The Fastest way to Peel Garlic

I feel like this blog post should be titled

'abracadabra'

When I first heard about this, I assumed it was just a gag, or you needed to buy some crazy expensive gadget that probably didn't even work. Oh yeah like you can really peel a whole head of garlic in under 30 seconds. Oh and did I mention that you will be doing this without a knife or any gadgets!

Seems to good to be true, BUT
'abracadabra'
it really works!!!

First take your head of garlic and place on your counter top.

Next using the palm of your hand or a wooden object like a bowl or cutting board press down on the head of garlic. You don't need to injure yourself doing this, but press down with the most pressure you can. 

You will then have a pile of garlic cloves and garlic skins. You simply take the whole pile (don't worry about separating anything just yet) and dump it into any container that you have that has a lid. I used an old Tupperware container. You can even just use 2 bowls and sandwich the garlic in the middle of them.

Next comes the hard work...get ready...shake the container for approximately 10 seconds.

If you managed to survive that grueling task then you are all ready to enjoy your skinned garlic gloves.

Dump everything out of the container and you will see that somehow all the skins have separated from the garlic cloves.

All you need to do is pick through the pile of skins and garlic and gather up all your pretty and perfect garlic cloves.

So that's it, simply give the head a good hard squash with your hand or back of something that won't break, put it all in a container with lid, shake as hard as you can for about 10 seconds, and just sift through the garlic skins and gather up your garlic cloves!  (This is probably the most time consuming part, as the garlic skins like to cling to your hands)

 

I hope you're not too exhausted from all that, now go and roast up some garlic cloves and enjoy!!!
 

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HEART SHAPED CROUTONS

Homemade Heart Shaped Herb Croutons.

 

Surprise your sweetheart with some love this Valentines Day.  Make something as simple as a Ceasar salad look extra special by simply adding some easy to make heart shaped croutons!

 

XOXO

 

Simply take your bread and cut away with your heart shaped cookie cutter.

Next sprinkle some oil and season with herbs, salt and pepper.

Toss and bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

Watch carefully towards the end as they can go from being done to burnt very quickly!

Enjoy in your salads or with a delicious bowl of split pea soup. Click HERE for the yummiest Split Pea Soup quick and easy recipe!

ENJOY!!!

How To Grow Green Onions

NEVER BUY SCALLIONS AGAIN!!!

 

Ok, so the first thing that needs to be said about this tip/trick is that it 100% works.  The second thing to mention about regrowing your own scallion indoors is that it fricken smells awful! 

 

***Quick Update***

(So I have been growing the onions now for over a month and I'm on my 4th cutting.  They just keep growing and the smell doesn't seem to be as bad.  Still think the idea of growing some lemon leaves next to it would be a good plan.  Hope you guys are having luck with your scallions)

 

So if your still willing to give it a try then it really is quite simple to regrow the scallion you already have in your fridge.

 

 

 

Simply cut 2-3 inches from the bottom of the scallions.

 

 

Next get a cute dish and fill with rocks, pepples or seaglass like I used.

 

 

Place your cut scallions in and water daily.

 

Sit back and watch your green onions grow!

 



 

Like I mentioned earlier, I found the smell coming from my cut scallions to be just awful.  I'm not sure if its the onions itself, the smell of the water or a combination of the two.

 

I'm thinking that it may be smarter to plant the scallion bulbs into some potting soil so that you don't have to worry about the water smelling.  In addition, it just may be wiser to do this in the summer months when you can keep your little scallion cuttings in a cute container on your porch.

 

I wanted to keep the cut bulbs in the same container for the whole week while I took the pictures, but I think its better to tie your bunch of bulbs together instead of trying to get them to stand individually in your dish.  They kept flopping over on me.

 

 

 

Here are my scallions after I cut them and put them tied together in a bigger container to regrow again. 

 

 

 I wasn't sure if I should cut below the original cut I made or above it, so i did half the cuts above and half below. 

 

 

 

I'll update the blog once I know which cut worked better and if you can get a second regrowth out of them.  Also I'm thinking of planting something that has a pleasant smell next to these green onion bulbs in the hope of combating the bad odor.  I'll let you know if that works also.

 

 

 

GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR SCALLIONS!!!

 

 

Brie & Blueberry Quesadillas

GRILLED BRIE AND BLUEBERRY QUESADILLAS

 

 

Sometimes you discover the best recipes by accident.  Last week I posted one of my favorite recipes, grilled brie and grapes quesadillas.  This week came along and I was still craving them.  The only problem was that although I still had brie cheese and quesadillas left, I was out of grapes.  Instead of going to buy more grapes I took a peak inside the fridge to see if I could find something else to go with the brie and quesadillas.  Once I saw the fresh blueberries, I knew this could be something good.

 

 

These couldn't be easier to make.  The ingredients needed are soft tortillas, any kind or size that you like, soft brie cheese and fresh blueberries.  You will also need a little oil or non-stick spray and powdered sugar.

 

Next heat up just enough oil to coat your frying pan or spray pan with non-stick spray.  Then place one tortilla in the pan and place some brie cheese on the tortilla.

 

 

 While that is heating up, take approximately 10 blueberries and slice them in half (really the best thing to do is cut the blueberries ahead of time and sprinkle them with the powdered sugar and let them sit in the refrigerator overnight).  As the cheese is melting, place your sliced blueberries on half of the tortilla. 

 

 

 

 If you haven't already added powder sugar you can sprinkle some on the blueberries now.

 

 

 

Fold your tortilla in half and let both sides get nice and toasty brown.

 

 

Once you have both sides nice and golden brown you can take the quesadilla out of the pan and start on your next one. I like to let them cool down a little before you try to cut them or the cheese and blueberries might try to escape out the sides.

 

 

 

 

These are great as a breakfast treat and you can serve them with maple syrup or whip cream.  They also work great as an appetizer and go great with a glass of wine.  You can make them ahead of time and just re-heat right before your going to serve them.

 

 

HOPE YOU ENJOY THEM!!!

 

 

Split Pea Soup

Easy Split Pea Soup with Homemade Heart Shaped Croutons!

 

 

 

 

Split Pea Soup is an absolute classic soup, with lots of great hearty flavor and is so simple and inexpensive to make.

 

There are many variations of split pea soup and there is no right or wrong way to make it.

 

You can easily make it with meat, vegetarian or gluten-free without really changing the taste of it.

 

A great time to make split pea soup is after you have made a ham and you have a ham bone left-over.  But don't think that this is the only time you can make this delicious soup.  You do not need to add meat to split pea soup to make it great.  Really the only thing you need to make split pea soup are the peas, water and seasonings, the rest is really optional.

 

 

So lets get started with this quick and easy (and very inexpensive) version:

 

INGREDIENTS:

 

2 PACKAGES OF SPLIT GREEN PEAS (32 ounces total)

2 ONIONS

5 LARGE CARROTS

2 TABLESPOONS OIL

2 CHICKEN BOUILLON CUBES

16 CUPS OF COLD WATER

SALT AND PEPPER

6 QT POT WITH LID

 

Ok, so first thing I want to say is that this is going to make a lot of split pea soup (approximately 12 servings).  If you would like to make less, just cut the recipe in half.  The reason I chose to make this amount is because this is what will fit in my 6 QT pot.  If I'm going to make something, I like to make a lot of it and freeze it and have it on hand.  I find it so much easier and cost efficient to cook this way.

 

First thing you want to do is place your split green peas in a colander and rinse well.

 

 

Next you will chop up your onions and carrots.

 

 

In your stock pot add your oil, carrots, and onions and begin to saute.

 

While your carrots and onions are sauteing take your 2 bouillon cubes and crumble them up into your carrot and onion mixture (I like the knorr bouillon cubes because they are soft and you can crumble them, some bouillon cubes are very hard and you can not crumble them.  That's ok if that's the kind you have, just add them later on as your soup cooks).

 

Bouillon cubes are loaded with sodium, that's why I only add two.  But because you are making a lot of soup, you will still need to add some more salt.  I like to do that while the soup is cooking, tasting it along the way so I don't overdue the salt.

 

Of course if you have homemade chicken stock you would use that instead of the 16 cups of water and chicken bouillon cubes.

 

Continue letting your carrots and onions saute, getting them nice and tender and even a little golden brown.

 

 

 

Next you will add in all of your rinsed green split peas and saute them for approximately 5 minutes with the carrots and onions before you add the water (most people don't do this step, so if your pressed for time you could skip the sauteing and just add the water)

 

 

 

After everything has been nicely sauteed, add in 14 of the 16 cups of cold water.  Reserve the last 2 cups of water and add them in while the soup cooks and only if some of the liquid evaporates.

 

Bring to a boil. 

Reduce heat and simmer covered or loosely covered for approximately 2 hrs.

 

 

Don't forget to taste the soup while its cooking and add salt and pepper to your liking.  I don't like a lot of salt, so you will probably definitely need to add salt.

 

 

 

That's it, of course you can jazz up your soup with some delicious homemade heart shaped croutons!

 

 

 

ENJOY!!!

 

 

 

The Yummiest Quesadilla

Grilled Brie Cheese and Grape Quesadillas!

 

 

If your like me you've never really been the biggest fan of brie cheese.  I mean I'm not a fussy eater and I actually like very unusual foods, but I just never really got the point of brie cheese.  Then one day I was watching a cooking show and the chef was making a grilled cheese sandwich with brie cheese.  It seemed that he was speaking directly to me as he started to explain that a lot of people don't really like brie cheese.  He went on to say how brie was one of those cheeses that tasted better melted and complimented fruits very nicely.  That is why brie is usually served at wine tastings.  He went on to make several grilled brie sandwiches and the one that caught my eye was a "Grilled Brie and Grape Quesadilla".  I just knew looking at it that it was gonna be great!

So here's my version of this delightful appetizer.  This would be perfect to serve this Super Bowl Sunday, especially for the ladies who may be drinking wine instead of beer.

 

First gather your supplies.  It couldn't be easier.  All you need is a package of soft tortillas (any kind or size that you like) a bunch of grapes (again any kind you like, I always seem to like the green grapes the best) and of course some soft brie cheese.  Brie cheese can be expensive, but you really only need a little bit for each.

Next put some oil or non-stick spray in your frying pan and threw one tortilla in the pan.  Then slice up some of the brie and place on the hot tortilla.  While that is getting hot, you will cut in half approximately 10 grapes for each tortilla that you will be making.  Once you have your grapes cut and the cheese has started to melt a little you can add your grapes.  I usually only put the grapes on one side so that its easier to fold the tortilla.

 

 

You can now fold your tortilla and give it a gentle 'smush'.  To me the key to good grilled food is all in the 'smush'.  You want to press down firmly so that everything melts together and the tortilla becomes nice and flat, but don't press down to hard or all your grapes will escape from inside.

Once you have both sides nice and golden brown you can take the quesadilla out of the pan and start on your next one.  I like to let them cool a little before you try to cut them or again the cheese and grapes might try to escape out the sides.

That's it.  These are so simple and good.  I warn you, these are so addictive.  I like them so much the way they are that I never came up with a dipping sauce for them.  If any of you guys have any suggestions for a good dipping sauce or tips to make these even better, I would love to hear your comments!

 

Thanks so much and Enjoy!!!