A young 20-something's blog about food & easy recipes

Healthy Baked Tortilla Chips Made From Scratch (20 min)

amylicious28 — Sat, 10 Apr 2010 04:00:53 +0000

I have two bad habits that I’ll admit today:

1) I love chips…. I can make a Costco-sized bag of Doritos, Stacy’s Pita Chips, Flaming Hot Cheetos, or Sun Chips disappear.

2) I let food start to go bad before I finally get to it….sometimes.

And one more bad habit:

3) I can’t throw away food without thinking of ways to salvage it.

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Like most people who like quesadillas as a quick meal, I always have a bag of shredded cheese & whole-wheat+rice four tortillas from Trader Joe’s. For $3, you get 10 wonderfully healthy tortillas at only 110 calories & 21% of your daily fiber intake. If you are gluten-sensitive, I suggest using whatever tortillas you have on hand or even pita bread leftover from eating out.

Ingredients Needed:

Tortillas

Canola Oil Spray

Seasoned Salt or Sea Salt

Freshly Ground Pepper

Optional: Cayenne Pepper, Garlic Salt, Raw Sugar & Cinnamon

Directions:

Slice tortillas into pie-slice shapes, ideally (2) at a time with a plastic pizza cutter. A knife works just as well, if the blade is long enough & you don’t have to drill away at it. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or foil & grease lightly with oil spray. Layer the tortillas and avoid overlapping with other slices. Use oil spray sparingly on the tortilla slices & sprinkle with salt, freshly ground pepper and a little bit of cayenne pepper. The pepper is very strong, and may surprise a few people (which might not be so bad if you want to see their reaction!).

Churro-inspired Tortilla Chips:

Follow the steps, but instead of salt/pepper use raw sugar and cinnamon. Feel free to use regular salt if you like salty/sweet combinations.

Bake for 10-12 minutes at 300 degrees or until golden brown on the edges. The longer you leave them in, the more brown & crispy it will turn out, but the pepper may give a stronger kick. Let cool before tossing together & storing in a tightly sealed container. It will stay fresh for 7-10 days.

Goes well with: Home-made nachos, hummus, salsa & greek yogurt (in lieu of sour cream), and as is!

Let me know if you come up with new recipes!

Persimmon Sorbet and Kiwi-Bread

amylicious28 — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 05:27:35 +0000

Around the holidays, you’re probably receiving lots of fall harvest fruits from well-meaning relatives, friends, and maybe even people going out of town and desperate to empty their refrigerator of perishables. If you’re like me and am the family favorite *cough*, most popular person on the block *COUGH*CHOKE*, and in town the entire holiday season…. you probably have more food than you know what to do wit.

In my case, just BAGS of persimmons and kiwis.

Persimmon Sorbet- 2 servings

2 cups persimmons (soft is best)

1 tsp sugar or 1 tbsp honey

1/3 cup water

Dash of lemon

Optional: Greek Yogurt (this becomes more of a gelato texture), any citrus pulp to taste

Directions: Remove caps & pits of persimmons, halve, and save 1/4 cup of pulp after dicing it. Pulp 3/4 cup of persimmons into blender with sugar/honey, water, lemon, and any of the optional items. Empty contents into ice cream maker, turn on, and monitor any clumping for 10 minutes. Used a plastic spatula to break up clumping if necessary. With the ice cream maker still on, put the rest of the persimmons in for 2 minutes. This gives the ice cream an enjoyable uneven texture. Scoop into plastic container and freeze for 20 minutes before eating.

Note: This is not your typical sugary sorbet or gelato in terms of taste or texture. It borders on the savory side, that most sorbets do not have. Serve with sliced citrus and chocolate as dessert. In terms of a multi-course meal, serve it in between meals as an amuse-bouche in a cordial glass (after shaping with a melon-baller) or on a ceramic Chinese spoon.

Kiwi Bread – 6 servings

3 cups of kiwi

2 cups wheat flour, sifted

1/2 cup oatmeal

3/4th cup of milk

2 eggs beaten

1 tbsp sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2th tsp baking soda

Dash of salt, lemon juice & cinnamon

Optional: Crushed walnuts or pecans, diced dried apricots, butter

Directions: Halve and scoop out kiwi fruits into a bowl. Use spoon to mash with a dash of salt & lemon. Set aside & allow to macerate. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl, add milk and beaten eggs before adding the kiwi and the optional ingredients. Grease small baking pan and pour baking mixture in. Bake at 375 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Allow to cool in pan before serving.

Notes: This is a good breakfast bread with lots of fiber and an extra kick that banana bread doesn’t offer. You can make this ahead of time and toast individual pieces in the morning before topping with cream cheese or butter. Excellent low-fat afternoon snack pared with green tea and dollop of yogurt.

Also….. some interesting facts about kiwis from: http://brianstpierretraining.com/index.php/secret-superfood

Why are Kiwi’s so incredible you ask? Loads of disease-fighting antioxidants and phytonutrients, along with plenty of vitamins and minerals. There was a study performed at Rutgers University to compare the nutritional value of 27 different fruits to see which provided the most nutrition per ounce. Amazingly, Kiwi was shown to be the most nutrient dense of all fruits tested. Gram for gram, Kiwi had twice the vitamin C of an orange, more fiber than apples, and more potassium than a banana. That right there is reason enough!

Kiwi has also shown a significant ability to reduce oxidative stress. Not only does Kiwi help prevent the damage to DNA, but it has also been shown to help repair damage that already occurred. Some of you may be skeptical and think you would need an exorbitant amount of Kiwi to do this, but the effects were seen when Kiwi was added to the diet in a normal amount, across a wide array of volunteers and in a very rapid fashion.

Peach Ice Cream

amylicious28 — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 06:59:23 +0000

One day I came into the office and saw a very ripe peach sitting at my desk where my mouse usually sits. The peach gods much have left me a little present for my good behavior, but alas, I found out it was only a fellow co-worker who attempted to finish an entire box of Costco peaches himself…. and gave up. Being the OCD person that I am, I don’t like ripe peaches that bruise easily in my hands when I clench them for firmness. I had disturbing images of myself biting into the peach and gobs of yellow goo flowing off the side of my chin and flying out in angry yellow spurts onto my computer monitor with every bite. No, this can’t be! I don’t have Windex at work!!

So right away after work, I bought an ice cream maker at Costco.

Cuisinart 2-Quart Ice Cream & Sorbet Maker

For $60, I was entertained for nearly a month of chopping up summer fruit into the early morning for countless batches of ice cream. I already had two peaches sitting in my fridge, and sliced them up too. Recipe as follows:

Peach Ice Cream

2-3 peaches, diced

1 cup sugar (Suggested: Trader Joe’s Evaporated Cane Sugar, much sweeter & less processed than white sugar)

4 Tablespoons Lemon Juice

1 pint carton of Half & Half

1 cup whole milk

1 tsp Vanilla Extract

Directions:

Mix 1/3 cup sugar with lemon juice and add half of diced peaches. Allow to macerate 1-2 hours or overnight. The peaches should look softer and the peach juice will be extracted during the process. While the peaches macerate, combine the remaining sugar with the Half & Half, whole milk & vanilla extract. Blend the entire peach mixture in a food processor or blender, and add to the milk mixture. Stir well and add to the ice cream maker for 20 minutes.

5 minutes before finishing, add the rest of the diced peaches. Gently scoop the ice cream into a container and freeze for 2 hours. Allow to defrost for 15 minutes before serving!

Suggestion: To prevent nicks & scratches to the ice cream maker, use a plastic spoon or rice-cooker spoon.

I made this ice cream to go with berry compote and a tiered vanilla cake for a friend’s dinner party. What a hit!

Note: Be sure to FREEZE the ice cream maker container completely before use. You have to freeze it overnight or until you don’t hear a liquid sound inside of it when you flip it upside down. If you don’t FREEZE the container, you’re going to be as confused as I was at 1 AM on a Friday night.
Here’s what the first 2 minutes look like:

After about 20 minutes, you should get ice cream:

So there you have it! Fresh, home-made peach ice cream with no preservatives or artificial flavors for less than an hour’s work & food items you probably have sitting in your fridge. You can bring them to dinner parties or get-togethers during the summer & feign a domestic diva for the evening =)

JAMONjamonJAMON!

amylicious28 — Wed, 06 May 2009 02:17:32 +0000

$6 for five pounds of ham?? Marked for quick sale from $14?? How could I walk away, when I paid $40 for the same thing for Thanksgiving dinner.

I like my ham in the morning; thrown onto a hot pan to sizzle & brown while I scoop the last of my egg whites onto toast & layer an already-melting slice of cheese on top. If it’s the weekend? Make that a scramble & add potatoes, onions, and whatever veggies are left in the fridge…. just sprinkle some cheese & we’re good to go.

I like my ham in the afternoon; sandwiched in between cheese & Spicy Nacho Doritos & pressed downwards until the chips are cracked where my fingers held it. It’s 4th grade nostalgia all over again!

I like my ham in the evening; glazed & set alongside garlic mashed potatoes & sauteed green beans (tossed in a sauce pan with crackling pieces of leftover ham fat). If I’m low on the ham supply, or the ham is near expiration, I like to dice it make Asian stir-fried rice with left-over brown rice, eggs, green onion, & any orphaned veggies in the crisper.

So for the same price as a McDonald’s meal, I said “Yes” to the ham and began slicing away….. a pound a portion, wrapped in Saran wrap & aluminum foil, sealed in a Freezer Ziploc bag, and tucked away in the freezer to be used in the coming weeks.

I want to try to make a casserole of some sort, with my green beans & ham & perhaps some home-made from scratch stuffing. Since I’m a fan of macaroni & cheese, I’m thinking I can dice up the ham & sprinkled the breadcrumbs on top? Eating it cold would be a midnight treat….. kind of like dinner leftovers at chi-chi restaurants in LA (that charge $30 for mac&cheese!) as I’m sitting on the coach with my boyfriend picking away at the chilled pasta.

Nostalgic? Yes. I like green eggs & ham, I do like them, Sam I Am (not).

Greetings, Fellow Food Lovers

amylicious28 — Wed, 06 May 2009 02:12:29 +0000

We gather here today, to celebrate the union of food afectionados around the world. Who, by their own free will, have mustered up the energy to open the fridge but draw a blank when faced with what to cook for dinner. Pity those that go hungry, or even worse….. turn to PB&J on stale bread or alas, ramen with cracked egg yet again!

If you’re a young 20-something (or maybe just came across this blog because of the word “20-something” *naughtynaughty*), are confined to $200 to spend on food the whole month, or are just getting started on your cooking endeavors….. I invite you all to stick around & find something you like.

About me: Born & raised SoCal girl, Asian, Economics major (2008 UCLA graduate….. employed *yes, I know it’s rare*), loves a great value, & food worshipper. All hail to the chief-tess!