Triple Chip Nut Surprise Bars

I felt like making something yesterday. I had no flour (well, other than whole wheat pastry flour), and wanted to make something I could take to school and share. So with some lookse change I went to the store and spent a little over a dollar on a box of cake mix and experimented. And the results were edible, and I got quite a few yums. Only two complaint, one person said that it was too dry (theirs wasn't wrapped well). And another that the pretzels were stale. But that's because they were.
Triple Chip Nut Surprise Bars
named by Cressie

1 box white cake mix
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil
2 tablespoons water

2 tablespoons white chocolate chips
2 tablespoons butterscotch chips
1/4 cup chocolate chips
1/4 cup raisins
2 tablespoons chopped walnuts
2 tablespoons peanut halves

25 mini pretzels

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 13x9 pan.

In a medium-large bowl, beat cake mix with oil, eggs, and water for 30 seconds or until too thick for mixer. The dough will appear elastic, sort of like pizza dough. Fold together with spatula until there are no chunks of the mix left.

Combine all remaining ingredients except pretzels and fold into the batter as evenly as possible.

Pour batter into prepared pan and press down with spatula or hands.Press pretzels into dough in 5 rows of five.

Bake for 20-22 minutes, covering top with foil halfway through, or until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Supposedly Simple Supper (Serves 4.)

Last Friday I decided to make dinner so that I could see Aunt Annette and Uncle Larry and still get to bed on time.
Of course, the unpredictable variable (Dad) was the last to get here, by an hour and a half, and he was supposed to grill the pork for me. And of course, we couldn't eat without him.
A meal that should have taken 40 minutes took two and a half hours... I partially blame Dad, and I partially blame the kitchen. I couldn't prep and be with Uncle Larry and Aunt Annette at the same time.

Adapted from Cooking Light May 2006 page 162
Spice-Rubbed Grilled Pork Skewers

Pork

1 tablespoon brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic

1/2 teaspoon ground pepper

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon ground ginger

1 pork tenderloin (approx. 1 lb)

teaspoon chile paste

Sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 teaspoon sesame oil

1. Combine first 7 ingredients.
2. Cut pork in half crosswise; cut each half into 4 lengthwise strips.
3. Combine pork strips and chile paste in a shallow dish, toss (or rub) to coat. Sprinkle spice mixture over pork and toss to coat. Let pork stand 10 minutes (or if you're me, an hour in the fridge)
4. Thread 1 pork strip on each of 8 wooden skewers.
5. Grill into cooked (Dad did this, so I don't know how long.)
6. Drizzle sauce over pork.

Grilled Tomatoes

16 cherry tomatoes

1. Skewer 4 tomatoes onto each of 4 skewers.
2. Grill (once again, that was Dad. I was making the couscous.)

Green Peanut Couscous

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

5.7 oz couscous

2-3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon peanut oil

1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

1/4 teaspoon granulated garlic

2 tablespoons chopped unsalted roasted peanuts

2 sliced green onions

1. bring broth to a boil in a 1 1/2 quart pot.
2. Stir in couscous, cover, and let stand 5 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine soy sauce, peanut oil, crushed red pepper, and granulated garlic.
4. Fluff couscous with fork and stir in soy mixture, peanuts, and green onions.

And then of course, there was dessert. Aunt Annette and I made dessert after dinner. It was very simple. It was a way to use up the strawberries in the fridge. It was all the strawberries that hadn't gone bad (about 20 or so), sliced and evenly distributed among four bowls and topped with a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream. Yum!

May 24: Pesto "Pasta"

Mills came over right when I was starting dinner. She helped by making the squash into ribbons. I think she did the harder job. I just made the sauce.
I found the meal quite satisfying and tasty, while different at the same time. It was another recipe I've been meaning to try for a while. And with 15g of carbs per serving, I don't think it messed too badly with Dad's diet either.

Pesto "Pasta
Serves 4
adapted from Vegetarian Times May/June 2006

1 large zucchini

3 medium-size yellow squash

1/2 cup pine nuts

5 cloves garlic, peeled

1/2 cup cilantro

1/2 cup basil

salt

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 cups coarsely chopped tomatoes

1/4 cup grated parmesan

1. Shave zucchini and yellow squash into ribbons using a vegetable peeler.
2. Puree pine nuts and next four ingredients (through lemon juice) in food processor into smooth. Add tomatoes and pulse until blended.
3. Toss squash with pesto. Top with parmesan and salt and pepper to taste.

May 23: Scallop Salad

Caribbean Grilled Scallop Salad
I got this from the cookbook I checked out from the library... meaning I finally made something from it after having it checked out for over a month!

I thought it was quite flavorful and delicious.

May 21: Sunday Dinner

Fortunately, the Sopranos are almost over so Sunday night dinners won't be so insanely large anymore.

Or at least I hope not.

May 20: So I felt like making a cake

I've wanted to try making an ice cream cake for a little over a week.

So starting Thursday after school, I did.

I bought a $1 box of Pillsbury Chocolate Cake Mix, some Edy's Double Churned Vanilla Bean ice cream, and a box of Jif icing mix (which I later returned) on the way home from school.

After my homework that afternoon, I made the chocolate cake. And I mixed 5 scoops of the ice cream with some peppermint extract and a handful of chocolate chips.

On Saturday, I completed the cake. I cut one of the cake rounds in half and put a layer of ice cream in between. And later on did the same, but I felt the layer was too thin so I ended up with a cake with five layers.
I'd returned the Jif and bought some Whipped Topping and Junior Mints. I figured they'd hold up better on an ice cream cake.

And that's how I did it. Afterwards, I found a recipe for peppermint ice cream cake in the Cooking Light 2006 Complete Cookbook, and I think I'll try that, but in December when they sell Peppermint ice cream... or I could just use the chocolate cake recipe part and use any old kind of ice cream. I'm thinking strawberry... with fresh strawberries.

May 20: Saturday Lunch

I had fun with my lunch.

I took a wheat pita pocket from the freezer and defrosted it. I filled it with some Bulgarian feta and cucumber slices. I toped it with some cucumber slices and shredded mozzarela and put it under the broiler for a couple minutes.

It was quite a yummy lunch, along with some carrot sticks.

May 16th: Cherry Muffins

I made these from a recipe in The Complete Muffin Cookbook by Gloria Ambrosia. They were the moistest muffins I think I've made. But the flavor was lacking. But that was my fault, I omitted the cherry flavoring. And that was not a smart move. I am now on a search for it, but nowhere carries it but bakerscatalogue.com, and it costs as much to ship it as it does to buy it.

Mother's Day Breakfast

Dad and I made a frittata.

Okay, Dad made a frittata. I made the plate pretty and cracked the eggs. And put the cheese on top. But that's the extent of my help.

Vegetarian Times Mexican inspired dessert for 5 de mayo

The strawberries were my addition, but I forgot to top it with almonds. I remembered as soon as we finished eating...

Uncle Larry and Aunt Annette came over. Dinner dad made was gorgeous (roasted eggplant dip, lamb, roasted peppers, two types of squash, and eggplant.)