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

---
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!

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.

--
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!

Yummy Cuddlefest

Hello lovely people!


Tonight our meal consisted of:
Tuna Stir Fry
Old-Fashioned Apple Pie (!!!)


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


Yes, we decided to go for the stir fry with tuna. Sarah was a little skeptical, but it turned out delicious!


We went to Dollar Tree to get measuring cups and a cutting knife and board and some other things for cheap, and we ended up getting most of our ingredients there. Dollar stores. GO THERE FIRST.


Anyway, tonight we had some dinner guests. Marissa joined us for the stir fry, and Matt joined us for pie. Matt sat with us during dinner, but he had already eaten.


We started by prepping the pie. First we made the pastry, so it could sit in the fridge and chill while we did everything else. We don't have a working blender, so Sarah had to work through the shortening with two knives.

Gotta be creative in college.

We chose to use half Granny Smith and half Golden Delicious. GOOD CHOICE. It was an excellent mix. Rebecca peeled, leaving the peels on a plate for munching because we love our fiber. Sarah sliced, but Rebecca thought the slices should be thinner. So she sliced them again.

Not that she has OCD or anything.

Then we had an enormous amount of the pie filling, and Sarah was snacking on it pretty much until it went into the pie tin. Rebecca was awfully frustrated with that!


Next we got the rice steaming on the stove. While it steamed, Sarah rolled out the pastry with a nalgene bottle (we couldn't find a rolling pin at the dollar store!) and set it in the pie tin. Then she filled it with the apple filling. Turns out we had twice as much filling as necessary, and Sarah's snacking was not all that terrible - except she risked ruining her appetite.


Then the pie went in the oven, and the rice was done. We emptied the pot into a bowl and set out to make another batch of rice. That was all well and good - but Sarah forgot to turn the heat down after the water boiled, so the second batch completely burned. Oopsie... Oh well.


Finally we made the stir fry. We discovered upon heating our veggies that we do not want to buy dollar store frozen vegetables again. It took almost ten minutes to stir fry them, when it was supposed to take four. Also, there were no water chestnuts in this mix, and those are the best part!


The tuna in the stir fry was actually REALLY good. Everyone enjoyed it and had seconds. Marissa thanked us for inviting her to eat with us, adding that she had food coma.

It was sooooo gooooood!

Marissa serves us dinnah! And Matt chills out on the couch.

Then it was time for apple pie! It came out looking absolutely beautiful, and it tasted even better. Matt cut half of it into three slices for us, and we sat on the couches in taste bud heaven. We all ended up getting another helping, and by the end of the evening, we had devoured the whole thing.

Thank you to Sarah's cravings!

Mmmm...

Another delicious success for Rebecca and Sarah!




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


Tuna Stir Fry


Site:
http://starkist.com/recipe/albacore-stir-fry


Notes:
We forgot to get a head of garlic or a lemon. And we refused to put in any sugar. Still tasted great!


Old-Fashioned Apple Pie


Site:
http://www.howto-simplify.com/2009/11/old-fashioned-apple-pie.html


Notes:
We did not want to spend $6 on a teeny container of nutmeg, so we left it out. We didn't miss it.

First Meal!!

Our first time cooking together (not counting cookies from last semester) was a HUGE success!

Our meal consisted of:
Two-bean vegetarian chili
Cornbread
Vegetable stir fry

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

First of all, Sarah would like to say she is VERY PROUD of herself because she baked that cornbread ALL BY HERSELF. And we have to tell you, it was not an easy task.

We realized after we started cooking that we had no measuring cups. Oops. Looks like a trip to the dollar store is in our near future. But that didn't stop us!

Sarah used her handy little measuring spoons to scoop 32 tablespoons of corn meal into the bowl...

What was this, scoop #12?

And then used her handy nalgene bottle to measure out the milk...

Got milk? Yup - in a nalgene.

When it was done, it was beautiful and tasted so good, especially with the chili. It was nice and crispy, just the way Rebecca likes it.

Sarah's pride and joy.

While Sarah was preparing that, Rebecca was busy with the chili. It was a goofy process, this chili. Another important utensil we were missing was a proper knife. The recipe called for 1 cup onion, chopped fine. We chopped that onion real fine... with Rebecca's pocket knife.

You've never seen a finer onion chopper.

We consolidated our ingredients by buying canned tomatoes with spices in it, which meant we couldn't follow the order of the recipe precisely... At one point, Rebecca said to Sarah, "Do the tomatoes go in next?" And as Sarah went to consult the recipe, Rebecca said, "Tomatoes are in!" To which Sarah replied, "But we were supposed to add water and boil it first..." Oh well. At least the beans went in at the right time!

In they go...

And it still turned out wicked yummy!

So hearty, even without the meat.

Finally, we made some stir fry vegetables. We were originally going to make ratatouille, but the eggplants at Safeway were really icky and expensive. So we got frozen veggies and grabbed a bottle of soy sauce instead. Good choice! Stir fry is one of Sarah's favorite dishes.

Colorful!

Altogether, the three foods went together really well. It was a delicious and balanced meal, and we both enjoyed it very much - and we both went back for seconds. Also, Rebecca COULD NOT STOP going back for more cornbread. "It's the Southern Belle in me!"

SUCCESS!

Next weekend we're thinking stir fry again - it was that good - but this time with tuna and rice. Also, Sarah's got the urge to make some pie... We'll see! Until next week...

Ciao!
Sarah and Rebecca

"Where'd the beans go??"
"We ate 'em, silly!"

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

Cornbread
(from the back of the Washington Self-Rising Corn Meal package)

Ingredients:
2 tablespoons cooking oil
2 cups (or 32 tablespoons!) enriched Washington Self-Rising Corn Meal
1 tablespoon sugar (optional) --- we did not use sugar
1 1/3 cups milk
1 egg, slightly beaten --- we did not have an egg, so we used an extra dollop of milk, but an egg is probably better

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
Put cooking oil into cast iron skillet or 8" or 9" square pan, place in oven until hot.
Combine corn meal and sugar.
Combine milk and egg; add to dry ingredients; stir until smooth.
Pour batter into hot skillet or pan. Bake 20 to 25 minutes.


Vegetarian Chili

Site:
http://www.thecurvycarrot.com/2010/10/08/vegetarian-chili/

Notes:
We referred to this site for the cooking process, but we didn't have most of the ingredients, and we, erm, personalized the instructions a bit. The garlic cloves, basil, and oregano were all in our can of tomatoes. We had the oil and the onion and then added the chili powder. Then we accidentally put the tomatoes in next, and immediately added the water. After bringing it to a simmer, we added two cans or beans, red kidney and northern white. Then we realized there was too much water, so we boiled some of it off until we were satisfied.


Stir Fry

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 bag "Ultimate Stir Fry" frozen vegetables from Safeway
Soy sauce, a few shakes

We just heated the veggies on the stove in the oil until they were tender. Then we shook some soy sauce in and stirred to coat the vegetables. Done.

Welcome to There's a Chica in My Chili!

Hi folks! Sarah and Rebecca here. We are two college students who don’t want to eat in the dining hall tonight (and most other nights), so we decided to make our own dinner. We’re actually in the middle of it right now… (There’s a lot of waiting around during cooking.)

Anyway, we thought it would be cool to start a blog about our eat-scapades, since we would like to do this every weekend. We’ll post about what we cook, the crazy challenges we face, and the giggles we get from all the good times. Oh, and awesome pictures too.

Thanks for checking us out!