What I'm actually cooking these days

I read a lot of cooking blogs and follow many chefs on social media. It is helpful and inspiring as far as meal times, but can also be a bit overwhelming - sometimes I feel like I just see too many recipes to handle.

I like to know what people are actually cooking, which recipes work out well for the "regular at-home chef," and which ones turn out too complicated or not that great. I thought I'd share a few recipes that have made it past the internet and onto our plates lately. Maybe you will find a new idea for dinner this week!

Tater Tot Chicken Pot Pie
recipe from TODAY Show

This recipe is so good that it's actually been made twice at our house already! It's comfort food to the max, and even better as leftovers a day or two later. That's my kind of meal!

Modifications: cook the chicken in a skillet prior to mixing it in with everything else - the directions in the recipe say to add it raw to veggies & such that are already cooked, and that idea makes me gag a bit. Also, get the "Extra Crispy" tater tots if possible (they hold up better when you're eating the leftovers).

Triple-Hitter Toddler Muffins 
recipe from food.com

I've been looking for a way to get more vegetables into the baby's diet, and this one a good one! These are toddler and mom-approved - I've eaten as many as he has!

Modifications: I used what I had and shredded three carrots and one small zucchini to get about two cups total of vegetables. I used unsweetened applesauce, and added 1/2 a cup of raisins. My mom suggested making mini muffins, and I think I may try that next time.

Baked Oatmeal
recipe from SkinnyTaste and recipe from Once Upon a Chef

Oatmeal is a galactagogue, which was my initial reasoning for eating a ton of it over the course of the last year, The fact that it's easily and hearty is a bonus. I combined two recipes to create one that works for me, and have basically lived off this baked oatmeal since going back to work last April. I make a batch of it on Sunday and portion it out into containers for the week ahead. Then in the morning, all I have to do is grab one and microwave to have a hot breakfast that holds me over for several hours.

I do the banana / blueberry step from this recipe and the oatmeal / custard portion from this recipe (minus the melted butter; just leave it out and never miss it) and it is SO delicious. The baby loves it, too!

Feel free to share some recipes or meal ideas that you actually make that work for you and your family - we are always looking for fresh ideas! Let me know if you try any of these... I promise they are delicious!

Fall Weekending

We had a really fun, really busy weekend - and I am exhausted this morning sitting at my desk to prove it! From Friday - Sunday, we managed to fit in three "family dates," lunch with a girlfriend and her son, a bunch of errands that desperately needed running,  dinner with my parents, and some online shopping. What more could a girl need?? It was the kind of weekend that just needs to be documented - it was full of simple but wonderful experiences, the kind that can get forgotten but shouldn't!

On Friday evening, we took the baby to the pumpkin patch for the first time! He skipped his afternoon nap, so we were bordering on meltdown status towards the end, but we all had a really fun time. I got a picture of my baby sitting in a pile of pumpkins, and I had a funnel cake, so I'll count that trip as a complete success. (We visited the same pumpkin patch last year - definitely looked and felt a little different this time! I loved every minute of it... we are making family traditions, one holiday at a time!)

On Saturday, C2 and I met a girlfriend and her son at Panera for lunch - her baby is 6 weeks younger than C2, and she and I have been friends since elementary school! We live just a few minutes from each other, and I love when we have time to get together. We made an effort to pick a time when both boys would be awake, and it worked. It was so fun to see them scoping each other out and sizing each other up. Babies are funny with other babies!

Saturday afternoon, we packed up our little family of three and headed to downtown Fredericksburg to walk around, window shop, and grab dinner at Vivify, a local favorite. The weather was absolutely perfect, and it was so nice to get out and enjoy it for a bit.

We had a family coffee date at Hyperion on Sunday morning - babies in jammies are just the best, right?? After that, I made a trip to Wegmans, we did laundry, cleaned house, watched football, and cooked a delicious dinner for my parents. If you are looking for yummy fall recipes, try apple-stuffed pork tenderloin with apple cider sauce and pumpkin cookies with cinnamon chips. Both were huge hits (and my coworkers are loving the extra cookies today!).

I had the windows open, the A/C off, and a fall candle burning yesterday. It was glorious. Even though I'm pretty tired today, I am thankful for so much quality family time over the weekend. It was definitely a "fill my cup" couple of days.

Quick & easy hummus at home

When I was little, I insisted that I didn't like hummus. I'm not sure why - maybe I had a bad batch or something? I rediscovered it a few years ago (when it exploded in the culinary world again!) and have loved it ever since. It's healthy, delicious, and good on just about anything. What's not to like?

Hummus is one of those things that always makes me cringe when I reach for it in the store - the little voice in my head is always screaming "you could make that, so much faster and cheaper!" Le sigh. It is true, though. Look: quick and easy hummus at home, faster than you can jump in the car and head to the store to buy it. Trust!

  Homemade Hummus Lightly adapted from Alton Brown Ingredients 

• 115-ounce can chickpeas, drained 
• 1 clove garlic, minced, or 1 tablespoon pre-minced
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 
• 3 tablespoons tahini, stirred well 
• 2-3 tablespoons lemon juice 
• 1/8 to 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

Directions
Add all ingredients to food processor (or blender, in a pinch) and pulse to combine until desired consistency is reached. Start with 1/8 cup of olive oil, and add a little more as necessary to bring together and smooth out.

Hummus is a wonderful vehicle for all sorts of flavors: you could add more garlic to the recipe above to make garlicky hummus, or add cumin for a different flavor. For the hummus pictured above, I added a frozen chipotle pepper in adobo (I always freeze whatever is left after I open a can) and made a spicy chipotle hummus. Other ideas: fresh basil, chili powder, roasted garlic, kalamata olives, 1/2 a fresh jalapeno - whatever you see in the store can be reproduced at home!

'Tis the season...

...for soups, that is! It has JUST started to get chilly around here, and I have immediately found myself craving a big pot of a hearty soup. I love to make a pot of something on Sunday and then eat it for lunch the rest of the week - it's so easy to just divide it up right away, then grab a container from the fridge and go.

I thought I'd share a couple of my tried-and-true soup recipes with you, in case you are looking for a little inspiration. Here are three that I've made and loved (and the husband did, too!).

Roasted Tomato Soup with Broiled Cheddar

from Smitten Kitchen

This is a recipe I go back to time and time again - the freshly roasted tomatoes give it amazing flavor (read: it doesn't taste like watery ketchup) and the broiled cheddar toast on top pushes it over the edge. I could eat this all winter!

Paula Deen's Black Bean Soup

from Something New is Cooking blog; 

originally from Cooking with Paula Deen Magazine

I can no longer find the original source that I got this recipe from, but a quick Google search led me to several bloggers who had the same recipe I did. This is definitely a good weeknight recipe - the soup comes together in about a half-hour, and it's got great flavor from the mix of spices (and bacon!). We love to pair this with simple grilled cheese. The black beans provide all the protein you need in one meal, but a good dipper is a delicious accompaniment.

Cheesy Chicken and Potato Chowder

from The Comfort of Cooking

This was a new recipe that I tried last year, and it was a home run. It's luscious and rich, without being totally over the top. The creaminess comes from using freshly-grated sharp cheddar and a roux, along with skim milk - no heavy cream to be found. It's another one that is pretty quick to prepare, especially if you use leftover chicken or a store-bought rotisserie chicken. Shortcuts are the way to go!

What are some of your favorite soup recipes? If all else fails, chili is a standard back-up recipe in our house. We almost always have all the ingredients with need to pull a pot together - no two batches are the same, for sure, but it always turns out to be delicious.

Pass the tissues, please...

Apparently I brought home an unexpected souvenir from my business travels: a nasty head cold. Sweet, right? The joke around the house lately has been that Cleveland can literally make you sick... Ba-dum-cha. (Sorry to an Cleveland readers... But... Yeah). I started feeling it Wednesday night, but had to push through on Thursday for our last day of meetings. By the time I finally got home Thursday night, I was definitely in rough shape, but had to go into the office on Friday. I've been a hot mess ever since! Perfect, right? C had some friends coming over that evening but was sweet enough to take them out of the house while I fell asleep on the couch. Exciting life.

While I was out of town, my mom was sweet enough to pick up my "big" birthday gift for C, and she drove down Saturday to bring it to him and spend the afternoon with us.

We have an awesome charcoal grill, but we've recently been talking about how nice it would be to have a gas grill, too - it would open up some much quicker grilling options to us. Well, ask (near your birthday) and ye shall receive - C is now a two-grill man! And I am a happy wife. Gotta love presents that benefit both of us, right?? :)

I officially set up camp on the couch on Sunday to try and get my act together before the week starts.

Between my cold-fighting arsenal and a Food Network marathon, I think I'm finally putting this cold behind me. Fingers crossed, anyway! A sure sign that I'm sick: we grilled up an awesome dinner on Saturday night, and I actually didn't eat a bite. Between my congestion limiting my ability to taste anything and just general lack of appetite, I just watched everyone else eat... Not like me at all! Sunday dinner was my first meal in over 24 hours and you better believe I enjoyed it - what I could taste, that is! Spicy BBQ chicken FTW - clearing sinuses the natural way, right?

I can hardly believe that we are kicking off the last week in June, and the 4th of July is the weekend after next!! We are planning our usual big shebang at my in-laws'... I'm super excited!  Summer is upon us. Hooray!

Homemade pouches of heaven

Happy April! I am desperately hoping that Spring is finally here to stay. Sunday was cold and wet, and included SLEET for much of the day. What the heck! Today is looking beautiful, though. I threw together this wreath for our front door on Sunday afternoon, and I love how cheerful it makes the front of our house look. Hooray, Spring!

One of the things that C and I set out to do in 2014 was challenge ourselves more in the kitchen. We both love to cook, and we love to do it together, but we often find ourselves making the same few dishes over and over. We decided to look for recipes neither of us had ever tried, cooking methods we'd never used, and other culinary challenges in order to get outside of our (really comfy) box. Mission accepted!

Right before Christmas, I discovered Besh Box, thanks to a friend of mine, and I knew it was just the kind of thing C would love. It's a cooking-themed subscription box service designed by Chef John Besh, and every box comes with recipes, specialty ingredients, shopping lists, a playlist, and a unique kitchen tool. It's awesome! I signed C up for a monthly subscription for one of his Christmas gifts, and it was a huge hit! We've received three boxes so far, and each one has been a party in a box. So much fun, and an awesome way to move our self-imposed challenge along.

The Besh Box for March was themed "Italian Feast Day," and the featured recipe was for homemade ravioli with Milanese sauce and Mudrica (also know as St. Joseph's Sawdust - a breadcrumb topping for pasta). We invited my parents and my uncle over for dinner Saturday night, and set out to whip up an Italian feast!

Making ravioli was so much harder than we expected - the dough was really hard to roll out and it was very time-consuming to create each individual little pouch. The filling for the ravioli was a simple roasted garlic & ricotta mixture, which we dabbed onto half the dough then folded the sheet in half and punched out the pockets with the ravioli press included in the Besh Box. It was well-worth the effort, though. Dinner turned out to be delicious! Picture this scene: five grown adults eating bowls of pasta, exclaiming out loud after each bite. I'm pretty sure that all the work required to make this meal made it taste that much better.

I have so much more respect for all the little Italian women out there who always make homemade pasta! Sheesh. I was exhausted by the time we finished and were finally ready to eat. How do they do it every day?!

The Besh Box didn't come with the recipe for the meatballs, but we thought that having a protein would help make the meal a little more substantial. I was very glad we threw those together on the side, because we didn't have to make QUITE so many raviolis. Plus, they were yummy - C makes awesome meatballs from scratch (the Italian in him really shines!) and they were a great addition.

We were really happy with this Box, even though it required so much time and work - the meal created at the end was fantastic. We haven't had a chance to make the recipes from the February box yet, but we did make the Chili Verde that was the main dish from the January box, and we thought that the ravioli turned out much better. The chili was just alright, and I was nervous about the recipes for the next boxes. The March recipes totally made up for January! Can't wait to see what the next months bring :)

So tell me...

• Would you try a cooking-themed subscription service?
• Have you ever made ravioli or some other kind of time-intensive meal?
• What's the weather like where you are today?

Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese

Hi there! First of all, I'd like to say a big hello & welcome to anyone stopping by for the first time today - I know I've got some new viewers popping by from the Ocean Spray Facebook & Twitter pages. I'm so excited that Ocean Spray chose to share my recipe for Oatmeal Applesauce Craisin Muffins, and I hope you'll make these quick treats and enjoy them as much as I did. Thanks for coming by! Hope you'll stick around :)

Second, I have a new recipe to share today! It's been a while since I had a good, solid dinner to share, and I must admit - I'm pretty excited about this one! It's an easy weeknight meal that makes great leftovers... what more could you need?

Buffalo Chicken Mac & Cheese
serves 6

Ingredients 

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts 
• 1 bottle buffalo wing sauce (I use Frank's)
• 2 T Ranch dressing powder 
• 4 oz light cream cheese 
• 1/2 box multigrain pasta (I use Barilla rotini) 
• 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded 
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs 
• Green onions to garnish 

Directions 

1. Put chicken in crockpot and cover with bottle of buffalo sauce and Ranch powder. Cook on low for 6-8 hours, then shred with two forks. (Tip: you could easily use poached chicken or a rotisserie chicken, shredded and mixed with the buffalo sauce. I use the crockpot so that I come home to the chicken already cooked - plus I like that it sits in the sauce all day and really gets the flavor. Any method of acquiring the chicken and combining with the sauce will do, though!) 
2. Preheat oven to 350. 
3. Add cream cheese to shredded chicken and stir to melt and thoroughly combine. If it’s a little dry, add some chicken broth or water to get it good and creamy (sometimes my chicken gets dry if I have to leave it in the crockpot longer than usual – it’ll be fine either way!) 
4. Cook pasta according to package directions, minus a minute or two so that it’s al dente. Drain and put back in pot. 
5. Mix pasta and chicken / buffalo sauce / cream cheese mixture together in pasta pot. 
6. Spray baking dish with non-stick cooking spray, and pour noodle mixture into baking dish. 
7. Top with shredded cheddar and panko. 
8. Bake, covered, for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake additional 10-15 minutes until the top is crispy and golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit for 10 minutes. 
9. Serve topped with green onions and a drizzle of Ranch dressing, if desired. 

This is a versatile dish - like I mentioned, you could cook the chicken right before you make the casserole, or use leftover chicken diced and tossed with buffalo sauce. I also think this would be delicious with a little bleu cheese mixed in, but my husband doesn't like it, so we skip that. It's great served along side a vegetable (please note that random little piece of broccoli in my picture...) or with a salad. It comes together in no time, and then you can do something else while it bakes (I cleaned the kitchen and swept the floor... gotta love multitasking). Hope you enjoy this as much as we have!

Operation: Move Less Cans

This week is an official “Use What’s in the Pantry” week, due to the fact that our pantry is being painted next week, along with the rest of the main floor. Anything that we manage to eat will be something that we don’t have to move back and forth, so that's important. Therefore, meal-planning this past Sunday involved C & I standing in front of the shelves, trying to formulate meals based on what was in front of us. Here’s what we came up with, and what pantry items are used in each dish.

This is definitely a week that will be heavy on the crockpot, but it is such an easy way to cook and use a bunch of canned goods, that it just makes sense. Most of these dishes will be paired with a side salad or other vegetable, and I think that part of the tortilla soup from Wednesday will go into the freezer for another time so we don’t end up with too many leftovers.We are probably going to need a break from chicken at the end of the week, but since we won't be able to use the kitchen for a few days next week, I'm sure we will broaden our horizons while we eat out a couple of times.

So tell me...

• What is your favorite meal to make with things you have on-hand?
• What do you do when you can't use your kitchen?
• What is a unique item that you consider a "staple"? Ours is buffalo sauce... we use it constantly!

Sunday afternoon in the kitchen

I find the act of cooking or baking to be soothing: the motions associated with being in the kitchen - measuring, mixing, chopping, stirring - are familiar and timeless, and whether I'm following a recipe or making it up as I go, being in the kitchen generally grounds and centers me.

C and I often cook together, moving around our kitchen in a pattern of not-exactly-choreographed dance steps. There is the occasional toe being stepped on or fumble as we reach for the same knife or wooden spoon, but, for the most part, our rhythms are completely in sync and we twirl around one another adding ingredients to whichever dish we are making and end up with something that we are both equally proud (or not proud) of and take pleasure in eating meals that we have prepared together. Food just tastes better when it's made with a little extra love, as cliche as that may be.

I have gotten comfortable with being half of the cooks in our kitchen - the routine of having music on and all the lights turned up and keeping track of my partner is familiar to me. Rarely am I in the kitchen alone these days; even if I'm baking, my husband is there, not quite hovering, but handing me ingredients and washing my measuring cups, a presence that I feel even if I'm the only one holding a mixer.

Yesterday afternoon, I found myself in the kitchen alone for the first time in a while. C had gone to run some errands. We were making French Onion soup for dinner, and I had several snacks to prep for book club. My darling husband sliced a mountain of onions for me before he left, but I was on duty to babysit the onions as they cooked low and slow for over an hour, turning into melty slivers of deliciousness that we would make into soup. While stirring occasionally with one hand, I did prep work for the rest of my recipes: softening cream cheese, cracking eggs, opening cans.

I stood in my kitchen in my bare feet, sunlight streaming in and providing enough light that I didn't have to flip any switches, the TV on softly in the background. I worked methodically to make my way down the list of foods. There is something chaotically calming about having four different items cooking at once, each needing its own time and attention, but each playing nicely with the rest so that one pan goes into the oven as the other comes out and one pot simmers gently while the other gets stirred. Other than the TV, there was no chatter - no talking with C, no laughing and joking as we went through the motions, like usual. Just me and my thoughts and the sounds of cooking: whirring, humming, sizzling, boiling.

The time passed so quickly, and yet almost stood still - those moments in my kitchen alone were precious, a little chunk of time where nothing existed but me and the ingredients and the utensils. I felt myself recharging as I moved from step to step, independently responsible for each thing I created. I love to share the joy of cooking with C, but I needed those moments alone, too, much more than I realized. I was happy when I finally heard the garage door opening and C came in with his arms full of bags to find me standing among almost-completed dishes. The smells emanating from my pots were like arms reaching for him: welcome, come in, see what's I've made. I walked him through the recipes and showed him my work, proud of the things I'd created and the successes I'd had. He turned on the music and I turned on the lights and together we worked on the soup - I'd gotten the onions done perfectly, but there were more ingredients needed before it would be finished. We fell into that familiar routine with ease.

At the end of the evening, when the snacks were packed away for the next night and the dishes had been washed, we ate steaming bowls of soup and grilled cheese sandwiches that we both had worked on making and put effort into making just right. It was a perfect combination of my own, personal time and my favorite way to spend time with my husband, and the results were delicious.

beautiful roasted garlic for hummus

a lovely pair... just like C & I ;)

New winter side dishes

For our Thanksgiving menu, I planned on mostly tried-and-true dishes: mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, green bean casserole, the usuals. However, I added in two test vegetable side-dish recipes that I found that looked like the perfect Thanksgiving experiments: few ingredients, relatively simple directions, and could be made while so many other things were going on in the kitchen.

I am pleased to say that both recipes were big hits with everyone at our table, and I'm excited to share them with you today. Both are, like I mentioned, pretty easy to make, and both will be good all winter long (not just at Thanksgiving!). I can't wait to make each of these again!

Roasted Root Vegetables
lightly adapted from Weight Watchers magazine (Nov / Dec 2013 issue)
Serves 8-10

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1 1/2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 Tbsp whole-grain Dijon mustard
• 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
• 2 lbs parsnips, peeled and cut into chunks
• 2 lbs carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
• salt and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425*. Line large baking sheet with heavy-duty nonstick foil.
2. Whisk together maple syrup, oil, mustard, vinegar, and thyme in large bowl. Add carrots and parsnips and toss to coat.
3. Spread vegetables onto baking sheet and roast until vegetables are tender (about 40 minutes), tossing halfway through cooking time.

In the interest of full disclosure, I didn't roast my vegetables in the oven - it was Thanksgiving, and the oven was full! Instead, we got out the electric skillet, cranked the heat as high as it would go (400*, I think), and then cooked the vegetables uncovered for about 30 minutes and covered for 10 more. We didn't want them covered the whole time, in order to avoid steaming instead of roasting, but covering them for the last few minutes ensured they were soft. Either cooking method works, and next time I will definitely roast these in the oven!

Lemony Brussels Sprouts
lightly adapted from Weight Watchers magazine (Nov / Dec 2013 issue)
Serves 8-10

Ingredients

• 2 tsp olive oil
• 2 lbs Brussels sprouts, trimmed and halved
• 3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/3 cup fat-free sour cream
• zest from one small lemon
• juice from one small lemon
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup water
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions

1. Bring large saucepan of lightly salted water to a boil. Add Brussels sprouts and cook until crisp-tender (about 4-6 minutes). Drain and transfer to large bowl of ice water to cool and stop cooking process. Using slotted spoon, transfer Brussels sprouts to paper towels and drain well.
2. In a small bowl, stir together bread crumbs and Parmesan. In another small bowl, whisk together sour cream, lemon zest, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic powder, and salt.
3. Pre-heat large, deep skillet over medium-high heat. Add Brussels sprouts and water and bring to simmer, then cover and cook for 2-3 minutes, until Brussels sprouts are hot. Uncover and cook until water is evaporated (about 1 more minute). Sprinkle evenly with cayenne and stir to mix well (no one wants a mouthful of Cayenne pepper!).
4. Remove from heat and stir in sour cream mixture; coat Brussels sprouts evenly.
5. Top with breadcrumb mixture and serve.

I was nervous about this combination of sour cream & lemon juice with the Brussels sprouts, but it actually turned out to compliment the tiny cabbages wonderfully! The cayenne pepper adds a little something extra, and it makes for a side dish that is truly delicious. Even the non-Brussels-sprouts-eaters around our Thanksgiving table enjoyed this one - or at least they claimed to! :) 

Special thanks to my brother-in-law for taking the pictures above - he was a wonderful photo-document-er of our first Thanksgiving!

Lightened Up Turkey Noodle Casserole

When one cooks a 23lb turkey for Thanksgiving, one inevitably has leftover turkey. The first few days of "repeat Thanksgiving" meals are fine, but after a few trips around the block, you're probably looking for something different to do with your turkey. The recipe I'm sharing today is exactly what you need!

Turkey noodle casserole is a spin on tuna noodle casserole - the same basic premise, but changing up the protein. It's a perfect dish to use up your dark meat (I just can't eat a turkey sandwich with dark meat, but toss it in cheese sauce and I'm good to go!) and change up the flavors of your leftover turkey.

When searching for a recipe to base my dish off of, I had one key criterion: no mushroom soup. A lot of casseroles are made with a "cream of" soup for the base, and most recipes for turkey noodle casserole include the addition of several cans of cream of mushroom (to replicate the flavor of traditional green bean casserole, I think). When you have a mushroom-hating husband, that's not really such a good thing (if I want him to eat it, anyway). So the search was on: find a recipe that looked yummy, but didn't call for fungus.

Luckily, I found something pretty much perfect! The base for this recipe is a homemade cheese sauce, which seems daunting, but really isn't. As long as you go slowly and cook carefully, you, too, can make a simple, delicious cheese sauce, and then pour it into this delicious dish. It would also make an excellent macaroni and cheese, but that is another recipe for another day.

I took a few steps to lighten up the recipe, which seemed necessary after stuffing ourselves silly with Thanksgiving foods for the previous few days. Changes include decreasing the amount of noodles (doesn't really make a difference!), increasing the amount of veggies, and swapping sour cream for Greek yogurt (my favorite substitute!). I used skim milk to make the sauce, and it turned out just perfectly - no need for added fat by using something else. I also threw in the fresh herbs that I had leftover from Thanksgiving, and they were such a great addition. They brightened up the flavors of the dish so beautifully. If you don't have fresh, I'd still add some dried, but know that you can make it without, if need be. It's versatile!

I really do hope you find an opportunity to try the recipe (maybe use rotisserie chicken if you don't have turkey on hand?), because it was so. dang. delicious. I wanted to eat the whole pan... but refrained, and settled for having it for lunch a couple times this week.

I deem this one a success: Lindsay lightened, husband approved. Can't beat it!

Just look at that melty, cheesy goodness!

Turkey Noodle Casserole
Lightly adapted from here
Serves 6 - 8

Ingredients

• 6 ounces dried egg noodles 
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter 
• 1/2 cup chopped sweet onion (about 1 small onion) 
• 1 cup chopped carrots 
• 1 cup chopped celery 
• 2-3 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
• 1 ½ cups skim milk 
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper 
• ½ Tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped 
• ½ Tablespoon fresh sage, chopped 
• 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar, divided 
• 2 cups cooked, chopped turkey 
• ½ cup Greek yogurt 
• ½ cup panko breadcrumbs 
• salt and pepper 

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. 
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook until al dente (about 7 minutes). Drain and return to pot. 
3. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, and celery and sauté until tender and softened (about 10 minutes). Add garlic and cook for another minute. 
4. Add flour and stir until absorbed and the "raw" tasted cooked out (about 1 - 2 minutes). Vegetables will look clumpy and kind of gummy – this is ok! Turn down heat just a little. While whisking mixture constantly, slowly pour in milk and cook, stirring frequently, until thickened (about 3 minutes). 
5. Add 1 ¼ cups (roughly) shredded cheese and stir until melted. Sauce should not boil, just cook until thick and creamy. 
6. Add the cayenne, thyme, and sage, and season with additional salt and pepper to taste. 
7. Mix turkey and Greek yogurt into cheese sauce, then add that mixture to noodles. Stir until well-combined and everything is coated evenly. 
8. Grease 9”x13” baking dish. Pour noodle mixture into baking dish and distribute evenly. top with remaining cheddar cheese (one layer) and panko breadcrumbs (separate layer). 
9. Bake until casserole is warm and cheese is bubbling (about 30 minutes). 

I just want to live inside that pan for like... 20 minutes.

Pie Night

We take pie very seriously in my family.

In fact, you could call us pie connoisseurs.

[source]

We have been known to turn up our noses at frozen pies, apple pies made with the wrong apples, pre-made crusts, soupy pumpkin pies, and the occasional "weird" pie. (There's no need for weird pie.) I will almost always skip pie as a dessert option unless it's made by us. We have a thing about pie. Sorry, not sorry.

For as long as I can remember, the Wednesday night before Thanksgiving has always been Pie Night (capital letters needed). My mom makes pies from scratch, crust and all, and my sister and I have been helping since we were knee-high to a cricket (I've always wanted to say that). If there's anything you can count on, it's the fact that, wherever we are for Thanksgiving, we will be wrapped in aprons and covered in flour, rolling dough and coring apples. We've made pies in big kitchens, small kitchens, new kitchens, old kitchens. We've made them at our home and at other people's homes. Pie Night. It goes where we go.

This is one of our sacred family traditions, and, this year, I'm excited to say that we are having the inaugural Pie Night at my new house. My mom is coming down after she gets done at school today, and we will spend the evening mixing and measuring. I can't wait to find myself wrist-deep in pumpkin and sugar, standing in my kitchen, baking Thanksgiving pies with my mama. It wouldn't be a true Thanksgiving without it!

And, clearly, I can't wait for pie for breakfast tomorrow morning. Is there anything better than pie for breakfast?!?

Thanksgiving menu sneak peek!

I don't know if I've actually mentioned it, but C & I are hosting Thanksgiving for our families this year. Like, full-on, the whole-shebang-is-at-our-house, I-hope-I-have-enough-plates, hosting. For the first time! It's exciting, because we are gathering everyone up at our new house to celebrate one of my favorite holidays, and also kind of terrifying, because who cooks a turkey dinner for 13 people when they've never actually cooked a turkey before? Well.... we do. So I'm accepting the challenge, and crossing my fingers. Luckily, the mamas & other family members are coming over early to help prep and cook, and the expectations are low - we will have delicious food and a great time, but dinner may or may not be on the table at a specific time and there will be no fine china. Paper plates all the way!

The menu for this year is a mix of tried-and-true favorites plus a few new dishes. Everyone gets their favorite, and the whole deal is not too entirely elaborate. Some things can be prepped in advance, some will be made day of, and I will be purchasing a 20-lb turkey this weekend and roasting the hell out of it. (Did you read that? TWENTY POUNDS. Uhhhhhh..... alrighty then!) Pie will be eaten for breakfast, and the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade will be on all morning (fun fact: I used to sometimes still call it the "Macy's Day Parade"). Hooray!

Here's a look at what we will be serving:

Pretty traditional, I think... anything that is "missing" in your eyes? Or that doesn't make sense? I find we are kind of veggie-heavy in our family, but everyone usually likes it that way. We also generally have a mix of healthy and full-fat things - Thanksgiving isn't really the time to skimp in my eyes, but I also don't see the need to cook differently than I usually do (read: mashed potatoes get the same amount of butter and skim milk, no heavy cream added for just one day). I will tell you this: the green bean casserole MUST be the recipe from the back of the French's onions box - canned green beans and all. There will be no lightening up or changing of that one, or someone is going to have to fight me. Ha!

As long as we're being honest, let's throw this out there: as much as I like Thanksgiving, I really like Thanksgiving leftovers. Who's with me??

Five for Friday: odds & ends

A random assortment for this edition of Five for Friday

1 // I recently discovered that I can use my library card to check out eBooks from the local library & put them on my nook or iPad (totally behind the times). I am basically obsessed. I am using the longer commute time that we now have to catch up on the loooong list of books that I've been meaning to read, and it's been fantastic to get books for free! I just started this one, Tell the Wolves I'm Home, at the recommendation of a sweet friend. Technology is awesome!

2 // We took a quick trip to the lake last weekend - left all our still-packed boxes behind and got away for a few days. Even though it was overcast and / or raining the whole weekend, it was still relaxing and fun. We did get one picture Friday evening while the sun was out - so not a completely dreary time!

3 // I finally gathered up all the seashells I've collected on our OBX trips and "did something" with them. Old vases FTW. This is the beginning of the beach-themed bathroom upstairs, and peek at the quick paint job my mom and I did before we moved in!

4 // Little dude has been hanging out with my in the morning while I get ready for work - he spent Wednesday morning rolling around on the carpet in the bedroom and getting into some crazy antics. He is WAY more of a morning person cat than I am, that's for sure.

5 // I am using this new (to me) app / website a bit more to try to gather all my internet recipes in one place. It's actually pretty handy! I'm making these creamy chicken & jalapeno enchiladas from Bev Cooks for dinner tonight, and yesterday, when I got to the grocery store, it was easy to just open the ZipList app and see what I needed, without having to Google search for the recipe and try to remember where I found it. Just checked the recipes I'd stored, and crossed things off the list. I'm going to try to remember to save all my recipes there!

Happy weekend!

Linked up with High Five for Friday

Baked buffalo chicken tenders

All was going well with our "eat what we have without doing more grocery shopping" endeavor, but things were getting a little dire and I ended up at the grocery store last weekend after all. As it turned out, my local Giant was having a great sale on chicken ($1.97/lb!) so I picked up a club pack of chicken breasts and also a package of chicken tenders. I generally don't buy chicken tenders, as we just cook up chicken breasts as they come, or pound them thin / cut / cube / slice as necessary - but these were on sale, and I wanted to experiment a bit. So I did!

I knew that I wanted to create baked buffalo chicken tenders, but really couldn't find a recipe that contained all the components I wanted: chicken tenders, panko, baked with zero frying, and through-and-through buffalo taste. So, I created my own! The end result was pretty tasty - dad & husband approved! Due to the high temperature of the oven, the panko stays crispy and your tenders don't end up soggy and gross. Also, incorporating the buffalo with sauce into the egg wash ensures that spicy buffalo flavor in every bite. Check it out!

Baked Buffalo Chicken Tenders

Ingredients 

• 1 – 1 ½ lbs chicken tenders 
• 1 cup flour 
• Salt / pepper / paprika / garlic power (to taste) 
• 2 eggs, scrambled 
• ½ c buffalo wing sauce (we use Frank's!)
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs 

Directions 

1. Preheat oven to 425*. 
2. Set up three prep stations in shallow dishes: the first is the flour and seasonings mixed together, the second is the eggs and buffalo wing sauce beaten together, and the third is the panko bread crumbs.

   

   I used shallow Tupperware containers for my three prep stations.

3. Set up your baking pan – a cookie sheet, covered in tin foil, with a wire cooling rack over the top. Spray cooling rack with cooking spray. 
4. One at a time, prepare chicken tenders. Coat in flour, dip in egg wash, coat in breadcrumbs. Lay on cooling rack / baking pan. Repeat until all chicken tenders are finished.

   

   Nakey chicken tenders

   

   Mid-way through the process. No action shot; my hands were gross!

5. Spray chicken tenders with cooking spray. 
6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, flipping once halfway. Cooking time may vary depending on size of chicken tenders and preferred doneness of chicken. (I actually cooked mine for 40 minutes.)

   

   Golden brown & delicious!

Serve with a side of ranch or bleu cheese dressing. Yum!

Side note - the ingredient measurements are more like suggestions - this is very much an "eyeball it" dish. Use as much or as little of each as you need to coat all your tenders. Everything in this is pretty cheap, so I was ok with tossing the leftovers when I was done. Feel free to be a bit more cautious with your ingredients if you'd like; dumping some in as I need more works for me.

Crockpot Split Pea & Ham Soup

Here's the deal: I currently have a lot of ham. Like, a LOT, a lot. My in-laws (who are awesome! Hi Jack & Robin!) brought a ham for our New Year's Eve party, and while it was delicious, not very much of it actually got eaten. So I'm left with a LOT of ham leftovers, which means I'm working to find delicious, creative recipes to use up the ham, so that we aren't stuck eating ham sandwiches for every single meal. A girl can only have so many ham sandwiches.

One of my all-time favorite things that my mom makes is split pea and ham soup. I think pea soup is one of those things that you either love or hate (and it probably depends on the recipe you first experience). Personally, I love it. Specifically, I love my mom's, which is creamy and smooth, full of chunks of softened veggies like carrots and celery, and spotted with salty chunks of ham. I decided to use some of my ham to recreate my mom's soup - with a few changes, of course!

Crockpot Split Pea & Ham Soup
lightly adapted from About.com - Southern Food

Ingredients

• 1 (12 oz.) pkg. dried green split peas, rinsed
• 3-4 cups diced ham
• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 3 ribs of celery plus leaves, chopped
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
• 1 tbsp. salt (or to taste)
• 1/2 tsp. fresh pepper
• 1 1/2 qts. chicken broth

Directions
Spray crockpot lightly with cooking spray. Layer all ingredients into crockpot in order given - do not stir or combine. Pour chicken broth over the top of all other ingredients, and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours. When finished cooking, gently stir to combine, and mash peas with the back of a spoon if necessary. Serve hot with crusty bread!

Terrible iPhone picture. Normal. Check those veggies, though! And ham! Yum.

~~~~~

The main difference between this soup & my mom's is that she doesn't use a crock pot - she makes the "simmering on the stove all afternoon" version. For me, though, a crock pot version was ideal. I layered all the ingredients in the night before, then C poured the chicken broth in and turned it on in the morning before we left for work. When we got home, we stirred it up, and there was a giant, hot pot of soup waiting for our dinner. Couldn't have asked for anything better!

Given how much ham we have, I added a lot - definitely closer to 4 cups diced. I liked it that way, though. I also prefer mine a bit saltier than my mom makes it, so I added a little more salt than was probably ideal (it needed a bit of watering down, to be honest, but it definitely wasn't inedible. I liked it - C thought it was a bit much). We froze half of it to eat later, I took it for lunch one day, and we had it for dinner a second night. That makes... 10 servings of soup? So cheap, so easy, so delicious. Winner, winner, split pea dinner!

Baked Spaghetti (Squash) Boats with Sausage

Dinner last night was a culinary adventure - which we all know can turn out great or awful. I was tackling an item I'd never cooked with before - a spaghetti squash - and I was a bit hesitant.

Dun dun dunnnnn.

Spaghetti squash has been all over the interwebs lately it seems - recipes on blogs, Pintrest, everywhere I look. I found a really nice-looking one at my local Global Foods, and decided to give it a whirl. I wasn't exactly inspired, though, and so it sat on our counter for a week and a half while I tried to figure out what to do with it. When I saw this post on Iowa Girl Eats, I knew I'd found just what I needed.

Last night, I wrestled the spaghetti squash, and I'm pleased to say that I won. This meal was delicious, and I will definitely be making it again! Highly, highly recommend this one. IGE did point out something about spaghetti squash - people tend to make it and get disappointed because the "noodles" aren't like "noodles." To that, I have to say "no shit, Sherlock" - it's squash. Squash noodles will not fool any rational pasta lover, so I wouldn't necessarily try to fool anyone. However, that doesn't mean it's not delicious! Go into this recipe knowing that you're eating squash, not pasta, and I don't see a problem.

Baked Spaghetti (Squash) Boats with Sausage
Slightly adapted from Iowa Girl Eats
Serves 2

Ingredients

• One large spaghetti squash
• One jar of spaghetti sauce (pick your fave)
• One package of chicken sausage (I used this)
• Shredded mozzarella
• Parmesan cheese
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cooking Spray

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400* and prep the spaghetti squash. I used IGE's recommendation and, using  a sharp knife, poked 5-6 holes in the skin and then microwaved the squash on a plate for three minutes, turning over halfway through. Spaghetti squash is particularly thick, so the microwaving helps soften it a bit before you try to cut into it.

Cut the squash in half lengthwise. Honestly, this was a lot harder than I expected it to be - took me about five minutes and two very sharp knives, and I finally just broke it open when I got to the bottom. Be warned.

Scoop the insides out of the squash. I'm sure you could save and roast the seeds and all that jazz, but I did not. Place the squash halves, edible flesh up, on a foil-lined, cooking-spray-sprayed baking sheet. Season liberally with salt and pepper.

Roast the squash for 50-60 minutes.

When the squash is finished roasting, take it out of the oven and place on a cooling rack until it's cool enough to handle (probably 30 minutes or so). While you wait, cook the sausage and then slice on the diagonal to make bite-size pieces.

Shred the inside of the squash with a fork - it should come apart really easily and form the "noodles."
When both sides are shredded, transfer "noodles" to a mixing bowl and combine with desired amount of spaghetti sauce (~2/3 of the jar).

Split noodles between the squash shell "boats" evenly, then top each squash with half of the sausage. Top with a little more sauce and sprinkle with mozzarella and Parmesan.

Broil until cheese is melty and just starts to brown - watch carefully, because the squash shell can start to burn.

Transfer boats to plates and sprinkle with a bit more Parmesan and dried parsley. Serve with the world's easiest garlic bread *.

*See "recipe" below.

This recipe is one of those "sneaky" ones, where you get a lot of veggies and not a whole lot else, and it feels really decadent but is actually not that bad for you. This could be made with Italian sausage, crumbled ground beef or turkey - whatever you have on hand. Using the roasted garlic sausage really lent incredible flavor to the dish, but feel free to modify! We actually ended up with plenty for leftovers for lunch today - if we'd been starving, this would have just been dinner, but with the bread on the side, neither of us could finish. I'm excited to eat it again!

World's Easiest Garlic Bread

Ingredients

• Bread
• Butter
• Garlic powder
• Parmesan (the cheap, powdered kind is best!)

Directions

Spread bread with butter. Sprinkle on garlic powder and top with Parmesan. Broil until bread is toasted and parm starts to brown and melt. Enjoy!

The bread I used last night is seven-grain sourdough from Wegmans, and it is freakin' good.