Fridge Does Dessert: Cookie Cup w/ PUMPKIN ICE CREAM

Well, it's the most wonderful to the year once again. And besides all
That none sense hipster stuff like spending time with family and friends, the best part is all the holiday eats. From desserts to appetizers and meals to snacks we love them all. Even all you healthy hippies out there agree that it's ok to cheat on your diet every now and again. Why is it ok?! Because you're human damn it and it tastes awesome. Don't neglect your taste buds during this time of the year. No one can judge you for going to town on Brie Cheese or Candy Cane Fudge. If they do, tell them to go put on the Jamiroquai album and go kick rocks!!!!

Alright, now that that's cleared up, let's get back to business! So every year my close friends from college and I get together and hold a Fakesgiving. Maybe you've heard of it ... because everyone else in my generation also holds their own and possibly call it FriendsGiving. Either way, it's a great excuse to get together to eat another holiday meal and have drinks by a fire. { if you would like a recap of this event, go to LocalLove805 } This year, I signed up to bring dessert.

I had remembered seeing a dessert months back that was a cake cup with ice cream in it. BOMB DOT COM i know!!!! So I wanted to experiment with how to make something similar before taking it to the party and have it be a total Pinterest Fail. That's right I said it, PINTEREST, I'm on it, and zero fucks are given. I'll Pinterest while drinking whiskey and watching The Walking Dead. What's Good?! Anyways, so I made my over to the store to buy my ingredients. As I'm enroute to the store I thought about making the cup out of cookie dough instead of cake and because cookies are awesome. ALSO, because it's fall, the ice cream must be Pumpkin. Because you know... the fall season means PUMPKIN EVERYTHING.

I came home with:

• Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough
• Pumpkin Ice Cream
• Peppermint Whipped Cream

The only thing I used was a cupcake sheet and spoon to get the ice cream out of the carton.

I buttered up each individual cupcake thing, and placed the cookie dough inside making it into a cup. Use your own judgement on how much dough to use. Make sure the bottom isn't that thin of a layer. I heated the oven to 375 degrees so you can keep an eye out on it. I placed the sheet in the oven and around 7 mins I pulled them out. THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID!

What you'll notice is the cookies have started to fill in and not looking like a cup like you had it. That's fine. That's why we pull them out at the 7 minute mark. Take a knife and gently push the uncooked cookie back to the sides of the sheet so it creates the cup shape again. Let it sit for a minute. I then put cinnamon and a little fudge in them at this point. After a minute I put them back in the oven. Another 5-6 minutes, pull then out, and again take the knife and push the cookie around if it still doesn't look like a cup. Then let them sit for a good 5-10 minutes. Once cooled down, you can take them out of the cupcake sheet.

Now that they are out of the tray, you can the ice cream! I chose Pumpkin Ice Cream, but add whatever you like! It's your taste buds that your satisfying. Once you add enough to fill the cookie, then take that whipped cream, put as much as your little dessert loving heart desires. Finally, add a little cinnamon to the top for good measure. You don't like cinnamon?! OKKKK BRO, then you don't have to. It's there for presentation to make it look good. Kind of like how sesame seeds are added to a bun. They don't add that much to the bun, but it sure makes it look more appeasing, don't it?!?!

So there you have it folks, an easy way to make a cookie more useful. Not that a cookie wasn't wanted before, but now you can also use it as a means to hold your ice cream and leave no evidence behind. Unless you are a messy eater and you get it all over your shirt. In this case, wear one of those cool bibs with a lobster on it that way you can toss that when you're done, THUS leaving no evidence behind. And if your friends give you shit for wearing a lobster bib during a holiday party, draw a Santa hat on him... THAT'LL SHOW THEM!!!!

BBQ Bacon Brie L.T.

BBQ BACON BRIE L.T. 

Earlier this week, Monday to be exact, it was brought to my attention that it was National Sandwich Day. Being the foodie that I am, it was a tragedy that I didn't know this information. However, in my defense, in our culture today, literally everyday is a day to give a shout out to something. 

 

 

Whether it's a cat, a bamboo plant, or sing like Akon Day, there's something. But in my realm, National Sandwich Day is pretty epic because there is nothing better than the almighty Sandwich. I have also chosen to make this week:

 

Fridge Sandwich Week on my Instagram account: http://instagram.com/minifridgeblog#
 

Why is this topic blog worthy? It's because every human on the planet can relate to some kind of sandwich. And just like being a human, every sandwich is different from the last, much like a fingerprint. We all like ours done a certain way ( that's what she said! ). From the many different options of bread to use to the condiments we chose to add, or not to add if you prefer yours dry. I'm personally a sucker for the Mustard/Mayo combo.

    • Side Note • There is a sandwich chain called 'Port of Subs' located in Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and some spots in Southern California that has Mustard and Mayo already mixed together, so when you ask for that on your hoagie, they already have the spread. Why is his awesome?! It's because you will get an equal amount of both. Unless you like a little more than the other, and that's cool! See, again, another exams of how every sandwich is different from the last.

For this particular post I was going to share this awesome sammie I made recently. It's a twist on an old favorite: BLT. I had all the ingredients by chance. They were all left overs from a weeks worth of meals. It was best way to use the rest of the tomato, lettuce, and bacon before they became that stank inside your fridge. But making a BLT, wasn't enough. I had to be more creative than that. So I added BBQ Sauce and the last of the Brie Cheese I had from a previous experiment.

So here it is:
• 5 Grain Bread
• Tomato
• Lettuce
• Bacon
• BBQ Sauce
• Brie Cheese

- The first thing I did was turn the oven to broil. Because I wanted the Brie to be melted. While the oven was hearing up, I chopped up the tomato and lettuce and cooked the bacon. Bacon cooked, then chopped it up. I then LIGHTLY toasted the bread using the toaster. I then proceeded to spread a layer of BBQ sauce on the bread.

- the next thing I did, was put the bacon and Brie on the BBQ sauced toast. To make sure I got a great covered piece of toast I covered each piece differently.

• I put the Brie down on the toast first then then bacon on one slice
• I put the bacon down on the toast first then the Brie.

I did this because when you put the sandwich together 

 

it's not top heavy with cheese or bacon with the ingredients in between. And it's a great way to make sure the Brie and the bacon melt together without making the lettuce and tomato warm. It keeps the veggies crisp and not soggy. There is LITERALLY nothing more gross than anything soggy. Seriously, it causes people to dry heave.

Now that the oven is up to speed, put the toast you just made with the bacon and Brie on a cooking sheet in the oven. EYE BALL THIS!

 

 

The toast is already a little toasted, so you don't want it to burn and because the oven is on Broil it won't take long. Plus, we don't have time to wait around when you're effing starving.

Once you notice the cheese is melted up to your standards, take it out, and put the lettuce and tomato onto which ever side you prefer. THEN, I put some extra BBQ sauce on it. 

 

You can then choose to cut it in half or just eat it as is like the beast that you are. There you have it: The BBQ Bacon Brie LT.

In what different ways have you made a BLT your way? I'd love to know!

Chicken Club Con Queso!

Chicken Club Con Queso!

The best meals come together by a little creativity and what you can find in your fridge. The other day, I had ZERO motivation to put on pants, let alone go to the store and buy food. So I went to the ol' fridge to see what i could scavenger up. First thing i saw, beer. Beer is good I thought, so had a few and picked something off Netflix to add to my being lazy. As I was sitting there, I remembered that I noticed there was bacon and queso dip in the fridge. The queso dip was left over from a previous cooking venture, and begged to be eaten again. But I didn't want to just have boring ol' chips and queso ( which is NEVER a bad idea by the way ). I wanted to put it on something more worth while.

I went back to the fridge to get creative. I eventually found all the right fixings for a chicken club sandwich:

- Tomato 

- White Onion 

- Chicken 

- Lettuce

I chopped up the veggies, grilled the chicken, made the bacon, and was ready for lift off!I had a few Ciabatta rolls left over from a previous garlic bread idea I made earlier in the week. PERFECT! Not only is ciabatta an AWESOME bread in general, it will work great with tying this sandwich together. Don't ever understate the power of a good bread choice folks! It will ALWAYS make or break any sandwich or side dish. 

I put some butter and garlic salt on the bread, set the oven to BOIL, and placed them in there for a little bit. I watched carefully until I noticed the bread was at a toasty level. You don't want it too be too CRISP to where you cut the top of your mouth when you eat it. NOTHING, besides burning your tongue is worse than eating mistake. 

Here is the order of which I chose to make the final product:

- Bottom half of the Roll

- Chicken

- Queso Dip ( i chose to place the queso on top of the chicken rather than adding it last. i did this because i didn't want the hot cheese to make the tomato and lettuce warm and possibly make it soggy. )

- Bacon

- Onion 

- Tomato 

- Lettuce 

- Top half of the Roll 

You can choose to construct it anyway you want, but this order worked really well. On one of them I choose to put the bacon on top of the chicken, THEN the queso. Either work. So go ahead! Give this the ol' college try and if you think it's missing a little somethin' somethin' and it works, LET ME KNOW! i would LOVE to try it!

It's a Wrap!

Wrap it Up Wednesday


From what I can tell, in the blogger world it's Work it Wednesday. That's cool Bro, go get you some! Here on this blog it's Wrap It Wednesday. And you can take that however you would like. For this instance however, I'm sharing a simple and cheap way to make a wrap out of things you can find in your house already. To keep up that healthy lifestyle you put apon yourself today, lets keep it in the theme shall we!?

It's a tale as old as Charlie Sheens addiction to hookers, "What do I have at home to cook, and do I really want to cook?!" You blankly stare into your fridge for a few minutes. Then you go to the cupboard to stare some more. But nothing magically appears as you'd hoped. It's like those college kids you see in the booze aisle that have been there for 30 minutes. Trying to figure out which drink to consume for the night that is something different than 12 hours earlier. The question is always, 'Will we have enough?' 'Which is cheaper?' But as we all know, they're going to go for that same cheap beer in bulk as they usually purchase. Same applies to your kitchen. 'What can I make that will not only fill me up, but taste great as well?'

Here's what I came up with. I found some spinach ( or Kale works if you're a real health nut ) which lead me to the idea of constructing a salad. BOO YA! I'll be healthy tonight and eat a salad. I went on to find the following:

• Blue Cheese Crumbles ( I had left over from a previous meal, which will be discussed at a later post. Feta Cheese also will do if you have that around. Or don't add a cheese if you don't got none!).
 • Can of Tuna ( tuna costs .89 cents on a sale day, so it's always a good idea just to buy a few cans, you can always apply tuna to many different meals ).
• Tomatoes ( I had bought a can of fire roasted tomatoes for .90 cents and used it for at least 3 different meals )
• Apple ( I chopped up half an apple, ate the other half as I went about putting this together ).
•Honey Roasted Nuts ( I had a bag laying around from an event I worked, and chopped them up. You can use any kind of nut you like 😜. This adds a little crunch to the meal that breaks up the monotony a salad can have sometimes ). Or shit, if you have a bag of chips laying around, you can add those, Potato Chips or even Fritos will do just fine for the late night drunk version of yourself. Don't worry, I won't judge you. There's no room for judgement in the Mini Fridge!
•Raspberry Vinaigrette Dressing ( any salad dressing works in this case, whatever you got in the fridge is all good! )

I mixed together all the dry ingredients in a bowl first then added the dressing at the end. To switch things up I figured I would make a wrap. I found that I had some tortillas left over from taco night, so that's where the idea sparked from. I grilled them a little first, then applied my mixed salad to the tortilla. Wrapped it up, then out it back on the grill so the tortilla would stay connected and come apart. You don't have to do that, you can make it into a salad taco!

Making my salad into a wrap was a fun way to switch up the plain ol' idea of a salad. Plus if you're making this for your significant other, roommate, roommates, invisible friend, or that zany neighbor, it's an easy way to divide up the salad. Because we all know that feeling of: Did that bastard get more than me? Was this divided up evenly, or did Steve give more to himself?! OH HELL NO! It's like ordering a pizza for a group of people and the: People to Slice of Pizza ratio isn't "even". But i won't go into that Larry David rant now.

I'll spare you the bullshit. Anyways, there you have it. A way to start with one ingredient ( spinach ), add a bunch of other things that can be used in multiple meals, and make one awesome yet simple dish.

No Monotony Monday: Whiz 'A Neighborhood Joint'

 No Monotony Monday: 

Whiz 'A Neighborhood Joint'

Yo, it's Monday, which means it's a new work week for the common folk. It's not for you? Well then, props to you! Either way it's a day in which I am letting you in the know about a new spot to check out! If you're in Los Angeles, then it's a local spot! You live in the OC?! Ok... Then it's close enough! If not, then guess what, now you have a place to check out while you're in this City of Angels. Or at least have a restaurant you can mention if you're ever in a conversation about this city. Or about food. Or talking about cool shit you saw on Instagram.

ENOUGH ALREADY! The place to check out is called "WHIZ" located in Koreatown literally on the corner of 6th and Oxnard Street. And for you fine folks who LOVE music like myself, it's blocks away from the world famous Wiltern Theater. As a side note: DID YOU KNOW, that it's called the Wiltern because it's on the corner of Wilshire and Western?!? BOOM! You learn something new everyday. If you already knew that, then High Five to you, you filthy animal. SOOO, If you want an authentic Cheesesteak and can't seem to find one, then WHIZ this is the place!

The owner and Executive Chef is Wes Lieberher. In a nutshell, Chef Wes is from Philly and is a man of many hats. He was the lead singer of the band Kill Verona in the early 2000's and is also the head chef over at Beer Belly located up the street from Whiz. Beer Belly is equally as badass, but I'll get to them another day. Also, click here for a taste of Kill Verona to feed that curious nature of yours!

Whiz is a neighborhood joint. I grew up in a small town myself where i was surrounded by mom and pop restaurants, so naturally I'm attracted to these spots because they are in fact the real deal. The food they make is their art and they have been through enough trial an error to know what's good enough to put on the damn menu. At Whiz, they use actual cheese whiz that you would get as if you were eating in Philly. Not a slap of sliced cheese melted on top. That's for the poser and for the lazy! Chef Wes is the real deal. Not only do they have Cheesesteaks, they have Sammies and Burgers.

Don't get it wrong though, the Sammies and Burgers are creative. There's actually some thought put into these culinary marvels. For God sakes they have a dish called "Balls o' Bacon"! Ball o' BACON people!!! ( Bacon and Pork Shoulder Meatballs. Topped with Chunky Marinara and Melted Provolone. Served on a 9" Amoroso's Roll Add Pickled Jalapeños) They have a burger called the Srirach Beast Burger! LOOK BELOW YOU CURIOUS WEIRDOS!

The Sriracha Beast Burger
2 Patties, Sriracha Island Dressing, Grilled Onions, French Fries, Velveeta Cheese. Brioche Bun.

( photo credits to their instagram account )

Have you stopped drooling?!?! NO? Neither have I, and I discovered that burger months ago. I've had to keep napkins in my pockets ever since just in case I think of this burger and need to wipe my mouth! I mean we are trying to have society here people. What would this world look like if we had people drooling all over the place?!?!

ANYWAYS, this is a spot worth checking out whether you live in Southern California or Visiting. Everything is made with care and hard work goes into it. You can tell with every bite. I had the pleasure of meeting Chef Wes when I was working on a food truck at Coachella Music Festival ( that experience will be told at a later date. if you have been or heard of this festival then you know it's something special ). I was trying not to bro out too hard over my excitement over meeting such an accomplished chef, so excuse my shameless personal photo.

The photo at the top of this post is of a Chipotle CheeseSteak they were serving for a limited time. It had the perfect blend of Chipotle and Cheese for the sauce and topped with sauteed onions. It was something I would HIGHLY recommend if you ever notice it's been brought back. As soon as you arrive on the spot of this place you get a great vibe for being apart of the neighborhood. It's welcoming and doesn't make you feel out of place like some of those more prestigious L.A. joints. I'm sure that's what Chef Wes was trying to accomplish, and he definitely did it. So if you want a taste of Philly or just good eats, give it try, it couldn't hurt, it could only help. Oh, and that feeling you have in your belly afterword, that's called being SATISFIED. It's a good feeling to have. Check them out!

FOLLOW WHIZ!

TWITTER //  FACEBOOK // INSTAGRAM

  

kit crispies

alright vegabonds and foodies alike, i give you the 'kit crispy'. i'm not going to lie, it's a dessert idea i came up with after having a few drinks. at the time of this creation, i was living with my good friend and his wife. his wife was preparing for a bachelorette party and made rice crispy treats to take with her. the following day when leaving for the trip she forgot to take the treats with her.

after having a few drinks, i figured i would take advantage of the left behind dessert and be creative. so i threw on my headphones and walked on over to target, because target is the shit. and let me tell you, target is already a tough time spending little money while sober. so after watching a few movie trailers and scoping out the new releases in the CD aisle, i made my way over to the food section of the store.

i figure, i like kit kats. i like frosting. lets make a frankenstein out of this. i wanted to use rainbow chip frosting with this, but to my dismay i come to find out that it has been discontinued! apparently i am not the only one upset with this. there are petitions and even a facebook page for people expressing their anger over this. ANYWAYS, i got a different frosting and went home to DO WORK!

ingredients you will need:

*rice crispy treats ( already made )
*kit kat bar ( or any other candy bar you feel will work )
*favorite frosting


*pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees on bake
*tin foil
*cookie sheet
*favorite knife

so turn up your favorite music, pop a few bottles, and go to town on this! in case you're wondering, the song in the video below is by a band called Echosmith and the song is "cool kids" it's more or less a new song. it's getting some airplay lately and it's very catchy. if you don't like it, that's cool bro, just figured i would give you a little something something.

ALSO, you don't have to add the other half of the rice crispy treat to it. you leave it open like an open faced sandwich. so it would look like THIS!

If the below video doesn't work, click on this link to watch it on youtube:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSI5NPXjNM8

 

Delicious & Devoured: Fridge Does Seattle

Delicious & Devoured 

"Seattle"

As some of you know, I was asked to be the videographer up in Seattle for some very close friends of mine this past week. Everytime I make the trip up there I am always slammed with the most delicious food the city has to offer. This is partly because my friend is a fellow foodie, but also because that city has some of the best food in the nation. I realize the purpose of this blog is how to create meals with awesome taste while on a budget. Considering we are all human and deserve to treat ourselves from time to time, it's ALWAYS a great idea to spend that little extra when you're in a different city. You never know what you'll stumble upon.

There's always one famous staple I get when I'm up there, and it's from a spot called 'The Other Coast Cafe'. It's a hole in the wall joint with very little sitting. The walls are lined with posters of upcoming local band shows and other artistry work. They even got a water jug with glasses so you can help yourself as you wait for whatever awesome sandwich you chose to order. But for me, there's only one that keeps me coming back: The Rajun Cajun.

This sandwich is so good it'll make your head turn into a wolf and howl at the moon like Jim Carrey's character in 'The Mask'!

This hoagie consists of Roasted Turkey, Pepper Jack Cheese, Sautéed Onions, with a Spicy Salsa Mayo! The real hero if this sandwich is truely the bread it lays it's head on is to die for. They then TOAST it, in an actual oven, not the kind of pansy one you find at Subway. The outcome is really one of a kind, and the photo doesn't do it justice.

That's just one fine example of what this fine city has to offer. Below are some other places I suggest if you ever find yourself in the city that brought us Kirk Cobain and Starbucks.


Here is what YOU can find at: Eastlake Bar & Grill 

Chicken Club 

Grilled Chicken Breast, Swiss Cheese, Chipotle Mayo, 

Lettuce, Onion, & Tomato on a Telera Roll. 

Habanero Mac & Cheese

Gobetti Pasta tossed ina  Sharp White Cheddar with Habanero Cheese Sauce with Pickled Habaneros.Topped with Bread Crumbs & Shredded Chicken. 

 Mediterranean Chicken Salad 

Grilled Chicken Breast served on Mixed Greens, Tomato, Cucumber, Red Onion, Feta, & Kalamata Olives. Tossed in a Blue Cheese Vinaigrette.

Bacon Blue Burger

Blue Cheese Crumbles, Caramelized Onions, Smoky Bacon & Herb Mayo. 

Next Up: The Shack 

The Eggle 

Egg, Tomato, Cheddar Cheese, Bacon, on a Everything Bagel. 

Last but NEVER least is Dessert, these were provided by: My Two Sweets

Cupcakes 

Chocolate with Vanilla Buttercream Frosting

& 

Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting

So there you have it folks, my short but definitely rememberable trip to Seattle was a culinary hit ( the wedding wasn't so bad either ) ! If you have any questions about what you see above or any other suggestions about where to go when you're in Seattle, don't be afraid to ask and comment in the comment section below!

mac and chee quesadee

 

here it is folks, the mac and chee quesadee. the ultimate snack / meal / munchie sure to satisfy even the most grumpiest of vagabond this side of the mississippi! if you're not in the mood to read, then watch the video! most posts that contain one of my creations will feature a video so you don't have to read through some GNARLY recipe. in this particular case, it's self explanatory. read the directions on the box of mac and cheese, put it between two tortillas, cook until melted together. 

however. . . i like to add a little something something to this classic dish with a few added steps to help it come together. So, for those of you that are VISUAL LEARNERS of the READING KIND, you will use the following: 

*box of mac and cheese

*creole seasoning 

*taco sauce packets ( taco bell, del taco, jack in the box, or anything you prefer! )

*garlic salt

*pepper

*blu cheese

*cheddar cheese

*shredded cheese

*tortillas 

*baking pan

*skillet OR grilling appliance

*pot ( for boiling water in ) yes i had to be specific. 

now that you have the ingredients, you might be thinking, i thought the whole purpose of this blog was to save money?! you listed off seasonings and products i might not ever use for a long period of time, so now they will go to waste or spoil before i get around to use them again. while this is true, i don't have spider senses that allow me to know what everyone is thinking or the pallets they have. but EVERY seasoning, sauce, product i will SUGGEST will be able to be applied to 98% of the creations i produce. As far as the $$$ goes for this meal ( after breaking it down ) this would cost around $3 per quesadilla. 

you have everything? cool. great. wonderful. let's get to work! watch the following video for guidance.  

**if the below video doesn't work, click on the following link**

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QoOXk5pLOw 

Bacon•Wrapped•Rolls: Cinnamon

Bacon•Wrapped•Rolls. Cinnamon Rolls that is. These are what you can expect to come from our fridge.

http://instagram.com/p/sDDzZ9iAC3/?modal=true

what is the mini fridge blog. ?