Wednesday 29 January 2014

Out of Flour Pancakes!


Hi there! Today on Misadventures with Mindy, we're making pancakes from scratch without water, without flour, without baking soda, and without butter. Wait what?!


Oh yeah. These are the easiest pancakes in the world to make.
Grab your ingredients.



Blend 1 egg and 1 oz cream cheese into a liquid.
From here, you can add whatever flavor fill-ins you want. I used cocoa protein powder and some Sweetex.
It looks like this.

Pour into a hot griddle on medium heat like you would pancake mix.


Flip after 30~ seconds.
Try not to throw it out of the pan or break them like I did.





They should look like this on both sides.



Then just eat like pancakes! I did strawberry jam on mine. They have the same texture as pancakes, I swear, haha.
My delicious mangled first batch. Ate it with a spoon!
Ingredients:
1 oz cream cheese and 1 egg for one person
2 oz cream cheese and 2 eggs for two people, etc.
sugar/sweetener (optional)
oats (optional)
cocoa powder (optional)
protein powder (optional)

Supplies:
Blender
Spatula
Frying Pan

Nutrition:
117cal, 1g carbs, 9g fat, 6g protein, 1g sugar

Saturday 18 January 2014

Spring Ham Wraps




Hi guys! Today on Misadventures with Mindy, I'll have you know that I only burnt ONE of the delicious spring ham wraps.



This is the easiest recipe. Literally, it's only three ingredients so you can't go wrong.  All you're doing is cooking green onion and wrapping it in ham so it looks nice and cute.

Get your set up ready. We need a pot, pan, and a cutting board.


You need thinly sliced ham and a handful of green onions. Cut the tops of the green onions; all we need is that part!

Save the rest of your onion for something else!
 

The shoots of your green part should be tubes like this. 

We're going to cut into that, straight down the middle.
Flattened onion.

Cut them further into strips that are about three inches long.

Now throw them into some boiling water.



Keep cooking until they look like this, flattening out on their own:



Now take your ham. I have ham squares!


Cut that into strips that are long enough to wrap around the middle of your green onion (about two inches) but still leave some space for the green to poke out. The ham should be wide enough to wrap around with just a little overlap.



You're basically making "t"s out of them.


Wrap it good and tight like this. Now you're going to lay them two at a time seam-down into the pan at medium heat with the oil in it.
Pin them with your spatula for better results.



Flip them over after 30 seconds.
They're done when they look like this on both sides:



And enjoy! Don't burn yours like I did. These are great for an appetizer.


Ingredients:
Thin Sliced Ham
Oil
Green Onion

Supplies:Cutting Board
Spatula
Frying Pan
Scissors

Tuesday 14 January 2014

Bird's Nest Cups


Hi there! Today in the Misadventures of Mindy, I'm making Bird's Nest Cups. A new thing I'm going to try is to feed my flatmate @courtneykusler my meals and have her rate them so I'm not biased. This will be the Courtney Meter.

They're basically bacon, egg, and cheese, held together in convenient little cups.

First, fry up your bacon. Don't add any butter or anything, the bacon can cook itself.



When that's done, take a silicon muffin tray (MUST BE SILICON), and wrap the bacon around inside. If your bacon is too crispy (like mine was) it won't wrap right.



Too Crispy!

Put slices on the bottom, mostly covering it, and a slice going around the inside for a walls. After that, crack your egg into the center of the "bacon cup", and then sprinkle your cut up cheese on top. I used Mature but Mellow cheese from Asda, but whatever your fancy is will also work. I put some cut up green onion on top of mine too, along with salt, pepper, and basil.


Cook in oven for 10min on 350°F/175°C.

Yummy finished product:




Yum! Easy to refrigerate for breakfast OR to grab as a snack/lunch. Just pop them out of the trays.
Courtney Meter: 7.5 (out of 10)

Ingredients:
25g cheese of choice
6 eggs
1 green onion
1 pack of bacon
salt/pepper/basil

Supplies:
Frying Pan
Silicon Muffin tray
Spatula or fork for flipping the bacon

Nutrition:
1 Bird's Nest: 240cal, 0g carbs, 18g fat, 20g protein, 0g sugar

Monday 13 January 2014

Basil Courgette Chips with Chunky Onion Dip



Hey guys! I'm Mindy, aka disaster-in-the-kitchen. Usually when I cook, something's going to burn.
Today was no exception.


These chips are a delicious, healthy snack. The trick is to get them perfectly crispy for dipping. You can dip them in ranch, sriracha, or what-have-you, but I think this onion dip is a great match.

For chips:
For dip:

First things first, get out your chopping board. Cut your courgette into chips about 1/4in or 1/2cm thick. Cut up your onion into small pieces too, while you're at it.

My reject chips from mis-slicing:
Spread 1 tbsp oil on a baking sheet; place chips in rows like I did. Throw some salt, pepper, and 1/2 tbsp of basil on the chips!

Stick them in the oven at 350°F/175°C. They should take 20-30 minutes to cook, depending on how thick you cut them. Too thick and they'll take longer. Too thin and they'll burn.



While that's baking, throw your onion into a frying pan with the rest of the oil. Cook for 15-20 minutes on low heat, until onions are translucent. My go-to test of "is it done yet?" is to eat one. If it tastes good, it's done. If it tastes like raw onion, it needs a bit longer. Add 1/2 tbsp basil right before you remove them from heat.

While the onions are caramelizing, mix your salad cream, mayo, a bit of salt and pepper, and the last of the basil together.



When the onions finish, throw them in with the cream mix and stir well.

When your chips have shrunk about 33% (peek in that oven, but don't open the door!), and start turning a bit medium brown on top, they're done. They should be ideally crispy and stiff, like a chip. If not, stick them back in. But not for too long, or you get this:

Enjoy with dip! You should have plenty leftover dip for another batch of courgette chips, or for regular chips.

Ingredients:
1 medium courgette (zucchini)
2 tbsp sunflower oil OR coconut oil
1/2 red onion
1 and 1/2 tbsp dried basil
5 tbsp Heinz Salad Cream
5 tbsp mayo
salt and pepper

Supplies:
Cutting Board
Sharp knife
Pan for frying
Sheet for oven
Bowl for dip

Nutrition Information:
Dip: 279cal, 18g carbs, 24g fat, 1g protein, 5g sugar
Chips: 33cal, 6g carbs, 1g fat, 2g protein, 5g sugar