Shaken Baken Blog

 Childhood Memories on Fleek... My mom prepared this dinner staple for our family for years. Way before I knew that pepper steak was of Asian influence, we indulged every once in a while on this savory favorite. Now this recipes does not call for a lot of ingredients. And you can complete the meal in under an hour. It packs a ton of flavor. And because my mom made it for a family of 7, she made a huge pan to feed all of us.  This recipe feeds 7. Halfen if you need to for 3-4 people. Ingredients: Top round beef for stir fry (about 3 pounds)  2 cups lightly steamed or blanched broccoli  2 green peppers  1 small onion  flour or cornstarch (mixed with water) vegetable oil White or whatever kind of rice you like (prepared separately)   Seasoning seasoning salt black pepper granulated onion powder granulated garlic powder low sodium soy sauce gravy master Season the steak. I seasoned it and let it sit in the fridge for...

 Childhood Memories on Fleek... My mom prepared this dinner staple for our family for years. Way before I knew that pepper steak was of Asian influence, we indulged every once in a while on this savory favorite. Now this recipes does not call for a lot of ingredients. And you can complete the meal in under an hour. It packs a ton of flavor. And because my mom made it for a family of 7, she made a huge pan to feed all of us.  This recipe feeds 7. Halfen if you need to for 3-4 people. Ingredients: Top round beef for stir fry (about 3 pounds)  2 cups lightly steamed or blanched broccoli  2 green peppers  1 small onion  flour or cornstarch (mixed with water) vegetable oil White or whatever kind of rice you like (prepared separately)   Seasoning seasoning salt black pepper granulated onion powder granulated garlic powder low sodium soy sauce gravy master Season the steak. I seasoned it an...

On a typical Sunday Afternoon as I plan out my crazy week this is my go to comfort food. My husband brings them in from our local supermarket bakery  and sits them on the stove.  This is our weekend ritual.   Even though I tell him "No More Muffins".  He just says "okay" and proceeds to get them anyway.  Trying to maintain 2 blogs, my DD's bookings and audition schedule and make sure everyone is set for the week...man,  I need this muffin. ( I don't, but I do :)  I am going to attempt to make this muffin  in a healthier version...one day. Bear with me...Oh, and  I am cooking dinner tonight...I felt like some Pepper Steak and onions so stay tuned... XOXO Steph :)

On a typical Sunday Afternoon as I plan out my crazy week this is my go to comfort food. My husband brings them in from our local supermarket bakery  and sits them on the stove.  This is our weekend ritual.   Even though I tell him "No More Muffins".  He just says "okay" and proceeds to get them anyway.  Trying to maintain 2 blogs, my DD's bookings and audition schedule and make sure everyone is set for the week...man,  I need this muffin. ( I don't, but I do :)  I am going to attempt to make this muffin  in a healthier version...one day. Bear with me...Oh, and  I am cooking dinner tonight...I felt like some Pepper Steak and onions so stay tuned... XOXO Steph :)

Who doesn't enjoy a pancake with a crisp edge?  You know... the crispiness that only  your mom or grandma could achieve. When I saw this meme on the internet, I laughed out loud because it's something my sister Stacey and I talk about all the time. We would go to diners and restaurants and request pancakes with crunchy edges. The waitress would say okay...but return with regular ol' pancakes with soft edges.  I gave up.  I decided if I wanted pancakes like this,  I would just make them at home.  When looking at the meme's comments, I noticed that most people stated that only their parents or grandparents  could achieve this crunchy goodness.  Quite a few of the comments in the meme questioned  how to achieve pancakes with crunchy edges?  I chime in with  "It's really not hard to achieve." All you have to do is add a few drops of cooking oil around the sides of your pancakes while cooking them.  It can b...

Who doesn't enjoy a pancake with a crisp edge?  You know... the crispiness that only  your mom or grandma could achieve. When I saw this meme on the internet, I laughed out loud because it's something my sister Stacey and I talk about all the time. We would go to diners and restaurants and request pancakes with crunchy edges. The waitress would say okay...but return with regular ol' pancakes with soft edges.  I gave up.  I decided if I wanted pancakes like this,  I would just make them at home.  When looking at the meme's comments, I noticed that most people stated that only their parents or grandparents  could achieve this crunchy goodness.  Quite a few of the comments in the meme questioned  how to achieve pancakes with crunchy edges?  I chime in with  "It's really not hard to achieve." All you have to do is add a few drops of cooking oil around the sides of your pancakes while cooking ...

Since moving to the 'Burbs of New York...  I miss so many of the indulgences  that New York City has to offer.  I grew up in Brooklyn, so visiting Junior's Restaurant was a must right along side the Super Cheesy Pizza,  and the Grilled Hot Dog from Fulton Street.  A recent visit to Manhattan gave me the opportunity to stop counting calories for one day, to journey on a virtual quest to Brooklyn nostalgia.  One bite did it all....

Since moving to the 'Burbs of New York...  I miss so many of the indulgences  that New York City has to offer.  I grew up in Brooklyn, so visiting Junior's Restaurant was a must right along side the Super Cheesy Pizza,  and the Grilled Hot Dog from Fulton Street.  A recent visit to Manhattan gave me the opportunity to stop counting calories for one day, to journey on a virtual quest to Brooklyn nostalgia.  One bite did it all....

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of having a Cosi Signature salad, then I'm sure you will agree with me, as it is my favorite salad with a dressing you can drink. (kidding) I miss living in the big city so I have to improvise. And with a huge thanks to  The Brown Eyed Baker  ,  I was able to recreate it down to that awesome drinkable dressing.  This is the first salad I’ve eaten with fruit in it. It has pistachios, red grapes, gorgonzola cheese, pears, and dried cranberries. I added leftover cooked chicken because I was starving and I didn’t want to be hungry later. My hubby sliced up a boiled egg in his. No egg for me. I had one already this afternoon. The chicken was a great companion to the fresh fruit.                                         *Note: The Original Cosi salad does not have chicken or eggs.                   ...

If you’ve ever had the pleasure of having a Cosi Signature salad, then I'm sure you will agree with me, as it is my favorite salad with a dressing you can drink. (kidding) I miss living in the big city so I have to improvise. And with a huge thanks to  The Brown Eyed Baker  ,  I was able to recreate it down to that awesome drinkable dressing.  This is the first salad I’ve eaten with fruit in it. It has pistachios, red grapes, gorgonzola cheese, pears, and dried cranberries. I added leftover cooked chicken because I was starving and I didn’t want to be hungry later. My hubby sliced up a boiled egg in his. No egg for me. I had one already this afternoon. The chicken was a great companion to the fresh fruit.                                         *Note: The Original Cosi salad does not have chicken or eggs.             ...

What is nature trying to tell me? Of all places for a Praying Mantis to appear, it showed up in my local supermarket on a box of Cheerios :)

What is nature trying to tell me? Of all places for a Praying Mantis to appear, it showed up in my local supermarket on a box of Cheerios :)

As a full time working Mom with 4 other ambitions going strong, my weekends are planned a month in advance. I am currently juggling momager duties for my aspiring actress daughter, coordinating photo shoots, actually writing down recipes for future blog posts, reviewing music for my other blog, mixing music for licensing companies, and keeping everyone in line at home.... I may get an hour total  to sit down and reflect on my day then it's off I go.... I recently came across this recipe for an "Apple Cinnamon Roll Bake" on that dreadfully sinful "Buzzfeed Tasty" site. I needed a quick get up and go meal to go with my coffee on a busy Saturday morning. I decided to try it and get moving.... Here's what it looks like on the Tasty Site... (photo courtesy of BuzzFeed) INGREDIENTS Serves 4–6 2 packs cinnamon roll dough with icing 4 eggs ½ cup milk 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 tablespoons butter 2 granny smith apples, diced 1 cup brown sugar...

As a full time working Mom with 4 other ambitions going strong, my weekends are planned a month in advance. I am currently juggling momager duties for my aspiring actress daughter, coordinating photo shoots, actually writing down recipes for future blog posts, reviewing music for my other blog, mixing music for licensing companies, and keeping everyone in line at home.... I may get an hour total  to sit down and reflect on my day then it's off I go.... I recently came across this recipe for an "Apple Cinnamon Roll Bake" on that dreadfully sinful "Buzzfeed Tasty" site. I needed a quick get up and go meal to go with my coffee on a busy Saturday morning. I decided to try it and get moving.... Here's what it looks like on the Tasty Site... (photo courtesy of BuzzFeed) INGREDIENTS Serves 4–6 2 packs cinnamon roll dough with icing 4 eggs ½ cup milk 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 2 tablespoons butter 2 granny smith apples, diced 1 c...

So the recipe for my version of Stuffed Red Peppers comes from at least a dozen versions found on the internet. My whole approach was to get as much flavor out of these babies as possible. Most recipes called for rice, meat usually beef or turkey, and cheese for those who like it. I like all of these things so I incorporated them into my recipe. I also have family members that either don’t eat beef or don’t eat turkey (oy!) so I did both. I do have a lot of ingredients but the flavors came out really good! This recipe makes about 10 bell peppers. I wanted to try the peppers first in case it tasted funky...  I can assure you it didn’t.  There was a lot of meat leftover so I used it for 5 prepared meal packages for the week. My only issue was timing. As you can see they are a little well done so I will make sure to adjust my cooking time next time. Every recipe I found had a different temperature and cooking time so I was winging it for real….So without further adieu here is my ...