Holiday Card (e-holidaze)

Happy Holidaze from Justin and Teal

Oatmeal Cookies That Will Explode your Taste Buds

With all this holiday nonsense going on, I thought it fitting to add a cookie recipe to my blog. These are a quick easy and they are great as presents for the ones you originally forgot about but-oops- they've given you a present and now you look like the jerk.

Preheat yo oven to 350

in a bowl, stir up these dry ingredients
1 3/4 cup flour
3/4 tsp baking soda
3/4tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamin
3/4 tsp nutmeg

in a separate bowl, beat until CREAMY
2 sticks butter (softened NOT melted)
1 1/2 cup (packed) brown sugar
1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla

Now slowly add your DRY mixture to your CREAMY mixture. After they are all getting along in a single bowl, add
1 cup raisins
3 cup dry oatmeal

now bake-a-boo for 6-7 minutes (really not long at all but BELIEVE me you don't want to over coook these. keep 'em soft.) YUM!

Blind Contours of a Boyfriend

Hey, Boyfriend. May I draw you?

Sickness in the family

Sylvia, Simone's sister, has pneumonia. Poor baby. If you pray for rats, pray for Sylvia's health.

Heyy boyfriend.

Art about Cash

what can I say? I love him so much I must make art about him

and here is Teal being a MERMAID in San Diego. Cash says " why didn't I get to go?" Sorry Cash, Southwest doesn't fly massive dogs for free.

Salmon Burgers!

Sounds strange, I know, but tastes great.

A pound or so of Salmon will do (fresh not canned)

One Egg

Chile powder (optional)

cumin

crushed garlic

Salt and pepper

Grind up your salmon in a food processor or just finely, finely chop it. Pop it into a bowl with the egg and spices and mix it all up ( I prefer to do this part with my hands ;) )

Heat up some olive oil in a pan and plop down a couple patties (make these however big or however small you please, just keep in mind that the smaller ones will cook much much faster.)

Lower your heat to medium while your make your "cheese sauce"

Cheese Sauce:

Equal parts cream cheese and Ricotta cheese

Lemon juice

chopped green onions or scallions

Stir it up, flip your patties, and pop some cheese on top. add a bit of water to your pan and cover it to create some steam to melt that cheese all up over your patty.

Cut up some red onion and avocado for toppings and smother some mustard on that bread/bun.

Cash says: "Hey and don't forget to give your pan scrapings to your pretty pooch!"

Simone says: "Gimme some of that CHEESE SAUCE"

An Ode to the Mother

Love you momma

What to do? What to do?

What do you do when your rats push their bedding into their food? Do you ask them politely to not do that? Do you scold them? Do you feed them better food?

Oh rats, how you keep me confused. But nevertheless delighted.

mmm Turkey Burger

If you aren't that into beef and not too stoked on veggi-burgers, here's your burger!

Ground turkey
One Egg
Garlic (mooshed)
Red Onion
Cilantro (optional)
Bell Pepper
Cumin
Salt and peppa

Green chile and cheese are always a great topping... but whatever floats your boat.

Chop your onion and your bell pepper (and cilantro) and throw them in a bowl with the ground turkey and smooshed garlic. Break one egg into it and add about a tablespoon of oil. Mix it all up (I prefer to use my hands) and add your salt, pepper, and cumin to taste.

Drop some oil and butter in your pan and set to high. drop in some good sized patties and take the heat down to med-high. Have your sliced cheese at the ready. Flip the patties when they start to turn white around the sides. Add the cheese and put a lid over your burgers, and the steam should melt it and make your turkey patties exquisitely delicious.

Toast up some bread and add your preffered condiments.

Simone Approves!

Cash the Dog

We have a new member in our family! Cash the Brazilian mastif. Cutest pooch in the whole world.

My main man, Emiliano Zapata

The Best Chicken Taco You Will Ever Eat

There are alot of components to this dish... but every one is worth it.
BBQ Onions
Slice up a Sweet yellow onion and grill or pan fry until they are translucent.. drop some bbq sauce on that and cook until your onions are just beggining to burn.
Poblano Peppers
slice longways, drizzle a little oil on them and some salt and Pepper and toss 'em on the grill until they are looking roastie toasted.
"Coleslaw"
slice up some cabbage, toss it in a bowl with some mooshed up garlic cloves, add red onion, lemon, and YOGURT. no mayo.
Guacomole
I have a whole separate recipe for the best guac you will ever eat... but for now just make it how you think it should be made.
THE CHICKEN
Get about four boneless, skinless half chicken breast (so 2 WHOLE chicken breasts if you would rather do that) Make your run with a couple teaspoons of brown sugar, cumin, red chile powder (or ancho chile), and a dash of salt and pepper. Rub this up on your chicken, and then toss it on the grill, rub side down, and sprinkle the rest of your rub on the other side. I do about 3 minutes on one side, and then flip it and go for about 6 minutes, until your chicken is perfectly cooked through.

Now get yourself some tortillas and JUMP ON IT

Lovie-dovie all the time

Simone loves pickles! I love pickles. Oh my gosh it's meant to be.

Reunited

After a summer spent in New Mexico, I came home to the super cage. It is beautiful and the rats are happy. Thanks, Jack, for building rat heaven.

Mango Salsa

This shit goes on ANYTHING

Mango
1 Jabenero pepper (can be substituted with a jalepeno if a jabenero is too spicy for you)
Garlic
Salt
Pepper
Lime
Cilantro
Red Onion
Tomato

Mash the salt and Garlic at the bottom of your bowl and then add the rest of your ingredients, finley chopped or food processed. For real yo, you can eat this salsa on anything.

Changing my Blog's Direction

Upon request, I am going to dedicate a portion of my blog to my rats. I will still be posting art and recipes, but I will also keep you posted on my rats' status as well as any other rat info that I find pertinent to my Bloggi-doo.

Fried Egg Sandwich

Bread (sourdough seems to be the best)
Spinach
Red Onion
Egg
Balsamic Vinegar
Red Wine Vinegar
Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper
Mayo(optional)

Mix the balsamic and Red Wine Vinegar into a bowl with a touch of olive oil. Salt and pepper your tasty dressing to taste. Toast yo bread. While your bread is toasting cook your egg ( add lots of oil to your pan and let it heat up, add the egg and cover.) Add a bit of salt and pepper to your egg. Meanwhile, slice up some red onion, spread some mayo on your bread. Add the spinach and red onion and pop your egg on top. Add your dressing. MMMMMMM

There are lots of other tasty egg sandwich combos. This one is a light summery one. I've found caramelized onion and swiss cheese make a tasty combo with your fried egg, so does Dijon mustard and cheese and avacado. Get creative!!

The Perfect Over Medium Eggi-wegg

This is an art that has taken me a very long time to perfect... The perfect over-medium egg.

Alright, git yoself a skillet and put it over high heat. Pour in some olive oil. Crack the egg in a bowl and wait for the pan to heat up. Once the oil loosens up, (not all the way to its fullest heat) move it around the pan. Make sure your oil COVERS the BottoM of the PAN. At this point, pour the egg in. It should not begin to sizzle and turn right away but rather spread out a bit and begin to whiten slowly. Turn your heat down to medium-high and wait until the egg white is completely white. Begin to move the egg around and make SURE it DOESN'T Stick. At this point, I usually sprinkle some water on the pan and pop a lid on top for a few seconds. Once the egg has hardened completely around the outsides, flip it. Only keep it here for a few seconds, and then flip it back onto a plate and enjoy!

I know this is very very specific, but I find there is no other way to cook a more perfect egg.

so bill is proposing to my sister this weekend. He wanted me to make a drawing for them... hope this suffices.

And on to tastier things:
Oh My Let! Omelette!
This is a tasty baked omelette-like concoction... kind of like a breakfast egg pizza or something.

Anyways
Ingredients:
Potatoes (red potatoes are always a good bet)
Yellow onion
Garlic
Spinach
Red or yellow bell pepper (optional)
4 or so eggs
salt and peppah
red chile or cayenne powder
butter
Avacado

Dice up the potatoes nice 'n fine. Throw em' in a pan with some olive oil or butter (or a bit of both) over high heat. Wait until they get a little soft (ten minutes or so) and then add your yellow onion, sliced and diced the way you like. Add in a couple pinches of salt and let them sweat, and then add the garlic. Bring down to med heat and add the spinach. Add a dash of red chile powder and pepper. Pop a lid on top and maybe add a splash or two of water if it looks like anything is burning or sticking to the pan.

While you wait for this to cook down (spinach should cook way way down) set the oven to 200 degrees. Scramble your eggs, adding in a bit of salt and pepper and a splash of milk if you have it on hand. Once the spinach becomes dark and withered looking, pour your eggs into the pan and move the pan around until the eggs are spread out evenly. Lower the heat to med-low. Wait until the eggs look semi-cooked, then add a couple pats of butter to the four corners of your pan. Then pop it in the oven for about 10-15 minutes until it looks golden brown and delicious. Slice up an avacado to enjoy with your eggi-weggs.

Ohhhhh Hummus Sandwich

I love making sandwiches. I love them so much, here is one of my many sandwich creations.

Ingredients:
Hummus
bell pepper (red or yellow or sweet peppers)
yellow onion
avacado
bread
garlic
salt
mayo

So first off we gunna make some garlic mayo.
Smoosh up one or two garlic cloves using lots of salt and the back side of your fork in a bowl. This should create like a garlic paste. add a few dollops of mayo and pepper or even red chile powder or cayenne powder. mix it all togetha

Next slice up a bit of onion and bell pepper. Pop the onion in a pan heated up with either evoo or butter. sweat the onions and add some salt and pepper. throw in the bell peppers when the onions are translucent. Meanwhlie, toast up some bread and slice a bit of avacado. Spread a bit of your garlic mayo on the bread, and then spoon on the hummus on each slice of bread. Lay on the avacado. Once the peppers and onions have browned, go ahead and STACK YO SANDWHICH!

mmmmmmmmm MMMmmmm

And now, for a brief moment, let us appreciate the puppies.

I love Dusty and Junior forever.

Braised Chicken Sausage with greens

Ingredients:
chicken sausage
chicken stock
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
bit o' beer
olive oil
red onion
chard (I prefer rainbow chard but any chard will work)
garlic
yellow onion

Throw in a whole pint of chicken stock and add about 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar. add the red onion and bring the broth to a boil in a saute pan. Throw in the chicken sausage and reduce the heat to medium-high-ish until the broth has evaporated and you are left with glazed sausages. Take the sausage out and pour a dash of beer into the pan and scrape the goods off the bottom and pour 'em onto the sausage.

While waiting for the sausage to cook, chop up yellow onion, throw into a pan with olive oil. sweat 'em and then add the garlic and then the chard. add salt and pepper... maybe a dash of cayenne or red chile powder. Cook 'em down and serve 'em up. squeeze a lil lemon on top.

ANNND ENJOY!

My very first blog

I like cookin. I make alot of things and often forget what I did to make it so delicious, so this is basically a blog to document the recipes I use to make delicious meals. Most are pretty simple, and always delicious. I will probably also post a little art here and there.

Lookin forward to bloggin!