Gourmet Fancy Sandwich at home for 98 cents!

April 18th, 2009 5 Comments Recipes · Sandwich · Snack

My favorite fast food is sandwiches, real, fresh sandwiches. I realized that the reason I love these sandwiches so much is the fresh ingredients, and that I can so easily make my own at home if I just keep some on hand! I used to not make sandwiches very often because I only had lunchmeat and cheese and bread, not exciting. But now I always have fresh veggies around, so I am eating a lot more sandwiches and loving it. I keep them healthy (mustard not mayo, very thinly sliced cheese, lots of veggies) and I did the math yesterday and realized I also keep them cheap. We buy our lunch meat and Tillamook cheddar in bulk at Sam’s Club. Each sandwich I make uses only $0.20 total of meat and cheese. I get my avocados when they’re on sale, so the half of a large avocado I used cost only 55 cents. Factor in the cost of the other ingredients and the total comes out to only 98 cents! Beat that Subway!

The key to making your sandwich affordable and still tasty is in the vegetables. Eric loves to pile on lots of meat and cheese, honestly it gets a little to heavy for me that way. When I make sandwiches “my” way, Eric says they’re amazing and how much he loves them. I don’t know if he even realizes I simply use less meat/cheese and add vegetables. You may prefer using a specialty roll or bread, but keep in mind that will drive up the cost. I like really green lettuce on my sandwiches, it has more flavor. This sandwich (my absolute favorite) is turkey, cheddar, bacon, avocado, tomato and lettuce. Other great veggies are bell peppers, cucumbers, spinach, carrots, and cabbage.

Turkey, Bacon, and Avocado Sandwich

serves 2
Ingredients
4 slices sandwich bread
mustard
10 slices of turkey lunchmeat (if deli style 4 if thicker cut)
2 slices cooked bacon
2 thin slices of cheddar
1 avocado sliced thinly
1 roma tomato sliced thinly
lots of green leafy lettuce
Instructions
Toast the bread lightly. Spread one side of each slice with mustard. Lay half of the cheese on each of two slices of bread. Top each with half an avocado, fanning the slices out. Top the avocado with half the tomato slices, lettuce and then half the turkey. Place other slice of bread on top and press down lightly. Cut in half to serve.

In honor of a faithful friend

April 17th, 2009 5 Comments News · Personal


I got sad news on April 15, my dog Rusty died. He was nearly 13 and blind and in pain, so I know it’s good he’s free, but I’m still sad and miss him terribly. I didn’t know it would hurt quite this much, I’m crying as I type this. It’s because he was really special, and he was mine. So this post is a tribute to a good dog.

I got Rusty when I was 15 years old. My parents had gone on a trip and told me I better clean out the cat cages in the back yard before they got back. I didn’t really get along with my parents at the time, but hosed the cages out because they’d been telling me to for a week. After they got back, my mom came and said “Diana, I told you to clean out the cat cages!” I got very angry and told her I did, but she said they weren’t clean enough. I was so mad! I stormed out there and saw there was towel inside one of the cages. Wondering who the idiot was that put a towel in there (yes I had a lot of anger issues as a teen), I reached inside and touched something furry and soft. I freaked out as I realized it was alive, and pulled out a beautiful golden retriever puppy.

From that moment on, Rusty was my best friend. I had some very tumultuous teenage years, and whenever I needed a friend, he was there. He could tell when I was sad and would let me just hug him and lick my face until I laughed. 9 years ago my family moved to Washington and had to take Rusty with them. Whether it was 3 months or 3 years between my visits, as soon as Rusty heard my voice his tail would wag and his whole body would wriggle with excitement. I’ve always with struggled with a weird fear of abandonment issue that made me constantly afraid my friends were mad at me. I’ve gotten a lot better about that but during those hard times, Rusty was the one I knew would always love me and always want me around.

As Rusty got older and went blind, I could tell he was in pain, and he got scared easily because he couldn’t see. But even with his old body, he still tried to act like a puppy. I’d go to the door and call him and hear a thumping from his dog house as his wagging tail hit the inside over and over. It took him a lot longer to get up, but even if I tried to go to him, he’d still want to get up to show me he loved me. If I took him on a walk he’d try to run, even if he ran into things or had trouble breathing.

Rusty loved his life, even when it was hard, painful, or scary. Really, now that I’m thinking about it, he was a great example in living life to the fullest. He constantly explored the giant backyard, bumping into trees, sniffing everything, with this goofy dog grin on his face. On his last day, he was curled up with his friend Dart, enjoying laying in the sun (after days of rain/hail/snow) and sleeping. He just didn’t wake up and I think that’s a pretty good way to go. Thanks God for a beautiful sunny day for one of my best friend’s last memories.

Stuffed Morels on Morel and Truffle Oil Pasta

April 15th, 2009 17 Comments Pasta · Recipes · Seafood

Vote for my dish in the recipe contest!

First of all, I owe a gigantic thank you to Justin Marx and MarxFoods.com. They posted a recipe challenge for morels; basically you give your idea for a recipe using morels, and if they like it, you get some dried morels to try and create it. I was so excited when Justin emailed me to say that I would be getting some morels to play with, I’ve never had them before so it was fun to test the taste and texture to try to figure out what ingredients would go well with them.

Here’s the idea I told them I’d like to try: “Oooh, I’ve never tried morels so I’d want them pretty much intact to be able to really taste them. I’d probably stuff them with something, maybe goat cheese and some fresh herbs and shrimp or lobster. Yum!” I was one of the lucky ones selected, so now you can go vote for my dish so I can win some fresh morels to experiment with! I wanted to bribe you with some morels of your own, but my husband said that’s unethical and I guess I actually kind of agree with him. There’s a reason we’re married :)

Morels are funny looking things, in fact the first thought I had when I got them was “They’re gnome hats!” I knew I needed to rehydrate them before I did anything, so I soaked some in white wine, chicken stock and water for about 8 hours. It ended up making an amazing broth that I really wanted to make into soup, but used for my recipe instead. I decided to do the stuffing with scallops, bacon and goat cheese. So good! I even went the extra mile and made a pasta sauce out of the morels. I couldn’t decide if I liked them better stuffed or in pasta so I combined the two dishes and it was quite a symphony of flavor, really like nothing I’ve ever had before.
I’m so thanful I got to try cooking with morels, and hope that I’ll get to play with them some more. I think they’d be delicioud in stir fry, curry, or battered and fried. I love playing with food! If you’d like your own dried morels to play with, head on over! It’d be a great deal to split with some fellow foodies.

Goat Cheese, Scallop and Bacon Stuffed Morels with Morel and Truffle Oil Pasta
serves 4

Ingredients
5 large dried morels
1/4 cup white wine
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/2 cup water
2 TBS goat cheese
1 tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp dried chives
pepper to taste
1 slice bacon cooked till crispy
1 scallop
2 cups of dried egg noodles
1 TBS butter
3 TBS minced red onion
2 TBS red wine vinegar
1 TBS heavy cream
1 TBS balsamic vinegar
few drops of truffle oil

Instructions

Combine white wine, chicken stock and water and soak morels in it for at least 8 hours. I like to nest another bowl on top to hold the morels down. Once they’re hydrated, remove the morels but save the rehydrating juice.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix goat cheese with parsley, chives and pepper (make sure to crush the herbs between your fingers first). Stir in 2 TBS of the rehydrating juice until a nice paste is formed. Crumble the bacon finely and mix into the cheese paste. Pan sear the scallop about 3 minutes on each side. Chop it finely and stir into cheese paste. Stuff four of the morels with the cheese and scallop mixture and place in a baking dish. Bake for 15 minutes.

Boil Pasta according to package instructions. Chop the fifth morel. In a saucepan, melt butter and then saute chopped morel and onion. Add the rest of the rehydrating juice and boil until reduced by half. In a blender, puree the morel and onion mixture. Return it to the saucepan and add red wine vinegar and cream. Simmer another 5 minutes, remove from heat and add balsamic vinegar and truffle oil.

Place the pasta on plates (I like to put mine on a bed of arugala). Pour sauce over the top. Remove stuffed morels from pan and spoon into cheese mixture that’s leaked out back into them. Place stuffed morel on top of pasta.

If you like this recipe, please VOTE FOR ME in the recipe contest. Thanks!

The perfect spring party dessert: Dirt Cake!

April 13th, 2009 19 Comments Dessert · Holiday · Party Food

Thanks for your guesses on my Easter ingredient photo, it was fun watching the answers pour in. For those of you who guessed crushed up Oreos, you’re right! For those of you who didn’t, I still liked your answers. The idea of affording that much caviar or vanilla beans was very exciting for me. But Oreos are a little more in the budget!

Have you ever had dirt cake? I know I made it with my mom as a kid, I also remember teachers bringing it in for parties in elementary school. It’s such a great dessert for kids (but adults love it too) they are absolutely fascinated when you tell them that this bucket of dirt and worms is really their dessert. My brother Jason kept opening the fridge to look at it and warned me that he’d be so hyper if he ate that many coffee grounds!

Eric’s grandpa was definitely the funniest reaction. I brought the bucket and said “Here’s dessert!” and he literally recoiled in horror! It was awesome. Everyone really enjoyed it and it was perfect for spring.

You can also make dirt cake in flower pots with some little fake flowers coming out of it, or make individual servingsin tiny pots or cups. It’s a good cake for spring birthdays, garden parties, Easter, etc. I also made it once when an exchange student in Hawaii wanted an “American” cake for her birthday. I thought a dirt cake would be perfect and her reaction was priceless. I brought the “bucket of dirt” and she was so polite that even though she was obviously disappointed, she thanked me and said it was very nice. Her eyes got huge as I started dishing it up (with a shovel of course), and she was so delighted once she tasted it.

I couldn’t find exactly the recipe I was looking for. I know I’ve used cool whip before, but don’t really like cool whip so ended up making whipped cream instead. Also, the other ingredients are so sweet, I didn’t include the cup or more of powdered sugar other recipes called for. If you need something to increase your risk of diabetes, feel free to add some :) This is one of those recipes that’s fun to make, serve and eat, so go have some fun!

Dirt Cake
serves 15

Ingredients

2 lbs oreos (just less than 2 packages)
1 1/2 cups whipping cream
3 TBS powdered sugar
1 8 oz package cream cheese
1/2 stick of butter
2 small packages instant vanilla pudding
3 1/2 cups milk
gummi worms

Instructions

Place the Oreos in a food processor and grind until finely crumbled and looking like dirt (include the cream).

Cream together the butter and cream cheese. In another bowl whip the whipping cream and powdered sugar until thick. In a third bowl, combine vanilla pudding and milk. Mix well for two minutes. Stir the whipped cream into the pudding. Add the creamed mixture and stir well.

Layer the cake in your bucket 2-4 hours before serving time. Place 1 1/2 – 2 inches of cookie crumbs in the bottom of the bucket. Then layer the same amount of pudding mixture on top. Continue layering them, leaving room for a layer of crumbs on top. Just before serving, top with crumbs and worms. Serve with a shovel.

(optional: You can also layer worms throughout the cake, or sprinkle a few on top of each serving)

Happy Easter! Can you guess what this is?

April 12th, 2009 20 Comments Holiday


He is risen! Today was an awesome service at church, I was literally dancing around, in a baptist church! Anyway I’m off to lunch with our families. I made a great dessert for it, can you guess what it is from the picture of a main ingredient?

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