Monday Dinner: Shrimp and Noodle Stir Fry

This is a quick and easy dinner that is a snap to make, and very filling and tasty!

• Flat noodles
• Shrimp – peeled and cleaned
• Garlic
• Add-ins (as shown: tomatoes, shittake mushrooms) suggestions: bok choy, broccoli
• Oil
• Soy sauce

1. Cook noodles in boiling water until slightly underdone. Set aside.
2. Heat a bit of oil in a pan, add garlic and saute until fragrant. Add shrimp and saute until pink.
3. Add vegetables and noodles.
4. Add soy sauce and stir fry until done.

Caramel macchiato in a hug mug

Best Chocolate Chip Cookies

One of the things that I love about going home to the suburbs – having access to a full-size suburban family size kitchen and free reign over the oven. Over Thanksgiving, I made sure to take full advantage of the opportunity to bake to my heart’s content. One of my current favs is this chocolate chip cookie recipe – it includes a secret ingredient (instant vanilla pudding mix!) that gives the cookie extra depth of flavor and chewy-ness. These cookies are perfect from the oven – soft, chewy with little morsels of molten chocolate.

• 2 1/4 c. flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• pinch of salt
• 1 cup butter (or 1/2 c. margarine, 1/2 c. butter – this makes the cookie softer when cool)
• 3/4 c. brown sugar
• 1/4 c. white sugar
• 1 packet instant vanilla pudding
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups chocolate chips (mix it up a bit by using half white, half dark!)

Cookie Dough

1. Cream together butter, sugar, vanilla extract and eggs.
2. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt.
3. Combine wet and dry ingredients, add instant vanilla pudding. Mix well until combined.
4. Fold in chocolate chips
5. To make cookies: roll 1 tbsp. of cookie dough into a ball and then flatten onto ungreased baking sheet.
6. Bake at 350 degrees F until cookies are tan and slightly browned on the bottoms (about 10 to 12 minutes).
7. Enjoy with a tall, icy cold glass of milk!

Baked!

Magnolia Banana Pudding

One of the desserts featured on my Thanksgiving menu was Banana Pudding, based off of Magnolia Bakery’s famous banana pudding! I like to leave it even longer in the fridge so that the Nilla wafers get a nice, soft cakey texture and the banana flavor can mellow with the vanilla pudding mixture.  You can add more cream to get a richer taste and lighter consistency, less cream makes the pudding sweeter.

Banana Pudding

Banana Pudding (based off of Magnolia Bakery’s recipe)

• 1 can sweetened condensed milk (14 oz)
• 1 1/2 c. cold water
• 1 box instant vanilla pudding mix (3.4 oz)
• 3 to 4 bananas, sliced thinly
• 1 box Nilla wafers
• 1 c. heavy cream or 1 pint whipping cream

1. Mix together condensed milk and water.
2. Beat in vanilla pudding mix.
3. Let pudding mixture set in the fridge for at least 3 hours, overnight is best.
4. Whip the cream with an electric mixer until it reaches medium peaks (not soft, and not hard).
5. Gently fold pudding mixture into whipped cream.
6. In two 9 inch pie plates, arrange one layer of Nilla wafers followed by a later of pudding followed by a layer of sliced bananas. Continue to layer until both pie plates are full. Each pudding can either have a layer of pudding mixture or a layer of wafers on top. If you leave the banana slices on top, they will turn brown!
7. Let pudding set in the fridge for another 4 hours at least (overnight is best).
8. For garnish, place a layer of fresh banana slices and/or crushed Nilla wafers on pudding. Serve immediately and enjoy!

This pudding is bananas, B-A-N-A-N-A-S

There’s no free lunch, but there is free dinner

So, when Serious Eats: New York publishes something about Chipotle giving away FREE BURRITOS, of course I have to go and personally investigate the situation. Forget about recession specials – what can be better than FREE CHIPOTLE BURRITOS??

Alas, it is true!

Even though the line of customers was all the way to the door, it was surprisingly quick. Within 15 minutes, I was already placing my order: a steak and chicken burrito with pinto beans, tomato and corn salsa. My mantra – why choose when you can have it all? The service was efficient and friendly – the guy putting together my burrito said “of course! no prob” when I asked for TWO meats, and even posed for a picture with my burrito when he saw me take out my camera!

Making my burrito…

Steak AND Chicken? Yes please.

I will definitely be back next Tuesday.

Chipotle - 45th St. Btw 5th and 6th Ave.

A good shot

Pulled this one for about 20 seconds – one beautiful ounce of espresso topped with a bit of crema.

Happy Turkey Day!

Firsts

Seconds

The Menu:

Biscuits and Cornbread muffins

Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Stuffing with Gravy

Green Bean Casserole

Cranberry Sauce

Pork and Crab Dumplings

Salad

Banana Pudding

Pumpkin Pie

Recipes to come in later posts!!