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Roni

Food, Sweet

Chocolate Glazed Baked Donuts

A while back I bought a donut pan, hell-bent on baking up a storm. The only problem is, I’m on a diet – technically. Which means, I can’t really eat all these baked goods that I want to make. So that means I’m either waiting for company to come over, or I’m shoving the sweet treats at my co-workers. But, as luck would have it, my cousin is coming to visit me this weekend. And since I didn’t have anything better to do while I was cleaning the house, I decided, why not bake up a batch of donuts. Perfect for breakfast, right?

So I went through my cabinets and oddly enough, I have all the ingredients to make donuts from scratch. Who knew? I even had a can of chocolate frosting, making it way easier than making some.

So bring it on! I’ve got donuts awaiting my cousin’s arrival!

Chocolate Glazed Baked Donuts

Gather
2 cups flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 & 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp Salt
3/4 cup milk
2 beaten Eggs
2 tbsp melted Butter
1 can of chocolate frosting

Preheat oven to 425. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add milk, eggs, and butter. Stir until well mixed. Pour batter into a sprayed donut pan, filling rings about 2/3 full (about 3 tablespoons). Make sure center is not covered.

Bake about 8-10 minutes, or until tops spring back when pressed. Remove from oven and let sit in pan for 5 minutes.

Remove from pan and place on cooling rack.

Heat a half a cup of frosting in a microwave safe bowl for 30 seconds. Frosting should be malleable, but not watery. Dip donuts in frosting, turning in a clockwise fashion to cover the top. Place donuts on cooling rack to rest.

Serve and enjoy!

February 28, 2014 by Roni

Food, Savory

Spicy Cajun Kielbasa Pasta

Cajun Kielbasa Pasta

So this one isn’t entirely made up by me. A long time ago I received a pasta cookbook. It was overly loved and the edges were chewed off by an equally loved pet bird who I like to believe was just trying to help decide which recipe to tackle one day while helping out in the kitchen.

Inside of that lovely cookbook is a recipe for spicy cajun kielbasa pasta made with (of course) kielbasa, peas, and shrimp. And while I love shrimp, I didn’t exactly want to add it into this particular dish. But I did love the fact that it was a white sauce. Anyone who knows me knows I’m not fond of tomato sauces. On chicken Parmesan and inside a lasagna, yes. Dropped over my spaghetti, no.

This recipe turned into one of my go-to meals for when hoards of my male friends would come over and it was my duty to feed them. Depending on how much pasta you put in, you can serve up to six or eight people. (Although with them, three men could finish an entire pan made with a whole box of pasta in a single sitting.) So I’m sharing my altered, feel-good meal with you – a deviliously delicious pasta recipe for those cold winter nights.

Cajun Kielbasa Pasta

Gather:
1-lb link of Hillshire Farms Polish Kielbasa
1 cup of heavy cream
1 egg yolk
1/3 cup of water (optional to swap in chicken broth)
1 cup of frozen peas
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/4 cup of white wine (although any wine works)
Olive Oil
1/2 box of linguini pasta, cooked al dente and strained
1/4 cup of fresh grated Parmesan cheese

In a large pan, saute sliced kielbasa on medium-high heat in a 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil until browned. Add garlic and cayenne. Cook for an additional 5 minutes until garlic has released flavor (you’ll smell it) and browned. Add wine to deglaze pan.

In a bowl, mix heavy cream, egg yolk, and water. Add to kielbasa pan with frozen peas. Cook for 7-8 minutes, until sauce starts to thicken. It will still be slightly runny, add al dente pasta and Parmesan cheese. Cook until pasta is coated in sauce and it is no longer runny.

Serve and enjoy.

February 27, 2014 by Roni

Life In General

Over Budget By An Onion

over budget

I made a decision to budget, clean out my cabinets, and monitor my eating better. And it all started because I got a credit card statement in the mail (yikes) and then noticed my cupboard was overflowing with food I keep buying, but don’t eat. (Closet Rice-A-Roni hoarder, here.)

Turns out if the Zombie Apocalypse happens, I’ve got enough food to ratio for months. And it’s not just beans and cans of tomatoes, I can make homemade soups, lasagna, burritos, cakes, pies, and even chili. Seriously, there’s enough to go around. Cereal for days, too.

So I decided I would not allow myself to purchase any food for at least a week. No new purchases. The only things I could have would have to already be in my freezer, fridge, or cupboard. Let me tell you, for the first five days, it wasn’t hard at all. Even by day seven, I still had a well-rounded meal: frozen fish, peas, and couscous. Really. So I kept going, to the point where all I really have left is a few boxes of rice, oatmeal, baking supplies, butter, frozen peas, frozen spinach, and all the fixings to make veggie lasagna. Actually, that’s not too bad.

But I was craving food. Fresh veggies and fruit to be exact. And I was stuck. Do I cave and spend money, swipe the credit card again? OR do I wait it out another few days. Then I noticed the quarters in my car door… and I had an idea. If I could get in and out of the supermarket with only the change I had at my fingertips, I could do it. I counted: $1.87.

In I went for an orange and bananas. Two bananas, check. One orange, check. Oh wait, I miss having green peppers and they’re on sale. In went one to the basket.. then an onion… and then a kiwi. Whoops.

I checked out, and totaled $3.54. Quite over my budget, but since the self-checkout wasn’t taking my coins anyway, I took out two dollar bills and said what the heck. To be fair, that’s over a week and a half with only spending $3.54 on food, which I have to say I’m proud of myself.

And it also makes me wonder how many people spend money on food, only to throw it out when it goes bad, when all they had to do was dig into their dry goods for week. I can’t be the only one.

February 24, 2014 by Roni

Life In General

Murder Mystery Dinner – Rochester

I’m quite the detective. They should put me on the force. Perhaps it’s because I’ve been watching episodes of Psych on Netflix, or maybe it’s all my reporter training, but I solved a murder.

Turns out, though, that three others also figured it out. Okay, let me back up.

I was invited to a Murder Mystery Dinner at the Governors Inn Hotel in Rochester, my first ever dinner of this sort, so I really had no idea what I was getting myself into. All I knew was there was dinner, drinking, a show, and someone was going to be dead by the end of the night.

The theme: Roch-Vegas turned casino. Which I have to tell you, was very entertaining, particularly with all the local references in the script, the actors coming to our tables and letting us play black jack, dice, and cards with our faux dollars, and finding clues. We even took a “house tour” where we learned a little bit more about the characters so we could try to decipher the murder plot. That also included a “magic show,” Jello-shots, dancing contests (see a video here), and Dolly Parton/Liza Minnelli contest. Oh yeah, and you had to be a good sport about vulgarity. It was a very classy Rochest-ah party.

At the end, we filled out ballots to guess who killed the casino owner, Dickson DaCooter. And I filled out one of the last ballots before they were collected, with the winning answer! (I might have had some help at our table…) But there could only be one winner, and two others had correct ballots, and mine wasn’t picked. Oh well, just means I’ll have to come back next year…

SPOILER: Don’t read the image, if you don’t want to know who dunnit. Although I’m not sure if it changes night to night or not.

February 23, 2014 by Roni

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