Merry Christmas Eve

Hi all! I'm back! So crazy right! I'm just popping in to give you a little update on Christmas life. We have had lots of fun decorating, baking cookies, visiting Santa and family, and prepping for C-Day that the month flew by! It is crazy.

We took little miss back into town to visit Santa. The same one from last year. While we hoped for a good outcome, we even brought the photo of him and her with so she would look at it, we prepared ourselves mentally that she would scream and cry. We went and had lunch first and she had a mini nap on the drive over so she was in a relatively good mood because we let her run off a little energy through the mall on the walk over. Once inside Santa asked that we not show her his face and I just plopped her in his lap. I backed up and started making faces and being silly and we got a huge smile. She even looked at Santa with a big grin and shed not a single tear (the same could not be said for the poor, yet creepy, Easter Bunny.) We were in shock. He said "don't expect that next year," but we thought the same thing about this year. It was totally awesome!

We are getting to have Christmas Eve dinner at our house for the first time ever and D and I are SO EXCITED. We bought some nice dishes and some accessories so I cannot wait to set the table. Tonight is cleaning and making cranberry sauce in preparation, while tomorrow I will be cooking up a storm all day (with my mom's assistance since I have never made a turkey before.) There will be a fire, various liquors and wine, and of course family and opening of our Christmas Eve gift (pajama's.) I cannot wait to spend the first Christmas in our own home. Here is the menu:

Turkey
Cranberry Pear Sauce
Cranberry Apple Sausage Stuffing (My dear friends recipe)
Sweet Potatoes
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
and of course Starlight Sugar Twists, Sugar, Scotcharoos and chocolate chip cookies.

I hope you and yours have a wonderful Christmas with your family and friends. This is a time for giving, for families, and for love. Merry Merry Christmas!

Love The Kimball's

Tri Colored Rotini with Sausage and Mixed Veggies

In an effort to start getting back into blogging more I am trying to catch up on some DIY and food posts that have been lacking around these parts. We have focused a lot on our little one, because honestly that's what our life is about right now. Our love for our daughter. But I know that sometimes a little change is good. I am going to try and put together a list of recipe's that are quick and easy for nights when you need a 30 minute meal. Honestly....those have always been my go to, but now with a baby that needs to be fed, bathed and in bed by 8pm this makes our nighttime routine a little harried and I look for quick and easy more often now!

Also, since we are doing a mixture of BLW and natural steam puree's for our little one I wanted to get more fresh ingredients on the menu for us as well. Monkey see monkey do type of idea. We can't expect her to eat healthy if we don't make an effort as well.

With that said, I am Italian by heritage and that means I love PASTA! Not only is it quick, it's also inexpensive and filling. Enter our newest addition to the weekly mix. Tri-Colored Rotini with Sausage and Mixed Veggies. I sent the hubby to the store for the ingredients and either he missed them or our store sucks and didn't have them (more likely) but he couldn't find zuchinni. So yellow squash made it in instead.

Ingredients
(1) package Hot Italian Sausage
(1) orange or red bell pepper
(1) yellow squash or zuchinni
(2) roma tomatos
1/2 cup onion
(3) cloves garlic minced
Olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste
Tri-Colored Rotini pasta

Directions
1. In a skillet brown your sliced sausage until thoroughly cooked. While this is cooking dice and chop all your veggies. Once your sausage is cooked, remove from pan but leave any drippings. Drizzle olive oil in your pan and saute your veggies and garlic until onion is clear and the veggies are soft. Add salt and pepper and stir. Mix in your sausage until everything is combined

2. In a stock pot boil your water and cook your pasta until it's al dente. 

3. Drain your pasta and toss your mixture and pasta together until well coated. Serve!

This recipe literally from start to finish was under 30 minutes and was made with all fresh ingredients. The hubby agreed also that it was needing to go onto the list, which is always a win to me! I hope you enjoy! We did!

Ham Shank and Bean Soup

Ever want a big bowl of a hearty soup that just brings back memories of fireplaces and cuddling? This soup is a family favorite and I have been wanting the recipe for ages! Well I FINALLY got it! I know this photo isn't very good, but I'm telling you that it is worth your effort. Hopefully the next time we have some I can get a better photo so you can all see its mashed bean and ham goodness! I am usually not a ham fan, but with all the other flavors mixed in you can't really tell that there is ham in it! This makes a lot of soup, and since there are only two of us at the moment we freeze the rest for a rainy day, or just a night where we don't feel like cooking. You'll need to use dried beans, not canned for it as well. Enough with the talking, lets get on with the actual recipe shall we?

What You'll Need:
1/2 lb Navy Beans
1/2 lb small white baby lima beans
1/3 cup lentils
1/4 cup split peas
1/4 cup black beans
1/3 cup pinto beans
2 stalks celery (finely minced)
1 large carrot (finely grated)
1 8oz can tomato sauce
1 medium onion (finely chopped)
4-5 garlic cloves (minced)
2 tbsp parsley flakes
Small amount of salt
Lots of pepper (to taste)
1 Medium Ham shank
1 small potato grated (Note: when ready to eat only!)

Directions:
1. Place all ingredients (except the potato) in a 6 quart pot and fill with water until about one inch from the surface of the pot.

2. Simmer on low heat for 3 hours stirring often.

3. Remove ham and continue cooking for 1-2 hours until your beans can be easily mashed. Mash the beans with a potato masher.

4. While beans continue to cook, remove ham from bone and tear or chunk into small pieces. After the beans have been mashed, add in the ham and cook for approximately 30 minutes.

5. Prior to serving grate a small peeled potato into the mix and cook for 5 minutes stirring constantly until thickened.  Note: if you continue to cook after the 5 minutes the beans will burn and stick. Be careful.

6. Remove from heat and serve.

Salisbury Steak and Mashed Potatoes

All I have been wanting lately is comfort foods. Some staples in our household work to curb this, but others (like macaroni and cheese) aren't something that the hubs and I will eat together. I really wanted something substantial a couple weeks back and beef just sounded amazing. I was scouring my pins on Pinterest and I remembered that I had pinned a recipe from Real Mom Kitchen, unfortunately it seems like there is something wrong with the website so I cannot link you to the recipe. I will attempt to recap how to make this dish. Let me tell you that I underestimated the time that it takes to make this dish (a little over an hour) so we ended up eating relatively late, but it was completely worth the wait.

Salisbury Steak

What You Need:
1lb ground beef
1/3 cup breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 egg
small onion diced (or half a large one)
1 can condensed beef broth
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water
1 packet brown or mushroom gravy mix

Directions:
1. Mix the beef, bread crumbs, salt, pepper and egg together and shape into 4-6 oval patties about 3/4 inches thick. Cook patties in a skillet turning once until brown.

2. Add onion and beef broth, heat to boiling. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove patties to a 9 x 13 casserole dish.

3. Heat mixture until boiling. In the meantime, mix water and cornstarch together to make a paste. Add to the boiling mixture with a wire whisk until gravy begins to thicken. Then add the packet of gravy that has been mixed with one cup of water to the beef broth mixture in the skillet. Using wire whisk, whisk the gravy until it's smooth and thickened.

4. Pour the gravy over the patties. Bake in the casserole dish at 350 degrees until bubbly.

5. Serve!

Mashed Potatoes

What You Need:
3-4 Large baking potatoes
Butter (to taste)
Milk (to taste)

Potato Masher
Handheld mixer
Pot

Directions:
1. Cut your potato's into medium size chunks. Place in a pot and cover the potatoes with water. Boil the potatoes until you can pierce them easily with a fork. Drain water

2. Use your potato masher to smash the chunks down to size. Add in butter and begin mixing with your handheld mixer on low. Add milk in small quantities until desired fluffiness is reached. Note: you can add in salt and pepper to the mixture as well for flavoring

We paired this dish with a side salad and our favorite homemade dressing. We both devoured it and the hubs said that it needs to go on the rotation! Hope you enjoy!

Cranberry Pear Sauce

My mom has been making this cranberry sauce for the last couple of years and it has become such a staple at the holidays that the family always requests it. This year I will be with D's family for Thanksgiving and would have missed out on this awesome dish otherwise. Granted we would have the canned cranberry sauce that you slice, which don't get me wrong I LOVE still, but there is something about the combination of the cranberries and the pear pieces that just marries so well together! I made a batch last night for the first time so we could have the opportunity to nosh on this wonderful yumminess, and we both wanted to eat spoonfuls out of the hot pot. (the hubby actually did!)

It's super simple and if you have time this holiday season I highly recommend trying it. It's super simple and makes a wonderful addition to your plate of goodies.


What You'll Need:
2 1/2 Cups cubed and pealed ripe pears (about 3 medium)
1 Cup Water
1/2 tsp ground ginger or 1-2 tsp minced gingerroot
1 cinnamon stick (3 inches) broken in half
1 package (12 oz) fresh or frozen cranberries
1-1 1/4 Cups sugar

Directions:
 1. In a saucepan combine the pears, water, ginger and cinnamon. Bring to a boil.

2. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes.

3. Stir in cranberries and sugar. Return to a boil.

4. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 10-12 minutes or until the cranberries have popped and sauce is slightly thickened. Stirring several times throughout.

5. Discard cinnamon sticks and mash un-popped cranberries if desired. Place in a glass container that has a lid. Allow to cool, cover and refrigerate.

And that's it! So simple and it just reminds me of the holidays! Now you may notice that the finished product isn't very pretty.....but it tastes good so that's all that matters! What are your favorite holiday foods?

Homemade Pasta Fagioli

I grew up in an Italian family. We had so many recipes that have become heavy staples in my own home including our pasta sauce and Italian dressing. You might remember my Meatball Sub Sandwich recipe from earlier in the year and those are our family recipe meatballs, minus the Parmesan cheese which I miss! So I keep asking my great aunts and grandfather for specific recipes and was finally able to track one down. The pasta fagioli recipe (pronounced "fazul") The hubby loves the Olive Garden version, but I remember it being slightly different and wanted to try our own recipe before attempting the O.G. knock offs on Pinterest. He was on board and helped me out with making it.....well he cut the veggies and then got a call to run to work really fast.

What You'll Need:
1lb Ground Beef
1/2 an Onion (chopped small)
3 Stalks of Celery (chopped small)
Carrots (chopped small) - 2 handfuls baby carrots
6 cloves garlic Minced
(1) 16 oz Can Tomato Sauce
(2)  16 oz Can White Beans (If you can find Cannellini or Great Northern Beans that is preferred)
(1) tbsp Oregano
(1) tbsp Garlic Powder
Pinch of Pepper
1lb of Small Elbow Macaroni
Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Directions:
1. Brown your ground beef until cooked and drain fat. Chop all your veggies small.

2. In a large stock pot begin to boil your water for your pasta

3. In a separate stock pot, pour about four tbs olive oil in the bottom of your pan. Add your minced garlic and saute until brown. Add in your veggies and saute until cooked.

4. Add your 16oz can of tomato sauce and cook on high to bring to a boil.

5. Reduce heat to medium and add your (2) cans of beans. Then add your garlic powder, oregano and pepper, and ground beef.

6. Increase heat to high and bring to a fast boil for 1 minute. Switch heat to medium and simmer for 15 minutes. If your sauce isn't juicy enough you can add water from your pasta pot.

7. While simmering finish cooking your elbow pasta until al dente.

8. This is where there was an oops.....I remember everything being mixed together (like goulash) so I added my cooked pasta into the sauce and mixed it together. I guess you are supposed to just add the amount of pasta you would like for your sauce, for it to be more like a stew/soup. Either way works and tastes just as good. Just pick how you would like it dished up. Remember that the pasta is going to absorb a lot of the juice from the sauce.

Another tip straight from the hubby.....if you cry a lot while chopping onions, then just utilize your swimming googles to help with the sting! Haha. I was giggling when he put these on, but was glad that we were cooking together!

The couple that cooks together, stays together.

Even though it wasn't the same as his favorite O.G. soup, he still went back for seconds and we have plenty left over for lunches.

Always remember that with any spice you should adjust to your own taste. I added more pepper and might adjust the other spices the next time I make it, of course I could add to it as well!.

Homemade Banana Bread

In an effort to continue to ween us out of summer.....thinking thoughts of sweaters and fireplaces. I decided to make homemade banana bread over the weekend. Every time we have a banana that is about to go bad I throw it in the freezer, in hopes of making the bread. We had quite a decent collection of banana's in the freezer and since I was having a sweet tooth, I figured now is a better time than any to try my hand at this festive fall treat. I'll admit I was a little nervous, while I can bake cookies and cakes....bread is a whole different story! Good thing was, the hubs liked it so much he went back for seconds!

What You'll Need:
3 or 4 Ripe Banana's
1/3 Cup Butter (Melted)
1 Cup Sugar
1 Egg (Beaten)
1 Tsp Vanilla
1 Tsp Baking Soda
Pinch of Salt
1-1/2 Cup Flour
4" x 8" Loaf Pan

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degree's. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed banana's in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg and vanilla. Then mix in the baking soda and salt. Finally add in the flour and mix thoroughly. Pour mixture into a greased loaf pan and bake for 1 hour. Cool and serve!

I hope you all try your hand a baking this fall! It really makes the house smell so festive. Recipe found here.

Whiskey Apple Pie Cocktail - Adults Only

Labor Day has come and gone and that means the beginning of Fall right? Well California's weather is protesting this with a vengeance as we are experiencing the heat that we should have had last month. It's been over a hundred every day since last week. I cannot wait to be able to cuddle up under a blanket in my sweats and have something baking in the oven! Instead I am baking inside our apartment! In order to help ease our way into fall, the hubby and I discovered a new beverage. And I am here to share!

If you don't know about Fireball, then you either A: don't drink, B: don't drink whiskey, or C: don't listen to country music. It is the new fad in drinking whiskey because it's cinnamon flavored. The hubs used to love Southern Comfort, and that's still his choice when we are out, but at home he will go for Fireball on the rocks without even flinching. I'm telling you I have had my fair share of Jack in my time, and it's completely in my past. Beer's are also relatively new for me, although I love a good Blue Moon from time to time. I don't care for whiskey or things with cinnamon flavor all that much, but this little recipe is pretty darn good. Like apple pie in a glass. All you need is: A shot of Fireball mixed with an Apple Orchard beer (my new favorite beer! It tastes like apple cider and its uh mah zing! Picture Martinelli's with a kick! Dangerous!) Pour your beer and the shot of whiskey into a frosty Pilsner glass, garnish with an apple slice and it's almost like your having a cold slice of apple pie. Thoughts are rolling around in my head about maybe topping it with whipped cream also. Like a dessert cocktail??!!? Ok lets not go crazy here! It's just a light and refreshing cocktail, and sometimes at the end of a long day, that's all you need!

Ingredients:
Fireball Red Hot Cinnamon Whiskey
Angry Orchard Hard Cider
Beer Stein of Choice
Apple Slice

Always remember to please drink responsibly, and only if of legal drinking age!

Meatball Sub Sammie's

Ok. This post has been in the pipeline for a couple if weeks but I keep forgetting to post about it. In my almost 30 years of life I have never had a meatball sub sandwich. I dont know why, but something about it just didn't seem appetizing. I love meatballs, and pasta sauce, I just thought that it was strange. Well a couple of weeks ago, not wanting to have spaghetti, but wanting to use up our frozen homemade spaghetti sauce I decided to make some homemade meatballs and make some sandwiches one cold evening. Totally yummy and will make again considering how easy it was! You can buy store bought meatballs, but making your own just tastes better!

What You Need:

1lb lean ground beef
3 cloves garlic (minced)
Bread Crumbs
1 egg (lightly beaten)
Dry Parsley
Parmesan Cheese (Optional)
Favorite Pasta Sauce (We use homemade, but jarred works too!)
Kaiser Rolls

Baking Sheet

Directions:

1. In a large mixing bowl combine ground beef, egg and  garlic cloves (minced) with your hands until thoroughly mixed. Add in about 1/2 cup of bread crumbs and some dry parsley (about a 1/8 of a cup or so). Spices and bread crumbs are done by eyeing it. Make sure to include enough so that they stick well together, but not too much. You can include some Parmesan cheese at this point if you desire. Mix in well with your hands. Honestly, I don't think there is a better way to do this than to just get in there and get dirty!

2. Take about a handful of your meat mixture and smush (technical term) the mixture to compact it. Then roll between your hands to make a ball. Each ball should be about 2" in diameter. Place on a baking sheet spaced about an inch apart.

3. Place baking sheet in a preheated 350 degree oven. Watch them and turn when about half cooked/browned. Total time about 20 min or so. Will make about a dozen or so 2" meatballs.

4. Take meatballs and place in your heated pasta sauce for another 15 minutes to let that yummy saucy goodness seep into the meat. Then place 2-3 meatballs on your kaiser rolls and dribble some sauce on the top. Serve!

Makes 4 sandwiches.

Cold Tuna Pasta Salad

You guys, I don't know about you, but when it's really hot outside I don't feel like cooking....or eating...or doing anything really. Hehe. So last night, after a 105° day in SoCal it was the battle of what to have for dinner. The hubby had the day off so he made one of our go to summer staples for dinner. Cold Tuna Pasta Salad. It's light and refreshing, and because we make it relatively dry (with regards to the mayo) not all that unhealthy. Simple ingredients, and you only have to turn on the stove to boil the water, you won't even break a sweat. This recipe makes a lot so you can have it as a side for a BBQ or just have tons of leftovers!

Cold Tuna Pasta Salad

Ingredients:
Shell Noodles (We usually use the whole bag)
(2) cans Tuna
Mayonnaise (To taste)
(1) can Corn
2-3 Stalks Celery (Finely Chopped)
2-3 Green Onions (Finely Chopped)
2 handfuls Shredded Carrots
Salt and Pepper (To Taste)

Directions:
Cook shell noodles according to package directions. Fold all ingredients together. Refrigerate until ready to eat. (Will taste better the colder the pasta is!)

Simple and quick. Perfect for those late nights, or lunches! As you can tell by my other recipes, we love simple! But of course delicious!

A Mammoth Triptych

Wow, I have been a busy bee the last couple of weeks. Last weekend I finished up a couple of crafts, after failing at my attempt to fix the hubby's suit pants. He's got a hole in the pocket that I just cannot seem to fix! I guess they are going to get shipped off to mom's house! Cest la vie! Also, I was able to do some photo editing as well. Still needing to work on Florida, but these things were asked of me LONG ago.

We all love our smart phones and the fact that we can take photos at the drop of a hat. However most of these photo's are not print worthy. When my friend asked me to do some editing of some photos for his home I thought ok no problem. Well that is until he emails them to me and the below shot is one of them. Needing to color correct and remove the blue haze (caused from being in the shade and the setting sun) was my first task. Now since we are doing more to the photo, I didn't so super crazy with the photo editing, but the after (on the right) looks so much better than the original photo.

Before (Left) After (Right) Also, this photo was taken on a smart phone! Haha

I played around with a couple of techniques and came up with this cool, sketchy triptych. Although, I think were gonna need a little more work on the last photo, since it doesn't quite match the other two. Hey. Not too shabby for less than an hours worth of work! Hopefully we can figure out what kind of techniques to use, to make the photo's wall worthy. Once completed, I'll post em!

I also finished another baby shower quick gift. The diaper/wipes strap. Tutorial to come on that later! They look so cute! I am in love with the pink ABC fabric, too bad I'm almost out of it! :-( Also I did some hand stitching a couple of weeks back (finishing up a couple things) and tried some hand embroidery. Another new thing for me. All I had ever done was the simple techniques that come with the bib patterns. I think it turned out pretty cute! I love the colors! Need a technique for transferring an image for embroidery? Print your image off from the computer or wherever you would like, trace it onto Glad Press and Seal, pin to your fabric, and stitch over the design. You'll have to cut off the press and seal later, but it made my life so much easier! :-)

Closeup!

And finally a Saw It, Pinned It, Did It moment. This chicken with tomato and basil recipe I found on Pinterest. We had everything except the chicken so I thought, what the hell it's worth a shot! Once this was simmering, it was hard to not want to lick the pan. It smelled that good! Another one on the list for dinner rotation!

Tomato Basil Chicken

What You'll Need:
2 chicken breasts
kosher salt and black pepper
2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
2 tsp minced fresh garlic
4 Tbsp cold butter
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped
freshly grated Parmigiano reggiano cheese, for garnish (optional)

Head on over to Menu Musings, for the rest of the directions! If you love Italian food, this is one for the books!

Happy Friday! Have a great weekend!

Sweet and Spicy Wing Recipe and a Non-Sequitur on Netflix!

We all love chicken wings right? Heck ya! I have a couple of super simple recipes below, after my totally unrelated non-sequitur about television! Hehe. The hubby and I have this habit of not watching a show when it's on live tv. Honestly we hate watching commercials and it's getting to the point that we hate fast forwarding through commercials also. So what's next? Netflix! We get recommended a show, wait for it to make it's appearance and we watch the entire season, usually without breaks, so then our DVR gets really full! Oops.

source

This was the same with Sons of Anarchy. I was so against watching it because it didn't look like anything I would be interested in.....bikers and guns. No thanks. Seriously you guys. I am hooked. It's got a full cast including Katey Sagal! (remember from Married with Children) It's totally not a girly show, but sometimes you have to let the hubby watch some cool stuff too right?! Honestly it's a pretty good drama, with lots of character development and of course the action that all men like! Ladies, it just might be something worth looking into watching with your man.....if he likes that kind of television. Throughout the first season it was bugging me that I couldn't figure out who the main character "Jax" (Charlie Hunnam) reminded me of. It was another actor.....not Channing Tatum, not Paul Walker......who was it! Then in the second season, my question was answered.....Brad Pitt....scruffy.

Seriously....twins right? Or just me? Anyways, I just thought I'd share that little tidbit and in case any other fans of the show were wracking their brain trying to figure this out!

Anyways, onto the recipes. We usually just stick to making one type of wing, SPICY, but since my cousin gave me a new one to try we just decided to make both kinds. Seriously folks, this is some easy stuff here! The sweet wings just fell off the bone! SO GOOD!

Sweet and Spicy Wings

What You Need (Sweet):
Half a Bag of Frozen Chicken Wings (thawed)
(1) Cup Soy Sauce
(1) Cup Sugar
(1) Cup Water

Pot large enough to house the wings and the sauce.

Directions:
1. Pour sugar, soy sauce and water into pot and heat until sugar is dissolved.
2. Add wings, bring to a boil.
3. Cover and simmer for an hour.
4. Consume!

Note: I like to use frozen wings because they are cheaper when purchased in bulk, just remember to have enough time to let them thoroughly defrost first! :-) You will have enough sauce to make the entire bag of wings, we just used half because we made spicy ones too! 

What You Need (Spicy):
Half a Bag of Frozen Chicken Wings (thawed)
(1) Bottle Crystal Hot Sauce

Pan large enough to house the wings and the sauce.

Directions:
1. Add thawed wings to pan, add a little olive oil to keep them from sticking to the pan. About halfway through cooking coat wings in Crystal hot sauce and turn. Repeat with every turn.
2. Once fully cooked, remove from pan and toss in some more sauce.
3. Consume! 

Seriously, simple! Add some fries and a cocktail and you have the perfect gaming meal! Nom Nom Nom!

Lovin' on my Smoothies!

The hubby and I both have major sweet tooth's. Sometimes it's hard to tell whose worse, but we both like to end our day with a little something special. This usually can include any of the following: cookies, cupcakes, brownies, bagged candy, ice cream, chocolate.....I think you get the picture. But in looking towards the future we both know that we should try and cut out the refined sugar and go for the healthier option. Enter, the smoothie. A great way to get your daily intake of fruit/veggies if your don't get them during the day. We have tried the Oatmeal Smoothies but have found that these really are better for breakfast as the tend to fill you up, and I don't know about you, but I hate trying to fall asleep with a full belly. So I took my handy blender and some frozen and fresh fruits and went to town. The hubby loved it and it was a great sweet ending to our evening. Maybe even diabetic friendly?

What You'll Need:
(2) Cups frozen mixed berries
(1) Apple (Cored and diced)
(1) Banana (Peeled and diced)
A Dash of Light Cranberry Juice (Or whatever liquid you prefer)

Directions:
1. Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth. If your smoothie is a little thick, continue to add small amounts of juice until you get your desired thickness.
2. Pour into cups, add a bendy straw (cause they make everything more fun) and enjoy!

Simple, and also healthy dessert. I have tried this with peaches, pears and oranges as well. Next on my list.....veggies. Eek! I'm a little scared! Let me know if you have tried and interesting smoothies lately.

Oregano Chicken on a bed of veggies

Ok, so it's the start of a new year means healthy eating....well at least for the next couple of weeks right? Well in our house we eat a lot of chicken. After a while your chicken recipes become a little boring. So I thought I would spruce up our traditional chicken meal for a Friday night feast with a couple of friends.

Oregano Chicken on a Veggie Bed!

What you need: 
4 Boneless/Skinless Chicken Breasts
2 Small/Medium potatoes
1/2 pound fresh green beans
2-3 garlic cloves
1 Can chicken stock
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Dried Oregano
Garlic Salt
Pepper
Table Salt

Skillet
Oven Safe pan

Directions:
1. Slice your potato's. Cut the raw ends off of your green beans and cut in half. Place the potato's in the bottom of your oven safe pan, then place the green beans on top. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over all the veggies. Throw in some garlic cloves as well. Set aside.

2. Take your chicken breasts and lightly coat both sides with olive oil. Then sprinkle pepper, garlic salt and dried oregano on both sides. Not a ton, just enough for some flavor. Place in a skillet over medium heat and cook until chicken is no longer pink in the middle and the juices run clean. Tip: keeping the chicken covered will make sure that the moisture stays inside the meat.

3. Take your cooked chicken and place it on top of your veggie bed. Pour in about 1/4 of the can of chicken stock for added moisture and drizzle the juices from the pan over everything. Sprinkle a little more pepper if desired. Cover your pan with tin foil and place in a pre-heated 430 degree oven. Bake for 15 minutes. Remove tin foil and bake for another 15 minutes.

Enjoy!

Starlight Sugar Twist Cookies

Every Christmas season my mom and I would take two weekends and make 6-8 different types of cookies for the various holiday parties we went to as a family. With each batch making 4 dozen or so, that's a LOT of sugar, flour and mommy/daughter time. One that always was the favorite were the Starlight Sugar Twists. Similar to a sugar cookie with a snicker doodle-esque quality about them. There is no cinnamon but LOTS of sugar folded in layers and layers creating a caramelized bottom of crusty goodness while still being soft and yummy on the inside! *Runs to cookie jar to eat another* Ok I'm back! So here's the recipe of these yummy goodies.

Starlight Sugar Twists

What you need: 
3-1/2 C Flour
1 C Margarine
1/2 C Sour Cream
2 Eggs slightly beaten
1 pkg dry yeast (prepare according to directions)
1-1/2 C Sugar
2 tsps Vanilla

Rolling Pin
Cookie Sheets

Directions:
1. Cut margarine into flour until size of peas. Add eggs, sour cream and yeast. Mix thoroughly and divide into two. Wrap in saran and refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

2. Mix sugar and vanilla; cover until used.

3. Roll one portion of dough in vanilla sugar to a rectangle 16x20. Sprinkle more vanilla sugar and fold into thirds. Add more vanilla sugar and fold into thirds again. Roll dough to 16x20 rectangle again and cut into 1/2 inch strips. Cut strips into 3 inch pieces and twist several times. Place on baking sheet and bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from baking sheet immediately, or else they will stick like concrete!!! Cool on brown paper bag. Makes about 4 dozen.

Not your traditional Spaghetti sauce! AKA Quickie Spaghetti....and it has bacon!

Can you see the bacon chunks in the sauce?

Ok, first off I know, crappy photo! But hey, sometimes the presentation doesn't matter as much as the taste right?!? RIGHT?!

So at the beginning of the week I told you I had a ton of DIY's to share, well I still do. It's just getting my lazy bum to the computer and going through the photos to find the best ones! So stay tuned for those. Also I told you that I would post a family recipe that has bacon. Well here she is. I LOVE pasta. Why? #1 because it's pasta, #2 because it's cheap, #3 because it's SUPER EASY! and #4 because it's pasta! I grew up in an Irish/Italian household so many dishes that are our family traditions usually are pasta related. We have a red sauce that was brought to America from my Sicilian great grandmother and it's so yummy, but takes ALL day to make. So when the hubbs and I are in a red sauce mood, not the jarred kind (which I always dress up anyways) this is the go to. It's really quick and usually we have all the ingredients on hand.

Quickie Spaghetti

What You'll Need:
3-4 Slices of bacon chopped
1 cup chopped onion (yellow or white)
1 15oz can of tomato sauce
1 15oz can of water
Pepper (to taste)
Pasta of choice (I either use Angel Hair or Fettuccine)

Skillet
Stock Pot (For the pasta)

Directions:

1. In a skillet over med. heat place your chopped bacon and onion. Saute until bacon is fully cooked.

2. Once cooked, add tomato sauce, water and pepper. I say to taste, but I use a LOT of pepper. Probably 1/8 to 1/4 of a teaspoon. It just adds flavor in my opinion. I kind of coat the middle of my pan with pepper, stir, then coat again and stir. Not really measurements, but hey sometimes you just dump and go!

3. Cook sauce on low-med heat uncovered, 30-40 minutes or until thickened. While sauce is cooking prepare pasta according to package directions.

4. Serve over pasta. I like to coat the pasta with the sauce and then add a little extra on top!

See what I mean about EASY! What are your household dinner staples for those nights when you just want to have a quick meal fast?

Trying for some consistency

So, I know over the last 2 years this blog really hasn't been consistent, I mean sporadic posts and sometimes weeks without one. The main focus of this blog is really about my life with my hubby and our puppy and also the happiness, struggles, and all things that are surrounded in our lives. Since we have been trying to have a baby that has been a huge focus, and taken some away from other areas! Such is life, but I feel like the content of my little blog has suffered. It's been a journey until now and we are still chugging along. That being said I think I need to make a schedule for all of you.

Since I have had baby on the brain I have been crafting like crazy! We have not conceived, but I keep seeing all sorts of great items to create and have a ton of scrap fabric so I think to myself.....well I can just keep it all on hand for baby showers or birthdays....that sort of thing. Just to keep my craft bug alive. D watched football yesterday (Sunday) and I sat at my machine and plugged along like crazy! So I have five, 1234....Five, tutorials to post!!!! Honestly the only reason I stopped yesterday was because I ran out of thread! ;-D So I will start posting a DIY/Tutorial post once a week.

Also, we have gotten bored with our meals that we do. So much so that most nights it's a struggle to come up with a meal that's fast, easy and relatively inexpensive. So in my quest for new food, I will scour Pinterest and Food Gawker for new recipes. If they work out, I will make sure to share! I have a family recipe all ready to share! If you like pasta and bacon, this is a recipe for you!

So that's the plan! Hopefully I can stick to it! Check out below for a preview of some tutorials to come!

Ground Beef Pot Pie

Ok I don't usually post a lot of recipes on here because I don't really like to cook. I can do it, but there are other things that I enjoy more....like sitting at my sewing machine, not standing in front of a hot stove, but I digress. We have to eat. Since it's been chilly we have been wanting some comfort foods...enter the Beef Pot Pie. I have only ever had chicken or turkey, also not being a big fan of pot pies either so this was intriguing! The hubby loves them so I obliged, and as it turns out it was super yummy! I may be a turned pot pie fan!


What You'll Need:
1lb 80% lean ground beef
1/2 cup chopped onion
2 cups diced unpeeled russet potatoes
2 cups frozen mixed veggies
2 cups diced tomato's with Italian herbs
1-1.5 12oz can beef gravy
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 box refrigerated pie crusts
1 egg white, beaten

4-6 individual ovenproof bowls (this recipe made enough for 5 pot pies)
Cookie Sheet
Skillet

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 425. Spray your oven proof bowls with cooking spray and place on cookie sheet. In your skillet cook beef and onion over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until beef is thoroughly cooked; drain.

2. Stir in potatoes, mixed veggies, tomatoes, gravy and pepper. Reduce heat to medium-low; cover and cook 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until potatoes are almost tender.

3. Removed softened pie crusts from box and place flat on work surface. You can get all fancy with a 5" round cutter, or you can just attempt to cut even circles, then end up with a haphazardly cut one like I did! Presentation not so great, but tastes the same. Cut enough circles for the top and bottom. I like crust, hence the bottom crust, you can easily omit the bottom crust. Place a crust on the bottom and spoon beef mixture evenly into bowls. Place crusts over beef mixture; seal to edges of bowls. Cut several slits in each pie crust. Brush crusts with egg white.

4. Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until crusts are golden brown.

See what I mean about the haphazard one?

Note: You can use less gravy and go with just one 12 oz can, however we like gravy and that additional 1/2 can really makes the difference when it cooks out a little. You can also add a little chopped parsley to the top of your pie before you bake it for a little added flavor, I forgot it at the store, but it tasted just fine without it!

Yummy Filling!

This recipe was a Pillsbury adaptation!