After the success of my lasanga “cupcakes,” I decided to keep with the savory baking trend and give beer bread a try. I’ve had beer bread on my list of things to make for awhile but just haven’t gotten around to it. So, I took advantage of some extra time I had on Friday night to give my oven a nice workout (after completing my own, of course).
I’ve read here and there that for those who actually make bread themselves (meaning from scratch, adding the yeast, kneading it, etc.), it can be pretty tedious and a bit nerve wracking while you wait to let it rise. By using beer, though, you skip the requirement of kneading and setting. Since I’m pretty impatient, this worked out very well for me. While the house was filling with the sweet smells of fresh baked bread, my head started spinning with all the possibilities of flavor variations that I could do with such a simple recipe. Dark beer and chocolate? Yes. Summer beer and fruit? Oh yeah.
Quick ‘n Easy Beer Bread – makes 1 loaf –
Ingredients: 3 cups of all purpose flour 4 1/2 tsp baking powder 3 tsp salt 3 Tbsp of sugar 12 oz. your favorite beer
Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees 2. Combine dry ingredients, and slowly mix in beer until fully incorporated 3. Spoon the mixture into a greased bread/loaf pan 4. Bake for 1 hour
I first just have to wish my wonderful fiancé a very happy birthday! He’s going to be totally embarrassed, but it’s okay, he deserves a little extra blog love today.
Not only does he always find a way to make me laugh…
He’s always there to take pictures of my foodie creations…
He makes sure I’m running when I say I will, and resting when I need to…
He’s a big kid at heart just like me…
And most importantly, he’s my best friend!
And now on to the giveaway! Thanks so much for all the entries, it was fun to read why/how you like your tea! Courtesy of Random.org, the winner is Lisa of Cow Spots and Tales!
If you can e-mail me your address [ foodosaurusrex @ gmail . com ] I’ll have your goodies on their way!
As soon as I saw this recipe on Baking Serendipity, I sent it over to my fiancé and we knew it needed to be recreated as soon as possible. I figured enjoying them with some Shipyard Pumpkin Head and watching the VMA’s on Sunday would be perfect. I got my fiancé in the kitchen to not only take pictures but also help me which was a nice treat!
The recipe calls for kettle cooked chips, so I grabbed a bag of Wegman’s jalapeno flavored chips for some extra kick, since you know, it’s never enough. Aside from having to crush up the saltines and chips, the recipe was pretty easy. I even somehow managed to get through slicing an entire yellow onion without crying!
They were super crunchy and actually really filling. While they aren’t the best for you, baking them in the oven in some olive oil is much better than deep frying them, and a nice homemade alternative! So make these next time you’re craving some bar food but would prefer to sip some beer in your sweatpants on your couch!
Oven Fried Onion Rings recipe adapted from Brown Eyed Baker
Ingredients:
1 yellow onion
1/2 cup all purpose flour, divided
1/2 cup milk, room temperature
1 egg, room temperature
dash chili powder
hearty pinch of ground black pepper
30 saltine crackers, crushed
3 cups kettle-cooked potato chips, crushed
extra virgin olive oil
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Crush saltine crackers and kettle-cooked potato chips. Mix in a shallow bowl.
3. In a separate, shallow bowl. Combine egg and milk. Whisk in 1/4 cup flour and chili powder and black pepper. Place remaining 1/4 cup flour in a third shallow bowl.
4. Slice onion into 1/2″ slices. Separate the rings and discard any of the very small pieces.
5. At this point your oven should be preheated. Drizzle two baking sheets liberally with extra virgin olive oil and bake for about 8 minutes, or until just before the oil is smoking.
6. While the baking sheets are in the oven, dip onion in flour, then liquid, coating it well, and finally the crushed chips and crackers. Set aside. Repeat with each piece of onion.
7. Remove baking sheets from the oven and tip to coat evenly with oil. Place onions on baking sheets and bake for 15 minutes at 450 degrees, flipping halfway. Serve immediately.
While we’re slowly but surely coming down from our 90+ degree summer days, it’s clear that everyone has fall on their minds. I can’t begin to tell you how many blog posts I’ve read within the last two weeks boasting delicious pumpkin recipes and fun foods including the oh so yummy fall flavor. Even though it’s only the third week in September, cool crisp weather and warm flavors are definitely on their way.
For me, fall usually means beautiful colored leaves (that need to be raked, boo), the perfect clothing weather (not too many layers, but just the right amount), perfectly ripe apples, and of course, pumpkin! To be honest, I wasn’t always a huge pumpkin fan. Matter of fact, for a large part of my life I completely avoided it. Yup, that’s right – I turned down pumpkin pie (gasp!). However, last year, my taste buds seemed to change, and I hopped right on the pumpkin loving bandwagon. It started innocently with a Pumpkin Spice Latte from Starbucks, and continued from there – pumpkin bread, pumpkin brownies, pumpkin french toast, pumpkin beer… you get the point.
So on Sunday, I started my pumpkin fix of the season off right – the first stop was to get a pumpkin spice latte from Starbucks! I can’t wait to get myself more of these badboys.
From there, my fiancé and I headed to a local wine store that has a pretty decent beer selection as well, and picked ourselves up TWO types of pumpkin beer! First, we grabbed a six pack of Shipyard’s Pumpkin Head, which we both had for the first time last year and loved. We also grabbed a four pack of Weyerbacher’s Imperial Pumpkin Ale, which neither of us had tried before. The store actually had a few other options (such as Dogfish Head’s Punkin Ale), so we’re looking forward to heading back after we finish these two.
Even though both of the beers are pumpkin flavored, they are definitely distinctive in their own rights. The Shipyard has a strong cinnamon flavor making it sweet, while the Weyerbacher has a more nutmeg flavor, making it a little more savory. I really enjoyed them both, and even though it’s Monday morning, I could definitely go for another one right about now!
Aside from drinking pumpkin, I have a ton of recipes up my sleeve courtesy of fellow bloggers that I need to try. Everything from pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin macaroni and cheese, pumpkin overnight oats, to pumpkin smoothies. It seems like pumpkin puree with some spices can really be added to almost anything, and I’m more than okay with that.
As you all know, early last week I had the opportunity to give away a pretty sweet prize pack thanks to the folks over at Hormel & Dinty Moore.
Though I didn’t have many entrants, the decision was hard! Some entries were funny, others reminisced about childhood memories, and others were yummy recipes. But, as promised, I made my decision after the contest closed last night (Sunday) at 9pm EDT.
And the winner is: John “The Legend” not to be confused with John Legend. The selection is two-fold. One, his recipe actually sounds really good, and I’m tempted to make it. Two, he just so happens to be my co-worker, and I know for a fact eats the most ridiculous things for dinner, but is just starting out on his own culinary adventure. What type of ridiculous things, may you ask? A jar of peanut butter. Or a box of animal crackers. Oh, the life of a bachelor. So, I figured John could use it the most!
So John, all I need from you is your address where you’d like the Hormel goodies shipped, and they’ll be on their way!
I’m excited to announce I have my first ever give-away!
Thanks to yesterday’s post about Hormel Chili, the wonderful company has decided to offer up the following to one lucky reader for their 75th anniversary :
· Dinty Moore®/Hormel® Chili 75th anniversary t-shirt
· 1 can Dinty Moore® Hearty Meals® beef stew
· 1 can Hormel® Chili no beans
· 1 can Hormel® Chili Master™ chili
All you need to do is comment on the following question – What’s your favorite way to eat Hormel Chili?! I’ll be choosing a winner by Sunday 5/9 at 9pm EDT – so get commenting !!
Earlier this week, I ordered myself a cupcake themed cooking apron. I’ve always wanted one, but never knew where to get one, exactly what print I wanted, and what a good price was. To me, picking out a style and print was the hardest part. They’re almost like scrubs for foodies!
This particular apron is from Flirty Aprons. They were having a sale earlier this week, so I picked up this guy:
How cute is that! It’s the “Frosted Cupcake” design and is currently $32.95. And, if you order before 2pm EST, they’ll ship it out USPS that day. I ordered it on Monday morning, and got it today (Wednesday)!
I’m planning on breaking it out for my kitchen endeavors on Friday; I’m making jalapeño crab cakes for my fiancé [with a side of Cupcake Vineyards wine]! I definitely think this will add some pizazz to my daily kitchen tasks… not to mention I don’t need to worry as much about ruining my clothes, since I’m always all over the place and a mess!
I know this blog is mostly dedicated to food, but after picking up running this past year, I’ve noticed just how many people are into both food AND running! Maybe that’s because in order to eat everything that’s delicious out there, some type of serious exercise needs to be involved? At any rate, through good ‘ole Twitter, I’ve been able to connect with a bunch of people that share a love for eating and running! So because of that, I’m thinking about incorporating some of my running into this blog. But we’ll see.
Anyway, I finished my FIRST half marathon today!! The race was a first annual Rutgers University UNITE 1/2 marathon, sponsored by CGI Racing. We started on Busch campus by the Sonny Werblin Recreation Center, and ran through New Brunswick and Piscataway. It was so funny to start at that particular location, because from the age of 12 to 18 (and then after to cheer for my sister), I spent countless weekends at that location in the pool. Rutgers hosted all of the big swim meets during the winter season, and pretty much all of them during the summer season because they had two short course pools that converted into one long course pool. But enough about swimming, this post is for running!
Before the start of the race!
Today was actually pretty chilly. Both my fiancé and I were completely clueless as to outfit choices. I went with some cotton/spandex mix capris from Old Navy, a technical shirt I got from a 5k race last summer, and a throw-away long sleeve shirt from high school. Within two miles I had ripped off my long sleeve shirt, and was really glad I hadn’t worn any more layers. There was some wind here and there, and a mix of sun and shade, so I was pretty comfortable the entire race (temperature wise, that is!).
The first mile was a little difficult. When I had signed up for the race, I put myself down to finish between 2:16 and 2:30. I really had NO idea how I was going to do, because it was before I started training, and had never raced more than 4 miles. By the end of our training, though, I had completed 10 miles in 1 hour and 40 minutes, and realized that even if I kept that comfortable pace the whole time, I’d crush my goal. So I definitely lined myself up with a slower pack – just behind the 10 minute mile pacers. My first mile wound up being just under 10, because I spent most of it dodging in and out of slower runners, and trying to make room for others passing. The race had over 3,000 entrants!
From there, I kind of hit a stride for the next 5 miles or so. I kept a just over 9 minute mile pace for the first half. I really felt great those first 6 miles. I remember thinking to myself “I can totally do this again! This is awesome!” The course had four spots where you pass runners in front/behind you, and I got to see my fiancé TWICE! The second time we high-fived. That was a really great motivator. He was flying through the course, and apparently to his standards I was too! [You can read his race re-cap over at IHateFun.net]
My legs started to get a little tight after those 6 miles, but I didn’t really start to feel it until about mile 9. Holy moly. My hamstrings were NOT having fun. After mile 10 I had to tell myself that I only had a 5k left. But to be honest, I was a little scared, in our training we had never gone over 10 miles, so I really had no idea what to expect. I wound up slowing down a bit between mile 11 and 12. I realized that the end was near, and I didn’t want to look like one of those people coming down the finish line that you can tell is trying SO hard to move their legs, but just aren’t going. I ran down the main drag of the College Avenue campus (on College Ave.) and picked it up about half way, realizing I really had no more than a quarter mile left. I felt like I was going to puke, but I knew it was almost over.
Right at the 13 mile marker I saw my mom jump out from the crowd, and then my dad. Now these two went to almost every single swim meet of my 10 year swimming career (high school and college), and since I started running have been at most of those races too. It’s really great seeing them on the sidelines or up in the bleachers. My mom threw her hands up in the air, screaming for me, so I humored her and did the same back. It really was that final push I needed to give it what little I had left to get through that finish. The clock barely passed 2:03 when I finally made it to get my medal and a water. After looking up my time online, I officially finished at 2:02:15! I kept an average of a 9:20 pace!
Check me out finishing here [I’m in the bright blue and black]! (My fiance finished about 15 minutes before I did, so he was kind enough to video for me on his iPhone!):
I know it might sound a bit ridiculous since it was my first one, but man, if only I had known how close I was to breaking 2 hours, maybe I would have pushed it a little more somewhere between mile 10 and 13. My competitiveness is a bit much at times. I’ve been able to keep it completely internal, but it’s something that I focus and obsess over when I have goals in my head. I’m going to spend the next two weeks analyzing this race, trying to figure out what I could have done differently. But at the same time, I’m really not sure if I could have done anything else. At least I know for next time, I’m really not going to hurt until that 10-ish mile point, so I need to prepare my body for it.
After the race, my fiancé and I hobbled home to get ready to go out to lunch with my family as a celebration. We went to Red Robin, and I devoured a Santa Fe burger. After that, we came home and napped for an hour or two. The combination of being up at 6am and running 13.1 miles followed by huge hamburgers made it impossible to stay awake. Now, thanks to the Rita’s Italian Ice’s “Birthday club” we’re going to head over there to get some ice, since we have a coupon from my fiancé’s birthday!
I really think I’m going to do another one of these badboys. I don’t know when, though, since I still can’t really walk. I’m sure tomorrow will feel great! I’m totally wearing my medal to work, though. Let’s see if anyone notices 🙂
Here’s the breakdown of my race – 7 miles – 1:01:41 (8:49 pace) 10 miles – 1:29:37 (8:58 pace) <– that’s over 11 minutes faster than my training pace! I did 11 miles in that time! Last 5k – 32:39 (10:32) – YIKES! I told you I slowed down! Final time – 2:02:15 (9:20 pace)
I just want to say a special thanks to all of the people that sent over well-wishes before my race… it really meant a lot to see such support from co-workers, former teammates, friends, family, and fellow running and/or foodie bloggers!!
Four years ago today, I lost a very close friend of mine. It’s hard to believe it’s been that long since my Scranton Swimming teammate was taken away from us. In 2006, I was a sophomore in college having the time of my life. Spring break rolled around, and everyone was excited to head home to be with their home friends and families, or to hit up Spring Break destinations.
As a senior at The University of Scranton, Brendan Giblin headed down to Panama City Florida with some friends. Only two days into spring break, on a Thursday night/Friday morning, while stumbling home from the bar, he was struck by not one, but two drunk drivers.
I find it apt to remember him today here, because I remember exactly what I was doing when I found out – eating. I was sitting at my computer, eating a tuna and apple sandwich (sounds weird, but SO good!) when a friend called, recounting the horrific story. When they got to the part where Brendan had been hit, I remember saying “He’s ok, RIGHT?”, imagining him somewhere in a hospital bed, beaten and bruised. In that moment, my whole world came crashing down. I remember screaming for my mom, hysterically crying, and not knowing where to go from there. I tried to call everyone I knew to make sure they had found out.
I spent the rest of spring break trying to wrap my head around a concept that I had up until that point, never really encountered. The idea of having to say goodbye to a dear friend that I had become so close with was something my 19 year old self just couldn’t understand.
My teammates, friends, and I spent the rest of that 2006 spring semester honoring Brendan’s life. Some of us even went so far as to get tattoos in his memory. The swim team went ahead and purchased a record board in his name in 2008, and every year after his death, there’s a memorial golf outing to celebrate his life and give back to communities he loved so much.
There isn’t a day that goes by I don’t think about Brendan. I know that’s the case for anyone that had their lives touched by him. So for me, this is just another way to honor him at 4 years gone. Love & miss, biffy.
Since today is absolutely gorgeous (sunny and about 65 degrees) one of my co-workers and I decided we needed to get out of the office for a bit. So on a trip to the bank, we stopped at Subway to grab some lunch – our frozen meals weren’t cutting it. Ideally we would have sat outside and enjoyed our sandwiches, but only having a limited time to eat it, we ate inside.
I was never really a fan of Subway; I always felt they skimped on their meats, cheeses, and toppings, and their 6 inch subs were small; only a full 12 inch sub would ever statisfy me – and that’s A LOT of bread, and money! I was a much bigger fan of Quiznos. However, after reading the nutritional information between the two, and their $5 foot long promotion, I gave them a second chance.
Every time I go to Subway, I get a “Veggie Delight,” without fail. I like this option because I can load up my sandwich with a ton of veggies, and not worry about the somewhat mysterious (and always lacking) meats. Plus, it’s A LOT healthier. Today, I got every single veggie they have available; from sweet peppers and cucumbers to olives and jalepenos. I topped it off with some provelone cheese and fat free honey mustard dressing, all on 9 grain whole wheat.
Since it’s a foot long, I’m able to eat half during lunch, and the other half later in the day, when I get my mid-afternoon hunger pangs. So, for five dollars and change, I get lunch and an afternoon snack! Plus, it isn’t one of those meals that you’re stuffed, and then starving a mere 20 minutes later.
I know most people feel that if you’re going to go with a sandwich, you might as well go to a deli. And I completely agree for things such as turkey, ham, Italian sandwiches, roasted eggplant, etc. But for a simple veggie sandwich, I think Subway does it right. It’s completely customizable with really fresh ingredients. All of the vegetables have a nice crunch and flavor to them. It’s quite impressive, actually.
Going with the veggie option allows me to satiate the “vegetarian wannabe” side of me. But we all know I’m simultaneously craving a juicy cheeseburger. I think I have a bit of food identity confusion. But that’s alright; I’m still getting the best of both worlds!
So if you’re ever in the market for a veggie packed sandwich, head to Subway. You’ll have a fresh, low calorie lunch that could last you all day!
Foodosaurus Rex 