Month: April 2020

‘Impossible’ Impasta Bowls

During this quarantine I’ve realized I got a little too comfortable with my “walks to the fridge” adding some extra pounds diving into chip bags and biting into hefty sandwiches. Loungewear has become the new everyday attire and the enabling elastic waistband does not judge when you’re stuffing your mouth with ice cream and fries lol but I’ll digress. Time to take matters into my own hands and get back to what I know worked for me!

Vegan diet is a safe and healthy way to lose weight by doing minimal work. Full of fruits veggies and vitamins that your body needs in general. I felt great. When I ate I was full but not with a bulging stomach and I had much more energy. I’m not perfect so I cheated at times but I tried to stick to seafood if I wanted “meat”. So I wanted to kick this off with one of my favorite dishes to make, everyone loves spaghetti! Let’s dive right in shall we?

Ingredients:

  • 1 spaghetti squash
  • 1lb Impossible meat
  • Tomato sauce (canned spaghetti sauce)
  • SPICES: Italian blend, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, sea salt, crushed red pepper, McCormicks steak and chop seasoning, smoked paprika.

Directions:

  • Preheat your oven to 375. Cut your squash in half and season with paprika, salt, pepper and a generous amount of olive oil. Lay flays open face side down and bake for 15min. After 15 min flip the halves over. Finish baking for another 15 min. Remove your seeds in the center before shredding your squash with a fork.

Once you shred your squash. It’ll look like this.

  • Now for the impossible beef. Brown your meat on a pan and add salt, pepper, steak and chop, paprika, Italian seasoning, onion powder and garlic powder. 4-5 shakes will do the job, lol. Add in your pasta sauce and let it simmer.
  • Use the spaghetti squash as it’s own bowl or you can remove it and plate it. However you like. Garnish with parsley and cherry tomatoes and voila, vegan dinner is served. It’s possible! Enjoy street team! Let me know what other things you’d throw in some spaghetti squash. 😊

Hibachi at Home

Postmates, UberEats, Eat24, the fees and prices and WHEW CHILE the wait times! This day I just couldn’t take it. In 95min (my minimum delivery wait time for Benihana lunch) I could’ve grocery shopped, cooked and ate with more than over 50% in savings and spare me 30min to make with leftovers included! So let me share my recipe with y’all. Great idea for a date night at home with bae or kitchen fun with the kids. Let’s dive in shall we?

Ingredients:

  • Chicken (3 thin sliced breast fillets)
  • Steak (1-2 filet mignon or a boneless smaller cut steak)
  • Cooked white rice (3cups)
  • 2eggs
  • Frozen peas and carrots
  • 1/4 cup chopped green onion
  • 1/6 chopped white onion
  • 1 zuchini
  • 5 sliced white or bella mushrooms
  • 1 stick of butter
  • SPICES: ginger powder, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, sesame oil, sesame seeds, sea salt, garlic pepper.

Directions:

Let’s start with the rice. This is the lengthiest process but nothing takes long for this dish so be prepared to eat soon, don’t have to wait for the onion volcano or choo-choo train.

  1. In a heated wide & flat pan, add in 1 tablespoon of sesame oil and finely chopped white onion. Then add in 1 thin sliced & DICED chicken breast filet. Toss and brown.
  2. Add in the 3-4 cups of cooked rice, 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/4-1/3 cup of soy sauce and teriyaki sauce. Toss to make sure the rice is coated with all ingredients.
  3. Add frozen peas and carrots and a few shakes of sesame seeds.
  4. You may/ can add more sesame oil to make the rice even crispier. The key if you don’t have a wok pan is to make sure you’re repeatedly tossing the rice don’t let it sit too long or it’ll turn into a crunch when it’s sitting long on the pans surface.
  5. Move your fried rice over and crack two eggs on the empty side. Let scramble and mix well with your rice. Remove from heat and set pan aside.
  6. Warm two other pans. One for veggies and one for meat. The meat was pre-seasoned with garlic pepper, sea salt and ginger powder.
  7. For the veggies: cut 1/6 of the onion and keep the pieces fairly large chunks or into strips. Brown onions in pan with 1 tablespoon butter. While that’s browning. Cut zucchini the long way into fourths. The cut each strip into 1 inch pieces. Add zucchini and chopped mushrooms to your caramelized onions and toss on medium heat. Add dashes of garlic pepper and sea salt. Should be done in no more then 10 min.
  8. For the meat: I used a flat sesame oiled cast iron skillet. Make sure it’s warmed and ready before adding your meat to the pan (major key). Drop in your meat. Let it sizzle and cook on one side. For chicken 3-4 min each side (it’s thin) for the steak 5-7 min depending on how thick the cut is for medium/medium rare temperature. After the initial side is cooked flip to the other raw side and add a teaspoon of butter to the pan near the chicken or steak. Retains juiciness and moisture. Remove from heat and let rest for about 3min then proceed to bust out your killer (please be safe) knife skills (just cut strips) lol.
  9. Garnish with sesame seeds, sriracha sauce or green onions annnnd you did it! All under 10 steps and you’re ready for a $100 hibachi dinner, just watch out where you throw that spatula! 😂

Cajun Bacon Deviled Eggs

Spring time comes around, the flowers begin to bloom, allergies kick in and Easter and Mother’s Day seem like they’re a week apart! Although we’re in a weird time we must remember to stay inside so that this can come and GO! I know it’s hard, we can’t celebrate and gather like we’re used to but it doesn’t mean that we can’t keep the same delicious traditions to comfort us and give us all the feels. For Easter I decided to put a spin on a classic appetizer dish: The Deviled Egg. Ready to kick it up a little bit? Let’s dive right in, shall we?

Ingredients:

  • 10 whole eggs (for mix the yolk of 10 eggs)
  • 2-3 pickle spears
  • 1 large celery stalk
  • 3 strips of green onion
  • 1 tablespoon mayo and 1.5 tablespoon mustard
  • SPICES: old bay, garlic powder, ground cayenne pepper, Cajun spice.

Directions:

  1. In a pot (large enough to boil ten eggs) fill it with water to boil. Once water is boiled slowly drop your eggs into the water. I used a ladle to drop each egg in carefully so they wouldn’t break. Let them boil for 20 min.
  2. While eggs are boiling use this time to chop your celery and pickles as FINE as possible. Mix in your mustard and mayo and for the spices I’d do a teaspoon of each. Just be careful with the cayenne, meaning if you don’t like spicy 🥵 maybe do a little less! 😉
  3. Remove the eggs from the stove and dump the water. Rinse the eggs in cold water until they’re chilled. It makes them easier to crack and makes them not stick to the shells.
  4. Rise you peeled eggs in cold water to remove any debris and begin to cut then in halves removing all yolk in the mixing bowl with ingredients.
  5. Rinse your egg whites very gently and set them “bowl side” down to dry.
  6. HACK: If you egg mix becomes to runny a trick to add to it is instant mash potatoes to thicken it up. Probably the only use I’d have for them but no judgement! Just not a fan of them but it this case they come to the rescue if needed!
  7. Mix your filling and add seasoning to taste. When your mix is ready to go fill it in a piping bag OR a sandwich ziplock. Cutting a corner and using it to squeeze into your egg cups.
  8. Set your filled eggs in the fridge to cool and now you can fry up some bacon. Once it’s done use a napkin to remove excess oil and chop up your bacon to bits.
  9. Sprinkle your bits over the eggs and add some extra old bay and/ or cayenne to the top. Kick it up a little bit and dash some hot sauce if you like it spicy! 😉
  10. Eat them, share them, enjoy them! Thank me later.

Share your deviled eggs with me on Instagram! @streetandpsice

Breakfast Jack’s + Fries

All these days are blending together. So are the times of the day. Is it sunrise? Sunset? Nap time? Is it breakfast or dinner? Who knows! Make something easy and fun and quick like the drive through but from the comfort of your own kitchen. The famous late night or early morning brown bag smile, the breakfast jack!

Ingredients:

  • 2 eggs
  • 2 smaller hamburger buns
  • 2 slices of cheese
  • 6 slices of ham (or turkey)
  • 1 whole large russet potato
  • Ketchup
  • Vegetable oil.
  • SPICES: Lawry’s Garlic Pepper and Brown Sugar Bourbon.
  • Hardware: Frying pan and two metal circle cookie cutters

Directions:

Fries:

  1. Cut your potatoes edges off. The potato should be a rectangular block. Slice your potato horizontally (the longer way) to make about 4-5 flat rectangles then cut those down into 1/2 inch (or a little less) strips of fries.
  2. Preheat oil to 300 in a frying pan while Soaking potatoes in ice cold salt water. This process keeps your fries from sticking once you drop them in the up and makes for a crispier fry.
  3. After a few minutes, remove from water and with a dry towel, pat dry.
  4. Add one table spoon of your brown sugar bourbon spice and toss. Carefully add fries to oil and let fry.
  5. Remove after 10-13 min. More for even crispier. Let them rest on a paper towel to remove excess oil.

Breakfast Jacks:

  • In a well oiled frying pan place two cookie cutters and drop your each in each. Season with a shake or two of garlic pepper.
  • With a cup of water add that to your eggs pan after about 4 min. Then cover with a lid. This will allow the top part of the egg to finish cooking. SO NO NEED TO FLIP!
  • While eggs are steaming slow and low. Brown some meat off with another pan or using the same pan but do it BEFORE the water is added in the process above.
  • Set up a cookie sheet with aluminum. Place the bottom of your buns. Turkey or ham then top that with cheddar slice. Adjacent lot put the burger bun top face down and pat some french fry oil on top for help with a softer and warmer bun.
  • Broil on low for about 5 min or until cheese is melted. Remove and add ketchup to your bun top, hot sauce or your favorite Aoli; add your egg and it’s party time! Share your Breakfast Jacks with me on IG at @streetandspice. Have fun with one or with the family or friends. Enjoy, stay safe and stay home.

Enjoy this simple and fun copycat recipe with yourself, friends, your boo or the family. It’s fun and easy to make. Forget the Jack in the Box drive thru lines and focus of social distancing with this recipe that you’ll never forget. Stay safe, stay healthy and stay home. Excited to see your sandwiches tag me on Instagram! @streetandspice

Neat Joe’s (A Not so Sloppy version).

Carole Baskin killed her husband! WHEW, I said it! That’s one thing for certain in this twilight zone of 2020. With all the chaos going on in the world today, it’s a lot for an individual to take in. From globally to personally there is so much happening and it’s fair to say that in general, its stressful. The key to push through all of this is to remember to stay as sane and organized as possible. Keep a clean house for a clean mental space, check in with loved ones, create a routine, learn you, love you and don’t forget to laugh and dance; jam out! I’ve watched Tiger King as many of us have, and it made me realize how chaotic Joe Exotic was! Being the gemini I am I needed balance and what better way to find it than to cook and make some sweet and simple Sloppy Joe’s. Just with a pinch more class to add to the trailer trash that is the infamous, Joe Exotic. Let’s get to the recipe, shall we?

Ingrediants:

  • 1lb Ground Beef, Turkey, Chicken or vegan black bean patties.
  • 1/6 red and green bell pepper
  • 1 pack of Hawaiian Rolls or slider buns
  • 1-3 russet potatoes (dirty brown)
  • Lettuce
  • 1 can of tomato sauce (8oz needed)
  • Pickle chips (spicy, sweet, or dill, up to you)
  • Chopped Parsley
  • Crumbled Parmesan Cheese
  • 2 tablespoons EVOO
  • SPICES: Italian seasoning, black pepper, cajun seasoning, brown sugar spice or just regular brown sugar, onion powder, crushed red pepper, 1 pack of sloppy joe mix.

Directions:

  • In a mixing bowl combing your 1lb of meat and sloppy joe mix.
  • Add a low teaspoon of all your seasonings
  • Chop your red and green bell peppers and add 6oz of tomato sauce to the meat mix. Your meat will be very soft because of the sauce Don’t worry, you’ll just have juicy sliders. Mix well and set in the fridge while we prep our baked chips.
  • Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees F. While the oven is warming wash your potatoes. You can either peel them or keep the skin on, I actually like the skin, plus we’re going to be slicing them thin so iss whatever!
  • Toss the raw chips in 2 tablespoons of EVOO (olive oil ya’ll), Mrs.Dash garlic herb and Lawry’s Garlic Pepper.
  • On an oiled cookie sheet or on aluminum foil place all your raw chips spread apart and not touching one another. Place them in the oven for 8-10 min then remove them let cool for 2 min and flip them all over and put them back in the oven for a few more minutes. You want them crunchy, you know, chips lol. Dust them hot with sea salt, parmesan and fresh parsley toss and enjoy a few, why not?!
  • Remove the meat mixture from the fridge and using a 2oz scoop grab a meatball shape and start to flatten them using your hands into slider size patties.
  • You can use a charcoal/ gas grill or use a cast iron skillet as I did. Whatever you do make sure the surface is oiled and HOT! The patties because of the tomato sauce are more susceptible to break. So be gentle during the handling process.
  • For a nice medium-well finish let one side sear for 4-5 minutes then once that side has browned, flip and let that side finish for another 4 minutes. Remove from the heat and let them rest.
  • Using your rolls/ buns spread some heated tomato sauce (2oz can be heated stovetop or microwave (is best). Add your patties and top them with lettuce and pickle chips. I used spicy pickles because I’m a hot mama. wink

Enjoy your not so messy, not so YOU (Joe), not so Exotic (Joe), organized and neat, Sloppy Joe’s. Shoutout to Netflix!