Category Archives: yummy eats

March 5, 2022 · 10:02 am

thin.banana.pancakes

While it’s true that I am a sourdough snob and prefer my dad’s pancakes, there is room for one more variety in my heart (quite literally only one more): my grandmother’s super thin crepe-like banana pancakes. I have spent years trying to get them “quite right”, and the trial and error has paid off.

Truth time: I buy bananas and secretly hope I get to use them solely for banana pancakes…shhh…

Plop a nice ripe banana in a bowl and add 1 cup flour, 1 1/2 TB (or so – I don’t measure these things) sugar, 1 egg, a splash of vanilla and a dash of salt. Slowly add milk as you mix together with a hand mixer, until the batter is a melted milkshake consistency. That’s it.

Drop onto the griddle or pan of your choice. Always a low to medium heat. You know it’s ready for batter when the pan does a little sizzle when you flick water on it. An aggressive pop and sizzle will result in burnt cakes with raw middles and no one but the family dog likes that nonsense. Oh. And be sure to give it a quick squirt of non-stick cook spray, (or some lard if you are OG like me) so your pancakes will easily lift when ready.

For me, the thinner the pancakes the better and while these aren’t exactly my gram’s, they are pretty close.

Now, drizzle with loads of real maple syrup and some butter and you are reliving my childhood weekend’s at grandma and grandpa’s. And special weekends in my own home now. These are so good my sorta-anti-pancake-husband is into them.

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February 6, 2022 · 1:37 pm

leftover.kitchen.sink.pizza

I don’t know many people that don’t like pizza. (And if that is you, you can clearly skip this entire post and go merrily along your way). Homemade pizza is actually ridiculously easy to make, and with the tiniest bit of creativity, or perhaps just *permission* to think outside the box, you can whip up totally trendy hipster style pizzas at home that restaurants charge a stupid amount of money for.

First step? The dough. Dough is crazy easy, and something kids can help with if you happen to have that particular affliction in your home. It becomes even easier if you have a stand mixer.

Proof 2 tsp dry yeast with a pinch of sugar and 1 cup of warm water. After the yeast is bubbly and happy (proving that it is good and hungry), toss 3 cups of flour, a generous squirt of honey, 1 tsp salt and a drizzle of olive oil in the bowl and start your dough hook. Slowly add more warm water as needed until you get a nice, slightly sticky, dough. Knead with the dough hook for 5 or so minutes, and set aside in the same lightly oiled bowl to rise.

Need a rise hack? Put that covered bowl on a heating pad on the lowest setting. These little babies are year round Christmas miracles and will change your life, especially if you live in a space that isn’t warm and fuzzy all the time.

A standard heating pad is key to a fast and efficient rise in Alaska.

It will take an hour or so for your dough to rise, which will give you plenty of time to poke through your fridge to find whatever you will be using to make your super hipster, primo delish, leftover incorporating pizza.

Need a push? The following make amazeballs additions to any pizza you can create: cream cheese, jalapenos, chicken breasts, bacon, lunch meat, pasta sauce, sauteed vegetables, roasted vegetables, savory jams, literally any kind of cheese, eggs, and garlic in any form. The list is obviously almost endless. Get creative. Use what’s in your fridge or cupboards and get ready for deliciousness.

Last night’s pizza utilized leftover vodka cream sauce in the place of traditional marinara, dollops of salty ricotta (I.Love.Ricotta.Cheese. I can literally eat it with a spoon and salt shaker out of the container), leftover ‘chicken wing chicken’ (chicken breasts chopped with wing sauce), green onions, both fresh mozz and sprinkle mozz, as well as some chopped fresh jalapeno. Salt, pepper, and cayenne to taste.

When your dough is risen, assemble your ingredients on your dough as pressed on your chosen pan, and pop in a 475-500 degree oven for 15 or so minutes. Check on it toward the end (like you do) and tweak as needed. Allow to cool, and stuff face.

Add an egg in the last 5 minutes of cooking to up your hipster game. Sprinkle fresh basil or *gasp* arugula (mad hipster street cred for the latter) after baking. What will you make with your leftovers? And how freaking delicious was it?

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January 26, 2022 · 6:18 pm

not.hotplate.ramen

I was not one of those dorm dwelling kids that cooked ramen on an illegal hotplate. I was one of those dorm dwelling kids that cooked 10 Minute Rice on an illegal hotplate. This may be one of the reasons I am still a total ramen nut.

Remember when I went to Japan and ate all the ramen and gyoza I could sniff out? Now, I cannot even pretend to come close to conjuring the magic I had while shoveling those amazing bowls in my face, but I can certainly improve upon that dorm room prison style ramen.

Cook up your noodles and the spice pack in a pot (stovetop, hotplate, whatevs). While that is cooking, throw a small handful of frozen peas in your bowl and chop up some random fridge bits to toss in the bowl as well. Today, I added some fake crab for my bowl, and some leftover chicken for my partner’s. Peel a boiled egg (a 6 minute egg is purrrfect) and slice. Grab your never ending green onions and slice those babies on a sexy bias (it helps if you pretend Gordon Ramsey is yelling at you).

When your noodles are cooked, pour the broth and the noods into your bowl and give them a light stir. Sprinkle your green onions and drop a shrimp or two on top (I always have frozen shrimp in the freezer. Imma seafood ho.).

But wait! What takes this beyond random ramen with kitchen sink leftovers? A splash of soy sauce, a dash of mirin, and a generous sploosh of sriracha. That’s it. It’s so easy. It’s so delicious. Are you ready to up your ramen game??

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July 29, 2020 · 4:18 pm

caprese.compulsion

I am not a raw tomato fan. Even a little bit. However. I would consider pushing old ladies aside for some badass mozz, basil and tomatoes.

I culled some of my beautiful curly leaf lettuce basil and stacked the goods for an over the top salad. Drizzle with olive oil and balasmic, salt, and boom. Obsession.

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May 26, 2020 · 8:36 am

ham.love

I scored an almost 10 pound ham for less than $12 last week and we have been making use of it in alltheways, which makes me happy. Little to no waste is always the goal, and this former oinker was no exception.

For the first meal, cover and bake at 325 for 15 minutes per pound. Have a relatively rough day and literally serve said ham on a cutting board and say “have at it”.

Pick at the ham in the fridge for the next few days and throw some slices on a breakfast sandwich or two. And obviously stuffed hashbrowns.

For the final encore, clean the remaining meat from the bone and set aside to throw into the final stages of some yummy hipster lentils.

Drop the bone into a pot and cover with water. Or, in my case, use a slightly smaller pot because the soup pot is simmering some white chicken chili at the moment….cover and simmer for 1-2 hours, skimming foam and ick as it bubbles.

After the bone has simmered and given its deliciousness to the water, toss the bone and cool. Add your lentils to soak in 1 cup broth and 3 cups water.

Simmer down later with some onions and carrots, adding ham chunks at the end. Everything is delicious. And nothing has gone to waste. Woo hoo!

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May 24, 2020 · 10:10 am

stuffed.hashbrowns:the.sequel

I posted about stuffed hashbrowns way back in 2011. Since then I had a little brush with fame and the recipe was posted in a magazine (but don’t worry, I’m still super humble about it and haven’t let it make my already huge ego any bigger. Because come on, girl still needs to walk through doors.). I also have made it once or twice and today was no exception.

We couldn’t decide what to do for breakfast, and I have been having this weird texture thing with eggs lately (it’s just a phase). So, a quick scan of the kitchen and stuffed hashbrowns (with a few tweaks) was the obvious answer. Aside from using some leftover ham (I scored a 9 pound ham for $12. How do you NOT buy it and use it for allthethings?!) and shredded jack cheese as opposed to pepperjack (And no, I don’t actually use frozen hashbrowns. Ick. That was a change the magazine wanted to make for “ease of use for the regular homecook.”), today’s version was the same. And oh so good!

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April 17, 2020 · 9:27 pm

carrot.soup

You know when you have the best of intentions to eat a whole bag of carrots, but then put them somewhere just far enough out of your eyeline that you forget about them and they all suddenly need to be used all quick-like….? Time to make soup.

Pull some of that badass homemade stock you have in the freezer and drop in a pot.

Dice and entire onion and one seeded jalapeño and dump in a pot. Peel and chop all of the carrots that you lovingly rediscovered and dump in as well.

Simmer, covered, until the carrots are soft and cooked through stirring as needed. Zip with your handy dandy immersion blender (or in an actual blender if that’s your style), throw in a generous dollop of sour cream (I’m an addict) and salt and pepper to taste.

Add more sour cream and garnish with green onions.

It is so super easy to make and is super delish. The jalapeño gives it just a tiny kick and loads of depth. Now, go ahead. Forget about some carrots. You’ll thank me later.

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April 14, 2020 · 12:42 pm

leftover.lasagna

I made some (to be super humble) kickass homemade ravioli the other night. Noodles from scratch, slow simmerer sauce with tomatoes that were being neglected on the counter, and an asparagus and ricotta filling. While they took 2 hours to make, and maybe 3 minutes to eat, they were totally worth it.

It’s just so pretty and perfect….
Drool worthy….

There were some leftover bits from this whole production and being the thrifty hipster I am, worked up something equally as delish for a second meal….

We all have that box of lasagna noodles that sits in the cupboard only 1/3 full, right? Because just like that stupid hot dog to hot dog bun ratio (it’s a conspiracy!) you just don’t need that many noodles for a batch of lasagna. So. This is what I did.

Arrows are cool. Right?

Slap everything together after you’ve boiled your noodles and bake in those little loaf pans.

Yeah. These are totally going to slop over. So put them on or over a pan.

Bake at 375° for 40 minutes or so and boom. Badass leftover mini lasagnas.

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April 11, 2020 · 6:46 am

not.casserole

Ok. So maybe it’s a casserole, but that word brings to mind so many icky things. Like, root canal. Community dinner theater. Or time-share pitch.

With that said, I actually grew up digging tuna noodle casserole – the old school version, with canned cream of mushroom soup. So, whoa. But in my old and whizz-ened years, I no longer voluntarily eat canned cream-of-anything, and my dude isn’t as into the baked tuna aspect, but this basic recipe is a total Leftovers Into Something New badass. It’s cheap. It’s super easy. And it’s totally flexible for whatever you happen to have on hand.

  • Chop and sautée one whole small onion. Throw a whole, diced and seeded (unless you really like all the ends to sing) jalepeño in the pan as well to soften up.
  • Add 2 handfuls (this is scientific stuff here, people) of frozen peas into a large bowl.
  • Drain and dump a can of corn in the bowl as well. And by now your onions and peño should be done. Dump those in too.
  • Boil and drain egg noodles (or macaroni if that’s what you have, however the egg noodles keep it a little lighter and I always have those on hand. Not so much the macaroni.). I don’t measure stuff – just dump the noodles from the storage canister – but I know someone will ask, so, let’s call it 4 large handfuls.
  • Add the noodles to the bowl.

  • In a medium sauce pan start a roux (knob of butter with 2 or so TB of flour and cook out).
  • After you have cooked your flour, add 2 cups of hot water with a generous dollop of Better Than Bouillon while whisking in the flour. Salt, pepper and generously cayenne and remove from the heat when thick. Finish off with a spoonful of sour cream and whisk once more.
  • Add the sauce to the bowl.
  • Chop up the leftover potroast in the fridge. Or polish sausage, drained tuna, chicken chunks. Honestly whatever you have works great. Add your substitute mystery meat to the bowl and mix it all up.
  • Salt. Pepper. Add more cayenne.
  • Dump the bowl mixture into a lasagna pan (13 X 9? Sure.), sprinkle with panko and cover with foil.
  • Bake covered for 20 minutes at 375°, uncover and bake for another 10.

It might not be pretty, but it is damn delicious. Almost everything is substitutable and super forgiving.

Now, add it to a bowl with a piece of (leftover) garlic bread, and you’re good to go! Cheap. Easy. Delish.

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April 8, 2020 · 10:23 am

potsticker.palooza

There are certain rules of order that stand true 99% of the time: Meat of any kind on a stick is delicious. Children under the age of 6 will always have sticky hands. Anything in dumpling form is amazeballs.

I have been craving some gyoza style dumplings for a bit now. And we as live in this quarantine situation, I thought there was no better time than the present to make these bad boys happen.

  • Add 1 pound ground meat (pork is preferred, but I had turkey. No biggie. Still delish. Though I would stay away from ground beef as it tends to be too wet and oily for sealed packets of love.) to a bowl with a handful of chopped shrimp.
  • Squirt a generous portion of sriracha into the bowl and throw in a handful of green onions.
  • Add 1 cup or so of chopped and sauteéd cabbage to the bowl (cooking it down a bit before hand is needed as otherwise it doesn’t have time to soften up inside the dumpling) with a full chopped jalapeño.
  • Salt, pepper, etc. If you are like us, add some cayenne. Because spicy.

Mix up your mess and set aside. You can totally make your own wrappers, but I had some in the freezer, so clearly I went that route this time. Fill your wrappers with a spoonful in the middle, wet the edge of your wrapper and seal. Do this a million more times.

Heat a TB of so of oil in a pan and brown the bottom and each side. Just as everything is browned and looking good, add a bit of chicken stock to the pan and cover. (2-3 TB…?) Leave to steam for 3-4 minutes, uncover until the rest of the liquid evaporates.

Move to plate. Avoid maxiofacial burns by waiting a minute or two to eat, then shove in face. Repeat.

The dude was a big fan of dipping in sweet chili sauce. I whipped up some half-assed gyoza sauce with random bits in the cupboard and it turned out great. Soy sauce, mirin, a dash of Japanese vinegar, splash of sesame oil and a generous squirt of sriracha. (Yeah. I do actually have all of that stuff in the cupboard)

 

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