Not a bread crust in sight

I do better when I have a plan. At least, I do better at eating healthy when I have a plan. Being in a rush when I am hungry generally leads me down the wrong path. It’s a tasty path, full of things like bagels, muffins and croissants. They are so good, and quick, and sometimes that’s what’s for lunch. I am working on reminding myself that the salad bar at Lowes Foods is also quick, and it’s a much better choice. I do actually make good choices on the salad bar. Mixed greens, lots of veggies, even raw carrots which are not my favorite but which I know are good for me. And they’re bright orange, which makes me happy, especially on a dreary March day.

Sorry for the babbling. 

This week, I have a plan. I sometimes use plain hamburger patties, because I really do like beef. But this week, I went with the healthier choice of chicken. No cheese, very little olive oil, and just some seasonings. Today., I used salt and pepper, and paprika. And then I cooked some red bell pepper and zucchini, and a little bit of onion. I just used olive oil, salt and pepper, and a little thyme on those. I packed them up in individual servings, and voila! I have a couple veggie and protein lunches ready to go this week. And no bread in any shape or form is involved. I’m calling that a victory. 

Brunch!

Our church’s music director was on a much needed vacation this week, so we didn’t have choir today. So, we played hooky (don’t tell anyone) and made brunch instead.

Sometimes I want us to have a large meal. We definitely accomplished that today.

The time change always throws me off a little, so I felt like I was off to a late start today. The first thing I did shortly after I got up was slice the strawberries, add a wee bit of sugar and put them in the refrigerator to get happy. I also took out the frozen hash browns from the freezer to thaw. I had never used this product before, and I was pleasantly surprised at how well it worked out.

When Jeffrey got up, he made me a cup of coffee. This house is just magical sometimes. Two days in a row, I just sat there and a cup of coffee appeared. Yay me!

I started fussing about the kitchen here and there. I knew we needed to get the bacon going. We used a recipe from a new cookbook, called Eat Delicious, by Dennis The Prescott, a musician turned chef/photographer, he’s on YouTube, all the things, etc. I highly recommend this cookbook. We had decided to make his Maple Bacon Scones, and we needed the Maple Spiced Rum Bacon. In true Lisa fashion, I didn’t have a lime, and we didn’t have spiced rum. So we used dark rum and an orange instead, and it was delicious. I don’t have a lot of experience making scones, but these were the best I have ever made. Look at that glaze gently dripping down the side of the scone - your mouth is watering, isn’t it?

I had diced some onions and peppers and cooked them with olive oil, salt and pepper. I also diced some ham pretty small, and cooked it too, just to get some color on it.

Now we were ready to really get cooking. Thank goodness there are three of us.

We used Pioneer Woman’s recipe for waffle iron hash browns (we added onions and bell peppers), and while they tasted great, we kind of made a mess. I am not known for keeping a spotless house, though, so we just kept rolling on.



I love mini frittatas, so we made some with the onions and peppers and ham, and some cheddar cheese. These little gems are so easy. It’s just 6 eggs, ¼ cup plus a couple splashes of milk, salt and pepper and whatever fillings you want to use.

Make sure you spray the mini muffin pan with cooking spray. We already had the oven at 350 degrees for the scones, so we just popped these in there too and cooked them for 25-30 minutes. You’ll have 24 mini frittatas, but leftovers heat up well, so I knew I’d have some breakfast for a couple days.

So, John was manning the waffle iron, Jeff was cooking the asparagus, and I was setting the table, crumbling bacon for the scone glaze, adding sliced bananas to the strawberries and generally flitting about the kitchen. Jeffrey snapped a photo of me when I wasn’t expecting him to. I was giving the boy a sidelong glance, because after I announcing that I wasn’t ready for pictures because I hadn’t even brushed my hair yet, the boy cut me off short, saying I looked just fine. He’s a fine young man, that boy.

That was another fun part of our lead up to brunch - Jeffrey was all about the food photography today. I might be a little biased, but I think he did a fantastic job.

Finally, we were ready to sit down. It was quite the spread. It was a lot of work, and there was a lot of cleanup to do afterwards, but I loved every minute of it. I love it when all of us are in the kitchen cooking together. We talk and laugh whenever we sit down to a meal. I guess that’s the point of all of this today. The menu, the cooking, the flitting about the kitchen, writing this blog and using Jeffrey’s photos. Whether you’re making a huge meal or you’re going to be like us and have cereal for dinner because we ate too much brunch - talk, laugh and enjoy it and it will come out right every time.

And please enjoy some more pics from brunch...

I have GOT to eat better

Last year, I tried the Whole30 Plan. It’s pretty basic. No grains, no dairy, no sugar, no processed foods or additives. No peas or corn (a couple of my fav veggies), no alcohol, no peanuts. I said it was basic, not easy.

But I did it.

I made my own ghee (clarified butter, really) to take out the milk fats. It took me a few cups before I could say I enjoy it, but I learned to drink black coffee. Fortunately, I could have potatoes and sweet potatoes (in moderation), so I was actually able to live without grains. I thought I would have the hardest time with the grains, but really, it was the cheese that got me. I wanted to lose weight, and I did lose some. But mostly, I wanted to learn some new eating habits so could lose weight and keep it off. Well, I have fallen back into some bad habits, so it’s time to work on me again. Harder this time. I am not going to do a strict Whole30 plan this time, but I will use a lot of what I learned and really work to make these changes that I need. I hope.

One thing I learned is that carbs for breakfast are useless for me. Sure, they taste great. But even the “healthy” things like oatmeal or Crispix cereal leave me hungry way before lunchtime. But if I have protein, I am only mildly hungry for lunch. So a protein-rich breakfast it is. I try to have hard boiled eggs, or sometimes I make mini frittatas, crustless quiches, whatever you want to call them. You can fill them with a meat of your choosing. I do try to pick a Whole30 approved one, which means no fake ingredients and no sugar — there is just one brand of bacon that my grocery store carries that does not have sugar. But I would rather cut added sugars out of everything else if it means I can have a cookie or something that actually tastes sweet and will satisfy my craving. For the mini frittatas, I leave out the cheese, and put in veggies, usually red bell peppers because they are one of my favorites in a quiche.

I also learned to love almond butter (a no additive kind, just plain ‘ole roasted and puréed almonds). Like black coffee, this too was an acquired taste. But now I like it more than peanut butter, which tastes overly sweet to me. I can put a couple tablespoons of almond butter on diced strawberries and bananas, or dip a sliced apple. I’m also excited to try a recipe I just saw for sweet potato and zucchini fritters - I think that will make a good breakfast. I am also going to master making poached eggs and serve them over roasted asparagus spears.

Something else I learned is that I can make just about anything for the guys for dinner. They are good sports and will try lots of different things. But while I can, and need to, avoid the carbs at dinner, if they don’t have a starch, they will be trolling through the kitchen an hour after dinner. Just different metabolisms, I guess. So one night, I made a homemade marinara sauce with ground chicken. I served it over portabella mushroom caps for me and big bowls of pasta for the guys. A perfect solution.

I know I won’t stick to a diet. But I can change the way I eat. Wish me luck! And if you have any suggestions, please feel free to share them.

Just a little mashed potatoes

I don't actually know how to cook a little of anything. I have enough Italian in me to make me want to make sure there's enough for everyone who might think about stopping by for dinner. And I have even more Irish in me, which means I like potatoes. I really like potatoes.

Tonight we made chicken thinghs. Jeffrey Came home grousing about having to to go 3 stores just to find plain 'ole chicken thighs. He kept finding the skinless, boneless ones and that's not what we wanted. I calmed him down by reminding him we still had Rice Krispie treats. That worked. We cooked the chicken simply, but it's one of our favorite methods. Olive oil (or butter) and Old Bay seasoning. And then we bake them on 350, or 380 if you're hungry and want them to cook faster. It usually takes between 45 minutes to an hour, depending on the temp you're using and how many chicken thighs you're cooking.

For sides, we had asparagus (after a couple false starts when we totally overcooked it, we really grew to love asparagus) and mashed potatoes. I made a lot of mashed potatoes. I have no pictures, mostly because we were hungry when dinner was ready. But oh man, they were some delicious mashed potatoes. I used heavy cream, because we had some leftover from making ganache this past weekend. I used butter, and salt and pepper. And that was it.

I might have had seconds and even some for lunch tomorrow.

It's easy, AND good for you

This recipe is one of new favorites. It's all over the internet, so I certainly can't take credit for it. I have tweaked it a little to make it mine, of course.

I've been researching lots of recipes the past few weeks since I've been doing the Whole30 meal plan. Basically, Whole30 means no dairy, no grains, no sugar, no legumes, no alcohol, for 30 days. You can have butter, if it's clarified. But no cheating with gluten-free anything. The idea, for me especially, has been to make myself less dependent on bread, pasta, sugar and high-fat foods. I think I've been doing pretty well. I'll write more about my whole journey on a future blog. And check out the Whole30 site for more info on the plan.

So this recipe has a few of my various tweaks -- just use the flavors you like best, or to keep it an easy dish even suitable for a busy weeknight meal, just use whatever you have on hand. On a side note, Jeff would like me to point out that he is awesome. He is, so there you go.

Ingredients

• 8-10 pieces of bone in chicken thighs 
• 1 lb . baby red potatoes (or whole small potatoes, or cut yellow or russet potatoes)
• 1/2 in onion - cut large pieces (I skip this sometimes)
• carrots -- either baby carrots or whole carrots cut in pieces similar in size to your potatoes
• 2 lemons and 2 limes (this is my biggest switch from the other recipes, which only use lemons. We really love the combo of both fruits)
• 1/3 cup olive oil (I don't actually measure, just drizzle over everyone in the pool)
• 2 cloves garlic minced (I skip this sometimes too)
• 1 tablespoon fresh Rosemary plus sprigs for garnish (or thyme, or dried if you don't have fresh)
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (I definitely skip this - can't eat red pepper flakes at all)
• 1 1/2 teaspoon salt (again, why measure???)
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper (see salt note above - just use how much you think looks good)
• sprinkle paprika or other seasoning if not using sprigs of rosemary or thyme

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Spray a glass 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish with cooking spray. Arrange chicken pieces (skin side up), potatoes, sliced onion and lemon slices evenly in pan. Or, use foil-lined cookie sheets (with a raised side). Make sure the thighs are sitting on the sliced limes and lemons.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, rosemary, crushed red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Pour mixture all over chicken and potatoes. Sprinkle all over generously with additional salt and pepper.
4. Bake uncovered for about 1 hour, or until chicken and potatoes are fully cooked.

Use your pretty things

This morning I was putzing around the kitchen, putting some things away, getting a few things started for Easter dinner. I opened the doors of the tiny cabinet above the microwave to remind myself what was in it. I had to use a spatula to open the doors, of course, because I can't actually reach the doors themselves. Which is why I store the china up there.

I actually have two sets of china, both of which my Mom gave to me. One is the set I remember from my childhood. It has a pretty rose pattern on just a side of the plate, in a soft silver. I would share a picture of it, but as I mentioned, I can't actually reach it, so...

The other set I have also brings back special memories. Every year at Christmas, my Dad loved shopping for everyone. And every year, he had to make that one last trip to a store to get just one more thing, usually for Mom. One year, it was a new set of china. It is also pretty, in a more modern way than the traditional flower pattern. This set is decorated by a simple silver border. What I remember most about it is not the many holiday meals we used it, but the pure joy my father displayed in buying and giving to Mom.

As I was looking at the cabinet from (far) below, my son asked why we never use the china. (The flowered set is in the cabinet and the other set is in storage in the house). I pointed out that we do, on special occasions. We then decided that our Easter dinner counted as one, even if it was just going to be the three of us tonight. We're having a pork loin with a balsamic reduction glaze, a pineapple casserole and roasted carrots with rosemary, by the way.

I also got this set of Pioneer Woman bowls for Christmas from my mother-in-law (who knows me well). It's not quite the pattern I would usually gravitate toward, but I had previously assured her that I truly loved the patterns and colors in this line. I often joke about being close to losing my 'girl card,' but sometimes I do like to use pretty things. And why not? Why do we have pretty things if not to enjoy them? Dig out the china, use the special glasses, mix lemon bar filling in the pretty bowl likely meant for display only. Enjoy your life and the things in it, and share them and the the things you make with the ones you love. They're worth the effort. And so are you.

It all started with mozarella

The other day I took advantage of a BOGO and got two balls of fresh mozzarella. Yep, Bel Gioioso. I wanted some cheese to pair with baby heirloom and other tiny tomatoes for breakfast. Unconventional yes, but it's at least not a carbohydrate-loaded meal.

Anywho, I had this mozzarella in the fridge and was thinking what to do, what to do, and I settled on naan bread pizzas. We really like doing individual pizzas on naan bread. It's light and just the perfect size for a personal pizza. This was a quick dinner, so I bought pesto rather than make it. Just a small spoonful on each bread, topped with thin slices of mozzarella, about 5-6 per pizza, a little grated Parmesan and some torn prosciutto. I baked them on sheet pans at 350 degrees until the cheese was melted and bubbly (didn't time it, sorry, but it was probably between 10 and 15 minutes).

I knew we needed a side dish too, so I got some hummus and we had carrots, zucchini and red bell pepper slices for dipping. All in all, a good, quick, and not terribly unhealthy dinner. Of course, then we had some chocolate chip cookies, so....

Fall vegetables?

Tomatoes and bell peppers are a summer thing, right? Not at our house.

We had some really nice herb plants this year -- Rosemary, chives, thyme and parsley (no, no sage). And we had some container tomatoes and bell peppers. I wasn't sure how they would do in containers, but the plants really flourished. At least the pepper plants did. The tomato plants did great until the squirrels discovered them. They took one whole plant from the pot. And then they took all the tomatoes. And finally, they denuded it so all that was left was a sad looking stem. Sigh. 

The peppers were still in the game though. And the herbs too. Then we went to Asheville and were gone for 5 days in the hottest, driest part of summer. The peppers we had on the stems - dead. The herbs? Completely dried up and dead. But the pepper plants still looked good. And the tomato stem, well, it was still green-ish. So I kept watering them. And now this happened. There are flowers on the tomato plant. I mean, look at that stem! It was sheared in half, and still this thing is growing. And we might get tomatoes after all. We might need to invest in some fine mesh screening to surround it and protect it from the squirrels. There are also nine bell peppers growing. Nine! I have always thought that our yard has some kind of weird growing vibe and that plants flourish despite my care for them, and now I think I have proof. Let's just hope they give us some veggies before our fall trip. 

Fig jam and pork

A friend recently gave me a jar of fig jam. I knew I liked figs, but I wasn't sure about the fellas. Turns out one does and one is not sure.

I also wasn't entirely sure what to do with fig jam. It has all the typical fruit jam uses, and I hear it is really good on toast. But it seems to be more...substantial than a berry or apple jelly or jam. So I decided to make a sauce for pork chops.

Now look. I know this is a food blog. But I am terrible about writing measurements down. And I only got one picture of the final product. And the boy photobombed it. But I am a writer, so I can tell you all about it. Here's how it went down.

I sauteed boneless pork chops in the cast iron skillet. I seasoned the chops with salt and pepper and paprika. You could use your favorite grill seasoning or garlic instead.

After the chops were done, I removed them and kept them warm. Then I started with some olive oil and onions. I used a red onion, sliced in thin half moons. A little salt and pepper and then let them get happy, as Emeril would say. You want them pretty soft, nice and caramelized. Deglaze with white wine. Then add some apples, thinly sliced. I used 2 Granny Smith apples, and I didn't bother to peel them. I added a little dry thyme at this point. A little more wine to keep things moving in the pan.  

Next came the fig jam. I heated it through and then added a little more wine to thin out the sauce a little. I tasted the sauce and didn't think it needed anything else. Except a little butter. Sauce always needs a little butter.

Plate the chops, spoon the onions and apples on top, add a little more sauce. Baby carrots with a just a little butter, salt and pepper made a nice side dish and voila! Dinner was served. Oh, I almost forgot the biscuits. Jeffrey had mentioned a couple of times that he was really hungry. And I had made him help clean out my car, so I made biscuits. No muss, no fuss, just the Hungry Jack recipe here. No cheddar, so I used mozzarella and garlic seasoning instead.

John is not necessarily a fan of the fig jam I think, but otherwise, this dinner was a big hit!

I just want some S and P

We Americans will accessorize anything. Need some new kitchen towels? There's probably a different color and theme for any possible decorating style you can imagine. The same goes for plates, and utensils.

And boy is it true for salt and pepper shakers. A friend of mine who is certified as a nutritionist made me switch to Pink Himalayan salt. I did, and I'm fine with that choice. Still tastes good, and if it will be better for me than regular salt, great. My only objection is that I use a grinder, and it's hot over a pot of boiling water! So I thought I would look for a salt box, and get some already ground pink salt that I can use for just such an occasion. Today, I was surfing through Wayfair, and decided to look there. Side note - this blog is not a criticism of Wayfair - I have found some really good deals there and this same phenomenon is probably universal. 

There were 1,125 hits for salt and pepper shaker. I looked, because I was curious. Of the 1,125 to choose from, 31 of them were in the 'greater than' $125 price category. Seriously? Who needs a Waterford crystal salt and pepper shaker set? 

We actually have a few sets ourselves. One set belonged to one of my Grandmothers, so while I have no idea if they're antique or valuable, I am glad to have them. And one set was a very cool gift from some friends. It is a house and the witch's legs from 'The Wizard of Oz.' That set is also sentimental, as our family worked on a local production of that show several years ago. 

After looking around Wayfair for a while, I got the idea for this blog, and now I will still have to do the 'ow, that's hot' dance when I salt boiling water to make pasta or rice.  

The weather outside is frightful, but at least there's oatmeal cremepies

When foul weather looms, people gather supplies, and food is often at the top of the list. In Pennsylvania, where I grew up, bread and milk were the top two staples when a snowstorm was on the horizon. But here in Hurricane Alley, we skip the milk -- the last thing we want to do is pack the fridge with more perishables when we might lose power. We do go for the bread though. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are always comforting.

My family has its own traditions when it comes to stocking up for tropical wether. I think it was in 1999 when we first had Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies during a hurricane. I was pregnant, very pregnant, and close to my due date. So when Hurricane Floyd was bearing down on the NC coast, we decided to stay with friends in Wilmington (NC) to be closer to the hospital. No one wants to be stuck on an island, in labor, during a storm, after all. Of course we pooled resources to prepare. They had young children, so they were probably the ones who bought the oatmeal creme pies. We were there for what seemed like weeks as the storm slowly made its way through the area. Really, it was just overnight. I don't even remember why the oatmeal creme pies became a "thing," but they did. It was our inside joke from the whole experience. And to this day, this chewy, sweet snack food is still on our list of needed items when preparing for a storm.

This weekend was no exception. Tropical Storm Hermine was passing by, due to be gone by Saturday morning. Of course we all worked on Friday. Though school was released early, the boy was called in to work a couple of hours late that afternoon. And being the excellent child he is, he brought home the oatmeal creme pies as directed, the large back-to-school pack even. 

Fortunately, Hermine was only a Tropical Storm, but we were fully prepared in any case.   

The most amazing burritos

We're headed out to the big city (Wilmington, NC) for a little last minute school supply shopping tonight. Our son needs just a couple things -- a couple new binders and some pens. Otherwise we're ready. These are certainly things we could get without driving to the big city. But Jeffrey asked if we had any reason to go to Wilmington this weekend. He specifically suggested that we might need to go shopping (I know, right?). Then the real reason came out. He was craving some Flaming Amy's.

This little gem of a restaurant serves the most amazing burritos. They're huge. And you need to expand your definition of burrito to truly understand their menu. They have a cheeseburger burrito, one with tuna, one with shrimp....you get the idea. They also have build-your-own quesadillas, which is my go-to choice. I like chicken, roasted red peppers, corn, feta, any of the above or whatever else looks good to me that day. The burritos and quesadillas are amazing, but then there's the salsa bar and their homemade chips for dipping. There's traditional salsa of course, and there's pineapple jalapeno. My personal favorite is the ginger peach.

The restaurant's decor is as eclectic as its menu. There's a velvet Elvis, a flock of flamingoes overlooking the main dining area, and a score of similar decorations. There's a special discount one night for displaying your tat, but the place is also frequented by professors from the local college, soccer moms and everyone in between. It's just good food, with a good atmosphere. The slogan is Hot, Fast, Cheap and Easy, and they don't disappoint.

So we'll drive an hour to get those last minute school supplies (school starts Monday after all), because Jeffrey wants a burrito :-)

It's my onion, and I'll cry if I want to

I cut two whole onions today. And boy did it make me cry.

I was making sauce, or gravy as a lot of Italian-Americans from the Northeast call it. I was making a lot of sauce. See, I don't know how to make just a few meatballs. And I decided to make a few extra for giving away to some friends who are going through some tough illnesses. Naturally, that meant a double batch of sauce too. And it starts with onions.

It seems like a lifetime ago that I managed a Subway franchise. One of our prep tasks was cutting onions. We had this old, but extremely handy slicer with a handle that rolled a blade and then voila! Sliced onions. We would slice them pounds at a time, since we went through a lot in the course of the day. Especially at the Wrightsville Beach store on a Saturday in the summertime. I could always tell when the drawbridge went up, even though we weren't close enough to see it. We'd have a couple of customers and then all of a sudden, the line was out the door. Yep. Bridge was up.

Anyway, employees were always coming up with ways to avoid the crying. We'd walk into the freezer to calm the crying down (that did actually work, but it didn't prevent the crying in the first place). We'd try running them under cold water first, chilling them first. Nothing worked. Maybe it was just the sheer volume of onions we had to cut that made these methods ineffective. One of my college girls had a great idea though. She was a surfer and a competitive swimmer. She brought in her swimming goggles and volunteered to cut all of our onions for the day because she could handle it from behind her frog eyes. We loved it and she was a hero for a while.

I'll never forget this one time when I was working by myself. I was cutting the onions and just crying my eyes out. A customer came in. I went up to the front and washed my hands and asked him what I could get for him. He told me but looked a little wary. I started asking him what he wanted on his sandwich, but I was still red-eyed and sniffy and he still looked very uncomfortable. Laughing, I assured him that everything was fine and that I was just prepping onions. He gave a big sigh of relief and finished his order.

So, back to tonight. I took a quick break and went out onto the back porch to get away from the onions. Jeff immediately looked up and asked me what was wrong. Oh the things we do for the love of a good meal :-)

Kitchen Labels via Sharpie

Some people use their computers to create and print fancy labels for their kitchen containers. Not us. No way. Give us a Sharpie and we'll just write on the side of the Tupperware.

We actually have two such Stites family masterpieces. The first one, pictured here,

is powdered sugar. You may have figured out that part. It says some form of "powdered sugar" or "not flour" on all four sides of the container. Because, well, some of us can use a little reinforcement. Jeffrey Stites is a really good cook. He's not afraid to try anything in the kitchen and has conquered things like coq au vin and homemade Cuban bread (is it still Cuban if it's made in North Carolina by an American of European descent?). But he has also made French Onion soup using powdered sugar instead of flour to make a roux. Twice. Twice he did this. The first time we chalked it up to being an honest mistake. But the second time? We don't even keep these two things anywhere near each other in the cabinets. We really laughed at him the second time. Since I wanted to make sure that never happened again, I took a Sharpie to the plastic and voila! There should be no more mistaking those two in this house.

The second container also has a story. We were working on Brunswick Little Theatre's summer musical a couple years ago. We were doing "Into The Woods," and the plan was for a teenaged boy to carry a cow to portray Milky White. We needed flour to make the cow white. It was a brown cow that needed a light dusting to make it stand in for the white cow and...well, go see the show live if you can find it playing on stage anywhere and otherwise, rent the movie. Anyway, we needed to keep a supply of flour backstage. Being the ever -resourceful stage manager that he is, Jeffrey borrowed our flour container and labeled it "Instant Milky White."

Surprisingly, those are the only two we have felt the need to label so far. Knowing us though, they won't be the last.

Noodle-ing around in the kitchen

Get your mind out of the gutter - this is a family blog. 

I made homemade noodles! I feel so much more Italian now. 

Jeffrey and John got me a pasta roller kit for the KitchenAid stand mixer for Christmas. They also got me a pasta cookbook (more on that later) and some cool little tools – a pasta cutter and a ravioli form/cutter. The pasta cutter for the mixer is a separate attachment, and I am undecided if we’ll even need that. My favorite noodles can be made without it, I think.

We tried it out recently, settling on the basic pasta recipe in the book that came with the mixer attachment. We’ll save fancy pasta recipes for when we have a little more skill.

What are you doing? Can I have some?

I was a little unsure how this would all go. When my Mom was a newlywed, her mother-in-law, my Grandmother Pasquarello, taught her how to make homemade pasta. Grandmother Pasquarello was not actually Italian, but she had married into an Italian family so of course she had to learn to make sauce, pasta, hot sausages, etc. My Mom only did this that one time because she said she used every pot in the house. Twice. They didn’t have the spiffy equipment that I do now, and I have never been afraid of making a mess in the kitchen. I mean, I can make a mess boiling eggs (oh, yeah, I have a story about boiling eggs I’ll need to share sometime too).

Running through the pasta roller

All of us worked on this dinner. Jeff got started on the chicken. It’s sort of our version of Chicken Milanese, breaded and sautéed with, well, let Jeffrey tell you.

Well, it was kind of a feel your way as you go along thing. Plus, I was trying to keep busy while Lisa and John rolled and cut noodles. The chicken is simply breaded with the usual milk, flour, seasoned breadcrumb assembly line then fried up in some canola oil until it’s nice and golden brown. I didn’t worry about cooking the chicken through as I knew I had time to finish it in the oven, which I did end up doing. When this is done, you’re left with a nice bit of chicken-flavored oil. I deglazed with a bit of white wine, then put a little olive oil in to allow for more sauce and sprinkled flour onto it (while it’s nice and hot) to make a light roux. Then in went the juice of two lemons. It’s really just a matter of watching to keep the sauce the consistency you like, adding a bit of wine or oil (or lemon juice if you have any, but I didn’t) to loosen things up or letting it cook down to thicken. I fiddled longer than need be but I think it may have helped in the long run as I kept adding wine and cooking it down again. The sauce ended up pretty rich and, if I do say so myself, delicious.

Not too much of a mess...

It was delicious. I had made the pasta dough and let it chill and then John and I fired up the pasta roller. We had some successes and some not-so-great attempts. And I think next time I would run it though the next setting to make the pasta a little thinner. I figured out that if it didn’t come our pretty, I could just fold it in half lengthwise, run it through the roller again and it would be ok. As we made sheets, I cut out fettucine noodles. I coiled them up as best I could, and kept a towel over them until they were all finished so they wouldn’t get dry. Then we boiled them in salted water. We put a little butter and parsley on them, and voila! Dinner. The best part is that we were all in the kitchen together. And I have to mention that John was photographer for this post. I think he did a great job!

I think next I will try ravioli J

Iced Coffee with Coffee Ice

This is not my idea at all, but it's one I finally decided to try. When I want iced coffee, I usually just make coffee and chill it. With regular ice in it, I end up trying to drink it before the ice cubes melt though, so the coffee won't get too diluted. Enter coffee ice cubes.

They're really as easy as they sound. Just make coffee, pour into ice cube trays and freeze. We added some Bailey's flavored creamer too. After they were frozen, I put them into a freezer bag to keep them fresh. Today I decided to try one, and of course, since I was going to blog about it, I wanted pictures. I tried taking one of the glass with just the ice cubes in the living room with the laptop as the background, but I didn't like the way it looked. So I got up to take it to the kitchen, and I knocked over the glass with the coffee and it all went onto the carpet. Aaaahhhh! Help! Luckily, my fellas are used to this, and John sprang into action with paper towels. He even sacrificed one of his bathroom towels for the cause (it's in the washer now).

With the mess cleaned up, I made another cup of coffee and put it into a plastic cup to chill in the freezer. I wanted to keep my ice cubes on ice too. I was about to put the glass in the freezer too, but I decided I'd better switch them into a plastic cup too. That way, if I drop it later, it won't shatter. Follow my thinking here?

I think I'll get a festive ice cube tray now, like this one especially made for all the geeks out there.

Sometimes there needs to be chocolate

There are times we just need chocolate. Not like to have, but have to have chocolate moments.

I had one of those nights last week. And then there were brownies. I used to make a brownie recipe from one of my best go-to cookbooks, the Better Homes and Gardens red and white cookbook that everyone should have (more on that later). For 20 plus years, I have been using that recipe. It calls for melting chocolate in butter, adding sugar, vanilla, eggs and flour. But then I tried a recipe from Hershey's. I didn't have baking chocolate and needed brownies one day, so I used the Hershey recipe since it called for cocoa. Now I am hooked on this recipe. These brownies are just perfect. They have the perfect gooey texture, and I use Special Dark chocolate to make them even more decadent.

I used the Pioneer Woman's recipe for mocha frosting, though I cut it in half. I have used a dark roast recipe in this frosting, but this night we used a mocha flavored coffee and it really pushed it over the top.

These brownies were just what I needed. Gooey chocolate equals a happy Lisa.

One of my favorite cookbooks

We moved to North Carolina in 1993. We were so young, only out of college a few months. We hadn't even learned yet not to put everything we wanted on credit cards. We've come a long way since then, but this is one impulse purchase I am so glad we made.

This cookbook, called Southern Elegance, is a collection of recipes from the Junior League of Gaston County. I have no idea where we got it, because we live nowhere near Gaston County. Jeffrey thinks we bought it at a street fair, or maybe the Cotton Exchange in Wilmington.

One of the recipes is for Louisiana Barbequed Shrimp. This is not your typical barbecue. It's not even thick red sauce. Think lemons, Lots of lemons, And butter. Lots of butter. There's garlic, of course, and Worcestershire (Lea & Perrins) sauce and Tabasco, rosemary, salt and pepper. The sauce gets cooked briefly, and then gets poured over the shrimp still in their shells. The dish goes in the oven and very soon, there is delicious shrimp for everyone. This is one of our go to meals. We even entertain with this one. We put plenty of paper towels on the table along with bowls for shrimp shells. And we serve it with some crusty bread for sopping up the sauce. It makes a terrific mess but it is delicious!

You can tell we really like this recipe. Just look at the page.

This book is literally falling apart, but I will find some way to keep it. For some reason, this is also my go to book for a quiche recipe. Actually, I just look up the egg to milk proportion and make up the rest, but it's still where I look. I have a couple cookbooks like this one -- used and abused and messy.

Just like my kitchen.

Chicken + a cast iron grill pan = a fabulous dinner

I am trying to change the way I eat because I know it's what I need to do to be healthy. I have a sweet tooth but I don't indulge it every day. I don't snack between meals and I don't eat a bag of potato chips in one sitting. But I do have a problem with carbs.

So I've been looking for meals that are healthy, interesting and delicious. Watching "The Kitchen" on Food Network this weekend, I saw the hosts giving tips for grilling chicken breasts. That's what we did for dinner tonight. I didn't look at a recipe, but just cooked it like they suggested.

We pounded out the chicken breasts. I did two and the boy did two. He said it would be great therapy for anyone who had a bad day. And I'll be honest. He did a much better job on pounding them out than I did. They really did cook more evenly since we made them flat. All we used was Kosher salt, fresh cracked black pepper and garlic powder. A little Canola oil brushed on the grill and that was it.

There are chives and parsley in the yard that survived the winter, so we chopped some of them to add to some spring mix greens. All we added was a little olive oil and balsamic for a quick and light dressing. I topped the chicken breasts with the salad and a pinch of salt. I also made some roasted purple potatoes -- just a few pieces for everyone. That's a much better choice than making enough mashed potatoes for six people when we are only three, right?

I thought it looked great, and the proof was in the pudding. Or actually, the empty plates. Everyone loved it. You're probably wondering if my plate really has snowflakes on it. Yes, it does. Don't judge. I forgot to run the dishwasher and this is what was clean. I think Jeffrey got the random flower plate.

On a side note, we did have one small mishap. Jeffrey somehow flung balsamic vinegar into his eye. Naturally, the boy and I laughed. And then I got Jeff a damp towel. Apparently healthy food can be dangerous for some people, but we'll keep trying meals that are good for us anyway.

Cookie butter

How have I not heard of this before?

It can't be any kind of good for you, so I probably will not even try it. Because if I try it and like it I'll want more and that would be bad. I already eat enough things that are bad for me.

I saw a video on Facebook about making a cookie butter mug cake in the microwave, and I thought cookie butter? What the what?

Naturally I immediately Googled it and found that it's a real thing. I mean, Trader Joe's sells it so it must be a real thing in the civilized world. I live in the middle of nowhere, so I have to find this stuff out via the interwebs.

Then I found pages dedicated to all the luscious but artery clogging things you can make with cookie butter. Kind of like the the pages I found the other day with recipes for your Peeps. I really need to stop looking at these things. Are there salad pages? Salad, green things pages? I need to go find out.