Carrot Salad with tahini + balsamic dressing

I was looking on my insta, scrolling down all the food pages I follow, and I was seeing a lot of "zoodles" (zucchini noodles).  The thing is, raw zucchini is disgusting.  One time I ate a zucchini thinking it was a cucumber, but I felt bad putting it back when I realized it wasn't and it made me want to throw up.  The other problem, I don't have a spiralizer (something that makes noodles out of vegetables).  They sound like a lot of fun, but there are ways around it.

To make mine, you use the food processor to shave the carrots, and although the shape is different, it is still a fun way to eat the carrots.

Dressing:
-tahini
-balsamic vinegar
-garlic
-olive oil (optional)

Ok, so the dressing is really easy to make and really tasty.  It's different than most dressings so it's a nice change for a salad.  This dressing is completely to taste, more vinegar than tahini, but you can do whatever you want.  The dressing is thick, so don't worry if this happens to you.

Mix all the ingredients together, taste it, change it, do whatever you want and pour over the carrots.  Mix it all together and enjoy.  This is also a good dipping sauce for vegetables or homemade sushi or whatever else!

Rosemary Baked Potatoes

These are absolutely delicious!  I made a huge batch of them to go with my family's dinner, but obviously you can reduce (or increase) the amount of potatoes you use.  These are super easy to make but look really elegant and fancy so it's kind of perfect for dinner parties (which are awful).

Ingredients:
-5 russet potatoes
-2 (huge) sweet potatoes
-1 onion
-2 cloves of garlic (roughly chopped)
-olive oil
-salt
-pepper
-chopped rosemary (as much as you like depending on how rosemary-y you like it)

Note on the chopped rosemary: if rosemary ain't yo thang, that's fine!  You can always use sage or thyme or pretty much any other spice you want.  This is just a super basic recipe and can easily be tweaked.

Ok, so cut the potatoes into rounds, or half moons, whatever you like.  Toss them in a bowl.

Next, cut the onion into fairly large size pieces, pretty much the same size as the potatoes.  Toss those into the bowl as well.

Add the two cloves of garlic, olive, salt, pepper and rosemary and give it a really good mix (this is a serious hand workout).

Add a little more of each ingredient if you feel it needs it.  This is really the beauty of this recipe, it requires no measuring and you pretty much can't mess it up.

Once that's all mixed together, pour the potatoes onto a deep baking dish lined with parchment paper (you don't want these beauties sticking to the pan).  I topped it with a little more rosemary and oil and popped them in the oven at 350 for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, give them a good mix so that potatoes on the bottom can be cooked through.  Pop them back in until all the potatoes have cooked through (this takes a while).

In total, I cooked mine for about 1.5 hours (maybe a little longer).

These are great as a side dish for pretty much any meal.  You really can't go wrong with them!

Chocolate Covered Nanners

Nanners are bananas.  I've made these before (one of my first blog posts) and I'm making them again. I had these again recently and they were just as delicious as I remembered them being and so that's why I'm made them again.  Wow, that was boring.  What is so great about these is that they are relatively healthy and could be made vegan for anyone that wants that.  Also, you can dress them up with whatever nuts or sprinkles you want so they are very cute as well.  I didn't do that because I wanted to eat them.

All you need is:

-frozen banana (peel banana, cut in half, shove popsicle sticks in each half and freeze)
-1 cups chocolate chips
-2 tablespoons coconut or vegetable oil

Melt the chocolate and oil in the microwave or over a double boiler.  Once that has melted and there are no lumps, dip the banana half in the chocolate, rolling the banana to make sure the chocolate coats every part.  You could also drip the chocolate over the banana.  Trust me, the first time you make them the chocolate will not be even, but the more you practice, the better you will get!

Then, enjoy!

"Drinking Buddies" a(nother) movie review

I was looking over my blog and I saw my movie review for Footloose and not to toot my own horn, but I thought it was kind of funny.  Then again, I know my own sense of humor and I read it in my own voice, so obviously it's going to be funnier than when another person reads it.  So, I was thinking (or rather, my sister told me I should) about doing another movie review.  So, here it goes.

**spoilers**

Plot:
A guy and a girl work at a beer factory.  They are besties and there is clearly some romantic connection despite them both being in relationships.  They go on a couples weekend at some lake house and things get a little steamy.  Olivia Wilde's boyfriend and Nick from New Girl's girlfriend kiss, but only for a second.  Then, when they get back, Olivia Wilde gets dumped and resorts to alcohol, which is plentiful because they work at a brewery.  She becomes an annoying drunk.  That's as far as I got because the movie was terrible.

To begin, this movie made me so uncomfortable.  I really don't know why, but it did.  I watch a lot of TV and I don't remember ever seeing a commercial for this movie so I'm guessing it didn't do very well.  And I understand why.  There wasn't that much dialogue and the characters all acted in a way that made me uncomfortable because they seemed uncomfortable.  Especially Olivia Wilde's boyfriend in the movie, who was awkward but in a not rom-com cute way, if you know what I mean? Like, he seemed physically uncomfortable the whole movie and therefore made me physically uncomfortable as well.

If that was the aim of the movie, then I guess they did a good job.  But, also, if that was the aim, it was a weird one and a sure way to get the viewer to want to stop watching (which I did).  So, congrats to the directors for making me feel incredibly uneasy!

Next, the acting.  I really have no complaints about the acting.  I mean, it was good.  A little forced at times.  Like, playing cards is not all that funny, and I always hate when I have to watch people pretend to be drunk.  Oh my god, I feel like I'm at a frat party or something.  Personal preference, Anna Kendrick was just kind of annoying the whole time in the movie.  I guess the idea was for the viewer to dislike her character, so good job at that, but I mean she really bothered me.

I couldn't even finish the movie so I don't actually know what happens at the end, but I'm going to take a wild guess and say that Olivia Wilde and Nick from New Girl end up getting together because they are clearly meant to be.  I really just wanted to watch a good rom-com on Netflix, something like 50 First Dates, but Netflix doesn't have a rom-com section, they only have romance and the movie selection in that subject is very limited.  Hence, me watching this movie.  I really wouldn't suggest this movie to anyone.  It was borderline depressing, which is probably why I was so uncomfortable.  There was no happy music playing and a lot of just silence, which I guess is artistic but let's be honest, it's really not.

This is in no way a rom-com, barely even a rom, definitely not a com.  Don't watch it.  Or do, and feel uncomfortable and sad when you are done.

(Edit: I looked the movie up and it actually got good reviews.  Why it got good reviews is beyond me)

Green/Unripe Mango Salad

Now, I don't know if green mango is a different thing than unripe mango, but for this recipe I just assumed it wasn't.  I looked it up a ton of times on answers.com/wikipedia, you know, all the reliable websites.  After much research, I ended up using unripe mangoes, because they are green, in this recipe.  I really like papaya salad, which I looked up too when I was looking up how to make this dish.  One time, my family went to an all you can eat sushi buffet, which was amazing.  Except, when I took my first bite I inhaled a pepper and choked for a good 10 minutes, starting tearing up because that's just what happens when you are choking and coughing.

So, making green mango salad really isn't that difficult, because if it were, I probably would not really feel like making it.  I am incredibly lazy, although I seem quite on top of things, and would much rather just eat the food that my older sister makes while I sit in bed, than attempt to make food. I mean, I do enjoy cooking, don't get me wrong, it's just that I enjoy eating way more.

I ended up having practically none of the ingredients for the recipe so I improvised and it was fine.

Ingredients:
-green mango (possibly just an unripe mango)
-red pepper flakes
-soy sauce
-brown sugar

This is the recipe I used, but the other recipes I looked up called for lime and real chilis or jalapeños, which I'm sure would make this taste a lot more authentic.  But, for the ingredients I had, this did not come out that badly.

So, as usual, mix the wet ingredients together and set aside.  Slice the green/unripe mango into thin strips and toss in the sauce.  Then serve.  I scooped out the mango and put it on top of lettuce so it wasn't drenched in liquid.

Enjoy!

The OG Congee

Aight, I have wanted to make congee for a while.  I actually had it on a plane when my family went to Thailand a couple years ago.  The trip was amazing, but that is not what this post is about.  I actually woke my mom up from sleeping on the flight just so she could have the rice porridge.  She wasn't too excited and we still laugh about it.

Anyway, congee.  It is a savory rice porridge and like everything else I post, it is incredibly easy to make.  Especially if you have a rice cooker, which, as you know, is one of my favorite kitchen items.

Ingredients:
-half a cup of rice
-4 cups of water

Technically that is all you need, but of course you want to add some spices.  I added salt + pepper + garlic powder + this vinegar we got at an asian food store.

Put the ingredients in the rice cooker, give it a little mix and then put it on.  It needs to cook for quite some time until it gets to a porridge consistency.  Check on it, mix it, taste it, smell it, whatever.  You'll know when it's ready, or when you're hungry and ready to eat it.

I'm fancy and so I topped my congee with some extra fixings.  The top is just some sautéed broccoli (olive oil + red pepper flakes) and the bottom is sautéed spring mix done the same way.  I have to say, I really enjoyed this sautéed spring mix.  I also added some sriracha just for an extra spice.  

I then almost choked because I made it too spicy and burnt my tongue because it was all too hot.  But, besides that, I really enjoyed it.  I'm not kidding, it's really good.  I personally like savory food way better than sweet.  Actually, breakfast is kind of my least favorite meal of the day because I don't like typical breakfast food.  If we go out to breakfast, which really never happens, I will order something from the lunch menu because most restaurants serve lunch starting earlier.  Oh, it's the worst when the   lunch isn't served until 11:30, like I just want my grilled cheese and not this pancake.  

So, in conclusion, this breakfast is perfect for me.  Try it and let me know what you think.  Or, don't let me know because nobody really comments on my blog anyway and I'll just assume you liked it.  

Don't forget to check out my instagram for up to date photos of food I make/eat! (@theresnotvinmydormroom)  School is starting soon, sadly, and most of the posts will be food that I eat, unfortunately because I cannot cook at school.

Carrot and Sweet Potato Chips

These seriously could not be easier to make and they're healthy and tasty.  So, as Michael Scott would say "win, win, win."  (That's from the episode where Angela ends up wearing her cat poster as a shirt for all you newbs who don't watch the show)

On top is obviously the sweet potato and on the bottom, the carrots.  Ok, so they are both made the same way.   All you do is cut the sweet potato and carrots (I used baby carrots and cut them in half, although I'm sure it would be better to just use the large carrots and cut them in sticks), toss them with some olive oil + salt + pepper + whatever other spices your heart desires (oregano is always good).  

Next, lay them flat on a baking sheet.  This is important because if they are not flat they will not cook properly.  

Pop them in the oven at 350/400 for about 20 minutes.  Flip them over and cook until the other side is  golden brown and crispy.  Warning: the sweet potatoes will take longer to cook.  

These are perfect as a snack or a side dish.  I dipped my carrots in dijon mustard and I usually eat the sweet potato plain, but I'm sure it's good with some sweet chili sauce as well.  Enjoy!

Also, I started watching Luther and Oh em g, it's amazing!  I really liked Dexter and this show is like a grown up version of that.  I don't mean like R-rated, you little nasty nasty (Raven - That's So Raven), I just mean it's a little more dramatic and intense.  Check it out and try it while eating these "chips" because it will obviously make it even better.