Lovin' From the Oven

Spiced Up Ramen & Winner

by 5 Comments

ramen-2

ramen-3

ramen

First of all, the lucky winner of the $50 Drugstore.com gift card is comment number 45, Melanie! I’ve sent you an email, so please check your mailbox and respond ASAP!

Next, I’ve pretty much been living out of a suitcase for the past week and a half because of training. I’m either staying in Burlingame or fighting traffic to get home and sleep/study… only to wake up at 5 AM the next morning and do it all over again. The last thing I want to do when I get home from a 12 hour day of training is cook. What’s my solution? Instant ramen! There are so many things that you can do with a bag of ramen to spruce it up. Here’s one of my favorite ways:

Ingredients

  • 1 bag of Maruchan Instant Ramen, any flavor (I used chicken)
  • 1 egg, beat
  • 1 precooked sausage
Directions
  1. Boil water as directed on package of ramen. 
  2. Slice your sausage and toss it into the boiling water.
  3. Add the ramen and seasoning from package.
  4. With the water still boiling, slowly pour in the egg until cooked. 
  5. Serve once the ramen is thoroughly cooked. 

Spinach & Mozzarella Pizza

by 11 Comments

pizza-2-2

pizza-5

pizza

pizza-2

pizza-3

pizza-3-2

pizza-4

I have over 250 terms that I have to memorize by November 1st for training. It’s been a while since I’ve had to study for something, so I’m a little rusty with my habits (which explains why I’m blogging and re-watching the first season of “The Walking Dead” right now). I made flashcards and took advantage of the app “studydroid” on my phone, but I don’t feel like that’s enough. Do you have any study tips or routines that help you get the brain flowing?

While I’m asking you for advice, I’ve got another question. I’ve asked this on my twitter and facebook already, but perhaps I’ll get some more tips here. I’m required to wear some makeup for my new job, and I don’t know a THING about makeup! What’s your favorite brand of lipgloss, blush, mascara, and foundation? I’ll be taking notes and a trip to Sephora is in the near future.

You know those lazy days where you don’t want to cook dinner? Make a pizza! I cannot stress how easy Trader Joe’s makes it for you. They sell three different kinds of pizza dough in the refrigerated aisle: regular, wheat, and garlic. I used wheat for this one, but my favorite is the plain dough.

It’s also really important to use a pizza pan when making this, as I have experimented with numerous shapes of baking sheets. The perforated pizza pan allows the crust to completely cook through, ensuring a crunchy bite.

Spinach & Mozzarella Pizza

Ingredients

  • 1 package of pre-made pizza dough from Trader Joe’s
  • olive oil
  • half a jar of pizza sauce from Trader Joe’s
  • 2 tsp minced garlic
  • fresh mozzarella, sliced
  • a handful of fresh spinach
Directions
  1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
  2. Follow the directions on the bag of pizza dough– Let sit for 20 minutes before stretching it out to fill the pizza pan.
  3. Drizzle the olive oil on the rolled out dough and spread evenly.
  4. Pour the pizza sauce on top and cover the dough, stopping about an inch from the edge.
  5. Evenly sprinkle the minced garlic. Add the mozzarella and top it off with fresh spinach.
  6. Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until the cheese is completely melted and the crust is lightly browned.

Slow Cooker Pork Roast

by 4 Comments

roastbeef

roastbeef-3

roastbeef-2

roastbeef-2-2

I pretty much got eaten alive by a mosquito the other night. I slept with the window open during a rainy night. We don’t have any screens since we live in a pretty old building, so it was my fault for wanting to sleep with the window open. I just love sleeping to the sound of rain!

As I was blissfully sleeping, a mosquito feasted on my blood. Sorry for the visual. I woke up with… wait for it… TEN mosquito bites! I’m not even joking. Two of those bites just so happen to be on my face. Lovely! So then with me being me, I decided to google the heck out of mosquitoes.

Did you know that mosquitoes are attracted to the smell of carbon dioxide? That’s how they find us and that’s the reason why they’re always buzzing around our heads. Also, the only mosquitoes that draw blood are females! Mosquitoes normally eat nectar as a part of their diet, but the females need the protein from blood in order to lay eggs.

Now that I’ve officially grossed you out, let’s get to the meal. I’m really new at buying meat, so I’m completely lost about what cut is good for what. I usually just stick to ground beef and chicken breasts. Although this was fun to go out of my comfort zone, I think I’ll stick to my normal meats. Don’t get me wrong, this was good, but it wasn’t amazing. But then again, I’m not really a fan of pork. I guess that makes me a bad judge. Try it for yourself and let me know what you think!

Slow Cooker Pork Roast
Click here for a printable recipe

Ingredients

  • 2-3 pounds of pork loin roast
  • 1/3 cup soy sauce
  • 1 package of Lipton’s dry onion soup mix
  • 3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced.
  • half an onion, chopped
  • ground black pepper

Directions

  1. Whisk together the soy sauce and onion soup mix until dissolved. Pour into bottom of the crock pot.
  2. Add the pork and pour enough water to halfway cover the roast.
  3. Sprinkle a bit of black pepper on top.
  4. Cook on high for 6 hours.
  5. When it has been cooking for 2 hours, add in the potatoes and onions.

Categories