Mashed Potato Quesadilla

I’ve never been much of a cook; even as a child I never took much interest in my mom’s cooking (in terms of making the food, not eating it) and this, as a result, has led to my current state where the extent of my cooking knowledge falls somewhere between being able to make a peanut butter sandwich and cooking rice.

This, coupled with the fact that I am set to head off to university in a little more than 2 months, has led to my unwilling acceptance that I am doomed to a life of campus cafeteria food for the next four years unless I learn to cook on my own. 

The recipe I decided to try is the Mashed Potato Quesadilla by MrsB on allrecipes.com (fantastic site; whether you’re a beginner or master cook, I recommend you go there to check out different recipes!). The reason I chose this recipe was because of its simplicity in terms of ingredients and materials needed to complete the recipe (I was at my boyfriend’s house which was lacking severely in the cooking department). 

Thus! I headed off to the grocery store at 8:30 am to do some shopping before it got insanely hot outside. The recipe calls for: 

• 2 cups mashed potatoes
• 6 slices cooked bacon, crumbled
• 1/4 cup sliced green onions
• 8 flour tortillas
• 2 cups shredded Cheddar cheese
• 2 tablespoons softened butter
• 1 cup salsa
• 1/4 cup sour cream 

Some changes I made to the recipe were buying sliced cheese (not processed) instead of shredded cheese and uncooked bacon instead of bacon bits. I also eliminated the sour cream. And I bought some shrimp because they were $1 off but mainly because I wanted to eat shrimp. 

First I washed and chopped up the green onions… with a butter knife (I did say there was a lack of cooking materials in the house).

After I took out the sliced cheese and very meticulously “shredded” them… again with the butter knife.

Cutting up the onions and shredding the cheese took about 2 hours (and the recipe said everything could be done in 31 minutes – this is when you know you’re a newb).

Next came the bacon. Lots of fat, very little meat and VERY greasy. I had problems with the bacon because I didn’t take it out of the freezer to defrost a bit and ended up having to run it under the water for quite a while since the bacon strips refused to strip apart for me (see what I did there).

I put the bacon on a paper towel to soak up all the oil and to let it dry.

While I did this, I put the mashed potatoes in a pot on medium to heat up!

 After the bacon was done, I ripped them into tiny pieces to create the “crumbled” bacon the recipe called for. I was left with torn up bacon bits and very oily hands. I also turned the heat off on the mashed potatoes and put the lid on to keep it warm.

After ripping the bacon bits, I put them back on the frying pan to heat them up/recrisp them.

Next I put the bacon bits, green onions and mashed potatoes into a bowl and mixed! It smelt delicious and I hoped I wouldn’t find out my nose deceived me after tasting it.

Next, I took out my tortilla wraps and put my mashed potato mixture on one half (leaving behind 1cm from the edge). Afterwards, I sprinkled on top with shredded cheese (this time covering the 1cm from before) and spread butter on the other half.

The next step was putting it on the frying pan to fry! Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of this part so I shall explain what I did, which was simply folding the wrap in half and placing it on the frying pan. After I waited, while pushing the edges down so that they would stick together from the melted cheese.

I ended up having enough to make 7 delicious mashed potato quesadillas! Some ended up slightly burnt on one side due to distractions but hey, you win some you lose some!

 Next, because I’m an artist at heart, I decorated the food plate I was making so that it looked appetizing both before and after eating it. This is my end result!

I’m very satisfied with my quesadilla, especially since it was my first time making something like this. I definitely learned many things while making this – one being that I should never leave a quesadilla on the frying pan while running upstairs to deliver something even though the stove is off unless I want a burned quesadilla! – and I would definitely recommend this recipe to someone!

It’s a very simple recipe that’s easy to make and delicious to enjoy! I didn’t feel that the bacon was that noticeable in terms of taste but the cheese was very noticeable and the mashed potato and green onions were amazing. I would rank it 4/5 just simply because I felt that it was a tad too salty after eating two.

I would say that the next time I would work on getting things done quicker! This recipe took me 5 hours to create (4 1/2 hours more than the recipe estimated!) and less than 5 minutes to consume.

Overall a great meal and I would definitely make this again!

{Books Review} At First Sight

(reviewed in 2010 – for an updated review, contact me)

Title: At First Sight

Author: Nicholas Sparks
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Romance
Number of Pages: 332

Review:

After reading several of Nicholas Sparks books and reading the back cover of this one, I felt that this book would not be a disappointment. It was.

It took me quite a while to finish, and I had to force myself to finish it because otherwise, I knew I would never complete it.

This book follows the life of Jeremy Marsh, who is about to get married to Lexie Darnell, a woman whom he has only met for a short period of time. He leaves his home in New York City to follow Lexie to her hometown, Boone Creek, a tiny, quiet town much unlike the bustling atmosphere of New York City. Everything is going well until one day, Jeremy catches Lexie holding hands with her ex-boyfriend and the next day, he receives an email questioning if the baby Lexie is currently pregnant is is his, and everything starts to unravel.

The plot itself is interesting (it was slow in the beginning but became better near the end) but unfortunately, as I read it, I was not engaged in the novel at all. I’m not saying this book was bad, however. The reason for my non-interest in this book is mainly due to the fact that I could not relate to the main character at all. Myself, I am a 17 year old teenager attending high school. The main character in At First Sight is a man who has been married once, divorced, and about to marry another and become a father – none of which I plan to do any time soon in the near future.

Perhaps if I was a middle-aged man or woman reading this book I would find it interesting, but the fact of the matter is that I am not. I could not relate to him and so I did not find this book interesting. What I’ve learned from reading this book is that if an author wants a person to enjoy a book, it definitely helps if the reader can connect with the main character. In the case of At First Sight, I could not, and so I did not enjoy the book as much as I would have liked to.

If you are a Nicholas Sparks fan and are desperate to read all of his books, then unless you fall in the category above, I would recommend just borrowing it from the library.

Other books I recommend reading from Nicholas Sparks include:

• The Last Song
• Dear John
• The Notebook
• A Walk To Remember

  Rating: 5/10

{Books Review} The Devil Wears Prada

(reviewed in 2010 – for an updated review, contact me)

Title: The Devil Wears Prada

I actually started reading this novel, not because I read the back and felt it was interesting, but because I had had several people tell me that the movie was good and the book was even better. Hence, I purchased the book without even knowing what it was about (I wouldn’t recommend doing this in general; you should always know what a book is about before you purchase it). Anyway.

Author: Lauren Weisberger
Genre: Realistic Fiction
Number of Pages: 360

Review:

I enjoyed this novel immensely as there was constant action going on and you could really see the situation from the main character’s (Andrea) point of view.

You can tell that I liked the book from the fact that it was 360 pages long (longer than the previous two books), yet it took me less time to complete than the other two. I was extremely engaged in the book at all times and always wanted to see what happened next – there would be times when I’d say that I would only read one chapter more and I’d end up reading a couple instead of just one.

This book would most likely interest teenage girls, especially those who are interested in fashion, as the novel revolves Andrea, a young adult, hired as the assistant of Miranda Priestly, the editor of Runway, a fashion magazine. The book constantly makes references to brands such as Prada, Armani and Versace and follows Andrea as she must quickly learn to fit into the fashion world. Teenage girls who may be interested in interning at a fashion company may also find
this book information because it gives (however exaggerated) an insight into the insides of the fashion world, instead of just what is portrayed to the outside.

For everyone else, I would also recommend watching the movie (which I did). It did not follow the book exactly, but did manage to get most of the important parts. The movie did not disappoint.

Rating: 8/10

{Books Review} The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of who You Think You’re Supposed To Be And Embrace Who You Are

(reviewed in 2010 – for an updated review, contact me)

Title:

The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of who You Think

You’re Supposed To Be And Embrace Who You Are

Author: Brené Brown

Genre: Non-Fiction

Number of Pages: 130

Review:
This book talks about “whole-hearted living” and the steps people must take in order to take part in it. It is written by Brené Brown, a shame researcher. Throughout the book, she gives examples through her own experiences as well as her research with her own personal touch. The book is divided into different sections, such as “Exploring the Power of Love, Belonging and Being Enough” and “Courage, Compassion and Connection: The Gifts of Imperfection”. Each of these sections focuses on one topic that one must overcome in order to start living whole-heartedly.I found that this book was very insightful and helped me look into my own life and realize some of the things that I do. It also gave me some ideas of what I could do in order to live whole-heartedly and more happily, one of which would be to have a “happy box”, where each day I would, on a note, write something that made me happy or I am grateful for that day.However, despite the fact that it was merely 130 pages, it took me quite a while to finish. While it was interesting, it was not interesting enough for me to become fully engaged in it and want to continue reading. Perhaps this is because it is not a fiction book and therefore has no plot, but either way, while I found it interesting, it did not interest me enough to want to read it all the time.

I would recommend this book if you are looking to improve your life. However, I would suggest borrowing it from the library instead because although it may be helpful and did give me a bit of insight into my life, it is not exactly the kind of book that you would read over and over again.

Rating: 6/10

Hope your birthday was a Big Bang!

Today was my friend Olivia’s birthday and to celebrate, she threw a tiny little birthday bash at Joe Maggiano’s Italian Eatery & Bar. The restaurant was quite nice; it had a relaxing, comfortable atmosphere. The fake fireplace behind our tables flickered as though wind was blowing between its flames and the dimmed lighting above us gave the restaurant a feeling of class and high quality.

However, this review is not about the Italian eatery. If you want a quick review, the food there was okay. It wasn’t great but it wasn’t terrible. The prices were what you would expect for a medium-high class restaurant, ranging from $10-30 – expensive prices for a small amount of food (fish and chips, which is, in Canadian terms: fish and fries, was $12.99!). I guess you pay for atmosphere (though once our group of 16 teenagers/young adults walked in.. the quiet relaxed atmosphere wasn’t quiet nor relaxed any longer. I’m pretty sure the managers and waiters couldn’t wait to kick us out).

THE ACTUAL REVIEW – DAIRY QUEEN ICE CREAM CAKES

For my friend’s birthday, we purchased a DQ 10″ customized ice cream cake.

This particular cake is 10″, which feeds approximately 12-16 people, as stated on their site. The cake is a layered ice cream cake; the outside is layered with vanilla ice cream all around the outside of the cake. Inside that is another layer of chocolate ice cream covered with chocolate fudge which is followed by Dairy Queen’s secret recipe of chocolate crunch cookie bits. The last and bottom layer is another layer of vanilla ice cream to end off the cake. On top, DQ decorates a design with whipped cream and allows you the choice whether you want coloured designs or not.

Another option they allow is the choice of a customized cake, which is what we did as shown below (click for a larger image!).

The 10″ customized ice cream cake cost $39.99 (including tax). The sprinkles and colours were added on with no additional cost.

In terms of customizing a cake, the cake must be pre-ordered and the image must be brought to the DQ location at least 48 hours beforehand on a USB stick. The image cannot be larger than 8″ x 11″, the size of normal printing paper. The image itself is printed onto the cake using an icing sheet and edible ink.

To be honest, the first time I ordered a DQ customized cake, I was afraid that the image would come out blurry or with lines, similar to our own printers when they run out of ink. To my surprise, the image was as clear as day, and the resolution was much higher than I expected it to be. As a result, I wasn’t afraid when ordering the cake this time around, and as you can see above, the results satisfied my expectations.

My rating: 9/10

The ice cream took quite a bit of time to melt; we had recorded the receiving of the cake (she facepalmed when she saw her surprise), sang happy birthday, debated where to cut the cake, and the ice cream had yet to melt. It was only after the cake had been cut and served to each individual that the ice cream slowly began to melt and even so it was so slowly that most were able to finish their cakes before it had turned into a slobby, gooey mess. The vanilla ice cream and chocolate ice cream taste as you would normally expect it to taste. One area I want to pinpoint is the chocolate fudge and chocolate bits. Despite sitting in cold, wet ice cream, the chocolate bits did not sog up one bit. In fact, when I got to eating the bits, they were as crunchy as ever. The chocolate bits give the cake texture in what would otherwise be one large ice cream slab in our places. The chocolate fudge provided a smooth, thick chocolate taste that override the melting ice cream on our tongues. My only qualm with this cake would be the taste of the ink on top. I’m not sure how customized cakes from other restaurants taste, but the ink layer was textured and tasted like paper cardboard. Personally, I didn’t enjoy it; however, one of my friends loved it. You may like it, you may not. Different tastes, different opinions.

Overall, I would recommend purchasing a DQ customized ice cream cake. Even if you don’t enjoy the taste of the printed ink on top, it is still worth the money to customize your own cake and see the expressions on everyone’s faces when the cake is brought out. (Especially if you have a bunch of people pitching in, you can end up paying less than $10 for the cake each!)

Welcome to the life of a tiny

where I will be posting random thoughts and/or reviews relating to my every day life. Categories can be found in the side if you’re looking for one specific topic and feel free to leave comments and thoughts in my posts! It makes me feel less lonely. (: On that note, enjoy my blog. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me as found above!