Hubby's Secret Smoothie Blend

...I guess it's not a secret once I tell you...

but it was really good...

and I'm not a selfish person, am I?

So I'll share:

I was skeptical about this combo.  It sounded REALLY weird.  I did the wifely eye-brow raise. Yet Tim bravely ignored my cynicism.

He blended strawberries....with milk and vanilla creamer...and frozen cubes of vetoed caramel-flavored coffee.

The origin of the cubes of flavored coffee is not a proud one.  I tried to make him a cup of coffee before work.  A cup of instant coffee, mind you.  And I failed.  I followed the directions!  And I only put the correct serving amount of the caramel flavor in it, too!  Problem was, I wasn't supposed to add additional sweetener.  Oops.  It was like cotton candy on steroids.  Ew. But sweet hubby of mine said when he saw my disappointment, "Uh...I'll just drink it anyway" (cute smile).  Then I tasted it and said, "This is disgusting.  Let's try again" (and then he made his own. lol.  And I froze the rejected beverage.)

The caramel coffee cubes were quite good in a vanilla icecream shake.  But in a strawberry smoothie???  He thinks outside the box.  And it worked!  Yup.  The smoothie disappeared almost instantaneously.  And then he gloated, reminding me of my eye-brow's recent unnecessary workout.  *sigh*  Yes, honey...I was wrong (and you were right).  The Smoothie King triumphs.

My Panera Bread Bowl "Pita Chips"

I love Panera bread bowls filled with yummy soup.  Just to the right amount of soup, and then fluffy warm bread to scrape out from the inside of the "bowl". But then you're left with the crust. And usually, I'm really full by then.  But I don't wanna waste the superb crust!!!!  Oh, it's so good!  If only I had the digestive system of a cow, and then I'd NEVER waste food.  (ok, not really, because I'd be as big as a cow.  Probably not good.) I had my baguette left, too.  (I'm not THAT healthy that I get the apple, and the chips don't appeal to me). So I went up to the counter and asked for a to-go bag (and that scone that somehow got left off my order...perhaps I over-ordered carbs, huh? lol).  And yes, I did take home the bread bowl.  

Ew, you may think.  Just throw it away. Sheesh.  

No way!  It wasn't soggy as I had cleaned out the interior pretty good with my awesome spoon skills.

When I got home, I used my kitchen scissors to cut it into strips, turned the oven on briefly to 200something, and dried out the bread crust the rest of the way.  Viola! Amy's version of Pita Chips!!!

When my mom would dry out almost stale bread for bread crumbs (which she used in her shake 'n bake oven "fried" chicken recipe), I would always swipe crusts and chomp on them cuz I thought the texture was fun.  It just seemed like the natural thing to do with my bread bowl remnant, too.

Tim, Mr. Picky, even ate a few and approved!  If only I had hummus to go with...but they're gone already...

Packing Lunches

This font is called Trebuchet.  Sweet. While Xanga does not recognize that as the correct spelling, it is indeed (I double-checked).  In case you don't know what the word means (but I doubt that), a trebuchet (treb-you-shay) is like a ground sling-shot that hurled rocks at one's enemies (or more likely, their castle walls) in medeival times, and that young men today sometimes attempt to build, if they're nerdy enough.  It's quite ingenious. 

Anyhow.  FOOD. I have been packing Tim's lunches to save money, which I wanted to do all along, but didn't want to tear him mercilessly from his last single-man habit: eating lunch with the guys. With some new financial demands, I brought up the idea again and he agreed, saying he'd just been thinking the same thing.  Aw. So then I had to start making things I could pack for his lunches, and of course, leftovers work well too.  Which is how he got sent out the door this morning with SNEAKY MASHED POTATOES!!!!

There's a show called Cook Yourself Thin (which you can find for free on www.hulu.com) which introduced me to the idea of sneaky substitutions.  Actually, my mom did when she said "use applesauce when you bake instead of oil." Also, my very domestic friend M informed me the other day that one can use a can of black beans (un-drained) blended up in a brownie mix in place of all the other ingredients for fudgy goodness, and that it's undetectable unless you overbake.  Hmm...I really want to try that now. >:} But back to the show: the three hosts take somebody who wants to drop a dress size and helps the guest achieve her goal simply by changing the way she eats (and cooks), without enjoying food less. In my opinion, that's the only way to diet and stick to it.  If you don't like what you are eating, you'll most likely cheat.  So they instructed making mashed potatoes with cauliflower (I mean, in addition to; some completely nix the potatoes---google recipes for faux potatoes) to cut the calories in half.  I watched the show but paid attention to the other recipes (or recipe, singular: DESSERT!). The idea, however, was in the back of my mind. 

Until. The other day my mom gave me a bag of potatoes.  I have bought my own before, but they go bad before I use them all.  So we swapped onions and potatoes.  And then I realized I should use these ones before they stink up my kitchen (that's usually how I remember I even have potatoes stashed in the pantry).  I pondered what to do with them for a bit:

Baked potatoes?  Mmm..they're fast, but kinda dry usually, and I have no sour cream.

Potatoe Soup?  Too hot out.

How 'bout mashed?

(I sorta whined to myself that making mashed potatoes has never worked for me in the past; it was too hard to get them cooked all the way to mash them. But recalling the Cook Yourself Thin show made it seem possible.)

I decided this time not to try to boil them.  Takes too long.  I scrubbed them (skin on; "it's healthier that way" --or I'm lazy) and poked holes in them, then microwaved 6 small potatoes for 5 minutes.  Let them sit while I cut up a head of cauliflower, then did the same to the cauliflower (with some water in the casserole dish, lid offset a bit).  I was doubtful about the outcome until I whipped them together in my mixer and added some "cream cheese" (actually, it was Neufchâtel; "the main distinction between the two cheeses is their fat content: While cream cheese by law must contain at least 33% milk fat and not more than 55% moisture, American Neufchâtel weighs in with about 23% milk fat and slightly higher moisture content"-- http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/whats-the-difference-between-neufchatel-and-cream-cheese-the-cheesemonger-143447 ). I added dill, salt, a couple Tbsp. of "butter," and bacon bits, and topped it off with cheddar.  Tim tried some when I was out for the evening, and when I inquired of the taste, he immediately became suspicious but could not put his finger on my particular method of mischief.  

Thus, mashed caulitatoes was a success!  And you can too.  Or something.  

Are there any sneaky substitutions you've pulled off?  

Food Processor Frenzy!!!!

Today I am in a food-processor frenzy, and it all started when...

I bought a bunch of celery, which seemed like a good snack filled with peanut butter.  Problem is, I'm lazy and did not ever get it out, cut off some stalks, wash and snack on it.  It was looking kind of sad in the fridge. BUT THEN, just when I should have been vacuuming, I got a "use my cool stuff" urge (also influenced by beautiful basil plants waving in the wind outside my window--which might need [to be] cleaned, again). 

First, I thin-sliced BRRRRRRzzz-OH-SO-FAST!!! the whole bunch of celery, freezing some (flat- to bag later, so it easily un-chunks to use in stuff like soup) and reserving some to go into STIR FRY later.  Yes, I am using too much capitalization in this post, but that's because I had a coffee, and now it's fun to say things more loudly, even if it's typing it loudly.  >:}

NEXT, I got out some carrots (the cute "baby" carrots which were 29cents a lb. last week at Aldi, my fav. food store) and thin sliced them too!  Bwahahaa. No freezing, this time, but I did reserve some for stir-fry as well.  Speedy chopping is good.  I do love my very sharp knife, but this is better.  Plus, I can still use it to cut out bad spots and tomatoe stems, etc... I chopped up some more, plus tomatoes (from mom's garden, as mine are slow to ripen), which I added to . . . (wait for it) . . .

the mix I am concocting for VEGGIE BURGERS!!!   Ok, so they're not gonna be completely veggie...I admit there might be a grilled hotdog in there that I did not feel like eating. ("Hot dog" and "healthy" are oxymorons, I know...but I didn't wanna waste it.)

Then, whilst tasting this concoction, I realized that the cumin and chili and garlic spices added in with basil really make the veggie puree taste like hummus, without the garbanzo beans. So I am making me (Tim won't eat the stuff) some pseudo-hummus spread.  

Next, the rest of my basil will go into PESTO!  Bwahahaa. >:}  Pasta, anyone???

*This is a side-note: I bought extra-virgin olive oil, cuz I guess it's s'posta be good for you, or at least, better than the veggie stuff, and figured though the bottle didn't say, maybe I should refrigerate it?  Well, it turned milky-looking and cloudy.  Then when I poured some into my "hummus" it seemed less flow-y-like. I looked up how to store this type of oil (which I should have done first, duh) and apparently, the cloudiness is fine, unless there is internal condensation which might mess up the flavor. The web site recommended keeping a small amount in a cool, dark place as a ready-use supply, because the other stuff gets a little lumpy.  Learn sumthin new every day!  

But I am maybe just a little more pleased with myself about an earlier kitchen-concoction: The Impatient Amy Creamer-Cubes!!!!!

 You see, I do not like to wait to drink a drink I make.  I put ice cubes in my hot tea so I can immediately sip its loveliness and not burn my tongue (which is a most unpleasant experience.)

Thus, as I was whipping up Tim's creamer (1 can sweetened condensed milk, 1 TBS vanilla, 1 TBS maple syrup --which you can omit--, and regular milk all shaken up in a 1 qt [or 32 oz] bottle [which is why I did not specify the amount of milk--I estimate, just filling up the container])

I realized that I did not want to use all the creamer, and the expy date for the milk is in 6 days.  However, I'd already opened the can of SCM.  This led me to think of freezing much of it, which led me to think of the ice cube trays my mom just gave me, which led me to think of creamer-cubes.  Genius, I know.  >:}  Hahaa.  So I can have not-scalding coffee whenever I want it.  YAY!

That one Lasagna recipe I was gonna post...

There has been a little voice nagging me from deep within the twists of my grey matter, going "You saiiiid you'd post a lasaaaaagna reciiiiipe."  Oh yeah.  Right. Um.  Actually, I'm not going to post that one.  I'll post a lasagna recipe, yes, but not the one my G'ma uses.  Whyyyyy?  But, but...it's so "delishus," as Ramona Q would say! Well, because, it uses stuff I don't really buy (like cottage cheese--kinda spendy; and Tim doesn't like black olives--sad thing).  Plus, my mom shared with me an easier, just as yummy recipe for lasagna, even though *gasp* it doesn't use tomatoe sauce. I suppose occasionally I'll go back to the Grandma recipe; but, for now, we like this, and I REALLY like how it cuts out some steps.

Easy Lasagna

*Brown a lb. or so of hamburger (lately I get turkey burger because I'm wary of the frozen hamburger's quality).

You can add onions and garlic if you want.

*After that's thoroughly cooked, add 1 can of cream of mushroom soup.  I guess cream of celery or cream of chicken would work fine, too.  

*Swish 1/4 c. milk around in the can to get any remaining soup out, and mix everything up. 

*Put enough of the meat sauce to cover the bottom of a lasagna pan (maybe 1/3), then spread uncooked lasagna noodles on top (so the edges just overlap).

*Spoon 1/3 of meat sauce on top of the noodles, layer 1/3 c. mozzarella cheese, add another layer of noodles, and repeat, ending with the last of the cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees 45 minutes-1 hr, covering with foil if necessary to keep the cheese from burning. Let set 10 minutes to cool and firm before serving.

It's Mmmmazing. Enjoy!