Teriyaki Zucchini and Shrimp

Most weeks meal planning, and the resulting cooking, is a struggle.

I love trying new recipes but they are always a gamble. If the recipe I was supposed to cook on Sunday and eat for lunch all week turns out to be a disaster, then I'm scrambling all week to figure out what to pack for lunch.

And just because something looks delicious on Pinterest is no guarantee that it will be edible. I have been mislead by many pretty picture or cool video only to find an unappetizing mess as the result.

Which is why, after wading through the woes of having to cook for myself, I am bringing you one of my favorite discoveries, a recipe so delicious I hope you cook it tonight and then thank me for changing your life.

Or whatever.

The recipe is so simple I feel almost silly for writing it. However, when I'm on the hunt for recipes I exclusively look for the foolishly-simple-ready-in-under-30-minutes ones. Just call me Rachael Ray.

What I love about this recipe, besides the fact it is mouth wateringly delicious (yes spell checker that is a word. that I made up. still counts) is that it uses ingredients that I always have on hand. But here's my first caveat-- they aren't necessarily ingredients you will have in your cupboard. The result is so amazing you should definitely go out right now and buy whatever you don't already have.

Okay. Enough vague rambling! You came here for a recipe, not my blathering. I adapted this sauce from THIS RECIPE I found through Pinterest. Originally this sauce was supposed to be slathering onto salmon which then cooked in the oven-- and definitely check the recipe out because that is delicious in its own right. However, I think I prefer my adaptation. 

WHAT YOU NEED FOR THE SAUCE:

• ½ cup brown sugar
• ½ cup soy sauce [[I always buy the low sodium variety because I can't tell a difference in taste and. health.]]
• ¼ cup cider vinegar [[this is a weird ingrediant that I somehow have in my cupboard? I have no clue why I orginally bought it, but one bottle will last you agessss. actually look up expirations dates yourself. don't listen to me. but does vinegar even go bad?]]
• 2 garlic cloves, minced [[I bought pre-minced garlic and it has changed my life. or just chop your fresh garlic. whatever]]
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil [[I bought this orginally for a Pioneer woman's recipe that I hated because holy cow you guys this ingrediant is shockingly flavorful and can easily become overpowering. I always use a little less than 1/2 teaspoon]]
• 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
• 1 Tablespoon water

*sigh* I'm in love with this teriyaki sauce. Like, it's amazing and can go on so many things-- roasted veggies, any sort of protein, just rice, etc etc. The combination I've been loving, however, is sauteing zucchini and shrimp in this sauce. 

And literally it's as easy as that-- do I even need to write out steps? Fine, I want to feel like a real food blogger so here ya go:

1. Start rice in rice cooker ((or if you have magical kitchen powers feel free to make it on the stove and then teach me your secrets))

2. Combine all the ingredients for the sauce. Typically you mix the cornstarch and the water separately and then add to the rest. However, that trick is mainly used when you are adding the cornstarch to an already hot liquid and since you would be adding it to cold liquid, either way will work. You can dump everything together before turning on the heat, or mix the cornstarch and water separately and then add to the rest of the sauce. Can this step get any longer.

3.  Whisk the ingredients together and bring the sauce to a boil. Boil for several (2-3) minutes and then reduce heat. The sauce should be thickened slightly. But don't be like me who wants a dramatic transformation-- I once reduced something for so long that when it finally cooled it was a thick sludge; not good. It will thicken more as it cools.

4. While your saucing is cooking, start sauteing your zucchini-- I cut mine in thick slices and they need a little extra time to cook all the way through. Optional but not really: use a cast-iron skillet to saute everything in. you're welcome. 

5. Once the zucchini as started to cook, slather on the teriyaki sauce, using as much as you need. Don't get too crazy because I love to pour this sauce on the rice before eating. 

6. You can cook the shrimp separately, also liberally slathering with the sauce, or in the same pan as the zucchini. I'm both lazy and don't mind over cooked shrimp so I put everything in the cast iron. The shrimp technically don't require much cooking time ((cook until pink; like four minutes on either side?)) but I cook my shrimp until the zucchini is done so they are probably technically overcooked but guess who isn't complaining. Me. 

I added onions because they were in my fridge-- don't ask me what I was thinking leaving them in huge chunks like that. Note to future self: take the extra two seconds and 

And that's it! Take everything off the heat, pile your zucchini and shrimp over your rice, finish with a little drizzle of the teriyaki sauce and then send me your adoration and thanks for solving the whole dinner problem. 

PS always add avocado! 

Strawberry Jam Muffins

alternative title: Creative college cooking

This is my first year living in an apartment at college-- the first year with a fully functioning kitchen at my disposal. I've always been a breakfast person-- any meal where coffee is expected is a good meal. However some mornings it doesn't seem worth the trek over to the cafeteria to get food before class. I've become comfortable at whipping up quick morning confections. Since we eat almost every meal at the school cafeteria we don't keep any fresh ingredients on hand so it has become some sort of a game to see how many things I can bake with just the staples.

Today concoction is strawberry jam muffins with an oat crumble. Since we don't have fresh fruit on hand I'm making use of the jar of jam that has been sitting in the door of our fridge since school began. I might spring for some frozen fruit next time I'm at the grocery store and experiment with that.

One thing I really miss about France were the little fruit//veggie stands. You didn't have to trek all the way through the local mall and to the general store-- instead you could just pop into a little store right off the street, grab a couple of apples, and be on your merry way.

I have a go-to recipe for muffins that whenever I'm feeling crafty, I pull out and play with.

Ingredients:
muffins:
1 3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup milk
1/3 cup + 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup of strawberry jam

For the crumble:
1/4 cup oats
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons of butter
(roughly)

My normal first step is to sub out the milk for coffee not only because I'm just as coffee-obsessed as Loralie Gilmore (two guesses as to my new favorite show) but because we are more likely to have coffee grounds on hand than milk. However, since we had milk today I stuck with that.

Mix all your dry ingredients in one bowl. My favorite way to mix the liquids is to first measure out my milk in a big 2-cup measuring cup, and then add the rest of my liquids to the measuring cup for a quick whisk. It cuts down on the amount of dishes I have to wash and as a college student that is a value I always strive to minimize.

I mixed the dry ingredients, wet ingredients, and the strawberry jam together. And that's it! I spooned the batter into a greased muffin tin. I filled each tin roughly half full, to allow for the crumble.

To make the crumble: mix your oats and flour together. Next, cut in your butter. You can either use a pastry cutter (if you're fancy), two forks (if you're patient), or your fingers (if you're me). Sprinkle the crumble mixture on top of each muffin and put them into a 400 preheated oven for roughly 10-12 min. Our oven tends to cook quickly so it never takes me that long.

You can't really see it, but the batter turned  a nice rose color

What I love about making muffins is that there is enough batter for roughly 1 1/2 batches. I pour the leftover batter into an ice cube tray and freeze it. Next time I want some muffins I just pop the frozen cubes of batter into a cupcake tin and bake them like normal. My ice cube tray is somewhat small, so I end up with mini-muffins, which are also great.

Sorry for the lackluster photos; I whipped these puppies up this morning before my quantum mechanics test. I didn't have time to focus on getting good shots/finding good light. 


I'm firmly in denial about my future but if I were not, I would marvel at the fact that I'm already more than half-way through fall semester of my senior year. I was pulling up a graduate school website and it hit me: I'm applying for a PhD in physics. PhD! A imposing title that seems better suited for far smarter people far away. I've finally reconciled myself with the idea that I'm a college student and now that is going to disappear.

It's easy to get caught up in the whirlwind of classes and homework that is college life, but deadlines for applications are fast approaching. My current struggle is to write a personal statement that makes the university realize exactly what they would be missing without me. In roughly 500 words I have to paint a convincing picture of myself and my passion for physics.


Thanks for reading! Stay tuned for my new favorite baking recipe: chocolate scones!

Easy Recipe: Blue Moon Beer Bread

Look how informative that title is! You almost even know what this post will be about.

But, to further clarify, I wanted to share a delicious recipe I found for bread. Not only is it easy, but it's also crazy quick-- you can have beautiful, homemade bread within an hour!

Now, if you've ever made bread before, you should be surprised by the timeline. Normally, you have  to mix your ingredients, let the dough rise, kneed the dough, then finally, bake the bread. This recipe takes advantage of the hops (?) in the beer to replace yeast. You simply mix your ingredients together, kneed briefly, then pop in the over for 45 min!

It's that easy.

Yum!

Ingredients :

• 3 1/2 cups of flour
• 3 tablespoons of sugar
• 1 1/2 teaspoons of salt
• 1 tablespoon of baking powder
• 12 oz of beer (your choice!)
• 1 egg, beaten

Step One:

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.

Mix together your flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder.  

 

Step Two:

Add your beer-- no sipping! Most beers come in 12 oz and you need all 12 for your bread, sadly. I used Blue Moon because that's what we had on hand. Last time I used a possibly-stale Michelob that we had lying about. The Michelob seemed to produce a more fragrant bread-- it smelled wonderfully of beer when I pulled it out of the oven. The Blue Moon one was less fragrant, but still tasted good. The Blue Moon is a lighter beer, so this is to be expected.

Delicious!

When you pour the beer in it will start to foam. Just use a fork and combine the ingredients. Mix until a dough appears.

Step Three:

Once a dough forms, put it on a flour covered surface and start to kneed. Don't worry if when you take the dough out of the bowl it is just a tattered mix of dough scraps-- when you kneed it, all the little bits of dough will combine. Like magic. Form your dough into a rough ball.

Step Four:

Beat one egg in a bowl, and then brush the egg wash over your  dough. Take a sharp knife and cut an X into the top of your dough.

I cooked my bread on this pizza stone we have-- it helps the bread get crispy on the bottom. This picture is pre-egg wash, by the way. Your bread will have a golden slime (doesn't that sound delicious!) coating the top of it when you stick it into the oven. Bake for 45 min, or until golden brown.

Et, volia! You have homemade, delicious, easy bread in under an hour!

My family isn't big beer drinkers so we don't often have beer just laying (humans lie, objects lay if you are curious about English grammar) around. When we do, I like making this bread :)

Thanks for reading!

Little Bite of Heaven

When I'm at Hendrix I probably eat around three desserts a day.

It's kind of a bad habit, even if I have yet to hit that Freshmen 15. I can't help it; the desserts at Hendrix, like most food they cook, are amazing. It's hard not to grab a piece a cake at lunch, and cookies at dinner.

Desserts at home, however, are slightly more scare-- which is probably a good thing. A couple nights ago I was really craving something sweet, but didn't want to make a lot of cookies. I just wanted one.

Enter, the amazing internet and a recipe I happened to stumbled upon. A cup, a couple of ingredients, a microwave, and a couple of minutes later I had a hot, fresh, homemade chocolate chip cookie.

I've heard of making mini-cakes in a cup but I've never had good experiences with those recipes; the cakes always ended up being tough and well...not good. However, the simplicity of it kept nagging at me-- it only takes a minute of cooking time; might as well give it a go, right?

This time I looked for recipes for making a chocolate chip cookie in a cup.

Step One:

Melt one tablespoon of butter in a microwaveable safe cup/mug. Add to the now melted butter one tablespoon of white sugar and one tablespoon of brown sugar.

I didn't take many pictures of me making this because:
1) There wasn't any good natural lighting since it was night
2) I didn't think it was going to turn out

Step Two:

Add a couple drops of vanilla (extract if you must) and a pinch of Kosher salt. (How is salt Kosher? Kosher as in Jewish customs Kosher?)

Add one egg yolk and stir to combine.

Step Three:

Add 1/4 cup of flour. Or, be like me and just grab the nearest clean measuring cup and decide that you can eyeball 1/4 cup.

Ehh close enough

Mix thoroughly; it'll start to resemble cookie dough by this point. If not, well you probably did something wrong. I don't know what, though. This recipe is almost fool-proof. ((wanna know what's not fool proof? Jello! Who knew that Jello could be difficult to make?? Not me; until my stupid Jello refused to relinquish its liquid state no matter how long I waited))

 Add chocolate chips to your desire. Haha I always find it so funny when recipes tell you exactly how much chocolate chips to add. As if it mattered-- you could even forgo the chocolate chips completely; it's up to you.

But don't do that. The chocolate chips add a much needed nice sweetness to the dough. For kicks I threw a Hershey's kiss on top.

Step Four (Five? Who even knows anymore?):

Stick the cup/mug/whatever-you-heart-desires into the microwave and microwave for 60 secs. You can set it for 40 (or whatever) seconds and then check to see if it's done. Since this involves egg yolk, you do want to make sure that your dough is cooked.

Step Five:
 
Enjoy life. Eat your fresh, personalized chocolate chip cookie!

Next time I'm going to experiment; what if I added coco powder to the batter and topped it off with a layer of marshmallows and crushed Graham crackers? S'mores in a cup??

Life is exciting.

Thanks for reading/suffering through my pretty butchered attempt to write out a recipe! :)

Consignment Shops

I love consignment shops. Second hand stores.

You have no idea. They are just amazing! I have run out of old t-shirts hiding out in the back of my closet. Yet, I wanted to do another t-shirt. So, I headed out to Abilities Unlimited.

Abilities Unlimited is awesome because they not only have incredibly cheap items, they also use their money to help those with mental/physical disabilities.

I wasn't sure what I was looking for as I headed the store. I had no inspiration, no design I was just itching to make. I was hoping that I would see something that would inspire me.

What I did find was some amazingly cheap shirts!

One was from Aeropostal, and said 'Be Kind to your planet'. Hendrix really has made me a hippie.



I also found an old Indians (home college old mascot) t-shirt! It's kind of retro since we have since changed our mascot.

Both of these shirts, which fit wonderfully, cost me four dollars. Total.

So cheap!

I also picked up a couple of blank shirts. They fit, and have ample space for me to be all...creative.

The problem? I'm not feeling all that creative right now. The Zelda shirt was a design I had thought up like a year ago, and the Dr Who shirt was prompted by my friend's shirt.

Now that I've made those two shirts, however, my mind is blank.

I'm toying with the idea of putting a quote-- whether from photography, Shakespeare, or just poetry-- or trying to do a theme shirt-- another Zelda, Dr Who, Lord of the Rings, or Physics.

I just don't feel inspired, like I did with the other shirt ideas.

If you have any ideas, I would love to hear them! I've been quizzing my poor friends, trying to rummage up any ideas.

Anyway! I do hope you like the new layout! Recently I helped someone start a blog. Helping her set up all the features she wanted caused me to realize just how many features Blogger has! Which is why you might have noticed new gadgets springing up all over the place. ;)

To the right, at the top of the page, is a Share button. Click it to share this page on your Facebook page! Spread the love!

You might remember that a while ago, during a I-miss-Hendrix night, I attempted to make pizza, from scratch. Being the rather impatient person that I am, I found a no-yest-quick-result recipe online. The result? A concrete-hard-weird-dough-tasting pizza dough, with delicious toppings.

Well, it's round two for pizza! This time, I wimped out and purchased a ready-made crust from Wal-Mart.

I know, I know, I feel like a sellout.

But it's so convenient! However, whatever points it gained in convenience, it lost in taste. It wasn't as bad as my yeast-less attempt, but it wasn't particularly good.

The taste I lost with the crust was more than made up for by the toppings! (it's like an equation....convenience - taste of crust + taste of topping...gahh I am not looking forward to Cal III)

I cooked up some chicken, bacon, and pepperoni. After all, there is no such thing as too much meat.

Or too much cheese!

After eight minutes in the oven, my personal pizza was ready!

Yummmmm! Like I said, the toppings were delicious. I used olive oil and rosemary as a base, seeing how I don't like tomatoes.

Homemade Pizza

I miss Hendrix.

It's the first summer I've ever spent, wanting school to start back up. Of course, the second school starts I'll be wishing for a break from the stress and work.

Still. I miss lots of things about Hendrix. The amazing friends I made. The fact that they all lived within a five minute walk from my dorm. Eating delicious deserts at every single meal.

Also, I miss the pizza. You see, Hendrix has the most amazing cafeteria I have ever eaten from. Something they started toward the end of the school year was late dinner. At this late dinner, they had salads and personal pizzas made to order.



This plate of heaven was devoured during a late night dinner. In a cafeteria. This amazing was found in a cafeteria.

It still blows my mind.

Anyway! While I'm waiting for August to arrive, I decided to recreate a little bit of Hendrix in my kitchen.

I decided to make pizza. From scratch. By hand.

The only hitch was that I decided this about half an hour before I wanted to eat. Since traditional dough takes houuurrss to make, I quickly looked up pizza dough recipes that did not involve yest.

Alas, I fell prey to the all the common allure of get-it-now fever that racks our society. There is a reason dough has yest in it. My recipe was nothing special, some flour, oil, backing soda, and water.



It looks innocent enough, right?? What you don't see is me pounding the iron-like dough, forcing it to conform to a vaguely pizza like shape. It was tough as a rock. And then some. I figured that it would taste something awful but I had gotten this far so I figured I would keep going.



There was enough dough to make two little pizzas. They sure looked like the pizza from Hendrix.

I was worried that they would taste anything but.

The topping was the easy part. I hate anything that resembles tomato, so I coated the dough with an herb/olive oil mixture. I then quickly cooked some chicken in a skillet, loading them with spices. I layered on three different types of cheese, chicken, and bacon onto the personal pizzas.

 

....and forgot to take pictures of me doing all that. ;) So! I snapped a photo of them cooking. It didn't take long for these puppies to cook. 

And here they are! They don't look bad, though I was worried about how the crust would taste.

The result? Ehhh. I ended up making a little herb/olive oil dipping sauce for the dough. It didn't taste bad-- and the topping tasted amazinggggg! The dough just tasted...dough-y. And it was dense as a rock. Next time I'm going to definitely take the time to make actual pizza dough with yest. :)

Crafting Craziness

Since I am still without a job, and the prospects don't look good, one might wonder, what then, am I doing with my time?



Besides eating yogurt out of the container and reading 'The Art of Intelligence'? Oh what a glamorous life I lead.

Crafting! I rediscovered my love of anything DIY.

Even if I'm not particularly good at it. Don't get me wrong, I've sewed myself a skirt before, and a couple of purses.




This was something I found online. I tried using acrylic paint to transfer the ink. Yeah. It wasn't even close to working. Oh well! I moved on to cooking. As though I would have better luck there.



You know you spend too much time online when...you find this cool trick. The curved bowl amplifies the sound of your iPhone. ;) Rocking to Mumford and Sons!!



I started off with a normal chocolate chip cookie dough recipe.



The uniqueness came into play when I went to bake them.



I turned a mini-muffin tin upside down, and put the cookie down on top of them. The intention was to make cute little 'cups' of cookies. Of course, mine did not turn out like the picture, but I liked them nonetheless.







As far as tastes go I would not use the same recipe again-- the cookies were not very sweet. I made a quick chocolate frosting and used the plastic bag piping technique-- aka, cheap and messy-- to pipe some of the frosting on the cookies. The frosting was not very sweet either. The cookies ended up being sweet enough, but not cloyingly so.







Yum!