Fun Things on Friday

Happy Friday!

Last month I posted all about my foodie adventure to Momofuku and Milkbar at the Cosmopolitan Las Vegas. We ate some amazing ramen and pork belly buns and then had some pretty delicious ice cream for dessert. I also brought home goodies from Milkbar because I don't get down to the Strip much and I wanted to stock up!

I'm not going to lie, the cereal milk sat in my fridge for a bit because honestly... I didn't really know what to do with it. I wanted to do it some justice and not just drink it or eat it with actual cereal. So it sat there while I debated my options. 

In the end, I decided on a Cereal Milk Milk Shake. Corey and I got some vanilla ice cream, vodka, a little bit of regular milk to thin it out, and some random fruity colorful cereal (I think we got something called Dyno Bites). Here is what we did:

Cereal Milk Milk Shake

1 Cup Milk

1 Cup Vanilla Ice Cream

1 Bottle Cereal Milk

2 Shots Vodka

1 Cup Fruity Cereal 

We blended all of the ingredients first except for the cereal. After all the liquids and ice cream are blended, add in a little cereal at a time (set some aside for garnish because Instagram).

That's literally it. You can't really see them in the photo but there are rainbow colored flecks throughout the whole milkshake; it was so cute!

Since most people aren't lucky enough to actually have a Milkbar in their city, I found the recipe for Cereal Milk on Serious Eats. Also, I highly recommend the Milkbar cookbook by Christina Tossi because it is an awesome read!

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Fun Things on Friday

Happy Friday!

Since St Patrick's Day is here and I had all these green sprinkles lying around my kitchen (don't ask why), I thought it would be fun to make up some kind of recipe involving the green sprinkles and maybe some Irish Cream because why not. 

Irish Cream Cake Truffles

1 Box Yellow Cake Mix

Irish Cream (Substitute for water content on mix box)

Green Sprinkles

White Chocolate Chips

Eggs

Oil/Butter

Follow the instructions on the box, just substitute whatever water they ask for with the Irish Cream. If you want the cake to be a bit more decadent, usually I substitute the oil with melted butter. I typically use liquid eggs as well instead of regular eggs.

Once the cake is baked, mash at it with a fork and then roll it into little balls. It helps if your hands are damp; it helps keep the cake together when you roll it. 

Melt the white chocolate carefully in the microwave. Two sets of 30 seconds should do the trick and keep it from burning. There are two ways to coat the truffles- the first is dipping them into the white chocolate. This is going to depend entirely on the consistency of the cake. If they start to fall apart, you can also lightly pour the melted white chocolate onto them. One smaller bag of white chocolate chips should coat about 20 truffles.

Let sit on wax paper and sprinkle with the green sprinkles before the white chocolate sets. Place in fridge to let the white chocolate set.

Enjoy!

Monday Must Haves

Mondays require coffee.

Seriously, Mondays require COFFEE.

My close friend, Lara got me the most awesome Christmas present ever- a Vietnamese coffee kit. She and I like all the same things so when she started obsessing, she knew I would too (and she was right). I've never been a huge coffee drinker (with the exception of a short-lived coffee addiction as a teen thanks to Gilmore Girls) and only started drinking it more in the last six months. That said, coffee has more than just the energizing properties for me- it's long been thought to help ease asthma symptoms. For that reason, we always keep some on hand. I really like the flavor of Vietnamese coffee and the strength. I love how cute the brewing is over a cute glass mug (which Lara supplied as well) and it is just as delicious iced! I also have a French press (it was a random white elephant gift at a company party that I never though I would use) that works really well for brewing a larger quantity (or enough for two if you're feeling like sharing).

This post contains affiliate links and I will receive a small commission if you make a purchase after clicking on my link. As always, all opinions are my own.

HeirloomVietnamese Coffee Kit

Glass Coffee Mug

French Press Coffee Maker

Peach Biscuit Bake

Happy Friday!

So last Sunday for Super Bowl, I made a fun little peach biscuit bake for dessert. I had an idea in my head that I wanted to try out and since my hometown team (Atlanta Falcons) was playing, I figured peaches were perfect for a fun dessert!

Peach Biscuit Bake

1 can - Peach Pie Filling

1 large roll - Refrigerated Biscuit Dough

1/2 cup - Peach Flavored Liquor (I used Old Camp Whiskey)

1/2 cup - Cinnamon Whiskey (I used Fireball)

Cinnamon

Sugar

6 tsp - Melted Butter

First I melted the butter and then added in a large dash of the peach liquor and a large dash of the cinnamon whiskey along with about 2 tsp sugar. I whisked this together in a bowl to make a paste and then I opened the tube of biscuit dough. Start rolling the biscuit dough into balls and then dip them into the paste making sure to evenly coat the balls before placing them loosely in a medium sized glass baking dish (make sure the dish is greased and don't pack the balls in too much so they have space to grow in the oven). 

After all the dough has been rolled into balls, take the remaining paste and add a little water and about 1/4 cup of the peach liquor and 1/4 cup of the cinnamon whiskey. Add some cinnamon and the gel part of the peach pie filling. Scatter the peaches around the pan between the dough balls. Whisk the peach gel with the paste until it forms a bit of a syrup and pour evenly over the dough balls. Bake for 30 minutes or until the tops of the dough are golden brown.

Serve with ice cream and caramel sauce.

Enjoy!

Throwback Thursdays

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!!!

I wised up this year. I ordered food from Marie Callendar's because I just don't have the time, energy, or mental capacity to cook. We are making the green bean casserole, stuffing (Stove Top of course) and that is just about it. Everything else is catered or store bought. We're probably actually saving a bit of money too since there's only three of us and I know we're saving family harmony.

Last year I cooked. Like, everything. The Tuesday before Thanksgiving, an owner at the resort I worked at gave me a frozen 14lb turkey. So sweet. I was floored. I had no idea what to do with it. Ultimately, I decided to cook it and found a great recipe for spatch cocking the turkey. It definitely saved time in the oven and was easier than the traditional way; however, it was still a ton of work. So glad I am not doing any cooking myself this year!

Check out my before and after shots!

Stay-In Saturdays with Pie on Sunday

Happy weekend!

So I've honestly been a bit lax in the kitchen lately. I am still adjusting to my new job and schedule. With Corey's school schedule changing this quarter, we just haven't found a lot of time to cook or bake or really make anything other than pasta. 

Rather than suspend my Saturday posts, I decided to introduce you all to my good friend, Becca's, super awesome blog- Pie on Sunday. Becca makes some of the most amazing baked goods and I live vicariously through her delicious kitchen adventures. 

One of my favorite posts she made recently was this Boeuf Bourguignon Pot Pie. She's always got great photos (that look really yummy), fun stories, and the original recipe links (although I'm sure my attempts would never look or taste as good as hers). 

Hope you enjoy following her posts as much as I do!

(I stole this photo from her blog. I told you they look yummy!)

Stay-In Saturdays

I love German food. I love the idea of Oktoberfest. 

I don't like being around a ton of drunks at Haufbrauhaus. So I decided to make our own German feast for Oktoberfest. I used a bunch of really awesome mixes I got from World Market (I effing love that place so much it's not even funny) for mushroom soup, schnitzel, and a big bag of spaetzle. I also made a simple apple strudel that was a bit weird but still yummy.

The first time I cooked the mushroom soup, I actually kind of screwed it up and left it heating waaaaay too long so it became mushroom sauce. It was actually the perfect sauce for our schnitzel so I purposely did it again. The mix for the schnitzel is super easy, doesn't require endless dredging in egg and flour mixture, and can be made with so many different meats (we used chicken because it was easy and we had it on hand). I added salt and pepper to the spaetzle and it actually tasted really good with a drizzle of the mushroom "sauce" as well! The only thing we bought was the potato salad to go with the meal. Super fast and easy and looked way more complicated than it was!

Stay-In Saturdays

Morning blog world!

A few weeks ago I was at Wal Mart and came across a really cool display rack for a product line called Street Kitchen. I love cooking but I'm not super crazy about spending over an hour in front of the stove (especially in the summer when it's already hot enough as it is) and these looked really appealing. They have a bunch of different really fun ethnic dishes with all the seasonings and sauces you need to make a really great meal. 

I tried out the Moroccan Lemon Chicken first because I usually have a small reserve of couscous in my pantry and I happened to have falafel mix as well. Corey always keeps a ton of boneless skinless chicken in the freezer in bags of two, so we always have easy access to meat for cooking. 

The instructions were super easy and the packs really did have everything we needed. The pack basically includes everything but the meat, veggies, and any starches you might want so it's easy to customize a fun exotic meal in under an hour. For less than $2 a pack, I highly recommend checking out Street Kitchen! It's definitely more fun for adventurous cooks but it's a great easy way to try something new!

Stay-In Saturdays

Happy Saturday!

A couple days ago was the start of the Mid Autumn Festival. I was originally planning to be in Hong Kong right about now to celebrate the festival in my mother's home city but we weren't able to make the trip and Corey and I planned our summer roadtrip instead.

Since we can't be in Asia, we are eating moon cakes and eating Chinese food instead. Today I am sharing one of my favorite foods in the world- my mom's won ton recipe. I've eaten won ton all over Asia and Chinatowns everywhere and have yet to find anywhere that has better won ton than my mom's. It's easy to make and even easier to make in a huge batch to freeze some for later!

Winnie's Won Tons

Ingredients:

-1 Package of Wonton Wrappers (We prefer the thinner ones that you can usually only get at the Asian grocers. I know these are hard to find in other parts of the country so if you end up getting whatever you can find at your local grocery store, it's okay. Just know that the texture of the wrapping is going to be a little different!)
-1 lb Ground Pork
-1 lb Raw Shrimp (shelled, deveined, chopped and rinsed)
-1 tsp Lee chicken bouillon powder (We use Lee Kum Kee but whatever brand you find works!)
-1 tsp Oyster Sauce (Again, we use Lee Kum Kee but any brand works!)
-Pinch of White Pepper
-1 tsp Sesame Oil
-1 tsp Liquid Eggs (For Binding)
-1 tsp Cornstarch
-2-3 Cans of Chicken Broth (Depending on if you add noodles and how soupy you want your soup!)
- Packaged Won Ton Noodles (Optional!)
-Chopped Char Siu (BBQ Pork, Optional!)
-Chopped Green Onions (Optional!)

Directions:

1. Make the won ton filling by mixing the ground pork with the chopped shrimp. Add the chicken bouillon powder, oyster sauce, white pepper, sesame oil, liquid eggs, and cornstarch. Stir thoroughly.

2. Sometimes the wrappers stick together so it might help to separate them out before you start wrapping. If you don't, just have a little cup of water ready because it helps to wet your fingers when you pick up the individual wrapper. Place about 1 tsp of the filling into the center of each wonton wrapper. Do it gently so the wrappers don't rip! Then gather the corners together and squeeze so the filling stays inside. Plate them.

3. If you aren't ready to do the cooking quite yet, put some cling wrap over the plate of ready to go uncooked won tons and put them in the fridge. When you're ready to cook, separate out whatever you plan to cook and freezer bag anything you want to freeze for another time.

4. Prepare a large pot of water and bring to a boil on high before slowly putting the won tons into the water. Stir often to prevent them from getting stuck together! Once they float to the top, turn the heat down to medium and simmer for about four minutes. pull a couple out to check that the meat is cooked thoroughly before removing the won tons from the water.

5. Prepare chicken broth in a small pot and ladle broth over the won tons. Garnish or add any optional items and serve!

Makes 4-6 servings depending on appetite and optional extras.

Hope you enjoy!

Stay-In Saturdays

Morning, blog world!

After posting about my trips to Giada at the Cromwell, I was really craving the Lemon Spaghetti I'd had on my first visit. Unfortunately, I don't really have the budget to head over there whenever I crave pasta which is pretty much all the time. 

Fortunately, Giada's Lemon Spaghetti with Shrimp is a relatively easy recipe to find online! I located it on Food & Wine and tried it out a couple weeks ago. It turned out to be a lot easier than I expected and the ingredients weren't as difficult to locate as I expected (I had no idea WalMart sold capers until I actually needed to find them). Verdict? Pretty yummy!

Stay-In Saturdays

We love our slow cooker.

We got it last year when Corey moved into his new apartment and it's wonderful. For the longest time we didn't use it and it sat in it's box but once we took it out, we were kind of obsessed. We've made breakfast with it, taco meat, etc. All kinds of good stuff.

Our favorite recipe is the Zesty Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken. Corey and I love BBQ and this recipe is super delicious. What's awesome is you can customize the flavor depending on the type and taste of the BBQ sauce you use. His first try was delicious but insanely spicy (I literally took five bites and almost died). His most recent attempt was perfect- tangy and sweet but not overpowering at all. We paired it with some easy oven-ready biscuits for simple BBQ biscuit sandwiches. So yummy!

Foodie Fridays

I'm lazy.

Sometimes I go on one of those little cooking phases where I want to be super fancy and use expensive ingredients and special meats from butchers. Other times, I eat Easy Mac. There's not often a whole lot of middle ground unless I go the semi-homemade route (that was seriously one of my favorite shows on the Food Network). 

I have a big drawer of ready to go mixes, marinades, and spice packs. I'm a bit of a collector. I like to buy a dozen spice packs and then stand in the kitchen and stare at them while reading the instructions for no reason at all. Not too long ago, I made a big order from the Cajun Grocer in Louisiana. I bought boudin, Cajun seasonings, and some really awesome packets that I love from Louisiana Fish Fry. I'm a huge fan of their gumbo mix; all you have to do is add chicken, andouille and shrimp/crawfish and whatever veggies you might want and the meal is ready (I always make a big side of minute rice too because the large grains absorb the flavor of the gumbo really really well). 

I recently mixed up a big pot of the red beans and rice and all I had to do was grill some andouille and make some extra white rice. The rice is definitely optional but this mix is really soupy and well, I'm Asian so I really like the extra rice. It came out really really well and with a tiny bit of extra seasoning, doesn't really taste like something from a mix!

Foodie Fridays

Okay, so I've already professed my undying love for Chrissy Teigen's cookbook, Cravings.

Well, I was on Pinterest and found this one and absolutely had to try it. I love clams, I love pasta, and I love a challenge when it's something I've never cooked before. 

Not only was the recipe really easy and precise, it was simple to follow and pretty funny too (because they always are). I couldn't find Manila clams so I ended up with these gigantic Little Neck clams that were five to a pound. I was terrified that I would end up with more than my share of duds but I got super lucky and all five clams popped open! Best of all, the ingredients were easy. The only things I really had to go out and find were the clams. 

Pepper's Spicy Clams & Pasta

Foodie Fridays

I'm usually of the skip breakfast variety but when Corey and I both have a morning off, we like to try and make something nice. Bonus points if it requires us to eat at the table instead of on the couch in front of the television! Old habits die hard.

I'm a hardcore Chrissy Teigen fan (call it a girl crush if you will) and her cookbook, Cravings, is absolutely AMAZING. I love that it is super conversational (it feels like she's sitting across the table telling you how to make the dishes) and don't require any strange or hard to find ingredients (you can get pretty much everything at a regular grocery store, no trips to Whole Foods). The recipes are also really user friendly and don't involve weird fancy Cordon Bleu techniques. 

This was one of the first recipes I tried from Cravings and it is really really delicious. It's really cheesy and eggy and wonderful. We paired it with some nice crispy bacon and some toasted baguette (for dipping into the cheesy, eggy goodness). I found the recipe on Self.com but I highly, highly, HIGHLY recommend getting her Cookbook for some serious laughs and good eats!

Parmesan Skillet Eggs

Foodie Fridays

I'm not a great cook but I'm not too horrible either.

When I have some extra time, I like to make an effort to better my skills in the kitchen. One of my favorite meals ever is the Churrasco with Arroz Blanco and Maduros at Bongos Cuban Cafe in Orlando and Lario's in South Beach. We don't have any super awesome Cuban places here in Vegas and the only one I really like is on the other side of town. We'd found some awesome cuts of skirt steak at the grocery store recently and decided to try our hand at making our own Cuban meal. Here are a couple recipes to replicate it yourselves!

Skirt Steak with Chimichurri

Arroz Blanco

Maduros

(I used bananas since they were easier to find and while they were delicious, they're not quite the same. Next time, we are using plantains!)