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Sunday, March 27, 2011

We're baaaaack!

Welcome back!

Sorry there was no update last night. Sarah had a show. So instead, we decided to cook brunch today! (We are very excited about this.)

This afternoon our meal consisted of:
Banana nut pancakes!

*Recipes and/or sites that we used will be at the end of the meal's post.*

Sarah had brought up the idea of pancakes for dinner once. Well, since we could not make dinner last night, pancakes for brunch seemed like the perfect plan.

We wanted whole wheat pancakes, so we got some whole wheat pancake mix (Eating Right brand) from the supermarket. We also did not have a skillet, so Sarah picked one up at the dollar store. Cheap, but it did the trick. Besides, we're poor college students, remember?

Unfortunately, the skillet was just the right small size, but Sarah's spatula is a little too long. It made flipping the flapjacks difficult, but we didn't mind goofy-looking pancakes.

Then we thought about what to put in the pancakes. Chocolate chips with whipped cream was Sarah's favorite, but Rebecca didn't want to mix chocolate with pancakes. Sarah agreed that she could pass up on the unnecessary calories. We decided on bananas and walnuts. Mmm!

Rebecca chopped the walnuts, and we both took turns mashing the bananas.

HULK SMASH!

We mixed everything all together and heated the skillet. Then we got flipping!

She managed not to flip the pancakes onto the ceiling.

We started out making pancakes with about half a cup of batter. The center wasn't cooking all the way through by the time we needed to flip it, so most of the pancakes had holes in them. Rebecca said it was because the pancakes wanted to be beaded on necklaces and carried around everywhere! Finally we tried making them with a fourth-cup of batter, and the smaller pancakes, while still not flawless, cooked a little better in the middle.

We certainly got better at the art of flipping with time.

Practice makes... closer to perfect.

We ended up making about 10 pancakes, although the recipe said it would yield 20-24. It was not a surprise, since our pancakes were bigger than the recipe directed.

Rebecca sliced up half a banana for garnish. Drizzle some Aunt Jemima syrup on top, and we have a beautiful breakfast!

Delicious!

Seriously, these were so super good. AND this was the fastest we've ever been in and out of the kitchen: less than 2 hours! (Yeah, the lasagna had us there for something like 6 hours... We didn't want to do that again.)

All in all, it was a great start to our Sunday.
Until next weekend,
The Chicas

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Recipes and Sites
Thank you to FoodGawker for helping us find recipes!

Whole Wheat Pancakes
(from the Eating Right whole wheat pancake mix package)

Ingredients:
2 cups pancake mix
1 1/2 cups milk (we used skim)
2 eggs
2 Tbsp oil
1 1/2 bananas, mashed (our addition)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (our addition)

Garnish (optional):
1/2 banana, sliced
Maple syrup

Instructions:
Combine all ingredients except sliced banana; stir just until large lumps disappear. For thicker pancakes, use a little less milk; for thinner pancakes, use a little more milk.
Heat skillet over MEDIUM-LOW heat or electric griddle to 375 degrees F. Skillet is ready when drips of water sizzle, then evaporate.
Lightly grease skillet with butter or oil.
Pour slightly less than 1/4 cup batter for each pancake onto skillet.
Flip when pancakes bubble and bottoms are golden brown.

*Optional: top with three slices of banana and drizzle with syrup. Enjoy!

Saturday, March 5, 2011

Volcanic Lasagna

Happy Ides of March!

Tonight our meal consisted of:
Lasagna Primavera
Chocolate-chip cookie ice cream sandwiches

*Recipes and/or sites that we used will be at the end of the meal's post.*

This was our last Saturday before Spring Break, so we won't be cooking the next two weekends. Sadface. Therefore, we couldn't make anything that required lots of little ingredients that would have to sit in our dorms over break and possibly go bad.

Lasagna was a delicious answer to that problem! And since Rebecca had invited three people to join us, the recipe to feed 6-7 people was perfect! Unfortunately, one of our guests was not able to make it; however, at the last minute, Sarah's friend Raya joined us. But we still only managed to eat half of it, so we've got lots of yummy leftovers for mid-terms week. Rebecca is super excited that she has three days' worth of food!

Can we just say... this lasagna is HUGE. The sauce was ready to spill over the sides of the pan. (Like a volcano... Get it??? Teehee...) The recipe warned us that it would be tall, but HOLAY GUACAMOLE!


"I can't eat all that!"

The recipe assured us that it would settle into the pan while it cooked, but ours did not. In fact, Rebecca thinks it grew a bit... The veggies were piled high in this dish. And except for the frozen spinach, they were all fresh - bought and chopped by yours trulies this very day!

And when it came out...

Mmm... Delicious volcanic lazagnuh.

Oh my, did you ever see such a beautiful creation. And our tastebuds were in full agreement with our eyes. SO TASTY. Sarah said she thought it could have cooked a little longer - the veggies were still pretty crunchy - but confirmed its goodness nonetheless.

After chowing down on our dinner - it was Sarah's first time making lasagna! - it was time to prepare dessert. Homemade ice cream sandwiches? Yes please.

We decided to go with Nestle's cookie dough. Last semester we tried a different brand that came in a square package, and it wasn't good. We really wanted to make it from scratch, but we knew the lasagna would take a while. So we gave Nestle a shot.

It's pretty good raw too. :)

The cookies, of course, came out looking scrumptious. But we refrained from eating them until the very end.

Scrum-diddly-umptious.

And since we weren't making the cookies, but we wanted the "homemade" feel, we got some vanilla ice cream and made our own ice cream sandwiches. SUCH A GOOD IDEA.

Warm on the outside, cold on the inside.

We had way more sandwiches than people, so we wrapped them up individually to store in the freezer. We can give them to our friends and friendly passers-by! (Suggested donation of 75 cents.)

Our stash... Come and get some.

It is now rather late, and we realized we should have started prepping around 3:00 instead of 4:30. Why does cooking take such a long time?? Sarah admitted, "I always learn the hard way." But we do learn, and now we know for next time.

Have a great two weeks! We'll see you the week after break.
R+S

Miranda and Lindsay enjoying the lasagna.


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Recipes and Sites
Thank you to FoodGawker for helping us find recipes!

Lasagna Primavera

Site:
http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2010/09/lasagna-primavera.html

Notes:
When we got to the supermarket, we found that there were only three zucchini left, and they were scrawny and icky looking. But unlike our first week, the eggplant looked fantastic. Switcheroo! We also swapped out the squash for a yummy red bell pepper. Additionally, the ricotta cheese came in little tubs that measured a bit more than called for, but we used it all up anyway. And due to our shared love of mushrooms, we chose sauce with mushrooms in it. (We are very glad we did that.) Aaaaand we saved some of the two shredded cheeses to sprinkle on the very top.

Chocolate-chip Cookies
(from the Nestle cookie dough package)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Spoon heaping teaspoons of dough about 2 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet.
Bake for 11 to 12 minutes or until golden brown.
-Can bake frozen dough in preheated oven: Add 1-2 minutes of bake time.

*To turn into sandwiches, simply scoop a generous spoonful of vanilla (or flavor of your choice) ice cream onto an upside-down cookie. Press a second cookie on top of the ice cream. Eat before the ice cream melts!