Kitty Deschanel

We're out of eggs. Sexy Nerd wanted some chocolate cake anyway. So, what did I make? Ooey Gooey Rum Cake , of course! The last time I made this, I topped it with marshmallow cream. But, we're all out. (Seriously, it might be time for me to go to the grocery store.) Instead, I used mini marshmallows. They were added about 10 minutes into baking and the oven was switched to the broiler setting. The trick is to let the edge get cakey, but not let the center cook all the way. It's like the easiest chocolate lava cake ever! Though, admittedly, it may not be the prettiest lava cake around.

This is the quickest, easiest, and cheapest meal to feed a crowd EVER. Step One : Buy a HoHos Happy Combo, which is a ginormous box of lo mein, fried rice, and 3 entrees for about five bucks. Of course, if you don't live in Albuquerque, you can always substitute food from your favorite local Chinese restaurant. On a quick side note, when did "ginormous" become an actual, spellchecker-approved word? Step Two : Steam or boil whatever tasty vegetables you have lying around. I love to use carrots, cabbage, celery, and bean sprouts. Throw in some peanuts too! Eew, these bean sprouts look like little bugs. They sure are tasty though! Step Three : Mix everything together. Let the flavors mingle.   Look how healthy this is! Other than, you know, all that greasy Chinese food you're about to add to it. Step Four : There is no step four. You're done! Wasn't that the simplest, most affordable meal for a crowd you've ever m

Have you ever thrown together a bunch of different things just to use them up before they go bad, only to discover that what you've made is absolutely delicious ? This is one of those recipes. I had no intention of blogging about this (hence the bites that are missing from the below photos) but it is really, REALLY good! I was just trying to use up our leftover kale and zucchini and now have a new favorite recipe. Don't you just love when that happens? It's especially great since I never know what to do with kale anyway. Hmmm...this is perhaps not the most beautiful food. KALE AND ZUCCHINI QUESADILLAS serves one Ingredients 1 tortilla 2 large kale leaves, chopped with thick stems removed 1/4 of a zucchini, thinly sliced Cilantro, Green Onion, and Jalapenos (to taste, but if you skip this altogether, your quesadilla will be bland!) 1 Tbsp Garlic Butter (you can add these ingredients separately if you must, but after that you should make you

If you're a fellow Family Guy fan, you surely remember the episode where Peter and Bill Clinton have the munchies and talk about stealing and eating a pig. It went something along the lines of "We could totally eat that pig, man. It could be in our stomachs in, like, a minute." People, these s'mores are your one minute pig. If you're not a fellow Family Guy fan, I've surely just lost you forever as a reader here. Sorry. Smores in the oven are perfect when you're craving a quick, sugary treat. They work equally well in a toaster oven and a convection oven. Best of all, compared to eating an entire bag of Oreos, they're quite healthy. Not that I would ever eat the e ntire bag of Oreos. I'd save one for SN. Smores in the Oven Step 1: Put desired amount of graham crackers on a toaster oven/convection oven-safe pan. (No graham crackers? No problem! Make pretzel s'mores instead.)   Looks like it's time to clean thi

Yesterday's meal of Trader Joe's Masala Simmer Sauce was a big, lemony failure. I set out to jazz up the leftovers today, but half expected the entire thing to end up in the trash. Yuck, c old leftovers! Add a couple handfuls of spinach. *Nifty Tip* Storing rinsed spinach inside a Tupperware or glass container with a paper towel on the top and a paper towel on the bottom keeps it edible and slime-free for a long time. Add a few splashes of coconut milk Another "by the way" moment: I love our can opener! Not only does it leave a smooth edge around the lid so that your cooking isn't interrupted by running off to find a first aid kit, it also creates a great way to re-seal the can if you don't use the entire contents. Ta da ! With the added spinach and coconut milk, as well as some homemade "french fries", this was actually a pretty tasty meal.  If you're going to buy Trader Joe's Masala Simmer Sauce, disregard the directions

*Update* Since posting this, I have found a way to modify the Trader Joe's Masala Simmer Sauce recipe on the bottle into a masala recipe that tastes good. Click over to enjoy that recipe instead. It's even better than the Mini Masala Meatballs recipe from the Trader Joe's website. (Unless you enjoy lemon in your meatballs - yuck.) Trader Joe's Masala Simmer Sauce What the heck is a masala? (Google and you shall receive. It's 'any of a number of spice mixtures ground into a paste or powder for use in Indian cooking.') I wasn't in the mood to prepare anything elaborate tonight, so it seemed like an ideal opportunity to try the Trader Joe's Masala Simmer Sauce that has been sitting in our pantry. I poured the contents of the jar, some small pieces of chicken, and a cup of water into a pot and covered it, then let it heat on the stove. Easy enough. I also added some carrot, celery, onion, and peanuts. Sexy Nerd made some instant brown ri

In our house, Sexy Nerd and I take turns making dinner each night. This works out really well for me for two reasons. One: how many guys do you know who agree to make dinner every other night? Two: Sexy Nerd is a much more patient cook than me. Recipes with lots of ingredients and steps, like Rachael Ray's Austin Mac 'n' Cheese Suiza never taste quite right when I make them. Mix this in one bowl, this in a second bowl, and this and this in a pan? Pfft! "Why not just combine everything directly into the pan?" I'll say. Luckily, Sexy Nerd is a real stickler for rules. It must be an engineer thing. If a recipe calls for onion salt and he only has regular salt, he won't make it. Thus, his cooking usually tastes really great! Do not eat the spoon. Oooh, or Kitchen Pig! Of course, after I wrote all that stuff above about Sexy Nerd never making any changes to a recipe, he pointed out that he used tomatoes instead of tomatillos. Shhh, Sexy Nerd! No

Over the weekend I spent my time browsing through several newly discovered food blogs. Thank goodness for the creation of tabs! Seriously, I stayed up past midnight on Friday, past 1am Saturday night, and was so grateful that my office was closed on Monday so that I could spend even more time searching for new things to cook. Work. A decent paycheck. These things seem overrated when faced with photo after photo of drool-inducing yummiess. That said, I only made one recipe during my entire three day weekend. Popovers, courtesy of one of my favorite food blogs, Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice. They were quick, easy, and delicious both when fresh and reheated. I bookmarked the recipe under the title MAKE THESE POPOVERS EVERY DAY!!! Most of my tried and true recipes only have 1 or 2 exclamation marks, so that should really give you an indication of how great these are. My only changes were to use butter instead of oil and, because I'm impatient, to let them sit in the ove

I found the recipe for these hush puppies here . I had half a can of creamed corn to use up, so I decided to make hush puppies. Just look at all that oil! While waiting for the first batch to finish cooking, I decided to take a photo of my recently organized pantry. By next week, when it's no longer neat and tidy, I'm really going to appreciate this photo! Why do we have so many cans of tomato soup?? After frying up 3 batches, here is all the oil that was left: That's right - absolutely none whatsoever! But that can't be right. Sexy Nerd and I didn't eat all that oil, did we? How much was in the pan to begin with? Come to think of it, I'd rather not know how much oil we started with. Feeling a little guilty and grossed out from frying up so many hush puppy sponges, I decided to experiment with cooking the rest of the batter like a giant, corny pancake. *This is not recommended if you want your hush puppies to taste like hush puppies! A

Last night was my turn to make dinner. Sexy Nerd wanted pizza, but I still wasn't feeling quite up to that after having my wisdom teeth out on New Years Eve. So, we had Pizza Soup, which is fast & easy. Sexy Nerd thought this was a pretty crummy alternative to pizza, especially since he doesn't really like soup. However, he did say that "for soup, it's not bad". I'm having my stitches removed today, so maybe there's some real pizza on the horizon! Hmm, something went horribly wrong with my photo here. Tasty looking soup though. In true Pizza Soup form though, it's much more tasty with mozzarella cheese! See that shiny liquid clinging to the side of the bowl? That's flavor. Poor, forever-starved Sexy Nerd. Assured that he would waste away to nothing on a meal of Pizza Soup, (didn't he see all the "flavor" above?!?) I also made him a quick, easy sweet potato pie, all for himself. No, none of the foods we eat typically go