Dorito Crusted Chicken

January 21, 2015

I can hear healthy eaters just screaming at me now. This is a pretty straight forward recipe that I found online and was a little too excited to make. Basically they're just chicken breast cut up into small sections and coated with Doritos. I'm a little bit ashamed to say they were pretty good.. actually no, they were definitely good. If I can admit that I ate a garbage plate in 13 minutes, then I can admit that Dorito crusted chicken was a success. #NoShame.

And yes I am one of those people that use hashtags. Not stopping any time soon

Cracker Barrel

January 20, 2015

Cracker Barrel is one of those restaurants you see when you're traveling along the side of the road. Those rest stop restaurants that always live along highways and many people just pass by. Somehow this restaurant is a place I remember from my childhood. I think between trips to Florida and day trips with my cousins in Rochester we managed to end up in a Cracker Barrel several times.

It's one of those cute log buildings with lines of rocking chairs on the front porch with checkers big enough to cover the little coffee tables outside. Cracker Barrel is also a shop-restaurant combo which allows for us kids to look for toys while we wait for our table to be ready. With classic old school candy and toys it's fun shopping around and seeing all the things we grew up with that aren't really sold anywhere else anymore.

Some time during third year, I mentioned this place to one of my best friends. She looked at me very confused and had no clue what I was referring to so the next time we decided to go out to eat this place was on our list.

This restaurant is rustic and warm. It reminds me of being with my family when I was little and it just makes me happy. While I remember the chicken noodle soup being really great, now whenever I go, I always order my favorite thing when I was little - breakfast. It doesn't really matter what time of day it is, if I'm at Cracker Barrel, I have to have some sort of breakfast with hash browns. They're a must. This meal makes me so happy every time I get it. And I'm not much of a breakfast person, but at Cracker Barrel it's breakfast time every time.

Not Muffins

January 19, 2015

So, one of my friends caught wind of my baking frenzy and started sending me recipes that I should try, aka make for him. They actually turned out pretty well and were fun to make though!

Unusual recipes but man were they good. The s'mores bark was so easy to make and tasted great. I ended up making them without graham crackers because they're so thick with them but they do add a good layer of flavor. The marshmallows were a little more fun when they were the mini rainbow kinds because of the variation in fruity flavor. Regardless, they're super easy because you just pour melted chocolate over marshmallows and call it a day!

The Apple Pie Egg Rolls however, are a completely different story. Let's just say that years of making real egg rolls with my mom came in handy. While it's pretty time consuming to make them, they came out delicious and were really fun. They're like apple pies to go! Just add whipped cream to dip and they're great!

Muffin Monday Part 2

January 18, 2015

Since muffin monday continued onto fall semester of third year there are quite a few more recipes I tried. Here are the images.

Muffin Monday 1: Coconut Key Lime Muffins

Muffin Monday 2: Grapefruit Poppyseed Muffins

(Birthday) Muffin Monday 5: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cupcakes for my Birthday

(Birthday) Muffin Monday 6: Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes — (Birthday) Muffin Monday 6: Mint Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

(Birthday) Muffin Monday 7: Cookies and Cream Cupcakes — (Birthday) Muffin Monday 7: Cookies and Cream Cupcakes

Muffin Monday 10: Ham and Cheese Muffins

Muffin Monday 13: Chocolate Salted Carmel Cupcakes

Muffin Monday

January 17, 2015

Second year I went through a break up. I spent fall/winter wallowing and tying to focus on school but by New Years I'd had enough. I was tired of thinking about it so I decided I would take up some hobbies to better myself. This was the year that I decided to be like the rests of America and vowed to work out, so I started going to the gym for the first time in my life. Even Now I still flip flop around and haven't stayed consistent with a schedule. Glad to know I fit in. The second hobby I picked up was baking; Usher in Muffin Mondays!

So after new years, I'm guessing by spring quarter, my schedule opened up and I didn't have classes on Mondays. I took this as an opportunity to spend the day baking. I would wake up Monday mornings ready to take on the world! (or at least the kitchen).

Muffin Monday 5: Banana Muffins and Banana Nutella Muffins

Muffin Monday 6: Apple Cranberry Muffins

I found a mini recipe book from a magazine. One of those inserts you find in food magazine or something of that sort. '50 muffin recipes'. I was determined to try making them all (okay maybe not ALL of them.. some of the flavors were a little odd and or were slight variations on each other.) Still, I was going to bake most of them! And I did. Then I didn't really stop.

Muffin Monday Week 8: Cherry Chocolate Muffins

I spent every Monday of 2013 baking at school. I tried to stick to the theme of muffin mondays but I varied with cupcakes for weeks where someone had a birthday or I found a cool recipe. I became the baking girl! People from high school would see me during breaks around Rochester and were so I'm pressed I found the time to bake every week.

My cousins now make fun of me a little but they all still beg for me to bake whenever they're in town or have special occasions. I've branched out to breads and pies, brownies and cakes. I haven't quite mastered things yet. Sometimes my baked goods are dense and I've been having problems getting the consistency of homemade frosting right but I'm still trying.

For me baking has become a cathartic thing. Who need's therapy when I can make a pie.

It's also made me quite a few friends. People see my food on social media and ask if they can come and have one. I would blast friends at RIT with snapchats telling them to stop by when I was pulling cupcakes out of the oven. I've set up mini dates inviting people to come over and help me make cookies.

Nothing beats when I'm in the kitchen by myself playing music and rolling dough with my hands. Baking has become my stress relief, my thing. My roommates may not like me tempting them with muffins but I could bake for days and never want to stop.

Muffin Monday 9: Chocolate Macaroon Muffins

For me baking has become a cathartic thing. Who need's therapy when I can make a pie.

Muffin Monday 13: Cider Connamon Muffins

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