Wonderful time!

Had a wonderful thanksgiving with family this year.  It was so fun to anticipate the meal and all its various elements.  Once I decided on the recipes, it was hard to keep the list narrow - and not want to change.  For example, Sausage, Apple, Walnut Stuffing.  Why not pecans? pears?  Oh the questions that plague me...seriously not a big deal.  But I will admit the last minute additions of corn pudding and roasted sweet potatoes/carrots.  Yum-O as Rachel Ray says. 

This year I was thoroughly hungry for the meal.  Last time I cooked I felt way too tired to actually feel like eating!  I wonder how many others go through similar things as they prepare meals for their families.  

It was such fun to have my mom alongside - a woman very committed to good eats, knowledgeable of all things cooking-related (i.e., how do you make gravy?!).  What joy.  

Though our leftovers are smushed into plastic bags in the fridge - looking akin to those thanksgiving meals we'd get in elementary school - I know they were prepared with love. :-)  Leftovers aren't quite the same - but its great to know we have food for DAYS in there.

I hope everyone had a blessed Thanksgiving.  I'm still stuck in that mode - not quite ready to turn the page to Advent.  Spending a month reading everyone's thankfulness on Facebook - I hope the trend continues.  I hope we all remain mindful of the many blessings in our lives <3

Thanksgiving!!

Happy Thanksgiving!!

A post of the recipes we used for Thanksgiving 2013!

Surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses from FN! :-D

Anne Burrell's recipes helped with the Turkey and Stuffing - Apple Cider style
Brined Herb-Crusted Turkey with Apple Cider Gravy
Sausage, Apple, and Walnut stuffing

Sides:
Alton Brown's famous Sweet Corn Bread Pudding
Country Living's Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Carrots
The Neely's "The Best" Mashed Potatoes
Paula's Strawberry Pretzel Salad
Rachel's Orange Scented Green Beans
Martha's Cranberry Pomegranate Sauce
Joanne's Sissy Mold
Joanne's Sweet Potato Casserole
Debra's Sourdough bread!
Mom's Wheat Rolls

Dessert!:
Chocolate Bourbon Pecan Pie

Day One - about me :)

Yesterday I was happy to get in and out of the grocery store without too much spent - mostly just produce and things to restock.  I then 'splurged' because Lowe's Foods is having a 25% off Meat Sale.  So I stocked up mostly on ground meats to have for the fall - we have a lot of chili in this house.  But I've been inspired to pre-make some meals and put them in the freezer.  So I hope to do that soon...when an abundance of time presents itself perhaps.

In trying to get better about being on my blog, I thought I'd accept this 30-day challenge I found via Pinterest.  It seems pretty interesting for sure!

Some basic things about myself:

Eating at home...

...despite our best efforts, this was quite the week.  We didn't eat at home as much as we'd like, but we did try.  It is hard when you're having work done on the house to not want to get out and eat out - simply to get out!  But this week is going to work better.  I'm thankful for a tip I read about meal planning, which is nothing more than common sense, that suggests you write down your calendar before you decide what to make/buy.  Sometimes I'll plan a week of meals, and then realize I've got 5 days of lunches with folks and am away 3 of the nights. 

Catching up...

Slowly approaching the 'lazy dayz' of summer...wherever those might be?!  As I get to hang out with kids and young people - who are free during the summer - these months are generally quite busy.  But I'm looking forward to a few days in the mountains with the hubs come back to school.  My mom always liked this commercial...and now I can see why (facetiously of course!)  hehe!

As its been quite the summer...I've not had the chance to keep up with cooking/blogging about my meals.  Though I've been blessed with time to putz around spice stores and chat over cooking many times over.  I've also found two things:

- Waking up so early, I tend to have time/energy to put together a meal for later before I even think about breakfast

- Cooking in the summer is hard!  You don't want to turn on that oven as it gets so hot in the house.  And I seem to find soups and baking up squash easier to do in the fall - but summer meals seem to be harder.  Would love your suggestions. 

Here comes summer!!

I'm so excited for summer to come - even though it will be crazy busy and hot! 

Things I'm especially excited about:  visiting family in Chicago, new Food Network Star series, early morning runs, late evening light, exploring mindless novels, farmers markets, and unanticipated adventures!  We never know what Carolina summers will bring - but usually they get pretty hot!!

Bruschetta Chicken
(this is obviously not my recipe..but similar to what I did)

Recently I recalled days of yore (last summer I think...) when Mike and I got really into bruschetta - the sweet combination of basil and balsamic vinegar - love it!  I'm a wimp when it comes to raw onions/garlic, so I generally don't put too much garlic in ours...but I love the way it marinades up so nice. 
I gathered inspiration from O'Charley's 'Bruschetta Chicken' I had with some girlfriends shortly before graduation a year ago.  So for dinner recently, I grilled up some chicken sans marinade, though that would have certainly jazzed it up some!  Once off the grill, I sliced my piece in half and put in a pad of goat cheese, closed it up to let it get gooey melty... Layering tomatoes, basil and sauce over it - it was a perfect summer treat.  Paired it with steamed broccoli and bread to sop up the sauce!


LOVE THIS!  Sweet Corn and Mango salad
This is a fun new blogger I've found - Jenna Weber - who is a professional cook/blogger for PBS.  What a fun job :)  Anyways - she posted this recently and it sounded divine.  I love veggies in the summer and this is a fun play with fruit mixed in... I made it once and am making it again for this weekend.  I tweaked just slightly - adding in avocado and some

balsamic vinegar (honey balsamic).  I also leave out the red onion.  Didn't try the jalapeno last time (forgot it was on the list!), but will this go round...pic to follow.  
It is great!  Avocados oxidize fairly quickly - so it doesn't look as fresh after a day.  But still tastes great.  I've gotten into the 'Mango Chunks' from Trader Joe's - let em defrost in the fridge and it saves you from cutting into a mango (which for me are never ripe!)  Adding cilantro also adds another fun layer of freshness...give it a try!

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Tacos; Apricot Breakfast Crisp

I'm gleaning lots of cooking inspiration from my new "smitten kitchen" cookbook - found here.  It's great - you should definitely look into it! 

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Tacos with Goat Cheese - adapted from smitten kitchen
I started with what looked like a really yummy option - spaghetti squash and black bean tacos with queso fresco.  I ended up somewhere a little different... 

Rather than spaghetti squash - I used butternut squash, cubed up and roasted with olive oil, salt and pepper.  Instead of queso fresco, I used some herbed goat cheese on hand.  Finally, I used some grilled chicken we had as well.  Could obviously be left out, but didn't want it to go to waste! 

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Tacos with Goat Cheese - adapted from smitten kitchen
3 pound butternut squash - cubed and roasted with 1 T olive oil, salt and pepper to taste
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 yellow onion, diced 
2 T lime juice (juice of 1 lime)
1 t chili powder
1/2 t ground cumin
1/2 t ground coriander
1/2 t course salt
1/4 c. stock (chicken, vegetable)
flour tortillas
4 oz. goat cheese

Saute onion in a frying pan with 1 T. olive oil.  Add lime juice, spices and salt.  Mix in black beans and stock and allow to simmer for 10 minutes.  Assemble taco as desired, and enjoy!

Apricot Breakfast Crisp - also from smitten kitchen

I followed this recipe to the letter - except a only mixed one tablespoon into the fruit rather than two.  It smelled so good as the sugar melted into the butter and as it baked in our oven.  The way Deb describes this crisp sounded so desirable - something that can be scooped out in the mornings onto a bowl of yogurt.  As she writes, you can substitute the apricots for peaches and plums - any 'stone fruit'.  I think blueberries would have been nice to mix into the crisp as well... I'm sure the world is your oyster.
Super easy - and so wonderful!

Good "first week" :)

I had a very enjoyable experience meal planning.  Though it was a bit humorous. 

I woke up Monday morning - as planned - and pulled out all my supplies: cookbooks, computer, paper and pen.  I then...stared at it all.  Where to start?  I remembered the list of categories I'd come up with (i.e. mexican, pizza, sandwiches, etc.) and that helped.  First memo to self: Use the week to browse and start marking things to try - so come Monday I'll have a list to work with.

I came up with: Monday - Spaghetti Squash and Black Bean Tacos (from Smitten Kitchen); Tuesday - Margherita pizza (also from SK); Wednesday - at work, so leftovers for Mike; Thursday - Grilled Shrimp; Friday - Grilled Chicken and Lemon Basil Pasta.  Though I knew four meals was a bit ambitious - I figured something would flow into the weekend.  I also slipped in another SK recipe - Apricot Breakfast Crisp! Mmm. 

As I set off to shop - I realized I left my wallet (and whole purse!) down at work.  Fortunately, for me, Mike had happened to leave his wallet at home.  So I was not put off track!

I had a few things on my list I can only get at Trader Joe's (why is that - only certain stores have the very specific things you want?!), so I went there.  It was probably my most enjoyable TJ experience ever.  Coming with my list, I wasn't distracted by all the fun stuff they're always putting out.  But I realized that their produce is WAY cheaper than Lowe's Foods where I usually go.  For example - at Lowe's, Organic Gala apples are $2.79 a pound. At TJ's, 2 pounds is $2.49!  They didn't have spaghetti squash, so I went with butternut squash.  A huge one for only $1.99!  Mike loves when I go out and "save" him money.  And who can argue with a grocery store that provides free coffee and a lovely sample every time of day :)

I must say - it has been an easier week thus far knowing that meals are planned out and I have most of the ingredients I need.  Wish I'd started this sooner!

Meal Planning Basics

I decided January would be my "figure out how to do meal planning" month.  I have gotten recipes organized, been reading through food blogs, but haven't done much on meal planning. 

I stumbled upon a website today that seems like pure gold to me.  Surprisingly - its as simple as setting aside TIME to think through your week.  Each week.  Admittedly its been a hard six months trying to figure out what my routine will be for work.  But I've managed to cook and grocery shop, so clearly I have time to plan meals. 

I am looking forward to putting this into practice.  She suggests categorizing meals.  I came up with the following we like: burgers, soup and sandwiches, pizza, chicken, Mexican (tacos, enchiladas, burritos), Pasta, Vegetarian, Seafood, leftovers and eating out.  I'd also add Ethnic food - particularly Thai and Indian.  Obviously its hard to do all of these in one week - but perhaps a two week rotation?  

I've also found these gems on Pinterest.  This is a good visual of planning out what the meal is and what the required ingredients are.  And this is a really neat tool I saw last summer while visiting at one of Mike's co-worker's home.  She had gone to the extra work of putting the recipes on the back.  It was very impressive!

Again - this all takes time.  And today has been the perfect day to sit in a chair and watch West Wing while hearing the snow and ice fall around our house.  Like I said - January was my target month.  And I am just now getting to this - but I haven't sat much since we entered 2013.

As I mention a goal for the month, I'll also share that my hope for this year is to build some foundations.  Learn to make some basics and take one month to focus one thing.  I think it takes a few weeks to get the hang of something and hard to do too much at once.  I haven't decided on February - or the rest of the year - but its nice to have a start with meal planning. 

I think the best time for me to take this on is Monday mornings.  Usually this is my day to be at home and get to the grocery store and do some laundry.  At least it was before Christmastime hit.  So here's to getting back to that routine - y'all can keep me accountable!

Welcome to my kitchen!

I think its fun to picture a food blogger's 'home'.  The other night I went through and cleaned out our cabinets and the pantry - as these tend to get a little unruly from time to time.  So I went ahead and took some shots of our kitchen.  My husband did much to redesign the kitchen space a couple years ago, and I am still so thankful for the beautiful improvements.  As you can see, he replaced the appliances with stainless steel.  

We had granite countertops put in along with a subway tile style backsplash.  To finish off, last spring we had tile put in to replace the linoleum floor.  It is a wonderful place to work and all the counter space makes it so easy to have multiple 'projects' going at one time!

I keep the spices to the right of our oven so they're on hand.  A quick trip to Penzey's last weekend re-inspired a desire to keep lots of fun salts, cinnamons, and spices on hand.

The stainless jars have breadcrumbs, couscous, oats, and flour respectively.  Sometimes I mix things in and out - but its fun to have stuff out and reachable.

What's a kitchen without some fruit on hand? 

Thanks for stopping by!

Challenge Extended, Challenge Accepted: Chicken dinner that 'isn't sweet'

We are trying to eat less sugar.  Which you probably couldn't tell with the previous post about tomato soup (lots of sugar, some natural) and cookies with ice cream (lots of sugar, all added!).  So in trying to come up with a good dinner, I did lots of scanning.  It seems there's a plethora of poultry recipes - until you need one.  But in going through one of the many blogs I've been following, I found a great idea that I adapted.  It had a sweeter flavor with the orange, but didn't put any sugar in.  Our dinner was adapted from this recipe - 30 Minute Lemon Brown Sugar Chicken.

I took two larger chicken breasts - cut them into pieces, and then pounded thinner.  Into a mixture of flour, paprika and black pepper, I coated the chicken liberally. 

Comfort foods galore: Grilled Cheese, Tomato Soup, Cookies!

Welcome to my parents!  A pineapple - traditional symbol of hospitality.  In reality, a yummy treat for me to munch on.  With all the ruffage I eat, I hear pineapple helps digestion without the gas... 

As they were arriving, and it was a cold day, I wanted to have something warm and comforting to share together.  What else - tomato soup and grilled cheese.  I'm still a novice when it comes to blogging + photography + real time cooking.  So I'm finding its hard to keep up with the pictures.  (Really, we are so hungry we eat and then there's nothing to take pictures of!)

New Christmas toys!

For Christmas I bought myself a few new goodies to use in the kitchen.  They were on sale at Tar-get.  I wanted a cast-iron griddle pan - but couldn't decide between a bigger square one that was flat on one side to make pancakes, or something like this.  Round and with griddle marks for chicken, fish, etc. that we tend to have. 

Alas, finding something on those end caps at Target with the bright orange "buy me now I'm marked way down" tags always trumps my initial plans. 

To the far right behind my cute make-up bag, there's a little 'Giada' goodie box.  It included a stainless steel set of an ice cream scoop, veggie peeler, pizza cutter, can opener, and silicone whisk - all for about $12!  Score!

 I don't remember what this beauty cost, but it was good. 

You can also see a packaged serrated knife - also Giada, also stainless steel (not on sale - but I did have a coupon and an extra 5% coupon on top of the Target RedCard 5% discount - so almost free...).  Anyways, the one I had was getting very dull.  I'd read its possible to sharpen this kind of knife - inlet by inlet - but it sounded super tedious.  I just want to be able to cut bread without fearing for my life (read: the safety of my hands.
Speaking of... my hands have never taken such a beating as they have since I started cooking more regularly.  Dry skin leads to more cracks, with an occasional slip of a dull knife. Owey.   

Finally - a nod to our efforts to be more green and reduce plastic - a new, large bamboo cutting board.  w00t!


All this to say, never go to Target with an "Oh I'm just browsing" mentality.  It always lands you...with lots of stuff you 'need'. :)

New Years' Treats - Apps, Dinner, and Dessert

For New Years, we were apprehensive to again dive into party food mode.  However, you gotta live it up a little!

We attempted to eat healthily - enjoying some snacks, a dinner, and dessert.  I have a three-ring binder full of recipes - not really in great order - and I picked out things that sounded fun to try.

And I think they turned out well - we had fun so that's all that matters.  And we have good leftovers!