Sopaipillas

Sopaipillas is spanish for: little pillows of AWESOME. Well that's a rough translation, but it means something similar to that. These are so cool, they're like deep fried pillows of dough, but at the same time, they aren't donuts. So what the heck are they?! Awesome. That's what.

Adapted from Home of the Lazy Dog

1 cup flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1 Tbsp shortening

1/3 cup warm water

oil for frying

combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Then cut in the shortening. I added a bit more than 1 Tbsp because I was using gluten free flour.

Slowly mix in the warm water, stirring with a fork. It should be crumbly, and won't have formed into a ball yet. I also added a bit more water because gf flour tends to need more. Knead dough for 3 minutes or until soft.

Cover and let sit for 10 minutes. After it's rested, roll dough out and cut into squares. I found that they puff up better when rolled really thin, so rolllllll away!

Heat up oil in a skillet, when the oil is hot, add a couple squares. Cook them for 1-2 minutes, then flip them over. Mine didn't puff up that much, I blame the gf flour, so if you are making these with real flour, that shouldn't be an issue.

Drain them on paper towels. When they're cool enough to eat, sprinkle some powdered sugar on it. OR bite off a corner and fill it with honey. AMAZING

XOXO

Natalie

I'm an American

UGH I am having the worst day ever. And the next week and a half isn't going to make it any better. I can't wait for summer, but I really don't want to have to finish this quarter! So much work! So little time! I've got three more papers to write and three more tests to take. There just aren't enough hours in the day. Also I spend most of the day being lazy and thinking that I should probably start working. But anyway! If I don't post a lot in the next couple weeks, its because my life is falling apart and won't be put back together again until the summer. nothing to worry about. Speaking of summer, here is an amazing summer-y dish that everybody will love. And if they don't love it, then they can not rightly call themselves American. Cause this is America and we eat apple pie. I've posted an apple pie recipe on this blog before, but this is my new favorite! I mean, come on...look at it!

So without further ado--here is my caramel apple pie!

Adapted from Fleur D'Elise

1 pie crust (This is my fav crust)

3-4 lb apples, peeled, cored, cubed

1 stick butter

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp flour

1 tsp cinnamon

Juice of one lemon

1 egg

milk

Sugar

In a big bowl, combine peeled, cubed apples with the lemon juice. Be careful not to get any seeds in there! In a large pan, seriously it needs to be big, melt the butter and brown sugar together over low heat. When they are melted together, add the apples and cook for 10-15 minutes, until the apples are tender but not mushy. Stir them occasionally so that they are coated in the caramel. When the apples are done, pour them and the juice onto a foil lined baking sheet. Sprinkle with the flour and cinnamon and toss to coat. Let the apples cool until they are at room temperature, about 45 minutes. After the apples have cooled, prepare the pie crust and put it in the pie pan. Pour the apples and the juice into the pie crust and then put the second crust on top.

Cut a couple lines in the top so the steam can escape. In a small bowl combine the egg with a bit of milk and brush over the top of the crust. Then sprinkle sugar on top so that it will get nice and brown.

Bake at 425F for 25 minutes, then turn the heat down to 350F and bake for another 25-30 minutes.

I wouldn't recommend eating this right out of the oven. Mine was cooling for about 2 hours and it ended up being at just the right temperature.

Hope you like it! (you will)

XOXO

Natalie

Spaghetti and Meatballs

I love pasta. I love it. A lot. I know that pastas bad for you because it's all carbs or whatever, but I'm totally addicted. Gimme a big old bowl of pasta and tomato sauce and I'm a happy girl. Last weekend, after the barbeque, we had a lot of left over ground beef. Usually when that happens, I just make some meat sauce to throw on top of pasta, but I wanted to do something different this time. So I made spaghetti and meatballs! And they were sooooo good. I can safely say that this is MY recipe. Usually the things I post on this blog are slightly altered recipes I found online. But this time, I looked up cooking times and changed the recipe so much, it had absolutely nothing in common except ground beef and Parmesan. So here's my original meatball recipe!

1 lb ground beef

Plenty of Seasoning mix (Whatever your favorite is, I used pappy spice. Just add however much you want really.)

chopped onion (optional, I just think it would work really well with this)

1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

1 egg

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1/2 cup oats

Mix together the beef, seasoning, onion (if you're using it), and worcestershire. Then blend in the egg, cheese, and oats. The oats are how I made this gluten free, normally you would use bread crumbs. If you don't want to use oats or don't have them, you can totally use bread crumbs. Roll into small meatballs and place them on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake in 400F oven for 20-25 minutes. Using lean beef is better here; I didn't use lean beef and there was some gross fat on the pan after I baked them. Luckily the fat stayed on the pan and the meatballs were delicious. While the meatballs are cooking, heat up some marinara sauce and season to taste. I usually use jarred sauce then add: Basil, Oregano, Bay leaves, and sometimes Thyme. Let the marinara sauce cook for a while so the flavors come together.

When the meatballs are done, add them to the sauce so they stay juicy and delicious. When the pasta's done, grab a big old helping and dig in!

XOXO

Natalie

CAKE OMNOM

Look at this cake I made! Ok, I kind of made it...It was a mix. But me and Aileen had a lot of fun decorating it! Ok kind of...I threw sprinkles at it. The kitchen was a mess. But loooooook, it's so pretty! We had this cake at the barbeque because we had never gotten to celebrate Walter's birthday. His birthday had been like 3 weeks before, but he never comes down to visit, so I bribed him with cake. Funfetti cake to be precise. Looooook!

Lol the frosting looked like phantom of the opera. Silly pillsbury doughboy!

We had a difficult time lighting the candles. It was a super windy day.

So Happy (late) Birthday Walter!

XOXO

Natalie

corn avo salsa

So this weekend, me and my friends had a bbq at natural bridges, one of the nicer beaches in my area. I made a bunch of food, and this week, Ill be sharing those recipes with you! Today I have a recipe for corn avocado salsa. Me and Aileen (my future roomie) made this and it was mmmmmm so good. Here's the recipe and some awesome pictures!

adapted from Pioneer woman

4 ears sweet corn

2 avocados

1/2 red onion, chopped

/2 jalapeno, seeded and diced

Juice of one lime

chopped cilantro

1 Tbso vinegar

1 tsp sugar, optional

salt to taste

First shuck the corn and try and get all the stringy bits off. Then shave all the kernels off the cob. Cut the avocados into small squares. Then throw everything in a bowl! We didn't have any cilantro, but it tasted fine without it. Wow I expected this post to be longer...so here are some lovely pictures!

XOXO

Natalie

Double chocolate chip banana bread

Here is part two of bananapocalypse. I didn't make this one gluten free, but I heard that it tastes pretty darn good. So here's double chocolate banana bread!

Adapted from Deelish Dish

2 cups flour

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup sugar

1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed

2 large eggs

2 ripe bananas, mashed

3/4 cup milk

1/4 cup chocolate chips

Sift together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. I didn't have anything to sift with, so I just mixed them together really well with a whisk. But please sift it if you can, it really changes the texture of the bread.

With a mixer, beat the butter at medium speed until soft, then add the sugars and beat for another two minutes. Add the eggs one at a time, beating after each one. Put the mixer on low and add the bananas. Then add the dry mix in three parts, mixing well after each addition. With the mixer still on low, add the milk. When the batter is combined, fold in the chocolate chips.

Pour into a buttered loaf pan and put in a 350F oven.

Bake for 30 minutes, cover loosely with foil, then bake another 30 minutes, or until a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. I had to bake mine for an extra thirty minutes because my oven is ridiculous. it also kind of exploded. Not literally, but the loaf was enormous!

Hope you all like it!

XOXO

Natalie

bananapocalypse?

So a couple weeks ago we had an eggpocalypse. And now we're having a bananapocalypse. I really need to stop buying large amounts of food, even if it is cheap. But on the plus side, this bananapocalypse is giving me the chance to try out all sorts of banana breads! Today's recipe is my personal favorite: this is a gluten-free banana bread using Pamela's gluten-free baking mix. It's a pretty common baking mix, they sell it at Safeway, but I don't use it that often. Normally I don't like it because it has almonds and all sorts of strange grains in it, which give it kind of a nutty/beany flavor. Icky in most baked foods. But in banana bread it is so. good. My dad tried this recipe a long time ago, and started messing with it to make it better. There were days when he knew there was no way I was going to get out of bed without some motivation and he would make banana muffins. He would walk into my room to wake me up and I would shoot out of bed to eat them. Ok, that's an exaggeration, I didn't shoot out of bed, but I was slightly speedier than usual.This is my dad's banana muffin recipe, which I made into banana bread.

Dad's Banana Bread
4 Tbsp melted butter
1/2 cup sugar or honey (I used honey)
1 egg, beaten
1 cup bananas mashed (2-3 bananas)
1 3/4 cup Pamela's baking mix
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped nuts (optional, slivered almonds work great)

Beat together butter, sugar/honey, egg, banana, and salt.Add remaining ingredients and mix together. Pour into lined muffin tins or a greased loaf pan. For muffins bake in 335F oven for 40 min. I know that's a strange temperature, but my dad has determined through much trial and error that it is the best. For bread, bake at 350F for about an hour, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
XOXO
Natalie

Wiinnnnnnah!

Oh and by the way! I had completely forgotten about who won the contest in my sloppy joes post. I had a movie quote and I said whoever knew what it was from would get 10 bonus points. And the winner is....ALAYNA! She knew that the movie quote was from Billy Madison.

So yay for alayna, who wins 10 bonus points. I'm not really sure what the bonus points will do, but at some point, I'm sure that they will come in handy.

Cinco de mayo!

Happy cinco de mayo! The most un-mexican mexican holiday celebrated in the US! Mostly on college campuses! WOOOOOO!

For my cinco de mayo meal I decided to go with a breakfast dish. The general opinion seems to be that I need more breakfast dishes, so here ya go--Americanized huevos rancheros!

4 Corn tortillas

Vegetable oil for frying

4 eggs

1 can of refried beans

salsa

shredded cheese

Pour a bit of oil into a pan over high heat. When the oil is hot, gently put the tortilla in the oil. The middle might bubble up, so use tongs to push it back down, otherwise you get round tortillas. After a minute or two, flip the tortilla over.

Once it is crispy enough, put it on a plate lined with paper towels. Repeat with all the tortillas then dump out most of the oil, leaving some for the eggs. Fry the eggs over med-low heat. Fry them however you like best. Andy likes them runny, so I fried his the traditional way.

But Dan likes the yolks solid, so I flipped his over to make sure it cooked through completely.

While the egg is cooking, prepare the tortillas. Layer the fried tortilla with refried beans, salsa, and cheese.

When the egg is done frying, lay it on top of the cheese and dig in! I tried eating it with a fork, but I got to impatient and just picked it up. But if you aren't as rude as I am, use a fork.

Also I tried something new today and took this picture outside. and Damn! It looks good!

XOXO

Natalie

Chicken Parmesan

I really love Italian food, but I don't usually get to eat it. Italian food usually involves bread and pasta which means I can't eat at Italian restaurants and am just left to my own devices. Well this Italian dish is incredible. Amazing. Fantastico. (wait that's Spanish....hm.) Chicken Parmesan! One of my favorite Italian dishes. So here's how you do it!

Adapted from pioneer woman cooks

4-6 chicken breasts, pounded flat

1/2 cup all purpose flour (seasoned with salt/pepper to taste)

1/2 cup olive oil

2 Tbsp butter

1 whole onion, chopped

4 cloves of garlic, minced

3/4 cups wine (or chicken broth)

3 (14.5 oz) cans crushed tomatoes

2 Tbsp sugar

Seasonings to taste

fresh chopped parsley

Parmesan cheese (preferably fresh grated)

1 lb pasta

First you're gonna need to flatten those chicken breasts. This is my favorite part by the way. Put the chicken breasts between two sheets of saran wrap and have at it! You can use a meat tenderizer or even a pan. Go for it! Take all your anger and transfer it to this delicious piece of chicken. Once you've gotten out all your anger and are feeling much better about yourself and life in general, dredge them in the flour. In a pan, heat up the olive oil and butter, then add the dredged breasts.

Cook for a few minutes on both sides until golden brown and cooked through. Then set the chicken aside for later. Now, without cleaning the pan, add the onion and garlic.

Let them cook down for a couple minutes then add the wine/broth. If you are using wine, turn the flame off when you add it. Don't want to start any fires. Scrape the bottom of the pan and let the wine/broth cook down a bit. Then add the tomatoes and sugar, then let cook for 30 minutes or so. I also added some other seasonings, just to spice things up a bit. (get it? spice? hahahaha.......fine) I added basil, oregano, and a few bay leaves. But you can really add anything you want.

After 30 minutes, stir in the chopped parsley and put the chicken breasts back in the pan. Generously sprinkle the chicken with the Parmesan, reduce heat to low and cover. Let the chicken and sauce cook for a few more minutes and make sure the cheese is melted. Serve with pasta! Sorry I didn't get a picture of the final product, but I was frantically snarfing down boatloads of pasta.

XOXO

Natalie