RYOBB

Hi!
Just so y'all know, Paul got this recipe first. And then I decided I felt so strongly about it, that I'd post it.
So here we go.

RYOBB
(Refry Your Own Black Beans)

Ingredients:
1 can of black beans (or, if you want to go crazy and make them yourself, go ahead. Whatever makes you happy, man.)
A bit of water (added moisture plus it cleans out the black beany stuff left in the can when you pour them out, man.)
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Powder
Whatever other kind of spice you fancy. I used paprika Saturday on a whim. I love paprika. And whims.

Pour the can of black beans into a pan. Whatever kind of pan you desire will do, just so long as it has sides on it. Understand? Make sure you include all the juices from the can, which normally you would rinse off if you were using this magical treat as anything other than refried beans, man.
Season your beans. It doesn't take much.
Let the beans heat up. When they're ready to become "refried" they will be sort of soft. It's also a good idea to go ahead and taste them for seasoning  at this point before you mash them.
Use a potato/avocado masher to create the smooth texture. It shouldn't take too long if you have a metal masher - those mean business.


Trust me on this...once you go homemade refried, you never go back. I don't know if y'all have ever purchased refried beans, but don't. Don't do it. It is so easy and to me it tastes way better at home.
I use these on tacos or just as a side item. So good. SO GOOD. 

Add some cheese in there too while it's still hot to get all melty and yummy in the beans. 

Did I mention this is so good? It is. It is so good. 

Fish Tacos//Pico De Gallo

Many apologies for my lack of updates.

I haven't died.

The truth is, I recently switched back to an iPhone, which makes loading pictures on to my computer SO. MUCH. EASIER.

HTC Vivid , you will most certainly NOT be missed.

Anyway.

I took the pictures in this blog months ago, and wrote the recipe even longer ago than that, so, the sad truth of the matter is that this blog was virtually WRITTEN already and I still didn't post it.

Because I'm a terrible food blogger.
Maybe not really. I'll work on it, kay? Kay.

Now to the real deal.
The pops and I love this recipe I'm about to share with you.
It's really super simple, but a key ingredient is the pico de gallo you put in your fish tacos.

I promise you, it's the best pico you'll ever eat ever in your whole life, ever.
Ever.
And it has a whole LOT of sources...a combination of me watching a friend of my brother's who is legit FROM Mexico make it, and also P-Dub has a recipe for it. Hers is more exact, sort of. I just chop up the ingredients I'm given and don't worry about proportion, because in the end, it's alllll good.

Perhaps I've done enough talking already.

I'll get on with it then.

This is fish. You can use any fish that will hold together on the grill. Or, if you must, fry your fish. But I'm judging you for it.
Behind the fish is the only seasoning you'll need for this. Don't be difficult.
Cook your fish as desired. We prefer grilled...well, at least I do.
 Warm up some tortillas, and apply desired amount of fish.
Add obscene amount of pico de gallo.
Add awesome cheese. (I prefer feta, but that's true of just about everything. I have a feta obsession. Stop judging me.)
The beer pictured up top is totally optional. But...it's good beer, and. Well that's it.

Now...here is the best pico, ever.
EVER.

Here's what you need for the pico....cilantro, red (or white, whatevs) onion, roma tomatoes, japs*, and limes.
Helpful hint: Use a 2/1 ratio for the tomatoes and japs*. Two tomatoes...one jalapeno. Get it? Cool.
You can tell how long ago this picture was. I'm wearing flip flops for crying out loud.
Sigh.
Anyway. Be a dear and rinse off the cilantro, tomatoes, and japs*.
Find some awesome way to have your cilantro dry off as much as possible. Be inventive. Use a paper towel, or something. The thing is, no one likes wet cilantro. I know this from personal experience.

Cut off the tops of the tomatoes. Half them. Scoop the seeds out. Chop 'em up.

Cut off the top of the japs*. Half them. Scoop the seeds out. You need all the non-green out of the pepper before you proceed. There's no joke here, man. I'm not a huge fan of spicy. If you want spicy, leave some seeds or what have you. It's your life.
Chop up the japs*. Throw in the bowl. Good job.
Then, rinse EVERYTHING that touched the jalapenos. Cutting board, spoon, knife...whatever. Thank you.

Dice the onion. Nothing fancy here guys. (The pops helped with some of these action shots! Wicked awesome photography skills that one has.)

Oh look, my favorite ingredient! There's a method of chopping cilantro you'll need to try. Lay it out, roll it up, chop it up. Kinda like you'd do with basil. Except...there's no fancy name. So I've dubbed it the cute cilantro burrito method. Don't ask me why...it's my brain. Don't go there.

All of your choppable ingredients should now be chopped up and in the bowl. And if they aren't, you should be ashamed.

Sidenote: it's better if all of these are chopped really tiny. I have this theory that the lime juice in the pico sort of "cooks" some of the ingredients, sort of like seviche?  Except no fish, but if you know what seviche is, then perhaps you catch my drift. Anyway.

Add in salt, pepper, garlic powder, and lime juice to taste.

It is very important to taste the pico with a chip, so you have a good idea of the salt content. 

You just really never know how much lime juice this bebeh will need. So buy 46 limes, just to be sure.

End result.
This has an instagram filter. But it's still really pretty, and very colorful.



*This is just a short word for jalapenos. Don't get confused.


Also, just an FYI. Pico has a shelf life of about three days, max. Maybe four. I realize that me saying "maybe four" completely negates the "max" statement, but just go with it. If it gets gross looking, don't eat it. Thanks.

Accidently Awesome Skillet Rice Krispie Treats

Wow.

These little delights just entered into my life literally by accident.

And it just happened.
My kitchen still smells of them.

This includes a back story that you'll have to sit through, unfortunately.
Hope you're cozy.

I have an big ol' pot. Two of 'em. One of them though, is older than the other and the Teflon is peeling off the bottom and I finally decided enough is enough and tossed it.
So here there I was, with an itch for RKT's.
I love them. Can't get enough of them.
But I had just tossed one of the big ol' pots, and the other is in the fridge, housing potato soup.
What's a girl to do?

Sadie.
Sadie the Skillet.
She never lets me down.
She is a big girl. She can accommodate the means of an awesome batch of RKT's.
So I went for it.
Grabbed a spoon full of butter and a bag of marshmallows and thus began my amazing accident.

You all know the recipe:

2 tbsp butter
1 bag of large marshmallows
6 cups of rice krispy's cereal

You melt the marshmallows and the butter together, then pour in the RK's. Stir. Put into a greased pan whatever size you fancy. Wait for them to harden. Enjoy.

Here's what happened though:

Maybe my heat was up a little high?

Halfway through the melting the marshmallows process, they started getting brown.
My first thought was that they were picking up crap from Sadie, but they kept getting browner and browner and browner.
Holy Crap.
The marshmallows were too hot! They were toasting!
I could have turned them down.
But who in their right mind doesn't like a toasted marshmallow?
So I went with it, and eventually the whole mix was brown.

And they came out looking like this:

I may have had both of those.
And one more.
I encourage you to do the same. :)

Brisket Tacos Like a Boss

First of all, this isn't my recipe.

I think it's my mom's. Maybe. 

Look, I'm not sure where it came from. Get off my back.

But, I've been eating these tacos for a while, and they never fail to please. 

Ever. 

Even when you're in a bad mood. 

*Especially* if you're in a bad mood! 

I used my brother as a model for the steps I have provided in this here blog post. 

He decided last night to cook these for breakfast. So, we went and picked out a brisket, and he did his secret seasoning thing, threw it on the smoker, then took it off about 7 this morning. 

That's how smoking a brisket works, right?

I don't own a smoker. I don't know these things. 

Anyway, my brother smokes a mean brisket. It's one of the many things I miss about living with him. 

His one and only flaw in this process is that he was unaware, maybe until today, that he is missing one very important step in this here brisket taco makin' business. 

I'll mention it in a few. 

Right now, let's get down to bidness. 

This is a brisket with the top cut off. Maybe that's the fat part. I dunno. But that is a BEAUTIFUL brisket.
To be fair, you don't have to use brisket. We have made these tacos many a time with some leftover roast or some other kind of beef that can be shredded or chopped.
But...as I always say, "Go Big or Go Home."
I said that once...

You wanna chop it up like so to get anywhere in life. 

See my brother's big knife? 

Don't mess with his little sister. 

Probably before or after, whenever, the chopping of the brisket starts, you need to grab some taters and poke some holes in 'em with a fork. Then, pop them in the microwave to cook them. This is the P-dub way of breakfast potatoes and she knows what's up. You listen to her. I'm not kidding at all. 

And here is half of a large onion. Or...you can use one whole small onion. Whatevs. You chop this up however you like. This is my brother's method. He's an engineer. Every little onion piece is the same size. Perfectly small. But if you prefer bigger chunks of onion, by all means, do yo' thang. 

Sidenote: It is very important that you understand that a onion chopped on a cutting board that didn't previously contain a heavenly brisket has no place in my life whatsoever. What is cross contamination? Go back up north where you belong. 

Ahem. 

Throw that onion in a cast iron skillet with some oil. Don't care what kind of oil you choose to cook with, just as long as it's some kind of fat that will fry up those onions in no time. You dig?

Now here is why P-dub is brilliant. See, your potatoes are already cooked through, so you just have to brown them now. See? See? We used three large russet potatoes, and you see my bro here cubing them up like a boss. 

Please don't forget about your onions. They require TLC. 

When they're cooked through, take 'em off the heat. 

See that yellow plate? It used to contain hot potatoes. 

Add some more oil to your skillet. As you can see, it's not the end of the world if you forgot some onions. 

Wait for that oil to come to temperature. 

Add your taters in that oil. 

Now, add salt, pepper, and chili powder. 

When my brother added the chili powder, he told me not to tell. 

His girlfriend doesn't like anything spicy. 

But what she doesn't know won't hurt her. 

Look, a random half full cup of coffee! 

Back to business. Here we have some taters that are slightly brown and crusty and omg good. 

Once they look like this, put your cooked onions in there. 

Taste it. Wonder why you don't eat this every day. Remember that fried potatoes isn't part of your diet. Stir some more. Be sad that you ever started dieting in the first place. 

Sigh. 

Look, Rotel! I love rotel. This isn't so random. You will need this...

See? Here we have potatoes and onions and rotel and brisket all in one skillet. 

...Here's the thing. 

This is where my bro unknowingly missed something. 

He just doesn't understand. 

You *have* to add more green chilis to these. 

I know that rotel has green chilis. 

It's just that...green chilis are my favorite just about. 

Obviously this will still be delicious without them, but once you go ahead and add them, you never go back. 

Promise. 

Unless you're visiting your bro and he doesn't know.

But it's okay. 

I forgive him. 

Anyway...

Stir it all together so it looks like this. 

Warm some tortillas. 

Apply your favorite kind of cheese. 

Thank me and my mother. 

You're welcome. 

Potato Soup

The first thing you should know about this recipe is that I didn't take a picture, and I feel terrible about it.
Sort of.
You know what I did instead of taking a picture of my potato soup?
I ate it.
That's right.
And it was delicious.
And I don't feel bad about it at all.

Here's what I used:

4 russet potatoes, cubed to an acceptable bite sized portion
1 onion, chopped
salt
pepper
3 tbsp butter
3 shakes of garlic powder

A shake is totally a measurment.
Shut up.

You'll also need:

Enough Legit Chicken Stock to cover the potatoes and onion.
About a cup of skim milk

This is another "add it all in" recipe, I'm afraid. There's nothing fancy here. 

Add the potatoes, onions, salt, pepper, and garlic into a fairly large pot. Medium will probably do as well. Give your food room to move around and cook evenly. Listen to what I say.
Cover said food with Legit Chicken Stock.
Cover your pot, turn your burner on high, and walk away like the pot has wronged you in some way.
Usually it takes my potatoes about 30 minutes to cook all the way through, but feel free to come back to the pot every 10 minutes or so to check on them taters and see how they're coming.
A covered pot of potatoes will cook faster than an uncovered pot o' potatoes.
Please remember that.
Forever.

When your potatoes are fully cooked through and all that jazz, add in your butter and milk.
Serve yourself a bowl right then.
I'm not kidding.
You need to make sure that soup has enough salt.
Potatoes soak up salt, or something.
They soak up everything, I'm sure of it.
Anyway. Eat that soup and smile. And season the rest of the soup if you feel like you need to.
You never can be too sure of these things.

Legit Chicken Stock

I call this "Legit" Chicken Stock, meaning it's made from scratch.
Not from a can.
Or a box.
Or a bouillon cube.
I'm not bashing these at all.
I just learned recently that the real thing is heavenly, and now that I've had it, I don't think I'll ever go back to box, can, or cube.

Chicken Stock is awesome. You can use it for so. many. things.
I cook pasta in it.
I cook potatoes in it.
I cook risotto with it.
I dream of it.
This has gone too far.

A few weeks ago, I bought a roasted chicken from United Market street.
I made a chicken pot pie out of it.
I froze the carcass and bones of the chicken. And the skin.
I heard somewhere that when you pay for something, make sure and get your money's worth.
That means, don't toss the parts of things you think you can't use.
Google a use for it.

So, the carcass and the bones and skin of the chicken is what makes this stock the bees knees.
Keep that in mind next time you're working with a whole chicken.
Please and thank you.
Don't waste that part.
It will make me sad.

Here's the run down of this simple and amazing creation:

1 chicken carcass...this includes the bones and skin, and any pan drippings you may have
1 onion, chopped
1 handful of baby carrots, chopped
1 bunch of asparagus, ENDS ONLY. (Another example of getting your moneys worth! Don't throw those away after you break them away from asparagus tips! Freeze them and throw 'em in this pile.)
salt
pepper
2 to 3 bay leaves, depending on their size
Various spices you can add to your liking. I chose basil, oregano, and garlic
Cold water

Are you ready for my directions?
Put the bones, onion, carrots, asparagus and spices in a crock pot. Cover with cold water. Turn the crock pot on low. Cover. Walk away.

Phew. That was rough.

Let it go overnight.
Turn on your scentsy if you're weird about food smells during the night.
Freak.

But in all seriousness, I did this one morning, only I turned my crock pot on high instead of low, and as far as I can tell, it makes absolutely no difference, aside from cook time.
I did end up turning it to low around 2PM.
Then I left to do grocery shopping.
Then I came home and it looked like this:

 Which...okay...doesn't look very appetizing. But let's be real here: you're not eating this stuff. You're using it to make your food...amazing.

When it looks like this, grab a large pot and a strainer. Put the strainer inside the pot. Pour the contents of the crock pot into the strainer.
Then?
Lift the strainer.
The liquid will be left in the pot.
That liquid is gold, my friend.
Toss the rest.
It has fulfilled it's destiny.

Here's what I did next:

I added a good amount of stock into a tupperware dish and threw it in the freezer.
I left the rest in my big pot and made potato soup with it.

Easily the best potato soup I've ever consumed in my whole life.
Okay, that's not true.
But it's the tastiest healthy(ish) potato soup I've ever consumed.
Seriously.
Recipe to follow.
It has like...three tablespoons of butter in the whole pot, and I used skim milk.

Intro

My name is Anna.
I love food.
I love food, but I love cooking it also.
I love cooking it so much, that sometimes I think about starting a food blog.
So that's what I've done here.
My main fear of starting a food blog was not knowing what to put in my food blog.
However, I cooked two things just today that are food blog worthy.
At least to me.

Ahem.

I may load pictures (okay, I WILL load pictures), but they are shot on my phone. I have no fancy equipment.

I am a single mother.
I cook for myself and my toddler.
That is why I am called one and a half servings.
Do you get it?
Okay.

Things you should know about me:
1)I believe in quality ingredients. Don't put bacon in a dish if it's not really, really good bacon. It will ruin everything and you will feel terrible about yourself. Really. No good can come of it.
2)Season everything. Season the onions that are the base of your dish. Season your pasta water. Season everything, except for bacon. Bacon IS a seasoning, in my eyes, but also a beautiful and quality ingredient, when you use the right bacon. See number 1.
3)Pay attention to detail. If you overcook your garlic, and that garlic is only step two in the recipe, it will carry through everything. I'm not kidding.
4)Use real ingredients whenever you can. I do believe in shortcuts, but margarine instead of butter is unforgivable. This goes for sugar. Have you heard what splenda does once you consume it? Google it, then get back to me. If you must skip the regular sugar, truvia is a lovely alternative.
5)I am on a budget. I don't buy over the top fancy ingredients, so this blog is also sort of an adventure for me, as I'll be seeing what I can cook out of what I can afford to purchase.

And that's me.

Have a nice day.