Stuffed Mushrooms

mushroom caps, stems cut out

stuffing: diced mushroom stems, beef, and 1/2 whole wheat hamburger bun

 stuffing added to a pan with 2 slices of bacon 

the bacon grease wasn't enough to make the bread soft, so I added a couple tbsp of heavy cream

stuffed the stuffing into the mushroom caps

added some shredded monterey/colby blend cheese

added some pine nuts

put in the broiler on low, center rack, for about 5 minutes

mighty tasty.

Yummy Yellow Cake

Best. Cake. Ever.  (have I said that before...?)

I felt like making a yellow cake.  But many of the recipes I looked at either called for a gross amount of sugar, more eggs than I wanted to sacrifice to a cake, or boiling water.  (Boiling water? Seriously? Way too complicated for a cake.)

Then, I found this recipe.  Not a completely crazy amount of sugar.  An acceptable number of eggs.  No boiling necessary.  Perfect.

A note before you make a cake...check and make sure you have all the ingredients first.  I got halfway through mixing this cake and then discovered that I had no vanilla.  Hooray for Kroger being only 5 minutes away. 

Preheat oven to 350

Mix together dry ingredients, then add wet ingredients.

2 1/4 c flour
1 1/2 c sugar
3 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 tbsp cinnamon (my personal addition to the recipe)
1 1/4 c milk, add vegetable oil to the 1 1/3 c line
1 stick butter, softened
1 tbsp vanilla
3 large eggs

I used a little hand-held mixer for this recipe.  I always resist using it, because it seems way easier to beat things with a wire wisk or a  fork, but using either of those requires me to melt the butter first, and that has been causing problems because it makes the batter too warm... Sometimes I think it would be great to have a real, standing, mixer...but where would I keep it?  I already have to keep my pots, flour, and sugar outside of the kitchen! Darn small kitchen...

Bake for 25-40 minutes. (The original recipe said 20-25, but when I checked it btwn 20 and 25 minutes, the center of the cake was still liquid.  The edges of the cake were brown, but the center was definitely not even close to being solid.  I had to cook it for another 10-15 minutes.  Somehow the edges managed not to get any browner though, that was nice. 

I didn't frost the cake because I think frosting is gross.  I did melt some chocolate chips, mix in some cinnamon, and spread that on top of the cake though.  Yummmmmmmmmmmmy.

Sorry, no pictures of this one.  I was much too busy eating it to take pictures.

Random Tantalizing Food Pictures

Here are some pictures that never quite made it to blog posts. 

What can I say, life is busy. 

salmon burger with cole slaw and mango salsa

salmon burger with cous cous, avocado, and zucchini

tapioca pudding with mango and kiwi chunks

(this was pretty good when it was first made,

pretty nasty after sitting in the fridge for a few days and all the kiwi juice leaked into the pudding,

giving it a bitter taste)

pan-fried tilapia with pasta & veggies

Beef Stroganoff: Take 2

Beef Stroganoff: Take 1

There are several differences between take 1 and take 2.  I used different vegetables, the sauce was slightly different, and...take 1 was too thick, take 2 was too soupy.  Although, in take 2's defense, it was just right after cooling on the counter for several hours and then sitting in the fridge overnight.  But when I ate it fresh out of the pot...it was way too soupy. 

For vegetables this time, I used celery and carrots.

For the sauce, I used a jar of beef gravy, a can of mushroom soup, 1-2 cups of water, 1/2 c red wine, and some heavy cream.

It was delicious, even if it was kinda soupy...