Caramel Crispy Thingys

Hello people!  Has something ever looked just so good that you just HAD to try it!? Well, that's what happened with these "Spiderweb Florentines" that I saw in a cookbook.  They looked so pretty that I wanted to try them out!  Here's the picture I saw in the magazine:

Pretty cool lookin' huh?? Yup!  So I decided to try them out!

Here's the recipe for starters: 

1/2 cup pecans, toasted

2 Tablespoons old-fashioned rolled oats

6 Tablespoons unsalted butter

1/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup brown sugar

2 teaspoons honey

1 Tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

5 ounces bittersweet chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Pulse together pecans and oats in a food processor until finely ground.  

2. Melt butter in a small saucepan, then add sugars and honey and cook, stirring, until sugars are melted and mixture is simmering.

3. Remove from heat and stir in pecan mixture, flour, salt, and cinnamon.  Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate until firm.  (About 30min.)

4. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper and then place dough in amounts of 1 teaspoon on the parchment paper.  Leaving about 3 inches between each teaspoon.  THIS IS CRUCIAL!  

5. Bake at 350 degrees farenheight  for about 8 minutes; until golden.  

6. Allow to cool on wax paper for a few minutes after taking out of the oven.

7.  When all of the dough has been baked, melt chocolate in a saucepan and then pour into a re-sealable baggie.  Cut a small corner off of the baggie and make designs on your crisps using the baggie!  

8. Allow to cool and enjoy!

So after reading the recipe and seeing the lovely picture it seemed to be great!  So scooped out some dough onto the pan and popped them into the oven.... 

Not so pretty huh?? Welll... they all sort of multiplied in size and spread out... So tried again... This time spacing them out correctly and adding less dough (the original called for 2 teaspoons)!

They turned out WAY better!  Thank goodness!! 

They tasted pretty good too! Although they were VERY sweet; I think these would be best as a decorative piece on top of ice cream or some other kind of dessert.  They were almost too much to eat plain and were basically just caramel with chocolate.  

I had fun making these and it was quite the adventure!  Try them yourself, just remember to leave a BUNCH of room between each one on the pan!

Good luck! 

Questions? comments? Let me know! 

Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes

Good Morning people! Summer is BACK! Well, at least for a few days...
So usually I'm a routine-type person; I eat the same thing practically every morning for breakfast (soy milk with Bran cereal and a banana) and usually the same exact thing for lunch everyday as well (Tuna and Natural Cheetos with a greek yogurt), just in case you were wondering, Ha!  I know, it may sound boring to you; but dinner is my mix-up time! This morning however, I was craving something different.  So I decided to try a new recipe!

I originally found this recipe through Pinterest but did not use the whole recipe and tweaked it a bit.  Here is the original recipe that I found, note that their pictures look way better too!  
http://www.number-2-pencil.com/2012/06/25/sour-cream-cinnamon-roll-pancakes-with/ 

Here are the ingredients/directions if you want to try and make them yourself!

Cinnamon Sugar Filling

4 tablespoons of melted butter
1/4 cup of firmly packed dark brown sugar 

2 tablespoons of sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon

1. Combine all of the ingredients for the filling in a bowl and mix well.

2. After mixing, pour into a sealable plastic baggie and allow to sit a cool a bit while mixing up the pancake batter.

Pancakes

1 cup of all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons of sugar
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt
1 cup of sour cream
1/4 cup of milk
4 tablespoons of melted butter
1 egg, lightly beaten

1. Combine all ingredients for the pancakes in order of the list.

2. Mix very well together.

3. Heat a griddle or non-stick pan on the stove and begin to cook like you would regular pancakes.

4.  Before flipping the pancakes, cut one of the corners of off your cinnamon filling bag and swirl on top of the pancake.  

5.  When you flip over the pancake, the cinnamon filling will cook and harden a bit.

6. Finish cooking thoroughly and enjoy!

Mine definitely did not turn out as pretty as hoped.  But it was the first try and a test!  The flavor of these pancakes were really good, although they were very, very rich!! They were almost too buttery/sugary for me and I could only handle two.  The original recipe calls for a glaze on top, but I couldn't imagine putting anything else sweet on top of these pancakes.  

They were very good overall! I would probably make them again, or I would make the cinnamon glaze and put that into my regular pancake recipe next time I make it.

As for tomorrow's breakfast... Well, I'm sure you can guess what it's going to be! 

Happy Eating!

Green Belly

EW! A green belly!? I bet that's what you're thinking... You're thinking that either this is going to be a blog about someone getting sick from something they ate, or that someone has some terrible disease.  Actually, quite the opposite! I found this restaurant out in West Omaha; the name just happens to be Green Belly!  There's actually more meaning to the name than what your probably think.  Everything in the restaurant is said to be completely fresh and natural ingredients! The tables are even recycled! Crazy huh?? I thought they looked kind of cool, and I was excited to try their food!
I went one day for lunch; I was happy to find a restaurant that sold healthy foods!  I ordered a chicken pesto sandwich... Which seemed like it would be good; But then I was shocked that one of my choices for a side was either a bag of sun chips or potato chips... Wha?!!?  I just thought a "fresh" restaurant could do better than Subway sides... I also got a drink with my meal and decided on the usual; Diet Coke (which isn't really that healthy for you)!

I sat down at the table to enjoy my sandwich and was a little surprised to find out that the food wasn't all that impressive.  It tasted just like a typical sandwich that I could have made at home in about 10 minutes.  My guest diner that came along also was not very impressed.  As the meal continued and we began to take a few sips of our sodas I thought to myself, "man, this tastes watered down..." Sometimes though, it's just the diet pops that seem that way.  But as I kept drinking I asked my guest diner if hers tasted the same way... She replied, "I thought the same thing!!!"  SO, needless to say, they even tried to make the soda healthy by (we're guessing) watering it down... This did not please me one bit.

Maybe I just didn't order the right items here??? Or maybe it was just a bad day; but neither my guest diner or I was impressed and I don't think I will be returning to Green Belly.  I feel like their "green" and "healthy" ideas were good, but the outcome was jumbled and not up to par.
Let me know if you have tried Green Belly and had a different experience!  I would love to hear from you to see what your take on this restaurant is!  Here is the website link if you would like to check Green Belly out:

http://www.thegreenbelly.com/Greenbelly_Site/Greenbelly.html

Happy Eating!

Vivace: Contemporary Italian

                                     
I love trying new restaurants... It's one of my favorite things to do - especially when the food is great!  I was able to try this new place over the weekend and absolutely loved it!  If you're near the old market in Omaha sometime I would definitely recommend stopping by after a nice stroll around downtown.  I actually went on a Saturday after I visited the farmers market (which is really great as well)!  Here's a little more information about Vivace!

                                       

So from the outside Vivace doesn't look like that big of a restaurant. But looks can be deceiving!  This restaurant could probably seat about 100 people inside and then (as you can see) another 15ish outside.
I'm not going to lie, but when I first entered Vivace I was expecting the "typical" American-Italian food that we normally think about eating.... pizza, spaghetti, alfredo... etc.  They did have all of these things on the menu, but they were usually a bit spiced up from what you would consider a typical pizza.  I realized after dining here that Italian food is probably way more complex than we consider it to be.  It is nothing like Valentino's or Fazolis, surprise surprise.
I ordered a basil pesto with grilled chicken on top; which was amazing!! They serve complimentary garlic bread at each table at the beginning of the meal with some small chopped herbs and veggies to go on top, which was delicious!  With my meal and the garlic bread; I was fully full by the time I walked out of there!
I did not take any pictures while I was inside the restaurant because I thought that may have been a little awkward... It was a nicer restaurant haha.
In the money department, it was actually rather cheap, for the quality of food that we were served!  My bill ended up being about $15.00; With a soda and the meal; for quality food and service I would say that this is about right!  The restaurant was super clean and the waitress was fantastic!  I have to say, I would much rather go to this restaurant than Olive Garden just because they offered really unique dishes loaded with flavor!
I would say steer away from bringing your children to this restaurant.  It is a little nicer and I would reserve it just for adults.  I can also imagine that the atmosphere of downtown at night is mainly for adults anyways; maybe make it a date night or a "girls night out" restaurant!
I would give this restaurant 10 out of 10 meatballs.  I will definitely be going back sometime!
Here's their website if you want to check them out!

http://www.vivaceomaha.com/

Questions or comment?? Feel free to leave them!

Snickerdoodle Cookies

Ever have those days when you're just CRAVING something specific?!? You know exactly what you want, and you know that you want a lot of it!! That was totally me yesterday; I had gone on a 21 mile bike ride in the morning so my stomach was craving everything and anything I could get my hands on!  When I decided that I wanted to make snickerdoodle cookies I realized that I had never made them before!! WHAT?! I know, they are like one of the most famous type of cookies out there and I had never made them for myself! So I had to give them a try!
I found a recipe online (allrecipes.com) and thought I would test it out!

Here's the recipe I used:

Ingredients:                                        

1/2 cup butter softened
1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cup white sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 3/4 cup flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoons salt
2 Tablespoons white sugar
1 Tablespoon of cinnamon

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. In a mixer, cream together the butter, shortening, sugar, eggs, and vanilla.  Mix until smooth.
2. Mix in the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, and salt. Mix well.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the 2 Tablespoons of sugar with the 1 Tablespoons of cinnamon.
4.  Roll the dough into 1 inch balls and roll through the cinnamon and sugar mixture.
5. Place 2 inches apart on a lightly greased, nonstick pan.
6. Back for about 9 - 11 minutes.
7. Allow to cool slightly once out of the oven and enjoy!

Notes: Depending on how cinnamony you would like your cookies to be, you can either up or lower the amount of cinnamon to sugar there is in the mixture. (The original recipe called for 2T of sugar, and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon.)
Also, I would maybe make the cookies a bit larger; which would require more baking time; I have not tried this out yet, but mine were a bit smaller and became more crisp over time because there wasn't as much center area (if that makes sense).

Needless to say, these satisfied my craving and hunger for cookies and I will definitely make them again in  the future!!
Now get baking!
As always, hit me up with questions or comments you may have regarding any of the recipes or restaurants I have visited!

Lina's vs. Abelardo's Mexican Food

  VS. 

As you have probably noticed by now, Mexican food is my all time favorite style of cuisine!! I LOVE everything about Mexican food, the flavors, the colors, the spicy, the sweet... You name it!  One of my all time favorite Mexican restaurants is Lina's Mexican Restaurant.  They are always quick and fresh; and they are probably one of the cheaper restaurants out there that gives you both a good quality and quantity of food for your buck!  I also love how Lina's is open 24 hours a day!! I mean, who doesn't have 2am cravings for Mexican food?? 

BUT there is another restaurant that I have found to be very similar to Lina's that I would like to mention; Abelardo's Mexican Food.  Just like Lina's they are open 24 hours a day and offer a lot of the same menu items.  So I thought I would let the two battle each other out and see which one won my vote!! 

I will say that Abelardo's has a better selection of the "Mexican" drinks, where as Lina's just has the basic Horchata and Mexican Coca-Cola and fountain drinks!  Making the score Lina's: 0, Abelardo's: 1. 

Although Abelardo's has a good drink selection, they are lacking in the sauce department.  I absolutely LOVE Lina's sauces that they offer to their diners.  They have three sauces: Hot, medium, and mild.  I actually prefer the mild sauce at Lina's because of the flavor; and the hot isn't really all that hot!  At Abelardo's they didn't have quite the selection of sauces that I would have liked, and the sauce that I did try didn't have such a good flavor.  Score: Lina's: 1 - Abelardo's: 1... Looks like we have a tie!

Although, the final point will go to the restaurant that has the best grub.  As I mentioned before, they both have very similar menu options.   I love Lina's "Carne Asada Burrito," it tastes JUST like something you would eat in Mexico!  Last time I was at Abelardo's I tried the "Pollo Asado," I have to say I wasn't impressed.  The flavor was good, but the ingredients didn't seem as fresh... 

So, my verdict: Lina's wins!! 

You may have a different opinion, and I would love to hear it; Good or bad!  But I definitely recommend trying out Lina's Mexican Restaurant!  Get the Carne Asada Burrito and you will feel like you are chewing on a piece of Mexico! :) 

Websites: 

Lina's: http://www.linasmexicanfood.com/

Abelardo's:  http://abelardosmexicanfood.com/

Chili Chili Chili

Heyyyy... So... Is it Summer or Fall?? Because right now it sure feels like fall... I DON'T LIKE IT!! I need my Summer temps to at least stay around till the end of August!! But I guess that gives me an early excuse to make some Chili!! Right!?!? 

Yes, today I was in the mood for some Chili.... And it's been a looonnnggg time since I have found the time to try a new recipe; so today was the perrrrfect day for it!  But, even though I had a recipe I found that I couldn't stick to it... I kinda deviated... Okay, that's a lie... I took a complete U-turn!  So, this is a spin off of a recipe I found on the internet... But really nothing like it! lol Enjoy!

Northern Chili

2 Red Bell Peppers

1 Serrano Pepper

4 teaspoons Olive Oil

1 1/2 cup chopped onion

2 lbs. Lean Ground Beef

3 Cans Great Northern Beans

2 Cans Fire Roasted Tomatoes

20 oz. Tomato Sauce

6 Cloves Garlic (Or 1/8 teaspoon powder per clove)

15oz. Cream of Celery

1/2 cup water

2 teaspoons Cumin Powder

1 1/2 Tablespoons Chili Powder

1 teaspoon Paprika

1 teaspoon Salt

Instructions:

1. Brown the meat in a skillet.  After browning drain excess fat from skillet.  While the meat is browning, saute onions and peppers until softened.  Combine the meat and veggies into one pot.

2. Add the rest of the ingredients to the mixture and cook for about 1 hour.

3. Enjoy!

That was easy right??!? Although, the only bad thing about Chili is that it tastes better on the second day usually, so if you have extra time the day before you wish to serve this meal, try making it the day before and refrigerating overnight.  Then you can just re-heat it the following day when you're ready to serve it! 

FYI, this tastes great with cornbread (recipe coming soon)!!