Note to Self: Make These Brownies
March 10, 2011 at 5:02 pm | Posted in Desserts, Snacks | 1 CommentPerusing Yahoo, I found a post by La Jolla Mom, who also has her own blog that I started following. A local La Jollan/San Diegan, she posts about more than just food, but since I need to make a note about brownies, the link is going here!
Note to Self: Bake These Cookies!
March 10, 2011 at 4:58 pm | Posted in Desserts, Snacks | Leave a commentMaple-Bacon Chocolate Chip Cookies
courtesy of allrecipes.com
Mom’s Oxtail Soup
February 3, 2011 at 5:41 pm | Posted in Dinner, Other | Leave a commentMy mom makes great oxtail soup. She sent me a recipe out of a Chinese Cookbook (don’t know which one, sorry) when I asked her for the recipe a while back but haven’t been able to post it, heck I haven’t even been able to make it! I need to get on that soon…
Ingredients:
2 lbs beef or Oxtail
6 onions – shredded
3 stalks celery – sliced
1 carrot – sliced
1/3 lbs cabbage – sliced
6 tomatoes – diced
1 green bell pepper – sliced
1 can tomato paste
4 bay leaves
10 cups water
Seasoning Ingredients:
1 tsp ground black peppercorn
1/2 lemon (for squeezing the juice)
2 cloves garlic – chopped
1 and 1/2 tsp salt
Directions:
1. Wash beef and dice. Scald and rinse in cold water. Drain.
2. Stir fry garlic. Add beef and fry until fragrant. Set aside.
3. Heat oil and fry onion until soft. Add celery, carrot, cabbage and cook till fragrant. Set aside.
4. Heat 2 Tbsp of oil. Fry tomatoes. Add tomato paste and 1 Tbsp of sugar. Fry until fragrant.
5. Boil water. Put in all ingredients and seasoning. Bring to a boil and then turn heat to medium. Cook for 2 hours. Shift to low heat and simmer for another 2 hours until the soup turns thick. (You can also use a slow cooker this way too).
6. Enjoy
Pumpkin Pie!
November 7, 2010 at 3:58 pm | Posted in Desserts | Leave a commentThis year, I got an itch to make a homemade pumpkin pie from scratch! Thanks to this recipe, Shawn and I were able to complete it! Go to the link and try it, I am not posting the recipe here, but here is a picture journey of making this pie!
2 pumpkins make LOTS of puree
- Ripped off the stems
- Cut them in half
- scrape out the seeds
- brushed them with oil in a roaster with water
- baked till they were soft
- peeled off the skin, in a bowl
- mashed it up, let it drain
- mixed it with other ingredients
- poured it in a pie crust and baked it!
NOTE: DO NOT use a graham cracker crust. That is the picture above. It was delicious but i burnt the crust 
We are making 2 more with normal crusts.
Pistachio Nuts = Yummy Snack
August 19, 2010 at 11:18 am | Posted in Snacks | Leave a commentTags: pistachios
{image from marlerblog.com}
I picked up some pistachio nuts (because I love them and hadn’t had them in a long time) from Trader Joe’s. I practically almost consumed an entire bag last night. Thankfully, Shawn was sharing them with me. They’re actually a really good snack and really good FOR you too. Here are some factoids:
1-They contain lots of fiber
2-They are a good source of protein
3-They are a good source of antioxidants
4-They are pegged as a good food to help lower cholesterol and risk of heart disease
5-They have about 30 vitamins and minerals that are good for you!
So…get to eating! 
Here is another pistachio dedicated site for you.
Brown Rice with Cooked Eggplant and Mushrooms
August 10, 2010 at 8:29 pm | Posted in Dinner | Leave a commentIngredients:
Brown Rice (or Brown Jasmine Rice)
1 Eggplant
1 Portobella mushroom (big one, if small, 2-3)
Ground turkey (not a lot, maybe the equivalent of enough to make 1 hamburger patty)
Soy Sauce
Directions:
1-Cook rice (in pot or rice cooker)
2-Cut up eggplant and mushroom into 1 inch chunks
3-Heat up pan with small amount of oil, toss in eggplant and mushroom, and ground turkey (will need to break up ground turkey meat, can also be cooked separately, then added to mixture).
4-Sauté with soy sauce and cook until eggplant is soft (if undercooked, will taste a bit rubbery) and ground turkey is fully cooked.
5-Place rice on a plate, top with some eggplant/mushroom/ground turkey mixture
6- Enjoy!
Grocery Shopping Adjustment
July 30, 2010 at 3:28 pm | Posted in Other | Leave a commentCan anyone tell what is new in my grocery list?
- Brown Rice
- Whole Wheat pastas
- Whole wheat bread
- Chicken breasts
- Ground Turkey
- (Choice or Select) Extra/Lean ground beef
- Oatmeal
- Milk
- Greek Yogurt
- Fish fillets
- Cereal (Cheerios!)
- Flax seed
Cooking is going to be mighty interesting! One tip I have is that if you are (like me) a lover of white rice and normal pasta, start with the half & half (half normal and half whole wheat)…and then start moving towards whole wheat. Might taste odd at first, but that is the beauty of baby steps.
Blue Plate Special, Now With Lower Cholesterol
July 20, 2010 at 10:55 am | Posted in Uncategorized | 1 CommentWe are going to do our best to lower our cholesterol here at Blue Plate Special. You can see details about it here.
Don’t worry, I feel the way you do…”yuck, lower cholesterol might = nastiness”…but that is not tolerated here. I don’t like gross stuff and neither does anyone else. You will see! Stay tuned. Research and planning has to be done…
Greek Yogurt
July 15, 2010 at 11:06 am | Posted in Other, Snacks | Leave a commentTags: greek yogurt
My roommate introduced me to Greek Yogurt, insisting that it is delicious. I have heard it featured on cooking shows saying something about how it’s good for you and it’s really creamy. It wasn’t until I bought a plain flavored one of it and realized it was REALLY creamy, that the light bulb went off in my head…”hey, I can use this as sour cream!”…what a random thought. It is a great food that serves multiple purposes. Next time you bake a potato, consider using plain greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Next time you’re in the mood for yogurt, consider getting greek yogurt and dropping cut up fruit into it. YUM!
{Picture from cookingwithamy.blogspot.com}
Baked Chicken and Vegetables
July 14, 2010 at 12:54 pm | Posted in Dinner, Sides | Leave a commentIt was a little chaotic in the kitchen last night so I never got to take a picture, but this is a great way to get rid of vegetables you may have that will go bad soon. It’s like a one-pot recipe, but in a baking dish.
Ingredients:
Olive Oil
Any soft vegetables you have (i.e. peppers, onions, zucchini, etc)
Chicken pieces (bone-in or out is fine)
Salt and Pepper to taste
Directions:
1-Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2-Cut up the veggies into chunks. Place in glass baking dish
3-Season with some olive oil, salt, and pepper, mix so that both vegetables and bottom of dish are coated
4-Place chicken pieces on top of vegetables (if bone-in, may want to brown on a skillet for a minute, if boneless, you can put as-is in dish)
5-Cook for about 25-30 minutes (depending on size of chicken, you may want to cook longer, check chicken before deciding if it’s finished or not)
6-Enjoy!
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