Recipe Redux: Pasta e Fagioli with Kale

Time for this month's Recipe Redux! I think the soup was in dire need of updated pictures-

That's the funny thing about photography. The more you progress, the more you look back and think, "Why didn't I change this one little thing?" or "Why didn't I add some color to that shot?" or "For the love, just blur that background!". Even while I bemoan the state of my early food photography, I also realize it's a wonderful thing. I shared so many recipes in the early days that are the hubby and I's absolute favorites. I'm enjoying these Redux's, if only to compare how far my photography has come. 

Lately: Fall 2015

Oh my gosh y'all. It's been forever, 2 months, 3 weeks, and 5 days since I did a Sunday post. In fact, my last "Lately" post was February 1st. Holy Superbowl Sunday Batman! I've got lots of pictures to share, you know, cause I haven't in a million years. Let's dive right in-

Oh, and if you don't like pictures of things like puppies and Chihuahuas, you may want to skip this post :)

Kentucky Hot Browns

If you want me to be completely honest with you, I will. I'd never heard of Kentucky Hot Browns until I moved to Kentucky. Seriously. I'd lived here a year and a half before I even heard the term. I was perusing FaceBook when I saw an article about The Brown Hotel, birthplace of the Kentucky Hot Brown. The story is, in the 1920's, upper class citizens used to come to The Brown Hotel to dance until the wee hours of the morning. After dancing away the night, they would make their bleary way to the kitchen where they would request a breakfast-y type dish. Wanting to serve his patrons something more upper-crust then eggs and bacon, the chef at The Brown Hotel devised an open-face turkey sandwich slathered in Mornay (that's CHEESE!) sauce. The Kentucky Hot Brown was born.

Eggplant and Orzo Casserole Soup

I've got another leftover recipe for you!

When my parents were visiting last month, I made my Cheesy Eggplant and Orzo Casserole for them. Even though there were 4 of us chowing down on it, I still had significant leftovers. I've said this before, and I'll say it again, it's hard to make proportionate casseroles. With 2 in my household, I always wind up with proliferous amounts of leftover casserole. Heck, even with 4 munching on this casserole, I still had a lot of leftover food. I had an idea with this casserole however...

Why not turn this?

Into this!

It was super easy to make this jump. While the casserole was still cold, I removed the melted cheese layer from the top. It just came right up, although it did take some orzo up with it. Sacrifices, right? Anyhoo, I heated up some chicken broth and when it came to a simmer, I dumped the entire casserole into the pot. Then I added a 10 oz bag of spinach. A dusting of parmesan cheese,  and some crusty french bread were all we needed to round out the meal.

I have to admit when I told the hubby about this idea of mine, the look on his face wasn't exactly encouraging. I think he thought I was crazy. Dumping a casserole into soup? Unheard of. For a moment, I hesitated. Maybe it was just my crazy mind, thinking this combination might work. But in the end, what was I going to do with all this casserole? Throw it away, probably. So I decided to foray ahead. Might as well give it a try. 

The hubby's opinion quickly changed upon first bite of soup. He was genuinely surprised the soup was good. I was satisfied by his quick change in attitude. Everything in the casserole makes for excellent soup bedfellows. Orzo, mushrooms, eggplant, red bell pepper- all perfectly seasoned. What leftover casserole I had made a big batch of soup, so I was also able to freeze a bag of it. Another meal in the pipeline! Another economically and nutritionally sound dinner choice. We all win.

So, the hubby and I are currently getting everything ready to go on vacation. We headed to Huntington, WV yesterday to stock up on anything we still needed for the trip. Which was basically stuff for the hubby. He came home with swimming trunks, 2 pairs of jeans, 3 polos, and a pair of shoes. Oh, and a Beats Pill wireless speaker. His birthday present. Let me just say, he's more excited about his birthday present than anything we bought for Mexico :) I didn't need as much, but still managed to find excellent clearance at Old Navy. I ended up with 3 tanks, 2 pairs of shorts, and a sundress for $20. That's my kind of shopping. 

I'm getting really, really excited for Cancun. I've got beach brain. All I can think about is sun. And more sun. Oh, and then some more sun :) I'm pretty sure this dreary fall is bumming me out...

And with that, I'll leave you with the recipe. Happy Wednesday everyone!

Ingredients (serves 4):

6-8 cups chicken broth (depending on how much leftover casserole you have)

Leftover Cheesy Eggplant and Orzo Casserole (I used ~4 cups)

1 (10 oz) bag of baby spinach

salt and pepper

garnish- parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions:

1. In a large stockpot, bring chicken broth to a simmer. When hot, add leftover casserole and bag of spinach. Heat, stirring occasionally, for 3-5 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

2. Divide soup into bowls and garnish with parmesan cheese, if using. Serve immediately.

Printable Recipe

If you enjoyed this recipe, you may enjoy these:

Roasted Cauliflower Soup

Roasted Fennel, Chickpea, and Tomato Soup

Spanish Rice Soup

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party

Lately: Fall 2014

Happy Sunday!

I thought I'd throw in an extra post this week, just for fun. Plus, it's Sunday morning and I don't have much else to do. The hubby worked last night and as such, is snoring lightly while he naps on the couch next to me. The dogs must be exhausted from guarding the house all night in the hubby's absence because they are passed out as well. Why not sneak in a little blogging time while the rest of the house slumbers? Here's what's been going on lately-

The hubby was synching his phone to the computer after the latest IOS update, and we discovered he had a bunch of photos from when my parents came to visit. I thought I'd share a couple that he took. This one is one of my favorites. Am I a baby? Or a turkey? I can't decide. 

Dad signing the Oregon plate at Hillbilly Hot Dogs.

Family baseball night. Dad making contact with the ball.

This picture makes me laugh, I'm not sure what I'm doing. The hubby commented that I look like I'm doing the Heisman poise. Maybe??

We've still got Sam the Cat living out back. He's gained a decent amount of weight, and still doesn't appear to be leaving the yard. He's become a backyard fixture, I've gotten quite used to him. He's such a good natured cat. I still wonder where he came from.

He loves the sun, he loves to play, and he especially loves rolling around on the cement of back porch. He's not so fond of the dogs, who still haven't learned proper cat socialization yet. Surprisingly, Gizmo is adjusting faster than Haloti. 

But Gizmo still loves to watch Sam out the back door and bark at him. I haven't shook him of that habit yet.

Well, it's fall here so the garden is pretty much done. I say pretty much because I still need to gather what green tomatoes are left and then compost the plants. I've turned what's left of the lettuce out to the wildlife, all the jalapeños have been picked, and my tomatoes look like this-

Pretty much just brown vines. I learned so much this year. I know when to seed next year. I know what I want to grow next year. I know what pests and diseases (ahem, the spotted cucumber beetle, blight, the tomato hornworm, to name a few) I need to combat next year. I'm armed with a list of helpful plants to grow around my garden to attract the right predators. I'm ready, I'm excited, and...  it's still October. In other words, a looooooong ways from Spring :)

One thing I learned this year was the best way to grow cilantro, for us. I started the summer with cilantro starts. I bought 3 and planted them in a row. This wasn't enough cilantro, as I exhausted that supply with 3 batches of salsa. Next, when I went to plant, I only dug 5-6 small holes and dropped a few seeds in each hole. This technique didn't produce enough cilantro for me either, I used it all up with 2 harvests. I finally took a large pot and dumped half a seed packet in the dirt. This resulted in a large, full pot of cilantro. Within 3 weeks. Next year, I'm going to plant a pot and then stagger more pots throughout the summer. The basil and cilantro were the herbs I went to the most. In fact, the herb garden is still going pretty strong-

It's not really starting to brown, either. I love that my herbs are still right out there. Well, except for the basil. I used all that up about a month ago. Which means, the bottom tier of my herb garden is just dirt. One might think it's just dirt, right? Nothing exciting about that. I thought that too, until I looked out in the yard one day and saw this squirrel-

He was furiously burying nuts in yard. All over the yard. I watched him for quite a while. Since I was inside, I wasn't able to get an awesome picture of him, unfortunately. I was shocked when I watched him jump right into the herb garden and start digging where the basil used to be.

Later that day, the hubby and I went to check out the herb garden. The hubby couldn't resist trying to find the hickory nut the squirrel buried in there. To our surprise, we did find it. At the very bottom. The bottom is about 2 feet down, by the way. We couldn't believe how deep the squirrel was able to bury that nut. Crazy! We re-buried the nut, and had a good chuckle over the incident. 

The hubby loves pugs, so I couldn't resist getting this picture to send to him. I was at my sister-in-law's house for her birthday, while the poor hubby had to work. She was dog-sitting for her friends who happened to be out of town. That's a big puggy smile, if you ask me :)

I participated in a 5k last weekend that was my very first trail race. I actually had no idea that it was going to be a trail race, because I'd ran it the year before when it was very much not a trail race. I learned the night before it was a trail race, and I'd chose to make the best of it. I hadn't done any training on trails, mainly because there are none around here, but my plan was to take it slow. Make the best of a bad situation, I told myself. And that's exactly what I did, because I ended up getting 1st in my age group and earning my first medal! It's been a goal of mine to earn a medal, so I'm very proud.

I think I mentioned that the hubby's birthday was last week, and we had the whole family over for cake and ice cream. Here's the whole crazy group, complete with vacant, unhinged gazes.

See what I have to deal with?  :)

I hope you are enjoying your weekend! Have a great week!

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

Ah, the first pumpkin recipe of the season. Fall truly has descended upon us. On this day in NE Kentucky,  this means the humidity is gone, there's a crisp chill in the air, the leaves are falling at an alarming rate, and... pumpkin recipes are all the rage. And I love me some pumpkin. Pumpkin pie is one of my most favorite pies. It's right up there with cherry and raspberry pies. Oh, and chocolate pie. Blueberry. Mmmmm. Ok, maybe I just like pie. Good thing, because these little muffins truly taste like pumpkin pie. 

These muffins are so perfectly moist and tasty. The vanilla-cream cheese topping makes it taste like a dollop of whip cream on a slice of pie. I wasn't expecting such WOW results, but hey, I'll take it. The recipes makes a fairly large batch, about 18 muffins, but I had no trouble pawning these off on family members. They were gone in the blink of an eye. Well, excluding the ones I saved for hubby, but let me tell you, those are long gone too.

Making and devouring these were a little like dipping my toe into the water. I'm fully ready to be submerged in pumpkin now. I'm craving pumpkin bread, pumpkin cupcakes, pumpkin smoothies- doesn't a pumpkin pie smoothie sound to-die-for?? Meaning, this is only the beginning. Beware-plenty of pumpkin recipes to follow...

I am feeling a little pep in my step this morning. I just got word from my mom, who was waiting on results from a bone density test, that her scan was clear! This news made my morning. On top of that, it's a perfectly, crisp fall morning without rain. One thing I'm seriously enjoying about this fall is running. It was a difficult, struggle-some summer running in the humidity. Where I thought I'd gotten out of shape because I could only run 2.5 miles without getting dizzy, lightheaded, nauseous, and cold, I've realized I was overheating. Simply due to the weather, not to my conditioning. But running in this cool weather, I feel like a million bucks. I ran 5 miles in 48 minutes yesterday, definitely a feat for me. And not something I could accomplish at 75º with 90% humidity. Most of my miles were sub-10's. I'm pretty darn slow, so I'm super-proud I was able to do this. 

One other fact that has me in the groove this morning? The hubby and I leave for Cancun in 9 days! Holy moly. I've still got a few items to pick up for the trip (i.e. 20 bottles of SPF, please) but I've got the essentials. A million swimsuits, since I'll be living in them. Plenty of sundresses. Flippy floppies. A house sitter :) Yep, I think we are set and I'm just counting down the days till the hubby and I fly out of Cincinnati. Finally, 5 years later, we are getting the honeymoon done. 

So, yay, it's almost the weekend! Truth be told, the hubby's had the whole week off and we have been maximizing his down time. Lots of movies. Bingeing on TV shows. Making homemade Chinese food. Devouring carrot cake. And for the hubby, an abundance of video games. We love making the most of our relaxation time. Sadly though, he has to work all weekend, so I'll be left to my own devices. I'm halfway through "Divergent" (I know, I'm so behind the times) so finishing that book and moving on to the next is numero uno on my list.

After baking something pumpkin, of course :)

Happy Thursday!

Ingredients (makes 18 muffins):

Muffins-

1 cup sugar

1/3 cup canola oil

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin puree

2 eggs, room temp

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp cloves

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

2 cups flour

1/4 cup milk

Cream Cheese Topping-

8 ounces cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350º. Line 2 cupcake pans with liners (18 liners). Set aside.

2. In a large mixing bowl, combine sugar, oil, and pumpkin. Mix with a whisk by hand until combined. Mix in eggs. Mix in cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and salt.

3. In a separate bowl, combine baking soda and flour. Mix in one cup of flour mixture. Mix in milk. Mix in remaining flour mixture. Do not over mix, mix until just combined. Divide batter equally among liners.

4.  In another bowl, mix together cream cheese, sugar, and vanilla with a hand mixer. Mix until completely smooth. Drop 1 tbsp of cream cheese mixture onto each muffin.

5. Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out with a few moist crumbs attached. Cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to a cooling rack. Cool completely before storage. I stored mine in a bowl with a kitchen towel over them due to how moist they turned out. Store in the fridge if you are not eating all the muffins within the first day or two.

Printable Recipe

Recipe adapted from Crazy for Crust.

Looking for other fall recipes? Try these!

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies

Snickerdoodle Blondies

Creamy Pumpkin Custard

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friend's Friday Linky Party, Treasure Box Tuesday

Garlicky Roasted Cherry Tomato Sauce

with pappardelle and baby bellas

Ah, the first food recipe in 2 weeks. It's been too long. 

Let's talk cherry tomatoes! My tomatoes came on like crazy in September. I've made HUGE batches of marinara, spaghetti sauce, and this Roasted Cherry tomato sauce. I had my eye on a cherry tomato cobbler, but that will have to wait. I couldn't resist shoving all those red and yellow beauties in the oven to bring out their sweet flavor. 

They roasted beautifully. 

My secret ingredient? Cheese rinds! Here's one of the packages I got in Lexington. I'm already halfway through the container, that's how much I use them. I love them. I can't even put my finger on the flavor they give the sauce, all I can tell you is it gives the sauce a certain umami. If you read my blog, you know I preach about cheese rinds. Good things come in small packages. 

So, now my garden is just about done. I'm so sad! I've already started plotting what I'm going to grow next year and all the wildflowers I'm going to plant around the garden for organic gardening. It keeps me from remembering we are about to go into a very cold and desolate weather system here soon. I do miss all my green, leafy, bushy plants growing on my patio. My herbs are still going strong, and I still have to harvest a few straggler tomatoes and jalapeños. But for the most part, it's fall here. 

And fall is the perfect time for a bowl of this pasta! It's true comfort food. Roasted tomatoes. Roasted garlic. Baby bella mushrooms. Thick and chewy pappardelle pasta. And who can resist a sprinkle of garden-fresh parsley? Not this girl. This sauce takes a bit of time, but I think it's so worth it. For you busy mom's (and dad's!) this might be a weekend recipe for you. It's also one that I don't think anyone would object to. And a great way to use up a ton of cherry tomatoes. I know a lot of you out there are stuck with those!

Have I convinced you to make this yet? I certainly hope so.

Part of getting back to my routine is getting back into running regularly. So hard after vacation! But, it's going to be a lovely fall day so once I'm outside in the fresh air, hopefully it comes naturally. Ugh, reality. I loathe you sometimes :)

Happy Thursday!

Ingredients:

1 head of garlic, top sliced off

3 lbs cherry tomatoes

1 tbsp olive oil

1 onion, chopped

2 cups dry red wine

4 cups water

1 tbsp kosher salt

1 tsp pepper

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1-2 cheese rinds

4 oz baby bellas, sliced

2 tbsp parsley, minced

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400º.

2. Wrap garlic in aluminum foil. Place in oven for 40 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to sit for 10 minutes before using. 

3. Spread cherry tomatoes in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Place tray in preheated oven, roast cherry tomatoes until they begin to collapse and burst (about 15-20 minutes). You can roast the cherry tomatoes with the garlic. Remove from heat and set aside.

4. Heat olive oil over medium heat. When warm, add onion. Sauté for 4-5 minutes, or until onions soften. Squeeze the roasted garlic from the head into the pan. Discard used garlic head. Sauté for 30 seconds. 

5. Add wine to the pan. Let wine reduce more than half by simmering about 10 minutes. There should be very little wine left before moving on to the next step.

6. Add water, salt, pepper, red pepper, and cheese rinds to the sauce. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for as long as you like. I prepare the sauce early in the day and let it simmer all afternoon. 

7. Remove rinds from the sauce and discard. Add mushrooms, and simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until mushrooms are tender. Remove from heat, and sprinkle with parsley. Serve over your favorite pasta, immediately. Enjoy!

Printable Recipe

If you enjoyed this recipe, you may enjoy these:

Homemade Marinara 

Parsley Pesto Pasta

Spicy Turkey Spaghetti

Linked to: Weekend Potluck, Foodie Friday, Foodie Friends Friday Linky Party, Treasure Box Tuesdays

Lately (Summer 2014)

I can't believe it's the last day of August. Tomorrow is September, summer is officially over, and all I have to look forward to is...

-the leaves changing color

-low humidity

-baking with pumpkin

-going to Cancun in October!

-breaking out the long pants. Hoodies. Boots.

-football

-chilly morning runs

-not having to run the air conditioner

-root veggies coming into season! 

-feeling the desire to turn the oven on again

-jacket weather

-apple cider

-Halloween

-all my shows coming back!

Ok. I must confess. I don't hate fall, and I might even be looking forward to it a little bit. But just a little bit. Don't worry summer, I will miss you! To gear up for the switch in seasons, I thought I'd share some summer happenings-

My little bro came out to visit in August. He arrived in Kentucky to relax for a week, right before he went back to school. He's a high school teacher and basketball coach. A little gearing up before the school year, if you will. We had a great visit, with lots of running, sight-seeing, Cincinnati Red-ing, swimming, and eating. Oh, plus an inordinate amount of video game playing. Ok, so I wasn't involved in that part! Haha. This picture was taken at The Yardhouse, a great bar and grill right next to Great American Ballpark. I mean, look at the size of those beers! Heaven...

The hubby and I are never ones to be serious!

Summer is watermelon season, and guess who loves watermelon? My crazy puppies. I couldn't cut into one this summer without being harassed. Come to think of it, they do the same whenever they hear a banana, a bell pepper, or a carrot on the cutting board. At least they're healthy monsters :)

Giz can't jump as high to get his watermelon, but he tries his best!

Sometime during this summer, I was out running by myself. It was a fairly hot day with high humidity, and the 5-miles I ran might as well have been 26.2. It was a miserable run, what with sunscreen-soaked sweat dripping and stinging my eyes every 2 seconds. But I pushed through, and as I was walking to my car, I froze. About 10 feet from my car was this baby bunny. He was so adorable. I'd barely taken a picture on my phone where there was a sudden rustling near me. Something sprang out of the bush close to where I stood, almost making me jump 10 feet in the air. It was his momma. She ran (hopped?) over to him, and they ran (hopped??) away. It was a sweet moment in nature, and it made melting away on that run almost worth it. Almost :)

Gizmo's selfie.

Haloti's selfie. I can't decide whose I like better!

A Chinese fortune I received. I normally roll my eyes at these silly, traditional scraps of paper stuffed inside those crunchy cookies, but I liked this one. In fact, I even put it in my wallet. A positive affirmation to keep on keeping on. 

Bib and goodies from our 7-mile race.

Crossing the finish line of that 7-miler. I'm so super-proud of that time. I've said it before, and I'll say it again- I am not a born runner. It's never come easy to me. In fact, I always tried to avoid sports involving running as a kid. Soccer. Basketball. Track. I stuck to volleyball. Minimal running. However, with the proper training, I'm slowly and steadily getting faster. I may never run a marathon, but I've come a long way since that girl that started out last September not able to run 1 mile. I couldn't feel better about my accomplishments this year.

A brotherly tongue bath is the way these pups start most days :)

To celebrate this holiday weekend, we had a family cookout at the hubby's sister's house yesterday. Everyone in the family has busy, full lives, so we really relish the time we all get to spend together. We grilled hamburgers and hotdogs on the grill, stuffed our faces with cupcakes, and even managed to take some family pictures. Oh, and if you thought I was the one to remember to take pictures, you would be wrong. So woefully wrong. LOL.

Happy Labor Day Weekend friends! I hope anyone and everyone is sending summer out with a bang. Because, before you know it, there will be pumpkin on this blog :)