Portabella Patties done easy

Sometimes you just don't have the time, or just simply aren't in the mood to prepare a meal. Just like everyone else there are days when I get home and have absolutely no interest in getting out my knife and cutting board, chopping up the ingredients, and making something to eat. So to avoid this I have a few things sitting in the freezer that I prepared previously. This one is portabella mushroom burgers.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

2 large portabella mushroom caps

1 tsp garlic salt

1/2 tsp pepper

Prep:

So to start I get two large portabella mushroom caps. I have found that two caps is just about the perfect amount of mushrooms for one pound of ground beef. I first dice the mushrooms up. This time i used my food processor to save on work, unfortunately I just about turned the mushrooms into a puree. I just need to find the correct sized pieced of mushroom and settings on my food processor to get proper dicing.

Mushroom puree :(

I then throw on my mix of spices. While making this recipe I really did not have many options for spices. In the future I hope to have more to experiment with as the original portabella patty recipe calls for thyme and onion powder, both of which I had to make do without. After putting on the spices I combined it all together.

Look at all those spices

Doesn't that look appealing

After combining it all together I formed it into individual patties. I have noticed that I prefer my patties on the slightly smaller side, so I made six of them. If you want them bigger then by all means make only four or five patties. After making them wrap in aluminum foil and store in the freezer for that rainy day.

Six in the freezer :) (dont look at all the pizza I have stored away)

When I want to eat one I just heat up a pan on medium heat and start grilling away. I recommend serving on a garlic and butter toasted bun with grilled onions and cheddar cheese (which I'll post another day).

Until next time!

BBQ? Barbecue

When I was home over Thanksgiving I made some delicious BBQ pulled pork for my family and I want to share this recipe with all of you!

Ingredients:
Pork Shoulder (also known as Boston Butt, Pork Shoulder Picnic, etc.)
1/2 Yellow Onion
1/2 tbsp Garlic Salt
Barbecue Sauce
20Oz. Doctor Pepper

Prep
So to start I took my onion and quartered it. I laid down the quarters in the bottom of my crock pot as a bed for the pork shoulder. I want to try this with a whole onion as a bed. I think that would add to the flavor.

Speaking of beds, I am totally taking a nap after I post this. 

I then took my pork and set it on top of the onions. I did use some garlic salt to rub onto the pork. Not a for a whole lot mind you, but a little. I plan on using some ground mustard with the next pulled pork I make for a little more flavor.

$9.09 for 6 lbs of pork. I would say that's a good deal.

So after I placed the pork in the crock pot I poured in the 20oz. of Dr. Pepper and set my crock pot on low for 8 hours.

I know, Marinating the pork isn't the healthiest but it is just too darn convenient. I suppose I could use a diet beverage or spend the time on a dry rub.

So here is where difficulties can arise. The first time I made the pulled pork the crock pot was set on high for 3 hours. After those 3 I noticed it was set wrong and turned it down to low. When I finished cooking the pork the meat fell off the bone. However, the second time I made pulled pork I set it on low for 9 hours. When I tried to get the meat off the bone it was pretty difficult. This was done with very similar weights of pork. So here is my solution. Set on low for 5-6 hours, then set on high for 2-3 hours. If you are gone longer (like at work) then let it cook for 10-11 hours instead of just 8.

So 8-ish hours later...

Ding!

Alright. So the first order of business is take the pork out of the pot and start pulling it (after removing the bone).

To pull the pork I took two forks and just start pulling the meat with them. It is a fairly simple process. This will take more work depending on how well done the pork is.

Then when done drain the crock pot of Dr. Pepper and put the pulled pork back in the pot (be sure to turn the crock pot off).

My bed of onions (the rest of them stuck to the pork when I lifted it out)

Pulled and put back in the pot

 Then add in about half your bottle of barbecue sauce (I prefer brands made with molasses and not high fructose corn syrup). Then I stir up my pulled pork and set to low for 1 hour and then it is time to eat!

om nom nom

Some people like to add the barbecue sauce to their pulled pork when it is on the bun, which is why I only put half a bottle in. This is great and it fed my whole family when I made it at home. When I made it up at school It fed me, two friends, and then I even used the leftovers for enchiladas. All in all a great cost effective meal.

Until next time!

Dr. Pizza

When I was at a friends house one time her dad told me how he made his pizzas. He would take a store bought pizza, like a $3 pepperoni pizza, and add ingredients on top of the pizza effectively doctoring it. Since then I have always spruced up my pizza with little zing, a little something extra. This turns my normal pizza into something special like what one would order from an actual pizza place. So here is how this works.

Ingredients:
Frozen Pizza
Green Bell Pepper
Roma Tomatoes
Sweet Yellow Onion
Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese
Oregano
Basil

Prep
So I like to chop the tomatoes into big chunks, about the same size as on the quesadilla. I tried whole tomatoes once but it didn't turn out as planned...they were like the pepperoni's...but much worse...

Then I like to put on onion and green pepper slices. Unfortunately I don't have pictures of the onions :(

Shhh...I'm not reusing pictures, I swear.

So I preheat the oven to the requested 425F and put on the pizza toppings.

After this I shake on the oregano and then take a pinch of basil sprinkled over the pizza. I finally top it off with some nice Parmesan and mozzarella. And throw it in there for 15 to 20 minutes.

And there you have it. Might have well been delivered...and only cost me like 5 bucks total. Yum!

Easy Peasy Quesadillas (dont worry, its pea free)

One of my go to meals is a chicken quesadilla. It tastes delicious and fills me up. So here is my recipe for a quick tasty treat! The only real time sink is boiling the chicken and baking the quesadilla, but you can always go without chicken, or even without chicken or vegi's for a nice snack

Ingredients:
Chicken Breast
Green Bell Pepper
Yellow Onion
Roma Tomato
Tortilla shells
Shredded Cheddar Cheese
Butter

Prep

Chicken
So to start I boil some frozen chicken breast. It leaves the chicken moist and warm. This ends up being a relatively quick no fuss way to cook the chicken. I start the boiling first and then I go on to prepare the ingredients. After the fresh ingredients are prepped I pull out the chicken and check to see if it is white all the way through by cutting the breast in half. If not back into the pot it goes!

Unfortunately for me the frozen chicken I had left was two breasts fused together, so I had way more chicken then I needed, well that allowed for easy prep food in the future.

So while the chicken boils I start prepping the vegi's.

Onion

I first slice off two ends of the onion and peel off the top two layers. Then I rinse the onion.

After that I slice off two slices and dice them which can be seen below.

diced and happy!

Green Bell Pepper

I first need to cut the peppers in half and remove the pepper seeds. After that I quarter the peppers and turn then into slim slices.

Now you see the seeds!

Now you dont!

Cut into quarters

And then sliced perfectly...too bad all mine dont look like this

Then I go and chop these into smaller pieces :)

Tomatoes!

I wash these bad boys off and slice them just like I did the onion...but bigger chunks!

look at those chunks!

Now that I have all my vegi's together I throw them in a bowl and mix em up!

Yummy Vegi's!

So now I chop up the chicken and start throwing together my quesadilla

chop chop!

I hate cleaning the pan as much as everyone else, so I was shown this handy trick by my friend. The aluminum foil still transmits the heat effectively and then can be taken off and throw away when really dirty!

Here is the pan

clean disposable cover

I start the quesadilla by buttering the outsides of both my tortillas. Then I lay a cheese base and stack on vegi's and chicken and more cheese.

Cheese Base

Vegi's next

throw on some chicken

Top with cheese to adhere the top tortilla to the chicken and vegi's

Now I have the quesadilla in the oven set to 300F and I wait 15 to 25 minutes... Bon Appetit! (wrong language, I know :/  )

The flavor works really well without adding unnecessary spices, but sometimes when I want a little kick I will add some Red Cayenne Pepper or some Chipotle seasoning mix. Usually I don't think of this until after the quesadilla is in the oven though and I still love the taste of what comes out.

I found that the biggest problem with making this blog work is going to be the pictures...I seem to forget to take any until after I am halfway done with prep, and now that I see some of the ones that come out I find the quality of some quite questionable. Ill just have to pay more attention to lighting and blur as I continue to cook.

Until next time!