T.W.O.

Cabbage Crunch Salad

Published on February 17, 2014February 16, 2014 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

Bored of your traditional salad?! We’ll T.W.O. has a new recipe for you! Cabbage crunch salad has been a favorite side dish in T.W.O.’s family for generations. It’s easy, fresh and a crowd pleaser!

Ingredients

– 1 head of green cabbage
– 1 cup green onions, chopped
– 1/3 cup cilantro, chopped
– I package chicken top ramen noodles

Dressing:
-3/4 cups rice vinegar
-1/4 cup red wine vinegar
-1/3 cup vegetable oil
-2 tablespoons white sugar
-1 packet top ramen seasoning (included in package with dry noodles)
-Ground pepper
– Krazy Salt

Using a sharp knife, cut the cabbage in half. Take the “core” out of each half. Next, cut the cabbage in thin slices to create a “slaw”. Put the cut cabbage in a mixing bowl. Add the chopped green onions and cilantro. Break the top ramen into small clusters over the salad. If you are having a hard time breaking the ramen, place the ramen into a Ziploc bag and pound until small clusters are created. Combine the noodles with the cabbage.

For the dressing, add all the ingredients together and mix well. Add fresh ground pepper and Krazy Salt to taste.

Pour the dressing over the cabbage mixture and toss. Make sure the dressing, ramen noodles and green onions are evenly distributed throughout the cabbage slaw. After everything is mixed well, cover with foil or plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator. It’s best to let the salad marinate for at least one hour before serving. Serve chilled.

Bon Appetit!

Pesto Artichoke & Mushroom Pizza

Published on February 14, 2014February 13, 2014 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

It’s Friday Night Pizza with T.W.O.!! First off, Happy Valentine’s Day to everyone!! Hope you are spending the day with loved ones and enjoying some delicious food! If you haven’t already decided on dinner plans, here is a great last minute recipe to add to your night. Pesto Artichoke & Mushroom Pizza. The pesto combined with the artichoke hearts and mushrooms make this pizza a savory meal that your special someone will surely enjoy! Warning: this pizza contains garlic!

Ingredients
– Pizza dough
– Cornmeal
– Flour
– Pesto*
– 1 cup marinated artichoke hearts, sliced
– 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
– 3to 4 cloves garlic, chopped
– 2 to 3 cups mozzarella

* T.W.O. used Bolani Basil Pesto (all natural, low fat)

Preheat oven to 425ᴼF.

Roll out the pizza dough on a floured/ cornmeal surface. Once the dough is evenly rolled out, transfer the dough to a greased cookie sheet. Next, spread the pesto onto the dough, making sure you reach all the edges. Then sprinkle the mozzarella to the pizza. Spread the garlic evenly on top of cheese along with the artichoke hearts and mushrooms.

Let the pizza rise for about 15 minutes. Note – you don’t want to put the pizza in a cold oven, so make sure your oven reaches 425ᴼF. Once the oven is ready, place the pizza in the oven and watch closely. Keep the oven door close so the heat stays in. The pizza will take 15-20 minutes. Once done, take the pizza out of the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes prior to cutting.

Cheers to another successful Friday Night Pizza Night!

Peanut Butter Cookies

Published on February 13, 2014February 13, 2014 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

Peanut Butter Cookies

As you probably have learned, T.W.O. loves peanut butter. We can have peanut butter in the morning, afternoon and night! We thought we would share one of our favorite peanut butter recipes that have been exchanged between our family members for many years. The cookies are soft flavorful and nutty! Oh, and we can’t forget about the dough….it’s pretty amazing!

Ingredients
– 1 cup crunchy peanut butter*
– 1 cube butter, softened
– ½ cup shortening
– 1 cup granulated sugar
– 1 cup brown sugar
– 2 eggs
– 2 ½ cups flour
– 1 teaspoon baking powder
– 1 ½ teaspoon baking soda

* T.W.O. likes to bake with Skippy, Jiffy or natural peanut butter (oil pre-mixed)

Cream together peanut butter, butter and shortening with a mixer. Add in the granulated sugar and brown sugar and mix well. Slowly beat in the eggs. Make sure to scrape the sides of the bowl, so the ingredients blends well. Add in the flour, baking powder and soda. Once all the ingredients are combined, you should get sticky, thick dough. Chill the dough for an hour or until the dough gets cold.

Preheat oven to 350.°

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. Line your cookie sheets with parchment paper. Take a spoonful of dough and roll into a ball. Repeat until all the dough is used. With a floured potato masher, press down on the “balls”. Don’t smash too much, you don’t want the cookies to burn. If you don’t have a potato masher, you can flatten the cookie with your hand and use a fork to create a criss-cross design.

Place the cookies in the oven for 10-12 minutes. Don’t overcook! Remove from the oven and let it cool on the cookie sheet for 1-2 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack.

Plate the cookies, grab a glass of milk and enjoy!!!

Happy Baking!

The Jewelry Box

Published on February 12, 2014February 12, 2014 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

the bracelet // the statement necklace // the cuff // the earrings

the ring // the every day necklace

Orange Chicken

Published on February 6, 2014February 6, 2014 by T.W.O.1 Comment

Orange Chicken. Yes – the popular dish people order for take-out or pick up in the frozen section at the market. Well, now it’s time to learn how to cook it! T.W.O. whisks up this recipe, the healthy way. There is no deep-frying or added fat, but T.W.O. can assure you that after you try this easy recipe, you won’t want to eat the bad stuff. It’s an easy dish the whole family will love!

Ingredients

-1 tablespoon olive oil
-1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
– 2/3 cup orange juice
– 3 Tablespoons honey
– 3 Tablespoons soy sauce
– 2 Tablespoons rice vinegar
– 1 teaspoon chili sauce (sriracha or sambal oele)
– 1 Tablespoon orange zest, grated
– 1 clove garlic, minced
– 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
– 1 Tablespoon water
– 1 Tablespoon cornstarch
– 1/4 cup green onion, diced

Cut the chicken into 1-inch cubes. In a sauté pan, heat the olive oil and 1/3 cup orange juice over medium heat. Add the chicken cubes and cook for about 6 minutes. Make sure to mix the chicken so it cooks on all sides.

While the chicken is cooking, begin mixing the wet ingredients together. In a bowl, add the remaining orange juice, honey, soy sauce, rice vinegar, chili sauce, garlic, orange zest, ginger, water and cornstarch. Mix well.

Add the wet ingredients to the chicken and cook for about 4 minutes on medium to low heat. The sauce will thicken. Make sure to coat the chicken in the sauce when cooking.

Remove from heat and put over a bed of quinoa, rice, and sautéed vegetables or even rice noodles. Top the dish off with green onions. T.W.O. put theirs over quinoa and added a side spinach salad.

See, we told you this was going to be an easy recipe for your weeknight or weekend dinner. Warning – make extras so people can go back for seconds!

Kitchen Essentials

Published on February 5, 2014February 5, 2014 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

1. Le Creuset Signature Cast-Iron Oval Dutch Oven ; 2. KitchenAid Pro Line Stand Mixer,7-Qt.; 3. Silicone Pastry Mat; 4. Williams-Sonoma Nonstick Insulated Cookie Sheet; 5. Cuisinart Elite Die Case Food Processor, 12 cup; 6. 10-Piece Glass Bowl Set; kitchen essentials page2

7. Pyrex Rectangle Glass Baker;8. Le Creuset Pastry Brush; 9. Non-Skid Cutting Mats; 10. Oxo Pop Containers; 11. Le Creuset Silicone Spatulas; 12. OXO Peelers

Asian Kale Salad

Published on February 4, 2014February 2, 2014 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

Are you a fan of Chinese Chicken Salad? Well, you are reading the right recipe! If you aren’t, that’s okay. Try it out anyways; you might be pleasantly surprised. Thanks to a co-worker, T.W.O. was introduced to Lacinato kale. It is also known as Tuscan kale, Tuscan cabbage, or Italian kale. It is lightly a little sweeter and more delicate than your traditional curly kale. The smooth leaves combined with the rice noodles, crunchy almonds and the mandarin oranges makes this salad a perfect meal!

Ingredients

– 1 bunch Lacinato Kale
– 1 cup mandarin oranges
– 2 cups thin rice noodles
– 1 cup carrots, shredded
– ½ cup roasted almonds, chopped
– Lemon Vinaigrette dressing (Recipe HERE)
– ¼ cup Rice Vinegar

Bring pot of water to a bowl. Once it reaches to a boil, remove from heat and add your rice noodles. Cover and let it sit for 10 minutes. Once the noodles are done, drain and add rice vinegar. Set aside.

Chop the kale and put in a big bowl. Add your rice noodles, mandarin oranges, carrots and almonds. Toss in the lemon vinaigrette dressing. Plate and serve! Feel free to add chicken or any other protein to make it a meal!

Cheers to another healthy meal!

Broccolini White Pizza

Published on January 31, 2014January 29, 2014 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

TGIF! It’s time for Friday Night Pizza Night!!! Today we are using a new ingredient on our pizza….broccolini. This vegetable looks like mini-broccoli and is often misidentified as young broccoli, but it is a hybrid of broccoli and kai-lan,

Ingredients:

– Pizza dough
– Cornmeal
– 2 Table spoons olive oil
– 2 Tablespoons dried basil
– 2 garlic cloves, chopped
– 4 stems broccolini
– ½ cup olives, diced
– 1 – 1 ½ cup marinated artichoke hearts, sliced
– 3 cups mozzarella

Preheat oven to 425ᴼF. Roll out the pizza dough on a floured/ cornmeal surface. Once the dough is evenly rolled out, transfer the dough to a greased cookie sheet.

Next take the olive oil and spread it on the dough, making sure you reach all the edges. Sprinkle the diced garlic and basil evenly on top of the olive oil.

Add your mozzarella cheese, followed by the broccolini, artichokes and olives. Spread the toppings evenly.

Once done the pizza is done, take it out of the oven and let it sit for 5 minutes.

Cut and serve. Once again, another successful Friday Night Pizza Night!!!

Cheers,

7-Bone Chuck Roast

Published on January 30, 2014January 28, 2014 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

T.W.O. has served this dish for many Super Bowl parties, birthday parties and family reunions. It’s an easy, one pot process with minimal ingredients that have a whole lot of flavor. The secret ingredient…dark beer! Let’s start cooking!

Ingredients:
4-6 pound 7-bone chuck roast
1 package Lipton Onion Soup mix
1 bottle dark beer*
1 large Maui sweet onion- cut into wedges
2 cups whole pepperoncini
Montreal Steak seasoning
Water
*Lagers work the best, but if you don’t have one lying around grab a Budweiser! It won’t disappoint!

Directions:

Season the roast with Montreal steak seasoning. Let roast sit at room temperature about 15-20 minutes.

In a large pot, sauté seasoned meat over medium heat. Brown each side about eight minutes. After browning meat, put cut onions onto bottom of pot under meat. Sauté onions until slightly golden. Sprinkle onion soup mix over the meat. Finally, add the pepperoncini to the pot.

Add enough water to the pot half way up the thickness of the roast. Evenly pour the beer over the meat.

Bring the liquid to a boil. Turn down to a simmer and cover. Cook 2 ½ to 3 hours over low heat. The longer the meat cooks, the more tender it becomes. Not to exceed 6 hours…..unless you want beef jerky! The meat will fall off the bone! Of course, you must sample the meat prior to serving!!

Serving suggestions:

Make beef dip sandwiches on French rolls or your favorite roll. Cut meat into chunks. Add mustard, horseradish, or whatever your pallet’s crave. Serve with coleslaw or a side of home made potato salad. Plate the sandwich with a kosher pickle. Enjoy!

Or, serve meat accompanied with your favorite vegetables. Top with the pepperoncini.

First and ten, do it again!

The Ultimate Cheeseball

Published on January 29, 2014January 28, 2014 by T.W.O.Leave a comment

Everybody ready for some football? You will be after reading this…or not because you will be too consumed in the rich, creamy flavor of this fan-favorite appetizer that will clear the sidelines and take them straight to your kitchen. Here is the play-by-play game plan:

Ingredients:

2 – 8 ounce cream cheese
¼ cup sour cream
1/3 cup parmesan cheese, grated
1 – 2 ½ ounce packed smoked sliced beef, chopped*
2 Tablespoons green onions, chopped
1 teaspoon Horseradish
2-3 Tablespoon parsley, chopped
Italian breadcrumbs

*You can find this in the pre-packaged deli section.

Combine cream cheese and sour cream in a bowl. Mix well until combined. Stir in Parmesan cheese, beef, onion and horseradish. Once mixed, shape the cheese into balls. Depending on your crowd you can make one big one or 2 small ones. Roll in Italian breadcrumbs. Wrap the balls in plastic wrap and refrigerate for a couple hours. For best results, refrigerate overnight.

When you are ready to serve, remove and place on a platter filled with your favorite crackers. It doesn’t matter who wins at this point…you are sure to score a touchdown with your guests with this recipe!