OOTN 2.27.13

Hey guys!!! Hope your having a great night! I'm in studying for a test tomorrow but I wanted to take a break and share with you my lazy, studying, outfit of the night

Shirt: Abercrombie & Fitch (Audrey Tee in Heather Grey)

Pants: Aerie Sweatpants in dark grey (I don't know the name of the style)

Have a great night guys!!!

xoxo --- Cait K.

How to Prepare Artichokes for Stuffing

Hey guys!! Here's how I prepare my artichokes so I can stuff them. Click here to see how I make stuffed artichokes. :)

What I Used:

• Colander
• Food Scissors
• Artichokes

1. Wash them
2. Cut the top and bottom off
3. Gently spread the leaves making sure not to break them
4. Rinse to ensure they are clean
5. Dry
6. Cut any remaining tips off with scissors
7. Continue to spread the leaves until you are happy with them

You are now ready to stuff them :) 

Hope you enjoy!!!

xoxo --- Cait K.

Stuffed Artichokes with Cubed Bread

Hey guys!!! I have really been craving stuffed artichokes lately but I only like them stuffed with real cubed bread. It's sooo difficult to find them made like that around me and when I do find them they're really expensive!!! (like $6-$12 for one) so the other night I finally broke down and made them. Click here to see how I prepped the artichokes. Almost all the ingredients that I did not put an amount just add according to taste (I don't really measure anything).

Stuff I used:

Materials:

• Pan (size depends on how many you are making)
• Lid for the pan or Aluminum foil
• Rack for inside the pan (optional)
• Mixing Bowl

Ingredients:

• Artichokes (Prepped) [see how I prep them]
• Loaf of bread (Italian, Ciabatta, or stale bread)
• Garlic (roughly chopped)
• Parsley (roughly chopped)
• Tomatoes (bite-size)
• 1/2 Onion (diced)
• Olives (cut in half)
• Shredded/Grated Cheese
• Lemon Juice
• Black Pepper 
• White Wine (optional)
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• 1 can Chicken Broth (more depending on how big your pan is)

Let's Get Cooking ...

1. Prepare your artichokes (see other post on how I prep them)
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F
3. Cut bread into bite-size cubes
4. Add Chicken Broth, White Wine, some garlic, some onion, splash of lemon juice (to taste), and some back pepper to the pan (should fill about 1 inch)
5. Place artichokes in pan
6. Add bread, parsley, tomatoes, olives, black pepper, and cheese (to taste) to the mixing bowl
7. Add remaining garlic, onion, and chicken broth
8. Drizzle olive oil, white wine, and lemon juice on top (to taste)
9. Mix well until bread is fully coated
10. Stuff into artichokes
11. Cover the pan (either with lid or aluminum foil)
12. Bake for about 50 min.-1 hr.
13. Remove and sprinkle cheese on top

I hope you guys enjoy!!

xoxo --- Cait K.

OOTD 2.20.13

Hey guys!!! Hope ur having a great day!! Just wanted to share with u my OOTD

Shirt: Express

• Convertible long-sleeve to 3/4 sleeve (buttons to roll up)
• Neon yellow-green color block on top with Oatmeal horizontal stripes that get wider as they descend down the shirt
• Pattern is the same on the back
• Lightweight knight, sheer

Layering Tank: Express

• Oatmeal color to match the stripes

Jeans: Abercrombie & Fitch

• Style: Brett
• Color: dark wash (I think)

Shoes: Kelsi by Kelsi Dagger

• Style: Laurie
• Color: Sand (Nude)
• Material: Soft Patent
• Size: 5
• Height: 4 inches
• ** Extremely comfortable **

Have a great night!!!

xoxo --- Cait K.

Churrasco Steak

Hey guys!!!! Back in July when me and my husband were in Key West, FL for our honeymoon we discovered cuban food. I know what your thinking because I was thinking the exact same thing ... HOW AND WHY HAVE I WAITED THIS LONG TO HAVE CUBAN FOOD?! IT'S DELICIOUS! The place we went to was called "El Meson de Pepe"but I'm sure there are tons of cuban restaurants around there. We actually stumbled upon this place by accident, it was on the first night I think and it was raining so hard (typical florida) and we didn't know where to eat yet. We realized that the restaurant was across the parking lot from us so we decided to go there, needless to say it was one of the better decisions we've ever made and we ended up eating there again before we came home. If you are ever in the area definitely go there :) The food was delicious, the atmosphere was nice (there was an outside area to have a drink and wait, and there was an option to eat inside or outside [under an awning I think - I know it had something that covered it from rain]. I had a caiprinha and my husband had a mojito (which in general he ended up really liking by the time we went home). Anyway ... so it's now been 7 months since we've had cuban food (I don't really know of any good places around me ... yet) and I've been having a huge craving for Churrasco Steak so this is my take on it. I made it for Valentine's Day last week since I don't like going out on the actual day because I feel like restaurants charge way too much for subpar food and service but thats a whole other post. Anyway I thought this made a great "date night" meal and was really easy to make ahead of time and theres minimum clean up when you do cook because most of the stuff was cleaned earlier when everything was being prepped. Ok so let's get started ...

Stuff I Used:

Tools/Materials:

• Food Processor
• Grill or Grilling Pan
• Ziploc Bag (to marinate)

Marinade Ingredients:

• Skirt Steak
• 3-4 Heads of Garlic
• 1/2 Onion
• 1 1/2 tsp Black Peppercorns
• 1 cup Orange Juice (I used Simply Orange)
• 1/4 cup Lemon Juice
• 1/4 cup Lime Juice
• 1 tsp Dried Oregano
• 1 1/2 tsp Salt
• 1 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Cuban-Style Chimichurri Sauce (Red):

• Bunch of Cilantro
• 1/2 Bunch of Parsley
• 1 Head of Garlic (more or less depending on preference)
• 1/2 Onion
• 1 1/2 Tbsp Lime Juice
• 1/4 cup White Vinegar
• Red Sweet/Bell Pepper
• Tomato
• 1/2 tsp Dried Oregano
• Crushed Red Pepper (to taste)
• Salt and Pepper (to taste)
• 1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil (to taste)

Let's Get Marinating ...

1. Mix garlic, black peppercorns, onion, salt, and oregano in a food processor
2. Place mixture in a Ziploc bag
3. Add the orange juice, lemon juice, and lime juice - mix well
4. Finally add the olive oil - whisk gently until it is all blended
5. Add the skirt steak and allow to marinate for at least 4 hours in the fridge (preferably overnight)

Let's Make the Chimichurri Sauce (Red) ...

1.  Add all ingredients EXCEPT olive oil to the food processor
2. When satisfied with the taste (should be tangy [vinegary/citrusy] and slightly spicy) remove and place in bowl
3. Add the olive oil and gently stir to blend (do NOT whisk or use a food processor) - add extra olive oil to taste (taste often, don't add too much olive oil)

Let's Get Cooking ...

1. If you have time, remove skirt steak from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature
2. Remove the skirt steak from the marinade
3. Cook on medium-high heat until you reach your steak preference (i like it medium to medium-well)
4. Remove from heat and place chimichurri sauce on top and/or on the side for dipping

I hope you guys enjoy!!! 

I served it with corn on the cob and a baked sweet potato. I also sliced up bread (couldn't find cuban bread so I used a soft baguette) to dip into the chimichurri sauce.

xoxo --- Cait K.

Nail Review

Hey guys!!!! Hope you all had a great Valentine's Day!!!! I know I'm late on this post but I wanted to share my Valentine's Day nail look and give a quick review.

WHAT I USED:

• Orly: Rubberized Base Coat
• Nicole by OPI: Kardashian Kollection: Kourt is Red-y for a Pedi
• Nicole by OPI: Love Your Life
• Essie: Good to Go

MY REVIEW:

Nicole by OPI: Kardashian Kollection: Kourt is Red-y for a Pedi

• Price: $7.99 (CVS)
• Love: 
• the color - I think it's the perfect tomato red and is the same color on your nails as in the bottle
• It's a thin consistency so it goes on easily and dries quickly
• I didn't see too much of a difference in color when I applied a second coat (I find this a positive because if you need to fix a nail there won't be too much of a color difference)
• Easy to remove
• Dislike:
• Chips VERY quickly! (within the first day)
• Would I Repurchase?
• Maybe, if I didn't find another red that I loved than yes but it's definitely a bummer that it chips so quickly

Nicole by OPI: Love Your Life

• Price: I think it was $7.99 at CVS
• Love:
• The design
• It dries quickly
• Easy to remove
• Dislike:
• I had to individually place the heart glitter on my nails with a nail stick because they don't come off the brush
• I had to purposely try to get the heart glitter on the brush (this was very difficult since they all fell to the bottom of the bottle no matter how much I mixed it and then when I finally got it on the brush it would fall off as I was taking it out of the bottle)
• When I applied it there was a lot of clear polish and not a lot of glitter so it was very difficult to get a good amount of glitter on the nail (I applied about 3 coats and then it just started to look like a mess)
• Would I Repurchase?
• Absolutely NOT - it was extremely difficult to use and very time consuming. The design is very pretty and I wish it applied better because I was loving it when I bought it.

Hope you guys enjoy!!!

xoxo --- Cait K.

Same Blog, New Web Address!

Hey guys! Just wanted to let u guys know that this is still my blog I just changed my website name to "http://TheCaitK.blogspot.com" to make it easier for everyone to remember. 

xoxo --- C

Bulgogi (Korean Marinated Beef)

Hey guys!!! I LOVE Korean BBQ!!!!!!!! It is usually cooked on a grill but because it is February and I don't have an indoor table grill I cooked it in a grilling pan. It came out ok but it is still way better on the grill. You can find bulgogi meat in an Asian grocery store (I got mine at H-Mart) and the package will say "Bulgogi" on it. If you can't find it or don't have access to an Asian grocery store then any thinly sliced beef will do. Ok so here we go ...

Stuff you will need:

Tools/Materials:

- Food Processor (Optional - Can chop everything very finely)

- Ziploc bag (to marinate)

- Grill or Grilling Pan

Marinade Ingredients:

- Beef (Bulgogi meat or any thinly sliced beef)

- 5 TBSP Soy Sauce

- 2 1/2 TBSP Brown Sugar

- 1 1/2 TBSP Rice Wine Vinegar

- 1/4 Onion cut into long pieces (chop finely if you don't want to cook the onions)

- 1/3 Asian Pear (these are expensive and sometimes hard to find, it can be substituted with Kiwi or a regular Pear - it is used to tenderize the meat)

- Garlic (as much as you would like)

- 1/4 TBSP Ginger Powder

- A couple of sprinkles of Black Pepper

Cooking Ingredients:
- Vegetable Oil
- Sesame Oil
- Sesame Seeds (for garnish)
- Sliced Scallions (for garnish)

Let's get marinating ...

1. Mix all ingredients (EXCEPT Beef and Onion) together in a food processor

2. Place in Ziploc bag

3. Marinate for at least 1 hour (overnight is better)

Let's get cooking ...

1. Place Grilling Pan on Medium High

2. Add vegetable oil and sesame oil (ratio of 3:1) in pan

3. Add beef a little at a time to let it fully cook

4. Once done, remove from pan and add more beef

5. Continue until all beef is cooked
6. Sprinkle with Sesame Seeds and Scallions and Serve!

I served it with red leaf lettuce to make wraps (Ssambap), soybean and red pepper paste (Ssamjang), rice, sliced fresh garlic, sliced long green pepper, and kimchi.

I put left over Bulgogi (I always have to put some aside otherwise there wouldn't be "left overs") in BiBimBap (Korean Rice Bowl) and Jap Chae (Korean Glass Noodles. 

I hope you enjoy!!

xoxo --- Cait

Quick and Easy Breakfast ... Banana Berry Smoothie

Hey guys!! I don't know about you but breakfast is usually such a bother. I don't usually like to eat cereal because it usually leaves me feeling hungry within an hour plus the ingredient list on the boxes is as long as a novel. I'm usually on the go so I need something that I can take with me which leads me to my banana berry smoothie! It takes me about 5 min. in the morning with almost no clean up. Plus I put it in my "to-go" cup and I'm out the door! It keeps me full for a long time so I usually don't end up snacking and making bad food choices :) 

This makes about 16 oz. - If you would like to make more just double the milk and yogurt

Ok so here we go ...

What you will need:

Tools:

- Blender

- 1/2 Cup measuring cup

Ingredients:

- a little less than 1/2 cup Vanilla Coconut Milk (you can use any milk you like)

- a little less than 1/2 cup Vanilla Light and Fit Yogurt

- Cinnamon (as much as you want)

- 1 Banana

- 1/2 cup Frozen Strawberries

- 1/2 cup Frozen Blueberries

- Flax Seeds (as much as you want)

- Chia Seeds (as much as you want)
- Whip cream (optional)

Lets Get Blending ...

1. Place all ingredients in blender
2. Mix on "Puree" or "Liquify" setting (may be different depending on model)
3. Pour into cup
4. Add whip cream and a straw (if you want)

Enjoy!!

xoxo --- Cait K.

Pasta/Tomato Sauce

Hey guys! Hope you're all having a great day! Here's the recipe for the tomato sauce I used in my pizza recipe. This is also the sauce that I make for pasta. It makes a lot (probably 3 servings) so I use what I need then I divide the rest once it cools and place it in freezer ziploc bags. Squeeze out as much air as you can, seal it, fold it so it's condensed in the bottom of the bag and lay flat to freeze - don't stack the bags they will stick together and it will be difficult to take them apart. I fold the bag to condense the sauce for convenience. Once your ready to use just defrost and you have a serving of sauce. I use this same method for soups and any other sauces that I make so they are always ready which comes in handy when you don't feel like cooking or just don't know what to make :) Ok so here we go ...

What you will need:

Tools:

- 8 cup sauce pan (or whatever size you feel is appropriate) with lid

- Large stirring spoon

Ingredients:

- 28 oz Can of crushed tomatoes with basil (I used Tuttorosso - the green can)

- Extra Virgin Olive Oil

- Chopped garlic (your preference)

- Garlic powder

- Dried Onion

- Dried Italian Seasoning

- Dried Parsley 

- Grated Parmasan Reggiano Cheese

- Kosher Salt

- Ground Black Pepper

- Water

Let's Get Cooking ...

1. Place about 1 TBSP of olive oil into sauce pan and place on medium heat
2. Add garlic and let cook until fragrant, stir often to prevent burning
3. Add can of crushed tomatoes
4. Using the tomato can fill it 1/2 way with water and add to the pan and stir
5. Cover the top of the sauce with garlic powder, onion, italian seasoning, parsley, and cheese
6. Add about 1/4 tsp of salt
7. Add a sprinkle of black pepper
8. Stir and cover
9. Once it starts bubbling turn down the heat to low and let simmer for at least a 1/2 hr

Serve and enjoy!

xoxo --- Cait K.