Healthy Oven Nugs

Welcome to take 2 of new recipes in our apartment.  This time, it was all me!

I started out trying to make chicken cordon bleu but I got really frustrated with slicing the chicken into 3 strips without ripping it.  So I threw a mini hissy fit in the crazy heat and ended up deciding to make chicken nuggets instead.

Again, I looked to Skinny Taste for the recipe.  It was easy enough for me to follow along all on my own after getting over my own personal disappointment in not making what i had originally wanted.  If you want to follow along with my awful captions, feel free to continue but I'd really recommend checking the source instead.

Step 1. Ignore your original plans to make chicken cordon blew and start chopping the shit out of your chicken until it's "bite size" and cubey.  Then season it with salt and pepper to taste.

Step 2.  Get your bowls of dipping stuff ready.  That means pour not enough olive oil into the first bowl so that you have to refill it later.  And then put bread crumbs, panko, and parmesan in the other.  But WAY TOO MUCH.  Like, follow the instructions, but know you'll have a ton left over and feel like a waste.

Step 3 (not pictured).  Gross yourself out grabbing chicken bits and tossing it in the olive oil then into the crumb mixture.  Then onto the pan.  Repeat.

Step 4. Worry that the crumbs that are now black midway through cooking signify that your oven is a piece of shit that burns things by randomly increasing temperatures by 100 degrees while you're not looking.  Flip a few pieces over (eventually all) and sigh from relief that you were mistaken.

Step 5. Continue baking the nuggets for a few more minutes then put them on a plate with a better side than potato chips.  Like fries.  Or something healthy.  But it's too damn hot to risk turning the oven back on so I suck it up and try to eat chips.

Honestly, these were REALLY good.  Like, I loved them so much more than any frozen nugs I've ever had. Or even restaurant nugs.  I swear I'm better than restaurants now.  Just don't judge by the shitty iPhone pictures.  I'm going with it being too hot to use a real camera.  Yep.  That's a thing.

Grilled Steak Fajitas

Hey guys!  Remember when I 'vowed' to try new recipes?  Well get ready! because we are getting serious about it over here.  I recently found the blog Skinny Taste and went a little crazy bookmarking recipes.

And then I went to the store and bought enough stuff to cook 7 meals this week and it's going to be insane.  And delicious.  And a lesson in retraining our bodies to enjoy healthier stuff.  Whatever.

So, Sunday night dinner was a tasty treat of Grilled Steak Fajitas.  And you should consider yourselves lucky because John documented the whole endeavor!  Now, obviously you can click on the link above for the actual recipe but if you're a better cook than us you might be able to get it from just the photos and tiny descriptions below.

Step 1: Chop your shit.  Clean it first (I guess).  If you're human, you cry now and end up having to rinse your eyes in the sink.

Step 2: Listen to AMAZING jams on your record player (or computer if you aren't awesome).

Step 3: Keep chopping! Oh my god!!!!!! CHOP IT!!!

Step 4: Throw your veggies in a pot and cook them for like 20 minutes (or until the onions are carmelized).  I'll be honest, this is the point in the cooking where I left the room and cleaned.

Step 5: Grill your flank steak that you preseasoned.  It should be medium rare.  Again, I had no part in this.

Step 6: CHOP MORE STUFF!

Step 7: Enjoy!  It will be amazing!  You can add things to it (sour cream, cheese, etc.)

Seriously, finding this other blog was a great thing.  It tells you the nutriotional info and everything looks amazing and easy to do.  I definitely recommend you check it out.  Or come to our place for dinner.  Because we cook now.  (I swear I'll cook the next one...)

Homemade Sunday: Chicken and Dumplings

I know, talk about cutting a goal to the last minute.  I wanted to try a new recipe every month, and this month we made the executive decision to try making chicken and dumplings.  So, here we are, end of January, cooking up a storm.

I do feel good trying this recipe because it was so hands on.  I mean literally, hands on.  I had to mix my dough together with my bare hands.  And John was ripping apart the carcass of a chicken in a similar fashion.  Nothing says home cooking like tearing apart ingredients with your mitts.

And honestly, it was a pretty easy recipe to follow.  Maybe too easy.  There were like 6 ingredients total.  I think maybe we needed more guidance than that.  The broth itself definitely needed spices that were not listed.  And a non experienced baker, such as myself, needs more to go off than instinct.

But overall, I'd rate it a successful dish.  Perfect for the cold months since it was so meaty and thick.  ha. Meaty and thick.  But it wasn't without flaws.  I mean, look at the picture above, there should be more chicken.  And those dumplings need to be a lot smaller.  2"x2"? No way.  But they were definitely tasty.  So, we'll give it another go some time but make some definite changes.  Which is why I won't be sharing the recipe here.  It was definitely not the best choice.  Great dish, not great recipe.

We'll get better in February. :)

Just you wait.

My All Time Favorite Sugar Cookies

I'm sure that you're aware that I'm an avid baker.  I mean, my blog name is "Cupcakerator" for God's sake.  So, when I say that I've found the best sugar cookie recipe I've ever had, you know that it's good.

When I went home to Michigan for Christmas, my step mom, Jean, spent the entire duration of my stay in the kitchen.  This woman is amazing.  She has more cookbooks and recipes than anyone I've ever met.  And my goodness, the memory she has for each recipe is uncanny.  (Just don't distract her while she's working)  So, I should have known that her sugar cookies would be amazing.  I just had no idea just how life changing they'd be.

Normally, when I make sugar cookies,  I need them to be for cutout cookies, and let me tell you right now, I also have a perfect recipe for those.  Note - this recipe is NOT for cutout cookies.  It's pillowy and soft and rises when you bake it.

I begged Jean for the recipe and she sent it to me and today, I finally got around to baking them.  Now, I'll be honest, my oven dial has no numbers on it at all which leads to a lot of trial and error as far as temperature is concerned.  So, the first dozen cookies came out really dry/burnt.  But I adjusted the temperature accordingly and the 5 or so batches after that came out great.

I'm not quite at the level of awesome that this recipe has the potential to reach - I'll admit that.  But despite being a little dryer than I'd hoped, they are still super delicious.  Now, if only I'd planned ahead and not baked 6 dozen cookies on a week that I won't be in the country to enjoy them.

Trust me, the next time I bake these, they will be awesome.

Jean's Sugar Cookies

• 1 C Sugar
• 1 C Powdered Sugar
• 1 C butter, softened
• 1 C Vegetable Oil
• 2 Eggs
• 1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
• 4 1/4  C Flour
• 1 Tsp Baking Soda
• 1 Tsp Salt
• 1 Tsp Cream of Tartar

-In large bowl, cream sugars and butter
-Add oil, then eggs and vanilla
-In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt and cream of tartar and add to wet mixture a little at a time
-Once mixed completely, roll into 1 inch balls and place on cookie sheet
-Flatten with the bottom of a glass dipped in sugar and decorate with colored sugars
-Bake for 10 minutes at 375 degrees


PS - On an unrelated note, if you've ever read my blog before (thank you), you'll surely have noticed that I've redesigned my entire blog and moved from Wordpress over to Blogspot.  So, if you're crazy enough to have the blog bookmarked, you may want to update the link to this new one. Thanks for sticking with me!

Cookie Dough Cupcakes

In today's "Bitchin' Kitchen", we're making cookie dough cupcakes.  That's right, we're being awesome.

This recipe has been on my want to try list for...oh let's say a few months.  The thing about me and baking is that I absolutely love doing it.  I love the reactions I get.  I love making people happy.  But, for the most part, I don't really enjoy cupcakes all that much.  But cookies?  Dear God, I love me some cookies.

Which may be why this recipe was on the docket tonight.  That and because I drunkenly promised some coworkers I'd make them.  Shlameel shlamazel. Here we are.

There were a few things about this recipe that had me uneasy.

1.) They're filled cupcakes.  I've never hollowed out a cupcake before and I've never made a filling either.  So that was the most intimidating thing about them.  But guess what! It was super easy to do!  I hope the filling is tasty, I didn't really try them yet since it's so darn late.

2.) The cookie dough buttercream frosting would only look good if I used an icing tip and a piping bag.  Something I'm not really any good at.  UNTIL NOW.  Oh man, these babies are adorable! I'm positive the problem in the past has been that I was using store bought icing.  Store bought icing pales in comparison to my homemade awesomeness.  It was stiff (that's what she said).  And it was easy to pipe!  I loved it.

3.) It's seriously hot.  I didn't want to turn on the oven.  That was today's big argument with myself.  But in the end my eagerness to please people and try new recipes won over my slight heat exhaustion.  Besides, I got to wear my adorable Cupcakerator apron that Holly made me.  So there's always a positive.

In all, I'm pretty pumped about these in case you can't tell.  And I'll make them again one day, so long as I find out they're awesome tomorrow.  We'll see.

The recipe is from Annie's Eats.  Her website is FILLED with awesome recipes and general inspiration.  Trust me when I say you'll spend hours browsing it.

And that's the way the cookie crumbles.

Any way you slice it

It's Tuesday.  Know what that means? It means that I haven't gotten to the point where I'm half way through the week so I'm just struggling to get to that point.

Wait, no. That's not true.  I'm not struggling to get through the day.  But my cooking is.

Mondays and Tuesdays are really hard days to motivate myself to do much in the kitchen.  I suppose it could be because after the weekend you get so used to relaxing and then when you go back to work you get overly exhausted just by doing the norm.  So when the day is done, I want to veg out. Have a beer and a simple meal.

And that's just what I did today. Simple. Easy as pie (which is HARD btw). Pizza pie.



"Margherita" Pizza.  I guess that's what it is.  That's what the recipe said. So we'll go with it....yeah.

Speaking of the recipe...This is the first time I felt confident in not trusting the amounts of the ingredients.  Bam. Tasty pizza.  So tasty in fact that I'll be making a variation of it on Thursday or Friday.

Just wait til tomorrow by the way.  Pulled pork and trivia night! Wish me luck!

I feel like chicken tonight!

Honestly, I'm still pretty euphoric over tonight's dinner.  I tried a recipe that I've never made before and never seen anyone make before so it was truly intimidating.

Tonight I made some absolutely delicious chicken parmesan.

Food photographer I am not. (yet)

I had to do an egg wash on the chicken breast tenders. Coat it in my breadcrumb parmesan mixture. Fry it. Then bake it in tomato sauce.  I'm so proud of myself!

True, the whole time I was doing it I was terrified the chicken would come out raw or burnt.  Or that I had forgotten some key step.  But all in all I'd say it was a complete success.  And I fully plan on making it again if anyone ever wants to come over for a home cooked meal.

A home cooked meal that isn't entirely consisting of appetizers.  Or baked goods. And I have leftovers that I'm actually looking forward to!  (Btw - the meatloaf leftovers were a no go and got pitched)

Man. What should I cook next?  I need recipe suggestions for simple but tasty things to make so I can go buy the stuff to make it.  Right now I only have the stuff leftover for turkey goulash.  Which still doesn't sound appetizing at all.

Monster Muffins

My apartment smells amazing right now!

See, I just made these apple cinnamon muffins.  As part of my new year of revolutions, I'm going to tryin to cook more often and thus be healthier.

Now, I know you may not think muffins are healthy.  But trust me, these are.  And just look at them!  They are huge!

The recipe only makes 6 muffins but I'm hoping they'll be enough to sustain me for a few days of breakfast.  And let's go ahead and reiterate how great they smell.  Mmm. Baked goods.

Monster muffins!


And speaking of the new year... Happy New Year!

Normally, this is when I'd go into a list of things I plan on changing.  But I find that when I talk about resolutions too much, they're much shorter lived.  So let's just say that changes are gradual and are being made...right....NOW.

Oh, I'm just hilarious.  Weren't you frightened? I know ya were.

Anyway, we took a group trip out to Ikea in Schaumburg and bought a few apartment necessities.  Like a coffee table.  And a book shelf to house my record player and collection.  I didn't have time to make it amazing yet but here's a sneak peak:



Anyway, it's getting late and I'd sort of like to drift off to sleep with the faint smell of muffins if you don't mind.

Toodaloo!

Me Want Cookie

I'm not one to ignore an urge to bake. So when I noticed a certain hankering for chocolate chip cookies the other day I knew I had to work out a way to make some a.s.a.p.

By "work out a way to make some" I mean...buy some stinking eggs.

And that's just what I did on Monday evening. I went to the store, bought eggs, came home and baked some nom noms.

Looking to please both of us in this here apartment, I decided to use chocolate chips (John) and white chocolate chips (me), which was something I hadn't done before. I'm a baker, I'm precise, we don't stray from recipe cards. We like exact measurements.

Anywho, our oven stinks and takes forever to cook things thoroughly but I'm pretty happy with these. They ended up big and thin, but 2 days later they're still moist and soft so I'm happy. I think it's the large amount of vanilla that makes them so soft days later. I love vanilla.

John opened the tupperware they were in and said they smelled like dough...I take it as a compliment.

Chocolate Chip Cookies - Momma Style

Cream together:

• 1 cup butter
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 Tbsp. vanilla

Mix together separately:

• 3 cup flour
• 1 Tsp. salt
• 1 Tbsp. baking soda

Combine to mixtures and fold in 2 cups chocolate chips (1 cup semisweet, 1 cup white. MMM.)

Preheat to 350. Cook 8-10 min on an ungreased cookie sheet.