Pantry Dinners: Sunday & Monday

Well, I was really hungry and was down to my last pack of ramen noodles. You know it had to be sad around here. So Sunday: bad stir fry. Noodles, peas, sprouts, crab, and sauce = Suck.



Later that night, I discovered quesadilla components and scraped up a pretty good second dinner.



Tonight, easy tomato sauce and spaghetti. Infinitely better than the stir fry.



I haven't bought food or fast food. I have however spent a good deal of money on the vending machine sodas, so I'll pick up a case. Otherwise, so far so good. Of course, I got to cheat by eating pizza and hamburgers over at the boyfriend's house for two nights. All's fair.

Pantry Dinner: Thursday

My current kitchen resolution: no grocery shopping until January 7. That's the first day of school. This excludes fresh vegetables or "pantry staples" to aid clearing out the pantry. It's packed with crap I didn't know I had. I know a lot of you are in the same position. Since my kitchen reorganization is nearly complete and everyone's budget is slim from the holidays, now is a good time to challenge yourself not to spend anymore. Along with this, I am not allowed to buy fast food. Most of the time, I really don't want to eat it anways, but I've got nothing at home and don't feel like cooking it. Sad huh?

Tonights dinner: Asian Shrimp Rice

Ingredients:
1 box Rice-a-Roni Asian Flavors rice mix
1 can shrimp

Cook and serve time: 20 minutes

I'm actually surprised at how good the rice is. Most "asian-flavored" rice mixes taste like ass. Does it taste asian? No, except for the hint of soy sauce. Still, Rice-a-Roni usually pulls through. A little plate with a glass of homemade iced tea and a plate of cookies bigger than my head, and that's a meal!

Isn't it pretty?

No.

Home!

I officially have more desserts than I can eat in a year. It's only slightly more bearable because I know pretty much everyone else in the Western hemisphere is facing the same problem. So there are going to be a few recipes added here in the near future. You know, after I snap out of my diabetic coma.

For everyone celebrating, Cheers!

Snow and Ice Cupcakes

Remember those cookies for teachers? If you've learned anything about me it's that you get treats if you're nice. Well, the apartment staff has been very nice and I decided to thank them. Since I saw these Snow and Ice Cupcakes on the Shazam blog, I knew I had to make them. I was going to follow the recipe! Really! But obviously didn't. It's totally my fault and I've been kicking myself all day, but not too hard since they turned out great.

I made the cupcake exactly like the recipe said, though I combined steps because I was short on bowls. I did one pan of mini-cup cakes for the staff, one loaf tin for the Best Friend's parents, and big cupcakes for me and mine. Use liners! I don't know what was wrong, but these did not want to come out of the tins. I think I didn't spray enough, but beware. The cupcakes aren't white-chocolate flavored, it just gives them that creaminess and a hint of something more. Originally, I thought there was too little mint extract, but it's enough. It's just there to hint and be pleasant, not gargle for you.

So far so good. Naturally at this point I hit a snag. I didn't buy enough eggs. Okay, fine, I said I'd buy them today. Only I woke up late, the staff office closes at 4 pm, and I'm trying to get everything ready for leaving tomorrow. So I flaked. Utterly jumped ship. I was so excited too! I've never made a buttercream frosting and you should see her pictures of it: so soft and fluffy and I just want to roll in it good. But lo! There was a tub of whipped chocolate frosting in my pantry. (Seriously, where the hell did this come from?) About 1/4 tsp of mint extract and a spin with the mixer and done.

The apartment staff even left little cards with a candy cane for all the residents last night. Perfect timing because I didn't plan on making the peppermint bark with it. Candy Cane + Meat Mallet = Peppermint flakes. Sprinkled them over top, slapped them in a lined gift box reused from a gift, and they were off.



Now this may be one ugly cupcake, but believe me they are ridiculously good. With the buttercream frosting you get an after dinner mint, with the chocolate you get candy. Either way, they'll be delicious. If you want to see the recipe or photos of cupcakes that turned out beautiful, go to the Shazam in the Kitchen blog right now! I'll be stuffing my face.

Pan-Grilled Sirloin with Horseradish-Chive Butter

Oh, yeah. I was hoping to get this weeks recipe made before today, but this week hasn't been good for grocery shopping. However, I did manage to go today and to whip up a full meal for myself.

I started cooking the last of my potato stock while I prepared all the ingredients for both the steak and the lemon potato dressing. Once it was done, I was ready to cook the steak and everything was done at the same time. This is amazing for me. You can find the potato recipe here (it's all I think about when I hear potato now). The steak recipe was my paper recipe for the week and clipped from an unknown magazine.

Verdict: Well, I halved the recipe. The sirloin steak that I bought was less than $5 but was going to give me two generous servings. I'm surprised at how well it cooked up in my pan. It was really good. I've never cooked steak before. The meat was nice and tender, juicy, not too-cooked. It tasted good on its own, but paired well with the butter. I've very proud of myself. Also, the potatoes were a bit salty because I made a full dressing recipe and only half the potatoes. Oh well. Still tasted good.

I'm still not in love with steak. It tastes good and sometimes you just crave a slab of meat, but it's too chewy. No matter how thick or thin, how well or rare done, it's still chewy as hell. Anyone know why? Or is that just steak? My jaws hurt.



Pan-Grilled Sirloin with Horseradish-chive Butter

1 stick unsalted butter, softened
1 1/2 T prepared horseradish
1 T chopped fresh or dried chives
1/8 tsp salt
4 6oz sirloin or ribeye steaks
1 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper

1. Stir together butter, horseradish, chives, and salt in a small bowl. Spoon onto a sheet of waxed paper and roll into a cylinder. Place in freezer to chill while steaks cook.

2. Heat a large heavy-bottomed skillet on med-high until hot. Season steaks with salt and pepper. Cook 5 minutes on each side for med-rare, or to desired degree of doneness.

3. Serve steaks with sliced horseradish-chive butter.

Makes 4 servings

For Ms. Manners: I only cut two bites of steak at a time. You're welcome.

Hot Chocolate Mix

I've tried a homemade recipe for it, but can I just show you something first?



Real containers for Chinese take-out. I was ridiculously pleased with this, especially since I'm running low on tupperware.

Okay, I found a recipe here that I decided to try. True to the author's word, it's not as sweet as a box mix. It's not too bad and I don't mind that's it not so sweet, but I probably won't use this again. Still good, so it's not going to waste, but not quite where I want it to be. Also, if you make this, make sure you have a big enough container. I had to resort to using a 2 quart drink container. It makes nearly a quart of dry powder.

No Bake Lemon-Lime Pie

Since I gave most of the cookies away and the apple pie is gone, it was time for something sweet in the house. Originally I thought I wanted a chocolate pie. That was until I saw a picture of a key lime pie. There's something about lime that increases the pull on me every second that I don't have it. It even outweighs my chocolate cravings. I had to make a trip to Walmart already and refused to leave the house again, so it had to be crafty. I've only got one egg, no whipped topping, and no whipping cream.

The rise of vegan recipes has saved me more than once from making extra trips to the store. I based this pie on a vegan recipe found here. I used real milk, so it's no longer vegan and had to increase the pucker factor as much as possible without affecting how the filling would set.

Verdict: It was tasty enough, but I like my lime pies to kick me in the teeth. I added double the lime juice and had to add the lemon to get it even close. Still, it's not going to go to waste.



No Bake Lemon-Lime Pie

1/2 lime juice
2 1/2 cup milk or milk substitute
1 c sugar
5 T cornstarch
1 tsp lemon extract
1 9" pie crust
Lemon/lime zest optional
food coloring optional

Whisk all ingredients in a saucepan until the cornstarch is mixed in. Heat on medium until it comes to a slow boil. Cook until thick and creamy. Pour into pie shell. Chill until set, about hour

Crock Pot Curried Rice and Lentils

I've kept myself pretty busy here this weekend. Nothing big, but I'm not bored yet. I've done a bit on the kitchen, thanks for asking. Plus, a little cooking. After a slightly hellacious shopping experience, I vowed not to leave the house again yesterday. I figured if I was going to spend all day in front of the TV crafting, I should have some slow cooking going on.

There was a box of Krusteaz Bread Mix sitting on my shelf* mocking me. So I finally whipped out the bread machine again. This is the second time I've used it. I'm still not sure what size it is or really how to use it, so it's mostly guesswork and lots of calls to my mom. The Italian Herb bread turned out... okay. It tasted kinda funny, but freshly made bread can never be bad. Meh. I wouldn't recommend it.



However, this curried rice and lentil recipe was pretty good. Now I can't say for sure this tasted authentic, but it seems that way to me. Plus, I had all the ingredients in the pantry and it was done almost at the same time as the bread. You can find the recipe here. Note that I substituted a LOT of onion powder instead of an onion and it turned out good. Not sure if it was supposed to be so mushy, but truth be told, I like mushy rice.



*It hurts us, Rebekah.