C25K

So today was the first day of a journey I'm feeling very anxious about.  My brother challenged me to participate in the Down Syndrome of Louisville 5k run the first weekend in October.  I've walked a couple of 5k's and I've always talked about getting in shape to run one.  My dream 5k is the color run, I can't think of a more enjoyable way to run then getting tons of color thrown at you!  

However if you know me you know I'm probably the most out of shape person in the whole world... no really it's true!  I have tried and failed at starting to train for a 5K, so I'm hoping that by blogging about it, I'll have a bit more incentive to stick to my training schedule.  

What is my training schedule you might ask? Well I found a great free app called C25K that is supposedly supposed to help you go from being a couch potato to running a 5k in just 8 weeks, I feel like that is fairly ambitious, but I'm going to give it my best effort.  

Today I started my first training session, it was 30 min long, and basically if you aren't familiar with the C25K programs you start with a 5 min warm up, and then you run for a minute and walk for a minute and a half and rotate that back and forth and end it with a 5 minute cool down.  I am proud to report that I was able to stick with the whole training schedule, I didn't walk when I was supposed to run. This may not sound like much but for me that is HUGE!! I'm already feeling it though, my joints hurt, my calfs are super tight, and tomorrow should be interesting to see if I can do all the running parts!  I feel like this is going to take me a lot longer than 8 weeks to be ready to run a 5k with out walking... however by the 5K in October I will be able to at least run part of it and it will be a big accomplishment for me! 

One thing I have to say about running, it does help you forget all the stress, and how much you hate your job.  Maybe this running thing will help me be happier :).  

Also another big journey I'll be starting is after talking about it for years I'm actually gonna get serious about applying for a masters program. I've settled on trying to get into a MPA program, so I signed up for  a GRE prep course that starts in September, hopefully I didn't just waste my money :).z

Skillet Lasagna

This is another Pinterest recipe, as most of my recipes are either from Pinterest or my favorite food blog All-Things-Delicious.  Now I don’t know about you, but I LOVE lasagna, really I haven’t met a pasta I didn’t like (well I’m not a huge fan of gnocchi, but that’s a different story). Anyways making a whole pan of lasagna is an ambitious task, so to save myself some time I decided to give this skillet lasagna recipe a try… I made a few tweaks to the original recipe (for example the original didn’t call for meat, but I like meat!!).

Skillet Lasagna:

1 ½ TBS. extra virgin olive oil

1 large onion chopped

1 cup of mushrooms (I did not put these in, I don’t like mushrooms)

2 garlic cloves, minced (I didn’t do this either, I hate using garlic cloves, I did use garlic powder though)

2 (14.5 oz) cans of Italian diced tomatoes, drained

¼ cup tomato sauce

3 basil leaves, chopped (I didn’t have any basil leaves so I omitted these as well)

¼ tsp. black pepper

1 tsp. sea salt (or regular salt works)

½ Cups skim ricotta cheese

½ Cups part skim mozzarella cheese

3 TBS Parmesan Cheese

About 6 ounces lasagna noodles, broken into thirds (or smaller) fully cooked

2 TBS parsley (dried or fresh)

1lbs browned ground beef (if you want).

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.  Add onions and cook until softened, about 4 minutes.  Add garlic and mushrooms and cook until garlic is fragrant, about one minute.  Add in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, basil, salt and pepper.  Cook mixture until it thickens up a bit, around 5 minutes.  Add in browned meat.  Add noodles to skillet and stir into the mixture well.  Add scoops of ricotta cheese over the noodles; add in mozzarella and Parmesan.  Stir in parsley.  Cook about 2 more minutes or until mixture is thick.  Serve immediately with additional basil or parsley.

I didn't get any pictures of this, but I think this was a very yummy meal, I enjoyed it for lunch!

Colorado Burritos

Ok so I have seen several different recipes for this on Pinterest and every time I see a photo I just want to eat one in that moment.  I finally worked up the courage to attempt this recipe and I have no idea why I waited so long! These were amazing! I may have eaten a burrito every day for lunch for a week straight (yeah they were that good!).

Not to mention they are super easy to make, and it is a crock pot freezer meal… I LOVE THESE!!

Colorado Beef Burritos:

2 lbs. stew beef

2 12oz cans of red enchilada sauce

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup beef stock

6 flour tortillas

2 cups of shredded cheese

So if you are planning on freezing this to make at some future moment follow these directions:

Label bag and add the stew beef, 1 can of enchilada sauce, onions, and beef stock.  Freeze until ready to cook.  Thaw slightly and place in slow cooker.  Cook on low for 6-8 hours until beef is tender.  Remove beef and shred (you can do this step in your kitchen aide if you have one, it makes life so much easier!!).  Divide beef between the flour tortillas, place in greased baking dish, top with other can of enchilada sauce and cheese and bake for 20-30 minutes until cheese is melted and bubbly.  Serve with salsa, guacamole, shredded lettuce and tomatoes.

I just ate the burritos without any additions… now next time I make them I’d like to try a Mexican rice recipe because I feel like that would be absolutely delicious!! Enjoy and be ready to share with someone, or else you might eat the whole pan because they are that good!!

I'm sorry this pic just doesn't do these burritos justice.  I'm not much of a photographer, but I need to start being better, because these burritos were AMAZING!!!

Taco Soup and Chocolate Chip Cookies

So to start out the recipe-palooza I will start with two recipes that are tried and true recipes in my family, these are not new recipes, they are my go to when I need something quick and easy. I will be giving out my taco soup recipe and my family’s top secret chocolate chip cookie recipe.  I have made both these recipes so many times I have them memorized! Get ready to be hungry!

Taco Soup:

1 lb ground beef

2 cans of corn (drained)

1 can of pinto beans (drained)

1 can of stewed tomatos

1 can of tomato sauce

3 cups of water

1 pkg of taco seasoning.

So what you do is you brown the beef and you can either add the taco seasoning directly to the beef, or just add it to the soup (I don’t have a preference either way is fine). While browning the beef add the water, corn, beans, tomato sauce and stewed tomatoes into a big pot on the stove.  Once the beef is browned add that to the pot and make sure to not forget to add the taco seasoning. Once everything is added together and bring to a rolling boil for about 20min and then let it simmer and it is ready to be served. I like to eat this with tortilla chips (the scoops are my favorite) with sour cream and copious amounts of shredded cheese!  This is so easy and perfect for a cold rainy day!

Now as promised I will be giving you two recipes in this post, and this is if you are in need of a good cookie recipe.  These are the best chocolate chip cookies I have ever eaten, and I have been told by several different sources I should open a cookie shop just for these cookies!

Grandma Henson’s Chocolate Chip Cookies:

Mix together in a large bowl:

1 cup of white sugar

1 cup of brown sugar

1 cup of shortening (NOT BUTTER FLAVORED)

1 tsp vanilla I sometimes add a little more because I love vanilla

2 eggs (you need to beat these separately before adding to above mixture)

Sift together in a separate bowl:

2 ¼ cups of flour

1tsp salt

1 tsp soda

¼ tsp nutmeg (SECRET INGREDIENT ALERT) I sometimes add a little more because I like the taste

Once the two mixtures are well mixed start adding the dry ingredients to the wet ones, you’ll want to use your electric mixer for this, I have noticed that ever since I’ve gotten a kitchen aide my cookies have gotten so much better! But it’s ok if you don’t have a kitchen aide or bosch.  Continue mixing until all the ingredients are integrated.  Then add a bag (or less how ever many you want) of semi-sweet chocolate chips.  Bake at 350 degrees for 8-10 minutes, and the trick is you want to take them out when they are not quite done so they finish baking on the sheet. This method takes some getting used to and may take a few trials to get right!

These are delicious fresh from the oven, or frozen, or really any way you want to eat them! Enjoy and thank my great grandma Henson for this recipe!

Resolutions

Well I resolved to be better about blogging, and I have so many posts to write about. I feel like I have been a cooking queen the last few weeks because well I have so many recipes that I’ve made since my last post that need to be put up! Not to mention the millions (ok that may be an exaggeration) of recipes I have tried in the last year that I need to update y’all about. Anyways I will be making several posts in succession because I need to get all these recent recipes up because my coworkers I eat lunch with have been breathing down my neck for these recipes… yeah they are THAT good!

Over the next few posts these are the recipes I’ll be putting up:

My Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies

Taco Soup

Mini Meatloaf

Skillet Lasagna

Chocolate Chip cookie truffles

Pumpkin Curry

Cheesecake Brownies

Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins

Colorado Burritos.

Now I may not post these in that order, and only one of the recipes on the above list was not a winner (the pumpkin curry was just not my favorite).  So if you are in a recipe slump, check these out because they are serious winners!!

Delicious Chocoflan

Ok so as I mentioned in my previous blog I made a lot of new recipes this weekend.  Well I'm here to introduce you to one of them.  This is the amazingly delicious Chocoflan.  Again this recipe comes from my favorite food blog all-things-delicious.  The way she described it I just had to try it, and it did look simple.  I must admit I do have a soft spot in my heart for flan, I had it frequently while I was living in Argentina, and haven't had it very often since being back.

Surprisingly I had most of the ingredients on hand, So I decided since we had a family dinner planned for Monday and we were going to be having homemade cafe rio salads (which if anyone knows me knows I'm more than slightly addicted to cafe rio), this would be a perfect dessert to make.  I've been trying to watch what I eat so I can't make treats as often as I would like because I just need to be careful... all this being careful has helped me lose 15lbs in the last month (WOOT WOOT!!).  Anyways so any excuse I can get to make a treat I jump at it.  Ready for the recipe? Well you need wait no longer:

Chocoflan:

1/2 C dulce de leche (or more I used a whole 13.4oz can by La Lechera)
1 C sugar
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened
4 eggs
1 tsp. vanilla

1 chocolate cake mix (made as directed on the box)
1/2 C sour cream

Spray bundt pan very well with non-stick spray.  In the bottom of the bundt pan, pour your dulce de leche in a random, sporadic way.  In a bowl, beat the sugar, evaporated milk, cream cheese, 4 eggs, and vanilla.  The recipe on the blog I got this from mentioned you could mix these in a blender to make it more smooth, and sense I saw people using blenders a lot while cooking and baking while living in Argentina I decided to do this step in the blender and I would highly recommend it, made it super smooth!  Once this is mixed set it aside.

In another bowl, make the chocolate cake mix according to the package instructions, adding 1/2 cup of sour cream.  Now for those of you who are turning up your noses at sour cream in your chocolate cake, don't knock it until you've tried it.  You can't taste the sour cream, but this makes the cake so moist you will never go back!

Once everything is mixed and in their separate containers it is time to fill the bundt pan. Pour the cake batter into you bundt pan on top of the dulce de leche.  Using a ladle, gently ladle the flan mixture on top of the chocolate cake mixture.  Spray a piece of foil with non-stick spray and cover your bundt pan with the foil, sprayed side down.  Place the bundt pan in a larger roasting pan.  Fill the pan with water until it comes almost 1/2 way up the sides of the bundt pan.  This is called a water bath.

Now comes the hardest part... waiting!  Bake at 350 degrees for one and a half hours or until a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean.

This is also called "The Impossible Cake" because the cake and the flan switch places while baking! It's really cool!

Cool in the pan on a cooling rack until it's cool enough to put in the fridge.  Then cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for at least 2 hours, but preferably overnight.  After it has fully chilled, invert onto a plate or serving platter.

SERIOUSLY AMAZING!!

Man it was 100% worth the couple extra hours in the gym... trust me!!

Rachel even enjoyed it (just not the flan part so much)

You know you want to try it... go ahead!! You won't regret it!!

I'M BACK!!!

Wow I am not a very good blogger! I'm about as good at blogging as I am at keeping a journal! I'm hoping to start blogging with more regularity, but my most recent excuse is inconvenience.  For those who know me know I have been without a laptop for over a year.  My laptop works with one tiny little flaw, the screen is broken.  So I have done the best I can for now and hooked it up to a monitor, key board and mouse, so it is now currently a desktop. As great as it is to have a working computer, I would much rather have a laptop, and while we are on the subject a Mac... but all in good time!  One day (and hopefully soon) I will have said Mac and all will be better, and I will no longer have an excuse not to blog!

So as not to completely overwhelm my all of one (or maybe two) reader(s) of this blog I will not proceed to explain what has gone down in my life in the last two years since I have consistently blogged... each time I post a new recipe, craft or etc I have worked on perhaps I'll share some little tidbit about myself.  As I mentioned in several entries ago (and in reality over a year ago) all I wanted to do was cook.  I LOVE trying out new recipes and I really enjoy cooking for other people (perhaps I just love hearing people praise my work).  Anyways at the time I was living with 5 other girls sharing a tiny kitchen, and I didn't really have any cooking utensils.  Well I have now graduated to living all by myself... and let me tell you it is FABULOUS, but as much as I like it I may be looking for a roommate when my lease runs up, it is just too dang expensive to live on my own, maybe I can bribe someone with my cooking and baking skills :).

Well now that I am living on my own and not sharing my teeny tiny kitchen (seriously it may be the smallest kitchen ever).  And I now have a few nice cooking utensils (AKA my Kitchen Aide that I cannot live with out)! I am ready to start cooking... only problem is I still don't really have the money for these experiments  But luckily I do have to eat, so I chose a few new recipes every time I'm writing out my shopping list so as to be able to try new ideas.  The recipe I'm going to share with you today I luckily already had all the ingredients on hand, and I had an occasion to make them.  I will be sharing with you the amazing CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIE DOUGH BROWNIES.  Yes they are as good (if not better) than the sound, and NO I did not get the recipe from Pinterest (but if I looked on my desserts board I probably do have some variation of this on there).  I got this recipe from my favorite (and only) food blog I consistently follow... I love her food and regularly make her dishes, it may have helped I've met her and tried some of her dishes first hand, from then on I was hooked. Click HERE for where I got this recipe, no really head on over there she has some amazing stuff!

So without further ado here is the fabulous recipe:

For the brownie layer I simply used a box of brownie mix on hand, if you don’t want to be lazy like me, check out the link above for her brownie recipe.  Once the brownies are mixed bake them as directed on the box and once they are finished let them cool and stick them in the fridge.

While the brownies are cooling whip up the cookie dough, (egg-less by the way so they are safe to eat… not like that would stop me anyway)!!

Cookie Dough:

¾ C unsalted butter, room temp

¾ C white granulated sugar

¾ C packed brown sugar

¼ tsp salt

2 Tbsp milk or cream

1 ½ tsp vanilla

1 C flour

½ C mini chocolate chips

Additional mini chocolate chips, if desired to garnish the top.  Once the cookie dough is all made take the brownies out of the fridge and spread the cookie dough on top, nothing fancy just make sure to cover the brownie.  Once that is done cover and leave in the refrigerator for at least one hour or up to 2 days.  Enjoy with a tall glass of cold milk or ice cream!

Let’s let the pictures do the talking now:

I'm lucky I got a picture when I did, these things were devoured!

I was only able to snap a pic of Gabi enjoying her brownie, but she was a very willing and cute subject! And she loved it, you know it's good when you get the approval of a toddler!

This was soooo good, every one at dinner last night raved about how good it was.  I will be making this recipe again, it is definetly going in the recipe box.  Makes me happy, but I personally couldn’t eat a while piece, too rich and I haven’t had sugar like that in a long time! Now to hit the gym hard tomorrow, gotta work off that cookie dough!

Stay tuned I made 4 new recipes this weekend!!

PS don't mind the random white blocks, I don't know what's up with that but I will try to get that worked out for next post!