NEW 52...a recipe and a confession

I had a lofty goal of eating vegetarian for a week for my New experience. Laughing out loud right about now.  That was an epic fail.  I have no self control apparently.  Plus I'm blaming "Fat Tuesday" in the mix, because I can.

Something I did make and liked was a bean salsa-salad.  Sorry there are no exact measurements, it really is to taste...

Bean Salsa-Salad

Yellow or White corn (1 cup)
Garbonza Beans/Chickpeas (1 cup, 1 can was too much)
Black beans (1 cup of rinsed canned beans)
2-3 Avacados, chopped to small chunks
Tomatoes (I only had 1 Roma, but would use 2 in the future), chopped into small pieces
1/2 onion (I used sweet Walla Walla, because they are good, I would also recommend a purple one), finely diced
chopped cilantro
lime juice (I think I ended up using 1/4 cup mixed with 1-2 Tbsp sugar)

Tossed all in a bowl and served with chips, pretty good stuff.

So my confession...I ate 1 vegetarian meal a day, but couldn't do it for every meal, all week, like I had planned.  Once I decided to do it all I wanted was a hamburger and I caved.  oh well, I would never be a good vegetarian.  BUT I was more concious of what I was eating and tried to be as fresh and healthy as possible.

About This Project: New52 is a project started by Peppermint and Christine and it ..."invites participants to live outside the box a little bit more and try things outside their comfort zone. Sometimes the “new” will present itself to you unwittingly, other times you’ll be seeking it out. My hope is that we can all become inspired by one another’s adventures – perhaps gain the courage to try someone else’s new thing ourselves. Don’t worry if you’re getting a late start or if you miss a week here and there. New52 isn’t about making a life-altering change every week, it’s about keeping an open mind and embracing little changes in your life." (Copied from Peppermint's blog)

To see more of my New 52 experiences check it out on my other blog here.  For more recipes I have discovered during New 52 click the New:52 label and explore away, thanks for playing!  What new thing have you tried this week?!?

New 52 recipe: Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

I made this salad for Rachel's bachelorette party yesterday, and since I had never made it before it is my new 52 for the week...

This was actually a lot easier than I imagined and quite good. 

Bacon Ranch Pasta Salad

1 package (10-12 oz) uncooked pasta (butterfly, rotini, or macaroni)

3 oz or 2/3 cup real bacon bits (10 slices of bacon cooked and crumbled)

1 cup mayonnaise

1 package (3 Tbsp) dry ranch dressing mix

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp garlic salt

1 large tomato, finely diced

1 can sliced olives

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (I prefer medium or sharp for the flavor to reach over the seasoning)

Boil pasta 10-12 minutes until al dente.  Drain and set aside to cool.  Mix together mayo, ranch mix, garlic powder and salt in a small bowl.  Dice tomato.  Add to pasta the tomato, olives, bacon, and cheese, tossing together.  Pour over and stir in mayo dressing mix.  Refrigerate for 1 hour to overnight.  Has approx. 12  servings, 1 cup each.

Tagalongs

It's girl scout cookie time and instead of buying some Camille and I decided to make our own.  She whipped up some Tagalongs and I made some Samoas which I have posted about before.

Tagalongs (Peanut Butter Patties)

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp milk

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together butter and sugar. Mix in flour, baking powder and salt.  Add vanilla and milk. Roll dough into a log and refridgerate until firm.  Slice into cookies.  Bake cookies for 11-13 minutes, until bottoms and the edges are lightly browned and cookies are set.  Immediately after removing cookies from the oven, use a small spoon to make a depression in the center of each cookie.  Cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.  Fill with filling:

Filling:
1 1/2 cups creamy peanut butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1-2 cups chocolate chips

In a small bowl, whisk together peanut butter, confectioners’ sugar, salt and vanilla. When the mixture has come together, heat it in the microwave for 30 seconds until it is soft. Spoon on top of cooked cookies.  Chill cookies with filling for 20-30 minutes, or until the peanut butter is firm.  Melt chocolate chips and dip chilled cookies into chocolate, let excess drip off, and place on a sheet of parchment paper to let the chocolate set up.

Marv n Joe

One of my personal favorite lunch foods at Utah State University... and one of the only ways I will eat tomatoes.

Thick white or wheat bread
garlic butter
olive oil
balsalmic vinegar
provolone cheese
tomato slices
parmesean cheese

Butter bread.  Layer 2 tomato slices on top.  Drizzle with vinegar and oil.  Cover with provolone cheese.  Sprinkle with parmesean.  Toast until cheese bubbles and edges brown.  Enjoy!!

For official step by step pictured instructions check out this article from the Utah Statesman.

Go Aggies!

New 52: Week 2 -Thu's Guacamole

No more store bought guac or salsa mixed with avacados....this is the only way to do it.

3 ripe avacados
2 Roma tomatos
1/3 white onion
juice of a lime
spoonful of sugar
fresh cilantro
dash of salt

Cut avacado in half, remove pit, and cut into small 1 inch pieces before removing from avacado shell.  Scoop out pieces.  Dice tomato and onion into small pieces.  Add to asvacados and mix together smashing about 1/2 of the avacado chunks in the process.  Stir in lime juice and sugar to taste.  Add some salt.  Chop up fresh cilantro and stir in before serving.

New: 52-Week 1--Aunt Jeunie's Chocolate and Custard Pie

This is a recipe from my Great Aunt and I decided to try it out for my sister's birthday since she doesn't like cake.

1 deep dish pie crust unbaked

3 eggs

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg
2 cups scalded milk

1 cup chocolate chips

2 Tbsp. milk

Prepare crust.  Lightly beat together eggs, sugar, salt, and nutmeg.  Scald  2 cups milk (heat just until the boiling point).  Stir milk into egg mixture.  Bake at 425 degrees for 25-30 minutes until center sets and knife comes out without liquid on it.  Cool.  Melt chocolate and add 2 Tbsp milk.  Spread over custard pie.


This is my first recipe for New: 52.  Exploring new things while cooking was one of my 11 for '11 goals this year and New:52 is a challenge to do something new every week and tell about it.  I decided to combine the 2 together!

Organized and Inspired...

The wonderful Emilie has created an event called Organized and Inspired.  

Super excited about this because we all need a little more organization in our lives.  I know that when my scrap space is clear I can get a lot more done and the inspiration flows a little more freely.  I am excited to follow Emilie on this organization journey and hope you take advantage too!

Happy scrapping and crafting!