www.spaghettiandsouffle.com

It’s really brilliant for beginners, not only because there are tons of classic staple recipes, but also because it walks you through the basics of ingredients and techniques.

Instead of a simple collection of recipes, he teaches you how to fillet a fish, when pasta is done, how to decide to use the oven or the pan, and how to tell when fish (and anything else) is done. There are handy conversion charts, menus and a glossary too.

I love it because he gives you very basic recipes that you can build on, like a basic tomato sauce followed by a list of 15 ingredient combos you can add to change it up.

It’s helpful for those who want some creative space with their cooking – he gives you what you need to experiment (and actually make something edible.)

Last night I made “Fettuccine with Spinach, Butter and Cream” which sounds delectable, and it pretty much was. Cheesy, rich and creamy, my favorite way to have pasta. Great tip: toss your pasta in a preheated bowl with a tablespoon of butter and a bit of the water you cooked it in. Keeps it from drying out or getting sticky and adds texture and flavor.

He also includes other ingredient variables in his recipes, which is fantastic, because so many times I have something so close to what I need, but I’m too afraid to try it. Thanks for the confidence to just throw it in there Mark!

I’ve been traveling a lot recently which leaves little to no time for cooking, although I did make a mean breakfast burrito at our family lake house this last weekend.

We used some chorizo that we found in the freezer from a past visit to a Mexican meat market in rural East Texas. Yeah, you heard me right – a Mexican meat market in the Texas sticks. It was quite a unique cultural experience, if you can only imagine.

Anyway, I picked up the chorizo because I’d always wanted to try it, and finally we did! It was perfectly greasy, with almost a sweet tang to it that regular sausage lacks. A little kick but not too spicy in my book. It was perfect sauteed with big white onions, tossed with scrambled cheesy eggs, rotel and some guac.

Yum. Breakfast is by far my favorite meal.

Some new adventures to come soon…

from allrecipes.com

Serve with a litter scoop for added effect. There are tons of variations of this recipe on the web – google away. I think I’ll try it with caramel cake mix and chocolate pudding – for the flavor and the realistic visual effect. Haha.

Eataroundokc.com has a great write up on Tarahumara’s this week, and I learned something new!

They have live video of the chefs working in the kitchen showing on a tv in the restaurant. Have to say, I’ve never seen that before.

- article from The Onion

hiiilarious.

But something about making my own pizza just feels crafty to me, and I love some good craft time.

I was looking for a super cheap, DIY version and a Twitter friend enlightened me to pizza dry dough mix.

This stuff is genius. Mix with water, and presto, it’s done. And me and the boyfriend were both impressed with it’s deliciousness.

Can’t beat the cost:

$0.79 dry dough mix

$1.50 a bottle of pizza sauce (on sale at my grocery store)

$1.89 bag of shredded mozzarella

My toppings of choice:

$0.99 green bell pepper

$2.50 sausage

My topping were the most expensive part – but even those I only used half of for one pizza. I also only used half of my pizza sauce, bringing the grand total of one pizza to $5.18.

My toppings were only $1.75 per pizza.

Just crust, sauce and cheese for $3.43 if you don’t need any toppings.

Why pay anywhere from $10-15 for delivery pizza?

It wasn’t skimpy either, and let me tell you, I can put down some pizza. Me and boyfriend each ate until we were full and I still had enough left over for lunch the next day.

Score!

Enjoying a lazy Sunday morning with Mr. Bangs. I was in the mood for some fruity pancakes so I decided on peach!

I sliced up one peach into small, thin pieces, then tossed with a hefty pinch of sugar and a sprinkle of cinnamon.

I added a sprinkle of cinnamon to my pancake batter for good measure.

Decided to add my peaches after spooning out my batter – made for much better placement.

yum! Looks like this is going to be more of a brunch for the day. :)

I want to try apple pancakes next – maybe with nutmeg? What’s your favorite thing to add to pancakes?

We’re big fans of margaritas in my family, and over the years we’ve perfected our house recipe. After a long period of reflection, meditation and consideration, I’ve decided to share it with you. Prepare yourself, and consider yourself lucky.

Ingredients!

• Ice (lots)
• a few limes
• 1 8-ounce can of frozen limeade concentrate
• 1/4 cup of orange juice
• a pinch of vanilla
• cointreau
• tequila
• 1/4 – 1/2 cup chopped mango (optional)

The technique is important to master this margarita:

1. Fill your blender almost completely with ice. It might seem like too much, but it’s not.
2. Top with half the can of limeade and liquor. We don’t measure the liquor in any precise kind of way, but I’d guess it’s about 1/4 cup cointreau and 1/2 cup of tequila. Just wing it! If it’s too much, you’ll know. But you probably won’t mind.
3. Add a splash of orange juice.
4. Finish with juice of half a lime and a pinch of vanilla.
5. Blend until smooth. You might need to add more ice after first or second blend. Serve with a slice of lime.

I like mine with mango. (Fruity!) We had some just last weekend at the lake.

Mango Margarita

Low on funds? Time? When I don’t feel like busting out the blender and fine-blending multiple ingredients to perfection (and when my parents aren’t footing the bill) I rely on a little thing we like to call the Frescarita. Try it! It consists of Fresca, tequila and a lime garnish. A surprisingly refreshing poor-man’s margarita! And low cal.

Anyone else have cheap, easy cocktail substitutes?

From simplyrecipes.com

Last night was my first try and it turned out to be a really satisfying snack!

I cut some whole wheat tortillas (those things have a long shelf life, btw) into strips and toasted them until they were crisp. These are a great alternative to chips or even most snack crackers that are high in sodium – try them with all sorts of dips and spreads.

Last night I topped them off with a mixture of my new chutney and low fat cream cheese. It was surprisingly tasty!

Definitely want to try some more recipes with my new ingredient. Any good suggestions?

I’m thinking pork tenderloins… yum.