Rachael Ray Mushroom Burgers

I don't really like mushrooms but these burgers are really good :-)

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil (EVOO) (count to 8 while slowly pouring)
• 1/3 cup dry sherry (count to 6 while slowly pouring)
• 1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce (count to 4 while slowly pouring)
• Sea salt and coarse black pepper
• 4 large, firm portobello mushroom caps (at least 1-inch thick), gills scrapped and caps sliced horizontally into 2 disks
• 8 slices extra-sharp yellow cheddar cheese
• 4 brioche rolls, lightly toasted
• 4 thick slices heirloom tomato
• A couple of handfuls of watercress or other spicy greens

PREPARATION

Pour EVOO, sherry, Worcestershire and pepper into a dish and mix with your fingers or a whisk. Turn each mushroom disk a few times in the sauce as you add them to the dish; season with sea salt. Let marinate 30-45 minutes, turning occasionally.

Pre-heat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat. Grill the mushrooms, turning once, until well marked, 4-6 minutes.

Make 4 stacks in this way: mushroom disk, cheese slice, mushroom and cheese. Place on the grill until the cheese melts, 1 minute. Transfer the stacks to the roll bottoms and top with the tomato slices; season with salt and pepper. Add the greens. Slather the bun tops with the mustard and set in place.

http://www.rachaelray.com/recipe.php?recipe_id=4168

one of my favourite SNL sketches EVER!! seriously so funny

SNL The Californians (dress rehearsal version)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NbxihR3C-Hk

Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes

I was on facebook the other day and saw this online and just had to post it, it seriously looks so good, honestly try it. It's really simple to make  and takes no time at all.

Oreo Cheesecake Cupcakes

Ingredients

• 22 Oreos: 16 left whole, and 6 coarsely chopped
• 2 8-oz packages cream cheese, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• Pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 275 F.
2. Line 12 standard muffin tins and 4 ramekins(individual baking dish) (or 16 muffin tins, if you have them) with paper liners.
3. Place 1 whole Oreo in the bottom of each lined cup.
4. Beat the cream cheese in the bowl of a stand mixer on medium. Gradually beat in the sugar and vanilla.
5. Pour in the beaten eggs, a little at a time, scraping down the sides of the bowl after each addition.
6. Beat in the sour cream and salt.
7. Stir in chopped cookies by hand.
8. Pour the batter into the prepared tins, filling each almost to the top.
9. Bake, rotating pan halfway through, until filling is set, 22-25 minutes.
10. Cool in the pans for about 15 minutes, on a wire rack, then transfer to a plate in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

95% of seals killed are under 3 months old... WTF!!

I was given an assignment to do an PSA ad for an organization and I chose Humane Society International. after reading a bit about what they do, I saw a picture of the cutest little seal but when reading the headline I got seriously pissed off. I never actually thought about people slaughtering baby seals for their FUR!! for FUCKING FASHION, its beyond disgusting. Reading how literally 95% of seals killed are under 3 months and they haven't eaten or swam yet so they are completely defenceless against these monsters. I cant even come up with the words to describe how much I hate these people for what they are doing, then I started watching a video about it and I had to turn it off it was just too much. I really mean it when I say I care more about animals then I do people.

  This attached video is graphic but it shows what's really happening to these seals and the fact these jerk offs do it without remorse. I just can't believe that it hasn't been stopped yet? why is being allowed to happen?

How can anyone even think of hurting a baby seal? just look at it.

visit www.hsi.org for more information

http://www.hsi.org/world/canada/

learning from my own mistakes

For one of my classes we were asked to create a resume and cover letter and then we did a mock interview with our professor.

Now there's something you should know about me. I am terrified when it comes to speaking to people, not just a bunch of people or particular people, anyone I haven't known my whole life really. I have never been good at expressing myself and I normally don't have anything to say, I have always been rather quiet, except for a period as a teenager but that's a different story. I'm not good at public speaking either, even if it's only to 3 people. When I'm speaking to people I don't know or kind of know I just freeze, my mind goes blank I cant even remember my name half the time, its very embarrassing and its something I've been trying to work on. When I'm at work I'm fine I become almost like a robot, hi how are you blah blah and done. Now don't get me wrong there are maybe 4 people I can actually talk freely to, I can't really explain it but when its about something I'm not really comfortable talking about its pretty much like I'm stupid and I cant speak. I know I have this problem but I didn't really know how to fix it.

Anyways I kind of got off topic, my point is I had to do a mock interview and I know I didn't do well, I don't even think I breathed through the entire thing and it was about 15-20 minutes. I had no idea what I was talking about and I was just spitting out words that I think made me sound like English was a second language to me.

So I started searching online for a bit and I think I have found some helpful tips to overcome this fright which I'm going to be trying, hopefully it helps.

1. Breathe - Its the best thing you can do. At the moment your not thinking it, but when you breathe it slows down your heart rate and sends oxygen to your brain allowing it to actually work during your stressful time. So take a deep breathe before you speak and just remember to keep breathing as you're talking.

2. Pause - Its sounds weird and its hard because 1 second feels like a lifetime when you're nervous, but allowing yourself to stop and really think about what your going to say will allow you to compile your thoughts so you actually make sense and they don't come out all scrambled.

3. Act like your talking to a friend - when its one on one its less stressful, so visualize yourself talking to a friend or your mom ( if she's not one of those judgemental moms who think they're helping but are just making things worse), it becomes easier to speak to someone you're familiar with.

4.Prepare - this was one of my problems during the mock interview, I was so stressed trying to get my resume and cover letter perfect that I didn't give myself any time to prepare. this step seems easy but it's a problem for many people. When you know your stuff it becomes easier to talk about, I'm not saying to memorize word for word what you're going to say but know it, understand it and talking about it will become natural.

5. Think positively - I know it sounds very self help bookie but if you tell yourself you can do, you will do it. It all comes down to self-esteem and how you see and feel about yourself.

I hope these help, I'm also going to try and take my own advise we'll see how it goes.

Music to my ears

My boyfriend bought me this CD yesterday, yes we still buy CD's. I was actually a little shocked about it since I had no idea who this person was. I looked at him puzzled and asked him who the hell this guy was and what made him think I would like it since I pretty much only listen to Emo type music like 30 Seconds to mars or HIM, all he said was just listen to the damn thing. so I took the cd sort of thanked him and popped it in. after listening to the first song I knew who it was. I am completely obsessed with this guy not knowing who he was at all. the album is called Trilogy and the artist is TheWeeknd. I have to tell you I absolutely love this album every song, well except one but only because Drake is on it and I cant stand his voice. its hard to describe his genre of music. To me its kind of upbeat R&B, he sings like an R&B artist but with more energy on his beats. my favourite song is by far house of balloons/glass table girls, which really fits the whole R&B up beat thing he's got going on. I highly recommend you listen to this guy I'm really not into this type of music but I really like it so who knows you might as well.

The Morning by: TheWeekndhttp://www.theweeknd.com/

Diabetic Cookies

My family is full of diabetics who LOVE cake and cookies and since I am the closest thing they have to a baker in the family I had to come up with some way to satisfy their sweet tooth, so here is a good recipe for peanut butter and chocolate diabetic cookies.

 Ingredients:

1 cup unsalted butter

2/3 cup Splenda granulated sugar 

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 eggs

3 cups flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 ounces unsweetened chocolate, finely chopped

 

Directions:

 

1. Preheat oven to 350°F
2. Place butter, splenda, brown sugar and vanilla in a medium mixing bowl.
3. Mix on medium speed until well blended.
4. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition.
5. Add flour, baking soda and salt. Mix well.
6. Add peanut butter and chocolate. Mix until blended.
7. Roll cookie dough into 48 balls (1 tbsp dough per ball). Place balls on an ungreased cookie sheet.
8. Dip a fork in water and press a criss-cross pattern into the top of each cookie.
9. Bake for 10 - 15 minutes. ( 8 minutes for softer cookies)

 

 

Former SNL Stars

So I went to go see the former SNL(Saturday Night Live) stars comedy show last night. It featured 3 people from a former SNL cast, Chris Kattan, Horatio Sanz, and Rob Schneider. This is basically my review of the show.

It took place in the living arts centre in Mississauga. Horatio Sanz was the first performer, he was funny but a little awkward, he didn't know his stuff he was looking at his notes. I actually found it weird that he had notes in the first place, being from SNL you would think he would have learned how to remember his own jokes. This one joke that he did when he was talking about his perverted text messages would have been funny if he was actually prepared. There were too many pauses which made the joke less funny, what the messages said were funny don't get me wrong but the execution is what ruined it. another thing that I found weird was that he was laughing at his own jokes before they were even funny which also kind of ruined it. the best part of his skit was at the end and not in a bad way like oh thank god he's finished, I actually think he's really funny, but the reason I say the last part was the best is because it was one of my favourite sketches from SNL which was the Christmas song (I wish it was Christmas today) when Jimmy Fallon, Horatio Sanz, Tracy Morgan, and Chris Kattan all go on stage and Horatio just sings and plays this little guitar, Jimmy fallon is playing the key board, Chris Kattan is just holding the key Board and moving his head and Tracy Morgan is Just dancing, it was only hotatio and Chris but it was still very funny.

the next comedian was Chris Kattan who I find hilarious. he was basically talking about the past characters he's done on SNL such as mr. peppers and mango. then he started talking about Camerion Diaz. he was talking about how beautiful she is but how terrible her laugh is which I found funny, but the best part was when he was talking about drake his lyrics. the started doing a one man skit between a girl and Drake, the scenario was that this girl was impressed that Drake wrote a song about her and she wanted him to meet her parents, so she tells him to sing the song to her parents, and he goes in his drake voice and is like "almost drowned in her pussy so I swam to her butt" which are actual drake lyrics. What I didn't like about Chris Kattan's performance was the fact that he was trying to be funny in saying Mississauga, he kept saying it weird and it got old really fast, another thing was that his act was too short, I felt like he was only out there for 5 minutes, which I was kind of bummed about because I  think he's really funny and I wanted to see more of him.

The last person to go on was Rob Schneider. I don't think I stopped laughing, I was never really a big fan of him until last night. he was on the longest was it was all really good material, talking about how cold it his here and how when Canadians say "Oh Yeah" they really mean "fuck off" he was talking about his wife and going through security. one of the highlights of his skit was when he was talking about airport security, and how one guy put a bomb on his show so now you have to take your shoes off, and one person has a liquid bomb, so now you cant bring drinks through, then he said "it was just freeze here anyways" and how you have to take your belt off cause we all know belts are dangerous, the he acted like he had a belt in his hands and was like "I'm taking over this plane I have a belt with a 32 waist, no 34 waist, wait hunny when did I become a 34 waist" there wasn't anything I didn't like about his part it was all really natural he knew his stuff and it flowed really well.

All in all it was a great shows they are definitely all very talented and I cant wait for them to come back. I wish I had pictures to post but the said no video or photography :-(.

Growing Up Veggie

I have never felt the need to blog nor do I real have a passion for it. If I had something in my life that I wanted to share with the world then yeah I would have done this a long time ago. The thing is there isn't one specific part of me I like to talk about more than others which is why my blog is called pieces of me. I will be discussing many different things from make up to different face washes to how I feel about public transit. They will be random but hopefully interesting and I would love some suggestions.

I've been a vegetarian  for a little less than half my life and most people are slightly shocked when I tell them. My decision was simple it started off with the fact that I am allergic to fish, which then turned into the fact that I didn't enjoy the taste of beef or pork in any form. I did enjoy chicken a little but only if it was covered in ketchup or something. The only logical thing to do was to simply stop eating it. being as I was only 13 when I finally gave up everything things got a little harder on my family. You see when I gave it up so did my mother, for a completely different reason, she read this book called hunting humans where this guy would kill people and sell their meat to local butchers in the 70's and it completely freaked her out and she was done with it. This is when it becomes a problem, I'm not eating any meat and my mother isn't eating any either, oh did I mention that I have a brother and father who absolutely LOVE meat? well I do and they were slightly pissed.

 Coming up with recipes that fit both groups and living on a pretty tight budget was tough but we made it work. She started making veggie lasagna and stuffed peppers with meatless ground beef so even though my dad and brother weren't vegetarian they were eating like one without even knowing.

Meatless ground beef is probably the best thing for people who have both vegetarians and non vegetarians living in the same household. The best part is it isn't that expensive and you can find it pretty much anywhere. Mine and my boyfriends favourite meatless ground beef is "ground beef crumbles" from Morning star, its perfect for pasta and stuffed peppers or cabbage rolls.
below is my favourite stuffed pepper recipe.

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers w/ Ground Crumble

 

Ingredients:

§  1 bag of Boca Meatless Ground Crumbles (Can also try Morningstar Farms crumbles)

§  2 green bell peppers

§  ¼ of a tomato (diced)

§  1 can of tomato sauce (8 ounces)

§  1 small mushroom (chopped)

§  1 teaspoon of basil

§  1 teaspoon of garlic powder

§  ½ teaspoon of pepper

§  1 cup of rice

§  1 tablespoon of oil
(for 4 peppers just double everything)

 

 Preparation:

§  Begin by cutting the tops off of the green peppers. Following this, remove the guts and membranes to make space. (I saved some of the eatable portions of the top for the “stuffing”). Then, rinse the peppers.

§  Dice ¼ of a tomato and chop up 1 small mushroom. Mix these items with the leftover green pepper tops.

 

If you want a softer texture for your peppers, bring them to a boil in a large pot, allowing them to simmer for a few minutes. Prepare 1 cup of rice (I used Jasmine Rice).

Add about 1 tablespoon of oil into a skillet. Pour in the tomatoes, mushrooms, and peppers, sautéing them over medium heat. Then, add the meatless ground crumble, and cook for 10-12 minutes while stirring.

Take the green peppers and fill them with the ground crumble (mixed w/ veggies), rice, and some sauce. Proportion your filling based on preference for taste.

Place the stuffed peppers onto a large baking dish, baking them for about 15 minutes at 350º. If you did not boil your peppers, bake for a little longer, or until the peppers are tender. Lastly, drizzle on more sauce and serve!

If you would like me to post more recipes let me know and I will be happy to do so.