My triple layer delicious dilemma

I have yet to figure out how a 30 year old woman who is finally realizing people were right about weight loss in "old age" is supposed to get herself back into shape when amazing things like Slutty Brownies exist. I feel like if I was really meant to be super skinny like I was way back when, then food would be bland and boring. Yet its not, not at all. Every single day I discover some incredible dish that I know sets me back those 10,000 steps I just took on the treadmill. How depressing...until I remember how incredible that dish tastes and how I smiled and closed my eyes when I tasted it. Oh so fat, oh so worth it. 

So back to what started my deep thought this evening, the Slutty Brownie. Why is it slutty you ask? Because its fast and easy!! Although I didn't create this masterpiece I'm ohhh so happy I found it. I hope they bring some joy to your taste buds and not too much extra to your waistline.

The steps are very simple:

Pre-heat the oven to 350. Layer the bottom of your well oiled pan with two of the pre-shaped sugar cookies, I use the Pampered Chef brownie pan of course. You can use any kind of cookie but I think these turn out prettiest. If using the roll of cookie dough instead of the pre-shaped just fill the bottom of the dish.

Add Oreo cookies on top of your sugar cookie dough. Yeah I said it, OREOS!

Prepare brownie mix according to the instructions on the box and pour over your cookie layers.

Bake for about 18-22 minutes.

If you're using the brownie pan you can flip them out and cut in half to have these cute, delicious treats. If you use a full 13 x 9 pan just cut and enjoy!

Upside Down Banana Tart Deliciousness

It's been far too long since I last posted so I figured I should come back with a bang. As my Pampered Chef business slowly takes over my life, I'm learning tons of incredible recipes. I of course have to taste EVERY recipe I find in case one of my hosts wants it at her party. (love having that excuse)

So the other day I'm searching through the latest creations and find this upside down banana tart. After watching the recipe video I could practically taste it through the tv screen. You must try this one!

I was too mesmerized to pay attention to the ingredients so here's how I made it. I should preface this by saying I used a Pampered Chef ceramic sauté pan which can be used on the stove top and in the oven. You'll want to make sure your pan is oven safe or of course you can have a party and get my awesome pan for free!

Start by flipping an 8 in. sauté pan over one sheet of puff pastry dough and cut out a circle around the pan. Slice two bananas into thin slices. If you have a PC egg slicer it works great for this.

Over medium heat slowly melt 2 tablespoons of butter into 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and 1 tablespoon of cinnamon.

 

Once melted, pull from the heat and lay your banana slices in a circular pattern in your entire sauté pan.

Finally, tuck your circle of dough over the contents of the pan and bake for 20 minutes at 350.

Flip the pan onto a plate and sit back while everyone tells you what an incredible cook you are!

Comment if you try it and let me know how it goes!

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Meatless Monday

Yesterday I decided that I would do meatless Mondays for the summer. Part out of my desire to be healthier and part out of the emptiness of my freezer. Either way this meal was a great start! 

For this first meal I used products from one of my favorite stores, Trader Joe's! TJ's is awesome because it gives you that "Ohhhh look at me shopping healthy" feeling without that "Ohhhh look at me spending my entire check on groceries" feeling. *cough-WholeFoods-cough*

 

I decided to go with the TJ's brand falafel and Israeli couscous. The falafel is very tasty for a frozen dish and the recommended way to cook it is the microwave! Couldn't be easier. If you haven't tried this style of couscous I would definitely recommend it. It's like eating soft, little pearls!

 

To round out my meal with some fiber I added steamed broccoli and canned black beans. I add about 1/4 cup of salsa and 1/2 teaspoon of cumin to my black beans for a little extra kick.

 

Here's the final result; filling, healthy and delicious!!

 

Easy Sunday Dinner

We all have those days when you drag into the house and the only thing you want to do is hit the couch. Since I live alone I could always get away with the minimal dinner on these nights…chips and salsa, cereal, top ramen. These days I try to avoid the empty calories and I tend to get a lot more drop in dinner guests, so Im always looking for ways to whip up something that’s easy and more importantly QUICK!

A few weeks back I was in the store and noticed a relatively new product Philadelphia Cooking Creme. So in my latest 15 minute dinner attempt I thought I would finally try this out. I went with the Italian Cheese and Herb and made a simple chicken dish.

I cooked about 1 pound of chicken in my deep covered baker for 10 minutes. This is seriously something everyone needs in their kitchen and if you host a Pampered Chef party with me you can get it free!! Of course if you don't already own a baker then 25 minutes in the oven on 350 should do the trick.

I haven’t been grocery shopping in FOREVER so I went for a Bethenny Frankel style “use what you have” meal and chopped up any veggies I could find. This time that ended up being half a red pepper, half a green pepper and one head of broccoli. Once it started simmering I realized that wasn’t really enough so I threw in a can of corn.

Once the chicken was done I chopped it with another one of my favorite kitchen tools, the salad chopper and dumped that and the sauce right into the veggies.

After about 5 minutes of stirring my 15 minute meal was complete!!

Served over egg noodles one night and rice the next, this was a tasty and simple meal. The Philadelphia Cooking Creme was pretty good but I think next time I’ll add my own seasonings into the mix.

Try it out and enjoy!

-Kulinary Kim

Chocolate Chip Lava Cookies

Let me start by saying, if you are on a diet stop reading this now because once you see these you will want to make them and once you make them you will want to eat every single one of them. I don't want you blaming me!

I'll confess, I bought a pack of pre-made cookie dough on Friday for absolutely no reason. I just wanted it.

Once I got home the guilt set in and I decided to at least use the dough for a new recipe. Given my recent obsession with chocolate lava cakes I thought these would be an easier and just as tasty treat. You can of course use your own homemade favorite cookie dough recipe but hey, its the weekend, and Im lazy, so the pre-made cookie dough squares worked out perfectly. Here we go!

Preheat your oven to 350º. Start out by giving your muffin pan a good coating of non-stick veggie oil spray. I use a Pampered Chef oil spritzer for this and it works perfectly without the weird chemicals my dad always complains about in the store bought spray.

Press one cookie dough square, or about 1.5 tbsp if you are using your own dough into the bottom of each tin.

Add about a half tablespoon of chocolate into the center. You can use chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, whatever makes you drool. I went with a broken up dark chocolate bar. Yummyyyyy

Finally flatten out another cookie dough square and press it on the top.

Pop them in the oven for 15-18 minutes and....well I'll let the rest of the pics do the talking.

   You can thank me later.

Rolo Heaven

Although I originally thought this blog would be dedicated to my cooking experiences there are some eating experiences that also deserve to be in print. This is one of them…the Rolo Mcflurry.

I've been attempting a health kick lately but as soon as I saw the sign for this thing I knew there was no hope. My willpower lasted a whole 24 hours before I gave in, zipped across 3 lanes of traffic and into the Mickey D’s drive through. Then came the inevitable question…snack size or regular. I thought to myself, if you are going to write a blog about this product you really should fully involve yourself in the experience of eating it. I’LL TAKE THE REGULAR!!

Let me tell you guys, it was soooo worth being fat for one more day! McDonald's vanilla ice cream is already delicious but somehow they managed to make it even better by loading it down with thick creamy caramel, definitely the kind you find in Rolos and not the watered down squirt bottle type of caramel. Its also filled with lots of broken up candy pieces. Not enough to be overwhelming, just enough to make me close my eyes and smile.

This thing barely made it out of the parking lot. Next time you drive past McDonalds, this is a must try!

Holy Broc-coli!!

Years ago my cousin taught me the trick to making the best macaroni and cheese. It all starts with an incredible thick and creamy cheese sauce. I'm talking cheese sauce that is TOO DIE FOR! Every time I make it I "accidentally" make too much just so I have an excuse for eating the leftovers with a spoon.

So what does this have to do with broccoli? Well, the last time I made this cheesy deliciousness, and forced myself to stop eating the extra, I was thought, what a waste! Then the other night it hits me, broccoli cheddar soup!! So tonight I tried it starting with the same roux I use for my mac and cheese and lemme tell ya, watch out Panera Bread!!

Here are the basic steps in case you want to try it out. Sorry, I don't measure when I cook so you'll have to guestimate.

Start out by chopping up and steaming some fresh broccoli.

For a smaller pot of soup melt about half a stick of butter in a medium size pot, over medium heat.

Start to slowly sprinkle in flour, continuously stirring. It will eventually begin to thicken to a paste.

While still stirring, begin to pour in milk.  

You'll want the mixture to remain a bit thick, not too watery, so you may need to add a little more butter and flour. Pour in enough milk to make the amount of soup you need to serve.

Then comes the deliciousness, THE CHEESE!! I used a colby monterey jack so it doesn't have the dark orange cheddar color but its still soooo yummy! Use about 8 ounces for a medium pot of soup. Stir until the cheese is completely melted and the soup is thick. Add a little milk if you need to thin it out some. Personally I LOVE the thick cheesiness just the way it is!

Finally, add in your broccoli, a dash of salt and pepper if you like, and get ready to enjoy!!

     

Try it and let me know how it turns out. I'm going to go eat another bowl now!!

-Kulinary Kim

Blog time!

It's 1 in the morning, my alarm is set to go off in 5 hours so I can attempt (and likely fail) a morning workout, and for some reason all I can think about is finding new recipes. After making a huge list of things I want to try to make this week I thought it would be pretty cool to start a blog to document my recipes and the comings and goings of Kulinary Kim. So here it goes. Let me know what you want to see whether it's pictures/videos of recipes or just a recap of my everyday life insanity :-)