Cucumber Salad: California Roll

 

I love these viral cucumber salads. "Sometimes you just gotta eat a whole cucumber." This is a take on the classic California Sushi Roll, with crab stick, cream cheese, avocado, and, of course, cucumber.

Cucumber Salad: California Roll

from alexiaeatsboba

Ingredients:

1 cucumber (English preferred, but regular is fine)

1/2 avocado, diced

4 oz. crab sticks, shredded

3 Tbs. whipped cream cheese

1 Tbs. Kewpie mayo

1/2 Tbs. soy sauce

furikake (to taste)

Instructions:

1. Mandolin full cucumber on a medium setting to get even slices.

2. In a medium-sized lidded container, combine all ingredients. Close lid, and shake vigorously until well combined.

3. Enjoy!

The Best Mashed Potatoes

 

The Best Mashed Potatoes 

slightly adapted from Gimme Some Oven

Ingredients:

5 lbs potatoes (I used yellow but you can use virtually any type or mix of types)

1 Tbs. salt (for boiling water)

2 cloves garlic, minced

6 Tbs. butter

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp. salt

4 oz. cream cheese

Optional garnishes:

chives or green onion, chopped fine

cracked black pepper

Instructions:

1. Scrub and dice potatoes. Place potatoes in a large pot and cover with 1 inch of water. Add 1 Tbs. salt.

2. Bring potatoes to a boil on high-heat. Once boiling, reduced to medium-high heat and cook until fork tender. Drain into colander in sink and set aside.

3. In a microwave safe bowl, combine garlic, butter, milk, and 1 tsp. salt. Microwave until butter is just melted. 

4. Pour strained potatoes back into the boiling pot. Add half of the butter mixture into the potatoes and mash until combined. Add last half of butter then mash again until combined. Add the cream cheese and mash again until well incorporated.

5. Serve immediately with optional garnishes.

Spinach Sausage Queso Dip

 

Spinach Sausage Queso Dip

from Q

Ingredients:

1-32 oz. block Queso Blanco Velveeta 

1-8 oz. block cream cheese

1-10 oz. can diced tomatoes with green chilies (keep the liquid)

1 stick butter

1 lb. mild Italian sausage

1-10 oz. block frozen chopped spinach

1 onion, diced

1/2 tsp. garlic powder

1/2 tap. smoked paprika

1/2 tsp. chili powder 

1/4 tsp. mustard powder (optional)

salt and pepper to taste

To serve:

- tortilla chips (optional)

Instructions:

1. In a crockpot on high, add Velveeta, cream cheese, diced tomatoes (including liquids), and butter. Set aside.

2. In a large skillet on medium-high heat, cook onion, sausage, and frozen spinach together until cooked through. Season with garlic powder, smoked paprika, chili powder, and mustard power (if using).

3. Add sausage mix to crockpot when fully cooked, and stir to combine. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Once fully melted, set on Keep Warm setting and serve!

Salmon & Crab Sushi Bake

 

Tried this viral food trend, and it's fire. All the best parts about sushi without the fuss or cost. You can do this so many different ways (just crab, just salmon, canned or fresh tuna, etc) but this is the way I tried first.

Salmon & Crab Sushi Bake

from Be Fit Snacks

Ingredients:

8 oz. fresh salmon

8 oz. crab stick

3 oz. cream cheese

1/4 cup mayo (ideally Kewpie) plus more for serving

1 Tbs Sriracha plus more for serving

1 cup uncooked rice (or 2-3 cups cooked rice)

2 Tbs rice vinegar

1 package nori wraps

cucumber, sliced small (optional)

avocado, sliced small (optional)

green onion, chopped (just the green parts)

Furikake

salt

pepper

garlic powder

oil

Instructions:

1. Cook rice however you cook your rice. Add vinegar and fluff to combine.

2. Pre-heat oven to 425F. Season salmon with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and a bit of oil. Rub even across top of salmon.

3. Bake salmon for 10-15 minutes depending on thickness. Optional, broil for 2-3 minutes at the end.

4. In a medium bowl, shred the crab sticks and baked salmon. Add the cream cheese, mayo, and Sriracha and stir well to combine. 

5. In an 8"x8" pan, lay down rice and pat flat until even and compressed. Season with Furikake. 

6. Add salmon mixture on top, and spread evenly. 

7. Bake at 400F for 10 minutes. Optional, broil for 2-3 minutes at the end.

8. Top sushi bake with additional Sriracha and mayo, if desired. Sprinkle on green onions.

9. Cut nori wraps into 4th to make squares. To serve, spoon sushi bake into bite-sized portions on a piece of nori. Top with cucumber or avocado if desired.

Cajun Pasta

 

This is a tasty Alfredo-based Cajun pasta recipe. You can customize it pretty easily too: If you want to increase sauce, you can add 1 Tbs. butter to every additional 1/2 Tbs. of cream cheese. If you want less meat, leave out the chicken thighs. If you don't want cajun pasta, leave out the sausage, shrimp, and cajun seasoning and add fresh tomato and basil to the pasta!

Cajun Pasta

from Q

Ingredients:

1 lb. Fettuccine, or short pasta of choice

4 chicken thighs, sliced or diced

4 Andouille sausages, sliced thin

1/2 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 small onion, chopped small

1 small red pepper, chopped small

2 large cloves garlic

4 Tbs. butter

4 oz. cream cheese, softened

8 oz. heavy cream

1 cup Parmesan, grated

cajun seasoning

olive oil

Instructions:

1. Start a pot of salted water boiling for the pasta.

2. Heat 2 Tbs. olive oil in dutch oven on medium heat. Add the garlic, onion, pepper, and 1 tsp. Cajun seasoning. Saute until peppers are soft and onions are translucent, about 5 minutes. Place vegetables in a separate bowl and set aside.

3. Fry the sausage slices until golden brown on both sides. Spoon sausage slices into bowl with vegetables, leaving behind juices.

4. Dust and rub Cajun seasoning on chicken thighs. Fry chicken thighs until thoroughly cooked. When close to finishing cooking, add in shrimp. Spoon chicken and shrimp into bowl with vegetables and sausages, leaving behind juices.

5. Start cooking pasta.

6. Melt butter in dutch oven. Add softened cream cheese and whisk until combined. Slowly stir in the heavy cream. Add the Parmesan, and whisk until combined. Add pasta water by the tablespoon until sauce sticks to the back of a spoon but still runs off. Add Cajun seasoning to taste. 

7. Add pasta to dutch oven and stir to combine with sauce. Add in vegetables and meat, and stir to combine. 

8. Serve immediately and top with additional grated Parmesan if desired.

EveryPlate Tuscan Herbed Chicken

So for the first time, I tried a meal box. This had a good deal on FB so I got 6 meals, 3 recipes for $20 including shipping. Even with the severe discount, this is more than I generally pay for food. I hit the Hy-vee deals pretty hard! I quite enjoyed the experience. But due to cost, poor quality of ingredients, and the wastefulness the thing I doubt it's an experience I will duplicate. But: here is my experience and review of it.

I have put the instructions as they came with my personal notes in parentheses.

Review:
     So this was my first meal box ever. It came in a box, which was lined with a shiny foil bubble wrap bag. At the bottom were 2 big reusable ice packs, then the meat, and on top of that another big reusable ice pack, and on top of that was everything else. If I was doing this as a regular thing, the waste alone would probably kill me but since I think this will be a one time experience, I am keeping the ice pack to reused for coolers in the future.
     Most of the produce and meat looked okay, though the red onion has a very bad rotten spot on it (you will see in next post) and the tomatoes are very weak in color. All in all, everything seemed fine.
     With this first recipe, I do think it made a decently sized meal. More like a lunch than a dinner, though. I was hungry enough the first night to eat both servings (which I regretted!). I actually put the whole thing into MyFitnessPal item-for-item (based off the original recipe measurements) to get an exact calorie count. The meal itself was quite tasty! Something richer than I would make for myself, definitely but I think with my modifications and an added vegetable side or salad added this is a meal I see myself making again.
    I found the instructions confusing at times. They seem to jump around from task to task and it's just hard to follow. I have not copied the instructions below but put down my, slightly more logical, interpretation of them. I would consider myself a decent home cook in terms of technique and speed of prep and I think their time estimate is simply inaccurate having followed all the instructions on the card in order.

Estimated cook time: 40 minutes
Actual cook time: 55 minutes

Tuscan Herbed Chicken
by EveryPlate

Ingredients:
- 6 oz. linguini
- 10 oz. chicken breast, boneless skinless (half breasts, and pound flat)
- 1 roma tomato
- 3 cloves garlic
- 4.5 g. Tuscan heat spice
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
- 1 oz. cream cheese
- 4 tsp. olive oil (you can get away with half of this just for on the chicken directly)
- 2 Tbs. butter (I recommend leaving out)
- salt

Instructions:
1. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Heat a large skillet on medium head with a light drizzle of olive oil.
2. Small chop tomato. Slice 2 cloves of garlic, finely mince the remaining clove.
3. Pat chicken breast dry with a paper towel. Put breasts into a bowl and add drizzle of olive oil, minced garlic clove, salt, pepper, and half of the Tuscan heat spice. Combine well.
4. Once pasta water is boiling, add pasta. Cook for 9-11 mins. Reserve 1/2 cup of liquid, then drain.
5. Add chicken to heated frying pan. Cook until browned, about 7-10 minutes a side (if not flattened. Otherwise, less)
6. Once cooked, transfer to a cutting board to rest.
7. In chicken skilled, melt the 2 Tbs. butter (or skip!). Add the sliced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
8. Add tomato, remaining seasoning, a pinch of salt and pepper and cook together for another 2-3 mins.
9. Stir in cream cheese, half of the Parmesan, and 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water. Bring mixtre to a simmer and add pasta. If pasta seems dry, add more reserved water and stir together until creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
10. Divide pasta between 2 bowls, and thinly slice chicken breast and divide between two bowls. Top with remaining Parmesan.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bread

I found this recipe easy, delicious, and not at all too sweet! And of course, it features one of my favorite ingredients: SQUASH. I highly recommend using homemade pumpkin puree: Just slice a pie pumpkin in half, scoop out seeds, and place cut-side down on a lined baking pan. Bake at 350 for an hour. Scoop out inside, mash or process until smooth et voila!

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bread
from Homemade Hooplah

Ingredients:
cheesecake filling
- 8 oz cream cheese
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 Tbs flour
- 1 large egg

pumpkin bread
- 1 2/3 cups flour
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 Tbs. pumpkin spice
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- pinch salt
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 large egg

Instructions:
cheesecake filling
1. In a large bowl, whisk all cheesecake filling ingredients together until smooth.

pumpkin bread
1. Pre-heat oven to 350F. Butter a 9"x5" bread pan and set aside.
2. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, pumpkin spice mix, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Stir to combine and set aside.
3. In another large bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, brown sugar, vegetable oil, sour cream, vanilla extract, and egg until smooth.
4. Pour sifted dry ingredients into wet. Using a spatula, gently fold together until dry ingredients are just combined.

assembly
1. Pour 1/2 of the pumpkin batter into the prepared pan. Smooth out with a spatula.
2. Pour cheesecake filling into pan. Smooth out with a spatula, trying not to touch cheesecake filling to the edge.
3. Pour remaining pumpkin batter on top and smooth out. You can swirl with cheesecake layer if desired.
4. Bake for 50-65 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
5. Let bread cool in pan for 15 minutes, and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.