Pizza Power - Mushrolivepepper Pizza

Hello!

Today was a pizza day for lunch. And the chosen was Mushrolivepepper pizza - This bizarrely named pizza unfortunately isn't that bizarre at all.

This pizza does not exist whole, only sliced. As such, and considering my boyfriend and my sister were here for lunch too and this would not be the pizza flavour they wanted, I decided to create only a slice of this pizza and the rest of the pizza was chosen by them. If you ever want to recreate this slice as a whole pizza, here's what you are going to need:

- 1 pizza base (ready made or you can make your own - I made my own)

- 1 tbsp (tablespoon) of flour

- 1 tbsp of butter

- milk

- 2 slices of cheese (to melt - I used that kind of cheese that each slice is wrapped individually)

- salt and white pepper to taste

- sliced mushrooms (fresh or canned)

- pitted olives, sliced 

- green bell pepper (these three last ingredients have no quantities 'cause it's really up to your taste)

If you are going to make your own pizza base this is the first thing you have to do 'cause the dough needs to rise for an hour or two. If you already have a ready made pizza base lets start by making a cheesy bechamel for our base sauce. In a small pan put in the butter and the flour and cook on medium-low heat, mixing. After the butter melts turn the heat to low and let it cook for about one or two minutes, mixing constantly. Grab your milk and pour it in little by little, mixing between each addition. Keep adding milk and mixing it in until you obtain a spreadable consistency, similar to ketchup or mayo. Add in the slices of cheese and a bit of white pepper, mix to melt and check for seasoning. You may have to add a pinch of salt. Turn off the heat and allow to cool.

In the meanwhile put your pizza base on a baking tray or a pizza tray, prepare the ingredients you need to prepare (slice the mushrooms, pit and slice the olives, slice the bell pepper) and preheat an oven to 200º.C. Lets assemble the pizza! Spread the cheesy bechamel sauce on the pizza base and the all you have to do is arrange the mushrooms, olives and bell pepper on top of the sauce, however you heart pleases! Put the pizza in the oven and let it cook for about 30 to 35 minutes.

Serve and enjoy! :D

The food will be rated from 1 to 5 stars, meaning:

⭐ - This could be part of gross foods! Ugh :(

⭐⭐ - Waste of ingredients but edible...

⭐⭐⭐ - Ok. Not my favourite thing but also not that bad

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Now this has a lot of neopotential :D

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Wow! Was this created by fairies?! Yummy!

Now remember that this is, obviously, my opinion only ;)

Mushrolivepepper Pizza - ⭐⭐⭐ - This would never be my first choice for a pizza. I do love bechamel sauce and cheesy goodness but this pizza didn't shake my core. But my sister liked it a lot, after all :P It's not really bad, it's just "meh", really not bizarre at all.

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Meat Skewered Meat

Hello! Today I bring you a request from a member of Neopets Nation.

Brianna Burgess asked me to make Meat Skewered Meat - What is better than skewered meat? Why, meat skewered meat, of course!

This is a very interesting dish to prepare on a freaky lunch or dinner with weird friends 😁

If you ever want to give this a try, here's what you'll need (ingredients for one portion):

- 1 chicken leg (drumstick + thigh)

- 5 bite-size pieces of meat (I used beef)

- 2 bite-size pieces of sausage (I used canned sausage, also known in the USA as hotdog)

- 4 bite-size pieces of sweet pickled japanese yellow radish (if you can't find this, just use something according to your taste that you can use on a skewer, baked potato, cooked chestnuts...)

- 2 skewers

- Bit of oil

- Salt

Start by seasoning the chicken leg with a bit of salt on both sides, then heat a bit of oil in a frying pan and add in the chicken leg, skin side down. Cook for about 2 minutes on high heat and then turn the heat to low and let the meat cook for about 10 minutes. After that time, turn the chicken leg and do the same on the other side, 2 minutes on high heat and then 10 minutes on low. Pierce the thickest part of the meat with a skewer and press a little bit to make the juices comes out. If they come out clear the meat is cooked. Remove from the heat and allow to rest. Now season the meat of choice with salt.

If the frying pan you used is not very dirty with burnt pieces you can use it for the next step, if you think you should clean it first or use a clean frying pan, by all means, do that. Add a bit of oil in it and cook the pieces of meat on medium heat, for about 10 minutes or so. If the sausage of your choice needs to be cooked, you can do it at the same time and in the same frying pan. Mine didn't so I just used them cold out of the can :P Same trick here for the meat, when you pierce it with a skewer if the juices come out clear the meat is cooked. Turn off the heat and allow the meat to rest. In the meanwhile get your 4 bite-size pieces of yellow radish. Now lets assemble: get one skewer and stick in it a piece of radish and two pieces of meat, then pierce the left side of the chicken thigh (skin facing you) from one side to the other (lengthwise) and stick at the end of this skewer a piece of sausage, a piece of meat and a piece of radish. Now grab the other skewer and stick in it a piece of meat, a piece of radish and another piece of meat, pierce the right side of the chicken thigh (skin facing you) again from one side to the other (lengthwise) and at the end of this skewer add a piece of sausage and finish with a piece of radish. Serve and enjoy!

The food will be rated from 1 to 5 stars, meaning:

⭐ - This could be part of gross foods! Ugh :(

⭐⭐ - Waste of ingredients but edible...

⭐⭐⭐ - Ok. Not my favourite thing but also not that bad

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Now this has a lot of neopotential :D

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Wow! Was this created by fairies?! Yummy!

Now remember that this is, obviously, my opinion only ;)

Meat Skewered Meat -  ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - This is one of my favourite ways of enjoying chicken meat, only cooked with a bit of salt. I absolutely love it so no wonder I rated this with 5 stars. It is also one of my favourite ways to eat beef. The sausage is almost none so it's not enough to lower this dish to a 4 stars. And the pickled radish is just the right amount to make this a perfect combo of sweet and salty, to cut a bit down the grease from the chicken skin. I really liked this dish :D

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Omelette Monday - Mushroom Omelette

Hello!

Omelette Monday is back and today the choice was Mushroom Omelette - Eating this omelette requires a great love of mushrooms. Not only are they on top, but they are also inside AND mixed with the egg.

And I did this exactly: mushrooms everywhere in this omelette. But, as I used canned mushrooms, I had to add a little extra flavour so it wouldn't be such a bland omelette.

If you want to try my version of this omelette you will need:

- 2 or 3 eggs + splash of milk

- 1 small can of sliced mushrooms

- bit of oil

- pinch of salt

- 1 teaspoon of duck fat (this is just for flavour, if you don't have it leave it out or use butter instead but be careful not to burn the butter)

- 1/4 teaspoon of DUCCA spice blend

- 1/4 teaspoon of Garam Masala (if you don't have these spices, just use whatever pleases you the most regarding seasoning, or you can even leave these out)

Start by draining the mushrooms and rinse under running water. Squeeze to remove the excess water and make a selection: about 8 or 9 of the prettiest slices to garnish, and the rest divide in two - one part for filling and one part to mix with the egg. This part to mix with the egg chop it very finely.

Beat the eggs in a bowl with the milk and a pinch of salt and set aside.

In the frying pan you will be making the omelette, add in the teaspoon of duck fat and heat it on medium heat. Add in the chopped mushrooms, let them absorb most of the fat and remove from the heat. Add this mixture into the beaten eggs and mix to combine. Put the frying pan back on medium-low heat with a bit of oil so the omelette doesn't stick to the bottom and pour in the egg and mushroom mixture. While the omelette is coagulating, add the DUCCA spice blend to the filling mushrooms, mix to coat each slice and add to one half of the omelette. When the omelette is almost completely coagulated, with the help of a spatula fold it over itself. Remove from the heat and put it on a plate.

Add the Garam Masala to the garnish mushrooms and mix to coat every slice evenly. Display on top of the omelette as garnish, just like on the image. 

Enjoy!

The food will be rated from 1 to 5 stars, meaning:

⭐ - This could be part of gross foods! Ugh :(

⭐⭐ - Waste of ingredients but edible...

⭐⭐⭐ - Ok. Not my favourite thing but also not that bad

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Now this has a lot of neopotential :D

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Wow! Was this created by fairies?! Yummy!

Now remember that this is, obviously, my opinion only ;)

Mushroom Omelette - ⭐⭐⭐⭐ - This rating is not mine but my boyfriend's. He is the one who eats most of the omelettes I make. He rated this omelette with 4 stars because it was very good and he loved the seasoning. The only thing "meh" about it was that it was a lot of the same thing.

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Lettuce Wrap

Hello!
TGIF! Well... I'm unemployed, what the heck am I talking about?!
Nah, I like Fridays and the weekend pretty much so... TGIF! :D
This Friday I didn't fail and I didn't made a pizza but I cooked a Lettuce Wrap - Yum cut out the bread for less carbs and still have a delicious protein filled meal!
But I must confess that I did not cut out the carbs :( actually I made this with carbs 'cause I couldn't afford throwing a batch of cooked millet to the bin so, I used it instead of the meat. Anyway, if I didn't use millet I was going to use some sort of vegetable protein. Anyway, here are my two cents on this recipe if you want to try it:
- Millet (or, to respect the description, any type of minced meat)
- Lettuce leaves 
- Onion
- Garlic (optional - also don't use a lot unless you could marry a clove of garlic :P)
- Carrot
- Courgette/Zucchini 
- Vegetable oil
- Soy sauce
- Chocolate Pepper (or any other pepper of choice)
I didn't put out any measures because this is really up to your taste and depending on the size of your bowl :P So I'm just giving you the directions.
Start by shredding the carrot, dicing the courgette and onion and chopping the garlic very finely. Set aside.
Cook the millet according to instructions in the package, drain and set aside.
In a frying pan put a drizzle of vegetable oil, add in the onion, garlic, carrot and the courgette and cook on medium-low heat until soft. Add in the cooked millet (if using meat, add the minced meat) and cook for a few more minutes (if using meat, let the meat cook all the way now) stirring. Add in soy sauce to taste (don't forget that soy sauce is really salty so pay attention) and the pepper, mix to combine well, turn off the heat and set aside.
Now, in a bowl place a few leaves of lettuce, the prettiest ones, just like on the image, and then spoon the millet/meat mixture in the middle of the lettuce leaves.
Serve and enjoy!

The food will be rated from 1 to 5 stars, meaning:

⭐ - This could be part of gross foods! Ugh :(

⭐⭐ - Waste of ingredients but edible...

⭐⭐⭐ - Ok. Not my favourite thing but also not that bad

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Now this has a lot of neopotential :D

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Wow! Was this created by fairies?! Yummy!

Now remember that this is, obviously, my opinion only ;)

Lettuce Wrap - ⭐⭐⭐ - I do believe that the main thing that made me rate this dish with 3 stars was the fact that I used millet instead of meat and, to make things worse, millet should be rinsed before cooking and I totally forgot to do that, which left the millet with a bit of a bitter taste to it. Gladly the lettuce gave it a bit of freshness and in the end it wasn't that bad but still... not my favourite thing on the menu. At least not with the millet!

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Avocado Strawberry Smoothie

Hello!

I don't post smoothies that much so I thought it was time to recreate one. It happened that I had bought avocados and my mom gave me a bag of strawberries so what better smoothie to recreate that the Avocado Strawberry Smoothie - The bottom half is all avocado and the top half is all Strawberry. Shake it up to drink both flavours at once! Umm but better not, Strawberry and avocado don't mix very well?

If you ever want to try this you will need:

- Avocado + some drops of lemon juice (to prevent the avocado from oxidizing)

- Strawberries

- Liquid like water or milk to make it runnier is optional

- Sugar is also optional

I'm not mentioning any quantities because it really depends on the size of your portion. Mine was very small so I used half of a small avocado and about 5 or 6 medium strawberries. What I just did was mash up the avocado with the lemon juice and in a separate bowl I mashed up the strawberries (this provided me purees and not exactly smoothie or liquid texture but it was fine for me). I really wanted this the most natural possible but if you want you can add sugar, you can use a blender to make it even smoother, you can add milk, water or any other vegetable milk of your choice to make it more liquid (just don't forget that if you get it more liquid both parts may end up mixing by themselves). It's really up to you.

I did mix a bit of the strawberry and the avocado and guess what? They actually go really well together! I shouldn't be that surprised though, avocado is pretty bland in flavour so it easily gains the flavour of what you mix it with. In this case the mixture tasted mainly as strawberry, as such the last part of the description of this smoothie is not accurate ^_^'

I hope you enjoy this!

A suggestion was made by Elya Sabrina, from Neopets Nation facebook group, to rate the flavour of these recreations. The food will be rated from 1 to 5 stars, meaning:

⭐ - This could be part of gross foods! Ugh :(

⭐⭐ - Waste of ingredients but edible...

⭐⭐⭐ - Ok. Not my favourite thing but also not that bad

⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Now this has a lot of neopotential :D

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - Wow! Was this created by fairies?! Yummy!

Now remember that this is, obviously, my opinion only ;)

Avocado Strawberry Smoothie - ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ - This smoothie, has a fresh, fruity and very pleasant taste. You can hardly taste any avocado. Right out of the fridge this is just the kind of thing that I would without a doubt choose for a refreshing healthy treat! :D

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Pizza Power - Whole Steak and Egg Pizza

Hello!
This is a new segment I'm starting off, Pizza Power!
As I don't fail every Friday and I wanted to have a day dedicated to pizzas too, I decided to have Pizza Power day whenever I don't have fails to show you on Friday. And today is the case :)
So here it is the first pizza on the blog, the Whole steak and egg pizza - This is a hearty meal for anyone!
I had two beautiful fresh steaks in the fridge and I thought "I gotta make some neopian stuff that has steak in it!" and so I chose this pizza. It was weird at first because the steaks where whole but when it was time to eat I decided to cut it in bite size pieces and distribute it on top of the pizza.
In order to make this pizza you will need:
- 1 pizza base (store bought or home made. I made mine - if you want a recipe just let me know)
- 1 big steak or 2 medium (I used 2 medium steaks)
- bit of oil
- 2 eggs
- 1 tablespoon of flour
- 1 tablespoon of butter 
- 300 ml of milk (I used oat milk)
- half a cup of grated cheddar cheese
- pinches of salt, pepper, nutmeg, cloves and turmeric powders 
If you make your own pizza base, start by doing that because it takes time to proof.
After that you will start by boiling the eggs. Put the eggs in a small pan and cover with water. Bring to the boil and count 10 minutes. After 10 minutes drain and set aside to cool.
In the meanwhile you can make the bechamel. In another small pan over medium heat put in the butter and let it melt, add in the flour and stir well until it gets a golden colour. Then add in the milk and, with a whisk, whisk it well to not form any lumps. Season with salt (don't forget the cheese is salty already), white pepper and the spices and bring to the boil. Once it starts to boil reduce the heat to low, add in the cheese and let it cook for about 5 minutes, whisking constantly. Check for seasoning, take off the heat and set aside to cool down a bit.
In a frying pan add a bit of oil, season both sides of the steaks with salt and cook them to taste, one side and the other. I left mine rare because it was still going in the oven, I fried them 2 minutes on each side. When your steaks are cooked to your taste, turn off the heat and let the meat rest so most of the water comes out of it (discard this water).
So, lets assemble the pizza: spread the bechamel sauce on the pizza base and put it in your pre-heated oven at 200º.C. and let it cook until the bechamel turns a golden colour. Take out of the oven, make the divisions with the pizza cutter (just to be like in the Neopets photo) and place the steaks in the middle of the pizza. Put in the oven again until the dough cooks completely. In my case, my pizza took about a total of 30 minutes to cook completely. In the meanwhile peel the eggs and cut them in half lengthwise. When your pizza is completely cooked, display the eggs like as in the picture and serve.
This pizza turned out a bit bland for my taste and it's not exactly what I would call "a hearty meal". In my honest opinion it was a waste of steaks :P But I am no one to talk since I am not the biggest fan of pizzas (crucify me now -_-). But really, I felt that it could use some BBQ sauce or tomato ketchup in it, and that was actually how we ended up eating it, all smudged in BBQ sauce and ketchup :D
Enjoy!

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Sausage and Cheese Roll

Hello!
Today I bring you what I made for lunch today. Nothing really fancy, just something to use up the lettuce I had in the fridge. This is Sausage and cheese roll - Spicy sausage wrapped in lettuce leaf and topped with hot cheddar.
I only had canned sausages so I had to spice it up a notch. I also didn't have cheddar cheese so I had to use another cheese that melted but this was very good still.
So if you want to try this, here it is what you will be needing:
- 3 sausages
- 3 lettuce leaves
- 2 slices of cheddar cheese (I used Gouda)
- a pinch of powdered chocolate pepper or any other spicy/hot powder of your taste ('cause my sausages were not spicy) 
Warm up the sausages either in the microwave or in a pan on your stove top (and here I seasoned with the chocolate pepper). Wrap each sausage in each lettuce leaf. Put one of the cheese slices on a plate and melt it for a few seconds in the microwave. Then put two sausage rolls on top of the melted cheese slice. Then melt the other cheese slice in a bowl in the microwave and spread a bit on top of those two rolls. Stack the third roll over that cheese and cover with the remaining melted cheese. Serve and enjoy!

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Omelette Monday - Cheese Omelette

Hello!
It's Monday so my boyfriend knows exactly what he will be taking for lunch for work today :P
He chose the omelette considering the options I gave him (pandemic times means I'm cooking with what I have on hand right now 'cause we haven't been shopping that often right now) and he chose the Cheese Omelette - Plain cheese omelette is a favourite of the Tyrannian people. And I know this isn't exactly my boyfriend's favourite omelette (as he is not exactly Tyrannian XD) but it was this one or the Carrot and Pea Omelette so... - don't get me wrong, carrots and peas are great but he is a lesser fan of peas than he is of cheese (well he will have to eat it anyway eventually XD).
If you ever want to try this omelette here it is the simple recipe I used:
- frying pan
- bit of oil
- 2 eggs + splash of milk
- 2 slices of cheese + 1 tablespoon of crumbled Gorgonzola cheese (or any other cheese of your preference that can melt)
- salt and pepper
Break the eggs into a bowl and add the milk. Season with salt and beat all together. Put the frying pan on low heat and add a bit of oil to cover the bottom so the omelette won't stick. Add the egg mixture to the frying pan and let it cook until in starts to dry on top. Add the tablespoon of Gorgonzola to one side of the omelette and half of a slice of the cheese, also torn into pieces and season with a bit of freshly ground black pepper. Cover the pan with a lid (any lid will do as long as it is heat proof) so it helps the egg curdle. Uncover and with the help of a spatula (don't forget this has to be heat proof too) fold the omelette in half. Place the remaining cheese slice and the other half on top of the omelette and cover to let the cheese melt. When the cheese has melted turn off the heat and it's good to serve!
Enjoy!

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Fail Friday - Choco-Strawberry Muffin

Hello!
It's that day of the week where I can show you my failed attempts at cooking a Neopian food. Despite being a cook (hurray!!!) I am still learning a lot because cooking as you may imagine is not an exact art just like that. First we have to make several attempts before reaching the desired final product. We are constantly trying new things, new methods, new mixtures, new ingredients, new combinations, new cooking times, new ratios: some work, some could be better, some just don't fit in. So it is quite possible that, despite not considering myself a bad cook (I'm actually pretty good at the thing ^_^), Fail Fridays will still appear from time to time XD
Without further ado I failed at baking a Choco-strawberry muffin - This muffin is packed full of chocolate and strawberries - yummy!
This happened mainly because I decided to search for a different recipe than the ones I usually use. I thought that I could follow a recipe in order to bake less muffins ('cause it's just me and my boyfriend in the house). So I searched for muffin dough ratios and it turned out to look pretty simple: it was a 2:2:1:1 ratio recipe - 2 parts flour to 2 parts liquid to 1 part fat to 1 part eggs. Then 1 tablespoon of sugar per egg and 1 teaspoon baking powder per cup of flour. Right here I should have noticed something wasn't right. The web page talked about weighing the ingredients (which we know it is always a lot more accurate for baking) and was very clear about that point, and then it talks about spoons and cups (which are volume measurement units). I still went ahead and used this method and I failed twice because: 1 - the muffins came out more like brownies and 2 - I ended up baking the same quantity of muffins as I usually do *face palm*.
A very quick highlight on the ingredients and procedure: I used wheat flour, oat milk, ghee, eggs, sugar, baking powder and vanilla essence. Mixed the dry ingredients with the wet without over mixing, distributed the batter into a muffin tray and put it in a pre-heated oven at 180º.C. for about 15 to 20 minutes.
When I took them out of the oven, even the ones which grew a little mound didn't have it big enough compared to the Choco-Strawberry Muffin so I dig a little hole on top of the muffin and placed an arranged strawberry pointy side up. Then I melted some dark chocolate and poured it over the strawberry :D I had to cut and arrange a strawberry to put on top of the muffin 'cause I was only able to get big ass strawberries :P
The final result was a quite delicious brownie packed with a strawberry, covered in chocolate and topped with another strawberry. Not very sweet, not very dense. Perfect... for a brownie! XD
Enjoy!

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Tasty Tiki Trees

Hello!
This one's a bit lame but... you know... I'm trying to create neopian foods with whatever ingredients I have on hand right now :P
Here you have Tasty Tiki Trees - Whats not to like in this fruit plate, a perfect balance of tangy and sweet, just to have you going through the week.
This is, of course, kiwis, bananas and tangerines. I had to hurry up taking the photos or else the banana would be completely brown from oxidation.
Anyway, don't forget to take your daily dose of Vitamin C. One kiwi, for example, it's all it takes ;)
Enjoy!

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Omelette Monday - Marshmallow Omelette

Hello!
It's that day of the week where I share an omelette with you :)
For a quick snack I decided to make a Marshmallow Omelette - The wonderous tastes of omelette and marshmallow in one food.
Curiously enough this was surprisingly good, considering that marshmallow and omelette are two things I wouldn't think of combining in the first place :P
If you want to give it a try you will need the following:
- frying pan
- bit of oil 
- 2 eggs + splash of milk
- 1 cup of mini marshmallows (more or less according to taste) or bigger marshmallows cut into smaller pieces
Break the eggs into a bowl and add the milk. Beat them together. Put the frying pan on low heat and add a bit of oil to cover the bottom so the omelette won't stick. Add the egg mixture to the frying pan and let it cook until in starts to dry on top. Add half of the marshmallows and cover the pan with a lid (any lid will do as long as it is heat proof) so the marshmallows will melt a bit. Uncover and with the help of a spatula (don't forget this has to be heat proof too) fold the omelette in half. Add the remaining marshmallows on top of the omelette and cover once again to melt the marshmallows. Turn off the heat, serve and enjoy!

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.

Lupe Burger

Hello!
So we are all "quarantined" here and I needed to make some lunch. A food from Neopia but without having to leave the house to buy ingredients. So I made a Lupe Burger - Who could resist a tasty burger with lettuce on a Lupe-shaped bun?
Very simple to make and yet very delicious.
I decided to use store bought buns instead of making my own from scratch but I think it actually came out pretty neat :D
No recipe needed here, right? A bun with a cooked burger of our choice (mine is a mixture of pork and beef) and some leaves of lettuce. For the eyes and nose I slashed some thin cuts on the bun and, with the help of a toothpick, I dabbed very small droplets of soy sauce along the cuts.
Enjoy!

*This image was taken from and belongs to Neopets.