Peppermint Bark

Even though the holidays are coming to an end I couldn't resist making some peppermint bark.  I got this recipe from allrecipes.com which is one of my favorite websites ever! You can book mark your favorite recipes in a recipe book, so you can go back and look at them.  I think it's brilliant!  Anyway that is where I got this recipe and it turned out really delicious.  Luckily I went to the movies today with my friends and I was able to give them all little baggies filled with it, so I don't eat it all myself. I think the hardest part of this recipe was crunching up the peppermint candies.  I literally had to use a hammer.  I unwrapped the candy, put it into a ziploc bag and just crushed the bejeezus out of it.  I may have overdone the crushing because the candies became a little to powdery.  I wish I had kept larger chunks.  I also noticed that it might be easier to use candy canes.  I think the coloring would be better because there is more red in candy canes.  I also had to line a 9x9 pan with wax paper so the chocolate wouldn't get stuc on the pan (makes for easy clean up).  Ok so the original recipe calls for using a double boiler to melt the chocolate, but I just used the microwave.  It works just as well.  I took 8 oz of semisweet chocolate and put it into a microwaveable bowl.  I microwaved it for 30 seconds first then I added just a little bit of canola oil.  I put it back in the microwave and waited another 30 seconds.  I took it out and started to stir it.  If you don't stir it the chocolate can burn and become clumpy.  I put in a 1/4 teaspoon of peppermint extract and put the chocolate in the microwave for another 15 seconds.  I took it out and just stirred until the chocolate was smooth.  I poured the chocolate into the wax paper covered pan. I used a spoon to spread the chocolate out.  I then put half of the crushed peppermint candies on top of the chocolate layer

the original recipe said to let the chocolate cool for an hour, but I don't have that kind of patience so I just popped it in the fridge while I melted the white chocolate.  For the white chocolate I did the exact same thing as the semi sweet chocolate.  Microwaved it for 30 seconds added a little canola oil, put it back in for 30 seconds, stirred in 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract and microwaved a final 15 seconds.  After the white chocolate was smooth and melted I poured it on top of the semi sweet chocolate in small sections so it was easier to spread (ex. puring the chocolate in each of the corners and the center then connecting them with a spoon.  After it was smooth I put the remaining crushed peppermint candies on top and let it sit.  If you want it to harden quicker, put it in the fridge.  After its solid lift the wax paper out and break the bark into pieces.  It was a little painful breaking the bark because the candy pieces were so sharp, but I survived.  Anyway I didn't have any problem with the two chocolates separating and it turned out delicious :)

Ingredients
8 oz semi sweet chocolate
2 teaspoons canola oil (divided)
1/2 teaspoon peppermint extract (divided)
25 peppermint candies

Turkey Burgers

Alright so my favorite food is definitely a big juicy cheeseburger, however, eating a big patty of ground beef is not exactly the most nutritious meal.  At first I was little iffy about turkey burgers, but after a few trial rounds I have decided that I legitimately like turkey burgers. So my roommate and have become huge turkey burger fans over the past year.  They are super quick to make and super easy.  Now ofcourse with burgers you have to have fries so I decided to mix it up a little bit and make sweet potato fries...which are actually made from yams and not sweet potatos, which is kinda strange, but oh well.

Ok so to start my burgers I got 1 pound of turkey and put into a large mixing bowl.  In the bowl I added about a teaspoon of garlic powder, onion power, red pepper, salt, and pepper.  It is a little hard to season your burgers since you can't really taste them before you cook them.  I usually just wing and put in as much as I feel.  You can't really go wrong unless you really over do the seasoning.  After mixing the seasoning in I take out about 1/2 -1 cup size balls of turkey.  I put the turkey on a cutting board and just molded them into patties.  If you have a mold to make the shape of the burgers that's fine, but I just free hand it and end up with some imperfections. After I form the patty I tend to sprinkle a little more seasoning on the top.

When I cook the burgers I usually use my George Forman grill, which works really well because it cooks the patty on both sides.  When I made these I wasn't at my house so I made them on a frying pan.  I sprayed the pan with some oil, put the patties and let them cook 3-5 minutes on each sides on medium heat.  Make sure you check the center to see it is cooked all the way through.  After the burgers were cooked through I put a slice of mild cheddar cheese on top to melt. I took a sandwich thin toasted it put the patty and melted cheese on top, put some ketchup, lettuce, sliced tomato and avocado on it and it was ready to eat!

Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey
1/2-1 teaspoon red pepper (I pt a little more than that)
1/2-1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2-1 teaspoon onion powder
1/2-1 teaspoon salt
1/2-1 teaspoon pepper 
Cooking oil spray
1 avocado
1 tomato
Ketchup
Lettuce
Cheese slices
Wheat Sandwich Thins (you can use regular burger buns, but these are just so good and less carbs!)

The sweet potato fries proved to be a little more difficult...

Ok so I bought two yams washed and peeled them.  After they were peeled I started cutting them into french fry sized pieces.  Well yams are really hard like a carrot...except four times as thick, so it was pretty difficult to cut both yams up. (I read somewhere that you can boil the yams first and then cut them, which sounds a little easier).  After I got all of the yam cut up I put it on a cookie sheet and I just sprayed it with canola oil.  You can put olive oil on it as well, but its important that they don't get completely soaked with the oil because they will become soggy.  I then salted the yams pretty generously.  I preheated the oven to 400 and put the yams in for about 18 minutes before I took them out, salted them, and flipped them over.  I put them in for another fifteen minutes and they were pretty much done.  I found that the thicker slices were a little soggy while the thinner pieces were nice a crispy.  I added a little more salt before I served them.  While they didn't come out perfectly, they were still pretty darn yummy.

Ingredients
2 yams
Olive oil/Canola oil
Salt

Tortilla Soup

Ok so today I decided to try out a recipe for tortilla soup that I got from my friend Lindsey.  So my photography skills aren't really the best (either is my food presentation) but this is more or less what my soup looked like when I served it.  This recipe was really pretty easy and only took maybe a little over an hour for me to prepare the whole thing.

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I started by putting 2-3 tablespoons of canola oil into a large pot with one chopped onion.  I let that simmer until it became translucent .  I chopped up two cloves of garlic and two jalapenos.  With the jalapenos I made sure to get all of the seeds out because man those are hot!  Anyway I added the jalapenos and garlic to the onions in the pot and let that simmer for about three minutes. After that it's just a matter of getting the rest of the ingredients added and bringing it to a boil.  I added one can of drained corn, a can of drained black beans, and a can of diced tomatoes (with the juice).  I then added a 49 oz can of chicken broth (low sodium).  Actually when I finished the soup I wished I had put in more broth so I think next time I'll add an extra 14.5 oz can. After this I chopped up about half a bundle of cilantro.  Really the amount of cilantro you put in depends on how much you like the flavor.  I then added some red pepper, garlic salt, and of course salt and pepper.  While I was cooking I kept adding more of each seasoning until it tasted just right.  I squeezed in one and half limes right before I put the chicken in.  After the soup started to boil I put the chicken in (the whole breasts).  For the chicken I put in 1.5 lbs, which honestly was kinda a lot of chicken. so if you want a lot of chicken go for it.  So after I put in the chicken i left it simmer for about 30.  I then individually pulled out the breasts and shredded them with two forks.  I just stuck the two forks in and started pulling them in separate directions.  I did this with all three of the breast and put them back in.  I then tested the broth an made sure the seasonings were to my liking...and luckily I didn't over season anything!  To serve I put the soup in a bowl crushed some tortilla chips into it, sprinkled some monterey jack cheese on, put a couple slices of avocado and a dollop of sour cream.  I absolutely loved this recipe.  I actually added more red pepper to my individual bowl because I like a little extra heat.  Overall everyone loved it and felt satisfied after two bowls.  The best part is that this soup is extremely healthy so you don't have to worry about that heavy greasy feeling in your tummy.  Anyway here is a list of the ingredients and I hope it turns out as well as mine did!

Ingredients:

1 can black beans (lower sodium)

1 can corn (lower sodium)

1 can diced tomatoes

1 49 oz can of chicken broth (I would get an extra 14.5 oz can)

2 jalapenos

2 cloves of garlic

Olive Oil

1 onion

1 bunch cilantro (I used only half)

2 limes

salt/pepper to taste

cayenne pepper (red pepper) to taste be careful it can get pretty hot really quick!

garlic salt to taste

boneless, skinless chicken breasts (around 1-1.5 lbs)

Testing testing...123!

Well this is my first post as a blogger! Kinda weird because I'm not really sure what I am supposed to be saying, but that's ok.  I am basically making this blog to document food I make and to share my recipes and pictures!  I am not a professional chef, so don't come here looking for some really advanced recipes.  I am mostly going to be making easy recipes that everyone can make (hence the name pieceofcake2make)!  Anyway I am really excited to get some real posts up and see how they turn out :)