Mint Oreo Truffles

Do as I say, not as I do.

For example, if you are spending the weekend baking for a holiday party make sure you eat something other than the sweets you are cooking. And whatever you do, do not eat sweets accompanied by wine on Friday night followed by more sweets on Saturday morning alongside your coffee. Your tummy will not like you very much.

You should, however, add Oreo truffles to your Christmas candies and cookies this year. FOR CERTAIN. You will love them (and inevitably consume too many). Everyone you share them with will love them too. They don't really take any extra prep time than cut-out cookies so you can definitely fit them in. They are super adaptable if you don't like mint, just use regular Oreos or I bet the peanut butter ones would be delicious too. You could totally use the golden ones and coat them with chocolate. Wowsers.

So what are you waiting for? Get out to the store and get the supplies and get rolling and dipping. Turn up some "All I want for Christmas is You" and the time will fly by.

Get in there and take a nice big bite!

Mint Oreo Truffles (I cannot even give this one source because they are all over the internet)
Ingredients:
1 package mint stuffed Oreos
8 oz block of cream cheese (it is okay to use 1/3 less fat), cut into 1-2 inch cubes
White almond bark, approximately 2/3 of a 24 oz package
crushed candy canes
Christmas colored sprinkles

Directions:
Place the Oreos into your food processor and pulse until they are finely ground. Place the cubes of cream cheese into the food processor and pulse again until mixed completely. Make sure you do not have any streaks of cream cheese left. It should form a nice black ball.

Place the Oreo mix into the fridge until you are ready to start rolling (it helps if it is slightly cold). Cover a baking sheet with parchment or wax paper. Roll the Oreo mixture into balls of about 1 inch diameter. Place on the prepared baking sheet.

Freeze the baking sheet with the balls for at least 1 hour.

Melt the white almond bark in the microwave in a glass bowl according to the package (usually zap for 90 seconds first, then stir and microwave for 10-15 seconds again until completely melted).

Roll each Oreo ball in the white almond bark and place back on the parchment. Top with candy canes or sprinkles, as desired (make sure you do this as soon as you finish coating in each one before the bark hardens again). If the uncoated balls begin to soften, place them back into the freezer for another 15 minutes to harden again before you finish up coating. Once you are all done with the coating, store the balls in the freezer or fridge until ready to serve.

Turkey Enchiladas

I apologize for all the turkey recipes.

I'm actually done with all the leftover turkey in my house, but I have this ONE LAST recipe to share with you regarding what to do with your extras from Thanksgiving. Of course, you may already be done with your turkey and that is ALL GOOD. You can definitely sub in some CHICKEN for ANY of these recipes. So please bear with me for this last post and next week we'll be on to different things like COOKIES, SOUPS and other delights.

Why am I typing in ALL CAPS for SO MANY words today? Who knows? You just do the things that feel RIGHT. Am I right?

Let's talk about these enchiladas. I got it in my mind that I was going to make turkey enchiladas even before I left for Thanksgiving weekend. I saw this recipe and feel in LOVE. Just think, a spicy sweet cranberry tomato sauce smothered over deliciously filled tortillas. Yum! However, we didn't have any leftover cranberry sauce because we DEMOLISHED it in a blink of the eye. I debated purchasing a can or just making some more, but I decided instead to adapt my go-to red sauce enchiladas to incorporate the leftover turkey. Sooo YUMMY. Totally works with CHICKEN too. ;)

Turkey Enchiladas (adapted from Annie's Eats)
Ingredients:
1 tsp canola oil
1 medium onion, diced
1 jalapeno, diced (include however many seeds you want for your spice threshold)
2 garlic cloves, diced
2 tbsp chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tbsp granulated sugar
15 oz can tomato sauce
1 cup turkey stock (or vegetable broth)
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1 1/2 cups chopped cooked turkey
2 cups shredded cheddar jack cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
10 8 inch corn tortillas

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the onion and jalapeno and cook until they have softened, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin and sugar and mix to coat the onion and pepper with the seasonings. Whisk in the tomato sauce, turkey stock and grape tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, lower the heat and cook until thickened slightly, about 5 minutes. Add the shredded turkey and mix to coat. Cook for about 5 minutes more.

Place a thin mesh strainer over a large bowl and pour the liquid into the strainer to remove all of the solids. Combine the turkey and vegetable mixture with 1/4 cup sauce, 1 cup of cheese and the chopped parsley. Mix well.

Spray a large baking pan with cooking spray.

Microwave the corn tortillas wrapped in a damp paper towel for about 1 minute so they are pliable. Add about 1/3 cup of the turkey mixture to the middle of each tortilla, roll up tightly and place in the baking pan. Pour the remaining sauce over the enchiladas. and sprinkle with the rest of the cheese.

Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 5 minutes until the cheese is bubbly.

Let cool slightly before serving. Garnish with sour cream and additionally chopped parsley.

Turkey and Noodles

How to work-out when you are a chemistry postdoc (or graduate student):

Of course, you can go running outside, swim laps in a pool, or lift weights at the gym, but I want to share with you a number of fool-proof ways to stay "fit" while you're working in a lab.**

1. Make sure you join a lab that is NOT on the ground floor (the science they do is not that important-- the key is the location, location, location). It is particularly good if you can find a lab space that is on the 4th or 5th floor or down in the basement. Then make sure you walk up and down the stairs at least twice a day; especially when you are carrying your computer to and from work.

2. Utilize those same stairs if you need to run an instrument on another floor. For example, if you have 13C NMR time for a few hours and go back down and check it every hour or so. Your butt will thank you.

3. Find TWO full 4 liter bottles of solvent; place them in the nice rubber carrying cases. Perform bicep curls with them. Start with hexanes and move your way up to chloroform.

4. When you are stuck collecting fractions from a column (whether it be flash or HPLC or FPLC), do lunges and squats in front of your hood or instrument.

5. Fill up your ice bucket with 5 pounds of dry ice everyday. While you are walking back to lab, straighten your arms and lift up and down. Or over your head. Work all your different arm muscles.

6. Make sure when you are picking a parking lot for your car permit that it is at LEAST two to three blocks away from your building. You will have to walk back and forth everyday (once again carrying that computer).

7. Invest in lots of textbooks and the like. Stack them all up and carry them around when you walk about campus. Not only will you look smart, you'll be burning more calories.


Okay, now use up an extra turkey you still have in your fridge and make this turkey and noodle recipe. My mom always makes it after Thanksgiving, you should too!

Turkey and Noodles (Recipe from my Mom's kitchen)
Ingredients:
2 cups chopped or shredded roasted turkey
1 can cream of chicken soup
3 cups turkey stock (or chicken broth)
2 tbsp onion, diced (or 1 tsp dried minced onion)
6 oz Kluski egg noodles
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste

Directions:
Whisk together the soup, stock and onion in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium high heat. Add the noodles, lower the heat, and cook for 5-6 minutes until they start to soften. Stir in the turkey. Continue to cook for 10-15 minutes until the noodles are cooked completely through. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Serves 3.

**Disclaimer: I am not a registered trainer or even that fit, for that manner. Please perform all "work-outs" at your own discretion and with the utmost regard for safety in your own lab. ;)

Turkey Stock

Question--- what's the difference between stock and broth?

I did some googling (side bar: can you believe that google is in the dictionary as both a noun and a verb? Google wasn't even started until the late 1990s and now we use the word so often; it is crazy.) and found a few answers. First, I think in order for something to be a "stock", it needs to have been made with bones. But then how can there be vegetable stock? I dunno. Broth, on the other hand, is typically made with more meat pieces, salt and other seasonings that make it something you could eat directly from the pot. Most places that you look, however, say that chefs tend to use the words interchangeably, especially when they are homemade. Since I don't add any salt to either stock or broth, I wouldn't suggest eating them directly from the pot without seasoning. But regardless of what you call them, I would definitely encourage you to make them at home. My parents and I made this turkey stock on Thanksgiving because why throw away the carcass without getting a little something extra from it? Play around with the vegetables and seasoning and use what you have in your fridge (or even scraps from your freezer would work). Alternatively, just sub bones and skin from a chicken to make chicken stock.

Turkey Stock (adapted from Vegetable Broth)
Ingredients:
1/2 to full carcass of roasted turkey, plus skin
1 medium onion, cut into quarters
2-3 celery stalks, cut into large chunks
8-10 baby carrots
1 bay leaf
large handful of fresh parsley
4-5 fresh sage leaves
2-3 sprigs of fresh thyme
2-3 peppercorns
Cold water

Directions:
After you have carved your turkey and picked off most of the meat (you don't need to pick it clean, some meat will help to flavor it), break down the bones and add them plus any skin and fat to a large pot. Add all of the vegetables and seasonings. Cover with cold water. Turn on the stove and bring to a simmer. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 3-8 hours.

Pour the liquid through a small mesh strainer and remove all of the solids. Let cool to room temperature (or you could cover it and put it outside if it is colder out there); you don't want to put it directly into your fridge because the heat will warm up the inside of your fridge and it may not be at the correct temperature for everything else you have in there. Once it has cooled to room temperature, place it in the fridge overnight. In the morning, skim off the fat using a spoon or fat skimmer (you can leave some fat if you would like, if you remove it all, you have fat free broth!). Portion into 1 cup and 2 tbsp (ice cube tray) aliquots and freeze.

Thaw and use in place of chicken stock or broth for whatever recipes you desire!

Remember when you use this that you will want to taste your dish and salt generously. Unlike the stock/broth that you buy in the store, this is salt free!

Hashbrown Waffles

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Only in the house

Take a look at the rain and gloom pattering on the pane

With temperatures at sixty and above

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Sales in ev'ry store

Where the prettiest sight you'll see is the tree that you put up

In your own front room.

Please re-read that and sing it out loud to the tune of, you guessed it, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas".


Really isn't it crazy that the weather this week as been so nice?!? It was in the 70s on Sunday and Monday and now it is rainy and in the high 50s. This so feels like spring weather not DECEMBER.

Okay, let's just take a moment to FREAK OUT that it is the last month of 2012 already?!?! How in the world did that happen?!?! Why is life flying by in a blink of the eye?!? AHHH!


Okay, freak out officially over.

Well, until you make these hashbrown waffles. If you are on Pinterest, you have probably seem them floating around all over the joint. And if you are like me, you probably thought to yourself, wow what an amazing idea and how did I not come up with that? I love love love love love crispy potatoes and that is exactly what these are. Plus you get to use that waffle maker for something other than waffles. And it's so easy. I mean all you do is shred your potato, season and let it cook. Have I sold you yet?

So make these for breakfast, brunch or even dinner. You won't regret it (although you may freak out a little bit... oh, you don't freak out at the drop of a hat like me? Okay, then maybe you won't freak out. Just don't judge me and my freaking out nature...please...please...please...).

Hashbrown Waffles (from Teas and Cookies)
Ingredients:
1 potato (per person)
Salt (start at about 1/2 tsp per potato)
Canola oil
Optional: eggs cooked to order and ketchup

Directions:
Shred the potato using a hand grater or food processor. Wrap a towel around the potatoes and squeeze to remove the water (you want your potatoes to be as dry as possible to get crispy potatoes). Place the potatoes in a bowl and season with salt. Toss to mix.

Heat your waffle iron to hot. Carefully oil the top and bottom of the hot iron. Spread the potatoes over the bottom of the waffle iron and close. Cook for 10-20 minutes until brown and crispy. Remove from the iron and top with the egg and ketchup, if desired.

Turkey Cubano

Can I get a "holla" for the Blue Express on Duke's campus?

For those of you who cannot understand the words coming out of my mouth (or should I say the words I have typed on your screen), you are missing out. Well, kinda. Campus food can be hit or miss, right? Connected to the building where I spent many of my waking hours during grad school hidden in a basement lab was the Blue Express, one the campus's dining establishments. Every day of the week (and every week was the same) they had a sandwich special. My first year I liked the Wednesday schwarma. Then I learned to enjoy the Thursday gyro or the Tuesday portabello on pita. But the sandwich that defined the end of my graduate career was definitely the Friday cubano. Grilled to perfection and seasoned with dill pickles, mustard and mayo, the ham and pork sammy was the goodness of Friday lunch. I was typically (and still am) a "bring your lunch to work" gal, but when I didn't have a lunch for Friday this was certainly the go-to.

Anywho... this recipe is the Blue Express cubano re-purposed in IL and with ingredients I found in my fridge last week... I used left over turkey from Thanksgiving in place of the pork, went for shredded swiss, and a wheat baguette from my freezer.

Really it's the combo of the mustard and pickle that just makes the sandwich for me.

No, Julie, you should not eat a dill pickle dunked in mustard; that would be bad.

Turkey Cubano
Ingredients:
2-3 slices leftover roasted turkey
2 slices deli ham
1 thinly sliced pickle
1 tsp deli mustard
1 oz swiss cheese (shredded or sliced)
6 inch baguette (I used my homemade wheat baguette), sliced in half

Directions:
Preheat oven, or toaster oven, to 400 F.

Spread the mustard on one side of the baguette. Top with the pickle, turkey, ham and cheese. Wrap with aluminum foil. Bake for 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

Heat a large skillet (or panini press) to hot. Unwrap the sandwich and add to the hot pan. Press down with another large pan (or the top of the press) and cook for 2-3 minutes. Cut in half before serving.

Butternut Squash, Broccoli and Spinach Mac and Cheese

I have this white board hanging in my kitchen where I always plan out my meals for the week. The planning out of weekly meals probably stems from my mom who has been making menus on the backside of her grocery list for as long as I can remember. This ritual of planning is important to me for several reasons:

First, I can avoid all of those unnecessary trips to the grocery store by only going once a week. This cuts back on impromptu purchases that can make a dent in the wallet. If the menu planning goes along with looking at the grocery ads, it can also save some additional cash.

Secondly, it helps keep variety in my life. You know me and my love of cooking magazines, cookbooks, and food blogs. By planning out my meals I can insure I have the ingredients I need to whip up something new and different each week. It is easy, if you don't have a plan, to fall into the rut of the same recipes day-to-day or week-to-week. For me, that just isn't fun.

Thirdly, it helps me to eat healthy. The stops by a fast food joint or the popcorn for dinner don't happen nearly as often if I am looking forward to my planned dinners. I always make sure to have enough veggies for a side salad or something of the equivalent to enhance my main dish.

Lastly, since I cook for myself, it allows me to plan out what to do with leftovers. Like if I'm going to make a butternut squash for ravioli then I'll most likely have leftovers. And what should I do with that extra squash? Well, make a nice mac and cheese, of course. I came across a delicious looking recipe that used sweet potatoes and spinach in a hearty mac and cheese dish. I adapted it significantly to utilize the butternut squash, add some extra vegetables (like broccoli) and changed up the cheese for my preference (and to use what was in my fridge). It worked out great, I tell ya!

So are you a menu planner? If not, I would suggest trying it out. You'll save some money, add some variety to your life, and maybe even eat a little healthier. What's on your plan for this week?

Butternut Squash, Broccoli and Spinach Mac and Cheese (significantly adapted from Naturally Ella)
Ingredients:
1 cup uncooked pasta (I used whole wheat rotini)
1 cup broccoli florets
1 handful fresh spinach
2/3 cup milk
2/3 cup butternut squash, cooked and mashed
1/2 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp flour
1 garlic, minced
1/4 small onion, diced
1 oz cream cheese
1 American cheese single

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 F.

Bring a pot of water to boil. Add the pasta and cook for about 4-5 minutes until almost done. Add the broccoli and boil for another 2-3 minutes. Finally add the spinach and cook for about 30 seconds. Drain the pasta and vegetables.

Meanwhile, melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Add the garlic and onion and cook for 2-3 minutes until softened. Sprinkle in the flour and cook while stirring for 1-2 minutes. Whisk in the milk and cook until thickened slightly. Add the squash and cook until hot. Add the cream cheese and American cheese and stir until melted.

Pour the cheese mixture over the pasta and vegetables in a bowl. Toss to mix thoroughly. Pour into a baking dish. Bake for 25 minutes until hot and bubbly.

Serves 1.