Baked Onion Straws

I decided to change over my previous blog to this blog. You can still find me over a at twodaisiesandanelephant.blogspot.com. However, most of my blog posts from there will be transferred over to this one. So, at times you may see the "twodaisiesandanelephant" logo going across many of the photos. No worries, it is me. I promise.

The other night I decided that I wanted some onion straws. I have no clue why I was craving them, but I wanted them. So, I decided to take the rest of an onion and make some. My absolute first time making them and they turned out pretty good.

All you need: 

- an onion (whole or left over) - I had half of one left and it made quite a bit.

- 1/2 cup of bread crumbs 

- 1/2 cup of flour

- 2 eggs

- 3 bowls

- baking sheet

- fork (to scramble eggs)

- old bay seasoning (any other seasoning you feel like adding)

- salt

Directions:

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. 

Line up your three bowls and place your pan at the end. 

Add 1/2 cup of flour into bowl.

Add 1 egg into one bowl. (add other egg when wash becomes low)

Add part of the 1/2 cup of bread crumbs into the last bowl. Sprinkle with old bay seasoning. (add the rest of the bread crumbs when it begins to clump)

** You're adding half because you will need more as the dry ingredients begin to clump **

Take your mandolin/knife and cut your onion into thin slices --- but not to thin!

Once you've sliced your onions. Begin by placing a few of your onions into the flour mixture.

Coat the onions well.

Then dip into your egg wash.

Then coat with bread crumbs/old bay seasoning.

Place on pan. 

Continue to do this until you have used your entire onion. 

Cook for 7 minutes. Check it. Flip over. Cook for another 7 minutes. 

Watch very closely.

Enjoy!

Simple Mac & Cheese

Several months ago right after a major winter storm and a several day power outage we came home to some spoiled milk and a few other items. Even though our house was like an icebox and we never opened the fridge it still happened. Unfortunately, we live about 30 minutes from the nearest store; so, we have to make do until we go into town.

Well, last night I wanted some mac & cheese and figured I could make it without the milk. My husband kept contesting that fact. I tried anyways. Since my idea didn't work, we went with his. He suggested using evaporated milk. All I could think of was great this is going to taste really funky.

Ha! I was completely wrong!! It actually gave it a nice sweet taste.

You want to know how to make it, right? Well, here's what you need...

12 ounces of Velveeta Block Cheese (or any other brand, even name brand, your choice)
1/3 cup of Evaporated Milk
2 cups of Elbow Macaroni

Directions:

1. I boiled the water at high and added the macaroni once it completely boiled
2. Once the macaroni was done, I drained it and placed it back in the pot with the burner on medium.
3. Now, I added the cheese 4 ounces at a time. This helped to melt it a little better.
4. As the cheese began to melt, I added the 1/3 cup of evaporated milk. Continuously stirring until it had combined.
5. Once it was all done we enjoyed it with a TON of leftovers! 

~*~ Also, it heats up very nicely in the microwave ~*~

Just a simple substitution with an item that we had lost and I must say it worked out very well. 

Cupcake Pizzas

Okay, so I probably spend WAY to much time on Pinterest. Anyways, I saw this pin for cupcake pizzas the other day and of course I pinned it... thinking one day I'll make it, just like all the other things I've pinned. Anyways, last night I decided to make them. It looked simple and easy plus I figured since my little rooter tooter was conked out I could actually try and make something instead of just throwing in whatever and eating whatever.

So here's what the cupcake pizzas are supposed to look like:

From All My Great Ideas Are Really from Pinterest

And here's mine:

Haha! So CLEARLY I nailed it!

Although mine look unsightly and maybe a tad bit burnt... they were still absolutely delicious!

So since I clearly nailed it, here's how you make them.

What you'll need:

• Refrigerated pizza dough
• Pizza Sauce
• Cheese
• Pepperonis
• Muffin Tin
• I used a butter spray to spray the tins

Now that you've gathered your ingredients OR at least I hope you did, here's how you put it together. It's pretty simple. 

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. 

Grab your butter spray. For myself, instead of spraying the spray onto the cupcake pan, I grabbed a paper towel and sprayed it onto there. This gave me the ability to control the mess that I feel the spray makes every time. Plus, I was also able to control the amount of spray.

Once you've done that, open up your pizza dough and tear off pieces. Place those torn pieces into your muffin pan. Now, I pressed down to at least cover the bottom a little bit. 

After you've used all of your dough, grab the pizza sauce and begin to scoop it onto the dough. I just used a spoonful of pizza sauce for each. 

Next, you'll take your cheese and grab a tad bit and sprinkle it on top. For my cheese I used the mild cheddar since I was trying to use ingredients that we already had instead of having to buy more. Once you put your cheese on top, sprinkle on some pepperonis. Now, you can even place some pepperonis onto the pizza sauce and then add your cheese... it's up to you!

After you've made each of your pizzas place the cupcake pan into the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes. Now, I baked it for about 17 minutes to ensure the middle was cooked. 

Once time's up, let them cool for a few minutes and enjoy. They're absolutely delicious and are still amazing the next day!