Latest Food and Drink Concoctions

I lied in my last post. I’m only giving you recipes for a drink, side, and “other” type of item. My cookie making has been a bust, so no dessert for you—unless you consider skittle-infused vodka to be dessert.

Today’s post is just a combo of some of my latest kitchen adventures. You’ll find 3 separate how-to’s: skittle-infused vodka, zucchini and tomato bake, and homemade breadcrumbs.

First things first…

Skittle-Infused Vodka

Ever since I pinned this idea onto my Pinterest, I’ve been wanting an excuse to try the skittle concoction. Thanks to my sister’s birthday, I decided to try it out. She shared it with me, and it was quite tasty. My method of winging it actually worked pretty well. Here’s how I did it.

Ingredients:

• Bag of skittles
• 5 vodka mini bottles
• 5 coffee filters
• 5 medium-sized drinking glasses
• 5 rubber bands

1. Start with 5 bottles of vodka and a bag of Skittles. Sort the colors. (I ended up with at least 10 of each color, except only 8 of green.)

2. Put each Skittle color into its own bottle. (The Skittles may need an extra push into the bottles, as they just barely fit.) Shake.

Note: You will need to pour out a bit of vodka from each bottle because it will overflow with the addition of the Skittles. Once you have finished making the infused vodka, you can top off each bottle with the leftover vodka to make sure the bottles are full again.

3. Let bottles sit for 5+ hours, or until all the Skittles have dissolved. (I let them sit overnight.)

4. Put a coffee filter over each cup and secure with a rubber band. Pour each bottle into the designated cup.

Note: The residue from the Skittles will make the filtration process extremely slow, if not stop it altogether. You will need to scrape it aside once in awhile with a spoon.

5. Pour the filtered vodka back into each bottle.

This is when you’ll want to top off each with the leftover vodka you set aside in the beginning.

I found that mixing the vodka with Sierra Mist was delish. Granted, this drink isn’t the healthiest. I tried it with club soda as well, and it wasn’t too bad. So, if you’d like less sugar and such, you can always do that. And then there’s just drinking it straight up. Whatever suits your fancy.

Zucchini and Tomato Bake

(Adapted from this recipe from TastyKitchen.com)

Ingredients:

• 1 medium zucchini
• 2 large tomatoes
• 1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp dry basil
• 2 Tbs salted butter, melted
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and lightly grease 8×8 baking pan.
2. Slice zucchini and tomatoes into 1/4-in thickness. Layer half of the zucchini in the pan. Place half of tomatoes onto the zucchini. Continue for a third layer with the rest of the zucchini and a fourth layer with the tomatoes. Salt and pepper.
3. In a small bowl, mix the breadcrumbs, garlic powder, basil, butter, and half of the cheese. Sprinkle the mixture onto the vegetables, and add the rest of the cheese on top.
4. Cover with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until tender.

Homemade Breadcrumbs

Making your own breadcrumbs is surprisingly simple. I prefer to just make my own most of the time instead of buying Panko, because it cuts down on all the separate ingredients I have to store in our tiny apartment. Here’s my go-to method:

Ingredients:

• Desired number of sandwich bread slices (the heels work well)

Directions:

1. Toast bread in the toaster. (It helps to toast it, leave it to cool off, and then finish toasting it. This helps it dry out, which makes for crisper breadcrumbs.)
2. Break the bread into chunks to fit into the food processor. Grind until it’s the desired consistency.
3. Optional: Add Italian seasonings to the mix for Italian breadcrumbs (as seen in the picture).

Simple enough, yes? If you don’t have a food processor, you could smash the toast in a bag like I used to do. It ends up being much more time-consuming though.

Can you think of another ingredient that would go well infused with alcohol?