f u l f i l l m e

Click here for the ranch recipe.

The weather has been ridiculously hot lately, but I felt like making cheesecake. Wait, that picture isn't of cheesecake! I didn't want to cook dinner AND cheesecake using the oven or stove because that would keep the apartment hot, so I made these wraps and only had to cook the bacon. I found the idea on Food Network, but I added swiss and left out arugula. I also made a different ranch dressing, which turned out to be vegan and delicious.

( Non-dairy Ranch )

Notes:
My ranch ended up being a bit thin, but our friend, who was over for dinner (mostly for cheesecake, though ~_^), said it was his favorite ranch dressing because it wasn't as thick as ranch usually is.

Pics of the cheesecake TBP.

I have been sick since Saturday and haven't been up for cooking. I still shouldn't really be in the kitchen but I wanted to cook for my guy.

This is from a recipe at posie's place.

Alterations:
- Homemade garlic & herb cream cheese, below
- Homemade fajita seasoning mix, below
- Whole chicken instead of just the breasts
- More cheddar

( Garlic & Herb Cream Cheese )
Alterations:
- Less than 8oz. tub of cultured cream cheese, not whipped

( Fajita Seasoning Mix )

( in a Lock & Lock )


I hope posting this much in one day isn't obnoxious! This doesn't happen much, so that's my justification ~_^

Anyway, considering the restricted lighting conditions, I'd have to say these pictures turned out better than I would have thought. The crab cakes were very spicy, so if you don't like or can't handle spicy food, I wouldn't suggest this. If you're a sucker for spicy, this is for you. Nowadays I have to go overboard with adding hot sauce or jalapeños to be able to taste the spiciness, but I didn't alter anything in the crab cakes and they came out super hot.

( Baked Crab Cakes with Avocado Mousse )

Alterations:
Crab Cakes
- Added tenkasu, leftover from making takoyaki
- Did not mix olive oil and panko, just sprinkled panko before baking
- Refrigerated cakes for about 8 hours before baking

Avocado Mousse
- Used Cool Whip instead of heavy whipping cream

( sushi station )


The usual tempura roll, California roll and crab roll.

Strawberries , bananas, jalapeño cheese bread and avocado in the sushi are from the farmer's market. I also used soy wraps by Yamamotoyama instead of seaweed because I didn't have any seaweed. The soy wraps didn't taste like anything, so if you don't like seaweed, they would be good for you to use. The website doesn't have pictures of the product, unfortunately, but I think I got mine at Safeway.

We have avocado rolls, California rolls, and shrimp tempura rolls.

My first attempt at celebratory sushi for my bf's new job was unsuccessful due to the use of dry, 2-day old rice. This time, however, I was successful. Congratulations! ^_^

( For lunch tomorrow )

My boyfriend made us dinner tonight. The picture isn't exactly focused but it was the best of the bunch. Plus lunch for me tomorrow:



It's the one thing I look forward to in the last few long weeks I have left at this office. Those grapes are almost bad. I hope they are okay to eat since we couldn't fit as much sushi into this bento as the other one; I'll need the extra food so I don't end up snacking on the junk food that's in the office.

The product of a joint effort between my boyfriend and me.

Unfortunately, I may have to cut down on the sushi because of the high sodium content in both soy sauce and sushi vinegar. (More on that later.)

Sushi and tempura, made by my boyfriend and me, respectively.

I also tempura'd jalapeños. They were delicious! Flavorful and not painfully spicy.