April showers bring May flowers

Sorry it has been so long since my last post. A lot has happened in our household the past few months. The biggest being in December we found out that I was pregnant with our first child. We told our families at Christmas and it was such a great holiday!

So here it is the end of April almost May and I can feel spring in the air. I love this time of year. The flowers starting to bloom and the temps starting to rise,just makes me a happy girl. I love being outside and after being cooped up all winter, I am ready to get out more. With summer closing in it also means weekends down the shore are starting soon, and I can't wait!! It also means the arrival of our little one in August, so a lot to look forward to.

Ok, so back to food. I have tried a few recipes the past few months. On the weekends one of my favorite things to do is get up and immediately put on food network. One of my new favorite cooking shows is pioneer woman. So it was no surprise when I went searching for a new short rib recipes, I found hers and had to try it. You will not be disappointed. It is a lot of work getting it to the oven, but thankfully I had the help of my husband when it came to cutting everything up and browning the ribs. I served it over my homemade mashed potatoes, and it was delicious. I believe my husband licked his plate clean....literally.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/11/braised-short-ribs-heaven-on-a-plate/

So for St. Patrick's Day this year, I also decided I wanted to try a new recipe. I have made Shepard's Pie a few times in the past, but I wanted another recipe to try, because I wasn't really one hundred percent happy with mine. No suprise I found one on the food network website I wanted to try. Again, another winner! I also made my own mashed potatoes, but did the filling as directed on her recipe. It is my new go-to recipe for Shephard's Pie!


http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/melissa-darabian/shepherds-pie-recipe/index.html

Here is the picture of mine..

This past weekend, my husband and I were going to make a huge batch of homemade pasta sauce (family recipe).  When we do this, we make a ton and can it, so when the baby comes, we will have a whole bunch for quick easy meals. We ended up being too busy, and didn't get around to it. So hopefully at some point in the next few weekends we will get to do it. So as I was making my grocery list, I was trying to  use stuff I already had in the house. I had bought meatloaf mix for meatballs, so I thought, why not make a homemade bolognese sauce using meatloaf mix instead of beef? Shocker, I came across this recipe. Again...from Food Network, and Pioneer Woman! haha. I made it on a week day. I came home right from work, had all the veggies cut up the night before, so I could just throw it all in the pot, and  let it cook for as long as I could. However, I also think I might try it on a weekend when I can give it a few hours to cook too. But even cooking for an hour, it was absolutely delicious! It makes a lot, so you might want to halve the recipe. I made the whole thing, and froze the leftovers for quick easy meals, later on.

http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2009/05/ryans-bolognese-sauce/

I have tried a few more recipes, but going to save those for a later blog. I am spoiling my husband with all these great meals now while I can. haha. He has a few more months of me having the time to make big meals on the weekends and during the week for now.

December

Sorry it has been a while since I posted, as the rush of Christmas has caught up to me. I have made several new recipes that all have been really good. It is unual I try three new recipes in one week, all of which I enjoyed as well as much as my husband.

Now, I was trying to use all stuff I had in my freezer. I had all this food, and no idea what to do with it. I was losing room in my freezer, and needed to get stuff out. So first thing I found was chicken thighs. Now those can be hard to figure out exactly what to do. So my first stop is my usual Cooking Light website. I have been wanting to try to make a Coq Au Vin for a while now, and when this recipe popped up it sounded intriguing. Promise of a quick recipe, using the chicken thighs I had on hand, why not give it a try. I don't like mushrooms, so I omitted those, but I am sure for you mushroom  lovers, it would have been an excellent addition, and I used regular bacon, as it is what I had on hand. Turned out really good, and as promised was quick, and an excellent week night meal!

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/quick-coq-au-vin-10000000451742/



Next in my freezer was ground turkey. Hmmm...what to do. I usually do mexican with ground turkey, and an enchilada casserole sounded good to me, but I have tried several on my husband, who is not a fan. So..why not try a mexican lasagna, same concept, but a little different of a twist. Husband took one bite of this, and finished his plate clean. He is not a big mexican fan, so I took this as a huge compliment. And he told me this was to be put on the rotation. I was very excited, as I could eat mexican all the time.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/mexican-lasagna-10000000258943/

And the third new meal that week, was a chicken casserole, but I wanted something simple, but yet a little different. As you can see I am a big fan of one pot meals! haha. Again this was simple, quick to pull together, and most stuff I would have on hand. I didn't have a rotissiere chicken, but if you did, would have made the prep time a lot faster. Instead I used chicken tenders I had, and cooked them, and seasoned them with salt and pepper.

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/mandys-easy-chicken-casserole-00420000002718/

So if you are like me and looking for quick weeknight meals you can pull together quickly, with staples you probably already have in your house, these are three excellent choices.

Now on to enjoy my Christmas Holiday. We are going to spend some time with my husbands family, then I am excited to go home and enjoy some time with my much missed friends and family in St. Louis, and Illinois. I can not wait!! Hope everyone has a very MERRY Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

The Beginning

I am starting this blog, because I LOVE to cook, and often find myself with my friends and family asking for recipes, and exchanging ones that we like. I figured why not start a blog of dishes I make, and tell you what I thought of them. I try at least one new recipe every week. Some turn out really good, and some not so good. This way I can also share in one spot, the good recipes for everyone. Enjoy!

My first recipes I am going to post are two that have become, as my husband would say, put into our rotation.

Let me give you a background of how this all started. My husband started working with a girl that was a vegetarian. He always brings in the leftovers, as I still don't know how to cook only for 2 people, and everyone at his work would rave over how wonderful my food was. I felt bad, because 99 percent of the food he was bringing in had meat in it, and this girl never got a chance to try my cooking. So as I was also trying to get my husband to eat more vegetables and less meat I thought what better way than to include her also into my cooking. So I sought out to find more vegetarian recipes, and also meals my kind of picky husband would eat.

The first one is Zucchini Parmesan. I started out by telling my husband I wanted to try making Eggplant Parm. Of course I then find out he isn't a big eggplant fan, so out of the blue I suggested maybe a zucchini parm, since I know he loves zucchini. Now we both never had even heard of zucchini parm, so I set out googling recipes to see what I could find. This is what I found, and it was fantastic! And his co-worker got to enjoy this as well.

 http://www.handletheheat.com/2010/10/layered-zucchini-parmesan.html

So all inspired I try to find as many vegetarian dishes to throw in at least once a week. This was another one I found, that was a bit easier and a bit less time consuming, and one all of my husband's co-workers   really enjoy the leftovers of! Of course as you will see the recipe is for 8 servings, so it makes a lot. Next time, I need to figure out how to half it

http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Ravioli-Casserole-2

This week with Thanksgiving, there were no new recipes to try, as I only have to cook two nights this week, then will be with my husbands family for the long weekend, where tons of great food will be consumed. I can't wait! Hope everyone has a great Thanksgiving!