Just a few little things I've tried recently to show off this week, nothing big.  First up, home ground coffee...with a blender!  Wait, what?  How is that even possible?  I don't know.  I don't know much about blenders other than the fact that I'm capable of burning them out.  That's why I was so excited when I looked on the website for my Ninja and saw that you can grind coffee beans with it!

*Be sure to check and see if your blender is capable of this.  I don't know if I would have risked it if the official manual/website didn't state it was possible.

I was googling to find out if this was possible because I just happened to have a bag of whole bean coffee beans.

Three avocados is a non-profit coffee company some friends of ours (Josh Wilson and Wes Pickering)were supporting during a Christmas tour this past year.  You can find Three Avocados website here.

All you have to do is fill up your single-serve cup to the fill line (my bag of coffee went right to the line perfectly), screw the blade-top on, and start buzzing.  It takes some time, but no more than ten minutes. Oh, but the process is LOUD!  This is a big mason jar pictured, and the ground coffee filled up about half of it.  That's a lot of espresso!

Here you can see the grounds are really which is great because that means better espresso!  I actually compared what my Ninja did to the coffee I had ground at Whole Foods, and my Ninja did a better job.  Nice work, Ninja. :-)

It's no secret the people in my family love good coffee, so I'm extra pleased to say that Three Avocados not only helps people in need, but also makes bangin' coffee!  Win!

Alright, next up is a quick and easy meal or snack that looks fancy, too.  I got the idea for this from a Little Paris Kitchen episode, but I think you can take this concept and run with it.

Step 1: Flatten a piece of sandwich bread.

Step 2: Brush melted butter onto it.

Step 3: Line one muffin tin cup with the bread.

Step 4: Crack an egg into the bread-lined-cup.

Step 5: Top with cheese, bacon, or whatever you like.

Step 6: Bake at 350 for fifteen or so minutes, or until the yolk is done to your liking.

Step 7: Remove the "egg muffin" and enjoy!

I like my yolk a little runny so it oozes out when you cut into the muffin.  Seriously easy.

Last but not least, want to know how to spruce up a boring salad?  Top with a fried egg.  I fried my egg in bacon fat because I'm fancy like that.  I also make sure to leave my yolk runny because that kind of makes a dressing for the salad.

That's a real woman's salad.

That's all I have for this week, folks.

I have a confession.  I don't like sushi.  I really want to like sushi; there's something inherently cool and hip about it.  I've tried so, so many times to eat it and tell myself I like it, but the lie falls apart pretty quickly when my mouth rebels and says, "No, that wasn't nice.  Don't do that again, please.".  Boo, mouth.  Boo.  The biggest issue is the seaweed.  Blech!  To me, seaweed tastes like sweaty shoes.  I don't actually know what a sweaty shoe tastes like, as I've cleverly avoided eating them during my time on this plane, but I imagine they taste like seaweed.  Can I say it again?  Blech!

Here's the issue, I like certain sushi fillings.  Namely, crunchy shrimp rolls.  What's not to like?  Fried shrimp, cream cheese, avocado...wait, are some of those California roll ingredients?  It doesn't matter!  The point is, the filling of a lot of sushi is scrumptious, even if it is surrounded by sweaty-sneaker-weed.  So what's a girl to do?  Make her own!

Crunchy Shrimp Spring Rolls

*All of the proportions are up to you depending on your taste and how many rolls you are making.  I have listed the amounts below based on what I did per one roll (i.e. 1/8 cup of cooked rice for one roll)

1 sheet of rice paper

1/8 cup cooked, sticky rice

4 shrimp, cooked, tails off and de-veined

Water for steaming (no more than a few teaspoons), plus more for the rice paper

1/8 slice avocado, diced

2 to 3 tsp cream cheese

2 to 3 tsp scallions

1/8 cup peanuts, chopped

A clean tea towel for rolling

Parchment paper or tinfoil for finished rolls

Dipping Sauce/Shrimp Cooking Liquid (optional)

*How much sauce you make is all dependent on how many shrimp/rolls you are making

3 parts low sodium soy sauce

1 part sesame oil

1/2 part Rice wine vinegar

Garlic powder to taste (I used more to add some heat)

Firstly, cook your shrimp all the way through.  It's up to you whether or not you want to leave your shrimp plain or cook it in the dipping sauce outlined above.  I have tried it both ways, and I personally think it's superior with the sauce.  If you do choose to make the sauce, just be sure to make enough to both flavor the shrimp and have enough leftover for dipping.  Also, if your shrimp are frozen like mine were, the water that ekes out as they thaw adds to the water used for steaming in the pot.  If they are fresh, they won't eke out as much water, so be sure to take that into account.  Put the water, shrimp, and all the dipping sauce ingredients (if using) into a pot.  Heat on medium, stirring occasionally  until the shrimp are cooked all the way through.  Remove from the heat, pick out the shrimp, and set aside on a plate.  If the dipping sauce is too watery, reduce further.  Remember, the saltiness from the soy will increase the further you reduce the sauce!  When you're satisfied with your sauce, pour it into a dipping vessel (I used a ramekin) and set aside.

While the shrimp is cooking, dice your avocado and mix with the cream cheese.  Set this aside in a dish.  Mix your scallions with the rice and set aside in another dish.  Chop your peanuts and set aside.  Fill a wide bowl or a plate with a shallow lip with lukewarm water.  Make sure to have everything at hand and prepared before you begin assembly.

Once your assembly station is set up, take a single sheet of rice paper and dunk it into the plate of water for no more than five seconds (any longer and your rice paper will be too soggy - it will continue to absorb water after the dunk).  Lay the rice paper flat out on your tea towel.  Take your rice/scallion portion, form it into a cylindrical shape with your hands, and lay it into the upper third section of the rice paper.  Place your shrimp neatly in one line on top of this mound, overlapping their edges slightly if necessary.  Form your cream cheese/avocado mixture into a line long enough to cover the shrimp end to end.  Top with your chopped peanuts, pressing them gently into the cream cheese to secure.

Then, very carefully and gently, take the edge of the rice paper and pull it up over your filling.  Fold the sides in to secure and gently press down on the filling to fill out the sides.  You want this to be a tight, long-ish package.  Once that is done, roll the wrapper over and over until you reach the end.  It will stick to the tea towel a bit, but be firm yet gentle with it, and you'll be fine.  Once the roll is complete, set aside on a sheet of either tinfoil or parchment paper.  When you place the next roll down, make sure the rolls do not touch!  They will stick to each other.  Repeat the assembly steps until all of your rolls are made.

I actually made this recipe twice in one week, as I wasn't completely happy with my results the first time - the shrimp needed more flavor, the avocado was under ripe and difficult to eat, etc.  Second time around was perfect, so my pictures below are the best from both experiences.

The setup from attempt number two, as I had all of my ingredients right.  The assembly station, however, was lacking.  Please note the tea towel in the pictures below.

When you soak your rice paper wrappers, you only need to make it pliable, so no more than a few seconds in the water.  It will continue to absorb the excess water after you pull it out.

You'll need to scooch your rice up further than what you see in this picture.  I kind of rolled and pressed my rice towards my body to make the bed.  Also, it's totally up to you which way you want to roll your rolls.  I found rolling them away from me worked best, but the opposite might work best for you.

Sorry for the shoddy camera work on this one.  My camera guy was free. ;-)

Ignore the fact that this one is not on the tea towel.  Make sure to use a tea towel; you will be glad you did!  You can see the filling getting built up and finished here.

*You may be asking, why peanuts?  That's not a traditional sushi ingredient.  No, but nuts are found in many other Asian dishes.  Shrimp and cashews, for instance.  Nuts are for the crunch because I don't think fried shrimp would work well in this application.  Have you ever had cold fried food?  No, thank you.  You can use cashews or a different type of nut if you want, but I like peanuts for this.

I'm not going to lie, the folding takes some practice.  This is the first roll I ever did.  As you can see, it's a bit fat.

This is what you want the roll to look like, minus the tear (I left this sheet in the water too long).

As I said in the recipe, make sire your resting roll are all separated!  See, no one is touching anyone else here.

So what about leftovers?  So not a problem.  Just wrap each roll individually in tinfoil and refrigerate.  You can eat them later cold (the tinfoil keeps in the moisture), or zap them in the microwave for thirty seconds to one minute covered with a wet paper towel.

So how did they turn out?  Magnificent!  I could gorge myself on these.  So many tastes and textures to experience...the tangy creaminess of the cream cheese, the buttery avocado, the salty crunch of the peanuts, the sweetness of the shrimp.  Heaven!  Dang, I gotta go make more right now.  Here I go!

I don't know how this happens.  I'm not even sure it's ever happened to me, but have you ever had a meal, loved it, and then forgotten about it?  Mike totally did that with this week's recipe, so I had to remind him how much he enjoyed it.

I found the recipe on Pinterest (of course), and the original link is here.

Tomato Basil Parmesan Soup

Makes about 2 quarts (about 8 servings)

Crock Pot Version
2 (14 oz) cans diced tomatoes, with juice
1 cup finely diced celery
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 cup finely diced onions
1 tsp dried oregano or 1 T fresh oregano
1 T dried basil or 1/4 cup fresh basil
4 cups chicken broth
½ bay leaf
½ cup flour
1 cup Parmesan cheese
½ cup butter
2 cups half and half, warmed (or skim milk if you’re trying to cut some calories)
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper

Add tomatoes, celery, carrots, chicken broth, onions, oregano, basil, and bay leaf to a large slow cooker.  Cover and cook on LOW for 5-7 hours, until flavors are blended and vegetables are soft.

About 30 minutes before serving prepare a roux. Melt butter over low heat in a skillet and add flour. Stir constantly with a whisk for 5-7 minutes. Slowly stir in 1 cup hot soup. Add another 3 cups and stir until smooth. Add all back into the slow cooker. Stir and add the Parmesan cheese, warmed half and half, salt and pepper. Add additional basil and oregano if needed (the slow cooker does a number on spices and they get bland over time, so don’t be afraid to always season to taste at the end).

Cover and cook on LOW for another 30 minutes or so until ready to serve.

Stove-Top Version
3 cups diced tomatoes with juice (you can use canned)
1 cup finely diced celery
1 cup finely diced carrots
1 Tbsp fresh oregano or 1 tsp dried
4 cups chicken broth
1/2 cup flour
1 cup Parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup finely diced onions
4 Tbsp fresh basil or 1 Tbsp dried
1/2 bay leaf
1/2 cup butter
2 cups half and half, warmed (if you want you can use whole milk, evaporated milk instead…or even skim if you want to skinny it up)
1 tsp salt

Heat oil in 4 quart soup pot. Add celery, onions and carrots. Saute 5 minutes. Add basil, oregano, bay leaf, tomatoes, and chicken broth. Bring it to a boil, reduce heat and simmer until carrots are tender (15 minutes).

While soup simmers, prepare a roux. Melt butter over low heat, add flour and cook, stirring constantly, 5-7 minutes. Slowly stir in 1 cup hot soup. Add another 3 cups and stir until smooth. Add back into soup pot.

Simmer, stirring constantly, until soup begins to thicken. Add Parmesan cheese and whisk to blend. Stir warmed half and half, salt and pepper. Simmer over low heat 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Personally, I did the crock pot version because there is no better feeling than knowing dinner is taking care of itself and then smelling that delicious goodness when you walk in after a long day of work.  Crock pot meals are my jam!