Winners & Losers

It's been a while since I've posted about recent recipes that I've made.  I always love to hear/read about what other people are making/eating so here are just a few of our latest:

(all pictures are from the original recipes)


Cajun chicken alfredo. I nearly followed this recipe to a T, but left out the goat cheese and only used parmesan instead of a blend of cheese.  This was so, so good!!  Will definitely make again, and probably soon.  Garrett said it tastes a lot like something he loves from Macaroni Grill.


Best ever chewy chocolate chip cookies.  I love homemade chocolate chip cookies.  These did not disappoint... in fact, this is our new go-to recipe.  We followed the recipe exactly and they were perfect.


Pumpkin & sage ravioli.  I love butternut squash ravioli, so I thought this would be a real winner.  Sadly, we didn't love it very much (well, Abby did, surprisingly.. she ate all the leftovers the next day).


Simple baked sweet potatoes.  Really easy and delicious.  Great side dish.



Sweet potatoes with gorgonzola cream and toasted walnuts.  Eh... I thought that the gorgonzola was a bit strong for the sweet potatoes.  I also discovered that I don't love walnuts very much.. they are really dry.  Won't make again.



Perfectly cooked salmon.  Just drizzle with olive oil, sprinkle with salt and pepper, and put it into a cold oven.  Turn the oven to 400 degrees, then pull the salmon out after 25 minutes. It was delicious!


Lasagna soup.  I love lasagna, I love soup.  So, obviously I love this.  I used some spicy italian sausage and some mild.  It came out really well.

Obviously I've been following a bit of a "fall" theme and I've loved it.  I love hot food but it's so hard to make in the summer, so I really try to do all that I can during these colder months.

Winners

I've said this in the past, and I'll say it again: I love Pinterest.  There are some big down sides, sure, but overall I've gotten some great ideas and I've had some success with several things.  I've shared some recipes I've made before... Here are some of the ones we've discovered (and liked!) via Pinterest lately:

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No-bake chocolate chip granola bars.  These were really easy and pretty good, too.  The girls love them, and they also loved helping me make them.  The only thing that bugs me a little bit is that people on Pinterest (and the author herself) has labeled them as "healthy".  Four of the 7 ingredients are brown sugar, butter, Rice Krispies, and chocolate chips.  Not the healthiest foods, in my opinion.. but these bars are still pretty good and I feel okay giving them to my kids to eat.

                                                           

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This Mongolian Beef recipe tastes great.  Even the kids loved it (they are not particularly picky eaters, but I still consider them liking it a great endorsement).  I also loved it, but that could have been partly due to the fact that I love beef in general, and we only eat it about 1-2 times a month, so it's a treat.  You should definitely try this recipe, though!  I served it over brown rice and it was a real hit.

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I can't remember if I blogged about this one last time our not.  This tomato-basil parmesan soup is really good.  It's also a crock pot recipe, so it's a great Sunday meal.  Too bad soup season is pretty much over... especially here in the South.  However, I've been known to make soups in the summer so this one might be showing up again in my house during the next 6 months or so.

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I did a few variations on this spaghetti with sauteed chicken and tomatoes, but we really loved it and it's a great summer meal.  Will definitely be making this more during the summer, especially if our grape tomatoes in the garden do well.

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Homemade Larabars.  Larabars are energy bars made with "all natural" ingredients, but they are pretty pricey.  I attempted to make my own last week and they turned out pretty well!  This kind only has dates, almonds, peanut butter, and some chocolate chips.  They are certainly not low in calories (did you know that just two dates have 180 calories??) but they really are good energy bars.  There are lots of different "flavors" that I'm looking forward to trying (oatmeal, banana, berry, etc.).  Anyway, you shouldn't write these off until you have tried them.  I've realized that dates are really good and they are great sweeteners (many people use them in place of sugar, so I've heard.... looking forward to trying that out!).

Have you found any good recipes lately?  There are still many, many more that I have found that I'm just waiting to try.... I'll let you know how they are!

What's for dinner?

Whenever Garrett calls me when he's on his way home from work, he inevitably asks the same question during our short conversations: What's for dinner?

I've found some pretty good recipes online lately and thought I'd share what we've been eating! (Note: I can't take credit for any of these pictures - they are from the websites).

Chicken Parmesan Wraps:

These were a big hit.  Abby really liked them because she could hold them in her hand and dip them into the marinara sauce.  They also made good leftovers.

Slow-cooker black bean enchiladas:

This made a LOT of enchiladas and we were eating them for days (which I don't mind at all, and thankfully neither does Garrett).

Bangin' Good Shrimp:

This is a knockoff of Bonefish Grill's "Bang bang shrimp" (which I love), so I knew we had to try it.  Besides being a knockoff, it's also a leaner version (it's from a website called Skinny Taste).  And let me tell you... it was pretty darn good.  Great, actually.  Instead of serving it on lettuce, we had it on brown rice.  It was pretty spicy but I love spicy foods so it was perfect for me.

Crockpot Chicken

Who doesn't love coming home from Church and smelling dinner in the crockpot?  We had this over brown rice the first night, then put it in tortillas with cheese a few days later.  Really good.

Pesto Chicken Stuffed Shells

These were pretty good, and they made good lunches for Garrett to heat up at work.  We love pesto over here, so anything with pesto is a winner in my book.

And finally, Jamie Oliver's Macaroni and Cauliflower Cheese Bake

This was surprisingly really good, and the girls liked it too.  The first time I made it, I used a pound of pasta and half a head of cauliflower, as the recipe calls for.  We had it for dinner and then lunch the next day.  It was great, but the second time I made it I used less pasta and more cauliflower, and it was just as good (maybe even a little better).  Anyway, I feel good feeding this to my family since it's like mac and cheese, but without all the preservatives.  I'll definitely be making this more often... it's so much better than Kraft mac (well, okay, the Walmart mac... I don't think I've ever bought the real stuff).  Also, I didn't bake it at all - just served it right after combining the cheese with the pasta/cauliflower.

What have you been eating for dinner?  I'd love some suggestions!

Goal for the Week

My goal for this week is to assess my food storage. I'm pretty sure I have a lot more food than I think I have, but it's so hard to take inventory because it's stored in many different places (in the cupboards, under the guest bed, in the office closet, etc.). That's the problem with a small house! Someday, I will have a big pantry, or at least a basement with shelves where I can keep it all in one place, organized nicely.

Are you good at food storage? I have a greater motivation for it now that we only need to have 3 months worth - it just seems so much more doable! I still do need to work on my 1 year supply of grains and rice and things, and that's another goal for this summer.

I made a fun little poll on the right column of this blog - please participate! I'm curious to see how people are doing with their food storage. I apoligize for the choices - Emma complained to me that there isn't an option for having 3 months of food, which she has. So, if you have a few months of food, just choose the second one down - that you could feed your family for 1 month. I'll assume that if people choose that one, it means they have 1-6 months of food available. And it's anonymous, so I'm not going to know if it's YOU who doesn't have any food storage! :)

Also, where do you keep your food storage? Do you have a big, wonderful pantry? Is it in the basement? Under beds, and in closets like I have it? Let me know!

How To Make Sushi

I love sushi.

I love all kinds of sushi - cooked or raw, store-bought or restaurant-made, or even homemade. I love it all. I could probably eat sushi once a week for the rest of my life, if that was possible.

The most popular kind of sushi is probably the California Roll. It's very basic, and not scary at all (there is no raw fish)! When Garrett and I were dating we used to make California Rolls for dinner sometimes. It's a great activity for couples or families who want to be more involved together in the kitchen.

Ingredients:
Nori sheets (seaweed - this can be found at WalMart)
1.5 cups sticky rice (you don't have to buy the expensive sushi rice - short or medium grain rice is fine)
1/6 c Rice vinegar
1 Tbsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Salt
Imitation crab
1 cucumber
1 avacado

Cook the rice according to package directions.

While the rice is cooking, peel and cut the cucumber into thin strips, cutting out the seeds. Slice the avacado as well. If you have the thick legs of imitation crab, cut these lengthwise as well so they aren't too thick. Here, I have also cut up some asparagus that I needed to use up. California rolls don't have asparagus, but I thought I might try some in some of the pieces. That's part of the beauty of sushi - just throw in whatever sounds good to you.

When the rice is done cooking, transfer the it onto a plate to let it cool. While it's cooling, combine (in a small bowl) the rice vinegar, sugar, and salt, and heat through until the sugar and salt dissolve (just stick it in the microwave for a minute or so, or heat it on the stove). When the sugar and salt dissolve, sprinkle the vinegar mixture into the rice, stirring until it's all incorporated together. This gives the rice a little kick so it's not too plain-tasting.

Now, I usually like to buy the large square sheets of nori, but for some reason I've been having a hard time finding them in the store lately! WalMart still sells the half sheets, so that's fine too. However, with the half sheets, it's hard to roll the sushi up all the way after you've added the the rice, crab, cuke, and avacado. So, we're going to make the sushi rice-side-out. This is how the restaurants do it, and it makes for a better presentation. It is easier to roll it with the rice inside, but since we have the small sheets that won't really be possible.

Ok, we're ready to roll (haha).

Lay a sheet of nori on a plate and, with a spoon, spread the rice over it, smoothing it flat to cover the entire sheet.


Now is the time to sprinkle some sesame seeds on top, if you desire. I didn't this time, but you can do whatever you want.

Now, carefully pick up the sheet and flip it over onto a piece of seran wrap (so the sticky rice is laying on the plastic).
Next, lay your crab, cuke, and avacado across the front of the nori, near the edge closest to you.

Ok, now this is the hardest part. It is MUCH easier if you have bamboo rollers, but mine are lost. But it's possible to do it without them, and I'll show you how! Carefully pick up the front of the nori, with the seran wrap under it, and roll forward as if you are folding the nori over the insides.

Continue rolling the nori, carefully pulling off the seran wrap as you go so that it doesn't get rolled into your sushi! When you've rolled it all up, pick it all up and squeeze it tightly so that the roll is tight.

Then, completely remove the seran wrap and slice into pieces! If you look at the picture below, you can see that there is still nori sticking out on the edge, because when I was spreading the rice I didn't spread it all the way to the edges. That's fine. Sometimes you may even have pieces of crab, cuke, or avacado sticking out the sides. I actually love when this happens - I just trim off the edges and eat them! Then, just proceed to cut the sushi into pieces.

Serve with soy sauce for dipping (I recommend Kikkoman brand) and, if you are really brave, some wasabi paste (but don't add too much.. it's very potent).

Groceries! (part 2)

Anyone who knows me knows that I love to find a good deal, especially on groceries. Sometimes I have great luck with coupons, but since I don't get the Sunday paper, that doesn't happen very often. Today, however, I got really lucky.

I was shopping at Food Lion (usually I go to Kroger, but FL had Garrett's favorite hot dogs for BOGO, so I went there instead) and some employees were taking a bunch of pasta off the shelf and putting it in a cart to haul away. I asked what they were doing with it all, and they said that some of it was expired, and then some of it was going to be "reduced for a quick sale". I asked if I could get any of the expired stuff (I know, I'm shameless), but they said no, they didn't want to be sued. Understandable, I guess. So, I asked when the other stuff would be reduced, and they said to come back later in the afternoon.

So, I went back to FL around 3, but the reduced pasta wasn't anywhere to be found. Now, usually I would just figure it had already been sold out and I would go home, but today I was really in a bargaining mood, so I asked an employee, Judy, where the pasta was. As it happened, Judy is the one in charge of marking down products, and she told me that she hadn't gotten to it yet. But, she led me to the back room and told me to pick out what I wanted, set it aside, and she would save it for me for tomorrow, which is when it would all be ready. Like a kid in a candy shop, I grabbed everything I wanted. I love pasta SO MUCH, plus the expiration date wasn't until 8/2010, so it would last forever! Even the whole wheat pasta was going to be reduced.

About 10 minutes later I walked back out into the main store area, and passed by Judy to thank her. Then she said, "Well, I'll just go back there now and reduce it for you so you don't have to come back tomorrow." Yay!!

I love a good chance to stockpile my food storage. Lately, I have been having a really hard time finding good deals on pasta (didn't it used to be a little less than $1 per pound? Now it's more like $1.30!). So anyway, I got all this pasta shown below, and I'm contemplating going back in the morning for a bit more (hey, it's good for 2.5 more years!!).

Grand total: $8 (they were about 35 cents each)

PS - Aren't those flowers pretty? Garrett gave them to me at the airport when he picked me up on Tuesday night. Isn't he sweet?

Groceries!!

If you live near a Kroger, now is the time to stock up on food storage!! They are having a great deal where if you buy 10 participating items (that are on sale already), you get another $5 off. I bought 30 of the items (there are TONS to choose from and they are mix & match, so you don't have to buy 10 of one thing) so I got $15 off automatically (after swiping my Kroger card). Then, I also had a $7 off coupon that I got in the mail (if I spent more than $35)!
The 7 oz Baby Goldfish came out to be 50 cents each! I was going to buy the regular sized Goldfish, but I noticed that they only have 6 oz in those packages, plus the smaller ones are better for Abby right now anyway. This deal ends tomorrow (Saturday).

My original total: $82

I paid: $31

Not all groceries shown were in the "buy 10" deal.

Craving

My favorite soft drink is Diet Pepsi with Lime. In 2006, when Garrett and I moved from UT, I spent months searching for it in every grocery store, but I could never find it! Then, one day when I was in a grocery store, a Pepsi guy happened to be there bringing in boxes of drinks from his truck. I asked him about Diet Pepsi with Lime, and they said they had stopped making it. I was SO SAD! So imagine my surprise a year later when I went back to UT for Emma's graduation and I saw it at WalMart!! I bought a 12-pack and that kept me pretty happy. It turns out that DP w/ Lime isn't sold anywhere within a 250-mile radius of where I live. So in a few years, when Garrett is applying for residencies, we will have to take into account whether or not the areas we want to go sell my drink of choice.

In the meantime, I buy store-brand diet cola and add a splash of lime juice. It works for now!

Do you crave anything that isn't sold anymore?

Easter Egg Hunt & BBQ!

Today we went to a friend's house and had a BBQ, and there was an Easter Egg Hunt for the kids. It was a lot of fun - there were probably about 16 adults and 15 or so kids there, so it was crazy, but everyone seemed to be having a good time. The weather was just perfect - in the high 70s, and sunny - so we all got nice tans, too!

After most people left, Garrett and I stayed and played some games with some others who stayed as well. That's usually my favorite part of hanging out with our friends - we play fun games! Our favorites are Catchphrase and Scattergories... we could play these games for literally HOURS if our kids would let us - and sometimes they do! We are so lucky to have such great friends here. I will miss them when we all go our separate ways after medical school/military/dental school.

Helping Daddy find candy
Abby with her friend Zoe

Homemade Oreos!
Peeps Cake! (made by my friend Abbie)

Flashback Friday - Easter 2005

So I decided that every Friday I'll do a little "flashback" and write about past experiences, funny stories, etc. It would be a fun way for people to get to know me better, plus it's always fun to remember funny stories and experiences. This first flashback is from Easter 2005. A little background information: Juniors at BYU, Garrett and I were living in the Provo house, Mike was living in the studio in the back, and Emma and John were newly engaged. We decided that we would all have Easter dinner together, and Emma and I would do all the side dishes (rolls, salad, deviled eggs, dessert, etc) and we asked Mike to get the ham. I told him that I would cook it and everything, but we just wanted him to get it. So, Sunday rolls around and I ask Mike for the ham because I need to put it in the oven. At this point I had been looking forward to yummy brown-sugary, syrupy ham all week, so I was very impatient for Mike to bring it upstairs. So, I remember I was laying on the couch waiting for Mike, and finally he comes upstairs, opens the back door, and tosses the ham to me. And it's LUNCH MEAT. Okay, it's not thinly sliced lunch meat, but it was a little 2-3 lb. chunk of Hormel ham, the boneless kind you slice for sandwiches. I was SO sad... luckily, I was able to slice it up, concoct a brown sugar syrup to pour on top, and heated it up in the oven. It wasn't exactly the kind of ham I was envisioning, but it actually ended up being just perfect. The End.

I hope you like Flashback Friday. Next week's story is about Mike too... it's also pretty funny.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

There are some traditions from growing up that I hold sacred, and one of my favorites is having corned beef for dinner on St. Patrick's Day! Mom always made this New England Boiled Dinner of corned beef & cabbage. YUM! I've been making it on my own every year since I moved out - I have always loved it! This afternoon Garrett called me from school because his friend had brought corned beef for lunch today, and Garrett was sad because he had forgotten about this tradition (he was worried I had forgotten, too). He was very excited when I reassured him that there would be a big pot of traditional Irish food waiting for him when he got home. I also made some really good Irish Soda Bread to go with our corned beef, and it tasted great, too!

I'll admit... we didn't wear green today, and we didn't go to any parades or look for 4-leafed clovers. But I was NOT going to skip out on making this dinner! Thanks Mom, for passing this tradition on to me. Garrett loves it as much as I do!

Good Eater

I am so lucky to have a baby who is not picky when it comes to eating. She loves everything from tuna fish, peas, beans, cheese, milk, apples, granola bars, lunch meat, and breads. In fact, I can't think of any one food that she has consistently refused to eat! Here she is snacking on an avacado.

Lobster Dinner!

Alive & kicking!

For our wedding anniversary in August, Garrett's parents gave us a gift certificate for a lobster dinner for two. And today, we finally got around to using it! It was GREAT!! We got FOUR 1-1/4 lb Maine lobsters, two bowls of clam chowder, and half a pound of jumbo shrimp, with cocktail sauce. The meal was just ordered yesterday, and overnighted to us. YUM!

Now, lobster was my favorite food from the time I was 4 years old until I was about 20 (sushi has taken first place, but lobster remains a close second). But I have never really cooked lobsters on my own. Most of the times I've had lobster has been at Newick's (or "Lewick's", if you prefer :)), but occasionally for my birthday my parents would cook a lobster or two. However, I don't think I have ever watched them actually cook it... I didn't anticipate that it would start thrashing around as soon as I held it over the boiling water (lobsters should always be alive when you cook them). It scared me! Thankfully Garrett was there to help me out, although he didn't really know what he was doing either. I didn't have a stock pot big enough for even two of them, so we cooked them two at a time, in two different pots. Eating them was fun, too - I got to teach Garrett how to rip them apart and take the meat out. Part of me wished we had done this meal in August, though - tonight the shells were really sharp and tough, but at the end of summer, they are usually soft enough that you don't even need the nutcrackers. But, I will admit - taking the lobster apart and digging the meat out is part of the fun!

In the end, the meal was fabulous! It was such a treat to have a real Maine lobster dinner delivered right to our door. Thank you, Mom and Dad Woodbury!

Dropping them into the pot

Our table

Garrett digs in

The aftermath

Happy Chinese New Year!

Dumplings

Sesame Chicken

Garrett and I love Chinese food, so we didn't want to pass up the opportunity to make a special meal for the holiday! Usually we make sushi and fried rice (Garrett makes the BEST fried rice!) but this year we tried something a little different - Pork & Ginger Pot Stickers (dumplings) and Sesame Chicken and rice. We also made some steamed Chinese vegetables, but they were steaming when Garrett took the pictures. The Pot Stickers were GREAT! I was a little bit nervous making them, because I had to fry them with oil a little bit at first (I now try to avoid hot oil as much as possible) but it ended up being just fine. The Sesame Chicken wasn't as good... Garrett didn't particularly like the spiciness, and I wasn't a fan of the 5-Spice Chinese Seasoning that was in it (I didn't realize it had anise in it until after I put it in... Anise is a licorice-tasting spice, and I don't like licorice). But other than that, everything was great and we had fun making dinner together - it brought me back to the dating days! Ooh, and I got fortune cookies at the store for dessert, but I forgot to serve them! Oh well, we'll still eat them another time. I also forgot to have Garrett speak Chinese for me! Anyway, I really enjoy having Garrett help me in the kitchen, especially with the cleanup!

So, Happy Chinese New Year! It's the year of the rat, which must be some sort of good luck for me, since I was born in the year of the rat.Half of this symbol means "happiness". This symbol is "double happiness", which frequently represents marriage. :)

Banana Boats!

Tonight Garrett was craving something sweet so he made a quick trip to the grocery store up the street and came home with bananas, marshmallows, and chocolate chips. I had never had a banana boat before and Garrett was feeling nostalgic for them (he used to make them as a Scout on camping trips). They were great and really hit the spot!
Banana Boats (serves 2)
Ingredients:
-2 bananas
-2 small handfuls of chocolate chips
-2 small handfuls of baby marshmallows
Directions:
Unpeel one small side of the banana (unpeel it the opposite way you normally would... you want to open the "top" of the boat). Scrape out a bit of the banana inside. Fill that inside with marshmallows and chocolate chips. Lay the peel back on top to close the banana back up. Put in the microwave for about 40 seconds (or, if you're camping, wrap it in tin foil and put it into the campfire for a bit). Eat with a spoon. Enjoy!!