dairy queen tip

don't bother with a sundae, it's all about the blizzard.  i got a pecan mudslide and they put a bunch of caramel and hot fudge on the bottom but by the time you get to it, all the ice cream is gone already.

lamb loin chop

yesterday i made lamb loin chop 2 ways.  first i took the lamb out for 30 minutes to get to room temperature.  salt on both sides of lamb

method 1:

-rub oil on big piece of foil.  fold up lamb inside making sure there's space between each piece.  

-turn on george foreman grill and wait 10 minutes

-cook for 9 minutes

method 2:

-heat 2 tablespoons butter in skillet on high until melted.  turn heat to medium.

-cook lamb 4 minutes per side.  sear edges.

both ways tasted good because lamb is delicious but i liked how method 2 tasted better.  cooking on the stove you get beautiful caramelization.  however, it's more clean-up.  with the george foreman you just have to crumple and toss the foil.

i was reading online how lamb is meant to be eaten on the rarer side.  since that's not my preference, i cooked it a couple minutes more than the minimum amount of time.

it was my first time cooking lamb loin chop.  glad it turned out :o)

one pot spaghetti tip

1.  brown 1 lb ground beef

2.  add 3 cups water and 1 jar spaghetti sauce.  boil.

3.  add 1 lb spaghetti but break noodles in half.  boil and cook for 15-20 minutes.  

4.  i also added shredded cheese and a cup of sour cream when cooking was done.

pork shoulder tip

boil pork shoulder for 35 minutes in water.  add bbq sauce and broil for 15 minutes.  sweet baby ray's is the best bbq sauce.

corn on the cob tip

hm, i thought i'd added this tip but couldn't find it.  

how to steam corn on the cob.

-husk corn

-boil some water and put a steam tray in the pot.  water doesn't have to be enough to cover corn, but it has to be enough so that it doesn't all boil out and evaporate

-when water boils, put corn in and steam for 15 minutes with lid on

-you can break corn in half to make it fit the pot

vacuum cleaner tip

to get hair out of the sides of a vacuum cleaner's roller brushes, use a seam ripper.  it works so much better than scissors or a letter opener!

cheap wall decor tips

got a 500 piece puzzle at the thrift store for 69 cents.  framed it with a new frame from target for around $30.  i've been looking at framed pictures at thrift stores but the frames are ALWAYS knicked or scratched up.  and i'm not into the banged up vintage look.  

hook tip

i bought some mini command hooks but they were too big to hang my calendar.  i strung a thin ring of ribbon through the calendar holes and doubled it over before hanging it on the hook.  it works great!  

popcorn on stovetop tip

-heat 3 tablespoon oil 

-put 4 kernels (to test)

-cover @ medium heat

-when all 4 kernals pop, remove from heat

-add 1/3 cup kernals

-cover pot and wait 30 seconds

-return to heat

-when kernels start popping shake pan with lid slightly ajar

-add salt and butter

tilapia fillet

got some tilapia fillets from trader joe's.  it's really convenient.  you don't have to worry about taking out bones or descaling the fish.  i poached it in some chicken broth for a light flavor.  put fish in the liquid, boil then lower heat and cover--cook for 8 minutes.  super easy!  

how to cook bean thread noodles (dong1 fen3)

just made a big batch of bean thread noodles.  it was my very first time cooking it and i'm happy with the result.  everything cooks in one pot.

ingredients:
-1 pound bean thread noodles
-mild italian sausage bulk (not in sausage casings)
-2 cups sliced mushrooms

ingredients for sauce:
-2 cup chicken broth
-3 tablespoon soy sauce
-2 teaspoon sesame oil
-2 teaspoon sugar

-soak 1 pound bean thread noodles for 20 minutes.
-add some oil to pot and cook sausage.  remove sausage
-add mushrooms to pot and cook until tender.  spoon some sausage fat onto the mushrooms so it's not too dry.  i covered the pot to let the mushrooms kind of steam cook for a few minutes.  remove mushrooms
-drain noodles and put in pot.  use high heat.  pour sauce in pot also.  mix until noodles absorb sauce.
-add sausage and mushrooms back in and mix.

i ate them with some boiled fava beans.

in all, it took 40 minutes to make everything.

brown rice tip

argghhh!  put in 1 cup of brown rice and 2.5 cups of water in the rice cooker.  it was dry and hard :o(

when i put in 1.5 cups of brown rice and 3-3/4 cup of water it's alright.

what am i doing wrong?  it's the same ratio . . .

fava bean tips

quick and easy way to cook fava beans.  shuck 'em.  boil water with salt to a rolling boil.  dump fava beans in water and cook for 7 minutes.  eat.  there's a light green membrane on the fava beans.  that is totally edible.

george foreman chicken thighs tip

make sure the george foreman grill light is off.  if the light is on that means it's heating up still.

wrap chicken in foil so you don't have to wash the grill.

if you don't cut up the chicken thighs, heat for 8 minutes in george foreman grill.

boiling dumplings

1.  boil water--boil a lot so the dumplings won't stick together

2.  add dumplings

3.  when dumplings begin to float, add 1 cup cold water.

4.  boil water again

5.  when dumplings float, add 1 cup of cold water again.

6.  dumplings float

done!

lasagna tip

i've heard that instead of boiling lasagna noodles, you can just add an extra cup of sauce to the bottom.  but when i've tried to do that, the noodles are still raw after baking.

today i soaked the raw noodles in water for about an hour.  they got bendable.

then i just followed the recipe.  

basically i'm just trying to avoid boiling the noodles :o)  

the noodles came out alright, but still ever slightly on the firm side.  next time i'll soak them in water for longer.  

fast dinner tip

get tortillas, rotisserie chicken (from costco), tomato, shredded cheddar cheese, sour cream.

microwave the tortilla with chicken and some cheese.  top with chopped tomato and a spoonful of sour cream.  

add chopped lettuce if you have it.  it adds a nice crunch but is really optional.

microwave popcorn tip

ugh, just tried microwaving popcorn with sugar and oil in an attempt to make my own microwave kettle corn.  it was a total fail.  even though i waited for 2 seconds between pops, there was a big ball of burn.  next time it's back to cooking kettle corn on the stovetop!

also it doesn't appear that kettle corn goes through the garbage disposal.  maybe it'll just dissolve after a while . . .

gift cards tip

when you buy a giftcard, look at the receipt and compare it to the card numbers on the back of the giftcard.  the last couple of giftcard transactions, the cards were not activated.  this could be the cashier trying to steal the cards for himself and giving you blanks, or it could just be a mistake.   

writing tip

i say we get rid of capitalizing the first letter in every sentence!  sure, all you have to do is simply hit the shift key but think of all the sentences you type out.  that's a lot of shift keys.  plus it's mostly redundant, no?  i mean, you've already got your sentence ending punctuations--periods, exclamation points, question marks--so you know the letter immediately after is most likely going to be the start of another sentence.  it would just save so much time to not have to capitalize the initial letter.