Easy Tortellini Bake

You guys.

I seriously meant to blog this weekend. Truly, madly, deeply, I did. And then... it was like vacation mode. I didn't even open the blog. I didn't read any blogs. I just watched football. And it was wonderful.

Granted, it was technically a terrible weekend of football. Just terrible. The Duck's had an ugly game on Saturday, and let me tell you, the Steeler's on Sunday was no picnic either. But it was nice to just relax. Drink some wine. Yell and throw my slippers at the TV every so often. 

But now it's Monday and I haven't posted in almost a week. Eek. Luckily, I've got something on board that is easy. Delicious. And most of all, comforting. 

Monte Cristo Sliders

Happy Friday friends!

I have exactly 6 more recipes that I put together with pictures from my old lens, so bear with me as I burn through my backlog.  I have to say (even with pictures that now make me tilt my head slightly and say "huh" perplexedly) that these little sliders still look yummy. If you are unfamiliar with the Monte Cristo, as the hubby was, this is what a Monte Cristo is:

A Monte Cristo is typically a fried ham-and-cheese sandwich, a variation of the French croque-monsieur. Typically in the United States, you'll find this also made with raspberry preserves and lightly dusted with powdered sugar.

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 :)

Recipe Redux: Caprese Soup

Happy Monday! Hungover from that stinker of a Superbowl? I'm not happy that the Patriots won. My motto is always, "Anyone but the Patriots". I can't stand Bill Belichick. I can't stand Tom Brady. I can't stand Tom Brady's wife and the way she lords their success over, well, everyone. There are better people out there, humble people, more deserving of such an honor. C'est la vie. 

Lately: January 2015

Happy Superbowl Sunday everyone!

Oh, how I love Superbowl Sunday. It truly is a holiday for me and the hubby. We make hot wings, drink beer, snack on chips and salsa, and oh yeah, watch some football. Our holiday is going to be cut short this year, as the hubby has to work, but we are still making wings. I can't wait.

25 Super Bowl Snacks, Treats, and Meal Ideas

Good morning, and happy Tuesday!

I meant to publish a post yesterday, but the morning ended up being way too hectic. The hubby and I had to leave the house at 7 am yesterday to drive my car about an hour away to the Nissan dealership. It was not the best day for travel (thank you, East Coast Blizzard!), not to mention the problems I was already having with the drivability of the car.

Creamy Chicken, Tortellini, and Spinach Soup

Uh, as far as soup goes, this is hands-down delicious. 

Creamy, savory broth?  Check.

Chewy tortellini filled with cheesy goodness?  Check. 

Crammed with the green goodness of spinach and protein-packed chicken?  Check.

Boozy Salted Caramel Milkshakes

It's a sad day in our house today.

The Oregon Ducks fell to the Ohio State Buckeyes last night, and our house is now in mourning. Even though we live squarely in Buckeye territory, we proudly ran our errands yesterday in our Duck gear. And yes, we got comments everywhere we went. Especially at our little bar we always stop at. We popped in yesterday for a couple of beers, and were definitely ribbed by some good-natured Ohio State fans. I was pretty surprised that no one was ugly, everyone we encountered was a good sportsman. 

My FaceBook friends? Another story. Ha!

Mom's Famous Family Clam Dip

Let's talk clam dip. Because talking about clam dip leads us to talking about family. And football. And holidays. Special occasions. 

But seriously, let's talk about it because it's delicious!

Clam dip has been in my family since the beginning of time. I remember eating this stuff as a toddler. I believe my grandma used to be the one to make it, but for as long as I can remember, my mom has been the one to make it. There wasn't a Thanksgiving, Christmas, or Super Bowl where clam dip wasn't served. Our family clamors for it (Get it? Clamors? I'm such a dork, I know).  

2014: By The Numbers

Good morning friends!

I know I said I wouldn't be blogging much this week due to being out of town, but...

Thanks to insomnia, I'm the only one up and I have a feeling it's going to be that way for awhile. I've got a delicious cup of coffee, a gorgeous view over the top of the laptop of Lake of Egypt in Illinois, and I'm wide awake. Therefore, time to blog! I've got a couple of fun, year-end posts to share to wrap up 2014. I actually started this post in January of 2014, to keep track of all the events that took place this year, and right now I'm putting the finishing touches on it. Just for y'all :)

Let's jump right in, shall we?

Classic Chocolate Cupcakes

with whip cream frosting and sprinkles

I warned you it would happen, and it did. It's September. Waaaaah! As we leave summer in the rearview mirror, what better way to distract ourselves than chocolate? I love a classic chocolate cupcake. There are a couple of things that a chocolate cupcake must be:

1. Moist- above all, a classic chocolate cupcake must be moist. I slightly changed my favorite vanilla cupcake recipe (which always turn out perfect!) by decreasing the vanilla extract and adding a bunch of cocoa. These cakes didn't fail me, turning out perfectly luscious.

2. Chocolatey- To start, I added a half cup of cocoa to the batter. One taste was enough to let me know I needed MORE chocolate. 3/4 cup cocoa was optimal.

3. Delicious Frosting- I hate frosting. I'll rephrase that- I hate most frostings. I hate how commercial frostings are overly sweet and excessively grainy. I also have great disdain for piling a pound of frosting on a cake. Yuck. I made my absolute favorite frosting to go on these cakes. Homemade and whipped into submission, this frosting tastes like whip cream, not commercial frosting.

And I won't add this as a requirement to a classic chocolate cupcake, but I love me some sprinkles! Really and truly, I sprinkled these cupcakes because I made them for the kids. I'll just keep telling myself that :)

I made these for our family Labor Day Cookout, and they were a hit. The kids were clamoring for cupcakes before dinner (as usual!) and I must admit, they got a few bites. My niece, the little resident sweet tooth, had 2 1/2 while I was there. Sweets never go untouched with our crowd.

Annnnnnnd, I think y'all really need to see how much the cupcakes were enjoyed-

My niece, hamming it up for the camera. I could barely get the boys to smile for the camera, but my niece? She loves the camera. If I want a picture of someone devouring a cupcake, my niece will be the first one to shove that confection in her face. And enjoy the heck out of it while she's doing it!

Boy were they mad when they realized I took a picture :)

The other ham in the family. Could this be where my niece gets it from? Haha.

Did everyone have a fun holiday weekend? We had our family barbecue on Saturday due to everyone's buy schedules. The hubby and I had a fantasy draft on Sunday afternoon that went semi-distastrously. Our league is scattered over the country, with half the faction living on the West Coast and the rest of us stretching from Northern Kentucky to Cincinnati. After some serious finagling with schedules, we found time to do an online draft. The only problem? Our friend's account wouldn't let her draft a single player. The option was simply greyed out. The other gigantic problem? We couldn't stop the draft once it started. We all had to go on auto-pick and wait for it to end to start over.  Talk about taking the air out of your tires. We thought we had our friend up and running, only to come up with the same problem when we re-started. We came up with a work-around (eventually) but a draft that should have taken an hour and half ended up delayed and stretched over a 7 hour period. Now that I think about, we just had our friends over for 7 hours. The draft may have wrapped around the 5 and a half hour mark :)

Regardless, we now have our fantasy teams, so bring on the season!

Have a great week everyone!

Ingredients (makes 12 cupcakes):

1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 cup butter

1 cup granulated sugar

2 egg whites

1/4 cup Greek yogurt, plain

1 cup almond milk

2 tsp vanilla extract

Whip Cream Frosting

sprinkles (garnish)

Directions:

1. Line a cupcake pan with liners. Preheat oven to 350º.

2. In a small mixing bowl, combine flour through baking soda. Whisk to mix. Set aside.

3. In a large microwave-safe mixing bowl, melt the butter. When melted, add sugar. Whisk until no lumps remain. Mixture will be very grainy. Mix in egg whites. Mix in yogurt, milk, and vanilla until batter is smooth. Batter will be very thick. Distribute evenly among cupcake pan. Bake in preheated oven, 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean with moist crumbs. Remove from oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.

4. Prepare frosting. Frost and sprinkle cupcakes to taste. Store in an airtight container.

Printable Recipe

Looking for other cupcake recipes? Try these!

Chocolate Malt Cupcakes with Malted Buttercream

Mixed Berry Cupcakes

Spiced Caramel Apple Cupcakes

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

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 :)

Creamy Blue Cheese Dressing

I was hoping to bring you guys a post on Buffalo Wings today. Unfortunately, we ate them all. Fast. I hate when that happens. Next time friends, next time. Buffalo wings are only as good as their dipping sauce, however, and I did manage to document my blue cheese dressing. Which, I might add, is better on a whole heck of a lot more than wings.

4 years ago, when the hubby and I were celebrating our first Super Bowl together as a married couple, I first decided to make a homemade blue cheese dressing. I don't remember what recipe I used, but the dressing was so gross. It had huge chunks of blue cheese in it, and I don't mean that in a good way. I decided to take an immersion blender to it. Rookie mistake. Literally. The second I turned the blender on the dressing seemed to explode. There was dressing everywhere, blue cheese splattered on the ceiling. In my eyelashes. And on my Uggs, which at the time were brand-new. I yelped and ran upstairs to clean the poor Uggs, which in my new owner-dom I hadn't managed to waterproof yet. Not that waterproofing would have helped against an oily dressing, but moving on... I did manage to get the dressing off my Uggs. They are still alive to this day. The dressing was another story. It was chucked, and off I went to Winco to feverishly look for a container of commercially prepared dressing. On Super Bowl Sunday. 30 minutes to kick-off. What a day.

FYI- I did make it home for kick-off that fateful year WITH dressing in hand.

The moral of the story? Make your dressing ahead of time, or at least try your recipe before the big day. This recipe is tried and true, and good on veggies, salads, crackers, and of course, wings! To my mind, this is exactly what blue cheese dressing should taste like. The recipe makes quite a bit of dressing, I'd cut the recipe in half if you just want to keep it in the fridge for munching or salads. I've found it stays good tightly sealed in the fridge up to 2 weeks.

Happy Tuesday! 

Ingredients:

1 cup mayonnaise
1 cup sour cream
1 1/2 tbsp dried parsley
4 ounces blue cheese, crumbled
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Directions:

1. In a food processor, combine all ingredients. Pulse to get desired texture. Add more salt or pepper to taste. Chill in fridge until ready to serve. Store in an airtight container in fridge for up to 2 weeks.

Recipe adapted from Allrecipes.com.

Buffalo Shrimp with Creamy Blue Cheese Slaw

Annnnnnd.... the cold gets worse.

No, not the polar vortex, but my cold. Ugh, I woke up this morning feeling worse. I rested all day yesterday, I barely even lifted a finger. I even skipped baking cookies. Therefore, I'm sitting here trying to contemplate how the cold got worse. On top of intensified symptoms, I slept on my neck wrong which is making turning my head a conundrum. What can I say? I'm a hot mess today. I've decided another day of rest is the way to go. And I loathe resting.

I made this meal over the weekend, as I've been doing very basic, easy cooking this week. As I was editing the pictures this morning, I realized what perfect timing sharing this recipe is going to be. Buffalo sauce and blue cheese? Sounds like a perfect combination for... the Super Bowl! I'll admit, we'll be making Buffalo Wings for the Super Bowl, but you might be looking for something different to sample. This recipe totally captures the essesence of that winning combination of buffalo sauce and blue cheese, but in a way you're not likely to have had before. While I had high hopes for this recipe, I was shocked at how perfectly the shrimp and slaw go together. Even my buffalo wing loving' man loved this meal, despite the obvious lack of poultry.

It may be only 8:30 am here in Northeastern Kentucky, but this girl is headed back to bed. Taking on the world will have to wait until tomorrow, for it sounds like another afternoon of studying my latest literary victim, The Science of Good Cooking -----> In case you are wondering, this is an excellent read. I'm learning so much, and I'm only about 60 pages in.

I hope everyone's having a better Wednesday than me :)

Ingredients:

Slaw-

3 cups cabbage, thinly sliced
1 cup radicchio, thinly sliced
1 cup carrot, shredded
1/3 cup canola mayonnaise
1 tbsp milk
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 tbsp lemon juice
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
3/4 cup blue cheese crumbles

Shrimp-

1/2 lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
salt and pepper
4 tbsp canola oil
2 eggs, lightly whisked
1 cup panko
1/4 cup cornmeal
1/2 cup buffalo sauce

Directions:

1. To prepare slaw- combine cabbage through carrot in a medium sized mixing bowl. In a small bowl, combine mayo through pepper. Whisk to throughly combine. Pour dressing over slaw, toss to combine. Fold in blue cheese. Store in fridge while you prepare the shrimp.
2. To prepare shrimp- Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Heat oil over high heat. Crack eggs into a small bowl. Combine panko and cornmeal on a plate. When oil is hot, dip shrimp in egg, shaking off any excess. Dredge in panko mixture, shaking off any excess. Add shrimp to the oil. Cook until browned on one side, about 1 minute. Flip, and brown on the other side, about 1 minute. Remove shrimp from pan to a plate covered with paper towels. Repeat process with the remaining shrimp.
3. Once all shrimp are friend and drying on paper towels, put buffalo sauce in a small bowl. Using a basting brush, brush the shrimp with buffalo sauce. Serve shrimp alongside slaw, immediately.

Slaw recipe adapted from Cooking Classy.

Oregon 2013- so far!

Happy Monday friends!

So, I've recently come to terms with the fact that #1- I'm having too much fun to be at my computer and #2- November is going to be a less than proliferous month when it comes to the blog. I constantly have that constant, nagging self-reminder that I should take to the computer and blog. I just don't have the time (or desire) right now. And that's ok. It's going to be an all-out blogging blitz when I get home though- holiday cooking! I'm super-excited. In the meantime, some pictures from the first half of our trip to entertain you and get you through this inconsistent blogging month-

The hubby and I in our Halloween finest. Hubby won Scariest Costume at the party we went to!

The hubby's friends' highly creative, homemade, paper-mache mask. I'm still not sure what he was supposed to be, but it was pretty cool :)

My parent's house has a daylight basement which is where our guest bedroom is at. I love looking at the squirrels and birds at eye level.

The parent's took us out to dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings in Corvallis. My mom's favorite radio guys (Steve Tannen and Justin Myers from Crunch Time with Steve and Justin) were doing a show from that location, and my mom was beside herself to get to meet them.

I made Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies for the fam.

A "Kentucky Jenny" from Bar 101 in Corvallis. I wish I remembered exactly what was in it, but I think it was bourbon, ginger beer, and bitters over shaved ice. Like a snow cone. I just had to try it :) It was pretty good!

It's a rough life for Mr. Gizmo.

Loved this double rainbow over Corvallis.

Cheering on the Ducks for the ill-fated Stanford game. Boo.

The hubby and I went down to Southern Oregon (about 3 hours from my parents) where my brother lives. The little bro and his wife took us to an amazing Italian restaurant in Ashland, OR, Pasta Piatta. We all split a bottle of Chianti Classico. So lip-smackin' good!

Their calamari was amazing, with fresh marinara.

After lunch in Ashland, we walked through the town to see Lithia Park and The Oregon Shakespeare Theater.

My brother's wife and the hubby goofing off at the theater.

Bro's wife, Bro, and me in Lithia Park.

I just seem to find duckies where ever I go!

My dad taught me how to make his homemade noodles. A priority when I get home is replicating his German potato and homemade noodle soup. First, I'll have to figure out a name for the soup though, because he calls it "Leichtyswitch". This ends up sounding like "lick-it-ee-switch". I've been unsuccessful finding a German soup of this name, but my dad swears that's what his Grandma used to call this soup. I will continue to search for a name for the soup, or at the very least, a correct German spelling :)

Gizmo's favorite resting spot at my parent's house.

I hope everyone had a great weekend!