Month: January 2021

2021 Project :: January Tofu with Rice and Miso-Maple Dressing

Post author By noodlehead
Post date January 30, 2021
No Comments on 2021 Project :: January Tofu with Rice and Miso-Maple Dressing

I decided that I would like to create a little project for the new year. I decided that I would make one dish from each issue of Bon Appetit, starting January 2021.

I decided this around January 25^th, 2021. Because apparently I thrive on self-imposed deadlines.

So I grabbed the January issue of Bon Appetit and looked at each recipe to see which one I would make. First of all, that issue doesn’t have very many recipes. It’s all story. Which is cool, cool stories….but I needed recipes to choose from!

Part of the parameters of this are that I will FOLLOW the recipe exactly or as best I can. So I had to pick something that I already had all the ingredients for on hand.

I’m not kidding when I say the ONLY recipe in this issue that met those criteria is this one.

Tofu with Rice and Miso-Maple Dressing

Good thing I like tofu!

The marinade for the tofu was delicious, and as it turns out, it also basically the dressing (minus the cornstarch).

Ingredients on the counter

I loved the fresh flavors of this. I followed the directions nearly exactly (the only thing I didn’t do is grate the garlic because I couldn’t find the grater. I just chopped it really fine).

Finished dish

The only things I would change are…

It says to use one clove garlic. Usually I think, “aww, cute!” and then double it (at least). So, I did use two cloves of garlic and dare I say…it was too much. Since it’s raw it was really strong. I recommend sticking with one clove.
The recipe doesn’t say to do this, but I think they did do it, judging by their photo. I would toss the tofu in the dressing before putting it on the rice. Then drizzle the leftover dressing on the whole thing. The tofu was a tad dry coming straight out of the oven and I think it would have been better if it were tossed in the dressing. But you still need dressing to go over the rice and veggies.

I’ll make this again. It reminded me of the Yum Yum Rice Bowls from World Street Kitchen!

Close up finished dish

The carrots were from Imperfect Foods. Use my link and get $10 off your first box. (Full disclosure, I get $10 off too.)

Tags healthy, tofu, vegetarian

Experiments Food Reviews

Product :: Dash Waffle Maker

Post author By noodlehead
Post date January 24, 2021
No Comments on Product :: Dash Waffle Maker

I saw this cute waffle iron on Tiktok and had to have it. I found it in Amazon packaged with a cookbook.

I had bought a box of Bisquick as I remembered from my childhood that all you had to do was add water (I remembered wrong).

So I made the batter but I didn’t need 12 of these today so I poured half the batter into a container and saved it for tomorrow.

To the half I had out, I added garlic powder, pepper, a tiny pinch of salt, and about 1\4 cup of shredded cheese.

I sprayed the Dash with cooking spray and I used a 1\4-cup measuring cup to pour the batter into the Dash.

I didn’t time how long it took to cook them but it was maybe 5-7 minutes per waffle.

Just be sure not to overfill!
dash waffle iron, overfilled

These were delicious! This little gem is easy to use, easy to clean (even if you overfill as I did) and if you get the one with the cookbook it’s an even better value.

I served my cheesy waffles with an egg and bacon (sugar-free).

Mini Waffles and Eggs on a plate

I can recommend this product, it’s cute and works well!

Food Recipes Tried

Dinner :: Greek Style Green Beans

Post author By noodlehead
Post date January 18, 2021
No Comments on Dinner :: Greek Style Green Beans

Greek Style Green Beans-Fasolakia Lathera

Original Recipe: Greek Style Green Beans

Last night for dinner I did a couple of things…one was a whole chicken in the Instant Pot, using also the Air Fryer lid. Needs work, I’ll report back on that later.

But as a side dish, I made one of the new Greek recipes I found from Olive Tomato.

This was really yummy, however, I don’t like my green beans to be cooked to the point of mush and being discolored.

I like them to look like this

This was right after I put them in the pan.

But when they were “done” according to the recipe, they were brown-ish and mushy.

Cooked green beans, potatoes and tomatoes

So while I would make this again for sure, I would add the beans at the last 5 minutes, when the potatoes are done, not let them cook for 40 minutes.

Here’s the finished dish, looks better with the creamy feta on top!

finished dish, green beans, potatoes and tomatoes

Here’s a close up.

close up beans, tomatoes, and potatoes

The beans, potatoes, tomatoes and onions were all from Imperfect Foods.
Use my link and get $10 off your first box. (Full disclosure, I get $10 off too.)

Just a weird aside…when I cut open the first tomato for this dish I was horrified by what I saw and felt inside.

Coming soon to a horror movie theater near you…

I’ve been assured it was fine, just the seeds had sprouted. Which of course is what I thought, but I really didn’t think they started sprouting inside the fresh tomato! I thought they’d start once the fruit was rotting or smashed, etc.
So while it looks a little like a horror movie, it’s also pretty cool.

Food Recipes Mine

Recipe :: Chicken Sausage Gnocchi Soup

Post author By noodlehead
Post date January 15, 2021
No Comments on Recipe :: Chicken Sausage Gnocchi Soup

This was originally called Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup and it was an Olive Garden copycat. But I changed so much that I feel it is my own now.
I was debating between a Zuppa Toscana and this Olive Garden copycat for dinner last night. I decided I wanted to use the gnocchi I got from Imperfect Foods.

I’ve never had the soup at Olive Garden so I have no reference point. Plus I as I mentioned, I changed so much that it’s not the same recipe at all.

Chicken Sausage Gnocchi Soup

Ingredients

Cooking spray
10 ounces True Story Organic Chicken Sausage
½ cup onion diced
½ cup shredded carrots
½ cup green pepper, chopped
3 garlic cloves minced
1 tablespoons butter
1 ½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 ½ cups beef (or veg, or chicken) broth.
1 cup whole milk
2 cups fresh spinach leaves chopped
1 (16 ounce) package potato gnocchi

Prep ingredients as noted (chop, slice veg and sausage).

Spray a large soup pot with cooking spray.

Over medium high heat sauté chicken sausage, onion, green pepper and garlic until tender.

Add the butter and stir veggies until butter is melted.

Add the flour and stir well so that the flour is all incorporated, no white spots showing.

Slowly add the chicken broth and stir or whisk until it starts to thicken.

Add the gnocchi and simmer for about 5 minutes or until gnocchi is cooked and soup is thickened.

Add the spinach to the pot and turn off the heat. Stir, then cover for about 5 minutes until the spinach is wilted (if the soup is too thin, leave the cover off.

Add salt and pepper to taste and serve immediately.

The only changes I might make next time are to use a hot sausage instead of sweet, or add some cayenne to the soup for a kick.

I also might use red pepper instead of green just for some color.

My Recipe: Chicken Sausage Gnocchi Soup

Original Recipe: Creamy Chicken Gnocchi Soup

The gnocchi, green pepper, onion, carrot, chicken sausage, and garlic were all from Imperfect Foods. Use my link and get $10 off your first box. (Full disclosure, I get $10 off too.)

Tags comfort, soup

Food Recipes Tried

Dinner :: Taco Casserole

Taco Casserole from the oven

This is from one of my favorite food blogs, Salt and Lavender. Her recipes are soooo good. Almost everything I’ve tried before this was creamy. Creamy Spinach Mushroom Pork Chops (which I’m making again tomorrow), Creamy Tuscan Sausage Gnocchi, 15 Minute Creamy Garlic Pasta, and my favorite, Italian Sausage Tortellini Soup. This was not creamy, but was super delicious.

Just like a taco only less messy! It’s basically what is left on your plate when your taco explodes at first bite.

I made this January 6, 2020 while we watched the news and the Capital was being overtaken by a mob of delusional cult members (or as my favorite Tiktok lady says, “Cheeto-Humping Fuck Nuggets”). Yes, I am not a supporter, if you are, you can stop reading and stop following me.

Still here? OK so anyway, here are my notes:

I only had one small bag of Nacho Flavored Doritos so I used that and then filled the rest of the 2 cups with crushed Hatch Chili Corn Chips from Imperfect Foods.

I used Salsa Lisa, medium spicy. The chipotle version of this would be really good here too.

For the chili powder, I used a half regular and half chipotle powder.

I followed the recipe, except I added a chopped red pepper (she suggested this in the blog post, I didn’t go completely rouge).

Toppings we used were: sour cream, cilantro, green onion, tomatoes, black olives, lettuce (which I forgot when I took the photos) and remaining salsa from the container of Salsa Lisa.

She has this clocking in at 554 calories but My Fitness Pal says this is 333 calories per serving (without toppings), due in part to the oil I didn’t use. I am not sure what the other discrepancies are.

I did not use any salt when cooking the meat because of the salt in the chips. Next time I may use plain corn chips (Tostitos, no flavor) and then use some salt or Tajin in the meat. I did feel like the meat could use some oomph. I’d add some cayenne to the meat mixture too.

I highly recommend making this! If you love tacos, you’ll love this.

Taco Casserole with toppings, except for the lettuce which I forgot.

Original Recipe : Easy Taco Casserole

The beef, green onions, corn chips, onion, black beans, and tomatoes were all from Imperfect Foods.

Use my link and get $10 off your first box. (Full disclosure, I get $10 off too.)

If you do this, order those Hatch Chili Corn Chips! They’re amazing!!

Hatch Chili Seasoned Corn Chips from Imperfect Foods

I had the leftovers for lunch today, I just sprinkled some more corn chips on top!

Taco Casserole leftovers

UPDATE!

I made this again and I made a couple of changes, mostly out of what was on hand.

I used a Taco Seasoning packet instead of the spices suggested and it was fine.

I used my own homemade Salsa (which is more like a pico) along with some roasted tomatoes that I had made earlier in the week with grape tomatoes that were starting to wrinkle.

I used some of those Hatch chips along with plain corn chips as the base.

Then, I had the leftovers for breakfast with an egg on it!

Taco Casserole with Egg

Recipes Mine Recipes Tried

Breakfast :: Potato and Sausage Hash

Post author By noodlehead
Post date January 4, 2021
No Comments on Breakfast :: Potato and Sausage Hash

For Sunday brunch this past weekend I made the Lazy Sausage and Potatoes from My Fridge Food.

My Fridge Food is a website where you can punch in what you have on hand and it will suggest recipes for you to make based on what you have. I was looking for a good Kielbasa recipe and this is what was suggested.

I took one look at it and automatically pictured an egg on top, as you do.

This is one where I followed the directions (except that I forgot the onions) and I wish I hadn’t. The result was good, but needed work.

Here’s why:

The kielbasa ended up being overcooked, it was almost hard in some spots.
The potatoes needed their own seasoning: I didn’t add salt because I didn’t think the recipe called for it*, and since kielbasa is salty, I skipped it. Though I did add some oil.
*The recipe is written poorly. It says, “Toss everything EXCEPT the cheese, into a bowl and combine well.” So the cheese should be the last thing on the list of ingredients. Why would you expect people to look past the cheese when the cheese is added at the end? The ingredient list should be written in the order you use the ingredients.

So I’ve rewritten it with more clear directions and altered the method so that the meat doesn’t overcook.

Breakfast Sausage and Potato Hash

Roasted potatoes and peppers in a bowl

Ingredients:

1 medium onion
3 medium russet potatoes
1 red bell pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tsp dried thyme
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
8oz of smoked sausage (about half of a package)
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar Cheese
4 eggs (optional)

Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 400F and line a large sheet pan (with sides) with foil. Use cooking spray or drizzle oil onto the pan to keep from sticking.

Prep the ingredients:
Onion: peel and chop into 1 inch cubes chunks
Potatoes: chop into 1 inch cubes (unpeeled)
Peppers: chop into 1 inch chunks
Put onions, peppers and potatoes into a large bowl and drizzle with olive oil. Add the thyme or whatever spices you want, s&p, and toss.
Put the veggies onto the sheet pan and jiggle the pan so that everything is “single file” (not on top of each other).

Put that in the oven and set a timer for 15 minutes. While the potato mixture is roasting, slice the kielbasa into ½” rounds.

When the timer goes off, add the kielbasa to the sheet pan of veggies and set the timer for about 10 minutes. But keep checking and take out when the potatoes are golden brown.

Turn off the oven. Sprinkle the cheese over top of the cooked meat and potatoes, and pop back into the oven a few minutes to melt the cheese.

Eggs on hash in bowl

You can eat it just as is, or use this cheese-melting-time to make some sunny side up eggs to put on top.