Wednesday, July 30, 2008

chocolate bread pudding

2 pkgs hamburger buns, cubed
5 cups milk
1 stick butter, melted and cooled
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cocoa powder
1 bag semi-sweet choco chips
1/2 teaspoon salt
4 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp vanilla

combine all ingredients (except buns) over low heat until well-combined. put a layer of buns in the bottom of a pan, moisten with a cup or two of the custard mixture, and a handful of chocolate chips, and repeat until buns, custard, and chips are gone! bake at 350' for about 40 minutes.

i haven't actually tasted this yet, so it may need some tweaking!

Sunday, July 13, 2008

lasagna made with what i had on-hand

1 box whole wheat lasagna noodles
2 small things fat free ricotta
2 eggs
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, + more for top
1 bag fat free cheddar cheese (or mozzarella if you can find it F.F.)
2 jars whatever tomato-based sauce you like
1/3 cup pesto
1 lb lean turkey sausage
2 cloves garlic, chopped

combine the ricotta, parm, and eggs. take the sausage out of it's casings and brown on med. heat. season with s&p. add in the garlic and saute a minute, then stir in the sauce. put a very thin layer of sauce in the bottom of your dish. put a layer of noodles, a layer of sauce, a layer of ricotta mixture, a layer of the cheddar, and a layer of the pesto.. repeat twice. on your top layer of noodles, put just a layer of sauce (make sure all the noodles are covered!), more cheddar, and a bit more parm. bake at 375 for 45 minutes to an hour, or until you can stick a knife in and the noodles are soft. make sure to let it sit at least 10 minutes after you take it out of the oven so it can congeal a little.

like most lasagna i've ever made, i kind of made this up as i went along. it turned out delicious though! i was quite skeptical of the whole wheat lasagna noodles, but in the end they are so covered in cheese and sauce, it's really not noticeable if they're a tad rubberier than regular noodles. i had pesto that needed to be used up, hence it's appearance in this recipe. and the cheddar was the only cheese beau could find that was fat free.

Wednesday, July 9, 2008

rice pudding

this is good. really good. i don't even love rice pudding that much, but this... is delicious.

3 cups day-old short grain white rice
4 cups skim milk, divided
2/3 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp kosher salt (or to taste. i always add extra.)
2 eggs, beaten
1 tbsp pure vanilla
1 cup raisins, if you like raisins. i don't, unless they're enrobed in chocolate.
1 tbsp butter

combine rice, 3 c of the milk, sugar, and salt in a large saucepan and cook on medium until thick and creamy, about 15 minutes. pour in remaining cup milk, then eggs, vanilla, & butter (& raisins if you like em). cook 2-3 more minutes until combined and thick.

adapted from a stellar recipe on allrecipes.com!

Saturday, July 5, 2008

vegetarian chili 2

okay, this is really just the bean soup i mentioned a few days ago, with a few minor changes.

1/2 red onion, finely chopped (because that's what we had on hand)
garlic to taste
1 lg. can CRUSHED tomatoes (so much better than diced!)
1 15 oz. can fat free refried beans
1 " can kidney beans
1 can black beans
1 " can pinto beans
1 can water
1 bottle beer (i used yuengling black & tan)
1 packet mccormick chili seasoning
salt and pepper to taste

saute onion & garlic in a bit of EVOO until onion is translucent. add remaning ingredients. bring to a boil, then simmer on low for at least an hour.

i can't wait to eat this with ff hot dogs or tortilla chips!!

oh, and P.S., the baking-soda-at-gas-neutralizer did NOT work. or maybe i just didn't use enough?

Thursday, July 3, 2008

4th of july party!

tomorrow is the 4th, and it'll be our 2nd annual party. last year we had a good 40-50 people! i have a tendency to cook too much food, so this year i'm trying to be prudent and only making one batch of everything. well, maybe not ONE batch, but not 5 batches. even though i said we were only doing burgers and dessert, but i can't resist the temptation to make other goodies if i have the ingredients on hand. so, i've been a busy bee and made:

-hummus. about a half-gallon of hummus, actually.
-pesto pasta salad w/sun dried tomatoes, green onions, and parm.
-8 pounds of hamburgers!
-kahlua brownie trifle.
-patriotic fireworks cake. mostly a novelty cake, but hopefully it'll taste yummy in the jello-and-cool-whip sense.