Veggie Hot Dog Soup w/ PB...B

Last night's dinner was grilled PB & B.
Peanut butter and banana. It might sound a little
different if you've never tried it but it's quick, pretty tasty
and easy to make and it doesn't require too many ingredients...
especially if you haven't gone food shopping.
Melt a little butter in a pan, and place your bread with peanut butter in the pan.
Add slices of banana and then place the other piece
of bread with peanut butter on it. Once it has browned- flip it over.
As I was saying... it can't get easier or cheaper than that!

And some easy soup with that! Dice some onions, and throw it into a pot with a drizzle
of olive oil. Add your carrots and celery and chicken stock.
Lastly, pour in a small can of tomato sauce and add some sliced hot dogs along with
some garlic powder, black pepper, paprika and some chopped chives- fresh or dry.
Pour it into one of your favorite soup bowls and enjoy with or without croutons.

Autumn is here...

As the Autumn weather  is now officially here...  for us, the people
living on the East Coast of the United States. It's getting brisk and
extremely chilly for those every other morning walks before work. brrr
As we start to bring out the scarves and sweaters-
I think it will be interesting to make October a soup month!
I'm looking forward to making and enjoying some nice warm soup.
I hear soup can make people slim down a little bit as well!
You can't go wrong with that... yummy soup AND shedding the love handles.
Stay tuned for soups, soups and some more soups....!

Food Buzz Featured Publisher

As Autumn has officially arrived and my food blog's journey has reached a little over
6 months- I have received my "FB" letters today. I have become a featured publisher
on Food Buzz!

                                                           

It's  pretty exciting and I'm looking forward to many more food related journeys!   I am also getting ready for my class this weekend. I will be teaching a dumplings class... and ambitious me... has a recipe sheet to cover 12 different types of dumplings in 2 hours!  We'll see what happens.  I also teach an Asian Fusion class as well- at  mainlineschoolnight.org 

If you happen to read my blog posts through a feed or reader: if you get a chance-
click on letscultivatefood.blogspot.com and check out my cleaned up page!
Thanks for reading my blog posts about food thus far.  I don't know who all is following
my blog- but I will say it's pretty cool to know that there are people whom I don't even know
that read my babbling... along with people I know and when they come up to me and
inform me that they made something found on my food blog...   pretty cool!

Simple Panko Tilapia and Zucchini

I took some Miso and watered it down and brushed it onto a Tilapia fillet.

Followed by Panko breading both sides of the Tilapia and then carefully pan frying it
with a little olive oil until the bread crumbs started to brown and crust a little.

I also took a zucchini and sliced it into circle slices. I dipped the zucchini rounds
into some egg and Panko bread crumbs and then fried them until brown.

It was a simple but yummy Panko breaded dish.

Difference between Cupcakes and Muffins.

What's the difference between cupcakes and muffins?
First thing that comes to mind is that a cupcake has some form of icing.
Once the icing is off, it can be slightly blurry to which one is which.

Muffins are quick breads whereas cupcakes are little cupped cakes made of cake batter.

Muffins are also a quick bread in the way that they usually cook in more oil than cake

and because of the way they cook in the oil/fat- muffins are usually more coarse. 

When it comes to cup cakes- the butter is smoother than oil and with the mixture of butter 

and sugar together, it actually creates very tiny air bubbles in the batter to which when the

cake batter is baked- the bubbles expand giving a finer texture than the muffin.

Muffins are more of a breakfast food as well- although I'm sure I'm not the only person

who has ever had a cup cake for breakfast! ...................................SWEET!

Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

Buffalo Sauce.........................................................Yum!
Simple, yet cultivated to make it a little different than the norm.
Make some buffalo chicken meatballs!

Melt a little butter in a pan and then drizzle some "Franks Hot Sauce" ...
once the butter has melted-   then add a sprinkle of a sweetener.
(sugar, Splenda, Agave...which ever one you have on hand)
Once you've made the buffalo sauce, set it aside.

Take some ground chicken, salt & pepper, and  mix the ground chicken
with a drizzle of blue cheese dressing.
(You can add blue cheese crumbles if you'd like as well.)
Next, add the buffalo sauce that you have already made and set aside.
Once you've mixed the sauce in with the ground chicken-
roll them into balls and cook them in the oven (about 20 minutes)
or until they brown or you can saute them on the stove in a pan
until they get brown.  Pretty simple huh!  Serve it on rolls or eat the meatballs
on a bed of lettuce , rice or noodles.

Soggy, Moist, Damp Lettuce

A head of lettuce is easier to keep than the lettuce that comes in containers
but... sometimes, if you're getting baby lettuces such as spring mix or baby spinach-
you have to get your lettuce in the container. The negative is that they get
water droplets quite quickly which makes your veggies spoil quicker.
(Just like the water droplets you can  see the in the container of spring mix I just opened.

A great way to solve this little problem is to take a paper towel and place it
on the top... right under the lid and then the paper towels will capture
the water rather than soak your lettuce!

Cleaning with the Natural Stuff

Sometimes you have to take full afternoon or even a full day to just
do some SERIOUS cleaning. We wipe, sweep and dust in general but...
sometimes you really need to use all the vacuum attachments and get everywhere.

I like to use things that are already in the kitchen to help with my cleaning.
Not only do these things make it clean but nothing is better than the SMELL of CLEAN
after scrubbing away for the afternoon especially the scent of lemon or other oils.

Here are a few tips.

All-Purpose Scrub 
(good for kitchen counters, sinks, floors, bathroom sinks, tubs, stove tops, and top of vent)
1/2 a lemon (I cut the lemon in half, sqeeze it and then toss it into the little cleaning bucket)
1/2 cup baking soda
a good drizzle of liquid soap (liquid dish washing soap from your kitchen works perfectly)
Although  this is a scrub... I usually add a little bit of water so I can move it around.

Baking soda (aka sodium bicarbonate)
is a good deodorizer and is a gentle scrub so it won't harm
certain types of counter tops; it also softens hard water stains,
and polishes shiny surfaces like stainless steel without scratching.

Lemons are a good deodorizer, they help in removing stains and also help clean grease.

Distilled white vinegar works as a deodorizer, disinfectant, breaks up dirt,
grease, mold and soap scum.

Window Cleaner (it's convenient  to put this into a spray bottle)
1/2 teaspoon of dishwashing soap  (preferably plant-based liquid soap if you use it)

3 TBS of distilled white vinegar

2 cups of water

Floor Cleaner 
1/8 cup liquid soap
1/8 cup distilled white vinegar
1 gallon of water
10 drops of plant oil 

Olive oil is great to use to polish wood furniture and fixtures. 
Don't go crazy with it... but you can add a little into a bowl and kind of dip your rag
into the olive oil and gently wipe and polish away!
Aromatic plant oils (sold almost everywhere in the cleaning aisle) such as rosemary, lavender,
eucalyptus, just to name a few are also good to use with the olive oil to get that natural plant oil and usually smells really fresh and natural which is a great bonus!
(some people are allergic to aromatic oils though)

Egg in the Hole

What's great about eggs is that you can eat them any time of the day. Matter of fact,
almost all  breakfast food is good any time of the day or night! I like to take some bread,
(I decided to use cinnamon raisin this time) and cut a hole in the bread.

You can use a small bowl or something that you can just simply push into the bread.

They don't have to be perfect holes. The circle shaped holes that came from
the center of the slices of bread go to a very special place. The special place is
called your mouth! That's also the great thing about cooking food,
having fun creating things but eating it- not just when you are done but
WHILE you are making your creations!

Put your bread on an oven safe pan with a small drizzle of oil.
Carefully crack your egg in the hole of the bread.
I add a sprinkle of salt and then place it in the small toaster oven.
(You can use a regular oven as well of course) 
I usually bake it for about 9-12 minutes or so.
Then, I like to enjoy my "Egg in the hole" !

Gummy Bears getting WILD!

What do you get when you take...

some tooth picks and

some vodka.... AND................ some gummy bears...

 

You get some gummy bears gone wild!

Make it a Taco Night!

The hardest part of making tacos for taco night is...
getting crunchy shells that are not stale.  I've purchased crunchy shells from half a dozen grocery stores, with the date never being expired... but they are still always stale!
I hope you will have better luck getting crunchy shells!

Making the filling for taco night is quite simple. For the meat filling:
I simply dice up some onions and and let them sweat in the pan with a little oil.
I grate in a clove of garlic and once the onions have had it in the sauna...
I add the ground beef and fry the 2 together while adding a little S&P.
(salt and pepper) Lastly, I squeeze some Krafts BBQ sauce. (It has to be Krafts though-
I've tried many different brands- from expensive to homemade etc...
but Krafts always wins the taste test when it comes to taco meat filling sauce.
I like to have separate little bowls for the meat, shredded lettuce,
shredded cheese, sour cream and lastly a simple tomato salsa that consists of
diced tomatoes, chopped cilantro, minced onions, a sprinkle of salt and the
juice of half a lime. That's it... fairly simple to make with a rating of
9.3 out of 10!

Packets of WHAT !?!?!?

Raise your hand if you don't like Chinese food.
Did you ever stop to read the ingredients on the soy sauce ...
"soy sauce" packets you get with your take-out food?

You will after reading this post!  It's NOT soy sauce!
So instead of using the packets... I recommend buying a little
bottle of soy sauce and keeping it in your refrigerator.
It's nice that soy sauce lasts a long time. (many  months)

So what is in the soy sauce packets you ask?
Each company is a little different but basically
corn syrup and caramel coloring.
Years ago, I noticed a packet of soy sauce was unusually dark
and thinking that the dumplings were going to be really salty
from the soy sauce... I noticed it wasn't salty at all!
So I read the ingredients and was like....
WHAT!

Cleaning Mushrooms

There is a myth- that you should not wash mushrooms.
You did catch that right... "myth".
You have a couple options of how to clean a mushroom.
A very common way peope say is to take a damp paper towel
and use you fingers to brush off any dirt or soil.
(This way kind of makes me feel like like a snob-
the way you brush/toss it off)

Another way to clean a mushroom is to take a little brush
(similar to a nail brush) and brush the dirt and soil off gently.

A third way is to just wash them with water! 
As long as you rinse or wash the mushrooms
right before you cut them- it's all good! 
Some people say that mushrooms get water logged
when you wash them and that's why they think water
is forbidden when it comes to mushrooms.

The only negative with washing mushrooms is when you wash them
and then store them. They become slimy and spoil quickly
because of the dampness. Otherwise... just give them
a quick wash before you use them. Don't be a snob. haha

End the summer with watermelon pie!

When I think of summer-
of the many things that come to my mind...

watermelon is one of them. So I wanted to officially end the summer
with a watermelon pie.  Now, when I think of pie- I think of
a crust and filling. Not only do I like to use things for 2 purposes (double-duty)
but having fun with food and making it different is always fun as well.
(similar to the jello orange wedges I've made) So to make a watermelon pie
it's pretty simple and for all the non-bakers...  there is no baking required!

Take a watermelon (preferably a smaller one)
and slice it (maybe an inch or 2 or 3) It's really whatever you want- 

Then you want to take a smaller pairing knife and cut the red of the watermelon from the rind.

Then, take the red of the watermelon and cut it in to wedges
(these will be your little pie slices)
If you're not sure of how many slices/wedges...
try 3 cuts to make 6 wedges to start.

Then take a spoon or a cooking brush and take some of your
favorite yogurt and slather it on the top and sides of
the watermelon wedges.  Don't forget to add your topping. I like to take almond slivers. The almond slivers work nice with the yogurt especially
because they just stick together perfectly with no effort.

And then voila!  Here is your simple, different, fun and cultivated way
to end your summer- with a watermelon pie! 
This recipe is pretty low in carbs as well!

Marriage Ref Contestant Was Right!

Have you ever watched the tv show called
Marriage Ref   www.nbc.com/the-marriage-ref
produced by Jerry Seinfeld? http://jerryseinfeld.com

If you haven't... it's hosted by hilarious Tom Papa
www.tompapa.com  where they take 3 different celebrities
each week and they discuss to see 3 different couples'
disputes to see who is more right!  

There was this one episode with this older couple and their
dispute was:  the husband was tired of his wife asking the server
literally how many minutes ago was the decaf coffee made?
They showed clips of the couple in many different restaurants and the
wife extensively asks the server when was it brewed.
She sternly tells the server she will know if he/she are lying about
when the coffee was brewed. She warns them that if it's a second longer
than 18 minutes it is old, not fresh and she will make them brew a fresh pot.

With sales or anything I guess- it's the way you ask or say something that
could make a huge difference!  Her husband's argument is... just drink
something else or order it and if it's a few seconds longer... it's not the end
of the world. Her argument ultimately is that if she's paying for the coffee-
she wants it fresh.  Basically super fresh!

After the celebrity panel discusses their opinions-
gearing towards the decision that the wife is too extreme...
they are able to research that brewed coffee is freshest
up to 20 minutes. Once it is over 20 minutes-
it starts to have that slightly burnt taste.
It doesn't mean you can't drink it or that it's spoiled...
it's just the freshest when it's within 20 minutes.
I never knew the mark for freshness in brewed coffee was 20 minutes.
Obviously the sooner you drink or eat food-
it is better but I never really knew there was a time.
So, the wife ended up winning the argument. 

What The Heck Is Splenda Anyway?

Ah, Splenda. The sugar alternative.
It's lower in calories... for the calorie counters.
It's an alternative if you can't have sugar.
If you break out like me from too much sugar...
Splenda is also the way to go.
Just like anything... always have things in moderation.
Splenda is the brand name for a sucralose based and obviously
artificial-sweetener that came from sugar.

Splenda is owned by a British company named Tate & Lyle.
Tate & Lyle were researchers at Queen Elizabeth College,
University of London. Splenda was discovered in 1976
and became approved in the U.S. in 1998. Since 1999,
Splenda has overtaken Equal  with their $1.5 billion
artificial sweetener market holding a 62% market share.
According to research, $212 million of Splenda was sold
in 2006 in the U.S. while Equal sold $48.7 million.

Splenda is made in a granular form or in tablet form.
There is good and bad to Splenda of course. If you can't have sugar...
obviously, it is a choice. The bad part is that it's a chemical.
It is made from many chemicals together "chemical soup" some call it.
chemicals including chlorine, fluorine, bromine, iodine and others.
When you know that it is made partly by chlorine... it is a turnoff -
but you gotta do what you gotta do.

Stacking Plates

When you are stacking plates in your cabinet...
it is a good idea to take some paper plates and place a paper plate
in between each plate to prevent any scratches, chipping or extra dust.
If the plate has a glaze or painting on it.. it will help preserve that as well.
It doesn't make sense to do this for your everyday plates...
but if you have slightly nicer plates that you don't use regularly-
it would be a great idea.
(You can also get 100 paper plates from the dollar store for.... yep,  a dollar)

Simple Mashed Potatoes

Just like the way some people have trouble boiling a hard boiled egg-
potatoes aren't the simplest either.

Here is a simple fool-proof way to make basic mashed potatoes.
You can simply start with any kind of potato-
Wash it, and peel it.

After peeling the skin, dice it into small pieces (the smaller the better)
Keep in mind that you are planning to mash these little cubes up once
they are fully cooked.

The next tip is to place the diced up potatoes into a pan large enough
that the potatoes will be completely submerged in water...
BUT make sure the water is cold water!  The reason for the cold water
is that in the time that it takes the cold water to get hot and boiling...
it gives the potatoes that extra time to get comfy in the hot tub.

This is when I add the salt into the water to give the potatoes
some flavor through the boiling  process.
If I'm not too tired, I'll even add a little chicken broth
to raise the flavor even more.

Once the water starts to boil rapidly... lower the heat from high
to medium and cover the pan slightly to help keep the heat in the hot tub.
Once it's been boiling for a few minutes- take a fork (not a knife-
because the knife will just slice it rather than show it's tenderness)
and see if the fork goes through the potato nicely. 
You'll know if it's tender or still needs a little more boiling.
(The more tender the potato is... the less lumps you will have
in your mashed potatoes!)

Once the potatoes have passed the smooth-fork-tender test...
You can drain the water from the pan.

Lastly, you want to get out your masher while adding a little butter
and a splash of milk or cream. Whether to use milk or cream can be
based off of what consistency you want your mashed potatoes
to be. If you don't want then as thick... I'd go with the milk. 
Butter milk is a great alternative also!
Add very little salt if needed (you shouldn't really have to add too
much because you salted the water)

Once you get the basic mashed potatoes down...
you can add your shredded cheese in there, or your garlic
or chives or whatever floats your boat!

The Girl And The Goat (CHI)

Girl & The Goat is a rustic restaurant with a busy, busy environment.
The restaurant is open for dinner from 4:30-11pm and 12 on weekends.
Good luck getting a table unless you have some skills.
(not to brag, but I was able to get a table)
The owner and chef of Girl & The Goat is Stephanie Izard...
winner of Top Chef.
The restaurant has been open for less than 2 years but is filled to
capacity  every single night. The food is pretty amazing.
The portions are on the smaller side but filled with so much
savory flavor- you feel lucky just enjoying the first bite.
Now when I say filled with flavor... you almost want to pick up
your plate and lick every last drop of sauce or seasoning.
Now, that's tasty. If you ever make it to the windy city of Chicago-
you must stop by at The Girl & The Goat even if you have to stand or
sit by the waiting area to get some food.

The menu is filled with vegetables, fish and meat that are locally grown
on farms along with the bread that is baked daily.

Now, when you look at the menu.... you think... hmmm I'm not sure if
I want anything from here... it's kind of weird... very different but
in a good way. You might think... there are ingredients I'm not sure
if I would ever eat or have ever heard of. 
But, you take a deep breath and tell yourself to be brave and you order
anything off the menu... but you should definitely order and try the
"Pig's Face"  yes, I said pig's face.

                                             

It is slightly pricey... but worth every bite & dollar.
The Pig's face is very tender and it basically melts in your mouth
especially with the egg mixed in along with the 2 dominant flavors of
cilantro and almond butter with tints of the tartness of tamarind.
I can't say enough about this dish!

Simple Sauce That You'll Crave !

I have a really simple recipe for a good sauce that is so tasty!
I really enjoy this sauce with steak but it can be good
with chicken, grilled or sauteed veggies.

You'll have to make this sauce by sight and taste.
Simply take some Miso paste(the paste you make Miso Soup with)
and some almond butter and scoop some into a bowl that is
large enough to take a spoon to mix the 2 together in.
I usually start with 1-2 tablespoons of the almond butter
and about 1/2 of the amount of Miso paste because the Miso paste
has salt in it and you don't want your sauce too salty. I also add
a few drops of soy sauce and some water so the sauce isn't a thick
paste but has the consistency of a thicker salad dressing.
Sometimes I add a little Splenda or agave nectar if it's a little on
the salty side. That's it though- Miso paste, almond butter,
a few drops of soy sauce, water and a sweetener.

LCF's Twist On A Quesadilla

Making food you like is always a plus. Cultivating it- is even better!
(when you make it your own by adding things you like)
Why add ingredients you don't have or like just because it's in a recipe.

With that thought... I decided to cultivate a quesadilla.
First, take some...

tomatoes, peppers and cilantro and dice it all up.  (You can also add a red onion) 

Then, take some watermelon and dice that up. 

You might think... watermelon in a salsa with veggies...?   Don't diss it unless you've tried it. 

Once it's diced up- it works well if you put it in a colander to let the liquid out.

Next, you want to cut your corn (I prefer cutting it from the cob because it tastes better) 

and chop some cilantro and saute it together with a little oil in the pan and some chicken stock.

 

 I add some steak seasoning or you can just add which ever seasoning you like! 

Take some burrito wrappers and place your tomato-watermelon salsa, 

cilantro corn and any type of cheese  you'd like and fill half of the burrito wrapper.

I decided to use Brie Cheese, shredded cheddar out of a Kraft bag, diced smoked Gouda 

and Beemsters Valaskas Cheddar for this quesadilla.

 

    

It can be a little tricky flipping it over, BUT- you can do it!

I will say it is pretty tasty! 

You can add some chicken or pork if you'd like as well.