100 Geek-Tastic Game Cupcakes

So, as I was looking at my favorites on Stumble and I came across a site I “liked” a couple of weeks ago. A friend and I spent about 20 minutes staring at these pictures trying to figure out what each cupcake represented. See how many you can guess correctly. (If you want the answers, scroll down to the comments on the page)

I got so many positive responses to this site when I first started it up and I was so excited to be doing something I enjoyed, but my interest eventually fizzled out when I tried to do too much too fast. I think this time I’m just going to take it slow and try to update on a more regular basis, though I probably won’t be posting more than one original recipe a week, if that.

I’m trying to save some money this semester, so I’ve been cooking less in the dorm and eating in the cafeteria more frequently. But, I still stumble all of the time and I find lots of good recipes that I’d love to try, so I’m sure some of you would be interested in those articles. So if nothing else, I’m going to try and update two or three times a week either with my own recipe, or something good that I find online.

Anyways, hope you all enjoy.

Over at Scanwiches you can check out tons of awesome pictures of sandwiches ranging from the plain and simple all the way to the ice cream variety.  Sounds kind of lame, but it really isn’t.  Every sandwich that appears on the site is cut in half and then gets a high res picture taken.  Some of them seem kind of exotic, as in “wow, I’ll never have those ingredients laying around”, but there are enough alternatives on there to get away from the old ham and cheese for a change.

Sorry I haven’t posted in such a long time, hopefully I’ll be able to keep up with this a little better.  Thanks for sticking with me!

I realized one problem with my site is that most people who visit only look at the first page and not at anything else.  This is ok if you’re a frequent visitor, but if this is your first time then chances are you’re missing out on a lot!  So if you’ll notice at the top right of this page, there are a few links which will bring you to pages that will show you everything this site has to offer.

Recipes: This page will show you an index of all the recipes organized by each posts’ tags.

Resources: This page will show you an index of all the posts I’ve made in the past that provide various cooking resources from other recipe websites, nutrient information, new cooking appliances and technology, and even more.  It’s all here!

Articles: This page will show you an index of all the posts I’ve made describing updates to the site, reviewing other websites, etc.

Anyways, I hope everyone enjoys the new layout and please let me know if there are any other changes you would like to see here at The Dorm Chef!

Baked Potato Soup with Andoullie Sausage

Last week, my girlfriend and I went to an Italian restaurant to eat lunch.  I won’t say what restaurant because I didn’t particularly like my meal and I don’t want to bash anyone, but I did have an amazing soup before my meal came out.  It was a roasted garlic potato soup and it was undoubtedly the best part of the meal.

Now, I’ve always liked potato soup, something which I think started from eating chunky soup when I was younger.  Obviously from there, the soups I’ve tried have only gotten better over time, but I had never made one before.  The soup I had last week made all that change.  I couldn’t resist the urge to my hand and give potato soup a go.

Also, if you like this, check out my other potato soup recipe.

Ingredients:

6-8 medium potatoes

16oz andoullie sausage

2 cups milk

2.5 cups chicken broth

1 can cream of chicken

1 can cream of onion

1 cup of shredded cheese

Salt

Pepper

Garlic Powder

Optional Ingredients:

Any type of sausage

cream of whatever you’d like

Ingredients used in this recipe

Step 1) Peel the potatoes and cut them in 1/2 inch cubes and put them in a large pot and cover them with water.  Turn the stove top on high and let water come to a boil.  Add a little salt to the pot to give the potatoes some flavor.  Let boil for about 20 minutes.  You’ll know if they’re done if you can take a spoon and slice a potato in half with ease. When done, turn the stove top off.

Boiling Potatoes

Step 2) Chop up the sausage in small little pieces, similar in size to the potato.  I cut the link in half, and then in half again, then cut the 4 slices of sausage into little cubes.  Throw this all in a pan and brown the sausage.  Shouldn’t take any longer than 10 minutes.

Cooking Andoullie Sausage

Step 3) Once your potatoes are done, drain all the water from the pot leaving just the potatoes.  Take about 4 cups (half of the cooked potatoes) and put them in a bowl and mash them up.  Leave the other potatoes in the pot you cooked them in.

Mashing the Potatoes

Step 4) Throw your milk, cream of onion, cream of chicken, and chicken broth back into the first pot with the rest of the potatoes.  Stir a little bit just to mix everything up.  You’re not trying to mash the rest of the potatoes you started with.  Now throw in your mashed potato and your sausage and stir again. Now is when you can throw in all your seasonings.  I put a lot of garlic in mine because I wanted it to taste garlicky.   Turn the stove top back on to medium and continue stirring the mixture so all of the potato and sausage don’t stick to the bottom.  I let it cook for about 30 minutes.

Everything together

Step 5) Turn the stove top off after 30 minutes and let the soup sit for about 10 minutes.  I found it gets a little thicker after sitting for a while.  Now serve in a bowl and pour about a tbsp or two of shredded cheese on top.  Enjoy!

Instead I decided to use the stew meat (beef cut into chunks) instead of the chicken, and I wanted to do the whole thing on the stove top in a pan. When I started making the dish I decided to eat the beef, onion, and pepper mix over a bed of rice and peas, but as I was cooking and the smell overcame me I couldn’t allow myself to waste any of the gravy in the pan. I decided to just throw the brown rice and peas into the pan and let it absorb all of the gravy. It was a great decision! Like I said earlier, this was the best thing I’ve made yet.

The best thing is that I’m pretty sure I could make this in the dorm as well. At the end of the post I’ll tell you what to do if you want to make this without an oven.

Ingredients:
8oz of stew meat (any type of cubed beef)
1 medium green bell pepper
1 large onion
1 cup of Brown rice
1 can of no salt peas (8.5 oz)
4 tbsp of butter or margarine
1/3 cup of water
1 tbsp Tony Chacheres
1.5 tbsp of Kitchen Bouquet browning sauce
1 tbsp of worcestershire sauce
2 tsp of black pepper
1 tsp of cayenne pepper

Optional Ingredients:
Other sliced vegetables
white rice
Noodles

Ingredients

Step 1) Throw one cup of brown rice, two cups of water, and the can of peas into a dish and microwave it for 20 minutes or so, until all the water is gone.

Cooked rice and peas

Step 2) Take a pan and turn the stove top to medium-high heat. Chop up your onion and pepper into thin long strips. Throw them into the pan and put the butter on top. Stir and let cook for about 15 minutes or until the onion and pepper are a golden color and are no longer hard.

Cooked onions and peppers

Step 3) Season your meat and throw it into the pan as well. Try to move the onions and pepper aside so that the meat can be touching the bottom of the pan. Just throw the onions and pepper on top of the meat. Let cook for about 10 minutes and then add your browning sauce. Stir the pan to make sure everything is nice and mixed.

After the meat is thrown in

Step 4) By this time your rice and peas should be done. Pour the mix into the pan and add the water. Stir so that everything becomes mixed. Turn the stove down to medium, cover the pan, and let cook for about 10 minutes.

After the rice is thrown in

That’s it! Everything should be done now.

Now, if you want to make this using a microwave, here is how I would do it.

Step 1) Microwave the rice and peas same as above.

Step 2) Throw your seasoned meat into a separate, larger bowl and microwave it until it is completely cooked. Not sure how long this would take. I’m thinking about 15-20 minutes, just make sure to stir the meat every 5 minutes or so since the microwave cooks unevenly.

Step 3) Throw your onion, bell pepper, and butter into a third bowl and microwave until the onions and peppers are a golden brown color. I’m thinking at least 10 minutes, but I don’t know as I haven’t tried it yet.

Step 4) Mix all three bowls into one large bowl (hopefully one of the three was large enough to handle everything together) Throw in your browning sauce and water in as well and stir thoroughly. Stick back in the microwave for about five more minutes.

Done! I just want to say that I haven’t tried the microwave steps yet, that is what I would do in the dorm room though, feel free to make adjustments. Just make sure the meat is cooked, that is the most important step.

The reason this pizza is unique is mainly because of the crust. Instead of a traditional pizza crust, my mom opted for a crescent roll crust. I am a huge fan of crescent rolls, so as soon as she showed me that was what she was planning on using as the crust I got excited. Also, since I’m trying to watch what I eat we decided to use turkey pepperoni and fat free cubed ham. I didn’t notice any lack in taste and I actually enjoyed it more so than a typical pizza because it wasn’t anywhere near as greasy.

Anyways, remember that this is a very general alternative pizza recipe, you can use just about anything you want to throw on this pizza. My girlfriend’s parents like to make pizza at home as well and they tend to use an already made pizza crust and they grill some bacon and vegetables and throw that on top of the pizza. So again, this is just one of the many options you have with this pizza recipe.

Ingredients:
2 Cans of Pillsbury Crescent Recipe Creations
1/2 Jar of Bertolli Vineyard Marinara (8oz)
John Morrel Diced Ham (8oz)
Turkey Pepperoni (6oz)
Shredded Cheese (8oz)

Ingredients

Optional Ingredients:
Any meat
Any cheese
Any vegetables

Step 1: Unroll both sheets of the Crescent roll onto a cookie sheet, overlapping them slightly. Bake them in the oven as the instructions on the can indicate.

Two sheets of crescent roll

Step 2: Once the crust is done baking, take the sauce and pour it in the center of the sheet of crust. Take a spoon and spread it around evenly, leaving about half an inch border around the crescent crust, this allows the crust to get a little crispy on the edges.

Step 3: Spread all but about a handful of cheese over the sauce evenly.

Cheese and Sauce

Step 4: Throw the diced ham and pepperoni on top of the cheese spreading it evenly. If you’d like any other toppings, throw them on as well. If the toppings require cooking before hand, do so. You probably don’t want to throw any raw toppings on top unless they are meant to be raw.

Step 5: Sprinkle the remaining cheese over the top of the toppings.

Pizza with all the toppings on it. The ham is under the pepperoni.

Step 6: Put the pizza back in the oven at the same temperature you used to cook the crescent roll. Leave it in for about 15 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and the toppings are cooked.

Done! Enjoy your pizza. This was my first time having this and I actually liked it more with every piece I had. It’s much lighter than a normal pizza, and the pasta sauce is a nice change to the normal pizza sauce. There are tons of options with this pizza, or with any pizza really. Just try different ingredients and you can easily use this recipe over and over again.

Before I start posting recipes, I wanted to note a few changes you’ll all be noticing.

First, a lot of the recipes I’ll be making won’t necessarily be able to be made using only a microwave and a grill. I’ll try my best to adjust my recipes so that they can be cooked in the dorm, but I’m back home now and I have access to an oven and a stove again and I plan on using them.

Second, I am continuing in my efforts to lose more weight. I lost 30 lbs during the semester and I plan on losing even more in the summer now that I won’t be eating fast food or anything like that. I plan on posting recipes for just about everything I eat, so a lot of them won’t necessarily be thrilling or life changing. I want to state my purpose for this site again. My goal is that people who view this site will understand the variety of dishes out there, a lot of which are very common and simple. I just know that in my life I use to tend to eat the same 10 or so meals over and over again. I’m hoping this site shows everyone that there are other options available to you.

Lastly, I’m thinking about changing the layout soon, so I’m hoping the transition goes well and everyone is happy with the new look.

So, now that all of that is out of the way. Here come some new recipes!

The recipes should probably start up again in about a week and a half, around the 10th of may. I’ll be home for the summer, so I might throw in a few normal recipes that aren’t made using just a microwave or grill, but I haven’t really decided yet. I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m still around and this blog isn’t dead yet.

Sorry for not posting more updates, but I appreciate that you all keep coming back.

Thanks,

Thomas

I have never even made brisket before much less tried one on a George Foreman grill. I wasn’t too sure it would even cook since it was so thick, but I bought it and decided to try it out anyways. Once I got home I got online and looked at a few recipes to get an idea about what people used to season the meat with. In the process I quickly realized that most people slow cook a brisket over a long period of time, which had me a little worried. I decided to just go on and try it anyways.

It actually turned out pretty amazing. This was probably the best piece of meat I’ve cooked on the grill so far.

Ingredients
- beef brisket (~32 oz)
- 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp garlic
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp chili powder
- 3/4 cup brown sugar

Optional Ingredients
- any seasoning you want to use really

This dish will make about four – five servings, depending on how big the portion is. I also have recipes for the sweet potatoes and the rice that can be found on the site in previous posts.

Step 1: Cut your brisket into manageable sizes. I cut mine into about six different pieces so that they would grill up quicker.

Chopped up brisket

Step 2: Throw your brisket into a bowl and throw in all the seasoning with it. Rub the seasoning on the meat and try to evenly coat all pieces of meat. Don’t be afraid to get a little messy! Wash your hands when done.

Seasoned pieces of brisket

Step 3: Turn on your grill and wait about five minutes until it heats up. Throw a few pieces of meat onto the grill. I was only able to fit about two pieces at a time because of my grill size. My brisket was about an inch thick and it took about 25 minutes to cook completely through. I flipped it over every five minutes or so, which probably isn’t necessary in a George Foreman grill, but the bottom side of the grill always seems to cook faster than the top, so I flip it anyways.

Step 4: Take the brisket off of the grill and allow to cool for about five minutes before cutting it. This will keep the juices inside. Now serve with whatever sides you’d like and enjoy your meal!

Grilled brisket - don’t cut them like this, see the juices? You want that to stay inside the meat!

Note: As I was cooking the brisket I was cutting them in half so that I could check if it was done, but this allowed all of the juices to come out of the meat. I didn’t think much of this at the time because as soon as I put the meat in a tupperware container, all the juices were coming out and tasted amazing when you pour it back over the meat. But when I went to heat up the left overs later, the meat was pretty dry. So try to avoid cutting the cooked brisket until about five minutes after it’s done cooking.

Sorry, I know a lot of you wanted easier recipes to follow, but I just really wanted brisket. I have a lot of good stuff coming up. I’ve been trying to find interesting casserole dishes to try out and I also have a lot of ideas for yummy side dishes. I’ve also started trying to find recipes that don’t require any cooking at all. So hopefully in the next few weeks I’ll have some simpler stuff thrown in the mix.