Summer Leftovers

During hot months, I truthfully don't mind being in the kitchen.

Seriously.

Stop looking at me like that.

But for real, I don't mind the heat. It takes until it's over 80-ish in the apartment for me to turn the air on, and once I'm around the 75-ish degree temperature I turn it off and keep the windows/doors closed. If things are really bad, I'll take a dip in the condo pool but otherwise I'm okay with keeping hydrated and making sure I'm not doing a lot of moving around (<- no probs there!)

Today I woke up at 9am, took a run/walk around the complex and cooked pancakes for breakfast. I wasn't a fan of them so next time I'll try a recipe I saw on Good Life Eats for 5 Grain Pancakes w/ Flax.

I was going to go for a walk in the afternoon with Andrew but we had to postpone. I offered for us to walk twice as much tomorrow so we'll see! I'll need to be up early again for a doctors appointment.

Anyway, I was feeling a bit lazy and I had some leftovers for dinner. I had some leftovers veggies from when I had a chicken sausage attack earlier this week and some chicken leftover that Andrew made for fajitas last night.

I threw all that in a pan with some chopped sweet pepper and fresh kale, drizzled with a bit of lemon infused olive oil and ta da!

Of course that wasn't all of it, so I tossed the rest in a container and tossed it in the fridge.

What you miss off camera: me shooing away the cat. See, even Kumari knows this is the good stuff.

So I ask of you, what do you make with your leftovers? Do you keep sides from a finished entree to ensure you always have some quick veggies on hand?

Peach Cake with Cherry Vanilla Frosting

This squirrel thinks it's hot.
The cats think it's hot.
I think it's hot.

So what should we do when it's hot?

BAKE A CAKE!
I KNOW! I come up with the greatest of ideas.

Even though it's hot, you know what it means, right? It's peach season! And aside from eating them normally, baking them into stuff is a great way to get them into you if you're not keen on eating fruit that drips down your arms (What's wrong with you?)

We used some fresh peaches we had sitting around, because if I can avoid using something from a can I do. Plus, I love fresh stuff.

Boyfriend and I frequent the "reduced item" racks at the grocery store each time we go, and we find the best deals. We picked up a yellow cake mix box for $1.50 because it had a dent in it. Nothing bugs me about a dented box. Aside from that, we had a coupon for this!:

My coupon gave me the frosting "mix in" for free, saving $1. All in all frosting my delicious fresh peach cake cost me $2.

Andrew thinks the "A" is for Andrew. It's totally for Amanda.

CAKE TIP: When icing your cake, put waxed paper under it so that you can just slide the waxed paper out and your plate won't look like a very inexperienced baker frosted your cake.

So for reals guys, this came out delicious. I had a slice before dinner. I'm having a slice after dinner. I'll have one at 3am that no one will tell Andrew about. So I bring you:

Fresh Peach Cake with Cherry Vanilla Frosting

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix

2 peaches

3 eggs

3/4 cup of milk (whole)

1/2 cup veggie oil

1 small packet of orange gelatin

Method:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine the box of yellow cake mix, milk, veggie oil, and gelatin. Mix it together and add each egg separately. Puree the peaches in your food processor or in my case, use the chopper attachment to your immersion blender (my FAVE kitchen tool, second to the mandoline). Fold the peaches into the mix and whisk with your whisk attachment or use an electric mixer for a few minutes until it looks like this:

We used two cake pans (make sure if they're non-stick you put cooking spray at the bottom!) and put them into your oven for 28-32 minutes (or until a toothpick comes out without any friends attached to it).

Once baked, let them cool then frost with the above mentioned pre-made frosting.

This cake was incredibly simple to make and it was amazing!

What fruits do you like in cake? Do you have a preferred fruit that you only eat fresh?

Thanks for stopping in!

Chicken sausage owns my soul

Guys.
I have an addiction.

And it's chicken sausage.

It's invaded everything forever always in my soul. I love it. I love adding it to great dishes and biting into it and not being terrified of gristle (shut up, it's a thing).

Earlier today I dehydrated some tomatoes in my oven so that I could make my dinner that I found on Bev's blog, Bucatini with Chicken Sausages and Garden Veggies.


I know. You're like "It's like 5000 degrees outside, why on earth are you willing to let your oven go for SIX HOURS?" But it's worth it. I had to throw them in a jar (no oil) before I started eating all of them. I don't like fresh tomatoes and I'm thrilled I like these.

So honestly, I cheated with a few things.

I used apple chicken sausages instead of hot Italian ones (I will try those next time), my green beans were canned and my spaghetti was from a box. But even with all these changes it was delicious!

I urge you to give it a try and mess around with it to suit your palette. Boyfriend isn't a fan of lemon so I barely squeezed any lemon on his, while on mine I used the lemon olive oil I purchased from O'Live a Little. Give them a try if you have one - the olive oils and vinegar are unmatched. 

(Note: If you are giving a foodie a gift, give them a gift card to this place!)

(Et hem.)

(Just sayin'.)

So thanks to Bev for posting that delicious recipe, and if you have some time please go around her site and look at all her delish food! I'm addicted.

Hope everyone has a happy fourth!

A three hour tour!

♫The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed,
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
The minnow would be lost, the minnow would be lost!♫


I know, I know! I'm sorry, it's in your head now as well. But Boyfriend and I are taking a three hour car ride to my sister's house in New Jersey for my eldest nephew's graduation from middle school. I remember changing that kid's diapers, now he has a smart phone and a deep voice! What happened?!


Anyway, since it's impossible to get Boyfriend to eat breakfast, I decided to make a bento we could nom on the way over to my sister's house.

Top bento: Boyfriend gets potatoes, tamagoyaki, a muffin and some strawberries (he doesn't like grapes, pffft)
Bottom bento: Granola bar, tamagoyaki, potatoes, grapes, strawberries and a muffin

My muffins came out differently this time. I didn't have any regular milk on hand, so I used almond milk. They came out much denser and richer (not a bad thing!) but I think next time I'll use 3/4c almond milk and 1/4c water.

I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Affording the movies

So some of you may know that I'm currently on medical leave from my job, which leaves me at home and usually very rarely able to afford to go out unless it's free.

My local movie theater has $5 Tuesdays, and I love going to the movies for so cheap. It's not buying the tickets that bothers me, it's the damn snacks! I love movie theater popcorn. It's like crack to me. I need it. But it's so darn expensive that I just can't justify buying it.

This Tuesday my friends and I did a double feature of Abe Lincoln: Vampire Hunter (ridiculous movie, wasn't supposed to be funny but it was hilarious) and Brave (touching, adorable, Pixar nailed the mother-daughter relationship). I needed food in that time!

It's a good thing that bag that a sewed for myself can easily pack all this stuff! I popped low-calorie popcorn at home and added sea salt, had a container of kiwi, grapes and strawberries and a small bag of low-calorie nuts. I ended up just eating one bag of the popcorn but both of the alternates. So delicious! I also snuck in a can of Pepsi and a bottled water. No one batted an eye. I'm a ninja!

It's been a weird week so I'm in a bit of a cooking rut. Sorry! Hopefully things will pick up again soon.

Take care!

Rainy, rainy day!

Well! It's been a bit whacky here in the Northeast. Today I woke up, thought about going to the pool because it was already hot, but knew it was going to rain. And boy, did it rain!

The rain made it's own pool at our complex!

Makeshift bird bath!

Where's all the seed? What's this nonsense?

Alright, enough with bird photos.

I had a bit of a whacky night in the kitchen, honestly! I decided to make these potato cakes earlier in the week since our potato supply needs to be used up. I had looked at a few different recipes, and came up with one that worked for me.
And, surprisingly, I was in the mood for a "meat and potatoes" meal. As many of you already know I rarely eat red meat so this came as a surprise! So I grabbed a can of green beans, the potatoes, and made myself a delicious meal!

Potato Cakes
4-6 baby red potatoes, mashed (Already cooked them with skins on, added 2tbsp butter, salt, pepper, paprika, garlic salt and almond milk, mashed em up and let them cool)
1/2 C Italian bread crumbs
1/2 C Chipotle panko bread crumbs
1/4 C chicken broth
2 tbsp chopped onions
Salt, pepper, garlic salt to taste
2tbsp oil for frying

Mix all the ingredients together and form them into patties. Fry them until golden brown and let them cool on a cooling rack placed over paper towels.
Also:
Add brown gravy to make them even more delicious!
Makes about 8-9 patties
When flipping them over, pat them lightly back into shape by poking them with your spatula.


---
Honestly, I was so sad when I made my first batch. I used WAY too much oil and they fell apart in the pan. So I decided, eh, whatever I'll just try it again. I loathe making such stupid kitchen mistakes. But sometimes, all you can do is throw it in the disposal, wipe your hands on your apron and go again.

And they came out DELICIOUS!

See the mini bell peppers at the top? ANOTHER kitchen mistake! I have an electric stove, and ended up heating up my cast iron griddle instead of the pot I needed for the gravy and figured hell, if it's already hot I might as well throw something on it.
Protip: I love the sound the seeds make as they pop inside the peppers! It makes me smile for some reason.

Anyway, boyfriend had to work tonight so I decided to throw together a bento for him!

He has: Carrot sticks, wheat thins, pepperoni, potato cakes, green beans, kiwi and strawberry.
These potato cakes are so delicious I might be going from referring him as Boyfriend to Husband. He'd marry me for these cakes. And now ladies, you too can make your man want to marry you with potatoes!

After all these kitchen mishaps and very silly wedding thoughts I wanted to treat myself. I've found that I'm in love with Pinkberry - but am poor on a budget, so I had to make do with what was at home!

Raspberry sorbet with kiwi chunks, chocolate chips and whipped cream! YUM!

I hope your evening wasn't rained out and that delicious food came from your kitchen!
Take care!

Breakfast is the best time of the day

It's no secret: I love breakfast. Any meal that I can sit around in my pajamas and cook is a great meal to me. There are so many different great breakfast recipes  out there that there's a plethora to choose from - it's almost overwhelming!

But the other day I was sitting around in my PJs watching TV when I saw Melissa d'Arabian make a Dutch Baby and it looked delicious.I figured it's an easy enough recipe that I couldn't really mess it up, even if I was half awake.

So to cut the story short, it's over 100 degrees outside and where am I? In the kitchen. Oy vey.

The Dutch Baby was easy as heck to make, and I followed the recipe to the T. Then I added some caramelized bananas on top and it was heaven on a plate.

Caramelizing bananas are easy by the way:
1. Let 1 tbsp of unsalted butter melt in a pan
2. Slice bananas lengthwise then across
3. Cover them in brown sugar. I didn't go bananas overboard on the sugar because I didn't want it to taste like sugar and butter. I like bananas.
4. Place them in the pan and let them brown. Patience is a virtue with this. If you've ever had to caramelize onions you know it can take a while. Just let them groove. It'll all work out in the end.
5. Take them out and put them on a plate and top everything with them. I mean everything. French toast, ice cream (make a little breakfast sundae? Yes please!)

So that was my breakfast/lunch, and it was incredibly easy and done within 45 minutes. That gave me plenty of time to wake up a little bit and plan for my day while breakfast baked/sizzled away.

If you live in the northeast, what are your plans to beat the heat? I plan to be at the pool most of the day under a very protective layer of sunscreen. I'm painfully Irish so it's SPF 5000 for me.


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