Homemade Pizza

Since we're leaving for vacation tomorrow, I tried to use up lots of things in the fridge that would go bad before we get back. Hence the pizza with mozzarella cheese that had already been opened. There wasn't quite enough cheese, though, so I decided to try a little leftover cheddar cheese on it as well. Some lunchmeat ham and canned pineapple also went on the pizza. We also had a salad, since the fresh vegetables won't last. You can see the mountain of tomatoes on Mike's salad. Howie the Guinea Pig was more than happy to take care of the rest of the vegetables for us.

The verdict

I felt a little bad because tonight's dinner is almost exactly like last night's dinner (meatball subs with salad that I forgot to take a picture of). But pizza is always good, and I put a little cheese on the salad to make it different from last night's. I give this meal 3 out of 5 stars for taste and health.

I also had a whole apple that I knew we weren't going to eat, so I decided to see what Howie would think if I just threw the whole thing in his cage. He wasn't quite sure what to think at first, but once he figured out how to bite into such a big object, he started chowing down. As you can see, Morgan the kitten was very interested in what was going on. So tonight you got a double feature - you got to see what the humans AND guinea pigs had for dinner!

Grilled Salmon

For Memorial Day, we had an all-American meal - although by my definition, pretty much anything grilled is "all-American." First, we had salmon that was marinated for about 20 minutes in lime juice and Italian dressing. We also had a small salad, white rice, fresh corn, and some watermelon to finish it off. Mike grilled the corn as well, and before throwing them on the grill he soaked them in water, husks and all, for about 15 minutes. Notice how he left some of the husk on the corn for presentation. Do not notice the clutter surrounding the placemat.

The verdict

I wish I knew how to do interesting things with rice. Mike doesn't like fried rice (the egg grosses him out), so that's out. All I know to do is cook it and serve it with a little butter and salt. The corn was excellent, I'm so glad it's in season again! The fish was seasoned well, but was fishy-tasting, even for salmon. I give this meal 3 out of 5 stars for taste and 4 stars for health.

Pork Chops with Twice-Baked Potato Casserole and Chopped Spinach Salad

Yesterday I pulled some pork chops out of the freezer, and planned on making a special browned butter sauce to go with it, but my spices are STILL missing, so tonight they went on the grill after marinating in some olive oil and Asian Grilling Spice. Meanwhile, some potatoes had gone in the oven to bake for some twice-baked potatoes, and I decided to try my hand at a chopped spinach salad with shredded carrots, some lemon juice, olive oil, sea salt and cracked pepper. I meant to chop up an apple for the salad, but that didn't work. Speaking of not working, neither did the potatoes. I tried to scoop out the insides of the potatoes, and the skins completely fell apart. I thought the dish was ruined, but Mike suggested placing the skin pieces in the bottom of a casserole dish and spreading the potato mixture on top, then placing the whole thing in the oven. Also notice my new placemats and coasters, bought for cheap at Wal-Mart :)

The verdict

I'm not usually a huge fan of pork chops, which is why I originally planned on having the sauce to pair with it, but since they were marinated since yesterday, they were still tender and flavorful. The twice-baked potato casserole was a good save - just as tasty as the original. I can't say I was crazy about the salad, but it was a good try. I give this meal 3 and a half out of 5 stars for taste and 3 stars for health.

Bourbon-Glazed Ham

I managed to clear off enough space on the dining room table for us to eat on it, so we had our first REAL dinner in our new house tonight! It was so nice to have a homemade meal. On my trip to Kentucky, my family visited the Jim Bean distillery, and my mom bought a cookbook featuring bourbon recipes. I decided to try this bourbon-glazed ham tonight, with mashed potatoes and a spinach salad. I used a chive-cream cheese dip I bought that I didn't really like for fresh veggies to make the potatoes, and the bourbon glaze features honey, orange juice, molasses, Dijon mustard, and of course, a healthy dose of Jim!

The verdict
Mike loves anything involving ham, and he said he liked the glaze. I served the remaining glaze on the table, and he enjoyed brushing that on. He said he could make an awesome sandwich, thanks to Jim! The mashed potatoes were good, although not as fluffy as I usually like them to be. I give this meal 4 out of 5 stars for taste and 3 stars for health.



I also thought you might enjoy looking at some food pictures from my recent vacation to Kentucky. We went to a place called Lily's Paradise Cafe , the kind of irreverent place you can only find in a non-chain. This restaurant was also featured on Oprah, because she thinks they have the best macaroni and cheese in the world.Very interesting decor!


The legs on the wall were a little creepy...



I had the pecan-crusted chicken with a cream sauce on top. Quite tasty. I never did figure out what the thingy-do on top of the chicken was, though. Of course, I HAD to try the mac and cheese. It was good, but I say, Oprah, forget the mac and cheese, try the lima beans! They were the best I've ever had. I hardly ever make lima beans because they take longer than most vegetables, but I should make them more often, because it's one of the few veggies Mike and I can agree on.

Homemade Chicken Soup

We're getting down to the wire with the move, so I'm using up as much food in the freezer as possible. Tonight I used some chicken broth I had cooked down previously and frozen, a bone-in, skinless chicken breast, and some frozen veggies. The chicken went into the crock pot this morning to cook, and this afternoon I pulled the meat from the bone and put it back in the crock pot with the broth and some chopped carrots, celery, and green onions. I was going to cook some instant brown rice on the stovetop to add to the soup, but then I got really lazy and just threw the uncooked rice in the crockpot. The vegetables were broccoli and cauliflower, and they came with an herb-lemon sauce to add after cooking. We also finished off some herb-yeast rolls from the fresh market.

The verdict
I was afraid that the rice wouldn't turn out right because I didn't cook it properly, but it was fine. Today's weather was a little cooler than what we've been getting (mid-70's), so I'm glad I chose to make a soup today. We had a good meal and I used up lots of food from the freezer! I give this meal 4 out of 5 stars for taste and health.

Burgers with French Fries and Spring Mix Salad

Tonight's dinner was on of my old standbys, because with the move, I wasn't feeling very creative. We had some lean beef in the fridge, which Mike formed into patties and threw on the grill, while I made some homemade French Fries and a Spring Mix salad. I had to do something new, though, so I decided to throw some chopped granny smith apples on top of the salad.

The verdict
Burgers are comfort food for me, and we really enjoyed this meal. With some Caesar Italian Dressing, the apples were good on the salad, and I plan on doing it again. I think next time I'll leave off the celery, though, as I didn't think they paired well together. I give this meal 4 out of 5 stars for taste and 3 stars for health.

I wanted to share with you guys an awesome Lemon Curd Cupcakes recipe I just tried for our lifegroup meeting last night. The recipe came from the latest issue of Taste of Home magazine. Mike has introduced me to how great lemon-flavored desserts can be, so I decided to try this one. They were a little involved because they have a lemon curd filling, but I think that's what gave them the edge that pushed them from pretty good to AWESOME!


I had never tried making a filled cupcake before, and it was harder than I expected, but I think now that I've had a go at it, it'll go better next time. Everyone at lifegroup gave them a big thumbs up!

Meat Loaf Wellington

Tonight I decided to make Meat Loaf Wellington for dinner. I tried the recipe back in December when I found it in a Taste of Home magazine; it uses crescent roll dough for the outside and has lean ground beef and mozzarella cheese inside. This time I made half of the recipe, and used the other half of the crescent roll dough to roll up some crescent dogs for lunch tomorrow. On the side we had a steamed vegetable mix from the freezer and a fruit salad (granny smith apples, bananas, kiwi, and blueberries from the freezer).

The verdict
I was pleased with this recipe last time, and this time it didn't disappoint me. As far as Mike is concerned, anything with meat, cheese, and bread is perfect. The fruit for the salad came from the Fresh Market (except the freezer blueberries), and I'm always amazed at how good the fruit is from there. I also love how they sell spring mix salad and spinach in bulk, so I can buy a little of each and have a variety in our salads, but not have any go to waste. This meal was also great because I was able to use up things from the freezer for our move: blueberries, vegetables, and Cool Whip. Anyhoo, I give this meal 5 out of 5 stars for taste and 3 stars for health.

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

I had some leftover ground beef from the burgers Mike made a few nights ago, so I decided to make a meat sauce to go with some spaghetti. I started with some plain canned tomato sauce and seasoned it with fresh garlic, oregano, basil, and a little rosemary. Since Mike doesn't eat pasta, when I get the hankerin' for it, I make some good bread to go with it, and Mike just skips the pasta. So I made a french bread, along with a spring mix salad. That's feta cheese on top of my salad. Gosh I love feta!

The verdict
What is it about spaghetti that's so good? It's so simple, but it sure hit the spot. The bread was crusty on the outside and soft on the inside - I read somewhere that you should stick a pan of water in the oven when you're baking the dough, and the steam helps form the crust. I give this meal 4 out of 5 stars for taste and 3 stars for health.

Playing Catch-Up


I have a backlog of food pictures to show you! Nothing incredibly exciting, for two reasons:

1. this was finals week for me
2. we're moving soon, so I'm trying to use up everything from the freezer, including the ready-made crock pots meals I make occasionally.

First up, a meal from the freezer. I made chicken tandoori awhile back and put half in the freezer for later use - like this week! I took it out two days before to defrost, figuring this would be a really busy week for me, the kind where 6:00 rolls around and you say, "What am I going to do for dinner?!?" Or am I the only one who has those days? Anyhoo, we also had brown rice and fruit salad of bananas, apples, kiwi, and strawberries.

Next up, we have last night's dinner, courtesy of Mike, who got major brownie points last night for making dinner while I was finishing two papers. He made burgers on whole-grain buns, baked potatos, corn, and green beans, all made on the grill. There wasn't an inch of space left on the grill! It was all very good, but SO much food! He says next time he thinks he'll skip the potato. It was the first time we tried the buns, and they were just "eh." Does anyone know of a good whole-grain/wheat bun?

Last up, the cake I made for my friend Hollie's baby shower last weekend. I've been trying my hand at cake decorating, but I didn't have time to go online and get some good cake-decorating instructions. Plus the darn thing cracked! It was my usual chocolate cake recipe, which is really good, but I think I'm ready to try something different next time. So if you have a favorite chocolate cake recipe, send it my way!

Be on the lookout for more food pictures as my life returns to a respectable pace...at least until the move!!

Breakfast for Dinner: Whole-Grain Pancakes


I was in the mood for breakfast tonight, so I looked up a recipe for whole-grain pancakes, because I've been trying to incorporate more whole-grains whenever possible, and I found one featuring toasted wheat germ, which I just bought for the first time as part of my incorporation effort. The recipe I decided to try had a blackberry-maple syrup along with it, which I decided to try with some fresh strawberries I had instead of blackberries. We also had a wee bit 'o bacon and some scrambled eggs, and a fruit salad of kiwis, strawberries, and apples.

The verdict
Eh. The pancake batter was thinner than what I'm used to, which made pancakes that were thinner then what we're used to. They tasted okay, but I wasn't overly impressed with the sauce. It smelled good, but it's hard to beat good ol' maple syrup, I guess! I give this meal 2 out of 5 stars for taste and 3 and a half stars for health.

The Ham Files: Hawaiian Pizza

This was a pretty simple meal, but I wanted to show you another use for the huge ham I got last week, most of which is sitting in the freezer right now. I made the best, easiest pizza crust ever, and topped it with Newman's Marinara Sauce, and mixture of shredded mozzarella and provolone cheese, and some ham and canned pineapple. On the side we had a green salad. Like I said, not that exciting to look at, but very good nonetheless. I never liked Hawaiian pizza until a few years ago, when I was working in a pet store with a manager who would order us a Hawaiian pizza because it was her favorite, and I would eat it because I was starving. I acquired a taste for it. By the way, did you know that blotting your slice of pizza with a napkin can reduce the saturated fat content by 8-15%? Just a little tidbit for ya :)

The Ham Files: Hawaiian Pizza

This was a pretty simple meal, but I wanted to show you another use for the huge ham I got last week, most of which is sitting in the freezer right now. I made the best, easiest pizza crust ever, and topped it with Newman's Marinara Sauce, and mixture of shredded mozzarella and provolone cheese, and some ham and canned pineapple. On the side we had a green salad. Like I said, not that exciting to look at, but very good nonetheless. I never liked Hawaiian pizza until a few years ago, when I was working in a pet store with a manager who would order us a Hawaiian pizza because it was her favorite, and I would eat it because I was starving. I acquired a taste for it. By the way, did you know that blotting your slice of pizza with a napkin can reduce the saturated fat content by 8-15%? Just a little tidbit :)

Ham Buns on Whole Wheat

I got a humongous ham on sale last week (yay for Easter sales!) which really excites Mike. He loooooooooooooves ham and has requested all his favorite dishes, the first being ham buns, an old standy from my mom. Mom and I have been on a mission to make this recipe more healthy since she started making it years ago, because everyone in the family really likes it. First, mom cut the amount of butter from 1/2 c to 1/4 cup with no noticeable effects, then today at the grocery store I hunted around for some whole wheat buns that looked appetizing and wound up with hoagie rolls. On the side we had a green salad with Kraft Free Caesar Italian Dressing (highly recommended), and after I took the picture I got some feta cheese for my salad, because feta really excites me. Cheese in general does that to me.

The verdict
Mike was a happy camper because he got one of his favorite meals! The wheat rolls weren't white, of course, but at least they made the meal a little less guilty, so I was willing to make the trade. And really it's the filling, not the bread, that shines on this sandwich. I give this meal 4 out of 5 stars for taste and 3 stars for health.

Barnyard Cake!

I saw the guide to this cake in Taste of Home and had to try it! We had a lifegroup meeting tonight, and we also celebrated our friend Scott's birthday, so it was the perfect excuse to make it.

The chicks are devil's food cake, white icing tinted yellow with a petal-tip, a candy corn beak and chocolate chip eyes. They were my personal favorite :)


These little piggies were devil's food cake with white icing tinted pink, Good N' Plenty ears, and Smarites for the nose. The nose dots were supposed to be made with black decorating gel, and I *thought* I had some, but apparently I don't, but I had some black icing. Not quite as pretty, but it worked.


Now for the adorable little sun! The rays are candy corn, and the eyes and smile are decorating gel (I had those colors!)


The barn was yellow cake, with white icing tinted red (turned out more pinkish) and blue. The barn was outlined with chocolate chips, and there's supposed to be a spider in the loft, but again, no black decorating gel. I decided not to stress about it. The barn is okay, but I think the animals are SO cute! They took a while, but I needed the release. And I'm quite proud of my first attempt at cake decorating tips!

Sophie's Birthday Cake!

Today we celebrated Sophie's birthday - she's three years old! We think. To celebrate, I made her this super-easy birthday cake. I think she knew it was for her, because she wouldn't get out of the kitchen. Her cake was made with flour (I used whole wheat), peanut butter, and shredded carrots, and for the cake I used neufchatel cheese, some milk, and a little flour. I purchased some cake decorating tips for a cake I'm planning on making later this week (stay tuned!), so I practiced making letters and some flowers with the icing.

Right out of the oven!

The finished product!

Sophie waiting not-so-patiently for us to sing to her. Maybe that was a little over the top...

Hearty Beef Vegetable Soup

Tonight we tried a new recipe from Taste of Home magazine, Hearty Beef Vegetable Soup. I don't think I have ever even tried vegetable soup until I had it at my great aunt's house last year, and I've wanted to try it since then. This morning I chopped up the veggies so Mike could brown the beef and divide the soup between a freezer bag for later and the crock pot (not the method that was called for in the recipe, but hey, it worked). When I got home, all we had to do was make some garlic bread and we were ready to go! Another interesting side note; I left out several veggies, like the green chiles and mushrooms, but I included the turnips the recipe called for, which neither of us had ever eaten.

The verdict

Sometimes when I make a new recipe, I eat it while constantly thinking about how I could improve it. This was one of those recipes. First off, I would halve the amount of turnips. They imparted a sweet-hot taste to the soup that I thought was too strong. Second, I would chop up all the veggies (turnips included) much finer, just to make it easier to eat. I guess I don't like to chew :) In that same vein, I would make the tomato part of the soup less chunky. All these changes are just to tweak the soup to suit our tastes, but I liked the idea of a healthy, veggie soup. I would have made the bread whole wheat to boost the health factor even more, but the white bread was left over from the stuffed French Toast. I give this meal for taste and 2 and a half out of five stars for taste and 3 and a half stars for health. A final note: Mike divided this recipe between a freezer bag for later and tonight's dinner, and it still made a LOT! We have enough for another meal at least.

Breakfast For Dinner (and Three New Recipes - Whoa Buddy!)

I haven't tried any new recipes in a loooong time, so tonight I tried THREE new ones and we had breakfast for dinner. First, Raspberry-Stuffed French Toast, a lighter version of traditional stuffed French Toast from Kraft's Food and Family magazine. It's supposed to have a custard sauce that you drizzle on top, but I didn't realize that I forgot to make it until I was plating the dishes - argh! I decided to forgo it rather than let everything get cold, especially since the Cinnamon Stewed Apples took less time than expected (note: I adjusted the recommended cooking time in the recipe). The third new recipe I tried was our beverage: Herbal Iced Tea from the Barefoot Contessa. It features fruit-flavored herbal tea and apple juice. The last feature of our breakfast-for-dinner was a tad bit of bacon.

The verdict
It was so much fun to try new recipes! I've missed trying new things, and cooking so much made me realize how much I'm looking forward to getting into a house and a kitchen that's bigger than a shoebox. The apples were a nice side to the French Toast, although they tasted more like chunky applesauce, partly because they cooked a long time and also I think they need a little more spice, and maybe a tad of sweetener. Honey, perhaps? The Stuffed French Toast was good even without the custard sauce, but I think I'll try it again with the sauce. I might try different berries, too. The Herbal Iced Tea was refreshing and slightly sweet, and I plan on making it again. I give this meal 4 out of 5 stars for taste and 3 stars for health.

Crescent Calzones with Mozzarella and Chorizo

Tonight I was feeling creative, but didn't want to get very involved in making something complicated. Kind of a weird combination, I know. I decided to throw caution to the wind and try my hand at making calzones with whatever was in the fridge, which happend to be mozzarella cheese, some chorizo sausage, and a can of crescent rolls. I browned the sausage and flattened out the dough, dividing it in half and sealing all the seams. Once I drained the meat, I put it over the cheese, then sprinkled some of Penzey's Pasta Seasoning on top, then rolled the whole thing up like a pinwheel, pinching the ends so the filling wouldn't ooze out in the oven.





The calzones were baked at 350 degrees for about 2o minutes. Here they are ready to go in the oven:


And on the plate, with sauteed green beans and a fruit salad of strawberries, bananas, and plums. There were supposed to be peaches in the salad too, but they tasted like cardboard. I hate when that happens!! Darn you, Publix!


The verdict

These calzones were really good, and so easy! Not exactly health food, but it's a good meal to fall back on when I'm out of ideas. I would have preferred pepperoni, as chorizo is so strong, but they were still very satisfying. I give this meal 4 and a half stars for taste and 2 and a half stars for health. A tasty and creative use for crescent rolls!

Giving a New Cake a Try

I had heard about this trick before, but had never tried it for some reason. Supposedly, it's an old Weight Watchers secret: you take a yellow cake mix and a can of pumpkin puree and mix the two together, then bake it according to package directions. Skip the eggs and oil and whatever other guilt-inducing ingredients are usually called for.



Here's the cake right after it was pulled out of the oven:





I whipped together a frosting out of reduced-fat cream cheese, powdered sugar, and a little milk.


I was anxious to try this out, and I must say I was very happy with the results. The cake was really good! The only thing was, the icing needed some work. In fact, I could have done without the icing completely! Which is weird for me, because I'm usually a big icing person. I think next time I do this, I'll make muffins out of these and leave the icing off. I have a recipe that calls for mixing a yellow cake mix with a can of pie filling, which isn't a far stretch. The best thing about this was it was really good, and not very guilt-inducing. Always a good thing! Try it!