(In other news, my mom bought me a HUGE amount of loose-leaf "chai" that for some reason has orange peel in it and I very much do not want to drink it. But it might be acceptable ground up in sugar cookies or chocolate cake or something- Earl Grey cookies are a thing that came up a lot when I googled "cooking with tea" to try to find a way to get rid of it, and EG is also black tea with citrus. I will hopefully get back with an update on the situation soon.)
Steak isn't on my menu, but I'm considering doing something similar with chicken too, yeah. Maybe see if I can find a decent orange chicken recipe somewhere that wouldn't be hurt by the amount of cinnamon in this stuff.
I made vanilla chocolate chip cupcakes with chocolate buttercream. I didn't use the frosting recipe in the first link because I didn't have heavy cream, and I didn't feel like going to the store. The frosting is melting off the cupcakes but otherwise I think it came out good. http://veronikaskitchen.com/recipe/vanilla-chocolate-chip-cupcakes-chocolate-buttercream-frosting/ http://www.twosisterscrafting.com/best-chocolate-buttercream-frosting/
If youve got room in your freezer you can save your frosting. Although a little melted frosting never hurt anyone -w-
I didn't cook anything today, but I DID go to my parents' house and scan a bunch of recipes out of my mom's cookbooks for my own use. Hopefully having them easily available will aid my ability to feed myself in a way that involves actual nutritional value.
Update: cookies came out okay! I used a plain vanilla icebox cookie recipe for the base and added a tablespoon to half the recipe with the other half as a control. Definitely going to want to up the amount of tea next time, but they taste a lot better than... making tea with it.
not technically cooking, but I just discovered that if you have browning, mushy bananas, instead of tossing them because you are (I am) too lazy to make banana bread, you can peel, saran wrap, and freeze them. They turn into delicious popsicles, the same consistency and sweetness as an ice cream bar, but honestly better imo
That reminded me of my go-to recipe for using bananas! Banana-applesauce muffins. Good for soluble fiber and easy breakfast. I like to microwave them for about 12 seconds so they're warm. 1 3/4 cups flour 1/4 cups sugar 1 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 tsp cinnamon 1 tsp nutmeg 1 cup mashed banana (usually 2 bananas) 2 eggs or substitutes 1/2 cup applesauce 1/2 tsp vanilla extract Preheat oven to 375F and prepare a muffin tin (lightly oil or spray with cooking spray). Mix dry ingredients + sugar in a medium-large bowl. Mash bananas in another bowl, then mix in eggs (or substitutes), applesauce, and extract. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix to form batter. It'll be pretty thick and sticky. Spoon roughly 1/4 cup batter into each muffin divot, then divide the rest evenly if there is any. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes; at 17, mine are usually done, but it depends on your oven/how much batter you used per muffin. Note: the original recipe called for 1/2 cup of sugar, which I reduced, but you might want to increase it a little bit if you like sweeter muffins. I also usually leave out the nutmeg because we don't have any and it's fine. They end up having a pretty mild banana flavor and they're not as dense/intense as other banana breads I've had. They keep pretty well in a Ziploc bag.
If you have a couple extra spoons to spare, you can dip them in melted chocolate and (if you like) chopped nuts, and then lay them out on parchment paper to freeze. If the chocolate doesn't want to stick, it may help to freeze the bananas before dipping them. My sibling and I used to make chocolate banana pops like that all the time as kids :)
I have made banana bread! no pictures and haven't tasted it yet, but I think it might be okay, if vaguely lumpy double points for finishing it while being menaced by a wasp
Protip: do not trust a vegan cookie recipe that doesn't have anything substituted for eggs. I tried to make some and while they tasted okay, they had the texture of wet sand.
