Mini-Haul, and LDD Day 3-4

Mini-Haul:
So~ a couple weeks back, I saw this polka dotted dress from F21 when I was just browsing around with my BFFs :) I told myself I didn't need to spend money, but I gave in and went back a couple days ago with my sister to get it!

Lemonade Detox Diet Start! :)

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of the update -__-;; My mom and I switched computers this past week because mine is so crappy I can't play [brace yourself] World of Warcraft. Yes yes, I'm an asian nerd -.-

Besides that! If you remember, I posted the recipe for the Lemonade Detox Diet about a week ago. Now that I've finished all the perishable items in the fridge... I've started! If you want the recipe, refer to that post Here.

The Lemonade Detox Diet

So.. how many of you have done the whole: "Man, I seriously need to loose weight/eat healthier/exercise/go to sleep early/drink lots of water/etc"--crap? Well, I certainly do it about every other day. -____-;; And I have finally decided over this summer, I will finally DO SOMETHING about it!!! +__+ *determined*

In the past, I saw my two sisters take this dietary supplement and loose a great amount of weight and fat... so I had bought the product, only to realize how terrible it was for my body. So I stopped taking it after about 3 days, and decided to do it the right way.

About a week ago, my sister and I were browsing Naver.com and came about a post of this girl who finally decided to "diet" aka eat right. Living in korea and being "fat" really SUCKS. Majority of the girls in Korea have absolutely beautiful porcelain skin, and THIN body parts. -___-;; The pressure!!! Anyways, I read her post and a couple other ones, and finally came up with a diet plan myself.

But before that...

I'm going to do the Lemonade Detox Diet!!

Tutorial: Cinnamon Twists :3

Hello beautiful people! =) I noticed I haven't put up a cooking tut in awhile, and don't worry! I WILL post up the tut for the kimchi fried rice :) But.. aside from that! Yesterday on the FoodNetwork (a cooking channel for those who don't know) Giada's "Everyday Italian" happened to be on [my fav show on the channel!] She made these Cinnamon Twists and they looked soooo good! +_+ I tried to roughly remember all the measurements and ingredients, so here it is! As for the dipping sauce that she made... I didn't have a lemon with me, so when I made it without, it was absolutely atrocious. So i'm just going to skip out the sauce! Also, the pictures may say one thing, but make sure to read my descriptions because I always write up the directions according to the mistakes I made/improvements that could be made!

Difficulty: Easy
Prep time: 10 min
Baking time: 15 min

Ingredients:
-Brown sugar (dark or light, doesn't matter)
-Cinnamon
-zest of 1 Lemon
-1 Egg
-1 sheet of Puff Pastry
-Powder sugar (optional)
-OPTIONAL: Sesame seeds (preferably toasted) they look really pretty on it, but I don't really like the two tastes of sesame and cinnamon... they're just for garnish


Gather up your ingredients! Yes yes, I know there's honey in the picture, but it was used for the terrible sauce, which I don't think is worth making.

Go ahead and defrost your puff pastry; it's supposed to be kept frozen, so put out to thaw 10-15 minutes before you start! It's usually rolled up, so it's a bit tricky to unravel it! Try keeping a knife nearby for its straight edge

Cut the dough into 4 squares--cut down the center vertical line, and then one center horizontal to make a cross shape.

Cut each of the sections into 4 pieces!

Cut em all up, they should look like this :)

Now, prepare a large bowl, preferably flat and shallow; add in 2 tbs of cinnamon~

You can add your sesame seeds here, but I regret putting mine in raw, and they were just a bit overpowering the cinnamon...

and 4 tbs brown sugar :) If you want to make them more of a desert, add up to 6 tbs! You can add some powder (confectioner) sugar for more of a melt-in-your-mouth taste~

Mix up the dry ingredients! Add the lemon zest here :)

Line a baking try with some parchment paper--I ran out, so I just had to use foil :( If you use foil oil/butter/spam it up! I forgot to, so I had one hell of a time removing them when they were done -0-

This picture shows two, because the original shape I was going for was a bit different, but I liked my second idea better--just use one strip at a time!

I tried it in this shape first, but it was just too big and ugly! :/ so trust me on this one. Just use one :p

Crack your egg and beat it up real well till bubbly :) Prepare a pastry brush too! If you don't own one, you can use your hands :) Some people like to add water in their egg wash, but I think for this recipe, it's better thick.

So taking the egg wash, brush it on both sides of a strip!

Roll it around in the dry mixture and cover well :) it's okay to have missing spots! Now, taking the strip horizontally, grabbing each end of the strip, twist the ends in opposite directions~

When you're done, you should end up with a whole lot of these! 8)

The oven should be preheated by now, so pop em in for 15 minutes! Keep an eye on them after the 10 minute mark, since everyone's oven differs. Mine was a bit on the crispier side and mine was left in for 15. Maybe about 13 minutes? Go figure. (but be prepared to leave them in longer; my oven is strong enough to nuke a planet.)

Ah.. what a mess -___- this is the time to wash the dishes and clean up your work area!

They're done!

Pastries don't like to come off in one go when they're hot, so cool em just a bit!

And here we go!


Finished! =-) they're super yummy with some coffee~
I hope you enjoyed this cooking tutorial! :) Haven't made one in awhile, so i'm just a little rusty ._. Sorry for the picture overload! But I would much rather have pictures as reference, than read a huuuge paragraph and have no idea wth the author is saying. :p Just a couple things to keep in mind: 1) Don't be afraid to go a little crazy with the sugar! 2) Keep an eye on them! Once they pass a certain point, they burn quickly! 3) Stay away from sesame seeds, unless you really want em...

Sorry if this last picture scared you, because it sure scared the crap outta me while scrolling down. LOL. I've been having some problems with falling asleep lately, so I've been hella tired. I had work today, and drove home for 1.5 hrs due to a brush fire in my area.

Goodluck trying it out! :)
Best,
Jinna

Cooking Tutorial: Creamy Penne Pasta!

So! I've been experimenting alot lately with food. Pasta is my absolute favorite thing to eat in this whole wide world (not to mention caramel apples!). This is a very quick and easy recipe for a fancy dinner without that fancy time wasted. C; Let's jump right into the tutorial!

Ingredients:
-2 slices of bacon
-2 tsp of minced garlic
-2 tbsp of butter
-1 onion
-1 green onion/spring onion
-1/3 cup of fresh basil (I used dry because I forgot to pick some up!)
-250g (8oz) of Ricotta
-325g (11oz) of Penne Pasta (or any other pasta)
-1 Cup of cherry tomatoes--halved
-half & half cream (the kind for your coffee!)
-Any grated cheese of your choice

Optional:
-Pico de Galo/Salsa
-Garlic Bread

*Sorry if you feel like i'm constantly going back and forth between the sauce, pasta, and chopping--I've put up the steps in the order which they happened to me.


Gather up your ingredients!


First, boil some water for the pasta!


Also prepare a pan with a semi-deep, wideset body for the sauce we're going to make.


Take those cherry/grape tomatoes, wash em, and half em!




By this point, your water should be at a nice rolling boil.


Well?! What're you waiting for! Put in how much you and your partner want to eat!


Now, since it's not boiling anymore, lets go back to the chopping!


Chop up them onions!


By now, the water should have come back to the boil--but this time, with foam that threatens to overflow C;


This is a secret I learned from my mom from boiling noodles--just throw over some cold water on top of the foam! It'll settle down, and come down to the slightest little boil.


Throw the lid on, and let it sit! This will speed up the process of cooking your pasta by a long run.


This is optional, but if you want to have some garlic bread with your pasta, this is the time to toast it! I'm lazy, so I went ahead and bought premade garlic bread.


It has butter, roasted galic, herbs.. oh man. i'm getting hungry.


And pop it in a little conventional oven! It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know when it's done...


Before your water wants to overflow again, take off the lid, and give your pasta a stir. Make sure you try it once in awhile to estimate how much long you need to cook it!


Now, take out your bacon slices!


Cook them in the saucepan that we're going to use for the sauce!


Cut up the bacon into little bits with a scissor. We do this after it's fully cooked, because raw-anything will refuse to be cut.


Take a paper towel and blot the excess oils!


When that's done, throw in your onions, tomatoes, minced garlic, basil, salt, pepper, and green onions.


Before you do anthing else, make sure you don't over cook your pasta and drain it--SAVE THE DRAINED WATER! We will use it for the sauce!


Add in your butter, and sautee your ingredients real good.


Finally, add in your ricotta, shredded cheese, and half & half. I won't say exactly how much--you'll know how much by looking at the consistency of it. Also, ladle in your drained water from your pasta to dilute it a bit. This way, the water isn't plain water, but still has the flavors from the pasta leftover. Finally, add in your penne! The more you mix, the better the sauce will become incorporated with the pasta!


Make sure you don't burn your bread!


Now, transfer the pasta into a serving bowl.


Serve it with your garlic bread C:

Finished!
This is a very quick and easy pasta recipe that you'll absolutely love. You can control how thick/watery your sauce will be by adding in more half & half to dilute, or more ricotta to thicken. Remember, you're unlimited to what you want to put in! If you're not a fan of bacon, throw in some chicken! Or if you're a fan of seafood, go ahead and throw in some shrimp, muscles, clams, or even tuna! As you've seen, i've included pico de galo in my optional list! Sometimes, pasta can get a bit dull for me, so I like to eat it with a bit of salsa. You have endless possibilities!

Bon appetit!
-Jinna

Stay tuned for some great desert recipes!