what to bring to a christmas party

okay, so the season is (and has been) upon us and this no doubt brings a large amount of christmas gatherings we all have to attend. You may be having a dilemna on what to bring. Have no fear, for I am here to share a simple, yet delicious holiday snack idea with you.

First, get the ingredients, which include: 1 bag of pretzels and 1 bag of white chocolate chips (or whatever type you would like).

Second, heat up the white chocolate chips in a microwaveable dish (or heat it over the stove if your'e not partial to the radiation of your food), then when it's melted enough, stir those chips up and dip your pretzels in, getting a good coating on each side of the pretzel. Thirdly, place the chocolate covered pretzels on wax paper and let them cool (if they perchance make it from the dipping bowl, past your lips and actually onto the wax paper).

Once the chocolate has hardened they are ready to take to the next Ugly Christmas Sweater party you are attending :) Nice and easy!

A little tid-bit: if you use white chocolate, try putting some red and green food-coloring in to add to the x-mas spirit that will most likely excude from the pretzels.

the cider house rules

hot apple cider. mmm yes, sir. That is some good beverage. Today I ordered it at El Diablo coffee on Queen Anne (funny little coffee shop adjacent to Queen Anne books). I think they might have put a bit of lemon in with it, which makes it really good. And of course, a cinnamon stick to top it off (and eventually sink to the bottom). This is easy to make at home (obviously).

With the holidays approaching, this is a good choice. Drink up!

my first drink post

lately, I have been obsessed with tea. It's so clean in flavor and texture. Anyway, the tea I would most suggest is Tazo Zen green tea. Yummy mixture of green tea, lemongrass, spearmint and I add honey to sweeten it. Steep however long you want, depending on your preference for flavor. I usually put the tea bag in and accidentally forget about it for 10-15 minutes. tastes pretty good still.

there are multiple benefits to drinking green tea, none of which I will take the time to list here. Do your own research if you so desire. But one thing i have noticed is that it provides a good amount of caffeine for late night studying but not too much that I stay up all night cursing the tea leafs.

make yourself a dang quesadilla

seriously, cheese, tortillas shells and tortilla chips have saved my life this quarter. I wouldn't eat it for every meal but a quesadilla is a good, quick meal. I use colby jack cheese on mine because i like it. And today I added some ground beef that I had left over from community group. tasty, yes. I'm also quite the fan of nachos. yum.

less-than-30-minute-meals with Kristen.

why the chicken crossed the road...

couscous and chicken. that's what i had for dinner tonight.


this is what i did:

followed instructions on the couscous box and made the cous cous....

then i grilled up some chicken and seasoned it with sea salt, lemon pepper (my two staples), basil and cinnamon (become my other two seasoning staples). and after making the couscous i mixed some basil into that.

after the chicken was ready for eating, i chopped it up and mixed it into the couscous.

pretty simple and easy. I love couscous, almost more than rice.

thai it up

the other night I made this really easy thai-ish dish for dinner. I love thai food. My replication of it may botch it up but whatevs.

anyway, what I did was:

-grilled some chicken, seasoned with sea salt and lemon pepper.
-threw in some mixed veggies from trader joe's (red potato slices, green, yellow, red peppers, corn...and maybe some other kinds. can't remember)
-just before it was all done cooking i poured in some yellow curry sauce.

The outcome was delicious! and super easy. I'm getting hungry just thinking about it.

the cheesy side of things

Maybe it's one of those moments when you really want some cheese. And at the same time, some good fresh fruit.

That's what happened to me today. Unfortunately, I only had medium cheddar cheese and a gala apple (possibly the best apple ever!). But have no fear, it was a good combo.

But for more variety, brie cheese is a good choice. Maybe some mozarella, swiss (if you're into that sort of thing), and feta is another possibility. Colby Jack is really good. You can't go wrong with cheddar.

Fruit: pears, apples, grapes, strawberries and any other variety that you think might go well with the type of cheese you're eating. But make sure it doesn't clash too much. Nothing like a bad fruit and cheese platter (haha, sounds like i know my stuff, huh?) Honestly, I'm not sure where you could go wrong. Maybe google "fruit and cheese platters" if you're unsure. But as always, don't worry about recipes. Just enjoy.

to be continued.

soon i will be moving back up to seattle, and will have some stuff to write about. I haven't really cooked much this summer because it seems I'm hardly home. I'm very excited to have a trader joe's within walking distance and my own kitchen again.

fred meyer.

fred meyer will be the death of me. I went there today after work to purchase one bottle of Ginger spice. But I ended up with a basketfull of organic food, bread, and a bottle of Cumin spice. Looking back it was a productive visit.

Anyway, I am very excited about my new spices. 1. The ginger will soon be used to make Ginger lemon chicken over top basil whole wheat cous cous. yum. 2. The cumin is not something i've ever cooked with. I am very excited to see what it offers.

Obviously, I love spices. I say, the more spices, the better. Seriously. Don't be shy with your spices. I have a great recipe for angelhair chicken tomato pasta stuff that nikki and i created one night due to a raiding of the spice rack.

I hide the fact that I don't have much cooking knowledge by not really caring and just winging it with my meals. I encourage this kind of cooking. Be a free bird cook, cook free birds, eat free birds.

pieces

The other night I made some brownies (from the box. I suggest Betty Crocker's extra fudgy brownie mix or whatever the title is). And the thing I like about brownies is how good they are. I don't know why more people don't use them as a wedding cake. Who likes wedding cake? But plenty of people love brownies.

Anyway, peanut butter is good too. And the combination of these two is DIVINE :) What you do is, mix up the brownie mix and pour into pan, and before placing into preheated oven, throw some peanut butter into the microwave and then drizzle the melted PB over the brownies. Pop in the oven and 20 minutes later (oven times may vary...) you have a good little "reese's pieces" extravaganza. I'm pretty sure there is a pre-made mix of this, but don't buy that. It's way more fun to drizzle on your own.

let's get together and feel alright

best mac and cheese I've ever eaten. I haven't been able to find it since I bought it at Fred Meyer awhile back, but now I see I can buy online. Anyway, I really like peas in mac & cheese. Frozen peas. Or fresh, but I've only ever tried frozen peas. It not only adds some yummy veggies to the meal, but it also adds color contrast, which is good. And if you add something red to your meal, you can have the colors of the jamaican flag. Plus, this pasta is in the shape of a peace sign. Who doesn't love a peace sign? Perhaps you could play "One Love" by Bob Marley in the background while eating this delicious meal.

Peace out.

i think i might have a bread obsession

Tonight, Jonathan and I warmed up some leftover spagetti that my mom had made. So i didn't really do any cooking, but I found some random ciabatta bread in our fridge and thought that would probably be good. And I knew I was a fan of ciabatta (safeway's california dreamin' sandwich is amazing on it), but I really love it. Buy a loaf and make a sandwich, a gi joe fort, or sponge out of it. Great bread!

the bread of life

well, i think i'll start off with an easy recipe. The art of the sandwich. I ate this a lot when I was at school because it tastes pretty darn good. it's good warm weather food. Eat with some ice cold lemonade and Sunchips.

creamy cranberry delight:

-2 slices of bread (preferrably some really good whole wheat with hazelnuts)
-low fat cream cheese (in place of mayo)
-craisins (lots of them)
-3 or so slices of turkey (as many different kinds as you want: smoked, oven roasted, etc.)
-3 or 4 slices of roma tomatoes
-lettuce
-eat!

how to make: it's a sandwich, figure it out.

also, this is an original recipe.

recipe of life.

This blog is mainly about the things I choose to cook. While away at school this past spring, I discovered many things about the kitchen that I love. I am a chicken fanatic and tend to cook that every meal I eat meat. Hopefully I'll branch out.

Also, I love peas. I could put them in just about anything and be happy.

Basically, this blog won't have any original recipes (or maybe it will) but it will just be my modifications of classic recipes. Or my total disregard for following a recipe (which, ends up being an original recipe).

maybe you'll get something new from my posts, maybe you won't. But I am always looking for new things to cook, so feel free to share any with me :)