Friday Night Apps

Uhhhh – I’m so worn out from the weekend. Friday we cooked a couple appetizers, walked across the city for fireworks what were apparently cancelled, went to the neighbors for drinks, cards and darts. Saturday laid around, went out for dinner and was hoping to go to an outdoor concert for our city festival but it was rainy and cold so we just came home. Sunday did some yard work, house work and made a great late lunch/early dinner. I’m exhausted but still have a long list of things to do before the end of Sunday night – walk dogs, clean the house from the weekend, laundry, and so on.

 

Appetizers Friday were amazing! I made my spring rolls that are one of my fav’s and my husband followed this great recipe I found on Better Homes & Gardens – garlicky asparagus flatbread. Ummmmm – so tasty! I love doing just apps for dinner, especially on a Friday.

 

Garlicky Asparagus Flatbread

My husband made the flatbread all on his own! He followed the recipe almost exactly as written, except we added a few torn up slices of prosciutto, no green onions, ½ pound asparagus, ½ yellow squash, didn’t use honey and we used Pillsbury pizza dough, not frozen.

http://www.bhg.com/recipe/garlicky-asparagus-flatbread/

 

Ingredients

• 1 1 pound loaf frozen pizza dough, thawed
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup finely shredded Parmesan cheese
• 6 ounces mozzarella cheese, sliced or grated
• 1 - 1 1/4 pounds green, white, and/or purple asparagus, trimmed and cut in 3-inch lengths
• 1 mediumyellow squash, sliced
• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 5 large clovesgarlic, thinly sliced
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced green onions
• Honey (optional)

 

Steps

  

 

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Grease two 15x10x1-inch baking pans; set aside. For flatbreads, cut thawed dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll each half to a 15 x 10-inch rectangle. (If dough becomes difficult to roll, let rest for 5 minutes, then resume rolling.) Press dough into prepared pans, pressing to sides of pans. Prick dough all over with a fork. Bake for 6 to 8 minutes or until very lightly browned.

 

 

2. Meanwhile, for white sauce, in a small saucepan melt the butter over medium heat; stir in flour. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in milk. Cook and stir until thickened and bubbly. Add Parmesan cheese; cook for 1 minute.

 

 

3. Spread the white sauce within 1/2 inch of dough edges. Top with mozzarella. Lightly toss asparagus and squash with 1 Tbsp. of the olive oil. Spread asparagus on cheese layer. Bake for 10 minutes, until browned. Cool slightly.

 

4. Meanwhile, in a small skillet heat the remaining 2 Tbsp. oil over medium heat. Cook sliced garlic in oil, stirring frequently, until tender and beginning to brown. Remove from heat. Spoon garlic and oil evenly on flatbreads. Sprinkle with green onions. Pass honey.

Spring Rolls

 

Ingredients

• Rice Noodles
• Spring Roll paper
• Romaine
• Chicken Breasts
• Salt, pepper and ginger (or Chinese Five Spice)
• Carrots

I’ve also used cucumber instead of romaine – either or both work but my husband likes them with romaine more than cucumbers so that’s how I made them Friday.

Dip

• Peanut Sauce
• Soy Sauce

Steps

1. Cook and season chicken with salt, pepper, ginger (or Chinese Five Spice), cut in strips

2. Julianne carrots – as thin as possible

3. Rinse and dry romaine leaves

4. Boil rice noodles and drain

5. Moisten spring roll paper (I use a deep plate)

6. When well moistened lay flat on cutting board and place noodles, a few chicken strips, few carrots, one romaine

7. Roll up like you would a burrito – as tight as you can

8. Let sit a few minutes, then cut in half

9. Serve with peanut sauce (mix peanut sauce and soy sauce, whisk)

2 Things to do with Rigatoni

  So I had a weeknight a few weeks back with not much to do so I decided to get dinner prepped for the next night and make something I could bring to lunch the next few days. I boiled an entire box of rigatoni, baked almost a whole bag of chicken breasts and cut up lots of fresh veggies. All this to prep a pasta bake for the next night and a pasta salad for my lunches the next three days. Also, the pasta bake was in a 9x13 and since its just my husband and me he was able to have a couple lunches as well. My mouth is watering looking at these pictures – both were so good. And now I’m hungry. Have to wait to eat – tonight we’re making two appetizers for dinner and sitting out on the deck with a couple drinks (hopefully its nice out). Spring rolls and asparagus, yellow squash flatbread. We always work out after work on Fridays and then clean up and cook so I’ll have to wait a while before eating. I knew I shouldn’t have looked at these pasta pictures now.

 

Pasta Bake

Ingredients:

·        Just over half a box of rigatoni

·        Jar vodka pasta sauce (I absolutely love vodka sauce – so good!)

·        Onions – chopped (I didn’t think mine were chopped small enough so I ended up picking some of them out but my husband said they were fine)

·        Couple cooked chicken breasts - seasoned with salt and pepper (I baked them to keep them healthier because I wanted the rest of them for my pasta salad which I was trying to make healthy)

·        Chopped fresh parsley

·        One clove garlic (I cheated and use a jar of minced garlic, about a tsp)

·        Italian shredded cheese (the mixed bag they sell or parmesan)

Steps:

1.      Chop onions, garlic, parsley and throw in bowl

2.      Mix in vodka sauce

3.      Cook pasta according to directions on box, drain, mix in

4.      Chop chicken into strips or chunks and mix in

5.      Spread into 9x13 pan

6.      Top with fresh parsley and Italian shredded cheese

1.      Then since I was making it for the next day I covered it with tin foil and placed in the fridge. When ready to make just take foil off and bake!

1.      Bake at 350 uncovered for 30-45 minutes or until bubbly

2.      Serve with garlic bread, bread sticks or salad. Yum!

 

Pasta Salad

 

Ingredients (I basically had a whole bunch of veggies in my fridge and just threw in whatever I had):

·        Just under half a box of rigatoni

·        Couple baked chicken breasts (seasoned with salt and pepper)

·        Chopped Yellow bell pepper (about a half of one)

·        Chopped Tomato (1 whole)

·        Handful of baby carrots – cut in half or thirds

·        Gouda cheese – cubed

·        Broccoli

·        Cauliflower

·        1 can pinto beans

·        Chopped fresh basil

 

Dressing (this is the recipe I based mine on, I didn’t follow it exactly, I more of just used it as a guide):

·        1/2 cup olive oil

·        1/4 cup red wine vinegar

·        2 cloves garlic, minced

·        1 teaspoon dried basil

·        1 teaspoon dried oregano

·        1/2 teaspoon ground mustard seed

·        1/4 teaspoon salt

·        1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Steps:

Chop everything up and mix in bowl

Whisk ingredients for dressing, taste and adjust – adding more of any ingredients you think it needs

Add dressing to bowl

Mix

Done!

 

 

It has been so nice the last few weekends that I’ve gotten lots of yard work done, gardening done and the dogs love being outside – well, Patches loves it, Sister is ok with being outside for a short time, otherwise she is mainly an inside kind of dog.

Breakfast Burrito

We had ribeyes on the grill one night for dinner the weekend of the 4th and (this is hard to believe) I didn't quite finish my ribeye so I had a decent piece leftover the next morning. I decided to chop up some peppers and onions, scramble some eggs, add in the meat and make a pretty good breakfast burrito.

Ingredients:

• leftover ribeye (sausage, bacon, any kind of meat would do just fine)
• bell pepper (I used yellow)
• onion
• if you like your food more on the hot side you can definitely add like a jalapeno pepper as well, but we are more of a mild to medium household
• eggs
• shredded mexican mix cheese (you can use just cheddar but I had that mexican mixed kind that I use for tacos)
• tortilla shells
• butter (just enough to melt in pan)
• crushed red pepper, taco seasoning, salt, pepper
• sour cream and salsa

Steps:

• Chop up onion, bell pepper and meat if you need to depending on what your using
• Heat fry pan and melt a little butter, add onion 
• When the onion has cooked a little add the pepper and meat (I like the pepper still a little crunchy so I don't let it cook too long) 
• Add taco seasoning, crushed red pepper, salt and pepper to taste
• Break eggs in a small bowl and whisk  
• Add eggs to fry pan and stir/whisk/scramble

• Heat tortilla shells (I just use the microwave but you can heat in a fry pan as well
• Turn off the heat and add some cheese to egg mixture and stir around til melted
• Add some of the egg mixture to each tortilla and roll up
• Serve with salsa and sour cream (and I topped each with some cilantro)

 

The weekend of the 4th we went up to the cabin for one afternoon and tried to get the dogs to go swimming. Patches sometimes likes swimming but he mainly just likes to run around the yard and sniff stuff.

It was Sister's first time swimming and she didn't like it. Actually she wasn't even very good at swimming. My dad said it was the first dog he's seen that couldn't swim. Oh well. She still had fun up there chasing birds and walking in the garden sniffing everything.

It's Summer Now!

Summer Dinner and Summer Fun Day

 

Another great weekend - good food (and lots of it) and a Saturday packed with fun. Saturday my husband planned a full day of fun things for us to do. Starting with breakfast - bloody mary bar and monte cristo sandwich. Then early afternoon at the zoo, which I hadn't been in years followed by a relaxing couples massage then home to get cleaned up and prepare dinner. That evening we had some friends over for dinner and then we went to an outdoor concert in a neighboring city. Today we played bocce ball (I won!) then I did some light yard work and cleaned the house. It was a relaxing and fun filled weekend (but also managed to get some house things accomplished). I really feel like summer has finally begun - summer foods, yard and garden are looking great and the weather is finally sunny and hot. Looking forward to Independence Day week - I took the 5th off just to make it a long weekend. My husband still has to work so I'll probably use the day to get some gardening done and lay in the sun.  

 

Summer Dinner

For dinner Saturday night I made pulled pork sandwiches and a corn bread layered salad. Perfect combination for a quick, easy, delicious summer dinner.

 

Cornbread Layered Salad

Ingredients:

• Small loaf of cornbread sliced into chunks (I bought a really small loaf of cornbread in the bakery section of the grocery store, but if you are really ambitious you can make cornbread muffins and use those)
• 1 can pinto beans (rinse really really well)
• About a cup of corn (I used frozen but you can also use 1 can, or you can use hominy instead of corn)
• Shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 or 2 tomatoes - diced
• 1 orange bell pepper (or 1/2 orange and 1/2 yellow or you can use green too but I like to use orange or yellow to make the salad more colorful)
• Ranch dressing
• Croutons 
• Can also add bacon (I planned on adding bacon but forgot until I got to assembling and then it was too late to make it)
• Lettuce (you don't need much lettuce because the salad is so packed with other ingredients, I think I used about half a bag of mixed salad greens) 

 

 

Layer salad - if you have a trifle bowl use that because then you can see all the colors and layers!

Here's how I layered mine I'll list from the bottom up-

1. Cornbread chunks
2. Cheese
3. Dressing (drizzle so its all over but not a lot because you will add more at the top too)
4. Beans
5. Corn
6. Lettuce
7. Tomatoes
8. Peppers
9. Cheese
10. Dressing
11. Croutons (and bacon if you are including bacon as well)
     

 

Pulled Pork

I've made pulled pork twice in my life and I'm pretty sure I've mastered it. I use pork shoulder and there wasn't one big enough for 4 adults so the butcher told me to use a pack of pork ribs rather than buy a whole other pork shoulder. That turned out great! You want to buy about 1 lb of pork per adult for this. I also prefer to serve the pork without the BBQ sauce already mixed in for two reasons: 1. everyone likes a different amount of BBQ sauce so then they can add their own and 2. the pulled pork I make is so amazingly juicy and good that you really don't even need BBQ sauce at all.

 

Ingredients:

Pork shoulder (and pork ribs if needed) - 1lb per person

1 can beef broth

1-2 teaspoons of liquid smoke

salt and pepper

 

BBQ sauce

Buns

 

 

Steps:

1. Salt and pepper the pork
2. Place pork in crock pot
3. Pour in can of beef broth
4. Add a can of water
5. Add 1-2 teaspoons of liquid smoke (you really do not need much of this, its a very powerful flavor, I used about a teaspoon but if you really really like the flavor you can add 2 teaspoons)
6. Cook until pork is done - it took me about 5 or 6 hours on low
7. When pork is done lift out and set on a plate and pull the pork off the bones until its all shredded and no more bones - I also pull off some of the big fat chunks at this time too.
8. Then you can cool and refrigerate if you made this ahead of time. Otherwise put back in the crock pot and set to lowest setting or "warm" until you are ready to eat. I served it with BBQ sauce but like I said I don't mix any into the meat itself.

 

 

 

Yum! Here was my monte cristo I had for breakfast! So good! Ham, turkey, cheese sandwich served on french toast and with a strawberry marmalade to dip it in. Just rich enough, just savory enough- so good. My mouth is watering just thinking about it. I want to make this sometime. Maybe I'll try next weekend. It seems like a perfect brunch item because of the french toast and ham/turkey sandwich.  

 

 

Ahhhhh - nothing like a bloody mary filled with fun toppings of your choice. I don't do spicy foods or drinks but I can still make a bloody mary fun enough to drink!

 

 

Flowers just outside the zoo

 

 

The conservatory - we didn't go in but I just love how it looks

 

 

I love flamingos - its so weird how they bend their legs!!!

 

 

Huge tortoise - he looks surreal!

 

 

And of course penguins - they are just funny animals.

 

I love the zoo - all the animals and flowers. I couldn't believe how much it changed since the last time I was there. They have added so much. Most of the animals were just sleeping so they were kind of boring, but still fun to see them all. My husband and I both couldn't get over how big some of the animals were - like the polar bear and the gorilla. It said the gorilla was like 350 lbs! If we thought they were big I can't imagine what they look like to kids.

 

 

Great Weekend!

What a great weekend! Started out with having my niece and a friend over for some drinks and apps Friday night, Saturday saw Bill Cosby with a friend, Sunday was so nice outside my husband and I sat out on our deck almost all afternoon and enjoyed the sun and for dinner grilled some steaks. With all the rain this year our yard is almost a swamp so yard games and playing with the dogs in the yard was out but that was ok because it was nice to just sit on the deck and enjoy the sunshine.

Apps Friday Night

1. Meatballs with creamy cilantro dip
2. Tortellini bites
3. Garlic Garlic dip with pretzels, sun dried tomato wheat thins, crackers, veggies (this was a Tastefully Simple dip so I won't include the recipe below)
4. Strawberry Bruschetta
5. And my niece brought brownies topped with pretzels and caramel (omg! so good!)

 

Meatballs with Creamy Cilantro Dip

You can put in the extra work to make your own meatballs but I just use the Simek's frozen meatballs. I microwaved them and then put them in a crock pot with a little water.

Dip - 2 cups plain yogurt (I used Greek), 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, onion (1/8 to 1/4 of a cup depending on how much you like onions), and salt. Mix all ingredients together and chill until you're ready to serve. --- about 1 cup chopped cilantro (forgot to include the most important ingredient when I first posted this)

Tortellini Bites

Cook digiorno cheese tortellini until done, rinse with cold water
Put on toothpick with provolone cheese and salami
Place in container and drizzle with Italian dressing and chill until ready to serve
For serving, I put them on a plate and shake off the extra dressing

Strawberry Bruschetta

Slice a baguette into about 1/4 inch slices, brush olive oil on each and bake at 350 for 5-10 minutes (you them them to just begin getting golden brown and toasty)
Take out of oven and top with sliced strawberries and goat cheese
Bake again for about 10 minutes or until cheese begin to melt
Take out and drizzle with a mixture of olive oil and balsamic vinaigrette
Put on plate you are going to serve them on and then top whole plate with fresh basil

For both the cilantro and the basil I used a pair of herb scissors - these are possibly my favorite kitchen tool - you MUST get one if you don't have one already. It saves so much time and makes the herbs just perfect for topping and mixing.

Sunday Dinner

Sunday I grilled steaks - and I make my steaks just like my dad because 1. he always made them the same way and I must have watched him 100 times and 2. they turn out perfect and are sooooo good so why change it up?

The cut of meat was ok, not great so I tenderized them before grilling. I use McCormick Meat Tenderizer - Unseasoned. Rinse the steaks off, prick them all over with a fork, then sprinkle the tenderizer over them. I leave them out for 30 min to an hour - until they are room temp. Then rinse off all the tenderizer and season. For seasonings some salt and McCormick Montreal Steak - ALWAYS! Never anything else. This is the perfect steak seasoning. My husband always says I make the best steaks - even better than when he orders a steak out at a restaurant.

We had strawberry goat cheese salads with our steaks. The dressing takes a few extra steps than just opening a bottle but its worth it!

Dressing - 2 oz shallot (or reg onion, but then use less), 1 tbsp honey, 1 tbsp dijon mustard, 2 oz champagne vinegar (I didn't have this so I used a tsp or 2 of red wine vinegar, probably not supposed to be a substitute for it but that's what I had), 5-6 oz neutral oil (which means like a vegetable or canola oil but I didn't read the recipe closely and use olive oil - still turned out just fine) and salt.

In a blender  or food processor puree all until smooth, then add the oil while running slowly if using a blender, or add and mix a little more. Taste and adjust.

Toss greens with dressing, then dish up and top with goat cheese and sliced strawberries.
You can add toasted pecans or almonds instead of croutons but I didn't have any to toast.

I work from home on Fridays now which is not only nice because I don't have to drive to work, get dressed or do my hair but also because then the dogs get to play all day rather than being kenneled. This past Friday Sister seemed to want to help me with my work.

Creamy Pasta with Shrimp and Peas

I made two versions of this dish this week – one with shrimp and one with chicken. Its super easy and I guarantee you have most of the ingredients already in your fridge. It is half based on a recipe that a co-worker gave me and half made up by “moi”.

 

Creamy pasta with shrimp and peas

 

Ingredients (made for two):

• Frozen cooked shrimp

• ½ cup frozen peas

• Linguini – I use about a half box for 2 servings (of course any shape pasta will do but for long pasta I always use linguini)

• 3 oz cream cheese

• 4 tbsp butter – one to sauté the shrimp in, the rest for the pasta

• 1 ½ cups Italian shredded cheese – I had a bag that was a mix of a few kinds - you’re going to put 1 cup in the pan and use another ½ cup to sprinkle over the dish before serving

• Basil – probably a tsp of dried basil, adjust to taste

• Fresh parsley – 1 tbsp – use most in the pan but save some to sprinkle on the top of the dish before serving

• Fresh Chives – 1-2 tsp

• Salt and Pepper to taste
   

Steps:

1. Cook pasta according to directions on box – since I’ll eventually add the pasta to the pan with all the other ingredients I don’t cook it all the way, more al dente (I almost wrote “noodles” – my sister says “noodles”. We were out to eat at Olive Garden once and she asked what shape noodle a dish came in. haha! who says noodles above the age of 10? She’s funny)

2. Melt 1 tbsp butter in pan and sauté shrimp

 

 

3. When pasta is cooked add to shrimp

4. Add everything else, stir slightly, cover and let the butter and cheeses melt

5. When all is melted plate and top with some more shredded cheese and some fresh parsley.

 

This dish is so easy to make, you can add or substitute other herbs depending on what you have available. Tonight for dinner I made a version of this only with chicken and broccoli instead of shrimp and peas. And instead of basil I used lemon zest (everything else was the same). The lemon zest gave it that extra punch of flavor. Yum!

 

Took this picture of Patches and Sister (who is finally healthy!) I have a new appreciation for people who have good pictures of two or more kids or pets. I think I took 10 shots of them before this one. They rarely sit this close together. Patches likes his space. Sister is the cuddle dog.

 
 

My husband has two work trips this week so I’ll be baking and cleaning the house every night. If I can get motivated enough I’ll get some more posts up this week too. We’ll see!