Cake Balls

           If you can't tell from my last entry, I have been in a cooking mood. I cannot wait until I have my own kitchen next year and I can cook anytime I want! A few fridays ago I was babysitting and decided that we  should attempt to make cake balls. A friend at school had a christmas party and she made chocolate covered cake balls, and they were amazing! I asked her how she did it and she said that she has a waffle-iron type of thing that makes the cake balls. I do not have one of those waffle iron things and don't really want to buy one so I decided to try and make them on my own. Word of caution: this makes a HUGE mess. Especially when done with three kids.
        All you have to do is buy a box of cake mix (we used fun-fetti), a tub of icing (you could use homemade but this was easier), and a two bags of chocolate chips. First, bake the cake. Second, use your hand to crush it up into small pieces. Mix about half of the tub of frosting into the crushed up cake. This is where it gets really messy. Once the mixture is thick enough to roll into balls but not too sticky refrigerate for about an hour. Roll the ball into half inch circles and place on a cookie tray that is lined with wax paper. Refrigerate again for half an hour. Melt the chocolate in a small bowl. Dip the cake balls in one at a  time and place back onto the wax paper. At this point we were impatient to try them so we stuck them in the freezer for 10 minutes so the chocolate could harden. Once the chocolate is hard, dig in!

Happy Baking!!!

Mushrooms, Sesame and Beans, Oh my!

I was home last weekend and after work on Saturday I was eating lunch and absentmindedly flipping through Cooking Light. They have a section every issue called cooking vegetarian and the mushroom brown-rice risotto looked fantastic! This inspired a night of cooking. I was planning on making the mushroom-brown rice risotto, southwest bean salad, and cold asian noodle salad. I made my shopping list, went to the store, cam back and began my cooking adventure. I soon discovered a major problem, I bought most of the wrong ingredients :( I couldn't find short grain brown rice so I bought risotto, I bought shiitake instead of porcini mushrooms, I forgot the parsley and the thyme and several other things. I was a little discouraged but am a fairly good cook so I decided to keep going and make it up along the way! All three recipes turned out fantastic, and I couldn't be happier!

Mushroom Risotto

1 1/2 tsp salt, divided
1/2 cup shiitake mushrooms, chopped
3-5 cups hot water
2 Tbs olive oil
1 lb cremini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup chopped shallots
1 cup white wine
3/4 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated
3 tsp thyme
12 oz Risotto

-in a large pan sauté shiitake and cremini mushrooms in 1 tabelspoon of olive oil. set aside
-heat one tablespoon of olive oil in the large sauce pan over medium heat, add shallots and sauté until tender
-add risotto, cook for two minutes, stirring occasionally, salt and pepper to taste
-pour one cup of white wine over risotto, stir constantly until almost all of the liquid has been absorbed. -stir in remaining water a 1/2 cup at a time. Wait until the liquid is absorbed before adding the next 1/2 cup.
-Stir in mushroom mixture.
-Sprinkle with thyme and Parmigiano-Reggino Cheese.
- Enjoy :)


Cold Asian Noodle Salad
-1 lb spaghetti
-6 Tbs toasted sesame oil
-1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
-1 Tbs fresh grated ginger
-1 1/2 tsp chili-garlic sauce
-kosher salt
-4 kirby cucumbers, quartered lengthwise and sliced
-4 scallions, chopped
-2 medium carrots, grated
-1 cup fresh chopped cilantro
-1/2 cup chopped peanuts

-cook the pasta, drain and run under cold water
-in a small bowl whisk together the oil, soy sauce, ginger, chili-garlic sauce, and 1/2 teaspoon salt
-in a large bowl, combine cucumbers, carrots, cilantro and peanuts.
-add the pasta and dressing and toss to combine


Southwest Bean Salad
               This recipe is from my Aunt Carolynn, she brought it over for a cook out a few summers ago and my Dad and I love it! It is super easy to make and is a great lunch during the summer.

-2 cans black beans
-2 cans corn
-2/3 cup chopped onion
-1/3 cup chopped cilantro
-1 jalapeno, minced
-Juice of one lime
-3/4 tsp cumin
-1/4 tsp salt
-1/4 tsp pepper
-2 Tbs olive oil
-2 Tbs rice vinegar

-Mix everything together and enjoy :)

Adventures as a Vegetarian

           Hey guys!! I know in a few of my last blog posts I promised I was going to try and post more often. Unfortunately, life got crazy again and I haven't posted in over a month. The new semester is now well under way and I have worked out a routine with classes and work and have been working to finish a few big tutorials. I have two tutorials I have been working on for you to look forward to: resurfacing an old dresser and making a book lamp.
           As my blog title suggests, I am experimenting as a vegetarian! It all started as  kind of a stupid reason. My friends and I were hanging out one night (adult drinks may have been involved...) and we decided it would be a good idea to be vegetarians for a month. This is only day 4 of the adventure, we began February 4th. At first it was kind of a joke, but now I think it would be interesting to see how long each of us can last. I also want to see what it will be like to be a veg-head on a college campus and still manage to eat healthy.
             The only challenge so far was when my friends and I went to Cilantro for dinner on Friday night. Most of my friends ordered sushi, which I LOVE. I was a little bummed, but decided to try a dish called Tofu Rama. It was grilled tofu with broccoli, baby corn, cabbage, carrots, and beans. I was a little skeptical at first, I have only ever had tofu in miso soup, but it was DELICIOUS.
            The next few weeks will be interesting, especially because I am going to Indiana the 10th-12th and Chicago the 24th-26th. I am super excited for my trips, but am a little nervous about the veggie thing, it will be an adventure to say the least!! Thats all for now, I promise to keep you updated this month :) Be looking for two big tutorials coming soon!!