Green Mint Wonder Cookies

I have been very fortunate this week to be completely off work!! SO of course I would spend at least 1 day cooking!  When I was trying to decide what to make I was flipping through some cookbooks and stumbled on these cookies.  They caught my eye because green is my absolute favorite color!! Not to mention, they look pretty sweet (figuratively and literally)!
When I was making these cookies I was a little surprised by the outcome of the actual cookie; The dough was a little more soft and sticky than regular cookie dough, and the finished cookie is more like the texture of a sugar cookie.
Here's how to make these awesome looking cookies!

Ingredients:
1 cup butter, softened
1 cup powdered sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons peppermint extract
2 egg yolks
16 drops green food color
2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup dark chocolate chips
3 Tablespoons whipping cream
3 Tablespoons butter
25 rectangular creme de menthe chocolate candies, unwrapped, cut diagonally (I used Andes mints)

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Line cookie sheets with cooking parchment paper.
2. In large bowl beat 1 cup butter and the powdered sugar with electric mixer on medium speed until light and fluffy.  Beat in peppermint extract, egg yolks, and food coloring until blended.
3. Beat in flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Shape dough into 1 inch balls; place 2 inches apart on cookie sheets.
5. Using the end of a wooden spoon, press a deep hole into the center of the cookie.
6. Bake 10 - 12 minutes or until set.  Re-insert end of wooden spoon when you remove from the oven.  Allow to cool completely on a cooling rack.
7. While cookies cook, microwave chocolate chips, cream, and 3 Tablespoons of butter on high for 1 minute, stirring frequently until mixture is smooth.
8.  Fill each hole with melted chocolate and garnish with mint candy piece.
9. Let stand about 1 hour until chocolate is hardened. Enjoy!

Special Note: I had a TON of chocolate leftover after making this recipe!! I also made a double batch which seemed to be the perfect amount.

I think these cookies will be awesome to make around the holidays! You could color the cookies green and red and then put different colored mints on the top for the Christmas season! Have fun experimenting!

The Best of Betty Crocker. Reiman Media Group, Inc. 2011

Tomatillo Salsa Verde

So when you first looked at the title of this blog post you were probably thinking, "tomato." But let me tell you, a tomatillo is NOT a tomato!! Sure, there are some similarities, but they are not even in the same category of fruits/veggies!! So what is a tomatillo?? First off, a tomatillo looks like this:
                                                 
As you can see, it comes in a husk-like wrapper and it is green!  Before I started doing a lot of Mexican cuisine and cooking, I never realized or knew what tomatillos were!  However, now they are one of my favorite ingredients to use in cooking!! You can use tomatillos in just about everything! Salsas, sauces, stir-fries, and much much more!
When you decide to buy some tomatillos at the store it is important to make sure that they are completely encased in their shell.  This ensures that they are fresh and un-tampered with.  When peeling the tomatillos you may notice that your fingers will become sticky.  Tomatillos have a sticky substance inside of the husk that helps to ward of bugs! Interesting right?? Anyways, this is one of my favorite recipes that I use tomatillos in, and I hope you come to love them just as much as I do! Enjoy!

Ingredients:
1 pound tomatillos, husked
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 teaspoon freshly minced garlic
1 Serrano pepper
2 Tablespoons freshly chopped cilantro
1 Tablespoon freshly chopped oregano
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon salt (you may need to add a bit more depending on your preference)
2 cups water

Directions:
1. Place tomatillos, onion, garlic, and pepper into a saucepan. Season with cilantro, oregano, cumin, and salt; pour in water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, and simmer until the tomatillos are soft, about 10 to 15 minutes.
2. Using a blender, carefully puree the boiled veggies, seasonings, and water in batches until smooth.

3. Refrigerate until cold; serve with tortilla chips or over tacos, enchiladas or anything else you may want!

*May refrigerate up to one week.

Bready Bread Breadsticks

Whenever I go to a restaurant where they serve unlimited breadsticks (Fazoili's or Olive Garden), I can pretty much be guaranteed an O.D. on carbs for the next month!  I LOVE carbs!! I love everything bready; breadsticks, rolls, bread... The list goes on and on... which leads me to one of my favorite recipes... Homemade BREADSTICKS!
I found these breadsticks online one time and absolutely fell in love with them!  They have turned out perfectly each time I have made them and they are really easy to make!

Here's how to make them if you're interested!

Ingredients

• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1/2 cup sugar, divided
• 2 cups warm water (110 degrees to 115 degrees), divided
• 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions

1. In a large mixing bowl, dissolve yeast and 1 tablespoon sugar in 1 cup warm water. Add the oil, egg, salt, 2 cups flour, and remaining sugar and water. Beat until smooth. Stir in enough remaining flour to form a soft dough. Turn onto a floured surface; knead until smooth and elastic, about 6-8 minutes. Place in a greased bowl, turning once to grease top. Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about 40 minutes.
2. Punch the dough down. Turn onto a floured surface; divide into 36 pieces. Shape each piece into a 6-in. rope. Place 2 in. apart on greased baking sheets. Cover and let rise until doubled, about 25 minutes.
3. Bake at 400 degrees F for 10-12 minutes or until golden brown. Meanwhile, in a small mixing bowl, cream the butter, Parmesan cheese and garlic powder. (www.allrecipes.com)

*Warning* This recipe makes about enough for 6 people! (Unless you plan on getting high on breadsticks, I would only make one batch)... They aren't too good re-heated.

Cilantro's Mexican Bar and Grill

Hola! How is your summer going!? Mine was off to a rainy start... Due to the weather, but now it's in full swing and I'm getting my much needed tan!!  Last year at this time I was in Guatemala... I'm really missing all the fresh fruits and veggies that I was able to enjoy while I was there; as well as the "platos tipicos" and other Guatemalan favorites!
I have done some research about Omaha and have found out that there are no Guatemalan restaurants in the area!! BUMMER!  But, there are some pretty good Mexican restaurants (my favorite) that I have not yet tried!  SO, I tried a new one a few weeks ago and I am happy to present it to you tonight!

Cilantro's Mexican Bar and Grill was recommended to me by a friend whose significant other is Mexican!  He said that it was her favorite place to eat because of its authenticity; so I knew I had to try it out!  It's located on about 144th and F street in Omaha; An intersection away from Oakview Mall.   I was super excited to try out this restaurant and I assure you that I was NOT disappointed at all!!
When my guest diner and I walked in we were immediately greeted and seated!  It was a Sunday night so it wasn't too busy; which was nice!  All of the staff was really friendly which made the atmosphere really pleasant!  The decor also had a nice impact on the overall feel of the restaurant!



Their menu was a little overwhelming just because I wanted to try EVERYTHING! It all sounded SO good and I had a hard time making up my mind!  They do serve you complimentary chips and salsa when you are seated so if you are absolutely starving you can have a little something while you wait!
I finally decided on a dish that would give me a little sample of different things; My guest diner decided an a burrito... Little did we know that the burrito was going to be the size of a small child!! It was GINORMOUS!

Her human-sized burrito!

My sampler... Delicious!

Here's the rating for Cilantro's!

Cleanliness: Perfecto! Nothing to complain about in this category!

Care: Very good!  The whole staff was really friendly; Our waiter wasn't too chatty either, which was nice!

Cost: Middle of the road.  For my meal and drink it was about $12.  But as I mentioned before, you get chips and salsa at the beginning and the amount of food that you get is enough for two people for sure!  

Atmosphere: The restaurant was very nice!  It was also very child friendly, which is nice for all you parents out there!  Like I mentioned before, we did go on a Sunday night so it was probably a little less busy than a Friday or Saturday.

All in all it was an AMAZING restaurant!  This restaurant may even top my list at #1 Mexican restaurant!  But I have to give it another try just to make sure!  

I was really excited because this restaurant presented something new to me in this dish!  I don't know how well you can see it in the picture; But there is a little ball of masa to the right, on top of the rice, that was very sweet!  I had never had masa like that but it was really good!  Usually I've just had tortillas made of masa; but this was something new!

If you would like to try out Cilantro's or give them a call here is there information!  Their website is just their menu, but take a look anyways!

Buen provecho!

http://www.cilantrosomaha.com/

(402)895-0384

14440 F Street

Omaha, NE 68137

No Fire Needed S'mores

Hey there! So I tired a snack the other day that was REALLY good!... S'mores bites!  They are amazing!  So I got to thinking... Why not make some S'more bites myself?  They're convenient to eat and they would be pretty simple to make!  So I went to the store and grabbed some graham crackers, chocolate and pre-flattened marshmallows! YES, you read that right, you can buy pre-flattened mallows that are super nice to make these treats with!  

So when I got to my experimenting I had to figure out how to dip the whole graham cracker with the marshmallow into chocolate while keeping the whole thing together.  I also had to cut the graham crackers with a super sharp knife really quickly so it wouldn't crumble.  So I came up with this:

I first cut the graham crackers to size with the marshmallows.  I then dipped the graham cracker pieces into melted chocolate (1 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips with 2 Tablespoons of shortening).  After dipping the graham crackers I set them on wax paper and then placed the marshmallow on top so it stuck into the chocolate.  

I let the chocolate get hard and set so I could pick the whole thing up and dip the marshmallow into more chocolate.  The one on the far left is the fully-dipped s'more. 

After dipping the top into chocolate I let them harden again; Until they became hand-held S'mores!  I tried one of the fully dipped s'mores and realized that it was too much chocolate.  So I decided to just dip one side of the graham cracker and then dip some chocolate onto the top of the marshmallow.  Those came out looking like this:

Personally, I think they're kind of cute! Once the chocolate dried and they were all stuck together they were nice to just pick up and eat!  They were less sweet than the original ones that I made which made them TONS better!  I will definitely be making these again since they are so easy and fun to make!  You also only need 4 ingredients! 

1. Graham Crackers

2. Marshmallows

3. 2 cups Chocolate chips

4. 4 Tablespoons Shortening

To make the dipping chocolate, simply put the chocolate chips and the shortening in a microwave-safe bowl and melt!  Make sure to only microwave the chocolate about 30 seconds at a time so it does not scald.  

Good luck, and remember; No campfire needed!!

TGIF

Thank God It's Friday!! Wait... What?? No, it's only Tuesday, 4 more days people, 4 more days...
Even though it may not be Friday yet, you can sure hit up a TGIF near you! Maybe for a little while you can feel like it's almost the weekend in the middle of your hectic life!
The funny thing about TGIF (the restaurant of course) is that I had only been to one of the restaurants once in my lifetime; and it was in an airport in Texas!  Even though there is one somewhat close to my dwelling, I had just never stopped in!  So I decided to give them a try here and see what they were all about!

On this particular day I was in the mood for a burger.  Not one of those Burger King or McDonald's Burgers that aren't real meat and are half fat; but a BURGER.  You know, the typical Nebraskan beef that makes you feel like you doubled in weight after you're done eating it.  So that's what I ordered! BUT, I didn't want to just order a burger; because that would be boring, so I ordered the Sedona Black Bean Burger; which is part bean, part beef.  Add avocado and onions to this little delight and you have yourself one of the best tasting burgers around! No joke.  I was super surprised at how much I enjoyed this burger and even the fries that came on the side!

My guest diner decided to order a plate that had shrimp, mashed potatoes and chicken with a red sauce!  It looked delicious as well and she enjoyed it quite thoroughly!  Needless to say, TGIF!

My rating:

Cleanliness: Puurrrrfffffeeecccttt.

Care: Good, although the waitress was not as delightful as she could have been, I understand what it's like to be "behind the counter."  Let's just say some people are not as talkative as others.

Cost: Cheap! This actually really surprised me about TGIFs!  It was a little cheaper than most other places and their burger was better than a lot of places!  I would much rather prefer this burger than any that I have had at Red Robin, especially for the cost!  I believe my bill was just under $10, which is cheap for a sit down place!  

Atmosphere: Great! I loved, loved, loved the decor of the place!  I like the places that have the theme where they stick a bunch of random stuff on walls! Haha... Nah, it was great!

Anyways, I think you should definitely give TGIF's a try!  Maybe if we keep eating there they'll put more of them around town! And by the way...  I can't wait till it's FRIDAY! 

Here's more info if you want to visit their site or give them a try!

http://www.tgifridays.com/

10000 California Street

Omaha, NE 68114

402-965-8443

Well Hello June!

Hey guys, sorry it's been so long!! With the start of a new job and the start of summer always comes busy schedules and low electronic usage on my part.  But as for right now, I'm all about the computer and am here to tell YOU about an interesting event I attended this past weekend!
So since I am so interested in food I was super excited to try out the Taste of Omaha!  I had never been before and thought that it would be a fun thing to try out!  Who wouldn't want to go try some food and have a good time!?
So we had a girl's night out and went and enjoyed the night at the Taste of Omaha downtown!  Although, I have to say I was a little disappointed... Although there were a bunch of different places to try out, I had already tried most of them in my adventures!  I was also a little disappointed at some of the restaurants that they chose to allow to have a stand.  I mean I guess you can't really limit the vendor's booths, but I do not think that they should allow fast food places to have a tent set up.... I mean, who really wants to go to the Taste of Omaha and try Fazoli's??
Not only were some of the restaurant tents a little strange, but it was also really expensive to try things out!  I think you would be better off just going to the restaurant instead of trying to sample everything for a ridiculous amount of money.  OK, I'm done complaining...
Don't get me wrong, it was really fun to hang out, enjoy some music and time with people, but I will not go next year for the food; just the entertainment!
Even though I was not impressed with the food... I have to say that the smoothies were rockin'... Let's just say I will be drinking out of this twisty cup for the rest of my life. =)