The Way of The Potato

Potato is an ingredient that can be used in almost any dish. I love potatoes and use them as a side for almost any meal. You can bake, fry, mash, and scallop potatoes, I am sure there are more but thats all I can think of off the top of my head. So I am going to show you a great way to utilize a potato, with a spin on a Mexican classic, Nachos!

Now that is a potato!

The best part about this recipe is how cheap it is, and you probably already have most of the ingredients in your house. This recipe is also very versatile as well, so you can add ingredients or take out any ingredients.

 Here's what you'll need for the base of the recipe:

• 1 medium sized potato of your choice
• Olive Oil 
• Mexican Blend/Cheddar cheese, whichever you prefer
• Salt n' peppa 
• Extras:
• Bacon Bits
• Chives
• Sour Cream

First, preheat your oven at 425 degrees Fahrenheit, then chop your potato in thin slices like so:

Sliced n' diced

Lay out your potatoes without overlapping pieces on a pan and drizzle some olive oil first under then over each piece, season the potatoes with a little bit of salt or try and add your own twist:

You're going to cook the potatoes for about 20-25 minutes. Once they come out stack them all together and add cheese and bacon bits, and put back in the oven for a few more minutes until the cheese has melted. The result is gooey delicious nacho result. Add some sour cream and chives if you're really feeling adventurous. Then let me know how you did! I hope you enjoyed this recipe and I look forward to posting some more.

Maybe you've made such a mess eating this recipe way to fast because it was way to delicious that you need a new shirt. Well if you do need a new shirt and you love pizza, check out my pizza pie chart shirt found here.

Buffalo Dip Goodness

I needed a to make a dip for a party and I had remembered having an awesome buffalo chicken dip at some party in the past, so I knew I had to make it. I googled a couple of different recipes and found one that was perfect, it was simple to make and relatively cheap. The dip is so creamy and goes with so many different types of chips or crackers. So lets get to the important parts already.

Here is what you'll need:

• 2 packs of cream cheese
• 1 cup of ranch
• 3/4 cup wing sauce of your choice
• 10 oz. of some kind of shredded chicken (I used canned chicken, which turned out surprisingly well) 
• Shredded cheddar cheese

Making the dip is a simple process. First, Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, then you'll want to make sure that your cream cheese is softened. You can do this by either leaving it out on the counter for about an hour, or I dice it and toss it in the microwave for about 30 seconds stirring occasionally. Once your cream cheese has softened go ahead and mix everything except for the shredded cheese. Next, your going to want a pie dish or something about that size. Spread the mixture evenly throughout the dish. Sprinkle however much cheddar cheese your heart desires on top of the dip. Put that bad boy in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Serve the dish nice and toasty with a chick or cracker of your choice, I personally like Fritos. 

Give this dish a try and let me know how it tastes. Then take your leftovers to work the next day in your brand new lunch bag that you bought from this link. Be careful or someone at work might steal your lunch. 

Penzeys Spices and Why You Should Buy Them

Penzeys Spices started as a Mom n' Pop coffee/spice shop. Today the company operates 70 different retail stores in 29 states. Let me tell you, all of their spices are absolutely incredible. It all started with my mom, like everything when it comes to cooking. My mom has been buying Penzeys Spices for years now, and she can't get enough of them. Now, neither can I! Penzeys offers such an array of products that are always so delicious. Not only are Penzeys spices amazing but their message as well. I saw a quote on a mug for sale on their website that read, "Love to cook, cook to love." I thought that this quote was amazing. I felt like that's what my Mother did. She loves to cook for me and my siblings, and it was her cooking that always brought all of us together around the dinner table, where I have such fond memories.

 Okay, okay enough about all that sentimental stuff, lets talk about the products. Penzeys offers pretty much any spice that you could think of or ever need. Today I am going to focus on the spices that I own. I actually got these particular spices from my Mom for Christmas last year in a cool little gift set.

The gift set came with these six spices. Honestly, I only regularly use 3 out of the 6 but I of course have tried them all. Those 3 are the sandwich sprinkle, the frozen pizza seasoning, and the Ruth Ann's Chicken & Fish seasoning. Those 3 I use often and they all add so much flavor to each meal. I use those ones most often because they can be used for simple items like a frozen pizza or a sandwich. As a college students sometimes all I have time for is pizza, or a sandwich. The cajun seasoning goes nicely with fish, and the Bangkok and Arizona Dreaming go great on chicken. Penzeys has great products and an even better message. So check out Penzeys website here.

After you check out Penzeys website spread some dinner love with a "I heart Dinner," cooking apron. That can be found here.

Bad Cook to Good Cook

I posted a wonderful article about how to become a better cook with 3 easy rules to follow. Please take a look at my post at this link. Anyone can implement these rules into their cooking lives. If you are a seasoned cook I would not recommend looking at this article because you probably already know what you're doing in the kitchen. I wanted to show everyone that they are able to be a good cook and how simple it really can be. Beginners will absolutely benefit the most out of reading the article. This is my main priority, I want people who have never cooked before to visit my blog and feel like they can do it. If I can do, so can you.

I want to share my passion of cooking with my readers and I want people to see what they are capable of. I hope that my article can give people some hope and show them that it really is this simple to become a better cook.  I broke this article up into an introduction paragraph and then into 3 paragraphs that each revolves around a specific rule that I think is the key to becoming a better cook. Cooking is always a learning experience and I think that is one thing I forgot to mention in my article. If you fail continue trying your best and you will become better and better with every recipe you cook. So please, beginners, take a look at my article and start becoming a better cook today, or at least by tomorrow!

How I Want To Proceed, And What I Have Already Done.

Blogging has actually become fun for me and I look forward to sharing more with all of my readers. I want to share some of what I look to do in the future and look back on these past few weeks as a blogger.

The Future: 
When I first started this blog what I really wanted to do was share great recipes and get others into cooking. Unfortunately because of my classes cooking, and blogging what I am cooking has fallen aside to my classes. My academics are most important to me so once I am more on top of that stuff I would like to start blogging recipes at least once a week and maybe some other blogs during the week. I look forward to blogging more and cooking some really awesome meals that I can share with all of you.

The Past:
So because I haven't had a huge amount of readers and because I am just started off My most popular post last month was:

• My About Me - I want to make sure everyone who visits understands what I am trying to accomplish and how I plan on doing so. If you haven't already read my about me I urge you to give a read.

My Second most popular post was one of my favorites because it got me excited to start this blog and get others involved in cooking, this post was: 

• 10 Things You'll Need To Start Cooking - This page is so important to my blog because if you don't have the proper equipment you won't be able to cook the awesome recipes I provide you with. 

So I am also going to feature my third most popular post, because I am proud of my work and this was the first post I actually cooked something in:

• What Should You Do With Your Old Bananas? - Again I am really happy about this post because I actually cooked something and may have even taught someone else how to cook something. 

Anju Above - A Review

I understand this might only relate to readers in the greater Bloomington-Normal, IL area but I just have to share how awesome this restaurant is.  Anju Above is located in downtown Bloomington on front street above its sister restaurant Epiphany Farms. In Korean Anju means food, so it is only appropriate that Anju Above is the name. The menu is very unique with six different options. You can order sushi, steam buns and dumplings, salads, pizza, noodle bowls, and "classics." Classics consist of Korean style wings, banchan (a Korean dish), and steamed edamame.

Before I go into the food I want to talk a little bit about the atmosphere at Anju. It is a very modern, hipster style establishment. The art is all very interesting and abstract. Anju is a great place to bring a date. The service is professional and quick. The food comes out when it is ready, so there is no such thing as courses at Anju. I liked this but some others may not, sharing is definitely recommended that way no one person gets their food first.

So now onto the food, which is incredible. I have tried one thing from almost each category and every single thing I have gotten there tastes amazing. I recommend the Korean BBQ wings, or the pulled pork pizza. One thing that Anju does really well is accommodate allergies. Every item on the menu is accompanied by symbols that represent whether something is gluten-free, vegan, seafood, and some other dietary restrictions. They definitely offer items for everyone. They also have an extensive drink list with both wine and beer.

I would give Anju a 10/10 in each category. I seriously think it is that good and if you're in the Bloomington, IL area you have to check it out.



I would love to make Anju's recipes at home, but unfortunately I can't. Now that I think about it I wish I could make so many restaurants recipes, well now you can at least make some, find out more at this link. Click Here!