Wanted to surprise my boyfriend for lunch! Flipped open Food & Wine magazine and decided to try a new recipe from their 30 fast dishes. Discovered that this is my new favorite way to cook chicken....it is awesome even if you dont like capers and olives, but how could you not? :D



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Today, I decided to do a braised short rib recipe, based (loosely) on Daniel Boulud's recipe. I found some short ribs for cheap, and I figured, why not?



( Look, the finished plate ended up looking like a smiley! )

Hey guys! This is my extra virgin post to this fine community, so I hope you guys like what I made. It's my take on a Restaurant Wars recipe from this season's Top Chef, made to work with ingredients I had on hand/could get for cheap. Excuse the quality of the pictures, the batteries for the digicam were dead so I took these with my cellphone. Without further adieu, I present:

Linguine, Mussels, and Sausage in Cream Sauce


( 2 more, and the recipe )

I made a faux manicotti-type dish yesterday - my husband couldn't find manicotti shells at the grocery, so I used lasagna noodles.  It turned out that I actually think that was better.  I've got a photo essay of the faux manicotti, which I'm calling Lasagna Roll-Ups.  Original, I know.

The filling mixture - sauteed portobello and white button mushrooms (diced teeny), onions, spinach and garlic mixed with cottage cheese, ricotta, an egg, parmesan, mozzerella, and spices.


( The rest of the process )

On my plate.  Delicious.

12 mini quiches
with garlic, spinach, cauliflower, broccoli, mushrooms, and various cheeses.

( two pictures )

I'm a huge fan of fresh vegetables and fruits.  I will eat them raw, cooked, or  fresh out of the ground with dirt on them! Ha, they're just one of the best tastes in the world. 
I didn't do anything special with this tonight, just laid down a fresh pile of spinach, green peppers, red peppers, and yellow peppers, added just a drizzle of Italian dressing light,   cooked the eye of round season steak 4.5-6 minutes on either side, it was seasoned with monterey steak seasoning, sliced tomatoes and instead of the normal cheese (moz) I used cream cheese. I just like the texture better.  Texas toast from a box, and a can of corn sprinkled over. 
My boyfriend was proud because I usually don't eat red meat.  I am a chicken/turkey kinda girl. He loved it, and I loved it! I'm not that fantastic with cooking red meats, however, I did well for only my second time making steak! Go me ! WoHoo!

It's all a learning process. I'm 23, and I've been watching Mom and Dad cook my entire life, and now that I have to do it on my own, it's such a wonderful experience.   I hope that when I have children they enjoy my cooking as much as I enjoy(ed) my Mother and Father's.  Both of them growing up in West Virginia, and Kentucky it was always home cooked meals. Amazing meals. Cornbread & Buttermilk, Gravy & Biscuits, Pigs in a Blanket, fudge.. just anything you can think of home-made ... I've had it from Mom and Dad.

One day I'll be that good! WoHoo! Until then, I'm happy with the small things I can make =) ....

More here.

I have more pancetta left over, and while I plan on searching around for more recipes, I'd love to hear any sugestions anybody may have!

My usual bowl of noodles - hard noodles, medium broth and oil. Added Corn, spinach (if they have it) and sometimes bamboo.
( More flicks under the click )

There is a local deli/convenience store on the property at my work. Ranch supplies them with many items including Croissants of Justice, World's Greatest Chocolate-&-Cream-Cheese Muffins, and my newest find: Salad of Tasty Doom.

It was only recently that I realized they only stock the croissants regularly, and much to my disappointment that the goat cheese / strawberry / mixed green / walnut / balsamic dressing Salad of Tasty Doom would be a rarity... so I started making my own. And let me tell you, it's been a slice of fun little heaven. :)

Take the following ingredients...

1. Goat Cheese Crumbles (I found a package that mixes the crumbles with red pepper, parsley and thyme, SO GOOD).
2. Glazed Walnuts
3. Craisins
4. Prepackaged baby spinach leaves
5. Newman's Own Lighten Up Light Organic Balsamic Vinaigrette Dressing
6. Avocado bits

Mix with portion sizes of your choice.

Enjoy!

sarah_y & I did our final grill duty today.



( The Menu in Photos )

Yummy!! The guys feel we have topped out on class and are going to work to lower the bar on their next grill dates :) sarah_y is going to continue her education so I will be solo for a while....till I get her back here.

I finally decided to cook the lamb chops I've had in the freezer. I'd stayed away from them, mainly because I wanted to do something special with them, but in the end, I figured eating them was special enough. :)

I did make sure to take the time to season them with sea salt, freshly cracked black pepper, olive oil, fresh basil and lemon balm, and I'm glad I did, because it was wonderful.

Combined with a side of sweet potato fries and homegrown organic greens, it was an awesome lunch.



(Please forgive the not-so-great photo quality; my webcam was not cooperating.)

Hi everyone! I'm new here. I love food and cooking, especially healthy! Here's something I whipped up tonight for supper. Let me know if you'd like the recipe! It's really fast and easy.

Sauteed vegetables and rosemary over a bed of spinach.

 

I'll admit, this is pretty facetious. A reinvention/deconstruction of one of my favorite Portuguese dishes, bacalhau à gomes de sá, garnished with some cilantro oil, spicy roasted chickpeas + a simple salad.

Two days ago my friend and I made an adventure out of getting stuff for the next nights sushi extravaganza. We went to the local Asiana Market, then our resident huge asian food market, Lee Lee's, had some yummy fried tofu, pork buns and boba along the way, went to the Chinese Culture Center's Ranch Market then to good ol' Sprouts.
Oh and what a feast it was:

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I give you: vegetable stuffed portabella mushrooms!



As usual for me, there is no recipe. This was off the top of my head. ( Here's what I did: )

Not bad for low-fat, low-carb, and still hearty and flavourful!

spinach hamburgers.

I'd like to make spinach hamburgers for a camping trip. I want to make sure they'll stand up to the grill and that my picky eater companion won't complain that it has spinach in it. She agreed to try it since I'm the one providing the food, but I'd like her to love it too. XD She's had my cooking before so she knows that when I promise something I mean it. It's just I can't find the recipe I was using and I can't find it online either. I love garlic and spices and so does she. So, if the recipe is friendly with the garlic that's perfectly fine.

Please beef only. I don't want turkey burgers.

Contents: "Lamburger" (ground lamb and shredded carrot burger) on English muffin with lettuce and cheese, mangoes and blueberries with a splash of lime juice, quick spinach and corn dish with sesame seeds and vinaigrette (recipe follows), and salad with watermelon, feta, pecans and fresh mint (sauce container with orange juice balsamic vinaigrette). Morning prep time: 7 minutes, using leftovers, freezer staples and packing some items the night before.

Full post with detailed packing info here at Lunch in a Box.

My friend turned 21 recently and so his roommates came over to my house for a Day of Kitchenry! One of them made an insanely delicious (but easy) spinach quiche. I made (as per his request) vanilla-blueberry cupcakes with a mint frosting.

I know what you're thinking. Vanilla and blueberry? Yum! Mint? Yum! All three? Are you mad? And with that very thought in mind I didn't put blueberries in about six of them and then made some vanilla icing as well just to make certain that the world didn't explode. However, the mint actually was pretty freakin' delicious after all.

( Pics and recipies! But they are cell-phone pics, so forgive quality. )

I'm really posting this especially to gear myself up for The Great Cupcake Bakefest (tm) that I'm doing on the 30/31 where I make loads of cupcakes for an art show event that my friends are hosting/throwing/the like. Pics of those will be taken with an actual camera because I think this is the type of thing that just needs good pictures. :)