Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi

Picture Source: Cooking Light

This recipe was just awesome! It was quick, fresh and light. Perfect for a Monday night, when you had a long day at work and wishing it was still the weekend. David isn't a big seafood fan and he even liked it.

Lemon Pepper Shrimp Scampi
Source: Cooking Light, March 2009
Servings: 4

Ingredients
1 cup of uncooked orzo
2 tbsp of chopped fresh parsley (I substituted Cilantro)
1/2 tsp of salt, divided
7 tsp of unsalted butter, divided
1 1/2 pounds of peeled and deveined jumbo shrimp, (I used TJ's frozen shrimp)
2 tsp of minced garlic
2 tbsp of fresh lemon juice
1/4 tsp of black pepper

Directions:
1. Cook orzo according to package directions, omitting salt and fat. Drain. Place orzo in a medium bowl. Stir in parsley and 1/4 teaspoon salt; cover and keep warm.

2. While orzo cooks, melt 1 tablespoon butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Sprinkle shrimp with remaining 1/4 teaspoon salt. Add half of shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer shrimp to a plate. Melt 1 teaspoon butter in pan. Add remaining shrimp to pan; sauté 2 minutes or until almost done. Transfer to plate.

3. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in pan. Add garlic to pan; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Stir in shrimp, juice, and pepper; cook 1 minute or until shrimp are done.

Nutritional Information:
Calories: 403
Fat: 10.4g (sat 4.8g,mono 2.2g,poly 1.4g)
Protein: 40.1g
Carbohydrate: 34.7g
Fiber: 1.7g
Cholesterol: 276mg
Iron: 4.3mg
Sodium: 549mg
Calcium: 97mg

Joshua Tree National Park

So it's been two weeks since our Joshua Tree trip and I have been putting off blogging about it. I don't know why, but I just haven't felt the creative juices on this one and we didn't take too many photos.

Like I said in my post that we were back from the trip, things didn't go as planned. It seemed as if everyone had some issues of some sort. It was extremely cold in the evening. The hubby woke up early the first morning out there and the car said 39 degrees. That is much colder than the weather forecast predicted. During the day, it got to probably the high 80's. The sun is very intense out there as the elevation is around 4,000 feet. We spent most of the day while the sun was out under the easy ups.

David has decided that he does not want to return to Joshua Tree in the fall, as he thought the temperatures were too extreme. He wants to stick to the annual spring trip in April. Me on the other hand was fine with. Oh, well.

Food wise, the couscous salad was great. I loved white kidney beans in it and the basil. I would definitely make it again! The Firehouse Chicken was also very good. David really loved this one.

The campfire cakes were a little bit of a let down though. They were a lot of work to prepare. The cake part on the inside was really good, but as you got to the bottom they had a orange rind flavor, which I am not a big fan off. I wonder if I had watched them more carefully, while cooking on the fire or the coals were not as hot, that maybe they would not have tasted like orange rind as much.

Dinner


Me making the campfire cakes




Here are the recipes for the couscous salad and the chicken.

Tuscan-Style Couscous Salad
Source:(adapted from Vegetarian Classics, by Jeanne Lemlin) via The Way The Cookie Crumbles
Serves 4 as a main course

Ingredients:
1½ cups couscous
½ teaspoon turmeric
2 cups boiling water
½ cup pine nuts
1 (15-ounce) can small white beans such as navy or Great Northern, rinsed well and
drained
1 pint cherry tomatoes, halved
¾ cup shredded fresh basil
1 small red onion, slivered

The dressing:
3 garlic cloves, unpeeled
⅓ cup lemon juice
½ teaspoon salt
Generous seasoning freshly ground pepper
3 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil

Directions:

Place the couscous and turmeric in a large bowl and mix. Pour on the boiling water, stir, and immediately cover the bowl with a large plate. Let sit for 10 minutes. Remove the cover and fluff the couscous with a fork. Let cool.

Place the pine nuts and unpeeled garlic cloves in a small skillet and toast over medium heat, tossing often, until golden, about 5 minutes. Watch them carefully because they can easily burn. Let the pine nuts cool, then mix them into the couscous along with the beans, tomatoes, basil, and red onion.

Mince the garlic. Place the dressing ingredients in a jar with a tight-fitting lid and shake vigorously. Pour over the couscous mixture and toss well. Let marinate at least 30 minutes before serving. Cover and chill if longer than 30 minutes. Serve at room temperature.



Firehouse BBQ Grilled Chicken
Source: Picky Palate

Ingredients:
6 thawed boneless skinless chicken breasts
½ Cup Frank’s Red Hot Sauce
¾ Cup of your favorite BBQ sauce
4 Tablespoons melted butter
2 Tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a large Ziploc bag and marinate for at least an hour. Preheat stovetop grill pan (this is what I used) or outdoor grill over medium heat. Grill chicken for 5-6 minutes each side or until chicken is cooked through.


I leave you with a couple of pictures of our trip.



The hubby made me pose


David & Scott

Pumpkin Cheesecake with Caramel Sauce

I made this recipe last year without the caramel sauce and it was soo good! We ate it all, before I even got a chance to blog about it and take pictures. Well this year, I decided to take the time and actually make the caramel sauce and boy is it worth it! It is amazing and everyone has loved it. This is definitely my all time favorite pumpkin recipe. I plan on making it again for Thanksgiving. I can't wait!

Pumpkin Cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory
Source: RecipeZaar via Good Eats N' Sweat Treats

Ingredients:
1-1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs
5 tbsp. of butter, melted
1 cup of sugar, plus 1 tablespoon sugar
3 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese, softened
1 tsp of vanilla
1 cup of canned pumpkin
3 eggs
1/2 tsp of cinnamon
1/4 tsp of nutmeg
1/4 tsp of allspice (I used pumpkin pie spice)
caramel sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Crust: Combine graham cracker crumbs with the melted butter and 1 tbsp of sugar in a medium bowl. Stir well enough to coat all of the crumbs with the butter until crumbly. Put foil partway up the outside part of an 8-inch springform pan. Press the crumbs into the bottom and about two-thirds of the way up the sides of the springform pan. You don't want the crust to form all of the way up the back of each slice of cheesecake. Bake the crust for 5 minutes, then set aside until you are ready to fill it.

Cheesecake: In a large mixing bowl combine cream cheese, 1 cup of sugar, and vanilla. Mix with an electric mixer until smooth. Add the pumpkin, eggs, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice and continue beating until smooth and creamy. Pour the filling into the pan. Bake for 60-70 minutes. The top will turn a bit darker at this point. Remove from the oven and allow the cheesecake to cool. When the cheesecake has reached room temperature, place in the refrigerator. Once the cheesecake has chilled completly, remove the pan sides and cut the cake into 12 equal slices. Drizzle each slice with caramel sauce.



Caramel Sauce:
Source: Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

Ingredients:
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup water
1-1/2 tbsp light corn syrup
2/3 cup heavy cream
2 tbsp unsalted butter, at room temperature

Directions:
Put the sugar, water and corn syrup in a medium heavy bottomed saucepan. Stir to just combine the ingredients and then put the pan over medium-high heat. Heat, without stirring, until the caramel turns deep amber, about 5-10 minutes. Lower the heat a bit and, standing back from the saucepan add the cream and butter. Stir mixture to calm down the caramel and dissolve any lumps.

Chili

I can't remember when I mentioned to my dad that I wanted to make chili, but he sent me a recipe for it and just sat in my email inbox. It wasn't until the other day on the Nest, we had this long conversation about chili and how it was perfect for fall. It reminded me about the recipe my dad had sent me. I immediately added it to list of meals to make in the coming weeks. Well, I finally made it and it was great. I love adding uncooked onion, cheddar cheese, and tapatio sauce on top. I made a couple of changes and I marked them in red.

Chili
Source: Dad

Ingredients:
1 pound of blade or chuck roast, the hubby is picky and had me use top shirloin
3 cups of dry kidney beans, canned which was drained and rinsed
2 small onions-chopped
1 stalk of celery, diced
1 carrot, peeled & diced
1 bay leaf
salt and pepper
2-3 tablespoons of olive oil
1/2 pound ground sirlion
1/2 pound of ground pork ( can substitute turkey), used ground sirloin
1 cup of red wine (do not use cooking wine)
4 to 6 medium tomatoes
2 cups of tomato juice
1 to 2 tablespoons of chili powder
1/2 pound of Sharp Grated Cheddar cheese
a pinch of cayenne pepper
Tabasco or other hot sauce to taste, tapatio is the way to go!

Directions:

Pre-heat oven to 425 degrees.

Place the blade or chuck roast in a large skillet and sear on stove top. Then roast in the oven. Cook until Medium Rare for about 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the blade from the oven and let cool. Cut meat into cubes.

Cook kidney beans in covered water in a pot. Bring to a simmer and remove from heat. Let beans soak for at least 15 minutes. When using canned beans, no need to soak and immediately add the following ingredients. Add 1 chopped onion, carrot, celery, bay leaf, salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and cook until almost done. Drain and set aside. Remove and throw away the bay leaf.

In a large pot or saucepan, heat the olive oil over a moderately high heat. Add the remaining chopped onion and cook until soft (about 5 minutes), then add the ground sirlion and ground pork. Saute until all traces of pink have disappeared, for about 5 minutes. Then add the beef chunks and heat through.

Add the tomatoes, chili powder, wine and tomato juice. bring to boil with moderately high heat, then reduce the heat to a moderate simmer for about 15 minutes, which allows the flavors to blend. Then stir in the beans, cheese, salt, hot sauce and cayenne pepper. Reduce your heat to low and simmer, covered, until the chilli is thick and rich which takes about 1 and half to 2 hours . Stir often to prevent chili from burning and sticking to the bottom of the pot.

Mexican Cornbread

I really love Mexican Cornbread. I got the recipe from my mother in law and it went perfect with the chili I made. I used Fresh & Easy's cornbread mix, but you could use any other type, like Krusteaz Cornbread mix.

Mexican Cornbread
Source: My mother in law

Ingredients:
cornbread mix and ingredients the box requires, along with the following
1 can of creamed corn
1 small can of green chili's
1 cup of cheddar cheese

Directions:
Follow directions on cornbread mix, then add creamed corn, chili's and cheese. Stir until mixed and pour into 8 by 8 pan. Follow cooking directions and add 15 to 20 minutes to the time. This is so the cornbread isn't too moist. Allow to cool 5 to 10 minutes.

Sweet Crepes

I made crepes awhile back and am now finally blogging about them. I had never made them before and was in a creative cooking mood one morning, so I thought I would give them a try. Note: this is not the easiest recipe to make. The batter is very easy, but flipping the crepe can be quite tough. If you're trying to work on your cooking skills or up for a challenge, I do recommend trying these. I had a lot of fun making them and they were so worth the time and effort. They are very rich and I was only able to eat 2. Overall, they were amazing!


Sweet Crepes
Source: Joy of Cooking, 75th Anniversary, copyright 2006, page 649
Makes: 12 crepes

Ingredients:
1 cup of flour
1 cup of milk
1/2 cup of lukewarm water
4 large eggs
1/4 cup of butter, melted
1/8 tsp. of salt
3 tbsp. of sugar

Filling:
whipped cream cheese
jam or jelly, I used strawberry

Directions:
Combine all ingredients in blender. Mix until batter is smooth. Cover and let stand for 30 minutes.

In large nonstick pan, melt 1/2 tsp of butter over medium heat. Take pan off of heat and pour enough batter to cover the entire bottom of the pan with a very thin coating. Return to heat and cook the crepe until it bubbles and bottom is lightly browned, about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes. Turn crepe with spatula or toss to flip. Cook other side until lightly browned. Then slide onto wax paper. Repeat until all the batter is gone.

Spread thin layer of cream cheese and jam onto warm crepes. Then roll crepes and sprinkle with powdered sugar.

Summer Grilling

One of my favorite aspects of summer is having friends and family over for a summer BBQ. On Friday night, we had the hubby's family over for dinner. We had grilled vegetables, steak and shrimp. I also made a pasta salad with tomatoes and fresh basil, that I got from the garden. To top it off we had coconut cream pie for desert! Sorry no pictures, as the food looked oh so good and I was too hungry!

I do want to share the recipe for the Cajun Grilled Shrimp. Everyone loved them and the hubby did a great job of cooking them to the perfect doneness. I got the recipe from Annie's Eats. She always has great recipes, so check out her blog.

Cajun Grilled Shrimp
Source: Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
1 lb. of shrimp, peeled and deveined (I bought TJ's already peeled and deveined)
1-2 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper
½ tsp. of dried thyme
½ tsp. of dried oregano
½ tsp. of paprika
½ tsp. of garlic powder
pinch of cayenne pepper

Directions:
Pat the shrimp dry with paper towels. Thread onto metal skewers. Brush with olive oil. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Mix remaining spices in a small bowl. Sprinkle spice mixture onto shrimp and pat lightly to help it stick.

(I did change it up a little bit here. I combined the olive oil and all of the spices together in a bowl so it would be easier for the hubby, since he was grilling several items at one time.)

Grill the skewers, until the shrimp are barely charred and bright pink, about 6 minutes.

Tex-Mex Shrimp Stew

I haven't posted a food blog in forever! I started this one a while ago and never finished it. Anyways, I loved this dish and David whom isn't that big of a seafood fan loved it as well. Yay! So here you go!

Tex-Mex Shrimp Stew
Source: Mix it Match it, 1000 + Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner Combinations by
Weight Watchers, 2007
Serves: 4
Points: 4
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:
4 tsp of olive oil
1 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can of diced tomatoes with green chiles
1 (10 ounce) box of frozen corn
1/4 tsp of salt
1/8 tsp of cinnamon (next time I am going to omit this)
1 pound of medium shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used TJ's frozen cooked shrimp)
2 tbs of chopped fresh cilantro
4 lime wedges (optional, I added a tbs of lime juice to the stew)
sliced avocado (optional and not included in point calculation)

Directions:
Heat oil in medium pan over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently until golden, about 3 minutes. Add bell pepper and cook, stirring frequently, until softened, about 2 minutes. Add tomatoes, corn, salt, and cinnamon and bring to boil. Stir in shrimp and return to boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered until the shrimp are just opaque in the center, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with lime wedges and avocado.

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble

David and I stopped by the grocery store to stock up for the week the other day. I was passing through the produce section and scanning all the different fruits and vegetables, when the rhubarb caught my eye. I have been wanting to make a Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble for a really long time, but it hasn't been in season. I grew up with my mom making this recipe for us and I have always really loved it, so you can understand why I was excited. It came out great, just like my mom's. I read an article in my, Cooking Light magazine, about freezing rhubarb which I would love to try since it isn't available year round. Anyways, this is sooo good!

Strawberry Rhubarb Crumble
Source: Mom

Ingredients:

Crust:
1/2 cup of sugar
6 oz of butter
2 cups of flour

Filling:
2 pounds of Rhubarb, or 3 stalks
1 large container of strawberries
1/2 cup of flour
1 cup of sugar
1/2 cup of light corn syrup
1 Tbls butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Crumble Crust:
Combine all ingredients in mixer and mix on low till crumbly. Use about 1/3 to 1/2 of the mixture to cover the bottom of a deep pie dish. Place remainging mixture to the side for the top.

Filling:
Clean and cut rhubarb and strawberries into small pieces. Toss with 1/2 cup flour and pour into pie dish. In a small saucepan, mix sugar and corn syrup; stirring constantly bringing the mixture to a boil over moderate heat. Pour this syrup over the rhubarb and dot the top with the butter cut into bits. Sprinkle remaining crumble crust over the top of pie. Bake for 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Cranberry Orange Bars

I bookmarked this recipe a long time ago and finally had the all the ingredients in my kitchen to make it. Well, I had dried cranberries and not fresh, but I figured I would try it anyways. They came out really good and were all gone in one day! Eventually I would like to try the recipe with fresh cranberries but I am afraid they might be tarter than when the dried cranberries are used. Overall they came out really good and that's all that really matters!

Cranberry Orange Bars
Source: Good Things Catered

Ingredients:
1/2 cups of butter, at room temperature
1 1/2 cups of sugar
2 eggs, at room temperature
2 Tbsp fresh orange juice
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cups of flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1 Tbsp of orange zest
2 cups fresh cranberries (I used dried cranberries)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Beat together the butter and sugar until creamy. Add the eggs, orange juice and vanilla and mix until combined. Mix in flour and baking powder. The mixture should have a cookie dough consistency. Fold in orange zest and cranberries. Spread batter evenly in a 9x12 prepared baking pan. Bake for about 40 minutes until golden brown on top.

Note: I halved the recipe and used an 8x8 baking pan and baked it for 20 min. I am really glad I checked it half way through as they would have been super dry if I had baked them for the 40 min.

Mashed Cauliflower and Chicken & Spaghetti Squash Medley

I found the recipe for the mashed cauliflower on the blog, A Taste of Home Cooking and it looked really good. So after work yesterday, I stopped by the grocery store to pick up some cauliflower, when I saw some Spaghetti Squash. My mom used to make it a lot when I was kid and I hadn't had in a very long time. Before I knew it, I had picked up one and put it in my basket. I didn't even know what I was going to make with it! Thus, the beginning of a very interesting meal. I knew you could substitute spaghetti squash for a healthier version of pasta.

I threw together what became our meal and it came out really good. I have gotten to the point with David, when it comes to making anything new and interesting, to not ask him if he wants it but to just make it. He ended up liking both recipes a lot, especially the mashed cauliflower. He couldn't figure out what it was, but knew that it tasted really good and was very similar to mashed potatoes. The plus side is that both are very healthy and easy to make. I calculated the weight watchers points, for the mashed cauliflower and it is about 1 point a cup compared to 5 points for mashed potatoes. You gotta love that!





Mashed Cauliflower
Source: A Taste of Home Cooking
Servings: 4
Weight Watchers Points: 1 point per cup

Ingredients:
1/2 head of cauliflower
5 garlic cloves sliced
1 tbsp of cream cheese
splash of milk
1 tbsp of butter
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
Cut the cauliflower into small pieces and boil with garlic for about 15 min. Once the cauliflower is tender combine with cream cheese, milk and butter in the food processor. Puree until smooth and creamy. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Chicken & Spaghetti Squash Medley
Source: Me
Servings: 4

Ingredients:
1/2 spaghetti squash
2 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
1/2 bunch of asparagus or about 8 spears
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 tbsp of Italian seasoning
1/4 tsp of salt
1/4 tsp of pepper
1/4 of Parmesan

Cut squash in half and remove seeds and pulp. Boil in saucepan for 15 to 20 minutes until tender. Meanwhile, in frying pan combine chicken, asparagus, olive oil, seasoning, salt and pepper and cook till chicken is cooked through. Once squash is done remove from water and separate strands by running a fork through pieces of squash. Add squash and Parmesan to chicken and asparagus mixture and toss. Add more salt and pepper if needed.



I also made a very yummy salad. I used fresh baby spinach, tomatoes, cucumber, tofu, red onion and feta cheese. The hubby even commented on how he didn't even taste the tofu which is great!

Spaghetti with Chicken, Garlic and Spinach

I really like this dish and I am now hooked on using fresh spinach in recipes! I found the original recipe on the Technicolor Kitchen and have made several modifications to the recipe. I originally made it for David and I with, no real changes to the recipe and we really enjoyed it. When it came to my turn to host girl's night, I thought this would be a different meal than we have had in the past. I decided though the girls would probably like it with chicken, so I went ahead and added it. It was a great addition and everyone loved it. I will definitely make it again. I was thinking though it might be fun to use tofu one day instead of the chicken. Ah! So many possibilities!

Sorry for no pictures either!

Spaghetti with chicken, garlic and spinach
Source: Technicolor Kitchen
Serves: 8

1 box spaghetti
1/3 cup (80ml) extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup diced bacon
4 chicken breasts cut into bite size pieces
6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
sliced red chili, to taste - I couldn't find this so I substituted, 2 tsp. of red pepper flakes
1/3 cup of white wine
3oz spinach - I used a whole package of baby spinach as it wilts down so much
salt and freshly ground black pepper
small handful finely chopped parsley
finely grated Parmesan cheese

Cook the spaghetti in a large saucepan of boiling water as directed on the packaging.

Meanwhile, in frying pan over medium heat, add the olive oil and bacon. Cook until almost crispy. (If you want a healthier version, drain off the bacon fat after the bacon is cooked and add 1/2 cup of chicken or vegetable broth) Add the chicken, garlic and chili and cook, stirring frequently, until the chicken is cooked through. Add the white wine and cook, stirring, for about 20 seconds.

Drain the pasta and add to the frying pan with the spinach. Toss to coat in the sauce until the spinach is wilted. Season with salt and pepper and sprinkle with the parsley.

Serve with lots of Parmesan.

Pink Snowball Coconut Cupcakes

These came very good! I loved the raspberry cream filling along with the coconut. The cupcake part came out a little more dense than I normally like my cupcakes. I think a lot of that is personally preference. The cupcakes had great flavor though. I saw a recipe for fluffy cupcakes, so I am thinking about maybe next time making that recipe and adding the vanilla, almond, and coconut from this recipe to it. Also, I definitely recommend having a kitchen aid mixer to make these as the cupcake mixture needs to mix for awhile. But overall, everyone has really liked them. They look so pretty too. They would be perfect for a wedding shower or baby shower!

Pink Snowball Coconut Cupcakes
Source: Craft.Quirky.Fun
Yield: 2 dozen
Weight Watchers Points: 8.5 points per cupcake

Ingredients:
3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
2 cups of sugar
5 extra-large eggs at room temperature
1 1/2 tsp of pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp of pure almond extract
3 cups of flour
1 tsp of baking powder
1/2 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1 cup of buttermilk (I used yogurt as a substitute)
14 ounces of sweetened, shredded coconut
Red food coloring

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream butter and sugar on high until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. With the mixer on low speed, add eggs, 1 at a time. Add vanilla and almond extract and mix well.

In a separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add half the dry mixture to the batter and then the yogurt. Add remaining dry mixture. Mix until just combined. Fold in 7 ounces of coconut.

Line a muffin pan with paper liners and fill with batter. Bake for 25 to 35 minutes, until the tops golden brown. Cool in the pan for 15 minutes and then place of cooling rack. Allow to cool completely.

Filling & Frosting

Pastry bag with tip (you can use a plastic baggy and cut a hole in the corner)
2 (6-ounce) containers fresh raspberries, cut in half or 1 (16-ounce) container fresh strawberries, coarsely chopped (used frozen but let them defrost first)
1 cup of heavy whipping cream
1/3 cup of powdered sugar

Coarsely mash raspberries in a medium bowl with fork. Beat the cream and 1/3 cup of powdered sugar in a large bowl until firm peaks form. Fold the raspberries into the whipped cream.

Fill the pastry bag with the filling mix. Puncture the cupcake and squeeze a little bit of the filling into the middle. Frost the cupcakes tops with the remaining filling.

Place 1 drop of red food coloring into a bowl of the remaining coconut. Mix well until you have an even coating of color. Sprinkle cupcakes with the remaining coconut.

Spicy Black Eyed Peas

I have never made black eyed peas before so when David requested them I was a little surprised. I learned today that in the south it is a tradition to have black eyed peas on New Years day, as it is supposed to bring you good luck in the next year. David found this recipe on the foodnetwork. I figured you couldn't go wrong with a Paula Dean recipe and she didn't let me down. They were amazing. If you want to read up some more about the tradition of black eyed peas take a read here.

Spicy Black Eyed Peas
Source: Paula Deans, Paula's Home Cooking, Foodnetwork
Servings: 8
Weight Watchers: 11 points per serving

4 slices of bacon
1 medium onion, chopped
1 (16-ounce) package of dried black-eyed peas, washed
1 (12-ounce) can of diced tomatoes and green chiles
1 tsp of salt
1 tsp of chili powder
1/2 tsp of freshly ground black pepper
3 cups of water

In a large saucepan, cook the bacon until crisp. Remove the bacon, crumble, and set aside to use as a topping after the peas have cooked. Cook the onion in the bacon drippings until tender. Add the peas, diced tomatoes and green chiles, salt, chili powder, pepper and water. Cover and cook over medium heat for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until the peas are tender. Add additional water, if necessary. Serve garnished with crumbled bacon.

Changes that I made: I added a ham hock to the pot and left it in the entire length of time that it was cooking. Also, I found I had to cook the peas longer that stated in the recipe, probably for about an hour and 15 min. Also, I needed to add more water.

Served with freshly baked corn bread.

Yummy Gucamole

I found this recipe awhile ago and have made it many times. This is a great recipe and I get many requests for it! I just realized today though, that I have never blogged about it before, so here you go!

Guacamole
Source: Alton Brown, Good Eats on the Foodnetwork

Ingredients:
3 avocados, halved, seeded and peeled
1 lime, juiced
1/2 tsp of kosher salt
1/2 tsp of ground cumin
1/2 tsp of cayenne
1/2 medium onion, diced
2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
1 Tbsp of chopped cilantro
1 clove of garlic, minced

Directions:
In a medium bowl, toss the scooped avocado pulp and lime juice. Drain, and reserve the lime juice, after all of the avocados have been coated. Using a fork to mash the avocados till smooth. Add the salt, cumin, and cayenne and mix. Then, fold in the onions, tomatoes, cilantro, and garlic. Add 1 Tbsp of the reserved lime juice. Let sit at room temperature for 1 hour and then serve.

White Bean Dip

I found this recipe on Good Things Catered. We had David's family over to watch the USC game and celebrate the new year. I really liked how this came out. It was really good on crackers. Since there were only a couple of us, I would probably half it as I have quite a bit left over. Other wise, I didn't make any adjustments and I would definitely make it again.


White Bean Dip
Source: Good Things Catered

Ingredients:
2 (14oz.) cans of white beans, drained and rinsed
2 Tbsp of butter
1 large onion, finely chopped
1/4 tsp of salt
2 garlic cloves minced
1 1/2 Tbsp of chopped fresh parsley
1 tsp of thyme
1/2 tsp of freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup of water
1 1/2 Tbsp. of fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup of extra-virgin olive oil

Directions:
In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Then add salt and onion and cook the onion until it is lightly golden, about 10 minutes. Add garlic, parsley, thyme, and pepper and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Deglaze pan with water and lemon juice, scraping up all browned bits.

In the food processor, add onion mixture and half of the white beans and pulse, until starting to smooth. Turn food processor to on and add the olive oil slowly while blending until smooth. Pour the bean mixture into a medium bowl and fold in remaining whole beans. Add more salt and pepper if needed.

Serve with toasted slices of bread or crackers.

Tacky Sweater Party

We had an awesome turnout on Friday for our tacky sweater party. I was really surprised at how many people dressed up and how amazingly horrible the sweaters were! It was so much fun, as we had a contest for the tackiest sweater, went caroling, played SingStar and watched Snowball Express. I actually fell asleep during the movie as I was dead tired from all the cooking I did and preparation for the party but I had a great time!

Here are all of us girls with our sweaters!


David and I with our sweaters. David went all out with the snow pants and santa hat!


Even Jackson got dressed up for the party!


Matt and Joleen who won the contest for Tackiest Sweater


The spread of food:


As for food I made deviled eggs, spinach and artichoke dip, crossaints stuffed with chicken, green onion and cream cheese, bruschetta, phyllo turnovers filled with ricotta and shrimp and wassail. I would normally post each recipe but that would be so much work and I don't feel like it. So, I figured I would let you know how the recipe turned out and what substitutions I made and the link.

Deviled Eggs- well I didn't really follow a recipe. I tasted it as I went. I threw in more if needed. But basically I used mayo, little bit of butter, goulden's mustard, little bit of white vinegar and paprika. I had never used the white vinegar and I think it really added that little something that was missing when I had made them in the past.

Spinach and Artichoke dip: This was a great recipe! The only thing that I noticed is that I would add more cheese. Basically the recipe says use this much cheese and if you want to add more do so. Well I would at least double it. I didn't think it came out creamy enough but I had lots of compliments though. It's probably just personal perference on how creamy you like it.

Crossaints stuffed with cream cheese, green onion and chicken: I was told how to make this from my mother in law so there is no recipe online to link to but I will write this one out for you.

2 chicken breasts
1 (8 oz) package of cream cheese
1/2 cup of chopped green onion
2 packages of crossaints (8 per roll)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Boil 2 frozen chicken breasts for 12 min on high. Once cooked, shred or chop into small pieces. In small bowl combine chicken with one 8 oz package of cream cheese and blend together. Add about a 1/2 a cup of chopped green onion. On a greased baking sheet place a teaspoon of the chicken mixture on the large end of the crossaint. Roll crossaint up like normal and tuck the ends under the bottom. Bake for 10 min. or till golden brown.

Bruschetta: I really liked how this came out. Next time I might use a little bit less onion and I did add garlic like the reviews said. I will definitely make this one again!

Phyllo Turnovers Filled With Ricotta and Shrimp: I got rave reviews on this one but man they were a lot of work! I didn't know what I was getting my self into as I had never worked with Phyllo dough before and it is very time consuming. I tried them and I loved the filling but the dough not so much as it was very flaky. Knowing how long it takes I might try wonton wrapers next time and see how they taste.

Wassail: Theres no recipe to link on this one so here are the ingrediants and directions.

2 guarts of apple juice
1 can of frozen pineapple concentrate
1 can of frozen orange concentrate
10 cloves
4 sticks of cinnamon

Combine all ingrediants in either a crock pot or in large saucepan over the stove. If using crockpot, let it cook on low for 6 to 8 hours. If over the stove, cook covered on medium low heat for 2 to 3 hours.

Cinnamon Rolls

These are semi home made cinnamon rolls, that I made by using Pillsbury's Hot Roll Mix. One of the girls on the What's Cooking board, on the nest.com made these one day and they sounded good, so I figured I would give it a try. I call it semi home made because you still have to kneed the dough and let it rise. I am not experienced in any way when it comes to rolls or bread. I once tried to make pretzels and they were a flop. Ever since then, I have kinda stayed away from making anything bread related. I had a lot of fun making this and they came out really well except the box states they need to bake for 20 to 30 min and at 15 minutes mine were already darker brown. As for making these again, I might not as I personally thought they tasted like the premade kind in the pop can and those are much less work. I am just going to post pictures as the recipe is on the side of the box. Overall, I am glad I made them though and I am considering taking a stab at making some bread. You just might see a bread recipe on here soon!

Here is the dough after I rolled it out and sprinkled on the cinnamon and sugar.


Ready to go into the oven.

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is another recipe that I can check of my list. I had been craving it for awhile and decided that I wanted to try and make it myself. I made a couple of variations and it came out great.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
Source: Tyler Florence on the foodnetwork.com
Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients:
2 tbls olive oil
1 medium white onions, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
3 roma tomatoes, chopped and seeded
2 cans of Rotele tomatoes
4 cans of reduced sodium chicken broth
2 cups of water from boiling chicken
Salt and pepper to taste
Canola oil, for pan-frying
8 corn tortillas, cut into 1/8-inch-thick strips (I used flour tortillas)
1 1/2 cups boiled and shredded chicken (about 3 chicken breasts)
2 avocados, halved, pitted, peeled, and diced (optional)
1 cup shredded Jack cheese (optional)
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh cilantro leaves, for garnish
1 lime, cut in wedges, for serving (optional)

Directions:
In a large pot, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, onions, garlic, and tomatoes. Cook over medium heat, stirring for 15 minutes until the vegetables are cooked down and pulpy. While vegetables are cooking, boil chicken breasts in 4 cups of chicken broth over medium high heat for about 10 min until thoroughly cooked. Once done, pour the liquid into the vegtables. Shred the chicken and then add to the vegetables. Add 2 cups of water, season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 1-inch of canola oil in a skillet over medium. Add the tortilla strips in batches and fry until they are crisp on all sides. Remove to a paper towel-lined platter and sprinkle with salt while they are still hot.

Pour soup into 4 soup bowls. Top with the diced avocado and fried tortilla strips and cheese if using. Garnish with cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting

I have been dying to make something with pumpkin as I have read some many great food blogs with recipes that look amazing. This afternoon, I felt like baking and decided that I would finally make this recipe I saw on my friend Courtney's blog. I decided I would make as cupcakes so they would be easy to take to work as there is no way the hubby and I could eat all of these ourselves. I also wanted a little bit of chocolate in them. I considered just adding chips to the batter but decided against it as the recipe already seemed pretty rich. I put only a couple of chocolate chips on the tops of the batter before popping them into the oven. They came out so good! Once you put the frosting on you don't see the chocolate chips so its nice little surprise when you bite into them. I gave one to David to try and the first thing out of his mouth was, "Are you trying to kill me". :) Also, I got to use my Kitchen Aid mixer for this recipe! I don't use it enough but when I do I love it!

Pumpkin Cupcakes with Cream Cheese Frosting
Source: Courtney
Yield: dozen and half

Ingredients
2 cups of sugar
4 eggs
1 cup of oil
1 (15 oz) can of pumpkin
2 cups of flour
2 tsp of cinnamon ( I did 1 1/2 tsp of cinnamon and 1/2 tsp of pumpkin spice)
2 tsp of baking powder
1 tsp of baking soda
1/2 tsp of salt

Cream sugar and eggs together, then add oil and pumpkin and mix together. Sift all dry ingredients together and add gradually into pumpkin mixture. Pour into greased cupcake pan. Add some chocolate chips to the tops of the cupcakes. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until knife comes out clean from center.



Cream Cheese Frosting
8 oz of cream cheese (I used fat free cream cheese
1/2 cup of butter
4 cups of powdered sugar
1 tsp of vanilla (I used 2 tsp.)
Cream butter and cream cheese together with a mixer. Add in gradually the powdered sugar. Add vanilla. When cupcakes are cool, frost with frosting.