Catz in the Kitchen

Applesauce Cookies with Caramel Frosting

2012-02-10T12:30:00.000-08:00

Do you ever wake up completely not in the mood for the tasks that face your day? I was having one of those days. I woke up tired; it had been a busy week. I kept finding myself falling behind on some of the "To Do's" I had assigned myself and to top it all off, I had signed up to bring snacks to all the hungry kids at our Awana program. Do you all know what Awana is? It's a church program that helps teach children about our savior Jesus Christ and serving others while showing the Lord's love. Both of my girls attend the Awana program. Eden is in the cubbies class that my mother in love teaches and Grace is in the Sparks class which I, along with my sister Jewelissa teach. Josh leads the games and after games, the kids have snacks before heading home.

So I had signed up for snacks this particular Thursday and I did not feel like baking anything. Our homeschooling school day had started about 35 minutes later than I would of liked and the idea of baking cookies just seemed daunting. I just plain out didn't feel like it. But as I was going over some of Grace's school work and drinking my morning cup of coffee, the clouds parted showing off a vibrant blue and the sun suddenly spilled through our dining room and living room windows and I instantly felt renewed. Living here in the Northwest can get dreary in the winter. A lot of the time it is just a bunch of grey skies and constant drizzle. (Which can make taking foodie pictures very hard with not enough natural light.) As my energy and mood lifted up I remember thinking to myself, this is exactly what Awana is not about! How can you serve others when down in the dumps and unmotivated? So I got to work baking the cookies and as I was adding ingredients and listening to the girls, I felt better and more motivated! It's amazing how doing something for other people can instantly make you feel better.

These cookies are a bit involved, but well worth all the work that goes into them. All the kids thanked me over and over for them. My husband couldn't stop eating them, and one of the mom's asked for the recipe! This was a great cookie pick for our Awana kids and helpers because it fed a lot of mouths and we still had enough leftover for Josh's lunch the next day and for snacks for my girls!

Applesauce Cookies with Caramel Frosting

Source: Chef in Training

For the Cookies:

2 cups sugar

1 cup shortening

2 eggs

2 cups applesauce

4 cups flour

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp cloves

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, and cloves. Set Aside.

Cream sugar and shortening together. Add eggs and applesauce-mix well. Add in dry ingredients and mix until well incorporated. Drop small spoonfuls of batter onto greased cookie sheets. Bake 8-10 minutes. Cool completely.

Caramel Frosting:

6 TB butter

1/2 cup heavy cream

2 cups powdered suar

1 cup packed brown sugar

2 tsp vanilla

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, combine butter, heavy cream, and brown sugar. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture just begins to boil; remove from heat and stir in vanilla. Let cool, then stir in powdered sugar. Spread frosting over cooled cookies.

Cheesy Cauliflower Soup served in Bread Bowls

2012-02-08T09:00:00.000-08:00

I'm a girl who likes to give credit where credit is due. My father found this recipe a few weeks ago. Which is a big thing for anybody who knows him. My father in all my life has never really cooked, let alone looked up recipes. The joke in our family is that he doesn't even know how to boil water, haha! Oh, but he does know how to boil water, and he makes a mean frozen Totino's pizza, delicious chocolate milkshakes (as rare as they are) and melt in your mouth halibut fish 'n chips (my dad cooks the fish part).

When my dad retired, my mom's goal was to get some help in the kitchen, because she's been doing it on her own for years and years and years without any help. That's right...no help. Yes, that means I didn't help either. I was more interested in baking in my growing up years, and though my mom showed me how to make a few recipes, I just wasn't interested in it much. SHAME ON ME, because now I have a food blog and I missed out on precious years of information my mom would have passed onto me. Instead I was too busy chasing boys and auditioning for drama programs at school. But now, she has my dad and within the last year especially, he has taken a huge interest in cooking. My mom has surmised that some of has interest has to do with Josh and I and the meals we've cooked for him, and he's become inspired or something. Whatever has piqued his interest, I'm super happy, because now my mom is finally getting a taste of what it's like for me to spend time in the kitchen cooking with my husband with soft music playing in the background and a glass of wine sitting next to us.

My parents bragged about how good it was and that it was something that they knew for sure I would love. (When I asked my dad where he found it, he said he found it through searching on Yahoo. Big help dad! I was able to find a recipe very similar to the one they used.) When I mentioned to Josh that I was going to make this soup, he was less than enthusiastic, like he is most of the time when I tell him soup is what's for dinner (most of the time he really enjoys the soup). Since cauliflower was on sale this week at the store, I knew it was fate that I make this meal. I had basically everything I needed, except the bread bowls which my mom said were a must! So I made the soup - and it was amazing, just like my mom said! It was creamy and very reminiscent of a broccoli cheese soup, but with cauliflower instead!

Josh must have liked it a lot because he went back for seconds even though his bread bowl was torn apart and he said over and over again how good it was - I made sure to rub it in his face a few times that he wasn't thrilled about me making it and that he ended up loving it! HAHA, I Win!

This is a soup I see many more times on my menu in the coming months!

Cheesy Cauliflower Soup

Source: The Crockpot Blog

1 large head of cauliflower, broken into florets

2 cups chicken broth

2 TBSP chicken bouillon cubes

2 cups 2% milk

2 cups half n half

1 medium carrot, shredded

2 bay leaves

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup mashed potato flakes ( I used Idahoan Spuds)

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

paprika

In a large saucepan, combine the cauliflower, broth, and bouillon cubes. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and cook for 20 minutes or until tender. Mash cauliflower.

Transfer to a slow-cooker pot. Stir in milk, cream, carrot, bay leaves, and garlic powder. Cover and cook on low for 3 hours. Stir in potato flakes.

Cook for 30 minutes longer, until thickened. Discard bay leaves. Cool slightly.

In a blender, process soup in batches until smooth. Return to slow-cooker, stir in the cheese. Cook until soup is heated through and cheese is melted. Garnish with paprika.

Bread Bowls:

Cut the tops off bread bowls and scoop out the sourdough in the middle. Sprinkle with cheese and place the bowls and lids under the broiler for a few minutes until the bowls have crisped and cheese has melted. Serve soup in bowls.

This recipe is linked to:

The Shady Porch's Rock N' Share

Red Wine Chocolate Cake: Crazy Cooking Challenge

2012-02-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

Crazy Cooking Challenge #6

Chocolate Cake

I am so excited to be a part of February's cooking challenge. Chocolate Cake is a classic dessert for a month that's all about love, hearts, and kisses!

This is not your typical chocolate cake - this is a chocolate cake for adults. A Red Wine Chocolate Cake. That's right, you heard me correctly. This cake has red wine in it!!! But, I've got to tell you, this cake almost did not happen. Originally, I had a different cake recipe picked out, but the frosting for the cake turned out all wonky, so I never took pictures. Then I found this recipe stashed in my "Food Recipes to Print" folder in my email, and I knew this was the cake that I needed to make. I was planning to make it last week, but then I got some horrible news that my Great Grandma Ninny passed away and then a few days later I got really sick. I made peace with the decision in my mind that this dessert wasn't going to happen, which meant I would not be participating in this month's challenge - it made me so sad. But just a few days ago, I did a turn around and started to get better, and today, I'm about as good as new!

It would have been a crying shame if this cake hadn't happened. I'm the kind of girl who likes chocolate cake, but most chocolate cakes tend to be so rich that I can never finish a whole slice on my own. But this cake is pretty darn incredible. The cake has a strong chocolate flavor, and the red wine deepens the flavor into something exciting and exotic. And if adding the red wine to the cake isn't enough to blow your socks off, top your incredible slice of cake with a big dollop of Mascarpone Whipped Cream! I've got one word for this cake: It's Sexy!

Basically, you can have your cake and drink it too, LOL!

Red Wine Chocolate Cake

Source: Smitten Kitchen

For the Cake:

6 Tablespoons, unsalted butter, at room temperature

3/4 cup packed brown sugar

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 large egg and 1 egg yolk

3/4 cup red wine, any kind you like ( I used a Cabernet Sauvignon)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup and 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour

1/2 cup Dutch cocoa powder

1/8 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground cinnamon

Whipped Topping:

1/2 cup mascarpone cheese

1/2 cup chilled heavy cream

2 tablespoons granulated sugar

1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees. Line the bottom of a 9 inch cake pan with parchment paper and spray parchment paper and sides of the pan with nonstick cooking spray. In a large bowl, on a medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter until smooth. Add the sugars, and beat until fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add the egg and yolk and beat well. Add in the red wine and vanilla. The batter is going to look uneven. Don't let that scare you. Sift the flour, baking soda, powder, cocoa, cinnamon, and salt over the wet ingredients. Mix until 3/4 of the way combined and then fold the rest together with a rubber spatula. Spread batter into pan and bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. The top of the cake will be shiny and smooth. Cool in pan for 10 minutes on a rack and then flip the cake out of the pan and allow it to cool completely.

For the topping, whip the mascarpone cheese, cream, sugar, and vanilla together until soft peaks form, being careful not to over whip. Dollop on each slice of cake. Cover and refrigerate topping for up to 4 hours in the fridge.

No Weekly Menu

2012-02-06T16:51:00.000-08:00

I apologize yet again!!! Earlier last week, I had a menu planned out and we were supposed to go grocery shopping early last week. That didn't happen. Thursday night, I got really sick and only started feeling better on Sunday. By then my list and menu was a bit of a mess and even though we went shopping, I have a feeling that I'm going to be pulling a rabbit out of the hat most of the coming nights. So there isn't much of a menu and I don't really feel like trying to come up with one. I'm just going to fly by the seat of my pants this week and see what I come up with :) Have a great week everyone :)

Taking a break for the week...

2012-01-31T19:51:00.000-08:00

Hey guys,
I meant to get out the weekly menu yesterday, but while I was making my list out and getting prepared to write the post, my dad called from Vegas telling me that my Great Grandmother Ninny wasn't doing so well and it was just a matter of days until she passed on. Needless to say with that news, I wasn't in much of a posting spirit and I've been distracted ever since. This evening, I got the call from my dad that she's no longer in pain and with our savior in heaven.

My Great Grandma Ninny was such a wonderful woman who lived a good life. She was 94 years old and beloved by anyone who's ever met her. She had a very welcoming spirit about her and a friend to anyone, no questions asked. I feel quite blessed that she was able to make it to my wedding back in 2003 and that I was there to celebrate with our huge family her 90'th birthday, and in July 2010, she got to meet my youngest daughter Eden, when we drove to California for our family reunion.

I had some posts scheduled to go out this week, but I'm rescheduling them for next week. Thank you all for understanding and give your loved ones and extra squeeze tonight :)

Love,
Chels

Vanilla-Almond Steamer

2012-01-27T09:00:00.000-08:00

The first time I ever drank a steamer was on a Winter Formal night. I was on a double date and after we had danced and laughed the night away, we stopped at a local coffee and dessert hot spot (to this day, I cannot remember the name of the place) to talk and relax before parting ways and going home. At the time, I wasn't much of a coffee drinker. Starbucks was a luxury I didn't get too often, so I wasn't sure what to order. My girlfriend Emily said that she was going to get a steamer. What was a steamer I wondered? So I copied what Emily got - an Almond Steamer. Oh my goodness, I was in love! Seeing as almond is one of my favorite flavors I couldn't believe I had been so ignorant before!

I remember my very first day of having my driver's license. I told my mom I would pick up breakfast at Starbucks on my way to school and I was eagerly anticipating ordering my almond steamer from Starbucks. I got to my first class with my steamer in hand and took my seat next to Emily. I turned to her and said, "Well, you've got me hooked! I ordered an almond steamer today. Do you remember when you turned me onto it at Winter Formal?" We laughed and ever since then, whenever I do order a steamer, I order it with almond flavoring and I think of Emily.

I'm not sure where Emily is today. We lost contact after I quit working at a bank I was employed at when I got married to Josh and I haven't seen her since - I have looked all over the internet. I'm not only thankful to her wonderful friendship through my high school years, but also for introducing me to an almond steamer.

Vanilla-Almond Steamer

Source: My recipes

8 cups 1% low-fat milk

1/2 cup sugar

2 ( 3-inch) cinnamon sticks

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1/4 tsp almond extract

ground cinnamon (optional)

ground nutmeg (optional)

Combine milk and sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat; cook until sugar dissolves, stirring frequently. Add cinnamon sticks to milk mixture, cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Do not Boil! Remove from heat and let stand for 20 minutes. Stir in extracts and place pan over medium-high heat for 3 minutes. Remove and discard cinnamon sticks. Garnish with ground cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg, if desired.

Recipe makes 8 servings

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce

2012-01-25T09:00:00.000-08:00

I forgot about this recipe! I had buried this recipe in one of my food folders in my email and completely forgotten about it! It wasn't until last week when I decided to go through all of those recipes and pin the ones I liked onto Pinterest that I rediscovered this glorious breakfast concoction and knew that I was going to make it the following week for the girls.

It is now the following week and these pancakes are OUT OF THIS WORLD, MIND-BLOWING, CRAZY DELICIOUS! I have to quote Grace because she is at that age where a lot of the things she says are extremely dramatic and always a hoot, but she said, "Mommy, thank you sooo much for making these pancakes. It's like heaven in my mouth!" LOL! She is so funny! She then proceeded to tell me that she once again has changed her mind about what she wants to be when she grows up. She wants to work at Fred Meyer now (Fred Meyer is one of our chain grocery stores and the one I frequent the most). I asked her why and she said because she likes to scan things. Heehee! I have a feeling that she is enjoying one of Eden's Christmas gifts a little too much!

Josh and I don't use pancake mix that you buy from the store, like, ever! We have a package of some pancake brand in the cupboard. But the only time we ever use that stuff is when we're going on vacation and we're bringing meals with us. Over the past few months we've experimented with different recipes and I think this is one of my favorites. The ricotta gives the pancakes such a fluffy texture, but a richness that you just don't get normally. In a word, it's divine!

It's a shame that Josh was already at work when I got around to make these this morning for the girls. I really think he would have loved these. But, the upside of him being at work (and this is the only upside I can think of because I hate when he works, but it's a part of life that I just have to deal with) is that meant more pancakes, more blueberries, and more blueberry sauce for me and the girls!

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce

Source: Two Peas and their Pod

Ingredients:

Blueberry Sauce:

1 1/2 TB fresh lemon juice

1 1/2 tsp cornstarch

2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

2-3 TB granulated sugar

2 TB water

In a small bowl, combine the lemon juice and cornstarch and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, combine the blueberries, sugar, and water and bring to a boil over medium to high heat. Reduce to a simmer and stir in lemon juice and cornstarch mixture. Stir until the sauce thickens slightly. Cover to keep warm and set aside.

Pancakes:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour

3TB granulated sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 cup ricotta cheese

1 egg

2 egg whites

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

2 tsp grated lemon zest

1 TB Canola Oil ( I used vegetable oil)

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a medium sized bowl, whisk together ricotta cheese, egg, egg whites, lemon juice, lemon zest, and oil. Gently fold the wet mixture into the dry mixture until the flour disappears. Don't over mix and the batter will be thick.

Heat a griddle or nonstick pan over medium heat. Spray with cooking spray. Take about 1/3 cup of pancake batter and drop onto griddle. Cooking for about 2 minutes on the bottom side and flipping when golden brown. Flip and cook on the other side for 2 more minutes. Continue to use up the batter until gone. Serve warm with blueberry sauce.

Weekly Menu 1/23-1/29

2012-01-23T16:01:00.000-08:00

I can't believe this is the last full week of January. In some ways it feels like it's dragged on and in other ways I just don't where the month went. Christmas was just here wasn't it and now all the stores are decorated for Valentine's Day.

When I was a kid, the days and months just blurred together in one long stretch. Now that I'm a Wife/Mom...I understand my mom's groans of there not being enough hours in a day. Even today I woke up fairly early with a plan of how I wanted my day to go and it hasn't gone the way I had planned and many of the things I wanted to get done I haven't even started yet. The laundry still needs to be folded and put away, and my bathroom needs to be cleaned, and I haven't even touched my Bible Study today. Ugh...and here I am blogging. Laundry, bathroom cleaning, and Bible Study are next on my list of things to do, but I did need to finish the grocery list so that we could go grocery shopping tonight.

Monday

Parmesan Scrambled Eggs and Toast

Quick and easy to make and eat before grocery shopping tonight.

Tuesday

Ground Turkey Taquitos with beans and rice

Wednesday

Crockpot Cauliflower Soup in Bread Bowls

Thursday

(Awana Night)

Herbed Chicken and Tomatoes served over pasta

and glazed baby carrots

Friday

Roasted Garlic Rosemary & Lemon Chicken

with salad and potatoes

Saturday

Cod fish and Chips

( the chips being Josh's garlic and rosemary fries)

Sunday

Panini's of some kind...not sure, but I've got a few ideas

I'm on snack duty this week for Awana at church. So I'm baking up some cookies for that. I'm planning a yummy breakfast for the girls tomorrow morning. And...my sister has been wanting to make a carrot cake ( I've never ate Carrot Cake before) so we're going to bake that I think this week too. Are you baking up anything fun?

Desserts/ Etc.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with Blueberry Sauce

AppleSauce Cookies with Caramel Frosting

Carrot Cake

Chicken and Dumplings

2012-01-20T09:00:00.000-08:00

I have a deep appreciation for all the work that goes into making homemade chicken and dumplings. It's work, but it's the kind of work you give yourself a pat on the back for because it is THAT good!

My only other encounter with this fantastic southern meal is the version I've had at a restaurant called Tad's Chicken and Dumplings. I've been going to this restaurant for years - practically grew up on it - but their Chicken and Dumplings is something I've only ordered once. The chicken was great, but the dumplings lacked flavor. I remember I ended up dumping salt and pepper all over the dumplings to try and boost some flavor out of the dough. It didn't work very well. My food ended up being very salty.

This Chicken and Dumplings recipe I trusted a lot more. Why? Well, it's just another one of Pioneer Woman's fabulously blogged foods. She promises flavor...not only in the chicken, but in the dumplings as well...and flavor she delivered.

I'm not going to lie, this meal is a bit preparation-heavy. My only complaint with Ree's recipe is her Prep/Cook time estimates. Maybe I'm just a slow poke in the kitchen - it could very well be that - or maybe it was because I was trying to follow the recipe off my computer because my printer is out ink. Whatever the reason was, I want to push you into the kitchen and force you to make this meal...but only when you have the time to make it. This is so good, so hearty, so full of flavor, that I can definitely see why this dish is in virtually every Southern Cookbook on the face of the planet.

Please go to the store, buy the ingredients and run home and make this meal. If your weather is anything like ours (cold, wet, and windy) then this is the perfect dish to warm you up from head to toe!

Chicken and Dumplings

Source: Pioneer Woman

2 TB Butter

2 TB Olive Oil

1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour

1 whole cut up chicken (fryer chicken)

Salt and Pepper

1/2 cup finely diced carrots

1/2 cup finely diced celery

1 whole medium onion, finely diced

1/2 tsp dried thyme

1/4 tsp tumeric ( I didn't have any on hand, so I used curry)

6 cups low sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup apple cider

1/2 cup heavy cream

Dumplings:

1-1/2 cup All-Purpose Flour

1/2 cup Yellow Cornmeal

1 TB (heaping) Baking Powder

1 tsp Kosher Salt

1-1/2 cup Half in Half

Salt as Needed

Sprinkle chicken pieces with salt and pepper, then dredge both sides in flour.

Melt butter in a pot over medium-high heat. In two batches, brown the chicken on both sides and remove to a clean plate.

In the same pot, add diced carrots, celery, and onion. Stir and cook for 3-4 minutes over medium-low heat. Stir in the ground thyme and turmeric, then pour in the chicken broth and apple cider. Stir to combine, then add the browned chicken. Cover pot and simmer for 20 minutes.

While Chicken is simmering, make the dough for the dumplings: sift together all dry ingredients, then add in half in half, stirring gently to combine. Set aside.

Remove chicken from pot and set aside on a plate. Use two forks and remove the chicken from the bone, shred, and add back into the pot. Pour heavy cream into the pot and stir to combine.

Drop tablespoons of dumpling dough into the simmering pot. Cover pot halfway and continue to simmer for 15 minutes. Check seasonings; add salt if needed. Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Chicken Curry

2012-01-18T09:00:00.000-08:00

This is Chicken Curry or sometimes called Chicken Divon. This is not the Chicken Curry I grew up eating, but this is my husband's family's version. This is just one more reason I am so glad I married into this family - this meal is incredibly delicious!

Josh loves this meal and I really don't make it enough for him. Not sure why...probably has something to do with the fact that I love trying out new recipes all the time, and I forget a lot about the yummy family favorites.

But here it is, and I'm going to show you how you can make it for your family. Oh, just one more thing. Kids love this meal. Not sure why, because there is broccoli in it and I know a lot kids don't like green foods, but my girls never fail to clean their plates when I make it. It's just so warm and creamy with the perfect amount of crunch.

You're going to start with boneless, skinless chicken breast. I cut it up into bite size pieces and sprinkle a little bit of salt and a bit more pepper over the chicken and cook it up in a skillet with a bit of evoo. For my family, I used two chicken breasts. But more is always better!

While the chicken is cooking, in a large pot, you're going to want to start your broccoli. I didn't get a picture of this part, because I accidentally dropped a bunch of it on my kitchen floor and got a tad bit frazzled. But I used frozen, chopped broccoli, and followed the cooking instructions on the back of the bag until it was cooked.

While the chicken and broccoli are cooking, get a medium sized bowl - this is where you are going to make your yummy sauce. It's just cream of chicken, mayo, lemon juice, and curry. Mix it together until it's all combined and set it aside.

When the broccoli and chicken are done cooking, grease a 9x13 baking dish and pour in the chopped broccoli. Layered on top of that is the cooked chicken.

Evenly pour the chicken curry sauce over the chicken and broccoli until everything is coated.

In a small bowl, combine melted butter, bread crumbs, toasted slivered almonds, and cheddar cheese.

Sprinkle the crunchy topping over the curry sauce and then place in a 350 degree oven and bake for an hour. Serve over rice and enjoy!

Chicken Curry

Source: Rief Family Recipes

Serves: 12

2 10 oz Pkg. frozen chopped broccoli (cooked)

2-3 cups cooked chicken breast

1 cup mayonaise

2 cans cream of chicken soup

4 TB lemon juice

1/2 tsp curry

2 TB melted butter or margarine

3/4 cup bread crumbs

3/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

package toasted slivered almonds

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Place broccoli (cooked until tender) in greased 9x13 baking dish. Layer chicken over broccoli.

Mix together mayonnaise, chicken soup, lemon juice, and curry and pour over chicken and broccoli.

Mix together butter/margarine, bread crumbs, cheese, and almonds. Spoon over top of curry sauce.

Bake for 50 min. - 1 hour.

Serve over rice.

Weekly Menu 1/16/12-1/22/12

2012-01-17T17:46:00.000-08:00

This was a surprisingly very busy weekend for us. It was not planned out to be a busy one, but it just kind of happened. Saturday was really the only day we had stuff planned out for. We all had dentist appointments and my girls are cavity free ( can I get a Whoop Whoop) and to reward them, we took them to go see Beauty and the Beast 3D; which they loved of course!
But our big news is, Josh and I got a new car! A "New to Us" SUV actually. We didn't go into the weekend with car shopping on our mind. We new that eventually we would need to buy a new car. The one I was driving, was on borrowed time. But we didn't expect it to happen this fast. I wanted/needed something that would eventually fit our family that wants to grow, whether that be a mini van or suv I just wanted more space for passengers. What we ended up getting was an SUV, a beautiful blue Volvo XC-90. What I really like about this car is that is a no fuss no frills SUV. It has all the features I appreciate without being to complicated or over the top. And the best part...it seats 7 people!!!! I love that!

So now onto the menu, almost! We have had some very wintery weather lately. Lot's of snow that has become a lot of wet slush and rain. We just keep getting a dusting but then it rains and it's gone. So with that, I had plans for today to make a Carrot Cake with my cute sister who also happens to help me out a lot in the kitchen. But, because of the weather, we've pushed the cake baking back to next week.

Monday

Josh had to make Taquitos for a potluck at work and he made extras for us.

Tuesday

Chicken and Dumplings

Wednesday

Asian Turkey Burgers with Spicy Lime Mayo and Homemade French Fries

Thursday

Cheese Enchiladas with beans and rice

Friday

Homemade Pizza- Hawaiian and Roasted Red Pepper with Balsamic Glaze

Saturday

We're taking the girls to Bulwinkles for pizza and games

Sunday

Roasted Butternut Penne- This has been on the menu for a few weeks now, lol!

Desserts/Etc

Just because Christmas is over doesn't mean it's to late to make some wintery Chocolate Chip Peppermint Crunch Cookies.

Red Wine Chocolate Cake

The Ultimate Appetizer: Southwest Wontons

2012-01-13T09:00:00.000-08:00

One day in November, I got into one of my moods. Chels occasionally refers to them as expensive moods, because that has a tendency to be how they end...with the spending of half our grocery budget at the local market. Thankfully, most of the time I just work with what I have in the house. In fact, normally it doesn't get too far out of hand unless there's a grill involved - which is pretty much every night during the summer. Also thankfully, I usually end up buying things we can use in later meals, so I'm actually contributing to the grocery shopping in a way...or at least that's what I tell myself.

Anyhow, on this particular day, I felt like getting out of my comfort zone. I've long been a diehard fan of P.F. Chang's crab wontons, and I've been getting comfortable with cooking and frying things in oil of late (too comfortable, and I have the burns to prove it!), so my mind was, I think, understandably set on one idea - I needed to make wontons. However, as any reader of Catz is undoubtedly aware, Chels and I have two great passions when it comes to food ethnicities, and they are Latin and Italian. We enjoy "American" (whatever that is), Chinese, Japanese, Thai, German and even a little Indian from time to time, but nothing tops the aforementioned two. I had a difficult time picturing an Italian wonton (not that that will stop me from trying to dream one up), so I decided to scour the internet for a southwest, fresh Mex or authentically Latin wonton recipe (is that possible?). I found Kevin & Amanda's Crispy Southwestern Wontons.

Unfortunately, this was one of my first efforts with wontons, and picture taking was a definitely secondary priority. We'll try to take some prettier pics here at some point. In fact, the day I took these pictures was simply an "experiment with extra vegetable oil" day, and I was playing with a recipe I made up in an attempt to mimic CPK's Avocado Club Egg Rolls. They were quite delicious, as a matter of fact - I will try to blog them soon. As for the wontons, I've made them three times now, and the primary change I've made from Amanda's treatment on her site is that I leave out the chicken. I find them to be lighter and more pleasing as an appetizer when their only filling is vegetables. Bizarre coming from me, the proverbial meatetarian? Ah, how little you know me...

The most important piece of this recipe is finding the right wonton wrappers. Albertson's carries a brand called Nasoya, and I found them to be absolutely exemplary. Once suitable wonton wrappers have been located, the rest is a breeze.

Begin by heating a bit of olive oil (a tablespoon is the general measurement, but there's really no need to measure) in a medium size pan over medium-low heat. Add to that about a quarter cup of raw diced onions, and sauté them until they're soft and just barely browned. On top of the onions, add in a quarter to a half cup of diced red or green bell pepper (red is prettier, but I found the flavor satisfactory both ways). Stir the mixture around every so often while it cooks for another three to five minutes, and then add a couple of cloves of minced garlic. Cook this mixture for only one minute, and then add in about a third cup of frozen corn and the same of black beans. Continue to stir this mixture about a bit in the pan, just until it is heated through. Transfer the entire contents of the pan to a medium sized bowl, and you're ready to move on.

Grind some black peppercorns over the top of the mixture, and add in about a quarter cup of cheddar cheese and another quarter cup of monterey jack. Finally, drop in a couple of teaspoons of dry ranch dressing and stir to mix. That's your filling.

Now, you can clean out your skillet and use it for this next bit, or you can use a slightly larger one. I used a flat-bottomed pan with high sides, as it seemed to give me room for a few more wontons at a time. Either way, pour in between a quarter inch and half an inch of vegetable oil (not a big fan of canola, personally), and allow it to heat for several minutes over medium heat. If you're using a gas stovetop, you'll probably want to reduce this to medium low once the oil is heated.

As to the wonton wrappers themselves, you'll need a small bowl of water to dip your fingertips in. Nice and ceremonial, isn't it? Spoon just about a teaspoon of the mixture you made into the center of each wonton, and then wet two sides of each one by dipping your fingertip in the water and running it along the edges. Seal the wonton by folding it over and pressing the wet edges together with the dry ones. If you get a good brand, you really won't have to worry much at all about the wontons ripping. I'm also not the greatest at getting all of the excess air out of the wonton when sealing it, but you ought to give it a shot just the same!

Once your wontons are stuffed, sealed and ready for delivery, set them in the heated oil. They'll take a minute or less per side once the oil is hot, and they burn quickly, so keep a close eye on the action in the pan. A light golden brown is perfect, but a deeper brown is quite edible as well. At this point, I preheat the oven to 170 degrees, take a cookie sheet, cover it with paper towels and place a cooling rack on it. This gives you something to set the wontons on when they come out of the pan, drains them of any excess oil, and keeps them warm until you're ready to serve.

That's it! The wontons are done, and trust me when I tell you this is an appetizer that will please adults and children alike. I would confidently serve these at any gathering...as long as they were paired with my simplest of dipping sauces. This is the touch that takes these tasty little morsels over the top, so don't miss it. Mix three or four tablespoons of mayonnaise with three or four tablespoons of barbecue sauce, and you're good to go - as long as you use the right barbecue sauce! To achieve the proper taste, pick up a chipotle honey barbecue sauce - preferably Sweet Baby Ray's, if you have access to such a wonderful product. The chipotle flavor adds a marvelous tang to the entire affair, while the honey keeps it nice and sweet. You absolutely will not believe how good this simple sauce is until you try it. So try it.

Enjoy!

Southwest Wontons

Adapted from Kevin & Amanda

1 TB Extra-Virgin Olive Oil

1/4 cup diced onion

1/4 cup diced bell pepper ( any variety)

1-2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup frozen corn kernals

1/4 cup canned black beans, drained

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/4 cup shredded monterey jack cheese

2 TB ( 1/2 pkg) dry ranch dressing

24 wonton wrappers

vegetable oil for frying

Pre-heat oven to 170 degrees.

Heat olive oil up in a pan in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and sauté for about 5 minutes, or until soft, then add in your diced bell pepper, and stir it around every so often for about 3-5 minutes. Add in your garlic and stir for 1 minute. Then add in your corn and black beans, stir until heated through, and turn off burner. Add the contents of the skillet into a medium sized bowl.

Sprinkle pepper over veggie mixture and toss in your cheeses along with the dry ranch dressing and give it a good stir until everything is combined.

Clean out your skillet or use a bigger one pour in a quarter -half an inch of vegetable oil and allow it to heat up over medium heat.

For the wonton wrappers, lay tout a few at a time on your cutting board and grab a small bowl of waters for dipping your fingers in. Spoon about a tsp of the mixture onto the center of each wonton wrapper and wet two sides of each wrapper with your fingers, folding and sealing the wet sides of the wrappers to meet with the dry sides of the wrapper, the shape your going for is a triangle.

Once the wontons are stuffed, set them in the heated oil and cook for about 1 minute on each side or until you have a light golden brown color on each side of the wonton.

Remove the wontons and place them on a wire rack on top of a cookie sheet with a paper bowl on the bottom of the sheet to absorb any excess oil that drips. Place the sheet in the oven, to keep warm while you continue frying your wontons, and are ready to serve.

Enjoy with dipping sauces: Ranch is delicious, or make a camp sauce out of Mayo and a Chipolte Honey BBQ Sauce.

Serve, Enjoy, and Dream about them later! :)

Mini Turkey Pot Pies

2012-01-11T09:00:00.000-08:00

On Christmas Eve, Josh and I brined a turkey and it was the most amazing turkey I have ever tasted. I was thrilled when we had turkey meat leftovers and I knew just wanted I wanted to make with them. A Turkey Pot Pie, but not just any pot pie; a pot pie made in my cute ramekins. Ramekins are such an incredible smart invention. So cute and tiny- but full of power to create meals that will have you oohing and awing as if it were a newborn baby! Okay, maybe that's a bit extreme...but, if we're being honest here...the oohing and awing was exactly what I did when my little mini's popped out of the oven! Yes, I'm ridiculous!

Do you see how cute that little bundle of joy is. Do you see??

Pot pies are one of my husbands favorite meals. Also one of my dad's favorite meals! I remember eating the frozen kind and not caring to much for them as a little kid. But there is nothing frozen or pre-made about this pot pie.

I even went the extra mile and made my pie crust from scratch-which turned out perfectly if I do say so myself. I even had enough pie dough leftover to freeze. (I hate wasting!) But, if you are short on time, because this meal is a bit involved, buying the pre-made crusts in the store isn't a big deal either. In fact, I toyed with the idea of buying the pre made crust myself because of time management purposes. But in the end, I decided to make my own, because making my own pie crusts is something I want to continually get better at and I knew I would be silently kicking myself if I hadn't. I have a bit of a guilt complex, haha!

If you haven't yet played with ramekins, I highly suggest you do. You can do so many things with them. I found all of mine at Ross for super cheap and they are AWESOME! For this recipe, you'll be cutting out 12 dough circles. Six of the circles go inside the ramekin and the other six go on top of the food filled little dish. But for the six that go on top, I would find a bowl slightly larger than the ramekin because otherwise I think the circles are to small to successfully cover the pot pie filling. I used my larger ramekins for the tops and it was perfect.

You could easily opt the turkey out for chicken too and it would still be delicious. Anything is delicious in a mini pot pie, I mean let's be honest here!

Mini Turkey Pot Pies

Source: Simple Comfort Food

3-4 cups cooked turkey breast, cut into cubes

2 sheets of pie crust

4 TB unsalted butter

1 medium yellow onion, diced

2 celery stalks, thinly diced

3 carrots, cleaned & skinned, thinly diced

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 1/2 cups milk

1 cup chicken stock

1 tsp dried thyme

1/4 cup dry sherry

1/2 cup frozen green peas

1 TB fresh flat leaf parsley, finely chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

1 egg, beaten for brushing on top of pie crust

kosher salt

ramekins

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Gently roll out pie crust and lightly flour them. Take a ramekin and press into the dough, gently cutting into it. Repeat this process with sheets of pie dough until you have 12 pie dough circles for your 6 ramekins. Lightly butter the inside of the ramekins and take a pie dough circle and place inside the ramekin, pressing to form the shape of the ramekin. Reserve the remaining six pie dough circles.

Place the ramekins on a baking sheet and place in the oven for 8 minutes. Remove them after the 8 minutes and allow to cool.

For the filling, add butter to a large pot and slowly melt it. Add in your onions, celery, and carrots and allow to cook for 10 minutes, stirring on occasion. Add in your flour, and stir for another couple of minutes. Whisk in your milk and continue to whisk until smooth. Stir in the chicken stock and sherry. Bring to a low heat and cook down for another 10 minutes. The sauce will begin to thicken at this point. Then stir in the thyme, parsley, peas, turkey, and salt & pepper. You need to taste it after you season it until it's seasoned the way you want it.

Fill each ramekin to the top with the turkey mixture and top each ramekin with the larger pie dough circle. Seal the top of the pie dough by pinching down the edges. Brush the beaten egg onto the top of each ramekin and sprinkle with kosher salt.

Place the ramekins back in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until they are golden brown.

Plate and dinner is served!

Weekly Menu 1/9/12-1/15/12

2012-01-10T16:18:00.000-08:00

Today, (Tuesday) is actually Josh's birthday and we've been doing some fun celebrating over the weekend. We had his family over to the house on Saturday for one of Josh's favorite dinners, Oriental Chicken Salad and Texas Sheet Cake which came out almost like Josh's mom's. Josh's mom always makes the cake, and I thought it was high time for me to tackle it. The cake itself turned out great, but the frosting...well it just tasted a little too powdered sugary for me. The recipe card I have states a box of powdered sugar. I didn't even know there were boxes of powdered sugar, I always grab the bags...and there were no directions for measuring. Just a box. So I threw in a whole huge bag of powdered sugar. LOL, the frosting was good...a little thick for the cake I made, but still edible. I'm going to make the cake again in the next week or so and get the precise measurement because I just can't make a mistake like that again.

So how are your weeks going? Aside from celebrating the greatness of my hubby today, this weekend we have dentist appointments. UGH! It's been a year since we've been and I know I have a cavity or two. I know this because they told me a year ago I did. But since then we've moved and we really don't want to drive 25 miles to that dental office when we have one right down the street. I'm nervous, this is Eden's 1st appointment, so I'm hoping it goes well for all of us. But I told the girls if they both walk away without cavities, we'll take them to go see Beauty and the Beast in 3D! I'm not so much a 3D person. I end up getting a headache about 25 minutes into the movies, same with IMAX. But I'm willing to suck it up for the girls.

Also, school and Awana start back up this week. I'm feeling a tad bit like Super Mom because I had school going at about 9:45am and Grace was finished at 10:50am, which was perfect because their "Papa" took the girls to Salem to go see their daddy at lunch. Which meant, I got to go to gym while it was still light out an I worked my butt off there for an hour and I'm feeling the exertion now. I'm feeeellling verrry sleeepy! But, that also meant, I got all the ingredients for Josh's special birthday dinner tonight :)

Monday

Chicken Curry or Chicken Divon (whatever you want to call it) with rice and a side salad.

Tuesday

Tomato and Thyme Cod with potatoes ( not sure how I'll serve those yet, I'm thinking rosemary) and steamed broccoli.

Wednesday

Egg in the Nest

Thursday

(Awana Night)

Chicken Curry leftovers

Friday

Roasted Butternut Squash Baked Penne- it was on the menu last week I think and it never happened.

Saturday

Tuna Casserole with a fruit salad

Sunday

Maybe Pizza...

I'm taking a break from baking this week until I can actually form a grocery list and have time to figure out what to make. Plus, we still have birthday cake :)

"Pot Pie" Chicken Noodle Soup: Crazy Cooking Challenge

2012-01-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

Crazy Cooking Challenge #5

Chicken Noodle Soup

The last cooking challenge was so much fun! I hope you all got a chance to take a look at all the different Fudge recipes that all those talented bloggers posted. I know I had no idea that so many different styles and flavors of fudge existed!

But onto this month's Crazy Cooking Challenge, Chicken Noodle Soup! I happen to love "Homemade Soup" in almost every variety, but there is something about Chicken Noodle Soup that just kind of makes you feel like home; as in the home you grew up in as a child. Whenever one of us in my family was sick, my mom always made us a pot of her special soups.

I found the recipe I wanted to try right away and the night I made it ended up being the most perfect night to try it out because my husband had just got done spending close to 4 hours outside in 32 degree temps and was feeling cold and drab when he finally did come inside. Now, my husband is a huge "pot pie" fan but not so much of a soup fan, so when I read that this soup was like chicken pot pie in a bowl...I knew my dear hubby would have no trouble enjoying this soup. Sure enough, he didn't; he helped himself to two bowlfuls.

What's great about this soup is that it's creamy without being heavy, and flavorful without hitting you upside the head. The only thing missing, was the crust of the pie on top, but if you, like I did, add rolls to go along with the soup, you'll find that the missing pie crust is not really missed at all.

"Pot Pie" Chicken Noodle Soup

Source: The Faux Martha

1 TB olive oil

1 sweet onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

3 carrots, sliced

2 celery ribs, sliced

3/4 tsp thyme

1 TB fresh parsley (I used dried, it was all I had on hand)

1 bay leaf

2 quarts chicken stock

1/2 cup half n half

2 TB cornstarch

8 oz fusilli pasta

1 1/2 cups shredded chicken ( I boiled 2 breasts and then shredded it)

1/2 cup peas, frozen

Sea Salt and freshly ground black pepper

In a large soup pot, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add in onion, garlic, carrots, celery, thyme, parsley, and bay leaf and sauté for about 6 minutes, until the vegetable are softened. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.

Add chicken stock and half in half. Bring to a boil.

In a small bowl, add cornstarch with equal parts water. Stir until smooth. Add to soup, stir.

Add the noodles and simmer for 15 minutes, until tender.

Fold in chicken and peas and continue to simmer for another couple of minutes, until heated through.

Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Garnish with parsley and serve with rolls.

Hot Chocolate Cookies

2012-01-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

We have a tradition of watching The Polar Express the evening we set up and decorate our Christmas tree. And every year, my husband has perfect timing, because when the scene of the waiters serving Hot Hot Hot, Hot Chocolate comes on the screen, Josh walks in with 4 cups of deliciously made hot chocolate for us to enjoy for the rest of the movie.

As much as I love hot chocolate, I love cookies even more. So why not make Hot Chocolate Cookies? It combines two of my favorite indulgences in the holiday season.

Cookies for me serves a multiple of purposes. I love snacking on them occasionally throughout the day, packing cookies as desserts for Josh's lunches, and sharing them with my family and friends. This particular batch of cookies didn't last long in our household. It was so hard keeping our hands out of the cookie jar and it was a sad sad day when we realized they were gone. :( I might just have to make another batch very soon, they are that good!

Hot Chocolate Cookies

Source: Kitchen Trial and Error

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 pkg hot chocolate mix (not sugar free)

1 tsp salt

1 1/4 tsp baking soda

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature

1 cup sugar

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups chocolate chips; semi-sweet, white chocolate, or milk chocolate- whatever floats your boat

In a medium sized bowl, whisk flour, hot chocolate mix, salt, and baking soda together. Set aside.

In a separate bowl, use a mixer to cream the butter, sugar, and brown sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Add the eggs and vanilla to the butter mixture and mix until combined. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients a little bit at a time, until incorporated.

Fold in the chocolate chips. Chill the dough for 1 hour.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Drop by rounded teaspoons about 2 inches apart.

Bake one sheet at a time for 10 minutes. Let cool on baking sheet for a few minutes before removing to wire racks to finish cooling completely.

This recipe is linked to:

Comfy in the Kitchen's Feasting in Fellowship Friday, Alli n Son's Sweet Tooth Friday, Sweet as Sugar Cookies' Sweets for a Saturday

Toffee & Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

2012-01-04T09:00:00.000-08:00

It seems as though all I have to do is bake something sweet and I instantly become "The Best Mom in the World," in my kids eyes. Thankfully the gamble I took the other day paid off and didn't lose me that beloved title. I actually came up with a recipe of my own, which is something that rarely happens, especially with baking!

Introducing: Toffee & Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

My inspiration behind this was the 2 overly ripe bananas that were beyond eating off the peel (and I possibly could not sanction throwing them away) and the fact that I'm still on the search for a Banana Bread that tickles my fancy. I wanted to make a banana bread that was a little playful though. So after searching through my cupboards, I found Toffee bits, mini chocolate chips, and semi-sweet chocolate chips which ended up being a match made in heaven with my bananas. It got the approval of my husband and my kids, which in my book, makes it a winner!

Toffee & Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 cup (about 2 ripe bananas) mashed bananas

1/4 cup milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

2/3 cup toffee chips

1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a medium sized mixing bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a large mixing bowl, cream together sugar and butter. Add eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add bananas, milk, and vanilla extract.

Add dry ingredients to the wet mixture and mix well. Mix in mini chocolate chips and toffee chips. Pour batter into a greased loaf pan. Evenly distribute the remaining semi-sweet chocolate chips on top of the batter and bake for one hour, or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle of the bread.

Weekly Menu 1/2/12

2012-01-02T17:02:00.000-08:00

Happy 2012 everybody! Did you all have a fabulous New Years Eve? I'm hoping this new year finds you all in good health with a multitude of blessings!

The hubby and I just hung out at home and had a movie night. We watched Mr. Popper's Penguins with the kids, then they went to bed and then we watched a few movies up until midnight when we popped the cork on our bottle of champagne, watched as the neighbors lit off fireworks, shared a couple of kisses and then finished our movie ( Midnight in Paris, very cute) and went to bed. It was a perfect evening!

Since Josh had today off, we went grocery shopping this afternoon and figured out the menu for the week. It wasn't until right before we left for the store when I realized that there are a lot of pasta dishes on our menu this week. This was completely by accident, lol! Oh well, it's that time of year I guess to satisfy your hunger with warm, filling, and comforting meals.

Monday

Nacho's with ground turkey

Tuesday

Tuna Casserole with a fruit salad

Wednesday

Spaghetti Carbonara with garlic bread and salad

Thursday

Chicken Curry with rice

Friday

Roasted Butternut Baked Penne

Saturday

Not sure, we're probably going to celebrate Josh's b-day early

Sunday

Baked Penne with Italian Sausage

Desserts and more

Tonight or tomorrow I'll make some cookies for my husband's lunch. I haven't decided on which kind yet. But I'm leaning toward these Chocolate Chip Peppermint Crunch Cookies, but without the candy canes because I don't have any, Oops!

Well I guess that about covers it! I hope you all have a fabulous 1st week of the 2012!

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with a Caramel-Pecan Sauce

2011-12-30T09:00:00.000-08:00

My newest obsession in my kitchen is playing with my ramekins. I picked up my first bunch of three ramekins this summer, and then a few weeks ago, I added to my collection six more ramekins. And I still want more, lol! Not only do ramekins make great prep bowls, but they're the perfect individual portion serving for dessert too. And how does a Pumpkin Bread Pudding sound?

A typical bread pudding has raisins it, which I despise greatly. But this bread pudding is moist, beautiful, and full of flavor. This dessert needs to get started a full day before you are actually going to make it, and let me tell you, it is worth the wait...but you have to wait, because if you make it before the bread has really had a chance to soak in that beautiful pumpkin spiced flavor, you will be sorry. I'm just warning ya!

Also, this dessert creates five beautiful full ramekins. So invite your four favorite people over to share in this treat and have a movie night or, for an even better idea, serve this at your New Year's Eve gathering. That's right, make yourself and your friends indulge in this - that way you can all be in the same boat before the dieting begins the next day!

Pumpkin Bread Pudding with Caramel-Pecan Sauce

Source: Confessions of a Cookbook Queen

2 large eggs

1 15oz can pumpkin

1 1/4 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 of a 12oz loaf of french bread, cut into 1 inch cubes

Caramel Sauce:

1/2 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter

1 TB corn syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, pumpkin, cream, sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and vanilla. Add bread cubes and stir to coat. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease 5 ramekins and fill with bread mixture. Place ramekins on a cookie sheet and bake for 50 minutes, lightly tenting with foil for the last 20 minutes.

During the last 15 minutes, prepare your sauce:

Toast pecans in a skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently for about 3-4 minutes or until fragrant. Remove from heat and set aside. In a small saucepan, cook brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup over medium heat for about 4 minutes or until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and stir in pecans and vanilla extract.

Once bread puddings are finished cooking, remove from oven and top with the caramel-pecan sauce.

This recipe is linked to:

Comfy in the Kitchen's Feasting in Fellowship, Alli n Son's Sweet Tooth Friday, Sweet as Sugar Cookies' Sweets for a Saturday

Creamy Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Soup..in the Crockpot

2011-12-28T09:00:00.000-08:00

I love and adore my crockpot something awful. I mean, it's way up there on the list. When I say up there, I mean smack dab in between my KitchenAid Mixer and my zester. My crockpot is like a best friend. Trust- worthy, smart, and always there to lend a helping hand.

Normally, I don't use my crockpot on the weekends due to the fact that Josh and I tend to cook together on those days and we don't need to rush. But on this particular weekend day, Josh wasn't going to be able to cook with me since he was going to be working on a podcast for The MacMob. (If you've missed reading some of Josh's posts, it's because he's been moonlighting as a writer for an Apple tech website. I promise, he'll be back writing for us soon though). And since he was busy, I thought it would be best to not worry about dinner too much and let my crockpot help me out for a few hours.

This soup was such a delightful and sassy change from the kinds of soups we're normally used to. It's sweet and spicy soup, and it goes perfectly when paired with some rolls and a drizzle of honey which really compliments all the different flavors in the soup. For extra garnish and flavor, I toasted and seasoned some of the seeds from the squash and placed them in the soup, and my 7 yr old went crazy for it, haha! She's into crazy little garnishes like that.

This soup is a must ~~slurp~~ eat for the Fall and Winter Seasons!

Creamy Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Soup

Source: Rival Crockpot Recipe Collection Cookbook

1 lb sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch cubes (about 3 cups)

1 lb butternut squash, peeled and diced into 1-inch cubes (about 3 1/2 cups)

1/2 cup chopped onion

1 can (14 ounces) chicken broth, divided

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, cubed

1 can (13 1/2 ounces) coconut milk

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground red pepper, or more to taste

1 1/2 tsp salt, or more to taste

3-4 green onions, green and white parts, finely chopped (optional)

Combine sweet potatoes, squash, onion, half of chicken broth and butter in 4 1/2-quart crockpot. Cover and cook on high for 4 hours, or until vegetables are tender.

Puree until smooth in blender 1 cup at a time, returning batches to crockpot. Stir in remaining broth, coconut milk, ground cumin, ground red pepper, and salt. Cook on high for 15 minutes or until heated through. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with chopped green onions or toasted seeds.

Our Christmas

2011-12-27T15:57:00.000-08:00

I hope your Christmas was beautiful and full of many memories. I can't believe after weeks of celebrating Christmas, that it's just over now. I've already taken down all of the Christmas stuff, ( except for my wreath) and Josh organized and cleaned the garage and our home is back to normal. After putting all the stuff away it's always amazing how much more you feel like you can breathe in your home again. I'm always shocked by how much space I have again, lol!

Since my Birthday is Christmas Eve, we normally celebrate Christmas with my family on my Birthday. However, I got Birthday/Christmas gift a week early.

Meet Noel :)

I've been wanting a baby kitten for so long now! When Josh and I moved to our previous rental house almost 4 years ago, we brought my cat over from my parents house. But when we had to move back into an apartment, my old cat ( she is 16 years old) got depressed. So we gave her back to my mom and she is so happy there. Since we've lived in this house, I've been begging for a kitten.

As it so happened, Josh's parents take care of a stray cat and she and a Siamese cat got together and created a beautiful litter of 5 kittens. The mama cat kind of abandoned the litter when they were about 5-6 weeks old and left them in the cold, so Josh's parents have basically nursed them back to health and have taken care of the five. There were 3 male cats ( 2 siamese) and 2 female cats. I wanted a girl kitty and I fell in love with this one.

Our landlord agreed to let us do a trial run with this kitten ( even though they don't normally allow kittens) to see how she would do with being away from her brothers and sister. This kitten however was kind of a loner, very shy and not really attached to her siblings so we were hopeful that she would adjust to living inside our house. Within the first evening of being in home, Noel made herself at home. She was so happy to be here and she and I have just bonded like crazy.

Within the first few days of her living with us, Josh and I decided that it was indeed working out and we took her to the vet and got all of her vaccinations and stuff done and she is a permanent part of our family now. She is about 15 weeks old and we've had her officially now for a week and a day and it feels like she has always been a part of our family. She is rowdy at night of course, she seems to think 2am is the perfect time to play in our room while we sleep, but when she does calm down at night, she curls up on the pillows above our heads and sleeps there. She is gentle with our girls and believe it or not, they are very sweet and sensitive toward her. So we're all getting along beautifully. Today, Noel got to meet Ashely, Grace's pet rabbit and they had fun sniffing each other out. ( Ashley of course was safe in the confinement of her cage.)

She's a funny kitten, she loves to drink out of our drinking glasses. We give her the same filtered water that we drink, but she prefers to take a sip out of our cups. At night, we have to put books over our drinking glasses or else she'll drink out of them while we sleep, lol!

So Noel was Josh's and mine's gift to each other. And the kids got a healthy balance of gifts from family, so we are all very happy :)

Quick & Easy Tip for Handling Leftover Ham - Ham Rolls!

2011-12-23T09:00:00.000-08:00

Happy Holidays, everyone! I don't know how often I will actually have the opportunity to post on CatzintheKitchen this holiday season, but I wanted to get this tip out to you. In this season of leftover ham (you did realize this was that season, right?), it is vital to know how to handle such overwhelming quantities of pork and pork-based substances. In typical Catz fashion, have we got a solution for you!

This idea is not my own, I must admit - to the best of my knowledge, it is my mother's. Around the holidays, when we had extra ham lying around (to be clear, it was normally lying around in the fridge or the freezer, not like the backs of the sofas or anything), she would fix up these marvelous treats with the bags of rolls from Costco. You know the ones - they make you feel like the Santa Claus of starch when you throw them over your shoulder - big, plastic bags full of thousands (okay, maybe 30 or 40) of little dinner rolls? We were lucky if they made it home with us - super tasty! Those rolls are absolutely perfect for this easy meal tip, but you can certainly use others if you like.

It's simple. Take your leftover ham (cooked, of course) and dice it up into little squares. These squares should be quite tiny - not more than a quarter inch or so in length or width. Throw them in a bowl (the measurements are totally abstract - maybe a cup of ham for every ten or fifteen rolls?) and add a couple tablespoons each of mustard and mayonnaise. Now, this is very much by feel - you want the ham to be a bit beyond coated, so make sure every piece is covered, and then that there is still some extra forming a "sauce," as it were. Take the entire mixture and spoon it out over the rolls, which should be cut in half. The mixture should be applied to the cut side of each half roll, while the crust side of the roll should be against a baking pan - you can probably fit 20+ of these little guys on your average 10" x 13" baking pan.

When you have them all ready to go, flip on your broiler and slide that baking pan in the oven. Keep a very close eye on the rolls - when their edges are turning brown, you're done. This should be around three or four minutes of cooking time. Get this - you're done. That's it. This is actually a full meal, believe it or not. A serving size is between four and five of these, so with a cup of diced ham, a few tablespoons of common condiments and ten to twelve dinner rolls sliced in half, you have a full meal four. See why we like it?

"Ham Rolls"

ten to twelve dinner rolls
one to two cups of diced cooked ham
two to three tablespoons of mayonnaise
two to three tablespoons of mustard

Slice dinner rolls in half. In a medium bowl, mix ham, mustard and mayonnaise. Spread ham mixture on top of sliced rolls. Broil rolls on baking pan for three to four minutes, or until brown around the edges. Serve immediately. Serves four to five.

Peppermint Snickerdoodles

2011-12-21T09:00:00.000-08:00

Have I mentioned that it's my favorite time of the year? I love wearing the warmer layered looks paired with boots and scarves. I love the brightly colored lights on everyone's homes, the smell of fresh Christmas trees, and the music. One of my favorite sights are the hundreds of cars carrying their Christmas trees home, because you know that the same excitement you felt decorating your own tree is about to be felt by others as well. Editor's note: They're also about to be really cold. If they're planning on putting up lights. And then there's the food! How many delicious flavors and aromas come out of this time of year?

But with all the spectacular colors, smells, and memories in the making...there are also drawbacks to this time of year. Let me just say that Christmas will be here before we know it. And that means we are in the hustle and bustle of Christmas parties, freezing temps, and long lines and crowds - whether that is traffic or just people in general. Crowds are what I dislike the most, since I'm claustrophobic.

But if all those negatives that I just listed have you down in the dumps, I'm certain I have something that will cheer you up and turn that frown upside down. How about a cookie that is so festive, bright and - did I mention? - easy, that it will have you singing Hallelujah from the rooftops. How do Peppermint Snickerdoodles sound?

These cookies are great to bring to any holiday gathering - or, how about whipping these up - get the kids involved - and setting them out for Santa on Christmas Eve (which also happens to be my birthday...just in case you were wondering). Either way, partygoers, Santa, or even your little family will enjoy these sweet treats!

Peppermint Snickerdoodles

Source: Taste and Tell

3 candy canes

2 TB sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 roll (16.5 oz) Pillsbury refrigerated sugar cookies

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

Using a ziploc bag, place the candy canes inside and smash with a hammer or rolling pin until a crumb forms. I liked keeping a few bigger pieces because I enjoy that minty crunch surprise on the cookies. But mostly you want a crumb mixture.

Combine the candy cane crumbs with the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.

In a medium sized bowl, break the sugar cookie roll up into chunks and add in the flour and combine. I found that using my hands to mix it all and combine it worked really well. Plus it was fun!

Reshape the dough back into a roll/log type thing and slice, making 32 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and then dunk and roll in the candy cane/sugar/cinnamon mixture until evenly coated. Place on a baking sheet, 2 inches apart.

Bake for 11-14 minutes or until the edges have that golden tint to them. Allow them to cool for 1 minute before transferring to wire racks and allow them to cool completely...if you can allow them to cool completely. ;)

Christmas Week and No Weekly Menu

2011-12-20T22:08:00.000-08:00

Merry Christmas week to you all! I'm sure you are all scurrying around trying to get last minute gifts bought and wrapped and menu's made, and wonderful foods cooked. I, myself am sick with a cold and I'm trying to quickly get rid of it and get on with my holiday week. Josh is officially on vacation now, and also sick :(

We do have some fun little posts headed your way for this week of festivities. So stay tuned :) As for me, I'm headed to the freezer to start my thawing out my turkey. We're having ham and turkey this year and I'm going to try brining my turkey with the PW's recipe. Wish me luck :)

Homemade Pizza Dough

2011-12-16T09:00:00.000-08:00

Before this summer, making my own pizza was something I had only tried a few times; but with only store bought dough or dough from a pizzeria. Those were great ways to get acquainted with making our own pizza, but I didn't like spending the money on the dough you can easily buy in the store ( because I knew I could make it for cheaper) and the dough from a pizzeria was really difficult to handle.

Finally, about a year and a half go we attempted a few rounds of making our own dough. It didn't go well. We just weren't in love with the recipes we were trying. You know as a consumer when you've found a pizza dough you love from a restaurant. Some like the Pizza Hut version, others like the thin and crispy kind. But Josh and I, we're in love with the California Pizza kind. To us, it's the texture, thickness and appearance which wins us over every time. And that was the kind of dough I had been searching for.

When we piggybacked this summer to try making our own pizza dough again, I got the crazy idea of wanting to grill the pizza. I saw Bobby Flay do it on one of his episodes of Barbecue Addiction and I fell in love with the idea. But I wanted to grill a pizza before I had even ever made a successful dough. So after many trials and errors, I've perfected the recipe and am happy to announce that this dough is great grilled or baked in the oven. You can't go wrong it it.

Start by pre-heating your oven to 250 degrees and then begin creating the yeast mixture first. I use a packet of the Fleischmann's Pizza Crust Yeast. Now this yeast does not require rising time, but I allow my dough to rise anyways because that way I get two pizza's out of the dough. Add 1 cup of warm water ( not hot because then you'll kill the yeast) to a small bowl, along with 1 tsp of honey, stir to combine and let it sit for a few minutes until the yeast is bubbly.

While the yeasty magic is creating bubbles, start combining your dry ingredients. You need to measure out 2 cups of all-purpose flour and 1 cup of whole wheat flour. If you don't like whole wheat flour, just omit the wheat and add in another cup of all-purpose flour. To that, I throw in 1 tsp of sea salt, 2 tsp sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, and 3/4 tsp of Italian Seasoning. I make my pizza dough with the dough hook on my KitchenAid Mixer, if you don't have a mixer, just stir it real good with a wooden spoon.

After your dry ingredients are combined, your yeast should have bubbles. Pour the yeast mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix on low speed with your dough hook. Once the yeast has begun to absorb into the flour mixture, slowly start adding in a little bit of extra-virgin olive oil. I start with about 1 tablespoon and continue to add more as needed to get the nice ball of dough you'll want to see form in the hook of your mixer.

Once your ball has formed, take the dough out and place it on a floured surface and just knead it for a minute or two to loosen it up and shape it into one nice ball. I've found sometimes that if my dough doesn't always make that pretty ball in the mixer, I'll take the dough and set it on my floured surface and add a little tiny bit of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and knead it for 3-4 minutes. Sometimes, the dough can be finicky and just needs a little bit more love.

Take a bowl that is medium to large sized and spray it with cooking spray and then place your dough inside the bowl turning to coat. Cover the top of the bowl with plastic wrap and turn off your oven and place the bowl inside the oven and allow the dough to rise for at least 30 minutes, but longer is always better. You want the dough to be doubled in size.

When your dough has doubled in size, remove it from the oven, throw away the plastic wrap and punch it down with your fist. Now, divide the dough into two halves.

Leave one half in the bowl and place the other half on your floured work space and begin rolling it out into a circle or whatever shape your heart desires. The great thing about this dough is your can roll it as thick or thin as you want and it will be delicious either way. We like our pizza pretty thin. Then baste a light layer of Extra Virgin Olive Oil over the dough.

Now all you have to do is let your creativity run wild. The great thing about pizza is any topping will pretty much work.

When you have decorated your pizza, pop it into a 425-450 degree oven and let it bake for 8-15 minutes. The pizza is done when the edges are browned and the cheese is completely melted. Then slice it up and devour.

Homemade Pizza Dough

Source: Chels R.

1 pkg (2 1/4 tsp) Pizza Crust Yeast or you could use Active Dry Yeast

1 tsp honey

1 cup warm water

2 cups All-Purpose Flour

1 Cup Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp sea salt

2 tsp sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

3/4 tsp Italian Seasoning

1-3 TB extra virgin olive oil, plus more for basting

Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees.

In a small bowl, mix together yeast, honey, and warm water. Let sit for a few minutes until yeast is bubbly.

Using a mixer with dough hook, mix flours, salt, sugar, cinnamon, and Italian seasoning together. Add the yeast mixture and mix on low speed. Add 1 TB of evoo, and continue mixing the dough. Add additional TB of evoo as needed until the dough forms a ball. Place dough on floured work surface and continue to knead for an additional few minutes and reshape into a ball form.

Spray a medium-large sized bowl with non-stick spray and place the dough inside the bowl, turning to coat. Cover with plastic wrap. Turn oven off and place bowl in oven for 30 minutes or more until dough has doubled in size.

When dough has doubled, remove from oven and punch the dough down with your fist. Divide the dough into two halves, leaving one half in the bowl.

Pre-heat oven to 425-450 degrees.

On a floured surface place begin rolling out the dough into a circle until it's at your desired thickness. Decorate your pizza and cook in your pre-heated oven for 8-15 minutes. When the sides are browned and the cheese has melted it's done. Repeat process with 2nd half of dough or freeze.

Vanilla Peppermint Fudge

2011-12-14T09:00:00.000-08:00

I figured that since I was going to make fudge for the Crazy Cooking Challenge, I should at least make fudge that appeals to me, which means it can't contain nuts, milk, semi-sweet, or dark chocolate at all! So what's left? White chocolate, of course!

This was the first recipe that actually called my name while I was on the fudge-searching adventure, and I am so glad I listened, because not only is this an incredibly easy fudge to make - it's a delicious one, too.

Since I had ended up making two batches of fudge for the crazy cooking challenge (this fudge and the Eggnog Fudge), I thought it would be nice to share. Isn't that what you're supposed to do with fudge? Share? Editor's note: No. So I brought my two fudge dishes to our church's annual Thanksgiving potluck and you know what, the kids were cutting in front of the adults in the serving line to get a piece of this fudge. I even found one kid just standing there eating it. I had to shoo him off to his mother, lol! Needless to say, I came home completely cleaned out!

I think it's safe to say now that I like fudge, but it's got to be the non-chocolatey and non-nutty kind of fudges. Like this one - it's perfect for a girl like me! :)

Vanilla Peppermint Fudge

Source: The girl who ate everything

1 (12 ounce) package of white chocolate chips or high quality white chocolate bar

1 (16 ounce) container of vanilla frosting

1/2 tsp peppermint extract

8 drops red food coloring

2 TB crushed peppermint candies or peppermint candy canes

Line an 8x8 pan with wax or parchment paper.

Melt white chocolate chips or bars in a double boiler. Or you can melt the chocolate in the microwave in 30 second intervals, stirring after each interval.

Stir in frosting into the white chocolate chips.

Stir in Peppermint extract.

Spread evenly into prepared pan.

Drop 8 drops of red food coloring evenly spaced on top of the fudge.

Using a knife, swirl the food coloring.

Sprinkle top of fudge with crushed peppermint candies and press down slightly.

Cool for about an hour in the fridge.

Once firm, turn fudge onto cutting board and cut into small squares.

Weekly Menu 12/12-12/18

2011-12-12T13:29:00.000-08:00

I was thinking yesterday about my New Year resolution I had made at the beginning of the year. I wanted to take away the coffee and drink tea instead. But like most New Years resolutions, it stuck for maybe 2 days and I was back to drinking coffee again. I'm not sure what my resolution will be this year or if I will even try to have one. I normally can't stick to them anyways. Am I the only one who finds it hard to stick to something you plan on doing and doing it consistently?

If I do a resolution this year, maybe I'll just try and stick to my schedule of going to the gym 3 days a week ( which 3 days is a struggle) and have 3 blog posts a week as well. Since summer, I've had a hard time of making it to the gym all 3 days. I refuse to wake up at 4am and go to the gym because I know I will be a Crabby Patty for the rest of the day. So the only option I have is to go in the evenings when my husband gets home from work...which is an hour long drive for him; and he doesn't always get out of work on time. So to help combat issues that may arise, you might start noticing a few more crockpot posts during the week. As far as the blogging goes, I've recently just starting working out a really good scheduling system. I've begun writing several posts all at once, scheduling them out, and then having Josh edit my writing. He is easily entertained by all the editing that has to be done, because after the first or second post of writing I've done, my grammar and punctuation start to make me sound like I've been drinking...which is definitely not the case. Hahaha!

The New Year is still a few weeks off, but it's never to early to start thinking about the things you might want to improve upon or change. But why you're thinking, why not take a gander at this week's menu.

Monday

Crockpot Taco Soup with cheese quesadillas

Tuesday

Pesto, Ricotta, and Cherry Tomato Pizza

Wednesday

Chili Bean -Stuffed Peppers

Thursday

( Awana Night)

Apple, Cheddar, and Bacon Monte Cristos

Friday

Chicken BBQ Sandwiches, Macaroni and Cheese, and Green Beans

Saturday

Chicken with Basil Cream Sauce, baked potatoes, and broccoli

Sunday
Penne with Spicy Vodka Tomato Cream Sauce

Some of those are new recipes and some of those are old ones, but I'm excited about every one of them .:)

Desserts/ Etc

Assuming I can find these Junior Mints Peppermint Crunch Candies- I'm going to make these Chocolate Chip Peppermint Crunch Cookies for my hubby's lunch this week :)

If I can't find those candies, then I'll make him Holiday M&M Chocolate Chip Cookies.

What are you making this week?

Lentil Soup

2011-12-09T09:00:00.000-08:00

Lentils is one of those foods I grew up on and happen to love (I can't say the same thing about onions though). I love lentils because they have this tendency to absorb whatever flavors are soaking into them. Not only are they a great protein, but they're also high in fiber and have the power to lower cholesterol. And...since one cup of lentils is about 230 calories, they are very kind to your waistline as well.

But, I think it is very important for me to tell you all that when I was growing up, my dad did not like lentils, which I thought was sad. And, it is also equally important to tell you that my dear hubby also detests lentils. But, while I think it's sad with my dad, it's a completely different thing with my husband. I think he's nuts, and I don't care if he doesn't like them because I'm going to make him come to his senses and help him discover his love of lentils. He likes them, he just doesn't know it yet.

Let me let you in on a secret...the night I made this soup, he was not happy with me. He just couldn't understand why I would force him to eat a food he doesn't like. But ya know what, I got a "Not Bad. It's better than I thought it would be" from him! SCORE!!!! In my head, I was running around my living room doing the "Touch down victory dance." But I played it cool with him, and said, "See, I told you you would learn to like them."

I have yet to make my family-favorite lentil loaf for him. I'm going to give him a break for a few weeks, but soon, I can promise he will be eating another lentil dish and liking that one, too. :)

Lentil Soup

Source: Martha Stewart

3 strips bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

1 large onion, chopped

3 medium carrots, peeled, halved lengthwise, and cut into 1/4-inch half-moons

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 TB tomato paste

1 1/2 cups lentils, picked over and rinsed

1/2 tsp dried thyme

2 cans ( 14 1/2 ounces each) reduced-sodium chicken broth ( 3 1/2 cups)

1 TB red-wine vinegar

coarse salt and freshly ground pepper

In a dutch oven ( or other 5qt pot with a tight fitting lid), cook bacon over medium-low heat until browned and crisp, 8-10 minutes. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon of fat.

Add onion and carrots; cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in garlic, and cook until fragrant, about 30 secs. Stir in tomato paste, and cook for 1 minute.

Add lentils, thyme, broth, and 2 cups water. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer. Cover and cook on low until lentils are tender, 30-45minutes. Stir in vinegar, 1 1/2 tsps salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Serve immediately.

EggNog Fudge: Crazy Cooking Challenge

2011-12-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

Crazy Cooking Challenge #3

Fudge

I've got to be honest, when I first read what the cooking challenge was for this month, I was not excited. Fudge is not my thing at all! Editor's note: I like fudge. Not only am I not a fan of the texture and flavor of fudge, but I have never ever attempted to make it before. I had never even watched my mom make her fudge before! I was dreading this challenge, and the thought of dropping out did cross my mind at least once.

BUT...thank goodness Pinterest has popped up and caused such a craze, because it saved my life when I searched for Fudge!

I had such a fun time making this fudge recipe. I had my sisters-in-law come over and help me out, we had a blast, and we ended up making two different Fudge recipes and then chose between the two. This recipe was the winner for this challenge. Not only was the fudge process not as hard as I thought it would be (BTW- thanks mom for loaning me your candy thermometer), but this fudge is actually quite delicious and very indulgent. I swear, it actually tastes like you're drinking eggnog from a glass! How good is that?! Since you're using eggnog to help make this fudge, this is a great use up of whatever is left in the fridge. So, it's a frugal candy, too! :)

I ended up sharing this whole batch of fudge with my church last Sunday for our annual Thanksgiving Potluck, and the little bit that was left got eaten up at my husband's bank. I received a ton of rave reviews on this fudge, which thrilled me to no end, because that meant I didn't screw it up, lol!

Trust me, this is an addition you are going to want to make for your holiday dinners with your family! :)

EggNog Fudge

Source: Recipe Girl

2 cups granulated sugar

1/2 cup butter

3/4 cup dairy eggnog

10.5 ounces white chocolate bars, chopped into small pieces

1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg, plus a little more for the top of the fudge

once 7 ounce jar marshmallow creme

1 tsp rum extract

Line a 8 or 9-inch square pan with foil and let it hang over the sides. Butter the foil.

In a heavy, 3-qt saucepan combine sugar, butter, and eggnog. Bring to a rolling boil, stirring constantly. Continue boiling 8-10 minutes over medium heat or until a candy thermemoter reaches 234 F, stirring constantly to prevent scorching. Remove from heat.

Using a wooden spoon, work quickly to stir in chopped white chocolate and nutmeg until chocolate is melted and smooth. Stir in marshmallow creme and rum extract. Beat until well blended and then pour into prepared pan. Sprinkle with a little freshly ground nutmeg on top. Let stand at room temperature until cooled. Refrigerate if you'd like to speed up the process.

When completely cool, cut into squares. Store in covered container.

This recipe is also linked to:

Crumbs and Chaos' Seasonal Inspiration, Sweet as Sugar Cookies's Sweets for a Saturday, Alli n Son's Sweet Tooth Friday, A Well-Seasoned Life's Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Weekly Menu 12/5-12/11

2011-12-06T12:39:00.000-08:00

We finally got 99.9% of all our decorations up. We got our gorgeous Christmas tree on Saturday and did all of that decorating. On Sunday, we got our outside lights put up. And on Monday, my mom came over to help me decorate the inside of my home with some of the leftover swag from our Christmas tree. We're doing Christmas this year at our house and I wanted the house festive and beautiful!

The fireplace mantel wasn't finished when I took that photo earlier this week and how do you like my Christmas Moose? It was my parents and they we're going to burn it because they didn't have a need for it anymore and the head no longer moves. But I wanted it ( I didn't care if the head moved or not), so my parents let me save it and now it has a home in my front yard. You can't beat free I tell ya! I felt so bad when my mom came over the other day to help me decorate, I somehow without me really planning it, started a Snowman collection and I have more snowmen than any other Christmas decoration. And the few other little doodads I have, are all little things that we're given to me or stuff I bought at Goodwill when Josh and I first got married. It's been a long time since I've bought Christmas decorations, so for this year, I'm making do with what I have. I know eventually, I'll probably be able to talk my mom out of some her's because she has more Christmas decorations than she knows what to do with and she doesn't really decorate anymore. I'm just waiting patiently till she lets me go through all of her stuff :) Her stuff is the kind go stuff I like; classy and cozy.

I still have a bit more decorating to do. I need Josh to hang the garland around my front door and then I need another wreath hook for a wreath I want to hang inside the house...but then I'm done! How about you?

Monday

We had leftover Texas Toast, so Josh turned it into French Toast with breakfast sausage that was ready for me when I got back from the gym :)

Tuesday

Homemade Pizza- Canadian Bacon and Pineapple

Wednesday

We're going grocery shopping tonight, so I'm going to take the Navy Bean Soup I made a few weeks ago and reheat it in the crockpot.

Thursday

(Awana Night)

Lime Chicken Tacos with these awesome new flavored tortillas I bought. I've been making these tacos for years and love love love them!

Friday

Tuna Casserole with a fruit salad and bread & butter, the way my family always ate it

Saturday

Breaded Pork Chops with sage cream gravy, mashed parsnips and potatoes, and a garden salad. Are you shocked? Yes, I'm making an actual Pork dish...I hope it's good!

Sunday

One of my husband's favorite meals, Chicken Curry with rice and I'm still playing with a side dish...maybe rolls or something.

It's been awhile since I've made the Chicken Curry for Josh. Last time I made it, I completely left out the rice, lol! He doesn't know I'm making it this week, so I'm sure he'll be in for a pleasant surprise when he reads this post later on.

Desserts & Etc

This week I'm going to try out my Ramekins. I'm so excited. I'm hoping to get to Ross later this week so I can pick up another set, because I only have 3 ramekins. :(

I'm also making yet another "new and holiday-ish" cookie this week!

Pumpkin Bread Pudding

Hot Chocolate Cookies

And I want to hear what your one Kitchen Wish List item your asking for this Christmas. It could be anything?

In years past for me, it was a Kitchenaid Mixer. But now...if I could have anything...it would be a toss up between a Dutch Oven, Cast Iron Skillet, or a Grill Pan- the kind that go over the burners...that way we could make Burgers all year long :)

Chocolate Mint Cookies with Dark Chocolate & Mint Chips

2011-12-02T09:00:00.000-08:00

I love making cookies. I think it might have something to do with my mom always having freshly baked cookies awaiting me and my brother when we would get home from school. When I was young, I would picture myself whipping up something fabulous in the kitchen and presenting them to my kids and husband and they would keep begging me for just one more cookie. I guess you can say my mom's baking left me with quite an impression.

These days, I'm baking cookies on an almost weekly basis for my husband's lunches and if we're having company over, I like to have cookies in the house for them as well. And with every batch of cookies I make, I always set aside about 4 of those cookies to pass on to my mom and dad to share too. It's like the ultimate reward if I get the cookie approval from my mom. My dad's approval is great too, but he is a simpleton and is perfectly happy with Chocolate Chip Cookies.

Last year when all the baking products were on sale, I went crazy with buying all kinds of different chocolate chip morsels. One of of the packages I bought was Nestle's dark chocolate and mint morsels. That's right, I held onto that bag for an entire year before using it! I wanted the perfect recipe, but last year when I was on the hunt, I didn't see anything that I liked. Maybe I didn't look hard enough, because this year I found a recipe that had my husband, my mom, my sisters & brother ( in-laws), and my kids oohing and awing. Even my dad said they were good. And he's not a mint liking person.

I whipped these cookies up and fell in love and so did everyone else. I haven't been able to keep my husbands hand out of the cookie jar. It's not enough that he gets 3 or 4 of these babies in his lunch, but when he gets home, he goes straight for the cookie jar and grabs one...or two. They are that good!

If you come across some of these bags of Nestle morsels, I highly recommend you buy as many packages as you can fit in your cart because they are a seasonal item and you should stock up while you can! That's an order! :)

Chocolate Mint Cookies with Dark Chocolate & Mint Chips

Source: Nutmeg Nanny

2 Cups all-purpose flour

2/3 cup baking cocoa

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup ( 2 sticks) butter or margarine, softened

2/3 cup granulated sugar

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp peppermint extract

2 large eggs

1 10-oz package Nestle Toll House Dark Chocolate & Mint Morsels

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees F.

Combine flour, cocoa, baking soda, and salt in a small bowl.

Beat butter, granulated suar, brown sugar, and vanilla and peppermint extract in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in morsels. Drop by a well-rounded TB onto ungreased cookie sheets.

Bake 11-13 minutes, until cookies are puffed and centers are set. Cool on baking sheets for 2 minutes before removing and placing on wire racks to cool completely.

This Recipe is Linked to:

Sweet as Sugar Cookies' Sweets for a Saturday, Crumbs and Chaos's Seasonal Inspiration, Comfy in the Kitchen's Fellowship Fridays, A Well-Seasoned Life's Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Weekly Menu 11/28-12/4

2011-11-30T13:21:00.000-08:00

Today is the last day of November! I'm so super excited but sad at the same time because I love this time of year so much, but it just goes by way to fast. This weekend, we're going to get our tree and decorate the house with all of our decor and lights and I cannot wait!

Have you guys decked the halls yet?

I can't say this is going to be an overly exciting cooking week around here. I'm only trying out one new dinner recipe. But comfort food is on the menu and I'm excited about eating that!

Monday

Nacho night- The one we made was HUUGE and so good!

Tuesday

Josh was at an awards benefit type ceremony at the Portland Art Museum for the bank, so the kids had leftover pizza and I made cheesy scrambled eggs.

Wednesday

We're going grocery shopping so I might just make some sandwiches.

Thursday

My mom's lasagna, corn, and garlic bread.

Friday

BLT Panini's with chips

Saturday

Sausage and Cream Cheese Casserole- I tried to find the recipe for this, but I couldn't find it, but Josh makes this around this time of year and it's so bad for you, but so good!

Sunday

Chicken Noodle and Sweet Potato Soup and probably some rolls

Desserts and Treats

Peppermint Snickerdoodles- As soon as I saw these on Deborah's blog I got so excited and knew I needed to make these :) I'll probably make them over the weekend for Josh's lunches for the following week.

Spaghetti and Meatballs

2011-11-29T15:55:00.000-08:00

I have to admit, I never make spaghetti. It's just not one of those meals that excites me too much, which could have something to do with the fact that the only time I really ever break it out is when I'm in a rush, and then I just use a jar of the spaghetti sauce from the store. Or maybe it's because the only really good spaghetti I felt I've ever made was when I was pregnant with Grace, sat down to the table, took a bite and my morning sickness became a dose of evening sickness.

I've made a few variations of spaghetti that have been good. For example, the Zesty Bolognese I made at the beginning of the year was delicious. However, I haven't made it since then. Which means, we haven't had spaghetti since then. That is a problem, because I really do love it at restaurants and my mother in law makes a really good chicken version too. I am so picky about Spaghetti. I don't just like the pasta and the sauce, I like the addition of something to it. And meatballs are just so perfect for spaghetti. I've attempted to make meatballs only once before and they were disastrous! Even my hubby, who is normally so sweet and encouraging agreed that they were pretty obscene.

So last week, when I was trying to figure out some finishing meals to my weekly menu, I knew something was missing. I didn't have any sort of pasta dish on my menu. I went through some of my recipes and I didn't have a lot of the ingredients they called for, so I started looking at my fellow bloggers when I came across The Pioneer Woman's Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe. It looked delicious and I had everything I needed which was even better! I was pretty scared to attempt meatballs again, but I said a quick food prayer and got started.

I got to work on my meatballs first since they are the most time-consuming part of the whole spaghetti and meatball making process. I used 2 lbs of ground beef, 3 cloves of minced garlic, bread crumbs, 2 eggs, shredded parmesan cheese, flat leaf parsley, salt and pepper, milk and mixed it all together with my hands. Yes, you have to use your hands!

PW says she gets 25 meatballs everytime. Honestly, I did count as I was shaping them, but alas, I have forgotten how many I rolled out. I think roughly about the same, maybe 1 or 2 more. I don't know. But I rolled the meat into balls and placed them onto a cookie sheet and placed them in the freezer for about 10 minutes to firm up a bit.

Beware: Watch your face and your arms and hands and any other area of your body that is exposed to oil that jumps and splatters. The oil spit on my face many times during the browning process and it HURT! Take about 8 meatballs and place them carefully in a pot over medium heat and begin browning them on all sides, before removing and starting on the next batch.

Take a pot with salted water and get it boiling. Add your spaghetti of choice - I'm a fan of angel hair pasta myself - and cook it till it's al dente.

In the same pot that you browned the meatballs in, add 3 cloves of minced garlic and chopped onion and cook for a few minutes (of course, I left the onion out). Pour in a can of whole tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, and 1/2 cup of white wine. Add in 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tsp of sugar, ground pepper, and 1/4 cup of minced flat leaf parsley. Stir to mix it all together and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.

Add meatballs to the pot and stir in gently. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring very gently a couple of times during the simmer.

Take 5-8 fresh basil leaves and cut them into a chiffonade, because it looks so pretty and scatter the leaves over the pasta.

This Spaghetti and Meatballs recipe is so delicious! It's so worth the time and effort that goes into this dish! Josh said that if I were to make this more often, he would no longer complain about Spaghetti for dinner. The simple sauce is rich and creamy and such a crowd pleaser! I was super proud of myself for making this dinner such a success - and one that I will be making a lot more often!

Spaghetti and Meatballs

Source: The Pioneer Woman

Meatballs:

2 lbs ground beef

3 cloves of garlic

3/4 cups fine bread crumbs

2 whole eggs

3/4 cups freshly grated Parmesan

1/4 cups flat-leaf parsley, minced

1/4 tsp salt

freshly ground black pepper

splash of milk

1/2 cups olive oil

Sauce:

1 whole yellow onion, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 whole ( 28- ounce) can whole tomatoes

1 whole ( 28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes

1/2 cup white wine

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp sugar

ground black pepper

1/4 cups flat leaf parsley

8 whole fresh basil leaves, chiffonade

2 pounds spaghetti, cooked to Al Dente

To make meatballs, combine meat, garlic, breadcrumbs, parmesan, eggs, salt, pepper, parsley, and a splash of milk in a mixing bowl. Mix together well with hands. Roll into 25 1 1/2 inch balls and place on a cookie sheet. Place cookie sheet in freezer for 5-10 minutes to firm up.

To brown the meatballs, heat olive oil in a heavy pot or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add meatballs 8 at a time, turning to brown. Remove and drain on a peer towel after each batch. Set meatballs aside.

In the same pot, add onions and garlic, and cook for a few minutes or until translucent. Pour in whole tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, and wine, if using. Add salt pepper, sugar, and parsley. Stir to combine and cook over medium heat for 20 minutes.

Add meatballs to pot and stir in gently. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes, stirring very gently a couple of times during the simmer. Just before serving, stir in basil if using.

Serve over cooked spaghetti. Sprinkle with extra Parmesan.

Pomegranate Quinoa Pilaf

2011-11-23T13:20:00.000-08:00

We get our satellite service through DishNetwork and that company has been playing very vicious games on me. My favorite channel is the Food Network Channel. It's also the channel we watch the most with kids. But when the Cooking Channel came out, I was so sad to see that we weren't subscribed to it. But, Dish Network decided to play little pranks on me. One day, I turned on the tv guide and we had the Cooking Channel. So started DVR'ing all the shows that appealed to me. The next day I went back to watch some of the live shows and the channel was gone! *GASP* This prank went on and on for a little while until Dish Network finally decided all on their own that it should be included in my package. * YAY*

One of the first channels I recorded was Kelsey's Essentials. Kelsey was my favorite contestant on The Next FoodNetwork Star a few years ago and I was so sad she lost, because she was full of so much talent and personality. Obviously, the Cooking Channel recognized that talent and hired her and now she has her own show! I am so excited!

This pilaf recipe is from the show I recorded and it was kind of a nod to Thanksgiving. This side dish has so much unexpected flavor that it's going to knock your socks off! And best of all, it's easy and healthy too. If you happen to be in need of a side dish that different and tasty, this is your guy! Your family and friends will be begging you to bring it again next year...or perhaps even sooner like Christmas. :)

Pomegranate Quinoa Pilaf

Source: Kelsey's Essentials

2 TB olive oil

1/2 medium onion, diced

1 cup quinoa

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

1/2 cup pomegranate seeds

1/2 cup diagonally sliced scallions

1 TB chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

juice of 1/2 lemon

1 tsp fresh lemon zest

1 tsp sugar

salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted

Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute the onion until translucent and fragrant. Add the quinoa and stir to coat. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil. Lower the heat and simmer for about 20 minutes, until the liquid is absorbed and the quinoa is tender.

In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of olive oil, pomegranate seeds, scallions, parsley, lemon juice, zest, ans sugar. Add the quinoa and season with salt, and pepper to taste. Garnish with toasted slivered almonds.

Weekly Menu 11/21-11/27

2011-11-21T16:52:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving Week, everybody! Are you all busy planning your menus and getting your homes decorated for your family and friends? That's what I'm doing too. Except, I'm playing the role of guest in my families homes this week. Maybe like some of you, we'll be joining two different Thanksgiving dinners this week. On Thursday ( Thanksgiving Day), we'll enjoy our family morning tradition of watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade while we eat our Holiday Tradition Breakfast... Sausage Egg Casserole, and it is sooo good! Trust me, if you haven't made this before, you should make it this week. You assemble the whole breakfast the night before and then pop it in the oven in the morning. How Easy! C'mon, you know you want to make it. :)

Now how about that Black Friday Shopping? Are you brave enough to face the crowds and the stores?? I'm still on the fence about how much Black Friday shopping I'm going to be doing. I normally hit Target, but that's about it. This year I might go with my sister in law, but I told her it depends on how much money I can acquire before then, otherwise...it will just be me, by my lonesome, standing in line in that long long Target line, like last year.

Monday

Crispy Shrimp Pasta

Tuesday

Ham Rolls

Wednesday

Nacho Night

Thursday

( Thanksgiving)

I'm in charge of bringing Pumpkin Pie, Rolls, Mashed Potatoes, and Cranberry Sauce

Friday

Homemade Pizza- Our Caprese and Canadian Bacon and Pineapple

Saturday

( Thanksgiving with my family)

Sunday

Leftovers

I love Thanksgiving leftovers, you can make some fun things with them. And the Turkey sandwiches the day after are YUM!!!!

Desserts

I'm in charge of Pumpkin Pies for Josh's family and then I'm also on desserts for my family. I've got a few ideas floating around in my head and I really need to commit, because tomorrow we're going grocery shopping.

Since it's Thanksgiving Week, I just want to say a big Thank You to all of you guys who spend a few minutes on my blog reading my musings, commenting on recipes, and always being so encouraging. Thank You! What are you guys thankful for?

How To: Homemade Chicken Broth

2011-11-18T11:25:00.000-08:00

If you just read my post on my latest and greatest roasted chicken, this is like Part 2 to that post. I had never made my own homemade broth before. I had always wanted to, but never really planned for it. My husband is normally the one who always does the dishes and cleaning on nights when I've roasted a chicken, and everything has always gotten discarded in the trash can, but this time, I thought ahead and told Josh that I had big plans for the chicken carcass and all of it's goodies and I wanted to save it all to make some homemade broth.

As it turns out, the week that I was roasting my chicken and hoping to make my own broth, Finding Joy in my Kitchen has been doing a "31 days of cooking from scratch" post. And, the day I was going to make my own broth, her post for making your own broth came out. Her post about broth is full of a ton of information. I had no idea you could make your own broth by putting all of the ingredients you would need into your slow-cooker and you could simmer the broth all night while your asleep, and when you wake up, Voila, it's all done! I may just have to try that method next time.

The day you want to make your broth, throw all the chicken goodies that you had saved, like the carcass and any skin or little bits of meat that is left and throw it into a large pot. Chop some carrots, celery, and onion in half (minus the skin) and place that into the pot. Add some cloves of garlic, pepper, sea salt, a splash or two of vinegar (which helps the bones break down their nutrients faster), and a couple of bay leaves if you have them, which I did not.

Fill the pot nearly all the way full with water, and let it simmer on low for 4-8 hours. You may need to add more water to the pot after a few hours.

When your done simmering your broth, use a spider spoon or tongs and remove all the vegetables and big pieces of bones.

Using a mesh strainer over a bowl or a large measuring cup start pouring the pot of broth over the strainer. The broth will run through the strainer into whatever container is underneath the strainer, and the mesh strainer will catch all the smaller bits and pieces that you don't want going into your broth.

Let the broth cool quite a bit, and then you can transfer it to whatever container you're going to keep it in.

I poured my broth into glass jars and then put them into the freezer for when I need them. And out of my little young chicken that I used, I got 6 1/2 cups of broth.

If you plan to use your broth right away, it will keep in your fridge for 1-2 days - otherwise, in the freezer for up to 3 months. :)

Homemade Chicken Broth

Source, adapted from: Finding Joy in my Kitchen

Chicken carcass, with leftover skin, bits of meat and bones

2-3 carrots cut in half

2-3 celery cut in half

onions, skin removed and cut in half

1-2 bay leaves

Sea salt

pepper

vinegar

garlic

water

Toss all ingredients into a large pot and fill pot nearly to the top. Simmer all day on low if possible.

When broth is finished simmering, remove carcass and all big pieces. Throw away or save and repeat the broth making directions. Take a mesh strainer and place it over a container and pour the broth into the strainer, so it can catch all the little bits and let the broth run into your container. Allow broth to cool and then pour it into it's storage containers. Glass jars work great! Store in freezer for up to 3 months or in the fridge for up to 2 days.

Rosemary Roasted Chicken with Buttery Roasted Potatoes and Vegetables

2011-11-16T12:07:00.000-08:00

This has got to be my favorite whole chicken recipe to date! I made this meal back in July for one of my friends in our church who had just had a baby and I've been itching to make it for my family since then.

I saw the recipe on the Rachael Ray show a few years ago and just kept it in my recipe binder until I was brave enough to start working with whole birds. I mean, let's face it, working with a naked turkey or chicken for the first time is a little bit intimidating. But now, I'm pretty good at it, and I don't really bat an eye at getting all the nitty gritty goods out of my birds. Now that I've done it a few times, it's not intimidating. And if this is your first time working with a whole bird, let me just say it's looks harder than it is and don't be intimidated. You are a strong Woman (or Man, depending on who is reading this post) and you can do this! Trust me, if I can do it, YOU CAN DO IT!

I didn't take pictures of the vegetable cutting process because it's just cutting up your favorite veggies and throwing them in a large roasting pan. I used russet and red potatoes, carrots, and turnips. But throw whatever veggies you love in there. I tried to sneak Brussel Sprouts into my shopping cart, and Josh caught me and made me put them back (he hates Brussel Sprouts, which I just don't understand because they are amazing. I will win him over one of these days). Editor's note: Not likely.

Once you've got all your veggies thrown into your roasting pan, sprinkle them lightly with salt and heavily with ground pepper, and drizzle them with extra-virgin olive oil. Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees.

About an hour or so before you start this meal, you're going to want to take out one stick of butter and allow it to come to room temperature. You want that stick to be really soft. Place your stick of butter in a bowl and add four cloves of minced garlic, salt and pepper and 1/4 cup of chopped fresh rosemary, or any herb that you like. Combine with a spoon.

Here is the messy part. You need to clean your bird. Obviously, I didn't take pictures because I had raw gross chicken hands. But make sure you take out all the ickies that are in the body of the bird and run water through it until the water is running clear. Pat the bird dry with some paper towels and wash your hands a million times. Loosen up the skin that separates the chicken breast from the meat with your fingers and then take half of your butter mixture and shove it all over underneath the skin. Spread the remaining amount of the buttery herb mixture over the outside of the chicken.

Here's what I do next, I throw some salt and pepper into the cavity of the bird, along with a few whole cloves of garlic. Then I take one lemon, cut it in half and place that inside the cavity. You could add half an onion as well - I left the onion out, because you guys know we're not fans. Actually, I just left it out this time, because I didn't have any at the time. Normally, I do add it to a roasted chicken dish - it adds good flavor without all the onionness that I don't like. Editor's note: I was not aware of this.

Place your chicken on top of all the vegetables, pour some dry white wine over the chicken, place it in the oven and roast it for about an hour and 40 minutes, or until your chicken is cooked through. But to be honest, my chicken is always perfect at that point.

When your chicken is done cooking, take it out of the oven, cover it loosely with foil and let the chicken rest for about 10 minutes. This just allows all the juices and flavors to solidify. You never want to slice into your meat right away. Then carve your chicken, scoop out all of your veggies and arrange it into a serving dish or bowl to enjoy.

You could make a gravy to go with this meal, but honestly, the flavors are so delicious and the chicken is moist that a gravy isn't needed at all. Just serve it along side some of your favorite bread and you've got an easy and delicious meal.

Rosemary Roasted Chicken with Buttery Roast Potatoes and Vegetables

Source: Rachael Ray Show

2 lbs baby red, white, or yukon gold potatoes washed and cut into large bite sized pieces

2-4 carrots peeled and cut into 2 inch thick slices

1-2 Turnips, peeled and cut into bite size cubes

or add any veggies you like to roast

Salt and Pepper

2 TB EVOO

1 stick of butter, softened

1/4 cup chopped fresh rosemary

4 cloves of garlic, chopped or grated

1 3-5 lb whole chicken- I can normally only find young whole chickens in my store in the 3-4 lb range, so that's what I always use

1 large onion, cut in half and peeled

1 lemon cut in half

1 cup dry white wine

Crusty bread for mopping up the delicious juices or for buttering :)

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.

Place the potatoes, and other veggies in a roasting pan in an even layer, drizzle with EVOO, season with salt and pepper.

In a bowl, combine the soft butter, rosemary, and a little salt and a generous amount of pepper. Clean bird and pat dry. With your fingers separate the chicken breast skin from the meat, working with about 1/2 of the butter mixture, maneuver half of it under the skin of each side of the breast.

Take the remaining bit of butter mixture and spread it over the legs. Place the halved onion, lemon, and any other cloves of garlic inside the cavity. Arrange the chicken on top of the vegetables and douse the chicken with white wine and place in the oven and roast for about an hour and 40 minutes, until the chicken is cooked through and juices run clear.

Remove from oven and cover loosely with a piece of aluminum foil and let the bird rest for 10 minutes. Carve chicken. Arrange on platter with all of the buttery juices from the bird and allow the bread to soak up the drippings :)

This Post is Linked to:

Taste and Tell's Saturdays with Rachael Ray, Comfy in the Kitchen's Feasting in Fellowship

Weekly Menu 11/14-11/20

2011-11-15T14:33:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving is next week!!!! I'm still wondering where summer went and here we are full swing in the holiday season of commercials, coupons, and sales. Grace got irritated last week with the Christmas commercials saying," We haven't even celebrated Thanksgiving yet and we're watching commercials for Christmas stuff. They should wait till after Thanksgiving!" But guess what she is already doing? Yup, she is making out her Christmas wish list. Oh, man! I told her I didn't even want to think about it yet, lol!

I do love the holiday season so much though. But maybe it's an adult thing...ever since I got married and had kids...which pretty much happened and 19 and 20 years old, it feels like time is slipping through my fingers. I mean, I can remember just yesterday celebrating Eden's 3rd birthday in August. But it's actually November 15th and the days go by faster and faster every year. Now I understand my mom always saying,"There aren't enough hours in a day."

Monday

Lentil Soup and leftover rolls

You all know my husband isn't a Lentil Fan, but I did get a,"It's good." from him. I'll take that as a compliment.

Tuesday

We really need to go grocery shopping tonight...so maybe we'll make wraps using some tortillas.

Wednesday

Roasted Butternut Baked Penne with leftover butternut squash from the soup I made last week and garlic bread.

Thursday

Awana Night

We're having a little Thanksgiving dinner with the kids

Friday

Chicken Mozzarella with Pomegranate Quinoa Pilaf

Saturday

Crispy Shrimp Pasta with a side salad

Sunday

We're having our annual Praise Him Potluck at church on Sunday and I think we're going to be pretty full afterwards so something easy for dinner. Our Southwest Breakfast Bowl Scramble will hit the spot :)

I'll be baking and cooking quite a few things this week for the upcoming festivities. I'm making cookies for my hubby's lunch and then other yummy things for the potluck :)

Desserts and other goodies

Chocolate Chip Mint Cookies

30 Minute Rolls

Crockpot Mashed Potatoes

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

I'm looking forward to a lot of these meals and desserts. And I am really looking forward to the holidays. Remember there are no calories on Birthdays or Holidays :)

Macadamia Nut White Chip Pumpkin Cookies

2011-11-11T10:24:00.000-08:00

Dear Readers, just in case you didn't notice already, we have finally (drum roll please) added a print friendly button at the bottom of each post. :) No more copying and pasting for you. Just hit print!

This week I fell prey to some sort of virus that was not fun. My intention was to be baking Sunday night so these cookies would be all set for Josh's lunches for the rest of the week. I didn't actually feel up to baking or cooking until Wednesday. And let me tell you, the moment I began to feel like myself, I jumped at it. These cookies just spoke to me. The recipe teased me with promises of, "You will feel better if you bake these." And it worked! These cookies are a truly magically moist morsel of goodness in your mouth.

Dare I say that this cookie would even make a delightful little breakfast appetizer? I did indeed help myself to two cookies yesterday morning along with a glass of milk. While Grace was busy working on her cursive tablet in her school book at the dining room table, I had my back turned out of Grace's view so she couldn't see me savor each bite from the cookie. I kind of felt like Gollum holding a "precious" cookie instead of a ring. But I promise I am not a hoarder. My girls each got a cookie after they had finished eating their entire lunch.

...And when they weren't looking, I snuck another cookie. :) I probably snuck a few too many cookies yesterday. For penance today, I promise I won't any cookies. Okay, maybe one or two. Or three or four!

But let me just say that if you are on dessert duty for your family's upcoming Thanksgiving feast, this little cookie will be sure to please many (already full) bellies. But don't be surprised if you see random family members standing alone in a dark hallway. They are just enjoying their cookie to the last bite. :)

Macadamia Nut White Chip Pumpkin Cookies

Source: Food.com

2 cups flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp of cardamom

*If you don't have Cardamom you can substitute 1/4 tsp of nutmeg and 1/4 tsp ginger*

1 tsp baking soda

1 cup butter, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup solid pack pumpkin

1 egg

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 cups white chocolate chips

2/3 cup macadamia nut, coarsely chopping and toasted

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the first 4 ingredients in a small bowl.

Beat butter and sugars until creamy.

Beat in pumpkin, egg, and vanilla until well combined; gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chips and nuts.

Drop by rounded TB onto greased baking sheets; flatten slightly with back of spoon or greased bottom of glass dipped in sugar.

Bake for 11-14 minutes. * 11 minutes seemed to be the sweet spot for my oven.

Cool for 2 minutes and move to wire rack to cool completely.

This recipe is linked to:

Comfy in the Kitchen's Feasting in Fellowship Fridays, Alli n Son's Sweet Tooth Friday, Crumbs and Chaos' Seasonal Inspiration, Sweet as Sugar Cookies' Sweets for a Saturday, A Well-Seasoned Life's Sweet Indulgences Sunday

Taking a Bite out of Cranberries

2011-11-09T13:49:00.000-08:00

I love this time of year because some of my favorite edibles come back into the stores! One berry I've been missing is the cranberry. It's so festive, cheery, and bright! Since cranberries are popping back up into the stores, I thought I would share some of my favorite cranberry dishes!

Apple Cinnamon Baked Oatmeal

Cranberries are such a delightful addition to this warm and cozy breakfast.

Chicken Cordon Bleu Burgers

The apple-cranberry chutney sauce is a surprisingly fun addition to this filling meal.

Crockpot Cranberry Chicken

Minus the addition of an onion mixture, this meal is quite good and easy on the pocketbook.

Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce

This is such a delightful change from a traditional cranberry sauce served on Thanksgiving!

Nantucket Cranberry Pie

I was so surprised how much I loved this un-typical pie. I can't wait to make it again for the holidays this year.

I hope you will try some of these delightful recipes within the next few months. They are so delicious and all very easy!

Weekly Menu 11/7-11/13

2011-11-07T16:32:00.000-08:00

Can you believe Thanksgiving is right around the corner? I'm still wondering where summer went. I am really excited to start cooking up some holiday dishes along with some of my favorite warm pastas and meals.

Our weekend meals didn't happen because my parents took me and my family out for an impromptu Japanese dinner. Grace even learned how to use chopsticks :) So we'll be making those dinners this week :)

Monday

Roast Beef and Slaw Panini

Tuesday

Chicken Cordon Bleu with broccoli and potatoes

Wednesday

Ground Turkey Taquitos with beans and rice

Thursday

( Awana Night)

Pigs in a blanket

Friday

Taco Pizza

Saturday

Creamy Sweet Potato and Butternut Squash Soup

Sunday

Lentil Soup with Dinner Rolls

And for desserts and other things, I desperately need to make some Croutons and cookies for my hubby's lunches.

Desserts and Treats

Homemade Croutons

Macadamia Nut White Chocolate Pumpkin Cookies

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes: Crazy Cooking Challenge

2011-11-07T09:00:00.000-08:00

Crazy Cooking Challenge #3

Mashed Potatoes

This is my 2nd time contributing to the Crazy Cooking Challenge and I am so excited about it. For this mashed potato recipe, there were so many options, but I decided I wanted to take a more traditional route. I love Garlic. Like I really LOVE garlic and when I saw this recipe posted on Steamy Kitchen's blog, I knew this was the one for me.

Join us next month for the next Crazy Cooking Challenge. The more the merrier :)

We are combining two of my greatest 2 food loves. Garlic ( Duh), and Potatoes! They go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly! Okay, back to the recipe, chop off the head of the garlic and expose some of the leaves.

Place the garlic on top of a sheet of tin foil and drizzle some extra virgin olive oil over the garlic and seal the foil up into a nice tight packet and throw it into a 400 degree oven for 30 minutes or longer.

The recipe called for russet potatoes, but I love red potatoes so much that I had to add some in for color and water to a rapid boil and cook for about 20-25 minutes until tender and then drain.

When the garlic comes out of the oven, let it cool and then squeeze the cloves out of their little jackets and give them a rough chop.

Now, return the potatoes to the pan over very low heat and a few tablespoons a 1/4 cup of milk, salt and that delicious roasted garlic. Then, just mash it up! But don't mash it up to much because you don't want it to get sticky because of the garlic in there. Stir in some chives. ( I used dried, it was all I had on hand.)

Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes

Source: Steamy Kitchen

1 head of Garlic

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

4-6 russet and red potatoes, scrubbed and skins on

3-4 TB butter

1/4 cup milk

3/4 tsp salt

1-2 tsp chives ( I used dried)

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Chop off the top of the head of a garlic. Place the garlic on top of aluminum foil and drizzle with olive oil and close the foil up, wrapping it up tight and throw it in the oven for 30-45 minutes. When it's done roasting, allow to cool slightly. Squeeze the cloves out of the wrapper and give it a coarse chop.

Place the potatoes in a large pot with boiling water and cover with water by 1 inch. Cover and boil and cook for 20-25 minutes over medium heat. When the potatoes are fork tender, drain and return to pot.

On low heat, add 3 tablespoons, 1/4 cup milk, salt, and chopped garlic to the pot with the potatoes. Carefully mash the potatoes, leaving some lumps, but not mashing to much. Add additional salt or milk if needed. Stir in chives.

Enjoy!

Hodge Podge Pizza

2011-11-06T19:42:00.000-08:00

*This post and all the pictures within this post were a last minute thought. I had not planned on posting this dinner at all. But, our makeshift dinner turned out so good that I decided to snap some pics and do a quick little post about it. Please forgive the lighting and the camera angles. This is not my best work.

This post is really here to encourage and inspire all of us moms and foodies on a budget. How many of you at some point in your month of meal planning and cooking need easy short go-to meals? How many of you have leftovers in your fridge you don't want to throw out, but you're not sure what to do with? There are many days, when I am right there with you. But I hate to waste. I feel guilty emptying food down the garbage disposal because those commercials of the starving children in Africa always enter my mind and I can't help but think I am being wasteful. Well, wasteful no more - problem solved!

This week in our menu, we're trying out a few new things, but we're always trying to use up the ingredients we already have on hand to save money. I knew I was going to make pizza this week, but I hadn't really thought of what kind of pizza because I didn't buy any of the usual suspects for our pizza, like pineapples, tomatoes, and canadian bacon. I left all of that out!

One morning while Grace was working on her school work and I was putting away the breakfast dishes, I realized I still had homemade sloppy joe sauce in the fridge (recipe coming soon), and that it could be a really fun topping for one of our pizzas. I make two pizzas to feed our family because we all love it so much. So pizza #1 was ready to go. So then I perused through the rest of the stuff I had in the fridge and I realized I still had half of one green bell pepper and half of one yellow bell pepper left and I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with it...but I love bell peppers on pizza, so why not? I also had some leftover beef I wanted to use up, so why not have a hamburger and bell pepper pizza to go along with our Sloppy Joe pizza?!

The Sloppy Joe Pizza was a hit. Josh and Grace we're really hesitant at first about trying it, but they couldn't stop eating it! This pizza only consisted of sauce (I haven't found a homemade pizza sauce I like yet, so I just used jar spaghetti sauce that I had gotten for free on my last Albertson's double coupon trip, the sloppy joe mixture that I spread evenly over the sauce, and monterey jack cheese that needed to be used up! We baked it in the oven and it came out so perfectly!

Josh prepared this pizza because we were going to bake it on our pizza stone and we needed the size to be correct ( I made the other pizza too large) so it would fit on top of it nicely. This pizza was really good, too, but it wasn't as good as the sloppy joe one - only because, between the hamburger, the peppers, and the mozzarella and montery jack cheese, the sauce got absorbed in all of it. It was a little dry, but still very good. I think it would have been excellent as strictly a bell pepper pizza. But live and learn, right? This is how you figure out what works and what doesn't.

I felt great that this pizza was extremely budget friendly, and I was able to repurpose so many ingredients. That is one of the wonderful things about pizza. Any leftovers you might have can probably go on a pizza. Even pasta on top could be delicious...maybe not a penne pasta, but a spaghetti would work very well.

If you're nervous about making your own pizza dough, I definitely understand that feeling. In my opinion, it's something that you just get better and more comfortable with the more you make it. You can check out my pizza dough recipe if you're interested in trying something new out. Since that post will take you to our Grilled Pizza recipe, I would say preheat your oven to 400 degrees and cook it for maybe 8-15 minutes and watch it closely. When the edges are slightly browned, it's done. But I promise I will do a repost on this soon for you all. If you're really scared about making your own dough, don't be, but the store has some really decent pizza dough options as well that you can always use. :)

Make your next meal a Hodge Podge Meal! :)

Crockpot Cranberry Chicken

2011-11-05T09:00:00.000-07:00

This recipe is all over the internet! It is POPULAR! I first came across it like a year ago when I saw it on The Frugal Girls Website over a year ago and I tucked it away. Every post that I have read pertaining to this recipe is a good one. Everyone, including their families really liked it.

I can't say this recipe is a favorite of mine, nor do I think I would make it again. This is a total Sweet and Savory dish which normally I love, but one component of this recipe includes a package of dry onion mix. That probably should of been my first clue that my tastebuds were not going to be jiggy with it. The flavor of the dressing and cranberries were a perfect match, but the onion flavor was a little to strong for my husbands and my liking. Grace however, loved it and said," it was very filling and flavorful." I do really appreciate how cheap this meal costs. It was under $5 for me which is Da Bomb, because I'm a mom on a tight budget.

I did want to go ahead and blog this recipe because I know there are a ton of onion lovers out there and since I don't post a lot of oniony recipes, I don't want to exclude anyone. So if you like onions and you are on a budget too...you may want to try this recipe.

I served my cranberry chicken, shredded and over rice to make it stretch a little bit more for us, but it would be delicious over any cut of chicken or served with pasta.

Crockpot Cranberry Chicken

Source: The Frugal Girls

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts- I used 2 chicken breasts and shredded the meat when it was fully cooked

1 can whole berry cranberry

1 pkg dry onion mix

8 oz Catalina dressing ( russian dressing would work too)

* I changed the cooking hours a bit to serve my needs

Cook chicken on low for 4 hours ( covered), or on high for 3 hours.

Mix together dressing, cranberry sauce, and dry onion mix and pour over chicken.

Cook on low for 3-4 more hours or cook on high for 30 minutes.

Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese

2011-11-04T09:00:00.000-07:00

Please forgive the lighting, evening pictures are never the best. But don't let the lighting deceive you, this is one beautiful and tasty dish.

My sister in law is the one who encouraged me to try this meal. She found it a few years ago in the blogosphere, went out on a limb one evening, cooked it up, fell in love and she even blogged about it over on her blog, KitchenJoy! So, I myself decided to give it a try too.

This macaroni dish calls for breadcrumbs. I know that's not uncommon for Macaroni and Cheese dishes, but it kind of gives the pasta a gourmet look to it and takes away any stigma people might have toward plain ol' mac n' cheese. There is nothing plain about this mac n' cheese, let me tell you.

So, take a nice thick slice of bread - any kind you have on hand (I used a whole wheat slice) - and trim off the ends. Tear the bread into chunks and grind it up in a blender or food processor until little bitty crumbs form. Add in grated parmesan cheese to the bread crumbs and give it a stir. And make sure you pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees!

In a small pot, stir pumpkin and broth together over medium heat. You want this baby to simmer! While the pumpkin/brothy mixture begins to warm and simmer, take a large pot with salted water, and bring it to a boil. This is the point in where you would start cooking your pasta. Cook according to the directions on the package.

Now I'm going to say that this next part is optional. If you are an onion lover and they make every meal brighter and more lovely, I would say add them to this dish. But my husband and I are not onion lovers, as you have probably read from our blogging several times. Editor's note: This is an understatement. In our opinion, the onion flavor took away from the awesomeness of this dish. But my sister in law, Jennifer who referred the recipe to me, likes onions and she thought they complimented the dish. So, it's your choice. Next time, I would leave them out, but I like to try my hand at the suggestions of the recipe before I tweak it too much. But, if your going to use them, you'll want half an onion, minced.

In another large pot (this recipe uses a lot of pots), melt some butter over medium heat and add the onions (or you could skip the onions altogether!). Cook the onions until they soften, which takes about 5 minutes.

Stir in flour and cook for another minute or so and then slowly add in some milk and bring the mixture to a simmer. While the mixture is cooking, whisk frequently until sauce becomes thick and then remove from the heat.

Once you've removed your sauce from the heat, stir in the gouda cheese (not pictured ) and the remaining parmesan. Stir in salt, nutmeg, and cayenne and whisk with vigor until everything is silky smooth. [Here is a tip for shredding the gouda cheese if you haven't bought it pre-shredded. About 15 minutes before you want to start cooking your meal, place the cheese in the freezer. It shreds a lot easier than if it's room temperature or taken directly from the fridge.]

Slowly add in your pumpkin mixture to the sauce, whisking until it's all combined.

Pour your pumpkin cheese sauce over the pasta and carefully incorporate the sauce until the pasta has been evenly coated. Sprinkle the pasta with the rest of the shredded gouda cheese and breadcrumbs and bake it until the crumbs are golden, about 20 minutes.

And then it's done! This is an excellent meal on its own or you could use it as a side. Either way, it's the perfect addition to any Fall Menu. :)

Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese

Source: KitchenJoy

1 thick slice whole wheat bread, crust removed

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese, divided

1 can ( 15 oz) pumpkin puree

1 cup chicken broth

12 oz pasta of your choice

11/2 TB butter

1/2 onion, minced ( optional)

1 1/2 TB all-purpose flour

1 cup milk

2 cups shredded gouda cheese, divided

1/2 tsp salt

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Tear bread into chunks and blend in food processor or blender until a fine crumb forms. Mix the breadcrumbs with half of the parmesan cheese and set aside.

In a small saucepan, stir pumpkin and broth together over medium heat, bringing to a simmer and stirring occasionally. Cover and keep warm.

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add pasta and cook until al dente, normally around 8-10 minutes. Drain well and pour into a 2 qt baking dish.

Melt butter in another large pot over medium heat. Add onions and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour and cook for another minute and slowly whisk in milk and bring mixture to a simmer. Whisking frequently, until sauce becomes thickened. Remove from heat.

Stir in half of the gouda, the remaining parmesan, and the salt, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper; whisk vigorously until melted and smooth. Slowly add in pumpkin mixture, until it's well blended.

Pour pumpkin-cheese sauce over pasta and carefully stir until it's combined with the pasta. Sprinkle with remaining gouda and bread crumbs. Bake until breadcrumbs are golden, about 20 minutes. Enjoy!

Weekly Menu 10/31-11/6

2011-11-02T21:44:00.000-07:00

Happy "late" Halloween everyone! How was it for you all? We had a fantastic time. I ended up taking my two girls out with their best friends around our neighborhood, and later Josh's family joined us. This was our first year trick or treating in our new neighborhood and boy did we pick the spot! A very generous and excited neighborhood. Lot's of people decorated, lot's of great candy, and the best part aside from our streets lined with cars was that the neighbors really seemed to enjoy passing out candy :)

Grace (as Belle), The Bento Sisters ( Cheerleader, Silver mist, Bumble Bee), and Eden as Snow White

Aside from Halloween being this week, we also started our 2nd grade homeschooling year. Normally, we start in October, but with the trips we had planned, we ended up having to push back our year to this week. We school Tuesdays-Fridays, taking Mondays and all normal school holidays off. So far, it's going very well, though we are only 2 days into it. The wonderful thing is Josh has really asserted himself into teaching Gracie her math class this year in the mornings before he leaves for work. Today she finished her math very quickly so they were able to knock out another book this morning, which made my day considerably easier since on Wednesdays I babysit one of my nieces for the day.

So my week has been quite the busy one so far. Please forgive that this post is late, but I promise, we have stuck to our menu beautifully and I foresee the rest of the week to go just as smoothly :)

Monday

Halloween Tradition of Chili!

This year I made a Crockpot Pumpkin Turkey Chili

Tuesday

Navy Bean Soup with toast

Wednesday

Pan-fried Swai, Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and a garden salad

Thursday
Crockpot Cranberry Chicken, Rice, and veggies

Friday
Homemade Pizza

Saturday
Chicken Cordon Bleu with steamed broccoli

Sunday
Roast Beef and Slaw Panini- This meal is catering to my husband. I'm not a bit roast beef person, but it was on sale and he likes it :)

I was going to make cookies this week for Josh's lunches, but the girls are keeping my hubby stocked in Reese's Peanut Butter Cups and Butterfingers, so I'll make the cookies next week :)

Candy Corn Cupcakes with a Chocolate Buttercream Frosting

2011-10-27T14:44:00.000-07:00

Aren't these just the cutest cupcakes ever?! When I signed up for the Awana snack sheet last week, I knew that these were what I wanted to make for all the Awana kids. I had come across this recipe in one of my frugal saving emails I subscribe too and I quickly pinned it to my Pinterest recipe board ( Pinterest is my newest obsession) so I wouldn't lose the recipe.

The recipe is very easy. All your doing is following the directions on a box of white cake mix. Since I needed a ton of cupcakes, I used two boxes of cake mix. When you've got your batter all mixed together, divide it evenly into 3 bowls. Take your food coloring and squirt some of the yellow and red into one of the bowls until you get your desired color. The orange, we found to be a bit tricky. It came out a different color of orange every time. Finally, on our last batch, we got the color right. Squirt some yellow food coloring into another bowl, leaving the last bowl with your white cake batter plain.

That's my sister Jewel. She was sweet enough to offer her help, which ended up being a lifesaver because cupcakes are fun to make, but more fun when your making them with people you love. Plus, she brought me a Salted Caramel Mocha from Starbucks, which makes me love her even more, lol!

Between me and Jewel, we got our cupcakes layered ( in the order of yellow, orange, and white) in no time. Well, that's a lie. It takes some time because your layering 3 different colors together and then spreading the batter around to make it even. It's probably the most time consuming part of the cupcake making process. But we had fun with it.

Once the cupcake papers are 2/3rds full, pop them into the oven at the cook time the directions say to cook it at. I used the Pillsbury brand and it said to bake it at 350 degrees for 18-24 minutes.

Ours were all perfectly cooked at 18 minutes and then we allowed the batches to cool on a wire rack, while we breaked for dinner and some Captain America.

When the cupcakes were cool, We made a delicious Chocolate Buttercream Frosting that I had come across the night before on Savory Sweet Life's blog. This frosting is delicious and I could eat the whole bowl.

Once you've frosted your cupcakes with whatever frosting you choose, top with little pieces of Candy Corn for added cuteness!

We ended up with about 49 cupcakes, but between my husband, me, the kids, and Josh's two sisters and brother, we ate 3 of them. So we have 46 left, which still isn't to bad :)

Such a sweet treat for your Halloween Party :)

Candy Corn Cupcakes

Source: Come together kids

1 box of white cake mix

food coloring

candy corn

Frosting ( your choice)

Follow the direction on a box of white cake mix. When batter is made, divide the batter evenly between 3 bowls. Use yellow food coloring in one bowl, orange in another bowl, and leave the last bowl white. Layer the batter; yellow, orange, white into the cupcake tins and bake for the specified time and degrees. When cupcakes are done, allow to cool. Frost the cupcakes in a frosting of your choice and top with candy corn bites :)

This recipe is linked to:

Alli n Son's Sweet Tooth Friday, Sweet as Sugar Cookies' Sweets for a Saturday, EKat's Kitchen's Friday Potluck, A Well-Seasoned Life's Sweet Indulgences Sunday, The Sweet Detail's Savory Sundays

Pumpkin Pudding Trifle

2011-10-26T08:00:00.000-07:00

I have been hanging onto this pudding recipe for a few years now and I kind of forgot about it, I have to admit. Josh and I had bought a bag of ginger snaps awhile back and they weren't getting eaten very fast, and then voila, I remembered I had a ginger snappy pumpkin dessert recipe that I had to make.

I'm not going to bore you with the how-to pictures because this recipe is so easy, and if you go to the source of the recipe, which is the great and awesome Rachael Ray, you can watch the video of her putting this little festive baby together. It really is just a matter of taking ingredients, combining and layering them together.

This dessert is not only fancy looking but super easy and Oh, So Delicious! Seriously, you could whip this sweet thing up in a jiffy and bring it to a Halloween Party or Thanksgiving and impress all your friends with your mad baking skills. With a dessert that promises easy fanciness and tastes incredible, there is no way you would get boo'ed from the company of your family and friends!

Pumpkin Pudding Trifle

Source: Rachael Ray

1 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

1 15-ounce can pumpkin puree ( not pumpkin pie mix)

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground allspice

1 tsp ground clove

1 tsp ground ginger

1 5.1-ounce pkg instant vanilla pudding ( or whatever size is closest)

3 cups heavy cream

1 12-ounce box ginger snaps

In a medium bowl, combine the sweetened condensed milk, pumpkin, spices, pudding mix and 1/4 cup water. Using an electric mixer, beat everything together until smooth and thickened. Set Aside.

In a large bowl, whip the heavy cream with an electric mixer until stiff peaks form. Gently fold in the whipped cream into the pumpkin pudding mixture and blend until no streak of pudding remain.

Layer the cookies and pudding mixture into a trifle bowl. Cover the pudding with plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hours and up to 8 hours. You want the ginger snaps to soften from sitting in the pudding mixture.

This recipe is linked to:

Alli n Son's Sweet Tooth Friday, Sweet as Sugar Cookies' Sweets for a Saturday, Taste and Tell's Saturdays with Rachael Ray, Crumbs and Chaos's Seasonal Inspiration, A Well-Seasoned Life's Sweet Indulgences Sunday, Everyday Sisters's Sharing Sunday, The Sweet Details' Savory Sunday

Weekly Menu 10/24-10/30

2011-10-24T08:00:00.000-07:00

And....I'm back! I promise, it will be awhile before I disappear like that again! We had a wonderful few days in California last week visiting Josh's grandparents and we really just spent time getting to know them and helping out where we could since Josh's grandmother is sick. I had meant to write a post or two while I was gone, but I was never on the computer for very long and I think traveling just makes you really tired. I was falling asleep by 9pm every night, lol!

I have a few repeat dinners from the previous menu. Josh and I had intended on going grocery shopping and making the meals I had planned out, and then last minute Josh pulled a fast one on me and decided that there wasn't a huge point in going shopping because things would spoil and not get used. So we got creative around the house instead and today we finally went grocery shopping :)

This is kind of my last week of freedom so to speak. Awana started last week and I can't remember if I mentioned it or not, but I'm actually leading the Sparks class this year along side my sister ( in law). And next week...not this coming week, but starting November 1st, we are officially starting homeschool 2nd grade with Grace and pre-school like things with Eden. As I type, Josh is finishing our our yearly schedule for the books and stuff. So beginning next week, I'll become a lot busier than I was. At least we're not traveling anywhere for awhile, lol!

Monday

Rosemary Roast Chicken with potatoes and veggies

Tuesday

Spaghetti and Meatballs, corn and garlic bread

Wednesday

Slow-Cooker Chicken Enchilada Soup

Thursday

Home-made Slow Cooker Sloppy Joes and peaches

Friday

Pan-Seared Swai with mashed potatoes and veggies

Saturday

Navy Bean Soup and rolls

Sunday

Josh cooks up something wonderful :)

I'm baking up some treats this week. I'm super excited about these. I signed up for snacks for this Thursdays Awana night and I've got some festive cupcakes lined up for them and I'm making a sweet dessert for us Monday night :) And since I never got around to making the kids muffins...that is on the list too.

Desserts and Treats

Pumpkin Mousse Trifle Pudding

Candy Corn Cupcakes...with maybe a chocolate frosting???

I'm still not sure about which muffins to make and if I'm going to make them or not. What are you guys making this week?

Tamale Pie

2011-10-12T09:00:00.000-07:00

We all have those nights when we don't feel like cooking and even more, we don't feel like spending the money on fast food or a dinner out. I've got a family favorite that will help solve this familiar problem we all face from time to time. Tamale Pie!

Before Josh, I had never eaten Tamale Pie, let alone even heard of it. But there the recipe was in my cute little Bridal Shower Recipe Box that Josh's sisters had made for me. The first time I made this dish, it was for a potluck lunch at the bank I was then working at. Cooking was still so new to me and at the time and I was also newly pregnant so food in general never sounded great to me. But, I went ahead and made it for the potluck and it was a hit! I have found myself making it many times over since that Potlucking day.

5 ingredients! How much easier can a recipe get? Oh my dear friends, it gets easier. I promise!

This process right here, is probably the hardest it gets. Take the Tamales out of the can, roll them out of their wrapper and place them in the baking dish. Smash the Tamales with a fork and press it down onto the baking dish to form a layer. Usually, I use an 8x8 baking dish; but that dish was being used for something else. And since the recipe is called Tamale PIE, I decided to use a pie dish.

The next few steps were such a cinch, I didn't bother taking pictures. But you take the corn, and spread that into a layer on top of the smashed tamales, then add sliced olives, and a small can of tomato sauce on top.

Cover your pie with Fritos! Yes, Fritos...as in the chips. They are sacred and delicious, and right up there with Crunchy Cheetos.

Smother your pie in cheese! Pick your poison...Pepper Jack would be good, if you like that spicy kind of cheese. A mexican cheese blend works well too. I just used good old Cheddar Cheese to start things off.

Stick your meaty, chippy, cheesy pie in the oven and bake it at 350 degrees for 35-45 minutes. Half way through the cooking process, add more cheese. I added some of the mexican blend I had laying around.

When the kitchen smells like spices and the pie is bubbly, that's when it's done. All you have to do is serve it up in whatever dish ware you prefer to eat it in. If you're eating the pie alone, a bowl is the way to go. If you want to serve it along side a simple salad, a dinner plate is your man! Either way, this meal is super easy and super flexible...which means it's the perfect lazy man's ( or woman's) meal! Oh and kiddos love it too. My 3 year old ate 3 helpings tonight :)

Tamale Pie

Source: Rief Family

Smashed up beef tamales (smash with fork)

1 can corn (drained)

1 can sliced olives (drained)

1 can tomato sauce ( 10 oz)

Frito Chips

grated cheddar cheese ( enough to cover top)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

Layer first 4 ingredients in a buttered or greased 8x8 square baking dish. ( Or you can be a rebel and use a pie plate .)

Top with Fritos and cheese. Bake for 35-45 minutes. Add additional cheese halfway through the baking time.

Weekly Menu 10/10-10/14

2011-10-10T11:12:00.000-07:00

How do you all like the new look of Catz in the Kitchen? Josh and I spent quite a few hours working on it the other day and I'm still in the process of playing around with different ideas and fixing certain things. If you haven't noticed the "About Catz in the Kitchen" with my little picture is missing which is frustrating because I'm not sure where it went. I never removed it, it just up and left and I can't add it back. Sooo, I'm trying to figure that little gem out.

Aside from creating a new look, my family and I have been sick this past week. So a lot of the dinners I had planned didn't work out well, so that explains why you will see some repeat meals. This won't be traditional menu week you are used to. Josh, the kids and I are leaving Saturday morning to fly to L.A. to spend some time with Josh's grandparents whom we haven't seen in about 2 years. We leave this Saturday and won't be returning till Wednesday early evening sometime, and then the very next day, our church launches it's yearly kids club, Awana and this year I'm going to be leading one of the classes with my sister in law. But I will try very hard not to keep you hanging while I'm gone :)

Monday

My sister in law and her husband are in town for a few days, so it's dinner at my in-laws home :)

Tuesday

Tamale Pie

Wednesday

Mexican Slop

Thursday

Pan-Seared Swai with Sweet potatoes or Rice Pilaf and a Garden Salad

Friday

Date Night...either Thursday or Friday

Saturday-Wednesday

Soaking up the L.A. Sun :)

I don't have much on my list of things to bake this week. Since today being Columbus Day is a bank holiday, Josh is off, and therefore, doesn't really need his usual homemade cookies in his lunches. So I'm taking the week off from cookie making. But I would like to make some muffins for the girls this week and dessert for the night we have the fish.

Desserts/Treats

Muffins....I can't decide between there Blackberry Lime muffins or these Apple Pie Muffins.

Which muffins do you think I should bake for the girls ?

Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies: Crazy Cooking Challenge

2011-10-07T09:00:00.000-07:00

Crazy Cooking Challenge #2

Chocolate Chip Cookies

Back in August, I was invited (along with a lot of other bloggers) to join in on a monthly crazy cooking challenge. Each month a food is given and we must scour the blog world and find a recipe for that food. We all find a different recipe for the same food and link it up on the specified date. The purpose is to have fun and gain new readers as well as gain exposure for the blog you pulled the recipe from. If this challenge sounds like fun to you and you would like to join in, just click on Crazy Cooking Challenge to find out more information.

Last month's challenge was Macaroni and Cheese and I was so sad I was unable to participate, but when I found out the next challenge was Chocolate Chip Cookies, I got right on it and didn't waste any time. I scoured the food blogs looking for a recipe that spoke to me. I ended up narrowing my list down to three choices, leaving the final choice to my husband since the cookies would be going into his lunches for work. My husband ended up choosing the Brown Eyed Baker's "Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies."

Start by pre-heating your oven to 350 degrees F. Either grease your cookie sheets or line them with parchment paper.

In a bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Push it aside.

In a larger mixing bowl, beat butter, peanut butter, brown sugar, and granulated sugar on medium speed till everything is light and fluffy.

Add eggs one at a time, beating well. Pour in some vanilla extract and mix together before stirring in the dry ingredients.

Stir in the peanuts and mix well.

Mix in the semisweet chocolate chips. Stir well.

Drop the dough/batter (it's kind of a heavy dough) by tablespoons onto your cookie sheets and sprinkle with a small pinch of coarse salt or you could be like me and use sea salt.

Bake for about 10-12 minutes or until the edges are set and center is soft. Cool cookies on baking sheets and devour, er, I mean put inside a cookie jar.

These cookies gave my husband quite a reaction. I've made him a ton of different kinds of cookies in the past, but he has declared these ones to be his favorite. In fact when my kids ate the last ones, he was really sad. These are cookies I would make more often and they appeal to a lot of people with that little extra kick of pizazz due to the sprinkled sea salt on top! These truly are finger licken good :)

And if you all could do me a favor, I would love it if you would stop by Crazy Cooking Challenge's Ultimate Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipe and vote for me. I would greatly appreciate the support from all of you. Happy reading & voting everyone :)

Salted Double Chocolate Peanut Butter Cookies

Source: Brown Eyed Baker

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup ( 4 oz) unsalted butter, room temperature

3/4 cup creamy peanut butter

2/3 cup brown sugar ( I used dark, because my husband loves the flavor)

1/3 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1/2 cup peanuts

Coarse salt or sea salt for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper or grease the sheets.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

Beat together the butter, peanut butter, and both sugars until batter is fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Pour in the vanilla extract and mix. Add the dry ingredients and mix on low until just combined. Do not over mix. Using a spatula, stir in chocolate chips and peanuts.

Drop be tablespoonfuls onto greased or lined cookie sheets and bake for 10-12 minutes. Until the sides are set and middle is soft. Cool on wire racks and serve or store :)

This recipe is linked to:

Mom's Crazy Cooking's Crazy Cooking Challenge, Sweet as Sugar Cookies's Sweets for a Saturday, A well-Seasoned Life's Sweet Indulgences Sunday, Simply ...This. That. And the Other's Sweet Treats Saturday

Pumpkin is in the Air

2011-10-05T13:22:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again...time to embrace all things pumpkiny. I don't know about you, but pumpkin is one of my favorite things about Fall. Every year, I think all of us foodie go into a panic if we don't see the cans of pumpkin on the shelves of our grocery stores. We hear rumors of again another pumpkin shortage and we start feeling desperate. I remember last year I was freaking out because I went to every grocery store in my town and could not find one can. I even got so desperate that I was begging Josh to let my buy a huge case off Amazon. He said, "No." So I waited patiently, and finally the canned pumpkin began lining the shelves and I bought a lot of cans. I think I snuck one or two cans in every grocery trip because I was paranoid they would run out again.

It wasn't such a bad idea, I had canned pumpkin that lasted me till March of this year. But this year, I'm planning to again, sneak cans of pumpkin into my cart. There are so many more recipes I want to try this year and I can't wait to get started. My stash right now is still pretty small and I'm feeling slightly hoarderish, because I am afraid if I use them all up without building a decent stockpile first, the store will run out. I know that's silly...but hey, I'm a panicky person.

I thought that since the stores are now shelving our beautiful orange bounty I should do a post on some of the recipes I've made in the past that you might want to try if you are wondering where to start first :)

Breakfasts

Amish Pumpkin Pancakes

Pumpkin Cinnamon Streusel Muffins

Snacks

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Pumpkin Bread

Desserts

Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

Pumpkin Spice Latte Cheesecake

This concludes my list of all things pumpkin on my blog so far. This week, I'm trying out a dinner with pumpkin in it recommended by my sister in law over at Kitchen Joy. She says it's really good, so I'm going to give it a try. If I love it, it will probably be joining my recipe collection over here as well :)

Happy Pumpkining Everyone!

Weekly Menu 10/3-10/9

2011-10-03T12:24:00.000-07:00

Happy October everyone! It finally feels like Fall and I'm so happy about that. My house is decorated with all of my Autumn harvest decor and the weather has gotten much cooler and alas, the rain has returned. I even put away all the indoor fans today :)

I'm so sorry for not posting while I was away. We got back from Sunriver Saturday evening and we were wiped out from our emotional goodbye of Central Oregon as well as the long drive back home. But we had such a fantastic time away as a family. 8 days of beautiful weather and memory making as a family. I know that some people would welcome the break from their spouses upon their return of vacation, but I think Josh and I were kind of mourning the reality that awaited us. But, we're back home and though I know we would both much rather still be on vacation, that is not the case and so all we can do is jump back into our everyday crazy blessed life and ride the wave. I for one, am excited to start cooking again!

A lot of the meals this week you might recognize from our previous menu, but we never got around to making them due to time and weather.

Monday

Grilled Cheese and Tomato Soup

Nothing fancy kids, the soup is out of a can and it's a leftover meal from our vacation. We gotta go grocery shopping tonight so it's convenience at it's finest.

Tuesday

Coconut Chicken with Rice and steamed broccoli

Wednesday

Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese with green beans

Thursday

Slow-Cooker Sloppy Joes with ground turkey breast instead of beef

Friday

Cheesy Chicken, Bacon and Avocado Quesadillas

Saturday

Tamale Pie with a side salad

Sunday

Panini's of some kind, served with chips

I plan on doing some baking this week. My brother in law is leaving for Ecola Bible College on Sunday and even though he has a meal plan down there, I want to send him with some home-baked goodies. And since the family will be headed to the coast to get Jeffrey all settled, they will also be stopping in on Jessica, my other sister in law who is attending the same school and I'll be sending some yummy things for her as well...she doesn't have a meal plan, so I want to make her life a bit easier.

Desserts/Treats

Pumpkin

Bread

Blueberry Muffins

And Cookies of some kind, but I haven't decided which kind yet :)

What are you cooking up this week?

Weekly Menu 9/19-9/23

2011-09-19T16:53:00.000-07:00

Wow, this was a crazy busy week! Saturday was full of running errands and then Josh and I came home and just collapsed. He fixed a delicious pasta dinner that warmed us up since it had been raining and we watched an earlier Hitchcock movie and went to bed earlier than we usually would on a Saturday. On Sunday, we took Josh's younger sister back to her college on the coast which is about an hour and a half away from us. And today is Monday, and Josh's other younger sister and her husband are on their way down from Washington to spend a night with us before meeting up with Josh's family who's camping a few hours away. It's just crazy busy here...and if that is not enough, we are also leaving this week. Saturday morning, we're embarking on a week long trip to Central Oregon. So there won't be a weekly menu next week. We will be bringing food with us as usual, but I'm not sure what yet and all those fun details. We are really looking forward to getting away with the kids, Sunriver is one of our favorite places to be! So since we're leaving Saturday, I'm leaving our menu for Saturday and Sunday off.

Monday

Josh is making Chicken Chimichangas with rice and beans

Tuesday

Crockpot Minestrone Soup and rolls

Wednesday

Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese from my Sister n Law's blog KitchenJoy with a side salad

Thursday

Cheesy Chicken, Bacon and avocado quesadillas

Friday

Coconut Chicken with Apricot Sauce, Rice and corn

I haven't thought to much about dessert this week. I might just skip the wonderfulness since we're going to be leaving on Saturday. :)

I hope you all have a fantastic week :)

Honey Lemon Grilled Chicken

2011-09-17T09:24:00.000-07:00

I have a confession to make. I rip/tear cooking pages out of magazines when I'm waiting around in various appointment type places. There, I said it! I know a lot of us do it when we're waiting to get our teeth cleaned, but it's not something that's really talked about and I know I always feel very guilty afterwards, lol! But thanks to my page stealing fetish, I found a fantastic recipe!

I don't exactly remember where I was when I found this recipe, but I was bored and was skimming through a magazine. It wasn't a cooking magazine, but it had a bunch of great recipes in the back to try out and one of them was this Honey Lemon Grilled Chicken recipe by former Bachelor contestant Jake Pavelka. I have never watched any of those shows, so my only opinion of him is he created one flavorful chicken dish. Oddly enough, I can't find the recipe online so I'm glad I tore it out of the magazine I was reading.

This recipe is super simple and the flavor just pops on your taste buds.

We've got some classic ingredients here: Lemons, Honey, fresh Oregano, Dijon Mustard, Garlic, and Extra-Virgin Olive Oil, Salt, Pepper, and Skinless Boneless Chicken Breast.

In a bowl, mix together the lemon juice and zest, olive oil, oregano, mustard, honey, garlic, and salt & pepper. Reserve 1/4 cup of the marinade for basting.

Add your chicken breast to the bowl and let it soak for at least 30 minutes...but we ended up soaking ours for a full day and night.

When your chicken has finished marinating, fire up that grill to medium high heat. Place the chicken on the grill and cook it for 6-8 minutes on each side until juices run clear and basting with the reserved marinade. While your grilling the chicken, take some halved lemon slices and lightly grill them too.

When chicken is finished, drizzle with honey and garnish with the pretty grilled lemon wedges.

I can't tell you how easy this whole meal is and Josh and I were amazed with the amount of flavor we got in each bite. It's a summer grilling favorite now that I think we will make again and again :)

Honey-Lemon Grilled Chicken

adapted from Jake Pavelka

Juice and zest of 3 lemons

1/3 cup olive oil

1 tsp oregano

1 TB dijon mustard

2 TB honey, plus a drizzle

1/2 cup finely chopped onion ( I didn't use this)

1 clove garlic, peeled and smashed ( I minced)

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

2-4 boneless skinless chicken breast

grilled lemon wedges

In a bowl, mix together lemon juice, zest, olive oil, oregano, dijon mustard, honey, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. Set aside 1/4 cup of the mixture for basting. Place chicken in the bowl, cover and marinate for at least 30 minutes in the refrigerator.

Preheat rill to medium-high. Lightly oil grill gate. Place chicken on the grill over indirect heat. Cook 6-8 minutes on each side, until juices run clear, basting occasionally.

Put one chicken breast on each plate. Drizzle with honey and garnish with lemon wedges.

Weekly Menu 9/12-9/18

2011-09-12T14:44:00.000-07:00

We're all coming off of a very hot week here in Oregon, but last night the temperatures really started to dip. When we went to bed, the air was cool and there was a breeze. This morning I woke up to clouds and I had to shut all the windows because the kids were to cold. But now it's afternoon and the sun has come out and so has some warm sunshiny rays. We're expecting still a warm week, but quite cooler than it was last week and I for one am ready for it.

This is the time of year where we begin to really reap the benefits of of our gardening. Sadly though, our one huge heirloom tomato didn't make it due to bugs, but, our bell peppers, herbs, and Roma tomatoes are doing beautifully and since I wasn't able to plant veggies like I really wanted to this past spring, but thankfully I have a very generous church family who've been dropping off tons of fresh veggies at our church so we can all take as much as we like. I've grabbed some zucchini, yellow squash, tomatoes, and cucumbers :) I've got plans for the zucchini and yellow squash this week.

Monday

Grilled Salmon

( I've found a few recipes online that I'm drooling over, so I'll let Josh pick)

with potatoes and corn

Tuesday

I've got some beautiful cherry tomatoes I need to use, so I think this Cherry Tomato Pizza Margherita is just thing...of course, we will grill the pizza though :)

Wednesday

BBQ Chicken Sandwiches with green beans

Thursday

I'm going to try out a Pumpkin Macaroni and Cheese from my sister in law's blog with a side salad

Friday

Oriental Chicken Salad with rolls

Saturday

Crockpot Minestrone Soup with some "Olive Garden" inspired Breadsticks

Sunday

I'm sure we will come up with something :)

I forgot to mention earlier that Grace is leaving to go camping with my family for a few days at the end of the week. Her leaving is always sad, because I love cooking for her because of her great appreciation for awesome food. I plan to do some baking this week as well :)

Desserts and Treats

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

I'm going to make some cookies for Josh's lunch maybe tomorrow. I'm contributing to a crazy cooking challenge and the challenge for October is Chocolate Chip Cookies. I need to find a recipe on a blog that is a cookie and has chocolate chips in it...so I'm thinking about doing a cookie with chocolate chips and sea salt ;) I've got a few recipes bookmarked that I'll show Josh later on tonight to see what he thinks he would like the best :)

Spaghettini with Garlic, Parsley & Olive Oil

2011-09-09T13:29:00.000-07:00

September came and just kind of snuck up on us! Last week, I thought I still had a good two weeks left of August, but when I went and questioned my calendar, I realized I was wrong. Fall has begun to show it's face around our neck of the woods last week. The windows had to be shut at night, the evenings have gotten colder faster, and there is a bite to the morning air. I for one, have really welcomed the coolness that has greeted me during the days. It means I can get back to some of the things I love to do, which is baking and cooking. Speaking of cooking, I can't really remember the last full meal I cooked all by myself. We've been doing so much grilling and I've been helping Josh with a lot of prep work...but cooking? Yeah, not so much.

Our Summer was really only about 5-6 weeks long and though I love Fall and am super excited for it to come...I am going to miss the warmer days ( not the 87 degree and up days) and it staying light out longer in the evenings. I've decided to embrace the changing of the season...Josh on the other hand is slightly bitter. So it's up to me once again to show him how beautiful Fall can be and what delicious meals we can still devour and enjoy, even if they are not made on the barbecue, and this pasta dish was just thing to ease Josh back into the Fallish spirits without being in your face.

This pasta dish could not be any easier! It's just a few ingredients: Spaghetti, Olive Oil, Garlic, and Parsley, plus salt and pepper. That's it! And this pasta is so flavorful and aromatic! I was a bit skeptical about making this at first because there isn't a true sauce that goes over the spaghetti, but after eating it...there is no need for a sauce. The flavor and ingredients give enough moisture so that it's neither dry or unsatisfying. It's actually incredibly filling! And what I loved about this meal, was that there was zero shopping on my end for ingredients. I always have fresh garlic on hand, I have parsley growing in one of my herb containers, Olive oil is also a staple in our home as well as many kinds of pasta. It's the perfect pasta to make in a pinch!

With pasta, garlic, parsley and olive oil...how could this meal not be a winner? I was hooked at Garlic ;)

Spaghetinni with Garlic, Parsley & Olive Oil

Source: Alice Water's " In the Green Kitchen"

Spaghetti

2-3 TB olive oil

4 garlic cloves, peeled and sliced

8-10 branches of Italian Parsley ( I used the parsley in my garden)

sea salt

pepper

Bring a generous pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Stir in spaghetti or angel hair pasta. Stirring frequently to avoid sticking until al dente.

Put 2-3 TB olive oil and 4 garlic cloves peeled and thinly sliced in a deep skillet or saucepan over low heat, and cook gently until garlic begins to sizzle and release it's fragrance. Add chopped parsley leaves to the pan, along with 1/2 cup of the pasta water.

When the pasta is cooked, use a spider spoon or skimmer and fish the pasta out of the water and directly into the saucepan, adding more pasta water if needed.

Toss the pasta and let it simmer briefly in the sauce to finish cooking and absorb the flavors. Grind some fresh black pepper and sea salt over the pasta and your set :)

This is where I served the meal. But for more of an option, keeping adding pasta water to keep the dish loose and saucy.

My strong suits as a baker

2011-09-08T11:54:00.000-07:00

I like to think of myself as a pretty good baker. For one thing, I love to bake and I think you have to love it in order to be good at it. And for the other reason, I'm good at following recipe directions 99.9% of the time. I say 99.9% of the time because, sometimes my brain gets loopy and I don't always read everything correctly the first few times. But most of the time, I do and therefore I have some success in the kitchen.

I think it's important to know what your strong suits are in the kitchen. I know that I want to build upon the things I'm already pretty good at but could be better at and build upon the things I know I'm not so good at; so that at some point, I can be good at those and move onto other hard and challenging things. It keeps the mind fresh ya'll...to always be learning and challenging yourself. (I'm not sure why I through a Ya'll in there...it just sounded good.)

I'm pretty darn good at baking: Cookies, Cakes, Brownies, Cobblers, Crisps, Trifles, Torts, Cupcakes, and Cheesecakes.

I want to get getter at Baking: Tarts ( I'm good at them, but I haven't made them enough to say Grreat), Frosting Decor (...okay so I make some really good frosting...but I want to get better and more educated in the different tips and techniques), Pies ( It's the crust part I'm still mastering), and Meringue!

With all of the listed above, I just truly want to continue getting better at baking as an art. But in order to get better, you have to practice. So, once the heat dies down, I plan to dive right into making some deliciously yummy treats that I'm good at and not so good at.

What do you feel the most confident in when it comes to baking? What are your weaknesses?

Weekly Menu 9/5-9/11

2011-09-07T13:11:00.000-07:00

I know it's Wednesday and my menu was supposed to go up Monday. But Monday, was a holiday ( Labor Day) and we were gone all day and put off our grocery shopping until last night, when Josh and Grace ran out to do it for me. Speaking of Labor Day, how was all of yours? Josh made an awesome dinner at my parents house with our Fish Tacos with Alaskan Halibut, YUM! And then Josh used a new recipe for some shrimp skewers. The food was incredible!

This week is a hot one! I've decided to stay out of the kitchen and only use the grill and maybe the burners this week. You've heard me mention that we don't have air conditioning, so we're going off the use of our fans. I broke down and bought cookies and snacks for Josh's lunches this week. Normally, I would make cookies...but with the heat, it means no oven cooking. How are you all beating the heat? Or has it cooled down for you all already? Next week is looking a lot cooler and I'm getting myself prepared and working on the menu for next week :)

Monday

(Labor Day)

Dinner with my family

Tuesday

We got Burgerville since Josh and Grace went grocery shopping for me

Wednesday

Steak with a Blue Cheese Butter dressing and a side garden salad

Thursday

I'm utilizing my crockpot and making Chicken BBQ Sandwiches with fruit or veggies

Friday

Grilling Salmon...not sure about sides yet

Saturday

We have some Shrimp..and I'm thinking we'll be making Shrimp and Veggie skewers again :)

Sunday

Not sure...we like to play Sundays by ear :)

No Baking this week :(