Simple Everyday Food

9/11/13 this week in review

Posted by :Amy On : September 11, 2013

1. Today marks the 12th anniversary of 9/11/2001 when our nation came under attack while we watched in horror as the Twin Towers in New York City crumbled to the ground. I think every American remembers vividly exactly where they were and what they were doing when they first heard the news – I was a high school student in Maryland when teachers rolled in the TV to show us what was happening a few states north of us. Even though it’s been 12 years already, I still can’t bear seeing images from that day without trying to hold back tears and getting that tight knot in my chest.

9.11.01. As we rebuild our lives and move on with our daily routines, we will never forget. Never.

(photo source)

(photo source )

Okay, now let’s talk about some light-hearted things….

2. Remember a few months back Lay’s had America vote for their favorite new potato chip flavor – Sriracha, cheesy garlic bread, and chicken and waffles? Well in case you didn’t hear, the cheesy garlic bread flavor won, and now Canada is asking their people to vote for a new favorite as well: creamy garlic Caesar, maple moose, grilled cheese, and perogy. I think it’d be a toss-up between the perogy and creamy garlic Caesar if I had to choose… which one do you think you’d like to try?

(photo source)

3. I’ve probably said this before, but FRIENDS is perhaps my favorite TV show ever, and I chuckled to myself when I saw this article. So many of them are so true!

When I talk to my friends who I know also watches the series, we use phrases like “Oh. My. God!” and “Hey, how you doin’?”
We’ve even done the Ross/Monica double fist-bump a few times.
I can also recite certain parts of certain episodes word for word.
Brian and I have called each other our “lobsters” before…
…And we’ve definitely used “PIVOT!!!” a few times around the house moving furniture.
And yes, I always clap four times right on cue during the opening theme song.

Does all that make me a nerd? Probably. But I’m sure you’ve figured that out already… if not, then I guess it’s too late to hide it now… #NerdForLife

4. My best friend on college got married this past weekend! Congratulations again Nicky and Matt – you guys are totally made for each other :)

5. It’s not even October yet, but stores are already pushing all the Halloween candies and decorations out on their shelves. On our latest shopping trip, I found these and just couldn’t resist….

They turned out to be pretty good – if you like candy corn. I can finally have a whole thing of Oreos to myself without having to fight Brian over it :)

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chipotle hot corn dip

Posted by :Amy On : September 8, 2013

Category: Appetizers/Munchies

Tags:appetizer, corn, dip

Today I’ve got another football game-day-friendly appetizer for you guys (because who likes to eat the same game day foods week after week?!).

One of Brian’s favorite game day foods is nachos with cheese. Whether he’s at the game or watching the game at home, he always has to have tortilla chips with some sort of artifically-flavored-factory-processed liquid cheese to go with it. I, on the other hand, am not a big fan of this liquid cheese thing. There’s just something wrong about eating cheese that can sit in a glass jar for years and still remain liquid-y.

Ugh. Yuck.

So this week, we’ve gone fancy in the dip department. Rather than cheap, processed liquid cheese, I made a hot chipotle corn dip. It’s got corn, green chiles, two kinds of cheeses, mayo, garlic powder, and chipotle peppers for a kick. It’s creamy and spicy, and because it’s homemade and served fresh out of the oven, it elevates the traditional game day nachos up a notch. If you’re big on spicy foods, you can add a bit more of the chipotle peppers. This recipe can also easily be turned into a kid-friendly appetizer by eliminating the hot peppers altogether.

chipotle hot corn chip

2013-08-25 18:20:23

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Ingredients

2 cups shredded chedder cheese
1 cup shredded Montery Jack cheese
2 tablespoons chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, diced (or to desired spiciness)
One 4 oz can diced green chiles, undrained
1/2 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
One 15 oz can of corn, drained
Additional toppings as desired (diced tomatoes, diced onions, cilantro, green onions...)
Tortilla chips

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a medium-sized bowl, combine the two cheeses, chipotle peppers, green chiles, mayonnaise, garlic powder, and corn. Stir until combined. Pour into two 18-oz oven safe baking dishes or one big dish.
Bake for 20 minutes or until brown and bubbly.
Top with additional toppings, if desired. Serve hot with tortilla chips.

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from Gina Marie's Kitchen

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

Wordpress Recipe Plugin by Recipe Card

After it gets brown and bubbly from the oven, you can top it with all sorts of toppings. I chose to keep it simple and only added diced tomatoes and green onions to mine. I’m sure some diced onions, cilantro, and more cheese would be pretty dang good, too.

It’s perfect for when you have a crowd over for game day – I divided ours up into two-18oz portions, one for me and one for Brian. If you have a couple friends over, you can even divide the recipe up into several ramekins or mini serving dishes so each guest can have their own!

Enjoy!

Recipe from Gina Marie’s Kitchen

© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission. If you want to republish this recipe, please re-write the recipe in your own words, or kindly link back to this post for the recipe.

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9/4/13 this week in review

Posted by :Amy On : September 4, 2013

Category: Life's Randoms

Tags:this week in review

1. I found this in the bathroom the other day at work… not quite sure if someone “forgot” it there, or if someone was drinking it while on the toilet.

2. Brian and I made our annual trip to the Minnesota State Fair last week. You can read about my experience here. As always, it was a lot of fun, and even though I didn’t get to eat everything on my list, I did discover a few new favorite.

3. Monday was Labor Day, and Labor Day is when summer unofficially “ends”. I always have mixed emotions around this time of year – I love summer, but I also love fall. Summer means longer days, hot sunny weather, slushies, smoothies, grilling, the smell of a campfire, going out for ice cream after dinner, rolling down the windows in the car, shorts, tank tops, flip flops…..

But with autumn comes jeans & hoodies, scarves, sweatpants, Crockpot meals, apple pies, fall scents, leaves turning colors, falling leaves, apple picking, cooler weather, the anticipation of Thanksgiving, and sleeping with the windows open. However, with the arrival of autumn also means that winter is just that much closer. As much as I love fall, I hate that it means snow and cold weather will be arriving in a few short months. I’m determined to go pumpkin picking and carve my very first pumpkin this year! I also have a list of things I want to make this fall too – apple butter and pumpkin desserts are just a few things on there.

4. School also started yesterday for a lot of kids – I had fun scrolling through my Facebook feed and seeing all the back-to-school pictures. Back from where I grew up, back-to-school pictures were unheard of. The first day back to school was never a big deal – maybe it’s because kids pretty much are studying and learning year round that the start of a school year seemed like “just another day”. Even though I’ve lived here for about 12 years now, it’s still fun to compare the different traditions and cultures between the two countries when it comes to education.

5. One of my best friends Nicky is getting married this weekend! Today we celebrated her bachelorette party by going to Stella’s Fish Cafe in the Uptown area. I had the Parmesan crusted halibut with mashed potatoes and asparagus. Lets just say the garlic mashed potatoes were my favorite part of the meal….

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soft and chewy coconut lime sugar cookies

Posted by :Amy On : August 31, 2013

Category: Desserts

Tags:coconut, cookies, dessert, lime

I’ve been on a real huge “lime” kick this summer. I’ve been adding it in drinks…

In main dishes…

In appetizers…

…And in an assortment of baked goods such as bars…

(okay, these are key lime pie bars, but still close enough to “limes”)

Donuts…

And now… cookies!

I’m a big fan of coconut and coconut flavored anything, so even though the recipe says to toast 1/2 cup of shredded coconut, I “accidentally” spilled a little bit more onto the baking sheet…. oops :)

If you’ve never toasted coconut before, you really have to stand right by the oven to keep an eye on it. It was my first time toasting coconut – I set the timer for 5 minutes, and when I peaked at it after 2-2.5 minutes, they were already brown and on the way to being burnt! The second time I only had them in there for 1.5 minutes and they turned out way better.

Before you put the cookie dough balls into the oven, slightly press the dough balls down with a few fingers to flatten them out a bit. This allows the cookie to spread out a bit more as they cook in the oven, resulting in a nice round flat cookie complete with little crinkles and cracks on the top :)

soft and chewy coconut lime sugar cookies

2013-08-24 20:56:37

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Ingredients

2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, at room temperature
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 egg
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
Zest of one large lime
3 tablespoons fresh squeezed lime juice
½ cup unsweetened shredded coconut
½~1 cup sugar for rolling cookies

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
First, toast your coconut. Place the shredded coconut on a baking sheet. Spread it out as much as possible. Place in oven and toast for 1-2 minutes, keeping an eye on it the entire time - they can burn fast! Once done, remove from oven and let cool.
In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
In an electric mixer bowl, beat the butter and sugar on medium~medium high until smooth and fluffy. Add in the egg, vanilla extract, lime zest, and lime juice. Mix well.
Slowly add in the flour mixture and toasted coconut while mixing under medium speed until everything is thoroughly combined.
Drop tablespoon sized dough balls into the sugar and place onto the baking sheet, about 1.5" apart. Gently press the dough balls down with your fingers so they're slightly flat. Bake for 8-9 minutes. Remove from oven and cool on cookie sheet for 2-3 minutes, then remove cookies onto wired cooling rack and cool completely.
Makes about 4 dozen.

By Simple Everyday Food

Adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

Simple Everyday Food https://www.simpleeverydayfood.com/

Wordpress Recipe Plugin by Recipe Card

These cookies are light, chewy, soft, with a hint of lime and coconut – it’s “summer” in a cookie! The coconut flavor isn’t super pronounced, but as you chew on every bite, you get hints of coconut with the shredded coconut flakes inside. If you really want the coconut flavor to pop, adding a few drops of coconut extract wouldn’t hurt either. The lime zest gives it a slight tart flavor which really balances out the sugar cookie itself. Nothing is too sweet, too overpowering. It’s a delicate balance in flavors.

I even had a little visitor during my photoshoot :)

Even Brian, who complained I didn’t make something “more traditional” (a.k.a. peanut butter cookies), ended up having at least 5 or 6 as they sat on the counter to cool. I don’t think he was as disappointed with my choice of cookie in the end… he even admitted that they were pretty good, even though I was secretly hoping he wouldn’t like it so I could have all of it! Mwahahaha!

Enjoy!

Recipe adapted from The Girl Who Ate Everything

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8/29/13 2013 minnesota state fair

Posted by :Amy On : August 29, 2013

Category: Life's Randoms

Tags:others on the side

Warning: lots and lots of pictures ahead!

Today we had our annual visit to the Minnesota State Fair! When we go to the Fair, I don’t buy any merchandise. I don’t go look at the exhibits. I don’t even go look at all the cute animals. My goal for the Fair has always been eating, and eating only.

I’ve been waiting for this day the entire month of August, so much so that not only did we buy our discounted tickets (and our Blue Ribbon Book) from work a few months ago, I also made a list of foods I wanted to eat this year.

Now this isn’t your ordinary list, you guys. First I went on the official State Fair website and scrolled through the entire list of food vendors. I found all the foods I would like to try and added them to my list, and I wrote down their location. Lastly, they’re also organized in roughly three categories: new foods this year I’d like to try, our regulars, and those in the Blue Ribbon Book I want to have, complete with their corresponding coupon number. And if that’s not OCD enough, I typed it up on Microsoft Word… and the list ended up to be an entire page long. #NerdAlert!

Here’s a complete list (with pictures) of things we’ve had today.

We started out with the portobello mushroom bites from Minnesota Wine Country

And just like every other year, we got some cheese curds from the Mouse Trap in the Food Building

I tried out this year’s new food – Comet corn from the Blue Moon Dine-In Theater. These are basically caramel corn made with liquid nitrogen. They were good – super crunchy and fun to eat. The liquid nitrogen smoke just makes it that much cooler.

Walleye cakes from Giggle’s Campfire Grill were also on the agenda. Walleye, smoked salmon, wild rice with dipping sauce. Yum.

Jalapeno cheese corn dogs, another new Fair food this year. I was pleasantly surprised at how good these were. It’s a jalapeno and cheese infused corn dog dipped in spicy batter, served with sliced jalapenos and cheese sauce. It wasn’t too spicy, but had enough of a noticeable kick to make it tastier than a regular corn dog. I probably could’ve went back for another one. I’m glad I didn’t though.

It was a hot day and all I wanted was ice cream…. we started out with an orange creamsicle float that was uhhhhmazing!

Then some sweet corn ice cream that I had to have again this year…

…and we ended the day with some more ice cream! Izzy’s, an ice cream place owned and operated locally, came out with a new flavor this year for the fair – mini donut batter ice cream!

Mini donut chunks + cinnamon + ice cream. Oh. My. Gah! Hands down, best ice cream at the Fair. I’d like a whole pint of that to-go, please.

I think I’ve had enough ice cream to last me a while though.

I wasn’t brave enough to try these though. I’ve never had Spam before, and Spam curds just don’t sound all that appetizing at the time. Maybe next year…

Not only did we eat new foods this year, we also did something we’ve never done before at the Fair – we sat in the audience in the Kare 11 Barn during the 5 p.m. news!

Julie Nelson and Randy Shaver – two of my favorites!

And I got to meet the cardboard version of Sven!

When we came home and watched the news, we spotted ourselves in the audience.

Yep, I sure looked pretty embarrassed in that last frame. Maybe going to the Kare Barn to sit through a live recording wasn’t such a good idea after all……

So I ended up not eating everything on my list, but maybe that’s better for our wallets and my body. I’m pretty sure I could’ve crossed off a few more things if we had stayed another couple hours more. I’m already looking forward to next year’s State Fair! I wonder what kind of new foods they’re going to create…… :)

© Simple Everyday Food. All images & content are copyright protected. Please do not use any of my images without prior permission.

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