So I started this blog because I have been trying to learn to cook and want to keep track of all of my recipes, etc. I am largely indebted to an old classmate of mine, Lauren, who has a blog here too. I have tried a lot of her recipes in the past couple weeks and most of them have been very successful. Here is what I have tried, everything directly from her being in light blue:

SUNDAY, August 7th
For dinner, I was inspired by Lauren to try the Morningstar Farms Chicken Strips too. I decided to try them in quesadillas.

Exa's Quesadillas
1/2 package of Morning Star Farms Chicken Strips
Jalapeno slices (you know, the ones in a jar)
Fresh salsa (the kind near the salad stuff in grocery stores)
Kidney beans, canned
Reduced fat monterey jack-cheddar blend of shredded cheese
Tortillas
Olive oil

Cook the chicken strips in a little olive oil and then chop up into little pieces and set aside. Oil/cooking spray your pan for the tortilla, place the tortilla down (don't turn on the stove yet). Fill the tortilla however you want. I covered half of it with a layer of cheese, some chicken strips, beans, and jalapenos, then another liht layer of cheese [Mike put his salsa inside]. Fold the other half of the tortilla over, so the whole thing looks like an omelette. Cook till bottom side is golden brown and crispy, then flip, cook till crispy and eat. Oh, and if you cover the pan for a little bit during cooking, the cheese melts better.

My thoughts: These were yummy, simple, relatively good-for-you, and I will eat them a lot. Mike was also a huge fan.

Soda Bread. I love soda bread. Plus, I needed to use up the buttermilk I bought to make the cupcakes. This recipe was a big hit with me, Mike, and my best friend Cathy whom I stay with when I am in New York for my internship. Yumyumyum. Oh, but I used dried rosemary instead of fresh. It tasted just fine. This was super-easy to make.

Brown Butter Soda Bread
1/4 cup butter
3.5 cups all purpose flour
½ cup Old Fashioned Oats
1 tablespoon sugar
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary
2 tsps. Baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1 3/4 cups buttermilk
1 egg white, beaten to blend
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375. Stir butter in a heavy saucepan over medium heat until melted and golden brown, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat.Stir flour, oats, sugar, rosemary, baking powder, salt and pepper in large bowl to blend. Pour buttermilk and melted brown butter over flour mixture; stir with fork until mixture is moistened.Turn dough out onto floured work space. Knead gently until dough comes together, about 7 turns. Divide in half. Shape each half into a ball: flatten each into 6” rounds. Place on ungreased baking sheet, spacing 5” apart. Brush tops with beaten egg white. Sprinkle with some black pepper. Using a knife, cut ½” X in top of each round. Bake until deep golden brown and tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 45 minutes.
Yield: 2 loaves

SATURDAY, August 5th.
Portobello Philly Cheesesteaks. After an interesting day that didn't really work out as planned, I still managed to make dinner as planned. I got this recipe from Lauren, and it was super yummy. I used reduced fat mozzarella instead of provolone and used fancy french bread for the sub rolls. I melted the cheese onto the rolls instead of onto the filling. Oh, and I used pre-sliced portobellos, which made everything easier. Mike made really good mojitos, although the mint in them was sub-par. He says that next time he will make them a more scientific process.

Portobello Philly Cheesesteaks
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced
4 large portobello mushrooms, stems and gills removed
1 large red bell pepper, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons minced fresh oregano or2 teaspoons dried
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1/4 cup vegetable broth or reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
3 ounces thinly sliced reduced-fat provolone cheese
4 whole-wheat buns, split and toasted
1. Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring often, until soft and beginning to brown, 2 to 3 minutes. Add mushrooms, bell pepper, oregano and pepper and cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are wilted and soft, about 7 minutes.
2. Reduce heat to low; sprinkle the vegetables with flour and stir to coat. Stir in broth and soy sauce; bring to a simmer. Remove from the heat, lay cheese slices on top of the vegetables, cover and let stand until melted, 1 to 2 minutes.
3. Divide the mixture into 4 portions with a spatula, leaving the melted cheese layer on top. Scoop a portion onto each toasted bun and serve immediately.

FRIDAY, August 6th (I was a baking and cooking machine)
GYROS! I loooove gyros, at least I love tzatziki, which is the garlic-yogurt sauce. I have also been thinking about trying more meat substitutes, with a lot of encouragement from Mike, so I thought this would be a good attempt.

Lauren's Gyros
Sauce:
8 oz plain fat-free yogurt
1 cup cucumber - peeled, seeded, and shredded or finely chopped
Salt
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp red wine vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil
'Meat':1 pkg Morningstar Farms Steak Strips mealstarters
1 or 2 pinches of dried rosemary, crushed with your fingers
2 cloves minced garlic
1 Tbsp olive oil
Other ingredients:
2 pitas, sliced in half to form 2 pockets apiece
1 plum tomato, chopped
1 white onion, chopped
1/4 cup reduced-fat feta cheese

For the sauce, combine all ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.Toss all the ingredients for the meat (steak strips through olive oil) into a skillet and saute until crispy and cooked through.Put the pita pockets in the microwave for 30 seconds to get them nice and warm. Divide the steak strips evenly inside each pita pocket. Add tomatoes, onion, feta, and sauce. Eat.

I made a few changes myself to the recipe. 1) I combined all the seasonings for the 'meat' (olive oil, rosemary, and garlic) beforehand and let them kind of work together for a bit. i strained the yogurt beforehand because my mom always does and it makes the sauce a little thicker. i grilled the pita pockets which makes them super yummy and kind of crisp on the outside. i left out the feta cheese because try as i can, i cannot learn to like feta. i added chopped up cucumber and arugula to the veggie mix. I thought this meal was amazing. I think that was in a large part due to the tzatziki. I also was surprised at how much I liked the steak strips. I am very afraid of fake meat, but I think when it is mixed with things like garlic and lots of veggies it is ok. Mike and my roommate Katie both really loved it too. Yay.

Magnolia Cupcakes. Ok, so I am in New York part-time because of my internship for the Margaret Sanger Papers Project. So of course, I am well aware of the popularity of Magnolia Bakery's cupcakes. Plus, I had already heard of them (like most people) because of the "Lazy Sunday" video that I love so much. I decided to make these because I love "Lazy Sunday" and I love cupcakes.

Magnolia Bakery Cupcakes
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
4 large eggs
6 ounces unsweetened chocolate, melted
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
FROSTING:
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
6-8 cups of confectioners' sugar
1/2 cup milk
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
2. Line your muffin tins with cupcake papers. This recipe makes roughly 2 dozen cupcakes
3. In a small bowl, sift together the flour and baking soda and set aside
4. Melting the chocolate. [LAUREN SAYS] You'll need some double boiler action to do this. But, if like me, you have no double boiler, one can be created very easily. Find a small pot and a small heat resistent bowl that will nest easily into the pot. Fill the pot with just enough water so that when the bowl is nesting in the pot, the water doesn't splash out. Put the water on to boil. Put the 6 ounces of unsweetened chocolate into the bowl. Once the water is boiling, put the bowl of chocolate in the pot to melt the chocolate. Turn down the heat on the water so it's just simmering (if you leave it on a full boil, hot water will go everywhere). Stir the chocolate until it's totally melted. Set the bowl of melted chocolate aside to cool to room temperature. EDIT: you don't actually need a double boiler. I called my mum, the master of all chefs, to confirm this. What you can do, if you are super lazy, is put the chocolate in a glass container (like a glass liquid measure) and microwave it for about 1 1/2 minutes. It won't look like it is melted, but you just need to stir it. Works like a charm.
5. In a large bowl, cream the butter until smooth. Add the granulated and light brown sugar and beat until fluffy. Add the eggs 2 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the chocolate, mixing until well blended. Add the sifted flour/baking soda mixture in small doses, alternating with the buttermilk and vanilla. Mix until batter is well blended and smooth.
6. Spoon the batter into the cupcake liners, filling until roughly 3/4 full
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes, checking periodically to make sure they don't burn. The cupcakes are done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
8. Remove the cupcakes from the tins to cool.
Once all the cupcakes are cool, it's time for the best part, the frosting!
FROSTING:
EDIT: to avoid clumps in the frosting, make sure the butter is super room temperature. I left mine out while I made the cupcakes themselves and cleaned up the mess.
Put the butter in a large bowl, add 4 cups of the sugar, then the milk and vanilla and beat until smooth and creamy.Gradually add the remaining sugar, one cup at a time, until the frosting gets to a decent consistency for spreading (you don't want it too runny or too thick).Add some food coloring to you're frosting if you are so inclined. Be generous with the frosting, nobody likes a frosting miser.You're all done!Makes about 2-2 1/2 dozen!

My thoughts: This was a lot of cupcakes. They were yummy but a little to fat-tastic tasting for me or Mike. I didn't know what to do with the large quantity I had, so I sent some home with my roommate to the restaurant she waits tables at in NH. They were a big hit there, and her boss (the restaurant owner and chef) said "If we slapped some sugared violets on these, we could sell them for eight bucks!" Haha, exactly.

Blackberry Muffins. I love blackberries, so I had to try these. I thought they were sooo good. Mike liked them ok, but said: "Next time--no oats, more blackberries." Roommate loved the oats. I liked them too, but I agree about the more blackberries bit.

Whole Grain Blackberry Spice Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour (about 9 ounces)
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon apple-pie spice (Note: I only had pumpkin pie spice)
1 cup fat-free milk
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups frozen blackberries, coarsely chopped (Note: I used fresh ones)
Cooking spray
1/4 cup granulated sugar
Preheat oven to 400°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour and next 6 ingredients (through apple-pie spice) in a large bowl. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine milk, butter, vanilla, and egg in a small bowl; add to flour mixture, stirring until just moist. Gently stir in blackberries.
Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each of 17 paper-lined muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 16 minutes. Sprinkle muffins evenly with granulated sugar; bake 3 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center. Cool in pans 10 minutes on wire racks.
Yield: 17 muffins (serving size: 1 muffin)

Basically, I owe Lauren a huge thank you for getting me to like fake meats and things. I will post more of the things that I have actually made and maybe sort of invented myself later.