Deep Fried Crab Alfredo

Ok. Seriously. You can deep fry ANYTHING and make it delish! I have had deep fried cheesecake, candy bars, Oreo cookies, various veggies, the skys the limit! One day I was feeling experimental, and came up with a fabulous recipe thats guaranteed to be a hit the next time you and your friends get together, for less than ten bucks! The only problem is is I dont really measure things for certain recipes, such as this one, eyeballing it is enough. So I will try to be as descriptive as possible, though this is a really easy one!

You will need:
One Pack Imitation Crab (I use fake cuz Im allergic to the real thing, but you can def use a can of real crab here. Be warned, you want to buy the most expensive in this case, the cheaper ones have shell bits, learned that the hard way years ago before I developed this unfortunate allergy).
Can of store bought croissant dough
For the Alfredo Sauce:
Heavy cream (the smallest container, its a half pint where I live, you dont need much)
Parm or Romano (or both!) cheese
Salt
Pepper (white is best, but if you dont have it or cant find it, dont worry bout it)
Garlic
Onion Powder
ALTERNATE: You can also just use pre made jarred alfredo, sold next to the spaghetti sauce, but I dont like the taste of the pre made stuff. If you do use it all you need is the crab meat, croissant dough, and a jar of alfredo sauce.

Preheat fryer to 300 F. Chop your crab up chunky, if your using legs chop four, if your using already chunked meat use half the package and chop it up a little more than it already is, if using canned, just drain it and dump it in the bowl.
Beat your heavy cream for a couple minutes on high. Not till its whipped, but till it thickens just a bit.
Add cheese, I used about half a cup, then pour in cream until the mixture is wet, still moldable but very wet. Add seasonings. A good rule of thumb to go by is to cover the top of the mixture with a very thin layer of salt, and a slightly thicker layer of garlic, onion and pepper. Go light, stir it up, give it a taste, if you need more, add more.
Open dough and roll it out, separating the triangles. Place a small ball of your crab mixture, about an inch and a half big, in the middle of the top (widest part) of one triangle. Pull the skinny end of the triangle up and over the ball and wrap it around, sealing the dough closed with your fingers. Pull the edges up and seal them with your fingers as well, until you have the entire ball enclosed in dough. Look around your alfredo ball, and make sure there are no openings where the alfredo can leak out, and set it to the side. Repeat with the remaining mixture/dough. Drop them into the fryer, leave plenty of room for them to float around, I have a small deep fryer and can only do about two at a time. Cook for 6-8 mins. The outside will be a nice dark golden brown, but not burnt. Cool, and serve! When you deep fry the croissant dough, all the layers separate and fry into real thin, flaky, buttery layers! It taste just like fillo dough! The inside is incredible, creamy and cheesy, and crabby. You can also add seasoned bread crumbs to the filling to make it thicker and more sturdy if you dont want to make the cheese the main thickener.

The finished product! Absolutely amazing!

Just hangin around

Paintings are expensive! Not just paintings, but pictures that are little more than framed pictures are friggin expensive! Heck, a frame alone is ridiculously expensive! That was something that had shocked me when I moved out of my Moms. My bedroom there was covered in posters, and drawings and notes from my friends, and a couple of large pictures that she had bought me for various gift giving occasions. So when I moved out, I had exactly 2 pics, well, 5 if you count the three tiny ones that surrounded one. I def did not have money to purchase anything. So I had patience, and I shopped at garage sales and thrift stores. My first score was a large, 4ftx3ft, Edvard Munch repo, it was actually an ad for an exhibit of his paintings. I got it for $5 at a goodwill. Then I found a fabulous french champagne ad, and two small mermaid paintings that look wonderful in my bathroom. I found some that I hated the frame, but the pic was wonderful, and as long as the frame is wooden or metal it could be painted. Rather than spend money on a frame, and sometimes on the really cheap ones you cant get the back off the frame to get to the pic anyways, its all one piece, I would go to a craft store and buy a small bottle of paint for just a few dollars. You can do primary colors, but for about $5 you can get metallics that look like metal, they dont look like paint at all, you can also get paint that looks realistically like nice wood as long as the grain can still be made out under the original paint (though sanding is always an option). Place a strip of masking tape on the glass at the edge of the frame, so you dont get paint on the glass, and apply your first coat to the frame. Most of the time you can get away with no sanding, but if its a glossy frame, you may need to lightly sand it first to give the paint something to stick to. Voila! You can make a frame that doesnt match or is outdated look new!
Another thing you can do with a painting that you no longer like the pic, is cover the pic. You need another print small enough to fit in the frame, use hot glue to attach, then take a 6' spool of tulle in the color of your choice (which can be bought a craft stores like hobby lobby for about $3, the spool is 6' wide and anywhere from 10 to 20 feet long) and measure it out against the pic, making the piece long enough to wrap the full circumference of the picture, plus about two feet. Find the center of your piece of tulle, and twist it tightly into a rope. Place a small dab of hot glue at the bottom right corner of the picture, and place the center of the twist there, holding it for a second till the glue drys. Slowly twist the remaining tulle and hot glue it down along the edge of the painting. The glue will hold the twist and prevent it from unraveling, but be careful as you twist your rope, the glue cools, drys, and bonds almost immediatly, but you can pull the glued tulle rope up if you tug to hard. Its kind of tricky at first figuring out the fingering, but (Im right handed) if you hold the glued twist down with your left thumb and grasp the tulle tightly in your right hand, tugging it firmly, but not pulling TOO hard, and twist it tightly, you can release your left hand and use it to hold the end of the twist while you glue a line with your right hand, then switch hands again (holding the twisted end tight with your right hand now) and lay the twisted tulle along the hot glue with your left hand, pressing down slightly. It sounds complicated, but its easy to pick up and the rhythm is soothing. It also only a suggestion, you may have a much easier way :D Follow this pattern around two edges, then repeat on the other side, so you end up with both loose ends meeting at the top left corner. Tie these ends into a bow of appropriate size for your picture, and trim the ends. You end up with a really cool 3d effect! Below is a pic of one I did on top of a cream colored kitchen painting that was no longer relevant for my kitchen. I painted it with a fake metal paint, and antique bronze color, and put a canvas painting I got about 25 bucks at an auction right over top of the original pic! (I took the glass out. If its not removable, and youre serious, take it out back and break the glass out, going carefully around the edges in thigh gloves with a cloth to pull out an leftover pieces). (A flat print works as well, but a canvas painting is really cool if you can find one!).

                              My reworked painting! Its one of the most visually interesting items on my walls!

                                    Close up of the tulle, thats a 6' wide piece, twisted tightly into a small roll.

                                           My very first awesome find. I only paid $5 for this and its wood!

With a little creativity, you can have some pretty cool, one of a kind stuff just hangin around your house!

If you find you must buy a frame, like I did in this case (I found a poster I loved for $10, but it didnt come with a frame), get on ebay. I got this wooden one for $18, shipping included, which is close to what you will pay for a cheap plastic one in a store. The sconces I actually inherited from my Great Grandmother when she passed away, but I have seen similar in thrift shops and antique stores for between $5 and $20. I bought some dollar store fake flowers and vines, and a few feathers, I mean, look at them, tell me those ladies were not meant for a few feathers in their hair, and added some very me appropriate flair to my house.

Poor girls casserole/mac and cheese

Me and one of my best friends were hungry one night. We lived together, neither one of us had a car, and we didnt have the money for pizza. To make matters worse, I admit, we were high. Lol. We had just bought a new movie, we had a new video game, and we wanted dinner. We wanted a real dinner, not noodles or a banquet meal. So I raided the kitchen, and took stock. Of course, we had nothing. We had a piece of two diff kinds of cheese each (no meat or bread), some canned veggies, a can of tuna(no mayo), some noodles,(no sauce), u know, the usual for broke people. I ended up making a tuna casserole that was so good we memorized how I did it and made it from then on out as a planned meal! The casserole has been made a million different ways, (from the original can of corn and can of tuna to frozen brocc and canned chkn), usually from what is in the freezer and pantry, and everyone almost always has these ingredients in their pantry, or bought for just a few dollars. Thats what made me name this the poor girls casserole! (Though plain, it makes an amazing mac and cheese as well)!This casserole is extra awesome because it makes a lot, its very filling and satisfying, and you can go to the grocery and buy the ingredients for under $5. Im going to give you the recipe for the body, there are only a few non negotiable ingredients, and give you suggestions for add ins, but thats completely up to whats in your pantry right now! I dont have any pics at the moment, Im adding in this recipe just because its one I love, Ill post pics the next time I make it!

Ok, to make this casserole, you need first a box of mac and cheese. Get the water boiling. While waiting, fill a bowl (if your measuring cup is microwave proof, you can do this all in the one cup) with two cups of milk. I suggest canned evaporated milk, I always try to keep some around, you can get it at places like Big Lots for about .50 a can, and chain stores for a little more, and when you mix it half/half with water you get about four cups of milk to cook with, which is much more economical than drinking milk, and you can even stretch it out a little more if you dont buy the reduced fat. But you can use powdered milk, or whatevers in your fridge. Pour the packet of cheese powder into the milk. Tear one package of cream cheese into chunks, put into the milk. If you have any other cheese in your fridge, tear it up and put it in the cup. Seriously. Any cheese. American. Swiss. Cheddar. Havarti. Bleu. Feta. Goat. Whatever you have that is cheese, including cream (its wonderful with cream cheese added!). Microwave for about 1:30, then stir it well. Keep an eye on it while its cooking, if it starts bubbling before the 1:30 is up, take it out and stir it then. Put back in for another :45, stir. Keep microwaving in spurts, stirring very well in between until all the cheese is melted. Add salt and pepper to taste. Stir. When the noodles are done, drain and pour into a greased casserole dish. Check cheese sauce, make sure its not hot, then test it with your finger. If you can put it in there with no discomfort, add an egg. If not, keep stirring till its cool to the touch (or you will cook the egg when you drop it in). Stir the egg in, and pour over the noodles. There you go! Done! Mix in your add ins, and if you want, add a crunchy topping. (Bread crumbs, chips, saltines, ritz crackers, whatever you have. Potato chips and Doritos are delish on top too!) Bake at 350 for about an hour, or until it sets up and is no longer liquid, and golden and bubbly on top. 

Add In Suggestions: Canned corn (or any canned veggie, mixed, canned potatoes, whatever you have on hand), canned meat (tuna, chicken, ham, skys the limit!), frozen veggies, hamburger, leftover fried chicken, chicken nuggets (cut into pieces), deli meat, cut up hot dogs, eggs (boiled, scrambled, whatever) whatever else you have that would be delish with cheese added!

P.S Its a great one to bust out when you dont have a lot of money but want to impress a guy with your cooking skills! This sets up so nicely it seems professional, and when you talk about making the cheese sauce, you dont have to mention you microwaved it! Serve it with canned croissants and dessert and you your man will worship you. Lol.

How this is starting. Great American Cookie Co cheesecake brownies. Oh yes. It is.

This all started with a craving for Cheesecake Brownies from the Great American Cookie Company. I love those things. Seriously, love them. And I really wanted one. Badly. But I just cant afford to pay $5 for a brownie. One, small brownie. So I started looking for a recipe online. Surely, someone, somewhere, had this same craving as I had and had already duplicated the recipe. Alas, nada. Not one. A couple of people were asking for one, but no recipes. I was disappointed, but not deterred. I started breaking the flavors down by memory, in my head. I knew how to make the crust, due to a teenage job at said cookie company, so I pondered on the filling. I was honestly stumped and surfing around looking for a recipe while I thought on it, and came across a great blog, Amanda and Kevin (which you should check out, she has some great recipes in it). In her blog she is talking about her chess squares recipe, and commented that the flavor reminded her of the very cheesecake brownies I was so set on, and it got me thinking. I am familiar with chess squares, my grandmother has been making them since I was a kid, and the flavor was similar, and the right color as well. Of course, the texture was all wrong, so then I had to figure out how to make an ooey gooey dessert stiffer and more brownie like in texture. After much thought and deliberation, I decided that separating the eggs and whipping the whites, as well as adding in some flour, would give me at least a starting point. Imagine my surprise when I hit the nail on the head first try! I wanted to put this recipe out there, and began thinking about starting a blog. It was originally going to be about recipes I have created, or will create. I have a whole bunch of super cheap, super easy meals that are delish leftover from my college days, recipes that needed to be foolproof due to a lack of sobriety while cooking most of them, and needed to be as thrifty as possible due to a lack of funds. But my years of being flat broke, combined with being raised by an incredibly thrifty, crafty woman, has made me very creative in other areas of life as well. You see, I love being fabulous. My role models, from Lucille ball to Marilyn Monroe to your average 50's housewife did everything with style, and did it well.  Unfortunately, fabulous is not cheap, unless of course, youre me and you figure out how to do it cheaper than most people achieve average. The thing is though, Im not stingy with the advice. I love to share my knowledge and tips and tricks, my cute ideas and money saving ideas. So I decided to make this an all encompassing blog, and just fill it with every thing I do to make my life richer. This includes tips on how to achieve a fabulous mindset, because fabulous (wonderful, amazing, inspiring, role model, whatever you wanna call it) is as much as state of mind as being a jedi. Here follows a recipe for a dessert that taste amazingly like the cheesecake brownies from Great American Cookie Company, and Ill follow up with more recipes, and whatever else I feel the need to share. Enjoy!
Ingredients: 2 cups of stale chocolate chip cookies, crumbled very fine,(you can do this with a food processor, but I did it by hand. If they are stale, they crumble right up and its pretty good therapy. lol) half stick of butter, melted, two eggs separated, 4 1/2 cups powdered sugar (a little over 1lb), 8oz cream cheese softened, 1 cup flour, 1 cup white chocolate chips or chunks (chunks taste better, but the chips are optional, I didnt have any at the time I was making these and left them out and its delish this way, but you need the chips for it to taste the most like the cheesecake brownies. Without the chips I put it into muffin tins and call it baked cream cheese frosting. Also, please keep in mind that the one cup is a minimum suggestion, go crazy!)
Instructions: Preheat oven to 350. Mix the cookie crumbs and butter till the crumbs are thoroughly saturated. Press into the bottom of a greased brownie pan (or muffin tins). You can use more or less crumbs to your own liking, the thicker the crust the better. Meanwhile, cream the egg yolks and cream cheese, and slowly add flour and powder sugar. Beat the egg whites with a mixer till they reach the soft peak stage (they will be very firm and if you lift the beater up, the egg whites will follow the beater and when they cant stretch anymore, will form a peak that flops at the very tip, like a peep.) Fold the egg whites and the choc chips into the batter. Pour over the cookie crumb crust. Bake at 350, for roughly 45 mins. The brownies will have baked straight up over the top and started cracking on the top, much like a cheesecake/souffle, and will appear slightly moist and white, though brown on the edges. Knife inserted will NOT come out clean, this is something your gonna have to eyeball. When the edges start to brown and the aroma becomes amazing, they are done. Let them cool, they will fall back down as they cool, and then serve! Like I said, this time I didnt have and chips, so I made individual muffins and am calling them baked cream cheese frosting, I took a quick picture so you can see one broke open, but its missing its chips, just an fyi!

                                                                             YUM