Skillet Monkey Bread

Um, hi. Carb Fest 2k16 continues. Welcome to Kimmie's Kitchen. But LOOK AT THIS STUFF.

Yeah. So, now that I've got your attention, let's talk about life. I've recently rediscovered my love for the humanities. No, I'm not saying I suddenly love people. I LOVE literature. And linguistics. And poetry. And theatre. AND PSYCHOLOGY (which isn't actually one of the humanities, but shhhh).

I don't know how I managed to convince myself that I just wanted to take science classes all through college. I was sitting in the library the other night, studying for Developmental Psych, when all the sudden I just really wanted to read some poetry. And analyze it. Take me back to AP Lit, I guess? I don't know. We've read some poetry for my Spanish Composition class, and I think that's helped to reawaken my love.

So, the next day I marched myself back to the library (post exam) and checked out Sylvia Plath's complete poetry. And The Bell Jar. And Jane Eyre. And y'all, I'm reading Jane Eyre right now, and I'm loving it. Just getting closer to being the pretentious literature nerd I am deep down inside. Living the dream.

Skillet Monkey Bread
Ingredients
1 stick butter (I prefer salted)
1/3 cup brown sugar
5 cans refrigerated biscuits
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

glaze
1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
1/4 cup milk
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1. Melt the butter in a cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add brown sugar and stir until they melt together. Remove from heat.
2. Combine sugar and cinnamon in a shallow bowl. Cut each biscuit into quarters, then roll each piece into a bowl and roll in cinnamon sugar until coated. Add to pan.
3. Continue until pan is full, then cover loosely with tin foil. Bake at 400 for 10 minutes, remove foil, then bake for another 15.
4. Stir together glaze ingredients. Dip the baked bread in it. Yum!

   

   That's a BUTTER RIVER down the middle, friends.

Potato Bacon Leek Pizza

Um, this is pretty much a carb fest. Oops. But it has bacon, which is protein, so maybe it cancels out a little? I like to tell myself it does.

Is anyone else like super-attached to the music they loved in middle and high school? Like, maybe you recognize that it's not all that good, and overly angsty (I'm looking at you, Evanescence), but you listen to it still sometimes because um, you still love it a lot? That's not just me. I know it.

Orrr, maybe you're hella attached to the angsty, angry, emo pop you loved (who am I kidding, I still love this stuff) when you were like 14? I mean, as I write this, I'm alternating listening to Taking Back Sunday and Fall Out Boy. Angst? Yes, please. Bring it on.

Does this middle school music nostalgia bridge ages and generations? Like, am I just obsessed with this music still because I was 14 only 5 years ago? Or am I going to love Evanescence and All Time Low just as much when I'm 32? Tbh, I sorta hope I still love them.

Potato Bacon Leek Pizza
Ingredients
Pizza dough (I'm a fan of the ones Publix sells in the bakery)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp garlic, minced
2 red potatoes, thinly sliced (you might need slightly more or less depending on potato size)
1 leek, thinly sliced
6 strips of bacon, cooked and crumbled
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, shredded

1. Stretch the dough into shape. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle on the garlic.
2. Layer the leeks, then potatoes. Keep the potatoes in a single layer to make sure they actually cook.
3. Sprinkle on the bacon and cheese.
4. Bake at 350 for 18 to 20 minutes, or until crust is golden and potatoes are starting to crisp and brown. Enjoy!
   
   
   

Thai Chicken Salads

Taste the rainbow.

Wow. I'm obsessed with this salad. No exaggeration. I adore thai food, especially the peanut sauces. Just the flavor combinations of tangy chili sauce, peanuts, and zingy cilantro? Ahhhh. So good.

Also, friends, this makes a LOT of salad. I was overexcited when I made it. But it's okay because YUM. And it's perfect because it's light and fresh and healthy and spring break is coming up.

It's not really the best thing to emotionally eat while you sob over Grey's Anatomy (I'm in season 8 now, but it literally doesn't matter because every season is life-ruining), but I like to think it's brain food and will help you power through midterms. Because exams suck. But, I'm rooting for you. Come over and study and eat salad with me, please.

Thai Chicken Salads
Ingredients
1 lb chicken, cooked and cubed (I recommend using the little tenderloins Publix sells. so good and they cook fast)
1 head green cabbage, shredded
1/2 head purple cabbage, shredded
1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 red bell pepper, cut into sticks
2/3 cup soybeans (I used frozen ones that I thawed out)
3 green onions, sliced
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped roughly
1/2 cup peanuts, chopped (use salted peanuts)

dressing
1 cup thai chili sauce
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 tbsp soy sauce
1/4 cup coconut milk (full fat)
1 tsp ginger, grated

1. Combine all the vegetables and peanuts in a large bowl (I mean LARGE, this is a HUGE amount of salad).
2. For the dressing, combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Blend by hand until they come together (this may take a bit).
3. Top salad with dressing to taste. Enjoy!
   
   
   
   

Valentine's Milkshakes

I made you a milkshake to share with your love today. This milkshake celebrates the fine partnership (much like your own, I'm sure) between coffee and doughnuts.

It's sweet. Really sweet. Like young love. Which means this little champagne flute is a great size to share with your sweetheart. Celebrate your overflowing love by sharing a milkshake. It's a good idea. And less work than a steak dinner.

Coffee & Doughnuts Milkshake
Ingredients
1 cup coffee ice cream
1/2 cup milk
3 mini cinnamon doughnuts (I used Entenmann's), plus one per serving, for garnish
cinnamon sugar (stir together equal parts)
milk (to use to rim the glasses)
whipped cream

1. Blend together the milk, ice cream, and 3 doughnuts together until creamy.
2. Dip the glasses in the milk and then the cinnamon sugar.
3. Pour in the shake, then top with a doughnut and whipped cream. Add a straw if you want, then share with someone you love.
   
   
   

Smore Stuffed Baked Apples

Oh my gosh you guys. These apples. I can't even tell you how good they are. These are baked apples filled with buttery graham cracker crumbs, dark chocolate, and topped with toasted marshmallows, whipped cream and vanilla ice cream. Wowwwww. Love.

And I mean, they're made of apple, so they're healthy, right? I feel like they count. You agree? Okay, perfect. This is why we're friends.

The gooey marshmallows. I can't.

Also, does anyone else have a weird obsession with Diners Drive-ins and Dives? Because, um....I sort of do. Not because of Guy Fieri, because, well, he's....not my fave. But the concept of the show? 10/10.

Guys, make these. These are the type of dessert you make for other people. That's what I did. Share it. Love it. Let's be honest, you're probably only going to eat half of one anyway. They're really rich. But wow.

S'more Baked Apples
Ingredients
6 big apples (I used Fuji)
8 graham crackers
1 stick salted butter, melted
1 bar dark chocolate (I used Hershey's because yum)
9 jumbo marshmallows, cut in half horizontally
whipped cream
vanilla ice cream
caramel sauce
chocolate syrup

1. Core each apple. I did this by carefully cutting a circle around the stem, then spooning out the rest of the core, leaving the bottom of each apple intact.
2. Crush the graham crackers into a fine crumb, resembling sand but a few bigger crumbles are okay. Stir in the melted butter. Spoon into each apple, filling about halfway.
3. Add a few squares of chocolate to each apple, so there is only a little room at the top.
4. Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.
5. Take the apples out of the oven and top each with three marshmallow halves. Put under the broiler for about 2 minutes, keeping an eye on the marshmallows so they don't burn.
6. Remove from the oven, and while warm top with whipped cream and vanilla ice cream to taste. Drizzle with the caramel and chocolate syrup. Sprinkle on any extra graham cracker filling and chopped extra chocolate. Enjoy!
   
   
   

Superbowl Burgers!

So. The Superbowl is happening. To be honest, I didn't even know it was this weekend until like Thursday. I certainly don't know who's playing. All that aside, this burger has some great stuff, and if we're all being honest, I'm pretty sure food is the best part of a Superbowl party. So make these.

What's that in there? Thanks for asking. It's southwest flavored butter. Where did this idea come from? Well.....I've been watching a lot of Diners Drive-Ins & Dives lately. It's always on while I'm making dinner. Turns out there's a restaurant somewhere out there that makes burgers stuffed with butter. I thought this seemed cool, and decided to give it a southwest twist. So I flavored the butter and topped them with queso, crushed tortilla chips, and guacamole. What could be wrong with that?

I highly recommend these for game day. Or any other day, to be honest.

Southwest Butter Burgers
Ingredients
hamburger buns
1 lb ground beef
tortilla chips, crushed
queso
I used How Sweet's recipe, which is here
guacamole
use my recipe, and add about 1/2 cup black beans (canned)
southwest butter
1 stick salted butter, softened
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
juice of 1/2 a lime

1. Using a fork, mash the other ingredients into the butter. Remove about 3/4 from the bowl, place onto plastic wrap. Gently roll into a log shape, then put into fridge. The rest can remain in the bowl at room temperature.
2. Make the queso and guac.
3. Shape the patties. Form a well in the center of each. Slice a medallion from the chilled butter log, and place in the well, like in the picture above. Reform the patty around the butter.
4. Heat a pan over medium heat. Spread southwest butter on either half of a bun. Toast butter side down for about a minute or two, until the bun is toasted to your liking, then remove.
5. Add the patties to the pan, cook about 5 minutes on the first side, flip, then 3 minutes on the second. Place on the bun.
6. Top with queso, then guacamole. Crush some tortilla chips, then add to the top of the burger. Close the bun and enjoy.
   
   
   

Buffalo Chicken Nachos

This happened. Nachos. Praise.

Basically, 90% of my recipe ideas lately involve re-imagining foods as other food. For example, here we have chicken wings masquerading as nachos. It's a great disguise.

Does going to the grocery store make anyone else feel, like, really adult? It just makes me feel so much like I have my life together. It's great. But then, also, having a fridge full of leftovers and no ingredients makes me weirdly happy? Like productive, I guess. It's like, hey, look, I cooked all my stuff, now I have food that's actually prepared. Go me.

Anyway, these nachos are a product of my habit of taking over others' kitchens. It's fun.

Buffalo Chicken Nachos
Ingredients
about 2/3 a bag of tortilla chips
1 lb chicken (I used the little tenders that Publix sells so they'd cook quicker)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp red pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
3 tbsp margarine
9 tbsp hot sauce (I used Crystal, which I know isn't technically buffalo.....)
8 oz cream cheese
3 tbsp sour cream
1/4 cup mozzarella, shredded
3 green onions, chopped
ranch dressing

1. Mix together the seasonings, then sprinkle on both sides of the chicken. Add the chicken to a pan over medium heat, then cook, flipping once, until white all the way through. With the tenders it took about 3 minutes per side. 
2. Chop the chicken while still warm, then add to a bowl with the margarine and 4 tbsp of the hot sauce. Stir together until the chicken is coated.
3. In a separate bowl, add the cream cheese, sour cream, and remaining hot sauce. Blend using a hand mixer until homogeneous.
4. Spread the chips out on a baking sheet. Drop the cream cheese mixture on the chips, spreading it as best you can. Scatter the chicken and cheese on top.
5. Place nachos in the oven under the broiler for a couple minutes. Keep an eye on it. You just want the cheese to melt, don't let the chips burn.
6. Drizzle the ranch on top and scatter the green onions. Enjoy!