Salmon Sunday

With a craving for something BBQ'd, we opted for a less traditional barbecue option (traditional being hamburgers or chicken) and went for salmon!

Simple, quick and delicious menu: barbecued salmon and asparagus served with pasta with a delightful brie and pear app.

I picked up a fresh piece of salmon from Whole Foods and prepped it and the asparagus for the grill.

Salmon: olive oil, Simply lemonade, lemon pepper, red pepper flakes and fresh sliced lemon.

Asparagus: olive oil, freshly-ground salt and pepper and parmesan.

While we relaxed with this goodness on the grill and the pasta boiled we sipped on wine (and Cutthroat in Mikey's case) we enjoyed brie and green pear atop a Vosen's baguette. AMAZing, especially when fresh from the oven!

A light pasta to compliment the flavors of the salmon was made up of freshly chopped green onion, sun dried tomatoes (the bottled with olive oil kind), a dash of olive oil, lemon juice, red pepper flakes and a yummy garlic parmesan seasoning. Light with a great punch of flavor!

15 minutes tops on the BBQ and you have perfectly seasoned and cooked salmon and asparagus served with a light lemon-infused pasta! DELISH!

Enjoy!

Not yo' mama's sugar cookies (MY Mama's sugar cookies)

I am a sugar cookie snob. While most people enjoy the Lofthouse sugar cookies you can pick up at any grocery store, I refuse to consume them. They taste like chalk with some sugar in the mix... lacking flavor and in my opinion, just plain gross! This may be because like much of the food I enjoy, I was spoiled by my Mom with delicious, flavorful, beautiful sugar cookies. Different shapes and frosting colors to coordinate with each holiday... pink hearts, green four leaf clovers and Christmas trees, orange pumpkins... mmmmm

I have had a mad craving for her sugar cookies the last few weeks, rather than relying on her to satisfy my craving, I gave her impressive sugar cookie recipe a whirl. I eat one with each meal: breakfast, lunch and dinner... and lets not lie, maybe more than one. :) I think they're calorie-free actually.

Cream butter. Blend in egg, sugar, vanilla and lemon.

Add sour cream (YUMM), flour, baking soda and salt.

Cool cookie dough in the fridge for at least one hour.

Flour your surface well and roll doll out... be sure to not roll the

dough too thin - once you bite into a thicker cookie, you'll know why!

Mix cream cheese and butter... add powder sugar and food coloring of your choice!

Cool cookies, frost and eat a dozen!

AMAzing Sugar Cookies:

1/2 cup butter (cream)

1 egg

1 cup sugar

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

1/2 tsp. lemon extract *

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

1/2 cup sour cream *

3 1/4 cups flour

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. salt

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

Cool cookie dough in the fridge for one hour

Bake at 375 for 8 - 10 minutes

Cream Cheese Frosting:

1 package cream cheese

2 tbls. butter

2 tsp. lemon extract *

2 + cups powdered sugar (until you reach the right consistency)

* denotes ingredients that make this recipe OH-SO-Delicious!

Besides the incredible flavor, these cookies are super easy to prepare! And, while I am not one to indulge in cookie dough, Mikey is, and he LOVED this cookie dough! With sour cream, lemon and vanilla in the mix - how can you not?!

ENJOY

Shake and Bake'esque

Since chicken is thee staple of our dinner menu, I like to prepare it differently. I recently tried a new and superb marinade: olive oil, soy sauce and an onion soup packet. It had great flavor and was super moist. I baked it on a (olive oil-greased) cooking sheet.

This shake and bake'esque experience is one I stole from my Mom (again) and is one of our favorites that is in regular rotation.

1. Coat chicken breasts in egg

2. Cover chicken in bread crumbs, seasoning salt, pepper, chili powder, salad seasoning, etc. (I literally change up what seasonings I use every time I make it depending on my mood and what side dishes I am serving with it, ANYTHING goes well
3.Bake (I have no idea how long to be honest... about 18 minutes, 9 on each side)

Voila! SUPER simple, fast, affordable and SO delicious. I served this one with brocoli and a loaded baked potato. This is Mikey's serving, not mine. ;)

MMM good

With a passion for food and a major craving for soup, it is my goal to try some new soups... recipes I find and ones that I make up in my head (using all of the leftover items in the fridge from the previous week). This particular soup is one that I made up in my head, and emptied the produce drawer at the same time.

1. I boiled chicken breasts in a tasty "stock" (got that pro lingo from my Mom) with chicken bouillon, celery and onion {boil until thoroughly cooked}
{at this point, your home smells amazing and you are creating delicious chicken that will shred easily and is FULL of flavor {{Bland, no-taste chicken makes me want to PUKE}}

I just get rid of this stock and start all-over for my soup broth, which is for sure unnecessary, but it is the way I prefer to make it so I do not have random little bits of chicken and such... you can just use this broth as it's super flavorful for your soup...

2. I just chopped up what I had in my fridge, but by all means... throw in all the veggies that you desire! I used carrots, red pepper, onion and parsley (and peas from the freezer). I normally like cilantro, but parsley is what I had.
3. I then added water and chicken bouillon (chicken broth, the more chicken-y the better), all my veggies, my chicken, wagon wheel noodles and really random spices...
4. I let the soup just blend together on low for a bit and then it's ready to serve!

It turned out SO tasty and it made a TON!
I froze on large container, took two smaller ones for our lunches and another one for a later dinner. SO convenient for later meals and so delicious every time!

A perfect fall menu

With an intense craving for soup and something new, I thought I would try a Porcupine-inspired dish: potato beer cheese soup. It turned out even better than I expected. I added potatoes to a beer cheese soup recipe I found online, made a few minor adjustments and served this magical treat in a bread bowl. It was DELISH! Mikey and my sister Emily also raved about (Emily told me it was thee best soup she had ever had, and she gets to enjoy my Mom's cooking regularly, so this is a BIG deal).

I am normally so GOOD about taking pics of the entire process, but this time I was NOT... next time!

Click here for the link to the recipe I used.
modifications:
I did not top with popcorn
I sauteed my veggies in butter until they were soft
I added potatoes... I peeled and boiled them, diced them and added them to my veggie mix
I used two cups of 1/2 & 1/2 and 2 cups of 1% milk
I used one bottle of Blue Moon (thee perfect choice)
I added a little extra chicken boullion, making it even more flavorful and some extra hot sauce and cayenne pepper

Served in a bread bowl... a recipe that will now be in regular rotation!


Dessert: Pumpkin chocolate chip cookies... to DIE for!


ENJOY!!!!

My Weekend in Food

After a somewhat dreadful week, I made up for it with a weekend full of good times and good food. The Tim McGraw concert was fabulous, and this year I remember it :) Hopefully Jaima will get me some pictures soon that will tell the tale of our evening!

Mikey, Mike (Mikey's Dad) and I hit up Farmer's Market for our first time this season on Saturday afternoon. Needless to say, we have been missing out all summer and are planning to be back there next Saturday morning. Easier said than done, we passed up all of the incredible (smelling and looking) food at the market as nothing can compete with a Caputo's craving.

I never appreciated, desired or enjoyed Caputo's as much as I do
now - thanks to Mikey.

As Linda (Mikey's Mom) is out of town to be with Alicia (as she is ready to pop any day now!!!) we decided to try something new for dinner and have Mike over to thank him for the great day! With our borrowed deep fryer from Mike and a craving for some fish... I decided to make

fish and chips!

Fish:
On a quest for halibut, I decided fresh cod was a more economical choice and went with that.
I sliced the cod, salt and peppered it, dipped it in egg and smothered it in Panko (Japanese-style bread crumbs).
In a pan with about a tablespoon olive oil and a tad of beer and lemon, I browned each side of the fish in separate batches. {this turned out AMAZingly, I will be doing it again}

"Chips":
I cut up a ton of potatoes and tossed them in the deep fryer for a simple and oh-so-delectable fresh fries to accompany the fish... simply tossed with salt and pepper. {anyone who knows me well'ish, knows that I could live off of fries and having this handy dandy fryer in my possession is a potential detriment to the size of my ass}

A fun extra:
Never having made onion rings and having this fryer on my hands, I decided to use the onion I had on-hand and give it a whirl.
I sliced the onion and tossed in in flour, baking soda, salt and paprika and set them to the side. I added in some milk and an egg to this mix which created a batter. I then coated the onions, covered them in Panko and tossed them in the deep fryer... these turned out like WHOA. :)
The Drink:
Feeling more than appropriate for the dinner theme I had created, I used extra jars from my jam experiment and made a YUmmy spiked lemonade, dressed with a fresh lemon.
Ah... I LOVE food, and love making new things. This weekend's experiment turned out incredibly. Now, back to a week of the gym and non-extravegant meals... we our celebrating our one year anniversary in ONE week!

Light and Easy Tastes for Summer

Mmmmm... Mikey surprised me with this flavorful and light meal for dinner!
BBQ chicken from the grill
Flat Out wraps (I pack these for lunches too with turkey and all the yummy fixings)
Your favorite toppings and side dishes

Thanks for the yummo dinner Husb! :)

A Reese's Birthday Delight

I wanted to prepare dessert for my Dad's birthday celebration, and most of all I wanted to try something new. While I love to cook, and {like to think I am pretty good at it} I am awful at baking. I think I lack the patience and 'exact measurement' skills to be a successful baker. In my quest to show up with something tasty, beautiful and from "full scratch" (quote by Mikey) I discovered a gem of a recipe.
Peanut Butter Cup Cupcakes...
I found this recipe and directions on Hoosier Homemade.
These cupcakes were to die for! They were extremely rich and dense- but a fabulous treat!

Chocolate cupcakes:
3/4 cup cocoa powder
3/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup sour cream
4 large Reese’s Peanut Butter Cups, cut into small pieces

I am not a batter taster, but I had to taste this one... and it was to DIE for!

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin tins with paper cupcake liners. In a separate bowl, combine cocoa, flour, baking powder and salt. In a mixing bowl, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each. Beat in vanilla. Add dry ingredients, alternating with the sour cream, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Gently fold in Peanut Butter Cup pieces.

Divide batter into cupcake liners. Bake for about 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Because the batter was SO thick and dense, it did not rise like the boxed-cake mixes I am used to so I filled the cupcake liners more than I normally would once I stuck the second batch in the oven.

Peanut butter frosting:
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup Peanut Butter
3 tablespoons milk, or as needed
2 - 2 1/2 cups Powdered Sugar

(I ended up adding almost a cup more powdered sugar and more milk until it was totally fluffy. I also added a teaspoon of vanilla extract).

Directions:
Cream butter and Peanut Butter until fluffy. Gradually add powdered sugar, alternating with a little milk at a time. Beat well, until desired consistency.

This frosting is like WHOA... it is the inside of a Reese's!

Frost cupcakes and garnish with a Mini Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup.

Two hours later, I present to you...
my first entirely from scratch AND successful dessert.

Because it is uber rich, I served it with a vanilla bean ice cream. It was a total hit!

Fresh ta' death...

In an effort to help minimize my large ass, be an impressive wife and do what I love to do... I decided to try something super simple and healthy for dinner this evening. It's a compilation of my favorite Greek'ish items.

What this really has turned into is the Greek version of my ever-changing Mexican dishes (think chicken tacos, gourmet chicken quesadillas, chicken Mexican'ish salad, Mexican casserole, the list goes on and on). I have key ingredients that I always have on hand and always make something delicious with: chicken, onions, green peppers, cilantro, beans, spanish rice, tortillas, cheese, etc. I am started to also keep more Greek'ish items on hand in addition to my rice and bean staples. More of these fresh ta' death staples include: tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, garlic, Greek yogurt and lemon.
Rather than making the more time consuming (and totally delicious) Greek meal favorite {I have recently posted here}, I took some of those ingredients and made something fast, exploding with flavor and all fresh ingredients. What does this also mean? It's healthy!!!
I call this my Greek Chicken Salad served with Lemon Basmati Rice

I took chicken and marinated it in a bowl with:
Olive oil
Fresh lemon juice
Dried oregano
Fresh minced garlic
Just a touch of salt and pepper
*I then broiled the chicken for about 7 minutes on each side

Raw chicken is so nasty

Salad:
I chopped up 2 cucumbers (peeled and de-seeded)
2 roma tomatoes
about 10 grape tomatoes
red onion sliced very thin (to your liking)
small handful of parsley chopped super fine
diced/crumbled a 1/2 brick of feta cheese

Dressing:
See tzatziki recipe here

Rice:
I served a little bit of rice with this dish to balance the acidity from all of the veggies (my tummy is crazy and would not appreciate me if I did not).
I used basmati rice, which you can find at an Indian or Iranian specialty market
I first browned the rice with just a splash of olive oil
Added a few dashes of fresh lemon
Cooked as normal

Once the chicken was done, I let it cool for about 2.5 minutes since I have absolutely no patience. I mixed it in with the salad and voila!

I served the salad with tzatziki and rice on the side. We decided to mix it all together and it was a total delight!

I was nervous since I had never done this before, but I was fairly certain I would love the flavor since it encompassed all of my favorite fresh ingredients. Well ladies (and maybe some gentlemen)... I give to you our new favorite dish....

Machel's Greek Chicken Salad

Enjoy!