Ziploc Omlets

Ziploc Omlets

Ahh, the Ziploc omelet…sound strange? Perhaps, but it makes life a little bit easier. This recipe is meant for large groups of people, but I only had Jeff and 2 eggs left. So the project became quite small. So here is what you do:
1. Put your name on a quart size Ziploc bag
2. Put two eggs in and shake it up
3. Add ingredients from an omelet bar spread
4. Boil in a large pot of water for 14 minutes
5. Let the eggs slide out of the bag onto your plate and enjoy!
It is a great way to make omelets for a group of people and allows everyone to eat at the same time. You can get creative with your toppings. Jeff and I had cheese, green pepper, bacon, onion, orange pepper and green onions. You can add any kind of cheese, bacon, ham, sausage, onions, peppers, hash browns, hot sauce, spices…really anything!

My two loves: Food and Mark Harmon

I took a picture of a normal night of cooking which includes the food, the recipe on my laptop and Mark Harmon from NCIS...sexy.

Chili Rellanos, Tofu Tacos with Pico, Spanish Rice, Rice Bowls, Huevos rancheros

Chili Rellanos, Tofu Tacos with Pico, Spanish Rice, Rice Bowls, Huevos rancheros

Mexican food night! Jennifer promised me she would come over sometime and show me how to make the recipes she gave me. I decided to make a dinner of it and invite over some friends; Jennifer, Kori, Amanda, Jeff, Kevin and Craig (we missed you Mike!). I set out some appetizers; fruit, chips, and chocolate covered peanut butter pretzels (awesome I know). Jennifer and I got to cooking! Jennifer made the chili rellanos while I watched and took mental notes for next time. Kori assisted beautifully in stirring the eggs for Jennifer as well as helping me with the tofu. Jeff chopped up the ingredients for the pico de gallo. It was almost a crisis when I told him to ‘blend’ the ingredients. I meant stir it up, but he got out the blender and was about to turn it on. I said “what are you doing! No! It is supposed to be chunky” he said, “You said blend! So I am blending!” I explained what I meant and the Pico was saved just in the nick of time. I cooked up the Spanish rice, beans, and tofu; with help and guidance from Jennifer. Amanda kept us company in the kitchen, as there really wasn’t room for one more person cooking and the boys played Mario on the Wii. Amanda, Kori and Kevin brought some wine to share, thanks! It was such a beautiful sight! It felt like how cooking should be. A group of friends or a family all bumping around each other in the kitchen. All four burners going, taste tests, smells drifting through the air, problems, solutions, burns, and most importantly laughs. The food came out in courses as it was difficult to have it all ready at once. Once a dish was completed we put it on the kitchen table and gave out a ‘come and get it’ announcement. The girls ate at the dining room table and chatted as girls do. The boys ate on the couch in between taking turns trying to beat Bowzer.
The chili rellanos were the highlight of the evening. When the plate had only 2 left sitting on it, you could tell people were on edge to see who would eat them. The Tofu Tacos were really good, the pico de gallo was extremely fresh. The Spanish rice was difficult to make but was well worth it. The Rice bowls were a mixture of the rice, black beans, cheese, tortilla chips, lettuce, salsa and sour cream. It is a simple dish that pretty much covers all your food groups. The huevos rancheros were easier than I thought they would be to make. The only downfall was an undercooked egg that Kori got. Sorry about that!
As the night wound down, Jeff did all the dishes for me. I am so lucky! Thank you friends for a wonderful night!

Beef Stew and Sweet Potato Casserole

Beef Stew and Sweet Potato Casserole

I was excited to cook and even more excited that Jeff had gone grocery shopping, it sure makes it easier! I really need to read the recipe instructions before I start cooking, as I thought this would be an easy night. Oh how I was wrong! The Beef Stew (from Aunt Virginia) took me 4 hours to complete! I started by browning stew meat, which I decided after it was already cooking that the precut cubes were not as small as I had hoped. So I took a fork and pulled the pieces out one at a time, cut them in half and replaced them back to cook. Then I had to add a lot of spices, some water and let it simmer for an hour and a half. I got smart this time and cut the recipe to a 1/3. The original recipe called for 3 lbs of beef! As well as a lot of other ingredients in massive amounts. I had a few close calls though, when I forgot that I cut it in thirds and almost added the full amount. Thank God I have all the brains in my head and had a careful thought session before adding anything. As the stew simmered, I removed the lid and took a large whiff to smell the progress. Horrible idea! The covered pot had created an intense steam that came rushing out and into my nostrils. BURN! I may have even singed some nose hairs. I sniffled my way through the rest of the stew, more veggies, and another 45 minutes cooking. I then had to sauté in butter some mushrooms which I have despised my whole life. As they were cooking I thought maybe I could wean myself into liking mushrooms; they are covered in butter, so it shouldn’t be hard! I gave a mushroom a taste….nope, I still despise! Add the mushrooms, cook another 45 minutes.
The recipe states 6 servings…which could mean 6 servings if you are a professional eater, or Jeff or Devon. With only 1/3 the portion, it was plenty!
The sweet potato casserole is one of my recipes I pulled out of foodnetwork.com. It is very easy, very tasty, and kind of healthy. It seems like it would make a great side dish for Thanksgiving.

Nachos, Oreo Salad, Cucumber Salad

Nachos, Oreo Salad, Cucumber Salad

My parents came over for a Thursday dinner. I laid out some pretzels (still left over from the Scramble) and some fruit. I bought the necessary Pepsi for my Dad and Shannon, and some sparkling water for my mom and I (not that we drank much of it, a bottle of wine was opened as well). Since my family members are notorious picky eaters, the nacho ingredient list was not going to make everyone happy. To avoid ‘why did you put that on there’ or ‘I don’t like that’ I decided to spread the chips out on a bar pan and lay out all the possible ingredients. I then told everyone to pick a corner and make your own! My Dad added ground beef, a few black beans, cheese and jalapenos; Shannon added ground beef, a few black beans and cheese; My Mom put everything on (she gets the award for non-picky eater of the family) and I had black beans, cheese, and green onions. I then tossed it in and let it cook.
Our Cucumber Salad (from Jenny) was a blend of cucumbers, tomato and onion tossed in some oil and spices. It wasn’t really my favorite as I distain tomatoes, but my Mom loved it and my Dad even had a small taste.
For dessert I made an ‘Oreo Salad’ from Jenny. By Oreo Salad I mean pudding, milk, cool whip and oreos…I wish all salads tasted like this! If you happen to not have any kitchen tools to crumble the oreos up, an ice cream scoop works. It was a nice stress relief to crunch up those oreos! I also served the white chocolate fudge that I had made the night before. We all watched a little bit of Pirates of the Caribbean, the last one, and then they went home.

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas and White Chocolate Fudge

Creamy Chicken Enchiladas and White Chocolate Fudge

My great plans to make dinner have been in the works all week. Unfortunately, a trip to the Italian restaurant Pasta Jays seemed like a better idea. Here comes Wednesday and I have to do a recipe though! I will fall behind if I don’t. The cooking has just been overwhelming. Jeff mentioned that I was talking in my sleep the other night…’the recipes… the recipes’ I mumbled. Jeff asked, ‘what about the recipes?’ and I responded, “I just want to be free of them!’
So Jeff started to drive to the grocery store. We were on a side street where traffic was backed up really far. The left lane had the traffic and we were moving in the right lane with no traffic. One guy traveling the other direction decided to turn left very quickly and not bother to look to see if anyone was coming. We were going to hit him, dead on. Jeff braked, but realized soon that we were not going to stop in time. He bumped up over the curb, we were now headed straight for a light post, he veered right as we skidded and was headed for a fence now, then steered a little left. We ended up on the sidewalk, an inch from the fence and 1 foot from the light pole. The guy who caused this whole thing just gave us a thumbs up to ask if we were okay. Jeff gave him a half hearted thumbs up mumbling (what an idiot) and we drove to a parking lot to check the car. The tires were surprisingly fine after the curb and there was no damage. What a relief! What makes this whole thing worse is I was lazily sitting with my foot up on the dash. If Jeff hadn’t navigated expertly, then I would have had A. a knee to the skull B. a broken leg or C. injury to my hips or back from the awkward position. It is a good lesson learned though; keep your feet planted firmly on the car floor!
So after all that, there was still grocery shopping to be done. We took to King Soopers and indulged in cheese samples. An older gentlemen gave me a great strategy; take the toothpick and stab two cheese cubes at one time…genius! Also at the store I got a Bamboo plant for my sister Shannon’s birthday. I held the little plant like a peace offering to try and not spill the water and referred to the plant as a bamboozle for the entire car ride home until I was asked politely to please stop saying that!
Jeff cuts up the chicken for me and gives me a lecture about sharpening the knives (which I do, thank you very much!). I grab an onion in a bag from the veggie drawer to make the Creamy Chicken Enchiladas (Grandma). Once I set it down the bag I realize there was a brown liquid all over it which had transferred to my hands. I take a whiff to identify the substance…..sick!!!!! It is old meat juice that leaked out of a ground beef container. SICK SICK SICK. I immediately start gagging, move to the other side of the kitchen and gag and cough. Jeff starts screaming at me, “Go to the bathroom! DO NOT throw up in the kitchen”. I don’t move, if I move I will lose it. Max is staring at me in alarm. I cough and gag again….’Jenna go to the bathroom!’ Jeff grabs my wrist and pulls on me to leave the kitchen, but I stop gagging and regain my composure. Close call. I refuse to touch the meat bag that I had somehow thrown in the sink in my panic. Jeff takes care of the meat bag and I request that he please clean out that drawer, because obviously I can’t handle it. After the onion incident, the enchiladas went well. Although, the only tortillas I had left were low carb and whole wheat. So I took these healthy tortillas and stuffed them with a bunch of cheese. The enchiladas filled a whole casserole dish and I expected leftovers but when we were down to the last two Jeff asked if I wanted them. No I do not want them, we just ate a full meal! Then he proceeded to finish the enchiladas.
I was making the white chocolate fudge (from Jake) to have for dessert for my parents coming to dinner on Thursday. I inherited all the ingredients in a gift exchange my family does. Well actually my Dad received the recipe and ingredients but passed them down for me to make. The cooking got off to a rough start, the recipe said a bag of truffles was needed (8.1oz), but the bag I had was only 5oz. The recipe was saved though by some truffles I had received from my grandparents for Christmas. The pack was multi flavored, but Jeff and I were able to pick out 6 more white chocolate ones to complete the recipe. So I cooked and everything was going fine until I needed two cups of sugar. The recipe had come with a bag of sugar, but I didn’t know if it was measured or not. Alright measuring cup….in the washer, 4 cup bowl….dirty from dinner, 2 cup bowl….dirty from dinner. Crap! I need to measure this sugar, all the while, I have to stir my mixture constantly or it will burn. “I don’t have a measuring cup, I told you to help me with the dinner dishes, figure something out!” The stress turned me into a wicked witch and some fighting words were shared. We quickly rinsed a measuring cup and I was able to measuring the sugar bag…which was 2 cups all along. Boo for unnecessary panic!

Taco Soup and Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad

Taco Soup and Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad

The Taco soup is a mixture of recipes from Mom and Christie (cousin), the differences were so small, it didn’t make sense to do it twice. It took a little while to figure out the ingredients as Jeff went shopping for them. My 1.5 lbs of ground beef turned into 1 lb and the taco seasoning never even made it home. It goes with the old saying, ‘if you want something done right, do it yourself’. The recipe was pretty simple; cook up some ground beef or turkey and then add cans of corn, tomatoes, beans, chopped onions, taco seasoning etc. Then let it simmer for a while. I didn’t eat much of the soup; I have been fighting a cold all week. But the recipe says that it is better the next day and I agree. As always, my personal garbage disposal (Jeff) finished up what I could not.
The Strawberry Poppy Seed Salad is from Jenny. It uses 2 heads of romaine lettuce (which if you are Jeff, means 2 heads of cabbage, yuck!) with red onions, strawberry slices and a poppy seed dressing made from scratch. The salad would have been great with romaine, but cabbage is not my favorite. The poppy seed dressing is amazing though (perhaps since its main ingredient is mayonnaise and the recipe even asks for sugar). Stay tuned for next week, perhaps things won’t go so smoothly….

Ali’s Favorite Macaroni Salad and Apple Coffee Cake

Ali’s Favorite Macaroni Salad and Apple Coffee Cake

I was busy this weekend with legitimate human activities and illegitimate 22 year old activities (nothing illegal! Just consumption of fermented beverages; do you have any idea how they ferment black licorice?) So to sum it up, I was cooking my contributions for Easter Sunday, on the morning of Easter Sunday. I did a quick shopping trip, grazing on some cheese samples in the process and returned home with around an hour to complete my cooking offerings. The Apple Coffee Cake (Aunt Debbie) takes 1 hour to cook alone, so I knew I was screwed. I started mixing up the batter and was utterly confused by the recipe. It had 1 stick of butter and 2 Tbsp. of butter and the instructions told me to use the butter in the batter, but then told me later to put half the butter in a greased pan. I thought really? Why would I put half the butter in the pan and make a cholesterol swimming pool? This can’t be right. I call the cooking authority (my Mom) and in a panic try to relay the issue. She had me read the recipe to her word for word, until she stopped me and said, “Batter, Jenna, put half the batter in the greased pan, not butter!” That makes much more sense! I thank her for sorting out the typo mistake and continue cooking. I throw together Ali’s favorite Macaroni Salad (Linda) without trouble and get it in the fridge. To see if the cake was done, I was to put a toothpick in and see if it comes out clean….hmmm, I don’t actually have a toothpick. I search the kitchen for anything that might be useful and settle on Kabob skewers. It seemed rather ridicules to use a foot long stick to check, but at least I didn’t get burned! Easter dinner was lovely and by chance the family ended up with 5 desserts! So by the end of the day, we were stuffed and ready to eat like actual rabbits.

White Chili and 7 Layer Bars

White Chili and 7 Layer Bars

I cooked up White Chili (from Aunt Debbie) and 7 layer bars (from Gretchen). I went to Safeway instead of my normal trip to Kings and was utterly confused. Everything was in a different place and they didn’t have tortilla strips! Tragic, I know. Once home, I cut up the chicken. I am getting close to being a professional chicken cutter, touching the chicken even! The chili is amazing and easy to make! The Seven Layer Bars were easy as well. The recipe starts with a stick of butter, which makes me happy any day. I tossed on some crushed graham cracker, chocolate chips, butter scotch chips, coconut flakes, a can of condensed milk and nuts. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6……and the butter counts at 7. I brought the chili in my crock pot and the bars to a Pot Luck for my boss’ birthday party at work. Both the White Chili and 7 layer bars were a huge hit! But all that eating led to a very lethargic afternoon. I was tempted to leave a note on my desk with a bell saying, ‘sleeping under desk, ring if you need me’.

Shrimp Ball, Spinach Dip, Tequila Lime Chicken, Cheddar Cheese Soup, Chocolate Mocha Trifle

Shrimp Ball, Spinach Dip, Tequila Lime Chicken, Cheddar Cheese Soup, Chocolate Mocha Trifle

I think I put too much on my plate for this night of cooking (pun intended). I am going to Ali and Rob’s house on Friday and wanted to bring them as much food as possible. Those mountain folk need some good eats after a full day of tipping cows and sitting in their overalls. But instead of getting right down to it, I went to a Happy Hour with some ladies from work. We had so much fun, good drinks and good food; but when 7:30 rolled around I was just leaving to grocery shop. I spent a long time trying to find canned shrimp and felt disgusted that canned shrimp even existed and even more disgusted that I was purchasing canned shrimp. Turns out it’s in the canned food aisle…tricky. I then picked up a package of chicken breasts which apparently was not sealed very well and I had no idea you were suppose to bag them up. GROSS! I had chicken juices all over my hand and nothing to wipe it off with. I choose my pants, and forgot about the leaky chicken in my cart. As I checked out, the poor bagger guy got the short end of the chicken stick and was covered as well in chicken juices. I apologized for forgetting to tell him but he was not amused. I got home after 8 and was discouraged by all the cooking I had to do. The Shrimp ball was from Gretchen, the Tequila Lime Chicken was from Penny and the rest were from my mom. I was cooking quick and dirty, trying to get done with the whole ordeal. I broke down and just touched the chicken. I tried not to think about it. The recipe calls for tequila as stated in the name, and my cooking frustrations got the best of me. I sloppily took a few swigs straight out of the bottle; maybe this is why the chicken cutting was easier?
In my drunken haste I used my special technique for juicing limes and oranges. I cut them in half and squeezed as much of the juice out as I could, then I bit into the rind with my teeth to help get the rest of the juice out. It really doesn’t spread my germs because I never bite all the way through the rind. It is an effective technique, but tastes like crap and something in the rind made my lips burn like crazy. I finished the limes and oranges with sore lips and took another swig of tequila to help the pain. OUCH! The alcohol just made my lips burn even more. I HATE COOKING!
I made a cheddar soup which had a heavenly cheese sauce added to it. The Spinach dip and Shrimp ball were easy enough (except for Max’s obsession with the shrimp). The Chocolate Mocha Trifle was a little bit more work but will taste amazing. I tried to buy toffee bars to crumble in this dish, but accidentally bought chocolate bars with soft toffee in the middle. At the beginning of this whole process I may have worried about it, but at this point, it will have to do. Dessert is dessert! I only made it through 5 of the 6 recipes I had planned on making but I couldn’t cook any longer. I stood defeated in the kitchen wearing sweatpants, a Lockheed Martin Pluto shirt, my apron covered in citrus juices and bright red lips. What a sight I was!

Chicken Nuggets, Baked Potato, Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Mary’s Easy Bars, Homemade Croutons

Chicken Nuggets, Baked Potato, Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies, Mary’s Easy Bars, Homemade Croutons

I decided to host a Sunday lunch party at my apartment to get some recipes out of the way and to have my grandparents over to visit for the first time. I did all of the shopping and cooking on Saturday to leave my stress level low for Sunday. I caffeinated myself up and got to shopping. Once I finished and got home, I decided to carry all of the bags in one trip. This included 8 potatoes, a 2 liter of sparkling soda, Pepsi and a gallon of orange juice. It was heavy! It took quite a bit of strength to lift the bags up onto the counter. The caffeine made me invincible and I pulled it off. The chicken nugget recipe, vanishing oatmeal raisin cookies and Mary’s easy bars are from Mom, and the baked potato and homemade croutons are from me.
I feel totally lied to….Mary’s easy bars are in fact, not easy. Sure the recipe looks simple enough, mix some ingredients and layer them with a chocolate mixture. Sure it only has a few ingredients. The problem comes when the recipe says mix…batter will be thick. I try to stir the batter, which is useless, apparently thick means cement clay. I think hmmm I can probably do this with my hands, kneed the ingredients together. This was a failure! The batter was not only cement clay, but also super glue. I was covered with a paste and every time I tried to scrap it off one hand, it just stuck to the other. I did the best I could, but eventually had to wash my hands and lose some batter. Then I put the mixture in a greased pan…It was too dang thick though to spread out in the pan like a normal cake! It just slipped along the greased bottom. I decided to do something drastic, creative….perhaps a litter weird; I sprayed cooking spray all over my hands and spread it around like a lotion. Stick to this batter! The oil helped the batter to keep to itself and I was able after a lot of finesse to get the batter ready. I added some chocolate and put batter chunks on top (not an easy task either).
I cut up the chicken pieces without making any contact with the chicken and prepared the coating for the next day. The Vanishing Oatmeal Raisin Cookies went off without a hitch and I ate a warm one as my dinner. I decided to use up some old French bread and make croutons. I cut the bread into small cubes and tossed them in olive oil with garlic salt, pepper, and parsley and then put them in the oven. I started the dishes and wiped the counters down and played with Max..and why is the oven still on? Oh yea! I am making croutons! They ended up burned (I know you aren’t really surprised) but still decent to eat.
I put out some other leftovers I had, salsa, cranberry salsa, and scramble. The guest list included; Grandma, Grandpa, Mom, Dad, Ali, Shannon and Shannon’s boyfriend Conner (or if you are Ali you can call him Simon cause you can’t remember his name). We ate and visited; Max was excited to have people over to play with. Thank you for coming family!

Guest Cooks

Here are pictures I have taken of the yummy food that others have made. They are all sure to make it into the recipe book!

Sheppard's Pie - Mom

Egg Salad on an everything bagel - Jeff and Jenna (Jeff toasted the bagels)


Breakfast Bagel - Ali and Rob (sister and brother-in-law)


M & M Cookies - Ali


Lemon Cake - Penny (cousin)

Cherry Cheesecake - Mom

Bunny Cake - Aunt Debbie and Family

Apple Snicker Salad - Jenny (cousin)

Spicy Cream cheese, Ham and Pineapple roll-ups - Uncle Bob

Deviled Eggs - Mom

Chocolate Cake with White Chocolate Pudding and Toffee - Mom

Creamy Club Sandwich - This one was me, but no great blogging stories to go with it

Deep Dish, Traditional Chicago Style - Rob (he made two, but one unfortunately was served to the floor, RIP deep dish)

Chicago Pizza, thin crust - Rob

Easy Scramble - This is me again, but this picture is storyless

Caprese Bites - Amanda