Christmas Queso

I'm not really a fan of queso, and this didn't turn out great but it was because of the cheese we were using and I still found it really good. It's an American thing, though. "Queso" is Spanish for "cheese", not for the cheesy dip that I tried yesterday for a dinner I was hosting...

so try it. See how you like it.

If you've never heard of this, comment below. I'm curious to see how many haven't tried it.

I myself have only had it once. Last night.

Serves 10 or more.

Ingredients

• 12 oz. cheese (I used pre-grated, but it turns out rubbery because of the starch. Either grate by hand, or use a hunk of cheese, roughly 12 oz., to produce the best results)
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes (with jalapenos)
• 1 tomato, chopped

Directions

1. put cheese into med.-size saucepan over medium heat.
2. open can, chop tomato, if not chopped. Once chopped, set aside.
3. once cheese has melted, put in chopped tomatoes, stir until well-mixed.
4. pour in can of tomatoes, minus the can.
5. stir until well-mixed,
6. serve immediately with tortilla chips and

 and happy holidays!

P.S. Yes, I did put this under "toppings" because some of the girls at the dinner put it on their tacos. Doesn't sound very good to me, but as long as they liked it.

Post Review | Microwave Mug Cake

This is just a temporary thing... I'll probably do a few and then stop for good, but these are just in case I ever want to "review" my posts.

Click here to see the original post.

Normally I would have you click on this post's title but I find it kind of a pain when I want to see comments or comment on someone's blog and I can't click on the title because it takes me somewhere else, so this time I decided to embed the link in the post, not "on top" of it.

If you know what I mean.

So, how did I like the microwave mug cake?
I didn't.

It was horrible!

Dry, rubbery, not at all sweet, even though I'd added an extra tablespoon because I had tasted the batter and gone, "ah, not quite right - doesn't taste very sweet to me" and besides, I was making it for a little girl, so I knew she would want it sweet.

Good thing she liked it, because I sure knew I didn't.

When I told Mom she told me she'd never found a recipe she liked - they always turned out to be dry and not very good.

What I wanted was moist. What's a cake - even a mug cake - if it doesn't have a bit of moisture to it?

Same goes for brownies. Can I advise, if you're going to make it from scratch, save yourself the trouble and just get Ghirardelli's mix? It's delicious! In fact, it's basically the same recipe I used when I would make brownies from scratch. And no I'm not being paid - this is 100% my own opinion. It's moist, flavorful, and sweet, with pockets of melted chocolate (chips) here and there. Mmm, makes me want some. I used to not like brownies, but now I do. Good ones, that is.

Not ones some people I know make. Wouldn't touch some of those with a 10' pole and that's saying a lot.

I'll eat mostly everything.

Mostly.

There are a few exceptions, like badly-made - or just plain made - eggs. I don't really like eggs, unless I have bacon to go along with it, to drown out the taste. Sometimes I'm in a mood for eggs, but mostly not. Unless I'm really really hungry and that's once in a blue moon because I can just make myself something.

So, about the microwave mug cake, if I can stop straying from the path like I tend to do.

There I go again.

That kid will eat anything I make and pronounce it good, but I'm a little bit more picky. This tasted vaguely familiar to some brownies I've tasted before, see above. Except mine wasn't as sweet, which made it all the more horrible.

If the bad brownies I've had before pale in comparison to this, something's not right.

What's not right?
Here's a list of aaaaall the things wrong with the recipe I've been discussing.

1. No sweetness
   So it calls for three tablespoons of white sugar. I put in four. Still didn't work. I put in 1/2. Still didn't work. It wasn't bitter, per se, it just wasn't sweet. How to fix it: I would say get a better recipe, but if you don't have any idea where to look, I'd say America's Test Kitchen because Mom recommended one of their mug cake recipes to me and I have yet to try it but if Mom recommends it, how can it go wrong. But if you don't want a different recipe, try adding 6-7 tablespoons of sugar. Sound like a lot? Wait until it's cooked!
   
   (What's the saying? "Don't judge a book by it's cover"? In this case, "don't judge the sweetness by the dough")
2. No dome
   It was more like upside-down flan than a cake. It just went down. It sagged in the middle, the opposite of me. Just kidding, no more jokes. haha. How to fix it: to tell you the truth, I absolutely have no clue. Cook for less time? I wish I knew. I'm not a cook, so LMGTFY. Click it. It won't harm you. Maybe get some laughs out of you, but that's about it.
3. No moisture
   This was like eating flour and water, only harder. More like eating dough. Dough that isn't sweet. I don't know, it was so unlike anything I've ever tasted that I can't find anything to compare it with! So what was wrong with it? It was that you had to use your saliva to break it down. Mug cakes are supposed to break down and almost seem to melt in your mouth! You're not supposed to do the work! How to fix it: Try adding some water to it. I don't know how much, and I don't know if this will work, but when I read the thing about mug cakes in the America's Test Kitchen recipe (hopefully I'll have time to try it and write about it before 2016 - but don't hold me to it), they talked about how all mug cakes they came across were dry. I said to myself, "Exactly!" so they advised (if I remember correctly) adding some water to it. Since this isn't a very big mug cake (though big enough that you can't use a 7 oz. mug, you need something more like 12 oz.), use 2+ tablespoons of water and stir thoroughly before putting it in the microwave. Try it out and see how you like it. If it's still dry, add another 2 or so tablespoons, depending on how dry it is. Practice makes perfect, even if it means wasting ingredients. Try using friends or family as guinea pigs - always works for me. ;)

And I could probably think up some other problems with it if I wanted to but for now I'm going to close up shop and call it a night.

After all, this is only making me hungry and we don't need that.

Post Review | Cookie in a Mug

Click on the post title and it will take you to my original post.

This was really quite nice.

Actually, I'm just a bit embarrassed about this but when I read the recipe it said to put in the yolk and guess what I thought the yolk was.

Not what the yoke actually was, I can tell you that!

No, really, I used -- ok, yes, I did -- the egg white.

*slaps forehead* I felt maybe a little bit dumb when I asked my mom and realized I had...well...gotten it wrong. I always get those two mixed up.

Which is probably why the cookie didn't taste very cookie-like.

The "dough" tasted cookie-dough-like, though!

Also, Mom said you can just use a whole egg if it's single-serving size. Or maybe she just said you could use the whole egg period, I don't know.

I guess I wasn't really listening.

But that is very convenient.

Then you don't have to think up some way to use the egg yolk (no, not the egg white, I really do truly mean the egg yolk).

But I have to say that every time I made it, no matter what I did (cooked it shorter, put some water in, put in oil...ok, I didn't put in oil) it still came out as dry and not at all what cookies should taste like.

So be forewarned.

Also try this. You might like it better than I did.

Salted Caramel Sauce

The best caramel sauce ever! This is definitely a favorite!

Also, this is a very very very short post. Just long enough to post the link and be done.

Really, it was going to be a real post and then I ran out of time so hopefully when I have more time I'll make an actual post out of it.

But for now check out the delicious salted caramel sauce recipe I found on Pinterest!

It's the best.

Promise.

Caramel Milk Tea | gugutree

Admit it.

We've all, at one time or other, had too many teabags on our hands.

And for me, they're normally Lipton tea bags.

See, we make delicious sweet tea and we're not even Southern but it means we're always well-stocked with lots and lots of Lipton's black tea teabags.

Sometimes too well-stocked.

But in the winter, you know that the last thing you're going to want is iced, sweet tea. You know you don't want warm sweet tea, heavens no! You're going to want something warm, sweet, creamy, and delicious.

Good thing is, I've got just the thing!

Ingredients

• 1 Lipton tea bag, black tea
• 1 spoonful white sugar
• 1 spoonful light brown sugar
• about 1/4 cup milk
• about 1/8 cup cream
• 1-2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Directions

1. Steep tea bag 3 min
2. While tea is steeping, in a small pot on stove, mix in
   
   1. vanilla
   2. brown sugar
   3. white sugar
   4. milk
   5. cream
   in that order. Vanilla tends to evaporate very quickly, so you'll need to have the brown sugar ready when you've put in the vanilla. Two teaspoons won't evaporate as quickly as one, and besides, it's yummier that way than with just one. Just trust me.
3. Let mixture in pot simmer and get hot, while on low.
4. Once hot, pour in tea, sipping every couple pours to make sure you like it so far and that it's not too Lipton-tea-y. 
5. Once poured, stir vigorously, allowing tea to be distributed throughout the whole mixture.
6. Pour into mug, and, for a fancier addition, top with whipped cream and salted caramel sauce on the top of the whipped cream. 
7. Serve, and

P.S. to enjoy even more, turn on some soft music, get in some cozy pajamas, get in bed or in front of the fire with your favorite, exciting book. My suggestion is "The Scarlet Pimpernel" -- excitement guaranteed! Also terrific characters *wink wink*. Also be prepared to really like this tea. Enjoy!

P.P.S. hopefully I'll be able to change the blurry photo for something a little more "in focus" to what I had in mind...pun intended. ;)

5 Min or Less: Quick Coffee

Ingredients

• 3-4 drops vanilla extract
• milk (if you use milk instead of cream, but I wouldn't advise it)
• cream, use generously (until light)
• light brown sugar
• hot water, medium amount
• instant coffee, medium amount (about 1-2 spoons)
• nesquik, to taste

Directions

1. Put coffee in mug, pour hot water over coffee
2. Mix all ingredients together and

P.S. Once done, the coffee should be sweet, creamy, coffee-cocoa like. It should taste like coffee and cocoa. And this recipe was on a slip of paper, very vague, without any measurements so all measurements are my very own. I'm guessing, here.
P.P.S. This makes the 15th coffee recipe! Aren't we loaded... or about to be!

Lipton Latte

Today I made tea.

Which isn't unusual, I make tea all the time.

But I wanted a different sort of tea and I found one!

I don't remember what I looked up on Google but I had told someone that I would make them tea that was different and had a "secret ingredient". It was vanilla. That was what I was planning on. What I wasn't planning on was making something like this!

Though let me just tell you right now so you won't be disappointed later on: this is like every normal tea except it has a different taste. But just barely. It's good though, try it, see how you like it.

Anyway, click here for the original. I made the "tea latte" but I'm calling it "Lipton Latte" because that sounds better. And I'm thinking of making the "milk tea the british way" because I'm curious to see how that turns out!

Here's the original recipe:

1. Add the teabag of your choice to a cup.

2. Boil water, then pour over the teabag.

3. Let the tea steep for at least 5 minutes to get the strongest flavor possible.

4. While your tea is brewing, heat a half cup of milk either by microwaving for 45 seconds (settings vary between machines) or by heating in a pan until it’s steaming.

5. Transfer the hot milk to a jug, and use a milk frother to get that extra-fluffy, foam effect. The desired amount should be about ½ inch thick on top of the milk.

6. Remove the infuser or teabag from your cup and pour in the milk.

7. Add an optional dash of honey or sugar for extra sweetness.

Here's my recipe:

Serves: 1-4

Time: 3-5 min

Ingredients

•  2 teabags (I use Lipton black tea)
• 4 spoons sugar, white
• 4-6 drops vanilla (extract, I believe...Kirkland brand)
• 1 pint water, hot (I use a little more...more like 3-4 cups)
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 dashes milk (dashes as in I poured a little bit in, two times)

Directions

1. pour hot water over tea bags, steep 3-5 min (I steeped it 3 min, because I didn't have the recipe, but someone had already thrown the tea bag away when I came back to add 2 minutes to it...too bad)
2. heat milk for 1 min in microwave, froth with milk frother, whisk, or hand mixer. Milk froth should be about 1/2 inch high. 
3. pour hot milk into tea, leaving behind froth (I didn't mean to...but I was using the thing for gravy, as seen two posts ago -- the-directions-the-way-I-did-them #6) for later.
4. put cream, sugar, and vanilla in tea. The tea should be a light tan now. If not, stir the milk in so that it is. Stir until cream and vanilla is distributed, and the sugar is dissolved.
5. spoon froth on top, sprinkling either white sugar or brown sugar on top for decoration, serve immediately and

Easy Cinnamon Bread | Buttered Side Up

Today I went to Buttered Side Up. Like I do a lot.

What else is new?

But she had a new post (wow, yes, a new post! Who'da thunkit) and it was fairly recent (being posted yesterday). "Easy Cinnamon Bread". That was it.

Guess what caught my attention.

You guessed it. The word "easy" never fails to do that.

So, I read over it. Doesn't seem to hard. Sounds pretty simple, but then, so did the Cafe Mocha (previous post), and heaven knows that wasn't.

But I think that was just a bad luck day.

This may be different.

So, Buttered Side Up links back to a different blog, "The Best Remedy".

The Best Remedy links to allrecipes*spoon-here-just-so-you-get-the-mental-picture*.

allrecipes*spoon* doesn't link to anything.

sigh of relief.

So, here are the different links just so you can take your pick and choose whichever one you want to follow. Me, I'm going to follow Buttered Side Up because none of the others I follow fairly regularly. Also because Buttered Side Up is the more familiar of the three.

What? Different people have different opinions.

(also, The Best Recipe's directions were a little confusing)

Easy Cinnamon Bread (Buttered Side Up)
Cinnamon Bread (The Best Recipe)
Cinnamon Bread I (allrecipes*spoon*)

Also, all the links open up to new tabs, so you don't have to ctrl+click like I do a lot. Takes so long. Errr.

But, I'm not going to make it today. I'll make it when the sink vamps up it's cooperation, because right now who knows what it's doing.

Not working, I know that much.

So no cinnamon bread because no sink. There's a sink in the laundry room but that's a pain. You have to lean way over. Actually I don't know because I haven't been washing dishes lately (yay and also oopsie-doops). But I don't want to know, so I'm not going to make the bread just yet.

Maybe for a future breakfast.

Mmm, my stomach is saying yes.

As is everyone else who will get a slice of this.

How to Make a Cafe Mocha | Buttered Side Up

So you thought you knew how to make mocha, did you? Good news, so did I.

Me, I normally pull out the instant coffee, pour hot water over it, dump in some Nesquik or a cocoa packet and there's my "mocha".

But this! Now this is going the extra mile!

I stumbled upon the recipe a while back when I happened to glance at the computer in passing and this recipe was open. I read it and looked at the pictures.

Boy do pictures help!

This recipe (or, the pictures in this recipe) looked absolutely delicious! I decided this would definitely be on my "To Try" page.

And it's about to stop being on my "To Try" page.


Or at least moved to "Already Tried" page.

Just kidding, don't have one of those.

So, anyway, I was thinking about a good, strong cup of coffee. Well, as you most likely know, instant just doesn't meet those standards. So I got to thinking and then I thought hey you know what shine Google, I don't need to look up "delicious simple coffee"! ...or something along those lines (yes, I admit it, that was what I was going to do if I couldn't think up a recipe)...

because I had a brilliant idea!

Or something along those lines.

Well, I knew I hadn't made a "To Try" page for nothing. I just looked through the list but do you know, I only have two recipes (coincidentally both from Buttered Side Up) with a coffee base!

Like, woht.

So, ok, at least I have two, even though that's not much. But my resolve: to get more coffee recipes on my "To Try" page that are actually doable and makeable and yummyable!

No, not "yummyable".

Forget I said that.

So, that was my big ordeal to find a recipe, and then there was my big ordeal to make the recipe, which is a totally different story.

As you should know if you've read the Buttered Side Up post, she lists two options for this drink: one that is milder and sweeter and one that is more intense. I thought I would try the more intense one because, well, that is what I was looking for in the first place. But then I thought about it (yes, I actually thought about it) and realized that it was probably harder or longer or required more equipment that I don't have (and probably never will have) so if that was the case, I would make the milder, sweeter version. *tear*.

More about that later.

Another thing she has is a notice sort of thing. She likes her coffee frothier. Because who doesn't. But she actually as equipment and I do not. So, instead of buying something on Amazon and waiting two days for it to arrive (two days is a long time for a coffee drink that was supposed to be quick), I decided I would just use a whisk. Yes, whisks do work because I used to always drink a frothy coffee and I would just dump in a bunch of cream and whisk away.

No, I was not fat. I just liked fat.

Or, fatty foods. Same difference.

And I don't have chocolate syrup so I'm using unsweetened cocoa because believe me I've got plenty of that. And maple syrup? Have that too. And since I'm not using chocolate syrup, I don't have to cut down or take away the maple syrup. *oh joy*.

She also says "I actually don't use a recipe most of the time when I make a mocha: I make it up as I go. Think of this recipe as a starting place and customize to your liking!"

Will I ever!

And no I don't have a coffee maker because I barely have any equipment.

Having second thoughts on the easiness of this recipe...

But I chose it so I'll stick to it.  I wish I weren't so sticky.

These things decided, I headed to the kitchen, recipe in hand. Well, no, not recipe in hand because I'm using a computer. But same thing, right. As I've always said (as of today): "I came, I saw, I conquered!"

Also, can I just say right now as a side note, I love her dishes.

There. That over, let us go, prepared, into battle!

Boy was it a battle.

First, let me list for you the ingredients and those that I have or don't have (including equipment!).

His

• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons half and half (in the negative)
• 1/2 oz. espresso, fresh or cold (no)
• 1/2 oz. maple syrup (HALF OUNCE!?!? HOLY SMOKES! and NO! at least, not for JUST ONE drink!)
• 1/8 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (yes)
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream (yes)
• 2 teaspoons cocoa/cacao powder (positive)  

Hers

• 3/4 cup half and half (no)
• 3 teaspoons cocoa powder (yes)
• 4 teaspoons espresso, fresh or cold (neither)    
• 2 1/2 teaspoons maple syrup (that's more like it! *sigh of relief* YES!)
• 1/8 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (yes)
• 1 tablespoon heavy cream (yup)  

So, looking at all that, it seems a little obvious that I will, in fact, be doing hers. The stronger version. Yay! So, no, I won't be doing his, I'll be doing what I set out to do in the first place. Which is very nice.

The directions and the way I did them:

1. I made myself some coffee. I had to make it instant *tear* because it's a big ordeal to make espresso, and I wanted quick, fast, easy, and making espresso doesn't fall under any of those categories. But since it's supposed to be strong, instead of dumping in one spoonful, I dumped in two. Smart thinking am I right? So I made that, covered it with a cloth so that it wouldn't cool off, and set it aside for later.
2.  Also, I decided that since I had cream and milk, why not mix them? So, I did half and half my way: I made 1/2 cup mixture of milk and cream and then poured it into a measuring cup. Apparently my math is wrong. I've known it for a long time, actually. But it didn't quite fill the 3/4 cup measure. So I had to make more. This time I was tired of it and had no clue how to make it full, so I just used my eyes. Apparently my eyes are wrong too, because there was still a little bit left in the measure. One half of me said oh well and good riddance! the other half said but that's not 3/4 of a cup. My second half won. I mixed up a teeny bit more (splash of cream, dash of milk). Had to do the procedure two more times! After doing that fun process, I dumped it into a small saucepan, and let it get hot.
3.  While the half-and-half-mixture-made-by-me was getting hot, I was too. I put the cocoa in a mug, poured 4 teaspoons of the instant *errr* over the cocoa, and stirred it just like she said. Of course, being instant, it's not thick at all, so I stared sadly into my thin mix. Oh well. I'll know better in the future if I don't forget.
4. Then I stirred in the remaining ingredients. No problem-O! And actually 2 1/2 tsp of maple syrup is a lot more than you think so, feeling guilty, I poured about 6 drops back into the container and 2 drops into my mouth. That made me feel better.
5. Looked at the directions. "Froth milk with hand frother". Or, in my case, a whisk. Check! But I couldn't really froth half and half when it's that shallow, so I poured it into my now-empty instant coffee mug (ha. ha. No, I had wayy over-calculated so I had a 7 oz. cup of coffee. errr. Instead I just poured it into a custard cup, and then a mug because it just barely fit into the custard cup, spilling half of it, and then I had to run and get a rag to mop it all up while it cooled. Errr. Should have used a custard cup to measure the half and half. So then I started to froth it and it splashed onto my arm. Apparently it didn't cool while I went to get a rag. Boy was it hot. All pretty handy dandy right.) and frothed it until my arms called a halt.
6. As slowly as I could, I poured the frothed milk into the mix of instant coffee, cocoa, and all the other ingredients that I'm not going to waste time listing, but I couldn't pour it slowly without half of it spilling down the sides, onto the counter! So then I just put it into a measuring cup with a spout (I think you use it to do something with gravy...?) which would have been VERY convenient for frothing (all the things I could have done to save time and extra dishes! *groan*) which stinks. Arrrgh. This better be fabulous is all I'm sayin'.
7. And, since I didn't have whipped cream and probably won't until Thanksgiving (not far off, thank goodness, because I make a special *booze* mixture! ...or, Mom does. but still...), I just drank it without the whipped cream which won't be as good, of course, but it's the next best thing.
8. Anyway, a couple minutes and a couple hundred dishes later, I sat down to enjoy my mocha. I would have enjoyed it better with whipped cream on top, but what can you do? I know what I can do--make some! Since the cream's best-by date is TOMORROW I decided why not use some of it up today. Better, right. So I made whipped cream (thank heavens not as complicated as the mocha) and sat down once more to fully enjoy my mocha. HA. HA. and more HAs. I didn't make any whipped cream because unfortunately, we were having ice cream sundaes, so no peace. Also, no whipped cream. Sigh.

My thinking: 
even though this was way a pain, it wasn't supposed to be and it was only because of me. I just made it a pain. And it really is delicious, even though it has a weird aftertaste. But I can endure that. I can endure anything, as is apparent after all the stuff I went through to get a cafe mocha.

Anyway, this was pretty good, even if it did have a weird aftertaste.

Also, relations make perfect guinea pigs don't you think?*

Anyway, I urge you to try it and see how you like it.
 
P.S. looked at this today (today being the 15th of October) and realized that I've posted 14 coffee recipes! That's ok. More coffee recipes, the better.

--
*if you don't know what I mean, Google "definition of guinea pig" and read the 2nd definition Google gives for a guinea pig. That's right: "a person or thing used as a subject for experiment."
 

Easy Pop-Off Mocha

Easy because you only need a few minutes, and you're sure to have the ingredients, pop-off because I always imagine the words "pop-off" when I think of going to sleep or just relaxing.

Don't look it up on Google.

...and mocha because Google's definition of the word "mocha" is "/ˈmōkə/ noun noun: mocha 1. a fine-quality coffee. 2. a soft kind of leather made from sheepskin." and since I know that this isn't a soft kind of leather made from sheepskin, I can pretty well call this coffee "mocha". Well it is a fine-quality coffee (if your coffee is fine-quality).

Ingredients

• 7 oz. coffee (dbl strength is great, inst. is fine, fine-quality is just right)
• 1/2 tsp unsweetened baking cocoa
• 1/8 (or 3-4 drops) vanilla extract
• 2-3 Tbsp fast caramel sauce (see "Add-Ons" page for fast caramel sauce recipe)
• 1/2-1 c milk

Also, a better (newer, updated) version will be arriving relatively soon only this time it will be called a relatively better name, "Caramel Mocha". Sounds more like something you would get at Starbucks than something that you would get from, say, a blog.

This blog.

Too bad. I like having my recipes ("my") sounding like they just stepped out of a 5-star restaurant. Like that's going to happen.

Another thing, this coffee isn't sweet at all, so the following is for your convenience.

for a creamier version:

• 1-2 Tbsp cream or
• 1/2-1 c whipped cream stirred in until dissolved

for a sweeter version:

• 3-5 Tbsp fast caramel sauce
• 1-3 Tbsp brown sugar dispensed directly into coffee or
• sweetened to taste (though not too sweet--this recipe isn't supposed to be very sweet)

for a creamier and sweeter version:

• 1-3 Tbsp sweetened condensed milk
• add 1 Tbsp cream if it's still too milky
• sidenote: add 1 tsp inst. coffee if it's too milky, creamy, sweet, or all three

Directions:

• Add all ingredients, make sure it's dissolved.
• Make whipped cream (homemade is always the way to go unless you're pressed for time and then just don't make it at all--wait until you have the time to make whipped cream. You'll thank me one day).
• Put whipped cream on top of mocha.
• For fancier style, add chocolate or cocoa shavings or (and this is more preferable) drizzle caramel sauce on top
• Serve immediately (or whipped cream will start to melt) and

P.S. the not-sweet part has been tasted and thoroughly enjoyed by someone other than me (I didn't exactly enjoy it because I have been either blessed or cursed--depending on who you ask--with a sweet tooth) but I'm sure the sweet part will be just as good. Maybe. Because I haven't tried it I can't say for sure. But I will be able to say for sure during 2016's YRT. So yay. Also, if you've tried the sweeter version, comment below and tell me which sweet version you tried and if you liked it or not. And if you found this post confusing (I know I did), comment below. Tell me. ~grey

Loaded Nachos

These are Pioneer Woman's nachos and they are deeeeee-lish! I mean, I love these! Especially with the jalapeños! And, no, the jalapeños aren't spicy after you cook them, for those of you who live in the South and can't abide anything spicier than bone marrow (not trying to hurt anyone's feelings). You can't even taste them, it just looks prettier. Maybe you can taste them, I don't know. They seem to have a lot more flavor than the ones without the jalapeños, though, so maybe it just adds some flavor. But trust me, you'll love these.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 2 lbs ground beef 
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 can (14-5 oz) black beans
• tortilla chips
• 1-1/2 c grated cheddar cheese (diy)
• 1-1/2 c grated Monterey Jack cheese
• 1 jalapeño, chopped

salsa 

• 2 cans diced tomatoes
• 1 can Rotel tomatoes
• 1 jalapeño, diced finely
• 1/2 bunch cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1/2 tsp salt

optional toppings

• 1 whole avocado, pitted and diced (not optional for me!)
• sour cream 

INSTRUCTIONS

I'm sorry guys, but there are so many words in the instructions that I don't want to take the time to write them all down by "hand", so if you'll excuse me, I'm just going to copy and paste...take or add a few words, because Pioneer Woman uses half an onion, I just use all of it. Besides, it's not any spicier and let me tell you it's wayy faster to just cut up all of it and toss it in. Well, if you don't count crying over it, then it's easier. Half of an onion doesn't get to your heart as much as a whole onion does. It's touching. So, I know it's so unoriginal, but at least you get Pioneer Woman instead of me! That's good, right?

1. In a skillet over medium-high heat, add the olive oil and the (diced) onion. Cook it until starting to soften, then add the ground beef. Cook the meat until it's totally browned. This is the part where Pioneer Woman (no, this is not copied, this is me) drains the fat. Are you kidding? Ain't nobody got time fo dat! So, just let it cook a little. Add the chili powder, paprika, cumin, crushed red pepper, salt, and pepper and stir to combine. Add the beans and stir. Reduce the heat to low and simmer while you prepare the other ingredients.
2. To make the salsa, lightly blend all ingredients in the food processor, the way we always make salsa. (Or, you can just use your own salsa recipe! I know, shocking, you don't have to follow a recipe! Who knew?)
3. To build the nachos, place a layer of tortilla chips on a platter or plate. Top with a layer of the beef/bean mixture, then all but 1/4 cup of the cheddar cheese. Add another layer of chips, another layer of the beef/bean mixture, and the Monterey Jack cheese. Add a final small layer of chips, then a small layer of beef and beans, then a final sprinkling of cheddar. Top with chopped jalapeño.
4. Place the sheet into a 325 degree oven. Just leave it in until the cheese is melted.
5. Immediately sprinkle on the diced avocado and plenty of salsa.
6. Optional: Add dollops of sour cream here and there! (See, she put the avocado down in the "optional toppings" list, but she includes it as non-optional in the instructions! Soooo, I think we can all agree we're supposed to put avocados on?)
7. Serve immediately and 

P.S. Sorry for the funky sizing of the font...for some reason it won't just be the normal size that it's supposed to be. But oh well, as long as you can read my witty comments about this whole endeavor, then who cares how small it is. ;)

Latkes

A fancy word for "fancy potato pancakes". Don't stop reading because it sounds gross. Because it really isn't, trust me. Potato pancakes are made out of 100% potatoes that you buy at your local grocery store. But these are fancier than potato pancakes, which is why they're called something fancier than "fancy potato pancakes" or "yummier than potato pancakes". This is simple and easy. Not to mention quick. I love quick and easy, don't you?

Update: after I had these, I decided these weren't my thing. They made me feel a little queasy, even when I think about them they do. So, if you get a little nervous about the idea of being queasy or not liking them but making too much, cut this recipe in half and make just a small batch. This recipe makes a lot of latkes, and you may not like that (I think around 20). But if you like latkes, then enjoy.

Ingredients

•  2 c potatoes, grated
• 1 T onion, grated
• 3 eggs, large
• 2 T flour
• 1½ t salt
• ½ c oil, for frying

Directions

1. peel potatoes, then grate them and put in medium-sized bowl.
2. peel and grate onion, put them with grated potatoes.
3. break three eggs into potato-onion mixture.
4. stir until well-mixed.
5. put in flour and stir, then salt and stir until all of the ingredients are well-mixed in with the other ingredients. Do not over-stir (you don't need to stir as often if you don't want to), or the eggs will get tough.
6. pour oil into frying pan or non-stick skillet.
7. once boiling or has bubbles, scoop out about ¾ of a cup of latke batter and pour onto skillet, about the shape of a pancake.
8. if you can fit three, do three at a time, flipping them over like pancakes. Latkes are potato pancakes, so if you don't know if you're cooking them right, just pretend they're pancakes because they are...they're just not made out of the same ingredients and they're a little bit more lumpy. Whatever you do, make sure you don't burn them, and make sure you enjoy them, which leads us to the last step...
9. Once you've used up all the batter, put them on a plate or platter, serve and

P.S. got this recipe from my sister. I have no clue where she got it, but if you see a pin on pinterest that has good-looking latkes, that may be where she got the recipe. Also, I wasn't a huge fan of this...it made my stomach feel a little queasy and I'm even queasy thinking about them. So, these may not be for you, so let me forewarn you that this recipe makes a lot of latkes, so cut the recipe in half and you should be good. ;)

Coffee Craves

This is my every-day coffee with a little twist... ;) a twist that will make you crave your coffee every morning.

If you don't already.

I thought I'd already posted a recipe of my every-day coffee, but maybe not. I can't find it anywhere, so maybe I did but then I took it down?

Whatever.

Ingredients

• 1 spnful Trader Joe's inst. coffee
• 7 oz. (or so) water
• 7 oz. mug (bigger is fine, smaller is not)
• 1-5 dashes cream
• 2 spnfuls brown sugar
• dribble of Bailey's (that's the twist!)

Directions

1. Heat the water until it  whistles or until it comes to a rolling boil*
2. Pour water into mug
3. Put two spnfuls brown sugar in coffee
4. Pour in cream until light brown
5. Drizzle a tiny drip of Bailey's in. Any stronger and it'll be overpowering. You just want a hint of Bailey's

Bailey's makes coffee taste wayy better, trust me. But make sure that doesn't mean you put more Bailey's in because you think I don't know what I'm talking about when I say the Bailey's will overpower your coffee if you put too much in. No, honestly, it does becoming overpowering after a few drizzles (notice I didn't say drops because really I don't think drops make any difference whatsoever in your coffee). Ask me how I know.
So, make the coffee, sit down with a very good book (it has to be very good to match the coffee. Can I suggest "Mara, Daughter of the Nile" — by Eloise Jarvis McGraw — to you? It's so excellent—I've read it five times, I think?).
Anyway, read Mara while drinking coffee and

*I have no clue what a "rolling boil" is, it just sounds better than just plain "boil". ;) (Don't tell anyone I said that.)

Perfect Pizookies

Never heard of pizookies? Don't worry, you're not the only one in the dark. If you take the word "pizza" and the word "cookies", you get...? That's right, "pizookies". It's basically a cookie cooked in a skillet/pan. But me, I just cook mine in a ramekin. They're sooo delicious, and take about 5 minutes. This recipes serves around 3 pizookies. Just make however many you think the ingredients makes. It's up to you. Here's how to make these delicious, simple, perfect pizookies.

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp shortening
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1/8 tsp baking soda
• 1 shake salt
• 1/4 cup flour
• 2 tbsp +/- choc. chips

Directions

1. turn broiler on high
2. mix all the ingredients, one at a time, in a med. sized bowl
3. spoon the mixture into different ramekins/microwave-safe bowls
4. put in microwave for 30s-1 min, or until cookie-like in texture and in looks
5. put in oven for 30s-1 min, or until golden brown
6. scoop ice cream on top, serve hot
7. eat — quickly, before the ice cream melts — with a glass of milk and

P.S. I copied this recipe from a sister who just wrote down the ingredients so I'm just guessing at the directions, so just guess, too, and put in the microwave for no more than 2 minutes, and put in the oven for no more than 5 minutes. You can put the pizookies in for less, just not for more because, as I mentioned before, I don't know the directions! I'm just guessing because she didn't write down the directions, she only wrote down the ingredients! Sorry, maybe later! ;) Enjoy!

5 Minutes or Less: Coffee Cake in a Cup

So I tried out the "Top 25 Microwaveable Dessert Recipes" and though I didn't try each and every one of them, I randomly chose (well, ok, looked at the pictures and said, "Which one looks most appealing to me?") and picked the Coffee Cake recipe! So, here's "5 Min or Less: Coffee Cake in a Mug". Enjoy!

So, basically, what I did here, was follow the recipe. I used a custard cup instead of a ramekin, I used a small red mug (about...errr...7 oz?) instead of a large mug, because I really wanted to have the top like overflowing. It lived up to my expectations, that's for sure! Anyway, so just click on the link below and you should have it. Mmm, I give it all to them. It was good. It wasn't as moist as I would like it to be, but then...coffee cake never is. :) Enjoy, though! It's pretty quick.

5 Min or Less: Coffee Cake in a Mug (and in a microwave)

5 Minutes or Less: Cocoa

I'm going to start posting something daily (every...mmm...Thursday - I'll be original!) called "5 Min or Less". Essentially. Anyway, here's the first.

Cocoa! I love cocoa. Very nice on a cold, snowy winter day in front of a crackling fire, as soon as you come in from sledding. Mmm, funny as it may seem, I miss winter. The season with all the best holidays! Christmas, Thanksgiving, Black Friday... ok, yeah, Black Friday is technically not a holiday. But you can make cocoa in summer, right? I just did.

Ingredients

• 1 tsp cocoa powder
• 2 tsp sugar
• 1 tsp coffee (optional)

Directions

1. Put in all ingredients. 
2. Pour boiling milk (or water, but milk makes the taste richer) into cup
3. Stir and
4. Enjoy!

Or, if you don't like how it's not sweet, here you go. A problem solver.

You'll Need:

• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 4 tsp sugar (brown is better)
• 1 tsp coffee

Optional ingredients:

• 1 tsp Nestle's choc. milk
• 1 tsp coffee
• 1-2 c milk, instead of water
• 1-2 c water, instead of milk

Directions:

1. Put milk in mug
2. Put mug in microwave for 1-2 min (mine took 2:30 min but who's counting)
3. Put ingredients in
4. Stir and

Microwave Mug Cake #2

Here's another one--a different way to make it, but about the same idea.

Ingredients

• 1 pinch salt
• 1 dash vanilla extract
• 3 T milk
• 1 egg
• 3 T oil
• 3 T sugar, white
• 1/4 c flour
• 2 T cocoa powder

Directions

1. melt butter in microwave (in mug)
2. stir butter, sugars, and salt in
3. stir in egg yolk and do not use egg white!
4. add flour and cocoa powder and stir again
5. add choc. chunks (or chips)
6. stir until well-mixed
7. cook abt 45 secs in microwave. time may vary. do not overcook.
8. serve hot and

P.S. for a more coffee-like mug cake, add 1-1/2 T inst. coffee. stir until well-mixed.

Microwave Mug Cake

This is more like a brownie in a mug, but whatever you want to call it, here it is.

Ingredients

• 1/4 c flour
• 3 T sugar, white (I put in 3 1/2 T because I find it just doesn't hit the sweet spot but you do wat you want)
• 2 T cocoa powder (I use unsweetened, Kirkland baking cocoa)
• 1 egg
• 3 T milk
• 3 T oil  (I use olive oil, but it might be better to use vegetable oil, but who knows?)
• a dash of vanilla extract (I put in about 10 drops? Most likely more)
• a pinch of salt (I put in two small pinches but one generous pinch does the job well)

You don't need to add these ingredients in this order, you just need to end up with all of these ingredients mixed up.

Directions

1. Mix until combined
2. Microwave on high for abt 2 min
3. Serve, and

Notes:
When I had mixed all the ingredients, it came out as a soupy mixture.
I cooked mine for 1:30min, checked on it when 30 seconds were left and it was up against the sides but it was doughy in the middle. It looked kind of like a pool with sides. so I put it back in for 30s, and when I took it out of the microwave it closely resembled flan, with it kind of like an upside-down dome. But at least it was cooked on the top. On the top, at least. In the bottom it was a bit doughy but it didn't taste doughy when I put it in my mouth, so that's good!
Also it wasn't sweet. It was sweet-ish, but it really wasn't that much fun to eat.
So, updated:

You'll Need

• all of the ingredients and
• 4-5 T sugar, white (or sweetened to taste...MAKE SURE THE DOUGH IS SWEET. If it's not, keep adding 1/2 T sugar until it is DO NOT MICROWAVE UNTIL DOUGH IS ACTUALLY YUMMY TO EAT) 

Directions

1. Mix until combined
2. Microwave 1:30min EXACTLY
3. Should look like a "flan brownie", looking like an upside-down dome. If it doesn't look like that, that's good, too.
4. Serve and

Hopefully you'll enjoy. If you don't, can't say I don't believe it.

I don't really like it that much, either.

But maybe I'll like the second recipe better. Maybe?

P.S. to make this a nutella cake/brownie, take out the salt and vanilla and switch it with 3 T nutella or more!

Cookie in a Mug

This is the same idea as the microwave mug cakes, only it's a cookie. Mmm, love me some good cookies! And this is one of them. ;)

Ingredients

• 1 T butter
• 1 T dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 T granulated sugar, white
• 3 drops vanilla extract (or, a dash)
• small pinch salt, kosher
• 1 egg yolk
• scant 1/4 all purpose flour (slightly less than 1/4 flour)
• 2 T semi-sweet choc. chips (heaping)

Directions

1. melt butter in microwave
2. add sugars, vanilla, and salt
3. put in yolk, stir
4. add flour, stir
5. add choc. chips, stir
   (it should now look like cookie dough)
6. cook in microwave 40-60 seconds, and start checking for doneness at 40 seconds. do not cook past one minute, because like all other cookies, it will continue to cook in the mug until it's cooled off. if the cookie is dry and cake-like in texture, you've cooked it too long, so shorten the time the next time you make a cookie in a mug.
7. serve warm and

if you like your cookies slightly coffee-like, add 1-1/2 t inst. coffee. stir until well-mixed.

5 Quick and Easy Recipes

...including breakfast. Enjoy!

NOTE: these are not supposed to go together. That's why lunch and snack are both pizza. Don't worry, though - lunch is a more filling pizza!

- BREAKFAST: oatmeal -
ingredients: oats, hot milk, sugar, fruit

• oats
• hot milk
• sugar (opt)
• fruit (opt)

directions: put rolled oats in bowl. Put milk in microwave, warm it until it's hot. Pour it over oats until oatmeal is clumping together. Don't add more, don't add less. It shouldn't be floating in milk, it should be clumped together. If you put in sugar, put it in until it's sweet-ish. If you put in fruit, put it in now and eat up! (warning: to those of you who don't like oatmeal, you won't like this.)

- APPETIZER: yogurt parfait -
ingredients:

• yogurt
• maple syrup
• fruit
• granola

directions: put yogurt in wineglass. Put granola on. Put fruit on top of granola. Drizzle maple syrup over fruit. Eat up! (warning: this is better with granola, so do not leave it out or sub something like rolled oats over it - that's gross.)

- LUNCH: bagel pizza -
ingredients:

• bagel(s)
• tomato/pizza sauce
• cheese (preferably mozzarella)

directions: put bagel in toaster or oven until lightly toasted. Put on tomato sauce and put on cheese (I use shredded cheese because it will melt evenly over bagel, but if you use cheese sticks or slices of cheese, it may not melt evenly). Put in microwave (oven will brown your bagel even more, and your bagel may burn before cheese is melted) until cheese is melted and golden brown on top. Take out and enjoy! (warning: bagels aren't pizza dough, so you can also buy dough that comes in little circles and put pizza sauce and cheese on and then put it in the oven until either cheese is melted and golden brown or the dough is cooked and golden/lightly brown.)

- SNACK: mini pizzas -
ingredients:

• tortilla(s), large if you're making more than four or five
• tomato/pizza sauce
• cheese (preferably mozzarella)

directions: place can as close to edge of tortilla as possible without going over it. Push down - hard - on can until you have cut out a circle with the edge of the can. You can also use a glass and a knife, but a can is easier. Cut out as many circle as is fitting for you (remember, as you're cutting this out, this is just a snack, not a full on meal. Only make enough to make your hunger pangs go away). Put tortilla circles in muffin tin (mini muffin tin, not those normal-sized ones - those are too big!). Put tomato or pizza sauce on/in. Sprinkle cheese over it. It has to be grated (or, pre-grated, for your convenience), not sliced because sliced will pool at the bottom once melted and cheese sticks you can't put on the edge - the cheese should be all around the tortilla circles. Then put muffin tins in oven and wait until cheese is melted and golden brown and then take out. Slide knife underneath tortilla and remove carefully. May burn you, so be careful! Put on decorative plate, if having guests over, or just put on normal plate if it's just normal you. Serve to either guests or normal you and enjoy!

- DESSERT: cookie in a mug -
ingredients:

• 1 T butter
• 1 T dark brown sugar, firmly packed
• 1 T granulated sugar, white
• 3 drops vanilla extract (or, a dash)
• small pinch salt, kosher
• 1 egg yolk
• scant 1/4 all purpose flour (slightly less than 1/4 flour)
• 2 T semi-sweet choc. chips (heaping)

directions: melt butter in microwave, add sugars, vanilla, and salt. Put in yolk, stir. Add flour, stir. add choc. chips, stir (it should now look like cookie dough. Cook in microwave 40-60 seconds, and start checking for doneness at 40 seconds (time may vary for different people's cookies). Do not cook past one minute, because like all other cookies, it will continue to cook in the mug until it's cooled off. if the cookie is dry and cake-like in texture, you've cooked it too long, so shorten the time the next time you make a cookie in a mug. Serve warm and enjoy! (note: if you like your cookies slightly coffee-like - add 1-1/2 t inst. coffee, stir until well-mixed, and then put in microwave.)
Thanks for reading and

Everyday Spaghetti

I use any kind of pasta, it doesn't have to be spaghetti, but "Everyday Spaghetti" sounds better than "Everyday Pasta", right? Here's how you make it.

Ingredients

• 1 pkg. spaghetti or pasta (I get mine from Meijer or Kroger...it doesn't matter)
• 1 can diced tomatoes (Kirkland brand)
• 1 lb. sausage (Italian, Kirkland brand)
• 1/2 Tbs. Italian Seasoning (Kirkland brand)
• 1 Tbs. salt
• Optional ingredient: 1 can tomato sauce

Directions

1.  Fill pot halfway with water (mine's probably a foot or maybe two feet deep). A couple cupfuls of water. It depends. Just guess, it won't really matter. Just enough to cook a full package of pasta/spaghetti without the pasta getting hard.
2. Add salt, cover pot with lid.
3. Get out your pan. It can be a skillet, I think. I've never tried skillet, though.
4. Put the sausage in, cut the sausage up into bite-size pieces. I just use a big serving spoon to cut it up, nothing special.
5. Turn on the heat (it doesn't matter if you turn it on before or after you put in the sausage) to 5, if you're using a stove with actual fire, not just a heated surface. If you're using a heated surface, I'm not sure if it's the same. If it is, great, if it's not, I can't help you. Sorry.
6. Brown the sausage. I like mine a little bit more browned than just turning the sausage into a gray-ish color that it always turns when it's cooked. I like it to have brown around the edges, like the brown you see on caramelized onions (mmm, love those).
7. Once the sausage is browned, add the diced tomatoes and some Italian Seasoning. Me, I don't measure, I just sprinkle it over the whole thing and wait until everything in the pan is pretty much covered with it. Not a ton, but lightly covering, like a sprinkling of snow when you want it to be a foot of snow.
   If you're going to add the tomato sauce, add it now.
8. Cover the pan and wait for the water in the deep pot to boil
9. Once the water in the deep pot is boiling, pour in the package of pasta. How to tell if the water is boiling: steam should be coming out around the lid.
10. Set the timer according to the pasta box.
11. Once the time is up, strain the pasta.
12. Put the pasta in the sausage-and-tomato mixture (yick, sounds gross).
13. Stir and

(Additional ingredient: If you like your pasta wetter and more tomato-y, add a can of tomato sauce.)

YRT - Cold Coffee

Again, the link to the cold coffee recipe is in the title. Just click on it, and it should take you to the recipe. If it doesn't, comment below and tell me. I haven't rated this recipe yet, so that's why, if you came and stopped by to do the YRT with me today, you'll notice at the right side of this blog that it will have a "Today's YRT" thing and it says what the day's YRT is. It will also have the "rating" I gave the recipe. I know, it has a rating (I haven't even tested/tasted the recipe yet!), and before I've even "tried" it (I've tried all my recipes, but I don't remember what they taste like...all the more reason for me to have a YRT every year!) but I didn't want to take the rating away because it was too much trouble. And I want a smiley face that has a tongue sticking out right here, but I can't because it looks bad: :P    See? Anyway, that's today's YRT. Probably for the whole week, because I'm quite busy.

YRT - Milky Joe's

I've enclosed the link in the title, so if you want to go to the recipe we'll be trying, click on this post's title. It'll work. I promise. Anyway, "Milky Joe's" is the recipe I'll be tasting. Another thing, some people have been dubious as to whether it should be called "Joe-apostrophe-S" or "Joe-no-apostrophe-S". It should be "Joe-apostrophe-S", because the name was made because I used Trader Joe-apostrophe-S coffee, so there you go. Just in case any of you who are reading the title are also dubious. :) Anyway,

YRT - Creamy Caramel Coffee

If I'm going to be making something with coffee in it, why not kill two birds with one stone? That's why I chose to do two YRTs instead of just one--and because then I'll be closer to accomplishing my goal of finishing up all of last year's recipes...only closer. I'm probably not going to ever finish them all! But. Whatever. So, I'll be doing the "Creamy Caramel Coffee" (link opens up into new tab). Wonder if it'll be any good. We'll see!

YRT - Quick Make-it-Yourself Coffee Ice Cream

For the second YRT recipe, I'll be making "Make-it-Yourself Coffee Ice Cream in Three Minutes or Less". I know, long title. But I shortened it for the YRT. I mean, I shortened it in this post's title. If that makes sense. I'll be making it today, so if you come back in about an hour, I should have the stars up on the original post.

Also, if you scroll down you should come to my first YRT post on the "A La Cafe" recipe. Click on the link and you'll go to that post. You'll notice that I have the stars there! Yep, I actually managed to finally "rate" my first YRT recipe! :)

White Mint Hot Chocolate

The "white mint" part is for the white mint stuff I put in it, and the "hot chocolate" stuff because I'm using chocolate milk mix to make it taste more cocoa-like and some people call cocoa "hot chocolate" so it's almost a play-on-words, emiright?

Aha, right, kay.

Obviously it's at it's best in front of the fire on a snowy day with a good book, but it sounds so cliched, I'll just give you the recipe and let the sleeping dog lie.

Serves: 1
Time: 3 min, max

Ingredients

• 2 spoonfuls TJ's inst. coffee (I know, I use it with all my coffee recipes...if you don't have TJ's, you can use Folger's. That's what I used before I tried TJ's and realized I liked it better)
• 1-2 Tbs. mint [white] chocolate  
• 1 spoonful Nesquik choc. milk
• 1 spoonful sugar

Directions

1. Put in the inst. coffee, Nesquik, and sugar
2. Put in hot, boiling water
3. Stir and 

One

 This recipe is a coffee recipe. It's the 7th coffee recipe I've posted. And I'm not even close to halfway through my coffee recipes. Trust me. It's called "one" because everything is one. Or you could call it "one coffee" because it's one coffee and everything is one and it's for one person. You just can't make it for two people. Drinking it by the fire on a snowy day is a way to make the coffee spectacular. Here's how to make it.

Ingredients

• 1 spoonful TJ's inst. coffee
• 1 spoonful Nesquik choc. milk
• 1 spoonful brown sugar
• 1 Tbs. mint white choc. (recipe coming--hopefully--soon...it's my mom's recipe, so I need to ask her for it before I can get it!)

Directions

1. Put in the inst. coffee, the choc. milk (without any milk, of course), and the brown sugar (or you can put the brown sugar in after you've poured the water). Then pour hot, boiling water over the mix. Then, put in the mint white chocolate, stir, and

P.S. You can also make a mix and bag it. For four servings, put in four of all the dry ingredients and put it in a baggie (I use Ziploc). Store it in your pantry/cabinet or counter. Just don't put it in the fridge, because that's useless. ;) Enjoy!

YRT - A La Cafè

For my first recipe for the YRT (I'm so so sorry that it's already March and I haven't done any of the YRT--I totally forgot) I'm going to do the first recipe from 2014: the "A La Cafè". If the link doesn't work, go to the side where the "recipe archives" are and you can click on the arrow next to "2014". Then go down until it says "march" and you can either click on that or you can click on the arrow next to "march" and it will have the name "Quick Drink". Click on that and it'll take you to the recipe I'll be testing. Or, you can save yourself the trouble and click on the link I gave you. That's the recipe I'll be testing.

Taco Salsa

I know, why a special salsa just for tacos and burritos? Because normal salsa isn't as good as taco salsa.Love eating this with my burrito, on a hot, summer day. It's better cold, but whatever suits you. Besides, it's your taco.

Here's how to make it.

Ingredients

• 1/3 sour cream
• 1/3 mayo (I use Hellmann's)
• 1/3 salsa (any kind)

Depending on what kind of salsa you use, the taste differs. For instance, if you use a hot, spicy salsa, you'll get a hot, spicy taco salsa. If you use a very mild, basic salsa you'll get a mild taco salsa (it's not a "basic" salsa because not everyone makes it)

Directions

1. Put ingredients in medium-sized bowl. 
2. Stir until well-blended and light pink (there will be some chunks if your salsa has chunks--that's fine. There should be chunks. If there aren't, that's fine, too)
3. Put it on your taco/burrito and

I thought this was appropriate with this recipe. Instead of using a cliched "lol" use "ILSHMSFOAIDMT" which is "I Laughed So Hard My Sombrero Fell Off And I Dropped My Taco". Poor me. My taco's a mess on the floor.

New! Yearly Recipe Tasting/Testing

Big news for everyone this week (and the weeks to come), guys! I'm going to test all of my recipes (one by one) on SWT and give it a rating from either 1-5 or 1-10. This will be my yearly test. (YRT = Yearly Recipe Testing...or Yearly Recipe Tasting) Then, I'm going to go through my blog and add my ratings to the posts. But as I go along. So, for example, I test the muffins. Then, after I test it, I add the rating to the recipe post. I also might post about the recipe and what was good and what was bad. Pros and cons. Then I move on to the next recipe and do what I did for the muffins. If you guys don't think this is a good idea or you don't want me to do this, that's fine. It just means less work for me.

Really looking forward to the YRT!

Questions you may ask: 
Notice: these might not be questions you ask. If so, please email or comment below and ask me. I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible, if possible. Thank you!

• What's the deadline on the YRT?
  The deadline is Jan 31st, though I will be prolonging the deadline this year because I got the idea in, like, the middle of January and I have so many recipes that I'll need more time to rate them.
• When will you rate them? How do you know what to rate?
  I'll rate all the recipes from the last year the following year. So say you have ten posts posted in 2014. So you rate them Jan. 2015. You rate all the recipes posted in 2014. None of the 2015 ones.
• When do you stop rating the recipes?
  As soon as I'm through with all the recipes that need rating. (Don't understand which ones I decide to rate? Look at the question above.)
• What month do you rate them?
  I'm planning on rating them in January.
• What if we want to follow your progress as you do this year's YRT?
  I'll try to post often enough, telling you which recipe I'm tasting and rating and hopefully I'll have a link so that you can see the post, and maybe you'll be able to rate and taste with me! 
• What if we want to tell you our ratings and how much we liked the recipe?
  That's easy! If you want to, either comment and add your rating, or (and this is recommended) send me an email about how much you like or dislike the recipe and what your rating is.  
• What about the posts following the YRT?
  The posts following the YRT will not be rated until the next YRT. If you don't get this, read the question "When do you rate them?" and if you still don't understand, read below.

I still don't understand!
OK, that's fine. Say, for example, I have ten posts. The following January, I do the YRT and rate all ten posts. Then, once I've rated all the posts I have, I'm done with that year's YRT. Then, after the YRT, I post some more recipes. I don't rate these because I've already done that year's YRT.

If you STILL don't understand, just contact me and ask all your questions. I'll try to answer them as much as I can. If you don't want to email, comment below and ask. Either way, I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible.

Hope this helps!

P.S. This exact post (or, the exact words) are also found on the page "About theYearly Recipe Testing/Tasting" which is by the top of this blog, where the recipes and "About Me" are located. Why? Because then, after this post has disappeared into the many other posts in my blog, all you have to do is go to the top of the page and click on it to know more about. Also, that way, visitors who don't know that there's a post on it will be able to read about it as well...without having to search and see if there's a post about it. It's just for your convenience, though, so if you don't want it up for some reason, just contact me (go to the "Contact Me" page to find my email address) and tell me all your problems about it. I'll try to meet those problems and make the YRT/it's page better. :)

Peppermint Mocha

(Coffee recipe #6)
Told you there would be a lot of coffee recipes coming through. And I haven't even posted half of them! They're all in a folder, all together, all waiting to be posted. Don't worry, some day they will. But for right now I have only one...just one. And just one post for it, too. Here's the recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 cup milk (not a measuring cup, a real cup, that you drink out of)
• 1 dash peppermint mocha creamer (Coffee Mate)
• 1 teabag chai tea

Directions

1. Put milk in microwave 1-2 minutes.
2. Put in peppermint mocha.
3. Put teabag in and steep for 3-4 minutes (or whatever time you want)
4. Sweeten if desired and

English Toffee Mocha

This being the fifth coffee recipe, I thought it should have a rather extravagant name.

Also, it's the flavor of the cocoa I used.

It's really good.

It's much better than normal cocoa which consists of cocoa powder/one cocoa packet and hot water (or, if you're like me, hot milk). It's much better.

Here are the steps.

Ingredients

• 1 c 2% milk
• 1 small spoonful Trader Joe's inst. coffee
• 1 heaping spoonful English Toffee cocoa (Lisa's gourmet)
  (this is the cocoa I used for this recipe...you need it to make the recipe the right way)

Directions

1. Heat milk up in microwave or 1 min
2. Stir in coffee
3. Stir in cocoa
4. Serve and

Here's how to make your own 2% milk:
You'll need:
3/4 c fat free/skim milk
1/4 c cream* ("heavy whipping cream" to be exact but you don't need to be)
Directions:
Pour milk into a cup, pour cream in (make sure both ingredients are measured...see note below), stir, use it to make the cocoa recipe above. And enjoy!

*I use less than 1/4 cup...WAY less, because it seems like too much and I feel like I'm going down the fat road, so put as much in as you like, no skin off my nose, but I do suggest you use more like a tablespoon to three tablespoons of cream.

(If you want a more accurate recipe, like the one I use, as soon as the new page "Add-On Recipes" is posted, go there and it should be somewhere in there...if you can't find it, just do Ctrl+F and a bar at the bottom of your computer screen will pop up with a little bar at the left corner. Click on it and type in "2% milk" and it'll get you where the add-on is. Hope that helps!)

Mocha Coffee

I love this kind of coffee.

Not only do you not have to add sugar or cream to it, it's also enjoyable for those of you who don't like coffee.

Which is quite a few people, actually.

One of my friends only likes coffee if there was enough cocoa mix.

So, here's my version. It's very basic, only takes a cup and a spoon and a few minutes. And luckily, more and more often I have a few minutes, so I do it a lot.

It's really not a recipe, though. It's more of just something you can throw together. It doesn't take a genius, it only takes instant coffee and a packet of instant cocoa. And it's good. And you can make it at hotels because all hotels have either coffee or cocoa or, most likely, both.

Make it and try it. You don't need a recipe, but if you're not sure what to do, well, that's why I'm here.

Not literally, just figuratively.

Enjoy the fourth coffee recipe I've posted! Should be good.

Ingredients

• 1 pkg Swiss Miss inst. cocoa
• 1 spoonful Trader Joe's inst. coffee
• 3/4 c warm milk

Directions

1. Put cocoa mix and coffee into cup
2. Put milk in microwave for 2 min
3. Pour milk slowly into cup, stirring while you go (it takes care of the chunks of cocoa powder that come to the top after you've poured in the milk)
4. Optional: Put dash of cream in, serve and

Note: for an even easier no-work experience, try this. It's delicious! It's basically instant coffee and mocha mix all together in one big container of yum! This is 100% my own opinion and to some people it's watery. To me, it's not. Put in about an 1/8 of a cup in an 8 oz. mug and you should be good. Just play with it, see what you like in or out of it and you should end up on your head. Either way, give it a try. They sell them at Costco on the West Coast and trust me they're the best! Also, their cappuccinos are really good, too. But that's a different recipe. Enjoy!