What's Cookin'

This week I am trying a few new recipes! I love to do that, especially when the weather turns cooler like it has, here, this week. Love this fall weather!

• Yesterday we had grilled cheese with this Roasted Tomato Basil Soup - from Steph's Bite-by-Bite.
• Today we are trying {Slow Cooker} Quinoa Tex Mex - from Master Cook/Chelsea's Messy Apron
• Tomorrow we are having Grilled Salmon with Avocado Salsa - from the Cookie Rookie
• Friday our youngest daughter, our vegetarian will be having her team dinner, so we will have Sliders with Red Onion Marmalade and Blue Cheese - from Tastebook
• Saturday will probably either be leftovers or eating out, since our oldest daughter will be home (Yay! Her first visit since we dropped her off at college! Love having both my girls at home!)
• And to finish off the week, we will be at a birthday party for my nephew and niece at dinner time. 

I will let you know how they turn out. How about you? Trying any new recipes? Or sticking with some old favorites?

Recipes I've Tried This Week

This past weekend I sat down and planned the week's meals. I feel better when I do this, I don't buy as much junk and I don't have to make ten trips to the grocery store. On Monday I tried Spinach, Ricotta & Pesto Lasagna. This version of the recipe calls for you to make your own noodle sheets and I did not. It turned out delicious! All three of us enjoyed it-and leftovers this week, too! We gave it two thumbs up and will be making it again. 

I also tried cherry tomato and tortellini soup. I had purchased pre-made cheese tortellini for one night and then saw that we needed to use up tomatoes in our fridge-not cherry, but they worked. One other change: We had spinach we had to use before it went bad so I sauteed it with some garlic and put it in the soup, as well. YUM! :) Another recipe we all liked! I have one more recipe I'm trying, but I will post about it next week. :) 

Have you tried any delicious recipes, lately, Reader? Or have you brought out some family favorites?

Recipes

Since I haven't posted any recipes in January, this is a link heavy post of recipes I have tried thus far. With all our cold, snowy days we've had time to try a few new things! :)

1. Egg and Avocado BLT with Chipotle Mayo
2. Greek Yogurt Banana Bread
3. Grilled Garlic and Herb Shrimp
4. Asparagus and Avocado Wrap
5. Loaded Baked Potato Soup
6. Lemon cupcakes with lemon cream cheese icing
7. More Lemon cupcakes

Have you tried any new, yummy recipes lately, Reader?

Recipes I've Recently Tried

I got behind and haven't posted many recipes I've tried, so I will post a few and try to catch up over the next few weeks.
First, my oldest daughter had seen this, where else, on Pinterest and sent me the link so we could try it. It turned out to be easy and delicious!
One Pot Cheesy Chicken Pasta
I followed the "tip" in the recipe and cubed the chicken...

One Pot Cheesy Chicken Pasta

Ingredients

• 2 cups shredded or diced chicken
• 2 Tbsp minced green onion
• 2 Tbsp minced garlic
• 1 can Manwich Bold + 1 can water
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1/2 pound of small dry pasta (I used penne)
• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

1. 1. Heat a small amount of oil in a large pot. Add onion and garlic and saute for one minute, then add cooked chicken* and saute for a couple of minutes.
2. (*Tip: I happened to have cooked, shredded chicken on hand so I used that, but I think I would start with raw chicken next time and cook the diced chicken and in the pot).
3. 2. Add chicken broth, Manwich Bold Sloppy Joe Sauce, water and pasta to the pot. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer for about 25-25 minutes.
4. 3. Remove from heat and stir in shredded cheddar until well incorporated, reserving a handful to sprinkle on the top. Cover for a few minutes to allow the cheese to melt, and stir.
5. 4. Serve.

One other recipe for today: 

Soft Almond Sugar Cookies

Once my oldest daughter came home, both girls requested we make cookies for the holidays. We usually do, and we usually use our traditional list. However, this time, we strayed from our list. I had never made these cookies before, but my family declared they must be used again the future because they were some of the best ever. :) Yay! :) I found the tip at the end about the baking time also true-they seemed underdone, but I followed her advice and it worked out great!

Soft Almond Sugar Cookies

1 1/2 C white sugar 2/3 C butter (cold) 2/3 C shortening (room temp) 2 eggs 2 tsp almond extract 2 3/4 C cake flour 1 C all purpose flour 1 Tbsp cornstarch 2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp salt sugar in the raw (I like raw sugar for this, but any coarse sugar would work) Preheat oven to 350 degrees and prepare baking sheet. Cream sugar, butter and shortening.  Stir in eggs and almond extract.  Combine flour, cornstarch, baking powder and salt and add to butter/egg mixture.  Use electric mixer to ensure dough is thoroughly combined. Chill dough in fridge for 30 minutes. Roll 2 tsp of dough (I used a small cookie scoop) into a ball and roll in raw sugar.  Place on prepared pan. Bake cookies for 7 minutes.  Remove from oven and gently press rounded tops of cookies flat with the back of a spoon while the cookies are still warm and pliable.  The cornstarch will keep the dough from spreading, so this step just makes them look better! Return remaining dough to fridge in between baking each batch. Allow to cool on pan for 1 minute. Remove to cooling rack.  Allow to cool completely. A tip: ~DO NOT bake longer than 8 minutes!!  They may seem under-baked, but when they cool they will firm up.

Recipes We Have Tried This Week

We currently do not own a grill. Ours rusted and fell apart. Instead of buying one, my husband started using our meat smoker like a grill to cook any burgers we may make. Sunday we wanted to make steaks... but no grill... Which is just as well since we had the storm blowing through. So, my husband looked up a recipe for broiled steak. He found a Michael Symon recipe that touted the success of broiling steaks. My husband followed the recipe below except for the lemon. It was delicious! Here is the link.

Broiled Porterhouse with Roasted Garlic and Lemon

Recipe courtesy Michael Symon

Total Time:

9 hr 15 min

Prep:

10 min

|

Inactive Prep:

8 hr 50 min

|

Cook:

15 min

Level:

Easy

Yield:

4 to 6 servings

INGREDIENTS

• Two 24-ounce dry-aged prime porterhouse steaks
• Kosher salt

• 4 strips bacon or 2 tablespoons bacon fat
• Roasted Garlic Schmear, recipe follows

• Roasted Garlic Schmear
• 1 head roasted garlic, peeled
• Juice and zest of 1 lemon
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon chopped oregano
• 1 tablespoon sea salt

DIRECTIONS

The night before you serve the steaks, season them liberally with salt on both sides and store in the refrigerator overnight. Remove them from the fridge 45 minutes before cooking, to take the chill off. 

Turn the oven to broil. 

Prepare your pan(s). Note: depending on the size of the steaks and the size of your pan, you may need two pans. If using the bacon, place in a large cast-iron pan(s) and cook over medium heat until crispy. Remove from the pan, leaving the melted bacon fat, and set aside for another use. If using the cold bacon fat, add it to a cast-iron pan(s) over medium-high heat and melt. 

Open a window or two because it may get a little smoky. Place the steaks in the pan(s) and place under the broiler for 4 minutes. Flip the steaks carefully and return to the broiler for another 4 minutes. 

At this point your steaks will be about medium rare. Leave them under the broiler a little longer if you prefer them more cooked. 

Spread the Roasted Garlic Schmear over the tops of the steaks. Let rest for 5 minutes, and then slice and serve.

Combine all the ingredients in a small bowl or a mortar and pestle. Mix to combine. Yield: about 1/2 cup

Recipes I Tried This Week

Today my husband and I tried two new recipes. The first I found on Pinterest and I made for breakfast before my husband and daughter woke up. It was easy and the muffins were light and fluffy. My husband said they were the best muffins he has ever had. He's been eating less bread and things that aren't as healthy for him and he had two. ;) They were great with my coffee. The link can be found here. And the recipe:
Orange Sour Cream Muffins with Zesty Orange Glaze

original recipe: http://damndelicious.tumblr.com/post/26330953745/muffin-monday-orange-sour-cream-muffins-with-zesty Yields 11 muffins
Ingredients:

• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup sour cream
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 1 tablespoon orange zest

For the Zesty Orange Glaze:

• 1 1/2 cups confectioners’ sugar
• 1/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
• 2 teaspoons orange zest

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.
In a large glass measuring cup or another bowl, whisk together the butter, sour cream, egg, orange juice and orange zest.
Pour mixture over dry ingredients and stir using a rubber spatula just until moist.
Scoop the batter evenly into the muffin tray.
Place into oven and bake for 16-18 minutes, or until a tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
To make the glaze, combine the confectioners’ sugar, orange juice and orange zest. Whisk until smooth. If the glaze is too thin, add more confectioners’ sugar as needed.
When the muffins are done, cool for 10 minutes and dip the muffin crown into the glaze.
Allow glaze to set before serving.

The next recipe I made this evening for dinner. My inlaws were out of town last week and had left uncarved pumpkins on their porch. Fear of frost/rotting, I brought the pumpkins home, cut one up and baked it. Tonight I used some of that fresh pumpkin for this soup. Sounds strange, I know, even my daughter mentioned that, but we all LOVED it. My husband mentioned he might even have it for a warm morning breakfast tomorrow! I made a few slight changes: I substituted veg stock instead of chicken and added a smidge of white wine when I added the stock. I also didn't have any sage so I just added a pinch of dried thyme. The recipe can be found here. 

Fresh Pumpkin Soup by Kerry Simon

By MarraMamba on August 22, 2007

Photo by Mikekey

17 Reviews

• 
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 50 mins
• Servings: 4

About This Recipe

"One of my favorite "star" chef's, this sounds divine. Found it on Food Network. Prep time does not include time to roast the pumpkin"

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 onion, diced
• 2 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 apple, peeled and diced
• 2 cups fresh pumpkin ( roasted and diced, see note below)
• 1 tablespoon sage leaf
• 3 cups chicken stock
• 1 cup cream
• salt & freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. In a stockpot over medium heat, melt butter and saute onion, carrot, apple, roasted pumpkin, and sage until all are tender, about 8 to 10 minutes.
2. Puree the mixture in a food mill; if you do not have a food mill, then puree in a food processor or blender. Return the puree to the stockpot, add the chicken stock and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Then add the cream and simmer for 5 more minutes, lowering the heat if necessary so it does not boil. Season, to taste, with salt and pepper.
4. Divide soup among 4 soup bowls and serve immediately.
5. COOKS NOTE: To roast pumpkin, preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cut whole pumpkin in half and then cut each half into several pieces. Discard seeds or reserve for another use. Place pumpkin on a baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Roast in oven until tender but not falling apart, about 30 to 40 minutes. Let cool, peel away skin, and dice.
   

Recipes I have tried

My parents visited last weekend and we had a wonderful time! My husband smoked some pork in our meat smoker, and it was delicious. He made twice baked potatoes, I roasted broccoli and cauliflower, I baked apples and he made bread. For dessert I made the recipe below and it was delicious! There was a little seizing in the pan for the caramel sauce, but constant stirring eased it. It was wonderful, in fact, my husband said it was the best cheesecake he has ever eaten!! That is high praise! Enjoy!

NEW YORK CHEESECAKE WITH GRAHAM / PRETZEL CRUST & SALTED CARAMEL SOUR CREAM (from the Kitchy Kitchen Blog-YUM!)

New York Cheesecake with Pretzel / Graham Crust and Salted Caramel Sour Cream On Top

Crust:

1 cup graham cracker crumbs

1 cup pretzel crumbs

1/2 cup sugar

12 tablespoons unsalted butter

Filling:

1 1/2 pounds soft cream cheese

3/4 cup sugar

5 eggs

1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla

Topping:

3/4 cup sour cream

1/2 cup salted caramel sauce

To make crumbs, just pulse some pretzels in the food processor until fine.  Remove, and pulse the graham crackers. Combine crumbs, 1/2 cup sugar, and butter in the food processor until one event texture; press on bottom and sides to 8-inch spring form pan. In a standing mixer with paddle attachment, whip cheese until fluffy; beat in sugar; continue beating until light and fluffy. add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. stir in heavy cream. If at all lumpy, strain through sieve.  Pour into the pan. bake at 325F for 1 hour. turn the oven off and leave the cheesecake in the oven 1 hour. Remove from oven and let it cool gradually to room temperature, chill in the fridge for at least 4 hours. When ready to serve, combine salted caramel sauce and sour cream, and spread on top of cheesecake.  Garnish with pretzels.

For the Salted Caramel Sauce:

Makes 2 cups

1 cup white sugar

4 ounces unsalted butter

3/4 cup heavy cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 tsp salt

For the caramel sauce, heat the sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, until the sugar turns golden.  Stir until all of the sugar is dissolved and just starting to turn a lovely amber color.  

Turn heat to low, add the butter, and stir to combine.  Careful, it'll foam up. Then add the heavy cream, vanilla extract, and salt stirring to combine.  You'll cook the sauce for about 5-10 minutes, until it comes together. It’ll take quite a bit of stirring!

Pour the caramel into a glass jar, let it come to room temperature, and store in the fridge for up to two weeks.  Pour over everything and anything!

Social Media Monday and Recipes I Have Tried

Yesterday I posted on Twitter and on Facebook a wonderful recipe I tried yesterday morning: Cranberry Orange Muffins. I was in the mood for them, and in the past I have made them from a mix. In an effort to eliminate some of the unnecessary ingredients from our diets, I decided to make them on my own. I love baking when the weather is cooler, anyway, so this was a good excuse. :) They turned out quite delicious and were pretty easy! I also tried a seafood jambalaya recipe last week, that I have listed here as well. I left out the andouille sausage, for our vegetarian daughter, and didn't get the shrimp with the shells, just used frozen and the ice/liquid they thawed in into my soup. Two nice warm cooler foods! Hope you like them, Reader!

Cranberry Orange Muffins

From Food Network Kitchens

64 Reviews

Total Time: 0 hours 55 minutes

Prep:

Cook:

0 hours 30 minutes

0 hours 25 minutes

Yield:

12 muffins

Level:

Intermediate

Ingredients

• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup fresh orange juice
• 2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened, plus more for preparing the muffin tin
• 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar, plus up to 1 tablespoon for topping the muffins, if desired
• 2 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1/2 cup milk

• Copyright 2001 Television Food Network, G.P. All rights reserved

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Put the cranberries and orange juice in a small saucepan, and bring just to a simmer over medium heat. Remove berries from the heat, and set aside to cool and plump. Drain off any excess liquid and set aside. Lightly brush a 12-muffin tin with butter. Sift the flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl and set aside. In a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, or with an electric hand-held mixer in a large bowl, cream the butter, orange zest, and 2/3 cup sugar until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Remove the bowl from the mixer. Fold the flour in 3 parts into the butter mixture, alternating with the milk in 2 parts, until just combined. Fold in the cranberries. Do not over mix. Divide the batter evenly into the muffin tin and sprinkle the tops with sugar. Bake until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Cool muffins in the pan on a rack. Serve warm.

Gulf Shrimp Jambalaya

Ingredients
2 pounds medium gulf shrimp, peeled and deveined, shells reserved
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 pound andouille sausage, cut into rounds
2 green peppers, seeded and cut into 1/4-inch dice
3 ribs celery, cut into 1/4-inch dice
1 Spanish onion, cut into 1/4-inch dice
Kosher salt
Pinch crushed red pepper
3 cloves garlic, smashed and finely chopped
1 (28-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 cups long-grain rice
2 fresh bay leaves
1 bundle fresh thyme
5 scallions, whites and greens thinly sliced, for garnish
Directions
For the shrimp stock: toss the shrimp shells in a large pot and fill with water. Bring the water to a boil, turn off the heat and let sit for at least 15 to 20 minutes, although longer is fine. Strain the shells and discard.

Coat a large, wide pot with olive oil and bring to medium-high heat. Add the andouille and cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until the sausage starts to brown. Add the peppers, celery, and onion to the pan, season with salt and a pinch crushed red pepper. Cook 7 to 8 minutes or until the mixture has softened and is very aromatic. Toss in the garlic and cook for 2 to 3 more minutes. Add the tomatoes and cayenne. Stir in the rice.

Add 4 cups shrimp stock, bay leaves, and thyme bundle. Season with salt and taste it to make sure you are on the way to something delicious. Cover and cook over medium heat for 25 minutes.

Stir in the shrimp and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes or until the shrimp turn pink. Serve garnished with chopped scallions.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/anne-burrell/gulf-shrimp-jambalaya-recipe/index.html?oc=linkback

Last Friday's Recipes

Last week my husband tried a new soup recipe. It was a chilly evening and he was trying to use the ingredients in our house. So, below was what he made. Delicious and hearty. :) Enjoy! {And this may not be it exactly, but it's close and it's located here.}

Spicy Sausage, Brussel Sprouts, Potato, Onion and Mushroom Soup Recipe

Difficulty: Easy | Total Time: 40 minutes | Active Time: 15 minutes |

A delicious hearty winter soup, that has a bit of kick thanks to the spicy sausage, but is perfect for the winter.

INGREDIENTS

• 6 cups of stock - preferably homemade
• 4 spicy Italian sausages - cut into pieces
• 1 chopped red onion
• 1 chopped portobello mushroom
• 12-15 brussel sprouts - halved
• 3-4 red potatoes, chopped
• 1 teaspoon of cumin
• 1 teaspoon of black pepper
• 1 teaspoon of dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon of white pepper
• 1 tbsp of chili oil
• 1-2 tbsp of salt - if stock not already salted

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Sautee the onion for a minute in the chili oil, then add the sausage to cook for 7-8 minutes.
2. Then add the potatoes to cook for another 5 minutes.

1. Add in both the mushroom and the brussel sprouts, cook for 2-3 minutes, then cover with the stock, and add the other seasonings.
2. Cook for another 20-25 minutes, until the potatoes are perfectly tender.

Recipes I've Tried This Week

As you may have read, my youngest daughter had a birthday last week. We went out and about and stopped into a French restaurant for brunch. We all loved our foods! They had lovely spinach quiches, so I ordered one of those. They were on the small side, my eyes said ;), so I also ordered an orange chocolate muffin. The combination of quiche and coffee filled me almost all the way so I took a taste of the muffin and then brought the rest home. It was almost rich, which I have rarely said of a baked good. It was moist and had a lovely flavor! So, I looked up a recipe. This seems to be close, but the one I had also had some bits of fruit in it, as well, almost the texture of a moist dried apricot... So, I technically haven't tried this recipe, yet, but as the air gets colder and I make warm coffee here at home with free time on my hands, I will turn, as my mom does, to baking. :) I'd better keep running! ;)

Ann Marie Kostyk's Chocolate Orange Muffins

Also, I had vegetables left from a cross country dinner for my youngest daughter and her team. I looked for a "roasted vegetable" recipe, but I also wanted to add pasta. So, I found this: Roasted Vegetable Pasta from the Food Network. The vegetables I had were broccoli, cauliflower, carrots and a few snap peas. Also, I didn't have a can of tomatoes, but I had some yellow pear tomatoes-the last from my garden-that needed to be used. So, I put those into my saucepan instead of the diced tomatoes. It turned out delicious! Was a nice, fairly low-fat meal, and vegetarian for our daughter. We could have served it with meat-chicken cubes may go along nicely with it. It was delicious, and easy, Reader! And warm-great for fall weather and using up those last garden harvests!

Roasted Vegetable Pasta from the Food Network

Recipes I've Tried This Week

I tried one new recipe this week. Our youngest daughter is a vegetarian, and has been since summer, so, while our meat-eater is off at college, we are eating less meat around here. It is healthy and good for us, as well, not to eat so much meat. Thus, I have been looking for new recipes that are meatless but continue to provide the nutrients we all need. I tried a new recipe this week and (first, I made a mistake when making it!) and it was not a positive result! I got the recipe from a cookbook I love,  A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen: Easy Seasonal Dishes for Family and Friends, and have found many yummy recipes from it, but this one is one I will tweak if I use it again. I have added my mistakes and suggestions to changing it. :) I bought this book, and I am sharing just this recipe directly from the cookbook:

Smoky Sweet Potato Puree with Spiced Spinach

Sweet Potatoes
2 1/2 pounds sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes
salt
2 small canned chipotle chiles in adobo sauce, minced about 2 teaspoons, with 2 teaspoons adobo sauce (that was my first mistake-I made it will ALL the chipotle chiles and sauce... and the cans I bought were the smallest our store sold, but ended up being too big! and spicy!!)
2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro leaves

Spiced Spinach
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoons hot red pepper flakes (and I may have used a smidge too many of these-I might leave these out if I put too many chiles in it-the combo was the "too spicy" in this recipe)
2 pounds flat leaf spinach, stems removed unless very thin, leaves washed and shaken dry to remove excess water-about 12 cups tightly packed
salt

1. For the sweet potatoes: place the sweet potatoes in a large saucepan and add enough water to cover by several inches. Add salt to taste and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat slightly and cook until the sweet potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Reserve 1/2 cup of the cooking water and drain the sweet potatoes.
2. Place the drained sweet potatoes in a large bowl and add the chiles, adobo sauce and cilantro. Use a potato masher (I just put them into our blender and lightly mixed) to turn the sweet potatoes into fine bits, adding the reserved cooking water as needed until the mixture forms a fairly smooth puree. Add salt to taste.
3. For the spinach: Meanwhile, heat the oil in a stockpot or a dutch oven over medium heat until shimmering. Add the garlic and pepper flakes and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add the damp spinach, stir well to coat with oil, cover and cook, stirring two or three times, until wilted, about 4 minutes. Uncover and simmer to evaporate excess liquid, 1 to 2 minutes. Season the spinach with salt to taste.
4. To serve: Divide the sweet potato puree among individual bowls (pasta bowls are ideal). Top each with a portion of spinach and serve.

I will try this again, adjusting things to properly follow the recipe. Hopefully you'll look into this book, even if you aren't vegetarian-it has many recipes I (a meat eater ;)) really like! Thanks for reading, Reader!

Right Now

Right now I am

• Typing-I am really enjoying getting back into the regular habit of blogging. It is a good way to think, as well as share, feelings and thoughts. It is a nice form of journaling what our family is experiencing currently, as well.
• Seeing/Watching-my husband is outside mowing and he is trying to trim apple tree branches... This is significant because he always trims too many leaving our trees a bit more... bald than I like them. ;) And I checked with a local nursery and they said try not to trim them until March when they aren't bearing fruit...
• Smelling-I like to cook, but not off the cuff. I know I have mentioned that I love to follow a new recipe. My husband and I had decided to eat leftovers tonight so they won't go to waste. We had chicken and rice bake loosely based off this recipe: Crockpot Chicken Rice and Green Chili Casserole, but I baked mine in the stove with a few minor adjustments.  My husband went downstairs, before mowing/over-trimming trees, and whipped up a soup with those leftovers. I am smelling them now and am suddenly hungry, ready for an early dinner!
• Listening-My big dog is laying beside me, curled up, snoring away, so happy he can be in my office beside me. He was so happy to see our older daughter this weekend.
• Missing-our older daughter. She was home for the weekend, as per request of our younger daughter, to come and "do hair and make-up" for our younger daughter's first high school homecoming dance. She went with a group of friends and looked lovely. Our oldest daughter was glad to come and spend time with us all, and we were sad to see her go. And, as I said, our dog was so happy to see her, and began to act nervous when she brought her bags down today.
• Posting-pictures of our youngest daughter from homecoming. I post to only family and friends on facebook, but here I try not to post pictures of our girls. Just something from my paranoid early days of blogging. One picture had she and I together and people continue to comment on how much we look alike. It's funny how, as parents, we don't notice how much they look like us sometimes, and then in a certain photo, you see it.
• Checking-I play in a fantasy football league with my husband and some friends. The last few weeks my team has played well. We've played combinations of us vs the league average points and against other teams. I was 4-0 until today. I keep checking the game cast-the current stats for my players and I am not seeing positive results! :) Hopefully things will turn around by tomorrow night's Monday Night Football game! I was enjoying being at the top of the chart!
• Dreading-cleaning my office. I have let it get out of hand, working on other parts of the house, and it really needs work!
• Praying-for God to guide me according to His plan and purpose (see prior post)
• Aching-I ran 10 miles with my husband and older daughter yesterday. I actually had to stop at a few points to rest my aching injury that won't go away. I'm sadly scheduling another doctor appointment for this week. Hopefully I will be able to run the half marathon I have been training for-it is three weeks from today.

What is happening Right Now for you, Reader?

Recipes I have tried this week

This week I used that last of the tomatoes from our garden (let me restate, we still had tomatoes, but with the waning sunlight, the baby green tomatoes would not ripen soon! :)) to make a marinara sauce. I made this with my fresh tomatoes, instead of canned and my husband said it was the best sauce he had ever had. Mind you, I'm not a great cook, so I truly think the freshness of my garden tomatoes and herbs had a lot to do with it! :)

Giada's Marinara Sauce Recipe

Also, this is the tried and true pesto recipe I use all summer. I have tried to make enough to "can" but we end up eating it before. I can grow basil like crazy, here. The plants are taller than waist high and they are full of lovely, green leaves. I cannot grow cilantro for longer than a week, however, for some reason, but that's another post. :) This recipe is very simple and delicious to marinade chicken in, or just to dip whole grain Tostitos Scoops chips into. ;)

Food Network's Basil Pesto Recipe

Hope you enjoy them, Reader! What have you been cooking?

Recipes I've Tried This Week

I thought I'd also try a series on new recipes I have tried this week! Although, then you, Reader, can see how poorly I've eaten this week!

• On Saturday we had our oldest daughter home, and we were ready to watch my favorite college football team, so we made some snack foods. We had some "tried and true" recipes like Buffalo Chicken Dip, portioning off some of the sauce without the chicken and adding tuna for our vegetarian daughter. 
• French Onion Dip, which my husband makes and it is delicious. He usually uses his own "recipe" but it is similar to this. 
• Fresh vegetables and fruits 
• And the new recipe I tried was these tortilla pinwheel appetizers. You will find it a little below halfway down the page. I didn't have ranch dressing powder so I added ranch dressing and it was delicious.
• I also saw this recipe for brownie bites and thought I had enough oreos left from when the cross country runners were here, but when I got them out I saw someone has been nibbling them. We were down to just three, so I made a variety of brownie bites. I made them in a muffin tin, so three held oreos inside, three held snickers mini bars (we only had three of those, also), two had peppermint patties (just two of those in the pantry!) and a couple with a dollop of peanut butter and peanuts in the middle. Three were plain. It worked great! 
• Sunday my husband's parents and sister & brother in law came for fish tacos. I was in charge of sangria. I looked for some in the store and saw one on clearance but I didn't like the looks of it with some type of sediment in the bottom. I found Bobby Flay's recipe and made it, minus the syrup (I bought the sweet brandy so it didn't need sweetening) and pomegranate seeds. It was good. My in-laws, who like red wine more than I do, really liked it!

Bridal Shower

Over the summer my mom asked if I would help her host a bridal shower for my cousin. My cousin had been married before, so we wanted it to be different, not all the usual games. We had fun planning! My oldest daughter and I drove the three hours to my parents' town and began to get things organized, then the guests came, ate, played games, watched the gift opening, etc. and then we drove back. It was a LONG day, but a nice thing to do-fun to share those activities with my mom, daughter and extended family. I share this with you because some of the food and activities were successes. :) *games and activities: We started the shower, as the ladies arrived, with taking their picture with the bride-to-be. The guests also took a small (2 x 3, I think) card and wrote a note, memory, etc. on it. Then I printed their photos, later, and glued them to the back of the note. I put them into a pocket in a small album I made. Here is the link to the idea: "Memories & Advice-I think this would be nice to do as the guest are entering. There's a pic of this idea on this website on the 9th slide", here is the link to the "you make life Blissful" Scrapscription scrapbook kit I made, scan down about mid-page. After they had sidled up next to the bride for pictures, laughed with her, and got settled, I sent the bride into the house (we had the shower outside and it was a lovely day!) and then asked "what's the bride wearing?" The guests had to remember as much as they could about her outfit. Then she came back out after 5-10 minutes and we all laughed at those who said, "who knows?" :) The bride and groom were just going on a short honeymoon and they were essentially camping in upper Michigan. I packed a cute bag for them with magazines, sunscreen, etc. I asked them each (unbeknownst to them) what they would pack in their honeymoon bag and they told me a few items. One for groom was toothbrush, one for bride was gas prevention medicine! So, I added those, as well, getting quite a giggle from the attendees. :) The guests weren't able to see what was in the bag, so game 2 was "what is in the honeymoon bag?" and they had a few minutes to guess. Then she opened it and people checked things off their list. I had created a "he said, she said" form, here, and got quotes from each of them for the guests to try. The groom's mom was most successful! :) We had a few laughs at the "Newlywed Game" using what they each answered without the other knowing. :) We had quite a few laughs and it seemed like everyone had fun! One guest said that was the most fun shower she had been to! *food: My mom is a good cook! She made small shredded pork sandwiches on pretzel buns as well as MANY bite-sized desserts. I made this for a different fruit salad. Fruit salad with Lemoncello-and it was delicious! I made tomato-mozzerella-bites, and Paula Dean's Italian Pasta Salad. I also made an orzo salad. I made the classic stand-by for us, as well, the broccoli slaw salad. The things I made were easy to put in a cooler and transport it in the car. It was a very fun day-I hope the bride enjoyed it! :)

Finish it Friday-on Saturday

We were having friends over last night so cooking, cleaning, and teaching were on my list! We made a beef roast (seasoning, cream of mushroom soup, can of cola, some garlic and onion in the crockpot for most of the day), Ina's Roasted winter vegetables, this apple waldorf salad, and this cheesecake.

Onto my weekend to do list, my Finish it Friday-on Saturday.

Must Do:
*laundry (seems like we're always behind!)
*finish housecleaning
*schoolwork-I have a little grading, a lot of planning and preparation
*start my online class-they have sent me the information, but I wanted time to sit and dig in without interruption and it hasn't happened yet!
*pick Christmas card photos (choosing from the Italy photos, of course ;)), and plan the list of who I mail them to, as well as print out labels. I know, it's November... but I want to get them printing while I'm working! :)

Fun:
*watch my favorite sport-or listen to it while I work-love football
*go to my sister-in-law's bag/purse party-I love sturdy, pretty bags that I can transport school items in, and this company has a few I'd like. I thought about skipping out on it-see list above-but it will be fun.
*go on a 6.6 mile run-I have a route that has a few hills, but I feel terrific when I finish, so I'm hoping to tackle that this weekend, too.
*getting a haircut! I am in the "I like it a little longer" vs "I always like it short and I want a haircut/change" phase. Torn between them. I'm not sure what I will go with.


I think that's all for today. I hope all was wonderful this week-and its events left you smiling! :)

Sinful Recipe

We had a cookout for my husband's company two weeks ago. I decided to try a new recipe, for which I had seen the picture on www.pinterest.com. While I was cooking it, I posted a link to it on facebook. It turned out to be delicious, and I even used the wrong size brownie mix. Anyway, it was funny to see people from the party posting the recipe on facebook, also. Funny to see something travel or spread. :) Here's the delicious sugar overload! :) It's called Ultimate chocolate chip cookie n oreo fudge brownie bar!
http://www.kevinandamanda.com/whatsnew/new-recipes/ultimate-chocolate-chip-cookie-n-oreo-fudge-brownie-bar.html#ixzz1TDK6oKBH

New Recipes

I mentioned in a previous post that we'd tried some new recipes last week. We liked most of them so I thought I'd share:

This one is from A Year in a Vegetarian Kitchen, which is a wonderful, seasonal cookbook. I love it!
Tostadas with Garlicky Spinach, Grape Tomatoes and Goat Cheese

3 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil
4 6-inch flour tortillas
1 C grape tomatoes, halved
2 TBSP minced fresh cilantro leaves
salt
2 medium garlic cloves, minced
5 ounces baby spinach (about 6 Cups)
2 ½ ounces fresh goat cheese, crumpled (about ½ Cup)

Move an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 425*/ Brush a large baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the oil and arrange the tortillas on the baking sheet in a single layer. (I just sprayed the baking sheet with Pam)
Toss the tomatoes, cilantro, 1 Tablespoon of the remaining oil and salt to taste together in a small bowl. Set aside to marinate for several minutes.
Heat the remaining oil and the garlic in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook until the garlic is fragrant and golden, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the spinach and salt to taste and cook, stirring constantly, just until the spinach wilts, 1 to 2 minutes.
Divide the wilted spinach evenly among the tortillas. Top the spinach with a portion of the marinated tomatoes and then sprinkle with goat cheese.
Bake until the tortillas are crisp and the cheese softens, about 8 minutes. Serve immediately.

Another I tried, which was also very tasty, served with crusty bread to soak up some of the sauce, Roasted Mussels.

One more, which was in the Dream Dinners cookbook. I cooked the recipe (tripled) so we ate a serving and froze another, which we pulled out and ate with the tostadas, above! :) Enjoy!

Orzo Salad – Serves 25

Ingredients

3 c Orzo Pasta, boiled in water 10 min, or just until soft.
1½ c chopped scallions
1½ c drained and chopped Kalamata olives
1½ c crumbled feta cheese
¾ c fresh chopped dill
¾ c olive oil
½ c plus 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp lemon zest
¾ c red wine vinegar
1 tbsp Kosher salt
1 tbsp black pepper
Directions

Rinse pasta with cold water.
Combine the orzo, onions, olives, feta, and dill in a large bowl.
Set aside.
Whisk together the oil, lemon juice and zest, vinegar, salt and pepper in a bowl. Pour 1/2 of dressing over the pasta mixture and stir to coat all over.
Toss with the remaining dressing just before serving.

Breakfast

I saw two posts in the last few days that looked like good breakfast ideas, so I thought I'd share (haven't gotten to the organization chore for today).

Real Simple had breakfast smoothie ideas:
I thought the pumpkin sounded good for fall, the carrot pineapple sounded refreshing, the kale apple was beautiful-although I'm not sure what kale tastes like... and strawberry flax would be the first one I'd like to try. Not sure about the spinach grape and coconut...

Since I was on my freeze ahead kick this week, this food your way blog post piqued my interest with freeze ahead breakfasts. I am thinking I'd like to make the pumpkin pancakes, scones, oven french toast, and I have made strawberry bread and frozen it before. Are you hungry yet? I am! :)) Have a great day!

Recipes!

Tonight I wanted to try some new recipes that were quick and healthy for dinner. My husband called and asked if I wanted him to stop at the grocery on his way home. So, I had him get the ingredients for the recipes below. When he got home, he assembled the wrap and I made the soup (without throwing it into the food processor, so it had a little more texture) and both were delicious. :)

Roast Beef Wrap with Horseradish Slaw
and
Fire Roasted Tomato Soup

We didn't do any chips, just the wrap and soup. Yum!! Two thumbs up for the meal, everyone liked it and it was not hard or time consuming! :)

Tomorrow we're making our traditional corned beef and cabbage, and my husband invited his family to come partake, as well. So, with my nephews and niece coming, I decided to add these two desserts on, also. :) Lucky Charm Cupcakes and Rainbow Pudding Cups, although I'm not making mine from scratch. ;)

In photo news, I've been working on my scavenger hunt from Postcards from the P.P. but I haven't gotten them all done. We're halfway through March, how's your photo taking going?

I've been coughing up a storm, didn't sleep well last night and am wondering when I will kick this illness and be able to run in the nice weather we're having... but such is life. I don't live in Japan, where terrible things are happening...poor people.

I hope you are well, Dear Reader, that the world news hasn't dimmed the light within you, nor has illness gotten you down today.