For Dinner this week:

This Week's Menu:

Monday: Breakfast Burritos and White Nectarines
Tuesday: Steak, Potatoes, and Broccoli
Wednesday: Barbecue Chicken Sandwiches and Salad
Thursday: Pasta with Sausage, Bell Pepper, Onion, Garlic, and Parmesan Cheese; Garlic Toast and Salad
Friday: Grilled Cheese and Carrots? (Getting pretty fancy, ha ha : ) maybe we'll go on a date instead...
Saturday: Enchiladas or Chicken Quesadillas
Sunday: Hot Dogs and Baked Macaroni and Cheese

To make soon: Dough for Pizza and Calazones, Nachos, Caprese Sandwiches, Chocolate Chip Cookies

I scream a little for ice cream...

Brief Version: This vanilla ice cream is so good! The Back Story: Several months ago, as I was waiting in the grocery store check out line, I was a little concerned to read on the label of my ice cream carton, that it contained less than 2% of dairy products. I was dumbfounded. What in the world was the other 98%? Now I get that if you have to avoid dairy (poor Mom), then this new ice cream making method might be good, although even then I would think it should be sort of an all or nothing sort of thing, especially because this type of fake ice cream doesn't even taste very good. If you can enjoy dairy, why substitute? So, to the point, this weekend on our anniversary get away, we quickly grabbed a little carton of Haagen Dazs at the grocery store for dessert. I chose it purely for it's small size, but lo and behold it was best vanilla ice cream (outside of homemade) that I've had in a really long time. At least part of the secret? There is only five ingredients in this stuff: Milk, Cream, Sugar, Eggs, and Vanilla. Novel concept, eh? So anyways, I'm really excited that I accidently found really good tasting ice cream at the supermarket that is actually made out of what I thought Ice cream was made out of in the first place. Thought I would share. : )

When life hands you lemons...make Margaritas!

Lemons were on sale at the grocery store last week, and they just looked too pretty to pass up. I am normally not an impulse buyer at the grocery store (I'll show you my grocery list "system" another time), but I keep hearing all these great uses for lemons and I was suckered in.

Of course, once I brought my lovely lemons home, they sat in a bowl on the table for over a week because I couldn't commit to any those wonderful ideas, but at least they looked pretty in the meantime!
Solution: We had a couple dollars left on a gift card for Macy's so we walked over and picked up the Martha Stewart juicer. (On a side note, although I LOVE the blue color she makes everything in, I have a sneaking suspicion that it will become the Olive Green of my mom's era that all the Tupperware and mixing bowls came in.)

Our six lemons made 1 cup of juice.
Add lots of ice and sugar and a smidge of Tequila...

and we had ourselves two frosty drinks to enjoy at the pool.
I couldn't even taste the difference of the lemon over the lime.
Is one tangier than the other or something?

Ravioli with Spinach and Bacon

I love this recipe! It was really quick and easy to make and had a really fresh springtime taste due to the lemon juice. We used the frozen raviolis available at Costco that take just minutes to cook. Really good for how quickly it comes together!

This Week's Menu

Monday: Pizza, Bread sticks, Salad, (mountain dew?), Chocolate Chip Cookies
Tuesday: Steak Kabobs, Rice made in broth, Steamed Asparagus
Wednesday: Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Thursday: March Madness (we're going to friends and not cooking)
Friday: Fettuccine Alfredo with Broccoli

Review: Even though I was really sick Monday, I powered through because I was so happy to be back in my own kitchen again. While Pete was at work I made a double batch of pizza dough (enough for 4 pizzas), and a double batch of chocolate chip cookies.

For anyone that doesn't know, Pete's Mom is famous for her chocolate chip cookies. She's so humble if you ask her about them, but ask anyone else, they're great! I hate chocolate and they're so good that I'm willing to pick around the chocolate chips to enjoy them. Unfortunately, I have yet to be super successful with the recipe myself. This time, the dough actually came out really well, but I accidentally overcooked 2 of the 4 pans, and charred the last pan. Oh well, at least I got one okay pan. We had friends over for dinner, so I sent home 2 each with them, and we have just crumbs left of our plate. The overcooked ones are in the freezer--Pete said he'd eat them with Icecream.
As for the pizza, it came off without any huge hitch this time! The first time I ever made it, it was pretty perfect until I broke a dinner glass right next to it. (Yes we still ate it after looking for glass)! The second time, I burnt my hand and dropped it face first onto the inside of the oven door. This time went pretty fine, although I do need to invest into a pizza peel (essentially a spatula big enough for pizzas) so that I can transfer the finished product to the table without two people and every big knife, spatula we own. : )

Oh, and the Mountain Dew...Pete loooves it, but I'm kind of a jerk of a wife and want him to live past 35, so I rarely buy it. Only for special occasions. (Don't feel to bad for him though, he gets one on a regular basis from the gas station on his way back to work after lunch : ) Anyways, these other friends like it as well, so I thought it could be a special treat.
I'll finish my reviews later this week. Right now I need to get ready to go to Tony and Kirsten's. Our hot water has been off for two days now, and they've kindly offered their shower. Woo Hoo!

Chicken Pot Pie Review

On Monday, I finally got around to making the chicken pot pie I had been planning. I had the dough already made and the shredded cooked chicken in the freezer, so all I needed to do was put it all together. I used a recipe from my huge Betty Crocker Cookbook (essentially a cooking dictionary). You can see a copy of the recipe here.
They turned out pretty cute. (I had made a heart shape with a fork on each for little vents. Peter thought it was funny, and I'm mad I forgot to take a picture when they came out of the oven.) Unfortunatly, I didn't think they were very good. Peter liked his okay, so I'm not sure if I don't like the recipe, or just don't like Chicken Pot Pies. It sounded good, but eh.

What is your favorite comfort food?
(Apparently this isn't ours : )

Breakfast Love

Sometimes mornings just need to be a little more special and a little less healthy than oatmeal or dry cereal.Enter our favorite breakfast star:

Pancakes!

Unfortunatley, I'm not great at photographing food. (See Peter's shoe in the background.) But I promise you that they tasted much greater than they looked.

When I ran out of Bisquick last month, I started using this recipe I found on Martha Stewart's website. Adaptions: I am slightly less precise (read: more generous) when I scoop the sugar, and then I add a sprinkle of cinnamon and a drop of vanilla extract to liven them up.

I made these for our Valentine's day breakfast on Saturday, but luckily it makes a ton a batter, so we had to eat them Sunday, too!

Milkshakes - Yes!

We have been proud owners of a blender for six months now.

Why didn't we think of this sooner?

Tomato Garlic Soup Review

Although Peter, nor I, are really into Tomato soup, this recipe made it sound good enough to give it a try.
Despite our apprehensions, it was actually really good tasting, although I can't even imagine what it would have tasted like if I had followed the directions to a tee. The original recipe called for eight cloves of garlic...eight! I only put the first four in and that was plenty.

Garlic Tomato Soup
(as adapted from Nourishing Days)

• 1 Tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large carrot, diced
• 2 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 small onion, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, minced 2.5 cups chicken stock
• 28 oz. can whole peeled tomatoes
• salt & pepper to taste
• extra virgin olive oil for drizzling

In a medium size soup pot, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Add carrot, celery, onion and a pinch of salt. Cook until nearly softened. Add first four cloves of minced garlic and cook for a couple of minutes. Stir chicken stock and canned tomatoes into the softened vegetables. Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Allow it to simmer for 20 minutes to allow flavors to blend.

After 20 minutes, remove the soup pot from the heat and allow to cool for 5-10 minutes.

If you would like to leave the soup chunky, use kitchen shears to cut up any larger pieces of tomatoes. Or, if you would like, blend in batches in the blender, for a thinner soup. Drizzle bowls or mugs with extra virgin olive oil and enjoy.

This Week's Menu

Monday: Tomato Garlic Soup and Grilled Cheese (seemed like a rainy day menu).
Tuesday: Chicken Pot Pies (have ingredients, need to look for the recipe)
Wednesday: Barbequed Chicken, Box Pasta, Broccoli
Thursday: Pasta (Italian Sausage, baby tomatoes, parmesan and feta cheese, garlic and olive oil)
Friday: Steak and Green Beans
Saturday: White Girl Enchiladas

This weeks menu:

Monday: Hotdogs at Costco
Tuesday: Grilled Chicken, Buttered Noodles, and Green Beans
Wednesday: Pizza (w/ Italian sausage, tomatoes, basil, and three cheeses) with Salad
Thursday: Potroast in the crockpot, potatoe soup and broccoli
Friday: Yard House Happy Hour
Saturday: Tri Tip Steaks, Alfredo with Rottini, and Salad

Review:
Monday: Can't beat a three dollar dinner for two, unless maybe it was anything healthier : )

Tuesday: I marinated the chicken all day which made it so good, and I never thought I'd have a "favorite" vegetable, but steamed green beans are my favorite after asparagus.

Wednesday: I love this pizza! Besides the work of making the dough, this is so easy to put together for how good it tastes. I make the dough ahead and keep it in the freezer, and the blend of mozzarella, Parmesan, and feta is really good.

Thursday: This was my first try with the crockpot and it worked out fine, although Pete and I decided that neither of us really love pot roast. It was super on sale though, so that made it worth it. I really liked the potato soup recipe, although I would omit the onions next time. I've been looking all over for a potato soup recipe that wasn't disgustingly unhealthy (ie. adding a whole tub of sour cream) not realizing I had a great one in the Betty Crocker Cooking Basics book Mom gave me several years ago. (I forgot to cook the broccoli. Maybe we'll have it Saturday.)

Apple Galette

Although all my recent cooking attempts have not turned out so well lately, this Apple Galette was a great achievement! This was my second try at it, and it turned out even better than the first. I loosely followed this Real Simple recipe, and substituted a bit using 8 green apples and a homemade pie crust. I even doubled the pie crust recipe to have an extra to freeze for next time. (I used the basic recipe from the Betty Crocker cookbook.) Less work than an apple pie, and just as tasty if not tastier, plus I love the simple rustic look.

What is your favorite dessert? Easy or otherwise.

Looking forward to Thanksgiving...

Last night for dinner, I decided to try out a new recipe: Bacon Corn Chowder. I've heard some mixed reviews on the dish, but at the time I thought it sounded pretty good. I mean c'mon it has bacon in it. It has to be kind of good.

If it is ever good, this batch was not it! It started out okay, the potatoes looked pretty good, but the farther along I got, the more disgusting it seemed, and by the time Peter got home I wanted to cry it was so bad.

Now we all now how great of a guy Peter is, but can you believe he actually ate some of this to make me feel better? I told him he didn't have to, and to be honest I didn't even want to eat it, but he went ahead and ate half a mug. If there was ever any doubt, it can now be concluded that I have the most brave and considerate husband around.

This picture was taken after it sat there for a couple hours, but I promise you it didn't look much better at dinner time. I was able to laugh about it by then, so Peter helped me to take a couple pictures. Believe it or not, this was the best one. : )

What was your worst cooking disaster?

That's right, I'm holding a dead chicken!

Today was my first attempt at cooking broth. Claire makes it really well and it tastes especially good when you're sick. As Pete and I have both caught cold, I thought today might be a good day to try it. It's really pretty easy, just some vegetables and a whole chicken, but man, preparing that chicken was way more disgusting than I thought!
Eew! Slimy and Gross!...and apparently the insides don't come in a nice neat plastic bag like I thought.But no fear! I cleaned it all up, cut it into a few peices, and got it cooking.
With a couple coaching phone calls with Claire, five hours, a burn and a knife wound we finally got a finished product: two steaming bowls of broth, some chicken sandwiches on the side, a couple bags of broth in the freezer, and enough chicken to make enchiladas tomorrow!

Yum!

Broth Instructions:
Ingredients
1 whole chicken (washed, gutted, skinned, and cut up if necessary)
1 Onion quartered
3 cloves of garlic (chopped into corn size pieces)
carrots (skinned or unskinned, cut to fit in pot)
3 stalks celery (cut to fit in pot)

1. Fill pot halfway with water and put in all ingredents
2. Bring to boil.
3. Reduce to simmer for 2-3 hours until chicken easily comes off bone.
4. Remove chicken to another bowl, save for sandwiches, enchiladas, etc.
5. Remove vegetables and toss.
6. Run broth through strainer to remove debris.
7. Allow broth to cool at least half hour and skim of excess oil.
8. Separate into bags or containers to freeze.

For dinner:
1. Bring broth to boil with chicken buigulon cube.
2. Add handful of pasta for each serving (less is better, orzo pastina or egg noodles) and follow cook time as instructed.
3. Serve warm

What is your best cold and flu remedy?

Now we're cooking!

So our awesome friends Matt and Frankie surprised Pete this weekend with a brand new barbecue. They must have correctly suspected that Pete would be a little more excited about this manly piece of equipment as compared to all the other more "domestic" and pretty items we received as wedding presents (which I love and he does appreciate as purposeful household items).
Matt had let me in on the secret before our wedding, and it was my job to keep Pete from finding out the plan and from buying one before they were able to bring it down. This was a bit tougher than I suspected, but wow was it worth it! Pete was super excited when the guys brought it and it was way cooler than even I expected. Check out this beast of a grill:


















It actually has another wing on the other side we had to take off just to fit it out on our balcony!
And look how much Pete loves it: (Yes, I admit this pose is a result of some begging : )


















Hooray for easy, tasty, barbecued dinner!