Tis The Season For A Giveaway! Fah La La La La La La La La!

Hey yall! Guess what! I'm having my first giveaway and I'm so excited! Plus tis is the season! To start off I'm giving away a set of two Technique Bash N' Chop utensils with soft grip handles.It includes one Bash N' Chop with a red soft grip and one with a black soft grip for comfortable use .Both with stainless steel blades measuring 6"L x 5"W x 1"H. You can chop and mince food so fast and easy you'll be able to retire you old knives! I want this giveaway to be big, so I want every one to join in. Tell a friend, or two or even more! Now, all you have to do is leave a brief comment about your most memorable cooking experience. Have fun and stayed tuned, I might have more giveaways before Christmas!

• You do not need to have your own blog to enter/leave a comment.

• Make sure you include your email address – in the email field, not the comment field – so I can contact you if you are the lucky winner.

• I will email the winner to obtain their snail mail address at that time. (I will also update this post, announcing the winner.)

• You have until 10:00 pm (PST) on November 14, 2009

• Winner will be chosen from the comments through Random.org, a random number generator.

Don’t worry – I’m not selling or giving your mailing address to anyone. It will be between you and me.

Have fun and let's get started!

Peas and Carrots

Peas and carrots. A staple in American side dishes. You can dress 'em up, or dress 'em down. Today I'm gonna dress 'em up, just a little bit though.I remember when I was little, I hated peas. (I've always loved carrots). But as I got older and my taste buds developed, I began to love peas. I love peas in soup,by themselves, but I especially love them in this creamy and colorful side dish.Plus it's a perfect way to get in a couple servings of vegetables. (score)! If your family is one of those who has a potluck for Thanksgiving , volunteer for a side dish and bring this. I guarantee EVERYONE will love this.

Ingredients:

2 cups of frozen peas

4 medium carrots sliced

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

1 table spoon of cornstarch

salt and pepper

Step 1: Add the carrots to a saucepan can cover with water.Bring to boil,cover,reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes.

Step 2: Add the peas and return to a boil,cover,reduce heat and simmer untill vegetables are tender. Drain and leave about 1/2 cup of water in the pan; return vegetables back to pan.

Step 3: In a small bowl mix the cornstarch salt and pepper(to taste), and cream, ans stir untill smooth. Add the mix to the vegetables, ans bring it to a boil; stir and cook untill thickened. Enjoy!

Holiday Pumpkin Spice Muffins

Halloween is gone and Thanksgiving is here! But wait, why is there Christmas supplies in the stores? I'm still buzzing off my trick or treat candy people, give me a moment to get in Thanksgiving spirit, then comes Christmas! Ok, so while I get into the Thanksgiving spirit let me tell you about one of my favorite holiday muffins-Pumpkin Spice! I just love 'em, especially fresh hot out of the oven! Not only because their so decadent and mouthwatering, and I could taste the pumpkin and spice in every bite.Not even because their so moist and great to eat at any time of the day , But because making them is a perfect way to get the whole family together and in the holiday spirit! Bring the family in the kitchen and you could have some one measure the ingredients, some one mix the wet ingredients, and someone to mix the dry,and some one on clean up duty! Turn up the music and have some fun! Dance and turn it into a party!

Fixings for the mixings:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole grain pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 cup canned pumpkin!
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (wait my mouths watering... sounds soooooo good already!)
3 tablespoons molasses
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup low fat buttermilk
2 large eggs
cooking spray


Step 1: Hot Box- 400 degrees F and coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.

Step 2:In a medium bowl, whisk together the all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.

Step 3:In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, molasses, oil and 1 egg until combined. Add the other egg and whisk well. Add in the pumpkin and vanilla. Whisk in half of the flour mixture , and add the buttermilk , then add in the other half of flour mixture and mix just until combined.

Step 4:Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan and tap the pan on the counter a few times to remove any air bubbles. Bake for 20 minutes or until when you insert a wooden toothpick in one of the muffins and it comes out clean.

Step 5: Let cool on a wire rack for 7 to 10 minutes. Run a knife around the muffins to loosen them up a bit. Now you can let them cool completely or you can eat them hot like I do!


Hope you enjoy! Leave a comment!

Halloween Apple Toffee Blondies

Gueeeeeeeessss whaaaat!!!!?? I finally mastered the art of brownie making. But not just any brownie making, Blondies, apple toffee blondies to be exact!Yes, it took me forever and a day but I finally got it! Yay me! Now some of you may be thinking what the heck is blondie and how is it a brownie? Well a blondie is a butterscotch brownie, no chocolate. It's chewy like a brownie, it's sweet like a brownie, it has basically the same ingredients as a brownie, but minus the chocolate. Sounds delicious doesn't it? It is, it really is! And today I made blondies with apples and toffee which really added some pizazz to them. And they turned out perfect! The toffee added the right amount of sugar and chewiness while the apple added a really nice texture and flavor to them. Oh man you guys, you've got to try this!


Ingredients:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/4 tsp of apple pie spice
2 eggs
1/2 cup of softened butter(please no margarine)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/4 cups of tart apple (peeled and chopped)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup toffee bits
1/2 cup of chopped pecans (if you wish)


Step One: OK Set your hot box to 350 degrees and coat an 11x 7 x 2 inch baking pan with nonstick cooking spray

Step Two: beat sugar, brown sugar, and apple pie spice in large bowl with electric mixer on low speed until mixed well. Set aside 2 tablespoons of the mix in a small bowl.

Step Three: add butter to mixing bowl and beat until well mixed. Add eggs and vanilla and mix it thoroughly.

Step Four: In a medium bowl stir together flour baking powder and salt. Add egg mixture and beat it until well blend it.Next fold in apples,toffee,and pecans (if you wish)and then spread into prepared pan

Step Five: Sprinkle with reserved sugar mixture and bake 35 to 40 minutes, or until top is deep golden brown, and when you insert a wooden toothpick in the center, and it comes out clean. Now I know your tempted to get out your spoon and dig in. The smell is lingering through out the house, and you're going gaga just looking at it, But hold back temptation until it's fully cooled cut it into about 15 squares, and then dig in.But don't over do it now! Enjoy!


For Halloween this is a great dish too! You could get your favorite white icing and add some orange food coloring and spread it on top and add those edible Halloween stickers to the tops of the squares and serve. Great party idea!

Caramel apples

I have a new obsession yes i do! I have a new obsession how 'bout you!?
Wanna know what it is? Come closer I'll tell you..... It's ............... well i guess you know from the title of the blog and the giant picture ... Its caramel apples! Yes! . At my local grocery they have them pre-packaged and ready to eat. Goodness, my mouth's watering just thinking about them. I mean the mild tartness of the apple perfectly complements the caramel and the peanuts to give it an extra crunch Mmm mmm mmm that puts the shama lama in ding dong! But I came to the conclusion that I have to stop wasting my 99 cents and make it myself, Soooo I did! Here's the(simple version) of the recipe happy dipping!

Ingredients:

6 granny smith apples
I 14 ounce package of individually wrapped caramels;unwrapped please
2and a half tablespoons of milk
Craft sticks Heavy duty kind

See just 4 ingredients. It can't get any simpler

Directions

Remove the stem from each apple and press a craft stick into the top. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Place caramels and milk in a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 1.5 minutes or until is thick and fully melted, stirring once. Allow to cool just a moment. Roll each apple quickly in caramel sauce until well coated. Place on baking sheet to set. The apples can also be rolled in chopped nuts for the flavor to go from blah to Boom!

pepper strip tostadas

Bell peppers.What a tasty fruit. It is a fruit right? because it has seeds... anywhos...It's super! and they come in a variety of colors including white, and purple! Most people tend to avoid them because they assume they're hot.EEHHHH WRONG! They're sweet actually. And full of vitamin C. 134% of your daily recommended value per serving(3.5 oz)to be exact . That's like 3 times the amount in an orange! but it's mainly the yellow, orange ,and red, not so much the green. Eat a few servings of bell pepper and see if you you get sick during flu season! I think not!

Ingredients:

6 (6 inch) corn tortillas
3 tbsp. olive oil, divided
2 red bell pepper, halved seeded, and sliced into strips
1 green bell pepper, halved, seeded, and sliced into strips
1 yellow bell pepper halved seeded and sliced into strips
1 Serrano chili , halved seeded and sliced into strips( PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE BE CAREFUL WHEN HANDLING THESE CHILIES WEAR DISPOSABLE GLOVES,TOUCH THEM WITH YOUR KNUCKLES SOMETHING JUST BE CAREFUL DON'T TOUCH YOUR EYES OR NOSE WASH YOUR HANDS IN SOAPY HOT WATER!)
1 small onion thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves minced
Pinch of crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro leaves roughly chopped


STEP 1: Hot box: 350 degrees F. brush both sides of tortillas with 1 table spoon of the oil ans season with salt to taste.Place tortillas on a baking sheet;bake until crisp and edges are golden, about 11 mins

STEP 2: Meanwhile, heat remaining 2 table spoons of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. add bell peppers, Serrano, onion and red pepper flakes (if desired) and garlic just when bell peppers are almost done; stir

Step 3 : place 1 toasted tortilla on each of 6 plates. top with pepper mix and fresh cilantro and serve. serves 6.

salmon and asparagus.

Have you ever noticed how salmon and asparagus just go together?I know what your thinking ewwwwwwwww asparagus? who eats that? it's worst than Brussels sprouts. well no no it's not, if it's cooked right. salmon and asparagus are like peanut butter and jelly, strawberries and chocolate, apples and cinnamon , burgers and fries... you get the point right? they just tango. I was watching everyday Italian and Giada De Laurentiis made baked asparagus with smoked salmon.One day my mom and I were shopping and the food court was packed like a can of sardines so we decided to go to the Nordstroms cafe,and to our surprise , on the menu was lemon salmon with pasta and... you guessed it... asparagus. well my mom and i came to the conclusion that why go to a restaurant to get something i could make at home , for less! So here's the recipe hope you enjoy it!




2 of salmon fillets w/skin, (rinsed and dried)

Seasoned salt

Seasoned pepper

Chili powder

Cayenne pepper

1/2 LBS bunch of thin asparagus trimmed and cut in half

1/4 lemon

Extra virgin olive oil

STEP 1: First always WASH YOUR HANDS especially when dealing with raw meat
Season the salmon to taste with seasoned salt, seasoned pepper, chili powder, and cayenne pepper. Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice ,and message in the seasonings.

Step 2: Heat about a table spoon of olive oil in a large skillet, and place the salmon in the skillet skin side down, cover and turn the pilot down on medium high heat and let it cook for about 7 minutes.

Step 3: Meanwhile, back at the ranch, heat another tablespoon of olive oil in a medium size skillet put the asparagus in and season to taste with seasoned pepper& sea salt. toss the asparagus around , cover and cook on medium heat until crisp tender.

Step 4: Check the salmon and flip it over to where the skin side is up and turn the pilot to medium heat .Let it cook for about another 7 minutes .


Step 5: When everything is finished cooking plate it all up and serve the salmon and asparagus by itself or with pasta or rice! ENJOY!

Stir Fry

So lately my family and I have been trying to cut out salty, fatty, and foods that just aren't good for us, and substitute vegetables, fruits, and, lower sodium foods for them. The transition was quite tasty actually. Like, we bought the lower sodium bacon and it was really delicious. We might never buy regular bacon again LOL. But back to the getting more veggies part, in doing so I decided to make a stir fry which had string beans, cabbage, yellow bell pepper, zucchini, carrots, garlic, and onions in it. The prep part gave me A LOT of practice in my chopping skills. I shredded about 2 cups of cabbage, julienned about the same amount of bell pepper, carrots, zucchini, I minced a half of onion and 2 medium size cloves of garlic and just chopped the ends off a cup and a half of string beans and cut them in half. Sounds like a lot of work huh?? Well it was LOL. But it went pretty quick only about 15 minutes or so. After all of my mincing, julienning and chopping was done I washed a pack of chicken breast tenders and seasoned the tenders with seasoned salt, seasoned pepper, and, chili powder, just eyeballing the amount. Pretty simple really. Then I sautéed the chicken until golden brown. Next I removed the chicken from the skillet and (using the same skillet) sautéed the string beans carrots and bell pepper since those take the same amount and the longest time to cook, and let it cook for about 4 minutes. Then I added the zucchini, onions, garlic, and cabbage and seasoned it with season pepper and regular salt (which I found out has more sodium than seasoned salt), and let the mix cook until everything was crisp-tender. I set some aside or my mom because she likes hers a little more tender. OK so I made 2: one with chicken and the other with thinly sliced steak; and while the veggies were cooking so was the steak which I seasoned with seasoned salt and seasoned pepper. Then I mixed the vegetables with the meats and plated it up. O M GOODNESS! It was the best stir fry ever! SOOOO DELICIOUS!!! All of it meat and veggies were seasoned and cooked to perfection. Thank God for my mom who helped me when she saw things getting a little hectic. And not only was it very simple to make, but it was full of vitamin C, from the bell pepper , cabbage, and string beans , to help our immune system fight colds and flu , and vitamin A from the carrots long known to promote healthier vision and skin.Heck since its that healthy and simple I'm gonna make it every day!


Thank for reading Cooking for Kids
- Young Chef Shauniece

Trial And Error

So lately I've been having this strange sweet tooth for apple crisp, one of my all time favorite deserts! My mom and I used to go to this restaurant that served the best apple crisp on planet earth! Let me just say it was DIVINE! And they served it a la mode! I'm talking rich creamy smooth ice cream on a bed of topping that was perfectly perfect aahhhhhhhh............ but any who... back to my sweet tooth... I have tried to perfect this dish 4 different ways in 2 days! each time the same thing. The apple comes out good but the topping won't cooperate. The first time I made it my peeler didn't work so i had to go back to barbaric ways and use a knife as my peeler. Diced them up and seasoned them with cinnamon nutmeg vanilla extract and white sugar. Then for the crisp i used graham cracker crumbs and vegetable shortening(because i thought we didn't have any butter) .Put the apple mixture in the a muffin pan and Topped it with the graham cracker crumbly and baked it... FAIL! The apples were dry and the topping was too crumby. but the flavor was on point. trial# 2 I used the remaining apples and some more topping and microwaved it . IDK what i was thinking on that one. IT BURNT! I didn't know you could burn things in the microwave until then! trial #3 I finally decided to go with a recipe and not freestyle it. It called for flour, oatmeal, brown sugar cinnamon and of course apples , then I opted for microwave since my mom said not to use the oven because the weather was hot. It was OK... i didn't like the oat meal it added that YUCK factor. and today I tried something new instead of oatmeal I used graham cracker crumbs and again trial and error . the crumble was too soggy. I realized that not everything I make will turn out perfect the first time i make it especially if I'm free styling. But thank God for my mom who lets me keep trying until i get it right. But the point is to learn from your mistakes and if you don't get it the first time dust yourself off and try again(a phrase which I have epitomized), See where you went wrong and take notes, and try again ... you'll get it sooner than later.

How I Got Started

Hey everybody! I’m Shauniece. I’m 14 years old and I absolutely love to cook! It all started about 4 years ago when my mom was in a near fatal car accident. She had a laundry list of injuries which included both of her arms broken and her leg being crushed. After spending months in the hospital she came home, unable to walk, or have any use of her arms. It took her a year just to be able to walk again. So knowing this my family members would come by to drop off food and do little chores and things for my mom. But as time progressed people wouldn’t come over as much.

One day I was really hungry and my mom –knowing she couldn’t get up to cook- told me “Baby you have got to get in that kitchen and fix yourself something to eat.” So I made a grilled cheese sandwich. (I was about nine when that happened). Then my mom bought me my first electric skillet made just for kids. (You see this skillet was designed not to burn the house down and my mom trusted me using it.) And that's were the adventure began. I started off making really simple dishes like eggs, hamburger, pancakes … you know… the basics. Some times I got a little fancy and made an omelet. Some days I just couldn’t wait to get home and cook, and as time progressed I advanced in my cooking and my passion for it began to blossom.

To fast-forward some years Thanksgiving of 2008 I fixed the main dish which was garlic chicken. I prepared six chickens all by myself for -30 people. When I saw the happiness on all of my friends and family’s faces and how no one even touched the other meat (which was roast beef) I realized that this is what I wanted to do. So here I am, and my goal is to encourage other youngsters to get in the kitchen and explore cooking and step out of their comfort zone and try different types of food.