I have officially decided to go without pasta for the month of February. Can I do it? I'm certainly going to try!
I've been scouring the web for new recipes to keep me busy and excited to make something other than pasta. Let's be real, these recipes have got to be good to keep me from thinking about my beloved noodle.
Here are some of the contenders:
Sweet Chili Chicken Bites
Cheesy Broccoli Gratin
Fish & Chips
Spicy Chicken & Pepper Jack Pizza
Baked Lump Crab Cakes w/ Red Pepper Chipotle Lime Sauce
Cilantro Lime Shrimp
Balsamic Chicken w/ Roasted Spinach & Tomatoes
Pepperoni Rolls
Broccoli Cheese Soup (w/ Velveeta this time!)
Pork Medallions with Sun-Dried Tomato pan sauce
Fire Roasted Tomato Basil Soup
Nordstrom's Tomato Basil Soup
Slow Cooker Roast w/ Potatoes & Carrots
Meatball Sliders
Cajun Spice Shrimp
Applebee's Shrimp & Parmesan Steak
Beef Stew
Chicken Pot Pie
Beef Tenderloin w/ Herb-Dijon Crust
Griddler Chicken - Gary's FAVORITE meal ever! (This is a huge step up from his previous favorite: Subway!)
Ultimate Slow Cooker Potatoes
Buffalo Chicken Bites
Garlic Lime Chicken
Clearly, this is going to be a fun month full of new recipes to knock out. Let's hope they are successful and can make it in to our family dinner rotation!
1.29.2012
Food & Fun {1}
Bridget, Gary, and I had our very first Food & Fun day! It was trial by fire with all new recipes but overall, it was quite successful. You simply cannot beat a houseful of new flavors, smoke (oops!) and one cuddly dog.
Here are the recipes we tried out:
Appetizer by Vanessa
Chef Guy Fieri's Pepperoni Parmesan Bites "Deconstructed Lasagna"
I added my own flair to this by using a few different ingredients than Guy.
1/4 lb. pepperoni, cut into 1/4-inch cubes (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup diced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. fennel seeds
1 cup crushed tomatoes (I used 1 cup of mom's canned tomatoes and 1/4 cup of tomato sauce)
1 bay leaf
48 RITZ Crackers
Italian parsley, for garnish
I'm not a huge fan of ricotta so I used that amazing Garlic Feta Cheese Dip for the cheese mixture instead :)
HEAT oven to 350ºF.
SET a large saute pan over medium heat, and add pepperoni cubes and onion. Cook for 3-4 min. until pepperoni begins to render oil, then add garlic, pepper flakes and fennel seeds. Cook until fragrant, about 2 min.; drain oil and add tomatoes and bay leaf. Simmer for 10-12 min. until thickened and all the flavors have come together in the sauce. Set aside and keep warm. Discard bay leaf.
IN a large mixing bowl, combine ricotta and Parmesan; smear a teaspoon of Parmesan-ricotta mixture on each RITZ Cracker and top with a teaspoon of pepperoni sauce. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 5-6 min. or until heated through. Garnish with parsley.
To be perfectly honest, I wasn't a fan, but Bridget & Gary seemed to like them. Let's give them 2.5 stars
Main Course by Bridget
Perfect Pizza Crust and Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza
1/2 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp.) instant yeast
1 1/4 cups water, at room temp
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plug more for dusting
1 1/2 tsp salt
Cornmeal
olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing bowl
Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.
Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.
To bake, place a pizza stone in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 500° for at least 30 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form both pieces of dough into smooth, round balls and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.
Working with one piece of dough and keeping the other covered, shape the dough and transfer to a pizza peel or round of parchment dusted with semolina or cornmeal. Top as desired. Slide the dough onto the pizza stone. Bake until the crust edges brown and cheese is golden brown in spots, about 8 to 12 minutes. Repeat with remaining ball of dough or freeze for later use.
Recipe: Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza Adapted from Annies Eats
1 perfect pizza crust (recipe above)
1/2 cup prepared pesto (store bough or homemade)
1 bulb of garlic
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
To roast the garlic: Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic. Place the garlic heads in a baking pan; muffin pans work well for this purpose. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed. Remove garlic gloves and smash with a fork.
Spread roasted garlic over pizza dough. Do this to taste. I used almost the whole (small) bulb, but I LOVE roasted garlic.
Spread the pesto on the pizza.
Add the sliced, cooked chicken.
Sprinkle with mozzarella.
Top with fresh grated parmesan.
Bake on preheated pizza stone for 8 - 12 minutes.
We (maybe just me) had so much excitement for this recipe but it just didn't measure up. The pizza crust was a little thick and the flavors didn't burst out as much as we'd hoped. 2 stars :( Add overwhelmingly more garlic and I'd bump it up to 3 stars...
Dessert by Vanessa
Molten Chocolate Cake
4 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tins
1/3 cup(s) granulated sugar, plus more for muffin tins
3 large eggs
1/3 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
8 ounce(s) bittersweet chocolate, melted
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Whipped cream, for serving
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously butter 6 cups of a standard muffin tin. Dust with granulated sugar, and tap out excess. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, beat in flour and salt until just combined. Beat in chocolate until just combined. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.
Place muffin tin on a baking sheet; bake just until tops of the cakes no longer jiggle when the pan is lightly shaken, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes.
To serve, turn out cakes, and place on serving plates, bottom sides up. Dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve with whipped cream, if desired.
I was soooo nervous to make these because I didn't trust how easy the recipe seemed. Luckily for us, they turned out perfectly! 4 stars!
To top it all off, Daisy was being SO cute and cuddly. The pizza pan made the house a little smokey so she snuck off to my mom's room. When the house cleared up, she came back out and slept :)
Here are the recipes we tried out:
Appetizer by Vanessa
Chef Guy Fieri's Pepperoni Parmesan Bites "Deconstructed Lasagna"
I added my own flair to this by using a few different ingredients than Guy.
1/4 lb. pepperoni, cut into 1/4-inch cubes (about 1 cup)
1/4 cup diced onion
1 clove garlic, minced
1/8 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 tsp. fennel seeds
1 cup crushed tomatoes (I used 1 cup of mom's canned tomatoes and 1/4 cup of tomato sauce)
1 bay leaf
48 RITZ Crackers
Italian parsley, for garnish
I'm not a huge fan of ricotta so I used that amazing Garlic Feta Cheese Dip for the cheese mixture instead :)
HEAT oven to 350ºF.
SET a large saute pan over medium heat, and add pepperoni cubes and onion. Cook for 3-4 min. until pepperoni begins to render oil, then add garlic, pepper flakes and fennel seeds. Cook until fragrant, about 2 min.; drain oil and add tomatoes and bay leaf. Simmer for 10-12 min. until thickened and all the flavors have come together in the sauce. Set aside and keep warm. Discard bay leaf.
IN a large mixing bowl, combine ricotta and Parmesan; smear a teaspoon of Parmesan-ricotta mixture on each RITZ Cracker and top with a teaspoon of pepperoni sauce. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for 5-6 min. or until heated through. Garnish with parsley.
To be perfectly honest, I wasn't a fan, but Bridget & Gary seemed to like them. Let's give them 2.5 stars
Main Course by Bridget
Perfect Pizza Crust and Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza
1/2 cup warm water (about 110 degrees)
1 envelope (2 1/4 tsp.) instant yeast
1 1/4 cups water, at room temp
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
4 cups (22 oz.) bread flour, plug more for dusting
1 1/2 tsp salt
Cornmeal
olive oil or non-stick cooking spray for greasing bowl
Measure the warm water into a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Sprinkle in the yeast and let stand until the yeast dissolves and swells, about 5 minutes. Add the room temperature water and oil and stir to combine.
Place the flour and salt in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Briefly combine the dry ingredients at low speed. Slowly add the liquid ingredients and continue to mix at low speed until a cohesive mass forms. Stop the mixer and replace the paddle with the dough hook. Knead until the dough is smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes. Form the dough into a ball, put it in a deep oiled bowl, and cover with plastic wrap. Let rise until doubled in size, about 1 ½ to 2 hours. Press the dough to deflate it.
To bake, place a pizza stone in the lower third of the oven. Heat the oven to 500° for at least 30 minutes. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide the dough into two equal pieces. Form both pieces of dough into smooth, round balls and cover with a damp cloth. Let the dough relax for at least 10 minutes but no more than 30 minutes.
Working with one piece of dough and keeping the other covered, shape the dough and transfer to a pizza peel or round of parchment dusted with semolina or cornmeal. Top as desired. Slide the dough onto the pizza stone. Bake until the crust edges brown and cheese is golden brown in spots, about 8 to 12 minutes. Repeat with remaining ball of dough or freeze for later use.
Recipe: Roasted Garlic Chicken Pesto Pizza Adapted from Annies Eats
1 perfect pizza crust (recipe above)
1/2 cup prepared pesto (store bough or homemade)
1 bulb of garlic
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cooked
Mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese
To roast the garlic: Peel away the outer layers of the garlic bulb skin, leaving the skins of the individual cloves intact. Using a knife, cut off 1/4 to a 1/2 inch of the top of cloves, exposing the individual cloves of garlic. Place the garlic heads in a baking pan; muffin pans work well for this purpose. Drizzle a couple teaspoons of olive oil over each head, using your fingers to make sure the garlic head is well coated. Cover with aluminum foil. Bake at 400°F for 30-35 minutes, or until the cloves feel soft when pressed. Remove garlic gloves and smash with a fork.
Spread roasted garlic over pizza dough. Do this to taste. I used almost the whole (small) bulb, but I LOVE roasted garlic.
Spread the pesto on the pizza.
Add the sliced, cooked chicken.
Sprinkle with mozzarella.
Top with fresh grated parmesan.
Bake on preheated pizza stone for 8 - 12 minutes.
We (maybe just me) had so much excitement for this recipe but it just didn't measure up. The pizza crust was a little thick and the flavors didn't burst out as much as we'd hoped. 2 stars :( Add overwhelmingly more garlic and I'd bump it up to 3 stars...
Dessert by Vanessa
Molten Chocolate Cake
4 tablespoon(s) unsalted butter, room temperature, plus more for muffin tins
1/3 cup(s) granulated sugar, plus more for muffin tins
3 large eggs
1/3 cup(s) all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon(s) salt
8 ounce(s) bittersweet chocolate, melted
Confectioners' sugar, for dusting
Whipped cream, for serving
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Generously butter 6 cups of a standard muffin tin. Dust with granulated sugar, and tap out excess. Set aside.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream the butter and granulated sugar until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. With the mixer on low speed, beat in flour and salt until just combined. Beat in chocolate until just combined. Divide batter evenly among prepared muffin cups.
Place muffin tin on a baking sheet; bake just until tops of the cakes no longer jiggle when the pan is lightly shaken, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from oven; let stand 10 minutes.
To serve, turn out cakes, and place on serving plates, bottom sides up. Dust with confectioners' sugar, and serve with whipped cream, if desired.
I was soooo nervous to make these because I didn't trust how easy the recipe seemed. Luckily for us, they turned out perfectly! 4 stars!
To top it all off, Daisy was being SO cute and cuddly. The pizza pan made the house a little smokey so she snuck off to my mom's room. When the house cleared up, she came back out and slept :)
1.25.2012
I love Decorah.
Since moving back to Decorah, I've made it a mission to find meaningful activities and work opportunities to fill my time. I have come to realize just how important it is to feel passionate about what I do and how much I want to be involved in this community. I grew to be such a strong, confident person here in Decorah and I want to make sure that I help do that for others as they make their own way.
Yeah, I'm sure that all sounds cheesy but that is honestly how I feel. My ideal life would look like this:
Wake up
Get the kid's up
Make breakfast
Take them to school
*Work at WMC - CHECK!
Eat lunch/walk
**Work at Nisse - Almost check! (I scored an interview here tomorrow!!)
Pick up the kids from school
Help with homework
Make dinner
***Volunteer for PTO - A volunteer program dedicated to serving grades PreK-8th grade
Spend time with Gary before falling asleep
*I am so excited to start working for WMC. The ladies I interviewed with were all so lovely and I feel that it will be such a great learning opportunity for me. It doesn't hurt that though this is a .5 PT job, I still get benefits!! This just proves that I don't have to have a full-time job to make it through life :)
**Nisse Preschool recently advertised an opening for 10 hr/week Office Manager. I jumped at the chance to apply because I would LOVE to work at a preschool. Probably sounds silly but like I said above, I want to be sure I find work that allows me to give back to this community and the people that live here. What better way than to have a supporting role at a preschool. I will have a formal interview with them tomorrow so wish me luck!
***I somehow landed on the Decorah Community School website earlier and found something called PTO. I'm not quite sure what it stands for but I get the jist of it. "PTO volunteers raise money to help fund school equipment, field trips, bring guest authors to our schools, and much more. They also pitch in to show school staff how much we appreciate them, and offer fun events for the kids! PTO commitments can range from two hours to year long. Please join us!" Don't mind if I do. The things that caught my attention:
Book Fairs - I LOVED whenever we had book fairs in elementary. Those days were literally my favorite.
Math/Spell-a-thons - Love it.
Elementary Yearbooks - This would be sooooo much fun to do! Parents would love these and such great keepsakes for kids when they get older
Appreciation Baking/Treats - I need a reason to do more baking
Public/Media Relations - Great way to network and get to know people
Lastly, I noticed in their little brochure that they don't have a secretary...Why not??
Yeah, I'm sure that all sounds cheesy but that is honestly how I feel. My ideal life would look like this:
Wake up
Get the kid's up
Make breakfast
Take them to school
*Work at WMC - CHECK!
Eat lunch/walk
**Work at Nisse - Almost check! (I scored an interview here tomorrow!!)
Pick up the kids from school
Help with homework
Make dinner
***Volunteer for PTO - A volunteer program dedicated to serving grades PreK-8th grade
Spend time with Gary before falling asleep
*I am so excited to start working for WMC. The ladies I interviewed with were all so lovely and I feel that it will be such a great learning opportunity for me. It doesn't hurt that though this is a .5 PT job, I still get benefits!! This just proves that I don't have to have a full-time job to make it through life :)
**Nisse Preschool recently advertised an opening for 10 hr/week Office Manager. I jumped at the chance to apply because I would LOVE to work at a preschool. Probably sounds silly but like I said above, I want to be sure I find work that allows me to give back to this community and the people that live here. What better way than to have a supporting role at a preschool. I will have a formal interview with them tomorrow so wish me luck!
***I somehow landed on the Decorah Community School website earlier and found something called PTO. I'm not quite sure what it stands for but I get the jist of it. "PTO volunteers raise money to help fund school equipment, field trips, bring guest authors to our schools, and much more. They also pitch in to show school staff how much we appreciate them, and offer fun events for the kids! PTO commitments can range from two hours to year long. Please join us!" Don't mind if I do. The things that caught my attention:
Book Fairs - I LOVED whenever we had book fairs in elementary. Those days were literally my favorite.
Math/Spell-a-thons - Love it.
Elementary Yearbooks - This would be sooooo much fun to do! Parents would love these and such great keepsakes for kids when they get older
Appreciation Baking/Treats - I need a reason to do more baking
Public/Media Relations - Great way to network and get to know people
Lastly, I noticed in their little brochure that they don't have a secretary...Why not??
1.24.2012
Better than most.
Yesterday was a particularly good day.
1. Slept in and felt no affects from a night of cocktail sippage
2. Found out I didn't have to go in to work
3. Got one more of Gary's W-2 forms
4. Got a letter from our Mpls Landlord with loads of $$! Someone moved in to our old apartment and we got reimbursed from the day that person moved in. SAWEEEEEEEET.
5. Realized that I have more $$ from canceling all my other bank accounts to put in the bank. SAWEEEEEEEET.
6. Got a call from WMC. I.got.the.job. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
We celebrated with fudgy brownies and our favorite wine :)
So far, today is looking particular nice as well:
1. Slept in and felt no affects from a night of wine drinkage
2. Found out I didn't have to go in to work
I'll take it :)
1. Slept in and felt no affects from a night of cocktail sippage
2. Found out I didn't have to go in to work
3. Got one more of Gary's W-2 forms
4. Got a letter from our Mpls Landlord with loads of $$! Someone moved in to our old apartment and we got reimbursed from the day that person moved in. SAWEEEEEEEET.
5. Realized that I have more $$ from canceling all my other bank accounts to put in the bank. SAWEEEEEEEET.
6. Got a call from WMC. I.got.the.job. (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
We celebrated with fudgy brownies and our favorite wine :)
So far, today is looking particular nice as well:
1. Slept in and felt no affects from a night of wine drinkage
2. Found out I didn't have to go in to work
I'll take it :)
1.23.2012
Legendary!
Way back when I was a wee little girl, I hated tomatoes. I just couldn't stomach them. It was 100% a texture thing and quite possibly the whole heating them up thing. They looked disgusting (back then) so how on earth could they taste good?
Clearly, I got over that stage in my life. I LOVE TOMATOES. I LOVE heated canned-by-my-mom home-grown roma tomatoes. They are just sooooooooo good. As you all know I tend to make goulash when I get a super craving for tomatoes. Did I ever share? No - no one liked it the way I did (which is just the way I liked it). Do I ever share now? No - no one will like it :)
ANYHOO - I made a truly transcendent batch of goulash last week. The reason? ONIONS! I decided, what the heck, bring on the onions. (Mom, aren't you proud??)
Onions have been my tomatoes from way back when for my whole life. I love the smell of onions but I couldn't bring myself to eat them. I love the taste of them but it was the texture of onions that killed it for me. I found them utterly gross and disgusting. However, curiosity got the best of me. I fought through the pain and tears of cutting a small white onion and sweat them out for my mean batch of goulash. Little did I know that this would be THE BEST batch I have ever made.
Seriously.
These onions brought on a whole new depth of flavor that I didn't know existed. I made the batch last for six meals which was pretty amazing. After finishing the last bite, I immediately craved more. Sooooooooooo, I made another batch less than a week later.
Was it legendary? Not quite. Why? I dumped a crap ton of dried oregano on the meat.
Oooops.
Side Note = I ran out of my preferred noodle for goulash, the pretty penne. I will made do with elbow if and only if I have to. Otherwise, I just don't eat any. Spaghetti doesn't work. Egg noodles don't work. Angel Hair doesn't work. Alas, I ran out of penne noodles with this second batch of overly oregano-fied goulash. I had some linguini running around so I used that. It's just not the same. They taste different and almost overpower the goulash. That cannot happen.
Lessons learned:
1. Always use onions in my goulash
2. Penne is the ONLY noodle to use for goulash
On a whole different level, I can't eat peppers. However, I love spicy salsa. Clearly, I can eat them. My goal is to introduce peppers in to my diet. AND LIKE THEM. We'll see....
Clearly, I got over that stage in my life. I LOVE TOMATOES. I LOVE heated canned-by-my-mom home-grown roma tomatoes. They are just sooooooooo good. As you all know I tend to make goulash when I get a super craving for tomatoes. Did I ever share? No - no one liked it the way I did (which is just the way I liked it). Do I ever share now? No - no one will like it :)
ANYHOO - I made a truly transcendent batch of goulash last week. The reason? ONIONS! I decided, what the heck, bring on the onions. (Mom, aren't you proud??)
Onions have been my tomatoes from way back when for my whole life. I love the smell of onions but I couldn't bring myself to eat them. I love the taste of them but it was the texture of onions that killed it for me. I found them utterly gross and disgusting. However, curiosity got the best of me. I fought through the pain and tears of cutting a small white onion and sweat them out for my mean batch of goulash. Little did I know that this would be THE BEST batch I have ever made.
Seriously.
These onions brought on a whole new depth of flavor that I didn't know existed. I made the batch last for six meals which was pretty amazing. After finishing the last bite, I immediately craved more. Sooooooooooo, I made another batch less than a week later.
Was it legendary? Not quite. Why? I dumped a crap ton of dried oregano on the meat.
Oooops.
Side Note = I ran out of my preferred noodle for goulash, the pretty penne. I will made do with elbow if and only if I have to. Otherwise, I just don't eat any. Spaghetti doesn't work. Egg noodles don't work. Angel Hair doesn't work. Alas, I ran out of penne noodles with this second batch of overly oregano-fied goulash. I had some linguini running around so I used that. It's just not the same. They taste different and almost overpower the goulash. That cannot happen.
Lessons learned:
1. Always use onions in my goulash
2. Penne is the ONLY noodle to use for goulash
On a whole different level, I can't eat peppers. However, I love spicy salsa. Clearly, I can eat them. My goal is to introduce peppers in to my diet. AND LIKE THEM. We'll see....
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