Week 10: Festive Food

    This week I’m going to discuss the true fuel of the college lifestyle—parties. What else keeps us on track throughout the week and gives us something to look forward to after tests, papers, and homework heavy days?  While I’m not condoning the type of lifestyle that today’s popular music glorifies (think Ke$ha), I am suggesting that having friends over and enjoying each other’s company is a great way to spend your weekend. And what better way to improve a night with your friends than to have some awesome and cheap home made food?

    Not every party has to have a theme, but themed food and decorations can be a great way to spice up a night in with your friends. If you’re not the dinner-partying type, there are also several cute and festive seasonal snacks to fuel your weekday studying or weekend picnics. As the year comes to a close, all we can think about is beautiful spring weather and the impending summer vacation. Below are a few examples of my favorite festive snacks and dinner time treats that will help you celebrate springtime and get excited for summer (not that you’ll need the help after surviving finals week!).

    A great way to perpetuate the chosen theme for your party is by using colors. People often relate springtime to pastel colors. There are so many easy and inexpensive ways to add a little extra oomph of color to your food—classic food dye is a wonderful option for this (about dollar in the baking aisle of your grocery store). Even choosing certain colored fruits and veggies can contribute to your theme. The delicious chocolate strawberries below were simply made by dipping fresh strawberries into melted white chocolate that was mixed with a few drops of red dye.

    Approach using food coloring with caution—a little bit goes a long way when it comes to most types of food dye, and just a few too many drops can take you from white to fire engine red. These strawberries could serve as a great afternoon snack or a classy dessert to your spring themed dinner party. Coat the strawberries with clear sugar crystals or colored sprinkles for a little extra character.

    Although not everyone celebrates Easter, it is a popular springtime theme in the way of food and decorations. It is nearly impossible to miss the pastel colored candy and excess of plastic eggs that fill the store shelves at this time of year. One of my favorite nerdy family traditions is to bake an Easter bunny shaped cake before Easter dinner—this is an adorable and incredibly simple addition to a springtime meal.

    This cake is very simple. Just cut the pieces of your cake as pictured below and decorate. I like to either use colored coconut shreds as grass surrounding the bunny, or mix the shredded coconut with my white icing to make “bunny fur.” Kind of dorky, but you’ve got to admit this guy is pretty cute!

    For something to serve your dinner guests, I love fresh veggie pizzas in the summer time. It’s always so much tastier to use in season veggies than the frozen ones—it just adds that much more of a home made feel to the meal. To see what veggies are in season now, check out my new gadget! As for the recipe to this fresh pizza, I like to use basic pie crust from the refrigerated section of the grocery store. Spread the crust with a mixture of goat cheese (8 oz), cream cheese (8 oz), and one egg on the uncooked crust. Add a sautéed mixture of your veggies of choice (I like squash, corn, and zucchini) and bake as the crust package directs. Voila- your very own fresh veggie gourmet pizza. Goat cheese a little too adventurous for you? Try sour cream instead. If you are more into the classics, there’s always basic tomato sauce! The great thing about pizza is that there is never one set recipe. You always have room to make it your own.

    I’ll close with a great warm weather staple- the popsicle. These are so simple to make. One option is always to buy a popsicle formed container at the grocery store and fill it with your favorite fruit juice, lemonade, or kool-aid flavor.  A healthier and more seasonal twist on the classic popsicle can be easily achieved by cutting shapes out of fresh fruit with cookie cutters, inserting a popsicle stick, and freezing the shapes on a cookie sheet, as pictured below using Watermelon.

    These recipes and many more can be found with the help of good old Google and the keywords “Spring Themed Food.” Enjoy these recipes at home with your friends or by the pool with a good book.

For the summer of 2011, I wish you Happy Eating!

Week 9: Supreme Sushi

In my opinion, sushi is some of the most delicious and beautiful food out there. No matter what you order, no two rolls will ever be perfectly identical. Unfortunately a passionate love for sushi is rather expensive in the upkeep, especially on a college budget. I spent my last few days of spring break investigating local sushi places and doing some research to find a few of the cheapest places near campus. I also spent some time looking into the healthiest options out there. In this post I’ll offer you a few inexpensive options and go over some of the most basic types of sushi for those of you who are sushi beginners.

I like to consider myself a bit of a sushi veteran. I’ve been trying everything from the basic roll to nigiri and eel (which is one of my favorites!) from a pretty young age. My dad introduced me to the basic types of nigiri, in my case small pieces of raw salmon and tuna with rice, starting when I was about 13 years old.

There are plenty of nice places to get sushi in the Fort Worth area. From classics like Piranha to the new and trendy Blue Sushi, it’s pretty hard to go wrong when selecting a place to get some great sushi. But if you’re looking to eat sushi on a budget, Sushi Q is definitely the place that you should consider trying on your next night out. Located on Hulen, Sushi Q has a happy hour special on the weekends from 7 p.m. to close that allows you to get edamame (a boiled soybean appetizer) for $2 and sushi rolls from $2.75-$3.75 each. Not to mention low priced drinks for those of you who are over 21, it’s hard to go wrong with such inexpensive food. The place is definitely a hole in the wall, but in this case you really can’t judge a book by its cover.

Now I’ll go over a few of my favorite basic sushi rolls. When I’m introducing anyone to sushi who has never tried it before, I usually suggest that they start with the classic California roll. The California roll contains cooked crab, cucumber, and avocado. Pretty basic stuff for beginners. One thing that all rolls have in common is that the inner ingredients are held together with seaweed before being wrapped in sticky rice. Sushi rolls are also sometimes coated in toasted sesame seeds (also called tobiko) or orange fish eggs.

My next basic roll is the Philadelphia roll. This favorite usually contains smoked salmon, cream cheese, and cucumber. It sounds like a strange combination, but this roll is seriously delicious.

If you’re looking to step it up a few notches, the spider roll is a good transition to some of the crazier sushi options. The spider roll usually contains deep fried soft shell crab, cucumber, avocado, sprouts, and spicy mayonnaise. This one is definitely a step up from the basics.

The spicy tuna roll is a great option for your first experience with a raw sushi roll. This roll is pretty straightforward, usually containing only sushi grade tuna mixed with spices and a bit of cucumber. The spicy tuna roll is always a crowd pleaser.

And now on to my favorite—the dragon roll. This roll is simply a California roll with a filet of eel on top. Eel, much like many other strange meats, tastes a lot like chicken that has been soaked in soy sauce. It can be a little tough if overcooked, but for the most part I find it extremely delicious.

All of these pictures can be found on google, along with the pictures of pretty much any other sushi roll you can dream up. I wish I could say I was lucky enough to eat every one of the rolls pictured above this weekend, but frankly thats a whole lot of fish!
For those of you who are watching your figure, picking healthy sushi is pretty straightforward. Any roll with tempura shrimp or crab contains double the calories of your basic roll that hasn’t been deep fried. Also, brown rice is a much healthier alternative to white rice, and most restaurants can substitute it upon request. 

So the next time you’re hoping for a night out with a little bit of Japanese food, keep this basic sushi guide in mind and don’t be afraid to take a few risks.

Happy Eating!

Week 8: Semi Home Made Baking

    This week’s entry is based on one of my favorite Food Network shows- Semi Home Made Cooking with Sandra Lee. I referenced her in one of my previous posts, but I am a huge proponent of putting your own spin on the basic store bought cooking and baking shortcuts that are available to us these days and that make the college student’s life just that much simpler. It can transform your everyday pan of store mix brownies from something basic into something amazing, unique, and most importantly delicious. Right now, for example, she has ten recipes available on her website that relate to baking. I’m going to take this theme and run with it. Today I will be listing for you a few of my favorite unique but simple recipes. I hope you will enjoy them as much as I do!

    The first recipe that I will share with you is for my cookie dough cupcakes. The first step is to purchase the chocolate or vanilla store bought cake mix of your choice and prepare it as directed. Distribute it evenly into paper lined cupcake pans, just as usual. Here’s where things get a little unusual- drop one spoonful of store bought cookie dough into the center of each filled cupcake paper. It should look just like this once this step is completed:

    Now that you have inserted the cookie dough, pop the cupcakes in the oven and bake as the cake mix box directs. Once you’re a few minutes away from finish time, stick a toothpick into a few of the cupcakes and make sure the bottoms underneath the cookie dough are cooked through. These are supposed to be cookie dough cupcakes- not cake batter cupcakes. It is important that all of the cake parts are totally cooked. Once they are totally cooked, let them cool for a few minutes. As far as icing and decorating goes, I like to top them with a thin layer of basic vanilla icing- also store bought if you’d like- and then I usually top with a sprinkle of mini chocolate chips or Oreo crumbs, whichever I can get my hands on.  This is what your finished product should look like:

    Now that we’ve conquered the feat of unique cupcakes, I have a tasty brownie recipe for next time you’re in the mood for some serious chocolate. My S’mores brownies are the perfect treat for a summertime bonfire, and they are just as easy as the cupcake recipe. Start off once again with your favorite store bought boxed brownies. After spraying your pan with nonstick spray, line the bottom with a layer of graham crackers. Pour the brownie mix over the crackers. Top with a layer of mini marshmallows, smashed graham crackers, and chocolate chips (I also like to add peanut butter chips for an extra surprise sometimes). Bake as directed and voila- easy and impressive s’mores brownies! This is what your delicious confection should look like:

    Each of these recipes will be included in the Flash project I am currently working on for my Interactive Communication Design class- It will show 4 of 5 pictures of my favorite easy and unique confections and provide the recipes for each item when you hover your mouse over its picture. I will try to find some way to include this in my blog so you can see it and use the other recipes provided there as well. But until then,

    Happy Baking!

Week 7: What's A Vegan Anyway?

    This week's blogpost on the vegan lifestyle was inspired by Ft. Worth based Spiral Diner. My flexitarian friend introduced me to this modern eating hotspot this past week to mix up our ho-hum dining routine.

    Spiral Diner's motto is to offer a menu of tasty vegan food, which is a rare commodity in Texas from what I understand. Reasonably so, considering that Texas is generally known as a state of vast cattle farms and carnivorous steak eating people. Spiral is a quaint and quirky little spot located on a side street off of Rosedale. Not only do they offer a broad menu of delicious options, but they also offer shelves of vegan friendly products and several packets of information about going vegan. I must admit that I was a little skeptical as I stared down my breakfast burrito, chock full of fresh veggies, potatoes, and tofu scramble. How could tofu ever be comparable to an egg? But I was in for a surprise- The tofu scramble was delicious and well complemented by Spiral's home made salsa. The biggest surprises of this meal? For starters, Almond Milk is one of my new favorite complements to my morning coffee. And to finish, we enjoyed what is one of the best lunchtime desserts I've ever experienced- dubbed appropriately the Death Star. A pecan studded brownie with home made ice cream and whipped cream, garnished with ground espresso beans and topped off with a shot of freshly brewed espresso. Chocolate, ice cream, and coffee- where could you possibly go wrong? I'm still stumped by the fact that this dessert was 100% vegan.
    Amy McNutt, the founder of Spiral, was inspired to become a vegan during her creation of a film about cattle farms in California. This leads me to those all too familiar questions- what makes a vegetarian a vegetarian? And what in the world is a vegan?
    Vegetarian is a word with many definitions. Generally speaking, a vegetarian is one that does not eat certain types of meat or animal products. There are several different kinds of vegetarians. An ovo-vegetarian, for example, eats eggs but not dairy products. A lacto-vegetarian eats dairy products, but not eggs. An ovo-lacto vegetarian eats eggs and dairy products.
    So how does veganism play into this? A vegan is considered a strict vegetarian- one who consumes absolutely no meat or animal products including eggs, dairy, and even honey. The decision to become a vegan can come from many different influences including religious, economic, or ethical reasons.
    The existence of places like Spiral are proof that being a vegan is not easy. Picture trying to avoid animal products in the BLUU, where you have no idea how things are prepared or what they may come into contact with while in transit. The one vegan that I know on campus prepares all of her meals in her room and avoids eating out with her friends. This implies social impact as well as an entirely new method of time management that I can't even imagine. My challenge for myself this week is to experiment with some type of vegetarianism- even if it is just giving up beef for the week. It will be interesting to see how many adjustments I will have to make in order to stick to this plan. Will it change my lifestyle? Will I feel better about myself after this beef free week? I guess we will just have to wait and see.

    Rory Freedman, Co-Author of "Skinny Bitch"book series, gives 5 reasons why you should consider going vegan in this video. Rory mentions a few reasons that I have never heard before- this veganism video is definitely food for thought.

    So whether you're a carnivore or a herbivore, keep these facts in mind when making decisions about what to eat this week. 
    College is a time for experimentation, right?

    Happy Eating!

Week Six: Cooking Class

    This week I will be taking you all on a date. Unfortunately it will only be a virtual date, but it’s the thought that counts right?

    For Valentine’s day, my boyfriend took me on a surprise date to Central Market. Those of you who have read week one’s post know that I am a Central enthusiast, but when we arrived I must admit that I was a little confused. A date in an upscale grocery store? But it all made much more sense when he brought me upstairs and into a cooking class. He obviously knows me pretty well because this is right up my alley!

    Central Market offers an array of different cooking classes. From desserts to Italian to sushi, they pretty much cover it all. The one that we sat in on happened to be a heart healthy menu. It was a lot like the Food Network got plopped right into the center of my restaurant of choice. They had several rows of tables and chairs set for mealtime that faced a fully equipped kitchen with cameras and television monitors so that you can watch the chef’s every move.  Our chef was a portly, good humored man who joked and instructed as we observed and ate the dish as he was recreating it before our eyes.

    The menu was magnificent. As I mentioned, this was the heart healthy cooking class so the four-course meal was full of simple, health conscious, and of course tasty food items.

    The first course was a cold broccoli salad. To create this meal opener, the chef blanched broccoli and soaked it in ice water, then sautéed onions with a little bit of balsamic vinegar and topped everything off with sliced almonds and lemon zest for a refreshing finish. The second course was an Italian vegetable soup, which included things such as red beans, celery, and other soup friendly veggies. This soup was one of my favorite parts of the meal because it was so simple and yet still healthy and delicious. The third course was similarly easy to create. The chef cooked up some orzo (which is a rice-shaped Italian pasta) and sautéed it with a bit of chopped red onion and asparagus. The main course was a salmon filet with almond pomegranate sauce. The chef explained that instead of using fattening and potentially unhealthy things to thicken a home made sauce, ground almonds serve as a thickener without adding a ton of extra calories or saturated fats. Dried pomegranates and a dash of pomegranate syrup gave this sauce a sweet and tangy flavor that complemented the salmon well. For dessert, the chef served a pumpkin polenta that was reminiscent of pumpkin pie, but with about half of the calories and fat.

    This class was such a great experience. Not only did I get to enjoy a Food Network like experience right before my eyes, but I also got to learn several healthy alternatives to create a well thought out meal.

    So next time you are looking for a unique night out, whether it’s with that special someone or a group of girlfriends, check out one of Central Market’s awesome cooking classes.

    Happy Eating!

Week Five: Coffee and Confections

    This week I will be exploring one of my favorite things on this planet- coffee. My friends often ridicule me for the fact that I am rarely seen without a cup of coffee in my hand. I bring a cup to each of my morning classes and I usually average about two cups a day. In college, coffee is the liquid of life. If there was a holy grail for higher education it would probably be full of some kind of latte or mocha. Coffee is something that college students take very seriously- especially when finals week rolls around. I write this week’s entry in hopes that I may introduce you all to a few new study spots or just a place to grab a great cheap cup of coffee.

    My first coffee hotspot is a new establishment on campus called Stay Wired coffee. I discovered this place when my bible study group met there a few weeks back. Located behind the bookstore, it looks a little dim and sketchy from the outside but the inside is warm and cozy with lots of comfortable chairs that are perfect for studying. They have a menu of house drinks and a few snacks- anything off of the specials menu is a good bet when it comes to choosing a drink. I have to admit that I had a mini celebration upon discovering this place. As I’m sure many of you have noticed, TCU has a dangerous shortage of quaint little coffee shops. Stay Wired is getting our campus off to a great start.

    The second on-campus coffee shop that I want to share with you is Café Brazil. Although it that hasn’t opened yet, I am already bursting with excitement over the addition of this 24 hour coffee shop to the block of restaurants below the Grand Marc. My best friend and I have made several pilgrimages to Dallas just to study in the Café Brazil setting and enjoy a s’mores latte. They serve much more than coffee at Café Brazil, but anywhere that serves something good and is open for 24 hours is an institution worth knowing about!

    So why is this entry titled “Coffee and Confections,” you might ask? Well there isn’t anything that goes much better with coffee than a little something sweet. A perfect example of a coffee shop that offers great drink options and a few blissful treats is Buon Giorno, a coffee shop off of 7^th street. Not only do they have a broad menu with countless tasty hot and cold caffeinated drinks, they also offer great home made desserts.  My personal favorite is what they call a Cake Ball, which is basically mashed up cake mixed with icing, rolled into a ball, and dipped into chocolate. They are actually very simple and fun to make… Definitely worthy of a future eating adventure.  Below is a picture of the coffee and cake balls my friend and I ordered while on a coffee date this past week.

    For today’s entry, I want to leave you with a really simple recipe for a delicious little home made truffle. All you need is one package of Oreos, one 8oz package of cream cheese, and a package of dipping chocolate (which can be found in the baking aisle). Crush the Oreos until they are in small pieces. Combine the entire package of cream cheese with the Oreo crumbs and mix with your hands until it has been evenly distributed. Roll this gooey combination into balls and refrigerate until they become firm. Coat each ball in the melted dipping chocolate and voila- you have one batch of Oreo Balls. These are great to eat with your afternoon coffee or even serve at parties. Keep them stored in the refrigerator and they will last you a couple of weeks as long as one else finds out about them…

    Until next week, stay caffeinated at a few of these great coffee shops and indulge in one or two of these tasty treats.

    Happy eating... And drinking!

Week Four: The Superbowl

    The Superbowl is about so much more than just football. Sure the game is pretty entertaining, especially if your team is in the spotlight. The commercials are also good for a laugh or two. But in my opinion, the Superbowl is all about the food. After all, what’s a football game without a few amazing snacks? Football is complemented so well by great cooking.

    This week I spent Sunday afternoon in the kitchen with a few of my friends whipping up our own versions of a few Superbowl classics. Our menu consisted of fully loaded queso dip, fresh guacamole, pizza pockets, pigs in a blanket, and cookie brownie bars (the same featured dessert from last week continues to work its magic!). Not only is this menu full of mouthwatering snacks and treats, every item was home made and fed a group of 20 for under $40.

    Our first cooking endeavor was the loaded queso. We started with a package of ground turkey (in place of ground beef- lean turkey is much better for you than basic ground beef), a can of whole corn kernels, a can of black beans, two blocks of Velveeta and a can of Rotel mild tomatoes. Sautee the ground turkey until cooked thoroughly and add the cans of corn and beans until heated through. While this is cooking, melt the blocks of Velveeta with the Rotel in the microwave. Once the cheese is melted and the turkey mixture is heated, combine the two and mix well. The loaded queso may taste like it took hours of hard work, but you can toss it together with little effort in just a few minutes.

    The pizza pockets and pigs in a blanket are very similar in that they seem much more complicated to create than they actually are. The trick to both of these recipes is simply a package of Pillsbury crescent roll dough. For the pigs in a blanket, all you need is a pack of mini sausages to roll up inside of the crescents (my favorite brand is Hillshire Farms) and you are good to go. For the pizza pockets, spread a scoop of red sauce across each unrolled crescent. Add a pinch of mozzarella cheese and a couple of pepperonis and fold the dough into a little pocket. Bake for 11 to 13 minutes and you have a set of amazing hot snacks. These two snacked sized favorites disappeared even faster than the loaded queso. They were definitely a favorite!

    The guacamole is probably the most complicated and expensive part of this cooking experience. There are many shortcuts you can take, like pre-cut avocados for example, but we decided to go whole hog and buy 6 fresh avocados to smash up ourselves. Halving the avocadoes and removing the pit is an art that is not easily mastered, but with a little practice anyone can do it. For tips on that, try visiting this website. Once the avocadoes are peeled and mashed add a powdered pre made guacamole mix, and add your favorite flavor of Tabasco for a little extra flare. This delicious guacamole is definitely worth the extra effort.

    All in all every dish got devoured, but I still got the most rave reviews for the infamous cookie brownie bars (see the week 3 blog for details). Below are a few before and after pictures of these tasty game time snacks.

    The Superbowl only comes around once a year, but next time you are entertaining for one of TCU’s away games or staying in to watch a Cowboy’s game with your friends, remember to try these easy crowd pleasers.

    Happy Eating!