Been inventing vegan, vegetarian, and non-vegetarian burger options...
So far, they taste delicious, but the burgers look more like sloppy joes to me, so I will update once I find the right ingredient to add to them!

In My Opinion...

This new section on Peek in Your Pantry will be my own personal opinion on things I've tasted/eaten. I think though, my opinion will always be a good one. I will also devote this section to my many, many, many failed recipes, or things I could work on.

Shrimp Cakes/Patties

So I did not come up with the recipe for these. I don't remember what my mom said when she told me the ingredients, but I do know these contain shrimp, garlic powder, salt, pepper, some other kind of power, and oil. They're so, so, so good!

Personally, the next time we make this, we'll add less salt, because it seems more like something to eat with a main course, than something just as an appetizer.

Basically, you mix all the ingredients together, and you fry them in oil! And they take maybe three to four minutes to cook. Super fast, and super yummy!

If I can find the correct measurements, I'll post a recipe as soon as possible.

Summery Lime-nade

So this is the only way I will make lime-nade. I'm not a big fan of lemons, but you could easily make this with lemons if you want.
Adding some chopped mint leaves will give the lime-nade a fresher taste, and that's insanely important for those hot summer days.

Ingredients:
4 limes
4 cups cold water
1/2 cup sugar

Step 1: Zest all four limes, and put the lime zest in a large jug. Juice the four limes and also add to the jug.
Step 2: Pour in the cold water, sugar, and stir. Chill in the fridge until ready to serve.
Step 3: Before serving, dip the tips of the cups in water, and then in sugar to create the frosty tip. Slice up some strips from another lime and attach to the cup. Stir before pouring the lime-nade.

Rosemary Potatoes w/ Garlic and Onion Steamed Mussels

So I remember seeing something about garlic steamed mussels in a Winter cookbook, but I never actually got around to actually reading, much less, trying the recipe.
At first I made the potatoes, but then I realized I needed some stock to make gravy to go with them. I opened the freezer up, no frozen stock, but I did find a pack of frozen mussels. So that's where this came from!

Ingredients:
Rosemary Potatoes
4-5 medium sized russet potatoes
1 teaspoon chopped rosemary
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Garlic and Onion Steamed Mussels
10 frozen, or fresh mussels (fresh mussels will take longer to cook)
2 bay leaves
6 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
1 small yellow onion, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
pinch of ground pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
pinch of red pepper flakes (optional)

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Cut the potatoes, skin on or off, into french fry like pieces. Toss on a baking dish with olive oil, salt, pepper, and rosemary until evenly coated. Bake in the oven until they are soft and tender.
Step 2: Place a non plastic plate, bottom up in a pot. The plate should be about the same size at the bottom of the pot.
Step 3: Pour half a cup of water in the pot and bring the water to a boil. On medium heat, add the two teaspoons of salt and bay leaves.
Step 4: Line the mussels up in the pan. Sprinkle in the chopped onion, garlic, pepper, and pepper flakes. Drizzle on some olive oil, and put the lid on the pot.
Step 5: Occasionally lift the lid up and slightly stir.

Frozen cooked mussels should take until the onion, and garlic are very soft, tender, and sweet. Fresh mussels will hold more flavor, but will take longer. They are done when the shells open up. Discard any mussels that have not opened.

Place the potato fries on a dish, and two to three mussels over top. Pour some of the liquid from the mussels over the mussels and fries. Serve hot.

Banana Bread

Ingredients:
1/3 cup canola or vegetable Oil
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1 cup mashed banana (about 2 large bananas)
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 tsp baking powder
pinch of salt

Step One: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and grease a loaf pan. Grease by buttering the pan, then cover with a thin layer of flour.
Step Two: Mix the oil, sugar, vanilla, and eggs in a bowl. Add the mashed bananas and mix well. Add the flour, baking powder, and salt and stir until the dry items are incorporated.
Step Three: Bake in the center of the oven for 65-75 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If the bread looks too dark, don’t worry, it’s still very moist and delicious (this depends on the oven).

Ratatouille!

Some may call it "poor man's stew", but Either way, Ratatouille is a very thick stew, or hot salad, that has a lot many ripe vegetables in it. The reason why they called it poor man's stew is because this was considered a peasant dish, and at some restaurants, it's still seen like that in France. YES! French food! When vegetables got too ripe, instead of throwing them out, peasants would make something like Ratatouille! Which is... Ratatouille... of course.

There are many different variations on how to make this. If I'm making this for one (which I do often, because no one eats the food I make except me), I usually just stir everything together. You could slice the vegetables up, and arrange then in a casserole dish and bake the Ratatouille, or you could layer the sauce and vegetable neatly on a plate. It's really all up to you.

One last thing is, there are endless possibilities with the vegetable choices. What I used in this recipe is only a suggestion. Besides, every time I make this dish, I use whatever vegetables are available to me. I've used everything from corn, Chinese cabbage, zucchini, to Asian mushrooms, and bell peppers.

Ingredients:
6 medium sized tomatoes
1 medium white onion
1 clove of garlic
1 large eggplant
A handful of spinach
Dried pepper flakes
Bay leaves
Rosemary
Salt & Pepper
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Step 1: Slice the top and bottom of the onion and peel. Cut in half along the top and bottom, not the widest part of the onion, and slice. This is so you get strips of onion, not chunks.
Step 2: Turn the heat on high and pour some olive oil in the pan and add the onions. While stirring, break up the onion slices so you get strips. Turn the heat to medium to low while you start on the tomatoes.
Step 3: Stirring the onions occasionally, slice each tomato into four pieces and with your knife, remove the seeds. This seems time consuming, but it really is not. It's something to do while your onions are softening up.
Step 4: When the onions are soft and sweet, add the seedless tomatoes and the chopped garlic. Put in a bay leaf, and about a teaspoon of chopped rosemary. Stir to mix everything evenly, then put a lid on the pot and check and stir every few minutes.
Step 5: While the sauce is cooking down, prepare the eggplant. This is where you can decide on any type of vegetable you want. So far, I've tried eggplant and zucchini in the oven and they both work great. Slice or cut your vegetable(s) and drizzle with olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and pop in the oven at 350 degrees until they are tender.
Step 6: Halfway through the cooking process, if you've stirred and covered with a lid, the tomato sauce should look similar to this. This is where you can add salt and pepper to season. Add about half a teaspoon of pepper flakes and continue to let the sauce boil at the medium heat.
Step 7: For the spinach, use a small pan to wilt it down with some olive oil. The spinach wilts down quickly so cook that near the end and season with salt, pepper, and pepper flakes.
Step 8: Toss all the cooked vegetables with the tomato sauce and serve!

Scones

Scones are probably my favorite pastry. When I eat them, I like to imagine myself sitting in a pub in London, drinking some tea or coffee. The original recipe called for strawberry jam in the center, but when I made it, the jam oozed out, and burnt. So, personally, I think spreading jam on them would be fine.

Ingredients:
3 cups All Purpose Flour
1 cup 35% Whipping Cream (chilled) (15% for lighter scones)
1 tablespoon Baking Powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/4 White Sugar
1 cup Vegetable Shortening (chilled)
1 egg, beaten

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line pan with cooking spray and wax paper.

2. Combine flour, salt, sugar, and baking powder.
3. Cut the cold shortening up to bite sized pieces.

4. Use a fork to mash the shortening into the dry mixture. When it resembles a coarse bread crumb like substance, cream is ready to be added. Pour the cream in and form into a sticky dough.

5. Flour your rolling surface. Roll the dough out to 2 cm thick. Use a round cookie cutter, or a small cup to cut out the dough.

6. Place all scones on the baking sheet and use a cooking brush to brush the egg over the top.

7. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes. The scones should be slightly taller than they were prior to being in the oven, and the top should be golden.

Caramelized Bananas

I found this recipe in an old children's cookbook. Turns out, caramelized bananas were a 50's classic. Served with two scoops of ice cream, or in their regular shape, these are delicious.

Ingredients:
1 medium ripe banana, sliced

2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon butter
Step 1: Melt the butter in a small pan on medium heat.
Step 2: Once the butter starts to turn golden, add the sliced bananas and coat evenly with the butter.
Step 3: Flip the bananas to the other side and sprinkle the brown sugar on.
Step 4: Remove from the heat and toss altogether.

Serve with ice-cream or by themselves. It is also possible to bake them in the oven. Slice a banana in half lengthwise, rub with butter, sprinkle on brown sugar, and bake in a 350 degree oven until soft.