It's a Hard Life: Pizza Hut To the Rescue

I'm exhausted! After working hard all week at my real job and killing myself to impress YOU PEOPLE here on my blog, I'm am genuinely pooped! (Eloquent, I know. I'm too tired to be clever!)

Ever since I started this blog (almost 2 weeks ago) I do believe I have not folded one load of laundry, scooped one cat box or scrubbed one toilet. I've washed a few loads of laundry, dried them, and then thrown the clothes that I don't need on the counter in the laundry room (those clothes need to learn how to fold themselves). Poor Dustin has been very helpful in the cat box area because, as you cat owners know, it is an every day necessity. The toilet, however, has not been cleaned for at least 2 weeks. (Is this one of those "tmi" posts I see bloggers complain so much about?) The point is: I need to get off this computer and be the "Homemaking Fashionista" I claim to be.

Bette Davis Jr. is also lounging tonight.

But... I am tired. So tonight, we are ordering a pizza and are going to cuddle in our "jammie-jams" on the sofa. I will beg to watch Doctor Who reruns but will probably end up watching some documentary about how contact lenses are made (yawn). Inevitably, my whining will succeed and we will settle on 30 Rock (courtesy of Netflix of course). Pizza Hut is the homemaker tonight. Pizza Hut is the boss with their Any Pizza for $10 (Who needs a sponser? Oh me?).

Chocolate Lava Pots

Time for my first dessert post! I knew I needed to make something a little more interesting than a yellow cake mix with chocolate frosting, so I found this recipe at redcouchrecipes.blogspot.com, which an awesome blog so you should check it out. She calls these delicious little treats Pot Au Chocolat but I'm just not that fancy. I've decided to call them Chocolate Lava Pots, but I'm wide open for suggestions! I changed just a couple things so I don't really think I can take any credit (though we all know I'd like to).

What is awesome about these individual sized cakes is that they are super gooey in the center. YUM!

Ingredients:

10 tablespoons salted butter (Yup. 10!)

1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

3 eggs

3 egg yolks (The yellow part... I looked it up to make sure because I'm a little ditzy sometimes.)

1 1/2 cups powdered sugar (You can make your own!)

1/2 cup flour

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray 6 ramekins (approx. 7 oz. each) with cooking spray. (I only had 2 so I used Pyrex. Two of the Pyrex were too big but they still baked well.) 

2. Melt butter and chocolate chips in the microwave for about a minute.

3. While the butter and chocolate chips are melting, whisk together eggs and separated egg yolks.

4. Stir butter/chocolate into eggs. Mix well.

5. Add powdered sugar. Mix well.

5. Add flour... MIX WELL!

6. Place ramekins on a cookie sheet. Fill each ramekin about halfway. 

7. Bake for 12 to 12 1/2 minutes. The outside should be done but the center should be soft. 

You can top these with ice cream and chocolate syrup, or as RedCouchRecipes suggests, you can use warmed raspberry jam, or use Cool Whip and a sprinkle of cocoa, like I did. I'm sure there are hundreds of other awesome things to put on top, but beware; these are delicious and VERY rich! I imagine the calorie count of these little suckers are like 2000. Enjoy! :)

Sherylyn

Kitchen Dilema! So Much Drama!!! Oh... And How to Make Your Own Powdered Sugar

So I had decided to make my first dessert for the blog. I make desserts all the time but they usually consist of a mix in a box and a can of deliciousness on top. So I had to find one that's a little more interesting than Duncan Hines can offer.

Ok so I found this awesome recipe but stay tuned... The point of this post is to show you my DILEMA! One of the main ingredients in my "mystery" dessert is powdered sugar. I was so mad at myself when I realized I didn't have enough! I remember now that Dustin used it to make buttercream frosting (half of which has been sitting in back of the fridge for about 2 months. I really need to clean out the fridge.)  "Uhhhhhhh! I don't want to go the stoooooore!" I said in an incredibly whiny voice to Bette Davis Jr., who stared up at me with no reply.

I got on the ol' Google machine, trying to figure out if using regular white sugar would make a huge difference. I came upon this site that saved the day! Wholenewmom.com. I found a super easy way to make my own powdered sugar.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup granulated sugar (Apparently you can use any granulated sweetener.)
1 tablespoon corn starch

Directions:

1. Put both ingredients in a blender.

2. Blend on high until the sugar is a powdery consistency. (It took me about a minute.)

That's it! I put my homemade powdered sugar back in the canister and I was a better woman for it! I'm very pleased to know that I don't have to buy powdered sugar again if I don't want to. SO THERE!

Sherylyn

I Wish I Were the Test-tube Baby of Julia Childs and Martha Stewart and Other Everyday Musings

Hi everyone! Adrianna here, making my first appearance on The Homemaking Fashionista. And if you like me, really really like me, it won't be my last. As Sherylyn told you, I am mother to Livi, wife to Justin, and slave to nursing school. I usually prefer to trade in my scalpel, I mean stethoscope, for a fork. Actually a Knork. But we'll get to products I adore another time. I wish I had half the skill of the two ladies mentioned in my title but I can only settle for about 1/4 their skills.

I will share with you later this week about my love for making gourmet food at home and how I went through Rocky level training from a great mentor. (cue Eye of the Tiger and hoodie training sequence with kitchen knives). Until then I have a major test to study for and a new home to get settled into. New to me that is. Which equals one non working burner, a hollow front door, and a too small water heater. Feels like home! Happy eating and frugal homemaking!

Shepherd's Pie (My Mom's Way)

Every once in a while I break down and buy ground beef. I know, I'm a cheapskate! I can't help it! It's how I've trained myself. But there was a thought in the back of my mind all day saying, Mom's shepherd's pie is so much better with beef... I've made it with ground turkey before and it was still really good. But today I just had to have it Mom's way.

Ingredients

3-4 large potatoes (These are for your mashed potatoes. You also need milk and butter (duh) but I don't know that anyone knows the actual amounts.)
1 pound ground beef or turkey, drained well
1 small onion, diced
1 can (6 ounces) tomato paste
1 can green beans, drained well
1 tablespoon oregano
3/4 cup water or beef broth
cheddar or monterrey jack cheese
parmesan cheese (optional)
salt, pepper and garlic powder

Directions

1.Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

2. Boil your potatoes, drain and mash with milk and butter. Season with garlic salt and pepper. You can throw a little cheese in too. I used mozzarella because I was low on monterrey jack.

3. Brown the hamburger with the diced onion. Season the meat with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Drain well.

4. Add tomato paste, green beans, oregano and beef broth to hamburger. Mix well. If the mixture is dry, add a little more broth.

5. Pour mixture into a 2 quart casserole dish. Top with mashed potatoes.

6. Top potatoes with cheeses.

7. Bake for 20 minutes.

   

  

Omg it was sooooooo good!!!!

Sherylyn

Spicy "Thai" Noodles

Adrianna and I have been cooking together for years. This, however is our first recipe we have cooked together for the blog. "The Homemaking Fashionists" on location (Adrianna's house)!

Spicy "Thai" Noodles

Ingredients

1 box of linguine or spaghetti
1-2 tablespoons crushed red pepper
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup sesame oil
6 tablespoons honey
6 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1-2 carrots peeled and shredded
3/4 cup chopped peanuts
toasted sesame seeds (optional)

Directions

1. Prepare noodles according to package directions. Drain well.

2. Heat oils and crushed red pepper in a small sauce pan for 3 minutes. Strain red pepper and reserve oil.

3. Whisk honey and soy sauce in with the oil.

4. Toss together with noodles.

5. Top each bowl with green onions, cilantro, carrots, peanuts and sesame seeds.

So we had to modify the recipe a bit.. We forgot to get sesame seeds. And neither of us had a wire strainer so we tried to get some of the pepper out with a slotted spoon, much to our avail. But they tasted great! If you plan to leave the pepper in, you should only use 1 tablespoon because it was still pretty hot with just one. I'd imagine if the pepper had been strained like the recipe recommended, it wouldn't have been as spicy. The original recipe also instructed us to chill the noodles in the refrigerator over night and serve cold... but we were hungry right away. And I thought the noodles were good served warm. I think these noodles would be great with chicken.

The Most Exciting Announcement EVER

Hello friends. I have some very exciting news! Starting today, "The Homemaking Fashionista" will have a co-writer! My good friend Adrianna is going to enlighten you with her immense knowledge on a subject that most homemaking fashionistas are quite interested in: thrifty child rearing! Obviously I can't give any advice on the kiddos since I have none of my own. Well, I could give advice but imagine it would all be wrong. When Bette Davis Jr. is annoying me I put her in the back yard. I guess you can't do that with kids. Anywho, Adrianna is the mother of a beautiful 18 month old little girl named, Olivia, whose hobbies include (but are not limited to) eating, pooping, talking, scowling, watching Nemo and sleeping.

Adrianna will also update on DIY tips, cleaning ideas, organizing suggestions and frugal YET gourmet meals! Seriously, fabulous meals that Juliet Child herself would gladly pull up a chair to your dining room table for, or TV tray in the living room.


Adrianna is a very busy lady. So don't expect to hear from her too many times a week. She is a full time mom, wife, student, Nobel Peace Prize award winning researcher, celebrity gossip aficionado and last but not least a Certified Nurses Aide.

As far as the "fashionista" part, Adrianna is somewhat lacking in the "style department," her words, not mine. Scrubs are only so stylish. But with the help of me, The Homemaking Fashionista, we plan to rectify her ways and lead her onto the road less traveled. Stay tuned....

Adrianna is very excited to be part of this blog. She looks forward to your feedback and comments as well as your suggestions for blog ideas. Keep us posted!

Sherylyn