My apologies!

So I had been pretty diligent with blogging the summer, until these last few weeks hit.  I've been working often and also had to move out of my apartment.  Since I knew I was moving out, I just ate cereal and peanut butter and jellies to finish the rest of my food in the fridge.  My apologies, I couldn't be a fancy college cook.

However, I am currently in Rochester staying at a friend's house.  I promise to upload photos from my trip including things I've eaten.

School is also starting soon, and I know I will hardly be cooking.  I'll try to update anyway with my goings-ons.

Happy rest of summer vacation everyone!

Pear Puffins

I've noticed lots of recipes for "puffins" on the Internet lately, and I don't mean the bird you find in more northern areas.  Puffins are pancakes but made in muffin tins.  I decided to try it this morning because I royally slept in and am not going to go running now that it is 75% humidity.  No thanks!

Pear Puffins

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

Prepare your favorite pancake batter as you normally would.  I also wanted to use up what little I had of my pancake mix this morning.  I added a touch of vanilla and cinnamon to my batter.

I didn't want to clean a bowl so tupperware it was.

I diced up a pear to be plopped in.  According to recipes I've looked at, you can add blueberries or strawberries or even cooked sausage.  Get creative!

I poured the batter into the heavily greased muffin tin so it was two-thirds full.

Just enough batter for six puffins!

Then, I put the pears into the batter.

Now they're pear puffins.

I slid the tin into the oven to bake for about 18 minutes.

They look like my peach muffins...

I let them cool for a minute or so before taking them out for consumption.  I tried several different condiments and decided that syrup (or seeer-up as Long Islanders say) was the best.

And topped with each condiment!

Buffalo Chicken Mac and Cheese

I'll admit that normally I do not care for buffalo wings or wings in general.  It's a little too messy for me.  But I do enjoy other buffalo flavored things, such as this buffalo mac and cheese I've just made!  Seriously tastes like the real deal and took no time at all!

Buffalo Mac and Cheese

1 box noodles, cooked
2 c. chicken cubed
1 can cheddar cheese soup
1/4 c. bleu cheese dressing
1/2 c. Frank's Red Hot Sauce
2 T. milk
bleu cheese crumbles for topping

To start, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Got to have protein, right?

Last night in preparation, I baked two chicken breasts, and then cubed almost all of it up.  I wanted to save half of a breast for another lunch during the week.

Cheese with a kick!

To make the sauce, combine the cheddar soup, dressing, hot sauce and milk.  You can use as much or as little hot sauce as you'd like.  But I also suggest altering the dressing as well because we all know that stinky cheeses are powerful too.

Nearly ready!

I mixed the chicken, sauce and noodles together in a large bowl.

Ready to go!

Then, I poured the whole thing into my baking dish.  I topped the mac and cheese with bleu cheese crumbles and what was left of my breadcrumbs.  You could say I splurged a little this week buying the crumbles.  I had a nice pay day.  Then it was to be sent in the oven for 30 minutes.

Baking it brought out the actual blue color in the cheese.

While I might like to make my apartment smell interesting on weekend mornings, this is definitely a keeper!  And I'm not trying to make my ego swell, but seriously this is great!

Lunch and dinner for the rest of the weekend!

An Afternoon in Chelsea

Stony Brook is super close to New York City, why don't I go more?  Because I don't have time!  Nor funds, however, I spent less than $40 there Friday afternoon between the train, subway and food.  Good deal, right?  Natalie and I went to Chelsea to The Highline which is this cool park set on top of old train tracks.   The Highline's Website   Here are some of my photos! 

West 22nd St. and 10th Avenue

It's like a jungle in the jungle.

And we're excited that we found it!

The Highline Zoo

Such a beautiful day!  Even if it was 90 and humid.

Hello, Everyone!

You can see the tracks throughout the whole thing.

They change the art periodically.  

Hey, little guy!

Beyond is the Hudson River and New Jersey.

the most amazing calzone in Little Italy

lemon Italian ice in Little Italy

Overall, really awesome day!  Unfortunately, my camera's battery didn't last the night into Little Italy and Canal Street.  Just have to go back I guess.

Pork Loin Chops and the Leftovers

Wow, I have not posted in a while!  This post is about what I ate this weekend, which actually was a lot of pork.  In case you hadn't noticed, I'd been sticking to beef and chicken thinking it'd be a cost saver.  And it has been, but I finally looked at the pork section at the store and found thinly sliced pork loin chops were reasonably priced.  I called my momma to ask how I should dress/cook them.  This is what we came up with for Saturday's lunch.

Pork Loin Chops with Honey Mustard

5 thinly sliced pork loin chops
2 T. honey mustard
4 T. water
salt and pepper to taste

Now we all know I go to Stop'nShop.

Yep, going to keep using honey mustard salad dressing for everything.  I combined the mustard and water to 
thin it down care of mom's suggestion.  I added salt and pepper to taste.

Looks like ham for now...

Then, I heated a pan and poured the liquid in.  I placed the chops in, covered the pan and sort of steam cooked them.  Since they were thin, they only took 8 minutes on each side.

And now it's cooked!

I cooked up a little pasta, poured alfredo sauce over it and stirred in frozen peas for my side dish.  Voila, easy Saturday lunch.

Quite the gourmet!

I was inspired by this recipe for a Cheesy Ham and Broccoli Crescent Braid (Click for Mel's Recipe) and attempted my own version for today's lunch.  I undid a roll of Pilsbury Crescent Rolls onto a baking sheet and tried to pinch together the perforations.

I should have bought two rolls just to bake.

I diced up the leftover loins, combined it with a cup of cheddar cheese, and whatever was left of my frozen green beans.  I also put in 2 spoonfuls of alfredo sauce; I admit I was skeptical myself, but it worked.

I put everything onto the crescent roll dough and pulled the sides over to create a pork crescent pocket.

Mel's looked much prettier.  Oh well.

I baked the whole thing for about 1/2 an hour, and it tasted amazing!  Thanks to Mel for the inspiration.

Seriously so yummy!

Mexi-Chicken Bake

I've always known that spicy foods help clear your sinuses and aid your digestion; so in honor of our health, have a Happy Spicy Sunday!  I have to say this is one of the quickest dishes I've made in a while!  It is definitely a one pan meal.

Mexi-Chicken Bake

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 can of pinto beans
1 can of corn
4 medium tomatoes
1 packet of taco seasoning mix

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

I rinsed and trimmed up the chicken.  Note: You can definitely thrown in more chicken because there will be plenty of veggies and seasoning in the pan without needing to adjust the recipe.  I placed the chicken in the pan first, and then rubbed it with about half of the taco mix.  I used my new favorite chipotle flavored one.

Rub-a-dub-dub!

I rinsed the beans really well and drained the corn before adding them in as well.  I roughly diced the tomatoes and threw them in too.  I tossed in the rest of the seasoning and mixed everything together.

Black beans would work as well.

I baked everything for about 35 minutes and had rice with it.  And I know that my mom is going to question that I really ate the beans.  I usually never eat beans like this.  College has changed me.

I peaked to see if the chicken was done.

Now my mouth is on fire and I am going to brush my teeth again.

I think my camera lens needs cleaning.

Things to also throw in if you have them:
green chiles
onions
cheese
sour cream on top!


Shucks this sounds better already!  Guess I'll have to do this again sometime.

Turkey Burgers and Fries

It rained ALL day today!  I gave tours this morning and it was not the most enjoyable experience.  On the bright side, even if there was no sun today, my friend Natalie and I made turkey burgers and fries tonight.  You see, Natalie is on the women's basketball team here at Stony Brook, and she eats very healthy so we did turkey and baked fries.  Aren't I cool for knowing a basketball player?

Baked French Fries

2 medium russet potatoes

oil for drizzling

salt to taste

Turkey Burgers

1 lb. ground turkey

1/2 c. bread crumbs

1/4 c. teriyaki sauce

1 t. garlic powder

1/2 t. pepper

1/2 t. salt

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees for both the burgers and fries.

Natalie was in charge of the fries, and thanks to Natalie's mom for helping us tonight!  She washed our potatoes and cut them very nicely I must say.

Hi, Natalie!  She's #15 so watch her!

She then soaked the fries in a big bowl of water for about half an hour.  Natalie then drained and dried them before putting them on the baking sheet.

I have one of those cool pop up colanders.

We spread the fries out, and next, we drizzled oil over them and salted them.  They went into the oven for about 40 minutes to really crisp up.

They look like the fries from the fair back home!

Now for the burgers!

Combine all of the ingredients above!  Easy, right?

Turkey: it's what's for dinner.

Form patties and put them on a baking sheet.

To the oven!

These went in the oven for about 15-20 minutes.  Now, hopefully you have timed your baking better than we did so everything is done at the same time.  Oh well, it all tasted great!

All done and no grease!

When you don't have a toaster, use your stove!

Hooray!  So professional too!

I put a slice of cheese on mine.  I do not have ketchup so Natalie used a little spaghetti sauce on her fries and burger.  We should count to see how many times I've used spaghetti sauce for something other than pasta.