Wholly Gaucamole!

One of my favorite things I found at Sam's Club (Ive seen them at Kroger too) are 100 calorie packs of guacamole. I love me some GAUC, but I don't like to make it because it goes bad so quickly. Yes, Ive heard those tricks about leaving the pit in but these packs are so easy! They are great for dipping chips or veggies in or even a healthier substitute for mayo on your sandwich.

Not gonna lie Im excited to bring them to work for lunch

I confess, I saw them on a biggest loser commercial first

I mixed in some mango salsa with 2 or 3 packs for some company

Poached eggs with pasta and asparagus

This is super simple, I promise! I cant remember where I got this recipe but Ive made it twice now and it always makes me feel fancy. I would love to make this for company because I feel like it would be an easy, impressive thing to make.

3 eggs

1/2 lb linguine

3 C asparagus, chopped

2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

1 T EVOO

1 T butter

parmesan cheese

salt and pepper

Boil the pasta as usual and save about 1/2 C of the water before draining. While that is cooking heat the oil in the pan over medium heat. Add in the garlic and asparagus until soft and browned. This takes about 6-7 minutes and set aside.

Using the same pan, fill with hot water and bring to a simmer to poach the eggs. I didn't get a chance to snap a picture of this part and I'm kind of bummed so I decided to attach a website for you. I learned online and was excited that it is much easier than I thought. Don't be intimidated, eggs are cheap so practice on a Saturday morning.
http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_poached_eggs/


After you drain the pasta throw it back in the pot with the excess water and add in the asparagus with a little bit of butter. I usually would leave out the butter but I figured a little bit wouldn't hurt this time and it was worth it.

Definitely use a slotted spoon for the eggs so you can just transfer the eggs straight to the top of you pasta. Sprinkle with some salt, pepper, and cheese. I think next time I will used shaved parmesan because I just think it looks even fancier, however it was still delicious!

Chocolate peanut butter banana chips

Flipping through the channels on a lazy summer morning I stumbled upon "5 ingredient fix" on the Food Network. The simplicity of the Memphis Banana Bites inspired me to give it a go. 

All I did was melt semi sweet chocolate over a double boiler and mixed in some peanut butter. While that is melting, I layed out the banana chips over some wax paper on a plate or cookie sheet. When the chocolate mixture is smooth, I poured it in a large plastic bag and cut off a small corner. Make sure you snip off a corner AFTER the mixture is in the bag. (I fold over the edges of the bag just in case the mixture hits the sides of the bag on the way in.)

A double boiler uses the steam from the boiling water below so make sure you arnt boiling your glass bowl.

 

 

 In the Food Network recipe she makes little banana sandwiches but I had to adapt because my chocolate mixture was too warm. It wouldn't stop in between each chip and was looking really messy. So I decided to just smother it over all of them, put another layer of chips on top and drizzle (with a heavy hand) on some more chocolaty goodness. 

A thank you to my sister for letting me use her kitchen and a shout out to girls nights!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/claire-robinson/memphis-banana-bites-recipe/index.html

St. Patricks Day

 I was out grocery shopping the weekend before St. Patty's day and came up with the brilliant idea of making corned beef at home this year. Last year we went out and had the normal St. Patricks day dinner and a green beer. This year I was so pumped to try it on my own. Needless to say I had about four days of this excitement brewing inside of me giddy to try this yummy dish with a whole day stamped to it.

Well I thought I was just going to throw everything in the crock pot and have Lee turn it on before work. I didn't plan very well and lets just say that didn't happen but Lee reassured me as I was falling asleep Wednesday night that he had it all covered. So the next day I texted him at lunch, obnoxiously wanting to know how my big dinner idea was turning out. I just wanted some details! Lets just say he got the gist of how excited I was. Well since he didnt want to listen to how excited I was I  turned to my cousin/friend/coworker (frousin) and invited her and her husband over for an impromptu dinner. 

This is what I came home to... and a big case of beer!

 My sister just so happened to call and I, with all of my excitement, said 'hey do you want to come over?' And with that we had two more dinner guests.... and another trip to the grocery store.

Here I was thinking we had a whole pot full of food and Lee says umm were going to need more. This is when I realized how much more he knew about this than me! He reminded me how he used to make this all the time at his job in high school.  So I quickly ran up to the corner and grabbed another head of cabbage, a bag of potatoes, and another four pound brisket. I will tell you that I learned from my mistakes of just grabbing a piece of meat before checking them out. Our first batch, pictured above, was DELICIOUS! Our second however, was way too fatty. I didn't take the time to pick out a good piece, bummer.  Ive always been intimidated looking for what parts of the cow to buy! Or whatever kind of pork/beef/shoulder/ribs/ground round... the list goes on for me. Yes, yes I'm well aware that pork and beef are from two different animals, I just don't understand the cuts and I'm scared of the meat counter. 

Luckily our guests were coming for a late night dinner and arrived just in time for the second batch. Lets just say it was a fun night and you don't need to go to the bar to get a green beer.

Sweet and Salty

I grew up on air popped popcorn with melted butter on the stove. Mmm, I can smell it and hear my dad yelling "Who wants popcorn?" Recently I have learned how to cook it on the stove. To my surprise I like the taste better than the air popped and definitely healthier than the microwave. The other night I found myself wanting something sweet and salty and googled kettle corn recipes. I was excited because the only thing different than the stove top was adding in some sugar. So I tried it, it wasn't perfect but for a first attempt it was good enough to eat.

I normally just put a little bit of veggie oil in the bottom of a medium sized pot on medium heat. I drop in 3 or 4 kernels and wait for the oil to get hot and the kernels to pop. Once hot stir in the sugar and the kernels. I gave it a good stir for a minute or so then put on the top and shook it until the popping slowed to a few seconds apart. I'm still playing with the amount of sugar. It called for the same amount of sugar as kernels (1/2 C of sugar, 1/2 C of kernels). I cut the sugar in half and it was still to much for me. Be very careful not to let the sugar burn, just keep shaking and pour into a bowl right after the popping slows. Top with salt if you'd like, or not.

1/4 C veg. oil
1/4 C white sugar
1/2 C unpopped kernels