<![CDATA[Graffë Forums - Blogs - Nadiar's Blog of random stuff! by Nadiar]]> https://www.graffes.com/forums/blog.php?21-Nadiar-s-Blog-of-random-stuff! en Wed, 13 May 2026 18:21:42 GMT vBulletin 60 https://www.graffes.com/forums/images/misc/rss.jpg <![CDATA[Graffë Forums - Blogs - Nadiar's Blog of random stuff! by Nadiar]]> https://www.graffes.com/forums/blog.php?21-Nadiar-s-Blog-of-random-stuff! Experiments in Cooking: Fried Cinnamon Toast Crunch French Toast https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?179-Experiments-in-Cooking-Fried-Cinnamon-Toast-Crunch-French-Toast Sat, 25 Jul 2009 21:43:39 GMT http://picasaweb.google.com/nadiar.z...chFrenchToast#



Recipe used:
1 1/2 cup Half & Half
5 eggs
1/4 tsp salt
3 tablespoons of warm honey
1 loaf of stale sourdough bread, or any "hard" artisan style bread that isn't made of artificial ingredients.
1/3 small box of Cinnamon Toast Crunch, crushed

I combined the Half & Half, eggs, and salt together, then added the warm honey. I added this to the fridge for overnight. Then I sliced the loaf of Sourdough bread into 1 inch slices, and removed the heals (I ate these with raspberry jam mmm!) Set the slices out in the open so that they will dry out while you're asleep, I stood mine on the end and kept space between them so they would get maximum air flow and be extremely stale when I got to it the next morning.


When I was ready to begin cooking, I added peanut oil to my iron fry pan, and brought it up to 320F. I then started my oven preheating to 375F. Placing the custard mixture in a pie pan, I soaked a slice of bread on each side for 1.5 minutes. Then I placed the bread on a plate, and poured the ceral over the top and pressed it into both sides. Then the slice goes into the oil, approximately 1.5 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oil and place on a wire rack. Repeat witch each slice.

When all slices are done, move them into the oven for 7 minutes. Remove, and let them rest for a minute.

I tried two different syrups, because I wanted to see if a fruity syrup would compliment it better than normal maple syrup. The answer is: NO. If you're going to use a fruity syrup, you'll probably want to go with thinner slices. With Maple Syrup this stuff was god damn amazing.

One thing to note: The bread in the center wasn't golden brown. All of the custard had cooked, but it wasn't in the oven long enough to completely toast the bread. I think it worked out better this way, as it left the french toast with a kind of unique texture with a crunchy outside, and a soft inside.


In the pictures, that slice is from the center of a very large loaf. That one slice was probably more than enough for me, so you might want to cut it in half (just make sure to soak the cut side in the custard, cover it with cereal, and fry it for probably a minute before frying the normal sides)

I could have fancied the pictures up by taking some powdered sugar and putting a light dust trail across it, and adding some whipped cream on the side, and putting the syrup on it for the picture, but I was still concerned it might not taste amazing, and didn't want to spend a bunch of time and effort turning normal sugar into powdered sugar just for a photo if it wasn't going to taste absolutely amazing. ]]> Nadiar https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?179-Experiments-in-Cooking-Fried-Cinnamon-Toast-Crunch-French-Toast Chili! https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?176-Chili! Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:35:17 GMT Stolen from EJ, awesome recipe I'm tagging here for others
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 pounds sirloin steak, cut into 1-inch cubes
1/2 pound ground beef
12 ounces chorizo sausage, casing removed, cut into 1/2 cubes
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1/4 cup chili powder
1 tablespoon garlic salt
2 teaspoons cumin
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 (14.5 oz) cans beef broth
2 (14.5 oz) cans whole tomatoes, drained
1/2 (12 oz) can Coca-Cola
1/2 (12 oz) can beer (your choice here, doesn't have a huge impact what you use, just make sure it's not too shitty)
1 cup cilantro, chopped
1 cinnamon stick
3 bay leaves
2-4 green jalapenos, slit lengthwise 3 times each (alternately, 1 habanero and 1 jalapeno)
1 tablespoon yellow cornmeal
Salt and pepper, to taste

Directions:
Place oil in a large, heavy pot over medium heat. Brown the sirloin in
batches. Remove to a bowl with a slotted spoon.
Add ground beef, chorizo and onions to the pot and brown. Make sure to break up the meat.
Return sirloin to the pot and stir in remaining ingredients, except for garnishes.
Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer for 3-5 hours (longer is better). Stir occasionally, breaking up tomatoes.
Before serving, discard cinnamon stick and bay leaves (and habanero if you used it, don't want someone biting into that!). Garnish with cheese and sour cream, if desired.

"slow cooker instead of on the stove and cooked it for about 24 hours total, the last five or so without the cinnamon stick, bay leaves, and jalapeños in it. Also, there was a LOT of cilantro in this and if you're not going to cook it that long I'd actually recommend putting less in." ]]> Nadiar https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?176-Chili! Mobile Style (with graphics) https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?140-Mobile-Style-(with-graphics) Wed, 14 Jan 2009 01:56:17 GMT I have added a style for people using a 480x320 Resolution...

http://www.graffe.com/forums/index.php?styleid=42

Its a bit simplistic right now, but it fits well on my ADP1. I'm looking to make a template that resizes all images to fit within the forum.

I'll make an "empty" images mobile version later. ]]> Nadiar https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?140-Mobile-Style-(with-graphics) vBulletin 3.8 Upgrade: Coming Sunday Evening/Monday Morning (11pm Pacific) https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?139-vBulletin-3-8-Upgrade-Coming-Sunday-Evening-Monday-Morning-(11pm-Pacific) Wed, 07 Jan 2009 21:17:52 GMT This weekend I'll be upgrading the forum to vBulletin 3.8.

Here are some of the features that will be added:
Social Groups will be Threaded This means I'll be removing the Social Groups AddOn, which will speed the site up imperceptibly.
Social Groups will have Icons
Private Messages can be "threaded"
Your Profile will have Privacy settings, allowing you to add more information if you want, but only allow friends to see them.

View here for more details: http://www.vbulletin.com/forum/blog.php?b=2334 ]]> Nadiar https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?139-vBulletin-3-8-Upgrade-Coming-Sunday-Evening-Monday-Morning-(11pm-Pacific) New Blog Features! https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?138-New-Blog-Features! Mon, 29 Dec 2008 11:10:10 GMT Its kind of frustrating that vBulletin doesn't create detailed change notes on their products when things are changed as much as were just changed in 2.0.

* Blog Customization - users may customize their blogs in the same manner that they can customize their user profiles (introduced in 3.7).
* Group Blogs - users may allow other users to post to their blog.
* Sidebar Blocks - users may create custom blocks to display in their sidebar. These blocks can be rearranged by drag and drop.
* Custom Pages - users may create custom pages to be displayed in their blog.
* Tags - tag support has been included.
* Featured Entry Manager - multiple entries can be featured on the blog home page now.
* Private Entries - users may set specific entries to be private while leaving their blog open.
* Admin Categories - admins may define categories now.
I'm working on adding Admin Categories, and I'll add more tomorrow. They're a huge pain in the ass, because setting up permissions takes a huge amount of time. This is just kind of hitting the surface of the changes in Blogs though. I'm sure you saw the title bar change. ]]> Nadiar https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?138-New-Blog-Features! Food Even I can Cook: Lasagna https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?33-Food-Even-I-can-Cook-Lasagna Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:22:53 GMT 1 pkg no-boil lasagna (important that this be no-boil)
1 container of ricotta cheese
1 egg
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 bottles of reduced calorie Ragu
1 can mushrooms (DON'T DRAIN)
1 pound Browned hamburger or sausage (I like the Jimmy Dean Italian Sausage)
Mozzarella Cheese
Cheddar Cheese (can just use mozzarella instead, but why?)

13 X 9 inch pan 375 degree oven
Mix ricotta, egg and about 1/4 cup of parmesan cheese together. Set aside.
Spray bottom and sides of pan. Spread a layer of sauce on bottom. Put three noodles next to each other across the bottom. (I don't overlap.) Drop spoonfuls of ricotta mixture onto each noodle. Sprinkle mushrooms and cheese on this. Add some of the meat and lightly pour sauce on top of these fillings. Press another noodle directly above layered filling and repeat the same process. When you get near the top and you just have mushroom "water" left in the can, pour it over the noodles. (The moisture is needed.) Use all the ricotta mixture before you get to the top. You may not have three noodles for the top, just spread out whatever is left, cover with sauce and mozzarella cheese. Cover with aluminum foil (hint: Fold the foil in half the long way and crease the center before putting on top of the pan. This will keep it off the cheese.) Put it into the oven for 45-60 minutes, uncover and bake for an additional 15 minutes. Enjoy!


My mother has a completely different lasagna thats damn delicious, but I haven't worked the method out of her. ]]> Nadiar https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?33-Food-Even-I-can-Cook-Lasagna Food Even I can Cook: Seven-Layer Dip https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?32-Food-Even-I-can-Cook-Seven-Layer-Dip Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:19:07 GMT Seven-Layer Dip 1 can refried beans (I use fat free) 1 pkg of taco seasoning 1 can chopped black olives (can use sliced) 1 container of sour cream 1 container guacamole dip (can use fresh guacamole instead of dip) cheddar cheese 1 can chopped green chilies Tomatoes (sometimes I use salsa... Seven-Layer Dip

1 can refried beans (I use fat free)
1 pkg of taco seasoning
1 can chopped black olives (can use sliced)
1 container of sour cream
1 container guacamole dip (can use fresh guacamole instead of dip)
cheddar cheese
1 can chopped green chilies
Tomatoes (sometimes I use salsa sauce if I don't have any tomatoes)
Lettuce
optional: can put browned ground beef with taco seasoning on top of the beans if you desire

In a bowl mix the seasoning and the beans together. Heat in microwave until beans are done. Spread on bottom of plate or serving platter.
Add other ingredients as layers, adjust with other ingredients you like. ]]> Nadiar https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?32-Food-Even-I-can-Cook-Seven-Layer-Dip <![CDATA[Food Even I Can Cook: Enchilada's]]> https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?31-Food-Even-I-Can-Cook-Enchilada-s Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:16:09 GMT 2 pkgs enchilada seasoning
1 lge can tomato sauce (I used Del Monte diced tomatoes instead)
1 can refried beans (may need a second can)
1 pound of hamburger (optional)
1 pkg (10) small Flour tortilla's (I use fat-free flour tortilla's, but you can use whatever.)
Cheese.

Follow cooking directions on seasoning package. Mix tomato sauce and seasoning. You can add water to get to a nice sauce consistency as it bubbles. (I don't like it thick)

13 X 9 inch pan 375 degree oven
Spray bottom and sides of pan. Spread a layer of sauce on bottom.
Spread a spoonful of beans (about a tablespoon) onto the center of the tortilla (like a stripe down the middle). Drizzle hamburger and cheese onto the beans. Put a spoonful of sauce on top of these layers. Roll the tortilla tight and put into the pan. Repeat for remaining ingredients. You can push the tortilla's into the pan fairly tightly. Pour remaining sauce onto the rolled enchiladas. Sprinkle with cheese. Cover with aluminum foil (hint: Fold the foil in half the long way and crease the center before putting on top of the pan. This will keep it off the cheese.) Put it into the oven for 45 minutes, uncover and bake for up to an additional 15 minutes. ]]> Nadiar https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?31-Food-Even-I-Can-Cook-Enchilada-s Food Even I Can Cook: Cookies https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?30-Food-Even-I-Can-Cook-Cookies Fri, 13 Jun 2008 02:14:16 GMT Skillet Cookies
This recipe changes drastically based on the local humidity and boiling temperature.
In a large saucepan add:

2 cups of sugar
1/2 cup milk
5 soup spoonfuls of cocoa powder
"dash" of cinnamon (optional)
1 stick of butter or margarine
Bring to a rolling boil. Boil for two minutes stirring constantly. *two minutes* is important.

Remove from burner and add:

1 tsp of Vanilla
1/3 cup of peanut butter (usually don't measure, but I scoop about this much out of the jar)
3-4 cups of oatmeal (add more if it doesn't seem thick enough)
Stir last three ingredients together and then drop by large spoonfuls onto plastic wrap, wax paper, or whatever you want to use. Let cool for 15-30 minutes. ]]> Nadiar https://www.graffes.com/forums/entry.php?30-Food-Even-I-Can-Cook-Cookies