“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.” ~ Michelangelo

August 22, 2013August 19, 2013Leave a comment

There is a touch of fall in the air!! And that is so hard to believe considering it’s the middle of August in Alabama. But I am not complaining at all! It has been a very mild summer and for that I am grateful – pregnant in the summer in the south is not a good thing. Oh the swelling and the sweating. Fun, huh?

I’m afraid the temperature will start rising again this week so I’m going to enjoy this very mild morning while I can and tell you about an easy crock pot dinner we had last week. It’s packed with flavor and simple, simple, simple.

Angel Chicken

(adapted from cleverlyinspired)

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves (about 1-1/2 pounds)
1/4 cup butter
12 ounces of sliced mushrooms (your choice of kind – I used a combo of button and shitake)
1 0.7-oz. pkg. Italian dry salad dressing mix
1 10-3/4-oz. can condensed golden mushroom soup
1/2 cup dry white wine or chicken broth
1/2 of an 8-oz. tub cream cheese spread with chives and onion
Hot cooked rice

Start by melting butter in a sauce pan and add in Italian dressing, stir until mixed thoroughly.

Stir in soup, cream cheese and wine unit completely melted and combined. Gently fold in mushrooms.

Place chicken in crockpot and pour sauce over the top.

Cook on low for 6 hours, serve over rice.

This will become one of your quick “go-to” meals!

-abp

“Habit is a cable; we weave a thread of it each day, and at last we cannot break it.” ~ Horace Mann

August 19, 2013August 14, 2013Leave a comment

Well, today I’m sitting here killing time as the guys for AT&T are installing U-Verse throughout the house. I’ve never had anything but cable so I’m a little wary but hopefully it will be a good change.

Really, why does anything to do with cable/internet have to be so complicated?

While I’ve been sitting here (before they cut off my internet – please oh please work when they re-hook-up everything) I have found several new recipes to try! 🙂

But today I’m going to tell you about last nights dinner.

Chicken Cutlets with Tomato Cream Sauce

(adapted from Southern Living Magazine)

½ cup all purpose flour
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 lb chicken cutlets
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
¼ cup olive oil, divided
¼ cup loosely packed sage leaves
½ large shallot, sliced
½ cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken broth 2 medium tomatoes, seeded and diced
¼ cup heavy cream
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
8 oz hot cooked thin spaghetti

Stir together flour and cornstarch in a shallow dish. Sprinkle chicken with salt and pepper and dredge in flour/cornstarch mixture.
Cook chicken in 2 Tbsp of oil in a large skillet over medium high heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until golden. Drain on paper towels.
Heat remaining oil in skillet; add sage. Cook, stirring often for 2-3 minutes or until crisp and fragrant. Remove with a slotted spoon; drain on paper towels.
Add shallots and saute until tender. Add wine and cook until mixture is reduced by half, stirring to loosen all brown bits.
Add broth, next 2 ingredients and chicken. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to medium/low and simmer for 10 minutes or until thickened. Sprinkle with cheese.
Serve over pasta and sprinkle with crumbled sage leaves.

*****being pregnant, I do not have wine on hand like I normally would so I used 1½ cups chicken broth and added it when it calls for wine and cooked it down.********

I very much enjoyed this meal! I will say I thought it to be a little mild but would be perfect to serve to people who might not like “bold” flavors.

-abp

“I got to thinking about relationships and partial lobotomies. Two seemingly different ideas that might just be perfect together – like chocolate and peanut butter.” ~ Carrie Bradshaw

August 15, 2013August 15, 2013Leave a comment

I now officially know how to perform CPR on an infant – let’s hope and pray I never, ever need to use it but like a good girl scout (or was it boy scout?) – BE PREPARED.

All this learning to save a life worked up an appetite and it is still several hours until dinner.

Snack time!

And that brings me to my new obsession.

Jif® Whipped Peanut Butter and Chocolate flavored Spread.

Oh my.

No recipe needed here.

Just add fruit or bread and boom. You are very happily satisfied. Actually – you don’t have to add anything – a spoon would cover it 😉

Yum.

Try it! You’ll be glad you did!

-abp

ahh.

“When not eating, I like shopping; although I’m afraid I’ve become a bit of a cliche.” ~ Arabella Weir

August 12, 2013August 9, 20132 Comments

For a girl who really loves to shop – I thought I was going to love registering for baby items. After all, I had a blast working on my wedding registry.

Wrong.

It was so stressful! Do you have any clue how many choices of baby stuff they have out nowadays???

3 hours and one stress headache later I left Babies “R” Us.

And I still have to do Target.

Now Lily Pads/Baby Bundles – a local baby boutique, will be a different story. That’s for the fun, cute, frilly items. I could do that all day long.

After all that stress I need comfort food. Which usually consists of some kind of pasta. This meal is no exception.

Beef Ragu (adapted from SlenderKitchen.com)

2.5 pounds lean beef chuck, trimmed of fat
1 ribs celery, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 carrot, peeled and diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
1.5 cups beef broth
2 bay leaves
Salt and pepper
2 tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
2 tbsp fresh oregano or thyme, chopped
Wide noodle pasta

Add the carrots, celery, onion, and garlic to the bottom of the crock pot.
Season your beef liberally with salt and pepper and add it to the crock pot.
Add the remaining ingredients and cook for 6-8 hours until beef is fork tender. Serve over your favorite pasta.

Hope all is well!

-abp

“When you are asked if you can do a job, tell ’em, ‘Certainly I can!’ Then get busy and find out how to do it.” ~ Theodore Roosevelt

August 9, 2013November 13, 20142 Comments

I’ve been putting some thought into my blog – I’ve been away for such a long time. The whole pregnancy thing has totally flipped my world around – in a good way!

Lots of things changed for me – for a while I wasn’t able to cook (thanks to hyper-sensitive smell), I totally changed my work schedule up and I had/have a whole new list of “to dos”. My totally patterned life was no more. I’m completely out of sync.

Also, I’m not quite as savvy as a lot of bloggers out there and it would take me quite some time to get a post complete because I wanted everything as perfect as I could make it – the prep, the pictures, the finished product and the written part.

With this being said – I felt I couldn’t get it all done, at least not the way I would want it done. I thought about just stopping for a while and coming back to it later in life but that’s not really what I wanted to do……

So – I have decided to omit the instructional pictures and just give a finished photo – that way if I am making something for dinner that I would like to share, I can because I would not have to take all the extra time of taking several pictures of each step (nor edit them) – I could just make dinner like I normally do and take a picture before I dig in.

See that’s the thing you might not know about some blogs that I have discovered while trying to improve mine. One being – a lot of them cook solely for their blog – they prepare dinner at 10 am so that the lighting is the best for pictures, etc. Some even have spread sheets for the week! Please take note!! – I think that is AWESOME and I enjoy them very, very much and I am very thankful that they do these things – it’s just I have realized that I do not and can not have a blog like that, they are professionals and I am an amateur – which I’m totally cool with! 🙂

I cook for me and my family like I always have and that’s what I’ll continue to do. And I want to continue to share it with everyone but to do that, I will have to simplify a bit.

I’m just being honest with myself and you and I hope that you will continue to follow my blog minus a few pictures. (P.S. – when the baby comes I’m sure there will be another hiatus! Talk about my world being flipped upside down! :))

Thanks again! I look forward to posting more yummy food!

On that note – I present you with a very delicious and easy dessert that could finish off any meal perfectly.

Oven Baked Churros

(adapted from myrecipes.com)

1 (17.3-oz.) package frozen puff pastry sheets, thawed
1/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 450°. Unfold and cut puff pastry sheets in half lengthwise, and cut each half crosswise into 1-inch-wide strips. Place strips on a lightly greased parchment paper-lined baking sheet. Bake 10 minutes or until golden brown.
Meanwhile, combine sugar and cinnamon. Remove pastry strips from oven, and dip in butter; roll in cinnamon-sugar mixture. Let stand on a wire rack 5 minutes or until dry.

Enjoy!

-abp

“I’m one stomach flu away from reaching my goal weight.” ~ Emily (The Devil Wears Prada)

March 18, 20132 Comments

I made a meal I couldn’t eat.

But it wasn’t because it didn’t taste good!

The DH loved it! I actually made it at his request.

The thing was I had not been feeling very well that day (stupid bug that’s been going around) and was really puny when I started frying the sausage and the grease smell made my stomach turn – automatic food aversion.

So the Olive Garden knock off – Spicy Tuscan Soup was a hit – just not with me. I only had the salad (with bought bottled Olive Garden dressing 🙂 )

As you can probably tell – it was an Olive Garden themed night. All I needed was their yummo garlic bread sticks.

Maybe next time.

(also – because of not feeling so great – there are not many pictures)

Spicy Tuscan Soup (adapted from Tasty Kitchen)

1 pound Spicy Breakfast Sausage
1 whole Medium Red Onion, Diced
2 slices Bacon, Diced
3 cloves Garlic, Minced
3 whole Medium Potatoes, cubed
1 quart Warm Water
3 cubes Chicken Bouillon
baby spinach
½ cups Heavy Cream
Salt And Pepper, to taste

In a large dutch oven, brown sausage, remove and drain on paper towel.

In same dutch onion, cook onion and bacon until onions are translucent. Add garlic and cook for one more minute.

Add water and deglaze pan. Stir in Bouillon cubes and potatoes, cook at a simmer for 20 minutes.

Stir in cream and spinach and cook for 5 more minutes.

Serve with shaved Parmesan cheese and crusty bread.

This soup was really really good! I sure hate that I was not able to enjoy like I should have.

-abp

“Spring is nature’s way of saying – Let’s Party!” ~ Robin Williams

March 11, 20138 Comments

Ahhh……The beautiful sunshine and warmth!! I can feel it coming – SPRING!

I can also feel the pollen coming too……

But that’s ok! I love spring.

Had a great day that started with church and a quick lunch at Zoe’s – I’m very excited about their new app that lets you scan in your receipts and sends you goodies as you build up points. I highly recommend downloading it if you live around a Zoe’s. I practically have one in my front yard – so it works great for me.

Even though it seems to be warming up, I’m still craving warm comfort food you usually have during the colder months. My BFF made this last weekend and told me it was a must try.

Chicken Pot Pie Casserole (adapted from The Shady Porch)

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, boiled and shredded
2 cups chicken stock (from boiling the breasts above)
small bag of frozen vegetables
½ stick butter
2 cups Bisquick
2 cups 2% milk
1 can cream of chicken soup
3 chicken bouillon cubes
1/2 t. dried sage
1 t. black pepper & salt

Preheat oven to 350º

Melt butter in 9 x 13 casserole dish.

Layer shredded chicken and season with salt/pepper and sage. Top with veggies.

(I forgot to take a picture of the veggies)

In a small bowl, mix together milk and bisquick and evenly pour over chicken and veggies.

In another bowl whisk together chicken stock, cubes, and soup.

Pour this mixture over milk mixture. DO NOT MIX any of the layers.

Bake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until set and browned on top.

This one pan dish is a super simple way to make chicken pot pie and it was super delicious too!

-abp

“I just wanna live while I’m alive.” ~ Bon Jovi

March 2, 2013March 2, 2013Leave a comment

I marked an item off my Bucket List!

I went to see Bon Jovi in concert!! YIPPEE!!

Oh! It was awesome! This dream has been 20+ years in the making!

But because I had to go to Atlanta mid week to see them it kind of knocked out a couple of days which meant I had plenty I needed to get done on Tuesday.

I needed a meal that would cook itself.

Thank goodness for the trusty old crockpot!

(as you can see, I was really off my schedule considering it’s Saturday before this was posted)

Balsamic Pot Roast (adapted from Little B Cooks)

3 lb beef chuck roast
garlic salt and pepper for seasoning
2 Tbs olive oil
1 onion, sliced
3-4 potatoes, cut into quarters
1 cup baby carrots
1/2 Tbs dried rosemary
1 tsp poultry seasoning
2 bay leaves
3 cloves garlic, smashed
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1 cup red wine
1 can (14.5 oz) beef broth

Season roast with garlic salt and pepper and sear both sides in olive oil.

Place in crockpot, top with onions, potatoes and carrots.

Mix remaining ingredients in bowl and pour over meat and veggies in the crock pot.

Cook on low for 8 hours.

I must add – I know my photos are not the super impressive works of art that a lot of blogs have but regardless – pot roast just does not photograph well. 🙂

Easy Peasy!

-abp

“Ideas are like pizza dough, made to be tossed around.” ~ Anna Quindlen

February 26, 2013February 26, 2013Leave a comment

Simple was the key for Sunday night when preparing dinner because I had one eye on dinner and the other eye on the tv watching The Oscars or Oscar coverage. That’s why I opted for the all time favorite – spaghetti.

I love me some “sketti”.

And don’t you just love all those dresses?!?

(Although some of those chicks really need to eat.)

The girly girl in me wishes there were more occasions to dress up – it’s so much fun!

Don’t get me wrong – I looooove casual but I do not think there are enough times that we go all out like they used to in the golden era.

You know – “dress for dinner”

Oh well. I’m sure there are more days that I’m glad I do not have to “dress for dinner” than there are days that I wish I could.

Since Sunday was just a staple dinner I thought last night I would try something a little different.

BBQ Chicken Pizza. Should be pretty simple and will go perfectly with the left over Cheesecake in the fridge. 🙂

BBQ Chicken Pizza

(adapted from My Baking Addiction)

1 store bought pizza crust or refrigerated crust
½ cup barbecue sauce
1 ½ cup cooked and shredded chicken (I pan fried a few chicken tenders and shredded that)
½ cup thinly sliced red onion
½ – 1 orange bell pepper; diced
1 cup mozzarella shredded cheese
Chopped cilantro; to taste

(all these ingredient amounts vary according to size of pizza crust and your desired tastes)

Preheat oven to the temperature your pizza crust suggests.

Place Pizza dough on pizza stone or foil lined baking sheet and cook until it has a slight toast on it – about 5 minutes. (I opted for foil lined because my stone is round and this pizza crust was square)

Remove crust and spread barbecue sauce over crust. Add shredded chicken, onion, and bell peppers on top of the barbecue sauce. Top with cheese and cilantro.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes or until crust is deep golden brown. Garnish with more cilantro.

This was so so good! It tastes like you ordered it from a specialty pizza place! And EASY too!

I might add artichoke hearts next time – and there will be a next time – soon!

-abp

“Let your food be your medicine, and your medicine be your food.” ~ Hippocrates

February 22, 2013February 24, 20132 Comments

I’m so happy that my seafood man “Bayou Joe” (who has been out of commission because of health reasons) is feeling better and back at selling good quality seafood.

That is why I have two shrimp recipes this week. I bought 2 lbs of shrimp and a pound of scallops which I can not wait to use. Anybody have any “can’t live without” scallop recipes??

This recipe is an adapted version of the Shrimp and Wild Rice Casserole from the locally famous Winning Seasons cookbook that was put out by the Tuscaloosa Junior League in the 70’s and is a must have for any southern cook.

Shrimp and Wild Rice Casserole

2 Tbs chopped green onions (green part only)
2 Tbs chopped sweet onion
2 Tbs slice mushrooms (I used the kind in the jar because it was all I had but fresh preferably)
2 Tbs butter
1 Tbs worcestershire sauce
1/2 Tbs mustard
A few shakes of hot sauce
1 lb. shrimp, peeled and deveined
1 can cream of mushroom
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
2 cups cooked wild rice
3/4 cup panko bread crumbs
Pam cooking spray

Preheat over to 350º.

Saute pepper, onion and mushrooms in butter until soft.

Mix together onion mixture, worcestershire, mustard, hot sauce, shrimp, soup, salt, pepper, cheese and cooked rice.

Place in prepared (spray with Pam) casserole dish and top with bread crumbs and spray crumbs with Pam (to help brown). Bake for 30-35 minutes or until browned and bubbly. (I had to broil at the end to get it brown enough)