Tag: home cooking

Chocolate Syrup

Published on by R1 Comment

Chocolate.

 

Is there anything more comforting, delicious, or decadent than chocolate?  Just the word gives me warm fuzzies.  Yeah, I know, kinda pathetic, but I can’t help it.  I was raised by a man whose love for chocolate was surpassed by his love for God and family.  My sisters and I all love it close to as much as he did.  My mom likes the smell of sour mop and root canals, so let’s just say she probably doesn’t care about chocolate as much as we did.  We were definitely introduced to a love for the sweeter things in life from dear ol’ dad.

 

Now Milkman?  Oh my goodness, Mr. Sweet Tooth himself.  He loves him some sugar, more than I do.  Milkman likes chocolate syrup.  He puts it in his chocolate milk, ice cream shakes, and his amazing Saturday mochas he makes me.  My mother never bought chocolate syrup, so I have cringed a little at the thought of it because it says “Chocolate Flavored Syrup.”  Why is it chocolate FLAVORED?  That strikes me as kind of nasty, doesn’t it you?

 

I’ve talked about my mother making coffee for the grandkids that is mostly milk, chocolate syrup, and whipped cream with a little coffee, but my mom never gives the kids processed stuff, so I asked her where she got her chocolate syrup and she informed me, she makes it herself!  This was a weird concept to me, not because she made it from scratch–my mom makes everything from scratch, but I’ve just never thought to make my own chocolate syrup.

 

I ordered some cocoa powder on Amazon last week (By the way, buying your cocoa powder as an add-on item on Amazon is the cheapest way to get cocoa powder, click here for the link.  Way cheaper than the grocery store).  It comes in a giant container, and you can make allllll the chocolatey things with that much cocoa powder on the cheap, so I decided to make a grip load of chocolate syrup, and let me tell ya… It’s a beautiful thing, my friends.  Rich, thick, delicious and definitely CHOCOLATEY, not chocolate FLAVORED.

 

I’ve been putting it in my coffee with cream, or in my espresso for a yummy mocha, drizzled on ice cream, or yes– even just plain old bad for you chocolate milk.

 

Here’s how I made it:

1 1/2 Cups of Water

3 Cups of Sugar

1 1/2 Cups of Cocoa Powder

1 1/2 Tablespoons of Vanilla Extract

Good Pinch of Kosher Salt

 

In a pot, mix together the water and the sugar until boiling and a syrup forms.  As it begins to boil, whisk in remaining ingredients.  (It can get a little messy if your pot isn’t very big, cocoa powder kinda gets everywhere!)  Whisk til smooth, and simmer til slightly reduced.  Pour into a heat proof container (I always have a million glass jars hanging around, so that’s what I used.) and let cool on the counter.  It’ll reduce as it sits and thicken up.  Once it is cooled, throw it in the fridge.  Pour onto and into ALL the things, live in chubby bliss.

 

 

 

Potato Tostadas

Published on by RLeave a comment

I don’t plan on turning this into a recipe blog, but I posted my dinner on IG and FB tonight and I had several folks ask for the recipe. I figure this is the easiest way to do it!

Today was a really rough day with the kiddos. Mamitas has been trying my patience lately and the last 3 weeks with moving and teething simultaneously has left us all exhausted and frustrated. Mamitas cried for 65 minutes straight this afternoon. I was texting my friend, veteran mom of 5 boys and telling her how I wish for my next child to be of the make persuasion if all girls are like this! 😉 (of course, I’m kidding! ;)) I knew I needed an easy dinner for tonight that didn’t take much babysitting since I had two real babies to tend to, who were totally PO’ed ;).

Anyways, I just got my kitchen unpacked from moving and money is a little tight at the moment, as moving is not cheap! So I refused to go to the store and was determined to cook only with what was in my kitchen, which is really how I cook most of the time.

The result was potato and meat tostadas. “Potatoes in Mexican food?? I thought potatoes were for Irish cooking!” Oh, how wonderful are potatoes in Mexican food. It’s a staple!

So here she blows!

-Enough corn tortillas for however many people you’re cooking dinner for!
-Ground beef (same quantity as above!)
-All natural tater tots– wait what?? Hey! That’s what I had in my freezer. Also, I’m allergic to raw potatoes so I can’t cook or touch them in their raw state.
-1/4 of a large onion finely diced
-2 tomatoes finely diced
-Lettuce finely chopped (finito, finitos! That’s for you, mom!)
-Tajin
-Hot sauce of choice (we like Valentina, Tabanero, and Pico Pica the best for store bought)
-Oil
-Seasoning for meat (I used chili powder, comino, salt, onion powder, granulated garlic and… More salt! 😀 all to taste.)

Throw your ground beef in a pan, and since you forgot to defrost the night before, as usual, cover the pan and have the heat low. 😉

While that cooks, strap 1 year old into her high chair and throw cantaloupe at her like you would throw meat at a caged lion in order to keep said child from ravaging your house. This is also a good time to chop your tomatoes, onion and lettuce. If you have cheese in the house, grate some up, I didn’t.

Once meat is thawed and mostly cooked crank your heat up to brown it and spice it to your liking. Throw that in a container that you can store it in later, to cut down dishes.

Call husband and confirm he’s coming home on time because the 2 year old won’t stop yelling out the front door for him and he neighbors are gonna think someone is pulling his toe nails out one by one.

Throw some of your diced onions and oil into the pan you cooked the meat in (less dishes=good) throw some salt and pepper in there, get them sweaty and happy. Toss some frozen tater tots in there (or whatever potatoes you have on hand!) make em happy. Throw em in a bowl and cover.

IMG_6349.JPG

Right before you are ready to serve, out a fair amount of oil into that same pan and fry your tortillas in there. It’s not healthy, but it’s delicious. Sprinkle with salt after turning it if you desire. Never too much salt (for those of us with low blood pressure!)

I assembled them as follows: tostada, potatoes, meat, lettuce,
Tomato, generous sprinkling of Tajin, and hot sauce. It would have been even more awesome with cheese, cilantro and sour cream on top, but I didn’t have any.

IMG_6350.JPG

I probably should have taken a picture before I begun scrounging (that’s for you, nan!) but I was hungry.

The kids loved them and so did Milkman, and we have leftovers of everything so tomorrow morning I think I’ll be making Tortillitas with the leftover ingredients (basically scrambled up with eggs!) for breakfast!