The summer heat is here. Bringing to mind the delectable Italian pasta salad as a weekly option for dinner.
Italian Pasta Salad
1/2 box Plus Pasta cooked and cooled
1 carton cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
2 small cans of olives sliced, or you can use kalamata olives here
1 can marinated artichoke hearts cut in small pieces
1/2 small onion, diced
Mozzarella Cheese (to taste)cubed
Parmesan Cheese (to taste)
Italian Dressing (to taste)
Squeeze of lemon, for freshness
Combine all the ingredients and add as much of the cheese and Italian dressing as you would like.
I like to use Newton's Own Lite Italian dressing but if you prefer the full fat version, it is yummy too!
This is a recipe that can be adjusted and the measurements I gave were an estimate, typically I just go with the flow.
Additional ingredients can be broccoli, heirloom tomatoes, mushrooms, peppercinnis (sp?), and avocado.
Monday, June 7, 2010
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
My New Love: Cream Cheese Frosting
Hello all! You can probably tell by this post that I have been bad again, but I can't help myself sometimes...
I love making cupcakes and cakes and anything cake-like! I tend to use the box mix because, let's face it, it is so much easier. The flavors are great, the crumb is soft and moist and it is fool proof, you really can't go wrong. The one thing I like to do though is make my own frosting. I am not too much of a fan of the packaged kind, although I have been known to buy it from time to time because it is easier. The taste of real homemade frosting is delish and it makes it seem as though it was all homemade!
Cream Cheese Frosting
2 parts cream cheese
1 part butter, softened
4 parts powdered sugar (to 5 parts depending on taste preference)
Splash of milk
Splash of vanilla extract
Cream together cream cheese and butter and slowly add sugar until incorporated.
Add milk and vanilla.
Last night these are the measurements I used:
1/4 c butter
1/2 c cream cheese
1 c powdered sugar
1 T milk
I didn't have vanilla but it tasted good without too!
Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!
I love making cupcakes and cakes and anything cake-like! I tend to use the box mix because, let's face it, it is so much easier. The flavors are great, the crumb is soft and moist and it is fool proof, you really can't go wrong. The one thing I like to do though is make my own frosting. I am not too much of a fan of the packaged kind, although I have been known to buy it from time to time because it is easier. The taste of real homemade frosting is delish and it makes it seem as though it was all homemade!
Cream Cheese Frosting
2 parts cream cheese
1 part butter, softened
4 parts powdered sugar (to 5 parts depending on taste preference)
Splash of milk
Splash of vanilla extract
Cream together cream cheese and butter and slowly add sugar until incorporated.
Add milk and vanilla.
Last night these are the measurements I used:
1/4 c butter
1/2 c cream cheese
1 c powdered sugar
1 T milk
I didn't have vanilla but it tasted good without too!
Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Vintage Cake Plates
Recently I have found out that I am in love with vintage cake plates. I have a small collection of a few newer replicas but when at the swap meet I find myself taking a gander at the antique spots to see if they have any cake plates. Recently I came across a silver one that was nice but I am trying not to buy up all the cake plates of the world, JL would kill me and insist I find a place for them or he will :)
This is one I found on ebay that I LOVE...
Isn't it incredibly beautiful???
Another fetish I have is for milk glass, so the two combined is almost overwhelming. I find that I am not too much of a fan of the colored ones but I saw a mustard one that I liked and imagined a lemon cream cake perched on top :)
This one is pretty too but might be difficult to slice a cake on it... So pretty :)
For now I am stuck with the two I own but it doesn't hurt to dream right?
Live, Laugh, Love!
This is one I found on ebay that I LOVE...
Isn't it incredibly beautiful???
Another fetish I have is for milk glass, so the two combined is almost overwhelming. I find that I am not too much of a fan of the colored ones but I saw a mustard one that I liked and imagined a lemon cream cake perched on top :)
This one is pretty too but might be difficult to slice a cake on it... So pretty :)
For now I am stuck with the two I own but it doesn't hurt to dream right?
Live, Laugh, Love!
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Simple BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
This is a dish I kinda stumbled upon. A few months ago I was typing up some of my family's old recipes and I noticed how back in the day people tended to use bacon fat to cook things instead of olive oil or vegetable oil. This got me to thinking, were they on to something? Has the fear of saturated fats gotten in the way of incredibly delicious foods? I think so in this case :)
This dish I make about every other week because it is so incredibly simple and we always have bacon and BBQ sauce on hand. This can be made in a slow cooker if that is easier for you but the other day I just precooked the chicken in the morning while is was getting ready for work and it was ready for me to use when I got home, making this dish one of the fastest meals I have in my repertoire.
Simple BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
2 chicken breasts precooked (or cut into pieces to add to a slow cooker)
4 strips of bacon
1 small sweet onion diced
1/2 t black pepper
1/2 c BBQ Sauce of choice
Buns or rolls
Cheese of your choice, we like cheddar or American
1. Cook bacon in a skillet on the stove until crispy and remove from grease.
2. Add onion to bacon grease and saute until starting to brown. If your bacon lets off a lot of grease you can drain some of it out but the brown bits are what really give it extra flavor.
3. Add shredded chicken to onion and cook until heated up. I have, when in a pinch, added diced uncooked chicken at this point and it turned out well too. You really can't go wrong with this one.
4. Dice bacon and once chicken is heated through, or cooked, add the bacon.
5. Add the BBQ Sauce and stir. Allow for the mixture to simmer for a minute or two to let off some of the moisture.
6. Scoop onto warmed or toasted buns and top with shredded cheese.
*If you do decide to use a slow cooker, about 4 hours on high and you should have a gloppy mess of deliciousness.
I serve these with the traditional tater tots and I try to add some veggies in there like a salad... Not that JL even gets to that :)
Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!
This dish I make about every other week because it is so incredibly simple and we always have bacon and BBQ sauce on hand. This can be made in a slow cooker if that is easier for you but the other day I just precooked the chicken in the morning while is was getting ready for work and it was ready for me to use when I got home, making this dish one of the fastest meals I have in my repertoire.
Simple BBQ Chicken Sandwiches
2 chicken breasts precooked (or cut into pieces to add to a slow cooker)
4 strips of bacon
1 small sweet onion diced
1/2 t black pepper
1/2 c BBQ Sauce of choice
Buns or rolls
Cheese of your choice, we like cheddar or American
1. Cook bacon in a skillet on the stove until crispy and remove from grease.
2. Add onion to bacon grease and saute until starting to brown. If your bacon lets off a lot of grease you can drain some of it out but the brown bits are what really give it extra flavor.
3. Add shredded chicken to onion and cook until heated up. I have, when in a pinch, added diced uncooked chicken at this point and it turned out well too. You really can't go wrong with this one.
4. Dice bacon and once chicken is heated through, or cooked, add the bacon.
5. Add the BBQ Sauce and stir. Allow for the mixture to simmer for a minute or two to let off some of the moisture.
6. Scoop onto warmed or toasted buns and top with shredded cheese.
*If you do decide to use a slow cooker, about 4 hours on high and you should have a gloppy mess of deliciousness.
I serve these with the traditional tater tots and I try to add some veggies in there like a salad... Not that JL even gets to that :)
Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!
Friday, May 14, 2010
I love rhubarb in the spring time!
Hello all, I am finally getting over this horrible sickness! Yesterday I went to the doctor because my ear was acting up and turns out I have a hole in my ear drum... hmmm... so now fully medicated, as if I wasn't before, I am feeling better and ready to tackle the world! I don't know if you can recall the last time you were really sick but when I started to feel better I just felt like I had so much to do and I wanted to do all of it. Not only that but I am waking up at 6am without any trouble and ready to take on the day. Weird. I am definitely not complaining though, I love being able to wake up and get ready slowly in the morning.
So what's up with the rhubarb? I bought a few pounds of it the other day and finally got around to writing about it and feeling well enough to actually prepare it :)
Rhubarb is an interesting plant, a vegetable but typically turned into a dessert. Probably the only vegetable I can honestly say I love on ice cream. So how is it prepared? With lots of sugar! I don't have a recipe for this per say, I typically just wing it when I make it but I'm sure there are recipes out there, I recall something in the Joy of Cooking. Besides just putting it on ice cream, because I am incredibly impatient and don't want to bother with pie crusts, you can make it into a pie. If you are feeling like you want to liven it up even more you can add strawberries. I did that the other night, before the sickness, and JL thought there was too many flavors going on, so maybe better for a pie idea.
So what to do... I wash and cut the rhubarb into pieces about 1/4 inch thin by about 1/2 inch wide, but it's up to you. Then I add some sugar and just a pinch of water (I know you can't pinch water but seriously, its just a little tiny bit since the rhubarb will let off its own juice). I put this mixture into a sauce pan and on med to low heat I cook it until the rhubarb is tender and falling apart. Some people like to feel the texture of the rhubarb so if you are one of those people, just cook it a little less, if you are like me and like it really tender then wait a bit longer, I know it's hard to do. Make sure a taste it before you serve it, rhubarb is pretty tart so you may need to add more sugar.
I like to serve it warm over ice cream but you can let it cool completely first, up to you.
Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!
So what's up with the rhubarb? I bought a few pounds of it the other day and finally got around to writing about it and feeling well enough to actually prepare it :)
Rhubarb is an interesting plant, a vegetable but typically turned into a dessert. Probably the only vegetable I can honestly say I love on ice cream. So how is it prepared? With lots of sugar! I don't have a recipe for this per say, I typically just wing it when I make it but I'm sure there are recipes out there, I recall something in the Joy of Cooking. Besides just putting it on ice cream, because I am incredibly impatient and don't want to bother with pie crusts, you can make it into a pie. If you are feeling like you want to liven it up even more you can add strawberries. I did that the other night, before the sickness, and JL thought there was too many flavors going on, so maybe better for a pie idea.
So what to do... I wash and cut the rhubarb into pieces about 1/4 inch thin by about 1/2 inch wide, but it's up to you. Then I add some sugar and just a pinch of water (I know you can't pinch water but seriously, its just a little tiny bit since the rhubarb will let off its own juice). I put this mixture into a sauce pan and on med to low heat I cook it until the rhubarb is tender and falling apart. Some people like to feel the texture of the rhubarb so if you are one of those people, just cook it a little less, if you are like me and like it really tender then wait a bit longer, I know it's hard to do. Make sure a taste it before you serve it, rhubarb is pretty tart so you may need to add more sugar.
I like to serve it warm over ice cream but you can let it cool completely first, up to you.
Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
False Alarm!
For the past few days I have been really sick, not the I-can-get-up-and-go-to-work-but-don't-want-to-kind but the am-I-dieing? kind. JL has been sick as well although I think I got it first and passed it along to him, we share everything right? :)
The false alarm refers to the in-laws moving in. Not to say it was a good or bad thing, just they aren't moving in yet. Maybe it was all the stress that allowed for my body to be weakend enough for me to get sick IDK, but I do know that I am feeling crappy and just want to sleep, so by y'all!
The false alarm refers to the in-laws moving in. Not to say it was a good or bad thing, just they aren't moving in yet. Maybe it was all the stress that allowed for my body to be weakend enough for me to get sick IDK, but I do know that I am feeling crappy and just want to sleep, so by y'all!
Monday, May 3, 2010
Things will be changing soon!
Happy Monday All!
We found out rather recently that JL's parents will be moving in soon, with his younger sister, and this will be a huge relief for JL and I. Not only will we be saving a substantial amount of money on rent and bills, I will have help to clean the house and cook. I love cooking, you all know that, but it's kinda nice to have someone cook for me for a change. Now I will be able to be more experimental with my recipes because if something goes wrong, there is a back up option, other than tacos from Jack in the Box.
This will be something hard for us since we are used to being on our own but I figure if I just focus on the positive and come to the realization that this is no longer just our house now, it will all be ok.
I can imagine the occasional upset but overall, I have our room and my space and that is all I need, not to mention a hefty amount of shopping money now at my finger tips! This will also allow us to get a gym membership again and I can guess I will be spending lots of time there too, losing weight and saving money... not sounding bad at all :)
So recipe... recipe... Sadly I didn't do a lot of cooking this past weekend but I did try out some Banana Wheat Oatmeal Cookies that turned out ok... I will be trying to make them into energy bites so the recipe will be on hold until I get it just right.
But if you have an urge to bake then try some of my favorites from Paula Deen herself, I always say you can't go wrong with Paula!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/chocolate-gooey-butter-cookies-recipe/index.html
Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!
We found out rather recently that JL's parents will be moving in soon, with his younger sister, and this will be a huge relief for JL and I. Not only will we be saving a substantial amount of money on rent and bills, I will have help to clean the house and cook. I love cooking, you all know that, but it's kinda nice to have someone cook for me for a change. Now I will be able to be more experimental with my recipes because if something goes wrong, there is a back up option, other than tacos from Jack in the Box.
This will be something hard for us since we are used to being on our own but I figure if I just focus on the positive and come to the realization that this is no longer just our house now, it will all be ok.
I can imagine the occasional upset but overall, I have our room and my space and that is all I need, not to mention a hefty amount of shopping money now at my finger tips! This will also allow us to get a gym membership again and I can guess I will be spending lots of time there too, losing weight and saving money... not sounding bad at all :)
So recipe... recipe... Sadly I didn't do a lot of cooking this past weekend but I did try out some Banana Wheat Oatmeal Cookies that turned out ok... I will be trying to make them into energy bites so the recipe will be on hold until I get it just right.
But if you have an urge to bake then try some of my favorites from Paula Deen herself, I always say you can't go wrong with Paula!
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/chocolate-gooey-butter-cookies-recipe/index.html
Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
Happy Birthday Mom!
Today my mother would have turned 48. It is a hard time but I have the strength and support of JL and our families to help me get through this time.
For all of those who still have their Mom in their lives, tell her that you love her, you never know when you will wish you had one more chance to say it.
Sorry for the sad post...
My Mom was such a wonderful and happy person. Always going out of her way to help people and animals. She always said to enjoy life and I honestly believe that the only person who can make you happy is yourself, so SMILE :)
"Let go, let God." - Her constant advice to me :)
Live, Laugh, Love & Pray
Her resting place, isn't it beautiful?
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
The Shindig...
So this past weekend JL and I hosted yet another gathering at our house and I personally think this was the best one yet. All the food was perfect and everyone had fun laughing and hanging out.
So we had decided on making a few new items as well as some old tried and true favorites.
Layered Bean Dip
Spinach & Artichoke Cheese Dip
Fruit Salad
Pizza Rolls
BBQ Ribs
Potato Salad
PB Cup Brownies
Mini Funfetti Cupcakes
Most of those I made by scratch, all but the cupcakes and potato salad (I know, probably one of the easiest things to make on the list...), and this was time consuming!
Below I will list the recipes on some of the dishes I did make and I hope you will try them out!
Pizza Rolls
2 cans pizza dough (Pillsbury)
8 oz mozzarella cheese cubed into 48 pieces
1 pouch of peperoni
1/4 c olive oil
1 tsp Italian seasoning
Parmesan cheese, to sprinkle on top
Pizza sauce for dipping
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Roll out dough rectangle and cut into 24 squares, you will need to do this for the second can of pizza dough once you run out of dough from this one.
In each square, wrap a cube of cheese and a piece of pepperoni.
Place seam side down in a greased 9x13 pan. The sides of the rolls should touch. Continue until you have used up all the dough.
Combine oil and seasoning in a bowl and brush on top of the rolls. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 16 to 24 minutes.
BBQ Ribs
1 rack of baby back ribs
1 dark beer, I use Newcastle
BBQ sauce
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
In a 9x13 pan lay the rack meaty side down, you can also cut it into pieces before this process to make it easier (I did this for the party to allow for people to grab just the amount they wanted).
Pour the beer over the ribs and place in the oven. Bake for 2 hours or until the meat is tender, test with a fork.
Once they are done, place rack, or pieces, on the BBQ and brush sauce over them. Allow for sauce to caramelize a bit on the ribs and flip. Since the meat is cooked through, you are just trying to add the flavor of the sauce to the ribs, so you will have to judge when they are done.
PB Cup Brownies - Recipe Courtesy of Jessica from How Sweet It Is (the link to her site is on the left)
Brownies
1 stick unsalted butter
2-3 squares baking chocolate
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350.
Melt butter and baking squares in a microwave safe bowl. In the mixing bowl, cream melted butter and chocolate mixture. Add in sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add in eggs, beating one at a time. Add flour and stir just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
Pour into greased muffin tin. Bake for 18 to 25 minutes, or until just barely done. Cool before frosting.
Peanut Butter Frosting (Recipe was adjusted from original)
3/4 stick butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 pound powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 tablespoons milk
Cream butter and peanut butter together. Gradually add in powdered sugar and vanilla. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time. If frosting is too thick, add more milk. If it is too thin, add more sugar.
Frost brownies once they have cooled.
Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!
So we had decided on making a few new items as well as some old tried and true favorites.
Layered Bean Dip
Spinach & Artichoke Cheese Dip
Fruit Salad
Pizza Rolls
BBQ Ribs
Potato Salad
PB Cup Brownies
Mini Funfetti Cupcakes
Most of those I made by scratch, all but the cupcakes and potato salad (I know, probably one of the easiest things to make on the list...), and this was time consuming!
Below I will list the recipes on some of the dishes I did make and I hope you will try them out!
Pizza Rolls
2 cans pizza dough (Pillsbury)
8 oz mozzarella cheese cubed into 48 pieces
1 pouch of peperoni
1/4 c olive oil
1 tsp Italian seasoning
Parmesan cheese, to sprinkle on top
Pizza sauce for dipping
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Roll out dough rectangle and cut into 24 squares, you will need to do this for the second can of pizza dough once you run out of dough from this one.
In each square, wrap a cube of cheese and a piece of pepperoni.
Place seam side down in a greased 9x13 pan. The sides of the rolls should touch. Continue until you have used up all the dough.
Combine oil and seasoning in a bowl and brush on top of the rolls. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
Bake for 16 to 24 minutes.
BBQ Ribs
1 rack of baby back ribs
1 dark beer, I use Newcastle
BBQ sauce
Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
In a 9x13 pan lay the rack meaty side down, you can also cut it into pieces before this process to make it easier (I did this for the party to allow for people to grab just the amount they wanted).
Pour the beer over the ribs and place in the oven. Bake for 2 hours or until the meat is tender, test with a fork.
Once they are done, place rack, or pieces, on the BBQ and brush sauce over them. Allow for sauce to caramelize a bit on the ribs and flip. Since the meat is cooked through, you are just trying to add the flavor of the sauce to the ribs, so you will have to judge when they are done.
PB Cup Brownies - Recipe Courtesy of Jessica from How Sweet It Is (the link to her site is on the left)
Brownies
1 stick unsalted butter
2-3 squares baking chocolate
2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
Preheat oven to 350.
Melt butter and baking squares in a microwave safe bowl. In the mixing bowl, cream melted butter and chocolate mixture. Add in sugar and vanilla and beat until fluffy, about 2-3 minutes. Add in eggs, beating one at a time. Add flour and stir just until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
Pour into greased muffin tin. Bake for 18 to 25 minutes, or until just barely done. Cool before frosting.
Peanut Butter Frosting (Recipe was adjusted from original)
3/4 stick butter, softened
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 pound powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1-2 tablespoons milk
Cream butter and peanut butter together. Gradually add in powdered sugar and vanilla. Add milk 1 tablespoon at a time. If frosting is too thick, add more milk. If it is too thin, add more sugar.
Frost brownies once they have cooled.
Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!
Friday, April 23, 2010
My 100th Post
Sorry for the delay in the posts. The past week has been an interesting and emotional one. To begin, I have no idea why I have been feeling this way. Sunday I went to bed with a bad headache and so Monday I woke up with one. For the remainder of the week, including today, I have had a dull pain in my head that I have been ignoring, simply because I am way too busy at work to try and do anything about it. Advil didn't help, but caffeine seems to. I was putting an ice pack on my head and that seemed to help, until it started to get cold. This is all something I can deal with, what I have a problem with is when I get grumpy for no apparent reason, thus making JL grumpy because he has to put up with it... Sorry baby...
The positive part of this is that I now feel like I am out of my gloomy fog and headed in a better direction. My thinking is, I am not having enough calories. I tend to get emotional when I am hungry so why would this time be any different?
So what is on the horizon for me? A dinner party tomorrow night! Yay, I love having people over and I LOVE making food for everyone. I want to make food that people will enjoy but will be easy to eat... Trying to think up ideas that JL won't shoot down. He says, "why not just burgers?"... humpf... That wouldn't be fun, plus I have made burgers quite a few times for our friends and don't want to just have that again. This time we are thinking of something new and creative! I'll just have to battle him on it. I swear, if he had his way we would just be eating meat patties on a bun with cheese and potato chips, men...
So far I found some fun ideas:
Pizza Bites (using Pillsbury pizza dough and stuffing with peperoni and cheese, with a marinara sauce on the side for dipping)
BBQ Chicken pizza bites (not sure if we should try this one yet...)
Spinach Artichoke Dip (love! but might have to invest in a small crock pot, thus making this one a maybe)
Mini Italian Cream Cake cupcakes (maybe, I need a mini muffin pan)
Some sort of cheesy dip :)
And that's about all I have for now. Today we are going shopping so I need to decide now... I guess I will have to start looking for inspiration :)
Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!
A special thank you to my Grandmother Jo Hanna for giving me the Food Network Magazine, I'm in LOVE! I have found so many great ideas for recipes. Thank you Grams :)
The positive part of this is that I now feel like I am out of my gloomy fog and headed in a better direction. My thinking is, I am not having enough calories. I tend to get emotional when I am hungry so why would this time be any different?
So what is on the horizon for me? A dinner party tomorrow night! Yay, I love having people over and I LOVE making food for everyone. I want to make food that people will enjoy but will be easy to eat... Trying to think up ideas that JL won't shoot down. He says, "why not just burgers?"... humpf... That wouldn't be fun, plus I have made burgers quite a few times for our friends and don't want to just have that again. This time we are thinking of something new and creative! I'll just have to battle him on it. I swear, if he had his way we would just be eating meat patties on a bun with cheese and potato chips, men...
So far I found some fun ideas:
Pizza Bites (using Pillsbury pizza dough and stuffing with peperoni and cheese, with a marinara sauce on the side for dipping)
BBQ Chicken pizza bites (not sure if we should try this one yet...)
Spinach Artichoke Dip (love! but might have to invest in a small crock pot, thus making this one a maybe)
Mini Italian Cream Cake cupcakes (maybe, I need a mini muffin pan)
Some sort of cheesy dip :)
And that's about all I have for now. Today we are going shopping so I need to decide now... I guess I will have to start looking for inspiration :)
Live, Laugh, Love & Enjoy!
A special thank you to my Grandmother Jo Hanna for giving me the Food Network Magazine, I'm in LOVE! I have found so many great ideas for recipes. Thank you Grams :)
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