Pumpkin Dip and Nutella Pumpkin Dip

First of all, kudos for the idea goes to my friend Kristen Schnibbe.

This dip goes great with a lot of things, many of which I'm still discovering. Some of those include apples, crackers, pretzels, mixed in with pancakes, etc.

Straight Up Pumpkin Dip:

Ingredients:

• 1 can pumpkin
• About 3/4ths an 8 ounce container of whipped cream cheese (I like Philadelphia)
• About 1/4th to 1/3rd a cup of brown sugar
• About 2-3 T cinnamon-sugar
• About 1-2 teas. vanilla extract
• A shake or two of nutmeg

Directions:

• Mix it all up

Nutella Pumpkin Dip:

Ingredients:

• All the same as the above
• Add in a couple T of nutella

Directions:

• Mix it up; eat
  

Pretty simple so...the end! You might want to try mixing some of either into pancake batter, then spread some caramel and apples between layers, top with some maple syrup and whipped cream. Just a thought. There are kind of a thousand different things you could do with this stuff that would be equally good. Ideas?

Bacon Avocado Breakfast Burritos

They will make your day better.

Ingredients:

• Tortilla (burrito size)
• Shredded cheese (Mexican or "taco" varieties work fine)
• 1 egg (or you can use egg beaters as I did)
• 2 strips bacon (I used turkey bacon)
  
• Salsa
  
• Half an avocado, sliced up
  
• Milk (I used skim)
• Butter/Margarine (or veggie oil)
• Sour cream
  

Directions:

• In a pan, add about a T of butter or olive oil
• Break bacon into smaller pieces and put in pan
• Bring pan to about medium heat and cook that bacon up til it's just about crispy
• Add in the egg, milk, and salsa and mix
• After about 2 minutes, add in the avocado and mix
• Let it sit on medium heat until it's done enough for you
• Separately, run your tortilla under some water to dampen on both sides, then pop in the microwave for about 30 seconds to steam (and make it more pliable)
• Add cheese to the bottom 1/4th of the tortilla, leaving about 1-2 inches from the edge free
• Add the egg mixture to the tortilla just above the cheese area
• Add on some sour cream if you'd like
• Roll your burrito up (I recommend pulling the bottom up and over until it covers the contents of the burrito with one hand, and with the other fold over and tuck in the left side, then the right side (until both left and right sides are touching), then roll up
• You're done; consume

I don't have a picture right now, sorry. Perhaps sometime in the near future that will happen. Mine's already in foil waiting for tomorrow to be a better day!

More posts coming soon...

Hey All,

More posts coming soon, I promise. I just moved to Brooklyn, started a new job, have generally been pretty busy and have had spotty internet. HOWEVER, that has not stopped me from whipping up some good stuff to share.

To be continued...

Pesto Eggplant Parm on Rosemary and Sea Salt Bread

Ingredients:

• Wegman's rosemary, olive oil, and sea salt bread (pre-sliced!)
• Pesto (Wegman's has the best)
• Marinara
• Fresh buffalo mozzarella
• Fresh basil leaves
• Breaded eggplant cutlets (frozen works fine)

Directions:
Basically, get some breaded eggplant cutlets, bake as directed, add some fresh buffalo mozzarella at the end and let melt, put on some rosemary/olive oil/sea salt bread (courtesy of Wegmans) with some marinara and pesto (also courtesy of Wegmans), add some fresh leaves of basil, toast a bit, and you get this:


= what I've happily been eating for about a week straight.

Tri-Colored Fettuccine and Veggies in a Pesto Cream Sauce

Basically the same as the last post except I used "garden delight" fettuccine and added zucchini, yellow squash, diced tomatoes, and fresh basil to the sauce.

The result was fantastic.

Best Nachos Ever

Ingredients:

• Chips (Tostidos little bowl shaped chips recommended)
• Diced tomatoes
• Corn salsa (fresh or canned works fine)
• Handful or two of fresh cilantro
• Lots of shredded cheese ("mexican" or "taco" pre-shredded varieties work well)
• Can of black beans

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to about 350
• Spread chips out on a baking sheet and add all the toppings
• Heat until cheese is melted

Serve with guacamole, sour cream, salsa, and re-fried beans. Sangria also recommended.

=Vegetarian heaven. It was glorious.

PS- Thanks to Morgan for helping me make them!

Chicken Cheese Steak...Philly Style

It's hard to find a good version of a chicken cheese steak out there, so I figured for my non-red-meat-eaters out there (or those who generally avoid it), I'd throw you a bone.

As previously stated, I will make this basic.

Ingredients:
(Standard):
Ground chicken or some other cut of chicken (if the latter, frozen)
Cheese (I maintain that in Philly, only whiz or American are acceptable options)
A glug or two of vegetable oil
Fresh sub roll

Optional (but recommended):
About 1/4th a small onion, chopped (yellow's a decent option)
Salt/pepper
Condiments

Directions:
Lightly toast the roll
If using whiz, coat the roll
Add vegetable oil to the pan and fry up the onions for about 3-4 minutes
If using ground chicken,add to the pan and cook as usual, adding salt/pepper to taste (don't drain). Mince the ground chicken.
If using another cut of chicken, let slightly defrost, then cut VERY thin slices (shaved basically) and mince (you want a greater surface area to contact the cheese and other good stuff/not be dry)
Take the roll, open faced and put face down over the meat/onion mixture to enclose it in the roll (true philly style, if you're that daring)
If using American, apply last (along with ketchup if you're smart)

I recognize this picture doesn't do the cheese steak justice, but it really was GOOD.