Ketching Up

Dear Mountain of Homework Sitting Next to Me,

I promise I will get to you soon. First I have some beaning to catch up on. I won't be wordy, because I have a cold that's making my head feel like a balloon (Pink Floyd reference buried in there somewhere)...

Buffalo Chicken Enchiladas...4 Beans. They were good, they looked good, I would make them again.

Bacony Pan-Roasted Brussel Sprouts...I sort of adapted this from a number of Pinterest Recipes. Cook bacon, then cook sprouts. Super, super yummy. This is the way to cook sprouts for people who have convinced themselves that they hate sprouts.

Seared Ahi Tuna with Wasabi Cream....it only got 3 Beans. Here's where my true novice chefosity comes shining through - I've always been scared to cook tuna. "Cook" being relative because now that I know how little it gets cooked I feel silly. Wasabi tuna is Matt's favorite dish to order at one of our favorite restaurants, and I wanted to recreate it. This recipe, not so much. It was eh, but I wanted to share it anyway, because hey, we're nothing if not honest. (And yes, by golly, there's a lot of white on this plate. I served it with rice and mashed cauliflower - both white. So sue me.)

Sweet and fiery pork stir fry...3.5 Beans. This is from one of my favorite websites, Skinnytaste. The recipe originally called for a pork tenderloin but I had chops so I used chops and called it a stir fry. In my book, anything with Sriracha is good.

Some sweets for the sweet...Valentine's Day was a great excuse for me to make tons of things for my lovies that I tortured myself by not eating. I cover everything I can in white chocolate, including popcorn - it's my fave. Mix in whatever's appropriate for the season...in this case, pink sparkles and romantic candy corn.

Also, Strawberry Fudge. I accidently did taste this and it got rave reviews. Definitely giving this 5 Beans and I can't wait to try it with different flavor combos.

My homework is screaming at me. Buh bye.

Notsosuper Bowl...but the food was good.

Poor Patriots. Poor Patriots Fans.

Let's move on. I cooked tons and lots on Sunday, here's a smidge of a sample:

These are called Slutty Brownies. I feel cheap even typing that. Katie and I had an interesting text exchange about why they might be called that, which I won't share. Chocolate chip cookie dough topped with Double Stuff stopped with brownie mix. I mean, it sounds heavenly.

However, they just didn't work out so well. I found the recipe with a random Google search. The brownie part didn't bake and the cookie part burned to black. Alas, I scraped the burnt and they still tasted amazinggrace, as evidenced by the quote "Leah, you need to open a bakery."

We made delicious ribs, super buffalo wing dip (a football staple), fantastic wings...you know, the regs. A yummy new bonus - Baked Asiagio and Caramelized Onion Hummus Dip. It was really very good. (Here it is, with celery, because I had a carb-freeish Super Bowl.)

Fluffernutter Bars. It's a Pinterest Recipe...I've got to give it 4 Beans because just like the Sl*tty Brownies, something didn't work. They tasted GREAT, though.

Finally, though a bit out of order, what Superbowl party would be complete without Firecracker Shrimp? This is one of my alltime favorite P-Dubs recipes - find it here. And put them in a Patriots cup. Because why wouldn't you? (PS...I make this way easier for myself than she does - I literally put the shrimp in a ziplock, squirt in the sriracha, prechopped garlic, and olive oil, and shake it up.)

HA

Text from Leah to Kate:

"Do they have like different time units in England?  Because the slutty brownies say 30 minutes and the inside is still raw after I've cooked them like 7 times."

Chocolate Lava Cake

Oh, friends.  I'm willing to work very, very hard in the kitchen to come up with something delicious.  Once in a while, something magical happens, and something delicious AND easy comes along.

You'll see when I post the recipe that I used.

Pull out the crockpot and throw that sucker on high.  Cry a little bit that our beloved Green Bay Packers aren't in the Super Bowl tomorrow (but then get a little bit happy for Leah that the Patriots are. Blah. Whatevs.)

Here are the ingredients, and no, I'm not kidding.  Yep, that's a cake mix, pudding mix, and a bag of chocolate chips.

You'll also need 3 eggs, 1/2 cup of vegetable oil, and 2 cups of milk.  But come on....how easy does this look?

First, make the cake batter as directed, and pour it into the crock pot. 

Then do the same with the pudding. No need for a new bowl!

 Just make it as directed, and pour that on top of the cake batter.

I told you this would be a test of your Cooking Skillz.  Now, pour a bag of chocolate chips on top of the whole mess.  (I bet you could really rock your world if you did white chocolate, peanut butter, or butterscotch chips. Woot!)

This is what it looks like.

Put the lid on, and let this rip on high for about 2 hours; the directions say 2.5 hours, but I think that's a little long for my crock pot - it runs hot.  I let mine go on high for 2 hours, then turned it down to low.

Here's the magic that greeted me after 2.5 hours.  You cannot imagine the smell.  Swoon.

Gooey, chocolatey, warm, melty goodness.  Cakey outside and velvety, soft inside. Eat it with some good vanilla ice cream.  Die happy.

Here is the official recipe that I found on a message board.  I was so lazy that I just took a screen shot.  I hope you can decipher the complicated instructions.

I think you could go crazy with different combinations of cake mix, pudding, and chips.  I went crazy putting it in mah belleh.

I had it for dinner tonight.  And dessert.  Don't judge me.

Official rating? 5 beans.  Want to rate it yourself?  Go HERE.

Stuffed Chicken....and stuff

The arrival of Pinterest in my life has been extremely helpful with menu planning and grocery shopping. (And also procrastinating big books I have to read for homework.) I'm not usually a big fan of stuffed chicken breasts, because I find it hard to guage when they're done without mutilating them into notprettiness. I did it anyway, and here I present to you Pecan Crusted Bleu Cheese and Bacon Stuffed Chicken, with Southern Fried Cabbage on the side.

First, the cabbage. If you know me in real life, or even not,

you know I adore cabbage, mostly for it's no cal no carbs no anythingness. Here is my new favorite way to cabbage cabbage....

Fry up a few slices of bacon, add some chopped up cabbage, salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning (I didn't have any so I made it myself - 1 tsp. white pepper, 1 tsp. garlic powder, 1 tsp. onion powder, 1 tsp. ground red pepper, 1 tsp. paprika, 1 tsp. black pepper.)

Simmer on low for 30 minutes then add 2tsp of cider vinegar

- voila. IT IS SO GOOD, SEE?

If you happen to have your vegetarian friend's dog over for a playdate, he will love you for cooking bacon in his presence...

Next, the stuffy chicken. I'll link the actual recipe below so I don't have to go into great detail here. Basically, you chop up some pecans, mix up some spices, and make your own honey mustard.

While I was cooking tonight, I decided I wanted to share my ridiculous spice organization with you. Look at this. It's a giant basket with some spices peeking out. Every time I want to find something I have to take the basket down and take seriously EVERY bottle out because the one I want is ALWAYS at the bottom.

Anyway. Then you get to stuff your chicken with a lovely bleu cheese and bacon mixture....

I mean, there are probably other words to describe a picture of a slab of raw chicken besides lovely. But you get the point. And yes, of course I washed my hands before I picked up the camera, geesh.

And here we have it. It's SO GOOD. Matt gave it a "This is kickass" - which I translate to 5 Beans, both recipes. Here is the link to the chicken. And after you do that...go repin and use our rating system here.

Coconut Crusted Tilapia

So, it's been awhile, faithful readers.  With that said, I'm going to make my first-in-a-million-years-recipe an original one.  I looked around online, but couldn't find a recipe with what I had in the pantry, and I have a broken-down rig at the moment.

I had to reach into the recesses of the old noggin, and come up with something on my own.  As rusty as I am, this turned out beautifully.  Easy enough for a weekday, and nice enough for company. 

Toasted Coconut Tilapia with Spicy Apricot Sauce


Crank the oven to 350 degrees.  First, toast your coconut.  Put sweetened, shredded coconut on a baking sheet in a single layer.  Watch it carefully; it can burn quickly.  Stir it around a bit every few minutes; the edges will brown before the middle does.

Toast it until it looks like this-ish.

Food process or blend the hell out of the toasted coconut, and mix it with a couple of tablespoons of flour.

I used filets of tilapia, but you could use any mild, white fish for this.  Set up your breading station; one plate with plain cornstarch, one with beaten egg, and one with the flour/coconut mixture.

Dip each filet in the cornstarch (shaking off the excess), then the egg (same) and finally the flour/coconut.  Really get some coconut on it. Place each one on a foil-lined baking sheet.  (Easy cleanup; you're welcome!)

Dot each filet with butter, and bake it for 8-10 minutes, depending on how thick your fish is.  When it flakes easily, it's done.

While your fish is cooking, make your sauce.  In a saucepan over medium heat, whisk together apricot preserves (peach would be great, too), 2 tablespoons of soy sauce, and 1 tablespoon of red pepper flakes (more or less, depending on how hot you want it).  I think I tossed some sriracha in, too, and whisked in a bit of butter at the end.  I was in the mood for spice! And butter! And also in the mood to take terrible pictures, apparently!

Side note: my sauce is more red because I didn't have but a tiny bit of apricot preserves so I threw some raspberry jam in.  I am nothing if not flexible.

thatswhatshesaid

When your fish is done, drizzle it with a healthy amount of sauce, and top with some more toasted coconut.

I think this picture speaks for itself, but this is a Five Bean recipe.  Make it!  Now!

Like a phoenix rising, we are

It's hard to believe neither of us have cooked or eaten for the last million months. Luckily, we're back with a vengeance and ready to rock your loveybean worlds with our culinary prowess and jaw-dropping wit.

We've each lost 83 pounds, on account of the not eating. See how we suffer for you? If we don't have time to take pictures and add brilliant commentary, WE DON'T EAT.

In case you don't know us, we're Leah and Kate. We met over gingerbread martinis way back in the day and the foodieconvo never stopped. One of us lives in New Hampshire and the other lives in Wisconsin, so the live cooking opps are rare - and actually, when we are together, we go out to eat.

Although booze is our first and true love, we do sometimes cook and eat actual food. We used to post what we ate for dinner every day, but then figured that no one needed the recipe for a martini and frosting out of the can.

Have you heard about our new loveybeans rating system for Pinterest? It goes like this:

We all pin delicious looking recipes (and if you don't, you should.) If you're like us, you wonder if anyone is really cooking, or just wiping the drool off of the space bar. Once this patented rating system sweeps Pinterest, because duh, it will, our wonderments will cease.

I wish we spent as much time actually cooking as we do pinning, but that will never, ever happen. We have, however, started to actually make some of our pinned recipes, and dutifully report to each other what is a "must cook" and what is a "stay away or you'll barf" recipe. We are now going to share that with you, with no less swearing.