A Fresh Start

Yes, a fresh start. This blog originally started out as Asian Addicts Anonymous then became Asian Music Addicts Anonymous and then it was given a new URL and the original content was deleted and was used as an actual blog, mostly dedicated to photography of the sky. Hence the name was An Everchanging Sky.

_{Meet my traveling bear avatar!}

I have decided to reboot An Everchanging Sky in a new way and thus I think this blog is entering its final iteration and that will be a Travel Blog of sorts documenting trips around the Mitten State. Why? Mainly because I have no money to travel beyond my home state pretty much. Plus…Michigan is kind of cool, not going to lie. With all of our lakeshores and beauty not only just in the upper peninsula, I do love my state for the most part. Now if only our infrastructure can get fixed…

Thank you for sticking around while I figure things out. I will NOT be deleting the old content or changing the URL again. But things are still in a transitional period. I have posts plan and just need the time to get them put into motion.

I am still working out if I’ll be keeping this theme or not or changing things up. Making up my mind can be so difficult! I hope you stick around and enjoy learning more about the fun times to be had in Michigan with me.

Perfect Game Day Dip

I won’t lie…the only “sport” I watch is auto racing, so I am not the kind to do a big Super Bowl party with a bunch of snack foods. That said, this dip would be perfect for such an occasion as the Super Bowl, so I thought it would be a perfect time to share this on the blog. Let’s dig in.

A yummy layered dip with refried beans, cream cheese, and hamburger. Perfect for snacking on during whatever big game you're watching.

I actually pre-cooked everything so the bake time would be shorter. You can obviously not do this step and you’ll want to bake it for longer. I also put the crushed chips and cheese on and baked it for 20 minutes. You’ll want to do this part in the last 5 or 10 minutes of baking or you’ll end up with over-cooked cheese.

Ingredients

• 1 can refried beans
• 1 can (4 oz) diced green chilies
• 1/4 tsp chili lime seasoning
• 1/4 tsp ground cumin
• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1 tbsp southwestern seasoning
• 1/2 white onion, chopped
• 1/2 bell pepper, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, diced
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1 jalapeno, diced
• 1/2 bag Mexican cheese blend
• 1/2 lb hamburger (I used a 90/10 blend)
• 1/8 cup taco seasoning
• crushed tortilla chips (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. In a medium non-stick pan over medium-low heat, add refried beans, chili lime seasoning, and cumin. Cook until heated through. Stir in diced green chilies. Spread bean mixture evenly in the bottom of a 2-quart glass baking dish.
3. Top with 1/4 bag of the Mexican cheese blend.
4. Wipe out the frypan and drizzle with olive oil. On medium-high heat, add onions, green pepper, and frozen corn. When these start to soften, add in the garlic, and diced jalapeno. Cook until the veggies start to brown.
5. Spoon half the veggie mixture over the bean and cheese layer.
6. In a small mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, sour cream, and mayo. Stir in the southwestern seasoning, a handful of shredded cheese, and the rest of the vegetables.
7. Spread this evenly over the veggie layer.
8. In the same frypan you used to cook the vegetables, brown the hamburger. Stir in the taco seasoning. Add a little water if there isn’t enough moisture in the meat. Sprinkle this evenly over the cream cheese layer.
9. Bake for 20-25 minutes.
10. If using the crushed tortilla chips, sprinkle this over the meat and then top with the remaining cheese and bake for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted.
11. Serve while warm with tortilla or pita chips.

This dip was really great, especially with the crushed tortilla chips on top. It was a good mix of textures and flavors and had just the right amount of heat for me. I don’t do super spicy food.

The cream cheese layer is actually inspired by Ree Drummond’s Hot Corn Dip.

Easy Banana Pancakes

So, I inevitably have bananas that get to a point where I won’t eat them. Too ripe, too soft, too mushy, and very bad for my not-so-good digestive system. I have made banana brownies, pina coloda blondies, this banana sheet cake, etc. My grandfather doesn’t eat muffins or breads, so those don’t get made either. But you get sick of the same ol’ same ol’ and thus I decided to throw a bunch of ingredients in a bowl and see if it turned out. Thus these pancakes were made.

• Servings: 2-4
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Easy to make banana pancakes that will please everyone...even banana haters since the banana flavor is not strong or even noticeable.

Ingredients

• 2 bananas
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp butter, melted
• zest of 1 orange
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 1/8 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cocoa
• 1/4 tsp vanilla
• 1/4 cup molasses
• 1/2 cup pancake flour

Directions

1. In a small mixing bowl, mash your bananas.
2. Add your melted butter and stir to combine.
3. Add all of the ingredients through molasses and mix thoroughly until everything is well incorporated.
4. Stir in your pancake flour. If the consistency is too runny, add additional pancake flour a teaspoon at a time until it reaches your desired consistency.
5. Heat your griddle and lightly grease the surface. Pour on the batter to the size you desire. The batter makes either two large pancakes or four smaller pancakes.

I did not actually take a picture of these pancakes before they got eaten, sadly. The ingredients may seem a bit on the odd side, but they go very well together and even my grandfather who, as I said, really isn’t a banana bread, muffin, or cake fan enjoyed these pancakes.

Serve them with some delicious maple syrup or sprinkle them with powdered sugar and cocoa. If you want to get more adventurous, you can add some mini chocolate chips and finely chopped nuts to the batter. I think these would go excellently with a brown sugar glaze I concocted, too.

NeeNee’s Okonomiyaki

I love Asian food…and Asian movies, dramas, anime, and manga…yeah. That’s why I have a blog devoted to all things Asian entertainment that I don’t keep as updated as I would like.

I love to try my hand at making traditional Asian foods and have usually a decent mix of ingredients on hand at any given time. I found a recipe that I absolutely loved for a Hiroshima-style Okonomiyaki, but I rarely make it, lol. I found a more simple one I think via Cooking Light, but I might be wrong about that.

Caramel Apple Skillet Pancake

I don’t know why, but I thought it would be cool to cook up some apples, pour some pancake batter over them, bake this in the oven and then top it all with some old fashioned caramel sauce.

Caramel Apple Skillet Grunt

Grunt…that’s a fun or rather weird word for a yummy dessert, isn’t it? If I were to describe a grunt…I feel more like it’s fruit topped with a sweeter type of biscuit which they call “dumplings.” Since dumplings are traditionally cooked in a soup and therefor don’t necessarily get the nice browning these get, not sure I agree. It goes back to colonial times and is in the same family as crisps, cobblers, betty’s, and pandowdy’s, and slumps. Why? Because you’re cooking fruit with some sort of “crust” on top.

A Dose of Inspiration from Nelson Mandela

This can be the hardest thing to understand. So many times we tell ourselves that something is impossible. There is no way I can enact any change and be successful at it.

Is that really true? According to Mandela, “It always seems impossible until it is done.”

Can I really understand WordPress, Joomla, or CSS? Can I really teach myself a new language? Can this project really be completed on time? Do I have what it takes to make my own pattern or recipe? Dare I follow something in which there are no rules or guidelines.

“Impossibility” is the limitations we set for ourselves. What impossibility became realized in your own life recently?

Peanut Butter Banana Brownies

A few years ago I had bananas that needed to be used and I decided to go on a recipe hunt for something that wasn’t banana bread or cake related. I stumbled upon a recipe that I think used bananas, peanut butter, and cocoa. I can’t remember if there was a sugar or sweetener involved or not.

Of course, I didn’t 100% follow the recipe even though you probably should the first time out. Sometimes it’s because I don’t have all the ingredients and sometimes it’s because I don’t necessarily like something, so I have to change it. I believe I threw in some leftover dark cherries and may have added something else. Maybe I added maple syrup and there wasn’t supposed to be… Texturally it did NOT scream brownie. It wasn’t bad. My grandfather didn’t like it so I think I had to finish the mini loaf pan by myself or take part of it into work so it didn’t go to waste.

Quick and Easy Quinoa and Oatmeal Porridge

I have eaten a lot of oatmeal and cream cereals for breakfast over the course of my 34 years, but haven’t tried a whole lot of porridge or congee. I found a recipe online that, while I liked, didn’t turn out 100% for me. I wish I could remember where I found that recipe.

Anyways, this is my spin on that recipe. I use quick oats as that is always what we have in my house. I’ve never had steel cut oats now that I think about it. I have also taken to using a 1-minute quinoa blend to go with it. Since my grandfather is not a fan of quinoa, I don’t always have it on hand and have taken to just buying the Minute Ready variety.

Ham & Cheese Omelet with Sausage & Bacon Hash & Hollandaise Sauce

Believe it or not, I do not think I ever had hollandaise sauce until I ate at Bob Evans and they released their Everything Breakfast. It wasn’t until I ate that dish that I tried their ham and eggs benedict, which I also found I like. Being lactose intolerant…this sadly does my digestive system no good, but I do love it.

Ham & Cheese Omelet with Sausage and Bacon Hash and Hollandaise

I have made my own version of Bob Evan’s Everything Breakfast using a cheddar and herb biscuit versus a skillet biscuit, but I decided to change things up.