M is for Meal in a Mug

I watched a quarantine episode of Pioneer Woman recently where she was making meals and snacks from pantry items, including making a cake in a mug. It seemed to be more trouble than just making a whole damn cake, but mug starts with "M," and today is "M" day (funny, I don't know what day of the week it is anymore, but I know what LETTER it is).

A quick Pinterest search led me to Buzzfeed and 15 Mini Meals You Can Cook In A Mug. Hello!

Being that I can't run to the store and grab a couple of ingredients, I could only pick recipes I could make from stuff I actually had. That took out 12 of the 15 recipes. Out of those three, I chose Pepperoni Pizza in a Mug and Chocolate Chip Cookie in a Mug. If you're wondering what didn't make the cut, it was Creamy Loaded Potato Soup, which was basically just a cup of broth with a little bit of instant mashed potatoes stirred in, plus a sprinkle of cheese and bacon, and it seemed more like something someone might make in their jail cell rather than in a kitchen.

The pepperoni pizza started with a canned biscuit. Now, who opens a whole can of biscuits just to use one of them for pizza in a mug? Not this girl. Besides, I didn't have canned biscuits (oops), but I DID have Bisquick, so I made one biscuit with it (I eyeballed it - a couple spoons of mix and enough water to make a dough, then I patted it into a biscuit shape). That went into the bottom of a microwavable mug and into the microwave for 30 seconds. When it came out, I added a couple of spoonfuls of marinara sauce, some chopped pepperoni, and shredded mozzarella cheese. Back in the microwave for one minute and done. 

I gave it to my guinea pig, a/k/a my husband.

Husband: Is it chicken? What's the dough? Is it ravioli? Is it egg?

Me: Is it bad?

Husband: If I were on a low carb diet and this was low carb, and I hadn't tasted pizza in a week or a month or a year, this would be really good. It tastes pizza-y. It's no Shakespeare's (a favorite pizza place in Columbia, MO). It's better than Little Caesers, though. I'm not going to be requesting it for dinner any time soon.

Note: he did eat it all.

The chocolate chip cookie in a mug started with melted butter in the bottom of the mug, followed by a tablespoon of white sugar, a tablespoon of brown sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of salt. After mixing those, you were supposed to add an egg yolk (according to the recipe, only the yolk is used because the white makes it rubbery - ick). One egg yolk is still a lot of egg, when you consider you only use two eggs to make a whole batch of chocolate chip cookies, but I added it, followed by flour and chocolate chips, then microwaved for 40-60 seconds. I wasn't sure how to tell if it was done or not, since it doesn't brown, so I ended up cooking mine for 60 seconds, and I don't think it was overcooked. I gave it to my guinea pig.

Husband: Ooo! I like this! Can't go wrong with this! This is already better than the pizza. It's good! I would make this again if it's easy and not a pain in the ass (it was a little of both). It would totally satisfy a craving for chocolate chip cookies. It's more muffin-y than cookie-like. No, it's actually brownie-like!

Note: he ate it all and practically licked the mug.

My bottom line? Both weren't bad, and maybe something fun to do with kids or something, but if I want pizza or cookies (or potato soup), I'll just make the grown-up version.