His and Hers Salads

January 1, 2009 at 3:01 pm · Filed under Side item ·Tagged

My father makes the world’s best Caesar  Salad Dressing. No really, he does. And I was reminded of how awesome his recipe is when I made the dressing this week for the first time in a long time.

Ingredients:

1 clove of garlic, halved

2 eggs

2 tablespoons lemon juice

6 tablespoons olive oil

1 small can of anchovies, chopped

Dash of worcestershire sauce

Salt and pepper

Parmesan cheese

 

Directions:

Rub half of the garlic around a large wooden salad bowl. Little bits of garlic should stick to the bowl and add flavor to the dressing. Coddle the eggs in boiling water and set aside to cool. Mix the lemon juice, olive oil, anchovies, and worcestershire sauce. Add the eggs and salt and pepper to taste. 

Add the lettuce to the bowl and mix well. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese and serve.

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You definitely need to like anchovies (the KEY ingredient) to love this dressing as much as I do. Unfortunately, Steve just isn’t a fan. Since I really wanted to make this dressing this week, I offered to make a different kind for him. He asked for honey mustard – but not just any honey mustard. Apparently he’s a big fan of Outback Steakhouse’s dressing. A google search led me to several recipes for Outback’s honey mustard. While they all had the same 3 ingredients, the amounts of each ingredient differed. So I decided to wing it.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup mayo

1/4 cup of honey

1/4 cup of dijon mustard

 

Directions:

Mix all ingredients until well combined. Taste and adjust any amounts as necessary.

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Lentil Soup

December 30, 2008 at 8:17 pm · Filed under Dinner, Lunch, Vegetarian ·Tagged

I’m lucky enough to have a dietitian for a sister. At this point, I’m fairly certain she’s used to fielding my emails throughout the day saying things like, “what did you have for lunch today?” “Was it filling?” “I’m tired of eating PB&J’s everyday.” “I just ate lunch and I’m still hungry.”

You get the idea. 

In response to my complaints, she recently sent me a recipe for lentil soup. She makes a batch of this Everyday Italian recipe on the weekend, freezes it in portions and thaws it out for lunch throughout the week. 

I decided to give it a try this week. I made a large batch on Sunday afternoon, and we had it for dinner that night.

Here’s a link to the original recipe: Lentil Soup

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Ingredients:

Olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 carrots, peeled and chopped

2 celery stalks, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

Salt and pepper

1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

1 pound of lentils

11 cups chicken broth

2/3 cup elbow pasta

Shredded Parmesan

 

Directions:

In a very large pot, saute the onions, carrots, celery and garlic in olive oil until the veggies are softened. Add the diced tomatoes (and the juice) and cook until the tomatoes break down and the juices have started to evaporate. Add the lentils and broth (the recipe calls for 11 cups of broth, but since I only had 8 cups on hand, that’s all I added). Bring to soup to a boil then cover and reduce to a simmer for 30 minutes. The lentils should be tender now.

Add the pasta to the soup. Let simmer until the pasta is cooked.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Sprinkle with parmesan and serve. 

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I froze the leftovers in portions and have been bringing them into work everyday for lunch. Not only is it delicious, but this soup is deceptively filling!

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Apple and Pecan Bread

December 28, 2008 at 4:29 pm · Filed under Baked Goods, Holidays ·Tagged

For holiday gifts for Steve’s co-workers this year I baked Apple and Pecan Bread loafs. I got the recipe from Good Things Catered which I recently came across on One Pretty Thing. 

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Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 smidgen fresh ground nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups apples (about 2 medium), diced
1/2 cups pecans, coarsely chopped

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees and prepare a loaf pan with non stick spray. In medium bowl, combine flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg and whisk to combine thoroughly, set aside.

In bowl of stand mixer, combine oil and sugar and beat to combine thoroughly. Add egg and yolk and beat to combine thoroughly. Beat in vanilla. Turn mixer to low and add flour mixture a little at a time, beating until just combined. Stir in apples and pecans.

Scrape batter into prepared loaf pan (batter will be quite thick) and spread evenly. Place loaf pan into oven and bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about 80-90 minutes.

I let the loaf cool before wrapping it in plastic wrap, adding a bow and a tag.

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Oil Cloth Lunch Bags

December 19, 2008 at 10:02 pm · Filed under Crafts ·Tagged ,

I’ve had a super busy week! From dinners with friends, holiday preparations, sewing, baking, and everyday errands and upkeep, my evenings have been filled. Making these oil cloth bags was a fun project I managed to squeeze in.

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While browsing Etsy one day, I came across oil cloth lunch bags for the first time. They looked fairly easy to construct, fun to make, and a cute alternative to my plastic grocery lunch bags. A quick google search for a template led me to this site. 

Since then, I’ve made 5 bags using the same template. 

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Only 3 of these are mine. The red and pink polka-dot bags were gifts. 

From the side and top:

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I think I like making them so much because I can knock one out in 30 minutes. It’s pretty instant crafting gratification … as opposed to this scarf I’ve been working on off and on for a week … and is no where near being complete. 

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Luckily, I have several more oil cloth cuts to make a few bags for Steve (I know he’s dying for one) and a friend of mine. 

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Now, off to my scarf!!

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Vegetarian Dressing

December 17, 2008 at 7:00 pm · Filed under Crock Pot Prepared, Holidays, Side item, Vegetarian

We had our work Christmas party this week, and everyone had to sign up to bring an item. Since the party was at lunch time and we only have one microwave (that’s probably older than me) to heat things in, I decided to make something in my slow cooker.

I decided to make vegetarian dressing. I adapted my dressing from this recipe.

Ingredients:

2 cups chopped onions

1 1/2 cups diced celery

1 cup diced apple

Olive oil for sauteeing

1 tablespoon dried sage

1 tablespoon marjoram

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon pepper

1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped

12 cups of toasted whole wheat bread, cubed (this is roughly 12 slices of bread)

1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped

2 cups of vegetable stock

Directions:

Sautee the onions, apple and celery in olive oil over medium heat until the onion is translucent. While the vegetables are cooking start toasting the bread and cutting it into cubes with a bread knife.

When the veggies are done put them in a large mixing bowl. Add all of the seasonings and bread cubes and mix to combine.  Add the vegetable stock and mix it again. When it is mixed well transfer it to your slow cooker.

Cook on high for 1 hour then reduce to low for 2-3 hours. Make sure to stir it every hour.

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Overall, I thought it was just okay. It didn’t have as much flavor as I was hoping for. Maybe next time I’ll try it with chicken broth instead of vegetable broth.

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Hot Cocoa Mix

December 16, 2008 at 9:41 pm · Filed under Crafts, Holidays ·Tagged

My wonderful mother-in-law is one of five sisters. Every Christmas, the sisters and their mother have a tradition of exchanging gifts with all the women in the family. Over the years this has grown to include daughters, daughters-in-law and step-daughters. Including me, there are now 12 women in the family! 

This year I knew I wanted to make something for everyone. But what could I make that 11 women would all like? 

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Hot Cocoa Mix!!

I found this highly rated recipe on Recipe Zaar and decided to give it a try.

 

Ingredients:

11 cups of powdered milk

1 cup of confectioner’s sugar

11 ounces of powdered coffee creamer

2 pounds of Nestle’s Nesquick powdered chocolate milk mix

4 tablespoons cocoa powder

1 large box of instant chocolate pudding mix

Directions:

Mix together. Mix 1/3 cup of the mix with 3/4 cup of hot water.

 

You’ll need a massive bowl to hold all of the ingredients. I thought that I had some pretty big bowls (some so big I’ve never had a use for them before), but it quickly became apparent that I would need to find something bigger … So I found this file holder in a closet.

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After a thorough wash in the tub (it was so big I couldn’t wash it in the sink), I finally had something large enough to hold the mix. As suggested by one of the people who commented on the original recipe on Recipe Zaar, I ran the mix through my food processor in batches. It wasn’t nearly as messy or time consuming as I had anticipated. And it really broke up all the chunks I couldn’t get with a mixing spoon. 

We snuck a few cups from the batch. This is probably the best cocoa I’ve ever had! It’s rich and creamy and very chocolatey. I hope everyone likes it! And with 6 servings of cocoa per jar, there will be enough for the women to share with the men in their life too!

 

Materials for the jars:

Canning jars from the grocery store

1 yard of ribbon for each jar

Decorative paper (I used a roll of wrapping paper)

Sticker paper for the label (I bought mine from an office supply store)

 

Cut the paper so it’s long enough to wrap around the jar and as wide as you would like it (mine was 2 inches wide). Tape it in place and tie the ribbon in a bow around the paper. You may need to tape the ribbon in place – the label will cover it.

The sticker paper goes through most printers like regular paper. Here’s what my labels look like: 

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And here they are all together:

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Perfect for Christmastime!!

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Lemon Basil Spaghetti

December 11, 2008 at 8:45 pm · Filed under Dinner, Vegetarian ·Tagged

I’ve been sick with a bad cold for the past few days, so I haven’t cooked dinner all week (unless you count the cereal I poured myself for dinner last night). Since I’m feeling moderately better tonight, I decided to cook up an old stand by, Lemon Basil Spaghetti. On top of being very tasty, this dish takes very little time to prepare and uses all fresh ingredients. 

I adapted this recipe from Giada De Laurentiis of Everyday Italian. I’ve made a few revisions to suit our tastes. Here is the original recipe.  

 

Ingredients:

8 oz. spaghetti noodles

2 tablespoons good olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon freshly grated parmesan cheese

2 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped

Salt and pepper

 

Directions:

Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions

In a small bowl combine the olive oil, lemon juice, cheese, basil and salt and pepper to taste

Drain the pasta and add to a large bowl. Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss to combine with tongs. Divide between 2 plates and enjoy! This goes great with some steamed veggies or toasted bread.

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Cheesy Baked Shells and Broccoli

December 11, 2008 at 8:17 pm · Filed under Dinner, Vegetarian ·Tagged

I got this delicious recipe from Real Simple magazine. It’s quick, easy, and makes surprisingly good leftovers!

Ingredients:

3/4 pound pasta shells

1 tablespoon butter

2 tablespoons of all purpose flour

2 cups of whole milk

2 cups grated cheddar cheese

1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Salt and pepper

16 oz. bag frozen broccoli florets, thawed

 

Directions:

Heat broiler and cook pasta to package directions.

Heat butter is a large pan (large enough to hold the sauce, pasta, and broccoli). Add the flour to the butter and cook for a couple of minutes. Stir in the milk until the mixture starts to thicken. Since I never buy whole milk, I used the milk I had on hand (probably 1%) and added a tablespoon or 2 of half and half to make it a little more thick. 

Add 1 1/2 cups of the cheese, nutmeg, salt and pepper to the mixture and stir until the cheese melts. Add the pasta and broccoli to the pan and stir to combine. Transfer to a broiler proof pan and top with the rest of the cheese. Heat under the broiler until the cheese has melted. 

The link to the original recipe can be found here.

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Crab Stuffed Portobello Mushroom Caps

December 7, 2008 at 7:40 pm · Filed under Dinner ·Tagged

I love stuffed mushroom caps! When the mushroom cooks, it changes texture and becomes more substantial and meat-like. And best yet, there are limitless possibilities when it comes to stuffing them. You can put together any combination you like!

This crab mixture is one of my favorites:

2 Large Portobello Mushroom Caps

Olive oil

1/2 onion

1 6oz. can crab meat

2 tablespoons unseasoned bread crumbs

2 tablespoons mayo

2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped

1 tablespoon freshly grated parmesan cheese

1 egg

1/4 teasoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

2-3 drops hot sauce

 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Saute the onion in the olive oil until the onion softens

While the onion is being sauteed, I like to scrape the gills out of the mushroom so it doesn’t get water logged and soggy. 

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When the onion is done combine it with the rest of the ingredients. Separate the crab mix between the two mushrooms. Place on a sheet pan, and cook for 15 minutes.

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Ruffled Apron

December 7, 2008 at 7:07 pm · Filed under Crafts ·Tagged ,

I went over to my friend Erin’s house on Thursday to help decorate Christmas cookies. Her birthday is next weekend, so I brought her birthday gift with me. 

Erin is a huge Tennessee fan, likes to cook as much as I do, and loves anything girly. I knew I wanted to make her a cute apron, and when I saw orange polka-dot fabric, I knew I had to use it. 

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Fortunately, Erin loved it as much as I do! We both love how it resembles a mini skirt. 

The ruffles made it a little bit more difficult to sew, but I was very pleased with the final result. Here’s a close up:

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Happy birthday, Erin!

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