Sweet & Salty Mashed Kabocha

Funny story. I totally did not know how to cook this squash-thing-a-mabob, so I decided to boil it for as long as possible and when my fork could stab through it, I would consider it done. Honestly, if I was able to cut the squash into square pieces I would be happy. I filled a pot with water at a level maybe 1/6th of the kabocha squash, covered the pot, and allowed it to a boil on medium heat. About 20 minutes later, I was able to make fork marks into the squash, but what about the other side? So, I boiled the other side for another 20 minutes. Then, I took it off the heat and drained the water from the pot. Things were going well...UNTIL THE WHOLE DAMN SQUASH FELL OUT OF MY POT AND BROKE INTO MUSHY PIECES.

No lie. I acted like the world was over because I was freaking the -bleep- out. Let's just say what happened next involved a lot of cuss words and burned fingers between my helpful hero housemate Joti (Thanks bby. <3) and I. LOL. It was disappointing to know that my kabocha would never be cubes. -___-

Anywho, THINGS WORKED OUT OKAY. B/c I was innovative and decided to turn this mushy mess into MASHED POTATOES! WOOHOO! :D Kabocha has a naturally sweet and unique flavor. It's a bit different than potatoes or sweet potatoes, but just as or even more delicious! If you're bored of your typical potatoes and sweet potatoes, this is DEFINITELY a recipe you need to try! :D


Sweet & Salty Mashed Kabocha

Prep time: 1 minutes

Cook time: 40 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2-3/4 cup water
*1 kabocha squash, whole
3 tbsp olive oil (or flavored dipping olive oil. which is what I had on hand)
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp basil
1 tbsp soy sauce
**1 tsp garlic powder
Lots of dashes of hot sauce to taste. (I like it hot.)
Salt and pepper to taste. (I had to continuously add salt because either this squash kept on absorbing it all or I was being stingy with mahhh NaCl...)
1 tsp cumin (optional)

Directions:

1.) Put kabocha and enough water to cover the bottom 1/6th of kabocha.

2.) Cook for 20 minutes. Then flip the kabocha to the other side and cook for another 20 minutes.

3.) Drain the pot of water. (CAREFULLY. Don't be dumb like me and dump the whole squash out with the water too...hehehehe)

4.) Use a fork to scrap the seeds and the stem out. Discard seeds and stem. (or if you like seeds, maybe you can make use of them and teach me how to eat them! :P)

5.) Drizzle in olive oil. Add soy sauce and all the spices. Basically, put in all the ingredients that's left

6.) Mash up the squash with fork. Use le muscles. (This step gives you a reallllll nice arm workout. I had to take two breaks. Shows you I need to do more muscle training in the gym...T____T)

Serve as a side or a main course & enjoy! <3

Makes 4 servings.

*Side note: Don't remove the skin of the kabocha! I think it's one of the best parts of the squash! Because of the skin's firmer texture compared to its innards, it gives a nice surprise (plus color) of firm green skin bits to the relatively just plain mushy orange-yellow innards of the kabocha. :)

**Side note: You can use the olive oil of this recipe to brown some fresh garlic in another pan and put them both into the pot together. This would taste better as opposed to powder, but ya know, it's all up to you and how much time you have. :P

Look at that yummy squashy goodness with tiny green skin chunks (FIBER!!!) Ohhhhh yeahhhh~~

This tasted awesome! It's sweet & salty like a sweet & salty trail mix, without the crunch of course, but you can distinctly taste the salt and the natural sugars of the squash. I don't recommend forgoing the salt because it can taste quite bland otherwise. Plus, HELLO, the recipe is sweet & SALTY, homies! ;) Now that I think about it...next time, I think I will try adding some salty nuts into the recipe and adding less salt. Wouldn't it be fun to have some crunchiness among the mushiness? :D Well...if you can only eat mushy food and can't handle crunchy then stick with trying this awesome recipe and put that boring old mashed potatoes that you always use to the back seat! ^o^ This would've been great when I got my wisdom teeth removed and I couldn't chew or eat REAL food in like what seemed to be FOREVER. Those wisdom teeth days...were not the days.

I would make this again and again and again because it was that GOOOOOOOOOD. Even just eating this by itself can get me feeling full and bloated. Haha~~ Must be all the starchiness of the squash. But it's just so flavorful, fun, and easy to manipulate that I could see myself coming back to it and making tons of variations out of this recipe! :) I hope you like this recipe as much as I do and if you have end up making variations out it, let me know what you placed into your mashed kabocha dish so I can try it out too!

Until next time, bye bye lovelies~! <(^_______^)> *hugs hugs hugs*

Nutrition Info (per serving): Calories 198.7 Total Fat 10.1 g Saturated Fat 1.4 g Polyunsaturated Fat 0.9 g Monounsaturated Fat 7.5 g Cholesterol 52.8 mg Sodium 785.1 mg Potassium 0.1 mg Total Carbohydrate 24.6 g Dietary Fiber 3.3 g Sugars 11.0 g Protein 3.6 g Vitamin A 233.3%*** Vitamin C 15.0%

***Side note: I know this seems sketch...@_@ don't know whether or not to believe this website or not...TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE??? Well...it is a veggie and all veggies are bound to be good for you in some way...so just eat it. :D

Calorie counter used: http://www.sparkpeople.com/calorie-counter.asp

Angry Asparagus

Hello lovelies~

I dedicate this dish of asparagus to my angry soul right now. I feel really tired and drained this week, which I don't even have the excuse to be since I didn't have any major tests this week! I guess I'm just being really hard and critical of myself and it's eating me away, especially today. I am my own worst enemy because whatever I do, it's never good enough for my inner self. I always seem to ask myself: why am I here, what's my purpose here on this planet, why do I do the things that I do, what do I want to do, why do I compare myself to others so much, why doesn't anything seem to satisfy me, and who is this girl looking back at me.

One bad habit of mines is that I'm always thinking about the future. Living in a world so vast and wide, it's pretty easy to feel lost. Something I need to work on is focusing on the present, doing my best, and not worrying over the little negative things in life. There will always be something that will flip my world upside down, but what I need to do is not allow negative energy from anyone or anything to affect me!

Sometimes we all just need a reality check. It can be hard not to put yourself down at times when your world is in chaos. Thankfully, I was able to break out of this chaos through cooking!

Today, I present to you a SURPRISINGLY delicious dish despite cooking this in anger.

Angry Asparagus

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
1 tbsp oil (or enough to cover the entire bottom of your pot)
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3 tbsp masala powder
1 tsp mustard seeds
12-15 spears of baby asparagus
1/4 cup water
1 chili pepper or 1 tbsp of hot sauce
1 slice of white cheese, fold into pieces
2 eggs
Salt/black pepper to taste
2 tbsp of ketchup

Directions:

1.) Roughly chop onion. Break ends of asparagus off and spears in half.

2.) Add enough oil to coat the entire bottom of your pot. Heat up oil in a pot or pan on medium heat. When hot, add in onion, masala powder, and mustard seed. Stir until browned.

3.) Add asparagus and water. Mix until asparagus is well-coated with onion mixture. (~30 seconds)
4.) Add cheese and chili pepper/hot sauce. Cover with lid. (~3 minutes)
5.) Mix cheese into asparagus. Break in eggs and cover with lid again. (~3 mins)
6.) Mix eggs into asparagus. Cook uncovered. Add salt/pepper to taste.
7.) Remove from heat and mix ketchup into pot.

Serve with some grains & enjoy! :)

Makes 2 servings.

This dish tasted great! Sweet & spicy. You can trust me by the following legitimate testimonials (I swear on my ears that I did not pay them!!! ^___^):

Maria: Heyyy. This is actually good. Tell your blog people that I like this. 

Camille: This is bomb!

Nutrition Info (per serving): Calories 222.8 Total Fat 14.2 g Saturated Fat 3.6 g Polyunsaturated Fat 3.2 g Monounsaturated Fat 6.6 g Cholesterol 194.2 mg Sodium 353.6 mg Potassium 293.8 mg Total Carbohydrate 11.3 g Dietary Fiber 2.6 g Sugars 4.2 g Protein 12.5 g Vitamin A 18.8% Vitamin C 19.2% Folate 31.3%

Calorie counter used: http://www.sparkpeople.com/calorie-counter.asp

Oreo Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

I was inspired the recent food trend, Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies, so I decided to try it out for myself && they were so sinfully DELICIOUS! This is not for the faint of heart or the very health conscious. It is a sugary delight that'll make your taste buds jump for joy! You can trust me that it was good because after they were baked, they didn't last 24 hours with all my roommates around. <3 I love them && I really love to bake for them! I'm happiest when they like my baked goods or cooking! :) I hope you'll enjoy my take on Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies! Even if you dislike cheesecake (BECAUSE I REALLY REALLY REALLY DISLIKE CHEESECAKE), you're in for a treat because the brownie portion of this dessert balances out the cheese-flavor so that it doesn't even taste much like cheesecake. It's AMAZING.

Side note: BEFORE I HEAR ANY COMMENTS ABOUT FOOD COLORING, I didn't have any on hand. BUT it was still delicious and, in my option, still looks friggin' amazing. >;) PLUS, it's a pro, less artificial colors going into your body. :P

Oreo Red Velvet Cheesecake Brownies

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 30-35 minutes

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of unsalted Butter, softened at room temp
3/4 cup of granulated Sugar
1/4 tsp of salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup of flour
3 Tbsp of chocolate milk powder (i.e. Nesquik or hot chocolate)
1 tsp of distilled white vinegar
1 tsp of vanilla extract
Red food coloring (optional)

Cream Cheese Filling:
8oz of Cream Cheese, softened at room temperature
1 Egg
3-1/2 Tbsp of Sugar
1 tsp of Vanilla Extract

Topping:
Oreos, as many as your heart desires & crushed

Directions:
1.) Grease an 8x8 or 8x10 baking dish with non-stick spray or oil. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.) Cream together the butter and sugar (a fork will do just fine), add eggs, and beat them all together. Add the chocolate powder and salt. Mix. Add optional food coloring until you get a definite RED color. (Baking makes the red appear less distinct so add more red if you want it really red!) Mix. Add vinegar. Mix. Add flour. Mix.
3.) Save 1/4 of the batter and pour batter into prepared pan.
4.) In another bowl, mix all of the ingredients for the cream cheese filling together until you don't see any lumps.
5.) Spread the cream cheese mixture all over the top of the batter in the prepared ban. Then, dollop the remaining 1/4 batter on top of the cream cheese mixture. Next, use a knife to swirl the batter and cream cheese mixture together (like a snake or S or figure 8 over and over again).
6.) Top with crushed Oreos.
6.) Bake for 30-35 minutes or until you insert of knife and it comes out clean! :)

Serve hot on top of vanilla ice cream or cool completely for that brownie texture!

SUCCESS!!! You've can now eat your beautiful artwork! Yay! This recipe is super easy and fun to make. It's a great and simple activity that you can do with kids or bonding with friends! Very versatile and easily to satisfy all tastebuds!

Makes 12 yummy brownies.

Nutritional Info: UNFOUND. TOO DELICIOUS TO BE QUANTIFIED.

Jk. Haha~ :P

Nutrition Info (per serving): Calories 245.6 Total Fat 15.7 g Saturated Fat 8.9 g Polyunsaturated Fat 0.8 g Monounsaturated Fat 4.4 g Cholesterol 87.9 mg Sodium 123.7 mg Potassium 75.7 mg Total Carbohydrate 23.8 g Dietary Fiber 0.7 g Sugars 17.0 g Protein 4.1 g

Calorie counter used: http://www.sparkpeople.com/calorie-counter.asp