sodium chicken broth

Spices to rub on the Brisket:

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Salt

Chili Powder

Basil

Oregano

Onion powder

So First things first, cut up the onions and garlic and throw them in the crock-pot/slow cooker lol. Then take the big slab of meat out and sprinkle it generously with salt and pepper. Seriously, one thing I learned from the saddest experience is that if you under-salt meat (especially red meat) it tastes terrible! So salt the crap out of it! And then rub the brisket with the other spices. I feel the same way about red meat that I do about chicken. Its super gross and I can’t touch it without making a face. So I have gloves. If you’ve already read my other blog entries then this is old news, but if you haven’t, then this is very useful! Buy disposable latex gloves basically anywhere (Publix, Safeway, Target, Costco, CVS…anywhere) and use them when handling meat. It makes the experience SO MUCH LESS disgusting.

After you rub the brisket down w the spices, put it in the crockpot with the onions and garlic. Then pour the chicken broth on top and set the pot to high for 6-7 hours!

….that’s IT. That’s literally it. You're done. Then you can go about your life for the day, and it’s amazing. One thing I learned: if some of the meat isn't covered by the broth, it’ll be okay, it still turns out moist and pull-apart delicious.

If you try this! Let  me know how yours turns out! :)

Best Burger EVER!

Helllooo my one follower :) i love you!

so i had to get back on here to share my amazing burger recipe!! dipak is convinced that red meat in any form other than a burger is going to give us both cancer.. so burger it is! :D

lately ive tried quite a few recipes that im in love with... this is at the TOP of that list.. so im just going to get right into it. i dont have any anecdotes to share today lol

okay so there are 2 things you can do with the ground beef.. apparently you can go to the store, pick up a pound of beef and then ask the butcher to 1/2 it for you and then you only have to buy half of it!!! which i didnt know at ALL! so you could do THAT! OR you can buy the pound, and then take half, stick it in a plastic ziplock bag and put it in the freezer and have it for up to a month!! (maybe more... i know you can keep chicken for THREE months... can you do that w beef too? i dunno yet) you can take it out anytime and defrost it (put it in a bowl of cold water for a couple hours) and then use it again! its pretty amazing.. thats how all my chicken is being saved and used now'a days!

so my recipe is for a whole pound of meat bc i forgot that we're only 2 people and wont eat the whole thing hah.. so if youre only gonna make 1/2 then 1/2 the rest of the recipe too..
also! when i say 1 tsp, i mean a flat tsp. not a heaping one... otherwise ill say "heaping". - and the reason for the specification this time is that im putting a measurement for the salt and i dont want to over salt it.. altho.... if you UNDER-salt beef, its pretty disgusting :/ thats my experience talking.

So the ingredients you will need (in addition to GLOVES!!!) are:

1 pound of ground beef (which means one packet btw) - oh and get the one thats 15% fat.. not super lean :/ lol bc im sorry but it just tastes better!!
1 fresh jalapeno (minced tiiiiny)
1/2 an onion (diced- which means cut up small, but bigger than a "mince") - also im pretty sure you already know all these things, but i didnt at ALL, so im just saying it again in case lol
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp worcestershire sauce (it smells like A1 sauce but the consistency is like water.. its a flavor buddy lol -- being brought up by immigrant parents, we have never heard of worcestershire sauce... which is why i just explained what it is)
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp seasoning salt (apparently its different than regular salt.. didnt know this existed either)
1 egg

k so you take a big mixing bowl, bc you dont want any meat-juice splatter :/ BLEKH..
open the package of ground beef, and dump it into the bowl.. add everything to the bowl and then put your gloves on!! lol.. Squish it all around until its all mixed together evenly..

then put a skillet on the stove and put the heat on medium/low (closer to medium than low tho but still) grease the pan.. and then make a little patty with your gloved hands and then slap it on the pan. use a spatula to turn the patty after about 4 minutes.. i think about 4 or 5 minutes on each side is right.. but you determine for yourself... also bc im scared of eating raw meat and dying, i always half cut open the meat when i thiiink its done to check if its still pink inside. it makes the burger less pretty but who cares lol.

k also! when youve flipped the patty once, put a big piece of cheese on top of it (if you like cheese of course hah) and if your skillet has a top, put it on. ALSO! if you have a spray bottle... or even just use your hands.. drip or spray some water close to or on the burger and itll steam like crazy... catch the steam with the pot-top and close it over the burger... the steam makes the cheese meltier and also makes the burger extra moist!! OMG i want one again right now!

and i had gotten sourdough bread, and made the burger with that.. and it was AMAZING!!! i swear it was the bread and the meat that made it amazing.. whereas usually for me, its the cheese and mayo! lol

anyway im STOKED for you to try this!! let me know how yours turns out!!

Chili!! with or without meat!

so on tuesdays Dipak doesnt eat meat.. its a religious thing, and i respect it. it also gets me off my red meat obsession once a week lol which couldnt hurt. so while dipak was slaving away at school, i was schlepping on the couch trying to think of a vegetarian meal that would fill us both up AND (not to be too immature but) wouldnt make me gag :|

my friend Natasha said that the one healthy meal her bf likes is this turkey chili she makes. her bf and i have the same unhealthy taste in food. so it got me thinking.. i could do veggie chili and make corn bread that would un-health-ify it so id like it more too :)

ive never made chili so i was stressing it wouldnt turn out good, so i got two lean cuisines just in case hah. but it turned out great!! and i know it'd turn out even better with real meat. (i got fake ground beef for the meal- i prefer Morning Star brand for my fake-meat products btw) - oh! and i almost had a bean-catastrophe! so i had a packet of dry red beans already in my pantry so i thought ill try and use it in the recipe. the back of the packet of beans said "soak in hot water for 2 minutes" - i thought omg how easy! ive been avoiding this for no reason! ... yeah. i was wrong. i ended up soaking the beans in boiling water for like... over an hour! maybe even 2 hours! it was nuts! after two minutes, the beans were as hard as peanuts! and they looked so gross.. i ended up texting my friend and my neighbor asking how im supposed to do this.. basically you just wait. lol so it IS easy, but it just takes forever. BUT dipak was stuck in lab for just long enough, so its all good hah

okay so for meatless chili i used these ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil 
1/2 an onion (minced) 
1 tbsp garlic (minced) 
1/2 of a green bell pepper
1/2 of a red bell pepper 
1/4 cup of vegetable broth or stock (i have learned now that stock is more saturated than broth, so it tastes more flavorful but also has more calories.. just fyi lol)
about 2 cups or 16oz of crushed tomatoes (they come in these huge cans that are like 32 ounces, but i only used about half of it for this recipe- but you can also eye-ball it. the tomato sauce will be the base of your chili. so add as much as you want to make yknow? itll make more sense when youre doing it)
1 packet of McCormicks Original Chili spices (im pretty sure thats cheating, but ive never made this before and it was on kinda short notice lol)
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp chili powder
about 1/4 cup of red beans (okay iiim pretty sure you can also just buy a can of pinto beans or kidney beans in a can, drain them and dump them in your chili and let them sit in the pot bc the ones in the can are already smushy bc theyve been soaking for months.... ew. i just grossed myself out hahaha... i mean theyre fine to use. so im assuming you can do that too! drain them, and use however much you want. im not the biggest bean fan in general, so i tend to use less) 
1 packet of Morning Star crumbled meat (which also sounds gross lol so if you want to use real meat, i dont blame you haha but it was pretty good! its NOT meat! so even tho it looks like it, dont expect a meat taste or texture. but its not gross.. and it doesnt take away from the flavor. so really its just a little more substance in the chili to make it more hearty)

IF YOURE COOKING DRY BEANS: begin your whole journey by soaking your beans in hot water! put a pot on the stove, turn the heat to high and dump in your beans. once the water starts boiling, turn it down to med/low and let them sit there forever! check on them in an hour and see how firm they still are. im PRETTY sure mine soaked for over an hour and a half! if you want to use canned beans, ill just write that into the recipe below :)

TO ACTUALLY CREATE THE CHILI: start with the first ingredients. heat on medium. oil in your pot, throw in your onions. sprinkle a little salt on your onions. i saw on a cooking show that salting the onions while theyre cooking makes them more flavorful, and dipak loooves his onions. so i figure, why not! then add your garlic and peppers. let them simmer together and get smelly and delicious! (that takes about 5 minutes in my opinion lol.. make sure to stir frequently so they dont burn) Then throw in your vegetable stock. turn the heat to medium/low and let this all sit for about 5 minutes.

then pour in the whole packet of chili spice. i was wondering what makes chili that color... this combination of spices does. mystery solved. so pour in your spice and mix mix mix. once its all dissolved into your veggie broth concoction, add your crushed tomato sauce. stir that all around and then turn the heat to low and let it sit there. add all of your spices to this; garlic powder, salt, garlic salt, cayenne... let it simmer.

if youre using canned beans, i think you should drain and add them now. if not, wait until your beans are smushy enough and then add them whenever theyre ready.

IF YOU USE REAL MEAT: i think what i'll do next time is take a packet of ground beef, chicken or turkey.. throw it in a skillet with a little oil on the bottom. hit it with garlic salt, pepper, cayenne and maybe a sprinkle of your chili spice packet (optional) and let it brown up while you break it apart. then when its fully cooked, throw it in the chili you just made and let it all simmer together for a while. 

when you have all your chili pieces in one pot.. let it all simmer together for 10 minutes on super low. after i was completely done with my chili, i had to turn off the heat and wait for dipak to get home, so i had to re-heat it, but it was AWESOME anyway :) and i grated cheese on top and made corn bread (which is like my 4th or 5th recipe on here) and it was soo gooood!

let me know how it goes :) and what you added to make it better! i need more tips!

Adventures in QUINOA :)

i know i havent written in a long time but honestly whos reading this anyway lol.. recently dipak has been on a super health kick!! first things first, if you know me personally or have ever read my blog you should know that "healthy food" is generally NOT on my menu... or even near my menu really :/ anyway, im trying to cope. so i have discovered quinoa! and. im in love! :) it tastes like a mix between rice and pasta! and you make it about the same way too!

we've also bought cottage cheese, egg whites, hummus, boost (the old people drinks w extra protein), and a bunch of other things i would never eat. :/ altho i did start having the chocolate boost and.... its pretty good. maybe bc my mom used to feed my sister and me those old people drinks when we were little bc we were underweight hah... guess im nostalgic lol

so anyway, ive started using quinoa which is pronounced "keen-wah", not kwin-oh-ah like i thought. lol i learned that from an episode of White Collar. i learn a lot from TV. like gas is odorless!- friends. you can make a car bullet proof with phone books- burn notice. fig newtons werent named after issac newton- big bang theory. julius caesar invented a salad- how i met your mother lol some facts are less useful/true than others haha..

okay so today im going to give you the quinoa cake recipe with a lemon aioli! which btw is my new favorite dinner :) its so freakin goooood!

the ingredients youll need:

2 cups cooked Quinoa (i thought they meant cook 2 cups.. they really mean, cook about 3/4 of a cup. when its cooked it more than doubles in size! so i ended up with about 5 cups of quinoa the first time lol)
1 cup of grated fontina cheese (however when i was in london visiting my sis-in-law, i couldnt find fontina. i used chedder and it was awesome anyway.. so basically a cup of your favorite shredded cheese)
3 tbsp of flour (i used wheat flour in london and white flour in america haha and both were great)
2 green onions (finely chop)
1 egg (lightly beaten - and to get extra food-glue, ive been adding a splash of egg white only)
2 tbsp black pepper
salt to taste (i generally do like 1 level tbsp)

so start off making your quinoa! i noticed that some packets tell you how to make it, and others dont, so in case you dont know how to make it... heres how: pour one cup of quinoa in a pot, and add two cups of water to it. set the burner to high and when it starts to boil, turn it to medium and let it soak up the water and get puffier. generally from beginning to end it takes me about 15 minutes to make one cup of quinoa. and when you cook ONE cup, it makes about 2.5 cups of cooked quinoa. so itll be perfect for the rest of your recipe :)

now that you have your cooked quinoa, put it in a bowl and add your other ingredients right on top. i then put on gloves but if youre not insane like me, just stick your hand in there and squish it all around until its all mixed together and looks like... maybe like a cross between ground meat and latkes before you fry them lol

there is no finesse to this portion of the cooking btw. just dump and mix :) - and the best thing about this recipe is that you can make this part like in the afternoon and then fry each one up when people are waiting for dinner bc its pretty quick :)

whist that is sitting around soaking up flavor, you can make your lemon aioli! i have learned that i loooooove aioli. actually i already kinda knew that lol but i didnt think iii could make it AND love it too! but it was pretty impossible to eff up so yeah lol ..

youll need:

1/2 cup light mayo (i made it with full fat mayo too and obviously it was better, but the light mayo is actually pretty flavorful too... in fact its almost the same)
1 tbsp garlic (i have also learned that you can always add as much garlic as you want and youll never ruin the food :))
1 lemon (a little zest if you have the little zester, and the juice)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (it wont make it spicy.. must be something about the mayo that sucks up the spice or something)
1/4 tsp chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

for the ailoi, you just dump all of these into your blender and puree your heart out! then i put it into a little bowl and let it chill for about an hour while i cleaned up and made the quinoa cakes.

when youre ready to pan fry your quinoa cakes, take a skillet that might fit three small patties in it and put the heat on med/high. add about 2 tbsp of oilve oil and let it heat up. then (with my gloves!) take a little handful of your goopy quinoa concoction and roll it into a ball in your hand and then squish it down into a patty and place it into the oil. if you think you can toss it into the oil without burning yourself, youd be wrong :|

let the patties sit in the little bit of oil for a couple minutes on each side. dont let it get too too crispy tho. i thought at first that the crispier it is, the better, but its just not true. the flavor is so good, youll want to actually taste the quinoa and not just burnt cheese lol which is also yummy hah

i take a paper towel and when i move the cakes off the pan, i put them on a paper towel to catch any excess oil. i re-oil the pan every other time pretty much..

theyre awesome!! and not bad for you :) AND pretty filling! so make them and enjoy :) let me know how it goes!

this was my first batch btw.. so i had burnt them a little :/ they were still delicious