Not Barefoot in the Kitchen -- Banana Pudding Parfaits

I did it!  I am all banana'd out... but I am totally OK with that.  I thought this banana stuff would take two weeks, but four weeks and I am still cooking up bananas!  That's what happens when you have a little of family of two to eat a whole loaf of banana chocolate bread, a whole tub of banana rum ice cream, a whole banana upside down tart, and enjoy a banana panini or two on the side. 

I got home from work yesterday and grabbed the bananas out of the basket when I happened to glance in the mirror above the table... and something made me think back to my college days when a friend said, "You realize that you will have to be frumpy your entire life if you are going to be an elementary school teacher, right?"  Now, I didn't see some super-stylish model staring back at me, but I did see one non-frumpy woman. 

Sure, we have all seen those ladies who roll up to the local elementary school with their homemade dresses from some fabric with little chalkboards and crayons in the print.  Or is that just me that has seen that?  Well, I have.  But I would say that that really is not a requirement for being a teacher.  Trust me.  I personally have three qualifications that must happen with my wardrobe before I walk out the door.  It must be --

Classy
Yes, I am going to be working with children, but I need to look like I care about what I look like, even if the people I spend my time with are not going to notice.  Actually, they do notice.  Eight-year-olds notice if you take time to put together your outfit or not.  And they are quick to comment, either way.  Children are honest like that.

Comfy
With the amount of wandering around the classroom/sitting criss-cross-applesauce (remember "Indian Style"?)/kneeling next to desks to help with math that I do during the day, I must have something that allows me to move accordingly.  Plus, I just might want to join in a game of dodge-ball, and I need to be prepared :) 

Cute
For the first year or two of teaching I allowed the top two qualifications to define my wardrobe.  I looked good, but I didn't always look like me.  Now I make sure whatever I walk out the door wearing is something that I would find myself whether or not I am in my classroom. 

As you can tell, not only do I do budget cooking, but I do budget shopping in all areas.  Pants -- $24.99.  Top -- $11.99.  Sandals (Forever 21) -- $13.00.  Bracelet (which is actually a necklace wrapped around my wrist) -- sitting in my jewelry box since forever.

And yes, those curls are mine.  No scrunching needed ;)

So, what did this non-frumpy teacher do when she got home?  She made banana pudding parfait!

This is my last banana post. 

For now.

What can I say?  We love us some bananas!

From this point on I will go back to the norm -- cooking what I feel like cooking.  But trust me, there will be more banana stuff coming out of my kitchen, and when that happens I will let you know!

Until then, try this.  If you try only one of my recipes I found this year, try THIS ONE!  The homemade pudding is to die for.  I know I say all the time, "This was so good!" (because, honestly, I wouldn't try a recipe that didn't sound like it would be awesome, right?), but trust me on this one -- THIS WAS SO GOOD! ;)



Click button to see more yummy-banana-goodness!



Ingredients

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 1/2 cups milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 2 bananas, plus more for garnish
• 12 shortbread or other vanilla-flavored cookies (4 to 5 ounces total), crumbled, plus more for garnish
• Sweetened whipped cream, for garnish

Directions

1. Have ready a fine-mesh sieve over a medium bowl. In a medium saucepan, off heat, whisk together sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Very gradually (a few tablespoons at a time), whisk in milk, taking care to dissolve cornstarch; whisk in egg yolks.
2. Whisking constantly, cook mixture over medium heat until the first large bubble forms and sputters. Reduce heat to low; whisking constantly, cook 1 minute. Remove from heat, and immediately pour through sieve into bowl. Stir butter and vanilla into hot pudding. Let pudding cool slightly; meanwhile, slice bananas.
3. In six 8-ounce glasses, alternately layer warm pudding with cookies and bananas, ending with pudding and covering bananas as completely as you can to prevent discoloration. Refrigerate until set, at least 1 hour, and covered with plastic wrap, up to 2 days.

Cost Per Parfait: $0.95

Not Barefoot in the Kitchen -- Kale Quesadillas

Did you know that green is my favorite color?  Well, it is.  I like a lot of colors, but my absolute most favorite is green.  Which is one of the reasons I like Spring so much.  St. Patrick's Day is never a really big deal to me but I do appreciate the fact that everything gets to be green on that day. 

Look at my smile.  There is no denying my love for this color of life that is surrounding me!  That's because good things come in green: grassy fields, palm trees, money... see? 

And kale.  Kale comes in green, too.

That makes it a perfect ingredient for St. Patrick's Day food. 

I know a lot people don't really like it, but in Brazil they looooove kale.  I have never met a Brazilian who doesn't like it.  In fact, I never even knew what it was until I was there and had lots of couve served to me.  For all I knew it was a vegetable native to that land of plenty.  It wasn't until my husband desperately needed some (or so he said) that I searched around and found out that it was sitting in my local grocery store all along.  Silly me.

Something else that is green that I am loving is this top.  I have had it for about a year now, but it is still one of my favorites.  And the belt... the best part is that the it came with the shirt.  For $17 at Love Culture I got not only a cute top but an incredibly useful and sassy belt, too.  Then I was able to save some green ;)

Belts have become all the rage lately.  Well, I guess not just lately, they come and go as all fashion does, but right now they are quite popular.  I don't own all that many, three actually, but these three have served me well. 

My first was this one:

Yes, I call it the Santa belt because, as you might be able to see, it looks like the belt Santa wears around his bowl-full-of-jelly-belly. 

Then I got the one you see in today's pictures.

My everything belt.  It has found a prominent place in my wardrobe.

And last, but definitely not least, is my favorite:

Yeah, I name my belts... but you must admit, this one is kind of Madonna-ish with it's little studs and all.  I got it at H&M, and Madonna is actually one of their designers, so who knows... it might actually be a "Madonna Belt".

The thing I like about belts is this: they are one simple thing you can do that make your outfit go "almost there" to "complete".  I must thank my friend and colleague Patricia for encouraging me to start using them in my attire.  She has a great eye for accessories, one that I am trying to develop.  But I am learning.  Like with this headband.  It is something that is so simple, yet makes a big difference.  And it was only $5 at Charlotte Russe.  What a steal!

So back to that other green... the kale.  I was flipping through the latest issue of Everyday Food and saw this little header:  "More ways to give kale kid appeal" and under it were some great ideas:

1. Tear, toss with oil, and bake for crisp chips                (check!  Did that last October.  Yum.)
2. Replace some basil with blanched kale when making pesto
3. Add sauteed kale to grilled cheese or quesadilla

I didn't even need to go on.  Sure, the list had a few more, but I honed in on what I wanted: kale quesadillas.

We rarely have tortillas in the house, but I did have lavash bread.  Kale and cheese were already in the fridge, as well.  In fact, all of the ingredients were in that "now what do I do with them?" phase that food goes through when you have more than you need for a recipe but no good idea of how to get rid of them. 

BINGO! 

I knew exactly how to get rid of them...

By Jove, we have a winner!  I just added a little Feta (also in that limbo stage that food lives in sometimes) and man oh man, it was good.  So good that we had it two days in a row.  And then right now as my husband asked what I was working on and I showed him he said, "Oh.... *drool*  that's GOOD!"

Kid appeal?  Shoot, this had adult appeal. 

There you have it folks, Kale Quesadillas.  An unexpected turn of events, but a highly welcomed one.  And green, perfect for this time of year.  Enjoy!


INGREDIENTS:

• 1/2 pack lavash bread
• 1/2 bunch fresh kale
• Cheese -- your favorite
• 1/2 cup of Feta
• Spreadable butter
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• salt to taste

DIRECTIONS:

1. Chop the kale in to small sections.  Over medium heat, put the olive oil in a large non-stick skillet.  When warm, add kale and a dash of salt.  Stir occasionally until sauteed, about 5 minutes.  When finished, set kale aside and clean out skillet. 
2. Using lavash bread, kale, cheese, and feta, make quesadillas.  Put butter on the sides of the bread that will touch the pan to help grill.  At this point I am going to assume you know what to do... so go for it! :)

Cost: $5.68                   Cost Per Serving (4) $1.42

Add a salad on the side for a complete meal, and it is still under $2 per serving. 

Not Barefoot in the Kitchen -- Salami Roll-Ups

I am excited to share with you a new part of my blog: my Not Barefoot in the Kitchen section!

As we have all discovered, I have learned to love to cook within the last couple of years.  That would be evident by this blog, right?  But another thing I have learned to love is fashion.  It was not too long ago that a friend told, in love of course, "Tiffany, you need to spice it up.  You always look like the girl next door."  (This was before the movie The Girl Next Door, btw, so no, not that one.)  My reply?  "But I am the girl next door!"  Which for me meant cute, sweet, and that was it.  I would admire the girls in college who were bold enough to try a new look from the safety of my shirts, jeans, flip-flops, and ponytail.  Maybeeee some make-up.  Maybe.  But that was it.  I would admire them, think something along the lines of, "Wow, they look nice..." and then be on my way.  Because I couldn't do that, right?

Well, along with growing up and learning that I actually could cook, I grew up and learned that I actually could try something fun and new.  I am definitely no fashionista, but I am not the girl next door anymore.  Not that there was anything wrong with that...

So this new column or whatever it is called will be a place where I can put these two together: my new found love for cooking and my new found love for style -- affordable style.

I would like to give a shout-out to Britt at The Magnolia Pair for being bold enough to start a style column on her page.  Her confidence gave me confidence.  (And, FYI Britt, yes our outfits are strikingly similar... I think we were inspired by the same Pinterest pin originally, and then you helped me find out where to get the pants I wanted :)  Man, first What I Love Wednesday and now this... this lady has been an inspiration to me!

Today my recipe is for salami roll-ups.  You know how much I love Trader Joe's, right?  Well, this was a sample one day.  Fell in love.  Immediately.  And the good thing about Trader Joe's is that there are all kinds of salami there, not just pork... you can get beef or veggie, whatever you prefer.  Love that place.  And you have to admit, when you look at these pants you think "salami".  At least I do, anyway.

Three basic steps and you are there:  Spread cream cheese over lavash bread.  Place your toppings.  Roll and cut.  Ta-da!

We like to put it in the fridge when we are done.  They taste good room temperature, but they taste amazing when the cream cheese is cold. 

As you can tell from above, most of this outfit is from Forever 21.  Sometimes I see their stuff and want to gag myself.  But this Spring collection is incredible.  I had to practice some real self-restraint.  The pants were $24.80 and the top was a whopping $11.80.  The shoes I found at Payless (yes, Payless -- I have found their high heels to be really decent and cute) for $29.99.  And since nude can go with anything, I will definitely be sporting these a lot!

Salami Roll-Ups

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pack lavash bread
• 1 tub cream cheese
• 1 pack salami
• fresh basil leaves

Cost: $9.27                   Cost Per Piece (24) $0.39