Everything Bagel Chips

Remember these? Same idea here, just a different flavor. I might like these ones better. 

Ingredients:
3 day old everything bagels (3 bagels that are a day old. Not bagels that are 3 days old)
Olive Oil
1 teaspoon(ish) Italian Seasoning
1 teaspoon(ish) Over the Edge Herbed Spinach
1 pinch of salt
1 pinch of pepper
1 pinch of garlic salt
Any other herbs or spices that sound good to you


1.Pre-heat oven to 350. Slice the bagels into thin slices, then cut or tear apart to make them more chip-sized. Place them on a baking sheet. Brush (or spray if you have a Misto) each chip with olive oil. 


2. In a small bowl combine all other ingredients. Sprinkle on top of each chip. Bake for 8-10 minutes or until chips are your preferred amount of crispy. 


3. Eat them all before your husband comes home. 

One Ingredient Ice Cream

Did you know you can make ice cream from bananas? And nothing else??? Well, you can. I'm so excited about this. I couldn't even wait until I got home to post. I froze some bananas yesterday and I forgot about them until I was at my sister's house and saw her bananas. I've actually seen this a lot and I just now got around to doing it. 

All you need to do is cut a banana or 5 into small pieces and freeze them for an hour or 2. Put them in a food processor or use a mixer and mix them until you have a nice ice cream consistency. It tastes like bananas but it's not overwhelming. I also added about a tablespoon of honey and a handful of chocolate chips. Let me know what other add-ins you think of! 

A few updates:

1. It's not as good if you freeze it and eat it later

2. Add Nutella!

My Husband's Favorite Chicken

After 12 years without meat, I am no longer a vegetarian. While I was in the ER, I decided I need more protein. My immune system hasn't done very well this year. I'm hoping this will keep me healthy. I've only eaten chicken and turkey. Turkey does not taste good.


 I make this at least once a week for my husband. Today is the first time I ate it. It's kind of sweet. I don't really know how else to describe it. 


Ingredients
1 medium onion, chopped
1-2 teaspoons minced garlic
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2/3 cup ketchup
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon lemon juice
A pinch of basil
A pinch of salt
A pinch of pepper
1 tablespoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons cold water


1. Combine the onion and the garlic in the bottom of the crock pot. Place the chicken on top. In a small bowl combine all other ingredients except cornstarch and water. Pour on top of the chicken. Cook on high 4-5 hours or on low 6 hours. 


2. Take the chicken out of the crock pot. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and water together. Pour it into the crock pot and mix it with the sauce. Cook on high for 15 minutes or until thickened. Pour on top of the chicken. 

Mini Lemon Cheesecakes

Here's another one from 1,001 cupcakes, cookies, and other tempting treats. The recipe says it makes 12 cupcakes. I had extra so I also filled up a a ramekin. Also, you know when you're not quite asleep and not quite awake and you're dreaming? The other morning I was like that. I was dreaming of my grocery list. When I went to the grocery store later that day, I thought of the list I dreamed and bought those things. It was pretty accurate and I ended up with all the ingredients to make these. 

Ingredients:
4 1/2 tablespoons butter
4 1/2 oz. graham cracker crumbs (3 graham crackers, crushed)
1/2 cup superfine sugar (I used regular granulated, it worked fine)
1 1/4 cups soft cream cheese (I heated mine to soften it)
2 large eggs
finely grated rind of 1 large lemon
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 cup sour cream
4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 small lemons, sliced, for decorating (optional)


Preheat the oven to 325. Line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper liners. Place the butter in a saucepan and heat gently until melted. Remove from heat, then add the crushed graham crackers and 1 tablespoon of the sugar and mix well. Divide the cracker mixture among the paper liners and press down firmly with the back of a spoon. Chill in the fridge.


Meanwhile, place the remaining sugar, cream cheese, and eggs in a large bowl and beat together until smooth. Add the lemon rind and juice, and the sour cream and beat together until combined. Add the flour and beat well. Spoon the batter into the paper liners. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes or until set but not browned. Let them cool for 20 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. 


When the cupcakes are cold, chill in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours. Decorate each cupcake with a twisted lemon slice. (Or don't and just eat them.) 

Sautéed Tofu

I know tofu is scary. Especially if you've had a bad experience with it. I was a vegetarian for 10 years before I liked tofu. I know it's usually the texture. Hopefully this will help. I'm not really going to tell you exactly how to make it. I'll just give you some tips. This is one of my favorite foods now that I know how to make it. Tofu tastes like whatever you cook it with so you want to use lots of flavor. This is what I do:


I start out with firm or extra firm tofu. Then, I squeeze the water out of it for about an hour. I wrap it up in a couple paper towels and put it on a plate. Then I put a cutting board on top of it and a few heavy cans on top of that. Here's my little set up. You'll wanna change the paper towels about halfway through. Your tofu should be a lot less squishy after this. 

I also cut it into pretty small pieces because the inside parts are the soggy parts. With smaller pieces, there's less room for that weird texture.

I like to cook it with about half an onion or bell peppers or broccoli. You can use any vegetables you like. This time I just used onion and minced garlic. I heat up about a tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. I start the tofu first to make sure it's cooked enough without over cooking the vegetables. I never measure but if I had to guess, I use about 3 parts barbecue sauce, 1 part teriyaki sauce, and 1 part soy sauce. I cook the tofu until it starts to brown a little bit then I add the vegetables.

You want to cook it until the tofu has little crispy bits on the outside, see?

Hopefully this helped. Keep in mind, you can use whatever sauce you want. Tofu tastes like nothing by itself. It just absorbs whatever flavors are around it. 

Stuffed Artichokes

I haven't blogged in a long time, I know. I was sick and in the emergency room and it was really hard to get back into a routine after doing nothing but sleeping for 7 days straight. Here's some delicious artichokes for you!

It was really hard to make these look nice. They have a lot more flavor than just regular steamed artichokes. I also made them in my new favorite kitchen appliance. 


Ingredients
2 large artichokes
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 cup bread crumbs
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
Juice from 1 lemon
1/2 cup water


1. Cut the stems off the artichokes so they'll stand on their own. Cut the tops off of the artichoke leaves. You can just use scissors for this. In a small bowl, mix together all other ingredients except water until everything is equally moist. Spread the artichoke leaves apart and stuff the bread crumb mixture between each leaf. Get it down as far as you can so it's on the part that you eat. 


2. Set the artichokes in your crock pot and add the water to the bottom. Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours or until leaves are tender. I served them with melted butter for dipping but they didn't really need it. I also served them with sautéed tofu.