Fried Mozzarella

This has nothing to do with the wedding but I just had to post this! Jaime and her husband were able to spend quite some time at home this year around Christmas and the wedding. One day while we were at the mall Christmas shopping, we decided to grab lunch at Maggiano's. Jaime and her husband ordered fried mozzarella and told me I'd love it. Well....they were right. I hope we get to eat this in Heaven it was so good!! My husband LOVES mozzarella and so do I. Last week I decided to buy some fresh mozzarella with no real plan for it. Yesterday, I thought of the perfect plan! I did some researching on the internet and had to experiment some on my own.

You'll need:
Thick (about a 1/2") slices of mozzarella
1/2 cup Flour
1/2 cup Bread crumbs (plain or Italian)
Italian seasoning (if bread crumbs are plain)
a few tablespoons Vegetable or olive oil

My block of mozzarella was already in a sort of rectangular shape so I just sliced it from top to bottom length wise. Mozzarella doesn't always like to be cut to it wasn't the easiest. But I got a good slice and cut it in half so my husband could have one triangle and I could have the other.

Mix the egg and a little bit of water in a bowl. Put the flour in a separate bowl. And in a third bowl, combine the bread crumbs and some Italian seasoning (we have ours in a grinder so it was fresher). Ok now here's where I didn't follow the recipe all too well and I went wayward. The recipe told me to pat the cheese in flour THEN in the egg wash. Well, what I did was dip the cheese in the egg wash then dipped it in flour. Then I dipped it in the egg wash again which wasn't too easy for it to stick to but I covered that sucker. Then I dipped it in the bread crumbs really patting the crumbs down making sure every inch of the cheese was covered.

Now, in 12-in skillet, add the oil at medium heat. You can heat this up while you're preparing your bowls. Carefully place the coated cheese in the pan. Fry each side for about 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. Do not melt the cheese completely. It will be very soft but not completely melted. If it completely melts it will come out of the breading and get all over your pan. Some cheese may come out and that's fine as long as it's not much :) Now serve with some warm marinara sauce (which I added after the picture) and dig in! SO yummy!

Cauldron Cakes

My sisters and I love Harry Potter (except maybe Jordan...Jordan needs to read them still.) My mom and I had a Harry Potter marathon where we watched one Harry Potter a night for a week plus some days. We decided to make some Harry Potter recipes. This one was by far my favorite! These are SUPER yummy! These were even good without frosting. (I can't remember where I got the recipe from but you can find this recipe on several websites if you want to find some variations.)

Cauldron Cakes

•  2 cups flour
• 1 1/2 cups sugar
• 3 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup softened butter or 1/2 cup softened margarine
• 1 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 eggs
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ginger

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Mix eggs, sugar, butter, cinnamon, ginger, and vanilla in large mixing bowl on whip for 2 minutes.
3.  Mix other solid ingredients and milk in gradually in the large mixing bowl.
4.  Put batter in muffin tins filling them about half full. These shouldn't be too full, more authentic of course. Bake for 25 minutes.
5.  Decorate with sprinkles and frosting if desired.

Sauteed Veggies

One of my favorite ways to prepare veggies is to saute them. It's pretty easy. I like to get a mixed bunch of vegetables. I typically get broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and snow peas. It works best if you  have pan with a nice fitting lid. This will help trap in the moisture. On medium heat, add some olive oil to the pan. Then throw in your veggies. Make sure the vegetables get coated in the olive oil. You can add more oil on top of them as well. I found wooden spoons to help in mixing up the veggies the best. I like to add a touch of garlic or garlic salt. It enhances the flavors but don't put too much in that it over powers tastes. Add some regular salt as well. Stir every once in a while. It really depends on how much you're cooking as too how long you need to saute the veggies. Make sure you keep the lid on as much as possible. When the veggies have turned a brighter green (minus the cauliflower) then they are ready to go!

*The broccoli is what turns the brightest green. I usually gauge if they're done or not by the color of the broccoli. And yes, that's homemade fried chicken as well :)

7 Layer Dip

I don't know about you but I love 7 layer dip. When Jordan and I decided to make some we knew we were going to have to improvise some since we didn't have guacamole or tomatoes. There's also tons of ways to make 7 layer dip. Ours turned out delicious.

Ingredients:
Refried beans
Lots and lots of cheese (shredded)
Sour cream
Salsa
Onions
Chives
And anything else you want to throw in there

Really the amount of dip you want to make is up to you. It's a pretty flexible recipe with amounts. The foundation of the dip should be the beans. It's the thickest and holds up the best. You can place some cheese on top of the beans so it will melt when you heat it up. Heat up the beans in the microwave or oven.

 

Now layer on the salsa, sour cream, more cheese, **onions, chives!

Now serve it with some chips and enjoy!

 

**We fried the onions for a little bit. Be careful when frying onions a deep fryer or just in oil. The water content in onions is very high and the oil will splash or pop a lot!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Balls

These are super easy and super delicious. So delicious that when I made them, they got eaten so fast I didn't get the chance to take a picture of them! I'll use my Paint skills to show you what they look like :)
You'll need peanut butter, chocolate chips, butter, and confectioner's sugar. It isn't hugely important to follow specific measurements. Mix 1/2 cup of peanut butter and 3 tbs of softened butter. Now, mix in 1 cup of confectioner's sugar slowly adding a small amount at a time. This is going to become like cookie dough. You may or may not have to use the entire cup of sugar. Feel free to taste a little bit of it to see if it needs more sugar. Now roll out small balls of the dough. They should be about 1 inch in diameter or the size of truffles. Place them on a dish making sure they aren't touching. Let them chill in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. In a microwaveable safe bowl (yes I burned a bowl when I made the hot chocolate spoons) heat up a regular bag of chocolate chips. Baking chocolate would work well too about 12-16 oz. When heating chocolate, stir every 45 seconds to a minute to make sure it melts evenly and doesn't burn. I'm no pro at heating chocolate on the stove top so I do it in the microwave. After the balls have chilled and the chocolate is melted, dip each ball coating it completely in the chocolate. Make sure after they're dipped, they don't touch each other. Set in the fridge for a few minutes until the chocolate sets up. Then serve and enjoy!

Caramel and Chocolate Drizzle Chex Mix

I'm a fan of food. Before my first semester of college, I experimented with baking and tried out some new things. One of those new things was homemade Caramel and Chocolate Drizzle Chex Mix (yes, I did just make that name up.) It's one of the recipes I've since repeated and still enjoy. I followed their recipe just for the caramel part and added in the chocolatey goodness.

Ingredients:
8 cups of Chex
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
6 tablespoons butter or margarine (but we all know butter tastes better)
3 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
Chocolate, however much and whatever kind is up to you but you can start with 1/4 of a cup

*You should have a cookie sheet lined with wax paper set aside along with the 8 cups of Chex in a microwaveable bowl.

Here's how we make the deliciousness! In a 2-cup microwaveable measuring cup (or a bowl), microwave brown sugar, butter and corn syrup uncovered on high for 1-2 minutes. Stir after every 1 minute, until melted and smooth. Stir in baking soda until dissolved. Pour over cereal and stir. This is sticky and won't cover everything but don't worry! Take the bowl of coated cereal and microwave on high for 3 minutes, also stirring after every 1 minute. I found that using 2 wooden spoons, greased, helped mix everything and reduced spilling.  Now spread the evenly coated Chex onto the cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Spread out the pieces to avoid large clumps. Break apart any large clumps.

In a small microwaveable bowl, heat the chocolate. Either dip the pieces in or drizzle over cereal with a spoon. Let everything set and cool. Then, enjoy!

(This is dipped instead of drizzle)

For more Chex Mix recipes check out their website.